of the ancient metrical romance, of the "Sowdon of Babyloyne," from the original manuscript which came into his possession at the dispersion of George Steevens's collection. The Rev. Charles Francis Retor of Mildenhall, will shortly publish a Sermon, in recommendation of Union with the Established Church of England, preached in the Parish Church of St. Peter's, Marlborough, before the Archdeacon of Wilts, August 11th, 1807, and printed at his request. Mr. Middleton's "Doctrine of the Greek Article applied to the Criticism and the Illustrations of the New Testament," is nearly ready for publication. The works of the late Dr. Kirwan, Dean of Killala, are preparing for the press. Two posthumous works by the late Mr. Joseph Strutt, author of Rural Sports and Pastimes, &c. entitled Queen-Hoo-Hall, a Legendary Romance; and Ancient Times, a Drama exhibiting the domestic manners and amusements of the fifteenth century, are now in the Press. They will form four volumes in foolscap octavo. Dr. Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 2 vols. 4to. will be published in a few weeks. This work is the fruit of many years labour and research; and will, it is hoped, be an acceptable present not only to the Scottish, but to the English antiquary; as containing elucidations of many antient words and phrases common to both languages. Mr. Donovan will shortly publish, in five volumes, octavo, his Natural History of British Fishes, including scientific and general descriptions of the most interesting species, and one hundred and twenty accurately finished coloured plates, taken entirely from original drawings purposely made from the speci mens in a recent state, and for the most part while living. Mr. Charles Dunne, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, has in the press a work which he entitles the Chirurgical Candidate, or Reflections on the Education indispensible to complete Naval, Military, and other Surgeons. Messrs. Carey and Marsliam, two of the Baptists' Ministers in Bengal, are translating, from the original Sanscrit, the Ramavana of Valmeki, with explanatory notes: the first volume, containing the first Book, will soon be ready for publication. Mr. Hervey Morris has made considerable progress in the printing of a Historical and Typographical Dictionary of Ireland, in two volumes, quarto, illustrated by Maps and other Engravings. The Rev. Thomas Rees, has nearly ready for publication, a FAMILIAR INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. It will form one Volume, and will comprise the fundamental principles of Scientific Knowledge, simplified and adapted to the capacities of children, and young persons; illustrated by a considerable number of appropriate Engravings. Questions and practical exercises, will be appended to each department of consequence. We hear that Mr. Malcolm is now employed in etching fifty plates from drawings made by himself, which are to be accompanied by explanatory and historical pages. The idea of this work is said to have occurred to him frona observing that most Topographical Publications have originated almost exclusively from the same set of antique build.ngs Those are tortured into new forms in some instances, but they may be traced in the same outline through many works. Mr. M. means to endeavour to find such new and interesting subjects, as shall not only give the architectural, but the natural characteristics of the place; selected with such a portion of circumjacent landscape, as will be useful in a geographical point of view. The Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, will shortly publish a small Selection of the most interesting Papers on subjects relating to Medicine and Surgery, which have been read at the meetings of the Society during the last two years. Proposals have been issued at New Orleans, (North America) for publishing, in four octavo volumes, a Digest of the Laws of Castille and the Spanish Indies; with a General View of the Principles of the Roman Code on which those Lays are founded. By James Workman, Esq. An An additional volume of Sermons, by the Rev. Samuel Davies, some time President of New Jersey College, has been announced in America as printing from the Author's manuscript. Proposals have been issued in Charlstown, (S. C.) for publishing the life, character, and secret History of Macbeth, King of Scotland; from anthentic ma. nuscripts, in the possession of the noble family of the Howards, and from original characters, papers, and deeds, now in the hands of one of the most ancient families in North Britain, the family of Cummin, now Cummin of Atlyne; with the original laws and statutes of Kenethus the Second, and a true copy of the oration delivered by the venerable Thane of Argyle, at the Coronation of Malcolm, at Scoon. Mr. Nightingale's interesting portraiture of Methodism is reprinting in America. The French, in the last campaign, made great additions to that immense Collection of the valuable Works of Art which they formerly possessed. Among those which have reached Paris are mentioned Twenty-four ancient busts, the most of which are Portraits by the first Sculptors of antiquity. Fifty statues, almost all of exquisite workmanship, and in perfect preservation. Among the most remarkable is one of Antinous, which may be justly esteemed one of the finest morsels existing; and another of Minerva, little, if at all, inferior to the Pallus of Velletri. There is likewise a fine figure of a young man in bronze, which was found at Herculaneum: two statues of Vertumnus and Theseus, of large proportions, and great chastity of style, and a complete collection of the Muses. Among the Pictures there is not one either of the Florentine or Roman schools. There are about forty of the Venetian, Lombard, and Neapolitan schools, but none of them very capital, and the rest are either Flemish, Dutch, or German, with the exception of four Poussins. Among the most remarkable are mentioned A Christ carried to the Tomb, by Bassano. Hercules between Virtue and Vice, by Annibal Carracci. A Scene between Quacks, by Michael Angelo. A Judgment of Midas, by Palma. A Judgment of Paris and Jupiter and Leda, by Alexander Veronese. A Christ crowned with Thorns, and a composition in which John the Baptist and John the Evangelist appear together, by Van Dyke. A Profile Portrait of a Young Woman, a Portrait of a Warrior in complete Armour, a Sampson betrayed by Dalila, and a Picture of Jacob blessing the Sons of Joseph, by Rembrandt. The Four Seasons, by Vander-Werff. The Eutry of Louis XIV. into a Conquered Town, a Coach and Six, with a Number of Horsemen, by Vander-Meulen. Le Roi boit, and a Satyr, and Peasant, by Jordaens. The Temptation of St. Anthony, a Village Festival, a Chemist's Laboratory, and the Shop Shop of a Village Surgeon, by Teniers. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SALE OF THE LATE THE public have been so long acquainted with the name and literary character of Mr. REED, that it seems unnecessary to make any apology for the following somewhat minute account of the sale of his library. Not that we ought to attach importance to books from the prices which they bring-but that, on the contrary, we ought to form our opinions of collectors from the utility of their collections. At the present day, it may be necessary to intrude a little upon the reader's attention, by a few preliminary bibliographical remarks. And first, it is abso Intely lutely necessary to caution the young collector against being delighted 'with the whistling of a name. To possess a book, merely because a celebrated literary character was its former possessor, may be gratifying to us from what is called 'Association of Ideas;' but can never justify our paying three times the sum of its intrinsic worth. The value of Mr. Reed's books is not to be estimated by this criterion: they lay claim to merit of a higher class. At the same time, we are ready to believe that his name will add to the many which now render copies covetted by collectors; and that an Exemplar Reedianum' will hereafter vie with an Exemplar Farmerianum,' or 'Steevensianum.' Secondly, let it be premised that curious or scarce or unique books constitute not the value of a collection. It was triumphantly said, when Mr. Reed's books were first inspected, that they were neither so curious nor so interesting as the late Mr. Brand's; and that they would not, in consequence, produce so much money at the sale. The result of the sale has proved this latter observation to be erroneous; and as to the former, we humbly conceive that the superiority of a library consists in the propriety of its classifications into various departments of knowledge, and that the more useful and interesting works there are in Theology, History, Poetry, Biography, the Drama, and the Belles Lettres, the greater will be the praise due to the collector of them. If Mr. Reed's books be estimated according to this method of computation, the judicious bibliographer will probably grant them a superiority over those of his late black-letter Rival. Thirdly--the mention of black-letter reminds us that it is our duty also to caution the young collector against the fascination of little, worm-eaten, ragged-leaved, and jaundiced-tinted volumes, the pages of which are thickly besprinkled with the BLACK LETTER. Mr. Brand's books, to be sure, will be ✓ renowned in story' for their excellence in this particular; and we fear that, on this score, Mr. Reed's must, however reluctantly, accede to them the palm of superiority. We hope, however, that sense is not the less acceptable for being conveyed in the vehicle of white, or in other words, of the roman letter: for gothic and black are synonymous terms. So much for preliminary observations; which we entreat the good-humoured reader to peruse--or not-as he thinks fit. We shall now come to the subject matter. The extensive library of the late ISAAC REED was classed in a Sale Catalogue of more than 400 pages, containing 8,957 articles (upwards of 20,000 volumes) inclusive of about 300 articles comprehending MANUSCRIPTS, and PRINTS. They produced the sum of 4,400l: and strange to tell, the possessor of them was never, at any one period of his life, in the receipt of more than 300l. per ann.! But the Age of Collecting, like Burke's "Age of Chivalry,"is gone! The Catalogue is, upon the whole, well arranged; indeed it was occasionally submitted to the correction of a Gentleman, of all others one of the best calculated for the undertaking, and the most zealous to do justice to the memory of his departed friend. Trifling errors aud mistakes it may have in no inconsiderable degree-but the almost unprecedented extent of the collection, and its utility, from being alphabetically arranged under distinct departments of literature, renders it an indispensable book for the collector's library. Twelve copies only were struck off on fine paper in ROYAL OCTAVO. An Advertisement is prefixed, which was written by the Gentleman above mentioned: The following is too interesting to be withheld from the reader. "Mr. Reed had been a judicious collector more than forty years; and few days passed, in which he was free from illness, that did not witness, within that period, some curious addition to the literary history of his country. Of his ingenuity and judgment, the world has received abundant proof in his notes on the republished Old Plays, which Doddesley had first collected, as well as in those of Shakspeare: and the useful occupation of his time will be further exemplified, not only by these notices in printed books, but also by the con. tents of a few MSS. in the present collection. And, while he thus employed himself, he was at the same time never more happy than in encouraging the literary pursuits of others." "To "To Mr. REED no man ever applied in vain for the information which he could give; and no man retired from an interview of this nature, without confessing himself, if not gratified by the immediate acquisition of the knowledge he required, at least improved by the uncommon erudition of the critic, and delighted with the frank and friendly temper of the man. He was, indeed, a most friendly man; endeared to all who knew him by his unassuming manners, his instructive conversation, and his honest heart. He was stern, and justly stern, only when he detected in others the violation of truth, and observed sophistry assuming the place of argument. With an independent spirit, he displayed also a truly modest and retired disposition: surrounded with books, and content with a very moderate income, to him, as Prospero says, Towards the conclusion of our account of this sale, we shall make some observations on this elegant and just tribute of respect to the memory of Mr. Reed. It is not our intention to give an account of the price for which each curions and rare book was sold;-but only of those articles, or sets of works, which are not only rare, but interesting. N° 1572. Biographia Britannica, 7 vol. enriched with many portraits, and called the) frontispiece, very scarce, 4to. 1612 1784. Bryskett's (Lord) Discourse of Civil Life DE FOE'S Works; in Octavo. 1931. Secret History of the White Staff, 1714 1935. Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed, 1727 1936. Political History of the Devil, 1726 1937. Life of Duncan Campbell, 1720 1938. Tour through Great Britain, 3 vol. 1724 1959. Plan, of English Commerce, 1730 1940, Minutes of Negotiations, 1717 1. s. d. 2400 440 7 12 0 - 1 100 1941. Du Jure Duino, 1706 076 1942. Storm, or Collection of Casualties, 1704 1943. Consolidator, 1705 020 1944. Complete English Tradesman, 2 vol. 050 1945. Religious Courtship, 1737 036 1946. Essay on Projects, 1697 1947. History of Addresses, 1709 026 1948. Appeal to Honour and Justice, or Account of his Life, with MS. additions by Mr. Reed, very rare 360 1949. Life of; in a Dialogne between him, Robinson Crusoe, and 1953. Robinson Crusoe, first edition, 1719, imperfect. Serious Reflections in Life of do. 1720 THOS. DEKKER'S Pieces; in Quarto. 1953. Knight's Conjuring done in earnest, and discovered in jest, Printed by T. С. 50 • This was purchased for the new British Biography, to be edited by Mr. Malkin. 1984. Wonderful Yeare, 1603, wherein is shewed the Picture of London, being sicke of the Plague, bl. lett. printed by T. Creede 1985. Magnificent Entertainment given to King James, Queen Anne his Wife, and Henry Frederick the Prince, on the Day of his Passage from the Tower, through London, 1603, printed by T. С. 1604 290 1986. Seven deadly Sinnes of London, bl. 1606 770 230 600 1612 3 11 0 1989. Rod for Run-awayes, with the Run-awayes Answer. ous frontisp. 1625 400 Curi 1990. English Villanies seven severall times pressed to death by the Printers, bl. printed by M. Parsons, 1638 ROBERT GREENE'S* Pieces; in Quarto. 2176. Arcadia or Menaphon, 1616 2177. Never too late-two imperfect copies 2179. Pandesto, or Triumph of Time in the History of Dorastus and Facinia. Imperfect. 1609 2180. Philomela, the Lady Fitzwalter's Nightingale. Not quite perfect. 1592 2181. Spanish Masquerade, 1589 2438. Anatomie of Absurditie, 1589 THOMAS NASH'st Pieces; in Quarto. 2439. Pasquill and Murforio, 1589 2440. Pierce Penilesse, his Supplication to the Divell. Pr. by 220 330 2 12 6 110 0 10 6 500 3 14 0 660 3 10 0 A. Jeffes, 1593 2441. The same. Pr. by N. Ling, 1595 is up, 1596 5 12 0 2443. Wonderfull, strange, and miraculous Astrologicall Prognos tication for 1591. Printed by T. Scarlet 6 16 6 2444. Four Letters and certaine Sonnets, especially touching Robt. 1100 2445. Pierce's Supererogation, or a new Prayse of the old Asse. Greene. Pr. by John Wolfe 2446. New Letter of notable Contents. Do. for J. Werdot. 1606. 2448. Christ's Teares over Jarusalem. Pr. by T. Thorpe, W. CAXTON. * In Mr. Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. ii. 168 to 196. will be found the most amusing account of Greene and of his pieces (for the above are very few of them) that has yet been before the public. + See the same work, vol. i. p. 260 to 274 for a similar amusing account of this writer's pieces. (To be continued.) |