Library of Durham.

The Library of this Chapter is preserved in a spacious and luminous apartment more than one hundred feet in length, and of proportional width, occupying one side of the space above the Cloisters. It was, in former times, the Refectory of the Monastery, and the walls which once resounded with the crash of monastic mastication, now echo the footsteps of the casual visiter or cloistered student. A Portrait of Dean Sudbury, the founder of the Library after the Restoration, is at the end of the room; and on the floor are several Roman Altars, discovered in the vicinity of Durham.

The Books are well arranged upon shelves of easy access, and appear remarkably free from damp; the cases projecting from the wall on either side into the room; with due intervals for study.

In the south alley of the Cloisters is a large hall, called the Frater-house, finely wainscotted on the north and south side, by Thomas Castell, Prior, A.D. 1518. Within the door on the left hand, at entering is a strong Almery in the wall, wherein the Grace Cup, the Grace Major, called the Judas’s Cup, and St. Bede’s Bowl, did stand. In that Almery lay all the best plate that served the Convent in the Frater-house on Festival Days; and there was a fine work of carved wainscot before, and a strong lock on the door, so as none could perceive there was any Almery at all, the key-hole being made under the carved work of the wainscot.

In this Frater-house the Prior, and the whole Convent of the Monks held their great feast of St. Cuthbert, in Lent, having their meat served out of the dresser-window of the great kitchen, into the Frater-house; and their drink out of the great cellar.

At the east end of the Frater-house stood a fair table with a skreen of wainscot over it, being kept all the rest of the year for the Master of the Novices, the Elects, and the Novices, to dine and sup at, having their meat served to them in the same manner.

At these times one of the Novices, appointed by the Master, read some part of the Old and New Testament in Latin, during dinner, having a convenient place at the south end of the high table, within a fair glass window, encompassed with iron, and certain stone steps with iron rails to go up to an iron desk, whereon lay the Holy Bible, which reading being ended, the Master tolled a silver bell, hanging over his head, thereby giving notice to one of the Novices to come to the high table and say grace, and that ended, they departed to their books.

This fabric retained the name of the Petty Canons’ Hall, till Dr. Sudbury, Dean of this Cathedral, generously erected a beautiful Library in its place, which he, not living to finish completely, by the following clause of his last will, binds his heir, Sir John Sudbury, to the due execution thereof.

“Item, whereas I have lately contracted with several workmen for the building of a Library in the place commonly called the Petty Canons Hall in the College of Durham, for the use of the Dean and Prebendaries of the said Cathedral Church. And if it should please God that I do not live to finish the same, my will and pleasure is that my executor, hereafter named, shall pay out of my personal estate all such sum or sums of money as shall be necessary for the finishing thereof, according to such form or modell, or in such manner as I shall leave directions for under my hand, attested by two or more good and sufficient witnesses. This will is dated Jan. 11, 1683.”⁠[11]⁠

The books were removed to their present situation by Dean Sudbury, in the seventeenth century, up to whose time they had been kept in the room adjoining the Chapter-house, and also over the Cloisters.

This Library contains from seven to eight thousand volumes, of which five hundred and twenty are in Manuscript. The printed books amounting to seven thousand two hundred and fifty-nine volumes, at the time of this present writing.

Three Catalogues of the printed books remain in this collection; the first compiled about the time of Charles II. in one folio volume, bears the following title:

“Catalogus Librorum Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Dunelmensis dispositus exaratus, adornatus à doctissimo ornatissimoque viro Joanne Milner, A. M. ejusdem Ecclesiæ Precentore et Bibliothecario dignissimo.”

The second is a folio on vellum, compiled in the time of Bishop Cosin, the title whereof runneth thus:

“Bibliotheca Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Dunelmensis à Decano et Capitulo ejusdem Ecclesiæ instaurata anno dni MDCXXVIII. et ab eisdem exinde per annuales eorum expensas aliaque benefactorum donaria ornata adaucta et bonis libris instructa.”

The third is the Catalogue now in use, accurately arranged in alphabetical order, by the Rev. James Raine, the present Librarian. It is to be hoped that this gentleman may be enabled to steal a few hours from his antiquarian researches, to prepare this Catalogue, with appropriate notices of the rarer articles, for the press, to which I trust it will ere long be committed by the liberality of the Dean and Chapter.

There is also a Catalogue of Glosses and Commentators in this collection, compiled by Elias Smith, during the period of the Great Rebellion.

Thomas Rud has also left behind him a very curious Catalogue of the Books bought in his time, with their prices, a work which has been very properly continued by the succeeding Curator of this Library.

A book is also kept upon the table for the entry of all volumes borrowed or taken away from the Library, with the name of the person so taking them and the date when taken.

This precaution has happily been adopted in this as in other Cathedral Libraries, but not until after much inconvenience, and in some instances serious losses had been sustained from the want of this or a similar regulation.

The latitude which so long prevailed in this respect, has of late years been exchanged for rigorous custody, and none but prebendal keys can now unlock the chamber wherein the literary treasures of the Dean and Chapter are deposited.

Of the printed books in this collection I will proceed to give such an account as the opportunities afforded me, enabled me to collect, during a cursory survey of this ancient Library.

A great part of this, as of most ancient Libraries, consists of Glosses, Decretals, and Pandects, with other early and almost forgotten Works of Divinity, and the obscurer authors of the middle ages.

Passing by these, I first directed my attention to the earliest impression of the Holy Scriptures in the English language, being that printed by Christian Egenolff, at Franckfort, in 1535, folio, and known as Coverdale’s Bible. The present copy wants the title, and two leaves of the Prefatory matter, beginning with the last leaf of the Prologue. It is also defective in all the leaves of the Revelations, which follow signature T.T. iii. The three last leaves are much torn, but the book is sound in the middle, and in very ordinary calf binding. By some unaccountable error it has been lettered on the back “Grafton’s Bible. 1541.”

I also noticed an imperfect copy of Matthew’s Bible of 1549, reprinted from the edition of 1537, in folio; the second edition of the Bishop’s Bible, printed at London, by Richard Jugge, in 1572, folio, with a double version of the Psalms; a copy of the Bible of 1641, in folio, and the Bible printed at Cambridge in 1663, 4to.; the Bible printed at Oxford, by J. Baskett, in 1717, in 2 volumes, folio, in forrel binding, with clasps; Baskerville’s elegant folio edition of the Scriptures; the Bible, with Notes by Bishop Wilson, printed by Cruttwell at Bath, in 1785, in 3 volumes, 4to.; the Manse Bible, printed at Whitehaven in 1775, 4to., in calf binding; and the Bible, with Notes by D’Oyley and Mant, printed at Oxford in 1817, in 3 vols. 4to.; and Reeves’ Bible, in nine 4to. volumes.

I also remarked fine copies of the Hebrew Bible, by Van der Hooght, Houbigant, Buxtorf, and Kennicott, in calf binding; the Biblia Græca, of Grabe; the Vetus Testamentum juxta LXX, edited by Holmes and Parsons, at Oxford, in 5 volumes, folio; the Biblia Polyglotta complectentia textus originales Hebraicum, cum pentateucho, Samaritanum, Chaldaicum, Græcum, &c. cum apparatu appendicibus tabulis, &c. ex editione Briani Waltoni, Londini, Thomas Roycroft, 1655-57, in 6 folio volumes, with the indispensable and customary adjunct of Castelli Lexicon Heptaglotton, Hebraicum, Chaldaicum, Syriacum, Samaritanum, &c. cui accessit brevis grammaticæ delineatio, Londini, Th. Roycroft, 1669, in 2 folio volumes, all uniformly bound in calf; the Biblia Polyglotta curâ Bened. Ariæ Montani, Antverpiæ, Plantinus, 1569-72, wanting one volume, in folio.

I may here mention the Heptateuchus:—Liber Job, et Evangelium Nicodemi, Anglo-Saxonicè; Historia Judith, Dana-Saxonicè, edited by Edward Thwaites, at Oxford, in 8vo.; Codex Theodori Bezæ, Cantabrigiensis, Evangelia et Acta Apostolorum complectens, quadratis literis, Græco-Latinis, adumbravit, expressit, edidit, &c. Thomas Kipling, S.T.P. Cantabrigiæ, 1793, in 2 volumes, folio; Wetstein’s Edition of the Greek Testament; the Evangelia Gothica, edited by Junius; and Psalterium Davidis Latino-Saxonicum Vetus, à Johanne Spelmanno editum è vetustissimo Exemplari manuscripto, et tribus aliis collatum, Londini, 1640, 4to.

There are also Bibles in the Spanish and French languages; and many Latin Bibles, the earliest of which appeared to be that printed at Venice in 1484, by Herbert de Selgenstat, a German, in double columns of small Gothic letter, in a quarto form, bound in red morocco, with a cover, originally appertaining unto John Cade, whose illustrative propensities are displayed by a coloured representation of the Virgin, pasted on the back of the first leaf of this book. The passion of this defunct collector for illustrating books is said to have been so strong as to have led to the expansion of his copy of Dugdale’s Works to no less than one hundred volumes.

On viewing the literary remains of polemical controversy, and the dust-covered rows of obsolete divinity, one is tempted involuntarily to exclaim—

Of these writers, over whose voluminous works the modern eye so coldly glances, some occupied no small share of the public attention in their time, and of a few might be said,

It is remarkable that two-thirds of the eminent schoolmen were of British birth, a circumstance which renders the preservation of their labours in the Cathedral Libraries of England a matter of some consequence to those who love to trace the scintillations of the English mind through the Cimmerian gloom of the schools.

In these repositories we also find the marvellous legends of those great and good men whom the Church delighted to honour.

The present collection offers several editions of the once popular Legenda Aurea, the first bearing the date 1475, in 4to.; the second having been printed at Cologne in 1483, in folio; and the third by Wynkyn de Worde at London, in 1516, in folio, in double columns of Gothic character. Both the last are in excellent preservation.

Among the multitude of schoolmen and divines of the earlier ages, it is difficult to select those which may convey an adequate impression of the extent of this collection. Here the eye reposes on the Works of Sermundus, in brilliant condition, on large paper. There it meets with the Works of Pope Benedict the XIVth, and a long array of the Fathers and other pillars of the Church.

Coleridge conceived Origen, Jerome, and Augustine to be the three fathers in respect of theology, and Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and Chrysostom in respect of rhetoric.⁠[12] Of the truth of this assertion the student may here convince himself, for this Library contains these authors, forming part of a good collection of the Fathers of the Church.

In this Library are deposited the Works of the Fathers of the Church, including those of SS. Ambrose, Athanasius, Augustine, Basil, Bernard, Chrysostom, Clemens Alexandrinus, Cyprian, Cyril, Episcopius, Epiphanius, Eusebius, Gregory, Jerome, Hilary, Ignatius, Irenæus, Isidore, Justin Martyr, Lactantius, Peter Martyr, Origen, Polycarp, Tertullian, and Theophylact; with the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum, &c.

Among the earlier Divines I noticed the Works of Anselm, Bellarmine, Calvin, Erasmus, Grotius, Thomas à Kempis, Lanfranc, Socinus, and Zanchius.

The Divines of the English Church, whose labours are found within these walls, are Abbot, Allix, Andrews, Barrow, Beveridge, Chillingworth, Samuel Clarke, Comber, Doddridge, Hall, Hammond, Hoadley, Hopkins, Jackson, Jewel, Jortin, Kennicott, Lardner, Leighton, Lightfoot, Mede, Ogden, Paley, Patrick, Pearce, Porteus, Reynolds, Sherlock, South, Stillingfleet, Jeremy Taylor, Tenison, Tillotson, Usher, Warburton, Waterland, and Whiston; with numerous publications of other theologians of the olden time, the greater portion of which has been either presented or bequeathed to the Library by the Prebendaries of Durham.

In the Divinity class are also found the Discourses of Bossuet and Saurin; the Bampton Lectures; Elsley’s Annotations; Faber on Idolatry, Prophecy, and other Works; Hey’s Lectures; Macknight’s Harmony of the Gospels; Pearsoni Opera Posthuma; Prideaux and Shuckford’s Connection; Routh’s Reliquiæ Sacræ; Slade on the Epistles; Stackhouse’s Body of Divinity; Wake’s Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers; Wall on Infant Baptism; and Whitby’s Paraphrase.

In this place I may enumerate the large assemblage of Canons, Concordances, Councils, Synods, Glosses, and Commentators, collected within these walls. Bingham’s Antiquities of the Christian Church; Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible; Hooker’s Ecclesiastical Polity; Hyde’s Religio Veterum Persarum; Howell’s Synopsis Canonum; Limborch Theologia Christiana; Nicolai de Lyra Commentaria in S. Biblia; the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum; Spencer de legibus Hebræorum; Suiceri Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus; Suarez de Legibus; and many other Works of Divinity too numerous for particular mention in this cursory survey of this valuable and extensive collection.

In Ecclesiastical History, this Library contains many valuable Works, including Alfordi Annales Ecclesiæ Britannicæ, in 4 vols. folio; Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici; Bedæ Venerabilis Historia Anglicana Ecclesiastica, cura Smithii, Cantabrigiæ, folio; a beautiful copy upon large paper in blue morocco, a most appropriate ornament to this Collection.

Brandt’s History of the Reformation in the Low Countries.

Burnet’s History of the Reformation in England.

Davies’ Ancient Rites of the Cathedral of Durham.

Dod’s Church History.

Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum.

Ecton’s Thesaurus.

Gibson’s Codex Juris Ecclesiastici et Civilis.

Harpsfeld’s Historia Anglicana Ecclesiastica.

Inett’s Origines Anglicanæ.

Parker de Antiquitate Ecclesiæ Britannicæ. Hanoviæ, 1605, folio.

Reyner de Apostolatu Ordinis Benedictinorum in Anglia, Duaci. 1626, folio.

Soame’s History of the Reformation.

Spotiswood’s History of the Church of Scotland.

Strype’s Ecclesiastical Memorials, and Annals of the Reformation, both in folio.

Wharton’s Anglia Sacra.

Wordsworth’s Ecclesiastical Biography.

The latter Work leads me to mention Fiddes’s Life of Wolsey; McCrie’s Life of Knox; Laud’s Troubles; Southey’s Life of Wesley; Strype’s Lives of Cranmer, Grindall, Parker, and Whitgift.

I may here add the Histories of the Jews by Basnage and Josephus; and the entire series of the valuable Acta Sanctorum, compiled by the Bollandists, in 52 folio volumes.

Connected with the above, I may here notice Foxe’s Acts and Monuments of the Church, in 3 volumes, folio; the Concilia of Spelman, in folio; and Collier’s Ecclesiastical History.

The Historical department of this Library embraces the long series of the Byzantine Historians; the valuable Collections of Grævius and Gronovius, relating to the History and Antiquities of Greece and Italy, with the supplementary Lexicon of Pitiscus, and the Inscriptions of Gruter; the Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, edited by the indefatigable Muratori; the antiquarian labours of Montfaucon relating to France; and Freheri Theatrum Virorum Clarorum.

It also contains Banduri Antiquitates Constantinopolitanæ; Burgess’ Antiquities of Rome; Collier’s Historical Dictionary; Coxe’s Memoirs of the Kings of Spain, of the House of Bourbon, London, 1813, in 3 volumes 4to.; Kæmpfer’s History of Japan; Knolles’s General History of the Turks; Marsden’s History of Sumatra; Maurice’s Indian Antiquities, or Dissertations relative to the Geography, Theology, Laws, &c. of Hindostan, London, 1793-1800, in 7 octavo volumes; Mitford’s History of Greece; Niebuhr’s History of Rome; Ockley’s Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, by the Saracens; Orme’s History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan; Pococke’s Description of the East; Pontoppidan’s Natural History of Norway; Russell’s Modern Europe; Sandy’s Europæ Speculum; De Thou’s History of his own Time; Southey’s History of Brazil; Watson’s History of Philip II. of Spain; and Robertson’s Historical Works; and some old Latin Chronicles.

This Library is also adorned by the Antichita d’Ercolano; the Museum Florentinum; Hamilton’s Vases; Gell’s Pompeiana; Stuart’s Antiquities of Athens; and Young on the Hieroglyphics of Egypt.

The Travels of Clarke, Chandler, Shaw, and others; Coxe’s Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America; the Conquest of Siberia, and Russian Commerce with China; Maundrell’s Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem; the Voyages of Cook, Parry, Perouse, Taverner, and other Navigators, with the Petits Voyages of De Bry, are found on these well-stored shelves, accompanied by the requisite addition of Janson’s Atlas.

The History of the Peninsular War, by Southey and the Marquis of Londonderry, are also found in this Collection.

The books relating to the History of Great Britain in this Library, include the collection of fifteen Historians, by Gale and Fell, and of ten by Twysden, Camdeni Anglica Normannica à veteribus scripta; Asser Menevensis, edited by Wise; Simeon of Worcester, edited by Nasmyth, 1778, 8vo.; Matthew Paris’ Historia Anglicana, edited by Wats, London, 1684, folio, upon large paper, in calf binding; Matthew of Westminster’s Flores Historiarum, folio; and William of Malmesbury, 1596, folio.

The Histories of England, by Brady, Carte, Daniel, Echard, Hallam, Lingard, Mac Pherson, Rapin, Tindal, and Sharon Turner.

The Chronicles of Grafton, Holinshed, and Froissart; the latter translated and printed by Mr. Johnes at Hafod; Duchesne’s Histoire d’Angleterre; Polydori Vergilii Historia Anglicana, Basileæ, 1526, folio; Forduni Scoti-Chronicon; Chaloner de Republicâ Anglorum restauranda; Sheringham de Anglorum Gentis origine; Robert de Avesbury’s Historia Edvardi III. edente Tho. Hearnio, Oxon. 1729, 8vo.; Gildas de excidio et conquestu Britanniæ; Gibson’s Chronicon Saxonicum; & Eadmeri Historia Novorum.

The Historical Collections of Rushworth and Nalson; the State Papers of Clarendon and Thurloe; the Sidney Papers; the State Trials, edited by Hargrave and others; Somers’ Collection of Tracts; the Harleian Miscellany; Lodge’s Illustrations of British History; the Journals of the House of Commons; and all the publications issued under the authority of the Record Commission.

Burton’s Diary of the Cromwellian Parliaments; Clarendon’s Diary and History of the Great Rebellion; Coxe’s Memoirs of John Duke of Marlborough; Ellis’ Letters, illustrative of English History; Evelyn’s Memoirs; Fenn’s Letters of the Paston Family; Lyttelton’s History of Henry the Second; North’s Examen of Kennet’s History; Pepys’ Memoirs; Ridpath’s Border History, and Nicolson’s Border Laws; with Temple’s History of the Rebellion in Ireland, and Thoresby’s Diary.

Illustrative of Scottish History, I remarked Abercrombie’s Martial Achievements of the Scots’ Nation; the Histories of Scotland, by Keith, Robertson, and Stuart; Sanderson’s Life of Queen Mary; Johnstone’s Antiquitates Celto-Scandicæ.

This Library is peculiarly rich in Works relating to the Topography and Antiquities of Great Britain, embracing the entire Works of Pennant, all the Antiquities of Grose; Gough’s Sepulchral Monuments; Britton’s Architectural Antiquities, and Picturesque Illustrations of the English Cathedrals; Horsley’s Britannia Romana; Lysons’ Magna Britannia; Buck’s Views of Cities, Castles, &c. in Great Britain; Camden’s Britannia, edited by Gough, in 3 vols. folio; Speed’s Theatre of Great Britain; Strutt’s Horda, and his Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities; and Leland’s Itinerary, edited by Hearne, Oxford, 1768; and Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of England.

The County Histories which enrich this Collection are, a large paper copy of Aubrey’s History of Surrey, in old calf binding; Ashmole’s Berkshire; Atkyns’s Gloucestershire, London, 1712, folio; Bridge’s Northamptonshire; Burton’s Leicestershire; Borlase’s Cornwall; Chauncey’s Hertfordshire; Collinson’s Somersetshire; Dugdale’s Warwickshire, edited by Thomas; Hasted’s Kent, in 4 volumes, folio; Hutchinson’s Northumberland and Durham; Jones’ Brecknockshire; Leicester’s Cheshire; Leigh’s Natural History of Lancashire; Morton’s Natural History of Northamptonshire; Nash’s History of Worcestershire; Pole’s Collections for the History of Devonshire; Plot’s Natural History of Oxfordshire and Staffordshire; Raine’s North Durham; Surtees’ Durham; Thoroton’s Nottinghamshire; and Wright’s Rutland.

The Local Histories which I also noticed, were Bentham’s Ely; Battely’s Antiquitates Rutupinæ, apparently on large paper; Charlton’s Whitby; Dart’s History of Canterbury Cathedral, and of Westminster Abbey, both in folio; Drake’s York; Halfpenny’s Gothic Ornaments in York Cathedral; Izaacke’s Exeter; the original edition of Kennett’s Parochial Antiquities; Loggan’s Oxonia and Cantabrigia Illustrata; Lyson’s Environs of London; Newcourt’s Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Londinense, upon large paper; Maitland’s Edinburgh; Milner’s History of Winchester; Peck’s Annals of Stamford; Shaw’s Account of Hartlepool; Stow’s London; Somner’s Canterbury; Thoresby’s Leeds; Whitaker’s Loidis and Elmete; White’s Natural History of Selborne; Widmore’s Westminster Abbey; Wood’s History of the University of Oxford; and Willis’s Cathedrals.

Allan’s Collections relating to Sherburn Hospital, and other places in the County of Durham; and Raine’s Account of the Remains of St. Cuthbert are most appropriately placed upon these shelves.

In this Collection I also remarked Carter’s Specimens of Gothic Architecture; Ducarel’s Anglo-Norman Antiquities; Madox’s Formulare Anglicanum, and History of the Exchequer; and Archdall’s Monasticon Hibernicanum; the Archælogia, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, published by the Antiquarian Society of London, at various times, in 4to.; Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum, Origines Judiciales; Summons of the Nobility to Parliament; and his Baronage of England, in folio, are also deposited within these walls.

The Heraldic Works which adorn these shelves are, Ashmole’s Order of the Garter; Collins’s Peerage and Baronage; Gwillim’s Heraldry; Sandford’s Genealogical History of the Kings of England, &c.; and others of less note.

The Chronological Works which met my eye, were, Bedford’s Scripture Chronology; Blair’s Chronology and History of the World; Petavii Rationale Temporum; and Hale’s valuable Analysis of Chronology; “in which an attempt is made to explain the history and antiquities of the primitive nations of the world, and the prophecies relating to them, on principles tending to remove the imperfection and discordance of preceding systems.”

The Numismatic Works I noticed, were, Folkes’ Coins; Vaillant’s Numismata; and Ruding’s valuable Annals of the Coinage.

There are several Mythological Treatises, of which Spence’s Polymetis is the chief.

In Works of Natural History, this Collection is enriched by the Works of Bacon and Evelyn, and the quarto series of Buffon’s Natural History, in old French calf binding.

In Geology, Buckland’s Reliquiæ Diluvianæ; Conybeare’s Geology; and the Transactions of the Geological Society are found on these shelves.

The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London; Watson’s Chemical Essays; Albin’s Natural History of Birds and Insects; and Wood’s Index Testacealogicus, also enrich this department of the Library.

In Botany, I observed Miller’s Gardener’s Dictionary and Figures of Plants; Morison’s Historia Plantarum; Raii Historia Plantarum; and the Transactions of the Linnæan Society.

In Medicine, the Works of Hippocrates and Dioscorides may be mentioned.

Of Works relating to the Arts and Sciences, I noticed Horsley’s valuable edition of Newton’s Works; Wallis’s Mathematical Works; Burney’s History of Music; Chamber’s Dictionary; the Marmora Oxoniensia; Vitruvius de Architectura, Venetiis, 1497, folio; Walpole on Painting; and others of less note.

The Bibliographical department of this Library includes Astle on Writing; Catalogues of the Bodleian Library, of the Harleian Collections of the Manuscripts bequeathed by Archbishop Parker to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge; and the general Catalogue of Manuscripts in England, Scotland, and Ireland; Chevillier’s Origine de l’Imprimerie à Paris; Dibdin’s Bibliographical Decameron, and Introduction to the Classics; Dupin’s Ecclesiastical Authors; Fabricii Bibliotheca, &c.; Herbert’s edition of Ames’ Typographical Antiquities of Great Britain; Todd’s Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Lambeth Palace; Maittaire’s Annales Typographici, Stephanorum Historia, and Historia Typographiæ Parisiensis; Memoirs of Literature; Maderus de Bibliothecis, &c.; Nicolson’s English Historical Library; Stanley’s History of Philosophy; Thuani Bibliotheca, and the Bibliotheca MS. Stowensis, edited by Dr. O’Conor; Watt’s Bibliotheca Britannica; and Wood’s Athenæ Oxonienses.

The Etymological Works which enrich this Library are, Cotgrave’s French and English Dictionary; Davies Dictionary of the Welsh Language; the Etymologicum Magnum, Calliergi, Venetiis, 1499, folio; Facciolati Lexicon; Gebelin’s Monde Primitif, in 4to.; Hesychii Lexicon; Hickes’s Thesaurus Septentrionalis; Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary; Johnson’s English Dictionary, edited and enlarged by Todd; Lhuyd’s Archæologia Britannica; Morel’s Dictionarium Prosodiacum; Moreri Dictionarium; Nares’s Glossary; Scapulæ Lexicon; Skinner’s Etymologicum; Somner’s Glossary and Saxon Dictionary; Spelman’s Glossary; Stephani Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ; Suidæ Lexicon apud Frobenium, 1544, folio; Wolfii Curæ Philologicæ et Criticæ; and the Glossary of Du Fresne.

In English Literature this Collection contains so much that is valuable as to preclude minute enumeration of each separate Work.

In it the labours of Addison, Bacon, Hobbes, Locke, Selden and Swift are blended with the lays of Pope, and Dryden, the latter edited by Scott; the Philosophical Works of Harris, the Historical Works of Raleigh, the Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, and of William Shakespeare, form one instructive and harmonious whole.

The Memoirs of the ancient Earls of Surrey, Boswell’s ever-amusing Life of Johnson, Evelyn’s Memoirs, Pepys’s Memoirs, Thoresby’s Diary, Spelman’s Alfred, Kippis’s Biographia Britannica, Birch’s Heads of Illustrious Personages, and Chalmers’s Biographical Dictionary, form one of the most popular branches of this ancient Library.

Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and his delightful Lay of the Last Minstrel, and Walpole’s Works, are also found on these shelves.

This Library contains the Koran or Mahommedan rule of Faith, several forms of Prayer and Liturgies of the Romish and Reformed Churches, including the Pontificale Romanum of 1664, Durandi Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, and Picart’s valuable Account of the Religious Ceremonies of all Nations.

The Statutes at large, and Viner’s Abridgment, Wilkins’s Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ, Gibson’s Codex Juris Ecclesiastici et Civilis, Nicolson’s Border Laws, and Coke’s Institutes of the Laws of England, were the only legal works that arrested my attention.

In General Literature I can only particularise Bayle’s Dictionary, and Lowth de Sacrâ Poesi Hebræorum.

The literary remains of Casaubon, Cave, Le Clerc, Dodwell, Fabricius, Gataker, Gesner, Jahn, Meursius, Orosius, Parkhurst, Petrarch, Rollin, Scaliger, and Vossius.

Of learned Bodies, the Transactions contained in this Library, in addition to the Philosophical, Linnæan, and Geological Transactions, include the Memoirs of the Manchester Society and of the Irish Academy, the Memoires de l’Academie Française, and the Academie des Inscriptions, both in 4to. the latter retaining its original binding of red morocco, mellowed by the hand of time.

The Classical department of this Library is both valuable and extensive, containing editions of the Works of Ælian, Æschylus, Anacreon, Apollodorus, Appian, Apuleius, Aristotle, Arrian, Aristides, Athenæus, Ausonius, Cæsar, Catullus, Demosthenes, Dioscorides, Diodorus Siculus, Dion Cassius, Dion Chrysostomos, Ennius, Epictetus, Euripides, Eutropius, Aulus Gellius, Herodian, and Herodotus.

Of Horace, Iamblichus, Isocrates, Justin, Juvenal, Lucan, Lucian, Lucretius, Lycophron, Manilius, Martial, Pomponius Mela, Orpheus, Ovid, Vellius Paterculus, Petronius Arbiter, Phædrus, and Plato.

Of the elder and the younger Pliny, Plutarch, Polybius, Procopius, Propertius, Prudentius, Pythagoras, Quintilian, Sedulius, Seneca, Sidonius Apollinaris, Solinus, Statius, Suetonius, Symmachus, Terence, Theocritus, Tibullus, Virgil, and Xenophon.

This brief enumeration may suffice to shew the extent of this class; while in proof of its value I may adduce many of the best editions of the Classics, including Alciphron, Bergleri, Ammianus Marcellinus, Gronovii, 1693, folio; Aristophanes Kusteri, Ciceronis Opera, Minutiani, Mediolani, 1498, folio, and Oliveti, Parisiis, 1748, 4to.; Claudianus, Barthii, Butler’s Æschylus, Beck’s Euripides, Homer by Clarke and Heyne, Plato by Serranus and Bekker, Dionysius Halicarnassensis by Hudson, Pausanias, Kühnii, Silius Italicus, Drakenborchii, Sophocles, by Brunck, and many others too numerous for particular notice.

I may here, however, notice Flaxman’s elegant Illustrations of Homer and of Æschylus, the sumptuous folio containing Maii Fragmenta Homeri, and Middleton’s Life of Cicero.

Of the earlier Impressions of the Classics it is now high time to speak, lest the impatient reader should imagine so important a branch of every collection had escaped attention in this instance. I hasten then to present to his notice three valuable specimens of the Spira Press.

First, then, in rarity as in worth, we have a perfect Copy of the First Edition of Tacitus, with the well-known Colophon of Vindelin de Spira, but without date. It is supposed, however, to have been printed in the year 1470. The present copy is sound and fair, measuring eleven and a half inches by seven and a half, and is bound in old Russia. Then follows the First Edition of Livy, with a date, it having been printed by Vindelin de Spira in 1470. This noble folio is apparently in its original binding, and having several rough leaves, we may conclude it never to have been shorn of its fair dimensions. It measures, in fact, sixteen inches by ten and a quarter, but it has been mournfully stained in the beginning, where is written “D. D. Joannes Tempest. Arm:” The interior is, however, remarkably sound and fine.

Next we have, from the same printer, a Latin version of Strabo, a very sound copy with some illuminated capitals. It bears the date of 1472, with an intimation at its close, in Latin verse, that its characters were “Impressos digitis Vindelianis.” It measures fifteen inches by ten and a half, and is bound in old calf. By the side of the foregoing is appropriately placed a Latin Version of Herodotus, having the Preface at the end: according to the Colophon it was printed Venetiis, per Jacobum Rubeum, 1474, folio. It measures eleven inches and three fifths by eight, and is bound in calf. We may next notice a very fine and sound copy of the Etymologicum Magnum, from the Press of Calliergus at Venice, of the date of 1499. This noble folio measures fifteen inches and a quarter by ten and seven eighths, and is bound in dark calf. A beautiful copy of the Aldine Plutarch of 1509, in two volumes folio, measuring eleven inches and three fifths by seven and a half, bound in light calf; and a copy of Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiæ, printed by John Koelhof of Lubeck at Cologne in 1482, folio, as fresh as if it had just issued from the press, next demand our attention. The latter Work is bound with an old Manuscript of some portion of Thomas Aquinas, but there is another edition of 1481, in 4to. from the same press, also in this Collection, though not in such “crackling” condition as that I have just mentioned. I proceed to notice a Latin translation of Aristotle’s Ethics, printed by Conrad Braen in the University of Louvain, in 1476, folio. This volume is in very fine condition, but is unfortunately imperfect at the end. Also a thick folio volume, containing the following pieces:—

1. Diodori Siculi Historiarum Libri VII. Latinè Poggio Florentino Interprete, per Bartholomæum Merula Venetiis, per Joannem de Tridino, 1496.

2. Ovidius de arte amandi, et de remedio amoris. Venetiis, per Barthol. Merula, 1516.

3. Horatius cum Commentariis Acronis, &c. Venetiis, 1494. Imperfect at the end.

4. Persius cum Commentariis, &c. Brixiæ, per Johannem Britannicum, 1486.

5. Francisci Philelphi Epistolæ. XVII. Venetiis, per Joannem de Tridino, 1498.

Having thus surveyed the earlier efforts of the Italian press, it remains to notice the productions of the first English printers, preserved in this Collection.

These rude and curious pieces are all contained in one small thick 4to. volume, bound in old calf, and lettered merely “Caxton.” The bookbinder seems in this instance to have misled the accurate Thomas Rud, who from his manuscript notes contained in the volumes, evidently seems to consider all its contents as the work of the Father of the English Press; a mistake which the adoption of Caxton’s typographical insignia by his immediate successor, Wynkyn de Worde, would naturally induce in one unacquainted with all those mysteries of black letter which the nineteenth century has developed. The Author of the Bibliographical Decameron has not failed to remark, III. 422, the difference of the type, and has correctly recorded its contents; his only inaccuracy consisting in the assertion that the second piece from the press of Caxton is perfect.

The Volume itself contains five Treatises; three from the press of Caxton, originally published together, and two from that of Wynkyn de Worde, formerly printed separately. The Caxtonian morceaux occupy the first portion, whereof:

1. “The first treatyse is named Orologium Sapientiæ;” consisting of seven chapters, and concluding thus: “Thus endeth the Treatyse of vii poyntes of true love, and everlasting wisdom drawen of the boke that is wryten in Laten named Orologium Sapiencie.” “Emprynted at Westmynster.” “Qui legit emendet, i̅pressorem non reprehendat.” “Wyllelmum Caxton cui Deus alta tradat.” This first Treatise wants three sheets out of twelve; viz. K J (they are so misplaced, and J wants three leaves) and M. In the place of L there is put A, the first sheet of the second Treatise. This first Treatise begins upon sign. J iii, all the preceding pages having perished.

2. The second Tract commences with these words: “Here beginneth a little short treatise, &c.,” and concluding with, “Thus endeth the treatise shewing the vii Proffites of tribulacyon.” On the reverse of the last leaf is the large device of Caxton. This Treatise contains XII. Chapters, but it wants two leaves in D, and sheet A is bound up with the preceding Treatise of the Orologium Sapientiæ.

3. “The thyrde treatise sheweth the holy rule of Saynt Benet which is right necessary to be knowen to al men and wymen of religion that understonde no laten which sheweth XXXIII poyntes to be observed.” “Emprinted at Westmynstre by desiring of certeyn worshipfull persones.” The first two leaves of this third Treatise are wanting.

All these three Tracts of “divers fruitful and ghostly matters,” are in the same rude Gothic type which was frequently used by Caxton.

The two following Tracts are printed from a fount of black letter quite dissimilar to the preceding, but corresponding with that which is seen in the earliest productions of Wynkyn de Worde.

The first Treatise, reprinted verbatim from Caxton’s edition, is:

1. Of the four last things, Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven, translated from the French by Antony, Earl Rivers, &c.

“Registrum quaterno ℞ a b c d e f g h i k l m.”

Below the subscription just quoted is the small device of Caxton as used by Wynkyn de Worde; and on the following leaf is the wood-cut subscribed “Memorare Novissima,” by which name this Tract is commonly known. The Work itself consists of eighty-eight leaves, numbered i to lxxxviii. exclusive of the two containing the table and the Prologue, and of the title and last leaf. It is printed in double columns of black letter, and the present copy is defective only in the title.

2. The second Treatise in the Gothic character of Wynkyn de Worde is “The Rote or Myrrour of Consolation and Comforte,” commencing with a Wood-cut of the elevation of the Host on sign. A i.

This Book unfortunately lacks its latter half; “for whereas the author proposes to speak of twenty fruits or Consolations of Tribulation, the last ten, with part of the eleventh, are wanting,” remarks Thomas Rud in his most neat and legible Manuscript Notes, and it is with a sigh that succeeding librarians concur in the accuracy of his observations, seeing that this Tract is one of the most uncommon productions of De Worde’s Press.

Of other early printed English Books I remarked a copy of Lydgate’s Bocace, printed by Richard Tottel, without date, bound up with Gower’s Confessio Amantis, printed by Berthelet in 1554, both in folio, and in their pristine state, albeit a little scribbled on.

Apropos of scribbling, this Library contains Tonstall’s own copy of Budæus de Asse, printed at Paris in 1508, folio, with his autographic mark of ownership, “Sum Tonstalli,” being the very book he used in composing his Treatise, De arte Supputandi, and containing the manuscript notes made by him on its perusal. This interesting copy is, however, unfortunately, imperfect at the end. There is also another edition of the Works of Budæus, with the Commentaries of Ascensius, bearing date 1529, also in folio; and Tonstall’s own Work, De Arte Supputandi, 1522, 4to.

In this Collection is a copy of the celebrated French Testament by the Theologians of Louvain, in which “The Mass” is interpolated in Acts xiii. and “Purgatory,” in 1 Cor. iii: printed at Bordeaux, 1686.

I remarked a fine old folio, Lyndewode’s Provinciale, with the date of M.CCCCXXXIII, instead of 1483, the numeral L having evidently lapsed through the carelessness of the printer, as in the famous Decor Puellarum of Nicolas Jenson. By the side of this stands another copy of the Provinciale, with the date of 1501, also in folio.

In General Literature, I can only particularise Bayle’s Dictionary, Gruter’s Inscriptions, Picart’s Religious Ceremonies, Chandler’s Marmora Oxoniensia, and Vaillant’s Numismata, recommending to those who wish for further information, ocular inspection of the books themselves.

The 520 Manuscripts in this Collection are all which remain of that ancient Library, whose foundation is coeval with that of the Cathedral itself, and whose treasures were augmented with the power and influence of the Church of Durham. The monotonous existence of the monk was enlivened by the diligence of the scribe, whose marginal drolleries and quaint devices relieve the weary eye, and remind us of the recreations of the Cloister.

The volumes thus accumulated must have been of essential service in diffusing over the wide district of Northumbria the light of knowledge and the blessings of religion. The seven Cells of Durham, at Holy Island, Wearmouth, Jarrow, and the Farn Islands, at Litham in Lancashire, and Stamford in Northamptonshire, appear to have partaken largely of these advantages.

Upon the suppression of the Monasteries whose revenues were under 200l. a-year, by the 27th of Henry the Eighth, many of the books which belonged to the Church of Durham were removed by royal command, and are now to be found in the British Museum. The most valuable of these spolia “opima” appears to have been St. Cuthbert’s Copy of the Gospels, now in that vast repository.

Of the Manuscripts which remain at Durham, Thomas Rud, sometime Librarian of that Cathedral, compiled a most accurate Catalogue, which has been ably edited by the Rev. James Raine, the present Librarian. This Impression was taken off for the use of the ecclesiastical body to whom the Manuscripts belong, only fifty copies being exposed for public sale. As the volume is not in everybody’s hands, although easily attainable, I have given its title, as it runneth, thus:

“Codicum Manuscriptorum Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Dunelmensis Catalogus Classicus, descriptus à Thoma Rud, ejusdem ecclesiæ bibliothecario; cum Appendice eos Codices continente qui post Catalogum confectum diversis temporibus comparati sunt. Dunelmiæ, excudebat F. Humble, prostat venalis apud G. Andrews, venit etiam Londini apud Payne and Foss, 1825.”

The Appendix of Manuscripts purchased by the Dean and Chapter of Durham at different periods since Mr. Rud compiled his Catalogue is entirely from the pen of Mr. James Raine, and renders this workmanlike folio a most useful companion to the Library.

There are two ancient Catalogues of the Manuscripts preserved in this Library; the one entitled, “Vetus Catalogus Librorum qui in Armariolo Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Dunelmensis olim habebantur.”⁠[13] The other was compiled in 1391, continued in 1395, and concluded in 1416, with a note at the end of a few books sent in 1422 to Stamford for the use of the Cell there. This volume is written upon vellum, in folio, and is bound in calf. Its title is as follows:—

“Le Spendement.”

“Isti libri infrascripti inventi fuerunt in com̅uni Armariolo Dunelm. infra Spendimentum in recessu ffratris dn̅i Roberti de Langscheff’ ab officio librarie ad offic’ fferetrarie. Et liberati ffatri Will’mo de Appelby circa festum purific’ beate Virginis Marie Anno dn̅i Milessimo. ccc. nonagesimo primo.”⁠[14]⁠

Of this volume seventeen leaves appear to have been written in 1391, sixteen in 1395, and the remaining eleven in 1416. Its contents are extremely interesting, as shewing in what the literature of that period consisted, and affording abundant evidence of the interchange of information which then subsisted not only between Durham and its dependant Cells, but also between that place and Oxford, and other seats of learning.

These considerations induced the author of the present work to superintend the publication of this document by the Surtees Society, whose object is to throw light upon the literary history of Northumbria, and to facilitate the study of antiquity from the Humber to the Tweed.

In this Catalogue the first word of the second leaf are specified as certain indicia by which different transcripts of the same Codex may be distinguished from each other; and it is pleasant to find at this distance of time, a Membranaceous Evangelistarium, seu “Quatuor Evangelia de manu Bede ii fo. Baptizatus,” answering with the first word of its second leaf “Baptizatus” to the indication in this ancient Catalogue. Partly in the same handwriting also appears, “Cassiodorus super Psalterium de manu Bedæ,” whereof the best account I can give will be in the ipsissima verba of the sagacious Thomas Rud: “Pulchrè scriptus est hic Codex lineis divisis, literis mediocribus Saxonicis; et quidem ipsius Venerabilis Bedæ manu, si fides habenda est huic notæ in fronte libri positæ: ‘Cassiodorus sup. Psalterium de manu bede.’ Est quidem hæc nota libro ipso multo recentior; neque scripta, ut videtur, ante annos 400: Sed indicat saltem quodnam fuerit Monachorum Dunelmensium eo tempore de hoc Codice judicium: quidquid illis de eâ re traditum fuit. Neque sanè temerè rejicienda est hujusmodi traditio. Dunelmenses enim Monachi, qui Girvensium (e quorum numero Beda fuit) propago fuere, quique summâ veneratione illius memoriam colebant, melius quam ulli alii Vitæ ejus historiam rescire poterant.

“Et quidem ipsa Codicis Scriptura ad eam ætatem assurgere videtur.” And after giving his reasons for this opinion, adds, “Si autem a Beda descriptus sit, fecit id ille proculdubio Juvenis adhuc; priusquam accingeret se ad libros (quos plurimos scripsit) suo Marte componendos. Itaque assurgere videtur hic Codex ad initium sæculi octavi; mortuus est enim Beda, sexagenario major, A.D. 735. Habet itaque minimum mille annos.”⁠[15]⁠

It may be imagined that, under the impression that the handwriting of the Venerable Bede was actually before my eyes, I turned over the leaves of these ancient volumes with little less veneration than that with which I handled the Codex Bezæ in the Public Library at Cambridge.

Among the other ancient Manuscripts of this Monastic Library, are found several Latin Bibles, particularly one by St. Jerome in four large volumes, many portions of the Holy Scriptures, several Psalters, Kalendars, and a Missal, together with numerous Glosses, Concordances, Commentaries, and Homilies, by various authors.

It may be here remarked that the oldest Manuscript in the Library is a Latin Ritual, A. iv. 19,⁠[16] written, according to Wanley,⁠[17] by the same hand which penned St. Cuthbert’s Copy of the Gospels, now in the British Museum.⁠[18] There is also a copy of John, Luke and Mark, A. II. 17,⁠[19] of nearly equal antiquity, which doubtless formed a part of the original Monastic Library of Lindisfarne.

The mass of Theological Literature is necessarily great, but a few of the leading names will suffice to indicate its importance, finding as we do in this truly venerable Collection, the Works of St. Ambrose, St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, St. Athanasius, St. Augustine, Bede, St. Chrysostom, St. Cyprian, Eusebius, St. Jerome, Gregory, Isidore, Origen, Tertullian, and of many other Heads and Fathers of the Church.

A Copy of so much of Lyra’s Commentary as refers to the Pentateuch, and other historical books of the Old Testament, from Genesis to the beginning of Job, written by William de Stiphel in the year 1386,⁠[20] affords decidedly the best specimen of what could be done in Durham in the way of Illumination at that period. The remaining part of Lyra’s Commentary forms a separate volume, A. I. 4, and was written by a Monk of the name of Borrowby.

Of Classical Literature the list is not so copious. It can, however, boast of the names of Aristotle and Plato, the former accompanied by the Commentaries of Averrois, also of Boethius and Prudentius, of Galen and Hippocrates, together with all the Epigrams of Martial, the Proverbs of Seneca, Suetonius de Vita Cæsarum, C. III. 18, which has been collated by Mr. Rud in the Classical Journal, Vol. ix. pp. 143 and 386; and a few pieces of Cicero.

There is of course much interesting matter relating to English History, and especially to that of the Palatinate and Church of Durham, in those Manuscripts, to say nothing of original Charters, and other valuable documents. There are also some Ecclesiastical and Scholastic Histories.

To a particular account of the Benedictine order may be added the Lives of Gildas and St. Oswald, and among other illustrations of early English History, may be mentioned Nennii Historia Britonum; Genealogiæ Regum Saxonicorum in Britanniâ; Series Chronologica cum brevi Historiâ Episcoporum Angliæ and the Cronica Britannie à Bruto ad annum 1347.

The Works of Josephus are the last of these ancient Manuscripts I now propose to notice, and proceed to consider the additions made by the Dean and Chapter to this their most ancient Library, especially as these happen to include a work of singular interest with relation to the Church of Durham. The title of this Manuscript runneth thus, “Reginaldi Monachi Dunelmensis Libellus Autograph. de admirandis Beati Cuthberti Virtutibus quæ novellis patratæ sunt temporibus, scilicet post Bedam; scriptus ad Ætheldredum Abbatum Rhievallensem.” circa annum 1170. The entire Work contains 140 Chapters, a complete abstract of which may be seen in Appendix to the Catalogue of the MSS. of the Dean and Chapter, p. 399-411. “The publication of Reginald,” observes Mr. Raine, “notwithstanding his absurdities, would throw much light upon the history of the northern counties, connected with a period, relative to which the sources of information are so few.” It has been with great propriety selected as one of the earliest publications of the Surtees Society.

The Manuscripts purchased by the Dean and Chapter consists chiefly of Transcripts by Dr. Hunter, of Records relating to the See of Durham, and of Collections relating to the Churches of Northumberland, by the same hand.

These, together with Dr. Basire’s Letters, and other original and miscellaneous documents, chiefly relating to Durham, collected and indexed by Dr. Hunter,⁠[21] as well as the copy of Reginald already mentioned; and some other papers of lesser note were purchased of the Executors of Dr. Hunter, in 1756, for 40 guineas. To these were added in 1823, the Historical, Heraldic, and Topographical Collections relating to Durham, formed by the late Mr. Allan, of Grange, which were sold by his son to the Dean and Chapter for £150, together with the “Collectanea ad Statum Civilem et Ecclesiasticum Comitatus Dunelmensis, &c. spectantia,” formed by the Rev. Thomas Randall, and by him bequeathed to the late Mr. Allan, of Grange.⁠[22]⁠

If to the above be added a Collection of the Statutes of several Colleges and Cathedrals, a tolerably correct idea may be formed of all the additions made to the ancient Manuscripts belonging to the Church of Durham.

The curious reader will learn with pleasure, that in the private Library attached to the Episcopal Palace will be found a valuable Manuscript of the Poems of Chaucer.

In conclusion, I may be forgiven for mentioning another book, though not immediately connected with the Library. I mean, “Saint Cuthbert, with an account of the state in which his remains were found upon the opening of his Tomb in Durham Cathedral, in the year 1827, by the Rev. James Raine, M.A. Rector of Meldon, Principal Surrogate of the Consistory Courts of Durham, and Librarian of Durham Cathedral. Durham, printed by F. Humble, 1828,” 4to. Of this Work fifty copies were taken off upon large paper, some of which Mr. Thomson, an ingenious upholsterer of Durham, is now engaged in illuminating after the original Lawson MS. Life of St. Cuthbert, by Bede, and the relics of that Saint now preserved in the Library.

Much of the preliminary matter of this Work might have been spared, being already incorporated in the History of North Durham, upon which Mr. Raine has been for some time engaged, and of which the first portion is already before the public.

Undoubtedly Mr. Raine has given to the world the most rational account of Saint Cuthbert which has hitherto appeared, and has completely exploded the superstitious tale of the incorruptibility of his body.

In an age remarkable for credulity, it was not surprising that a story, however contrary to experience, should be generally believed; but the present admirable illustration of the writings of Reginald and Bede has traced the mortal remains of the Patron Saint of Durham through all their several stages, and thrown the clearest light upon all the doubtful points connected with the history of Saint Cuthbert.

It is much to be regretted that the interesting investigation Mr. Raine has so minutely detailed, was conducted with so much precipitancy, and without previous information obtained from the Manuscript of Reginald.

This most valuable document, of which Mr. Raine has subsequently made such good use, is, I think, in his narrative rather too far separated from the corroboration which the actual examination so happily affords it; for the ordinary reader, bearing in his mind the interesting passages in italics, looks forward so impatiently for the opening of the tomb as to wish the accumulation of relics at St. Cuthbert’s shrine had been somewhat less, and be tempted to skip at once from page 117 to 171. Valuable to the local antiquary as are the details furnished by these pages, I cannot help so far concurring with the ignorant impatience manifested above, as to suggest that a very considerable portion of the records relative to the shrine of St. Cuthbert might have been transferred to the Appendix, without any chance of diminishing the popularity of the Work itself.