[HYDE (Thomas)]

Catalogus Impressorum Librorum Bibliothecae Bodleianae in Academia Oxoniensi.

      E Theatro Sheldoniano, Oxford. 1674. First Edition First Edition, folio, [xii],480,[2 blank],272,[2]pp., engraved vignette of Sheldonian Theatre on title-page, engraved headpieces and initial letters, the errata leaf covering both parts is present at the end, lacks the rear free endpaper, there are three superimposed bookplates on the front endpaper and a previous owner has added, in French, on the renewed front endpapers, a brief account of Bodley’s diplomatic career for la Reine Elizabeth, together with a listing of each of the personages represented on the vignette title decorations that head each of the letter sections, some light foxing on preliminary leaves, contemporary panelled vellum with blind-stamped arabesque centrepiece on covers, front joint cracked, cords intact, upper cover slightly warped. Hyde, 1636-1703, celebrated Orientalist and chief librarian of the Bodleian Library, produced in the present work the results of nine years’ scholarship. Hyde’s catalogue, the third of the Bodleian Library, was the most complete and informative catalogue of its time, a pioneer in form, which described the largest existing store of substantial books. The work, dived into two parts, is appropriately dedicated to Archbishop Selden, being printed in the Theatre which the Archbishop had recently built.The volume was of such general utility that the Convocation presented it to Cosimo de Medici, and in an interleaved copy was the only one in use at the Mazarine Library until as late at 1761. The handsome, impressive folio is a milestone in the history of library catalogues. Breslauer & Folter 69; Pollard & Ehrman 318; Wing 0864.