779 PHAER (THOMAS), AND THOMAS 831 PULTENHAM (GEORGE). The Arte TROYNE. The XIII. Bookes of the Eneidos. The first twelue beinge the Worke of the Diuine Poet, Virgil Maro, and the thirteenth the Supplement of Maphæus Vegius; tranflated into Englishe Verfe by Thomas Phaer, to the fyrst third part of the tenth Booke, and the Refidue by Thomas Troyne. Black letter, 4to. ruffia. Lond., 1584. $9.00 [Fowle.] of English Poefie, contriued into three : The Vision of William concerning Piers Ploughman, and the Visions of the fame concerning the Origin, Progrefs, and Perfection of the Chriftian Life ; written in, or immediately after, the year 1362; with an Introductory Discourse and a Gloffary, by T. D. Whitaker. Re- 839 printed. Black letter, large paper, 4to, ruffia, gilt. Lond., 1813. [Ryder.] green mor. $10.75 840 793 PLANTAGENET's Tragicall Story, or the Death of King Edward the Fourth, with the Unnaturall Voyage of Richard the [Rodd.]. : Divine Fancies. Small 4to, Lond., 1633. [Waterton.] $4.25 : Emblemes. Curious plates. Sm. 8vo, cf. London, N. D. $7.00 [Richardfon.] Third. Frontispiece, 8vo, green mor. 852 RABELAIS (FR.) The Romance of Gar gilt. Lond., 1649. [Fowle.] $8.50 gantua and Pantagruel, tranflated by Sir Thomas Urquhart. Reprinted from the R., and frontispiece. Small 8vo, mor. 872 RITSON (JOSEPH). Obfervations on Warton's Hiftory, with duplicate curious fatirical plates. The Life by Haflewood in MS., corrected Copy in Haflewood's own hand, with MS. Notes by Park; Life of Ritfon by Haflewood, the original firft draft, with the Notes of Thomas Park, from which the previous Copy was corrected, with Portrait by Sawyer; Account of Life and Publications of Ritfon by Haflewood, edition of 1824, inlaid; Condensed Index to Ritfon's Anthology and Percy Reliques by Haflewood in MS.; Catalogue of Sale of Ritfon's Library, with prices. All in one volume 4to, bound uniform with the works, in red turkey morocco, gilt. $51.00 [Ryder.] 882 ROWLAND (SAMUEL). Hell Broke $8.25 Loofe. A Poem, containing the Life and Death of John Leyden, alias, Yoncker Hans, or Dutch Taylor; Tom Mynter, a Parish Clarke; Knipperdulling, a Smythe; and Crafteing, a Joyner; Infamous Rebels and Heretiques. Small 4to, mor. gilt. Lond., 1655. $18.00 [Griswold.] 866 RICH (BARNABY). A Trve and Kinde [Rodd.] 867 [Rodd.] 868 RICHARDS (NATHANIEL). Poems, Sa- 905 Scottish Poetry. A Book of Scottish cred and Satyricall, viz: Prayers Paradice. The World, The Flesh, The Jefuite, The Devill, etc. Portrait by T. Pafquils. 12mo, green mor., by Clarke Neglected Biography of Booksellers and Book-Collectors. JAMES COX, OF PHILADELPHIA. (From Powlfon's American Daily Advertiser, 1834.) public and private libraries, were to be feen A bachelor with thefe habits, and without a relative in the country, living to his great age, may be fupposed to have furvived moft of his friends, as well as a large portion of his scholars; such was the case; and when the writer of this imperfect notice was first attracted to his house by the fame of his library, fome three years fince, he found him a folitary being of extremely eccentric habits. His companions were a dog and a macaw, the latter remarkable for its splendid plumage, loquacity, and mischievous difpofition. Much perfuafion was neceffary in order to obtain a view of his books, which were ftored away in a second-story room, on shelves in double and treble rows, and covered with cobwebs and duft, while the floor was strewn with portfolios of drawings, fcraps of music, broken inftruments, hour-glaffes, plafter cafts, &c., with not a few evidences of the inroads of vermin of fundry defcriptions. THE death of James Cox was announced in this paper within a few days, at the advanced age of eighty-three. Mr. Cox was too remarkable a man to be allowed to pass away from among us without at least a flight notice. His great paffion was book-collecting; and during a long life he was fo thoroughly imbued with the bibliomania, that he facrificed all of his income to the attainment of his object, as long as he was able to exert himself in his profeffion. He came to Philadelphia from England, when a young man. Paffing along Almond street, he faw a lady at her front door, whom he recognized as having emigrated from his own country, and a friendship was formed between them. Mr. Cox became her heir, and having now a comfortable house over his head, and fome small income befides that he derived from the exercise of his talents, he devoted himself to the formation of a library, and to literary pursuits, paffing only a part of each day in teaching drawing and painting. He was long the fashionable drawing-mafter in the families of our wealthiest citizens, and in boarding- A few hours paffed here convinced the schools, &c. Robert Morris and General writer that the collection poffeffed great Washington were among his patrons. Be- value, both as a curious and useful library ing almoft the only profeffor of his art, Mr. of reference; and his exertions, aided by Cox found money flow in upon him in a others, were immediately used to induce perennial stream, and what was fo eafily the venerable owner fo to difpofe of the made was as easily spent. The book-ftores, accumulation of his long life as that his litbook-ftalls, and auctions, were daily vifited erary treasures might not be difperfed, but in fearch of rarities; his bills at one book- remain a monument of his industry and ftore alone are declared to have exceeded taste to pofterity. The greatest reluctance a thousand dollars per annum for many was evinced at the very idea of parting with years, while his importations from Europe these old companions, who had cheered his were also confiderable. Books on the fine folitude, and given him an object to live arts, when fuch books were unknown in our for. After frequent cafual conversations, THE Book-Hunter, etc. BY JOHN HILL BURTON. S. his judgment became convinced of the pro- ence of so fingularly eccentric a being as priety of depofiting his books in an inftitu- JAMES Cox the Artist and Bibliomaniac. tion where they would be kept together; and, having negotiated with him for The Library Company of Philadelphia, who agreed to give him an annuity of four hundred dollars for his fupport in declining life, the writer had the pleasure of transporting nearly the whole of his collection to enrich the fhelves of the above inftitution. The number of volumes exceeded five thousand. Thus the Library Company has been benefited, while Mr. Cox obtained the object of his wishes—that of leaving entire his literary treasures in a place where they will be appreciated, and where his name, inscribed in each, will caufe him to be remembered. The paffion for collecting books remained to the last. With his increased income, he has been fince an occafional attendant at book-fales, laying the foundation of another library; had he lived long enough, his old hive would probably have been again filled. The directors of the Library having granted Mr. Cox the free use of the books of the envy William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. MDCCCLXII. (Sm. 8vo, pp. viii.-384.) THIS entertaining volume is a handsome reprint of a series of "sketches of the ways of book-collectors, scholars, literary inveftigators, defultory readers, and other perfons whofe pursuits revolve round books and literature," which were originally contributed by the author to Blackwood's Magazine. In the process of revifion for the prefs, many alterations and important additions have been made to the articles as they were primarily published, until they have expanded to the refpectable dimenfions of the attractive book before us. PART I. HIS NATURE. pages Mr. Burton has arranged his work under institution, he was for fome time a regular the following general Table of Contents, visitor, when age and increasing infirmities with fubdivifions of each Part, viz.: THE BOOK-HUNTER. He had many permitted fo long a walk. anecdotes to tell of his books-the difficulty PART II.-HIS FUNCTIONS. PART III.— he had encountered in procuring this, and HIS CLUB. PART IV.-BOOK-CLUB LITthe he had excited at having the good ERATURE. Paffing over fome twelve fortune to poffefs that curious fpecimen of of introduction, we come to what he calls typography or engraving-and his conver- "A Vifion of Mighty Book-Hunters," from fation generally ended with the history of which we felect the following characteristic fome old citizen's attempt to purchase or specimens: bribe from him one of his literary gems. The remains of Mr. Cox were depofited in St. Paul's churchyard, on Sunday, the 30th of March; and though by no relative, a train of respectable citizens and neighbors accompanied them to their long home. His monument is his books, and by them he will be long remembered by the citizens of Philadelphia, comparatively very few of whom could have been aware of the exift "As the first cafe, let us fummon from the fhades my venerable friend Archdeacon Meadow, as he was in the body. You fee him now-tall, straight, and meagre, but with a grim dignity his air which warms into benignity as he infpects a pretty little clean Elzevir, or a tall portly Stephens, concluding his inward eftimate of the prize with a peculiar grunting chuckle, known by the initiated to be an important announcement. This types, but ftill a thoroughly confirmed and obftinate cafe. Its parallel to the claffes who are to be is no doubt one of the milder and more inoffenfive purpose." taken charge of by their wife neighbors is only too read books?" Yes, the Archdeacon read books clofe and awful; for have not fometimes the fe- he devoured them; and he did fo to full prolific male members of his household been known on occafion of fome domeftic emergency-or, it may be, for mere fake of keeping the loft man out of mischief--to have been fearching for him on from bookstall unto bookstall, just as the mothers, wives, and daughters of other loft men hunt them through their favorite taverns? his net. "Then, again, can one forget that occafion of his going to London to be examined by a committee of the House of Commons, when he fuddenly disappeared with all his money in his pocket, and returned penniless, followed by a wagon containing three hundred and seventy-two copies of rare editions of the Bible? All were fish that came to At one time you might find him fecuring a minnow for fixpence at a ftall-and prefently afterwards outbids fome princely collector, and fecures with frantic impetuofity, at any price,' a great fish he has been patiently watching year after year. His hunting-grounds were wide and diftant, and there were mysterious rumors about the number of copies, all identically the fame in edition and minor individualities, which he poffeffed of certain books. I have known him, indeed, when beaten at an auction, turn round refignedly and fay, 'Well, fo be it—but I darefay I have ten or twelve copies at home, if I could lay my hands on them'. . . . . The Archdeacon lay under what, among a portion of the victims of his malady, was deemed a heavy scandal. He was fufpected of reading his own books-that is to fay, when he could get at them; for there are those who may ftill remember his rather fhamefaced apparition of an evening, petitioning, fomewhat in the tone with which an old fchoolfellow down in the world requests your affiftance to help him go to York to get an appointment-petitioning for the loan of a volume of which he could not deny that he poffeffed numberless copies lurking in divers parts of his vaft collection. This reputation of reading the books in his collection, which should be facred to external inspection folely, is, with a certain fchool of book-collectors, a fcandal, fuch as it would be among a hunting set to hint that a man had killed a fox. In the dialogues, not always the most entertaining, of Dibdin's Bibliomania, there is this short paffage : "I will frankly confefs,' rejoined Lyfander, that I am an arrant bibliomaniac-that I love books dearly-that the very fight, touch, and mere perufal' -Hold, my friend,' again exclaimed Philemon; you have renounced your profeffionyou talk of reading books-do bibliomaniacs ever The shade of Fitzpatrick Sharp, Esq., another " mighty book-hunter," is next fummoned by Mr. Burton: "He too, through a long life, had been a vigilant and enthufiaftic collector, but after a totally different fashion. He was far from omnivorous. He had a principle of selection peculiar and separate from all others', as was his individuality from other men's. You could not claffify his library according to any of the accepted nomenclatures peculiar to the initiated. He was not a blackletter man, or a tall-copyift, or an uncut man, or a rough-edge man, or an early-English-dramatift, or an Elzevirian, or a broad-fider, or a pafquinader, or an old-brown-calf man, or a Grangerite, or a tawny-moroccoite, or a gilt-topper, or a marbledinfider, or an editio-princeps man; neither did he come under any of the more vulgar claffications of an antiquarian, or a belies-lettres, or a claffical collector. There was no way of defining his peculiar walk fave by his own name-it was the Fitzpatrick Sharp walk. In fact, it wound itself through isolated fpots of literary scenery, if we may so speak, in which he took a perfonal intereft. There were hiftorical events, bits of family history, chiefly of a tragic or a scandalous kind— efforts of art or of literary genius on which, through fome intellectual law, his mind and memory loved to dwell; and it was in reference to these that he collected. If the book were one defired by him, no anxiety and toil, no payable price, was to be grudged for its acquifition. If the book were an inch out of his line, it might be trampled in the mire for aught he cared, be it as rare or as coftly as it could be... After all, he was himself his own greatest curiofity. He had come to manhood juft after the period of gold-laced waistcoats, smallclothes, and fhoe-buckles-otherwife he would have been long a living memorial of these now antique habits. It happened to be his lot to preferve down to us the earliest phase of the pantaloon dynasty. One of the mysteries about him was, that his clothes, though unlike any other perfon's, were always old. This characteristic could not even be accounted for by the fuppofition that he had laid in a fixty years' stock in his youth, for they always appeared to have been a good deal worn..... So fluttered through existence one who, had it been his fate to have his own bread to make, might have been a great man. Alas for the end? Some curious annotations are all that remain of .... |