Richard Drake 1609-1681

Richard DRAKE 1609-81

Inscription of Richard Drake (Pembroke, Cambridge 3.17.25 – W. Laud, A speech delivered in the Starr Chamber, London, 1637)

Inscription of Richard Drake (Pembroke, Cambridge 4.8.19 M. Chemnita, Examinis Concilii Tridentini, Frankfurt, 1609)

Greek motto of Richard Drake (Pembroke, Cambridge 3.17.25 – W. Laud, A speech delivered in the Starr Chamber, London, 1637)

Booklabel (1) of Richard Drake (Pembroke, Cambridge 5.16.9 C. a Lapide, Ecclesiasticus, Lyons, 1634)

Booklabel (2) of Richard Drake (Pembroke, Cambridge 5.16.9 C. a Lapide, Ecclesiasticus, Lyons, 1634)

Biographical Note

Born in London, son of Roger Drake, mercer. BA Pembroke College, Cambridge 1627, MA and fellow 1631, BD 1639, DD 1661. Rector of Radwinter, Essex 1638. Following clashes with his parishioners and ejection in 1643 he moved to London, then Richmond. Restored to Radwinter in 1660, he became a royal chaplain, prebendary of Salisbury in 1662, and was chancellor there from 1663.

Books

In his will, Drake bequeathed his folio and quarto books jointly between Pembroke College, Cambridge and Salisbury Cathedral, with the former having first choice; he also gave books to Pembroke in the 1630s. His will also directed that his son Charles receive his mother's Bible. The fate of his smaller format books is not specified; they would have passed with the residue of his estate to his son Roger. Numerous books from his bequests survive today in Pembroke, and at Salisbury. Examples: Pembroke College, Cambridge 5.16.6, 5.16.9; Salisbury Cathedral A.2.3-13, M.1.6.

Characteristic Markings

Drake regularly inscribed his books with his name, and often a date and mention of his circumstances (e.g. Fellow of Pembroke, Chancellor of Salisbury), and sometimes a Greek motto. He also used more than one printed book label. Many of his books, in both places, are in simply blind-tooled bindings typical of Cambridge work of the middle of the 17th century. A number of books given to Pembroke in the 1630s have a gilt armorial stamp on the covers, incorporating the arms of Drake, and the College - these seem likely to have been added to the books to mark the donation.

Sources

• Will of Richard Drake, The National Archives PROB 11/368/333.
• Armorial Bindings.
• Matthews, A. G. Walker revised. Oxford, 1948.
• Walter, John. "Drake, Richard (1609–1681), Church of England clergyman." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.