hers that ever lived, but before it was finished the
spirit of that great man had passed away to the inexpressible grief of all
who knew him. It is with no desire to shield myself under the shelter of a
great name, but with a reverent wish to express my own sense of our
irreparable loss that I dedicate this book (though all unworthy of the
honour) to his memory._

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER I. HOW MEN HAVE FORMED LIBRARIES 23

II. HOW TO BUY 57

III. PUBLIC LIBRARIES 73

IV. PRIVATE LIBRARIES 89

V. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES 141

VI. SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES 160

VII. PUBLISHING SOCIETIES 184

VIII. CHILD'S LIBRARY 217

IX. ONE HUNDRED BOOKS 227

HOW TO FORM A LIBRARY.

INTRODUCTION.

Although there can be little difference of opinion among book lovers as to
the need of a Handbook which shall answer satisfactorily the
question--"How to Form a Library"--it does not follow that there will be a
like agreement as to the best shape in which to put the answer. On the one
side a string of generalities can be of no use to any one, and on the
other a too great particularity of instruction may be resented by those
who only require hints on a few points, and feel that they know their own
business better than any author can tell them.

One of the most important attempts to direct the would-be founder of a
Library in his way was made as long ago as 1824 by Dr. Dibdin, and the
result was entitled _The Library Companion_.[1] The book could never have
been a safe guide, and now it is hopelessly out of date. Tastes change,
and many books upon the necessity of possessing which Dibdin enlarges are
now little valued. Dr. Hill Burton writes of this book as follows in his
_Book-Hunter_: "This, it will be observed, is not intended as a manual of
rare or curious, or in any way peculiar books, but as the instruction of a
Nestor on the best books for study and use in all departments of
literature. Yet one will look in vain there for such names as Montaigne,
Shaftesbury, Benjamin Franklin, D'Alembert, Turgot, Adam Smith,
Malebranche, Lessing, Goethe, Schill