The Reader is here presented with one of the "Facs," or ornamental letters in Pierce Ploughman's Creed. PART VI. The Alcove. SYMPTOMS OF THE BIBLIOMANIA.--PROBABLE MEANS OF ITS CURE. "One saith this booke is too long; another, too short: the third, of due Choice of Change; 1585. 4to., sign. N. i. LOREN. Even so. But this fictitious happiness, as you would call it, is, in effect, real happiness; inasmuch as it produces positive sensations of delight. LIS. Well, there is no arguing with such a bibliomaniac as yourself, Lorenzo. NO. BELIN. But allow, brother, that this degree of happi 8833. Notitia Dramatica, both printed and manuscript; containing £ s. d. . 41 0 0 Of this Catalogue, there are only twelve copies printed upon LARGE paper; which were all distributed previous to the sale of the books. The common paper copies are very indifferently executed. The late Mr. George Baker had the completest 1. p. copy of this catalogue in existence. Before we proceed to give an account of subsequent book-sales, it may be as well to pause for a few minutes-and to take a retrospective view of the busy scene which has been, in part, described or rather, it may be no incurious thing to lay before the reader of a future century (when the ashes of the author shall have long mouldered into their native dust) a statement of the principal book-sales which took place from November, 1806, to November, 1807-at Messrs. Leigh and Sotheby's, King and Lochée's, and Mr. Stewart's. The minor ones carried on under Covent-Garden Piazza, Tom's Coffee-house, &c., are not necessary to be noticed. In calculating the number of volumes, I have considered one article, or lot, with the other, to comprehend three volumes. The result is as follows: Book-Sales by Messrs. LEIGH and SOTHEBY. ness, of which you boast, is not quite so exquisite as to justify the very high terms of purchase upon which it is often times procured. LYSAND. There is no such thing as the 'golden mediocrity' of Horace in book pursuits. Certain men set their hearts upon certain copies, and 'coûte qu'il coûte' Such has been the circulation of books, within the foregoing period, by the hands of three Auctioneers only; and the prices which a great number of useful articles brought is a sufficient demonstration that books are esteemed for their intrinsic value, as well as for the adventitious circumstances which render them rare or curious. But posterity are not to judge of the prevalence of knowledge in these times by the criterion of, what are technically called, book-sales only. They should be told that, within the same twelve months, thousands and tens of thousands of books of all sorts have been circulated by the London Booksellers ; and that, without travelling to know the number disposed of at Bristol, Liverpool, York, Manchester, or Exeter, it may be only necessary to state that one distinguished House alone, established not quite a furlong from the railings of St. Paul's Cathedral, sold not far short of two hundred thousand volumes within no longer in doubt. I made an effort, and sprung from my bed; and, on looking through the venetian blinds, I discovered our young bibliomaniacal convert with a book sticking out of his pocket, another half opened in his hand (upon which his eyes were occasionally cast), and a third kept firmly under his left arm. I thrust my head, "night-cap, tassel and all," out of window, and hailed him; not, however, before a delicious breeze, wafted over a bed of mignonette, had electrified me in a manner the most agreeable imaginable. Lisardo heard, and hailed me in return. His eyes sparkled with joy; his step was quick and elastic; and an unusual degree of animation seemed to pervade his whole frame. "Here," says he, "here is The British Bibliographer in my hand, a volume of Mr. Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books in my pocket, while another, of Mr. D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature, is kept snugly under my arm, as a corps de reserve, or rallying point. If these things savour not of bibliography, I must despair of ever attaining to the exalted character of a Bibliomaniac!" "You are up betimes," said I. "What dream has disturbed your rest?" "None" replied he; "but the most delightful visions have appeared to me during my sleep. Since you left Lorenzo's, I have sipt nectar with Leland, and drunk punch with Bagford. Richard Murray has given me a copy of Rastell's Pastime of People,+ and Thomas Britton has bequeathed to me an entire library of the Rosicrusian ‡ philosophy. Moreover, the venerable form of Sir Thomas Bodley has * The British Bibliographer is a periodical publication; being a continuation of a similar work under the less popular title of The Censura Literaria; concerning which see p. 52, ante. It is a pity that Mr. Savage does not continue his British Librarian; (of which 18 numbers are already published) as it forms a creditable supplement to Oldys's work under a similar title: vide p. 51, ante. A few of the ensuing numbers might be well devoted to an analysis of Sir William Dugdale's works, with correct lists of the plates in the same. + The reader may have met with some slight notices of this curious work in pp. 331; 337; 385; 392; 417; ante. See p. 332, ante. |