the Collection of Broadsides, in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries (8vo, 1866), though by no means a perfect book, is certainly the best that can be procured for our purpose.

Early printed American books, or those which in any way relate to the American Continent, provided only they were published during the 16th or 17th centuries, have lately become exceedingly scarce. In June, 1888, nine small quarto tracts, bound in one volume, brought, £66 by auction, a record entirely surpassed by the preceding lot, which, consisting of twelve similar tracts only, brought no less a sum than £555. These prices are of course highly exceptional; but so great is the desire to obtain books of this class that the amounts in question, exorbitant though they may appear to be, were perhaps not excessive.

The amateur may in this instance follow the rule with every confidence. Should he at any time see a work relating to America, no matter where printed so long as it is dated before the year 1700, he should on no account pass it by without very careful consideration; and the same remark applies, though to a less extent, to all books printed in Scotland before that date. In both cases it is probable that the specimen offered for sale will have a most unprepossessing exterior, and in some instances the price asked may be small. This frequently happens, since the more uneducated class of dealers commence by valuing a book from its appearance, and while a coloured plate or two would at once put them on the qui vive there is generally nothing about books of this kind which looks valuable. It is no disparagement to the trade as a whole to say that some booksellers, particularly those who carry on business in small provincial towns, are absolutely ignorant of anything more than the first principles of their trade, and it is out of these that bargains are made. Henry Stevens' Catalogue of the American Books in the Library of the British Museum (1886, 8vo) is from the pen of a late famous bookseller who made many "bargains" in his time and whose profound knowledge of the insides as well as of the outsides of his very valuable collection was in every way worthy of his success.

Shakespearian collectors cannot do better than consult the article "Shakespeare" in Lowndes' Bibliographer's Manual, where every known edition, translation, and commentary professes to be catalogued and also in many cases collated and described. Some of Halliwell-Phillipps' works, though not absolutely indispensable, are nevertheless exceedingly useful.

Bible collectors do not as a rule notice editions later than what is styled the "Vinegar" Bible, published in 1717. They commence with Coverdale's issue of 1535, and proceed onward in regular order, for the most part arranging their collection not according to date but under the various "versions". This subject is very extensive and exceedingly difficult to handle, so much so that, without a competent guide, it will be found impossible to make satisfactory progress. This is provided in Cotton's Editions of the Bible and Parts thereof in English (1821, 2nd ed., 1852), and J. R. Dore's Old Bibles (1876, 2nd ed., 1888). Mr. Dore is probably the best living authority upon English Bibles and Testaments, and his book is in itself amply sufficient for the amateur. It is published by Eyre & Spottiswoode at 5s.

For works on botany consult Pritzel's Thesaurus Literaturæ Botanicæ (Leipsic, 1847-51, 2nd ed., 1872-7, 4to); and for books exclusively relating to tobacco, some of which are very rare and valuable, W. Bragge's Bibliotheca Nicotiana (priv. prin., r. 8vo, 1880).

Angling and the whole of the literature devoted to it is dealt with in Westwood's new Bibliotheca Piscatoria (1883), and swimming in R. Thomas' Bibliographical List of Works on Swimming (1868, 8vo).

The Greek and Latin Classics were at one time great favourites with all classes of collectors, but of late they have fallen considerably from their high estate. Many of the early editions, being printed by famous houses, as the editio princeps of Virgil's works was, which sold for £590 at the Hopetoun House dispersion, a few months ago, are still eagerly sought after, but not quâ classics—merely as specimens of ancient typography. Ordinary editions of Horace, Virgil, Sallust, Plato, Livy, and the rest can be bought now for a fourth or fifth part of the sum they would have cost thirty or forty years ago, and, from all appearances, they are likely to decline still further in the market. The great work on this subject is Dibdin's Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics (2 vols., 1827), which can sometimes be bought by auction for as little as £1.

Art books are so numerous, and so readily subdivided into an infinite number of classes, that they are rarely, if ever, collected as a whole. Amateurs invariably use the Universal Catalogue of Books on Art, which was compiled by order of the Lords of the Committee of the Council on Education, and published between the years 1870-7 (in 3 vols. sm. 4to). It is a work that would be exceedingly difficult to improve upon, though as time goes on it will of course be necessary to add to it.

Works on Shorthand are catalogued by J. W. Gibson (Pitman & Sons, 1887), on Magic and Witchcraft in Scribner's Bibliotheca Diabolica (New York, 1874), while books on music and all about them are noted in C. Engel's Literature of National Music (1879, 8vo).

We now come to the point when a short description of the more modern methods of book collecting becomes a matter of necessity. For some years it has been the fashion to collect not so much works of a certain class as of particular authors, chiefly those which are embellished with plates. By common consent first editions are, with a few exceptions, alone worthy of note; and it is also an axiom that where a book was originally published in parts, those parts must on no account be bound up in volume form. If the collector should be so ill advised as to bind the parts, notwithstanding the decrees of fashion to the contrary, he may save his position no little by binding in the title-pages and also the lists of advertisements, but if he neglects to do this, then his case is hopeless. This is an example of the ridiculous rules which have been laid down by a generation of autocratic book lovers, not one of whom could in all probability give a satisfactory reason for his dicta. It is, however, the rule, and will have to be followed, since great pecuniary loss is certain to follow the slightest infraction of it. Although the amateur does not buy his books to sell again, still I apprehend it is a satisfaction to know that, in case he should ever be compelled, though against his will, to sell them, he will be able to do so without losing by his bargain. Original editions of Dickens' works find a ready market, at ever-increasing prices; but in addition to his better-known books, the very titles of which have now become household words, there are others which are not so generally known, such, for example, as the Curious Dance, the Village Coquettes and many small pieces which are scattered about the pages of the magazines, and are usually classed under the heading Dickensiana. The same remarks, but even perhaps to a still greater extent, apply to Thackeray and his works, for that great author worked for many years before his genius became recognised. The bibliographer who has smoothed the way for the Dickens and Thackeray collector is Mr. C. P. Johnson, in his Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of the Works of Charles Dickens (1885), and his Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of the Works of W. M. Thackeray (1885).

The same author's Early Writings of William Makepeace