VIII. Books printed in the Black Letter. Of all symptoms of the Bibliomania, this eighth symptom (and the last which I shall notice) is at present the most powerful and prevailing. Whether it was not imported into this country from Holland, by the subtlety of Schelhorn[66] (a knowing writer upon rare and curious books) may be shrewdly suspected. Whatever be its origin, certain it is, my dear Sir, that books printed in the black letter are now coveted with an eagerness unknown to our collectors in the last century. If the spirits of West, Ratcliffe, Farmer and Brand, have as yet held any intercourse with each other, in that place 'from whose bourne no traveller returns,' what must be the surprise of the three former, on being told by the latter, of the prices given for some of the books in his library, as mentioned below!?[67]

[66] His words are as follow: "Ipsa typorum ruditas, ipsa illa atra crassaque literarum facies belle tangit sensus, &c." Was ever the black letter more eloquently described? See his Amœnitates Literariæ, vol. i., p. 5.

[67]

NO. £s.d.
282.A Boke of Fishing with Hooke and Line, A Boke ofEngines and Traps to take Polcats, Buzzards, Rats, Mice, andall other Kinds of Vermine and Beasts whatsoever, with cuts,very rare, 1600330
454.A Quip for an upstart Courtier; or, a quaint Disputebetween Velvet Breeches and Cloth Breeches, &c. 16202160
475.A Checke, or Reproof of Mr. Howlet's untimelyscreeching in her Majesty's Ear. Black letter. 15810120
As a striking conclusion, I subjoin the following.
6479.Pappe with an Hatchett, alias, a Fig for myGodsonne, or crake me this Nutt, or, a Countrie Cuffe, thatis a sound Box of the Eare for the Idiot Martin, to hold hisPeace: seeing the Patch will take no warning; written by onethat dares call a Dog a Dog. Rare. Printed by Anoke andAstile180

A perusal of these articles may probably not impress the reader with any lofty notions of the superiority of the black letter; but this symptom of the Bibliomania is, nevertheless, not to be considered as incurable, or wholly unproductive of good. Under a proper spirit of modification it has done, and will continue to do, essential service to the cause of English literature. It guided the taste, and strengthened the judgment, of Tyrwhitt in his researches after Chaucerian lore. It stimulated the studies of Farmer and of Steevens, and enabled them to twine many a beauteous flower round the brow of their beloved Shakespeare. It has since operated, to the same effect, in the labours of Mr. Douce,[68] the Porson of old English and French literature; and in the editions of Milton and Spenser, by my amiable and excellent friend Mr. Todd the public have had a specimen of what the Black Letter may perform, when temperately and skilfully exercised.

[68] In the criticisms on Mr. Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare and Ancient Manners, it has not, I think, been generally noticed that this work is distinguished; 1. For the singular diffidence and urbanity of criticism, as well as depth of learning, which it evinces: 2. For the happy illustrations, by means of wood cuts: Let any one, for instance, read a laboured disquisition on the punishment of "the boots"—and only glance his eye on the plate representing it [vol. i. p. 34.]: from which will he obtain the clearer notions? 3. For the taste, elegance, and general correctness with which it is printed. The only omission I regret is that Mr. Douce did not give us, at the end, a list of the works alphabetically arranged, with their dates which he consulted in the formation of his own. Such a Bibliotheca Shakspeariana might, however, have been only a fresh stimulus to the increase of the black-letter symptom of the Bibliomania. How Bartholomæus and Batman have risen in price since the publication of Mr. Douce's work, let those who have lately smarted for the increase tell!

I could bring to your recollection other instances; but your own copious reading and exact memory will better furnish you with them. Let me not however omit remarking that the beautiful pages of the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and Sir Trestrem, exhibit, in the notes [now and then thickly studded with black letter references], a proof that the author of "The Lay" and "Marmion" has not disdained to enrich his stores of information by such intelligence as black lettered books impart. In short, though this be also a strong and general symptom of the Bibliomania, it is certainly not attended with injurious effects when regulated by prudence and discretion. An undistinguishable voracious appetite, to swallow every thing printed in the black letter can only bring on inconquerable disease, if not death, to the patient!

Having in the two preceding divisions of this letter discoursed somewhat largely upon the History and Symptoms of the Bibliomania, it now remains, according to the original plan, to say a few words upon the Probable Means of its Cure. And, indeed, I am driven to this view of the subject from every laudable motive; for it would be highly censurable to leave any reflecting mind impressed with melancholy emotions concerning the misery and mortality that have been occasioned by the abuse of those pursuits, to which the most soothing and important considerations ought to be attached. Far from me, and my friends, be such a cruel, if not criminal, conduct; let us then, my dear Sir, seriously discourse upon the

III. Probable Means of the cure of the Bibliomania. He will surely be numbered among the philanthropists of his day who has, more successfully than myself, traced and described the ravages of this disease, and fortified the sufferer with the means of its cure. But, as this is a disorder of quite a recent date, and as its characteristics, in consequence, cannot be yet fully known or described, great candour must be allowed to that physician who offers a prescription for so obscure and complicated a case. It is in vain that you search the works [ay, even the best editions] of Hippocrates and Galen for a description of this malady; nor will you find it hinted at in the more philosophical treatises of Sydenham and Heberden. It had, till the medical skill of Dr. Ferriar first noticed it to the public, escaped the observations of all our pathologists. With a trembling hand, and fearful apprehension, therefore, I throw out the following suggestions for the cure, or mitigatiou, of this disorder:

In the first place, the disease of the Bibliomania is materially softened, or rendered mild, by directing our studies to useful and profitable works—whether these be printed upon small or large paper, in the gothic, roman, or italic type; To consider purely the intrinsic excellence, and not the exterior splendour, or adventitious value, of any production, will keep us perhaps wholly free from this disease. Let the midnight lamp be burnt to illuminate the stores of antiquity—whether they be romances, or chronicles, or legends, and whether they be printed by Aldus or by Caxton—if a brighter lustre can thence be thrown upon the pages of modern learning! To trace genius to its source, or to see how she has been influenced or modified, by "the lore of past times" is both a pleasing and profitable pursuit. To see how Shakspeare has here and there plucked a flower, from some old ballad or popular tale, to enrich his own unperishable garland—to follow Spenser and Milton in their delightful labyrinths 'midst the splendour of Italian literature—are studies which stamp a dignity upon our intellectual characters! But, in such a pursuit let us not overlook the wisdom of modern times, nor fancy that what is only ancient can be excellent. We must remember that Bacon, Boyle, Locke, Taylor, Chillingworth, Robertson, Hume, Gibbon, and Paley, are names which always command attention from the wise, and remind us of the improved state of reason and acquired knowledge during the two last centuries.