Another contrast that may be drawn between the manuscripts he probably inherited, and those he bought himself, is in the prices paid: we know that Buchanan's uncle paid the equivalent of £52 for three volumes c.1857, and either his uncle or father paid £105 for four more in 1862, yet it seems that Buchanan himself rarely paid more than £15 for any book, frequently much less, even thirty years later 10. Significantly, some of these do not contain very extensive decoration, but five are in their original bindings, and the binding of another is very unusual 9 -the printed books in the collection clearly demonstrate the extent to which bindings were one of Buchanan's main interests. As well as another two Books of Hours, one of them in Dutch, and what is probably a fragment of a Book of Hours, he added three Italian humanistic texts, a Bridgettine Breviary, a Milanese Breviary, a ferial Psalter, and a Psalter of c.1300. If these volumes did indeed belong originally to Buchanan's uncle and father, as I shall suggest below, it is interesting to see what the remaining books tell us about Buchanan's own taste: they considerably widen the scope of the collection. These fifteen form a coherent group in so far as they are all later medieval illuminated Books of Hours, of which more than half are French and date from the 15th or early 16th century. The collection may owe its nucleus to the art collections of Buchanan's uncle, also called Thomas, who seems to have owned at least two of the fifteen Books of Hours given in 1939 8 and it is probable that Buchanan's father bought the other thirteen. The books were all in the collection of Thomas Ryburn Buchanan, and were given to the Library in two consignments by his widow, Mrs Emily Octavia Buchanan, in 19, as will be described below. and over five hundred volumes of printed books 7. Rogers, Summary catalogue of post-medieval western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, acquisitions 1916-1975 (SC 37300-55936) (3 vols., Oxford, 1991), I, nos. The Buchanan collection at the Bodleian Library consists of twenty-four medieval illuminated manuscripts dating from before about the mid-16th century, described in this catalogue a further seventeen later manuscripts, previously catalogued in Mary Clapinson and T. In fact, at one time he had thoughts of becoming a candidate for a vacant Sub-Librarianship but politics had always possessed for him a strong attraction. The twin interests of his adult life, politics and books, are compared in an obituary which states that 'He was indeed a genuine lover of books, and his knowledge in this department was highly appreciated by Mr. He retired in 1909 due to ill health, and died in 1911, aged 65. In 1881 he entered parliament as MP for Edinburgh, and remained an MP for most of the rest of his life he became Finacial Secretary to the War Office in 1906, and Under Secretary of State for India, and Privy Councillor, in 1908 5. (It has been stated that his interest in illuminated manuscripts, early printed books, and fine bindings dates from this period, but this interest seems to have been fostered considerably earlier by his uncle and his father). ![]() ![]() (1880) 3, 'the first book to call attention to the wealth of fine bindings in Oxford libraries' 4. During his Librarianship, he was responsible for the publication of Bookbinding in the Library of All Souls College: twelve plates drawn by John James Wild, Ph.D. Here he had a distinguished academic career: in 1868 he won the Stanhope Prize Essay 2, and gained a First Class in classical and mathematical moderations the following year he gained a First Class in 'Greats' and in 1871 he was elected to a Fellowship at All Souls College, where he was Librarian of the Codrington Library, just a few paces from the Bodleian, from 1878 until 1882. ![]() He was first educated locally, then at Sherborne School, whence he came up to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1865. Buchanan was born in 1846, third son of John Buchanan, of Patrick Hill, Glasgow of a family who claimed descent from George Buchanan (1506-82), the Scottish historian and scholar 1. Thomas Ryburn Buchanan (1846-1911): a biographical note For rolls, '(R)' is added at the end, and for papyri, or other manuscripts framed between sheets of glass, '(P)' is added, e.g. The complete shelfmark consists of the classification followed by the size letter and running number, e.g. The largest language-groups, those of English, Latin, and Greek, were divided by subject-matter: bib(les), lett(ers), etc. The classification, with a few subsequent modifications, is as listed below. Nicholson, Bodley's Librarian, introduced a new classification for miscellaneous accessions of manuscripts, which is based primarily on language.
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