ueen Victoria_, for which a premium of 250% was asked
before publication, is another proof that until the manufacturing stage
is over collecting cannot safely begin. But with this exception the
field is open, and the 19th century offers as good a hunting ground as
any of its predecessors.

Objects and methods.

While book-collecting may thus take an endless variety of forms the
heads under which these may be grouped are few and fairly easily
defined. They may be here briefly indicated together with some notes as
to the literature which has grown up round them. The development which
bibliographical literature has taken is indeed very significant of the
changed ideals of collectors. Brunet's _Manuel du libraire_, first
published in 1810, attained its fifth edition in 1860-1864, and has
never since been re-edited (supplement, 1878-1880). The _Bibliographer's
Manual of English Literature_ by W.T. Lowndes, first published in 1834,
was revised by H.G. Bohn in 1857-1864, and of this also no further
edition has been printed. These two works between them gave all the
information the old-fashioned collectors required, the _Tresor de livres
rares et precieux_ by J.G.T. Graesse (Dresden, 1859-1867, supplementary
volume in 1869) adding little to the information given by Brunet. The
day of the omnivorous collector being past, the place of these general
manuals has been taken by more detailed bibliographies and handbooks on
special books, and though new editions of both Lowndes and Brunet would
be useful to librarians and booksellers no publisher has had the courage
to produce them.

To attract a collector a book must appeal to his eye, his mind or his
imagination, and many famous books appeal to all three. A book may be
beautiful by virtue of its binding, its illustrations or the simple
perfection and harmony of its print and paper. The attraction of a fine
binding has always been felt in France, the high prices quoted for
Elzevirs and French first editions being often due much more to their
17th and 18th century jackets than to the books themselves. The
appreciation of old bindings has greatly increased in England since the
exhibition of them at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1891 (illustrated
catalogue printed the same year), English blind stamped bindings,
embroidered bindings, and bindings attributable to Samuel Mearne
(_temp._ Charles II.) being much more sought after than formerly. (See
BOOKBINDING.)

Illustrated boo