238 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°<i S. IX. Mar. 31. 'GO. 



in the Royal library, and was seized with a pas- 

 sionate desire to edit them ; and now the thing 

 has gone so far that the press only waits for you. 



" Vale, et plurimum salve a me, ab uxore, a liberis, 

 qui omnes tui videndi desiderio mirum in modum fla- 

 gramus." 



From Casaubon's Prolegomena to the Scriptores 

 Histories Augusta (p. 35. of the reprint in Alme- 

 loveen's edition of the Epistolce), we learn that 

 Thomson did not turn a deaf ear to these solicita- 

 tions. 



" Etsi gravissimis mendis nostrum [exemplar] scatet; 

 nihilo tamen Italica sunt meliora, quorum superioris sevi 

 Criticos mentionem video fecisse. Plane illud, quo usus 

 olim Angelus Politianus in codice suo emendando, cujus 

 fecit nobis copiam Richardus Thomson, amicissimus nos- 

 ter, Regio fuit similis." 



No. 1076. p. 625. Without date, but must evi- 

 dently have been written nearly at the same time 

 as No. 328. (Paris, early in the year 1603.) To 

 Charles Labbe. 



I am delighted to hear of a means of corre- 

 sponding with Thomson; and have already written 

 to him. He will no doubt accept my excuse about 

 Photius. For as the book has once come into my 

 hands, I must try to learn something from it. 

 Shortly I hope to return it, either directly or 

 through you. 



Among the Epistola> Selectiores ad Casaubonum, 

 in Almeloveen's volume, one (No. 48. p. 672.) is 

 from Thomson. It was written from Venice, and 

 is without date ; but we cannot be wrong (com- 

 pare No. 157.) in assigning it to November or 

 December, 1597. The subscription " T. T. Thom- 

 son, i. c. " totus tuus," or " totaliter tuus," is still 

 commonly used in Holland. 



I have met with the Mechanica of Athenajus 

 Ctesibius {sic; Query, Athenreus or Ctesibius ?), if 

 I am not mistaken, which I enclose, as it may 

 prove useful in your edition of Polybius. Scaliger 

 is very eager to see the book, and has been on the 

 point of cutting me (parmn ab/uit, quin res meets 

 mihi habere mandassef), for not having long ago 

 sent a copy from an Oxford MS. I adjure you, 

 therefore, as you love him and me, to forward it 

 to him by the first opportunity. I have met with 

 some other things, e. g. the commentaries of Pro- 

 clus on the Parmenides, and on the first Alcibi- 

 ades; but they are too bulky to send. I have 

 had the offer of other Greek MSS., e. g. of Basil, 

 Cyril, Chrysostom, and a very ancient Oribasius ; 

 but have delayed striking the bargain, until I 

 have heard your opinion. My next address will 

 be Siena. 



In the Ephejnerides of Casaubon, — one of the 

 many important works which we owe to the public 

 spirit of the Delegates of the Oxford press, — the 

 following notices of Thomson occur : — 



P. 223. Jan. 22, 1600. Returns to Velserus 

 an anonymous Periegetes, from Scaliger's library, 

 for the loan of which he was indebted to Thomson. 



Nov. 12, 1610. Pays a visit to Prince 



P. 787. 

 Henry. 



" Antea veterem amicum Thomsonum virum eruditis- 

 simum videram, et animum gaudio ingenti expleveram." 



P. 811. Jan. 10, 1611. (Compare Epist. 743.) 

 At Killegrew's country-house with his old friend 

 Thomson. Reads a book of P. Bertius, de Apos- 

 tasia Sanctorum. 



P. 855. July 28, 1611. At Cambridge. Goes 

 with Thomson as cicerone over eight colleges : 

 Pembroke, Queen's, King's, Clare (Thomson's 

 college), Caius, Trinity, and St. John's. 



P. 876. Sept. 2, 1611. No study after dinner; 

 yet the time was not lost, being spent in the com- 

 pany of Andrewes and Thomson. 



Before passing from Casaubon's writings, I wish 

 to correct a lapsus calami in my last communica- 

 tion (p. 156.), where for Perothus should be read 

 Perronius. I would also heartily commend the 

 correspondence of the two illustrious friends, Ca- 

 saubon and Scaliger, to the attention of those who 

 would learn what a noble thing a literary life may 

 be, where a love of truth, and not the worship of 

 gain or of immediate reputation, is its leading 

 principle. 



Another correspondent of Thomson's was the 

 celebrated Latin poet Dominique le Bauldier, the 

 friend of Sir Philip Sidney. I use the following 

 edition of his letters : Dominici Saudi Epistolm, 

 Amst. Elzevir, 1654, 12mo. 



Cent. i. Ep. 18. p. 37. Tours. April 29, 1592. 

 To Scaliger. 



Sends a book and letter which bad come when 

 he was at Caen (i. e. from Dec. 1591, to March 

 1592), but which the dangers of the roads have 

 hitherto deterred him from forwarding. 



From Scaliger's reply we learn what the book 

 was. 



Cent. i. Ep. 22. p. 41. Preuilly. " vi. (?) Non. 

 Jun." 1592. 



Would that I could altogether comprehend the 

 English Chronology, sent me by Richard Thom- 

 son. But I have forgotten all those languages : — 

 " Vox quoque Maerim 

 Ipsa fugit." 



I will, however, scent out what I can, and think 

 I have already detected in that chronologer a cer- 

 tain (piKavrla; unless I am mistaken he is of the 

 number of those who find new kings of the Per- 

 sians in Daniel, and portents in the Apocalypse. 



The chronologer is, of course, Edward Lively. 



Cent. ii. Ep. 91. p. 281. Leyden. May 5, 1608. 

 To Thomson, then at Cambridge. 



I shall never forget what I owe " humanissimo 

 virorum Richardo Thomsonio." I add the Richard, 

 to avoid confusion with George Thomson, whose 

 bitterness against Lipsius I must condemn. Scri- 

 verius, if one may believe him, is steadily engaged 

 upon Martial. Last August I was in- England, 

 gave my poems into the king's hands at Salisbury, 



