Edinburgh, Oct. 6. 1851.
"_Prophecies of Nostradamus_" (Vol. iv., pp. 86. 140. 258.).--J. R. says
that "the first edition of the _Prophecies of Nostradamus_ is not only
in the National Library, but in several others, both in Paris and
elsewhere." Does J. R. speak from personal observation or at
second-hand? When I was in Paris I spent some hours in searching the
catalogue and shelves of both the National Library and that of St.
Geneviève, but I could find no edition of Nostradamus dated 1555 in
either. To convince myself that my search had been accurate, I turned to
_Nostradamus_, par Eugène Bareste, Paris, 1840, and there found it
distinctly asserted that there is no copy of the first edition of the
book (viz. that of 1555) _in any public library_ in Paris, and that the
copy used in compiling that edition of 1840 was borrowed from a private
collection. I cannot give the exact words of M. Bareste, as I only made
a "Note" of their purport; but if J. R. will say upon what authority his
statement as to this rare little book is based, I will certainly some
day renew my search for it at the National Library.