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Perhaps enough has now been said to give a general description of the design of the Concordances. They were all made on one plan, but no two were exactly alike. The actual sizes vary considerably, and the number of pages also, from sixty-five up to four hundred. By far the greater number deal with the Gospels of the four Evangelists, but in addition to these there are Concordances of the Books of Kings and Chronicles, and the five Books of Moses.
Some slight account may now be given of all the volumes known to be in existence at the present time. With the exception of the original book, made for the instruction of the home family, which was in daily use at Gidding, the splendid copy made for Charles I. is the earliest of which there is any authentic history.
As stated on a previous page, it was at the King’s urgent request that this was put in hand, and, after twelve months’ hard work, was safely delivered to his Majesty, who declared it to be a
“rich and rare jewel, and that there was no defect in the skill, care, and cost used in it, but a superlative diligence in all about it.”
This fine volume is now in the British Museum, having been sent there from Windsor by George II. It is a large square folio, measuring 1 foot 7 inches by I foot 2 inches, and has 287 pages, bound in leather, with a great deal of gilding on the sides; the date on the title-page is 1635.
The Concordance described on pp. 36–47, and from which the extracts were taken, has the same date on the title-page, and the words “done at Little Gidding” added also. It is much smaller than the Royal copy, with less than half the number of pages. Its history is not quite so clear, but on the inside of the cover appear the arms of Sir R. Cotton, who commenced the library given by his grandson to the nation. The Cottons were near neighbours of the Ferrars, and nothing is more likely than that a lover of books should have procured one of the earliest of the works which were rapidly becoming famous. From the Cottons it passed to the family of Bowdlers, one of whom married a daughter of the last baronet; and the grandson of this Mr. Bowdler left the book to the father of the writer of this sketch, now living in
Dorchester, who still makes use of the book in the religious instruction of his children.
The next volume made was a Harmony of the Kings and Chronicles, the idea being originated by Charles himself. He is reported to have asked for it at the very time he received his first Harmony, saying, “I would gladly have these skilful persons to make me another book that might be so ordered, that I might read these stories of Kings and Chronicles, so interwoven by them, as if one pen had written the whole book, and to make it a complete history; yet so ordering the matter that I may also read them severally and apart.”
This was faithfully carried out. The date on the title-page is 1637, and the book is now at the British Museum. It is bound in leather, curiously gilt, rather smaller than the first volume, and without any illustrations; but a great deal of care was taken in its compilation, especially in the construction of three tables relating to the contents and to the various passages related in the Books of Kings and Chronicles “severally or jointly.”