Curiosities of Literature

This Donald Lupton I have mentioned in my catalogue of all the books and pamphlets relative to London in folio, begun anno 1740, and in which I have now, 1740, entered between 300 and 400 articles, besides remarks, &c. Now, in June, 1748, between 400 and 500 articles. Now, in October, 1750, six hundred and thirty-six.*

There remains to be told an anecdote which shows that Pope greatly regarded our literary antiquary. Oldys," says my friend, "was one of the librarians of the Earl of Oxford, and he used to tell a story of the credit which he obtained as a scholar, by setting Pope right in a Latin quotation which he made at the earl's table. He did not, however, as I remember, boast of having been admitted as a guest at the table, but as happening to be in the room." Why might not Oldys, however, have been seated, at least below the salt? It would do no honour to either party to suppose that Oldys stood among the menials. The truth is, there appears to have existed a confidential intercourse between Pope and Oldys; of this I shall give a remarkable proof. In those fragments of Oldys, preserved as "additional anecdotes of Shakspeare," in Steevens's and Malone's editions, Oldys mentions a story of Davenant, which, he adds, "Mr. Pope told me at the Earl of Oxford's table !" And further relates a conversation which passed between them. Nor is this all; for in Oldys's Langbaine he put down this memorandum in the article of Shakspeare "Remember what I observed to my Lord Oxford for Mr. Pope's use out of Cowley's preface." Malone appears to have discovered this observation of Cowley's, which is curious enough, and very ungrateful to that commentator's ideas: it is "to prune and lop away the old withered branches' " in the new editions of Shakspeare and other ancient poets! Pope adopted," says Malone, * This is one of Oldys's Manuscripts; a thick folio of titles, which has been made to do its duty, with small thanks from those who did not care to praise the service which they derived from it. It passed from Dr. Berkenhout to George Steevens, who lent it to Gough. It was sold for five guineas. The useful work of ten years of attention given to it! The antiquary Gough alludes to it with his usual discernment. "Among these titles of books and pamphlets about London are many purely historical, and many of too low a kind to rank under the head of topography and history.' Thus the design of Oldys, in forming this elaborate collection, is condemned by trying it by the limited object of the topographer's view. This catalogue remains a desideratum, were it printed entire as collected by Oldys, not merely for the topography of the metropolis, but for its relation to its manners, domestic annals, events, and persons connected with its history.

"this very unwarrantable idea; Oldys was the person who suggested to Pope the singular course he pursued in his edition of Shakspeare." Without touching on the felicity or the danger of this new system of republishing Shakspeare, one may say that if many passages were struck out, Shakspeare would not be injured, for many of them were never composed by that great bard! There not only existed a literary intimacy between Oldys and Pope, but our poet adopting his suggestions on so important an occasion, evinces how highly he esteemed his judgment; and unquestionably Pope had often been delighted by Oldys with the history of his predecessors, and the curiosities of English poetry.

I have now introduced the reader to Oldys sitting amidst his "poetical bags," his "parchment biographical budgets," his "catalogues," and his "diaries," often venting a solitary groan, or active in some fresh inquiry. Such is the Silhouette of this prodigy of literary curiosity!

The very existence of Oldys's manuscripts continues to be of an ambiguous nature; referred to, quoted, and transcribed, we can but seldom turn to the originals. These masses of curious knowledge, dispersed or lost, have enriched an afterrace, who have often picked up the spoil and claimed the victory, but it was Oldys who had fought the battle!

Oldys affords one more example how life is often closed amidst discoveries and acquisitions. The literary antiquary, when he has attempted to embody his multiplied inquiries, and to finish his scattered designs, has found that the LABOR ABSQUE LABORE, "the labour void of labour," as the inscription on the library of Florence finely describes the researches of literature, has dissolved his days in the voluptuousness of his curiosity; and that too often, like the hunter in the heat of the chase, while he disdained the prey which lay before him, he was still stretching onwards to catch the fugitive!

Transvolat in medio posita, et fugientia captat.

At the close of every century, in this growing world of books, may an Oldys be the reader for the nation! Should he be endowed with a philosophical spirit, and combine the genius of his own times with that of the preceding, he will hold in his hand the chain of human thoughts, and, like another Bayle, become the historian of the human mind!

INDEX.

ABELARD, ranks among the heretics,
i. 145; book condemned as his
written by another, ib.; absolution
granted to, 146; wrote and sung
finely, 147; raises the school of the
Paraclete, ib.

ABRAM-MEN, ii. 312, and note, ib.
ABRIDGERS, objections to, and re-
commendations of, i. 397; Bayle's
advice to, 398; now slightly re-
garded, 399; instructions to, quoted
from the Book of Maccabees, ib.
ABSENCE of mind, anecdotes of, i.
206.

ABSOLUTE monarchy, search for pre-
cedents to maintain, iii. 510, note.
ABSTRACTION of mind, instances of,
amongst great men, ii. 59-60;
sonnet on, by Metastasio, 61.
ACADEMY, the French, some account
of, i. 413-417; visit of Christina
Queen of Sweden to, 414; of Lite-
rature, designed in the reign of
Queen Anne, ii. 407; abortive
attempts to establish various, ib. ;
disadvantages of, ib. ; arguments of
the advocates for, ib.; should be
designed by individuals, 408;
French origin of, 408-410; origin
of the Royal Society, 410-412;
ridiculous titles of Italian, 479;
some account of the Arcadian, and
its service to literature, 482; deri-
vation of its title, ib.; of the Co-
lombaria, 483; indications of, in
England, 484; early rise of among
the Italians, 485; establishment of
the Academy," 486; suppressed,
and its members persecuted, ib.;
of the "Oziosi," 488; suppression
of many, at Florence and Sienna,
ib.; considerations of the reason of
the Italian fantastical titles of, &c.,
489.
ACAJOU and Zirphile, a whimsical
fairy tale, ii. 308-311.
ACCADEMIA of Bologna originated
with Lodovico Caracci, ii. 399.

VOL. III.

ACCIDENT, instances of the pur-
suits of great men directed by, i.

85.

ACEPHALI, iii. 193, and note, ib.
ACHES, formerly a dissyllable; exam-
ples from Swift, Hudibras, and
Shakespeare; John Kemble's use
of the word, i. 81, note.
ACROSTICS, i. 295–296.
ACTORS, tragic, i. 248; who have

died martyrs to their tragic cha-
racters, 249; should be nursed in
the laps of queens, 250; anec-
dotes of, 250-251.

ADDISON, silent among strangers, i.

104.

ADRIANI, his continuation of Guic-
ciardini's History, iii. 180.
ADVICE, good, of a literary sinner,
i. 350.

AGATES, presenting representations
of natural forms, i. 244.
AGOBARD, Archbishop of Lyons, i. 21,
and note.

AGREDA, Maria, wrote the Life of the
Virgin Mary, i. 367.

ALBERICO, vision of, ii. 422.
ALBERTUS MAGNUS, his opinion con-
cerning books of magic, iii. 281;
his brazen man, 282; his enter-
tainment of the Earl of Holland,
290.

ALCHYMISTS, results of their opera-
tions, iii. 284; their cautious
secresy, 285; discoveries by, ib.
ALCHYMY, anecdotes of professors of,
i. 283-284; Henry VI. endea-
voured to recruit his coffers by,
284; professors of, called multi-
pliers, 285; books of, pious frauds,
ib.; Elias Ashmole rather the histo-
rian of, than an adept in, 286; opi-
nions of modern chemists on,
287.
ALEXANDRIA, library of, i. 1; Deme-
trius Phalereus, its industrious and
skilful librarian, ib.; original
manuscripts of Eschylus, Sopho-
L L

cles, and Euripides procured for,
ib.; destruction of, 47-57.
AMBASSADORS, anecdotes of frivo-
lous points of etiquette insisted on
by, ii. 195-206.

AMICABLE ceremonies in various na-
tions, ii. 12.

AMILCAR, the author of the Second

Punic War, iii. 143.
AMPHIGOURIES, i. 298.
AMUSEMENT, periodical, during study,
a standing rule among the Jesuits,
i. 31; various, practised by dif
ferent celebrated men, 38-41.
ANAGRAMS, i. 298, ii. 229; are
classed among the Hebrews with
the cabalistic sciences, 230; Pla-
tonic notions of, ib.; specimens of
Greek, ib.; several examples of
curious, 231-233; amusing anec-
dotes concerning, 234.

ANCILLON and his library, i. 10, and
note.

ANDREINI, an actor and author of
irregular Italian comedies, ii. 141;
a drama of his gave the first idea
to Milton of his "Paradise Lost," ib.
ANECDOTES of European Manners,
ii. 30-39; of Abstraction of
Mind, 59-62; literary, their im-
portance, 300; Dr. Johnson's de-
fence of, 301; the absurdity of
many transmitted by biographers,
ib.; general remarks on, 303.
ANGLESEA, Earl of, his MSS. sup-
pressed, ii. 447.

ANIMALS, influence of music on, i.
272-4.

ANNIUS of Viterbo published seven-

teen books of pretended antiquities,
iii. 305; and afterwards a com-
mentary, ib.; caused a literary
war, 306.

ANTEDILUVIAN researches, i. 301-
303.

ANTI, a favourite prefix to books of
controversy, i. 318.
ANTIQUARIES, Society of, inquiry into
its origin and progress, ii. 413-
415.

ANTONY, Marc, anecdote of, ii. 10.
APPAREL, excess in, proclamation
against, by Elizabeth, iii. 375.
APPLES grafted on mulberry stocks,
ii. 157, note.

ARCHESTRATUS, a celebrated culinary
philosopher, ii. 246.
ARGUMENTS, invented by a machine,
ii. 419.

ARIOSTO, his merits disputed in
Italy, i. 386; public preference
given to, by the Accademia della
Crusca, 387; his verses sung by
the gondoliers, 388.
ARISTOCRAT, a nick-name, iii. 83.
ARISTOTLE, account of criticisms on,
i. 25; fate of his library, 53;
Arabic commentaries on, 61; rage
for, ib.; his opinions on sneezing,
127; letter of Philip of Macedon
to, 142; description of the person
and manners of, ib.; will of, 143;
studied under Plato, ib.; parallel
between him and Plato, by Rapin,
ib.; anecdote concerning him and
Plato, 144; raises a school, ib.;
attacked by Xenocrates, ib.; his
mode of pointing out a successor,
145; writers against and for, 314;
bon-mot on his precepts, 407.
ARMSTRONG, Archibald, jester to
Charles I., ii. 236, note.

ARNAULD, one of the most illus
trious members of the Port Royal
Society, i. 94; anecdotes of, 96;
was still the great Arnauld at the
age of eighty-two, 97.
ASHMOLE, Elias, his Theatrum Che-
micum Britannicum, i. 286; his
Diary, ii. 209; his superstition, ib.,

note.

ASTREA, D'Urfé's romance of the, i.
451; sketch of, 452-454.
ASTROLOGERS, faith in, by celebrated
characters, i. 278; Lilly consulted
by Charles I., ib.; Nostrodamus, by
Catherine de Medici, 279; several
have suffered death to verify their
skill, ib.; shifts and impostures of,
279-280.

ASTROLOGY, greatly flourished in the
time of the Civil Wars, i. 280;
attacks on and defences of, 281-
282.
ATELLANE Fabulæ, Atellan farces,
ii. 131, and note, 132.

ATTICUS, employed to collect for
Cicero, ii. 397; traded in books
and gladiators, 398.

AUBREY, John, extract from his cor-
respondence, iii. 294; his search
after gold, ib.; his idea of uni-
versal education, 296.

AUDLEY, a lawyer and usurer, ii.

158; his commencement of life,
and means of rising in, 159; anec-
dote of him and a draper, 161;
his maxims of political economy,

162; his reply to a borrowing
lord, ib.; his manners and opinions,
168-170; his death and general
character, 170.
AUTOGRAPHS, indications of charac-
ter, iii. 163; of English sovereigns,
165-166.

BABINGTON'S conspiracy, some ac-
count of its progress, and of the
noble youths concerned in it, ii.
171; trial and defences of the con-
spirators, 173; their execution,

175-176.
BACCHUS, ancient descriptions of, and
modern translations of them, ii. 292.
BACON, Lord, sketch of his life as a
philosopher, iii. 320-326; more
valued abroad than at home, 327.
BAKER, Sir Richard, author of the
Chronicle," died in the Fleet, ii.
452; his papers burnt, ib.
BALES, Peter, a celebrated cali-
grapher, i. 275; iii. 173-177.
BALLARD, the Jesuit, concerned in
Babington's conspiracy, ii. 172;
expression of his on his trial, 173.
BAPTISTA PORTA, founded the Acca-

demie of the Oziosi and Segreti,
iii. 290; considered himself a
prognosticator, ib.; his magical
devices, ib.

BARBIER, Louis, anecdote relating to,

ii. 11; his superstitious observances,
ib., note.

BARNARD, Dr., his "Life of Hey-
lin," iii. 217-221.
BARTHIUS, Gaspar, a voluminous au-
thor, ii. 536; an infant prodigy,
ib.; published a long list of un-
printed works, 537; its fate, ib.
BASNAGE, his Dictionary, iii. 233.
BAYLE, publishes his Nouvelles de la
République des Lettres, i. 14; ac-
count of his death, 391; his con-
duct to his friend, 392; read much
by his fingers, ib.; amusements of,
ib.; anecdotes relating to, 893;
his "Critical Dictionary," remarks
on its character, ii. 382-388; Gib-
bon's remarks on, 385; publication
of, ib.; his originality, how obtain-
ed, 386; his errors, 388; his per-
sonal traits, 389; his characteris-
tics, 388-396; changes his religion
twice, 390; extract from his diary,
ib.; his methods of study, 391;
appointed to a professorship, ib.;
deprived of it, ib.; laments his
want of books, 392; anecdotes of

the effects of his works, 394; a
model of a literary character, 395.
BEAM in the eye of the Pharisee,
literally represented in early art,
i. 307, and note.

BEARDS, various fashions in, i. 220
BEAUSSOL, M. Peyraud de, his preface
to his condemned tragedy, ii. 304-
307.

BEN JONSON, masques by, iii. 12;
assisted Rawleigh in his history of
the world, 131, and note.
BENEVOLENCES, iii. 218, 219.
BENTLEY, notice of his criticisms on
Milton, i. 370-873.
BETHLEHEM Hospital, its original
foundation, ii. 311, and note.
BETTERTON, anecdote of, i. 250.
BEZA, Theodore, an imitator of Calvin
in abuse, i. 310; effect of his work
against toleration, iii 245.
BIBLE, the prohibition of, ii. 19; va-
rious versions of, 20-23; a family
one, 22; the Olivetan, iii. 155; cor-
rupt state of the English, formerly,
427; printing of, an article of open
trade, 428; shameful practices in
the printing of, 428-431, and note;
privilege of printing granted to one
Bentley, 430; Field's Pearl Bible
contained 6000 faults, 431; divi-
sion of, into chapter and verse, 432.
BIBLIOMANE, iii. 343.
BIBLIOMANIA, i. 9.
BIBLIOGNOSTE, iii. 343.
BIBLIOGRAPHE, iii. 343.

BIBLIOGRAPHY, remarks on its impor-
tance, iii. 341.

BIBLIOPHILE, iii. 343.
BIBLIOTAPHE, iii. 343.

BIOGRAPHICAL parallels, iii. 425; a
book of, proposed by Hurd, ib.; be-
tween Budæus and Erasmus, 426;
instances of several, 427.
BIOGRAPHY, painted, a, iii. 137-141;

remarks on, 414; sentimental, dis-
tinguished from chronological, ib. ;
of Dante, by Boccacio and Aretino,
415-419; domestic, 420-423;
customary among the Romans, 424;
comparative, a series of, projected
by Elizabeth Hamilton, ib.
BIRCH, Dr., his great services to his-
tory, iii. 383.
BIRKENHEAD, Sir John, a newspaper
writer and pamphleteer during the
great rebellion, i. 159.

BLACK Cloaks, a political nickname
for a party in Naples, iii. 82.

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Curiosities of Literature, Volume 3