the same time Bradshaw was actively engaged in the study of early printing — a study naturally connected with his researches in manuscripts. Beginning with Caxton, he helped William Blades [q. v. Suppl.] in the preparation of his great work on that printer; but English printing could not be mastered without a knowledge of the presses from which it had sprung. He studied especially the Dutch, Flemish, and Rhenish printing, and was thus drawn into friendship with Holtrop, Vanderhaeghen and other leading bibliographers on the continent.
When the post of librarian fell vacant in 1864 Bradshaw was pressed to stand, but declined. On the resignation of Mr. Mayor, three years later, the general voice of the university called him to succeed ; and he was elected librarian without opposition on 8 March 1867. In one respect the appointment was a misfortune, for it prevented Bradshaw from carrying any of his multi-farious researches to the point at which, in his view, publication of anything but details was possible. He did not cease to be a student, but his real student-days were over. Always working as much for others as for himself, always slow to generalise, and apt to be led on from one field of research to another, he now found the obstacles to publication insurmountable. The superintendence of a great public institution occupied much of his time ; attacks of illness not unfrequently disabled him ; and towards the end of his life he took a larger part in the general affairs of the university. Accumulation of knowledge and experience had reached such a point that a few more years of uninterrupted work might have enabled him to produce a scholarly edition of Chaucer, a history of early typography, a treatise on later mediaeval liturgies, with valuable contributions to Celtic philology, early Irish literature, and kindred subjects. His temperament was indeed such that he might in any case have gone on inquiring and never producing as long as he lived ; but, at all events, the requisite leisure was denied him. The amount of his published work is small, and the reputation which he enjoyed among contemporaries will be almost unintelligible to those who, never knew him, and who are unaware how much of his labour took shape in the productions of others. On the other hand, he was not in every respect fitted for the duties of a librarian. His knowledge of the books in his charge was only equalled by his readiness to place it at the service of any diligent inquirer ; but the work of organisation was not congenial to him, and he more than once contemplated resigning his post. Nevertheless, he laboured hard to cope with the difficulties of his task, and success came in the end. Before he died he had, to a large extent, rescued the library from the somewhat chaotic condition in which he found it. He presided at the fifth meeting of the Library Association, held at Cambridge in 1882, and won the esteem of all the members present. Meanwhile he continued, so far as was possible, his researches, especially in Celtic languages and liturgiology. He explored the early history of the collection of ecclesiastical canons known as the 'Hibernensis,' unravelled many of the difficulties connected with the curious low-Latin poem entitled 'Hisperica Famina,' established the dift'erences which separate Breton from other Celtic dialects, and threw new light on mediæval cathedral organisation by tracing the development of the Lincoln statutes. In the midst of these labours, when his popularity and influence in the university and his reputation in the world of scholars were at their height, he died suddenly of heart disease in the night of 10-11 Feb. 1886.
In person Bradshaw was of middle height, broad-shouldered, and latterly somewhat stout. His hair was crisp, of a reddish-brown colour, and always kept very short. The face was clean-shaved and of a somewhat eighteenth-century type. The eyes were grey-blue; the features massive, but regular and finely cut, with a sensitive mouth, A portrait of him by H. Herkomer, R.A., hangs in the hall of King's College. His religious views were those of the church of England, but he was wide-minded and tolerant. In politics he was a conservative reformer. He sympathised strongly with the abolition of tests and the changes introduced by the university statutes of 1882. Though not a skilled musician, he had a considerable knowledge of music, and delighted in hearing the works of great composers, especially Bach. Naturally quick-tempered, he had great self-control ; but the slightest appearance of meanness, pretence, or uncharitableness roused his indignation. In conversation he was not epigrammatic but persuasive, full without being tedious, frank but tactful, frequently ironical but never bitter. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of his character was the combination of strength, uprightness, and personal reserve, with quick sympathies and unusual tenderness of heart. Though by no means universal in his friendships, he possessed an unequalled capacity for making, and keeping friends, especially among younger men ; and in every generation of undergraduates some
