22
22
them signatures and jottings by former owners, such as “Liber Ro; Eyre
1639”
written on the title-page of St Thomas Aquinas’
Golden Chain
(
Paris 1637), One owner’s name is crossed out and another's, “Thomas
Roberts”, is written above it on the beautiful title-page of Jean Bodin’s
De Republica
(
Paris and Lyons, 1586), showing it had two previous
owners. Three works of Rene Descartes have notes by a Thomas Knight:
in an edition of 1645 is jotted (on the front flyleaf); “Written by me
Thomas Knight the 5 of October 1659”; the same message but dated 15
October 1660 is on the back flyleaf. Another of 1656 has the same note
by T. Knight for 12 October 1656 but with “Pretium 1 I
s
—
Thos Plume”
(
price 55 new pence paid by Plume) beneath that note. The third of these
Cartesian works once possessed by T. Knight was printed in 1662, so
here are three books acquired secondhand at some date after 1662. The
Library’s copy of Sir Henry Spelman’s
Concilia
of 1639 (Volume 1
only) has written on its title-page “Ex dono doctissimi authoris.” As
Spelman died in 1641 this cannot have been a “gift of the most learned
author” to Dr Plume himself and must be another second-hand
purchase.
A few volumes are stamped with previous owners’ armorials. One, in
gold on leather, is the coat of arms recorded for the Windsor family of
Stanwell, Middlesex, in the heralds ’ Visitation Book of 1634. Inside is
written “Thomas Windesor”, the date 1637 and his motto “Virtus Vera
Nobilitas”. Three volumes are worth special mention.
One is the 1619 edition of the
Works
of King James I. On its white
vellum binding is shown a boar powdered with ermine spots, standing
on a crest wreath. This is stamped in gold with other ornamentation on
the front and back covers and was the crest of the Bacon family. As this
boar bears a crescent on its flank (as a mark of cadency) the book’s
original ownership can be firmly ascribed to Sir Francis Bacon (Lord
Verulam) who lived from 1561 to 1626 [32.1].
Another is a Parisian edition (1625) of a Byzantine text which has
unmistakeably stamped on its covers the armorial bearings of Cardinal
Richelieu and the monogram A-V of his baptismal name, Armand de
Wignerod. During his career as principal minister of Louis XIII the
cardinal bought entire libraries to