I suppose, Monseigneur, it will not appear unreasonable that I give the title of a thing unheard of to this discourse---which I present to you with as much affection as your favor and the service which I owe you oblige me to do,---since it is certain that of the almost infinite number of men who have taken pen in hand there has not yet been one, to my knowledge, whose advice a man might follow concerning the choice of books, the means of procuring them, and the arranging of them in the most useful and attractive manner for a handsome and stately library.