Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/539

ENGLAND.] 15,000 volumes. It is especially rich in MSS., some of which are of great beauty and value; a catalogue of them was printed in 1825. The library has good topographical and entomological collections. The chapter spend 370 per annum in salaries and in books. The library at York numbers about 11,000 volumes, and has been very liberally thrown open to the public. It is kept in the former chapel of the archbishop's palace, and has many valuable MSS. and early printed books. The foundation of the library at Canterbury dates probably from the Roman mission to England, 596, although the library does not retain any of the books then brought over, or even of the books said to have been sent by Pope Gregory to the first archbishop in 601. It is recorded that among Lanfranc's buildings was a new library, and Becket is said to have collected books abroad to present to the library. The collection now numbers about 9900 printed books, with about 110 MS. volumes, and between 6000 and 7000 documents. A catalogue was printed in 1802. The present building was erected in 1867 on part of the site of the monastic dormitory. The library at Lincoln contains 7400 volumes, of which a catalogue was printed in 1859. It possesses a fine collection of political tracts of the age of Elizabeth, James, and Charles I. The present collection at Chichester dates from the Restoration only; that at Ely is rich in books and tracts relating to the non-jurors. The library at Exeter possesses many Saxon MSS. of extreme interest, one of them being the gift of Leofric, the first bishop. The treasures of Lichfield were destroyed by the Puritans during the civil war, and the existing library is of later formation. Frances, duchess of Somerset, bequeathed to it nearly 1000 volumes, including the famous Evangeliary of St Chad. The collection at Norwich is chiefly modern, and was presented by Dr Savers. The earlier library at Peterborough having almost wholly perished in the civil war, Bishop White Kennett became the virtual founder of the present collection. Salisbury is rich in incunabula, and a catalogue has recently been printed. Winchester Cathedral Library is mainly the bequest of Bishop Morley in the 17th century. The library at Bristol, then numbering 6000 or 7000 volumes, was burnt and pillaged by the mob in the riots of 1831. Only about 1000 volumes were saved, many of which were recovered, but few additions have been made to them. At Chester in 1691 Dean Arderne bequeathed his books and part of his estate "as the beginning of a public library for the clergy and city." The library of Hereford is a good specimen of an old monastic library; the books are placed in the Lady Chapel, and about 230 choice MSS. are chained to oaken desks. The books are ranged with the edges outwards upon open shelves, to which they are attached by chains and bars. The four Welsh cathedrals were supplied with libraries by a deed of settlement in 1709. The largest of them, that of St Asaph, has about 1750 volumes.

The Bodleian Library, though it had been preceded by various efforts towards a university library, owed its origin to Sir Thomas Bodley. After a long and honourable career as a diplomatist he determined, as he says, to take his farewell of state employments, and concluded to set up his staff at the library door in Oxon. Contributing largely himself, and procuring contributions from others, he opened the library with upwards of 2000 volumes in 1602. In 1610 he obtained a grant from the Stationers Company of a copy of every work printed in the country. The additions made to the library soon surpassed the capacity of the room, and the founder proceeded to enlarge it. By his will he left considerable property to the university for the maintenance and increase of the library. The example set by Bodley found many noble imitators. Amongst the chief benefactors have been Sir Henry Savile, Archbishop Laud, John Selden, Sir Kenelm Digby, Lord Fairfax, Richard Gougli, Francis Douce, Richard Rawlinson, Rev. Robert Mason, and F. W. Hope. The library now contains almost 400,000 printed volumes, and about 30.000 manuscripts. The number of separate works exceeds a million. But the number of volumes conveys a very inadequate idea of the valuable character of the collection. In the department of Oriental manuscripts it is perhaps superior to any other European library; and it is exceedingly rich in other manuscript treasures. It possesses a splendid series of Greek and Latin editiones prindpes, and of the earliest productions of English presses. Its historical manuscripts contain most valuable materials for the general and literary history of the country.

The last general catalogue of the printed books was printed in 4 vols. folio, 1843-51. In 1859 it was decided to prepare a new manuscript catalogue on the plan of the great catalogue at the British Museum, and this has recently been completed in duplicate. It extends to over 700 folio volumes, in which the books are entered on manifolded slips. It is an alphabetical author-catalogue; and the Bodleian, like the British Museum, has no accessible subject index. A catalogue on subjects is now, however, in course of preparation. There are also printed catalogues of the books belonging to several of the separate collections. The MSS. are in general catalogued according to the collections to which they belong, and they are all indexed, although they are not all catalogued as yet. Five volumes have been published under the late Mr Coxe's editorship of the "Catalog! Codicum MSS. Bibliothecte Bodleiaiue," 1853-63, in quarto, and there is a folio catalogue of Oriental MSS. In 1860 the beautiful building known as the "Radcliffe Library," now called the "Camera Bodleiana," was offered to the curators of the Bodleian by the Radclilfe trustees. It is used as a storehouse for the more modern books, including the new periodicals, which lie upon its tables; and it also serves as a reading-room. It is the only room open after the hour when the older building is closed owing to the rule as to the exclusion of artificial light. The separa tion of the books is a source of some inconvenience in practice, and it has been proposed of late years to remove the entire collections to a new building which should be erected for the purpose of accommodating them.

The library is open by right to all graduate members of the university, and to others (over eighteen years of age) upon producing a satisfactory recommendation. No books are allowed to be sent out of the library except by special leave of the curators, in which respect there is a marked contrast with the practice at the University Library at Cambridge, and still more so with the conspicuous liberality in this respect of the university libraries of Germany. The hours are from 9 to 4 and 9 to 3, according to the time of year, the Camera being open from 10 to 10 all the year round. The library is only closed altogether some twenty-nine working days in the year. The general control of the library is committed to a board of thirteen curators. The permanent endowment is comparatively small; the ordinary expenditure, chiefly defrayed from the university chest, is about £4500.

The other important collections not connected with particular colleges are the Radcliffe Library and the library of the Taylor Institution. The former was founded by the famous physician Dr John Radcliffe, who died in 1714, and bequeathed, besides a permanent endowment of 350 a year, the sum of 40,000 for a building. The library was opened in 1749. Many years ago the trustees resolved to confine their purchases of books to works on medicine and natural science. When the university museum and laboratories were built in 1860, the trustees allowed the books to be transferred to the museum. The completeness and convenience of the arrangements make the Radcliffe the model of a working scientific library. The Taylor Institution is due to the benefaction of Sir Robert Taylor, an architect, who died in 1788, leaving his property to found an establishment for the teaching of modern languages. The library was established in 1848, and is devoted to the literature of the modern European languages. It contains a fair collection of works on European philology, with a special Dante collection, about 1000 Mazarinades and 400 Luther pamphlets. It contains altogether 30,000 volumes, with a few MSS. The Finch collection, left to the university in 1830, is also kept with the Taylor Library. Books are lent out to members of the university and to others on a proper introduction. The endowment affords an income of £800 to £1000 for library purposes, and about 2000 volumes are added yearly.

The libraries of the several colleges vary considerably in extent and character. That of All Souls was established in 1443 by Archbishop Chichele, and enlarged in 1710 by the munificent bequest of Christopher Codrington. It devotes special attention to juris prudence, of which it has a large collection. It possesses 40,000 printed volumes and 300 MSS., and fills a splendid hall 200 feet long. The library of Brasenose College has a special endowment fund, so that it has, for a college library, the unusually large income of 200. The library of Christ Church is rich in divinity and topography. It embraces the valuable library bequeathed by Charles Boyle, third earl of Orrery, amounting to 10,000 volumes, the books and MSS. of Archbishop Wake, and the Morris collection of Oriental books. The building was finished in 1761, and closely resembles the basilica of Antoninus at Rome, now the Dogaua. Corpus possesses a fine collection of Aldines, many of them presented by its founder Bishop Fox, and a collection of 17th century tracts catalogued by Mr Edwards, with about 400 MSS. Exeter College Library has 25, 000 volumes, with special collections of classical dissertations and English theological and political tracts. The library of Jesus College has few books of later date than the early part of the last century. Many of them are from the bequest of Sir Leolina Jenkins, who built the existing library. There are also some valuable Welsh MSS. The library of Keble College consists largely of theology, including the MSS. of many of Keble's works. The library of Magdalen College has about 22,500 volumes (including