DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65479#0145
THE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS OF THE DUKE
OF LAUDERDALE
HE books at Ham House, as well as the books and manuscripts
at Helmingham, were all collected by John, Duke of Lauderdale,
the second husband of Elizabeth, Countess of Dysart.
Cruel, rapacious, and self-seeking as the Duke of Lauderdale was,
he was acknowledged to be a fine scholar, and he encouraged learning
in others. His private chaplain from 1677 until his death in 1682, was
Dr. George Hickes. The Duke appreciated Hickes’ literary taste, and
he seems to have employed him to collect the treasures in the way of
books and manuscripts which are preserved in his library.
It is not known at what period the Duke of Lauderdale’s library was
divided between Ham House and Helmingham: the arrangement may
have been made by Lionel, third Earl of Dysart, who himself added to
the collection, and who was, in his day, looked on as a bibliomaniac.
When the division of the Duke of Lauderdale’s library was made,
the valuable manuscripts seem to have been sent to Helmingham. These
manuscripts were examined in 1869 by Mr. Horwood on behalf of the
Historical Manuscripts Commission, and are described by him in the
Appendix to the Report of the Commission (vol. i., p. 60). The library
at Helmingham is particularly rich in manuscripts. The most celebrated
among them is that known as The Lauderdale Manuscript, which dates
from the reign of King Alfred, a.d. 871 to 901.
One of the main objects of Alfred’s wise rule was the establishment
of a national literature in England; and he therefore caused translations
to be made of several of the Latin treatises then studied by the learned
men of Italy, France, Spain, and England itself. Among the treatises
selected by Alfred was a summary of general history so far as it could
then be known, and this treatise, translated into Anglo-Saxon (or Old
English, as the language is more properly named), forms the splendid
Lauderdale Manuscript.
The original treatise was written by Paulus Orosius, a Spanish
127
OF LAUDERDALE
HE books at Ham House, as well as the books and manuscripts
at Helmingham, were all collected by John, Duke of Lauderdale,
the second husband of Elizabeth, Countess of Dysart.
Cruel, rapacious, and self-seeking as the Duke of Lauderdale was,
he was acknowledged to be a fine scholar, and he encouraged learning
in others. His private chaplain from 1677 until his death in 1682, was
Dr. George Hickes. The Duke appreciated Hickes’ literary taste, and
he seems to have employed him to collect the treasures in the way of
books and manuscripts which are preserved in his library.
It is not known at what period the Duke of Lauderdale’s library was
divided between Ham House and Helmingham: the arrangement may
have been made by Lionel, third Earl of Dysart, who himself added to
the collection, and who was, in his day, looked on as a bibliomaniac.
When the division of the Duke of Lauderdale’s library was made,
the valuable manuscripts seem to have been sent to Helmingham. These
manuscripts were examined in 1869 by Mr. Horwood on behalf of the
Historical Manuscripts Commission, and are described by him in the
Appendix to the Report of the Commission (vol. i., p. 60). The library
at Helmingham is particularly rich in manuscripts. The most celebrated
among them is that known as The Lauderdale Manuscript, which dates
from the reign of King Alfred, a.d. 871 to 901.
One of the main objects of Alfred’s wise rule was the establishment
of a national literature in England; and he therefore caused translations
to be made of several of the Latin treatises then studied by the learned
men of Italy, France, Spain, and England itself. Among the treatises
selected by Alfred was a summary of general history so far as it could
then be known, and this treatise, translated into Anglo-Saxon (or Old
English, as the language is more properly named), forms the splendid
Lauderdale Manuscript.
The original treatise was written by Paulus Orosius, a Spanish
127