1907.] on the Guildhall Librarij. 481 



Among the early printed books may be mentioned Schedel's 

 ' Nuremberg Chronicle,' 1493 ; Higden's ' Polychronicon,' with illus- 

 trated title-page, 1527; and Stow's 'Survey of London,' first 

 edition, 1598. Of additionally-illustrated books the Library pos- 

 sesses many of great interest. They include Lysons' ' Environs of 

 London,' in 18 volumes, with 1000 topographical drawings, nearly 

 1600 prints, and 1048 illuminated coats-of-arms : Thomson's 

 ' Chronicles of London Bridge,' in 5 volumes, with numerous 

 manuscript, printed, and pictorial additions ; ' The Recreations of 

 Master Zigzag the Elder,' by Thomas xlrcher ; the third, or South- 

 wark, volume of Manning and Bray's ' History of Surrey ' ; 

 Granger's 'Biographical History of England,' 66 volumes with 

 6000 additional portraits ; Allen's ' History of London,' in 17 

 volumes ; Brayley and Brewer's ' History of London and Middlesex,' 

 21 volumes; and Clarke and McArthur's 'Life of Nelson,' in 

 5 volumes, with many additional portraits and etchings by G. P. 

 Harding. 



Of large illustrated works only one can be mentioned here — the 

 sumptuous illustrated volume issued as a pictorial record of the 

 Coronation of King George IV. Among the examples of special 

 binding are a series of miniature almanacs from 174C to 1856, 

 published by the Stationers' Company ; and royal bindings from the 

 hbraries of King Charles II. and Queen Anne. 



Books of more general interest include a file of the Times from 

 1811 to the present time, with a complete set of Palmer's index ; 

 Ashbee and HaUiwell's ' Facsimiles of Shakespeare quartos,' the entire 

 series in 48 volumes ; and the illustrated description of the Albert 

 Memorial, presented by the late Queen Victoria, with Her Majesty's 

 autograph. The collection of maps and prints of London and the 

 Suburbs is very large, and includes Ralph Agas's map, of which only 

 one other copy is known to exist ; Hollar's rare view of London 

 before the Great Fire, 1647 ; and a fine copy of the Survey of 

 Ogilby and Morgan in 1677. 



My time has almost expired, and yet there are thi'ee important 

 considerations which I should like to submit to your judgment, and 

 which deserve a much fuller treatment. I can only state them now, 

 and leave them as subjects for your individual reflection. First, 

 then, my experience convinces me that the resources of a pubhc 

 library, or indeed of literature generally, are not used by the average 

 citizen as they should be. Putting aside the learned, the profes- 

 sional, and the literary classes, people as a rule do not use books, 

 and go their way, laboriously pursuing their crafts or occupations, 

 ignorant of the great help which they might gain from those who 

 have worked at the same problems before them, and have left the 

 result of their labours in a form in which it can be of great benefit 

 to later generations. 



Secondly, the great success of the Guildhall Library, and the 

 Vol. XVIII. (No. 101) 2 i 



