Ben Jonson's Library and Henry Savile

Topic: Ben Jonson's Library and Henry Savile

Overview

This is a narrow afterlife/provenance packet. Its job is to preserve one specific point: Jonson owned Savile’s Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores. It should not try to carry the whole Savile or whole Jonson argument.

1. Verified Sourced Facts

• David McPherson’s catalog of Jonson’s library states that Jonson owned:

“Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores, ed. Sir Henry Savile (No. 161)”

• Folgerpedia states that McPherson's annotated catalogue is the main reference on Ben Jonson's books and that Folger's page follows McPherson's organization, while recommending the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson database where available.

• In the main catalogue entry, McPherson gives the item as:

“SAVILE, Sir Henry. Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores”

• The same entry identifies the edition as:

“London, 1596”

• Source-hardening check of the local McPherson PDF confirms that the Savile item is catalogue no. 161 and that McPherson reports two Jonson-associated copies: one at the Library of the English School, Oxford, and one at Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.

• McPherson states that the Oxford copy has the normal Jonson motto and signature, and that folios 1-20 were reported as annotated by Jonson, with a hand resembling Jonson's closely.

• McPherson states that the Stratford copy also has Jonson's motto and signature; some marks include Jonson-like flowers and hands, but McPherson says the text annotations are not Jonson's. This is important because the packet should not overstate Jonson annotation as settled across both copies.

2. Ken Feinstein Twitter and Blog Information

• No discrete Ken Feinstein Twitter/blog layer is isolated in this packet at present.

3. Quoted Source Text

McPherson

• “Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores, ed. Sir Henry Savile (No. 161)”
• “SAVILE, Sir Henry. Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores”
• “London, 1596”
• “Two copies”
• “folios 1-20 annotated by Jonson”
• “not Jonson's”

4. Citations

• McPherson, David. “Ben Jonson’s Library and Marginalia: An Annotated Catalogue.” Local PDF: McPherson-BenJonsonsLibrary-1974.pdf.
• “Books from Ben Jonson's library at the Folger.” Folgerpedia, Folger Shakespeare Library, https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Books_from_Ben_Jonson%27s_library_at_the_Folger.
• henry_saviles_rerum_anglicarum_scriptores_1596.md
• henry_savile.md
• ben_jonson.md

5. Notes on Access

• This packet is intentionally narrow.
• Folgerpedia strengthens this packet only by validating McPherson's catalog authority for Jonson's library; it does not add a separate Folger copy of Savile's Rerum owned by Jonson.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-04-27: the core ownership claim is strong, but any annotation claim must be phrased carefully. McPherson treats the Oxford copy as the stronger possible Jonson-annotation witness and treats the Stratford text annotations as not Jonson's despite Jonson-like ownership marks.
• The book’s original 1596 significance belongs in the Rerum Anglicarum packet, not here.
• The broader literary significance of Jonson’s relation to Savile belongs in the main Jonson packet.