Frederick North, Fifth Earl of Guilford, 1766-1827
Frederick North, fifth Earl of Guilford, was born on the 7th of February 1766. He was the third and youngest son of Frederick, second Earl, Prime Minister from January 1770 to March 1782. When his health, which was very delicate, permitted, he went to Eton, and afterwards became a student of Christ Church, Oxford. He was created D.C.L. in 1793, and received the same degree by diploma in 1819. In 1779, through his father’s interest, he obtained the sinecure of one of the Chamberlains of the Tally Court of the Exchequer, and in 1794 he was appointed to the Comptrollership of the Customs of the Port of London, when he resigned the representation of the family borough of Banbury, to which he had succeeded when his eldest brother, George Augustus, came to the Earldom in 1792. North was Secretary of State to the Viceroy of the Ionian Islands during 1795 and 1796, and in 1798 he was made Governor of Ceylon, a post he held until July 1805. On the death of his brother Francis, the fourth Earl, in 1817, he succeeded to the Earldom of Guilford, and in 1819 he was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the Eumelean Club. Lord Guilford, who had been received into the Eastern Church at Corfu in 1791, died unmarried in London on the 14th of October 1827, and was succeeded by his cousin, the Rev. Francis North, Prebendary of Winchester and Master of the Hospital of St. Cross. Lord Guilford was a distinguished scholar, and a most accomplished linguist. He took the greatest interest in everything relating to Greek literature and art, and it was principally through his exertions, and with his money, that a University was founded in 1824 at Corfu, of which he was the first chancellor, and in which he resided until 1827, when he was obliged to return to England on account of his health. He left his collections of printed books, manuscripts, etc., at Corfu to the University, but in consequence of its failure to comply with certain conditions which accompanied the bequest, it was not carried out. Lord Guilford’s fine library was sold by Evans, in seven parts, in the years 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1835. The first sale took place on December 15th, 1828, and eight following days; and the others on January 12th, 1829, and five following days; February 28th, 1829, and two following days; December 8th, 1830, and four following days; December 20th, 1830, and four following days; January 5th, 1831, and three following days; and November 9th, 1835, and seven following days. The last three sales were of the manuscripts and books removed from Corfu. There were eight thousand five hundred and eleven lots in the seven sales, which realised twelve thousand one hundred and seventy-eight pounds, ten shillings and sixpence.
Lord Guilford’s collection was an excellent one, and, as might be expected, the Greek manuscripts in it were particularly numerous and choice. The printed books were good, but they were not equal to the manuscripts either in interest or value. Among the latter was the original manuscript of Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata, with some alterations of verses in the margin, likewise in the handwriting of Tasso. This sold for two hundred and four pounds, fifteen shillings. Four Greek manuscripts of the eleventh century: a copy of the Four Gospels; the Greek Offices, with Intonations or Musical Directions for Chanting; an Evangelistarium and Menologium of the Greek Church; and Josephus’s Historia de Bello Judaico, deserve special notice on account of their beauty and rarity. These fetched at the sale respectively one hundred and two pounds, eighteen shillings; one hundred and seventy-three pounds, five shillings; seventy-three pounds, ten shillings; and two hundred and seventy-three pounds. Another interesting manuscript was a copy of the New Testament in Glagolitic characters, which realised one hundred and sixty-eight pounds. Among the printed books may be mentioned a large paper copy of the first edition of the Sixtine Bible, printed at Rome in 1590, and suppressed by order of Gregory XIV., on account of the numerous inaccuracies in it, which realised sixty-three pounds; and the Duke of Northumberland’s Concio ad Populum Londinensem, printed at Rome in 1570, of which the only other known copy is in the library of the Vatican, for which forty-two pounds was obtained.