R-ch--rds-n. Since copies he hath publish'd fair, Of prints unique and portraits rare ; To satisfy Collector's itch, And make blank leaves of Granger rich : To turn up snout at sight of copies; And in his Granger mighty huffer, Must ev'ry niggard thought unbend, Yet let him squander what he will, One third of Granger he can't fill, Wherefore one page in ev'ry three, Alas! a yawning blank must be (c). John Hotham, with a string of others too numerous for insertion in the present volume. (e) Every individual possessing the slightest knowledge of R-ch-rds-n. Our R-ch-rds-n in rostrum well, On lot that's choice knows how to dwell (d): His mind is honest---nature good, Yet sometimes, be it understood, He can grow hot like other men, And woe betide his carcase then, For me, I would not for a dollar: Witness when once at fam'd Knock-Out (e), illustrating Granger's Biographical History, must allow the justice of the above remark, for so numerous have been the collectors for this work, that the market is completely cleared of portraits possessing any claim to scarcity, independent of which such heads as are procurable have more than quadrupled their value within the last twenty years. (d) It gave me great pleasure to find R-ch-rds-n was the auctioneer selected to catalogue and dispose of the collections of R-ch-rdsn. When former dubbing latter oaf, Hurl'd quick at sconce a quartern loaf, In rueful contact, Gr-v-'s, poor coddle, Sir William Musgrave and Mr. Tighe, as they no doubt proved extremely lucrative to the vender. (e) As the present term may not be generally understood, I shall in the most laconic way possible explain this chicanery of the printselling trade. When a Knock Out is decided upon by a select number of printsellers, it is agreed between them that whoever begins bidding for any lot is not to be opposed by the others leagued of the party; wherefore as all competitorship is thus in a great measure done away, the property falls an easy prey to the junto, and thus the poor proprietor is fleeced of half the sum his prints would have produced had every dealer acted honourably. The sale being over, these honest gentlemen repair with their lots to an adjoining ale-house, where they resell the property among themselves, which is technically termed knocking out, and whatsoever additional sum is thus acquired, this gracious set expend upon beef steaks and a copious booze. R-ch-rds-n. In house with head bound up had been, So dire is passion-naughty sin (f). Yet plain I'll speak and prove commender, Had old minx Fortune acted fair, And for deserts dealt out due share; From trade ere this he had been steering, Nor still prov❜d Knight of Auctioneering. And such reward he merits well, And would have tasted, if foul spell, Had not entrapp'd him in the net, By wily Scottish cunning set (g): (f) The foregoing couplets being sufficiently explanatory of the event in question, it only remains for me to assure the reader that the circumstance may be relied upon as a matter of fact, which neither of the parties if applied to could have the effrontery to deny. (g) Master J—knny of Noble Author renown, was by no means 1 Chr-st-e. Which hath inveigl'd many more, As I'll rehearse in rhyming lore, Ere Chalcographian race is run, In classics vers'd, with manners meek, backward in letting R-ch-rds-n into a good thing, whose pocket has smarted to the tune of several hundreds, by the preda tory incursions of our Northern Adventurer. (h) The personage now before us, who owes his origin to a very expert parent, is the most classical of our auctioneering fraternity, having been gifted with scholastic education, that has inducted him to a knowledge of the Greek and Roman writers. As a E |