As an instance of the unfortunate dispersion of the parts of valuable MSS.
through different countries, occasioned probably, in the case now to be
mentioned, by public convulsions and the wild fury of revolutionary mobs in
France, will you afford me space to quote an interesting description of a
MS. from the catalogue of a library to be sold at Paris in December next?
The MSS. and printed books in this library belonged to the eminent
bookseller J. J. De Bure, whose ancestor was the distinguished and
well-known bibliographer Guillaume de Bure. The publicity given to
descriptions like the present through the medium of "N. & Q." may
ultimately lead, on some occasions, to the scattered volumes being brought
together again, either by way of purchase, or in exchange for other works.