THE LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE.

THE

PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE

UNDER DIFFICULTIES;

ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES.

LONDON:

CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL MALL EAST;
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN, PATERNOSTER-ROW;
OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH; ROBERTSON & ATKINSON, GLASGOW;
WAKEMAN, DUBLIN; WILLMER, LIVERPOOL; AND

BAINES & CO., LEEDS.

MDCCCXXX.

1830

Hist

LONDON:

Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES,

Stamford Street.

CONTENTS.

LC31
.C8

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION. Newton; Galileo; Torricelli; Pascal;

Prince Rupert; Montgolfier. Self-education

CHAPTER II.

Strength of the Passion for Knowledge. Pythagoras; Archi-

medes; Leibnitz; Galileo; Heyne

CHAPTER III.

Page

1

19

Humble Station no Obstacle. Epictetus; Protagoras; Cle-

anthes; Haüy; Winckelman; Arnigio; Duval.-Affec-

tation of high birth. Bandinelli; Scaliger.-Men proud

of their low Origin. Protogones; Baudouin; Gelli.-

Obscure origin. Metastasio; Haydn; Opie; Parini;

Prideaux ; Saunders; Linnæus; Lomonosoff; B. Jonson;

the Milners; John Hunter.—Application of Examples. 31

CHAPTER IV.

Artists rising from the lower to the higher branches. B. Cel-

lini; Q. Matsys; Ibbetson; Kent; Towne; Kirby;

Schiavoni; Hogarth; Sharp; Thew; Caslon.-Late

learners. Cromwell; Sir W. Jones; Cato Censor;

Alfred; Moliere; Valerianus; Vondel; Pitot; Paucton;

Ogilby

56

CHAPTER V.

Early Age of Great Men. Short Term of their Lives. New-

ton; Gregory; Torricelli; Pascal; Cowper; Burns;

Byron; Sydney; Otway; Collins; Mozart; Raphael

Correggio; Politian; Mirandola

Page

71

CHAPTER VI.

Self-educated Men. T. Simpson

87

CHAPTER VII.

Self-educated Men continued. E. Stone; J. Stone.-Pursuit

of Knowledge and Business united. Cicero; Jones;

Cæsar; Scipio; Polybius; Frederick II.; Sully; De

Thou; More; Selden; Hale; Grotius

CHAPTER VIII.

-

Literary Pursuits of Soldiers.-Descartes; B. Jonson; Buch-

anan; Cervantes. Of Sailors. Dampier; Davis;

Drury; Falconer; Giordani; Fransham; Oswald; Co-

lumbus; Cook; Vancouver; Collingwood

CHAPTER IX.

99

123

Literary Pursuits of Merchants. Solon; Guys; D. North;

Ricardo

137

CHAPTER X.

Literary Pursuits of Booksellers and Printers. Gesner;

Aldus Manutius, Paul, and Aldus the Younger; R.

Stephens ; H. Stephens; Scapula; Colinæus ; Badius;

Froben; Oporinus; Ruddiman; Bowyer; Nichols;

Richardson

153

CHAPTER XI.

Page

Booksellers and Printers continued. W. Hutton; R.

Dodsley; Almon; Cruden; the Panckouckes; Roth-

scholtz; Bayford; Ames; Herbert; Patterson.-Lite-

rary Pursuits in other Trades. Walton; Defoe; Lillo 172

CHAPTER XII.

Self-educated men continued. Ferguson.-Influence of ac-

cident in directing pursuits. Rennie, Linnæus; Vernet;

Caravaggio; Tassie; Chatterton; Harrison; Edwards;

Villars; Joly; Jourdan; Bandinelli; Palissy

196

Devotion to Knowledge in extreme poverty. Erasmus;

Kepler; Schaeffer; Bullinger; Musculus; Postellus ;

Castalio; Adrian VI.; Perrier; Claude Lorraine; Sal-

vator Rosa; Marmontel; Hoche; Lagrange; Dr. John-

son; Dr. Parr; Spagnoletto; Le Jay; Castell; Davies;

Tytler; William Davy.-In exile and Imprisonment.

Ovid; Boethius: Buchanan; Tasso; Smart; Maggi;

Le Maistre; Lorenzini; Prynne; Madame Roland;

Raleigh; Lady Jane Grey; James I. (of Scotland);

Lovelace

264