a magnificent library at his residence in St.
James's Square, London. It contained among numerous other treasures the
famous Valdarfer Boccaccio, upwards of a dozen volumes printed by
Caxton, and many from the presses of Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde, Julian
Notary, and other early English printers. The first, second, and third
Shakespeare folios were in the collection, as well as a large number of
early quarto plays. The library was especially rich in choice editions
of the French romances, and in the works of the English dramatists who
flourished during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. Some rare books
printed in Scotland were also to be found in it. The collection of
broadside ballads in three thick folio volumes, now in the British
Museum, is perhaps the most extensive and interesting ever brought
together. It was begun by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, from whose
library it passed successively to those of Mr. James West and Major
Thomas Pearson, and at the sale of the books of the last-named collector
it was purchased for thirty-six pounds, four shillings and sixpence by
the Duke, who made many additions to it while in his possession. The
collection has been admirably edited by Mr. William Chappell and the
Rev. J.W. Ebsworth for the Ballad Society. Other books deserving
special notice were the first edition of Pliny, printed by J. de Spira
at Venice in 1469; Cicero's _Epistolae ad Atticum_, etc., printed at Rome
in 1470; the 1580 edition of the _Paradyse of Daintie Devises_, and the
first edition of Shakespeare's _Sonnets_.

Among the manuscripts the most valuable were Chaucer's _Canterbury
Tales_, bound with Lydgate's _Life of St. Margarete_, on vellum, with
illuminations, and the _Mystere de la Vengeance de Nostre Seigneur_,
also on vellum.

The library was sold in 1812 by Mr. Evans of Pall Mall in the
dining-room of the Duke's house in St. James's Square, and the total
amount realised was twenty-three thousand three hundred and ninety-seven
pounds, ten shillings and sixpence. The sale, which consisted of nine
thousand three hundred and fifty-three lots, lasted forty-two days,
commencing on the 18th of May, and ending on the 4th of July. It was
followed by a supplementary one of seven hundred and sixty-seven lots,
which began on the 13th of July, and lasted till the 16th of the same
month. The catalogue was compiled by Mr. George Nicol, bookseller to the
King. The sale excited very great interest; and Dibdin, who