applied this theory with great success to
collecting the dainty French illustrated books of the 18th century which
were their especial favourites. In England Richard Fisher treated his
fine examples of early book-illustration as part of his collection of
engravings, etchings and woodcuts (illustrated catalogue printed 1879),
and Frederick Locker (Locker-Lampson) formed in two small bookcases such
a gathering of first editions of English imaginative literature that the
mere catalogue of it (printed in 1886) produced the effect of a stately
and picturesque procession. Some of the book-hoards of previous
generations could have spared the equivalent of the Locker collection
without seeming noticeably the poorer, but the compactness and unity of
this small collection, in which every book appears to have been bought
for a special reason and to form an integral part of the whole, gave it
an artistic individuality which was a pleasant triumph for its owner,
and excited so much interest among American admirers of Mr Locker's
poetry that it may be said to have set a fashion. As another example of
the value of a small collection, both for delight and for historical and
artistic study, mention may be made of the little roomful of manuscripts
and incunabula which William Morris brought together to illustrate the
history of the bookish arts in the middle ages before the Renaissance
introduced new ideals. Many living collectors are working in a similar
spirit, and as this spirit spreads the monotony of the old libraries, in
which the same editions of the same books recurred with wearisome
frequency, should be replaced by much greater individuality and variety.
Moreover, if they can be grouped round some central idea cheap books may
yield just as good sport to the collector as expensive ones, and the
collector of quite modern works may render admirable service to
posterity. The only limitation is against books specially manufactured
to attract him, or artificially made rare. A quite wholesome interest in
contemporary first editions was brought to nought about 1889 by the
booksellers beginning to hoard copies of Browning's _Asolando_ and Mr
Lang's _Blue Fairy Book_ on the day of publication, while a graceful but
quite minor poet was made ridiculous by L100 being asked for a set of
his privately printed _opuscula_. The petty gambling in books printed
at the Kelmscott and Doves' presses, and in the fine paper copies of a
certain _Life of Q