erally too prodigal of their promises, and
their authors are contemned; but the works of modest authors, though
they present more than they promise, may fail of attracting notice by
their extreme simplicity. In either case, a collector of books is
prejudiced; he is induced to collect what merits no attention, or he
passes over those valuable works whose titles may not happen to be
interesting. It is related of Pinelli, the celebrated collector of
books, that the booksellers permitted him to remain hours, and sometimes
days, in their shops to examine books before he purchased. He was
desirous of not injuring his precious collection by useless
acquisitions; but he confessed that he sometimes could not help being
dazzled by magnificent titles, nor being mistaken by the simplicity of
others, which had been chosen by the modesty of their authors. After
all, many authors are really neither so vain, nor so honest, as they
appear; for magnificent, or simple titles, have often been given from
the difficulty of forming any others.

It is too often with the Titles of Books, as with those painted
representations exhibited by the keepers of wild beasts; where, in
general, the picture itself is made more striking and inviting to the
eye, than the inclosed animal is always found to be.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 81: Religious parody seems to have carried no sense of
impropriety with it to the minds of the men of the 15th and 16th
centuries. Luther was an adept in this art, and the preachers who
followed him continued the practice. The sermons of divines in the
following century often sought an attraction by quaint titles, such
as--"Heaven ravished"--"The Blacksmith, a sermon preached at Whitehall
before the King," 1606. Beloe, in his _Anecdotes of Literature_, vol. 6,
has recorded many of these quaint titles, among them the
following:--"_The Nail hit on the head_, and driven into the city and
cathedral wall of Norwich. By John Carter, 1644." "_The Wheel turned_ by
a voice from the throne of glory. By John Carter, 1647." "_Two Sticks
made one_, or the excellence of Unity. By Matthew Mead, 1691." "_Peter's
Net let downe_, or the Fisher and the Fish, both prepared towards a
blessed haven. By R. Matthew, 1634." In the middle of the last century
two religious tracts were published, one bearing the alarming title,
"Die and be Damned," the other being termed, "A sure Guide to Hell." The
first was levelled against the preaching of the Method