valuable were many bundles of papers, letters, invoices, calculations,
etc., concerning the early attempt to establish the cotton manufacture
in Birmingham at the beginning of the last century, including the papers
of Warren, the printer, and some letters of Dr. Johnson, and others
relating the story of the invention of spinning by rollers--the work of
John Wyatt and Lewis Paul--long before Arkwright's time. Among the
immense collection of Birmingham books and papers were hundreds of Acts
of Parliament, Birmingham Almanacs, Directories (from 1770) most
curious, valuable, and rare; a heap of pamphlets on the Grammar School,
Birmingham History, Topography, and Guides; the political pamphlets of
Job Nott and John Nott, some of which were the only copies known, the
more ancient pamphlets describing Prince Rupert's Burning Love (date
1613) and others of that time; reports from the year 1726 of the several
local learned institutions; an invaluable collection of maps; programmes
of the Festivals; and copies of all the known Birmingham newspapers and
periodicals (some being perfect sets) etc., etc. Of all the host not
more than 1,000 volumes were saved. The fame of the Shakespeare Memorial
Library at Birmingham was world-wide and to us it had extra value as
emanating from the love which George Dawson bore for the memory of
Shakespeare. It was his wish that the library should be possessed of
every known edition of the bard's works in every language, and that it
should contain every book ever printed about him or his writings. In the
words of Mr. Timmins, "The devotion of George Dawson to Shakespeare was
not based upon literary reasons alone, nor did it only rest upon his
admiration and his marvel at the wondrous gifts bestowed upon this
greatest of men, but it was founded upon his love for one who loved so
much. His heart, which knew no inhumanity, rejoiced in one who was so
greatly human, and the basis of his reverence for Shakespeare was his
own reverence for man. It was thus, to him, a constant pleasure to mark
the increasing number of the students of Shakespeare, and to see how,