honour of that saint. It is the most elaborately-ornamented of all
Anglo-Saxon manuscripts; it is quite entire, and tells its own origin
and date. Two entries enable us to fix the date of the original Latin
book about 710; the interlinear Saxon gloss may be of the ninth century.

Locally connected with the Cottonian is the Harleian collection which
was formed by Robert Harley (1661-1724), Earl of Oxford; and it was
purchased for the British Museum in 1753. It contains, without name of
author (Harl. 3,859) the most ancient manuscript (tenth century) of that
"History of the Britons" which now bears the name of Nennius; a few
originals or good early copies of Saxon charters; some abbey registers,
and some Early-English poetry, especially a manuscript of Chaucer's
"Canterbury Tales" (Harley, 7,334), which some have thought to be the
oldest and best.

A name second only to Cotton is that of Archbishop Laud. He was a
collector of old and rare books in many languages, and we are indebted
to his care for some of the most valuable monuments of the
mother-tongue. He was president of St. John's College, Oxford, and he
had been educated there. Some valuable books he gave to his college, but
his larger donations were to the library of his university, of which he
became vice-chancellor in 1630. These books rest in the Bodleian
Library.


THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY

dates from the year 1598; and here we have an admirable guide in the
"Annals of the Bodleian Library," by Rev. W.D. Macray, whose annalistic
order we will follow.