This period was marked by the rivalry between bibliophiles of high rank and great wealth, whose Homeric contests have been worthily described by Dibdin in his history of the Bibliomania. A note in one of the Althorp Caxtons records a more amicable arrangement. The book belonged to Mr. George Mason, at whose sale it was bought by the Duke of Roxburghe: 'The Duke and I had agreed not to oppose one another at the sale, but after the book was bought, to toss up who should win it, when I lost it; I bought it at the Roxburghe sale on the 17th of June, 1812, for L215 5s.' The Duke was chiefly interested in old English literature, Italian poetry, and romances of the Round Table; but we are told that shortly before his death he was 'in full pursuit of a collection of our dramatic authors.' It was at his sale that the Valdarfer Boccaccio was purchased by Lord Blandford, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, for L2260, a sum which at that time had never been reached as the price of a single volume. It passed into the great collection at White Knights, which then contained, in addition to some of the rarest English books, the 'Bedford Missal,' another missal given by Queen Louise to Marguerite d'Angouleme, and a volume of prayers from the hand of the caligrapher Nicolas Jany. On the 17th of June, 1819, the White Knights library was sold on behalf of the owner's creditors; and the 'Boccaccio' found a safe home at Althorp, where George, Earl Spencer, had by fortunate purchases, by zeal in the pursuit of books, and by the aid of an accomplished librarian, formed that matchless collection which Renouard justly described as 'the finest private library in Europe.' INDEX. AElfric, Archbishop, 26. Agricola, Rudolf, 87. Aicardo, Paul, 176. Aidan, 13, 17. Albisse, 144. Alexander ab Alexandro, 80. Alfred, King, 25. Allatius, Leo, 91. Alphonso, Naples, 79. Amboise, Cardinal de, 100. Ancillon, David, 189. Anne, Queen, 120, 121. Anne of Austria, 108. Anne of Brittany, 79. Anselm, 27. Apellicon, 3. Arcanati, Galeazzo, 164. Aretino, Carlo, 66. Aretino, Leonardo, 59, 63, 65. Argonne, Bonaventure d', 147, 148. Aristotle, 3, 23, 33, 37, 57. Arius, Montanus, 165. Arundel, Archbishop, 56. Arundel, Henry, Lord, 116. Arundel, Thomas, Earl of, 85. Ascham, Roger, 114. Ashmole, Elias, 135, 136. Askew, Anthony, Dr., 214. Asser, 25. Attavante, 83, 85. Attalus, 2. Aubrey, John, 135. Augustus, 4. Augustus of Brunswick, 85. Aumale, Duc d', 105. Aungerville (_see_ Bury, Richard de). Aurispa, John, 66, 70. Aquinas, Thomas, 70.