Richard de Bury

(1287 - 1345)

A renowned English bibliophile, Richard de Bury, after studying at the University of Oxford and joining a Benedictine monastery, began collecting manuscripts throughout Europe while on diplomatic missions for Edward III. As the bishop of Durham, Richard had hoped to establish a library at Durham College in Oxford and endow it with his personal collection of more than 1,500 manuscripts. “It appears that he died insolvent,” wrote one historian, “without even a shirt of his own wherewith to cover his body, and that his private goods were all seized by his creditors.”