THE BRIC-A-BRAC COLLECTOR. By H. W. Lewer, F.S.A., and Maciver
Percival. (Herbert Jenkins. 7s. 6d. net.)
All who have the collector's temperament will find themselves very pleasantly tempted and encouraged by the reading of this little book. The illustrations are liberal in number and excellent in quality and choice of subject, the text informing and well written, the index complete. It is not surprising that the authors linger affectionately over the engaging tnnketry (a word, by the way, of honourable Sanskrit ancestry) of the Eighteenth Century—we, ourselves, should have loved a sight of Mr. Charles Lilhe's " Toy Shop" as described in the contemporary Taller and Spectator :— " He is a person of a particular genius, the first that brought • (1) Hamlet. Decorated by John Austen. London : Selwyn and Blount. [258. net.)---(2) Perrault', Peary Tales. With Decorations by John Austen. Same pub- lisher. [5s. net.]—(3) The Fairy Take of Perrault. Illustrated by Harry Clarke. London : Harrap. [158. net. 4) Once Upon a Time. By Charles Perrault, Pictured by Helen Sinclair. Loixion Daniel O'Connor. [Ga. net.j toys into fashion, and bawbles to perfection. He is admirably well versed in screws, springs and hinges, and deeply read in knives, combs or scissors, buttons or buckles. He is a perfect master of Words, which, uttered with a smooth, voluble tongue, flow into a persuasive eloquence : insomueh, that I have known a gentleman of distinction find several ingenious faults with a toy of his, and show his utmost dislike of it, as being useless or ill-contrived ; but when the orator behind the counter had harangued upon it for an hour and a half, displayed its hidden beauties, and revealed its secret perfections, he has wondered how he has been able to spend so great a part of his life without so important a utensil. I will not pretend to furnish out, an inventory of all the valuable commodities that are to be found at his shop."
Mr. Lillie still has his counterparts in Bond Street, but they do not sell such pretty toys as he did, though their wares are often quite as useless and sometimes even as beautifully made. According to Steele, " Lillie's tweezer cases are incomparable—you shall have one—not much bigger than your finger, with seventeen several instruments in it, all necessary every hour of the day, during the whole course of a man's life.' No doubt supply is still creating demands quite as strange, as the Christmas shopping lists will soon be reminding us.
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