price." I desired nothing better. In consequence forth came the _first_
(quarto) _Horace_, without date or place, fair, sound, and perfect: the
_Familiar Epistles of Cicero_ of the date of 1469, by S. and Pannartz, in a
condition perfectly unparalleled in every respect; the _Latin Bible_ of
_Frisner and Sensenschmidt_ of 1475, in an equally desirable and pristine
condition;[36] the _Polish Protestant Bible_ of 1563, with its first
rough-edged margins and in wooden binding; _St. Jerom's Epistles_, printed
_at Parma_, by _A. de Portilia_--most captivating to the eye; with a
curious black-letter broadside, in Latin sapphics, pasted in the interior
of the cover; the _History of Bohemia, by Pope Pius II_, of 1475, as fresh
and crackling as if it had just come from the printer: _Schuzler's edition
of the Hexameron of Ambrosius_, 1472: the _Hungarian Chronicle_ of 1485....
"Ohe jam satis est...." for one bargain, at least,--methinks I hear you
remark.

It may be so; but the measure must be fuller. Accordingly, after having
shot off my great guns, I brought my howitzers into play. Then commenced a
pleasant and not unprofitable parley respecting little grammatical tracts,
devotional manuals, travels, philology, &c. When lo!--up sprung a
delightful crop of _Lilies_, _Donatuses_, _Mandevilles_, _Turrecrematas_,
_Brandts_, _Matthews of Cracow_--in vellum surcoats, white in colour, firm
in substance, and most talkative in turning over their leaves! These were
mere _florin_ acquisitions: the preceding were paid for in heavy metal of a
_golden_ hue. It is not fair to betray all that took place upon this
Cockerian transaction; but there may be no harm in mentioning that my purse
was lightened by upwards of 100 louis d'or. My spirits were lightened in
the same proportion. Neither venders nor vendee grieved at the result.
Professor May was most joyous; and although the Rector Beyschlag was
sonorous in voice, restless in action, and determined in manner--about
fixing an alarmingly high price upon the _first Horace_--yet, by degrees,