d in 1902. The bibliography to Chapter IV. in
the tenth volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature'
contains useful lists of works on the drama. The office-book of Sir Henry
Herbert, Master of the Revels, 1623 to 1673, was edited by Professor
Quincy Adams and published by the Yale University Press ('Cornell Studies
in English,' vol. iii.) in 1917. It is the chief source of information
about English plays and playwrights from 1623 until the Civil War, and
the documents of the period 1660-73 are important to students of the
Restoration Drama.

[Sidenote: Early-Printed Books.]

19. By the term 'early-printed books' the bookseller generally means
fifteenth-century works, or _incunabula_ as they are now called. You must
needs be a rich man if this be your hobby, for every volume issued prior
to the year 1500--however worthless as literature or useless from a
bibliographical standpoint--is now worth at least a couple of pounds,
provided it is complete and in good condition. You _may_ pick up an
example or two of early printing for a few shillings on your rambles, but
every day the chance of a bargain in this direction is smaller. There is
not a bookseller throughout the kingdom who is not aware of the minimum
value of _any_ volume printed in the fifteenth century, and a private
purchase and treasure trove are the only sources available to the
'incunabulist' to-day. As regards works of reference on this subject,
such books have already been dealt with in the chapter on the Books of
the Collector.

[Sidenote: Early Romances.]

20. Early Romances, too, will tax your exchequer somewhat heavily, for
these glorious folio and quarto examples of early woodcut engraving are
eagerly snapped up whenever they appear in the market. One of the finest
collections of these fascinating volumes in recent times was that amassed
by Baron Achille Seilliere. A portion of it was sold at Sotheby's in
February 1887. Most of these treasures were exquisitely bound by the
great French masters of book-binding, and the sale of 1147 lots realised
L14,944, an average of about L13 a volume. Yet it is safe to assert that
the same collection to-day would fetch more than double that amount.[81]
The first folio edition (_Lyon_, 1477) of Honore Bonnor's 'L'Arbre des
Batailles' realised only L30. At the Fairfax Murray sale in 1918 the
quarto Lyons edition (1510) made L130. The Lisbon edition of 'Le Triomphe
des Neuf Preux' (1530) brought L83. The s