1697 English History / Historians / 2-vol. Set Scarce

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1697 English History / Church Historians /2 vol. set Character & Lives of English Historians RARE 1st ed The title page to volume one of this scarce two volume first edition set reads, The English Historical Library: Or, a Short View and Character of most of the Writers Now Extant, either in Print or Manuscript; Which may be Serviceable to the Undertakers of a General History of this Kingdom. By William Nicolson, A.M. Arch Deacon of Carlisle. London, Printed for Abel Swall and T. Child, at the Unicorn, in St. Pauls Church Yard, M DC XCVI.

The title page to the second volume reads, The English Historical Library, Part II. Giving a Catalogue of the most of our Ecclesiastical Historians, and some Critical Reflections upon the chief of them. With a Preface; Correcting the Errors, and supplying the Defects of the former Part. By William Nicholson, A.M., Arch Deacon of Carlisle. London, Printed for Abel Swall at the Unicorn in St. Pauls ChurchYard, 1697.

The author of this work, William Nicolson or Nicholson (1655 1727), was a clergyman in the Church of England and a scholar in English history and antiquities. Educated at Queens College, Oxford, he learned German at Leipzig and later served in the church at Carlisle as prebendary and archdeacon. Later he became bishop, then transferred to Derry, where he built a large library of antiquarian volumes and manuscripts. His impulsive temperament may have created strife in his work as bishop, but it certainly fueled his zeal in collecting and preserving manuscripts.

Note that, although this eventually became a three volume series (the third volume was printed in 1699), the two volumes stand on their own.

The first volume deals with those English historians who wrote about specific geographical areas, about local topography, and about the arts, antiquities, and natural phenomena found in a certain area. This included particular counties, cities, and the great towns. It also included those historians who wrote about specific time periods in Englands history: ancient Britons and the Roman occupation, the Saxons and Danes, and the centuries following the Norman Conquest; and also those who wrote about the particular lives of English kings, starting at William the Conqueror.

The second volume deals with ecclesiastical historians, including those who wrote of certain time periods, and those whose subject was narrowed to certain bishoprics, monasteries, or universities. It also includes law historians (those who kept track of law books, records, and papers of state) and the biographers of English saints, churchmen, statesmen, and writers.

Nicolson notes in his preface that he strove to be impartial in his assessment of each historian, giving these writers the benefit of the doubt. And yet, where there is Manifest Cause of Complaint; where a writer is either scandalously Ignorant or Impertinent; where we have a Romance or Buffoonry trumpd upon us for good Sterling History; where a Bankrupt Plagiary sets up upon the borrowd Stock of an Industrious Author, or the like; there, I hope, a moderately keen Resentment will not be Interpreted as a Breath of any Commandment, either of the First or Second Table.

An excerpt from the first volume regarding histories of the life of the great King Alfred reads as follows:

The earliest Account we have of the Reign of this excellent Prince is owing to Asserius Menevensis; who lived in his Court, and is said to have been promoted by him to the bishoprick of Sherburn. This Treatise was first publisht by A. B. Parker, in the old Saxon Character, at the end of his Edition of Tho. Walsinghams History. This he did to invite his English Readers, and to draw them in unawares, to an Acquaintance with the Hand writing of their Ancestors, in hopes to beget in em (by degrees) a Love for the Antiquities of their own Country. Asserius wrote his Soveraigns Life no further than the 45th year of his age, which according to his computation, fell in the year of our Lord 893

Or this discussion of historians who wrote of Richard the Lion Heart:

Richard the Firsts Meritorious Expedition into the Holy Land gaind him so much Repute, that hes as highly extolld by the Monkish Writers of that and the following Ages, as his Father is reproachd for his Persecution of their St. Thomas. The chief Remarkables in his Life (that part of it especially which was spent in the Levant) are largely treated on by Rich. Divisiensis, [i.e. of the Devises in Wiltshire] a Monk of Winchester: Walter Constantiensis, Bishop of Lincoln, who accompanyd him in some of his Travels; Will. Peregrinnus, so calld from the Peregrination he also made in Attendance on this King; and Rich. Canonicus (Augustine Canon of St. Trinity in London) another of his Retinue. Jos. Isanus (or, of Exeter) had the like Curiosity; followd the Fortunes of his Prince in the Holy War; and, at his Return, celebrated his Acts in a Book which he thought fit to call Antiocheidos: Tis in Heroick Verse; and in a Style and Strain of Poetry, much beyond what one would expect to meet with in the Writings of that Age. John Leland (who thought himself as great a Master and Judge in Poetry as History) says of this Author, that he was Poeta Britannus omnibus Numeris Elegantissimus; and calls his Book Opus Immortale. His Life is also said to have been written by Stephen Langton (Archbishop of Canterbury) and Alexander de Hales the Famous School man. But we have not so particular Directions where to look for these as for an Anonymous Manuscript to the same purpose, in the Library of Magdalene College in Oxford.

Nicolson describes the records kept in various English cathedrals, as for example in Hereford:

That there were anciently several good old Register books belonging to this Cathedral, is beyond dispute. Sir H. Spelman quotes one of em; and we have heard of several others, besides that of Bishop Booth. The Library and Archives here fell under the like Misfortunes, during the Ravage of our late Days of Usurpation, with those of other Cathedral Churches: being made a very improper Prey to a Fanatical and Illiterate Army of Rebellious Blockheads. Amongst these Silas Taylor was an Officer of more than ordinary Fancy and Respect for Books and Learning; and, having gotten part of the Bishops Palace into his Possession, thought it was also convenient to seize as many Churches Evidences and Records, as he could possibly get into his Clutches. With these (and many of the like kind from the Church at Worcester) he troopd off, upon the happy return of our old English Government; and near Twenty Years afterwards, dyd with some of em in his Possession at Harwich. His Books and Papers, together with the other few Moveables he left behind, fell into the Hands of his Creditors; from whom (if any care was taken to preserve them) it will now be a very difficult Matter to retrieve them.

As Nicolson moves to a discussion of more recent church historians in his second volume, he grows more detailed, explaining the political winds that blew praises on some historians and criticism on others, depending on their point of view. Quite a fascinating read for anyone interested in history and historical writing, or how politics influences historical annals.

This is a wonderful sourcebook for anyone interested in English history, particularly as it refers to many works that are now available through Early English Books Online (EEBO) and other Internet sites. It also provides a fair bit of English history along the way!

Bound in the original paneled calf, this is a very attractive two volume set. Corners of covers are slightly bumped and rubbed, but covers are in general quite free from scratches, soiling, and rubbing. Gilt still present on outer dentelles. Hinges are quite firm, both inside and out, though leather is cracked along the front hinges, and the front hinge to volume 2 appears to have been repaired at some point. Spines have five raised bands and gilt volume numbers. Original endpapers, with armorial bookplates on inside front covers of W. Wynne (likely the Welsh historian William Wynne, c. 1671 1704, author of a History of Wales, 1697). W. Wynne is also inscribed on each title page; otherwise no owners or library marks. Pages are slightly toned and browned with age, though still crisp. All pages are present and tightly bound.

Each volume measures about 5 x 8 x 1 and has 232 and 233 pages, plus extensive prefatory material and indexes. NO RESERVE; winner pays postage for Priority Mail in US (more for international); see my end of auction e mail for specific rates. Satisfaction guaranteed. For other rare, unusual antiquarian books that begin at $9.99, see my auction listings.