Bentley’s first care on taking office was to enforce the Copyright Act, which, although passed in 1663, had been carelessly ignored.  By this means about 1000 printed books were added to the collection, but no bindings were provided, or shelves on which to put them.  In a famous controversy with Charles Boyle, who complained that difficulties were placed in the way of his access to one of the royal manuscripts, Bentley answered:  “I will own that I have often said and lamented that the library was not fit to be seen,” and proceeding to exulpate himself, he added:  “If the room be too mean, and too little for the books; if it be much out of repair; if the situation be inconvenient; if the access to it be dishonourable, is the library- keeper to answer for it?”

A proposal was made, during Bentley’s tenure of office, to erect a suitable building for the books, establishing it by Act of Parliament.  But nothing was done, and in the course of nineteen years the collection was four times removed.  In 1712 it migrated from the much abused quarters at St. James’s to Cotton House, and from thence to Essex House in 1722.  It was next lodged, together with the Cottonian library at Ashburnham House, and after the disastrous fire in 1731, from which the Cotton MSS. suffered so severely, it gained with them a temporary refuge in the old Westminster dormitory.

Bentley resigned his office of librarian in 1724, in favour of his son, another Richard Bentley; but Casley, who, as deputy custodian, had been for many years the only working librarian, continued to fill that post.

In 1757, George ii. presented the Royal library to the nation, handing it over by Letters Patent to the custody of the trustees of the British Museum, and thus its hitherto chequered career was turned into prosperous channels.  All that is henceforth left to desire is a descriptive catalogue worthy of its unique contents.*

* The Royal Library must not be confused with the King’s Library belonging to George iii., and presented to the British Museum by George iv.  The King’s Library included, however, a few important MSS. which had been retained by George ii. when he made over the Royal collection to the nation.

The Greek MSS. in the British Museum are not very numerous, but are widely renowned.  Of those in the Royal library the Codex Alexandrinus is by far the most interesting, not only as being the one Greek Ms. of the whole Bible in the library, but also as surpassing all the other existing Greek fragments of the Scriptures in point of antiquity.  The next earliest Ms., containing the Books of Ruth, Kings, Esdras, Esther, and the Maccabees (1 D 2), is of the thirteenth century.  The Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon (1 A 15), are of the fifteenth century.  Nearest in antiquity to the Alexandrian Bible in the British Museum is the Cotton Ms. (Titus, C 15), the Codex Clarmontanus, a purple-dyed fragment of the sixth century, written on vellum of so subtle and delicate a texture that even experts have sometimes mistaken it for Egyptian papyrus.