THE name of John Payne Collier has been so long known to all those persons who take an interest in literature, that the recent sale of the first portion of the books and manuscripts which had belonged to the editor of “Shakespeare” by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, was certain to excite much attention. The second portion of the library is reserved for a future sale. Of those just sold, the more interesting lots were: Ballads, &c., an interesting manuscript of the seventeenth century, including a period of about sixty years, a most curious collection of ballads, quotations from Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Sir W. Raleigh, and summary of its contents by J. P. Collier, who gave Hoope £25 for the volume--£52 (Quaritch); Cartwright (W.), Comedies, &c., portrait by Lombart, manuscript note by J. P. Collier, with the rare cancelled leaves “On the Queen’s Return from the Low Countries,” and the uncancelled leaves on the same, £5 15s. (Quaritch); Cibber (C.), “Tony Aston’s Brief Supplement to C. Cibber, his lives, &c., notes by Collier, extremely rare--£2 15s. (Westell); Collier, J. P., Punch and Judy coloured etchings by G. Cruikshank, notes by author among others--“The plates in this volume were coloured by Cruikshank; he gave it to me”--£5 10s.; Collier, J. P., “Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare’s Plays,” with a great mass of manuscripts, notes by Collier, 1853--£40 15s. (A. R. Smith); Cruikshank, 24 illustrations of “Punch and Judy,” India proofs, with a portrait of the artist himself etched at the bottom of one of the plates, and a view on another, &c., S. Prowett, 1828--£19 5s. (Richardson); Baxter (N.), Sir P. Sydney’s “Ourania,” autograph signature, and manuscript corrections by author, 1606--£9. (Stevens); Collier, J. P., “History of English Dramatic Poetry,” profusely illustrated by rare portraits, autograph letters, and manuscript notes by Collier, 1879--£59 (Stevens); Collier, J. P., “An Old Man’s Diary Forty Years Ago,” 1832-33, only 25 copies printed, illustrated like the last named, 1871-72--£150. (B. F. Stevens); Cooperi, T., “Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ,” “This book before it was rebound belonged to John Milton, as is testified in his own handwriting in more than 1,500 places,” manuscript note by Collier--£3 11s. (Quaritch); “Miltoni pro Populo Anglicano Defensio,” with autograph of O. Cromwell--£8 15s. (Quaritch); Shakespeare’s works, 1844-53, Mr. Collier’s working copy, manuscript notes, and letters from his friend--£10 (Ellis); Peckham, Sir G., “A True Reporte of the late Discoveries, &c., of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Kt.,” very curious and rare, John Charlewood for John Hinde, 1583, and many other rare tracts, in one volume, with manuscript notes by Collier--£210 (Quaritch). The entire proceeds of the sale were a little over £2,100. Antiquarian Correspondence. Sin scire labores, Quære, age: quærenti pagina nostra patet.