FEW BOOK-BUYERS, comparatively, are aware of the facility with which a GOOD LIBRARY may be completed at a very small cost. At the various Auction Sales which are held in New York through the winter, often entire libraries, well selected by persons of mature judgment, are distributed to all parts of the United States. Thus, new buyers are enabled to profit by the experience of others, and at the same time make such selections as they think best. For the better co-operation in this plan, the Subscriber proposes to forward, by mail,

Catalogues of all Sales

that take place in NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, or BOSTON, and RECEIVE ORDERS TO PURCHASE.

To cover the actual expense of postage, which is required to be prepaid, he will hereafter charge the small amount of One Dollar per annum, which will not only cover the expense of all Auction Catalogues, but also of

English, French, and German SECOND-HAND BOOK LISTS,

a full supply of which will be regularly mailed, and orders from which will be carefully attended to. Any gentleman forwarding One Dollar, in stamps or otherwise, may feel assured of receiving a satisfactory supply of Catalogues for one year. The Subscriber has been compelled to adopt this plan, from the great increase of his correspondence, and the necessity of somewhat limiting the supply of Catalogues.

Parties replying to this notice will please send their address in full.

CHARLES B. NORTON,

Agent for Libraries, Irving Building, New York.

Earl Rivers presenting his Book, and Caxton, his printer, to Edward IV., the Queen, and Prince. From a curious MS. in the Archb shop's Library, at Lambeth. The portrait of the Prince (afterwards Edward V.) is the only one known of him, and has been engraved by Vertue among the Heads of the Kings. The person in a cap and robe of state is probably Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as he resembles the King, and as Clarence was always too great an enemy of the Queen to be distinguished by her brother. The book was printed in 1477, when Clarence was in Ireland; and in the beginning of the next year he was murdered.

The Game and Playe of the Chesse.

ON our last Number of the Literary Letter, we gave a fac-simile specimen of the Biblia Pauperum, being the first or very nearly the first book printed on the continent of Europe, and

the first book printed in England, being "The Game and Playe of the Chesse," printed by the renowned William Caxton, a few particulars of whose life, gleaned from various sources, here follow:

William Caxton, one cf those imperishable names which shed a glory on the land of their birth, was born in the Weald of Kent, that southern portion of one of England's most celebrated counties, in or about the year 1410. Having served an apprenticeship to a mercer, he was afterwards employed by the Mercers' Company as their agent in the Netherlands, a position he filled with so much talent and integrity, during the long period of twenty-three years, that he was chosen as the fittest person to negotiate a commercial treaty between Edward IV. and the Duke of Burgundy. He subsequently entered the service of the celebrated Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, the sister of Edward IV. During his varied career he had acquired the art of printing; and in compliance with the wishes of his illustrious patroness, he translated from the French of Raoul le Fevre, "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye," and printed it in 1471, at Cologne. This is the earliest typographical production in the English language, and is now so scarce that at the Roxburghe sale a copy of it sold for £1,060. Caxton continued to exercise his new vocation for about twenty years, during which time he produced between fifty and sixty volumes, for the most part composed or translated by himself. His books are printed upon a sort of vellum paper, and the errors of the press are corrected in red ink with his own hand; what are technically called "errata " being then unknown. The year of Caxton's return to England is uncertain, but must have been previous to 1474, as he then had a press in Westminster Abbey, from whence issued the first book executed in that country, viz., "The Game and Playe of the Chesse." Caxton continued his labors throughout his life, and is supposed to have died about 1492; and was interred, according to some, in Campden, Glamorganshire, whilst other state that his remains were deposited in St. Margaret's, Westminster.

The life of Caxton has been written by the Rev. John Lewis, Minister of Margate, in Kent, London, 1737, one volume, large octavo; the reader may also consult Middleton's Dissertation on the Origin of Printing in England. "The Game of the Chesse" contains a description of the Pieces and Pawns, with twenty-four woodcuts, eight of which are repetitions of the others. The following is a correct list of these early production of English art:

1. An executioner with an ax, cutting to pieces on a block the limbs of a man. On the head, which is lying on the ground, there is a crown. Birds are seen seizing and flying away with portions of the limbs. There are buildings in the distance, and three figures, one of whom is a king, with a crown and scepter, appear looking on. 2. A figure sitting at a table with a chess-board before him, and holding one of the chess-men in his hand. This is the cut which Dr. Dibdin says is the first in the book. 3. A king and another person playing at chess. (This is the one here given in fac simile.) 4. The King at chess, seated on a throne. 5. The King and Queen. 6. The Alphyns," now called "Bishops," in the game of chess, "in the manner of judges sittyng." 7. The Knight. 8. The "Rook," or Castle, a figure on horseback, wearing a hood, and holding a staff in his hand. From No. 9 to No. 15, inclusive, the Pawns are represented as follows: Laborers and workmen; the principal figure, representing the first Pawn, with a spade in his right hand, and a cart-whip in his left. 10. The second Pawn, a smith with his buttriss in the string of his apron, and a hammer in his right hand. 11. The third Pawn, represented as a clerk,—that is, a writer or transcriber, in the same sense as Peter Scheffer and Ulric Zell are styled clerici,— with his case of writing materials at his girdle, a pair of shears in one hand, and a large knife in the other. 12. The fourth Pawn, a man with a pair of scales, and having a purse at his girdle, representing "marchauntes or chaungers." 13. The fifth Pawn, a figure seated on a chair, hav