He made a list of them, which I found afterwards in the cottage.
In the list, No. 43 was `Cotarmouris,' or the Boke of St. Albans. The
old fellow was something of a herald, and drew in his books what he held
to be his coat. After his death, all that could be stuffed into a large
chest were put away in a garret; but a few favourites, and the `Boke'
among them remained on the kitchen shelves for years, till his son's widow
grew so `stalled' of dusting them that she determined to sell them.
Had she been in poverty, I should have urged the buyer, Stark,
the duty of giving her a small sum out of his great gains."
Such chances as this do not fall to a man's lot twice; but Edmond
Werdet relates a story very similar indeed, and where also the "plums"
fell into the lap of a London dealer.
In 1775, the Recollet Monks of Antwerp, wishing to make a reform, examined
their library, and determined to get rid of about 1,500 volumes--some
manuscript and some printed, but all of which they considered as old
rubbish of no value.
At first they were thrown into the gardener's rooms; but, after some
months, they decided in their wisdom to give the whole refuse to the
gardener as a recognition of his long services.
This man, wiser in his generation than these simple fathers,
took the lot to M.
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