Why chain books?
It is certainly a distressing as well as a suggestive sight to see books in chains. Distressing, because a good book is like a strong man, and when chained is as shorn Samson among the Philistines. No one nowadays would think of chaining books to desks or library shelves, for our ideas about such matters have indeed altered from those prevalent when such a custom obtained; so that the mere sight of a single survival of this rude practice is strongly suggestive, not only of national advance in education and literary enlightenment, but also of the power of the printing-press, through whose influence alone her offspring--as well as her parents, the manuscript books--have been redeemed from their chains.
Before the invention of Printing, books were scarce and dear, and it was the custom of the College authorities to lend single volumes to students for one year, to be then returned with evidence of their having been profitably studied. No doubt positive loss was one result, and injustice to non-favoured students another; but books borrowed have always been proverbial for not coming home to roost, and chaining seemed a natural way of securing them for general use. This appears to me more likely to have been the object of chaining than the prevention of theft.
The custom of fastening books to their shelves by chains was common at an early period throughout all Europe. When a book was given to a mediæval library it was necessary, in the first place, to buy a chain, and, if the book was of especial value, a pair of clasps; secondly, to employ a smith to put them on; and, lastly, a painter to write the name and class-mark across the fore-edge. Large collections of chained books were for the use of particular bodies of students; but when religious zeal made many people feel the want of spiritual food, it led to the chaining of single volumes in churches, where any parishioner, able to read, could satisfy his soul. The Bible was, of course, one of the most common, and among others were Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_, the various works of Bishop Jewel, and other Divines.
The old records of various Colleges have numerous entries concerning the cost of chains, of rods, of rings, and of wages paid for enchainment. In 1444 great inconvenience was felt from the overcrowded state of the library at Oxford University, where, all the books being chained, the students were continually jostling one another. So a petition was got up to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, a book-lover whose name is always green in the memory of bibliophiles, that he would assist in obtaining an enlargement of the library.[4] The petitioners state their grievance very tersely in good Latin, and complain that “should any student be poring over a single volume, as often happens, he keeps three or four others away on account of the books being chained so closely together.”[5] Perhaps the most complete account of the whole process of erecting the shelves and desks, and chaining the books, will be found in the archives of Eton College for the years 1519-20 _et seq._ These chains were all removed exactly two centuries later. In the reign of Henry III. the whole library of Oxford University consisted of only a few books, some of which were chained, and some locked in chests in St. Mary’s Church.
In 1519-21 the Eton Library was rearranged, and the books rebound. The cost, and all particulars, are entered in the “Audit Book.” The following is extracted from Willis and Clark, III., 431:--
“In the first year, 24 dozen chains of three sorts (explained in the next year’s account to mean of three different lengths) are bought; 48 iron bars for the rings to play upon; 12 locks, with a corresponding number of hasps (_claustra_) to secure the bars, and 4 keys; and lastly, a pair of pincers to cut the strips of brass or copper required for the attachment of the rings to the boards.”
The following is the text of this portion of the account:--
“Et pro xxiv duodenis cathenarum trium generum ad libros in bibliotheca cathenandos iiij^{li}. Et pro pari forpicum ad laminas eneas secandas ad fixuram dictorum librorum, xvj^d. Et Roberto Oliuere fabro ferrario pro xlviij vectibus ferreis ad chatenas continend’ pondere iij c et di c^{li} lvij^s ij^d. Et idem pro xij seris et totidem claustris et iiij clanibus precij capitis, xx^s xx^d.”
In the next year a bookbinder named Andrew Lisley is employed for 199 days to bind and repair the books. He receives fourpence per day in wages, and one shilling per week in commons. The Bursar buys for his use 20 calf skins, 36 white sheep skins, 3 large and 3 small doe skins, 5 pig skins (_pro quinque pellibus de la soure_), and 28 red skins, 100 plates of horn, 5000 copper nails (to be set round the edge of the boards, like bosses, to protect the binding), 10 pounds and a quarter of strips of brass, 7 pounds brass wire, 27 pairs of clasps, and a quantity of green and red thread, glue and needles.
At Pembroke College, Cambridge, the books were reported by Dr. Matthew Wren (1616) to have suffered severely, partly from the sloping form of the desks upon which they were placed for perusal, and partly from the weight of the chains (_ex inepta mole catenarum_).
1491. From the University accounts:--
Item pro cathenacione vij librorum et howsing ac clasping ut patet per billam M. Wodelark ij^s x^d
1574. From the same:--
Item for 27 chaynes for the newe bookes in the librarye vij^s vj^d
For 34 rynges xxij^d
To John Sheres, setting on 72 chaynes ij^s
To Hillarye, helpyng hym viij^d
1506. Bishop Fisher, of Christ’s College, in the same University, directs:--
In order that no scholar may be ignorant of the Statutes of the College, we desire that two copies of them may be fastened by a small iron chain to a stall in the Chapel, so that every scholar may be enabled to have access to them.
1554. At Corpus Christi, Cambridge, it was ordered that the books bequeathed by Peter Nobys, D.D., who was Master, 1516-23, should be better taken care of for the future; and, if the chains were broken, that they should be repaired at the expense of the College.
1563. From St. John’s, Cambridge, College accounts:--
Item to Philip Stacyoner, for cornering, bossing, and chayninge Anatomiam Vessalii iij^s
Item for twoe chaynes for the bookes given by Mr. Hollande xij^d
Item for 2 hookes for them iij^d
1580. At Jesus College, Cambridge, is recorded:--
Cheynynge xii bookes with staples to them in the chapell vj
1600. From the accounts of Trinity College, Cambridge:--
Item receaved of Mr. Peter Shawe towards the cheyninge and desking of his bookes v^{li}
1683. The library of King’s College, Cambridge, was in chains, and among the rules for the guidance of the scholars was this:--
For the rendering his business about the library more easy, each person that makes use of any books in the said library is required to set them up again decently, without entangling the chains.
This entanglement must have been very incommodious, as it was a fault easily committed when the chains hung so close together.
The Statutes of the College were, about the same period, also chained in the Chapel, as were those of Queen’s College. The Statutes of St. John’s College, Cambridge, were chained in the Vestry.
In 1555 Robert Chaloner, of Gray’s Inn, gave 40 shillings for chains to fasten his gift of books in the library there.
In 1659 John Selden’s books which were sent by his executors to the University Library, Oxford, were chained. In 1757 the chains were all removed.
In the _Foreigner’s Companion through the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford_, written in 1748, the inconvenience of chaining books is noticed, and about this time the abolition of chains began, and, by the end of the century, very few chained collections remained. At King’s College, in 1777, a man was paid £1 7_s._ for nine days spent in taking the chains off the books. Not a single chained book is now to be seen in any of our Universities.
There are, however, a few chained collections still left in the United Kingdom, viz.: Hereford Cathedral, about 2000 volumes; Wimborne Minster, 240 volumes; All Saints’ Church, Hereford, about 300 volumes; Bolton School, about 50 volumes; Grantham, 286 volumes; and Turton, 42 volumes.
Nichols, in his _Illustrations of Manners and Expenses_, says that when Selden’s books were sent to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the sum of £25 10_s._ was paid for new chains. Taking the chains at a cost of sixpence each, they would serve for 1120 volumes. This was in the year 1659.
The University Library at Leyden was formerly in chains. A representation of it is given in a curious copperplate, which occurs in a history of the University, published in 1614.[6] It will be seen that the books there were placed on single shelves, and not, as in England, shelf over shelf--an arrangement which, although occupying considerably more room, was much more convenient. The same arrangement has been adopted at Florence.
Probably the largest collection of chained books in existence is in the Laurentian Library at Florence, where they rest, large and small, upon richly carved wooden desks.
The interior of this magnificent Library is rich, not only in books, but in architecture, wood-carving, ceiling decoration, and stained glass windows. There is only one row of books in each compartment, and all are kept covered up, except when in use.
This building, designed by Michael Angelo, was begun in 1525, by desire of Pope Clement VII. (Giulio dei Medici), to contain the collection of books associated with the name of his ancestor, Cosmo dei Medici. The book-cases were probably designed by Antonio di Marco di Giano, called _il Carota_, and Gianbattista del Tasso. The material is walnut wood.
In the church of St. Wallberg, at Zutphen, in Holland, there is a large collection of books, originally unchained, but which, being all of a religious tendency, excited the animosity of the Devil, who, on several occasions, gained admittance and stole the best of them. The evidence was indisputable, for the marks of his cloven feet upon the flagstones showed plainly, not only the personality of the thief, but the very course he had taken in his sacrilegious visits. The matter was serious, for no one could tell where the depredations would stop; so a consultation was held, and the determination taken to secure the whole of the residue with chains sprinkled with holy water, after which his Satanic Majesty discreetly kept at a distance; and there the books have remained ever since undisturbed, except by the ubiquitous tourist. There are 268 chained books, and 75 unchained ones lying by them, now in the Library.
The chaining of single books in churches doubtless originated in the Injunctions given by Edward VI. to “the Clergie and the Laietie” in 1547, and printed by Grafton, in which they are ordered “to provide within three moneths next after the visitacion one boke of the whole Bible of the largest volume in English, and within one twelve moneth after the saied visitacion, the Paraphrasis of Erasmus, the same to be sette uppe in some convenient place within the churche.”
This Injunction was repeated by Queen Elizabeth in 1559, and, although nothing was mentioned about chains, it seems very probable that the Churchwardens would, for their own sake, adopt that plan of protecting their property.
The mention of “casks” in the cost of carriage occurs in several instances, as at Gorton, where the carriage of the cask from London cost 16_s._ 4_d._ These casks were the usual mode of conveyance for books both in Holland and England. No safer way than packing books in a large cask, and filling the spaces with sawdust or paper-shavings, could be devised.
The following list of books now in chains in the United Kingdom is compiled in every case from direct information recently obtained. To all who have kindly replied to his inquiries, the Compiler tenders his best thanks. He must also confess how greatly he has laid under contribution the admirable work by Willis and Clark, upon the Architectural History of Cambridge University, and for the Lancashire Libraries the exhaustive contribution by Mr. Chancellor Christie to the Chetham Society’s publications.
That the list is nearly complete is not for a moment imagined. That every reader who can correct or add to it will kindly do so is the urgent request of the Compiler.
A LIST OF BOOKS NOW IN CHAINS.
ABINGDON, BERKSHIRE. ST. HELEN’S CHURCH.
The Vicar writes:--
The books are mainly in very bad condition. In old days they were chained to the seats in one of the five aisles, which had a defective roof.
_The Holy Bible._ (=Black letter.=) Printed by Robert Barker. 1611.
_Foxe, John._ (=Black letter.=) _Book of Martyrs._ (Imperfect.)
_Harris, Robert._ Works. 1635.
_Hall, Jos._ (=Black letter.=) _Contemplations._ 1620.
_Rogers, Richard._ (=Black letter.=) _A Treatise_, etc. 1604.
_Babington, Gervase_, Bishop of Worcester. (=Black letter.=) 1615.
_Liturgy, A, in answer to Dissenter’s Objections._ 1683-84.
_The same._ 1684-86.
_Rogers, Richard._ (=Black letter.=) _Sermons upon the Book of Judges._ 1615.
_Hall, Jos._ (=Black letter.=) _Sermons Preached at Court._ 1611-12.
_Jewel, John_, Bishop of Salisbury. (=Black letter.=) _A Treatise preached by._ 1570.
APPLEBY, ST. LAURENCE. WESTMORELAND.
Communicated by Charles Robert Rivington, of Castle Bank, Appleby:--
There are three chained =Black letter= volumes of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_ in Appleby Church, which have lately been restored, and are now in a fairly perfect condition. The chains are missing, but the rings for the chains on one of the volumes are preserved. These books were presented by Richard Moore (or More), “Citizen and Stacioner” of London, to Appleby Church in 1632. Moore was the son of an Appleby tailor, and, in 1598, went to London and was apprenticed to Matthew Lownes, a well-known printer. He afterwards set up for himself in or near Fleet Street, and carried on a successful business between 1608 and 1636. At the latter date Moore joined with fifteen other members of his Company in printing the seventh edition, in three volumes, of _The Book of Martyrs_, and a copy of this edition he presented to his native parish.
ARRETON, ISLE OF WIGHT. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar says:--
I cannot discover any trace of a chained book. Some old volumes of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_ are carefully preserved in the church, which may possibly have led to the surmise.
_Venables’ Guide to the Isle of Wight_, p. 181, refers to the chained books at Arreton, where, “on a desk in the south chancel, are preserved copies of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_, but of a comparatively modern edition.”
BARBER-SURGEONS’ HALL, MONKWELL STREET, LONDON.
The following extract is from _The Annals of the Barber-Surgeons of London_. Compiled by Sidney Young. 4to. London, 1890:--
In 1747 Mr. Whiston (the eminent Bookseller) was employed by the Barbers’ Company to make a catalogue and valuation of the Library and MSS. “A learned Physician” had offered the Company twenty-five guineas for the Library, together with a skeleton and some other curiosities, but the Court of the Barbers “being desirous to manifest their esteem for and preserve the friendship of the Surgeons,” gave them the refusal of the Library and skeleton, etc., for twenty-five guineas. “And that, in case of their acceptance thereof, the rich and ancient pall belonging to this Company should be at their service as a free gift.”
The Surgeons would not accept this offer, but said (for the first time after a two years’ separation and division of the property) that they considered the Library belonged to them under the provisions in the Act of Parliament.
Various attempts were subsequently made by the Barbers’ Company to sell the Library, and in 1751 it was disposed of to Mr. Whiston for £13! It is greatly to be regretted that the Surgeons’ Company did not purchase it, and so preserve to the Royal College of Surgeons what must undoubtedly have been a most curious and unique collection. Dozens of these old books had bosses and chains attached to them, and in the old days were guarded with a jealous care. In 1701 Dr. Tyson made some proposals to the Company for the regulation of its Library, and a Committee of the Court being thereupon appointed drew up a great many rules, all of which are set out in the Barber-Surgeons’ Minute Book of that date. No list of the books is now known; there were two in MS., but they have both disappeared.
The following extract is from the United Company of Barbers and Surgeons’ expenses for 1638-39:--
1638-39. =The charge= and settinge upp o^r bookes and auntient Manuscriptꝭ in o^r new Library.
Paid for 36 yardꝭ of chaine at 4^d the yard & 36 yards at 3^d ob.* the yard cometh to xxij^s vj^d
Paid to the Coppersmith for castinge 80 brasses to fasten the Chaines to the bookes xiij^s iiij^d
To porters at sev’all tymes to carry these bookꝭ ij^s
Paid to the bookebynders for new byndinge 15 bookꝭ xlviij^s vj^d
Paid for Claspinge 19 large & small bookꝭ & fasteninge all the brasses to the iron chaines to Threescore & foure bookꝭ in the Library, new bosses for two great bookꝭ 8^s setting on old bosses j^s mending ould Claspes ij^s xxxj^s viij^d
Paid for makeinge Ringes swiffles & fittinge all the iron chaines xij^s =Som= is vj^{li} xviij^s
* Ob. = obolus, a halfpenny.
BARCHESTON, WARWICKSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Curate-in-charge supplies the following:--
_Erasmus, Rot:_ (=Black letter.=) _The Paraphrase on the New Testament._ (Imperfect.) Part of the oak-bound covers is gone, and the leather is greatly worn by age and decay, but the chain is still attached.
_Musculus, Wolfgangus. Common Places of Christian Religion._ 4to. London, 1578. (Translated from the Latin by Iohn Man.) In oak boards covered with leather, with chain attached.
_Jewel’s Works_ are also here, but evidently never had a chain.
The Chained Bible has disappeared. The desk has decayed and been removed; the books being now placed upon what, previous to the restoration of the church, was the Altar Table in the Wellington Chapelry.
BINGLEY, YORKSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
Communicated by A. W. Irwine:--
No chained Bible.
In _Notes and Queries_ for 1853 it is stated that “Bingley had a desk and chain, but _The Book of Articles_ had given place to some more modern volume.”
BOLTON-IN-THE-MOORS, LANCASHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
In 1651 Humphrey Chetham left by will certain books to be chained in the church. It was not, however, until 1668 that the library was completed. In the minute book of the feoffees are many entries concerning them. These mention chains.
Also pd. for chains, claspes, carriedg, caskes, &c. 03.10.00.
The books have now been placed in the Grammar School Library.
BOLTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL, LANCASHIRE.
In his account of the old Church and School Libraries of Lancashire (Chetham Society), 1885, Mr. Chancellor Christie thus describes this Library:--
“The books of which the library at present consists are in an old oak chest or book-case, which stands upon legs, about three feet from the ground. The chest contains two shelves divided down the centre, with iron rods running along the front of each shelf, evidently for the purpose of chaining the books, and has folding doors opening at the centre. Along the outside, above the doors, runs this inscription carved in wood, ‘The Gift of Mr. James Leaver, Citison of London, 1694.’”
Of a list of 44 works catalogued as belonging to the School in 1735, 18 remain (in addition to the volumes transferred from the Parish Church Library, referred to above), of which the following still retain their chains:--
_Foxe’s Acts._ Folio. 1684. 3 vols.
_Johannis Arndtii de Vero Christianismo--libri quattuor._ 8vo. London, 1708. 2 vols.
_Collection of Psalms._
BORDEN, near SITTINGBOURNE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar writes:--
There is a _Book of Martyrs_, but I do not know if it was ever chained.
“Esta,” in _Notes and Queries_ for 1853, says:--
In the Parish Church of Borden a copy of Comber _On the Common Prayer_ is chained to a stand in the Chancel.
BOWNESS-IN-WINDERMERE, WESTMORELAND. PARISH CHURCH.
The Clerk supplies the following:--
_Erasmus, Rot:_ (=Black letter.=) _The Paraphrase upon the Gospels._ 1516-20.
The chain is gone, but the iron ring to which it was attached still remains on the cover.
_Jewel, John_, Bishop of Salisbury. _A Defence of the Apology for the Church of England._ (=Black letter.=) Folio. London, 1611 (? 1561). (Imperfect.)
_Book of Homilies._ (=Black letter.=) 1543. (Imperfect.)
The last two in one cover.
BRIDLINGTON, YORKSHIRE. PRIORY CHURCH.
The senior Curate writes:--
There are four Books in the Priory Church which formerly were chained; but they have been rebound (a pity), and the old clasps are gone, but the chains are there yet.
_Heylin, Peter, D.D._ _De jure parentalis Episcoporum_; or, a brief _Discourse asserting the Bishops’ Right of Peerages_. Folio. London, 1640. (Perfect.)
_Comber, Thos., D.D._ _On the Prayer Book._ London, 1684. (Imperfect.)
_Jewel, John_, Bishop of Salisbury. _A Defence of the Apologie of the Church of England._ Folio. London, 1611. (Good copy.)
_Hooker, R., D.D. Ecclesiastical Polity._ Folio. London, 1682. (Good copy.)
BRISTOL, REDCLIFFE CHURCH.
The Vicar states:--
The Bible has long disappeared, and no one remembers having seen it. The desk is still in the church.
R. W. Elliott, writing to _Notes and Queries_ in 1853, says:--
In Redcliffe Church, Bristol, there is a small mahogany lectern supported by a bracket with a brass chain attached, near the Vestry, on the north side of the Choir.
BROMSGROVE, WORCESTER. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar writes to this effect:--
_Bishop Jewel’s Defence of the Apology for the Church of England_, 1609, is chained to a desk in the Church, and is in good preservation.
CANTERBURY. THE CATHEDRAL.
The Bishop of Dover writes:--
There is no chained Bible in Canterbury Cathedral. In the north aisle of the choir we have an old wooden desk let into the wall, on which (possibly) in the reign of Henry VIII. a Bible was chained. I have put there a copy of the second edition of the Bishops’ Bible from our library.
CARTMEL, LANCASHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
There are 294 books in this library, which is one of the most ancient and perhaps the most interesting of our church libraries. It was in existence in 1629, for in that year the churchwardens ordered “That the books given unto the church may bee more convenientlie laid and chained, according to the directions of the donors.”
The Vicar writes:--
There were certainly two chained volumes of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_ in Cartmel Church until comparatively recent times. The books now exist in the library, with the rings for chains on the covers. Their date is 1610. I cannot find that any other volumes in the library were chained at any time.
CHEDDAR, SOMERSET. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar states:--
There is no chained book now here. I have always heard that there was one in former times, but I have not been able to learn what has become of it.
CHELSEA, MIDDLESEX. PARISH CHURCH.
The Perpetual Curate writes:--
The five chained books in my Church are:--
_The Vinegar Bible._ Folio, 1716-17.
_Book of Common Prayer._ 1723.
_The Homilies._ 1683.
Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_. 1681.
Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_. 9th edition, 1684.
CHESTERTON, CAMBRIDGESHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar says:--
I am very sorry to say that the book you refer to has not been in the church since my incumbency, and I have never been able to trace it.
R. W. Elliott, writing to _Notes and Queries_ (Vol. VIII., 1853), says:--
In 1851 I noticed the upper part of a lectern in Chesterton Church with a book lying upon it very much torn and wanting the title-page.
CHEW MAGNA, SOMERSETSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Sexton (in default of the Vicar) states:--
There is a chained book in this church, entitled _The Defence of the Apology of the Church of England_, 1560.
CHIRBURY, SHROPSHIRE.
In the PARISH SCHOOL-ROOM there are 207 books, ranging in date from 1530 to 1684. Originally, they were all chained on much the same model as those in Hereford Cathedral. At the present time the chains remain upon 110 only, although the plain signs are upon all the others, showing that they were affixed to the upper and outer corner of each book. (See _Journal of Brit. Arch. Assoc._, 1883, Vol. IX., p. 394, where a catalogue of the books is printed.)
CIRENCESTER, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar states:--
I am sorry to say that I have been told that the chained books disappeared from our Parish Church at the time of its restoration in 1867. Nothing remains but the old desk, now in the choir vestry, and a large hook still in the wall of one of the chapels, which was used to hold up, when required, the lid of the desk.
CUMNOR, OXFORDSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Parish Clerk (in default of the Vicar) writes:--
There is a chained Bible here with the original chain. It has lately been restored, and is now in perfect condition. It is situated near the reading-desk, though not used for service. The date is 1611.
DENCHWORTH, BERKSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The following communication is from the Vicar:--
There are only two books in the Vicar’s library still chained, and both in good condition.
_Ball’s Power of Godliness._ 1657.
_Cartwright’s Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon._ Amsterdam, 1638.
All the books were originally chained, though of course this does not apply to a few recent additions by later Vicars. They were in a room over the church porch,[7] which, when Geo. Street, the architect (as a young man), restored the church, he swept away, bringing the books over to the Vicarage.
There was a _Caxton’s Golden Legend_, which an erring Vicar sold to the Bodleian.
There is a beautiful copy of _Thos. Aquinas_, the earliest volume of which is dated 1485; and a Cranmer’s Bible of 1541, wanting the title-page.
The old chains are still in existence, and lie on the library floor as a relic.
DURNFORD, WILTS. (_See_ GREAT DURNFORD.)
EASTON-IN-GORDANO, BRISTOL. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector writes:--
I have never heard of the existence of a chained book in this Parish. In 1822 our old Church was pulled down, and I fear hardly any care taken as to ancient things.
We have a board monument to Captain Samuel Sturmy, who, circa 1720 (says the inscription), left a book on Navigation to the care of the Churchwardens, to be lent to the seamen in the parish. I do not know that it was chained, nor has any one now living here any recollection of hearing about it--it has quite disappeared. Swift, in _Gulliver’s Travels_, quotes, I believe, verbatim without acknowledgment from it in his description of the Storm at Sea and how they escaped.
In Rutter’s _Somerset_, p. 258, is the following:--
Against the north wall of the old nave was a curious old tablet, dated 1669. At the top was the portrait of Captain Samuel Sturmy, of this parish, who published a mathematical treatise, in folio, entitled _The Mariner’s or Artisan’s Magazine_, a copy of which he gave to the parish, to be chained and locked in the desk, until any ingenious person should borrow it, leaving £3 as a security, in the hands of trustees, against damage, etc.
EAST WINCH, NORFOLK. PARISH CHURCH.
I am indebted to Mr. W. H. Smalley for the following:--
_The Holy Bible._ (=Black letter.=) Folio, 1611.
It is imperfect, wanting the title-page, and has a MS. note on a fly-leaf at the beginning: “This holy volume, interesting for its antiquity as well as pre-eminently for the truths it reveals, I have repaired with my own hands and fastened with a chain, as was often done when Bibles were first ordered to be set up. It is placed upon a portion of the ancient Rood-screen. This Bible, and other books, I found some years since amongst various discarded articles of furniture, altar cloths, etc., in the old church chest.--E. J. ALVIS, Vicar, September, 1884.”
ECCLESFIELD, YORKSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar writes:--
The books are altogether removed. This was done in 1860, when the Chancel was restored. The books were in a very dilapidated condition, and I think there were about three short rusty chains. Two or three of the imperfect books have been bound, and are kept in the Vestry Safe.
The following was contributed to _Notes and Queries_ for 1852, by J. Eastwood.
The accompanying list (remains of which, more or less perfect, with chains attached, are still extant) will probably be interesting.
From Ecclesfield Church Accounts: Books chayned in the Church, 25th April, 1606:--
_Dionysius Carthusian upon the New Testament_, in 2 vols.
_Origen upon St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans._
_Origen against Celsus._
_Lira upon Pentathucke of Moses._
_Lira upon the Kings, etc._
_Theophilact upon the New Testament._
_Beda upon Luke and other parts of the Testament._
_Opuscula Augustini._
_Augustini Questiones in Nouū Testamentū._
_The Paraphrase of Erasmus._
_The Defence of the Apologye._
_Prierius Postill upon the Dominical Gospells._
FRAMPTON COTTERELL, near BRISTOL. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector sends the following:--
The chained book is still in the Parish Church. When I was instituted, in 1886, I found an old wooden lectern of rude construction, with a chained book upon it, against the east end of the wall of the south aisle. Considering that no care seems to have been taken of the book all this century--as is shown by the dog-eared condition of its leaves, and the frequent inscriptions of parishioners’ names, from 1760 to 1879--and by the book having been always open and uncovered--for it is so chained that it cannot be closed--I think it is now in fair condition. In 1886 I had it carefully covered over with strong paper, and on the top I placed a great folio Bible; and since then, this lectern and Bible--with the chained book covered under the Bible--have been used in a Chapel, in the south aisle, at Daily Prayers on week-days. I uncovered the chained book to-day; it is a small folio, nearly perfect, and bound in leather. Title and pp. 1-4 lost.
The Church also contains the following Works:--
_Correspondence between John Bishop of Sarum and Dr. Cole._
_Jewel’s Sermon at Paul’s Cross._
_Jewel’s Defence of the Apology._
_Treatise de private Messe and on the Holy Scriptures_, in 1 vol.
GORTON, LANCASHIRE.
Clause in the Will of Humphrey Chetham, Esq., dated 16th December, 1651:--
“Also I do hereby bequeath the sum of £200 to be bestowed by my Executors in Godly English books ... most proper for the edification of the common people, to be, by the direction of my said Executors, chained upon desks, or to be fixed to the pillars, or in other convenient places, in the Parish Churches of Manchester, Bolton-le-Moors, and in the chapels of Turton, Walmsley, and Gorton.”
In June, 1658, the Library at Gorton was completed; and it was agreed at a meeting of the feoffees and executors:--
That ffor the ffixing there bee allowed for and towards the shelveing and chaining the said books 30_s._ for every £20 worth of books.
At the end of the feoffees’ list of books occurs:--
The Chaines 14 shillings, and the carriage of Caske from London 26_s._ 4_d._, and claspinge of bookes 12_d._
The Vicar of Gorton Church writes that:--
There are no books chained in the Church, but there is what may be termed a whole library of chained books, comprising about 48 vols. belonging to the parish. This library, in its original oak case, is in the Committee Room of the schools, and the books are in a good state of preservation. The gift of Humphrey Chetham.
GRANTHAM, LINCOLNSHIRE.
In 1598 a chained library was presented to the Parish Church of Grantham, in Lincolnshire, and placed in a room over the south porch, approached by a circular stone staircase out of the Church. (_Willis_, III., 432.)
The Vicar writes:--
The chained library still exists over the south porch of Grantham Church. The room was new floored and ceiled with oak about eight years ago. The old book-cases were also repaired, for they had fallen into great decay. The chains are on the books, and the other ends of the chains are fixed to an iron rod on the book-case. The books, which are mostly the work of 17th-century divines, are in fair condition. There are 268 books, of which 74 have chains still attached to them.
GREAT DURNFORD, WILTSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
There is an imperfect copy of Jewel’s _Defence_, in a wooden chest in the nave, having a chain attached; and in the chancel is an old double lectern, to which it may have been chained.
HALES OWEN, WORCESTERSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector writes:--
There are no chained books in Hales Owen that I am aware of.
The following is an extract from the Will of Sir Thomas Lyttleton, 1481, quoted in _Testamenta Vestuta_:--
I wull and bequeth to the Abbott and Convent of Hales-Oweyn a boke of myn called _Catholicon_ to theyr own use for ever, and another boke of myn wherein is contaigned the _Constitutions Provincial_ and _De gestis Romanorum_ and other treatis therein, which I wull be laid and bounded wyth an yron chayn in some convenyent parte within the said Churche at my costes, so that all priests and others may se and rede it when it plesith theym.
HANMER, FLINTSHIRE. ST. CHAD’S PARISH CHURCH.
The four chained books perished in the fire of February 3, 1889, when Hanmer Church was burnt out. They were Foxe’s _Martyrs_, 3 vols., 1608, and Jewel’s _Apology_, 1570; all without title-pages.
Archdeacon Weir, in 1855, reported:--
In the Church was a copy of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_, in 3 vols. One was chained to a desk at the east end of the south aisle, and the other two to a desk at the west end. (_Notes and Queries_, XII., 479.)
HEREFORD. ALL SAINTS’ PARISH CHURCH.
The chained library in this Church is one of the most interesting in England. It occupies three shelves along two sides of the vestry, the total number of volumes being 285. It is interesting, too, as a survival of an obsolete custom, for the books were bequeathed to the Parish by William Brewster, M.D., so late as 1715, a period at which, in most instances, the custom had been abolished, so that this may be considered as the last known instance of chaining books.
It is not unlikely that the number of books in the neighbouring Cathedral, all chained, was the moving cause of these being so treated. The chains are evidently made in exact imitation of those in the Cathedral library. The narrow escape, too, that this collection had from being sent _en bloc_ to America, as narrated below, increases our interest in it.
* * * * *
The following anecdote has been told me by Mr. Stibbs, bookseller, of Oxford Street, London:--
About twenty years ago I was in the vestry of the Church of All Saints’, Hereford, in which there are about two hundred chained volumes of old Divinity. One of the Churchwardens accompanied me, and I remarked to him, “How useless these old books must be without any one to look at them!” “That’s true,” he said; “they are quite useless.” “Well,” I replied, “why not let me have them? I will give you £100 for them, which will obtain for the use of the parish a really useful lot of books.” “Well, that’s a good offer, and I’ll lay it before the Vestry,” was his reply. A short time after, I was informed that the Vestry meeting had been held, and my offer accepted. I went down to Hereford, paid the £100, took possession of the books, chains and all, and brought them up to London. I immediately made a catalogue of them, but had hardly finished, when I received an urgent request from one of the Churchwardens not to part with one of them on any account, for that the Dean of Windsor, whose consent ought first to have been obtained, had positively refused to sanction the sale. Having been at considerable expense in travelling to Hereford three times, besides time wasted in cataloguing, I declined to deliver up the books; but, as considerable ill-blood, and probably legal proceedings, would have ensued, I at last sent them back, upon payment of all expenses, and they are now restored to their original position. I will only add, that arrangements had been partially made for the sale of the whole to an American dealer.
HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.
The collection of books in Hereford Cathedral is an exceptional instance of a genuine Monastic Library. It contains about 2000 volumes, of which about 1500 are chained, being probably the largest chained collection in existence. There are five complete book-cases, and the ruins of two others, each being 9 ft. 8 in. long, 8 ft. high, and 2 ft. 2 in. wide. The books are for the special use of the Canons in residence, who, however, cannot find it very convenient to consult chained volumes. The Catalogue, also chained, classifies the books in eight divisions, of which the manuscripts are by far the most interesting as well as the most valuable. The printed books are ranged under the following heads:--Bibles and Concordances; Fathers of the Church; Ecclesiastical History; Civil History; Theology; Law and Education; Miscellaneous. The collection, formerly in the Lady Chapel, was removed, chains and all, in 1862, to the Archives Chamber. Each chain is between 3 and 4 feet long, with a swivel in the centre which is useful in preventing entanglement. Many books are, notwithstanding the chains, missing; and all are more or less injured by the rough usage which chains necessitate, thus strongly confirming the evidence afforded by the Wimborne Minster Library.
* * * * *
The following from Willis and Clark describes the method of chaining:--
To attach the chain, a narrow strip of flat brass is passed round the left-hand board and riveted to it in such a manner as to leave a loop in front of the edge of the board, wide enough to admit an iron ring, 11⁄4 inch in diameter, to which one end of the chain is fastened. The book is placed on the shelf with the fore-edge turned outwards, and the other end of the chain is fastened to a second ring rather larger than the former, which plays along an iron bar.
HULL, YORKSHIRE. HOLY TRINITY CHURCH.
W. Sparrow Simpson, writing to _Notes and Queries_ in 1853, states:--
Until within a very few years, a desk, with Foxe’s _Martyrs_ lying upon it, was in this Church, affixed to one of the pillars in the Nave.
IMPINGTON, CAMBRIDGESHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar states:--
On my accession to the charge, in 1882, being aware that some chained books were said to exist, and not seeing them, I made inquiry for them. I was told by the Sexton, who well remembered seeing the books chained up, as described in _Notes and Queries_, that in consequence of the books being subject to constant mutilations, they were removed from the Church by the Clerk, who for many years had charge of them in his own house. At the time of my inquiry, the Clerk had been dead some years, and the books had found their way into an old granary on a farmstead, in close proximity to the Church. I secured their remains, and after removing the cobwebs and filth to which they had been exposed, they presented a very dilapidated appearance. Happily there still remained a few links of the chains, and other metal ornaments used in the binding, which stimulated the idea to rebind the tattered fragments.
Through the kindness of the Squire of the Parish, W. B. Caldwell, Esq., Impington Hall, these remains have been rebound with the links and other ornaments attached as nearly in their original position as could be judged. The volumes are now carefully preserved in a very handsome church chest made of yew, and presented by the Squire.
KETTERING, NORTHAMPTON. PARISH CHURCH.
Mr. Wrigley writes:--
I am sorry to say that the two books which were in the church on the old desk have been destroyed, either by visitors or children, and there is nothing left but the chains and the two covers.
KIDDERMINSTER, WORCESTERSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar states:--
We have in the Vestry of our Church a _Defense of Jewel’s Apology_, with a chain attached to it. It is in a very decayed state. I had a box made for it some years ago.
KING’S LYNN, NORFOLK. ST. MARY’S CHURCH.
The Vicar writes:--
There is a chained Bible in a chest in my Church, which I am sorry to say is in a very dilapidated condition.
KINVER, STAFFORDSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
Communicated by the Vicar:--
Here there is an oak desk, about 7 ft. long, within which were chained the undermentioned books, which are now kept in the iron safe, and for the chains of which there are holes in the desk:--
_Actes and Monumentes of Christian Martyrs and Matters Ecclesiastical passed in the Church of Christ from the primitive beginnings to these our days, as well in other countreys, as namely in this Realme of England, and also of Scotland, discoursed at large. Newly enlarged by the author John Fox. Folio._ (=Black letter.=) 1583. Printed by John Day, dwelling over Aldersgate.
Has been rebound, and now has no chain or link.
_The Works of John Jewel, late Bishop of Salisbury._ London. Printed by John Norton. Folio 1609.
Has an iron link, but no chain.
_The Whole Duty of Man._ London. Printed by William Norton for E. Pawlet, at the sign of the Bible in Chancery Lane, near Fleet Street. Folio. 1703.
Has brass chain and link, clasps and boss centre, with corners to the covers.
_Expository Notes ... on the New Testament_ ... endeavoured by William Burkitt, M.A., late Vicar and Lecturer of Dedham, in Essex. The sixth edition, carefully corrected. London. 1716.
Has brass chain, link, clasps, boss centre, and corners to covers.
LESSINGHAM, NORFOLK. PARISH CHURCH.
The learned antiquary, Dawson Turner, wrote to the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ in 1846 (Part I., p. 151) about a copy of the _Book of Martyrs_, which was chained to what he calls a “hutch” of unpainted and almost unshapen boards, with a narrow shelf at the top to serve as a lectern, placed by the north wall of the Chancel, adjoining the Communion rails.
The Vicar of Hempstead (now united with Lessingham) writes:--
While Lessingham Church was in use there was an old copy of Foxe’s _Martyrs_ with a portion of a chain attached to it. The Churchwarden had a box made for the book some few years ago and took it to his house. It is now in my keeping. The Church is in ruin, but we are hoping to get it restored. The book is much torn and imperfect.
LEYLAND, LANCASHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
Communicated by the Curate:--
There are four folio volumes, each secured by a chain to a thin iron bar, which at some time was fastened into the masonry. At present the volumes lie in the window within the Chancel, but just outside the Communion rails. I am sorry to report that the books are in a very poor condition, owing to the damp having reduced the pages to tinder, and so to dust. The village people talk of them with bated breath, as “Latin Bibles used in the Church service when the Church belonged to the Catholics.” In spite of all explanations, this ridiculous statement is held to, and the ignorant Romanists (as it appears to me) have carried off a piece now and again when unobserved. The books are as follows:--
_A Preservative against Popery in several select Discourses upon the principal heads of Controversy between Protestants and Papists._ 2 vols. Folio. London, 1738.
[This is by Edmund Gibson, successively Bishop of Lincoln and London. There should be 3 vols.]
_Foxe’s Book of Martyrs._ (=Black letter.=) Folio. (In very bad state.)
_Controversies between Cole, Harding and Jewel._ Folio. London.
_Certain Sermons by the Bishop of Sarum._ Folio. London, 1611.
LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. THE CHAPTER LIBRARY.
An old desk preserved here, having two shelves, one below broad and one above narrow, shows evidence of books having been at one time chained to it.
LLANBADARN, ABERYSTWYTH, GLAMORGANSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar says there are no chained books in the Church, nor has he heard of any having been there.
J. M. G., in _Notes and Queries_ for 1853, states:--
In a case in the Vestry of the Mother Church of Llanbadarn, there were many volumes about 150 years old which had been chained; but they were in a very dilapidated condition, arising from the dampness of the room.
LONDON. ALL HALLOWS’, LOMBARD STREET. PARISH CHURCH.
Outside the Vestry door and within the Church is placed a glass case which contains the following volumes. Folio.
_The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the newe testament. Enpriented_ (sic) _at London in Flete-strete at the signe of the Sunne by Edwarde Whitchurch the last daie of Januarie Anno Domini 1548_.
The second volume is dated “the ii daye of June, 1552.” They are both in good preservation, in original binding, rebacked, with clasps and bosses. On Vol. I. is a rude chain of 16 links, each about 11⁄4 inch long, and attached to the top of the left-hand cover. A similar chain is attached to the bottom of right-hand cover of Vol. II.
The third volume is _The Holy Bible_, 1613 (=Black letter=), being the second impression of the 1611 edition. Both titles are well preserved, but all is wanting at end after Rev. xviii. 12. The binding is comparatively modern and there are no signs of chaining. Upon the middle of one outer cover is a label let in, upon which is “ST. L. E., 1696,” and the names of the Churchwardens, while a label on the other side has “ST. B. G., 1696.” All Hallows is now the Parish Church of four parishes, including St. Leonard’s, Eastcheap, and St. Bene’t Gracechurch. The three books, according to a descriptive slip attached, originally were chained to a desk in St. Leonard’s Church, Eastcheap. They were saved when, in 1666, the Church was burnt, and the parish after the Great Fire having been united to St. Bene’t Gracechurch, they were deposited there, until St. Bene’t’s in its turn was, in 1864, destroyed and united to All Hallows, when they were sent to occupy their present position.
LONDON. ST. ANDREW UNDERSHAFT, LEADENHALL STREET. PARISH CHURCH.
Chas. Robert Rivington states:--
There are preserved in a book-case in the Vestry the following folio (=Black letter=) volumes:--
_John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs._ Fifth Edition. Printed by P. Short, London, 1596.
_The Paraphrases of Erasmus_, 1551 (?)
_Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World._ Printed by W. Jaggard for W. Burr. London, 1621.
_The Works of John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury_, 1611.
One volume in a sadly dilapidated condition has attached to it a chain about three feet long with a swivel in the centre. The other volumes were some years ago “restored” by a zealous churchwarden, who discarded the original bindings and encased them in stout but inappropriate coverings which it is painful to behold. The chains which were attached to the old covers are preserved.
LONDON. ST. CLEMENT’S, EASTCHEAP. PARISH CHURCH.
Two books, once in chains, are preserved here.
Pearson _On the Creed_, 1st edition. The title-page and preface (4 leaves) are from the reprint of 1715. The original volume having become much dilapidated, the present Rector, Rev. W. J. Hall, supplied a title-page and three leaves. It is perfect at the end. A portion of the original chain is still attached to a loop on the back of the book, which is held in position by strong iron anchors, one on each side of the volume, let into the boards. The anchor is the symbol of St. Clement.
This copy was presented by the author himself, who preached the substance of his work in a series of lectures at St. Clement’s, of which Church he was rector for many years.
The other book is Comber’s _Companion to the Temple_. Several leaves damaged at the beginning, but perfect at the end. On the binding are the initials T. H., 1706. It has been rebacked. The remains of a chain are attached to the right-hand cover. These two volumes and four others, more modern and without any signs of chains, are deposited on a long slanting shelf in the Choir. Near to them is a plain wooden double lectern, upon which are evident remains of the places where chains once were.
LUTON, BEDFORDSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
Communicated by the Vicar:--
_The Bible_ was chained to the S. Choir bench, and Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_ to a lectern, formerly. The staple and one link of the chain are still in the bench. The staple was a few years ago in the lectern, but has been removed. Both books are in the chest in the Vestry, but in a partially mutilated condition.
LYNN, NORFOLK. (_See_ KING’S LYNN.)
MALVERN, WORCESTER. THE ABBEY.
One of the officials, failing the Vicar, states:--
There is a chained _Prayer-book_, of about the year 1670, in the Abbey Church.
Cuthbert Bede, in a letter to _Notes and Queries_, 1853, says:--
In Malvern Abbey Church is a stand to which two books are chained: one is a _Commentary upon the Book of Common Prayer_, and the other is a treatise on _Church Unity_.
To this the Rev. H. T. Griffith, of Hull, adds at the same date:--
In Malvern Abbey Church is a copy of Dean Comber’s _Companion to the Temple_, chained to a desk, and bearing a written inscription to the effect that it should never be removed out of the Church, but should remain chained to its desk for ever, for the use of any parishioner who might choose to come and read it there.
Another correspondent says:--
The inscription is signed “H. Clements, 1701.” The book is in rough calf binding. Age and damp have done their work upon it, and it is fast dropping to pieces.
MANCETTER PARISH CHURCH. WARWICKSHIRE.
The Vicar supplies the following information:--
Books chained, with the original chain, on a desk in the Church:--
_Foxe’s Book of Martyrs_, without title, but otherwise in good condition. 2 vols.
_Erasmus Rot. Paraphrase._ Without title, but in good condition. 2 vols.
_Jewel’s Apology._ 1 vol. 1560.
These books were rebound some years since, and are now in a glass case.
These are probably the books given in 1651 to the Church by Humphrey Chetham.
MANCHESTER. CHETHAM LIBRARY.
The gift of books by Humphrey Chetham, in 1651, was by his will ordered to be chained.
“And my Will and Mind is that the Books be fixed or chained as well as may be within the s^d library.” And they were so chained (although no signs of it are now left), as is evident from the old account books.
MANCHESTER. JESUS CHAPEL COLLEGIATE CHURCH.
According to the will of Humphrey Chetham, dated 1651, 202 books were placed and chained in the Jesus Chapel. Their disappearance, says Mr. Chancellor Christie, is one of the most discreditable chapters in the history of the Wardens and Fellows. In 1830 the books were sent to the Chetham Hospital, but nothing appears to have remained save the desks, a few old tattered books, and remnants of loose chains. Soon after, they (about 100 volumes) were sold to a bookseller of the town.
MARGATE, KENT. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar sends the information:--
There are three old Bibles at St. John’s Church, one being a “Great Bible.” They are not now chained. They are imperfect, but have been rebound and placed in a glass case.
MINSTER IN THANET, KENT. PARISH CHURCH.
When Margate Church was restored in 1876, there were four old Bibles which had been chained. One of these was sent to the Mother Church at Minster, whence an old Bible had been lost or stolen previously.
In _Notes and Queries_ for 1853, J. W. Brown writes:--
In Minster Church, Kent, there is an oak cover to a Bible chained to a desk, temp. H. VIII. The whole of the letterpress has been taken away (by small pieces at a time) by visitors to the Church.
MONTGOMERY CASTLE.
A chained library was placed here in the 17th century by that celebrated Divine and Poet, George Herbert. It exists no longer. (See Walton’s _Life of Herbert_.)
NEWPORT PAGNELL, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar writes:--
There are two books with chains attached to them in one of the cupboards of the Church. They are much dilapidated; the title-pages and many other leaves are missing. One book is _The Defence of the Apology of the Church of England_; and the other the history of some early persecutions, and articles on persons and things of Reformation times. (? Foxe’s _Martyrs_.)
NORTHWOLD, NORFOLK. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector writes:--
No information respecting a chained Bible belonging to this parish. There is no book of the kind in the Church.
Mr. Hart, author of _Ecclesiastical Records_, saw a copy of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_ in Northwold Church. (See _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1846.)
OXFORD. ST. MARY’S CHURCH.
In 1300 there were a few Tracts chained or locked in chests in the choir.
PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector says:--
I have never heard of any chained book in the Parish Church.
A letter to _Notes and Queries_ in 1853, p. 273, signed John Booker, says:--
In Prestwich Church the desk yet remains, together with the _Book of Articles_, bound up with Jewel’s _Apology_, 1611; but the chain has disappeared.
QUATT, SHROPSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector states:--
Although there is a circular reading-desk of very ancient date in Quatt Church, supporting two volumes of Foxe’s _Ecclesiastical History_ and Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_, I can discover no trace of a chain, nor could my friend Canon Creighton, of Worcester.
ROCHESTER, KENT. ST. NICHOLAS’ CHURCH.
The Vicar supplies the following information:--
There is one book chained here--_A Collection of Cases and other Discourses lately written to recover Dissenters to the Communion of the Church of England_. By some Divines of the City of London. London, 1717.
SALFORD, LANCASHIRE. CHURCH OF THE SACRED TRINITY.
Humphrey Oldfield, by will dated April 30th, 1684, left his Divinity books to be placed in the Chancel, with three pounds for the wood-work and chains that they might not be stolen. They became much dilapidated, and early in the present century, says Chancellor Christie, many were rejected and cast out as waste paper. The remnant, 72 volumes, are now safely housed in the Salford Free Library.
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.
The books here were chained long before printing was invented. One of the Canons named Thomas Cyrcetur, who died in 1452, gave some books to the Cathedral Library. In two of them occurs the following memorandum, written in a 15th-century hand upon the inside of the cover: “Cathenādꝯ in libraria noua eccłie ad dei honorē.”
SITTINGBOURNE, KENT. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar states:--
The only book here is a large one of Foxe’s _Martyrs_, bound in wood, with leathern back. Very imperfect. It is now in a church chest, and has been there for many years. There are no signs of chains having been attached to the binding.
SOUTHAMPTON, HAMPSHIRE. ST. MICHAEL’S PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar has sent the following statement:--
Foxe’s _Martyrs_. (=Black letter.=) 2 vols. Folio. With curious wood-cuts.
_Commentary on Old and New Testament._ 2 vols.
_An Illustrated Bible._ Folio. Not very old.
All chained.
STANMORE PARVA. (_See_ WHITCHURCH.)
STANDON, ECCLESHALL, STAFFORDSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector has communicated the following:--
We have not a chained Bible at Standon.
Mr. Chancellor Christie says:--
The _Book of Martyrs_ (1583), which was chained to the pulpit at Standon, has this inscription:--
_William Lovatt gave this book to the Church of Standon, there to be kept to the use of the parishioners to read in before and after prayers, on Sundays, holidays, and other convenient times. That they may see the great happiness they enjoy in having the free exercise of religion. And if_ GOD _gives them grace to rise it is to his glory they will be happy whilst they live here; to all eternity. That so they might do was the hearty prayer of W. L._
Lovatt was Churchwarden in 1685.
STRATFORD-ON-AVON. PARISH CHURCH.
The Assistant Curate supplies the following information:--
We have a large folio (=Black letter=) Bible with brass corners, chased and embossed, brass clasps and leathern hinge, one clasp gone. A brass plate near the top of the outer cover has the following inscription:--
“WILLIAM WRIGHT AND IOHN NOBLE CHVRCHWARDENS FOR Y^E BVROVGH STEPHEN BVRMAN AND RICH: GIBES CHVRCHWARDENS FOR Y^E PARISH. Anno Dom̄ 1695.” A chain is attached to the outer cover near the back. It has 19 links, each about 2 inches long.
The book is in fair condition except that the title-page to the O. T. and Dedication are wanting, and all after Revelations, ch. xx., which is supplied in (=Black letter=) MS. on vellum leaves. The date is 1611, being the first edition of the authorised version. There is a remarkable misprint in St. Matt. xxvi. 36. where the text reads “Then cometh _Judas_ with them,” instead of _Jesus_. The Bible is usually kept in a cupboard, but the lessons on Harvest Festivals are read from it.
SUCKLEY, WORCESTERSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector states:--
There is no chained book in Suckley Church. (See _Notes and Queries_, 1st Series, VIII., p. 596.)
TAVISTOCK, DEVONSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar says:--
Our chained book is Erasmus’ _Paraphrase of the New Testament. Done into English by Nicholas Udall._ (=Black letter.=) Vol. I. Folio. London, 1548. The Churchwardens’ Accounts show that it was purchased for 15_s._ in 1561-62.
We have also a =black letter= volume of Jewel’s _Works_, 1560; now, like the _Erasmus_, in a very dilapidated condition. This was also once chained (though there are no signs of it left). There was also an old Bible, as in the Churchwardens’ Accounts for 1588-89 we have:--“_Item._ Paide William Trenaman for Three chaynes of Ire with plates and for the fastenynge of the Bible, Paraphras of Erasmus and Mr. Juell’s Booke in the churche ... iij_s_ ij_d_.”
Jewel’s book is now kept locked up in a box and Erasmus in a glass-covered case, also locked.
Extract from the Parish Registers 1588:--
“_Item._ Paide for a chayne and settinge in thereof, for the fastenynge of the Dictionarrie in the Schole House ix_d_.”
No longer in existence.
TURTON, LANCASHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
In 1651 Humphrey Chetham, who frequently resided at Turton Tower, in the immediate neighbourhood, left by will certain books to be chained in the chapel of Turton.
The original Catalogue of the Chetham feoffees still exists, at the end of which is the following respecting the cost of chaining, etc.:--
ffor carriedg, casks, &c. 02 08 00
7 dossin and 10 chains and clasps, and fixing 01 03 07
There now stands in the Church of Turton an oak case, with shelves and folding doors, fitted with two iron bars, to which are chained the books; above the folding doors runs this inscription, “The Gift of Humphrey Chetham, Esq., 1655.”
In the year 1855, through the instrumentality of Gilbert J. French, Esq., of Bolton, who personally superintended the work, the books were restored (by rebinding) as nearly as possible to their original state, the chains being fixed, cleaned, and the oak case polished. It now stands in a conspicuous place near the chancel. Size of the chest, 7 ft. 6 in. long, 3 ft. 31⁄2 in. high, 14 in. wide.
None of the books bequeathed to the Parish Churches of Manchester or Bolton can now be found, nor does any trace remain of book-cases corresponding with those still in use at Turton and Gorton.
The old chapel at Walmsley, about three miles north of Bolton, was rebuilt in 1839; but long before that time the Chetham books had been dispersed and lost, and all that remained of the oak case was a portion bearing the inscription: this was removed to Manchester, and now forms part of an oak sideboard in the Chetham Hospital there.
It is supposed that about 20 vols. have been lost or removed from Turton, among them, probably, “a great Bible.”
This is inferred from the circumstance that just so many additional volumes could be conveniently placed in the book-case.
The length of the chains admits of the books being placed on the flat top of the oak case, which forms a desk where they may be conveniently read; but no book can be removed without the use of considerable violence.
It may be remarked as somewhat curious that the works of John Preston, D.D., a voluminous and exceedingly popular author of his time, though suggested for purchase by Chetham to his Executors, do not appear to have found a place in the Libraries of Turton, Walmsley, or Gorton.
WALMSLEY, LANCASHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
In 1651 Humphrey Chetham ordered certain books to be chained in the chapel, but the Vicar states:--
There are no chained books in this Church, which was built in 1839.
(_See_ under TURTON.)
WANTAGE, BERKSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar:--
No chained books in Wantage that I know of.
The Vicar of Cirencester says:--I remember, as a boy, the chained books in Wantage Church.
WELLS CATHEDRAL, SOMERSET.
The Dean sends the following remarks:--
Our Cathedral Library was a chained one, and many of the chains are still hanging on the shelf, and one or two on the bar over the book-shelves, but no book is at present in chains. I am not able to inform you when the chains ceased to be used.
WHISSONSETT, NORFOLK. PARISH CHURCH.
The Clerk, failing the Rector, says:--
He has been 60 years in the parish, and has never known of any chained books.
The antiquary Dawson Turner, writing to the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ in 1846 says:--
My friend Mr. Hart, author of the _Ecclesiastical Records_, tells me that ... he has seen Jewel’s _Apology_ in Whissonsett Church, chained.
WHITCHURCH, LITTLE STANMORE, MIDDLESEX. PARISH CHURCH.
The Parish Clerk says:--
There are not any chained books here now; but there are many chains on the pews where, at one time, people used chained books.
Many of the Prayer-books given by the Duke of Chandos still remain chained to the Pues, for the use of the poorer Parishioners. (Sperling’s _Church Walks in Middlesex_, p. 104.)
WIGGENHALL. ST. MARY THE VIRGIN.
In _Notes and Queries_ for 1853 W. D. B. states:--
In this Church the following books may be seen fastened by chains to a wooden desk in the Chancel:--
Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_, in 3 vols., all chained to the same staple.
_Book of Homilies._
_The Holy Bible._
_The Works of Bishop Jewel_, in 1 vol.
The title-pages are lost from all; in other respects they are in a fair state of preservation.
WIGTOFT, LINCOLNSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar writes:--
There is no book chained here, nor has been for 20 years.
Extracted from the Parish Accounts, 1549:--
Payd for the paraphrase of Erasmus 0 7 0 Payd for a cheyne 0 0 4
WIMBORNE, DORSET. THE MINSTER.
A copy of the Bible was formerly affixed by a chain in Wimborne Abbey; now removed to the Library.
About 240 books are chained in a room over the Vestry, being the largest collection of chained books in the United Kingdom, except that at Hereford Cathedral. The volumes occupy three sides of the chamber. _See p. 3 for account of this library._
WINDSOR. ST. GEORGE’S CHAPEL.
The Dean writes:--
I suppose the report to which you refer has reference to a large copy of the _Bishops’ Bible_, which has been placed by me in the niche of St. George’s Chapel, formerly occupied by a chained Bible; and at an earlier date by some book or books of devotion, as recorded in an interesting inscription below the niche.
R. W. Hackwood, writing to _Notes and Queries_ in 1857, says:--
There is a =black letter= Bible chained in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Originally, in an arch opposite the Tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, a Breviary of the Catholic Church was deposited by his order for the service of both clergy and laity. The Bible now supplies its place and the original inscription remains.
WISBEACH, CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
The late Dawson Turner mentions four or five volumes, all chained, but reduced by time to covers, and nothing but covers. (_Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1846, I., 151.)
WOLVERLEY, KIDDERMINSTER. PARISH CHURCH.
The Vicar writes thus:--
We have in the Vestry of our Church _A Defence of Jewel’s Apology_, with a chain attached to it. It is in a very decayed state. I had a box made for it some years ago.
WOOTTON WAWEN, HENLEY-IN-ARDEN, WARWICKSHIRE. PARISH CHURCH.
Communicated by the Vicar:--
The following books are chained, and placed on a desk in the Church for reading:--
_Bishop Andrews’ XCVI Sermons._ 1632. _Bishop Jewel’s Works._ 1611. _Homilies._ 1673. _Book of Common Prayer._ 1683. _Marlorat on St. Matthew._ 1570. _Calvin’s Institutes._ 1573. _Topsell on Joel._ 1599. } _Dod and Cleaver on the Commandments._ 1612. } In one vol. _Byfield on St. Peter._ 1617. } _Vicars, John. God on the Mount._ 1641. } In one vol. _Sermons before the Commons._ 1641-42. } _Hammond’s Practical Catechism._ 1646.
All rebound and in good condition.
The books were given to the parish by George Dunscombe, Fellow of King’s College, Vicar, who died 1652, but not chained till 1693.
WORCESTER. ALL SAINTS’ PARISH CHURCH.
The Schoolmaster writes:--
There is a chained Bible in the Parish Church, imperfect at beginning and end. It is dated 1603. It was rebound some years ago, retaining, however, the two original covers, embossed knobs, with centre one for chain.
WRINGTON, SOMERSET. PARISH CHURCH.
The Rector gives the following information:--
I send you a list of the books now in the Vestry, which were once attached by chains to a desk in the South Chapel of the Choir. The chains are still affixed to the backs.
When the Church was restored in 1857, they were removed from the Church and placed on a shelf in the Vestry.
_The Bible._ (=Black letter.=) (James I.) 1617. (Imperfect.)
_Foxe’s Book of Martyrs._ 3 vols. (? date.)
_Roberts, Fras., D.D. Clavis Bibliorum._ 1650.
_Roberts, Fras., D.D. (Rector of Wrington, 1675.) God’s Holy Covenant._ London. 1657.
_Bishop Jewel’s Apology._ (Imp.)
YORK. ST. CRUX PARISH CHURCH.
The Church of St. Crux has been removed, and the old lectern is preserved in the neighbouring Church of All Saints’ Pavement. It has chained to it the old edition of Jewel’s _Reply to Harding_, which is in fair preservation.
THE USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SIGNATURES IN BOOKS.
Signatures are the sign or mark which Printers place beneath certain pages for the convenience of the Binder, and to distinguish the sequence of the sections (sometimes styled quires or gatherings) which they print.
The doctrine of development and the survival of the fittest has thrown floods of light upon many dark places in the natural history of plants and animals, and I believe the same doctrine may be made equally useful in the study of bibliography. The halfpenny newspaper of to-day, with its rotten material and blurred impression, seems, at first, to have nothing in common with the beautiful vellum manuscripts of the middle ages; and yet the one is the true descendant of the other, and it was only by slow degrees that the printer’s progeny parted with their family likeness to the aristocratic products of the professional scribe.
The survival of the fittest is plainly shown in the development of signatures. The simple consecutive number which is used by modern printers to indicate the sequence of the sheets, is the true survivor of various ways of signing books from the 9th to the 19th century. It has been customary among bibliographers, especially the older writers, to consider the idea of signing sheets at all as the invention of printers. M. de Marolles says that signatures were first used by the printer Jean de Cologne in 1474; and that among all the ancient MSS. which had passed through his hands, he had not found one with signatures. He declares that many other bibliographers, even more conversant with MSS. than he was, were of the same belief.[8]
De la Serna corrects Marolles, but only as to date, which he takes back to 1472, in which year he says that J. Koelhoff, of Cologne, first used signatures.
Meerman runs wild in his _Origines Typographicæ_; believes in Corsellis, the first Oxford printer, and that he was earliest in using signatures, referring to the well-known _Expositio_ of 1468-(1478) as a proof.
Fischer, in his _Beschreibung typographischen Seltenheiten_, devotes forty-two pages to the question, coming to the same conclusion as De la Serna, and, like him, was quite unacquainted with the use of signatures before the invention of printing.
In England, Conyers Middleton, T. Hartwell Horne, and others discuss at length their origin and first appearance. Middleton, indeed, describes a copy of _Baldi lectura super Codic._, in the University Library of Cambridge (of which he was chief), in which there are no signatures to the first half of the book, but regular signatures through the second half. Although the worthy librarian was sadly out in considering this volume as showing the earliest use of signatures, the fact that we here find the first instance of printers removing signatures to a place close up to the text is a curious instance of the transition from one custom to another, and adds great bibliographical interest to the book. Its teachings will be still further considered later on.
The chief use of signatures was and is for the binder. Binding is certainly as old as books. Signatures are certainly as old as binders. It is conceivable that the early monastic scribe, who made his own parchment, concocted his own writing-ink, copied leisurely, with his own hand, the Bible or Psalter, and, lastly, bound them _propriâ manu_, might complete his work without wanting any signatures to help him; or, at any rate, might be satisfied with placing a catchword at the end of each section as a guide to their sequence. But when the manufacture of books passed from the monk’s scriptorium into the hands of trade guilds, and the increased demand for books caused a great subdivision of labour; and when, instead of one, a manuscript would pass through a dozen workmen’s hands before completion,--then signatures became a necessity, as much for the scribe as for the binder, as necessary for the collation of the early MS. as for the steam-printed novel of to-day.
Let us then begin with the professional scribe, and consider the use of signatures to him. In commencing a book he had first of all to calculate how many pieces of parchment or vellum he would require, which he would then get from the “parchmenier,” who made it his business to cure, dress, sort according to quality, and cut up skins to size ready for his customers. The next process was to rule the down margin lines and the cross lines, between which the text was written, allowing for two pages on each side of the vellum sheet, and leaving space in the middle, between the pages, for the folding. He would then determine how many pieces should go to a section, and counting out his vellum sheets in fours or fives, he would sign each piece at the extreme bottom edge of the right-hand corner. If in quaternions, his signatures were _a j_ for the first, _a ij_ for the second, _a iij_ for the third, and _a iiij_ for the fourth sheet, and so on with every four sheets, through the alphabet. Everything being now ready, the scribe would take the piece marked _a j_, and having written that page and its verso, would lay it aside, and do the same with _a ij_; and not until he had passed the middle of the section would he return to and complete the earlier written pieces, the signatures on which would guide him as to sequence. Thus proceeding from signature to signature, he would finish his manuscript, and hand it over to the binder, whose first duty would be to carefully fold each piece in the centre, and then, having got all his sections in order, he would scrupulously check the sequence by the signatures before beginning to sew them on the bands.
The intention of writing the signatures at the extreme edge of the paper was that, being unimportant to the bound book, and impertinent to the text, they might disappear under the knife of the binder. All the workmanship of that period being honest and thorough, the binding was expected to last as long as the book itself, so that the possibility of a book being rebound and requiring the signatures a second time was never thought of. This position of the signatures is why so few manuscripts show them plainly; although they are still to be found, half cut away, in many books, if the student knows how to look for them.
It is by no means uncommon to find in early books, both manuscript and printed, which have all the rough edges, and have certainly never been under the binder’s plough, that the signatures have altogether or partially disappeared. This, at first, is very puzzling, but, in fact, both parchment and paper varied somewhat in size, and often when the sheets were sewn on the bands by the binder, the irregularity of the edges would be so obtrusively ugly, that the shears were used freely, and the redundancy, often including a part or the whole of a signature, disappeared; yet, to the eye, the volume appears _uncut_. Uncut by the binder’s plough it certainly was, for although the exact date when the plough first came into use is unknown, there is evidence that it was not used in the 15th century. In Jost Amman’s _Book of Trades_ (Frankfurt, 1534) we have the earliest representation of a binder at work. He has a book securely fastened between two strong pieces of wood, by means of screws, and holding it between his knees, he is “ploughing” with a sharp knife through the edges. This, of course, would make the leaves perfectly even, a characteristic never, I believe, found in any “fifteener” which retains its original binding.
In a splendid copy of an early 15th-century Missal at the Mazarin Library, Paris, the scribe has adopted the unusual plan of placing all the signatures in the very back of the sheets, where they could not offend the eye; but, as the binding is loose, they can be collated with little trouble throughout the volume, each signature consisting of four sheets or eight leaves, the first four having bold signatures.
Dr. Ginsberg tells me that signatures are common in early Hebrew MSS. and printed books, although, of course, they run the reverse way.
When printing was invented, no new method of signatures was at first adopted. The Mazarin Bible, for instance, which is a large folio, was printed page by page, and signed by the pen at the foot of the first four rectos of each signature, just as if it had been a manuscript. In the Perkins copy these signatures are visible throughout. When the first printers wanted a smaller size than folio they treated their paper at first just as the scribe treated his skins, cutting it up in half sheets and printing their quarto pages one at a time. We must remember that the first printing-presses were very small in the “platen,” which is the flat surface lowered by the screw to squeeze the paper upon the type; so small, indeed, that although a whole sheet was put in the press, only half could be printed by the first, and half by a second “pull.” Moxon, who in 1693 wrote the first book on the Mechanics of Printing, gives the size of the platen in his “improved” presses as 14 inches by 9 inches, which is much smaller than a sheet of foolscap. This double pull was the source of much bad printing, and made it easier to print single pages than two pages by a double pull.
Returning to the manuscript signatures on printed books, we note that Caxton’s early books show the same treatment. The first book from his Bruges Press, _The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye_, a fine copy of which is in Her Majesty’s library at Windsor, is signed throughout at the very foot of the pages. So is another book from Caxton’s press, the _Quatre Derennieres Choses_, and a fine copy of _Gulielmi de Saona Rhethorica_ in the Upsala library. Before me is a Cologne-printed book, _Eusebius de morte sancti Jeronomi_, from the press of Ulric Zell, circa 1470, and here the signatures are in MS. throughout, although many of them are half cut away in binding. Perhaps the most interesting instance is the work at Cambridge, already mentioned as quoted by Middleton, who, while noticing the printed signatures, which are not used till the work was partly printed, seems entirely to have overlooked the manuscript signatures, which are all at the foot and run through the work, the MS. signatures being correct, when those that are printed are occasionally wrong. Perhaps nothing will be found to show the transition more forcibly than this; for the printer blundered over the plan of printing the signatures, which was new to him, and had to fall back on the old system. We must here note that the printers could not, without difficulty, copy the custom of the scribes, and print their signatures at foot, because two or three types at a distance from the body of the page would certainly be broken off by the pressure; so finding the MS. signatures troublesome and often hard to read, they tried the plan of stamping them in with types by hand at the extreme edge, nearly always at foot, though sometimes at the fore-edge. This development was scarcely an improvement, and is only found in a few books from the Italian press of the years 1475-76. Then the printers, instead of hand-stamping, tried printing them at the very foot, and by the same pull of the press. This plan had no life in it, and it was then that the bright and bold idea struck a Cologne printer to ignore the ugliness and place his type signatures close up to the solid page. The custom soon spread and became general, and curious it is to notice how this slight development has given rise to numerous mistaken arguments on the so-called “invention of signatures.”
_We may now safely conclude that the idea of books without signatures is a bibliographical delusion._
* * * * *
The following is a list of books in several of our public libraries, by which the reader may, if he so please, verify for himself the foregoing statements. They show the various steps in signature development.
CLASS I.
MSS. WITH WRITTEN SIGNATURES AT FOOT OF THE PAGE.
1.--_Latin Theological Treatise._ XIII cent. (Bod. MSS. No. 1840.)
In quaternions. The sections are all numbered at foot of last page, but have nearly all been cut away. The leaves were all numbered _i_ to _viij_ in each section; see especially for a plain instance section 8. This plan is also seen in Bod. MS. 1841 and others.
2.--_Bible in Latin_, with French illuminations. Early XIV cent. (Bod. MSS. No. 1848.)
A small thick volume, made up in quinternions. The illuminations are all deficient in the ornamental flourishes, which are cut off at foot. The sections were all numbered on the first recto, but some are gone. The first rectos of each section are signed at foot _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_.
3.--_Wicliff’s Commentary on St. Luke._ English MS., XIV cent. (Bod. MSS. No. 1913.)
The sections are all signed on the first folio, at top, in red numerals, and signatures, letters with numerals, appear throughout, at foot.
4.--_Prayers, etc._ Small vol., XIV cent. (Bod. MSS. No. 1851.)
Cut in binding, but some signatures left, which appear thus, the top numerals showing the sequence of the sections, and the bottom, the first four rectos of the section, the former changing, and the latter the same in every signature:--
5.--_Poor Caitiff._ English, XIV. cent. (Bod. No. 1843.)
All the quaternions signed on first four pages at extreme bottom corner.
6.--_Hannapes, N. de. Exempla Virtutum._ Small volume, written about 1400. (Bod. No. 1860.)
Signatures throughout at extreme bottom corner.
7.--_The Old Testament and Apocrypha._ Englished by John Wicliff. Written about 1420. (Sion Coll., London.)
Signatures nearly all cut away, but plainly visible at signature _g_ and onwards, when the following notation is adopted:--
8.--_Psalterium._ Large folio, dated 1327. (Sion Coll., London.)
This splendid XIV cent. MS. is now nearly deficient in signatures, although they are still visible at _s_ and _t_.
9.--_Biblia._ 2 vols. large folio, dated 1360. (Guildhall Library, London.)
A beautiful MS. with a few of the signatures remaining in the second volume. All those in the first volume have been cut away in the rebinding.
10.--_Albertus Magnus._ Large vol., XV cent. (Bod. No. 1897.)
Signatures throughout at extreme bottom corner.
11.--_The Chronicles of England._ Folio, XV cent., on vellum. (Lambeth Palace.)
Sections in quaternions, signed in MS. at bottom right-hand corner.
12.--_Speculum Vite Cristi._ Folio, early XV cent. (Brit. Mus., Arundel, 112.)
Sections in quaternions, signed in MS. with Arabic figures, at extreme edge of bottom right-hand corner. On the first recto of each section the number of the quaternion is also given thus: _ij q_, _iij q_, _iiij q_, and so on, _q_ meaning “quire” (?).
13.--_Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiæ._ Translated into English. Vellum, XV cent. (Brit. Mus., Harl., 2421.)
Sections in quaternions, signed in MS. on the first four rectos, at bottom right-hand corner.
14.--_Oriental Manuscript._ “Markemath Pettrī,” “Making wise the simple.” Arabic, vellum, XI cent. (Brit. Mus., No. 2568.)
Each quaternion is signed with letters and Arabic figures on the first four leaves.
15.-- _Opus Bedæ_, and other pieces. Vellum MS., IX cent. (Brit. Mus., 15 B xix.)
The sections, but not the leaves, signed with the Greek alphabet.
16.--_Joh. Scolastici Scala cœli._ MS. on Vellum, dated 1473. (Sold at Sotheby’s, Feb. 25, 1889.)
Signed throughout, at the extreme foot of the page, and often thus, _1 d_, _2 d_, _3 d_, _4 d_, instead of _d j_, _d ij_, _d iij_, _d iiij_.
CLASS II.
MANUSCRIPT SIGNATURES IN EARLY PRINTED BOOKS.
17.--_Biblia_ (_Fust and Schœffer_). Large folio. Mentz, 1462. (Bod. Show Case.)
Signed throughout in plain MS. at the extreme corner of the first five rectos in every section.
18.--_Plinius Secundus. Historia Naturalis._ Jenson, Venice. Large folio, 1472. (Bod. Auct., N. 1, 2.)
Signed in MS. at extreme edge all through. A copy at the University Library, Cambridge, is the same.
19.--_Platea, F. de. De restitutione._ Large 4to. Venice, 1472. (Bod. Douce, 147.)
MS. signatures throughout at extreme corner, although many have been cut away.
20.--_Plinius Secundus. Historia Naturalis._ Large folio. Rome, 1473. (Bod. Auct. Q. I 1.)
Much ploughed, but remains of MS. signatures plainly visible.
21.--_Gerson, J. Super Magnificat._ (Types of Fyner, Esslingen.) Folio, 1473. (Bod. Auct. VI Q. III 43.)
A few MS. signatures left.
22.--_Sermones notabilis Magistri Alberti._ Folio. Coloniæ, Arnoldus Therhoernen, 1474. (Cam. Univ.)
The peculiarity of the signatures here is that they are not quite at the foot, but written about half an inch from the bottom.
23.--_Repertoriū Milis de Verona._ Folio. Impressū ꝑ Nicolaū Gotz de Sletzstat, 1475. (Cam. Univ.)
Signed at extreme corner in MS.
24.--_Panormitanus._ Louvain. Folio, 1475. (Bod. Auct. III Q. V 10.)
MS. signatures at extreme foot.
25.--_Gerson, Joh. Opuscula._ Folio (Strasbourg?) 1475. (Bod. Auct. .)
MS. signatures throughout at extreme bottom corner.
26.--_The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye._ Folio. Printed at Bruges by Caxton, c. 1475. (H.M. Lib., Windsor.)
In quinternions, with MS. signatures at foot of every first five rectos.
27.--_Les Quatre Derennieres Choses._ Folio. Printed at Bruges by Caxton, c. 1476.
Signed throughout at foot in MS. (Sold at Messrs. Sotheby’s a few years ago, where I examined it.)
28.--_Epistola Sācti Jeronomi Presbiteri ... de Libris Salomonis._ Folio. No place or date, but with the types of C. de Homberch of Cologne, c. 1475. (Cam. Univ.)