LIBRARY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 89 BOOK III. Chapter XXII. ries of London. Subsequent ac Williams' Li brary. under the inspection of that Court that the yearly income of the Trust has, from the first, been expended. The Minor LibraDr. William Harris, a contemporary and friend of the founder, was the first to follow his example. He bequeathed his whole collection, amounting to about 2,500 volumes; and many similar though smaller bequests have been made since. The present total number of vo- cessions to Dr. lumes of printed books somewhat exceeds 20,000; and of MSS. there are between two hundred and three hundred, including many of considerable interest to the student of our English ecclesiastical history. Amongst the printed books are a curious series of occasional forms of Prayer; another of Puritan and other tracts, chiefly of the seventeenth century; and some early Bibles. About £100 a-year appears to be usually expended on the increase of the Library, of which a good catalogue was published in 1841. The Reading Room is convenient, and is made liberally accessible to all comers. 1 1 the Royal Society. The ROYAL SOCIETY was not formally instituted until the 5th December, 1660, although its founders had The Library of many years before commenced the well-known occasional meetings and conferences which were its germ. The Charter was granted in 1662. There are no distinct traces of a Library until 1667, when that of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, was given by his descendant, under the circumstances narrated in a previous chap 1 Catalogue of the Library in Red Cross Street, founded pursuant to the will of the Rev. Daniel Williams, DD. (2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1841 [Vol. 1, Books, pp. 420. Vol. 2, Tracts, pp. 438]); Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on Public Libraries, 1849, 69-73; Life of William Bates, DD. prefixed to his Works. BOOK III. Chapter XXII. ries of London. The Arundel 1 ter. Evelyn, at whose desire, -as I have elsewhere The Minor Libra- mentioned, the gift was made, believed that the collection was in imminent danger of perishing by neglect and spoliation. In one place he speaks of curious books carried off by stealth or by sturdy begging. In another he mentions:-"that rare collection of good authors, which by the industry and direction of Francis Junius, the learned son of the learned Patrick, and Mr. Selden, and the purchase of what was brought at once out of Germany (i. e. the Pirckheimer collection), was left neglected at Arundel House, before it was demolished and converted into tenements. About 100 volumes relating to Heraldry and the Earl Marshal's Office were excepted. These were given to the Herald's College." The actual transfer was not completed until 1678. Maitland's ac count of the Library of the (About 1755.) Our topographers sometimes designate this Library as the "Norfolcian Library at Gresham College." Maitland (writing ahout the middle of the last century), says Royal Society that it then consisted of "3287 printed books, in most languages and all faculties; and chiefly the first editions, soon after the invention of printing;" but when he states that "originally it was part of the Royal Library of. of the Kings of Hungary," he falls into a strange blunder, though it is one which has often and recently been repeated. In 1715, Francis Aston bequeathed a valuable collection of books, which, with some other gifts, amounted, according to Maitland, to 3625 volumes, especially rich "in natural and experimental philosophy." Together, 1 Antea. vol. i. pp. 476, 477. LIBRARY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 91 therefore, the Library must have contained, when Mait BOOK III. Chapter XXII. ries in London. land wrote, about 7000 volumes. "It far excels," he The Minor Libraadds, "all the public libraries of this city in point of goodness and value." The old Regulations of the Library were established on the transfer of the Arundel Collection. They ran thus:-"Orders concerning the government of the Bibliotheca Norfolciana. 1678. 1. That the Long Gallery in Gresham College, be the place for the Library if it may be procured. 2. That an inscription in letters of gold be set up... in honour of the benefactor. 3. That there be an exact Catalogue of all the books of the Bibliotheca Norfolciana made apart, and also of all other books which shall accrue. 4. That for securing the books and to hinder their being embezzled, no book shall be lent out of the Library to any person whatever. 5. That such person or persons as shall desire to use any book in the Library shall return it into the hands of the Library-Keeper entire and unhurt. 6. That the Library shall be surveyed once in the year by a Committee chosen by the Council, to the number of six; any three of whom to be a quorum." Amongst the later Benefactors are to be numbered Sir William Jones, and his widow, who gave (the former, in 1795; the latter, in 1797) many precious Oriental MSS., with an instruction "that they may be lent out without any difficulty to any studious man who may apply for them." Foremost amongst the MSS. still possessed by the Royal Society is a volume containing Newton's Principia in his autograph. There is also an interesting MS. of Wren's Parentalia. The Arundel MSS., Regulations of 1678. Later Renefactions. BOOK III. Chapter XXII. as we have seen already, have passed to the British MuThe Minor Libra-seum, but are represented in the Society's Library by a noble addition to the printed books. The exchange Present contents had the express sanction of the late Duke of Norfolk, ries of London. of the Library Society. of the Royal as the representative of the donor. There is now a really fine collection of the literature of the Sciences, and especially of the transactions of learned Societies, throughout the world. The printed books amount to at least 45,000 volumes. Of MSS., there are about 500; of Maps, Charts, and Prints more than 5000. Excellent catalogues exist of all these collections. The public accessibility of the Library, for literary and scientific purposes, is worthy of the Royal Society. 1 London Institu tion. The groundwork of the Library of the LONDON INSTITUTION was laid in large purchases at the sale, in Library of the 1806, of the printed portion of the Library of the first Marquess of Lansdowne. The proprietary body for whom the collection was formed had been organized in the previous year. Its chief originators were the late Sir Francis Baring, John Julius Angerstein (the first collector of what is now our National Gallery), George Hibbert (himself the collector of a choice library), Richard Sharp, and others of like position. The sums subscribed amounted to nearly £80,000, and the house temporarily taken for the Institution was the fine old 1 Evelyn, Diary and Correspondence (edit. of 1854), ii, 20, 122-132; iii, 305; Weld, History of the Royal Society, i, 196, 197, 266; ii, 204, 448, 449, 474; Maitland, History of London (second edition by Entick), 1287, 1288; Bishop Nicolson, English Historical Library, Preface; Documents respecting the gift of the Norfolk Library to the Royal Society (printed in Nichols' Illustrations, iv, 63-66). MS. Correspondence. THE LIBRARY OF THE LONDON INSTITUTION. 93 BOOK III. Chapter XXII. ries of London. Mansion, in the heart of the City, which Sir Robert Clayton erected in 1671, when about to serve the office The Minor Libraof Sheriff. But in 1811, the expiry of the lease necessitated a removal, first, to 'King's Arms Yard,' and thence to the spacious building erected for the purpose in Moorfields; a building which is in many respects a model of skilful arrangement, as well as a conspicuous architectural ornament of that part of the capital. The first class of Literature which received special attention in the formation of the Library was the History and Topography of the United Kingdom. In the sections of English Topography and Antiquities, more particularly, this collection is, I believe, scarcely surpassed by the oldest and wealthiest Libraries in the country. The sections of Foreign and General History are also well furnished, and there is a considerable series of Voyages and Travels. In the classes of Theology, Law, and Medicine, the great authors only are collected; the founders having justly considered that the many professional Libraries of the Metropolis made it needless, even had it been on other grounds judicious, to attempt more. In the Sciences, and more especially in the Mathematical group of them, the Library is sufficiently supplied. Of the Classics, both in texts and in translations, it has a noble series. The Collection of Philology and of Literary History is also extensive. Amongst the bibliographical rarities of the collection are many choice specimens of the early presses of Germany, Italy, and France. Here may be examined pro ductions of Antoine Verard, of the Wechels, of the Stephani, the Aldi, the Sessæ, and the Giunti, as well as Formation of the Library of the tution. Bibliographical curiosities in the London Institu tion. |