identical with one given in charge of an agent of the Bibliotheque Nationale in 1804 by the town librarian of Troyes to be added to the National collections. M. Delisle had it seized under a warrant in the auction-room, and the proceeding was upheld by the Courts on the ground that the property of the State, in books and artistic objects collected for the national good, was inalienable. Such drastic methods are not, however, always necessary. "Rarely," says M. Delisle in one of his reports (1875), "is a collection of autographs sold without a few among them being evidently stolen from a public library, and being restored by the owners when their good faith and generosity is appealed to."
Whenever books, new or old, are bought in large quantities, certain mechanical checks are necessary. Those in use at the British Museum may, we think, be safely adopted. The dealer should supply with each parcel an invoice of books sent, with prices. This having been corrected, by striking out the entries of books not required, and by noting any cheapening that the librarian may have been able to effect, a "fair copy" should be required, and this, after payment is made, should be filed. It is also necessary to keep a record of all books purchased, in order that duplicates may not be inadvertently purchased before newly acquired books have time to appear in the usual Catalogue of Accessions. To this end, in the case of new books the entries in the periodical lists should be cut out at the time of ordering, mounted on cards, and arranged in boxes.
