JOSEPH KNIGHT.
Mr. Harland-
Oxley. The following is from an old contributor to 'N. & Q.,' Mr. Harland-Oxley:—
JOSEPH KNIGHT: AN APPRECIATION: 1829-1907.
Good Knight, good night! go sleep and take thy rest.
Full well we know whatever is, is best,
But tears will start : poor mortals can but weep
When friends depart for whom regard is deep.
Loving and kind, genial, tender, true,
From words of thine resentment never grew.
Praise from thy lips became rare "praise indeed,"
And didst thou blame, it caused no hearts to bleed.
Gen'rous and just in all thou hadst to write,
And in thy speech thou mad'st condemning light,
In friendships firm, thou mad'st each one thy friend;
Foes there were none from first until the end;
So shall thy good from us ne'er fade away:
Kept in our hearts, 'twill live till latest day!
Westminster. |
W. E. Harland-Oxley |
KNIGHT AS BIBLIOPHILE.
Knight's
library.No memoir of Knight would be complete without mention of his wonderful love of book-collecting. In this he much reminded me of Charles Wentworth Dilke and William John Thoms, of whom humorous stories are told how one would try to forestall the other in securing a treasure. Knight had no keener enjoyment than a rummage among the bookstalls, and his knowledge of prices was equal to that of any one actually engaged in the trade. He could tell the value of a book at a glance, and might have made a big fortune as an old bookseller; but there would have been one danger—his love for his treasures might, as it has done with others, have prevented his parting with them. It was a delight to see him seated among his books at home, with the movable bookcase at his back which appears in his book-plate. This bookcase was kindly presented to me by his widow, and is now added to the treasures in my library. Wherever you turned, you met loaded shelves, till at last he had to break through the wall of the house next door in order to find room for his accumulations. Although his store was so great, he was never at a loss to find any book he wanted; and it was a treat to see how his face lit up when you asked him for any special volume, which he would at once get and place before you. He had two large sales of books during his lifetime. While
