L I T E R AT U R E L I B R A R I E S I N T H E S E V E N T E E N T H E I G H T E E N T H C E N T U R I E S E D I T E D B Y JO HN C O T T O N D A N A W H E N R Y . K E N T T HE LI FE O F SI R THOMAS BODLEY ° 69 C . T HE LI FE O F SI R T HOMAS B ODLEY WR ITTE N B Y H I MSEL F T O G E T H E R W I T H T H E FI R S T D R A FT O F T H E STATUTES O F T H E PU BLI C LIBRARY AT O ' O N I O F T HE NI V ERS I T CH I CA G O C . Mc C L U R G C O . M D C C C C V I PREFACE PREFACE S what is kno w n of Sir Thomas Bodley ’ s early life is derived from the short “ sketch written by himself, un which is reprinted here , it is necessary to speak ofthat period at any length . “ Of worshipful parentage ; brought as a small boy in G e neva under the teachings of men Be r o ald like Chevallier , , Calvin , z t n Be a , and Rober Constanti e ; O educated later at xford , where he passed many years both as student and lecturer ; an acco m pli she d linguist through years Of travel and residence in foreign co untr ie s he w , was ell adapted to 1 0 PREFACE a career of diplomacy , and was selected by Queen Eli z abeth for many state embassies , which he n i He recounts with a ve pride . seems to have conducted these taét embassies with and ability , t but they are almost forgot en , while Sir Thomas will always be remembered fo r the library which , bears his name , at whose s taiT door he set up his when , t o t ired f sta ecraft, he withdrew t from public life , determining s ill “ to do the true part o fa pr o fit f able member o the state . His own account o f his life ends here , with the wish that the library itself may show ho w well he has sped in his endeavours . And who could wish a nobler PREFACE 1 1 m onument ' It is surely unnecessary , says “ Old A 5 nthony Wood , to repeat the praise of such a man as T homas Bodley , a man whose name will perish only with that of his country . The Obligations which literature owes to the e x er tio ns ofthis individual can only be estimated by those who have opportunity as well as occasion to consult the inestimable trea sures he bequeathed to the place ' of his education . A more mo Au dern tribute is paid by Mr . gustine Birrell in his agreeable I n the Nam e o the B od essay , f ' “ lezan : Springing o ut o f the mind , heart , and head Of one ffi strong , e cient , and resolute 1 e PREFACE man , it is matter for rejoicing with every honest gentleman to be able to Observe how quickly the idea took root , how well it has thriven , by how great a tra dition it has become consecrated , and how studiously the wishes o f the founder in all their essentials are still Observed and carried out . The first aét ual university li br ar O y at xford , called after its be ne faét o r , Bishop Cobham , was 1 6 begun in 3 7 , in a small upper room , lighted by four windows . Even beforethat a fewbooks had o “ been kept in chests , t be lent out under pledges , while others were Chained to desks for pub ’ C o bham s lic reading . Bishop PREFACE 1 3 books , by the way , were nearly lost to the university because the poor Bishop died without enough money to pay for his funeral ex penses ; but a kindly friend r e deemed the books and sent them O to xford , in accordance with the last wishes of the Bishop . It was not many years before the building of a more worthy room was begun , and to appeals fo r aid in the new enterprise Duke Humphrey o f G lo uce s te r responded so liberally with both money and books that he is often called the founder . It o f H is Duke umphrey , that “ religious , good , and learned ' Prince , the patron Of all learn T H ing , that quaint homas earne 1 4 PREFACE ( the sto r y Of whose co nne étio n with the library is an interesting o ne ) tells us that , whenever he saw his handwriting in the li “ br ar y, he used to show a par ar O e s e ét t ha ticul sort fr p to i . W t “ ct this sort of respe was , his tory does no t say . Another forerunner Ofthe uni ’ versity library was the co lle é tio n presented to Durham College by that early and earnest lover of books , Richard de Bury , Bishop o f ct Durham , with the injun ion that it was to be free to all schol ars who might carry away books o f r purposes of study , provided they left pledges exceedingtheir O o f value . n the dissolution Dur ham College by Henry VIII PREFACE 1 5 some of these books found their ’ way into Duke Humphrey s O ct Library . ther benefa ors were Bishop Kempe and John i to f E o f T T t . p , arl Worcester he library soon lost some of its trea r e sures , however , for there are cords that scholars borrowed books upon petty or insufficient pledges , and so chose to forfeit the latter rather than return the former . But dire calamity was to come ' In 1 5 5 0 the commissioners ap pointed by Edward VI in his z eal for reformation visited the li br ar O y at xford , destroying all illuminated manuscripts as ne ' ce s sar il y Popish , and leaving everything exposed to harm and 1 6 PREFACE T t pillage . radi ions have been handed from o ne generation to another o f the vandalism that o f went on . Some the books were burned , some sold to bookbind o ers , tailors and sh emakers , who found vellum and parch ment procured thus Cheaply most useful in their trades . The rest disappeared mysteriously , h but so completely t at , six years t la er , the university itself, hav ing no books , sold the very shelves and benches , and the room w as left desolate . And so young Thomas Bodley found it when he was entered at Magda len College four years after the e final ruin had been wrought . H must have been deeply touched 1 8 PREFACE to o cords , alone remained pr ve that there had once been a pub O fit like library at xford , by ting itwith the necessary shelves and o f seats , procuring for it gifts books , and by an annual endow ment . The offer was most grate fully accepted and from that time the story o fthe fo unde r i s pr aéti cally that of the library . ’ Bodley s fir m confidence in his honourable friends ' was not o misplaced gifts came p uring in , both from those who shared his enthusiasm and from those who wished to be written inthe scroll be nefaéto r s of the , for whose recognition wise provision was T x fi u made . he e pense of tting p the room was far greater than PREFACE 1 9 had been anticipated ; but Bod ley was nothing daunted , and the library was formally opened 6 0 1 . in November , 3 Visitors “ flocked to this the fir st pr acti E cally public library in urope , and King James I was twice an H e appreciative guest . granted letters patent the year after it was opened , calling the library ’ af by Bodley s name , and soon ter w ar ds knighted the founder , nam e said he sho uld whose , , have G . been not Bodley , but odley The first catalogue appeared in 1 6 0 5 , and before many years , the library having outgrown its quarters , extensions werebegun . Sir Thomas wrote his Life in 1 6 0 9 , and the original manu 2 0 PREFAC E script 1s preserved in the Bod le n fi 1 ia . It was printed rst in 1 0 by Henry Ball . In 7 3 Thomas Hearne ( later sub- librarian ) in it cluded , as reprinted here , in ' ' ' R elz uzae B odlezanae his q , together ’ with Sir T ho m as s Fi r s t D r aught o the Statutes f of the library , and ’ a co lle é tio n o fletters written by T fi him to homas James , the rst T librarian . he latter isknown for ’ his editions o fRichard de Bury s ' ' t lobz blon o ne o f , which has a long dedication to Bodley . It is fortunate indeed that these let ters have been preserved , for they are a most truthful witness of the unceasing activity and in dustr y, the indefatigable atten tion even to matters o fminutest PREFACE 2 1 t de ail , and the unending devo tion which Sir Thomas lavished o - up n his self appointed task .