r vous consacre cette edition, comme un monument de son
amitie, de son admiration, et de son respect; a vous, dont les graces,
l'esprit, et le gout retracent au siecle present le siecle de Louis
quatorze et les agremens de l'auteur de ces memoires."

Such are the inscriptions on the _Strawberry-Hill gem_. Much has been said
of its brilliancy--and so, for the sake of novelty, I shall rather dwell on
its flaws.

The volume was printed at the private press of M. Horace Walpole at
Strawberry-Hill, and the impression was limited to one hundred copies, of
which thirty were sent to Paris. So much for its attractions--now for its
flaws. In reprinting the dedication to madame du Deffand, I had to insert
_eight_ accents to make decent French of it! The _avis_ is a mere medley of
fragments: I could not ask a compositor to set it up! The _avertissement_
is copied, without a word of intimation to that effect, from the edition of
1746. The notes to the _epitre_ are also copied from that edition, except
_L'abbe de Chaulieu_; and two of the notes to the memoirs are from the same
source. The other notes, in the opinion of sir William Musgrave, are in
part taken from an erroneous printed _Key_. Where are the
_eclaircissements_? I find none except a list of proper names--of which
about one-third part is omitted!

In quoting Brunet, I have used the fourth edition of the _Manuel du
libraire_, 1842-4; in quoting Renouard, I refer to the _avis_ prefixed to
the _Oeuvres du comte Antoine Hamilton_, 1812; in quoting Querard, to _La
France litteraire_, 1827-39. The other references are to sale catalogues.
The titles of the books described, and the extracts, are given _literatim_,
and, except as above noted, with the same accentuation and punctuation.

To revert to the question of a new edition: I should prefer the French
text, for various reasons, to any English translation that could be made.
That of Abel Boyer is wretched burlesque!

The chief requirements of a French edition would be, a collation of the
editions of 1713 and 1746--the rectification of the names of persons {5}
and places--a revision of the punctuation--and a strict conformity, as to
general orthography and accentuation, with the _Dictionnaire de l'Academie
francaise_, as edited in 1835. The substance of the _avis_ of 1713 might be
stated in a preface; and the _avertissement_ of 1746, a clever composition,
would serve as an introduction and memoir of the author. Th