Other scattered volumes from the library of Corvinus have been traced to
various cities in France and Germany. There has been much controversy on
the question whether any of them are to be found in England. Some think
that examples might be traced among the Arundel MSS. in the British
Museum. Thomas, Earl of Arundel, it is known, went on a book-hunting
expedition to Heidelberg, where he bought some of the remnants of the
Palatine collection. Passing on to Nuremberg he obtained about a hundred
MSS. that had belonged to Pirckheimer, the first great German
bibliophile; and these, according to some authorities, came out of the
treasure-house at Buda. The Duke of Norfolk was persuaded by John Evelyn
to place them in the Gresham Library, under the care of the Royal
Society, and they afterwards became the property of the nation. Oldys
the antiquary distinctly stated that these 'were the remnants of the King
of Hungary'; 'they afterwards fell into the hands of Bilibald
Pirckheimer.' The Senator of Nuremberg made the books his own in a very
emphatic way: 'there is to be seen his head graved by Albert Duerer, one
of the first examples of sticking or pasting of heads, arms, or cyphers
into volumes.' Pirckheimer died in 1530, three years after the sack of
Buda, and had the opportunity of getting some of the books. We cannot
tell to what extent he succeeded, or whether William Oldys was right on
the facts before him; but we know from Pirckheimer's own letters that he
was the actual owner of at least some MSS.
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