James Marsh 1593-1645?

From Book Owners Online

James MARSH 1593-1645?

Biographical Note

Born in London, son of Robert Marsh, grocer. BA St Mary Hall, Oxford 1612, fellow of Merton College 1613, MA 1617, DD 1630. He remained in Oxford until 1630, when he became vicar of Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, after which a succession of ecclesiastical posts followed, including as vicar of St Dunstan in the West, London (1631) and of Cuckfield, Sussex (1638). He was made archdeacon of Chichester in 1639, chancellor of Chichester in 1642 and President of Sion College in 1643, but in the same year he was ejected from his preferments for his royalist sympathies. The precise date and circumstances of his death are unclear.

Books

A list of Marsh's library survives in an inventory of his goods, made shortly after his death. It includes 185 named titles, plus numerous "parcels" of pamphlets, stitched books, etc; Ben Higgins, who has edited and analysed the list (see below) estimated the total library at 200-220 volumes. The contents are largely typical of a clerical library of the period, with a predominance of theology, mixed with some history, classics, philosophy and some literature, including a Shakespeare folio. The fate of the library after Marsh's death is unknown.

Characteristic Markings

None of Marsh's books have been identified.

Sources

  • Foster, J., Alumni Oxonienses, Oxford, 1891.
  • Higgins, Ben, The library of James Marsh, D.D., The Library 7th ser 22 (2021), 33-56.