ck from over the sea, that they were
not to be had, or to be had only at rare intervals on the breaking up of
a library. To our no small surprise, very soon after this quietus had
been given to bibliomaniacal hopes, the books in question appeared
before us in excellent condition. We could hardly suppose that any one
had been benevolent enough to break up a library on purpose to oblige
us, and we waited to hear a very odd story.

Soon after the letter had been sent, announcing the ill success of our
commission, the writer of it was in a bookshop in London, when a lady
entered and desired an interview with the master. After some private
conversation, the lady returned to her carriage and drove away. The
bookseller remarked to his friend, that the lady had brought with her
some books, which she desired to part with. Our informant asked to see
them, and, lo! the very volumes for which in our behalf he had searched
in vain: he immediately secured the prize, which was forwarded by the
next steamer.

Can any one ask why the figure of the lady who brought those books to us
three thousand miles over the sea "haunts us like a shadow"? We see her
ascend her invisible carriage, we go with her to her invisible home, we
meet her viewless husband;--here we shudder, but we recover ourselves;
we are convinced that he could not have been a book-collector, or she
had not dared such a deed. Then we puzzle ourselves about her unseen
motives for selling the books. Had she gambled? Had she bet on the
losing horse at the Derby? Had she bought an expensive bonnet? Or was it
the impulse of some strong benevolent purpose? Why _did_ she sell those
books? Since she did thus part with them, we thank her, and are content
that by very strange combinations of circumstances, blending the visible
and invisible together, those books, viewless in her library, are now
apparent in our own.

Here is another volume which has also something mystical about it in its
visible and invisible effect. It is a copy of Dibdin's "Bibliomania,"
which belonged to Dawson Turner. A note in his handwriting states that
the tools required for the binding were used exclusively for Lord
Spencer, and that a view of Strawberry Hill will be found on its edges.
Gilt edges, however, are all that meet the eye; but turned by a skilful
hand to the right light, the gilding vanishes, and a picture of
Strawberry Hill appears, painted with velvety softness. Such a nice
bibliomaniacal fanc