English Book Collectors Part 13

A portrait of Mr. Cracherode appears in Clarke's _Repertorium Bibliographic.u.m_, and in Dibdin's _Bibliographical Decameron_. This was engraved, contrary to his express wishes, from a drawing made by Edridge for Lady Spencer. An explanation is given by Dr. Dibdin of the circ.u.mstances under which the likeness was reproduced.

JOHN TOWNELEY, 1731-1813

John Towneley, who was born on the 15th of June 1731, and died on the 13th of May 1813, was the younger son of Richard Towneley of Towneley, in the county of Lancaster, and Mary, daughter of William, Lord Widdrington. He married Barbara, fourth daughter of Edward Dicconson of Wrightington, in the county of Lancaster, by whom he had a daughter, Barbara, who married Sir William Stanley, Bart., of Hooton, and a son, Peregrine Edward, who succeeded to the estates. Dibdin, in his _Bibliographical Decameron_, informs us that 'Mr. Towneley had one of the finest figures, as an elderly gentleman (for he died at 82), that could possibly be seen. His stature was tall and frame robust; his gait was firm; his countenance was Roman-like; his manners were conciliatory, and his language was una.s.suming. His habits were simple and perhaps severe. He generally rose at five, and lighted his own library fire--and his health was manifest in his person and countenance. He was entirely an unpretending man--and may be said to have collected rather from the pleasure and reputation attached to such pursuits than from a thorough and keen relish of the kind of taste which it imparts. He had an ample purse, and it was most liberally unstrung when there was occasion for effectual aid. This observation may equally apply to matters out of the _bibliomaniacal_ record; but as a book-purchaser he was considered among the most heavy-metalled and determined champions in the field.'

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The library formed by Mr. Towneley was a particularly good one, and it was remarkable for the large number of rare and fine examples it possessed of books from the presses of Caxton, Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde, Julian Notary, and other early English printers. No fewer than nine Caxtons were to be found on its shelves, and Pynson and Wynkyn de Worde were especially well represented. Among the Caxtons were the first edition of the _Dictes or Sayings of the Philosophers_, the _Fayts of Arms_, and _Troilus and Creside_, together with the _Life of St.

Katherine_, published by Caxton's executors. Perhaps the most important of the other early English books were Boccaccio's _Falle of Princis_, translated by Lydgate, and Froissart's _Cronycle_, both printed by Pynson; and the _Vitas Patrum_ and the _Kalender of Shepeherdes_ by Wynkyn de Worde. The library also contained some exceedingly rare and valuable ma.n.u.scripts, of which some of the most notable were a famous copy of the _Iliad_, a _Pontificale_ of Pope Innocent IV., and a very interesting and curious collection of English Miracle-Plays acted at Wakefield in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.[79] Of the copy of the _Iliad_, Clarke in his _Repertorium Bibliographic.u.m_ remarks:--'This is the identical ma.n.u.script which was formerly in the possession of Victorius and Salviati at Florence, the supposed loss of which had been deplored for more than two centuries. Critics have unanimously a.s.signed to it a very remote period of antiquity. It is written upon vellum in a very fair and legible hand, and the margins are replete with most valuable and important scholia. Heyne has given a facsimile of it in his Homer. It was purchased by the late Rev. Dr. Burney, whose entire collection is now deposited in the British Museum.'

Towneley's books were sold after his death, in three portions, by Evans of Pall Mall. The first sale took place on June 8th, 1814, and six following days. It comprised nine hundred and five lots, which realised five thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven pounds, four s.h.i.+llings. The second sale occurred on June 19th, 1815, and nine following days, and the seventeen hundred and three lots in it fetched two thousand seven hundred and seven pounds, sixteen s.h.i.+llings. The third sale consisted only of a few remaining books, which were disposed of in conjunction with the library of Mr. Auditor Harley on May 22nd, 1817, and six following days. Eleven hundred and twenty-seven pounds, two s.h.i.+llings were obtained for the nine Caxtons; the _Troilus and Creside_, the _Life of St. Katherine_, and the _Dictes or Sayings of the Philosophers_ fetching the highest prices, viz. two hundred and fifty-two pounds, two s.h.i.+llings, two hundred and thirty-one pounds, and one hundred and eighty-nine pounds. Bochas's _Falle of Princis_ and Froissart's _Cronycle_ realised twenty-seven pounds, sixteen s.h.i.+llings and sixpence, and forty-two pounds; and the _Vitas Patrum_ and the _Kalender of Shepeherdes_ fifty-three pounds, eleven s.h.i.+llings and nineteen pounds.

Eighty-five pounds were obtained for Henry Boece's _Hystory and Croniklis of Scotland_, translated by b.e.l.l.e.n.den, and printed by Davidson at Edinburgh in 1536; thirty-three pounds, sixteen s.h.i.+llings for Ricraft's _Survey of England's Champions_, etc., London, 1647; and forty-eight pounds, six s.h.i.+llings for a Book of Hours printed on vellum by Julian Notary in 1503. Among the ma.n.u.scripts the _Iliad_ sold for six hundred and twenty pounds, the Wakefield Miracle-Plays for one hundred and forty-seven pounds, and the _Pontificale Innocentii IV._ for one hundred and twenty-seven pounds, one s.h.i.+lling. The drawings, prints, etc., belonging to Towneley were sold by King of 38 King Street, Covent Garden, in May 1816 for fourteen hundred and fourteen pounds, five s.h.i.+llings and sixpence; and his magnificent collection of Hollar's works was disposed of by the same auctioneer for two thousand one hundred and eight pounds, eleven s.h.i.+llings and sixpence in May 1818. John Towneley was not the only collector of his family. Charles Towneley, his nephew, formed a celebrated collection of marbles, coins, gems, and drawings, now in the British Museum; and Christopher Towneley, who was born in 1604 and died in 1674, was the collector of many of the old ma.n.u.scripts disposed of in the second sale of the Towneley library which occurred in 1883 after the death of Colonel John Towneley, when in default of a male heir the estates devolved on his daughters and those of his elder brother, Colonel Charles Towneley.

The second sale of the Towneley library took place in June 1883. The printed books were sold on the 18th and seven following days, and the ma.n.u.scripts on the 27th and following day, by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge. There were two thousand eight hundred and fifteen lots of printed books, which realised four thousand six hundred and sixteen pounds, three s.h.i.+llings; and two hundred and fifty-one lots of ma.n.u.scripts, for which the sum of four thousand and fifty-four pounds, six s.h.i.+llings and sixpence was obtained. Among the printed books the very rare _York Manual_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1509; the _Pilgrymage of Perfection_ of 1531, by the same printer, with the Towneley arms worked in silver on the covers of the binding; and a large paper copy of Nichols's _History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester_, in eight volumes, were the most deserving of special notice. These sold respectively for fifty-nine pounds, twenty-seven pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings, and two hundred and thirty-five pounds. The two princ.i.p.al ma.n.u.scripts in the sale were a _Vita Christi_, beautifully illuminated by Giulio Clovio for Alexander, Cardinal Farnese, for which Mr. Quaritch gave two thousand and fifty pounds, and the collection of Wakefield Plays, which was also purchased by the same great bookseller for six hundred and twenty pounds.[80]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 79: These plays were printed for the Surtees Society in 1836, and re-edited by George England, with side-notes and introduction by Alfred W. Pollard, M.A., in 1897, for the Early English Text Society.]

[Footnote 80: This collection was re-purchased for the Towneley library at the sale of Mr. North's books in May 1819 for ninety-four pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings.]

SIR JOHN THOROLD, BART., 1734-1815

Sir John Thorold, Bart., of Syston Park, Grantham, Lincolns.h.i.+re, who was born in 1734, and succeeded his father, Sir John Thorold, eighth baronet, in 1775, was one of the most ardent collectors of his time. The magnificent library which he and his son Sir John Hayford Thorold formed at Syston Park contained some of the rarest incunabula in existence.

Among them were copies of the Gutenberg Bible; the Second Mentz Psalter on vellum; the _Catholicon_ of 1460; the Latin Bible of 1462, with the arms and cypher of Prince Eugene on the binding; and the _Mirrour of the World_, printed by Caxton in 1481. It also possessed one of the earliest of the block-books, the _Apocalypse_. The library was extremely rich in first editions of the Greek and Latin cla.s.sics, some of them on vellum.

Other choice and rare books in the collection were a copy of the Greek Bible, printed 'in aedibus Aldi' in 1518, described by Dibdin as 'the largest and finest copy I ever saw'; the Polyglot Bible of Cardinal Ximenez; the first edition of the _Tewrdannck_; the four Shakespeare folios; _Purchas his Pilgrimmes_; and the _Pastissier Francois_, printed by L. and D. Elzevier at Amsterdam in 1655. There were also many editions of _Horae_ and _Officia_ of the Virgin Mary, mostly printed on vellum. Several of the Syston Park books once formed part of the famous libraries of Grolier, Maioli, Diana of Poitiers, Katharine de' Medicis, Count von Hoym, Prince Eugene, and Sir Kenelm Digby. The collection also possessed a number of the beautiful little volumes bound by Clovis Eve, which were once thought to have formed part of the library of Marguerite de Valois, but are now believed to have belonged to that of Marie Marguerite de Valois de Saint-Remy, daughter of a natural son of Henry III., King of France. After the death of Sir John Thorold on the 25th of February 1815, his son and successor Sir John Hayford Thorold, having first sold the duplicates in the library, made many additions to it. He died on the 7th of July 1831, and fifty-three years later a portion of the books was sold by auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge. The sale, which took place on December 12th, 1884, and seven following days, consisted of two thousand one hundred and ten lots, which realised the large sum of twenty-eight thousand and one pounds, fifteen s.h.i.+llings and sixpence. For some of the rarest of the books very large prices were obtained. Mr. Quaritch acquired the Gutenberg Bible for three thousand nine hundred pounds, and the Mentz Psalter for four thousand nine hundred and fifty. _The Catholicon_ sold for four hundred pounds, the 1462 Latin Bible for one thousand pounds, _The Mirrour of the World_ for three hundred and thirty-five pounds, the Aldine Greek Bible for fifty-one pounds, and the first Shakespeare folio for five hundred and ninety pounds.

REV. RICHARD FARMER, D.D., 1735-1797

The Rev. Richard Farmer, D.D., was born at Leicester on the 28th of August 1735. He was the second son of Richard Farmer, a wealthy maltster of that town. After receiving his early education in the Free Grammar School of his native place, he was entered in 1753 as a pensioner of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1757 and M.A. in 1760. In the latter year he was appointed cla.s.sical tutor of his College; which post he held until his election to the Masters.h.i.+p in 1775, when he took the degree of D.D. He served the office of Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1775-76 and again in 1787-88, and on the 27th of June 1778 was chosen the Chief Librarian of the University. In 1780 he was collated to a prebendal stall at Lichfield, and two years later became Prebendary of Canterbury, which he resigned in 1788 on being preferred to a residentiary canonry of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. It is said that he twice refused a bishopric which was offered to him rather than forgo the pleasure of witnessing dramatic performances on the stage. He died on the 8th of September 1797, at the Lodge, Emmanuel College, and was buried in the chapel. A monument, with an epitaph by Dr. Parr, was erected to his memory in the cloisters.

Dr. Farmer, who was an elegant scholar and a zealous antiquary, was somewhat eccentric both in his appearance and manners. It is said of him 'that there were three things he loved above all others, namely, old port, old clothes, and old books; and three things which n.o.body could persuade him to do, namely, to rise in the morning, to go to bed at night, and to settle an account.[81] His reluctance to settle his accounts, however, was not caused by avarice, but indolence, for he spent a considerable portion of his large income in the relief of distress, and in a.s.sisting in the publication of literary works; while his pupils frequently borrowed of him sums of money, well knowing there would be but little chance of a demand for repayment. Dr. Parr, who was one of Farmer's intimate friends, remarked of him 'that his munificence was without ostentation, his wit without acrimony, and his learning without pedantry.' Farmer was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and of the Society of Antiquaries. His only published work was an _Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare_, which appeared in 1767 and went through four editions, besides being prefixed to several issues of Shakespeare's plays.

Dr. Farmer possessed a well-chosen library, which was rich in old English poetry and plays. He himself said of it 'that not many private collections contain a greater number of really curious and scarce books; and perhaps no one is so rich in the ancient philological English literature; but Dibdin tells us that the volumes 'were, in general, in sorry condition; the possessor caring little for large margins and splendid binding.' The collection was sold by auction by Mr. King, of King Street, Covent Garden, on May 7th, 1798, and the thirty-five following days. The catalogue, of which a priced copy is in the British Museum, contains three hundred and seventy-nine pages, and the lots, including a few pictures, number eight thousand one hundred and fifty-five. The sale realised two thousand two hundred and ten pounds, a sum said to be greatly in excess of that which Farmer gave for his books.

There is a portrait of Dr. Farmer by Romney in Emmanuel College, which has been engraved by J. Jones.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 81: _Dictionary of National Biography._]

RICHARD GOUGH, 1735-1809

Richard Gough, the eminent antiquary, was the only son of Harry Gough, of Perry Hall, Staffords.h.i.+re. He was born in Winchester Street, London, on the 21st of October 1735, and was privately educated until about seventeen years of age, when he was admitted a fellow-commoner of Benet (now Corpus Christi) College, Cambridge. He left the University in 1756 without taking a degree, and commenced a series of antiquarian excursions into various parts of the kingdom for the purpose of obtaining information for an enlarged edition of Camden's _Britannia_, which he published in London in 1789. In 1767 Gough was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1771, on the death of Dr. Gregory Sharpe, Master of the Temple, was nominated Director, a post he held until 1797, when he left the Society altogether. He was also chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1775, but resigned in 1795. He died at Enfield on the 20th of February 1809, and was buried in the churchyard of Wormley, Hertfords.h.i.+re.

Gough wrote, and a.s.sisted in the production of numerous topographical and antiquarian works, and contributed many articles to the _Archaeologia_ and the _Vetusta Monumenta_ of the Society of Antiquaries.

A history of that inst.i.tution by him is prefixed to the first volume of the first-named publication. The _Gentleman's Magazine_ also contains many papers and reviews from his pen. In addition to his edition of Camden's _Britannia_, which occupied seven years in translating and in printing, his more important works are _Anecdotes of British Topography_, published at London in 1768, which was afterwards enlarged and reprinted in 1780 under the t.i.tle of _British Topography: or an historical Account of what has been done for ill.u.s.trating the Topographical Antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland_; and _The Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain_, London, 1786-99.

Gough possessed a considerable fortune, which enabled him to form an extensive library, as well as a fine collection of maps, drawings, prints, coins, and other antiquities. He left to the Bodleian Library 'all his topographical collections, together with all his books relating to Saxon and Northern literature, for the use of the Saxon Professor, his maps and engravings, and all the copper-plates used in the ill.u.s.tration of the various works published by himself.[82] This collection, which numbered upwards of three thousand seven hundred volumes, was placed, in accordance with the wish expressed in his will, in 'The Antiquaries' Closet,' with the collections of Dodsworth, Tanner, Willis, and other antiquaries. Gough also gave to the library a splendid series of early printed Service-books of the English Church, among which is a beautiful vellum copy of the _Hereford Missal_, printed at Rouen in 1502, and which is believed to be unique. A catalogue of the collection was published by Dr. Bandinel in 1814. Gough bequeathed to Mr. John Nichols his interleaved set of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and of the _Anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer_.

The remainder of his books, prints, and drawings, together with his coins, medals, and other antiquities, were sold, according to his directions, by auction by Leigh and Sotheby in 1810. The books realised three thousand five hundred and fifty-two pounds, and the prints, drawings, coins, medals, etc., five hundred and seventeen pounds more.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 82: Macray, _Annals of the Bodleian Library_.]

GEORGE STEEVENS, 1736-1800

George Steevens, the Shakesperian commentator, who was born on the 10th of May 1736, was the only son of George Steevens of Stepney, for many years an East India captain, and afterwards a Director of the East India Company. He received his early education at a school at Kingston-on-Thames and at Eton. In 1753 he was admitted a fellow-commoner of King's College, Cambridge, but left the University without taking a degree. In 1766 he published a reprint in four octavo volumes of _Twenty of the Plays of Shakespeare, being the whole number printed in quarto during his Lifetime, etc._; and in 1773 he brought out, in a.s.sociation with Dr. Johnson, an edition of the whole of Shakespeare's dramatic works. Steevens, who was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and of the Society of Antiquaries, died unmarried at Hampstead on the 22nd of January 1800, and was buried in the chapel at Poplar, where a monument by Flaxman was erected to his memory.

Steevens collected a fine library, which was very rich in early English poetry and in the plays and poems of Shakespeare. It contained the first and second folios of the great dramatist, and upwards of forty copies of the separate plays in quarto, many of them being first editions. The second folio formerly belonged to King Charles I., and was given by him on the night before his execution to Sir Thomas Herbert, his Groom of the Bedchamber. This very interesting volume, in which the King has written 'Dum spiro spero C.R.,' was bought at the sale of Steevens's books for King George III. for eighteen guineas, and is now preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor. The collection also comprised some rare plays of Peele, Marlowe, and Nash; Barnabe Googe's _Eglogs, Epytaphes and Sonnettes_; Puttenham's _Arte of English Poesie_, London, 1589; Skelton's _Lyttle Workes and Merie Tales_; Watson's _Pa.s.sionate Centurie of Love_; _England's Helicon_, collected by John Bodenham, London, 1600; Breton's _Workes of a young Wyt_; _The Paradice of Dainty Devises_, London, 1595; _XII Mery fests of the Wyddow Edyth_, London, 1573; and many other scarce and choice books.

Steevens's library was sold by auction by Mr. King at his great room, King Street, Covent Garden, on May 13th, 1800, and ten following days.

The catalogue contained nineteen hundred and forty-three lots, which realised two thousand seven hundred and forty pounds, fifteen s.h.i.+llings.

A copy of the catalogue marked with the prices of the books and the names of the purchasers is preserved in the British Museum.

Although Dibdin considered that 'enormous sums were given for some volumes that cost Steevens not a twentieth part of their produce,' the prices were very small compared with those which could be obtained for the same books at the present time. The first folio of Shakespeare's works fetched only twenty-two pounds, and Charles I.'s copy of the second folio, as already mentioned, but eighteen guineas. Of the first editions of the separate quarto plays, _Oth.e.l.lo_ sold for twenty-nine pounds, eight s.h.i.+llings; _King Lear_ and the _Merry Wives of Windsor_ for twenty-eight pounds each; _Henry the Fifth_ for twenty-seven pounds, six s.h.i.+llings; _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ for twenty-five pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings; and _Much Ado about Nothing_ for the same sum. The first edition of Shakespeare's _Sonnets_ went for three pounds, nineteen s.h.i.+llings. Steevens's copies of the _Merry Wives of Windsor_ and the _Sonnets_ fetched respectively three hundred and thirty guineas and two hundred and fifteen guineas at the sale of the library of George Daniel in 1864. Other prices obtained for some of the rare books were eleven pounds, fifteen s.h.i.+llings for _England's Helicon_; ten pounds, fifteen s.h.i.+llings for Barnabe Googe's _Eglogs, Epytaphes and Sonnettes_; and seven pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings for Puttenham's _Arte of English Poesie_.

Steevens, who led a very retired life in his house at Hampstead Heath, was the reverse of an amiable man; and while he was very polite and courteous to his literary friends in private, he made bitter attacks upon them in print. Dibdin says of him that 'his habits were indeed peculiar: not much to be envied or imitated; as they sometimes betrayed the flights of a madman, and sometimes the asperities of a cynic. His attachments were warm, but fickle both in choice and duration. He would frequently part from one, with whom he had lived on terms of close intimacy, without any a.s.signable cause; and his enmities, once fixed, were immovable.' Dr. Parr said of him that 'he was one of the wisest, most learned, but most spiteful of men.' Dr. Johnson, however, thought 'he was mischievous, but not malignant.'

JAMES BINDLEY, 1737-1818

Mr. James Bindley was the second son of Mr. John Bindley, distiller, of St. John's Street, Smithfield. He was born in London on the 16th of January 1737, and was educated at the Charterhouse, from whence he proceeded to Peterhouse, Cambridge, taking the degree of B.A. in 1759, and that of M.A. in 1762. Later he became a Fellow of his College. In 1765, through the interest of his elder brother John, he was appointed one of the Commissioners of the Stamp Duties, and in 1781 rose to be the Senior Commissioner, a post he held until his death, which occurred at his apartments in Somerset House on the 11th of September 1818. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries for upwards of fifty-three years. A handsome monument to his memory was erected in the church of St.

Mary-le-Strand. Bindley formed a very large and valuable collection of rare books, engravings, and medals, which he commenced at a very early age, and to which he devoted all his spare time and money. When only fifteen years of age he constantly frequented the book-shops, where he bought everything which he considered rare or curious. He was a man of very regular and retired habits, and it is said of him, that during the long period he held the appointment of Commissioner of the Stamp Duties, 'he never once failed in his daily attendance at the Board, or once slept out of his own apartments since he left his house at Finchley to reside in Somerset House.'[83] Bindley published in 1775 _A Collection of the Statutes now in force relating to the Stamp Duties_; and he read all the proof-sheets of Nichols's _Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century_, which are dedicated to him, and also of the early volumes of _The Ill.u.s.trations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century_, by the same author. He performed the same work for the _Memoirs of John Evelyn_, edited by William Bray in 1818.