Libri De Re Rustica: from the library of Charles Killigrew
Charles Killigrew's copy of Libri De Re Rustica is the third book in the acquisition with a clearly identified former owner, however, there are fewer details to be found about Killigrew and his books.
Killigrew was an English courtier and theatre manager, and was the Master of the Revels from 1677-1725. This was a position in the English royal household as an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain. Originally, the role was responsible for overseeing royal festivities known as revels, but the position also became responsible for stage censorship until that responsibility transferred to the Lord Chamberlain in 1624.
Thomas Killigrew, Charles' father, preceded his son as Master of Revels and lost control of his theatre in a conflict with Charles in 1677, who in turn lost it a year later.
The Office of the Master of Revels underwent a period of revival with the restoration of the monarchy with the accession of Charles II in 1660. Playhouses in Commonwealth England had fallen silent for a period of eighteen years during the English Civil War.
Killigrew became patentee of Drury Lane Theatre in 1682 which had been built by his father in the early 1660s. The elder Killigrew established the theatre soon after Charles II issued Letters Patent for two new acting companies, one of which went to Thomas Killigrew, and the company became known as the King's Company.
Although English theatre underwent a renaissance after the restoration of the monarchy, there were many years of difficulty due to outside factors. The Great Plague of London in the summer of 1665 shut down public entertainment for eighteen months. In 1672, the original Drury Lane Theatre burnt down, from which the King's Company never financially recovered due to the immense cost of building a new theatre and replacing the costumes and scenery. As patent holders for the King's Company, both Thomas and Charles alienated themselves from their actors and shareholders, even causing many actors to leave the company, resulting in Charles eventually losing the theatre.
Charles was noted for his literary interests and he assembled quite a large library of around 2,000 volumes. He is also known to have been friendly with the writer John Dryden. John Stevens thanked Killigrew for providing him with the use of his personal library in his New Spanish and English Dictionary (1706).
The Killigrew library was sold in London beginning in 1725 as a joint retail sale with the books of Bartholomew Beale who himself seems to have added around 2,000 volumes since the catalogue contains over 4,000 lots. The catalogue does not distinguish which lots came from which source, however, so the data compiled from the list must be considered with this uncertainty in mind.
Charles generally inscribed his books with "CKilligrew" or "Charles Killigrew" and occasionally used an ink-stamped monogram.