Page:The Life of Sir Thomas Bodley written by himself.djvu/17

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Preface
11

monument!

"It is surely unnecessary," says old Anthony à Wood, "to repeat the praise of such a man as Thomas Bodley, a man whose name will perish only with that of his country. The obligations which literature owes to the exertions of this individual can only be estimated by those who have opportunity as well as occasion to consult the inestimable treasures he bequeathed to the place of his education." A more modern tribute is paid by Mr. Augustine Birrell in his agreeable essay, In the Name of the Bodleian: "Springing out of the mind, heart, and head of one strong, efficient, and resolute