lish history, maritime affairs, the power and constitution of the admiralty, and sea laws. He made a vast collection from our antient records in the Tower, and English historians, both antient and modern, relating to our naval affairs and those of other countries. Here are the finest models of ships of all rates and sorts; ships painted by the best masters, as Valde, Backhuysen, &c.; the drawing of the royal navy of Henry VIIIth; books of musick, mathematicks, and several other subjects, all excellent in their kind. But what he hath collected with respect to the city of London is beyond all compare; as for books, ground plots, views, palaces, churches, great houses, coronations, funerals, public shews, heads of famous men, all that could be collected relating to London. He hath been at the charge of drawing such things as never were in print, for the illustration of that famous city, he being a native thereof. A vast collection of heads, both domestick and foreign, beyond expression; copy books of all the masters of Europe, Italian, French, German, Flemish, Dutch, Spanish, and English, all digested according to their time and country, pasted on large paper, and bound up; a large book of title-pages, frontispieces, not only of the best English masters, but Italian, French, &c. which are very much improved by Mr. Jackson, his nephew, in his travels-this is not to be paralleled ;

paralleled; there are many other excellent books and rarities. He contrived his catalogue for the easy finding any author, and the various subjects, so that a single sheet may be found as soon as the largest folio. Of all the catalogues I ever saw, nothing came near it but my lord Maitland's, taken by his own directions, having the name of the author, the place where printed, the printer's name, and date: when printed, a catalogue thus taken, with an index of the author's name, must needs be of excellent use.

"The inclinations of persons are vastly different in their collecting, as particularly my lord Clarendon, mainly about the affairs of Ireland and its government; Mr. Wild, formerly living in Bloomsbury, his consisted of architecture and agriculture, admirable in its kind; a gentleman that lived in the Inner Temple had a collection consisting of books of necromancy and magic, mostly MSS.; Mr. Thomas Britton, the smallcoal man in St. John's, books were of chemistry, as may be seen by the catalogue printed for their sale by auction. He hath a vast collection of musick, pricked by his own hand, and esteemed of great value.

"Dr. Beaumont, for some years last past, hath collected whatever he could relating to mystical divinity, spirits, witchcraft, and such like nice subjects.

VOL. III.

Captain

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Captain Aston, for some considerable time, hath procured a large quantity of voyages, travels, &c. in most of the European languages, besides books on other subjects.

"Mr. Southerby in Hatton Garden hath a curious collection of books, both MS. and printed, besides his fine medals.

"Several of these gentlemen have collected medals, prints, and paintings.

"Mr. Serjeant-Surgeon Bernard's library is very valuable for the best editions and fairest impressions of the classicks, in all volumes.

"Mr. Huckle on Tower-hill hath been admirably curious in collecting the nicest books in Latin, Spanish, Italian, and French; his prints are fine beyond comparison, consisting of those of the first printing off. He is a critical judge of prints, drawings, and paintings.

"Mr. Graham and Mr. Child are curious collectors that way.

"Mr. Chicherley, Mr. Bridges, Mr. Walter Chavell, and Mr. Rawlinson of the Temple, have curious libraries.

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Captain Hatton hath a rare collection of English history.

"Mr. Slaughter of Gray's inn hath an admirable library.

"Mr. Topham hath a complete collection of books in the Greek language; Dr. Goodman,

Dr.

Dr. Gray, Dr. Tyson, and Dr. Woodward, have been great and curious collectors; and so have Dr. Mead and Dr. Brooks.

"Mr. Godwin of Pinder hath a very good library.

"Some of late have been curious to collect those of the large paper; and not long since Mr. Bateman bought Dr. Stanley's study of books, wherein were the most of that kind that have been seen together for some years.

"Mr. Wanley hath made a great progress towards collecting books relating to the service of the church, the several versions and impressions of the Holy Bible in English and Latin, psalters, primers, and common prayer-books: it will 'soon be the best of the kind in the kingdom; from whence in time we may expect his critical obser→ vations of the several versions of holy writ into English: a work that hath been attempted by

some.

"He hath thousands of fragments of old writings, some near 1000 years old; as a piece of Virgil with figures not far behind that in the Vatican; other pieces where the writing hath been scraped out, for want of vellum to write other things on; and I verily believe he was the first that ever made that discovery; for some years ago, in the Bodleian library, he shewed me a MS. in Greek that had been twice wrote on. His fragments

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fragments are in divers languages, Greek, Latin, Saxon, &c.; I believe the like is not in Europe, and I believe no person can make better use of them: so that, if he meet with encouragement as Mabillon had in France, we may have greater variety of specimens from him, besides what he intends towards a Saxon Bible. This collection of his deserves a very great encomium.

"Lately, the gentlemen of Doctors' Commons purchased a library of Dr., which is put into a great room next to the hall, and intend to collect more books to compleat it. The learned Dr. Pinfold is putting them in order: they are most relating to the civil and canon law.

"Dr. Busby gave a collection of books in the room called the Museum at Westminster school, for the use of the scholars.

"I shall conclude with observing, that books, being sold by auction, and printed catalogues, have given great light to the knowledge of books. This we are beholden to the auctioneers for; such as Dunmore, Edw. Millington, Marmaduke Forster, Wm. Cooper, John Ballard, &c. They had vast quantities of books went through their hands, as Smith's, the lord Anglesea's, Dr. Jacomb's, Massow's, Earl of Aylesbury's, Lord Maitland's, &c.; the great stock of Scot Davie's of Oxford, and Littlebury's. Dispersing catalogues of these much conduced to improve the learned in the know

ledge