James Dodsley, the printer of our charming volumes, was the younger brother of Robert, with whom, as _R. & J. Dodsley_, he was for some time a partner, until, in 1759, he became the sole proprietor of the house. He lacked the elder man's energy, but he carried on an extensive and profitable business. He is said to have paid Percy 100 guineas for the first edition of the _Reliques_--not a very large sum for such a work. Pickford tells us, however, that "as the _Reliques_ became popular, and as other editions were in request, so did the sums paid to Percy increase; and best of all, the book attracted the notice of those in a high class, in whose power it was to forward and promote the interests of the editor." Whatever the basis of his relations with Dodsley, we have his own word for it that when the third edition was published he "had no share in the property of the impression." Those "in a high class" promoted our author from one thing to another, until, as Granger had hoped he would do, "he found himself sung into a throne," a reward quite as much to his mind, no doubt, as anything Dodsley could have arranged. It is only fair to say that few authors of the period were better served by their publisher than Percy was by his in the matter of typography. The ornament used is also especially good. A frontispiece to the first volume, surmounted by the inscription, "Non Omnis Moriar," and representing a harper delighting an audience, is signed by Samuel Wale, who was chiefly employed in designing vignettes and illustrations for books. He had studied with Francis Hayman, a printer and maker of illustrations, who, with N. Blakey, was employed by Messrs. Knapton and Dodsley to execute the first series of historical prints designed by Englishmen. The plate was engraved by Charles Grignion, or Grignon, a pupil of Gravelot and Le Bas, who, like Wale, was much employed by publishers. Together they illustrated a large number of books; but the charm of their work seems to be chiefly due to Grignion. The vignettes, with the motto "Durat Opus Vatum" on the title-pages and the head- and tail-pieces, though unsigned, were evidently designed and engraved by the same hands. There are three parts to each volume, and each part begins and ends with a copper-plate engraving illustrative of a ballad. The head-pieces refer to the first ballad in the book, but the tail-pieces have legends showing where the poem is found. On page 24 of the second volume, the following note is attached to the poem "For the Victory of Agincourt": "This ſong or hymn is given meerly as a curioſity, and is printed from a MS copy in the Pepys collection, vol. I. folio. It is there accompanied with the muſical notes, which are copied in a ſmall plate at the end of this volume."