f the printer of this
volume, during his apprenticeship to his father, to correct
the press of nearly the whole of Dr. Nott's labours, which
were completed, after several years of toil, when in the
extensive conflagration of the printing-office at Bolt
Court, Fleet-street, in 1819, all but _two_ copies were
totally destroyed!]

[Footnote 21: COLET, MORE, and ERASMUS [considering the
latter when he was in England] were _here_ undoubtedly the
great literary triumvirate of the early part of the 16th
century. The lives of More and Erasmus are generally read
and known; but of DEAN COLET it may not be so generally
known that his ardour for books and for classical literature
was keen, and insatiable; that, in the foundation of ST.
PAUL'S SCHOOL, he has left behind a name which entitles him
to rank in the foremost of those who have fallen victims to
the BIBLIOMANIA. How anxiously does he seem to have watched
the progress, and pushed the sale, of his friend Erasmus's
first edition of the Greek Testament! "Quod scribis de Novo
Testamento intelligo. Et libri _novae editionis tuae hic avide
emuntur et passim leguntur_!" The entire epistle (which may
be seen in Dr. Knight's dry Life of Colet, p. 315) is
devoted to an account of Erasmus's publications. "I am
really astonished, my dear Erasmus [does he exclaim], at the
fruitfulness of your talents; that, without any fixed
residence, and with a precarious and limited income, you
contrive to publish so many and such excellent works."
Adverting to the distracted state of Germany at this period,
and to the wish of his friend to live secluded and
unmolested, he observes--"As to the tranquil retirement
which you sigh for, be assured that you have my sincere
wishes for its rendering you as happy and composed as you
can wish it. Your age and erudition entitle you to such a
retreat. I fondly hope, indeed, that you will choose this
country for it, and come and live amongst us, whose
disposition you know, and whose friendship you have proved."

There is hardly a more curious picture of the custom of the
times, relating to the education of boys, than the Dean's
own Statutes for the regulation of St. Paul's School, which
he had founded. These shew, too, the _popular books_ then
read by the learne