English Book Collectors Part 20

REV. THOMAS CORSER, 1793-1876

The Rev. Thomas Corser was the third son of George Corser, banker, of Whitchurch, Shrops.h.i.+re. He was born at Whitchurch in 1793, and received his early education first at the school of his native place, and afterwards at the Manchester Grammar School, from whence he was admitted a commoner of Balliol College, Oxford. He took the degree of B.A. in 1815 and that of M.A. in 1818. In 1816 Corser was ordained to the curacy of Condover, near Shrewsbury, and after filling several other curacies he was appointed in 1826 to the rectory of All Saints' Church, Stand, Manchester, which living he held, together with the vicarage of Norton-by-Daventry in Northamptons.h.i.+re, for nearly half a century. He died, after a long illness, at Stand Rectory on the 24th of August 1876.

The Rev. T. Corser was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1850, and he was one of the founders of the Chetham Society, for which he edited four works: _Chester's Triumph_, James's _Iter Lancastrense_, Robinson's _Golden Mirrour_, and _Collectanea Anglo-Poetica_. The last-named work, of which a portion was written by Corser and the remainder by James Crossley, is an elaborate account of Corser's splendid collection of early English poetry.

Corser was one of the most learned and enthusiastic book-collectors of his day, and his n.o.ble library contained, besides a wonderful collection of unique and rare editions of the works of the early English poets and dramatists, a fine block-book, 'Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis,' seven Caxtons, and a large number of books printed by Machlinia, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, Notary, Redman, and other early English printers. The library also comprised a large number of books of emblems, drolleries, jest-books, garlands, and many other scarce and curious works in all cla.s.ses of literature. Mr. Corser also possessed a few choice ma.n.u.scripts.

In 1868 Mr. Corser, in consequence of ill health and failure of his eyesight, which precluded him from the further enjoyment of his books, determined to part with his library, and it was sold in eight parts by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge. The first portion was sold on the 28th of July 1868, and two following days; and the last portion on June the 25th, 1873, and three following days. There were six thousand two hundred and forty-four lots in the eight sales, and the total amount realised was nineteen thousand seven hundred and eighty-one pounds.

Catalogues, with the prices, of all the sales are preserved in the British Museum. The sums obtained for the books were not large. The block-book sold for four hundred and forty-five pounds, and the seven Caxtons--the first edition of the _Dictes or Sayings_, _Tully of Old Age_, _Knight of the Tower_, _Golden Legend_, _Life of Our Lady_, _Speculum Vitae Christi_, and _Fayts of Arms_--realised but thirteen hundred and forty-three pounds; the _Knight of the Tower_ and _Fayts of Arms_ fetching the highest prices--five hundred and sixty pounds, and two hundred and fifty pounds. Several of the Caxtons were, however, imperfect. _The Dyalogue of Dives and Pauper_, 1493, until recently believed to be the first dated book printed by Pynson, brought one hundred and four pounds, and _The Recuyles of the historyes of Troye_, 1503; _Bartholomaeus de proprietatibus rerum_, about 1495; and _The Example of Vertue_, 1530, all printed by Wynkyn de Worde, one hundred and fourteen pounds, sixty pounds, and fifty-eight pounds. Mr. Corser's four Shakespeare folios sold for one hundred and sixty pounds, forty-nine pounds, seventy-seven pounds, and twelve pounds, while the first edition of the _Sonnets_ realised forty-five pounds, and the 1636 edition of _Venus and Adonis_ fifty-five pounds. Some other rare books, and the prices obtained for them, were the _Sarum Missal_, printed at Paris in 1514, eighty-seven pounds; _Biblia Pauperum_ (A. Verard, Paris, about 1503), ninety-nine pounds; _Guy de Waruich_ (Paris, 1525), two hundred and eighty-two pounds; unique copy of an edition of _Huon of Bordeaux_, thought to have been printed by Pynson, eighty-one pounds; _Nurcerie of Names_, by Guillam de Warrino (William Warren) (London, 1581), one hundred pounds; Daye's _Daphnis and Chloe_ (London, 1587), unique, sixty pounds; _The Three Ladies of London_, by W.R. (London, 1592), seventy-six pounds; _The Phoenix Nest_ (London, 1593), sixty-four pounds, ten s.h.i.+llings; Chute's _Beawtie Dishonoured_ (London, 1593), one hundred and five pounds; _Maroccus Extaticus, or Bankes Bay Horse_ (London, 1595), one hundred and ten pounds; the first five editions of Walton's _Compleat Angler_, one hundred and forty pounds; and twenty early ballads in black letter, bound in a volume, eighty-nine pounds.

The more important ma.n.u.scripts in the collection were _Le Romant des Trois Pelerinages_, by Guillaume de Guilleville, written on vellum in the fourteenth century, and ornamented with many illuminations and drawings, two hundred and ten pounds; _Bartholomaeus De Proprietatibus Rerum_, vellum, richly illuminated, fourteenth century, ninety-one pounds; a _Poem on the Lord's Prayer_, by John Kylyngwyke, vellum, fourteenth century, seventy pounds; _Lyf of Oure Lady_, by John Lydgate, fifteenth century, written and illuminated on vellum, forty-six pounds; and _Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis_, fifteenth century, illuminated, sixty-four pounds.

Some additional ma.n.u.scripts and books which had belonged to Mr. Corser were sold after his death, at Manchester, by Capes, Dunn and Pilcher on December the 13th, 1876, and two following days. These realised one thousand four hundred and eight pounds, sixteen s.h.i.+llings and sixpence.

Among them was the original ma.n.u.script of Cavendish's _Life of Wolsey_, which fetched sixty guineas.

DAVID LAING, 1793-1878

David Laing, the eminent Scottish antiquary, was the second son of William Laing, a bookseller in Edinburgh, and was born in that city on the 20th of April 1793. He was educated at the Canongate Grammar School, and afterwards attended the Greek cla.s.ses of Professor Dalzel at the Edinburgh University.[98] At an early age he was apprenticed to his father, and in the year 1821 he entered into partners.h.i.+p with him. His father died in 1832, and David Laing continued to carry on the business until 1837, when, having been elected librarian to the Society of Writers to H.M. Signet, he gave it up, and disposed of his stock by public sale. Laing was Honorary Secretary of the Bannatyne Club from its foundation by Sir Walter Scott in 1823 to its dissolution thirty-eight years later, and himself edited a large number of its publications. He also edited papers for the Spalding, Abbotsford, and Hunterian Clubs, and the Shakespeare and Wodrow Societies; while his contributions to the _Proceedings_ of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, of which he was elected a Fellow in 1826, consisted of upwards of one hundred separate papers. In 1864 the University of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He died unmarried on the 18th of October 1878.

Laing's life was one of great literary activity, and although he did not produce any large original work, he edited many of the writings of the old Scottish authors. His acquaintance with the early literary and ecclesiastical history, as well as the art and antiquities, of Scotland was very extensive; and Lockhart, in _Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk_, states that he possessed a 'truly wonderful degree of skill and knowledge in all departments of bibliography.' A list of the various publications issued under his editorial superintendence from 1815 to 1878 inclusive, together with his lectures on Scottish art, appear in a collection of privately printed notices of him edited by T.G. Stevenson, Edinburgh, 1878.

Laing availed himself of his exceptional opportunities to form a very large and fine library, which was particularly rich in books ill.u.s.trative of the history and literature of Scotland, many of which were of excessive rarity, and several unique. Nearly every publication relating to Mary Queen of Scots was to be found in it. After Laing's death his library, with the exception of his ma.n.u.scripts, which he bequeathed to the University of Edinburgh, was sold in four portions by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge.

_First Sale_--

December 1st, 1879, and ten following days. Three thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine lots = thirteen thousand two hundred and eighty-eight pounds, eight s.h.i.+llings and sixpence.

_Second Sale_--

April 5th, 1880, and ten following days. Four thousand and eighty-two lots = one thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight pounds, three s.h.i.+llings.

_Third Sale_--

July 20th, 1880, and four following days. Two thousand four hundred and forty-three lots = seven hundred and seventy-one pounds, nine s.h.i.+llings and sixpence.

_Fourth Sale_--

February 21st, 1881, and three following days. One thousand four hundred and nineteen lots = seven hundred and thirty-eight pounds, eighteen s.h.i.+llings.

Large prices were obtained for many of the books, especially for the early ones printed in Scotland.

The following are a few of the rarest of the volumes, together with the amounts for which they were sold:--

A Roman Breviary on vellum, printed by N. Jenson at Venice in 1482, and ornamented with borders to the pages, drawn by a pen, ninety-three pounds; _Lo Doctrinal de Sapiensa_, in the Catalan dialect, by Guy de Roye, printed about 1495, one hundred pounds; _Missale pro usu totius Regni Norvegiae_ (Haffniae, 1519), with the arms and cypher of the King of Denmark on the back of the binding, one hundred and thirty-two pounds; _The Falle of Princis_, etc., by Boccaccio, translated by John Lydgate, and printed by Pynson in 1527, seventy-eight pounds; _The Catechisme_ of Archbishop Hamilton, printed at 'Sanct Androus' in 1552, one hundred and forty-eight pounds; _Tractate concerning ye Office and Dewtie of Kyngis_, etc., written by William Lauder, and printed by John Scott at Edinburgh in 1556, seventy-seven pounds; _Confessione della Fede Christiana_, by Theodore Beza, printed in 1560, containing the autograph of Sir James Melville, and having MARIA R. SCOTOR[=V] stamped in gold on each cover, one hundred and forty-nine pounds; _The Forme and Maner of Examination before the Admission to ye Tabill of ye Lord, usit by ye Ministerie of Edinburge_ (Edinburgh, 1581), seventy pounds; the first edition of the author's corrected text of _Don Quixote_ (Madrid, 1608), together with the first edition of the second part (Madrid, 1615), one hundred and ninety-two pounds; dedication copy to King Charles II. of the _Inst.i.tutions of the Law of Scotland_, by Sir James Dalrymple of Stair, afterwards Viscount Stair, two volumes (Edinburgh, 1681), in a remarkably fine contemporary Scotch binding, with the royal arms in gold on the covers, two hundred and ninety-five pounds; a first edition of _Robinson Crusoe_, three volumes (London, 1719-20), thirty-one pounds; one of the twelve copies, printed at a cost of upwards of ten thousand pounds, of the _Botanical Tables_ of the Earl of Bute, nine volumes, with the arms of the Earl impressed in gold on the bindings, seventy-seven pounds; the first edition of Burns's _Poems_ (Kilmarnock, 1786), with lines in the autograph of Burns, and a letter from J.G.

Lockhart, ninety pounds; and a fine collection of Scots Ballads and Broadsides, one hundred and thirty in number, issued between 1669 and 1730, many of great rarity, one hundred and thirty-three pounds. Laing left a collection of drawings to the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, of which he had been elected Honorary Professor of Ancient History and Antiquities in 1856. His prints were sold by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge on the 21st of February 1880, in two hundred and thirteen lots, and realised two hundred and seventy pounds, thirteen s.h.i.+llings.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 98: _Dictionary of National Biography._]

BERTRAM, FOURTH EARL OF ASHBURNHAM, 1797-1878

Bertram, fourth Earl of Ashburnham, who was born on the 23rd of November 1797, and died on the 22nd of June 1878, was one of the greatest and most ardent of English book-collectors. He developed a taste for book-buying at a very early age. It is said that his first purchase was made in 1814, when, a boy at Westminster School, he bought a copy of the _Secretes_ of Albertus Magnus for eighteenpence at Ginger's well-known shop in Great College Street, and at the time of his death he had ama.s.sed a library which ranked among the first in the kingdom.

Magnificent as was his collection of printed books, the library was even still more notable for the ma.n.u.scripts it contained, which amounted to nearly four thousand, and were remarkable for their value and importance. In addition to those which he bought separately, Lord Ashburnham acquired in 1847 the ma.n.u.scripts of Count Guglielmo Libri for eight thousand pounds, and in 1849 he purchased the Stowe ma.n.u.scripts for the same sum, and those of Jean Barrois for six thousand pounds.

Five years after the death of Lord Ashburnham, his successor, the present Earl, offered the ma.n.u.scripts, for one hundred and sixty thousand pounds, to the Trustees of the British Museum, who were anxious to purchase them for that sum. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, however, declined to find the money for the entire collection, but the Stowe ma.n.u.scripts were acquired by the Government for forty-five thousand pounds, and divided between the British Museum and the library of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. To the latter inst.i.tution were given the Irish ma.n.u.scripts and certain volumes specially relating to Ireland. It had long been suspected that many of the ma.n.u.scripts in the Libri and Barrois collections had been abstracted from French and Italian public libraries, and when this was proved to have been the case, princ.i.p.ally through the researches of M. Delisle, the Director of the Bibliotheque Nationale, it was arranged between the Trustees of the British Museum and the French authorities that should the former become possessors of the ma.n.u.scripts, they would return the stolen volumes for the sum of twenty-four thousand pounds. As the Treasury refused to sanction the purchase of the whole of the Ashburnham ma.n.u.scripts, this arrangement could not be carried out, and in 1887 the ma.n.u.scripts, one hundred and sixty-six in number, stolen from the French and Italian libraries, were bought by Mr. Karl Trubner, acting as agent for the Grand Duke of Baden and the German Imperial authorities, for the same sum as the French had been willing to pay for them. The primary object of this transaction, says Mr. F.S. Ellis in his excellent account of the library in Quaritch's _Dictionary of English Book-Collectors_, 'was to recover the famous Manesse Liederbuch, a thirteenth century MS. carried away by the French from Heidelberg in 1656, the loss of which had ever since been regarded as a national calamity in Germany. For 6000 in cash and this precious volume, he handed over the 166 Libri and Barrois MSS.

to the Bibliotheque Nationale. By a simple arithmetical process, we can conclude that 18,000 was the net cost to the German Exchequer of a single volume of old German ballads--the highest price ever paid for a book.' The stolen ma.n.u.scripts which were not required to replace those taken from the French libraries, were purchased by the Italian Government.

Mr. Yates Thompson is understood to have purchased that portion of the other ma.n.u.scripts in the library known as 'The Appendix,' for about forty thousand pounds, and after selecting those he required for his own collection, to have sent the remainder to the auction rooms of Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, where they were sold on May the 1st, 1899. There were one hundred and seventy-seven lots in the sale, which realised eight thousand five hundred and ninety-five pounds, five s.h.i.+llings. The choicest ma.n.u.script in the catalogue was an important text of the later version (1400-40) of 'Wycliffe's English Bible,' known as the 'Bramhall Ma.n.u.script,' which was knocked down to Mr. Quaritch for seventeen hundred and fifty pounds. Other fine ma.n.u.scripts were a copy of the _Historia Ecclesiastica_ of the Venerable Bede, written in the eighth century; an _Evangeliarium_ of the twelfth century, with beautiful illuminations; _Officia Liturgica_, fifteenth century; and _Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis_, written in the sixteenth century, richly illuminated.

These realised respectively two hundred and thirty pounds, three hundred pounds, four hundred and sixty-seven pounds, and three hundred pounds.

On the 10th of June 1901 and the four following days the ma.n.u.scripts in the Barrois Collection, not previously disposed of, were sold by the same auctioneers. There were six hundred and twenty-eight lots in this sale, and the very large sum of thirty-three thousand two hundred and seventeen pounds, six s.h.i.+llings and sixpence was obtained for them, the choicest ma.n.u.scripts fetching exceptionally high prices. The ma.n.u.scripts were of great importance and much interest. Among them were to be found early copies of the Gospels and Epistles, and beautifully illuminated ma.n.u.scripts of the Latin and Italian Cla.s.sics, Books of Devotion, and early French Romances and Chronicles. The collection also contained a number of papers relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, and a valuable series of Anglo-Norman Charters, etc. The following are a few of the more interesting and valuable ma.n.u.scripts, together with the prices they realised:--_Roman du Saint Graal et Lancelot du Lac_, on vellum, in three folio volumes, with beautifully painted miniatures and initials, fourteenth century--eighteen hundred pounds; _Psalterium Latinum_, on vellum, fourteenth century, with paintings attributed to Giotto--fifteen hundred and thirty pounds; _Vie du vaillant Bertrand du Guesclin_, written on vellum in the fourteenth century, with miniatures in _camaeu gris_--fifteen hundred pounds; _La Legende Doree_, translated by Jehan de Vignay, fifteenth century, on vellum, with a large number of very fine illuminated miniatures and ornamental initials--fifteen hundred pounds; _Chronique Generale dite de la Bourcachardiere_, by Jehan de Courcy, in two large folio volumes, on vellum, with large illuminations, fifteenth century--fourteen hundred and twenty pounds; _Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis_, with very fine illuminations, fifteenth century--eleven hundred and sixty pounds; _Histoire Universelle_, on vellum, in two volumes, with miniatures in _camaeu gris_, fifteenth century--nine hundred and ten pounds; _Dante_, vellum, richly illuminated, fourteenth century--six hundred and thirty pounds. The collection of Anglo-Norman Charters fetched three hundred and five pounds, and the Letters and Papers relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, one hundred and ninety-six pounds.

For upwards of fifty years Lord Ashburnham availed himself of every opportunity of acquiring the finest and most perfect copies obtainable of the rarest and choicest books, and he brought together a collection of printed volumes which was well worthy of being a.s.sociated with that of his ma.n.u.scripts. It was especially rich in Bibles, and in Missals, Horae and other Service Books, and in the early editions of Dante, Boccaccio and Chaucer. Among the Bibles and portions of the Scriptures were a block-book, a copy of the _Biblia Pauperum_, regarded by Heinecken as the second edition of that work; vellum and paper copies of the Gutenberg Bible; a vellum copy of the 1462 Latin Bible; a perfect copy of Tyndale's translation of the Pentateuch, printed at 'Marlborow'

by Hans Loft in 1534; and the Coverdale Bible of 1535. Of foreign incunabula there was a large number; of Caxtons a very goodly list,[99]

but comparatively few of them perfect; and the rarest productions of the press of St. Albans, and of those of Machlinia, Lettou, Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde, Copland, and other early English printers were to be found in the library. The collection of the editions of the _Book of Hawking, Hunting_, etc., attributed to Dame Juliana Berners, may be considered to have been unique, for it included the _Book of St. Albans_, printed in 1486, the extremely rare edition printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496, the three editions printed by William Copland, those of William Powell and John Waley, and the only known copy of the first separate edition of _Fysshynge with an Angle_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1532. Other rare English books were the first edition of the first _Reformed Primer_, printed in 1535; an _Abridgement of the Chronicles of Englande_, printed by Grafton in 1570, which belonged to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who was beheaded in 1572, with an interesting letter written by him on the blank s.p.a.ce of the reverse of the last leaf, shortly before his death; _The Princ.i.p.al Navigations, etc., of the English Nation_, by Richard Hakluyt, printed in 1598-1600, with the very rare map having the Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 1577, and that of Standish, 1587, and the original suppressed pages of the Voyage to Cadiz; the four Shakespeare folios, and the first five editions of Walton's _Compleat Angler_, in the original bindings (three sheep and two calf) as issued by the publisher. Books also worthy of special notice were the beautifully illuminated copies of Boccaccio's _Ruine des n.o.bles Hommes_, printed by Colard Mansion at Bruges in 1476; the _Opera Varia Latine_ of Aristotle, printed on vellum by Andrea de Asula at Venice in 1483; and _Heures de la Vierge Marie_, also printed on vellum, by Geoffroy Tory in 1525. A catalogue of the more rare and curious printed books in the library was privately printed in 1864.

Although bookbindings did not form a special feature of the library, Lord Ashburnham possessed some remarkably fine and interesting examples of them. That on a tenth century ma.n.u.script of the Gospels, which for many centuries belonged to the Abbey of n.o.ble Canonesses at Lindau, on the Lake of Constance, is one of the finest specimens of gold and jewelled bindings to be found in any collection. This beautiful work of art, the lower cover of which is of the eighth century and the upper of the ninth, is of gold or silver gilt, and is profusely decorated with jewels. It is described in the _Vetusta Monumenta_ of the Society of Antiquaries, and was shown at the Exhibition of Bookbindings at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1891.[100] The collection also contained a particularly fine mosaic binding, with doublures, by Monnier, and many volumes from the libraries of Grolier, Maioli, the Emperor Charles V., De Thou, etc.

Lord Ashburnham's printed books were sold in three portions in 1897 and 1898 by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge. The first sale took place on June 25th, 1897, and seven following days; the second on December 6th, 1897, and five following days, and the third on May 9th, 1898, and five following days. There were four thousand and seventy-five lots in the three sales, and the total amount realised was sixty-two thousand seven hundred and twelve pounds, seven s.h.i.+llings and sixpence.

Very high prices were obtained for the books. The _Biblia Pauperum_ block-book sold for a thousand and fifty pounds; the vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible for four thousand pounds, the largest sum paid for a copy of this Bible, and the highest but one ever given for a printed book (Lord Ashburnham's copy on paper was sold privately to Mr. Quaritch for three thousand pounds); the Latin Bible of 1462 for fifteen hundred pounds; and the Coverdale Bible and Tyndale's Pentateuch for eight hundred and twenty pounds, and two hundred pounds. The illuminated copies of Boccaccio's _Ruine des n.o.bles Hommes_, printed by Colard Mansion; Aristotle's _Opera Varia Latine_, printed by Andrea de Asula; and the _Heures de la Vierge Marie_, printed by Geoffroy Tory, realised six hundred and ninety-five pounds, eight hundred pounds, and eight hundred and sixty pounds.

Of the Caxtons the _Life of Jason_ and the _Dictes_ fetched the highest prices--two thousand one hundred pounds, and thirteen hundred and twenty pounds; the former being the largest sum ever paid for any Caxton book.

Three hundred and eighty-five pounds were obtained for the 'Book of St.

Albans'; one thousand pounds for Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1498, believed to be the only copy extant; and three hundred and sixty pounds for the _Treatyse of Fyss.h.i.+ng with an Angle_, by the same printer. This little book, which consists of sixteen leaves, and without the covers weighs about two ounces, sold for nearly forty-five times its weight in gold. The first edition of the _Reformed Primer_ sold for two hundred and twenty-five pounds; Grafton's _Chronicle_, with the letter of the Duke of Norfolk, for seventy pounds; and a vellum copy of the _Tewrdannck_ for three hundred and ten pounds.

The first folio Shakespeare, which was slightly imperfect, was bought by Mr. Sotheran for five hundred and eighty-five pounds, for presentation to the Memorial Library, Stratford-on-Avon. The second folio fetched ninety pounds, and the third one hundred and ninety pounds. Hakluyt's _Navigations_ sold for two hundred and seventy-five pounds, and the set of the first five editions of the _Compleat Angler_ for eight hundred pounds. At the Corser sale they realised but one hundred and forty pounds. The copy of _Merlin_ with the Monnier binding brought seven hundred and sixty pounds, and a collection of early impressions of sixty-two prints by Albert Durer three hundred and fifty pounds.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 99: Eighteen are mentioned in Blades's _Life and Typography of Caxton_. London, 1861-63.]

[Footnote 100: This volume was recently sold for the Earl of Ashburnham by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge to a private purchaser for ten thousand pounds.]

SIR WILLIAM t.i.tE, C.B., 1798-1873