AT. THE CLARENDON, SHELDON, AND UNIVERSITY PRESSES OF OXFORD, AND THOSE OF GLASGOW AND DUBLIN ; BELLES LETTRES, AND HISTORY, OF THE MOST SELECT DESCRIPTION. WHICH WILL BE SOLD BY AUCTION, BY MESSRS STEWART, WHEATLEY, AND ADLARD, AT THEIR GREAT ROOM, 191, PICCADILLY, The whole will be on View at one time, on Tuesday, April 3d, and Catalogues, price 2s. 6d. I. THE highest Bidder to be the Buyer; and, if any Dispute arises between two or more Bidders, the Lot so disputed, shall be immediately put up again and re-sold. II. No Person to advance less than 1s.; above Five Pounds 2s. 6d.; and sc in Proportion. III. The Purchasers to give in their Names and Places of Abode, and to pay down 5s. in the Pound, if required, in Part Payment of the Purchase-money; in Default of which the Lot or Lots so purchased to be immediately put up again and re-sold. IV. The Lots to be taken away, at the Buyer's Expence, within Three Days after the Conclusion of the Sale; and the remainder of the Purchase-money to be absolutely paid on or V. The Books are presumed to be perfect, unless otherwise ex- pressed; but if, upon collating, AT THE PLACE OF SALE, they should prove defective, the Purchaser will be at liberty to take or VI. Upon failure of complying with the above Conditions, the Money deposited in part of payment shall be forfeited, and all Lots uncleared within the time aforesaid shall be re-sold by public or private Sale, and the deficiency (if any,) attending such re-sale, Ladies and Gentlemen who cannot attend the Sale 117-22 PREFACE. IN submitting by auction property of any description, it is seldom necessary to prefix any Introduction or Address to the Catalogue: the public, and more particularly the amateur and collector, needing no guide of this kind to what is truly rare and valuable. But, in the present case, the extraordinary condition and value of this Library may make it not superfluous to offer a few words in regard to the formation of the most singular and rare specimens of Ancient and Modern Literature, Manuscripts, and Missals, which have been collected by one individual during the last thirty years, and which may vie with the most celebrated sales of our own time, from that of Mr. Paris in 1790, to that of the celebrated sale of Mr. Meerman, at the Hague, in 1824. The Rev. Mr. Williams was indefatigable in purchasing every thing rare, valuable, or curious; sparing no exertions in selecting the finest copies, and, when possible, on large paper; and many articles will be found in this Catalogue unique in all classes. To intelligent collectors and men of learning, it will only be necessary to mention a few of the precious gems contained in this collection: to point out the whole would be endless. The Biblical part is particularly rich. The Hebrew Bible. printed on vellum, at Naples, in 1482; the Aldine Greek Bible, on large paper; Cardinal Ximenes' Polyglott Bible, in six volumes; and, among the Manuscripts, the celebrated Hebrew Bible on vellum, in four volumes, taken from the A Vatican, by JUNOT, when governor of Rome, is presumed to be the finest in existence; three others in Hebrew, of a very early date, on delicate vellum; the Manuscript Pentateuch of the XIth century; that printed at Brescia, in 1492, on vellum, (the only one known in this country ;) and another printed at Constantinople, in three volumes, in 1546; the Exodus printed on vellum at the same place. In Greek and Latin, the MS. Greek Gospels of the tenth and eleventh centuries, on vellum and paper; and the Latin Gospels in folio, a most inestimable MS. on vellum, with drawings, (highly interesting specimens of early art,) presented, by the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, (the greatest patroness of the church in the XIth century,) to the Monastery of St. Benedict of Padolirone, near Modena: and one in 4to. on vellum, of the XIth century. The celebrated Bible of the IXth century, in 2 vol. which afterwards belonged to Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, in 1077, with the disputed passage in St. John, left out of the original, but subsequently inserted by another hand in the margin. Among the Offices of the church, commonly called Missals, will be found two of the most splendid perhaps in existence. There is also a singular and superb MS. of the Apocalypse of St. John, with illuminations. In general theology, almost every work of merit, particularly on the Reformation, the Divines of our own country principally on large paper, and perhaps one of the completest sets of the Sermons preached at the Bampton Lecture, uniform and elegant, in 44 vol. Picart's Religious Ceremonies and Superstitions, 11 vol. large paper, never was surpassed with regard to the impressions of the plates: and the works of Thomas Aquinas, printed on vellum, in 21 vol. folio, is certainly one of the grandest works ever undertaken in the annals of Typography. The Cophtic Testament, printed upon vellum (unique), the Armenian Liturgy MS. of the XVth century, the Talmudi Babylonici, 13 vol. first edition, large paper. |