Ply followed the market and nobody was envious. He lifted his
acquisition off the counter or stall for the best of all
reasons--because he fancied it--nay, because he intended to read it when
he reached home. A plea from the absolute collector's point of view--I
fear, a weak and false one--is occasionally advanced for books which
were formerly in fashion and favour; for example, Sylvester's _Du
Bartas_, the Platonic romances, Townley's French _Hudibras_, and a
hundred--a thousand--ten thousand more. It is thought to be worth while
to have a few of these deposed idols to show to your friends when they
visit you, that they may join in a homily on changes of taste. Perhaps
it would suffice to compare notes through the medium of some _Censura
Literaria_, or Beloe, or Collier. With most people space is a
consideration, with a few, money; and an incidental and passing
reflection need not be so costly in either way. For that reason such
works as I have indicated, and a few others similar to them, are apt to
prove serviceable and economical. The periodical reinfo
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