58 MEMOIR OF AUGUSTUS DE MORGAN. 



1832. With his keen interest in books and their history Mr. 



De Morgan had a great love for collecting rare or ancient 

 ones. His little library was begun soon after he left 

 Cambridge, and the Theon, Aratus and Euclid, of which 

 he so much enjoyed the reading, were among the first he 

 bought, and are now with his other books in the library 

 of the University of London, in Burlington House. 1 I 

 have heard him say that he never laid out a shilling on a 

 book which was not repaid with interest, even as a money 

 transaction, from the use he made of the purchase. Had 

 he been rich his collection would have been very large 

 and valuable, but he was soon obliged to deny himself the 

 luxury of buying, except the chance treasures which fell 

 in his way at bookstalls. The first English book which 

 he bought when a boy was ' The Pilgrim's Progress.' His 

 researches in bibliography, which afterwards resulted in 

 the ' Arithmetical Books,' the ' Budget of Paradoxes,' and 

 many of the tracts, date from the time of his beginning to 

 collect. 



Visitors to the University Library, who take down any 

 of these works from the shelves, will almost certainly light 

 upon some of the numerous marginal notes and illustra- 

 tions, serious or otherwise, with which their former owner 

 embellished them. The fly-leaves and insides of the covers 

 are decorated with pictures from periodicals, notably Punch, 

 and other collectanea, always having some reference to 

 the contents of the work, although, to those unacquainted 

 with the peculiarities of Mr. De Morgan's mind and style, 

 the appropriateness of some of them may not at once 

 appear obvious. 



M. Ha- M. Hachette, the French mathematician, whom Mr. 



De Morgan had visited in his stay at Paris two years 



1 This Institution must not be confused with University College, 

 Gower Street. The University of London is for granting degrees 

 only. It was founded in 1836. The books were bought of me, after 

 my husband's death, and presented to the University by Lord Over- 

 stone. 



