n' by
Andrew Lang, Harrison's 'Choice of Books' and 'Among my Books,' Clark's
'Care of Books,' Edwards' 'Libraries and Founders of Libraries,' and many
others of equal charm? Indeed, these volumes may well be among the first
that he who embarks upon the peaceful sea of book-collecting gathers to
himself. Nor is there any less fascination in the more specialised works,
such as Mr. Gordon Duff's 'Early Printed Books,'[52] 'English Provincial
Printers,' and 'The Printers of Westminster and London to 1535,'
Bradshaw's 'Collected Papers,' Mr. A. W. Pollard's 'Early Illustrated
Books,' Wheatley's 'Prices of Books,' Professor Ferguson's 'Aspects of
Bibliography,' and the publications of the Bibliographical Society. All
these and many others are necessary if we are to acquire a thorough
knowledge of old books. They are, or should be, in every large public
library; and we may read them through and through at our leisure,
learning more from each perusal.

There are certain works, however, which the book-collector should himself
possess, for he will have continual recourse to them throughout his
book-collecting career. Doubtless some of them will make an inroad upon
his purse, but it will be money well spent, and the knowledge which he
will gain from them will save him many a shilling. Their acquisition must
be looked upon in the same light as the shelves and fittings of the
library.

[Sidenote: General Bibliographies.]

First of all we will take those bibliographies which deal with books
published in the English language, and there are certain of these volumes
that are indispensable to the book-collector. Among them are Lowndes'
'Bibliographer's Manual,' in six octavo volumes, last published in
1869[53] (alas! sadly deficient, but still of considerable use), which
one can have for about a pound, and Hazlitt's valuable 'Bibliographical
Collections and Notes on Early English Literature,' complete in eight
octavo volumes, published between 1867 and 1903. The Bibliographical
Society's publications, from 1893 onwards, are of the greatest value,
comprising lists of English printers, early editions of rare books, lists
of early English plays, tales, and prose romances, with numerous
bibliographies. For recourse to these, probably it will be necessary to
visit the nearest important public library, though one may purchase
individual numbers from time to time at the second-hand booksellers'.

Arber's 'Term Catalogues,' published in thr