Charles Godwyn

Reverend Charles Godwyn (1701-1770) was a cleric, antiquarian, and book collector at the University of Oxford. Born in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, Godwyn was descended from Thomas Godwin, the bishop of Bath and Wells. Godwyn studied at Balliol College, Oxford starting in 1718. He corresponded with scholars like John Hutchinson and Richard Chandler, and is said to have contributed to their work. As a testament to his scholarly reputation, Godwyn was the subject of multiple poetic tributes after his death. One anonymous poem appeared in Lloyd’s Evening Post, which called Godwyn “renown’d [and] rever’d” and praised his strength as a scholar:On thee, her early pride, fair Science smil'd,

Lur'd from the mazes of her dark retreat,

And led thee, wondering, through the boundless wild,

To those sweet bowers where Wisdom fix'd her seat. Ten years later, John Walters, a scholar at Jesus College, Oxford and sub-librarian at the Bodleian Library wrote that Godwyn was “of strongest mind, yet gentlest heart, / Whose boundless genius rang’d the fields of art.”

Library and collections Godwyn made several large contributions to the University of Oxford at his death. In his will, Godwyn bequeathed his collection of “antient [sic] coins and… Medals [to] be Employed in making emprovements [sic] in those collections of coins and Medals which are in the Bodleian Library.” Many of these coins are on display at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. These include a Roman imperial coin, an ancient Greek coin from Syracuse, and a gold coin stamped with the profile of Alexander the Great.

Godwyn’s will also made provision for his vast collection of “books [to] be employed in making such an addition to the Bodleian Library as shall be thought proper according to the Judgement of the Keeper of the said Library.” Many of these books focus on civil and church history, but the Godwyn collection also contains copies of some of the eighteenth century’s most influential philosophical works, including

Samuel Clarke: The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity (Godw. 8° 751) Edmund Burke: A philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful (Godw. 8° 492) David Hume: An enquiry concerning the principles of morals (Godw. subt. 88)

Along with books, Godwyn bequeathed a large collection of theological and literary pamphlets.