From: Zele <fl...@ga...> - 2009-08-13 22:34:58
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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 |