which we are flattered made to
our senses as well as our understandings." An induction from a variety
of particulars seemed to me to combine that delight, which Johnson
derived from anecdotes, with that philosophy which Bolingbroke founded
on examples; and on this principle the last three volumes of the
"Curiosities of Literature" were constructed, freed from the formality
of dissertation, and the vagueness of the lighter essay.

These "Curiosities of Literature" have passed through a remarkable
ordeal of time; they have survived a generation of rivals; they are
found wherever books are bought, and they have been repeatedly reprinted
at foreign presses, as well as translated. These volumes have imbued our
youth with their first tastes for modern literature, have diffused a
delight in critical and philosophical speculation among circles of
readers who were not accustomed to literary topics; and finally, they
have been honoured by eminent contemporaries, who have long consulted
them and set their stamp on the metal.

A voluminous miscellany, composed at various periods, cannot be exempt
from slight inadvertencies. Such a circuit of multifarious knowledge
could not be traced were we to measure and count each step by some
critical pedometer; life would be too short to effect any reasonable
progress. Every work must be judged by its design, and is to be valued
by its result.

BRADENHAM HOUSE,

_March_, 1839.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

LIBRARIES 1

THE BIBLIOMANIA 9

LITERARY JOURNALS 12

RECOVERY OF MANUSCRIPTS 17

SKETCHES OF CRITICISM 24

THE PERSECUTED LEARNED 27

POVERTY OF THE LEARNED 29

IMPRISONMENT OF THE LEARNED 35

AMUSEMENTS OF THE LEARNED 38

PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS 42

DESTRUCTION OF BOOKS 47

SOME NOTIONS OF LOST WORKS 58

QUODLIBETS, OR SCHOLASTIC DISQUISITIONS 60

FAME CONTEMNE