Inferior County Histories in one volume, generally 8vo, are always worth buying if they can be got for a few pence, as is often the case, for there are very few of them which are not worth as many shillings at the least. Topographical works are now being inquired for to a much greater extent than was the case several years ago, and the booksellers can dispose of almost any quantity. Such examples as are likely to be casually met with are, however, very small game; yet they represent the average amount of success likely to be achieved at one time in these days of widespread knowledge. The demand for book rarities is very great, and every hole and corner, likely and unlikely, is periodically ransacked by booksellers' "jackals," to say nothing of the army of amateurs ever on the look-out for bargains. Accident is, however, productive of occasional successes, and every man has, or may have, if he thinks proper to put it to the test, an equal chance. In addition to the ready-made bargains, which do more than anything else to delight the heart of the book lover and encourage him to further exertions, there is such a thing as playing upon popular likes and dislikes, or, in other words, speculating on the vagaries of fashion. At present the rage is for original editions of modern authors, principally those with plates, coloured or uncoloured. Some day the fashion will change, and books hitherto neglected will suddenly take their place and increase many times in value. Such books should be bought while they are cheap, and they doubtless would be if there was such a thing as a literary barometer capable of forecasting the state of the market; but there is not, and it is impossible to foretell the direction in which the mass of book lovers will turn when once they are tired of picture-books.