THE GENTLE TRAVELLER
john Bargrave, Canon of Canterbury, and his Collection



THE GENTLE TRAVELLER
john Bargrave, Canon of Canterbury,
and his Collection
by David Sturdy and Martin Henig
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Italy: Bronze Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Other Roman Antiquities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
False Antiquities of the Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Antiquarian Stone Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Natural or Geological Stone Samples . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Other Souvenirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Books, Manuscripts, Prints & Paintings’ . . . . . . . . .
. .
Europe north of the Alps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Africa, America, Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Medieval & Renaissance Objects
possibly from Bargrave’s collection . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Aliena, not Bargrave's or Casaub0n's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
The Coins and Medals of Dr Bargrave & Dr Casaubon . . . .
The Cabinets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Top: Dr Bargravds signcwfng, ifT7pfE_'§SlOfl, see page 12.
Page
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Q
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INTRODUCTION
Dr lohn Bargrave, traveller and collector, Fellow of
Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Canon of Canterbury, was
born in or near Canterbury in 1610 and died there in 1680.
His family had long been established around Canterbuw as
prosperous farmers or yeomen. Some of Dr John's relations
remained as farmers and some became landowners or, at
least, petty gentry. Some went into the church or the
professions, such as the law, Many of them travelled.
Our Dr lohn’s father, a local farmer's eldcsr son, was a
mercenary soldier and professional adventurer whose coat-
of-arms, granted in 1611, carried an unsheathed sword and
three gold coins. He prospered, perhaps by some un~
documented military exploit such as piracy in thc
Mediterranean or a lucky capture of a rich enemy officer
While in foreign service. He also married the heiress of a
London merchant and built, in about 1615, a notable
show-house Bifrons (the two-faced house) at Patrixbourne,
the next village to Bridge where he was born, five
kilometres south-east of Canterbury.
This Captain John Bargrave and his brother Captain George
made an important contribution to the settlement of
Virginia in its earliest days, as shipowners and as pioneer
planters, or plantation-owners, and another brother,
Thomas, became a church minister in Virginia and died
there in 1621.
Yet another brother still, Isaac, was also a far-travelled
clergyman who went out as embassy chaplain to Venice
under a local magnate, Sir Henry Wotton. He eventually
became Dean of Canterbury in succession to Dr John Boys,
another local man who had married one of his sisters. One
of Isaac's sons, Robert, who was first cousin to our lohn,
was articled to a Levant merchant, spent his life travelling
on business in the Mediterranean and across Europe, and
left a journal of his travels now at Oxford. Only portions of
this journal have ever been published, some as far afield as
Bulgaria and Roumania.
Our John Bargrave was educated at the King's School in the
cathedral precincts with another notable traveller and
collector, the younger John Tradescant, whose father and
namesake was then gardener to Lord Wotton, Sir Henry's
brother, at St Augustinc’s, the former royal palace and
ancient abbey just beyond the walls of Canterbury. He
went on to Cambridge and, becoming a Fellow of
Peterhouse, might have spent a quite uneventful and
perhaps largely idle life there. But he was ejected from his
fellowship in 1643, for his high-church sentiments and no
doubt also for his uncle, the autocratic and much hated
Dean, lsaac Bargrave.
By the last year of the Civil War, 1646, John had found a
new career as travelling tutor to young gentlemen and
noblemen abroad. Over the next fourteen years he made
four complete Grand Tours, assembling as he went along
the souvenirs and specimens that form the hulk of his
collection. This small private museum, unique in its
completeness, has remained almost intact since his death in
1680 and his widow's handing over of it to the Cathedral
Library in 1685. The whole collection is essentially Italian
with a fairly small number of objects from other countries.
Dr Bargrave's standards as a collector were rather mixed.
He was not well off and he was steadily on the move, so
that small and readily portable items had to be preferred,
with the notable exception of the large and very heavy
marble table. Bargrave was sometimes indifferent to per—
fection and authenticity alike; his antique figurines are all
either damaged or false. But they serve as intriguing
examples of the interests of the time, with almost no
exemplars of the types most in vogue later, the classic
themes of the 18th century. Some of the more obviously
false antiquities, such as the plaquette with five cupids,
B11, must portray ancient designs, in this case a scene from
a Roman sarcophagus. All Bargraves gems, however, are
authentic and, in this field, he may have developed some
knowledgeable interest, as most collections, such as the
Tradescants’, have many forgcries. Two of the gems, d & n,
are early, of the Republican period and two, e & f, are
probably from the Eastern Empire and were perhaps bought
in Venice, a great centre for the import of antiquities from
the East.
Some items were got by Bargrave himself in France,



ITALY: ROMAN GEMS
la) Almandine garnet, oval convex; bearded bust, perhaps
oflupiter, in profile to left, hair bound in fillet, himation
around shoulders. D: 19mm. Ano 7650 . . ., I had the
honour to conduct . . . Phillip Lord Stanhop into Italy,-
and at Rome he presented me with this stone, telling
mo that it was sold him not only for a Craecian head,
but for Aristot/e's. I sett it in gold at Rome . . .. Set in a
gold ring inscribed and dated ”i B RO/MA 1650”. c.50
B.C. B29. illustrated on page 2.
  
Ki?» '32’ 1' . _
9’
ii” ll.
 ‘
(bi Cornelian, oval convex; Pegasus flying to left. L:
l5m"‘~ 5'3 1" 5 5ll‘/‘ii ring Of flnllque lull“ but Pml’ablY le) Bloodstone, oval flat; Eros bound to a column in profile
‘l7tl" Ce“ E3'lY15lCem- A-D~ to left. On column sits Griffin nf Nemesis (to punish
Eros, the body, for tormenting Psyche, the soul).
inscribed in front AIKAIWC, ”/uslly”. L: ‘l5mm. 2nd
  or early 3rd cent. AD.
(cl Chalceclony, circular flat; recumbent Sphinx in profile G.’ Cornelia“ Octagonal flat) an elephant Standin on a
to left’ L: “mm Chip on Stone‘ 1st Cent’ AD‘ I cart pulleld by two mice’. Inscribed above: FPEFOPI,
”ofCregorios". L: 9mm. 2nd cent. A.D.
lg) Cornelian with agate banding, oval flat; bust
(d) Sard with black inclusions, oval convex; a dolphin, resembling Empress Faustina I in profile to left. L:
curled around an amphora. L: 15mm. 2nd cent. B.C. 12mm. Broken. First half of 2nd cent. A.D.



it
ii)
(ii
(k)
cent A D
 
Carnelian with agate banding, oval flat; head of an
Emperor. possibly Titus, in profile to left. Fragment
L; 7mm., head missing except for mouth and chin. 1st
cent. A.D.
av
Comelian, oval flat; bust of young, Hercules wearing
lion skin, in profile to right. L: ‘¥)mm., broken on upper
left side. 1st cent. B.C. or A.D.
Comclian, oval flat; nude youth, presumably Silvanus,
standing in profile to right and holding a pruning—h0ok.
L: 6mm, lower third missing. 1st cent. A.D.
fl f
Garnet, oval convex; nude girl, possibly Methe
(lnebriationl, in profile to right with right arm raised, her
himation behind her. L: 5mm., lower third missing. 1st
(l) Lornelian, flat; legs of man standing to left with altar-
base or stand behind him. Fragment L: 4mm., upper
threequarters missing.
. »
1;... "
Km) Dark opaque glass, oval convex; Philoctetes, his
chlamys over right arm and supported on staff in right
hand, walks to left. L: 10mm. 1st cent. B.C.
(n) Dark sard, circular flat; an ear of corn between two
cornucopiae. L: 'iZmmt 1st cent. B.C.
(0) Pale blue—green glass cameo, oval; moulded Hands,
clasped, "dextrarum iunctio”. L: 24mm. 1st cent. B.C.
or A.D.



ITALY: OTHER ROMAN ANTIQUITIES
Small bronze cabinet-key. L: Ecms. A Iittlc key, dug out
of the Temple of the Moon. B12.
Bronze double-headed snake in ‘I4-‘l5 tight coils. H:
8cms. Item, a brass Wreathed snake, in circles, having a
head at both ends; dedicated to Eternity. B13.
Bronze knuckle-bone. L: Z.4cms. . . . clugg out of the
ruins, in brass, that sheweth the Romans used them in
games called Ludi Talarll. B15.
Bronze phallic pendant with large suspension-loop and
two loops below. W: 5.7cms. See below. B17i.
Bronze phallic pendant with suspension loop. W:
3.8cms. Two Priapisms, In brass, being votes or offerings
to that absurd heathen deity — modern, from ancient.
B17ii.
Pottery lamp with unpicrcecl handle, central hole and
wide projecting light-hole, Upper part decorated with
large dots, base with palm-leaf or chevrons. L: 9.4cms.
Dr Bargrave’s Catalogue gives 3p. account of cata-
combs; original paper label "very ancient/A lamp and/
Lacn/rnatorio of earth from Roma Sotteranea./an other
Lachriniatorio of/glass fro the samc plate”. Bargravc
gave another lamp and a long~necked pottery bottle
to Dr Robert Plot, later the first Keeper of the
Ashmolean Museum, lor the cabinet of the Bodleian
Library. B22i. Illustrated.
Long-necked glass phial. H: ‘licms. Account as
Lacrymatory and label as above. Pan of lip missing.
B22ii. Illustrated.
Bronze stylus. L: ilcms. Stylus Romanus. The antiquar-
ian that sold it mc avowed it to he truly ancient; but
thousands may daily be made. . .. B36.iritrsrr,11t-rt
mum
mam:
Emfifi
  
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ITALY: FALSE ANTIQUITIES OF THE RENAISSANCE
Bronze plaque of woman crowning ox with wreath. W:
5.3cms. Original paper label "Fro Hercules temple
under/the Aventin hill at Rome/where he killed Cacusl
where now stands St Stevens Church/caled Sto Stefano
del Cacco./ Hercules with the bull". 84.
Bronze figure of Hercules. H: ‘llcms. Hercules juvenis,
with his club and lion '5 skin . . . supposed modern. Right
foot has been sanded flat and left foot has hole for
spike from pedestal. B6i.
Bronze figure of Hercules. H: 8.4cms. . . . another of
them . . .. Small wooden pedestal. Bfiii.
Bronze dolphin. L: 6cms. An ancient brass Dolphin,
dedicated to Venus, and dug out of her temple. Nam
Venus oita mari. B8.
Hollow lead bust of the Emperor Nero wearing breast-
plate, cloak and laurel-Wreath. W: 6.7cms. A handsome
ancient busto (as called at Rome) of Augustus — that is
the head and shoulders — in brass. Badly cracked and
lelt shoulder perished. B9.
Bronze figure of Leda with swan. H: 8.3cms. . . .
supposed to he modem but cast from ancient. Brass
pedestal spiked and brazed on, H: 3.5cms. B10.
Illustrated.
Bronze plaquette, five cupids playing with an actors
mask. W: 8.8cms. A flat brass piece, of several
Cupidons scaring one another with a vizard; being a
bachanalia piece, dugg out of the Temple of Bacchus.
B11. Illustrated.
Bronze plaque of a centaur seizing a Lapith woman. W:
4cms. Item a flat piece of brass, with the rapture ol
Proserpine bya Centaurc. B14.
Coral relief of bearded River Tiber reclining. W: 4.5cms.
The River of Tyber, can/ed on a piece of coral; ancient.
B16.
The Aesculapius, the Hercules Mingens and the tagle
(Roman Bronze Figures (0), if) and lg» may also be
casts or copies of 17th century date.
  7'



ITALY: ANTIQUARIAN STONE SAMPLES
Polished heart—shaped plaque of green stone. L: Gcms.
In 1646 Bargrave knocked this off the fallen obelisk in
the Circus of Maxentius, later put up in the Piazza
Navona, and had it cut and polished, as he tolls in a
five-page account in his Catalogue. B19.
Heart-shaped plaque of dark green stone. L: 2.8cms.
/\s above. B23.
Two fragmentary sheets of spotted green opaque glass
and two of purple glass. L: '13, 4, 10, & 4cms. Paste
antiche Romane incognite, — several pieces of a flat
ancient Roman paste . . . pict up amongst the antiquar-
ians. , .. B24.
Small oval wooden box with worn female figure
painted on lid containing stones wrapped in original
labels, no doubt somewhat mixed, reading:
i “Of Constantines Arch/Triumphal at R0me// Bargrave
7647"
ii "A peece of the ruines oi Septimius/Severus his
Arch Triumphall/at Rome I Bargrave/1647"
m “A peece of Titus Vespas./Arch Triurnphall at Rome/’
for taking lerusalé. ]Bargra\/e 1647”
iv "This stone/l brought fro the Amphi/theatre or
Colosseum at Rome/1647 ] Bargrave”
v "From the/Piscina mirabili/neere Naples"
vi “From the Cuman/S)/bells Grotto neere/Puteoli or
Puzzuolo/neere Naples" and ”Sybilla/Cumana”
vii "I brought this fro the grotta/del cane where any’
thing/that is put in clyeth, and being/throughen in to
a lake hard by, it/reviveth.w‘l‘ l saw by a dog. it is in
the Kingdom of Naples” and ”groLta/del/cane"
vm "Of the Mosaik worke of/5t.Mark.s Church in/
Venice 1647/] Bargrave” and "Venice" with 14 mosaic
cubes, 10 yellow-glass with gold, 2 dark with gold,
one white and one blue.
Two small stones, a fossil shell and a fragmentary bone
plaque wrapped in an original paper label "I brought
these stones fro the ruines/of the three tavernes spoken
of/in Acts, where the brethren met/+ Paul l Bargrave
7647”.
Small piece of white marble wrapped in original label "l
brought this fro Cicero’s house at Tusculan/‘IO miles fro
Rome, where Tullie/writ his Tusculans question/164 7. I
Bargrave”. Site illustrated on page 72.
Four pieces of stone wrapped in original paper label
"A/stone of Cicero/house where he/wrote his epistles/
neere Fondi in/the Kingdom of/Naples”.
Site illustrated on page '12
Two fragments of granite and a chunk of cinder
wrapped (wrongly) in an original paper label “Fro
Milan/Marble of Milan of wch/many pillars of the
Cathedral Church of 5‘ Carlo, is made".
ITALY: NATURAL OR GEOLOGICAL STONE SAMPLES
Small cinders and pummy stones of Mont Aetna, . .
from my Lord Winchelsy [B25] seem to be lost.
Loose cinders and small oval wooden box with female
figure painted on lid containing volcanic ash, with
original label “Ashes and materialls/of the burning
Moun/taine of Vesuvius/neere Naples/john Bargrave”.
Several pieces of cinders, pummystone, and ashes of the
Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, which was 4 times the
poynt of my reflection, — l facing about for England
from the topp, or crater, or voragine (as they term it) of
that mountain; of which l have spoken at large in my
Itinerario dltalia. B26.
Small oval box labelled Confetti di Tivoli containing
Tiber gravel with original label "Confetti Di Tivoli/The
sand of Teverone that Entereth in/torthe Tiber not farr fro
Rome/John Bargrave”. 4 4 . They seem to be so like sugar
plums that they will deceive any man . . .. B30.
Lozenge-shaped chunk of gypsum, perhaps Some of
the floore of brimstone from that horrid sulfurious
mountain . . . called Sulfaterra, near Puteoly. . .. B31.
. . . Aetites, Lapis Aquilaris, or the eagle stone la charm
for pregnant women) bought of an Armenian at Rome
seems to have been removed before the collection
reached the Cathedral Library. B33. Missing.



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OTHER ITALIAN SOUVENIRS
Item, a small gold Salerno ring . . . the goldsmiths of the
place . . . make thousands of these rings, and then have
them touch that image which spake. And no marchant
or stranger that cometh thither but buyeth of these rings
for presents and tokens. An English marchant gave me
this at Naples . . .. It was probably retained by Mrs
Bargrave and never reached the Cathedral Library. B28.
Missing.
Model of a human eye in ‘I4 pieces, bought at Venice
ofa High Dutch turner. . . B34.
Pack of Italian playing-cards. B41.
i A Venetian stiletto. B57.
ii A prohibited Venetian dark lanthorn . . . a rnurthering
instrument . . .. B56. Missing since mid 18th cent.
or before.
Devotional items sold to pilgrims at Loretto:
i Pale blue silk ribbon, ‘I28 by 3.2cms., with 9 gold
foil and 12 silver shells.
ii Blue silk ribbon, 128 by 3cms., with 9 gold and I2
silver shells.
m Fine orange—brown silk ribbon, Z16 by 2Jlcms.,
printed in black: ALTEZA DELLA.B.\/.M.Dl
LORETO — ClNTA.DEl_LA.B.V. — C/\P(_).DELL/\.B.V.
i MDELB/-\Iv\BlNO. CIESV. Illustrated.
iv Fragmentary cream ribbon, W: 2.4cms., printed in
red as above, but last phrase reads: ALTEZADEL
B/\MBlNO.ClE5Vt
v Pale brown ribbon, 34 by 'I.2cms., perhaps not
connected with the rest.
Oval silver medal with suspension~loop, Inscribed
LORETO.
Tiny pink silk pendant, embroidered in green silk IHS.
Two original paper labels “Fro Madonna di Loretto/For
Curiosity to know the folly”.
i-ix Nine necklaces, presumably bought by Bargrave at
Lorctto as examples of devotional wares, with beads
of seed, wood, silver-wire, faceted jet &c., with two
old paper wrappers, uninscribed.
Four tiny circular wooden boxes, two of them num-
bered ”4” and "6", containing scraps of lint. These may
l 



be the survivors of 34 similar boxes and go with the
old paper label, now lost but recorded in the 18605,
"For curiosity, because sold in the shops at Rome, so
that for Zsbd. I had these 34 (pretended) reliques of
saints’ bones. ” lllllstratcd on page 9.
Piece of wormy wood, wrapped in original paper label
"Fro Rome 1 Bargrave 1647/Of the wood wlh Vl/Ch cloth
is/made which W” it is foule is/burned instead of washt
to/make it clean”.
Onginal paper label "Fro Roma subterranea/where
thousands of old/Christian martyrs lay buried/1647 j
Bargrave”, presumably the same as A piece of Earth
from Roma Subterranea in Dr Shuckford's Catalogue of
1748. Contents lost.
A small round wooden box, its lid inlaid with flower-
decoration, containing:
7 fragments of antique gems, two of them joining,
described above, Gems (g) to (m) on pages 4
and 5.
2 blank gems, a nicolo or blue-surfaced onyx L:
10mm. and a cornelian L: 11mm., both probably
17th cent.
10 beads of various materials.
4 semi-precious ring-stones, 1 onyx bezel, Z other
prepared bezels and a blue stone in a mount
with a large spike.
5 can/ed fragments of mother-of~pear|_
A right hand from a small coral crucifix.
36 white stones of various forms.
2 yellow stones.
27 brown stones of various forms.
1 square purple stone.
9 blue stones.
13 green stones.
4 black stones.
1 fossil tooth.
(mi Small oval wooden box, marked "Peeces of stones”
containing:
1 periwinkle shell.
6 fragments of white fossil-shell, 4 of them with
some red surface—colour.
4 fragments of white chalk or mortar, 2 of them
darkened on one face.
3 fragments of crystal.
1 black-and-white pebble.
1 bit of white stone with a red surface.
2 tiny bits of red stone.
19 scraps of blue-green paste or stone, perhaps
including lapis. sapphire and turquoise.
Scattered in various drawers of the three cabinets
were:
3 sharks teeth.
24 pastes or stones of assorted colours and forms.
Very many scraps of red glass or stone.
Glass samples, perhaps bought by Bargrave in or near
Venice, and found in several drawers:
2 blue glass rods, L: 247mm. D: 8mm. and 1.: 74mm.
D: 7mm., ends broken.
1 twisted brown glass rod, L: 47mm. W: 2mm.
1 light blue glass tube, L: 36mm. D: 3mm.
7 spherical glass eyes, D: about 1Omm., one broken.
2 oval glass eyes, L: 14mm.
Small round box covered with marbled paper, perhaps
a souvenir of a visit paid by Bargrave, but not recorded
in his Catalogue, to a Venetian courtesan, containing:
A bronze ring in the shape of a hand grasping a
phallus.
A tiny red cloth pendant.
Two mildly lewd medals, of similar taste to the ring,
were found by Dr Shuckford in Casaubon's cabinet and
attributed to him. But they may be Bargrave's, if we
assume that the ring was. The medals, both from the
same mould, portray an old man looking left on one
face and a satyrs head looking left and covered in
phalli in lieu of hair on the other.
A large octagonal marble table, inlaid with scenes
from Ovid. Another similar table, probably ordered for
Lord Stanhope when Bargrave, his tutor, had this made
was presented or bequeathed to the Library by Dr
George Stanhope, Dean of Canterbury from 1704 until
his death in 1748.



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ITALY: BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, PRINTS & PAINTINGS
(a) Archbishop Antonio Agostino, Dialoghi (treatise on
ancient coins}, published in Rome by Filippo cle Rossi,
T648. B62, now L-28-4.
(bl lohn Raymond, Il Mercurio Italico, an Itinerary <"ontayn-
ing a Voyage made through Italy in the yeare ‘I646, and
1647. Illustrated with divers figures of Antiquities. Never (ll
before Published, published in London by Humphrey
Moseley, 1648. This first English guide to Italy seems to
have been based on Bargrave's manuscript journal,
which is lost, and was published under the name of his
young nephew, who was one of the young men in his
care on his first journey to Italy. The copy in the
Cathedral Library at Canterbury was not Bargrave’s
own, but given by a later donor. C‘.-20-14.
Illustrated on page ‘I2.
paper. B64, missing.
l.if.l\/l5.E.'l5.
bound with B66.
by Dr Bargrave. B61, now Lit. MS.E.39a.
Bargraviana (MS catalogue of 1676 now Y-8-26)
printed by J. C. Robertson in ‘I867 as pp.115-‘I40 of
Alexander VII and the College of Cardinals (Camden
Society 92), which contains the annotations to B61
Illustrated on page 2.
Item, a manuscript in Italian, in lolio, being the conclaves
or intrigues of the elections of 13 Popes . . . MDCV. Five
of them are translated into English, in loose sheets ol
Italian manuscript, instrurrione del . . . /\mb’. del Re
Christianissmo. . . . supposedly the French ambassadofs
instructions left for his successor, 1656. B66, now
Italian manuscript, Supplimenti d'alcuni Cardinali. B65,
J. de Rossi, Effgies Nomina er Cognomina S.D.N.
/\lexandri Papac VII, Rome 1658. Portraits of the Pope
and 66 Cardinals. Very heavily annotated, and indexed,
Dr lohn Bargrave, Rara, Antiqua, et Nurnismata
Portraits of Cardinals, c.1621, a volume of 48 portraits
of various cardinals between the 13th and the early
'I7th centuries, purchased by Bargrave in Rome in
‘I660. An index and some brief jottings are Bargrave's.
Not included in Dr Bargrave’s bequest to the Cathedral
Library, but bought for 18/- in late Victorian or
Edwardian times, now Lit.MS.E.39.
A volume of 216 engravings from 10 sets with 2 single
examples, all bought by Bargrave on his travels. Just
over 100 of the engravings are from four mid 17th
century sets by members of the Rossi family, the Papal
engravers and publishers also of the Effigies above.
There are 25 plates of fountains, 9 of obelisks and
columns, 18 of antique sculpture and 49 of palaces. /\
much earlier set, included in the volume, of 50 plates
of ancient sites of Rome and elsewhere was published
by Sadeler in Prague in ‘I606. There are 48 plates from
3 sets of late 16th century Flemish designs, mostly at
least, by Vrecleman de Vries. The final 13 plates are
from an early 17th century German series of idealised
geometrical plans of fortified places. Bargrave mentions
them in his will, which he himself wrote in 1670: “to
our Library of Canterbury. . . all the Cults (in my trunks)
Of all the Ancient Ruines, the Pallaces, Statues, Foun-
taincs, the Cardinalls, Souldiers, Phylosophers, &c”, now
L~8—l6.
Bargrave also bequeathed to the Library: "All my Large
and lesser Mapps of Imly, Ould Roome and New, in
sheets at large very layre”. but these, at least four large
maps, may never have come to the Library and all
seem to be lost.
MATTIO BOLOCNINI, three—quarter length portraits of
the young Alexander Chapman, lohn Bargrave, aged
37, and his nephew lohn Raymond, aged about 17,
consulting a map of Italy, with the Bargrave arms
above. Painted while they were studying Italian at
Siena in 1647. Oil on copper; W: 'i3.5cms. B67.
AN ASSlSTANT OF GIOVANNI BATTISIA C/\NlNl, oval
half~length portrait oflohn Bargrave, aged 40, with the
Bargrave arms on ieft. Painted while he was tutor to
Lord Stanhope in Rome in 1650. Oil on copper, H:
9.5cms. B68.



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EUROPE NORTH OF THE ALPS
John Bargrave's silver signet ring, with letters IB,
Q1640. Illustrated inside front Love! at a scale or 4:1.
Pack of French playing cards, called leu d'Arm0ire de
l'Eur0pe, invented to teach Geography to Louis XIV
when young, with original paper wrapping. B42.
/\ camera lens of very long focus, another optick glass,
sowed into a piece of paceboard, to hang at a hole in a
dark room . . . B50. Bargrave/s catalogue lists seven
optical gadgets, of which this is the only survivor. two
viewing cylinders, B45-B46, a distorted picture, B47,
two other camera lenses, B48-B49, and a special
lens-hood, B51, are all missing, much the greatest loss
in the whole collection.
An escaping-handle, a small turned instrument of wood
. . . for a pnsoner to make his escape, by sliding down
. . . on a cord . . .. lt was given me at Augsburg by a
High-Dutch captain. B63.
Miniature padlock and key, A pretty little padlock and
key of guilt mettle, . . . given me by a nunn, possibly in
Lyons. B39i.
4 . . a piece of coral, given me by .1 nunn. B39ii. Missing.
Item, a rett' kind of nun’s work urse, made of
P l P
greenish silk, and carved work mother of pearl shell,
presented me likewise by a nun . . . B40. Illustrated.
Lodestone, an egg-shaped chunk of iron ore or
meteoric iron, with steel insets projecting at each end,
contained in cover of string, rough paper or felt and
red-and-yellow ribbon below and black silk above with
broken leather straps at each end. L: 7i5cms. . . . which
lhanging in my study upon a piece of silk . . . found that
our cathedral . . . doth not stand due east and west . 4 .
B20i.
Lndestone, another triangular, unequilateral, bumped
up, large lodestone. . .. B20ii.
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Two engravings iruni ll i\/lercuno ital/co showing Roman ruins where
Bargrave collected specirnens if) and Lg} on page 8. Tullie is the
Roman stalesma n Cicero.
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Stone, perhaps silvcr ore from mines near lnsbruck in
the Tirol. L: Gcms. . . . lhad the curiosity to be driven in
a wheelbarrow almost 2 miles under ground . . . lt was
horrid to go thither. . . This stone is a piece of the one
they digg out of those mines . . .. B21.
Original paper label (with 7 fragments of marble) "A
piece of S.Hilarie/Church at Poitiers/] B 1646”.
. . . the finger ol a Frenchman, which l brought from
Tholouse, the capital of Languedoc, in France. The
occasion this: . . . The Franciscans, who showed
Bargrave the well-presen/ed corpses in their vaults,
offered him <1 baby as well. B44. Illustrated
A sea-horse tooth, specific against poison, perhaps
Walrus, B37.
lnscct remains wrapped in original paper label "That
wlllin a silke \'v0rme/Wlllwcll she maketh silke”.
Several pairs ol horns of the wild mountain goats which
the High Dutch call gemps, the Italians camuchi] the
French shammois, from whence we have that leather. . .
(2 pairs and three odd horns). B55.
A crystal bought in the Alps, . . . a very clear,
handsome, elegant piece, something longcr than my
middle linger, 4 or 5 inches compass . 4 .. This I met with
among the Rhactian Alps. . . . I remember that the
Montecolian man that sold it me told me that he
ventured his life to clamber the rocks to gett it . . .,
with original label “A Cristall as it naturally/groweth
sexangular, which/I mot with on the PeninerAlps, On the
Sernpronian/Mount, now Caled mount Samplon/john
Bargrave”. B27i. lllustrated.
Four other crystals . . . several rude pieces of mountain
chrysrall, as they grow sexanguler always among the
Alps. . . B27ii.
Lusus Naturae, a kind of periwinkle's shell and divers
other fashion stone shells, which l had out of the
curiosities of art and nature at Douay . . . 3 or 4 leagues
oll from Saulmur, on the river Loyre . . . B38. These
specimens may be Confused with some from the next
entiy.
. . . some shells of the strange dieulle musell, bred in the
heart of a stone. . . . from la Rochelle, where some
workmen splitting rocks tnld Bargrave that they were
looking for live mussels. B53.
Original paper label (with piece of copper) ”Water/
turned to/stoane nere/Tours in Franco” and “Water into
stoane/at Cuttiere neer/Tours in France/l Bar/1646”.



The two collections of antique coins were amalgamated
into Casaubon’s cabinet in about 1748 by another Canon of
Canterbury, Dr Samuel Shuckford, author of an encyclo-
pedic world histon/, who painstakingly distinguished and
listed them. A high proportion of the individual coins can
be restored, on paper, to their original collections. But a
draft manuscript list of some of his coins, made by Bargraye
when they were in various separate batches as he had
bought them, does include one or two marked by
Shuckford as Casaubon’s. This shows that some of the coins
had been confused already by the mid 18th century.
Dr Casaubon may have owned a large collection of
antiquities. in 1634 he published engravings of Roman pots
sent to him by a local vicar. But the only objects known to
have been his are a Roman bronze ring-key, two bronze
spoons, one Roman and one, with pierced bowl, 17th
century, and a moulded pellet of medicinal earth, Terra
Lemnia, with its original paper label.
THE CABINETS
The earliest of the three cabinets in the Cathedral Library
belonged to Dr Meric Casaubon, who bequeathed his coins
to Bargrave and then the Library. lt was probably made for
him in Canterbury during the 1630s, but might be as late as
the 16605. lt has seven drawers surrounding a taller eighth
central drawer, which has a simple applied arch-decoration,
and there are fourteen coin-trays below, incised with the
strange numerals I to HIIX (one to fourteen}. The doors,
bolts and lock are original and complete in every detail.
There was formerly a hasp-and-padlock fitting across the
front, for which one projecting iron ear survives on the right
side.
The smallest of the three cabinets belonged to Dr Bargrave
and was probably made for him as a copy of Casaubon’s by
a Canterbury craftsman during the 16605. lt has eight
drawers surrounding a taller ninth central drawer and
thirteen coinetrays numbered by Bargrave himself in ink
from 1 to ‘I3, While the cabinet seems very like Casaubon’s
at first glance, there are many differences. The coin-trays
are not all together; ten are, like Casaubons, below the
drawers, but three have been added above, perhaps as an
 
afterthought while it was being, made. The tall central
drawer has a lock, which Casaubon's does not. The doors
themselves, very like Casaubon's, are not very old and
must have been added, perhaps c.1870.
illustrated on from rover.
This cabinet was meant to house only part of Dr Bargrave's
collection, such as the silk ribbons or the playing cards.
Most objects stood on the shelves to be admired and to be
taken down and handed round. The little portraits hung, or
were intended to hang, from the cabinet itself and many of
the medals were suspended on ribbons from the shelves.
The largest of the three cabinets was probably constructed
for the Library to hold all of Dr Bargrave's loose objects
soon after his collection was handed over in 1685. All the
drawers and trays stretch the full width of the cabinet,
without the pattem of drawers of the two earlier cabinets.
Two medium drawers at the top are followed by a ven_/
deep drawer, for the largest specimens, and a very shallow
one. Below were four medal-trays, erroniously made too
shallow, so that one must have been discarded while the
medals were being installed to allow room.
it is worth noting that four containers earlier thar" the
cabinets sun/ive from the 1640s or '50s, a blue-and-yellow
knitted purse, two small leather purses and a leather bag.
Illustrated.



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Top: lead cast copies of medals from various sets, the Persian emperor Cyrus, two El77lVI/Jill Romans, 5(‘l[J!O Arlicantls and
M. Brutus, and the great artist Raphael,
Below: J lead cast medal or Dr l?arg!avu's iricnd and fellow-collector, /udge rle /ieigt/e, <1 Lirunze fi"|(‘[.lJ-l of l/IL‘ ncwl/orel do
Ville (obverse), and another lead nicrial {obverse and revcrsc,'0/'1he same, all lrurn Lyons in southern [I<1!I((’ whme Bargrave
spent several stmirricrs in the 76505
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Casts of gems by Oonagh Rennie and photographs (2:1) by N. R. Pollard; descriptions on pp.
4-5 are of actual intaglios, reversed in impression.
Cover photo of cabinet and photographs on pp. 3, 6, 7, and inside back cover by John Webb;
photographs on pp. 2, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, and back cover by Peter Lyons.
The listing and initial publication of Dr Bargrave’s collection, together with some essential
cleaning and conservation, have been made possible by a generous grant from the British
Academy.
Clive Wainwright, Mark Jones, and Jonathan King provided information on the cabinets &
display, on the medals, and on the American items respectively; they will write the full
GCCOUFIES.
Printed by Abbey Press, Abingdon, Oxon. OX14 3lW.



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Tins Chamulcun died on the voyage back from North Africa in 1662, when Dr Barg/'a\/P brought
home 762 ransomed Lnglrsh scarncn and rnuzharvta. B43, page I4.
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