Library of Exeter.

This venerable Collection was formerly suffered to remain in the Lady Chapel, exposed to the inroads of idle curiosity, and subject to the chilling influence of damp and neglect. The Dean and Chapter however at length became sensible of the duty of affording due protection to the literary property committed to their care for the benefit of posterity, and with commendable discretion consigned their Manuscripts to the care of their Chapter Clerk, and deposited their printed books in the Chapter-house.

Of these Manuscripts it will be my province first to speak, both on account of their curiosity and high antiquity; and for the gratification of the curious reader have much satisfaction in presenting to him a literal copy of “A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of the Cathedral Church of Exeter. Taken from Dean Lyttelton’s and Mr. White’s Memoranda, examined with the books. September, 1811.

“RALPH BARNES.”

1. Miscellanea Leofrici, &c. Charactere Saxonico.

2. Rabanus Maurus de Computo, de variis rebus astronomicis. Charactere Saxonico. Isidorus Hispalensis de rerum natura.

3. Legenda Joan. Grandison. Ep. Exon. in usum Eccl. Cath. Exon. vol. i.

4. Legenda Joan. Grandison. 1328 to 1370, vol. ii.

5. Euclidis eleganter scriptus, continens Elementorum Libri xv. Latinè cum figuris Gordani. 1235, Arith. Libri X.

Boetii de Musica Lib. v. desinit Lib. v. Cap. 19.

6. Missale Vetus, literis illuminatis.

7. Historia Polychronica.

8. Sermones Dominicales, et Fest’ sup’ Evang’, p. circul’ an’ per Jac.’ archiep’ Januensem.

9. Epistolæ Decret’ Roman’ Pontificum à Clemento Iᵐᵒ. ad Gregorium Iᵐᵘᵐ.

10. Psalterium Vetus Romanum, cum Calendario, et rerum memorabilium Cronicio.

11. Collectanea (Lib. Gallicus) anonyma, Boccaccio de Geneal’ Deorum. Lib. XIII.

12. Pontificale Edmundi Lacy, Ep. Exon. 1420.

13. Ricardi Ullerstoni Defensorium.

14. Missale Vetus. 4to.

15. Miscellanea, Methodius Martyr de fine seculi Genealogia ab Adamo ad Edw. fil. Hen. Reg. De Adventu Anglorum in Britanniam, cum genealogia Regum. De Sancto Oswaldo. De Geneal’ Reg’ Franc’. De Transitu Ven’ Bedæ Speculum Mundi Geneal’ ab Adamo ad Brutum et ad Cadwalled. ultim’ Reg’ Britan’. Et Geneal’ ascendens a Grifforio ad Adam, Et a Cyprio ad Brutum. Et Anglo’ et Normannos. De Longitudine et Latitudine. De Reg’ à Bruto ad Cadwalled. De Concordia Maris et Lunæ.

16. Anselmi Tractatus de Veritate et de libro Arbitrio. De Casu Diaboli et Epist’ de Incarnatione. Cur Deus Homo? Lib. 2. De Conceptu Virginali et originali Peccato. De Sacrificio Arymi et Termentati. Quomodo Grammaticus sit substanter et qualiter. Abbatis cujusdam Epist’ ad Sanctum sub cujus nomine regit Ecclesiam. Oratio Monachorum ad S. Benedictum. S. Abrosias de mysteriis Lanfranci. Dial’ cum Bercagario Lib. Guimundi de corpore et sang’ Domini. Explicatio fidei Xtianæ. 4to. imperfect.

17. Joannis Scogardi ludicra poemata, cum Epist. ac univers. Oxon. De Eccles’ B. Mar’ Ottery facta Collegiata. Statuta Eccl. S. Crucis Crediton, per Tho’ Button, Jo. Grandison, Ed. Lacy. Exon. Expos. adjut quædam de re medicâ.

18. Anonymus de re medicâ.

19. Liber Obitualis Custodis et Collegii Vicariorum Eccles’ Cath’ Exon. Temp. Hen. VI.

20. Quæstiones Theologicæ, cum Responsis.

21. Liber Obitualis Eccles’ Cath’ Exon. Martyrologium Romanum. Imperfect.

22. Anonymus de Pharmacis, et re medicâ. Breve Compendium xip. 8 Lib. Physicᵐ. Aristotelis.

23. Liber Chartarum et formarum Indent’ adjecta quædam de re Heraldicâ.

24. Treatise of the Power of Godliness, &c. by Joseph Lee, of Antigua. 1654.

25. Leicester’s Commonwealth. (This has been printed.)

26. Sermons in Italian, Latin, and Spanish.

27. A Brief Collection of Armory, especially of Cornwall and Devon.

28. Calendarium Hispanicum.

29. Paraphrasa sopra lo’ Ecclesiastes de Salomoni par Giovan. Antonio Thenice.

30. Statuta Collegii Baliolens’ Oxon.

31. A Moderate Examination of the Hugonots’ Doctrine. Caen. 1590, Translation.

32. Miscellanea. Speech delivered to the King by Sheriffs of London; the Poor Man’s Petition to the King, 1604; the Catholics’ Supplication to the King; a Speech in French, by Mons. Fontaine, in behalf of foreigners, with the King’s answer; Certain Objections answered by Ho. of Com. in behalf of Francis Godwin; Outlin’d Copy of the King’s Letter to the Parliament; Objections against changing the style of England to Great Britain; Sir W. Raleigh’s Letter to the King; Letter to the King, by Burgess, Prisoner in yᵉ Fleet; Letter from Inhabitants of yᵉ Citye; Petition of Northamptonshire Gentry; Petition of Twenty-two Preachers in London, 1605; King’s Letter to Archbishop of Canterbury; Lord Keeper Ellesmere to Essex; Earl Marshall’s Answer; King’s Speech in Parliament, 1605; Advertisements; Paper set up at Warwick, by Papists, on Execution of Everard Digby; Articles of Peace between England and Spain, 1605.

So far numbered by Mr. White.

33. Constitutiones Synodales facto anno 1287, per Petrum de Quivil Exon’ Episcopum, cum Instrumento confirmationis per Archiepiscopum.

N. B. This book in Dean Lyttelton’s time was missing, and was restored to the Church (not given as said in the first leaf thereof) by Chanter Snow. There is a duplicate in the Exchequer Chamber.

34. Pii Secundi Bulla, cum MSS. additions. } MSS. of little value.

35. Quintilianus de Oratore. }

36. Geographia. }

37. Quæstiones Theologicæ cum Responsis. }

38. Tyrocinium logico Aristotelium. }

39. Geometrical Notes on Euclid, &c. }

40. Liber Tristram Risdon, being some account of the chief families in Devon, Dorset, Somerset, and Cornwall, with their Coats of Arms, &c.

Books mentioned in Dean Lyttelton’s Catalogue taken from that printed at Oxford, of the MSS. in the kingdom, p. 55, seq. and which Lyttelton says were missing at the time he made the Catalogue, circa 1752, one only of them, Quivil’s Constitutions, was restored in 176- by Chanter Snow.

3. Dictionar. seu Glossarium Latinum, mutilum.

5. Ciceronis Rhetorica Liber elegantissime scriptus.

7. Cicero de fato. somnium Scipionis; Macrobius in somnium Scipionis; Timæus Platonis adjicitur; Tract.’ de mort. apostol’ ceu de Pomo.

10. G. G. Biblioru’ Lat’ ex vers’ B. Hyeronimi. eheu! Volumina mutilata.

16. Genealogia Reg’ Angl’ et de Gul’ Bastardo et cet’ Regibus Angl’ succedentibus.

17. Dares Phrygius de Historia Trojanorum.

18. Historia Britonum translata è Britannicâ linguâ in Latinam.

19. Henrici Archidiaconi de Huntingdon Historia Anglorum.

20. Historia Ricardi dicti sine timore ducis Normannie, et cet duc’ succ’.

44. Judge Hales’ Speech concerning the Succession of the Crown in Parliament, on behalf of the Line of Suffolk. Temp. R. Eliz.

45. Willielmus Wydford contra conclusiones Joannis Wycklyff.

35. Concessio de Stoke Jf. Reg. Adelstano Charact.’ Saxon.’ et Latino. Membrane.

MSS. books removed from the Library into the Exchequer Chamber by Lyttelton, not in the printed Catalogue above referred to.

14. Johannes Grandison. Ep. Exon. Ordinale, a Decano et Capillo approbat.’ 1337, fol.

36. Ordinationes Walteri Exon. Episc. super statum Scholarium de Stapeldon Hall in univers.’ Oxon. per eundem Epiu̅m facta, et per eosdem Scholarios approbata, 1316.

This is contained in the end of the book called Ordinations and Statutes, fo. 178 to 182.

37. Statuta et Consuetudines Eccles’ Exon. cum Calendario Veteri. fol.

39. A Transcript of Domesday for Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset. 2 vols. 4to.

40. Inventarium Jocalium omnium Bonorum Librorum Eccles. Cath. Exon. anno 1506.

MSS. books removed from the Library to the Exchequer Chamber by R. Barnes, 1811.

1. Miscellanea Leofrici, &c. Charactere Saxonico.

2. Saxon MSS.

3, 4. Legenda. Grandison. 2 volumes.

19. Liber Obitualis Vicariorum Eccl. Cath. Exon.

21. Liber Obitualis Eccl’ Cath’ Exon.

6. Missale Vetus Literis illuminatis.

I need scarcely remind any reader at all conversant with matters of high antiquity, that the principal portion of these Manuscripts are written upon vellum; but I may add for the information of the curious bibliophilist that many of them retain their pristine covertures, whether of parchment or of wood, and that some are adorned with elegant illuminations.

Much as I regretted to notice how much these valuable documents have been injured by previous neglect, and are still suffering from the dampness of the chamber in which they are kept; it afforded me abundant consolation to discover that of the Manuscripts mentioned by Lyttelton, as missing in his time, the most interesting and most valuable were still extant. These are in the order of the Catalogue.

16. Genealogia Reg’ Angl’ et de Gul’ Bastardo, et cet’ Regibus Angl’ succedentibus.

17. Dares Phrygius de Historia Trojanorum.

18. Historia Britonum translata è Britannicâ linguâ in Latinam.

19. Henrici Archdiaconi de Huntingdon Historia Anglorum.

20. Historia Ricardi dicti sine timore ducis Normanniæ, et cet duc’ succ’.

All which are contained in a single volume, which Mr. Petrie esteemed among the most important in the Collection.

Exceeding these documents both in antiquity and importance, the venerable, and undoubtedly original transcript of the Domesday Book relating to the counties of Cornwall, Somerset, and Devon, demands the peculiar attention of the literary antiquary and of the professed historian.

This General Survey was taken locally, and of the original inquisitions so made, no copies are believed to exist. In the Exeter Domesday, the lands of each person, wherever situate are entered, occasionally in different hands, under his name, and where the possessions of an individual were large he appears to have had a libellus wholly allotted to himself. Three scribes appear to have been employed in the transcription of this ancient record, in which it is very remarkable, entries are invariably made of the stock of deer, sheep, oxen, &c. upon the lands described. Now as these particulars are omitted in the Exchequer Domesday, probably as much for the sake of brevity as on account of the perishable nature of the animals themselves, and as this minute enumeration could only have resulted from an actual survey, it appears to me that this portion of the Domesday Book may boast of at least as high antiquity as the entire record deposited in the archives of the Exchequer at London.

In arranging the fasciculi of the Exon Domesday in their proper order, Mr. Barnes had the mortification of observing that at p. 233, a single leaf had been abstracted, which he recorded in 1810. Subsequent to this period Mr. Trevelyan called to see the Domesday, and upon the book being opened, produced from his pocket a leaf, which exactly supplied the previous hiatus in the record. This leaf it appeared came into the possession of Mr. Trevelyan, by descent from his ancestor, Dean Willoughby, who in the time of Henry the Eighth was the Dean of Exeter, and doubtless he it was who abstracted this identical leaf, either from curiosity, or a less venial motive. That must however be esteemed a most fortunate accident, whereby a leaf lost in the time of the Reformation, has thus been restored in our own, having the effect moreover of rendering perfect one of the most interesting historical documents in existence.

To preserve this volume in its primitive integrity, it has been clad in a rough coat of red russia, confined by a leather strap. The book thus bound is excessively thick, but measuring ten inches and a half by six and a half, it wears the aspect of a small folio tome.

It only remains for me to add that the whole of this ancient volume was faithfully transcribed by Mr. Ralph Barnes, and subsequently published under the authority of the Commissioners of the Public Records.

Of the Saxon Manuscripts which may claim the highest antiquity, I would mention a volume of Saxon Poetry, distinctly written upon vellum, and in excellent preservation, the gift of Leofric, the first Bishop of Exeter, to his Church. Another Saxon Manuscript, equally well preserved in its original coverture, contains the Etymological and other Works of Rabanus Maurus.

Among the other Manuscripts it may suffice to distinguish the Rosa Medicinæ of John Gadsden, commended by Geoffery Chaucer; and referring to the Catalogue for the remainder, to notice that all these Manuscripts are kept in deal presses, under lock and key, in an upper chamber attached to the Cathedral.

The Library of printed books in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter, is now deposited in their Chapter-house, a well proportioned and well lighted room, with a fire-place at one end, and gallery at the other, over the entrance door. The chimney-piece is handsomely carved in stone, and the painted ceiling harmonises well with the antique aspect of the room, which is also adorned with a view of the adjacent Cathedral.

The books are all well arranged upon open shelves around the room in the following order, viz. A and B. English Theology, 1600-1700, two cases; C and D. Bibles and Commentators, two cases; E. Fathers, and Ecclesiastical History, one case; F. Miscellaneous Theology; G and H. Classics; I and J. History and Biography; K. Poetry and Oratory; and L. Miscellaneous Theology. The gallery is also appropriated to books placed upon open shelves, the entire Collection probably amounting to between five and six thousand volumes. The books are chiefly bound in old calf, and the volumes have been relettered, so as to inform the stranger of their contents, and relieve the sombre uniformity of their attire.

The most ancient Catalogue in this Library, is a tall folio, containing a brief enumeration of the books in the Library, specifying their titles and sizes, as well as the place and dates, with reference to the shelves on which they were then placed. This volume is entitled “Catalogus Librorum in Bibliothecâ Ecclesiæ Sti Petri Exon.” is lettered on the binding, “Catalogus Librorum, 1683.”

From a later hand we have also a Catalogue of several duplicates in the Library of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter’s, Exon.

Some indolent Librarian has subsequently interleaved Hyde’s Catalogue of the Bodleian Library, in two volumes, folio, and has inserted therein such books of the Chapter Library as are not already contained in its printed pages, with references from the latter to the shelves.

The only complete Catalogue extant of this Library is that written by order of Dean Lyttelton, but compiled in the most careless manner, all mention of the places, dates, or names of the printers, or sizes of each Work, being uniformly omitted, and their titles given in the most summary and unsatisfactory manner. This volume—a tall and narrow folio, in coarse clothing, bears the title of “A Catalogue of the Books in the Library of St. Peter’s, Exon, taken as they now stand on the shelves, under each Alphabet, 1752.”

To remedy the want of a more perfect Catalogue, seven Fasciculi, embracing the Theological Department of the Collection, have been written in enumeration of the titles, dates, and imprints of the several Works therein contained, but without any specification of the sizes of the books. But of the remaining portion of the Library, no other Catalogue whatever, except a rough Index to the shelves, has been made. A complete Catalogue, therefore, of this Library, is, even in manuscript, greatly to be desired; but, for facility of reference, its arrangement should be alphabetical, as a separate Index to the different cases might easily be added. It would be also desirable that each Work should be described with that attention to bibliographical minuteness which may ensure the accuracy of the Catalogue, and render it worthy of being perpetuated by the power of the press.

The book plate whereby the volumes of the Dean and Chapter are marked as their own, is an engraving of an Ecclesiastical Seal, representing the Bishop on his throne, having a model of the Cathedral in his left hand, and holding a key in his right hand, the motto being: “The Cathedral Library at Exeter, Anno Domⁿⁱ, 1749.” This plate has been re-engraved with the date “An. Dom. 1822.”

The character of this Library is principally Theological, rather more than one-half of its entire contents being composed of Works of Divinity. It has also some respectable Classics, and some curious volumes relating to the History of England.

The Typographical antiquary will find little to interest him in this Collection; for if religious, he may sigh in vain for “The Seuen Penetencyall Psalmes,” or if only curious, will fruitlessly seek “The Merry Geste of how the Plowman learned his Pater Noster.”

Works of Divinity occupy so large a space upon these shelves, and so many of them have long ago fallen into merited oblivion, that, without attempting “to drag reluctant dulness into day,” I will proceed at once to the succinct enumeration of the principal features of this department.

Among the Impressions of the Sacred Text, I noticed a very fine copy in calf of Plantin’s Polyglott, published at Antwerp by that excellent printer between the years 1568 and 1572, and one of the usual copies of Walton’s Polyglott, with Castell’s Lexicon. I also remarked copies of the

Biblia Hebraica, Vander Hooght. Amst. 1705, fol.

Biblia Hebraica, Houbigant. Lutet. Par. 1753, 4 vols. folio.

Biblia Hebraica, Kennicott. Oxonii, 1776, 2 v. fol.

Biblia Græca. Francofurti, 1597, folio.

Biblia Latina. Lutetiæ, 1545.

Biblia Latina, Tremellii et Junii. Londini, 1685.

Biblia Latina Castalionis. Basileæ, 1573.

Biblia Sacra Pagnini. Londini, 1541.

Biblia Vulgata. Antverpiæ, 1599.

Biblia Sacra Diodati. Genevæ, 1641.

Biblia Virginiana. Cantabr. Nov. Angl. 1661.

The Bible in English, printed at Oxford in 1680, folio, uniformly bound with the Common Prayer of the same date in coeval red morocco, and the Bible with Notes by D’Oyly and Mant, in 3 vols. 4to.

Of detached portions of the Scripture, I may mention the Oxford Septuagint, superintended by Messrs. Holmes and Parsons, and that edited by Breitenger at Zurich.

Novum Testamentum Græcum. Amst. 1735.

Novum Testamentum Græcum, Bezæ. Cantab. 1642.

Novum Testamentum Græcum Millii. Oxonii, 1707, folio. And the Impressions of Wetstein and Stephens.

The New Testament of Bowyer. London, 1783, with his “Conjectures,” in 3 volumes 4to.

Fulke’s Rhemish Testament. London, 1633.

The Psalms by Thomas Ravenscroft. London, 1633.

The Psalms in Metre. Edinburgh, 1635.

Psalterium Latino-Saxonicum.

An imperfect Copy of the Pentateuchus Hebraicus. Ulyssip. 1491, folio, from the collection of De Rossi at Parma, recently attired in the plainest calf.

The Heptateuchus Saxonicus, edente Thwaites. Oxonii.

I may here also notice the Common Prayer Book of Edward the Sixth, 1552, folio, and the authorised Version of Common Prayer, 14 Car. II. 1662, to which the original Seal is still appended. These two Volumes are kept with the Manuscripts in the upper chamber already described.

I may also add

Missale Romanum. Antverpiæ, 1657.

Breviarium Romanum. Lutet. 1688.

Durandi Rationale Divinorum Officiorum.

L’Alcorano di Machometto. 1547.

Passing by a cloud of obscure Commentators on the Psalms, and other portions of the Sacred Volume, it may suffice to mention the Critici Sacri, and Pole’s Synopsis, Leigh’s Critica Sacra, Kidder on the Pentateuch, Bythneri Lyra Prophetica, Newcome’s Minor Prophets, Campbell on the Gospels, Blayney on Jeremiah, and the Commentaries of Whitby, Patrick, &c. of Calvin and Beza, of Pococke and Lowth.

Among the Fathers of the Church, I may particularise the Works of St. Jerome, Ambrose, Cyprian, Athanasius, Cyril, and Chrysostom, the Gregories, S. Hilary, Augustine, Basil, Origen, and Justin Martyr, of Athenagoras, Theophylact, Lactantius, Tertullian, Epiphanius, Isidore, and Theodoret. Irenæi Opera cura Grabe, folio; Eusebii Præparatio et Demonstratio Evangelica, in 2 folio volumes; Suiceri Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus; the Bibliotheca Patrum; Cotelerii Patres Apostolici, 2 copies; Grabe’s Spicilegium Patrum, and Wake’s Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers, with Cave’s Primitive Christianity, and Lives of the Fathers.

This last Work naturally leads us to the consideration of Ecclesiastical History, in which branch of learning the following Works occur in this Collection: Eusebii Historia Ecclesiastica, folio; Eutychii Annales; Tornielli Annales Sacri; Usserii Annales; Spondani Epitome Baronii; Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici, and Martyrologium Romanum; Cotelerii Ecclesiæ Græcæ Monumenta, folio; Bower, Rycaut and Platina’s Lives of the Roman Pontiffs; Binii Concilia Generalia et Provincialia; The Centuriatores Magdeburgenses; Natalis Historia Ecclesiastica, in 8 vols. folio; Canones Concilii Tridentini. Duaci, 1618, folio; and Polani Historia Concilii Tridentini; Geddes’s Church History of Æthiopia; and Allix’s History of the Churches in Piedmont.

Of Books relating to the Ecclesiastical affairs of Great Britain, we find the following:

Wilkins’s Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ, in 4 vols. fol.

Bedæ Historia Anglicana Ecclesiastica. Parisiis, 1681, and Londini, 1714.

Whartoni Anglia Sacra, 2 vols. folio.

Parker de Antiquitate Ecclesiæ Britannicæ. Hanoviæ, 1605, and edited by Drake, London, 1729, fol.

Usserii Antiquitates Ecclesiæ Britannicæ. Londini, 1687.

Harpsfeld, Historia Anglicana Ecclesiastica.

Godwin’s Præsules Anglicani, and Catalogue of Bishops.

Le Neve’s Fasti Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ.

Inett’s Origines Anglicanæ.

Fuller’s Church History.

Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum. London, 1655-73, 3 vols. folio.

Tanner’s Notitia Monastica, by Nasmyth. London, 1744.

Spotswode’s History of the Church of Scotland.

Burnet’s, Heylin’s and Strype’s Histories of the Reformation, with the Lives and Memorials of the latter.

Fox’s Martyrs. London, 1684, in 3 volumes, folio.

Walker’s Sufferings of the Clergy.

Twysden’s Vindication of the Church of England. 4to.

Wordsworth’s Ecclesiastical Biography. London, 1818, 6 vols. 8vo.

Newcourt’s Repertorium, or Survey of the Diocese of London.

Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus Provincialis; or Survey of the Diocese of Exeter. Exeter, 1782, 4to.

Ecton’s Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus, 4to.

Gough, Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Threnodia. Londini, 1661.

Symeon, Historia Dunelmensis Ecclesiæ. Londini, 1732, 8vo.

Calderwood’s Church of Scotland.

The earlier Theologians in this Library are represented by the Works of Grotius and Erasmus, the Controversial Writings of Le Clerc, Leusden, and Bellarmine, Chamieri Controversiarum Corpus, Limborch, Theologia Christiana, the Works of Episcopius, Peter Martyr, Melancthon, Zanchius, and Bochart, to which may be added, the once popular Treatise ascribed to Thomas à Kempis, the present copy having been printed at Antwerp in 1607.

Of the earlier Divines of England, the Works of Lightfoot, Bramhall, Barrow, Mede, Hoadley, Jewel, and Chillingworth; Hooker’s Ecclesiastical Polity, Cudworth’s Intellectual System, and Lloyd on Church Government, are familiar as household words to every educated Briton.

Among the Theological Writers of the seventeenth century, we find the Works of Allix, Baxter, Barrow, Atterbury, Comber, Claggett, Dodwell, Gastrell, Andrews, Sanderson, Hall, Hammond, Hopkins, Hody, Bull, Leslie, Peirce, Edwards, Long, Pearson, Reynolds, Rutherford, Stillingfleet, Sherlock, Tillotson, Jeremy Taylor, Wake, Wilkins, Whiston, and Weston; Norris on the Beatitudes, Pearson on the Creed, Burnet on the Articles, and Gale’s Court of the Gentiles, Oxford, 1672.

I should be wanting in attention to the English Theology of this Collection were I to pass over the Works of Boyle, Hoadley, Lardner, Jortin, Horsley, Beattie, and Farmer, or Burton’s Testimonies of the Anti-Nicene Fathers to the Divinity of Christ.

Connected with the Theological department, I may here mention Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible; Hyde’s Religio Veterum Persarum, Oxonii, 1700; Davy’s System of Divinity, Lustleigh, Devon, 1795, 1807, “printed by himself, 14 copies only.” In these 26 volumes the corrections have all been made by the insertion of slips of printed paper in the places requiring emendation. Davy on Divinity, with Portrait, Exeter, 1825, in 3 vols. 8vo. “Presented by the Author to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter, 20th August, 1825.” And Isaac de la Peyreyre’s Men before Adam, which was rigidly suppressed on its first publication; Harmer’s Observations on Scripture; the Preservative against Popery, published by order of Dr. Gibson, in 3 volumes, folio; and some French Works of Divinity, including, however, no author of sufficient note to require distinct enumeration.

The Works illustrative of History in general, contained in this Library, are: Bayle’s Historical Dictionary; Chalmers’s Biographical Dictionary, in 32 vols. 8vo.; Collier’s Historical Dictionary, in 2 vols. folio; Simsoni Chronicon; Heylin’s Cosmography; Raleigh’s History of the World: Isaacson’s Chronological Tables; Baudrand, Lexicon Geographicum; Speculum Historiale Vincentii; Bossuet, Histoire Universelle, 8vo.; Thuani Historia sui temporis; Carionis Chronicon, and Pitt’s English Atlas, Oxford, 1680, in 4 gigantic folio tomes.

Of particular Histories of various countries, the list is rather more copious, comprehending Freheri Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum, folio; Hottingeri Historia Orientalis; Basnage’s History of the Jews; Rycaut and Knolles’s History of the Turks; Ogilby’s China and Japan; Bembi Historia Veneta; China Illustrata; Verona Illustrata; Echard’s History of Rome; Mezeray’s History of France; Serres, Histoire de la France; Davila’s Civil Wars of France; Meterani Historia Belgica; Puffendorf de rebus Suecicis; Bonfinius de rebus Hungaricis; Molesworth’s Denmark; Crantz’s Greenland, Scheffer’s Lapland, and Fowler’s Poland.

As valuable helps to History, I may here mention, Montfaucon’s Antiquities, translated by Humphreys; Montfaucon’s Palæographia Græca; Mabillon, Iter Italicum; Ciampini Monumenta Vetusta; Fleetwood’s Inscriptiones Antiquæ; Reinesii Inscriptiones; Liceti et Pierii Hieroglyphica; Bianchini, Inscrizioni Sepulcrali; Noris’ Cenotaphia Pisana; Bertoli’s Antichita d’Aquileia; Arlinghi’s Roma Subterranea; Rosini’s Antiquitates Romanæ; Prideaux’s Marmora Arundeliana; Spanheim’s and le Vaillant’s Numismata; Occonis Numismata; Patini Numismata Familiarum Romanarum; Pitisci Lexicon; and Dodwell’s Tracts relating to Antiquity.

To the above may be added, Churchill’s Voyages; the Travels of Pococke, Thevenot, Sandys, and others; Freheri Theatrum Virorum Clarorum, & Jovii Elogia Virorum Illustrium.

Of Works on Heraldry, which may most properly be termed “the Key of History,” this Library contains Favine’s Theatre of Honour; Hopingius de Jure Insignium; Milles’s Catalogue of Honor; Gwillim’s Heraldry; Selden’s Titles of Honor; Dugdale’s Baronage; and Ashmole’s History of the Order of the Garter.

Of Works relating to the History and Antiquities of Great Britain, this Collection embraces many Tracts of great curiosity, and some Works of great importance.

Among the latter may be mentioned Eadmeri Historia Novorum; Twinus de rebus Albionicis; the valuable Collection of Francorum Scriptores Coetanei, edited by Duchesne, in 5 volumes, folio, a copy in old vellum, which has suffered severely from damp; Matthæi Paris, Historia Anglicana; Gale and Fell’s important Collection of early English Historians; Camdeni Anglica, Normanica, &c. à veteribus scripta; Polidori Vergilii Historia Anglicana; Matthæi Westmonasteriensis Flores Historiarum; Florentii Wigornensis Chronicon; Sheringham de Anglorum Gentis Origine; Triveti Annales sex Regum Angliæ, 1 vol. 8vo.; Rossi Warvicensis Historia Regum Angliæ, edente Hearnio, Oxonii, 1716, 8vo.; Gibson’s Saxon Chronicle; Musgrave’s Antiquitates Britanno-Belgicæ, 4 vols. 8vo. very neat in calf; Prynne’s Records of John, Henry III. and Edw. I. London, 1670, folio; and the Records of the Kingdom, published under the authority of the Parliamentary Commission.

The remaining Works of English History will be found to embrace many Tracts, interesting as connected with the great Rebellion. This Library contains the General Histories of England, by Daniel, Carte, Speed, and Kennett; Baker’s Chronicle; Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion, with his State Papers; Rushworth’s and Nalson’s Collections of State Papers; Whitelocke’s Memorials; Welwood’s Memoirs; Godwin’s Annals; Herbert’s Henry VIII.; Lloyd’s Memoirs; Fuller’s Worthies; Winstanley’s English Worthies; Lyttelton’s Henry the Second; Heylin’s Life of Laud; Walton’s Lives; Camden’s Elizabeth, with his Remains; Darcie’s Annals of Queen Elizabeth; Chamberlayne’s Angliæ Notitiæ; Winston Churchill’s Divi Britannici, Salmasii Defensio Regia; Bond’s Scutum Regale; Mackenzie’s Jus Regium; Bates’ Elenchus Motuum nuperorum in Angliâ, a work which Warburton thought worth reading; Warwick’s Charles I.; Vie de Cromwell, in 2 vols. 12mo.; Ludlow’s Memoirs, in 2 vols. 8vo.; D’Orleans, Revolution d’Angleterre, Paris. 1695, 3 vols. 12mo.; Dugdale’s View of the Troubles; Gregorio Leti Teatro Britannico, Amst. 1684, in 5 vols. 12mo.; Εικων Βασιλικη: Memoires du Marechal Berwick; Mercurius Britannicus Josephi Hall; and Fuller’s Ephemeral Parliament.

In addition to 27 volumes of Political Tracts, and 20 volumes of Puritanical Sermons, the overflowings of men’s minds under the high excitement of the Rebellion, I observed an octavo volume, which never before occurred to me, being “I. G. de rebus Caroli I. Commentarius sub imperio; Jacobi Marchionis Montisrosarum, anno 1644, et duobus sequentibus præclarè gestis.” Interprete A. S. Paris. (Johan. Bessin.) 1648. This volume is upon large paper, and is bound in red morocco, its sides covered with fleurs de lis, whence it might be conjectured to have belonged to the Queen Henrietta, then resident in France, at all events as a contemporary record of the exploits of the Chivalric Montrose, its historical interest is far from inconsiderable.

Among the other Works relating to English History may be noticed Annales de la Grande Bretagne; Parkerus de rebus sui temporis; Dugdale’s Origines Judiciales; Pepys on the Navy; Mainwaring’s Defence of Amicia; Wood’s Athenæ Oxoniensis; Kippis’ Biographia Britannica; Heylin’s Help to English History, a work still held in estimation; and a copy of Speed’s Maps, 1627, in an oblong duodecimo form.

Among the books of Scottish History I remarked the History of Scotland by Drummond and Buchanan, with the latter’s pretended “Detectioun of the duinges of Mary Queen of Scots;” Major de Gestis Scotorum; and Hume’s House of Douglas; Cox’s History of Ireland, and Ware’s Historical Works concerning Ireland, Dublin, 1739, in 2 vols. folio, deserve brief mention in this place before we proceed to enumerate the Works illustrative of the Topographical Antiquities of England.

The Archæologia, or Collection of Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, in an annually increasing series of quarto volumes, published by the Society of Antiquaries, forms a prominent feature in this department of the Library, the present series being respectably clad in modern calf.

To the Antiquarian Society we are also indebted for Plans, Elevations, and Descriptions of the Cathedral Churches of Durham, Exeter, and Gloucester, the Abbey Church at Bath, and St. Stephen’s, Westminster; the present copy being handsomely bound, in one volume, folio, in russia, and bearing the following autographic inscription:

“This book was presented to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter, the 22nd of December, 1813, as a token of gratitude for their kind patronage, and as a mark of affection for their Cathedral Church, by their obliged and faithful Servant,

“RALPH BARNES, Chapter Clerk.”

To such a dedication as this, the student who turns the ample pages of this noble folio tome, can only respond, ex imo corde,

“Grati Memorisque animi hocce volumen monumentum esto!”

No works of instruction are more calculated to please the eye than Topographical researches, embellished like Britton’s Account of Exeter Cathedral, of which a copy is very properly deposited in this Library.

The remaining Works of English Topography, which deserve particular notice, are Verstegan’s Restitution of decayed Intelligence respecting English Antiquities; Anthony à Wood’s Historia Universitatis Oxoniensis, Oxonii, 1674, in one volume, folio; Savage’s Balliofergus, or some Account of Baliol College, at Oxford, Oxonii, 1668, 4to.; Caii de Antiquitate Academiæ Cantabrigiensis; Howel’s History of London and Westminster; Roll’s Account of the Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, of which some accounts are also contained in this Collection; Stow’s Description of London; Lambarde’s Perambulation of Kent, 1656; Dugdale’s History of Warwickshire; Borlase’s Natural History and Antiquities of Cornwall; Milner’s Winchester; Polwhele’s Devonshire; Prince’s Worthies of Devon, “the gift of the author;” Plot’s Natural Histories of Oxfordshire and Staffordshire; Kennet’s Parochial Antiquities; Webbe and Inigo Jones’s Descriptions of Stonehenge; Carlisle’s Endowed Grammar Schools; Leycester’s Cheshire; Bentham’s Ely; Oliver’s History of Exeter; Camden’s Britannia, edited by Gibson, London, 1772, 2 vols. folio; and some Account of St. Neot’s Church in Cornwall, with plates of the stained glass Windows therein, by Messrs. Hedgeland and Davies Gilbert, London, 1830, folio, presented by the former to the Cathedral Library of Exeter.

To the above I may add the Geological Transactions of Cornwall, presented by the Rev. John Rogers, one of the Canons of the adjacent Cathedral.

Though Geology has not yet attained the full stature of a science, yet the mention of these interesting volumes recalls to my mind those older treatises on the more exact Sciences which are contained in this Library.

Among these, Newton’s Principia holds the first place, to which I may add Kepler’s Optics; Boyle’s and Bacon’s Works on Natural Philosophy; Hobbes’ Opera Philosophica; Hevelii Selenographia; Hooke’s Micrographia; Wallis’s Algebra; Maseres’ Scriptores Logarithmici; a few volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica and of the Philosophical Transactions, with Sprat’s History of the Royal Society.

Of Botanical Works it may be sufficient to particularise Ruellius de Naturâ Stirpium; Raii Historia Plantarum; Grew’s Anatomy of Plants; and Gerarde’s Herbal, to which I may add the singular Collection of Aldrovandus, and Gesner de Animalibus.

I may here also mention Vitruvii Architectura, and Kendall on Architecture; together with Culpepper’s English Physician; Cardani Medicinæ; and other sanatory treatises now obsolete, which form the companions of the Museum Wormianum.

The Law Books contained in this room may be very soon enumerated, as there is no interest whatever attached to the Codex Theodosianus; Corpus Juris Civilis Gothofredi; Oughton’s Ordo Judiciarum, in 2 vols. 4to.; Burns’ Ecclesiastical Law; Blount and Jacob’s Law Dictionaries; Lambard de Priscis Anglorum Legibus; Durandi Speculum Juris; Spencer de Legibus Hebræorum, Cantab. 1685; Gibson Codex Juris Civilis, &c. in 2 vols. folio; and an old edition of Blackstone’s Commentaries.

It is refreshing to turn from so uninviting a topic to those great authors of antiquity, the dread of our earliest, and the delight of our latest years, especially when we can look upon some of the most valuable editions of their Works.

In proof of this assertion, those shelves furnish me with the Oratores Græci, and the Plutarch of Reiske, Isocrates, and Lysias of Auger; the Pindar of Heyne; Plinius Harduini; Pausanias Kuhnii; Livius Drakenborchii; the Horace of Bentley; Duker’s Thucydides; the Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus of Wesseling; Reimar’s Dion Cassius; Josephus Havercampi; Xenophon, by Wells; Brunck’s Sophocles; and Barnes’ Euripides; Longinus, Toupii, and Athenæus Casauboni.

Among the other editions of the Classics, I noticed Platonis Opera Serrani; Quintus Curtius Pitisci; Lucretius Havercampi; Spanheim’s Callimachus; Aristotelis Opera Du Valli; and several of the Delphin editions, including those of Prudentius, Plautus, Eutropius, Cornelius Nepos, Velleius Paterculus, Quintus Curtius, Manilius, Juvenal, and Lucretius.

I also noticed some pieces of Cicero, and various editions of Æschines, Boethius, Florus, Macrobius, Martial, Aristophanes, Quintilian, Petronius Arbiter, Seneca, Sallust, Suetonius, Statius, Phædrus, Tacitus, Valerius Maximus, Terence, Homer, Demosthenes, Cæsar, Xenophon, and the Historiæ Augustæ Scriptores, whose importance would scarcely justify more particular specification.

The earliest editions of the Classics comprised within these walls, are indifferent copies of Cæsar, printed by Jenson, at Venice, in 1471, folio, measuring twelve inches by eight and a quarter, and bound in calf; and Virgilius Servii, 1475, folio, where the Commentary ends with the Æneid, and the Minor Pieces, with vacant margins, follow.

Of Translations of the Classics, I observed Dryden’s Virgil and Juvenal; Hobbes’s Thucydides; Ross’s Silius Italicus; Ogilby’s Æsop; and Dacier’s Horace.

Of Lexicons and Dictionaries, and other Etymological Works, the essential accompaniments of the Classic page, to every youthful student, I have the pleasure of enumerating several, which will be found very useful in the study either of Classic or of Gothic Literature.

For the first, it may suffice to mention Suidæ, Hesychii, et Scapulæ Lexica, Hoffmanni, et Phavorini Lexica, Stephani Thesaurus, Calepini Dictionarium, Julii Pollucis Onomasticon, Vossii Etymologicon, Cooper’s Thesaurus, and Du Fresne’s Glossary.

For the latter, the Saxon Dictionary of Hickes; Skinner’s Lexicon; Junii Etymologicum Anglicanum; Somneri Dictionarium Saxonicum; Lye’s Saxon Dictionary; Cotgrave’s French Dictionary; and Menage Dictionnaire Etymologique. To which may be added, the English Dictionaries of Cole, Howel, and Johnson, with Buxtorf’s Chaldaic and Hebrew Lexicon.

In English Literature this Library is manifestly deficient. We do indeed meet with the Works of Locke and Bacon; of Addison and Swift; Spenser’s Faerie Queen; the Poems of Chaucer, Milton, and Cowley; Shakespeare’s Works too, with the Portrait coloured, may be after the Stratford Monument, London, 1632, folio, in a volume, which being quite perfect, richly deserves rebinding, as it is now in a very insecure and tattered condition. But I can only add to these, Sir Thomas More’s Works, 1559; Warton’s English Poetry; Conybeare’s Anglo-Saxon Poetry; Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy; Smith’s Wealth of Nations; Wootton’s Remains; and other Works of much less reputation.

Of Italian Works there are editions of Tasso, Petrarch, and Ariosto, with a copy of Boccaccio, Genealogia di Gli Dei, Venet. 1588, which the compiler of the unfinished Catalogue has classed under the head of “Miscellaneous Theology.”

It only remains for me to notice Photii Bibliotheca et Epistolæ, and Stuckii Antiquitates Conviviales, a work whence much curious information may be obtained respecting the “noctes cœnæque” of the olden time.

As “Book openeth Book,” I cannot conclude this brief notice of the Exeter Cathedral Library more appropriately than by adding to it, the Bibliographical Works contained within its precincts.

Among these I particularly noticed, Maittaire, Annales Typographici; Wolfii Monumenta Typographica; Watts’ Bibliotheca Britannica; Blount’s Censura Literaria; Balei Scriptores Britanniæ; Nicolson’s English, Irish, and Scotch Historical Libraries, in 4 volumes, 8vo.; Cooper on the Public Records; Le Long’s Bibliotheca Sacra, Halæ, 1778; Dupin’s Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques; De Rossi’s Annales Hebræo-Topographici, Parmæ, 1795; Fabricii Bibliotheca Græca, and Bibliographia Antiquaria, in 4to.; Cave’s Scriptores Ecclesiastici; Baillet’s Jugemens des Scavans; La Bibliothéque Choisie, 1703; and Le Clerc’s Bibliothéque Universelle, in 12mo.; a Catalogue of English Writers on the Old and New Testaments; Clarke’s Bibliographical Dictionary and Miscellany; Marchand’s Dictionnaire Historique; Gesneri Bibliotheca, and several volumes of the Acta Eruditorum, in quarto.

Upon the table in the Chapter-house is very properly kept a book “For the entry of books taken out of, and returned to the Chapter Library;” a regulation which ought to be religiously observed by all persons having access to any corporate Library.