Stapleton, Thomas

8vo (165 x 107mm.), engraved portrait of Thomas More on sig. a1v, BEN JONSON'S COPY with his signature ("sum Ben: Jonsonii Liber") and motto ("tanquam explorator") on the title page, complete in three parts with the "oratio funebris in laudem R. P. Arnoldi", nineteenth-century speckled calf, lacking final blanks, upper cover detached, neat repairs at margins

Ben Jonson (1572-1637), ownership inscription; sale, Puttick and Simpson, 29 November 1849, lot 1105, £1, to Joseph Lilly, bookseller; Lilly, Catalogue of an Interesting Collection of Rare, Curious, and Useful Books, nd., p. 42 for £2 2s.; R.D. Dyneley, sale of his library, Sotheby’s, 4 February 1889, lot 18; William O'Brien, bequest booklabel dated 1899

Adams S-1662; Allison & Rogers 1159; MacPherson, 'Ben Jonson's Library and Marginalia: An Annotated Catalogue', Studies in Philology, 71 (1974), pp.1-106, no. 178

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

JONSON'S COPY OF A SET OF THREE BIOGRAPHIES BY A LEADING CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN. Thomas Stapleton, an exile from England, was Professor of Theology at Douai when he penned these portraits of three saints who had shared his name. It is a significant book to have been owned by Jonson, who converted to Catholicism in prison in 1598 and remained a recusant for some twelve years. This book was probably acquired during Jonson's Catholic years, especially as a later purchase would have been more likely to be of the 1612 reprint. Jonson marked his reconciliation in 1610 with a typical gesture, and "drank out all the full cup of wyne" at his first communion, but he remained sympathetic to Catholicism throughout his life.

Ben Jonson's library was described as being "well-furnish" in 1614 by no less a figure than John Selden (MacPherson, p.5) but was decimated by fire in 1623. Nevertheless, more than 200 books from his library are known to survive. Many of these books were acquired after the fire, but financial necessity had always made him a regular seller as well as a buyer so many of the surviving books (including, probably, this one) had left his library before 1623. This book is also marked with occasional scattered underlinings and markings in pencil to Stapleton's biography of Thomas More. The marginal flowers in particular are similar to those made by Jonson - although they are unusually crude and do not provide enough evidence to make a certain attribution - and More was certainly a writer of interest to Jonson. His annotated copy of More's Works is in the library of Canterbury Cathedral.  

Sotheby's is grateful to Prof. Henry Woudhuysen for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.