Chapter 16

strengthen his assertion in calling the edition "_fort rare_." The reprint, or spurious edition, has always struck me as the prettier book of the two. These examples appeared in the first edition of this work. I add to them what of course I was not enabled to do before. In the second edition of _The Bibliomania_, there are some variations in the copies of the small paper; and one or two decided ones between the small and large. In the small, at page 13, line 2, we read

"beat with perpetual _forms_."

in the large, it is properly

"beat with perpetual _storms_."

Which of these is indicative of the _true_ edition? Again: in the small paper, p. 275, line 20, we read properly

"Claudite jam rivos pueri, sat _prata_ biberunt."

in the large paper,

"Claudite jam rivos pueri, sat _parta_ biberunt."

It was in my power to have cancelled the leaf in the large paper as well as in the small; but I thought it might thereby have taken from the former the air of a _true_ edition; and so the blunder (a mere transposition of the letters _ar_) will go down to a future generation in the large paper. There is yet another slight variation between the small and large. At p. 111, in the account of the catalogue of Krohn's books, the concluding sentence wholly varies: but I believe there is not an _error_ in either, to entitle one to the rank of _Truism_ more than another.[H]]

[Footnote H: During the youth of the printer of this book, a curious mistake occurred: a splendid folio work was going on for Dr. Bonnell Thornton; in a certain page, as printers technically say, _a space stood up_; the Dr. (not understanding printers' marks) wrote on a head page "take out horizontal line at p. so and so"--the compositor inserted these words as a _displayed line_ in the head-page whereon they were written--the reader passed it in the revise--and it was so worked off! Being eventually detected--the leaf was of course cancelled.]

ALMAN. It seems to me to be downright idiotism. But I suspect you exaggerate?

LYSAND. In sober truth, I tell you only what every day's experience in the book-market will corroborate.

BELIN. Well!--what strange animals are you bibliomaniacs. Have we any other symptom to notice? Yes, I think Lysander made mention of an _eighth_; called a passion for THE BLACK-LETTER. Can any eyes be so jaundiced as to prefer volumes printed in this crabbed, rough, and dismal manner?

LOREN. Treason--downright treason! Lisardo shall draw up a bill of indictment against you, and Lysander shall be your judge.

BELIN. My case would then be desperate; and execution must necessarily follow.

LIS. I shall be better able to form an opinion of the expediency of such a measure after Lysander has given us his definition of this eighth and last symptom. Proceed, my friend.

LYSAND. Of all symptoms of the Bibliomania, this _eighth_ symptom is at present the most powerful and prevailing. Whether it was imported into this country, from Holland, by the subtlety of Schelhorn[454] (a knowing writer upon rare and curious books) may be a point worthy of consideration. But whatever be its origin, certain is that books printed in the =black-letter=, are now coveted with an eagerness unknown to our collectors in the last century. If the spirits of West, Ratcliffe, Farmer, and Brand, have as yet held any intercourse with each other, in that place "from whose bourne no traveller returns," which must be the surprise of the three former, on being told, by the latter, of the prices given for some of the books at the sale of his library!

[Footnote 454: His words are as follows: "Ipsa typorum ruditas, ipsa illa atra crassaque literarum facies _belle tangit sensus_," _&c._ Was ever the black-letter more eloquently described: see his _Amoentates [Transcriber's Note: Amoenitates] Literariae_, vol. i., p. 5. But for the last time, let us listen to the concluding symptomatic stanza of an "aspirant;"

EIGHTH MAXIM.

Who dreams the _Type_ should please us all, That's not too thin, and not too tall, Nor much awry, nor over small, And, if but ROMAN, asks no better-- May die in darkness:--I, for one, Disdain to tell the barb'rous Hun That Persians but adore the sun Till taught to know _our_ God--=Black-Letter=.

_Bibliosophia_: p. vii.

However cruel may be the notes of one poet, it seems pretty clear that the glorious subject, or bibliomaniacal symptom, of which we are treating, excited numbers of a softer character in the muse of Dr. Ferriar: for thus sings he--inspired by the possession of _black-letter_ tomes:

In red morocco drest, he loves to boast the bloody murder, or the yelling ghost; or dismal ballads, sung to crowds of old, now cheaply bought for thrice their weight in gold.

v. 62-65.

Ev'n I, debarr'd of ease and studious hours, Confess, mid' anxious toil, its lurking pow'rs. How pure the joy, when first my hands unfold The small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold!

_The Bibliomania_, l. 135-8.

But let us attend to a more scientific illustration of this eighth symptom. 'BLACK-LETTER, which is used in England, descends from the Gothic characters; and is therefore called _Gothic_ by some, _old English_ by others; but printers give it the name of _Black-Letter_, because its face taking in a larger compass than Roman or Italic of the same body, the full and spreading strokes thereof appear more _black_ upon paper than common.' _Smith's Printer's Grammar_; edit. 1755, p. 18. The same definition is given in a recent similar work; with the addition that 'black-letter is more expensive than Roman or Italic, its broad face requiring an extraordinary quantity of ink, which always gives the best coloured paper a yellow cast, unless worked upon that of a superior quality. It has a good effect in a title-page, if disposed with taste.' Stower's _Printer's Grammar_; 1808, p. 41. To these authorities we may add, from Rowe Mores, that 'Wynkyn de Worde's letter was of _The Square English_ or _Black face_, and has been the pattern for his successors in the art.' _Of English Founders and Foundries_; 1778, 8vo. p. 4, 5. 'The same black-letter printer,' says Palmer or Psalmanaazar, 'gave a greater scope to his fancy, and formed such a variety of sorts and sizes of letter that, for several years after him, none of his successors attempted to imitate him therein.' _General History of Printing_; p. 343. It is not necessary to collect, in formal array, the authorities of foreigners upon this important subject; although it may be as well to notice the strange manner in which Momoro, in his _Traite elementaire de L'Imprimerie_, p. 185, refers us to an elucidation of the Gothic letter ('appele du nom de certains peuples qui vinrent s'etablir dans la Gothie, plus de quatre cens ans avant J.C.') in one of the plates of Fournier's _Dictionnaire Typographique_: vol. ii. p. 205--which, in truth, resembles anything but the Gothic type, as understood by modern readers.--Smith and Mr. Stower have the hardihood to rejoice at the present general extinction of the black-letter. They were not, probably, aware of Hearne's eulogy upon it--'As it is a reproach to us (says this renowned antiquary) that the Saxon language should be so forgot as to have but few (comparatively speaking) that are able to read it; so 'tis a greater reproach that the BLACK-LETTER, which was the character so much in use in our grandfathers' days, should be now (as it were) disused and rejected; especially when we know the best editions of our English Bible and Common-Prayer (to say nothing of other books) are printed in it.' _Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle_: vol. i., p. LXXXV. I presume the editor and publisher of the forth-coming fac-simile re-impression of Juliana Barnes's Book of Hawking, Hunting, &c., are of the same opinion with Hearne: and are resolved upon eclipsing even the black-letter reputation of the afore-named Wynkyn De Worde.--A pleasant black-letter anecdote is told by Chevillier, of his having picked up, on a bookseller's stall, the first edition of the _Speculum Salutis_ sive _Humanae Salvationis_ (one of the rarest volumes in the class of those printed in the middle of the fifteenth century) for the small sum of four livres! _L'Origine de l'Imprimerie_; p. 281. This extraordinary event soon spread abroad, and was circulated in every bibliographical journal. Schelhorn noticed it in his _Amoenitates Literariae_: vol. iv. 295-6: and so did Maichelius in his _Introd. ad Hist. Lit. et Praecip. Bibl. Paris_, p. 122. Nor has it escaped the notice of a more recent foreign bibliographer. Ameilhon makes mention of Chevillier's good fortune; adding that the work was 'un de ces livres rares au premier degre, qu' un BON BIBLIOMANE ne peut voir sans trepigner de joie, si j'ose m'exprimer ainsi.' _Mem. de l'Institut_. vol. ii. 485-6. This very copy, which was in the Sorbonne, is now in the Imperial, library at Paris. _Ibid._ A similar, though less important, anecdote is here laid before the reader from a communication sent to me by Mr. Wm. Hamper of Birmingham. '"_Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, black-letter, sewed_," was valued at SIXPENCE, in a catalogue of a small Collection of Books on the sale at the shop of Mr. William Adams, Loughborough, in the year 1804: and, after in vain suing the coy collector at this humble price, remained unsold to the present year, 1809, when (thanks to your _Bibliomania_!) it brought A GOLDEN GUINEA.'--I have myself been accused of 'an admiration to excess' of black-letter lore; and of recommending it in every shape, and by every means, directly and indirectly. Yet I have surely not said or done any thing half so decisive in recommendation of it as did our great moralist, Dr. Johnson: who thus introduces the subject in one of his periodical papers.--'The eldest and most venerable of this society, was HIRSUTUS: who, after the first civilities of my reception, found means to introduce the mention of his favourite studies, by a severe censure of those who want the due regard for their native country. He informed me that he had early withdrawn his attention from foreign trifles, and that since he begun to addict his mind to serious and manly studies, he had very carefully amassed all the _English books_ that were printed in the =Black-Letter=. This search he had pursued so diligently that he was able to show the deficiencies of the best catalogues. He had long since completed his _Caxton_, had three sheets of _Treveris_, unknown to antiquaries, and wanted to a perfect [collection of] _Pynson_ but two volumes: of which one was promised him as a legacy by its present possessor, and the other he was resolved to buy at whatever price, when Quisquilius' library should be sold. Hirsutus had no other reason for the valuing or slighting a book than that it was printed in the Roman or the Gothick letter, nor any ideas but such as his favourite volumes had supplied: when he was serious, he expatiated on the narratives of JOHAN DE TREVISA, and, when he was merry, regaled us with a quotation from the _Shippe of Fools_.' RAMBLER, no. 177.--Nor was the Doctor himself quite easy and happy 'till he had sold, in the character of a BOOKSELLER, a few volumes--probably of black-letter celebrity. Mr. Boswell relates that 'During the last visit which the Doctor made to Litchfield, the friends, with whom he was staying missed him one morning at the breakfast table. On inquiring after him of the servants, they understood that he had set off from Litchfield at a very early hour, without mentioning to any of the family whither he was going. The day passed without the return of the illustrious guest, and the party began to be very uneasy on his account, when, just before the supper hour, the door opened, and the Doctor stalked into the room. A solemn silence of a few minutes ensued; nobody daring to enquire the cause of his absence, which was at length relieved by Johnson addressing the lady of the house as follows: "Madam, I beg your pardon for the abruptness of my departure this morning, but I was constrained to it by my _conscience_. Fifty years ago, Madam, on this day, I committed a breach of filial piety, which has ever since lain heavy on my mind, and has not until this day been expiated. My father, you recollect, was a bookseller, and had long been in the habit of attending _Walsall Market_; and opening a stall for the sale of his books during that day. Confined to his bed by indisposition, he requested of me, this time fifty years ago, to visit the market, and attend the stall in his place. But, Madam, my pride prevented me from doing my duty, and I gave my father a refusal. To do away the sin of this disobedience, I this day went in a post-chaise to Walsall, and going into the market at the time of high business, uncovered my head, and stood with it bare an hour before the stall which my father had formerly used, exposed to the sneers of the by-standers, and the inclemency of the weather: a penance, by which I have propitiated Heaven for this only instance, I believe, of contumacy towards my father."'--Is it not probable that Dr. Johnson himself might have sold for SIXPENCE, a _Tusser_, which now would have brought a 'GOLDEN GUINEA?']

A perusal of these prices may probably not impress the reader with any lofty notions of the superiority of the black-letter; but this symptom of the Bibliomania is, nevertheless, not to be considered as incurable, or wholly unproductive of good. Under a proper spirit of modification, it has done, and will continue to do, essential service to the cause of English literature. It guided the taste, and strengthened the judgment, of Tyrwhitt in his researches after Chaucerian lore. It stimulated the studies of Farmer and Steevens, and enabled them to twine many a beauteous flower round the brow of their beloved Shakspeare.

It has since operated, to the same effect, in the labour of Mr. Douce,[455] the PORSON of old English and French Literature; and in the editions of Milton and Spenser, by my amiable and excellent friend Mr. Todd, the public have had a specimen of what the _Black-Letter_ may perform, when temperately and skilfully exercised.

[Footnote 455: In the criticisms which have passed upon Mr. DOUCE'S "_Illustrations of Shakspeare and Ancient Manners_," it has not, I think, been generally noticed that this work is distinguished for the singular diffidence and urbanity of criticism, as well as depth of learning, which it evinces; and for the happy illustrations of the subjects discussed by means of fac-simile wood-cuts.]

I could bring to your recollection other instances; but your own memories will better furnish you with them. Let me not, however, omit remarking that the beautiful pages of the '_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_' and '_Sir Tristrem_' exhibit, in the notes, (now and then thickly studded with black-letter references) a proof that the author of '_The Lay_,' '_Marmion_,' and '_The Lady of the Lake_,' has not disdained to enrich his stores with such intelligence as black-letter books impart. In short, although this be a strong and general symptom of the Bibliomania, it is certainly not attended with injurious effects when regulated by prudence and discretion. An undistinguishable voracious appetite to swallow _every thing_, because printed in the black-letter, must necessarily bring on an incurable disease, and, consequently, premature dissolution.

There is yet one other, and a somewhat generally prevailing, symptom, indicative of the prevalence of the Bibliomania; and this consists in a fondness for books which have been printed for PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION[456] only, or at a PRIVATE PRESS. What is executed for a few, will be coveted by many; because the edge of curiosity is whetted, from a supposition that something very extraordinary, or very curious, or very uncommon, is propagated in this said book, so partially distributed. As to works printed at a _Private Press_, we have had a very recent testimony of the avidity with which certain volumes, executed in this manner, and of which the impression has been comparatively limited, have been sought after by book _Cognoscenti_.

[Footnote 456: The reader may not object to be made acquainted with a few distinguished productions, printed for PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. The reader is indebted to Mr. Bulmer, at whose elegant press these works were printed, for the information which follows:--MUSEUM WORSLEYANUM; by Sir _Richard Worsley_; 1798, 1802, Atlas Folio, 2 vols. The first volume of this work, of which 200 copies were printed, was finished in May, 1798, and circulated, with the plates only of vol. ii., amongst the chosen friends of Sir Richard Worsley, the author; who was, at that time, the diplomatic Resident at Venice from our Court. The second volume, with the letter-press complete, of which only 100 copies were printed, was finished in 1802. The entire expense attending this rare and sumptuous publication (of which a copy is in the library of the Royal Institution) amounted to the enormous sum of 27,000_l._ and from the irregularity of delivering the second volume of plates, in the first instance, without the letter-press, many of the copies are incomplete.----THE FATHER'S REVENGE; _by the Earl of Carlisle, K.G._ &c., 1800, 4to. A limited impression of this very beautiful volume, decorated with engravings from the pencil of Westall, was circulated by the noble author among his friends. I saw a copy of it, bound in green morocco, with the original letter of the donor, in the library of Earl Spencer at Althorp.----MOUNT ST. GOTHARD: _By the late Duchess of Devonshire_, folio. Only fifty copies of this brilliant volume were printed; to a few of which, it is said, Lady Diana Beauclerc lent the aid of her ornamental pencil, in some beautiful drawings of the wild and romantic scenery in the neighbourhood of Mount St. Gothard.----DISSERTATION ON ETRUSCAN VASES; _by Mr. Christie_. Imperial 4to. With elegant Engravings. Only 100 copies of this truly classical volume were printed. From the death of one or two of the parties, who became originally possessed of it, as a present from the author, it has fallen to the lot of Mr. Christie to become, professionally, the vender of a work which he himself never meant to be sold. A copy was very lately disposed of, in this manner, for 14_l._----BENTLEII EPISTOLAE; _Edited by_ [the Rev.] _Dr. Charles Burney_: 1807, 4to. This is one of the most beautiful productions of the Shakspeare press; nor are the intrinsic merits of the volume inferior to its external splendour. The scarcer copies of it are those in medium quarto; of which only 50 were printed: of the imperial quarto, there were 150 executed.--I add two more similar examples, which were not printed at the Shakspeare press:--LORD BALTIMORE'S _Gaudia Poetica_; Lat. Angl. et Gall. with plates. (No date). Large quarto. Only ten copies of this rare volume were printed, and those distributed among the author's friends: a copy of it was sold for 6_l._ 10_s._ at the sale of Mr. Reed's books: see Bibl. Reed, no. 6682. It was inserted for sale in the catalogue of Mr. Burnham, bookseller at Northampton, A.D. 1796--with a note of its rarity subjoined.----VIEWS IN ORKNEY and on the NORTH-EASTERN COAST OF SCOTLAND. Taken in 1805. Etched 1807. Folio. _By the Marchioness of Stafford._--The letter-press consists of twenty-seven pages: the first of which bears this unassuming designation; "Some Account of the Orkney Islands, extracted from Dr. Barry's History, and Wallace's and Brand's Descriptions of Orkney." To this chapter or division is prefixed a vignette of _Stroma_; and the chapter ends at p. 5. Then follow four views of the Orkney Islands.--The next chapter is entitled "The Cathedral of Kirkwall," which at the beginning exhibits a vignette of the _Cathedral of St. Magnus_, and at the close, at p. 9, a vignette of a _Tomb in the Cathedral_. To these succeed two plates, presenting Views of the _Inside of the Cathedral_, and an _Arch in the Cathedral_.--The third chapter commences at p. 11, with "The Earl of Orkney's Palace," to which a vignette of a _Street in Kirkwall_ is prefixed. It ends at p. 12, and is followed by a plate exhibiting a view of the _Door-way of the Earl's Palace_; by another of the _Hall of the Earl's Palace_; and by a third containing two Views, namely, the _Inside of the Hall_, and, upon a larger scale, the _Chimney in the Hall_.--"The Bay of the Frith" is the subject of the fourth chapter; which exhibits at the beginning a vignette of the _Hills of Hoy_. It closes at p. 14, with a vignette of _The Dwarfy Stone_. Then follow six plates, containing a view of the _Bay of Frith_, a _View from Hoy_, two views of the _Eastern and Western Circles of the Stones of Stennis_, and two views of _Stromness_.--The next chapter is entitled "Duncansbay or Dungsby-head," which bears in front a vignette of _Wick_, and at the end, in p. 16, a vignette of the _Castle of Freswick_. Three plates follow: the first presenting a view of _Duncansbay-Head_: the second, Views of the _Stacks of Hemprigs_ and the _Hills of Schrabiner or Schuraben_; the third, a View of _The Ord_.--"The Castle of Helmsdale" is the title of the succeeding chapter, to which is prefixed a vignette of _Helmsdale Castle_. It ends at p. 19, with a vignette of the _Bridge of Brora_. Then follow two plates, presenting Views of _Helmsdale Castle_, and the _Coast of Sutherland_.--The subject of the next chapter is "Dunrobin Castle," (the ancient seat of her Ladyship's ancestors, and now a residence of her Ladyship,) which presents, at the beginning, a vignette of _Dunrobin Castle_, and after the close of the chapter, at p. 23, four plates; the first of which is a View of _Dunrobin Castle_ and the surrounding scenery; the second, a smaller View of the _Castle_: the third, a View of _Druid Stones_, with another of _Battle Stones in Strathflete_: and the fourth, _Dornoch, with the Thane's Cross_.--The last chapter is entitled "The Chapel of Rosslyn," to which is prefixed a vignette of _Rosslyn Chapel_. It is followed by four plates; the first exhibiting a View of a _Column in Rosslyn Chapel_; the second, a _Door-way in the Chapel_; the third, the _Tomb of Sir William St. Clair_; and the fourth, _Hawthornden_, the residence of the elegant and plaintive Drummond; with whose beautiful Sonnet, to this his romantic habitation, the volume closes:

"Dear wood! and you, sweet solitary place, Where I estranged from the vulgar live," &c.

Of the volume which had been thus described, only 120 copies were printed. The Views were all drawn and etched by her Ladyship: and are executed with a spirit and correctness which would have done credit to the most successful disciple of Rembrandt. A copy of the work, which had been presented to the late Right Hon. C.F. Greville, produced, at the sale of his books, the sum of sixteen guineas.]

LIS. You allude to the STRAWBERRY HILL Press?[457]

[Footnote 457: For the gratification of such desperately-smitten bibliomaniacs, who leave no stone unturned for the possession of what are called STRAWBERRY HILL _Pieces_, I subjoin the following list of books, printed at the celebrated seat of Sir Horace Walpole (afterwards Lord Orford) at Strawberry Hill: situated between Richmond and Twickenham, on the banks of the Thames. This list, and the occasional bibliographical memoranda introduced, are taken from the collection of Strawberry Hill books in the library of the Marquis of Bute, at Luton; all of them being elegantly bound by Kalthoeber, in red morocco.----I. _Two Odes by Mr. Gray._ "[Greek: phonanta synetoisi]," Pindar Olymp. II. Printed for R. and J. Dodsley, 1757, 4to., 19 pages, 1000 copies. In these copies there is sometimes (but very rarely) prefixed a short poem of six stanzas, in alternate rhyme, "To Mr. Gray, on his Poems." As there were _only six copies_ of these verses printed, I subjoin them:

Repine not, Gray, that our weak dazzled eyes Thy daring heights and brightness shun, How few can track the eagle to the skies, Or, like him, gaze upon the sun!

The gentle reader loves the gentle muse, That little dares, and little means, Who humbly sips her learning from _Reviews_, Or flutters in the _Magazines_.

No longer now from learning's sacred store, Our minds their health and vigour draw; HOMER and PINDAR are revered no more, No more the _Stagyrite is law_.

Though nurst by these, in vain thy muse appears To breathe her ardours in our souls; In vain to sightless eyes, and deaden'd ears, Thy lightning gleams, and thunder rolls!

Yet droop not GRAY, nor quit thy heav'n-born art: Again thy wondrous powers reveal, Wake slumb'ring virtue in the _Briton's_ heart. And rouse us to _reflect_ and _feel_!

With antient deeds our long-chill'd bosoms fire, Those deeds which mark'd ELIZA'S reign! Make _Britons_ Greeks again.--Then strike the lyre, And Pindar shall not sing in vain.

----II. _A journey into England_, originally written in Latin, _by Paul Hentzner_. In the year 1598. Printed 1757. Advertisement of 10 pages in a fine large beautiful type, printed on paper of great delicacy. The body of the work, which is printed in a smaller type, occupies 126 double pages; on account of the Latin and English being on the opposite pages, each page is marked with the same number. Only 220 copies of this curious and elegant work were printed.--III. _Fugitive Pieces in Verse and Prose. Pereunt et Imputantur._ MDCCLVIII. 8vo. Two pages of dedication "To the Honourable Major General HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY:" two pages of a table of contents, body of the work 219 pages. Printed with the small type: and only 200 copies struck off.--IV. _An account of Russia as it was in the year 1710. By Charles Lord Whitworth._ Printed at S.H. MDCCLVIII, 8vo. Advertisement 24 pages, body of this work 158--with a page of errata, 700 copies printed. This is an interesting and elegantly printed little volume.--V. _A parallel, in the manner of Plutarch, between a most celebrated man of Florence, and one scarce ever heard of in England. By the Reverend Mr. Spence_, 1758, 8vo. This is the beautiful and curious little volume, of which mention has already been made at p. 86, ante. Seven hundred copies of it were printed; and from a copy, originally in the possession of the late Mr. John Mann, of Durham, I learnt that "the clear profits arising from the sale of it being about 300_l._, were applied for the benefit of Mr. Hill and his family." (Magliabechi was "the man of Florence;" and Hill "the one scarce ever heard of in England.") A copy of this edition, with MS. notes by Mr. Cole, was purchased by Mr. Waldron, at the sale of George Steevens's books, for 3_l._6_s._ It was reprinted by Dodsley: but the curious seek only the present edition.----VI. _Lucani Pharsalia_, MDCCLX, 4to. This is the most beautiful volume, in point of printing, which the Strawberry Hill press ever produced. A tolerably copious account of it will be found in my _Introduction to the Classics_, vol. ii., p. 53. Kirgate the printer (recently deceased) told me that uncommon pains were taken with its typographical execution.----VII. _Anecdotes of Painting in Englaud_ [Transcriber's Note: England]; MDCCLXI. four volumes; _Catalogue of Engravers_, 4to., one volume. This is the _first_, and, on account of having the earliest impressions of the plates, the _best_ edition of this amusing, and once popular work. It was reprinted in quarto, in 1765; of which edition I believe 600 copies were struck off. Again, in 1786, crown 8vo., five volumes, without the plates.----VIII. _The Life of Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury_, written by himself. Printed in the year MDCCLXIX, 4to. Dedication of two pages to Lord Powis. Advertisement six pages, not numbered. After this, there should be a "Genealogical Table of the family of Herbert," which is very scarce, on account of its being suppressed by Mr. Walpole, for its inaccuracy. The life occupied 171 pages. "Mr. Walpole," says the late Mr. Cole, "when I was with him in the autumn of 1763, at which time the book was partly printed, told me that either one or two hundred copies were to be printed; half to be sent to the Earl of Powis, and the other half he was to reserve for himself, as presents to his friends; so that, except the book is reprinted by some bookseller, privately, as probably it will, it will be a curiosity. It was not published till the end of June, 1764, when the honourable editor sent it to me.----IX. _Poems by Anna Chambers_, Countess Temple. MDCCLXIV, 4to. This volume, containing 13 poems on various subjects, is printed in 34 pages, with a large, but not very elegant type. Only 100 copies were struck off.----X. _The Mysterious Mother._ A Tragedy, by Mr. Horace Walpole. Sit mihi fas audita loqui. Virg. Printed at S.H., MDCCLXVIII. 8vo. No vignette on the back. First leaf, errata, and "persons" [of the play.] Printed with the small type on 120 pages; after which follows a "postscript" of 10 pages. Only 50 copies printed. An uncut copy was recently sold for 6_l._ 15_s._----XI. _Cornelie vestale. Tragedie._ Imprimee a S.H. MDCCLXVIII, 8vo., 200 copies. The title-page is followed by a letter "a Mons. Horace Walpole." A page of the names of the actors forms the commencement of the work, which contains 91 pages, neatly printed. Only 200 copies printed, of which 150 were sent to Paris.----XII. _Poems by the Reverend Mr. Hoyland_, MDCCLXIX, 8vo. The advertisement ends at p. iv.; the odes occupy 19 pages. Although this little volume is not printed with the usual elegance of the S.H. press, it is valuable from its scarcity, on account of its never having been re-printed. Only 300 copies were struck off.----XIII. _Original Letters from K. Edward VI. to Barnaby Fitzpatrick_, 1772, 4to. I am not acquainted with any circumstance, intrinsic or extrinsic, that renders this small volume sought after.----XIV. _Miscellaneous Antiquities, or a collection of curious papers_: either republished from scarce tracts, or now first printed from original MSS. Two numbers printed by Thomas Kirgate, MDCCLXXII, 4to. No. I. Advertisement of two pages, ending p. iv. The number contains besides: CONTENTS. Chap. I. "An account of some Tournaments and other martial Diversions." This was reprinted from a work written by Sir William Segar, Norroy; and is called by the author, Honour, Military and Ceuill, printed at London in 1602. Chap. II. Of "Justs and Tournaments," &c., from the same. Chap. III. "A Triumph in the Reigne of King Richard the Second, 1390," from the same. Chap. IV. "A Militarie Triumph at Brussels, Anno 1549," from the same. Chap. V. "Of Justs and Tourneaments," &c., from the same. Chap. VI. "Triumphes Military, for honour and loue of Ladies: brought before the Kings of England," from the same. Chap. VII. "Of the life and actions in Armes since the reigne of Queene Elizabeth," from the same. Chap. VIII. "The original occasions of the yeerely Triumph in England." All these tracts are taken from the above work. No. II. Second leaf, a plate of a head from the original wood-cut by Hans Holbein. CONTENTS. This number is almost entirely occupied by the "Life of Sir Thomas Wyat, the elder," copied by Mr. Gray from the originals in the Harleian Collection, now in the British Museum. This extends to p. 54, after which is an Appendix of eight pages on a few miscellaneous subjects. Five hundred copies were printed.----XV. _Memoirs du Comte de Grammont_, par Monsieur le Comte Antoine Hamilton. Nouvelle edition, Augumentee denotes et eclaircissemens necessaires. Par M. HORACE WALPOLE. MDCCLXXII, 4to. The title-page is succeeded by a dedication "a Madame ----," in six lines and a half, printed in a very large type. Then follows an "Avis de L'Editour," and "Avertissement," occupying three pages. An "Epitre a Monsieur le Comte de Grammont,' continues to p. xxi: then a "Table des Chapitres," to p. xxiii., on the back of which are the errata. The body of the work extends to 290 pages; which are succeeded by "Table des Personnes," or index, in three pages. These memoirs are printed with the middle size type; but neither the type nor paper are so beautiful as are those of Hentzner's Travels, or the comparison between Magliabechi and Hill. PORTRAITS. 1. Le Comte Antoine Hamilton, faces the title page. 2. Philibert, Comte de Grammont, opposite the "Epitre:" badly executed. 3. A portrait of Miss Warminster, opposite p. 85, in the style of Worlidge's gems. 4. Mademoiselle d'Hamilton, Comtesse de Grammont, faces p. 92. This engraving, by G. Powle, is executed in a style of beauty and spirit that has seldom been surpassed. 5. Lord Chesterfield, second Earl, in the style of the preceding; very beautiful. There were only 100 copies of this edition printed, of which 30 were sent as presents to Paris.----XVI. _The Sleep Walker, a Comedy_: in two acts. Translated [by Lady Craven] from the French, in March. Printed by T. Kirgate, MDCCLXXVIII, 8vo. It is printed in the small type on 56 pages, exclusively of viii. introductory ones, of "prologues" and "persons," &c. Only 75 copies were printed: and of these, one was sold for 4_l._ in the year 1804, at a public auction.----XVII. _A Letter to the Editor of the Miscellanies of Thomas Chatterton._ Printed by T. Kirgate. MDCCLXXIX, 8vo. This title is preceded by what is called a bastard title: and is followed by 55 pages of the work, not very elegantly printed. Only 200 copies.----XVIII. _The Muse Recalled_, an ode occasioned by the nuptials of Lord Viscount Althorp (the late Earl Spencer) and Miss Lavinia Bingham, eldest daughter of Charles, Lord Lucan, March vi., MDCCLXXXI. By William Jones, Esq. Printed by Thomas Kirgate, MDCCLXXXI. 4to. Eight pages, exclusively of the title-page. Printed in the middle size type; but neither the paper nor typographical execution are in the best style of the S.H. press. Only 250 copies printed.----XIX. _A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, at Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham, Middlesex._ With an inventory of the Furniture, Pictures, Curiosities, &c. Printed by Thomas Kirgate, MCCLXXXIV, 4to. This book contains 96 pages in the whole. It was preceded by a small quarto impression of MDCCLXXIV: which is scarce; and of which there are large paper copies. The work entitled _Aedes Walpolianae_ was printed in MDCCLXVII.

Plates to the edition of 1784.

1. Frontispiece, Gothic; motto on a scroll, "Fari quae sentiat." 2. North Front of Strawberry Hill. 3. Entrance of Strawberry Hill. 4. View of the Prior's Garden, at ditto. 5. Chimney in the Great Parlour. 6. Chimney in the China Room. 7. Chimney in the Yellow Bedchamber. 8. Do. ---- ---- Blue Bedchamber. 9. Staircase at Strawberry Hill. 10. Library at ditto. 11. Chimney Piece of the Holbein Chamber. 12. The Gallery. 13. Chimney in the Round Room. 14. The Cabinet. 15. View from the Great Bedchamber. 16. Garden Gate. 17. View of the Chapel in the Garden at Strawberry Hill. 18. The Shell Bench. 19. View from the Terrace at Strawberry Hill. 20. East View of the Cottage Garden at Strawberry Hill. There were only 200 copies of this edition printed.

The following may amuse the curious reader:

"Mr. Walpole is very ready to oblige any curious persons with the sight of his house and collection; but as it is situated so near to London, and in so populous a neighbourhood, and as he refuses a ticket to nobody that sends for one, it is but reasonable that such persons as send should comply with the rules he has been obliged to lay down for shewing it:--Any person, sending a day or two before may have a ticket for four persons for a day certain;--No Ticket will serve but on the day for which it is given. If more than four persons come with a ticket, the housekeeper has positive orders to admit none of them;--Every ticket will admit the company only between the hours of twelve and three before dinner, and only one company will be admitted on the same day;--The house will never be shewn after dinner, nor at all but from the first of May to the first of October;--As Mr. Walpole has given offence by sometimes enlarging the number o [Transcriber's Note: of] four, and refusing that latitude to others, he flatters himself that for the future nobody will take it ill that he strictly confines the number; as whoever desires him to break his rule does in effect expect him to disoblige others, which is what nobody has a right to desire of him;--Persons desiring a ticket may apply either to Strawberry Hill, or to Mr. Walpole's, in Berkeley Square, London. If any person does not make use of the ticket, Mr. Walpole hopes he shall have notice: otherwise he is prevented from obliging others on that day, and thence is put to great inconvenience;--They who have tickets are desired not to bring children."----XX. _A copy of all the Works of Mr. Walpole that were printed by him before his death_, 1784, 4to. This brochure, which has been called "rare" in book-auction catalogues, has been sold for upwards of two guineas.----XXI. _Postscript to the Royal and Noble Authors._ MDCCXXXVI, 8vo. There should be, before the title-page, an outline etching of "Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, appearing to Christin de Pisan, &c., from an illumination in the library of the King of France," which is exceedingly well engraved. The work contains only 18 pages: and there were but 40 copies printed. The _Royal and Noble Authors_ were first printed in 1759, 8vo. 2 vols.----XXII. _Essai sur l'Art des Jardins Modernes_, par M. Horace Walpole. Traduit en Francois, par M. Le Duc de Nivernois, en MDCCLXXXIV. _Imprime a S.H._ par T. Kirgate, MDCCLXXXV. With an opposite title in English, 4to. It contains 94 double pages, and every page of French has an opposite one of English. Not printed in the best manner of S.H. A copy of this book was sold for 3_l._; at a sale in 1804.----XXIII. _Bishop Banner's Ghost._ Printed by T.K. MDLCCXXXIX, 4to. On the first leaf is the following "Argument." "In the gardens of the palace of Fulham is a dark recess: at the end of this stands a chair, which once belonged to Bishop Bonner. A certain Bishop of London (the late Beilby Porteus) more than 200 years after the death of the aforesaid Bonner, just as the clock of the gothic chapel had struck six, undertook to cut, with his own hand, a narrow walk through this thicket, which is since called the _Monk's walk_. He had no sooner begun to clear the way, than lo! suddenly up started from the chair, the ghost of Bishop Bonner, who, in a tone of just and bitter indignation, uttered the following verses." This curious publication contains only four pages of stanzas, written in alternate rhyme, of 8 and 6 feet metre.----XXIV. _The Magpie and her Brood_; a fable, from the tales of Bonaventure de Periers, valet de chambre to the Queen of Navarre; addressed to Miss Hotham. This is a very scarce poetical tract of four pages only; subscribed H.W.----XXV. _Fourteen different pieces, printed at Strawberry Hill, of verses, cards, &c._ This title I borrow from a book-auction catalogue. At a sale in 1804, these detached pieces were sold for 2_l._ 2_s._; but it is not in my power to identify them. Whether they be the same "_parcel of scraps, and loose leaves of poetry, epigrams_," _&c._ which, according to a daily newspaper, were sold at the commencement of this year "for 16 pounds," I am also equally ignorant. See _Kirgate's Catalogue_, 1810, no. 420.----XXVI. _Hieroglyphic Tales_, 8vo. Only seven copies printed; _idem_, no. 380. From newspaper authority, I learn that these tales formed "a small pamphlet of two sheets, crown 8vo.," which were sold for 16_l._; and I understand that the late Mr. G. Baker was the purchaser. N.B. They are incorporated in the author's printed works; but this is not having the _first_ and _true edition_! There is nothing like the comfort of bleeding smartly for exhibiting these fourth and fifth symptoms of the Bibliomania! Vide pp. 521, 525, ante.----XXVII. _Additions to First Editions of Walpole's Lives of the Painters, sewed._----XXVIII. _The Press at Strawberry Hill to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, a Poem._----XXIX. _The Master of Otranto in durance._----XXX. _Air, a Poem._----XXXI. _A Poetical Epistle to Mrs. Crewe._----XXXII. _A Poetical Epistle to Lady Horatio Waldegrave, on the Death of the Duke of Ancaster._----XXXIII. _The Press at Strawberry Hill to Miss Mary and Miss Agnes Berry, a Poetical Epistle._ [These last seven articles are taken from Mr. Cuthell's catalogue of 1811.] I should add that a much more copious and complete list, though not possessing all the intelligence here communicated, was prepared by the late Mr. George Baker for press; and printed, since his decease, for donations to his particular friends. Only twenty copies of this bibliographical brochure are said to have been executed. We will now take leave of the PRELUM WALPOLIANUM by subjoining a copy of the most elegant title-page vignette which ever issued from it.

Before the reader's eyes are finally turned from a contemplation of this elegant device--and as connected with the subject of PRIVATE PRESSES--let me inform him that the Marquis of Bute is in possession of a thin folio volume, exhibiting paintings, upon vellum, of the various devices used by Pope Sixtus V., in the frontispieces of the several works which issued from the APOSTOLICAL PRESS, while he filled the Papal Chair. To a tasteful bibliomaniac, few volumes would afford so much delight as a contemplation of the present one. It is quite a _keimelion_ in its way!]

LYSAND. I do; but I have not so ardent an admiration of these volumes, as the generality of collectors. On the contrary, I think that the _Hafod Press_ has, by one single production only, outweighed the whole of the _Walpolian_ lucubrations; at least on the score of utility.

I might here add, to the foregoing symptoms, a passion to possess works which have been _suppressed_, _condemned_, or _burnt_; but all these things rank under the head of _causes of the rarity_ of books; and as an entire volume might be written upon _this_ symptom _alone_, I can here only allude to to [Transcriber's Note: second 'to' erroneous] the subject; hoping some diligent bibliographer will one day do for _us_ what foreigners have done for other nations.

Thus have I, rather slightly, discussed the _Symptoms of the Disease, called_ =The Bibliomania=. During this discussion, I see our friend has been busy, as he was yesterday evening, in making sketches of notes; and if you examine the finished pictures of which such outlines may be made productive, you will probably have a better notion of the accuracy of my classification of these symptoms.

It is much to be wished, whatever may be the whims of desperate book-collectors, that, in _some_ of those volumes which are constantly circulating in the bibliomaniacal market, we had a more clear and satisfactory account of the rise and progress of arts and sciences. However strong may be my attachment to the profession of the cloth, I could readily exchange a great number of old volumes of polemical and hortatory divinity for interesting disquisitions upon the manners, customs, and general history of the times. Over what a dark and troublesome ocean must we sail, before we get even a glimpse at the progressive improvement of our ancestors in civilised life! Oh, that some judicious and faithful reporter had lived three hundred and odd years ago!--we might then have had a more satisfactory account of the _origin of printing with metal types_.

LIS. Pray give us your sentiments upon this latter subject. We have almost the whole day before us:--the sun has hardly begun to decline from his highest point.

LYSAND. A very pretty and smooth subject to discuss, truly! The longest day and the most effectually-renovated powers of body and mind, are hardly sufficient to come to any satisfactory conclusion, upon the subject. How can I, therefore, after the fatigues of the whole of yesterday, and with barely seven hours of daylight yet to follow, pretend to enter upon it? No: I will here only barely mention TRITHEMIUS[458]--who might have been numbered among the patriarchal bibliographers we noticed when discoursing in our friend's CABINET--as an author from whom considerable assistance has been received respecting early typographical researches. Indeed, Trithemius merits a more marked distinction in the annals of Literature than many are supposed to grant him: at any rate, I wish his labours were better known to our own countrymen.

[Footnote 458: We are indebted to the Abbe TRITHEMIUS, who was a diligent chronicler and indefatigable visitor of old Libraries, for a good deal of curious and interesting intelligence; and however Scioppius (_De Orig. Domus Austriac._), Brower (_Vit. Fortunat. Pictav._, p. 18.), and Possevinus (_Apparant sacr._ p. 945), may carp at his simplicity and want of judgment, yet, as Baillet (from whom I have borrowed the foregoing authorities) has justly remarked--"since the time of Trithemius there have been many libraries, particularly in Germany, which have been pillaged or burnt in the destruction of monasteries; so that the books which he describes as having seen in many places, purposely visited by him for inspection, may have been destroyed in the conflagration of religious houses." _Jugemens des Savans_; vol. ii., pt. i., p. 71, edit. 12mo. It is from Trithemius, after all, that we have the only _direct_ evidence concerning the origin of printing with metal types: and the bibliographical world is much indebted to Chevelier (_L'Origine de l'Imprimerie de Paris_, 1691, 4to., pp. 3-6.) for having been the first to adduce the positive evidence of this writer; who tells us, in his valuable _Chronicon Hirsaugiens_ (1690, 2 vols. folio), that he received his testimony from the mouth of Fust's son-in-law--"ex ore Petri Opilionis audivi,"--that Guttenburg [Transcriber's Note: Gutenberg] was the author of the invention. The historical works of Trithemius were collected and published in 1601, in folio, two parts, and his other works are minutely detailed in the 9th volume of the _Dictionnarie [Transcriber's Note: Dictionnaire] Historique_, published at Caen, in 1789. Of these, one of the most curious is his _Polygraphia_: being first printed at Paris, in 1518, in a beautiful folio volume; and presenting us, in the frontispiece, with a portrait of the abbe; which is probably the first, if not the only legitimate, print of him extant. Whether it be copied from a figure on his tomb--as it has a good deal of the _monumental_ character--I have no means of ascertaining. For the gratification of all tasteful bibliomaniacs, an admirable facsimile is here annexed. The _Polygraphia_ of Trithemius was translated into French, and published in 1601, folio. His work _De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis_, Colon, 1546, 4to., with two appendices, contains much valuable matter. The author died in his 55th year, A.D. 1516: according to the inscription upon his tomb in the monastery of the Benedictines at Wirtzburg. His life has been written by Busaeus, a Jesuit. See La Monnoye's note in the _Jugemens des Savans_; _ibid._

LIS. I will set his works down among my literary _desiderata_. But proceed.

LYSAND. With what? Am I to talk for ever?

BELIN. While you discourse so much to the purpose, you may surely not object to a continuance of this conversation. I wish only to be informed whether bibliomaniacs are indisputably known by the prevalence of all, or of any, of the symptoms which you have just described.

ALMAN. Is there any other passion, or fancy, in the book-way, from which we may judge of Bibliomaniacism?

LYSAND. Let me consider. Yes; there is one other characteristic of the book-madman that may as well be noticed. It is an ardent desire to collect ALL THE EDITIONS of a work which have been published. Not only the FIRST--whether _uncut, upon large paper_, _in the black-letter_, _unique_, _tall_, or _illustrated_--but ALL the editions.[459]

[Footnote 459: I frankly confess that I was, myself, once desperately afflicted with this _eleventh_ symptom of _The Bibliomania_; having collected not fewer than _seventy-five_ editions of the GREEK TESTAMENT--but time has cooled my ardour, and mended my judgment. I have discarded seventy, and retain only five: which are _R. Steevens's_ of 1550, _The Elzevir_ of 1624, _Mill's_ of 1707, _Westein's_ of 1751, and _Griesbach's_ of 1810--as beautifully and accurately reprinted at Oxford.]

BELIN. Strange--but true, I warrant!

LYSAND. Most true; but, in my humble opinion, most ridiculous; for what can a sensible man desire beyond the earliest and best editions of a work?

Be it also noticed that these works are sometimes very capricious and extroardinary [Transcriber's Note: extraordinary]. Thus, BAPTISTA is wretched unless he possess every edition of our early grammarians, _Holt_, _Stanbridge_, and _Whittinton_: a reimpression, or a new edition, is a matter of almost equal indifference: for his slumbers are broken and oppressive unless _all_ the _dear Wynkyns_ and _Pynsons_ are found within his closet!--Up starts FLORIZEL, and blows his bugle, at the annunciation of any work, new or old, upon the diversions of _Hawking_, _Hunting_, or _Fishing_![460] Carry him through CAMILLO'S cabinet of Dutch pictures, and you will see how instinctively, as it were, his eyes are fixed upon a sporting piece by Wouvermans. The hooded hawk, in his estimation, hath more charms than Guido's Madonna:--how he envies every rider upon his white horse!--how he burns to bestride the foremost steed, and to mingle in the fair throng, who turn their blue eyes to the scarcely bluer expanse of heaven! Here he recognises _Gervase Markham_, spurring his courser; and there he fancies himself lifting _Dame Juliana_ from her horse! Happy deception! dear fiction! says Florizel--while he throws his eyes in an opposite direction, and views every printed book upon the subject, from _Barnes_ to _Thornton_.

[Footnote 460: Some superficial notes, accompanied by an interesting wood-cut of a man carrying hawks for sale, in my edition of Robinson's translation of _More's Utopia_, kindled, in the breast of Mr. Joseph Haslewood, a prodigious ardour to pursue the subjects above-mentioned to their farthest possible limits. Not Eolus himself excited greater commotion in the Mediterranean waves than did my bibliomaniacal friend in agitating the black-letter ocean--'a sedibus imis'--for the discovering of every volume which had been published upon these delectable pursuits. Accordingly there appeared in due time--'[post] magni procedere menses'--some very ingenious and elaborate disquisitions upon Hunting and Hawking and Fishing, in the ninth and tenth volumes of _The Censura Literaria_; which, with such additions as his enlarged experience has subsequently obtained, might be thought an interesting work if reprinted in a duodecimo volume. But Mr. Haslewood's mind, as was to be expected, could not rest satisfied with what he considered as mere _nuclei_ productions: accordingly, it became clothed with larger wings, and meditated a bolder flight; and after soaring in a _hawk_-like manner, to mark the object of its prey, it pounced upon the book of _Hawking, Hunting, Fishing, &c._, which had been reprinted by W. de Worde, from the original edition published in the abbey of St. Albans. Prefixed to the republication of this curious volume, the reader will discover a great deal of laborious and successful research connected with the book and its author. And yet I question whether, in the midst of all the wood-cuts with which it abounds, there be found any thing more suitable to the 'high and mounting spirit' (see Braithwait's amusing discourse upon Hawking, in his _English Gentleman_, p. 200-1.) of the editor's taste, than the ensuing representation of a pilgrim Hawker?!--taken from one of the frontispieces of _L'Acadamia Peregrina del Doni_; 1552, 4to., fol. 73.

We will conclude this _Hawking_ note with the following excerpt from one of the earliest editions of the abridgment of our statutes:--'nul home pringe les oves dascu[n] _faucon_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou swan hors de le nyst sur peyn de inprison p[our] vn an et vn iour et de faire fyn all volunte le roy et que nul home puis le fest de paque p[ro]chyn auenpart ascun _hawke_ de le brode dengl' appell vne _nyesse_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou _laneret_ sur sa mayn, sur peyn de forfaiture son _hawke_, et que null enchasse ascun hawke hors de c[ou]uerte sur peyne de forfaiture x li. lun moyte al roy et lauter a celuy que voet sur.' Anno xi. H. vij. ca. xvij. _Abbreviamentum Statutorum_; printed by Pynson, 1499, 8vo., fol. lxxvij.]

There are other tastes of an equally strange, but more sombre, character. DION will possess every work which has any connexion, intimate or remote, with _Latimer_ and _Swedenborg_;[461] while ANTIGONUS is resolved upon securing every lucubration of _Withers_ or _Warburton_; whether grave or gay, lively or severe.

[Footnote 461: As I could not consistently give EMANUEL SWEDENBORG a niche among the bibliomaniacal heroes noticed towards the conclusion of Part V. of this work, I have reserved, for the present place, a few extracts of the titles of his works, from a catalogue of the same, published in 1785; which I strenuously advise the curious to get possession of--and for two reasons: first, if he be a _Swedenborgian_, his happiness will be nearly complete, and he will thank me for having pointed out such a source of comfort to him: secondly, if he be _not_ a disciple of the same master, he may be amused by meditating upon the strange whims and fancies which possess certain individuals, and which have sufficient attractions yet to make proselytes and converts!! Written March 10, A.D. 1811. Now for the extracts. '_A Catalogue of the printed and unprinted Works_ of the HON. EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, in chronological order. To which are added some observations, recommending the perusal of his Theological Writings. Together with a compendious view of the Faith of a new Heaven and a new Church, in its Universal and Particular Forms. London, printed by Robert Hindmarsh, No. 32, Clerkenwell Close, MDCCLXXXV. Those marked thus (*) are translated into English.'

NO. 18. _Regnum Animale_, or the Animal Kingdom in three parts. The first treats of the Viscera of the Abdomen, or the lower Region. The second, of the Viscera of the Breast, or of the Organs of the superior Region. The third, of the Skin, the Touch, and the Taste, and of organical forms in general. Part printed at the Hague, and part in London, 1744, 1745, in 4to.

19. _De Cultu et Amore Dei_, or of the Worship and Love of God. The first part treats of the Origin of the Earth, of Paradise, of the Birth, Infancy, and Love of the first Man, or Adam. London, 1744, in 4to. The second part treats of the Marriage of the first man, of the Soul, of the intellectual Spirit, of the State of Integrity, and of the Image of God. London, 1745, 4to.

20. _Arcana Coelestia_, or Heavenly Mysteries contained in the Sacred Scriptures or Word of the Lord, manifested and laid open, in an Explanation of the Books of Genesis and Exodus, interspersed with relations of wonderful things seen in the World of Spirits, and the Heaven of Angels. London, from 1747 to 1758, in eight volumes, 4to. "In this work the reader is taught to regard the letter of the Scriptures as the Repository of Holy and Divine Things within; as a Cabinet containing the infinite Treasures and bright Gems of spiritual and celestial Wisdom; &c."(*)....

21. _De Coelo et Inferno_; or A Treatise concerning Heaven and Hell, and of the wonderful Things therein heard and seen. London, 1758, 4to. "By this work the reader may attain to some conception of the heavenly kingdom, and may learn therein that all social virtues, and all the tender affections that give consistence and harmony to society, and do honour to humanity, find place and exercise in the utmost purity in those delectable abodes; where every thing that can delight the eye, or rejoice the heart, entertain the imagination, or exalt the understanding, conspire with Innocence, Love, Joy, and Peace, to bless the spirits of just men made perfect, and to make glad the city of our God," &c.(*)]

LOREN. I suspect that, like many dashing artists, you are painting for _effect_?

PHIL. On the part of Lysander, I may safely affirm that the preceding has been no caricatured description. I know more than one Baptista, and Florizel, and Dion, and Antigonus.

LIS. I hope I shall shortly add to the number of such an enthusiastic class of book-collectors--I'm for _Natural History_; and, in this department, for birds and beasts--_Gesner_ and _Bewick_![462]

[Footnote 462: The works upon Natural History by Gesner, and especially the large tomes published about the middle of the sixteenth century, are, some of them, well worth procuring; on account of the fidelity and execution of the wood-cuts of birds and animals. Bewick's earliest editions of _Birds_ and _Beasts_ should be in the cabinet of every choice collector.]

PHIL. Restrain your wild feelings--listen to the sober satire of Lysander. Have you nothing else, in closing this symptomatic subject, to discourse upon?

LYSAND. There is certainly another point not very remotely connected with the two preceding; and it is this: a passion to possess large and voluminous works, and to estimate the treasures of our libraries rather by their extent and splendour than by their intrinsic worth: forgetting how prettily Ronsard[463] has illustrated this subject by the utility and beauty of small rivers in comparison with those which overflow their banks and spread destruction around. "Oh combien (says Cailleau, in his _Roman Bibliographique_) un petit livre bien pense, bein [Transcriber's Note: bien] plein, et bein [Transcriber's Note: bien] ecrit, est plus agreable, plus utile a lire, que ces vastes compilations a la formation desquelles l'interet a preside plus souvent que le bon-gout!"

[Footnote 463:

Ie te confesse bien que le fleuve de Seine A le cours grand et long, mais tousiours il attraine Avec soy de la fange, et ses plis recourbrez, Sans estre iamais nets, sont tousiours embourbez: Vn petit ruisselet a tousiours l'onde nette, Aussi le papillon et la gentille auette Y vont puiser de l'eau, et non en ces torrens Qui tonnent d'vn grand bruit pas les roches courant: Petit Sonnets bien faits, belles chansons petites, Petits discourds gentils, sont les fleurs des Charites, Des Soeurs et d'Apollon, qui ne daignent aymer Ceux qui chantent une oeuvre aussi grand que la mer, Sans riue ny sans fond, de tempestes armee Et qui iamais ne dort tranquille ny calmee.

_Poems de Ronsard_; fol. 171. Paris 1660. 12mo.

These are pretty lines, and have a melodious flow; but Ronsard, in his 8 and 9 feet metres, is one of the most fascinating of the old French poets. The subject, above alluded to by Lysander, may be yet more strongly illustrated: for thus speaks Spizelius upon it. 'Solent viri multijugae lectionis, qui avide, quos possunt versant libros, ut in mentis ventrem trajicere eos velle, totosque devorare videantur, elegantis proverbii saliva LIBRORUM HELLUONES nuncupari; ipso quidem Tullio praelucente, qui avidos lectores librorum, ac propemodum insiatiables Helluones dixit, siquidem _vastissima volumina_ percurrant, et quicquid boni succi exprimere possunt, propriis et alienis impendant emolumentis." Again: "Maxima cum sit eorum Literarum stoliditas, qui, quod nocte somniarunt, continuo edunt in lucem, neque ipsa virium imbecillitate suarum, ab arduo scribendi munere et onere, sese revocari patiuntur," &c. _Infelix Literatus_; pp. 295, 447. Morof is worth our notice upon this subject: "Veniamus ad Bibliothecas ipsas, quales vel privatae sunt, vel publicae. Illae, quanquam in molem tantam non excrescant ut publicae; sunt tamen etiam inter privatos viri illustres et opulenti qui in libris omnis generis coemendis nullis parcunt sumptibus. Quorum [Greek: bibliomanian] reprehendit Seneca _Ep._ 2. 45, _et de Tranquil. animi_ c. 9, ridet Lucianus in libello [Greek: pros apaideuton kai polla biblia onoumenon]; et Auson. _epigr._ 43. Sunt ita animati nonnulli, ut

_magno de flumine malint Quam de fonticulo tantundem sumere;_

cum vastioris Bibliothecae minor interdum usus sit, quam ejus quae selectis paucioribus libris constat." _Polyhist. Literar._ vol. i., p. 21. He goes on in a very amusing manner; but this note may be thought already too long.]

BELIN. Well; we live in a marvellous book-collecting and book-reading age--yet a word more:

ALMAN. I crave your pardon, Belinda; but I have a thought which must be now imparted, or the consequence may be serious.

LYSAND. I wait both your commands.

ALMAN. My thought--or rather the subject which now occupies my mind--is this: You have told us of the symptoms of the _Disease of Book-Madness_, now pray inform us, as a tender-hearted physician, what are the _means of its cure_?

BELIN. The very question I was about to put to our bibliomaniacal physician. Pray inform us what are the means of cure in this disorder?

LYSAND. You should say PROBABLE MEANS OF CURE, as I verily believe there are no certain and correct remedies.

BELIN. Well, Sir, _probable_ means--if it must be so. Discourse largely and distinctly upon these.

LYSAND. Briefly and perspicuously, if you please: and thus we begin.

In the _first place_, the disease of the Bibliomania is materially softened, or rendered mild, by directing our studies to _useful_ and _profitable_ works; whether these be printed upon small or large paper, in the gothic, roman, or italic type. To consider merely the _intrinsic excellence_, and not the _exterior splendour_, or adventitious value, of any production will keep us perhaps wholly free from this disease. Let the midnight lamp be burnt to illuminate the stores of antiquity--whether they be romances, or chronicles, or legends, and whether they be printed by ALDUS or CAXTON--if a brighter lustre can thence be thrown upon the pages of modern learning! To trace genius to its source, or to see how she has been influenced or modified by the lore of past times, is both a pleasing and profitable pursuit. To see how Shakspeare, here and there, has plucked a flower from some old ballad or popular tale, to enrich his own unperishable garland;--to follow Spenser and Milton in their delightful labyrinths 'midst the splendour of Italian literature; are studies which stamp a dignity upon our intellectual characters! But, in such a pursuit, let us not overlook the wisdom of modern times, nor fancy that what is only ancient can be excellent. We must remember that Bacon, Boyle, Locke, Taylor, Chillingworth, Robertson, Hume, Gibbon, and Paley, are names which always command attention from the wise, and remind us of the improved state of reason and acquired knowledge during the two last centuries.

ALMAN. There seems at least sound sense, with the prospect of much future good, in this _first_ recipe. What is your second.

LYSAND. In the _second place_, the reprinting of scarce and intrinsically valuable works is another means of preventing the propagation of this disorder. Amidst all our present sufferings under the BIBLIOMANIA, it is some consolation to find discerning and spirited booksellers republishing the ancient Chroniclers; and the collections known by the names of "_The Harleian Miscellany_" and "_Lord Somers' Tracts_," and "_The Voyages of Hakluyt_."[464] These are noble efforts, and richly deserve the public patronage.

[Footnote 464: In the _Quarterly Review_ for August, 1810, this my second remedy for curing the disease of the Bibliomania is considered as inefficient. I have a great respect for this Review, but I understand neither the premises nor conclusions therein laid down concerning the subject in discussion. If "those who cannot afford to purchase original publications must be content with entire reprints of them" (I give the very words, though not the entire sentence), it surely tends to lessen the degree of competition for "the original publication." A sober reader, or an economical book-buyer, wants a certain tract on the ground of its utility:--but take my own case--who have very few hundreds per annum to procure food for the body as well as the mind. I wish to consult Roy's tract of "Rede me and be not wroth," (vide p. 226, ante)--or the "Expedition into Scotland" of 1544 (see Mr. Beloe's _Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books_, vol. ii., p. 345), because these are really interesting, as well as rare, volumes. There is at present no reprint of either; and can I afford to bid ten or twelve guineas for each of them at a public book-sale? But--let them be faithfully _reprinted_, and even a golden guinea (if such a coin be now in the pocket of a poor bibliomaniac like myself) would be considered by me as _dear_ terms upon which to purchase the _original_ edition! The reviewer has illustrated his position by a model of the Pigot diamond; and intimates that this model does not "lessen the public desire to possess the original." Lord Mansfield once observed that nothing more frequently tended to perplex an argument than a simile--(the remark is somewhere in _Burrows's Reports_); and the judge's dictum seems here a little verified. If the glass or crystal model could reflect _all the lustre_ of the original, it would be of equal utility; but it cannot. Now the reprint _does_ impart _all_ the intelligence and intrinsic worth of the original (for "the ugliness of the types" cannot be thought worthy of aiding the argument one way or another) therefore the reprint of Roy's poetical tract is not illustrated by the model of the Pigot diamond: which latter cannot impart the intrinsic value of the original. Let us now say a word about the _Reprints_ above commended by Lysander. When Mr. Harding went to press with the first volume of the _Harleian Miscellany_, his zeal struggled with his prudence about the number of copies to be printed of so voluminous a work. Accordingly, he ventured upon only 250 copies. As the work advanced, (and, I would hope, as the recommendation of it, in the last edition of the Bibliomania, promoted its sale) he took courage, and struck off another 250 copies of the earlier volumes: and thus this magnificent reprint (which will be followed up by two volumes of additional matter collected by Mr. Park, its editor) may be pronounced a profitable, as well as generally serviceable, publication to the cause of Literature. The original edition of _Lord Somers' Tracts_ having become exceedingly scarce, and the arrangement of them being equally confused, three spirited booksellers, under the editorial inspection of Mr. Walter Scott, are putting forth a correct, well arranged, and beautiful reprint of the same invaluable work. Five volumes are already published. _The Voyages of Hakluyt_ are republishing by Mr. Evans, of Pall Mall. Four volumes are already before the public; of which only 250 copies of the small, and 75 of the large, are printed. The reprint will contain the whole of Hakluyt, with the addition of several scarce voyages and travels.]

LOREN. I fully coincide with these sentiments; and, as a proof of it, regularly order my London bookseller to transmit to me every volume of the reprint of these excellent works as it is published.

BELIN. Can you find it in your heart, dear brother, to part with your black-letter Chronicles, and Hakluyt's Voyages, for these new publications?

LOREN. I keep the best editions of the ancient Chronicles; but the new Fabian, the Harleian Miscellany, Lord Somers' Tracts, and the Voyages, are unquestionably to be preferred; since they are more full and complete. But proceed with your other probable means of cure.

LYSAND. In the _third place_, the editing of our best ancient authors, whether in prose or poetry,[465] is another means of effectually counteracting the mischievous effects arising from the bibliomaniacal disease; and, on this score, I do think this country stands pre-eminently conspicuous; for we are indefatigable in our attentions towards restoring the corrupted texts of our poets.

[Footnote 465: The last new editions of our standard belles-lettres writers are the following: which should be found in every gentleman's library. _Shakspeare_, 1793, 15 vols., or 1803, 21 vols. (vide p. 427, ante); _Pope_, by _Jos. Warton_; 1795, 8 vols. 8vo.; or by _Lisle Bowles_, 1806, 9 vols. 8vo.; _Spenser_, by _H.J. Todd_, 1805, 8 vols. 8vo.; _Milton_, by _the Same_, 7 vols., 8vo.; _Massinger_, by _W. Gifford_, 1806, 4 vols. 8vo.; _Sir David Lyndsay_, by _George Chalmers_, 1806, 3 vols. 8vo.; _Dryden_, by _Walter Scott_, 1808, 18 vols. 8vo.; _Churchill_, by ----, 1805, 2 vols. 8vo.; _Hudibras_, by _Dr. Grey_, 1744, or 1809, 2 vols. 8vo.; _Ben. Jonson_, by _W. Gifford_ (_sub prelo_); and _Bishop Corbett's Poems_, by _Octavius Gilchrist_, 1807, 8vo.]

PHIL. Yet forgive me if I avow that this same country, whose editorial labours you are thus commending, is shamefully deficient in the cultivation of _Ancient English History_! I speak my sentiments roundly upon this subject: because you know, Lysander, how vigilantly I have cultivated it, and how long and keenly I have expressed my regret at the almost total apathy which prevails respecting it. There is no country upon earth which has a more plentiful or faithful stock of historians than our own; and if it were only to discover how superficially some of our recent and popular historians have written upon it, it were surely worth the labour of investigation to examine the yet existing records of past ages.

LOREN. To effect this completely, you should have a NATIONAL PRESS.

LIS. And why not? Have we here no patriotic spirit similar to that which influenced the Francises, Richlieus, Colberts, and Louises of France?

ALMAN. You are getting into bibliographical politics! Proceed, good Lysander, with your other probable means of cure.

LYSAND. In the _fourth place_, the erection of PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS[466] is of great service in diffusing a love of books for their intrinsic utility, and is of very general advantage to scholars and authors who cannot purchase every book which they find it necessary to consult.

[Footnote 466: The ROYAL, LONDON, SURREY, AND RUSSEL INSTITUTIONS, have been the means of concentrating, in divers parts of the metropolis, large libraries of useful books; which, it is to be hoped, will eventually bring into disgrace and contempt what are called _Circulating Libraries_--vehicles, too often, of insufferable nonsense, and irremediable mischief!]

PHIL. You are right. These Institutions are of recent growth, but of general utility. They are a sort of _intellectual Hospitals_--according to your mode of treating the Bibliomania. Yet I dare venture to affirm that the _News-Paper Room_ is always better attended than the _Library_!

LYSAND. Let us have no sarcasms. I will now give you the _fifth_ and last probable means of cure of the Bibliomania; and that is _the Study of Bibliography_.[467]

[Footnote 467: "UNNE [Transcriber's Note: UNE] BONNE BIBLIOGRAPHIE," says Marchand, "soit generale soit particuliere, soit profane soit ecclesiastique, soit nationale, provinciale, ou locale, soit simplement personelle, en un mot de quelque autre genre que ce puisse etre, n'est pas un ouvrage aussi facile que beaucoup de gens se le pourroient imaginer; mais, elles ne doivent neanmoins nullement prevenir contre celle-ci. Telle qu'elle est, elle ne laisse pas d'etre bonne, utile, et digne d'etre recherchee par les amateurs de l'Histoire Litteraire." _Diction. Historique_, vol. i. p. 109.

Peignot, in his _Dictionnaire de Bibliologie_, vol. i. 50, has given a very pompous account of what ought to be the talents and duties of a bibliographer. It would be difficult indeed to find such qualifications, as he describes, united in one person! De Bure, in the eighth volume of his _Bibliographie Instructive_, has prefixed a "Discourse upon the Science of Bibliography, and the Duties of a Bibliographer," which is worth consulting: but I know of nothing which better describes, in few words, such a character, than the following: "In eo sit multijuga materiarum librorumque notitia, ut saltem potiores eligat et inquirat: fida et sedula apud exteras gentes procuratio, ut eos arcessat; summa patientia ut rare venalis expectet; peculium semper praesens et paratum, ne, si quando occurrunt, emendi, occasio intercidat: prudens denique auri argentique contemptus, ut pecuniis sponte careat quae in bibliothecam formandam et nutriendam sunt insumendae. Si forte vir literatus eo felicitatis pervenit ut talem thesaurum coacervaverit, nec solus illo invidiose fruatur, sed usam cum eruditis qui virgilias suas utilitati publicae devoverunt, liberaliter communicet;" &c.--_Bibliotheca Hulsiana_, vol. i. Praefat. p. 3, 4. Morhof abounds with sagacious reflections upon this important subject: but are there fifty men in Great Britain who love to read the _Polyhistor Literarius_? The observations of Ameilhon and Camus, in the _Memoires de l'Institut_, are also well worth consultation; as are those of Le Long, and his editor, prefixed to the last edition of the _Bibliotheca Sacra_.]

LIS. Excellent!--Treat copiously upon this my darling subject.

BELIN. You speak with the enthusiasm of a young convert; but I should think the study of Bibliography a sure means of increasing the violence of the book-disease.

LYSAND. The encouragement of _the Study of Bibliography_, in its legitimate sense, and towards its true object, may be numbered among the most efficacious cures for this destructive malady. To place competent Librarians over the several departments of a large public Library; or to submit a library, on a more confined scale, to one diligent, enthusiastic, well-informed, and well-bred Bibliographer or Librarian (of which in this metropolis we have so many examples), is doing a vast deal towards directing the channels of literature to flow in their proper courses. And thus I close the account of my recipes for the cure of the Bibliomania. A few words more and I have done.

It is, my friends, in the erection of Libraries as in literary compositions, the task is difficult, and will generally meet with opposition from some fastidious quarter,[468] which is always betraying a fretful anxiety to bring every thing to its own ideal standard of perfection. To counteract the unpleasant effect which such an impression must necessarily produce, be diligent and faithful, to your utmost ability, in whatsoever you undertake. You need not evince the fecundity of a German[469] author; but only exert your best endeavours, and leave the issue to a future generation. Posterity will weigh, in even scales, your merits and demerits, when all present animosities and personal prejudices shall have subsided; and when the utility of our labours, whether in promoting wisdom or virtue, shall be unreservedly acknowledged. You may sleep in peace before this decision take place; but YOUR CHILDREN may live to witness it; and your name, in consequence, become a passport for them into circles of learning and worth. Let us now retreat; or, rather, walk round Lorenzo's grounds. We have had _Book-Discussion_ enough to last us to the end of the year.[470] I begin to be wearied of conversing.

[Footnote 468: My favourite author, Morhof, has spoken 'comme un brave homme' upon the difficulty of literary enterprizes, and the facility and venom of detraction: I support his assertion 'totis viribus'; and to beg to speak in the same person with himself. 'Non ignotum mihi est, quantae molis opus humeris meis incumbat. Oceanum enim ingressus sum, in quo portum invenire difficile est, naufragii periculum a syrtibus et scopulis imminet. Quis enim in tanta multitudine rerum et librorum omnia exhauriret? Quis non alicubi impingeret? Quis salvum ab invidia caput retraheret, ac malignitatis dentes in liberiore censura evitaret? Praeterea ut palato et gustu differunt convivae, ita judiciis dissident lectores, neque omnium idem de rebus sensus est, hoc praesertim tempore, quo plures sunt librorum judices, quam lectores, et e lectoribus in lictores, ubique virgas et secures expedituros, multi degenerant.' _Praef. Morhof._--Even the great Lambecius (of whom see p. 41, ante) was compelled to deliver his sentiments thus:--'laborem hunc meum non periculosum minus et maglignis liventium _Zoilorum_ dentibus obnoxium, quam prolixum foro et difficilem.' Prod. Hist. Lit. _Proleg._ One of the Roman philosophers (I think it was Seneca) said, in his last moments, 'Whether or not the Gods will be pleased with what I have done, I cannot take upon me to pronounce: but, this I know--it has been my invariable object to please them.' For 'the Gods' read 'the Public'--and then I beg leave, in a literary point of view, to repeat the words of Seneca.]

[Footnote 469: 'From the last catalogue of the fair of Lepisic [Transcriber's Note: Leipsic], it would appear that there are now in Germany _ten thousand two hundred and forty three authors_, full of _health_ and _spirit_, and each of whom publishes at least _once a year_!' _American Review_, Jan. 1811, p. 172.]

[Footnote 470: Through the favour of Dr. Drury, the Editor is enabled to present the reader with an original letter, enclosing a list of books directed to be purchased by BENJAMIN HEATH, Esq.; also his portrait. This document would have been better inserted, in point of chronological order, in part V., but, as the Editor did not receive it till long after that part was printed, he trusts it will be thought better late than never.

THE DIRECTION.

To Mr John Mann at the Hand in Hand Fire Office in Angel Court on Snow Hill [illegible] in London]

Exeter, 21st March, 1738.

Dear Sir,

I take the liberty presuming upon the Intimacy of our Acquaintance to employ you in a pretty troublesome Affair. Fletcher Gyles, Bookseller in Holbourn, with whom I had some Dealings about two years ago, has lately sent me Down a Catalogue of a Library which will begin to be sold by Auction at his house next Monday Evening. As I have scarce laid out any Money in Books for these two years past, the great number of Valuable Books contained in this Collection, together with the tempting prospect of getting them cheaper in an Auction than they are to be had in a Sale, or in any other way whatsoever, has induced me to lay out a Sum of mony this way, at present, which will probably content my Curiosity in this kind, for several years to come. Mr. Gyles has offered himself to act for me, but as I think 'tis too great a Trial of his Honesty to make him at the same time both Buyer & Seller, & as Books are quite out of my Brother's Way, I have been able to think of no Friend I could throw this trouble upon but you. I propose to lay out about L60 or L70, and have drawn up a List of the Books I am inclined to, which you have in the First Leaf, with the Price to each Book, which I would by no means exceed, but as far as which, with respect to each single Book, I would venture to go; though I am persuaded upon the whole they are vastly overvalued. For my Valuation is founded in proportion upon what I have been charged for Books of this kind, when I have sent for them on purpose from London, and I have had too many proofs that the Booksellers make it a Rule to charge near double for an uncommon Book, when sent for on purpose, of what they would take for it in their own Shops, or at a Sale. So that, though the Amount of the Inclosed List is above L120, yet, when Deductions are made for the Savings by the Chance of the Auction, & for the full rate of such Books as I may be over bid in, I am satisfied it will come within the sum I propose. Now, Sir, the Favour which I would beg of you is to get some Trusty Person (& if you should not be able readily to think of a proper Person yourself, Mr. Hinchcliffe or Mr. Peele may probably be able to recommend one) to attend this Auction, in my behalf, from the beginning to the end, & to bid for me agreeably to the inclosed List & (as the Additional Trouble of it over and above the Attendance would not be great) to mark in the Catalogue, which you may have of Mr. Gyles for a shilling, the price Every Book contained in the Catalogue is sold at, for my future Direction in these Matters. For this Service I would willingly allow 3 Guineas, which, the Auction continuing 24 Days, is 3 shillings over and above half a Crown a Day; or, if that is not sufficient, whatever more shall be thought necessary to get my Commission well Executed. It may be necessary to observe to you that the Auction requires the Attendance of the whole day, beginning at Eleven in the Morning, and ending at two and at five in the Afternoon, and Ending at Eight. It may also be proper to inform the Person you shall Employ that he is not to govern his first bidding by the valuation in my list for many of the Books will very probably be sold for less than half what I have marked them at; he is therefore, in every Instance, to bid Low at first, and afterwards to continue advancing just beyond the other Bidders, till he has either bought the Book, or the price I have fixed it at is exceeded. There are many Books in the List which have several numbers before them; the meaning of which is that the very same Book is in several places of the Catalogue; and in that Case, I would have the first of them bought, if it be in very good condition, otherwise let the person Employed wait till the other comes up. I would desire him also not to buy any book at all that is both Dirty & ragged; but, though the Binding should not be in very good Order, that would be no Objection with me, provided the Book was clean. I would also desire him not to bid for any Number in the Catalogue that is not expressly mentioned in my List, upon a supposition that it may be the same Book with some that are mentioned in it; nor to omitt any Book that is actually upon the List, upon an Imagination, from the Title, that it may be there more than once; for I have drawn it up upon an Exact consideration of the Editions of the Books, insomuch that there is no Book twice upon the List, but where there is a very great difference in the Editions; nor is any of the Books in my List oftener in the Catalogue than is expressly specified in it. By the Conditions of Sale, the Auction is constantly adjourned from Fryday night to Monday Morning, the Saturday being appointed for fetching away, at the Expence of the buyer, the Books bought the week before, & for payment of the Mony. This part of the trouble I must beg you to charge yourself with; &, in order to enable you, as to the payment, I shall send you up, either by the next Post, or, however, time enough for the Saturday following, Fifty Pounds. I would beg the Favour of you to let me hear from you, if possible, by the Return of the Post; & also to give me an Account by every Saturday night's post what Books are bought for me, and at what price. As to which you need only mention the Numbers without the Titles, since I have a Catalogue by me. When the Auction is Ended, I shall take the Liberty of giving you farther Directions about Packing up the Books, & the way I would have them sent down. When I drew up my List, I had not observed one of the Conditions of Sale, which imports that no Person is to advance less than a shilling after twenty shillings is bid for any book. Now you will find a pretty many Books which I have valued at more than twenty shillings marked at an Odd Sixpence; in all which Cases, I would have the Bidder add Sixpence more to the Price I have fixed, in order to make it Even Money, & conformable to the Conditions of the Auction. And now, Dear Sir, another Person would make a thousand Apologies for giving you all this trouble; all which superfluous tediousness I shall spare you, being persuaded I shall do you a great pleasure in giving you an Opportunity of being serviceable to me, as I am sure it would be a very sensible one to me, if I ever had it in my power to be of any use to you. Mine and my Wive's humble respects wait upon Mrs. Mann, and you will be so good to present my hearty services to all our Friends.

I am most sincerely,

Dear Sir,

L _s._ _d._

Octavo 5 Pet. Angeli Bargaei Poemata 0 5 6 40 Hieron. Fracastorij Poemata 0 7 6 47 or 455, or 1546, Joan. Leonis Africae Desc. 0 3 6 68 Christ. Longolij Orationes et Epistolae 0 6 6 78 Pierij Valeriani Hexametri 0 4 6 Quarto 46 Diogenes Laertius 1 12 6 Octavo 164 or 624, Scaligerana 0 2 6 201 or 1280, Car. Ogerij Iter Danicum 0 3 0 Quarto 66 Plautus Taubmanni 0 11 6 Octavo 282 Hen. Lornenij Itinerarium 0 3 0 Quarto 132 Marcus Antonius de Dominis 0 2 6 143 Hen. Stephani Dialogus 0 4 6 157 Ausonii Opera 0 9 6 178 Anacreon and Sappho 0 8 6 180 Excerpta ex Polybio 0 8 6 181 Sophocles and Eschylus 1 2 6 ------------ Carried Forward L6 16 0

L _s._ _d._

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Octavo 405 or 2413, or 2953, Historia Gothorum 0 6 6 435 or 1488, or 1688, Lucretius Gifanij 0 5 6 436 Is Casaubon de Satyrica Poesi 0 3 6 Quarto 198 or 344, Iamblicus de Vita Pythag. 0 11 6 275 Aulus Gellius Gronovij 0 18 6 280 Statij quae Extant Barthij 0 18 6 Octavo 700 or 1093, Martial Scriverij 0 6 6 Quarto 302 Juvenal Henninij 0 18 6 314 Manilij Astronomicon 0 11 6 316 Poetriarum Octo 0 6 6 Folio 170 Fam. Strada da Bello Belgico 1 13 6 Octavo 739 Virgilius Illustratus 0 3 6 752 Paulli Manutij Epistolae 0 3 0 Folio 206 or 235, or 590, Io. Leunclavij Annales 1 2 6 Octavo 989 Senecae Tragediae Scriverij 0 4 6 9191 1088 Pontani Opera 0 8 6 Folio 264 Demosthenis et Aeschinis Opera 2 17 6 301 Thucydides Wasse 2 9 6 306 Platonis Opera 4 5 6 308 Herodoti Historia 1 7 6 Quarto 503 Pauli Collomesij Opera 0 9 0 543 566 Bern. Pensini Vita Baronij 0 3 0 Octavo 1239 or 2831, Poesis Philosophica 0 3 6 Folio 270 Philostrati Opera 1 7 6 376 Historiae Romanae Scriptores 1 11 6 386 Plutarchi Opera 5 7 6 Octavo 1519 Caninij Hellenismus 0 2 6 1608 or 2705, Virgilius Hiensij 0 3 6 Folio 426 Geo. Buchanani Opera 1 11 6 443 Plautus Lambini 0 13 6 448 Horatius Turnebi et Lambini 0 18 6 Octavo 1650 Dom. Baudij Amores 0 3 0 Folio 476 Aeschyli Tragediae 0 16 6 Octavo 1814 Lud. Kusterus de vero Usu, &c. 0 3 6 Quarto 871 Gab. Faerni Fabulae Centum 0 6 6 Folio 477 Luciani Opera 1 7 6 ------------- Carried Forward L42 7 0

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479 Dionis Cassij Historia 1 12 6 485 Diodorus Siculus 2 18 6 490 Appiani Historia 0 11 6 491 Palladius de Gentibus Indiae 0 5 6 498 Isocratij Orationes 1 3 6 Quarto 908 Papin. Statij Opera 0 9 6 921 Claudian Cum Animad. Barthij 0 11 6 Folio 529 Maffaei Historia Indica 0 8 6 509 546 Saxonis Grammatici Historia 0 17 6 Octavo 2101 Huntingtoni Epistolae 0 3 6 Quarto 1018 And. Nangerij Opera 0 9 6 1023 Tho. Hyde Historia Relig. Vett. Pers. 0 18 6 1047 Claud. Salmasij Epistolae 0 3 6 1088 Theocriti Moschi Bionis 0 16 6 1089 Hesiodus Graece 0 18 6 Folio 627 Rerum Moscoviticarum Coment. 0 11 6 638 Angeli Politiani Opera 0 18 6 Octavo 2354 Ausonius 0 7 6 2362 Mythographi Latini 0 6 6 Quarto 1139 Aristotelis Opera 3 4 6 Octavo 2481 Fabricij Bibliotheca Latina 0 11 6 Quarto 1192 Sannazarij Poemata 0 11 6 Octavo 2526 Meursij Elegantiae 0 5 6 2559 Statij Opera 0 4 6 2578 Is Casauboni Comment. 0 3 0 2597 Maximi Tyrij Dissertationes 0 4 0 Folio 698 Nic. Antonij Bibliotheca Hispan. 2 4 6 Octavo 2712 Ovidij Opera 0 15 6 Folio 765 Nic. Antonij Bibliotheca Hisp. Vetus 1 7 6 Octavo 2891 Pet. Dan. Huetij Comentarius 0 2 6 3098 Sir John Suckling's Plays, &c. 0 3 6 3099 Dr. Downe's Poems 0 4 0 Quarto 1498 Lord's Discovery of the Banian Religion 0 5 6 Folio 857 or 896, Burnet's Theory of ye Earth 0 9 6 Octavo 3364 Milton's Poems 0 2 0 3374 King's British Merchant 0 12 6 ------------- Carried Forward L68 11 0

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Brought Forward 68 11 0

3379 Milton's Paradise Regained 0 2 6 Folio 912 Wheeler's Journey into Greece 0 13 0 Octavo 3463 or 3473, Grevil's Life Of Sir P. Sidney 0 3 0 3466 Jobson Debes's Description of Feroe 0 2 0 3529 Terry's Voyage to the East Indies 0 3 6 Quarto 1672 Description de l'Egypte 0 13 6 1692 Apologie de M. Castar 0 4 0 1694 Replique de M. Girac 0 3 6 Octavo 3538 Geddes's History of the Church, &c. 0 3 0 3600 Songs by the Earl Of Surrey 0 3 6 3741 or 4112, Oeuvres de Sarasin 0 4 0 3854 or 3859, Scaligerana 0 2 6 Quarto 1873 Viaggi di Pietro della Valli 1 5 0 1875 Opera di Annibale Caro 0 8 0 1876 Orlando Inamorato 0 12 6 1879 or 2070, Pastor Fido 0 12 6 1884 or 1977, Morgante Maggiore 0 9 0 1920 or 1965, La Gerusalemme Liberata 1 2 6 1928 Il Verato 0 3 6 1953 Orlando Inamorato 0 9 6 1957 Historia della Guerre Civili 0 17 6 1967 Scritti nella Causa Veniziana 0 4 6 1980 Historia della Sacra Inquisitione 0 5 6 1983 Examinatione sopra la Rhetorica 0 5 6 1990 or 2037, Istoria Diplomatica 0 11 6 1995 Fasti Consolari di Salvini 0 9 6 1998 Satire del Menzini 0 7 6 Folio 1109 Bibliotheca Napolitana di Toppi 1 1 6 1123 Orlando Furioso 1 2 6 Quarto 2005 or 2039, Dialoghi del Speroni 0 7 6 2015 Poetica di Aristotele Volgarizzata 0 6 6 2024 Poetica di Aristotele di Piccolomini 0 4 6 2031 Della Difesa della Comedia di Dante 0 13 0 2033 Squittinio della Liberta Veneta 0 5 6 2049 Il Goffredo col. Comento di Beni 0 9 6 2050 Dante di Daniello 0 9 6 ------------- Carried Forward L84 13 0

L _s._ _d._

Brought Forward 84 13 0

Folio 1129 Historia del Regno di Napoli 0 14 6 1132 Historia del Consilio Tridentino 2 13 6 1137 Vocabularia della Crusca 8 4 6 Octavo 4268 Voyage de Bachanmont, &c. 0 2 6 4295 or 4330, or 4339, or 4511, Ragionamenti del Aretino 0 11 6 4305 Prose Fiorentine 0 3 6 4309 Lettre Volgari 0 3 6 4321 Gravina della Ragione Poetica 0 5 6 4322 Battaglie di Mugio 0 3 6 4331 or 4527, La Comedia di Dante 0 11 6 Quarto 2053 Degli Raguagli di Parnaso 0 8 6 2067 Il Decameron di Boccaccio 2 5 6 2076 or 2168, Lezioni di Varchi 0 8 6 2098 L'Amadigi di Tasso 0 8 6 Folio 1154 L'Adone del Marino 0 11 6 1154 Il Libro del Cortegiano 0 13 6 1162 Istoria del Concilio di Trento 2 4 6 1164 La Historia di Italia di Guicciardini 0 17 6 Octavo 4354 Rime Diverse del Mutio 0 4 6 4363 L'Amorosa Fiametta 0 4 6 4371 Compendio del Historie di Nap. 0 5 6 4379 Opere di Guilio Cammillo 0 4 6 4384 L'Aminta di Tasso 0 6 6 4385 L'Opere Poetiche di Guarin 0 5 6 4387 Comedie di M. Agnolo Firenz. 0 5 6 4415 Notize de Libri Rari 0 4 6 4416 Satire e Rime di Aristo 0 5 6 4417 Delle Eloquenza Italiana 0 6 6 4423 Comedie Varie 0 3 6 4438 Labarinto d'Amore di Boccac. 0 4 6 4443 Opere di Redi 1 1 0 Quarto 2100 Lettere di Vincenzio Martelli 0 8 6 2103 or 2154, Ameto di Boccaccio 0 4 6 2104 or 2161, Le Rime di Petrarca 0 8 6 2114 Ragionamento dell' Academico 0 8 6 -------------- Carried Forward L111 17 0

L _s._ _d._

Brought Forward 111 17 0

2124 Poesie Liriche del Testi 0 8 6 Octavo 4452 Il Petrarca 0 11 6 4456 or 4550, Lettre di Paolo Sarpi 0 3 6 4460 Opere Burleschi di Berni 0 6 6 4464 or 4485, Prose di M. Agnolo Firenz. 0 3 6 4471 Commento di Ser Agresto 0 3 6 4475 L'Aminta di Tasso 0 6 6 4483 La Secchia Rapita 0 5 6 4486 or 4627, Comedie di Aretino 0 5 6 4496 Trattato delle Materie Benef. 0 4 6 4531 Il 2do Libro delle Opere Burlesch. 0 6 6 Quarto 2149 Annotationi e Discorsi 0 16 6 2159 Gyrone il Cortese 0 9 6 2164 Il Decamerone di Boccaccio 0 14 6 2169 Historia della Cose passate 0 5 6 2171 Apologia degli Academia 0 9 6 2176 Della Guerra di Fiandra 2 2 6 2178 Rime e Prose di Maffei 0 13 6 2182 Discorsi Poetichi 0 5 6 Octavo 4561 La Libreria del Doni 0 4 6 4591 La Cassaria 0 2 6 4592 Teatro Italiano 1 1 6 4614 La Divina Comedia di Dante 1 1 6 4615 La Rime di Angelo di Cestanzo 0 7 6 4625 Tutte le Opere di Bernia 0 6 6 -------------- L124 3 6 --------------]

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Lysander concluded; when Lorenzo rose from his seat, and begged of us to walk round his grounds. It was now high noon; and, after a pleasant stroll, we retreated again to THE ALCOVE, where we found a cold collation prepared for our reception. The same day we all dined at Lisardo's; and a discussion upon the pleasures and comparative excellences of _Music_ and _Painting_ succeeded to the conversation which the foregoing pages have detailed. A small concert in the evening recreated the exhausted state of Lysander's mimd [Transcriber's Note: mind].

The next day, my friends left me for their respective places of destination. Lorenzo and his sisters were gathered round my outer gate; and Lisardo leapt into the chaise with Lysander and Philemon; resolved to equal, if not eclipse, his bibliographical tutor in the ardour of book researches. "Adieu," said Lysander, putting his hand out of the chaise--"remember, in defence of my bibliomaniacal gossipping, that SIMILIS never knew happiness _till he became acquainted with_ BOOKS."[471] The postillion smacked his whip; and the chaise, following the direction of the road to the left, quickly disappeared. The servant of Lysander followed gently after, with his Master's and Philemon's horses: taking a near direction towards Lysander's home.

[Footnote 471: 'It is reported that a certain man, of the name of SIMILIS, who fought under the Emperor Hadrian, became so wearied and disgusted with the number of troublesome events which he met with in that mode of life, that he retired and devoted himself wholly to leisure and _reading_, and to meditations upon divine and human affairs, after the manner of Pythagoras. In this retirement, Similis was wont frequently to exclaim that '_now_ he began to _live_:' at his death, he desired the following inscription to be placed upon his tomb.

[Greek: SIMILIS EN TAUTHA KEITAI BIOUE MEN ETE EBDOMEKONTA ZESAS DE ETE EPTA]

_Here lies Similis; In the seventieth year of his age But only the seventh of his Life._

This story is related by Dion Cassius; and from him told by Spizelius in his _Infelix Literarius_; p. 167.]

Lorenzo and his sisters returned with me to the Cabinet. A gloom was visible upon all our countenances; and the Ladies confessed that the company and conversation of my departed guests, especially of Lysander, were such as to leave a void which could not easily be supplied. For my part, from some little warmth each sister betrayed in balancing the solid instruction of Lysander and the humorous vivacity of Lisardo, against each other, I thought the former had made a powerful impression upon the mind of Belinda, and the latter upon that of Almansa: for when the probability of a speedy revisit from both of them was mentioned the sisters betrayed unusual marks of sensibility; and upon Lorenzo's frankly confessing, though in a playful mood, that such brothers-in-law would make him "as happy as the day was long"--they both turned their faces towards the garden, and appeared as awkward as it was possible for well-bred ladies to appear.

It was in vain that I turned to my library and opened a large paper, illustrated, copy of Daulby's _Catalogue of Rembrandt's Prints_, or Mr. Miller's new edition of the _Memoirs of Count Grammont_, or even the _Roman de la Rose_, printed by Galliot du Pre, UPON VELLUM.... Nothing produced a kind look or a gracious word from them. Silence, sorrow, and indifference, succeeded to loquacity, joy, and enthusiasm. I clearly perceived that some _other_ symptom, wholly different from any thing connected with the Bibliomania, had taken possession of their gentle minds.

But what has a BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE to do with _Love_ and _Marriage_? Reader Adieu!--When thou hast nothing better deserving of perusal before thee, take up these pages; and class the author of them, if thou wilt, with the BOSTONS, or SMITHS, or NORTHS, of "other times;" with those who have never wished to disturb the peaceful haunts of intellectual retirement; and whose estate, moreover, like Joseph Scaliger's, lies chiefly under his hat.

* * * * *

p. 57. To the list of useful bibliographical works, published about the period here designated, I might have added the _Lexicon Literarium_ of THEOPHILUS GEORGIUS; _cum Suppl. ad an._ 1750. _Leips._ 1742-50, folio; two thick and closely printed volumes, with an excellent chronological arrangement. It is not common in this country.

p. 69. The Abbe Rive was also the author of--1. _Notice d'un Roman d'Artus Comte de Bretagne_: Paris, 1779, 4to. _pp._ 20. 2. _Etrennes aux Joueurs de cartes, ou Eclaircissemens historiques et critiques sur l'invention des cartes a jouer; Paris_, 1780, 12mo. _pp._ 43. These works are slightly commended in the "Advertissement" to the Valliere Catalogue, 1783, pp. xxv-vj. They are reviewed by a rival author.

p. 216. Since writing the first note, concerning the "_Assertio Septem Sacramentorum_," &c., I have seen a magnificent copy of the same, printed UPON VELLUM, in the library of Earl Spencer; which redeems the coldness of my opinion in regard to books printed by Pynson upon vellum. The painted ornaments, in Lord Spencer's copy, were, in all probability, executed abroad. The art, in our own country, was then too rude for such elegance of decoration.

p. 404. I was right in my prediction about these _Garlands_ being swallowed up by some "hungry book-fish!" I saw them, a few days after, in the well-furnished library of ATTICUS: who exhibited them to me in triumph--grasping the whole of them between his finger and thumb! They are marvellous well-looking little volumes--clean, bright, and "rejoicing to the eye!"--many of them, moreover, are first editions! The severest winter cannot tarnish the foliage of such "Garlands!"

p. 328. Among the ILLUSTRATED GRANGERS I forgot to notice the ample and magnificent copies belonging to the Marquis of Bute and Mr. John Towneley.

SUPPLEMENT.

THE SUPPLEMENT.