THE LIBRARY OF DR. RICHARD MEAD. 129 BOOK III. Chapter XXIII. vate Libraries. Charles II., first ejected him from the Church, and then drove him into exile, he won such respect abroad that Dispersed Prithe States of Holland, being informed after his return that a chapel was about to be built for him, expressed the wish to contribute something towards the building which should permanently testify of Dutch esteem. The result of this wish is still pointed out to strangers in four pillars of which the old Nonconformist body at "Stepney meeting" is justifiably proud. Of the ejected Divine, Dr. Richard Mead was both the pupil and the son. The training of such a tutor, and the reflections which he made for himself, resulted in a zealous lover of liberty, as well as a charitable man, a warm-hearted friend, an eminent cultivator of the sciences, and a most liberal promoter of letters. As to his profession, he was at the head of it for forty years. During many years of his life, Dr. Mead's Library was the most public Library in London. Every scholar might have free access that pleased. It was rich in Classics; in the Sciences; in modern History. At his death, in 1754, the sale produced £5,500. The number of lots was 6,592; that of volumes more than 10,000. thony Askew, M.D. Dr. Anthony Askew, the friend and pupil of Mead, Library of Anamassed a collection of nearly equal extent, and for Greek and Latin literature unsurpassed. His career as a collector began at Paris in 1749, and it was on the Continent that then, and afterwards, he gathered some of his choicest treasures. His intimate friend, 'Demosthenes' Taylor, bequeathed to him all his MSS., and those of his printed books that were "annotated"; the others Vol. II. 9 BOOK III. Chapter XXIII. vate Libraries. were bequeathed to Shrewsbury School. At Askew's Dispersed Pri- sale, in 1774, upwards of £5,000 was realized; some of the finest books passed into the Library of King George III.; others enriched the great Library of France; and many are to be seen in the Hunterian collection at Glasgow. Library of Rich ard Farmer, D.D. The collections of other Shake Dr. Richard Farmer seems to have imbibed the passion for collecting from Askew, with whom he resided when officiating in early life as a Preacher at the Chapel Royal. He became one of the most indefatigable of the haunters of the London and country book-stalls; and was so successful in his more especial search after early English literature, then but beginning to be fairly appreciated, that a collection which cost him (as it was believed,) less than five hundred pounds, produced at its sale in 1798, upwards of two thousand. In old English Poetry, it was truly described by the Cataloguer as "most rare and copious." When himself contemplating the publication of a Catalogue, the worthy Master of Emanuel wrote a prefatory advertisement, in which he reminded the courteous reader that the collection must not be looked upon as any "Essay towards a perfect Library;" that the works of great price which his College Library afforded him, he had not sought to buy: but that he believed "not many private collections contain a greater number of really curious and scarce books." Farmer has something to answer for to Posterity in spearian Com- the consequences of that impulse to Shakespearian "comment" which was given by his famous Essay, but mentators. THE LIBRARY OF RICHARD FARMER, dd. 131 BOOK III. Chapter XXIII. vate Libraries. The Collection of other Shak mentators. if subsequent commentators had kept their lucubrations under the control of like good sense and moderation to Dispersed Prihis own, valuable paper and more valuable time would have been largely spared. His friends George Steevens and Isaac Reed,-very different, both from himself spearian Com and from each other, in most respects,―resembled him in the zeal of collectorship, in the special eagerness with which they amassed the early literature of England, and in the marvellous mastery over the contents of their stores to which they perseveringly attained. But not one of the group evinced the smallest anxiety to secure any part of those stores for the permanent enjoyment of Posterity. The Library of Steevens was sold in 1800. The number of articles was 1943 and the amount obtained £2,740. That of Reed was sold in 1807, contained 8,957 articles, and realized the sum of £4,387. The period which is usually considered as preëminent for bibliomania, or, in other words, for the passion of collecting books, at enormous prices, with almost exclusive regard to mere rarity, attained its zenith at the sales of the Libraries of John, Duke of Roxburghe, in 1812, and of Colonel Stanley, in 1813. The Duke's Library was partly an inherited collection, and partly the result of the extensive researches which he had himself carried on during many years with keen interest and untiring energy. The collection extended to 10,120 articles in the sale Catalogue; and probably comprised about 30,000 volumes. The total amount of the sale was £23,397, 10s. 6d. The famous Boccaccio, Il Decamerone, printed by Valdarfer (which brought £2,260, the Libraries of the burghe and of BOOK III. Chapter XXIII. vate Libraries. largest sum ever obtained for a single volume), had Dispersed Pri- been purchased for one hundred guineas by an ancestor of the Duke, who certainly had small conception that he was making so profitable an investment. Twelve Caxtons sold for an aggregate sum of £2,951. Colonel Stanley's collection was especially rich in Italian and Spanish poetry, in Voyages and Travels, in the old Chroniclers, and in the choicer books of Natural History. It produced £8,236, which is estimated to have been above three times the cost to the owner. The number of volumes did not greatly exceed three thousand. "This sale," says Brunet, "appears to be that in which the thermometer of bibliomania reached its highest point in England.1 in 1816. Three years afterwards occurred a sale at Liverpool, The Roscoe sale, which excited great regret on account of the misfortunes that had led to it, and from the loving admiration with which the collector of the library was regarded by a wide circle of friends and readers. William Roscoe, as we all know, had collected books for use, not for ostentation; from an ardent love of them in himself, not from a desire to eclipse and mortify other people. Zealous efforts were made to induce him to consent to a repurchase of them by the joint action of some of his friends; but that consent he would not grant. The number of works in the collection was about 2,000; the produce of the sale £5,150. The chosen books which his friends persisted in purchasing were presented to the Liverpool Athenæum. 1 Manuel du libraire, i, 349. THE FONTHILL LIBRARY OF WILLIAM BECKFORD. 133 BOOK III. Chapter XXIII. vate Libraries. William Beckford at Fonthill. When Fonthill was in the zenith of its ephemeral pomp, the Library was conspicuous, both for its con- Dispersed Pritents and for the splendour of the galleries in which it was chiefly lodged. Branching both to North and South, The Library of from the lofty octagon tower in the centre of the pile, the aggregate length of these galleries and of the other rooms devoted to the books, exceeded five hundred feet. The cielings were of the richest fanwork; the bookcases and cabinets of choice woods elaborately carved; the windows of stained glass. Emblazoned corbels; panels framing historical portraits; tables and chimney-pieces of alabaster, porphyry, and verd-antique, relieved the monotony of the true genii of the place, which, however, to many eyes needed no such interposition to heighten their charms. The collection itself was chiefly notable for its long series of French, Spanish and Portuguese Chronicles; its choice books of prints; its Oriental and other illuminated MSS.; its Elzevir Classics; its extensive series of Voyages and Travels; and for an extraordinary collection of those books which shroud themselves under the decorously vague designation of "Facetic," many of which merit rather speedy burning than rich binding, and most of which are far more conspicuous for rarity than for worth of any kind. The extensive assemblage of Eastern miniature paintings collected in this Library was of peculiar interest, both from the rarity of such a series and from the light it is capable of throwing upon the sources whence certain European schools of miniature painting derived, to some extent, their characteristic styles. Many of the indi |