THE HISTORY OF THE BODLEIAN.*
WHEN this book was reviewed in the Spectator twenty-two years ago, the critic expressed a fear that the author would not find as many readers as he deserved. The fear, it seems, was justified. The book "was found," says Mr. Macray in his new preface, "to appeal to the interests of so limited a class of readers, that the idea of publishing a second edition was never entertained by me." Still, this limited class have in pro- cess of time absorbed the copies originally printed; and now, thanks to the exhortations of the present Librarian, and to the author's own disinterested love of his subject, a second edition actually appears. The fact is, that these two-and-twenty years have wrought no inconsiderable change at the Bodleian. The Spectator commented in 1868 on the scanty number of the readers who then availed themselves of its immense resources. This number has been largely increased since then. How great the increase has been cannot be stated, for no record is kept; but the fact itself is obvious to any one whose experi- ence of the place goes back, as does that of the present writer, to those twenty-odd years, and, indeed, to almost as many more. It is not always easy to find a place in the " bowers of Paradise," to quote again our description of the delightful little cells wherein readers find accommo- dation. This is as it should be ; and, happily, one need not fear any serious overcrowding. At present it is well worth while for a student, unless he is engaged on some very special research, to transfer himself from the British Museum to the Bodleian. The space is so ample, the sur- roundings so delightful, the service of books so quick, and, above all, the personal help of the librarians so courteous and so effective, that the trouble of the journey is more than com- pensated. The one thing in which the British Museum is incomparably superior is the Reference Library ; and it is difficult to see how in this respect the Bodleian could possibly compete with it.
In his second edition, Mr. Macray carries on his history of the Library in annal form down to the year 1880. From that time it is continued in the present Librarian's Report to the Curators, a document which will henceforth appear annually. Such a report is of the greatest value, but for the general
• Annals of the Bodleian. B the Rev. W. D. Massy, ILA. Second Edition. London : Macmillan and Co. MO. reader it is scarcely available, and it is to be hoped that some convenient summary of it will be periodically published. Indeed, Mr. Macray would have done well if he had given us something of the kind, and carried down his Annals to a time as near as possible to the date of publication. A dozen more pages would have sufficed, and readers who have not seen Mr. Nicholson's reports would have had good reason to be thankful. Among the items of later date than 1868, we may mention the bequest in 1873 of Sir Frederick Madden's journals and papers. They are enclosed in a box which is not to be opened before January 1st, 1920. In 1877, Mr. Macray himself presented a Chatterton volume which he had found in a village public-house in Clifton Hampden ; and in 1880, some interesting papers relating to the subject of Church of England Comprehension, one of them, it was supposed, by Archbishop Tillotson, were given by Bishop Jacobson. A final note states the increase of the Library. Between 1848 and 1888 it was exactly doubled, growing from 220,000 to 440,000; the annual increase is now 10,000, excluding periodicals. One- half of this number is due to the right which the Bodleian shares with various other libraries of a copy of every work published. The Curators did well when they objected in 1831 to a proposition that the Library should receive an annual grant of £500 in lieu of this privilege. How little way would £500 go in purchasing even the really valuable among the books annually published ! And then who is to say, having regard to possible changes, what is really valuable P The history of the Library in the past, shows that great treasures have been lost because they were thought to be at the time—and, indeed, in a sense were— without value. Apparently trivial things, such as caricatures and the like, which afterwards became worth far more than their weight in gold, were actually rejected. Early editions were sold because they were supposed to be superseded by late. So the Shakespeare folio of 1623 was alienated. Happily, the Library became possessed of another copy in Malone's collection.
The new matter introduced into this edition is scattered throughout the volume, and it would be difficult— as indeed, it would be useless—to confine to it any notice that we may give of its contents. The subject of lending books out of the Library has lately come before the public, and it is interesting to trace its history. Sir Kenelm Digby, in giving his manuscripts to the Library (1634), expressly stipu- lated that they should not be confined to use within its walls. He afterwards, however, left the matter to the discretion of the Curators. The loan of books was refused to various dis- tinguished persons, the Translators of the Bible, King Charles I., and Oliver Cromwell among them. The Parlia- mentary Commissioners in the time of the Commonwealth borrowed books without leave. One of them—originally borrowed by mistake, as it could have been of no use—was never returned. 'The matter may be now considered as finally settled. Only a special vote of Convocation can authorise the lending of a book. This is not only in strict accord with the strongly expressed views of the Founder, but is approved by the most experienced librarians.
Stealing is so closely akin to borrowing, at least in the matter of books, that it is interesting to note bow far the Library has suffered in this way. Polydore Vergil was accused of having stolen many manuscripts, and when farther oppor- tunities were refused him, is said to have obtained the Royal licence to take out all that he wanted. In 1624, a volume of sermons on the Sunday Gospels was taken, though it was secured by a chain (catena abscissum), and, in spite of an earnest appeal from the Vice-Chancellor, Proctors, and three Regina Professors to the delinquent, never restored. Other things, sometimes of considerable value, have been abstracted ; as, for instance, two rare tracts by Thomas Churchward were cut out of a volume in which they were bound. Mr. Macray hints not obscurely that offences of this kind have not altogether ceased. The consciences of collectors are pro- verbially hard, for it is collectors, not poor creatures who steal from want, that are in fault in this matter. It is found necessary at the Museum, where facilities for mis- appropriation are probably greater than in the Bodleian, to put a restriction on the giving out of some valuable books. If personal anecdotes may be intruded, the present writer found but a short time ago the word " mislaid " written across a ticket on which application had been made for a rare and
valuable volume. This naturally suggested the idea of theft; but on inquiry it turned out that the book had been laid aside for fear of unscrupulous collectors. It is satisfactory to find that sometimes the conscience of a book-thief is touched. One such person silently restored, about forty years ago, a volume which he had had since 1807. Perhaps it was not stolen after all, but really "mislaid." In 1851, the Library recovered a manuscript which had been missing since 1789, when it was taken out by E. G. Paulus, of Jena. It came from a Breslau bookseller after Paulus's death in 1850. It had been put into German binding and otherwise disguised.
Some curious details are given of the personalities of librarians and readers. Among the former, perhaps the most curious is Thomas Hearne, who was appointed Janitor, i.e., assis- tant, in 1703. He had attracted attention by his diligence as a student, and by his knowledge of books. In 1712 he was made Second Librarian. But his promotion did not avail him long. Hearne was a staunch Jacobite, and regarded Whigs with a de- testation and contempt which he did not hesitate to express in the freest possible manner. In 1714 he refused to take the Oaths, and two years afterwards withdrew from the Library (the Act which imposed a penalty of £500 on all persons performing public functions without having taken the Oaths, having come into operation on January 1st, 1616). To the day of his death, however, he maintained that he was de jure Sub-Librarian, and entered in his diary that his salary had not been paid him. He died in 1735, leaving behind him a mass of curious infor- mation, not always to be trusted when his political prejudices came into operation, but still of great value. In 1798, Henry Ellis, then an undergraduate Fellow of St. John's, was appointed one of the assistants. He died seventy-one years afterwards; four were spent at the Bodleian, and fifty-six in the British Museum, where he was Principal Librarian from 1827 to 1856. Sir H. Ellis died in January, 1869, and two months afterwards H. H. Baber, who had been a colleague in the Bodleian, also passed away. Both were in their ninety-third year. The Chief Librarian from 1768 to 1813 was John Price. This was the least satisfactory period in the history of the Bodleian, which still, we believe, suffers from the neglect of that time. Price was succeeded by Bulkeley Bandinel, whose venerable figure will be remembered by many of our readers. Dr. Bandinel resigned in 1860, and died little more than six months afterwards. His successor, H. 0. Coxe, was the very prince of librarians. He died in 1881, and has since found a worthy biographer in his friend, the late Dean Burgon. When we are speaking of the succes- sion of Librarians, we may mention that the stipend of the first, Thomas James, was £22. This was raised, however, to £40 on James's remonstrance. James also insisted on being allowed to marry. Bodley reluctantly gave way. Bat after- librarians were strictly bound to celibacy until 1856. The stipend now stands at £1,000, but it is not lawful for the Librarian to hold a living. There never has been any obliga- tion to Holy Orders, but most of the holders have been clergymen.
We cordially thank Mr. Macray for this highly interesting volume, while we congratulate him on the completion of his _fifty years of service to the Library. It is the patient labour of such men, labour that cannot be remunerated by the most liberal stipend, that helps forward the realisation of our author's concluding wish, Floreat Bibliotheca
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