While he may find but few notable
treasures in one collection, a search through several shops will be
almost sure to reward him. Here are found many of the outpourings of the
private libraries, formed by specialists or amateurs, and either
purchased by the second-hand dealer _en bloc_, or bid off by him at some
auction sale. Even rare books are picked up in this way, no copies of
which can be had by order, because long since "out of print." The stock
in these shops is constantly changing, thus adding a piquant and
sometimes exciting element to the book-hunter, who is wise in proportion
as he seizes quickly upon all opportunities of new "finds" by frequent
visits. To mourn over a lost chance in rare books is often more grievous
to the zealous collector, than to lose a large share out of his fortune;
while to exult over a literary nugget long sought and at length found is
a pleasure to which few others can be compared.

Of the many _bouquinistes_ whose open-air shops line the quays of Paris
along the Seine, numbering once as many as a hundred and fifty dealers in
second-hand books, I have no room to treat; books have been written about
them, and the _litterateurs_ of France, of Europe, and of America have
profited by countless bargains in their learned wares. Nor can I dwell
upon the literary wealth of London book-shops, dark and dingy, but ever
attractive to the hungry scholar, or the devotee of bibliomania.

Of the many second-hand booksellers (or rather sellers of second-hand
books) in American cities, the more notable have passed from the stage of
action in the last quarter of a century. Old William Gowans, a quaint,
intelligent Scotchman, in shabby clothes and a strong face deeply marked
with small pox, was for many years the dean of this fraternity in New
York. His extensive book-shop in Nassau street, with its dark cellar, was
crowded and packed with books on shelves, on stairways and on the floors,
heaped and piled in enormous masses, amid which the visitor could hardly
find room to move. On one of the piles you might find the proprietor
seated--

Books to the right of him,
Books to the left of him,
Books behind him,
Volleyed and tumbled,

while he answered inquiries for books from clergymen and students, or
gruffly bargained with a boy or an old woman for a dilapidated lot of
old books. He had a curious quizzical way with strangers, who at once set
him down as an oddity, and his impatience w