appearance to be a volume, in itself, of pleasant and profitable perusal; composed perhaps in a quaint and original style, but in accordance with the characters of the Dramatis Personæ. Be this as it may, it is a work divested of all acrimonious feeling-is applicable to all classes of society, to whom harmless enthusiasm cannot be offensive-and is based upon a foundation not likely to be speedily undermined. T. F. DIBDIN. May 1, 1842. studio of the painter or engraver. Had his natural talents, which were strong and elastic, been cultivated in early life, he would, in all probability, have attained a considerable reputation. How he loved to embellish—almost to satiety-a favourite work, may be seen by consulting a subsequent page towards the end of this volume. He planned and published the Physiognomical Portraits, a performance not divested of interest-but failing in general success, from the prints being, in many instances, a repetition of their precursors. The thought, however, was a good one; and many of the heads are powerfully executed. He took also a lively interest in Mr. Major's splendid edition of Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting in England, a work, which can never want a reader while taste has an abidingplace in one British bosom. Mr. Walmsley possessed a brave and generous spirit; and I scarcely knew a man more disposed to bury the remembrance of men's errors in that of their attainments and good qualities. enough in it." As he was himself a Book-Auctionloving Bibliomaniac, I was resolved, in a future edition, to gratify him and similar Collectors by writing PART III. of the present impression: the motto of which may probably meet their approbation. It will be evident, on a slight inspection of the present edition, that it is so much altered and enlarged as to assume the character of a new work. This has not been done without mature reflection; and a longcherished hope of making it permanently useful to a large class of General Readers, as well as to BookCollectors and Bibliographers. PART I. THE EVENING WALK. On the right uses of II. THE CABINET. Outline of Foreign and Domestic Bibliography p. 23-92. III. THE AUCTION-ROOM. Character of Orlando. Of ancient Prices of Books, and of Book-Binding. Book-Auction Biliomaniacs. p. 103-139. IV. THE LIBRARY. Dr. Henry's History of Great Britain. A Game at Chess. Of Monachism and Chivalry. Dinner at Lorenzo's. Some Account of Book Collectors in England p. 143-207. V. THE DRAWING ROOM. History of the Bibliomania, or Account of Book Collectors, concluded VI. THE ALCOVE. p. 211-463. Symptoms of the Disease called the Bibliomania. Probable Means of its p. 467-565 SUPPLEMENT. CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. GENERAL INDEX. |