Bury, Richard de

▪ English bishop, diplomat, and scholar

original name  Richard Aungerville  

born 1287, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England

died 1345, Auckland, Durham, England

      scholar, diplomat, and bishop of Durham, who was a noted English bibliophile.

      After studying at the University of Oxford, Richard joined a Benedictine monastery and became a tutor to the future Edward III of England. Having cultivated an interest in books at an early age, Richard later collected books from scriptoria, libraries, and booksellers while on diplomatic missions to Europe in the service of Edward III. In 1333 Richard became bishop of Durham, a position that increased his opportunities to collect published works. His Philobiblon (“The Love of Books”; Eng. trans. Philobiblon), a Latin treatise in praise of books, was completed in 1344 and was first printed in 1473. It has since had many translations and editions. The most reliable of the English editions is that of 1888, edited and translated by Ernest C. Thomas.

      Richard planned to establish a library at Durham College, Oxford (the current site of Trinity College, Oxford), and endow it with his library of more than 1,500 volumes. Because of heavy debts at the time of his death, however, the collection was sold.

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