shall I say,
unparalleled?--library of MAJOR PEARSON![398] a gentleman, who has
far eclipsed the bibliomaniacal reputation of his military
predecessor, General Dormer. This extraordinary collection was sold
by auction the very next year ensuing the sale of Dr. Wright's books
and so thickly and richly is it sprinkled with the black-letter, and
other curious lore--so varied, interesting, and valuable, are the
departments into which it is divided--that it is no wonder his present
Majesty, the late Duke of Roxburgh, and George Steevens, were earnest
in securing some of the choicest gems contained in the same. Such a
collection, sold at the present day--when there is such a "_qui vive_"
for the sort of literature which it displays--what would it produce?
At least four times more, than its sum total, two and twenty years
ago!

[Footnote 398: If the reader attend only to the above
flourishing eulogy, by Lysander, upon the extraordinary
collection of Major, or Thomas, Pearson, I fear he will not
rise from the perusal of these pages impressed with very
accurate notions of the same. To qualify such ardent
panegyric, and at the same time to please the hearts of all
honest bibliomaniacs, I here subjoin something like a sober
analysis of the _Bibliotheca Pearsoniana_. The title to the
Sale Catalogue is as follows: "_Biblioth. Pearson. A
Catalogue of the Library of_ THOMAS PEARSON, Esq.
_Containing a very extensive Collection of the best and
rarest books in every branch of English Literature, &c. Sold
by Auction by T. and J. Egerton, in April, 1788_," 8vo. Like
all the sale catalogues put forth by the Egertons, the
present is both judiciously arranged and neatly printed. It
is said that there are only twelve copies upon _large
paper_; but I doubt the smallness of this number. My own is
of this kind, superbly bound, and priced with a neatness
peculiar to the calligraphical powers of the 'forementioned
friend. It may not be amiss to prefix an extract from a
newspaper of the day; in which this sale was thus noticed:
"The Black-lettero-mania, which raged so furiously in the
course of last Spring at the Sale of Dr. WRIGHT'S Books, has
broken out with still greater violence at the present
auction of MAJOR PEARSON'S Library. This assertion may be
countenanced by the following examples." Then follow a few