Richard Smith

the Son of a Clergy man named Richard Smith a Native of Abendon, (by Martha his Wife, Daughter of Paul Darrel or Dayrell of Lillingston Darrel in Bucks Esq.) Son of Richard, Son of another Ric. Smith of Abendon in Berks. sometimes Gent. Usher to Qu. Elizabeth, was born at Lillingston Darrel before mention’d, an. 1590, and after the beginning of the raign of King James 1. was sent to the Univ. of Oxon, where his stay being short, he was not matriculated, and therefore I cannot positively tell you of what Coll. or Hall he was a member. Thence he was taken away by his Parents, and put a Clerk to an Attorney belonging to the City of London, but his mind hanging after learning, he spent all the time he could obtain from his employment in Books. At riper years he became Secondary of the Poultry Compter within the City of London, a place of good reputation and profit, being in his time worth about 700 l. per an. which he executed many years, but upon the death of his Son an. 1655 (begotten on the body of his Wife Elizab. Daughter of George Deane of Stepney) to whom he intended to resign his place, he immediatly sold it, and betook himself wholly to a private life, two thirds of which at least he spent in his Library. He was a person infinitely ((d))((d)) See in the Epist. to the reader set before Bibliotheca Smithiana, &c. Pr. at Lond. 1682. qu. curious in, and inquisitive after, books, and suffered nothing considerable to escape him, that fell within the compass of his learning, desiring to be Master of no more than he knew how to use. He was constantly known every day to walk his rounds among the Booksellers shops (especially in Little Britaine) in London, and by his great skill and experience he made choice of such books that were not obvious to every mans eye. He lived in times, which ministred peculiar opportunities of meeting with books, that were not every day brought into publick light: And few eminent Libraries were bought, where he had not the liberty to pick and choose. Hence arose, as that vast number of books, so the choiceness and rarity of the greatest part of them, and that of all kinds and in all sorts of learning, especially in History, of which he had the most considerable Writers of all ages and nations, antient and modern, especially of our own and the neighbouring nations, of which, as ’twas thought, there was scarce any thing wanting that was extant. He was also a great collector of Mss. whether antient or modern that were not extant, and delighted much to be poring on them. He collected also abundance of pamphlets published at, and before, the time of reformation of religion relating to Ecclesiastical affairs, and it was supposed, that the copies of some of them were not then extant in the World, and therefore esteemed as choice as Mss. Among the books relating to history were his collection of Lives, the Elogia of illustrious men, the authors who have written the lives and characters of Writers, and such who have writ of the foundations of Monasteries. Nor was he the owner of this choice treasure of books as an idle possessor, or did he barely turn over the leaves, but was a constant peruser of, and upon his buying, did generally collate, them, observed the defects of impressions, the all arts used by many, and compared the differences of editions: concerning which and the like cases, he, with great diligence and industry, entred many memorable and very useful remarks and observations upon very many of his books under his own hand. He hath written,

Letter to Dr. Hen. Hammond concerning the sense of that article in the Creed, He descended into Hell—Dated from his house in Little Moorfields near London, (where he mostly lived after he had buried his Son) in Apr. 1659. Which Letter being answer’d by Dr. Hammond in the same month, were both afterwards published, an. 1684. See more in Dr. Hammond under the year 16 [•] 0. p. 161. This I think is all that R. Smith hath extant. Those things that are not, are these,

Observations on the three grand Impostors.

Exposition on these words used in the form of Marriage, with my body I thee worship—Written in qu.

Collection of expositions of Baptisme for the dead—Wr. in qu.

Collection of several expositions and opinions of Christs descent into hell—See more in Dr. Hammond before mentioned.

Miscellaneous tracts, chiefly Theological.

Collection of Arms belonging to the name of Smith, in colours—MS. in oct.

Vita S. Simonis Stock Angli Carmelitae. Collected from the Writings and Mss. of John Bale.

Life of Hugh Broughton and Cat. of his works.—He also translated from Latin into English. (1) The fifth book of Histories of Corn. Tacitus. (2) The order of receiving the new Bishop after his consecration, before he enter into the Cathedral Church of Salisbury; taken out of an old Ms. ritual belonging to that Church; and from French into English Bosquires Sermon before the company of Shoomakers in France, an. 1614. on the Festival of S. Crispin and Crispiana. Besides these and others of his writing and translations, he made ten thousand instances or remarks with his own hand either of authors in, or before the title, or in the margin of their works. This Mr. Rich. Smith who was a man of an excellent temper, great justice,1675. &c. died 26. March in sixteen hundred seventy and five, and was buried in the Church of S. Giles near to Cripplegate in London. Soon after was a marble monument erected over his grave for him, his Wife and Children, with an inscription thereon, which for brevity sake I shall now pass by. Afterwards there was a design to buy his choice Library for a publick use, by a collection of moneys to be raised among generous persons, but the work being publick, and therefore but little forwarded, it came into the hands of Richard Chiswell a Bookseller living in S. Pauls Ch. yard, London: who printing a catalogue of, with others added to, them, which came out after Mr. Smiths death, they were exposed to sale by way of Auction, to the great reluctancy of publick spirited men, in May and June 1682.