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Article CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF THE DUMP PHILOSOPHER. ← Page 2 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Dump Philosopher.
a custom I never-indulged myself in , but that I could pass my time very agreeably in his garden . Upon this , he took a key out of his pocket , and , giving it me , ordered a servant to conduct me into his library , ' where , said he , ' you may probably find something to divert you until I have taken my nap . ' I followed the servant , full of expectation , and overjoyed to a degree beyond expression one pair of stairs where I was let into a gal ,-
, up , lery , about twenty-five feet broad , which toolc the whole breadth of the house , on that side next the garden , and had a large balcony that commanded a view ofthe whole . The front of this story , I found , was divided into several lodging-rooms , handsomely furnished , and over it was only an attic story , for servants . The dark side of the which friend had chosen for his librarywas wholly
gallery , my , , taken up with shelves for books , disposed in the most regular and beautiful manner I ever saw , in different classes , according to their languages , and the subjects they treated of ; and 1 found two catalogues , an alp habetical and a classical one , fairly transcribed , and ly ing on a table . A handsome cornice run along the top of the whole , in a straig ht line , under which were curtain-rods , bearing Above tne cornice
green silk curtains , from one end to the other . were placed fine bustos of the most learned men among the ancients and moderns ; and on the edges of some of the shelves were fastened all the curious medals , struck to the honour of men of learning , which he had been able to procure . At each end ofthe gallery , and against the p iers , beiwixt the windows , on the opposite side , were several boards repositoriescontaining great variety of the most
cup , or , curious and scarce things in art and nature , and handsomely embellished with proper mottosand devices . Some were filled with fossils , some with petrified fish , others with beautiful insefts , and again others were set apart for letters , manuscripts , and other papers . Of these latter , I observed two in particular , one filled with foreign letters and papers , and the other . with inland . They had each their different subjefts
several divisions , which were destined for as many , as , - I . Philosophical ; 2 . Critical ; 3 . Political ; and so on ;' and these again had ' their proper subdivisions , by which it was easy to find whatever was wanted . The middle pier was looking-glass , from top to bottom ; and in the , middle ofthe uppermost part , which was arched , I observed the following words in golden letters : reddo non facid , which I thought was as applicable to my friend ' s character as
¦ to the glass . "In the middle of each end ofthe gallery were two large repositories , in which were ranged , in an agreeable manner , great numbers ot curious ' mathematical , astronomical , and even chirurgical instruments , with which , likewise , several other parts ofthe gallery were decorated ; and , ' that no room might be lost , the very deling-hung full of one rarity of ' other . I observed that one ofthe large repositories ^ just now mentioned was chiefly filled with instruments ( the product , probablv , ' of very distant regions ) to the use of which I was an uttei stranger . Of these , as occasion shall offer , I may perhaps , hereafter ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Dump Philosopher.
a custom I never-indulged myself in , but that I could pass my time very agreeably in his garden . Upon this , he took a key out of his pocket , and , giving it me , ordered a servant to conduct me into his library , ' where , said he , ' you may probably find something to divert you until I have taken my nap . ' I followed the servant , full of expectation , and overjoyed to a degree beyond expression one pair of stairs where I was let into a gal ,-
, up , lery , about twenty-five feet broad , which toolc the whole breadth of the house , on that side next the garden , and had a large balcony that commanded a view ofthe whole . The front of this story , I found , was divided into several lodging-rooms , handsomely furnished , and over it was only an attic story , for servants . The dark side of the which friend had chosen for his librarywas wholly
gallery , my , , taken up with shelves for books , disposed in the most regular and beautiful manner I ever saw , in different classes , according to their languages , and the subjects they treated of ; and 1 found two catalogues , an alp habetical and a classical one , fairly transcribed , and ly ing on a table . A handsome cornice run along the top of the whole , in a straig ht line , under which were curtain-rods , bearing Above tne cornice
green silk curtains , from one end to the other . were placed fine bustos of the most learned men among the ancients and moderns ; and on the edges of some of the shelves were fastened all the curious medals , struck to the honour of men of learning , which he had been able to procure . At each end ofthe gallery , and against the p iers , beiwixt the windows , on the opposite side , were several boards repositoriescontaining great variety of the most
cup , or , curious and scarce things in art and nature , and handsomely embellished with proper mottosand devices . Some were filled with fossils , some with petrified fish , others with beautiful insefts , and again others were set apart for letters , manuscripts , and other papers . Of these latter , I observed two in particular , one filled with foreign letters and papers , and the other . with inland . They had each their different subjefts
several divisions , which were destined for as many , as , - I . Philosophical ; 2 . Critical ; 3 . Political ; and so on ;' and these again had ' their proper subdivisions , by which it was easy to find whatever was wanted . The middle pier was looking-glass , from top to bottom ; and in the , middle ofthe uppermost part , which was arched , I observed the following words in golden letters : reddo non facid , which I thought was as applicable to my friend ' s character as
¦ to the glass . "In the middle of each end ofthe gallery were two large repositories , in which were ranged , in an agreeable manner , great numbers ot curious ' mathematical , astronomical , and even chirurgical instruments , with which , likewise , several other parts ofthe gallery were decorated ; and , ' that no room might be lost , the very deling-hung full of one rarity of ' other . I observed that one ofthe large repositories ^ just now mentioned was chiefly filled with instruments ( the product , probablv , ' of very distant regions ) to the use of which I was an uttei stranger . Of these , as occasion shall offer , I may perhaps , hereafter ,