22 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



fountain of chivalric romance earlier than the Roman of lol^" 

 (recently acquired by the Museum at the Turner sale), thouglj 

 conjectured, was unproved until the discovery of this identical 

 copy at Ferrara in 1872. There are rumours of the existence 

 of an imperfect copy, but, so far as is positively known, this 

 copy is unique. It is in splendid condition, and is a memo- 

 rable acquisition in every point of view. 



2. Even greater literary interest attaches to a very small 

 book, the " Questio florulenta ac perutilis de duobus elementis 

 aquae et terrse," Venice, 15Q8, attributed to Dante. When 

 this tract was reprinted by Torri in 1843 only two copies 

 were known, and one of them was at the time mislaid. Five 

 copies are known at present. Dante's authorship has been 

 disputed, but the work is always included in the collective 

 editions of his writings. . 



3. One of the most precious of early English books, so 

 rare that its existence has been questioned, has been obtained 

 in the first edition of Shelton's translation of Don Quixote, 

 1612. Only one other copy is certainly known at present^ 

 that in the library of Lord Ashburnham, from which, by his 

 Lordship's favour, the missing title page and first leaf have 

 been supplied in facsimile for this copy. 



4. By a remarkable coincidence, at the very time that this, 

 almost unique copy of a translation of Don Quixote was 

 purchased, the opportunity offered of acquiring one hitherto 

 absolutely unknown, the first edition of Oudin's Version of 

 the First Part, Paris,' 1614. All bibliographies state this 

 translation to have been first published in 1616, but the date 

 1614 here appears in the privilege, as well as on the title 

 page. 



5. The first extant edition of the French version of Calvin's 

 Catechism, 1549. An earlier edition, printed at Strasburg in 

 1.545, is lost. 



Purchases of miscellaneous books of early date, or otherwise 

 of special bibliographical interest, have been numerous. They 

 include : Boethius' Commentary on the Topica of Cicero, 

 printed in 1484, probably at Rome, by Oliverius Servius de 

 Tolentino, a printer who is not known to have produced any 

 other book with his name. Datus, Aliqua Documenta, Arnald- 

 us de Bruxello, Naples, 1472 ; Caraccioli's Sermones, 1473, 

 same place and printer ; the first French edition of Rodrigo 

 Sanchez de Arevalo, Le Miroir de la Vie Humaine, Lyons,. 

 1477, a book of great rarity and one of the first French books 

 with a date ; Breviarium Historiale, Poitiers, 1479, the first 

 book printed at Poitiers ; Boutillier, Somme rurale, Paris,. 

 1488 ; Cicero de Rhetorica Inventione, Zarotus, Milan, 1474 ; 

 Flors de Virtuts, Barcelona, 1495 ; Valencian Confessional, 



Valencia, 



