(U 



RICHARD OF CIRENCESTER. 



RICHARDSON, SIR JOHN. 



aa 



ones, were more precious in his estimation than money, or such new- 

 year's gifts and other presents as it was customary to make in his time, 

 they flowed in abundantly from all quarters. His researches saved 

 many books that would have perished from neglect, and these he 

 caused to be repaired. Such as he could borrow, if they were not for 

 sale, he caused to be copied, for which purpose he had an establish- 

 ment of bookbinders, stationers, and illuminators in his palace. It is 

 said that he finally became possessed of more books than all the other 

 bishops of England put together; but it is just to state that his 

 exertions were intended for the public good, and not merely for the 

 gratification of a taste by no means unbecoming, though it was 

 remarked upon as almost peculiar to himself at the time. In a sketch 

 of his will, made shortly before his death, he says he bequeaths all 

 his books to a company of scholars, residing in a hall at Oxford, as a 

 perpetual alms-deed for his own soul and for the souls of his parents, 

 and of King Edward and his consort. The books went to Oxford, but 

 Bishop Godwin could not find that he made a foundation there, as it 

 has bt'en stated. The hall in which they were deposited was on the 

 site upon which his successor Hatfield founded Durham (now Trinity) 

 College. 



De Bury was not only a learned man, but a liberal patron of learning. 

 He regretted the general ignorance of the Greek and Hebrew languages, 

 and took care to provide grammars of both. In searching for elementary 

 books generally, even the village schools did not escape his scrutiny. 

 There is no doubt that De Bury was acquainted with Greek, and he 

 probably learned it at Oxford. Grosseteste, who died in 1258, learned 

 Greek and Hebrew at Oxford, from which it appears that these 

 languages were taught there before De Bury's time. That Greek was 

 tnught in England still earlier than Grosseteste's time is also certain. 

 [ROBERT OF LINCOLN.] 



The best account of his researches and of his life will be found in 

 the ' Philobiblon,' a small treatise written for the purpose of explaining 

 his objects, of giving directions about books generally, and particularly 

 about his own collections, and even of justifying his conduct, for there 

 were many who derided his pursuits, and thought them altogether 

 extravagant. This tract was first printed at Cologne in 1473 ; after- 

 wards at Spires in 1483; Paris, 1500; Oxford, 1599; and in the 

 collections of Goldast and Schmid : a limited impression of an English 

 translation (by Mr. J. B. Inglis) was published by Rodd in 1832. There 

 is no other known work by him extant, though one is mentioned under 

 the title of 'Orationes ad Principes,' and some letters are spoken of. 

 He certainly had an extensive correspondence with the most distin- 

 guished literary men of his time. Petrarca, with whom he conversed, 

 calls him a man of an ardent and enthusiastic turn. He bears an 

 excellent character generally ; his wealth was freely bestowed upon 

 the deserving but needy scholar, and he was equally munificent in 

 distributing alms to the poor. His book evinces a benevolent dispo- 

 sition, though we must except against his refusing the use of books to 

 the laity, but his precautions against the abuse of them are worthy of 

 all commendation. He died at Auckland on the 14th of April 1345, 

 aged fifty-eight, and was buried with due honours in the southern 

 angle of the cathedral of Durham. 



RICHARD OF CIRENCESTER, or 'Ricardus Coriuensis' (some- 

 times called the Monk of Westminster), a monkish historian of the 

 14th century, so named from his being a native of Cirencester in 

 Gloucestershire. No traces of his family or connections have been 

 discovered, nor has the exact time of his birth been ascertained, 

 although the superior education which he received has led to the sup- 

 position that his family was of the higher ranks. He entered the 

 Benedictine monastery of St. Peter, Westminster, in 1350: his name 

 occurs in various documents in 1387, 1397, 1399, and he is registered 

 in one of the chamberlain's lists preserved among the abbey records, 

 by the name of Circestre. He composed several elaborate works on 

 Saxon and British history, and to increase his knowledge he visited 

 most of the libraries in this country for reference to original manu- 

 scripts. He obtained a license to visit Rome from his abbot in 1391, 

 the original of which is still in existence. It is supposed that he 

 \indertook this journey between 1391 and 1397, for he appears to have 

 been confined in the abbey infirmary in 1401, and to have died in that 

 or the following year. His work entitled ' Historia ab Hengista ad 

 ann. 1348,' is in two parts. The first part is from the arrival of 

 the Saxons to the death of Harold. His theological works were 

 'Tractatus super Symbolum Majus et Minus,' and 'Liber de Officiis 

 Ecclesiasticis.' But he is chiefly known from his celebrated treatise 

 entitled 'De Situ Britannise,' which was first discovered in manu- 

 script in 1747 by Charles Julius Bertram, professor of the English 

 language at the Royal Marine Academy at Copenhagen, who sent a 

 transcript of the whole to Dr. Stukeley, with a fac-simile of the manu- 

 script. In 1757 Dr. Stukeley published an analysis of the work, with 

 the ' Itinerary ; ' and other particulars may be seen in the second 

 volume of Dr. Stukeley 's ' Itinerurium Cuiiosum,' and in Whitaker's 

 'Manchester.' In the same year the treatise was published at Copen- 

 hagen by Professor Bertram, with the remains of Gild as and iseuuius, 

 under the title ' Bi itannicarum Gentium Historiae Antiques scriptores 

 tres Ricardus Corineubis, (jildas Badouicus, Nennius Banchorensis,' 

 &c., 8vo, but this work became scarce. In 1809 an edition was pub- 

 lished in London, entitled ' The Description of Britain, translated from 

 Ricardus of Cirencester, with the original treaties De Situ Britanniee, 



with the map and a fac-simile of the manuscript, as well as a com- 

 mentary on tLe Itinerary.' It was also reprinted as one of 'Six Old 

 English Chronicles,' in a volume of Bohn's 'Antiquarian Library,' 

 1848. The discovery of this treatise was regarded as an era in the 

 study of British and Roman-British antiquities. The Itinerary con- 

 tains eighteen journeys which Richard says he compiled from certain 

 fragments written by a Roman general and from Ptolemy and other 

 authors ; he mentions a hundred and seventy-six stations (while Anto- 

 ninus has only 113), some of them a considerable distance north of the 

 wall of Severus, besides which there are numerous chasms which 

 show that many names have been lost or obliterated. The credit and 

 fidelity of this work have been attacked, but they have been defended 

 by a reference to local investigation the result of which has in many 

 instances been favourable to the authenticity of the work. On the 

 other hand it is often extremely incorrect, and the account which 

 Bertram gives of the manuscript, which he says " came into his hands in 

 a very extraordinary manner with many other curiosities," is far from 

 satisfactory. What has become of "the original manuscript" from 

 which he professes to have made the copy he sent to Stukeley does not 

 appear to be known : it is not in the Royal Library at Copenhagen 

 where it was expected to be found. Many good scholars and antiquaries 

 however still believe the work to be authentic, but the tendency of 

 opinion is decidedly the other way. Gibbon says of Richard that 

 " he shows a genuine knowledge of antiquity very extraordinary for 

 a monk of the 14th century." He is frequently quoted by his Latin 

 name Ric. Corin., i.e. Ricardus Corinensis. 



* RICHARDSON, DR. CHARLES, was born in July 1775. He 

 was intended for the profession of the law, and his early education 

 was adopted for that pursuit. He however did not long follow 

 it, but turned his attention to literature, and especially to philology. 

 In 1805 he issued his first production, ' Illustrations of English Philo- 

 logy," in which he supported the principles advocated by Home Tooke 

 and which contained criticisms on Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, with 

 observations on Dugald Stewart's essay ' On the Tendency of some 

 late Philological Speculations.' Subsequently he undertook to furnish 

 the lexicographical portion of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' the first 

 part of which was published in January 1818, but after the issue 

 of the fourth part, the work was suspended through the failure of 

 the publishers, until it was resumed by Mr. Mawman. In 1835, the 

 publisher being the late Mr. Pickering, the 'Dictionary' as a separate 

 work first began to be issued, and it was completed in 1837. It is 

 undoubtedly the best dictionary we have, it remedied many of the 

 defects of Johnson, as the author had a far more extended acquaint- 

 ance with foreign languages. It was deservedly successful, and other 

 editions both in 4to and as an abridgment in 8vo have been since 

 issued. Mr. Pickering's failure however, who possessed a share of the 

 copyright, occasioned difficulties which were at length overcome by 

 the copyright becoming vested in the hands of the author, Mr. 

 Whittingham of the Chiswick press, and Mr. George Bell. Dr. 

 Richardson has also published an es?ay ' on the Study of Languages,' 

 an exposition of the principles which guided him in the composition 

 of the dictionary, founded on those of Home Tooke in the ' Diver- 

 sions of Purley.' He has also contributed some interesting papers on 

 subjects connected with philology to the ' Gentleman's Magazine,' and 

 has produced some useful and ingenious remarks on passages of 

 Shakespere. 



* RICHARDSON, SIR JOHN, KNIGHT, M.D., was bom in 1787, at 

 Dumfries, in Scotland. His father, Gabriel Richardson, was a magistrate 

 of the county of Dumfries, and 'provost of the town. John Richardson 

 received his early education at the grammar-school of Dumfries. In 

 1801 he entered the University of Edinburgh, where he studied chiefly 

 with a view to the medical profession. He entered the navy in 1807 

 as an assistant-surgeon. He served at the siege of Copenhagen, and 

 afterwards on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and was promoted to 

 be acting-surgeon of the Hercules, 74 guns. In 1816 he took his degree 

 of M.D. at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1818 married his first 

 wife, a daughter of William Stiven, Esq., of Leith. In 1819 Dr. 

 Richardson accompanied Captain Franklin as surgeon and naturalist 

 on his first expedition to the shores of the Arctic Sea. Their labours, 

 sufferings, and privations, have been alluded to in the memoir of 

 FRANKLIN, REAR-ADMIRAL SIR JOHN. That expedition was not com- 

 pleted till 1822, and Captain Franklin's ' Narrative of a Journey to the 

 Shores of the Polar Sea in 1819 to 1822,' was published in 1823. In 

 1825 Captain Franklin undertook the command of a second expedition 

 to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and Dr. Richnrdson again accompanied 

 him as medical officer and naturalist. They arrived in safety at Great 

 Bear Lake, and passed the winter of 1825-26 at Fort Franklin, which 

 they constructed for that purpose. Having descended the Mackenzie 

 River to the spot where it separates into two main branches, the expe- 

 dition was formed into two detachments. Captain Franklin and 

 Lieutenant Back, having the command of two boats, descended the 

 western branch of that river, at the same time that Dr. Richardson 

 and Mr. Kendall, also with two boats, descended the eastern branch. 

 Captain Franklin, with his detachment, traced the shores of the Arctic 

 Sea from the Mackenzie River westwards to nearly 149 W. long., 

 while Dr. Richardson, with the other detachment, traced the coast 

 eastwards to the mouth of the Coppermine River. Dr. Richardson 

 and his party then ascended the Coppermine River in their boats eleven 



