and act, if he does so under protest, is to strip and re-clothe the
disreputable article, and have it put into habiliments worthy of the
_cabinet choisi_ of Monsieur.

Now, we have had, and no doubt have still, on this side of the Channel
certain heathens in the likeness of collectors who, no matter how
perfect and how fresh, and how suitable, the original jacket, commit
the heinous offence of following the Continental mode, and in such a
way thousands of lovely examples, transmitted to us as heirlooms from
our ancient families, have been sacrificed. But let us congratulate
ourselves that we have among us many who know better, who will not
even let the binder desecrate a faultless copy of Tennyson, Byron,
Shelley, or Keats in the publisher's boards.

This is, however, not exactly an analogy. The analogy arises and grows
possible when we compare such writers as Montaigne, Moliere,
Corneille, or again, certain of the Elzevir series, with our
corresponding foremost names. If we meet with the latter in vellum or
in sheep, we only too gladly preserve them as we find them, provided
that the outward garb is irreproachable. Of how many gems do we not
know, in all the peerless glory of their pristine life, tenderly
ensconced in morocco envelopes. Let them never be acquainted with
another existence! Let no binder's unholy hand come near them! Let
them be exhibited as historical monuments.

On the other hand, if we could oblige Monsieur to comply with this
law, he would be _desole_; for it is not the matter which
makes the book; it is the _maroquin rouge_.

Even in England, where we are more robust in our taste, the true
collector is not a reader. He may buy a cheap book now and then; but
he hands it to the cook when he has perused it. Such things are
outside his category; they are for those interesting creatures the
toiling million. His possessions or _desiderata_ are not vehicles of
instruction; they are far too valuable; they are objects of ocular and
sensuous indulgence equally with china, paintings, sculpture, and
coins. They are classable with bric-a-brac. You have an opportunity of
appreciating the quality of the paper or vellum, the type, and the
binding. The merits of the author are reserved.

It is better, if a gentleman leans a little to the practical side, and
chooses to admit literature for actual reading, to have two cases, one
for Books, the other for Bibliographical _Simulacra_. For it is not
for one till he