her Books, which were ranged together in a very beautiful
Order. At the End of the Folios (which
were finely bound and gilt) were great Jars of China
placed one above another in a very noble Piece of Architecture.
The Quartos were separated from the Octavos
by a Pile of smaller Vessels, which rose in a [delightful[1]]
Pyramid. The Octavos were bounded by Tea
Dishes of all Shapes Colours and Sizes, which were
so disposed on a wooden Frame, that they looked like
one continued Pillar indented with the finest Strokes
of Sculpture, and stained with the greatest Variety
of Dyes. That Part of the Library which was designed
for the Reception of Plays and Pamphlets, and other
loose Papers, was enclosed in a kind of Square, consisting
of one of the prettiest Grotesque Works that ever
I saw, and made up of Scaramouches, Lions, Monkies,
Mandarines, Trees, Shells, and a thousand other odd
Figures in China Ware. In the midst of
the Room was a little Japan Table, with a Quire of
gilt Paper upon it, and on the Paper a Silver Snuff-box
made in the Shape of a little Book. I found there
were several other Counterfeit Books upon the upper
Shelves, which were carved in Wood, and served only
to fill up the Number, like Fagots in the muster of
a Regiment. I was wonderfully pleased with such
a mixt kind of Furniture, as seemed very suitable
both to the Lady and the Scholar, and did not know
at first whether I should fancy my self in a Grotto,
or in a Library.
Upon my looking into the Books, I found there were some few which the Lady had bought for her own use, but that most of them had been got together, either because she had heard them praised, or because she had seen the Authors of them. Among several that I examin’d, I very well remember these that follow. [2]
Ogleby’s Virgil. Dryden’s Juvenal. Cassandra. Cleopatra. Astraea. Sir Isaac Newton’s Works. The Grand Cyrus: With a Pin stuck in one of the middle Leaves. Pembroke’s Arcadia. Locke of Human Understanding: With a Paper of Patches in it. A Spelling-Book. A Dictionary for the Explanation of hard Words. Sherlock upon Death. The fifteen Comforts of Matrimony. Sir William Temptle’s Essays. Father Malbranche’s Search after Truth, translated into English. A Book of Novels. The Academy of Compliments. Culpepper’s Midwifry. The Ladies Calling. Tales in Verse by Mr. Durfey: Bound in Red Leather, gilt on the
Back, and doubled down in several Places.
All the Classick Authors in Wood. A set of Elzevers by the same Hand. Clelia: Which opened of it self in the Place that describes two
Lovers in a Bower.
Baker’s Chronicle. Advice to a Daughter. The New Atalantis, with a Key to it. Mr. Steel’s Christian Heroe. A Prayer Book: With a Bottle of Hungary Water by the side of it. Dr.