The hunt’s on for the remnants of the Earl of Oxford’s widely-dispersed library. A recent and dramatic example is Ben August’s acquisition of the 1565 volume of Matheo Boiardo’s Italian translation of Herodotus’s Greek and Persian Wars.

In this video, August discusses the find and some of the book’s contents. After being appraised for by Sotheby’s at 2,500 – 3,500 USD, it sold a few years ago for $8,750, and then again for $60,000 after fierce bidding, as August explains in the video:

Ben August: “Why I spent $60,000 for this book.”

While the volume doesn’t contain any visible annotations, it is bound in an original 16th century binding stamped with a gold leaf boar icon representing Oxford’s heraldic arms (Figure One).

Figure 1: 1565 de Vere Herodotus with Boar binding.

The same boar emblem is visible on the de Vere Geneva Bible (Figure Two).

Figure Two: Boar seal on de Vere Geneva Bible

The Herodotus volume also contains a Latin title page inscription (Figure Three) recording that the book was a gift of the “illustrious” Earl of Oxford to Sir Thomas Berkeley (1572-1611?).

Figure 2: Title Page of de Vere Herodotus recording the book’s gift to Oxford’s nephew Thomas, Earl of Berkeley.

While the handwriting is in many respects similar to Oxford’s own, it seems more likely that such an inscription would be made by the book’s recipient. There is also evidence in the inscription that is unusual if the hand is Oxford’s, such as the strong calligraphic extension of the k in Berkelei.

Of two similar inscriptions I have seen, one (Ben Jonson’s inscription of the gift of a copy of Plato from the 18th Earl of Oxford) is in the hand of the recipient, and the other (Sir Henry Neville’s inscription on a book given by him to a third party) is apparently in the hand of the donor.

Controls consisting of Berkeley’s hand from other contexts would resolve the question of the writer. For more on forensic handwriting methods in Early modern handwriting, see “How Not to Do Forensic Handwriting”