Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 01.djvu/368

Ames merely of a transcript of the names of the coins as shown upon the plates. In 1748[7] he printed a ‘Catalogue of English Heads,’ being an index to the collection of 2,000 prints, bound in ten volumes, belonging to Mr. John Nicholls or Nickolls, F.R.S., a quaker antiquary of Ware in Hertfordshire. It forms the first attempt at a general description of English engraved portraits, a work resumed by Granger twenty years later. The arrangement is alphabetical, but is wanting in method, the same individuals appearing in different parts, and titled persons being entered sometimes under titles and sometimes under family names. The Rev. William Cole has left in manuscript (see his Papers, vol. xxx., in British Museum) an amended alphabetical index.

A few years later Ames distributed a prospectus and specimen, the price to subscribers being fixed at a guinea; and at last, in 1749, the ‘Typographical Antiquities’ appeared, a handsome quarto of over 600 pages, dedicated to Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. The original proposals contemplated only 200 copies, but 301 were subscribed for, and the list shows that the book was supported by the leading antiquaries and printers of the day. It was warmly received, and the entire edition appears to have been soon sold off. However imperfect Ames's work may be considered in the light of modern criticism, it is undoubtedly the foundation of English bibliography. An eloquent testimony to its merit lies in the fact that it was used as the basis of the more elaborate histories of Herbert and of Dibdin, the latter of whom says (see his ed. i. 15): ‘Every impartial living antiquary, whatever may be his opinion of the literary attainments of the author, must cheerfully acknowledge his obligation to Ames's work.’ One cause for the excellency of the ‘Typographical Antiquities’ may be found in the statement of the preface: ‘I did not chuse to copy into my book from catalogues, but from the books themselves.’  Ames owed much to the investigations of other students, and acknowledges (Preface) his ‘obligations to most of [his] subscribers who, besides their subscriptions, have kindly assisted [him] with their manuscripts and observations.’  A portion of his extensive bibliographical correspondence with Ducarel, Anstis, Lewis, Bishop Lyttleton, Rawlinson, &c., is given by Nichols. The libraries of Lord Orford, Sir Hans Sloane, Mr. Anstis, and other friends, were always open for his researches. Oldys's ‘Diary’ supplies many proofs of Ames's ardour in searching for rare English books. His last undertaking was to edit, or perhaps to compile entirely, the ‘Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Family of the Wrens,’ which appeared in 1750. It is now a rare and costly volume.

Ames was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1736, and was appointed secretary five years later; he held the function until his death, the Rev. William Norris being associated with him in 1754. Ames appears to have been an active official, as is shown by the numerous letters preserved by Nichols. A copy of the minutes of the meetings of the society (1717–51) in Ames's handwriting is in the British Museum (Egerton MSS. 1041–2). He was elected F.R.S. in 1743. It may be mentioned, as an instance of the esteem in which he was held by the president, Sir Hans Sloane, that he was one of the trustees under the will of the latter. The solitary contribution of Ames to the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ consists of a letter relating to a case of ‘plica polonica’ in 1747. Ames made no pretence to literary merit, but he was an excellent antiquary according to the lights of the day. His position in the Society of Antiquaries made him some enemies. The caustic Mores describes him (op. cit. p. 85) as ‘an arrant blunderer … a plane-maker and lived at the Hermitage. … He was unlearned but useful; he collected antiquities, and particularly old title pages and the heads of authors, which he tore out and maimed the books: for the first of these crimes he made some amends by his “Typographical Antiquities,” and for the second by his “Catalogue of English Heads.”’  The accusation of tearing out title-pages was well deserved. In the sale of Ames's effects appeared a collection ranging between 1474 and 1700 in three folio volumes, besides several bundles and two more folios of title-pages alphabetically arranged according to places of printing. Other personal details of an equally ill-natured kind have been left by Grose (see Olio, 1796, pp. 133–5): ‘He was a very little man, of mean aspect and still meaner abilities. The history of printing published under his name was really written by Dr. Ward, professor of Gresham College, though perhaps the materials were collected by Ames.’ Cole accused him of being ‘as illiterate as one can conceive. I have received many letters from him which are not English, and are full of false spelling, yet he was a very curious and ingenious person, and to his dying day kept a sort of patten or hardware shop at Wapping, where I have often called upon him to look over his old books and prints, and have bought many pounds' worth of English heads of him, for he would sell anything. He was an independent by profession, or anabaptist, but a deist by conversation’ (in, Illustrations, viii. 581). Oldys