Bibles And Statutes . . . And Charles Calvert

Were it not for Charles Calvert, today’s post would be almost entirely Bibles and Acts of Assembly, with a psalter and some Common Prayer books thrown in for good measure.

Charles Calvert, Esquire, appraised sometime before August 1737:

• Sundry books Viz. Telemaque, D^r. Hickes Education of a Daughter, a Companion for the Festivals & fasts of the Church of England, The whole duty of man, the rule & Exercise of holy Living

You see?  Charles Calvert starts the day with a bang, setting a high standard that none of today’s other libraries even approaches.  First we have:

Frontispiece and title page of a 1715 English translation

And then there’s:

Note that both of these books are the work of François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai.  Dr. Hickes is credited with ‘putting [the latter] into an English dress’ – but he doesn’t exactly get a glowing review from the publishers of this edition, who inform the reader that they ‘are sensible that this translation is far from that elegance, that might have been expected in one revised by a person of Dr. Hickes’ [sic] learning.’

Next up is:

This is an edition from 1791; the others had much less interesting covers.

Followed by our old friend:

And finishing up with:

Charles Calvert was clearly a fan of instructional literature.

Mr. John King, appraised sometime before August 1737:

• 7 old Acts of Assembly
• 1 Ditt^o bound

This is an additional inventory – either these books of statutes escaped the appraisers notice the first time around or somebody had borrowed them.

Justinian Barwell, appraised April 1737:

• 3 Books

James Thomasman, appraised May 1737:

• 1 old common prayer book

Doctor George Burch, appraised July 1737:

• a parcell of old books

Richard Wise, appraised July 1737:

• 1 Common prayer book

John Leonard, appraised August 1737:

• 1 old broken Bible
• 1 old Salter
• 1 history

John Leonard’s Bible is not shattered, mind you – just broken.

John Sparks, appraised June 1737:

• 8 books

Mr. Dominick Carroll, appraised August 1736:

• a p^rcel of old books

Zachariah Wade, appraised sometime before September 1737:

• a p^rcel of old books

Mr. William Comegys, Gent., appraised September 1736:

• a parcel Books very old
• a large Book intituled the Collection of Sundry Statutes &c^a
• A p^rcel books pretty well bound

More statutes –– and I thought I’d be able to turn up this book, but the closest I could find is A Collection of Several Acts and Statutes Relating to Her Majesty’s Revenue of Ireland.  Unfortunately, I do not know enough about Mr. Comegys to speculate whether this title is relevant.

Alexander Johnson, appraised sometime before May 1737:

• 1 large Bible
• 1 small D^o
• 1 old D^o
• 1 Book the Baptismal Covenant
• 3 old Books

Thomas Bray, author of A Short Discourse Upon the Doctrine of Our Baptismal Covenant

William Blackiston, appraised June 1737:

• a parcel of old books

Robert Mansfield, appraised May 1737:

• 2 old Bibles
• 1 testament
• 3 old books

Joseph Everet, appraised June 1737:

• 1 Large Bible in folio
• a parcel old Books

Thomas Reason, appraised August 1737:

• three old Books

Evan Miles, appraised August 1737:

• old Common prayer book

John Grainger, appraised July 1737:

• 4 old Books

John Summers, appraised September 1737:

• a Small old Bible

Doctor Thomas M^cWilliams, appraised October 1736:

• a p^rcel of Books

Mr. John Bailey, appraised June 1737:

• 3 old books

Major Nicholas Sewall, appraised June 1737:

• a Testam^t. & 11 old Books of several sorts

Robert Wiseman, appraised August 1737:

• a Parcel old books

I can’t decide which is more frustrating: the overwhelming number of vague parcels of books in various stages of decrepitude or the books that have been carefully counted . . . but not named.