induce a supposition that the Owner of the Library did not throw open the doors of it sufficiently wide to the public, yet, such has been her judgment and liberality, that it may be questioned whether there be a dozen gentlemen-decided Book Collectors— in the kingdom, to whom a copy, by some means or other, has not been graciously sent; although the possessors of the volume may not be aware that the total expenditure of putting it forth in its present beautiful garb, was very little short of Six Hundred Pounds;-a rare and noble instance of adorning a favourite pursuit, by allowing others to become gratuitous partakers of it. Among the many distinguished Collectors, who have good reason to "thank their stars" for the possession of such a treasure, are six to my own knowledge. Messrs. Freeling, Turner, Botfield, Repton, Morgan, and Upcott. An elegant compliment to the utility of the book, and to the liberality of its Owner, was paid by the late Earl Spencer, to whom-in consequence of Miss Currer's telling me that "any friends whom I might be pleased to mention should have copies,*" a copy was expressly sent in the thoroughly handsome half-morocco binding of Mackenzie-the usual dress in which the copies quitted the wardrobe of their Owner.

Lord Spencer, in reply to me, thus observed: "I have just received the very handsome book from

* In this same note or letter, its author mentions the having ordered fifty copies to be put in half morocco binding by Mackenzie, with a view of making them donations.

Miss Currer. It would have been at any time a very interesting and valuable addition to my class of Bibliography; but it is more particularly so nowas I am occasionally employing the few leisure moments which my unavoidable calls on business, and checks from ailments, allow, in trying my hand at a Classed Catalogue of the Bibliotheca Althorpiana; a work which, of course, can never be finished, but the fabrication of which will be much benefited by that respectable Lady's production in the same line. I shall of course, as in duty bound,' trouble her with my grateful acknowledgments."-Ryde, June 17, 1833. Considering myself also "in duty bound" to make Miss Currer acquainted with such favourable sentiments from such a quarter, she observed in reply, "I had a very flattering letter from his Lordship himself yesterday."

And now, if the uninitiated reader be disposed to ask what is the character of this Library, about which so much is said, I answer, in the very words of its Owner with which the "Advertisement" prefixed commences. "The LIBRARY, of which this volume forms the Catalogue, has been collected solely with a view to UTILITY; yet in those works usually considered ornamental and curious, it possesses specimens of no common occurrence*. In the Na

* It should be here mentioned, that all the older books in Miss Currer's library, such as Caxton's Polychronicon, the St. Alban's Chronicle (upon vellum), the Fructus Temporum, with Coverdale's Bible of 1535, were obtained "at little cost, in all probability, as she

tural Sciences, Topography, Antiquity, and History, it is more particularly rich; and the Manuscripts, although not numerous, are interesting and valuable. The Books, individually, are in the finest condition, and not a few of them in the richest and most "tasteful bindings." An admirable Index is the immediate clue to the discovery of any work of which we may be in pursuit; and there are not fewer than FIFTEEN THOUSAND VOLUMES to refer to. Such are the treasures of ESHTON HALL, in the department of books alone. For the continued, and long continued, health and happiness of its amiable and accomplished Owner, there can be but one feeling and one sentiment amongst every enlightened and liberal hearted Individual: accompanied even with a secret wish that SUCH examples, in the same sex, may "abound more and more;" and that there is no one duty more imperatively inculcated than that of adorning this world's wealth by pursuits, which, in

herself supposes," by her great grandfather. They are imperfect; but the Coverdale has been lately completed by the skill of Mr. Harris, who pronounces it next to that of Lord Jersey's-to be the finest copy he ever saw. Since the publication of her Catalogue, Miss Currer informs me that she has only purchased the following article, of any note, of Mr. Henry Bohn, for 631. It is a very extraordinary copy of Claude's LIBER VERITATIS, by Earlom, with duplicate plates in the character of etchings, proofs, variations, in four volumes folio, containing 500 plates; the fourth volume having the etchings and variations. This extraordinary copy was made up by the late Mr. Baker (the Quisquilius of the Bibliomania) who was well acquainted with Earlom, and had the pickings of his portfolio. It is questionless the finest copy of this interesting work in existence.

the language of the Great Roman Writer* (prefixed as a motto to the Catalogue itself), “nourish youth; delight old age; adorn prosperity; afford a refuge and solace in adversity; forming our delights at home; anything but hindrances abroad; which are our nightly associates; our indoor and out of door companions." These be general topics of admiration and congratulation. For myself, that sentiment is the most deeply felt which neither the tongue nor the pen has the ability of adequately conveying:

"In freta dum fluvii current, &c.

Semper HONOS NOMENQUE TUUм laudesque manebunt
Quæ me cunque vocant terræ."

Miss Currer is too good a scholar to impose upon
me the task of an inadequate translation...and thus
I bow to, and take my leave of, the Book- Genius of
ESHTON HALL!

It is a long way to Shrewsbury from hence; but it is nevertheless a delightful occupation to direct your horses' heads to a quarter where you are not only sure of the most generous and hospitable reception, but where every thing, and every object around, is redolent of Bokes; of morocco odour, and Russian fragrance; where the very genius of ALDUS seems to pervade every nook and corner, and where the

* Cicero.

Cradle of the Typographical Art is rocked by no unskilful hands...even by those of Fust, Pfister, and Lawrence Coster.

Look, gentle reader, at what here greets your eyes. Dids't ever enter within its walls?

*The above is copied by permission from a large view, executed in lithography, and published at a very reasonable price by Mr. Leake of Shrewsbury.