So take we leave of Divinity!

1047.Hall's Virgidemiarum, lib. vi. 1599, 1602, 12mo. "Mr. Pope's copy, who presented it to Mr. West, telling him that he esteemed them the best poetry and truest satire in the English language." (N.B. These satires were incorrectly published in 1753, 8vo.: a republication of them, with pertinent notes, would be very acceptable.)0180
1658.Churchyard's Works; 3 vols. in 1, very elegant, bl. letter.3136
1816.The Passe Tyme of Pleasure, &c., printed by Wynkyn de Worde, 1517, 4to., fine copy.330
1821.Merie conceited Jests of George Peele, Gent. 1607, 4to.
Robin the Devil, his two penni-worth of Wit in half a penni-worth of paper, &c., 1607, 4to.		0186
1846.The Hye Waye to the Spyttell Hous; printed by the compyler Rob. Copland, no date.066
1847.Another copy of the Spyttell House; "A thousande fyve hundredth fortye and foure," no printer's name, mark, or date, 4to.
Here begynneth a lytell propre Jest, called Cryste Crosse me spede, a b c.		1116
2274.Chaucer's Work; first edition, emprentyd by Caxton, folio, in russia.47156
2280.—— Troylus and Creseyde, printed b Caxton, folio.10100
2281.—— Booke of Fame, printed by Caxton, folio.450
2297.Gower de Confessione Amantis; printed by Caxton, 1483, folio, in morocco.990
2282.The Bokys of Haukyng and Hunting; printed at Seynt Albons, 1486, folio: fine copy in morocco.1300

And here farewell Poetry!

1678.The Booke of the moste victoryouse Prynce, Guy of Warwick. Impr. by W. Copland, 4to.110
1683.The Historye of Graunde Amoure and la bell Pucel, &c. Impr. by John Wayland, 1554, 4to.120
1685.The Historye of Olyver of Castylle, &c. Impr. by Wynkyn de Worde, 1518, 4to.1120
1656.The Booke of the Ordre of Chyvalry or Knyghthode. Translated and printed by William Caxton; no date, a fine copy in russia, 4to.550
(Shall I put one, or one hundred marks—not of admiration but of astonishment—at this price?! but go on kind reader!)
2480.The Boke of Jason: emprynted by Caxton, folio.440
2481.The Boke of Fayttes of Armes and of Chyvalrye, emprynted by Caxton, 1489, folio.10100
2582.Thystorye, &c., of the Knyght Parys, and of the fayre Vyenne, &c. 1485, fol., translated and printed by Caxton.1400

CAXTON.

But why should I go on tantalising the S——s, H——s, S——s, R——s, and U——s, of the day, by further specimens of the enormous sums here given for such common editions of old Romances? Mr. George Nicol, his majesty's bookseller, told me, with his usual pleasantry and point, that he got abused in the public papers, by Almon and others, for his having purchased nearly the whole of the Caxtonian volumes in this collection for his Majesty's library. It was said abroad that "a Scotchman had lavished away the king's money in buying old black-letter books." A pretty specimen of lavishing away royal money, truly! There is also another thing, connected with these invaluable (I speak as a bibliomaniac—and, perhaps, as a metaphysician may think—as a fool! but let it pass!) with these invaluable purchases:—his Majesty, in his directions to Mr. Nicol, forbade any competition with those purchasers who wanted books of science and belles-lettres for their own professional or literary pursuits: thus using, I ween, the powers of his purse in a manner at once merciful and wise.—"O si sic"—may we say to many a heavy-metalled book-auction bibliomaniac of the present day!—Old Tom Payne, the father of the respectable Mr. Payne, of Pall-Mall, used to tell Mr. Nichol—pendente hastâ—that he had been "raising all the Caxtons!" "Many a copy," quoth he, "hath stuck in my shop at two guineas!" Mr. Nichols, in his amusing biography of Bowyer, has not devoted so large a portion of his pages to the description of Mr. West's collection, life, and character, as he has to many collectors who have been less eminently distinguished in the bibliographical world. Whether this was the result of the paucity, or incongruity, of his materials, or whether, from feelings of delicacy he might not choose to declare all he knew, are points into which I have neither right nor inclination to enquire. There seems every reason to conclude that, from youth, West had an elegant and well-directed taste in matters of literature and the fine arts. As early as the year 1720, he shewed the munificence of his disposition, in these respects, by befriending Hearne with a plate for his Antiquities of Glastonbury; see p. 285—which was executed, says Hearne, "Sumptibus ornatissimi amicissimique Juvenis (multis sane nominibus de studiis nostris optime meriti) Jacobi West," &c. So in his pref. to Adam de Domerham de reb. gest. Glaston:—"antiquitatum ac historiarum nostrarum studiosus in primis—Jacobus West." p. xx. And in his Walter Hemingford, we have:—"fragmentum, ad civitatem Oxoniensem pertinens, admodum egregium, mihi dono dedit amicus eximius Jacobus West—is quem alibi juvenem ornatissimum appellavi," &c., p. 428. How the promise of an abundant harvest, in the mature years of so excellent a young man, was realized, the celebrity of West, throughout Europe, to his dying day, is a sufficient demonstration. I conclude with the following; which is literally from Nichols's Anecdotes of Bowyer. "James West, of Alscott, in the county of Warwick, Esq., M.A., of Baliol College, Oxford, (son of Richard West, said to be descended, according to family tradition, from Leonard, a younger son of Thomas West, Lord Delawar, who died in 1525) was representative in parliament for St. Alban's, in 1741; and being appointed one of the joint Secretaries of the Treasury, held that office till 1762. In 1765 or 1766, his old patron the Duke of Newcastle, obtained for him a pension of 2000l. a year. He was an early member, and one of the Vice Presidents, of the Antiquary Society; and was first Treasurer, and afterwards President, of the Royal Society. He married the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Stephens, timber merchant, in Southwark, with whom he had a large fortune in houses in Rotherhithe; and by whom he had a son, James West, Esq., now (1782) of Alscott, one of the Auditors of the Land-Tax, and sometime Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire (who in 1774 married the daughter of Christopher Wren, of Wroxhall in Warwickshire, Esq.), and had two daughters. Mr. West died in July, 1772. His large and valuable collection of Manuscripts was sold to the Earl of Shelburne, and is now deposited in the British Museum."

Loren. All hail to thee—transcendant bibliomaniac of other times!—of times, in which my father lived, and procured, at the sale of thy precious book-treasures, not a few of those rare volumes which have so much gladdened the eyes of Lisardo.

Belin. I presume you mean, dear brother, some of those black-looking gentlemen, bound in fancifully marked coats of morocco, and washed and ironed within (for you collectors must have recourse to a woman's occupation) with so much care and nicety that even the eyes of our ancient Rebecca, with "spectacle on nose" to boot, could hardly detect the cunning' conceit of your binder!

Loren. Spare my feelings and your own reputation, if you wish to appreciate justly the noble craft of book-repairing, &c.—But proceed, dear Lysander.