A RARE manuscript of one of John Donne’s most famous poems has been bought by Oxford's Bodleian Library.

The poem, written in 1613, was among the treasures that the Bodleian recently acquired from the collection of the late American bibliophile Robert Pirie.

He died last year and was one of the world’s leading book collectors, owning one of the finest collections of 16th and 17th-century English literature.

The Bodleian has bought five books and manuscripts from the collection, and other items included a letter by influential philosopher John Locke, and a John Aubrey book about the supernatural, annotated by the Oxford scientist Robert Hooke.

Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian, said: "Every one of these items has an Oxford connection and is a perfect complement to the Bodleian’s existing collections.

"We are grateful to the institutions and donors who have helped us bring these books and manuscripts back to the UK for the benefit of the public and the scholarly community."

John Donne's religious poem, Meditation upon a Good Friday, ryding from London towards Exceter, westward, is written in the hand of Sir Nathaniel Rich, a colonial investor and politician, who was friends with Donne and probably made the copy in the 1620s.

The Bodleian bought the items from the Pirie collection at auction in December last year.