Chapter IX: Preface (9)

The extravagance of the Duke compelled him to dispose of his magnificent collection during his lifetime, and it was sold in two parts by Mr. Evans at 26 Pall Mall. The sale, which consisted of four thousand seven hundred and one lots, commenced on the 7th of June 1819 and lasted till the 3rd of July following. It realised but fourteen thousand four hundred and eighty-two pounds, ten shillings and sixpence, a much less sum than that paid for the books by the Duke. The Valdarfer Boccaccio sold for nine hundred and eighteen pounds, fifteen shillings, and the Caxtons fetched one thousand three hundred and sixteen pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence; the highest prices being obtained for Gower's _Confessio Amantis_, and Chaucer's _Troylus and Creside_, which realised two hundred and five pounds, sixteen shillings, and one hundred and sixty-two pounds, fifteen shillings. The Book of St. Albans, which was imperfect, fetched eighty-four pounds; Luther's translation of the Bible, two hundred and twenty pounds, ten shillings; Churchyard's Works, eighty-five pounds, one shilling; and Shakespeare's _Sonnets_, thirty-seven pounds. The Missal said to have been written for Diana of Poitiers sold for one hundred and ten pounds, five shillings.

ALEXANDER, TENTH DUKE OF HAMILTON, 1767-1852

A good library had no doubt existed in Hamilton Palace for a considerable period of time, but Alexander, tenth Duke of Hamilton, who was born on the 5th of October 1767, and died on the 18th of August 1852, was the first of his line who was a book-collector on an extensive scale. He formed a large and very choice collection of printed books, but that of his manuscripts was of still greater interest and value. It was wonderfully rich in Bibles and portions of the Scriptures, Missals, Breviaries and Books of Hours, many of them having been written and illuminated for Francis I., King of France, the Emperor Maximilian, Pope Leo X., the Duke of Guise, and other distinguished personages. The finest of these was a copy of the Gospels in Latin, known as 'The Golden Gospels,' written about the end of the eighth century in gold letters upon purple vellum, which was at one time the property of King Henry VIII. Another famous manuscript in the library, valued at five thousand pounds, was the _Divina Commedia_ of Dante, illustrated with upwards of eighty original designs attributed to Sandro Botticelli, now in the Royal Library at Berlin.

In addition to his own books, the Duke acquired the whole of William Beckford's splendid collection by his marriage with Beckford's daughter Susan Euphemia. William, the eleventh Duke, who was born on February the 19th, 1811, and died on July the 15th, 1863, added considerably to the library, but his successor was reluctantly obliged to part with it, and it was advertised to be sold by auction on June 30th, 1882. Before, however, the time appointed for the sale, the Royal Museum at Berlin, by a private arrangement, acquired the whole of the manuscripts for a sum which is believed to have amounted to about seventy-five thousand pounds, and they were divided between that Institution and the Royal Library at Berlin. A portion of them, which related to Scottish history, was purchased of the Prussian authorities by the British Museum; and ninety-one other manuscripts which were not required by the Berlin Museum, including the 'Golden Gospels,' were sent to Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, by whom they were sold on the 23rd of May 1889 for fifteen thousand one hundred and eighty-nine pounds, ten shillings and sixpence. The 'Golden Gospels' was bought by Mr. Quaritch for one thousand five hundred pounds. The printed books were sold by the same auctioneers on May 1st, 1884, and seven following days. The sale consisted of two thousand one hundred and thirty-six lots, and realised twelve thousand eight hundred and ninety-two pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence. The following are a few of the rarest and most interesting books, and the prices they fetched--_Boecius de Consolatione Philosophie_, printed by Caxton in 1477-78, one hundred and sixty pounds; Dante's _Commedia_, printed at Florence in 1481, with twenty engravings by Baccio Baldini, three hundred and eighty pounds; the Poems of Pindar in Greek, printed by Aldus in 1513, with the arms of France and the monogram and devices of Henry II. and Diana of Poitiers on the binding, one hundred and forty-one pounds; the Prince of Conde's copy of _L'Hystoire du Roy Perceforest_, Paris, 1528, with his arms on the covers, one hundred and eighteen pounds; a dedication copy, printed upon vellum, and bound for James V., King of Scotland, of Hector Boece's _History and Croniklis_, translated by Bellenden, and printed at Edinburgh in 1536, the binding having on the upper cover IACOBVS QVINTVS, and on the lower REX SCOTORVM, eight hundred pounds; a Collection of Architectural Designs, executed with pen and ink by J. Androuet du Cerceau, in a beautiful binding attributed to Clovis Eve, two hundred and forty pounds; De Bry's _Collectiones Peregrinationum_, in eleven volumes, bound in blue morocco by Derome, five hundred and sixty pounds; Book of Common Prayer, 1637, folio--King Charles I.'s copy, with numerous alterations in his own handwriting which were used in printing the Scottish Prayer-book of the same year, usually termed Laud's Book. Prefixed to the Order for Morning Prayer the King has written: 'Charles R.--I gave the Archbp. of Canterbury comand to make the alteracons expressed in this Book and to fit a Liturgy for the Church of Scotland, and wheresoever they shall differ from another Booke signed by us at Hampt. Court Septembr. 28, 1634, our pleasure is to have these followed rather than the former; unless the Archbp. of St. Andrews and his Brethren who are upon the place shall see apparent reason to the contrary. At Whitehall, April 19, 1636'--one hundred and thirty-seven pounds.

The paintings and objects of art belonging to the Duke of Hamilton were sold in July 1882, and realised three hundred and ninety-seven thousand pounds.

SIR MARK MASTERMAN SYKES, BART., 1771-1823

Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, Bart., was the eldest son of Sir Christopher Sykes, second baronet, of Sledmere, Yorkshire. He was born on the 20th of August 1771, and in his seventeenth year was sent to Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1795 he served the office of High Sheriff of Yorkshire, and on the death of his father in 1801 he succeeded to the title and estates. He was elected Member of Parliament for the city of York in 1807; was again returned in 1812 and 1813, and retired on account of ill health in 1820. Sir M. Masterman Sykes was twice married. His first wife was Henrietta, daughter and heiress of Henry Masterman of Settrington, Yorkshire, and on his union with her in 1795 he assumed the additional name of Masterman. She died in 1813, and in the following year he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of William Tatton Egerton, and sister of Wilbraham Tatton Egerton, of Tatton Park, who survived him. Sir Mark died at Weymouth, on his way to London, on the 16th of February 1823. He had no children, and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Tatton Sykes.

Sir M. Masterman Sykes early developed a love for books, and the magnificent library which he formed, one of the finest private collections in England, was the result of upwards of thirty years' unremitting and careful work. Some of the rare volumes it contained, we are informed in the preface to the sale catalogue of his library written by the Rev. H.J. Todd, 'were procured during the collector's travels abroad, but many of them were acquired at the dispersion of the libraries of Major Pearson, Dr. Farmer, Steevens, Reed, the Rev. Mr. Brand, the Duke of Roxburghe and others, but especially of that of the late Mr. Edwards, from whom the celebrated Livy of 1469 was obtained--the only known copy of the first edition of Livy on vellum.'

Among the principal treasures of the collection were the Gutenberg Bible; the Psalter of 1459, on vellum; the _Rationale Divinorum Officiorum_ of Durandus, on vellum, 1459; the _Catholicon_ of Joannes Balbus de Janua, 1460; the Latin Bible of 1462, on vellum; and the Epistles of St. Jerome, on vellum, 1470: all printed at Mentz.

The library was especially rich in early editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, and on its shelves were to be found the only copy known to exist on vellum of the first edition of Livy, printed at Rome by Sweynheym and Pannartz about 1469, to which we have already referred; the first edition of Pliny, printed by Joannes de Spira at Venice in 1469; that printed at Rome by Sweynheym and Pannartz in 1470; a copy on vellum of the beautiful 1472 edition from the press of Nicolas Jenson of Venice; and the earliest editions of Homer, Cicero, Horace, Virgil, Tacitus, Terence, and Valerius Maximus.

The library also contained the Dante printed at Foligno in 1472, and that printed at Florence in 1481; the first issue of the Latin translation of the Letter of Columbus, printed at Rome in 1493; a fine copy of the _Poliphili Hypnerotomachia_, printed by Aldus at Venice in 1499; the Aldine Petrarch of 1501; several rare Missals and Books of Hours, the most notable of them being a vellum copy of the Vallombrosa Missal, printed at Florence in 1503; and a copy of the _Tewrdannck_, also on vellum, printed at Nuremberg in 1517.

There were several Caxtons, among them being _The Myrrour of the World_ and Higden's _Polychronicon_.

The literature of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. was well represented, and the library contained a copy of that rare work, Archbishop Parker's _De Antiquitate Ecclesiae Britannicae_.

The collection also comprised several fine and interesting manuscripts. Deserving especial notice were a beautiful illuminated Office, on vellum, of the Virgin Mary, executed for Francis I., King of France; the original Report of Convocation to Henry VIII. on the Legality of his proposed Divorce from Anne of Cleves, subscribed with the autograph signatures of the Archbishop and all the Bishops and Clergy assembled in Convocation, dated July 9th, 1540; and an autograph manuscript of Dugdale's Visitation of the County of York in 1665-66.

Sir M. Masterman Sykes possessed an immense collection of prints. It included a complete set of Bartolozzi's engravings which is said to have cost Sir Mark nearly five thousand pounds; his collection of portraits was considered to be one of the best in the kingdom; and Dibdin declared that his 'Faithornes and Hollars almost defied competition.' He also accumulated a considerable number of pictures, bronzes, coins and medals.

All the collections were dispersed by sale in 1824. The books were sold by Mr. Evans of Pall Mall in three parts, commencing on the 11th of May and continuing until the 28th of June. The total amount realised was eighteen thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine pounds, sixteen shillings. The prices obtained were by no means high. The Gutenberg Bible, which was a very fine one, fetched less than two hundred pounds, and the copy of the Mentz Psalter, for which Mr. Quaritch subsequently gave four thousand nine hundred and fifty pounds at Sir J. H. Thorold's sale in 1884, sold for one hundred and thirty-six pounds, ten shillings. The Latin Bible of 1462 was disposed of for the same sum; and the unique vellum Livy, which cost Sir Mark nine hundred and three pounds at the sale of Mr. Edwards's books in 1815, realised but four hundred and seventy-two pounds, ten shillings. This volume was bought by Messrs. Payne and Foss, who sold it to Mr. John Dent, and at the sale of his collection in 1827 it was acquired for two hundred and sixty-two pounds, ten shillings by the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, who bequeathed it to the British Museum in 1846. The three manuscripts mentioned--The Office of the Virgin Mary, the Report of Convocation on Henry VIII.'s divorce from Anne of Cleves, and Dugdale's Visitation of the County of York--fetched respectively one hundred and sixty-three pounds, sixteen shillings; two hundred and fifteen pounds, five shillings; and one hundred and fifty-seven pounds, ten shillings.

Sir M. Masterman Sykes was one of the original members of the Roxburghe Club, and in 1818 printed for presentation to the members a portion of Lydgate's Poems. He was the 'Lorenzo' of Dibdin, who describes him as 'not less known than respected for the suavity of his manners, the kindness of his disposition, and the liberality of his conduct in all matters connected with books and prints.'

RICHARD HEBER, 1773-1833

Richard Heber, styled by Sir Walter Scott 'Heber the Magnificent, whose library and cellar are so superior to all others in the world,' was the eldest son of Reginald Heber, lord of the manors of Marton in Yorkshire, and Hodnet in Shropshire, and was half-brother to Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta. He was born in Westminster on the 5th of January 1773, and was first educated under the private tuition of the Rev. George Henry Glasse; afterwards proceeding to Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1796, and M.A. in the following year. In 1822 the University conferred on him the degree of D.C.L. On the death of his father in 1804, Heber succeeded to the estates in Yorkshire and Shropshire, which he considerably augmented and improved. He was one of the founders of the Athenaeum Club, and in 1821 he was elected a representative in Parliament for the University of Oxford, but resigned his seat in 1826. From his earliest years he was an ardent collector, and Dibdin says that he had seen a catalogue of Heber's books, compiled by him at the age of eight; and when ten years old he requested his father to buy some volumes at a certain sale, where 'there would be the best editions of the classics.' Of many of his books he possessed several copies, and on being asked by a friend why he purchased them, he seriously replied: 'Why, you see, Sir, no man can comfortably do without _three_ copies of a book. One he must have for his show copy, and he will probably keep it at his country house. Another he will require for his own use and reference; and unless he is inclined to part with this, which is very inconvenient, or risk the injury of his best copy, he must needs have a third at the service of his friends.' Soon after the peace of 1815 Heber paid a visit to the Continent to collect books for his library, and in 1825 he again left England for a considerable period for the purpose of still further adding to his literary stores. On his return in 1831 he spent his time in seclusion between his country residence at Hodnet, near Shrewsbury, and his house at Pimlico, devoting himself to the last days of his life to the increase of his immense collection. He died at Pimlico of an attack on the lungs, accompanied with jaundice, on the 4th of October 1833, and was buried at Hodnet on the 16th of the following month. The Rev. Mr. Dyce in a letter to Sir Egerton Brydges, gives a melancholy account of his end. 'Poor man,' he writes, 'he expired at Pimlico, in the midst of his rare property, _without a friend to close his eyes_, and from all I have heard I am led to believe he died broken-hearted: he had been ailing for some time, but took no care of himself, and seemed indeed to court death. Yet his ruling passion was strong to the last. The morning he died he wrote out some memoranda for Thorpe about books which he wished to be purchased for him. He was the most liberal of book-collectors: I never asked him for the loan of a volume, _which he could lay his hand on_, he did not immediately send me.[91] Heber, who was a man of deep learning, numbered among his friends Porson, Cracherode, Canning, Southey, Dr. Burney, Sir Walter Scott, and many other distinguished persons. Sir Walter dedicated the sixth canto of _Marmion_ to him, and alludes to his library in the following lines:--

'Thy volumes, open as thy heart,
Delight, amusement, science, art,
To every ear and eye impart;
Yet who, of all who thus employ them,
Can like the owner's self enjoy them?--
But, hark! I hear the distant drum!
The day of Flodden Field is come.--
Adieu, dear Heber! Life and health,
And store of literary wealth.'

The number of volumes accumulated by Heber was enormous. He collected manuscripts as well as printed books. At the time of his death he possessed eight houses overflowing with books. At Hodnet he had built a new library which he is said to have filled with volumes selected on account of their fine condition; and so careful was he of these, that occasionally he used to engage the whole of the inside places of the coach for their conveyance from London. The walls of all the rooms and passages of his house at Pimlico were lined with books; and another house in York Street, Westminster, which he used as a depository for newly purchased books, was literally crammed with them from the floors to the ceilings. He had a library in the High Street, Oxford; an immense collection at Paris, which was sold in the years 1834 to 1836; another at Ghent, sold in 1835; and others at Brussels and Antwerp, together with smaller gatherings in several places on the Continent. Dibdin estimated the total number of volumes in Heber's collections in England at one hundred and twenty-seven thousand five hundred, but other calculations have placed it at a somewhat lower figure. The whole of the libraries which he possessed in England and on the Continent probably contained from one hundred and forty-five thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand volumes, as well as a very large number of pamphlets; and they are believed to have cost him about a hundred thousand pounds. As Heber was an accomplished scholar as well as a collector, his books were chosen with ability and judgment. He was a purchaser at every great sale, and so keen was he in the prosecution of his favourite pursuit, that on hearing of a rare book he has been known to undertake a coach journey of several hundred miles to obtain it. His library was particularly rich in the works of the early English poets, and his collection of Greek and Latin Classics, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French books was very extensive and choice, but he had a great objection to large paper copies, because they occupied so much room on his shelves. He possessed also a number of books printed in Mexico; and among his manuscripts were to be found the letters and papers of Sir Julius Caesar, the autograph manuscript of _The Monastery_, by Sir Walter Scott, and a large collection of the letters of distinguished men. For a considerable period his will could not be found, although diligent search was made for it, both at home and abroad, and his sister, Mrs. Cholmondeley, was on the point of taking out letters of administration, when it was accidentally discovered by Dr. Dibdin among some books on an upper shelf at Pimlico. As it did not contain any directions as to the disposal of his books, those in England, together with some brought from Holland, were sold by Sotheby and Son, Evans, and Wheatley at a series of sales extending over four years, and realised fifty-seven thousand five hundred and fifty-four pounds, twelve shillings. The catalogue is in thirteen parts, bearing the dates 1834-37. His books on the Continent, with the drawings and coins, fetched about ten thousand pounds more.

Heber edited the works of Persius Flaccus, Silius Italicus, and Claudianus. He also reprinted the _Caltha Poetarum, or the Bumble Bee_, of T. Cutwode, from the edition of 1599, for the Roxburghe Club, and assisted in the preparation of the third edition of Ellis's _Specimens of the Early English Poets_.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 91: _The Book Fancier._ By Percy Fitzgerald (London, 1887), p. 230.]

RICHARD GRENVILLE, FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, 1776-1839

Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, first Duke of Buckingham, was born in London on the 20th of March 1776. He was the eldest son of George Grenville, Earl Temple, who was made Marquis of Buckingham in 1784. He began collecting books at a very early age, and in 1798 had already commenced the formation of a library at Stowe; and the acquisition of the manuscripts and papers of Thomas Astle, Keeper of the Records in the Tower; the Irish manuscripts from Belanagare, the seat of The O'Conor Don; the State Papers of Arthur Capel, Earl of Essex, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in the reign of Charles II., together with some other purchases, placed his library among the finest private collections in the kingdom.[92] On the death of his father in 1813 he succeeded to the title, and nine years later he was created Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. In 1827, in consequence of his great expenditure on his various collections, and the munificence with which he had entertained the royal family of France, he found himself in embarrassed circumstances, and left England, remaining abroad about two years. In 1834 he was compelled to sell his furniture, pictures, and articles of virtu, but did not part with his books, which, on his death on the 17th of January 1839, passed into the possession of his only son, Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, who was born on February the 11th, 1797. The habits of the son were not less extravagant than those of his father, and in 1847 the effects at Stowe and his other residences were seized by bailiffs, and in August and September 1848 the pictures, furniture, china, plate, etc., were sold by auction, realising over seventy-five thousand five hundred pounds. The printed books in the library were sold by Sotheby and Wilkinson, on January 8th, 1849, and eleven following days, and January 29, and eleven following days. There were six thousand two hundred and twelve lots in the two sales, which brought ten thousand three hundred and fifty-five pounds, seven shillings and sixpence. The extensive and valuable series of engraved portraits contained in the Duke's illustrated copy of the _Biographical History of England_, by the Rev. James Granger, was sold by the same auctioneers on March 5th and eight following days, and a continuation of it by the Rev. Mark Noble, together with some other engravings, on the 21st of March and five following days. There were two thousand two hundred and one lots in these two sales, for which the sum of three thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine pounds, eighteen shillings and sixpence was obtained. The manuscripts were bought by the Earl of Ashburnham for eight thousand pounds. The collection of printed books in the Stowe library was inferior in interest to that of the manuscripts, but it contained some rare and choice volumes. Amongst them was a block-book, _The Apocalypse_, which sold for ninety-four pounds; _Missale ad usum Ecclesiae Andegavensis_, on vellum, printed in 1489, sixty-three pounds; Le Fevre's _Recuyles of the Hystoryes of Troye_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1503, fifty-five pounds; a complete set of the twenty-five parts in eight volumes of De Bry's _Collectiones Peregrinationum_, printed at Frankfurt in 1590-1634, eighty-one pounds; De Bry's _Relation of Virginia_, translated by Hariot, printed at Frankfurt in 1590, sixty-three pounds; the first Shakespeare folio (mended, and the title-page slightly imperfect), seventy-six pounds; fine, large, and perfect copies of the second and third folios, eleven pounds, five shillings and thirty-five pounds; Shakespeare's _Poems_, 1640, seven pounds, ten shillings; Prynne's _Records_, three volumes, 1665-70, one hundred and forty pounds; the fourth volume, printed in 1665 or 1666, believed to be unique, three hundred and thirty-five pounds; Houbraken's _Heads of Illustrious Persons_, two volumes, 1756, folio, large paper, with first states and duplicate proofs of the plates, etc., ninety-one pounds; Bartolozzi's Engravings, a collection of six hundred and sixty plates in various proof states, bound in eight folio volumes, sixty-two pounds; Boydell's Prints, five hundred and forty fine impressions, bound in nine folio volumes, seventy-eight pounds, fifteen shillings; Lysons's _Topographical Account of Buckinghamshire_, inlaid in eight volumes, atlas folio, and super-illustrated with four hundred and eighty drawings, etc., five hundred and forty pounds; and Lysons's _Environs of London_, large paper, eighteen volumes quarto, super-illustrated with eight hundred drawings and a large number of plates, one hundred and thirty-three pounds. The Duke, who died at the Great Western Hotel, London, on July the 29th, 1861, was the author of _Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George III._, 1853-55, two volumes; _Memoirs of the Court of England during the Regency_, 1856, two volumes; _Memoirs of the Court of George IV._, 1859, two volumes; _Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of William IV. and Victoria_, 1861, two volumes; and _Private Diary of Richard, Duke of Buckingham and Chandos_, 1862, four volumes; together with a few political works.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 92: A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the Stowe library by the Rev. Charles O'Conor, D.D., the Duke's librarian, was printed in 1818-19.]

HENRY PERKINS, 1778-1855

Henry Perkins, who was born in 1778, was a partner in the well-known firm of Barclay, Perkins and Co., brewers, but he does not appear to have taken an active part in the business, and he spent the later part of his life in retirement among his books at Hanworth Park, Middlesex. He died at Dover on the 15th of April 1855.

Mr. Perkins, who was a Fellow of the Linnean, Geological and Horticultural Societies, possessed a small but exceedingly valuable library, which, among many other extremely rare books, contained two copies of the Gutenberg Bible, one on vellum and the other on paper; a copy on vellum of Fust and Schoeffer's Latin Bible of 1462; a copy of the Coverdale Bible; several works from the press of Caxton, and the first four editions of Shakespeare's Plays. It also comprised many fine manuscripts, some of them superbly illuminated. Mr. Henry Perkins bequeathed his books to his son, Mr. Algernon Perkins, and after his death in 1870 they were sold by auction at Hanworth by Gadsden, Ellis and Co. on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th of June 1873. There were but eight hundred and sixty-five lots in the sale, but they realised an average of thirty pounds, or a total of twenty-five thousand nine hundred and fifty-four pounds, four shillings, the largest sum ever obtained for a library of the same extent. The vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible was purchased for the Earl of Ashburnham for three thousand four hundred pounds; and the paper copy, now in the Huth library, fetched two thousand six hundred and ninety. Fust and Schoeffer's Latin Bible of 1462, which Mr. Perkins acquired at the sale of Mr. Dent's books for one hundred and seventy-three pounds, five shillings, sold for seven hundred and eighty pounds; while the copy of Coverdale's Bible, which wanted the title and two following leaves and the map, realised four hundred pounds; and the 1623 edition of Shakespeare's Plays brought five hundred and eighty-five pounds. The manuscripts also went for large sums. John Lydgate's _Sege of Troye_, a magnificently illuminated manuscript on vellum of the fifteenth century; _Les OEuvres Diverses_ of Jehan de Meun; and _Les Cent Histoires de Troye_ of Christine de Pisan, of about the same period, sold respectively for thirteen hundred and twenty, six hundred and ninety, and six hundred and fifty pounds. The prices obtained for the books were generally greatly in excess of those given by Mr. Perkins for them.

FREDERICK PERKINS, 1780-1860

Frederick Perkins of Chepstead, Kent, born in 1780, was a brother of Henry Perkins, and a partner in the same firm. He also formed a good library, which contained the first four Shakespeare folios, and a considerable number of the separate plays in quarto. Among them were the first editions of _Love's Labour Lost_, _Much Ado about Nothing_, the Second Part of _Henry the Fourth_, _Troilus and Cressida_, _Pericles_, _Othello_, and the second or first complete edition of _Romeo and Juliet_, as well as the first edition of _Lucrece_. Three Caxtons were to be found in the collection: the _Mirrour of the World_, the _Chastising of Goddes Children_, and Higden's _Polycronicon_, but they were not good copies. The library also comprised some fine illuminated Horae and other manuscripts, including a copy on vellum of Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ of the fifteenth century. Mr. Perkins died on the 10th of October 1860, and his library was sold by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge on July 10th, 1889, and six following days. There were two thousand and eighty-six lots in the sale, which realised eight thousand two hundred and twenty-two pounds, seven shillings. The first Shakespeare folio fetched four hundred and fifteen pounds, the second forty-seven pounds, the third one hundred pounds, and the fourth fourteen pounds. Of the quarto plays, the Second Part of _Henry the Fourth_ sold for two hundred and twenty-five pounds, _Othello_ for one hundred and thirty pounds, and _Romeo and Juliet_ for one hundred and sixty-four pounds. The copies of _Love's Labour Lost_, _Much Ado about Nothing_, _Troilus and Cressida_, and _Pericles_ were poor ones, and realised but comparatively small sums. The _Lucrece_ fetched two hundred pounds.

JOHN BELLINGHAM INGLIS, 1780-1870

John Bellingham Inglis was born in London on the 14th of February 1780. His father, a partner in the firm of Inglis, Ellice and Co., merchants, Mark Lane, London, was a Director of the East India Company, and was at one time its Chairman. In consequence of the failure of his father young Inglis set up in business on his own account in the wine trade, but this not proving successful, he retired after a short time on the money rescued from the wreck of the fortune of his father, who died soon after his failure. He resided for many years in St. John's Wood, but afterwards removed to Hampstead Heath. He died at 13 Albion Road, N.W., on the 9th of December 1870.

Mr. Inglis, who was a good classical scholar, an excellent linguist, and a man of considerable literary ability, commenced collecting books at a very early age, and soon formed a very valuable and important library, which was especially rich in works from the presses of the early English printers. Unlike some possessors of libraries, he read the books which he had collected; and the Duke of Sussex, at one of his literary dinners at Kensington Palace, is reported to have said: 'Gentlemen, you are all very learned about titles, editions, and printers, but none of you seem to have read anything of the books except Mr. Inglis here.' In 1832 he translated into English, for the first time, the _Philobiblon_ of Richard de Bury, and presented it to Thomas Rodd, the bookseller, who published it. He also made translations of several other mediaeval printed books and manuscripts, which have never been published. A biographical notice of him appears in _The Bookworm_ of December 1870, by J.P. Berjeau, the editor of that periodical. A portion of Inglis's books was sold anonymously by Sotheby on June 9th, 1826, and seven following days. The title-page of the catalogue reads: 'Catalogue of a singularly curious and valuable selection from the Library of a Gentleman, including three extraordinary specimens of Block Printing; Books printed in the Fifteenth Century; Books printed on vellum; Fine copies of Works from the Presses of Caxton, Machlinia, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, Julyan Notary, Verard, etc.; an extensive Collection of Old English Poetry; Romances; Historical and Theological Tracts; early Voyages and Travels; curious Treatises on Witches and Witchcraft; some of the earliest Dictionaries and Vocabularies in the English Language, etc. Likewise several Manuscripts on vellum, most beautifully illuminated, etc.' The number of lots in this sale was sixteen hundred and sixty-five, and the sum realised three thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds, nine shillings and sixpence. The prices obtained for the books were extremely low. The three block-books:--the first edition of the _Speculum Humanae Salvationis_, _Historia Sancti Johannis Evangelistae ejusque Visiones Apocalypticae_, and the _Biblia Pauperum_ fetched but ninety-five pounds, eleven shillings; forty-seven pounds, five shillings, and thirty-six pounds, fifteen shillings respectively; while no more than four hundred and thirty-one pounds, fifteen shillings and sixpence could be obtained for the thirteen Caxtons in the sale--about thirty-three pounds each. The following are a few of the other notable books in this fine collection, and the prices they fetched: _Les Faits de Maistre Alain Chartier, imprimez a Paris par Pierre le Caron pour Anthoine Verard_, printed on vellum, with capital letters painted in gold and colours, fifty-six pounds, fourteen shillings; _Le Recueil des Histoires Troiennes, imprime a Paris par Anthoine Verard_, presentation copy to Charles VIII., printed on vellum, ornamented with eighty-three miniatures, twenty-seven pounds; Vincent, _Les cinq volumes du Miroir Hystorial_, _imprime a Paris par Anthoine Verard_, 1495-96, forty-six pounds, four shillings; _Speculum Christiani_, printed by Machlinia, sixteen pounds, sixteen shillings; _Promptorius Puerorum_, printed by Pynson in 1499, thirty-eight pounds, seventeen shillings; _The Floure of the Commandments of God_, Wynkyn de Worde, 1521, thirteen pounds, thirteen shillings; _The Catechisme, set furth by ... Johne, Archbischop of Sanct Androus, etc. Prentit at Sanct Androus_, 1552, sixteen pounds, five shillings and sixpence; _Mary of Nemmegen_, printed at Antwerp by Jan Van Doesborgh in 1518 or 1519, the only copy known, twenty-four pounds; Painter, _The Palace of Pleasure_, London, Thomas Marshe, 1575, a very fine copy, twenty-three pounds; and Shakespeare's _Sonnets_, London, 1609, forty pounds, nineteen shillings. Perhaps the finest of the manuscripts were a beautifully illuminated copy on vellum of the _Liber de Proprietatibus Rerum, Anglice_, by Bartholomaeus de Glanvilla, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, which fetched fifty-one pounds, nine shillings; and Boccaccio's _Tragedies of the Falle of Unfortunate Princes_, translated into English verse, written on vellum in England in the early part of the fifteenth century, and richly illuminated. Thirty pounds, nine shillings was all that was obtained for this fine manuscript. After Inglis's death, his son, Dr. C. Inglis, sold such books as he could not find room for. They were disposed of by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge on the 31st of July 1871, and five following days, and realised two thousand seven hundred and sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings and sixpence. Among the fifteen hundred and eighty-eight lots in the sale were a few rare books and some fine papyri. A third sale of the books in this splendid library, by order of Dr. C. Inglis, took place on June 11th, 1900, and three following days, by the same auctioneers. In this sale there were eight hundred and forty-nine lots, for which the sum of seven thousand five hundred and nineteen pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence was obtained. Although no Caxtons were to be found among the books, there were many rare and interesting examples from the presses of Machlinia, Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde, Julian Notary and other early English printers. The foreign printers were also well represented, and the collection contained several beautiful Books of Hours, both printed and in manuscript. Some very high prices were obtained for the more important books, as the following list of a few of the most notable will show:--_Speculum Humanae Salvationis_, printed by G. Zainer at Augsburg in 1471, eighty-four pounds; Turrecremata, _Meditationes_, Romae, 1473, one hundred pounds; the first edition of the _Philobiblon_ of Richard de Bury, Coloniae, 1473, eighty pounds; _Rolle de Hampole super Job_, attributed to the Oxford press of Rood and Hunt, about 1481-86, three hundred pounds; _Chronicle of England_, printed by Machlinia about 1484, one hundred and seventy-five pounds; _Heures de lusaige de Romme_, with cuts printed in various colours, Paris, Jehan du Pre, 1490, two hundred and seventy-two pounds; First Letter of Columbus (Latin) 1493, Vespuccius, _Mundus Novus_, 1502, and other rare tracts in one volume, two hundred and thirty pounds; _Verardus in Laudem Fernandi Hispaniarum Regis_, etc., containing the letter of Columbus to King Ferdinand on his discovery of America, 1494, ninety pounds; _Vitas Patrum_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1495, fifty pounds; _Hoefken van Devotien_, Antwerpen, 1496, one hundred and one pounds; _Postilla Epistolarum et Evangeliorum Dominicalium_, printed by Julian Notary in 1509, fifty pounds; _Mirrour of Oure Ladye_, R. Fawkes, 1530, forty-nine pounds; _Heures de Rome_, with illustrations by Geoffroy Tory, Paris, 1525, one hundred and forty-four pounds; and Spenser's _Faerie Queene_, _Foure Hymnes_, _Prothalamion_, etc., all first editions, 1590-96, one hundred and seventy pounds.

WILLIAM HENRY MILLER, 1789-1848

Mr. William Henry Miller, who was born in 1789, was the only child of Mr. William Miller of Craigentinny, Midlothian. In 1830 he entered Parliament as one of the Members for Newcastle-under-Lyme, which seat he held until the year 1841. He died unmarried at his residence, Craigentinny House, near Edinburgh, on the 31st of October 1848, and was buried, according to his desire, in a mausoleum on his estate. Mr. Miller formed a fine collection of very choice books at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire, many of which he acquired at the Heber and other important sales of the first half of the nineteenth century. He was very particular about the condition and size of the volumes he purchased, and from his habit of carrying a foot-rule about him for the purpose of ascertaining their dimensions he became known as 'Measure Miller.' The library was bequeathed to his cousin Miss Marsh, from whom it passed to Mr. Samuel Christie-Miller, who was Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1847 to 1859, and on his death on the 5th of April 1889 to Mr. Wakefield Christie-Miller, who died at Dublin on the 22nd of February 1898. Many rare books have been added to the Britwell Library by its later possessors. The additions made by the last owner were especially important, notably that of the larger portion of the Elizabethan rarities discovered in 1867 at Lamport Hall, the seat of Sir Charles Isham; and the collection may now be considered unrivalled among private libraries for the number of choice examples of English and Scottish literature which it contains, particularly in the division of English poetry. The finest copy known of the _Dictes or Sayings of the Philosophers_, one of the three extant copies of the _Morale Prouerbes of Cristyne_, and nine other works printed by Caxton, are to be found on the shelves of the library, as well as a large number of books from the presses of Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, Julyan Notary, and other early English printers. Among them are many editions of the grammatical treatises of Robert Whitinton and John Stanbridge, printed by Wynkyn de Worde, and unique copies of Fitzherbert's _Boke of Husbandrie_, the romance of _Oliver of Castile_, and _Fysshynge with an Angle_, all by the same printer. The library contains also a fine series of the early editions of the English Chronicles, and of the works of Chaucer. Among the treasures of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods are the first Shakespeare folio (the second, third, and fourth folios are also in the library); an unique copy of an edition of _Venus and Adonis_, printed for William Leake at London in 1599, from the Isham collection; all the early editions of Sidney's _Arcadia_; fine examples of the early editions of the works of Edmund Spenser; the only perfect copy known of the first edition of the _Paradyse of Daintie Devises_; and remarkably complete sets of the works of Churchyard, Breton, Greene, Dekker, Wither and Brathwaite. Other notable books in this splendid library are a copy on vellum, with coloured maps, of Ptolemy's _Cosmographia_, printed at Ulm in 1482, and bound by Derome; the Aldine edition of _Poliphili Hypnerotomachia_, in the original binding, and an unique copy of the English translation printed in London by Samuel Waterson in 1592; a fine and perfect set in nine parts of the _Mirrour of Princely Deedes and Knighthood_ (a translation of the Spanish _Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros_); editions of Hakluyt's _Voyages_; a beautiful and tall copy of _Purchas his Pilgrimes_; the finest and most complete set which has been formed of De Bry's _Voyages_; the first issue of Milton's _Paradise Lost_; the first edition of Walton's _Compleat Angler_ in the original sheepskin binding; the Kilmarnock edition of Burns's _Poems_; and several of the original editions of Shelley's works, including the excessively rare _OEdipus Tyrannus_. There is a fine collection of early English music in the Britwell Library, and it possesses the greater portion of the Heber ballads and broadsides, and a large number of books which once belonged to De Thou. Many of the volumes are masterpieces of the work of Bedford, Riviere, Lortic, and other English and foreign binders.

GEORGE DANIEL, 1789-1864

George Daniel was born in London on the 16th of September 1789. After receiving an education at Mr. Thomas Hogg's boarding-school at Paddington Green, he became a clerk to a stockbroker in Tokenhouse Yard,[93] and afterwards followed the profession of an accountant; but he employed all his leisure time in literary pursuits, and in the collection of books, works of art and curiosities. He commenced writing at a very early age, and was the author of a novel _The Adventures of Dick Distich_, and a considerable number of poetical and dramatic pieces. He also contributed many articles to _Ackerman's Poetical Magazine_, _Bentley's Miscellany_, and other magazines, and was the editor of Cumberland's _British Theatre_, and Cumberland's _Minor Theatre_. His first printed production, _Stanzas on Lord Nelsons Victory and Death_, written in conjunction with a young friend, appeared in 1805, but he tells us that he wrote some verses when he was but eight years of age on the death of his father. In 1811 he published a poem called _The Times, or the Prophecy_, and in 1812 a poetical squib founded on the reputed horse-whipping of the Prince of Wales by Lord Yarmouth, entitled _R-y-l Stripes; or, a Kick from Yar--th to Wa--s_, for the suppression of which a large sum was paid by the Prince Regent. In the same year appeared _The Adventures of Dick Distich_ in three volumes, which was written by the author before he was eighteen, and a volume of _Miscellaneous Poems_; and in 1814 _The Modern Dunciad_, in which he sings the praises of 'old books, old wines, old customs, and old friends.' He continued to write during the whole of his life, and his last work, _Love's Last Labour not Lost_, was published in 1863. Daniel was fond of convivial society, and numbered Charles Lamb and Robert Bloomfield among his acquaintances, and he was also intimate with many of the principal actors of the day. He died at his son's house, The Grove, Stoke Newington, on the 30th of March 1864. The cause of his death was apoplexy.

Daniel formed a very choice and valuable library in his residence, 18 Canonbury Square, Islington, which was chiefly remarkable for rare editions of old English writers, and very fine collections of Elizabethan black-letter ballads and Shakespeariana. The Elizabethan ballads would alone be sufficient to render any library famous. They were one hundred and forty-nine in number, and he is said to have purchased them for fifty pounds from Mr. William Stevenson Fitch, Postmaster at Ipswich, who is believed to have obtained them from the housekeeper at Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, the residence of the Tollemache family. Of these ballads seventy-nine were sold to Mr. Heber by Mr. Daniel for seventy pounds, and the remaining seventy were bought at the sale of his library for seven hundred and fifty pounds by Mr. Huth, who had them printed for presentation to the members of the Philobiblon Society. The Shakespearian collection comprised splendid copies of the first four folios and eighteen of the quarto plays, together with the 1594 and 1655 editions of _Lucrece_, the 1594 and 1596 editions of _Venus and Adonis_, and the first editions of the _Sonnets_ and _Poems_. The library also contained a large number of early Jest-Books, Drolleries, Garlands and Penny-Histories; and among the rare editions of English writers were works by John Skelton, Edmund Spenser, Anthony Chute, Robert Chester, Anthony Munday, Ben Jonson, Patrick Hannay, George Herbert, Robert Herrick, John Milton, and many others. Several very beautiful manuscripts were also to be found in it.

Daniel's library was sold by auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge on the 20th of July 1864, and the nine following days. There were eighteen hundred and seventeen lots, which realised thirteen thousand nine hundred and eighty-four pounds, eleven shillings; the water-colour drawings, engravings, portraits, coins, etc., of which there were four hundred and sixty-one lots, were sold at the same time, and produced one thousand eight hundred and eighty pounds, eleven shillings more.

The sale excited great interest, and many of the books went for large sums; but the prices obtained for others were small compared with those the volumes would fetch at the present time: a fine copy of the first edition of Walton's _Compleat Angler_ realised no more than twenty-seven pounds, ten shillings. All the Shakespeares sold well. The first folio, probably the finest example extant, was bought by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts for six hundred and eighty-two guineas, till recently the highest price ever obtained for a copy;[94] and the second, third and fourth folios fetched respectively one hundred and forty-eight pounds, forty-six pounds, and twenty-one pounds, ten shillings. The third folio was a good copy, but had the title in facsimile, which accounts for the small sum it realised. Of the quarto plays, the first edition of _King Richard the Third_--a very fine copy--sold for three hundred and fifty-one pounds, fifteen shillings; the first editions of the _Merry Wives of Windsor_ and _Love's Labour Lost_ for three hundred and forty-six pounds, ten shillings each, and the first edition of _King Richard the Second_ for three hundred and forty-one pounds, five shillings. The 1594 and 1596 editions of _Venus and Adonis_ realised two hundred and forty pounds and three hundred and fifteen pounds; a copy of the _Sonnets_ two hundred and twenty-five pounds, fifteen shillings; and the first edition of _Lucrece_ one hundred and fifty-seven pounds, ten shillings. The copy of _Love's Labour Lost_, and the 1596 edition of _Venus and Adonis_, of which the Bodleian Library possesses the only other copy, were secured for the British Museum.

The following are a few of the other more notable books in the library, together with the prices they fetched at the sale:--Unique copy of _The Boke of Hawkynge and Huntynge and Fysshynge_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde, without date, one hundred and eight pounds; _Rychard Cuer de Lyon_, also printed by Wynkyn de Worde, 1528, ninety-two pounds; _Complaynt of a Dolorous Lover_, printed by Robert Wyer about 1550, unique, sixty-seven pounds, four shillings; _The Tragicall Historie of Romeus and Juliet_ (London, 1562), seventy-seven pounds, fourteen shillings; _Merry Jeste of a shrewde and curste Wyfe_ (London, about 1575), unique, sixty-four pounds; Munday's _Banquet of Daintie Conceits_ (London, 1588), unique, two hundred and twenty-five pounds; Chute's _Beawtie Dishonoured_, written under the title of _Shores Wife_ (London, 1593), unique, ninety-six pounds; _Maroccus Extaticus, or Bankes Bay Horse_ (London, 1595), eighty-one pounds; Chester's _Loves Martyr, or Rosalins Complaynt_ (London, 1601)--this work contains a poem (Threnos) by Shakespeare at p. 172--one hundred and thirty-eight pounds; _Meeting of Gallants at an Ordinarie, or the Walkes in Powles_ (London, 1604), unique, eighty-one pounds; _Sejanus, his Fall_, by Ben Jonson, first edition (London, 1605), printed on large paper, a presentation copy from the author with the following autograph inscription--

'To my perfect friend Mr. Francis Crane
I erect this Altar of Friendship,
and leave it as an eternall witnesse of my Love.

BEN JONSON'--

unique, one hundred and six pounds; Hannay's _Philomela, the Nightingale_, etc. (London, 1622), ninety-six pounds.

A carved casket made out of the mulberry tree in Shakespeare's Garden, and presented to Garrick with the freedom of the borough of Stratford-on-Avon, was purchased at Charles Mathews's sale in 1835 by Daniel for forty-seven guineas, and presented by him to the British Museum.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 93: _Dictionary of National Biography._]

[Footnote 94: At a sale at Sotheby's on July 11th, 1899, Mr. M'George of Glasgow gave seventeen hundred pounds for a copy; and two years later Mr. Quaritch purchased another copy at Christie's for seventeen hundred and twenty pounds.]

WILLIAM, SIXTH DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, 1790-1858

All the Dukes of Devonshire were men of letters and collectors of books. William, the first Duke, acquired many volumes which had belonged to De Thou, and William, the third Duke, bought largely at the sales of the libraries of Colbert, Baluze, Count von Hoym and other collectors of his time; but William, the sixth Duke, who was born on May the 21st, 1790, may justly be regarded as the founder of the Chatsworth Library in its present form. 'He imbibed a taste for literature and books,' says Sir J.P. Lacaita in his preface to the catalogue of the Library, 'from his mother, Lady Georgiana Spencer, the "beautiful Duchess of Devonshire," and from his uncle George John, second Earl Spencer, who formed what is perhaps the finest private library in existence.' In 1811 he succeeded to the Dukedom, and shortly afterwards endeavoured to add to his library Count M'Carthy's collection, for which he offered twenty thousand pounds, but the offer was declined. He purchased the choicer portion of the books of Thomas Dampier, Bishop of Ely, and he bought largely at the sales of the Edwards, Roxburghe, Towneley and other libraries. In 1815 the Duke removed the books from his other residences to Chatsworth with a view to the formation of a great library there,[95] and in 1821 he purchased John Philip Kemble's splendid collection of plays for two thousand pounds, adding to it four years later the first edition of _Hamlet_, which he purchased of Messrs. Payne and Foss, the booksellers of Pall Mall, for one hundred pounds. But one other copy of this precious little volume is known to exist, that in the British Museum, which wants the title-page, while that acquired by the Duke is without the last leaf. After the death of the Duke on January the 18th, 1858, the collection at Chatsworth was further enlarged by his successor, who transferred to it some choice books from the library at Chiswick, and also added to it a select portion of the books of his brother, Lord Richard Cavendish, who died in 1873.[96] In 1879 a catalogue of the books at Chatsworth was compiled by Sir J.P. Lacaita, the librarian, in four volumes, and printed at the Chiswick Press. The library is rich in choice and early editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, and the productions of the Aldine Press are particularly numerous and fine. Of the Bibles, the Latin Bible of 1462, and a vellum copy of that printed by Jenson in 1476, are perhaps the most important. As many as twenty-five works from the press of Caxton, and twenty-four from that of Wynkyn de Worde are to be found in the catalogue. Among the Caxtons is a copy of the _Recuyell of the Histories of Troye_, which once belonged to Elizabeth Grey, wife of Edward IV. This volume was bought at the Roxburghe sale for one thousand and sixty pounds, ten shillings. A magnificent copy of De Bry's _Collectiones Peregrinationum_, which formerly belonged to Francois Cesar Le Tellier, Marquis de Courtanvaux, is also deserving of special notice. A large proportion of the books are in handsome and historical bindings, and no fewer than twenty-four volumes from the library of Grolier are to be found on the shelves of the collection, which also contains a nearly complete set of County Histories. Among the manuscripts is one of great interest. It is a Missal given by King Henry VII. to his daughter Margaret, Queen Consort of James IV., King of Scotland, and mother of the Lady Margaret Douglas, who later presented the volume to the Archbishop of St. Andrews. The book contains two notes in the handwriting of Henry. On the recto of the fourteenth leaf he has written, 'Remember yor kynde and louyng fader an yor good prayers, Henry Ky'; and on the reverse of leaf 32, 'Pray for your louyng fader that gave you this booke, and I geve you att all tymes godds bless[~y]g and myne, Henry Ky.' On the reverse of leaf 156 Lady Margaret Douglas has written, 'My good lorde of Saynt Andrews i pray you pray for me that gaufe yow thys buuk--yowrs too my pour, Margaret.'

The Devonshire library also contains a magnificent series of drawings by the old masters, and prints by the early engravers, which were acquired by William, the second Duke. The gem of the collection of drawings is the _Liber Veritatis_, a set of original designs by Claude Lorrain, which Louis XIV. endeavoured in vain to purchase.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 95: Preface to the catalogue of the library at Chatsworth, by Sir J.P. Lacaita.]

[Footnote 96: _Ibid._]

SIR THOMAS PHILLIPPS, BART., 1792-1872