| Contents:Part I.,Part II. |
A N E C D O T E S
ABOUT
AUTHORS,
AND
A R T I S T S.
BY
JOHN TIMBS.
London:
DIPROSE & BATEMAN, SHEFFIELD STREET,
Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
LONDON:
DIPROSE, BATEMAN AND CO., PRINTERS,
LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS.
ANECDOTES
ABOUT
BOOKS
AND
AUTHORS.
Part I.
NOTE.
THIS collection of anecdotes, illustrative sketches, and memorabiliagenerally, relating to the ever fresh and interesting subject of Booksand Authors, is not presented as complete, nor even as containing allthe choice material of its kind. The field from which one may gather isso wide and fertile, that any collection warranting such a claim wouldfar exceed the compass of many volumes, much less of this little book.It has been sought to offer, in an acceptable and convenient form, someof the more remarkable or interesting literary facts or incidents withwhich one individual, in a somewhat extended reading, has been struck;some of the passages which he has admired; some of the anecdotes andjests that have amused him and may amuse others; some of thereminiscences that it has most pleased him to dwell upon. For no verygreat portion of the contents of this volume, is the claim tooriginality of subject-matter advanced. The collection, however, issubmitted with some confidence that it may be found as interesting, asaccurate, and as much guided by good taste, as it has been endeavouredto make it.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS.
CURIOUS FACTS AND CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES.
THE FINDING OF JOHN EVELYN’S MS. DIARY AT WOTTON.
THE MS. Diary, or “Kalendarium,” of the celebrated John Evelyn lay amongthe family papers at Wotton, in Surrey, from the period of his death, in1706, until their rare interest and value were discovered in thefollowing singular manner.
The library at Wotton is rich in curious books, with notes in JohnEvelyn’s handwriting, as well as papers on various subjects, andtranscripts of letters by the philosopher, who appears never to haveemployed an amanuensis. The arrangement of these treasures was, manyyears since, entrusted to the late Mr. Upcott, of the LondonInstitution, who made a complete catalogue of the collection.
One afternoon, as Lady Evelyn and a female companion were seated in oneof the fine old apartments of Wotton, making feather tippets, herladyship pleasantly observed to Mr. Upcott, “You may think thisfeather-work a strange way of passing time: it is, however, my hobby;and I dare say you, too, Mr. Upcott, have your hobby.” The librarianreplied that his favourite pursuit was the