Anglia Sacra, sive collectio historiarum [...]

Londini [London]: Impensis Richardi Chiswel ad Insigne Rosae Coronatae [...], 1691. 2 vols., folio, pp. lviii, [ii] 805, [xi]; [viii], xxxiv, [ii] 706, [ii]. Half-title to each volume with arms of Archbishop of Canterbury to verso in vol. I., title pages in red and black with engraved printer's device, woodcut initials, vol.I with addenda and emendata at rear, vol.II with publisher's catalogue at rear. Some annotations, mostly numbering and underlining, in an old hand. Vol.I: a little toned with pp.371-4 very toned, head margin a bit dusty, sporadic foxing occasionally heavy, two small closed tears at half-title gutter, a few leaves with paper flaws at fore-edge causing some creasing and short closed tears, occasional tiny scorch marks. Vol.II: a little toned with a few pages eg. pp.1-8 very toned, sporadic foxing and occasional light ink spots. Contemporary Cambridge-panelled brown calf, rebacked with raised bands and green title labels and orange-red volume labels, edges sprinkled red. Endcaps a bit worn, spines rubbed, joints split but cords holding firm, corners worn and some repaired, endpapers renewed, still very good overall. To front pastedowns, both volumes: amorial bookplate of Edward William Harcourt with the motto 'Le Bon Temps Viendra'; book label of Dorothy Whitelock. To ffep verso, modern bookplate of the eminent medieval historian Richard Barber. Edward William Vernon Harcourt (1825-1891), politician and naturalist, served as Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire from 1878 to 1885, and for Henley from 1885 to 1886. He was the author of Sketch of Madeira (1851) and Sporting in Algeria (1859). The 1883 catalogue of the library at his home Nuneham Park in Oxfordshire includes this book. The historian Dorothy Whitelock (1901-1982) was from 1957 to 1969 the Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge. Her best-known works include: English Historical Documents, vol. I: c. 500-1042 (1955, editor); The Beginnings of English Society (1952); After Bede (1960); The Audience of Beowulf (1951) and Genuine Asser (1967), in which she argued against the assertion that Asser's Life of King Alfred was a forgery by Leofric. She fought for Oxford's women's colleges to have the same status as men's, which was finally achieved in 1959. The major work of writer and librarian Henry Wharton (1664-1695). In 1688 he met the archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, who became his patron. He wrote and edited this collection of the lives of English bishops and archbishops up to 1540, which combines Wharton's own contributions and the work of earlier writers, for example Stephen Birchington's Vitae Archiepiscoporum Cantuariensium. According to Enyclopedia Britannica, both Wharton's "industry and his talents were exceptional" (11th edn.). ESTC R 4174; Brunet V 1437; Graesse VI 440; Wing W 1560.