LOWNDES (W. T.) The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature, containing an account of Rare, Curious, and Useful Books, published in or Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, from the Invention of Printing; with Bibliographical and Critical Notices, Collations of the Rarer Articles, and the Prices at which they have been sold in this Present Century. By William Thomas Lowndes. 4 vols., 8vo, pp. xii, 2002. _London: William Pickering._ MDCCCXXXIV. First published as a serial; Part 1. is dated 1828. Invaluable to the collector or librarian. The type of this is larger than that of the following edition: LOWNDES. [Same Title.] New Edition, Revised, Corrected and Enlarged, By Henry G. Bohn. 6 vols., 8vo, pp. 2746. _London: Henry G. Bohn._ 1857-69. Issued in eleven parts, each of which contains some preliminary, explanatory, or exculpatory notice by Mr. Bohn. It is much to be regretted that the earlier part of the work does not include the same ratio of additions as the later, and book-collectors, in general, would have been pleased to pay a higher price for a handsomer book. Mr. Bohn's name as editor did not appear on the first title to Vol. 1. Power remarks "A good guide to Mr. Bohn's various reprints and 'Libraries,' and the appendix is a carefully-compiled list of the publications of the Book-printing Clubs, the private presses, such as Strawberry Hill, Lee Priory, &c., and the rare reprints of Collier, Halliwell, Maidment, Turnbull, and others. _The Bibliographer's Manual_ is a work which, for want of a better, no English book-lover can do without. The first edition has the advantage of Mr. Bohn's, being printed in more legible type." Later issues bear the name of _Bell & Daldy_ as publishers. In 1869, two hundred and fifty copies were printed on large paper, in 6 vols., cr. 8vo. The statement that one hundred copies were printed on large paper, which appears on that number of copies which were sent to America, is, to say the least, an abbreviation of the truth. Mr. Bohn's eleven prefatory notices, which to some extent explain the nature and extent of his labors, have been omitted in the large paper copies, both editions being in other respects exactly the same. There is no substitute for _The Bibliographer's Manual_; undertaken originally to supply an obvious desideratum felt by all readers and book-buyers, it forms at once a key to the riches of English literature for the student, and a guide in the formation of a library for the collector. In its present enlarged form it comprises notices of upwards of one hundred thousand distinct books published in Great Britain and Ireland, but it is susceptible of much improvement.