ice; but
it would have been a sincere pleasure to me if I could have brought to
light some particulars about one whose personality must have possessed
a more than ordinary charm. The delightful _voyage imaginaire_ here
presented to the reader was first published in 1751.*

* Some copies are said to be dated 1750. It appears on the
list of new books announced in the "Gentleman's Magazine"
for November 1750.

An edition appeared immediately afterwards at Dublin; so the book must
have had some sale. The introduction and the dedication to the Countess
of Northumberland (to whom it will be remembered Percy dedicated his
"Reliques" and Goldsmith the first printed copy of his "Edwin and
Angelina") are signed with the initials "R. P.;" and for many years the
author's full name was unknown. In 1835, Nicol, the printer, sold by
auction a number of books and manuscripts in his possession, which
had once belonged to Dodsley, the publisher; and when these were being
catalogued, the original agreement * for the sale of the MS. of "Peter
Wilkins" was brought to light.

* It is now in the collection, shortly to be dispersed, of
the late Mr. James Crossley of Manchester, a gentleman who
was esteemed throughout his long life not less for unfailing
courtesy than for rare scholarship. Mr. Crossley promised to
search for the document and send me a transcript of it; but
his kind intention was frustrated by his death. Paltock's
name is sometimes written Pultock or Poltock. There is no
ground for identifying the author of "Peter Wilkins" with
the "R. P., Gent.," who published in 1751 "Memoirs of the
Life of Parnese, a Spanish Lady, Translated from the Spanish
MS."

From this document it appeared that the author was Robert Paltock of
Clement's Inn, and that he received for the copyright 20L., twelve
copies of the book, and "the cuts of the first impression"(proof
impressions of the illustrations). The writer's name shows him to have
been, like his hero, of Cornish origin; but the authors of the admirable
and exhaustive "Bibliotheca Cornubiensis" could discover nothing about
him beyond the fact that he was not a bencher of Clement's Inn. That
Paltock should have chosen Clement's Inn as a place of residence is
not surprising. It still keeps something of its pristine repose. The
sun-dial is still supported by the negro; the grass has not lost its
verdure, and on August eve