a_ was found
by the Swiss in his baggage. This volume was bought in 1833 by the Queen
of the Belgians at a book-sale in Paris, and has now been restored to its
original home at Brussels.

After the death of Charles the Bold his library at Dijon was given by the
French King to George de la Tremouille, the governor of the province. It
passed to the family of Guy de Rocheford, and in the course of time many
of the best works have found their way into the national collection. Mary
of Burgundy retained the other libraries at Brussels. After her marriage
with Maximilian her family treasures were for the most part dispersed in
France, Germany, and Sweden, the needy prince being unable to resist the
temptation of pilfering and pawning the books; but the generosity of
Margaret of Austria, a great collector herself of fine copies and first
editions, in some measure repaired the loss; and Mary of Austria, who
became Regent in 1530, continued the work of restoration.

The magnificence of the Burgundian Court and the commercial prosperity of
the Low Countries led to a continuous demand for fine books among the
other productions of luxury. We learn also by the Venetian Archives that
throughout the fifteenth century books were being imported into England
by the galleys that brought the produce of the East to our merchants in
London and Southampton. There were as yet but slight signs of literary
activity; but it has been well said that 'the seed was germinating in the
ground'; and many foreign works were brought home from time to time by
those who had studied or travelled in Italy. It was the fashion of the
day to learn under Guarini at Ferrara; the list of his scholars includes
the names of Robert Fleming, and Bishop William Gray, and the book-loving
John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, whose virtue and learning became the
object of William Caxton's celebrated eulogy. We may commemorate here the
earlier labours of Lord Cobham, who caused Wicliffe's works to be copied
at a great expense and to be conveyed for safety to Bohemia, and of Sir
Walter Sherington, who early in the same century built a library at
Glastonbury, and furnished it with 'fair books upon vellum.' Towards the
end of the century learning began to flourish under the patronage of Lord
Saye, and the accomplished Anthony Lord Rivers: and its future in this
country was secure, when the English scholars began to flock towards
Florence to hear the lectures of Chalcondylas and his