25 OCTOBER 1930, Page 42

• • • •

Book-lovers now and hereafter will be grateful to Mr. Seymour de Ricci for his volume on English Collectors of Book, and Manuscripts (1530-1930) and their Marks of Ownership (Cambridge University Press, 12s. 6d.). His special know- ledge of rare books and collectors is justly esteemed all the world over, and much of the information here given about recent changes of ownership could scarcely be found elsewhere in print. He describes the older collections concisely, noting where possible their owners' private marks. In the chapter on the astonishing hoards of Sir Thomas Phillipps, of which then

have been eighteen public sales, he states that there are still 20,000 MSS. in the house at Cheltenham. Mr. de Ricci mentions innumerable English libraries that have recently passed, in whole or in part, to America—mainly to the Huntington, Morgan and Folger collections. Fortunately, most of the great American collectors share their treasures with, or give them to, the public.