Page:Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.djvu/141

Rh and of William Staunton himself, were all here, forming the most wonderful county collection ever yet formed, and which a hundred years' work will never replace. The books, many rare or unique, and of extraordinary value, comprised over 2000 volumes; there were hundreds of sketches and watercolour drawings of buildings long since destroyed, and more than 1,500 engravings of various places in the county, among them being some 300 relating to Birmingham, 200 to Coventry, 200 to Warwick Castle, 200 to Kenilworth Castle, and more than 100 to Stratford-on-Avon. The thousand portraits of Warwickshire Worthies, more rare and valuable still, included no less than 267 distinct portraits of Shakespeare, every one from a different block or plate. There was, in fact, everything about Warwickshire which successive generations of learned and generous collectors could secure. Among other treasures were hundreds of Acts of Parliament, all pedigrees, pamphlets, &c., about the Earls of Warwick and the town of Warwick; the original vellum volume with the installation of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to the Order of St. Michael, with his own autograph; volumes of rare, curious autographs of county interest; county poll books, newspapers and magazines; all the rare Civil War pamphlets relating to the Warwickshire incidents; ancient deeds, indulgences, charters, seals, rubbings of brasses long lost or worn away, medals, coins, hundreds in number; and rare and invaluable volumes, like the Duc de Nortombria's "Arcano de Mare," and two fine copies of Dugdale's Warwickshire; besides hundreds of books, engravings, caricatures, pamphlets and tracts. The catalogue of this precious collection had only recently been completed, but even that was burnt, so that there is nothing left to show the full extent of the loss sustained. The only salvage consisted of three books, though most providentially one of the three was the splendid of the Priory of St. Anne, at Knowle, a noble vellum folio, richly illuminated by some patient scribe four centuries ago, and preserving not only the names of the benefactors of the Priory, and details of its possessions, but also the service books of the Church, with the ancient music and illuminated initials, as fresh and perfect as when first written. Of almost inestimable value, it has now an acquired interest in the fact of its being, so to speak, all that remains of all the great Staunton collection. The Curvantes Library, which had taken him a quarter of a century to gather together, was presented by Mr. William Bragge. For many years, even in a busy life, Mr. Bragge, in his visits to Spain and his travels all over Europe, had been able to collect nearly all the known editions, not only of " Don Quixote," but of all the other works of Cervantes. Not only editions, but translations into any and every language were eagerly sought ; and, after cherishing his treasures for many years, Mr. Bragge was so impressed with the Shakespeare Library that he generously offered his unrivalled collection of the great contemporary author to the town of which he is a native, and in which he afterwards came to live. The collection extended from editions published in 1605 down to our own days, and included many very rare and very costly illustrated volumes, which can never be replaced. All the known translations were among the thousand volumes, and all the works were in the choicest condition, but only ten survived the fire.—From the Lending Library about 10,000 volumes were rescued, and as there were nearly 4,000 in the hands of readers, the loss here was comparatively small. The present number of books in the Reference Library bids fair to surpass the collection lost, except, of course, as regards the Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Staunton gatherings, the latter of which it is simply impossible to replace, while it will take many years to make up the other two. There are