s a taste for the pictures of Reynolds or Turner is to be
preferred to a taste for the daubs that satisfy the vulgar. A man
acts foolishly, if he spend more money on books or anything else than
he can afford; but the folly will be increased, not diminished, by his
spending it on mean and common rather than on fine and uncommon works.
The latter when sold invariably bring a good price, more perhaps than
was paid for them, whereas the former either bring nothing or next to
nothing."

McCulloch's maternal grandfather was possibly the book-lover from whom
the eminent political economist inherited his taste.

In common with the Manuscript Document and the Autograph Letter, the
Written Book forms such a vast department of inquiry and study, that
it would be undesirable, and indeed almost impracticable, in a volume
of limited extent on book-collecting, to include the consideration of
any collateral subject.

The broad facts regarding our national collections of MSS. are
sufficiently well known, no less than the principal repositories in
which they are to be found and consulted, and the individuals who have
signalised themselves from time to time as owners of this class of
property on various scales or on various principles. Nearly everybody
with any claim to culture is familiar with the names of Cotton,
Arundel, Harley, Lansdowne, Birch, Burney, Egerton, Hardwicke, and
Stowe, in connection with precious assemblages of monuments in the
National Library; Parker, Tanner, Fairfax, Ashmole and others at
Oxford or Cambridge; Carew at Lambeth, and a succession of private
enthusiasts in this direction, either independently or in conjunction
with the printed side--Dering of Surrenden, Le Neve, Martin of
Palgrave, Duke of Buckingham, Sir Thomas Phillipps, Libri, Lord
Ashburnham, Heber, and Bright.

In the case of MSS. it is equally true with printed literature that
the interest and value depend on circumstances, and are liable to
changes and vicissitudes. They may be classified into countries,
periods, and subjects, and their appreciation depends on their
character even more than on their mere rarity. An unique MS. may
possibly be quite worthless. A comparatively common one may command a
good price. How numerous soever the ancient copies of Chaucer's
_Canterbury Tales_ might be, another coming into the open market would
still be an object of keen competition; and where importance is
coupled with scarcity or uniqueness, of course th