Page:The Life of Sir Thomas Bodley written by himself.djvu/32

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26
Preface

attention particularly to the provision for the disposal of duplicates which led to the sale of the Bodleian's First Folio of Shakespeare, the discovery and identification of which make one of the romances of bibliography. But for the most part these statutes show amazingly wise forethought and a broad and business-like grasp of the needs of the library, both in his own day and in time to come.

After a lingering illness. Sir Thomas Bodley died on January 28, 1613. He had married, when about forty years old, Ann Ball, a wealthy widow, whose death preceded his by a year and a half. He left no children and