English Book Collectors Part 19

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_, _Oth.e.l.lo_, 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 G.o.ddes Children_, and Higden's _Polycronicon_, but they were not good copies. The library also comprised some fine illuminated Horae and other ma.n.u.scripts, 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 s.h.i.+llings. 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, _Oth.e.l.lo_ 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 cla.s.sical 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 Suss.e.x, at one of his literary dinners at Kensington Palace, is reported to have said: 'Gentlemen, you are all very learned about t.i.tles, 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 ma.n.u.scripts, 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 t.i.tle-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 Ma.n.u.scripts 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 s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings; forty-seven pounds, five s.h.i.+llings, and thirty-six pounds, fifteen s.h.i.+llings respectively; while no more than four hundred and thirty-one pounds, fifteen s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings; _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 s.h.i.+llings; _Speculum Christiani_, printed by Machlinia, sixteen pounds, sixteen s.h.i.+llings; _Promptorius Puerorum_, printed by Pynson in 1499, thirty-eight pounds, seventeen s.h.i.+llings; _The Floure of the Commandments of G.o.d_, Wynkyn de Worde, 1521, thirteen pounds, thirteen s.h.i.+llings; _The Catechisme, set furth by ... Johne, Archbischop of Sanct Androus, etc. Prent.i.t at Sanct Androus_, 1552, sixteen pounds, five s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings. Perhaps the finest of the ma.n.u.scripts 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 s.h.i.+llings; 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 s.h.i.+llings was all that was obtained for this fine ma.n.u.script. 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 s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings 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 ma.n.u.script. 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 ill.u.s.trations 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, Buckinghams.h.i.+re, 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 pa.s.sed 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 Sh.e.l.ley'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 d.i.c.k 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 c.u.mberland's _British Theatre_, and c.u.mberland'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, ent.i.tled _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 d.i.c.k 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 princ.i.p.al 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 ma.n.u.scripts 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 s.h.i.+llings; 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 s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings. 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 s.h.i.+llings. The third folio was a good copy, but had the t.i.tle 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 s.h.i.+llings; the first editions of the _Merry Wives of Windsor_ and _Love's Labour Lost_ for three hundred and forty-six pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings each, and the first edition of _King Richard the Second_ for three hundred and forty-one pounds, five s.h.i.+llings. 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 s.h.i.+llings; and the first edition of _Lucrece_ one hundred and fifty-seven pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings. 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 s.h.i.+llings; _The Tragicall Historie of Romeus and Juliet_ (London, 1562), seventy-seven pounds, fourteen s.h.i.+llings; _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 t.i.tle of _Sh.o.r.es 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; _Seja.n.u.s, 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 Friends.h.i.+p, 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 DEVONs.h.i.+RE, 1790-1858

All the Dukes of Devons.h.i.+re 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 d.u.c.h.ess of Devons.h.i.+re,"

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 t.i.tle-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 Cla.s.sics, 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 s.h.i.+llings. 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 ma.n.u.scripts 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 G.o.dds 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.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: DUKE OF DEVONs.h.i.+RE.]

The Devons.h.i.+re 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

Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., who was the son of Thomas Phillipps, of Broadway, Worcesters.h.i.+re, was born at Manchester on the 2nd of July 1792. He was educated at Rugby, and in 1811 proceeded to University College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1815 and M.A. in 1820. In 1818, on the death of his father, he succeeded to the family estates, and in 1821 he was created a baronet. Phillipps died at Thirlestaine House, Cheltenham, on the 6th of February 1872, and was buried at Broadway. He was twice married, and by his first wife had three daughters. Phillipps, who was a Trustee of the British Museum and a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries, and also a member of the princ.i.p.al learned societies, both English and foreign, began at a very early age to collect books. While at Rugby he formed a small library, the catalogue of which is still in existence, and the inheritance of his father's property in 1818 enabled him to commence the formation of his magnificent collection of ma.n.u.scripts. With a view to their acquisition, in 1820 he paid a visit to the Continent, and remained abroad until 1825, during which time he made large purchases of ma.n.u.scripts, especially at the sale of the famous Meerman collection at the Hague in 1824, and he also privately bought the ma.n.u.scripts belonging to the extensive and important collection of Professor Van Ess of Darmstadt, together with a number of his early printed books. Phillipps was indefatigable in the acquirement of his treasures, and at the time of his death his library contained some sixty thousand ma.n.u.scripts, and a goodly collection of printed books. He writes: 'In ama.s.sing my collection of ma.n.u.scripts, I commenced with purchasing everything that lay within my reach, to which I was instigated by reading various accounts of the destruction of valuable ma.n.u.scripts.... My princ.i.p.al search has been for historical, and particularly unpublished ma.n.u.scripts, whether good or bad, and particularly those on vellum. My chief desire for preserving vellum ma.n.u.scripts arose from witnessing the unceasing destruction of them by goldbeaters; my search for charters or deeds by their destruction in the shops of glue-makers and tailors. As I advanced the ardour of the pursuit increased, until at last I became a perfect vello-maniac (if I may coin a word), and I gave any price that was asked. Nor do I regret it, for my object was not only to secure good ma.n.u.scripts for myself, but also to raise the public estimation of them, so that their value might be more generally known, and consequently more ma.n.u.scripts preserved. For nothing tends to the preservation of anything so much as making it bear a high price. The examples I always kept in view were Sir Robert Cotton and Sir Robert Harley.'

Sir Thomas Phillipps's collection was not confined to European ma.n.u.scripts. It contained several hundred Oriental ones, and he also acquired those relating to Mexico belonging to Lord Kingsborough. The illuminated ma.n.u.scripts were particularly fine, and some of them had been executed for regal and other distinguished persons, and were beautifully bound. Many of the ma.n.u.scripts which related to Ireland and Wales were of special interest and great value. For many years Phillipps kept his library, together with his fine collections of pictures, drawings, and coins at his residence at Middle Hill, Worcesters.h.i.+re; but in 1862, in consequence of their ever-increasing size, he removed them to Thirlestaine House, Cheltenham, which he purchased from Lord Northwick. On Sir Thomas's death his entailed Middle Hill estates went to his eldest daughter, Henrietta Elizabeth Molyneux, the wife of James Orchard Halliwell, the Shakespearian commentator, but in a will made shortly before his death he left Thirlestaine House, together with his books, ma.n.u.scripts, pictures, and other collections, to his third daughter, Katherine Somerset Wyttenbach, wife of the Rev. J.E.A.

Fenwick, at one time vicar of Needwood, Staffords.h.i.+re. This bequest was, however, enc.u.mbered with the singular condition, that neither his eldest daughter, nor her husband, nor any Roman Catholic should ever enter the house.[97] His second daughter, Maria Sophia, who married the Rev. John Walcott of Bitterley Court, Shrops.h.i.+re, predeceased her father. Since the ma.n.u.scripts came into the possession of Mrs. Fenwick, portions have been sold by private arrangement to several of the foreign governments; amongst these, however, were no English ones. A large number of the remainder have been disposed of by auction at a series of sales by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, but the immense collection is by no means exhausted. The first sale took place on August 3rd, 1886, and seven following days; and the others on January 22nd, 1889, and two following days; July 15th, 1891, and following day; December 7th, 1891, and following day; July 4th, 1892, and two following days; June 19th, 1893, and three following days; March 21st, 1895, and four following days; June 10th, 1896, and six following days; May 17th, 1897, and three following days; June 6th, 1898, and five following days; and June 5th, 1899, and five following days. The total amount realised at all these auction sales is upwards of thirty-six thousand six hundred pounds. The printed books in Phillipps's library, which 'included a complete set of the publications privately printed by him at Middle Hill; important heraldic and genealogical works, county histories and topography, Welsh books, valuable dictionaries and grammars, and a large collection of rare articles relating to America; history, voyages and travels,' were sold in three parts by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge on August 3rd, 1886, and seven following days; January 22nd, 1889, and two following days; and December 7th, 1891, and following day. There were five thousand four hundred and sixty-two lots in the three sales, which realised three thousand two hundred and fourteen pounds, thirteen s.h.i.+llings and threepence.

About 1822 Sir Thomas Phillipps set up a private printing-press in Broadway Tower, situated on his Middle Hill estate, where he printed a large number of his ma.n.u.scripts. Among the more important of these were:--_Inst.i.tutiones Clericorum in Comitatu Wiltoniae_, 1297-1810, two volumes, 1821-25, folio; _Monumental Inscriptions in the County of Wilton_, two volumes, 1822, folio (only six copies of this work were printed, one of which realised fourteen pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings at the sale of the books); _A Book of Glamorgans.h.i.+re Antiquities, by Rice Merrick, Esq., 1578, now first published by Sir T. Phillipps, Bart., 1825_, folio; and _Collectanea de Familiis Diversis quibus nomen est Phillipps, etc._, two volumes, 1816-40, folio (a copy of which fetched sixteen pounds at the sale). Phillipps also printed catalogues of his ma.n.u.scripts and printed books. A fair but not complete list of the works will be found in Lowndes's _Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature_. In 1862 the printing-press was removed with the library and other collections to Thirlestaine House.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 97: _Athenaeum_, February 17, 1872.]