less be recollected by men of literature, which are unknown to us; because every man's circle of acquaintance and theatre of observation differ more or less from that of his neighbour. Few individuals, we believe, would have been able by their single effort to have brought together so great a quantity of materials. The true judge will acknowledge the difficulty of our undertaking, and the variety and truth of our information; while the hypercritic will lay his finger on our faults and omissions. To those faults no man can be more conscious than ourselves; because no man can reasonably be supposed, to have thought upon our general subject with constant attention, for so long a time.
Desirous of gratifying the inquisitiveness of the curious, so far as to gratify it was innocent and practicable, we have not made our Catalogue the vehicle of scandal; for we were willing, as much as possible, to avoid
