ion of _The Children in the Wood_, and
the antiquary who despaired of obtaining one missing Gazette till it was
sent to him 'wrapped round a parcel of tobacco.' 'Hirsutus,' we are
told,'very carefully amassed all the English books that were printed in
the black character'; the fortunate virtuoso had 'long since completed
his Caxton, and wanted but two volumes of a perfect Pynson.' In our own
day we can hardly realise the idea of such riches; but the 'Rambler'
scouted the notion of slighting or valuing a book because it was printed
in the Roman or Gothic type. John Ratcliffe of Bermondsey was one of
these 'black-letter dogs.' He had some advantages of birth and position;
for, being a chandler and grocer, he could buy these old volumes by
weight in the course of his trade. He died in 1776, the master of a whole
'galaxy of Caxtons'; his library is said to have held the essence of
poetry, romance and history; it was more precious in flavour to the new
_dilettanti_ than the copious English stores of James West, the judicious
President of the Royal Society; it was far more refined than the 'omnium
gatherum' scattered in 1788 on Major Pearson's death, or Dr. Farmer's
ragged regiments of old plays and frowsy ballads, and square-faced
broadsides 'bought for thrice their weight in gold.'

M. Paris de Meyzieux was the owner of a splendid library. Dibdin has
described his third sale, held in London during 1791, when the
bibliomaniacs, it was said, used to cool themselves down with ice before
they could face such excitement. Of himself he confessed that when he had
seen the illuminations of Nicolas Jany, the snow-white 'Petrarch,' the
'Virgil' on vellum, life had no more to offer: 'after having seen only
these three books I hope to descend to my obscure grave in perfect peace
and happiness.' The _Livre d'Heures_ printed for Francis I., which had
belonged to the Duc de la Valliere, was bought by Sir Mark Sykes, and
became one of his principal treasures at Sledmere.

Mr. Robert Heathcote had a most elegant library, in which might be seen
the tallest Elzevirs and several Aldine classics 'in the chaste costume
of Grolier.' It is said that the books passed lightly into his hands 'in
a convivial moment,' much to their former owner's regret. About the year
1807 they passed into the miscellaneous crowd of Mr. Dent's books; and
twenty years afterwards the whole collection was dispersed at a low
price, when the book-mania was giving way for a