e most
probably his, only following the usual style of such illustrations
to Boccaccio, and consequently more Italianised than the others. The
initial letters present for the most part games of strength or skill.

There were various editions of Dante, including a very large folio
edition of the _Commedia_, dated Florence, 1481, and the works of a
number of Dante's contemporaries. Besides two or three editions of
Shakspeare (the best being Dyce's, in 9 vols.), there were some of the
Elizabethan dramatists. Coming to later poetry, I found a complete
set of Gilfillan's _Poets_, in 45 vols. There was the curious little
manuscript quarto (much like a shilling school-exercise book) labelled
_Blake_, and this was, perhaps, by far the most valuable volume in the
library. The contents and history of this book have already been given.

There were two editions of Gilchrist's _Blake_; complete (or almost
complete) sets of the works of William Morris and A. C. Swinburne,
inscribed in the authors' autographs--the copy of _Atalanta in Calydon_
being marked by the poet, "First copy; printed off before the dedication
was in type." It may be remembered that Robert Brough translated
Beranger's songs, and dedicated his volume in affectionate terms
to Rossetti. The presentation copy of this book bore the following
inscription:--"To D. G. Rossetti, meaning in my _heart_ what I have
tried to say in print. Et. B. Brough. 1856." There were also several
presentation copies from Robert Browning, Coventry Patmore, W. B. Scott,
Sir Henry Taylor, Aubrey de Vere, Tom Taylor, Westland Marston, F.
Locker, A. O'Shaughnessy, Sir Theodore Martin; besides volumes bearing
the names of nearly every well-known younger writer of prose or verse.

Five volumes of _Modern Painters_, together with _The Seven Lamps of
Architecture_ and the tract on _Pre-Raphaelitism_, bore the author's
name and Rossetti's in Mr. Ruskin's autograph. There was a fine copy in
ten volumes of Violet-le-Duc's _Dictionnaire de l'Architecture_, and
also of the _Biographie Generale_ in forty-six volumes, besides several
dictionaries, concordances, and the like. There was also a copy of
Fitzgerald's _Calderon_. Rossetti seemed to be a reader of Swedenborg,
as White's book on the great mystic testified; also to have been at one
time interested in the investigation of the phenomena of Spiritualism.
Of one writer of fiction he must have been an ardent reader, for there
were at least 100 volum