HYPOMNEMATA ANTIQUARIA B .
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I am at work on a biography of John Aubrey, the seventeenth-century antiquary, and write to inquire if any of your readers can give me any information with regard to the second volume of his Wiltshire Collections (borrowed by his brother, William Aubrey), which appears subsequently to have found its way into the sale of the It Heber Library in 1834-5, where it is described as : " No. 48, Aubrey. Extracts from Aubrey's papers in the Ashmolean Museum. It appears to be only the 2nd volume." Sotheby's catalogue in the British Museum gives the price this item fetched (£9), but does not name the buyer. It is possible that other copies of the sale catalogue exist, in some of which the name of the purchaser is noted.
The MS. itself, referred to by Aubrey as " Liber B.," is probably marked on the side of the binding, " Hypomnemata Antiquaria B.," with no further indication of its contents. Canon Jackson made some determined efforts to trace it during the nineteenth century, but they were unsuccessful, and no doubt it rests on the shelves of some library unknown to its owner.—Yours faithfully, ANTHONY POWELL. z Chester Gate, Regent's Park, N.W. z.
Previous page
