Pearson, from his shop in Pall Mall Place, issues catalogues which for size, style, and beauty are unexcelled—they remind one more of publications deluxe than of a bookseller’s catalogue. It is almost vain to look for any item under a hundred pounds, and not infrequently they run to several thousand. A catalogue now on my writing table tells me of a Caxton: “Tully, His Treatises of Old Age and Friendship,” one of four known copies, at twenty-five hundred pounds; and I’d gladly pay it did my means allow.
From Pearson I secured my holograph prayer of Dr. Johnson, of which Birkbeck Hill says: “Having passed into the cabinet of a collector it remains as yet unpublished.” It is dated Ashbourne, September 5, 1784 (Johnson died on December 13 of that year), and reads:—
Almighty Lord and Merciful Father, to Thee be thanks, and praise for all thy mercies, for the awakening of my mind, the continuance of my life, the amendment of my health, and the opportunity now granted of commemorating the death of thy Son Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer. Enable me O Lord to repent truly of my sins—enable me by thy Holy Spirit to lead hereafter a better life. Strengthen my mind against useless perplexities, teach me to form good resolutions and assist me that I may bring them to effect, and when Thou shalt finally call me to another state, receive me to everlasting happiness, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Prayers in Dr. Johnson’s hand are excessively rare. He wrote a large number, modeled evidently upon the beautiful Collects—prose sonnets—of the Church of England Prayer Book; but after publication by their first editor, Dr. George Strahan, in 1785, most of the originals were deposited in the Library of Pembroke College, Oxford; hence their scarcity.
From Pearson, too, came my beautiful uncut copy of “A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland,” with a receipt for one hundred pounds in Johnson’s handwriting on account of the copyright of the book, and, more interesting still, a brief note to Mrs. Horneck (the mother of Goldsmith’s “Jessamy Bride”), reading: “Mr. Johnson sends Mrs. Horneck and the young ladies his best wishes for their health and pleasure in their journey, and hopes his Wife [Johnson’s pet name for the young lady] will keep him in her mind. Wednesday, June 13.” The date completes the story. Forster states that Goldsmith, in company with the Hornecks, started for Paris in the middle of July, 1770. This was the dear old Doctor’s good-bye as the party was setting out.
To spend a morning with Mr. Sabin, the elder, in his shop in Bond Street is a delight never to be forgotten. The richest and rarest volumes are spread out before you as unaffectedly as if they were the last best-sellers. You are never importuned to buy; on the contrary, even when his treasures are within your reach, it is difficult to get him to part with them. One item which you particularly want is a part of a set held at a king’s ransom; some one has the refusal of another. It is possible to do business, but not easy.