Catalogs of the Manuscript Books of England and Ireland Collected into One Volume

II. It seemed proper to compile all the manuscripts—whether of lesser or greater renown—into a catalog exactly as they occur in the Library. This was done because they may serve various uses and the different goals of curious men. Thus, those works which might seem negligible to one man might be exactly what another researcher seeks for his own purposes. Furthermore, when several different treatises occur in the same volume, if some of them are perhaps of lesser value, the worth of the others will compensate for it. But also, unless all are noted exactly as they appear in the Bodleian Library, they could not be easily found when requested. Moreover, if the catalogs sent to us from elsewhere (though we were not granted the chance to inspect all those books ourselves) were not included here, it would be considered an injustice to their contributors.

III. It must be admitted that not all the books in the Catalog have been described with as much care as the subject might allow. Truly, to accomplish that with the highest level of care would be neither the work of one man, nor of a short time. For who is there who is so skilled in so many languages, and possesses such abundant leisure, that he could examine them all and indicate what is noteworthy in each? Who could suggest which of these have been published or remain unpublished, and which editions they might serve to correct? Much less is there anyone who could—whether having inspected all those books or not—sufficiently determine at what time, in what place, or by which author each was written, if it is not expressly indicated in the codex A 'codex' is a bound manuscript book, as opposed to a scroll. itself?

IV. For this reason, an account must be given if errors have occurred in any of these entries. It is no wonder if it happens. Indeed, it cannot even be hoped that it would not happen occasionally. For one should not expect a work of this kind to be completed perfectly on the first attempt; rather, it is to be gradually perfected by the observations of various learned men. Indeed, anyone who deigns to supply what is missing here or correct what is erroneous—whether from his own observation or from having inspected other catalogs of manuscripts—will perform a grateful service. If these corrections are sent to us, they will be inscribed in our Catalog on interleaved pages Libraries often bound catalogs with blank 'interleaved' pages so that librarians could hand-write updates and corrections as they were discovered.; from there, anyone might transcribe them for his own use, and if a second edition of these works is ever produced, it will be able to come forth more fully and accurately.

V. As for typographical errors, the kind reader might either excuse them or correct them with his own pen. Indeed, it is a matter of regret that Dr. Bernard Edward Bernard (1638–1696) was a brilliant polymath and the driving force behind this catalog, but he died shortly before its publication. (who was well-suited for such a task) applied himself to this work so late in his declining years. He was seized by illnesses and infirmities, and finally snatched away, so that he was unable to finish the entire work or oversee the press so closely as to examine every page (as they were produced) to ensure they were not infected with flaws through the negligence of the workers. Meanwhile, care will be given to correcting these in the catalogs that stand in the Bodleian Library itself, intended for its immediate use.

I have further thought it necessary to advise that nothing of ostentation or private profit was intended by the University in this matter; nor was anything intended other than that this edition should serve the public benefit of fine literature. Notice was given early to the learned world, and care was taken so that the titles of manuscripts held in England and Ireland (in both public and private libraries) might be shared with the University. The matter proceeded with such success that the titles of nearly thirty thousand manuscripts appear in this catalog of ours. Yet, I do not think the matter is so exhausted that there are not another thirty thousand still to be found in England which are not mentioned in these catalogs.

We do not have a catalog of all those manuscripts which are in our sister University of Cambridge. We have the catalogs of those which are in four private college libraries there; but not so for the remaining colleges, nor for those in the common University Library of all. Instead, we have a brief catalog which Mr. James Thomas James (c. 1573–1629) was the first librarian of the Bodleian and a pioneering bibliographer. had collected many years ago. It seemed better to them that a catalog of their own works should be published separately by themselves, which we hope will happen eventually. And now we hear that they are working on it, so that, together with their own, they will release a catalog of those...