Author: Bodleian Library
Publisher: Forgotten Books
Published: 2015-07-20
Total Pages: 410
ISBN-13: 9781331889984
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Excerpt from Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts Bequeathed by Francis Douce, Esq.: To the Bodleian Library Francis Douce, of whose magnificent library, by his bequest united to the Bodleian, the following Catalogue is now presented to the public, was descended from a respectable family in Hampshire. He was born in London in 1757 and died at his house in Gower Street on the thirtieth of March 1834, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. It may appear perhaps strange, that a man of so much general reading and of such vast information should not be more known to the world by his published writings; for when we have enumerated the Illustrations of Shakespeare the Dissertation upon the engraved figures attributed to Holbein and others representing the Dance of Death, added to a few articles in the Archaeologia we have little remaining upon which to rest his fame as an author. But it seems probable that the result of his reading, although lost to the present generation, remains yet to be enjoyed by their posterity. We allude to his Note Books and other Manuscript Collections deposited in the British Museum, not to be unsealed until the first of January 1900. In giving a general outline of his collection, we may proceed in the first place to invite the attention of the reader to the Manuscripts. Of these it may be remarked, that as the favourite pursuit of the Collector was to illustrate the history of the manners, customs and language of his own country, it is not surprising that the greater proportion of them should have a direct connection with such an inquiry. Accordingly we find in the historical portion the work of Geoffry of Monmouth de Gestis et Originibus Britannorum, the Polychronicon of Hygden the Chronicle of the reign of Edward I. by Robert of Avesbury, the Historia Ecclesiastica of Bede, a very fine Ms. of the twelfth century, but above all the Flores Historiarum of Roger de Wendover, monk of St. Albans, a Ms. in excellent preservation written towards the end of the 13th century, and supposed to be the only known copy remaining of this important work. We may also mention in this place the Life of Becket by Fitz-stephen and John of Salisbury, comprised in the same volume with a collection of letters (many unpublished) by Becket, Henry II. and pope Alexander III.; nor should we omit several volumes of Statutes issued during the reigns of Henry III. and his successors to the time of Henry the Fifth. Amongst the Manuscripts which illustrate the history of the language and poetry of England, may be enumerated, a curious collection of proverbs of the fourteenth century, copies of the Golden Legend, of the Liber Festivalis, of the Chronicles known by the name of Caxton, a translation of Vegetius, made at the instance of sir Thomas Berkley, with the poetical works of Occleve de Regimine Principum from gidius Columna, of Boethius by Walter of Oseney, of the religious legend of Ippotis of the Troy Buke and other poems by Lydgate and by Hampole, and a very curious volume of hymns and, religious pieces by John Awdelay, a deaf and blind monk of Haghmon, in Shropshire. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
