The Sun.
London, England, 1827-03-22 00:00:00

SALE OF THE REV. H. DRURN"S LIBRARY.

There has not, for a considerable time, been submitted to
the public a library so valuable in its classical contents as that
belonging to the Rev. 11. Drury, which Mr. Evans, of Pall-
Mall, has just disposed of. Its collection was the labour of
almost half a century, and was supposed to have cost at least
30,0001. It was peculiarly rich in Italian MSS. of the
10th, 11th, 126, and 13th centuri:“;, of a classical and religious
nature—the former, valuable in a literary view, as affording
data whereon to ground new and more correct readings of the
great lights of Greek and Roman literature ; the latter, curious
as monuments of the ex'serce attention paid, even in its mi-
nutest details, to all matters connected with religion. Among
the purchasers who bought largely were Prince Chnititi, the Earl
of Carlisle, Lord Cawdor, Lord Milton, Sir F. Baker, the
Dean of Carlisle, Colonel Durant, &c. The prices in general
obtained were fair. The following will serve as specimens of
the nature of the contents of the library, and the prices which
the books carried :—Missale Ecclesia! Rothomagi, MS., on
vellum, described by Dibdin, in the Bibliographical Tour, as
having belonged to the Macarthy Collection, and containing
those curious exorcisms of the Church of Rome "F.xorciso to
(&c.) per dominant patrem omnipotentein ;" eight guineas.
Medici Antiqui onines, by Aldus, at Venice, 1547, 3/. 10s.
A MS. of the Office of the Blessed Virgin of the 15th Century,
two guineas ; Oratores Grteci, Ruske's edition, 17 guineas, by
Lord Milton ; Marrnora Oxoniensa, 5/. 10s. Dean of Carlisle ;
a MS. copy of Lucretius of the 12th Century, 291. 6s. ; the
Orations of Lysias, one of the 25 copies printed on royal,
10 guineas ; au Armenian MS, of very old date, being a
Treatise on Magic, 11. lOs. ; a MS. of Livy's Macedonian
War of the 15th century, 111 ss. ; a very ancient MS. of
Lucan, recently discovered in Rome, 8 guineas : this was one
of the Codices Palirnpsisti. Muttani's (the tutor to whom
Lord Chesterfield intrusted the education of his son, to whom
the Letters were written) own copy of his Dialects of the
Greek language, with corrections and addition; in his hand-
writing, as if preparatory to a new edition, 1/. 15e. ; a MS. of
Justiniani Institutiones, of the 12th century, 171.: at the com-
mencement of each of the four hooks are highly illuminated
miniatures. A copy of the first edition ever printed (1489) of
the Iliad, Odyssey, Hymns, and Battle of the Frogs and Mire
of Homer, brought 42 guineas; there was great competition to
obtain possession of this hook, which is one of considerable literary
importance. A MS. on vellum of the works complete, of
Horace, Persius, and Juvenal, written on vellum, in the large
uncial Romeo character ; the date affixed to the Horace is 1391,
and the following inscript is added, Stephanvs seripoit istud
volumes. This copy of these Augustan poets is probably the
most ancient in existence, and the price it brought (fifty-four
guineas) was correspondingly high. The Correspondence of St.
Jerome, a MS. of the 15th century, six guineas ; a copy of the
Iliad and Odyssey, from the White Knights' collection, of the
date 1636, 13/. ss. St. Jerome's Epistles, 1468, one of the ftnept
manuscripts in the country, and of extreme rarity, 15/. The
works of John Evelyn complete, purchased by Lord Carlisle
for 12 guineas an unedited Greek and Latin Lexicon, by Gua-
rini, from the collection of the Nani, .;.:t Venice, 10/. ; a very cu-
rious MS., of which there exists not a copy, written in 1455, for
Antony, Grand Bastard of Burgundy, entitled " Trayte de la No-
blease qui prouve que la noblesse consiste dans la religion," 17 gui-
neas. This was purchased with a view to its publication, and will
he immediately submitted to the care of a literary gentleman of emi-
nence to edite. A. MS. of Aristotle's Ethics, which formerly belong-
ed to the Jesuits' library in Paris, was bought by Mr. Longman for
12/. 6s. ; Dibdin's Bibliographical Tour, a presentation copy, 481.
and the 12 original drawings in sepia and colours for the platen
of that work, about 40 guineas ; the New Testament, Greek,
with annotations in the writing and the autograph of Erasmus,
" the glory of the priesthood and the shame," 4/. 10s. ; a very
curious MS. of the 14th century, entitled " Angleterre cy finioient
lee veula cronikes d'Angleterre appellez le Brute, judques au temps
du Roi Edward le secunde." This valuable MS., which, if made
public, will tend to throw considerable light on the domestic an-
nals of this country during a period of our history in which de--
tails are Bauch wanted, was bought for 261. It was an object of
great curiosity ; appended to it is an. enumeration in English verse
of the various countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe, which are
curious as showing the knowledge which our ancestors possessed
of geography at that period. It is also said to be in contemplation
to publish this volume.