When I wrote a memorandum on James Wilson, in reply to the query of professor DE MORGAN, I stated that the united libraries of Pemberton and Wilson were sold in 1772. _It was guess-work._
I recollected that the two libraries were sold in conjunction, but could not recollect the date. On consulting the printed _List of the original catalogues_ of libraries sold by auction by Mr. Baker and his successors in the years 1744-1828, which was issued by the firm in the latter year, the date appeared to be 1757. With that evidence, I penned a short comment on the remarkable circumstance of the two learned friends resolving to dispose of their libraries at the same time, on their surviving the separation from their beloved books for fourteen years, and on their dying within about six months of each other.
Some undefinable suspicions arose in my mind at this point of the inquiry. Now, the original sale catalogue is in existence, and accessible on proper application. I examined it. The sale commenced on _Monday, February the 24th_. The year 1757 is added in _manuscript_; and, since Pemberton and Wilson are described as _lately deceased_, it is an undoubted error. So I tore up my sentimental scrap, leaving the fragments on the table for the benefit of autograph collectors, and replaced it with the six lines which conclude my reply. On reaching home, I turned to the _Chronology of history_: the dominical letter was just what I wished it to be! The _Book of almanacs_ added to my comfortable sensations.
On a re-examination of my notes, it appeared that the united libraries were sold by Baker and Leigh. Now, according to the above-described _List of catalogues_, the partnership between Baker and Leigh did not take place till 1775. The phrase _lately deceased_, applied to Pemberton and Wilson, is not very precise; the sale, however, must have been after 1774. Resolved to pursue the inquiry, I examined a copy of the catalogue in the royal library in the British Museum. It is bound with the catalogue of the library of Edward Stanley, Esq., secretary to the customs, which was sold in February 1776, and follows it. The volume is lettered 1776. As the libraries of Pemberton and Wilson were to be _viewed on Monday the 17th_, I turned to that day in the Stanley sale; it was _Monday the 17th_. This seemed to prove that the two collections were sold in the same year. Chronology says otherwise: the _Monday the 17th_ of the Stanley catalogue is an error of the printer; and the lettering, with regard to Pemberton and Wilson, is an error of the binder!