The ‘Christianismi Restitutio’ of Michael Servetus is one of the rarest books in the world. Of the thousand copies known to have been printed, two only are now known to survive; one of these being among the treasures of the National Library of Paris, the other among those of the Imperial and Royal Library of Vienna. The history of both of these copies, curiously enough, is complete from rather a remote date, and it is somewhat provoking to know that both of them were once in this country; but bigotry sent the one, and want of religious sympathy, presumably, suffered the other to leave our shores. The Paris copy certainly belonged to Dr. Richard Mead, the distinguished physician and medallist, who lived in the reign of Queen Anne, and is believed, before it came into Mead’s possession, to have formed part of the Library of the Landgrave of Kur-Hesse. How it got dissevered from this is not known. It was probably stolen and brought to England as to a sure market. Mead, liberal in politics and presumably in religion also, appears to have felt so much interest in Servetus’ work, not only by reason of the physiological matter it contained, but because of the free spirit of inquiry it breathed, that he was minded to have it reprinted and made generally accessible. He had accordingly got half-way with a new and handsome edition of the work in 4to. form, so far back as the year 1723, when his purpose reached the ears of Gibson, the then Bishop of London. Alarmed at the idea of light being let in on the world that had not been strained through the haze of Episcopalian orthodoxy, Gibson addressed himself immediately to the Censor of the Press for an injunction; and at his instance and order the impression, so far as it had gone, was seized, adjudged heretical, and publicly burned. A few copies of the reprint, however, must have escaped the conflagration, of which one is now in the Library of the London Medical Society. This I have had an opportunity of examining, and find that there wanted but little to have completed the most essential part of the work, the last page printed being the first of the chapter entitled ‘De Justitia Regni Christi.’