aw Courts from Temple Bar to Clement's Inn, has destroyed very
many book-hunting and literary localities. This project involved the
obliteration of thirty-three streets, lanes and courts, and the
levelling of 400 dwelling, lodging and ware houses, and so forth,
sheltering over 4,000 individuals. It has entirely altered the aspect of
the place; not perhaps before it was necessary, for the whole
neighbourhood had degenerated into rookeries of the vilest description.
Among the localities swept away, a brief reference may be made to one
which has a twofold interest--Butcher Row--first, because Clifton's
Eating-house, one of Dr. Johnson's favourite resorts, was in this Row,
and secondly because one of the earliest catalogues of second-hand books
was issued from within a yard or two of Clifton's. J. Stephens' shop was
at the sign of the Bible in Butcher Row, and towards the latter part of
1742 he published 'a catalogue of several libraries of books lately
purchased, in several languages,' etc., the price of each book being, as
usual, marked on the first leaf before the sale commenced, which sale
was announced to begin 'on Tuesday, the 2nd of November, 1742,' and 'to
continue till all are sold.' For a copy of this exceedingly rare and
interesting catalogue we are indebted to Mr. Dobell, the bookseller. It
comprises twenty-six pages octavo, and enumerates over 1,300 books, the
majority of which are priced. There are very few volumes in this list
which are now included in anyone's desiderata, but the list itself is a
very good indication of the book-buying tastes of our forbears of a
century and half ago. Butcher Row, it may be mentioned, was immediately
beyond St. Clement's Church (on the northern side of the Strand), and by
the end of the last century had degenerated into a number of wretched
fabrics and narrow passages, the houses greatly overhanging their
foundations; in or about 1802, this street was pulled down and gave
place to Pickett Street, so named because the improvement was the scheme
of Alderman Pickett.

[Illustration: _Charles Hutt's House in Clement's Inn Passage._]

One of the last bookselling haunts to be pulled down was the quaint old
shop occupied by the late Charles Hutt (who, by the way, was born in the
vestry of the Clare Market chapel-of-ease) where many famous
book-hunters had picked up bargains. Charles Hutt, had he lived, would
have become one of the leading booksellers of the day. He was for some
ye