Copies

Hull

Page 11 of the Hull University copy, featuring marginal annotations made by the twentieth-century editor George Thorn-Drury (1860–1931). Photograph captured by Richard G. Lamin, with kind permission from Hull University.
Folger 3

The front free flyleaf of the Folger 3 copy of English Treasury of Wit and Language, formerly owned by Isaac D’Israeli (1766–1848). Photograph by Abbie Weinberg. Reproduction courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Estill’s 2018 survey, published in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, includes an appendix with copy-specific information about annotations found within 33 copies of Cotgrave’s English Treasury of Wit and Language. Following the publication of her article, five previously uncatalogued copies of the book have come to light, two of which feature significant annotations reproducing the source information from William Oldys’s notes.

The following list presents notes for 38 copies of Cotgrave’s English Treasury. Notably, it contains records for previously unidentified copies held at Duke University, The Folger Shakespeare Library (Folger 3), The Free Library of Philadelphia, Hull University, and Stanford University.

Copies identified after the publication of Estill’s article are marked with an asterisk (*).

LIST OF COPIES

Birmingham Shakespeare Library, Library of Birmingham, S080

provenance:

  • Samuel Timmins (1826–1902)
    • A tipped-in clipping reads: “BIRMINGHAM FREE LIBRARIES. | REFERENCE DEPARTMENT. | Presented by Shakespeare Memorial Library | Committee per S. Timmins Esq. | Date April 17 / 89” [in print and manuscript].
    • The date of the donation and original catalogue number “100641” suggest that the copy arrived as a gift in response to the fire on 11 January 1879.
condition:

  • Rebacked on August 3, 1915, as indicated in a condition report (“RBK” and “3.8.15”).

Boston Public Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts, G. 3837.22

provenance:

  • John Harward of Stourbridge (d. ?), sold on 9 December 1858 (Sotheby’s, lot 319) to John Russell Smith, Soho Square, London, for £1 15s (Letters, Barton Collection, 7128/4).

  • Thomas Pennant Barton (1803–1869), purchased from John Russell Smith.
    • José Francisco Carret, Catalogue of the Miscellaneous Portion of the Barton Collection (Boston: Boston Public Library, 1888), p. 125.

British Library 1, 1451.c49

provenance:

  • William Oldys (1696–1761)

  • Edward Dalton (b. 1787), of Dunkirk House (bookplate), obtained before 1841.
    • The terminal annotation “pret o/t | Stroud | 1841” follows Dalton’s practice of dating and noting the location where he purchased or read a book (William Clark Library MS. 1950.015, fol. 54v ​).

  • William Harrison (1828–1879) described the copy with “MS. notes in [Oldys’s] autograph” in A Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of Shakespeariana (London: Thomas Richards, 1866), pp. 57–58.

  • The copy was purchased from the books of Harrison at Sotheby’s auction on 25 January 1881 (lot 818) by “Stetaler” (12s).

  • Accessioned before “19 FE 81” (stamp date).
    • P. R. Harris, “Identification of printed books acquired by the British Museum, 1753–1836,” in Giles Mandelbrote and Barry Taylor, eds, Libraries within the Library: The Origins of the British Library’s Printed Collections (London: British Library, 2009), pp. 387–423.
condition:

  • Imperfect, wanting pp. 309–311.

  • Annotated throughout, by William Oldys and others, with source information.

British Library 2, E. 1464(1.)

provenance:

  • George Thomason (c. 1602–1666), with a purchase date in his handwriting on the title page.

  • Accessioned in 1762 as a gift of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713–1792)
    • G. K. Fortescue, Catalogue of the pamphlets, books, newspapers, and manuscripts relating to the civil war, the commonwealth, and restoration, collected by George Thomason, 1640–1661, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1908), p. 1:111.
condition:

  • Dated “may ist” in George Thomason’s handwriting, referring to his date of acquisition (digitized, EEBO, ​).

  • Bound sympathetically with a Thomason-style binding.

British Library 3, G 16385

provenance:

  • Thomas Grenville (1755–1846)

  • Accessioned by the British Museum, after Grenville’s death.
    • John Thomas Payne and Henry Foss, eds., Bibliotheca Grenvilliana; or Bibliographical Notices of Rare and Curious Books, forming part of the library of the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1842), p. 2:830.
condition:

  • The copy is interleaved with additional extracts described in Wiggins, British Drama.

Cambridge University, Trinity College, Wren Library, (W) Capell X.2

provenance:

  • “John Bicton his booke” on title page, with “1668”.
    • “John” is a speculative reconstruction; it could be “Joshua.”

  • Edward Capell (1713–1781)
    • W. W. Greg, Catalogue of the Books Presented by Edward Capell to the Library of Trinity College in Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1903).
    • Marcus Walsh, Shakespeare, Milton and Eighteenth-Century Literary Editing: The Beginnings of Interpretive Scholarship (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997).
condition:

  • Greg writes that the “Shakespearian quotations have been marked by Capell” (p. 26).

  • Walsh adds that Capell has “marked the Shakespearean quotations with a marginal ‘S’” (p. 186).

Cornell University, Kroch Library Rare Books & Manuscripts, PN6080.C84

provenance:

  • “Thomas Newberry | his book. Ano domni 1682” (inscription verso free flyleaf before t.p.; digitized ​)

  • “R. R. Bucknoll” (inscription, p. 308)

  • “Cornell University Library: Bought with the income of the Sage Endowment Fund given in 1891 by Henry Williams Sage” (bookplate).

Dartmouth College, Rauner Special Collections Library, Rauner Hickmott 179

provenance:

  • “Ex Libris Frank Fletcher Vita Sine Literis Mors Est” (bookplate)

  • This might be the copy listed as “266” in the sale of Marshall C. Lefferts’s books (21 Apr. 1902), described as “8vo, blue crushed levant morocco, panelled sides, gilt edges, by Ramage” (p. 48), sold for $62.50 according to American Book Prices Current (p. 8:116).

  • A copy appears for sale with a similar description, bound by Ramage, in Anderson Galleries, Catalogue of the Shakespeare Library Formed by an English Collector (Sale Number 1334, 13 Feb. 1918), p. 59, lot 246.

  • “DARTMOUNT | College Library | The Hickmott Collection … This volume | was bequeathed to the College by | Allerton Cushman Hickmott 1917” (bookplate; annotation “Hickmott 179” on verso of t.p.).

* Duke University, Rubenstein Library, PN6080.C6 1655 c.1

provenance:

  • George Chalmers (1742–1825) (bookplate)

  • Sylvain Van De Weyer (1802–1874) (bookplate), sells to “Dobell” for “4 7 6” (Sotheby’s, 10 July 1916, p. 32, lot 364).

  • P. M. Pittar, of 14 Cleveland Square (N.D.), sold at Sotheby’s, 17 December 1919, no. 75, p. 12, described “old calf gilt, from the Chalmers and Van de Weyer libraries, rare.”

  • George D. Smith (1870–1920), in Selections from the Arbury Library and Other Purchases in London and Paris of the Late George D. Smith, Anderson Galleries, Sale Number 1580, 28–29 April 1921, 14, lot 79, “With bookplates of Geo. Chalmers and Sylvain Van De Weyer.”

  • Herschel V. Jones (1861–1928), “LATER LIBRARY OF | HERSCHEL V. JONES” (book ticket), sold Anderson Galleries Sale Number 1699, 23 January 1923, p. 22, lot 60, “Small 8vo, old calf (rubbed)”.

  • George Arents, Jr. (1875–1960); bookplate, with handwritten note indicating deaccessioning from the Arents Collection, “Duplicate”, Acc. No. “3605,” “Catalog No. 256” (print and manuscript).

Dulwich College Library, from the Fellows’ Library

provenance:

  • In the library since the 17th century (binding).

  • W. K. Miller, Catalogue of the Library of Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift at Dulwich (London: Spottiswoode & Co., 1880), p. 148.

Folger Shakespeare Library 1, C6368 [formerly listed as copy 2, pre-December 2019]

provenance:

  • J. Herbert Foster, of Providence, Rhode Island (d. before 1922), sold Anderson Galleries, Sale Number 1643, 14 March 1922, p. 15, lot 45.

  • Henry Clay Folger, Jr. (1857–1930), purchased by Gabrielle Wells, bookseller, for £45, marked up from the auction bid, £35 (provenance file “cs1054”; additional information in “First Folio folder,” no. 21).

  • The bookplate and binders’ ticket have been removed; black morocco binding with stamping in gold; the spine reads “TREASURY | OF WIT & | LANGUAGE | BY COTGRAVE | LONDON | 1665 [sic]”.
condition:

  • Detailed annotations with references for 1,663 of 1,701 extracts of the book, with 1,662 identified correctly (digitized samples: ​, ​).

  • Each reference appears with an act-scene number, in the format “1 Hen. 4. 1.2” (1.6), or with a signature reference, in the format “The Bride H.3.” (1.1).

Folger Shakespeare Library 2, C6368 [formerly listed as copy 1, shelf mark 267882]

provenance:

  • “T. Holt White” (1724–1797) (inscription, on front free flyleaf)

  • Contains a clipping of a sale advertisement for lot “9449” at “1l. 5s.”, described as “neat, very scarce” (recto of leaf before t.p.).

  • “Alg. Holt White, — 30th. Jan.ry 1824” (inscription)

  • J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps (1820–1889) (inscription effaced) (also ancillary, “C+P. J. O. H-P.”)
    • Ernest E. Baker, ed. A Calendar of Shakespearean Rarities … preserved at Hollingsbury Copse, near Brighton, 2nd ed. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), pp. 58–59 (item 160), described “Olive morocco, super extra, blind and gold panelled sides after the antique, gilt leaves, by F. Bedford”.

  • Henry Clay Folger (1857–1930)

* Folger Shakespeare Library 3, C6368

provenance:

  • Isaac D’Israeli (1766–1848), obtained before 1841, when mentioned in a footnote to Amenities of Literature, 3 vols (Edward Moxon, 1841):
    • Cotgrave “neglected to furnish the names of the dramatic writers from whom he drew the passages. Oldys, with singular diligence, succeeded in recovering these numerous sources, which I transcribed from his manuscript notes” (p. 3:42, footnote “*”).
    • Sold at auction following D’Israeli’s death to “Bumstead” (Sotheby’s, 16 March 1849), “195 Cotgreave (Jo.) English Treasury of Wit and Language, MS notes by I. D’Israeli”, price £1 11s 6d.

  • Joseph Tasker (c. 1797–1861), and sold after his death to “Smith” (Sotheby’s, 13 November 1862), “2315 Cotgrave (J.) Another Copy, with the same notes”.

  • George Smith Esq. of 21 Russell Square (d. 1878), purchased by “Quaritch” at auction (10 July 1867, Sotheby’s), where described 1703. … “Isaac D’Israeli’s copy, with the authorities for the passages neatly transcribed in his autograph from Oldys’s calf”.

  • Charles V. Wheeler of Washington, D.C., sold among the books of his collection at Walpole Galleries, on 29 July 1919, where described “258. … 12mo, old calf. Very Scarce, containing many extracts from Shakespeare and other noted writers. This copy has the author and name of piece from which quotation has been made written in, and a pencilled note on the fly-leaf states that it was Isaac Disraeli’s copy who noted the authors and pieces from Douce’s copy which contained Oldys’ mss. notes” (p. 28).

  • Henry Clay Folger (1857–1930), obtained, through an agent, who created a catalogue record for the copy, where it is described “Isaac Disraeli’s copy, who has copied in from Douce’s copy Oldys’ mss. notes. … 258 Walpole sale, July 29, 1919.”
condition:

  • Annotated throughout, with source information based on the notes of William Oldys and others.

  • Pencil markings on the back pastedown, confirming the Tasker and Smith sales (digitized ​).

* Free Library of Philadelphia, William McIntire Elkins Literary Collection, RBD ELKLIT C826E 1685

provenance:

  • F. Dawson Brodie (bookplate); described in American Book-Prices Current, as sold for $48.00 at an auction on 24 May 1916 (lot 71) (1916 vol.,181).

  • Beverly Chew (1850–1924), sold at Anderson Galleries, Sale Number 1890, 8–9 December 1924, p. 36, lot 89, described “Small 8vo, crimson crushed levant morocco, richly gilt, dentelle borders on sides, gilt edges, by Roger De Coverly. Title-page very neatly extended on lower margin. Fine copy. With the F. [sic] Dawson Brodie bookplate. There are several quotations from Shakespeare.”

  • William McIntire Elkins (1882–1947) (gift to library)
condition:

  • The book’s binding was done by the firm “R. de Coverly” (1831–1914).

Harvard University, Houghton Library, HOU 14436.46.30

provenance:

  • Thomas Campbell (1777–1844) (inscription on t.p.)

  • John Pearson (N.D.), sold by Sotheby’s, part 2, 28 January 1914, p. 26, lot 150, to “Hopkin” for “£8 5s” (Book-Prices Current, Part II, 1914, p. 220).

  • William Beattie (N.D.), described as “‘Thos. Campbell’ written on the title ... from the library of John Pearson” (Sotheby’s, 10 Nov. 1924, p. 24, no. 191).

  • Top fore-edge corner of front free flyleaf, partially visible in pencil, “ESF: $125.00”.

  • Harvard College Library bookplate: “Given in memory of Lionel de Jersey Harvard, class of 1915, killed in action, Boisleau-aux-Mont, France, March 30, 1918” (HOLLIS).
    • Entered the collection in 1926 (annotation beneath the donation stamp, “April. 27. 1926”).
condition:

  • Bound by Francis Bedford (1799–1883) (stamp, fore-edge corner; top of leaf, front free flyleaf, “BOUND BY F. BEDFORD”).

Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, Rare Books 120918

provenance:

  • “Bridgewater Library,” of the Edgerton Family (the “large” bookplate, dated “1898”).

  • Catalogue sticker “31 / B8” (fore-edge corner of the reverse of the front board).

  • Typed description as a paste-in on the reverse of the front board “... 1665. Sm 8vo. morocco super extra, | gilt edges, 31. 15s. | This rare volume is to the post-|Elizabethan Poets what Allot’s ‘Eng-|land Parnassus’ was to those of an | earlier date” (“31” might mean “£3”).
condition:

  • Backed late 19th century.

  • The binding is “not characteristic of Bridgewater” (e-mail from curator Stephen Tabor).

  • Textblock reinforced with tissue.

  • Thumbprint on sig. R2r (foot, fore-edge).

* Hull University, Brynmor Jones Library, Rare Books, s PN 6081 C8

provenance:

  • George Thorn-Drury (1860–1931)
    • At the Thorn-Drury sale at Sotheby’s, of 23 November 1931, the copy was described as having “the source[s] of nearly all the quotations written in by the late owner, title in facsimile, last two leaves slightly defective and mended, a few headlines and numerals shaved, and joints weak” (p. 199, no. 1674).

  • Part of order “4940” from a Blackwell’s catalogue, purchased for “7/10/--” with a 10% discount on 3 March 1932 (e-mail, curator Richard G. Lamin).
condition:

  • This copy features extensive annotations throughout, which now can be attributed to the twentieth-century editor.

  • The title-page is in pen facsimile; significant repairs to X4.

Library of Congress, PN6080.C6

provenance:

  • Annotated with the name “Atkins” on the title page, dating back to the 17th century.
    • The annotator changes “John” to “Johannes” in the Latin spelling of the name.

  • Accessioned between 1 December 1861 and 1 December 1862, as documented in the Catalogue of Additions Made to the Library of Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1862), p. 32.
condition:

  • Estill has described this as a “washed copy” (“Urge to Organize,” p. 72), based on the curator’s assessment (e-mail).

  • Rebound in modern buckram.

National Library of Scotland, NG.1586.h.24

provenance:

  • The Society of Writers to the Signet, founded in 1594.

  • Catalogue of the Library of the Writers to His Majesty’s Signet, 4 vols (Edinburgh, 1826–1833).
condition:

  • Bound in leather by the Signet Library; gilt stamp on front board.

  • With “contemporary Xs” throughout the text (p. 3:32) (digitized, ​).

Newberry Library, Case Y 006.19

provenance:

  • “William his booke” (inscription, ancillary free flyleaf)

  • “G. Salln” (inscription, endpapers)

  • “Iohn Berry” (17th or 18th century; inscription, p. 200)

  • “John Bowles” (17th or 18th century; inscription, p. 76)
    • “John Bowles” may be Rev. John Bowle (N.D.), whose books were sold by B. White & Son on 19 Jan. 1790, and who compiled a list of the authors of Englands Parnassus (digitized, ​).

  • Frederick William Cosens (1819–1889) (bookplate)

  • George Thorn-Drury (1860–1931), sold Sotheby’s, 15 June 1931, p. 148, no. 1271.
condition:

  • Imperfect, wanting pp. 303–306.

  • There is an ink sketch of a face with many eyes and calculations on the reverse of the top board.

  • Pencil on recto of lower board, “12.25.18”, and “123 | 456 | 798” in a square formation.

New York Public Library, Arents 256

provenance:

  • Henry B. H. Beaufoy, FRS (1786–1851) (bookplate)

  • Charles Whibley (1859–1930) (bookplate)

  • George Arents, Jr. (1875–1960), Acc. No. 7004”, “Cat. No. 256” (print and manuscript).
condition:

  • Bound by Roger Payne (pencil note, front flyleaf).

  • Corner pieces of two flowers struck through by an arrow with circles on both sides.

Northwestern University, Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, 808.8 C843

provenance:

  • William Twopeny Jr., of Woodstock Park, Sittingbourne (1797–1873)
    • At the posthumous sale of Twopeny’s books (Sotheby’s, 26 May 1902, lot 201), the item sold to “Pickering” (“£12 10s”)

  • Catalogue of a valuable Collection of Books, by or Relating to Shakespeare, Sotheby’s, 25 May 1905, lot 4431 (same description).

  • An item of a similar description appears in Pickering & Chatto, English Literature Noted Bibliographically and Biographically (London, 1923), p. 68.

  • “JUN 11 1931” (library stamp).
condition:

  • Extensively annotated with source information from Oldys’s copy now at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Oxford University, Bodleian Library 1, Douce CC223

provenance:

  • “Will.m Oldys, 1730” (title page)
    • The same inscription and date can be found on the title page of Oldys’s copy of Englands Parnassus (London, 1600), now Folger Shakespeare Library, STC 378 copy 1 (​).

  • Pasted on the reverse of the upper board is a printed clipping that reads, “4819 Cotgrave’s English Treasury of Wit and Language collected out of the most and best of our English Drammatick Poems, 2l 2s 8vo, 1655.”

  • Francis Douce (1757–1834)

  • In Douce’s possession from 1807.
    • William Beloe writes in Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, 6 vols (F. C. & J. Rivington, 1807–1814), “Of this book Mr. Douce possesses the copy which belonged to Oldys; who was at the pains to trace each quotation to its original author, and has inscribed the writer’s name beneath each passage” (p. 1:246).

  • First catalogued as part of Douce’s donation to the Bodleian Library before 1840.
    • Catalogue of the printed books and manuscripts bequeathed by Francis Douce, Esq., to the Bodleian Library (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1840), p. 74.
condition:

  • Annotated throughout, by William Oldys and others, with source information.

Oxford University, Bodleian Library 2, 87P 19(1) Art. BS

provenance:

  • Humphrey Moseley (d. 1661)

  • Included in a sammelband along with two other books published by Humphrey Moseley, which were roughly contemporaneous with its printing: The Life of the Most Learned Father Paul, of the Order of the Servie (H. Moseley, 1651) and The Secretary in Fashion, Or, an Elegant and Compendious Way of Writing All Manner of Letters (H. Moseley, 1654).

  • It is possible that the Bodleian Library received these three books, each printed for Moseley, as part of their arrangement as a British deposit library.
condition:

  • Bound in the 17th century, with “Bibl. Bodl. Oxon” written in ink on the recto of the first leaf of each book.

  • The current shelfmark is written on the fore-edge of the volume.

Princeton University, Rare Books and Special Collections, 3577.239

provenance:

  • A pencil notation on the back cover suggests that Princeton University Libraries acquired the copy in 1964.

  • A preliminary message on the leaf before the t.p. (recto) reads “See Beloe’s Anecdotes | vol 1st. page 266”.

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Record Office, SR 95.2

provenance:

  • Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort (1629–1700), or Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort (1684–1714) (bookplate).

  • The copy was acquired by the Trust in November 1983, according to custodial records.

* Stanford University, Rare Book Collection PN6081 .C68 1655

provenance:

  • “W.W.H.” (initials stamped into leather turn-in on front board)

  • “James Hustler of Acklam in Cleveland in the North Riding of the County of York Esqr. 1730” (armorial bookplate on title page verso)

  • “E. M. Cox” (bookplate)

  • John L. Clawson (1865–1933) (bookplate), sold Anderson Galleries, 20 May 1926, Sale Number 157, “$75.00”.
    • Seymour de Ricci, A Catalogue of Early English Books in the Library of John L. Clawson[,] Buffalo (Philadelphia & New York: Rosenbach Company, 1924), described “Original brown calf,” noting that “E. M. Cox” refers to “the collection of Dr. E[dwin]. Marion Cox (Pickering and Chatto, Cat. 188, 1920, n. 2547)” (p. 53, no. 157).

  • Robert S. Pirie (1934–2015)
    • This copy appeared recently at Sotheby’s as one of “Eight works”, in lot 660 ($3,500, 2 Dec. 2015) (​).

University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library Special Collections, PN 6173

provenance:

  • J. L. Appleton, New York (N.D.), advertised in The Book Buyer, 3rd ser., vol. 13 (1896), as for sale by “J. L. APPLETON, 27 Seventh St., New York City”, described as a 12mo for “$75.00”, the “First work of the kind, con-|taining quotations from many dramatic pieces now probably lost. | Well worthy of being carefully edited and republished” (p. 1023).

  • Henry Clay Folger, Jr (1857–1930), purchased from Appleton’s books, as lot 343 of Catalogue of the Private Library of the late John L. Appleton of New York City (Anderson, Sale Number 91, 24 February 1902), where it is described as “12 mo, full green morocco. London, 1665 [sic]. *Fine copy of this scarce work, the first of its kind, containing quotations from | many dramatic pieces now lost” (p. 28), price $22.00.

  • Originally listed as Copy 4 of the Folger Shakespeare Library, provenance file “cs72” “green morocco | gt edges” (card catalogue), before being sold to “Quaritch” as lot 166 of the duplicates sale, “headline on p. 310 cropped, 19th century green morocco, gilt inside borders, g.e.” (p. 37), for “58”.

  • On the back endpaper is the number 72, and “collated & perf. by Quaritch GB”, with the duplicates stamp “F.S.L. Dupl”.

University of California, Los Angeles, Clark Library, PR 3369.C28 E5

provenance:

  • On the top right-hand corner of the recto of the free endpaper could be a “T” or “S” and the number 2.

  • On the back paste-down is written “S 5/37”, and what appears to be “uosuo”, which may be booksellers’ code.

  • Purchased from Maggs Bros. in 1939 (institutional records).

University of Chicago, Special Collections, Rare Books, PN6082.C76

provenance:

  • Henry White (c. 1761–1836)
    • When the University of Chicago bookplate was removed for this survey, a note written by Henry White and added to by Robert Nares was revealed. The note reads “R. NARES. | the Gift of | (Henry White | Close Lichfield | October 12th | 1809) | March. 1812”.

  • Robert Nares (1753–1829) [underlined, in the above note], sold “590 Cotgrave’s English Treasury of Wit and Language, 1655” (Evans, 25 Nov. 1829).
    • Ancillary notes on the verso facing the back paste-down feature commentary evidently intended for Nares, A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, &c. (London: R. Triphook, 1822).

  • John Mitford (1781–1859)
    • There are two notes by John Mitford, dated “1834” (not 1814) and “June 1850”, on the front free fly leaf.

  • Henry F. Sewall, of New York (1816–1896), sold Sotheby’s, 9 November 1896, p. 44, lot 864, described “Mitford’s copy. 12mo, calf” (“864”, pencil, reverse of front board).

  • William August White (1843–1927)
    • Henrietta C. Bartlett, Catalogue of Early English Books, Chiefly of the Elizabethan Period (New York: W. A. White, 1926), where she notes the ownership “White–Nares–Mitford” (p. 26).
    • Name and date appears in pencil on the copy (above Mitford’s first note; effaced and faded).

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, X 821.08 C826E

provenance:

  • “Edward …” (inscription)

  • University of Illinois’s records indicate that the copy was purchased “on the 15th of November, 1938, from a bookseller or company named ‘Last.’”

University of Leeds, Brotherton Library Special Collections, Lt d COT

provenance:

  • James Bindley (1739–1818)
    • Initials “J.B.” 1793 on recto before t.p. Note reads: “Scarce. This is the first Florilegium | that was publish’d in our | Language, the fore-runner | of Poole, Bysshe, Hayward | &c __ J.B. | 1793.”
    • Notes from the sale (Evans, 7 Dec. 1818, lot 1247), indicate the copy sold to Perry.

  • James Perry (1756–1821)
    • At whose sale it either sold to “Thorpe” for 11s (Evans, 16 May 1822, part 3, p. 2, lot 28), or to “Thorpe” for £1 (4 March 1822, part 1, p. 27, lot 781).

  • George Hibbert (1757–1837)
    • Sold by Evans, 16 March 1829, p. 111, lot 1974, described with the quotation “The first Florilegium in our Language, I.B. … cald, gilt leaves”; “c.p. 1854. Irlf” (pencil, ancillary free flyleaf).

  • William Henry Miller (1789–1848)
    • As item 41 of his sale, which notes the edges by Smith and the “Note by J. Bindley”. The copy was sold to “Bumstead” for £1 4s.

  • George Smith, of 21 Russell Square (d. 1878)
    • Sold 10 July 1867 (Sotheby’s), where it is described “Scarce, see autograph note on fly-leaf of J. Bindley, at whose sale this copy sold for £3. 13s. 6d” (p. 97, lot 1702).
    • Sold to “Pickering” at the Smith sale for £2 2s; “c&p 19 7 87” (pencil, ancillary free flyleaf).

  • Henry F. Sewall (1816–1896), sold Bang and Co., New York, 9 November 1896, part 1, p. 73, lot 863, sold for “11”, described “12mo, calf, by Chas. Smith (rubbed)”; “1897, no. 179” (pencil, ancillary free flyleaf).

  • Henry Clay Folger (1857–1930)
    • At the Duplicates Sale of the Folger Shakespeare Library, the copy appears as lot “165” purchased by “Quaritch” for £50 (22 June 1964).

University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Furness Collection, C43.2 C82

provenance:

  • “Delamere House, Northwich, Cheshire,” the Wilbraham family (bookplate).

  • In The Library of Major H. C. Wilbraham and the “Bewick” Collection of the late Edw. B. Mounsey, Esq. (19 Mar. 1928, no. 19), sold by Sotheby’s for £8.

  • A matching description appears among “other properties” with the books of “Mrs. M. L. Simpson,” sold at Sotheby’s on 10 Dec. 1928 (p. 28, no. 797); “sold not subject to return”.

  • Mr. Henry N. Paul (1863–1954), gift to the Horace Howard Furness memorial (bookplate).

  • There appears to be a bookplate under that of Delamere House.
condition:

  • Textual annotations throughout, identifying Cotgrave’s editorial alterations to the text.

University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center, Pforz 22 PFZ

provenance:

  • Henry Cunliffe (1826–1894) (bookplate)

  • Herschel V. Jones (1861–1928) (bookplate), described as lot 371 in the Jones sale (2 Dec. 1918, part 1), sold for “$52.00” (p. 103).

  • Carl H. Pforzheimer (1879–1957)
    • The Carl. H. Pforzheimer Library English Literature 1475–1700 (Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, & Heritage Book Shop, Inc., 1997), pp. 1:218–19 (no. 220).

  • A copy appears for sale with a similar description, bound by Riviere with the Cunliffe bookplate, in Anderson Galleries, Catalogue of the Shakespeare Library Formed by an English Collector (Sale Number 1334, 13 Feb. 1918, p. 60, lot 247).

University of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Rare Book B-12 00236

provenance:

  • John Sheepshanks (1787–1863)
    • Bookplate dated by hand “1852.”

  • Clarence S. Bemens (1843–1923) (bookplate)

  • Accessioned before “18/8/1994” (MARC record).
condition:

  • A bookbinders’ ticket in the top fore-edge corner behind the upper board reads “J. MILLIGAN | BOOK-SELLER | 13 BLENHEIM PALACE | LEEDS” (digitized, ​).

Wellesley College, Special Collections, English Poets x

provenance:

  • “Abice. Holbrooke” (inscription, t.p.)

  • “David Williams” (inscription, above “To the Courteous | READER”), “End of | the Book | 1818,” in Williams’s handwriting (?), sig. X4r (p. 311).

  • “Murray” (?) on sig. X4v.

  • George Herbert Palmer (1842–1933)
    • A Catalogue of Early and Rare Editions of English Poetry, Collected and presented to Wellesley College (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923), p. 140, described as “Black morocco back, paper sides.”

Williams College, Chapin Library of Rare Books, Wing C6368

provenance:

  • Alfred Clark Chapin (1848–1936)
    • Purchased on 6 September 1917 from James F. Drake, New York (bookseller; college records).

  • Two shelfmarks on the inside upperboard “B 6” and “CC”.

Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Hap28 655c

provenance:

  • “Robert Smith | 1720” (annotation), with mathematical calculations, and other writing, on the verso of the end free flyleaf—reproduced in Estill 2018 (p. 61; digitized ​).

  • Beverley Chew (1850–1924) (bookplate), sold Anderson Galleries, Sale Number 1699, 23 January 1923, p. 22, lot 60.

  • Albert H. Childs (bookplate, “ALBERT H CHILDS | YALE ’61”); “4606” in pencil, fore-edge, bottom corner of the verso facing the t.p.; head of page, price “$60.00.”

  • Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927), in whose catalogue a description appears, “With the Beverly Chew bookplate,” “full calf antique, carmine edges” (Anderson Galleries, 24 Apr. 1918, p. 22, lot 84).
condition:

  • Annotated with source information next to 6.6, 7.2, 127.4, 140.6, 186.8, 201.5–, 224.4–, 238.3–, 274.5, 281.6, and 282.5.