uld be
considered a great treasure in any library. The collection of Voyages
and Travels is believed to be the richest private one in Europe. It
comprises the early letters of Columbus and Vesputius, and perfect
editions of De Bry, Hulsius, Hakluyt, Purchas, etc., together with the
voyages of Cortes, Drake, and other famous travellers.

The fine and large collection of manuscripts contains many choice and
interesting examples. Several beautifully written Bibles, and a number
of Books of Hours are to be found in it. Some of the latter are most
charmingly illuminated; two of them, written in the fifteenth century,
of Flemish execution, are especially good. One of these contains the
coats of arms of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and Isabella his
wife. There are also three handsomely illuminated Petrarchs, and a
remarkable manuscript on vellum in four volumes, with very beautiful
illustrations of beasts, birds, fish, and insects, painted by George
Hoefnagel for the Emperor Rudolph II. A collection of Madrigals for
three voices, the words by John Milton, Thomas Tompkins, and others, is
of especial interest, for Mr. A.H. Huth informs us that several of the
songs by Milton in it have never been published, and that he composed
some of the music.

The library also contains a considerable number of interesting letters,
and a very fine collection of engravings; the series by Albert Duerer
being nearly complete. A somewhat recent addition to the collection is
'a proof set before numbers of the engravings to the Landino Dante of
1481, by Baccio Baldini, after the designs of Botticelli, and separately
printed on slips.'[104]

Many of the volumes once formed part of the libraries of Grolier,
Maioli, Canevari, Diana of Poitiers, Henry IV. of France, De Thou, Count
Mansfeld, Louis XIII., and other celebrated collectors, and bear on
their covers the arms or devices of their former owners. There are fine
examples of the work of all the great binders, and many books bound in
silver, needlework, etc.

The admirable catalogue of the library in five volumes was compiled by
Mr. F.S. Ellis and Mr. W.C. Hazlitt, and partly revised by Mr. Henry
Huth himself.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 104: Account of additions to the Huth Library, by Mr. A.H.
Huth, in Mr. Quaritch's _Dictionary of English Book-Collectors_.]

ROBERT SAMUEL TURNER, 1818-1887

Mr. Robert Samuel Turner was born in 1818. Although engaged in
commercial affairs from