SPIECE TO 'THE LADIES' LIBRARY' OF STEELE 266

ELIZABETH PINDAR'S BOOKPLATE 267

THE ESHTON HALL LIBRARY 269

'EARNING HIS DINNER' 275

THE KING'S LIBRARY, BRITISH MUSEUM 276

'STEALS A BOOK, PLACES IT IN A NOVELETTE, AND WALKS
AWAY' 280

'HE HAD PLACED THE BOOK IN HIS POCKET. SOMEONE HAD
RELIEVED HIM OF IT' 282

THE LATE HENRY HUTH, BOOK-COLLECTOR 300

MR. HENRY H. GIBBS, BOOK-COLLECTOR 302

MR. R. COPLEY CHRISTIE, BOOK-COLLECTOR 303

THE LATE FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON 312

PORTRAIT BOOKPLATE OF MR. JOSEPH KNIGHT 313

'AN ORDER FROM MR. GLADSTONE' 315

PORTRAIT BOOKPLATE OF MR. H. S. ASHBEE 316

MR. T. J. WISE, BOOK-COLLECTOR 317

MR. CLEMENT SHORTER'S BOOKPLATE 318

MR. A. BIRRELL, BOOK-COLLECTOR 319

FACSIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE, 'PILGRIM'S PROGRESS,' FIRST
EDITION 321

[Illustration: _Roman Book-box._]

PREFACE.

_'THE Book-hunter in London' is put forth as a contribution to the
fascinating history of book-collecting in the metropolis; it does not
pretend to be a complete record of a far-reaching subject, which a dozen
volumes would not exhaust; the present work, however, is the first
attempt to deal with it in anything like a comprehensive manner, but of
how far or in what degree this attempt is successful the reader himself
must decide._

_The task itself has been an exceedingly pleasant one to the author, and
it only remains for him to thank, collectively, the large number of
friends and acquaintances who have so cordially favoured him with advice
and information on so many points. In only a couple of quite unimportant
instances has he experienced anything approaching churlishness. The
geniality and courtesy of the book-collector are proverbial, but
specimens of a different type are evidently to be found here and there._

_As regards the chapter on Modern Collectors, the author's object has
been to deal with a representative selection of the bibliophiles of
to-day. To aim a