foresaid.' Nothing is so uncertain
as one's luck in book-hunting, but, without entirely discrediting the
foregoing story, we can only say that it is an old friend with a new
face. We have heard the same thing before. Not so very long ago, a
certain bookseller thought he had at last got a prize; it was one of the
rarest Shakespeare quartos, and worth close on L100. He had purchased it
among a lot of other dirty pamphlets. He looked the matter up, and
everything seemed to point to the fact that his copy was genuine in
every respect--a most uncommon stroke of luck indeed. The precious
quarto was in due course sent to Puttick's, and the modest reserve of
L70 was placed upon it. The quarto was genuine in every respect, but it
was a _facsimile_!

It may be taken for granted that genuine Shakespeare quartos do not
occur on bookstalls, and even a rare Americana tract only occurs in the
wildest dreams of the book-hunter. Nevertheless, 'finds' of more or less
interest continue to be made by keen book-hunters. Dr. Garnett tells how
a tradesman at Oswestry had in his possession books to which he attached
no importance, but which, a lady informed him, must be very rare. They
were submitted to the authorities of the British Museum, who gave a
high price for them. One was Sir Anthony Sherley's 'Wits New Dyall,'
published in 1604, of which only one other copy is known to be in
existence. As a rule, offers of rare books come from booksellers, who do
not always say how they become possessed of them. Among the private
people who offer books to the Museum for sale are a large proportion who
think that a book must necessarily be rare because it is a hundred years
old or more. Before the great catalogue was made, finds were
occasionally made in the Museum itself, and even now a volume will
occasionally be found which has special interest and value on account of
its binding. In other cases a book will be found to be in a binding made
up of leaves of some rare work far more valuable than the book itself.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

SOME BOOK-HUNTING LOCALITIES.

LITTLE BRITAIN AND MOORFIELDS.

THERE are few more attractive phases in the history of book-hunting in
London than that of localities. Up to nearly the end of the last
century, these localities were for the most part, and for close on 350
years, confined to within a narrow area. With the rapid expansion of
London north, east, south, and west, the 'trade' has not onl