English Book Collectors Part 2

[Footnote 12: 'Th' erle of Arrundel committed to his house for certaine crimes of suspicion against him, as pluking downe of boltes and lokkes at Westminster, giving of my stuff away, etc., and put to a fine of 12,000 pound to be paide a 1000 pound yerely, of which he was after released.'--_Journal of King Edward VI._, Cotton MSS., C. x., British Museum.]

[Footnote 13: Strype, _Annals_ (London, 1709), i. 413.]

SIR THOMAS SMITH, 1513-1577

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIR THOMAS SMITH'S BOOK-STAMP.]

Sir Thomas Smith, who was Secretary of State to King Edward VI., and afterwards to Queen Elizabeth, was born at Saffron Walden, Ess.e.x, on the 23rd of December 1513. He was the son of John Smith of Saffron Walden and Agnes Charnock, a member of an old Lancas.h.i.+re family. When eleven years old he was sent to Queens' College, Cambridge, as he himself informs us in his _Autobiographical Notes_, now preserved in the British Museum,[14] which he wrote for the purpose of having his nativity cast: '1525. Sub fine II [=a]ni circa fest[=u] Mic[=h]is Cantabrigiam s[=u]

missus ad bonas I[=r]as.' Here he so greatly distinguished himself that King Henry VIII. chose him and John Cheke, afterwards tutor to Prince Edward, to be his scholars, and allotted them salaries for the encouragement of their studies. Cheke makes mention of this honour in an epistle to the King prefixed to his edition of Two Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, published at London in 1543: 'Cooptasti me et Thomam Smithum socium atque aequalem meum, in scholasticos tuos.' Smith specially applied himself to the study of the Greek cla.s.sics, and also to the reformation of the faulty p.r.o.nunciation of the Greek language which then prevailed; and in a short time, so Strype, in his _Life of Sir T.

Smith_, tells us, his more correct way 'prevailed all the University over.' He also endeavoured to introduce a new English alphabet of twenty-nine letters, and to amend the spelling of the time, 'some of the syllables,' he considered, 'being stuffed with needless letters.' As early as 1531 he had become a Fellow of his college, and in 1534 he was chosen University Orator. In 1540 Smith paid a visit to the Continent, and proceeded to Padua, where he took the degree of D.C.L. On his return to England in 1542 he was made LL.D. at Cambridge, and at the beginning of 1544 was appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University.

In the succeeding year he served as Vice-Chancellor, and also became Chancellor to Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, by whom in 1546 he was collated to the rectory of Leverington, Cambridges.h.i.+re, and also ordained priest, a fact unknown to Strype. About the same time he received a prebend from the Dean of Lincoln, and soon after he became Provost of Eton and Dean of Carlisle. Towards the end of February 1547, Smith was summoned to court, and 'mutata clericali veste, modoque, ac vivendi forma,'[15] he was made Clerk of the Privy Council, and Master of the Court of Requests of the Duke of Somerset, then Lord Protector. On the 14th of April 1548 he was sworn one of the King's Secretaries, and knighted in the beginning of the following year. Shortly after his appointment Smith was sent as amba.s.sador to the Emperor Charles V., and in 1551 he took part in the emba.s.sy to France to arrange a match for the King with the French sovereign's eldest daughter. On the accession of Mary he lost all his offices and preferments, but he managed to pa.s.s through this dangerous reign in safety; and Strype says of him, 'that when many were most cruelly burnt for the profession of the religion which he held, he escaped, and was saved even in the midst of the fire, which he probably might have an eye to in changing the crest of his coat-of-arms, which now was a salamander living in the midst of a flame; whereas before it was an eagle holding a writing-pen flaming in his dexter claw.' When Elizabeth came to the throne, Smith returned to court, and was engaged in several emba.s.sies to France. In 1572 the Queen conferred on him the Chancellors.h.i.+p of the Order of the Garter; and shortly afterwards, on Lord Burghley's preferment to the office of Lord Treasurer, vacant by the death of the Marquis of Winchester, made him Secretary of State, a post which, four-and-twenty years before, he held under Edward VI. Smith died at his residence called Mounthaut, or Hill-hall, in Ess.e.x on the 12th of August 1577, and was buried in the parish church of Theydon Mount, where a monument was erected to his memory. He was twice married, but had no children by either of his wives.

Sir Thomas Smith possessed a fine library of about a thousand volumes.

He bequeathed all his Latin and Greek books, as well as his great globe, of his own making, to Queens' College, Cambridge, or, if that college did not care to have them, to Peterhouse. Some of his Italian and French books he gave to the Queen's Library, and many volumes were also left to friends. Strype gives a list of the contents of the library at Hill-hall in 1566.

Smith was the author of several works, the princ.i.p.al one being _De Republica Anglorum; the Maner of Gouvernement or Policie of the Realm of England_, London, 1583, 4to. Between 1583 and 1640 this work pa.s.sed through ten editions, and several Latin and other translations of it have been published.

A portrait of him by Holbein is at Theydon Mount, and another is preserved at Queens' College, Cambridge.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 14: Sloane MSS. 325, f. 2.]

[Footnote 15: _Autobiographical Notes_ by Sir T. Smith.]

WILLIAM CECIL, LORD BURGHLEY, 1520-1598

William Cecil, Lord Burghley, a relation of whose life would be the history of England during the reign of Elizabeth, was born in 1520 and died in 1598. This great statesman, who at the age of sixteen delivered a lecture on the logic of the Schools, and at nineteen one on the Greek language, found time amid the cares and anxieties attendant on his high position to form a library, which Strype tells us was a very choice one.

The same authority also mentions that he gave many books to the University of Cambridge, 'both Latin and Greek, concerning the canon and civil law and physic.' In 1687 a considerable portion of his printed books and ma.n.u.scripts was sold by auction. The t.i.tle-page of the sale catalogue reads 'Bibliotheca Ill.u.s.triss: sive Catalogus Variorum Librorum in quavis Lingua et Facultate Insignium ornatissimae Bibliothecae Viri Cujusdam Praen.o.bilis ac Honoratissimi olim defuncti, Libris rarissimis tam Typis excusis quam Ma.n.u.scriptis refertissimae: Quorum Auctio habebitur Londini, ad Insigne Ursi in Vico dicto Ave-Mary-Lane prope Templum D. Pauli, Novemb. 21, 1687. Per T. Bentley and B. Walford, Bibliopolas. Lond.'; and in the Preface we read:--'If the catalogue, here presented, were only of Common Books, and such as were easie to be had, it would not have been very necessary to have Prefac'd any thing to the Reader: But since it appears in the World with two Circ.u.mstances, which no Auction in England (perhaps) ever had before; nor is it probable that the like should frequently happen again, it would seem an Oversight, if we should neglect to advertise the Reader of them. The first is, That it comprises the main part of the Library of that Famous Secretary William Cecil, Lord Burleigh: which consider'd, must put it out of doubt, that these Books are excellent in their several kinds and well-chosen. The second is, That it contains a greater number of Rare Ma.n.u.scripts than ever yet were offer'd together in this way, many of which are rendred the more valuable by being remark'd upon by the hand of the said great Man. This Auction will begin on Monday the 21st day of November next 1687, at the sign of the Bear in Ave-Mary-Lane, near the West-end of St. Paul's Church, continuing day by day the first five days of every Week, till all the Books are sold, from the Hours of Nine in the Morning till Twelve, and from Two till Six in the Evening.' There were three thousand eight hundred and forty-four lots of printed books, and four hundred and thirteen ma.n.u.scripts in two hundred and forty-three lots in the sale. A copy of the catalogue, marked with the prices, is preserved in the British Museum. The printed books in the sale do not appear to have been exceptionally choice or rare, but there were some valuable ma.n.u.scripts. A few of the most notable, together with the prices they fetched, are given in the following list:--

_Biblia Sacra Antiquissima_, folio magno, vellum--six pounds, twelve s.h.i.+llings; _Polychronicon vetus MS. per Radulphum Hygden, nunquam Latine impressum_, vellum--eleven pounds; _Wicklif's Book of Postils or Sermons in Old English_--seven pounds, two s.h.i.+llings and six pence; _Other Discourses by him_--ten pounds, two s.h.i.+llings and six pence; _Wilhelmus Malmesburiensis de gestis Regum Angliae_, vellum--seven pounds, three s.h.i.+llings; _L'Histoire du Roy Arthur, avec des Figures d'orees_, folio grand on vellum--three pounds, two s.h.i.+llings; _Le Chronique de Jean Froissart des guerres de France et D'Angleterre_, folio grand, _avec des belles Figures_, vellum--three pounds, nine s.h.i.+llings; _Norden Speculum Britanniae_--four pounds, seven s.h.i.+llings. It is not known to whom these books belonged at the period of the sale, but it appears probable they were the property of James Cecil, fourth Earl of Salisbury (a descendant of Lord Burghley's younger son), who succeeded to the t.i.tle in 1683, and died in 1694. He was mixed up in the troubles of the time, and was, says Macaulay, 'foolish to a proverb,' and the 'prey of gamesters.' John Cecil, Earl of Exeter, from 1678 to 1700, who was descended from Lord Burghley's elder son, was himself a book collector, and therefore not likely to part with the library of his ill.u.s.trious ancestor.

The bindings of Lord Burghley's books are generally stamped with his arms, which are sometimes encircled by the order of the Garter, but a little volume preserved in the library of the British Museum simply bears his name and that of his second wife, his affectionate companion for forty-three years. Lord Burghley left an immense ma.s.s of papers, which are now preserved at Hatfield House, the Record Office, the British Museum, etc. Those in the British Museum, which consist of one hundred and twenty-one folio volumes of state papers and the miscellaneous correspondence of Lord Burghley, together with his private note-book and journals, pa.s.sed from Sir Michael Hickes, one of the statesman's secretaries, to a descendant, Sir William Hickes, by whom they were sold to Chiswell, the bookseller, and by him to Strype, the historian. On Strype's death they came into the hands of James West, and from his executors they were acquired by William Petty, first Marquis of Lansdowne, whose ma.n.u.scripts were purchased by the Trustees of the British Museum in 1807.[16]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LORD BURGHLEY'S BOOK-STAMP.]

THOMAS WOTTON, 1521-1587

Thomas Wotton was born in 1521 at Bocton or Boughton Place, in the parish of Boughton Malherbe, in the county of Kent, and succeeded his father, Sir Edward Wotton, in that estate in 1550. He was appointed sheriff of the county of Kent in the last year of Queen Mary, and in July 1573 he entertained Elizabeth and her court at his residence, Bocton Place, when she offered him knighthood, which he declined. Wotton was twice married. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Rudstone, he had three sons: Edward, knighted by Elizabeth, and afterwards raised to the peerage as Baron Wotton by James I.; and James and John, who were also made knights by Elizabeth. His second wife was Eleanora, daughter of Sir William Finch of Eastwell in Kent, and widow of Robert Morton, Esq., of the same county, by whom he had a son, Henry, the poet and statesman, who was knighted by James I. He died in London on the 11th of January 1587, and was buried in the parish church of Boughton Malherbe, where a monument was erected to his memory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARMS OF THOMAS WOTTON.]

Wotton was celebrated for his hospitality, and was much beloved and respected by all who knew him. He was also a patron of learning, and possessed a fine and extensive collection of books, remarkable for their handsome bindings. They are generally ornamented in a style similar to that used on the volumes bound for Grolier, whose motto he adopted.

Although the majority of the bindings executed for him bear the legend THOMAE WOTTONI ET AMICORVM as the only mark of their owners.h.i.+p, they are sometimes impressed with his arms.

Izaak Walton, in his _Life of Sir Henry Wotton_, states that Thomas Wotton 'was a gentleman excellently educated, and studious in all the liberal arts, in the knowledge whereof he attained unto great perfection; who though he had--besides those abilities, a very n.o.ble and plentiful estate, and the ancient interest of his predecessors--many invitations from Queen Elizabeth to change his country recreations and retirement for a court life:--offering him a knighthood, and that to be but as an earnest of some more honourable and more profitable employment under her; yet he humbly refused both, being a man of great modesty, of a most plain and single heart, of an ancient freedom, and integrity of mind.'

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 16: Edwards, _Lives of the Founders of the British Museum_ (London, 1870), p. 426.]

DR. DEE, 1527-1608

Dr. John Dee, 'that perfect astronomer, curious astrologer and serious geometrician,' as he is styled by Lilly, was born in London on the 13th of July 1527. He was the son of Rowland Dee, who, according to Wood, was a wealthy vintner, but who is described by Strype as Gentleman Sewer to Henry VIII. In his _Compendious Rehearsal_ Dee informs us that he possessed a very fine collection of books, 'printed and anciently written, bound and unbound, in all near 4000, the fourth part of which were written books. The value of all which books, by the estimation of men skilful in the arts, whereof the books did and do intreat, and that in divers languages, was well worth 2000 lib.'; and he adds that he 'spent 40 years in divers places beyond the seas, and in England in getting these books together.' He specially mentions 'that four written books, one in Greek, two in French, and one in High Dutch cost 533 lib.'

His library also contained a 'great case or frame of boxes, wherein some hundreds of very rare evidences of divers Irelandish territories, provinces and lands were laid up; and divers evidences ancient of some Welsh princes and n.o.blemen, their great gifts of lands to the foundations or enrichings of Sundry Houses of Religious men. Some also were there the like of the Normans donations and gifts about and some years after the Conquest.' Dee, in a letter from Antwerp to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley, dated February 16, 1563, also states that he had purchased a curious book (probably a ma.n.u.script), _Steganographia_, by Joannes Trithemius, which was so rare that '1000 crowns had been offered in vain' for a copy. Dee placed his library in his house at Mortlake, Surrey, and so great was its repute, that on the 10th of March 1575, Queen Elizabeth, attended by many of her courtiers, paid him a visit for the purpose of examining it; but learning that his wife had been buried that day, she would not enter the house, but requested him to show her his famous magic gla.s.s, and describe its properties, which he accordingly did 'to her Majesty's great contentment and delight.' In 1583, during his absence on the Continent, the populace, who execrated him as 'a caller of divels,' broke into his house and destroyed a great part of his furniture, collections, and library. On his return to his home in 1589, he succeeded in regaining about three-fourths of his books; but these were gradually dispersed in consequence of the pecuniary difficulties he was in during the latter years of his life. Lilly states that 'he died very poor, enforced many times to sell some book or other to buy his dinner with.' An autograph catalogue of both his printed and ma.n.u.script books, dated September 6, 1583, is preserved among the Harleian ma.n.u.scripts in the British Museum.[17] His private diary, and a catalogue of his ma.n.u.scripts, were edited in 1842 for the Camden Society by Mr. J.O. Halliwell, F.R.S., from the original ma.n.u.scripts in the Ashmolean Museum and Trinity College, Cambridge. Another portion of his diary, preserved in the Bodleian Library, was edited by Mr. J.E. Baily, F.S.A., and printed (twenty copies only) at London in 1880. In 1556 Dee presented to Queen Mary 'A Supplication for the recovery and preservation of ancient Writers and Monuments.' In this interesting doc.u.ment he laments the spoil and destruction of so many and so notable libraries through the subverting of religious houses, and suggests that a commission should be appointed with power to demand that all possessors of ma.n.u.scripts throughout the realm should send their books to be copied for the Queen's library, so that it might 'in a very few years most plentifully be furnished, and that without one penny charge to the Queen, or doing injury to any creature.' He himself undertook to procure copies of the famous ma.n.u.scripts at the Vatican, St. Mark's, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Vienna, etc.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DR. DEE. From the Ashmolean portrait as engraved by Schencker.]

Dee wrote a large number of works, but comparatively few of them have been printed. No fewer than seventy-nine are enumerated in Coopers'

_Athenae Cantabrigienses_. A catalogue of his writings, printed and unprinted, is given in his _Compendious Rehearsal_. Many of his ma.n.u.scripts came into the possession of Elias Ashmole, the eminent antiquary.

Aubrey says of Dee that 'he was a great peace-maker; if any of the neighbours fell out, he would never let them alone till he had made them friends. He was tall and slender. He wore a gown like an artist's gown, with hanging sleeves, and a slit. He had a very fair, clear, sanguine complexion, a long beard as white as milk. A very handsome man.'

He died in December 1608, and was buried in the chancel of Mortlake Church.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 17: _Harl. MSS._ 1879.]

ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICESTER, 1532?-1588

Robert Dudley, Baron Denbigh, and Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Elizabeth, was born on the 24th of June in 1532 or 1533. He was the fifth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who was executed in August 1553 for maintaining the claims of Lady Jane Grey, his daughter-in-law, to the crown. He was himself condemned to death for the part he took in the attempt of his father to place Lady Jane upon the throne; but on the intercession of the Lords of the Council was pardoned by Queen Mary, who received him into favour, and appointed him master of the English ordnance at the siege of St. Quentin, where his brother Henry was killed. On the accession of Elizabeth, Dudley soon became a great favourite of the Queen, who advanced him to the highest honours, and, there is little doubt, at one time contemplated a marriage with him. Leicester was a generous supporter of learning, and his letters show that he was himself possessed of considerable literary ability.

Geoffrey Whitney, in his dedication of his _Choice of Emblems_ to the Earl, mentions 'his zeale and honourable care of those that love good letters,' and states that 'divers, who are nowe famous men, had bin through povertie longe since discouraged from their studies if they had not founde your honour so p.r.o.ne to bee their patron.' Little is known respecting Leicester's library, which must have been a large and fine one, for many handsomely bound volumes which once belonged to it are found both in public and private collections. This dispersion of his books may probably be accounted for by the sale of his goods after his death, as mentioned by Camden in his _Annals of the Reign of Elizabeth_: 'But whereas he was in the Queen's debt, his goods were sold at a public Outcry: for the Queen, though in other things she were favourable enough, yet seldom or never did she remit the debts owing to her Treasury.' In the _Notices of London Libraries_, by John Bagford and William Oldys, it is stated: 'At Lambeth Palace over the Cloyster is a well-furnished library. The oldest of the books were Dudley's, Earl of Leicester.' Not more, however, than nine or ten which belonged to the Earl are to be found there now. Almost all his books have his well-known crest, the bear and ragged staff, stamped upon the covers, but a few of them bear his arms instead.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-STAMP OF LORD LEICESTER.]

Leicester was suddenly seized with illness on his way to Kenilworth, and died at his house at Cornbury, in Oxfords.h.i.+re, on the 4th of September 1588. The suddenness of his death gave rise to a suspicion that it was caused by poison; and Ben Jonson tells a story that he had given his wife 'a bottle of liquor which he willed her to use in any faintness, which she, not knowing it was poison, gave him, and so he died.' He was buried at Warwick.