on's _Doctrinal of
Sapience_, 1489, in the finest preservation] are, to be sure,
sufficient demonstrations of the prevalence of this symptom of the
Bibliomania in the times of our forefathers; so that it cannot be
said, as some have asserted, to have appeared entirely within the last
half century.

[Footnote 60: The modern books, printed upon vellum, have in
general not succeeded; whether from the art of preparing the
vellum, or of printing upon it, being lost I will not
presume to determine. The reader may be amused with the
following prices for which a few works, executed in this
manner, were sold in the year 1804:

NO. L _s._ _d._

250. Virgilii Opera, 1789, 4to. 33 12 0
251. Somervile's Chase, 1796, 4to. 15 4 6
252. Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell, 1795, 4to. 15 15 0
253. The Gardens, by Abbe Delille, 1798, 4to. 14 3 6
254. Castle of Otranto, printed by Bodoni, 1791, 4to. 13 2 6
260. La Guirlande Julie, 1784, 8vo. 37 17 6
263. Economy of Human Life, 1795, 8vo. 15 15 0

See "_Catalogue of a most splendid and valuable Collection
of Books, Superb Missals, &c._," sold by Mr. Christie, on
April 24, 1804. But the reader should procure the Catalogue
of Mr. Paris's Books, sold in the year 1790, which, for the
number of articles, is unrivalled. The eye is struck, in
every page, with the most sumptuous copies on VELLUM, AND
LARGE PAPER.]

[Footnote 61: See page 5, ante, for some account of this
curious work.]

VI. _First Editions._ From the time of Ancillon[62] to Askew, there
has been a very strong desire expressed for the possession of original
or first published editions of works, as they are in general
superintended and corrected by the author himself; and, like the first
impressions of prints, are considered more valuable. Whoever is
possessed with a passion for collecting books of this kind may
unquestionably be said to exhibit a strong symptom of the Bibliomania;
but such a case is not quite hopeless, nor is it deserving of severe
treatment or censure. All bibliographers have dwelt on the importance
of these editions, for the sake of collation with subsequent ones, and
detecting, as is frequently the case, the carelessness displayed by
fu