Richard Rawlinson was the fourth son of Sir Thomas Rawlinson, Lord Mayor of London in 1705-6, and younger brother of Thomas Rawlinson the collector. He was born in the Old Bailey on the 3rd of January 1690, and, after having received his early education at St. Paul"s School and Eton, matriculated as a commoner of St. John"s College, Oxford, in 1708; but, in consequence of the death of his father, he became a gentleman-commoner in the following year. He took the degrees of B.A. in 1711, M.A. in 1713, and in 1719 he was created D.C.L. On the 21st of September 1716 he was ordained deacon, and two days later, priest among the nonjurors by Bishop Jeremy Collier, in Mr. Laurence"s chapel on College Hill, London.[69] After his ordination he travelled through a great part of England, and in 1719 paid a visit to France, and afterwards to the Low Countries, where he was admitted into the Universities of Utrecht and Leyden. Towards the end of the year he returned home, but in 1720 he again left England, and spent several years in France, Germany, Italy, and other parts of the Continent. In April 1726 he again came home, in consequence of the death of his brother, which took place in the preceding year. During his travels he kept a series of note-books, some of which are preserved among his miscellaneous ma.n.u.scripts in the Bodleian Library. In 1728 he was consecrated bishop by the nonjuring bishops Gandy, Doughty and Blackbourne in Gandy"s chapel, but he appears to have been always desirous of concealing both his clerical and episcopal character, for in a letter written in 1736 to Mr. T. Rawlins of Pophills, Warwickshire, he requests him not to address him as "Rev."[70] Dr. Rawlinson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1714, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1727, but later he quarrelled with both these Societies, and stipulated in his will that the recipients of his bequests should not be Fellows. He was also a Governor of Bridewell, Bethlehem, and St.
Bartholomew"s Hospitals.
Dr. Rawlinson lived for some time in Gray"s Inn, but shortly after the death of his brother Thomas he took up his abode in the rooms which had been occupied by him in London House in Aldersgate Street. He died at Islington on the 6th of April 1755, and was buried, in accordance with a direction in a codicil to his will, in St. Giles"s Church, Oxford. His heart, which he bequeathed as a token of affection to St. John"s College, Oxford, is preserved in a marble urn in the chapel of that College, inscribed with the text "Ubi thesaurus, ibi cor," and with his name and the date of his death. It is said that Rawlinson also left instructions that a head, which he believed to be that of Counsellor Christopher Layer, the Jacobite conspirator, who was executed in 1723, should be buried with him, placed in his right hand; but this injunction, if really made, does not appear to have been complied with.[71]
[Ill.u.s.tration: DR. RICHARD RAWLINSON.]
Rawlinson devoted himself to antiquarian pursuits, and, like his brother Thomas, was an enthusiastic collector of ma.n.u.scripts and books. The Rev. W.D. Macray, in his _Annals of the Bodleian Library_, says that his collections were "formed abroad and at home, the choice of book-auctions, the pickings of chandlers" and grocers" waste-paper, everything, especially, in the shape of a MS., from early copies of Cla.s.sics and Fathers to the well-nigh most recent log-books of sailors"
voyages. Not a sale of MSS. occurred, apparently, in London, during his time, at which he was not an omnigenous purchaser; so that students of every subject now bury themselves in his stores with great content and profit. But history in all its branches, heraldry and genealogy, biography and topography, are his especially strong points."
Rawlinson bequeathed all his ma.n.u.scripts, with the exception of private papers and letters, "to the chancellor, masters and scholars of the University of Oxford, to be placed in the Bodleian Library, or in such other place as they should deem proper"; and he further directed that they should be "kept separate and apart from any other collection." All his deeds and charters, his books printed on vellum or silk, and those containing MS. notes, together with some antiquities and curiosities, were also left by him to the University. His ma.n.u.script and printed music he bequeathed to the Music School. The number of ma.n.u.scripts left by him exceeded four thousand eight hundred in number, together with a large collection of charters and deeds. A catalogue of them has been made by the Rev. W.D. Macray, the author of the _Annals of the Bodleian Library_. The printed books which he selected from his library for the University amounted to between eighteen and nineteen hundred.[72] Other books and ma.n.u.scripts, together with some valuable pictures and coins, were given by him to the Bodleian Library during his lifetime. The remainder of his printed books, with the exception of a few which he bequeathed to St. John"s College, were sold by auction by Samuel Baker, of York Street, Covent Garden, at two sales. The first commenced on the 29th of March 1756, and lasted fifty days. It consisted of nine thousand four hundred and five lots, which fetched one thousand one hundred and sixty-one pounds, eighteen shillings and sixpence. The second sale, which, as the preface to the catalogue informs us, consisted of "upwards of Twenty Thousand Pamphlets ... and his most Uncommon, Rare and Old Books," began on Thursday, March 3rd, 1757, and was continued on the nine following evenings. It realised but two hundred and three pounds, thirteen shillings and sixpence. These were followed by a sale of prints, books of prints and drawings, upwards of ten thousand in number.
One hundred and sixty-three pounds, ten shillings and threepence, however, was all that could be obtained for them. Marked catalogues of the three sales are preserved in the Library of King George III. in the British Museum. The prices at all the sales were very low. There were three Caxtons in the first sale--_Tully of Old Age_, _Curia Sapientiae_, and the _Order of Chivalry_, which fetched respectively one pound five shillings, six shillings, and eleven shillings. The prints and drawings fared even worse than the printed books. One hundred and three prints by Albert Durer, in two lots, sold for one pound, ten shillings and sixpence, and a large collection of woodcuts by the same artist for half a crown. Twenty-four etchings by Rembrandt, in four lots, realised but three pounds, five shillings; while eleven shillings and sixpence was all that could be got for thirty-four heads and thirty-five views by Hollar.
The collection of ma.n.u.scripts which Dr. Rawlinson bequeathed to the University of Oxford is a magnificent one, and Mr. Macray gives a long and very interesting account of it in his _Annals of the Bodleian Library_. It contains some fine Biblical ma.n.u.scripts, and about one hundred and thirty Missals, Horae, and other Service-books, many of them from the library of the celebrated collector Nicolas Joseph Foucault. It is rich in early copies of the cla.s.sics, and there are upwards of two hundred volumes of poetry, including the works of Chaucer, Hoccleve, Lydgate, etc. English history is remarkably well represented. Among the ma.n.u.scripts of this division of the collection are the _Thurloe State Papers_ in sixty-seven volumes, which were published by Dr. Birch in 1742, and the _Miscellaneous Papers_ of Samuel Pepys in twenty-five volumes. The Pepys papers, among other very interesting matter, comprise many curious dockyard account-books of the reigns of King Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth. This division also contains some important letters of King Charles II., King James II., and the Duke of Monmouth, together with an acknowledgment by Monmouth that Charles II. had declared that he was never married to Lucy Walters, the Duke"s mother.
This was written and signed by him on the day of his execution, and witnessed by Bishops Turner and Ken, and also by Tenison and Hooper. As might be expected, the number of works relating to topography, heraldry and genealogy is very large. The collection also comprises many Irish ma.n.u.scripts, a considerable number of Italian papers bearing on English history, and the valuable collections made by Rawlinson for a continuation of Wood"s _Athenae Oxonienses_, and for a History of Eton College. There are one hundred volumes of letters, two hundred volumes of sermons, and the immense quant.i.ty of ancient charters and deeds already mentioned.
Rawlinson also bequeathed to the University Hearne"s daily diary and note-books in about one hundred and fifty small duodecimo volumes, which he had bought of the widow of Mr. William Bedford.
Among the printed books is a magnificent collection of the original broadside proclamations issued during the reign of Elizabeth, and a set of almanacs extending from 1607 to 1747, bound in one hundred and seventy-five volumes.[73]
To St. John"s College, Rawlinson bequeathed a large portion of his estate, amounting to about seven hundred pounds a year, a few of his printed books, a collection of coins, etc.; and to the College of Surgeons he gave some anatomical specimens. He also left property to endow a professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, and to provide a salary for the Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. But all his endowments were accompanied by eccentric restrictions, which remained in force until a few years ago, when they were annulled by statute. He directed "that no native of Scotland or Ireland, or of any of the plantations abroad, or any of their sons, or any present or future member of the Royal or Antiquary societies," should hold these endowments; and in the case of the Ashmolean Museum, he further enjoined that the Keeper "is not to be a doctor in divinity or in holy orders ... neither born nor educated in Scotland, neither a married man nor a widower, but one who hath regularly proceeded in Oxford to the degrees of master of arts or bachelor of law."
Rawlinson wrote a considerable number of works, chiefly of an antiquarian or topographical nature. Among the more important are _The English Topographer_, _The History and Antiquities of the City and Cathedral Church of Hereford_, _The History and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of Rochester_, _The History and Antiquities of Glas...o...b..ry_; and a _Life of Anthony a Wood_. He also edited Aubrey"s _Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey_, and other books.
Although Dr. Rawlinson, like his father and his brother, was a warm Jacobite, he does not appear to have taken part in any of the movements for the restoration of the Stuart family to the throne. He entirely occupied himself with antiquarian and literary pursuits, and the formation of his n.o.ble collections. In order that he might devote as much as possible of his income to the purchase of books and antiquities, he denied himself the luxuries, and even the comforts of life; and he went about so meanly clad, that the coachman of his late father happening to meet him one day, and judging from his appearance that he was in a dest.i.tute condition, begged his acceptance of half a crown to relieve his distress. The story is told by Dr. Rawlinson himself.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 69: Rev. W.D. Macray, _Annals of the Bodleian Library_.
London, etc., 1868, p. 168.]
[Footnote 70: _Ibid._ p. 168.]
[Footnote 71: When the head of Layer was blown off from Temple Bar (where it had been placed after his execution), it was picked up by a gentleman in that neighbourhood, who showed it to some friends at a public-house; under the floor of which house, I have been a.s.sured, it was buried. Dr. Rawlinson, mean-time, having made enquiry after the head, with a wish to purchase it, was imposed on with another instead of Layer"s, which he preserved as a valuable relique, and directed it to be buried in his hand.--Nichols, _Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century_, vol. v. p. 497.]
[Footnote 72: Macray, _Annals of the Bodleian Library_, p. 170.]
[Footnote 73: Rawlinson also left to the University some autograph writings of King James I. The existence of these had been forgotten, and has only been recently discovered.]
MARTIN FOLKES, 1690-1754
Martin Folkes, the eminent antiquary and scientist, was the eldest son of Martin Folkes, a Bencher of Gray"s Inn. He was born in Lincoln"s Inn Fields, London, on the 29th of October 1690, and after receiving his early education at the University of Saumur, was sent, in 1707, to Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he so greatly distinguished himself in all branches of learning, and more particularly in mathematics and philosophy, that in 1714, when only twenty-three years of age, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and two years later was chosen one of its Council. In 1723 he was appointed a Vice-President of the Society, and on the retirement of Sir Hans Sloane in 1741 he became President, a post he held until 1753, when he resigned it on account of his health. Folkes was also elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1720, and in 1750 he succeeded the Duke of Somerset as President, an office he filled during the remainder of his life. His attainments were also recognised by the French Academy, which elected him in 1742 one of its members. He was a D.C.L. of the University of Oxford, and LL.D. of the University of Cambridge. He died on the 28th of June 1754, and was buried in the chancel of Hillington Church, Norfolk.
In 1792 a monument was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey.
Folkes, who was the author of two works on English coins, and several papers in the _Philosophical Transactions_ of the Royal Society and the _Archaeologia_ of the Society of Antiquaries, formed a fine collection of books, prints, drawings, pictures, gems, coins, etc., a considerable portion of which he acquired during his travels in Italy and Germany.
His library, which was very rich in works on natural history, coins, medals, inscriptions, and the fine arts, was sold by Samuel Baker, York Street, Covent Garden, on Monday, February the 2nd 1756, and forty following days. The sale consisted of five thousand one hundred and twenty-six lots, which produced three thousand and ninety-one pounds, six shillings. A catalogue, marked with the prices, is preserved in the Library of King George III. in the British Museum. A copy of the first Shakespeare folio fetched but three guineas. The sale of Folkes"s prints and drawings occupied eight days, and that of his pictures, gems, coins, and mathematical instruments five days. Dibdin says that "the MSS. of his own composition, not being quite perfect, were, to the great loss of the learned world, ordered by him to be destroyed."
WILLIAM OLDYS, 1696-1761
William Oldys, Norroy King-at-Arms, was born on the 14th of July 1696.
There is some obscurity respecting his parentage, but there is little doubt he was the natural son of Dr. William Oldys, Chancellor of Lincoln, and Advocate of the Admiralty Court. His father left him some property, which he appears to have lost in the South Sea Bubble. From the year 1724 to 1730 Oldys resided in Yorkshire, but in the latter year he returned to London, and became acquainted with Edward Harley, the second Earl of Oxford, to whom he sold his collection of ma.n.u.scripts for forty pounds. In 1738 the Earl appointed him his literary secretary and librarian, first at a salary of one hundred and fifty pounds, and afterwards of two hundred pounds, a year. Unfortunately the Earl died in 1741, and Oldys was obliged to earn a precarious livelihood by working for booksellers, and was soon involved in pecuniary difficulties. He was confined in the Fleet prison from 1751 to 1753, when he was released by the kindness of the Duke of Norfolk, who not only paid his debts, but in 1755 procured for him the office of Norroy King-at-Arms, which congenial post he held for six years. He died at his rooms in Heralds" College on the 15th of April 1761, and was buried in the church of St. Benet, Paul"s Wharf. A portrait of him will be found in the _European Magazine_ for November 1796. The princ.i.p.al works by Oldys are a _Life of Sir Walter Raleigh_, prefixed to an edition of his _History of the World_, printed in 1736; _The British Librarian_, published anonymously in 1738; and _The Harleian Miscellany_, published in 1744-46. He also annotated _England"s Parna.s.sus_, and two copies of Langbaine"s _Account of the early Dramatick Poets_. One of these copies was purchased by Dr.
Birch at the sale of Oldys"s books for one guinea, and was bequeathed by him to the British Museum. Twenty-two of the lives in _Biographia Britannica_ were from his pen, and in addition to the works already mentioned he wrote a few minor ones on bibliographical and medical subjects. Oldys"s library was not a large one, but it contained some very interesting and scarce books. After his death it was purchased by Thomas Davies, the bookseller, author of _Memoirs of the Life of Garrick_, and was sold by him in 1762. The t.i.tle of the sale catalogue reads: "A Catalogue of the Libraries of the late William Oldys, Esq., Norroy King-at-Arms (author of _The Life of Sir Walter Raleigh_); the Rev. Mr. Emms of Yarmouth, and Mr. Wm. Rush, which will begin to be sold on Monday, April 12 [1762] by Thomas Davies." The books were disposed of for extremely low prices.
JOHN RATCLIFFE, -1776
Nothing appears to be known of the parentage and birth of John Ratcliffe, the collector, who for some years kept a chandler"s shop in Southwark, where he seems to have ama.s.sed a sufficient competency to enable him to retire from business and devote the remainder of his life to the acquisition of old books. It is said that his pa.s.sion for collecting them arose from the perusal of some of the volumes which were purchased by him for the purpose of wrapping his wares in. Ratcliffe kept his library at his house in East Lane, Bermondsey, where, Nichols informs us in his _Literary Anecdotes_, "he used to give Coffee and Chocolate every Thursday morning to Book and Print Collectors; Dr.
Askew, Messrs. Beauclerk, Bull, Croft, Samuel Gillam, West, etc., used to attend, when he would produce some of his fine purchases." Nichols adds, "he generally used to spend whole days in the Booksellers"
warehouses; and, that he might not lose time, would get them to procure him a chop or a steak." An amusing letter respecting him appeared in the _Gentleman"s Magazine_ for 1812. The writer states that "Mr. John Radcliffe was neither a man of science or learning. He lived in East Lane, Bermondsey; was a very corpulent man, and his legs were remarkably thick, probably from an anasarcous complaint. The writer of this remembers him perfectly well; he was a very stately man, and, when he walked, literally went at a snail"s pace. He was a Dissenter, and every Sunday attended the meeting of Dr. Flaxman in the lower road to Deptford. He generally wore a fine coat, either red or brown, with gold lace b.u.t.tons, and a fine silk embroidered waistcoat, of scarlet with gold lace, and a large and well-powdered wig. With his hat in one hand, and a gold-headed cane in the other, he marched royally along, and not unfrequently followed by a parcel of children, wondering who the stately man could be. A few years before his death, a fire happened in the neighbourhood where he lived; and it became necessary to remove part of his household furniture and books. He was incapable of a.s.sisting himself; but he stood in the street lamenting and deploring the loss of his Caxtons, when a sailor, who lived within a few doors of him attempted to console him: "Bless you, Sir, I have got them perfectly safe!" While Ratcliffe was expressing his thanks, the sailor produced two of his fine curled periwigs, which he had saved from the devouring element; and who had no idea that Ratcliffe could make such a fuss for a few books." He died in 1776.
Ratcliffe"s collection, though not large, was marvellously rich in the productions of the early English printers; and the volumes were generally in fine condition, and handsomely bound, though not always in good taste. It contained no less than forty-eight Caxtons, among which were the _Game of the Chesse_, the _Dictes or Sayings of the Philosophers_, the _History of Jason_, and Chaucer"s _Canterbury Tales_. It comprised also numerous books from the presses of the Schoolmaster of St. Albans, Lettou, Machlinia, Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde, etc., and a few ma.n.u.scripts. Dibdin in his _Bibliomania_ remarks: "If ever there was a unique collection, this was one--the very essence of Old Divinity, Poetry, Romances and Chronicles." Ratcliffe compiled a ma.n.u.script catalogue of his library in four volumes, which was disposed of at the sale of his collection for seven pounds, fifteen shillings. It is said that he always wrote on the first fly-leaf of his books "Perfect"--or otherwise, as the case might be.
After his death his library was sold by auction by Mr. Christie of Pall Mall. The sale, which commenced on the 27th of March 1776 and lasted till April 6th, consisted of one thousand six hundred and seventy-five lots. It does not appear to have been well managed, for Nichols says, "there were many hundred most rare Black-letter books and Tracts, unbound, with curious cuts. They were sold I remember in large bundles, and were piled under the tables in the Auction Room, on which the other books were exposed to view, and were not seen by the Booksellers who were the purchasers." A priced copy of the catalogue is preserved in the British Museum, which shows that the Caxtons fetched but two hundred and thirty-six pounds, five shillings and sixpence; the highest prices obtained being sixteen pounds for the _Game of the Chesse_, fifteen guineas for the _Dictes or Sayings of the Philosophers_, and nine pounds, fifteen shillings for the _Golden Legende_. King George III.
bought twenty of the Caxtons at an aggregate cost of about eighty-five pounds. Among them were the _De Consolatione Philosophiae_ of Boethius, _Reynard the Foxe_, the _Golden Legende_, the _Curial_, and the _Speculum Vitae Christi_. The Boethius, which was a fine copy, was acquired for four pounds, six shillings. A copy of the _Bokys of Hawkyng and Huntyng, etc._, ascribed to Dame Juliana Bernes, printed at St.
Albans in 1486, sold for nine pounds, twelve shillings, and a ma.n.u.script Bible on vellum, finely illuminated, for two pounds, ten shillings.
JAMES WEST, 1704?-1772
James West, who is described by Dibdin as "a Non-Pareil Collector: the first who, after the days of Richard Smith, succeeded in reviving the love of black-letter lore and of Caxtonian typography," was born about 1704. He was the son of Richard West of Priors Marston in Warwickshire, said to be descended from Leonard, a younger son of Thomas West, Lord de la Warr, who died in 1525. James West was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, whence he took the degrees of B.A. in 1723 and M.A. in 1726. In 1721 he was admitted as a student at the Inner Temple, and was called to the Bar in 1728. On the 4th of January 1737, while residing in the Temple, he lost a large portion of his collections, valued at nearly three thousand pounds, through a fire in his chambers.[74] In 1741 he was elected one of the representatives in Parliament for St. Albans, and was appointed one of the Joint Secretaries of the Treasury, which post he held until 1762. Three or four years later his patron the Duke of Newcastle obtained for him a pension of two thousand a year. He sat for St. Albans until 1768, and afterwards represented the const.i.tuency of Boroughbridge in Yorkshire until his death on July the 2nd, 1772. He was Recorder of Poole for many years, and also High Steward of St. Albans.
He married the daughter of Sir Thomas Stephens, timber merchant in Southwark, with whom he had a large fortune in houses in Rotherhithe.
West had a great love for scientific and antiquarian pursuits, and as early as 1726 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in the following year a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, of which he became a Vice-President. Of the first-named Society he was chosen Treasurer in 1736 and President in 1768, which office he held during the remainder of his life. In addition to his extensive and valuable library of ma.n.u.scripts and printed books, West collected paintings, prints, and drawings, coins and medals, plate, and miscellaneous curiosities. His collection of printed books was exceedingly rich in early English ones. It contained no fewer than thirty-four Caxtons, and a large number of works from the presses of Lettou, Machlinia, the anonymous "Scole mayster" of St. Albans, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, and the rest of the old English typographers, many of which were unique copies. His ma.n.u.scripts were exceptionally interesting and valuable.
These, with some exceptions, were bought by William, Earl of Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, and were subsequently purchased by Parliament, together with the other ma.n.u.scripts of the Marquis, for the British Museum. Many of the ma.n.u.scripts had previously belonged to Bishop Kennet.
West"s coins, pictures, prints, drawings, and museum of curiosities were disposed of at various sales in the early part of 1773,[75] and on the 29th of March and twenty-three following days in the same year his library was sold by Messrs. Langford[76] at his late dwelling-house in King Street, Covent Garden.[77] There were four thousand six hundred and fifty-three lots, which realised two thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven pounds, one shilling. A copy of the catalogue with the prices and the names of the purchasers is preserved in the Library of King George III. in the British Museum. Many of the more valuable books were purchased by Gough, the antiquary, the greater part of which were bequeathed by him to the Bodleian Library. Although Horace Walpole, in a letter to the Rev. W. Cole, dated April 7th, 1773, writes that he considered "the books were selling outrageously," the prices were only fairly good for the time, and not high. The thirty-four Caxtons realised no more than three hundred and sixty-one pounds, four shillings and sixpence. The highest prices obtained were forty-seven pounds, fifteen shillings and sixpence for the first edition of Chaucer"s _Canterbury Tales_, thirty-two pounds, eleven shillings for the _Recuyell of the Histories of Troy_, thirty-two pounds and sixpence for the first edition of the _Game of the Chesse_, and twenty-one pounds for the second edition of the _Dictes or Sayings of the Philosophers_. These four works were purchased for King George III., who bought largely at the sale.
Among many other rare English books a fine example of the _Bokys of Hawkyng and Huntyng_, printed at St. Albans in 1486, fetched thirteen pounds, and unique copies of two works from the press of Wynkyn de Worde--_The Pa.s.se Tyme of Pleasure_, 1517, and the _Historye of Olyver of Castille_, 1518--three guineas, and one pound, twelve shillings respectively. The latter book was reprinted in 1898 by Mr.
Christie-Miller for the Roxburghe Club. It was edited by Mr. R.E.
Graves, late a.s.sistant-Keeper, Department of Printed Books, British Museum. West"s famous collection of ballads, which was begun by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, was bought for twenty pounds by Major Pearson, who made many additions to it. It afterwards came into the possession of the Duke of Roxburghe, by whom it was also greatly enlarged. After pa.s.sing through the library of Mr. Bright, it was finally acquired in 1845 by the trustees of the British Museum.
Among the ma.n.u.scripts a beautifully illuminated Missal, made by order of King Henry VII. for his daughter Margaret, afterwards Queen Consort of James IV., King of Scotland, was bought by the Duke of Northumberland for thirty-two pounds, eleven shillings; a Book of Hours sold for forty-three pounds, one shilling; and a ma.n.u.script of Boccaccio for twenty-five pounds, four shillings. Both of these ma.n.u.scripts had exceedingly fine illuminations.
FOOTNOTES: