View source for Christopher Codrington 1668-1710

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===[[name::Christopher]] [[name::CODRINGTON]]  [[date of birth::1668]]-[[date of death::1710]]===

====Biographical Note====
Born in [[place of birth::St John, Barbados]], son Christopher Codrington, later governor of [[location::the Leeward Islands]].  The family had considerable wealth, based on the sugar plantations.  Matriculated at [[education::Christ Church, Oxford]] 1685; [[occupation::fellow]] of [[education::All Souls College, Oxford]], 1690; BA 1691, MA 1694.  Admitted at the [[organisations::Middle Temple]], 1687.  During the 1690s he alternated between [[location::Oxford]], and life as a [[occupation::soldier]] in [[location::the West Indies]] and [[location::Flanders]].  He succeeded his father as governor of [[location::the Leeward Islands]] in 1699, and moved to [[occupation::the West Indies]] where he spent the rest of his life, much embroiled in administrative and political disputes.  He wrote verses, some of which were published, and had a circle of literary acquaintances during his time in [[location::Oxford]].

====Books==== 
Codrington began acquiring books early in his career, and devised the intention of accumulating a significant collection.  He engaged an agent, [[associates::Alexander Cunningham]], to build up a library on his behalf, held in [[occupation::Oxford]], while he was away in [[location::the West Indies]]: “though it will not be so large as I first intended”, Codrington wrote in 1702, “I hope to make it as curious as any private one in Europe, particularly in some sort of books which I believe are not known in [[location::Oxford]]”.  Cunningham collected extensively from continental Europe as well as [[location::England]].  Codrington bequeathed the [[bequest::collection]] (which he did not see after 1700) to [[beneficiary::All Souls, Oxford|All Souls]], together with [[monetary value::£6000]] to be spent on building a new library, and [[monetary value::£4000]] for further book purchases.

The collection bequeathed to the College comprised ca.12,000 volumes; Codrington’s contemporaries did not think its quality lived up to the donor’s aspirations.  Hearne judged “the greatest part riff-raff” and [[associates::John Caswell]], who looked after the books in [[education::Oxford University|Oxford]], was reluctant to receive further additions from Cunningham towards the later part of Codrington’s life.  The collection includes many late 17th-century [[language::French]] and [[language::Italian]] publications, particularly in [[subject::history]], [[subject::biography]], [[subject::topography]] and [[subject::literature]].  

A handsome galleried library was duly constructed between 1715 and 1751, to designs by [[associates::Nicholas Hawksmoor]], 195 feet long by 30 feet wide.  A catalogue was begun by [[associates::Thomas Clymer]] soon after the books were received.

====Characteristic Markings==== 
As most of the collection was built up by proxy, the books carry no markings by Codrington.  A new bookplate was designed for the College shortly after the bequest, and is usually found in Codrington’s books (but also in later acquisitions).  Many of the continental books are in French or Italian bindings with gilt-tooled spines. 

====Sources====
<div id="sourcelist">
*Craster, E. ''History of All Souls College Library'', 1971, 66-81.
*Mandelbrote, Scott. [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/5795 "Codrington, Christopher (1668–1710), colonial governor and benefactor."] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. 
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