Rare Books &
Printed Ephemera

As a result of four hundred years of purchases and donations, the Bodleian now has about 5,500 incunable editions in its holdings, some in multiple copies; thus, the total number of incunabula is approximately 7,000. If there were any incunables in the University Library, which was dispersed in the 1550s, they are not among the books in the present-day Bodleian Library. Incunabula were, however, among the first books presented to the Bodleian Library (by Sir Thomas Bodley's 'Store of Honourable Friends'), and were also among the earliest purchases made for it. These books were acquired as part of the Library's general acquisitions policy, not as specimens of rare or old books.

There were a few incunabula among the donations made by William Laud (1573-1645), Archbishop of Canterbury, adviser to King Charles I, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. These came mostly from Wuerzburg, having been alienated from their original owning institutions during the Swedish occupation, and were then bought by Laud's agents. The largest seventeenth-century source of incunabula was the Selden collection. With the exception of early English imprints, it cannot convincingly be argued that John Selden (1584-1654) collected incunabula for their age or rarity. The majority of his incunabula fall within the range of his general academic interests. The Bodleian acquired, from the widow of Edward Bernard (1638-1697), Savilian Professor of Astronomy, University of Oxford (1673-91), those of his printed books not already in the Library; a list of these was subsequently drawn up by Humfrey Wanley.

The eighteenth century, often reckoned to be a time of indolence within the University, saw no major acquisitions of incunabula until the last years of the century, although there were some incunables in three separate bequests, namely those of Thomas Tanner, Nathaniel Crynes, and Richard Rawlinson. In 1735 the Bodleian acquired the bequest of Thomas Tanner (1674-1735),Bishop of St. Asaph, and former Fellow of All Souls and Canon of Christ Church. His collection of printed books, which was especially rich in rare examples of English fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century printing, was put together to serve as a toolfor his Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, eventually published by David Wilkins in 1748. Nathaniel Crynes (1686-1745),Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford, also left a large collection of books to the Library, including incunabula. The third large bequest, containing incunables, was that of Richard Rawlinson (1690-1755), the non-juring bishop. His very extensive library included books formerly belonging to his brother, Thomas, another distinguished book collector.

The first great purchases after the years of stagnation were made in 1789 and 1790, when a concerted policy began of purchasing first or early editions of the Latin and Greek classical authors, of Aldine editions and of early editions of the Bible. In 1789 £538 was spent on 79 incunabula from the collection of Maffeo Pinelli (1735-85). The following year £1152 was spent on about 100 incunabula from the collection of Pietro Antonio Bolongaro-Crevenna (1735-92), the Dutch book collector.

But it was during the nineteenth century that the Bodleian was able to acquire the bulk of its present collections of incunabula. In 1825 26 incunables were purchased from an unidentified source in Hamburg, for a total of £42. 1. 6. This was the first time the Library benefited in a major way from the availability on the market of German incunabula in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, mainly as a result of the secularization of South German religious houses. A great many incunabula were subsequently made available through the disposal of duplicates by the Royal Library in Munich (now Bayerische Staatsbibliothek); it is estimated that over four hundred Bodleian incunabula were once in the Royal Library in Munich. They reached the Bodleian in a variety of ways, including purchases made at sales, and purchases made directly from the Royal Library, as in 1850, when 320 volumes of incunabula were acquired for £113. 19. 6. Other books from South German religious houses, often Munich duplicates, became available through the German antiquarian trade, for instance from Fidelis Butsch, the Augsburg bookseller. The last bulk purchase of incunabula at a German auction sale took place in 1883, from the sale of the collection of the Charterhouse of Buxheim. In the 1880s extensive purchases were also made from Butsch, and from Joseph Baer (Frankfurt am Main), Albert Cohn (Berlin), and Caspar Haugg (Augsburg).

Numerous incunabula were bought from the libraries of private collectors from all over Europe. Some 560 incunabula, mainly printed in Germany and, when known, nearly all with an earlier German provenance, were acquired from the collection of Georg Franz Burkhard Kloss (1787-1854), a physician from Frankfurt am Main, whose sale was held in London in 1835; the Bodleian spent a total of œ343. 3. 0 there. The Kloss collection reflects an interest in the traditional academic disciplines; from a Bodleian point of view this collection is a source for many incunable editions of canon and civil law, an area which is otherwise less well represented in the collections. Fewer, but still a significant number, some 50 items, were bought from the collection of Johann Heinrich Joseph Niesert (1766-1841), pastor of Velen.

Another continental collector from whose library the Bodleian acquired many books was Dimitrij Petrovich, Count Boutourlin(Buturlin or Boutourline, 1763-1829). Boutourlin was a Russian senator, diplomat, bibliophile, museum director in St Petersburg, who has frequently been confused with his kinsman and namesake, the solder Dimitrij Buturlin (1790-1849). Boutourlin the collector died in Florence, having created two libraries. The first was destroyed during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, but it was from the sales of the second, especially strong in Italian editions, that the Bodleian made its many purchases, during the period 1839 to 1841.

A third nineteenth-century collector, from whose library the Bodleian purchased books, was the notorious Guglielmo Bruto Icilio Timoleone, Conte Libri Carrucci della Sommaia (1803-69). Libri was a distinguished scholar, and Italian patriot, but he also stole books from several French libraries.

Many incunabula were also acquired at the sales of the collections of English collectors. Among these were Michael Wodhull (1740-1816), who had a particular interest in classical texts and in incunabula in general, and this is reflected in the books acquired from his library by the Bodleian in the early years of the nineteenth century; many of his books were retained by his family, and were only sold in the 1880s.

The Bodleian also made many purchases at the sale of the library of Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843), the sixth son of George III, and an uncle of Queen Victoria. His library was an extensive one, covering his wide interests, but was especially strong in theology, and editions of the Bible. This is the area particularly represented in the Bodleian's acquisitions.

The enormous collection of Richard Heber (1773-1833), the landowner, Member of Parliament and bibliophile, was sold at auction in London in 1834-7. Heber had collected intensely in all areas close to the traditional academic disciplines, perhaps with a preponderance of theological material. In all 359 incunabula now in Bodley come from the Heber collection.

Another extensive English collection was that made by George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834). Spencer's distinguished collection of incunables and early editions included many Italian books acquired in 1819/20 when he bought the whole of the library of the Duca di Cassano. Spencer sold duplicates from his collections on various occasions during the 1820s, and the Bodleian bought several items from these sales. Many books from the Spencer library were subsequently acquired by Mrs Rylands, and are now in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.

A third collection of similar importance was that formed by Sir Mark Masterman Sykes (1771-1823), 3rd Bt, of Sledmere House, near Driffield in East Yorkshire. The splendid library room which Sykes built at Sledmere to house his books reflects the quality of the collections, being strong in early printed books, and especially in incunabula. The Bodleian purchased extensively at the sale in 1824, which followed Sykes's death, and acquired 26 items.

The Bodleian acquired many books from the library of Samuel Butler (1774-1839), Bishop of Lichfield from 1836. Butler not only edited Aeschylus, but was also interested in and published on various aspects of geography, both ancient and modern.

102 incunabula were acquired from the collection of the mysterious J. T. Hand (fl. 1834-1837), the books being purchased at his anonymous sale in 1837. Although clearly a collector of some importance in his time, and a man of enough distinction to have a coat of arms, illustrated on his armorial book-plate, he has, unfortunately, left little evidence behind him about who he was.

Not all of the Library's acquisitions during the nineteenth century were by purchase. Richard Gough (1735-1809) bequeathed large numbers of his books to the Bodleian Library. His collection of pre-Reformation service books was outstanding, as also was his collection of geographical and topographical material.

In 1834 the Bodleian received its largest ever donation of incunabula: 479 items came with the bequest of Francis Douce (1757-1834), book collector, and former Keeper of Manuscripts in the British Museum Library. Unlike the other great collectors who were his contemporaries, Douce's interests were not focused on the early editions of the classics, and Aldines. He collected medieval texts (many in the vernaculars), including romances and fables, but also theology, saints' lives, sermons, and liturgical books.

More incunabula also came to the Library in 1860, through an internal university reorganization. The important library of the antiquary and scientist, Elias Ashmole (1617-92), which had been bequeathed to the University of Oxford, for the Ashmolean Museum founded by himself, was transferred to the Bodleian Library in 1860. In return, the Library transferred to the Ashmolean many of what would today be called its 'non-book' collections, that is to say portraits and other artefacts given to the Library since its foundation. Ashmole's incunabula, some of which had been acquired from the astrologer William Lilly (1602-1682), included many scientific books, reflecting Ashmole's own interests.

In the twentieth century donations have been the main source of incunabula. In 1914 the Bywater collection was received, with a total of 210 incunabula. Ingram Bywater (1840-1914) had been Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, Sub-Librarian at the Bodleian Library 1879-80, Regius Professor of Greek 1893-1908. He bequeathed his books to the Library when he died. His collection is especially strong not only in incunabula of the classical texts (including several works in Greek), but also of material from the sixteenth century.

Another important collection acquired during the first half of the twentieth century came to the Library in instalments. This was the library of Paget Jackson Toynbee (1855-1932), who made donations to the Bodleian Library in 1912, 1913, 1915, 1917 and 1923, and bequeathed other books in 1932. Although known as a Dante scholar, the collection is also especially strong in the works of Petrarch.

The most recent large donation of incunabula is the Broxbourne collection, which contains some 190 incunabula, part of the collection of the bibliophile and collector, Albert Ehrman(1890-1969). Ehrman's collection includes many incunabula with particularly fine contemporary bindings, and many examples of broadsides, such as indulgences and notices. Material selected from the collection was presented to the Bodleian Library in 1978, through the Friends of the National Libraries, by John Ehrman, in memory of his parents.

Although with much reduced funds, compared with the nineteenth century, a continuous policy of collecting through purchase has been pursued throughout the twentieth century, and additions are still made to the holdings.

Even considering the preponderance of incunabula in Latin, the ancient languages are disproportionately represented in the Bodleian, with about 4770 editions of the more than 20,000 recorded in the ISTC; Greek incunabula are those best represented with 54 editions out of the 65 recorded by ISTC. Relatively speaking, only English is reasonably well represented, among the vernaculars, with the 95 editions, out of a recorded 230.The incunabula of the Bodleian are not classified, so one can gain only an outline impression of their distribution by subject. The collection of incunable Bibles is strong with 131 editions represented; the collection of 46 books of hours is also significant. The classics, particularly first editions, are strongly represented, as are patristic and philosophical texts. Civil and canon law are, however, both relatively less well represented.
 

Bibliography:

Kristian Jensen, 'Problems of Provenance: Incunabula in the Bodleian Library's Benefactors' Register 1600-1602', in Incunabula: Studies in Fifteenth-Century Printed Books Presented to Lotte Hellinga, ed. M. Davies (London, 1999), 559-602.

Bettina Wagner, 'Bodleian Incunables from Bavarian Monasteries', Bodleian Library Record, 15/2 (1995), 90-107.