Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/206

 The first of many editions of Dr. Cobham Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" was published in 1870. To this industrious, if not meticulously accurate compiler a room was assigned in the Yard. "He gave constant evidence," wrote Bonavia Hunt, "that he thoroughly enjoyed his work, and became quite pensive and sentimental when his allotted task was done. He bequeathed to me the china inkstand, of fountain pattern, which he had used in his work; and I kept it in affectionate memory of our editorial intercourse, using it myself until the day of my departure from the scene of our mutual labours, more than thirty years afterwards. That so fragile a memento should have escaped destruction all those years is a testimony to the careful handling of many generations of office boys." This book is known all the world over, and so long ago as 1897, when Dr. Brewer died, it had gone through twenty-five editions.

Another notable work of reference, "Cassell's Book of Quotations," narrowly escaped untimely extinction. The author, Mr. W. Gurney Benham, thus relates the story of its adventures:

"It took me over twenty years to compile the book—not twenty years of incessant toil, but of continuous research and application extending over that period. Its origin was simply the frequent consultation of other compilations and finding them wanting—excellent and interesting as they were in other ways. It was with no thought of publication that I began to collect and compile. The original notion was simply to have a collection at hand for my own personal use, and to ransack those authors whose works I happened to possess. Towards the end of 1896 the book was nearly finished. The manuscript stood nearly 5 feet high, and when I calculated what it meant in print I wondered whether any firm of publishers would take more than one hasty look at it. From the first I had thought of only one firm, that of Cassell & Company. To them I broke the news as gently as I could in an insidious letter. Mr. James A. Manson, then Editor-in-Chief, invited me to submit the manuscript. When I brought it to La Belle Sauvage in a cab, and when it had been carried by the strong men of the establishment into Mr. Manson's office, I could see that it was a shock