whole collected with great judgment and expense, during the last thirty years of his life comprehending a large and most choice collection of the rare old English black letter, in fine preservation, and in elegant bindings, printed by CAXTON, LETTOU, MACHLINIA, the anonymous St. Albans Schoolmaster, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, Berthelet, Grafton, Day, Newberie, Marshe, Jugge, Whytchurch, Wyer, Rastell, Coplande, and the rest of the Old English Typographers: several missals and MSS. and two Pedigrees on vellum, finely illuminated.' THE title page then sets forth a specimen of these black-lettered gems; among which our eyes are dazzled with a galaxy of Caxtons, Wynkyn de Wordes, Pynsons, &c. &c. The sale took place on March 27, 1776; although the year is unaccountably omitted, by that renowned Auctioneer, the late Mr. Christie, who disposed of them, If ever there was a unique collection, this was one-the very essence of Old Divinity, Poetry, Romances, and Chronicles! The articles were only 1675 in number, but their intrinsic value amply compensated for their paucity. THE following is but an inadequate specimen. No. 1315. Horace's Arte of Poetrie, Drant. 1567. First English £. s. d. 0 16 6 No. 1321. The Sheppearde's Calender, of Delight, 1576 1579. Whetstone's Castle No. 1392. The Pastyme of the People*, printed by Rastell. Curious wood cuts No. 1393. Cronicles of Englande, printed by CAXTON, fine copy, 1480. No. 1394. Ditto, printed at St. Albans, 1483 Purchased by Dr. 1 2 0 4 7 0 5 5 0 seum, which I have seen 7 7 0 * A copy of this book is not now to be procured. I have known £.40 offered for it, and contemptuously rejected. No. 1403. Barclay's Shyp of Folys, printed by Pynson, 1508, first edit. fine copy No. 1426. The Doctrinal of Sapyence, £. s. d. 2 10.0 printed by CAXTON, 1489 8 8 0 No. 1427. The Boke, called Cathon, Dr. Hunter, and now in his No. 1428. The Polytyque Boke, named lyshe, by CAXTON, 1481. Purchased for his Majesty No. 1429. The Game of Chesse Playe. These two last articles are worth at least £. 80, if per fect. No. 1665. The Boke of Jason, printed by CAXTON. This, and the preceding article, are supposed to be the second and third books ever printed by Caxton. They are 'rarest among the rare. Purchased for his Majesty No. 1669. The Polychronicon of Ra nulph Higden, translated by 5 5 0 14 0 0 16 0 0 5 10 0 5 15 6 No. 1670. Legenda Aurea, or the Gold en Legende*. 1483 No. 1674. Mr. Ratcliffe's MS. Cata logues of the rare old black £. s. d. 9 15 O 7 15 0 I BEG pardon of the manes of ‘John Ratcliffe, Esq.' for the very inadequate manner in which I have brought forward his collection to public notice. The memory of such a man ought to be dear to theblack lettered-dogs' of the present day; * In Dr. Hunter's Museum there is one of the finest copies in the world of this ponderous but magnificent folio volume. The wood cuts in it were erroneously supposed by HEINEKIN to have been the first ever executed in this country. + This would have been the most delicious article to my palate. If the present owner of it were disposed to part with it, I could not find it in my heart to refuse him compound interest for his money. As is the wooden frame-work to the bricklayer, in the construction of his arch, so might Mr. Ratcliffe's MS. Catalogues be to me in the compilation of a certain magnum opus! for he had [mirabile dictu !] upwards of THIRTY CAXTONS*! IF I might hazard a comparison between Mr. James West's and Mr. John Ratcliffe's collections, I should say that the former was more extensive, the lat * In the present Caxton-loving age, with what avidity would such a number of this printer's books be sought after! They will rarely ever again appear in one collection so numerous or so perfect. I am well acquainted with the skill and liberality of Messrs. Payne, White, Egerton and Evans-that these gentlemen know and love Caxton as well as ALDUS, FROBEN, and the STEPHENSES-but I question if in the ocean of English black letter, they have taken quite so deep a plunge as Mr. Manson, of Gerard Street, Soho. It is due to the spirit and perseverance of this latter bookseller, to notice his love of the Imprints, Colophons, and Devices of our venerable ENGLISH TYPOGRAPHERS. Professor Heyne could not have exhibited greater signs of joy at the sight of the Townley MS. of Homer, than did Mr. Manson on the discovery of Rastell's Pastyme of the People,' among the books of Mr. Brand. If I wished for a collection of Rembrandt's or Nanteuil's prints, or of old portraits and black-lettered books, catalogued, I would, with the ntmost confidence, resign the whole to the integrity and discrimination of Mr. Manson. |