BURY, RICHARD DE

born 1287, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Eng. died 1345, England original name Richard Aungerville scholar, diplomat, and bishop of Durham who was a noted English bibliophile. De Bury displayed an interest in books at an early age. He collected books from scriptoria, libraries, and booksellers while on diplomatic missions to Europe in the service of Edward III of England. In 1333 de Bury became bishop of Durham, a position that increased his opportunities to collect. His Philobiblon (The Love of Books), a treatise in praise of books, was completed in 1344 and was first printed in 1473. It has since had many translations and editions. De Bury planned to establish a college at Oxford and to endow it with his library of more than 1,500 volumes. Because of heavy debts at the time of his death, however, the collection was sold.