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ANCIENT LIBRARIES—LIBRARY OF THE AUGUSTINIAN EREMITES OF YORK

Mr. Editor,—I have been greatly interested by the two numbers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" which you have sent me. The work promises to be eminently useful, and if furnished with a good index at the end of each yearly volume, will become a book indispensable to all literary men, and especially to those who, like myself, are in charge of large public libraries.

To testify my good will to the work, and to follow up Mr. Burtt's remarks on ancient libraries published in your second number, I venture to send you the following account of a MS. Catalogue of the Library of the Monastery of the Friars Eremites of the Order of St. Augustine in the City of York.

This MS. is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, amongst the MSS. formerly belonging to the celebrated Archbishop Ussher. It is on vellum, written in the 14th century, and begins thus:—

"Inventarium omnium librorum pertinentium ad commune armariole domus Ebor. ordinis fratrum heremitarum Sancti Augustini, factum in presentia fratrum Johannis de Ergum, Johannis Ketilwell, Ricardi de Thorpe, Johannis de Appilby, Anno domini Mº. CCC lxxij in festo nativitatis virginis gloriose. Fratre Willelmo de Stayntoun tunc existente priore."

The volume consists of forty-five leaves, and contains the titles of a very large and most respectable collection of books in all departments of literature and learning arranged under the following heads:—

Biblie.
Hystorie scholastice.
Textus biblie glosati.
Postille.
Concordancie et interpretaciones nominum hebreorum.
Originalia. [Under this head are included the
works of the Fathers, and medieval writers.]
Historie geneium.
Summe doctorum. Scriptores super sententias.
quodlibet. et questiones.
Tabulæ. [This division contained Indexes to
various authors, the Scriptures, canon law,
&c.]
Logicalia et philosophia cum scriptis et commentis.
Prophecie et supersticiosa.
Astronomia et Astrologia.
Instrumenta astrologica magistri Johannis Erghome
[who appears to have been a great
benefactor to the Library].
Libri divini officii magistri Johannis Erghome.
Jura civilia.
Jura canonica et leges humane: magistri Johannis
Erghome.
Auctores et philosophi extranei. [Under this
head occurs the following entry, "Liber hebraice
scriptus."]
Gramatica.
Rethorica. [Two leaves of the MS. appear to
have been cut out here.]
Medicina.
Hystorie et cronice.
Sermones et materie sermonum.
Summe morales doctorum et sermones.
Arithmetica, Musica, Geometria, Perspectiva,
magistri Johannis Erghome.

Each volume is identified, according to the usual practice, by the words with which its second folio begins: and letters of tha alphabet are added, probably to indicate its place on the shelves of the Library. As a specimen, I shall give the division headed "Biblie":—

BIBLIE

A. Biblia. incipit in 2º. fo. Samuel in¹ heli.

B. Biblia. incipit in 2º. fo. Zechieli qui populo.

in duobus voluminibus.

C. Biblia. inc't. in 2º. fo. mea et in crane.

D. Biblia. inc't. in 2º. fo. ego disperdam.

¶ Libri magistri Johannis Erghome

Biblia. 2º. fol ravit quosdam. }

Interpretationes. }—A

E. Biblia incomplet. diversarum scripturarum.

quondam fratris R. Bossal. 2º. fo. me

occidet me etc.

HYSTORIE SCOLASTICE

A. Incipit in 2º. folio. secunda die.

B. inci't. in 2º. fo. emperio sane formatis. ligatus.

C. inci't. in 2º. fo. et celumque celi.

The words printed in Italics are added by a more recent hand. Under the head of "Hystorie Scolastice" are doubtless intended the copies which the Library possessed of the celebrated Historia Scholastica, or abridgement of Scripture history by Peter Comestor.

From the foregoing specimen, I think your readers will agree with me that a Catalogue of such antiquity and interest is well worthy of publication.

But we have another ancient Catalogue of a monastic library equally curious, and even more important from its magnitude, and the numerous works it contains on English history, early romances, &c. I remain, &c.

JAMES H. TODD.

Trin. Coll. Dublin, Nov. 27. 1849.

DEFENCE OF A BALD HEAD—THE STATIONERS' REGISTERS

I am about to supply a deficiency in my last volume of Extracts from the Register of the Stationers' Company (printed for the Shakespeare Society, 1849), and thereby set an example that I hope will be followed, in order that various works, regarding which I could give no, or only incomplete, information, may be duly illustrated. It is impossible to expect that any one individual could thoroughly accomplish such an undertaking; and, by means of your excellent periodical, it will be easy for literary men, who possess scarce or unique books, mentioned in the Registers and in my quotations from them, to furnish such brief descriptions as will be highly curious and very useful.

A tract of this description has just fallen in my way, and it relates to the subsequent entry on p. 97. of vol. ii. of my Extracts: the date is 22nd September, 1579.

"H. Denham. Lycensed unto him, &c. A Paradox, provinge by reason and example that baldnes is much better than bushie heare. vj'd"

When I wrote the comment on this registration I was only acquainted with the clever MS. ballad in Defence of a Bald Head, which I quoted; but I hardly supposed it to be the production intended. It turns out that it was not, for I have that production now before me. My belief is that it is entirely unique; and the only reason for a contrary opinion, that I am acquainted with, is that there is an incorrect mention of it in Warton, H.E.P. iv. 229.; but there is not a hint of its existence in Ritson, although it ought to have found a place in his Bibliographia Poetica; neither do I find it noticed in later authorities; if it be, they have escaped my researches. You will not blame me, then, for indulging my usual wish to quote the title-page at length, which exactly agrees with the terms of the entry in the books of the Stationers' Company. It runs literatim thus:—

"A Paradoxe, proving by reason and example, that baldnesse is much better than bushie haire, &c. Written by that excellent philosopher Synesius, Bishop of Thebes, or (as some say) Cyren. A prettie pamphlet to pervse, and relenished with recreation.—Englished by Abraham Fleming.—Herevnto is annexed the pleasant tale of Hemetes the Heremite, pronounced before the Queenes Maiestie. Newly recognised both in Latin and Englishe, by the said A.F.—[Greek: hae taes sophias phalakra saemeion.]—The badge of wisdome is baldnesse.—Printed by H. Denham, 1579." 8vo. B.L.

If I am not greatly mistaken, your readers will look in vain for a notice of the book in any collected list of the many productions of Abraham Fleming; if I am not greatly mistaken, also, some of them will be disapppointed if I do not subjoin a few sentences describing more particularly the contents of the small volume, which (speaking as a bibliographer) extends to sign. F. iiij in eights.

At the back of the title-page is "The life of Synesius drawen out of Suydas his gatherings," in Greek and in English. Then comes "The Epistle Apologeticall to the lettered Reader," signed "Thine for thy pleasure and profite—Abraham Fleming," which, in excuse for taking up so slight a subject, contains a very singular notice of the celebrated John Heywood, the dramatist of the reign of Henry VIII., and of his remarkable poem The Spider and the Fly. The Pretie Paradoxe, by Synesius, next commences, and extends as far as sign. D. v. b. This portion of the tract is, of course, merely a translation, but it includes a passage or two from Homer, cleverly rendered into English verse. Here we come to the word Finis, and here, I take it, it was originally intended that the tract should end; but as it was thought that it would hardly be of sufficient bulk for the money (4d., or 6d. at the utmost), a sort of appendix was added, which, on some accounts, is the most interesting part of the work.

It is headed "The tale of Hemetes the Heremite, pronounced before the Queene's Maiestie," which Warton, who clearly never saw the book, calls the "Fable of Hermes." In fact, it is, with a few verbal changes, the tale of Hemetes, which George Gascoigne presented, in Latin, Italian, French, and English, to Queen Elizabeth, and of which the MS., with the portraits of the Queen and the author is among the Royal MSS. in the British Museum. Fleming tells us that he had "newly recognised" (whatever may be meant by the words) this tale in Latin and English, but he does not say a syllable whence he procured it. Gascoigne died two years before the date of the publication of this Paradoxe, &c. so that Fleming was quite sure the property could never be challenged by the true owner of it.

Before I conclude, allow me to mention two other pieces by A. Fleming (who became rector of St. Pancras, Soper-lane, in 1593), regarding which I am anxious to obtain information, and seek it through the medium of "NOTES AND QUERIES."

A marginal note in Fleming's Translation of Virgil's Georgics, 1589, 4to., is the following:—"The poet alludeth to the historie of Leander and Hero, written by Museus, and Englished by me a dozen yeares ago, and in print." My question is, whether such a production is in existence?

Fleming's tract, printed in 1580 in 8vo. (miscalled 16mo.), "A Memorial, &c. of Mr. William Lambe, Esquier," is well known; but many years ago I saw, and copied the heading of a broadside, which ran thus:—"An Epitaph, or funeral inscription vpon the godlie life and death of the Right worshipfull Maister William Lambe Esquire, Founder of the new Conduit in Holborne," &c. "Deceased the 21st April Anno 1580. Deuised by Abraham Fleming." At the bottom was—"Imprinted at London by Henrie Denham for Thomas Turner," &c.

In whose hands, or in what library, I saw this production, has entirely escaped my memory; and I am now very anxious to learn what has become of that copy, or whether any other copy of it has been preserved.