ame street. This shop was at the west end of the street,
and backed on to Wych Street; and at the back was a small recess,
lighted by a few panes of glass, generally somewhat obscured by the
dust of ages. While Macaulay was looking round the shop, a ray of
sunshine fell through this little window on four little duodecimo
volumes bound in vellum. He pulled out one of these to see what the work
was, and great was his surprise and delight at finding these were the
very French _memoires_ of which he had been in search for many years.'

More rare and interesting books have been picked up in this street
during the past forty years than in any other locality. Rumour, which
sometimes tells the truth, says that Shelley's copy, with his autograph
on the title-page, of Ossian's 'Poems' was picked up here for a few
pence. A book with Shakespeare's autograph on the title-page was also
said to have been rescued from among a lot of cheap books in this
locality a few years ago. We are not certain, but we believe that the
Shakespeare autograph has been proved to be a forgery. If that is so,
then perhaps the honour of being the greatest 'find' ever discovered,
about four years ago, in Holywell Street, pertains to a perfect copy of
'Le Pastissier Francois,' 1655, the most valuable of all the Elzevirs,
its value being from about L60 to L100. The copy in question was bound
up with a worthless tract, and history has not left on record what the
bookseller thought when he discovered his ignorance. A copy of the first
edition of Horne's 'Orion,' 1843, was purchased in this street for 2d.
in 1886, its market value being about L2. It was originally issued at
1/4d., by way of sarcasm on the low estimation of epic poetry. The
Holywell Street bookseller did not appraise it at a much higher figure
than the author. Scarcely a week passes without a volume possessing
great personal or historic interest being 'bagged' in this narrow but
delightful thoroughfare. Many of these finds, it is true, may not be of
great commercial value, but they are oftentimes very desirable books in
more respects than one. The present writer has been fortunate in this
matter. No person would now rank James Boswell, for instance, among
great men, but a book in two volumes, with the following inscription,
'James Boswell, From the Translator near Padua, 1765,' would not be
reckoned costly at 1s., the book in question being a beautiful copy of
Cesarotti's translation into Italian