ad seen a catalogue of Heber's books, compiled
by him at the age of eight; and when ten years old he requested his
father to buy some volumes at a certain sale, where 'there would be the
best editions of the classics.' Of many of his books he possessed
several copies, and on being asked by a friend why he purchased them, he
seriously replied: 'Why, you see, Sir, no man can comfortably do without
_three_ copies of a book. One he must have for his show copy, and he
will probably keep it at his country house. Another he will require for
his own use and reference; and unless he is inclined to part with this,
which is very inconvenient, or risk the injury of his best copy, he must
needs have a third at the service of his friends.' Soon after the peace
of 1815 Heber paid a visit to the Continent to collect books for his
library, and in 1825 he again left England for a considerable period for
the purpose of still further adding to his literary stores. On his
return in 1831 he spent his time in seclusion between his country
residence at Hodnet, near Shrewsbury, and his house at Pimlico, devoting
himself to the last days of his life to the increase of his immense
collection. He died at Pimlico of an attack on the lungs, accompanied
with jaundice, on the 4th of October 1833, and was buried at Hodnet on
the 16th of the following month. The Rev. Mr. Dyce in a letter to Sir
Egerton Brydges, gives a melancholy account of his end. 'Poor man,' he
writes, 'he expired at Pimlico, in the midst of his rare property,
_without a friend to close his eyes_, and from all I have heard I am led
to believe he died broken-hearted: he had been ailing for some time, but
took no care of himself, and seemed indeed to court death. Yet his
ruling passion was strong to the last. The morning he died he wrote out
some memoranda for Thorpe about books which he wished to be purchased
for him. He was the most liberal of book-collectors: I never asked him
for the loan of a volume, _which he could lay his hand on_, he did not
immediately send me.[91] Heber, who was a man of deep learning, numbered
among his friends Porson, Cracherode, Canning, Southey, Dr. Burney, Sir
Walter Scott, and many other distinguished persons. Sir Walter dedicated
the sixth canto of _Marmion_ to him, and alludes to his library in the
following lines:--

'Thy volumes, open as thy heart,
Delight, amusement, science, art,
To every ear and eye impart;
Yet who, of all who thus emplo