On Wednesday I went again but could not find the man at home. He was gone for the other sets. So I tarried till yesterday and went again and received 3 of the 8 sets. The rest are not to be had yet, the man being not returned, only his wife who gave him those three sets. So there are wanting but five sets more which are all Greeks but one. I took ’em, molds and all, and packed them up in a box and sent ’em by an Amsterdam scayte appointed to carry goods for Rotterdam. This I did, fearing the _Catherine_ yacht might sail if I tarried for the rest. At 8 o’clock last night I took scayte for Tergoes, and arrived there this morning. From thence I came hither by waggon and arrived here before 9.” The next letter, dated Rotterdam, 27th July 1710, describes his purchase more in detail, and gives particulars as to the Dutch foundries visited. “You are desirous to know whether the matrices I have bought excel those which are in the hands of the Letter Founders in England. The beauty of letter like that of faces is as people opine; but notwithstanding I had no choice, all the Romans excel what we have in England in my opinion, and I hope being well wrought, I mean cast, will gain the approbation of very handsome letters. The Italic I do not look upon to be unhandsome, though the Dutch are never very extraordinary in those. An account of the names that I think I shall give the sets I have bought is as follows: The largest size I shall distinguish by the name of _Four-line Pica_, the next by that of _French Canon_, the next by that of _Two-line Pica_; these three consist of Capitals only. The fourth size is a small _Canon Italic_, the fifth a _Two-line English_ Roman and Italic, the sixth _Great Primer_ Roman, of which I have two sets, a great face and a small one, with one Italic to them both. The seventh size is an _English_ Roman and Italic; the eighth a _Pica_, of which I have three sets Roman, and one Italic; the ninth a _Small Pica_ Roman and Italic, the tenth _Long Primer_, three sets Roman and one Italic, the eleventh, _Brevier_ Roman and Italic. Besides these I have one set of _Great Primer Greek_, one of _English Greek_, one of _Pica Greek_, one of _Brevier Greek_, as also one set of _Pica Black_ and one of _Brevier Black_ together with matrices of divers sorts of flowers useful as ornaments in printing. To which I have 15 molds. All the sizes except the three first have Capitals, small letters, double letters, figures and points, as also all the accents, amounting in the whole to the number of about 3500 matrices. As for sets of Nonpareil and Pearl, I am informed nobody in {215} this country has any but the Jew whose name is Athias.[405] Him I was with first of all, who assured me he would part with none of any size