INTRODUCTION. THE Reverend John Prince, rector of East Shefford, in Berkshire, England, was the father of John Prince, who came to America in 1633, and finally settled at Hull, Massachusetts, and whose oldest son, Samuel, of Sandwich, married, for his second wife, Mercy, the daughter of Thomas Hinckley, the last Governor of Plymouth Colony. THOMAS PRINCE was the fourth son of this Samuel, and was born at Sandwich, then in Plymouth Colony, May 15, 1687. In the Cotton papers in this collection, is a letter dated Sandwich, February 5, 1676, signed by Richard Bourne, and superscribed by Prince, as addressed "to Mrs. Ruth Winslow in Marshfield," to which is appended this note, also in Prince's hand: "N. B.-This excellent Gentlewoman I very well knew when I was a youth. She was Dt to ye eminently Pious Mr Wm Sargent of Barnstable. She 1st married to Mr Josiah Winslow of Marshfield, by w She had 1 child, a Son, wo Died young, & Her s Husband I suppose in 7br 1676. "After her s Husband's Decease she married to Mr Richard Bourn of Sandwich, I suppose in June, 1677 (sce Dte) w° Dying I suppose in y° Summer of 1682 (see Aug. 7. 1682) left his Homested at Sandwich between the mill River & ye Town Dock to her use during Life where she lived with her 34 Husband Elder John Chipman : w° marry' Her in 1683 or 4 ; & tho Ruling Elder of ye Church at Barnstable, yet removed to her sa House at Sandwich; where He Died Apr. 8. 1708 at 88; in yo very night when I wth some others watched wth Him. we Elder Chipman was a very venerable gentleman, & greatly esteemed in his Day. And This Mrs Ruth Chipman was a Little, lively, smart Gentlewoman of very good sense & knowledg, of ye strictest Piety, an excellent spirit of Family Gov', very good skill in ye Diseases of Women & children, very helpfull to her neighbors a dear intimate Friend & mother to my mother: & my mother falling into Travail with me near a month before I came to maturity, This Mr Chipman was y° only Person w living just by, occasionally help'd me into ye world.-surviv'd ye Elder, & liv'd & died in gt esteem. T. PRINCE." The above extract is quoted for the reference contained in the last paragraph, and as a good specimen of the kind of memoranda attached by Prince to many of the books and papers in this collection, the most important of which are noted in connection with the titles. Prince was graduated at Harvard College in 1707. He studied theology at Cambridge for nearly two years, and sailed for Europe in 1709. During several years following, he was travelling on the continent or remaining in England, chiefly at Combe in Suffolk, where he preached and was earnestly invited to abide permanently. (v) He returned to Boston in 1717, and was ordained pastor of the Old South Church, as colleague with Dr. Joseph Sewall, his classmate, October 1, 1718. In one of Dr Sewall's books of notes of sermons, contained in this collection, at the close of a report of one by "Mr. Joseph Sewall; Sept. 28. 1718. post m.," is the following memorandum : "Mr. Prince's Letter of Dismission was read from the Ch of Cambridge, where he was admitted January 1705. Mr. Sewall said, Brethren your choice of Mr. Prince to ye pastoral office among you prevents my asking your consent to his Admission; and then gave him the Covenant. Brethren sat in ye Gallery, fronting the pulpit, on ye ordination day." A few pages further on, appears this entry: "Mr. Prince; 8. 12. 1718. p. . Psal. 71. 14-17. D. The first Sermon after his ordination." Then follow notes of the sermon. In this station he remained till his death, Oct. 22, 1758, aged 71. Prince was of rare excellence in all the relations of life, and one of the most accomplished scholars of his time in New England. His publications were numerous. Thirty-three of his printed discourses are known. He is best remembered, however, as an author and historian by his unfinished but valuable Chronological History of NewEngland, in the form of Annals, the first volume of which appeared in January, 1736-7; and three parts of a second were subsequently printed. He published also, in the last year of his life, a revised edition of the New England version of the Psalms. Prince may well be called the Father of American bibliography. He began even in boyhood to form the collection which is now known by his name. At least one book bears date, when he was ten years old, as follows: "Tho Prince His Book 1697 By his mother" [shelf number, 15.34]. We have trace of an earlier date in a memorandum in a copy of Wigglesworth's Day of Doom [15.15.] which signifies an exchange "for one had A D. 1694". Another volume now preserved bears date at Harwich, 1701. [15.58.] Ilis grandfather Hinckley seems to have fostered the boy's spirit of collection, which apparently became a settled purpose upon his entering college in 1703; and this purpose was the illustration of the history of New England. Even a year later than when this aim was established, he seems to have been gathering books without marking them with the distinctive title they were subsequently known by, - The New England Library. A book-plate of his own, found in some of the books, consists of a flowered border surrounding this: Thomæ Prince Liber, Anno Domini: 170 4. Two books of this date show in some memoranda both the youthful hilarity of seventeen and the guarded reverence due a magistrate like his grandfather. The plate in one case covers a playful allusion to his native town, and to an imaginary aboriginal dignity, "Thomas Prince Duke of Sandwich Earl of punapog 1704". [24.59.] The other shows the Governor's initials, "T. Prince. Barnstapula. Julii. 1704. Ex Dono civi Honorab. T. H." [15.32.] There are other books in the collection that bear proof, in his own autograph, of Hinckley's former ownership. It would seem also to have been Prince's habit to associate the acquisition of a book with some marked event, and the stages of his sojourn abroad can be followed in this way. Again, there are dates of acquisition enlarged upon in this way: "Mar. 3. 1728-9. yo Day w1 y' Began to take down y° South Church old meets House." [11.8.] "T. Prince.) March. 31. 1729. Boston ye Day of Laying ye Foundation of y° South Ch new meets H." [24.27.] The books, where they seem to have been acquired by Prince personally, almost always bear his name in his own hand the place and date of acquisition, not infrequently the cost, and sometimes show further associations, as in the case of one which came to him from the father of Franklin, which is marked as "y gift of my good Friend, Mr. Josiah Franklin." When the book-plates, which many of the volumes now bear, were put in the books and by whom, is not clearly to be discovered, except perhaps as regards particular volumes; but there is enough proof, as will be shown, that the supposition sometimes entertained that they were the work of the legatees, or of some one in their interest, cannot be maintained; and some important considerations may hinge upon the case as it may be made out. First, as regards the New England Library. The plate, which is entirely of print, reads as follows: This Book belongs to The New-England-Library, 1703; and was given by said Prince, to Of this plate there are at least four different impressions from type set up at different times, as minor differences show; and they were probably printed at intervals, as the growth of the library required. This militates against the idea that they were printed subsequently to the bequest, when the library ceased to grow materially. Further, there was another plate prepared as follows: This Book belongs to The NEW-ENGLAND-Library, Begun to be collected by THOMAS PRINCE, This was intended probably to be used to designate the contributions of others, but they are sometimes filled out in the identical words of the other, and in Prince's own hand, which may have happened because, between the successive printings of the complete plate, the collector had no other to insert. The dates of acquisition in the books do not seem to afford the needful evidence when these different samples of plates were respectively used, as Prince may have kept a book for some time in his own name before he gave to it that of the library. In the case of two books purchased on the same day, it is noticed that the same plate is used. In another single volume [33.3], where two plates are inserted, one is finished in Prince's own hand, by "sd Prince to sa Library," |