to be told that the library of the great College
inherited very little indeed from the smaller foundations in which it had a part at least of its beginnings. Michaelhouse had a large library, but only two or three of its books, and none of its manuscripts, are to be found in that of its successor ; of the literary possessions of King's Hall, nothing remains. The actual building now in use dates from 1676-95 (the years in which it was begun and finished). It superseded a building which was finished about the end of the sixteenth century. Its inception was due to the enterpris of Isaac Barrow, then Master, who died in the year after its com- mencement. Its cost, Dr. Sinker tells us, was about £16,000. We do not hear whether any of Dr. Barrow's books—so well chosen, it is said, that they sold for more than they cost—found the way to the shelves. Dr. Sinker, after duly commemorating some of the chief benefactors to the Library, proceeds to describe some of its treasures. The collection of manuscripts is large, and though it contains nothing of the first importance, full of interest. A copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and an uncial fragment of the New Testament, found in the binding of a volume of Gregory of Nasianzum, may be mentioned. The Latin manuscripts seem
especially valuable, and there are some fine missals and psalters. Among modern manuscripts, those of Milton are noticeable. A fac-simile of the conclusion of " Lycidas " is given ; the hand- writing is very legible. In the twenty-nine lines there are but three or four stops. Another fac-simile is of a letter from Bacon to the College, and a third, a page from Thackeray's •` Esmond." Both are remarkably good. We may notice how Thackeray erases phrases that do not suit the eighteenth-century style, of which, indeed, " Esmond" is a masterly specimen. " Burst out into a laugh " is changed into " broke," and " clear, penetrating tones" has been scratched out. The collection of early printed books, foreign and English, is described at some length. The Library now contains "about 80,000 volumes, of which 1,918 are MSS."
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