Page:Chats on old prints (IA chatsonoldprints00haydiala).pdf/57

 *trated edition of "Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers," have similarly met a known want. Both these works have been thus illustrated after successful unillustrated editions.

Another order of collector is the jackdaw collector, who must gather unto himself snippets of everything. It is not to be gainsaid that he derives a considerable amount of enjoyment from his hobby; but, as a rule, he skims the surface, and never arrives at the stage of specialising in any one thing. He is always on the point of arranging his collections, but never does so. He has the instinct of the collector, but lacks somewhat the discrimination of the connoisseur; he never knows what to reject.

But the ideal collector is he who approaches the subject with a love for what is beautiful. The gift of subtle appreciation of the fine arts is his from his birth. He is a man of taste whose instinct has been gradually in the process of training unknown to himself. He is light-heartedly heedless of fashionable caprice, and the worth of his own collection is a fact that he never faces. He spends all he can afford in his pilgrimage to various out-of-the-way print shops. He is always present at well-known print exhibitions, and gladly pays his shilling because he cannot help being there. The spirit of collecting is in his blood. He lingers lovingly over some rare proof beyond his means, and contents himself with something more within his means, but no less golden in quality. He mutters to himself that these printsellers are getting to know too much, and determines to probe deeper into his subject and elude their