The Sutherland Collection.

The Rev. James Granger (d. 1776) published a History of England in 1769 on the theory that a series of biographies best brings out the historical features of each successive generation. The work obviously lent itself to illustration by engraved portraits, and now any books enriched by its owner with additional inserted illustrations is said to be “grangerized.” The most magnificent example of this not wholly commendable practice is to be found in the Sutherland Collection presented to the Bodleian in 1837. Mr. Alexander Sutherland took a folio edition of Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion, the Life of Clarendon, and Burnet’s History of My Own Times, inlaid each leaf and illustrated them with not less than 20,000 portraits and views of persons and places which are mentioned, even incidentally, in the histories. The result is contained in sixty-one elephant folio volumes. The quality of the engravings is of the finest, and when an engraving was lacking, a copy in colours of some original picture took its place. For instance, the portraits of Charles I number 743, of Cromwell 373, of Charles II 552; the views of London 309 and of Westminster 166. Mrs. Sutherland completed this sumptuous work after her husband’s death, and printed a complete catalogue of the whole. Among the topographical prints is the original drawing by Antonio van der Wyngaerde, of London, in about 1560, which is the earliest detailed view of that city. The Library also contains the only copies of the earliest (engraved) views of Oxford (by Agas, 1578) and of Cambridge (by Hamond, 1592).

These are ten specimens of the associations and stories which gather round the volumes of the Bodleian, but space does not allow this section to be extended.

THE CHIEF COLLECTIONS OF THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY
(In order of acquisition)
WITH NOTES OF SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT VOLUMES IN THEM

A. Manuscripts

Out of the 200 collections of Manuscripts only the more valuable are mentioned, and of their contents only the most striking volumes. In the latter division the numeral in brackets is the number of the volume in the Old Catalogue of 1697 (1-8716), or in the Summary Catalogue (1-8716 and 8717-36587). The use of the Roman numerals which here follow (i-x) will enable a reader to recognize the general character of each collection.

The following subjects are characterized for brevity by members as below:—

i.Bibles and Liturgies.
ii.Theology and Church History.
iii.Greek Literature.
iv.Latin Literature.
v.English Language and Literature.
vi.British History.
vii.British Topography.
viii.Colonial and Foreign Literature, History and Geography.
ix.Sciences and Arts.
x.Miscellaneous (used only when the miscellaneous element is large).

The following statistics of early Greek and Latin MSS. in the Bodleian, excluding papyri, deeds and fragments, may be interesting. Lists of the volumes, with titles, will be found in the Bodleian Quarterly Record, Nos. 3, 7, 11, 12 (see p. [64]).