Chapter II: Part 2

The bust of Bodley, which is seen in the large room, was sent by Sackville, Earl of Dorset, the Chancellor of the University. It attracted the notice of King James upon his entering the Library on the fourth day of his visit to Oxford in August of this year, who, upon reading its inscription, indulged in the very mild pun that the Founder should rather be called Sir Thomas Godly than Bodly[39]. And, looking on the well-filled cases, he said he had often had proof from the University of the fruits of talent and ability, but had never before seen the garden where those fruits grew and whence they were gathered. He examined various MSS. of the Holy Scriptures, and especially of the old English version, as well as of the Ethiopic, on the authority of which, 'more suo, summo cum judicio disceptavit.' Then, taking up Gaguinus' treatise _De Puritate Conceptionis Virg. Mar._, printed at Paris in 1498, he remarked that the author had so written about purity as if he wished that it should only be found on the title of his book; and said it had often been his desire that such objectionable writings (especially on religious subjects) could be altogether suppressed rather than be tolerated to the corruption of minds and manners. He admitted, however, that probably there was no disadvantage from their being stored up in collections of this kind. Moved to a wonderful temper of liberality, the king then offered to present from all the libraries of the royal palaces whatsoever precious and rare books Sir T. Bodley, on examination, might choose to carry away; and promised that the grant should be made under seal, lest any hindrance should arise. It appears[40] that this (somewhat hasty) grant was actually passed under the Privy Seal about the beginning of November in the same year, and that Bodley expected to carry off a great many MSS. from Whitehall. Probably the full execution of his intentions was hindered, as he himself appears to have suspected might happen; at any rate, there is very little in the Library that tells of having come from the royal collections, except a few folio editions of the Fathers which once were in the possession of Hen. VIII, as his arms stamped upon the covers testify[41], and three or four MSS. which bear like evidence of having belonged to James I. Upon leaving the room, after spending considerable time in its examination, the king exclaimed that were he not King James he would be an University man; and that, were it his fate at any time to be a captive, he would wish to be shut up, could he but have the choice, in this place as his prison, to be bound with its chains, and to consume his days amongst its books as his fellows in captivity[42].

In this year appeared the first Catalogue of the Library, compiled by Thomas James. It is a quarto volume, published by Joseph Barnes at Oxford, consisting of 425 pages, with an Appendix of 230 more; the Preface is dated June 27. The book is dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales[43]. It includes both printed books and MSS. arranged alphabetically under the four classes of Theology, Medicine, Law, and Arts, with lists of expositors of Holy Scripture, commentators on Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen, and in Civil and Canon Law. The legal and medical lists were added at Bodley's special desire[44]. A continuation of this classified index, embracing writers on Arts and Sciences, Geography and History, is to be found in Rawlinson MS. _Miscell._ 730. It was drawn up by James, after his quitting the Library, for the use of young students in the faculty of Arts, in order to show his continued interest in them and in the place of his old occupation. In the preface he thus describes the arrangement of his book: 'Exhibeo, primo, libros distributos secundum facultates suas; secundo, dissectos in minutissimas portiones vel sectiones, idque alphabetice; tertio, habetis cognitos et exploratos auctores singulos qui de singulis subjectis vel generatim vel speciatim scripserunt libros, tractatus, epistolas; postremo, ne quid desit, habetis editiones certas, et maxime ex parte ex pluribus selectas et meliores, cito parabiles, digitos ad pluteos et pluteorum sectiones intendendo.' This volume came into Rawlinson's possession from Hearne, who notes in it: 'This MS. came out of the study of Dr. Anthony Hall, of Queen's College, Oxford, who married the widow of Dr. John Hudson, to whom this book once belong'd.'

[39] This would-be witticism is made the subject of a quatrain in the _Justa Funebria Bodlei_, p. 108.

[40] _Reliquiæ Bodl._ pp. 205, 339.

[41] His arms also occur in several places in a Greek MS. now numbered Auct. E. I. 15. And there is one volume among Selden's books (8^o. A. 24, Art. Seld.) which appears to possess considerable interest as having come from the library of the many-wived king. It is a fine copy of Æsop, with the _Batrachomyomachia_, &c., printed by Froben in 1518, which may be conjectured, from the binding, to have been a gift from Henry to Anne Boleyn. The cover is of embossed calf; on one side is the Tudor rose supported by angels, with the sun, moon, and four stars above, encircled by the lines:--

'Hec rosa virtutis de celo missa sereno,
Eternum florens regia sceptra feret.'

Below are the initials A. H., conjoined with a knot. On the other side is a representation of the Annunciation, with the same initials repeated.

[42] The account of the king's visit is given in Sir J. Wake's _Rex Platonicus_, pp. 116-123.

[43] At the suggestion of Bodley, who thought that more reward was to be gained from the prince than from the king. (_Reliquiæ Bodl._ 206.)

[44] _Reliquiæ Bodl._ pp. 195, 256.

A.D. 1606.

Chinese literature began to make its appearance even at this early date. Among the books bought with £20 given by Lady Kath. Sandys were, 'Octo volumina lingua Chinensi,' while two others, '_Excusa_ in regno et lingua Chinensi,' were bought, together with the donor's own 'Historie of Great Britaine,' with a gift of £5 from John Clapham.

A.D. 1610.

The books having some time since begun to crowd the room provided for them, so that James, in his Preface to the Catalogue of 1605, said there already seemed to be more need of a Library for the books than books for the Library, the Founder commenced in this year an extension of his building. On July 16 the first stone was laid of the eastern wing, and of the Proscholium, or vestibule of the Divinity School, beneath; which were completed by 1612, as in that year several donations were placed in the new room[45]. An inscription in gold letters, in the front of this building, commemorates Bodley's work; having become barely legible, it has recently been restored to its pristine lustre by the care of the present Librarian. The noble east window contains some very curious and interesting relics in stained glass which were presented to the Library (with numerous other fragments, which adorn some of the other windows in the Library and partly fill two of those in the Picture Gallery[46]), in 1797, by Alderman William Fletcher of Oxford, a zealous local antiquary and Churchman of the good old school. The three principal fragments represent: 1. Henry II, stripped naked, and suffering flagellation with birch rods, at the hands of two monks, before the shrine of Thomas à Becket. 2. The marriage (as supposed) of Henry VI with Margaret of Anjou, representing, says Dr. Rock[47], that portion of the ceremony which took place at the Church door; formerly in a window of Rollright Church, Oxfordshire. There is no evidence, however, to connect this representation with Henry VI, and it has been conjectured to describe his marriage chiefly from its corresponding in some very small degree to a representation of that event, formerly at Strawberry Hill, and described and engraved in Walpole's _Anecdotes of Painting_, i. 36. It is probably of an earlier date. 3. The doing homage by William, King of Scotland, with his abbots and barons, to Henry II in York Minster in 1171. Of the first of these, two coloured engravings, and of the second, one, are found in a copy of Gutch's Wood, which came to the Library from the same donor, Alderman Fletcher, in 1818, illustrated with very numerous and curious engravings and drawings, as well as enriched with some MS. notes, and bound in seven large quarto volumes[48].

The large coats of arms appear to have been inserted in 1716, as in the accounts for that year we find, 'For paynted armes in the Library window, £5.' But one coat of arms was put up in the year 1771, (_q. v._)

It was in this year that the Library began to be enlarged with the gift of copies of all works published by the members of the Stationers' Company, in pursuance of an agreement made with them by Bodley, which became the precursor of the obligations of the Copyright Acts. On Dec. 12 the Company made a grant of one perfect copy of every book printed by them, on condition that they should have liberty to borrow the books thus given, if needed for reprinting, and also to examine, collate, and copy the books which were given by others. An order of the Star-Chamber was made July 11, 1637, in confirmation of this grant[49]. The proposal of such an agreement emanated from the Librarian James; but in the effecting it Bodley says that he met with 'many rubs and delays[50].' Ayliffe say[51] that the agreement was very well observed until about 1640. He should rather have said 'about 1630,' for in that year, in a paper of notes made by the Librarian for the use of Archbishop Laud, as Chancellor of the University (in which the mention of a gift of books by Fetherston, a London bookseller, fixes the date), complaint is made that the Company were very negligent in sending their books, and it is suggested that a message from the Chancellor might quickly remedy that neglect[52]. In 1642, Verneuil, the Sub-Libraria[53], complained in the Preface to his _Nomenclator, &c_, of the neglect which had then begun; mentioning the names of several benefactors, he adds: 'These have beene more courteous than the Stationers of London, who by indenture are bound to give the Library a copy of every booke they print.' In the Visitation Order-Book, under the year 1695, is the following 'memorandum' by Hyde, then Head Librarian: 'That in November, 1695, a copy of the indenture between Sir Thomas Bodley and the Company of Stationers, as also a copy of their By-Law to inforce their particular members to complyance, was sent up to the Master of the Company to be communicated and publicly read to the Company once every year, as is in the indenture expressed. The originall was also some years agon carryed up and shewed to the Master and Wardens, because some of them used to raile at the unjustness of the Act of Parliament in forcing them to give a copy of each book to the Bodleian Library; and therefore we shewed them that we had also another antecedent right to a copy of each book printed by any member in their Company. The Indenture mentions only the giving of books new printed, but the By-law mentions books both new-printed and also reprinted with additions[54]. We have been told that Sir Thomas Bodley gave to the Company 50 pounds worth of plate when they entred into this Indenture. But its not mentioned in our counter-part. Every book is to be delivered to the junior Warden within 10 dayes after its off from the press, and we are to appoint somebody to demand them of him. The obligation is upon every printer to give books; it were to be wished it had been upon every proprietor; for the proprietor must give them to us.'

[45] It is probably to aid given for the erection of this structure that the following passage refers: 'To the building Bodley's Library at Oxford a considerable sum was contributed by the Bishop of London, being his share of the moneys paid into court for commutation of penance.' Archd. Hale's Notes to the _Register of Worcester_ (Camden Soc. 1855), p. cxxviii. Aid was also given by the Crown, for on May 3, 1611, an order was issued by the Lord Treasurer to the officers of the woods at Stow, Shotover, &c., near Oxford, to deliver to Sir T. Bodley, for enlarging the Library, the timber which was to have been employed for making the Thames navigable to Oxford, a work which did not proceed. (_Calendar of State Papers_, Dom. Series, 1611-18, p. 28.)

[46] See also under 1818.

[47] _Church of our Fathers_, i. 421.

[48] Mr. Fletcher died in 1826, at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried (in a stone coffin traditionally said to be that of Fair Rosamond) in the church of the village where he was born, Yarnton, near Oxford. His tomb is remarkable as exhibiting, before Architectural and Ecclesiological societies had been thought of, an anticipation of better days in monumental design than had yet appeared; a brass, upon a high altar-tomb, represents him clad in his aldermanic gown, with his hands clasped in prayer. A bust of him is in the Picture Gallery.

[49] Rushworth, iii. 315.

[50] _Reliquiæ Bodl._ p. 350.

[51] _Univ. of Oxford_, i. 460.

[52] _Calendar of State Papers_, 1635-6, p. 65.

[53] See _sub anno_ 1647.

[54] See _sub anno_ 1612.

A.D. 1611.

The permanent endowment of the Library was commenced by the Founder in this year, by the purchase, from Lord Norreys, of the manor of Hendons by Maidenhead, worth annually £91 10s.; to which he added 'certain tenements in London,' producing an annual rent of £40. From the former, now called Hindhay farm, in the parishes of Bray and Cookham, Berks, the Library receives an annual rent, at the present time, of about £220; the latter, which consisted of houses situated in Distaff Lane, were sold in 1853, and the produce invested in £3455 10_s._ 3 per cent. Consols.

The first book which came from the Stationers' Company, in pursuance of the Indenture made in Dec. 1610, was an anonymous catechetical work printed in this year by Felix Kingston for Thomas Man, entitled, 'Christian Religion substantially, methodicallie, plainlie, and profitablie treatised.' It is now numbered 4^o R. 34 Th., and a note in Bodley's own handwriting records its presentation.

Twenty Arabic, Persian, and other MSS., were presented by -- Pindar, Consul at Aleppo of the Company of English Merchants, whom Bodley three years previously had requested to procure such books[55].

Among other minor matters which called forth the care of Bodley, was the providing a bell for the purpose of giving notice when the Library was about to be closed. After it had been placed in the Library some accident appears to have happened to it, since we read in one of his letters to James[56], 'As touching the bell, I would have it cast again, and if my friends think it good, made somewhat better.' In 1655 a bell-rope was bought at the price of 1_s._ 4_d._ Of late years, however, the Founder's bell had altogether disappeared, and the fact of its very existence was unknown, while a small hand-bell, suggestive of a muffin-man, and, more recently, a hand-bell taken from a Chinese temple at Tien-tsin, and presented by Col. Rigaud, supplied its place. But in July, 1866, in the course of moving some boxes and rubbish buried under some stairs, a mouldy bell of considerable size was dragged to light, which proved to be the missing bell of the Founder. It was immediately put by the Librarian into the hands of Messrs. White, of Appleton, Berks, who fitted it with a frame and wheel; and now, restored to a conspicuous place in the great room, it daily thunders forth an unmistakeable signal for departure. Around it, in gold letters, runs the inscription:--'Sir Thomas Bodley gave this bell, 1611.' The bell-founder's initials, W. S., are accompanied by the device of a crown between three bells.

Another relic of Bodley's furniture is a massy iron chest, fastened with three locks, two of which are enormous padlocks, for the preservation of the moneys of the Library, of which the keys used to be in the custody of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors. This is now exhibited in the Picture Gallery, on account of the extreme beauty of the ironwork of the locks, which covers in its intricate ramifications the whole of the inside of the lid. On the outside are painted the arms of the University (with the older motto 'Sapientiæ et Fælicitatis') and of Bodley.

[55] Hearne's _Job. Glaston._ ii. 637.

[56] _Reliquiæ Bodl._ p. 314.

A.D. 1612.

Two large donations of MSS. were received during this year; the one from the Dean and Chapter of Windsor (in imitation of their brethren of Exeter), of 159 volumes, chiefly theological; and the other of a large collection of scientific treatises, chiefly astronomical and medical, about 120 in number, from Thomas Twine, M.D., of Lewes.

The agreement that was entered into by the Stationers' Company in 1610 having probably been found in some degree inoperative from the absence of any penalty upon non-fulfilment, the Company at the commencement of this year passed the following ordinance, which made it obligatory on every one of their members to forward their books to the Library. It is here printed (for the first time) from the original, preserved in the University Archives, marked A. 27[57].

'_Vicesimo octavo Januarii 1611 nono regni regis Jacobi, at
Stacõners Hall, in Ave Mary Lane in London. Present, the Masters,
Wardens, and Assistants of the Company of Stacõners._

'Forasmuch as this Companye out of their zeale to the advancement of
learninge, and at the request of the right worshipfull Sir Thomas
Bodley, Knight, founder of the presente publique library of the
University of Oxford, beinge readye to manifeste their willinge
desires to a worck of so great pietye and benifitt to the generall
state of the Realme, did by their Indenture under their common seale
dated the twelveth daye of December in the eight yeare of his
Maj.^ts raigne of England, Fraunce and Ireland, and the foure and
fortith yere of his raigne of Scotland, for them and their
successors, graunte and confirme vnto the Chauncellor, Maisters, and
Schollers of the Universitie of Oxford, and to their successors for
ever, That of all bookes after that from tyme to tyme to be printed
in the said Company of Stacõners, beinge newe books and coppies
never printed before, or thoughe formerly printed yet newly
augmented or enlarged, there should be freelie given one perfect
Booke of every such booke (in quyers) of the first ympression
thereof, towardes the furnishinge and increase of the said Library;
Nowe therefore, to the intent the said graunte maie take due effect
in the orderlie performance and execucõn thereof, and that so good
and godlie a worck and purpose maie not bee disappointed or defeated
by any meanes, It is ordayned by this Company, that all and every
printer and printers that from tyme to tyme hereafter shall either
for hym- or themselves, or for any other, printe or cause to be
printed any newe booke or coppie never printed before, or although
formerly printed yet newly augmented or enlarged, shall within ten
daies next after the finishinge of the first ympression thereof and
the puttinge of the same to sale, bringe and deliver to the yonger
warden of the said Company of Stacõners for the tyme beinge one
perfect booke thereof to be delivered over by the same Warden to the
recited use to the handes of such person or persons as shalbe
appoincted by the said Chauncellour, Maisters and Schollers for the
tyme beinge to receive the same; And it is alsoe ordayned that every
printer that at any tyme or tymes hereafter shall make default in
performance hereof, shall for every such default forfeite and paie
to the use of this Company treble the value of every booke that he
shall leave undelivered contrarie to this ordenance; Out of the
which forfeiture, upon the levyinge and payment thereof, there
shalbe provided for the use of the said Librarye that booke for the
not delivery whereof the said forfeiture shalbe had and paid. And to
the intent all printers and others of this Company whome it shall
concerne maie take notice of this ordenance, and that any of them
shall not pretend ignorance thereof, It is ordeyned that once in
every yere at some generall assemblie and meetinge of the said
Company upon some of their usuall quarter daies, or some other tyme
in the yere at their discretion, this presente ordinance shalbe
publiquely read in their Hall, as other their ordenances are
accustomed to be read there

'John Haryson
'John Norton, Mr.
'Richard Field } Wardens
'Humphrey Lownes }
'Edward White
'Humfry Hooper
'Simon Waterson
'William Leake
'Robert Barker
'Thomas Mane
'Thomas Dawson
'John Standishe
'Thomas Adames
'John Haryson[58]
'Ri. Collins, Clerk of the Companie.

'Havinge lately byn entreated, as well by the said Sir Thomas
Bodley, Knight, as by the Maister, Wardens, and Assistants of the
foresaid Company of Stacõners, to take some spetiall notice of this
their publique acte and graunte, and (in regard of our beinge of his
Maiestyes highe Comission in ecclesiasticall causes) to testifie
under our handes with what allowance and good likinge we have
thought it meete to be received, Wee doe not onlie as of merrit
comend it to posteritie for a singuler token of the fervent zeale of
that Company to the furtherance of good learninge and for an
exemplarie guift and graunt to the Schollers and Studients of the
Universitye of Oxford, But withall we doe promise by subscribinge
unto it, that if at any tyme hereafter occasion shall require that
we should help to maynteyne the due and perpetuall execucõn of the
same, Wee will be readie to performe it, as farre as either of our
selves thoroughe our present authoritie or by any whatsoeuer our
further endeavours it maie be fitlye procured.

'G. Cant.
'Jo. London
'Jo. Benet
'Tho. Ridley
'Tho. Edwardes
'G. Newmane
'John Spenser
'Richard Moket
'R. Cov. & Lich.
'Jhon Boys
'Char. Fotherbye
'Martin Fotherby
'John Layfeilds
'Jo. Roffens
'George Montaigne (_sic_)
'Rob^t. Abbott
'Henr. Hickman
'John Dix
'Willm. FFerrand.'

[57] For the use of this document the author is indebted to the Keeper of the Archives, Rev. J. Griffiths, M.A.

[58] Probably the son of the John Haryson who signs above.

A.D. 1613.

The death of the Founder occurred on Jan. 28, after long suffering from stone, dropsy, and scurvy, for which he is said to have been mis-treated by a Dr. Hen. Atkins[59]. Two volumes of elegiac verses were thereupon issued by the University, of which one (_Bodleiomnema_) was written entirely by members of Merton College; the other (_Justa Funebria Ptolemæi Oxoniensis_) by members of the University in general. In the latter collection are Latin verses by Laud, then President of St. John's, and Greek verses by Isaac Casaubon. Bodley was buried (according to his desire in his will) in the chapel of his old College, Merton, on March 29, with all the state of a public funeral. He bequeathed the greater part of his property for the building of the east wing of the Library and the completion of the Schools, appointing Sir John Bennett and Mr. William Hakewill his executors. The former, however, proved in some measure an unfaithful steward. When prosecuted in Parliament in 1621, for gross bribery in his office as Judge of the Prerogative Court, some of Bodley's money was still remaining in his hands, and was mentioned in the charges brought against him. For the due payment of a portion of this, by annual instalments of £150, the University, on June 28, 1624, accepted four bonds from him, witnessed by Thomas Coventreye, Matthew Bennet, and Henry Wigmore; only one of these appears to have been paid off, leaving an unpaid deficit of £450[60]. The entry of this debt is carried on, together with the loan made to King Charles I in 1642, in the Library accounts[61], from year to year up to 1782, when by order of the Curators the entries were discontinued. In the notice of the Library contributed (as it is said) by Dr. Hudson to Ayliffe's _Ancient and Present State of Oxford_ (vol. i. p. 460), it is stated that the Library estate falls miserably short by reason of 'the fraud of his [Bodley's] executor, the loan of a great sum of money to Charles I in his distress, and by the fire of London,' that event, doubtless, necessitating the rebuilding of the houses in Distaff Lane.

Bodley was charged by some of his contemporaries, and apparently with some justice, with sacrificing in his will the claims of relatives and friends too much to the interests of the Library. One Mr. John Chamberlain, a friend of Bodley, whose gossiping letters to Sir Dudley Carleton, Alice Carleton, and others, are preserved in the State Paper Office, does not spare his accusations on this head. In a letter dated Feb. 4, 1613, he says that Bodley has left legacies to great people, £7000 to the Library, and £200 to Merton College, but little to his brothers, his old servants, his friends, or the children of his wife, by whom he had all his wealth[62]. In another, dated June 23, 1613, he remarks that the executors cannot excuse Bodley of unthankfulness to many of his relatives and friends, he being 'so drunk with the applause and vanitie of his librarie that he made no conscience to rob Peter to pay Paul[63].' Some inferential corroboration of this is afforded by the following curious paper preserved among Rawlinson's gatherings (now in a vol. numbered Rawl. MS. Miscell., 1203), being no other than a petition for relief addressed by the grand-nephew and grand-niece of Bodley in the year 1712 (as appears from the Library accounts) to the Heads of Houses and Curators of the Library, who appear both officially and individually to have been very parsimonious in their response:--

'To the Worshipful Mr. Vice-Chancellor and to all heads and
governors of Colleges and Halls within the famous University of
Oxon.

'The humble petition of William Snoshill of East Lockinge in the
county of Berks, labourer, and of Jane the wife of Thomas Hatton
of Childrey in the county aforesaid, labourer, sister of the
said William Snoshill,

'Humbly sheweth,

'That your Petitioners being the grand-children of the sister of Sir
Thomas Bodley, the munificent founder of the Bodleian Library in
your University, being now reduc'd to a poor and low estate, do with
all humility make bold to represent their distrest condition to your
consideration, hoping that out of your tender pity and
commiseration, and that regard you have for the pious memory of so
great a benefactor to your University, to whom your poor Petitioners
are so nearly allied, you will be pleas'd to consider them as real
objects of your charity and compassion, and thereby you will lay an
eternal obligation on them of praying for your present and future
happiness.

'William Snoshill
'Jane Hatton.

'We, whose names are subscribed to this Petition, are well satisfied
of the truth thereof.

'Thomas Paris, rector of Childrey
'John Holmes
'John Bell, vic. of Sparsholt
'John Aldworth, rector of East Lockinge
'Ralph Kedden, M.A., vicar of Denchworth, Berks.

'(_Mem._) The Curators gave the Petitioners the sum of four pounds
out of Sir Thomas Bodley's chest. Dr. Altham, Hebrew professor, and
Dr. Hudson, Library-keeper, gave, each of them, ten shillings.'

An alphabetical catalogue was prepared in this year by James, but was not printed. The MS, in two small hand-books, remains in the Library. It was ordered by the Curators, at the Visitation on Nov. 13, that 6_s._ 8_d._ be paid quarterly to the Bedel of the Stationers' Company as a gratuity for his trouble. MSS. were received from Edw. James, B.D., who had been a contributor already in the year 1601.

[59] _Calendar of State Papers_, 1611-18, p. 137.

[60] A full account of Bennet's defalcations is given by B. Twyne, from the University Registers, in vol. vi. (pp. 120-4) of his _Collectanea_, now in the Univ. Archives. See also _Parliam. Hist._ vol. v. p. 462.

[61] These accounts, as now preserved, unfortunately only commence at the year 1653, and there is a hiatus from 1661 to 1676, both inclusive.

[62] _Calendar of State Papers_, 1611-18, p. 169.

[63] _Ibid._ p. 187.

A.D. 1614.

Various orders were made by the Curators at the Visitation on Nov. 10, which are prefixed to the small MS. 'hand-catalogues' made at that time for the use of those authorities. They resolve that the catalogues of newly-published works issued at Frankfort in each spring and summer shall be examined by them within one week after their arrival. They make an attempt to obtain possession of a gift of the Founder's giving, which had never yet reached the place of its intended deposit. In 1609 it had been reported to Convocation that there was about to be sent to the Library by Sir T. Bodley 'toga ex lana agni Tartarici ζωοφυτον, magni quidam valoris, ei data (ut in publica Bibliotheca conservetur) ab Richardo Lee, milite, qui eandem dono recepit ab augustissimo Imperatore Muscoviæ[64].' But the precious cloak had never yet arrived; the Curators therefore resolve 'quod literæ scribantur ad exequutores domini Fundatoris pro illo pretioso pallio ex zoophyto confecto, et legato ad nos per Ric. Leigh, militem, olim legatum apud Imperatorem Russiæ, et quod in cista ex ligno bene olenti, ad eam finem comparanda, reponatur in archivis, munita sera affabre facta; clavis permaneat semper apud Vice-Cancellarium vel ejus deputatum, nec cuiquam illud inspiciendi vel contrectandi potestas esto, nisi in præsentia eorundem.' At this Visitation Joseph Barnes, the Oxford printer, appeared and promised to give a copy of every book which he might print. Complaint was made that the London Stationers had already begun to fail in the fulfilment of their agreement.

On Aug. 29 the King visited the Library on his way to Woodstock, and, asking for Fulke's _Annotations on the Rhemish New Test._, pointed out the remarks at Rom. x. 15, on the calling of ministers; 'deprehendit calumnias et imposturas quorundam pontificiorum de ordine et vocatione ministrorum[65].' In 1620 the editions of 1601 and 1617 of these _Annotations_ were both in the Library, as appears from the Catalogue of that year, but in Hyde's Catalogue, published in 1674, only the edition of 1633 is found. This is one out of various instances which prove that, by a great miscalculation of literary value, later editions of a writer's works were thought to supersede so entirely the earlier, that the latter could be advantageously parted with. The Library has, however, since become re-possessed of the earlier editions, that of 1601 having been presented in 1824, and that of 1617 having been bought more recently. But the most remarkable example of this mistaken alienation of books occurs with reference to the first folio edition of Shakespeare. In the Supplemental Catalogue of 1635, the folio of 1623 duly appears; but in the Catalogue of 1674 we find only the third edition, that of 1664, which doubtless had been thought to be sufficient as well as best; upon its arrival, therefore, from Stationers' Hall, the precious volume of 1623 was probably regarded as little more than waste-paper. Nor was it until the year 1821, when Malone's collection was received, that a copy was again possessed by the Library[66].

[64] 'Reg. Conv. K. f. 43,' MS. note by Dr. P. Bliss. Bodley mentions in a letter to James his expectation of exhibiting the 'lamb's-wool-gown' to the King. _Reliqq. Bodl._ 173. An account of this marvellous garment will be found in the Appendix.

[65] Wood's _Hist._ vol. ii. p. 319.

[66] The extraordinary _fancy_ prices sometimes given for books, and their variations, are particularly exemplified in the case of the first folio Shakespeare. In 1778 Stevens said it was 'usually valued at seven or eight' guineas. (_Shakespeare_, second edit. vol. i. p. 239.) At the Roxburghe sale (a sufficiently bibliomaniacal one) in 1812 a copy was sold for £100; in 1864 Miss Burdett Coutts gave for Mr. G. Daniel's specially fine copy, £716 2_s._; while in July, 1867, a copy belonging to a Mr. -- Smith was sold for £410. In Dec. 1867 another copy was on sale at Mr. Beet's, the bookseller, to which the owner very discreetly attached in his catalogue no specific sum.

A.D. 1615.

Richard Connock, auditor and solicitor to Prince Henry of Wales, gave a MS. book of _Horæ_[67], which had formerly belonged to Mary I, and afterwards to Prince Henry. The donor, in a note prefixed, records that he gives the volume, 'not for the religion it contains, but for the pictures and former royall owners' sake.' It is a volume of the early part of the fifteenth century, in small quarto, containing 224 leaves, and ornamented with very beautiful illuminated borders and exquisite drawings in _camaieu gris_. Among these is one of the martyrdom of Becket, which, doubtless in consequence of the book being in the possession of the Princess Mary, has entirely escaped the defacement and obliteration ordered by her father to be made in all Service-books where the office for S. Thomas of Canterbury occurred. The following inscription (nearly effaced at its close by over-much handling in former years), addressed by Mary to one of her ladies, whose name does not appear, to whom probably she presented the book, occurs in the blank portion of one of the leaves:--

'Geate you such riches as when the shype is broken, may swyme away
wythe the Master. For dyverse chances take away the goods of
fortune; but the goods of the soule whyche bee only the trewe goods,
nother fyer nor water can take away. Yf you take labour and payne to
doo a vertuous thyng, the labour goeth away, and the vertue
remaynethe. Yf through pleasure you do any vicious thyng, the
pleasure goeth away and the vice remaynethe. Good Madame, for my
sake remembre thys.

'Your lovyng mystres,
'Marye Princesse.'

This inscription (which does so much credit to its writer) was first printed by Hearne at the end of _Titi Livii Forojulien. Vita Hen. V._ (p. 228) and last, in Bliss' _Reliquiæ Hearn._ i. 105. Mr. Coxe has noted (from _Alstedii Systema Mnemonicum_, 1610, i. 705) that the latter part is taken directly and literally from Musonius, while indirectly it comes from an oration by Cato[68]. Probably the first part may be traced to some similar source.

Another autograph inscription by Mary while Princess is found in a small book (Laud MS. Miscell. i.) of private prayers in Latin and English, which belonged to Jane Wriothesley, wife of Thomas Earl of Southampton, and which she seems to have employed as a kind of album. At f. 45^a are these lines, which appear to form a triplet, although not written in metrical form by the Princess:--

'Good Madame, I do desyer you most hartly to pray,
That in prosperyte and adversyte I may
Have grace to keep the trewe way.

'Your lovyng frend,
to my ... [power?]'

Unfortunately the conclusion, with the signature, has been cut off. A couplet, signed by Queen Katherine Parr, has an equal, and most regal, disregard of the restraints of metrical rhythm (f. 8^b.):--

'Madam, althowe I have differred writtyng in your booke,
I am no lesse your frend than you do looke.

'Kateryn the Quene KP.'

Other inscriptions are inserted by Margaret Queen of Scotland, Mary Countess of Lennox and mother of Lord Darnley, and by the Countess of Southampton's daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne.

James Button, Esq., of the county of Worcester, gave, on March 28, a curious relic of the ancient language of Cornwall, being three Miracle-Plays of the Creation, the Passion, and the Resurrection, in Cornish, contained in a MS. on vellum, small folio, eighty-three leaves, written in the fifteenth century; now numbered Bodl. 791. A copy on paper of the Play of the Creation, written by John Jordan in 1611, is also in the Library, numbered Bodl. 219, which appears to have come from the library of King James I, having the royal crown stamped on the parchment cover, with the initials I.K. A second modern copy has also been recently presented (in 1849) by Edwin Ley, Esq., of Bosahan, Cornwall, which is accompanied by a translation by John Keigwyn, made in 1695. The dramas were printed in two volumes at the University Press, with a translation, notes, and glossary, by Mr. Edwin Norris, in 1859.

Some MSS. were given about this time by the three sons of Rich. Colf, D.D., and in 1618 twenty Greek volumes by Cecil, Earl of Exeter.

[67] The gift is omitted in the Benefaction-Register, apparently because it was a rule not to record donations of single volumes [_Reliquiæ Bodl._ pp. 91, 283]; consequently several books of the greatest value are omitted.

[68] George Herbert expresses the same idea at the end of his _Church Porch_:--

'If thou do ill, the joy fades, not the pains;
If well, the pain doth fade, the joy remains.'

A.D. 1620.

At the beginning of May, James resigned the office of Librarian, but not as Wood says, on account of his promotion to the Subdeanery of Wells, since that took place in the year 1614. His appointment to the rectory of Mongeham, Kent (also mentioned by Wood), was in 1617. He continued, however, to reside in Oxford, and dying there in August, 1629, was buried in New College Chapel.

On the 9th of the same month of May, John Rouse, M.A., Fellow of Oriel, was elected James' successor. No account of him is given by Wood, possibly from dislike of his Puritanical principles, and of his continuing to hold office during the usurpation. He appears to have discharged his trust in the Library with faithfulness, and, at least, to have deserved some mention at the historiographer's hands for the Appendix to the Catalogue which he issued in the year 1635 (_q.v._)[69] He is best known as the friend of Milton, who, on Rouse's application to him for a copy of his _Poems both English and Latin_, published in 1645, in the place of one previously given by Milton which had been lost, sent the volume, together with a long autograph Latin Ode, dated Jan. 23, 1646 (-7), and bearing the following title: 'Ad Joannem Rousium, Oxoniensis Academiæ Bibliothecarium, de libro poematum amisso quem ille sibi denuo mitti postulabat, ut cum aliis nostris in Bibliotheca publica reponeret, Ode Joannis Miltonj[70].' The volume is now numbered 8^o. M. 168 Art. A facsimile of a considerable portion of the Ode (which Cowper translated into English, and which is said to have been the last of Milton's Latin poetical effusions) is given in plate xvii. of Sam. Leigh Sotheby's sumptuous volume, entitled _Ramblings in the Elucidation of the Autograph of Milton_, 4^o. Lond. 1861; and at p. 120 there is a facsimile in full of Milton's inscription in another volume (4^o. F. 56 Th.) which contains a collection of the political and polemical treatises published by him in the years 1641-5. This latter inscription, which gives a list of the contents of the volume, is addressed as follows: 'Doctissimo viro proboque librorum æstimatori Joanni Rousio, Oxoniensis academiæ Bibliothecario, gratum hoc sibi fore testanti, Joannes Miltonius opuscula hæc sua in Bibliothecam antiquissimam atque celeberrimam adsciscenda libens tradit, tanquam in memoriæ perpetuæ Fanum, emeritamque, uti sperat, invidiæ calumniæque vacationem; si Veritati, Bonoque simul Eventui satis litatum sit.' Warton tells the almost incredible story, in his edition of Milton's _Poems_, that about the year 1720 these two volumes were thrown out into a heap of duplicates, from which Nathaniel Crynes, who afterwards bequeathed his own collection to the Library[71], was permitted to pick out what he pleased for himself; fortunately, however, he was too good a royalist and churchman to choose anything that bore the name of Milton, and so the books, despised and rejected on both sides, by mere chance remained in the place of their original deposit! Such an incident, if true, goes far to justify the charges of ignorance and neglect of the Library which Hearne in his Diary constantly brings against Hudson, the Librarian at that time, and those whom he employed.

The second edition of the Catalogue was issued by James, shortly after his resignation of his office, with a Dedication to Prince Charles, and a Preface dated June 30. It consists of 539 quarto pages, in double columns. It abandons the classified arrangement of the former Catalogue, and adopts that (followed ever since) of one alphabet of names. James, in his Preface, gives as his reason for this course, the frequent difficulty (already experienced even in so small a collection) of deciding to what class a book should be assigned, and the inconvenience resulting from division of the works of the same author. He points out the value of the Library to foreigners, who can there consult 16,000 volumes for six hours a day, excepting Sundays and holidays[72]. As instances of the copiousness of its stores, he mentions that there are to be found above 100 folio and quarto volumes on Military Art, in Greek, Latin, and other languages; and that there are 3000 or 4000 books in French, Italian, and Spanish. He notes that heretical and schismatical books are not to be read without leave of the Vice-Chancellor and Regius Professor of Divinity; and makes some remarks on the method of keeping a Common-place-book. He gives as the reason for his quitting his post, his severe sufferings from stone and paralysis[73].

On June 4, King James presented the folio edition of his _Works_ as edited by Bishop Montague. The book (now marked B. 14. 17. Theol.) contains the following presentation inscription, written and signed by Sir R. Naunton:--

'Jacobus Dei gratia Magnæ Britanniæ, Franciæ et Hiberniæ Rex, fidei defensor, &c. Postquam decrevisset publici juris facere quæ sibi erat commentatus, ne videretur vel palam pudere literarum quas privatim amaverat, vel eorum seu opinioni seu invidiæ cedere qui Regis Majestatem literis dictitabant imminui, vel Christiani Orbis et in eo Principum judicia expavescere, quorum maxime intererat vera esse omnia quæ scripsit; circumspicere etiam cœpit certum aliquod libro suo domicilium, locum, si fieri possit, semotum a fato, æternitati et paci sacrum. Ecce commodum sua se obtulit Academia, illa pæne orbi notior quam Cantabrigiæ, ubi exulibus Musis jam olim melius est quam in patria, ubi a codicibus famæ nuncupatis tineæ absterrentur legentium manibus, sycophantæ scribentium ingeniis. In hoc immortali literarum sacrario, inter monumenta clarorum virorum, quos quantum dilexit studiorum participatione satis indicavit, in bibliotheca publica, lucubrationes has suas Deo Opt. Max., Cui ab initio devotæ erant, æternum consecrat, in venerando Almæ Matris sinu, unde contra seculorum rubiginem fidam illi custodiam promittit, et contra veritatis hostes stabile patrocinium.'

The book, which was carried to Oxford by a special deputation, consisting of Patrick Young, the Librarian at St. James's (to whom £20 was given by the University for his pains), and others, was received by the University with great ceremony. A Convocation was held in St. Mary's Church, on May 29, at which an oration was delivered by Rich. Gardiner, the Deputy-Orator, and at which a letter of thanks was approved (which is printed in Wood's _Annals_, ii. 336); from thence the Vice-Chancellor, attended by 24 doctors in their scarlet robes, and a mixed multitude of others, carried it in solemn procession to the Library, where the keeper, Rouse, 'made a verie prettie speech,' says Patrick Young, 'and placed it _in archivis_ ... with a great deale of respect[74].' The King was greatly pleased with the formality and flattery with which his works were received, and the more so 'because Cambridge received them without extraordinary respect[75].'

Another gift in this year, presented by Thomas Nevile, K.B., eldest son of Sir H. Nevile, Knt., is thus described in the Register: 'Elegantissimum libellum diversa scripturæ genera continentem, manu Esteris Anglicæ, characteribus exquisitis conscriptum.' This is, doubtless, the MS. of the Book of Proverbs, dated 1599, in which every chapter, as well as the dedication to the Earl of Essex, is written in a different style of caligraphy, which is now exhibited in the glass case nearest the entrance to the Library. It is an extremely beautiful specimen of the handiwork of Mrs. Esther Inglis, of whose skill the Library possesses another and smaller specimen (Bodl. 987), consisting of some French verses by Guy de Faur, Sieur de Pybrac, written for Dr. Joseph Hall (afterwards the Bishop of Norwich), in 1617. These are described in the account of Mrs. Inglis, in Ballard's _Memoirs of British Ladies_. A third specimen of her work is in the Library of Ch. Ch.: it is a Psalter in French, presented to Queen Elizabeth in 1599, bound in embroidered crimson velvet, set with pearls[76].

The Douay Bible of 1609 was presented by Sir Rich. Anderson, and a Persian MS. of the Liturgy of the Greek Church by Sir Thos. Roe. The first architectural model also was given in this year; but unfortunately it is not now extant. Its description is as follows: 'Clemens Edmonds, eques auratus, consilio Regis ab epistolis, donavit egregium παραδειγμα quinque columnarum, nunc primum inventum, secundum formam rusticam, ex alabastrite singulari artificio confectum.'

[69] One fact to his credit is indeed mentioned by Wood in the _Fasti_, under the year 1648, viz. that he prevented the then Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Reynolds, and the Proctors from breaking open Bodley's chest in search of money, by assuring them that there was nothing in it. Hearne (_MS. Diary_, vol. xii. p. 13) says that Rouse inserted a portrait of Sir Thos. Bodley, done at his own charge, in the window of the room which he occupied on the west side of Oriel College.

[70] Cowley followed Milton's example by inserting an Ode, in this case in English, in a folio copy of his _Poems_ (numbered C. 2. 21. Art.), which he gave June 26, 1656. It is printed exactly from the original in _Reliquiæ Hearn._ ii. 921-3.

[71] See _sub anno_ 1745.

[72] At this time there were only two other public libraries in Europe, both later in date than the Bodleian, viz. that of Angelo Rocca at Rome, opened in 1604, and the Ambrosian at Milan, opened in 1609. The fourth public library was that of Card. Mazarin at Paris, opened in 1643. Evidence of the consequent appreciation by foreigners of the advantages of the Bodleian Library is given under the year 1641.

[73] An Appendix to James' Catalogue was printed in 1635, _q. v._

[74] Nichols' _Progresses of James I_, vol. iii. p. 1105. Rouse's speech (with the letter) is printed in Hearne's _Titus Liv. Forojul._ p. 198.

[75] Letter from J. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton, June 28, 1620: _Calendar of State Papers, 1619-23_, p. 157.

[76] An account of Mrs. Esther Inglis, and of all her known existing MSS., is preparing for publication by David Laing, Esq., LL.D., of Edinburgh.

A.D. 1621.

A gift of £5 is noticeable as coming from the Girdlers' Company, 'Societas Zonariorum.' Sir Francis Bacon occurs as a donor of books.

A.D. 1623.

Delegates were appointed by Convocation to consider 'de modulo frontispicii Bibliothecæ publicæ in parte occidentali versus collegium Exon[77].'

[77] Reg. Conv. N. ff. 167, 169.

A.D. 1624.

'Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, and then Lord Chancellor of England, would have borrowed Paulus Benius Eugubinus _De dirimend. Controvers. de Grat. et Lib. Arb._, but was deny'd[78].'

The first theft of a book from the Library occurred in this year. An account of it, with several others, will be found in a note to the year 1654.

[78] Barlow's MS. Arg. against lending books out of the Library; see _post, sub anno_ 1659.

A.D. 1627.

Andrew James, of Newport, Isle of Wight, is recorded to have given 'duas capsulas in quibus asservantur scripta vetustissima, exotici et ignoti characteris, alia stylo, calamo alia, in corticibus exarata, ex orientalis Indiæ partibus allata[79].' An East India merchant, John Jourdain, gave four Arabic MSS., and Bacon's _Works_ were presented by Peter Ince, a bookseller at Chester. It appears from the Register that Joseph Barnes, the Oxford printer and publisher, died in this year, as he bequeathed a legacy of £5.

[79] At the end of the Barocci collection (numbered 245, 246, in the Catalogue of 1697) are two Javanese MSS., written on palm-leaves: the one written with a reed in the sacred or Pali character, preserved in a box; the other written with a style in the common character, and having the leaves tied together in the usual manner between two boards. As there does not seem to be any evidence for supposing that Barocci's collection included any Oriental MSS., it is possible that these were the writings 'ignotis characteris' given two years previously by Andr. James.

A.D. 1628.

Twenty-nine MSS., all of which, except three, are Greek, were given by Sir Thomas Roe, who had previously been ambassador in Turkey, and who afterwards sat, at the commencement of the Long Parliament, as Burgess for the University, in company with Selden. One of the three exceptions is an original copy of the Synodal Epistles of the Council of Basle, with the leaden seal attached; and another, a valuable Arabic MS. of the Apostolic Canons, &c., which is noticed at length by Selden in the second book of his treatise, _De Synedriis Hebræorum_. Roe proposed that his books should be permitted to be lent out for purposes of printing, on proper security being given; a proposition which was accepted by Convocation[80]. Special licence of borrowing Lord Pembroke's (the Barocci) and Roe's MSS. was granted by the donors themselves to Dr. Lindsell (afterwards Bishop of Peterborough and Hereford) and Patrick Young, the keeper of the King's Library at St. James's. The latter is found, from the Register of Readers, to have used his privilege as late as Feb. and March, 1647-8, various volumes of Pembroke's MSS. being then lent to him, together with some marked 'Archbp.', which were doubtless Laud's[81].

The copy of Bacon's _Essays_ (1625) which was presented by the author to the Duke of Buckingham, was given to the Library by Lewis Roberts, a merchant of London. It is now exhibited among the curiosities in the first glass case, as a specimen of binding, being clad in green velvet, embroidered with gold and silver thread, with the head of the duke worked in silk. The same donor also presented the copy of Bishop Williams' Funeral Sermon on James I, which had been given to the same duke by the author. Several other specimens of embroidered bindings are preserved in the Library, which are all, it is believed, comprehended in the following list[82]:--

1. A part of L. Tomson's version of the New Test., printed by Barker, in 16^o (in 1578?), now marked MS. _e Musæo_, 242. This belonged to Queen Elizabeth, and is bound in a covering worked by herself, with various mottos, _e.g._ 'Celum patria,' 'Scopus vitæ Xpũs,' &c. And on a fly-leaf occurs this note in her handwriting: 'August[ine?]. I walke manie times into the pleasant fieldes of the Holye Scriptures, where I plucke up the goodlie greene herbes of sentences by pruning, eate them by reading, chawe them by musing, and laie them up at length in the hie seate of memorie by gathering them together; that so hauing tasted thy sweetenes I may the lesse perceave the bitternes of this miserable life[83].'

2. Another of Elizabeth's bibliopegic achievements is the cover of her own translation from the French of _The Miroir or Glasse of the synnefull Soule_, executed when only eleven years old. She says that she translated it 'out of frenche ryme into englishe prose, joyning the sentences together as well as the capacitie of my symple witte and small lerning coulde extende themselves;' and prefixes a dedication, dated 'from Assherige, the laste daye of the yeare of our Lord God, 1544,' in which, 'to our moste noble and vertuous quene Katherin, Elizabeth her humble daughter wisheth perpetuall felicitie and everlasting ioye.' The volume consists of 63 small quarto leaves, and has the queen's initials K. P. embroidered within an ornamental border of gold and silver thread, on a ground of blue corded silk. It is numbered Cherry MS. 38.

3. _Dialogue de la Vie et de la Mort_, trans. from the Italian by J. Louveau, and printed in imitation of MS., second edit., 12^o. Lyon, 1558. Red velvet, embroidered with gold and silver thread. A French inscription on a fly-leaf is in a handwriting resembling that of Queen Elizabeth. Bodl. MS., 660.

4. A Testament in 16^o, printed by Norton and Bill in 1625. Very thick and clumsy embroidery: on one side, David, in a flowing wig, playing on the harp, with a dog, dragon-fly, &c; on the other, Abraham, in a similar wig and with a falling collar, stopped in the sacrifice of his son. There is a tradition that this formed part of a waistcoat of Charles I; but it is not known on what evidence it rests, nor does the material seem likely to have been so employed. In the Douce collection. Exhibited in the glass case at the entrance of the Library.

5. Bible, 8^o Lond. 1639. Landscape, &c., worked in silk, with embroidery in gold and silver thread. Arch Bodl. D subt. 75.

6. Prayer-book, New Test., and Metrical Psalms, 1630-1, bound by the nuns of Little Gidding. Exhibited in the glass case. Bought in 1866 for £10[84].