Thus many married men are reduced to collecting Elzevirs, which go readily into the pocket, for you cannot smuggle a folio volume easily. This inveterate dislike of books often produces a very deplorable result when an old collector dies. His "womankind," as the Antiquary called them, sell all his treasures for the price of waste-paper, to the nearest country bookseller. It is a melancholy duty which forces one to introduce such topics into a volume on "Art at Home." But this little work will not have been written in vain if it persuades ladies who inherit books not to sell them hastily, without taking good and disinterested opinion as to their value. They often dispose of treasures worth thousands, for a ten pound note, and take pride in the bargain. Here, let history mention with due honour the paragon of her sex and the pattern to all wives of book-collecting men—Madame Fertiault. It is thus that she addresses her lord in a charming triolet ("Les Amoureux du Livre," p. xxxv):
"Le livre a ton esprit . . tant mieux!
Moi, j'ai ton coeur, et sans partage.
Puis-je désirer davantage?
Le livre a ton esprit . . tant mieux!
Heureuse de te voir joyeux,
Je t'en voudrais . . tout un étage.
Le livre a ton esprit . . tant mieux!
Moi, j'ai ton coeur, et sans partage."
