( 4S9 ) 
thofe Books already in T tint, not mentioning thcie Nls- 
nufcripts, which have been ("as I may fo fay) hid and 
concealed from the World ail this while, efpecially thofe 
in private Libraries. 
Another Account upon which this Catalogue may be 
Serviceable is, (for the Honour and Credit o\ En^undm 
general, and of our Untverfitj in particular) to un-de- 
ceive many Learned Perfons beyond the Seas ,- fome of 
whom have been too much prejudiced againft us for our 
fuppoftd Penury in this Kind, and others who had heard 
fbme uncertain Rumours of our Plenty of Manufcripts^ 
have perhaps believed it to be true, but could never get 
any tolerable Lift of them. Dr. *jame$ was the fir ft who 
publiftied any Catalogue of our Manufcripts, which now 
makes but a fmall part of this Book, and yec the Fo- 
reigners, almoft ever fince, have went by chat Cata- 
logue : And all the great Acceffions to our Publick Li- 
braries have not been much taken notice of. Ifaac Ca- 
faulon came hither to Oxford about the Year 1613. as 
appears by one of his Epiftles^ where talking about the 
Bodleian Library, t^oli (faith he) cogitate fimilem hie re- 
p feriri lihrorum manufcriptorum copiam at que eH in Regia, j 
Sunt fane & in Anglia manufcripti non pauci, fed nihil ad 
Regias opes. But was that great Man now ^tive, he 
would, doubtlefs retraft this Saying; fince in this Parti- 
cular, the Bodleian is certainly fuperior to the French 
King's Library, as it was in the Year 1640. if we may 
truft a Catalogue of it, which was made at that time, or 
Lahh^em fince, who feems to magnify it enough. And 
if any of the Foreign Catalogues contain the Titles of all 
the Manufcripts in their reTpedive Librari^^s, this of 
ours is fuperior to them all : but if their Catalogues be 
taken by halves, 'tis their own fault. 
The fame Opinion of our Tullick Library , many other 
Strangers have had befides Cafanlon. And Spzelim \ti 
Y y y % hb 
