doubtless purloined at some time or other.

[Illustration: _Magdalen College, Oxford._]

Of all the seventeenth-century book-collectors, perhaps the most
interesting is that other diarist, Samuel Pepys. Samuel was not a man of
great learning, but his wit, his knowledge of the world, and his
humanity were unbounded. He welcomed almost anything in the shape of a
book, from a roguish French novel to a treatise on medals, from a loose
Restoration play to a maritime pamphlet, and from lives of the saints to
books on astrology or philosophy. Not a great man, perhaps, but one of
the most delightful and entertaining that one could wish. The
Secretary's 'Diary' is full of allusions to men and events of bookish
interest, and gives frequent illustrations of his amiable passion for
book-collecting. Fortunately, we have not to grope in the dark to get an
accurate portrait of the genial Samuel as a book-collector, for his
entire library is preserved, almost in the same state as he left it, at
Magdalen College, Oxford, 'as curious a medley of the grave and gay' as
any person of catholic tastes could wish for. The library consists of
almost 3,000 volumes, preserved in eleven mahogany bookcases. The books
are all arranged in double rows, the small ones in front being
sufficiently low to permit of the titles of the back row of larger ones
being easily read. The library is a remarkably accurate reflection of
the tastes of the founder. In addition to what is termed ordinary useful
books, there are many rarities, including no less than nine Caxtons, and
several from the press of Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson. The celebrated
collection of ballads, commenced by Selden and continued by Pepys, is
second only in importance to the famous Roxburghe collection now in the
British Museum. The manuscripts of various kinds form a very valuable
part of this celebrated collection.

[Illustration: _Sir Hans Sloane's Monument._]

John Bagford, the biblioclast (1675-1716), also finishes us, like
Evelyn, with a list of book-collectors who were contemporaneous with
him. Besides Bishop Moore, already mentioned, there were Sir Hans
Sloane, Lords Carbery (Duke of Kent), Pembroke, Somers, Sunderland, and
Halifax. Among the commoners who emulated their 'betters' were Messrs.
Huckle, Chichely, Bridges, Walter Clavell, Rawlinson, Slaughter, Topham,
Wanley, Captain Hatton, 'Right Hon. Secretary Harley,' and Dr. Salmon,
whose collection is said to have consisted of