'But he procured not a few himself from such in his own time as were studious in antiquity: as, namely, several Saxon books from Robert Talbot,[6] a great collector of such ancient writings in King Henry the Eighth's time, and an acquaintance of Leland, Bale, etc. Some of which writings the said Talbot had from Dr. Owen,[7] the said King Henry's physician; and some our archbishop likewise had from him; as appears in one of the Cotton volumes:[8] which is made up of a collection of various charters, etc., written out by Joh. Joscelyn.[9] Where at some of these MSS. collected, the said Joscelyn adds these notes, The copy of this Dr. Talbot had of Dr. Owen. The Archbishop of Canterbury had this charter from Dr. Owen, etc. There be other collections of this nature now remaining in Benet College, sometime belonging to this Talbot, which we may presume the Archbishop, partly by his own interest, and partly by the interest of Bale, Caius, and others, obtained; particularly his annotations upon that part of Antoninus's Itinerarium which belongs to Britain. And another De Chartis quibusdam regum Britannorum. These are mentioned by Anthony à Wood.
'And he kept such in his family as could imitate any of the old characters admirably well. One of these was Lyly, an excellent writer, and that could counterfeit any antique writing. Him the Archbishop customarily used to make old books complete, that wanted some pages; that the character might seem to be the same throughout. So that he acquired at length an admirable collection of ancient MSS. and very many too: as we may conjecture from his diligence for so many years as he lived, in buying and procuring such monuments. The remainders of his highly valuable collections are now preserved in several libraries of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but chiefly in that of Benet College, Cambridge.'
Archbishop Parker was one of the founders of the Society of Antiquaries in 1572. He took a special interest in the early English Chronicles, and endeavoured to revive the study of the Saxon language. Among other works he caused to be printed Flores Historiarum, attributed to Matthew of Westminster, Matthew Paris's Historia Major, and the Latin text of Asser's Alfredi Regis Res Gestæ in Saxon characters, cut by John Day, the printer. He also, says Strype, 'laboured to forward the composing and publishing of a Saxon Dictionary.' His great work, De Antiquitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ et Privilegiis Ecclesiæ Cantuariensis, cum Archiepiscopis eiusdem 70, which, if not written by him, was produced under his immediate supervision, was printed by John Day in Lambeth Palace in 1572. A very limited number of copies of this work, the first book privately printed in England, were struck off; not more than twenty-five are known to exist, and no two are found quite alike. The preparation of the Bishops' Bible, which was completed in 1568, was performed under his auspices. A presentation copy to Queen Elizabeth from the Archbishop of the Flores Historiarum, very handsomely bound, with the royal arms on the covers; and a copy of the work De Antiquitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ, etc., in a fine embroidered binding, which is also believed to have been presented to the Queen by the Archbishop, are preserved in the British Museum. These books were probably bound in Lambeth Palace, for in a letter to Lord Burghley, dated the 9th of May 1573, the Archbishop writes, with reference to the last-named work, 'I have within my house on wagis, drawers and cutters, paynters, lymners, wryters, and boke-bynders'; and he adds that he has sent Lord Burghley a copy of it 'bound by my man.'
A list of Parker's writings, and his editions of authors will be found in Coopers' Athenæ Cantabrigienses. There are portraits of him in Lambeth Palace, the Guildhall at Norwich, Corpus Christi College, and in the Master's Lodge, Trinity College, Cambridge. There is also a rare portrait of him, engraved in 1573, by Remigius Hogenberg, who appears to have been in the service of the Archbishop.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] An interesting account of the sources of the manuscripts, by Montague Rhodes James, Litt. D., Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, was published in 1899 by the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.
[4] Hartshorne, Book Rarities in the University of Cambridge, p. 9.
[5] Dr. Stephen Batman, one of the Archbishop's domestic chaplains, editor of De Proprietatibus Rerum, by Bartholomeus Anglicanus.
[6] Robert Talbot, Rector of Haversham, Berkshire, and Treasurer of Norwich Cathedral, was the son of John Talbot of Thorpe Malsover, Northamptonshire. He was born about 1505, and was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford. Camden calls him 'a learned antiquary,' and Lambarde describes him as 'a diligent trauayler in the Englishe hystorye.' He died in 1558, and was buried in Norwich Cathedral. His choicest manuscripts were left by him to New College.
[7] Dr. Owen, physician to King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., and Queen Mary. He died in 1558, and was buried in St. Stephen's, Walbrook.