[268] Nichols, Lit. Anecd. iii. 699, 701.
A.D. 1790.
A very large number of Editiones principes and other early-printed books were purchased at the sale at Amsterdam of the library of P. A. Crevenna. The first entire Hebrew Bible, printed at Soncino in 1488, was purchased for £43 15s.; and Fust and Schoeffer's first dated Latin Bible (Mentz, 1462) for £127 15s. To enable the Library to make the purchases of this and the preceding year, benefactions were received to the amount of nearly £200, and upwards of £1550 were lent by various bodies and individuals. The repayment of the loans was completed in 1795.
£120 were received for duplicates sold to Messrs. Chapman and King. Other small receipts from similar sales are found under the years 1793, 1794 and 1804.
A.D. 1791.
From this year onwards until 1803, inclusive, the name of Mr. Edward Lewton, of Wadham College (B.A. 1792, M.A. 1794), is found as that of an Assistant employed upon the Catalogues. Further benefactions to the amount of £232, for the purpose of aiding the purchase of early-printed books, were received in this year. The list of all the donors is printed in Gutch's edition of Wood's History and Antiquities, vol. ii. part ii. p. 949.
A.D. 1792.
The collections of notes and various readings made by Joseph Torelli, of Verona, in preparation for his edition of Archimedes,
were deposited in the Library, (F. infra, 2. Auct.). They were given to the University after his death (in 1781) by his executor, Albert Albertini, partly through the instrumentality of Mr. John Strange, envoy to Venice, upon condition that the University undertook the publication. The work was consequently printed at the University Press, and issued in a handsome folio volume in this year.