Bibliomania; or Book-Madness / A Bibliographical Romance

by Thomas Frognall Dibdin

Your most humble Servant to command,

Jo. Bagford.

For the Worthy Sir Hans Slone.

And now it only remains to close the whole of this Bagfordiana by the following unique communication. One of Bagford's friends sent him this letter with the subjoined device:—"For my Lovinge friend Mr. Jno. Bagford.—You having shewed me so many rebuses, as I was returning home, I thought of one for you—a bagge, and below that, a fourd or passable water." (Harl. MS., no. 5910.)

I wish it were in my power to collect information, equally acceptable with the foregoing, respecting the above-named John Murray; but Hearne, who was his intimate friend, has been very sparing in his anecdotes of him, having left us but a few desultory notices, written chiefly in the Latin language. The earliest mention of him that I find is the following: "Verum illud præcipue mentionem meretur, quod mutuo accepi, schedula una et altera jam excusa, á Joanne Murario Londinensi, rei antiquariæ perscrutatore diligenti, cui eo nomine gratias ago." "Denique subdidi descriptionem fenestrarum depictarum ecclesiæ parochialis de Fairford in agro Glocestriensi, è schedula quam mutuo sumpsi ab amico supra laudato Johanne Murrario, qui per literas etiam certiorem me fecit è codice quodam vetusto MS. fuisse extractum. Neque dubito quin hic idem fuerit Codex quem olim in ecclesia de Fairford adservatum surripuisse nebulonem quempiam mihi significavit ecclesiæ ædituus, vir simplex, necnon ætate et scientia venerandus." Præf: p. xxii. Guil. Roperi Vita Thomæ Mori, 1716, 8vo., edit. Hearne. There is another slight mention of Murray, by Hearne, in the latter's edition of Thom. Caii. Vindic. Antiq. Acad. Oxon, vol. ii., 803-4—where he discourses largely upon the former's copy of Rastel's Pastyme of People: a book which will be noticed by me very fully on a future occasion. At present, it may suffice to observe that a perfect copy of it is probably the rarest English book in existence. There is a curious copper plate print of Murray, by Vertue, in which our bibliomaniac's right arm is resting upon some books entitled "Hearne's Works, Sessions Papers, Tryals of Witches." Beneath is this inscription:

Hoh Maister John Murray of Sacomb, The Works of old Time to collect was his pride, Till Oblivion dreaded his Care: Regardless of Friends, intestate he dy'd, So the Rooks and the Crows were his Heir. G.N.

Of the above-mentioned Thomas Britton, I am enabled to present a very curious and interesting account, from a work published by Hearne, of no very ordinary occurrence, and in the very words of Hearne himself. It is quite an unique picture. "Before I dismiss this subject, I must beg leave to mention, and to give a short account of, one that was intimately acquainted with Mr. Bagford, and was also a great man, though of but ordinary education. The person I mean is Mr. Thos. Britton, the famous Musical Small Coal Man, who was born at or near Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire. Thence he went to London, where he bound himself apprentice to a small coal man in St. John Baptist's Street. After he had served his full time of seven years, his master gave him a sum of money not to set up. Upon this, Tom went into Northamptonshire again, and after he had spent his money, he returned again to London, set up the small coal trade (notwithstanding his master was still living) and withall, he took a stable, and turned it into a house, which stood the next door to the little gate of St. John's of Jerusalem, next Clerkenwell Green. Some time after he had settled here, he became acquainted with Dr. Garenciers, his near neighbour, by which means he became an excellent chymist, and perhaps, he performed such things in that profession, as had never been done before, with little cost and charge, by the help of a moving elaboratory, that was contrived and built by himself, which was much admired by all of that faculty that happened to see it; insomuch that a certain gentleman in Wales was so much taken with it that he was at the expense of carrying him down into that country, on purpose to build him such another, which Tom performed to the gentleman's very great satisfaction, and for the same he received of him a very handsome and generous gratuity. Besides his great skill in chymistry, he was as famous for his knowledge in the Theory of Music; in the practical part of which Faculty he was likewise very considerable. He was so much addicted to it that he pricked with his own hand (very neatly and accurately), and left behind him, a valuable collection of music, mostly pricked by himself, which was sold upon his death for near a hundred pounds. Not to mention the excellent collection of printed books, that he also left behind him, both of chemistry and music. Besides these books that he left behind him, he had, some years before his death, sold by auction a noble collection of books, most of them in the Rosacrucian Faculty (of which he was a great admirer): whereof there is a printed catalogue extant (as there is of those that were sold after his death), which I have often looked over with no small surprize and wonder, and particularly for the great number of MSS. in the before mentioned faculties that are specified in it. He had, moreover, a considerable collection of musical instruments, which were sold for fourscore pounds upon his death, which happened in September 1714, being upwards of threescore years of age; and (he) lyes buried in the church-yard of Clerkenwell, without monument or inscription: being attended to his grave, in a very solemn and decent manner, by a great concourse of people, especially of such as frequented the Musical club, that was kept up for many years at his own charges (he being a man of a very generous and liberal spirit) at his own little cell. He appears by the print of him (done since his death) to have been a man of an ingenuous countenance and of a sprightly temper. It also represents him as a comely person, as indeed he was; and withal, there is a modesty expressed in it every way agreeable to him. Under it are these verses, which may serve instead of an epitaph:

Tho' mean thy rank, yet in thy humble cell Did gentle peace and arts unpurchas'd dwell; Well pleas'd Apollo thither led his train, And music warbled in her sweetest strain. Cyllenius, so, as fables tell, and Jove, Came willing guests to poor Philemon's grove. Let useless pomp behold, and blush to find So low a station, such a liberal mind.

In short, he was an extraordinary and very valuable man, much admired by the gentry; even those of the best quality, and by all others of the more inferior rank, that had any manner of regard for probity, sagacity, diligence, and humility. I say humility, because, though he was so much famed for his knowledge, and might, therefore, have lived very reputably without his trade, yet he continued it to his death, not thinking it to be at all beneath him. Mr. Bagford and he used frequently to converse together, and when they met they seldom parted very soon. Their conversation was very often about old mss. and the havock made of them. They both agreed to retrieve what fragments of antiquity they could, and, upon that occasion, they would frequently divert themselves in talking of old chronicles, which both loved to read, though, among our more late Chronicles printed in English, Isaackson's was what they chiefly preferred for a general knowledge of things; a book which was much esteemed also by those two eminent Chronologers, Bishop Lloyd and Mr. Dodwell. By the way, I cannot but observe that Isaackson's Chronicle is really, for the most part, Bishop Andrews's; Isaackson being amanuensis to the bishop." Hemingi Chartular. Eccles. Wigornien., vol. ii., 666-9, Edit. Hearne. See also, Robert of Glocester's Chronicle, vol. i., p. lxxii. We will close our account of this perfectly unique bibliomaniac by subjoining the title of the Catalogue of his Books; for which I am indebted to the ever-active and friendly assistance of Mr. Heber. The volume is so rare that the late Mr. Reed told Mr. H. he had never seen another copy: but another has recently been sold, and is now in the curious collection of Mr. R. Baker. "The Library of Mr. Thomas Britton, Small-coal man, Deceas'd: who, at his own charge, kept up a Concort of Musick above 40 years, in his little Cottage. Being a curious Collection of every Ancient and Uncommon book in Divinity, History, Physick, Chemistry, Magick, &c. Also a Collection of MSS. chiefly on vellum. Which will be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee House, &c., the 24th day of January, 1714-15, at Five in the Evening. By Thomas Ballard, Esq., 8vo., p. 30. Containing 102 articles in folio—274 in 4to.—664 in octavo—50 pamphlets—and 23 MSS." A few of the works, in octavo, were sufficiently amatory. The third and last character above mentioned, as making this illustrious bibliomaniacal triumvirate complete, is Thomas Hearne. That Pope, in the verses which Lysander has quoted, meant this distinguished antiquary seems hardly to be questioned; and one wonders at the Jesuitical note of Warburton, in striving to blow the fumes of the poet's satire into a different direction. They must settle upon poor Hearne's head: for Wanley's antiquarian talents were equally beyond the touch of satire and the criticism of the satirist. Warton has, accordingly, admitted that Hearne was represented under the character of Wormius; and he defends the character of Hearne very justly against the censures of Pope. His eulogy will be presently submitted to the reader. Gibbon, in his Posthumous Works, vol. ii., 711, has aimed a deadly blow at the literary reputation of Hearne; and an admirer of this critic and historian, as well as an excellent judge of antiquarian pursuits, has followed up Gibbon's mode of attack in a yet more merciless manner. He calls him "Thomas Hearne, of black-letter memory, carbone notandus"—"a weaker man (says he) never existed, as his prefaces, so called, lamentably show." He continues in this hard-hearted strain: but I have too much humanity to make further extracts. He admits, however, the utility of most of Hearne's publications—"of which he was forced to publish a few copies, at an extravagant subscription." The remarks of this (anonymous) writer, upon the neglect of the cultivation of English History, and upon the want of valuable editions of our old Historians, are but too just, and cannot be too attentively perused. See Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 58, pt. 1, 196-8 (A.D. 1788). Thus far in deterioration of poor Hearne's literary fame. Let us now listen to writers of a more courteous strain of observation. Prefixed to Tanner's Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, there is a preface, of which Dr. Wilkins is the reputed author. The whole of Hearne's publications are herein somewhat minutely criticised, and their merits and demerits slightly discussed. It is difficult to collect the critic's summary opinion upon Hearne's editorial labours; but he concludes thus: "Quia autem leporis est mortuis insultare leonibus, cineres celeberrimi hujus et olim mihi amicissimi viri turbare, neutiquam in animum inducere possum," p. xlvii. Mr. Gough, in his British Topography, vol. ii., p. 579, calls Hearne an "acute observer;" but, unluckily, the subject to which the reader's attention is here directed discovers our antiquary to have been in error. J. Warton, in the passage before alluded to, observes: "In consideration of the many very accurate and very elegant editions which Hearne published of our valuable old chronicles, which shed such a light on English history, he (Hearne) ought not to have been so severely lashed as in these bitter lines," (quoted in the text, [p. 327], ante) Pope's Works, edit. Bowles; vol. v., 232. Let the reader consult also Dr. Pegge's Anonymiana, in the passages referred to, in the truly valuable index attached to it, concerning Hearne. Thus much, I submit, may be fairly said of our antiquary's labours. That the greater part of them are truly useful, and absolutely necessary for a philological library, must on all sides be admitted. I will mention only the Chronicles of Langtoft and Robert of Gloucester; Adam de Domerham, de rebus Glastoniensibus; Gulielmus Neubrigensis; Forduni Scotichronicon; and all his volumes appertaining to Regal Biography:—these are, surely, publications of no mean importance. Hearne's prefaces and appendices are gossiping enough; sometimes, however, they repay the labour of perusal by curious and unlooked-for intelligence. Yet it must be allowed that no literary cook ever enriched his dishes with such little piquant sauce, as did Hearne: I speak only of their intrinsic value, for they had a very respectable exterior—what Winstanley says of Ogilvey's publications being, applicable enough to Hearne's;—they were printed on "special good paper, and in a very good letter." We will now say a few words relative to Hearne's habits of study and living—taken from his own testimony. In the preface prefixed to Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More, p. xix. (edit. 1716), he describes himself "as leading the life of an ascetic." In the preface to the Annals of Dunstable Priory, his bibliographical diligence is evinced by his saying he had "turned over every volume in the Bodleian Library." In one of his prefaces (to which I am not able just now to refer) he declares that he was born—like our British tars—"for action:" and indeed his activity was sufficiently demonstrated; for sometimes he would set about transcribing for the press papers which had just been put into his hands. Thus, in the Antiquities of Glastonbury, p. 326, he writes, "the two following old evidences were lent me to-day by my friend the Hon. Benedict Leonard Calvert, Esq." His excessive regard to fidelity of transcription is, among many other evidences that may be brought forward, attested in the following passage: "Have taken particular care (saith Mr. Harcourt, in his letter to me from Aukenvyke, Sep. 25, 1734) in the copying; well knowing your exactness." Benedict Abbas, vol ii., 870. But this servility of transcription was frequently the cause of multiplying, by propagating, errors. If Hearne had seen the word "faith" thus disjointed—"fay the"—he would have adhered to this error, for "faythe." As indeed he has committed a similar one, in the Battle of Agincourt, in the appendix to Thomas de Elmham: for he writes "breth reneverichone"—instead of "brethren everichone"—as Mr. Evans has properly printed it, in his recent edition of his father's Collection of Old Ballads, vol. ii., 334. But this may be thought trifling. It is certainly not here meant to justify capriciousness of copying; but surely an obvious corruption of reading may be restored to its genuine state: unless, indeed, we are resolved to consider antiquity and perfection as synonymous terms. But there are some traits in Hearne's character which must make us forgive and forget this blind adherence to the errors of antiquity. He was so warm a lover of every thing in the shape of a book that, in the preface to Alured of Beverley, pp. v. vi., he says that he jumped almost out of his skin for joy, on reading a certain MS. which Thomas Rawlinson sent to him ("vix credi potest qua voluptate, qua animi alacritate, perlegerim," &c.). Similar feelings possessed him on a like occasion: "When the pious author (of the Antiquities of Glastonbury) first put it (the MS.) into my hands, I read it over with as much delight as I have done anything whatsoever upon the subject of antiquity, and I was earnest with him to print it," p. lxxviii. Hearne's horror of book-devastations is expressed upon a variety of occasions: and what will reconcile him to a great portion of modern readers—and especially of those who condescend to read this account of him—his attachment to the black-letter was marvelously enthusiastic! Witness his pathetic appeal to the English nation, in the 26th section of his preface to Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle, where he almost predicts the extinction of "right good" literature, on the disappearance of the black-letter! And here let us draw towards the close of these Hearneana, by contemplating a wood-cut portrait of this illustrious Bibliomaniac; concerning whose life and works the reader should peruse the well-known volumes published at Oxford in 1772, 8vo.: containing the biographical memoirs of Leland, Bale, Hearne, and Wood.