Note 504 — Chapter XXIX · LITERATURE, THE PRESS, ETC.

There were men who loved their books—veritable bibliophiles—and what choice editions they must have possessed! Look at the huge volumes of title-pages which Bagford collected as materials for his history of printing—which never was written—look at the treasures that have come down to us in the Cotton, Harleian Royal, and Lambeth libraries! A sale like that of the Sunderland library[504] convulses the literary world, and buyers come from all parts of the globe. Then, however, an advertisement like this was not uncommon: 'A curious Collection of Books, which was Collected by a great Antiquarian, in Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, and English, in all Faculties and Sciences, many of them very scarce, of the best Authors and Editions, as Aldus, Stevens, Elzevir and others,' etc.