' Beckford never saw the books again
'after once turning hermit there.' He gave them to his physician, Dr.
Scholl, and they were sold by auction in 1833; most of them were
scattered about the world, but some are said to be still preserved at
Lausanne in the public library.
This period was marked by the rivalry between bibliophiles of high rank
and great wealth, whose Homeric contests have been worthily described by
Dibdin in his history of the Bibliomania. A note in one of the Althorp
Caxtons records a more amicable arrangement. The book belonged to Mr.
George Mason, at whose sale it was bought by the Duke of Roxburghe: 'The
Duke and I had agreed not to oppose one another at the sale, but after
the book was bought, to toss up who should win it, when I lost it; I
bought it at the Roxburghe sale on the 17th of June, 1812, for L215 5s.'
The Duke was chiefly interested in old English literature, Italian
poetry, and romances of the Round Table; but we are told that shortly
before his death he was 'in full pursuit of a collection of our dramatic
authors.' It was at his sale that the Valdarfer Boccaccio was purchased
by Lord Blandford, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, for L2260, a sum which
at that time had never been reached as the price of a single volume. It
passed into the great collection at White Knights, which then contained,
in addition to some of the rarest English books, the 'Bedford Missal,'
another missal given by Queen Louise to Marguerite d'Angouleme, and a
volume of prayers from the hand of the caligrapher Nicolas Jany.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215