ervalued his own
industry. Finding that his success far exceeded his
expectations, he determined to add a _third volume_ to the
collection. Among these new acquisitions are some very rare
ballads; one quoted by Hamlet, of which no other copy is
known to exist." _Preface to the Roxburgh Catalogue_, p. 5.
The ballad here alluded to may be seen in Mr. Evans's recent
edition of his father's _Collection of Old Ballads_; vol.
i., p. 7.

3262 to 3329. These numbers comprehend a very uncommon and
interesting set of _Old Romances_! which, collectively, did
not produce 35_l._--but which now, would have been sold
for----!?

3330 to 4151. An extraordinary collection of the English
Drama.

And thus farewell MAJOR PEARSON!]

LIS. O rare THOMAS PEARSON! I will look sharply after a _large paper_,
_priced_, copy of the _Bibliotheca Pearsoniana_!

LYSAND. You must pay smartly for it, if you are determined to possess
it.

BELIN. Madness!--Madness inconceivable!--and undescribed by Darwin,
Arnold, and Haslam! But, I pray you, proceed.

LYSAND. Alas, madam, the task grows more and more complex as I draw
towards the completion of it.

In the year 1789 the book-treasures of the far-famed PINELLI[399]
Collection were disposed of by public auction: nor can one think,
without some little grief of heart, upon the dispersion of a library,
which (much more than commercial speculations and profits) had, for
upwards of a century, reflected so much credit upon the family of its
possessors. The atmosphere of our metropolis, about this period,
became as much infected with the miasmata of the BOOK-PLAGUE as it
did, about 130 years before, with the miasmata of a plague of a
different description: for the worthy inhabitants of Westminster had
hardly recovered from the shock of the bibliomaniacal attack from the
Pinelli sale, 'ere they were doomed to suffer the tortures of a
similar one in that of the PARIS[400] collection. This latter was of
shorter duration; but of an infinitely more powerful nature: for then
you might have seen the most notorious bibliomaniacs, with blood
inflamed and fancies intoxicated, rushing towards the examination of
the truly matchless volumes contained within this collection. Yet
remember that, while the whole of Pall Mall was thronged with the
carriages of collectors, anxious to carry off in triumph some _vellum
copy_ of foreign execution--th