illings; the
pictures fetching three thousand four hundred and seventeen pounds,
eleven shillings--about six or seven hundred pounds more than Mead gave
for them. Some portions of his collections were sold during his
lifetime.

Dr. Mead was the author of several medical works, of which his
_Discourse on the Plague_, published in 1720, was the best. The
magnificent edition of De Thou's _Historia Sui Temporis_, in seven folio
volumes, London, 1733, edited by Samuel Buckley; and the _Opus Majus_ of
Roger Bacon, London, 1733, edited by Dr. Samuel Jebb, were produced
partly at his expense. Collected editions of his medical works were
published in London in 1762, and in Edinburgh in 1765. His life has been
written by Dr. Maty, the second Principal Librarian of the British
Museum; and a very interesting account of his library, by Mr. Austin
Dobson, will be found in the first volume of _Bibliographica_. A
portrait of him by Allan Ramsay, painted in 1740, is in the National
Portrait Gallery, and a bust of him by Roubillac is preserved in the
College of Physicians. His gold-headed cane, given him by Dr. Radcliffe,
is also kept in that institution.

[Illustration: EARL OF SUNDERLAND.]

CHARLES SPENCER, THIRD EARL OF SUNDERLAND, 1674-1722

Charles Spencer, third Earl of Sunderland, who was born in 1674, was the
second son of Robert, second Earl, by Anne, daughter of George Digby,
second Earl of Bristol. He appears, even when a boy, to have displayed
much ability, for as early as 1688, Evelyn, who was on very intimate
terms with the Spencer family, mentions him as 'a youth of extraordinary
hopes, very learned for his age, and ingenious, and under a governor of
great merit.' This governor appears to have been Dr. Trimnell,
afterwards Bishop of Winchester. When quite young, Lord Spencer
manifested a great love for books, and already possessed a considerable
collection of them, for he was but twenty years of age when Evelyn wrote
to him: 'I was with great appetite coming to take a repast in the noble
library which I hear you have lately purchased.' Evelyn's Diary also
contains several notices of the collection, and particularly mentions
the purchase of the books of Sir Charles Scarborough, an eminent
physician, which were at one time destined for the Royal Library.

At the general election in 1695 Lord Spencer was returned both for
Tiverton in Devonshire, and for Heydon in Yorkshire. He elected to sit
for Tiverton, which