James Lenox" that it is best to quote his account in
full:--
"For nearly ten years Mr. Lenox had entertained a longing de
to possess a perfect copy of 'The Bay Psalm Book.' He gave me to
understand that if an opportunity occurred of securing a copy for him I
might go as far as one hundred guineas. Accordingly from 1847 till his
death, six years later, my good friend William Pickering and I put our
heads and book-hunting forces together to run down this rarity. The
only copy we knew of on this side the Atlantic was a spotless one in
the Bodleian Library, which had lain there unrecognized for ages, and
even in the printed catalogue of 1843 its title was recorded without
distinction among the common herd of Psalms in verse. I had handled it
several times with great reverence, and noted its many peculiar points,
but, as agreed with Mr. Pickering, without making any sign or imparting
any information to our good and obliging friend Dr. Bandinel, Bodley's
Librarian. We thought that when we had secured a copy for oursel
it would be time enough to acquaint the learned Doctor that he was
entertaining unawares this angel of the New World.
"Under these circumstances, therefore, only an experienced collector
can judge of my surprise and inward satisfaction, when on the 12
January, 1855, at Sotheby's, at one of the sales of Pickering's stock,
after untying parcel after parcel to see what I might chance to see,
and keeping ahead of the auctioneer, Mr.
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