from this source. Many free libraries in this country advertise donors and their gifts in local newspapers. In Italy the Government requires that a list of donations shall be exposed to public view in the reading-room. Among books thus acquired there will always be a certain proportion almost unobtainable by purchase, either because they are not printed for sale, or because they are too obscure to be advertised. It is a curious fact that many writers who appear by their mode of publication to be desirous of avoiding publicity, have no hesitation in sending copies of their books to a public library.
The casual donor however, though serviceable, is never such a benefactor as the collector can sometimes be. After a lifetime spent in rescuing treasures from obscurity and disesteem, from the greedy and undignified hands of the dealer, and triumphing each time perhaps over a hated rival, it is a bitter thought to the collector that his hoard will at his death be dispersed from the auction-room to the four winds, and even then bring his heirs no benefit proportionate to his vigilance and loving care. The inclination strongly seizes him to will it to some public library, where it will remain in its admirable entirety, safe, as far as anything can be safe, from fire and theft and the lesser ills that books are heir to, and where his name will be linked with theirs in succeeding ages. To such considerations no doubt the British Museum owes the collections of Thomas Grenville (though here comes in an alien element, the desire to atone to the nation
