University of Virginia Library

V. Historical Associations: The Charles I Copy

In his account of certain notable copies of the Second Folio Professor Smith hurries over what was, for him, a relatively unimportant exemplar of "Allot 5" to humble himself before two others which he had exalted in the rank of "Allot 1". One of these was a copy first owned by King George III, then given to Dr. Burney when the latter withdrew his bid for the Allot 5 in question, eventually acquired by James Lenox, the American collector, and finally deposited at the New York Public Library. The other, once in the library of Thomas Howard, second Earl of Arundel, was donated to the Royal Society and thence passed through Sotheby's into oblivion. Both of these "treasures," as Smith calls them, were at various times offered to the British Museum, and both were as many times refused. Such persistent evidence of disrespect, though excused by Smith as occurring before the enlightenment of his "scientific bibliography," was nevertheless deplored on the grounds that the Museum had thereby denied itself the opportunity of acquiring copies immeasurably superior to those already in its collection.

A reversal in the order of variants puts an end to this solicitude as quite ill-advised and allows an entirely different interpretation. Where the Museum authorities had once been admonished they are now to be congratulated, for with a sagacity not given to Shakespeare's professed bibliographers they have been careful to accept only the states proved to be the first—an a, two bs, and a c—and to reject on every occasion the unsightly specimens now demonstrated to be of subsequent issue. The same discrimination appears in the selections made for the other principal British libraries: all possess one or more copies of a or b, only a few the

copies identified as of issue II (and these, no doubt, only at the insistence of misguided benefactors), and none the copies described as of issue III. Most of II and all of III were cast aside as the scraps to be gobbled up in the American market.

Another consequence of this reversal is that the "Allot 5" Smith had slighted many years ago finally assumes its rightful position, not only as a, the first in the series of states in the initial issue, but as the only known exemplar with a provenance extending from the very date of publication to the present time. This is the book formerly in the possession of King Charles I and now, after many vicissitudes, in repose with other remarkable volumes in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. For the privilege of offering a summary account of this historic copy and a record of the inscriptions which it bears I am deeply indebted to Sir Owen Morshead, Librarian to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

As a representative of the a state this book, along with others similarly distinguished, was separated from the b group retained by the printers and dispatched first to Robert Allot, the chief proprietor. Some time before the day of publication Allot honored the custom[61] of forwarding the selected copy to the King's bindery, where it was suitably covered in morocco and gilt and then presented with a ceremony befitting the occasion. As even Milton was to admit, the King soon became a confirmed admirer of Shakespeare, no doubt as the direct result of this presentation, and in the enforced seclusion of his latter days often resorted to the book as "the closest companion of these his solitudes."[62]

Toward the end of his stay at St. James's Palace Charles entrusted to Sir Thomas Herbert, his retainer, all the possessions which were then his to bestow—his books, his cabinet, his cloak, and his large silver watch[63]— and all of these Herbert faithfully preserved until his own death in 1682, when they were dispersed and, with the exception of the Folio, subsequently lost from view.

An inscription in the copy testifies that it next appeared at the auction of Dr. Richard Mead's library in 1754, where it was purchased by Mead's friend and disciple Dr. Anthony Askew. Upon the death of Askew it was again placed on sale and bought by George Steevens at what he justly considered to be an "enormous price," unequalled at this time,[64] but soon to

reach over thrice that amount when it was eventually purchased in 1800, at the Steevens sale, by a representative of George III. Not until the bidding had gone to £18-18-0 was it made known that the King desired the book, at which disclosure the participants, Charles Burney among them, immediately withdrew their offers. And so, after its strange and varied adventures, this precious volume was returned to the Royal Library, there to remain until today.

Table V

Notations in the Charles I Copy

Numbers indicate order of inscriptions, letters their position as R right, C center, L left.

Notation

• I. Recto of end-paper
  • 1C C/L
  • 2C Aut Æternum | Aut Nihil
  • 2R αα | T H
  • 3L 2.54
• Comment
  All notations apparently in the same hand. alpha alpha | Thomas Herbert? Shelf mark?

II. Recto of flyleaf between end-paper and A1

       

1C	Dum spiro Spero | CR	By Charles I
2C	347 Shakespeare's Works, bound in Morocco leather, gilt leaves, | 1632 | In this Book, is the writing of King Charles the First in | these Words; Dum Spiro Spero, C. R. also in Mr. Her- | bert's Hand; ex Dono serenissinti Regis Car. servo suo | Humiliss. T. Herbert	Clipping from Askew catalogue
3C	Bought at the Sale of Dr Antony Askew | Feby. 14th. 1775, at the enormous price of | Five pounds Ten shillings | George Steevens. | It appears that Dr. Askew purchased this | book at Dr Mead's Sale for £2..12..6.	Note by Steevens
4R	Ex dono serenissi. Regis. Car. | servo suo humiliss°. | THerberto.	Herbert's acknowledgement: Ex dono serenissimi Regis Caroli servo suo humillimo.

     

5R	1 {Sr. Tho. Herbert was Master of | the Revels to K. Charles. I.	Note by Steevens. Parentheses and numerals in another hand.
6R	2{This is a mistake he having been | Groom of the Bedchamber to K. Charles I.| but Sir Henry Herbert was Master of the | Revels	Correction by George III
7C	The two lines marked No. 1. were written | by Mr. Stevens, at whose Sale this Book was | purchased; and the Correction marked | No. 2. was made and written by his late | Majesty George III. | JH. Glover. Fred: Aug: Barnard | Librarian.	Note in the handwriting of John Hulbert Glover, assistant and successor to Frederick Augusta Barnard, the librarian to George III.

III. Title-page, A2r, reproduced in this study. Notation, by Herbert, is "Pawb yn eu Aruer," the motto of one branch of the Herbert family (teste L. W. Hanson).

IV. A Catalogue of all the Comedies . . ., * 4v. Marginalia indicating page numbers for the several plays and, opposite those in which they appear, the names of the following characters: "Bennedik & Betrice", "Piramus & Thisby", "Rosalinde", "Mr Paroles", and "Malvolio". It has been thought, and so reported, that as these are the only references in an unknown hand they might be in the script of Ben Jonson; but Sir Owen Morshead informs me, on the authority of Dr. Percy Simpson, that this is not the case.

[Since writing this I have received, through Sir Owen's good offices, a communication supplied by J. F. Kermode of the University of Reading to the effect that these inscriptions may also be in the hand of King Charles. See Farmer's note as corrected in Steevens' edition of Shakespeare (1778), IV, 283-284, and Warton's note as corrected in Todd's edition of Milton (1842), IV, 371.]