cel of books from J.W. Irnhoff, of
Nurembergh, among which was his _Excellentium Familiarum in
Gallia Genealogia_: p. 379. But it is time to put an end to
this unwieldly note: reserving the account of Ashmole's
_Order of the Garter_, and _Theatrum Chemicum_, for the
ensuing one--and slightly informing the reader, of what he
may probably be apprized, that our illustrious bibliomaniac
bequeathed his museum of curiosities and library of books to
his beloved ALMA MATER OXONIENSIS--having first erected a
large building for their reception. It is justly said of
him, in the inscription upon his tombstone,

DURANTE MUSAEO ASHMOLEANO OXON.
NUNQUAM MORITURUS.

A summer month might be profitably passed in the Ashmolean
collection of Books! Let us not despair that a complete
_Catalogue Raisonne_ of them may yet be given.]

LOREN. Not eight guineas--although you were about to say _fourteen_!

LYSAND. Even so. But it must have been obtained in the golden age of
book-collecting?

LOREN. It was obtained, together with an uncut copy of his _Theatrum
Chemicum_,[351] by my father, at the shop of a most respectable
bookseller, lately living, at Mews-Gate, and now in Pall-Mall--where
the choicest copies of rare and beautiful books are oftentimes to be
procured, at a price much less than the extravagant ones given at
book-sales. You observed it was bound in blue morocco--and by that
Coryphaeus of book-binders, the late ROGER PAYNE!

[Footnote 351: First let us say a few words of the THEATRUM
CHEMICUM BRITANNICUM, as it was the anterior publication. It
contains a collection of ancient English poetical pieces
relating to Alchemy, or the "Hermetique Mysteries;" and was
published in a neat quarto volume, in 1652; accompanied with
a rich sprinkling of plates "cut in brass," and copious
annotations, at the end, by Ashmole himself. Of these
plates, some are precious to the antiquary; for reasons
which will be given by me in another work. At present, all
that need be said is that a fine tall copy of it brings a
fair sum of money. I never heard of the existence of a
_large paper_ impression. It went to press in July 1651; and
on the 26th of January following, "the first copy of it was
sold to the Earl of Pembroke:" see the Diary, pp. 313-315.
In May, 1658, Ashmole made his first visit