on of English plays and Sir Joseph Banks
his natural history books to the British Museum, while Capell's
Shakespearian treasures enriched Trinity College, Cambridge, and those
of Malone went to the Bodleian library at Oxford, the formation of these
special collections, in place of the large general library with a
sprinkling of rarities, being in itself worth noting. But the noble
book-buyers celebrated by the Rev. Thomas Frognall Dibdin in his
numerous bibliographical works kept mainly on the old lines, though with
aims less patriotic than their predecessors. The duke of Roxburghe's
books were sold in 1812, and the excitement produced by the auction,
more especially by the competition between Lord Spencer and the duke of
Marlborough (at that time marquess of Blandford) for an edition of
Boccaccio printed by Valdarfer at Venice in 1471, led to the formation
of the Roxburghe Club at a commemorative dinner. In 1819 the duke of
Marlborough's books were sold, and the Boccaccio for which he had paid
L2260 went to Earl Spencer (d. 1834) for L750, to pass with the rest of
his rare books to Mrs Rylands in 1892, and by her gift to the John
Rylands library at Manchester in 1899. The books of Sir M.M. Sykes were
sold in 1824, those of J.B. Inglis in 1826 (after which he collected
again) and those of George Hibbert in 1829. The 150,000 volumes brought
together by Richard Heber at an expense of about L100,000 were disposed
of by successive sales during the years 1834-1837 and realized not much
more than half their cost. The wonderful library of William Beckford (d.
1844), especially rich in fine bindings, bequeathed to his daughter, the
duchess of Hamilton, was sold in 1882, with the Hamilton manuscripts,
for the most part to the German government. Their dispersal was preceded
in 1881 by that of the Sunderland collection, already mentioned. The
library of Brian Fairfax (d. 1749), which had passed to the earls of
Jersey, was sold in 1885, that of Sir John Thorold (d. 1815) in 1884,
his "Gutenberg" Bible fetching L3900 and his Mainz Psalter L4950. The
great collection of manuscripts formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps (d. 1872)
has furnished materials for numerous sales. The printed books of the
earl of Ashburnham (d. 1878) kept the auctioneers busy in 1897 and 1898;
his manuscripts were sold, some to the British government (the Stowe
collection shared between the British Museum and Dublin), the German
government (part of the Libri and Barroi