“The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Edward Gibbon, Esq. In Twelve Volumes. Vol. I. A New Edition. London. Printed for Lackington, Allen, and Co., W. Stride, R. Scholey, and G. Cowie and Co., London; and for P. Hill, Doig and Stirling, and Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. 1815. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co.” Many editions of this great history have since been printed at Paul’s Work; one of the latest, in six volumes, for the “World’s Classics,” in 1904. * * * * * “The City of the Plague and other Poems, by John Wilson, author of ‘The Isle of Palms,’ &c. Second Edition. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for Archibald Constable and Company, Edinburgh; John Smith and Son, Glasgow; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London. 1817.” “The Isle of Palms” was published in 1812, and the first edition of “The City of the Plague” in 1816. * * * * * The Bannatyne Club and its books took their initiative from George Bannatyne, a merchant of Edinburgh, who, during a time of great pestilence in 1568, retired to a secluded house in Forfarshire, and there employed his enforced leisure in making a collection of old Scottish poetry, which might otherwise have perished. “Bannatyne’s manuscript,” says Scott, in a Memoir written for the Club, “is in folio form, containing upwards of eight hundred pages, very neatly and closely written; and designed, as has been supposed, to be sent to press.” Allan Ramsay borrowed from it the specimens of old verse which appeared in his “Evergreen,” a Collection of Scots Poems, which he published in 1724; Lord Hailes issued another selection in 1770; and in 1772 the manuscript was presented to the Advocates’ Library by the Earl of Hyndford. In 1822 the Club was instituted for “the publication of substantial volumes illustrative of the history, antiquities, and general literature of Scotland.” Sir Walter Scott became president, and regularly took the chair at its annual meetings from 1823 till 1831. During the period of its existence till 1861, the Club published no fewer than 116 volumes, many of them printed at Paul’s Work. They were all deemed of value, and one complete set was sold in 1887 for £235. The membership at first consisted of thirty-one, but, owing to the desire of many persons of rank and literary distinction to join, it was gradually increased to one hundred in 1828, when it made a final pause. At the first annual dinner of the Club, on March 9, 1823, Scott wrote a song for the occasion to the tune of “One Bottle More,” several verses hitting off the foibles of various bibliophiles. This song was sung by James Ballantyne, and heartily chorused by the company. Three verses are here given:—