deceived in judgments of the grounds of which I possess a clear knowledge. Will it be that I formerly deemed things to be true and certain which I afterwards discovered to be false? But I had no clear and distinct knowledge of any of those things, and, being as yet ignorant of the rule by which I am assured of the truth of a judgment, I was led to give my assent to them on grounds which I afterwards discovered were less strong than at the time I imagined them to be. What further objection, then, is there? Will it be said that perhaps I am dreaming (an objection I myself lately raised), or that all the thoughts of which I am now conscious have no more truth than the reveries of my dreams? But, although, in truth, I should be dreaming, the rule still holds that all which is clearly presented to my intellect is indisputably true. And thus I very clearly see that the certitude and truth of all science depends on the knowledge alone of the true God, insomuch that, before I knew him, I could have no perfect knowledge of any other thing. And now that I know him, I possess the means of acquiring a perfect knowledge respecting innumerable inatters, as well relative to God himself and other intellectual objects as to corporeal nature, in so far as it is the object of pure mathematics (which do not consider whether it exists or not). Meditation V. complete. From the "Meditations," translated by John Veitch, LL. D. THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN (1776-1847) SIBDIN not only defined the symptoms of Bibliomania as a disease, but so systematized them that it may be said he reduced the disease to a science. He was born at Calcutta in 1776, and was educated at Oxford for the bar; but not finding law to his taste, he gave it up for the Church. From 1804 until his death, November 18th, 1847, he was professionally a clergyman of the Church of England, but his love for old and rare books made him a "bibliomaniac," and perhaps the most celebrated of all bibliographers as well. His "Introduction to a Knowledge of the Rare and Valuable Editions of the Latin and Greek Classics" appeared in 1803, and in 1809 his "Bibliomania, "- deservedly the most popular of his works. He published also "The Library Companion" (1824), “Remi niscences of a Literary Life" (1836), and "Bibliographical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour in the Northern Counties of England and Scot.. iand" (1838). WHEN THE BIBLIOMANIA (An Essay on the Disease by a Victim) THEN the poetical Epistle of Dr. Ferriar, under the popular title of the "Bibliomania," was announced for publication, I honestly confess that, in common with many of my book-loving acquaintance, a strong sensation of fear and of hope possessed me: of fear, that I might have been accused, however indirectly, of having contributed towards the increase of this Mania; and of hope, that the true object of book collecting, and literary pursuits, might have been fully and fairly developed. The perusal of this elegant epistle dissipated alike my fears and my hopes; for, instead of caustic verses and satirical notes, I found a smooth, melodious, and persuasive panegyric,-unmixed, however, with any rules for the choice of books, or the regulation of study. To say that I was not gratified by the perusal of it would be a confession contrary to the truth; but to say how ardently I anticipated an amplification of the subject, how eagerly I looked forward to a number of curious, apposite, and amusing anecdotes and found them not therein, is an avowal of which I need not fear the rashness, when the known talents of the detector of Sterne's plagiarisms are considered. I will not, however, disguise to you that I read it with uniform delight, and that I rose from the perusal with a keener appetite for The small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold. -Dr. Ferriar. Epistle V. 138. Whoever undertakes to write down the follies which grow out of an excessive attachment to any particular pursuit, be that pursuit horses, hawks, dogs, guns, snuffboxes, old china, coins, or rusty armor, may be thought to have little consulted the best means of insuring success for his labors, when he adopts the dull vehicle of Prose for the communication of his ideas, not considering that from Poetry ten thousand bright scintillations are struck off, which please and convince while they attract and astonish. Thus when Pope talks of allotting for "Pembroke statues, dirty Gods and Coins; Rare monkish manuscripts for Hearne alone; when he says that "These Aldus printed, those Du Sueil has bound» moreover that "For Locke or Milton 'tis in vain to look; he not only seems to illustrate the propriety of the foregoing remark by showing the immense superiority of verse to prose, in ridiculing reigning absurdities, but he seems to have had a pretty strong foresight of the Bibliomania which rages at the present day. However, as the Ancients tell us that a Poet cannot be a manufactured creature, and as I have not the smallest preten. sions to the "rhyming art" (although in former times I did venture to dabble with it), I must of necessity have recourse tc Prose; and, at the same time, to your candor and forbearance i perusing the pages which ensue. If ever there was a country upon the face of the globe from the days of Nimrod the beast to Bagford the book hunter -distinguished for the variety, the justness, and magnanimity of its views; if ever there was a nation which really and unceasingly "felt for another's woe" (I call to witness our Infirmaries, Hospitals, Asylums, and other public and private institutions of a charitable nature, that, like so many belts of adamant, unite and strengthen us in the great cause of Humanity); if ever there was a country and a set of human beings pre-eminently distinguished for all the social virtues which soften and animate the soul of man, surely Old England and Englishmen are they! The common cant, it may be urged, of all writers in favor of the country where they chance to live! And what, you will say, has this to do with Book Collectors and Books?— Much, every way: a nation thus glorious is, at this present eventful moment, afflicted not only with the Dog, but the Book, disease "Fire in each eye, and paper in each hand, Let us inquire, therefore, into the origin and tendency of the Bibliomania. In this inquiry I purpose considering the subject under three points of view: I. THE HISTORY OF THE DISEASE,—or an account of the eminent men who have fallen victims to it; II. THE NATURE OR SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE; and III. THE PROBABLE MEANS OF ITS CURE. We are to consider, then, I. THE HISTORY OF THE DISEASE. In treating of the history of this disease, it will be found to have been attended with this remarkable circumstance; namely, that it has almost uniformly confined its attacks to the male sex, and, among these, to people in the higher and middling classes of society, while the artificer, laborer, and peasant have escaped wholly uninjured. It has raged chiefly in palaces, castles, halls, and gay mansions; and those things which in general are supposed not to be inimical to health, such as cleanliness, spaciousness, and splendor, are only so many inducements towards the introduction and propagation of the Bibliomania! What renders it particularly formidable is that it rages in all seasons of the year and at all periods of human existence. The emotions of friendship or of love are weakened or subdued as old age advances; but the influence of this passion, or rather disease, admits of no mitigation: "it grows with our growth, and strengthens with our strength "; and is ofttimes The ruling passion strong in death." We will now, my dear sir, begin "Making out the catalogue » of victims to the Bibliomania! The first eminent character who appears to have been infected with this disease was Richard de Bury, one of the tutors of Edward III., and afterwards Bishop of Durham; a man who has been uniformly praised for the variety of his erudition and the intenseness of his ardor in book collecting. I discover no other notorious example of the fatality of the Bibliomania until the time of Henry VII., when the monarch himself may be considered as having added to the number. Although our venerable typographer, Caxton, lauds and magnifies, with equal sincerity, the whole line of British kings, from Edward IV. to Henry VII. (under whose patronage he would seem, in some measure, to have carried on his printing business), yet, of all these monarchs, the latter alone was so unfortunate as to fall a victim to this disease. His library must have been a magnificent one, if we may judge from the splendid specimens of it which now remain. It would appear too, that, about this time, the Bibliomania was increased by the introduction of foreign printed books; and it is not very improbable that a portion of Henry's immense wealth was devoted towards the purchase of vellum copies, which were now beginning to be published by the great typographical triumvirate, Verard, Eustace, and Pigouchet. During the reign of Henry VIII., I should suppose that the Earl of Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyatt were a little attached to book collecting; and that Dean Colet and his friend Sir Thomas More and Erasmus were downright Bibliomaniacs. There can be little doubt but that neither the great Leland nor his biographer Bale were able to escape the contagion; and that, in the ensuing period, Roger Ascham became notorious for the Book disease. He purchased probably, during his travels abroad, many a fine copy of the "Greek and Latin Classics," from which he read to his illustrious pupils, Lady Jane Grey and Queen Elizabeth; but whether he made use of an editio princeps, or a large paper copy, I have hitherto not been lucky enough to discover. This learned character died in the vigor of life, and in the bloom of reputation; and, as I suspect, in consequence of the Bibliomania,- for |