http://www.ebookforge.net [illustration: helps for students of history the wanderings and homes of manuscripts m. r. james] helps for students of history. no. edited by c. johnson, m.a., and j. p. whitney, d.d., d.c.l. the wanderings and homes of manuscripts by m. r. james, litt.d., f.b.a. provost of eton sometime provost of king's college, cambridge london society for promoting christian knowledge new york: the macmillan company the wanderings and homes of manuscripts the wanderings and homes of manuscripts is the title of this book. to have called it the survival and transmission of ancient literature would have been pretentious, but not wholly untruthful. manuscripts, we all know, are the chief means by which the records and imaginings of twenty centuries have been preserved. it is my purpose to tell where manuscripts were made, and how and in what centres they have been collected, and, incidentally, to suggest some helps for tracing out their history. naturally the few pages into which the story has to be packed will not give room for any one episode to be treated exhaustively. enough if i succeed in rousing curiosity and setting some student to work in a field in which an immense amount still remains to be discovered. in treating of so large a subject as this--for it is a large one--it is not a bad plan to begin with the particular and get gradually to the general. some specimen pedigrees of mss. i take my stand before the moderate-sized bookcase which contains the collection of mss. belonging to the college of eton, and with due care draw from the shelves a few of the books which have reposed there since the room was built in . the first shelf i lay hands upon contains some ten large folios. four of them are a single great compilation, beginning with a survey of the history of the world and of the roman empire, and merging into the heraldry of the german _noblesse_. it was made, we find, in , and is dedicated to henry viii. large folding pictures on vellum and portraits of all the roman emperors adorn the first volume. it is a sumptuous book, supposed to be a present from the emperor ferdinand to the king. how did it come here? a printed label tells us that it was given to the college by henry temple, viscount palmerston, in (he had previously given it to sir richard ellys on whose death lady ellys returned it: so much in parenthesis). then, more by luck than anything else, i find mention of it in the diary of thomas hearne, the oxford antiquary; his friend thomas jett, f.r.s., owned it and told him about it in : he had been offered £ a volume for it; it was his by purchase from one mr. stebbing. it was sold, perhaps to palmerston, at jett's auction in . the gap between henry viii. and stebbing remains for the present unfilled. so much for the first draw. next, a yet larger and more ponderous volume, _decreta romanorum pontificum_--the papal decretals and the acts of the councils. it is spotlessly clean and magnificently written in a hand of the early part of the twelfth century, a hand which very much resembles that in use at christchurch, canterbury. i am indeed, tempted to call it a canterbury book; only it bears none of the marks which it ought to have if it was ever in the library of the cathedral priory. was it perhaps written there and sold or given to a daughter-house, or to some abbey which had a less skilful school of writers? not to rochester, at any rate, though rochester did get many books written at christchurch. if it had belonged to rochester there would have been some trace, i think, of an inscription on the lower margin of the first leaf. no; the only clue to the history is a title written on the fly-leaf in the fifteenth century, which says: "the book of the decrees of the pope of rome," and it begins on the second leaf "_tes viii_." that does not tell us much; i do not recognize the handwriting of the title, though i guess it to have been written when the book came to eton college. all i can say is that here is an example of a large class, duplicates of indispensable and common works, which the abbey libraries possessed in great numbers, and often parted with, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, to colleges and private purchasers. next we take out a thin folio written on paper. this time it is a greek book which we open; it has the works of the christian apologists athenagoras and tatian, and a spurious epistle of justin martyr, copied in by valeriano of forlí. a single ms. now at paris, written in , is the ancestor of all our copies of these texts; but it has been shown that this eton book is not an immediate copy of that, but of one now at bologna. obviously it was written in italy. how does it come to be here? sir henry wotton, provost of the college, spent the best part of twenty years in italy, mainly as ambassador to the court of venice for james i., and left all his mss. to the college at his death in . there are numbers of mss. from italy in this bookcase, and, though hardly any of them have wotton's name in them, it is not to be doubted that they came from him. a good proportion of them, too, can be traced back a step farther, for they have in them the name or the arms or the handwriting of bernardo bembo of venice, the father of the more famous cardinal pietro bembo. this justin volume is not of that number, but we have a clue to its history which may be deemed sufficient. i turn to another shelf and open a large book written somewhere about the year , which was given to the college in by one of the fellows; in it belonged to john rogers (if i read the name right). it contains st. jerome's commentary on daniel and the minor prophets, followed by a tract of st. ambrose, and another ascribed to jerome (subject, the hardening of pharaoh's heart), which was in reality, we are now told, written by a pelagian. it is a very uncommon text. after that we have jerome's (so-called) prophecy of the fifteen signs which are to precede the last judgment--of which signs, let it be said in passing, there is a fine representation in an ancient window in the church of all saints, north street, at york. can we trace this volume any farther back than ? i think so; the ambrose and the two spurious tracts of jerome (one, as i said, being of very rare occurrence) are entered, in that order, in the catalogue of the library of peterborough abbey. the library has long been dispersed, but the catalogue remains, and was printed by gunton in his history of the abbey. but the said catalogue makes no mention of the commentary of jerome, which fills out of the leaves of our book. a serious obstacle, it will be said, to an identification; yet a long series of observations, too long to be set out here, has led me to the conclusion that our peterborough catalogue makes a practice of not entering the main contents of the volumes, but only the short subsidiary tracts, which might else escape notice. and without much hesitation i put down the book before me as a relic of the peterborough library. somewhat higher up stands a very stout book bound in old patterned paper. the material of it is paper too, the language is greek, and the contents, for the most part, canons of councils. there are two hands in it; one is perhaps of the fourteenth century, the other is of the early part of the fifteenth. this latter is the writing of one michael doukas, who tells us that he was employed as a scribe by brother john of ragusa, who held some position at a church council, unnamed. there were two johns of ragusa, it seems, both dominicans, one of whom figured at the council of constance in , the other at that of basle in . the latter must be the right one, for there are still greek mss. at basle which belonged to the dominicans of that city, and were bequeathed by the second john at his death in . the book is important, because the first thing in it is the only copy of a treatise ascribed to st. athanasius, called a synopsis of holy scripture. this treatise was printed first in by an editor named felckmann, and no ms. of it has been used or known since. where did felckmann find it? in a ms. which belonged to pierre nevelet, procured for him (the editor) by bongars, a distinguished scholar of orleans. now, the eton book has in it a whole series of names of owners, some erased, but decipherable. the earliest seems to be joannes gastius, who in gave it to johannes hernogius (as i doubtfully read it). then come petrus neveletus and his son, i(saac) n(icolas) neveletus. evidently, then, we have here the ms. which felckmann used, and we arrive at some date after . in or daniel mauclerc, doctor of law, living at vitry le françois, is the owner. he leaves france (the family were huguenots), and brings the book to holland. his son jacques, doctor of medicine, has it in , in england; his nephew, john henry mauclerc, also m.d., succeeds to it and enters his name in , and gives it to mr. roger huggett, conduct and librarian of the college, who died in . this is an unusually full and clear pedigree. one more, and i have done. this time it is a copy of the polychronicon of ranulph higden, monk of chester; it was the popular history of the world and of england for anyone who could read latin in the fifteenth century. no abbey library could be without it, just as no gentleman's library could be without a copy of the english chronicle called the brut. here is a case in which we know the beginning and end of the book's wanderings, but not the middle of the story. the arms of eton adorn the beginning of each of the seven "books" of the chronicle, so we may take it that it was owned from the first by a member of the foundation. an inscription tells us that within the fifteenth century it belonged to the carthusians of witham in somerset, and was given to them by master john blacman. here is light. john blacman was fellow and chanter of eton, then head of a house (king's hall) in cambridge, and lastly a carthusian monk. he was also confessor to henry vi., and wrote a book about him. in a ms. at oxford there is a list of the books he gave to witham, and among them is this polychronicon. more: he has prefixed to the text a pedigree of the kings of england from egbert, illustrated with drawings, the last of which is the earliest known representation of windsor castle. we have not, then, to complain of lack of information about the early stages of the history; but then comes a gap, and between the dissolution and the early part of the nineteenth century, when rodd of london had it and sold it to the fourth earl of ashburnham, i can (at present) hear nothing of the book. in quite recent years it passed from the ashburnham family to mr. h. y. thompson, from him to mr. george dunn, and at his death was bought back for its first home. there, then, are half a dozen histories of mss., fairly typical and fairly diverse. naturally i have picked out books which have some traceable story. very many have none. we can only say of them that they were written in such a century and such a country, and acquired at such a date: and there an end. rebinding and loss of leaves, especially of fly-leaves, have carried off names of owners and library-marks, and apart from that there are but very few cases in which we are warranted in proclaiming from the aspect and character of the script that a book was written at one particular place and nowhere else. i think it will be seen, from what has been said, that my subject is one which depends for its actuality upon the accumulation of a great number of small facts. there is, of course, a broad historical background: no less than the whole history of western europe since the period of the barbarian invasions. that cannot be looked for here, of course; but there are certain _data_ of capital importance which cannot be spared, and some plotting out of the whole field is indispensable. the limits of the subject greek and latin mss. are the main subject. oriental books we do not even touch upon, and vernacular books in english or french have to take a secondary place; and we may treat first of the greek, for it is by far the most compact division. in the case of both greek and latin books we shall ask where and when they were chiefly made, when and how they left their early homes, and where they are to be found now. we shall rule out the whole of what may be called the classical period--the libraries of alexandria and pergamon, the bookshops of martial's time--yes, and even the fourth-century library of cæsarea--for of these we have no relics. our concern is with what exists to-day, or what did exist until the nation, which has contributed so largely to learning and history in the past, turned apostate, and to its lasting shame destroyed and dispersed what more ignorant men had spared. the mischief germany has done--and it will be long before we learn the full extent of it--she has done with open eyes. we think primarily of belgium and north-eastern france as the scenes of her worst devastations, but she has not confined her work of spoliation to them. the balkan provinces and russia held great masses of greek and slavonic mss. as yet very incompletely known. the actual invasions of german troops, and the wars and revolutions which germany has fostered in those regions, can hardly have been less mischievous than her operations in the west. greek mss.: production and dispersion the area in which greek mss. were produced in the medieval period was (with negligible exceptions) confined to greece proper, "turkey in europe," the levant, and south italy. in the monastic centres, particularly mount athos, there were and are large stores of greek books, the vast majority of which are theological or liturgical; and the theological authors most in vogue are those of the fourth and later centuries. copies of primitive christian authors or classical ones are comparative rarities. true, one or two of surpassing interest have been found in such libraries; a famous plato was brought by dr. e. d. clarke from patmos, and is at oxford now; the treatise of hippolytus against heresies came in the forties from a monastery to the paris library. but these are exceptions. we have to look at constantinople as by far the most important centre of learning and of book-production. the city was full of libraries, public and private, and of readers. the culture of the place was, no doubt, self-contained; it did not aim at enriching the outer world, which it despised; its literary productions were imitative, the work of _dilettanti_ and decadents. nevertheless, it preserved for us wellnigh all that we now have of the best literature of greece, and, but for a few catastrophes, it would have handed on much more. of thirty-two historical writings read and excerpted by photius in his _bibliotheca_, late in the ninth century, nineteen are lost; of several of the attic orators, lysias, lycurgus, hyperides, dinarchus, he possessed many more speeches than we have seen. michael psellus, who died about , is credited (i must allow that the evidence is not of the best) with writing notes on twenty-four comedies of menander, of which, as is well known, we have not one complete. in the twelfth century john tzetzes and eustathius apparently had access still to very many lost authors. in short, before the latin occupation of constantinople in , the remains of ancient greek literature very notably exceeded their present bulk. much of it, no doubt, was preserved in single copies, and only a narrow selection of authors was in constant use for educational purposes. only three plays out of seven of Æschylus, for example, were read in the schools. the rest, with sophocles and apollonius rhodius, practically depended for their survival on the famous copy now at florence. instances might be multiplied. the threads of transmission to which we owe most of the euripidean plays, the anthology, the history of polybius, the works of clement of alexandria, the christian apologists, the commentary of origen upon st. john, are equally slender. we cannot doubt that the sack of constantinople by the crusaders was, in its obliteration of works of art and of literature, far more disastrous than the capture of the city by the turks in . for the best part of a century before the latter date, the export of precious mss. to italy had been going on, and many of our greatest treasures were already safe in the hands of scholars when the crash came. nor is it possible, i believe, to show that between and many authors whose works no longer exist were read in byzantine circles. that there was destruction of books in is no doubt true; but within a very few years the turks had learned that money was to be made of them, and the sale and export went on at a great rate. european centres for greek mss.: continental thus the drafting of greek mss. into the libraries of western europe has been a long and gradual process. many of the best, that were secured by individual scholars such as giannozzo manetti, aurispa, and niccolo niccoli, found their way into the laurentian library at florence; others, collected by nicholas v. (d. ), are the nucleus of the vatican collection; a third set was the gift of the greek cardinal bessarion (d. ) to venice. but probably in quality, and certainly in quantity, the bibliothèque nationale in paris excels even the italian storehouses of greek mss. the premier greek ms. of france is a copy of the works attributed to dionysius the areopagite, which the greek emperor michael the stammerer sent to louis the pious in the year . it was long at the royal abbey of st. denis, but strayed away somehow; then, bought by henri de mesmes in the sixteenth century, it came into the royal library in , and has been there ever since. its present number is bib. nat. grec . another treasure of ancient times which was once at st. denis is the sixth-century uncial greek ms. of the prophets known as codex marchalianus, now in the vatican; but when it came to france is not clearly made out. coming to later times, the not inconsiderable collection made by francis i. received a notable increase in that of catherine de' medici, once the property of cardinal ridolfi, and the reigns of louis xiv. and xv. were for it an epoch of rapid growth. between and the number of volumes swelled from , to , . the revolution period added the collection of coislin, or rather of séguier-- more. at the present day paris must possess , greek mss. in central europe vienna may be reckoned the chief repository. it contains the remarkable collection of the traveller augier de busbecq, made in the east about , which was once at augsburg. spain--i think principally of the escurial library--has suffered from depredation and from fire, and is poorer than the prominence of its early contributions to the cause of learning deserves. greek mss. in england it is a temptation, when one turns to england, to enlarge upon the early history of greek scholarship in the country, but it is a temptation which must be resisted. we had a share in preparing for the revival of learning. roger bacon and grosseteste (i say nothing of the earlier age, of theodore of tarsus and bede) were men whose work in this direction has hardly met with full appreciation as yet; and later on we gave erasmus a welcome and a home. but we did not rival italy or france in the early scramble for greek books. such classical mss. of first-class value as we possess have been importations of the seventeenth and later centuries. let me, however, speak somewhat more in detail. there was a turbulent person called george neville, who died archbishop of york in . it is evident, though not, i think, from anything that he wrote, that he was interested in greek learning, and not only theological learning. a ms. of some orations of demosthenes now at leyden contains a statement by the scribe that he wrote it for archbishop neville in . this is our starting-point. now, the scribe in question--emmanuel of constantinople--generally writes a hand (ugly enough) which no one who has once seen it can fail to recognize. this hand appears in a not inconsiderable group of books: in a plato and an aristotle now at durham, in a suidas given by the chapter of durham to lord oxford (brit. mus., ms., harl. , ), in a rather famous new testament at leicester, in three psalters at oxford and cambridge, and in half of another copy of suidas at oxford. in this second suidas emmanuel's hand is associated with another, equally easy to recognize--that of joannes serbopoulos. serbopoulos lived, i know not how long, in the abbey at reading, and transcribed several greek mss. now in oxford and cambridge libraries; he was still at work in the first years of the sixteenth century. this little episode is one that demonstrates, in a rather pleasing way, the value of the study of handwritings and of the inscriptions written by scribes; the light it throws on the history of scholarship is unexpected, and is worth having. two biblical mss. of high importance came to england as gifts to our sovereigns. one was the well-known codex alexandrinus (a), given to charles i. in by cyril lucar, the reforming patriarch of constantinople. of the other i shall take leave to say more. it was that known as the cottonian genesis, which was brought over by two greek bishops "from philippi" and presented to henry viii. it was a sixth-century copy of the book of genesis, written in uncial letters and illustrated, we are told, with pictures. queen elizabeth passed it on to her tutor, sir john fortescue, and he to sir robert cotton, the collector of a library of which we shall hear more in the sequel, and in that library it remained (when not out on loan) till saturday, october , . on that day a fire broke out in ashburnham house in westminster (where the cotton and royal libraries were then kept), and the bookcase in which the genesis was suffered horribly. the cotton mss.--for i may as well explain this matter now as later--were kept in presses, each of which had a bust of a roman emperor on the top. they ran from julius to domitian, and were supplemented by cleopatra and faustina. augustus and domitian had but one shelf each (augustus contained charters, drawings, and the like; domitian was originally, perhaps, a small case over a doorway); the others had usually six shelves, lettered from a to f, and the books in each shelf were numbered from i. onwards in roman figures. the genesis was otho, b vi., and the three presses of galba, otho, and vitellius were those in which the fire did most mischief. no complete leaf is left of genesis; there are bits of blackened text and pictures, a few of which strayed to the library of the baptist college at bristol. the text had been examined by competent scholars for editions of the greek old testament, and we are able to judge of its value; but of the pictures, alas! no list or description had been made. still, something is known. an eminent french polymath, the sieur de peiresc (whose life by p. gassendi is well worth reading), borrowed the book from cotton, and had careful copies of one or two of the illustrations made for him, and these exist. and a further interesting fact has come out: by the help of our scanty relics a student of art, professor tikkanen, of helsingfors, in finland, was able to show that the designers of a long series of mosaic pictures from genesis in st. mark's at venice must have had before them either the cotton genesis or its twin sister, so closely do the mosaics follow the compositions in the ms. in somewhat similar fashion, by gift from the reformer theodore de béze, the university of cambridge acquired its greatest greek treasure, the codex bezæ (d) of the gospels and acts in elizabeth's reign. the riddles which its text presents have exercised many brains, and i do not know who would allow that they are finally solved. another famous ms., the unique lexicon of photius, was acquired by thomas gale, dean of york, early in the eighteenth century--one would like to know where. to my eye it bears signs of having been long in western europe, if not in england. roger gale gave it, with his own and his father's other mss., to trinity college, cambridge, in . on the whole, however, cambridge has not been nearly so fortunate as oxford in accumulating greek books. oxford had a magnificent present in from its chancellor, the earl of pembroke, of mss. purchased in block from the venetian barocci, and in made a great and wise purchase of more, contained in the collection of another venetian, the abate canonici. in the interval such diverse benefactors as laud and cromwell had enriched it with some very notable gifts. the pedigree of one of laud's mss. may be familiar, but is too illuminating to be omitted. it is a seventh-century copy of the acts of the apostles in greek and latin. the earliest home to which we can trace it is sardinia; a document connected with that island is written on a fly-leaf. then we find indisputable evidence that bede, writing early in the eighth century, had access to it; he quotes in his _retractations_ on the acts readings which are characteristic of it; and as he never left his monastery in the north, we may be sure that the book was at jarrow or wearmouth in his time. after that it disappears until laud buys it. like many of his books, it came to him from germany, a spoil of the thirty years' war. these various _data_ are best linked up if we suppose ( ) that the ms. was brought from italy to england by theodore of tarsus or his companion abbot hadrian in ; ( ) that it was taken from england to germany after bede's death by one of the companions of st. boniface, the apostle of that country, and remained there, in or near fulda, perhaps, until the convulsion which threw it back upon our shores. take another illustration. when john leland, in henry viii.'s reign, visited the library of canterbury cathedral, he saw there part of the old testament in greek--chiefly the poetical books and the psalter. he does not mention the pentateuch. nevertheless, it can be shown that that was also there, for among the canonici mss. in the bodleian is one of the thirteenth century containing genesis to ruth in greek, which has on a margin the inscription, legible though erased: "liber ecclesie christi cantuarie." how it left england at the dissolution one may guess easily enough, but what its fortunes were before it came to light again at venice i believe there is nothing to show. * * * * * speaking broadly, then, of the destinies of greek mss., i may repeat that they were produced in a comparatively small area, that a great many of the most precious ones were concentrated in one place, and that from the fourteenth century onwards they became objects of desire to the great ones of the earth, who vied with each other in sending special emissaries to collect them. as a result, the greatest treasures were soon locked up in the libraries of princes and prelates, and became less commonly exposed to dispersion and sale than latin books. we must remember, too, that as a rule the monasteries of western europe did not collect greek mss.; they possessed a chance one here and there, as we have seen, but rather as curiosities than as books to be used.[a] to the noble and the scholar there was a flavour of distinction about a greek ms. which was wanting to all but the most venerable and beautiful of the latin ones. there is still much to be done in the investigation of the history and relationships of greek mss. in spite of the numberless editions of the great authors, and the labour that has been lavished upon them, i believe that scholars would agree that in very few cases, if any, is the transmission of the text at all perfectly known. for some writings we have too little ms. evidence, for some so much as to be embarrassing. in no case can we afford to neglect and to leave unrecorded anything that a ms. can tell us as to its place of origin, its scribe, or its owners. names and scribblings on fly-leaves, which to one student suggest nothing, may combine in the memory of another into a coherent piece of history, and show him the home of the book at a particular date, and by consequence unveil a whole section of the story of its wanderings. with one little instance of this kind i will bring to an end my remarks on this first and shorter portion of my subject. in the library of corpus christi college at cambridge is a greek psalter written in the middle of the twelfth century. on one of its last pages is scribbled in greek letters by a later hand the name of john farley ("[greek: hiôhannês pharlehi]"). only about five-and-twenty volumes away from this stands a ms. containing letters written by the university of oxford on public occasions. one of these is signed by j. farley. a little enquiry elicits the fact that john farley was official scribe of that university near the end of the fifteenth century. the greek psalter, then, was pretty certainly at oxford in farley's time. what do we know of greek mss. then at oxford? we know that bishop robert grosseteste of lincoln owned such things, and that he bequeathed his books to the franciscans of oxford at his death in ; and when we examine the psalter again, we find that it is full of notes in a hand which occurs in other greek mss. known to have belonged to grosseteste, and which i take to be grosseteste's autograph. so the mere occurrence of john farley's name helps us to write the history of the book from within a hundred years of its making until the present day. procured by grosseteste some time before , it passes to oxford, and remains there till the grey friar's convent is dissolved by henry viii. then there is a gap of a generation at most. matthew parker, archbishop of canterbury, acquires it (believing it, absurdly enough, to have belonged to archbishop theodore in the seventh century), and bequeaths it to his college of corpus christi in . latin mss. we turn to the latin division, and here the difficulty of selecting lines of procedure is very great. a paragraph of historical preface, at any rate, must be attempted. at the period of the barbarian invasions--the fifth century--the learned countries were italy, france (especially southern france) and spain. of these three, italy may be described as stationary or even decadent, but she possessed greater accumulations of books than either of the other two. the result of the invasions was, no doubt, that libraries were destroyed and education dislocated; but there was another result, as we have lately begun to realize--namely, that in the case of france there was a transplanting of culture to another soil. a number of teachers fled the country, and some at least came to ireland. this, as far as we can now see, was the beginning of that irish learning which has been so widely, yet so vaguely, extolled. ireland, then, in the late fifth century and the sixth, holds the lamp. its light passes to england in the middle of the seventh century, and from thence, near the end of the eighth, to the court of charlemagne, where it initiates the carolingian renaissance. in the ninth century, when england is a prey to the danes, the carolingian court and the great abbeys of germany are enjoying a vigorous intellectual life, stimulated and enriched by scholars from italy and from ireland. in a general view the tenth and eleventh centuries must figure as a period of degeneration; the twelfth as one of immense intellectual and artistic vigour, culminating in the thirteenth. in the fourteenth the foundations of what we call the renaissance are already being laid, and we have hardly passed the middle of the fifteenth before the ms. has received its death-blow in the publication of the first printed bible. this absurdly condensed review of ten centuries has, i believe, some truth in it, in spite of the fact that every clause needs qualification. we shall have to go over the same ground again a little more slowly. at present we will devote a little time to the beginnings of our period. a few relics of the days before the barbarian invasion have reached us. i am not thinking of the library of rolls found at herculaneum in the eighteenth century, the unrolling and decipherment of which still goes on slowly at naples, nor of the many precious fragments of rolls and books which have come in our own generation from egypt, but rather of those which have been preserved above ground in libraries. such are the virgils of the vatican, of st. gall, and of florence. perhaps a word about these ancient virgils will not be unwelcome. they are cited in all the textbooks, it is true, but i think they are apt to be confused; at any rate it is easy to confuse them. they are five in number: three very fragmentary, two more or less complete. the surnames they go by are _sangallensis_, _augusteus_, _vaticanus_, _romanus_, _mediceus_. _sangallensis_ and _augusteus_ are practically the only pieces of books we have which are written in the old square capitals, like those of the roman inscriptions. _sangallensis_ consists of a few leaves which were found by von arx, a librarian of st. gall, in the bindings of books in that abbey's library. of _augusteus_ there are four leaves at rome (_vaticanus latinus_ , ) and three at berlin; and somewhere, perhaps in a private library in france, is or was another bit which was known to scholars in the seventeenth century. this copy was once at the royal abbey of st. denis. both of these are fourth-century books at latest. _vaticanus_ (_lat._ , ) is a more complete copy, illustrated with fifty paintings in good classical style, and is also assigned to the fourth century. _romanus_ (_vat. lat._ , ), once at st. denis, is a pictured copy too, but not nearly so good in style. _mediceus_, written before a.d. , is at florence (a single leaf of it is bound up with _vaticanus_). it was formerly in the abbey library of bobbio. these three books are written in "rustic capitals." a larger, but still small, group of books of "classical" date are the palimpsests, the most famous of which are at milan and rome. there was a time, early in the nineteenth century, when angelo mai, afterwards cardinal, and prefect of the vatican library, was constantly launching fresh surprises upon scholars, the results of his work in what was then an almost untouched field. large fragments of cicero's _republic_, of lost orations of cicero, of the works of the rhetorician fronto, were issued at short intervals: and all the most important of these were recovered from palimpsests in the ambrosian or the vatican library. they had all come, too, from one place, the same bobbio which has been already named. bobbio was founded by the irishman st. columban (d. ). the list of the early and valuable mss. which can be traced to it would take up a large share of my available space; but among the precious things it owned was a number of quite ancient volumes, the cicero and fronto and others--books sumptuously written in uncial letters in the fourth century, which, sad to say, the bobbio monks themselves broke up, washed out the earlier writing, and covered the pages with texts more immediately useful to them. whence did they come? an answer to that question has been offered recently which finds favour among experts. they are the relics, it is said, of the library formed by cassiodorus at his monastery of vivarium or squillace, in south italy. cassiodorus is a great figure in the history of his own time, and in his influence upon the general course of learning. he was private secretary to theodoric king of the goths; in his old age he retired from public to monastic life, and his last years were devoted to equipping the monks he had gathered about him for study--first and foremost the study of the scriptures, but also, as leading up to that, the study of languages, of history and geography, and, as conducing to the general welfare, of medicine, botany, and other useful arts. it had been a cherished project of his to found an academy at rome where all such learning might be fostered, but that plan failed, and cassiodorus took into his retreat at vivarium all the store of books he had accumulated, and wrote a little manual to guide his monks to the right use of them. his _institutes_ (as the book is called) do not give a set catalogue of his library, but there are many and striking coincidences between the manual and the literary works which can be traced to bobbio. a specimen may be given: he recommends a writer on gardening called gargilius martialis. hardly anyone else mentions this person, and his work had disappeared until mai found pieces of it in a palimpsest at naples which had come from bobbio. we owe much to cassiodorus in any case, for it was he who commended secular learning to monks, and the fact that monks were the great preservers of ancient literature cannot be dissociated from his influence. i shall be glad if the theory i have stated (it is that of the late dr. rudolf beer) proves sound; to have some of the very volumes which cassiodorus handled would be worth much. there is a link between the library of cassiodorus and our own country. a famous latin bible now at florence, the _codex amiatinus_, is known to have been once in england, at wearmouth or jarrow, and to have been taken abroad by ceolfrid, abbot of those monasteries, in as a present to the pope, whom it never reached, for ceolfrid died at langres on his way to rome. the story has often been told, and needs not to be dwelt upon here; but a view has been broached, and is stoutly maintained by sir henry howorth, which does deserve mention and is not yet familiar. it is that the first quire in the amiatine bible, which contains pictures and lists of biblical books, is actually a portion of a bible written for cassiodorus. there is much to be said for this, and at the least we may be sure that it is a direct copy from such a bible. sir henry would go farther, and claim the whole book as cassiodorian. i do not know that expert opinion is prepared to endorse this. the mention of cassiodorus has led us below the date of the "classical" period, for he died in . for one moment i revert to the earlier time to record an interesting example of wandering. illustrated books of the early centuries are the greatest of rarities. the two virgils, the vienna and the cotton genesis, the homer at milan, the gospels of rossano in calabria and those of sinope now at paris, the dioscorides at vienna, the pentateuch of tours, the joshua-roll at the vatican--these are the most famous, and there are very few beside them. among those few are some pieces of a latin bible written in the fourth century, and containing parts of samuel and kings, with paintings which, when fresh, must have been of high excellence. they have unhappily suffered grievous damage, for they were used in the seventeenth century to make covers for municipal documents at the royal and ancient abbatial town of quedlinburg (the scene of canning's _rovers_). the painted leaves are now at berlin; a leaf of plain text remains at quedlinburg. no one doubts that the book to which they belonged was made in italy, and the likeliest history that can be imagined for it is that it was brought as a gift to the abbey by a german prince, say in the tenth century. it is hard to explain the neglect and mutilation of so noble a book, in whose contents there was nothing to offend protestant or other religious susceptibilities. only we find, by numerous examples, that the mss. we should most prize now, those written in capitals or uncials with the words undivided, or in irish or english scripts which became unfamiliar, were uniformly despised and neglected by the readers of later centuries. we meet with notes of this kind in monastic catalogues: "it cannot be read," "old and useless," and the like. still, one would have thought that the pictures of the quedlinburg book would have saved it, even in a german nunnery. chronological survey since this little book is not a treatise on palæography, a manual of art, or a history of learning, and yet has to touch upon all three provinces, it is important to keep it from straying too far into any of them, and this is one of the most difficult tasks that i have ever enterprised. the temptation to dilate upon the beauty and intrinsic interest of the mss. and upon the characteristic scripts of different ages and countries is hard to resist. and, indeed, without some slight elucidation of such matters my readers may be very much at fault. i had begun a geographical survey of the field, taking countries as the units, and had written upon italy and spain, and attempted france. but i found that when the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were reached my tract was becoming a disquisition upon palæography, art, and learning, and, of course, was failing to do justice either to any one of them or to what it had promised in its title. i now think that a chronological survey will be more practicable, and that it will be best to take first the subject of book-production, looking at each country in turn in a single period, instead of following the course taken by each, from the sixth century to the fifteenth. _sixth and seventh centuries._--italy, france, and spain are the main centres. ireland is active in learning, and in the second half of the seventh century england, under archbishop theodore and abbot hadrian, produces schools which rival the irish, and, in the person of bede, has the greatest scholar of the time. some of the great irish monasteries, such as bobbio, luxeuil, st. gall, are founded on the continent. books are produced in considerable numbers in italy, france, spain; and from italy they are exported, especially by english pilgrims, such as benedict biscop. the gospel harmony written in by or for bishop victor of capua comes to england, and goes abroad again, with st. boniface, perhaps, and now rests at fulda, where also his body lies. a copy of st. jerome on ecclesiastes, written in italy in the sixth or seventh century, has in it the anglo-saxon inscription, "the book of cuthsuuitha the abbess." the only abbess cuthsuuitha we know of presided over a nunnery in or near worcester about - . her book travelled to germany with some british or english missionary, and is at würzburg. würzburg is an irish foundation; its apostle and patron, st. kilian, is said to have been assassinated in . from italy, too, came (most likely) the illustrated gospels now at corpus christi college, cambridge ( ), which belonged once to christchurch, canterbury; and the beautiful little copy of st. john's gospel at stonyhurst college, which was found in the coffin of st. cuthbert (d. ) when it was opened in . and st. gall must have acquired its ancient virgil from italy also--when, we do not know. spain kept her books very much to herself, one would guess, judging from the very few spanish mss. of this age which are to be met with in the rest of europe. the guess, however, would not be quite correct. there was one great spanish scholar in the seventh century, isidore of seville ( ), and his encyclopædia (the _etymologies_ or _origins_), which fed many later centuries with learning, made its way all over educated europe very quickly. not only so, but we find english scholars (aldhelm and bede) quoting spanish writers on grammar and spanish poets who were almost their own contemporaries. _eighth century._--this sees the last part of bede's career (d. )--the zenith of english scholarship, the mission of st. boniface (d. ) to germany, the meeting of alcuin with charlemagne ( ), and the beginning of the carolingian renaissance. but, on the other hand, spain is overrun by the moors, italy is inert, england begins to be harried by the northmen. on the whole, if there really was a dark age, the middle of the eighth century seems to answer the description best. but, of course, there were points of light. the great centres of northern france, such as corbie and laon, particularly corbie, were beginning their activities of collecting and copying books. ireland was capable of producing such a work as the book of kells--whether it actually falls within the century or not i will not be positive, but work of the same amazing beauty was carried out before . nor was the export of treasures from italy to england quite stopped, in spite of difficulties. at the plantin museum at antwerp is a copy of the writings of the christian poet sedulius, which has pictures of the old italian sort, such as we find in the frescoes of the roman catacombs. in it is a note connecting it with a bishop of the name of cuthwin, who held the east anglian see and died about . another ms., at paris, has a note describing an elaborately illustrated life of st. paul, which, it says, the same bishop cuthwin brought with him from rome. _ninth century._--there is immense activity, literary and artistic, afoot at the court of charlemagne (d. ) and of his successors. the german abbeys--_e.g._, lorsch, fulda--and cathedral schools (mainz, bamberg, etc.) are full of scribes and teachers. irishmen who know greek flock to the continent, driven from home by danish invasion: such are johannes scottus eriugena and sedulius scottus. they haunt liége, laon, aix-la-chapelle, and penetrate to italy. not less prolific are the french houses: at tours the handwriting called the carolingian minuscule, the parent of our modern "roman" printing, is developed, though not at tours alone. at corbie, fleury on the loire, (now called st. bénoit sur loire), st. riquier by abbeville, rheims, and many another centre in northern and eastern france, libraries are accumulated and ancient books copied. of st. gall and reichenau the same may be said. in italy, verona is conspicuous. the archdeacon pacificus (d. ) gave over books to the cathedral, where many of them still are; and at monte cassino, the head house of the benedictine order, books were written in the difficult "beneventane" hand (which used to be called lombardic, and was never popular outside italy). spain has its own special script at this time, the visigothic, as troublesome to read as the beneventane; its _a_'s are like _u_'s and its _t_'s like _a_'s. england is still overrun by the danes, and does nothing before the very end of the century, when king alfred exerts himself to revive education, and starts a vernacular literature. an enormous proportion of the earliest copies we have of classical latin authors come from this century, when old copies of them were actively sought out and transcribed. often great liberties in the way of revision and even abridgment of the text were taken by the scholars of the time, and, once transcribed, the old archetypes were neglected or even destroyed. books of very great beauty--bibles, gospels, psalters--were produced for the emperors and the great nobles and prelates. in these there is a marked effort to imitate and continue the traditions of classical art. _tenth century._--the tradition of study and scholarship lives on, but the impulse from britain and ireland has worked itself out, and few geniuses are born on the continent. there is a period of splendour and vigour in england under the kings athelstan and edgar and the archbishops odo and dunstan. the calligraphic school of winchester achieves magnificent results. at the end of the century the great teacher and scholar gerbert (pope sylvester ii.) is a prominent figure at the imperial court. the ottos emulate charlemagne in their zeal for literature and for fine works of art, but their attainment is slighter. _eleventh century._--men still live on the traditions of the carolingian revival in the early part: there is later an awakening, principally, perhaps, in france and italy. great names like those of anselm, abelard, bernard, come forward. monastic reform is active; great schools, as at chartres, take their rise; there is a preparation for the wonderful vigour of the next century. the first crusade brings east and west together in a new fashion. _twelfth century._--the strength and energy of europe is now tremendous in every department, and not least in that with which we are concerned. our libraries are crammed to-day with twelfth-century mss. the gregories, augustines, jeromes, anselms, are numbered by the hundred. it is the age of great bibles and of "glosses"--single books or groups of books of the bible equipped with a marginal and interlinear comment (very many of which, by the way, seem to have been produced in north italy). immense, too, is the output of the writers of the time; bernard, hugh and richard of st. victor, peter comestor, peter lombard. the two last are the authors of two of the most popular of medieval textbooks--peter lombard of the _sentences_ (a body of doctrine), peter comestor of the _historia scholastica_ (a manual of scripture history). the cistercian order, now founding houses everywhere, is, i think, specially active in filling its libraries with fine but austerely plain copies of standard works, eschewing figured decoration in its books, as in its buildings, and caring little for secular learning. the university of paris is the centre of intellectual vigour. _thirteenth century._--this is commonly regarded as the greatest of all in medieval history; and truly, when we think of achievements such as westminster, amiens, and chartres, and of men such as st. louis, st. thomas aquinas, st. francis, dante, edward i., roger bacon, we must agree that the popular estimate is sound. certainly we see in france and in england the fine flower of art in buildings and in books. paris is still the centre. the "gothic" spirit is concentrated there. the book trade is enormous. it is passing--under the influence of the university, most likely--out of the hands of the monastic scribes into those of the professional "stationers"; while great individual artists, such as honoré, arise to provide for royal and noble persons examples of art which stand as high to-day as when they were first produced. it is now that we find a large multiplication of textbooks. if the twelfth century was the age of great bibles, the thirteenth is the age of small ones. thousands of these exist, written with amazing minuteness and uniformity. only less common are the aristotles, the _sentences_, the _summæ_, and the other works of the golden age of scholasticism. the orders of friars, franciscan and dominican, form libraries--partly of duplicates procured from older foundations, partly of new copies to which they were helped by charitable friends. towards the end of the century italy comes forward as the great purveyor of books of a special sort. the university of bologna becomes the great law school of europe, and exports in numbers copies of the immense texts and commentaries of and upon the church (canon) and roman (civil) law which were indispensable to the unfortunate student. these books become common at the end of the thirteenth century, and run over well into the fourteenth. they are prettily (but often very carelessly) written in a round gothic hand, sometimes christened "bolognese." some were not only written but decorated (with poorish ornament) on the spot, but very many were exported in sheets and provided, in france or england, with such decoration as the purchaser could afford. a leading example is a copy of the decretals in the british museum (royal , e. iv.) which belonged to st. bartholomew's, smithfield. it is in italian script, but on each of the spacious lower margins of its many pages is a picture by an english artist; these pictures run in sets, illustrating bible stories, legends, and romances. as the centuries go on, the material they have left increases in bulk, and the complication of the threads is proportionately greater. i cannot hope in a survey like this to give prominence to every factor; but we shall not be wrong in fixing upon northern france and england as the areas of greatest productiveness and the sources of the best art in the thirteenth century. before we pass to the next century a word must be devoted to a not unimportant class of books which seem to have been manufactured chiefly in picardy and artois, the illustrated romances--_e.g._ the grail and lancelot--of great bulk, usually in prose, which served to pass the winter evenings of persons of quality. a few of these, and a book of devotions to take to church (oftenest a psalter at this time; later on a book of hours), were the staple books owned by the upper classes. _fourteenth century._--if the thirteenth century gives us on the whole the noblest books, the early part of the fourteenth affords the loveliest. they come from england, france, and the netherlands. a noticeable element in their art is that of the grotesque and burlesque, never, of course, quite absent even from early books, but now most prominent and most delightful. the defect of the art of this time is lack of strength and austerity; its delicacy is above praise. the middle of the century sees petrarch, and with him the renaissance begins. italy has been producing great men in every field, but the work of petrarch reached farther and was more enduring than that of any other. france, tortured by wars, put forth little in the middle years, but then came charles v., a king who was really interested in books, and the library he formed at the louvre gave a stimulus to book-production which spread wide and lasted long. under richard ii. and through his queen, anne of bohemia, a foreign influence makes itself felt in england, and some lovely results are achieved; but on the whole english art is waning. the universities, and to some extent the monasteries, were throughout this century great customers for the bulky books of scholastic divinity (duns scotus, albertus, and the like) and the later generation of commentators on the bible, such as nicolas de lyra and hugo de s. caro. many shelves are filled with these. _fifteenth century._--the fifteenth century is our last; it ends the ms. period. under the influence of the renaissance, now enormously potent, every italian noble forms a library. the scholars are seeking out the ninth-century copies of the classics, and they discard the gothic (black-letter) hands of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in favour of the carolingian minuscule (or, some say that of the twelfth century). as early as we find books written in a script adapted and refined from this; we call it a roman hand, though the great centre of its propagation seems to have been florence. in all essentials it is the parent of the type in which this page will be printed. italy, then, is the hub of the universe for books; and in italy, florence, naples, and rome are the most active _nuclei_. we have a record written by a florentine bookseller, vespasiano bisticci, in the form of short biographies of great persons, many of whom had dealt with him. for some he provided whole libraries, as for frederick, duke of urbino, whose books are now mostly in the vatican. such a man as this would not look at a printed book--which in vespasiano's mind is, of course, very greatly to his credit; for the press was bound to put an end to his particular industry. we still find, by the way, this prejudice against print in the very last years of the century. some rich persons had ms. copies actually made from printed editions and elaborately illustrated. such a one was raphael de marcatellis, natural son of philip the good of burgundy and titular bishop of rhossus, near antioch.[b] part of his library may be found at ghent, part at holkham, and stray volumes at cambridge (peterhouse) and in the arundel collection at the british museum. they are very handsome books, and many have full-page paintings by capable artists, but the resulting impression is on the whole that of decadence. matthias corvinus, king of hungary (d. ), is a name famous among old bibliophiles. he got together a library of fine books, mostly recent copies made for him, and it was dispersed and sacked by the turks in . it is spoken of with bated breath by the old writers, as if it had contained priceless treasures. i am sceptical. ferdinand of aragon and calabria was a collector of the same kind, whose beautiful books, adorned with his arms in the lower margin of the first page, are many of them at valencia, having passed to the university there by way of the abbey of st. miguel de los reyes. these are of italian and not of spanish manufacture, and very fine they are. these last-mentioned libraries have been scattered, but there are still some of the renaissance period which survive in their original homes. the laurentian at florence and the vatican at rome stand at the head of all. with regard to the latter it may be said that though earlier popes, of course, had libraries (that of avignon was quite considerable), yet nicholas v. (d. ) must be regarded as the founder of the vatican library in its present state. so, too, the marciana at venice and the malatestiana at cesena must rank as genuine renaissance collections. it was not only the great men who loved to have books. the tribe of scholars, foreign as well as native, who coveted them was numerous. every library now has its quota of humbler copies of the classics, often on paper, in the roman or the more cursive italic hand, not written by a professional scribe. often these are of infinitesimal value, transcripts of extant copies of no greater age; but there is always the possibility that they may be a competent scholar's own careful apograph of some ancient ms. which a poggio had unearthed at st. gall, and which has since vanished. a glance at the _apparatus criticus_ of a few editions of classics will show that often a fifteenth-century ms. ranks high among the authorities for the text. pedigree is what matters, not beauty of hand, nor, necessarily, date. it has been the fate of these scholars' books, as it is the fate of all mss., to be absorbed into great libraries, and many of them lurk there still unexamined and their origin undetermined. discoveries, no doubt, yet remain to be made among them. whether or not a breath of influence from italy was the cause, it is plain that library-making was popular in countries and circles which were not obviously affected by the renaissance. the monasteries of england were certainly not so affected, yet we find many of them setting their books in order and building special rooms to contain them. christchurch at canterbury and bury st. edmunds are leading instances. now, too, universities and colleges made fresh catalogues, and received large accessions of books. if the renaissance did not touch the english public as a whole in this century, it made some proselytes. among englishmen who dealt with our florentine vespasiano were john tiptoft, earl of worcester, humphrey, duke of gloucester, william gray, bishop of ely, andrew holes, of wells. others who resorted to italy were john free, thomas linacre, john gunthorpe, dean of wells, william flemming, dean of lincoln, william tilley of sellinge, prior of christchurch, canterbury. we shall see later on what traces some of these have left on our libraries. in places to which the italian influence did not penetrate the humdrum trade of copying went on. anselm, bernard, and augustine; sermon-books by the score; burley on aristotle, etc. then, in another class, the production of books for use in church was very large. there were few bibles, but missals, breviaries, large choir-books to be laid on the lectern, graduals and processionals, are legion. then, again, every well-to-do person must have his or her book of hours, illuminated if possible. such things were common wedding-presents, it seems. upon the best of them really great artists were employed, like foucquet of tours and gerard david; we even find perugino painting a page in one, but the average are shop work made for the italian market at naples or florence, for the french at paris, tours, or rouen, for the english very often at bruges, where also many sumptuous chronicle books and french versions of secular history and romances were turned out. edward iv. had a considerable number of such in his library. these private prayer books are, of course, incomparably the commonest of all illuminated manuscripts. they vary from loveliness to contemptibility. perversely, they figure in catalogues, and are lettered on their backs, as missals; our ancestors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries forgot that a missal must contain the service of the mass, and that none of these books do. there, then, is a second survey of our ground, somewhat more detailed than the first, but woefully sketchy. everyone who has studied mss. of any class or period would detect omissions in it which for him would vitiate the whole story. the best i can hope is that the assertions in it are not incorrect, and that it gives a true notion of the general course of book-production in medieval times. wanderings of latin mss.: the continent we are now to concern ourselves with the later destinies of the books which we have seen in the making. here generalities will be less in place; nevertheless, i must begin with some. there are two main classes of persons interested in mss.: those who care for their literary contents, and those who prize them for their artistic beauty. roughly speaking--very roughly--the precious literary things of ancient times were preserved in monastic and cathedral libraries, and the beautiful things in palaces and castles and church treasuries. i do not forget that poetry and romance in the vernacular were chiefly in the hands of the laity, nor do i depreciate their value as literature. the ancient books, pagan and christian, are perhaps to be regarded as the backbone of the subject, and therefore the first part of my enquiry shall be devoted to the ecclesiastical libraries, and considerations of space shall rule me on the other head. the monastic and cathedral libraries can be best treated by countries. france, germany, and england will serve as specimens. of italy perhaps enough has been said incidentally to attract attention to the most important centres, such as bobbio, monte cassino, and verona, and upon the whole i do not think that in italy this class of library played so great a part in the later middle ages as it did in the rest of europe. france is full of latin mss. every considerable town, besides many that are inconsiderable, has its public library, into which at the revolution were collected the remains of the libraries of the religious houses of the district. france's dissolution came at a time when many eyes were open to the possible value of ancient books, and strings could be pulled and influence exercised to stem the unreasoning fury that said: we'll pull all arts and learning down, and hey, then, up go we! it is easier, also, to rescue books than buildings. the revolutionists tore down a cathedral, and it is gone; but books are portable and, moreover, do not burn or tear or drown easily, especially vellum mss.; and when the first hurricane of idiocy had blown over they were very likely found, rather dustier than before, still on their shelves. nowadays our methods are more effective, of course; but i have said as much about that as i can bear. if, then, one took a map of france and marked down the principal abbeys, one would have a fair _prima-facie_ indication where to look for their mss. from corbie, you would say, they went to amiens, from cîteaux to dijon, from bec and mont st. michel to avranches, and so on. this would be right, but there are exceptions. corbie, a specially important library, is one. when in the french under louis xiii. regained that territory from the spaniards, the precarious situation of its treasures was recognized, and select mss. were taken to paris. the reformed benedictines of the congregation of st. maur had done much at corbie for the preservation of the books, and they now petitioned that the corbie mss. might not be alienated from the order, "n' ayant personne qui soit si jaloux de conserver l'héritage de leurs pères que les propres enfants." the petition was successful, and the mss. were placed in the abbey of st. germain des près at paris. this was in . in , during the revolutionary troubles, there was a fire at the abbey, and in the confusion a batch of early books was stolen. these came into the hands of a russian envoy, dubrowsky, and most of them, if not all, are (or were until a more recent revolution) in the imperial library at petrograd. the rest, still a great collection, were drafted out of st. germain into the national library in - . meanwhile a large number (including some very important books) had remained at corbie, and these did go to amiens in or about . but before corbie mss. had begun to stray from home. one fairly clear case seems to be that of the harley ms. , , which was once in the library founded late in the fifteenth century at cues, on the moselle, by cardinal nicholas of cues (_cusanus_). it is one of two copies of the latin version of theodore of mopsuestia's commentary on the pauline epistles. the other is a corbie book at amiens. both show the same gaps and blanks in the text, but the one is not believed to be a direct copy of the other. both go back to a common original. other corbie books are at montpellier. they had a long roundabout journey to get there. part of a magnificent collection formed by successive bouhiers (seven of whom were presidents of the parlement de bourgogne, and lived at dijon), they were bought in from the heir of the last bouhier by the last abbot but one of clairvaux. then, when clairvaux was suppressed at the revolution, its library went to troyes. government commissioners were sent round to look through the departmental libraries and note the most valuable mss. and printed books. one of those who visited troyes was a montpellier professor, dr. prunelle. the and odd mss. which he put aside would, if precedent had been followed, have gone to paris, but they did in fact go to the famous old school of medicine at montpellier, and there they are at this day. one at least of the remarkable collection given by archbishop parker to corpus christi college at cambridge ( ), is a corbie book--a product evidently of the corbie _scriptorium_, though it bears on its first leaf the traces of an inscription of ownership which, illegible as it is, does seem to be that of another monastery. parker's is, on the whole, so english a collection that the presence of this early french book arrests attention. it does not, however, stand quite alone; there is a rather similar one ( ) which professor lindsay tells me is a laon book of about the same (eighth-century) date. corbie has occupied a considerable space, but it is entitled to do so on several accounts. the number of early mss. traceable to it is very large, their intrinsic interest is high, and for a third reason i may again quote professor lindsay as having decided, from a minute study of the abbreviations used by corbie scribes, that anglo-saxon influences were at work in the formation of its peculiar hand. corbie was, as i have hinted before, but one of many venerable centres of learning in the northern half of france. i shall not attempt a list of them, but go on to note one salient fact, that the southern half of the country is noticeably the poorer in mss. at autun and lyons, both of them magnificent cities in roman times, some very ancient books did linger, and here is room for a digression. lyons had a pentateuch in latin which was a great rarity, for not only was it in uncials of the fifth century, but it was of the old latin version, that made from the greek before st. jerome made his version from the hebrew, which we call the vulgate. rather before the middle of the nineteenth century an italian adventurer of some learning and little virtue, the chevalier guglielmo (etc.) libri, obtained employment under the french government in the department of public instruction, and was sent on a tour of inspection among provincial libraries. he made this the occasion for increasing a collection of mss. which he had already begun for his private uses. where he found that the town librarian was a good easy man, he removed (silently) from his keeping a selection of the most precious volumes, or, if it seemed unsafe to take the whole of a ms., he detached some few quires. now and then he left a less valuable book in the place of the other. his best hunting-grounds were tours, orléans, and lyons. at lyons he conveyed away the book of leviticus and part of numbers out of the pentateuch. he had skilled workmen in his pay at paris, who wrote names of other (generally italian) monasteries and former owners on the first page of the stolen books, and otherwise disguised them; when he had made up a selection of a suitable bulk and attractiveness, he looked about for a wealthy purchaser, and found one in the earl of ashburnham, who bought _en bloc_, and whose manuscripts were not readily made accessible to the public. so the lyons leviticus and an illustrated sixth-century pentateuch from tours and many other precious things from fleury (near orléans) and elsewhere reposed in england until the early eighties, when m. leopold delisle made public the result of a most patient and most subtle investigation of the whole fraud, and a selection of the best of the plunder was got back for france. sad to say, the municipalities which had been most negligent in keeping their mss. refused to contribute to the recovery of them. they are still at paris, to the advantage of students, but to the discredit of the provinces. meanwhile libri's reputation had been thoroughly blown upon, and he retired from france, and was dead in italy or elsewhere before his crimes had been atoned for. a great mass of his accumulations was bought from the ashburnhams by the italians and is now at florence. madame libri survived, like madame fosco, to defend his memory. to return. in spite of the long history and great wealth of bordeaux, marseilles, arles, narbonne, toulouse, you will not trace many famous books to those places. the city which, on the whole, has preserved its early manuscripts best is albi, but it was never a great centre of learning, and its library, though extremely interesting, is not large. however, we need not be surprised at the poverty of a region which has had to undergo albigensian crusades, english occupation, wars of religion, and a revolution. some of the great early libraries of germany were mentioned in our historical survey. fulda and lorsch were as remarkable as any. at the present day fulda retains only the few bonifacian mss. which rank as relics of the saint--the blood-stained volume of ambrose which was on boniface when the pagans killed him, his pocket copy of the gospels, the ms. written for victor of capua. the bulk of its abbey library, which remained together until the close of the sixteenth century, is dispersed and gone, no one knows where. some books are at cassel in the ducal library. lorsch has nothing _in situ_, but a good deal in the vatican. both houses were instrumental in preserving the classics; we owe to them suetonius, tacitus, ammianus marcellinus, and part of livy. the thirty years' war was responsible for a good deal of dispersion. cargoes of books made their way to england, and archbishop laud bought and gave to the bodleian many from würzburg and erfürt; in the arundel collection at the british museum the german contingent is large. sweden also profited at this time, and got its lovely _codex aureus_ (once at canterbury), its _codex argenteus_ (the gothic gospels at upsala), and its _gigas_, or devil's bible, which came from prague. in the revolutionary period there was extensive secularization of abbeys, and whole libraries passed into central depots, as at munich, which has the mss. of st. emmeram of ratisbon and of tegernsee, benedictbeuern, schäftlarn, and many other houses. those of the old and rich foundation of reichenau passed to carlsruhe. precious books, like the gold-covered gospels of lindau, were exported. this particular gem was bought by lord ashburnham, and in recent years has gone to america. fine gospels and other service-books from weingarten are at holkham; they appeal to the englishman, for they contain pictures of our sainted king oswald, of whom weingarten owned a relic. north germany's contribution is far inferior to that of bavaria and the rhine provinces. the inhabitants of large regions were pagans till a late date (some might say they were so still), and have never, we conceive, been really civilized. few books were made there before the fourteenth century, and i know of no good libraries that existed there in the medieval period. a good part of the contents of one at elbing, near dantzic, came somehow to cambridge (corpus christi) in the seventeenth century; it is a dreary collection, mostly on paper, of scholastic theology, sermons, meditations, and a little medicine. in austria the abbeys were let alone till . such houses as melk on the danube, st. florian, st. paul in carinthia, admont in styria, still owned their estates, their revenues, and their libraries. that of melk is noticeable, and at st. paul is, oddly enough, one of the very earliest irish vernacular mss. i believe it came thither in fairly recent times from st. blasien in the black forest. but, on the whole, these places were too remote from the main stream to accumulate many treasures of the very first quality. latin mss. in england let me now turn to england, and treat in greater detail of the monastic and cathedral libraries there, and what happened to them. the dissolution, as we know, occurred here near on years ago, which makes the task of tracing the books at once harder and more fascinating than in the case of france or germany, where a whole library may be found practically intact in a town near its old home. of course, what was done there ought to have been done here. leland, the king's antiquary, the abusive protestant, john bale, and the foolish but learned dr. john dee, begged that it might be done. yet, whatever henry viii's or mary's or elizabeth's intentions may have been at times as to the foundation of a "solempne library" where the ancient books of the realm might be stored, they got but a very little way. leland did secure some mss. for the royal library, perhaps most from rochester, but upon the whole the work was left in elizabeth's days to individual enthusiasts--sir robert cotton, archbishop parker, and dee and bale themselves. others who did good work were henry fitzalan, earl of arundel; lord william howard; long harry savile of bank; laurence nowell, who rescued anglo-saxon books; nicholas brigam, who was interested in english literature and built chaucer's tomb in the abbey; the theyers of brockworth, near gloucester. these are names to some of which we shall return; it would be well at this moment to take a few libraries one by one and see what can be said of them. catalogues of mss. but, first, what are our means for pursuing such an investigation? we are best off if we have a catalogue of our abbey library, and preferably a late one; for in that case not only will the library be at its fullest, but probably the cataloguer will have set down, after the title of each book, the first words of its second leaf. does this need explanation? perhaps. in mss., unlike printed books, the first words of the second leaf will be different in any two copies, say, of the bible; the scribes did not make a page for page or line for line copy of their archetype--in fact, they may probably have avoided doing so purposely. by the help of such a catalogue we can search through collections of mss., noting the second leaves in each case, and, it may be, identifying a considerable number of books. it is a laborious but an interesting process. but, alas! such catalogues are very few; we have them for durham, st. augustine's abbey, canterbury (and partly also for christchurch), st. paul's cathedral, exeter cathedral, dover priory, the austin friars of york (all now in print), and for not many more. next best it is to have a catalogue enumerating the contents of each volume; and next, and commonest, one which gives usually but a single title to each. among the most useful i reckon those of christchurch, canterbury, peterborough (an anomalous one), glastonbury, bury st. edmunds, rochester, dover, lincoln, leicester abbey (not yet printed in full), ramsey, rievaulx, lanthony-by-gloucester, titchfield. there are a good many short catalogues for smaller houses, written on the fly-leaves of books, which do not, as a rule, help us much. the list of monastic catalogues, however, is dreadfully defective. we have none for st. albans or norwich or crowland or westminster, for gloucester or worcester, st. mary's, york, or fountains. what do we do in such cases? the evidence of mss. themselves we have to depend, of course, on the evidence of the mss. themselves. it was happily a common practice to write on the fly-leaf or first leaf _liber (sancte marie) de (tali loco)_. this is decisive. then, again, some libraries devised a system of press-marks, such as "n. lxviii.," let us say. you find this in conjunction with the inscription of ownership; it is a norwich book, you discover, that you have in hand, and all books showing press-marks of that form are consequently norwich books too. or you will find the name of a donor. "this book was the gift of john danyell, prior." search in dugdale's _monasticon_ will reveal, perhaps, that john danyell was prior of st. augustine's, bristol, in . a clue to locality will often be given in such a case by the monk's surname, for it was their custom to call themselves by the name of their native village. thus, a monk named john melford or william livermere will be a suffolk man, and the abbey in which he was professed is likely to be bury. coming to later times, it is apparent that at the dissolution groups of books from a single abbey came into the hands of a single man. if i find dakcombe on the fly-leaf of a ms., i am almost entitled to assume that it is a winchester book: john stonor got his books from reading abbey, john young drew from fountains, and so forth. lastly, and most rarely, you are justified in saying that the handwriting and decoration of this or that book shows it to have been written at st. albans or at canterbury. hitherto the instances where this is possible are few, but i do not doubt that multiplication of observations will add to their number. in questioning a ms. for any of these indications (except the last) you must be on the look-out for signs of erasures, especially on the margins of the first leaf and on the fly-leaves at either end. here the owner's name was usually written. often it was accompanied by a curse on the wrongful possessor, and at the dissolution there were many wrongful possessors, who, whether disliking the curse or anticipating trouble from possible buyers, thought it well to erase name, and curse, and all. they seldom did it so thoroughly that the surface of the vellum does not betray where it was, and it can be revived by the dabbing (_not_ painting) upon it of ammonium bisulphide, which, unlike the old-fashioned galls, does not stain the page. dabbed on the surface with a soft paint-brush, and dried off at once with clean blotting paper, it makes the old record leap to light, sometimes with astonishing clearness, sometimes slowly, so that the letters cannot be read till next day. it is not always successful; it is of no use to apply it to writing in red, and its smell is overpowering, but it is the elixir of palæographers. yet, when all has been done, there is a sadly large percentage of mss. which preserve an obstinate silence. they have been rebound (that is common), and have lost their fly-leaves in the process, or, worse than that, they have lain tossing about without a binding and their first and last quires have dropped away. in such cases we can only tell, from our previous experience in ancient handwritings, the date and country of their origin. english libraries and now to turn to some individual libraries. some of the most venerable have practically disappeared--that of glastonbury, for instance, the premier abbey of england, the only one which lived through from british to saxon times.[c] to it we might reasonably look to trace many an ancient book belonging to the days of the old british church. leland, who visited the library not long before the dissolution, represents himself as overawed by its antiquity. but almost the only record he quotes is one by "melkinus," which most modern writers think was a late forgery. however, there is in the bodleian one british book from glastonbury, written, at least in part, in cornwall, and preserving remnants of the learning of the british clergy. it has portions of ovid and of latin grammar, and passages of the bible in greek and latin. the catalogue, too, shows that there were in fact a good number of old mss., and also that the monks of the fourteenth century did not care much about them, for they are marked as "old and useless," "old and in bad condition" (_debilis_), and so on. the actual extant books which we can trace to this foundation are few and for the most part late. st. albans, founded by king offa in the eighth century, has left us, as i said, no catalogue, but there are many of its books in our libraries. two groups of them stand out. first are those procured by abbot simon ( - ) and prior mathias. these are very finely written. a typical and very interesting specimen is a bible at eton ( ) which has three columns to a page--a rare distinction in the twelfth century, pointing, perhaps, to its having been copied from a very early and venerable model. it has a sister book at corpus christi, cambridge, and another--a new testament--at trinity college, dublin. then we have a large and important group of histories. the historiographers of st. albans form a series reaching from roger of wendover (d. ) to thomas walsingham (d. ). the greatest of them was matthew paris (d. ). we have authentic and even autograph copies of many of these works, and especially of paris's (at corpus christi, cambridge ( and ), and in the british museum, royal , c. vii., cotton nero d. , etc.). and we have not only paris's writing, but many of his drawings, for he was an accomplished artist. all these books furnish us with material for judging of the handwriting used at st. albans in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and we can speak with fair confidence of st. albans books of that period. as in other cases, i believe that many books were written there for other monasteries, either as gifts or as a matter of business. not every one of the little priories scattered all over the country had its own scriptorium; it was only natural that they should apply to the big establishments when they wanted a bible or service-book or commentary of really good quality. this practice explains the fact that we quite often find books which we could make oath are products of st. albans or of canterbury, and which yet have inscriptions, written when they were new books, showing that they were owned by some small house. let me here note two other ways in which books wandered from the great abbeys. _one_: all the abbey libraries were full of duplicates; read any catalogue, and you will realize that. when the orders of friars were collecting libraries of their own, and when the colleges in the two universities were doing the same, they found that the monks were often willing to part with one of their eight or nine sets of gregory's _moralia_ or augustine _on the trinity_ for a consideration. _two_: most of the large abbeys maintained hostels at the universities, singly or jointly, in which some of their younger members studied for degrees. these hostels were equipped with libraries, and the libraries were furnished from the shelves of the mother-houses. we have at least two lists of books so used: one of those which durham sent to what is now trinity college, oxford; the other of those which christchurch, canterbury, deported to canterbury college, oxford, which stood on the site of canterbury quad, in christ church. there was some compensation, by the way: the abbeys were not invariably the losers. a group of books (at lambeth) was procured to be written by a canon of lanthony when he was studying at oxford (about ), and given to the library of his priory. we have digressed from the particular to the general. returning to individual libraries, let us glance at the norwich cathedral priory. of this, again, we have no catalogue; it is a case in which press-marks and names of owners are our guides. norwich has a system of press-marks consisting of a letter of the alphabet plus a roman numeral: "n. lxviii." the press-marks of several other houses consist of just the same elements, but we can pick out that of norwich by its size (not large) and its position (top of the first leaf of text); also there is usually added to it the name of the monk who procured it for the house, henry de lakenham or w. catton--someone whose surname is the name of a norfolk village. over a hundred mss. from norwich are known to me, but they are a very small fraction of the library, as is shown by the numerals attached to the several class letters. very few of them are as old as the twelfth century; late twelfth and particularly early fourteenth make up the bulk. i attribute this to the great fire of , and i take it that then the greater part of the priory books were spoiled, and that energetic steps to refill the library were taken in the years that followed. there are more norwich books in the university library at cambridge than anywhere else; it has not been proved, but i do not much doubt, that most of them were given by the chapter to cambridge about , at the suggestion of dr. andrew perne, master of peterhouse, who was a member of the cathedral body and an enthusiast for the university library. not very dissimilar was the action of exeter chapter, who in gave over eighty of their mss. to sir thomas bodley's new library in oxford, bodley's brother being then a canon of exeter; and not long after the canons of worcester picked out a score of their mss., for dean williams's new library at westminster abbey. these, however, i believe were never actually sent off. it is just as well, for the westminster mss. were burnt in . of bury st. edmunds i have attempted to write the history elsewhere, but it is not likely that many readers of this book will be familiar with my former publication. the only catalogue we have for this abbey is an early one (eleventh to twelfth century) written on the fly-leaves of a copy of genesis (glossed) at pembroke college, cambridge. thus it contains no fourteenth or fifteenth century books, nor, indeed, has it many entries of extant books of earlier date which we are sure belonged to bury; but it is not to be despised, though we depend more upon press-marks than upon it for guidance. bury press-marks were an introduction of the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. soon after abbot curteys built a library, and it was under the care of the monk, john boston, who, i think, is responsible for the press-marks, as he certainly is for the copious bibliographical notices which occurred in some of the books. the press-marks consist of a capital letter and an _arabic_ numeral (a. ). here, again, one has to be familiar with the handwriting of the marks and their position (top of first leaf and fly-leaf) in order to distinguish them from those of exeter (often on last fly-leaf and large) or of the hereford franciscans (large, on first fly-leaf). however, in most cases they are backed up by the older inscription _liber s. Ædmundi regis et martiris_. bury library has, on the whole, fared well; an alderman of ipswich, william smart, procured over of its mss., which he gave to pembroke college, cambridge, in , and about others are scattered up and down the country. one bury book of extreme interest--not a library book, but a register--was taken across the channel in the sixteenth century by a bury monk to the settlement of the benedictine refugees at douai. since the revolution it has been (_perhaps_ still is) in the town library there. its importance is that it contains a list of the benefactors of the abbey, and among other things records the burial-places of the abbots, including the famous samson. in recent years it has guided excavators to the discovery of his bones. with it is a psalter of extraordinary beauty, one of a group of marvellous books done in east anglia--some say at gorleston--soon after . i grieve to hear that it has been severely damaged by damp. it has in it the name of an abbot, john, who, i wish to believe, was of bury, but doubt is thrown on this. english mss. on the continent a digression is allowable here as to english books that have passed to the continent. according to bale and dee, there was a great expatriation of them at the dissolution. in archbishop parker's correspondence there is talk of the negotiations of a german scholar, flacius illyricus, who wanted to buy bale's mss. after his death. at an earlier time poggio visited england in the hope of unearthing classical authors, but writes as if he had been unsuccessful. then, again, sigismund gelenius in edits at basel treatises of tertullian from a ms. belonging to the abbey of "masbury" (which i take to be malmesbury), lent to him by leland. more instances could no doubt be collected, but not, i think, very many more. when we come to enquire what english books are to be found now in continental libraries, the results are not very impressive. i exclude the very early exportations, some of which have been mentioned, and confine myself to the books which were taken over at and after the dissolution. there is a bury psalter with drawings at the vatican, a st. albans psalter at hildesheim, a fine book of hours at nuremberg, a winchester pontifical at rouen, a sherborne book at paris, a ramsey psalter at an austrian abbey, another english psalter at the escurial. the canterbury _codex aureus_ is at stockholm. the famous utrecht psalter, written, perhaps, in the rheims district, strayed from the cotton collection to its present home in holland, we do not know how. all these, and some other remarkable illuminated books that could be named (i ought not to omit a peterborough psalter at brussels), are not library books, but rather properties of great ecclesiastics or nobles. the largest collections have never yet been thoroughly searched. i myself have made many enquiries and some examinations with small result. one case there is, however, brought to light by the late rev. h. m. bannister, which gives hope of better things when a systematic search is carried out. he found that in the vatican library there are quite a large number of mss. from the libraries of the friars at cambridge. they are late and not very important books, but no matter for that: the point is that they are there. other instances known to me are--one at least of sir kenelm digby's mss. and one of lord burleigh's (a fourteenth-century volume of english historians) at paris; the greek demosthenes already noticed at leyden, and a ms. from pembroke college (seneca), also there. the vossian collection at the same place has other books which i suspect were once in england; most notable is its suidas, which is said by m. bidez to be the parent of the english copies i mentioned, and which i think must be grosseteste's own copy. this, however, is a greek ms. a volume containing poems of milo of st. amand is most likely a canterbury book. but the early books in irish script, of which there are several, were probably written on the continent. at wolfenbüttel is a "wycliffe" bible, large and handsome, which belonged to lord lumley (d. ), and also a copy of gervase of tilbury (that from which the text was first printed by leibnitz) from the library of st. augustine of canterbury. there, too, are many mss. collected by flacius illyricus, who made purchases in england. he printed many of the rhyming latin poems attributed to walter map; for a good many his edition is the only authority, his mss. having disappeared. i had hoped to find some of them at wolfenbüttel, but they do not seem to be there. what i did find was a small group of mss. from st. andrews in scotland, containing rhyming poems set to music; they are books of the thirteenth century, well written and decorated. scotch monastic mss. are of rare occurrence. there are few enough in scotland itself, not many in england, and, of course, still fewer anywhere else. at upsala is a book written by clement maydestone of sion for wadstena, the swedish mother-house of the brigittine order to which he belonged. there were probably some english books at turin, which was a mixed collection, but the fire of has made away with them. the old catalogue by pasini notices at least one service-book with english saints. but it is time to bring this excursus to an end. let me only add that the most famous english book on the continent--the vercelli ms. of anglo-saxon poems and homilies--seems to have been where it is now since the thirteenth or fourteenth century. remains of medieval libraries once again we return to these shores, and now we will enquire what medieval libraries, besides those we have glanced at, have left really considerable remains. some few have kept their books _in situ_--the monastic cathedrals of durham and worcester best of all; each has some hundreds of mss. the secular cathedrals, lincoln, hereford, salisbury, come next. rochester has nothing on the spot, but a great many mss. in the old royal library in the british museum. the two great libraries of canterbury (christchurch and st. augustine's) are well represented, but their books are much scattered. winchester, york, exeter, have few but precious books. there are important mss. from thorney at the advocates library, edinburgh; from st. mary's york, at dublin; not a few from cirencester at jesus college, oxford, and at hereford; st. john's, oxford, has many from reading and from southwick (hants). there must, i am sure, be many peterborough books to be found, but they are rarely marked as such, and the character of the catalogue makes identification very hard. of all minor libraries, that of lanthony, near gloucester, has, i believe, been best preserved. a great block of it was retained by the last prior of the house, john hart, who retired to a country house near by, and whose sister married a man of good position, theyer, in the neighbourhood. he kept the books together, and had descendants who valued them and added largely to their number. at the end of the sixteenth century archbishop bancroft conceived the idea of founding a library at lambeth for his successors, and he seems to have bought about lanthony mss. from theyer,[d] which are now at lambeth. other lanthony books are at trinity and corpus christi, oxford. a fourteenth-century catalogue of the books among the harley mss. shows that we possess at least a third of the whole collection. examples of the press-marks used by the various houses have been collected by the new palæographical society, and may be seen in their publications. they are, of course, most useful in cases where the inscription of ownership has not been inserted or has disappeared. the second case may be that of any book; the first is common to the canterbury libraries, to dover, the london dominicans, st. mary's york, fountains, titchfield, ely. to the press-marks figured by the society more will doubtless be added. i can instance one, that of the franciscans of lincoln, which is of this form: [illustration: symbol]. disappearance of classical and other mss. passing over the painful subject of the wholesale destruction of mss. which must have followed the dissolution, i will give a few lines to an interesting question little mooted as yet. is there evidence that england possessed many ancient writings which have since disappeared, or which have survived only in a few copies in other parts of europe? take the classics first. poggio, as i have said, writes in a disappointed tone of his researches here, but these were neither long nor exhaustive. we have better testimony from john of salisbury, who in the twelfth century quotes parts of the _saturnalia_ of macrobius which have dropped out of all the mss. we now have. he also read a tract attributed to plutarch, called the _instruction of trajan_; it was probably not by plutarch, but it was an ancient work, and is now lost. petronius arbiter was known to him, even that longest and most interesting piece of petronius called the _supper of trimalchio_, for which our only authority is the late paper ms. at paris that was found in dalmatia in the seventeenth century. but no medieval english scholar can be shown to have read tacitus, or the lost parts of livy, or catullus, tibullus, propertius, or others of the rarer latin authors. next for christian antiquity. the vercelli ms. gives a poetical version in anglo-saxon of the acts of st. andrew in the land of the anthropophagi which have ceased to exist in latin (so, too, Ælfric knew, and rejected, a poem on the adventures of st. thomas in india). in one of its homilies the same vercelli ms. presents us with a translation of the apocalypse of st. thomas, a book of which until recently only the name was known. two early mss. contain short quotations in latin from cosmas indicopleustes, a traveller of justinian's time whose work remains only in a few copies, and is in greek. another has a fragment of the lost _book of jannes and jambres_; another a chapter of the _book of enoch_, valuable as one of our few indications that a latin version of it was current. john of salisbury quotes a story about st. paul which seems to come from the ancient apocryphal acts of that apostle. first on the list (twelfth century) of the library of lincoln minster (but lined through as if subsequently lost) is a title _proverbia grecorum_. what this book was is obscure; probably it was a translation from greek by an irish scholar. it is quoted extensively by sedulius, the irishman, and also in a collection of treatises by an unknown york writer (the germans call him the _yorker anonymus_) of the eleventh to twelfth centuries. the work of irenæus _against heresies_ (we only have it complete in latin) was always rare, but there were at least two copies of it in england, one in the carmelites' library at oxford, the other given by archbishop mepham to christchurch, canterbury. the latter, i believe, we still have in the arundel collection in the british museum. the ms. of tertullian which gelenius got from england is gone, and our knowledge of the treatise _on baptism_ which it contained depends wholly on his printed text. i cannot doubt that among the books imported in the seventh century from italy by benedict biscop and theodore and hadrian, and in the great library of york, which alcuin panegyrizes in his poem on the saints of york, there were texts now lost. but the danes made a clean sweep of all those treasures, as they did of the whole vernacular literature of northumbria, undoubtedly a rich one. the scattered indications i have collected in the preceding paragraphs point to the fact that some strange and rare books did lurk here and there in english libraries. it is almost a relief that catalogues do not tell us of supremely desirable things, such as papias on the oracles of the lord, or the complete histories or annals of tacitus. another word on a topic akin to the last. i have said more than once that the men of the later middle ages did not value early books as such; they were difficult to read, and often in bad condition. at first they were apt to be made into palimpsests; but when good new parchment became abundant and comparatively cheap, this practice was dropped. i conjecture that there is no important palimpsest whose upper writing is later than the eleventh century. the fate of the early books is rather obscure to me, but i see that bits of them were not uncommonly used for lining covers and fly-leaves for mss. of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, and perhaps still oftener as wrappers for documents. binders of the sixteenth century, and especially those who lived after the dissolution, used up service-books and scholastic theology and canon law to a vast extent, but early books not so lavishly. there are cases in which one is left doubtful as to whether the binder or his employer did not insert the old leaves with the definite wish to preserve them. i think of the leaves of a gospel book bound at the end of the utrecht psalter, of a fragment of another fine gospels in an arundel ms. at the college of arms, of some splendid canons of the gospels in the royal ms. . c. xii; but in the cases that follow i think that accident and not design has been at work, viz.: the fragments of several venerable volumes at worcester, admirably edited of late by mr. c. h. turner; the leaves of a great sixth-century bible found by mr. w. h. stevenson wrapping up lord middleton's documents at wollaton; uncial fragments of eucherius in the cambridge university library; other uncial leaves at winchester college; bits of Ælfric's grammar at all souls'; of a gallican missal at gonville and caius; of an early orosius (from stavelot) in the british museum and elsewhere; of an orosius and fortunatus at pembroke college, cambridge; and so on. my examples are set down almost at random. collectors of books we pass now from the monastic circle to that of the learned book collectors before and after the dissolution. many of the best medieval book-buyers were abbots or priors, and the history of their collections is merged in that of their abbeys. leaving them aside, we find in fourteenth-century england one name which everyone has heard--that of richard de bury, bishop of durham, and author of the _philobiblion_. i am inclined to think that he was a humbug; his book is of the kind that it is proper to translate, print on hand-made paper, and bind in a vellum wrapper, but it tells us just nothing of what books de bury had or read, and i could not point to a single work of any importance which he was instrumental in bringing to light or preserving. persons who take pains to advertise themselves as book-lovers or bibliomaniacs are rarely those who render great services to literature. perhaps the libraries of the pre-reformation colleges of oxford and cambridge are the best hunting-grounds for traces of the early collectors. at peterhouse, cambridge is a large bequest from john warkworth, master late in the fifteenth century; another from j. dyngley, fellow, whose books were written expressly for him; yet another from h. deynman, master, who was interested in medicine. here, too, we come upon the tracks of roger marchall, who must rank, on the whole, as a student of natural science. books with his name and his carefully written tables of contents are at peterhouse, gonville and caius, lambeth, the british museum, king's college; one at magdalene college (pepys library) came thither from peterhouse via dr. john dee. walter crome was another fifteenth-century benefactor of the university library and of gonville hall, who, like dyngley, had books written to his order. these are cambridge _data_. just such another list could be made out for some oxford colleges, particularly merton, balliol, and new college. in this bishops william rede of chichester, and john trillek of hereford, and william gray of ely, would figure prominently. the mention of this last name will serve as a pretext for introducing the renaissance scholars. gray, we saw, was one of those who dealt with vespasiano bisticci of florence, though not nearly all of the many mss. of his giving which are at balliol are italian-written; a good number are by flemish and german scribes. the other men to whom i alluded in the same connection were for the most part benefactors of oxford. john tiptoft, earl of worcester, beheaded in for treason, promised a large gift of books to the university, but they never reached it, nor do i know a single ms. to-day that was tiptoft's property, though there can be no doubt that he was a considerable book-buyer. humphrey, duke of gloucester (whom we are now forbidden to call "the good"), did give the university what was then a large library; his name is inseparably associated with the great room of the bodleian, but his books were swept away in edward vi.'s days. some few have come back to their old home, and others are in london and in paris: twenty-nine is said to be the total. he intended further gifts, but he was cut off in , and it is thought that one collection, perhaps his travelling library, was diverted to king's college, cambridge. it is certain that soon after that college possessed some mss., among which such titles as plato's _republic_ in latin and a greek-english dictionary betray a humanistic influence which is not likely to have been that of our founder, henry vi. moreover, the only one of those mss. that remains is a latin version of some orations of st. athanasius, made by a secretary of the duke, and dedicated _to_ the duke; and in the british museum is another volume of athanasius translated by the same man, which actually has duke humphrey's inscription in it. this is respectable evidence in support of the king's college story. william flemming, dean of lincoln, and founder of lincoln college, oxford, gave a number of books to that society which show him to have been interested in the revival of learning; greek mss. are among them. john gunthorpe, dean of wells (d. ), is said by leland to have bequeathed the large collection he brought from italy to jesus college, cambridge. it is scattered and gone from there, but books of gunthorpe's survive in a good many libraries. one deserves special mention--a latin prose version of the odyssey, which he picked up (not in italy, though it is an italian book, but at westminster) in . probably it was the first copy of the odyssey in any form that had come to this country since roman times, unless, indeed, archbishop theodore brought one over in the seventh century. archbishop parker thought that he had, and the ms. which he fondly believed to be theodore's was in his view the pearl of the collection he left to corpus christi. certainly it has the name _theodorus_ in it in letters of gold; but, as certainly, it is a fifteenth-century book, and the theodore for whom it was written was i believe theodore gaza, a humanist who lived in italy. an instance of a man interested in books and not unaffected by the renaissance, though not himself a collector, may be introduced here. william wyrcestre (or botoner, or worcester) is the man, and he deserves a special study. some have called him the father of english antiquaries, in virtue of one of his notebooks which has been preserved, and which contains jottings about his travels in england; it is a sort of rude elementary leland's _itinerary_. it is by no means the only book of his compiling, nor the only one owned by him that we have. there are historical and literary collections of his, and not a few mss. with his name in them. he knew john free, the translator (reputed) of diodorus siculus, and he had read cristoforo buondelmonte's book on the islands of the greek archipelago. a long list of the elizabethan book-collectors could be made, but i shall not attempt one here. two libraries of the time, sir robert cotton's and archbishop parker's, stand out. the main object of both men was to preserve english antiquities, and it is no exaggeration to say that if these two collections, which together number less than , volumes, had been wiped out, the best things in our vernacular literature and the pick of our chronicles would be unknown to us now. we should have no _beowulf_ or _judith_, only inferior copies of the anglo-saxon chronicle and of matthew paris, no layamon, no _pearl_--not to speak of the mass of invaluable state-papers gathered by cotton, and the reformation documents and letters stored up by parker. one touch of blame rests on sir robert cotton. he had a vicious habit of breaking up mss. and binding together sections from different volumes. this disguises the provenance of the books, and by consequence obscures the history of their contents. enough information about the cotton and parker mss. is easily accessible to absolve me from writing much about them here. less is generally known of two dispersed collections, those of john bale and john dee. bale must, i fear, have been an unamiable man--certainly a very queer christian. but his controversial works, on which he doubtless prided himself most, are dead and very rotten, while those devoted to the more peaceful science of bibliography are of abiding value. in his larger one, _scriptorum britannicorum centuriæ_, he inserts a list of the mss. he had once owned; they were no longer in his hands, but, it is to be supposed, in ireland, left there when he fled from his bishopric of ossory on mary's accession. it is not a very scientific list, not one that gives the contents of each volume, but merely names of treatises, groups of which no doubt went to make up volumes, and this makes it difficult to determine how much of his library is in existence now. after his death it was in england, and a syndicate of germans, including, as was said above, flacius illyricus, were negotiating for the purchase of it. archbishop parker also had an eye upon it; he had received books as gifts or loans from bale in former years. i have not been able to make sure whether any of the books did actually go to the continent; i doubt it, in fact. many distinguished by bale's curious small, "flat" handwriting are traceable among cotton's and parker's books, at lambeth, at cambridge, and doubtless also at oxford (where there is at least the ms. of his _index scriptorum_, admirably edited by mr. r. l. poole and miss bateson). bale was a carmelite in his youth and interested in the history of his order, and there is an _a priori_ probability that any book dealing with carmelite affairs will contain marks of his ownership. dr. john dee's history has often been written, and the catalogue of the mss. he owned has long been in print in a camden society volume (_diary of dr. john dee_) edited by halliwell. the main facts of his life that concern us are that he lived at mortlake, and in went on a wild journey to poland. in his absence his house and collections were plundered by a mob, who, not without excuse, thought him a warlock. when he returned in he set himself to recover his scattered property, and to a great extent succeeded. he moved from mortlake to manchester, being made warden of the college there in ; later on he returned, and died at mortlake, much in debt, i think, in . i find from archbishop ussher's printed correspondence that his books were still unsold in ; litigation may have prevented their being dealt with earlier. the lists we have of his mss. date from before his foreign tour; that which is in print was made on the eve of his departure, and contains a little over entries. after the vicissitudes which his collection suffered it is remarkable that one should still be able to identify as extant well over half of it. i have been helped in my searches by certain marks--a little ladder, or the astrological sign of jupiter, or a [greek: delta]--which occur on the first page of many. his handwriting, too, in notes, and certain names of owners (particularly p. saunders) are guides. some of his mss. were bought by ussher, and are at trinity college, dublin, and a few were bought by cotton. but the largest group of them is at corpus christi college, oxford. these were acquired by the great oxford antiquary, brian twyne, who hoped that his college would buy them from him, but this they would not do. happily twyne was not too much hurt by the refusal to leave them to the college at his death. i guess that one reason for his buying them was that some (perhaps many) of them had once belonged to his grandfather, john twyne, a canterbury man of some slight eminence, who in his turn had secured a considerable "lot" of mss. from the library of st. augustine's abbey. in searching out the relics of that great library i found the combination, or pedigree, st. augustine's--john twyne--dee--brian twyne--corpus christi, to be a frequent one, and this set me upon a general investigation of dee's mss. a little notebook of his at corpus christi showed that in early life he had borrowed a number of mss. from peterhouse and from queen's college, oxford. i did not find that these ever got back to their sources, but i do not think that dee was dishonest in the matter; i believe he was allowed to keep them for some consideration received. some of the peterhouse books are traceable in the ashmole collection, the pepys library, and the british museum; of those of queen's college i can say nothing. dee was specially interested in mathematics, alchemy, and, as everyone knows, converse with spirits, but his library was not confined to books on these subjects; he had some excellent historical, literary, and theological mss. one of them was the best copy of alfred's translation of orosius. another library of the sixteenth century deserves to be singled out from the many which offer themselves for notice. it is that of lord lumley (d. ); he inherited the books from henry fitzalan, earl of arundel (d. ). this collection had again been largely recruited from that of archbishop cranmer: the combination t(homæ) c(ranmeri) c(antuar)--arundel--lumley, is often found written on the lower margin of the first leaf of the mss. concerned. these arundel mss., by the way, must not be confounded with the arundel collection in the british museum, nor with that remnant of the same collection which is owned by the college of arms. the arundel mss., so-called, were collected largely by lord william howard (belted will) of naworth, passed on to thomas, earl of arundel (d. ), and devised by henry howard to the royal society, ; they were eventually transferred by the society to the british museum in . the arundel-lumley books had a different destiny. most of them also came to the museum, but by another path. they were bought after lumley's death by or for prince henry, eldest son of james i., and added to the royal library, and that became national property by the gift of george ii. in . we have a catalogue, made about , of the whole library, which is among the gale mss. at trinity college, cambridge. it bears no name of owner, but is easily seen to be lumley's. not all the mss. that we find bearing lumley's name are in it, and not all the mss. in it are in the old royal library. to the second class belong the english bible at wolfenbüttel, the bible of gundulf, bishop of rochester (a fine but plain book which is at cheltenham in the phillipps collection), and the bosworth psalter bought not long ago from a private owner by the british museum. the first class is more numerous; about twenty mss. at lambeth alone have lumley's name, but are not in his catalogue. i conjecture that they were presented by lumley (who was a generous giver of printed books to the universities) to archbishop bancroft when he was forming his collection. so one might go on through ussher, laud, selden, rawlinson, harley, askew, drury, heber, etc., to sir thomas phillipps, whose , mss., good and bad, must be the largest mass of such things ever owned by a single collector. but i think i have said enough of the public and private accumulations of this country to give an adequate idea of the kind of results that attend research, and of the ways in which large blocks of mss. have been handed on to us. the epoch of the sale-room i have not really touched; it demands special tools and a special historian, and it concerns individual books. nor, i will confess, do i feel quite at ease in touching upon the private collections of the present day. there is less objection to surveying such things when they have passed as wholes into public institutions. for example, the mss. collected by the earl of crawford and balcarres were acquired in for the john rylands library at manchester. the latin section of these i have had occasion to examine. it consists of nearly items. the earliest and most remarkable of these almost all own the pedigree of libri-bateman-crawford. of libri enough has been said to make it necessary to note here that none of the crawford mss. owned by him were pilfered from french libraries. the library of bateman of youlgrave was dispersed in ; the libri purchases in it are mostly traceable in the libri sale catalogue of . three tenth-century spanish mss., two from the abbey of s. pedro de cardeña, one from silos, happen, by an odd and lucky accident, to be elaborately described in berganza's _españa sagrada_; how it was that exactly these books came into libri's hands it is not likely that we shall discover. for the rest, lord crawford's purchases at the howell wills sale of were considerable in quantity, and he acquired three fine books at that of ambroise firmin didot in . three others came from the bollandist fathers' library at brussels. one of these had for some years formed part of the very choice collection of the fountaines at narford, in norfolk, scattered in . of less choice quality, but of extreme usefulness to the student, are the mss. bequeathed by frank mcclean in to the fitzwilliam museum at cambridge, and collected by him in the ten or fifteen years before that. here we have few coherent groups of books, unless we reckon as such a certain number of volumes from the cistercian abbey of morimund in north italy, acquired singly, perhaps, by mr. mcclean from hoepli of milan. the phillipps sales account for a good many, the barrois and ashburnham appendix ( and ) for a few more, but most of the books were picked up one by one in auction-rooms or from dealers' catalogues. in both these cases examples of illumination and calligraphy have been primary objects in the collectors' eyes, and that is the ruling passion with most of those who buy mss. nowadays. at the beginning of the nineteenth century what was more coveted was the accumulation of copies of the classics. it had hardly been realized that few of the renaissance classical mss. made in italy have independent textual value, and collectors like askew, drury, canonici, burney, thought that the more of them they had the better. lord fitzwilliam (d. ), who devoted himself to buying french books of hours for the sake of the pictures, was something of a pioneer (at least in england) in this respect. francis douce (d. ) was another; his treasures are in the bodleian. as for sir thomas phillipps, he must have bought by the cart-load: _nihil manu scriptum a se alienum putabat_. in spite of the large amount of rubbish among his , odd volumes, i can never hear without a bitter pang the tale that the university of oxford many years ago shied at his offer of them, accompanied as it was by some tiresome conditions; their fate has been gradual dispersion to every part of europe and to america. i have said that i cannot embark here upon the history of sales of mss. in the last hundred years. but my abstention, due to considerations of space, must not be imitated by my readers. those who deal with modern collections or make collections of their own--a thing still possible for quite modest purses, in spite of the inflated prices which the great books command--are not absolved from the study of sale catalogues; that they will pay attention to book-plates, bindings, and names of owners, i need not repeat. the list of such catalogues issued by the british museum they will find invaluable; the catalogues themselves, alike those of dealers and of sales, will often enable them to trace a particular ms. back through a whole century to some italian palace or flemish abbey, sold up or secularized under the stress of revolution. this period of ms. history has been less well worked than the earlier ones; it is but just ripening, in fact; but to anyone who is bitten with the passion for the books it will prove just as fascinating as the others. curiosities of research by way of conclusion let me come back from generalities to particulars, and attempt to kindle interest and stir the imagination by a few words on waifs and strays--the curiosities of ms. research. some few leading instances have been mentioned, but in thinking over the collections i have examined and the documents i have had to copy or edit, others, less immediately showy, occur to my memory. what has become of the red book of eye in suffolk? it was a copy of the gospels which st. felix of burgundy, the apostle of the east angles, brought with him in the seventh century. it was after his death in a monastery at dunwich. then it passed to a little priory at eye, where leland saw it. after the dissolution it remained with the corporation of eye--now extinct--and people took oaths upon it. it is traceable in the records down to a comparatively late date--within the nineteenth century. can there be truth in the tale i have heard that it was sent for safe keeping to a mansion not far off, and there cut up for game labels? i cannot believe it. no doubt mss. were cut up for game labels. i have seen--years ago--in a london shop one that had turned up in a billiard-room, and its blank margins had been many of them removed for that purpose. but there was a fashion equally reprehensible a hundred years ago of cutting out illuminations from mss. and making scrap-books of them. it was especially common in the case of the great antiphoners and other huge service-books which stood on the lecterns in italian churches. the remainder of the books went to the gold-beaters, perhaps (they used parchment, and in england bought mss. sometimes to cut up), or to a like destination. occasionally books so mutilated have been reconstituted. a leading example is that of a josephus, illuminated in part by the great tours artist jean foucquet. this the late king edward vii. and mr. h. y. thompson were able to combine in restoring. the king had a number of the pictures, cut out, in his library at windsor; mr. thompson had the mutilated text and a pictured leaf or so. the fragments were brought together and presented to the paris library, which already possessed the first volume of the set. a miniature, cut, no one knows how long ago, from a fine twelfth-century bible, was shaken out of a pile of printed copies of a funeral sermon at a country house. the book to which it belonged i believe to be one at lambeth. in mr. samuel sandars bought at a london sale a scrap-book containing two leaves of a beautiful and very early book of hours. he gave them to the fitzwilliam museum. in came the fountaine sale, and then mr. william morris bought the ms. from which these leaves had come. an arrangement was made between him and the museum that he should possess the leaves, replaced in the book, for his life, and then the museum should acquire the whole at an agreed price. alas! he did not live to enjoy the ownership of them long. to find, as the late mr. greenwell of durham found, a leaf of a sixth-century latin bible from wearmouth or jarrow (or perhaps even from cassiodorus's library) in a curiosity shop, is a chance that comes to few. but i have always lamented that i did not pass through the streets of orléans at the time (not many years back) when an illustrated greek ms. of the gospels on purple vellum and in gold and silver uncials was exposed for sale in a shop window. a french officer had picked it up at sinope, and used it to keep dried plants in. however, it went to its rightful and proper home, the bibliothèque nationale. it is getting on for thirty years now since a small parish library in suffolk, founded in , gave to the world the book of the gospels owned by st. margaret of scotland (at oxford), and the unique life of st. william, the boy martyr of norwich, and nicholas roscarrock's register of british saints (both at cambridge). not as long since, in a private library in italy, some leaves were found of the early ms. (from hersfeld abbey in germany) of the minor writings of tacitus from which all our extant fifteenth-century copies descend. still more recently, among a collection of scraps of mss., a half leaf of an eleventh or twelfth century ms. in welsh was detected (a very great rarity); its generous finder (the late mr. a. g. w. murray, librarian of trinity college) gave it to the cambridge university library, and thus added one more to the already remarkable collection of bits of early welsh which cambridge owns. it deals with the dry topic of finding easter, but linguistically it is above price. and now for an example which shows the odd wanderings of _texts_. there is a volume at vienna, from bobbio, made up of palimpsest leaves from many mss., biblical and classical. two of these, apparently from one book, stand next to each other. they have only recently been deciphered; they are in latin uncials of the fifth century. one of them is from the apocalypse of thomas, a book named in an old list of apocryphal writings, but thought until a few years ago to be hopelessly lost. we now know complete mss. of it at munich and a fragment at verona, as well as an anglo-saxon version in the vercelli ms. the other vienna leaf is from an equally apocryphal "epistle of the apostles," never mentioned by old writers, but seemingly of the second century. it gives a dialogue between our lord and the apostles after the resurrection. about dr. carl schmidt, a leading coptic scholar, published an account of a coptic ms. of the greater part of the book (the ms. is at berlin, and some time will be edited); and about a french scholar, abbé guerrier, published a complete version of it from ethiopic mss. which had been in europe for half a century. it is about the last book i should have expected to find in a latin version, and current in italy in the fifth century. the combination of egypt and abyssinia is common enough; but that bobbio should be added to that, and asia minor and greece omitted, is indeed a strange thing. perhaps africa was the parent of the latin version. the moral so texts and books wander, and so do discoveries sometimes lie near our hands. the moral is: be inquisitive. see books for yourself; do not trust that the cataloguer has told you everything. i am a cataloguer myself, and i know that, try as he may, a worker of that class cannot hope to know or to see every detail that is of importance. the creature is human, and on some days his mind is less alert than on others. nor is he interested in everything alike: an apocryphal fragment or an obscure saint will excite me, while a letter of st. bernard which may be unpublished leaves me calm. but in spite of the imperfections of cataloguers, catalogues must be used, and they must be read and not only referred to. the mere juxtaposition of treatises in a volume will often reveal its provenance or its pedigree; besides, there is always the chance i have suggested, that the describer of any ms. may have failed through ignorance or want of attention to see that some article in it is of extreme interest and rarity. so it was that in reading lambecius's (eighteenth-century) catalogue of the greek mss. at vienna i noted down an entry that seemed unusual; and some years after, when i had an opportunity of getting a friend at vienna to look at the tract in question, it was found to be the unique copy of the very most heretical (and therefore interesting) episode of the apocryphal acts of st. john, written in the second century, and copied, to our lasting astonishment and perplexity, by some honest orthodox cleric in the fourteenth. may discoveries infinitely more pleasing fall to the lot of many of my patient readers! bibliographical note the student may consult the following works: j. w. clark: the care of books. cambridge, . e. a. savage: old english libraries. london, . containing a useful bibliography. m. r. james: the ancient libraries of canterbury and dover (cambridge, ); the abbey of st. edmund at bury, ( ) and the catalogues of the mss. of the libraries at eton and at cambridge, by the same author. m. bateson: catalogue of the library of syon monastery, isleworth. . list of catalogues of english book sales, - , now in the british museum. london, . e. a. loew: the beneventan script. oxford, . th. gottlieb: ueber mittelalterliche bibliotheken. leipzig, . t. duffus hardy: descriptive catalogue of materials relating to the history of great britain. rolls series, - . * * * * * billing and sons, ltd., printers, guildford, england footnotes: [a] let not the mss. given by coislin to the abbey of st. germain des prés at paris be quoted against me. they were the collection of a great noble, the chancellor séguier, and the library to which they were presented was practically a public one, whose permanence was seemingly assured. [b] _see_ eubel, _hierarchia catholica medii Ævi_, ii. . [c] we have its catalogue admirably reproduced by thomas hearne, at a time (early in the eighteenth century) when it was rare to find anyone who would take the trouble to make a faithful copy of such a record, with all its erasures and alterations. [d] subsequently theyer, as i said, went on collecting mss., and finally charles ii. bought the whole lot for the royal library. helps for students of history. =no. . episcopal registers of england and wales.= by r. c. fowler, b.a., f.s.a. d. net. =no. . municipal records.= by f. j. c. hearnshaw, m.a. d. net. =no. . medieval reckonings of time.= by reginald l. poole, ll.d., litt.d. d. net. =no. . the public record office.= by charles johnson. d. net. =no. . the care of documents.= by charles johnson. d. net. =no. . the logic of history.= by c. g. crump. d. net. =no. . documents in the public record office, dublin.= by r. h. murray, litt.d. d. net. =no. . the french wars of religion.= by arthur a. tilley, m.a. d. net. _by sir a. w. ward, litt.d., f.b.a.:--_ =no. . the period of congresses, i. introductory.= d. net. =no. . the period of congresses, ii.= vienna and the second peace of paris, s. net. =no. . the period of congresses, iii.= aix-la-chapelle to verona. s. net. (nos. , , and in one volume, cloth s. d. net.) =no. . securities of peace.= a retrospect ( - ). paper s.; cloth s. net. =no. . the french renaissance.= by arthur a. tilley, m.a. d. net. =no. . hints on the study of english economic history.= by w. cunningham, d.d., f.b.a., f.s.a. d. net. =no. . parish history and records.= by a. hamilton thompson, m.a., f.s.a. d. net. =no. . an introduction to the study of colonial history.= by a. p. newton, m.a., d.litt., b.sc. d. net. =no. . the wanderings and homes of manuscripts.= by m. r. james, litt.d., f.b.a. paper cover, s.; cloth boards, s. net. =no. . ecclesiastical records.= by the rev. claude jenkins, m.a., librarian of lambeth palace. =no. . an introduction to the history of american diplomacy.= by carl russell fish, ph.d., professor of american history in the university of wisconsin. s. net. =no. . hints on translation from latin into english.= by alexander souter, d.litt. d. net. =no. . hints on the study of latin.= (a.d. - .) by alexander souter, d.litt. d. net. =no . report of the historical mss. commission.= by r. a. roberts., f.r.h.s., sometime secretary of the commission. (_=others to follow.=_) * * * * * transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. the original text had one page containing the list of helps on the second page and it was concluded on the last page. the first page was moved to join the last. page , m. bateson was all-capped to match the rest of the format of the bibliography. booksmiths at http://www.ebookforge.net booklovers, bibliomaniacs and book clubs [illustration] book-lovers bibliomaniacs and book clubs by henry·h·harper privately printed at the riverside press cambridge boston mdcdiv copyright by h. h. harper all rights reserved prefatory having been asked to make a few remarks upon book-loving, book-buying, and book clubs,--not for publication before the great audience of readers, but for the exclusive use of the members of a private book club,--i venture thus to offer my views, hoping that in the light of my own personal experience i may be able to give a few useful hints and suggestions to those who may peruse the pages which follow. if this little tome, in which are recorded the reflections of one who for many years has mingled with publishers, booksellers, bibliophiles, collectors, and bibliomaniacs, should prove to be of any interest or service, and is found worthy of a small space in some sequestered nook in the library, where it may in silent repose behold its more worthy and resplendent companions, the fondest ambition of the author will be gratified beyond peradventure. the author. booklovers, bibliomaniacs and book clubs book-collecting is undeniably one of the most engaging pursuits in which a refined and artistic taste may be indulged. from the earliest times, and even before the days of printing, this pleasant diversion has been pursued by persons of moderate means as well as by those of wealth and distinction, and every succeeding generation of book-collectors has exceeded its predecessors in numbers and in enthusiasm. the alluring influences of bibliophilism, or book-loving, have silently crept into thousands of homes, whether beautiful or humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most important features of home as well as mental equipment. in _the house beautiful_ william c. gannett emphasizes the importance of considering the library as foremost in furnishing a home. he says: "it means admission to the new marvels of science, if one chooses admission. it means an introduction to the noblest company that all the generations have produced, if we claim the introduction. remembering this, how can one help wishing to furnish his house with some such furniture? a poet for a table piece! a philosopher upon the shelf! browning or emerson for a fireside friend! "a family's rank in thought and taste can well be gauged by the books and papers that lie upon the shelf or table of the library." not many years ago, mr. howard pyle said: "i sometimes think that we are upon the edge of some new era in which the art of beautifying books with pictures shall suddenly be uplifted into a higher and a different plane of excellence; when ornate printed colour and perfect reproduction shall truly depict the labour of the patient draughtsman who strives so earnestly to beautify the world in which he lives, and to lend a grace to the living therein." the prophecy is already fulfilled, and a modern book, in order to win favor among present-day bibliophiles, must embody an harmonious assimilation of many arts. the ardor of possessing books, commonly called bibliomania, also styled bibliophilism and "biblio"--whatever else that has suggested itself to the fruitful imaginations of dozens of felicitous writers upon the subject,--is described by dibdin as a "disease which grows with our growth, and strengthens with our strength." kings and queens have not been immune from this prevalent though harmless malady. the vast resources of henry vii were employed in collecting a library of which a modern millionaire collector might be justly proud. many specimens of his magnificent collection, bearing the royal stamp, are now to be found in the british museum. queen elizabeth and lady jane grey were submissive victims of the bibliomania. it is worthy of note that while there were but few women book-collectors in the elizabethan period, there are at the present time in our own country almost as many women as there are men engaged in this fascinating pursuit. as late as , dibdin remarks that "it is a remarkable circumstance, that the bibliomania has almost uniformly confined its attacks to the _male_ sex, and among people in the higher and middling classes of society. it has raged chiefly in palaces, castles, halls, and gay mansions, and those things which in general are supposed not to be inimical to health,--such as cleanliness, spaciousness, and splendour, are only so many inducements to the introduction and propagation of the bibliomania!" it should be remembered, however, that one possessing a fondness for books is not necessarily a bibliomaniac. there is as much difference between the inclinations and taste of a bibliophile and a bibliomaniac as between a slight cold and the advanced stages of consumption. some one has said that "to call a bibliophile a bibliomaniac is to conduct a lover, languishing for his maiden's smile, to an asylum for the demented, and to shut him up in the ward for the incurables." _biblio_ relates to books, and _mania_ is synonymous with madness, insanity, violent derangement, mental aberration, etc. a bibliomaniac, therefore, might properly be called an insane or crazy bibliophile. it is, however, a harmless insanity, and even in its worst stages it injures no one. rational treatment may cure a bibliomaniac and bring him (or her) back into the congenial folds of bibliophilism, unless, perchance, the victim has passed beyond the curative stages into the vast and dreamy realms of extra-illustrating, or "grangerizing." people usually have a horror of insane persons, and one might well beware of indulging a taste for books, if there were any reasonable probability that this would lead to mental derangement. there could be furniture-maniacs, rug-maniacs, and china-maniacs just as well as book-maniacs, but people do not generally hesitate to purchase furniture, rugs, and china for fear of going crazy on the subject, and no more reason is there why rational persons should hesitate to make a collection of good books for a library, for fear of being called bibliomaniacs. in _sesame and lilies_ ruskin says: "if a man spends lavishly on his library, you call him mad--a bibliomaniac. but you never call one a horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by their horses, and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by their books." this is preëminently the age of collectors, and scarcely a week passes without the discovery of some new dementia in this direction. only a few days ago i read of a new delirium which threatens disaster to the feline progeny; it may be called the _cat-tail mania_, seeing that its victims possess an insatiable desire for amputating and preserving the caudal appendages of all the neighborhood cats. a self-confessed member of this cult was recently arrested in one of the eastern states. there are several species of bibliophiles; there are _many_ species of bibliomaniacs. some admire books for what they contain; others for their beautiful type, hand-made paper, artistic illustrations, ample margins, untrimmed edges, etc.; and there are others who attach more importance to the limited number of copies issued than to either the contents or workmanship. if a book is to attain any considerable commercial value and increase in worth year after year, it is of first importance that the number of copies issued be actually limited; and the greater the restriction the more likelihood that the monetary value will be steadily enhanced. but it must not be forgotten that the mere "limitation" will not of itself create a furore among judicious book-buyers; the book, or set of books, should rest upon some more secure basis of valuation than that of scarcity. dibdin says in his _bibliomania_, issued in : "about twelve years ago i was rash enough to publish a small volume of poems, with my name affixed. they were the productions of my juvenile years; and i need hardly say at this period how ashamed i am of their authorship. the monthly and analytical reviews did me the kindness of just tolerating them, and of warning me not to commit any future trespass upon the premises of parnassus. i struck off five hundred copies, and was glad to get rid of half of them as wastepaper; the remaining half has been partly destroyed by my own hands, and has partly mouldered away in oblivion amidst the dust of booksellers' shelves. my only consolation is that the volume is _exceedingly rare_!" the contents, first to be considered, should be worthy of preservation; next in importance is the selection of appropriate type, and the size and style of page, which should be determined by the nature of the work and the period in which it was written. the size of the book and the margins of the page must be carefully considered in order to harmonize with the text-page. in choosing illustrations it is important to determine whether they should be ornate and illustrative, or classic and emblematical in design. the paper should be handmade, to order, and of such correct size as not to lose the deckle edges in cutting; and the printing should be done in "forms" of not more than eight. the paper should be scientifically moistened before printing, and the ink allowed several weeks in which to dry before handling the printed sheets. the bindings should harmonize with interiors, and due care taken against over-decoration of the covers. these few technical hints will serve to acquaint the book-lover with some at least of the many important features which must be regarded in the preparation of a fine book,--a book fitted to demand and merit a place upon the library shelves of discriminating bibliophiles, and as well increase in demand and price whenever thereafter its copies may "turn up" for sale. next in importance, after considering literary and mechanical fitness, and the limitation of the work, is the question of distribution; its scope, and the class of subscribers. the stock of a corporation, if limited to a reasonable number of shares and issued only to a few expert investors of high standing, and for tangible considerations, will obviously be considered a safer and more attractive investment than if it be scattered indiscriminately among a class of professional manipulators for stock-jobbing purposes. with such a stock where thus closely held for investment purposes, an order for a few shares may largely elevate its market value. but if the stock were issued in unlimited quantities, the monetary value would be entirely lost. again, if the stock had no corporeal assets as a basis for its issue, the "limited and registered" clause could not sustain it in the market. so it is with books: if the number of copies issued be held within a reasonable constraint, consistent with the price charged per copy, and if they are subscribed for by book-lovers who prize them for their literary or historic value and luxurious appearance no less than for pecuniary values, they are not likely to find their way into the bookstalls, or to be "picked up" in auction rooms at less than their original price. this condition applies particularly to legitimate club editions and privately printed editions. if an edition of five hundred copies is widely distributed throughout the country, it is reasonable to assume that the speculative market therefor would be less apt to suffer from congestion than if the sale of the whole number of sets were confined to one locality. [illustration] passing now to those who, in one way or another, are to meet with and handle the completed book, we may begin with a class of _literary barnacles_ who stick about the libraries of their friends and of the public institutions, and feed their bibliophilistic appetites on what others have spent much time and money in collecting. these may perhaps more appropriately be called biblio-spongers, and are of all ranks in the community, many even owning beautiful homes, and having ample resources at command; but while enjoying the congenial atmosphere of a well-furnished library, and the delights of caressing the precious and wisely selected tomes of others, they are still of such temperaments that they would no more think of _buying_ books than would another of buying an opera-house in order to satisfy theatre-going propensities. these people should be taught that fine books, like friends, are not loanable or exchangeable chattels. they will argue that there is no use spending money for books, because they reside within easy reach of a public library where such books as they desire are readily obtainable, or perhaps suggest that "i have free access to my friend smith's library; he scarcely ever uses it;" without reflecting that smith would probably use it more, if his friends used it less. and yet such folk will still incur the needless expense of providing their own homes with chairs, unless, haply, such homes may chance to be within convenient reach of some park or public institution where _free_ seats are provided. most of us are disposed to idealize a besotted bibliomaniac as a harmless being whose companionship and favor are neither to be courted nor particularly avoided,--a sort of shellfish basking on the bank of life's flow in whatever sunshine it may absorb, and paying little heed to the thoughts or actions of others. the following curious inscription which is found on an old copperplate print of the famous bibliomaniac, john murray, will illustrate one of the varieties:-- hoh maister john murray of sacomb, the works of old time to collect was his pride, till oblivion dreaded his care: regardless of friends, intestate he dy'd, so the rooks and the crows were his heir. mr. nathan haskell dole, president of the bibliophile society, aptly describes a miserly bibliomaniac as a victim of a frenzied passion, he is lean and lank and crusty; naught he cares for dress or fashion and his rusty coat smells musty; while in characterizing the natural impulses of true bibliophilism, he says that bibliophiles take pride in showing all the gems of their collections; they are generous in bestowing, they have genuine affections. peignot says a bibliomaniac is one who has "a passion for possessing books; not so much to be instructed by them as to gratify the eye by looking on them." this presumption is about as reasonable as it would be to say that a man is a monomaniac because he gets married when he is in no special need of a house-servant, or body-guard. in his _bibliomania_ dibdin enumerates eight symptoms of this "darling passion or insanity," in the following order: "a passion for large-paper copies, uncut copies, extra-illustrated copies, unique copies, copies printed on vellum, first editions, true editions, and black-letter copies." the first of these should be omitted from the symptomatic category: it would be fallacy to assume that one is a maniac because one admires the ample margins and paramount qualities of these large-paper copies, which dibdin himself says are "printed upon paper of a larger dimension and superior quality than the ordinary copies. the presswork and ink are always proportionately better in these copies, and the price of them is enhanced according to their beauty and rarity. . . . that a volume so published has a more pleasing aspect cannot be denied." he adds that "this symptom of the bibliomania is at the present day both general and violent." no wonder! and yet the charming dr. ferriar dips his pen in gall and writes the following satirical lines upon this highly commendable "weakness:"-- but devious oft, from every classic muse, the keen collector, meaner paths will choose. and first the margin's breadth his soul employs, pure, snowy, broad, the type of nobler joys. in vain might homer roll the tide of song, or horace smile, or tully charm the throng, if, crost by pallas' ire, the trenchant blade or too oblique or near the edge invade, the bibliomane exclaims with haggard eye, "no margin!"--turns in haste, and scorns to buy. dibdin ventures to further assert that "the day is not far distant when _females_ will begin to have as high a relish for large-paper copies of every work as their male rivals." if he could return to this sphere and behold the enormously increased number of women bibliophiles in our country at the present time, the subject would doubtless furnish him with a congenial theme for another of his rambling discourses, this time perhaps under the caption of _bibliowomania_. he was far in advance of the age in which he lived; for although he had very little upon which to base the prediction, he yet prophesied that not many years would lapse before women would invade the fields of book-collecting and prove themselves valiant competitors in the market. this, in fact, is now common enough, and i myself have known of many instances in auction-rooms where a small army of rampant bibliomaniacs have been obliged to retreat and to abandon their pursuit of some coveted treasure, on finding it boldly covered by a _carte-blanche_ order from a feminine competitor. women rarely appear in the book auction-room, but leave their orders to be executed through a trusted broker, and many a collector has found himself suddenly obliged to soar aloft to dizzy heights in quest of some prize, on being thus lifted and pursued by one of the representatives of an unseen and unknown member of the gentler sex. many people suppose the term "uncut," characteristic of dibdin's second "symptom," to signify that the leaves of such volume as may be concerned have never been severed, whether for convenience of reading or otherwise. "uncut," however, in its technical sense does not imply that the sheets are folded and bound just as they came from the press. the leaves may all be cut, and the tops trimmed, and even gilded, without striking terror to the heart of the bibliomaniac. dibdin, indeed, treats this last mentioned symptom in merely a superficial way and dismisses it with a few cursory remarks, viz: "it may be defined a passion to possess books of which the edges have never been sheared by the binder's tools." this definition is vague and unsatisfactory. mr. adrian h. joline (_diversions of a booklover_, harper & bros., new york, ,--a charming book that should be read by every book-fancier) discourses upon the subject more intelligently; he observes that the word _uncut_ appears to be a stumbling-block to the unwary, and says: "the casual purchaser is sometimes deceived by it, for he thinks that it means that the leaves have not been severed by the paper-knife. i have read with much glee divers indignant letters in the very interesting 'saturday review' of one of our best new york journals, in which the barbarian writers have denounced the _uncut_, and have assailed in vigorous but misguided phrases those who prefer to have their books in that condition. henry stevens tells us that even such a famous collector as james lenox, founder of the splendid library into whose magnificent mysteries so few of us dare to penetrate, was misled by the word _uncut_, and chided stevens for buying an _uncut_ book whose pages were all open. he says: 'again when his tastes had grown into the mysteries of _uncut_ leaves, he returned a very rare, early new england tract, expensively bound, because it did not answer the description of _uncut_ in the invoice, for the leaves had manifestly been cut open and read.' when it was explained to him that in england the term _uncut_ signified only that the edges were not _trimmed_, he shelved the rarity with the remark that he 'learned something every day.' . . . perhaps the caxton club of chicago is wise in describing its productions as 'with edges untrimmed.' even a philistine ought to be able to comprehend that description, although i once knew a man who supposed that a book 'bound in boards' had sides composed of planking." dr. ferriar's satirical lines in his _second maxim_ will find sympathizers among admirers of uncuts:-- who, with fantastic pruning-hook, dresses the borders of his book, merely to ornament its look-- amongst philosophers a fop is: what if, perchance, he thence discover facilities in turning over, the virtuoso is a lover of coyer charms in "uncut copies." i have been requested to "explain the reason, if there be any, for leaving leaf-edges fastened [unopened]--even in evanescent magazines--and why people keep books in this condition, without looking at the contents." the reason why the binder does not open all the leaves is that it involves additional labor and expense which the publisher usually does not care to incur, as it does not essentially add to the selling value. indeed, some collectors hesitate to open the leaves of their books with the paper-knife, for fear that the selling price would be thereby depreciated. this is an entirely mistaken idea, though it prevails very generally among those who do not understand the real meaning of the term "uncut." most booksellers prefer having the leaves of the volumes all opened, as many buyers and readers object to the nuisance of cutting them open. some of the magazine publishers have modern folding machines equipped with blades for severing all the leaves. in fine book-making, however, most of the folding and cutting is done by hand. the third "symptom" defined by dibdin, viz: "extra-illustrating," commonly called _grangerizing_, is really so far removed from the indicative stages of bibliomania as to render it entirely inappropriate as a proper single characteristic; it is the whole disease in its worst form. fortunately, it is not a frequent infirmity among our present day bibliomaniacs. i cannot refrain from quoting mr. william p. cutter's vehement denunciation of the class of literary foragers who are thus affected. he observes that "this craze for 'extra-illustrating' seizes remorselessly the previously harmless bibliophile, and leads him to become a wicked despoiler and mutilator of books. the extra-illustrator is nearly always the person responsible for the decrepit condition of many of the books which 'unfortunately lack the rare portrait,' or have, 'as usual,' some valuable plate or map lacking. were this professional despoiler, or his minions, the ruthless booksellers, to destroy the sad wrecks which result from their piratical depredations, all would be well. but they set these poor maimed hulks adrift again, to seek salvage from some deluded collector, or some impoverished or ignorant librarian. "it is curious that the very volume in which our reverend friend dibdin so heartily condemns these inexcusable bandits, should be seized on as a receptacle for their ill-gotten prizes. may the spectre of thomas frognall dibdin haunt the souls of these impious rascals, and torture them with never-ceasing visions of unobtainable and rare portraits, non-existent autographs, and elusive engravings in general! they even dare to profane your sacred work, the _biblia_ of book-lovers, by the 'insertion' of crudities invented by their fiendish imagination. they have committed the 'unpardonable sin' of bibliophilism. not only do they carry on this wicked work, but actually flaunt their base crimes in the face of their innocent brethren. hearken to this:-- "dibdin, t.f. _bibliomania._ london, . extended to five volumes, with extra printed titles, and having eight hundred engravings inserted, comprising views, old titles(!), vignettes, and six hundred and seventy-five portraits of authors, actors, poets, sovereigns, artists, prelates, &c., &c., guineas." limited space prevents me from making any remarks upon the other five "symptoms," none of which are of any special interest, except to collectors to whose eccentricities they particularly relate. as to "autograph editions," the craze for these continues without abatement. to me, this has always been one of the unsolved mysteries of the book-mania. i can readily appreciate how a collector would prize an author's inscribed copy of some choice edition, but why intelligent people should be allured into the belief that an author's stereotyped autograph displayed upon a front page gives any added value to a set of subscription books, will to me, i fear, forever remain a disentangled enigma. i was once applied to by an agent representing a $ "autograph edition" of jean jacques rousseau. having never seen rousseau's autograph, i asked that it be shown me. "oh," said the agent, "rousseau himself don't sign the copies, but the set will be signed by the publishers." would not a much less expensive and more expeditious way of obtaining publishers' autographs be found in writing a postal card of inquiry for the "prices and terms" on their publications? gilpin has left the following quaint account of the eccentric old bibliomaniac, henry hastings, the uncompanionable neighbor of anthony cooper, earl of shaftesbury. the accompanying pen-and-ink sketch represents louis maynelle's idealization of this interesting character; it was made especially for this volume:-- "mr. hastings was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy complexion, with flaxen hair. his clothes were always of green cloth. his house was of the old fashion; in the midst of a large park, well stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. he had a long narrow bowling green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. here too he had a banqueting room built, like a stand in a large tree. [illustration] "he kept all sorts of hounds that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. his great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. the upper end of it was hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. here and there a polecat was intermixed and hunter's poles in great abundance. the parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the same style. on a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest terriers, hounds and spaniels. one or two of the great chairs had litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. of these, three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand lay by his trencher, to defend it if they were too troublesome. in the windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other accoutrements. the corners of the room were filled with his best hunting and hawking poles. his oyster table stood at the lower end of the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round; for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with which the neighbouring town of pool supplied him. "at the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk, one side of which held a church bible; the other the _book of martyrs_. on different tables in the room lay hawks' hoods, bells, old hats with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs, tables, dice, cards, and store of tobacco pipes. at one end of this room was a door, which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and wine, which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule of the house, for he never exceeded himself nor permitted others to exceed. "answering to this closet was a door into an old chapel, which had been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust, well baked. his table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. his sports supplied all but beef and mutton, except on fridays, when he had the best of fish. he never wanted a london pudding, and he always sang it in with 'my part lies therein-a.' he drank a glass or two of wine at meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack, and had always a tun glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with rosemary. he lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor used spectacles. he got on horseback without help, and rode to the death of the stag till he was past four-score." it is said of george steevens, the famous shakespearian collector, that he "lived in a retired and eligibly situated house, just on the rise of hampstead heath. it was paled in, and had immediately before it a verdant lawn skirted with a variety of picturesque trees. here steevens lived, embosomed in books, shrubs and trees, being either too coy or too unsociable to mingle with his neighbours. his habits were indeed peculiar: not much to be envied or imitated, as they sometimes betrayed the flights of a madman and sometimes the asperities of a cynic. his attachments were warm but fickle both in choice and duration. he would frequently part from one with whom he had lived on terms of close intimacy, without any assignable cause, and his enmities once fixed were immovable. there was indeed a kind of venom in his antipathies, nor would he suffer his ears to be assailed or his heart to relent in favour of those against whom he entertained animosities, however capricious and unfounded. in one pursuit only was he consistent: one object only did he woo with an inflexible attachment; and that object was dame drama." in dibdin's bibliomaniacal romance, "philemon" is credited with the following narrative concerning one who was probably a bibliomaniac in all that the compound sense of the term implies:-- "you all know my worthy friend ferdinand, a very _helluo librorum_. it was on a warm evening in summer, about an hour after sunset, that ferdinand made his way towards a small inn or rather village alehouse that stood on a gentle eminence skirted by a luxuriant wood. he entered, oppressed with heat and fatigued, but observed, on walking up to the porch 'smothered with honeysuckles,' as i think cowper expresses it, that everything around bore the character of neatness and simplicity. the hollyhocks were tall and finely variegated in blossom, the pinks were carefully tied up, and roses of all colours and fragrance stood around in a compacted form like a body-guard forbidding the rude foot of trespasser to intrude. within, ferdinand found corresponding simplicity and comfort. "the 'gude man' of the house was spending the evening with a neighbour, but poached eggs and a rasher of bacon, accompanied with a flagon of sparkling ale, gave our guest no occasion to doubt the hospitality of the house on account of the absence of its master. a little past ten, after reading some dozen pages in a volume of sir edgerton brydges's _censura literaria_, which he happened to carry about him, and partaking pretty largely of the aforesaid eggs and ale, ferdinand called for his candle and retired to repose. his bedroom was small but neat and airy; at one end and almost facing the window there was a pretty large closet with the door open; but ferdinand was too fatigued to indulge any curiosity about what it might contain. "he extinguished his candle and sank upon his bed to rest. the heat of the evening seemed to increase. he became restless, and throwing off his quilt and drawing his curtain aside, turned towards the window to inhale the last breeze which yet might be wafted from the neighbouring heath. but no zephyr was stirring. on a sudden a broad white flash of lightning--nothing more than summer heat--made our bibliomaniac lay his head upon his pillow and turn his eyes in an opposite direction. the lightning increased; and one flash more vivid than the rest illuminated the interior of the closet and made manifest an old mahogany book-case stored with books. up started ferdinand and put his phosphoric treasures into action. he lit his match and trimmed his candle and rushed into the closet, no longer mindful of the heavens, which now were in a blaze with the summer heat. "the book-case was guarded both with glass and brass wires; and the key--nowhere to be found! hapless man! for to his astonishment he saw _morte d'arthur_, printed by caxton--_richard coeur de lion_, by w. de worde--_the widow edyth_, by pynson--and, towering above the rest, a large-paper copy of the original edition of _prince's worthies of devon_, while lying transversely at the top reposed john weever's _epigrams_! "'the spirit of captain cox is here revived,' exclaimed ferdinand; while on looking above he saw a curious set of old plays with _dido, queen of carthage_, at the head of them! what should he do? no key! no chance of handling such precious tomes till the morning light with the landlord returned! "he moved backwards and forwards with a hurried step, prepared his pocketknife to cut out the panes of glass and untwist the brazen wires; but a 'prick of conscience' made him desist from carrying his wicked design into execution. ferdinand then advanced towards the window, and, throwing it open and listening to the rich notes of a concert of nightingales, forgot the cause of his torments--his situation reminded him of _the churl and the bird_--he rushed with renewed madness into the cupboard, then searched for the bell, but finding none, he made all sorts of strange noises. the landlady rose, and, conceiving robbers to have broken into the stranger's room, came and demanded the cause of the disturbance. "'madam,' said ferdinand, 'is there no possibility of inspecting the books in the cupboard? where is the key?' "'alack, sir,' rejoined the landlady, 'what is there that thus disturbs you in the sight of those books? let me shut the closet-door and take away the key of it, and you will then sleep in peace.' "'sleep in peace!' resumed ferdinand; 'sleep in wretchedness, you mean! i can have no peace unless you indulge me with the key of the book-case. to whom do such gems belong?' "'sir, they are not stolen goods!' "'madam, i ask pardon. i did not mean to question their being honest property, but'-- "'sir, they are not mine or my husband's.' "'who, madam, who is the lucky owner?' "'an elderly gentleman of the name of--sir, i am not at liberty to mention his name, but they belong to an elderly gentleman.' "'will he part with them? where does he live? can you introduce me to him?' "the good woman soon answered all ferdinand's rapid queries, but the result was by no means satisfactory to him. "he learnt that these uncommonly scarce and precious volumes belonged to an ancient gentleman whose name was studiously concealed, but who was in the habit of coming once or twice a week, during the autumn, to smoke his pipe and lounge over his books, sometimes making extracts from them and sometimes making observations in the margin with a pencil. whenever a very curious passage occurred, he would take out a small memorandum book and put on a pair of large tortoise-shell spectacles with powerful magnifying glasses in order to insert this passage with particular care and neatness. he usually concluded his evening amusements by sleeping in the very bed in which ferdinand had been lying. "such intelligence only sharpened the curiosity and increased the restlessness of poor ferdinand. he retired to his bibliomaniacal bed, but not to repose. the morning sunbeams, which irradiated the bookcase with complete effect, shone upon his pallid countenance and thoughtful brow. he rose at five, walked in the meadows till seven, returned and breakfasted, stole upstairs to take a farewell peep at his beloved _morte d'arthur_, sighed 'three times and more,' paid his reckoning, apologized for the night's adventure, told the landlady he would shortly come and visit her again and try to pay his respects to the anonymous old gentleman. "'meanwhile,' said he, 'i will leave no bookseller's shop in the neighbourhood unvisited till i gain intelligence of his name and character.' "the landlady eyed him steadily, took a pinch of snuff with a significant air, and returning with a smile of triumph to her kitchen, thanked her stars that she had got rid of such a madman!" to return, however, to the subject more immediately in hand, it will be observed that the present age is more prolific of bibliophiles than any preceding one, and that the growing interest in collecting fine books is attended by a relatively increasing demand for a higher standard of excellency of manufacture. a few years ago, there were only two or three publishers in this country who "specialized" in fine editions, while at present there are no less than thirty publishing houses, large and small, and as many more "private presses" engaged in the production of beautiful books to appease the demands of book-buyers. many of these are well established and conducted upon thoroughly honest business principles; some, unfortunately, are not. the publication and sale of books--especially the so-called "de luxe" editions--is, like some other branches of industry, beset with numerous evils; so many sharp practices, indeed, having been resorted to by a few conscienceless publishers, and by a certain class of unscrupulous agents, that buyers have become wary, not to say weary, of being made the victims of their deceptive inventions. it is indeed lamentable that a few such pestiferous schemers should thus bring a certain degree of reproach upon the entire publishing business. it is a common practice among these _soi-disant_ publishers--many of whom possess neither capital, credit, nor sense of honor--to buy some lot of etchings or old prints from a junk-shop, or second-hand dealer, at a trifling price, and thereupon work the same off on credulous admirers of rare prints for possibly a thousand times their real value. and it is a common practice for these insidious sharks further to prey upon unsuspecting book-buyers by obtaining publications of reputable houses and falsifying them by the insertion of spurious titles calculated to delude the buyer into the belief that there are "only fifty copies issued." many of them are ostracized book-salesmen who have at some previous time enjoyed the confidence of their employers, but have been ex-communicated by all honest publishers and booksellers on account of dishonest proclivities. they are therefore set adrift to prey upon the public, and are a constant menace to both publishers and buyers. i shall pay my further respects to these counterfeiters later on when i come to the subject of book clubs; in the mean while, it need hardly be pointed out that reprehensible methods of this kind are uniformly condemned among all respectable publishers and book-dealers, and that buyers should cautiously discriminate against those who practice them. it is not surprising that even the honest publishers and dealers themselves are occasionally made the scapegoats of these obnoxious parasites; but the astute collector is rarely "caught" by their schemes; and after a book-buyer has passed the primary or "experience" stages of book-collecting, he (or she) is designated as a "dead one," in the common parlance of the underground trade here referred to. fortunate, indeed, are the bibliophiles who have passed unscathed into the category of "dead ones." that my present condemnatory observations are not directed against that great majority of publishers, booksellers, and agents whose methods in business are founded upon sincerity and integrity, will, i take it, be clearly understood; and i am, indeed, forced partially to disagree with mr. joline in his vigorous and general proscription of "subscription book-agents," for experience shows that there are many worthy people of this class, however much they may suffer by the sins of some of their kind. an acquaintance once said to me that he would "_never buy another book_," because he had been "buncoed" by a book-agent, to whom he otherwise referred with an uncomplimentary adjective. but this did not convince me that his position was more logical than that of the man who declared he would never take another bath because a watch had been stolen from his pocket while he was in bathing at some beach resort. it is incomprehensible that any one could imagine that our paper currency system is fraudulent because there are a few "green-goods" men in the country, or because counterfeit bills appear every now and then. we read so much in the papers nowadays of the extravagant sums paid for rare books by our modern millionaire bibliomaniacs that one is apt to become somewhat panic-stricken upon experiencing the first symptoms of the bibliomania. while these more opulent victims of book-madness vie with one another in the auction-room, the rational bibliophile sits in the gallery and views with silent awe and amazement the scrimmage over some apparently trifling volume that wouldn't fetch ten cents, but for the fact that it is "unique," and that so and so paid a stupendous sum for it at some previous sale. despair not, dear bibliophile, of never being able to join in the mad scramble for these "uniques;" nor need you feel that they are essential to the formation of a library. they possess no virtues perceptible to the ordinary bibliophile, and it requires all the eloquence of a cicero to elucidate their charms when displaying them to friends. for after all, the chief point of interest in such books is their cost price, and this you may be obliged to refrain from mentioning for fear you will be accused of being mentally unbalanced. it is not necessary to squander a fortune in collecting a library, nor to be hasty in buying every book you come across. better go slowly and select wisely; you will derive more enjoyment from it, and in later years have less to charge to "experience account." there are a few "busy" book-collectors who intrust the selection of their books to secretaries or librarians, and thus sacrifice the keenest enjoyment of this captivating pursuit. of all absurdities, this seems the most insupportable. it would be far more sensible to have your secretary select your friends, because if you should happen not to like these, you could abandon them without ceremony or expense. why not also attend the opera and your various social functions by proxy, through your secretary? if he were as good a courtier as he is "literary adviser," he might succeed in getting as much enjoyment out of the receptions and dinners as you would, if you were to attend in person. then, think of the _time_ you would save! we frequently hear the remark: "i have no time to devote to my library. i am very fond of books, but haven't time to collect or read them." and yet seeing what may be done in this regard by care and system, and that the greatest readers have been the busiest men, it seems strange that persons of intelligence should thus express themselves; should admit such obvious fatuity of view and procedure. in referring to this class of book-buyers, roswell field says, "the book-lover, so-called, who lacks any of the thrills that go with the _establishment_ as well as the enjoyment of a library in all of its appointments has deprived himself of many of the most pleasurable literary and semi-literary emotions. that bibliophile never pats his horse or his dog. to him his books are merely tools of trade, accessories to knowledge, to be pawed over, thrown away and replaced by new copies when worn out. he glories in the fact that his books are his servants rather than his companions, and he affects to despise and laugh at the sentimental relation which others have established with their books. look out for that man! he is not of us; he is not of the elect; there is as little of warmth and the genial glow of fellowship in his library as in the middle gallery of the catacombs in the appian way. his very books cry out against him; but he hears them not, for he is deaf as well as blind." one of the busiest men in new york city, whose name is familiar in financial circles throughout the civilized world, is one of the most voracious collectors of the age. he probably transacts more business in a day than half a dozen ordinarily busy men, and yet finds time to give his personal attention to every minute detail of his vast collections, to which are added hundreds, and probably thousands, of items every year. this is only one of many such examples among our busiest men. i have often heard persons lament in a pensive and apologetic sort of way, "yes, i have a great weakness for fine books." the very presence of this mis-called weakness, however, is unmistakable proof of great mental strength, and those who suffer from it may find solace in the fact that the giants of commerce, leading statesmen, and great men of affairs in general are frequently thus afflicted all through the periods of their greatest activity and success. what can possibly afford a more agreeable relaxation from the toils and perplexities of the day than to recline in an easy chair before an open grate fire in the library, surrounded by the silently reposing tomes which record and preserve the noblest thoughts of past and present generations? surely no enjoyment in the home or office can be more delectable and unfailing in assuaging the worry and solicitude of a strenuous life than the silent companionship of books. it is a noteworthy fact that a large percentage of the leading stock brokers, bankers, active statesmen, and sedulous lawyers are bibliophiles. i attribute this to the fact that all of these vocations are extremely taxing upon the nervous system, and those men who are busily engaged in them are, during the intermittent hours of rest and recreation, naturally inclined to seek the most enjoyable and refreshing diversions; for, as horace says,-- . . . nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis ducere sollicitae jocunda oblivia vitae. along with old books, or a nap, and divine hours of leisure-- to taste thus forgetfulness--sweet, in the midst of life's troubles. in an article written for the bibliophile society's ( ) year book, caroline ticknor says, "the true book-lover loves his books for their helpfulness, for their companionship; but he regards them as well for their elegant settings." she also observes that "strange as the anomaly may seem, there are still many persons of ample means, and some education, who, although they would be horrified at the very thought of admitting to the home a cheap rug or vase, to destroy the harmony and bring discord and confusion into the luxuriance of the furnishings, yet will nonchalantly tolerate the incongruity of a miserable fragment of a library made up of the cheapest and meanest editions to be found in the market, such as would be scorned by those of the most limited means and plebeian tastes. these will be found inappropriately housed amid the most sumptuous surroundings. a single rug to adorn the floor, or a single vase resting on a mantle, will often be found to have cost ten times as much as the whole home library. and yet the intellects of these people have been nurtured and trained in their youth by the brilliant thoughts of ancient and modern writers! even the favorite author, be it shakespeare, dickens, longfellow, tennyson, or some other, is frequently represented by a half dozen or so disconsolate-looking volumes, the remainder of the set either never having been bought, or else, if bought, thrown aside, or strewn around the attic, or abandoned as a child would discard a toy which afforded it no further amusement. "it is worthy of remark, however, that the enormously increased demand of late for beautiful books evinces the fact that cultured and wealthy people are growing to appreciate the importance not only of having a good library, but that its quality should embody a degree of estheticism to correspond with the surroundings." many of the most delightful persons, well read and competent to discourse intelligently upon the merits of books and authors, have never experienced a single pulsation of true bibliophilism; they have never known the joy of possessing and admiring a beautiful book, and that the attachment one bears for such a treasure is wholly reciprocal. they have not learned that fine books, like human beings, are capable of mutual affection, and that it is not necessary to devour them in order to value their charms. "we do not gather books to read them, my boeotian friend," says mr. joline; "the idea is a childish delusion. 'in early life,' says walter bagehot, 'there is an opinion that the obvious thing to do with a horse is to ride it; with a cake, to eat it; with a sixpence to spend it.' a few boyish persons carry this further, and think that the natural thing to do with a book is to read it. the mere reading of a rare book is a puerility, an idiosyncrasy of adolescence; it is the _ownership_ of the book which is the matter of distinction. the collector of coins does not accumulate his treasures for the purpose of ultimately spending them in the marketplace. the lover of postage-stamps, small as his horizon may be, does not hoard his colored bits of paper with the intent to employ them in the mailing of letters. when some one complained to bedford that a book which he had bound did not shut properly, he exclaimed, 'why, bless me, sir, you've been _reading_ it!'" herrick says that "the truest owner of a library is he who has bought each book for the love he bears to it; who is happy and content to say, 'here are my jewels, my choicest possessions!'" seneca, the great roman philologer, wrote: "if you are fond of books, you will escape the _ennui_ of life; you will neither sigh for evening, disgusted with the occupations of the day, nor will you live dissatisfied with yourself or unprofitable with others." "i am quite transported and comforted in the midst of my books," says the younger pliny, who was an ardent book-fancier; "they give a zest to the happiest and assuage the anguish of the bitterest moments of existence. therefore, whether distracted by the cares or losses of my family or my friends, i fly to my library as the only refuge in distress: here i learn to bear adversity with fortitude." southey thus immortalizes his speechless, yet beloved, library companions: my never failing friends are they, with whom i converse day by day. balfour is no less eloquent in paying worthy tribute to his library: "the world may be kind or hostile; it may seem to us to be hastening on the wings of enlightenment and progress to an imminent millennium, or it may weigh us down with the sense of insoluble difficulty and irremediable wrong; but whatever else it may be, so long as we have good health and a library, it can never be dull." "bookes," said the immortal milton, "demeane themselves as well as men. books are not absolutely dead things, but doe contain a potencie of life in them to be as active as that soule was whose progeny they are: nay they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. unlesse warinesse be us'd, as good almost kill a man as kill a good book; who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, god's image; but hee who destroys a good booke, kills reason itselfe, kills the image of god, as it were in the eye." in the garnering of book-treasures, some collectors are prompted wholly by mercenary motives--most of them, fortunately, are not. there are biblio-mercenaries of such sordid inclinations that they would readily part with almost any book in their possession,--even inscribed presentation copies!--if lightly tempted with money considerations. verily, these parsimonious traders would barter their own souls, if they possessed any value. i am indebted to the secretary of a well-known book club for the following facts, to confirm which i saw all the correspondence. a certain book-buyer joined the club some time ago, and subscribed for the first publication issued after he became a member. upon receiving the work he wrote: "i consider them among the most beautiful examples of book-making that i have ever seen, and prize them above all other books in my library." six months later he sold the copy to a book-agent for twice its original cost. he "passed" the next publication issued by the club, as it did not interest him, but appended a postscript to his letter, saying: "if any member wants an extra copy, i have no objection to one being issued upon my membership and turned over to him, provided i receive the increase in price." the following humorous incident is recorded in the ( ) year book of another prominent book club. it may be explained that the club issued a very elaborate and beautiful publication, printed upon deckle edge handmade paper, illustrated with remarque proof copperplate etchings on japanese vellum, and in duplicate without remarque on whatman paper: "one of the members upon receiving the first two volumes of the ---- publication, writes: 'the society starts out by making the worst kind of a blunder. the man's picture in the front of the volume is put in twice and on _two kinds of paper_. i could excuse this error, but imagine my horror when upon turning to the back of the volume i found the _same mistake repeated_. this is too much.' he closed by expressing a desire to resign, saying that he did not know he 'was joining a faddists club,' and takes occasion to remark further that 'the books are cheaply finished, not even being trimmed and gilded;' also that he 'can buy better books in the stores, _with full gilt edges_, for less money.'" so much has been written about the vagaries of book-collectors and bibliomaniacs that the subject has long since become threadbare, and about the only unexplored field of labor left to the choice of him who would gain a hearing with the reader--if one can be found who is not already weary of reading what the wags think of his (or her) own peculiar whims--is to fall in with the spirit of the age and compile an "international library of the world's greatest gibberish about bibliomaniacs." we have the "world's greatest" everything else in book-lore, and i shall not be surprised if some enterprising publisher gets out a "definitive" _de luxe_ edition of the "world's greatest dictionaries." indeed, the holy bible itself has not escaped, for they are now making a "de luxe" edition, in fourteen volumes! to be sold by subscription. it will not be an "autograph edition," however. the freaks and fancies of capricious book-gatherers and bibliomaniacs have undergone so few changes in the last hundred years that modern writers on bibliomania, after vainly searching the horizon for some new development in the way of symptoms of the disease, or characteristics of those afflicted, have wandered off into the verdure of adjacent fields to avoid repetition. some of them, from sheer lack of anything new to say, have set upon each other in the most unflattering terms. many of the writers on the delectable "joys of a book-buyer," or "habits of a bibliomaniac," etc., evidently appreciate the fact that these much persecuted human beings have other pastimes and habits than collecting books, and that they really inhabit the earth in all its civilized parts and partake unstintedly of its many pleasurable diversions. but again, there is another extreme, for i once read a book issued under the misleading title of "pleasures of a book-collector," or something of the sort, which might have been more appropriately called the "pleasures of a single man," seeing that the work had more to do with the hero's hopeless love for a fair damsel, and his hours at clubs, cafés, and other places of amusement in which i had no special interest, than it did with the acquirement of literature. thus, with the delusive idea that i was to be ushered into some of the secret enjoyments of the pleasing diversion of book-buying, i presently found myself more familiar with the habits, vices, and various unimportant matters of the author's conception--points, in short, having no bearing whatever upon the subject under consideration--than with the pleasures of a book-collector. the book was not badly written, nor wholly uninteresting; but if a man buys a ticket to the opera, he doesn't go prepared to see a cock-fight. for literary scoffers and malcontents who find fault with everything and everybody, who even scold publishers because their own books bring but meagre royalties, who fuss and fume over the harmless foibles of the very ones upon whom they depend for their audience, and like an ungrateful dog fasten their teeth in the charitable hand that offers them food, there can be but small sympathy. one is tempted to enlarge upon this familiar type, but here i am digressing from my subject, and am committing much the same offence as that of which i have elsewhere accused others. i have been asked to include within the scope of my article a few remarks about book clubs and book societies. in presuming to trespass upon sacred yet inviting ground of this character, i must be understood as approaching the subject with due reverence and apology. it is an indisputable fact that among the agencies that have contributed to the advancement and ennobling of the bookmaker's art in the past twenty years, the legitimate book club has been one of the most potential. we have only to refer to _growell's american book clubs_ in order to learn of the many clubs and societies of this kind which have arisen in the past few years, with varying degrees of success and failure,--success, when intelligently conducted upon honest coöperative principles, and failure, if irrationally directed, without regard to the maxims upon which successful clubs are managed. the province of these worthy accessories in the world of fine bookmaking has not been free from invasion by sharks and charlatans, some of whom have succeeded for a time under the guise of honest and reciprocal motives. in this country there are private book clubs and societies that have won places of enviable distinction both here and abroad, and naturally among the foremost of these are the ones which have been pestered by "imitators." the following significant remarks are taken from the president's annual address to the members of an old and honored book club:-- "fame brings its penalties, and during the last year many of us have suffered considerable annoyance, both individually and as members of the club, through the exploitation of books advertised sometimes as publications of the ---- club, and more often as publications of the ---- society. these have usually been offered in connection with works of distinguished authors in numerous volumes, stated, as a rule, to be limited to a thousand copies, and described as the contents of the private library of a lady, which the agent declares to have been placed in his hands to dispose of as quickly as possible, regardless of cost. no widow's cruse, apparently, could be more unfailing in its supply than this 'private library.' while annoying, the device of a '---- society,' though manifestly designed to confuse the public mind and trade on the reputation of this club, can scarcely deceive our members or even the book-loving public. it, nevertheless, is an annoyance, and the more vexatious because scarcely calling for other remedy than exposure. "it is possible, however, that harm to the good name of the club may be wrought through the advertisement, in an english newspaper, to which my attention has been drawn, of a so-called '---- society of great britain,' which is declared to have been recently formed in conjunction with the '---- society of the united states,' which is described as having been established in , and to have occupied its own club house since , and to have published handsomely printed books for sale exclusively to the members. it is announced, however, that the '---- society of great britain,' although intending to act in conjunction with the american society, 'will work upon somewhat different lines, at any rate at first.' it may well be that this cleverly deceptive advertisement will require some attention from us, either directly or through members resident abroad. "this, however, seems to be the only fly in our ointment, and we may congratulate ourselves that there is nothing more serious to disturb our enjoyment of the anniversary which we now celebrate." another and more palpable fraud has been perpetrated in copying the name of the bibliophile society, but with a slight prefix, just enough to afford a loop-hole through which to escape legal prosecution. not enough, however, to enable the public to distinguish between the spurious and the genuine, and even the members themselves have sometimes been deceived by unscrupulous agents representing their wares as the regular productions of the valid society. the audacious promoters of this so-called society had the boldness not only to pilfer the name of the legitimate society, but also the name of its president, which was ostentatiously printed upon their letter heads, together with the name of dr. richard garnett. both of these gentlemen have recently published their denunciations through the columns of the press, and protested vigorously against this unauthorized use of their names. the _modus operandi_ of this pestiferous concern is to send numbered "complimentary certificates" throughout the country to persons whose names are obtainable from directories, and when acknowledgment cards are received from those who deign to accept the exalted compliment, they are forthwith called upon, usually by some "officer" of the society,--sometimes the "president," but usually the "treasurer," "secretary," or "registrar." some time ago i was honored by a call from one of these circumventive "treasurers," but happened to be conveniently busy at the time, and so made an appointment with him to meet me at my office the next day. meanwhile, i prepared to have his statements reduced to writing by a stenographer, anticipating that it might be necessary to refresh my memory upon certain passages that i might fail to remember verbatim. the following is the substance of the "canvass" as taken by the stenographer in an adjoining room, the door of which was wide open:-- "i am the treasurer of the ---- society, with headquarters in london. by a special grant from the english government, we have recently been permitted to extend our membership into this country, and three hundred life members are to be admitted under this enlargement of our constitutional privileges. it may interest you, first, to know something of the origin of this society. it was organized in london about three hundred years ago by the duke of roxburghe [who was not born until more than a hundred years later], and was originally composed of about thirty members of the royal family. the original charter limited the membership to fifty members, and in less than a month the limit was reached. through the powerful influence of the royal family the society had easy access to all the great repositories of unpublished manuscripts, and the most valuable and interesting of them were selected for publication. these publications became so enormously valuable that it stimulated a desire on the part of others to join the society, and particularly, some of the nobility of france and germany. it was decided to increase the membership to three hundred, and to take in a few members from france, germany, italy, and russia. the society thrived for about a thousand years [this is either a stenographic error, or else he meant to say a hundred]; then there was a period of inactivity, and later on it was revived again, and the membership limit increased to five hundred. last year we obtained permission to again increase the membership by taking in three hundred prominent people in america. i am over here to arrange for three vice-presidents,--two for the east and one for the west. i have a special commission to ask you to become one of the honorary vice-presidents and to offer you a life membership for less than half the regular fee, viz., $ . ; the usual fee for life membership is $ . , but you get it for $ . on account of acting as our honorary vice-president for this territory. of course you would have no regular duties to perform. you would sign all the membership certificates in your district, and in case of the death of any member, you would have the privilege of naming his successor. "the society issues every year a volume giving all the price currents for the year, and keeps the members posted on the advance or decline in the value of all important publications. we also give you in confidence the ratings of various publishers, and print reports to members exposing all the frauds in the book business. upon payment of the fee of $ . , you receive all of this material free, for the balance of your life, and in addition all of the society's regular publications, including the present one, consisting of ---- volumes [here he produced the customary specimen sheets]. you see this one work alone is worth the full amount you pay for life membership [here occurred a "special offer" of some sort, given in a low monotone which the stenographer was unable to hear; and i must confess that i was so stupefied by this astounding fabrication that i myself have not the faintest recollection of what this "special offer" consisted]. we are very anxious to have your name as our honorary vice-president here, because you will not only be an honor to the society, but the society will be an honor to you." here my treasurer friend produced a regular form of subscription contract for a set of books; but it contained no clause about life membership, or any other membership, and included no promise of anything further than the delivery of the books. the honor of such a vice-presidency being thrust upon me was indeed a thrilling sensation, and the story was told in a fluent, cohesive, and logical manner; so well, in fact, that had i not known in advance that it was purely imaginary from beginning to end, i could scarcely have avoided giving it full acceptance. but i had heard of the story before, and although partially prepared, it staggered me surprisingly. i afterwards learned that every one else canvassed by my interviewer was equally offered one of the "three vice-presidencies." there appears to be no defense for book clubs against these bogus impersonations. the injured club, or society, can sustain no claim for any special damage, because, as not offering its publications in the open market, it actually suffers no ascertainable loss of patronage. the principal damage results to those who are thus victimized in permitting themselves to be deluded into the belief that they are acquiring the valid editions of reputable clubs. when club publications come into the open market they are usually picked up with avidity by collectors, and they have thus grown into very general favor among book-lovers. indeed, the high esteem in which they have come to be regarded offers a productive field for a few crafty publishers to ply their wily designs in. the audacity of these schemers carries them to such incredible measures that they sometimes buy sheet-stock from reputable publishing houses, change the name of the edition, and deliberately manufacture new titles on which they print the name of some book club or society. these counterfeits are sold to the unsuspecting book-buyer, who often imagines he has landed a prize. later, he is likely to become disillusioned. there can be no doubt that the contemptible practice of thus mutilating and garbling books should be defined as a felony and made punishable by fine or imprisonment. book-buyers, however, can in a measure help the situation and protect themselves by not dealing with such people; they should particularly remember that creditable book clubs _never_ employ soliciting agents, and rarely, if ever, offer their publications for sale outside of the membership. any one, therefore, representing himself as an authorized agent of a book club may usually be branded as an impostor. most book clubs print only such number of copies of each publication as are subscribed and paid for by members in advance, and the funds thus advanced are used to pay the cost of the edition. notwithstanding the evils referred to, the book club is with us to stay, and the very fact that it is continually pestered by these hangers-on is conclusive proof of its potency and usefulness; features which insure its secure foundation in the community. very few people are able to appreciate the amount of gratuitous labor performed by the officers and committees of private book clubs. it is erroneous to suppose that beautiful books are a purely natural offspring of the book club. the preparation of the material for publication and successfully following it through all the various stages of manufacture requires an enormous amount of detail work, as well as an accurate knowledge of bookmaking. the president of a prominent book club recently said, in his annual address to the members:-- "i wish that our members could be witnesses at the many conferences held by the committee on publications and by the council; of the various experiments needed to settle upon the size and shape of the book, the size of its page and its margins, the style of type, the initial letters, head-bands, tail-pieces, engravings, etc. etc.; of the printer's endless proofs, the making of a special paper (which sometimes proves to be unsuited), and, finally, the style of binding. what material, color, and general make-up shall it have? if our members could thus follow the progress of the work from beginning to finish they would be reconciled to disappointment. at any rate it is through their subscriptions that these experiments can be undertaken, and it is by knowledge thus gained that the club has won credit for the arts and crafts of our country, and made an honorable record even in other lands; so that to be a member of the club has become an enviable distinction." owing to the tricks and stratagem practiced in _manufacturing_ "de luxe" editions, some of our bibliophiles have taken matters of bookmaking into their own hands, with the result that they have organized clubs and societies, the members of which take much pleasure in introducing to their library companions each year one or two charming new acquaintances which come bearing the club's seal of endorsement. a true bibliophile always feels a just pride in shelving one of these book-treasures of his own club's production, and thereafter displaying it before his friends, with the interesting bit of information that "this is the latest production of _our club_; it is issued _only for members_." for obviously an owner's interest in any work is increased many fold by the fact that he is a constituent part of the organization which produced the same: the relationship to the book in such a case is akin to the love of a parent for a child; and the owner of a fine library will not unusually regard his club publications and privately printed books as the objects therein which are entitled to his fondest consideration. i have recently taken occasion to examine with considerable care the latest publications of the leading book clubs of this country, and to compare them with some of the first issues of these same clubs. the improvement in the later productions over the earlier ones astonished me. there were as good artists, editors, binders, type, paper, ink, and other accessories twenty years ago as we have now, and indeed it is doubtful if our modern printing presses show much improvement in the quality of work during that time; but it would seem that persistent effort along the lines of experimental work has been generously rewarded by a steady improvement in the general results now attained. nor is the situation injured by a slight tinge of friendly rivalry among clubs, to lend an additional zest to their labors, and to whet the praiseworthy ambition of each to make every succeeding issue a little better than the last. there are many zealous bibliophiles who belong to two or three book clubs at once, finding it interesting to collect and compare the works produced by the several clubs. many of our great scholars as well as leading publishers are members of these book clubs, and serve on the councils and various committees; so it must not be supposed by skeptics that their publications are in the slightest degree amateurish. they employ the best talent and materials; the councils and publication committees, as well, being composed of persons of unquestioned integrity, who possess an intelligent understanding of bookmaking. some of these clubs (particularly those whose membership is largely local) have commodious quarters where the members may meet at all times, whether to discuss matters of common business interest, to exchange their latest jokes, or to generally discuss book-lore and other congenial topics. the social features of some of the book clubs are, however, reduced to the occasions of the annual meetings and dinners. the "club-room question," in one of these organizations having a membership of five hundred, distributed in one hundred and sixty-seven cities and towns in this country and abroad, was recently reported upon by the council as follows:-- the question of providing and maintaining club rooms and establishing a suitable library for the society has been more or less discussed since its incorporation. the council has not found that spacious and luxuriously furnished rooms are an important requisite in accomplishing the expressed purpose and limitations of the society. these, according to article i. of the constitution and by-laws, are to be "the study and promotion of the arts pertaining to fine bookmaking and illustrating, and the occasional publication of specially designed and illustrated books, for distribution among its members at a minimum cost of production." then, too, while our membership is entirely homogeneous in bibliomaniacal spirit, it is so scattered over such a vast expanse of territory that only a small percentage of the members would be able to enjoy club-room privileges; even those within easy reach of such rooms would probably not frequent them enough to justify any considerable expense in maintenance. it would be necessary, also, to change the present constitution (and to assess the members for annual dues in order to meet current expenses), should the club-room idea be carried out. this would be objectionable on various grounds, and amongst these, because a non-resident member might thus be paying an annual fee without receiving any corresponding benefit in return; a condition in such case which would be tantamount to his meeting an increased charge each year for the privilege of subscribing and paying for the society's publications. hence, the council do not see their way to entertaining or recommending the club-room feature. but it is not supposed that the spirit of fellowship among our bibliophiles--naturally related as they are by a kindred interest--will in any degree suffer because of the lack of such facilities. a personal contact, however agreeable, does not seem essential. certainly the many charming letters received from members whom we have never seen, go far to relieve the present lack in this regard, so far as the officers are concerned. as matters now stand, the society has sufficiently comfortable quarters in one of the offices of the treasurer, where the council holds its meetings. these are found by experience to be quite ample for all practical purposes and present needs. collectors of manuscripts and of unique copies often furnish the book clubs with valuable and otherwise unprocurable material to be printed for the members. last year one collector alone furnished gratuitously to a society of which he is a member, many thousands of dollars' worth of unpublished manuscripts of interesting historical matter to be printed exclusively for its members. in this way much valuable material is preserved in print, when it would otherwise remain forever unpublished and unobtainable. during the past few years it has been my pleasant privilege to spend many hours of each week in concurrent labor with the council in the preparation of the publications of the bibliophile society, in which council i have had the honor to serve continuously since its organization. there is no pleasure more delectable, no joy more inspiring than that of devising books which prove a delight to the eye and a satisfaction to the artistic tastes of those who are competent to appreciate the qualities that should characterize a perfectly made book. i now realize as never before why it is that our busiest men of affairs, and scholars of renown, are actuated to serve so assiduously in this labor of love; for surely no amount of effort, however laborious, can be regarded as having been in any sense misguided or wasted when it elicits such approbation as expressed in the following letter from charles a. decker, esq., a fellow member, of new york city:-- march th, . mr. h. h. harper, treasurer, the bibliophile society, colonial building, boston, mass. dear mr. harper:-- my stock of superlatives is insufficient to adequately express my appreciation of "andré's journal." keats must have had a psychic sense which enabled him to see the latest issue by our society, and he had this in view when he wrote the opening line of _endymion_. (is n't "a thing of beauty," &c., the opening line?) such books as the council has planned are an education to bibliophiles; the work is progressive, for each issue is finer than the one which preceded it. can any book be finer than "andré's journal"? if so, i can't conceive it. such noble types, the pages so perfectly balanced; the margins so broad; the paper of such beautiful texture; the ink so brilliantly black; the maps so marvelously reproduced; the etchings so artistically conceived and executed and the title page so beautifully engraved; then the binding--real vellum--so rich, simple, and in such perfect taste; even the box-cover is fitting in every sense. a perfect book, it seems to me. if there are any shortcomings, and you know them, don't tell me of them, that in my ignorance i may be content. please thank all the members of the council for me. somebody must have spent many, many hours in arriving at a final judgment upon all the parts which make up such a beautiful whole. i have yet to enjoy the pleasure of _reading_ the "journal," then i will be thankful to mr. bixby and to senator lodge. yours sincerely, (signed) charles a. decker. mr. decker is one of the many pleasant and appreciative members of the bibliophile society whose personal acquaintance it has not been my good fortune to make, but from whom the society has received many delightful and inspiring letters. the numerous communications thus received from all quarters have been placed before the council, with the result that the individual interest of every worker has been greatly augmented in the society's welfare. indeed, i attribute no small measure of the success and the good name of the society to the indirect influence of such words of encouragement and expressions of appreciation as have come from the members. i sincerely wish for health and continued success to our worthy book clubs, and regret that there are not more of them. sit bona librorum . . . copia. henry h. harper. and the booksmiths at http://www.ebookforge.net transcriber's note: some typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected. a complete list follows the text. words in greek in the original are transliterated and placed between +plus signs+. words italicized in the original are surrounded by _underscores_. the book-hunter in london. [illustration] [illustration: '_his soul was never so staked down as in a bookseller's shop._' roger north.] the book-hunter in london historical and other studies of collectors and collecting _with numerous portraits and illustrations_ by w. roberts _author of 'the earlier history of english bookselling,' 'printers' marks,' etc._ london elliot stock, , paternoster row, e.c. contents. page preface xiii introduction xv early book-hunting book-hunting after the introduction of printing from the old to the new book-auctions and sales bookstalls and bookstalling some book-hunting localities women as book-collectors book thieves, borrowers, and knock-outs some humours of book-catalogues some modern collectors index [illustration] list of illustrations. page 'his soul was never so staked down as in a bookseller's shop.'--roger north _frontispiece_ in a scriptorium lambeth palace library roman books and writing materials earl of arundel's badge sir robert cotton sir julius cÆsar's travelling library archbishop usher wotton house in magdalen college, oxford sir hans sloane's monument little britain in charles, third earl of sunderland london house, aldersgate street, st. bernard's seal mr. austin dobson william beckford, book-collector george john, earl spencer john, duke of roxburghe, book-collector a corner in the althorp library michael wodhull, book-collector george nicol, the king's bookseller thomas frognall dibdin, bibliographer rev. c. mordaunt cracherode, m.a., book-collector j. o. halliwell-phillipps canonbury tower, george daniel's residence samuel taylor coleridge lamb's cottage at colebrook row, islington william hazlitt thomas hill, after maclise samuel rogers's house in st. james's place samuel rogers alexander dyce, book-collector w. j. thoms, book-collector hollingbury copse, the residence of the late mr. halliwell-phillipps john dunton, book-auctioneer in samuel baker, the founder of sotheby's samuel leigh sotheby mr. e. g. hodge, of sotheby's a field-day at sotheby's key to the characters in the 'field-day at sotheby's' r. h. evans, book-auctioneer, john walker, book-auctioneer, staircase at puttick and simpson's the late henry stevens, of vermont mr. james christie, 'the specious orator' benjamin heath, book-collector, specimen of type of the mazarin bible a corner in the british museum aldus, from a contemporary medal the fifty-seven althorp caxtons from 'game and play of chesse,' by caxton specimen of the type of 'the boke of st. albans' specimen page of tyndale's testament, john murray, of sacomb, book-hunter title-page of the first edition of 'the compleat angler' from the 'pilgrim's progress,' part ii. cornelius walford, book-collector the south side of holywell street exeter 'change in a barrow in whitechapel a book-barrow in farringdon road a few types in farringdon road henry lemoine, author and bookseller the late edmund hodgson, book-auctioneer st. paul's churchyard, . from the crace collection thomas britton, 'the small-coal man,' collector of musical instruments and mss. duke street, little britain, formerly called duck lane charles lamb, after d. maclise old houses in moorfields jones and co. (successors to lackington) interior of lackington's shop lackington's halfpenny the poultry in the old mansion house, cheapside gilbert and field's shop in copthall court e. george's (late gladding's) shop, whitechapel road middle row, holborn, william darton, bookseller interior of darton's shop, holborn hill james westell's, , oxford street salkeld's shop--'ivy house'--in clapham road john bagford, shoemaker and book-destroyer mr. tregaskis's shop--'the caxton head'--in holborn day's circulating library in mount street paternoster row on a bank holiday john evelyn, book-collector newbery's shop in st. paul's churchyard charles tilt's shop butcher row, charles hutt's house in clement's inn passage mr. william d. reeves, bookseller messrs. hill and son's shop in holywell street messrs. sotheran's shop in piccadilly honest tom payne henry g. bohn, bookseller john h. bohn mr. f. s. ellis a corner at ellis and elvey's westminster hall when occupied by booksellers and others john hatchard ( - ) james toovey, bookseller james toovey's shop, piccadilly bernard quaritch, the napoleon of booksellers queen elizabeth's golden manual of prayers (front cover) queen elizabeth's golden manual of prayers (back cover) the frontispiece to 'the ladies' library' of steele elizabeth pindar's bookplate the eshton hall library 'earning his dinner' the king's library, british museum 'steals a book, places it in a novelette, and walks away' 'he had placed the book in his pocket. someone had relieved him of it' the late henry huth, book-collector mr. henry h. gibbs, book-collector mr. r. copley christie, book-collector the late frederick locker-lampson portrait bookplate of mr. joseph knight 'an order from mr. gladstone' portrait bookplate of mr. h. s. ashbee mr. t. j. wise, book-collector mr. clement shorter's bookplate mr. a. birrell, book-collector facsimile of title-page, 'pilgrim's progress,' first edition [illustration: _roman book-box._] preface. _'the book-hunter in london' is put forth as a contribution to the fascinating history of book-collecting in the metropolis; it does not pretend to be a complete record of a far-reaching subject, which a dozen volumes would not exhaust; the present work, however, is the first attempt to deal with it in anything like a comprehensive manner, but of how far or in what degree this attempt is successful the reader himself must decide._ _the task itself has been an exceedingly pleasant one to the author, and it only remains for him to thank, collectively, the large number of friends and acquaintances who have so cordially favoured him with advice and information on so many points. in only a couple of quite unimportant instances has he experienced anything approaching churlishness. the geniality and courtesy of the book-collector are proverbial, but specimens of a different type are evidently to be found here and there._ _as regards the chapter on modern collectors, the author's object has been to deal with a representative selection of the bibliophiles of to-day. to aim at anything like completeness in this section of the book would be highly undesirable, having regard to a proportionate representation of the subject as a whole. completeness, moreover, would be an impossibility, even in a volume devoted entirely to modern men._ _the greatest possible care has been taken to prevent inaccuracy of any kind, but whilst freedom from error is a consummation which every author desires, it is also one of which few can boast. the reader will be doing the author a favour by informing him of any mistake which may be detected in the following pages. an omission in the account of stewart, the founder of puttick's, may be here made good: he had the privilege of selling david garrick's choice library in . the author regrets to learn that purcell (p. ), a very intelligent bookseller, died some months ago._ _'the book-hunter in london' is the outcome not only of material which has been accumulating for many years past, from published and unpublished sources, but also of a long and pleasant intercourse with the leading book-collectors and booksellers in london, not to mention a vigorous and constant prosecution of one of the most pleasant and instructive of hobbies. the author has freely availed himself of the information in the works of dibdin, nichols, and other writers on the subject, but their statements have been verified whenever possible, and acknowledgements have been made in the proper places to the authorities laid under contribution._ _w. r._ , grosvenor road, s.w. introduction. it would be quite as great a fallacy to assume that a rich man is also a wise one, as to take for granted that he who has accumulated a large library is necessarily a learned man. it is a very curious fact, but none the less a fact, that just as the greatest men have the shortest biographies, so have they been content with the smallest libraries. shakespeare, voltaire, humboldt, comte, goethe had no collection of books to which the term library could fairly be applied. but though each preferred to find in nature and in nature's handiworks the mental exercise which less gifted men obtain from books, that did not prevent them from being ardent book-lovers. shakespeare--to mention one only--must have possessed a plutarch, a stowe, a montaigne, and a bible, and probably half a dozen other books of less moment. and yet, with this poor show, he was as genuine a book-lover as ben jonson or my lord verulam. lord burleigh, grotius, and bonaparte are said to have carried their libraries in their pockets, and doubtless shakespeare could have carried his under his arm. if all great men have not been book-collectors in the manner which is generally understood by the phrase, it is certain that they have, perhaps without a single exception, been book-lovers. they appear, for the most part, to have made a constant companion of some particularly favourite book; for instance, st. jerome slept with a copy of aristotle under his pillow; lord clarendon had a couple of favourites, livy and tacitus; lord chatham had a good classical library, with an especial fondness for barrow; leibnitz died in a chair with the 'argenis' of barclay in his hand; kant, who never left his birthplace, königsburg, had a weakness in the direction of books of travel. 'were i to sell my library,' wrote diderot, 'i would keep back homer, moses, and richardson.' sir w. jones, like many other distinguished men, loved his cæsar. chesterfield, agreeing with callimachus, that 'a great book is a great evil,' and with la fontaine-- 'les longs ouvrages me font peur loin j'épuiser une matière il faut n'en prendre que la fleur'-- hated ponderous, prosy, pedantic tomes. garrick had an extensive collection on the history of the stage, but shakespeare was his only constant friend. gibbon was a book-collector more in the sense of a man who collects books as literary tools than as a bibliophile. but it is scarcely necessary just now to enter more fully into the subject of great men who were also book-lovers. sufficient it is, perhaps, to know that they have all felt the blessedness of books, for, as washington irving in one of his most lofty sentences has so well put it, 'when all that is worldly turns to dross around us, these [the comforts of a well-stored library] only retain their steady value; when friends grow cold, and the converse of intimates languishes into vapid civility and commonplace, _these_ only continue the unaltered countenance of happier days, and cheer us with that true friendship which never deceived hope nor deserted sorrow.' it is infinitely easier to name those who have collected books in this vast and unwieldy london of ours, than it is to classify them. to adopt botanical phraseology, the _genus_ is defined in a word or two, but the species, the varieties, the hybrids, and the seedlings, how varied and impossible their classification! most men have bought books, some have read a few, and others many; but beyond this rough grouping together we shall not attempt anything. one thing, however, the majority of book-collectors agree in, and that is in regarding their own generation as a revolution--they have, as butler has described it in his picture of an antiquary, 'a great value for that which is past and gone, like the madman that fell in love with cleopatra.' differing in many, and often material, points as one book-collector does from another, the entire passion for collecting may be said to focus itself into two well-defined grooves. a man either collects books for his own intellectual profit, or out of pure ostentatious vanity. in the ensuing pages there will be found ample and material facts in regard to the former, so that we may say here all that we have to say regarding the latter. the second type of book-enthusiast has two of the most powerful factors in his apparently reckless career--his own book-greed, and the bookseller who supplies and profits by him. 'what do you think of my library?' the king of spain once asked bautru, the french wit, as he showed him the collection at the escurial, at that time in the charge of a notoriously ignorant librarian. 'your majesty's library is very fine,' answered bautru, bowing low; 'but your majesty ought to make the man who has charge of it an officer of the treasury.' 'and why?' queried the king. 'because,' replied bautru, 'the librarian of your majesty seems to be a man who never touches that which is confided to him.' there are many varieties of the ignorant collector type. the most fruitful source is the _nouveau riche_. book-collecting is greatly a matter of fashion; and most of us will remember what benjamin franklin said of this prevailing vice: 'there are numbers that, perhaps, fear less the being in hell, than out of the fashion.' the enterprising individual who, on receipt of a catalogue of medical books, wired to the bookseller, 'what will you take for the lot?' and on a price being quoted, again telegraphed, 'send them along,' was clearly a person who wished to be fashionable. another characteristically amusing illustration of this type of book-collector is related by an old-established second-hand bookseller, who had bought at a country sale some two or three hundred volumes in a fair condition. but they were principally old sermons, or, what is worse, theology and political economy. he placed a sample lot outside his shop, leaving the bulk of the stock untouched. the little parcel attracted the attention of a stylishly dressed man, who entered the shop and said, 'i'll take these books, and, say, have you any more of this kind with this shield onto them?' pointing to the bookplate attached, which bore the arms and name of a good old county family. 'that box, sir, is full of books from the same house, and probably every book has the same bookplate, but i have not yet had time to examine them.' 'what's yer figger for them, any way? see here, i start back to chicago to-morrow, and i mean to take these books right back along. i'm goin' to start a libery thar, and these books will just fit me, name and all. just you sort out all that have that shield and name, and send them round to the langham at seven sharp. i'll be round to settle up; but see, now, don't you send any without that name-plate, for that's my name, too, and i reckon this old hoss with the daggers and roosters might have been related to me some way.' 'i remember,' says the marquis d'argenson, in his 'mémoires,' 'once paying a visit to a well-known bibliomaniac, who had just purchased an extremely scarce volume, quoted at a fabulous price. having been graciously permitted by its owner to inspect the treasure, i ventured innocently to remark that he had probably bought it with the philanthropic intention of having it reprinted. "heaven forbid!" he exclaimed in a horrified tone; "how could you suppose me capable of such an act of folly! if i were, the book would be no longer scarce, and would have no value whatever. besides," he added, "i doubt, between ourselves, if it be worth reprinting." "in that case," said i, "its rarity appears to be its only attraction." "just so," he complacently replied; "and that is quite enough for me."' another type which borders dangerously near to that which we have been describing is the collector who, not necessarily ignorant, collects for himself alone. the motto which grolier adopted and acted upon--'io grolierii et amicorum'--might have been a very safe principle to go upon in the sixteenth century, but it would most certainly fail in the nineteenth, when one's dearest friends are the most unmitigated book-thieves. but perhaps even the too frequent loss of books is an evil to be preferred to the egoistical meanness of the selfish collector. balzac gives in his 'cousin pons' a vivid delineation of such a person. the hero is a poor drudging music-teacher and orchestra-player, who has invested every franc of his hard-won earnings in the collecting of exquisite paintings, prints, bric-à-brac, and other rare mementoes of the eighteenth century. despised by all, even by his kindred, trodden upon as a nobody, slow, patient, and ever courageous, he unites to a complete technical knowledge a marvellous intuition of the beautiful, and his treasures are for him pride, bliss, and life. there is no show in this case, no desire for show, no ambition of the despicable shoddy-genteel sort--a more than powerful creation of fiction. a strikingly opposite career of selfishness is suggested by the fairly well-known story of don vincente, the friar bookseller of barcelona, who, in order to obtain a volume which a rival bookseller, paxtot, had secured at an auction, set fire one night to paxtot's shop, and stole the precious volume--a supposed unique copy of the 'furs e ordinacions fetes per los gloriosos reys de arago als regnicoes del regne de valencia,' printed by lambert palmart, . when the friar was brought up for judgment, he stolidly maintained his innocence, asserting that paxtot had sold it to him after the auction. further inquiry resulted in the discovery that don vincente possessed a number of books which had been purchased from him by customers who were shortly afterwards found assassinated. it was only after receiving a formal promise that his library should not be dispersed, but preserved in its integrity, that he determined to make a clean breast of it, and confess the details of the crimes that he had committed. in cross-examination, don vincente spurned the suggestion that he was a thief, for had he not given back to his victims the money which they had paid him for the books? 'and it was solely for the sake of books that you committed these murders?' asked the judge. 'books! yes, books! books are the glory of god!' vincente's counsel, in defence of his client, in this desperate strait maintained that there might exist several copies of the books found in his possession, and that it was out of the question to condemn, on his own sham avowal, a man who appeared to be half cracked. the counsel for the prosecution said that that plea could not be urged in the case of the book printed by lambert palmart, as but one copy of that was in existence. but the prisoner's counsel retorted by putting in evidence attested affirmation that a second copy was in france. up to this moment vincente had maintained an imperturbable calm; but on hearing his counsel's plea he burst into tears. in the end, don vincente was condemned to be strangled, and when asked if he had anything more to urge, all he could utter, sobbing violently, was, 'ah! your worship, _my copy was not unique_!' cousin pons and don vincente are extreme instances of bibliomaniacs to whom the possession of a book was the supreme happiness of life. the man of fiction and the man of fact were at one in this passion of acquisitiveness. don vincente was compelled by hunger--_mala suada fames_--to become a book _seller_; and if it became a general rule for book-collectors to become booksellers there would, we venture to think, be a very material increase in police-court and, perhaps, criminal cases generally. mr. g. a. sala tells us an amusing story of the late frederick guest tomlins, a historian and journalist of repute. in the autumn of his life tomlins decided to set up as a bookseller. he purposed to deal chiefly in mediæval literature, in which he was profoundly versed. the venture was scarcely successful. a customer entered his shop one day and asked for a particular book, as marked in the catalogue. 'i had really no idea it was there,' meditatively remarked mr. tomlins, as he ascended a ladder to a very high shelf and pulled out a squabby little tome. then he remained about five-and-twenty minutes on the ladder absorbed in the perusal of the volume, when the customer, growing impatient, began to rap on the counter with his stick. thereupon mr. tomlins came down the ladder. 'if you think,' he remarked, with calm severity, to the intending purchaser, 'that any considerations of vile dross will induce me to part with this rare and precious little volume, you are very much mistaken. it is like your impudence. be off with you!' a not altogether dissimilar anecdote is related by lord lytton in that curious novel 'zanoni,' in which one of the characters is an old bookseller who, after years of toil, succeeded in forming an almost perfect library of works on occult philosophy. poor in everything but a genuine love for the mute companions of his old age, he was compelled to keep open his shop, and trade, as it were, in his own flesh. let a customer enter, and his countenance fell; let him depart empty-handed, and he would smile gaily, oblivious for a time of bare cupboard and inward cravings. _À propos_ of a literary man turning bookseller, the experiment has often been tried, but it has generally failed. second-hand bookselling seems to be a frequent experiment after the failures of other trades and callings. we have known grocers, greengrocers, coal-dealers, pianoforte-makers, printers, bookbinders, cheap-jacks, in london, adopt the selling of books as a means of livelihood. sometimes--and several living examples might be cited--the experiment is a success, but frequently a failure. the knowledge of old books is not picked up in a month or a year. the misfortune which seems to dog the footsteps of many men in every move they make, does not fail to pursue them in bookselling. some of them might almost say with fulmer, in cumberland's 'west indian' ( ): 'i have beat through every quarter of the compass . . . i have blustered for prerogatives, i have bellowed for freedom, i have offered to serve my country, i have engaged to betray it . . . i have talked treason, writ treason. . . . and here i set up as a bookseller, but men leave off reading, and if i were to turn butcher i believe they'd leave off eating.' there can be no doubt about the fact that englishmen as a rule do not attach sufficient importance to book-buying. if the better-class tradesman, or professional man, spends a few pounds at christmas or on birthday occasions, he feels that he has become a patron of literature. how many men, who are getting £ , a year, spend £ per month on books? the library of the average middle-class person is in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the cruelest possible commentary on his intelligence, and, as a matter of fact, if it contains a couple of volumes worthy of the name of books, their presence is more often than not an accidental one. a few volumes of the _sunday at home_, the _leisure hour_, _cassell's magazine_, or perhaps a few other monthly periodicals, carefully preserved during the twelve months of their issue, and bound up at the end of the year--with such stuff as this is the average englishman's bookcase filled. mark pattison has gone so far as to declare that while the aggregate wealth of the united kingdom is many times more than it was one hundred and fifty years ago, the circle of book-buyers, of the lovers of literature, is certainly not larger, if it be not absolutely smaller. it may be urged that a person with £ , per annum as income usually spends £ in rent, and that the accommodation which can be got for that amount does not permit of one room being devoted to library purposes. this may be true, but this explanation is not a valid excuse, for a set of shelves, feet by feet inches, placed against a wall will accommodate nearly one thousand octavo volumes--the genius of the world can be pressed into a hundred volumes. an american has advised his readers to 'own all the books you can, use all the books you own, and as many more as you can get.' the advice is good, and it is well to remember that by far the majority of great book-collectors have lived to a ripe old age. the companionship of books is unquestionably one of the greatest antidotes to the ravages of time, and study is better than all medical formulas for the prolongation of life. the man who has resolved upon getting together a collection of first-class books may not unreasonably be appalled at the difficulties which stand in the way. and what, indeed, it may be asked, will become of the hundreds and thousands of books which are now all the fashion? how many will survive the levelling process of the next half a score of years, and how few will be known, except to bibliographers, half a century hence? the lessons of the past would aid us in arriving at some sort of conclusion as regards the future, if we were inclined to indulge in speculation of this vain character. it will, however, be interesting to point out that of the , books printed before the beginning of the sixteenth century, not more than are of any importance to the book-collector. of the , published in the seventeenth century, not more than perhaps fifty are now held in estimation; and of the , published in the eighteenth century not more than are considered worth reprinting, and not more than are sought after. in a curious little book, 'l'an , rêvue s'il en fut jamais,' published in paris a century ago, there is a very quaint description of the process by which, in an improved state of society, men would apply themselves not to multiply books, but to gather knowledge. the sages of the political millennium exhibited their stores of useful learning in a cabinet containing a few hundred volumes. all the lumber of letters had perished, or was preserved only in one or two public libraries for the gratification of a few harmless dreamers that were tolerated in their laborious idleness. this pleasant little picture, drawn by m. l. s. mercier, of the state of things five centuries hence, is in strong contrast to the painful plethora of books of the present day. dr. ingleby, the famous shakespearian scholar, is credited with the idea of establishing a society for the purpose of procuring books which no one else would buy; but this society (the 'syncretic book-club') could not have had any success if the vast quantities of unsaleable rubbish which one meets with on every hand are to be taken into account. doubtless dr. ingleby would have included in his scope such books as lord lonsdale's 'memoir of the reign of james ii.,' , which fifty years ago sold for - / guineas, but which, within the past few months, has declined to two shillings! there was a time when even old and unsaleable books had a commercial value. before the cheapening of paper, a second-hand bookseller had always the paper-mill to fall back on, and the price then paid, £ s. per cwt., was one inducement to dispose of folios and quartos which remained year in and year out without a purchaser. the present price of waste-paper is half a crown a hundredweight, so that the bookseller is now practically shut out of this poor market. indeed, an enterprising bibliopole was lately offering 'useful old books,' etc., at s. d. per cwt., free on the rails, provided not less than six hundredweight is bought. 'to young beginners,' he states, 'these lots are great bargains'; but whether he means young beginners in literature or young beginners in trade, is an open question. in either case, 'useful old books' at the price of waste-paper are a novelty. there is a certain amount of danger in the wholesale destruction of books, for posterity may place a high value, literary and commercial, on the very works which are now consigned to the paper-mill. unfortunately, posterity will not pay booksellers' rent of to-day. just as those books which have the largest circulation are likely to become the rarest, so do those which were at one time most commonly met with often, after the lapse of a few decades, become difficult to obtain. in one of his 'echoes' notes, mr. g. a. sala tells us that, in the course of forty years' bookstall-hunting, he has known a great number of books once common become scarce and costly--_e.g._, lawrence's 'lectures on man'; walker's 'analysis of beauty'; millingen's 'curiosities of medical experience'; beckford's 'vathek' in french; jeremy bentham's works; and harris's 'hermes.' possibly the disappearance of these and many other books may be attributed to certain definite causes. for example, in the early years of this century one of the commonest books at s. or s. d. was theobald's 'shakespeare restored'; but fifty years later it was a very rare book. the interest in shakespeare and his editors had become quite wide-spread in literary circles, and literature in any way bearing on the subject found ready purchasers. just as the disappearance of certain books sends their prices up considerably in the market, so the unexpected appearance of others has just the reverse effect. until quite recently one of the scarcest of the first editions of the writings of charles dickens was a thin octavo pamphlet of seventy-one pages, entitled 'the village coquettes: a comic opera. in two acts. london: richard bentley, .' so rare was this book that very few collectors could boast the possession of it, and an uncut example might always be sold for £ or £ . about a year before his death, dickens was asked by mr. locker-lampson whether he had a copy; his reply was: 'no, and if i knew it was in my house, and if i could not get rid of it in any other way, i would burn the wing of the house where it was'--the words, no doubt, being spoken in jest. not long since, a mass of waste-paper from a printer's warehouse was returned to the mills to be pulped, and would certainly have been destroyed had not one of the workmen employed upon the premises caught sight of the name of 'charles dickens' upon some of the sheets. the whole parcel was carefully examined, and the searchers were rewarded by the discovery of nearly a hundred copies of 'the village coquettes,' in quires, clean and unfolded. these were passed into the market, and the price at once fell to about £ . the most curious things turn up sometimes in a similar manner. a little sixpenny bazaar book ('two poems,' by elizabeth barrett and robert browning, ) was for a long time extremely rare, as much as £ or £ being paid for it when it occurred for sale. suddenly it appeared in a bookseller's catalogue at s., and as every applicant could have as many as he wanted, it then leaked out that the bookseller, mr. herbert, had purchased about copies with books which he purposed sending to the mill. even 'remainders' sometimes turn out to be little gold-mines. the late mr. stibbs bought the 'remainder' of keats's 'endymion' at d. per copy. we do not know what he realized by this investment, but their value for some years has been £ and upwards. [illustration: _the late henry stevens, of vermont._] the subject of book-finds is one about which a volume might be written. every 'special' collector has his fund of book-hunting anecdotes and incidents, for, where the rarity of a well-known book is common property, there is not usually much excitement in running it to earth. the fun may be said to begin when two or three people are known to be on the hunt after a rare and little-known volume, whose interest is of a special character. to take, as an illustration, one of the most successful book-hunters of modern times, the late henry stevens, of vermont. until mr. stevens created the taste for americana among his fellow-countrymen, very few collectors considered the subject worth notice. and yet, in the space of a quarter of a century, he unearthed more excessively rare and unique items than the wildest dreamer could have supposed to exist. books and pamphlets which were to be had for the proverbial old song when he first came to this country quickly became the objects of the keenest competition in the saleroom, and invariably found buyers at extravagant prices. as an illustration, although not an american item, we may mention that when a copy of the mazarin bible was offered at sotheby's in , the competitors were an agent of mr. james lenox (stevens' client) and sir thomas phillipps in person; the latter went to £ , but the agent went £ better, and secured the prize at the then unheard-of price of £ . at first mr. lenox declined to take the book, but eventually altered his mind, wisely as it proved, for although at long intervals copies are being unearthed, the present value of mr. lenox's copy cannot be much short of £ , . during and mr. stevens bought books to the value of over , dollars for mr. lenox, and on reviewing the invoices of these two years, 'i am confident,' says mr. stevens, 'that, if the same works were now' ( ) 'to be collected, they would cost more than , dollars. but can so much and so many rare books ever be collected again in that space of time?' in december, , mr. stevens offered mr. lenox in one lump about forty shakespeare quartos, all in good condition, and some of them very fine, for £ , or, including a fair set of the four folios, £ , an offer which was accepted, and it may be doubted whether such a set could now be purchased for £ , . mr. lenox was for over ten years desirous of obtaining a perfect copy of 'the bay psalter,' printed by stephen daye at cambridge, new england, , the first book printed in what is now the united states, and had given mr. stevens a commission of £ for it. after searching far and wide, the long-lost 'benjamin' was discovered in a lot at the sale of pickering's stock at sotheby's in . 'a cold-blooded coolness seized me, and advancing towards the table behind mr. lilly, i quietly bid, in a perfectly neutral tone, "sixpence"; and so the bids went on, increasing by sixpences, until half a crown was reached and mr. lilly had loosened the string. taking up this very volume, he turned to me and remarked, "this looks a rare edition, mr. stevens; don't you think so? i do not remember having seen it before," and raised the bid to s. i replied that i had little doubt of its rarity, though comparatively a late edition of the psalms, and at the same time gave mr. wilkinson a sixpenny nod. thenceforward a "spirited competition" arose between mr. lilly and myself, until finally the lot was knocked down to stevens for s.' the volume had cost the late mr. pickering s. it became mr. lenox's property for £ . twenty-three years later another copy was bought by mr. cornelius vanderbilt for , dollars. in a letter to justin windsor, the late j. orchard halliwell-phillipps gave some very curious and interesting information respecting book-collecting in the earlier half of the present century. 'about the year ,' he wrote, 'when i first began hunting for old books at the various stalls in our famous london city, black-letter ones and rare prints were "plenty as blackberries," and i have often found such things in unlikely places and amidst a mass of commonplace rubbish, exposed for sale in boxes labelled, "these books and pamphlets d. or s. each," outside an old bookseller's window, where another notice informed the passer-by that "libraries were purchased or books bought;" and thus plainly showed how such now indeed rarities came into the possession of an ignorant bibliopole. it was not, however, till about that i turned my attention to the more special work of collecting shakespeare quartos, in which, i may say, i have been very successful. it was at one of george chalmers' sales that i first bought one or two, and after that i hunted for them in all parts of the country, and met with considerable success, often buying duplicates, and even triplicates, of the same edition and play. at one time i possessed no less than three copies of the very rare quarto edition of "romeo and juliet," , and sometimes even had four copies of more than one of the other quartos. not so very long before this period, old jolley, the well-known collector, picked up a caxton at reading, and a "venus and adonis," , at manchester, in a volume of old tracts, for the ignoble sum of s. d. jolley was a wealthy orange-merchant of farringdon street, london, and entertained me often with many stories of similar fortunate finds of rare books, which served to whet my appetite only the more. but i was soon stopped in my book-hunting career by the appearance all at once on the scene of a number of buyers with much longer purses than my own, and thus i was driven from a market i had derived so much pleasure from with great regret. some time afterwards circumstances rendered it desirable that i should part with a large number of my book-treasures by auction and to the british museum; but even then i retained enough to be instrumental in founding the first shakespearian library in scotland, by presenting to the university of edinburgh, amongst other rarities, nearly fifty copies of original quartos of shakespeare's plays, printed before the restoration, and to keep sufficient myself of the rarest and most valuable examples.' sometimes the notes of a former possessor have a considerable literary interest, as, for example, the copy of stowe's 'survey of london,' , presented to the penzance library by the late j. o. halliwell-phillipps, who has written, under date december , , the following note: 'this is a favourite book of mine. i like to read of london as it was, with the bright thames crowded with fish, and its picturesque architecture. . . . i should not have discarded this volume for any library, had i not this day picked up a beautiful _large paper_ copy of it, the only one in that condition i ever saw or heard of.' as an illustration of the enhanced value possessed by books having notes written in them by their owners, it may be mentioned that when the great mr. fox's furniture was sold by auction after his death in , amongst the books there happened to be the first volume of gibbon's 'decline and fall,' which apparently had been given by the author to fox, who wrote on the fly-leaf this note: 'the author at brooks' said there was no salvation for this country, until six heads of the principal persons in the administration were laid on the table. eleven days after, this same gentleman accepted a place of "lord of trade" under those very ministers, and has acted with them ever since.' this peculiarly nasty little note sent the value of the odd volume up to £ s. gibbon, writing in his 'autobiography' of fox, says, 'i admired the powers of a superior man, as they are blended in his attractive character with the softness and simplicity of a child,' an opinion which he might have modified if he had lived to read the foregoing note. when canning's books, for the most part of an exceedingly commonplace and uninteresting character, came under the hammer at christie's in , the competition was extremely keen for all volumes which bore the great statesman's autograph, and as most of the books contained more or less elaborate indications of canning's proprietorship, his executors received nearly double the sum which they could reasonably expect. similar illustrations occur every year at book-auctions. the idiosyncrasies of collectors might make quite as long a chapter as that of books which have belonged to famous persons, and it is for the same reason that we have to deal briefly with each. it is curious that almost as soon as book-collecting became at all general, the 'faddy' man came into existence. dr. john webster, of clitheroe, who died june , , aged seventy-two, for example, had a library which was rich in books of romance, and what was then termed 'the black art'; but webster was the author of a rare volume on witchcraft, so that his books were his literary tools--just as, a century later, john rennie, the distinguished civil engineer, made a speciality of mathematical books, of which he had a collection nearly complete in all languages. dr. benjamin moseley's library, which was sold by stewart in march, , was composed for the most part of books on astrology, magic, and facetiæ. the rev. f. j. stainforth, whose library was sold at sotheby's in , collected practically nothing but books written by or relating to women; he aimed to secure not only every book, but every edition of such books. he was a most determined book-hunter, and when holywell street was at its lowest moral ebb, this eccentric gentleman used to visit all the bookshops almost daily, his inquiry being, 'have you any women for me to-day?' mr. stainforth, who died in september, , was for many years curate of camden church, camberwell, and was from incumbent of all hallow's, staining, the stipend of which was about £ , and the population about . 'bless my books--all my bible books, all my _hocus pocus_, and all my _leger-de-main_ books, and all my other books, whether particularly mentioned at this time or not,' was the prayer of a scotsman of about a century and a quarter ago, and so perhaps the rev. mr. stainforth thought, if he did not utter occasionally some such petition.[xxix-a] half a century ago one of the most inveterate frequenters of book-auctions was a certain dr. g., of diminutive stature, on account of an awkward deviation of the spine. at that time the appearance of a private purchaser at a sale was a very rare event, and one which, when it occurred, invariably met with a more or less hostile reception from the fraternity. dr. g.'s first appearance produced a good deal of sensation. the hunchback, it is true, was rather shabbily dressed, but 'l'habit ne fait pas le moine,' and is certainly no trustworthy index to the pockets of the wearer. excitement reached fever-heat when a wynkyn de worde was put up and persistently contested for by the doctor, who ran it up against the booksellers present (some of whom quickly desisted from the fun for fear of burning their fingers), one of whom, far exceeding his commission, obstinately refused to give in until the book was knocked down to him to his own dismay, and the delight and ironical compliments of his colleagues. after this _contretemps_ the doctor had it pretty much his own way; his name was duly entered on the sale catalogue, and his address was known. the next day our bookseller, sobered by reflection, called on the doctor, confessed his sin of the previous day, humbly asked for absolution, and offered him the book at an immense loss on the sale price. 'if you were,' replied the doctor, 'to bring the book at my door for nothing, i would take it with a pair of tongs and drop it into the gutter.' it was a puzzle to everyone what the little doctor did with all his purchases, which were limited chiefly to classical books. at his death, however, it transpired that he bought for the various universities of the united kingdom. the doctor's son, a poor curate, entered his late father's library for the first time, and found there a mass of books, which occupied nearly a month in selling, and realized, to his delight, a large sum of money. the contempt with which dr. g. received the bookseller's proposal is peculiarly typical of the book-collector. if he cannot obtain what he wants just exactly when he wants it, he does not care about it. the book-collector is doubtless too prone to despise everything which is not quite in his line, forgetting that all branches of literature contribute in some degree, greater or lesser, to the bulk of human knowledge. no man can be universal, even if he had the wealth of a dozen rothschilds, or the mental vigour and versatility of a hundred gladstones. the book-hunter has, however, his good traits, which sometimes require a good deal of finding, it is true. we need not dwell at great length on his apparently unconquerable habit of beating down the prices, for the custom is too well known to require much explanation; but a view of the other side of the picture is only fair. a few years ago a well-known bookseller catalogued a copy of the 'book of job' at a very low figure. a wealthy collector, whose purchases were generally closed on the judgment of a distinguished bookman, asked to have the copy sent on approval. it was despatched; but came back within a few days. no explanation was volunteered: when, however, the collector came into the shop a short time after, he was asked why he had returned the book. his answer was to the effect that he could not persuade himself that the illustrations were really by blake, particularly as the price asked was so low. a week or so after this a distinguished art-critic, hearing of the whereabouts of this copy, asked to have it on approval: in sending it the bookseller enclosed a note to the effect that some doubt had been expressed as to the genuineness of the plates. in a few days came a cheque from the man of art for £ over and above the catalogue price, and a note to the effect that the illustrations were not only unquestionably by blake, but in the finest possible state. last summer a certain bookseller sold, after some considerable amount of haggling, a very fine missal for £ , which was £ less than its catalogue price. a few weeks after the purchaser called and paid the additional £ , explaining that a friend of his had taken a violent fancy to the book, and begged to be allowed to possess it at £ . another honest book-collector, discovering that he had bought a book considerably cheaper than an example had been sold at sotheby's, and £ less than mr. quaritch had asked for a similar copy, sent his bookseller a present of a parcel of books to make up the difference in the two amounts. with these few introductory and perhaps desultory pages, the reader is invited to the more solid feast provided for his delectation in the following pages. footnotes: [xxix-a] mr. stainforth's collection ranged over years, and, amid much utter rubbish, there were a few things of considerable rarity, notably one of only three complete copies known of t. bentley's 'monument of matrones,' , formerly in the libraries of herbert, woodhouse, heber and bliss. it included two autograph letters of the right hon. t. grenville, and realized £ ; anne bradstreet's 'tenth muse lately sprung up in america,' , £ s.; and a copy of dame juliana berners' 'booke of hauking,' etc., £ . nearly fifty items appear under the name of aphra behn; whilst there are twenty-one editions of jane porter's 'poems,' which realized the grand total of s. the library comprised , lots (representing, perhaps, twenty times that number of volumes), and realized the total of £ s. [illustration] the book-hunter in london early book-hunting. those who have studied the earlier phases of english history will readily understand that the terms book-hunting in england and book-hunting in london are by no means synonymous. the passion for books had manifested itself in various and remote parts of this country long before london had developed into a place of importance; when, indeed, it was battling from without and within with conflicts which seemed to predict complete annihilation. but the growth of london is essentially typical of the growth of the nation, and of the formation of the national character. when it was laying the foundation of its future greatness london had no thought of intellectual pursuits, even if londoners themselves had any conception of an intellectual life. for any trace of such unthought-of, and perhaps, indeed, unheard-of, articles as books, we must go to localities far remote from london--to spots where, happily, the strife and din of savage warfare scarcely made themselves heard. the monasteries were the sole repositories of literature; to the monk alone had the written book any kind of intelligence, any species of pleasure. to him it was as essential as the implements of destruction to the warrior, or the plough to the husbandman. the one had no sympathy, no connection, with the other, only in so far that the events which transpired in the battlefield had to be recorded in the _scriptorium_. although london was a place of importance at a very early stage of the roman occupation, it was not in any sense an intellectual centre for centuries after that period. [illustration: _in a scriptorium._] indeed, it might be laid down as a general principle that the farther the seeker went from london the more likelihood there was of meeting with books. to northumbria, from the end of the sixth to the end of the seventh century, we shall have to look for the record of book-buying, for during that period books were imported in very considerable quantities; abbeys arose all along the coast, and scholars proportionately increased. in a letter to charlemagne, alcuin speaks of certain 'exquisite books' which he studied under egbert at york. at wearmouth, benedict biscop ( - ) was amassing books with all the fury of half a dozen ordinary bibliomaniacs. he collected everything, and spared no cost. at york, egbert had a fine library in the minster. st. boniface, the saxon missionary, was a zealous collector. there were also collections--and consequently collectors--of books at places less remote from london--such as canterbury, salisbury, glastonbury, and even st. albans; but of london itself there is no mention. scarcely any such thing as book-hunting or book-selling could possibly have existed in london before the accession of alfred, who, among the several ways in which he encouraged literature, is said to have given an estate to the author of a book on cosmography. doubtless, it was after the rebuilding of the city by alfred that, in the famous letter to wulfseg, bishop of london, he takes a retrospective view of the times in which they lived, as affording 'churches and monasteries filled with libraries of excellent books in several languages.' bede describes london, even at the beginning of the eighth century, as a great market which traders frequented by land and sea; and from a passage in gale we learn that books were brought into england for sale as early as . with the reconstruction of london, the wise government, and the enthusiastic love for letters which animated the great saxon king, the commerce of the capital not only increased with great rapidity, but the commerce in books between england and other countries, particularly from such bibliopolic centres as paris and rome, began to assume very considerable proportions. if, as is undoubtedly the case, books were continually being imported, it follows that they found purchasers. by the beginning of the eleventh century there were many private and semi-private collections of books in or near london. the english book-collectors of the seventh century include theodore, archbishop of canterbury, benedict, abbot of wearmouth, and bede; those of the eighth century, ina, king of the west saxons, and alcuin, abbot of tours; whilst the tenth century included, in addition to alfred, scotus erigena, athelstan, and st. dunstan, archbishop of canterbury. but it cannot be said, with due regard to truth, that london was in any sense a seat of learning, or a popular resort for learned men, until well on into the thirteenth century. doubtless many consignments of books passed through the city on the way to their respective destinations. edward i. may be regarded as the first english monarch who took any interest in collecting books; most of his, however, were service books. they are mentioned in the wardrobe accounts ( - ) of this king, and are only eleven in number. these he may have purchased in in france, through which he passed on his way home from palestine. but it is much more probable that he had no thought of books when hurrying home to claim the crown of his father. contemporary with edward was another book-collector of a very different type, an abbot of peterborough, richard of london, who had a 'private library' of ten books, including the 'consolation of philosophy,' which he may have formed in london. but quite the most interesting book-collector (so far as we are concerned just now) of this period is richard de gravesend, bishop of london. a minute catalogue of this collection is among the treasures of st. paul's cathedral, and has been privately printed. in this case, the price of each book is affixed to its entry; the total number of volumes is one hundred, their aggregate value being £ s. d., representing, according to milman's estimate, £ , of our present money. twenty-one bibles and parts of bibles were valued at £ s. twenty-two volumes in this collection deal with canon and civil law, four with ecclesiastical history, and about an equal number with what may be designated science and arts, the rest being of a theological character. the entries run thus: 'tractatus fr'is dertti'i de proprietatibus rerum. libellus instructionum. liber avicennæ. liber naturalis.' the two last-named are respectively the highest and lowest priced items in the list--for books of a single volume only--the 'liber avicennæ' being valued at the very high figure of £ , and the 'liber naturalis' at s. a bible in thirteen volumes is valued at £ ; and a 'little bible' at £ . the total value of the property of this bishop was scheduled at about £ , . in spite of civil strife and foreign complications, the taste for literature made great strides during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, with the very natural consequence of an increased demand for, and supply of, books. and the curious thing is that book-collecting was gradually passing away from the monks, and becoming exceedingly popular with the laity. 'flocks and fleeces, crops and herds, gardens and orchards, the wine of the winecup, are the only books and studies of the monks.' the franciscans, who (like the dominicans) came to england in , were expressly forbidden 'the possession of books or the necessary materials for study.' when roger bacon joined this order, he was deprived of his books. st. francis himself, it seems, was once 'tempted to possess books'--by honest means, let us hope, although the point is not quite clear--and he almost yielded to the temptation, but finally decided that it would be sinful. the plague of books seems to have troubled this poor saint's soul, for he hoped that the day would come when men would throw their books out of the window as rubbish. [illustration: _lambeth palace library._] in proof of the theory that laymen at a very early period became book-collectors, the most interesting example which we can quote is that of guy de beauchamp, earl of warwick, who died in , and who bequeathed his library to bordesley abbey, worcestershire, where it had already been deposited during his lifetime. beginning with this preamble, 'a tus iceux qe ceste lettre verront ou orrount. guy de beauchamp, comte de warr. saluz en deu. nous avoir bayle e en lagarde le abbé e le covent de bordesleye, lesse a demorer a touz jours les romaunces de souz nomes; ces est assaveyr,' the bequest recites, with great minuteness, a remarkably interesting list of books. this list ('escrites ou bordesleye le premer jour de may, le an du regñ le roy edw{d} trentime quart') is in the lambeth library, but it is reprinted by todd in his 'illustrations of gower and chaucer,' pp. , . this list is of more than ordinary interest, chiefly because the collection formed by a layman gives us a very good insight into the class of books which the early nobility of england read, or, at all events, collected. religious books, of course, formed the background of the library, but there were many romances, such, for instance, as those of king arthur, of 'josep alb arimathie e deu seint grael,' of 'troies,' etc. there was also a book 'de phisik et de surgie.' this collection contained between forty and fifty volumes, in which was included pretty nearly the entire range of human knowledge as it then extended. it is well to remember in connection with this bequest that, at the same time, or, more correctly, in , the academical library of oxford consisted of a few tracts kept in chests under st. mary's church. with the greatest book-collector of this period, richard de bury ( - ), the author of the 'philobiblon,' unfortunately, we have little to do, as his book expeditions appear to have been confined almost entirely to foreign countries. he collected books from every source open to him, and wrote of his passion with a warmth of eloquence of which even cicero might have been proud. his most important book transaction, which comes within the purview of the present volume, relates to the gift by an abbot of st. albans of four volumes to de bury, then clerk of the privy seal, viz., terence, virgil, quintilian, and hieronymus against rufinus. in addition to these, the abbot sold him thirty-two other books for fifty pounds of silver. when de bury became bishop this 'gift' troubled his conscience, and he restored several of the books which had come into his possession in a perfectly honest and legitimate manner, whilst others were secured from the bishop's executors. one of the volumes acquired in the latter manner is now in the british museum. it is a large folio ms. on the works of john of salisbury, and bears upon it a note to the effect that it was written by simon (abbot of st. albans, - ), and another to the following effect: 'hunc librum venditum domino ricardo de biry episcopo dunelmensi emit michael abbas sancti albani ab executoribus predicti episcopi anno domini millesimo ccc{o} xlv{to} circa purificationem beate virginis.' the catalogue of the library of the benedictine monastery of christ church, canterbury, in the cottonian collection, british museum, and printed for the first time at length in edward's 'memoirs of libraries' (i. - ), is a remarkable list of the most extensive collection of books at that time in this country. it was formed at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century. this library was well furnished with works in science and history, and particularly so with the classics--aristotle, cicero, lucan, plato, suetonius, seneca, terence, and virgil. the extreme probability is that london was the highway through which the greater part of this and other early libraries passed. if, early in the fifteenth century, the book-hunter in london possessed few opportunities of purchasing books, he would have found several very good libraries which were open to his inspection. there was, for example, a very considerable collection in the franciscan monastery, which once stood on the site now occupied by christ's hospital, newgate street. the first stone of this monastery was laid in october, , amid much pomp, by the then lord mayor, sir richard whittington, who gave £ in books. it was covered in before the winter of , and completed in three years, and furnished with books. from stow's 'survey' we learn that one hundred marks were expended on the transcription of the works of nicholas de lira, to be chained in the library, and of which cost john frensile remitted s. one of the chained books, 'the lectures of hostiensis,' cost five marks. from another source we learn that a carmelite friar named john wallden bequeathed to this library as many mss. as were worth , pieces of gold. anthony à wood refers to the oft-repeated charge of the book-covetousness of the mendicant friars, which, in fact, was carried to such an extreme 'that wise men looked upon it as an injury to laymen, who therefore found a difficulty to get any books.' of the same period, there is a very curious anecdote in rymer's 'foedera' about taking off the duty upon six barrels of books sent by a roman cardinal to the prior of the conventual church of st. trinity, norwich. these barrels, which lay at the custom-house, were imported duty free. neither the book-hunger of the mendicant friars, nor the difficulties which surrounded the importation of books, appears to have militated greatly against the growing passion. we have the name, and only the name, of a very famous book-hunter--john of boston--of the first decade of the fifteenth century, whose labours, however, have been completely blotted out of existence by the dispersed monasteries. but there were many other collectors whose memories have been handed down to us in a more tangible form, even if their collections of books are almost as abstract and indefinite as that of john of boston. during the first quarter of the fifteenth century, we have quite a considerable little group of royal book-collectors--henry iv., henry v., and his brothers, john, duke of bedford, and humphrey, duke of gloucester. the last-named was undoubtedly the most enthusiastic bibliophile of the four, but whilst his extensive gifts of books to the university of oxford may be said to have formed the foundation of the library there, they were in the following century destroyed by the mob. a few examples of his gifts are now preserved in the british museum and at oxford. his books were estimated at a very high figure, the value placed on of them (out of the total of ) being no less than £ , . the memory of the duke of bedford's library is best perpetuated by the famous bedford missal, or book of hours, perhaps the most splendid example of fifteenth-century illustration. it is now in the british museum, where it has been since . the history of this missal, perhaps the most interesting in existence, is too well known to be dealt with here (see p. ). henry v. was undoubtedly fond of books. rymer refers to two petitions to the council after the king's death for the return of valuable books of history, borrowed by him of the countess of westmoreland, and of the priory of christ church, canterbury, and not returned, though one of them had been directed to be delivered to its owner by the king's last will. the elegantly illuminated copy of lydgate's 'hystory, sege, and destruccion of troye,' , in the bodleian, is doubtless the copy which lydgate gave to henry v. at cambridge there is the ms. of a french translation of cardinal bonaventure's 'life of christ,' with the note 'this wasse sumtyme kinge henri the fifeth his booke,' etc. henry vi. does not appear to have cared for books, and it is not surprising, what with wars abroad and excessive taxation, plague and famine at home, that literary tastes received a severe check. we get several glimpses of the dearth of books. in the ms. history of eton college, in the british museum, the provost and fellows of eton and cambridge are stated, henry vi., to have petitioned the king that he would be pleased to order one of his chaplains, richard chestre, 'to take to him such men as shall be seen to him expedient in order to get knowledge where such bookes [for divine service] may be found, paying a reasonable price for the same, and that the sayd men might have the choice of such bookes, ornaments, and other necessaries as now late were perteynyng to the duke of gloucester, and that the king would particular[ly] cause to be employed herein john pye--his stacioner of london.' book-importation by the galleys that brought the produce of the east to london and southampton had assumed very considerable proportions during the fifteenth century; but the uncertainties which attended it were not at all favourable to its full development. book-production was still progressing in the immediate neighbourhood of london. at st. albans, for example, over eighty were transcribed under whethamstede during this reign, a number which is peculiarly interesting when the degeneracy of the monasteries is remembered. neither edward iv. nor richard iii. seems to have availed himself of the increasing plenty of books. the library of the former was a very unimportant affair. from the wardrobe account of this king ( ) we get a few highly interesting facts concerning book-binding, gildings, and garnishing: 'for vj unces and iij quarters of silk to the laces and tassels for garnysshing of diverse bookes, price the unce xiiij_d._--vij_s._ x_d._ ob.; for the making of xvj laces and xvj tassels made of the said vj unces and iij of silke, price in grete ij_s._ vii_d._' these moneys were paid to alice claver, a 'sylk-woman.' and again 'to piers bauduyn, stacioner, for bynding, gilding and dressing of a booke called "titus livius," xx_s._; for bynding, gilding and dressing of a booke of the holy trinitie, xvj_s._; for bynding, gilding and dressing of a booke called "frossard," xvj_s._; for bynding, gilding and dressing of a booke called the bible, xvj_s._; for bynding, gilding and dressing of a booke called "le gouvernement of kinges and princes," xvj_s._; for bynding and dressing of the three smalle bookes of franche, price in grete vj_s._ viiij_d._; for the dressing of ij bookes whereof oon is called "la forteresse de foy" and the other called the "book of josephus," iij_s._ iiij_d._; and for bynding, gilding and dressing a booke called the "bible historial," xx_s._' the only incident which calls for special mention in the two next short reigns is a law, richard iii., , by which it was enacted that if any of the printers or sellers of printed books--the 'great plenty' of which came from 'beyond the sea'--'vend them at too high and unreasonable prices,' then the lord chancellor, lord treasurer, or any of the chief justices of the one bench or the other, were to regulate the prices. [illustration: _roman books and writing materials._] [illustration] book-hunting after the introduction of printing. i. the introduction of printing into this country by caxton during the latter half of the fifteenth century had very little immediate effect on book-collecting. the operations of the press were slow, its patrons few, and its work controlled by one man. the reproduction of mss. was essentially a slow process, but when these transcriptions were finished, they rarely failed to find a purchaser. caxton, like sweynheim and pannartz at subiaco, soon learned the seriousness of over-printing an edition. collectors were few, and the introduction of printing did not very materially add to their number. london, however, soon became a recognised centre of the trade in books, and henry vii. patronized, in his curious fashion, the collecting of them. he read, according to bacon, 'most books that were of any worth in the french tongue,' and one of the most commendable actions of this king was the purchase of the noble series of vellum copies of the works printed at paris by antoine vérard, now in the british museum--an act by which he may be said to have laid the foundation of our great national library. the value of books at this period is not without interest; but we must confine ourselves to one or two facts relating to caxton's books. at his death in , a copy of the 'golden legend' was valued at s. d. in the books of the westminster churchwarden. from a note by dibdin, it would seem that the price of caxtons towards the end of the reign of henry vii. was as follows: 'godfray of boulogne' (imperfect), ii_s._ virgil's 'Æneid' (perfect), xij_d._ 'fait of arms and chivalry' (perfect), ij_s._ viij_d._ 'chastising of god's children,' viij_d._ henry viii. was undoubtedly a book-lover as well as a book-collector. he established a library at st. james's. but perhaps it is rather as a book-disperser that henry is entitled to notice in this place. the dissolution of the monasteries is the genesis of book-collecting in london. the first move in this respect is entitled 'an act that all religious houses under the yearly revenue of £ shall be dissolved and given to the king and his heirs,' and is dated ( henry viii., cap. , ii. ). the second is dated . whatever advantages in a general way the dissolution of the monasteries may have had, its consequences, so far as regards the libraries, which the monks considered as among their most cherished possessions, were disastrous beyond measure. indeed, we have no conception of our losses. addressing himself to edward vi. in , john bale, afterwards bishop of ossory, who had but little love for popery of any description, writes in this strain: 'avarice was the other dispatcher which hath made an end both of our libraries and books . . . to the no small decay of the commonwealth. a great number of them who purchased those superstitious mansions [monasteries], reserved of these library-books, some . . . to scour their candlesticks, and some to rub their boots; some they sold to the grocers and soap-sellers, and some they sent over sea to the bookbinders, not in small numbers, but at times whole shipsfull, to the wondering of the foreign nations. yea, the universities of this realm are not all clear in this detestable fact. but cursed is that belly which seeketh to be fed with so ungodly gains, and so deeply shameth his natural country. i know a merchantman, which shall at this time be nameless, that bought the contents of two noble libraries for forty shillings price: a shame it is to be spoken. this stuff hath he occupied in the stead of gray paper by the space of more than these ten years; and yet he hath store enough for as many years to come. . . . our posterity may well curse this wicked fact of our age, this unreasonable spoil of england's most noble antiquities, unless they be stayed in time.' fuller, in his 'church history of britain,' quotes bale's lamentation, and adds his own testimony on the same subject: 'as brokers in long lane, when they buy an old suit buy the linings together with the outside, so it was considered meet that such as purchased the buildings of monasteries should in the same grant have the libraries (the stuffing thereof) conveyed unto them. and now these ignorant owners, so long as they might keep a ledger-book or terrier by direction thereof to find such straggling acres as belonged unto them, they cared not to preserve any other monuments. the covers of books, with curious brass bosses and clasps, intended to protect, proved to betray them, being the baits of covetousness. and so many excellent authors, stripped out of their cases, were left naked, to be buried or thrown away. . . . what soul can be so frozen as not to melt into anger thereat? what heart, having the least spark of ingenuity, is not hot at this indignity offered to literature? i deny not but that in this heap of books there was much rubbish; legions of lying legends, good for nothing but fuel . . . volumes full fraught with superstition, which, notwithstanding, might be useful to learned men; except any will deny apothecaries the privilege of keeping poison in their shops, when they can make antidotes of them. but, beside these, what beautiful bibles, rare fathers, subtile schoolmen, useful historians--ancient, middle, modern; what painful comments were here amongst them! what monuments of mathematics all massacred together; seeing every book with a cross was condemned for popish; with circles for conjuring.' the calamities bewailed in such picturesque language by bale and fuller would have been much more serious but for the labours of one of our earliest antiquaries and book-lovers, john leland. 'the laboryouse journey and serche of johan leylande for englandes antiquities geven of hym as a newe yeares gyfte to kynge henry the viii in the xxxvij yeare of his reygne,' , is a remarkable publication, of great interest to the book-hunter and the antiquary. but the fruits of leland's researches cannot now be fully known, for he was too intent on accumulating material to draw up an adequate inventory. much that he preserved from destruction is now in the british museum, and some is in the bodleian at oxford. some of the fragments which he had saved from the general destruction had been placed in the king's own library in westminster. the dissolution of the monasteries had among its many effects the creation, so to speak, of a large number of collectors. one of the most famous of the early sixteenth-century collectors, sir thomas more, however, died (in ) before he could have availed himself of the many treasures scattered to all quarters of the earth. dibdin records a bibliomaniacal anecdote which is well worth repeating here, as it shows how more's love of books had infected even those who came to seize upon him to carry him to the tower, and to endeavour to inveigle him into treasonable expressions: 'while sir richard southwell and mr. palmer weare bussie in trussinge upp his bookes, mr. riche, pretending,' etc., 'whereupon mr. palmer, on his deposition, said, that he was soe bussie ab{t} the trussinge upp sir tho. moore's bookes in a sacke, that he tooke no heed of there talke.' henry, earl of arundel, was not slow to seize upon the advantages which the dissolution placed before everyone. at nonsuch, in surrey, he formed a library, which is described in a biography of him, written shortly after his death, as 'righte worthye of remembrance.' besides his numerous mss. and printed books, he acquired a considerable portion of the library of cranmer, which was dispersed at the death of the archbishop. his books passed to his son-in-law, lord lumley, at whose decease they were purchased by henry, prince of wales, and are now in the british museum. the earl of arundel's books are handsomely bound, and are known by his badge of the white horse and oak branch which generally occurs on the covers. [illustration: _earl of arundel's badge._] in jeremy collier's 'ecclesiastical history' (vol. ii. ) we get a glimpse of book-matters in london in the middle of the sixteenth century. at the end of february, , we learn that the council book mentions the king's sending a letter for the purging of the library at westminster. the persons are not named, but the business was to cull out all superstitious books, as missals, legends, and such-like, and to deliver the garniture of the books, either gold or silver, to sir anthony archer. these books were many of them plated with gold and silver and curiously embossed. this, as far as we can collect, was the superstition that destroyed them. 'here avarice had a very thin disguise, and the courtiers discovered of what spirit they were to a remarkable degree.' here is another picture of an almost contemporaneous event, equally vivid in its suggestiveness: 'john tyndale, the translator's brother, and thomas patmore, merchants, were condemned to do penance by riding with their faces to their horses' tails, with their books fastened thick about them, pinned, or tacked, to their gowns or clokes, to the standard in cheap; and there with their own hands to fling them into the fire, kindled on purpose to burn them.' as a book-collecting period the sixteenth century, from the accession of henry viii.--when books became the organs of the passions of mankind--to the death of elizabeth, is full of intense interest. the old order had changed; the world itself had made an entirely fresh start. men and events of the previous two or three centuries were almost as antique then as they are to-day, and perhaps in many respects they were infinitely less clearly understood. as the century grew in age, so the number of book-collectors increased. the hobby became first a passion with the few, and then the fashion with the many. henry viii. was perhaps a passive rather than an active collector, with a distinct leaning in favour of beautiful books. his three children, who followed him on the throne of england, were collectors of books, and the majority of their purchases must have been made in london. many of these books have, at some time or other, drifted from private hands into the sale-rooms, but perhaps the majority of those now existing are to be found within the walls of our public institutions. for example, at the sale of dr. askew's mss., in , a very interesting item was purchased by a mr. jackson, a quaker, and a dealer in wine and spirits, with whom book-collecting was a passion. the ms. proved to be in the handwriting of edward vi.; it was in french, and dealt with his opinion of his right to the title of supreme head of the church. at jackson's sale the ms. became the property of the british museum. as another illustration, we may refer to the copy of the 'flores historiarum per matthæum westmonasteriensem,' etc., , in the british museum (cracherode collection) which is the identical one presented by archbishop parker (by whose authority it was published) to queen elizabeth. it afterwards fell into the hands of francis, earl of bedford, who bequeathed it, with the furniture of a little study, to his secretary. it was subsequently in the possession of ritson. and yet again, in the eton college library, there is a copy of the 'missale romanum,' printed at paris by hardouyn, , which belonged to mary, with a sentence in her handwriting; this volume afterwards came into the possession of mary of este, queen of james ii., and subsequently into the hands of a london bookseller, from whom it was purchased for fifty-three shillings by bishop fleetwood, and presented to the college library. indeed, a large volume might be compiled on the adventures of some famous books. interesting and important as is the phase of book-collecting which relates to royal personages, it falls into insignificance beside that of men who have achieved greatness through their own abilities. the books collected by thomas cranmer, for example, quite overshadow in interest anything which the whole reign of the tudors could produce. it has been well said that his knowledge of books was wide, and his opportunities for acquiring them unrivalled. cranmer was a generous collector, for his library was quite open for the use of learned men. latimer spent 'many an hour' there, and has himself told us that he met with a copy of dionysius 'in my lord of canterbury's library.' we have already seen that many of cranmer's books passed into the possession of the earl of arundel, but many were 'conveyed and stolen awaie.' cranmer's books have found an enthusiastic historian in prebendary burbidge, who has almost rehabilitated the great ecclesiastic's library in the first part of mr. quaritch's 'dictionary of english book-collectors.' another book-collector of a very different type was amassing an extensive library at a somewhat later period than cranmer: dr. dee, the famous necromancer, had collected ' , volumes, printed and unprinted, bound and unbound, valued at , lib.,' of which one greek, two french and one high dutch volumes of mss. alone were 'worth lib.' it occupied forty years to form this library. most of his books passed into the possession of elias ashmole--who was another collector with an insatiable appetite--and now form a part of the ashmolean museum. some of dee's singular mss. were found, long after his death, in the secret drawer of a chest, which had passed through many hands undiscovered. reverting for a moment to ashmole, he himself tells us that he gave 'five volumes of mr. dugdale's' works to the temple library. and further: 'my first boatful of books, which were carried to mrs. tradescant's, were brought back to the temple.' in may, , he bought mr. john booker's study of books, and gave £ for them. in he bought 'mr. lilly's library of books of his widow, for £ .' a very distinguished book-collector of the elizabethan period was sir francis drake, the great admiral. it did not seem to be at all known that the distinguished naval hero was also a bibliophile until , when the collection of books was brought from the old residence of the drakes, nutwell court, lympstone, devon, to sotheby's. the sale comprised , lots, representing several thousand volumes, the total being £ , s. d. it was especially rich in books and old tracts of the early seventeenth century relating to the english voyages to america, and some of these realized very high figures. although the library was undoubtedly founded by drake, it was evidently continued by his descendants. bacon, baron of verulam, was a distinguished book-collector, as the shelves of his chambers in gray's inn would have testified. archbishop parker, than whom 'a more determined book-fancier never existed in great britain,' and gabriel harvey, the friend of spenser, and the object of tom nash's withering scorn, were among the most inveterate book-collectors of elizabethan london. had harvey--whose books usually contain his autograph on the title-page, and not a few of which were given him by spenser--studied his books less, and the proper study of mankind a little more, he might have shown his talents off to a better advantage than in his conflicts with nash. in the bodleian there is a set of old tales and romances which spenser lent harvey, taking as a hostage, apparently, harvey's copy of lucian in four volumes. harvey had a very poor opinion of such 'foolish' books, but he does not seem to have returned them to their rightful owner. the fire which destroyed ben jonson's mss. undoubtedly consumed many of his printed books, but examples from his library, with 'sum ben jonson' inscribed, are sometimes met with. shakespeare may have had a library, but we have no evidence that he possessed even a copy of his own plays in quarto. the elizabethan poets and dramatists were prodigious contributors to the press, but very poor patrons of booksellers. from various sources we get some highly-coloured and unflattering pictures of the typical booksellers of the period. tom nash has limned for us a vivid little portrait in 'pierce penilesse' ( ), in which he declares that if he were to paint sloth, 'i swear that i would draw it like a stationer that i know, with his thumb under his girdle, who, if ever a man come to his stall to ask him for a book, never stirs his head, or looks upon him, but stands stone still, and speaks not a word, only with his little finger points backward to his boy, who must be his interpreter; and so all day, gaping like a dumb image, he sits without motion, except at such times as he goes to dinner or supper, for then he is as quick as other three, eating six times every day.' ii. from start to finish the stuart dynasty ruled england for close on three-quarters of a century. that book-collecting should have existed at all under it is a marvel. but the hobby no longer depended upon the patronage of courts and courtiers. from the wise fool, james i., to the foolish fool, the second james, collectors pursued their hobby in london and out of it. james i. began to collect books at a very early age, and a list of his library was published for the first time in the _athenæum_ in . it has, however, but little interest to us in this place, for doubtless most of the books were imported into scotland from the great book centre, paris. the library which he acquired after his accession to the throne of england is of little consequence, for he was not the person to purchase books when he had the means, and doubtless many of his bookish possessions were gifts. in the library at eton college there is his copy of captain john smith's 'history of virginia,' , which was rescued by storer from a dirty bookseller's shop in derby, and the existence of many others might be traced. it is certain that 'he gave them shabby coverings, and scribbled idle notes on their margins.' had his son henry lived, he might have developed into a respectable book-collector. we know for certain that he 'paid a frenchman that presented a book, £ s.'; and that he paid 'mr. holyoak for writing a catalogue of the library which the prince had of lord lumley, £ s. d.' charles ii., like his forbears, was not a book-buyer, and so far as he is concerned we must content ourselves with repeating a little anecdote after dibdin, who refers to an 'old and not incurious library at workingham, in suffolk,' where there was a very fine ruled copy of hayes's bible, published at cambridge, , in two volumes folio; on the fly-leaf it contains the following memorandum: 'n.b.--this bible belonged to k. charles iid. and [was] given by him to duke lauderdale and sold by auction w{th} y{e} rest of his books.' in a comparatively modern hand, below, is written in pencil: 'hark ye, my friends, that on this bible look, marvel not at the fairness of the book; no soil of fingers, nor such ugly things, expect to find, sirs, for it _was the king's_.' [illustration: _sir robert cotton._] the most distinguished metropolitan book-collector of the period was sir robert cotton, who began as early as , and who had assistance from such antiquaries as william camden and sir henry spelman. this library, after being closed on account of the treasonable character of the documents contained in it, passed into the possession of cotton's son, sir thomas, whose house was almost adjoining westminster hall. anthony à wood gives a curious account of a visit he paid it, when he found its owner practising on the lute. the key of the library was in the possession of one pearson, who lodged with a bookseller in little britain. wood was 'forced to walk thither, and much ado there was to find him.' this library was removed to essex street, and again back to westminster to ashburnham house in little dean's yard, where it suffered greatly from a fire in , and what remains of it is now in the british museum. sir thomas bodley was another collector, but few of his accumulations appear to have come from london. the extraordinary collection of pamphlets got together by tomlinson, and now stored in the british museum, is too well known to need more than a passing reference. it is not so generally known that narcissus luttrell was a very voracious collector of broadsides, tracts, and so forth. to nearly every one of the items he affixed the price he paid for it. in , at the bindley sale, this extraordinary collection, ranging in date from to , and comprising twelve volumes, realized the then large amount of £ . [illustration: _sir julius cæsar's travelling library._] sir julius cæsar, master of the rolls under james i., was a book-collector of the right sort, and his box of charming little editions of the classics, with which he used to solace himself on a journey, is now in the safe keeping of the british museum. sir julius was born in , and died in april, ; he possessed a fine collection of highly interesting manuscripts, which had the narrowest possible escape from being destroyed at the latter part of the last century. the collection was rescued in time by samuel paterson, the auctioneer, and it is now in the british museum. robert burton (the author of the 'anatomy of melancholy') was, like luttrell, also a great collector of tracts, and his library, now in the bodleian, is peculiarly rich in historical, political, and poetical pamphlets, and in miscellaneous accounts of murders, monsters, and accidents. he seems to have purchased and preserved a copy of everything that came out. 'there is no nation,' says johnson, 'in which it is so necessary as in our own to assemble the small tracts and fugitive pieces.' 'the writers of these' frequently have opportunities 'of inquiring from living witnesses, and of copying their representations from the life, and preserve a multitude of particular incidents which are forgotten in a short time, or omitted in formal relations, and yet afford light in some of the darkest scenes of state.' 'from pamphlets,' says the same writer, 'are to be learned the progress of every debate, and of every opinion.' and he compares the impression produced on the mind of him who shall consult these tracts, and of another that refers merely to formal historians, to the _difference of him who hears of a victory, and him who sees the battle_. archbishop laud collected from far and wide. john selden, like laud, had a distinct weakness for learned books, and consequently could have found little to satisfy his cravings in london. selden, when disturbed, put his spectacles into the book he was busy with by way of marking the place; and after his death numbers of volumes were found with these curious book-markers. john felton, who murdered buckingham, was also a book-collector in a small way. in lilly's catalogue for there was a copy of peacham's 'compleat gentleman,' , with the following on the fly-leaf: 'john felton, vicessimo secundo die junii, .' a few glances, at this point, at the more material phases of book-collecting may not be without interest. the following is one of the earliest bookseller's statements of accounts with which we are acquainted. it was rendered to 'the right honourable the lord conway,' on may , , by henry seile, whose shop was at the sign of the tiger's head, fleet street: nash's ha' wee you to saffron walden greene's arcadia } { farewell to folly } { tullies' love } these nine bookes { lady fitzwater's nightingale } were delivered to { mamilia } your lordship at { never too late } xs. { groatesworth of wit } { mourning garment } { peers pennylesse supplication } { in a letter addressed to evelyn by dr. cosin (afterwards bishop of durham) during his exile, and dated july , , we get a delightful glimpse of two book-lovers doing 'a deal.' mr. evelyn was apparently a man who could drive a bargain with hebraic shrewdness. 'truly, sir,' expostulated mildly the excited ecclesiastic, 'i thought i had prevented any further motion of abatement by the large offer that i made to you. . . . if you consider their number, i desire you would be pleased to consider likewise, that they are a choice number, and a company of the best selected books among them all. . . . there is in your note pliny's "natural history" in english, priced at s., which is worth £ ; camden's "errors," priced at s. d., for which i have seen £ given; paulus jovius at £ , which sells now in paris at pistoles; and pol. virgil at s., which sells here for £ ; william of malmesbury at s., for which they demand here £ , and asser menev, etc., at s., which they will not part with here nor elsewhere abroad for £ .' it is highly probable that the book-market was never so bad in london as during this period; for, in addition to the above illustration, and at about the same time, isaac vossius came over to this country with a quantity of literary property, some of which had belonged to his learned father, in the hopes of selling it; but he 'carried them back into holland,' where 'a quicker mercate' was expected. iii. [illustration: _archbishop usher._] _sic transit gloria mundi_ might well be the motto of a history of book-collectors, for in by far the majority of cases great private libraries have been formed in one generation by genuine bookworms, only to be scattered in the next by needy legatees or in consequence of impoverished estates. there can be no doubt that several famous libraries have derived their origin from the mere vanity of emulating a fashionable pursuit. into this matter, however, it is not necessary for us to enter, except to hazard the suggestion that if the money had not been spent in that direction it would doubtless have been squandered in some less worthy and enduring manner. one of the most interesting and valuable contributions to the history of private collections of the seventeenth century is embedded in the long and entertaining letter which john evelyn addressed to mr. pepys in august, . this letter is so accessible that it may seem superfluous to quote any part of it; but a few of the leading points are necessary to the proper sequence of our story. 'the bishop of ely has a very well-stored library, but the very best is what dr. stillingfleet has at twickenham, ten miles out of town. . . . our famous lawyer, sir edward coke, purchased a very choice library of greek and other mss., which were sold him by dr. meric casaubon, son of the learned isaac; and these, together with his delicious villa, durdens, came into the possession of the present earl of berkeley from his uncle, sir robert cook. . . . i have heard that sir henry savill was master of many precious mss., and he is frequently celebrated for it by the learned valesius, almost in every page of that learned man's annotations on eusebius, and the ecclesiastical historians published by him. the late mr. hales, of eton, had likewise a very good library; and so had dr. cosin, late bishop of duresme [and afterwards of durham], a considerable part of which i had agreed with him for myself during his exile abroad, as i can show under his own hand; but his late daughter, since my lady garret, thought i had not offered enough, and made difficulty in delivering them to me till near the time of his majesty's restoration, and after that the dean, her father, becoming bishop of that opulent see, bestowed them on the library there. but the lord primate usher was inferior to none i have named among the clergy for rare mss., a great part of which, being brought out of ireland, and left his son-in-law, sir timothy tyrill, was disposed of to give bread to that incomparable prelate during the late fanatic war. such as remained yet at dublin were preserved, and by a public purse restored and placed in the college library of that city. . . . i forbear to name the late earl of bristol's and his kinsman's, sir kenelm digby's, libraries, of more pompe than intrinsic value, as chiefly consisting of modern poets, romances, chymical, and astrological books. . . . as for those of sir kenelm, the catalogue was printed and most of them sold in paris, as many better have lately been in london. the duke of lauderdale's[ :a] is yet entire, choicely bound, and to be sold by a friend of mine, to whom they are pawned; but it comes far short of his relation's, the lord maitland's, which was certainly the noblest, most substantial and accomplished library that ever passed under the speare, and heartily it grieved me to behold its limbs, like those of the chaste hippolytus, separated and torn from that so well chosen and compacted a body. the earl of anglesey's, and several others since, by i know not what invidious fate, passed the same fortune, to whatever influence and constellation now reigning malevolent to books and libraries, which can portend no good to the future age.' [illustration: _wotton house in ._] it is interesting to note that of the several libraries enumerated by evelyn three have become, partly or wholly, public property. that of dr. john moore, bishop of ely, was purchased after his death by george i. for £ , , and presented to the university of cambridge, where it now is.[ :b] evelyn himself was, as will have been gathered, an ardent book-collector. he began forming a library very early in life, whilst that of his brother came to him by bequest. at the time of his death he had a very extensive collection of books at wotton, which has been considerably augmented by his successors. in the early part of the present century william upcott, of the london institution, drew up a complete catalogue. upcott's appearance on the scene synchronized with the disappearance of a number of volumes from the evelyn library; it has been suggested that lady evelyn presented them to him 'or something of that sort,' although the circumstance has never been officially explained. certain it is that a large number of books formerly in the possession of the diarist have at times appeared in the auction-room. the most important which occurred during the last few years are two beautifully-written mss., the work of richard hoare, one having the title 'instructions oeconomiques,' , with a dedication 'to the present mistress of my youth, the hopeful companion of my riper years, and the future nurse of my old age, mrs. may evelyn, my deare wife,' etc. the second was a book of private devotions, . evelyn was also unfortunate in his lifetime, inasmuch as the duke of lauderdale 'came to my house, under pretence of a visit,' but in reality to borrow 'for a few days' certain valuable mss., which this aristocratic thief never returned. so, too, he lent burnet a quantity of ms. material for his 'history of the reformation,' which, like other borrowed books, never came back. a large number of first editions of the works of j. evelyn, together with some books from his library, illustrated with his autograph notes, occurred in the sale of the library of the late arthur davis, of deptford and east farleigh, july, , many of which were doubtless purloined at some time or other. [illustration: _magdalen college, oxford._] of all the seventeenth-century book-collectors, perhaps the most interesting is that other diarist, samuel pepys. samuel was not a man of great learning, but his wit, his knowledge of the world, and his humanity were unbounded. he welcomed almost anything in the shape of a book, from a roguish french novel to a treatise on medals, from a loose restoration play to a maritime pamphlet, and from lives of the saints to books on astrology or philosophy. not a great man, perhaps, but one of the most delightful and entertaining that one could wish. the secretary's 'diary' is full of allusions to men and events of bookish interest, and gives frequent illustrations of his amiable passion for book-collecting. fortunately, we have not to grope in the dark to get an accurate portrait of the genial samuel as a book-collector, for his entire library is preserved, almost in the same state as he left it, at magdalen college, oxford, 'as curious a medley of the grave and gay' as any person of catholic tastes could wish for. the library consists of almost , volumes, preserved in eleven mahogany bookcases. the books are all arranged in double rows, the small ones in front being sufficiently low to permit of the titles of the back row of larger ones being easily read. the library is a remarkably accurate reflection of the tastes of the founder. in addition to what is termed ordinary useful books, there are many rarities, including no less than nine caxtons, and several from the press of wynkyn de worde and pynson. the celebrated collection of ballads, commenced by selden and continued by pepys, is second only in importance to the famous roxburghe collection now in the british museum. the manuscripts of various kinds form a very valuable part of this celebrated collection. [illustration: _sir hans sloane's monument._] john bagford, the biblioclast ( - ), also finishes us, like evelyn, with a list of book-collectors who were contemporaneous with him. besides bishop moore, already mentioned, there were sir hans sloane, lords carbery (duke of kent), pembroke, somers, sunderland, and halifax. among the commoners who emulated their 'betters' were messrs. huckle, chichely, bridges, walter clavell, rawlinson, slaughter, topham, wanley, captain hatton, 'right hon. secretary harley,' and dr. salmon, whose collection is said to have consisted of , folios. edwards, in his most valuable work on libraries, mentions yet a third list, which is anonymous, and is apparently almost contemporaneous with bagford's. the list is introduced with the remark that 'the laudable emulation which is daily increasing amongst the nobility of england, vying with each other in the curiosities and other rich furniture of their respective libraries, gives cheerful hope of having the long-hidden monuments of ancient times raised out of their present dust and rubbish,' and then makes special mention of the libraries of the duke of kent, lords derby, denbigh, longueville, willoughby de broke, sunderland, somers, and halifax. when good mr. evelyn described sir kenelm digby's library as 'of more pomp than intrinsic value,' and as 'chiefly consisting of modern poets, romances, chemical and astrological books,' he did not contemplate the future possibility of such despised trifles becoming fashionable and in greater request than the accumulations of the collectors to whom the classics were daily food. as edwards has pointed out, the portion which digby gave to the bodleian was in reality the fruit of the researches of his tutor, thomas allen. the portion which was of his own collecting, and consequently the only portion which accurately mirrored his own tastes, he took with him to france when driven into exile. when he died there, it apparently passed into the possession of digby, earl of bristol, on whose account it was sold in london in , fifteen years after its owner's death. the catalogue enumerated , items, of which were manuscripts, the total of the sale being £ s. among the most famous of the seventeenth-century collectors were the two brothers francis, baron guilford, lord keeper ( - ), and dr. john north, master of trinity college ( - ). of these two there are some very entertaining facts in roger north's 'lives of the norths' ( - ). dr. john north, we are told, 'very early in his career began to look after books and to lay the foundation of a competent library . . . buying at one lift a whole set of greek classics in folio, in best editions. this sunk his stock [of money] for the time; but afterwards for many years of his life all that he could (as they say) rap or run went the same way. but the progress was small, for such a library as he desired, compared with what the pittance of his stock would purchase, allowing many years to the gathering, was of desperate expectation. . . . he courted, as a fond lover, all best editions, fairest characters, best-bound and preserved. . . . he delighted in the small editions of the classics by seb. gryphius, and divers of his acquaintance, meeting with any of them, bought and brought them to him, which he accepted as choice presents, although, perhaps, he had one or two of them before. . . . his soul was never so staked down as in an old bookseller's shop. . . . he was for the most part his own factor, and seldom or never bought by commission, which made him lose time in turning over vast numbers of books, and he was very hardly pleased at last. i have borne him company in shops for many hours together, and, minding him of the time, he hath made a dozen proffers before he would quit. by this care and industry, at length he made himself master of a very considerable library, wherein the choicest collection was greek.' at his death the collection came to his brother, the lord keeper. as with dr. john north, book-hunting was the consuming passion of the life of a very different man--richard smyth or smith (of whom there is a very fine and rare engraving by w. sherwin), one of the secondaries or under-sheriffs from to . having sufficient wealth, he resigned his municipal appointment, which was worth £ a year, in order to devote himself entirely to book-hunting. anthony à wood describes him as 'infinitely curious and inquisitive after books,' and states that 'he was constantly known every day to walk his rounds amongst the booksellers' shops (especially in little britain).' richard chiswell, the bookseller who drew up a catalogue of smith's books, which subsequently came into his possession _en bloc_, tells us that his skill and experience enabled him 'to make choice of such books that were not obvious to every man's eye. . . . he lived in times which ministered peculiar opportunities of meeting with books that were not every day brought into public light, and few eminent libraries were bought where he had not the liberty to pick and choose. hence arose, as that vast number of his books, so the choiceness and rarity of the greatest part of them, and that of all kinds, and in all sorts of learning.' this collection was sold by auction in may, , the catalogue of it occupying closely-printed pages in large quarto. there were fourteen caxtons, 'the aggregate produce' of which was £ s. d.; the 'godfrey of bulloigne' selling for s., 'being k. edwarde the ivth's owne booke,' and the 'booke of good manners,' for s.; the highest price in the entire sale being given for holinshed's 'chronicle,' 'with the addition of many sheets that were castrated, being . . . not allowed to be printed,' £ . smith left an interesting and valuable obituary list of certain of his bibliopolic friends (which is reprinted in _willis' current notes_, february, ), one of whom, according to him, was 'buried at st. bartholomew's, without wine or wafers, only gloves and rosemary.' [illustration: _little britain in ._] dr. francis bernard, chief physician to james ii., was an indefatigable book-hunter; being 'a person who collected his books, not for ostentation or ornament, he seemed no more solicitous about their dress than his own, and, therefore, you'll find that a gilt back or a large margin was very seldom an inducement for him to buy. 'twas sufficient for him that he had the book.' his library was sold in , and realized the then enormous sum of £ , . john bridges, of lincoln's inn, the historian of northamptonshire, was a collector who read as well as bought books; his collection was sold at auction in , when , lots realized £ , . robert harley, earl of oxford, was a collector with comprehensive tastes and almost unlimited means. his collection is now in the british museum, and is computed to have numbered about , volumes, on the binding of only a portion of which he is said to have expended £ , , besides a mass of , pamphlets. thomas baker ( - ) bequeathed a portion of his library to st. john's college, cambridge, notwithstanding the fact that he was ejected therefrom. he was an unceasing collector, but his finances were scanty, and, worst of all, he had to contend with collectors of greater wealth, or 'purse-ability' as bodley calls it. writing to humfrey wanley, he says: 'i begin to complain of the men of quality who lay out so much for books, and give such prices that there is nothing to be had for poor scholars, whereof i have found the effects. when i bid a fair price for an old book, i am answered, the "quality" will give twice as much, and so i have done. i have had much ado to pick up a few old books at tolerable prices, and despair of any more.' about , of his books went to st. john's college, and the others were sold by auction, many bearing the inscription 'thomas baker, socius ejectus,' etc. the library of another collector who, like baker, had more of the kicks than of the ha'pence of this life, thomas hearne ( - ), may be mentioned briefly in this paragraph, for both were men of great learning. hearne's collection was sold in february, , by osborne the bookseller, 'the lowest price being marked in each book.' on the title-page of the catalogue, and beneath a poor portrait of hearne, is the well-known couplet: 'quoth time to thomas hearne, "whatever i forget, you learn."' humphrey dyson is another book-collector of this period, and is described by hearne as 'a very curious man in collecting books.' the wesleys were book-lovers and readers, but have perhaps but little claim to rank as collectors _pur sang_. however, it is interesting to point out that lilly's catalogue for included a copy of purcell's 'orpheus britannicus,' , with an inscription on the fly-leaf: 'c. wesley, junior. the valuable gift of his much-honor'd father.' the restoration poets, like those of the elizabethan period, had a sufficiently hard fight to keep themselves in food; books were luxuries which they could only venture to enjoy at long and uncertain intervals. dryden and congreve, however, appear to have been addicted to the pleasant pastime. an exceedingly interesting copy of spenser's 'works,' folio, , was once in the possession of mr. f. s. ellis. on the fly-leaf occurred this note: 'the corrections made in this book are of mr. dryden's own handwriting. j. tonson.' the volume occurred in an auction, where its value was not detected. the 'corrections,' mr. ellis states, extend through the whole of the volume, and bear witness to the care and diligence with which dryden had studied spenser's poems. several of the notes are in explanation of the text, but for the most part are careful and curious corrections of the text and press. the pedigree of this volume is well established by its having in the cover the bookplate of thomas barrett, of lee, celebrated by dibdin as a 'bibliomaniacal and tasteful gentleman.' though barrett died in , his library was not dispersed till a few years since. izaak walton was a collector, and took the wise precaution of writing his autograph in each volume, as the very interesting score of examples now at salisbury prove. his friend, charles cotton, of cheerful memory, was much more of a book-collector, although from the 'angler' it would seem that his whole library was contained in his hall window. like walton, cotton wrote his autograph in most of his books, which occur in the auction-room at irregular intervals. the extent or variety of the cotton correction may be gathered from the following 'epigram' which sir aston cokaine wrote ( ) 'to my cousin, mr. charles cotton the younger': 'd'avila, bentivoglio, guicciardine, and machiavil, the subtle florentine, in their originals i have read through, thanks to your library, and unto you, the prime historians of later times; at least in the italian tongue allow'd the best. when you have more such books, i pray vouchsafe me their perusal, i'll return them safe. yet for the courtesy, the recompense that i can make you will be only thanks. but you are noble-soul'd, and had much rather bestow a benefit than receive a favour.' [illustration: _charles, third earl of sunderland._] one of the most remarkable collections of books ever made by a private individual was that known as the sunderland library. it was formed, not only in the short space of twelve years, but at a time when many books, now of almost priceless value, and scarcely to be had at any price, were comparatively common, and certainly not costly. neither money nor pains was spared, 'and the bibliographical ardour of the founder soon began to be talked of in the bookshops of the chief cities of europe.' the founder, charles, third earl of sunderland, lived at althorp, his town house being in piccadilly, on the site of which the albany now stands. at the latter place this library was lodged for several years. in macky's 'journey through england,' , sunderland house is there described as being separated from the street of piccadilly 'by a wall with large grown trees before the gate. . . . the greatest beauty of this palace is the library, running from the house into the garden; and i must say is the finest in europe, both for the disposition of the apartments, and of the books. the rooms, divided into five apartments, are fully feet long, with two stories of windows, and a gallery runs round the whole in the second story for the taking down books. no nobleman in any nation hath taken greater care to make his collection complete, nor does he spare any cost for the most valuable and rare books. besides, no bookseller in europe hath so many editions of the same book as he, for he hath all, especially of the classicks.' the founder of this famous library died on april , . evelyn has left a few very interesting facts concerning this collection. under the date march , , we read: 'i din'd at the earl of sunderland's with lord spencer. my lord shew'd me his library, now again improv'd by many books bought at the sale of sir charles scarborough, an eminent physician, which was the very best collection, especially of mathematical books, that was i believe in europe, once design'd for the king's library at st. james's, but the queen dying, who was the greate patroness of the designe, it was let fall, and the books were miserably dissipated.' four years later, april, , we have another entry, to the effect that lord spencer purchased 'an incomparable library,' until now the property of 'a very fine scholar, whom from a child i have known,' whose name does not transpire [? hadrian beverland], but in whose library were many 'rare books . . . that were printed at the first invention of that wonderful art.' in reference to macky's incidental allusion to the earl of sunderland's indifference to cost in forming his library, wanley confirms this. writing in december, , the diarist observes that the books in mr. freebairn's library 'in general went low, or rather at vile rates, through a combination of the booksellers against the sale. yet some books went for unaccountably high prices, which were bought by mr. vaillant, the bookseller, who had an unlimited commission from the earl of sunderland.' among the items was an edition of virgil, printed by zarothus _circa_ : 'it was noted that when mr. vaillant had bought the printed virgil at £ , he huzza'd out aloud, and threw up his hat, for joy that he had bought it so cheap.' when this famous book-collector died, wanley observes that 'by reason of his decease some benefit may accrue to this library [lord oxford's], even in case his relations will part with none of his books. i mean, _by his raising the price of books no higher now_; so that, in probability, this commodity may fall in the market; and any gentleman be permitted to buy an uncommon old book for less than forty or fifty pounds.' the third son of this famous book-collector, charles, fifth earl of sunderland, and second duke of marlborough, greatly enlarged the collection formed by his father; and it was removed to blenheim probably in . this famous library remained practically intact until it came under the hammer at puttick and simpson's, occupying fifty-one days in the dispersal at intervals from december , , to march , , the total being £ , s. it is stated that the library originally cost about £ , . dr. david williams, who from to the end of his life was minister of a presbyterian congregation which met at hand alley, bishopsgate street, was a contemporary book-collector and book-hunter. his special line was theology, and his library, which absorbed that of dr. bates, once rector of st. dunstan's-in-the-east, is still preserved intact, and is now, to a certain degree, a free library. archbishop tenison was another great book-hunter of this period, and his library was preserved more or less intact until , when it was dispersed at sotheby's, under an order of the charity commissioners. the brothers thomas and richard rawlinson were, probably, the most omnivorous collectors of the earlier part of the last century. everything in the shape of a book was welcomed. the former ( - ), whose 'c. & p.' (collated and perfect) appears on the frontispiece, title-page, or fly-leaf of books, when he lived in gray's inn, had so filled his set of four rooms with books that he was obliged to sleep in the passage. he is said to be the original study for the th _tatler_, in which 'tom folio' and other _soi-disant_ scholars are trounced. 'he has a greater esteem for aldus and elzevir than for virgil and horace.' it is very doubtful whether addison (who wrote this particular _tatler_) really had thomas rawlinson in mind, whom he describes as 'a learned idiot.' swift has declared that some know books as they do lords; learn their titles exactly, and then brag of their acquaintance. but neither description is applicable to rawlinson, who, for all that, may have known much more about aldus or the elzevirs than about virgil or horace. with a pretty taste for epithets, in which our forefathers sometimes indulged, hearne has defended his friend from addison's sarcasms by declaring that the mistake could only have been made by a 'shallow buffoon.' that rawlinson was a bibliomaniac there can be no question, for if he had a score copies of one book, he would purchase another for the mere gratification of possessing it. when he removed to the large mansion in aldersgate street, which had been the palace of the bishops of london, and which he shared with his brother, 'the books still continued to be better lodged than their owner.' he died, at the comparatively early age of forty-four, as he had lived, among dust and cobwebs, 'in his bundles, piles and bulwarks of paper.' the catalogue of his huge mass of books was divided into nine parts; the sale of the mss. alone occupied sixteen days. richard rawlinson (died ) survived his brother thirty years, and continued to collect books with all his brother's enthusiasm, but without his sheer book-greed. his mss. are at oxford, and the extent and richness of his accumulations may be gathered from the fact that the collector laid nearly thirty libraries under contribution. his printed books were sold in by samuel baker (now sotheby's), the sale occupying forty-nine days, and the total amounting to £ , s.; a second sale included , pamphlets, and a third sale consisted of prints. [illustration: _london house, aldersgate street, ._] among the wisest and most distinguished book-collectors of the first half of the last century is dr. richard mead ( - ), a physician by profession, but a bibliophile by instinct, and whom dr. johnson described as having 'lived more in the broad sunshine of life than almost any other man.' as dr. mead's fine library was 'picked up at rome,' it scarcely comes within our purview; but it may be mentioned that so long as this fine collection remained intact in london, it was _ipso facto_ a free library; it was especially rich in the classics, sciences and history. the first part was sold by samuel baker in , and the second in the following year, the , lots occupying fifty-seven days, the total of the books being £ , s. dr. mead's mantle descended to his great friend and pupil, dr. anthony askew ( - ), who had an exceedingly fine library; his career as a collector began in paris in , and nearly all his choicest treasures appear to have been gathered on the continent, and chiefly it seems by joseph smith, the english consul at venice. askew's first library was purchased by george iii. in , and now forms an integral part of the british museum. his subsequent accumulations were dispersed in two sections, the books in , and the mss. ten years later. we shall have occasion to refer again to the askew sale. dr. richard farmer appears to have imbibed his taste for book-collecting from askew, and became an indefatigable haunter of the london and country bookstalls, his special line being early english literature, then scarcely at all appreciated; it is stated that the collection, which cost him less than £ , realized, when sold by auction by king in , upwards of £ , . dr. farmer is better remembered by posterity as a shakespearian critic or commentator. he was a canon residentiary of st. paul's, and appears to have had what dibdin describes as 'his foragers, his jackalls, and his _avant-couriers_,' who picked up for him every item of interest in his particular lines. as becomes the true bibliophile, he was peculiarly indifferent to his dress, but he was a scholar of great abilities. a glance at a priced copy of his sale catalogue is enough to turn any book-lover green with envy. for example, his copy of richard barnfield's 'encomion of lady pecunia, or the praise of money' ( ), sold for s., malone being the purchaser. that copy is now in the bodleian. in , the ouvry copy of the same book realized guineas! a copy of milton's 'paradise lost' ( ), with the first title-page, sold for s.; a volume of twelve poems, chiefly printed by wynkyn de worde and pynson, realized guineas. each item would probably realize the amount paid for the whole, should they again occur for sale, which is most unlikely. both his friends, george steevens and isaac reed, were equally zealous collectors, and each had a strong weakness for the same groove of collecting. the library of steevens was sold, also by king, in , and the , items realized £ , s.; whilst that of reed, sold seven years later, contained , articles, and realized £ , . both steevens and isaac reed call for a much more extended notice than it is possible to give them here. many of steevens' books realized twenty times the amount which he paid for them. steevens, who was born in , resided in a retired house 'just on the rise of hampstead heath,' so dibdin tells us, the house being formerly known as the upper flask tavern, to which 'richardson sends clarissa in one of her escapes from lovelace.' here, as dibdin further tells us, steevens lived, embosomed in books, shrubs, and trees. 'his habits were indeed peculiar; not much to be envied or imitated, as they sometimes betrayed the flights of a madman, and sometimes the asperities of the cynic. his attachments were warm, but fickle, both in choice and duration.' several of his letters are printed in dibdin's 'bibliomania' (edit. ), in which will also be found a long series of extracts from the sale catalogue of his library. there were nearly fifty copies of the first or early quartos of the shakespearian plays, which were knocked down at prices varying from s. to, in a few instances, over £ . the first, second, third and fourth folios realized £ , £ s., £ s., and £ s. d., respectively! isaac reed was in many ways a remarkable man. he was the son of a baker in the parish of st. dunstan's-in-the-west. born in , he commenced professional life as a solicitor, which he soon abandoned for the more congenial pursuit of literature. his knowledge of english literature was unbounded, and the dispersal of his remarkable library was one of the wonders of the year . he was for over forty years a diligent collector, and few days passed in that period which did not witness an addition to his library. he died at his chambers in staple inn. 'i have been almost daily at a book-auction,' writes malone--'the library of the late mr. reed, the last shakespearian, except myself, where my purse has been drained as usual. but what i have purchased are chiefly books of my own trade. there is hardly a library of this kind now left, except my own and mr. bindley's, neither of us having the least desire to succeed the other in his peculiar species of literary wealth.' [illustration: _st. bernard's seal._] footnotes: [ :a] in hearne's 'diary,' published by the oxford historical society, there is a very quaint note about the duke of lauderdale, who is described as 'a curious collector of books, and when in london would very often go to y{e} booksellers shops and pick up w{t} curious books he could meet with; but y{t} in his elder years he lost much of his learning by minding too much politicks.' [ :b] at the cambridge university library there are some very interesting diaries of this famous book-lover, styled 'father of black letter collectors,' chiefly relating to the purchases of books. all the more important facts have been published in the pages of the _bibliographer_. [illustration] from the old to the new. i. in few phases of human action are the foibles and preferences of individuals more completely imbricated than in that of book-collecting. widely different as were the book-hunters' fancies at the beginning and at the end of the eighteenth century, yet it would not be possible to draw a hard and fast line. for the greater part of that time the classics of every description and of every degree of unimportance held their own. reluctant, therefore, to abandon the chief stimulant of their earlier book-hunting careers, many collectors still took a keen interest in their _primi pensieri_. but their real passion found a vent in other and less beaten directions. in addition to this, during the eighteenth century a large number of small working libraries were formed by men who _used_ books. henry fielding, goldsmith, dr. johnson, david hume, smollett, gibbon, pope, and many others, are essentially figures in the history of book-hunting in london, but they had neither the means nor, so far as we are aware, the inclination to indulge in book-collecting as a mere fashionable hobby. mr. austin dobson has lately published an interesting account of fielding's library, in which he proves not only that fielding had been a fervent student of the classics in his youth and that he remained a voracious reader through life, but that he made good use of a large collection of greek and latin authors, which was sold at his death. [illustration: _mr. austin dobson._ from a photograph by e. c. porter, ealing.] the eighteenth century may be regarded as the augustan age so far as book-hunting in london is concerned. a large percentage of the most famous collections were either formed, or the collectors themselves were either born or died, in that period. the beckford and hamilton, the heber, the sunderland, the althorp, and the king's library, all had their origins prior to . richard heber ( - ), with all his vast knowledge, learning, and accomplishments, was a bibliomaniac in the more unpleasant sense of the word. no confirmed drunkard, no incurable opium-eater, ever had less self-control than heber had. to him, to see a book was to possess it. cicero has said that the heart into which the love of gold has entered is shut to every other feeling. heber was very wealthy, so that with him the love of books blinded him to almost everything else. he began to collect when at oxford, chiefly classics for the purpose of study. he is said to have caught the disease from bindley, the veteran collector, who began book-hunting early in the last century. having one day accidentally met with a copy of henry peacham's 'valley of varietie,' , which professed to give 'rare passages out of antiquity,' etc., he showed it to bindley, who described it as 'rather a curious book.' why such an incident should have set heber on his terrible career history telleth not. under the name of 'atticus,' dibdin, who knew heber well, has described him in this fashion: 'atticus unites all the activity of de witt and lomenie, with the retentiveness of magliabechi, and the learning of le long. . . . yet atticus doth sometimes sadly err. he has now and then an ungovernable passion to possess more copies of a book than there were ever parties to a deed or stamina to a plant; and therefore, i cannot call him a "duplicate" or a triplicate collector. . . . but he atones for this by being liberal in the loan of his volumes. the learned and curious, whether rich or poor, have always free access to his library.' heber's own explanation of this plurality of purchase was cast somewhat in this fashion: 'why, you see, sir, no man can comfortably do without _three_ copies of a book. one he must have for his show copy, and he will probably keep it at his country house. another he will require for his own use and reference; and unless he is inclined to part with this, which is very inconvenient, or risk the injury of his best copy, he must needs have a third at the service of his friends.' the late mr. edward solly was also a pluralist in the matter of books, and had even six or seven copies of a large number of works. he justified himself on the plea that he liked to have one to read, one to make notes in, another with notes by a previous owner, one in a choice binding, a 'tall' copy, a short ditto, and so forth. so far, however, as heber is concerned, no one could be more generous than he in lending books. this might be proved from a dozen different sources, including the lengthy introduction 'to richard heber, esq.,' to the sixth canto of scott's 'marmion': 'but why such instances to you, who, in an instant, can renew your treasured hoards of various lore, and furnish twenty thousand more? hoards, not like theirs whose volumes rest like treasures in the franch'mont chest, while gripple owners still refuse to others what they cannot use: give them the priest's whole century, they shall not spell you letters three; their pleasure in the books the same the magpie takes in pilfer'd gem. thy volumes, open as thy heart, delight, amusement, science, art, to every ear and eye impart; yet who of all who thus employ them, can, like their owner's self, enjoy them?' in addition to this reference, scott, in one of his letters, speaks of 'heber the magnificent, whose library and cellar are so superior to all others in the world.' frequent mention is made of heber in the notes to the waverley novels. at one period of his life heber was a member of parliament, and throughout his career it seems that he found recreation from the sport of collecting in the sport of the fields. he has been known to take a journey of four or five hundred miles to obtain a rare volume, 'fearful to trust to a mere commission.' he bought by all methods, in all places, and at all times, a single purchase on one occasion being an entire library of , volumes. curiously enough, he disliked large-paper copies, on account of the space they filled. when he died, he had eight houses full of books--two in london, one in oxford, and others at paris, brussels, antwerp, and ghent, besides smaller collections in germany. when sold, the number of lots was , , and of volumes about , , and the total amount realized £ , , or about two-thirds of the original expenditure. the sale, which commenced in , lasted over several years, and the catalogue alone comprises six thick octavo volumes. he is described as a tall, strong, well-made man. writing to sir egerton brydges, the rev. a. dyce observes concerning heber's death: 'poor man! he expired at pimlico,[ :a] in the midst of his rare property, without a friend to close his eyes, and from all i have heard i am led to believe that he died broken-hearted. he had been ailing some time, but took no care of himself, and seemed, indeed, to court death. yet his ruling passion was strong to the last. the morning he died he wrote out some memoranda for thorpe about books which he wished to be purchased for him' (fitzgerald, 'the book-fancier,' p. ). in noticing scott's edition of dryden, and in alluding to the help which scott obtained from heber and bindley, the _edinburgh review_ speaks of the two as 'gentlemen in whom the love of collecting, which is an amusement to others, assumes the dignity of a virtue, because it gives ampler scope to the exercise of friendship, and of a generous sympathy with the common cause of literature.' [illustration: _william beckford, book-collector._] william beckford ( - ) and the tenth duke of hamilton ( - ), for several reasons, may be bracketed together as book-collectors. each was a remarkable man in several respects. william beckford, the author of 'vathek' and the owner of fonthill, was a universal collector. no less enthusiastic in amassing pictures and objects of art than books, he never scrupled to sell anything and everything except his books, which he dearly loved. a man who could draw eulogy from byron could not have been an ordinary person. fonthill and its treasures were announced for sale in september, , the auctioneer being james christie, the catalogue being in quarto size, and comprising ninety-five pages. the auction, however, did not take place, but the collection was sold _en masse_ to a mr. john farquhar for £ , , beckford reserving, however, some of his choicest books, pictures, and curiosities. in the following year the whole collection was dispersed by phillips, the auctioneer, the sale occupying thirty-seven days. with the money he received from farquhar, beckford purchased annuities and land near bath. he united two houses in the royal crescent by a flying gallery extending over the road, and his dwelling became one vast library. he added to his collection up to his last days, and obtained many books at charles nodier's sale. beckford was one of the greatest book-enthusiasts that ever lived. his passion was more particularly for aldines, and other early books bearing the insignia of celebrities, such as frances i., henri et diane, and de thou, and especially of choice old morocco bindings by desseuil, padeloup, and derome. he was especially strong in old french and italian books, generically classified as _facetiæ_. beckford would read for days and weeks at a stretch, with no more recreation than an occasional ride. that he read his books there is ample testimony, for at his sale one lot comprised seven folio volumes of transcripts from the autograph notes written by him on the fly-leaves of the various works in his library. for example, to the copy of peter beckford's 'familiar letters from italy,' , he concludes five pages of notes with, 'this book has at least some merit. the language is simple; an ill-natured person might add, and the thoughts not less so.' in brasbridge's 'fruits of experience,' , he writes: 'they who like hog-wash--and there are amateurs for anything--will not turn away disappointed or disgusted with this book, but relish the stale, trashy anecdotes it contains, and gobble them up with avidity.' after beckford's death, henry g. bohn offered £ , for the whole library; but beckford's second daughter, who married the duke of hamilton, refused to sanction the sale. it, however, came under the hammer at sotheby's, - , in four parts of twelve days each, the net result being £ , s. the tenth duke of hamilton was one of the most distinguished bibliophiles of his time, and commenced purchasing whilst yet marquis of douglas. a large portion of his library was collected in italy and various parts of the continent, whilst the collection of greek and latin manuscripts which he obtained when on a diplomatic mission to russia formed an unrivalled series of monuments of early art. in he married susanna beckford, and at her father's death the whole of his splendid library came into his possession. the two collections, however, were kept quite distinct. the hamilton collection of printed books was sold at sotheby's in may, , the eight days realizing £ , s. d. the most important feature of the library, however, was the magnificent collection of mss. which the prussian government secured by private treaty--through the intermediary, it is understood, of the empress frederick--for £ , . in may, , those which the authorities decided not to retain for the royal museum at berlin were transferred to messrs. sotheby's, and ninety-one lots realized the total of £ , s. d. the gems of the collection were a magnificent volume of the golden gospels in latin of the eighth century, formerly a gift to henry viii., which sold for £ , --a london bookseller once offered £ , for this book--and a magnificent ms. of boccaccio, 'les illustres malheureux,' on vellum, leaves, decorated with eighty-four exquisite miniatures, which sold for £ , . it may be mentioned that a large number of the beckford and hamilton books were purchased through the late h. g. bohn. [illustration: _george john, earl spencer._] the althorp library, now in the possession of mrs. rylands, of manchester, was formed by george john, earl spencer ( - ), between and . until its recent removal from althorp it was the finest private library in existence. in lord spencer acquired the very fine and select library of count rewiczki, the emperor joseph's ambassador in london, for about £ , , and for the next thirty years the earl was continually hunting after books in the sale-rooms and booksellers' shops. the story of the althorp library has been so repeatedly told, from the time of its first librarian, the devil-hunting thomas frognall dibdin--whose flatulent and sycophantic records are not to be taken as mirroring the infinitely superior intellect and taste of his employer--down to the present day, that any further description is almost superfluous. besides this, the library is one which will soon be open to all. we may, however, mention a point which is of great interest in the study of books as an investment. it may reasonably be doubted whether the althorp library cost its founder much over £ , ; it is generally understood that the price paid for it in was not far short of £ , . [illustration: _john, duke of roxburghe, book-collector._] contemporaneously with the formation of the althorp collection, the duke of roxburghe built a library, which was one of the finest and most perfect ever got together. the duke turned book-hunter through a love affair, it is said. he was to have been married to the eldest daughter of the duke of mecklenburg-strelitz; but when this lady's sister was selected as a wife for george iii., the proposed marriage was deemed impolitic, and consequently the duke remained single. the duke himself is said to have traced his passion for books to the famous dinner given by his father, the second duke, at which lords oxford and sunderland were present, and at which the celebrated copy of the valdarfer boccaccio was produced. the history of this incident is told in our chapter on book-sales, and need not be here more specifically referred to. the duke was a mighty hunter, not only of books, but of deer and wild swans. so far as books are concerned, his great specialities were old english literature, italian poetry, and romances of the round table; and as the first and last of these have increased in value as years have gone by, it will be seen that the duke was wise in his generation. indeed, we have it on the best authority that the aggregate outlay on the roxburghe library did not exceed £ , , whilst in the course of little more than twenty years it produced over £ , , the sale taking place in june, . the duke of roxburghe and lord spencer were not averse to a little understanding of the nature of a 'knock-out,' for in one of the althorp caxtons lord spencer has written: 'the duke and i had agreed not to oppose one another at the [george mason] sale, but after the book [a caxton] was bought, to toss up who should win it, when i lost it. i bought it at the roxburghe sale on the of june, , for £ s.' [illustration: _a corner in the althorp library._] yet another distinguished book-collector of the same period calls for notice. george iii. formed a splendid library out of his own private purse and at a cost of £ , . this library is now a part of the british museum. a library such as that of george iii. gives very little idea of a man's real tastes for books. the king availed himself of the accumulated wisdom, not only of barnard (who was his librarian for nearly half a century), but of three or four other experts, among whom was dr. johnson. the king's everyday tastes, however, may be gathered from the subjoined list of books, which he wished to have on his visit to weymouth in . he desired what he called 'a closet library' for a watering-place; he wrote to his bookseller for the following works: the bible; the 'whole duty of man'; the 'annual register,' volumes; rapin's 'history of england,' volumes, ; millot's 'elémens de l'histoire de france,' ; voltaire's 'siècles' of louis xiv. and louis xv.; blackstone's 'commentaries,' volumes; r. burn's 'justice of peace and parish officer,' volumes; an abridgment of dr. johnson's dictionary; boyer's 'dictionnaire françois et anglais'; johnson's 'poets,' volumes; dodsley's 'poems,' volumes; nichols' 'poems,' volumes; steevens' 'shakespeare'; 'oeuvres' of destouches, volumes; and the 'works' of sir william temple, volumes; of addison, volumes, and swift, volumes. these books can scarcely be regarded as light literature, and, if anything, calculated to add to the deadly dulness of a seaside retreat at the end of the last century. however, the selection is george iii.'s, and must be respected as such. the number of men who were prowling about london during the middle and latter part of the last century after books is only less great than the variety of tastes which they evinced. we have, for example, two such turbulent spirits as john horne tooke and john wilkes, m.p. parson horne's (he subsequently assumed the name of his patron, william tooke) collection did not, as dibdin has observed, contain a single edition of the bible; but it included seven examples of wynkyn de worde's press and many other rare books. eight hundred and thirteen lots realized the then high amount of £ , when sold at king and lochée's in . john wilkes' books were sold at sotheby's in . if less notorious, many equally enthusiastic book-collectors were hunting the highways and byways of london. here, for example, is a little anecdote relative to one of these: when the splendid folio edition of cæsar's 'commentaries,' by clarke, published for the express purpose of being presented to the great duke of marlborough, came under the hammer at the sale (in ) of topham beauclerk's library for £ , it was accompanied by an anecdote relating to the method in which it had been acquired. upon the death of an officer to whom the book belonged, his mother, being informed that it was of some value, wished to dispose of it, and, being told that mr. topham beauclerk (who is said to have but once departed from his inflexible rule of never lending a book) was a proper person to offer it to, she waited on him for that purpose. he asked what she required for it, and, being answered £ s., took it without hesitation, though unacquainted with the real value of the book. being desirous, however, of information with respect to the nature of the purchase he had made, he went to an eminent bookseller's, and inquired what he would give for such a book. the bookseller replied £ s. mr. beauclerk went immediately to the person who sold him the book, and, telling her that she had been mistaken in its value, not only gave her the additional guineas, but also generously bestowed a further gratuity on her. few bargain-hunters would have felt called upon to act as beauclerk[ :a] did. here is another anecdote of a contemporary book-hunter: nichols states that mr. david papillon (who died in ), a gentleman of fortune and literary taste, as well as a good antiquary, contracted with osborne to furnish him with £ worth of books, at d. apiece. the only conditions were, that they should be perfect, and that there should be no duplicate. osborne was highly pleased with his bargain, and the first great purchase he made, he sent mr. papillon a large quantity; but in the next purchase he found he could send but few, and the next still fewer. not willing, however, to give up, he sent books worth s. apiece, and at last was forced to go and beg to be let off the contract. eight thousand books would have been wanted! an interesting collector, at once the type of a country gentleman and of a true bibliophile, was sir john englis dolben ( - ), of finedon hall, northamptonshire. he was educated at westminster school, proceeding thence to christ church in . previously to his final retirement into the country, he lingered with much affection about the haunts of his youthful studies. he carried so many volumes about with him in his numerous and capacious pockets that he appeared like a walking library, and his memory, particularly in classical quotations, was equally richly stored. this is one side of the picture. this is the other side, in which we get a view of the man-about-town collector in the person of alexander dalrymple ( - ), the hydrographer to the admiralty and to the east india company: 'his yellow antiquarian chariot seemed to be immovably fixed in the street, just opposite the entrance-door of the long passage leading to the sale-room of messrs. king and lochée, in king street, covent garden; and towards the bottom of the table, in the sale-room, mr. dalrymple used to sit, a cane in his hand, his hat always upon his head, a thin, slightly-twisted queue, and silver hairs that hardly shaded his temple. . . . his biddings were usually silent, accompanied by the elevation and fall of his cane, or by an abrupt nod of the head.' [illustration: _michael wodhull, book-collector._] the osterley park library, sold by order of the seventh earl of jersey at sotheby's in , was commenced in the last century, the original founder being bryan fairfax, who died in . his books came into the hands of alderman child, who was not only a book-collector, but inherited lord mavor child's books. the fifth earl of jersey married mr. child's grand-daughter in . two mighty hunters of the old school may be here briefly mentioned--john towneley and michael wodhull, the poet, both of whose collections were dispersed in several portions, partly at the beginning of the present century, and partly within quite recent times. the founder of the 'bibliotheca towneleiana' was for a long period of years an ardent collector, his favourite studies being english history, topography, and portraits. the great gem of his collection was the splendid 'vita christi,' gorgeously ornamented with full-page paintings, and with miniatures superbly executed in colours, heightened with gold, by giulio clovio, in the finest style of italian art. this ms. was executed for alexander, cardinal farnese, and presented to pope paul iii. it was purchased abroad by a mr. champernoun for an inconsiderable sum, and cost mr. towneley guineas. at its sale in it realized £ , . two portions of the towneley library were dispersed by evans in - (seventeen days), and realized over £ , , and other portions were sold in and . towneley himself died in may, , aged eighty-two. the remainder of his extensive collection was sold at sotheby's in (ten days). wodhull, who died november , , aged seventy-six, had two sales during his lifetime, first in (chiefly duplicates), and secondly in (chiefly greek and roman classics). he, however, reserved for himself a library of about , , which, passing into the possession of mr. f. e. severne, m.p., was sold at sotheby's in january, , and realized a total of £ , s. d. he is the orlando of dibdin's 'bibliomania.' the greek and roman classics formed the chief attraction of this _post-mortem_ sale, which is generally regarded as one of the most important of its kind held during recent years. most of the prizes were picked up in france after , and it was during one of his book-hunting expeditions in paris that wodhull was detained by napoleon. two other 'fashionable' or titled collectors may be here grouped together. the fine library formed by william, marquis of lansdowne was dispersed by leigh and sotheby in thirty-one days, beginning with january , , the , lots realizing £ , s. d. the highest amount paid for a single lot was for a very rare collection of tracts, documents, and pamphlets, in over volumes, illustrating the history of the french revolution, together with forty-nine volumes relative to the transactions in the low countries between the years and , and their separation from the house of austria. wynkyn de worde's 'rycharde cure de lyon,' , sold for £ s.; and a curious collection of 'masks' and 'triumphs,' of the early seventeenth century, mostly by ben jonson, realized £ . as a book-collector sir mark masterman sykes is a much better remembered figure in the annals of book-hunting than that of the marquis of lansdowne. the sykes library contained a number of the _editiones principes_ of the classics, some on vellum, and also a number of aldines in the most perfect condition. there were also many highly curious and very rare pieces of early english poetry. the collection was sold at evans's in , and the gems of the collection were a copy of the mazarin bible, and the latin psalter, , to which full reference is made in a subsequent chapter. ii. the history of literature, it is said, teaches us to consider its decline only as the development of a great principle of succession by which the treasures of the mind are circulated and equalized; as shoots by which the stream of improvement is forcibly directed into new channels, to fertilize new soils and awaken new capabilities. the history of book-collecting teaches us a similar lesson. the love which so often amounted to a positive passion for the exquisite productions of the age of illuminated manuscripts, all but died with the introduction of the printing-press, which in reality was but a continuation of the old art in a new form. and so on, down through the successive decades and generations of the past four centuries, the decline--but not the death, for such a term cannot be applied to any phase of book-collecting--of one particular aspect of the hobby has synchronized with the birth of several others, sometimes more worthy, and at others less. an exhaustive inquiry into the various and manifold changes through which the human mind passed alone might account for these various developments, which it is not the intention of the present writer on this occasion to analyze. the rise and progress of what sir egerton brydges calls 'the black-letter mania' gave the death-blow to the long-cherished school of poetry of which pope may be taken as the most distinguished exponent. 'men of loftier taste and bolder fancy early remonstrated against this chilling confinement of the noblest, the most aspiring, and most expansive of all the arts. . . . it was not till the commotion of europe broke the chain of indolence and insipid effeminacy that the stronger passions of readers required again to be stimulated and exercised and soothed, and that the minor charms of correctness were sacrificed to the ardent efforts of uncontrolled and unfearing genius. the authors of this class began to look back for their materials to an age of hazardous freedom, and copious and untutored eloquence: an age in which the world of words and free and native ideas was not contracted and blighted by technical critics and cold and fastidious scholars.' to abandon the abstract for the more matter-of-fact details of sober history, the mania to which brydges alludes may be said to date itself from the spring of . the occasion was the sale in london of the library of james west, president of the royal society. george nicol, the bookseller, was an extensive purchaser at this sale for the king, for whom, indeed, he acted in a similar capacity up to the last. nicol told dibdin 'with his usual pleasantry and point, that he got abused in the public papers, by almon and others, for having purchased nearly the whole of the caxtonian volumes in this collection for his majesty's library. it was said abroad that a scotchman had lavished away the king's money in buying old black-letter books.' the absurdity of this report was soon proved at subsequent sales. dibdin adds, as a circumstance highly honourable to the king, that 'his majesty, in his directions to mr. nicol, forbade any competition with those purchasers who wanted books of science and _belles lettres_ for their own progressive or literary pursuits; thus using the power of his purse in a manner at once merciful and wise.' [illustration: _george nicol, the king's bookseller._] the impetus which book-collecting, and more particularly the section to which we have just referred, received by the dispersal of the west library gathered in force as time went on, reaching its climax with the roxburghe sale thirty-nine years afterwards. the enthusiasm culminated in a club--the roxburghe, which still flourishes. the warfare (at roxburghe house, st. james's square), as mr. silvanus urban has recorded, was equalled only by the courage and gallantry displayed on the plains of salamanca about the same period. 'as a pillar, or other similar memorial, could not be conveniently erected to mark the spot where so many bibliographical champions fought and conquered, another method was adopted to record their fame, and perpetuate this brilliant epoch in literary annals. accordingly, a phalanx of the most hardy veterans has been enrolled under the banner of the far-famed valdarfer's boccaccio of . . . . the first anniversary meeting of this noble band was celebrated at the st. alban's tavern [st. alban's street, now waterloo place] on thursday, june , , being the memorable day on which the before-mentioned boccaccio was sold for £ , . the chair was taken by earl spencer (perpetual president of the club), supported by lords morpeth and gower, and the following gentlemen,[ :a] viz., sir e. brydges, messrs. w. bentham, w. bolland, j. dent, t. f. dibdin (vice-president), francis freeling, henry freeling, joseph hazlewood, richard heber, thomas c. heber, g. isted, r. lang, j. h. markland, j. d. phelps, t. ponton, junior, j. towneley, e. v. utterson, and r. wilbraham. upon the cloth being removed, the following appropriate toasts were delivered from the chair: . the cause of bibliomania all over the world. . the immortal memory of christopher valdarfer, the printer of the boccaccio of . . the immortal memory of william caxton, first english printer. . the immortal memory of wynkyn de worde. . the immortal memory of richard pynson. . the immortal memory of julian notary. . the immortal memory of william faques. . the immortal memory of the aldine family. . the immortal memory of the stephenses. . the immortal memory of john, duke of roxburghe. 'after these the health of the noble president was proposed, and received by the company standing, with three times three. then followed the health of the worthy vice-president (proposed by mr. heber), which, it is scarcely necessary to observe, was drunk with similar honours. . . . the president was succeeded in the chair by lord gower, who, at midnight, yielded to mr. dent; and that gentleman gave way to the prince of bibliomaniacs, mr. heber. though the night, or rather the morning, wore apace, it was not likely that a seat so occupied would be speedily deserted; accordingly, the "regal purple stream" ceased not to flow till "morning oped her golden gates," or, in plain terms, till past four o'clock.' such is a brief account of the roxburghe club, which is limited to thirty-one members, one black ball being fatal to the candidate who offers himself for a vacancy, and each member in his annual turn has to print a book or pamphlet, and to present to his fellow-members a copy. before making any further reference to the _personnel_ of the roxburghe club, we quote, from a literary journal of , the following trenchant paragraph, _à propos_ of a similar club in scotland: 'bibliomania.--this most ridiculous of all the affectations of the day has lately exhibited another instance of its diffusion, in the establishment of a _roxburghe[ :a] club_ in edinburgh. its object, we are told, "is the republication of scarce and valuable tracts, especially poetry."--"republication!" in what manner? commonsense forbid that the system of the london roxburghe club be adopted. of this there are some four-and-twenty members or so, who dine together a certain number of times in the year, and each member in his turn republishes some old tract at his own expense. there are just so many copies printed as there are members of the club, and one copy is presented to each. it is evident that no sort of good can be effected by this system, and, indeed, there has not yet resulted any benefit to the literature of the country from the roxburghe club. they have not published a single book of any conceivable merit. the truth is that the members, for the most part, are a set of persons of no true taste, of no proper notion of learning and its uses--very considerable persons in point of wealth, but very _so-so_ in point of intellect.' [illustration: _thomas frognall dibdin, bibliographer._] the primary aim and object of the roxburghe club were clearly enough indicated in the first list of members, for the association of men with kindred tastes is at all times a highly commendable one. the roxburghe club might have sustained its _raison d'être_, if it had drawn the line at such men as thomas frognall dibdin and joseph hazlewood. the foregoing extract from the _museum_ of exactly indicates the position which the club at that time held in public estimation. it had degenerated into a mere drinking and gormandizing association, alike a disgrace to its more respectable members and an insult to the nobleman whose name it was dragging through the mire. those who have an opportunity of consulting the _athenæum_ for will find, in the first four issues of january, one of the most scathing exposures to which any institution has ever been subjected. hazlewood had died, and his books came into the sale-room. never had the adage of 'dead men tell no tales' been more completely falsified. hazlewood, who does not seem to have been unpleasantly particular in telling the truth when living, told it with a vengeance after his death; for among his papers there was a bundle entitled 'roxburghe revels,' which thorpe purchased for £ , the editor of the _athenæum_ being the under-bidder. a few days afterwards, and for the weighty consideration of a £ note profit, the lot passed into the hands of mr. dilke, and the articles to which we have referred followed.[ :a] if anything could have made the deceased joseph turn in his grave, it would have been the attention which he received at the unsparing hands of mr. dilke. the excellent mr. dibdin survived the exposure several years. the castigation proved beneficial to the club; and if its revelries were no less boisterous than heretofore, it at all events circulated among its members books worthy of the name of roxburghe, and edited in a scholarly manner. the club still flourishes, with the marquis of salisbury as its president, and the list of its members will be found in our chapter on 'modern collectors.' [illustration: _rev. c. mordaunt cracherode, m.a., book-collector._] one of the mighty book-hunters of the last century was the rev. clayton mordaunt cracherode (whose father went out as a commander of marines in anson's ship, and whose share in the prize-money made him a wealthy man), who died on april , , in his seventieth year. his splendid library now forms a part of the british museum. it contains the most choice copies in classical and biblical literature, and many of these are on vellum. his collection of editions of the fifteenth century mr. cracherode used modestly to call a 'specimen' one; 'they form perhaps the most perfect _collana_ or necklace ever strung by one man.' several of the books formerly belonged to grolier. his library was valued at £ , at or about the time of his death; it would probably now realize considerably over ten times that amount if submitted to auction. the value of his prints was placed at £ , . cracherode was an excellent scholar, and an amiable; his passion for collecting was strong even in death, for whilst he was at the last extremity his agent was making purchases for him. he was one of the most constant habitués of tom payne's, and at his final visit he put an edinburgh terence in one pocket and a large-paper cebes in the other. his house was in queen square, westminster, overlooking st. james's park. reverting once more to the change which had been effected in the fancies of book-collectors, james bindley, whose library was sold after his decease in , and james perry, who died in , may be regarded as typical collectors of the transition period. both are essentially london book-hunters--the former was an official in the stamp office, and the latter was, _inter alia_, the editor of the _morning chronicle_. bindley, to whom john nichols dedicated his 'literary anecdotes,' was a book-hunter who made very practical use of his scholarly tastes and ample means. he haunted the bookstalls and shops with the pertinacity of a tax-gatherer, and if his original expenditure were placed by the side of the total which his collection of books brought after his death, no more convincing arguments in favour of book-hunting could possibly be needed. bindley is the 'leontes' of dibdin's 'bibliographical decameron,' and his collection of poetical rarities of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was one of the most remarkable which had ever been got together. not many of the items had cost him more than a few shillings each, and they realized almost as many pounds as he had paid shillings. perry was a journalist first and a book-collector afterwards, but in many respects there was a great similarity in the tastes of the two rival bibliophiles. perry's was the more extensive collection--it was sold in four parts, - --and perhaps on the whole much more generally interesting. evans, the auctioneer, described it as 'an extraordinary assemblage of curious books, early english poetry, old tracts and miscellaneous literature.' the _cheval de bataille_ of the fourth part consisted of 'a most curious, interesting and extraordinarily extensive assemblage of political and historical pamphlets of the last and present century.' this collection was comprised in thirty-five bundles. perry made a speciality of facetiæ, pamphlets on the french revolution, and defoe's works, but the two cornerstones of his library were a copy of the mazarin bible and a first folio shakespeare. among the many book-collectors whose careers link the past century with the present, few are more worthy of notice than francis douce, who died in the spring of , aged seventy-seven. he was for a short time keeper of the mss. in the british museum. his fortune was much increased by being left one of the residuary legatees of nollekens, the sculptor--to the extent, in fact, of £ , . dibdin, who was for many years a near neighbour and intimate friend at kensington, describes douce's library as 'eminently rich and curious . . . not a book but what had its fly-leaf written upon. in short, no man ever lived so much with, and so entirely for, his books as did he.' douce is the prospero of the 'bibliomania.' his books he bequeathed to the bodleian, and his mss. to the british museum, the stipulation in the latter case being that they are not to be opened until ! in manners and appearance douce was singular and strange, rough to strangers, but gentle and kind to those who knew him intimately. he was of the old school as regards dress, wearing as he did a little flaxen wig, an old-fashioned square-cut coat, with what m. jacob calls 'quarto pockets.' several of his letters are printed in dibdin's 'literary recollections.' two other distinguished book-collectors, contemporary with douce, and, like him, benefactors to the bodleian, may be mentioned here--richard gough ( - ), the antiquary; and edmond malone ( - ), the shakespearian scholar. gough's gift consisted of the topographical portion of his library; the remainder, comprising , lots, realizing the total of £ , , came under the hammer at leigh and sotheby's in , realizing what were then considered very fancy prices (a selection of which are given in the _gentleman's magazine_, lxxx., part ii.). the malone collection, which became the property of the bodleian through the influence of lord sunderlin in , comprised what the collector himself describes as 'the most curious, valuable, and extensive collection ever assembled of ancient english plays and poetry.' it would probably be impossible now to form another such collection. malone told caldwell, who repeats the remarkable fact, that he had procured every dramatic piece mentioned by langbaine, excepting four or five--the advantage, observes that gentleman, of living in london. the number of volumes amounts to about , . as his biographer, sir james prior, has pointed out, his collection in the bodleian remains distinct, and is creditable 'alike to the industry, taste, and patience by which it was brought together.' and further: 'none of his predecessors have attempted what he accomplished. few of his successors have, on most points, added materially to our knowledge.' yet a third benefactor to the bodleian may be conveniently mentioned here. thomas caldecott, who was born in , and died in , was a fellow of new college, oxford, and afterwards a bencher of the middle temple. he resided chiefly at dartford, and formed a choice library of black-letter books, and the productions of the elizabethan period. he attacked with considerable asperity and ability shakespearian commentators, such as steevens and malone; and his rivals did not spare his edition of two of shakespeare's plays when they came out. he presented the gems of his library, the shakespeare quartos, to the bodleian; but the remainder of his books, including many excessively rare and several unique pieces, came up for sale at sotheby's in , and realized a total of £ , s. d. the splendid library of john dent, of hertford street, sold by evans in , producing the sum of £ , , had a curious history. the nucleus of it was formed towards the close of the last century by haughton james, who, in a moment of conviviality, and without a due consideration of its true value, transferred it to robert heathcote,[ :a] who made several additions, and from whose possession it passed about into that of john dent. the sale of the dent library is described by dibdin as exhibiting the 'first grand melancholy symptoms of the decay of the bibliomania.' the chief attraction was the sweynheym and pannartz livy, , on vellum, which fell (in more senses than one) under the hammer for £ , dent having paid £ for it at sir mark sykes' sale. both the purchasers, payne and foss, and dibdin, made strenuous efforts to persuade the earl of spencer to purchase it, but unsuccessfully; it subsequently became the property of grenville, and passed with his collection into the british museum. dent is the pontevallo of the 'bibliomania,' and baroccio of the 'bibliographical decameron,' and does not seem to have been an altogether amiable specimen of the fraternity. canning used to say that he once found dent deep in the study of an open book which was upside down! a much more genial bibliomaniac, sir william bolland, calls for notice; he was one of the original members of the roxburghe club, which, in fact, was first suggested at a dinner-party at his house, june , . he died may , , aged sixty-eight, and his library, which comprised , lots, and realized £ , , was sold by evans, and included many choice books. one of the greatest bargains which this distinguished collector secured during his career became his property through the medium of benjamin wheatley, who purchased a bundle of poetical tracts from the chapter library at lincoln for guineas. when the inevitable sale came, one of these trifles, 'the rape of lucrece,' alone realized guineas. george chalmers ( - ), who is described as 'the most learned and the most celebrated of all the antiquaries and historians of scotland,' was also one of the giant book-collectors of the present century, and differed from the majority of collectors in being a prolific and versatile author. at his death his nephew became the possessor of his extensive library, but on the death of the nephew the books were placed in the hands of evans, who sold them in two parts, september, , and february, , and realized over £ , . the second part was very rich in shakespeariana, and included the 'sonnets,' , £ ; 'midsummer night's dream,' (second edition), £ ; and many other important items. in the first part of the sale, marlowe's 'tragedie of richard, duke of york,' (believed to be unique), sold for £ ; and the only perfect copy then known of patrick hannay's 'nightingale,' , from the libraries of bindley, perry, sykes and rice, £ s. the third part of chalmers' library, which consisted for the most part of works relative to scotland, particularly in illustration of the history of printing in that country, was also sold by evans in . among other book-collectors of this period we may mention particularly the rev. henry joseph thomas drury, whose library was rich in classics, all for the most part finely bound; it came under the hammer at evans's in ( , lots); dr. isaac gosset, who died in , in his sixty-eighth year, and whose library, comprising , lots, realized £ , s. d. at leigh and sotheby's in ; the rev. jonathan boucher ( - ), vicar of epsom, who, like george chalmers, for many years resided in america, was, also like him, an inveterate book-collector to whom everything in the shape of a book was welcome: his sale occupied leigh and sotheby thirty-nine days, in , the total being over £ , . iii. the history of the second and third quarters of the present century makes mention of very few collectors of the first rank. among the more important of those whose libraries came under the hammer within that period, we may specially refer to the following: william upcott, who started early in life as an assistant to r. h. evans, but who in became sub-librarian of the london institution. he was one of the first to take up autograph-collecting, of which, indeed, he has been termed the pioneer. he certainly collected with great advantage and knowledge, and his vast accumulations were sold at sotheby's in four batches during , he having died in september, ; john hugh smyth piggott, whose library, in three portions, was sold at the same place, - ; w. y. ottley, the prolific writer of books on art, ; w. holgate, of the post office, whose library included a number of shakespeariana, june, ; hanrott, ; sir thomas bernard, ; isaac d'israeli, the author of 'curiosities of literature,' in , and his unsparing critic, bolton corney, in ; s. w. singer, in four parts, ; j. orchard halliwell (afterwards halliwell-phillipps), in , , and ; and the rev. dr. hawtrey, part of whose books were sold, far below their worth, in , and the rest nine years later. many of the foregoing were literary men, who aimed rather at getting together a useful library than one of rarities. the sale of all such libraries makes a very sorry show beside that of the more ostentatious collections. for instance, the books which macaulay used with such brilliant effect, and including among them an extraordinary number of tracts, many excessively rare, only realized £ s. d., when sold in in , lots. douglas jerrold's little library, sold in august, , in lots, only fetched £ s. in very strong contrast to these is the remarkable little library, formed between and by henry perkins, of hanworth park, feltham, a member of the brewing firm. this collection comprised only lots, but when sold at sotheby's in june, , the total was found to be close on £ , ! there was a copy each of the -line and -line gutenberg bible--the former is now in the huth library, and the latter in the ashburnham library; several other very early printed bibles, including coverdale's, matthews', and cranmer's, two works printed by caxton, with many other important books were sold. [illustration: _j. o. halliwell-phillipps._] the late george daniel (who was born about ) may be regarded as the connecting link between the collectors of the early part of the present century and those of to-day. when, for example, perry and bindley left off, daniel commenced. there was no great rush after shakespeare quartos in the earlier part of the present century, and book-collecting for a time ceased to be the pet hobby of wealthy members of the peerage. when george daniel, a critic and bibliographer of exceptional abilities, began to collect, he soon made shakespeare, as well as the earlier english poets, objects of solicitude. he resided for many years in the historic old red-brick tower at canonbury.[ :a] the sale of daniel's extraordinary collection was held at sotheby's in july, , when a first folio, one of the finest in the world--now in the possession of baroness burdett-coutts--sold for £ s., and when twenty of the shakespeare quartos realized a total of about £ , . [illustration: _canonbury tower, george daniel's residence._] george daniel is now remembered by but few book-collectors. mr. w. carew hazlitt knew him very well, and describes him as a retired accountant, whose idiosyncrasy consisted of _rares morçeaux_, _bonnes bouches_, uniques--copies of books with a _provenance_, or in jackets made for them by roger payne--nay, in the original parchment or paper wrapper, or in a bit of real mutton which certain men call sheep. he was a person of literary tastes, and had written books in his day. but his chief celebrity was as an acquirer of those of others, provided always that they were old enough or rare enough. an item never passed into his possession without at once _ipso facto_ gaining new attributes, almost invariably worded in a holograph memorandum on the fly-leaf. daniel was in the market at a fortunate and peculiar juncture, just when prices were depressed, about the time of the great heber sale. his marvellous gleanings came to the hammer precisely when the quarto shakespeare, the black-letter romance, the unique book of elizabethan verse, had grown worth ten times their weight in sovereigns. sir william tite, j. o. halliwell, and henry huth were to the front. it was in . what a wonderful sight it was! no living man had ever witnessed the like. copies of shakespeare, printed from the prompters' mss. and published at fourpence, fetched £ or £ . i remember old joseph lilly, when he had secured the famous ballads, which came from the tollemaches of helmingham hall, holding up the folio volume in which they were contained in triumph as someone whom he knew entered the room. poor daniel! he had no mean estimate of his treasures--what he had was always better than what you had. books, prints, autographs--it was all the same. i met him one morning in long acre. i had bought a very fine copy of taylor, the water poet. "oh, yes, sir," he said, "i saw it; but not quite so fine as mine." he went up to highgate to look through the engravings of charles matthews the elder. they were all duplicates--of course inferior ones. "damn him, sir!" cried matthews afterwards to a friend; "i should like him to have had a duplicate of my wooden leg." john payne collier, who was born a year before daniel, but who lived until , was a collector with very similar tastes. he had been a reporter on the _morning chronicle_, and in all probability imbibed some of his book-collecting zeal from perry. his book-buying and literary career commenced, according to his own account, in or , when his father took him into the shop of thomas rodd, senior, on which occasion he purchased his 'first old english book of any value,' namely, wilson's 'art of logic,' printed by grafton, ; from this he ascertained that 'ralf roister doister' was an older play than 'gammer gurton's needle,' and also that it was by nicholas udal, master of eton school. when in holland, in the winter of - , collier purchased among other books an imperfect copy of tyndale's 'gospel of st. matthew,' to which, as he says in his 'diary,' 'the date of [ ] has been assigned, and which seems to be the very earliest translation into english of any portion of the new testament. many years afterwards--i think in the spring of --i happened to show it to rodd, the learned bookseller. i was at that time ignorant on the subject, and rodd offered me books to the value of two or three pounds for it. i gladly accepted them.' this fragment, for which collier paid a florin, was sold to mr. grenville by rodd for £ , and is now in the british museum. writing in the _athenæum_, january , , he gives an account of the origin of events which led to one of the fiercest literary quarrels of modern times: 'a short time before the death of the late mr. rodd, of newport street [_i.e._ early in ], i happened to be in his shop when a considerable parcel of books arrived from the country. he told me that they had been bought for him at an auction--i think in bedfordshire. . . . he unpacked them in my presence . . . and there were two which attracted my attention, one being a fine copy of florio's "italian dictionary," of the edition of , and the other a much-thumbed, abused, and imperfect copy of the second folio of shakespeare, . the first i did not possess, and the last i was willing to buy, inasmuch as i apprehended it would add some missing leaves to a copy of the same impression which i had had for some time on my shelves. as was his usual course, mr. rodd required a very reasonable price for both; for the first i remember i gave s. and for the last only £ s. . . . on the outside of one of the covers was inscribed, "tho. perkins, his booke."' collier was vexed at finding that the volume contained no leaves which would help him in completing the volume he already had. he had employed another person to do the collating, and it was not until some considerable time after, and on examining thoroughly the volume himself, that he discovered it to contain a large series of emendations, which collier included in his 'notes and emendations to the text of shakespeare's plays,' , which set the whole town by the ears. collier's library was dispersed at sotheby's in ; it was an unusually interesting sale, and included many very rare and curious books. [illustration: _samuel taylor coleridge._ from the portrait by g. dawe, r.a., .] southey, coleridge, charles lamb, wordsworth, and william hazlitt were book-collectors of a type which deserves a niche to itself. writing to coleridge in , lamb says: 'i have had thoughts of turning quaker, and have been reading, or am, rather, just beginning to read, a most capital book, good thoughts in good language, william penn's "no cross, no crown." i like it immensely.' lamb's ideas of book-marking are to be found in his correspondence with coleridge, in which he states that a book reads the better when the topography of its plots and notes is thoroughly mastered, and when we 'can trace the dirt in it, to having read it at tea with buttered muffins, or over a pipe.' lamb's library consisted for the most part of tattered volumes in a dreadful state of repair. lamb, like young, the poet, dog-eared his books to such an extent that many of them would hardly close at all. from the correspondence of bernard barton we get a glimpse at lamb's cottage in colebrook row, islington--a white house with six good rooms. 'you enter without passage into a cheerful dining-room, all studded over and rough with old books.' barton also writes: 'what chiefly attracted me was a large old book-case full of books. i could but think how many long walks must have been taken to bring them home, for there were but few that did not bear the mark of having been bought at many a bookstall--brown, dark-looking books, distinguished by those white tickets which told how much their owner had given for each.' [illustration: _lamb's cottage at colebrook row, islington._] in an edition of donne [? ] which belonged to lamb, coleridge scrawled: 'i shall die soon, my dear charles lamb, and then you will not be vexed that i have be-scribbled your book. s. t. c., nd may, .' lamb was too good-natured to be a book-collector. on one occasion william hazlitt[ :a] sent martin burney to lamb to borrow wordsworth's 'excursion,' and lamb being out, burney took it, a high-handed proceeding which involved the borrower in a blowing-up. coleridge at another time helped himself to luther's 'table-talk,' and this also called forth a great outcry. a copy of chapman's homer, which passed through the hands of wordsworth and s. t. coleridge, eventually turned up in one of lilly's catalogues. this identical copy is noticed in an account of rydal mount which appeared in the first volume of _once a week_. coleridge, of course, has made a number of notes in it, and in one of these he describes the translation as 'an exquisite poem, spite of its frequent and perverse quaintness and harshnesses, which are, however, amply repaid by almost unexampled sweetness and beauty of language.' [illustration: _william hazlitt._] the difference between a bibliophile and a bibliomaniac has been described as between one who adorns his mind, and the other his book-cases. of the bibliomaniac as here characterized, we can suggest no better type than thomas hill, the original of poole's 'paul pry,' and of hull in hook's novel, 'gilbert gurney.' devoid as hill was of intellectual endowments, he managed to obtain and secure the friendship of many eminent men--of thomas campbell, the poet, matthews and liston, the comedians, hook, dubois, john and leigh hunt, james and horace smith, john taylor, editor of the _sun_, horace twiss, baron field, sir george rose, barnes, subsequently editor of the _times_, cyrus redding, and many others. that he was kind-hearted and hospitable nearly everyone has testified, and his literary parties at his sydenham tusculum were quite important events, in spite of the ponderosity of his well-worn stories. during the more acute stages of bibliomania in this country at the latter part of the last century and the beginning of this, 'when the archaica, heliconia, and roxburghe clubs were outbidding each other for old black-letter works . . . when books, in short, which had only become scarce because they were always worthless, were purchased upon the same principle as that costly and valueless coin, a queen anne's farthing,' hill had been a constant collector of rare and other books which were in demand. that he knew nothing of the insides of his books is very certain; but he knew how much each copy would bring at an auction, and how much it had brought at all previous sales. when the bibliomania had reached its height, messrs. longman and co. determined upon embarking in such a lucrative branch of the trade; they applied to hill for advice and assistance, offering to begin by the purchase of his entire collection, a proposition which he embraced with alacrity. he drew up a _catalogue raisonné_ of his books, affixing his price for each volume. the collection was despatched in three or four trunks to paternoster row, and he received in payment the acceptances of the firm for as many thousand pounds. from some cause or other, the purchasers soon repented of their bargain, but the only terms which horace smith could obtain for the longmans was an extension in the term of payment. hill declared that the collection was worth double the price he had been paid for it. for many years hill assisted perry, of the _morning chronicle_, in making selections of rare books for his fine library at tavistock house, particularly in the department of facetiæ. after leaving sydenham, hill took chambers in james street, adelphi, where he resided until his death. the walls of his rooms were completely hidden by books, and his couch was 'enclosed in a lofty circumvallation of volumes piled up from the carpet.' he was never married, had no relations, and even his age was a source of mystery to his friends. james smith once said to him: 'the fact is, hill, the register of your birth was destroyed in the great fire of london, and you take advantage of the accident to conceal your real age.' hook went further by suggesting that he might originally have been one of the little hills recorded as skipping in the psalms. hill died in , his age being placed at eighty-three years. horace smith said 'he could not believe that hill was dead, and he could not insult a man he had known so long; hill would reappear.' [illustration: _thomas hill, after maclise._] samuel rogers, the banker poet, was also a book-collector, but not in the sense of one who aims at number. his house at , st. james's place, overlooking green park, was for over half a century--he had removed here from the temple about --one of the most celebrated meeting-places of literature and art in london. byron, in his 'diary,' says, 'if you enter his house--his drawing-room, his library--you of yourself say, this is not the dwelling of a common mind. there is not a gem, a coin, a book, thrown aside on his chimney-piece, his sofa, his table, that does not bespeak an almost fastidious elegance in the possessor.' a writer in the _athenæum_ of december , , a few days after the poet's death, describes the library as 'lined with bookcases surmounted by greek vases, each one remarkable for its exquisite beauty of form. upon the gilt lattice-work of the bookcases are lightly hung in frames some of the finest original sketches by raphael, michelangelo, and andrea del sarto; and finished paintings by angelico da fiesole, and fouquet of tours.' among the treasures of the library were the mss. of gray, in their perfect calligraphy, and the famous agreement between milton and the publisher simmonds, for the copyright of 'paradise lost.' [illustration: _samuel rogers's house in st. james's place._] [illustration: sam{l} rogers] tom moore the poet, and his friend and fellow-countryman, thomas crofton croker, were both book-collectors. the library of the former was, in , presented by his widow to the royal irish academy, 'as a memorial of her husband's taste and erudition.' croker's books, which were dispersed after his death, contain an exceedingly curious book-plate, either indicating the possessor's residence, 'rosamond's bower, fulham,' or ' , gloucester road, old brompton,' the various learned societies to which he belonged, with the additional information that he was founder and president ( - ) of the society of novimagus. charles dickens, thackeray, w. harrison ainsworth (the collection of the last was sold at sotheby's in , and realized £ s. d.), and charles lever were not book-collectors in the usual sense of the word. [illustration: _alexander dyce, book-collector._] among the more notable literary men who were also book-collectors of this period, whose libraries are still preserved intact, are alexander dyce and john forster. their collections, now at south kensington, are perhaps more particularly notable for the extraordinary number of books which were once the property of famous men. mr. dyce, who was born in edinburgh, june, , and died in , bequeathed to the museum , books, whilst the library of his friend and executor, john forster ( - ), contained upwards of , books, in addition to a number of autographs, pictures, etc. the more interesting books of a 'personal' nature in these two libraries are the following: drayton's 'battaile of agincourt,' , a presentation copy to sir henry willoughby, with inscription in drayton's autograph; a french cookery-book, with gray's autograph on the title; ben jonson's copy (with his autograph) of the first collected edition of marston's plays, ; a copy of steele's 'christian hero,' with some verses in his autograph addressed to dr. ellis, head-master of the charterhouse when steele was at school. sheridan's plays include a presentation copy of 'the rivals,' with an inscription to david garrick. the foregoing are all in the dyce collection. [illustration: ben: jonson] [illustration: to my lord tutour d{r}. ellis with secret impulse thus do streams return to that capacious ocean whence they're born: oh would but fortune come w{th}. bounty fraught proportion'd to y{e} mind w{ch}. thou hast taught! till then let these unpolish'd leaves impart the humble offering of a gratefull heart rich{d}. steele] [illustration: david garrick esq{r}. from the author.] that of john forster includes a copy of addison's 'travels in italy,' with an autograph inscription by the author: 'to dr. jonathan swift, the most agreeable companion, the truest friend, and the greatest genius of his age, this book is presented by his most humble servant the author.' among the many books on america, there is one with john locke's autograph. the copy of the fourth edition of byron's 'english bards and scotch reviewers,' , is that which was given by the author to leigh hunt, and contains the poet's autograph and many corrections; a presentation copy of flatman's 'poems and songs,' , to izaak walton, who has inscribed his autograph in it; gay's copy of horace; some proof-sheets of johnson's 'lives of the poets;' a copy of keats's 'lamia,' , with an autograph inscription and a sonnet 'on the grasshopper and the cricket,' also in the poet's handwriting; gray's copy of locke's 'essay concerning human understanding,' a copy of the 'dunciad,' , with the inscription 'jonath: swift, , amicissimi autoris donum'; and isaac newton's copy of wheare's 'method and order of reading histories,' . [illustration: john locke] [illustration: izaak walton july {o} given me, by the author.] [illustration: e libris i. newton.] apropos of books of distinguished ownership, the collecting of them sometimes takes an eccentric turn; for example, the third lord holland brought together all the various copies (now at holland house) upon which he could lay hands of fox's 'history of the reign of james ii.,' which belonged to distinguished people, and amongst these former owners were sir james mackintosh, sir philip francis, c. e. jerningham, rogers, and general fitzpatrick; and as many of the copies contained ms. notes, the interest of the collection will be readily understood. a brief review of the principal book-collectors whose libraries--formed for the most part by men who lived in london--have been dispersed during the past dozen years will not be without interest; those which have been already referred to are, of course, omitted here. james comerford, f.s.a., by profession a notary public, who inherited from his father a love of books, and also a considerable collection, had an exceedingly fine library, which consisted for the most part of topographical works, many of them on large paper with proof-plates. he was in his seventy-sixth year when he died, and his books, which were sold at sotheby's in november, (thirteen days), realized a total of £ , s. frederic ouvry, who died in june, , was partner in the firm of farrer, ouvry, and co., of lincoln's inn; he was elected a fellow of the society of antiquaries in , and for twenty years was the society's treasurer, and succeeded earl stanhope as president. he was a man of considerable means, and formed one of the most interesting and most choice of modern libraries. many of his books fetched far higher sums than he had paid for them; for example, drummond of hawthornden's 'forth fasting,' , cost him in £ s.--at his sale it fetched £ ; and lodge's 'rosalynd,' , advanced from £ s. to £ . mr. ouvry was an intimate friend of both mr. gladstone and charles dickens; a copy of the former's 'gleanings of past years' was a presentation one from the author, and had the following inscription, 'frederic ouvry, esq., from w. e. g., in memory of the work we have done together for fourteen years in full harmony of thought and act.' there were autograph letters from dickens, which sold for £ . the four folio shakespeares sold for £ , £ , £ , £ ; a copy of the first edition of spenser's 'faërie queene,' - , £ ; a copy of daniel's 'delia,' , with corrections, supposed to be by the author, £ . the total of the six days' sale was £ , s. a very remarkable library came under the hammer at sotheby's on march - , , when the unique collection of the late francis bedford, the eminent binder, was sold. the beauty of the bindings was naturally the most striking feature of the library, but there were many books which were rare or historically interesting apart from their coverings. for example, there was the identical prayer-book that was found in the pocket of charles i. immediately after his execution; a copy of the breeches bible printed in scotland, ; one of the pearl bible, ; a very fine copy of the 'chronicon nurembergense,' . bedford's own _chef d'oeuvre_, a magnificent copy of rogers' 'italy' and 'poems,' in olive morocco, super extra, realized £ , whilst the total of the five days' sale was £ , s. d. among the more notable collections sold during - , that of the late leonard laurie hartley, at puttick's, may be mentioned, containing as it did some important books. mr. hartley has been described as a voracious collector, and would buy almost anything the dealers offered him, and almost at any price; hence he speedily became known as a good client, and doubtless paid 'through the nose' for very many articles. the extraordinarily extensive collection of books and manuscripts formed by the late sir thomas phillipps (who died in ), of middle hill, worcestershire, and thirlestaine house, cheltenham, commenced selling at sotheby's in , and the supply is not yet by any means exhausted. up to march, , seven portions had been dispersed, the total being £ , . perhaps the most interesting item in this vast collection was the original autograph manuscript of sir walter scott's 'life of swift,' which realized £ in june, . during and the collections of two of the most genuine book-hunters that ever lived came under the hammer. professor edward solly's extensive library of about , volumes, and comprising many rare books on defoe, pope, swift, dryden, samuel butler, johnson, gray, cobbett, paine, and also books of topography, biography, history, travel, antiquities, bibliography, etc., only realized the total of £ , s. d. (november, ). the equally interesting library of the late w. j. thoms, founder of _notes and queries_, and deputy-librarian of the house of lords, realized two months after mr. solly's sale £ , s. mr. thoms' library was considerably smaller than that of his friend mr. solly, but they ran on very similar lines, mr. thoms' being particularly strong in quaint and out-of-the-way books relating to pope, junius, george iv., queen caroline, princess olive of cumberland, reynard the fox, and longevity. the first part of the library of another indefatigable book-hunter, cornelius walford, came under the hammer at the same place (sotheby's) in february, . some interesting books were included in the four days' sale of the library of sir william hardy, f.s.a., late deputy-keeper of the public records (december, ), but the books were chiefly first editions of modern authors. [illustration: _w. j. thoms, book-collector._ founder of _notes and queries_.] but the two great collections of books, equally celebrated in their way, with, however, little in common, which give to the year a most special importance, were those of the earl of crawford, and the first portion of the late james t. gibson craig's (of edinburgh), both of which were dispersed in june, each occupying messrs. sotheby ten days in the dispersal. the crawford sale of , lots realized a total of £ , s. d., or an average of over £ s. per lot, whilst the gibson craig sale of , lots produced only £ , s., or an average of a little over £ s. the former included, however, a perfect copy of the mazarin or gutenberg bible, which realized £ , , and a copy of fust and schoeffer's bible, , which sold for £ , . coverdale's bible realized £ , and tyndale's bible £ , whilst tyndale's new testament, printed at antwerp by emperour, brought £ . the celebrated block-book, the apocalypse of st. john, generally regarded as the second attempt in xylographic printing, realized £ . sir philip sidney's 'arcadia,' , first edition, sold for £ . (it may be here mentioned that the second portion of the crawford library was sold in june, , when , lots realized £ , s. d.--three caxtons produced a total of £ ; cicero, 'old age,' , etc., £ ; higden's 'policronicon,' , £ ; and 'christine of pisa,' , £ .) the gibson craig collection was essentially a modern one, and included a number of finely illustrated books. one of the chief rarities was a copy of the first edition of 'robinson crusoe,' which fetched £ . there were also a number of autograph letters and mss. of sir walter scott, the most important of which was the ms. of the 'chronicles of the canongate,' £ . the second and third portions of the gibson craig library were sold in march and november, , the total of the three sales being £ , s. d. the library of the earl of aylesford was sold at christie's, march - , ; and in june and november of the same year, the extensive collection of the late r. s. turner, of the albany, occupied messrs. sotheby twenty-eight days, , lots realizing a total of over £ , . a previous sale of items of his books occurred in france in , and realized , francs. turner's books included many exceedingly choice volumes bound by the most eminent craftsmen, such as clovis eve, deseuil, bozet, derome, padeloup, capé, trautz-bauzonnet, roger payne, bedford, and rivière. turner was born in , and died in june, . perhaps the great book sensation of occurred in the sale at christie's when a portion of the library of the late lord chancellor hardwicke ('the wimpole library') was sold, and when a dozen tracts relating to america, bound together in a quarto volume, realized the unheard-of sum of £ . in the same sale also there were three caxtons: the 'game and play of chesse,' - , first edition, but not quite perfect, £ ; and 'the myrrour of the worlde;' and tullius 'de amicitia,' both imperfect, in one volume, £ . we can only briefly allude here to some of the more important collections which have been sold in london during the past six years. in the majority of instances they were the possession of deceased individuals, who for the most part lived out of london. in february, , the hopetoun house library, the property of the right hon. the earl of hopetoun, was sold at sotheby's, , lots realizing £ , s., the most important items in the sale being a copy of the gutenberg-fust latin bible, - , £ , , and the _editio princeps_ virgil, , £ . the library of mr. john mansfield mackenzie, of edinburgh, sold at the same place in the following march ( , lots = £ , ), was one of the most important collections dispersed in recent years; it was especially rich in first editions of modern writers, in _curious_ books, and in literature relating to the drama; it included an exceedingly extensive series of cruikshankiana, many of which realized prices which have not since been maintained. the most important lots in the sale of a selection from the library of the duke of buccleuch, at sotheby's, march - , , were five caxtons, viz.: 'dictes and sayengis of the philosophirs,' , first edition, £ ; 'the chronicles of england,' first edition, , £ ; the same, second edition, , £ ; higden's 'descripcion of britayne,' , £ ; and the 'royal book, or book for a king' (? ), £ . [illustration: _hollingbury copse, the residence of the late mr. halliwell-phillipps._] many interesting items occurred in the sale (july, ) of the library of the late j. o. halliwell-phillipps (one of the most distinguished of london book-hunters), which occurred a few months after the venerable owner's death. the amount realized for , lots was £ , s. d.; and among them were several shakespeare quartos, in all instances slightly imperfect. by far the most important feature of the shakespearian rarities, drawings and engravings, preserved at hollingbury copse, near brighton--'that quaint wigwam on the sussex downs which had the honour of sheltering more record and artistic evidences connected with the personal history of the great dramatist than are to be found in any other of the world's libraries'--still remains intact, according to the late owner's direction. it was offered to the corporation of birmingham for £ , , but without avail. the collection comprises early engraved portraits of shakespeare, authentic personal relics, documentary evidences respecting his estates and individuals connected with his biography, and artistic illustrations of localities connected with his personal history. the most important of the several hundred items is perhaps the unique early proof of the famous droeshout portrait, for which halliwell-phillipps gave £ , and for which an american collector offered him £ , . a calendar of this extraordinary assembly was very carefully edited by mr. e. e. baker, f.s.a., in , and the collection is still intact. writing in june, , mr. halliwell-phillipps himself tells us that for nearly half a century he had been an ardent shakespearian collector, 'being most likely the only survivor of the little band who attended the sale of the library of george chalmers somewhere about the year . but for a long time, attempting too much in several directions with insufficient means, and harassed, moreover, by a succession of lawsuits, including two in the court of torture--i mean chancery--i was unable to retain my accumulations; and thus it came to pass that bookcase full after bookcase full were disposed of, some by private contract, many under the vibrations of the auctioneer's hammer. this state of affairs continued till february, , but since that period, by a strict limitation of my competitive resources to one subject--the life of shakespeare--i have managed to jog along without parting with a single article of any description.' a much more important collection of shakespeariana than that which appeared in the halliwell-phillipps sale came under the hammer at the same place a few days afterwards, when the late frederick perkins's library was dispersed ( , lots realized £ , s.). the sale, in fact, was the most important in this respect since that of george daniel in , to which, however, the perkins collection was considerably inferior. mr. perkins had spent many years of search and a large sum of money in collecting early editions of shakespeare, but during the past thirty years not only has their value gone up in an appalling degree, but they are for the most part positively unprocurable. under these depressing conditions, mr. perkins managed nevertheless to obtain eighteen first or very early quarto editions of shakespeare's plays; and poor as is this show when compared with that of george daniel, it is doubtful whether a sale so extensive from the particular point of view under consideration as that of mr. perkins can be expected until well into the next century. the highest price was paid for 'the second part of henrie the fourth,' , £ ; 'romeo and juliet,' , fetched £ ; the 'merchant of venice,' (printed by j. roberts), £ ; 'henry v.,' , third edition, £ . the first folio fetched £ . the dispersals of book-collections in included a few of considerable note. the exceedingly extensive one, for example, of the late sir edward sullivan, bart., lord chancellor of ireland, was highly interesting as illustrating a phase of book-collecting which is now all but obsolete. it was rich in the classics, which three-quarters of a century ago would have created the greatest excitement. it occupied twenty-one days (may-june), when , lots realized a total of £ , s.--a highly satisfactory result, when the general depreciation in the market value of the classics is considered. the extensive library of mr. thomas gaisford ( , lots, £ , s. d.), which was sold in april, , included not only some fine editions of the classics, but a remarkable series of blake's works, first editions of keats, byron, shelley, swinburne, the four folio editions of shakespeare, and a few quartos, notably the 'merry wives of windsor,' , £ ; 'love's labour lost,' , £ ; and 'much adoe about nothing,' , £ , all first editions. some very interesting and rare shakespeare items occurred also in the sale of the library of the late frederick william cosens, , _e.g._, 'merchant of venice,' , £ ; and the 'poems,' , £ . the dramatic library of the late frank marshall (sotheby's, june, , £ , s. d.), and the angling books of the late francis francis (puttick's, july, ), were interesting collections in the way of special books. the most noteworthy collections dispersed in included the walton hall library of the late edward hailstone, who was d.l. of the west riding, yorkshire (sold in february and april, , lots, £ , s. d.), among which were many books of an exceedingly curious character; and the 'lakelands' library of the late w. h. crawford, of lakelands, co. cork ( , lots, £ , s. d.), remarkable on account of its copy of the valdarfer boccaccio, , £ ; a copy (? unique) of caviceo, 'dialogue treselegant intitule le peregrin,' , on vellum, with the arms of france, £ ; the landino edition of dante, , with the engravings by bacio baldini from the designs by botticelli, £ ; shakespeare's 'lucrece,' , £ , and 'merchant of venice,' , £ ; and the 'legenda aurea,' printed by caxton, , £ . the topographical and general library of the late lord brabourne was sold in may, , also at sotheby's; whilst the remainder of this library was sold at puttick's in june, . the collections scattered in included few of note, but we may mention those of the late joshua h. hutchinson, g. b. anderson, and r. f. cooke (a partner in the firm of john murray, the eminent publisher) as including many first editions of modern authors; whilst those of john wingfield larking and edwin henry lawrence, f.s.a., included a number of rare books, as may be gathered from the fact that the library of the former comprised lots, which realized £ , s., and that of the latter, lots, £ , s. the most interesting collection sold in was the selected portions from the books, mss., and letters collected by william hazlitt, his son, and his grandson; of the first importance in another direction was the sale of the bateman heirlooms (books and mss.). the late rev. w. e. buckley, m.a., formerly fellow and tutor of brasenose college, oxford, and late rector of middleton-cheney, banbury, and vice-president of the roxburghe club, was a veritable heber in a small way. besides the enormous quantity of books sold in two portions (twenty-two days in all) in february, , and april, , several vanloads were disposed of locally, as not being worth the cost of carriage to london. his library must have comprised nearly , volumes, of which only a small proportion had any commercial importance. he managed, however, in his long career, to pick up a few bargains, notably the columbus 'letter' ('epistola christofori colom.,' four leaves, , with which was bound up vespucci, 'mundus novus albericus vesputius,' etc., , also four leaves), which cost him less than £ , and which realized £ ; he also possessed a first edition of goldsmith's 'vicar of wakefield,' , £ s.; keats's 'poems,' first edition, , in the original boards, £ s.; fielding's 'tom jones,' , first edition, uncut, in the original boards, £ . the two portions of the buckley library sold at sotheby's realized £ , s. d. the smallest, as well as the choicest, library sold in (june ) comprised the most select books from the collection of mr. birket foster, the distinguished artist. the first, second, third, and fourth folio shakespeares sold for £ , £ , £ , and £ respectively; the quarto editions of the great dramatist included 'a midsummer night's dream,' , large copy, £ ; 'merchant of venice,' , £ ; 'king lear,' , £ . mr. foster also possessed john milton's copy of 'lycophronis alexandra,' which realized £ ; an incomplete copy of caxton's 'myrrour of the world,' , £ . the valuable and interesting dramatic and miscellaneous library of the late frederick burgess, of the moore and burgess minstrels, was sold at sotheby's, in may-june, , and included many choice editions of modern authors. the late prince louis-lucien bonaparte was a giant among book-collectors, but his books were almost exclusively philological. mr. victor collins, who has compiled an 'attempt' at a catalogue, in which there are no less than , entries, states that 'as a young man the prince was fond of chemistry, and on one occasion he was desirous of reading a chemical work that happened to exist only in swedish. he learned swedish for the purpose, and this gave him a taste for languages, very many of which he studied. his object in forming the library was to discover, rather perhaps to show, the relationship of all languages to each other. nor was it only distinct languages he included in his plan, but their dialects, their corruptions, even slang, thieves' slang--slang of all kinds. in carrying out his idea the prince had of course the advantages of exceptional abilities, and, until the fall of the empire, of unlimited money. some of the bindings are very beautiful. as to the printing, the prince for long had a fully-fitted printing-office on the basement floor of his house in norfolk terrace, bayswater. the prince being a senator of france, a cousin of louis napoleon, and a well-known philologist, people brought him all sorts of interesting books. therefore it is not surprising to find that the library includes rare works not present, for instance, in the british museum. there are three early german bibles which mr. gladstone, visiting the prince once, thought should be presented to the british museum. to the best of mr. gladstone's knowledge, one of the three did not exist anywhere else, and either of the three would be worth about £ . they are remarkable specimens of early german printing, and are profusely illustrated.' mr. collins calculates that there are at least , volumes in the collection, and that fully thirty alphabets are spread through them. this extraordinary collection, like the shakespearian one formed by mr. halliwell-phillipps, is still awaiting a purchaser (see the _times_, july , ). the collection, also a special one, of a recently-deceased book-collector may be mentioned here, and for the following particulars we are indebted to mr. elliot stock: 'edmund waterton, the son of charles waterton, the naturalist, lived at first at walton hall, his father's residence. he sold this, and bought a house at deeping, waterton, where his ancestors formerly lived. he had a large old library, a great part of which he inherited from his father. his great pleasure was in his "imitatio christi" collection. he succeeded in gathering together some , different editions, printed and ms. he had given commissions to booksellers all over europe to send him any edition they might meet with, and one of the pleasures of his life was to see the foreign packets come by post. i sent him a seventeenth-century edition which i came across accidentally for his acceptance on "spec." it turned out it was one he had been looking for for a long time, and his letter describing his glee when it was brought up to his bedroom in the morning with his breakfast was very comic. he kept an oblong volume like a washing-book, with all the editions he knew of, some thousands in all, and his delight in ticking one more off the lengthy _desiderata_ was like that of a schoolboy marking off the "days to the holidays." edmund waterton had a number of rare books besides those in his "imitation" collection; notably a very tall first folio shakespeare, with contemporary comments made by some ancestor, who had also made good some of the missing pages in ms. he was a lineal descendant of sir thomas more, on his mother's side, and possessed sir t. more's clock, which still went when i stayed with him. it was apparently the same clock that hangs on the wall at the back of holbein's celebrated picture of sir thomas more and his family. waterton had one of the longest and clearest pedigrees in the country, tracing back to saxon times without break; his family were catholics, and seem to have lost most of their property in the troublous times of the reformation. anyone who was interested in the "imitation," whether as a collector or not, always met with kindness, and almost affection, from him. the first time i met him--which arose from my making the facsimile of the brussels ms.--he showed his confidence and goodwill by lending me, for several days, his oblong record of editions to look over.' mr. waterton's collection of the 'imitation' came under the hammer at sotheby's in january, , in two lots. the first comprised six manuscripts and printed editions, ancient and modern, in various languages, of this celebrated devotional work, arranged in languages in chronological order. it realized £ . the second lot comprised a collection of printed editions, a few of which were not included in the former, and sold for the equally absurd amount of £ . the british museum had the first pick of this collection, and the authorities were enabled to fill up a large number of gaps in their already extensive series of editions. the six mss. and over printed editions passed into the possession of dr. copinger, of manchester, through messrs. sotheran, of the strand, who, indeed, purchased the two 'lots' when offered at sotheby's. [illustration] footnotes: [ :a] 'in a small gloomy house within the gates of elliot's brewery, between brewer street, pimlico, and york street, westminster.'--wheatley's edition of cunningham's 'london.' [ :a] the library of beauclerk (who is better remembered as an intimate friend of dr. johnson than as a book-collector) comprised , volumes, was sold by paterson in , and occupied fifty days. it was a good collection of classics, poetry, the drama, books of prints, voyages, travels, and history. [ :a] among the absentees were his grace the duke of devonshire, who was prevented attending the anniversary by indisposition, the marquis of blandford, and sir m. m. sykes, bart. [ :a] the name really employed was bannatyne. [ :a] thorpe suspected this, and secured the volume, thinking to do his friends of the roxburghe club a good turn. writing to dibdin, thorpe said: 'i bought it for £ against the editor of the _athenæum_, who, if he got it, would have shown the club up finely larded.' but dibdin did not jump at paying so heavy a price for silence, and thorpe wisely consoled himself with mr. dilke's £ . [ :a] heathcote dispersed two portions of his books at sotheby's, first in april, , and secondly in may, . some of the books which dent obtained for him, with additions, were sold at the same place in april, . [ :a] this famous old place possesses a literary history which would fill a fairly long chapter. among those who have lived here we may mention ephraim chambers, whose 'cyclopædia' is the parent of a numerous offspring; john newbery lived here for some time, and it was during his tenancy that goldsmith found a refuge here from his creditors, and wrote 'the deserted village' and 'the vicar of wakefield'; william woodfall had lodgings in this historic tower; and washington irving, early in the present century, threw around it a halo of romance and interest which it had not previously possessed. [ :a] hazlitt was a good deal of a book-borrower. in his 'conversations with northcote' he speaks of having been obliged to pay five shillings for the loan of 'woodstock' at a regular bookseller's shop, as he could not procure it at the circulating libraries. [illustration] book-auctions and sales. i. it is perhaps to be regretted that the late adam smith did not make an inquiry into the subject of books and their prices. the result, if not as exhaustive as the 'wealth of nations,' would have been quite as important a contribution to the science of social economy. in a general way, books are subject, like other merchandise, to the laws of supply and demand. but, as with other luxuries, the demand fluctuates according to fashion rather than from any real, tangible want. the want, for example, of the edition of chaucer printed by caxton, or of the boccaccio by valdarfer, is an arbitrary rather than a literary one, for the text of neither is without faults, or at all definitive. to take quite another class of books as an illustration: the demand for first editions of dickens, thackeray, ruskin, and others, is perhaps greater than the supply; but we do not read these first editions any more than the caxton chaucer or the valdarfer boccaccio; we can get all the good we want out of the fiftieth edition. we do not, however, feel called upon to anticipate the labours and inquiries of the future adam smith; it must suffice us to indicate some of the more interesting prices and fashions in book-fancies which have prevailed during the last two centuries or so in london. the sale of books by auction dates, in this country at all events, from the year , when william cooper, a bookseller of considerable learning, who lived at the sign of the pelican, in little britain, introduced a custom which had for many years been practised on the continent. the full title of this interesting catalogue is in latin--a language long employed by subsequent book-auctioneers--and runs as follows: catalogus | variorum et insignium | librorum | instructissimÆ bibliotheca | clarissimi doctissimiq viri--lazari seaman, s. t. d. | quorum auctio habebitur londini | in Ædibus defuncti in area et viculo | warwicensi. octobris ultimo | cura gulielmi cooper bibliopolÆ | londini. { gruis in cÆmetario } { ed. brewster } { paulino } apud { & } ad insigne { pelicani in } . { guil. cooper. } { vico vulgariter } { dicto } { little britain. } as will be seen from the foregoing, cooper had no regular auction-rooms, for in this instance dr. seaman's books were sold at his own house in warwick court. mr. john lawler, in _booklore_, december, , points out an error first made by gough (in the _gentleman's magazine_, and extensively copied since), who states that the sale occurred at cooper's house in warwick lane. in his preface 'to the reader,' cooper makes an interesting announcement, by way of apology. 'it hath not been,' he says, 'usual here in england to make sale of books by way of auction, or who will give most for them; but it having been practised in other countreys to the advantage of buyers and sellers, it was therefore conceived (for the encouragement of learning) to publish the sales of these books in this manner of way; and it is hoped that this will not be unacceptable to schollars; and therefore we thought it convenient to give an advertisement concerning the manner of proceeding therein.' the second sale, comprising the library of mr. thomas kidner, was held by cooper three months after, _i.e._, february , - . on february , - , the third sale by auction was held, and this, as mr. lawler has pointed out, is the first 'hammer'[ :a] auction, and was held at a coffee-house--'in vico vulgo dicto, bread st. in Ædibus ferdinandi stable coffipolæ ad insigne capitis turcæ,' the auctioneer in this case being zacharius bourne, whilst the library was that of the rev. w. greenhill, author of a 'commentary on ezekiel,' and rector of stepney, middlesex. the fourth sale was that of dr. thomas manton's library, in march, . from to , no less than thirty sales were held, and these included, in addition to the four already mentioned, the libraries of brooke, lord warwick, sir kenelm digby (see p. ), dr. s. charnock, dr. thomas watson, john dunton, the crack-brained bookseller, dr. castell, the author of the 'heptaglotton,' dr. thomas gataker, and others. the business of selling by auction was so successful that several other auctioneers adopted it, including such well-known booksellers as richard chiswell and moses pitt. at a very early period a suspicion got about that the books were 'run up' by those who had a special interest in them, and accordingly the vendors of dr. benjamin worsley's sale, in may, , emphatically denied this imputation, which they described as 'a groundless and malicious suggestion of some of our own trade envious of our undertaking.' in addition to this statement, they refused to accept any 'commissions' to buy at this sale. [illustration: _john dunton, book-auctioneer in ._] the dispersal of books by auction developed in many ways. it soon became, for example, one means of getting rid of the bookseller's heavy stock, of effecting what is now termed a 'rig.' its popularity was extended to the provinces, for from and onwards edward millington[ :a] visited the provinces, selecting fair times for preference, taking with him large quantities of books, which he sold at auction, and this doubtless was another method of distributing works which were more or less still-born. john dunton (who, the pretender said, was the first man he would hang when he became king) took a cargo of books to ireland in , and most of these he sold by auction in dublin. this visit was not welcomed by the irish booksellers, and one of its numerous results was 'the dublin scuffle,' which is still worth reading. dunton's receipts amounted to £ , . it was said that dunton had 'done more service to learning by his three auctions than any single man that had come into ireland for the previous three hundred years.' [illustration: _samuel baker, the founder of sotheby's._] it may be pointed out that the early auction catalogues are of the 'thinnest' possible nature. the books were usually arranged according to subjects, but each lot, irrespective of its importance, was confined to a single line. the sales were at first usually held from eight o'clock in the morning until twelve, and again from two o'clock till six, a day's sale therefore occupying eight hours. mr. lawler calculates that the average number of lots sold would be about sixty-six. the early hour at which the sales began was soon dropped, and eventually the time of starting became noon, and from that to one or even two o'clock. it is quite certain that, up to ten shillings, penny and twopenny bids were accepted. the sales were chiefly held at the more noteworthy coffee-houses. dr. king, in his translation (?) of sorbière's 'journey to london,' , says: 'i was at an auction of books at tom's coffee-house, near ludgate, where were about fifty people. books were sold with a great deal of trifling and delay, as with us, but very cheap. those excellent authors, mounsieur maimbourg, mounsieur varillas, monsieur le grand, tho' they were all guilt on the back and would have made a very considerable figure in a gentleman's study, yet, after much tediousness, were sold for such trifling sums that i am asham'd to name 'em.' [illustration: _samuel leigh sotheby._] [illustration: _mr. e. g. hodge, of sotheby's._] it is curious to note the evolution of the book-auctioneer from the bookseller. besides the names already quoted, john whiston, thomas wilcox, thomas and edward ballard, sam bathoe, sam paterson, sam baker, and george leigh, were all booksellers as well as book-auctioneers. of these the firm established by samuel baker in continues to flourish in sotheby, wilkinson and hodge. the earlier auctioneers with whom books were a special feature, but who did not sell books except under the hammer, include cock (under the great piazza, covent garden), langford (who succeeded to cock's business), gerard, james christie, greenwood, compton, and ansell. [illustration: _a field-day at sotheby's._ (reduced, by kind permission, from a full-page engraving in the _graphic_.)] [illustration: _key to the characters in the 'field-day at sotheby's.'_ . mr. g. s. snowden . mr. e. daniell . mr. railton . mr. j. rimell . mr. e. g. hodge . mr. j. toovey . mr. b. quaritch . mr. g. j. ellis . mr. j. roche . mr. reeves . lord brabourne . mr. w. ward . mr. leighton . mr. e. w. stibbs . mr. h. sotheran . mr. westell . mr. walford . henry . mr. dobell . mr. robson . mr. dykes campbell . palmer's boy . dr. neligan . mr. c. hindley . earl of warwick . mr. molini . mr. h. stevens . mr. f. locker-lampson . mr. e. walford] the firm of sotheby, wilkinson and hodge is, by nearly half a century, the _doyen_ of london auctioneers. one hundred and fifty years is a long life for one firm, but sotheby's can claim an unbroken record of that length of time. the founder of the house was samuel baker, who started as a bookseller and book-auctioneer in york street, covent garden, in . at the latter part of his career, baker, who retired in and died in the following year, took into partnership george leigh, and, at a later date, his nephew, john sotheby, whose son samuel also joined the firm. writing in , richard gough observes in reference to leigh: 'this genuine disciple of the _elder sam_ [baker] is still at the head of his profession, assisted by a _younger sam_ [sotheby]; and of the auctioneers of books may not improperly be styled _facile princeps_. his pleasant disposition, his skill, and his integrity are as well known as his famous _snuff-box_, described by mr. dibdin as having a not less imposing air than the remarkable periwig of sir fopling of old, which, according to the piquant note of dr. warburton, usually made its entrance upon the stage in a sedan chair, brought in by two chairmen, with infinite satisfaction to the audience. when a high price book is balancing between £ and £ , it is a fearful sign of its reaching an additional sum if mr. leigh should lay down his hammer and delve into this said crumple-horn-shaped snuff-box.' the style of the firm was for many years leigh, sotheby and son. in - a removal to , strand, opposite catherine street, was made. john sotheby died in , and the name of leigh disappeared from the catalogues in . samuel sotheby removed to the present premises, no. (now ), wellington street, strand, in , not more than a few yards from either of the two former localities. the last of the race, samuel leigh sotheby, joined his father in partnership in , and is well and widely known as a scholar and author of considerable note. in john wilkinson became a partner, and s. l. sotheby died in . the next alteration in the style of the firm was effected in , when the present head and sole member, mr. edward grose hodge, was admitted into partnership. the first sale was the collection of books belonging to thomas pellet, m.d. curiously enough, baker's name does not occur anywhere in connection with this sale on the catalogue thereof. the auction took place in the great room over exeter 'change, and lasted fifteen days, or rather nights, for the sale began at five o'clock in the evening on monday, january , . the octavos, quartos, and folios, of which a selection appeared in each evening's sale, were numbered separately, a process which must have been very confusing, and one which was soon dropped. the first day's sale of lots realized £ s. d., whilst the fifteen nights produced a total of £ s. d. one of the highest prices was paid for mrs. blackwell's 'herbal,' , 'finely coloured and best paper, in blue turkey,' £ . the catalogue of this sale contained the interesting announcement: 'that the publick may be assured this is the genuine collection of dr. pellet, without addition or diminution, the original catalogue may be seen by any gentleman at the place of sale.' in - dr. mead's books occupied fifty days, and produced £ , s. d.; and in forty days devoted to the library of martin folkes yielded no more than £ , odd. in february, , baker sold fielding's library of lots (£ s. d.). gradually more important properties came to hand--the effects of samuel tyssen, , thirty-eight days, £ , s. d.; prince talleyrand (_bibliotheca splendidissima_), , eighteen days, only £ , ; james bindley, , twenty-eight days, £ , s. d.; the dimsdales, , seventeen days, £ , s. of course, very interesting days have been experienced where the financial result was not very striking, as when, in , the firm disposed of the library of the right hon. joseph addison, 'author and secretary of state,' for £ s. d.; and in of that of 'the emperor napoleon buonaparte' (_sic_), removed from st. helena, for £ s. (his tortoiseshell walking-stick bringing £ s.); and, once more, when the drawings of t. rowlandson, the caricaturist, were sold in for £ . the libraries of the marquis of lansdowne, ; the duke of queensberry, ; marquis of townsend, ; count mccarthy, ; h.r.h. the duke of york, ; james boswell, ; g. b. inglis, ; edmond malone, ; joseph ritson, ; john wilkes, ; and a large number of others, came under the hammer at sotheby's from to . but the portions--the first, second, third, ninth, and tenth--of the stupendous heber library, dispersed here in , owing to the prevailing depression, and what dibdin called the _bibliophobia_, nearly ruined the auctioneers. they rallied from the blow, however, and have never suffered any relapse to bad times, whatever account they may be pleased to give of the very piping ones which they have known pretty well ever since , when mr. benjamin heywood bright's important library was entrusted to their care. the secret of this steady and sustained progress is to be found in the general confidence secured by strict commercial integrity. the house receives business, but never solicits it. during the last half century nearly every important library has been sold at sotheby's, including the hamilton palace and beckford, the thorold, the osterley park, the seillière, and the crawford libraries. [illustration: _r. h. evans, book-auctioneer, ._] but from to the most important libraries were almost invariably sold by r. h. evans, who began with the famous roxburghe collection--this sale, it may be mentioned, was held at the duke's house, now occupied by the windham club, , st. james's square--in , and finished with the sixth part of the library of the duke of sussex in . we can only refer to a few of the more important of evans's sales, in addition to the two foregoing: in he sold the fine collection of early-printed books collected by stanesby alchorne, master of the mint, earl spencer having previously bought alchorne's caxtons; in the duke of grafton's library; in - two parts of james bindley's collection; in - the white knights library of the marquis of blandford; in - john broadley's collection of books, which included the celebrated 'bedford missal,' bought by sir john tobin for £ , , and now in the british museum; in edmund burke's books; lord byron's in ; t. f. dibdin's, ; the earl of guilford's, in three parts, - ; the fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and eleventh parts of the heber collection, - ; the books of thomas hill ('paul pry'), ; daniel and samuel lysons, , , ; g. and w. nicol, booksellers, ; colonel stanley, ; sir m. m. sykes, three parts, ; and j. towneley, - , . a complete list of evans's sales is contributed by mr. norgate to _the library_, iii. - . of the auctioneer himself a few details will not be out of place. robert harding evans was the son of thomas evans, a bookseller of the strand, and served his apprenticeship with tom payne at the news gate. leaving here, he succeeded to the business of james edwards, pall mall, and was induced by george nicol to undertake the sale by auction of the duke of roxburghe's library. the experiment was such a success that he became almost exclusively known as an auctioneer, and his business as a bookseller speedily declined. he was an admirable auctioneer, having an excellent memory and a vast fund of information; but he neglected the most important of all matters in commercial life, his ledgers. he had to give up selling books by auction, but restarted as a bookseller in bond street, with his two sons as partners; but his day was over, and here failure again followed him. he died in edwards street, hampstead road, april , , aged eighty. a few other firms of book-auctioneers, although, with one exception, they have ceased to exist, call for mention. sam paterson, than whom no more popular an auctioneer ever wielded a hammer, was, as we have already seen, first a bookseller. sam--we employ the little familiarity by which he was universally known--was born in in the parish of st. paul, covent garden, and lived on till , his death being the result of an accident. he was not only a bookseller, but an author and a traveller, and it was during a tour in holland and flanders that he brought home a large collection of books, which he sold at auction. in , sam prevented the valuable collection of mss. once belonging to sir julius cæsar from being destroyed; they had actually been sold to a cheesemonger as waste-paper for £ . he rescued the whole collection, and drew up a masterly catalogue of it, and when sold by auction the result was £ . for some years he was librarian to the earl of shelburne, afterwards first marquis of lansdowne. sam's great talents at 'cataloguizing' were unrivalled: he compiled those of james west, p.r.s. (whose library he sold at langford's), , the sale lasting twenty-four days, and including a fine series of books printed by caxton, wynkyn de worde, and on old english literature and history, voyages and travels (see p. ); the rev. thomas crofts, forty-three days, in ; topham beauclerk, april , , and following forty-nine days (the collection was dispersed by sam himself 'opposite beaufort buildings, strand'); of the fagel collection, now in trinity college, dublin, , and others. nichols states that the catalogues of the libraries of maffei pinelli, sold in london in fifty-four days, - ; of samuel tyssen, , thirteen days; and of john strange, fifty-six days, , were compiled by the versatile sam. the pinelli catalogue most certainly was not his work, for although he commenced it, he threw it up at a very early stage. the tyssen and strange libraries were sold at sotheby's, for whom sam 'catalogued' for some time. the book-hunter in london will occasionally meet with a copy of the 'bibliotheca universalis selecta' on the stalls for a few pence, and he is strongly recommended to buy this very admirable volume. it is a model catalogue in its way; the contents of this sale (which took place at sam's great room in king street, covent garden, on monday, may , , and the thirty-five following days) are carefully classified, whilst the index extends to nearly seventy pages. the volume is well interspersed with sam's annotations, and the published price of it is s. d. the second condition of sale is extremely interesting; it says, 'no bidder shall advance less than threepence under ten shillings; above ten shillings, sixpence; above one pound, one shilling.' the chief rival of leigh and paterson was thomas king, who from to had a shop in lower moorfields, but who towards the end of moved to king street, covent garden, and set up as an auctioneer. at first it was king and son, but the son, early in the present century, started for himself in tavistock street, when the elder king's son-in-law, lochée, became a partner. the firm existed into the second decade of the present century, and sold many important libraries, notably isaac reed's, in , which lasted thirty-nine days, and included a very extraordinary collection of works relating to the english drama and poetry; dr. richard farmer's, in , lasting thirty-six days; john maddison's, of the foreign department in the post office, , twenty-two days; george steevens's, may , , eleven days; and john horne tooke's, may , , four days. it is scarcely necessary to point out that either of the foregoing remarkable libraries would give 'tone' to the annals of any book-auction house. the collection of the rev. john brand (see p. ), of the society of antiquaries, was sold by stewart, the founder of puttick's, of piccadilly, in - , when , lots realized a total of £ , s.; he also sold the libraries of lord thurlow, of w. bryant, etc. other auctioneers who occasionally sold books during the earlier part of the present century were jeffrey, of pall mall, who in sold dr. benjamin heath's library in thirty-two days, the , lots realizing £ , ; cochrane, of catherine street, who in (twelve days) dispersed an exceedingly interesting library originally formed between and by sir robert gordon, of gordonstoun, one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber of james i. and charles i.; compton, of conduit street, who in - (fifteen days) sold joseph gulston's library; robins, of warwick street; and t. and j. egerton, of scotland yard. [illustration: _john walker, book-auctioneer, ._] mention may be here made of one who for many years occupied an important position in the fraternity. john walker, brother-in-law of the elder george robinson, was the book-auctioneer to the trade, and frequently knocked down from £ , to £ , worth of books in the course of an afternoon. in walker was in partnership with j. fielding, and in early life combined with the book-trade the office of one of the coal-meters of the city of london. he resigned the hammer to william hone about , and died at camberwell in february, . a sketch of his life and a portrait of him appear in the fifth volume of the _wonderful magazine_. [illustration: _staircase at puttick and simpson's._] after sotheby's, the most important of the book-auctioneers of to-day are messrs. puttick and simpson; christie, manson and woods; and hodgson and co. the first-named have since december, , occupied the greater portion of the house in leicester square in which sir joshua reynolds lived throughout his brilliant career, and where he died in . the auction-room was formerly the artist's studio; the office was his dining-room; the upper portion of the house is occupied by mr. h. gray, the topographical bookseller. the place has been altered since the distinguished painter resided there, but in this age of iconoclasm it is pleasant to wander in the passages and rooms where all the wit, beauty, and intellect of the latter part of the last century congregated--where johnson and boswell, burke, garrick, goldsmith and malone met in good fellowship. the founder of the firm was a mr. stewart (see p. ), who started in piccadilly in , and who continued here until about , when he took into partnership benjamin wheatley, who had been at sotheby's, and a son of the printer, adlard; for a while the firm was john and james fletcher, but early in , the two and only partners were mr. puttick and the present mr. william simpson; the former died in , and the business is now in the hands of mr. simpson and his son. the most important sale held at puttick's was that of the sunderland library from blenheim palace, which, commencing on december , , occupied from that date up to march , , fifty-one days, the , lots realizing the gross total of £ , s. on april , , and ten following days, the exceedingly fine topographical library of the earl of gosford was sold at puttick's, the total of the sale being £ , s. d.; the most remarkable item in the sale was a fine large copy of the first volume of the mazarin bible in the original binding, which was knocked down to mr. toovey for £ ; and next in interest to this was a copy of the first folio shakespeare, , measuring - / inches by - / inches, quite perfect, but with the title and verses mounted, and the margins of two leaves slightly mended, and this sold for £ . the extensive library of l. l. hartley (see p. ) was also disposed of at puttick's, - , and realized the total of £ , ; and other important libraries dispersed there during the last half-century include the donnadieu books and mss., - , £ , ; a portion of the libri collection, - , £ , ; dawson turner's books and mss., , £ , ; edward crowinshield's (of boston, n.e.) books and mss., , £ , ; sir edward dering's books and mss., , £ , ; the emperor maximilian's mexican library, , £ , ; john camden hotten's stock, , £ , ; sir edward nichols' (secretary to charles i., whose state papers were sold privately to the british museum) books, , £ ; the library of j. duerdin, consigned from australia, , £ , ; books from william penn's library, , £ , ; the library of señor don jose fernando ramirez, , £ , ; and many others. literary property forms a comparatively small portion of messrs. puttick and simpson's business, a very important part of which consists in the sale and private dispersal of musical property of every description, as well as pictures, prints, porcelain and jewels. the firm of hodgson and co. dates its origin from the twenties of the present century, the late edmund hodgson (who died in may, , aged ) starting in partnership with robert saunders at , fleet street, as an auctioneer of literary property, the premises having been originally the mitre tavern (see p. ). in the interval the place had been christened the 'poets' gallery.' when the property passed into the hands of messrs. hoare, the partnership between saunders and hodgson terminated, and the latter removed to , fleet street, at the corner of chancery lane (on the site now occupied by partridge and cooper), where mr. hodgson remained for many years. the march of improvement again overtook him, and the business was once more removed, this time to its present site at , chancery lane, which was specially erected for the peculiar requirements of a book-auction house. the late mr. hodgson for many years officiated in the rostrum of nearly all the chief trade dinner sales, and literary property to the value of some £ , would frequently be disposed of by him during an evening. his son, the present head of the firm, officiated in a similar capacity for some years, until, in fact, the pleasant custom of trade dinners became almost obsolete. the firm has dispersed, in its time, many important libraries and stocks of books, among which we may specially mention the valuable collection of books of the college of advocates, doctors' commons, london, monday, april , , and seven following days ( , lots); the stocks or superfluous stocks of books of charles knight, owen jones, g. cox, r. bentley, 'standard novels'; bradbury and evans's, april, (eight days); arthur hall, virtue and co., november, ; darton and hodge, , , and ; lionel booth, may, ; day and son, , , and ; sampson low and co., in consequence of the death of sampson low, jun., ; moxon and co., october, , when a four days' sale resulted in over £ , ; cassell and co., in consequence of the removal to belle sauvage yard, september, , five days' sale ( , lots); and very many others. [illustration: _mr. james christie, 'the specious orator.'_ engraved by r. dighton, .] the firm of christie, manson and woods dates its establishment from , but its fame is almost exclusively built upon its picture-sales. during its existence, however, the firm has sold several more or less important libraries, such as those of james edwards, the bookseller, 'the library of a gentleman of distinguished taste,' april, ; rev. l. dutens (four days), february, ; the earl of gainsborough, march, ; the hon. c. f. greville, ; sir william hamilton, c.b., and viscount nelson, ; sir james pulteney (eight days), february, ; the earl of aylesford, ; earl of clarendon, ; c. beckett-denison, ; dr. samuel johnson, ; j. p. knight, r.a., ; earl of liverpool, ; w. macready, ; rev. w. bentinck l. hawkins, in three parts, , and others. ii. the step from book-auctioneers to book-prices is a very easy one to take, but the subject is far less easily disposed of. a book is worth just as much as its vendor can get for it, and no more. rarity is not synonymous with high commercial value. there may be only four copies of a particular book in existence, but if the only three people in the world who want it have provided themselves with a copy each, the fourth example is not worth twopence. we have seen this kind of thing illustrated within the past few years. very small poets are published in very small editions, but nobody buys them, and the books therefore have no market value--in fact, they are superfluous. hundreds of rare books are superfluous. the auction-room is the great leveller of all manner of unmerited fame, and it may be taken, as a general rule, to be an infallible guide. we have but little information concerning the prices paid for second-hand books during the seventeenth century. the retailer's safest possible guide, of course, would be the price at which he acquired a particular book, or, if more than one, by the very simple process of averaging. one of the earliest and fullest illustrations we can cite occurs in connection with some of the prices paid for books for the chetham library of manchester in , and these are curious as well as interesting. thus, holland's 'heröologia,' , a good copy of which now realizes from £ to £ , was purchased for s. purchas's 'his pilgrimes,' - , which now sells at auction, if in good condition, at about £ , was obtained for £ s. dugdale's 'history of st. paul's' cost s., and the same author's 'antiquities of worcestershire,' , £ s. d.; the former now sells at prices varying from £ to £ , and the latter, when in good condition, is not expensive at guineas. in and about several book-sales occurred at or near manchester, when a large number of rare items realized painfully small prices. for instance, the 'treatise concernynge the fruytfull saynges of davyd the kynge and prophete in the seven penytencyall psalms,' , by fisher, bishop of rochester; the 'nova legenda sanctorum angliæ,' , both printed by wynkyn de worde, were purchased together for s. d.! parsons' 'conference about the next succession to the crowne of england,' , cost s.; and the same jesuit's 'treatise of three conversions of england,' - , s. a few months ago these two publications realized close on £ at auction. tyndale's 'practyse of prelates,' , was obtained for s. d.; and his 'briefe declaration of the sacraments,' , for s. d.; the former is now valued at guineas, and the latter at guineas. the english edition of erasmus' 'enchiridion militis christiani,' , cost d., and is now worth perhaps as many pounds. the bargain of the period, however, occurred in connection with sir thomas smyth's treatise 'de republica et administratione anglorum,' ; raleigh's 'prerogative of parliaments' (?) ; and burton's 'protestation protested,' which, together, realized d.! each of these books is now extremely rare. thirteen years after the above-mentioned books changed hands at prices which can now only be described as heartbreaking, the first auction-sale took place. it is noteworthy--as mr. lawler has pointed out--that 'the first libraries which were sold by auction were those of puritan divines who had lived and worked under the commonwealth government; these libraries were consequently composed of books suited to their calling, consisting almost entirely of theological and historical books.' life was too awful a thing with them to indulge in a 'roguish' french novel, a shakespearian play, or one of the many dramatic works which seemed for a time to kill all religious activity. a few of the items dispersed in the first sales will not be without interest. dr. seaman's copy of the _editio princeps_ homer in greek, , sold for s.; the crawford copy realized £ --true, the latter was bound by trautz-bauzonnet. in the former sale a copy of dr. eliot's indian bible sold for s.; if it occurred at auction now it might realize anything from £ to £ . at the restoration everything in the way of books of prayers was discarded, and sold for a few pence; they would now readily sell almost for their weight in gold. there is a startling uniformity about the prices realized for books at the early book-sales, and one feels almost inclined to suppose that our forbears were influenced chiefly by the size of the volumes. it is interesting to note that the great folio editions of the fathers realized in the end of the seventeenth century pretty much the same prices as at the end of the nineteenth, and these, it need hardly be said, are very small indeed. from the sale of the library of sir kenelm digby at the golden lion, in paternoster row, in april, , we get a few highly interesting facts. this sale comprised , lots, and realized the total of £ s. here are a few of the items: £ s. d. Æschylus, stanley, london, ascham's 'toxophilus,' barclay's 'ship of fools,' bible of the douay translation, with the rhenish testament, vols., to., chaucer's works, folio, dugdale's 'monasticon anglicanum,' vols., , etc. fabyan's 'chronicle,' london, hollinshed's 'chronicle,' london, homerus cum comment. eustathii, vols., folio, corio turcico et folio deaur. romæ, milton's 'paradise lost,' london, 'p. plowman's vision,' london, purchas's 'pilgrims and pilgrimage,' vols., - shakespeare's works, london, (second edition) a comparison of the foregoing prices with those which the books would realize to-day will suggest some interesting conclusions; but as the means of doing this are in the hands of everyone, it is not necessary to discuss them here. in the bodleian library there is an exceedingly interesting letter from r. scott, the bookseller, to samuel pepys, dated june , . scott writes: 'having at length procured campion, hanmer and spencer's hist. of ireland, fol. (which i think you formerly desired), i here send itt you, with very scarce bookes besides, viz. pricæi defensio hist. britt. {o} and old harding's chronicle, as alsoe the old ship of fooles in verse by alex. berkley, priest; which last, though nott scarce, yet so very fayre and perfect, that seldome comes such another; the priceus you will find deare, yett i never sold it under s., and att this tyme can have it of a person of quality; butt without flattery, i love to find a rare book for you, and hope shortly to procure for you a perfect's hall's chronicle.' with the books scott sent his statement of account as follows: £ s. d. campion, hanmer and spenser, fol. harding's 'chronicle,' to. 'pricæi defens. hist. brit.' 'shipp of fooles,' fol. -------- whether scott obtained these items at the digby sale or not, we cannot say; it is by no means unlikely, and if so, his desire to do mr. pepys a good turn may be estimated by the fact that he made a profit of s. d. over the last item in the bill, and the profit on the others would doubtless be arranged on a similar scale. the second and the fourth items, however, would be now worth from to guineas. both sir john price's 'historiæ britannicæ,' , and the histories of ireland by hanmer, campion and spenser, , are very rare and very important books, and would not be dear now at as many guineas as scott has charged shillings. book-auctions were not, however, unmixed blessings, and, as a fact, they provoked a good many curses from the poorer collectors. here is one phase which concerns the sale of the library of john bridges,[ :a] the northamptonshire historian, in . this auction is interesting, not so much on account of the books which were knocked down, or of the prices which they realized, but as being the genesis of the knock-out system. we have, fortunately, a very vivid picture of this sale from the pen of humfrey wanley, who wished to obtain some of the items for the library of lord oxford. in his 'diary,' under date february, , we read: 'went to mr. bridges' chamber [no. , lincoln's inn] to see the three fine mss. again, the doctor, his brother, having locked them up. he openly bids for his own books, merely to enhance their price, and the auction proves to be, what i thought it would become, very knavish.' and again: 'yesterday, at five, i met mr. noel, and tarried long with him; we settled then the whole affair touching his bidding for my lord at the roguish sale of mr. bridges' books. the rev. doctor, one of the brothers, hath already displayed himself so remarkably as to be both hated and despised; and a combination amongst the booksellers will soon be against him and his brother the lawyer. they are men of the keenest avarice, and their very looks (according to what i am told) dart out harping irons. i have ordered mr. noel to drop every article in my lord's commission when they shall be hoisted up to too high a price.' we get another interesting view of the subject a year later. hearne, the antiquary, writing to dr. r. rawlinson, the well-known book-collector, november , , observes: 'i wanted much to hear from yourself how matters went in your auctions, and was glad at last to have one [letter], though i am very sorry to find you have had such bad usage, when you act so honourably. but i am too sensible, that booksellers and others are in a combination against you. booksellers have the least pretence of any to act so. your brother (whom i shall always call my friend) did them unspeakable kindness. by his generous way of bidding, and by his constant buying, he raised the value of books incredibly, and there is hardly such another left. the booksellers (who go so much by him) owe him a statue, the least they can do. but instead of that, they neither speak well of him, nor do you (as i verily believe) common justice.' in a letter from benjamin heath, the well-known book-collector, to 'mr. john mann, at the hand in hand fire office in angel court, on snow hill,' dated march , , we get yet another glimpse of some phases of book-auctions in the earlier part of the last century. fletcher gyles, a bookseller of holborn, published a catalogue of a book-auction which he purposed holding at his own place of business. 'mr. gyles,' writes heath, 'has offered himself to act for me, but as i think 'tis too great a trial to his honesty to make him at the same time buyer and seller . . . i have been able to think of no friend i could throw this trouble [of buying certain books] upon but you.' for this service, the collector 'would willingly allow guineas, which, the auction continuing days, is shillings over and above half a crown a day.' the 'auction requires the attendance of the whole day, beginning at eleven in the morning, and ending at two, and at five in the afternoon, and ending at eight.' [illustration: _benjamin heath, book-collector, ._] a chronological account of the book-sales of london would be an important as well as an interesting contribution to the history of literature. but our space is limited, and only the chief features of such a history can be dealt with in this place. if one were asked to name the most famous book in the annals of book-sales, the answer would be at once forthcoming and emphatic--the valdarfer boccaccio, otherwise 'il decamerone di messer giovanni boccaccio,' printed at venice by christopher valdarfer in , and published, it is thought, at about s. in stating that this book is the most famous one, it is almost unnecessary to explain that the roxburghe copy is understood. by what means it got into the hands of a london bookseller (about the middle of the last century) is not known. it is certain, however, that even at that period he knew of its excessive rarity, for he offered it to the two great contemporary book-collectors, lord oxford and lord sunderland, for guineas, an amount which at that time must have 'appeared enormously extravagant.' whilst these two collectors were deliberating, an ancestor of the duke of roxburghe saw and purchased it. shortly after this event the two noble collectors were dining with the duke, and the subject of boccaccio was purposely broached. both lord oxford and lord sunderland began to talk of the particular copy which had been offered them. the duke of roxburghe told them that he thought he could show them a copy of this edition, which they doubted, but, to their mortification, the duke produced the identical copy, over which both realized that he who hesitates is lost. beloe, in relating this anecdote, which was told him by g. nicol, the royal bookseller, predicted that if this copy came under the hammer it would produce 'not much less than £ .' as a matter of fact and of history, at the roxburghe sale in it realized the then huge sum of £ , , the buyer being the marquis of blandford, who, it is said, was prepared to go to £ , . there were three noble candidates for this choice book, the duke of devonshire, earl spencer, and the marquis of blandford, whilst an agent of bonaparte was known to be present. the rev. mr. dibdin has given a very highly-coloured and vivid account of this famous incident in his 'bibliographical decameron,' and we need do no more than refer to the fact that 'the honour of making the first bid was due to a gentleman from shropshire, who seemed almost surprised at his own temerity in offering guineas.' it is a curious commentary on even the fame of rare books that this copy of the valdarfer boccaccio came again into the sale-room in , when the blandford library was sold, and when it became the property of earl spencer for £ . 'i will have it when you are dead,' was the savage retort of a defeated book-lover at an auction sale, and such perhaps was earl spencer's mental determination when his rival carried off the bargain--by waiting seven years he saved £ , , as well as possessing himself of one of the greatest of bibliographical rarities. [illustration: _specimen of type of the mazarin bible._] although far before the valdarfer boccaccio in every point except that of sensationalism, the first printed bible, the biblia latina of gutenberg, , commonly known as the mazarin, has had an exciting history in the way of prices. it is not only the first, but one of the most magnificent books which ever issued from the press. it is not at all a rare book in the usual sense of the word, for there are in existence nineteen copies on paper, and five on vellum, the majority of which are in this country. the most celebrated example of this splendid book is now in the british museum. the earliest record of this is its possession by m. l. j. gaignat, at whose sale in it became the property of count mccarthy for , francs; and from his sale, in paris, in , it passed into mr. grenville's library for , francs--in other words, it had advanced in value in forty-six years from £ to close on £ . it subsequently passed into the british museum. early in the present century, nicol, the king's bookseller, obtained the copy on vellum, formerly in the university of mentz; at his sale in it was bought by h. perkins, the book-collecting brewer (barclay, perkins and co.), for £ , and at the sale of his library it fetched £ , , mr. ellis purchasing it for lord ashburnham. in mr. perkins bought sir m. m. sykes' copy of the same book on paper for £ s., and this copy in fetched £ , . james perry, of the _morning chronicle_, had a copy on paper, which, at his sale in , the duke of sussex purchased for guineas; and this copy, at the duke's sale in , brought £ . the record price for the 'mazarin' bible was not reached until december, , when the syston park library of sir john thorold came under the hammer at sotheby's, and this particular bible on paper sold for £ , to mr. quaritch, or £ more than the practically unique one on vellum. in june, , the earl of crawford's copy, which was not a particularly good one, realized £ , , mr. quaritch having purchased it about thirty years previously for rather more than a quarter of the amount. in yet another copy turned up at sotheby's--it came from the earl of hopetoun's library--and this sold at the same figure. we may also refer here to the second edition of the bible, , but the first printed book with a date. the edwards copy on vellum of this sold in for £ ; in a very fine example was sold for £ ; in the perkins copy, which had cost its owner £ , sold for £ ; and eight years later the sunderland example on vellum for £ , . [illustration: _a corner in the british museum._] the palm of the highest price ever paid for a single book must be awarded to the 'psalmorum codex,' printed, like the last, by fust and schoeffer in . by the side of this the gutenberg bible is a common book, and sir john thorold's example is the only one which has occurred in the market for almost a century. this particular copy realized , francs in the mccarthy sale, and guineas in that of sir m. m. sykes; but at the thorold sale, in , it fetched £ , . of the 'codex' there are only nine copies known, all of which slightly differ from one another. we may also include here a mention of a copy of the balbi 'catholicon'--'summa quæ vocatur catholicon, sive grammatica et linguæ latina'-- , for which sir john thorold paid £ s., and which at his sale fetched £ . the british museum copy of this book belonged to dr. mead, at whose sale it was purchased for £ for the french king; the copy subsequently became the property of west, at whose sale it became george iii.'s for £ s. d. the balbi 'catholicon,' of , is the fourth book printed with a date, and is one of the few indubitable productions of gutenberg's press. it is an indispensable volume in a collection of books printed in the fifteenth century. its literary merit is very considerable, and the london editor of 'stephani thesaurus latinus' has pronounced it the best dictionary for the latin fathers and schoolmen. in addition to the copies just mentioned, a fine example, bound in russia-extra by roger payne, occurred in the wodhull sale, january , , and realized £ . this or a similar copy was priced in quaritch's 'catalogue of the monuments of the early printers,' at £ . the decline in the value of what may be termed ordinary editions of the classics during the present century has unquestionably been very great. even the _editiones principes_ have scarcely maintained their former values; whilst their appearance in the book-market does not call forth anything like the enthusiasm and excitement which at one time prevailed. the askew sale in was the first at which really sensational prices were reached throughout for the first editions of the greek and latin classics. although some of these prices have been exceeded in many cases since that period, it is tantamount to a confession that they have gone down in value when it is stated that the askew prices are as nearly as possible the same at which identical copies are now to be had. as we shall see presently, there are several exceptions to this rule; but these exceptions occur, not because they are the _editiones principes_ of homer or virgil, as the case may be, but because they are the works of some eminent printer. and herein the change is a very striking one. the first edition of every classic has a literary or technical value almost equal to a manuscript, from which, of course, it is directly printed; but the first editions of the classics are not now collected because of their textual value, and not at all unless they are fine examples of typographical skill. the curious vicissitudes of these editions would alone occupy a fairly large volume; but we propose dealing briefly with the subject by comparing the prices at which good copies were sold in and about , when dr. harwood published his useful little 'view of the various editions of the greek and roman classics,' with those at which they may be now acquired. [illustration: _aldus, from a contemporary medal._] beginning with the _editio princeps_ homer, , the fine copy of this edition in the british museum was purchased, dr. harwood tells us, for £ . a 'large, pure, and fine' copy of this exceedingly rare work is now priced at £ , whilst the wodhull copy sold in for £ .[ :a] but whilst this edition has increased enormously in pecuniary value, 'one of the most splendid editions of homer ever delivered to the world'--namely, that of the foulis brothers, glasgow, - --has only doubled its price, or has increased in value from two to four guineas. the very beautifully-printed _editio princeps_ of anacreon, printed in paris by henri stephan, , remains stationary, for its value then, as now, is one guinea. of the aldine first edition of sophocles, , lord lisburne purchased 'a beautiful copy' in for - / guineas; the present value of a similar example would range from to guineas, whilst a slightly imperfect copy sells for about £ . the first edition of euripides, , also printed at the aldine press, has advanced from £ s. to £ s. to guineas, according to the eminence of the binder. a 'most beautiful' copy of the first herodotus, aldus, , realized £ s. in , but cannot now be had for less than twice that amount; whilst an example in a fine derome binding of red morocco extra is priced at guineas. the first aristophanes, likewise from the press of aldus, , shows a slight advance from £ to guineas. the earliest issue of isocrates, , is one of the rarest of the _incunabula_, as it is one of the most beautiful when in perfect condition. the exceedingly fine example in the british museum was bought by the authorities in for £ ; copies may now be had for £ . the first (aldine) edition of plato has advanced in value from guineas to just twice that sum. the very beautiful copy of this _editio princeps_ on vellum, and now in the british museum, was purchased by the museum authorities at dr. askew's sale in for guineas. the commercial value of the very scarce and splendid first edition, in six volumes (aldus, - ), of aristotle, shows a depreciation--from to guineas--although it has realized in comparatively recent years as much as £ . dr. harwood adds to his entry of this book: 'the finest copy of this first edition of aristotle's works, perhaps in europe, is in dr. hunter's museum.' dr. hunter gave £ s. for a 'most beautiful copy of the first edition of theocritus,' aldus, --an edition which also includes hesiod, theognis, phocylides, etc.,--the value of which is now placed at £ . a much more considerable advance is seen in connection with the _editio princeps_ of musæus, , a choice and beautiful book, which is at once the first and rarest production of the aldine press. george iii. gave in guineas for a fine copy, which would now realize twice that amount. an almost equally emphatic advance may be chronicled in connection with the 'anthologia græca,' florence, , printed throughout in capital letters, which, selling for guineas a century and a quarter ago, is now worth nearly double; whilst the sunderland copy in brought £ . the first impressions of diodorus siculus, , and stephanus byzantius, aldus, , are stationary at about £ each, and lucian, florence, , now, as in , sells for £ . passing over a whole host of minor names in the list of greek authors, we may venture upon a few facts in connection with the latin writers. virgil would, of course, come at the head of this list; but the examples which came under dr. harwood's notice have no commercial value indicated. george iii. gave £ s. d. for the very fine copy of the first horace (about ) in dr. askew's sale--a fairly good example is now priced at £ --whilst the first commentated edition of this author, milan, , has advanced from - / guineas to guineas; it is exceedingly rare, particularly the first of the two volumes. the first aldine horace ( ) has gone up from £ s. to £ , and other editions from the same press have about quadrupled in value. of the first edition of ovid's 'opera' ( ) only one copy is known, and the second, bologna, , is scarcely less rare, and certainly not less valuable, than the first. dr. harwood prices a very fine copy at £ s., or about a third of its present value. the first dated edition of valerius maximus was printed by schöffer at mentz in , but is apparently not a very popular book with collectors, for whereas in a beautiful copy was valued at £ , its present price is only £ . a much more popular book, seneca's 'tragoediæ,' printed about , has advanced from - / guineas to £ , or, an exceptionally good copy bound by bedford, £ . although for several centuries one of the most popular of books, some of the earlier editions of pliny's 'historia naturalis' do not keep up their price. the second edition, rome, , which is rarer than the first--issued at venice the year before--may now be had for guineas. the british museum copy of the first edition cost the nation £ in . the edition printed by jenson at venice in is, however, much sought after, for it is a very beautiful book, with a splendidly illuminated border on the first page of the text. the british museum copy cost at dr. askew's sale £ , whilst mr. quaritch quotes an example at £ ; but, then, the latter copy is printed on vellum, which makes all the difference. silius italicus is not by any means an author whose work is at present much studied, but the first edition of his 'opera' ( ) is a book worth mentioning, because for beauty and grace it is unsurpassed by any of the works ever published by the first italian printers, sweynheim and pannartz. the british museum copy cost in £ s. d., whilst it is now worth about £ . the superb copy in the british museum of the _editio princeps_ juvenal and persius (printed at rome about the year ) cost the country guineas; a first-class example is now valued at £ . on the other hand, the aldine edition of martial's 'epigrammata' ( ) has gone up in value from guineas to £ , or even £ s., according to condition. the first edition of justin (printed at venice, ) has declined, for the british museum copy cost guineas in , whilst a fine copy may now be had for guineas. a very different story has to be told with reference to the books and pamphlets produced by the early english printers. until the latter part of the last century, these items were the despised of the scholarly and aristocratic collector. a few antiquaries found them not without interest, but they had only a nominal commercial value. at the sale of dr. francis bernard, at his 'late dwelling house in little britain,' in october, , thirteen caxtons were sold, as follows: £ s. d. 'the boke called cathon,' 'chastising of goddes chyldern' 'doctrinal of sapience,' } 'chastising of goddes chyldern' } 'chronicle of england,' _very old_ 'dictes and sayings of the philosophers,' 'game and playe of the chesse,' 'godefroy of boloyne,' 'historyes of troy,' 'jason and the golden fleece' 'recuyell of the historyes of troye,' another copy 'tullius of olde age' ---------- £ eighty years later, when the library of john ratcliffe[ :a] was sold at christie's (march , ), a collection of upwards of thirty caxtons came under the hammer, and of these we will only quote seven examples: £ s. d. 'chronicles of englande,' fine copy, 'doctrinal of sapience,' 'the boke called cathon,' 'the polytique book, named tullius de senectute,' 'the game and playe of chesse' 'the boke of jason' 'legenda aurea,'[ :a] at the watson taylor and perry sales in , four examples, nearly all fine copies, of caxton's books realized a total of £ s., as follows: £ s. d. 'the life of jason,' - 'the boke called cathon,' 'troylus and creside,' virgil's 'eneidos,' , very fine and perfect [illustration: _the fifty-seven althorp caxtons._] we do not think that the foregoing sets of figures call for any elaborate comment. the present value of each item may be averaged at from £ to £ , but the majority are absolutely unprocurable at any price. the highest sum ever paid for a caxton is £ , , at which amount the only perfect copy known of 'king arthur,' , was knocked down at the sale of the earl of jersey's books in . at the same sale the 'histoires of troy,' _circa_ , realized £ , . in the duke of devonshire gave £ , s. for a copy of this book, for which the duke of roxburghe had paid £ a few years previously. the syston park copy of the 'mirrour of the world,' , sold in for £ ; higden's 'polychronicon, , is valued at £ ; lord selsey's copy of gower's 'confessio amantis,' , sold in for £ ; and lord jersey's, in , for £ . the 'hystorye of kynge blanchardyn and princes eglantyne,' , imperfect, but one of the rarest of this press, realized £ at the mason sale, - , the purchaser being john, duke of roxburghe, at whose sale in june, , lord spencer gave £ s. for it. according to the latter's note in the copy, 'the duke and i had agreed not to oppose one another at the [mason] sale; but after the book was bought, to toss up who should win it; when i lost.' a tract of five leaves, by john russell, 'propositio ad illustriss. principem karoleum ducem burgundie,' etc. (printed probably at bruges, ), of which no other copy is known, was purchased by a bookseller in the west end of london for £ s. he sold it to the duke of marlborough for guineas, and at his sale in earl spencer purchased it for guineas. there are about examples of caxton's books in existence. of these, about one half are in the british museum, the althorp or rylands library ( ), at cambridge, in the bodleian, and in the duke of devonshire's library. of this total thirty-one are unique, and seven exist only in a fragmentary form. the greater number are safely locked up in public or private libraries, and are not likely, under ordinary circumstances, to come into the market. a great quantity of romance has been written respecting caxtons. in scott's 'antiquary,' 'snuffy davy' is stated to have bought a perfect copy of the 'game of chess,' the first book printed in england, for about two groschen, or twopence of our money. this he sold to osborne for £ ; it became dr. askew's property for guineas, and at the askew sale it realized £ , the purchaser being george iii. '"could a copy now occur, lord only knows," ejaculated monkbarns, with a deep sigh and lifted-up hands--"lord only knows what would be its ransom"; and yet it was originally secured, by skill and research, for the easy equivalent of twopence sterling.' it has been repeatedly stated that there is no foundation whatever for this anecdote; but scott himself expressly states in a note that it is literally true, and that david wilson 'was a real personage.' 'snuffy davy' has been identified with clarke, the bookseller of new bond street, whose 'repertorium bibliographicum' is a most valuable book. however that may be, it is certain that the king did not give any such price at any such sale. the king's copy was purchased at west's sale in for £ s. d. at the askew sale the king's purchases did not exceed £ , and the items were almost exclusively editions of the classics. it is certain, however, that caxton's books have experienced many ups and downs. mr. blades tells us of an incident in which he was personally concerned. he happened on a copy of the 'canterbury tales' in a dirty pigeon-hole close to the grate in the vestry of the french protestant church, st. martin's-le-grand; it was fearfully mutilated, and was being used leaf by leaf--a book originally worth £ . [illustration: _from 'game and play of chesse,' by caxton._] caxton's immediate successors met with a fate similar to his own. the most remarkable feature of richard rawlinson's[ :a] library (sold by samuel leigh in ), which contained nearly , volumes, consisted in the large quantity of old english black-letter books, and these, of course, realized absurdly low figures, as the following list testifies: £ s. d. 'the newe testament in english,' 'the ymage of both churches, after the revelation of st. john,' by bale, 'the boke called the pype or toune of perfection,' by richard whytforde, 'the visions of pierce plowman,' 'the creede of pierce plowman,' 'the booke of moses in english,' 'bale's actes of english votaryes,' 'the boke of chivalrie,' by caxton 'the boke of st. albans,' by w. de worde [illustration: _specimen of the type of 'the boke of st. albans.'_] the very high price paid for the 'boke of st. albans' is noteworthy, for nearly all the other items are equally rare. in , a copy of this 'boke' was sold as waste-paper for d., and almost immediately passed into the possession of mr. grenville for £ or guineas. dr. mead's copy--one of the only two known--of 'rhetorica nova fratris laurentii gulielmi de sacra,' printed at st. albans, , sold for s. at the willett sale, in , it brought £ s. [illustration: _specimen page of tyndale's testament, ._] the rarity of the english translations of the bible and new testament arises from just the opposite cause which has operated in making the early productions of the english press so scarce. the latter were for the most part neglected out of existence, whilst the former were literally read out of it. a complete copy of the _editio princeps_ coverdale, , is, we believe, unknown. one illustration will sufficiently indicate the enhanced value of this book, and the illustration may be taken as a general one in respect to this class of book: the perkins copy, which realized £ in , was purchased at the dent sale in for £ s. the more perfect of the only two copies known of tyndale's new testament, first edition, , in the baptists' library at bristol, is of great interest, and well deserving of a mention in this place. it has no title-page. underneath a portrait, pasted to the first leaf, is this inscription: 'hoh maister john murray of sacomb, the works of old time to collect was his pride, till oblivion dreaded his care; regardless of friends intestate he dy'd, so the rooks and the crows were his heir.' [illustration: _john murray, of sacomb, book-hunter._] on the opposite leaf is a printed statement to this effect: 'on tuesday evening ( may, ) at mr. langford's sale of mr. ames's books, a copy of the translation of the new testament by tindall, and supposed to be the only one remaining which escaped the flames, was sold for fourteen guineas and a half. this very book was picked up by one of the late lord oxford's collectors ['john murray' written in the margin], and was esteemed so valuable a purchase by his lordship, that he settled £ a year for life upon the person who procured it. his lordship's library being afterwards purchased by mr. osborne, of gray's inn, he marked it at fifteen shillings, for which price mr. ames bought it.' (john murray died in .) on the other side of the leaf is another note, in manuscript: 'n.b. this choice book was purchased at mr. langford's sale, th may, , by me john white [for £ s. d.], and on the th day of may, , i sold it to the rev. dr. gifford for guineas.' dr. gifford was an assistant librarian at the british museum, and left his library to the use of the baptist society at bristol. before leaving the subject of bibles, we may refer to one of the most interesting events of the book-sale season of , when, at evans's on april , the superb copy of st. jerome's bible, executed by alcuin for charlemagne, came up for sale. commenced about the year , it was not completed till . when it was finished it was sent to rome by his friend and disciple, nathaniel, who presented it to charlemagne on the day of his coronation; it was preserved by that monarch until his death. its subsequent history is full of interest, and would form an entertaining chapter in the adventures of books. after its first owner's death, it is supposed to have been given to the monastery of prum in lorraine by lothaire, the grandson of charlemagne, who became a monk of that monastery. in , this religious house was dissolved, but the monks preserved the manuscript, and carried it to switzerland to the abbey of grandis vallis, near basle, where it reposed till the year , when, on the occupation of the episcopal territory of basle by the french, all the property of the abbey was confiscated and sold, and the manuscript in question came into the possession of m. bennot, from whom, in , it was purchased by m. speyr passavant, who brought it into general notice, and offered it for sale to the french government at the price of , francs; this was declined, when the proprietor knocked off nearly , francs from the original demand, but still without effecting a sale. m. passavant subsequently brought it to england, and offered it to the duke of sussex, who, however, declined it. it was then offered to the british museum for £ , , then for £ , , and at last for £ , , which he declared an 'immense sacrifice.' unsuccessful at every turn, he resolved to submit it to auction, and the precious volume was entrusted to evans. it was knocked down for £ , , but to the proprietor himself. after a further lapse of time, passavant sold the volume to the british museum for £ . this splendid manuscript is a large folio in delicate and beautifully formed minuscule characters, with the beginnings of chapters in fine uncials, written in two columns on the purest vellum. if this magnificent manuscript were now offered for sale, it would probably realize at least £ , . the rise in the value of the first folio shakespeare only dates back for about a century. beloe, writing in , states that he remembers the time when a very fine copy could be purchased for five guineas. he further observes, 'i could once have purchased a superb one for guineas'; and (apparently) this 'superb' example realized guineas at dr. monro's sale in . at the end of the last century it was thought to have realized the 'top' price with guineas. dr. askew had a fine copy of the second folio, which realized at his sale, in , £ s.--it had cost - / guineas at dr. mead's sale--the purchaser being george steevens. in this book charles i. had written these words: 'dum spiro, spero, c. r.,' and sir thomas herbert, to whom the king presented it the night before his execution, had also written: 'ex dono serenissimi regis car. servo suo humiliss. t. herbert.' steevens regarded the amount which he paid for it as 'enormous,' but at his sale it realized guineas, and was purchased for the king's library, and is now, with some other books bought by george iii., at windsor. steevens supposes that the original edition could not have exceeded copies, and that £ was the selling price. its rarity ten or a dozen years after its first appearance may be gauged by the fact that charles i. was obliged to content himself with a copy of the second folio; its rarity at the present moment will be readily comprehended when it is stated that during the past ninety years only five or six irreproachable examples have occurred for sale. the copy for which the duke of roxburghe gave guineas, realized at his sale £ , and passed into the library of the duke of devonshire. the example in the possession of the baroness burdett-coutts is a very fine one; it was formerly george daniel's copy, and realized guineas at his sale in . height makes a great difference in the price of a book of this sort. for example, a good sound example measuring - / inches by inches is worth about £ ; another one measuring - / by - / inches would be worth £ , and perhaps more. dibdin, with his usual prophetic inaccuracy, described the amount (£ s.) at which mr. grenville obtained his copy as 'the highest price ever given, or likely to be given, for the volume.' as a matter of fact, the time must come when it will be no longer possible to obtain a perfect copy of this volume, which to english people is a thousand times more important than the gutenberg bible or the psalmorum codex. the following list is believed to contain all the finest examples known at present: first folio editions of shakespeare, . inches inches high. wide. present possessor. loscombe × sotheby's - / × gardner - / × mr. huth. stowe - / × - / poynder - / × - / ellis - / × - / earl of crawford. quaritch's catalogue - / × thomas grenville - / × - / british museum. holland - / × - / duke of devonshire - / × - / chatsworth. george daniel - / × - / baroness burdett-coutts. beaufoy library × - / locker-lampson × - / rowfant library. gosford (earl of) - / × - / lord vernon - / × - / america. hartley - / × - / john murray × - / albemarle street. thorold - / × - / america. sir robert sydney, } earl of leicester, } with his arms on } sides; original old } - / × - / mr. c. j. toovey. calf, with lettering,} full of rough } leaves } the second, , third, , and fourth, , folios have considerably advanced in value--the second has risen from £ , at which the roxburghe copy was sold in , to nearly £ ; george daniel's copy, of the purest quality from beginning to end, and one of the largest known, sold for £ , but fairly good copies may be had for half that amount. the third folio, which is really the rarest, as most of the impression was destroyed in the great fire of london, has gone up from £ or £ to £ , or even more when the seven doubtful plays have the separate title-page; and the fourth folio from £ to about ten times that amount. but the most remarkable feature in connection with shakespeare, so far as we are just now concerned, is the change which has taken place in the value of the quartos. we give below a tabulated list of first editions, in which this change will be seen at a glance: former recent price. price. £ s. d. £ s. d. 'the merry wives of windsor,' 'much ado about nothing,' { { 'love's labour lost,' 'a midsummer night's dream' { { 'the merchant of venice' { { 'king richard ii.,' ,[ :a] ' henry iv.,' (one leaf ms.) 'henry v.,' ' henry vi.,' 'richard iii.,' 'troilus and cressida,' 'romeo and juliet,' 'hamlet,' 'king lear,' 'othello' ( ), 'pericles,' 'lucrece' 'venus and adonis'[ :b] (malone's copy) 'poems' 'sonnets' { { [illustration: _title-page of the first edition of 'the compleat angler.'_] what is true of the shakespeare quartos and folios is also true in a slightly less accentuated degree of the first editions of the sixteenth and seventeenth century poets and dramatists. dibdin describes a mr. byng as having purchased the only known copy of clement robinson's 'handefull of pleasant delites,' , at a bookstall for d.; at his sale this 'handefull' was sold for guineas to the duke of marlborough, at whose sale, in , it fetched £ s. [illustration: _from the 'pilgrim's progress,' part ii._] puttenham's 'art of english poesie,' , and gascoigne's 'works,' are two other striking illustrations of the increase in the value of old english poetry, although the books themselves are of comparatively minor importance from a literary point of view. isaac reed well remembered when a good copy of either might have been had for s. in the first and second decades of this century the prices had gone up to about £ , but the present values would be nearer £ . spenser's 'faerie queene,' - , early in the century could have been had for £ s.; it now realizes ten times that amount if in fine condition. milton's 'paradise lost' has increased in the same ratio. lovelace's 'lucasta' has risen from guineas to nearly £ . the market value of a first edition of walton's 'compleat angler,' , in was guineas; in this book fetched £ ; it has since realized £ . rarer even than the first walton is the first edition of bunyan's 'pilgrim's progress,' ; southey, writing in , declared that the date of the first publication of this work was at that time unknown, since no copy could be traced. not long after this an example--still in possession of capt. holford, of park lane--turned up, and was valued at £ ; during the last few years four more have been unearthed: three of these are in england, and the other is among the treasures of the lenox library, new york. the commercial value of a copy is probably not much less than of a first walton. although the first edition of the first part of the 'pilgrim's progress' has always been considered so rare, the second part is even rarer; indeed, only three copies are known to exist: one (very imperfect) in the astor library in new york, one in the rylands library, and the other in the hands of a collector in london. till some ten years since the two english copies were not known to exist; they were both bought in one bundle for a few shillings in sotheby's sale-room. the imperfect american one was supposed to be unique till these came to light. goldsmith's 'vicar of wakefield' sixty years ago was 'uncollected'; a quarter of a century ago it sold for £ ; ten years ago it was worth £ ; in a remarkably tall and clean copy, in the original calf as issued, sold at sotheby's for £ . gray's 'elegy,' , sold for £ s. in , and for £ since then. apropos of this 'elegy,' there are only three uncut copies known, and one of these was obtained by mr. augustine birrell, q.c., a few years ago by a stroke of great good luck. he happened to be passing through chancery lane one day, and, having a little time at his disposal, dropped into messrs. hodgson's rooms, where a sale of books was in progress. at the moment of his entry some volumes of quarto tracts were being offered, and taking one of them in his hand, he opened it at random, and saw--a fine uncut copy of the famous 'elegy'! he bought the lot for a few shillings. it may be mentioned that the original manuscript of gray's 'elegy' sold for £ in . such are a few of the excessively rare books, whose appearance in the market is at all times an event in the book-collecting world. partly as an illustration of our forbears' wit, and partly as a list of curious and highly imaginary titles, the following article from the _london magazine_ of september, , is well worth quoting here: '_books selling by auction, at the britannia, near the royal exchange._ _by_ l. funnibus, _auctioneer_. '"gratitude," a poem, in twenty-four cantos, from the original german of lady mary hapsburgh, published at vienna in the year .--"machiavel the second, or murder no sin," from the french of monsieur le diable, printed at paris for le sieur dæmon, in la rue d'enfer, near the louvre.--"cruelty a virtue," a political tract, in two volumes, fine imperial paper, by count soltikoff.--"the joys of sodom," a sermon, preached in the royal chapel at warsaw, by w. hellsatanatius, chaplain to his excellency count bruhl.--"the art of trimming," a political treatise, by the learned van-self, of amsterdam.--"self-preservation," a soliloquy, wrote extempore on an aspen leaf on the plains of minden; found in the pocket of an officer who fell on the first of august.--"the art of flying," by monsieur contades; with a curious frontispiece, representing dismay with eagle's wings, and glory with a pair of crutches, following the french army.--"the reveries of a superannuated genius, on the banks of lake liman, near geneva," by m. voltaire.--"the spirit of lying," from "l'esprit menteur" of monsieur maubert.--"political arithmetic," by the same author; in which is proved to demonstration that two is more than five, and that three is less than one.--"the knotty question discussed," wherein is proved that under certain circumstances, wrong is right, and right is wrong, by a casuist of the sorbonne.--"a new plan of the english possessions in america," with the limits _properly_ settled, by jeffery amherst, geographer to his britannick majesty.--"the theory of sea-fighting reduced to practice," by e. boscawen, mariner.--"a treatise on the construction of bridges," by i. will, and i. willnot, architects, near the black-friars, at louvain.--"the spirit of treaties," a very curious tract, in which is fairly proved, that absolute monarchs have a right to explain them in their own sense, and that limited princes are tied down to a strict observance of the letter.--"the conquest of hanover by the french, in the year ," a tragi-comic farce, by a french officer.--"a letter of consolation from the jesuits in the shades, to their afflicted brethren at lisbon," the second edition.--"the fall of fisher," an excellent new ballad, by ---- harvey, esq.--"the travels of a marshal of france, from the weser to the mayne"; shewing how he and , of his companions miraculously escaped from the hands of the savage germans and english; and how, after inexpressible difficulties, several hundreds of them got safe to their own country. interspersed with several curious anecdotes of rapes, murders, and other french gallantries; by p. l. c., a benedictine monk, of the order of saint bartholomew.' [illustration] footnotes: [ :a] cooper's hammer was of boxwood. millington applies to his own the homeric line, +deinê de klangê genet' argnreoio bioio+, which anyone is quite at liberty to believe. james christie's original hammer is still in the possession of the firm; samuel baker's belongs to mr. h. b. wheatley. [ :a] in millington was selling the library of the deceased lord anglesey. putting up a copy of 'eikon basilike,' there were but few bidders, and those very low in their biddings. casually turning over the pages before bringing the hammer on the rostrum, he read, with evident surprise, the following note in lord anglesey's own handwriting: 'king charles the second and the duke of york did both (in the last session of parliament, , when i showed them, in the lords' house, the written copy of this book, wherein are some corrections, written with the late king charles the first's own hand) assure me that this was none of the said king's compiling, but made by dr. gauden, bishop of exeter; which i here insert for the understanding of others on this point, by attesting so much under my own hand.--anglesey.' [ :a] there were , lots in this sale, the total of which was £ , . the catalogue has a very curious engraved frontispiece of an oak-tree felled, and persons bearing away branches, with a greek motto signifying that, the oak being felled, every man gets wood. [ :a] this particular copy is regarded as the finest ever sold at auction; it is bound in blue morocco by derome, and cost mr. wodhull guineas in august, . [ :a] john ratcliffe, who died in , lived in east lane, bermondsey, and followed the prosaic calling of a chandler. he collected caxtons and the works of other early english printers with great diligence and judgment for nearly thirty years. many of these appear to have been brought to him as wastepaper, to be purchased at so much per pound. an interesting account of this very remarkable man is given in nichols' 'literary anecdotes,' iii., , . [ :a] the original or caxton's price for this book was about s. or s. per copy. [ :a] the title-page of the catalogue contained the following whimsical motto from ebulus: +kai gar o taôs dia to spanion thaumazetai.+ (the peacock is admired on account of its rarity.) hearne speaks of richard rawlinson as 'vir antiquis moribus ornatus, perque eam viam euns, quæ ad immortalem gloriam ducit.' [ :a] the first edition of this play, , sold in for £ s.; it is the only copy known. [ :b] thomas jolley picked up a volume which contained a first edition of both 'venus and adonis' and the 'sonnets,' for less than s. d. in lancashire! the former alone realised £ in , and is now in the grenville collection, british museum. the copy of the former in the above list was purchased at baron bolland's sale in for £ ; at bright's sale for £ s., when it became daniel's. the 'sonnets,' also daniel's copy, had belonged to narcissus luttrell, who gave s. for it. [illustration] bookstalls and bookstalling. of the numerous ways and means of acquiring books open to the book-hunter in london, there is none more pleasant or popular than that of bookstalling. to the man with small means, and to the man with no means at all, the pastime is a very fascinating one. east, west, north, and south, there is, at all times and in all seasons, plenty of good hunting-ground for the sportsman, although the inveterate hunter will encounter a surfeit of barmecides' feasts. nearly every book-hunter has been more or less of a bookstaller, and the custom is more than tinctured with the odour of respectability by the fact that roxburghe's famous duke, lord macaulay the historian, and mr. gladstone the omnivorous, have been inveterate grubbers among the bookstalls. macaulay was not very communicative to booksellers, and when any of them would hold up a book, although at the other end of the shop, he could tell by the cover, or by intuition, what it was all about, and would say 'no,' or 'i have it already.' leigh hunt was a bookstaller, for he says: 'nothing delights us more than to overhaul some dingy tome and read a chapter gratuitously. occasionally, when we have opened some very attractive old book, we have stood reading for hours at the stall, lost in a brown study and worldly forgetfulness, and should probably have read on to the end of the last chapter, had not the vendor of published wisdom offered, in a satirically polite way, to bring us out a chair. "take a chair, sir; you must be tired."' the first lord lytton had a fancy for these plebeian book-marts; whilst southey had a mania for them almost: he could not pass one without 'just running his eye over for _one_ minute, even if the coach which was to take him to see coleridge at hampstead was within the time of starting.' the extreme variety of the bookstall is its great attraction, and the chances of netting a rare or interesting book lie, perhaps, not so much in the variety of books displayed as in their general shabbiness. ten years ago an english journalist picked up a copy of the first edition of mrs. glasse's 'art of cookery,' in the new kent road, for a few pence. it is no longer a shabby folio, but, superbly bound, it was sold with mr. sala's books, july , , for £ . a not too respectable copy of charles lamb's privately-printed volume, 'the beauty and the beast,' was secured for a few pence, its market-value being something like £ . a copy of sir walter scott's 'vision of don roderick,' , first edition, in the original boards, was purchased, by mr. j. h. slater, in farringdon road, in january, , for d.--not a great catch, perhaps, but it is one of the rarest of scott's works; and as the originals of this prolific author are rapidly rising in the market, there is no knowing what it may be worth in the immediate future. here is a curious illustration of the manner in which a 'find' is literally picked up. a man who sells books from a barrow in the streets was wheeling it on the way to open for the day, and passed close to a bookseller's assistant who was on his way to work. as the man passed, a small volume fell off into the road, which the assistant kindly picked up, with the intention of replacing it on the barrow. before doing so, however, he looked at the volume. one glance was enough. 'here, what do you want for this?' he asked. the dealer, taking a casual glance at the volume, said: 'oh, thruppence, i suppose, will do.' the money was paid, and the assistant departed with the prize, which was a rare volume by increase mather, printed in at boston, u.s.a., and worth from £ to £ . a copy of fuller's first work, and the only volume of poetry published by that quaint writer, the excessively rare 'david's hainous sinne,' , was bought a few years ago for eighteenpence, probably worth half as many pounds. the coincidences of the bookstall are sometimes very remarkable. mr. g. l. gomme relates one which is well worth recording, and we give it in his own words: 'my friend, mr. james britten, the well-known plant-lore scholar, has been collecting for some years the set of twenty-four volumes of that curious annual, _time's telescope_. he had two duplicates for and , and these he gave to me. one day last january i was engaged to dine with him, and in the middle of the _same_ day i passed a second-hand bookshop, and picked out from the sixpenny box a volume of _time's telescope_ for . in the evening i showed my treasure with great contentment to my friend, expecting congratulations. but, to my surprise and discomfiture, a mysterious look passed over his face, then followed a quick migration to his bookshelves, then a loud hurrah, and an explanation that this very "find" of mine was the _one_ volume he wanted to complete his set, the one volume he had been in search of for some time.' another book-collector picked out of a rubbish-heap on a country bookseller's floor a little old book of poetry with the signature of 'a. pope.' subsequently he found a manuscript note in a book on the shelves of a public library referring to this very copy, which, the writer of the note stated, had been given him by the poet pope. the late cornelius walford related an interesting incident, the 'only one of any special significance which has occurred to me during thirty-five years of industrious book-hunting': 'when living at enfield, i used generally to walk to the temple by way of finsbury, moorgate, cheapside, and fleet street. every bookshop on the way i was familiar with. on one occasion i thought i would vary the route by way of long lane and smithfield (as, indeed, i had occasionally done before). i was at the time sadly in want of a copy of "weskett on insurances," , a folio work of some pages. i had searched and inquired for it for years; no bookseller had ever seen it. i had visited every bookshop in dublin, in the hope of finding a copy of the pirated (octavo) edition printed there; and but for having seen a copy in a public library, should have come to the conclusion that the book never existed. some temporary sheds had been erected over the metropolitan railway in long lane. one, devoted to a meagre stock of old books, _was opened that morning_. the first book i saw on the rough shelves was weskett, original edition, price a few shillings. i need hardly say i carried it away. . . . i have never seen or heard of another of the original edition exposed or reported for sale.' [illustration: _cornelius walford, book-collector._] mr. shandy _père_ was a bookstaller also, and if bruscambille's 'prologue upon long noses,' even when obtainable 'almost for nothing,' would fail to excite in every collector the enthusiasm experienced by mr. shandy, we can at all events sympathize with him. '"there are not three bruscambilles in christendom," said the stall-man, who, like many stall-men of to-day, did not hesitate to make a leap in the dark, "except what are chained up in the libraries of the curious." my father flung down the money as quick as lightning, took bruscambille into his bosom, hied home from piccadilly to coleman street with it, as he would have hied home with a treasure, without taking his hand once off from bruscambille all the way.' [illustration: _the south side of holywell street._] we have already seen that there were bookstalls as well as bookshops in and about the neighbourhood of little britain during the latter part of the seventeenth century. there were bookstalls or booths also in st. paul's churchyard long before this period; but books had scarcely become old in the time of shakespeare, so that doubtless the volumes which were to be had within the shadow of the cathedral were new ones. booksellers gradually migrated from the heart of london to a more westerly direction. the bookstall followed, not so much as a matter of course as because there was no room for it; land became extremely valuable, and narrow streets, which are also crowded, are not a congenial soil for the book-barrow. the strand and holborn and fleet street districts, both highways and byways, became a favourite spot for the book-barrow during the last century, and remained such up to quite modern times--until, indeed, the iconoclastic wave of improvements swept everything before it. holywell street still remains intact. [illustration: _exeter 'change in ._] one of the most famous bookstalling localities during the last century was exeter 'change, in the strand, which occupied a large area of the roadway between the present lyceum theatre and exeter street, and has long since given place to burleigh street. the place was built towards the end of the seventeenth century, and the shops were at first occupied by sempsters, milliners, hosiers, and so forth. the place appears to have greatly degenerated, and soon included bookstalls among the standings of miscellaneous dealers. writing on january , , robert bloomfield observes: 'last night, in passing through exeter 'change, i stopt at a bookstall, and observed "the farmer's boy" laying there for sale, and the new book too, marked with very large writing, bloomfield's "rural tales": a young man took it up, and i observed he read the whole through, and perhaps little thought that the author stood at his elbow.' this locality was also a famous one for 'pamphlet shops.' 'sold at the pamphlet shops of london and westminster' is an imprint commonly seen on title-pages up to the middle of the last century. in addition to shops and stalls, book-auctions were also held here. the curious and valuable library of dr. thomas pellet, fellow of the college of physicians, and of the royal society, was sold 'in the great room over exeter 'change,' during january, , beginning at p.m. (see p. ). [illustration: _a barrow in whitechapel._] early in the eighteenth century, the third earl of shaftesbury, in his 'miscellaneous reflections,' , refers to notable philosophers and divines 'who can be contented to make sport, and write in learned billingsgate, to divert the coffeehouse, and entertain the assemblys at booksellers' shops, or the more airy stalls of inferior book-retailers.' bookstalls or barrows have been for nearly a century a feature of the east end of london, more particularly of whitechapel road and shoreditch. the numbers of barrows have increased, but the locality is practically the same. many useful libraries have been formed from off these stalls, and many very good bargains secured. excellent collections may still be formed from them, but the chances of a noteworthy 'find' are indeed small. the book-hunter who goes to either of these places with the idea of bagging a whole bundle of rarities is likely to come away disappointed; but if he is in a buying humour the chances are ten to one in favour of his getting a good many useful books at very moderate figures. we have heard of a man who picked up a complete set of first editions of mrs. browning in shoreditch, but no one ever seems to have met that lucky individual; and as the story is retailed chiefly by the owner of the barrow from which they were said to have been rescued--the said owner apparently not in the least minding the inevitable conclusion at which the listener will arrive--the story is not repeated as authentic. one of the last things which has come out of shoreditch lately is a copy of the first edition of gwillim's 'display of heraldry' ( ), in excellent condition, and which was purchased for a few pence. an east end book-hunter tells us that, among other rarities which he has rescued from stalls and cellars in that district, are a first folio ben jonson; a copy of the froben seneca ( ), with its fine bordered title-page, by urs graf; an early edition of montaigne, with a curious frontispiece; the copy of the _editio princeps_ statius ( ), which was purchased by mr. quaritch at the sunderland sale; one or two plantins, in spotless splendour; henry stephens' herodotus, a book as beautiful as it is now valueless, but of which a copy is kept in a showcase at south kensington, and others, all at merely nominal prices. many first-class libraries were formed by these _frequentationes orientales_. it is a great pity that macaulay, for example, has not left on record a few of the very remarkable incidents which came under his observation during these pilgrimages. the late mr. w. j. thoms contributed a few of his to the _nineteenth century_ thirteen years ago. one of mr. thoms' most striking 'east end' book-hunting anecdotes relates to a defoe tract. when a collected edition of defoe's works was contemplated some forty years ago, it was determined that the various pieces inserted in it should be reprinted from the editions of them superintended by defoe himself. 'there was one tract which the editor had failed to find at the british museum or any other public library, and which he had sought in vain for in "the row" or any bookseller's within reach of ordinary west end mortals. somebody suggested that he should make a pilgrimage to old street, st. luke's, and perhaps brown might have a copy. old brown, as he was familiarly called, had a great knowledge of books and book-rarities, although perhaps he was more widely known for the extensive stock of manuscript sermons which he kept indexed according to texts, and which he was ready to lend or sell as his customers desired. . . . the editor inquired of brown whether he had a copy of defoe's tract. "no," said brown; "i have not, and i don't know where you are likely to find one. but if you do meet with one, you will have to pay pretty handsomely for it." "i am prepared to pay a fair price for it," said the would-be customer, and left the shop. now, old brown had a "sixpenny box" outside the door, and he had such a keen eye to business that i believe, if there was a box in london which would bear out leigh hunt's statement [that no one had ever found anything worth having in the sixpenny box at a bookstall], it was that box in old street. but as the customer left the shop his eye fell on the box, he turned over the rubbish in it, and at last selected a volume. "i'll pay you for this out of the box." "thank you, sir," said brown, taking the proffered sixpence. "but, by-the-by, what is it?" "it is _a_ tract by defoe," was the answer, to old brown's chagrin. for it was the very work of which the purchaser was in search.' in the way of antiquity doubtless the new cut--as what was once lambeth marsh is now termed--comes next to the two east end localities above mentioned as a bookstall locality. the place has certainly been a book-emporium for at least half a century. mr. g. a. sala declares that he has purchased for an old song many of his rarest books in this congested and unsavoury locality where robert buchanan and his ill-fated friend, david gray, shared a bankrupt garret on their first coming up to london from scotland. the present writer has picked up some rare and curious books in that locality during the past ten years, and others have doubtless done the same. not so very long ago a volume with the autograph of drayton was secured for one penny, certainly not an extravagant price. [illustration: _a book-barrow in farringdon road._] for some years farringdon road has enjoyed the distinction of being the best locality in london for bookstalling. its stalls are far more numerous, and the quality of the books here exposed for sale is of a much higher class, than those which are to be met with in other places. there are between thirty and forty bookstalls or barrows here, and the place has what we may describe as a bibliopolic history, which goes back for a period of twenty years. the first person to start in the bookselling line was a coster of the name of roberts, who died somewhat suddenly either in december of or early in january of the present year. roberts appears to have been a fairly successful man at the trade, and had a fairly good knowledge of cheap books. the _doyen_ of the farringdon road bibliopoles is named dabbs--a very intelligent man, who started first in the hot-chestnut line. mr. dabbs has generally a fairly good stock of books, which varies between one and two thousand volumes, a selection of which are daily displayed on four or five barrows, and varying from two a penny ('you must take two') up to higher-priced volumes. curiously enough, he finds that theological books pay the best, and it is of this class that his stock chiefly consists. just as book-hunters have many 'finds' to gloat over, so perhaps booksellers have to bewail the many rarities which they have let slip through their fingers. it would be more than could be expected of human nature, as it is at present constituted, to expect booksellers to make a clean or even qualified confession in this respect. our friend dabbs, however, is not of this hypersensitive type, and he relates, with a certain amount of grim humour, that his greatest lost opportunity was the selling of a book for s. d. which a few days afterwards was sold in paris for £ . he consoles himself with the reflection that at all events _he_ made a fair profit out of this book. if we could all be as philosophical as this intelligent book-barrow-keeper, doubtless the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune would impress fewer wrinkles on our brows, and help us to think kindly of the friends who put us 'up' to good things in the way of gold-mines and generously left us to pay the piper. [illustration: _a few types in farringdon road._] however picturesque may be the calling of the bookstall-keeper to the person who experiences a fiendish delight in getting a d. book out of him for - / d., the calling is on the whole a very hard one. exposed to all weathers, these men have a veritable struggle for existence. their actual profits rarely exceed s. or £ weekly. they vary greatly, of course, according to weather, and a wet saturday makes a very material difference to their takings. many weeks throughout the year these takings do not average more than s. or s. we have made inquiries among most of the bookstall-keepers in the metropolis, and the above facts can be depended upon. when these men happen upon a rare book, they nearly invariably sell it to one of the better-class booksellers. by this means they make an immediate profit and effect a ready sale. there is beyond this a numerous class of what may be described as 'book-ghouls,' or men who make it a business to haunt the cheap bookstalls and bag the better-class or more saleable books and hawk them around to the shops, and so make a few shillings on which to support a precarious existence, in which beer and tobacco are the sole delights. we once met a man who did a roaring trade of this description, chiefly with the british museum. he took notes of every book that struck him as being curious or out of the way, and those which he discovered to be absent from the museum he would at once purchase. he was great in the matter of editions, such as pope, junius, coleridge, and so forth. the museum is naturally lacking in hundreds of editions of english authors; but as these editions, almost without exception, possess no literary value, their presence (or absence) was not a matter of importance. for some months the 'collector' referred to inundated the museum with these unimportant editions. our friend discovered that the museum authorities, ignoring the prices which he placed on his wares, would only have them at their own figures--which showed a curious similarity to those at which the vendor had obtained them--and this, coupled with the fact that they refused to purchase many of the items offered at any price, led him to the conclusion that he was serving his country at too cheap a rate. it is scarcely necessary to add that he is now following a vocation which, if less agreeable, is certainly more profitable to himself. occasionally one of these professional bookstallers blossoms into a shopkeeper in some court or alley off holborn; but more generally they are too far gone in drink and dilapidation to get out of the rut. one of the most curious characters who ever owned a bookstall was henry lemoine, the son of a french huguenot. he was born in , and for many years kept a stall in bishopsgate churchyard. he wrote many books, and did much hack-work for various publishers, chiefly in the way of translations from the french. he gave up shopkeeping in , and became a pedestrian bookseller or colporteur of pamphlets. in he again set up a small stand of books in parliament street, and died in april, . he might have achieved success, and become a respectable member of society, but his great failing was an all-consuming thirst. [illustration: _henry lemoine, author and bookseller._] writing over forty years ago in 'london labour and the london poor,' , henry mayhew remarked: 'there has been a change, and in some respects a considerable change, in the character or class of books sold at the street stalls, within the last forty or fifty years, as i have ascertained from the most experienced men in the trade. now sermons, or rather the works of the old divines, are rarely seen at these stalls, or if seen, rarely purchased. black-letter editions are very unfrequent at street bookstalls, and it is twenty times more difficult, i am assured, for street-sellers to pick up anything really rare and curious, than it was in the early part of the century. one reason assigned for this change by an intelligent street-seller was, that black-letter or any ancient works were almost all purchased by the second-hand booksellers, who have shops and issue catalogues, as they have a prompt sale for them whenever they pick them up at book-auctions or elsewhere.' as we have already pointed out, the same rule which obtained forty years ago applies with equal force to-day, and in the chief instances in which we have met with books well known to be rare, on bookstalls, their condition has been so bad as to render them valueless, except, perhaps, for the purpose of helping to complete imperfect copies. at one time the bookstall-keepers had fairly good opportunities of making a haul of a few rare books--that was when they were called in to clear out offices and old houses. as the world has grown wiser in respect to books as well as other things, executors, legatees, and so forth, have acquired unreasonable views as to the value of old books, and everything in the shape of a volume is sent to the regular book-auctioneers. when it is remembered that practically all the books which now occur on the various bookstalls of the metropolis are purchased under the hammer at hodgson's, the chances of obtaining anything rare are reduced to a minimum. these books are the refuse of the various bookshops, after, perhaps, having passed from one shop to another for several years without finding a purchaser outside the trade. at hodgson's, of course, these books find their level, after repeated appearances; they are here sold, not quite by the cartload, but certainly in lots sufficiently large to fill a moderate sized wheelbarrow. the tastes of the bookbuying public are so infinite that there would seem to be a sale, at some time or another, for every species of printed matter; but the habitual haunter of the bookstalls meets with the same water-soaked dog-eared volumes month after month, and year after year, so that he is forced to the conclusion that the right purchaser has not yet come along. these volumes appeal to the bookbuyer with a piteousness which is scarcely less than positively human. in the words of george peele, written over three centuries ago, these books seem to say, 'buy, read and judge, the price do not grudge; it will give thee more pleasure than twice as much treasure;' but no one seems to take the hint. samuel foote, in 'the author,' makes vamp say: 'books are like women, master cape; to strike they must be well dressed; fine feathers make fine birds: a good paper, an elegant type, a handsome motto, and a catching title, has drove many a dull treatise through three editions.' these adventitious aids may still possess a potent influence in selling a new book even to-day, but they have little effect on the sale of the books which gravitate towards the book-barrow. the bookstall-keeper, it is true, has no rent to pay, except for the hire of his barrow, which amounts to one shilling per week each. even this small charge is a considerable item where a man hires two or three barrows and does scarcely any trade. then he has to pay someone to look after his goods during his absence. further than this, the barrow-man has to pay cash down before he removes his purchase from the sale-room. on the other hand he gives no credit. the bookseller who enjoys the luxury of a shop, gets credit from the auctioneer, and gives credit to his customers. he has to put as large a margin of profit as possible on his books, and an average of sixpence each has to be added to the original cost of every item catalogued. the bookstall-man is, naturally, handicapped in many ways, and if he finds the sweepings of his more aristocratic _confrères'_ shops a long time on his hands, he, at all events, makes as large a profit with much fewer liabilities. we have referred to hodgson's as the centre from which nearly all the bookstalls are supplied. occasionally, however, the barrow-man buys at sotheby's, and frequently so at puttick and simpson's. sometimes the more adventurous spirits attend auctions in private houses in the suburbs, and occasionally those held a few miles out of town. these expeditions are more often than not 'arranged,' and usually resolve themselves into 'knock-outs.' it is a by no means unknown contingency for two or three men to purchase, against all comers, the entire lot of books at figures which invariably put the auctioneer into an exceedingly good humour; neither is it an unknown event for these men to decamp without the books, and also without leaving their addresses or deposit! such tricks, however, are not the work of the tradesmen who have a _locus standi_, but of the better class of book-jackals, who, failing to get the books for next to nothing, outbid everyone else, and leave the auctioneer to get out of the dilemma as he best can. [illustration: _the late edmund hodgson, book-auctioneer._] for many years the weekly cattle-market at islington has been a happy hunting-ground of the bookstall-keeper. books are among the hundred and one articles which are brought from every conceivable source, and many very good things have doubtless been picked up here. but it is always the early prowler who gets the rarities--the man who gets there at eight or nine o'clock in the morning. there is very little but absolute rubbish left for the post-prandial visitor. a few inveterate book-hunters have journeyed thither at various times and in a spasmodic manner, but the hope of anything worth having has usually turned out to be a vain one: they have always been anticipated. between the more ambitious shop and the nondescript bookstall, there is a class or species of bookseller who deserves a niche in this place. we refer to men like purcell, in red lion passage, red lion square, holborn, who are almost as much printsellers as booksellers. they make one book by destroying many others. grangerizing is the proper name of this practice; but as the rev. mr. granger has been productive of more curses than a dozen john bagfords--an evil genius of the same type--the process is now termed extra-illustrating. however much one may denounce the whole system, it is impossible, whatever a particular book-hunter's idiosyncrasy may be, not to feel interested in some of the collections which these enterprising and ruthless biblioclasts manage to get together. mr. purcell is an adept at this game, of which, doubtless, mr. f. harvey, of st. james's street, is one of the most clever, as he is certainly the most eminent of professors. mr. purcell's collection of prints, engravings, press-cuttings, and so forth, cover an extraordinarily wide field. in fifty cases out of a hundred, booksellers who make grangerizing a speciality find it pays far better to break up an illustrated book than to sell it intact. when they purchase a book, it is obviously their own property, to preserve or destroy, as they find most agreeable. personally, we regard the system as in many ways a pernicious one, but it is one upon which a vast amount of cant has been wasted. but bookshops and stalls are obviously not the only places at which bargains in books are likely to be secured, as the following anecdote would seem to prove: 'a writer and reader well versed in the works of the minor english writers recently entered a newspaper-shop at the east end and purchased a pennyworth of snuff. when he got home he found that the titillating substance was wrapped in a leaf of sir thomas elyot's black-letter book, "the castell of helth." the next day the purchaser went in hot haste to the shop and made a bid for the remainder of the volume. "you are too late, sir," spoke the shopkeeper. "after you had gone last night, a liter_airy_ gent as lives round the corner gave me two bob for the book. there was only one leaf torn out, which you got. the book was picked up at a stall for a penny by my son." the purchaser of the pennyworth at once produced the leaf, with instructions for it to be handed to his forestaller in the purchase of the volume, together with his name and address; and next day he received a courteous note of thanks from the "liter_airy_ gent" aforesaid.' nothing is so uncertain as one's luck in book-hunting, but, without entirely discrediting the foregoing story, we can only say that it is an old friend with a new face. we have heard the same thing before. not so very long ago, a certain bookseller thought he had at last got a prize; it was one of the rarest shakespeare quartos, and worth close on £ . he had purchased it among a lot of other dirty pamphlets. he looked the matter up, and everything seemed to point to the fact that his copy was genuine in every respect--a most uncommon stroke of luck indeed. the precious quarto was in due course sent to puttick's, and the modest reserve of £ was placed upon it. the quarto was genuine in every respect, but it was a _facsimile_! it may be taken for granted that genuine shakespeare quartos do not occur on bookstalls, and even a rare americana tract only occurs in the wildest dreams of the book-hunter. nevertheless, 'finds' of more or less interest continue to be made by keen book-hunters. dr. garnett tells how a tradesman at oswestry had in his possession books to which he attached no importance, but which, a lady informed him, must be very rare. they were submitted to the authorities of the british museum, who gave a high price for them. one was sir anthony sherley's 'wits new dyall,' published in , of which only one other copy is known to be in existence. as a rule, offers of rare books come from booksellers, who do not always say how they become possessed of them. among the private people who offer books to the museum for sale are a large proportion who think that a book must necessarily be rare because it is a hundred years old or more. before the great catalogue was made, finds were occasionally made in the museum itself, and even now a volume will occasionally be found which has special interest and value on account of its binding. in other cases a book will be found to be in a binding made up of leaves of some rare work far more valuable than the book itself. [illustration] [illustration] some book-hunting localities. little britain and moorfields. there are few more attractive phases in the history of book-hunting in london than that of localities. up to nearly the end of the last century, these localities were for the most part, and for close on years, confined to within a narrow area. with the rapid expansion of london north, east, south, and west, the 'trade' has not only expanded, but its representatives have sprung up in every district, whilst many of the older ones have forsaken the limits of the city, and pitched their tents in greater london. for centuries bookselling and publishing flourished side by side in st. paul's churchyard, fleet street, and their immediate neighbourhoods. [illustration: _st. paul's churchyard, . from the crace collection._] of all the old bookselling localities close to the heart of london, none were more famous than little britain and moorfields. three years before the great fire of london--in --sorbière, in his 'journey to england,' made the following observation: 'i am not to forget the vast number of booksellers' shops i have observed in london: for besides those who are set up here and there in the city, they have their particular quarters, such as st. paul's churchyard and little britain, where there is twice as many as in the rue saint jacque in paris, and who have each of them two or three warehouses.' the bookselling zenith of little britain was attained in the seventeenth century; it may almost be said to have commenced with the reign of charles i., and to have begun a sort of retrogression with the hanoverian succession. but there were printers and booksellers here at the latter part of the sixteenth century. from a newspaper published in this district in , we learn that no less than pamphlets were published here during four years. it was a sort of seventeenth-century combination of the paternoster row and fleet street of the present day. it is the place where, according to a widely circulated statement, first made in richardson's 'remarks on paradise lost,' , an earl of dorset accidentally discovered, when on a book-hunt in , a work hitherto unknown to him, entitled 'paradise lost.' he is said to have bought a copy, and the bookseller begged him to recommend it to his friends, as the copies lay on his hand like so much wastepaper. the noble earl showed his copy to dryden, who is reported to have exclaimed: 'this man cuts us all out, and the ancients too.' though this anecdote may be apocryphal, certain it is the poem is in a way connected with the neighbourhood, inasmuch as simmons' shop was in aldersgate street. in addition to this fact, richardson also tells us that milton lodged for some time in little britain with millington, the famous book-auctioneer, who had then quitted the rostrum and followed the more peaceful vocation of a dealer in old books. roger north, in his 'life of the right hon. francis north,' has an oft-quoted reference to little britain. from this interesting account we learn that during the latter part of the seventeenth century it was a plentiful and perpetual emporium of learned authors, and that men went thither as to a market. the trade of the place was, in consequence, an important one, the shops being large, and much resorted to by literary personages, wits, men-about-town, and fashionable notabilities generally. the booksellers then were men of intellect. but referring, by way of contrast, to the place during the earlier half of the eighteenth century, he laments that 'this emporium is vanished, and the trade contracted into the hands of two or three persons, who, to make good their monopoly, ransack, not only their neighbours of the trade that are scattered about the town, but all over england, ay, and beyond sea, too, and send abroad their circulators, and in this manner get into their hands all that is valuable. the rest of the trade are content to take their refuse, with which, and the fresh scum of the press, they furnish one side of the shop, which serves for the sign of a bookseller, rather than a real one; but instead of selling, deal as factors, and procure what the country divines and gentry send for; of whom each hath his book-factor, and, when wanting anything, writes to his bookseller and pays his bill. and it is wretched to consider what pickpocket work, with the help of the press, these demi-booksellers make. they crack their brains to find out selling subjects, and keep hirelings in garrets, at hard meat, to write and correct by the groat; and so puff up an octavo to a sufficient thickness; and there is six shillings current for an hour and half's reading, and perhaps never to be read or looked upon after. one that would go higher, must take his fortune at blank walls, and corners of streets, or repair to the sign of bateman, king, and one or two more, where are best choice, and better pennyworths. i might touch other abuses, as bad paper, incorrect printing, and false advertising; and all of which and worse are to be expected, if a careful author is not at the heels of them.' we get an interesting glimpse of a meeting of two book-lovers in this locality from izaak walton. in his 'life of bishop sanderson,' walton writes that about the time sanderson was printing this excellent preface ('before his last twenty sermons,' ), 'i met him accidentally in london, in sad-coloured clothes, and, god knows, far from costly. the place of our meeting was near to little britain, where he had been to buy a book, which he then had in his hand.' the house of bateman is worthy of an important chapter in the bookselling annals of little britain, and the best-known member (christopher) of the family is described in the usual sugared style of john dunton: 'there are few booksellers in england (if any) that understand books better than mr. bateman, nor does his diligence and industry come short of his knowledge. he is a man of great reputation and honesty.' nichols states that bateman would allow no person to look into books in his shop, and when asked a reason for this extraordinary rule, he answered: 'i suppose you may be a physician or an author, and want some recipe or quotation; and, if you buy it, i will engage it to be perfect before you leave me, but not after, as i have suffered by leaves being torn out, and the books returned, to my very great loss and prejudice.' bateman's shop was a favourite resort of swift, who several times speaks of it in his 'journal to stella:' 'i went to bateman's, the bookseller, and laid out eight and forty shillings for books. i bought three little volumes of lucian, in french, for our stella, and so, and so' (january , - ); and again: 'i was at bateman's, to see a fine old library he has bought, and my fingers itched as yours would do at a china-shop' (july , ). one of the most frequent visitors to bateman's shop was thomas britton, 'the small-coal man,' who died in september, . his knowledge of books, of music and chemistry was certainly extraordinary, having regard to his ostensible occupation. his collection of manuscripts and printed music and musical instruments was very large. lord somers gave £ for his collection of pamphlets, and sir hans sloane was also a purchaser of many curious articles. he was a very well-known character, and 'was so much distinguished that, when passing through the streets in his blue linen frock, and with his sack of small coal on his back, he was frequently accosted with the following expression: "there goes the famous small-coal man, who is a lover of learning, a performer in music, and a companion for gentlemen."' saturday, when parliament was not sitting during the winter, was the market day with the booksellers of little britain; and in the earlier part of the last century, the frequenters of this locality included such worthies as the duke of devonshire, edward, earl of oxford, and the earls of pembroke, sunderland, and winchelsea. after the 'hunt' they often adjourned to the mourning bush in aldersgate, where they dined and spent the remainder of the day. [illustration: _thomas britton, 'the small-coal man,' collector of musical instruments and mss._] another famous little britain bookseller was robert scott whose sister was the hon. and rev. dr. john north's 'grandmother's woman.' scott was a man of 'good parts,' and was in his time, says roger north, the 'greatest librarian in europe; for besides his stock in england, he had warehouses at frankfort, paris, and other places, and dealt by factors.' when an old man, scott 'contracted with one mills, of st. paul's churchyard, near £ , deep, and articled not to open his shop any more. but mills, with his auctioneering, atlases, and projects, failed, whereby poor scott lost above half his means. . . . he was not only an expert bookseller, but a very conscientious, good man, and when he threw up his trade, europe had no small loss of him.' the most celebrated family of booksellers, perhaps, who lived in little britain, was that of ballard, or bullard, as the original name appears by the auction catalogues. the family were connected with the trade for over a century, and were noted, says nichols, 'for the soundness of their principles in church and state.' one henry ballard lived at the sign of the bear without temple bar, over against st. clement's church, in , but whether he was an ancestor of the family in question is not certain. thomas ballard, the founder of the bookselling branch, was described by dunton, in , as 'a young bookseller in little britain, but grown man in body now, but more in mind: 'his looks are in his mother's beauty drest, and all the father has inform'd the rest.' samuel ballard, for many years deputy of the ward of aldersgate within, died august , , and his only son, edward, january , , aged eighty-eight, in the same house in which he was born, having outlived his mental faculties. he was the last of the profession in little britain. among the scores of little britain men who combined publishing with second-hand bookselling, one of the more interesting is william newton, who resided there during the earlier years of the last century. in he published quincy's 'medicina statica,' at the end of which is this curious 'advertisement' (minus the superfluity of capitals): 'those persons who have any librarys (_sic_) or small parcels of old books to dispose of, either in town or countrey, may have ready money for them of will. newton, bookseller in little britain, london. also all gentlemen, and schoolmasters, may be furnished with all sorts of classics, in usum delphi, variorum, etc. likewise, he will exchange with any person, for any books they have read and done with.' it was from the dolphin, in little britain, that samuel buckley first issued the _spectator_, march , , _et seq._ tom rawlinson resided here for some years, as did another and different kind of celebrity, benjamin franklin, who worked at palmer's famous printing-house in bartholomew close. 'while i lodged in little britain,' says franklin, in his 'autobiography,' 'i made an acquaintance with one wilcox, a bookseller, whose shop was at the next door. he had an immense collection of second-hand books. circulating libraries were not then in use; but we agreed that, on certain reasonable terms, which i have now forgotten, i might take, read, and return any of the books. this i esteemed a great advantage, and made as much use of as i could.' [illustration: _duke street, little britain, formerly called duck lane._] but by franklin's time the book trade of little britain had declined beyond any hope of recovery. in maitland describes the place as 'very ruinous'; the part from 'the pump to duck lane is well built, and though much inhabited formerly by booksellers, who dealt chiefly in old books, it is now much deserted and decayed.' a few years before nichols published his 'literary anecdotes,' two booksellers used to sport their rubric posts close to each other here in little britain, and these rubric posts[ :a] were once as much the type of a bookseller's shop as the pole is of a barber's. nearly all the numerous lanes and alleys immediately contiguous to little britain were more or less inhabited by second-hand booksellers. the most important in every respect of these was duck lane, subsequently rechristened duke street, and in as a part and parcel of little britain. it is the street which leads from west smithfield to one end of little britain, and the change was a very foolish one. it was to this street that swift conjectured that booksellers might send inquiries for his works. 'some county squire to lintot goes, inquires for swift in verse and prose. says lintot, "i have heard the name, he died a year ago." "the same." he searches all the shops in vain: "sir, you may find them in duck lane."' and garth tells how the learned dr. edward tyson filled his library from the duck lane shops: 'abandoned authors here a refuge meet, and from the world to dust and worms retreat here dregs and sediments and authors reign, refuse of fairs and gleanings of duck lane.' mr. w. carew hazlitt has noted the fact that a copy of zach. ursinus' 'summe of christian religion,' translated by h. parry ( ), contains on the first leaf this note: 'mary rous her booke, bought in duck lane bey smithfelde, this year, .' not very far from little britain is the barbican, which at the earlier part of the century contained several bookshops, but has since degenerated into forbidding warehouses. charles lamb, under date march , , writes: 'i have just come from town, where i have been to get my bit of quarterly pension, and have brought home from stalls in barbican the old "pilgrim's progress," with the prints--vanity fair, etc.--now scarce. four shillings; cheap. and also one of whom i have oft heard and had dreams, but never saw in the flesh--that is in sheepskin--"the whole theologic works of thomas aquinas." my arms ached with lugging it a mile to the stage, but the burden was a pleasure, such as old anchises was to the shoulders of Æneas, or the lady to the lover in the old romance, who, having to carry her to the top of a high mountain (the price of obtaining her), clambered with her to the top and fell dead with fatigue.' [illustration: _charles lamb, after d. maclise._] the district to which the name of moorfields was once applied has no great historic interest. it remained moorfields until it was first drained in . in the reign of james i. it was first laid out into walks, and during the time of charles ii. some portions of it were built upon. it soon became famous for its musters and pleasant walks, its laundresses and bleachers, its cudgel-players and popular amusements, its bookstalls and ballad-sellers. writing at the beginning of the last century, that pungent critic of the world in general, tom brown, observes: 'well, this thing called prosperity makes a man strangely insolent and forgetful. how contemptibly a cutler looks at a poor grinder of knives; a physician in his coach at a farrier a-foot; and a well-grown paul's churchyard bookseller upon one of the trade that sells second-hand books under the trees in moorfields!' in thoresby's 'diary' we have an entry under the year of a very rare edition of the new testament in english, , having been purchased in moorfields. [illustration: _old houses in moorfields._] by the middle of the last century moorfields became an assemblage of small shops, particularly booksellers', and remained such until, in , the handsome square of finsbury arose on its site. that some of these booksellers of moorfields had considerable stocks is seen by the fact that that of john king, of this place, occupied ten days in the dispersal at samuel baker's in . perhaps one of the most famous of the moorfields booksellers was thomas king, who published priced catalogues of books from to , and who deserted moorfields at about the latter date, to take premises in king street, covent garden, as a book-auctioneer. horace walpole, referring to james west's sale in , says: 'mr. west's books are selling outrageously. his family will make a fortune by what he collected from stalls and moorfields.' this sale, which occupied twenty-four days, included, as we have said on a previous page, books by caxton, wynkyn de worde, and others, and also works on old english literature, voyages and travels, not a few of which were undoubtedly picked up in moorfields. the rev. john brand, secretary of the society of antiquaries, who died in , visited almost daily the bookstalls between piccadilly and mile end, and may be regarded as another moorfields book-hunter; he generally returned from these excursions with his deep and wide pockets well laden. his books were chiefly collected in this way, and for comparatively small sums. brand cared little for the condition of his books, many of which were imperfect, the defects being supplied in neatly-written ms. (see p. .) john keats, the poet, was born in moorfields, and tom dibdin was apprenticed to an upholsterer in this district. finsbury. [illustration: _interior of lackington's shop._] when moorfields became improved into finsbury circus, the bookselling element was by no means extinguished. james lackington ( to ), who had established himself as a bookseller in chiswell street, was issuing catalogues from that address from to . he first started selling books on midsummer day, , in featherstone street, st. luke's. it was from chiswell street that lackington dated those rambling letters which he styles 'memoirs of the forty-five first years' of his life. in twelve years he had progressed so rapidly, from the sack of old rubbish for which he paid a guinea and with which he began business as a bookseller, that a move to more commodious premises became necessary. in he transferred his stock to one of the corners of finsbury square--which had been then built about five years--and started his 'temple of the muses.' the original building was burnt down some years ago, but the late charles knight has left on record an interesting sketch of the place as it struck him in : 'over the principal entrance is inscribed, "cheapest booksellers in the world." it is the famous shop of lackington, allen and co., "where above half a million of volumes are constantly on sale." we enter the vast area, whose dimensions are to be measured by the assertion that a coach and six might be driven round it. in the centre is an enormous circular counter, within which stand the dispensers of knowledge, ready to wait upon the county clergyman, in his wig and shovel hat; upon the fine ladies, in feathers and trains; or upon the bookseller's collector, with his dirty bag. if there is any chaffering about the cost of a work, the shopman points to the following inscription: "the lowest price is marked on every book, and no abatement made on any article." we ascend a broad staircase, which leads to "the lounging rooms" and to the first of a series of circular galleries, lighted from the lantern of the dome, which also lights the ground-floor. hundreds, even thousands, of volumes are displayed on the shelves running round their walls. as we mount higher and higher, we find commoner books in shabbier bindings; but there is still the same order preserved, each book being numbered according to a printed catalogue. . . . the formation of such an establishment as this assumes a remarkable power of organization, as well as a large command of capital.' [illustration: _jones and co. (successors to lackington)._] six years after he had started, lackington, who had been joined by his friend, john denis--a man of some capital--published his first catalogue ( ), the title of the firm being lackington and co., and the list enumerating some , volumes. denis appears to have been a genuine book-collector and a man of some taste, with the very natural result that they soon parted company. lackington was as vain and officious a charlatan as ever stepped in shoe-leather--a trade to which he had been brought up, by the way--but that he had organizing abilities of a very uncommon order there can be no question. he found the catalogue business a great success, and in due course issued one of pages, with entries of nearly , volumes and sets of books, all classified under subjects as well as sizes. for thirteen years (after ) lackington did all his own cataloguing. in the temple of the muses was made over to george lackington, allen and co. the former was a third cousin of the founder of the firm, and is described by john nichols as 'well educated and gentlemanly.' [illustration: _lackington's halfpenny._] when he retired from the business, lackington enjoyed himself to the top of his bent, travelling all over the kingdom in his state coach and scribbling. his 'confessions' appeared in , and form a sequel to his 'memoirs,' already mentioned. he died on november , , and is buried at budleigh salterton, devon. as a bookseller, he certainly was a success--perhaps, indeed, one of the most successful, all things considered, that ever lived in london. he is a hero in pretty much the same sense as james boswell. he had, as a matter of course, his detractors. his contemporary booksellers loved him not, for his methods of quick sales and small profits were things unheard of until he appeared on the scene. peter pindar's 'ode to the hero of finsbury square, ,' is a choice specimen of this witty writer. it begins: 'oh! thou whose mind, unfetter'd, undisguised, soars like the lark into the empty air; whose arch exploits by subtlety devised, have stamped renown on finsbury's new square, great "hero" list! whilst the sly muse repeats thy nuptial ode, thy prowess great _in sheets_.' accompanying this ode was a woodcut, which represents lackington mounting his gorgeous carriage upon steps formed by tillotson's 'sermons,' a common prayer, and a bible; from one of his pockets there protrudes a packet of papers, labelled 'puffs and lies for my book,' and from the other 'my own memoirs.' the 'co.' of george lackington, allen and co. was a mr. hughes. at the next shuffling of cards the firm consisted of lackington, a. kirkman, mavor--a son of dr. mavor, of woodstock--and jones. in the firm consisted of lackington, hughes, harding, mavor, and lepard, and subsequently of harding and lepard (who had absorbed the important business of triphook, the cunning bookseller of beloe, and it was this trio who published the second edition of dibdin's 'library companion'), by whom the business was transferred to pall mall east. george lackington died in march, , aged seventy-six. in the _bookseller_ of december , , there is an interesting memoir of kames james ford, 'the last of the lackingtonians,' who died at crouch hill five days previously, aged ninety-four. central and east london. [illustration: _the poultry in ._] cheapside had never much attraction to the book-collector, but the poultry (which is in reality a continuation of the cheapside thoroughfare) was for two and a half centuries a bookselling locality. in , for example, john alde was living at 'the long shop adjoining to st. mildred's church in the poultry.' from the middle to the end of the seventeenth century the locality had become quite famous for its bookshops. nat ponder, who 'did time' for publishing a seditious pamphlet, was bunyan's publisher. john dunton's shop was at the sign of the black raven. no. was the residence of the brothers charles and edward dilly, and it was here, at a dinner, that dr. johnson's prejudices against wilkes were entirely broken down by the latter's brilliant conversation. the dillys were great entertainers, and all the more notable literary people of the period were to be met at their house. they amassed a very large fortune. edward died in , having relinquished the business some years previously to joseph mawman, who died in . mawman, it may be mentioned, wrote an 'excursion to the highlands of scotland,' , which the _edinburgh_ furiously assailed: 'this is past all enduring. here is a tour, _travelled_, _written_, _published_, _sold_, and, for anything we know, _reviewed_ by one and the same individual! we cannot submit patiently to this monstrous monopoly.' no. was the shop of vernor and hood, booksellers. the latter was father of the facetious tom hood, who was born here in . spon, of , queen street, cheapside, was issuing, half a century ago, his 'city of london old book circulars,' which often contained excellent books at very moderate prices. [illustration: _the old mansion house, cheapside._] the district more or less immediately contiguous to the bank of england was for a long period a favourite bookselling locality, but heavy rents and crowded thoroughfares have completely killed the trade in the heart of commercial london. early in the seventeenth century, pope's head alley, a turning out of cornhill, contained a number of booksellers' and publishers' shops. in the latter part of the seventeenth century, thomas guy, with a capital of about £ , started selling books at 'the little corner house of lombard street and cornhill'; but his wealth was not derived from this source. it is interesting to note, however, that this little corner shop existed so recently as or . alexander cruden, of 'concordance' fame, settled in london in , and opened a bookstall under the royal exchange, and it was whilst here that he compiled the 'concordance' which ruined him in business and deranged his mind. william collins, whose catalogues for many years 'furnished several curiosities to the literary collectors,' started selling books in pope's head alley, in or about , but was burnt out in the following year, when he removed to exchange alley, where he remained until the last decade of the last century. john sewell, who died in (aged sixty-eight), was one of the last to sport the rubric posts, and his shop in cornhill was a highly popular resort with book-buyers; he was succeeded by another original character in the person of james asperne. j. and a. arch were in cornhill contemporaneously with asperne, and it was to these kindly quakers that thomas tegg turned, and not in vain, after being summarily dismissed from lane's, in leadenhall street, and with whom he remained for some years. it was not until some time after he had started on his own account that tegg commenced his nightly book-auctions at , cheapside, an innovation which resulted in tegg finding himself a fairly rich man. his next move was to the old mansion house, once the residence of the lord mayor, and here he met with an increased prosperity and popularity. he was elected a common councillor of the ward of cheap, and took a country house at norwood. up to the close of , tegg had issued , works on his own account (chiefly 'remainders'), and not 'more than twenty were failures.' the more noteworthy second-hand booksellers of this neighbourhood half a century ago were charles davis, whose shop was at , coleman street, and t. bennett, of , copthall buildings, at the back of the bank, each of whom published catalogues. a quarter of a century ago the last-named address was still in possession of second-hand booksellers--s. and t. gilbert, and subsequently of gilbert and field. one of the oldest bookselling firms in the city is that of sandell and smith, of , city road, which dates back to . it was whilst exploring in some of the upper rooms of this shop that a well-known first-edition collector, mr. elliot stock, came upon an incomparable array of the class of book for which he had an especial weakness. he obtained nearly a sackload at an average of tenpence or a shilling each, and as many of these are now not only very rare, but in great demand at fancy prices, it is scarcely necessary to say that the investment was a peculiarly good one. the 'haul' included works by byron, bernard barton, browning, barry cornwall, lytton, cowper, dryden, hogg, moore, rogers, scott, wordsworth, and a lot of eighteenth-century writers. half a century ago edwards' 'cheap random catalogues' were being issued from , bunhill row. [illustration: _gilbert and field's shop in copthall court._] [illustration: _e. george's (late gladding's) shop, whitechapel road._] so far as the east end of london is concerned, there is not, perhaps, very much to say. the second-hand bookselling trade for the past half-century has been confined in a large measure to three firms--r. gladding, an octogenarian, who dealt almost exclusively in theological books, whose shop was at , whitechapel road, and who retired at the end of ; e. george and sons, who have been for many years established at , whitechapel road, and have lately acquired gladding's shop; and joseph smith, , oxford street, whitechapel. the two last-named firms are, in their respective ways, of more than usual interest. mr. e. george, whose father, william george, was also a bookseller, started in business on his own account between thirty and forty years ago, his stock-in-trade consisting of four shillings' worth of miscellaneous volumes, which he exposed for sale on a barrow close to the old whitechapel workhouse, which occupied the ground on which one of mr. george's shops now stands. mr. george has built up one of the most remarkable and extensive business connections in existence. his stock may be roughly calculated at about , or , volumes or parts, two large houses and warehouses being literally crammed full from top to bottom. there is scarcely any periodical or transactions of any learned society which they are unable to complete, and in many instances--_punch_, for example--they have at least a dozen complete sets, besides an infinity of odd numbers and parts. it is scarcely necessary to point out that messrs. george's business has very little to do with the locality in which their shops are situated. they are the wholesale firm of the trade, and the larger part of their business is done in the united states and among the provincial booksellers of great britain, ten huge cases and a complete set of hansard being on the eve of exportation to america at the time of our visit. it is a curious fact, and one well worth mentioning, that until last year ( ) this firm never issued a catalogue. it is also interesting to point out that their shop at , whitechapel road is one of the most admirably arranged bookstores in the country. it was specially constructed, and is not unlike a miniature british museum reading-room; there are two galleries, one above the other. the second east end worthy has a literary as well as a bibliopolic interest. joseph smith will be better remembered by posterity as the compiler of a 'catalogue of friends' books,' and of the 'bibliotheca anti-quakerana,' than as a bookseller. he was twenty years compiling the former, and is perhaps one of the most striking illustrations of the wisdom of the theory that the bookseller who wishes to be a success should never read! joseph smith is of the society of friends, and among his schoolfellows were john bright and w. e. forster. second-hand bookselling in the east end has declined during the past quarter of a century from several causes, the chief and most important being the almost complete withdrawal of moderately well-to-do people from the locality. the neighbourhood has become so exclusively inhabited by the poorest of the poor, and by the desolate immigrants from all countries, that the higher phases of bookselling have little chance of flourishing. mr. e. george informs us that fifteen or twenty years ago he frequently sold in one day books to the value of £ to genuine residents of the east end, but that he now does not sell fifteen shillings' worth. so far as local customers are concerned, he might just as well have nothing more elaborate than a warehouse. many interesting bookish events have, nevertheless, transpired in what is now the slummiest district of london, and if the best of these anecdotes were collected they would fill quite a big volume. they are very varied in character, and some of the stories have very different morals. here is one related concerning the rev. mr. brand, to whom we have already referred. he was a clergyman of that district, and, it is feared, sometimes neglected his religious duties for the more engrossing charms of the chase. one friday afternoon he was roaming in the neighbourhood of his church, when his eye fell on the shop of a jew bookseller which he had not before noticed, and was astonished to see there a number of black-letter volumes exposed for sale. but the sun was rapidly going down, and the jew, loath to be stoned by his neighbours for breaking the sabbath, was hastily interposing the shutters between the eyes of the clergyman and the coveted books. 'let me look at them inside,' said the rev. mr. brand; 'i will not keep you long.' 'impossible,' replied the jew. 'sabbath will begin in five minutes, and i absolutely cannot let myself be drawn into such a breach of divine law. but if you choose to come early on sunday morning you may see them at your leisure.' the reverend gentleman accordingly turned up at eight a.m. on sunday, intending to remain there till church-time, he having to do duty that day. he had provided himself with the overcoat which he wore on his book-hunting expeditions, and which had pockets large enough to swallow a good-sized folio. the literary treasures of the son of israel were much more numerous than the gentile expected. at this time there was not such a rush for caxtons as we have witnessed since the roxburghe sale. mr. brand found one of these precious relics in a very bad condition, although not past recovery, paid a trifling price for it, and pocketed it. then he successively examined some rare productions of the presses of wynkyn de worde, pynson, and so forth. the clergyman's purchases soon began to assume considerable proportions. archimedes was not more fully absorbed in his geometrical problems when the roman soldier killed him, than the east end clergyman in his careful collations. he was aroused, however, from his reveries by the jewess calling out: 'mike, dinner is ready.' 'dinner!' exclaimed the parson. 'at what time do you dine?' 'at one o'clock,' she replied. he looked at his watch. it was too true. he hastened home. in the meantime, the beadle had been to his house, and finding he had left it in his usual health, it was feared some accident had happened. the congregation then dispersed, much concerned at the absence of the worthy pastor, who, however, atoned in the evening, by unwonted eloquence, for his unpremeditated prank of the morning. holborn and neighbourhood. as a second-hand bookselling locality, holborn is one of the oldest of those in which the trade is still carried on vigorously. as a bookselling locality it has a record of close on three centuries and a half. as early as , a publisher was issuing cheap books in connection with john tisdale, at the saracen's head, in holborn, near to the conduit, and in one of these booklets we are enjoined to 'remember, man! both night and day, thou needs must die, there is no nay.' probably the earliest, and certainly one of the earliest, books published in holborn was the 'vision of piers plowman,' 'now fyrst imprinted by robert crowley, dwellyng in ely-rents in holburne,' in , which contains a very quaint address from the printer. in and about the year , roger warde, a very prolific publisher, was dwelling near 'holburne conduit, at the sign of the "talbot,"' and a still more noteworthy individual, richard jones, lived hard by, at the sign of the rose and crown. early in the seventeenth century, several members of the fraternity had established themselves in and around gray's inn gate, then termed, more appropriately, lane. henrie tomes published 'the commendation of cocks and cock-fighting' ( ), which, no doubt, the 'young bloods' of the period perused much more diligently than more instructive and edifying books with which mr. tomes also could have supplied them. its most famous bibliopolic resident, however, is thomas osborne, or tom osborne, as he was called in the trade and by posterity. tom osborne's fame began and ended with himself. nobody knew whence he came, and probably nobody cared. his catalogues cover a period of thirty years-- - --and include some very remarkable libraries of many famous men. in stature he is described as short and thick, so that dr. johnson's famous summary method of knocking him down[ :a] was not perhaps so difficult a feat as is generally supposed. to his inferiors--including, as he apparently but ruefully thought, dr. johnson--he generally spoke in an authoritative and insolent manner. as ignorant as lackington, he was considerably less aware of the fact. osborne's shop, like that of jacob tonson[ :b] at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, was at the gray's inn road gate of, or entrance to, gray's inn. his greatest _coup_ was the purchase of the harleian collection of books--the manuscripts were bought by the british museum for £ , --for £ , , in . it is said on good authority that the earl of oxford gave £ , for the binding of only a part of them. in - , the extent of this extraordinary collection was indicated by the 'catalogus bibliotheca harleianæ,' in four volumes. the first two, in latin, were compiled by dr. johnson at a daily wage, and the third and fourth (which are a repetition of the first two), in english, are by oldys. a charge of s. was made for the first two volumes, which caused a good deal of grumbling among the trade, and was resented 'as an avaricious innovation,' but osborne replied that the volumes could be either returned in exchange for books or for the original purchase-money. he was also charged with rating his books at too high a price, but a glance through the catalogue will prove this to be an unjust accusation. the copy of the aldine plato, , on vellum, for which lord oxford gave guineas, is priced by osborne at £ . the sale of the books appears to have been extremely slow, and johnson assured boswell that 'there was not much gained by the bargain.' nichols' 'literary anecdotes' (iii. - ) gives a list of the libraries which osborne absorbed into his stock at different times, but few of these are anything more than names at the present day. osborne is satirized in the 'dunciad,' but, according to johnson, was so dull that he could not feel the poet's gross satire. sir john hawkins states that osborne used to boast that he was worth £ , , and doubtless this was true. his 'bushy bob, well powder'd every day, bloom'd whiter than a hawthorn hedge in may,' was one of his acquired peculiarities. nichols tells us that the expression 'rum books' arose from osborne's sending unsaleable volumes to jamaica in exchange for rum. but whilst tom osborne was _the_ bookseller of holborn, there were many others well established here during the last century, and whose names have been handed down to us by the catalogues which they published. william cater, for instance, was issuing catalogues from holborn in , when he sold the libraries of lord willoughby, president of the society of antiquaries, and in of cudworth bruck, another antiquary. cater was succeeded in by john deighton, of cambridge. in the person of henry dell we get a literary bookseller, who had established himself first in tower street, and in or about in holborn, where, nichols tells us, he died very poor. he wrote 'the booksellers, a poem,' , which has been pronounced 'a wretched, rhyming list of booksellers in london, and westminster, with silly commendations of some and stupid abuse of others.' other holborn booksellers were: william fox, - ; john hayes, who died november , , aged seventy-four, and 'whose abilities were of no ordinary class, and his erudition very considerable'; john anderson, of holborn hill, - , who sold the library of the hon. john scott, of gray's inn; francis noble, who, besides being a bookseller, kept for many years an extensive circulating library in holborn, but who, in consequence of his daughter's obtaining a share in the first £ , prize in the lottery, retired from business, and died at an advanced age in june, ; joseph white, - ; and william flexney, who died january , , aged seventy-seven, and who was the original publisher of churchill's 'poems,' and is thus immortalized by that versatile 'poet': 'let those who energy of diction prize, for billingsgate, quit flexney, and be wise.' percival stockdale, in his 'memoirs,' speaks highly of his 'old friend' flexney, 'with whom i have passed many convivial and jovial hours.' j. h. prince, of old north street, red lion square, holborn, who wrote and published his own eccentric 'life' in , and who, trying and failing in nearly everything else, took to bookselling and book-writing, evidently, like many other authors before and since, found soliciting subscriptions for his book 'a most painful undertaking to a susceptible mind.' his motto was, 'i evil ni etips,' or 'i live in spite.' a much more important bookseller of holborn was john petheram, who lived at , high holborn in the fifties, and whose catalogues were styled 'the bibliographical miscellany'; for some time, with each of his catalogues he issued an eight-page supplement, which consisted of a reprint of some very rare tract; the selection of some of these was in the hands of dr. e. f. rimbault. a complete set of these catalogues would be extremely interesting; we have only seen half a dozen of them, and these are in the british museum. a somewhat similar effort to give an extra interest to catalogues was made a few years ago by j. w. jarvis and son, of king william street, and also by pickering and chatto, the haymarket; but the experiment apparently did not succeed. [illustration: _middle row, holborn, ._] apart from holborn, properly so called, middle row, an insulated row of houses, abutting upon holborn bars, and nearly opposite gray's inn road, claims a notice here, for it was long a book-hunting locality, and two bookshops, at least, existed there until the place was demolished in august, . perhaps its most famous bookseller was john cuthell, who came to london from scotland in , and became assistant to drew, of middle row, whom he succeeded. he was publishing catalogues here from , and did a very large export business with america. he was noted for his stock of medical and scientific books. he was still at middle row in , when john nichols published his 'literary anecdotes,' to which he was a subscriber. cuthell died at turnham green in , aged eighty-five. he was succeeded by francis macpherson, who issued the thirtieth number of his catalogue in april, , from no. , middle row. the works offered comprised a selection of theological, classical, and historical books. one of the most curious entries relates to an extensive collection of books and pamphlets by and concerning the famous dr. richard bentley, five volumes in quarto, and thirty-one more in octavo and duodecimo; the set (now, we believe, in the british museum), doubtless the most complete ever offered for sale, was priced at £ , and was probably utilized in dyce's editions of bentley's 'dissertations,' and in an edition of bentley's 'sermons at boyle's lecture,' both of which macpherson published. this catalogue is interesting from the number of illustrations which it affords of the transition period of english book-collecting; the various editions of the classics are priced at very moderate figures, whilst english classics are offered at comparatively 'fancy' sums. for example, a very neat copy of the first edition of 'tom jones' is offered at s., and a fine copy of john bale's 'image of both churches,' without date, but printed by east at the latter part of the sixteenth century, at £ s. j. coxhead is another holborn bookseller who may be regarded as a link between the old and the new. he was at , high holborn in , and had been established forty years. his lists were apparently issued only once or twice a year; one of the notices in his catalogue may be quoted here, as showing the chief medium by which country book-collectors were supplied with their books: 'gentlemen residing in the country had better apply direct to j. coxhead for any articles from this list, or they can obtain them by giving the order to their country bookseller, and it will be sent in their weekly parcel from london.' at about the same time, and for nearly the same period, david ogilby was selling second-hand books at the same locality. one of the most interesting of the holborn booksellers was william darton, of , holborn hill, of whose shop we give an 'interior' view from a plate engraved by darton himself. william was a son of william darton, who founded the famous publishing house of darton and harvey, of , gracechurch street, in the latter part of the last century, their speciality being children's books, which had a fame almost as extensive as those of the great mr. newbery himself. he was joined by his brother thomas, and for two generations a successful business was carried on in this place; the three generations of dartons were prominent members of the society of friends. the house chiefly devoted itself to publishing, but it had a fairly large trade in selling the books issued by other publishers. the firm ceased to exist about the time when the holborn valley improvements swept away so many of the old landmarks of that locality. mr. joseph w. darton, the sole partner in wells gardner, darton and co., is a grandson of the founder of the holborn hill house and a great-grandson of the original william darton. a history of the dartons would form as interesting a volume as that on john newbery. [illustration: _william darton, bookseller_, the founder of the house of darton and harvey.] holborn is an additionally interesting book-locality from the fact that it was from here that some of the first book-catalogues were issued. this important innovation owes much to charles davis, whose shop was 'against gray's inn.' the earliest of these catalogues which we have seen is a very interesting list of pages octavo, and includes 'valuable libraries, lately purchased, containing near , volumes in hebrew, greek, latin, french, italian, spanish, and english,' 'which will be sold very cheap, the lowest price fix'd in each book, on thursday, may , .' the list is in many respects very curious, not the least of which is that not one of the items offered is priced. one of the facts which strike one most forcibly in this connection is the large capitals which must have been sunk in books even at this early period. davis, like all the other booksellers--notably tonson and lintot--of that period, was a bookseller as well as publisher. [illustration: _interior of darton's shop, holborn hill._] moving further westward, we find records of bookselling for just a couple of centuries back. robert kettlewell was established at the hand and sceptre, king's street, bloomsbury, whence he issued his kinsman's apparently useful, and certainly very dull, pamphlet, entitled 'death made comfortable; or, the way to die well,' and sold a variety of other books besides. making a leap of nearly a century, we meet with samuel hayes, of oxford street, and evidently a relative of john hayes, to whom we have already referred. samuel hayes--when not in a french prison, for he was actually incarcerated by napoleon when on a visit to france--was at this place of business for sixteen years, to , and published several catalogues. isaac herbert, nephew of the editor of ames' 'typographical antiquities,' was selling books in great russell street in and about ; joseph bell was established as a bookseller in oxford street in the earlier part of the present century; shepperson and reynolds were in the same thoroughfare from to , and sold several very good libraries within the period indicated. writing in , pennant mentions that the chapel of southampton, or bedford house, bloomsbury, was at that time rented by lockyer davis as a magazine of books. how long it had been in davis's tenancy is not certain, but he died in . william davis, the author of several interesting bibliographical books, including two 'journeys round the library of a bibliomaniac,' was at the bedford library, southampton row, holborn, during the early part of the century. name after name might be quoted if any useful purpose would be served. [illustration: _james westell's, , oxford street._] there are many links which still connect the holborn of to-day with the holborn and immediate district of the past. three have, however, passed away within recent years. edward w. stibbs, whose death occurred in the spring of , at the age of eighty, and whose stock was sold at sotheby's in the following year, was one of the veterans of the trade, and was essentially of the old school--the school which confined itself almost exclusively to classics. the second removal is that of mr. j. brown, whose shop was nearly opposite the entrance to chancery lane, and was for nearly thirty years an exceedingly pleasant rendezvous of book-collectors, and whose proprietor was one of the most genial of bibliopoles. the third is edward truelove, of , high holborn, the well-known agnostic bookseller, who removed here from the strand, and who had been in business over forty years. mr. truelove retired two or three years since. further up the road, in new oxford street, we find the shop of mr. james westell, whose career as a bookseller embraces a period of over half a century, having started in . mr. westell first began in a small shop in bozier's court, tottenham court road, and this shop has been immortalized by lord lytton in 'my novel,' for it is here that leonard fairfield's friendly bookseller was situated.[ :a] bozier's court was a sort of eddy from the constant stream which passes in and out of oxford street, and many pleasant hours have been spent in the court by book-lovers. after mr. westell left, it passed into the hands of another bookseller, g. mazzoni, and finally into that of mr. e. turnbull, who speaks very highly of it as a bookselling locality. mr. turnbull added another shop to the one which was occupied by mr. westell; but when the inevitable march of improvements overtook this quaint place three or four years ago, mr. turnbull had to leave, and he then took a large shop in new oxford street, where he now is. during mr. turnbull's tenancy in bozier's court several rivals started round about him; but one after another failed to make it pay, and retired, leaving him eventually in entire possession. another old holborn bookseller, mr. george glashier, who started in , still has a large shop in southampton row; not the shop which he occupied for very many years within a few yards of holborn, but nearer russell square, a less crowded thoroughfare than the old place in the same street or row. the shop now occupied by mr. a. reader, in orange street, red lion square, has been a bookseller's for over half a century, one of the most noted tenants of it being mr. john salkeld, who removed nearly twenty years since to clapham road, and whose charmingly rustic shop, 'ivy house,' is quite one of the sights of bookish london. [illustration: _salkeld's shop--'ivy house'--in clapham road._] indeed, nearly every by-street,[ :a] as well as the public highway in and around holborn, has had its bookseller ever since the beginning of the century. lord macaulay, c. w. dilke, w. j. thoms, edward solly, john forster, and the visions of many other mighty book-hunters, crowd on one's memory in grubbing about after old books in this ancient and attractive, if not always particularly savoury, locality. the two turnstiles have always been favourites with bibliopoles. writing in , the late mr. thoms said: 'many years ago i received one of the curious catalogues periodically issued by crozier, then of little turnstile, holborn. from a pressure of business or some other cause, i did not look through it until it had been in my possession for two or three days, and then i saw in it an edition of "mist's letters" in three volumes! in two volumes the book is common enough, but i had never heard of a third volume; neither does bohn in his edition of lowndes mention its existence. of course, on this discovery, i lost no time in making my way to little turnstile; and on asking for the "mist" in three volumes, found, as i had feared, that it was sold. "who was the lucky purchaser?" i asked anxiously; adding, "aut dilke aut diabolus!" "it was not diabolus," was crozier's reply; and i was reconciled when i found the book had fallen into such good hands, and not a little surprised when crozier went on to say, "but he was not the first to apply for it. mr. forster sent for it, but would not keep it, because it was not a sufficiently nice copy."' both the great and the little turnstiles, holborn, have always been, as we have said, famous as book-hunting localities, and they still preserve this reputation. in a publisher and bookseller, george hutton, was at the 'sign of the sun, within the turning stile in holborne.' j. bagford, the celebrated book-destroyer, was first a shoemaker in the great turnstile, a calling in which he was not successful. then he became a bookseller at the same place, and still success was denied him. at dulwich college is a library which includes a collection of plays formed by cartwright, a bookseller of the turnstile, who subsequently turned actor. [illustration: _john bagford, shoemaker and book-destroyer._] [illustration: _mr. tregaskis's shop--'the caxton head'--in holborn._ (after a drawing by e. j. wheeler.)] the chief and most enterprising firm of booksellers in holborn proper is that of mr. and mrs. tregaskis, at no. , the corner of the new turnstile. the house itself is full of interest, and is quite a couple of hundred years old. a century ago one of the most eventful scenes of david garrick's career was enacted here, for it was from this house that the great actor was buried. mrs. tregaskis first started, as mrs. bennett, at the corner of southampton row, and some time after removing to her present shop, married mr. james tregaskis, and the two together have built up a business which is scarcely without a rival in london. the shop is literally crammed with rare and interesting books, whilst 'the caxton head catalogues' are got up with every possible care. almost next door to the shop for many years occupied by the late edward stibbs, mr. walter t. spencer carries on a trade which is almost entirely confined to first editions of modern authors. from mr. r. j. parker's shop at , the present writer has picked up a very large number of rare and interesting books, including a first edition of goldsmith--not, however, the 'vicar'--at exceedingly moderate sums. mr. e. menken, of bury street, new oxford street, is one of the most successful booksellers of recent years, and his stock is both large and select. mr. menken first started in gray's inn road, nearly opposite the town hall, five or six years ago, subsequently removing to bury street; but his business grew so rapidly that he had to take the adjoining shop into his service. mr. menken's model catalogues invariably contain something which every book collector feels it is absolutely necessary to have. he is a man of versatile abilities, literary and otherwise, and includes among his customers no less a person than mr. gladstone. messrs. bull and auvache, of , hart street, bloomsbury, are extensive dealers in editions of the classics and bibles. at one time there were no less than four second-hand booksellers in hyde street, new oxford street, but at present there is only one. next door but one to mudie's, we have the shop of mr. james roche, who is a link with the past, having started in , and for many years carried on business in a little corner shop in southampton row, one door from the holborn highway. messrs. j. rimell and sons, noted for their extensive collection of works on the fine arts and architecture, are at , oxford street. among the literary booksellers of the first quarter of the present century, william goodhugh, of , oxford street, deserves a mention here. 'the english gentleman's library manual,' , is his best-known work, although from a literary standpoint it is a poor concern; he also wrote 'gates' to the french, italian, spanish, hebrew, arabic and syriac, 'unlocked by new and easy methods.' goodhugh was conversant with several of the oriental and many european languages. his knowledge of books was a very extensive and profound one, and as a literary bookseller he is an interesting figure in the annals of bibliopolic history. fifty years ago many good books were picked up out of 'miller's catalogue of cheap books,' which appeared monthly from , oxford street, that for september, , being numbered . a quarter of a century ago there were several booksellers in oxford street, _e.g._, g. a. davies, at ; w. heath, at ; j. kimpton, at ; e. lumley, at ; j. pettit, at ; and whittingham. [illustration: _day's circulating library in mount street._] the further west one goes, the less interesting do the annals of bookselling become, for oxford street is essentially a modern locality, and second-hand bookselling never has thrived much in new localities. it was, however, when rummaging over the contents of a stall in a wardour street alley that charles lamb lighted upon a ragged duodecimo, which had been the delight of his infancy. the price demanded was sixpence, which the owner, himself a squab little duodecimo of a character, enforced with the asseverance that his own mother should not have it for a farthing less, supplementing the assertion with an oath and 'now, i have put my soul to it.' the book was the 'queen like closet,' which, it is scarcely necessary to say, elia rescued from the man of profanity. soho has long been more or less of a bookselling quarter. john paul manson, who was in king street, westminster, in , and issued from thence 'a summer catalogue' in , subsequently removed to gerard street, soho, and died in . he was especially well versed, not only in caxtons, but in all the best works of the early printers, and many english black-letter books passed through his hands. dibdin observes that professor heyne could not have exhibited greater signs of joy at the sight of the towneley manuscript of homer than did manson on the discovery of rastell's 'pastyme of the people' among the books of mr. brand. two sons of this manson subsequently became partners in the firm of christie, the art auctioneers. the first sampson low started as a bookseller in berwick street, soho, in or about . day's library, the second oldest existing circulating library in london (the oldest is that of cawthorn and hutt, established in , cockspur street), has continued from the year within a few hundred yards of its present situation. in that year a mr. dangerfield established it on the north side of berkeley square, and it was purchased from him by mr. rice in or , under whom it largely developed in extent and reputation. in he removed into the adjoining mount street at no. (south side), where for about fifty years the library remained. meanwhile it became the property of mr. hoby, and after one or two changes successively of mr. john and mr. charles day, father and son. in mr. john day's hands it crossed the road to no. on the north side, and remained there about twenty-four years, till that part of mount street was cleared to make way for the present carlos place. then in the year it again crossed the road to no. , where mr. charles day holds a long lease. an early catalogue of the institution shows that the eighteenth-century circulating libraries contained a portion of the weightier works, such as history, biography, travels, etc., a fact which is rarely realized in the face of the popular impression that it was left to the late mr. c. e. mudie to supply such works. st. paul's churchyard and neighbourhood. [illustration: paternoster row on a bank holiday.] the bookselling and book-hunting annals of the district which starts with st. paul's, and terminates at charing cross, might occupy a goodly-sized volume. we must of necessity be brief, chiefly because both paternoster row and st. paul's churchyard have been, for the most part, book-publishing rather than second-hand bookselling localities. as a literary highway, paternoster row is of considerable antiquity, for robert rikke, a paternoster-maker and citizen, had a shop here in the time of henry iv., and there can be no question that its name originated from the fact that it was at a very early period the residence of the makers of paternosters, or prayer-beads. before the great fire of , paternoster row was not much of a bookselling centre, for it was inhabited chiefly by mercers, silkmen, and lacemen, whose shops were a fashionable resort of the gentry who resided at that time in the immediate vicinity. after the fire, the row gradually became famous for its booksellers, or rather publishers, who resided at first near the east end, and whose large warehouses were 'well situated for learned and studious men's access thither, being more retired and private.' although the book-annals of paternoster row chiefly deal with matters subsequent to the great fire, there were many publishers and booksellers there over a hundred years before that calamity. in and about there were, for example, two of the fraternity here established--richard lant and henry sutton, the latter's shop being at the sign of the black morion. for over twenty years, to , henry denham was at the star in paternoster row, whence he issued, among a large number of other books, george turberville's 'epitaphs, epigrams, songs, and sonnets' in . the last century, however, witnessed the rise of paternoster row as a publishing locality. from and onwards book-auctions were held at the hen and chickens at nine in the morning; at the golden lion over against the queen's head tavern, paternoster row, at nine in the morning and two in the afternoon, and at other places both in the row and in its numerous tributaries, such as ivy lane, ave maria lane, etc. although some of the earliest book-auctions held in this country took place in the immediate vicinity of paternoster row, and although it had attained a world-wide celebrity as a publishing centre, it has very few interesting records as a second-hand bookselling locality. awnsham and john churchill were located at the black swan in ; william taylor, the publisher of 'robinson crusoe,' , was here at the sign of the ship early in the last century, and was succeeded by thomas longman in , the present handsome pile of buildings, erected in , being on the original spot occupied in part by the founder of the firm. the longmans had a second-hand department attached to their house in the early part of the present century, as we have already seen. others which may be here mentioned as being connected with the row are baldwin and cradock; and ralph griffiths, of the 'dunciad'--'those significant emblems, the owl and long-eared animal, which mr. griffiths so sagely displays for the mirth and information of mankind'--for whom goldsmith wrote reviews in a miserable garret. the last firm of second-hand booksellers of note who thrived in paternoster row was that of william baynes and son; and the last of the race is still remembered by the older generation of book-collectors, with his old-time appearance in frills and gaiters. in baynes published one of the most remarkable catalogues ( pages) of books printed in the fifteenth century which has ever appeared. it is full of extremely valuable bibliographical information. for many years john wheldon, the natural history bookseller, had a shop, chiefly for the sale of back numbers of periodicals, at , paternoster row (as well as in great queen street), and this little shop subsequently passed into the tenancy of jesse salisbury, who was there until six or seven years ago. the chapter coffee-house, where so many important publishing schemes have been mooted and carried out, still lingers in the row, but modernized out of all recognition. the chief interest of st. paul's churchyard as a book locality centres itself in the publishing rather than the second-hand bookselling phase. one of our earliest printer-publishers, julian notary, was 'dwellynge in powles chyrche yarde besyde ye weste dore by my lordes palyes' in , his shop sign being the three kings. at the sign of the white greyhound, in st. paul's churchyard, the first editions of shakespeare's 'venus and adonis' and 'rape of lucrece' were published by john harrison; at the fleur de luce and the crown appeared the first edition of the 'merry wives of windsor'; at the green dragon the first edition of the 'merchant of venice'; at the fox the first edition of 'richard ii.'; whilst the first editions of 'richard iii.,' 'troilus and cressida,' 'titus andronicus,' and 'lear' all bear churchyard imprints. not only were there very many booksellers' shops around the yard, but at the latter part of the sixteenth century bookstalls started up, first at the west, and subsequently at the other doors of the cathedral. from a letter addressed by sir clement edmonds, march , , to the lord mayor, we gather that two houses were erected at the west gate of st. paul's without the sanction of the authorities, and these were ordered to be removed, as were also certain 'sheds or shops that were being erected near the same place.' a chief portion of the stock of these shops and stalls would naturally be devotional books of various descriptions. that these books were not always to be relied on we infer from an amusing anecdote in the harleian manuscripts, related by sir nicholas l'estrange, to the effect that 'dr. us[s]her, bishop of armath, having to preach at paules crosse, and passing hastily by one of the stationers, called for a bible, and had a little one of the london edition given him out, but when he came to looke for his text, that very verse was omitted in the print.' [illustration: _john evelyn, book-collector._] mr. pepys' bookseller, joshua kirton, was at the sign of the king's arms. writing under date november , , pepys chronicles: 'in paul's churchyard i called at kirton's, and there they had got a masse book for me, which i bought, and cost me s., and, when i come home, sat up late and read in it with great pleasure to my wife, to hear that she was long ago acquainted with it.' kirton was one of the most extensive sufferers of the bookselling fraternity in the great fire; from being a substantial tradesman with about £ , to the good, he was made £ , or £ , 'worse than nothing.' the destruction of books and literary property generally, in and around st. paul's, in this fire was enormous, pepys calculating it at about £ , , and evelyn putting it at £ , , or, in other words, about one million sterling as represented by our money of to-day. evelyn tells us that soon after the fire had subsided the other trades went on as merrily as before, 'only the poor booksellers have been indeed ill-treated by vulcan; so many noble impressions consumed by their trusting them to y{e} churches.' [illustration: _newbery's shop in st. paul's churchyard._ from an old woodcut.] one of the most considerable of the churchyard booksellers after the great fire was richard chiswell, the father or progenitor of a numerous family of bibliopoles. john dunton, indeed, describes him as well deserving of the title of 'metropolitan bookseller of england, if not of all the world.' he was born in , and died in . in he sold, in conjunction with john dunmore, another bookseller, the libraries of dr. benjamin worsley and two other eminent men. at st. paul's coffee-house, which stood at the corner of the entrance from st. paul's churchyard to doctors' commons, the library of dr. rawlinson was, in , sold--'at a prodigious rate,' according to thoresby--in the evening after dinner. although not quite _à propos_ of our subject, we can scarcely help mentioning the name of so celebrated a churchyard publisher as john newbery, who lived at no. , the original site being now covered by the buildings of the r.t.s.; his successors, griffith and farran, were at no. until the year , when they moved westward. f. and c. rivington were at no. for many years, as peter pindar tells us: 'in paul's churchyard, the bible and the key, this wondrous pair is always to be seen,-- somewhat the worse for wear--a little grey-- one like a saint, and one with cæsar's mien.' a mere list of the churchyard booksellers would fill a goodly-sized volume. in addition to those already mentioned, one of the most famous and successful families who resided here were the knaptons, where, during the first three quarters of the last century, they built up an enormous trade, and were succeeded by robert horsfield, who carried on the business in ludgate street, and died in . we possess one of the interesting catalogues of james and john knapton, whose shop was at the sign of the crown. it runs to twenty pages octavo, and enumerates an extraordinary variety of literature. the books written and sermons preached by right reverends and reverends occupy the first five pages, arranged according to the authors' names; and then follow the works of ordinary, commonplace mortals, sermons and aphra behn's romances, mr. dryden's plays and the 'whole duty of man' appearing cheek-by-jowl. the most important contribution to the earlier history of bookselling appeared from st. paul's churchyard in the shape of robert clavell's 'general catalogue of books printed in england since the dreadful fire, , to the end of trinity term, .' this catalogue was continued every term till , and includes an abstract of the bills of mortality. the books are classified under their respective headings of divinity, history, physic and surgery, miscellanies, chemistry, etc., the publisher's name in each case being given. dunton describes clavell as 'an eminent bookseller' and 'a great dealer,' whilst dr. barlow, bishop of lincoln, distinguished him by the term of 'the honest bookseller.' clavell's shop was at the sign of the stag's head, whilst his partner in many of his projects was henry brome, of the sun, also in the churchyard. joseph johnson, the dry bookseller of beloe, demands a short notice here. he was born at liverpool in , and after serving an apprenticeship with george keith, gracechurch street, began business for himself on fish street hill, which, being in the track of the medical students at the hospitals in the borough, was a promising locality. after some years here, he removed to paternoster row, where he had as partners first a mr. davenport, and then john payne; the house and stock were destroyed by fire in , after which he removed to st. paul's churchyard, where he continued until his death in , the father of the trade. he was a considerable publisher, and 'two poets of great modern celebrity were by him first introduced to the publick--cowper and darwin.' whilst at fish street hill he took over the stock of john ward, of which he issued a catalogue. ludgate hill to a certain degree not unnaturally secured a little of the 'bookish' brilliancy which diffused itself round and about the churchyard. the highway to the cathedral was naturally a good business quarter, and there can be very little doubt that some of the stalls or booths, which formed a sort of middle row in ludgate, were occupied by stationers and booksellers, who are not usually indifferent to the advantages of a good thoroughfare. it never, however, came up to st. paul's churchyard, either as a publishing or as a bookselling locality; but many retailers were here during the latter part of the last century. queen charlotte, wife of george iii., is reported by robert huish to have said to mrs. delany: 'you cannot think what nice books i pick up at bookstalls, or how cheap i buy them.' the rev. dr. croby, in his 'life of george iv.,' tells us that queen charlotte was in the habit of paying visits, in company with some lady-in-waiting, to holywell street and ludgate hill, 'where second-hand books were exposed for sale during the last half of the eighteenth century.' during the earlier part of this period, among the booksellers of note in ludgate street were robert horsfield, william johnston, and richard ware (who was a considerable adventurer in new publications). the business established at about the same period and in the same locality by richard manley, was considerably extended by john pridden ( - ). the libraries of many eminent and distinguished characters passed through his hands, nichols tells us. his offers in purchasing them were liberal, and, being content with small profits, 'he soon found himself supported by a numerous and respectable set of friends, not one of whom ever quitted him.' jonah bowyer was at the rose, in ludgate street, in and about the year , when he published the lord bishop of oxford's 'sermons preached before the queen' at st. paul's in may of that year; and it was either this bowyer or william bowyer--the two were not related--who established a bookselling department on the frozen thames in . william johnston, who died at a very advanced age in , was one of the most successful of ludgate hill booksellers, and his employées included george robinson and thomas evans, each of whom became the founder of a very extensive business. george conyers was at the ring, ludgate hill, for some years during the last quarter of the seventeenth century, and prior to his removal to little britain. conyers dealt chiefly in grub street compilations, which included cheap and handy guides to everything on earth, and it is likely that his shop was a literary or book-collecting resort. the most famous bibliopole who had a shop in ludgate is perhaps william hone, to whom the liberty of the press owes so much, and who removed here from his house at the corner of ship court, old bailey. trübner and co. left ludgate hill soon after they amalgamated with kegan paul, trench and co. fleet street. the churchyard is, of course, the home of bookselling, but, as we have seen, as time went on, its children, so to speak, repudiated their birthplace. in the middle of the sixteenth century, for example, fleet street contained nearly as many bookshops as the parent locality. in addition to this, england's second printer, wynkyn de worde, abandoning the westminster house of his master, william caxton, took up his residence in fleet street in or about the year . the sign of his shop was the sun, 'agaynste the condyte,' and as the conduit stood at the lower end of fleet street, a little eastward of shoe lane, we get some idea of the exact locality. he was buried in st. bride's churchyard in . w. griffith was busy at the sign of the falcon, near st. dunstan's church, printing booklets about current events with 'flowery' titles, and these books he sold at his second shop, designated the griffin, 'a little above the conduit,' in fleet street. william powell, at the george, was publishing religious books of various sorts, and a 'description of the countrey of aphrique,' a translation of a french book on africa, which was perhaps the very first on a topic now pretty nearly threadbare. richard tottell was dwelling at the hand and star, between the two temple gates, and just within temple bar,[ :a] whence he sent forth books by a score and more distinguished men, and whose name is worthily linked with those of littleton, more, tusser, grafton, boccaccio, and many others. in elizabeth granted the same individual the privilege of printing 'all kinds of "law bookes," which was common to all printers, who selleth the same bookes at excessive prices, to the hindrance of a greate nomber of pore students.' other fleet street booksellers were william copland, who issued a number of books, t. and w. powell, and henry wykes. two of the earliest fleet street booksellers, robert redman and richard pynson, quickly got at loggerheads, the bone of contention being pynson's device or mark, which his rival stole. these are the neighbourly terms which pynson applies to redman; they occur at the end of a new edition of littleton's 'tenures,' : 'behold i now give to thee, candid reader, a lyttleton corrected (not deceitfully) of the errors which occurred in him. i have been careful that not my printing only should be amended, but also that with a more elegant type it should go forth to the day: that which hath escaped from the hands of robert redman, but truly rudeman, because he is the rudest out of a thousand men, is not easily understood. truly i wonder now at last that he hath confessed it his own typography, unless it chanced that even as the devil made a cobbler a mariner, he hath made him a printer. formerly this scoundrel did profess himself a bookseller, as well skilled as if he had started forth from utopia. he knows well that he is free who pretendeth to books, although it be nothing more.' this pretty little quarrel continued some time, and broke out with renewed vigour on one or two subsequent occasions; but the rivals ultimately became friends, and when pynson retired from business, he made over his stock to 'this scoundrel' redman, who then removed to pynson's shop, next to st. dunstan's church. the bibliopolic history of fleet street is almost synonymous with the literary history of this country. anything like an exhaustive account, even so far as relates to the bookselling side of the question, would be quite out of place in a work of this description. a few points, therefore, must suffice. apart from the booksellers already mentioned, the following are also worthy of notice. at the latter part of the sixteenth century thomas marsh, of the prince's arms, near st. dunstan's, issued stow's 'chronicles,' and was the holder of several licenses for printing; for nearly half a century j. smethwicke (who died in ) had a shop 'under the diall' of st. dunstan's, whence he issued shakespeare's 'hamlet,' 'love's labour lost,' 'romeo and juliet,' 'taming of the shrew,' as well as works by henry burton, drayton, greene, lodge, and others; richard marriot was in st. dunstan's churchyard early in the seventeenth century, and his ventures included quarles' 'emblems,' , dr. downes' 'sermons,' , and walton's 'compleat angler,' , for which s. d. was asked, and for a good copy of which £ has been recently paid; marriot was also the sponsor of the first part of butler's 'hudibras,' . thomas dring, of the george, near clifford's inn; john starkey, of the mitre, between the middle temple gate and temple bar, the publisher of shadwell's plays, and for some time an exile at amsterdam; abel roper, of the black boy, over against st. dunstan's church, and publisher of the _post boy_ newspaper; thomas bassett, with whom jacob tonson was apprenticed; tonson himself, of the judge's head, near the inner temple gate (he started in chancery lane), are fleet street booksellers of the latter half of the seventeenth century. early in the following century we get such names as benjamin tooke, of the middle temple gate; edmund curll, whose chaste publications appeared from the sign of the dial and bible, against st. dunstan's church; bernard lintot, tonson's great rival and pope's publisher, of the cross keys, between the temple gates; ben motte, who succeeded tooke; andrew millar, samuel highley, john murray, and many others who might be mentioned, but who were publishers rather than second-hand booksellers. one of the earliest, and perhaps the very first, of the fleet street contingent of booksellers who advertised their stock through the medium of priced catalogues was john whiston, the younger son of the famous william whiston. whiston sold several important libraries, including those of such eighteenth-century celebrities as d'oyly, dr. castell, wasse, chishull, dr. banks, prebendary john wills, adam anderson (author of 'the history of commerce'), and many others; he included a large number of literary men among his acquaintances. from to he appears to have been in partnership with benjamin white, and the libraries which they sold during this period included those of the rev. stephen duck; thomas potter, esq., m.p., son of the archbishop of canterbury; charles delafaye, esq., of the secretary of state's office; dr. james tunstall, vicar of rochdale, etc. of all the second-hand booksellers of the latter half of the last century the most considerable was the benjamin white above mentioned, whose shop was at the sign of horace's head, in fleet street, and whose bulky catalogues, often including over , lots, are now very rare and exceptionally interesting. the contents of these catalogues were classified, first into three divisions, folio, quarto, and octavo and duodecimo, and then again into numerous sections according to the subject-matter of the volumes. 'the sale will begin' on such and such a day, and 'catalogues may be had' at various stated booksellers' shops in london, and at oxford, and 'the principal towns of england.' from to benjamin white and his son and namesake issued catalogues of various collections of books, including the libraries (or selections from) of dr. thomas, bishop of salisbury; sir william calvert, m.p. for london; dr. secker; rev. joseph spence; dr. hutchinson, editor of xenophon; dr. william borlase; dr. matthew maty, secretary of the royal society, and principal librarian, british museum; sir richard jebb; rev. john bowles, editor of 'don quixote'; rev. john lightfoot, chaplain to the countess dowager of portland, and author of the 'flora scotica.' one of white's best customers was the eccentric george steevens, who, however, discontinued his daily visits, after many years' regular attendance, for no real cause. he then transferred his attentions to stockdale's, whom in turn he abruptly forsook. the elder benjamin retired from business with 'a plentiful fortune,' and died at his house in south lambeth in march, , and benjamin junior retired to hampstead a few years after his father, leaving the business to a younger brother, john, who continued bookselling until the earlier part of the present century, when he, in his turn, gave up active work for the 'enjoyment of a country life' with 'an easy competence.' in one of the catalogues of this celebrated firm--our copy is minus the title-page, but it was evidently issued about --four of the most interesting entries occur among the folios: caxton's 'lyfe of the faders,' with 'curious old wooden plates, not quite perfect, in russia,' is priced at £ s.; caxton's 'lyfe of our lady,' by john lydgate, is offered at s. d.; a _fair_ copy of caxton's 'lyfe of st. katherine of senis' is figured at £ s., the price asked also for a 'fair, not quite perfect' example of the 'golden legende.' a second folio shakespeare is priced at £ ; a fourth folio at £ s. the same catalogue includes a copy of the famous 'book of hawking and hunting,' printed at st. albans in , but unfortunately the price is omitted, as is the case with several other important rarities. the whites published some fine natural history books, including those of pennant, latham, and white of selborne; the last was a relative of the booksellers. whiston was succeeded by nathaniel conant, who sold, _inter alia_, the library of samuel speed, , and john white was succeeded by his partner, j. g. cochrane. sixty years ago charles tilt, afterwards tilt and bogue, occupied , fleet street, and a charming view of this shop appears in cruikshank's 'almanack' for march, . [illustration: _charles tilt's shop._ from cruikshank's 'comic almanac.'] although the bookselling history of fleet street did not cease with the general migration of booksellers, from the end of the last to the beginning of the present century much of its glory as such had departed. during the second and third quarters of the nineteenth century its bibliopolic annals are indeed few. one of its most interesting houses was situated at no. , upon part of the site of the present banking-house of messrs. hoare. here formerly stood the famous mitre tavern; this place was much damaged during the great fire, and was partly rebuilt. in the last century it was a favourite resort of wanley, vertue, dr. stukeley, hawkesworth, percy, johnson, boswell, and many other celebrities. johnson and boswell first dined here in . it was here that the 'tour to the hebrides' was planned; it was here also, at a supper given by boswell to the doctor, goldsmith, davies, the bookseller, eccles, and the rev. john ogilvie, that johnson delivered himself of the theory that 'the noblest prospect which a scotchman ever sees is in the highroad that leads to england.' from to the society of antiquaries met here, and for some time also the royal society held its meetings in this place. in the tavern ceased to exist, and the house became the 'poets' gallery' of macklin, whose edition of the bible is described as an unrivalled monument of his taste and energy. thomas macklin died in , and the erstwhile mitre gave place--possibly not at once, but certainly very soon after--to saunders' auction-rooms. the most important sale which occurred here, and of which we have discovered any record, was an anonymous one in february, ; the catalogue was entitled 'bibliotheca selecta: library of an eminent collector, removed from the north of england.' this sale occupied six days, and comprised a very fine series of books of old english poetry, history, topography, and illustrated books. for instance, a very fine copy in a genuine state of the first folio shakespeare realized the then high figure of £ s. a copy of yates's 'castell of courtesie,' , sold for £ s., steevens' copy eighteen years previously going for £ s. a large number of other excessively rare books, several of which were unique, were sold here at the same time; but whose they were, or how they could have drifted into such an unimportant auction centre as saunders', are questions which we are not able to answer. fifty years ago there were at least three important firms of literary auctioneers in fleet street--henry southgate (who eventually turned author, and who died about three years ago), at no. ; l. a. lewis, at no. ; and e. hodgson, referred to on p. . at each of these three centres many extensive collections of books came under the hammer. when the elder southgate died or retired, in about , two of his assistants, grimston and havers, left, and started on their own account at , holborn hill, making the auction of books a speciality; but their existence appears to have been brief. the neighbourhood had, however, a book-auction repute long before the present century dawned, and the rose tavern, near temple bar, was a favourite locality for this method of selling books. samuel baker here sold the entire library ('bibliotheca elegans') of alderman sir robert baylis in , and that of conyers middleton, principal librarian of the university of cambridge, march , - , and nine following days--by order and for the benefit of the widow, who in the preface 'takes this opportunity to assure the public that this catalogue contains the genuine library of dr. middleton, without any alteration, and is sold for my advantage'--there were , lots. the strand. [illustration: _butcher row, ._] the modernization of the strand, but more particularly the erection of the new law courts from temple bar to clement's inn, has destroyed very many book-hunting and literary localities. this project involved the obliteration of thirty-three streets, lanes and courts, and the levelling of dwelling, lodging and ware houses, and so forth, sheltering over , individuals. it has entirely altered the aspect of the place; not perhaps before it was necessary, for the whole neighbourhood had degenerated into rookeries of the vilest description. among the localities swept away, a brief reference may be made to one which has a twofold interest--butcher row--first, because clifton's eating-house, one of dr. johnson's favourite resorts, was in this row, and secondly because one of the earliest catalogues of second-hand books was issued from within a yard or two of clifton's. j. stephens' shop was at the sign of the bible in butcher row, and towards the latter part of he published 'a catalogue of several libraries of books lately purchased, in several languages,' etc., the price of each book being, as usual, marked on the first leaf before the sale commenced, which sale was announced to begin 'on tuesday, the nd of november, ,' and 'to continue till all are sold.' for a copy of this exceedingly rare and interesting catalogue we are indebted to mr. dobell, the bookseller. it comprises twenty-six pages octavo, and enumerates over , books, the majority of which are priced. there are very few volumes in this list which are now included in anyone's desiderata, but the list itself is a very good indication of the book-buying tastes of our forbears of a century and half ago. butcher row, it may be mentioned, was immediately beyond st. clement's church (on the northern side of the strand), and by the end of the last century had degenerated into a number of wretched fabrics and narrow passages, the houses greatly overhanging their foundations; in or about , this street was pulled down and gave place to pickett street, so named because the improvement was the scheme of alderman pickett. [illustration: _charles hutt's house in clement's inn passage._] one of the last bookselling haunts to be pulled down was the quaint old shop occupied by the late charles hutt (who, by the way, was born in the vestry of the clare market chapel-of-ease) where many famous book-hunters had picked up bargains. charles hutt, had he lived, would have become one of the leading booksellers of the day. he was for some years at hodgson's, and possessed a remarkable taste for, and knowledge of, books. he left hodgson's and started on his own account in the old ramshackle house already referred to. this shop presented so unfavourable an exterior that even the income-tax fiend never 'called in,' although at one time there were several thousands of pounds' worth of books in it. hutt did a very extensive trade, not only in this country, but in america. he had an especial aptitude at completing sets of particular authors--landor, leigh hunt, byron, shelley--and contributed much to the prevailing taste for modern first editions. a younger brother, mr. f. h. hutt, has been for some years established at , clement's inn passage, within a few yards of the old shop. the associations of the past half-century of this neighbourhood include two other well-known firms of booksellers. theophilus noble, who had removed from , chancery lane, was at , fleet street for some years until his death in , and a member of the same family is still a second-hand bookseller opposite st. mary-le-strand church. reeves and turner removed from noble's old house in chancery lane, to the house on the west side of temple bar and adjoining it on the north, erected on the site of the famous old bulk-shop, the last of its race, where at one time crockford, 'shell-fishmonger and gambler,' lived. when temple bar was removed, this shop came down, and reeves and turner (who for the second time had to bow to the necessities of 'improvements') opened their well-known place on the south side of the strand, facing st. clement's church. their spacious shop here for about a quarter of a century was a famous book-haunt, and one of the very few successful ones which have existed in a crowded thoroughfare. it always contained an immense variety of good and useful books, priced at exceedingly moderate amounts, and the poorer book-lover could always venture, generally successfully, on suggesting a small reduction in the prices marked without being trampled in the dust as a thief and a robber. a year or two ago, when the lease of the shop expired, messrs. reeves and turner bibliopolically ceased to exist--there not being a reeves or a turner in the chancery lane firm of booksellers of that name--but mr. david reeves, a son of mr. william reeves, started in wellington street, strand, the latter, the _doyen_ of london booksellers, occupying a portion of the house as a publisher and a dealer in remainders. [illustration: _mr. william d. reeves, bookseller._] the most famous bookselling locality in this district is holywell street, or, as it is now generally called, booksellers' row. this street has always been afflicted with a questionable repute, not without cause, and much of the ill-odour of its past career still clings to it. even second-hand bookselling has not purged it entirely. half a century ago its shops were almost entirely taken up with the vendors of second-hand clothes, and the offals of several other more or less disreputable trades. above these shops resided the grub street gentry of the period. 'it was,' says one who knew it well, 'famous for its houses of call for reporters, editors and literary adventurers generally, all of whom formed a large army of needy, clever disciples of the pen, who lived by their wits, if they had any, and in lieu of those estimable qualifications, by cool assurance, impudence, and the gift of their mother tongue in spontaneous and frothy eloquence.' it was also a famous and convenient place 'for literary gentlemen and others, who were desirous of evading bailiffs and sheriffs' officers who might be anxious of making their acquaintance,' for even if they were traced to the holywell street entrance of any particular house, they could easily escape into wych street, and so slip the myrmidons of the law. it next became the emporium of indecent literature (from which charge it is not yet quite free), but much of this peculiar trade was suppressed by lord campbell's act. for nearly half a century the place has been growing in popularity as a _locus standi_ of the reputable second-hand book trade. every book-hunter of note has known, or knows, of its many shops. macaulay, for example, obtained many of his books from holywell street. the late mr. thoms related, in the _nineteenth century_, a very curious incident which put the great historian in possession of some french _mémoires_ of which he had long been endeavouring to secure a copy. macaulay was once strolling down this street, when he saw in a bookseller's window a volume of muggletonian tracts. 'having gone in, examined the volume, and agreed to buy it, he tendered a sovereign in payment. the bookseller had not change, but said if he (macaulay) would just keep an eye on the shop, he would step out and get it. his name, i think, was hearle, and he had some relatives of the same name who had shops in the same street. this shop was at the west end of the street, and backed on to wych street; and at the back was a small recess, lighted by a few panes of glass, generally somewhat obscured by the dust of ages. while macaulay was looking round the shop, a ray of sunshine fell through this little window on four little duodecimo volumes bound in vellum. he pulled out one of these to see what the work was, and great was his surprise and delight at finding these were the very french _mémoires_ of which he had been in search for many years.' more rare and interesting books have been picked up in this street during the past forty years than in any other locality. rumour, which sometimes tells the truth, says that shelley's copy, with his autograph on the title-page, of ossian's 'poems' was picked up here for a few pence. a book with shakespeare's autograph on the title-page was also said to have been rescued from among a lot of cheap books in this locality a few years ago. we are not certain, but we believe that the shakespeare autograph has been proved to be a forgery. if that is so, then perhaps the honour of being the greatest 'find' ever discovered, about four years ago, in holywell street, pertains to a perfect copy of 'le pastissier françois,' , the most valuable of all the elzevirs, its value being from about £ to £ . the copy in question was bound up with a worthless tract, and history has not left on record what the bookseller thought when he discovered his ignorance. a copy of the first edition of horne's 'orion,' , was purchased in this street for d. in , its market value being about £ . it was originally issued at / d., by way of sarcasm on the low estimation of epic poetry. the holywell street bookseller did not appraise it at a much higher figure than the author. scarcely a week passes without a volume possessing great personal or historic interest being 'bagged' in this narrow but delightful thoroughfare. many of these finds, it is true, may not be of great commercial value, but they are oftentimes very desirable books in more respects than one. the present writer has been fortunate in this matter. no person would now rank james boswell, for instance, among great men, but a book in two volumes, with the following inscription, 'james boswell, from the translator near padua, ,' would not be reckoned costly at s., the book in question being a beautiful copy of cesarotti's translation into italian of ossian's 'poems.' david hume's own copy of 'histoire du gouvernement de venise,' par le sieur amelot de la houssaie, , was not dear at d., and at a similar price was obtained an excessively rare volume (for which a well-known book-collector had been on the look-out in vain for many years), whose contents are little indicated by the title of 'roman tablets,' , but whose nature is at all events suggested by the sub-title of 'facts, anecdotes, and observations on the manners, customs, ceremonies and government of rome.' it is a terrific exposure (originally written in french), for which the author was prosecuted at the solicitation of the pope's nuncio at paris. the late john payne collier has told of a holywell street 'find' as far back as january , , when he picked up a very nice clean copy of hughes' 'calypso and telemachus,' , for which he paid s. d. it was not, however, until he reached home that he discovered the remarkable nature of his purchase, which had belonged to pope, who had inscribed in his own autograph thirty-eight couplets, addressed 'to mr. hughes, on his opera.' these are only a selection from an extensive series of more or less interesting 'finds,' of which every collector has a store. two of the earliest and best-known of the more important holywell street booksellers passed away some years ago. 'tommy' arthur, who made a respectable fortune out of the trade, and whose shop and connections are now in the possession of w. ridler, who is a successful trader, and a man of considerable independence as regards the conventionalities of appearances. (our artist's portrait of this celebrity in his brougham, indulging in the extravagance of a clay pipe, had not arrived at the time of going to press, so it must be held over until the next edition of this book.) joseph poole was another holywell street bookseller of an original type, with his quaint semi-clerical attire. this bibliopole's relatives still carry on business in this street, school-books being with them a speciality. the _doyen_ of the street is mr. henry r. hill, whose two shops are at the extreme east end of the street. mr. hill has been here for about forty years, and has seen many changes, not only in the general character of the street, but also of the tastes in book-fancies. mr. hill's shops, with mrs. lazarus's three hard by, are full of interesting books, priced at very moderate figures. the latter has been established here for about fifteen years. messrs. myers, who also occupy three bookshops in this street, were for some years with mrs. lazarus; and mr. w. r. hill acquired a great deal of his book-knowledge at reeves and turner's. mr. charles hindley has been long established in this street. [illustration: _messrs. hill and son's shop in holywell street._] the step from fifth-rate book-making to second-hand bookselling is not a great one, and just as holywell street sheltered the grub-writers of half a century ago, so drury lane and its immediate vicinity was their recognised locality in the earlier part of the last century. it is impossible to associate respectability, to say nothing of fashion, with this evil-smelling, squalid thoroughfare. and yet there can be no question about its having been at one time an aristocratic quarter. until within the last few years, the lane itself, and its numerous tributaries, contained many second-hand bookshops. the most celebrated, and, indeed, almost the only one of any interest, was andrew jackson, who made a speciality of old and black-letter books. nichols tells us that for more than forty years he kept a shop in clare market, and here, 'like another magliabecchi, midst dust and cobwebs, he indulged his appetite for reading; legends and romances, history and poetry, were indiscriminately his favourite pursuits.' in he published the first book of 'paradise lost' in rhyme, and ten years afterwards a number of modernizations from chaucer. the contents of his catalogues of the years , , , and one without date, were in rhyme. he retired in , and died in july, , in the eighty-fourth year of his age. charles marsh, another literary bookseller, was for some time a friend and neighbour of jackson's. marsh (who afterwards removed to a shop now swallowed by the improvements in northumberland avenue, charing cross) was situated at cicero's head, in new round court, off the strand, and is described by one who knew him as being afflicted with 'a very unhappy temper, and withal very proud and insolent, with a plentiful share of conceit.' he wrote a poem entitled 'the library, an epistle from a bookseller to a gentleman, his customer; desiring him to discharge his bill,' . he was originally a church-clerk. the only catalogue of this celebrity which we have seen is a bulky one, over pages octavo, enumerating , books, 'among which are included the libraries of the rev. mr. gilbert burnet, minister of clerkenwell, and an eminent apothecary, both lately deceased.' the date is may , . some of the prices in this catalogue can only be described as absurd; for example, lydgate's 'bochas; or, the fall of princes,' , s.; a collection of old plays and poems, two volumes, , s.; tusser's 'five hundred points of good husbandry,' , s. d.; and black-letter books by the score are here offered at sums from one to three or four shillings each. the neighbourhood has for many years ceased to be a bookselling locality, for although book-hunters prefer side-streets and quiet thoroughfares for the prosecution of their hobby, the pestiferous vapours of drury lane would kill any bibliopolic growth more vigorous than a newsvendor's shop. [illustration: _messrs. sotheran's shop in piccadilly._] when, by slow degrees, the various trades moved in a direction west of temple bar, it was only natural that the trade in second-hand books should be similarly attracted. the strand itself, which, at the end of the last century and beginning of the present, was a much narrower street than it is now, is not, and never has been, a great book-emporium, for a reason which we have more than once pointed out. but the immediate vicinity has been for over a century and a half, as it still continues to be, the favourite locality of some of the chief booksellers. to-day the strand proper only contains three representatives, in messrs. h. sotheran and co., the finer of whose two shops is in piccadilly, and mr. david nutt (both of whom are, however, vendors of new books, and often act as publishers), and messrs. walford. within a stone's-throw of the main thoroughfare we have john galwey and suckling and galloway, garrick street; james gunn and nattali, bedford street; b. f. stevens, trafalgar square; h. fawcett, king street; w. wesley and sons, essex street; and many others. one of the most interesting incidents in connection with the strand relates to a house which stood between arundel and norfolk streets, where, at the end of the seventeenth century, lived the father of bishop burnet. 'this house,' says dr. hughson, writing in , 'continued in the burnet family till within living memory, being possessed by a bookseller of the same name--a collateral descendant of the bishop.' of much more importance, however, is the fact that at , strand a bookseller named wright started, about , the first circulating library in london. about ten years afterwards he was succeeded by william bathoe ('a very intelligent bookseller' who died in october, ), who carried on the circulating library in addition to bookselling. bathoe was a book-auctioneer as well as a retail vendor; he sold the books of 'william hogarth, esq., sergeant-painter,' under the hammer. in or about the year he had established himself 'in church lane, near st. martin's church in the strand, almost opposite york buildings,' whence he issued a thirty-eight-paged (octavo) catalogue, comprising the 'valuable library of the learned james thompson esq., deceased, with the collection of a gentleman lately gone abroad'; this list enumerates nearly , items, the prices, ranging from d. upwards, being uniformly low. walton's 'compleat angler,' , 'with neat cuts,' would not be long unsold at s. d.; and the same may be said of purchas's 'pilgrimage,' , s. d.; of rochester's complete poems at s.; and very many others. at 'no. in the strand' lived j. mathews, the bookseller, and father of charles mathews, the actor; and in this house the latter was born. jacob tonson was at 'shakespeare's head, over against catherine street, in the strand,' now ; the house, since rebuilt, was afterwards occupied by andrew millar, who deposed shakespeare, and erected buchanan's head instead. millar was succeeded by his friend and apprentice, thomas cadell (who became a partner in ), in ; he retired in . cadell's son then became head of the concern, and took william davies into partnership. the firm of cadell and davies existed until the death of the latter in , after which cadell (the opulent bookseller of beloe) continued it in his own name until his death in . samuel bagster; whitmore and fenn; j. walter (an apprentice of robert dodsley, and the founder of the _times_); william brown (an apprentice of sandby), essex street, who died in , and who was succeeded by robert bickerstaff; henry chapman, chandos street, - ; w. lowndes; and walter wilson, of the mews gate, were strand booksellers of more or less note during the latter part of the last, and the earlier part of the present, century. charing cross and neighbourhood. john millan was one of the most famous of charing cross or whitehall booksellers, for he was located here for over half a century, dying in , aged over eighty-one years. richard gough drew the following picture of millan's shop in march, : 'on my return from westminster last night, i penetrated the utmost recesses of millan's shop, which, if i may borrow an idea from natural history, is incrusted with literature and curiosities like so many stalactitical exudations. through a narrow alley, between piles of books, i reached a cell, or _adytum_, whose sides were so completely cased with the same _supellex_ that the fireplace was literally _enchâsse dans la muraille_. in this cell sat the deity of the place, at the head of a whist party, which was interrupted by my inquiry after _dillenius_ in sheets. the answer was, he "had none in sheets or blankets." . . . i emerged from this shop, which i consider as a future herculaneum, where we shall hereafter root out many scarce things now rotting on the floor, considerably sunk below the level of the new pavement.' millan was succeeded by thomas and john egerton, the latter being 'a bookseller of great eminence'--the black-letter bookseller of beloe--whose death occurred in . 'it was in his time,' says beloe, 'that old english books, of a particular description both in prose and verse, were, for some cause or other--principally, perhaps, as they were of use in the illustration of shakespeare--beginning to assume a new dignity and importance, and to increase in value at the rate of per cent.' another charing cross bookseller, samuel leacroft (who succeeded charles marsh), died in , and it is rather curious that john egerton was a son-in-law of lockyer davis, whilst his neighbour was an apprentice. of samuel baker, whose shop was in russell street, covent garden, we have already spoken in our account of book-auctioneers. one of his early--may, --catalogues (not auction) comprises the libraries of dr. robert uvedale, and of this divine's son and namesake, also a d.d., of enfield; it enumerates over , items. thomas becket (an apprentice of millar, and sterne's first publisher) and p. de hondt were successful strand booksellers; the former finally settled himself in pall mall, and was one of the first to make a speciality of foreign books, of which he imported large quantities between and . c. heydinger, of the strand, was a german bookseller who issued catalogues from to , and who died in distressed circumstances about . henry lasher gardner, who died at a very advanced age in , was a venerable bookseller, whose shop was opposite st. clement's church, strand; he published catalogues between and . william otridge, at first alone, and afterwards in partnership with his son, issued catalogues from the strand during the last quarter of the last century. in joseph pote was selling books at the golden door, over against suffolk street, charing cross. john nourse (died ), bookseller to his majesty, was another celebrated bibliopole of the strand, and is described by john nichols as 'a man of science, particularly in the mathematical line.' francis wingrave succeeded nourse. one of the most celebrated booksellers of this neighbourhood during the last half of the eighteenth century was tom davies, who sported his rubric posts[ :a] in russell street, covent garden, and who was driven from his position as actor in garrick's company by churchill's killing satire: 'he mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone.' in spite of satirists, the verdict of his contemporaries is ratified, so to speak, in voting tom davies a good fellow. dr. john campbell described him as 'not a bookseller, but a gentleman dealing in books'; and the rev. p. stockdale described him as 'the most gentleman-like person of that trade whom i ever knew.' dr. johnson said he was 'learned enough for a clergyman,' which was an equivocal compliment, for the clergymen of the period were not, as a rule, learned. davies was generally talkative, but at times quite the reverse, and sometimes uttered pious ejaculations. between and davies sold a number of interesting and valuable libraries--those, for example, of william shenstone and william oldys. davies, like many other contemporary booksellers, was fond of scribbling, and was the author of 'memoirs of garrick,' and other books. probably the most famous bookseller of the strand is thomas payne, who for over half a century ( - ) was selling books in this locality. 'honest tom payne' started business in or about , for in february of that year he issued a catalogue of 'curious books in divinity, history, classics, medicine, voyages, natural history,' etc., from the 'round court,[ :b] in the strand, opposite york buildings.' about ten years later (january, ) he had removed to the mews gate to a shop shaped like the letter l, which became one of the most famous literary resorts of the period. just before leaving round court, tom payne issued a sort of clearance catalogue, comprising , volumes, 'which will be sold very cheap.' the mews gate was near st. martin's church, and probably close to the bottom of the new thoroughfare, charing cross road. it was at this shop that all the book-collectors of the day most congregated, for it was to tom payne's that the majority of libraries were consigned--_e.g._, those of ralph thoresby, sir john barnard, francis grose, rev. s. whisson, and many others whose names are now nothing but names, but who were at the time well-known collectors. tom payne's customers included all the bibliophiles of the period. 'must i,' asks mathias in the 'pursuits of literature'-- 'must i, as a wit with learned air, like doctor dewlap, to tom payne's repair, meet cyril jackson and mild cracherode, 'mid literary gods myself a god? there make folks wonder at th' extent of genius in the greek aldus or the dutch frobenius, and then, to edify their learned souls, quote pleasant sayings from _the shippe of foles_.' [illustration: _honest tom payne._] mathias describes tom payne as 'that trypho emeritus,' and as 'one of the honestest men living, to whom, as a bookseller, learning is under considerable obligations.' beloe, in his 'sexagenarian,' states that at tom payne's and at peter elmsley's, in the strand, 'a wandering scholar in search of pabulum might be almost certain of meeting cracherode, george steevens, malone, wyndham, lord stormont, sir john hawkins, lord spencer, porson, burney, thomas grenville, wakefield, dean dampier, king of mansfield street, towneley, colonel stanley,' and others. savage professed to have picked up his 'author to let' at 'the mews gate on my way from charing cross to hedge lane.' tom payne (who was a native of brackley) came into possession of his famous shop at the mews' gate through his marriage with elizabeth taylor, whose brother built and for some time occupied it. about tom payne ('bookseller extraordinary to the prince regent, and bookseller to the university of oxford') took his son into partnership, to whom fourteen years later he relinquished the business, and died in february, , in his eighty-second year. thomas payne the younger (to whom dibdin dedicated his 'library companion,' ) remained here until , when he removed to pall mall; in he took henry foss, who had been his apprentice, into partnership. the former died in , and was succeeded by his nephew, john payne, and henry foss, who retired from the trade in , when their stock came under the hammer at sotheby's. in the preface to his 'library companion,' , dibdin speaks very highly of the catalogue of payne and foss: 'since the commencement of this work, messrs. payne and foss have published a catalogue of , articles. i have smiled, in common with many friends, to observe rare and curious volumes selling for large sums at auctions, when sometimes _better_ copies of them may be obtained in that incomparable repository in pall mall at two-thirds of the price. whoever wants a _classical fitting out_ must betake themselves to this repository.' the bibliopolic history of the mews gate did not terminate with the younger tom payne. when he removed to a more aristocratic quarter, the shop passed into the occupation of william sancho, the negro bookseller, whose father, ignatius, was born in on board a ship in the slave trade soon after it had quitted the coast of guinea. william sancho died before , and was succeeded at the mews gate by james bain, who afterwards removed to no. , haymarket, where the business is still carried on, 'in accordance with the best bookselling traditions, by his younger son, the second james bain having died early in .' the mews was taken down in , and was used in its latter days to shelter cross's menagerie from exeter 'change. one of the oldest firms of strand booksellers was that started in by paul vaillant, who, at the time of the revocation of the edict of nantes, escaped to england. his shop was opposite southampton street, and his chief dealings were in foreign books. he was succeeded by his sons paul and isaac, and then by his grandson, paul iii., the son of paul ii. the second paul purchased a quantity of books at freebairn's sale for the earl of sunderland, and his joy at securing the copy of virgil's 'opera,' printed 'per zarothum,' , is duly chronicled by nichols; he was one of the booksellers employed by the society for the encouragement of learning. he died in , aged eighty-seven, and as both of his two sons had elected to follow other occupations, the business passed into the hands of peter elmsley, the great friend and companion of gibbon, whose 'decline and fall,' however, he did not see his way to publish; he was a great linguist, and possessed 'an amount of general knowledge that fitted him for conversation and correspondence upon a familiar and equal footing with the most illustrious and accomplished of his day.' at the end of the last century he resigned the business to his shopman, david bremner, 'whose anxiety for acquiring wealth rendered him wholly careless of indulging himself in the ordinary comforts of life, and hurried him prematurely to the grave.' he was succeeded by james payne (the youngest son of the famous tom) and j. mackinlay, both of whom also came to premature ends, the former through being long confined as a prisoner in france. among the most famous of the strand booksellers of the earlier part of the present century were rivington and cochran, of no. (near somerset house), and thomas thorpe, of , bedford street. with these two firms it really seemed a question as to which could issue the most bulky catalogues. the earliest example which we have seen of the former is dated ; it extends to over pages, and comprises nearly , items in various languages and in every department of literature. thomas thorpe was undoubtedly the giant bibliopole of the period. if anything striking or original occurred in the bookselling world, it was generally thorpe who did it. dibdin describes him as 'indeed a man of might.' his catalogues, continues the same writer, 'are of never-ceasing production, thronged with the treasures which he has gallantly borne off, at the point of his lance, in many a hard day's fight, in the pall mall and waterloo place arenas. but these conquests are no sooner obtained than the public receives an account of them, and during the last year only his catalogues, in three parts, now before me, comprise no fewer than , articles. what a scale of buying and selling does this fact alone evince! but in this present year two parts have already appeared, containing upwards of , articles. nor is this all. on september , , there appeared the most marvellous phenomenon ever witnessed in the annals of bibliopolism.[ :a] the _times_ had four of the five columns of its last page occupied by an advertisement of mr. thorpe, containing the third part of his catalogue for that year. on a moderate computation, this advertisement comprised , lines. the effect was most extraordinary. many wondered, and some remonstrated; but mr. thorpe was master of his own mint, and he never mentions the circumstance but with perfect confidence, and even gaiety of heart, at its success.' thorpe issued catalogues from to , and during one year alone, , his lists comprised over , lots. in he removed from bedford street to , piccadilly. thorpe was the first _merchant_ in autographs, and sir thomas phillipps was one of the first _collectors_ who flourished in the iniquity of the pursuit, and it was the latter who on one occasion purchased the entire contents of one of thorpe's autograph catalogues. another distinguished bibliopole of this locality, or, more correctly, of great newport street, was thomas rodd, who died in april, , in his fifty-third year. the business was really started by his father and namesake, who was a man of considerable literary ability, and who abandoned his intention of entering the church when he became possessed of a secret for making imitation diamonds, rubies, garnets, etc. in he added bookselling to that of manufacturing sham stones. after getting into trouble with the excise on account of the latter accomplishment, he devoted himself entirely to the book-trade. the elder rodd died in , and his son, the more famous bibliopole, succeeded to the business, which he developed in an extraordinary manner within a few years. his memory and knowledge of books were almost limitless, and, like thomas thorpe, most of his schemes were on a scale to create a sensation. rodd's catalogues are of great bibliographical value. in spite of his extensive connections, his stock at the time of his death was enormous. it was sold, in ten different instalments, at sotheby's, between november, , and november, . [illustration: _henry g. bohn, bookseller._] [illustration: _john h. bohn._] henry g. bohn may be regarded as the connecting link between the old and the new school of booksellers. he was born in london on january , , and died in august, . his father was a bookbinder of frith street, soho, but when he removed to henrietta street, covent garden, he added (in ) a business in second-hand books. between this year and , h. g. bohn paid repeated visits to the continent as his father's buyer. in he married a daughter of mr. simpkin, of simpkin, marshall and co. he started in business for himself, and rapidly built up an extensive trade, far exceeding any of his rivals. at about the same time his brother james also started on his own account, at , king william street, charing cross, whilst the third brother, john hutter bohn, who has been for nearly forty years the cataloguer at sotheby's and is still living, attended to the original business. bohn's famous 'guinea catalogue' was deservedly regarded as a great triumph in its way, although it has been far surpassed by the splendid catalogues of his whilom apprentice, b. quaritch. bohn's fame now rests almost exclusively in his publishing ventures, which proved a veritable gold-mine to the originator, and are still highly lucrative investments in the hands of messrs. george bell and sons. he 'edited' an edition of lowndes' 'bibliographer's manual,' and his name occurs on the title-pages of a great many books dealing with an extensive variety of subjects. it is scarcely necessary to say that bohn has very little claim to be regarded either as an editor or as an author, unless the cash purchase of the product of other men's brain and study conferred either of these titles upon him. he was, however, a remarkable person, with a very wide knowledge of books. while quite a young man he catalogued the books of dr. parr. the growing extent of his publishing business killed the second-hand trade, so far as he was concerned, and his stock was disposed of at sotheby's in the years , , and , occupying fifty days in selling, and realizing a total of over £ , . both henry g. bohn and his brother james dealt largely in remainders, and of this class of merchandise each issued catalogues early in the year (and at other times), and the difference in the extent of the trade done by the two brothers may be indicated by the fact that the catalogue of the former extends to pages, whilst that of the latter is only pages. in this, as in everything else which he undertook, h. g. bohn was first and his rivals nowhere. one of bohn's rivals in the 'forties' was joseph lilly, who once undertook to purchase everything important in the book line which was offered, but he soon gave up the idea. his shop was for some time at , king street, covent garden, and his catalogues always contained a large number of select books. he had served a short time at lackington's, and was distinguished for the zeal with which he purchased first folio shakespeares. lilly died in , and his vast stock came under the hammer at sotheby's in six batches, - . [illustration: _mr. f. s. ellis._] king william street, strand, until the last three or four years, had been for nearly a century a famous emporium of second-hand bookshops. its most famous inhabitant in this respect was charles john stewart (whom henry stevens, of vermont, described as the last of the learned old booksellers), who was born in scotland at the beginning of the present century, and died on september , . he was one of lackington's pupils, and started as a second-hand bookseller with howell, subsequently carrying on the business alone. his chief commodity was theological books, and when his stock--perhaps the largest of its kind known--came to be sold, it realized close on £ , . joel rowsell was another famous bibliopole who resided in this street, and he, like stewart, retired in . g. bumstead (whose speciality was curious or eccentric books; he was distinctly an 'old' bookseller, for he rarely bought anything printed after ), molini and green, j. m. stark, and j. w. jarvis and sons, were also, at one time or another, in this bookselling thoroughfare, which is now entirely deserted by the fraternity. doubtless one of the most successful of modern bibliopoles who lived in the vicinity of the strand is mr. f. s. ellis, who was an apprentice of james toovey, and who in a comparatively few years built up a business second only to that of quaritch. mr. ellis (who purchased the valuable freewill of t. and w. boone's connection) compiled the greater portion of the catalogue of the celebrated huth library, and since he has retired to torquay has taken up book-editing with all the zeal which characterized his earlier career as a bookseller. mr. ellis's shop was at , king street, covent garden, and afterwards at , new bond street, and the prestige of his name is worthily maintained by his nephew, mr. g. i. ellis (with whom is mr. elvey), at the latter address. the whole neighbourhood of which covent garden may be taken as the centre, is full of a bibliopolic history, which dates back to the beginning of the last century. the time when aldines were to be picked up at s. d. each, and when shakespeare folios were to be had for s. each round about the piazza, has, it is true, long gone by; but a very large library, in almost any branch of literature, may be easily formed, at a very moderate cost, any day within a stone's-throw of london's great vegetable market. it may be mentioned, _en passant_, that george willis, the editor-publisher of _willis's current notes_, was for many years at the great piazza, covent garden. the firm subsequently became known as willis and sotheran, and is now sotheran and co.: this highly respectable house was established in tower street, e.c., as far back as . [illustration: _a corner at ellis and elvey's._] westminster hall. [illustration: _westminster hall when occupied by booksellers and others._ from a print by gravelot.] there is not, perhaps, in the whole world, a more interesting bookselling locality than westminster hall. this place is redolent with historical associations, with parliaments, coronations, revelries, and impeachments. stalls for books, as well as other small merchandise, were permitted in the hall of the palace of westminster early in the sixteenth century. the poor scholars of westminster also were employed in hawking books between school-hours. in the procession of sanctuary men who accompanied the abbot of westminster and his convent, december , , was 'a boy that killed a big boy that sold papers and printed books, with hurling of a stone, and hit him under the ear in westminster hall.' in the churchwardens' accounts of the parish of st. margaret, westminster, there is, under date - , an entry: 'item, received for another legende solde in westmynster halle, v_s._ viij_d._,' the 'legende' being one of the thirteen copies of 'the golden legend' bequeathed by caxton to the 'behove' of the parish of st. margaret's. towards the end of the sixteenth century tom nash wrote: 'looke to it, you booksellers and stationers, and let not your shop be infested with any such goose gyblets, or stinking garbadge as the jygs of newsmongers; and especially such of you as frequent westminster hall, let them be circumspect what dunghill papers they bring thether: for one bad pamphlet is inough to raise a dampe that may poyson a whole towne,' etc. at first the shops or stalls were ranged along the blank wall on the southern side of the hall. subsequently they occupied not only the whole of the side, but such portion of the other as was not occupied by the court of common pleas, which then sat within the hall itself, as did the chancery and king's bench at its farther end. gravelot's print of the hall during term-time shows this arrangement. the stationers and other tradespeople in the hall were a privileged class, inasmuch as they were exempt from the pains and penalties relative to the license and regulation of the press. here as elsewhere there were plenty of inferior books obtainable; pepys, writing october , , and referring to some purchases made in the hall, remarks: 'among other books, one of the life of our queen, which i read at home to my wife, but it was so sillily writ that we did nothing but laugh over it.' the stalls were distinguished by signs. one of the early issues of 'paradise lost,' , contains the name, among others, of henry mortlock, of the white hart, westminster hall, but whose shop was at the phoenix, st. paul's churchyard; raleigh's 'remains,' , was printed for mortlock. the majority of the hall booksellers had regular shops in st. paul's churchyard or elsewhere, for it is scarcely likely that they would open these stalls during vacation. matthew gilliflower, of the spread eagle and crown, was one of the most enterprising of his class during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. james collins, of the king's head, was here contemporaneously with gilliflower. c. king and stagg were also extensive partners in 'adventures' in new books, and were among the 'unprejudiced booksellers' who acted as agents for the _gentleman's magazine_ during the first year of its existence. at about the same time also, b. toovey and j. renn, were selling books here. early in the reign of george iii. the traders were ousted from westminster hall; and in the dirty and mutilated vast parallelogram was thoroughly cleaned and repaired. westminster hall as a bookselling centre bears the same affinity to the trade proper as the sweetmeat stalls at a fair bear to confectionery. the books exposed for sale would only by a rare chance be choice or notable, and it was certainly not a likely place for folios or quartos. bond street and piccadilly. at the latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century, several booksellers had established themselves in bond street and pall mall. one of the best known is john parker, 'an honest, good-natured man,' with whom was apprenticed, in , henry baker, the antiquary, a friend of john nichols. parker's shop was in pall mall. at no. , new bond street, in , we find j. brindley, a reputable bookseller of his time, and who was one of a society formed in 'for the encouragement of learning,' which had a chequered and an undignified career. his shop was at the sign of the feathers, and in he describes himself as 'bookseller to h.r.h. the prince of wales.' the only example of his catalogue which we have seen is dated , and it includes , lots, among which were long selections of books at s. each, or s. per dozen, and of others at d. each or s. per dozen. brindley was succeeded in by his apprentice, a much more celebrated bibliopole, james robson, who built up a very extensive connection and died in . in company with james edwards and peter molini (the exotic bookseller of beloe), robson, in , undertook a journey to venice for the purpose of examining the famous pinelli library, which was purchased for about £ , ; it was safely transferred to london and sold by auction in conduit street, the total result being £ , . a large number of more or less famous collections of books passed through robson's hands, notably those of sir john evelyn; edward spelman, the translator of xenophon; the duke of newcastle ( ); w. mackworth praed ( ); joseph smith, consul at venice; dr. samuel musgrave; j. murray, ambassador at constantinople. messrs. robson and clark were succeeded early in this century by nornaville and fell, who in made way for t. and w. boone, who were, as we have said, succeeded by mr. f. s. ellis; it is interesting to note that this house had been in the occupation of booksellers for over a century and a half. the bookselling fraternity had, however, obtained no definite footing until shortly after the middle of the eighteenth century, when james almon began to acquire notoriety, his political fearlessness more than once bringing him at loggerheads with the authorities. when he first came to london, he worked as a printer at watts', in wild's court, lincoln's inn fields, where he had the frame which had been occupied by benjamin franklin. his shop was opposite burlington house, and for many years this was the meeting-place of the leading whig politicians. he died in , and was succeeded by j. debrett, a name still associated with publishing. during the last few years of the last century, and probably in consequence of the greatly improved condition of the place, piccadilly and neighbourhood became favourite spots with booksellers, the more notable being james ridgway, whose 'repository of loyalty' was in york street, st. james's square, who died in , aged eighty-three years; t. hookham, old bond street; and stockdale, whose name will be for ever associated with that of erskine in connection with the liberty of the press. stockdale's shop, no. , piccadilly, was for a long time in the possession of thomas thorpe; the place has since been rebuilt. r. faulder, of new bond street, also deserves mention as being one of forty booksellers against whom actions were brought for selling the 'baviad and mæviad.' he is the cunning bookseller of beloe, and appears to have been one of the most assiduous frequenters of 'forced' sales of household furniture, etc., where he often happened on books of rarity and value. he 'accumulated a very large property and retired,' but the _auri sacra fames_ pursued him to the end. william clarke, of new bond street, best remembered as the compiler of that very valuable work, 'repertorium bibliographicum,' , was established as a bookseller in . during the second half of the last century samuel parker and walter shropshire were selling second-hand books in new bond street. thomas beet, who retired from business ten years ago, was a well-known bookseller of bond street and conduit street, and was a considerable purchaser at the leading auction sales. he frequently had the honour of submitting various special old books for the inspection of the queen, the prince of wales, and other members of the royal family, whilst his shop in conduit street was a very popular resort of bookish men. robert dodsley, of tully's head, is one of the most famous of the pall mall booksellers. his shop was next to the passage leading into king street, and now known as pall mall place. he is perhaps better remembered as an author and compiler than as a bookseller, and best of all as a friend of dr. johnson, pope, spence, and other literary celebrities; he it was who first urged johnson to start the famous 'dictionary.' dodsley died in , and his business was taken over by his brother james, who survived the founder thirty-three years. the celebrated firm of g. and w. nicol, booksellers to his majesty, for many years carried on in pall mall in dodsley's shop, originated with david wilson and his nephew george nicol, who started in the strand about , and who sold, _inter alia_, the library of dr. henry sacheverell. george nicol married the niece of the first alderman boydell, and was one of the executors of james dodsley, who left him a legacy of £ , . he is described as 'a most agreeable companion,' as a member of many of the literary clubs of his day, and enjoyed the friendly confidence of the duke of roxburghe, duke of grafton, and other eminent book-lovers. he died in pall mall, , aged eighty-eight years. nicol's stock was sold by auction at evans's in . [illustration: _john hatchard ( - )._] the most ancient book-business in piccadilly is that of hatchard's, which dates back to . it was started by john hatchard, who had been an assistant at tom payne's. hatchard was patronized by queen charlotte, the archbishop of canterbury, canning, and dr. keate. hatchard is the godly bookseller of beloe; he was a conservative, dressed like a bishop, and published for hannah more and the evangelicals. zachary macaulay, wilberforce, and the other opponents of slavery, once involved hatchard in a libel action, in which he was found guilty. hatchard published for crabbe and for tupper, and, according to mr. humphreys' interesting 'piccadilly bookmen,' liston, charles kemble, and other actors, frequented the shop. so did the duke of wellington, who, 'when the library of the duke's brother was sold at evans's auction rooms in pall mall, where now stands the carlton club . . . sent several open commissions for books which he wished secured. among these was a shilling pamphlet by a. g. stapleton, with the late owner's notes in pencil. this was put up at s. d., and ultimately knocked down for £ to hatchard, the under-bidder being sir a. alison. the duke, though very much astonished at the price such a mere fragment had fetched, yet admired the obedience to his orders.' the horticultural society took its rise in a meeting at hatchard's, and he also seems to have lent his premises to the 'outinian society,' a species of matrimonial agency, which did not last long; but the wonder is how so respectable and cautious a personage ever harboured it. among his assistants were fraser, afterwards noted for his magazine, and tilt. [illustration: _james toovey, bookseller._] the two great second-hand booksellers of the piccadilly of the latter half of the present century are james toovey and bernard quaritch. toovey's shop at , piccadilly (once occupied by william pickering, the famous publisher), was for about forty years a favourite haunt of booksellers, for toovey was a bibliophile as well as a bibliopole. his whole life was spent among books. he was apprenticed at fourteen to a bookseller, and for some time had a shop of his own in st. james's street. he published newman's 'lives of the english saints,' and other works by the leaders of the tractarian movement, in addition to a very fine reprint of the 'aberdeen breviary,' of the original of which only four imperfect copies exist. an obituary notice describes him as 'very particularly the great authority on bindings. he made a strong speciality in old french red morocco bindings, and during his frequent visits to france brought back large buyings of them. toovey bought notable books, but unless they had the second qualification of being in a good state, and the bindings valuable, he was less anxious about them. given a notable book in a notable binding, he would buy it at almost any cost. when the present mr. james toovey--james toovey _fils_--came into the business, he made a feature of those quaint sport and pastime books which every stroller along the south side of piccadilly has been wont to stay and look at in toovey's window. ten years before his death the old man retired from the business in favour of his son, but his devotion to rare books and rare bindings was his ruling passion to the last. toovey's, during its career, has known all the prominent book-hunters and a legion of eminent people who have been more than book-collectors. in the leisured times, toovey's, like hatchard's further along the street, was something of a resort for literary folk generally, and many people we who are younger are familiar with have been accustomed to find their way across toovey's doorstep. mr. gladstone has visited the shop, and so has cardinal manning, and prince lucien bonaparte, and henry huth often.' having acquired a considerable fortune in business, he was able to indulge in the luxury, rare amongst booksellers, of collecting a private library for his own entertainment. he retired from active business several years ago, and passed his remaining days in the ever-delightful society of his bibliographical treasures. he died in september, , in his eightieth year, and his stock of books came under the hammer at sotheby's in march, , when , lots realized just over £ , . his very choice private library is still in the possession of his son, and among its chief cornerstones is the finest first folio shakespeare known. toovey, like the elder boone, secured many excessively rare books during his personal visits to the continent. pickering's son, basil montagu pickering, remained with toovey for a few years after his father retired, but eventually opened a shop on his own account at , piccadilly, next to st. james's church, and possessed at one time and another many exceedingly rare books. the name is still continued under the title of pickering and chatto, of , haymarket, who continue to use the aldine device employed both by william pickering and his son. there is no pickering in the present firm. [illustration: _james toovey's shop, piccadilly._] [illustration: _bernard quaritch, the napoleon of booksellers._] of all second-hand booksellers, living or dead, bernard quaritch is generally conceded to be the king. mr. quaritch was born in at worbis, prussia, and after serving an apprenticeship to a bookseller came over to england in , and obtained employment at h. g. bohn's, with whom he remained (exclusive of two years in paris) until . he left bohn's in april of that year, with the observation: 'mr. bohn, you are the first bookseller in england, but i mean to be the first bookseller in europe.' quaritch started with only his savings as capital, and his first catalogue was nothing more than a broadside, with the titles of about books, the average price of which ranged from s. d. to s. his first big move was made in , when the bishop of cashel's library was sold, when he purchased a copy of the mazarin bible for £ . in the same year appeared his first large catalogue of books, which comprised nearly , articles; two years later his catalogue had increased from to pages, and included close on , articles; in his complete catalogue consisted of , pages, and , articles; in it had extended to , pages, describing , books; but seven years later his general catalogue consisted of , pages, containing , articles. as a purchaser, mr. quaritch puts the whilom considered gigantic purchases of thomas thorpe entirely into the shade. in july, , he purchased the non-scientific part of the royal society's norfolk library; a few weeks later at the perkins sale he bought books and manuscripts to the extent of £ , ; at the sale of sir w. tite's books in the quaritch purchases amounted to £ , ; at the two didot sales in and his purchases exceeded £ , in value; at the beckford sale in a little more than half of the total (£ , ) was secured by mr. quaritch; at the sunderland sale, - , mr. quaritch's bill came to over £ , ; at all the other great sales of the past twenty years the largest buyer has invariably been 'b. q.' in an announcement 'to book lovers in all parts of the world,' the napoleon of bibliophiles makes the following statement: 'i am desirous of becoming recognised as their london agent by all men outside of england who want books. the need of such an agent is frequently felt abroad by the heads of literary institutions, librarians, and book-lovers generally. they shrink from giving trouble to a bookseller in matters which require more attention and effort than the mere furnishing of some specific article in his stock, and they must often wish that it were possible to have the services of a man of ability and experience at their constant command. such services i freely offer to anyone who chooses to employ them; no fee is required to obtain them, and not a fraction will be added to the cost of the supplies. the friendly confidence which is necessarily extended to one's agent at a distance will undoubtedly in time bring an ample return for my labours, but so far as the present is concerned, i ask for nothing but the pleasure of attending to the wants of those who are as yet without an agent in london. whether the books to be procured through my intervention be rare or common, single items or groups, the gems of literature and art or the popular books of the day, i shall be happy to work in every way for book-lovers of every degree. commissions of any kind may be entrusted to me; i will venture to guarantee satisfaction in every case, even in the delicate matter of getting books appropriately bound. it may likewise be well to state that my offer of agency extends to the selling of foreign books here, as well as to the supply of english books hence.' there is not much that is architecturally beautiful about mr. quaritch's shop at , piccadilly, but its interest to the book-lover needs but little emphasis after what has been said. like all great men, bernard quaritch has his little eccentricities, into which we need not now enter. we apologize to him for publishing the following extract, which is, however, not our own, but comes (of course) from an american source: 'bernard quaritch's antiquated hat is a favourite theme with london and other bookmen. a committee of the grolier club once made a marvellous collection of newspaper clippings about it, and a member of the société des bibliophiles contemporains wrote a tragedy which was a parody of Æschylus. in this tragedy power and force and the god hephaistos nail the hat on mr. quaritch's head, like the titan on the summit of overhanging rocks. divinities of the strand and piccadilly, in the guise of oceanidæ, try to console the hat; but less fortunate than prometheus, the hat knows it is for ever nailed, and not to be rescued by herakles. however, _tout passe, tout casse, tout lasse_, as dumas said, for mr. quaritch has bought a new hat, and a journal of london announces that the epic hat is enshrined in glass in the bibliopole's drawing-room.' one of the most modern of book-thoroughfares deserves a brief reference here. charing cross road has for some years been a popular and successful resort of booksellers and book-hunters. it is within convenient reach of both the strand and holborn, and is only two or three minutes' walk from piccadilly circus. the books offered for sale here are, for the most part, priced at exceedingly moderate rates. mr. bertram dobell may be regarded as the chief of the trade here, possessing, as he does, two large shops well filled with books of all descriptions. mr. dobell's catalogues are very carefully compiled, and possess a literary flavour by no means common; his lists of privately-printed books form a most valuable contribution to the bibliography of the subject. mr. john lawler, for many years chief cataloguer at puttick's, and more recently at sotheby's, had a shop in charing cross road, which he has just given up; and mr. a. e. cooper, who makes a speciality of first editions of modern authors and curious and out-of-the-way books, both french and english. [illustration] footnotes: [ :a] sewell, cornhill, and becket and de hondt, strand, were among the last to use these curious trade signs. [ :a] the identical book with which johnson knocked down osborne, 'biblia græca septuaginta,' folio, , frankfort, was at cambridge in february, , in the possession of j. thorpe, bookseller, who afterwards catalogued it. [ :b] timbs, writing in the _gentleman's magazine_ in , identified the house at which tonson probably lived, and this house was in timbs's time a bookseller's. gray's inn lane has become so thoroughly renovated and improved that it is no longer possible to point to any particular spot where any celebrity lived. [ :a] 'one day [writes lytton] three persons were standing before an old bookstall in a passage leading from oxford street into tottenham court road. two were gentlemen; the third, of the class and appearance of those who more habitually halt at old bookstalls. '"look," said one of the gentlemen to the other; "i have discovered here what i have searched for in vain the last ten years--the horace of , the horace of the forty commentators--a perfect treasury of learning, and marked only fourteen shillings!" '"hush, norreys," said the other, "and observe what is yet more worth your study;" and he pointed to the third bystander, whose face, sharp and attenuated, was bent with an absorbed, and, as it were, with a hungering attention over an old worm-eaten volume. '"what is the book, my lord?" whispered mr. norreys. 'his companion smiled, and replied by another question: "what is the man who reads the book?" 'mr. norreys moved a few paces, and looked over the student's shoulder. "'preston's translation of boethius,' 'the consolations of philosophy,'" he said, coming back to his friend. '"he looks as if he wanted all the consolations philosophy could give him, poor boy!" * * * * * 'when mr. norreys had bought the horace, and given an address where to send it, harley (the second gentleman) asked the shopman if he knew the young man who had been reading boethius. '"only by sight. he has come here every day the last week, and spends hours at the stall. when once he fastens on a book, he reads it through." '"and never buys?" said mr. norreys. '"sir," said the shopman, with a good-natured smile, "they who buy seldom read. the poor boy pays me twopence a day to read as long as he pleases. i would not take it, but he is proud."' [ :a] it was in one of these alleys or tributaries that a lawyer's clerk, returning from his office, carried home in triumph to camden town a copy of marlowe's 'tragical history of doctor faustus,' , which he bought for s. [ :a] concerning the hande and starre, fleet street, and the renowned richard tottell, 'printer by special patentes of the bokes of the common lawe in the several reigns of king edw. vi. and of the quenes marye and elizabeth,' it may be pointed out that this house, , fleet street, exists as before, the only modern addition being the half-brick front which was placed there more than a hundred years ago. jaggard, the bookseller, lived there after tottell, and from thence he issued the first edition of shakespeare's 'romeo and juliet,' actually printed in the rear (now dick's coffee-house), and the possibility of shakespeare having often called to correct the proof-sheets is conjured up. the house was in turn occupied by many eminent law publishers and booksellers, and of late years by the late mr. henry butterworth, who became himself the queen's law publisher. [ :a] one of the reviewers of nichols' 'literary anecdotes' says: 'how often have we seen him standing betwixt these, bidding "his friends good-morrow with a cheerful face," and pulling down his ruffles, already too long, till they covered his fingers. davies had, even while in common conversation, as much of the old school of acting in his manner as his friend gibson had upon the stage; though he is said not to have been so pompous as berry, to whose parts he succeeded; and berry, in this respect, was thought to have declined from bridgewater.' [ :b] now covered by charing cross hospital. at the commencement of the third quarter of the sixteenth century, thomas colwell, a bookseller, had a shop at the sign of 'st. john the evangelist,' in st. martin's parish, near charing-cross, and a shop with the same sign in fleet street, near the conduit. it must be remembered that at this period holborn and charing cross were quite suburban villages, the former noteworthy as the thoroughfare from newgate to tyburn, and the latter as a sort of halfway place of stoppage between the city and westminster. [ :a] not quite so unprecedented as mr. dibdin thought. the _grub street journal_ of february , , contained an entire page devoted to the books advertisement of tom osborne, a much more remarkable feat, all things considered, than thorpe's. [illustration] women as book-collectors. it seems a curiously contradictory fact that, although englishwomen are on the whole greater readers than men, they are, as book-collectors or bibliophiles, an almost unknown quantity. in france this is not the case, and several books have been published there on the subject of _les femmes bibliophiles_. an analysis of their book-possessions, however, leads one to the conclusion that with them their sumptuously-bound volumes partake more of the nature of bijouterie than anything else. many of the earlier of these bibliophiles were unendowed with any keen appreciation for intellectual pursuits, and they collected pretty books just as they would collect pretty articles of feminine decoration. they therefore form a little community which can scarcely be included in the higher category of intellectual book-collectors. it would be much easier to assert that englishwomen differ from frenchwomen in this respect than it would be to back up the assertion with material proof. indeed, after all that could possibly be said in favour of our own countrywomen as book-collectors, we fear that it would not amount to very much. it is certain that our history does not afford any name of the first importance, certainly none which can be classed with anne of austria (wife of louis xiii.), the duchesse de berry, catherine de médicis, christina of sweden, diane de poitiers, the comtesse du barry, marie antoinette, the marquise de pompadour, or of at least a dozen others whose names immediately suggest themselves. the only english name, in fact, worthy to be classed with the foregoing is that of queen elizabeth, who, in addition to her passion for beautiful books, may also be regarded as a genuine book-lover and reader. there were, however, englishwomen who collected books long before elizabeth's time. in the year , elizabeth de burgh, lady of clare--the foundress of clare hall, cambridge--bequeathed to her foundation 'deux bons antiphoners chexun ove un grayel (gradule) en mesme le volum, bone legende, bone messale, bien note, autre messale coverte de blank quir, bone bible coverte de noir quir, hugueion [? hugh de voræillis on the decretals], legende sanctorum, poire de decretals, livre des questions, et xxii quaires d'un livre appella, de causa dei contra pelagianos.' about seventy years after elizabeth de burgh's bequest, we learn that in the countess of westmoreland presented a petition to the privy council representing that the late king henry had borrowed from her a book containing the chronicles of jerusalem and the expedition of godfrey of boulogne, and praying that an order might be issued under the privy seal for the restoration of the said book. with much formality the petition was granted. but we might go back several hundred years prior to either of these dates, for the abbess eadburga not only transcribed books herself and kept several scholars for a similar purpose, but fed the bibliomaniacal zeal of boniface, the saxon missionary, by presenting him with a number of books. appropriately enough, he presented the abbess on one occasion with a silver pen. two historic illuminated manuscripts, formerly the property of distinguished women, were sold from the fountaine collection at christie's, in july, . the more interesting item was henry viii.'s own copy of the 'psalmes or prayers taken out of holye scripture,' printed on vellum, by thomas berthelet, . this book is of great historic interest. shortly before his death he gave it to his daughter, princess mary (afterwards queen mary), who subsequently presented it to queen catherine parr, with the following inscription: 'madame, i shall desyer yor grace most humbly to accepte thys ritde hande and unworthy whose harte and servyce unfaynedly you shall be seur of duryng my lyf contynually. your most humble dowghter and servant, marye.' on the back of the leaf containing the foregoing inscription is written: 'mors est ingressus quidam immortalis future quæ tamen est maxime horribilis carni catherina regina k. p.' on a small piece of vellum inside the cover the king has written: 'myne owne good daughter i pray you remember me most hartely wen you in your prayers do shew for grace, to be attayned assurydly to yor lovyng fader. henry r.' this book contains quite a number of other inscriptions by henry, catherine, and others, and is, on the whole, of peculiarly striking interest. it was purchased by mr. quaritch for guineas. a beautiful companion to the foregoing is a manuscript 'horæ' of the fifteenth century, on very pure vellum, consisting of leaves ( - / inches by inches). this manuscript formerly belonged to margaret, mother of king henry vii., and has at the end this inscription, in her handwriting, addressed to lady shyrley, to whom she presented it: 'my good lady shyrley pray for me that gevythe you thys booke, and hertely pray you (margaret) modyr to the kynge.' margaret, countess of richmond and derby, was the only daughter and heir of john beaufort, duke of somerset, and was not only distinguished for her piety and charity, but was a great patron of caxton, whose successor, wynkyn de worde, styled himself 'her printer.' this beautiful manuscript was probably written and illuminated by her command in the reign of her son, henry vii. it realized £ . [illustration: _queen elizabeth's golden manual of prayers._ front cover.] for all practical purposes, queen elizabeth may be regarded as the first distinguished _femme bibliophile_. of this truculent and strong-minded personage much has been written, and it is scarcely likely that there is much unpublished material respecting her library. it is not necessary nor desirable to enter exhaustively into even so fascinating a topic. a few generalizations will not, however, be unwelcome. the books which she possessed before she ascended the throne are excessively rare, and even those owned by her after that event are by no means common. elizabeth herself embroidered several books with her own hands, the most beautiful example of her work being a copy of the epistles of st. paul, now at the bodleian. the black silk binding is covered with devices embroidered by the princess during her sequestration at woodstock, representing the judgment of solomon and the brazen serpent, and these have been reproduced by dibdin in 'bibliomania.' from an inventory published in _archæologia_ we learn that, in the sixteenth year of her reign, the queen possessed a book of the evangelists, of which the covers were decorated with a crucifix and with her arms in silver, weighing, with the wood corners, ounces. among the books which the notorious libri 'conveyed' were two which appear to have belonged to elizabeth, first a volume containing fenestella's 'de magistratibus sacerdotusque romanorum' ( ), and another tract, which realized £ ; and jones's 'arte and science of preserving bodie and soul in healthe, wisdome, and catholicke religion' ( ), beautifully bound 'à petit fers,' which realized close on £ . [illustration: _queen elizabeth's golden manual of prayers._ back cover.] the british museum contains several books, including one or two very beautiful ones, which were formerly the queen's, and among these perhaps the most notable is an imperfect copy of coverdale's new testament (_circa_ ). upon the inside of the cover is the following manuscript note: 'this small book was once the property of q. elizabeth, and actually presented by her to a. poynts, who was her maid of honor. in it are a few lines of the queen's own hand writing and signing. likewise a small drawing of king edward the th when very young [of windsor castle] and one of the knights in his robes.' the 'few lines' of the queen's are as follows: 'amonge good thinges | i prove and finde, the quiet | life dothe muche abounde | and sure to the contentid | mynde, ther is no riches | may be founde | your lovinge | mistress elizabeth.' an interesting point is raised in the _library_ (ii. , ), by mr. w. g. hardy, relative to the books of the earl of essex, which were believed to have become the property of elizabeth after the unfortunate favourite's execution in . the finest as well as the best known of the queen's embroidered books, now in the british museum, is archbishop parker's 'de antiquitate ecclesiæ britannicæ,' , presented by the author to elizabeth, for whom also he had it specially bound. it is covered in green velvet. we give facsimiles of the two sides of the cover of the manual of prayers which the queen is said to have carried about with her, attached by a gold chain to her girdle. it is bound in gold and enamelled, said to be the workmanship of george heriot. the prayers were printed by a. barker, . the front side of the cover contains a representation of the raising of the serpent in the wilderness; whilst on the back is represented the judgment of solomon. this book was for many years in the duke of sussex's collection; it was sold with the rest of the collection of the late george field, at christie's, june , , for , guineas, to mr. c. j. wertheimer. [illustration: elizabeth p.] the marquis of salisbury's library at hatfield contains a number of books which belonged to two distinguished ladies of the elizabethan period. lady m. burghley's many book-treasures included a number of learned works which we do not usually associate with the women of the time. there were, for instance, basil, 'orationes,' ; bodin, 'la république,' ; erasmus, 'de copia verborum,' ; fernelius, 'medecina,' ; hemming, 'commentarius in ephesios,' ; haddon, 'contra osorium,' ; jasparus, 'encomium,' ; valerius, 'tabulæ dialectices,' ; velcurio, 'commentarius in aristotelis,' ; whitgift's 'answer to cartwright,' , and several others. a few of the books which were once possessed by anne cecil (sister of sir robert cecil), countess of oxford, are also at hatfield, notably a 'grammaire française,' , and an edition of cicero 'epîtres familières.' [illustration: _the frontispiece to 'the ladies' library' of steele._ engraved by l. du guernier.] during the eighteenth century, the taste for books was by no means uncommon among women, although only a bold man would declare that that period produced a genuine _femme bibliophile_. the idea of a lady's library was first suggested by addison in the _spectator_, no. . in no. steele takes up the thread of the subject, to which addison returns in no. , and steele again in no. . these papers created a want which richard steele, with a doubly benevolent object, essayed to fill. 'the ladies' library,' ostensibly 'written by a lady,' and 'published by mr. steele,' was issued by jacob tonson in . it was in three volumes, each of which had a separate dedication; the first is addressed to the countess of burlington, the second to mrs. bovey, a learned and very beautiful widow, by some supposed to be identical with sir roger de coverley's obdurate _veuve_, whilst the third, in a strain of loyal and affectionate eulogy, is to steele's own wife, who may be supposed to be depicted in du guernier's frontispiece in the first volume. the 'ladies' library' and the _spectator_ papers assist us somewhat in forming an opinion as to the most popular books among the ladies of the earlier part of the last century. the library of the lady whom addison visited is described as arranged in a very beautiful order. 'at the end of the folios (which were finely bound and gilt) were great jars of china, placed one above the other, in a very noble piece of architecture. the quartos were separated from the octavos by a pile of smaller vessels, which rose in a delightful pyramid. the octavos were bounded by tea dishes of all shapes, colours and sizes. . . . that part of the library designed for the reception of plays and pamphlets was inclosed in a kind of square, consisting of one of the prettiest grotesque works that ever i saw, and made up of scaramouches, lions, monkeys, and a thousand odd figures in chinaware. in the midst of the room was a little japan table, with a quire of gilt paper upon it, and on the paper a silver snuff-box fashioned in the shape of a little book.' on the upper shelves addison noticed the presence of a number of other counterfeit volumes, all the classic authors, and a set of the elzevir first editions in wood, only the titles meant to be read. among the books addison mentions are virgil, juvenal, sir isaac newton's works, locke on 'human understanding,' a spelling-book, a dictionary for the explanation of hard words, sherlock on 'death,' 'the fifteen comforts of matrimony,' father malebranche's 'search after truth,' 'a book of novels' [? mrs. behn's], 'the academy of compliments,' 'clelia,' 'advice to a daughter,' 'the new atalantis' (with key), a prayer-book (with a bottle of hungary water by the side of it), dr. sacheverel's speech, fielding's trial, seneca's 'morals,' taylor's 'holy living and dying,' and la ferte's 'instruction for country dances,' etc. [illustration: elizabeth pindar. god's providence is mine inheritance. elizabeth pindar me jure possidet. anno dom. ] the list is a quaint bit of addisonian satire, almost worthy to rank by the side of sir roger de coverley. addison had no very elevated opinion of the intellectual gifts of his women contemporaries, as the juxtaposition of the prayer-book with the bottle of hungary waters (a popular stimulating perfume of the day) shows. the books above named were at that time to be found in nearly every gentleman's library, and that they should be found in the possession of women is not surprising. addison's 'intellectual lady' and her library are a fiction, but a charming fiction withal. in spite of the literary glories of her reign, 'glorious anna' can scarcely be regarded as a book-collector. queen caroline, the consort of george ii., was an enthusiastic bibliophile. her library was preserved until recently in a building adjoining the green park, called the queen's library, and subsequently the duke of york's. an interior view of the building is given in pyne's 'royal residences.' we give on page a reproduction of one of the earliest english bookplates engraved for a lady. it was discovered a few years ago in a volume of title-pages collected by john bagford, and now in the british museum. of elizabeth pindar as a book-collector, or, indeed, as anything else, we are without any record. [illustration: _the eshton hall library._] the present century has produced two of the most distinguished _femmes bibliophiles_ which this country has ever known. the earlier collector, miss richardson currer ( - ), of eshton hall, in the deanery of craven, york, was the owner of an exceedingly rich library of books. of these, two catalogues were printed. the first, in , under the superintendence of robert triphook, extended to pages; the second was drawn up by c. j. stewart in . that of the latter included four steel engravings of her library. this library was especially strong in british history, and it included a copy on vellum of the st. albans reprint of caxton's 'chronicle' (wanting only the last leaf), which realized £ at her sale; of higden's 'polychronicon,' printed by caxton, (not quite perfect); one of the most perfect copies of coverdale's bible, , which sold for £ ; of norden's 'voyage d'egypte,' on large paper, and many other fine books. it was also rich in natural science, topography, and antiquities. dibdin describes her as 'at the head of all the female collectors of europe.' miss currer, who suffered from deafness, was an intimate friend of richard heber, and it was rumoured at one time that this distinguished bibliomaniac was engaged to be married to miss currer, but the event did not transpire. miss currer's books were sold at sotheby's in july and august, , and realized nearly £ , , the , lots occupying ten days in selling. miss currer was great-niece of dr. richardson, whose correspondence was edited by dawson turner in . two of the views of miss currer's fine library in stewart's catalogue are reproduced by dibdin in his 'literary reminiscences.' before passing on to the second famous lady book-collector--mrs. john rylands--a few more or less important names may be mentioned in connection with the subject. in august, , evans sold the 'valuable' library of the late dowager lady elcho, but as her books were mixed with other properties, it is not now possible to distinguish one from the other. lady mark sykes' musical library was sold at puttick's in march, , and eleven months later sotheby sold some valuable books and books of prints, the property of a miss hamlet. h.r.h. the princess elizabeth, landgravine of hesse-homburg, and daughter of george iii., was a confirmed book-collector, and her library, divided into , lots, came under the hammer at sotheby's in april, . it occupied four days in disposal, and realized £ s. d. the books, which were chiefly in elegant bindings, were for the most part illustrated works, illuminated manuscripts, and books dealing with a very wide variety of topics; whilst many of them had an extraneous value from the fact that they contained signatures and interesting notes of the princess and other members of the royal family. the libraries of the late lady francis vernon harcourt (august, ); of the late mrs. ellis, of bernard street, russell square (november, ); and of the late miss beckles (december, ), have been dispersed at sotheby's. lady morgan's library, comprising the principal works in french, english, and italian literature, and many scarce and curious books relating to irish history--many of the books had the owner's autograph--was sold at the same place in april, , but the lots only realized £ . the library of another literary woman, miss agnes strickland, the historian of the queens of england, was dispersed at the same place in may, , when a few hundred books realized £ . some very choice books (many of them enriched with the notes of h. t. buckle) were included in the portion of the library of the late mrs. benzon, of , kensington palace gardens, sold at sotheby's on june , , when lots realized over £ . some books from mrs. jameson's library were sold at puttick's in october, , the more important items being annotated or extra-illustrated copies of her own books. the collection formed by miss drummond, of berkeley square, bristol, and sold at sotheby's in may, ( , lots realizing £ , s.), was a remarkably choice library, the whole in elegant bindings, presenting a great variety of patterns, tooled in gold, with appropriate devices and other decorations. there were splendid 'galleries,' and books of 'picturesque sceneries,' magnificent volumes on natural history, some beautiful persian manuscripts, and the best works in standard literature. mrs. brassey, of lower seymour street, had some good books, which were sold by bates on december , , and included 'the golden legend,' by caxton, which realized guineas. mrs. john rylands is the widow of the late mr. john rylands, of longford hall, near manchester. mrs. rylands' career as a _femme bibliophile_ may be briefly summarised thus: in this lady formed the plan of erecting in manchester a memorial to her late husband, which should embody one main purpose of his life, as carried out by him very unostentatiously, but with great delight, during the greater part of his career. to make the highest literature accessible to the people was with him a cherished aim, and it was accordingly resolved by his widow that the memorial should be in the form of a library. to this end mrs. rylands took into her confidence four gentlemen whose names are well known, and for whom the late mr. rylands had the greatest respect and admiration, namely, the rev. dr. s. g. green, of london; the late rev. dr. macfadyen, of manchester; mr. w. carnelly and mr. w. linnell, both also of manchester, with whose aid the preliminaries for carrying out her purpose were speedily arranged. the site in deansgate, lying between wood street and spinningfield, was purchased, and after visits to several great libraries and other public buildings, mrs. rylands instructed the architect of mansfield college, oxford, mr. basil champneys, of london, to execute plans for a suitable structure, to bear the name of the john rylands library. about the same time she commenced the purchase of books, being aided in this by her friend, mr. j. arnold green, son of the rev. dr. green, who, putting himself in communication with various agents, collected a large number of standard books in english and foreign literatures, including early bibles, first editions, and many other rare and valuable works, with several choice manuscripts and autographs. the number of volumes purchased reached many thousands, one of the acquisitions being the celebrated copy of the 'biblia pauperum,' once belonging to the borghese library in rome, at the sale of which it fetched , francs. up to this time a considerable amount had been spent. when the announcement was made in that earl spencer, the owner of the althorp library, was willing to dispose of that famous collection, mrs. rylands at once felt that its possession would be the crown of her whole scheme--accomplishing it with a completeness of which she never dreamed when first she formed her plans. mr. arnold green accordingly at once communicated on her behalf with mr. railton, of messrs. sotheran and co., a firm which had been largely employed by her in previous purchases of books. the result is that the althorp library passed into mrs. rylands' possession, the price paid being close on a quarter of a million sterling. the transaction is by far the largest of its kind which has ever taken place in this or any other country. it has been calculated that the althorp library cost its founder about £ , , and that it should have more than doubled in value in less than a century is an extremely gratifying fact. it contains a large number of unique and excessively rare books, which nothing short of an upheaval in this country similar to the french revolution could place on the market. those who depend upon such a contingency to obtain a few of these splendid books are likely to wait for a very long time. but even with the striking examples of miss currer and mrs. rylands before us, the conclusion still forces itself upon one that the _femme bibliophile_ is an all but unknown quantity. the new woman may develop into a genuine book-lover; it is certain that the old one will not. the chinese article of belief that women have no souls has, after all, something in its favour. bookstall-keepers have a deep contempt for women who patronize them by turning over their books without purchasing. it would not be possible to repeat all the hard things they say about the sex. in the words of one: 'they hang around and read the books, and though i have a man to watch them, while he is driving away one another is reading a chapter. they can read a chapter in a minute.' 'does that not interest them in the book, so that they buy it?' asked an interlocutor. 'no, sir; it don't. it only makes them go to the other stall and read the last chapter there. not once in a blue moon, sir, does womenfolk buy a book. a penny weekly is what they buy, and before they fix on one they read half a dozen. you take my word for it, sir, it takes a woman half an hour to spend a penny at a bookstall.' a characteristic incident once happened to an old judge's clerk who had a stall a few years ago in gray's inn road. a lady, with whom there were two or three children, after waiting about the pavement, at length suddenly became interested in the humble bookstall. several pretty picture-books attracted the attention of the children, and they became clamorous to possess them. the stall-keeper, in the politest possible manner, offered the books at her own price. the reply was: 'oh no, thanks. we are only looking over the books to kill time.' 'much obliged to you, ma'am, for your kindness and consideration,' was the prompt reply. [illustration] [illustration] book thieves, borrowers, and knock-outs. 'facilis descensus averni' might well be the motto for any article or chapter dealing with the above comprehensive 'avocations.' once started on his career, the book-thief may be regarded as entirely lost. at the middlesex sessions a few years ago a genius of the name of terry was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for stealing books. on inquiry it was found that this same person had already been in prison six times, two terms of eighteen months each, one term of five years' penal servitude, and another of seven years, all for stealing books. each thief has his own special _modus operandi_, which he varies according to circumstances. there are those who do it without any adventitious aid, and those who cover their sin with various accessories. first, the ordinary book-thief, who watches his opportunity when the shopkeeper is not looking, and simply slips the book quickly under his coat and departs. this method is plain and simple in execution, but sometimes dangerous in practice. then there is the man who wears an overcoat, the lining of the pocket of which he has previously removed, so that he can pass his hand right through while apparently only standing still looking on, with his hands quietly in his pocket, possibly with one hand openly touching something, whilst the other is earning his dinner. [illustration: '_earning his dinner._'] an amusing incident was once the experience of a london bookseller. while sitting behind his counter inside the shop, he was amazed one day at seeing a man running at a tremendous rate, and, momentarily slackening his speed to seize a book off the stall, he had disappeared before the astounded bookseller was able to get to the door. and it is remarkable that, though many people were about, no one seems to have noticed the thief take the book, though they saw him running. another favourite device is to carry a newspaper in the hand, and when no one is looking deposit the paper on a carefully-selected book within the folds; or having an overcoat carried on the arm to quickly hide something under cover of it. this latter method requires, of course, a well-to-do-looking man, and obviously is chiefly confined to the stealers of the higher class of valuable books. it also requires, like every well-managed business, a certain amount of capital, for it is absolutely necessary--in order to lull suspicion--that small purchases should be made from time to time in the hunting-ground that has been chosen for the season. [illustration: _the king's library, british museum._] then there is the mean man who, having money, is yet lacking in the will to spend it. such individuals in these days of disguising bad deeds under grand names are euphemistically designated kleptomaniacs. most london booksellers have had experience of this class. it is a known fact that a literary man whose name is familiar to many readers was expelled from the reading-room of the british museum for this sort of conduct, stealing small trifling things that could easily have been bought, and mutilating other books by cutting out passages which he was too lazy to transcribe, and too mean, although a well-to-do man, to employ an amanuensis. 'steal?' quoth ancient pistol. 'foh! a fico for the phrase. convey the wise it call.' had pistol lived in these days he would have said, 'kleptomania the wise it call.' some years ago there resided in the west end of london a belgian gentleman well known in literary circles, and a man of good position to boot. he possessed a valuable library, and was a frequent visitor at shops where he could add to his collections. one dealer noticed that, whenever monsieur y. called upon him, one or two valuable books mysteriously disappeared, and he was not long before he arrived at the conclusion that his belgian customer appropriated his wares without attending to the customary, but disagreeable, process of exchanging the coin of the realm for his bargains. our friend the dealer, an honest but remarkably plain-spoken and fearless individual, made careful notes of all his losses and their prices. one day he stopped monsieur y. just as he was leaving the shop, and remarked that he might as well pay for the little volumes he had stowed away in the pockets of the capacious overcoat he almost invariably wore. great was the assumed indignation of the belgian bibliophile, who asserted that he had no books on him but those he had already accounted for. 'come, come,' said the dealer, 'that won't do; i left you alone in the room upstairs, but i watched you through the door, and saw you pocket the books, of which the price is so much. unless you pay for them i shall send for a policeman; and whilst i am on the topic you may as well settle for those other books you have taken from my shelves at various times.' here he produced his list, with the prices all affixed, and a certain small sum added by way of interest. hereupon monsieur y. stormed and raved, swore it was an attempt to extort money from him, and threatened legal proceedings. 'if,' said the dealer, 'you can empty your pockets now without producing any book of mine, except those you have paid for, i will withdraw my claim and apologize, otherwise i shall at once send my man' (whom he then called) 'for a policeman.' whereupon monsieur y. paid the full claim, walked out of the shop, and never entered it again. but the catalogues were regularly sent to him, and as the dealer constantly had books that he required, he ordered what he wanted by post, so that in the long-run the bookseller really lost little or nothing by his boldness. the same bookseller complained that people often ordered his books but neglected to pay for them, whilst intending purchasers who meant to pay ready money, and called at the shop for the books, had to be sent away disconsolate, sometimes after having come long distances to secure the long-wished-for volume. 'but first come, first served, is my motto, and if six orders come for the same book, it goes to the man whose letter or card i first receive.' a sturdy john bull sort of man this, with a great knowledge of books, who has had to fight a long uphill battle, and is perhaps one of the best-known men in the trade. an awkward incident for the thief happened once. a bookseller, the proprietor of two or three shops, was in one of them, when a person entered and offered for sale a couple of books. the proprietor recognised one of them as being his property, he having that morning sent it to the other of his shops, from which it had been apparently almost immediately removed. when questioned, the intending vendor pretended to be much insulted, and asserted the book had been in his possession for some considerable time, and even threatened the bookseller, when he insisted on detaining the book, with the police. this was rather unfortunate, for at that moment a constable passing by was called in, and, in spite of a great deal of bluster and many threats, the thief was marched off to the nearest police-station. the other book, it was found, had also been stolen that morning from another shop, and the result was four months' imprisonment. the remarkable fact is that book-thieves are nearly always well-to-do people; if hunger induced them to steal a book to get a dinner, they would come in the category of ordinary thieves. if they stole books because they wanted to read them, and were unable to pay for them, one might overlook their crime. one of the most remarkable illustrations of the past few years is that in which an ex-lieutenant in the royal scots greys was implicated. the books belonged to a lady who had let her house to the prisoner's father. she left a number of books, which were in three bookcases. they were locked, and contained valuable books. she was informed (so runs the report) that several of the books were missing, and a few weeks after she saw a number of books, including ruskin's 'stones of venice' and 'modern painters,' which she identified as her property. the law was put into motion, and the case came into the courts. the value of the two books mentioned she estimated at £ , and the other books at £ . mr. reeves, bookseller, then of , strand, deposed that he could identify the prisoner, and on june he purchased five volumes of ruskin's 'modern painters,' and gave a cheque for £ . he understood that the accused had come into possession of them through a death. on that occasion the prisoner asked the witness what he would give for three volumes of 'the stones of venice.' witness offered him £ . on june the prisoner brought the book, and finding it not to be in such good condition, witness offered him £ s. this was accepted, and witness handed a cheque to the prisoner for that amount. witness bought other books from the prisoner for £ s. d. mr. reeves said that he sold 'modern painters' for £ , and 'the stones of venice' for £ s. here is another illustration, gleaned from the greenwich police court: a person, forty-six, of ladylike appearance, and no occupation, was charged at greenwich with stealing a book, valued d., from outside the shop of charles humphreys, , south street. she was seen to take a book from a stall, place it in a novelette, and walk away. prosecutor followed, stopped her, and said, 'i've got you now.' she cried out, 'oh, for god's sake, don't, don't! let me pay for it.' but he said, 'no, not for £ , as you are an old thief.' at her house he found over a hundred books bearing his private mark, but he could not swear that they had not been bought. once he bought some books from the prisoner which she had stolen from his shop, but he did not know that when he bought them. prisoner pleaded guilty to stealing one book, and on her behalf a solicitor produced a certificate from a medical man, stating that she was suffering from general weakness of system, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, and evident mental disorder. those symptoms he attributed to causes which induced the magistrate to deal leniently, and a fine of £ was imposed. [illustration: '_steals a book, places it in a novelette, and walks away._'] about a couple of years ago, two maiden sisters, grace and blanche ----, were charged at bow street with theft. to all appearances they were highly respectable members of the community. grace was seventy-four; blanche had only seen sixty summers. they visited shoolbred's, apparently wanting to buy some prayer-books and bibles. they looked at many, but none suited them. they left without purchasing anything, no suspicions being aroused on the part of the attendants. but detective butler and constable d, who had taken great interest in the old ladies' movements, saw grace hand a book of common prayer, a hymn-book, and ladies' companion to her sister. shoolbred's manager identified the articles as the property of the firm, but declined to prosecute on account of the old ladies' ages. grace admitted the theft, but said she did not know what she was doing. a small fine was inflicted. even so astute a tradesman as bernard quaritch has been victimized by the book-thief. these are his own words: 'a little dark man, of about forty-five years of age, with a sallow complexion, apparently a dutch or german jew, speaking in broken english in an undertone, introduced himself, showing me a business card, "wunderlich and co." the following day the pretended wunderlich selected books from my stock to the amount of £ , and said he would come again and select more. at the same time the little dark, sallow man saw, but refused to buy, a very sweet little "livre d'heures," with lovely miniatures in _camaïeu-gris_, bound in black morocco, with silver clasp. the price of this lovely ms. was guineas. since then this mysterious little dark man has disappeared, and my very sweet little "livre d'heures," with its lovely miniatures, has disappeared also.' in messrs. sotheran and co. discovered that a number of rare books had been abstracted from their strand shop, including a first edition of burns's 'poems,' ; shakespeare's 'poems,' , first edition, with portrait by marshall, and eleven extra leaves at the end; heywood's 'thyestes of seneca,' ; and piers plowman's 'vision and crede,' --all choice volumes. the burns was valued at £ , and this was traced a month or two after its sudden disappearance to a bookbinder, who offered it to mrs. groves, who, however, wisely declined to lend money on it. subsequently the book was sent to mr. pearson, exmouth, who, knowing it had been stolen, at once communicated with the prosecutors. two of the other books were traced to new york, and were returned to the firm at cost price. the enterprising bookbinder received twelve months' hard. mr. waller, the bookseller, formerly of fleet street, relates a rather amusing incident connected with thackeray: 'i think it was a book of "services" in four small volumes, two of which he already possessed, and one, completing the set, he saw in my window. he came in, said he wanted that book, and gleefully told how he had picked up the third a few minutes before in holywell street. he dived into his pocket to show me his precious "find." it was not there! between holywell street and fleet street someone had relieved him of it, in the belief, apparently, that it was an ordinary pocket-book with valuables in it!' [illustration: '_he had placed the book in his pocket. someone had relieved him of it._'] a by no means uncommon person is what may be described as the conscientious thief, or the man who steals one book and replaces it by another, which he considers to be of equal value. but a much cleverer dodge was that of a wily villain who selected a book from the stock of a firm of booksellers in the strand, asking one member of the firm to charge it to him, and then selling it to the other partner at the opposite end of the shop a few minutes later! this can scarcely be described as book-stealing, for there is no proof that the 'book-lover' did not intend paying for the article ultimately. in this case the assumption was distinctly against his doing anything of the sort. it will be seen from the foregoing facts that the book-thief hesitates at no class of book. but would he draw the line at stealing a book which deals with thieves? the late charles reade appears to have thought that he would not, for he has inscribed not only his name, but the following somewhat plaintive request, 'please not to steal this book; i value it,' in a volume which mr. menken once possessed. the book in question is entitled 'inventaire général de l'histoire des larrons,' rouen, . this singular work gives at length the stratagems, tricks, and artifices, the thefts of and assassinations by thieves, with a full account of their most memorable exploits in france. one cannot help wondering if a copy of this extraordinary book has ever been stolen from a book-collector, and of the remorse which must have overtaken the thief when he discovered the character of his prize. that indeed would be a strange irony! but the book-thief is not by any means one of the numerous penalties of modern civilization. he has an antiquity which almost makes him respectable. hearne, in his 'johannes glastoniensis,' states that sir henry saville once wrote a warning letter to sir robert cotton, who had offered some additions to the library of the founder of the bodleian. an appointment had been made with sir robert to give bodley an opportunity of inspecting the treasures on his shelves, and it was in anticipation of this that saville thought it his duty to warn his friend in the following terms: 'and remember i give you faire warning that if you hold any booke so deare as that you would bee loath to have him out of your sight, set him aside beforehand.' on the authority of the above extract, gough has charged bodley with being a suspicious character--or, in other words, a thief; but the complete letter puts a very different complexion on the extract. he tars with the same brush dr. moore, bishop of ely, dr. rawlinson, and his friend umfreville. in connection with the first-named, gough repeats an anecdote which crops up every now and then as authentic, for these half-truths have an extraordinary vitality. the anecdote runs as follows: 'a gentleman calling on a friend who had a choice library, found him unusually busy in putting his best books out of sight; upon asking his view in this, he answered, "don't you know that the bishop of ely dines with me to-day?"' there can be only one inference, of course. as a matter of fact, we do not believe that there is any truth in either rumour. so far as dr. moore, 'the father of black-letter collectors,' is concerned, there can be no doubt that he had a fairly elastic conscience in the matter of book-collecting. he is said to have collected his library by plundering those of the clergy of his diocese, justifying himself by the cynical remark, _quid illiterati cum libris?_ we do not vouch for the truth of this anecdote, any more than for the graver charge, but probably there is some foundation for it. in the harleian mss. there is an interesting account of the several libraries, public and private, which existed in london during the earlier part of the last century. from this source we learn that 'in the days of edward vi., in the chapel adjoining to the guildhall, called my lord maiors chapell, was a library well furnisht, being all mss. stow says the duke of somerset borrowed them, with a design never to return them, but furnisht his own study in his pompous house in the strand; they were five cartloads.' horace walpole expressed his opinion to the effect that virtuosi have been long remarked to have little conscience in their favourite pursuits. a man will steal a rarity, who would cut off his hand rather than take the money it is worth. yet in fact the crime is the same. he tells us of a 'truly worthy clergyman, who collects coins and books. a friend of mine mentioning to him that he had several of the strawberry hill editions, this clergyman said, "aye, but i can show you what it is not in mr. walpole's power to give you." he then produced a list of the pictures in the devonshire, and other two collections in london, printed at my press. i was much surprised. it was, i think, about the year , that, on reading the six volumes of "london and its environs," i ordered my printer to throw off one copy for my own use. this printer was the very man who, after he had left my service, produced the noted copy of wilkes's "essay on woman." he had stolen one copy of this list; and i must blame the reverend amateur for purchasing it of him, as it was like receiving stolen goods.' the number of book-thieves has increased with the extension of public (or free) libraries. here, the accumulated ingenuity of the literary thief has an ample scope, and he is not the man to let an opportunity escape. some of the tribe have a mania for old directories; but novels are the most popular. the clerical thief with a thirst for sermons and theological literature is a by no means infrequent customer--and truly the indictment of a thief of this description ought to bear the fatal endorsement continued almost up to our own times, _sus. per coll._--'let him be hanged by the neck.' at one time nearly all the volumes in the very useful bohn's library series were kept in the reading-room of the british museum, but they so frequently disappeared that the authorities decided upon their permanent sequestration to a less handy part of the building. last year mr. c. trice martin's new 'record interpreter' was so highly appreciated both at the record office and at the reading-room, that the copy at each institution was stolen from the shelves within twenty-four hours of its being placed there. women more or less respectably dressed are often objects of suspicion to public librarians; they are also a class infinitely more difficult to deal with than men, for, whilst the receptivity of their cloaks is infinite, their 'feelings' have to be considered. whether guilty or innocent, the suspected party is bound to create a 'scene,' probably hysterics--and what is a public librarian, or, indeed, any other man, to do under such circumstances? libri was unquestionably the most accomplished and wholesale book-thief that ever lived. as inspector-general of french libraries under louis philippe, he had special facilities for helping himself--his known thefts have been valued at £ , . we mention him here because his collections were sold at sotheby's in . one of the most interesting illustrations of this man's depredations was exposed in , when lord ashburnham issued a translation of the pentateuch from a latin ms. which had been purchased by a previous holder of the title from libri, who sold it under the condition that it was not to be published for twenty years. it had been stolen in from the lyons library, and the clause in the agreement, therefore, is easily understood. libri evidently was not one of those whom jules janin describes as 'people who don't think it thieving to steal a book unless you sell it afterwards.' unfortunately, education has knocked all the virtue out of charms and incantation. madame de genlis is said to have fenced the greater part of her library with the following lines: 'imparibus meritis pendent tria corpora ramis; dismas, et gesmas, media est divina potestas; alta petit dismas, infelix infima gesmas. nos et res nostras conservet summa potestas!-- hos versus dicas, ne tu furto tua perdas.' quite a long chapter could be made up of the doggerel rhymes frequently made use of in bygone days in which the prospective thief was warned off under penalties of a prison, or even of a worse end. here is one: 'si quisquis furetur this little libellum per phoebum, per jovem, i'll kill him--i'll fell him-- in ventrem illius i'll stick my scalpellum, and teach him to steal my little libellum.' and here is another: 'qui ce livre volera, pro suis criminibus au gibet il dansera, pedibus pendentibus.' a curious and interesting chapter in the history of book-stealing is furnished us by mr. f. s. ellis. 'some thirty years since i was talking with mr. hunt, for many years town clerk of ipswich, who was an ardent book-collector, and in the course of conversation he lamented how some ten years previously he had missed an opportunity of buying a first edition of "paradise lost" under the following circumstances. there was a sale in the neighbourhood of ipswich, in which a number of books were included. these were all tied in bundles and catalogued simply as so many books in one lot. going over one of these bundles, what was his surprise to find a first edition of "paradise lost," with the first title-page, and in the original sheepskin binding! he said nothing, but went round to the auctioneer's house and asked him if he would be willing to sell him a particular book out of the collection previous to auction. "oh, by all means," said the auctioneer; "just point me out the volume and say what you are willing to give me for it, and you can take it out at once." what was mr. hunt's chagrin and disappointment, on again taking up the bundle, to find that the number of books was all right according to the catalogue, but milton's "paradise lost" had disappeared. someone with as keen an eye as the town clerk had also discovered the jewel, and had put in practice the theory that exchange is no robbery, and had substituted some other volume for the milton without going through the formality of a consultation with the auctioneer. not long after this, a "paradise lost," which i have every reason to believe was _the_ "paradise lost" described above, in the original sheepskin binding, and having the "first" title-page, was offered for sale to mr. simpson, who carried on an old-book business for mr. skeat, in king william street, strand. he purchased it for what in those days was considered a high price; but how much it was below what is now esteemed its value is witnessed by the fact that he offered it to the late mr. crossley, of manchester, and after much haggling sold it to him for £ s. when mr. crossley had secured it, he quietly remarked, "and now let me tell you that if you find a dozen more copies in similar condition, i will give you the same price for every one." it remained in mr. crossley's library for many years, and at the sale of his books in realized what was considered the very high price of £ . eight years after it had advanced to £ .' the book-borrower is, perhaps, a greater curse than the thief, for he simulates a virtue to which the latter makes no pretension. the book-plate of a certain french collector bore this text from the parable of the ten virgins: 'go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.' 'sir,' said a man of wit to an acquaintance who lamented the difficulty which he found in persuading his friends to return the volumes that he had lent them, 'sir, your acquaintances find, i suppose, that it is much more easy to retain the books themselves than what is contained in them.' a certain wise physician took a gentle way of reminding the borrower who dog-eared or tore the pages of his books: pasted on the fly-leaf of each of his books is a printed tag, bearing this legend: 'library of galen, m.d. "and if a man borrow aught of his neighbour and it be hurt, he shall surely make it good," exodus xxii. .' a much more effective plan is that described some time ago in the _graphic_ by mr. ashby sterry. in all the books of a certain cunning bibliophile he had the price written in plain figures; when anyone asked him for the loan of a book he invariably replied, 'yes, with pleasure,' and, looking in the volume, further added, 'i see the price of this work is £ s. d.'--or whatever the value might happen to be--'you may take it at this figure, which will, of course, be refunded when the volume is returned.' if a person really wished to read the volume he would of course be glad to leave this deposit; and if he did not return it he would not be altogether an unmitigated thief. mr. john ashton relates, in his volume on the 'wit, humour, and satire of the seventeenth century,' a curious anecdote which may be here quoted: 'master mason, of trinity colledge, sent his pupil to another of the fellows to borrow a book of him, who told him, _i am loathe to lend my books out of my chamber, but if it please thy tutor to come and read upon it in my chamber, he shall as long as he will._' when harrison ainsworth was a youth and living at manchester, he contracted an enthusiastic admiration for elia, to whom he sent some curious books on loan. one of these was a black-letter volume entitled 'syrinx or a sevenfold history, handled with a variety of pleasant and profitable both comical and tragical arguments,' etc., by w. warner, . lamb replied, december , : 'i do not mean to keep the book, for i suspect you are forming a curious collection, and i do not pretend to anything of the kind. i have not a black-letter book among mine, old chaucer excepted, and am not bibliomanist enough to like black-letter. it is painful to read; therefore i must insist on returning it, at opportunity, not from contumacy and reluctance to be obliged, but because it must suit you better than me.' the copy of warner's 'syrinx' ainsworth had borrowed from dr. hibbert-wade, and therefore it was not the future novelist's book to give. ignoring, however, his expressed determination to return it, elia lent the book to another friend, who shortly after went to new york, and may have taken the warner with him, much to dr. hibbert-wade's annoyance, of which he did not, it is said, fail to let harrison ainsworth know. it appears, however, to have returned again--indeed, it is probable that the book never left england--for it is now in the dyce collection at south kensington, with 'mr. charles lamb' written on one of the fly-leaves, and dyce's note, 'this rare book was given to me by mr. moxon after lamb's death.' the ranks of london book-borrowers, as those of book-thieves, have included a number of men eminent or distinguished in some particular way. the duke of lauderdale was one of these. evelyn tells us that he was a dangerous borrower of other men's books, as the diarist knew to his cost. coleridge was a wholesale book-borrower, and the manner in which he annotated the books of his friends caused much strong and deep lamentation at the time. these 'annotated' books have now acquired a very distinct commercial and literary value. the _london chronicle_ of december - , , contains a curious advertisement, headed 'book-missing.' it goes on, 'whereas there is missing out of the late dr. chandler's library the _fifth volume of cardinal pool's letters_, and it is presumed that the said volume of letters was borrowed by some friend of the doctor's; it is earnestly requested by the widow and executrix of the said dr. chandler that whoever is in possession of the said volume would be so kind as immediately to send it to mr. buckland, bookseller, paternoster row, and the favour will be gratefully acknowledged.' when sir walter scott lent a book, he put in its place a wooden block bearing the name of the borrower and the date of the loan. charles lamb, tired of lending his books, threatened to chain wordsworth's poems to his shelves, adding, 'for of those who borrow, some read slow; some mean to read, but don't read; and some neither read nor mean to read, but borrow to give you an opinion of their sagacity. i must do my money-borrowing friends the justice to say that there is nothing of this caprice or wantonness of alienation in them. when they borrow money they never fail to make use of it.' just as the difference between the book-thief and the book-borrower is of too slight a nature to warrant independent chapters, so the hero who indulges in the luxury of a 'knock-out' is more or less of a thief, and this company is, essentially, a very proper place in which to find him. a 'knock-out,' it may be briefly explained to the uninitiated, is a system by which two or more booksellers--or, for the matter of that, any other tradesmen--combine to procure certain books at a lower than normal auction value. an american paper stated, some time ago, and among many other remarkable things, that 'a private buyer cannot obtain a book by auction in london at any price.' the extreme foolishness of such a statement need not be enlarged upon in this place. that the knock-out system does exist in london no one but a fool would deny. that it does occur now and then at such places as sotheby's, christie's, puttick and simpson's and hodgson's, is without any manner of doubt, but not to any extent worth mentioning. where the system is in vogue is at sales held in private houses, and at auction-rooms where books are not generally sold. at such places books are usually knocked down at absurdly low figures, until the private person steps in, when the prices begin to go up with a bound; they then realize oftentimes figures far above those at which they may be acquired at the shops. after the private bidder has been excited into paying an excessive price for his lots, he realizes that he is doing a foolish thing, and resigns the game into the hands of the trade, when the prices again begin to assume their former very low levels. the knock-out books are taken away by their nominal purchaser, and in a convenient back parlour of some handy 'pub' they are put up again for competition among the clique, when all profits realized are thrown into a pool, and afterwards equally divided. 'the two books you commissioned me to get were knocked down at £ s. and s. respectively,' said a bookseller to a well-known collector only the other day; 'and if you insist upon having them at these prices, plus the commission, you must have them. but as a matter of fact they cost me £ over and above the total of £ s.' the reply to the collector's demand for an explanation was, 'smith agreed to let me have these two books if i did not oppose his bidding for the fielding.' it is scarcely necessary to say that the total cost, with the £ thrown in, was much below the original commission, whilst the fielding ran up to considerably over the price smith intended to have given. by striking a balance, the two cronies each obtained what he wanted. an arrangement of this sort is nearly invariably the explanation of two extreme prices being paid for equally good copies of one book in a single season. in a portion of the library formed by ralph sheldon, of weston, warwickshire, chiefly in the third quarter of the seventeenth century, was sold at christie's, but the auctioneer throughout appears to have been victimized by the knock-out system. one of the lots, comprising a large collection of scarce old plays in fifty-six volumes, quarto, was knocked down to one bookseller for £ s.; he then passed it on to another for £ , and the collection was sold on the spot to henderson the actor for £ s. at this same sale the english bible, , realized s.; two copies of the common prayer book, , s.; the first folio shakespeare, with two other books, £ s.; the 'legenda aurea,' printed by notary, , s. d. it would not be difficult to extend this list of illustrations, but perhaps one example is as good as a hundred. we may, appropriately enough, conclude this brief but sufficiently lengthy notice of the knock-out system with an anecdote which shows that, in this case, a 'knock-out' would have been justifiable. at a certain famous book-sale a few years ago, a volume of no particular interest, except that it contained the autograph of the earl of derwentwater, was possibly worth £ . but the bidding was brisk, two of the dealers being evidently bent on having the prize. to the astonishment of everybody, the price went up to about guineas, when one of the dealers gave in. taking the other man aside, he said, 'who have you been bidding for?' 'mr. so-and-so.' 'so have i.' another illustration of the unexpected and incomprehensibly sudden rise in the auction value of books is explained in the following extract of a letter from horace walpole: 'i cannot conclude my letter without telling you what an escape i had, at the sale of dr. mead's library, which goes extremely dear. in the catalogue i saw winstanley's "views of audley end," which i concluded was a thin dirty folio, worth about fifteen shillings. as i thought it might be scarce, it might run to two or three guineas; however, i bid graham _certainly_ buy it for me. he came the next morning in a great fright, said he did not know whether he had done right or very wrong; that he had gone as far as _nine and forty guineas_. i started in such a fright! another bookseller had, luckily, as unlimited a commission, and bid fifty. i shall never give an unbounded commission again.' [illustration] [illustration] some humours of book-catalogues. an interesting and curious pendant to mr. h. b. wheatley's 'literary blunders' might be made up of the errors which have occurred from time to time in booksellers' catalogues. these errors are sometimes grotesquely amusing, and are perhaps as often attributable to the ingenuity of the printer as to the ignorance of the cataloguer. booksellers usually content themselves with seeing one proof of their catalogues, and as the variety of books dealt with is so great, it would need at least half a dozen careful revisions to secure anything like correctness. as a general rule, the catalogues of london booksellers are exceptionally free of blunders, provincial compilers (notably one or two in birmingham) being far behind their metropolitan rivals. the example of 'mill, john s., on liberty, " " on the floss,' is almost too well known to again bear repeating; the same may be said of the instance in which ruskin's 'notes on the construction of sheepfolds' was catalogued as a book for farmers, and of that in which swinburne's 'under the microscope' was classed among optical instruments. the cross-reference of 'god: _see_ fiske, j.,' is a gem of absent-mindedness. here are four more gems which appeared in the catalogue of a public library: 'aristophanes: the clouds of the greek text.' 'boy's own annual: magazine of gymnastics.' 'swedenborg: conjugal love and its opposite.' 'tiziano (titian), vicelli da cadore.' the following is a good specimen of a bookseller's inspiration in reference to the entry 'bible-- vols., mo., _edin._, ' in his catalogue: 'sir brunet and dibdin in praise of this beautiful edition. as most nearly approaching unimaculateness a better copy than the present one could not be found.' this example is on a par with that in which an early missal is catalogued as an 'extremely rare old printing and engraved work,' its author being 'horæ b. v. mariæ and usum romanum,' whilst it is stated to be bound by 'chamholfen duru,' whoever he may be. equally intelligent is another item from the same source, 'newcastle (marguis de methode, etc.), oeuvre auquel on apprende,' etc. perhaps it was the cheapness--sixpence each--which prevented two items from having fuller descriptions: 'horace, the poems of, very interesting.' 'jokely, very interesting, months.' perhaps ' months' is the term of imprisonment which any bookseller deserves for publishing such absurdities. another gem in the way of blunders is the following: 'there's (lord and lady) legends of the library at lilies, vols., vo., bds., s. d., .' the book catalogued in this puzzling manner is by lord and lady nugent, and is entitled 'legends of the library at lilies [the nugents' residence], by the lord and lady thereof.' a similar carelessness resulted in sir astley cooper's 'treatise on dislocations,' , being catalogued as follows: 'bart (c. a.), a treatise on discolourations and fractures of the joints,' etc., and also of books by sir james y. simpson, bart., as by 'bart (s.)' and 'bart (j.).' the following entries speak for themselves: 'percy's reliques of ancient english pottery.' 'the new wig guide.' 'the rose and the ring by r. browing.' 'marryat's "pirate and three butlers."' under 'devil, the,' we find the following entry: 'le deuil sou observation dans tous les temps,' ; and under numismatics the following delightful bull: 'money, a comedy, a poor copy, s.' as an instance of official cataloguing, it would be difficult to beat the following description of a familiar classic which appeared in a list issued a few years ago (according to a writer in _notes and queries_) in a certain presidency of india, 'by order of the right hon. the governor in council': 'title--commentarii (_sic_) de bello gallico in usum scholarum, liber tirtius (_sic_). author--mr. c. j. caesoris. subject--religion.' nichols, in his 'literary anecdotes' (iv. ), mentions that dr. taylor, who about the year was librarian at cambridge, used to relate of himself that one day throwing books in heaps for the purpose of classing and arranging them, he put one among works on mensuration, because his eye caught the word _height_ in the title-page, and another which had the word _salt_ conspicuous he threw among books on chemistry or cookery. but when he began a regular classification, it appeared that the former was 'longinus on the sublime,' and the other a 'theological discourse on the _salt_ of the world, that good christians ought to be seasoned with.' thus, in a catalogue published about eighty years ago the 'flowers of ancient literature' are found among books on gardening and botany, and burton's 'anatomy of melancholy' is placed among works on medicine and surgery. some blundering bibliographer has classed the 'fuggerarum imagines,' the account of the once mighty italian family, among botanical works, under the 'resemblance of ferns.' dibdin states that he once saw the first aldine homer in a country bookseller's catalogue described as 'a beautiful copy of the _koraun_.' the rev. john mitford sent to a woodbridge bookseller for a copy of shelley's 'prometheus unbound,' and received the answer that no copy of 'prometheus' _in sheets_ could be obtained--a misconception which bernard barton promptly forwarded to london, to charles lamb's great content. we have heard of the following blunder, but have never actually seen it: 'shelley--prometheus, unbound,' etc. ' ---- ---- another copy, olive morocco,' etc. the nearest approach to it occurred a few years ago in a glasgow auctioneer's catalogue: 'lot , sir noel paton's illustrations, shelley's _prometheus_, unbound, plates, n.d.' as a matter of fact, the copy was bound in cloth. 'please send the ax relating to a justus pease' is a phrase which will be remembered by readers of 'guy mannering.' only recently a post-card reached messrs. smith, elder and co. requesting the immediate despatch of a copy of 'hard on horace,' which was the inaccurate, or perhaps waggish, sender's rendering of the 'hawarden horace.' this will be remembered with the request for 'the crockit minister,' by stickett, and 'sheep that pass in the night.' some of the foregoing budget can scarcely be placed to the discredit of the cataloguer, but they are sufficiently _apropos_ to be included here. the following amusing entry occurs in the sale catalogue of the library of the late mr. r. montgomery, which was dispersed by auction at antwerp the other day: 'plain or ringlets? by alfred tennyson, poet laureate, with illustrations by john leech. london, s.d., {o} d. rel. dos et coins chagr. rouge, tête dorée, figg. coloriées et noires.' messrs. longmans had a letter a few weeks ago asking for a copy of 'chips from a german workshop,' by max müller, for review in a trade paper dealing with carpentering, etc.! this reminds one of the story of edwardes, the republican bookseller of a century ago, who put a government spy to confusion by re-binding a bible and giving it the seditious title, 'the rights of man.' burke's 'thoughts on the french revolution' was advertised by him as 'the gospel according to st. burke.' outside a certain bookseller's shop, mr. r. c. christie once saw a book in six duodecimo volumes, bound in dark antique calf, and lettered 'calvini opera.' knowing of no edition of the works of calvin in that form, mr. christie took down a volume, and found it was 'faublas!' it was the original edition in thirteen parts, with the seventeen engravings, and was so lettered, no doubt, by its former owner to shelter it from indiscreet curiosity! the practice of giving books of poetry, novels, etc., what may be described as floricultural titles, has landed cataloguers into an astonishing number and variety of errors, some of which have been pointed out by mr. b. daydon jackson in the _bibliographer_. the chief sinners have been foreign bibliographers, who, not being able to examine the books which they catalogue, depend entirely upon the titles. the same error occurs frequently here in this country. an english trade journal included dr. garnett's selection from coventry patmore's poems, 'florilegium amantis,' under 'botany, farming, and gardening.' two of mayne reid's novels, 'the forest exiles' and 'the plant-hunters,' have been included among scientific books, but in these cases the errors seem to have arisen from the misleadingly translated titles, the former in italian ('gli esuli nella foresta; cognizioni di scienza fiscia e naturale'), and the latter in french, 'le chasseur de plantes.' the learned pritzel included among botanical treatises 'the lotus, or faery flower of the poets.' in the earlier part of the century a story was in circulation relative to an erudite collector who was accustomed to boast of his discoveries in venetian history from the perusal of a rare quarto, 'de re venaticâ.' a brother bibliographer one day lowered his pretensions by gravely informing him that the historical discoveries to which he laid claim had been anticipated by mr. beckford, who, towards the close of the last century, published them to the world under the analogous title of 'thoughts on hunting.' there is a good deal of amusement to be got sometimes out of even such an unpromising source as an auctioneer's catalogue, especially when it includes books. the list of a miscellaneous lot of things lately sold at a south london depository comes in this category. one of the items, for example, is entered as 'dickin's works bound in half,' but who mr. 'dickin' is, or was, or what the 'half' indicates, the reader is left to find out. 'goldsmith lover' also seems a trifle confusing, until the lot is hunted up and the discovery made that goldsmith's 'works' is intended. lytton's 'king john' suggests a work hitherto unknown to readers of the author of 'my novel,' until examination proves it to be 'king arthur,' and 'mccauley's history of england' is rather suggestive of a scathing indictment of english misrule by an author from the 'distressful country' than of the picturesque prose of the whilom whig statesman and book-collector. [illustration] [illustration] some modern collectors. we have already referred, in a preceding chapter, to the origin and early history of the roxburghe club, and also to the disrepute in which its too zealous members, hazlewood and dibdin, contrived to place it. the club still exists, and flourishes in a manner which renders it unique among book-clubs. a complete set of its privately-printed booklets is an almost impossible feat of book-collecting, and an expensive luxury in which but few can afford to indulge. the present constitution of the club, the members of which dine together once a year, is as follows: president: the marquis of salisbury, k.g.; s.a.r. le duc d'aumale; the duke of buccleuch, k.t.; the duke of devonshire, k.g.; the marquis of bute, k.t.; the marquis of lothian, k.t.; the marquis of bath; earl cowper, k.g.; earl of crawford; earl of powis; earl of rosebery; earl of cawdor; lord charles w. brudenell bruce; lord zouche; lord houghton; lord amherst of hackney; the lord bishop of peterborough; the lord bishop of salisbury; the right hon. a. j. balfour, m.p.; sir william r. anson, bart.; charles butler, esq.; ingram bywater, esq.; richard copley christie, esq.; charles i. elton, esq.; sir john evans, k.c.b.; george briscoe eyre, esq.; sir augustus wollaston franks; thomas gaisford, esq.; henry hucks gibbs, esq. (vice-president); alban george henry gibbs, esq.; a. h. huth, esq. (treasurer); andrew lang, esq.; j. wingfield malcolm, esq.; john murray, esq.; edward james stanley, esq.; simon watson taylor, esq.; sir edward maunde thompson (principal librarian of the british museum); rev. edward tindal turner, esq.; v. bates van de weyer, esq.; and w. aldis wright, esq. [illustration: _the late henry huth, book-collector._] the finest and most select, and perhaps the most extensive, collection of books owned by any member of the roxburghe club is the noble library of mr. huth, whose father, the late henry huth, founded it. a very interesting account of this library, from two points of view--mr. f. s. ellis's and mr. a. h. huth's--appears in part ii. of quaritch's 'dictionary of english book-collectors,' whilst the fullest account of all the rarities which it contains is comprised in the catalogue in five imperial octavo volumes. it is impossible to do justice to it in the brief space at our disposal. but a few rarities may be enumerated as showing its extremely varied nature. nearly all the early printers are represented in the huth library--there are the gutenberg and fust and schoeffer bibles; the balbi catholicon, ; there are over seventy aldines, including the rare virgil of , with the bookplate of bilibald pirkheimer. there are no less than a dozen fine examples of caxton's press; the only known copy on vellum of the 'fructus temporum' of the st. albans press; about fifty works from the press of wynkyn de worde, of which several are unique; and sixteen works printed by richard pynson. of shakespeare quartos the late mr. huth secured a very fine series at the daniel sale in , including 'richard ii.,' ; 'henry v.,' ; 'richard iii.,' ; 'romeo and juliet,' ; 'midsummer night's dream,' ; 'merchant of venice,' ; 'merrie wives of windsor,' ; 'othello,' ; 'titus andronicus,' ; and 'pericles,' . the library is equally rich in the production of elizabethan and jacobean literature, many of the items being either unique or very nearly so; it is especially rich in first editions of the english poets from the earliest times down to goldsmith, keats, shelley, etc. indeed, the collection seems to contain the first or best editions of every english work of note; there are many fine manuscripts, and some highly interesting autographs. mr. ellis tells us that mr. huth always bought on his own judgment, without consultation and without hesitation, 'and i believe it may be safely affirmed that it would be difficult to name any collector who made fewer errors in his selection. he was never known to bargain for a book or to endeavour to cheapen it. the price named, he would at once say 'yea' or 'nay' to it, and though it was supposed at the time that he paid high prices for his books, it may be confidently asserted that as a whole they are worth very much more than he paid for them, which, i think, could not have been much less altogether than £ , .' joseph lilly is said to have sold to or purchased for mr. huth books to the value of over £ , . mr. huth was born in , and died in . the library is, as we have said, now the property of his son, mr. alfred h. huth, who has made a number of important additions to it, and who is as ardent and as genuine a bibliophile as his father. [illustration: _mr. henry h. gibbs, book-collector._] without approaching either in size or interest to that of mr. huth, the choice collection of books formed by mr. henry hucks gibbs, and lodged at his town-house at st. dunstan's, regent's park, is full of attraction to the student of english literature. early in the present century st. dunstan's was inhabited by the lord steyne of thackeray's 'vanity fair,' and it was here that the orgies took place which resulted in the sensational trial of nicholas suisse, the confidant of lord hertford. the library at st. dunstan's is a lofty, well-lighted room of about feet by feet, and the bookcases are made of thuya wood from australia, a wood which is exceedingly beautiful when polished. mr. gibbs's first book of note was purchased at bright's sale in , and was st. augustine's 'de arte predicandi,' a volume of twenty-two leaves, and of well-known interest to students of early typography. of bibles there are over fifty examples, including coverdale's, , matthew's, , cromwell's, , a very large copy, and cranmer's, . the fine series of prayer-books comprises forty-seven in english, from the time of edward vi. ( ) to that of queen victoria, whilst thirty-five others are in foreign languages. there are nine primers from the time of henry viii. to elizabeth; and there are no fewer than thirty-one editions of the new testament. examples of some of the choicest known books of hours and missals are also in this collection, whilst among the six editions of the 'imitatio christi' there is a sixteenth-century manuscript on two hundred and forty-seven folios of paper, written by francis montpoudie de weert, for the use of bruynix, priest, dean of christianity. among the _incunabula_ there is a very large copy of the 'chronicon nurembergense,' , and two caxtons: first, the 'polychronicon' of ralph higden, ; and, secondly, the 'golden legend,' , which latter was successively in the towneley and the glendening collections. the other more notable articles include fine copies of the four folio shakespeares, first editions of milton's 'comus,' 'lycidas,' 'eikonoklastes,' 'paradise lost,' and 'paradise regained,' several spensers, and very complete sets of the privately-printed books edited by the rev. a. b. grosart, halliwell-phillipps, h. huth, e. arber, and e. w. ashbee. a very interesting _catalogue raisonné_ of mr. gibbs's choice library has been printed, to which the reader is referred for further particulars. [illustration: _mr. r. copley christie, book-collector._] just as the minds of no two men run in precisely similar grooves, so no two libraries are found to be identical. many bear a very striking resemblance to one another, but in more than one respect they will be found to differ. the splendid library formed by mr. r. copley christie, the president or past-president of quite a number of learned societies, is altogether unique, so far as this country is concerned, and his library in a garden--truly the _summum bonum_ of human desires!--at ribsden, near bagshot, is certainly one of the most remarkable which it has been our privilege to examine. mr. christie has not endeavoured to collect everything, but he has no rival in the specialities to which he has devoted his particular attention. he is the author of the only complete monograph on etienne dolet, which has been translated into french, and of which m. goblet, when minister of public instruction, caused copies to be purchased for distribution among the public libraries of france. of the eighty-four books (many of which are now lost) printed by dolet, there are three collections worthy of the name, and the relative value of these will be seen when we state that mr. christie possesses copies of forty-four, the bibliothèque nationale thirty, and the british museum twenty-five. mr. christie's collection of the editions of horace is probably the finest in existence outside one or two public libraries; he has about volumes, and among these are translations into nearly every european language. he has upwards of aldines, nearly forty of which are _editiones principes_. the works of the early french printers generally are objects of special interest; he has, for example, about volumes printed by sebastian gryphius, at lyons, from to . mr. christie's library is also very rich in works of or relating to pomponatius, hortensio landi, postel, ramus, j. sturm, scioppius, giulio camillo, and particularly giordano bruno. a considerable number of the members of the roxburghe club come in the category of book-lovers rather than book-collectors. the earl of rosebery is understood to possess many valuable books and manuscripts relating to scottish literature, particularly in reference to robert burns; but beyond this he has no fixed rule regarding additions to his library, 'except his course of reading for the moment.' the father of the present lord zouche formed a small but valuable library, which is now at parham park, steyning, sussex; it consists of some rare syriac, greek, coptic, bulgarian, and other manuscripts, of a biblical nature, some of which are now on loan to the british museum. in addition to these, there are a good many early printed books, first editions, and so forth, and also an extensive reference library, to which the present lord zouche has made some important additions. the extensive library of the marquis of bath, at longleat, warminster, has been formed at different times and by different persons; and what the present holder of the title has added has been bought without any method on various subjects in which his grace happened to take an interest at the time. sir john evans's library is for the most part comprised of archæological, numismatical, and geological publications, with a certain number of old volumes 'which, though of intrinsic interest, cannot be regarded as bibliographical treasures.' both sir william reynell anson and the right hon. a. j. balfour, m.p., possess good working libraries, but disclaim the possession of what are known as 'collector's' books. the present marquis of bute possesses several extensive libraries of books at his various seats, and chiefly composed of works relating to scottish history, to liturgical, philological, and archæological subjects. the first marquis of bute formed an excellent collection of spanish, italian, and french classics, of books of memoirs, and of works relating to the english reformation. the third marquis formed another library, chiefly of a historical character, an exceedingly important portion of it being an extensive series of books and pamphlets relating to the franco-prussian war and the commune. the duke of buccleuch has also several fine libraries at his various seats, the chief collections being at dalkeith and bowhill, selkirk; his grace keeps very few books in london. the books at dalkeith have been catalogued by mr. a. h. bullen, who proposes to print some notes on the subject. the duke of devonshire's library at chatsworth is one of the most varied and extensive in the kingdom. an admirable catalogue of it was printed in four volumes in , and its value as a bibliographical compilation may be estimated by the fact that the only copy which occurred in the market during the past eight years fetched £ . the library has been formed by the taste and learning of several generations of the cavendish family, from the middle of the sixteenth century to the present day. the rarest book which it contains is the 'liber veritatis,' or collection of original designs of claude lorraine. the greatest additions were made to the library by william spencer, sixth duke, who, indeed, may be called its founder in its present form. this nobleman, on the advice of tom payne, offered £ , for the purchase of count mccarthy's celebrated collection. the offer was declined, but the duke was a purchaser to the extent of £ , of the choicer portions of the library of thomas dampier, bishop of ely, composed, for the most part, of greek and latin classics. the duke bought largely at the stanley, horn tooke, towneley, edwards, and roxburghe sales. the library possesses the unique collection of plays formed by john philip kemble, and for which £ , were paid in . the chief features of the library comprise a fine series of the editions of the bible and of boccaccio; there are also twenty-three works of caxton, the most extensive in private hands, now that the althorp collection has, or is about to, become public property. there are two dozen books from the press of wynkyn de worde, and no less than editions of cicero, including a magnificent copy of the _editio princeps_. the libraries of two members of the roxburghe club have been dispersed by auction during the last few years--the earl of crawford's, in and , to which reference has already been made; and mr. thomas gaisford's, in . the former has still a considerable number of important books, to which he is constantly adding; whilst his eldest son is worthily sustaining the reputation of the family for its love of rare and beautiful books. mr. gaisford has also a very large library, but he himself describes the books as of no special interest. the marquis of salisbury possesses, at hatfield, a fine library, which, like that of the duke of devonshire at chatsworth, is rather the accumulation of centuries than the formation of any particular head of the house. many of the oldest and rarest books were at one time the properties of either lord burghley, sir robert cecil, or of some other distinguished member of the family. we may mention a few of the _incunabula_: Æneas silvius, 'epistolæ,' ; st. augustine, 'de civitate dei,' ; a copy of the magnificently-printed edition of aulus gellius, 'noctes atticæ,' jenson, , a very rare work; cicero, 'ad atticum,' , also printed by jenson; an example of the _editio princeps_ homer, florence, ; juvenal, 'satyræ,' ; the very rare second edition of lactantius, 'opera,' printed at rome by sweynheym and parmartz, ; livy, 'historiarum romanorum,' printed by zarothus, ; pomponius mela, 'cosmographia,' ; ruffus, 'opera,' . lord salisbury's library includes several books which once belonged to roger ascham, notably a copy of aristophanes, 'comodiæ,' ; aristotle, 'opera,' ; peter martyr, 'tractatio et disputatio de sacramento eucharistiæ,' etc., , one of the only two copies of which we have any record, the other example being in the lambeth library; and a large number of tracts of the time of henry viii. of about books which belonged to sir robert cecil, we may mention two editions of aristotle, 'ethica,' and ; baret, 'an alvearie, or triple dictionarie,' in english, latin, and french, ; french bible, ; bodin, 'la demonomanie des sorciers,' ; brache, 'epistolarium astronomicorum,' ; 'astronomiæ instauratæ,' , and 'de mundi Ætherei,' ; two editions of cicero, 'rhetorica,' , ; henning's 'theatrum genealogicum,' ; galen, 'de alimentis,' ; three editions of 'natura brevium,' one of , and two of ; ubaldino, 'lo stata della tre corti,' . the books of lord burghley include aristotle, 'ethica,' ; 'opera,' ; 'politica,' ; ashley, 'mariner's mirror,' ; basilius, 'homiliæ,' , and 'opera,' ; beda, 'historia ecclesiastica'; st. chrysostom, 'opera,' ; cyrillus, 'opera,' ; demosthenes, 'orationes,' . the edition of dioscorides, 'opera,' , belonged, respectively, to lord burghley and sir john cheke. the library of mr. john murray, the eminent publisher, of albemarle street, is a small one, but every item is either excessively rare or unique. its formation was begun by mr. murray's grandfather, whilst his father made considerable additions. naturally, it is very strong in manuscripts and first editions of byron. it contains, for example, not only the original manuscript of 'the waltz,' but the several proof-sheets up to a very fine copy of the perfect book. there are also the manuscript of the four cantos of 'childe harold' and the various proof corrections. there are also first editions of goldsmith's 'traveller,' 'the deserted village,' 'the haunch of venison,' and 'the captivity,' with the receipt for the ten guineas which goldsmith received for it from dodsley. mr. murray possesses the entire manuscript of sir walter scott's 'abbot.' this was originally minus three leaves. one of these leaves occurred in the market a few years ago, and passed into the possession of an american collector for £ s.; a second was secured, also at an auction, for £ by mr. murray, so that the manuscript is only now wanting two leaves. the very interesting commonplace book of robert burns was given by mr. murray's grandfather to j. g. lockhart, who left it to his son-in-law, mr. hope-scott, from whom it again passed into the possession of the late mr. john murray. the manuscript 'journal' of thomas gray's travels in england, for the most part unpublished, is also in albemarle street, as is also the manuscript of washington irving's 'abbotsford and newstead abbey.' the first edition of pope's 'dunciad,' successively in the possession of malone, elwin and peter cunningham; pope's own copy of sir richard blackmore's 'paraphrase of job,' , with numerous suggested improved readings in pope's own handwriting; the _quarterly review_ article of southey on nelson, with the extensive elaborations from which the printed edition of the book was set up; a fine copy of the first folio shakespeare, ; a very fine copy of the _editio princeps_ st. augustine, 'de civitate dei,' rome, ; the _editio princeps_ homer, florence, ; a good copy of the first edition of shakespeare's 'midsummer-night's dreame,' james roberts, ; a copy of the prince consort's 'speeches,' presented to mr. john murray, with an autograph letter from the queen--these are a few of the many notable books of which mr. murray is the fortunate owner. but among the more interesting of the manuscripts are the volumes of notes made at various times and on divers occasions by the late john murray in his travels in north germany, france, switzerland, and south germany, and from which the celebrated guide-books were printed--practically every word in the first and early editions of these widely-known books was written by the compiler. new lodge, windsor forest, the residence of colonel victor bates van de weyer, contains a collection of books of a unique character, collected at vast trouble and expense by his father, the late m. sylvain van de weyer, one of the founders of the belgian monarchy, and for many years ambassador to the court of st. james's. m. s. van de weyer, who was born in , and died in , stood in the front rank of modern bibliophiles, and the magnitude of his collections may be estimated from the fact that, with town and country house full to overflowing, he had , volumes in the pantechnicon when it was burnt down. he was an indefatigable and discriminating reader as well as a munificent purchaser. the library is rich in rare editions beautifully bound by men whose names rank first in the art of bibliopegy. there is a wonderful collection of fables, and a most complete library of _ana_. the presentation copies of books are numerous and interesting, bearing as they do the autographs of individuals famous in politics, literature, and art. the present owner, who succeeded his father as a member of the roxburghe club, has had the books in the library catalogued, and the welfare of this noble collection is well thought of. both lord houghton and lord amherst of hackney possess fine libraries of rare and interesting books. that of the latter includes a caxton, 'the laste siege and conquest of jherusalem,' ; henry viii.'s copy of erasmus, 'dialogi,' ; the same king's copy of whytforde's 'the boke called the pype or toune of the lyfe of perfection,' ; grolier's copies of stoplerinus, 'elucidatio fabricæ usuque astrolabii,' , and of 'prognosticatio johannis liechtenbergers,' ; maioli's copy of 'clitophonis narratio amatoria,' lyons, ; books bound by nicholas eve; early english bindings; and many others. mr. c. i. elton, q.c., m.p., has a fine library, of which a _catalogue raisonné_ has been drawn up and printed. mr. charles butler and mr. ingram bywater possess a number of interesting and rare books. many of the more notable specimens of the bindings in the libraries of the three last-mentioned gentlemen were exhibited at the burlington fine arts club in , and are described in the catalogue. mr. andrew lang is not only a distinguished bibliophile, but a prolific writer on the subject of books. he is understood to have an extensive library of an exceedingly miscellaneous character. he has an especial liking for books which bear the traces of former distinguished owners. he himself has pointed out that, 'as a rule, tidy and self-respecting people do not even write their names on their fly-leaves, still less do they scribble marginalia. collectors love a clean book, but a book scrawled on may have other merits. thackeray's countless caricatures add a delight to his old school books; the comments of scott are always to the purpose; but how few books once owned by great authors come into the general market. where is dr. johnson's library, which must bear traces of his buttered toast? sir mark sykes used to record the date and place of purchase, with the price--an excellent habit. the selling value of a book may be lowered even by a written owner's name, but many a book, otherwise worthless, is redeemed by an interesting note. even the uninteresting notes gradually acquire an antiquarian value, if contemporary with the author. they represent the mind of a dead age, and perhaps the common scribbler is not unaware of this; otherwise he is, indeed, without excuse. for the great owners of the past, certainly, we regret that they were so sparing in marginalia. but this should hardly be considered as an excuse for the petty owners of the present, with "their most observing thumb."' mr. lang is the lucky owner of a copy of stoddart's poem, 'the death wake' ( ), that singular romantic or necromantic volume, which wise collectors will purchase when they can. it is of extreme rarity, and the poetry is no less rare, in the french manner of . on this specimen aytoun has written marginalia. where the hero's love of arms and dread of death are mentioned, aytoun has written 'a rum cove for a hussar,' and he has added designs of skeletons and a sonnet to the 'wormy author.' 'a curse! a curse!' shrieks the poet. 'certainly, but why and wherefore?' says aytoun. there is nothing very precious in his banter; still it is diverting to follow in the footsteps of the author of 'ta phairshon.' mr. lang also possesses john wilkes' copy of the second edition of 'theocritus, bion and moschus,' in french, with eisen's plates; he has leon gambetta's copy of the 'journée chrétienne,' collet's copy of his friend crashaw's 'steps to the temple,' and a copy of montaigne, with the autograph of drummond of hawthornden. [illustration: _the late frederick locker-lampson._ from a portrait by mr. du maurier.] the late frederick locker-lampson, whose lamented death occurred whilst the earlier pages of this book--in which he took much interest--were passing through the press, was an ideal book-collector. he cared only for books which were in the most perfect condition. the unique character of the rowfant library, its great literary and commercial value, and its wide interest, may be studied at length in its admirable catalogue, which of itself is a valuable work of reference. mr. locker, for it is by this name, and as the author of 'london lyrics,' that he will be best remembered, devoted his attention almost exclusively to english literature, although of late years he had devoted as much attention as his frail health would allow to the formation of a section of rare books in french literature. it would be impossible to describe in this place all the many book rarities at rowfant; we must be content, therefore, with indicating a few of the more interesting ones: alexander pope's own copy of chapman's translation of homer, ; one of the largest known copies of the first folio shakespeare, ; an extensive series of the first or early quarto editions of shakespeare's plays, about fifty in number--including the spurious plays--many of which were at one time in the collections of steevens, george daniel, tite, or halliwell-phillipps. the library is rich in other writers of the elizabethan period--of nash, dekker, greene, gabriel harvey. there are also a long series of the first editions of dryden; the earliest issues of the first complete edition of 'pilgrim's progress'; of 'robinson crusoe' (the three parts); of 'gulliver's travels,' besides about a score of other _editiones principes_ of swift, pope, goldsmith, fielding, richardson, johnson, gay, gray, lamb, byron, shelley, wordsworth, thackeray, dickens and many others. the two early printed books of especial interest are the 'de senectute,' printed by caxton, , and barbour's 'actis and lyfe of the maist victorious conquerour, robert bruce, king of scotland,' printed at edinburgh by robert lepruik in . the room in which the books are kept is virtually a huge safe; it was at one time a small ordinary room, and it has been converted into a fireproof library, with brick walls within brick walls; the floor of concrete, nearly two feet thick, and a huge iron door, complete an ingenious and effective protection against the most destructive of all enemies of books--fire. [illustration: _portrait bookplate of mr. joseph knight._] the library of mr. joseph knight, the editor of _notes and queries_, more nearly resembles a select and orderly bookseller's premises than a private individual's. it seems almost impossible to believe that the comparatively small house in camden square could contain between , and , volumes, and yet such is undoubtedly the case. every room is crowded, and all the sides of the staircases are crowded with books from top to bottom. mr. knight's library is essentially a working one, but it is also something more. it is rich in editions of froissart's 'chronicles'; in editions of rabelais--notably the excessively rare one printed by michel le noir, ; in elzevir editions it includes a very extensive series; the series of the 'restif de la bretonne' includes about volumes, being one of the few complete sets in london. a few of mr. knight's greatest rarities have come to him at very cheap rates--_e.g._, the 'apologie pour herodote,' , without any of the _cartons_, or cancels, upon which the genevese authorities insisted. this little volume, of which there are very few copies known, cost mr. knight s., neither buyer nor seller knowing its value at the time of the transfer. another 'bargain' is the fine copy of baudelaire, 'les fleurs de mal,' , which was fished out of a fourpenny box in high street, marylebone! mr. knight's collection of french plays and of works relating to the french stage is, like that of the english dramatists--ancient and modern--exceedingly extensive. he possesses, also, a few good aldines, a number of bodonis, and some books of le gason. mr. gladstone is, of course, a book-collector, as well as an omnivorous reader. the grand old book-hunter's literary tastes cover almost every conceivable phase of intellectual study. his library contains about , volumes, to which theology contributes about one-fourth. the works are arranged by mr. gladstone himself into divisions and sections. for many years he was an inveterate bookstaller, a practice which of late years has brought with it a certain amount of inconvenience. after attending mr. h. m. stanley's wedding, for example, in , mr. gladstone went on one of his second-hand book expeditions, this time to garratt's, in southampton row. the right hon. gentleman walked with his customary elasticity, and was followed to the shop by a large crowd of admirers, chiefly consisting of working men, whose enthusiasm was kept in order by three policemen. outside the bookseller's several hundred people gathered, and they were not disappointed in their wish to see the grand old man, for mr. garratt's shop does not boast of a back-door through which fame can escape its penalties. on coming out, mr. gladstone, looking, as a working man standing on the kerb expressed it, 'as straight as a new nail,' received quite an ovation, the people waving their hats and cheering vigorously as he drove away in a cab. mr. gladstone's marked catalogues are a familiar and a peculiarly welcome feature with second-hand booksellers, who proudly expose them in their windows. a bookseller who exhibited one of these catalogues before the old man retired from the premiership was accosted by a strong tory with the remark: 'i see you've got a list marked by gladstone's initials in the window;' and then, whispering fiercely in the bookseller's ear, he added, 'does he pay you?' we give a facsimile of one of mr. menken's catalogues with an order for books from mr. gladstone. [illustration: '_an order from mr. gladstone._'] mr. henry spencer ashbee, of bedford square, has a small but charming library, nearly every volume being beautifully bound. the books are, for the most part, modern, and chiefly french. there are, for example, sainte-beuve's 'livre d'amour,' which was suppressed after a few copies were struck off, with the author's own corrections; the fortsas 'catalogue,' the cruel joke of m. renier chalon; first editions of 'the english spy,' an exceptionally fine copy; coryat's 'crambe, or, his colwork,' ; roger's 'poems' and 'italy'; a number of books illustrated by chodowiecki, the cruikshank of germany; practically all the books published by m. octave uzanne and paul lacroix in the finest possible states. mr. ashbee possesses several extra-illustrated or grangerized books of exceptional interest--the nine volumes of nichols' 'literary anecdotes' are extended to thirty-four, there being upwards of , additional portraits, views, and so forth. mr. ashbee's library comprises several thousand volumes, the binding alone of which must have cost a small fortune. [illustration: _portrait bookplate of mr. h. s. ashbee._] [illustration: _mr. t. j. wise, book-collector._] the libraries of mr. thomas j. wise and mr. walter slater may be bracketed together, partly because they have been formed side by side. they differ in many respects, however. mr. wise's is a small but choice collection of books, autographs, and manuscripts of modern writers. he possesses, for the most part, in first editions of the finest quality, practically everything written by matthew arnold, william blake, robert browning and mrs. browning, byron, coleridge, shelley, george eliot, leigh hunt, charles lamb, landor, meredith, william morris, john ruskin, swinburne, and tennyson. of shelley, for example, mr. wise has a collection of books and pamphlets by or concerning him. there is only one other collection comparable to it, and it is that possessed by mr. buxton forman. of byron mr. wise has everything, including 'the waltz,' 'poems on various occasions,' and all the other excessively rare publications of this prolific poet, the only exception, indeed, being 'the curse of minerva,' . mr. wise's collection of ruskiniana is practically complete, and includes a number of privately-printed pamphlets issued to a few personal friends. mr. walter slater's books and manuscripts include a unique series of both dante g. rossetti and walter savage landor. of the former, it contains the manuscript of three-fourths of the 'house of life' series of sonnets, the manuscript of 'st. agnes,' and the whole of the extant manuscript of 'the king's tragedy'; these manuscripts usually include not only the 'copy' as it was sent to the printer, but usually the first and second drafts. the series of landor books and pamphlets is quite complete, from his first book of poems, 'moral epistles,' issued in , and the equally excessively rare 'poems from the arabic and persian,' issued at warwick in , to 'savonarola,' in italian, . mr. slater has a complete series of the first editions of the curious works of mrs. behn. [illustration: _mr. clement shorter's bookplate._] mr. clement k. shorter, the editor of the _illustrated london news_, the _sketch_, and several other publications, is a book-collector who, like mr. wise and mr. slater, has pitched his 'tent' on the northern heights of london. mr. shorter has an unusually complete set of the works of thomas hardy, george meredith, sir walter scott, charlotte brontë--besides the 'cottage poems' of old mr. brontë--and matthew arnold. of the last named there are copies of the very limited editions of 'geist's grave,' 'st. brandran,' 'home rule for ireland,' and 'alaric at rome.' mr. shorter's ruskin treasures include a volume of the plates of 'modern painters,' on india paper, bound up in vellum. there are also several first editions of the earlier works of carlyle, and william watson's 'lachrymæ musarum,' on vellum, with the original manuscript bound up with it. mr. shorter has many interesting manuscripts and books by oliver wendell holmes, r. l. stevenson, and a. c. swinburne, with autographs or notes by their respective authors. mr. richard le gallienne, the well-known author, has for many years been a confirmed book-hunter, and has come across some rare and interesting finds. mr. henry norman, the traveller and assistant editor of the _daily chronicle_, has a number of choice and rare books, chiefly first editions of american authors--j. russell lowell, longfellow, o. w. holmes, emerson, walt whitman, and whittier--nearly all of whom were personal friends of mr. norman's. mr. norman has gone to the extravagance of two sets of the first editions of thomas hardy's books, whilst of george meredith there is one complete set. [illustration: _mr. a. birrell, book-collector._] the house of commons contains several men who have very excellent libraries and excellent judgments of books. mr. leonard courtney has been guilty of bookstalling a good many times in his successful career, and is, perhaps, an exception to the general rule that good political economists usually make poor book-hunters. mr. courtney possesses a good many uncommon books, which he has picked up from time to time. mr. augustine birrell, q.c., the author of 'obiter dicta,' and son-in-law of the late frederick locker-lampson, has a good library of from , to , books. among these may be noticed the first edition of gray's 'elegy,' picked up at hodgson's for s. d.; first edition of keats' 'endymion,' purchased off a stall in the euston road for s. d.; first edition of 'wuthering heights'; and an extensive series of books relating to or by dryden, pope, swift, and others of that period, as well as a number of presentation copies of books by matthew arnold, browning, and tennyson, etc. mr. t. r. buchanan, m.p., who was for many years librarian of all souls' college, oxford, has a small but select library of books which are, for the most part, remarkable on account of the beauty or rarity of their bindings. it is especially strong in fine specimens of early english and scotch bindings; there are a few examples from de thou's library, and a few characteristic specimens of italian and flemish bindings of the best periods. the books themselves are principally editions of the classics; but the section of bibles printed in england and scotland is a full one. there are also many volumes with a personal interest; for example, the copy of locke's 'essay concerning the human understanding' was once coleridge's, and contains a note by him to this effect: 'this is, perhaps, the most admirable of locke's works; read it, southey,' etc.; and the copy of the 'libri carolini,' , was scaliger's. captain r. s. holford, of dorchester house, park lane, has a choice library of beautiful and rare books, formed by his father, the late h. s. holford. for many years its chief treasure was the only known first edition of 'pilgrim's progress,' , which was valued at £ ; during the last few years, however, four other copies have turned up, without, however, lessening the commercial value of the holford copy, which would probably fetch two or three times the amount at which it was valued thirty years ago. the facsimile of the first edition issued a few years ago was made from mr. holford's copy. a few other treasures of captain holford's library may be briefly mentioned as follows: a fifteenth-century manuscript of livy's 'historia,' on vellum, in a venetian binding, with the arms of aragon; cardinal hippolyto d'este's copy of rhinghier, 'cento giuochi liberali, et d' ingegno,' bologna, ; grolier's copy of pliny, 'epistolæ,' etc., venice, ; of valerius maximus, venice, ; and of 'epitomes des roys de france,' lyons, ; the maioli copy of homer, 'odyssea,' paris, ; du bellay's 'memoirs,' , with the arms of henri de bourbon, prince de condé; and the copy of 'liber psalmorum davidis,' , bound by nicholas eve for de thou. [illustration: _facsimile of title-page, 'pilgrim's progress,' first edition._] dr. w. h. corfield, mr. c. e. h. chadwyck-healey, q.c., sir julian goldsmid, m.p., mr. c. f. murray, mr. george salting, mr. samuel sandars, mr. h. yates thompson, mr. h. virtue tebbs, and mr. t. foster shattock, are understood to possess choice libraries of books noted chiefly for the beauty or rarity of their bindings. m. john gennadius, late greek minister at the court of st. james's, possessed one of the finest libraries formed during recent years. this collection was destined to supplement and ornament the national library of greece, founded at athens by his excellency's father, on the very morrow of her liberation. fate, however, ordered otherwise, and these beautiful books were, consequently, dispersed at sotheby's, from march to april , the eleven days' sale of , lots realizing £ , . the library of mr. w. christie-miller, of britwell court, maidenhead, is understood to include many choice books, particularly early printed works, but no particulars of it are available. holland house library is one of great historic value and interest. it is fully described by the princess marie liechtenstein, in her monograph on the place. macaulay has described the appearance of the library in his famous essay on lord holland. it is rather a collection formed by a statesman and a literary man than by a bibliophile; there are over , volumes, many of which are privately printed books, presentation copies; there is a large collection of historical works relating to italy, portugal, and france; spanish literature, a memento of the taste of the third lord holland, is well represented; the collection of elzevirs is very fine, as is also that of the greek and latin classics, and the highly curious collection of various copies of charles james fox's 'james ii.,' which belonged to different celebrities, is housed here. mr. c. j. toovey inherited from his father, the late james toovey, a fine library of exceptionally choice books; it is rich in monuments of the early english printers, one of its gems being a fine copy of the 'boke of st. albans'; aldines probably form one of its largest sections, whilst in bindings by the great masters of the french school of bibliopegic art the library has very few equals. many of these were purchased by the late mr. toovey in paris, long before the present rage for them had commenced, so that, as an investment, they will doubtless yield a handsome profit if they ever come into the market. the series of walton's 'angler' includes the first edition, with a presentation inscription by the author; there is also the largest known first folio edition of shakespeare, to which reference has already been made. [illustration] [illustration] index. addison, joseph, , , , advocates, library of the college of, ainsworth, w. harrison, , , alchorne, s., alcuin, , , alde, john, aldersgate street, aldine editions, - , , aldus, alfred, allen, thomas, almon, j., althorp library, the, , _et seq._ america, book trade with, america, tracts on, amherst of hackney, lord, anacreon, stephen edition, anderson, adam, anderson, g. b., anderson, john, anglesey, earl of, , _note_ angling books, francis's, anson, sir w. r., 'anthologia græca' ( ), 'apologie pour herodote,' arch, j. and a., archaica club, archer, sir anthony, 'aristophanes' ( ), aristotle ( - ), arthur, thomas, arundel, henry, earl of, , , ascham, roger, ascham's 'toxophilus,' ashbee, mr. h. s., ashburnham, lord, , ashmole, elias, askew, dr. a., askew sale, the, , _et seq._ asperne, james, athelstan, 'atticus,' auctions, book, , _et seq._, aulus gellius, 'noctes,' aylesford, earl of, , bacon, francis, bacon, roger, bagford, john, , , , bagster, s., bain, james, baker, mr. e. e., baker, h., baker, samuel, _note_, , , baker, thomas, 'balbi catholicon,' the, , baldwin and cradock, bale, john, bale's 'image of both churches,' balfour, mr. a. j., ballads, ballard, t. and e., ballards of little britain, banks, dr., bannatyne club, the, _note_ baptist library at bristol, barbican, the, , barclay's 'ship of fools,' , barnard, sir john, barnfield's 'encomion of lady pecunia,' 'baroccio,' barrett, thomas, barton, bernard, , bassett, thomas, batemans of little britain, bates, dr., bath, marquis of, , bathoe, sam., bathoe, w., baudelaire, 'les fleurs de mal,' bauduyn (piers), stationer, baylis, alderman, baynes, w., beauclerk, topham, and _note_, beckett-denison, c., becket, thomas, _note_, beckford, peter, , , beckford, william, - , bede, the venerable, bedford, francis, bedford, john, duke of, , bedford missal, the, , bedford street, strand, beet, thomas, bell and sons, george, benedict biscop, , bennett, t., bentham, w., bentley, dr. r., , , benzon, mrs., berkeley, earl of, bernard, dr. francis, , bernard, sir thomas, berthelet, thomas, bibles and new testaments, - , , , , , , , 'biblia pauperum,' coverdale's ( ), , , , , , cranmer's ( and ), , cromwell's ( ), douay ( ), eliot's indian, fust and schoeffer ( ), , german, græca septuaginta, _note_ gutenberg (or mazarin) ( ), , , , , , , , , hayes ( ), matthew's ( ), , tyndale's ( - , ), , , st. jerome's ms., bibliomania, the decay of, bibliomaniac, a, bibliomaniac, the 'library' of a, bibliophile, a, bibliophobia, bindley, james, , , , birrell, mr. a., , bishopsgate churchyard, black-letter books, black-letter booksellers, the, black-letter collectors, 'father' of, _note_ black-letter mania, blackwell's 'herbal,' blake, w., blandford, marquis of, _note_, , block book, bloomfield, r., boccaccio, the valdarfer, , , , - boccaccio, 'les illustres malheureux,' bodleian, the, , bodley, sir t., , boethius, 'consolation of philosophy,' bohn, h. g., , , , bohn, james, bohn, j. h., , 'boke of st. albans,' , bolland, sir w., , bonaparte, prince l. l., , , bonaventure's 'life of christ,' bond street, , _et seq._ book auctions and sales, , _et seq._ book-borrowers, , _et seq._ book catalogues, some humours of, - booker, john, book-ghouls, book-hunting, early, book-marking, lamb's notion of, book-pluralists, books and their prices, , _et seq._ 'booksellers,' the, a poem, booksellers' row. _see_ holywell street bookstalls and bookstalling, - book-thieves, , _et seq._ boone, t. and w., , booth, lionel, boswell, james, , boucher, jonathan, bourne, zacharius, bovey, mrs., bowles, rev. j., bowyer, jonah, bowyer, william, boydell, alderman, bozier's court, brabourne, lord, , bradbury and evans, brand, rev. john, , , , brassey, mrs., bremner, david, bridges, john, , , bright, b. h., , _note_, brindley, j., bristol, earl of, , british museum copies of the classics, - , , british museum, britten, mr. james, britton, thomas, , broadly, john, brooke, lord warwick, brown, mr. j., brown, 'old,' bruck, cudworth, bruscambille on 'long noses,' bryant, w., brydges, sir egerton, , buccleuch, duke of, , buchanan, mr. t. r., buckley, samuel, buckley, w. e., bull and auvache, bumstead, g., bunyan, john, bunyan's 'pilgrim's progress,' , , , , burbidge, prebendary e., burdett-coutts, baroness, , burgess, f., burghley, lady m., burghley, lord, burlington, countess of, burnet, bishop, burnet, rev. gilbert, burney, dr., burns, r., , , burton, robert, butcher row, - bute, marquis of, butler, mr. charles, butler's 'hudibras,' butterworth, henry, _note_ byng, mr., byron, lord, , byron's 'childe harold,' byron's 'english bards,' byron's 'waltz,' bywater, mr. ingram, cadell, thomas, cadell and davis, cæsar's (sir julius) travelling library, , , cæsar's 'commentaries,' caldecott, thomas, camden, w., campbell, mr. dykes, canonbury tower, and _note_, carbery, lord, caroline, queen, casaubon, dr. m., cashel, bishop of, cassell and co., castell, dr., catalogues. _see_ book catalogues cater, w., caviceo, 'dialogue,' etc., cawthorn and hutt, caxton, w., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 'arthur, king,' 'book called cathon,' , (_bis_) 'book of chivalry,' 'book of good manners,' 'chastising of god's children,' , 'christine of pisa,' chaucer's 'canterbury tales,' 'chronicles of england,' , , cicero ('de senectute'), 'of old age,' , , , 'dictes and sayings,' , 'doctrinal of sapience,' , 'faits d'armes et de chevalerie,' 'game and playe of chesse,' , , , 'godfrey of bulloigne,' , , 'golden legend,' , , , , gower's 'confessio amantis,' higden's 'description of britayne,' higden's 'polychronicon,' , 'historyes of troy,' (_bis_) 'history of blanchardyn and eglantine,' 'history of jason,' , (_bis_) 'life of st. katherine,' , lydgate's 'life of our lady,' 'lives of the fathers,' 'mirrour of the world,' , , 'royal book, or book for a king,' russell's 'propositio,' 'siege and conquest of jerusalem,' 'troylus and creside,' virgil's 'Æneid,' , caxton head catalogues, caxton, the highest paid for a, caxtons, the althorp, cecil, sir robert, chadwyck-healey, mr. e. h., chained books at hereford chalmers, george, , champernoun, mr., chandler, dr., chapman, henry, charing cross, - charing cross road, charles i.'s prayer-book, charles ii., charlotte, queen, as a book-hunter, charnock, dr. s., cheapside, , chetham library, the, child, alderman, chiswell, r., , , chodowiecki, christ church (canterbury), books at, , christ's hospital, newgate street, christie, james, _note_, , , christie, manson and woods, christie, mr. r. c., , 'chronicon nurembergense,' churchill, a. and j., cicero, . _see_ also caxton cicero, 'ad atticum,' circulating library, the first, clare hall, cambridge, clare market, clarendon, earl of, clarke, w., , classics, their market value, - claude's 'liber veritatis,' clavell, robert, clement's inn passage, , clovio, giulio, cochrane, j. g., , cock, auctioneer, cockaine, sir aston, coke, sir edward, colebrook row, islington, , coleridge, s. t., - , , collier's 'ecclesiastical library,' collier, john payne, - , collins, mr. victor, , collins, w., columbus letter, the, comerford, james, compton, conant, n., conway, lord, conyers, george, cooke, r. f., cook, sir robert, cooper, mr. a. e., cooper, william, , copinger, dr., corfield, dr. w. h., corney, bolton, cornhill, - cosens, f. w., cosin, dr., , cotton, charles, cotton, sir robert, , , courtney, mr. leonard, cowper, w., coxhead, j., cracherode, c. m., - , craig, j. t. gibson, , cranmer, archbishop, , crawford, earl of, , , , crawford, w. h., crockford's, crofts, rev. thos., croker, thomas c., , crossley, james, crowinshield, edward, crowley, robert, crozier, of the little turnstile, , cruden, alexander, cruikshankiana, cunning bookseller, the, curll, edmund, currer, miss r., - dalrymple, alex., dampier, dean, , daniell, mr. e., daniel, g., - , - , _note_ daniel's, 'delia,' dante, the landino edition, darton and hodge, darton, w., - davies, tom, davis, arthur, davis, charles, , davis, lockyer, , davis, w., day and son, day's circulating library, debrett, j., de bury, richard, dee, dr., defoe, daniel, delafaye, charles, denbigh, lord, denham, henry, denis, john, dent, j., , , , derby, lord, dering, sir edward, derwentwater, earl of, devonshire, dukes of, _note_, , , , , , , dibdin, t. f., , , , , dickens, charles, , digby, sir kenelm, , , , dilke, c. w., , , dilly, c. and e., , dimsdale sale, the, diodorus siculus ( ), d'israeli, isaac, dobell, mr. b., , dobson, mr. austin, dodsley, james, dodsley, r., dolben, sir john e., dolet, etienne, dorset, earl of, douce, francis, drake, sir francis, dramatic library of f. burgess, dramatic library of f. marshall, drama, works on the, , , drayton, m., , droeshout portrait of shakespeare, drummond of hawthornden, drummond, miss, drummond's 'forth fasting,' drury, h. j. t., dryden, john, duck lane, , duck, stephen, duerdin, j., duke street, little britain, , dulwich college library, dunmore, john, dunton, john, - dutens, rev. l., dyce, alexander, , - , dyson, h., eadburga, abbess, east end, book-hunting in, , _et seq._ _editiones principes_, - edmonds, sir clement, edward i., edward iv., , edward vi., edwards, e., , edwards, james, , egbert, egerton, t. and j., , 'eikon basilike,' _note_ elcho, the dowager lady, eliot's indian bible, elizabethan literature, elizabeth de burgh, elizabeth (princess), of hesse-homburg, elizabeth, queen, , , , - ellis, mr. f. s., , , , , , ellis, mr. g. i., , elmsley, peter, , elton, mr. c. i., elyot's 'castell of helth,' erasmus' 'enchiridion militis christiani,' eshton hall library, the, - essex, earl of, eton college library, euripides ( ), evans, r. h., , evans, sir john, evans, thomas, , evelyn, john, , , , , , , evelyn, sir, exeter 'change, , , extra-illustrating, fabyan's 'chronicle,' fagel collection, fairfax, bryan, farmer, dr. r., , farnese, cardinal, farringdon road, , fathers, the, faulder, r., felton, john, , fenestella, 'de magistratibus,' fielding, henry, , , , , 'finds,' some book, , , , finsbury square, , - fire, the great, , flatman's 'poems,' fleet street, - fleetwood, bishop, fletcher, j. and f., flexney, w., folkes, martin, fonthill, foote, samuel, ford, k. j., forster, john, - , , 'fortsas catalogue,' the, foss, henry, foster, birket, mr., fountaine collection, the, fox's 'reign of james ii.,' fox, william, francis, francis, franklin, b., , freebairn's sale, , freeling, francis, freeling, henry, french revolution, , fresnile, john, froissart's 'chronicles,' 'fructus temporum,' fuller's 'church history,' fuller's 'david's hainous sinne,' funnibus, l., gainsborough, earl of, gaisford, mr. thomas, , galwey, mr. j., gambetta, leon, gardner, h. l., garnett, dr. r., garrick, d., garth, samuel, gataker, dr. thos., genlis, madame de, gennadius, m. j., - george and sons, e., - george iii., , , , , gibbon, e., , gibbs, mr. h. h., , gifford, dr., , gilbert and field, , gilbert, s. and t., gilliflower, m., gladding, r., , gladstone, w. e., , , , , glashier, george, glasse's 'art of cookery,' gloucester, humphrey, duke of, , goldsmid, sir julian, goldsmith, oliver, goldsmith's 'the haunch of venison,' goldsmith's 'the deserted village,' goldsmith's 'traveller,' goldsmith's 'vicar of wakefield,' , gomme, mr. g. l., goodhugh, w., gordon, sir robert, gosford, earl of, gosset, dr. isaac, gough, r., , gower, lord, , grafton, duke of, grafton, r., grangerizing, , gravelot's print of westminster hall, , gray, mr. h., gray's inn gate and road, , , gray's mss., , , gray, t., , , green, mr. j. arnold, greenhill, rev. w., grenville, thos., , , greville, c. f., griffith, w., griffiths, ralph, grolier, , grose, francis, _grub street journal_, _note_ gryphius, s., guilford, earl of, guilford, francis, baron, gulston, joseph, guy de beauchamp, guy, thomas, gwillim's 'display of heraldry,' gyles, fletcher, hailstone, edward, halifax, lord, hall, virtue, and co., halliwell-phillipps, j. o., , , - hamilton, dukes of, , hamilton, sir w., hammers, auctioneers, and _note_ hannay's 'nightingale,' hanrott, harcourt, lady f. v., harding and lepard, harding's 'chronicle,' hardouyn, g., hardwicke, lord chancellor, hardy, sir william, harleian library, the, harley, earl of oxford, , , hartley, l. l., , harvey, gabriel, harvey, mr. f., harwood, dr., - hatchards, - hawkins, rev. w. b. l., hawkins, sir john, , hawtrey, dr., hayes, john, , hayes, samuel, hazlewood, joseph, , , hazlitt mss., the, hazlitt, william, hearle of holywell street, hearne, thomas, _note_, , , , heath, benjamin, , heathcote, robert, heber, richard, - , , , , , heber, thomas c., heliconia club, henderson, the actor, henry, prince, , henry iv., henry v., , henry vi., , henry vii., , henry viii., , , , herbert, isaac, heriot, george, herodotus ( ), heydinger, c., hibbert-wade, dr., highest price paid for a book, hill, mr. h. r., hill, thomas, - , hindley, mr. c., , hoare, richard, hodge, mr. e. grose, , hodgson and co., , , - hogarth, w., holborn, - holford, captain, , holgate, w., holinshed's 'chronicle,' holland's 'heröologia,' holland house library, holland, lord, , hollingbury copse, holywell street, , , , - homer, the _editio princeps_ ( ), , homer, , homer, the foulis edition, hone, w., hood, tom, hookham, t., hopetoun, earl of, hopetoun house library, horace, _editio princeps_, horæ, horne's 'orion,' horsfield, r., , hotten, j. c., houghton, earl of, hume, david, , hunter, mr., hunt, leigh, hutchinson, joshua h., huth, mr. a. h., huth, h., , , hutt, charles, hutt, mr. f. h., hutton, george, 'imitatio christi,' the, , , ina, king of the west saxons, inglis, c. b., irving (washington), 'abbotsford,' islington, cattle market at, isocrates ( ), isted, g., jackson, mr. b. daydon, jackson, jackson, andrew, jacobean literature, james, haughton, james i., james ii., jameson, mrs., janin, jules, jarvis (j. w.) and son, , jeffrey, edward, jerrold, douglas, jersey, earl of, , johnson, dr., , , , johnson and osborne, and _note_ johnson, joseph, , john of boston, , johnston, william, , jolley, thomas, _note_ jones and co., jones, owen, jones, richard, jonson, ben, , juvenal and persius ( ), keats, john, , , kempis, thomas à, , kettlewell, robert, kidner, thomas, king, john, king, thomas, - , king and lochée, , king of mansfield street, kirton, joshua, knaptons, the, knight, charles, knight, j. p., knight, mr. joseph, , knock-outs, , , - lackington, george, , lackington, james, - , lactantius, 'opera,' 'ladies' library,' the, - lakelands library, lamb, charles, - , , , , - , lamb's 'beauty and the beast,' lambeth library, , landor, walter savage, lang, mr. andrew, lang, r., langford, auctioneer, , , lansdowne, marquis of, , , lant, r., larking, john w., larrons, 'l'histoire des,' laud, archbishop, lauderdale, duke of, , , law books, printers of, lawler, mr. john, , , , , lawrence, e. h., lazarus, mrs., leacroft, s., le gallienne, mr. r., 'legenda aurea' ( ), leigh, george, , leighton, mr., leland, john, lemoine, henry, 'leontes,' lepruik, robert, lever, charles, lewis, l. a., libraries and book-thieves, , library, the sunderland, - libri collection, the, , , lilly, john, lilly, joseph, , , , lintot, b., lisburne, lord, little britain, , , - littleton's 'tenures,' liverpool, earl of, livy, the sweynheim and pannartz, localities, some book-hunting, locke, john, , locker-lampson, f., , - lodge's 'rosalynd,' london house, aldersgate street, longman and co., , longueville, lord, lovelace's 'lucasta,' lowndes, w., lowndes's 'bibliographer's manual,' low, sampson, and co., , loyalty, the 'repository' of, ludgate hill, lumley, lord, , luttrell, n., lydgate's 'bochas,' lydgate's 'hystory, sege, and destruccion of troye,' lysons, d. and s., lytton, lord, macaulay, lord, , , , , mackenzie, j. mansfield, mackinlay, i., macpherson, f., macready, w., maddison, john, magdalen college, , maitland, lord, malone, e., , , , , manley, richard, mann, john, mansion house, the old, , manson, j. p., manton, dr. thomas, manuscript, the textual value of a, markland, j. h., marlowe's 'doctor faustus,' _note_ marlowe's 'tragedie of richard, duke of york,' marriot, richard, marsh, charles, marshall, frank, martial's 'epigrammata,' martyr (peter), 'de sacramento eucharistiæ,' mary of este, mary, queen, mason, george, mather, increase, mathews, j., mathias, 'pursuits of literature,' matthew of westminster, 'flores,' matthews, charles, maty, dr. m., mawman, joseph, maximilian, emperor, mayhew, henry, mazarin bible. _see_ bible mazzoni, g., mccarthy, count, mead, dr. r., , , , menken, mr. e., , , , mews gate, the, - middle row, holborn, - middleton, conyers, millan, j., millar, andrew, millington, e., _note_, and _note_, milton, j., , milton's 'comus,' milton's 'eikonoklastes,' milton's 'lycidas,' milton's 'paradise lost,' , , , , , , , milton's 'paradise regained,' mitre tavern, the, , modern collectors (some), - molini, mr., , molini, peter, monasteries, the dissolution of, , _et seq._ moore, dr. john, and _note_, , moore, tom, moorfields, , - more, sir thos., , , morgan, lady, morpeth, lord, moxon and co., mss., the hamilton, muggletonian tracts, murray, j., ambassador, murray, john of sacomb, , murray, mr. c. f., murray, mr. john, , musgrave, dr. s., musæus ( ), 'my novel,' extract from, napoleon i., napoleon of booksellers, the, nash, tom, , neligan, dr., nelson, viscount, newbery, john, new cut, the, newton, isaac, newton, w., nicholas de lira, nicol, george, , , , , , noble, francis, noble, theophilus, , norgate, mr. f., norman, mr. hy., nornaville and fell, north, francis, north, dr. john, , north, roger, , notary, julian, , _notes and queries_, nourse, john, novimagus, society of, ogilby, david, oldys, w., , orange street, red lion square, 'orlando,' osborne, tom, , , - , _note_ ossian's 'poems,' , osterley park library, otridge, w., ottley, w. y., ouvry, frederick, , ovid ( ), oxford, anne cecil, countess of, oxford, books at, , oxford, edward, earl of, , , , , , , oxford street, - pall mall, , , pamphlets, dr. johnson on, pamphlet shops, papillon, david, , parker, archbishop, 'de antiquitate,' parker, archbishop, , parker, mr. r. j., parker, john, parker, samuel, parr, catherine, parr, dr., parsons the jesuit, passavant, speyr, 'pastissier françois,' le, paternoster row, , _et seq._ paterson, s., , _note_, , , patmore, thomas, 'paul pry,' payne, james, payne, john, and foss, payne, thomas, , - , , peacham's 'compleat gentleman,' peacham's 'valley of varietie,' pellet, thomas, , pembroke, lord, , penn, w., pepys, samuel, , , , , perkins, frederick, perkins, henry, , , perry, james, , , , , petheram, john, phelps, j. d., phillipps, sir thomas, , piccadilly, , _et seq._ pickering, basil m., pickering, w., pickering and chatto, , 'piers plowman's vision,' , piggott, j. h. smyth, 'pilgrim's progress.' _see_ bunyan pindar, elizabeth, , pinelli, m., , pitt, moses, plato, pliny, 'historia naturalis,' poetry, old english, poet's gallery, the, , ponder, nathaniel, 'pontevallo,' ponton, t., pope, alexander, , , , , porson, pote, j., poultry, the, powell, w., praed, w. m., prayer books, , price, the highest paid for a book, price's 'historiæ britannicæ,' , pridden, john, prince, j. h., 'prospero,' psalmorum codex, , pulteney, sir james, purcell, of red lion passage, purcell's 'orpheus britannicus,' purchas, 'his pilgrims,' , , puritan divines, books of, puttenham's 'art of english poesie,' puttick and simpson, , - pye, john, stationer, pynson, r., , , quakers, the bibliographer of, quaritch, mr. b., , , - , , queensberry, duke of, rabelais, françois, railton, mr., raleigh's 'prerogative of parliaments,' ramirez, jose f., rastell's 'pastyme of the people,' ratcliffe, john, rawlinson, t. and r., , , , , , reade, charles, reader, mr. a., redman, r., , reed, isaac, , , reeves and turner, reeves, mr. w., , rewiczki, count, reynolds, sir j., richard of peterborough, richard iii., richardson's 'remarks on paradise lost,' richmond, margaret, countess of, ridgway, james, ridler, w., 'rig,' a bookseller's, rikke, r., rimbault, e. f., rimell, mr. j., , ritson, joseph, rivington and cochrane, rivington, f. c., robins, 'robinson crusoe,' robinson, george, robinson's 'handefull of pleasant delites,' robson, james, , robson, mr., roche, mr. j., , rodd, thomas, , , rogers, samuel, - , roper, abel, rosebery, earl of, rossetti, d. g., rowfant library, the, rowlandson, thomas, rowsell, joel, roxburghe club, the, - , , _et seq._ roxburghe, john, duke of, , , , rubric posts, and _note_, ruskin, mr. john, rylands, mrs., , , , , rymer's 'foedera,' sacheverell, dr. henry, sala, mr. g. a., , sainte-beuve's 'livre d'amour,' salisbury, mr. j., salisbury, marquis of, , salkeld, mr. john, , salmon, dr., salting, mr. g., sancho, w., sandars, mr. s., sandell and smith, sanderson, bishop, saunders, robert, savage, 'author to let,' saville, sir henry, , scarborough, sir charles, scotland yard, scott, dr. john, scott, r., , scott's, sir walter, mss., , , , scott's 'vision of don roderick,' scotus erigena, scriptorium, seile, henry, selden, john, , selsey, lord, seneca, 'tragoediæ' ( ), severne, f. e., sewell, john, _note_, shakespeare, w., , , , , , , , , - first folio ( ), , , , , , , , , , , , second folio ( ), , , , , , - , , third folio ( ), , , , - , fourth folio ( ), , , , - , , quarto editions, , , , , 'hamlet,' ' henry iv.,' , 'henry v.,' , , 'henry vi.,' 'lear,' , , 'love's labour lost,' , 'merchant of venice,' , (_bis_), , , , 'merry wives of windsor,' , , , 'midsummer night's dream,' , , , 'much ado about nothing,' , 'othello,' , 'pericles,' , 'poems,' , 'rape of lucrece,' , , , 'richard ii.,' , , 'richard iii.,' , , 'romeo and juliet,' , , _note_, 'sonnets,' , and _note_ 'titus andronicus,' 'troilus and cressida,' , 'venus and adonis,' and _note_, shandy, mr., shattock, mr. t. f., shelburne, earl of, sheldon, ralph, shelley, p. b., shelley's copy of ossian's poems, shenstone, w., sheridan, r. b., sherley's 'wits new dyall,' shoreditch, shorter, mr. c. k., , shropshire, walter, sidney's 'arcadia,' silius italicus, simpson, mr. w., singer, s. w., skeat, of king william street, slater, mr. j. h., slater, mr. walter, , sloane, sir hans, , , smith, horace, , smith's, captain john, 'history of virginia,' smith, joseph, english consul, , smith, joseph, bookseller, smith, or smyth, richard, , smollett, tobias, smyth, sir thomas, snowden, mr. g. s., 'snuffy davy,' soho, solly, edward, , , somers, lord, , somerset, duke of, sophocles ( ), sotheby, john, , sotheby, samuel, , sotheby, s. leigh, , sotheby, wilkinson, and hodge, - , and _passim_ sotheran and co., messrs., , , , , sotheran, mr. h., southampton row, southey, robert, , _spectator_, the, , spelman, edward, spelman, sir henry, spence, joseph, spencer, earl, - , , , , , , spencer, w. t., spenser's 'faërie queene,' , spenser, e., spon, of cheapside, st. albans, abbot of, st. albans, books printed at, , , , st. alban's tavern, st. augustine, 'de arte predicandi,' st. augustine, 'de civitate dei,' , st. bernard's seal, st. dunstan, st. francis, st. paul's cathedral, st. paul's churchyard, , , - stanley, colonel, , staple inn, stapleton, a. g., stark, j. m., steele, richard, , steevens, george, , , , stephens, j., sterne, l., stevens, henry, , stewart, charles j., , stewart, founder of puttick's, , stibbs, e. w., , stock, mr. elliot, , stormont, lord, stow's 'survey,' strand, the, , - strange, john, strickland, agnes, suckling and galloway, sullivan, sir e., , sunderland library sale, , sunderland, earl of, , , , , sunderlin, lord, sussex, duke of, , , sutton, henry, swift, jonathan, , , swift, ms. of scott's 'life' of, sydenham tusculum, hill's, sydney, sir robert, sykes, lady mark, sykes, sir m. m., , _note_, , syston park library, talleyrand, prince, taylor, watson, taylor, william, tebbs, mr. h. v., tegg, thomas, temple bar, 'temple of the muses,' the, tenison, archbishop, testament. _see_ bible thackeray, w. m., theodore, archbishop of canterbury, theocritus ( ), thompson, mr. h. yates, thoms, w. j., , , , thoresby, ralph, , thorpe, thomas, and _note_, , , thorold, sir john, thurlow, lord, tilt, charles, , tisdale, john, tite, sir william, , tobin, sir j., tomes, h., 'tom folio,' tom's coffee-house, tonson, jacob, , , , tooke, benjamin, tooke, john horne, , toovey, b., toovey, j., , , - , tottell, r., and _note_ towneley, j., , , , townsend, marquis of, tradescant, mrs., tregaskis, mr. and mrs., , triphook, r., , truelove, e., turberville's 'epitaphs,' turnbull, mr. e., , turner, dawson, turner, r. s., turnstiles, holborn, - tunstall, james, tusser's 'good husbandry,' tyndale, john, tyndale's 'practyse of prelates,' tyrill, sir t., tyson, dr. e., tyssen, samuel, , udal, nicholas, upcott, w., , usher, archbishop, usher, bishop, utterson, e. v., uvedale, robert, vaillant, paul, valdarfer boccaccio, the, , , , - valerius maximus ( ), valesius, van de weyer, col. v. w. bates, vérard, antoine, vernor and hood, vespucci, 'mundus novus,' vossius, isaac wakefield, walford, cornelius, , , walford, mr. e., walker, john, , wallden, a carmelite friar, waller, mr. john, walpole, horace, , walter, john, of the _times_, walton hall library, walton, izaak, , , , walton's 'compleat angler,' , , , , wanley, humfrey, , , ward, mr. w., wardour street, warde, roger, ware, richard, warner's 'syrinx' ( ), warwick, earl of, waterton, e., , watson, dr. t., weskett, 'on insurances,' wesley, charles, wesley and sons, west, james, , , , westell, mr. j., , , westminster hall, - westmoreland, countess of, , wheare's 'method and order of reading histories,' wheatley, benjamin, , wheatley, mr. h. b., _note_, wheldon, john, whethamstede, whiston, john, , whitechapel, , , white, benjamin (sr. and jr.), - white, gilbert, white, john, white, joseph, white knights library, whittington, sir richard, whytforde's 'lyfe of perfection,' wilbraham, r., wilcox, thomas, wilkes, john, , , , , wilkinson, john, williams, dr. david, willis, g., willoughby, lord, , willoughby, sir h., wills, john, wilson's 'art of logic,' wimpole library, the, , winchelsea, earl of, wingrave, f., winstanley's 'views of audley end,' wise, mr. t. j., , wodhull, michael, , , women as book-collectors, - women as book-thieves, - , wood, anthony à, , , wordsworth, w., , worsley, dr. b., , wulfseg, bishop of london, wyndham, wynkyn de worde, , , , , , yates's 'castell of courtesie,' york, duke of, zouche, lord, [illustration] _elliot stock, paternoster row, london._ [illustration: '_must i, as a wit with learned air, like doctor dewlap, to tom payne's repair?_'] _uniform with 'the book-hunter in london.'_ the book-hunter in paris. being studies among the bookstalls of the quays. by octave uzanne. with an introduction by augustine birrell, author of 'obiter dicta,' 'res judicatÆ,' etc. _and characteristic illustrations interspersed in the text_. [illustration] every bibliophile who by chance finds himself in paris, whether on urgent affairs or on pleasure intent, invariably manages to visit that richest of hunting-grounds, the book-lined quays, where, perhaps, more unexpected treasures have been picked up than in any other city of europe. it is of this happy hunting-ground and those who haunt it--the book-hunters and the bookstall-keepers; the books they buy and the books they sell; whence they come and whither they go; the finds, the losses, the disappointments, and red-letter days--that m. uzanne writes in this attractive volume, in that felicitous and suggestive manner which has made him so well known in present-day literature. opinions of the press on 'the book-hunter in paris.' 'a very interesting book. mr. birrell's introduction is a pleasant and useful explanation of the volume, which is presented in a form fully deserving of its literary merits.'--_times._ 'm. uzanne's chapters are full of curious information, which will have special attraction for those english book-hunters to whom paris is unknown. the style is agreeably anecdotic, and the numerous woodcuts are quaint and graphic.'--_globe._ 'with real regret we lay down so charmingly written a volume, and it is with no small satisfaction that we note the publisher's announcement that a companion volume on "the book-hunter in london" will shortly be issued.'--_st. james's budget._ 'm. uzanne's book is delightful, with never a heavy touch, but crammed with quaint traditions, humorous characteristics, charming gossip.'--_graphic._ 'm. uzanne sets forth with a good deal of pathos, happily leavened with humour, the history, past and present, of the stall-keepers and the quays of the seine, in whose trays many a notable _trouvaille_ has been made in other times.'--_pall mall gazette._ 'the interest of the book is heightened by the characteristic vignettes which are interwoven with the text on almost every other page.'--_the standard._ 'lightly does he carry his learning and brightly does he sketch the bookmen and their riverside market. of present interest to all book-lovers are his piquant contrasts of the old order and the new.'--_saturday review._ 'to collectors the book will appeal with special force, but the general reader, if he be gifted with ordinary intelligence, will also enjoy it. it is not dry; in fact, to use the familiar expression, it is "as interesting as a novel."'--_publishers' circular._ 'the book is full of stories of the characteristics of the fraternity, anecdotes, and biographical sketches of past stall-keepers and their most famous patrons.'--_daily graphic._ 'everybody knows m. uzanne's pleasant, garrulous style--how he takes his readers into his confidence, how he spins phrases lovingly, and always keeps you in good spirits. he was just the man to write such a book.'--_bookman._ 'the work is always learned, and (what is not so easy) always light. everybody who is the least of a book-hunter ought to read it at once, or rather, ought to hunt for it first; and then, to show that it is a better sort of book than many that are hunted, read it.'--_scotsman._ [illustration] transcriber's notes: characters superscripted in the original are inclosed in {} brackets. variations in spelling have been left as in the original. examples include the following: crede creede creside cressida faerie faërie magliabecchi magliabechi polychronicon policronicon schoeffer's schoëffer schoeffer with an oe ligature sweynheim sweynheym troilus troylus zarothum zarothus the following words used an oe ligature in the original: d'oeuvre foedera oeconomiques oeuvre oeuvres phoebum phoenix schoeffer tragoedie the following words appear with and without hyphens. they have been left as in the original. book-buyer bookbuyer book-buying bookbuying book-case bookcase book-plate bookplate book-selling bookselling coffee-house coffeehouse sale-room saleroom waste-paper wastepaper the following corrections have been made to the text: page xiv: purcell (p. )[original has ] page xv: necessarily a learned man.[original is missing period] page : peers pennylesse supplication[original has supplicati[=o] to indicate there wasn't room for the final n] [=o] is equivalent to o with a macron over it page : the '[opening quote is missing in original]godfrey of bulloigne' selling for s. page : early age of forty-four[original has fourty-four] page : duplicate of my wooden leg."[original has extraneous single quote] page : the mss. of gray, in their perfect calligraphy[original has caligraphy] page : rowfant[original has rowfont] library page : where a sale of books was in progress[original has progess] page : on the banks of lake liman, near geneva,"[ending quotation mark missing in original] page : for billingsgate, quit flexney, and be wise.'[ending quotation mark missing in original] page : like another magliabecchi,[removed extraneous quotation mark after magliabecchi] page : countess of westmoreland[original has westmorland] page : we give facsimiles[original has facsimilies] page : '[quotation mark missing in original]jokely, very interesting page : 'the rose and the ring by r. browing.'[original has comma] page : catalogue raisonné[original has raisonnée] page : 'the death wake' ( ),[original has period] page : princess marie liechtenstein[original has leichtenstein] page : arch, j. and a.[original has j.] page : bannatyne[original has bannantyne] club, the page : under bibles and new testaments-- fust and schoeffer ( ) was out of alphabetical order in the original in the gutenberg sub-entry, the pages numbers were out of order in the original page : brooke[original has brook], lord warwick, page : under caxton-- 'book of good manners,'[comma missing in original] godfrey of bulloigne[original has bulloyne] higden's 'polychronicon[original has polycronicon] history of blanchardyn[original has blanchardin] 'troylus and creside,'[ending quote missing in original and spelling is cressid] virgil's 'Æneid'[original has Ænid] page : drummond's 'forth[original has fourth] fasting,' page : finsbury square, , - [removed extraneous period] page : glashier,[comma missing in original] george, page : guilford[original has guildford], earl of page : guilford[original has guildford], francis, baron page : johnson, joseph[original has john], , page : johnston[original has johnstone], william page : kempis, thomas à[original has á] page : nornaville[original has nornanville] and fell page : nourse[original has nowise], john, page : rewiczki[original has rewicski], count page : loyalty[original has royalty--entry has been moved to maintain alphabetical order], the 'repository' of, page : stibbs[original has stibbes], e. w. page : thackeray, w. m., [out of alphabetical order in original] page : tyndale[original has tyndall], john, page : tyson, dr. e., [out of alphabetical order in original] page : vérard[original has verard], antoine page : entries for walford, cornelius, walford, mr. e., walker, john, warde, roger, and ward, mr. w., were out of alphabetical order in the original page : weskett,[comma missing in original] 'on insurances,' in the index on page , there is an entry for thomas à kempis. his name is not mentioned in the book, but he is the author of "imitatio christi" which is discussed in the text on the referenced pages. in the index, many of the page references were incorrect. corrections have been made as indicated in the following table. original correct entry page # page # aldine editions, - - aldus, alfred, anacreon, stephen edition, anthologia græca' ( ), archaica club, 'aristophanes' ( ), aristotle ( - ), askew sale, the, , et seq. , et seq. bannatyne club, the, note baptist library at bristol, barbican, the, , , batemans of little britain, becket, thomas, note note bernard, dr. francis, bibles and new testaments coverdale's ( ), græca septuaginta, note st. jerome's ms., , bishopsgate churchyard, black-letter books, blandford, marquis of, note bloomfield, r., 'boke of st. albans,' , book-ghouls, bookstalls and bookstalling, - - brabourne, lord, britten, mr. james, britton, thomas, , , brown, 'old,' bruscambille on 'long noses,' bunyan's 'pilgrim's progress,' , , burdett-coutts, baroness, , , butterworth, henry, note campbell, mr. dykes, caxton, w. 'arthur, king,' 'book called cathon,' , , 'book of chivalry,' 'chastising of god's children,' chaucer's 'canterbury tales,' 'chronicles of england,' , , cicero ('de senectute'), 'of old age,' , , , 'dictes and sayings,' 'doctrinal of sapience,' , , 'game and playe of chesse,' , , , , 'godfrey of bulloigne,' 'golden legend,' gower's 'confessio amantis,' higden's 'description of britayn' ? higden's 'polychronicon,' 'historyes of troy,' 'history of blanchardyn and eglantine,' 'history of jason,' , , 'mirrour of the world,' russell's 'propositio,' 'troylus and creside,' virgil's 'Æneid,' caxton, the highest paid for a, caxtons, the althorp, chained books at hereford, ? chandler, dr., clarke, w., daniel, g., - - daniell, mr. e., day's circulating library, , defoe, daniel, devonshire, dukes of, } , note, } , , , , diodorus siculus ( ), dobell, mr. b., dorset, earl of, drayton, m., duck lane, , , duke street, little britain, , , east end, book-hunting in, , et seq. , et seq. editiones principes, - - ellis, mr. g. i., elyot's 'castell of helth,' euripides ( ), exeter 'change, , , extra-illustrating, farringdon road, , , finsbury square, foote, samuel, franklin, b., fuller's 'david's hainous sinne,' funnibus, l., garnett, dr. r., garth, samuel, george iii., , , , , gifford, dr., , , glasse's 'art of cookery,' goldsmith's 'vicar of wakefield,' gomme, mr. g. l., grangerizing, gray's mss., gwillim's 'display of heraldry,' harleian library, the, harvey, mr. f., harwood, dr., - - hatchards, , - heliconia club, herodotus ( ), hindley, mr. c., hodge, mr. e. grose, hodgson and co., , - , - holford, captain, holywell street, , , homer, the foulis edition, horace, editio princeps, hunter, mr., hunt, leigh, islington, cattle market at, isocrates ( ), jeffrey, edward, jersey, earl of, johnson, dr., jolley, thomas, note note juvenal and persius ( ), king, john, king, thomas, knock-outs, lamb, charles, , , lamb's 'beauty and the beast,' langford, auctioneer, leighton, mr., lemoine, henry, lisburne, lord, locker-lampson, f., london house, aldersgate street, longman and co., , lovelace's 'lucasta,' lytton, lord, macaulay, lord, manuscript, the textual value of a, martial's 'epigrammata,' mather, increase, mayhew, henry, millington, e. milton's 'paradise lost,' , , molini, mr., moorfields, , - , - murray, john of sacomb, , , musæus ( ), neligan, dr., new cut, the, , newton, w., nicol, george, north, francis, north, roger, novimagus, society of, ovid ( ), oxford, edward, earl of, , , pamphlet shops, passavant, speyr, pellet, thomas, pembroke, lord, pepys, samuel, perry, james, plato, pliny, 'historia naturalis,' poetry, old english, pope, alexander, purcell, of red lion passage, puttenham's 'art of english poesie,' quaritch, mr. b., , , railton, mr., ratcliffe, john, rawlinson, t. and r., reed, isaac, reeves, mr. w., richardson's 'remarks on paradise lost,' rimell, mr. j., robinson's 'handefull of pleasant delites,' robson, mr., roche, mr. j., rogers, samuel, - - roxburghe, john, duke of, rubric posts, rylands, mrs., sacheverell, dr. henry, sala, mr. g. a., , , salisbury, mr. j., , sanderson, bishop, scott, r., scott's 'vision of don roderick,' scriptorium, , selsey, lord, seneca, 'tragoediæ' ( ), sewell, john, note shakespeare, w., - - first folio ( ), second folio ( ), - - third folio ( ), - - fourth folio ( ), - - quarto editions 'hamlet,' ' henry iv.,' 'henry v.,' 'henry vi.,' 'lear,' 'love's labour lost,' 'merchant of venice,' 'merry wives of windsor, 'midsummer night's dream' 'much ado about nothing,' 'othello,' 'pericles,' 'poems,' 'rape of lucrece,' 'richard ii.,' 'richard iii.,' 'romeo and juliet,' 'sonnets,' , note and note 'troilus and cressida,' 'venus and adonis,' , note and note shandy, mr., sherley's 'wits new dyall,' shoreditch, silius italicus, slater, mr. j. h., sloane, sir hans, 'snuffy davy,' solly, edward, somers, lord, snowden, mr. g. s., sophocles ( ), sotheran, mr. h., spectator, the, spenser's 'faërie queene,' st. albans, books printed at, , , st. paul's churchyard, stevens, henry, staple inn, stibbs, e. w., strand, the, sunderland, earl of, swift, jonathan, , , sydenham tusculum, hill's, sydney, sir robert, sykes, sir m. m., note taylor, watson, theocritus ( ), thoms, w. j., , thoresby, ralph, toovey, j., , , , tyson, dr. e., valerius maximus ( ), vérard, antoine, walford, mr. e., walton, izaak, walton's 'compleat angler,' , , walford, cornelius, , , walker, john, ward, mr. w., warwick, earl of, weskett, 'on insurances,' westell, mr. j., whitechapel, winchelsea, earl of, women as book-thieves, - - wynkyn de worde, ellipsis are represented as in the original. on books and the housing of them by william ewart gladstone ( - ) in the old age of his intellect (which at this point seemed to taste a little of decrepitude), strauss declared [ ] that the doctrine of immortality has recently lost the assistance of a passable argument, inasmuch as it has been discovered that the stars are inhabited; for where, he asks, could room now be found for such a multitude of souls? again, in view of the current estimates of prospective population for this earth, some people have begun to entertain alarm for the probable condition of england (if not great britain) when she gets (say) seventy millions that are allotted to her against six or eight hundred millions for the united states. we have heard in some systems of the pressure of population upon food; but the idea of any pressure from any quarter upon space is hardly yet familiar. still, i suppose that many a reader must have been struck with the naive simplicity of the hyperbole of st. john, [ ] perhaps a solitary unit of its kind in the new testament: "the which if they should be written every one, i suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." a book, even audubon (i believe the biggest known), is smaller than a man; but, in relation to space, i entertain more proximate apprehension of pressure upon available space from the book population than from the numbers of mankind. we ought to recollect, with more of a realized conception than we commonly attain to, that a book consists, like a man, from whom it draws its lineage, of a body and a soul. they are not always proportionate to each other. nay, even the different members of the book-body do not sing, but clash, when bindings of a profuse costliness are imposed, as too often happens in the case of bibles and books of devotion, upon letter-press which is respectable journeyman's work and nothing more. the men of the renascence had a truer sense of adaptation; the age of jewelled bindings was also the age of illumination and of the beautiful miniatura, which at an earlier stage meant side or margin art,[ ] and then, on account of the small portraitures included in it, gradually slid into the modern sense of miniature. there is a caution which we ought to carry with us more and more as we get in view of the coming period of open book trade, and of demand practically boundless. noble works ought not to be printed in mean and worthless forms, and cheapness ought to be limited by an instinctive sense and law of fitness. the binding of a book is the dress with which it walks out into the world. the paper, type and ink are the body, in which its soul is domiciled. and these three, soul, body, and habilament, are a triad which ought to be adjusted to one another by the laws of harmony and good sense. already the increase of books is passing into geometrical progression. and this is not a little remarkable when we bear in mind that in great britain, of which i speak, while there is a vast supply of cheap works, what are termed "new publications" issue from the press, for the most part, at prices fabulously high, so that the class of real purchasers has been extirpated, leaving behind as buyers only a few individuals who might almost be counted on the fingers, while the effective circulation depends upon middle-men through the engine of circulating libraries. these are not so much owners as distributers of books, and they mitigate the difficulty of dearness by subdividing the cost, and then selling such copies as are still in decent condition at a large reduction. it is this state of things, due, in my opinion, principally to the present form of the law of copyright, which perhaps may have helped to make way for the satirical (and sometimes untrue) remark that in times of distress or pressure men make their first economies on their charities, and their second on their books. the annual arrivals at the bodleian library are, i believe, some twenty thousand; at the british museum, forty thousand, sheets of all kinds included. supposing three-fourths of these to be volumes, of one size or another, and to require on the average an inch of shelf space, the result will be that in every two years nearly a mile of new shelving will be required to meet the wants of a single library. but, whatever may be the present rate of growth, it is small in comparison with what it is likely to become. the key of the question lies in the hands of the united kingdom and the united states jointly. in this matter there rests upon these two powers no small responsibility. they, with their vast range of inhabited territory, and their unity of tongue, are masters of the world, which will have to do as they do. when the britains and america are fused into one book market; when it is recognized that letters, which as to their material and their aim are a high-soaring profession, as to their mere remuneration are a trade; when artificial fetters are relaxed, and printers, publishers, and authors obtain the reward which well-regulated commerce would afford them, then let floors beware lest they crack, and walls lest they bulge and burst, from the weight of books they will have to carry and to confine. it is plain, for one thing, that under the new state of things specialism, in the future, must more and more abound. but specialism means subdivision of labor; and with subdivision labor ought to be more completely, more exactly, performed. let us bow our heads to the inevitable; the day of encyclopaedic learning has gone by. it may perhaps be said that that sun set with leibnitz. but as little learning is only dangerous when it forgets that it is little, so specialism is only dangerous when it forgets that it is special. when it encroaches on its betters, when it claims exceptional certainty or honor, it is impertinent, and should be rebuked; but it has its own honor in its own province, and is, in any case, to be preferred to pretentious and flaunting sciolism. a vast, even a bewildering prospect is before us, for evil or for good; but for good, unless it be our own fault, far more than for evil. books require no eulogy from me; none could be permitted me, when they already draw their testimonials from cicero[ ] and macaulay.[ ] but books are the voices of the dead. they are a main instrument of communion with the vast human procession of the other world. they are the allies of the thought of man. they are in a certain sense at enmity with the world. their work is, at least, in the two higher compartments of our threefold life. in a room well filled with them, no one has felt or can feel solitary. second to none, as friends to the individual, they are first and foremost among the compages, the bonds and rivets of the race, onward from that time when they were first written on the tablets of babylonia and assyria, the rocks of asia minor, and the monuments of egypt, down to the diamond editions of mr. pickering and mr. frowde.[ ] it is in truth difficult to assign dimensions for the libraries of the future. and it is also a little touching to look back upon those of the past. as the history of bodies cannot, in the long run, be separated from the history of souls, i make no apology for saying a few words on the libraries which once were, but which have passed away. the time may be approaching when we shall be able to estimate the quantity of book knowledge stored in the repositories of those empires which we call prehistoric. for the present, no clear estimate even of the great alexandrian libraries has been brought within the circle of popular knowledge; but it seems pretty clear that the books they contained were reckoned, at least in the aggregate, by hundreds of thousands.[ ] the form of the book, however, has gone through many variations; and we moderns have a great advantage in the shape which the exterior has now taken. it speaks to us symbolically by the title on its back, as the roll of parchment could hardly do. it is established that in roman times the bad institution of slavery ministered to a system under which books were multiplied by simultaneous copying in a room where a single person read aloud in the hearing of many the volume to be reproduced, and that so produced they were relatively cheap. had they not been so, they would hardly have been, as horace represents them, among the habitual spoils of the grocer.[ ] it is sad, and is suggestive of many inquiries, that this abundance was followed, at least in the west, by a famine of more than a thousand years. and it is hard, even after all allowances, to conceive that of all the many manuscripts of homer which italy must have possessed we do not know that a single parchment or papyrus was ever read by a single individual, even in a convent, or even by a giant such as dante, or as thomas acquinas, the first of them unquestionably master of all the knowledge that was within the compass of his age. there were, however, libraries even in the west, formed by charlemagne and by others after him. we are told that alcuin, in writing to the great monarch, spoke with longing of the relative wealth of england in these precious estates. mr. edwards, whom i have already quoted, mentions charles the fifth of france, in , as a collector of manuscripts. but some ten years back the director of the bibliotheque nationale informed me that the french king john collected twelve hundred manuscripts, at that time an enormous library, out of which several scores were among the treasures in his care. mary of medicis appears to have amassed in the sixteenth century, probably with far less effort, , volumes.[ ] oxford had before that time received noble gifts for her university library. and we have to recollect with shame and indignation that that institution was plundered and destroyed by the commissioners of the boy king edward the sixth, acting in the name of the reformation of religion. thus it happened that opportunity was left to a private individual, the munificent sir thomas bodley, to attach an individual name to one of the famous libraries of the world. it is interesting to learn that municipal bodies have a share in the honor due to monasteries and sovereigns in the collection of books; for the common council of aix purchased books for a public library in .[ ] louis the fourteenth, of evil memory, has at least this one good deed to his credit, that he raised the royal library at paris, founded two centuries before, to , volumes. in it had , volumes. it profited largely by the revolution. the british museum had only reached , when panizzi became keeper in . nineteen years afterward he left it with , , a number which must now have more than doubled. by his noble design for occupying the central quadrangle, a desert of gravel until his time, he provided additional room for , , volumes. all this apparently enormous space for development is being eaten up with fearful rapidity; and such is the greed of the splendid library that it opens its jaws like hades, and threatens shortly to expel the antiquities from the building, and appropriate the places they adorn. but the proper office of hasty retrospect in a paper like this is only to enlarge by degrees, like the pupil of an eye, the reader's contemplation and estimate of the coming time, and to prepare him for some practical suggestions of a very humble kind. so i take up again the thread of my brief discourse. national libraries draw upon a purse which is bottomless. but all public libraries are not national. and the case even of private libraries is becoming, nay, has become, very serious for all who are possessed by the inexorable spirit of collection, but whose ardor is perplexed and qualified, or even baffled, by considerations springing from the balance-sheet. the purchase of a book is commonly supposed to end, even for the most scrupulous customer, with the payment of the bookseller's bill. but this is a mere popular superstition. such payment is not the last, but the first term in a series of goodly length. if we wish to give to the block a lease of life equal to that of the pages, the first condition is that it should be bound. so at least one would have said half a century ago. but, while books are in the most instances cheaper, binding, from causes which i do not understand, is dearer, at least in england, than it was in my early years, so that few can afford it.[ ] we have, however, the tolerable and very useful expedient of cloth binding (now in some danger, i fear, of losing its modesty through flaring ornamentation) to console us. well, then, bound or not, the book must of necessity be put into a bookcase. and the bookcase must be housed. and the house must be kept. and the library must be dusted, must be arranged, should be catalogued. what a vista of toil, yet not unhappy toil! unless indeed things are to be as they now are in at least one princely mansion of this country, where books, in thousands upon thousands, are jumbled together with no more arrangement than a sack of coals; where not even the sisterhood of consecutive volumes has been respected; where undoubtedly an intending reader may at the mercy of fortune take something from the shelves that is a book; but where no particular book can except by the purest accident, be found. such being the outlook, what are we to do with our books? shall we be buried under them like tarpeia under the sabine shields? shall we renounce them (many will, or will do worse, will keep to the most worthless part of them) in our resentment against their more and more exacting demands? shall we sell and scatter them? as it is painful to see how often the books of eminent men are ruthlessly, or at least unhappily, dispersed on their decease. without answering in detail, i shall assume that the book-buyer is a book-lover, that his love is a tenacious, not a transitory love, and that for him the question is how best to keep his books. i pass over those conditions which are the most obvious, that the building should be sound and dry, the apartment airy, and with abundant light. and i dispose with a passing anathema of all such as would endeavour to solve their problem, or at any rate compromise their difficulties, by setting one row of books in front of another. i also freely admit that what we have before us is not a choice between difficulty and no difficulty, but a choice among difficulties. the objects further to be contemplated in the bestowal of our books, so far as i recollect, are three: economy, good arrangement, and accessibility with the smallest possible expenditure of time. in a private library, where the service of books is commonly to be performed by the person desiring to use them, they ought to be assorted and distributed according to subject. the case may be altogether different where they have to be sent for and brought by an attendant. it is an immense advantage to bring the eye in aid of the mind; to see within a limited compass all the works that are accessible, in a given library, on a given subject; and to have the power of dealing with them collectively at a given spot, instead of hunting them up through an entire accumulation. it must be admitted, however, that distribution by subjects ought in some degree to be controlled by sizes. if everything on a given subject, from folio down to mo, is to be brought locally together, there will be an immense waste of space in the attempt to lodge objects of such different sizes in one and the same bookcase. and this waste of space will cripple us in the most serious manner, as will be seen with regard to the conditions of economy and of accessibility. the three conditions are in truth all connected together, but especially the two last named. even in a paper such as this the question of classification cannot altogether be overlooked; but it is one more easy to open than to close--one upon which i am not bold enough to hope for uniformity of opinion and of practice. i set aside on the one hand the case of great public libraries, which i leave to the experts of those establishments. and, at the other end of the scale, in small private libraries the matter becomes easy or even insignificant. in libraries of the medium scale, not too vast for some amount of personal survey, some would multiply subdivision, and some restrain it. an acute friend asks me under what and how many general headings subjects should be classified in a library intended for practical use and reading, and boldly answers by suggesting five classes only: ( ) science, ( ) speculation, ( ) art, ( ) history, and ( ) miscellaneous and periodical literature. but this seemingly simple division at once raises questions both of practical and of theoretic difficulty. as to the last, periodical literature is fast attaining to such magnitude, that it may require a classification of its own, and that the enumeration which indexes supply, useful as it is, will not suffice. and i fear it is the destiny of periodicals as such to carry down with them a large proportion of what, in the phraseology of railways, would be called dead weight, as compared with live weight. the limits of speculation would be most difficult to draw. the diversities included under science would be so vast as at once to make sub-classification a necessity. the ologies are by no means well suited to rub shoulders together; and sciences must include arts, which are but country cousins to them, or a new compartment must be established for their accommodation. once more, how to cope with the everlasting difficulty of 'works'? in what category to place dante, petrarch, swedenborg, burke, coleridge, carlyle, or a hundred more? where, again, is poetry to stand? i apprehend that it must take its place, the first place without doubt, in art; for while it is separated from painting and her other 'sphere-born harmonious sisters' by their greater dependence on material forms they are all more inwardly and profoundly united in their first and all-enfolding principle, which is to organize the beautiful for presentation to the perceptions of man. but underneath all particular criticism of this or that method of classification will be found to lie a subtler question--whether the arrangement of a library ought not in some degree to correspond with and represent the mind of the man who forms it. for my own part, i plead guilty, within certain limits, of favoritism in classification. i am sensible that sympathy and its reverse have something to do with determining in what company a book shall stand. and further, does there not enter into the matter a principle of humanity to the authors themselves? ought we not to place them, so far as may be, in the neighborhood which they would like? their living manhoods are printed in their works. every reality, every tendency, endures. eadem sequitur tellure sepultos. i fear that arrangement, to be good, must be troublesome. subjects are traversed by promiscuous assemblages of 'works;' both by sizes; and all by languages. on the whole i conclude as follows. the mechanical perfection of a library requires an alphabetical catalogue of the whole. but under the shadow of this catalogue let there be as many living integers as possible, for every well-chosen subdivision is a living integer and makes the library more and more an organism. among others i plead for individual men as centres of subdivision: not only for homer, dante, shakespeare, but for johnson, scott, and burns, and whatever represents a large and manifold humanity. the question of economy, for those who from necessity or choice consider it at all, is a very serious one. it has been a fashion to make bookcases highly ornamental. now books want for and in themselves no ornament at all. they are themselves the ornament. just as shops need no ornament, and no one will think of or care for any structural ornament, if the goods are tastefully disposed in the shop-window. the man who looks for society in his books will readily perceive that, in proportion as the face of his bookcase is occupied by ornament, he loses that society; and conversely, the more that face approximates to a sheet of bookbacks, the more of that society he will enjoy. and so it is that three great advantages come hand in hand, and, as will be seen, reach their maximum together: the sociability of books, minimum of cost in providing for them, and ease of access to them. in order to attain these advantages, two conditions are fundamental. first, the shelves must, as a rule, be fixed; secondly, the cases, or a large part of them, should have their side against the wall, and thus, projecting into the room for a convenient distance, they should be of twice the depth needed for a single line of books, and should hold two lines, one facing each way. twelve inches is a fair and liberal depth for two rows of octavos. the books are thus thrown into stalls, but stalls after the manner of a stable, or of an old-fashioned coffee-room; not after the manner of a bookstall, which, as times go, is no stall at all, but simply a flat space made by putting some scraps of boarding together, and covering them with books. this method of dividing the longitudinal space by projections at right angles to it, if not very frequently used, has long been known. a great example of it is to be found in the noble library of trinity college, cambridge, and is the work of sir christopher wren. he has kept these cases down to very moderate height, for he doubtless took into account that great heights require long ladders, and that the fetching and use of these greatly add to the time consumed in getting or in replacing a book. on the other hand, the upper spaces of the walls are sacrificed, whereas in dublin, all souls, and many other libraries the bookcases ascend very high, and magnificent apartments walled with books may in this way be constructed. access may be had to the upper portions by galleries; but we cannot have stairs all round the room, and even with one gallery of books a room should not be more than from sixteen to eighteen feet high if we are to act on the principle of bringing the largest possible number of volumes into the smallest possible space. i am afraid it must be admitted that we cannot have a noble and imposing spectacle, in a vast apartment, without sacrificing economy and accessibility; and vice versa. the projections should each have attached to them what i rudely term an endpiece (for want of a better name), that is, a shallow and extremely light adhering bookcase (light by reason of the shortness of the shelves), which both increases the accommodation, and makes one short side as well as the two long ones of the parallelopiped to present simply a face of books with the lines of shelf, like threads, running between the rows. the wall-spaces between the projections ought also to be turned to account for shallow bookcases, so far as they are not occupied by windows. if the width of the interval be two feet six, about sixteen inches of this may be given to shallow cases placed against the wall. economy of space is in my view best attained by fixed shelves. this dictum i will now endeavor to make good. if the shelves are movable, each shelf imposes a dead weight on the structure of the bookcase, without doing anything to support it. hence it must be built with wood of considerable mass, and the more considerable the mass of wood the greater are both the space occupied and the ornament needed. when the shelf is fixed, it contributes as a fastening to hold the parts of the bookcase together; and a very long experience enables me to say that shelves of from half- to three-quarters of an inch worked fast into uprights of from three-quarters to a full inch will amply suffice for all sizes of books except large and heavy folios, which would probably require a small, and only a small, addition of thickness. i have recommended that as a rule the shelves be fixed, and have given reasons for the adoption of such a rule. i do not know whether it will receive the sanction of authorities. and i make two admissions. first, it requires that each person owning and arranging a library should have a pretty accurate general knowledge of the sizes of his books. secondly, it may be expedient to introduce here and there, by way of exception, a single movable shelf; and this, i believe, will be found to afford a margin sufficient to meet occasional imperfections in the computation of sizes. subject to these remarks, i have considerable confidence in the recommendation i have made. i will now exhibit to my reader the practical effect of such arrangement, in bringing great numbers of books within easy reach. let each projection be three feet long, twelve inches deep (ample for two faces of octavos), and nine feet high, so that the upper shelf can be reached by the aid of a wooden stool of two steps not more than twenty inches high, and portable without the least effort in a single hand. i will suppose the wall space available to be eight feet, and the projections, three in number, with end pieces need only jut out three feet five, while narrow strips of bookcase will run up the wall between the projections. under these conditions, the bookcases thus described will carry above , octavo volumes. and a library forty feet long and twenty feet broad, amply lighted, having some portion of the centre fitted with very low bookcases suited to serve for some of the uses of tables, will receive on the floor from , to , volumes of all sizes, without losing the appearance of a room or assuming that of a warehouse, and while leaving portions of space available near the windows for purposes of study. if a gallery be added, there will be accommodation for a further number of five thousand, and the room need be no more than sixteen feet high. but a gallery is not suitable for works above the octavo size, on account of inconvenience in carriage to and fro. it has been admitted that in order to secure the vital purpose of compression with fixed shelving, the rule of arrangement according to subjects must be traversed partially by division into sizes. this division, however, need not, as to the bulk of the library, be more than threefold. the main part would be for octavos. this is becoming more and more the classical or normal size; so that nowadays the octavo edition is professionally called the library edition. then there should be deeper cases for quarto and folio, and shallower for books below octavo, each appropriately divided into shelves. if the economy of time by compression is great, so is the economy of cost. i think it reasonable to take the charge of provision for books in a gentleman's house, and in the ordinary manner, at a shilling a volume. this may vary either way, but it moderately represents, i think, my own experience, in london residences, of the charge of fitting up with bookcases, which, if of any considerable size, are often unsuitable for removal. the cost of the method which i have adopted later in life, and have here endeavored to explain, need not exceed one penny per volume. each bookcase when filled represents, unless in exceptional cases, nearly a solid mass. the intervals are so small that, as a rule, they admit a very small portion of dust. if they are at a tolerable distance from the fireplace, if carpeting be avoided except as to small movable carpets easily removed for beating, and if sweeping be discreetly conducted, dust may, at any rate in the country, be made to approach to a quantite negligeable. it is a great matter, in addition to other advantages, to avoid the endless trouble and the miscarriages of movable shelves; the looseness, and the tightness, the weary arms, the aching fingers, and the broken fingernails. but it will be fairly asked what is to be done, when the shelves are fixed, with volumes too large to go into them? i admit that the dilemma, when it occurs, is formidable. i admit also that no book ought to be squeezed or even coaxed into its place: they should move easily both in and out. and i repeat here that the plan i have recommended requires a pretty exact knowledge by measurement of the sizes of books and the proportions in which the several sizes will demand accommodation. the shelf-spacing must be reckoned beforehand, with a good deal of care and no little time. but i can say from experience that by moderate care and use this knowledge can be attained, and that the resulting difficulties, when measured against the aggregate of convenience, are really insignificant. it will be noticed that my remarks are on minute details, and that they savor more of serious handiwork in the placing of books than of lordly survey and direction. but what man who really loves his books delegates to any other human being, as long as there is breath in his body, the office of inducting them into their homes? and now as to results. it is something to say that in this way , volumes can be placed within a room of quite ordinary size, all visible, all within easy reach, and without destroying the character of the apartment as a room. but, on the strength of a case with which i am acquainted, i will even be a little more particular. i take as before a room of forty feet in length and twenty in breadth, thoroughly lighted by four windows on each side; as high as you please, but with only about nine feet of height taken for the bookcases: inasmuch as all heavy ladders, all adminicula requiring more than one hand to carry with care, are forsworn. and there is no gallery. in the manner i have described, there may be placed on the floor of such a room, without converting it from a room into a warehouse, bookcases capable of receiving, in round numbers, , volumes. the state of the case, however, considered as a whole, and especially with reference to libraries exceeding say , or , volumes, and gathering rapid accretions, has been found to require in extreme cases, such as those of the british museum and the bodleian (on its limited site), a change more revolutionary in its departure from, almost reversal of, the ancient methods, than what has been here described. the best description i can give of its essential aim, so far as i have seen the processes (which were tentative and initial), is this. the masses represented by filled bookcases are set one in front of another; and, in order that access may be had as it is required, they are set upon trams inserted in the floor (which must be a strong one), and wheeled off and on as occasion requires. the idea of the society of books is in a case of this kind abandoned. but even on this there is something to say. neither all men nor all books are equally sociable. for my part i find but little sociabilty in a huge wall of hansards, or (though a great improvement) in the gentleman's magazine, in the annual registers, in the edinburgh and quarterly reviews, or in the vast range of volumes which represent pamphlets innumerable. yet each of these and other like items variously present to us the admissible, or the valuable, or the indispensable. clearly these masses, and such as these, ought to be selected first for what i will not scruple to call interment. it is a burial; one, however, to which the process of cremation will never of set purpose be applied. the word i have used is dreadful, but also dreadful is the thing. to have our dear old friends stowed away in catacombs, or like the wine-bottles in bins: the simile is surely lawful until the use of that commodity shall have been prohibited by the growing movement of the time. but however we may gild the case by a cheering illustration, or by the remembrance that the provision is one called for only by our excess of wealth, it can hardly be contemplated without a shudder at a process so repulsive applied to the best beloved among inanimate objects. it may be thought that the gloomy perspective i am now opening exists for great public libraries alone. but public libraries are multiplying fast, and private libraries are aspiring to the public dimensions. it may be hoped that for a long time to come no grave difficulties will arise in regard to private libraries, meant for the ordinary use of that great majority of readers who read only for recreation or for general improvement. but when study, research, authorship, come into view, when the history of thought and of inquiry in each of its branches, or in any considerable number of them, has to be presented, the necessities of the case are terribly widened. chess is a specialty and a narrow one. but i recollect a statement in the quarterly review, years back, that there might be formed a library of twelve hundred volumes upon chess. i think my deceased friend, mr. alfred denison, collected between two and three thousand upon angling. of living englishmen perhaps lord acton is the most effective and retentive reader; and for his own purposes he has gathered a library of not less, i believe, than , volumes. undoubtedly the idea of book-cemeteries such as i have supposed is very formidable. it should be kept within the limits of the dire necessity which has evoked it from the underworld into the haunts of living men. but it will have to be faced, and faced perhaps oftener than might be supposed. and the artist needed for the constructions it requires will not be so much a librarian as a warehouseman. but if we are to have cemeteries, they ought to receive as many bodies as possible. the condemned will live ordinarily in pitch darkness, yet so that when wanted, they may be called into the light. asking myself how this can most effectively be done, i have arrived at the conclusion that nearly two-thirds, or say three-fifths, of the whole cubic contents of a properly constructed apartment[ ] may be made a nearly solid mass of books: a vast economy which, so far as it is applied, would probably quadruple or quintuple the efficiency of our repositories as to contents, and prevent the population of great britain from being extruded some centuries hence into the surrounding waters by the exorbitant dimensions of their own libraries. --the end-- footnotes: [footnote : in der alte und der neue glaube] [footnote : xxi, .] [footnote : first of all it seems to have referred to the red capital letters placed at the head of chapters or other divisions of works.] [footnote : cic. pro archia poeta, vii.] [footnote : essays critical and historical, ii. .] [footnote : the prayer book recently issued by mr. frowde at the clarendon press weighs, bound in morocco, less than an once and a quarter. i see it stated that unbound it weighs three-quarters of an ounce. pickering's cattullus, tibullus, and propertius in leather binding, weighs an ounce and a quarter. his dante weighs less than a number of the times.] [footnote : see libraries and the founders of libraries, by b. edwards, , p. . hallam, lit. europe.] [footnote : hor. ep. ii. i. ; persius, i. ; martial, iv. lxxxvii. .] [footnote : edwards.] [footnote : rouard, notice sur la bibliotheque d'aix, p. . quoted in edwards, p. .] [footnote : the director of the bibliotheque nationale in paris, which i suppose still to be the first library in the world, in doing for me most graciously the honors of that noble establishment, informed me that they full-bound annually a few scores of volumes, while they half-bound about twelve hundred. for all the rest they had to be contented with a lower provision. and france raises the largest revenue in the world.] [footnote : note in illustration. let us suppose a room feet by , and a little over feet high. divide this longitudinally for a passage feet wide. let the passage project to inches at each end beyond the line of the wall. let the passage ends be entirely given to either window or glass door. twenty-four pairs of trams run across the room. on them are placed bookcases, divided by the passage, reaching to the ceiling, each feet broad, inches deep, and separated from its neighbors by an interval of inches, and set on small wheels, pulleys, or rollers, to work along the trams. strong handles on the inner side of each bookcase to draw it out into the passage. each of these bookcases would hold octavos; and a room of feet by would receive , volumes. a room of feet by (no great size) would receive , , it would, of course, be not properly a room, but a warehouse.] book collecting a guide for amateurs by j. h. slater editor of _book prices current_; formerly editor of _book lore_; author of _the library manual_; _engravings and their value_; _the law relating to copyright and trade marks_, etc., etc. london swan sonnenschein & co. paternoster square [illustration: an old printing press. from the _quintilian of vascosan_, folio, _paris_, .] the aberdeen university press. contents. page. chapter i. chapter ii. chapter iii. chapter iv. chapter v. chapter vi. chapter vii. chapter viii. chapter ix. chapter x. chapter xi. principal second-hand booksellers in the united kingdom who publish catalogues. chapter i. an ancient manuscript--the library of the memnonium--the alexandrian library--greece and rome--monastic manuscripts--the discovery of printing--the book hunters of the past--the book hunters of to-day--bibliographical aids. the bibliophile, as he is somewhat pedantically termed, probably dates his existence from the time when books began to be multiplied in sufficient quantities to render the acquisition of duplicate copies by the public a matter of possibility, but his opportunities of amassing a large number of volumes can hardly be said to have arisen until many years after the invention of printing. the most ancient manuscript extant has been identified with the reign of amenophis, who ruled in egypt no less than years before the christian era, and this manuscript, old as it is, shows such superior execution that there can be little, if any, doubt that caligraphy in its oldest--that is, its hieroglyphic--form must be referred for its origin to a period still more remote. diodorus siculus relates that rameses ii. founded a library in one of the chambers of the memnonium at thebes, and deposited therein the sacred books of thoth, which had they been in existence now would be nearly years old. in those days, however, education was looked upon as the peculiar property of the priesthood; the library had sealed doors; even the very books themselves must have been wholly unintelligible to all but the favoured few whose duty it was to preserve them with religious care. all the early egyptian manuscripts extant have served in their day an ecclesiastical rather than a secular object, and all of them abound with mythological stories more or less recondite. to use the art of writing for any less sacred purpose would have been held disrespectful to the educated class and resented accordingly. ptolemy sotor, who reigned over egypt about the year b.c., appears to have been the first to break through the artificial barrier which the priestcraft of age upon age had succeeded in building up; and his magnificent twin library at alexandria, known as the bruchium and serapeum, which was partly stocked with the confiscated books of travellers who touched at the port, became in course of time the most famous in the world, and would most probably have been so at this day had it not been destroyed by theodosius and his army, as a sacrifice at the shrine of ignorance and superstition. with the destruction of the library at alexandria, containing, as it did, books which can never be replaced, the literary importance of the egyptians came to an end; thenceforward all that remained was the consciousness of having instructed others better able to preserve their independence than they were themselves. yet after all it is somewhat extraordinary that egypt should have been not merely the first to encourage a love of literature, but also the last; for simultaneously with the destruction of the bruchium and serapeum were ushered in the first centuries of the dark ages, when the ability to read and write was looked upon as unworthy the status of a free man, unless indeed he were a priest, and when fire and sword were brought into requisition for the purpose of annihilating everything that suggested mental culture. in the eras which intervened between the reign of rameses the constructor and that of theodosius the destroyer, pisistratus had founded his public library at athens, and collected the poems of homer which had previously been scattered in detached portions throughout greece; and plato, the prince of ancient book hunters, had given no less than attic minæ--nearly £ of our money--for three small treatises of philolaus the pythagorean. aristotle too, unless he has been sadly maligned, thought minæ a fair exchange for a little pile of books which had formerly belonged to speusippus, thereby setting an example to that french king of after ages who pawned his gold and silver plate to obtain means wherewith to purchase a coveted copy of lacertius, as gabriel naudé calls the great epicurean biographer. in rome also lucullus had furnished his house with books and thrown open his doors to all who wished to consult them. atticus the famous publisher had turned out a thousand copies of the second book of martial's _epigrams_, with its lines of verse, bound and endorsed in the space of a single hour, and the booksellers carried on a flourishing trade in their shops in the argeletum and the vicus sandalarius, exhibiting catalogues on the side posts of their doors exactly as the second-hand dealers in london and elsewhere do now. of all this vast enterprise of greece and rome not a trace remains: only the sepulchral writings of mother egypt and the clay tablets of assyria. history tells us how the luxurious rich of athens and rome regarded their books as so many pieces of furniture, and engaged learned slaves to read aloud at their banquets; and if the example of plato were followed to any extent, doubtless large sums of money were spent on rare originals which had passed through the hands of a succession of dilettanti, and acquired thereby a reputation for genuineness, which they could not have gained in any other manner. seneca indeed ridicules the vulgar emulation which prompted some of his contemporaries to collect volumes of which, he says, they knew nothing except the outsides, many of them possibly barely that. it has been ever so: in england to-day there are many who would have felt the lash of nero's tutor across their shoulders. when the public no longer took pleasure in mental culture, and the whole world was overrun with hordes of barbarians intent upon destruction, learning of every kind was banished to the monasteries, and the monks became the only book lovers, making it their business to transcribe, generation after generation, the volumes which had been saved from the general conflagration. it is entirely through their efforts that the old classics have been preserved to our day; we have to thank them, and them alone, for the preservation of the bible itself. even in the monasteries, however, the same spirit of emulation which had prompted greek to compete with greek, and roman with roman, became apparent in course of time. ordinary transcripts, though never numerous, began to be looked upon as hardly pretentious enough, and the larger houses established _scriptoria_, where trained monks sat the livelong day, painfully tracing letter after letter on the purest vellum, while bibliolatrists added illuminated borders and miniatures in a style that would task the skill of our best artists of to-day. this competition led to the exchange of manuscripts, or to their loan for a brief period, so that by degrees monastic libraries assumed large proportions, numbering many hundreds of neatly bound volumes, which, on being opened, looked as though printed, so accurately and carefully had the copying been done. this explains how fust, the inventor, or one of the inventors, of printing, was enabled to deceive the people of paris, for he flooded the market there with printed copies of the bible which he sold for crowns each, instead of for or crowns, which would have been a fair price had they been in manuscript. the book buyers of paris _thought they were in manuscript_, until the recurrence of one or two defective types cast from the same matrix caused an inquiry. fust was arrested, not for the fraud but for witchcraft, and to save his life he explained his process. thus did the old order give place to the new. in a very few years after the discovery of fust's secret the whole of the western portion of europe was dotted with printing presses. before there were in operation; and six years after gutenberg had completed his bible of lines there were no less than german cities and towns in which presses had been established. considering that this only brings us down to about the year , it is evident with what rapidity the art of printing was seized upon through the length and breadth of the country of its probable origin. in our own famous printer caxton was being instructed in the office of colard mansion at bruges, and in , if not earlier,[ ] he settled as a printer at westminster, thus laying the foundation of our english industry and establishing a native press which has continued to grow year by year until it has assumed its present enormous proportions. authorities, however, point out that improvement in the art of printing did not come by age or experience, for, curiously enough, the science--for such it really is--was almost perfect from its origin, and, so far as this country is concerned, has distinctly deteriorated since the death of caxton and his pupils wynkyn de worde, faques, and pynson. the typefounders of that early period were as expert as many at the present day and immeasurably superior to most. the greatest care appears to have been exercised in the casting, and competition did not engender the slovenly haste which is only too apparent in many of our modern publications. it is probable that, simultaneously with the introduction of printing into england, a certain limited few, most likely ecclesiastics and powerful nobles, would commence to collect works from the press of caxton, and subsequently from the foreign presses. in the earl of warwick's library consisted of printed books, in that of the rev. richard baxter of . it is not until a comparatively modern period that any single man has been able to mass together thousands of volumes during the course of a single lifetime, for it is only recently that printing has been used on every trivial occasion, and in the manufacture of books which would originally have been deemed unworthy of the application of the art. at the present day books constitute one of the necessities of life and private libraries one of its luxuries. the collector has such ample scope for the exercise of his favourite pursuit that it has long since become a question not so much of accumulating a large number of miscellaneous volumes, as of exercising a rigid discrimination and confining one's attention to works of a certain class, to the almost entire exclusion of all others. thus, some book hunters collect first, or, at any rate, early, editions of popular modern authors, such, for example, as dickens, thackeray, and lever; others collect old editions of the scriptures, a few, the expensive early printed volumes which are every year becoming absorbed into the public libraries, and consequently growing more scarce. a small number attempt to form an extensive all-round library, but they rarely, if ever, succeed, partly because life is too short for the purpose, and money too limited in quantity. occasionally a large collection comes to the auctioneer's hammer, but in nearly every instance it will be found that it represents the labours of several generations of owners, each of whom has contributed the principal publications of his day or taken advantage of any proffered bargain which he may have happened to come across during the course of his lifetime. the book lover however is not content with mere acquisition, he feels it his duty to know something of the inner life, so to speak, of each volume on his shelf--something, that is to say, beyond the outside lettering. he wishes to know the chief incidents in the history of the person who wrote it, under what circumstances it was written and why, how many editions have been published, whether the particular copy is perfect, how much it is worth from a pecuniary point of view, and occasionally the nature of the contents. the word "occasionally" may be considered by some as used in an objectionable sense, implying in fact that book lovers are not always in the habit of reading what they possess. let the collector of bibles say whether he is in the habit of reading the various editions which he has been at such pains to collect, and it will then be time enough to inquire into the practices of other collectors who, like himself, though in different departments, may not consider themselves justified in spending the amount of time necessary for careful and satisfactory study. in truth, if all books were read, it is only reasonable to suppose that all libraries would be small; and, as we know the contrary to be the fact, we must acknowledge the truth of the main proposition to a very large extent. the happiness of the book lover, as we know him when in the plenitude of his glory, consists by no means in reading, but in the contemplation of his possessions from afar; an inane treatise on theology becomes the object of his daily prayers when bound in morocco and stamped with the golden fleece of longepierre. in this short dissertation we have but little to do with the contents of any book. this knowledge can be acquired as circumstances and opportunity offer; we deal rather with extraneous details which are necessary to be known by everyone who aspires to form a collection of books for himself and would know something of the history of each. every bibliographer, and also every collector of any eminence, has within reach certain books of reference which experience has shown to be absolutely necessary. chief among these is lowndes' _bibliographer's manual_ of which two editions have been issued. the first was published in ; the second in seven parts from - , with an appendix volume in , having been re-issued from the stereotype plates without a date in . the latter may frequently be picked up at auction sales for about s., but there is this peculiarity about the work, that it really would not seem to be very material which edition is purchased. the book is imperfect and full of errors: it cannot be relied on, and the second edition, which was edited by the late mr. h. g. bohn, the eminent bookseller, is as untrustworthy as the first edition. the original plan, which has never been departed from, was to give the names of english authors in alphabetical order, placing under each the title of the works he wrote, with the date of each edition, number of volumes, in many cases the collation, and finally the sums realised at auction. nothing fluctuates so greatly as auction values, and it is not surprising, therefore, to find that not a single entry in lowndes under this head can be accepted at the present day. some of the variations between past and present prices are ludicrous in the extreme, and there is no doubt that anyone who attempted to obtain his knowledge of the value of books from lowndes' _manual_ would find himself in possession of a mass of old-time information which would be rather a hindrance to him than otherwise. the _manual_ is useful because it gives a full and tolerably complete list of english authors, and collates many of their works with considerable care; it is, moreover, the authority quoted by cataloguers, and, being a copyright publication, practically bars the way to any rival work on the same subject. for these and other reasons it is indispensable. to ascertain the value of a book is an exceedingly difficult operation; in fact, there are many who assert that it is impossible to do so. booksellers' prices, as disclosed in their catalogues, are not much to go by, for it is notorious that a west end dealer will often charge more than one who is established further east. again, some london booksellers charge more or less than provincial ones, according to circumstance and the character of their customers. until recently there were only two ways of becoming an adept in this department, the first and best by practical experience, a method which is not, of course, available to any but dealers and their assistants; and the second, by indexing retail catalogues and striking an average. a third method, that of taking the average of auction sales, was not available until recently, for it is too troublesome, for any save those whose business it is, to attend sales by auction all day long for nine months out of the twelve, in order to obtain the necessary materials. in , i conceived the idea of fully reporting all sales of any importance taking place either in london or the provinces, and in december of that year the necessary arrangements were completed, with the modification that for the present, at any rate, no notice was to be taken of any book which did not realise at least s. by auction. this publication, the success of which amply demonstrates the necessity for its existence, is named _book prices current_, and already five volumes are published, and a sixth will be ready at the beginning of next year ( ). as a book of this kind would be useless without a full index, the greatest possible care has been taken to make it as complete and as accurate as possible. from _book prices current_ a very good idea of the average value of almost any book may be obtained. careful note of the way in which the particular volume is bound must, of course, be taken, for this, as might be expected, makes a great difference in the price. the french are supposed to be much better bibliographers than our own countrymen, and if the character of the authoritative works published in either country is a criterion of national merit there cannot be much, if any, doubt that this is so. lowndes' _bibliographer's manual_ takes no notice of books published abroad, and, as they are in the majority, it becomes necessary to seek an additional guide. this is afforded by brunet's _manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres_, published at paris in vols. from - , and usually found, with the appendix on _géographie_, , and vol. _supplément_, - . in its place it is a much better book than lowndes', but it is very expensive, frequently bringing as much as £ and £ by auction. here again, however, the values are quite unreliable, and, as in the case of lowndes', there is no index of subjects whatever. from the three works mentioned very much may undoubtedly be learned about almost any book provided the author's name be known; but as it frequently happened that many authors chose, for reasons satisfactory to themselves, to conceal their names altogether, or in the much commoner instance of the name being forgotten by or unknown to the searcher, an index of subjects becomes a necessity. this is partly supplied by watt's _bibliotheca britannica_ in vols. to, , two volumes being devoted to authors and two to subjects, there being also cross references from one to the other. this inestimable work occupied the author the greater portion of his life, and is a monument of industry and research. the auction value amounts to £ within a fraction, this being one of the few books which has a fixed market price all over the kingdom. good copies in handsome bindings frequently occur, and are worth £ to £ . the _english catalogue_, initiated by the late mr. sampson low, is a periodical which makes its appearance annually, and, unlike all the other works i have mentioned, is confined entirely to current literature. the title of every work published during the year is given, with the month in which it was issued, the price, and publisher's name, the whole being arranged in one line under the name of the author. at intervals, which do not appear to be strictly defined, collective editions of these annual catalogues, arranged in one alphabet, are published, as well as of the indexes of the _titles_ which are appended to each annual issue.[ ] it is obvious that a work of this kind must be of the greatest utility, and as the _english catalogue_ is merely a continuation of the _london catalogue_ and the _british catalogue_, the former of which commenced so far back as the year , it will be seen that a comprehensive view can be taken of the whole range of english literature from that date to the present. the _catalogue_ has not, however, always been so carefully prepared as it is now, and consequently in the earlier days many publications were omitted. when this is the case lowndes and watt will be found of material assistance, the latter especially. a complete set of these catalogues, unfortunately, is very difficult to obtain, and as the earlier ones are not indispensable, it may be perhaps advisable to forego them and to commence in . the volumes to be acquired therefore would be _london catalogue_, - ; _english catalogue_, - , - , - , - ; with the accompanying subject indexes to the _london catalogue_, - ; and to the _english catalogue_, - , - , (_sic_)- . it will be noticed that the dates sometimes overlap each over, but this is an advantage rather than a drawback. among the other books frequently consulted by both dealers and amateurs are mr. swan sonnenschein's _the best books_; the _reference catalogue of current literature_, and halkett & laing's _dictionary of anonymous and pseudonymous literature of great britain_, in vols. these are mentioned together because they are essentially subject indexes and the best of their kind. sonnenschein's _the best books_, already in a second and vastly improved edition, is a comparatively recent publication, in which, under subjects arranged systematically, are placed the best current books, whether ancient or modern, on each subject, with the prices, sizes, publisher's name and dates of the first and last editions of each. there are about , works included, and they together give a very good idea of all the material in the various departments of research which the specialist is likely to have occasion to read or refer to. old books are included where they are of actual present-day value to the student. the selection is not, of course, entirely made by the author, as it is impossible for him to have read a hundredth part of the books recommended; most probably the list has been compiled from the works of specialists, the various encyclopædias, and so forth; but however this may be, it is a very useful one in the hands of a person capable of discrimination (towards which the numerous critical and bibliographical notes and the system of asterisks are a great help), especially if he live near one or other of the large libraries now springing up in different parts of the country. the _reference catalogue of current literature_, a cumbrous and unwieldy tome, the last issue of which was out of print within a couple of months of its publication, consists of a large number of publishers' catalogues arranged in alphabetical order. each work mentioned is indexed, and this has been accomplished so fully and accurately that almost any book to be bought new in the market makes its appearance here. halkett & laing's _dictionary_ is, as the title implies, a record of the anonymous and pseudonymous literature of great britain. if an author wrote under an assumed name or anonymously, his real name will be found here, together with a short account of his publications. this work can hardly be said to be indispensable, but it is, notwithstanding, exceedingly useful, and well worth the three and a half guineas which will have to be expended upon it. among other works which at one time were thought more of than they are now is quaritch's _catalogue of books_, in one thick volume, , and a supplement which is back-dated - . the chief value of this lay not only in the prices, which were, as in every other bookseller's catalogue, appended to the items, but in the extraordinary number of the entries, which cover the whole range of british and foreign literature. even now the work is useful, but there is no doubt that it is gradually decreasing in importance, owing to the high-class works of reference which have lately made their appearance. as to values, _book prices current_ gives them much more satisfactorily than any bookseller can pretend or afford to do, while most of the bibliographical notes and references are to be found in one or other of the works i have mentioned. the collector who, as yet, is not sufficiently advanced to fully realise the difficulties he will have to surmount before he can bring together a judicious assortment of books, will at any rate begin to see that the knowledge requisite to enable him to do so is of no mean order. the preliminaries will take him a long time to master, and he will find that the expense is a factor by no means to be despised. even the books mentioned are not all that he may have to procure, for if, after consideration, he should decide to devote his attention exclusively to one branch of bibliography, there are other books of reference to be purchased, and a special course of study must be entered upon and carefully followed, if he would hope to be successful. thus, should he decide to make dickens or thackeray his one author, as so many people are doing now, he will need a guide to direct his course. memory is so treacherous that he can take nothing on trust, and time so short that he cannot afford to journey two sides of the triangle when he might have taken the third. these special works for special departments are set out and enlarged upon in the following chapter, but before referring to them it may not be superfluous to remind the reader that a book of reference only possesses a relative value. it is quite possible to have a whole library within reach and yet to be ignorant of the proper method of using it. some of our best writers had no library worthy the name, but the few books they had they knew--knew, that is to say, how to extract the information they required, which book to consult, how it was arranged, and what might be expected of it. though a book collector is not necessarily a book reader, he will have to be absolute master of his works of reference, or he will find every volume on his shelf a useless incumbrance. where to possess all the absolute facts is of importance, the newest works are, generally speaking, most likely to be the best; but this is very far from being applicable to a library in all its departments. yet even in the case of works of a general nature a careful and economic selection may be made, so as to cover, in a small compass, much valuable ground. footnotes: [ ] _the dictes and sayinges of the philosophers_, caxton's first book which bears a date, was finished in november, ; and it is upon the strength of this that the caxton quarcentenary festival was held in . there can be little doubt, however, that he printed many books of which no copies remain, some of which were probably earlier than _the dictes_. [ ] in the annual volume for a new scheme has been started, the authors and titles entries appearing in _one_ alphabet in "dictionary form". chapter ii. the first english auction sale--fashion in book collecting--special books of reference relating to particular branches of bibliography. the first sale of books by auction which is recorded as having taken place in england was held in warwick lane exactly years ago, and dr. lazarus seaman, whose library was dispersed on the occasion in question, appears to have confined his attention strictly to latin bibles of the th century, the cumbrous works of the puritan divines, and the great editions of the fathers--huge folios thought so little of that, allowing for the change in the value of money, they can now for the most part be bought from the booksellers for less than they could then at auction. the reason which prompted this old collector to limit his purchases to works of a single class was in all probability much the same as that which prevails under similar circumstances at the present time, namely, a natural desire for finality, the outcome of an experience which shows plainly enough that in order to form a complete collection of anything its scope must be reduced to the smallest possible compass. as a matter of fact dr. seaman appears to have embarked on a somewhat extensive undertaking, for in the period mentioned by far the greater majority of works issued from the press were of a religious nature. still the incident is valuable from an antiquarian point of view, as it forms a good precedent for a large body of modern collectors who, like seaman, follow the prevailing fashion of the day. this fashion on being analysed will be found to vary at different periods and to be of longer or shorter duration according to a variety of circumstances which appear to be entirely without the range of argumentative discussion. in the year , for example, a book was published, entitled _entretiens sur les contes de fées_, in which one of the characters is described as saying, "for some time past you know to what an extent the editions of the elzevirs have been in demand. the fancy for them has penetrated far and wide to such an extent, indeed, that i know a man who starves himself for the sake of accumulating as many of these books as he can lay his hands on." in the chapter devoted to the elzevir press, these important publications are treated as fully as space permits, so that at present it will be sufficient to say that for nearly years many generations of collectors have made painstaking attempts to form a complete library of these little books, which, after all, excel only in the quality of the paper and the beauty of the type. for real scholarly merit the editions of gryphius or estienne are much to be preferred, but this makes no difference. the elzevirs were fashionable, much more so than they are now, and accordingly they were valued. it is, moreover, quite possible that they may again rise in popular favour, in which event those far-seeing individuals who are even now imitating the example of the collector mentioned in the _entretiens_ will reap a rich harvest in case they choose to avail themselves of it. the great guide-book on the productions of this famous press is that by alphonse willems, entitled _les elzevier, histoire et annales typographiques_, published at brussels in , with the _etudes sur la bibliographie elzevirienne_ of dr. g. berghman, a kind of supplement to it, published at stockholm in .[ ] each publication is given in the order in which it was issued, and what will be found especially useful is an appendix containing a list of the spurious elzevirs issued from the dutch presses and of the forgeries which have from time to time been foisted on the confiding amateur. with the assistance of this work, the elzevir collector cannot go very far wrong, though he will undoubtedly have much to learn from his own practical experience. he will become more or less perfect in his lesson in time, and may take comfort in the reflection that nothing so quickly ensures perfection as a limited series of bad mistakes. as examples of the elzevir press are of "right" and "wrong" editions, with and without red lines, and are, moreover, usually measured in millimetres with the assistance of a rule which the enthusiastic collector invariably carries about with him wherever he goes, it is evident that there is much to learn and a great deal to be carried in the memory before the amateur can trust himself to become his own mentor. difficult as the subject of the elzevir press is, that of the aldine press is more so. it was established much earlier--_viz._, about --and examples are more numerous and altogether more confusing. as a general rule they are also more expensive, and none but rich collectors can afford to compete for examples of the best class. still, good specimens may occasionally be got for reasonable sums; and as a guide to the subject as a whole renouard's _annales de l'imprimerie des alde_ ( st ed., vols., paris, ; nd, vols., _ib._, ; rd, vol., _ib._, ) occupies a unique position. this work is arranged on a similar plan to the _elzevier_ and is quite as indispensable to the specialist. an ordinary copy of the nd ed. will cost about s., but the more recent edition can sometimes be got for considerably less. those fortunate persons who succeed in forming a good library of early printed books usually consult dibdin's _bibliotheca spenceriana_, which professes to be nothing more than a descriptive catalogue of books of the th century in the incomparable collection of earl spencer. it is, however, full of notes by one of the best of english bibliographers. the british museum _catalogue of early printed books in english_, vols., , which is carried down to , and maitland's _early printed books in lambeth library_, , carried down to , are also frequently consulted. these works are of course supplementary to lowndes' _bibliographer's manual_ and watt's _bibliotheca britannica_, which, as previously explained, are on the shelves of every collector worthy the name, be he a specialist or not. the department of early printed books may, however, be left without further comment, as not one person out of many thousands is able for obvious reasons to devote his serious attention to it. public libraries and similar institutions, which may be said to have a continuing existence, frequently contain a good show of works of this class, and, in the opinion of many, are the only suitable repositories for them. privately printed books are those which are issued either from a private press or for the benefit of private friends. they are never published in the ordinary acceptation of that term, and cannot be bought at first hand. a good collection of these is of course difficult, though by no means impossible, to acquire; and for the benefit of those who may wish to devote themselves to this department--uninteresting as it undoubtedly is--martin's _privately printed books_ ( , nd ed., ), in vol. vo, is readily available. many of these so-called "books" consist merely of single sheets of letterpress; others, on the contrary, are more pretentious. in the former case they are more correctly termed "broadsides"; and r. lemon's _catalogue of the collection of broadsides, in the possession of the society of antiquaries_ ( vo, ), though by no means a perfect book, is certainly the best that can be procured for our purpose. early printed american books, or those which in any way relate to the american continent, provided only they were published during the th or th centuries, have lately become exceedingly scarce. in june, , nine small quarto tracts, bound in one volume, brought, £ by auction, a record entirely surpassed by the preceding lot, which, consisting of twelve similar tracts only, brought no less a sum than £ . these prices are of course highly exceptional; but so great is the desire to obtain books of this class that the amounts in question, exorbitant though they may appear to be, were perhaps not excessive. the amateur may in this instance follow the rule with every confidence. should he at any time see a work relating to america, no matter where printed so long as it is dated before the year , he should on no account pass it by without very careful consideration; and the same remark applies, though to a less extent, to all books printed in scotland before that date. in both cases it is probable that the specimen offered for sale will have a most unprepossessing exterior, and in some instances the price asked may be small. this frequently happens, since the more uneducated class of dealers commence by valuing a book from its appearance, and while a coloured plate or two would at once put them on the _qui vive_ there is generally nothing about books of this kind which _looks_ valuable. it is no disparagement to the trade as a whole to say that some booksellers, particularly those who carry on business in small provincial towns, are absolutely ignorant of anything more than the first principles of their trade, and it is out of these that bargains are made. henry stevens' _catalogue of the american books in the library of the british museum_ ( , vo) is from the pen of a late famous bookseller who made many "bargains" in his time and whose profound knowledge of the insides as well as of the outsides of his very valuable collection was in every way worthy of his success. shakespearian collectors cannot do better than consult the article "shakespeare" in lowndes' _bibliographer's manual_, where every known edition, translation, and commentary professes to be catalogued and also in many cases collated and described. some of halliwell-phillipps' works, though not absolutely indispensable, are nevertheless exceedingly useful. bible collectors do not as a rule notice editions later than what is styled the "vinegar" bible, published in . they commence with coverdale's issue of , and proceed onward in regular order, for the most part arranging their collection not according to date but under the various "versions". this subject is very extensive and exceedingly difficult to handle, so much so that, without a competent guide, it will be found impossible to make satisfactory progress. this is provided in cotton's _editions of the bible and parts thereof in english_ ( , nd ed., ), and j. r. dore's _old bibles_ ( , nd ed., ). mr. dore is probably the best living authority upon english bibles and testaments, and his book is in itself amply sufficient for the amateur. it is published by eyre & spottiswoode at s. for works on botany consult pritzel's _thesaurus literaturæ botanicæ_ (leipsic, - , nd ed., - , to); and for books exclusively relating to tobacco, some of which are very rare and valuable, w. bragge's _bibliotheca nicotiana_ (priv. prin., r. vo, ). angling and the whole of the literature devoted to it is dealt with in westwood's new _bibliotheca piscatoria_ ( ), and swimming in r. thomas' _bibliographical list of works on swimming_ ( , vo). the greek and latin classics were at one time great favourites with all classes of collectors, but of late they have fallen considerably from their high estate. many of the early editions, being printed by famous houses, as the _editio princeps_ of virgil's works was, which sold for £ at the hopetoun house dispersion, a few months ago, are still eagerly sought after, but not _quâ_ classics--merely as specimens of ancient typography. ordinary editions of horace, virgil, sallust, plato, livy, and the rest can be bought now for a fourth or fifth part of the sum they would have cost thirty or forty years ago, and, from all appearances, they are likely to decline still further in the market. the great work on this subject is dibdin's _rare and valuable editions of the greek and latin classics_ ( vols., ), which can sometimes be bought by auction for as little as £ . art books are so numerous, and so readily subdivided into an infinite number of classes, that they are rarely, if ever, collected as a whole. amateurs invariably use the _universal catalogue of books on art_, which was compiled by order of the lords of the committee of the council on education, and published between the years - (in vols. sm. to). it is a work that would be exceedingly difficult to improve upon, though as time goes on it will of course be necessary to add to it. works on shorthand are catalogued by j. w. gibson (pitman & sons, ), on magic and witchcraft in scribner's _bibliotheca diabolica_ (new york, ), while books on music and all about them are noted in c. engel's _literature of national music_ ( , vo). we now come to the point when a short description of the more modern methods of book collecting becomes a matter of necessity. for some years it has been the fashion to collect not so much works of a certain class as of particular authors, chiefly those which are embellished with plates. by common consent first editions are, with a few exceptions, alone worthy of note; and it is also an axiom that where a book was originally published in parts, those parts must on no account be bound up in volume form. if the collector should be so ill advised as to bind the parts, notwithstanding the decrees of fashion to the contrary, he may save his position no little by binding in the title-pages and also the lists of advertisements, but if he neglects to do this, then his case is hopeless. this is an example of the ridiculous rules which have been laid down by a generation of autocratic book lovers, not one of whom could in all probability give a satisfactory reason for his _dicta_. it is, however, the rule, and will have to be followed, since great pecuniary loss is certain to follow the slightest infraction of it. although the amateur does not buy his books to sell again, still i apprehend it is a satisfaction to know that, in case he should ever be compelled, though against his will, to sell them, he will be able to do so without losing by his bargain. original editions of dickens' works find a ready market, at ever-increasing prices; but in addition to his better-known books, the very titles of which have now become household words, there are others which are not so generally known, such, for example, as the _curious dance_, the _village coquettes_ and many small pieces which are scattered about the pages of the magazines, and are usually classed under the heading _dickensiana_. the same remarks, but even perhaps to a still greater extent, apply to thackeray and his works, for that great author worked for many years before his genius became recognised. the bibliographer who has smoothed the way for the dickens and thackeray collector is mr. c. p. johnson, in his _hints to collectors of original editions of the works of charles dickens_ ( ), and his _hints to collectors of original editions of the works of w. m. thackeray_ ( ). the same author's _early writings of william makepeace thackeray_ ( ) contains a list of all the pieces which can now be identified, and of the places where they are to be found, so as to put it readily in the power of the biographer, the collector, and the student to refer to them if he will. the _snob_, _gownsman_, _national omnibus_, _national standard_, _the constitutional_, and _fraser's magazine_ all contain essays, articles, or tales from his able pen, which, but for mr. johnson's patient efforts, might have been lost in course of time, when the evidence to identify them would have been wanting. bibliographies of the works of carlyle, swinburne, ruskin, and tennyson, as well as those of dickens and thackeray, have been compiled by r. h. shepherd, and of the works of hazlitt, leigh hunt, and lamb by alexander ireland. that famous artist george cruikshank illustrated a large number of books, all of which are eagerly sought after by certain bodies of collectors. as in the case of other illustrated books, the value mainly depends upon the earliness of impression of the plates, and the condition; and consequently original editions are more highly esteemed than those which followed. some capacity for judging engravings is required of the amateur who makes this branch of the subject a speciality, but in other respects he will find almost everything he is likely to require in g. w. reid's _descriptive catalogue of the works of george cruikshank_ (london, , vo). bewick collectors have an infallible guide in the rev. t. hugo's _bewick collector, a descriptive catalogue of the works of t. and j. bewick_ (published, with the supplement, in vols., - , vo). it is related of this author that he once found a battered and ragged specimen of a child's book got up on strong-laid paper by the famous engraver. only one or two copies are known to exist, as bewick found the enterprise too expensive to pay, and accordingly discontinued it. the owner of this treasure was an old woman, who had derived her infant ideas of lions and tigers from its well-thumbed leaves, and who refused to part with an old friend, though sorely and even desperately pressed to do so. how often is the enthusiastic book hunter thwarted when his hopes are on the point of being realised; how often must he succumb to what he may consider to be nothing better than prejudice or obstinacy? this is a question which every amateur learns in time to answer for himself. footnotes: [ ] to those who do not read french or do not possess _les elzevier_, mr. goldsmid's _the elzevir presses_, published as part of his _bibliotheca curiosa_, may be of some assistance. it is a species of compendium of the work of m. willems, and was issued in . it is somewhat faulty and incomplete; but not without its value to beginners in the study of the elzevir press. chapter iii. paper-making--different sizes of paper--different sizes of books--measurements water-marks--books to consult. the mould used by paper-makers is a kind of sieve of an oblong shape, bottomed with the very finest wire strands, all of which run horizontally from end to end. from top to bottom, and about an inch apart, are placed "chain wires," and on the right-hand side of the mould the wire water-mark, which, together with the wire-marks, appears semi-transparent. the reason of this is that both water-mark and wires are slightly raised, and of course the pulp is thinner there than anywhere else. any ordinary sheet of paper held up to the light will show this, and serve to extra illustrate the following diagram. [illustration: paper-maker's mould: jug water-mark.] here cdef is the mould which the workman drops into a vat of pulp, the fine strands run from g to h all the way down the mould, aa, &c., are the chain wires, and b is the water-mark, in this case a jug. the water in the pulp of course runs through the sieve, leaving a layer of soft matter, which after a while hardens into a sheet of paper. the water-mark was at one time the trade mark of the maker, but subsequently became merely a symbol denoting the size of the sheet of paper before it was folded. the smallest sheet was water-marked with a jug, as above, and termed "pot"; the next had a cap and bells, hence our term "foolscap"; the next a horn, hence "post". others had a "crown," and so on. at the present day all water-marks have once more become trade symbols, and cannot be depended upon to afford any evidence of size; but at one time--_i.e._, before the year --this was not so, and, therefore, these water-marks, irrespective of their antiquarian value, serve a useful purpose--namely, to point out in cases of doubt whether any given book is an octavo, quarto, or folio, or a variation of any of these sizes. to refer once more to the diagram. take a sheet of paper supposed to have come from the mould and double it in half at the line ax. the water-mark will in that event appear in the centre of the half sheet, and the folded paper is of folio size. now fold the paper the contrary way, and the water-mark will appear at the bottom, but cut in half; the paper thus folded is quarto ( to). now fold it the contrary way again, and a section of the water-mark will appear at the top; the paper thus folded is octavo ( vo). we can go on folding, and in every subsequent case the watermark will appear at the edges, while, as the paper gets smaller and smaller, the sizes are styled mo, mo, mo, and so forth. in the example given, a book made of the sheet of paper in question would be a pot folio, pot to, pot vo, and so on; but as larger-sized papers were used, another book might be a post vo, or a crown to, &c., according to circumstances. as stated, this is one way of finding out the size of an old book; but there is another way--by means of the "signatures," which consist of small letters or figures at the foot of the page of nearly every book. the leaves (not pages) must be counted between signature and signature, and then if there are two leaves the book is a folio, if four a to, if eight an vo, if twelve a mo, if sixteen a mo, and if thirty-two a mo. take, as an example, this very book you hold in your hand, and it will be found that there are eight leaves between signature and signature; hence it is an vo, though a small one, owing, of course, to the small size of the paper from which it has been made, _viz._, crown. had it been a little smaller (still preserving its oblong shape) it would have been a foolscap vo, if somewhat larger a demy vo, if larger still a royal vo, and largest of all imperial vo. the quartos and folios are governed by identical rules, and hence in the trade the sizes of books are very numerous. simple as this method of computation may appear, a great deal of controversy has taken place on the subject--so much so, indeed, that there are people to be found who stoutly maintain, and adduce proof to show, that what looks like a to is in reality an vo, or _vice versâ_. it would be out of place to enter into a discussion of this nature, and, therefore, i should advise the young collector to count the leaves between signature and signature, and to abide by the result, regardless of all the learned arguments of specialists. if there are no signatures, and the book is an old one, then study the position of the water-mark. as examples, it will be sufficient to note that the _illustrated london news_ is folio, _punch_ is to, and the _cornhill_ and nearly all the monthly magazines are large vos. there is a large number of varieties of each size, but on the whole books which approximate to the sizes of magazines are of the sizes named. occasionally in judging by the eye in this manner a mistake may be made; but of one thing there is no doubt, that a vast amount of argument would have to be expended upon the subject before the judgment could be proved to be wrong. paper-makers at one period made their sheets in frames of a given size, so that it was a comparatively easy matter to distinguish the size of a book at a glance. now-a-days, however, there appears to be but little uniformity in this respect, and the difficulty is consequently considerably increased. the following measurements will, however, be found approximately correct, and they may be utilised in a practical manner by taking a sheet of brown paper of the required size and folding it as previously mentioned, thus forming crown vos, crown tos, elephant folios, &c., at will. the practice is good, and it will not need to be often repeated. a sheet of foolscap measures about in. x in. " post " in. x in. " crown " in. x in. " demy " in. x in. " royal " in. x in. " imperial " in. x in. " elephant " in. x in. " atlas " in. x in. the only paper used, as a general rule, for making up into vo books is foolscap, post, crown, demy, royal, and imperial; to books are made up of all the sizes; though elephant and atlas are chiefly devoted to folios. i now take leave of this branch of the subject, and return to water-marks, which, as previously stated, were formerly used, as they are now, for trade marks, and as trade marks only. before the year , paper was very rarely used to write upon, but still there are a few examples of it having been so employed extant, the chief of which is an account-book preserved at the hague, commencing with the year . the water-mark on the paper of this book is a globe surmounted by a cross, while on paper of a little later date the rude representation of a jug frequently appears. the globe and the jug are consequently the most ancient water-marks yet discovered, and these became the principal marks on paper, then exclusively manufactured in holland and belgium. the "can and reaping hook" appeared a little later, so did the "two cans," the "open hand," and the "half _fleur-de-lis_," all executed, as might be expected, in the rudest possible manner. the holbein family at ravensburg--a town famous to this day for the manufacture of paper--used a "bull's head". fust and schoeffer (_circa_ ) used a "clapper" or rattle, which has a somewhat curious history. at ravensburg there was an hospital for lepers, and whenever any of the inmates had occasion to leave the building he was strictly enjoined to flourish a rattle with which he was provided, so that healthy folk could get out of his way. paper made at the town is often found marked with the rattle, that having grown, by reason of its frequent use, into an institution of the place. the next marks in point of date are in all probability the "unicorn," "anchor," and the "p" and "y," the initials of philip of burgundy and his wife isabella, who were married in . the famous english printer caxton (_c._ a.d. - )[ ] used the "bull's head" paper from ravensburg, the "p" and "y," the "open hand," and the "unicorn"; sometimes even the "bunch of grapes," which came from italy. the first folio of shakespeare's works ( ) has paper marked with a "fool's cap" among other devices. the "post horn," another favourite device, which has given the name to a particular size of paper--namely, "post"--was first used about the year , when the general post office was established, and it became the fashion for the postman to blow a horn. in modern times paper-marks have become so numerous that it would be next to impossible to classify them; nor would it be of much advantage to the book collector even if it could be done. with old marks it is different, for _fac-simile_ reprints of scarce and ancient volumes are frequently detected by looking at the water-mark on the paper. of course, this also may be imitated, but there is often considerable difficulty in attaining the requisite degree of perfection; and, under any circumstance, some little knowledge of the early history and appearance of water-marks will be found useful as well as interesting. the best books to consult on the subject are herring's _paper and papermaking_ and sotheby's _principia typographica_, , the latter of which is a masterpiece of learning and constructive skill. footnotes: [ ] it is very improbable that caxton was born in , as nearly all his biographers state, but about ten or twelve years later. evidence of this is contained in the records preserved at mercers' hall, cheapside, london, where his name is inscribed as having been apprenticed in the year , the age at which apprenticeship was entered upon being most commonly between twelve and fourteen years. chapter iv. the colophon--title-page--the first book with a date--collating--roman notation--latinised names of places, with their modern equivalents. it must be borne in mind that the title-page of a book, though constituting a very old method of showing at a glance the nature of the contents, together with the place of publication and frequently also the date, is by no means the earliest means of attaining that object. the title-page, such as we see it, was first adopted in england in , the year before caxton's death, having been introduced on the continent in ;[ ] but previously--and, indeed, for some years after that date--the _colophon_ was in general use. the term "colophon" has its origin in the greek proverb, "to put the colophon to the matter," that is, the "finishing stroke," and contains the place or year (or both), date of publication, printer's name, and other particulars considered necessary at the time for the identification of the volume. it frequently commences somewhat after the following form: _explicit liber qui dicitur_, &c.[ ] the colophon, moreover, is always found on the last page, and sometimes takes the form of an inverted pyramid. in the early days, when the printer was not unfrequently author or translator as well, the completion of a work upon which he had probably been engaged for many months--or, perhaps, in some instances, years--was rightly regarded as matter for much self-congratulation, as well as for thanks to the divine power, by whose permission alone he had been enabled to persevere. hence the _psalterium_ of fust and schoeffer, a folio of lines to the page, and remarkable as being the first book in which large capital letters, printed in colours, were employed, has for its colophon a very characteristic inscription, which may be translated as follows:-- "this book of psalms, decorated with antique initials and sufficiently emphasised with rubricated letters, has been thus made by the masterly invention of printing and also type-making, without the writing of a pen, and is consummated to the service of god through the industry of johann fust, citizen of mentz, and peter schoeffer, of gernsheim, in the year of our lord mcccclvii., on the eve of the assumption". this psalter is also the first known book which bears any date at all, and for that and other reasons is one of the most highly prized of volumes. from what has been said, the reader will no doubt clearly understand that it does not follow that, because an old book is minus a title-page, it is necessarily imperfect. he should turn to the last leaf for the colophon; but should that be wanting also, it is probable that the book is deficient, though even this is not a conclusive test. in cases of doubt the volume must be _collated_, that is, critically compared with some other specimen: each leaf must be examined carefully, and notes made of any differences that may appear during the course of the examination. there is a business-like way and the reverse of tabulating these notes, so much so that an adept can see at a glance whether it has been performed by a competent man. the following is the collation of a copy of the first edition of the famous genevan version of the bible printed by rowland hall in , to: "four prel. leaves. text, genesis to ii. maccabees, ll. folioed, n. t. leaves, 'a briefe table' hh h iii to lll iii., ll. followed by p. 'the order of the yeres from paul's conversion,' &c., rev. blank." at first sight this may appear somewhat technical, but when a few of these collations are compared with actual copies of the works to which they refer, there will be no difficulty in understanding all the rest. the above, for instance, would read, when set out at full length, as follows: "there are four preliminary leaves, and then follows the bible text proper, which, from genesis to the nd of maccabees, is on numbered leaves. the new testament, which follows, has leaves; then comes 'a briefe table,' extending from signature hh h iii to ll l iii, and comprising leaves, followed by one page, 'the order of the yeres from paul's conversion,' &c. the reverse side of this page is blank." the words "page" and "leaf" have distinct meanings, the latter, of course, containing two of the former, unless, indeed, one side happens to be blank, as in the above example. if both sides are blank, the description would be simply "i blank". from --the date of fust and schoeffer's psalter, already described as being the first printed book disclosing on its face the year of publication--until comparatively recent times, it was customary to use roman numerals on the colophon or title-page, as the case might be. this system of notation is so well understood, or can be so speedily mastered from almost any arithmetical treatise, that it is hardly worth while to enlarge upon it here. on some old books, however, there is a dual form of the "d" representing , which is sometimes the cause of considerable perplexity; e.g., mi[c]xl standing for the year . in this example the i[c] is equivalent to d; in fact, it would appear as if the former numeral were merely a mutilation of the latter. again, the form ci[c] is equivalent to m or . a few instances will make the distinction apparent:-- m i[c] xxiv} or m d xxiv} = ; ci[c] i[c] clxxxv} or m d clxxxv} = ; ci[c] i[c] clxi} or m d clxi} = . the only part of a title-page which gives any real difficulty to a person who has a fair knowledge of the latin language, in which most of these old books were printed, is the name of the place of publication, which, being in a latinised form, frequently bears but a slight resemblance to the modern appellation. dr. cotton, many years ago now, collected a large number of these latin forms, partly from his own reading and partly from the works of various bibliographers who had chanced occasionally to mention them in their works, and at the present day his collection stands unapproachable in point of the number of entries, as well as in general accuracy. the use of this compilation will be apparent to those who have occasion to consult it even for the first time, while to advanced collectors, who are not satisfied with mere possession, it will be found indispensable. the title-page of a book now before me runs as follows: "_kanuti episcopi vibergensis quedam breves expositõs s legum et jurium cõcordantie et allegatiões circa leges iucie_"; at the foot is "ripis, m. brand, mi[c]iiii". the question immediately arises: where is ripis, the place where the book was evidently printed by brand? the best gazetteer may be consulted in vain, for the title is obsolete now; it is, in fact, the roman name for riben, a small place in denmark. in like manner, firenze frequently stands for florence, brixia for breschia, aug. trinob. (augusta trinobantum) for london, mutina for modena, and so on. this being the case, some kind of tabulation becomes absolutely necessary, and the best that occurs to my mind is to place the latin titles of all the chief centres of printing in alphabetical order, and append to each the english equivalent. the date is that of the first book known to have been printed at the particular town against which it is set. as the list is not complete, and could not be made so without the sacrifice of a great deal of space, the reader is referred to dr. cotton's _typographical antiquities_ for any further information he may require. the omissions will be found, however, to consist, for the most part, of unimportant places, from many of which only some half-dozen books or less are known to have been issued, so that the following list will be found sufficient in the vast majority of cases:-- . abbatis villa abbeville. . abredonia aberdeen. . alba acqui (in italy). . albani villa st. albans. . albia albia (in savoy). . aldenarda oudenarde. . alostum alost (in flanders). . alta villa eltville, or elfeld (near mayence). . amsteloedamum amsterdam. . andegavum angers. aneda edinburgh. . angolismum angoulême. . antverpia antwerp. . aquila aquila (near naples). (?). argentina, or argentoratum strassburg. . asculum ascoli (in ancona). . athenæ rauracæ basle. . atrebatum arras. . augusta vindelicorum augsburg. . augusta trinobantum london. . auracum urach (in wurtemberg). . aurelia orleans. . aureliacum orleans. . avenio avignon. . bamberga bamberg. . barchine barcelona. . barcum barco (in italy). . basilea basle. . {berona, or} {beronis villa} beron minster (in switzerland). . bisuntia besançon. . bononia bologna. . bravum burgi burgos. . brixia breschia. . brugæ bruges. . brunna brunn. . bruxellæ brussels. . buda buda. . burgi burgos. . buscum ducis bois-le-duc. . cabelia chablies (in france). . cadomum caen. . cæsar augusta, or caragoça saragossa. . camberiacum chambery. . cantabrigia cambridge. . carmagnola carmagnola. . carnutum chartres. . carpentoratum carpentras. . casale major casal-maggiore. . cassela caselle (in piedmont). . chamberium chambery. . coburgum coburg. . colonia cologne. . colonia agrippina cologne. . colonia claudia cologne. . colonia munatiana basle. . colonia ubiorum cologne. . comum como. . conimbrica coimbra. . constantia constance. . cordova cordova. . coria soria (in old castile). (about). cracovia cracow (poland). . cremona cremona. . culemburgum culembourg (in holland). . cusentia cosenza. . daventria deventer (in holland). . delphi delft. . divio dijon. . dola dol (in france). . duacum douay. eblana dublin. . eboracum york. edemburgum edinburgh. (?). elvetrorum argentina strassburg. . engolismum angoulême. . erfordia erfurt. . essium jesi (in italy). . esslinga esslingen (in wurtemberg). . ettelinga etlingen. . ferrara ferrara. . firenze florence. . fivizanum fivzziano (in tuscany). . florentia florence. . forum livii forli (in italy). . francofurtum ad moenum frankfort on the maine. . francofortum ad oderam frankfort on the oder. . frisinga freysingen. . fulgineum foligno (in italy). . gaietta gaeta. . ganabum orleans. . gandavvm, or gand ghent. . geneva geneva. . genua genoa. . gerunda gerona (in spain). . gouda gouda. . gratianopolis grenoble. . hafnia copenhagen. haga comitum the hague. . hamburgum hamburg. . hamnionia hamburg. . harlemum (probably earlier date) haarlem. . helenopolis frankfort on the maine. . herbipolis wurtzburg. . hispalis, or colonia julia romana seville. . holmia stockholm. . ingolstadium ingolstadt. . lauginga laugingen (in bavaria). . leida leyden. . lemovicense castrum limoges. . leodium liège. . leucorea wittemburg. . lipsia leipsic. . lixboa lisbon. (?). londinum london. . lovanium louvain. . lubeca lubec. . luca lucca. . lugdunum lyons. . lugdunum batavorum leyden. . madritum madrid. . magdeburgum magdeburg. (?). maguntia mayence. . mancunium manchester. . mantua mantua. . marpurgum marburg. . marsipolis mersburg. . matisco maçon. . mediolanum milan. . messana messina. . monachium munich. . monasterium munster (in switzerland). . mons regalis mondovi (in piedmont). . mutina modena. . nanceium nancy. . neapolis naples. . nannetes nantes. . nerolinga nordlingen (in suabia). . nonantula nonantola (in modena). . norimberga nuremberg. . novi novi (near genoa). . noviomagium nimeguen. . neocomum neuchatel. . oppenhemium oppenheim. . oxonia oxford (the date is disputed). . panormum palermo. . papia pavia. . parisii paris. . parma parma. . patavia passau (in bavaria). . patavium padua. . perusia perugia. . pictavium poitiers. . pisa pisa. . plebisacium piobe de sacco (in italy). . praga prague. . ratiastum lemovicum limoges. . ratisbona ratisbon. . regium reggio. . reutlinga reutlingen. . rhedones rennes. . ripa or ripis ripen (in denmark). . roma rome. . rothomagum rouen. . saena siena. . salmantice salamanca. . savillianum savigliano (in piedmont). . savona savona. . schedamum schiedam. . senæ siena. . soncino soncino (italy). . southwark southwark. . spira spires (in pavaria). . sublacense monasterium. an independent monastery about two miles distant from subiaco, in the campagna di roma. . sylva ducis bois-le-duc. . tarvisium treviso (in italy). . taurinum turin. . theatrum sheldonianum (the date is disputed) oxford. . tigurum zurich. . tholosa toulouse. . toletum toledo. . trajectum ad rhenum utrecht. . trajectum ad viadrum frankfort on the oder. . trajectum inferius utrecht. . trebia trevi (in italy). . trecæ troyes. (?). tribboccorum strassburg. . tricasses troyes. . tridentum trent (in the tyrol). . tubinga tübingen. . turigum zurich. . turones tours. . tusculanum toscolano (in italy). (?). ulma ulm. . ultrajectum utrecht. . ulyssipo lisbon. . urbinum urbino. . valentia valentia. . vallis s. mariæ {marienthal (an augustine monastery {near mentz, now suppressed). . venetiæ venice. . vercellæ vercelli. . verona verona. . vesontio besançon. . vicentia vicenza. . vilna wilna (in russia). . vindobona vienna. . vitemberga wittemburg. . viterbium viterbo. vratislavia breslau. . westmonasterium westminster. . wirceburgum wurtzburg. footnotes: [ ] _vide_ pollard's _last words on the history of the title-page_ (lond., ). [ ] some recent french publishers, such as quantin and rouveyre, have imitated the practice in their editions for bibliophiles. chapter v. the reasons which make a book valuable--scarcity--suppressed works--some books which have been burned by the hangman--works privately suppressed--works of limited issue--transactions of learned societies--defects--"uncut" works--imperfect copies--"made-up" copies--fac-simile leaves--laying down--books published in parts--large-paper copies. the reasons which contribute to make up the pecuniary value of a book depend on a variety of circumstances by no means easy of explanation. it is a great mistake to suppose that because a given work is scarce, in the sense of not often being met with, it is necessarily valuable. it may certainly be so, but, on the other hand, plenty of books which are acquired with difficulty are hardly worth the paper they are printed upon, perhaps because there is no demand for them, or possibly because they are imperfect or mutilated. one of the first lessons i learned when applying myself to the study of old books was never, on any account or under any circumstances, to have anything to do with imperfect copies, and i have not so far had any occasion to regret my decision. it is perfectly true that no perfect copies are known of some works, such, for example, as the first or - english edition of fox's _book of martyrs_; but books of this class will either never be met with during a lifetime, or will form, if met with, an obvious exception to the rule. fragments of genuine caxtons, again, sometimes sell by auction for two or three pounds a single leaf, and even a very imperfect copy of any of his productions would be considered a good exchange for a large cheque; but these are exceptions and nothing more--exceptions, moreover, of such rare practical occurrence as to be hardly worth noting. in the vast majority of instances, when a book is mutilated it is ruined; even the loss of a single plate out of many will often detract fifty per cent. or more from the normal value, while if the book is "cut down" the position is worse. this lesson as a rule is only learned by experience, and many young collectors resolutely shut their eyes to the most apparent of truisms, until such time as the consequences are brought fairly home to them. it is exceedingly dangerous to purchase imperfect or mutilated books, or to traffic in them at all. this position will be enlarged upon during the progress of the present chapter. to return to the reasons which contribute to the value of a book, it may be mentioned that "suppression" is one of the chief. this is a natural reason; others are merely artificial, which may be in full force to-day but non-existent to-morrow, depending as they do upon mere caprice and the vagaries of fashion: with these i have, in this volume at any rate, nothing to do. de foe, in his _essay on projects_, observes: "i have heard a bookseller in king james's time say that if he would have a book sell, he would have it burned by the hands of the common hangman," by which he presupposed the existence of some little secret horde which should escape the general destruction, and which would consequently rise to ten times its value directly the persecution was diverted into other channels. this is so, for where an edition has been suppressed, and most of the copies destroyed, the remainder acquire an importance which the whole issue would never have enjoyed had it been left severely alone. the inquisition has been the direct cause of elevating hundreds of books to a position far above their merit, and the same may be said of henry viii., who sent catholic as well as protestant books wholesale to the flames; of mary, who condemned the latter; of edward vi., who acquiesced in the destruction of the former; and of elizabeth and the two succeeding sovereigns, who delighted in a holocaust of political pamphlets and libels. the inquisition, with that brutal bigotry which characterised most of its proceedings, almost entirely destroyed grafton's paris bible of , with the result that the printing presses, types, and workmen were brought to london, and the few copies saved were completed here, to be sold on rare occasions at the present day for as much as £ apiece. there is nothing in the bible more than in any other; it is not particularly well printed, but it has a history, just as the scotch bassandyne bible has, though in that case the persecution was directed against persons who _declined_ to have the book in their houses, ready to be shown to the tax collector whenever he chose to call. one dr. james drake, who in the year had the temerity to publish in london his _historia anglo-scotica_, which contained, as was alleged, many false and injurious reflections upon the sovereignty and independence of the scottish nation, had the pleasure of hearing that his work had been publicly burned at the mercat cross of edinburgh, a pleasure which was doubtless considerably enhanced when another venture--the _memorial_--shared the same fate in london, two years later. drake had the honour of hearing himself censured from the throne, of being imprisoned, and of having his books burned, distinctions which some people sigh for in vain at the present day. as a consequence, the _historia_ and the _memorial_ are both desirable books, and drake's name has been rescued from oblivion. william attwood's _superiority and direct dominion of the imperial crown of england over the crown and kingdom of scotland_ (london, to, ) is another book of good pedigree which would never have been worth the couple of guineas a modern bookseller will ask for it, had it not been burned by jealous scotchmen immediately on its appearance. the massacre of st. bartholomew produced a large crop of treatises, and any contemporary book on the huguenot side is worth preservation, for a general search was made throughout france, and every work showing the slightest favour to the protestants was seized and destroyed. among them was claude's _défense de la réformation_ ( ), which was burned not only abroad, but in england as well, so great an ascendency had the french ambassador acquired over our court. bishop burnet's _pastoral letter to the clergy of his diocese_ ( ) was condemned and burned for ascribing the title of william iii. to the crown, to the right of conquest. the _emilie_ and the _contrat social_ of jean jacques rousseau shared the same fate, as did also _les histoires_ of d'aubigné and augustus de thou. baxter's _holy commonwealth_ went the way of all obnoxious books, in ; the _boocke of sportes upon the lord's day_, in ; the duke of monmouth's proclamation declaring james to be an usurper, in ; claude's _les plaintes des protestans_, in . harris' _enquiry into the causes of the miscarriage of the scots colony at darien_ (glasgow, ); bastwicke's _elenchus religionis papisticæ_ ( ); blount's _king william and queen mary, conquerors_, &c. ( ); the second volume of wood's _athenæ oxoniensis_ ( ); de foe's _shortest way with the dissenters_ ( ); pocklington's _sunday no sabbath and altare christianum_ ( ); sacheverel's _two sermons_ ( ); and coward's _second thoughts concerning the human soul_ ( ), were all burned by the hangman, and copies destroyed wherever found. perhaps the most extraordinary instance of a work being destroyed for positively nothing at all is furnished by cowell's _law dictionary_, which was sent to the flames by order of king james the first himself. this dictionary, and indeed every one of the books mentioned as having been subjected to the purification of fire, are now rare historical landmarks, and consequently both extrinsically and intrinsically valuable. hence the reason of the high prices frequently demanded for them and for other works of this class. the remaining copies of editions which were suppressed by their authors, or which have escaped accidental destruction, are frequently of considerable value. in the former class, rochester's _poems_ and mrs. seymour's _account of the origin of the pickwick papers_ are prominent examples; in the latter, the third folio edition of shakespeare's plays ( ), almost the entire impression of which was destroyed in the great fire of london. dugdale's _origines juridiciales_ (london, folio, ) was also almost entirely destroyed at the same time. books coming under one or other of these classes are to be met with, and the note-book should always be at hand, so that a memorandum can be jotted down before the reference is lost. this course is adopted by the most experienced bibliographers, as well as by the amateur who wishes to become proficient in a study which is pleasant and profitable when conscientiously undertaken, but difficult and worse than useless to those who will not take the trouble to learn the rudiments of their science. works of limited issue are sometimes, but not always, nor indeed often, of especial value. it has been the practice for some years among publishers to issue works on what is nothing more nor less than the old subscription plan; but, unlike the hungry poets of old, who trudged the streets taking the price of copies in advance, the publishers keep faith with their subscribers. the edition is limited to a given number of copies, after which the type is distributed, and the plates--if the work is illustrated--broken up. many speculators in books have endeavoured from time to time to "corner" editions so limited in quantity, buying at the published price, and subsequently selling again at an increased amount. in this way considerable sums have been _lost_, for works published on this plan have a decided tendency to fall in the market, and when this is the case they seldom if ever recover their former position. hogarth's works, published in , by baldwin and cradock, is a very good example of this tendency. the work was originally issued at £ , and the impressions, taken from hogarth's original plates, restored, however, by heath, are consequently of full size. there is a secret pocket at the end containing three suppressed and highly indecent plates, which considerably add to the value. i myself have many a time seen this large and sumptuous book knocked down in the auction room at sums varying from £ to £ , and once bought a good copy by private contract for £ s. ottley's _italian school of design_ is another example. this work when on large paper, with proof impressions of the tinted fac-similes of original drawings by cimabue, giotto, guercino, and other famous painters, is worth about £ by auction. the published price in was no less than £ s. the issue of each of these works was limited, but neither have succeeded in retaining its position in popular favour, and in all probability will decline still further in the market as time goes on. the lesson to be learned here is that such phrases as "only copies printed," or "issue strictly limited to copies," frequently to be observed in publishers' and auctioneers' catalogues, should be taken _cum grano salis_. the description may be accurate, but it does not follow that the limitation necessarily increases the value of the book. on the contrary, it may be well imagined that the publisher hesitated to launch the book entirely on its own merits, seeking rather the extraneous inducement of a "limited number". the earlier editions of ruskin's works are an exception to the rule, for that author's reputation is deservedly great, and he is, moreover, master of his own books, which from choice he has, until the last year or two, preferred to render difficult of access. volumes of transactions and proceedings of learned societies usually have a market value, which fluctuates much less than is usually the case. these being supplied to members only, and rarely published for purposes of sale, may be said to be both privately printed and limited in issue at the same time. as a rule they increase proportionately in value as the series becomes more complete, and a point once reached, they generally maintain it. hence works of this character are safe investments--perhaps the safest of any. the result of every investigation into the causes which regulate the value of books has shown conclusively that no publication is of great worth merely _because_ it is scarce. the scarcity is a secondary and not a primary cause. highly appreciated english publications of the sixteenth and two following centuries may be counted by thousands; but the number of inferior treatises, which have long ago sunk into eternal oblivion, which never were of any value, and never will be, are as the sand on the sea-shore. however scarce and valuable a book may be, it must be remembered that the element of perfection has yet to be taken into account. it does not by any means follow that, because a copy of one of shakespeare's tos is worth £ , another copy of the same to edition will be of equal value. it may be worth more or less, and here it is that the critical eye of the _connoisseur_ and dealer tells. defects, such as a tear in the cover or any of the leaves, stains, worm-holes, and the like, detract from the value; if these are entirely absent, the value may, on the contrary, be raised above the average. the fact of a rare book being "uncut," and in the original sound binding, clean, and free from blemishes, considerably add to its value. the first part of a book to get worn out is the binding, for some one or more of its previous owners are almost certain to have ill-treated it either by bending the covers until they crack, or by leaving the work exposed to the rain and damp. when the volume is coverless, and usually not before, it will have been re-bound, and the binder will, in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, have trimmed the edges, that is to say, planed them smooth with a machine he has for the purpose. sometimes he will have cut as much as half-an-inch from the top, and nearly as much from the other edges; on other occasions, he may have been more merciful; but the result is the same, the book is damaged beyond hope of redemption, and the only question is as to the extent of the injury. the term "uncut," so often seen in catalogues, is, therefore, a technical term, meaning that the edges are left in the same condition as they were when the book was originally issued. it does not mean that the leaves are "not cut open," as so many people appear to think, but simply that the binder, with a fine sense of what is due to a volume of importance, has for once kept his shears in his pocket. the value of a book which has been cut is reduced to an extent proportionate to the quantum of injury inflicted: from to per cent. is the usual reduction, but many works are altogether destroyed. if a scarce book is sent to be re-bound, the binder should have the clearest instructions, in writing, that he is not to trim the edges. should he do so, notwithstanding the direction, a by no means impossible contingency, he will do it at his own risk, and can be made to suffer the consequences. imperfect volumes are always a source of great inconvenience to the collector. first-class bookselling firms will not allow an imperfect book to leave their hands without notice to the purchaser, and, as a consequence, they charge a higher price than would be the case if the latter exercised his own judgment. there are mutual advantages to be gained in dealing with first-class people, for, if a mistake is made on one side or the other, there is usually no difficulty in rectifying it afterwards. fine old crusted book-worms of the john hill burton type prefer, however, to exercise their own discretion in these matters, looking upon that as no inconsiderable part of the pleasure to be derived from the pursuit of their favourite occupation. they do not care to pay for being taught, at least not directly, and make it part of their business to find out for themselves whether a copy offered for sale is perfect or the reverse. as each page is usually numbered, there is no difficulty in ascertaining whether any are missing; not so with the plates, for, unless there is an index to these, the loss of one or two may hardly be noticed until the book comes to be collated with another copy known to be complete. this is a risk which the book buyer has to run, though, as a matter of practice, he protects himself when the purchase is an expensive one, and the dealer a man of credit. in buying books at a cheap rate, or, in other words, when making a bargain either at a shop or an ordinary street-stall, the purchaser will have to observe the maxim, "caveat emptor," and it will probably not be until he arrives home with his treasure under his arm that he will have the satisfaction of ascertaining that his bargain is a real one, or the mortification of adding another imperfect book to the long row already on his shelf. imperfect books are frequently what is called "made up," that is, completed from other copies, themselves imperfect in other respects. one complete book is worth more than two incomplete ones, and many desirable specimens, in the public libraries and elsewhere, are made up so well that it is frequently impossible to detect the hand of the renovator. so long as all the leaves of a made-up book are of the same measurement, there would not seem to be much objection to this practice, but there certainly is when the paper of the interpolated leaves is different from the rest, or smaller in size, which it will be if cut down by the binder. great care must be taken to see that neither of these defects is present, especially when, from the value of a book offered for sale, it may have been worth anyone's while to perfect it. another point to be observed in the purchase of very expensive and valuable works is, that none of the leaves have been fac-similed. these fac-similes are done by hand, and frequently so well that they cannot be detected without the aid of a strong glass. the late henry stevens tells a good story of a customer of his--mr. lenox, of new york, the founder of the lenox library, and a most indefatigable collector up to the last hour of his life. "mr. lenox was," says stevens, "principled against raffles, wagers, lotteries, and games of chance generally, but i once led him into a sort of bet in this way, by which i won from him £ . i had acquired a fair copy of that gem of rare books, the quarto edition of _hariot's briefe and true report of the new found land of virginea_ (london, feb., ), wanting four leaves in the body of the book. these i had very skilfully traced by harris, transferred to stone, printed off on old paper of a perfect match, the book and these leaves sized and coloured alike, and bound in morocco by bedford. the volume was then sent to mr. lenox to be examined by him _de visu_, the price to be £ ; but, if he could detect the four fac-simile leaves, and would point them out to me without error, the price was to be reduced to £ . by the first post, after the book was received, he remitted me the guineas, with a list of the fac-similes, but on my informing him that two of _his_ fac-similes were originals, he immediately remitted the four pounds, and acknowledged his defeat." this harris, whose name is prominently mentioned, was probably the greatest adept at this species of imitation who ever lived, and many important but defective works, now in the british museum, left his hands, to all appearance, in first-rate order and condition. "laying down" is a technical term used to express the process of re-backing a torn plate or engraving. many of the shakespeare folios have the portrait and verses by ben jonson laid down or "re-laid," as the catalogues generally describe it. this, of course, can be detected at a glance, and it may be stated positively that a laid-down plate, frontispiece, or title is looked upon as a serious blemish, inferior only to the entire absence of one or more of the three. worm-holes, stains, fox-marks, and other flaws also detract from value; but as many of these may be removed by a judicious application of proper remedies, a special chapter will be reserved for their consideration. the market value of a book is thus composed of many elements, the chief of which is "condition"--above all things, a broad margin, and next, to that, leaves of spotless white. i have already stated that where editions of the works of famous modern authors containing plates were originally issued in parts, such parts should, on no account, be bound up in volume form. the result of such a course cannot be better illustrated than by taking the well-known _pickwick papers_ as our example, and studying the following prices, all realised at auction quite recently:-- _posthumous papers of the pickwick club_, original ed., with illustrations by seymour & browne, and the buss plates, _complete in numbers_, , vo, £ s.; £ s.; £ s.; £ s.; £ s. _posthumous papers of the pickwick club_, original ed. (_bound_), with illustrations by seymour & browne, and the buss plates, , vo, £ (half calf), £ s. (half calf), £ (calf extra), £ s. (half morocco extra), £ s. (half calf extra), £ s. (half morocco extra), £ s. (calf, gilt, an unusually clean copy, recently sold at the mackenzie sale). the evidence furnished by these quotations is conclusive, and illustrates the principle better than anything else can do, that, in the present state of the english book market, it is the height of folly to bind up original parts of this nature. if, however, it must be done, the depreciation in value may be reduced to a minimum by binding in the best style, and taking care that not only all the covers, but even the pages of advertisements, are bound up also. on no account must the edges be cut, or in any way tampered with, or the value will sink from pounds to shillings on the instant. i shall conclude this chapter by calling attention to the expression "large paper," so often noticed. it has been the practice for many years, on publishing certain classes of books, to print off a limited number of copies on "large paper," or paper of a larger size than that used for the ordinary copies. thus, the second edition of bewick's _birds_, in vols., , is found in no less than three sizes, ordinary copies in demy vo, large paper copies in royal vo, and largest paper in imperial vo. the text is in each instance precisely the same, but the books themselves are larger in size as we ascend the scale. the well-known _badminton library_ of sports and pastimes is printed in two sizes, and as large paper copies are invariably limited in number, their value is always greater than that of their more humble brethren. whether they maintain their original published value is another question which can only be solved by reference to particular cases as and when they arise. chapter vi. the renovation of books--damp--grease marks--surface stains--book worms and other pests. the great enemy of books is unquestionably damp, which corrodes the paper, covering it with reddish brown spots, or, in extreme cases, patches. these unsightly marks, if once they have taken a firm hold, cannot be removed, and the most that can be hoped for is some preventive against an aggravation of the evil. damp, unlike mere surface stains, attacks the tissue of the paper, rotting it completely through, and not infrequently destroying it altogether. it is like a vital disease which insinuates itself into the very seat of life, and, with more or less despatch, consumes its victim. unslaked lime, as is well known, has a strong affinity for moisture of every kind, and when there is plenty of this substance about, damp is irresistibly attracted to it. small saucers full of lime should therefore be placed in close proximity to valuable books, on the shelves if necessary, but never in immediate contact with the books themselves, or the remedy will be as bad as the disease to be guarded against. the action of lime upon moisture has been very well known for centuries, yet no one seems to have thought of applying it to this useful purpose, and books have been doomed to slow but sure destruction for the want of a precaution as simple as it is obvious. only the other day a correspondent, writing to an american bibliographical journal, pointed out what he called a new remedy against damp, which turned out to be based upon nothing else than the well-known relationship which exists between lime and water. if damp has only just commenced its attack, the part affected should first be touched with a wash of spirits of wine, and when dry with a very weak solution of oxalic acid. if the "fox spots," as they are called, do not then disappear, the injury is permanent and no remedy exists, as far as we at present know. a really valuable book which stands in need of a thorough cleaning should be placed in the hands of some competent person, as considerable experience is necessary before even a reasonable degree of success can be assured. if the marks to be obliterated are numerous, the book had better be taken to pieces by removing the cover and separating the leaves, first cutting the binder's threads and taking especial care not to _tear_ anything. each leaf must then be examined, both on the flat and when held up to the light, for it is essential that the particular description of dirt should be identified as closely as possible. if grease is apparent, it should first of all be removed, as its presence will interfere with some of the subsequent processes. with this object, the leaf must be laid perfectly flat on a sheet of glass and the grease marks damped out with a pad of cotton wool moistened with benzine. rubbing is never resorted to; the spots must be merely patted over and over again until they disappear, which they will do after a time. sometimes the text itself will vanish as well, but whether it will do so or not depends upon the character of the paper and the quality of the printer's ink. if there is any danger, benzine should not be used, as the whole sheet may be cleared of grease marks almost equally well by covering it with a layer of chalk, placing a piece of blotting paper on the top of it, and pressing with a hot iron. each leaf will, if necessary, have to be treated in the same way, and it may occasionally be found necessary to work on both sides of the paper. when this process is complete, the next step is to give each leaf a good general cleaning, and this may be done effectually by placing it in a leaden trough and pouring upon it a shallow surface of water. two or three days of exposure to the rays of the sun will bleach the paper perfectly white, and all kinds of stains except fixed dyes will come out. the leaf is then dried (not in the sun or it will turn yellow), and is ready for the next process. it may happen that the sun is not available for this, or, indeed, any other purpose, and when such is the case, the surface dirt may be bleached off with a solution of chloride of lime in the proportion of one part to forty of water. the paper must be soaked in cold water before this mixture is poured on it, and both sides must be operated upon. this solution being essentially weak--if it were otherwise it would eat into the material--it is possible that it may be found unequal to the task of removing some of the more obstinate stains, which must therefore be touched with nitro-hydrochloric acid. finally, the leaf must be well washed in a stream of running water, and allowed to dry naturally. another method of removing surface stains sometimes used by restorers is to cover the paper with a thin layer of fine powdered salt. lemon juice is then squeezed on the surface in sufficient quantities to dissolve the mineral, and the subject finally washed in boiling water. the chief objection to this process is the use of hot water, which, as may well be imagined, is apt to pulp the paper, or in some cases even to efface the printed text. stains which cannot be removed by these processes are of several kinds. lead pencil marks, for instance, will become fixed if the paper is damped, and they should therefore be helped out first of all with fine bread crumbs. indian ink stains give way before a camel's hair brush and a cup of hot water, and all kinds of grease marks yield to benzine, turpentine, or ammonia. lead stains can be got rid of by an application of peroxide of hydrogen, or even hydrochloric acid; but the greatest care will have to be exercised in handling the latter, or it will corrode the paper in a very short time, causing it to crack and break to pieces. if mixed with its own weight of water, and to three parts of this compound one part of red oxide of lead is added, its power for evil will be very materially diminished; but even under these circumstances it is dangerous to use. each of these remedies has to be very carefully undertaken, as the fatty matters in the printer's ink are exceedingly liable to resolve, in which case the book will be spoiled. with care and attention i doubt not that almost any book can be very materially improved, if not made quite as good as new, by a combination of the processes described; and the best plan is to practise on some dirty and worthless specimen until the requisite degree of proficiency is attained. a "literary note" in the magazine entitled _book lore_ for july, , observes as follows: "the renovation of books is, of course, a work of art in itself, and so clever are experts in the manipulation thereof, that many a dirty and decrepit volume has left their hands looking quite fresh and new. one of the most difficult processes has hitherto been to take dirt off the leaves without injuring the print. with this object bread crumbs were at one time used; but modern science has discovered three ways of effecting the same object in a much more satisfactory manner. oxalic acid, citric acid, and tartaric acid, when in solution, will eliminate every trace of dirt without in any way acting on the printer's ink. writing ink is not, however, proof against the attack of any one of the three, and this, too, being considered for the most part as 'dirt,' comes out with the rest. if the leaf is afterwards bleached with chloride of lime, the regenerating process is complete. the remedy for oil stains, it may be observed, is sulphuric ether. if the stains are extensive, it is best to roll up each leaf and insert it into a wide-mouthed bottle half full of ether, shaking it gently up and down for a minute or so. on its removal the oil marks will be found to have disappeared, and, as ether rapidly evaporates, a little cold water is all that is afterwards required. mineral naphtha and benzoline each possess the property of dissolving oils fixed and volatile, tallow, lard, wax, and other substances of this class." worm-holes, another source of disquietude to the collector, are caused by grubs, which are popularly supposed to be the larvæ of beetles. they bore a circular hole through all the leaves, utterly destroying the appearance of any volume upon which they have fixed their attention. the book worm has a pedigree in comparison with which the family tree of a howard or a talbot is a wretched weed. lucian, in days remote, chides the voracious worm, and other ancient authors have called attention to its ravages. another pest, called the "acarus," feeds on the paste and glue in the binding; in fact, these two parasites between them will very quickly digest the contents of an ordinary-sized book unless steps are taken for their destruction. the late sir thomas phillipps, in a communication to the british association in , observes: "my library being much infested with insects, i have for some time turned my attention to the modes of destroying them, in the course of which i observed that the larva of certain kinds of beetles does not seek the paper for food, nor the leather, but the paste. to prevent their attacks, therefore, in future bound books the paste used should be mixed up with a solution of corrosive sublimate, or, indeed, with any other poisonous ingredient. but to catch the perfect insects themselves, i adopt the following plan: _anobium striatum_ commonly deposits its ova in beech wood, and is more partial, apparently, to that than any other wood. i have beech planks cut, and smear them over, in summer, with pure fresh paste (_i.e._, not containing anything poisonous). i then place them in different parts of the library where they are not likely to be disturbed; the beetles flying about the room in summer time readily discover these pieces of wood, and soon deposit their eggs in them. in winter (chiefly) the larva is produced, and about january, february, and march i discover what pieces of wood contain any larvæ by the sawdust lying under the planks, or where it is thrown up in hillocks on the top of them. all the wood which is attacked is then burnt for firewood: by this simple method i have nearly extirpated _anobia_ from my library." to surprise and capture a book worm was at one time looked upon as an impossible task; but lately a few successes have been chronicled, but only a few. in order to ward off their insidious attacks, many devices more or less satisfactory have been proposed, but none appear to be absolutely preventative. dr. hermann, a noted bibliophile of strassburg, after careful experiments, has come to the conclusion that a combination of safeguards such as he suggests will have the desired effect of putting to flight not only the worm itself but all other enemies of the library, always excepting biblioklepts and borrowers, against whom there is no defence. the combination suggested by dr. hermann certainly seems sufficiently powerful to resist almost any attack, in the same degree that a huge man-of-war may be considered invulnerable when exposed to the assaults of some cockle-shell of a boat. the only objection is the immense amount of trouble and labour involved in preparation, as will readily be perceived after a perusal of the preventives, ten in number. . abolish the use of any wood in the binding processes. . recommend the bookbinder to use glue mixed with alum in place of paste. . brush all worm-eaten wood in the repositories of books with oil or lac varnish. . preserve books bound in calf by brushing over with thin lac varnish. . no book to lie flat. . papers, letters, documents, &c., may be preserved in drawers without any danger provided the wafers are cut out and that no paste, &c., is between them. . the bookbinder is not to use any woollen cloth, and to wax the thread. . air and dust the books often. . use laths separated one from the other one inch in place of shelves. . brush over the insides of bookcases and the laths with lac varnish. dr. hermann cannot at any rate be charged with any such sentimental regard for "vermin" as that which influenced mr. day, a well-known book hunter of the earlier part of the present century. one day, upon removing some books at the chambers of sir william jones, a large spider dropped upon the floor, upon which sir william, with some warmth, said, "kill that spider, day! kill that spider!" "no," said mr. day, with that coolness for which he was so conspicuous, "i will not kill that spider, jones; i do not know that i have a right to do so. suppose, when you are going in your carriage to westminster hall, a superior being, who perhaps may have as much power over you as you have over this insect, should say to his companion, 'kill that lawyer! kill that lawyer!' how should you like that? i am sure to most people a lawyer is a more noxious insect than a spider." the simplest protection yet discovered against book worms is a liberal use of common snuff, which should be sprinkled all over the shelves, the process being repeated every three or four months. this is almost infallible, and probably quite as effectual as dr. hermann's ten preventives rolled into one. there is no magic in the art of preserving books--the great art is to be able to get them, and to know what to buy and how much to give for them. this acquired, the rest will come easily enough. the contents of a whole treatise on the custody and preservation of books might be very accurately and succinctly summed up in a few lines. keep out damp, let the shelves be lined if possible with good leather, and last, but by no means least, look at the insides of your books as well as at the outsides. collectors of books are continually being asked to lend volumes which happen to take the passing fancy of a friend or even chance acquaintance, and it is frequently a matter of some delicacy to refuse. not one person in a hundred knows how to treat a book properly, and the borrower is therefore usually regarded as but one degree removed from an enemy. curiously enough, the famous bibliophile, grolier, stamped his books with a motto of invitation, "_jo grolierii et amicorum_". so did charles de savigny, who went to even greater lengths still with his legend, "_non mihi sed aliis_". the private history of neither of these enthusiasts states how they fared, or how many choice tomes were returned dog-eared and stained, even if they were returned at all. for my part i possess no books that i should fear to lend, as my whole library consists of "working copies," useful, probably, but not valuable. the amateur who is the proud owner of a single book out of the common should hide it from the borrower even as from a book worm. he may well lay the couplet which graced the library doors of pixérécourt to his heart:-- "_tel est le triste sort de tout livre prêté souvent il est perdu, toujours il est gâté_". chapter vii. the aldine press. the revival of classical literature in europe is generally assigned to the middle of the fifteenth century, and is, perhaps, coeval with the invention of printing, when for the first time it became possible to multiply books not only rapidly but without the multitude of mistakes which invariably occurred in ordinary manuscripts. we have seen that in the palmy days of rome some of the large publishing houses were quite capable of turning out extensive editions at a few hours' notice. no modern type-setter could possibly keep pace with one of the trained slaves of atticus, and when some hundreds of the latter were assembled in a room transcribing the ms. of some favourite author through the medium of a professional reader, many copies would be completed in an incredibly short space of time. if, however, the reader made a mistake, it would be faithfully and universally reproduced, while in addition each transcriber might fairly be credited with a number of errors of his own. to this extent the printing press was a great improvement. if it did its work more slowly, less workmen were required; and though each movement of the machine would perpetuate the same errors, these might be reduced to a minimum by the very simple expedient of carefully reading and correcting the "proofs". the year ushered in, as is supposed, the great art which was destined to revolutionise the world; and although the pen was employed for many years after that, it gradually gave place to its more convenient if less nimble rival, taking at last a position more congenial to it. "the pen for the brain, the press for reproduction," became henceforth a motto which had for its basis a new division of labour as convenient as it was efficacious. in the same year,[ ] at sermonetta, a little italian town, aldus manutius, the great printer and editor, first saw the light. the earlier portion of his life was devoted entirely to scholastic duties and in preparing himself, by hard and assiduous study of the greek and latin classics, for the more important work of revising and printing the text. it was not until that the preliminaries were complete, and he found himself, with a little money and an immense stock of knowledge, a comparative stranger at venice, where already printers and publishers had been engaged for some time in glutting the market with almost worthless books. the old greek manuscripts especially were a source of inconceivable trouble and continual annoyance. they were written for the most part in bastard characters, and crowded with mistakes and omissions, the result of some hundreds of years of repeated transcriptions. they were, moreover, almost as difficult to procure as they were corrupt in text. nor was this the only difficulty that faced the intrepid pioneer editor. greek was a language but rarely used, having given place to latin in all but the most cultivated circles; the demand for books in that character was accordingly limited, while even at that early period competition was ruinous. to say nothing of the army of printers at venice, there was a large number at rome who more than supplied the italian and foreign markets, turning out books in such profusion that the important and oldest printing house, that of sweinheym & pannartz, was compelled to petition the pope to save themselves from bankruptcy. in their petition they state that they had printed no less than , separate volumes, a statement most likely exaggerated, but none the less cogent evidence of the fierce struggle which was being carried on when aldus determined to swell the ranks of the already crowded profession. he was disgusted with the slipshod efforts of the ignorant proprietors of these numerous printing shops, who were so eager to forestall one another that they could not pay any attention to the quality of their work, even assuming they had the aptitude for doing so. he took his stand upon his accomplishments alone, apparently not doubting for an instant that conscientious work, coupled with a superior education, would in the long run repay him for the years of anxious toil which he well knew would be his lot. the greek types of rome, milan, and florence, hitherto in use, and all cut to a single pattern, were abominable, and aldus commenced by casting types of his own. a fount of roman and italian letters consisted of only capital and an equal number of small letters--the j and u were the same as i and v--but a complete collection of greek types with all the varied accents and double characters, with which the language abounds, amounted to no less than . many of these he was compelled at the outstart to forego, and he set to work upon his first book, the _grammatica græca_ of lascaris, with barely a tithe of that number. it was well that aldus should commence with this work, for it was the first which had been printed in greek, some eighteen years previously by paravisinus, of milan, whose small and crabbed type presents a remarkable contrast to that of manutius. closely following upon this venture comes the _editio princeps_ of aristotle, which, in its vols. folio, is unquestionably the most splendid and lasting monument of the aldine press. it was issued, one volume at a time, between the years - , and was sold by the editor and publisher for a sum equivalent to about £ of our money. next comes the _editio princeps_ of aristophanes, also in folio, and dated , which, like all the other productions of this press at that early date, was printed from large open types with broad margins. the expense of production and consequent cost of these sumptuous volumes were great, too great in fact to command a speedy sale, and aldus at last began to realise that it was infinitely preferable to print and sell a large number of works at a cheap price than a smaller number at a high one. accordingly he had a more minute fount of type cast, and in april, , published his famous _virgil_, a small book of unpaged leaves, measuring not quite inches by . the text, so it is said, was modelled after the neat handwriting of petrarch, and became known throughout italy as the aldino type, though in france it was called _italic_, the name it goes by to this day throughout europe. this book was sold for about s. of our money, and was the first serious attempt ever made to produce cheap printed classics. no sooner was the success of this venture assured than an unknown printer of lyons took advantage of the opportunity to issue a wretched reprint, alike in every detail except the quality of the workmanship. aldus' painstaking textual corrections were slavishly copied: even his title-page was stolen, and the whole immoral production foisted on the public as a genuine example from venice, and at a little more than half the cost. horace and juvenal, martial and ovid, shared the same fate as fast as they issued from the legitimate press; the lyonnese printer was as persevering as he had proved himself unscrupulous, and kept good time with the movements of aldus. but the fame of the latter was proof against servile imitations, his types alone being so extravagantly praised by his admirers that there were some who seriously contended that their beauty was owing to the silver of which they were made. there is, indeed, no mistaking them, and the collector has only to place an original side by side with one of the reprints from lyons, to fix the superiority distinctly and irrevocably in his mind. aldus during his life printed altogether editions known to bibliographers, of which are in quarto or folio, and many in two or more volumes. some of these consist of choice copies printed on white linen paper, notably the _opera_ of ovid and plutarch, and many more passed through several editions during his lifetime and after his death, which, to the great loss of the world of letters, took place on the th february, , when he was years of age. the distinguishing mark of the aldine press is the well-known dolphin and anchor which first makes its appearance on the edition of the _terze rime_ of dante of , and with few exceptions on all the books afterwards issued from the press. the story is that aldus was engaged in printing columna's _hypnerotomachia poliphili_, which appeared in (a good copy sold in february last for £ ), and which contained numerous illustrations, most probably by andrea mantegna. one of these represents a dolphin twining about an anchor, a mark so pleasing to aldus that he subsequently adopted it, using it over his office door as well as on the title-pages of all his books. [illustration: _the first aldine anchor, - ._] [illustration: _mark of a. torresano, and that of his sons._] at the death of aldus manutius his son paolo, or paulus, being only three years of age, went to reside with his maternal uncle andrea torresano, himself a famous printer of asola, who subsequently, with his sons, carried on the aldine press at venice for the benefit of the parties interested. from that date until most, if not all, of the books printed at the press bear the imprint: "in ædibus aldi et andreæ asulani soceri," and though, as usual, bearing the anchor, a fresh block had been cut which slightly alters its appearance. [illustration: _the second aldine anchor, - . last appearing in this form on the "homer" of , the first anchor being again used from to ._] from the year to , when torresano died, an exact copy of the _first_ anchor was again employed and continued to be so used until , when paulus manutius, the son of aldus, took exclusive possession of his father's business. it will be noted that during the three years following the death of torresano ( - - ) no books were issued from the press; and when it recommenced operations in , it was for the benefit of paulus manutius and the representatives of torresano "in ædibus hæredum aldi manutii et andreæ asulani soceri". in , as before stated, paulus manutius took entire control of the business, and a third variation of the anchor was introduced, the inscription on the title-pages being "apud aldi filios". [illustration: _the third aldine anchor, - , called the ancora grassa._] [illustration: _the fourth aldine anchor, - ._] from to yet another variation of the anchor was adopted, sometimes without the surrounding device. in a slight modification of the _third_ anchor, surrounded sometimes with scroll work, came into fashion again, and so continued until the death of paulus manutius on the th of april, . [illustration: _modification of the third anchor, - ._] with the death of paulus, the glory of the aldine press departed. he, like his father, had patiently striven to infuse neatness and accuracy into his work, and is said to have been in every respect his equal. aldus, the son of paulus, who is known among bibliographers as "the younger," had not perhaps the same opportunities as were afforded to his predecessors. the art of printing had advanced universally, and there was not so much room for improvement as there had been formerly. he printed in a good, but by no means exceptional, style, from until the time of his death in , when the aldine press ceased to exist. during a period of years some books had been issued, many of which are among the prizes of book collecting.[ ] aldus junior, like his father and grandfather, used the anchor, but between the years - it is so hidden in the foliage of a magnificent coat-of-arms which had been granted to the family by the emperor maximilian, that it is likely to be overlooked by any who have not made the aldine press their special study. [illustration: _the aldine anchor, enclosed in a coat-of-arms, as used by aldus junior, - . on some occasions, and always after the latter date, he used the anchor alone, sometimes without the word aldvs._] the collector will need to be cautioned against accepting every work bearing the anchor as a genuine example from the aldine press. some are mere forgeries, but so badly executed as to deceive nobody who has seen half-a-dozen of any of the originals. some printers assumed the mark by licence, as did torresano, who used anchor no. , with the words "ex aldina bibliotheca," and occasionally anchor no. , but, these exceptions apart, it may usually be taken for granted that a book if well printed and bearing the mark in question is authentic. if any doubt exists it is easy to turn to the pages of renouard, where every genuine example is catalogued and described. some fifty years ago, aldine collectors were more numerous than they are now, and as a consequence prices were higher. this particular branch of bibliography demands the sacrifice of much time, and cannot be even approached without a fair knowledge of latin, greek, and french. as a consequence, the new school of collectors, whose knowledge of those languages is not always as well grounded as it might be, have long since severed their allegiance from old traditions and now confine their attention to sober english, where, it must be admitted, there is plenty of scope for good work. even yet, however, the earlier productions of the aldine press maintain their former position: perhaps they have even surpassed it, for as specimens of ancient typography they stand unrivalled. reference is made chiefly to works dated before , and to such exceptional specimens as the _virgil_ of , some of which are still worth more than their weight in gold. the majority of works from this famous press have, however, fallen enormously in value of late years, as witness the fine copy of augurellus, , vo, beautifully bound in blue morocco, which quite recently was sold by auction for less than a sovereign: some few years ago it would have brought three times the amount, and been considered cheap even then. by way of illustration, i cannot do better than give a few examples of modern prices, comparing them with the approximate amounts which would have been obtained some twenty-five or thirty years ago. _homeri opera_, vols. vo, red morocco extra, gilt edges, _venetiis_, aldus, , £ s. would have sold for £ or £ . _silius italicus de bello punico_, old venetian binding, gold tooling, lettered in gold, gilt edges, _venetiis_, aldus, , £ s. would have sold for about £ . _virgilius, cura aldi pii manulii_, red morocco, gilt edges, by roger payne, _venetiis_, aldus, , £ s. sold in at from £ to £ in equally good binding. _psalterium græce_, a fine copy, in blue morocco, with gilt edges, _venetiis_, aldus, no date, but about , £ . notwithstanding the fact that this is one of the few fifteenth century books from the aldine press, its value has declined about per cent. _quintiliani institutiones_, fine copy in russia, gilt edges, _venetiis_, aldus, , on title , s. former price about £ . _aristophanis comoediæ_, first edition, fine copy in russia, gilt edges, _venetiis_, aldus, , a rare book, £ . former price about £ . _thucydidis historia_, first edition, and one of the few copies printed on fine paper, old russia, gilt, _venetiis_, aldus, , a very scarce book in this condition, £ s. former price from £ to £ . the above examples are taken from a single catalogue, and, if occasion demanded, the list could be indefinitely increased. they will, however, be sufficient to show that if the good old days when eliot's _indian bible_ of , now worth considerably more than £ , could have been got for thirty shillings or less, are not likely to return, there is yet plenty of opportunity for picking up rare books at a moderate price, and for much less than would at one time have had to be paid for them. who knows that the fashion will not change again some day, and that the most coveted of all volumes will not be choice examples from the aldine press? [illustration: _the elzevir buffalo's head, from the "cæsar" of leyden, ._] footnotes: [ ] m. firmin-didot inclines to the year for the date of aldus' birth--_vide_ his _alde manuce et l'hellenisme à venise_, p. , paris, . [ ] in addition to this number there are about sixty "doubtful editions". the number of recognised forgeries is about forty-five. chapter viii. the elzevir press. if aldine collectors were at one time numerous and enthusiastic, amateurs who affected the elzevir press, and were never tired of extolling the excellence of the little books which issued therefrom, were more so. long before the death of the last member of the great printing family, a whole mass of rules, some of them arbitrary, others founded on subtle distinctions, were already regarded as binding on the community of bibliomaniacs which looked upon _l'aimable mère de jésus_ as their pole-star, and _le pastissier françois_ as something to be seen only on rare occasions, and to be touched, if touched at all, with bated breath. there is something harsh, comparatively speaking, about aldus and his works. he was the taciturn, frugal-living man of letters, who for five years, as he himself confesses, never spent a single peaceful hour save when he was asleep. his very doors were barred with the inscription-- "whoever you are, aldus entreats you to be brief. when you have spoken, leave him." compared with this grim old editor-printer of a bygone age, the elzevirs one and all were literary children, playing with their master's text--children who never grew old, and whose many liberties were not only endured, but excused out of consideration for their engaging ways. they were pirates, too, without exception, but they turned you out well. if they mutilated your text, they at any rate supplied you with the best of paper, ornaments and type; from their hands you emerged a well-dressed gentleman, a little ignorant perhaps, but decidedly aristocratic. a short sketch of the history of the elzevir family will be found useful for reference:-- the founder of the family, louis, was born at louvain in , and, curiously enough, as in the case of aldus manutius, did not establish himself at the scene of his future labours until he was forty years old. in he started as a bookbinder and bookseller at the university city of leyden, and at first confined his attention entirely to retailing such works as fell into his hands. three years later, however, he set up a press and printed his first book, the _drusii ebraicarum quæstionum ac responsionum_, vo, , which, though desirable, is not to be compared, either in intrinsic merit or in value, with some of the latter productions of the press; in fact, what are known as the "good dates" do not commence until the latter portion of the year . louis died in , and is remarkable only as the founder of a famous family of printers; not one of his different books can be considered important from a collector's point of view; and although a specialist would no doubt endeavour to make his collection as complete as possible, and with that object might be disposed to pay more for these early examples than anyone else might think it worth his while to pay, even he, if well advised, would draw the line at anything like lavish expenditure. louis left five sons, whom, with a view to further development, it is necessary to bear in mind--matthieu, louis, gilles (giles), joost (justus), and bonaventure. the last-named son--bonaventure--commenced business on his own account as a printer in , and on the death of his father in he took the management of the elzevir press. in he took into partnership abraham, a son of matthieu, and the newly-constituted firm, which continued to exist until , are entitled to most of the credit which attaches to the name of elzevir. though the greek and hebrew works issued by this firm are inferior to those of aldus and the estiennes, their small editions of the latin and french classics in mo, mo, and mo cannot be surpassed for elegance of design, neatness, clearness, and regularity of type, as well as for the beauty of the paper which they used. mention may be made especially of the _novum testamentum græcum_, and ; the _psalterium davidis_, and ; the _virgil_ of ; and the _comediæ_ of terence, ; though the works which gave the press its chief celebrity were the collection of french authors on history and politics, in mo, known as _petites republiques_, and the series of latin, french, and italian classics, in small mo. it seems to be an almost universal belief that all the works issued from the elzevir press are small in bulk, and various terms, more or less foolish, have been invented by careless or incompetent persons to give expression to this idea. one of them, and perhaps the most hideous of them all, is "dumpy twelves". in the first place, works issued from the elzevir press in mo are perfectly symmetrical in shape, and not at all dumpy; and, secondly, many books are in to, some even in folio, as, for example, the _académie de l'espée_, printed by bonaventure and abraham in . the amateur must avoid being misled by the poetical effusions which from time to time make their appearance, and which for the most part are written by persons who know nothing whatever of the subject. to obtain a rhyme for "elzevir" is difficult, but it has been done at much sacrifice of common-sense. jean, the son of abraham above mentioned, was introduced into the firm in , five years before it came to an end through the death of the two partners in . on this latter event taking place, he entered into partnership with daniel, the son of bonaventure, but the firm was not very successful, and was dissolved by mutual consent in . jean continued to trade on his own account until , when he died, and daniel joined louis, the third of that name, and son of the second louis, who had been printing at amsterdam since . from to daniel and louis printed a series of latin classics in various sizes. louis died in , and daniel ten years later. we now come to the closing years of the press, though reference must be made _en passant_ to isaac, another son of matthieu, who established a press at leyden in , and continued to print there until . none of his editions, however, attained any fame. the last representatives of the elzevir family were peter, the grandson of joost, who, during the years - , printed seven or eight volumes of little consequence, which were published at utrecht, and abraham, the grandson of the first abraham, who, from to , was university printer at leyden. as the family pedigree is considerably involved, or, like most other pedigrees, appears to be so at first sight, i give a chart for the convenience of the reader, with the dates during which each member of the family flourished, omitting, however, the names of many other members of the family, who do not enter into the scope of the inquiry, and who were, in fact, not printers at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _louis_, printer at leyden, - . | ___________________________________________________________ | | | | | _matthieu_, louis, gilles, josse, _bonaventure_, printer at leyden, a bookseller a bookseller a bookseller printer at - . at la haye.[ ] at la haye. at utrecht. leyden, | | | - . | | | | | _louis_, peter. _daniel_, | printer at amsterdam, | printer at | - . | leyden, | | - ; | | at amsterdam, ____|___________________ | - . | | | _abraham_, _isaac_, | printer at leyden, printer at leyden, | - . - . | | | | | _jean_, _peter_, printer at leyden, publisher at utrecht, - . - . | | _abraham_, printer at leyden, - . the number of works issued from the press of the elzevirs, whether at leyden, amsterdam, or utrecht, numbers, according to willems, different publications, of which bear the name or mark of the firm which issued them. of these latter, are in latin, in french, and the remainder in greek, flemish, german, italian, and hebrew. there is also a single volume, printed in english, which seems to have escaped the notice of bibliographers. it is entitled "_confession_ _of faith, and the larger and shorter catechisme, &c._, amsterdam, printed by luice elsever, for andrew wilson, and are to be sold at his shop in edinburgh, ". it is usually stated in works of reference that none of the elzevir publications were printed in english, but the above, if it is genuine, affords an exception. as every amateur is aware, the elzevirs frequently--but not always--marked their title-pages with devices, of which the most frequent were the sphere, the hermit, minerva, and the eagle on a cippus (low column) holding in its claws a sheaf of seven arrows. as each firm adopted or relinquished the family marks to suit its convenience at the time, it becomes necessary to tabulate them for the purpose of avoiding confusion. the number in brackets gives the total number of books, not including catalogues, produced by the firm to which it is annexed. the leyden press. _louis elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--a hand, with the device--"Æqvabilitate". an angel with a book. the eagle (with seven darts representing the seven provinces of the netherlands) on a cippus, with the inscription--"concordia res parvæ crescunt" (most frequent). a book of music, opened. _matthieu and bonaventure elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the eagle on a cippus. the book of music, opened. the hermit, first appearing on the _acta synodi nationalis_, (isaac elzevir), motto--"non solus". [illustration] of the three marks mentioned above the first and last were more usually employed. _isaac elzevir._ - . marks.--two hands holding a cornucopia (rare). the eagle on the cippus. the hermit. _bonaventure and abraham elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the hermit (most frequent). the eagle on a cippus. the sphere, first appearing on the _sphæra johannis de sacro-bosco_, . the arms of the university. a palm tree with the device "assvrgo pressa".[ ] minerva, with her attributes (the olive tree and the owl) and the motto "ne extra oleas". [illustration] _jean and daniel elzevir_. - ( books). marks.--the sphere (frequent). the hermit (frequent). the arms of the university. [illustration] _jean elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the hermit. the sphere. _the widow and heirs of jean elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the hermit. two angels holding an open book; motto--"immortalité". of the books printed by this firm, some bear the imprint: "a leide, chez pierre didier," and also "ex officina danielis et abrahami à gaasbeeck". _abraham elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the hermit (most frequent). the arms of the university; motto--"hæc libertatis ergo". [the total number of books printed by the leyden firm from to ( years) is thus .] the hague press. _louis elzevir ii._ - ( books). _jacob._ - ( books). [a total of books in years.] the amsterdam press. _louis elzevir iii._ - ( books). marks.--the sphere. minerva (most frequent). _louis and daniel elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the sphere. minerva (most frequent). _daniel elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the sphere. minerva. _the widow of daniel elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--minerva. the sphere; motto--"indefessus agendo". the eagle; motto--"movendo". [a total of books in years.] after seven books had been published by the representative of daniel elzevir, the business was wound up. the ornamental punches, &c., by christopher van dyck, were sold, and most probably melted down. the utrecht press (so called, though it was merely a publishing centre). _peter elzevir._ - ( books). marks.--the sphere. the hermit. minerva sitting under an olive tree; motto--"pallas trajectina semper augusta". [the total number of books produced by the whole family during years amounts to works.] the above are the chief, but by no means the only, marks used by the various members of the family. the few which have not been noticed occur only at rare intervals, and are of but little importance. one device, representing a bees' nest, with a fox and the motto "quaerendo," though frequently ascribed to the elzevirs, is in reality none of theirs, being the mark of abraham wolfgang, a dutch printer of considerable repute. the elzevirs, as before stated, were pirates, who thought nothing of reproducing the full title-page, with the original publisher's name, and, when this is the case, it is often a matter of very great difficulty to distinguish between the original and the reprint. again, when these printers did not wish to put their name to any particular work, for fear of embroiling themselves with the government, they either marked it with the sphere or else adopted a pseudonym. thus jean and daniel frequently marked their title-pages "a leyde, chez jean sambix," the amsterdam printers occasionally adopted "jacques le jeune," while "nic schouter" was a favourite fictitious name. these pseudonyms are, however, much less numerous than was at one time supposed. the first reproduction of the _provincial letters_, by louis and daniel elzevir, of amsterdam, bears on the title-page, "a cologne, chés pierre de la vallée, "; that of , by jean elzevir, of leyden, has "a cologne, chez nicolas schoute". a _recueil de diverses pièces servant à l'histoire de henry iii._, &c., bears "a cologne, chez pierre du marteau"; _les imaginaires_, of the sieur de damvilliers, in its two parts purports to be issued "a liége, chez adolphe beyers". _il divortio celeste_, with other works of pallavicini, dates from villafranca, while other undoubted productions of the elzevir press were ostensibly published "a mons, chez gaspard migeot; londini, typis du guardianis; stampati in cosmopoli," and so on, through a list which, difficult enough to remember, is yet not very extensive. it will be readily seen that the knowledge requisite for a collector to possess, if indeed he wishes to become a master of his subject, is of no mean order, for not only must he have the family pedigree at his fingers' ends, and be capable of detecting a pseudonymous or pirated work, but he must also be in a position to appreciate the "right dates," and to detect an improper head or tail piece when he sees it. some books which pass as elzevirs are in reality spurious, even though marked with the "sphere" or other device; others, though coming from the press, are inferior editions, "not of the right date," as the specialist puts it. one of the most beautiful little books ever issued from the elzevir or any other press is the _cæsar_ of , which, on referring to the table, we shall see must have been printed by bonaventure and abraham at leyden.[ ] it is in mo, and there are no less than three editions, the first and second being so much alike that no one could detect the difference without the most careful of careful inspections. the "right" _cæsar_ is the first, and may be recognised from the buffalo's head on a scroll at the head of the dedication. pages , , and are misprinted , , and respectively in the first edition, and there are lines to the page. the second edition, which has not, pecuniarily speaking, a tenth part of the value, has lines to the page, and the misprints are corrected. another fine work, the _comediæ_ of terence, leyden, , mo, passed through five editions, all of which are very much alike. the first and "right" edition has, however, on page , the word _laches_ printed in red, while page is improperly numbered . in the second edition _laches_ is in black, in the fifth it changes to red again, so that the greatest caution has to be exercised lest the first and fifth editions should be confounded. the former is worth much more than the latter, as the unfortunate purchaser will find to his cost when he comes to sell again. as previously stated, the "good dates" begin from , the year when bonaventure and abraham went into partnership at leyden, and any books dated from that year to , when jean and daniel dissolved partnership, are most likely to be of value, provided only the right edition is forthcoming. daniel was, however, by far the best printer in the family, though some make an exception in favour of bonaventure and abraham; and as he continued in business at amsterdam, either by himself or in conjunction with louis from to , those dates must also be considered "good". from the amsterdam press, in , issued that prize of elzevir collectors, the _pastissier françois_, and the splendid _virgil_ of in _grand_ as well as _petit format_, or as we should say in english, on large and small paper. the halcyon days of the press at leyden date from to ; those of the press at amsterdam from to . it is, of course, impossible for anyone, be he dealer or amateur, to carry in his head all these details and distinguishing marks, and reference in cases of doubt will have to be made to willem's _les elzevier_, a work which has superseded all others on the subject. with this book at hand it is difficult to go wrong, as the minutest points of difference are chronicled with great fidelity. we will now take it for granted that the amateur is in full possession of, or can obtain, all the information necessary to enable him to distinguish between a right and a wrong date. he has still, however, to bear in mind that even a right-dated volume may be in such a wretched condition as to be hardly worth purchasing. if he will take a walk down holywell street he may frequently meet with genuine elzevirs which the dealers will be only too glad to dispose of for a shilling or two each. the reason of this is that, not only are the works offered for sale _not_ "of the good date" (_i.e._, inferior editions), but they are also, in the vast majority of instances, battered, dirty, and, worse than all, "cropped," sometimes even to the very headlines. for a dirty book there is some hope, since it may be possible to clean it, but for a cropped specimen there is none: like lucifer, it has fallen from its high estate "never to rise again". as the measurement of these small books is always made in millimetres, · of which go to the inch, the enthusiastic collector carries with him an ivory rule on which the french measures are marked. the _ovid_ of , vols. mo, runs to millimetres; the _cæsar_ of to millimetres--anything below millimetres is hardly worth looking at; the _virgil_ of , if uncut, reaches as high as millimetres, or, if in _grand format_, even to millimetres. a book of high measurement, or entirely uncut, may be worth £ or more, according to its quality; but if cropped below the fashionable height it would not bring as many shillings. a copy of _le pastissier françois_, millimetres high, was not long ago offered at francs, or £ ; an entirely uncut copy brought , francs, or £ ; and yet between the two there could not have been a greater difference in height than three, or at the most four, millimetres. the truth is that elzevirs are measured with the same accuracy observable in the weighing of precious stones, and the th part of an inch makes a wonderful difference. that book collectors sometimes go to extreme lengths cannot be doubted by anyone who has spent much time in their company; but the english bibliophiles are not to be compared in this respect with their french brethren. the latter are _the_ collectors of elzevirs, and will frequently spend enormous sums on specimens which from their appearance and real practical utility are worth hardly anything at all. what can be more incorrect than the leyden _virgil_ of ? it is literally crammed with the most shameful errors, so much so that heyne says it is destitute of the slightest trace of any good quality. yet the famous charles nodier spent nearly all his life searching for a genuine copy of the first edition, which, when obtained, filled a place purposely left vacant for it. up to that time he had declined to "profane" his shelves with any _virgil_ at all. thus much for the elzevir press, which, like the aldine, is not regarded with the same favour by collectors as it formerly was. nevertheless there are many, particularly in france, who yet make a speciality of these little books with "good dates," and it is, therefore, necessary to know something of them. of one thing the collector may be quite confident: he has here plenty of material for the study of a lifetime, and, what is greatly to the point, ample opportunity of accumulating a representative series of examples of the press. good elzevirs, though rare, are not hopelessly so; while bad ones are as plentiful as blackberries. in this respect, at any rate, the elzevir collector has a great advantage over many of his fellows, whose hunting-grounds are circumscribed, and who frequently would give anything to obtain even a mutilated copy from the press of their favourite printer. footnotes: [ ] louis elzevir ii. ( - ) produced nine books, one, however, the _navigatio ac itinerarium_ of linschoten, , bearing the name of gilles elzevir (probably inserted whilst he was temporarily managing the business of his brother, who in was called to leyden to help his father, louis i.). [ ] this was the mark of erpenius, whose stock was purchased by the elzevirs. [ ] the imprint is merely _lvgdvni batavorum, ex officina elzeviriana_. chapter ix. the early english presses. in the short time that intervened between the invention of printing by means of movable type and the end of the fifteenth century some , different works are known to have been issued from the european press. many copies of these are doubtless hidden away in old lumber rooms, or in the recesses of imperfectly catalogued libraries of obscure and decaying towns. some have altogether perished, leaving no trace of their ephemeral existence; others are known by name, but have themselves vanished as effectually as if they had never existed. what, for instance, has become of the fifteen books of ovid's _metamorphoses_ which caxton, in his preface to the _golden legende_, says that he printed? hitherto no copy has been unearthed, nor any fragment of a copy. where is the _lyfe of robert erle of oxenford_ mentioned in the preface to the _four sons of aymon_? what was the great printer doing between the years - , during which time, so far as can be discovered, he printed nothing? these and many similar questions are important, as raising a very strong probability that the bibliography of caxton is very far from being complete. the same remarks apply more or less to nearly every other fifteenth century printer. there is a field here which has never been fully explored, and which, in all probability, never will be until some augustus shall arise, and by a wave of his hand throw open the dwellings, the libraries, and even the outhouses of the world to his troop of eager agents. in the meantime, a single discovery of a hitherto unknown book of the fifteenth century acquires an importance proportionate to the exceptional nature of the occurrence; and though the book hunter never despairs, he knows only too well that such rarities fall only to fortunate mortals like the french bibliophile resbecq, whose extraordinary luck was proverbial, or to those whose ignorance is so dense that they seem provided, as compensation, with more than a fair share of attractive power. it seems a pity that the unappreciative should often obtain chances which are denied to those who could utilise them to advantage, but it is often the case. the merest tyro sometimes experiences a success which the experienced bibliophile sighs for in vain. glowing as this picture appears, the collector must not run away with the idea that all early printed books are valuable. some, even of the fifteenth century, are not worth an englishman's ransom by a long way. the question of value depends mainly on the name of, and the degree of reputation acquired by, the printer. thus, books printed by fust and schoeffer, gutenberg and fust, sweynham and pannartz, and many others of the oldest continental printers, are scarce and valuable in the extreme; so are any books from the presses of the early english printers. on the other hand, the estienne, giunta, and plantin presses are comparatively neglected. here, again, it is a question of reputation, only, in this case, the inquiry is directed not to the book itself, but to the printer, a reversal of the usual rule, and one that is productive of an extraordinary result, namely, that trivial books are often the most valuable, simply because they have not been worth keeping. let no one, then, look, in the first instance, to the character of an early printed book, but let him rather study that of the craftsman, keeping in mind the current of popular favour and the direction in which it flows. if he does this, he will find that, so far as this country is concerned, there is a scope amply sufficient to satisfy the most earnest aspirations. the long line of printers from caxton, in , to day, in , and, in a lesser degree, those of the subsequent fifty years, discloses names which are graven on the heart of the collector, who often accounts himself fortunate if he can procure a single specimen from the early english press. as the chance of his doing so, though remote, is by no means impossible, seeing that copies are frequently offered for sale while many others must be hidden away, it is necessary that he should have some ideas of his own. to let slip a chance which fortune throws in his way, and which may never occur again, would be productive of never-ending regret, especially as, with a little care and attention, there is no reason why such a disaster should occur. the subject of the early english press could not, of course, be entered upon fully without occupying considerable space, and i must content myself with such a _résumé_ as can conveniently be compressed within the compass of a few pages. it is worthy of note that many of these old english printers were, like aldus manutius, editors as well. in the early days labour was not divided as it is now, and it is well known that caxton, for example, not merely translated many of his publications, but cast his own type and bound the sheets when ready for publication. each of these processes was perfected in his own office, and so well that to this day his handiwork is seldom surpassed. improved apparatus cannot always hold its own against manual dexterity--an observation which becomes more than ever accentuated when we apply it to the art of typography, perfect in its results almost from infancy. william caxton, (?). [illustration:] caxton, as, indeed, many of the other printers whose names are subsequently mentioned, used several devices, of which, i think, it will be sufficient to give the chief. this pioneer english printer learned his art during the years - in the office of colard mansion at bruges. sometime about the year he established himself as a printer at westminster, where he died in . there are certain distinguishing features by which any of caxton's works may be known, even if the colophon is lost or the book a mere fragment. his type is _always_ gothic or old english; he never used catchwords nor commas; and although works from the press of lettou and machlinia of london ( ) are exactly like caxton's in these respects, the measurement of any given space occupied by or lines, according to the description of type used, varies considerably. since , some twenty hitherto unknown works by caxton have been identified by the measurement test, for a full explanation of which the collector is referred to blades' _life of caxton_. among the works printed by this great master may be mentioned the following, which have brought the prices affixed at auction, within the last few years:-- _the game and playe of chesse_, small folio, st march, , the first book of caxton with a date, and a perfect copy, but wanting the two blank leaves ( - / in. × - / in.), old calf, £ . _dictes and sayinges of the philosophers_ ( - / in. × in.), , folio, morocco extra, perfect, £ . _higden's discripcion of britayne_, evidently made up from two imperfect copies ( - / in. × in.), morocco extra, , folio, £ . _chronicles of englonde_, , folio, wanted part of the index and otherwise greatly imperfect, £ ; another copy ( - / in × in.), perfect, £ . _higden's polychronicon_, , to, a very imperfect copy, containing only leaves, £ . _ryal book, or book for a king_, perfect, but several leaves mended ( - / in. × - / in.), no date ( ?), folio, £ . _the prouffitable boke for mannes soule, called the chastysing of goddes children_, no date, folio, quite complete; and another called _the tretyse of the love of jhesu christ by_ _wynkyn de worde_, , folio, both in one volume, £ . _boecius de consolacione philosophie_, in latin and english, a complete copy, several leaves stained ( - / in. × - / in.), old calf, no date, folio, £ . contemporary with caxton were the printers lettou and machlinia, previously mentioned, who carried on business in the city of london, where they established a press in . machlinia had previously worked under caxton. their productions are scarce, but not so much so as those of caxton. an inferior copy of their _vieux abrigement des statutes_, no date, but about , folio, sold by auction in august, , for £ s., and occasionally other and better specimens may be picked up for two or three times that amount. wynkyn de worde, . [illustration:] in all probability this famous printer was one of caxton's assistants or workmen, when the latter was living at bruges, but without doubt he was employed in his office at westminster until , when he commenced business on his own account, having in his possession a considerable quantity of caxton's type. wynkyn de worde, who was one of the founders of the stationers' company, died in , after having printed no less than books known to bibliographers, the earliest of which bearing a date is the _liber festivalis_, to, . the whole of these works, especially when in good condition, are excessively scarce, and invariably bring high prices. a wormed copy of the _descrypcion of englonde, wales, and scotlonde_ brought £ at the gibson craig sale in july, , and the _vitas patrum_, , folio, £ , at the crawford sale in the same month. voragine's _golden legend_, printed by de worde in , brought £ a short time ago; his _higden's polychronicon_, , folio, wanting title, £ s.; the _nova legenda anglie_, , folio (wormed), £ ; and dame juliana berner's _fysyhing with an angle_, , folio (frontispiece inlaid), £ . richard pynson, . [illustration] this early english printer was by birth a norman, but became naturalised in england by letters patent and was appointed king's printer. he was the first to introduce the roman letter into this country, though this honour is by some attributed to wynkyn de worde. the italian penmen of the fifteenth century furnished the model for the round character which has been successively adopted in most of the typographical foundries since the days of pynson, and which is known as the roman character; and these penmen are supposed to have imitated the writing of the carlovingian mss. thus the small alphabet used by our printers is a copy of that adopted in the churches of france in the time of charlemagne. among pynson's works may be mentioned the following. the prices affixed have, as before, been realised at auction within the last few years. sebastian brant's _shyp of folys of the worlde_, translated by barclay, black letter, woodcuts, morocco extra, imperfect, , folio, £ . _jeronimi de sancto marcho opusculum_, &c., woodcut signs of the zodiac and pynson's device on title, a fine copy in morocco extra, bound by bedford ( ), to, £ . _intrationum liber_, woodcut of royal arms, perfect, old russia, , folio, £ s. julian notary, . [illustration] the periods of the birth and death of this ancient typographical artist are entirely unknown. one of his books, the _missale secundum vsvm sarvm_, dates from westminster, the th december, , and one or two others are dated , so that it is safe to say that he flourished between those dates. one of the most extraordinary books issued at this early time is the _shepherd's calendar_, printed by julian notary. it is full of quaint woodcuts, illustrative of religious myths, which, considering the times, are excellently executed. an edition of this calendar was also printed and published by richard pynson. the total number of books known to have been printed by julian notary is . william faques, . [illustration] this printer is known in connection with a few books, about half-a-dozen in number, which, as usual, are excessively scarce and very valuable. the dates of his birth and death are uncertain. the first of his books, however, is dated , and the last . richard fawkes, . [illustration] although the date of the first book printed by richard fawkes is given as , it is more than likely that the date on the title-page (_salus corporis, salus anime_, folio, ) is a misprint. the next in point of date is a book of _hours_, , and it is hardly likely that twelve years should have elapsed without his printing anything. still, time has spared such a few of this printer's publications that it is quite possible the date may be correct. specimens from fawkes' press are excessively rare, none having been offered for sale, so far as i am aware, for many years. peter treveris, . [illustration] our information about this printer is very meagre, so much so that little seems to be known of him beyond the fact that he was the first printer in the borough of southwark. he printed for john reynes, a bookseller in st. paul's churchyard in ; also for laurence andrewe, who carried on business in fleet street about the same date. anthony à wood, in his _history and antiquities of oxford_, says that treveris printed some of whitinton's pieces there in , but no evidence of the fact appears to be forthcoming. the first book known to have issued from his press is the _disticha moralia_, to, , though some bibliographers deny that treveris was the printer. the whole number of his productions, inclusive of the grammatical treatises of whitinton, which, on the authority of wood and for purposes of convenience, are ascribed to him, does not amount to . they are, as usual, very scarce. _the grete herball whiche gyueth parfyt knowledge_, &c., black letter, woodcuts, badly cut down, , folio, £ . robert copland, . [illustration] this printer was one of the assistants of wynkyn de worde, and a legatee under his will. he was also a stationer and bookseller, dwelling at the rose garland in fleet street, where he carried on business from about to the year or beginning of . his productions are not only few in number, but very rarely ever met with. he seems to have been fond of small and fugitive pieces, of which, doubtless, a large number have perished owing to the popularity which formerly attended publications of this kind. the number of his works catalogued by ames amounts to . this printer must not be confounded with william copland (_post_), whose productions are, comparatively speaking, common. john rastell, . [illustration] according to bale, this printer was a citizen of london, and married the sister of sir thomas more. the date of his birth is not known, but he died in , leaving two sons, one of whom, william, succeeded to his business. ames mentions works printed by john rastell and by william, and among the former is the famous _pastyme of people, or cronycles of englond_, of which only three perfect copies are known to exist. a fac-simile reprint was issued in by dr. dibdin. an original copy of this work, which contains woodcut full-length portraits of the kings, was, though imperfect, sold at the wimpole sale, in june, , for as much as £ . a copy of the reprint is worth about s. john skot, . [illustration] books printed by this workman, which are only in number, are seldom seen. much--and probably it is no exaggeration to say, most--of the work of the english printers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries has been destroyed, and it is probable that between the years and , when john skot, or scott, as he sometimes spelled his name, is known to have been working, a large number of publications was issued from his press, of which not a trace remains. there is a good copy of the diminutive tract known as _the rosary_, printed by skot in , in the library of earl spencer at althorpe. robert redman, . [illustration] robert redman set up a printing press at the house quitted by pynson, just outside temple bar, and called the george. he seems also to have adopted a colourable imitation of his device, and altogether to have taken great advantage of his opportunities to undermine the business of his rival. in the edition of _lyttleton's tenures_, printed by pynson, the latter takes redman roundly to task, and in an edition of _magna charter_, dated , a similar strain of abuse is maintained. the first book known to have been printed by redman bears date . he died somewhere about the year . fitzherbert's _diuersite de courtes_, black letter, ff., , mo, £ s. robert wyer, . [illustration] this prolific printer was in business, "in the felde besyde charynge crosse," from to about , but as the greater number of his books were published without dates, it is possible that he may have lived beyond the year given. the number of his books catalogued amounts to , and they consist chiefly of treatises on astrology, medicine, and, more rarely, poetry. thomas berthelet, . [illustration] towards the middle of the sixteenth century the popular demand for biblical legends and treatises on scholastic divinity began to decline, and a taste for classical literature to take its place. the productions of berthelet, which give evidence of the improvement in this respect to no slight degree, are intrinsically valuable, as well as unusually numerous. berthelet died about christmas, , as appears by an entry in the stationers' hall books for th of january, - . the number of his works, as catalogued, amounts to . _the praise of folie_, by erasmus, translated by chaloner, black letter, wormed, and title mended, , to, £ s. gower's _de confessione amantis_, black letter, berthelet's first edition, wormed, oak boards, covered in stamped leather, , folio, £ . _institution of a christen man_, black letter, woodcut border to title by holbein, morocco extra, , to, £ s. _necessary doctrine and erudition for any christen man_, black letter, morocco extra, , to, £ . _psalms or prayers_, black letter, wanting title and signature lv, calf, no date ( ), vo, £ s. _henrici viii. pia et catholica christiani hominis institutio_, morocco extra, by pratt, fine copy, , to, £ s. john byddell, . [illustration] john byddell first carried on business at the sign of "our lady of pity," and seems to have borrowed his device from one of the earlier pages of corio's _history of milan_, . subsequently he removed to the "sun," in fleet street, formerly occupied by wynkyn de worde. this printer died somewhere about , having published volumes, according to ames, most of which are of a serious character. _prymer in englishe, with calendar and almanake_ ( - ), black letter, title in fac-simile, russia extra, th june, , to, £ . _bible in english_ (by r. tavener), black letter, several leaves mended, morocco extra, by bedford, folio, , £ . richard grafton, . [illustration] richard grafton, the king's printer, was at one time a citizen and grocer of london, and seems to have been brought up as a merchant. he commenced business as a printer with edward whitchurche in or about the year , and from that date to they continually printed in partnership. the dissolution was probably due to the persecution to which they were subjected on account of the act of the six articles. whitchurche, whose device is given below, is said to have married the widow of archbishop cranmer, and is known to have been living in . grafton, who was continually in difficulties, and on one occasion narrowly escaped with his life, is supposed to have died about the year . _boke of common praier_, black letter, blue morocco extra, by rivière, august, , folio, £ . _primer in englishe_ (black letter) _and latyn_ (roman type), brown morocco extra, by bedford, , to, £ . _orarium seu libellus precationum_, woodcuts, blue morocco, mo, , £ s. marbeck's _concordance of the bible_, black letter, title inlaid, russia, small folio, , £ s. halle's _chronicle_, black letter, russia extra, by bedford, folio, , £ . harding's _chronicle_, black letter, morocco extra, by bedford, , to, £ s. _the order of the communion_, black letter, wanted title, morocco, th march, , sm. to (the only copy known), £ . edward whitchurche, . [illustration] _byble in englyshe_ (cranmer's), black letter, cut down at the top, morocco extra, by bedford, folio, , £ . _booke of common prayer_, black letter, first edition of edward vi.'s prayer book, with the rare order for the price, a fine copy in blue morocco extra, folio, , £ . _boke of common prayer_, second edition of edward vi.'s prayer book, a fine copy in blue morocco, folio, , £ . _book of prayers used in the queen's_ (catherine parr's) _house_, black letter, a fragment of an unknown edition, mo, , £ . grafton and whitchurche, in conjunction, printed the first issue of the _great_ or _cromwell's bible_, a folio book dated , a fair copy of which was sold at the crawford sale for £ ; also the _new testament, both in latin and english, after the vulgare texte_ (coverdale's version), - , vo, partly printed at paris by regnault and completed in london. nearly the entire impression was seized and burnt by order of the inquisition, and the few copies that remain are extraordinarily rare and valuable. john waylande, . a printer who, according to the best authorities, lived at the sign of the "blue garland in fleet street," and, in the year , at the sign of the "sun, against the conduit". he was in business in . _the primer in english and latin, after salisburye use_, some leaves in fac-simile, bound by rivière in morocco, nd august, , mo, £ . _tragedies of all such princes as fell from their estates throughe the mutabilitie of fortune, translated into englysh by john lidgate_, black letter, some leaves mended, no date, folio, £ s. _prymer in latin and englishe ...and almanacke_ ( - ), black letter, brown morocco extra, by rivière, , sm. to, £ . _prymer in englishe_ (black letter) _and latine_ (roman type), _after salisbury use, with calendar, &c._, woodcuts, calf, , mo (only six copies are known), £ . _prymer in englyshe, with calendar_, black letter, title in fac-simile, brown morocco extra, _ihon mayler for ihon waylande_, , sm. to (only four copies are known), £ . william myddylton, . [illustration] william myddylton, or middleton, succeeded to the business of robert redman, which he carried on at the sign of the "george, next to st. dunstan's church, in fleet street". this printer turned out some different publications, known to bibliographers. there is no doubt, however, that many more must be lost, or remain undiscovered. myddylton probably died somewhere about the year . another printer, by name henry middleton, flourished about the year . his works are scarce, but not nearly so valuable as those of william. froissart's _cronycles of englande, &c._, translated by bourchier, vols., black letter, , folio, russia extra, (printed by myddylton and pinson), £ s. reynold wolfe, . [illustration] the king's printer, was in all probability a foreigner by extraction, if not by birth. he commenced printing in , but a great portion of his time was spent in collecting materials for an _universal cosmography of all nations_, which, though undigested at his death in , laid the foundation for holinshed's _chronicles_. his works are described as being in number, and, as is always the case where any specimens from the presses of early english printers are concerned, are scarce and valuable. after the death of reynold, his widow, joan, printed three books, which bear her name. the last of these is dated in , about which time, doubtless, the press ceased to exist. care must be taken that this printer is not confounded with others of the same name, who, for the most part, carried on business in france and holland. john day, . next to caxton and wynkyn de worde, this printer certainly ranks the highest in the opinion of bibliographers. herbert says that day first began printing a little above holborn conduit, and about removed to aldersgate. he kept also at the same time several shops in different parts of the town, where his books were sold. day was the first printer who used saxon characters, and brought those of the greek and italic to perfection. he died in after having followed the business of a printer for nearly forty years. the name of john day will sometimes be found in conjunction with that of william seres, but rarely, if ever, after . this william seres was a printer, who, on dissolving partnership with day in , carried on business by himself for some twenty or twenty-five years in london. _a short catechism_, black letter, morocco extra, , mo, £ . _booke of christian prayers collected out of the ancient writers_, black letter, blue morocco extra, by pratt, , to, £ s. _certaine select prayers gathered out of s. augustine's meditations_, vols., , sm. vo, £ s. _psalmes in metre with music_, black letter, , sm. to, £ . this work was sold with another by jugge and cawood, and was bound in an exceptionally fine elizabethan style. _preces privatæ in studiosorum_, first ed., , mo, also another edition of , mo, in two volumes (both printed by william seres), £ . william copland, . probably a son of robert copland, though the relationship is very doubtful. it has been supposed that william was a younger brother of robert, and worked in the office of the latter up to the time of his death, in the same manner as robert worked in the office of wynkyn de worde. it is evident that both william and robert used the same battered types, which they set up with an equal amount of carelessness. notwithstanding the workmanship, however, these books are valuable, and always command high prices. the first book of william copland's printing found with a date is the _understandinge of the lorde's supper_, , vo; and between that year and , the time of his death, he is credited with over different publications. _story of the most noble and worthy kynge arthur_, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, morocco extra, , sm. folio, £ ; another copy, quite perfect, £ . _the right plesaunt and goodly historie of the foure sonnes of aimon_, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, no date or name, but printed by w. copland in , small folio, £ . _hystorie of the two valyaunte brethren, valentyne and orson_, black letter, woodcuts, a defective copy, several leaves having been repaired, no date, small to, £ . among the other old english printers, whose names frequently appear on the title-pages of books, may be mentioned:-- walter lynne, - , whose _cattechismus_, in small vo, , brought £ in june, . richard jugge, - , _the holie bible_, bishops' version, black letter, , folio, £ . thomas marshe, - , _certaine tragicall discourses_, black letter, , to, £ ; also _heywoode's woorkes_, - , to, £ s. john cawood, - , who printed the first collected edition of _sir thomas more's works_, , now worth from £ to £ , the _stultifera navis_ of brant, black letter, woodcuts, folio, , £ , and many others. richard tottel, - . hugh singleton, - , _the supplication of doctour barnes_, &c., black letter, morocco extra, by rivière, no date, vo, £ . john kyngston, - , the printer of the best folio edition of _fabian's chronicle_, . rowland hall, - . john allde, - . robert redborne (cir. ), whose only known work is entitled _the history of the moost noble and valyaunt knyght, arthur, of lytell brytayne_, folio, no date, but about . of this work only two perfect copies are known. one sold at the crawford sale in june, , for £ s. thomas est (_cir._ ), _whole booke of psalmes_, , vo, £ s. wilbye's _second set of madrigales_, half morocco, , to, £ . yonge's musica transalpina, , to, £ . yonge's _musica transalpina_, the seconde booke, half morocco, , to, £ . with the advent of the seventeenth century presses became very numerous all over england. christopher and robert barker at london, and john field at cambridge, are perhaps the best known printers of that era, but the importance and value of their works depend upon circumstances, and cease to exist as a matter of course. it is indeed from this point that the study of english bibliography becomes more difficult and confusing, and here precisely that the young collector is apt to go astray. the most famous english printer of modern times was undoubtedly john baskerville; in fact, he seems to have been the only one possessed of exceptional merit. everyone has heard of baskerville: he rises the one solitary genius out of the multitude of labourers in the same field, and towers so high above the rest as to eclipse them entirely. baskerville started as a printer in birmingham in , having spent hundreds of pounds in the experimental casting of type, which he ultimately brought to the highest state of perfection. every book printed by him is a masterpiece: his paper is clear and elegant and of a very fine quality, while the uniformity of colour throughout testifies to the care taken in printing every sheet. at one time works from the birmingham press, presided over by baskerville, were much sought after, but of late years the fashion has changed and prices have consequently much diminished. the splendid edition of addison's works, vols., to, with portraits and plates, , a beautiful copy bound by derome in red morocco, brought £ a short time ago, a depreciation of at least a third in the value, while in some other instances the fall is much more marked. baskerville appears at one time to have studied the workmanship of the elzevirs, and on one or two of his books, notably the _elegantiæ latini sermonis_ of meursius, , he has dated the title-page as from _lugd. bat. typis elzevirianis_. this little volume is a fit tribute to a family of famous printers of the seventeenth century, from a no less excellent workman of the eighteenth, and i feel certain that some day collectors will again vie with each other in collecting choice examples from his press. chapter x. on bindings old and new. books cannot live long without being bound, and the more expensive and artistic the appearance of the binding, the greater the chance of preservation for the whole. a book is sometimes handled gently, not because of any merits of its own, but simply on account of its cover, which thus becomes its protector in a double sense. like those old earthen boxes, which on being broken are found to contain the clay tablets of assyria, many of which run as far back as years before the christian era, bindings were doubtless originally intended to act the part of preservatives; beauty of design and even neatness would be after-considerations, and entirely subservient to the sole object, that of protection. by degrees the book lover made demands upon art, and, in obedience to an universal law, the supply answered to his call. cicero, we are told, was a connoisseur of bindings, and himself employed famous workmen to glorify his rolls of papyrus and vellum, or to bind up his diptychs in the manner of our modern books, but more expensively, if the tastes of the old roman are not belied, than the majority of book lovers can afford to do in these latter days. in the palmy days of rome, art in all its varied forms was probably as advanced as it is now, and we cannot doubt that virgil and homer, the representative poets of rome and greece, were to be found in a score of palaces, dressed as befitted their high reputation, in the most noble and expensive of coverings. two thousand years have, however, made a clean sweep of roman artist and roman bookman alike, and we have nothing to guide us beyond the casual remarks of one or two diarists and historians of the day, whose chronicles have happened, almost by chance, to come down to us. the names of none of the ancient binders survive, and not a trace of their workmanship remains; we know only that there were such beings, who occasionally threw into their work great taste and skill, and that bibliophiles vied with each other in gaining possession of their choicest examples. when, therefore, the question is asked, who was the first binder known to fame? we cannot look to greece or to rome for an answer, nor yet to italy. curiously enough it is to ireland that we must turn, for there the monk dagæus practised the art so long ago as a.d. one example only of his handiwork has survived to our own day, and is now to be found in the library of the british museum along with the _textus sanctus cuthberti_ bound by the first english workman, one bilfred, a monk of durham, who flourished nearly years ago. this _textus_, so the old legend says, was once swallowed up by the sea, which, respectful of the merits of the saint, gracefully retired fully three miles of its own accord, and so restored the cherished volume to its owners. as the monks were the sole multipliers of books, so also they were, until the invention of printing in , the only binders. manuscripts of the ninth century are extant, heavily encased in ivory-carved covers or confined between gold and silver plates studded with precious stones. more often than not these expensive coverings were destined to be their ruin, for, to say nothing of private peculation, the sumptuous bindings were ripped off at the time of the reformation for the sake of the metal or stones, and the manuscripts thrown in thousands upon the tender mercies of the vandals into whose hands they fell. in the fourteenth century petrarch was knocked down by one of his own tomes, and was within an ace of breaking his leg, but this was at a period when monastic bindings ordinarily consisted of wood, covered with leather and protected by metallic bosses, corner plates, and massive clasps of iron. bulk and weight were then the great desiderata, though every now and then the richest materials were still employed in binding, as when a king's library was added to, or some rich monastery gave orders for a sacred volume to be covered with the enamels of limoges, ivory, gold or silver, and encrusted with jewels. from the end of the fifth to the middle of the fifteenth century, books were excessively rare and costly, and comparatively few bindings illustrative of the art during the dark ages have been preserved. the few that have survived are wonderful specimens of art, and in every way worthy of the illuminated manuscripts they enclose. the period of the renaissance, which is usually assigned to the pontificate of leo x., was witness of another change. the ponderous tomes, whose weight was alone a protection, gradually gave way to smaller-sized volumes, and these were often bound in velvet or silk, beautifully embroidered by lady amateurs, perhaps also by professed binders. at other times the monastic covering of wood and leather is observable, and often the leather gave way to seal and shark skin without any tooling or other ornamentation. these different styles of binding continued in vogue side by side until the introduction of typography, when the venetians introduced morocco from the east and found out the virtues of calf. books now became bound in oak boards covered with these leathers or in thick parchment or pig skin, old manuscripts often being cut up and of course destroyed for the purpose: boards, clasps, and bosses became obsolete, while silken embroidery maintained a precarious existence, dependent solely on the spasmodic efforts of accomplished amateurs whose tastes and inclinations were swayed by fashion. finally, parchment disappeared and leather bindings held universal sway, and have so maintained it to our own time, though the english cloth-bound book is now employed whenever expense is an object. such is a short history of the development of the art of bookbinding, as necessary to be understood and remembered as any other branch of our subject. some of the better-known and more valuable descriptions of ornamental bindings, whether italian, french, or english, derive their entire importance by reason of their having come from the libraries of noted collectors, who bound their books after a model pattern. many of these specimens are of the greatest rarity and often of great value. as works of art, too, they are frequently far superior to anything that can be, or at any rate is, produced at the present day. a really well bound book by le gascon, or one of the eves, for example, is a beautiful object. the covers, of the choicest calf or morocco, are tooled in patterns, _i.e._, hand engraved, in gold; the edges are of gilt, _gauffré_, that is to say, designs are impressed on them also; the whole is a splendid specimen of bibliopegistic skill. such artists as these disdained blind tooling, where the patterns are worked out and left without their meed of gold. half-bound volumes with their back and corners of leather and their sides of vulgar paper or boards they were either ignorant of or despised. all this excellence of course cost money, which then, as now, was in the hands of the few, and it must not for a moment be supposed that examples of high-class binding were at all common even during the era in which they were produced. they are scarcer now, for time and fire have claimed their share of spoil, but it was only the great collectors of almost unlimited means, popes, kings, and cardinals, and their favourites, who could afford at any time to furnish a library where beautiful bindings predominated. these collections have for the most part been dispersed over the world, and an amateur of the true old-fashioned type will not allow himself to be looked upon as fortunate, if his shelves do not contain one or two examples at least from the magnificent libraries of brother amateurs long since passed away. the italians were the first to awake to the enormity of binding their books in pig skin, or encasing them between clumsy wooden boards; and readily profiting by the teachings of the great master painters, who made italy their peculiar home, they began to use calf and morocco, elaborately tooled to geometrical patterns. leo x. ( - ) had a good library, and one book at least is extant, bound by an italian artist in red morocco, with the papal arms on the sides. some years previously to this, aldus manutius had bound his own books at venice, and he took as much care of their dress as he did of the text. some of these bindings appear to be imitations of the designs sculptured on the walls of mosques, and it was from the east therefore that the great venetian school obtained its first instruction in the art. the book lover rejoices exceedingly when he meets with any of these ancient italian bindings, but if he can only possess a maioli, his cup of happiness literally overflows. this maioli--who or what he was are alike unknown--this maioli had an extensive library, and all his books were sumptuously bound in the choicest leathers and tooled in gold on the backs and sides. on an embossed shield was the title of the work, and underneath, that inscription afterwards imitated by grolier, "tho maioli et amicorum". let not the collector be deceived however:--there were two maiolis: thomasso, above mentioned, whose choice bindings are sought after all the world over, and michel, whose artistic tastes were less fully developed, and who perhaps knew better than to invite his friends to borrow from his store. cardinal bonelli ( - ) and canevari, the physician to pope urban viii. ( - ), were both enamoured of costly bindings, the latter especially, for on the sides of his books appears a gorgeous object representing apollo in gold, driving his chariot in blue or red over a silver sea. lorenzo de medici, prince of florence, scholar and patron of art and literature, called the magnificent, who died in , stamped his books with the medici arms, together with a laurel branch and the motto _semper_. others of the medici family had splendid libraries, and their books were often covered with silver and gold beautifully inlaid, after the designs of painters of the highest eminence. amongst other italian collectors whose fondness for calf and morocco carried them perhaps just a little too near the border line of extravagance, were pietro accolti, cardinal of ancona ( - ), antonio alemanni, the poet ( ), and pasqual cicogna, doge of venice, who died in . specimens from the libraries of any of these, and others besides, are sometimes worth far more than their weight in gold. the italian bookbinders were the instructors of the french, who subsequently rivalled and finally eclipsed their masters. at first the french merely imitated, but towards the close of the reign of francis i. (_cir._ ), they struck out fresh lines of their own. jean grolier is the representative collector of the early french school, but he was, at the same time, the most famous judge of bindings that the world has yet seen. he was born at lyons in , and died in , having spent nearly the whole of his life in the collection of books. his opinion of french binders appears to have been the reverse of complimentary, for he went to italy to find a workman after his own heart, and one who could be relied upon to satisfy his fastidious taste. many people think that grolier was by trade a bookbinder, but this is a mistake--he was merely an enthusiastic amateur who allowed his passion for bindings to become his master. some of his designs he prepared himself; others are undoubted imitations of those adopted by maioli, whom he so greatly admired, that even his motto is reproduced, with of course the necessary variation, "io grolierii et amicorum". this appears on the sides of most of his books, and there is consequently no difficulty in identifying them. others bear an emblem, and in a scroll, "Æque difficulter," and others again the words of the psalmist arranged so as to form a triangle, "portio mea domine sit in terra viventium".[ ] most of grolier's books were printed by aldus at venice, and they are generally found lettered on the back, a practice which was not in vogue before his day. but however bound, and whatever device, maxim, or motto he employed, the name of grolier invariably causes great excitement among amateurs. the value of any of his books is proverbial, and their scarcity equally so. a rare book may occasionally be snapped up for a hundredth part of its worth, not so a magnificent specimen of binding, which courts further inquiries on the part of the vendor, and, as we all know, "further inquiries" are usually fatal to the would-be snapper-up of unconsidered valuables. louis de sainte-maure was a contemporary of grolier, and like him an enthusiastic book hunter. his bindings are said to be even rarer still. they too are tooled with geometrical figures, and on the side, in the centre, is the inscription, "invia virtuti nulla est via". diana of poitiers, the mistress of henri ii. of france (_cir._ ), was another famous collector, who spent vast sums on binding her books. the designs were made in all probability by le petit bernard, one of the most famous engravers of his day, and her books, like those of grolier, were gold tooled on both back and sides. diana's device consisted of a bow and a crescent, sometimes with a sheaf of arrows. those books which the infatuated henri sent to his mistress bear the h. surmounted by a crown and flanked by the _fleur-de-lys_. henri was himself a collector of no mean order, and his volumes, like those belonging to the fair diana, have their countless worshippers. the king, whatever the laxity of his morals, was a stickler for etiquette, and drew a wide distinction between a mistress and a wife. some of his books are stamped with the interwoven initials h. and d., and ornamented with the usual emblems of the chase, but no crown is observable. that makes its appearance over a solitary h., banished, so to speak, to the remoter regions of the cover. sometimes the initials are changed to h. c., interwoven and surmounted by the crown, and then we know that henri chose to honour his wife catherine de medicis with notice. diana's library at the château d'anet was dispersed by auction in : it contained volumes of the most varied descriptions, lives of the saints and lewd songs jostling one another with impudent familiarity. catherine de medicis herself had the taste of diana for beautiful bindings, and kept a staff of workmen, who vied with each other in the production of beautiful specimens of ornamentation. she had the mania of the true book collector, for on the death of the maréchal de strozzi, she laid violent hands on his choice and valuable library, promising to pay for it sometime, but ultimately dying herself without doing so. the books of francis i. ( - ), if bound for his use while dauphin of france, are marked with a dolphin, in addition to the ordinary kingly stamps of the royal arms, a salamander, and the letter f. the motto in each case is the same: "nutrio et extinguo". specimens of binding having the dolphin are extraordinarily rare. henri iii. ( - ) did much to reduce the extravagant cost of bookbinding, for, in , he made a decree that ordinary citizens should not decorate any single book with more than four diamonds, or the nobility with more than five; he himself and a few other scapegraces of the royal house were under no restriction. the same king instituted the order of the "penitents" as some little compensation for a life of shameless vice and crime, and celebrated the occurrence by the invention of a new binding, the originality of which is undoubted. on black morocco, and sometimes with the arms of france, appear a death's head, cross-bones, tears, and other emblems of woe, including a joke in the form of a motto, "spes mea deus". henri, when duke of anjou, loved mary of clèves, and subsequently consoled himself for her untimely death by binding a quantity of books in his library. skulls, tears, and _fleurs-de-lys_ are thrown about in profusion; the motto, "memento mori," looks out at you from among floreated ornaments; jesus and marie are placed on a level. when ordered to attend the court after the death of his beloved mary, he made his appearance in a black robe, embroidered all over with the usual funereal emblems. the gloomy bindings of henri iii. brought on a reaction, giving rise to a style of decoration known as _à la fanfare_. no sooner was the king gathered to his fathers than his sister, margaret of valois, exchanged the death's heads for a fanciful decoration, consisting of a profusion of foliage, sprinkled with daisies. bindings of this period are very choice, but not so elaborate as the development of the _fanfare_ eventually made them. the foliage became much more delicate, and the clusters of leaves and flowers at last resembled lace work, under the magic touch of the great binder le gascon. we now leave royal personages, and descend to a lower level, meeting at the very threshold the historian thuanus, better known as de thou ( - ). this celebrated amateur and patron of bookbinding was an intimate friend of grolier, and president of the paris parliament in the reign of henri iv. all his books, of which he possessed a large number, were bound in morocco or gilded calf skin in a style which varied with the different periods of his life. his bachelor's library was embellished with his arms in silver, between two branches of laurel, with his name below. after his marriage in , his wife's escutcheon is stamped alongside his own with the initials j. a. m. below, and also on the backs of his volumes. during his life as a widower, a wreath of twining-stems tipped with red berries, and his own and dead wife's initials interlaced, take the place of other ornaments. after his second marriage in , his new wife's escutcheon appears in conjunction with his own, but the initials are changed to j. a. g. this splendid library remained intact for more than years, and it was not until that it was sold almost as it stood to the marquis de ménars. at his death in , it was purchased by cardinal de rohan, but in , his heirs, impoverished by legal proceedings, were compelled to disperse the collection. the binders principally employed by de thou were the eves (nicholas, clovis, and robert), whose splendid workmanship is a model for such of our modern binders as follow the higher branches of the art. le gascon, the binder to the duke of orleans, who seems to have flourished between the years and , was another workman of the first rank. the duke was a great collector, whose shelves were covered with green velvet, garnished with gold lace and fringe, and whose bindings by le gascon were similarly ornamented. among the large number of french bibliophiles who now appeared on the scene, and competed with each other in the beauty of their bindings, one or two must necessarily be mentioned, since the modern collector envies or admires their taste. chancellor séguier, at the end of the seventeenth century, employed ruette to make the bindings _au mouton d'or_, which graced his shelves; and a little later still, the baron de longepierre utilised the well-known ornament of the golden fleece, which, when found on any book, no matter how intrinsically worthless, greatly enhances its price. these are the prizes of book collecting, seldom met with, and always strongly competed for. the colberts stamped the sides of their books with their crest, in which the climbing adder is always conspicuous. there were no less than seven members of this family who loved books, and all embellished them with the adder in a shield surmounted by a crown. nicholas ( ) and charles louis fouquet ( - ) each adopted the coat of arms with a squirrel--looking for all the world like a lion--and the motto, "quo non ascendam". cardinal mazarin, who died at vincennes on the th of march, , had many devices, the most common of which is the coat of arms, consisting of an axe bound up in a bundle of fasces, and surmounted by a cardinal's hat. these and many other figures which generations of bibliophiles have caused to be tooled on their books, point conclusively to what library any given specimen formerly belonged, though, as might be expected, it is sometimes a matter of great difficulty, or even impossibility, to identify particular volumes. some amateurs discarded their own crests, and adopted others, for reasons which are not apparent, while women, as, for example, the duchesse du maine, who decorated her books at sceaux with a golden bee-hive, appear to have possessed the most intricate armorial bearings, or to have been guided by mere caprice, in their choice of emblems. many books bearing crests or coats of arms cannot, therefore, be identified, and for this reason, amongst others, the few books which have been written on this branch of the art of binding are necessarily incomplete. one of the best--which, moreover, contains some hundreds of woodcuts illustrative of various devices--is guigard's _armorial du bibliophile_, vols., vo, paris, - , but this is strictly confined to french devices. even hobson's choice, however, is often better than none.[ ] although the sixteenth century was _par excellence_ the era of ornamental bindings, it cannot be said that england made much progress in the art. up to the reign of elizabeth we seem to have persisted in the use of clumsy oak boards or stiff parchment covers, and when a really choice and expensive binding was required, it took the form of embroidered silks and velvets. queen elizabeth herself was very expert in this method of ornamentation, which continued to exist, in all probability, simply because it was fashionable. the first english bookbinder of any repute was john reynes, a printer, who lived in the reigns of henry vii. and viii. specimens of his work are very rare, though, when compared with the french bindings of the same date, they appear miserably inferior. the truth is that england was--and, indeed, is--much behind some other countries in everything relating to bibliography, and binding in particular. robert dudley, the great earl of leicester, was the first english book collector who was possessed of any degree of taste. his cognisance of the "bear and the ragged staff" appears on the sides of a (generally) quite plain binding, although sometimes a rough attempt at ornamentation is found. archbishop parker, and burghley the lord treasurer, had good libraries of well-bound books, and one specimen from bothwell's collection is known to exist. this, the _larismetique et géometrie_ of la roche, _lyon_, , was in the possession of the late mr. gibson-craig, and is mentioned by him in his _fac-similes of old book-binding_. it is in the original calf gilt, with gilt _gaufré_ edges, and on the sides are the arms of james hepburn, earl of bothwell. although bothwell is known to have possessed literary tastes, books from his library are excessively rare. this fine book belonged originally to the family of forbes of tolquhon, and a signature and date written on the title-page show that it had been acquired by them a few years after the outlawry and death of the original proprietor. at the gibson-craig sale this fine specimen was knocked down for £ . james i. was a bibliophile, as well as a reputed _savant_, and paid much attention to the binding of his books, some of which, now to be seen in the british museum, are ornamented with thistles and _fleurs-de-lys_. lord clarendon, who died in , had a very fine collection of books, many of which were bound by notts, the most experienced english workman of that day, and who was, it appears, also patronised by pepys, the diarist. it was not, however, until the eighteenth century that we made in this country any real advance in bookbinding. robert harley, the first earl of oxford ( - ), had established a library, and this had not only been added to by his son, but bound in a most expensive manner, by two workmen named elliott and chapman, who seem to have attained a certain amount of proficiency, and whose efforts gave rise to a new style of ornamentation known as the "harleian". though much inferior to the continental designs, this had a beauty of its own, and was a vast improvement upon anything hitherto attempted by english binders. thomas hollis, the _littérateur_ and antiquary, who died in , bound his extensive collection in calf, adding, in each instance, a device suitable to the contents of the work. thus, as the owl is the symbol of wisdom, his scientific books bear the figure of an owl stamped on the covers. military works have the short roman stabbing sword, and so on. if we except, perhaps, the french emigrants who made their home in this country at the end of the eighteenth century, there really was no binder of any note until the advent of roger payne ( - ). this workman, though dissolute, had, nevertheless, a reputation in his line second to none. in person, he is stated to have been dirty and untidy, but certainly neither of these defects appear in his bindings, which, though not, as a rule, heavily gilt, are tooled to neat classical or geometrical designs after the venetian style. where payne made his mark was, perhaps, in the _appropriateness_ of his bindings. his judgment, in this respect, appears to have been sound and popular. after payne followed walther, charles hering, and charles lewis, all of whom, the last particularly, did very good work. in more recent times still we have hayday, rivière, francis bedford, ramage, and last, but by no means least, zaehnsdorf, whose son yet carries on business in london. the ordinary cloth bindings, such as we see every day in the booksellers' shops, are purely english, and have been in use since , when they were invented by lawson, and adopted by pickering, the publisher. in continental countries they use paper covers, and even the most expensive works are issued originally in this form. there they bind their books after publication if they are found to be worth binding. in this country cloth is now largely used, and is certainly a great improvement on the old clumsy covers of a bygone age, or on the paper wrappers of this. bookbinding in the higher styles is now done fairly well in england, though, in the opinion of many, the workmanship is not equal to that of the french artists of three hundred years ago. footnotes: [ ] see guigard, _armorial du bibliophile_, vol. i. p. . [ ] mr. quaritch, the bookseller, has in preparation a _dictionary of english book collectors_, somewhat after the scheme of m. guigard's book. chapter xi. books to buy. one of the most difficult branches of bibliography is that which treats of the books to choose and those to avoid, with reference mainly to their pecuniary value. few collectors, who are not specialists, care very much for the utility of their libraries; in many cases, indeed, it is not a question of utility at all, but of extent, though i apprehend that no one would wish to crowd his shelves with rubbish merely for the sake of filling them. as an immense proportion of the books which have been published during the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries clearly come under that category, the collector has much to avoid, and stands in need of considerable experience to enable him to make a selection. naudé, the apologist for "great men suspected of magic," whose patron, by the way, was cardinal mazarin, had a method of purchasing which, if not unique, was at any rate uncommon. his favourite plan was to buy up entire libraries, and sort them at his leisure; or when these were not available in the bulk, he would, as rossi relates, enter a shop with a yard measure in his hand, and buy his books by the ell. wherever he went, paper and print became scarce: "the stalls he encountered were like the towns through which attila had swept with ruin in his train". richard heber, the bibliotaph, too, had collections of miscellaneous books at paris, antwerp, brussels, and other continental towns, to say nothing of london, where the aristocracy among his treasures were deposited. the books were sold by auction after his death; the sale occupied days, and flooded the market with rubbish--a worthy termination to a life of sweeping and gigantic purchases, made in the hope of acquiring single grains of wheat among his tons of worthless chaff. but naudé had the wealth of mazarin at his back, and free licence to purchase as and where he would at the cardinal's expense, while heber was rich beyond the dreams of avarice; the modern book hunter, whose means we will suppose are limited, must discard the yard measure and the scales, and rely on his judgment, taking care to get the utmost value for his money. he will have to make up his mind to buy or not to buy on the spur of the moment, for while he is consulting his books of reference at home, a golden opportunity may be missed. this is his capital difficulty, and one which it will take years of experience to surmount, for there is no _vade mecum_ capable of being carried in the waistcoat pocket, which will enable him to spot a rarity at a glance; nothing, in fact, which can compensate for a lack of practical knowledge. i have often thought that a register of scarce but mean-looking english books, of such a convenient size as to be carried in the palm of the hand, might be of assistance to those who haunt the stalls, and delve among the rubbish usually to be found there; some day, perhaps, it may be worth while to try the experiment, _sed gloria, quantalibet quid erit; si gloria tantum est_? what will be the value of ever so much glory, if it be glory and nothing else? in turning over the contents of an old book-stall, the major portion of the heap will be found to consist of volumes of sermons, and other theological treatises, recipe books, odd historical volumes, and poetical effusions, besides periodical literature of the _spectator_ and _tatler_ brand. books of this class are, as a rule, merely rubbish; but still there are a few exceptions. sermons of john knox and dr. sacheverell, or any of mather's tracts, are invariably worth purchasing; as also are first editions of sermons by cardinals manning or newman. early editions of mrs. glasse's cookery book, or any recipe books of the seventeenth century, may safely be speculated in; so may early editions of poetical works, if written by authors whose reputation subsequently became established. third, fourth, or later editions are seldom of much value, no matter who the author may be, and no matter of what character or description, provided they come under one or other of the heads enumerated above. in purchasing books of the class generally found on second-hand stalls, there are two preliminary questions to be asked: first, was the author of sufficient reputation to make his name well known? and secondly, is the particular copy of his works offered for sale an early edition? if an affirmative answer can be given to each of these inquiries, it will be advisable to tender the small sum likely to be asked, and to run the risk. another point to be observed is that where a printer's device appears on the title-page, or indeed on any other part of an _old_ book, it is more likely than not to have a value, and it ought never to be passed over without a careful scrutiny. should the collector be fortunate enough to pick up a rare french book, his best policy will be to have it suitably bound in france by a first-rate binder. though already valuable, its importance will be still further increased by this manoeuvre; for when the inevitable day of parting shall arrive, the french bibliophiles will be more inclined to welcome native talent than any english imitation of it. volumes containing separate tracts should always be examined, as it sometimes happens that rare pieces are found bound up with a mass of worthless matter. i once heard of original editions of two of molière's plays being found in this way; and as these stand pretty much in the same position, so far as rarity and consequent value is concerned, to the early shakespearean quartos, the importance of the "find" to the lucky discoverer can hardly be exaggerated. this is only another example of the rule which can never be too often repeated, since it can never be sufficiently understood. if the author is "big enough," and the edition is early enough, buy. the probability is you may not realise the full importance of what you have got until you have had time to consult some book of reference; it may indeed turn out that a wretched and dirty reprint has done duty for the original, or it may so be that the book is worthless on its merits. this is one of the risks of book collecting, and, it may be added, one of its charms. hundreds of thousands of dead and forgotten books must be annually disposed of, for nominal sums, in london alone, and there is no telling how often these and others may have been turned over and flung aside by passers-by before they eventually find a market. among all this profusion of rubbish, a certain percentage of valuable pieces must necessarily exist, and these, from the very circumstances under which they are offered for sale, will be unknown, and more or less unbound and uncut. every year some of these princes in disguise are rescued from the wind and rain, and henceforth considered a fair exchange for gold instead of copper; but alas! we cannot both eat our cake and have it too. "finds," as they are called, are not so numerous as they once were, nor hucksters so ignorant as in the merry days of dibdin and burton, to say nothing of such foreign nimrods as colbert, grolier, and the great pixérécourt. the same rules which guide the haunter of the stalls are suitable to those who purchase from the regular booksellers. there is so much to be learned, so many artificial rules and distinctions to be observed in everything relating to books, that mistakes are of frequent occurrence. ignorant assistants have before now unwittingly thrown shabby little books, like burns' poems (kilmarnock, ), into the sixpenny-box at the shop door; others have been too lazy to sort the "parcels" as they have come in from the auctioneers, and have bundled the whole contents into the same repository. there are a hundred and one accidents in favour of the book hunter, but he needs experience in order to take advantage of them, and this cannot be got without the expenditure of much time and money and the suffering of many disappointments, which, indeed, seem to increase as he grows older, rather than to diminish. this is doubtless because the sphere of his operations becomes wider until it exceeds that of his experience; the seventh age of the bibliophile is even as his first. apart from the books which are fashionable for the time being and invariably command fancy prices, there are others which may be styled "standards," that is to say, are sold over and over again, both by auction and private contract, for sums which vary only according to condition. these for the most part are in several volumes, vo, frequently also in to or folio. their very appearance precludes any prospect of a bargain; indeed the purchaser, unless well versed in book-lore, stands a very good chance of paying for mere bulk. when the library at sion college took fire, the attendants at the risk of their lives rescued a pile of books from the flames, and it is said that the librarian wept when he found that the porters had taken it for granted that the value of a book was in exact proportion to its size. to this day the impression that big books contain wisdom is all but universal. this has always been so, as witness the temporary reputation of nicholas de lyra, who wrote and printed folios of commentary on the bible, and of aldrovandus, whose thirteen large folio volumes on general zoology ( - ) have greatly perplexed the scientific world ever since they were published. let not the collector be led away by massive tomes, nor imagine that standard works of acknowledged reputation can often be got for less than they are worth. of late years there has been a violent competition for books and even tracts published in or in any way relating to the american continent provided only that they were published during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and sometimes also the eighteenth centuries. thus cotton's _abstract of the laws of new england_, ; _the description of jamaica_, ; brereton's _relation of the discoverie of the north part of virginia_, , and many other obscure little to tracts--not books--would be cheap at twenty guineas each, while others are worth even more. american collectors are largely responsible for this. in the same way treatises of any kind which have a scotch local interest, and are dated about the same period, are always worth two or three guineas at the least, and in many cases far more than those amounts. the earliest book printed in scotland is _the knightly tale of golagrus and gawane and other ancient poems_ (edinburgh, ), to, which was reprinted in fac-simile under the superintendence of dr. laing in . as might be expected, the original is so scarce as to be unprocurable, and even the reprint is of considerable value. early scotch-printed books by such workmen as walter chepman, androu myllar, andro hart, alexander arbuthnot, thomas davidson, anthony marlar, james watson, andrew anderson and his widow the would-be monopolist, robert freebairn, and several others, some of whom carried on business into the eighteenth century, should never be overlooked or discarded. these are just the kind of books which are occasionally discovered on stalls in obscure streets, and which may be expected to be bought for a few pence. they are scarce, of course, or it would not be worth while to mention them; but they look insignificant, and many, for anything i know, may this very day be making their weary pilgrimage on costermongers' barrows in the new cut, despised and rejected of men. specimens of typography from the presses of caxton, wynkyn de worde, and other early english printers, some of which have already been mentioned, are essentially curiosities, and it is almost useless to hope for even the semblance of a bargain so far as they are concerned. still, occasional finds are from time to time reported from out-of-the-way villages whose inhabitants have not yet wakened from their mediæval slumbers, and great is the rejoicing of the explorer, and many the paragraphs with which the discovery is heralded in the newspapers. the collector who is fortunate enough to come across a work of this class--he can hardly expect a repetition of such extraordinary luck--will have crowned his labours, be they great or small, and can henceforth pride himself on his success. if he never handles a book again, he will have earned his laurels. inferior county histories in one volume, generally vo, are always worth buying if they can be got for a few pence, as is often the case, for there are very few of them which are not worth as many shillings at the least. topographical works are now being inquired for to a much greater extent than was the case several years ago, and the booksellers can dispose of almost any quantity. such examples as are likely to be casually met with are, however, very small game; yet they represent the average amount of success likely to be achieved at one time in these days of widespread knowledge. the demand for book rarities is very great, and every hole and corner, likely and unlikely, is periodically ransacked by booksellers' "jackals," to say nothing of the army of amateurs ever on the look-out for bargains. accident is, however, productive of occasional successes, and every man has, or may have, if he thinks proper to put it to the test, an equal chance. in addition to the ready-made bargains, which do more than anything else to delight the heart of the book lover and encourage him to further exertions, there is such a thing as playing upon popular likes and dislikes, or, in other words, speculating on the vagaries of fashion. at present the rage is for original editions of modern authors, principally those with plates, coloured or uncoloured. some day the fashion will change, and books hitherto neglected will suddenly take their place and increase many times in value. such books should be bought while they are cheap, and they doubtless would be if there was such a thing as a literary barometer capable of forecasting the state of the market; but there is not, and it is impossible to foretell the direction in which the mass of book lovers will turn when once they are tired of picture-books. every bookseller is of necessity a speculator, for it is his business to buy at a low price and to sell at a higher. the amateur, however, should, if he would preserve his title, abstain from traffic of this kind and be satisfied to pay for the privilege of forming a library without regard to the ultimate profit or loss. his pleasure should consist in acquisition and the opportunity afforded of fondling his store while there is time, for he may be absolutely certain that the whole assortment--bookcases, shelves, and all--will find their way to the auctioneer directly he has done with them. this mournful prospect has been the indirect means of founding a new school, that of the semi-amateurs, which, while claiming for itself all the attributes of the book lover, has, nevertheless, an eye to the main chance, and is prepared at a moment's notice to transfer an entire collection _inter vivos_ if the required sum be forthcoming. as an ardent waltonian would regard a brother of the angle who went a-fishing with the object of selling his catch, so the old-fashioned bibliophile views this degenerate school--that is to say, with unfeigned disgust. it makes no difference, nay, if anything it is an aggravation, that the culprit is "well up" in his subject and knows a book when he sees one. "fancy!" says a member of the old academy, "here is an educated man who for years has occupied his leisure hours in studies the most delightful, and among friends the most courteous and refined. he knows them, can put his hand upon any in the dark, and yet----;" but here the power of words fails to describe the heartless greed which alone could send a row of life's companions to the block. nevertheless this is being done every day, and, however vexed the respectable book lover may be, the fact remains that the new school is just now showing remarkable activity and is running the booksellers very close indeed. the advisability of purchasing depends upon the answer to a single question, "will this book go up?" never mind the author, or a syllable of what he wrote, but take especial care to see that the work is perfect, clean, and uncut, and then ask yourself this solitary question. this is the first and last commandment of the semi-amateur, whose method of procedure it may be interesting to analyse. let us suppose that a london publisher advertises a new edition of some famous work, tastefully got up and luxuriously bound and illustrated. the issue of course is limited, as the price is high, and discriminating purchasers must be tempted. the old-fashioned amateur is not to be charmed because he persuades himself that there is plenty of time, and what matter if a few years later he has to pay a slightly enhanced price? the book will be worth it, for it will be scarce, and, moreover, have attained a respectable degree of antiquity, and so he passes it by. not so the new school, which we will assume has answered its solitary question in the affirmative. the edition is snapped up in a moment, and single members will buy as many duplicates as they can afford to invest in--buy to sell again ultimately, and in the meantime to gloat over, like so many jackdaws eying a secreted heap of stolen goods. this is commonly called "cornering" an edition; and when several persons possessing the same opinions and the same tastes join their forces, it will readily be perceived that if a book will not go up of its own accord it may readily be forced up by judicious retention and self-denial. this, of course, is nothing more nor less than stock-exchange speculation, and it is satisfactory to find that sometimes the greedy purchaser makes a mistake and is saddled with a small stock of waste-paper. as previously stated in the fifth chapter, a book which has perhaps been cornered as often as any other, and never successfully, is ottley's _italian school of design_, on large paper, with proof impressions. the published price was £ s., the present value is about £ by auction. here is a dreadful falling off, and the adherents of the new school have never yet been able to understand the reason, or to cease persuading themselves that the day must surely come when the book will go up. if anything, however, it is going down, and in the opinion of many experts it can never again take a respectable position in the market. another book which has also been speculated in, and with even more disastrous results still, is _hogarth's works_, from the original plates, restored by heath, and published by baldwin and cradock, in , at £ . this is a large and sumptuous work, with a secret pocket at the end, in which are, or should be, found the three suppressed plates. the present auction value is not much more than £ , and, judging from appearances, it is very unlikely to get any higher. how many people have burned their fingers over these two tempting works it would be very difficult even to guess; suffice it to say, that the amateur speculator often has half-a-dozen of each on his shelves, and in nine cases out of ten he finds them an encumbrance and a loss. as john hill burton truly says, "no good comes of gentlemen amateurs buying and selling". this is, of course, as it should be; but rejoicing at the fate of the enemy is likely to be turned into gall when it is discovered that defeat is bolstered up with the inevitable axiom "better luck next time". it cannot be denied that, from a practical everyday stand-point, the collector who buys to sell has everything in his favour. why should he not employ his knowledge to advantage? why be compelled to stock his library at a loss which will fall chiefly on his immediate descendants? why suffer the pain and mortification of ever remembering that after all his books are only lent to him on hire, and that as others have parted with the identical volumes before, so he must also part with them in his turn? the pleasure of possession is mixed with an alloy which is disquieting to the man who loves his books too well. still, after all, there is one pleasure which the votaries of the new school can never hope to enjoy, and that is the communion with old friends. their books are strangers, and even though they should learn them by heart, they would be strangers still. the remembrance of happy hours spent with a lost volume is to them as nothing compared with the ringing metal which replaces it; or to put the case as pleasantly as possible, we will say that the speculator regards a book as possessing an interest quite apart from its literary or domestic value. how such an one would hunger after the treasures secured by an eager collector at a fishmonger's shop in hungerford market some fifty years ago--"autograph signatures of godolphin, sunderland, ashley, lauderdale, ministers of james ii., accounts of the exchequer office signed by henry vii. and henry viii., wardrobe accounts of queen anne, secret service accounts marked with the 'e. g.' of nell gwynne, a treatise on the eucharist in the boyish hand of edward vi., and a disquisition on the order of the garter, in the scholarly writing of elizabeth," all of which, as mr. rogers rees narrates, had been included in waste-paper cleared out of somerset house at £ a ton. principal second-hand booksellers in the united kingdom who publish catalogues. [***] _the date appended is that of the firm's establishment._ free use has been made of mr. clegg's _directory of second-hand booksellers_ in the preparation of this list; but reference has also been made to each firm personally. =general.= _aberdeen_--bisset, jas. g., . middleton, geo. murray, james, . nicoll, thomas p. walker & co. wilson, j. wyllie & son, d., _c._ . _accrington_--wardleworth, jno., . _barton-on-humber_--ball, henry william, . _bath_--cleaver, h. gregory, george, . meehan, b. & j. f., . pickering, g. & f., . _belfast_--burns, alex., _jun._ dargan. shone, j., & co., . _birmingham_--baker, edw., . brough, wm., & sons, . downing, william, . hitchman, john, . lowe, charles. midland educ. trading co., limited. thistlewood, alf. wilson, james. _bournemouth_--commin, h. g. gilbert, h. m. _bradford_--hart, james. matthews & brooke, . miles, thomas, . _brechin_--black & johnston, . _brighton_--smith, w. j. thorpe, james. _bristol_--george, james. george's, william, sons, . jefferies, charles s. matthews, j., & son. nield, ashton. " walter. _burnley_--coulston, william. lupton brothers. _burton-on-trent_--waller, thos. _bury, lancs._--vickerman, chas. _cambridge_--deighton, bell & co. hall, j., & son, . johnson, elijah. macmillan & bowes. tomlin, w. tomson, octavus. _canterbury_--goulden, w. e. _carlisle_--grant, george s. _carnarvon_--jones, john d. _carrickfergus_--weatherup, jas. _cheltenham_--pink, john wm. rawlings, h. e., . _chester_--edwards, j. w. p., . _cirencester_--baily & son. _colchester_--forster, thos., . harwood, william h. (private dealer). _cork_--massey, nassau, . _derby_--clayton, mrs. murray, frank, . _devizes_--colwell, john. _devonport_--clarke, josiah, & sons. _dover_--johnson, wm., . _dublin_--carson brothers. combridge. rooney, m. w., . traynor, patrick, . _dumfries_--anderson, john, & son. _dundee_--m'gregor, mrs. maxwell, alexander. petrie, george, . _edinburgh_--baxendine, a. brown, w. bryce, william, . cameron, richard, . clay, wm. f. dunn, james, . elliot, andrew, . grant, john. hossack, t. m., . hunter, r. w. (su'r. to gemmell). johnston, george p., . johnstone, thomas. mackay, james. mackenzie, john, . macleod, norman. macniven & wallace. macphail, alexander. melville, thomas. stevenson, thos. george, . stillie, james, . thin, james, . _elgin_--watson, j. and j. a., . _ennis_ (_ireland_)--hayes, james. _exeter_--commin, james g. drayton, s., & sons, . _fritchley_ (_derbysh._)--wake, hy. thomas, . _glasgow_--forrester, j. p. forrester, robert, . hannah, j. hopkins, hugh. kerr & richardson, . maclehose & sons, . muir. sime, w. s., . _halifax_--teal, j., . _hastings_--watts. _hull_--annandale, r. c. cook, robert. tutin, j. r., . _inverness_--melven brothers, . noble, j., . snowie, william m., . _ipswich_--read & barrett, . _lancaster_--duxbury, john, . west, g. s., . _leamington_--collier, john. kennard, tho., . _leeds_--ashworth, j. h. and a., . dodgson, joseph. jackson, r. lees, f. r., & co., . miles, james. milligan, thomas, . symington, john s., . _leicester_--holyoak, w. h., . murray, frank. spencer, jno. and thos., . _lichfield_--asher, henry, . _liverpool_--gibbons, f. and e. hales & co., . howell, edward. parry & co. potter, william. young, henry, & sons, . _london_--alexander, s., kingsland rd., e. bailey brothers, a newington butts, s.e., . bain, jas., haymarket, s.w. bensberg bros., holloway rd., n. bickers & son, leicester sq., w.c. brown, c. and e., bishop's rd., paddington, w., . buchanan, j., great queen st., w.c. bull & auvache, hart st., w.c. bumpus, edw., holborn bars, w.c. bumpus, john, oxford st., w., . cooper, alf., and king st., hammersmith, w., & newland terrace, high st., kensington, w. cornish, jas., & sons, high holborn, w.c., _c._ . edwards, francis, high st., marylebone, . edwards, thomas, & co., northumberland avenue, w.c. evans, m., & co., charing cross rd., w.c. galwey, john, garrick st., w.c., . garrett, j. e., & co., southampton row, w.c. gladwell, t., - goswell rd., e.c., . glaisher, george, southampton row, w.c., . grose, wm., panton street, haymarket, w., . gunn, james, bedford st., w.c., . hartley, h. h., park st., camden town, n.w., . [_specialité_: th cent. literature.] hayes, t., broke rd., dalston, n.e. herbert, c., goswell rd., e.c. higham, chas., a farringdon st., e.c., . hill, h. r., & son, booksellers' row, w.c., . hindley, c., booksellers' row, w.c. jackson, alb., g. portland st., w. jarvis, j. w., & son, king william st., strand. jones, f. r., ilbert street, queen's park, w. lazarus, s. h., and booksellers' row, w.c. mccaskie, r., iverson rd., n.w. maggs, uriah, church st., paddington gr., w., . maurice, a., & co., st. martin's house, gresham st., e.c. may, edgware rd., w., . may, george h., royal arcade, old bond st., w., . menken, e., bury st., oxford st., w.c. mills, t. b., palace street, buckingham gate, s.w., . myers, a. i., & co., booksellers' row, w.c., . nicholls, wardour st., w. nutt, david, - strand, w.c., . parker, r. j., high holborn, w.c. parsons, e., & sons, brompton rd., s.w., . quaritch, b., piccadilly, w. reader, a., orange st., red lion square, w.c. reeves & turner, strand, w.c., . ridler, w., booksellers' row, w.c. roche, j., new oxford st., w.c., . [_specialité_: standard library editions.] rogers, h. a., hanley rd., strand green, n. sabin, f. t., shaftesbury avenue, w. salisbury, jesse, new court, farringdon street, e.c. salkeld, john, clapham rd., s.w. sandell & smith, city rd., e.c., . selwyn, henry, brompton rd., s.w., _c._ . sotheran, henry, & co., piccadilly and strand. simmons, new oxford st., w.c. streletzki, l., newcastle st., whitechapel, e. westell, j., new oxford st., w.c., . wright, w., cranbourn st. _manchester_--battle, f. cornish, j. e., . maddocks, j. j. [_specialités_: shakespeare, wordsworth, coleridge.] sotheran, henry, & co., . sutton, albert, . " r. h. wilson, james, . wilson, thomas, . _merthyr tydvil_--wilkins, w. _montrose_--davidson, david p. nairn, john, & son. _nairn_--melven brothers. _newcastle-on-tyne_--bond, wm. b., . browne & browne, . thorne, thomas. _northampton_--billingham, wm., . mutton, fred., . taylor & son. _norwich_--hunt, wm., . jarrold & sons. _nottingham_--bryan, george. murray, frank, . _oban_--boyd, thos. [_specialité_: gaelic.] _omagh_--carson, nathaniel, . _oxford_--blackwell, b. h., . gee, w. h. parker & co., jas., _c._ . shrimpton, t., & son, _c._ . slatter & rose. thornton, joseph, & son, . _paisley_--ballantyne, jno., & son, . _penzance_--kinsman, john. _plymouth_--attwood, g. h. _portsmouth_--griffin & co. [naval only]. long, w. h., . trayte, george. _preston_--halewood, william. robinson, henry, . _reading_--the lovejoy library, (miss langley). poynder, e. smith, william, . thorp, thomas, . _retford_--smith, jno. martin, . _richmond, surrey_--hiscoke & son, . palmer, george m. _rochdale_--clegg, james, . _rugby_--lawrence, alf., . over, george e., . _st. neots_--tomson, david rich., . _salisbury_--broadbere, benj. brown & co. simmonds, n., & co., . _scarborough_--hargreaves & inger. yule, john. _sheffield_--warde, thomas. _shrewsbury_--bennett, john. _southampton_--gilbert, h. m. james, t., & co., . _southport_--ashworth, jno., . _stirling_--cook, william b. _stockton-on-tees_--brown, john. _stratford-on-avon_--miss trimming. _stroud, gloucs._--collins, william, . _swansea_--price, thomas, . _taunton_--barnicott & pearce. butland, reuben. _teddington_--miss millard. _tiverton_--masland, wm., _c._ . _torquay_--iredale, andrew, . king, charles. _truro_--clyma, william j. pollard, joseph. _walsall_--robinson, george. _walthamstow_--mayhew, f. _weymouth_--wheeler, harry. _wigan_--starr, james, . _winchester_--warren & son, . _worcester_--humphreys, e. g., . _worksop_--white, robert, . _york_--sampson, john b. =the majority of the undermentioned booksellers are also general booksellers, but their specialities are as indicated.= books on america and the colonies. _bath_--meehan, b. & j. f., . _brighton_--smith, w. j. _bristol_--george's, wm., sons, . _exeter_--commin, james g. _leeds_--ashworth, j. h. and a., . milligan, thomas, . _london_--brentano's, strand, w.c. edwards, francis, high st., marylebone, . gray, henry, leicester sq., w.c. maggs, uriah, church st., paddington gr., w., . petherick, e. a., & co., paternoster row, e.c. [colonial books]. pickering & chatto, haymarket, s.w., . quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. stevens, b. f., trafalgar sq., w.c. stevens, henry, & son, great russell street, w.c. _walthamstow_-­mayhew, f. =auctioneers (book).= _leeds_--symington, john s., . _london_--christie, manson, & woods, king st., s.w. hodgson, h. h., & co., chancery lane, w.c. puttick & simpson, leicester square, w.c. sotheby, wilkinson, & hodge, wellington st., strand, w.c. =autographs=. _barton-on-humber_--ball, h. w. _birmingham_--conway, noel, & co. _colchester_--golding, chas., . _edinburgh_--brown, a. brown, william, . _london_--barker, fred., gunterstone rd., w., . davey, sam. j., gt. russell st., w.c. fawcett, h., king street, covent garden, w.c. pearson, j., & co., pall mall place, s.w. robson & kerslake, coventry st., w., . _teddington_--miss millard. =classics and college books.= _aberdeen_--bisset, jas. g., . _bath_--gregory, george, . _cambridge_--_see_ general. _durham_--slack, john. _edinburgh_--bryce, william, . hossack, t. m., . mackenzie, john, . thin, james, . _glasgow_--sime, w. s., . _leeds_--symington, jno. s., . _liverpool_--howell, edward. parry & co. _oxford_--_see_ general. =fine arts and architecture.= _belfast_--dargan. shone, j., & co. _birmingham_--crees, wm. henry, [water-col. drawings]. downing, william. _bristol_--george, james. _glasgow_--forrester, robert. m'clure, robert, . muir. _ilkley_--watson, wm. _london_--bain, jas., haymarket, s.w. batsford, b. t., high holborn, w.c., [specially architecture, engineering, &c.]. bickers & son, leicester sq. bumpus, edw., holborn bars, w.c. bumpus, john, oxford st., w., . jackson, a., great portland st., w. parsons, e., & sons, brompton rd., s.w., . quaritch, b., piccadilly, w. rimell, j., & son, oxford st., w. selwyn, h., brompton rd., s.w. sotheran, h., & co., piccadilly and strand. ward, william, southampton st., strand. _rugby_--a. j. lawrence. =fine bindings.= _liverpool_--howell, edward. _london_--bickers & son, leicester sq., w.c. bumpus, jno., oxford st., w., . ellis & elvey, new bond st., w. pickering & chatto, haymarket, s.w., . quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. robson & kerslake, coventry st., w., . sotheran, h., & co., piccadilly, and strand. tregaskis, j. & m. l., high holborn, w.c. zaehnsdorf, shaftesbury av., . =first editions of modern books.= [***] _see also_ rare books. _bath_--meehan, b. & j. f., . _birmingham_--baker, edward. hitchman, j., . _bournemouth_--commin, h. g. _burnley_--lupton brothers. _derby_--murray, frank, . _edinburgh_--brown, wm., . stillie, james, . _exeter_--commin, j. g. _leeds_--milligan, thos. _leicester_--murray, frank, . _liverpool_--parry & co. young, hy., & sons, . _london_--bain, jas., haymarket, s.w. bickers & son, leicester sq. bumpus, edw., holborn bars. bumpus, jno., oxford st., w., . dobell, b., charing cross rd. hubbard, j. r., allen terr., high street, kensington. hutt, f. h., clement's inn pass., strand. hutt, wm., hyde st., oxford street, w.c. lachlan, f. c, canonbury road, n., . maggs, uriah, church st., paddington gr., w., . mathews (elkin) & lane (john), vigo st., w. maurice, a., & co., gresham st. may, b., edgware rd., w., . menken, e., bury st., oxford street, w.c. parsons, e., & sons, brompton road, s.w., . pickering & chatto, haymarket, s.w., . robson & kerslake, coventry st., w., . sabin, f. t., shaftesbury avenue, w. spencer, w. t., new oxford street, w.c., . tregaskis, j. & m. l., high holborn, w.c. _nottingham_--murray, frank, . _salisbury_--simmonds, n., & co., . =foreign.= _birmingham_--hector, e., . _cambridge_--deighton, bell & co. _edinburgh_--williams & norgate. young, george adam, & co. _liverpool_--hales & co., . [specialité: spanish books.] _london_--asher & co., . dulau & co., soho sq., w. grevel, h., & co., king st., covent garden, w.c. kolckmann, j. w., langham place, w. luzac & co., great russell street, w.c., . menken, e., bury st., oxford st., w.c. nutt, david, - strand, w.c., . paul (kegan), trench, trübner & co., ld., charing cross road, w.c. siegle, a., lime st., e.c. thimm & co. (franz), brook st., w., . williams & norgate, henrietta street, w.c. =freethought.= _leicester_--holyoak, w. h., . _london_--forder, g., stonecutter st., e.c. watts & co., johnson's ct., fleet st., . _walthamstow_--mayhew, f. =genealogy and heraldry.= _birmingham_--hitchman, j., . _bristol_--george's, wm., sons, . _london_--mitchell & hughes, wardour street, w., . parsons, e., & sons, brompton rd., s.w., . =law.= _edinburgh_--green, wm., & sons, . _london_--amer, r., lincoln's inn gate, w.c., carey st., . the kelly book co., ld., lincoln's inn gate, w.c. king, p. s., & son, king st., westminster [parliamentary papers and books]. reeves & turner, chancery lane, w.c. stevens & sons, ld., - chancery lane, . sweet & maxwell, ld., chancery lane. wildy & sons, lincoln's inn archway, w.c., . =music.= _birmingham_--thistlewood, a. _london_--gladwell, thos., - goswell rd., e.c. reeves, wm., fleet st., e.c. salisbury, j., new court, farringdon st., e.c., . =natural history.= _bath_--marsden, herbt. w., . _colchester_--harwood, wm. h. (private dealer). _exeter_--commin, james g. _london_--bain, jas., haymarket. bickers & son, leicester sq., w.c. irvine, j., upper manor st., chelsea, . maurice, a., & co., gresham st. porter, r. h., princes st., cavendish sq., w., . quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. sotheran, h., & co., piccadilly, and strand. wesley, w., & son, essex st., strand, w.c. wheldon, j., great queen street, w.c., . =numismatics.= _colchester_--forster, thos., . golding, chas., . _inverness_--snowie, wm. m., . _london_--quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. =odd vols. and back nos.= _london_--baxter, sam., paternoster row, e.c. dent, w., southampton rd., kentish town, n.w. george, e., whitechapel road, e. platnauer, fetter lane, e.c. =oriental literature.= _london_--allen, w. h., & co., ld., waterloo place, s.w. quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. _see also_ luzac, nutt, williams & norgate, _under_ foreign. =quakers.= _fritchley, derby_--wake, h. t., . _london_--hicks, e., _jun._, bishopsgate st., e.c. smith, joseph, oxford st., whitechapel, . =rare books. early-printed books.= _bath_--gregory, geo., . meehan, b. & j. f., . _belfast_--dargan. _brighton_--bohn, jno. smith, w. j. toon, thomas. _edinburgh_--brown, wm., . johnston, geo. p., . stillie, james, . _glasgow_--kerr & richardson, . _liverpool_--young, h., & sons, . _london_--bain, jas., haymarket, s.w. ellis & elvey, new bond street, w. harvey, frcs., st. james's st., s.w. leighton, j. & j., brewer st., golden sq., w. maggs, uriah, paddington green, w. nattali, h. c., bedford st., strand, w.c., . nutt, david, - strand, w.c., . pearson, j., & co., pall mall place, s.w. pickering & chatto, haymarket, s.w., . quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. robson & kerslake, coventry street, w., . sabin, f. t., shaftesbury avenue, w. sotheran, h., & co., piccadilly, and strand. tregaskis, j. and m. l., high holborn, w.c. ="remainders."= _edinburgh_--grant, john. _exeter_--commin, j. g. _london_--avery, e., greek st., soho, . gibbings, w. w., bury st., w.c. (trade only.) glaisher, wm., high holborn, w.c., . herbert, c., goswell rd., e.c. miles, t., & co., upper st., islington, n. reeves & turner, strand, w.c. smith, w. h., & son, strand, w.c. [***] _most general booksellers also deal in "remainders" now._ =roman catholic.= _london_--baker, thos., soho sq., w., . burns & oates, ld., orchard st., w. washbourne, r., paternoster row, e.c., . _see also_ theology. =science and medicine.= _aberdeen_--bisset, jas. g., . _birmingham_--hector, e., . _cambridge_--_see_ general. _edinburgh_--bryce, wm., . clay, w. f. [_specialité_: chemistry and allied sciences.] livingstone, e. and s., . pentland, young j. thin, james, . _glasgow_--sime, w. s., . stenhouse, alex., . _liverpool_--howell, edward. _london_--kimpton, rich., wardour st., w. lewis, h. k., gower st., w.c., . pentland, young j., west smithfield, e.c. poole, jos., & co., booksellers' row, w.c., . _oxford_--_see_ general. =shorthand.= _edinburgh_--mackay. _london_--mccaskie, r., iverson rd., n.w. =sports and rural books.= _bradford_--miles, thomas, . _exeter_--commin, james g. _kelso_--rutherford, j. and j. h., . _london_--robson & kerslake, coventry st., w., . pickering & chatto, haymarket, s.w., . spencer, w. j., new oxford st., w.c., . toovey, jas., piccadilly, w. wheldon, j., great queen street, w.c., . _york_--sampson, john b. =surplus library books.= _edinburgh_--douglas & foulis. grant & son. macniven & wallace, . _glasgow_--bryce, david, & son. maclehose & sons, . _london_--cawthorn & hutt, cockspur st., s.w., . day, john, & son, mount st., w., . mudie's select library, ld., - new oxford st., w.c., . smith, w. h., & son, strand. _manchester_--mudie's select lib. co., ld. =temperance.= _leeds_--lees, f. r., & co., . =theatre.= _london_--kornman, f., high holborn, w.c., . suckling & galloway, garrick st., w.c., . =theology.= _aberdeen_--milne, a. and r., . murray, jas. _barton-on-humber_--ball, h. w. _bath_--gregory, geo., . _birmingham_--crees, w. h., . _bournemouth_--commin, h. g. _bristol_--fawn, jas., & son. george's, wm., sons, . _burton-on-trent_--waller, thos. _cambridge_--johnson, elijah. _devonport_--clarke, josiah, & sons. _durham_--slack, jno. _edinburgh_--dunn, jas., . elliot, andrew, . hunter, r. w. (successor to gemmell, ). mackenzie, john, . macniven & wallace. thin, jas., . young, geo. adam, & co. _ely_--creak, w. b. _exeter_--drayton, s., & sons. _hull_--annandale, r. c. _liverpool_--parry & co. _london_--baker, thos., soho sq., w., . barton, jno., st. george's rd., s.e. bull & auvache, hart st., w.c. cooper, alfred--_see_ general. dickinson, r. d., farringdon st., e.c., . harding, geo., hyde st., oxford st., w.c. harper, wm., tabernacle st., e.c., . higham, c., a farringdon st., e.c., . [_specialité_: hymnology.] sandell & smith, city rd., e.c., . skeffington & son, piccadilly, w. westell, j., new oxford st., w.c., . _nairn_--melven brothers. _northampton_--billingham, wm., . _oxford_--parker & co., jas., _c._ . _worcester_--humphreys, e. g., . =theosophy & occultism.= _edinburgh_--thomson brothers, . _glasgow_--thomson & co., . _london_--burns, j., southampton row, w.c. dobell, b., charing cross rd., w.c. foulsham, w., pilgrim st., e.c. maggs, uriah, church st., paddington green, w., . menken, e., bury st., oxford st., w.c. =topography & antiquities.= _aberdeen_--wyllie, d., & son, _c._ . murray, jas. _barton-on-humber_--ball, hy. w. _bath_--gregory, geo., . meehan, b. & j. f., . _belfast_--shone, j., & co. _birmingham_--downing, william. hitchman, john, . _bournemouth_--commin, h. g. _bradford_--miles, thos., . _brechin_--black & johnston, . _brighton_--smith, w. j. _bristol_--fawn, jas., & son. george's, wm., sons, . _cambridge_--macmillan & bowes. _canterbury_--goulden, w. e. _colchester_--forster, thos., . golding, chas., . _cork_--massey, nassau, . _devonport_--clarke, josiah, & sons. _dublin_--carson brothers. traynor, patrick, . weldrick, j. f. _dundee_--maxwell, alex. petrie, geo., . _durham_--slack, jno. _edinburgh_--brown, wm., . cameron, rich., . clay, w. f. stillie, james, . _exeter_--commin, j. g. drayton, s., & sons. _glasgow_--mcclure, rob., . _gravesend_--ridgway, alf., . _guildford_--farnfield, s., & co. _hull_--annandale, r. c. _inverness_--noble, j., [also gaelic books]. _ipswich_--read & barrett, . _kelso_--rutherford, j. & j. h., . _leamington_--kennard, tos., . _leeds_--ashworth, j. h. & a., . milligan, thomas, . symington, john s., . _leicester_--murray, frank, . spencer, jno. and thos., . _liverpool_--howell, edward. young, henry, & sons, . _london_--bain, jas., haymarket, s.w. bickers & son, leicester sq. daniell, w. v., mortimer st., w. ellington, robert, fitzroy st., w. gray, henry, leicester sq., w.c. harding, george, hyde st., oxford st., w.c. leighton, j. and j., brewer st., golden sq., w. maggs, uriah, church st., paddington gr., w., . millard, miss, teddington, w. nield, jon, great russell st., w.c. palmer, c. s., southampton row, w.c., . parsons, e., & sons, brompton rd., s.w., . quaritch, bernard, piccadilly, w. ridler, w., booksellers' row, w.c. rimell, j., & son, oxford st., w.c. sotheran, h., & co., piccadilly and strand. toovey, jas., piccadilly, w. _nairn_--melven brothers. _northampton_--taylor & son. _norwich_--hunt, wm., . jarrold & sons. _oxford_--parker & co., jas., _c._ . shrimpton, t., & son, _c._ . _penzance_--kinsman, john. _rochdale_--clegg, james, . _salisbury_--brown & co. _stirling_--cook, william b. _torquay_--iredale, andrew. king, charles. _worksop_--white, robert, . _york_--sampson, john b. travel. _bath_--meehan, b. & j. f., . _bristol_--george's, wm., sons, . _london_--bain, jas., haymarket, s.w. bickers & son, leicester sq., w.c. maggs, uriah, church st., paddington gr., w., . spink & son, the oldest established dealers in coins and medals, , gracechurch street, cornhill, london, e.c. list of a few specialities on view and for sale. gold. =nobles.= edward iii. edward iv. from £ half do. " " " quarter do. " " =angels.= edwd. iv. henry vii. henry viii. " =sovereigns.= elizabeth. " half do. " " quarter do. " " =sovereigns.= james i. charles i. " half do. " " " quarter do. " " " =sovereigns.= commonwealth " half do. " " quarter do. " " =five guinea pieces.= various reigns " two guinea do. " " guineas " " half do. " " quarter do. geo. i. geo. iii. " seven shilling pieces " greek staters and divisions, prices on application roman aurei " jubilee coins at close prices " silver. early pennies. ethelred ii. various mints from canute " " william i. " " henry ii. & iii. " (_long or short cross_) " edward i. & ii. " " groats. edward iii. " edward iv. " henry v., vi., vii., viii. " o crowns. half-crowns. shillings. sixpences. charles i. from /- from / from / from d. charles ii. " / " / " / " / james ii. " / " / " / " / william & mary /- " / " /- " / [p.t.o. e. sumner's naturalists' stores, oxford st., london, w. the kensington insectarium. [illustration: patented.] the kensington reptilarium. this most ingenious invention is designed for the rearing of all living objects of natural history, and is of the greatest assistance in the scientific study (under the most favourable conditions) of the wonderful economy and transformation of nature, and so constructed as to enable the specimen to develop to the fullest perfection. =no. =, as illustrated, is a ventilated lid or cover, with deep rim (which fits inside of glass case, no. ), deep enough to prevent larvæ from spinning on the glass, thus allowing the cover, with cocoons and pupæ attached, to be removed for inspection, or stored away in large cages until they emerge. =no. =, glass case, which permits the full power of light to freely enter on all parts of the specimens from every point of view. =no. =, the base (which the case no. fits into) is made to contain earth for the growing of plants, or for the use of those insects who bury during pupa state. the bottom of the base is perforated to allow the air to pass through the case, thus preventing over-heating, steaming, or mildew of the specimens, earth, or plants, which is very difficult to prevent in other forms of cases. =no. =, is a small movable pot to contain water in which the stems of food plants may be placed that cannot be grown in the case, such as the cuttings of trees, etc., which last for a considerable time in this case. the pot has a perforated india-rubber cover to prevent the larvæ from entering the water. height. diameter. price. | height. diameter. price. in. - / in. /-| in. - / in. / in. - / in. / | in. - / in. / in. - / in. /-| in. - / in. / note.--_the various parts are supplied separately._ e. sumner, oxford street, london, w. e. sumner's naturalists' stores. =the largest and cheapest establishment in the world for every description of natural history apparatus, etc.= ---------------------------------------------------------------------- {british and foreign birds, eggs, and nests; ornithological {aviaries, cages, and parrot stands for the department. {drawing room, conservatory, or garden; {wirework of every description. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- {larvæ and pupæ of lepidoptera; scientific entomological {insect cabinets, cases, setting boards, cork, department. {killing bottles, spinning wheels, silkworms, {butterflies and moths. {=kensington insectarium, / , / , / .= ---------------------------------------------------------------------- {gold fish, carp, roach, tench, dace, golden piscatorial {orfe, minnows, snails, beetles and water department. {plants; aquariums, globes, fountains, rocks, {cork models, swiss chalets, running windmills, {nets and syphons. {=sumner's fish food, d. pkt. ants' eggs, d. pt.= ---------------------------------------------------------------------- {snakes, slowworms, lizards, chameleons, reptilian {land and water tortoises, etc., in great department. {variety from all parts of the globe. {=kensington reptilarium, /-, / , / , / .= ---------------------------------------------------------------------- {green tree frogs, fire frogs, common and amphibian {edible frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, department. {etc. {mexican axoloti of every description. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- experienced workmen in all branches kept on the premises for special orders, etc. books and every requisite for all branches of natural history. =watkins & doncaster= naturalists, , strand, w.c. london. (_five doors from charing cross._) every description of apparatus and cabinets of the best make for entomology and general natural history, &c. wire or cane ring net and stick, s. d., s., and s. d. umbrella net (self-acting), s. d. pocket folding net (wire or cane), s. d. and s. d. corked pocket boxes, d., d., s. and s. d. zinc relaxing boxes, d., s., s. d. and s. chip boxes, nested, doz., d. entomological pins, mixed, s. per oz. pocket lantern, s. d. to s., napthaline, - / d. per oz. sugaring tin (with brush), s. d. and s. best killing bottles, s. d. store boxes, s. d., s., s., and s. setting boards, from d.; complete set, s. d. setting houses., s. d., s. d., and s. larva boxes, d., s., s. d. breeding cages, s. d., s., and s. finest stock of british and foreign butterflies, beetles, birds' eggs, &c., in the kingdom. throughout the winter and early spring, a large stock of live pupae of british and foreign butterflies and moths, including the gigantic atlas and other exotic moths. collections of natural-history objects, carefully named and arranged. new and second-hand works on entomology. label lists of every description. the complete label list of british lepidoptera (latin and english names), s. d., post free. one each of all the british butterflies in a case, s. a magnificent assortment of preserved caterpillars always in stock. birds and animals stuffed and mounted in the best style by skilled workmen on the premises. _a full catalogue sent post free on application._ james gardner, manufacturer of all kinds of entomological apparatus, , oxford street, =dealer in insects, birds' eggs, skins. &c.= plain ring net, cane or wire, s. umbrella net, s. d., s. d., s. d., and s. d. folding nets, cane or iron, s. d. pocket box, wood, d. and s. ditto, metal, s. d. and s. store box, s. d., s. d., s., s., and s. larva box, s. larva cage, s. d., s., s. d., and s. sugaring tin, s., s. d., s., and s. d. entomological pins, from s. per ounce, assorted or mixed. willow chip box, four sizes, nested, the packet of four dozen, d. setting boards, d. to s.; a complete set, s. all articles guaranteed. _exchanged if not approved of._ price lists on application. , oxford street. * * * * * transcriber's notes the book does not have a table of contents; one has been added by the transcriber. seven [oe] ligatures have been simplified to oe. the reversed-c symbol is indicated by [c]. the following obvious typos have been corrected: p. "défense de la reformation" has been changed to "défense de la réformation". p. after "in a double sense" a period has been added. p. "specime nof" has been amended to "specimen of". p. "momento" has been amended to "memento". p. "specialites" has been amended to "specialities". other possible typos (for example "caligraphy" on p. , "horde" on p. and "neither have succeeded" on p. ) have been left unchanged as they may reflect the spelling choice of the author. variations in hyphenation have been retained as in the original. the asterism symbol on pages , and is indicated by [***]. the three advertisement pages at the start of the book have been moved to the end, to follow other advertisements. the love of books the philobiblon of richard de bury translated into english by e. c. thomas "take thou a book into thine hands as simon the just took the child jesus into his arms to carry him and kiss him. and when thou hast finished reading, close the book and give thanks for every word out of the mouth of god; because in the lord's field thou hast found a hidden treasure." thomas a kempis: doctrinale juvenum preface the author of the book. richard de bury ( - ), so called from being born near bury st. edmunds, was the son of sir richard aungerville. he studied at oxford; and was subsequently chosen to be tutor to prince edward of windsor, afterwards edward iii. his loyalty to the cause of queen isabella and the prince involved him in danger. on the accession of his pupil he was made successively cofferer, treasurer of the wardrobe, archdeacon of northampton, prebendary of lincoln, sarum, and lichfield, keeper of the privy purse, ambassador on two occasions to pope john xxii, who appointed him a chaplain of the papal chapel, dean of wells, and ultimately, at the end of the year , bishop of durham; the king and queen, the king of scots, and all the magnates north of the trent, together with a multitude of nobles and many others, were present at his enthronization. it is noteworthy that during his stay at avignon, probably in , he made the acquaintance of petrarch, who has left us a brief account of their intercourse. in richard visited cambridge, as one of the king's commissioners, to inquire into the state of the king's scholars there, and perhaps then became a member of the gild of st. mary--one of the two gilds which founded corpus christi college. in he became high chancellor of england, and treasurer in , resigning the former office in , so that he might help the king in dealing with affairs abroad and in scotland, and took a most distinguished part in diplomatic negociations between england and france. in he was again in his bishopric. thereafter his name occurs often among those appointed to treat of peace with philip of france, and with bruce of scotland. it appears that he was not in parliament in . wasted by long sickness--longa infirmitate decoctus--on the th of april, , richard de bury died at auckland, and was buried in durham cathedral. dominus ricardus de bury migravit ad dominum. the bishop as booklover. according to the concluding note, the philobiblon was completed on the bishop's fifty-eighth birthday, the th of january, , so that even though weakened by illness, richard must have been actively engaged in his literary efforts to the very end of his generous and noble life. his enthusiastic devoted biographer chambre[ ] gives a vivid account of the bishop's bookloving propensities, supplementary to what can be gathered from the philobiblon itself. iste summe delectabatur in multitudine librorum; he had more books, as was commonly reported, than all the other english bishops put together. he had a separate library in each of his residences, and wherever he was residing, so many books lay about his bed-chamber, that it was hardly possible to stand or move without treading upon them. all the time he could spare from business was devoted either to religious offices or to his books. every day while at table he would have a book read to him, unless some special guest were present, and afterwards would engage in discussion on the subject of the reading. the haughty anthony bec delighted in the appendages of royalty--to be addressed by nobles kneeling, and to be waited on in his presence-chamber and at his table by knights bare-headed and standing; but de bury loved to surround himself with learned scholars. among these were such men as thomas bradwardine, afterwards archbishop of canterbury, and author of the de causa dei; richard fitzralph, afterwards archbishop of armagh, and famous for his hostility to the mendicant orders; walter burley, who dedicated to him a translation of the politics of aristotle made at his suggestion; john mauduit, the astronomer; robert holkot, author of many books; richard de kilvington; richard benworth, afterwards bishop of london; and walter seagrave, who became dean of chichester."[ ] [ ] cp. surtees society's edition of scriptores tres; also wharton's anglia sacra. [ ] an unsuccessful attempt has been made to transfer the authorship of the book to robert holkot. various theories have been advanced against richard's claims. it is noteworthy that his contemporary adam murimuth disparages him as "mediocriter literatus, volens tamen magnus clericus reputari," but such disparagement must be taken with the utmost caution. the really difficult fact to be accounted for is the omission on the part of chambre to mention the book. the bishop's books. in the philobiblon, richard de bury frankly and clearly describes his means and method of collecting books. anyhow his object was clearly not selfish. the treatise contains his rules for the library of the new college at oxford--durham college (where trinity college now stands)--which he practically founded, though his successor, bishop hatfield, carried the scheme into effect. it is traditionally reported that richard's books were sent, in his lifetime or after his death, to the house of the durham benedictines at oxford, and there remained until the dissolution of the college by henry viii., when they were dispersed, some going into duke humphrey's (the university) library, others to balliol college, and the remainder passing into the hands of dr. george owen, who purchased the site of the dissolved college.[ ] [ ] mr. j. w. clark puts the matter as follows:--"durham college, maintained by the benedictines of durham, was supplied with books from the mother-house, lists of which have been preserved; and subsequently a library was built there to contain the collection bequeathed in by richard de bury" (the care of books, p. ). mr. thomas points out that de bury's executors sold at least some portion of his books; and, moreover, his biographer says nothing of a library at oxford. possibly the scheme was never carried out. in the british museum (roy. d. iv. ) is a large folio ms. of the works of john of salisbury, which was one of the books bought back from the bishop's executors. unfortunately, the "special catalogue" of his books prepared by richard has not come down to us; but "from his own book and from the books cited in the works of his friends and housemates, who may reasonably be supposed to have drawn largely from the bishop's collection, it would be possible to restore a hypothetical but not improbable bibliotheca ricardi de bury. the difficulty would be with that contemporary literature, which they would think below the dignity of quotation, but which we know the bishop collected." early editions of the philobiblon. the book was first printed at cologne in , at spires in , and at paris in . the first english edition appeared in - , edited by thomas james, bodley's first librarian. other editions appeared in germany in , , and ; at paris in ; at albany in . the texts were, with the exception of those issued in and , based on the edition; though the french edition and translation of , prepared by m. cocheris, claimed to be a critical version, it left the text untouched, and merely gave the various readings of the three paris manuscripts at the foot of the pages; these readings are moreover badly chosen, and the faults of the version are further to be referred to the use of the ill-printed edition as copy. in there appeared an anonymous english translation, now known to have been by j. b. inglis; it followed the edition of , with all its errors and inaccuracies. mr. e. c. thomas' text.--the first true text of the philobiblon, the result of a careful examination of twenty-eight mss., and of the various printed editions, appeared in the year : "the philobiblon of richard de bury, bishop of durham, treasurer and chancellor of edward iii, edited and translated by ernest c. thomas, barrister-at-law, late scholar of trinity college, oxford, and librarian of the oxford union. london: kegan paul, trench, & co." for fifteen years the enthusiastic editor--an ideal bibliophile--had toiled at his labour of love, and his work was on all sides received with the recognition due to his monumental achievement. to the great loss of english learning, he did not long survive the conclusion of his labours. the very limited edition of the work was soon exhausted, and it is by the most generous permission of his father, mr. john thomas, of lower broughton, manchester, that the translation--the only trustworthy rendering of richard de bury's precious treatise--is now, for the first time, made accessible to the larger book-loving public, and fittingly inaugurates the present series of english classics. the general editor desires to express his best thanks to mr. john thomas, as also to messrs. kegan paul, for their kindness in allowing him to avail himself of the materials included in the edition of the work. he has attempted, in the brief preface and notes, to condense mr. thomas' labours in such a way as would have been acceptable to the lamented scholar, and though he has made bold to explain some few textual difficulties, and to add some few references, he would fain hope that these additions have been made with modest caution--with the reverence due to the unstinted toil of a bibliophile after richard de bury's own pattern. yet once again richard de bury's philobiblon, edited and translated into english by e. c. thomas, is presented to new generations of book-lovers:--"librorum dilectoribus." the philobiblon newly translated prologue i that the treasure of wisdom is chiefly contained in books ii the degree of affection that is properly due to books iii what we are to think of the price in the buying of books iv the complaint of books against the clergy already promoted v the complaint of books against the possessioners vi the complaint of books against the mendicants vii the complaint of books against wars viii of the numerous opportunities we have had of collecting a store of books ix how, although we preferred the works of the ancients, we have not condemned the studies of the moderns x of the gradual perfecting of books xi why we have preferred books of liberal learning to books of law xii why we have caused books of grammar to be so diligently prepared xiii why we have not wholly neglected the fables of the poets xiv who ought to be special lovers of books xv of the advantages of the love of books xvi that it is meritorious to write new books and to renew the old xvii of showing due propriety in the custody of books xviii showeth that we have collected so great store of books for the common benefit of scholars and not only for our own pleasure xix of the manner of lending all our books to students xx an exhortation to scholars to requite us by pious prayers prologue to all the faithful of christ to whom the tenor of these presents may come, richard de bury, by the divine mercy bishop of durham, wisheth everlasting salvation in the lord and to present continually a pious memorial of himself before god, alike in his lifetime and after his death. what shall i render unto the lord for all his benefits towards me? asks the most devout psalmist, an invincible king and first among the prophets; in which most grateful question he approves himself a willing thank-offerer, a multifarious debtor, and one who wishes for a holier counsellor than himself: agreeing with aristotle, the chief of philosophers, who shows (in the rd and th books of his ethics) that all action depends upon counsel. and indeed if so wonderful a prophet, having a fore-knowledge of divine secrets, wished so anxiously to consider how he might gratefully repay the blessings graciously bestowed, what can we fitly do, who are but rude thanksgivers and most greedy receivers, laden with infinite divine benefits? assuredly we ought with anxious deliberation and abundant consideration, having first invoked the sevenfold spirit, that it may burn in our musings as an illuminating fire, fervently to prepare a way without hinderance, that the bestower of all things may be cheerfully worshipped in return for the gifts that he has bestowed, that our neighbour may be relieved of his burden, and that the guilt contracted by sinners every day may be redeemed by the atonement of almsgiving. forewarned therefore through the admonition of the psalmist's devotion by him who alone prevents and perfects the goodwill of man, without whom we have no power even so much as to think, and whose gift we doubt not it is, if we have done anything good, we have diligently inquired and considered in our own heart as well as with others, what among the good offices of various works of piety would most please the almighty, and would be more beneficial to the church militant. and lo! there soon occurred to our contemplation a host of unhappy, nay, rather of elect scholars, in whom god the creator and nature his handmaid planted the roots of excellent morals and of famous sciences, but whom the poverty of their circumstances so oppressed that before the frown of adverse fortune the seeds of excellence, so fruitful in the cultivated field of youth, not being watered by the rain that they require, are forced to wither away. thus it happens that "bright virtue lurks buried in obscurity," to use the words of boethius, and burning lights are not put under a bushel, but for want of oil are utterly extinguished. thus the field, so full of flower in spring, has withered up before harvest time; thus wheat degenerates to tares, and vines into the wild vines, and thus olives run into the wild olive; the tender stems rot away altogether, and those who might have grown up into strong pillars of the church, being endowed with the capacity of a subtle intellect, abandon the schools of learning. with poverty only as their stepmother, they are repelled violently from the nectared cup of philosophy as soon as they have tasted of it and have become more fiercely thirsty by the very taste. though fit for the liberal arts and disposed to study the sacred writings alone, being deprived of the aid of their friends, by a kind of apostasy they return to the mechanical arts solely to gain a livelihood, to the loss of the church and the degradation of the whole clergy. thus mother church conceiving sons is compelled to miscarry, nay, some misshapen monster is born untimely from her womb, and for lack of that little with which nature is contented, she loses excellent pupils, who might afterwards become champions and athletes of the faith. alas, how suddenly the woof is cut, while the hand of the weaver is beginning his work! alas, how the sun is eclipsed in the brightness of the dawn, and the planet in its course is hurled backwards, and, while it bears the nature and likeness of a star suddenly drops and becomes a meteor! what more piteous sight can the pious man behold? what can more sharply stir the bowels of his pity? what can more easily melt a heart hard as an anvil into hot tears? on the other hand, let us recall from past experience how much it has profited the whole christian commonwealth, not indeed to enervate students with the delights of a sardanapalus or the riches of a croesus, but rather to support them in their poverty with the frugal means that become the scholar. how many have we seen with our eyes, how many have we read of in books, who, distinguished by no pride of birth, and rejoicing in no rich inheritance, but supported only by the piety of the good, have made their way to apostolic chairs, have most worthily presided over faithful subjects, have bent the necks of the proud and lofty to the ecclesiastical yoke and have extended further the liberties of the church! accordingly, having taken a survey of human necessities in every direction, with a view to bestow our charity upon them, our compassionate inclinations have chosen to bear pious aid to this calamitous class of men, in whom there is nevertheless such hope of advantage to the church, and to provide for them, not only in respect of things necessary to their support, but much more in respect of the books so useful to their studies. to this end, most acceptable in the sight of god, our attention has long been unweariedly devoted. this ecstatic love has carried us away so powerfully, that we have resigned all thoughts of other earthly things, and have given ourselves up to a passion for acquiring books. that our intent and purpose, therefore, may be known to posterity as well as to our contemporaries, and that we may for ever stop the perverse tongues of gossipers as far as we are concerned, we have published a little treatise written in the lightest style of the moderns; for it is ridiculous to find a slight matter treated of in a pompous style. and this treatise (divided into twenty chapters) will clear the love we have had for books from the charge of excess, will expound the purpose of our intense devotion, and will narrate more clearly than light all the circumstances of our undertaking. and because it principally treats of the love of books, we have chosen, after the fashion of the ancient romans, fondly to name it by a greek word, philobiblon. chapter i that the treasure of wisdom is chiefly contained in books the desirable treasure of wisdom and science, which all men desire by an instinct of nature, infinitely surpasses all the riches of the world; in respect of which precious stones are worthless; in comparison with which silver is as clay and pure gold is as a little sand; at whose splendour the sun and moon are dark to look upon; compared with whose marvellous sweetness honey and manna are bitter to the taste. o value of wisdom that fadeth not away with time, virtue ever flourishing, that cleanseth its possessor from all venom! o heavenly gift of the divine bounty, descending from the father of lights, that thou mayest exalt the rational soul to the very heavens! thou art the celestial nourishment of the intellect, which those who eat shall still hunger and those who drink shall still thirst, and the gladdening harmony of the languishing soul which he that hears shall never be confounded. thou art the moderator and rule of morals, which he who follows shall not sin. by thee kings reign and princes decree justice. by thee, rid of their native rudeness, their minds and tongues being polished, the thorns of vice being torn up by the roots, those men attain high places of honour, and become fathers of their country, and companions of princes, who without thee would have melted their spears into pruning-hooks and ploughshares, or would perhaps be feeding swine with the prodigal. where dost thou chiefly lie hidden, o most elect treasure! and where shall thirsting souls discover thee? certes, thou hast placed thy tabernacle in books, where the most high, the light of lights, the book of life, has established thee. there everyone who asks receiveth thee, and everyone who seeks finds thee, and to everyone that knocketh boldly it is speedily opened. therein the cherubim spread out their wings, that the intellect of the students may ascend and look from pole to pole, from the east and west, from the north and from the south. therein the mighty and incomprehensible god himself is apprehensibly contained and worshipped; therein is revealed the nature of things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal; therein are discerned the laws by which every state is administered, the offices of the celestial hierarchy are distinguished, and the tyrannies of demons described, such as neither the ideas of plato transcend, nor the chair of crato contained. in books i find the dead as if they were alive; in books i foresee things to come; in books warlike affairs are set forth; from books come forth the laws of peace. all things are corrupted and decay in time; saturn ceases not to devour the children that he generates; all the glory of the world would be buried in oblivion, unless god had provided mortals with the remedy of books. alexander, the conqueror of the earth, julius, the invader of rome and of the world, who, the first in war and arts, assumed universal empire under his single rule, faithful fabricius and stern cato, would now have been unknown to fame, if the aid of books had been wanting. towers have been razed to the ground; cities have been overthrown; triumphal arches have perished from decay; nor can either pope or king find any means of more easily conferring the privilege of perpetuity than by books. the book that he has made renders its author this service in return, that so long as the book survives its author remains immortal and cannot die, as ptolemy declares in the prologue to his almagest: he is not dead, he says, who has given life to science. who therefore will limit by anything of another kind the price of the infinite treasure of books, from which the scribe who is instructed bringeth forth things new and old? truth that triumphs over all things, which overcomes the king, wine, and women, which it is reckoned holy to honour before friendship, which is the way without turning and the life without end, which holy boethius considers to be threefold in thought, speech, and writing, seems to remain more usefully and to fructify to greater profit in books. for the meaning of the voice perishes with the sound; truth latent in the mind is wisdom that is hid and treasure that is not seen; but truth which shines forth in books desires to manifest itself to every impressionable sense. it commends itself to the sight when it is read, to the hearing when it is heard, and moreover in a manner to the touch, when it suffers itself to be transcribed, bound, corrected, and preserved. the undisclosed truth of the mind, although it is the possession of the noble soul, yet because it lacks a companion, is not certainly known to be delightful, while neither sight nor hearing takes account of it. further the truth of the voice is patent only to the ear and eludes the sight, which reveals to us more of the qualities of things, and linked with the subtlest of motions begins and perishes as it were in a breath. but the written truth of books, not transient but permanent, plainly offers itself to be observed, and by means of the pervious spherules of the eyes, passing through the vestibule of perception and the courts of imagination, enters the chamber of intellect, taking its place in the couch of memory, where it engenders the eternal truth of the mind. finally we must consider what pleasantness of teaching there is in books, how easy, how secret! how safely we lay bare the poverty of human ignorance to books without feeling any shame! they are masters who instruct us without rod or ferule, without angry words, without clothes or money. if you come to them they are not asleep; if you ask and inquire of them they do not withdraw themselves; they do not chide if you make mistakes; they do not laugh at you if you are ignorant. o books, who alone are liberal and free, who give to all who ask of you and enfranchise all who serve you faithfully! by how many thousand types are ye commended to learned men in the scriptures given us by inspiration of god! for ye are the minds of profoundest wisdom, to which the wise man sends his son that he may dig out treasures: prov. ii. ye are the wells of living waters, which father abraham first digged, isaac digged again, and which the philistines strive to fill up: gen. xxvi. ye are indeed the most delightful ears of corn, full of grain, to be rubbed only by apostolic hands, that the sweetest food may be produced for hungry souls: matt. xii. ye are the golden pots in which manna is stored, and rocks flowing with honey, nay, combs of honey, most plenteous udders of the milk of life, garners ever full; ye are the tree of life and the fourfold river of paradise, by which the human mind is nourished, and the thirsty intellect is watered and refreshed. ye are the ark of noah and the ladder of jacob, and the troughs by which the young of those who look therein are coloured; ye are the stones of testimony and the pitchers holding the lamps of gideon, the scrip of david, from which the smoothest stones are taken for the slaying of goliath. ye are the golden vessels of the temple, the arms of the soldiers of the church with which to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, fruitful olives, vines of engadi, fig-trees that are never barren, burning lamps always to be held in readiness--and all the noblest comparisons of scripture may be applied to books, if we choose to speak in figures. chapter ii the degree of affection that is properly due to books since the degree of affection a thing deserves depends upon the degree of its value, and the previous chapter shows that the value of books is unspeakable, it is quite clear to the reader what is the probable conclusion from this. i say probable, for in moral science we do not insist upon demonstration, remembering that the educated man seeks such degree of certainty as he perceives the subject-matter will bear, as aristotle testifies in the first book of his ethics. for tully does not appeal to euclid, nor does euclid rely upon tully. this at all events we endeavour to prove, whether by logic or rhetoric, that all riches and all delights whatsoever yield place to books in the spiritual mind, wherein the spirit which is charity ordereth charity. now in the first place, because wisdom is contained in books more than all mortals understand, and wisdom thinks lightly of riches, as the foregoing chapter declares. furthermore, aristotle, in his problems, determines the question, why the ancients proposed prizes to the stronger in gymnastic and corporeal contests, but never awarded any prize for wisdom. this question he solves as follows: in gymnastic exercises the prize is better and more desirable than that for which it is bestowed; but it is certain that nothing is better than wisdom: wherefore no prize could be assigned for wisdom. and therefore neither riches nor delights are more excellent than wisdom. again, only the fool will deny that friendship is to be preferred to riches, since the wisest of men testifies this; but the chief of philosophers honours truth before friendship, and the truthful zorobabel prefers it to all things. riches, then, are less than truth. now truth is chiefly maintained and contained in holy books--nay, they are written truth itself, since by books we do not now mean the materials of which they are made. wherefore riches are less than books, especially as the most precious of all riches are friends, as boethius testifies in the second book of his consolation; to whom the truth of books according to aristotle is to be preferred. moreover, since we know that riches first and chiefly appertain to the support of the body only, while the virtue of books is the perfection of reason, which is properly speaking the happiness of man, it appears that books to the man who uses his reason are dearer than riches. furthermore, that by which the faith is more easily defended, more widely spread, more clearly preached, ought to be more desirable to the faithful. but this is the truth written in books, which our saviour plainly showed, when he was about to contend stoutly against the tempter, girding himself with the shield of truth and indeed of written truth, declaring "it is written" of what he was about to utter with his voice. and, again, no one doubts that happiness is to be preferred to riches. but happiness consists in the operation of the noblest and diviner of the faculties that we possess--when the whole mind is occupied in contemplating the truth of wisdom, which is the most delectable of all our virtuous activities, as the prince of philosophers declares in the tenth book of the ethics, on which account it is that philosophy is held to have wondrous pleasures in respect of purity and solidity, as he goes on to say. but the contemplation of truth is never more perfect than in books, where the act of imagination perpetuated by books does not suffer the operation of the intellect upon the truths that it has seen to suffer interruption. wherefore books appear to be the most immediate instruments of speculative delight, and therefore aristotle, the sun of philosophic truth, in considering the principles of choice, teaches that in itself to philosophize is more desirable than to be rich, although in certain cases, as where for instance one is in need of necessaries, it may be more desirable to be rich than to philosophize. moreover, since books are the aptest teachers, as the previous chapter assumes, it is fitting to bestow on them the honour and the affection that we owe to our teachers. in fine, since all men naturally desire to know, and since by means of books we can attain the knowledge of the ancients, which is to be desired beyond all riches, what man living according to nature would not feel the desire of books? and although we know that swine trample pearls under foot, the wise man will not therefore be deterred from gathering the pearls that lie before him. a library of wisdom, then, is more precious than all wealth, and all things that are desirable cannot be compared to it. whoever therefore claims to be zealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom or knowledge, aye, even of the faith, must needs become a lover of books. chapter iii what we are to think of the price in the buying of books from what has been said we draw this corollary welcome to us, but (as we believe) acceptable to few: namely, that no dearness of price ought to hinder a man from the buying of books, if he has the money that is demanded for them, unless it be to withstand the malice of the seller or to await a more favourable opportunity of buying. for if it is wisdom only that makes the price of books, which is an infinite treasure to mankind, and if the value of books is unspeakable, as the premises show, how shall the bargain be shown to be dear where an infinite good is being bought? wherefore, that books are to be gladly bought and unwillingly sold, solomon, the sun of men, exhorts us in the proverbs: buy the truth, he says, and sell not wisdom. but what we are trying to show by rhetoric or logic, let us prove by examples from history. the arch-philosopher aristotle, whom averroes regards as the law of nature, bought a few books of speusippus straightway after his death for , sesterces. plato, before him in time, but after him in learning, bought the book of philolaus the pythagorean, from which he is said to have taken the timaeus, for , denaries, as aulus gellius relates in the noctes atticae. now aulus gellius relates this that the foolish may consider how wise men despise money in comparison with books. and on the other hand, that we may know that folly and pride go together, let us here relate the folly of tarquin the proud in despising books, as also related by aulus gellius. an old woman, utterly unknown, is said to have come to tarquin the proud, the seventh king of rome, offering to sell nine books, in which (as she declared) sacred oracles were contained, but she asked an immense sum for them, insomuch that the king said she was mad. in anger she flung three books into the fire, and still asked the same sum for the rest. when the king refused it, again she flung three others into the fire and still asked the same price for the three that were left. at last, astonished beyond measure, tarquin was glad to pay for three books the same price for which he might have bought nine. the old woman straightway disappeared, and was never seen before or after. these were the sibylline books, which the romans consulted as a divine oracle by some one of the quindecemvirs, and this is believed to have been the origin of the quindecemvirate. what did this sibyl teach the proud king by this bold deed, except that the vessels of wisdom, holy books, exceed all human estimation; and, as gregory says of the kingdom of heaven: they are worth all that thou hast? chapter iv the complaint of books against the clergy already promoted a generation of vipers destroying their own parent and base offspring of the ungrateful cuckoo, who when he has grown strong slays his nurse, the giver of his strength, are degenerate clerks with regard to books. bring it again to mind and consider faithfully what ye receive through books, and ye will find that books are as it were the creators of your distinction, without which other favourers would have been wanting. in sooth, while still untrained and helpless ye crept up to us, ye spake as children, ye thought as children, ye cried as children and begged to be made partakers of our milk. but we being straightway moved by your tears gave you the breast of grammar to suck, which ye plied continually with teeth and tongue, until ye lost your native barbarousness and learned to speak with our tongues the mighty things of god. and next we clad you with the goodly garments of philosophy, rhetoric and dialectic, of which we had and have a store, while ye were naked as a tablet to be painted on. for all the household of philosophy are clothed with garments, that the nakedness and rawness of the intellect may be covered. after this, providing you with the fourfold wings of the quadrivials that ye might be winged like the seraphs and so mount above the cherubim, we sent you to a friend at whose door, if only ye importunately knocked, ye might borrow the three loaves of the knowledge of the trinity, in which consists the final felicity of every sojourner below. nay, if ye deny that ye had these privileges, we boldly declare that ye either lost them by your carelessness, or that through your sloth ye spurned them when offered to you. if these things seem but a light matter to you, we will add yet greater things. ye are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy race, ye are a peculiar people chosen into the lot of god, ye are priests and ministers of god, nay, ye are called the very church of god, as though the laity were not to be called churchmen. ye, being preferred to the laity, sing psalms and hymns in the chancel, and, serving the altar and living by the altar, make the true body of christ, wherein god himself has honoured you not only above the laity, but even a little higher than the angels. for to whom of his angels has he said at any time: thou art a priest for ever after the order of melchisedech? ye dispense the patrimony of the crucified one to the poor, wherein it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful. ye are shepherds of the lord's flock, as well in example of life as in the word of doctrine, which is bound to repay you with milk and wool. who are the givers of all these things, o clerks? is it not books? do ye remember therefore, we pray, how many and how great liberties and privileges are bestowed upon the clergy through us? in truth, taught by us who are the vessels of wisdom and intellect, ye ascend the teacher's chair and are called of men rabbi. by us ye become marvellous in the eyes of the laity, like great lights in the world, and possess the dignities of the church according to your various stations. by us, while ye still lack the first down upon your cheeks, ye are established in your early years and bear the tonsure on your heads, while the dread sentence of the church is heard: touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm, and he who has rashly touched them let him forthwith by his own blow be smitten violently with the wound of an anathema. at length yielding your lives to wickedness, reaching the two paths of pythagoras, ye choose the left branch, and going backward ye let go the lot of god which ye had first assumed, becoming companions of thieves. and thus ever going from bad to worse, dyed with theft and murder and manifold impurities, your fame and conscience stained by sins, at the bidding of justice ye are confined in manacles and fetters, and are kept to be punished by a most shameful death. then your friend is put far away, nor is there any to mourn your lot. peter swears that he knows not the man: the people cry to the judge: crucify, crucify him! if thou let this man go, thou act not caesar's friend. now all refuge has perished, for ye must stand before the judgment-seat, and there is no appeal, but only hanging is in store for you. while the wretched man's heart is thus filled with woe and only the sorrowing muses bedew their cheeks with tears, in his strait is heard on every side the wailing appeal to us, and to avoid the danger of impending death he shows the slight sign of the ancient tonsure which we bestowed upon him, begging that we may be called to his aid and bear witness to the privilege bestowed upon him. then straightway touched with pity we run to meet the prodigal son and snatch the fugitive slave from the gates of death. the book he has not forgotten is handed to him to be read, and while with lips stammering with fear he reads a few words, the power of the judge is loosed, the accuser is withdrawn, and death is put to flight. o marvellous virtue of an empiric verse! o saving antidote of dreadful ruin! o precious reading of the psalter, which for this alone deserves to be called the book of life! let the laity undergo the judgment of the secular arm, that either sewn up in sacks they may be carried out to neptune, or planted in the earth may fructify for pluto, or may be offered amid the flames as a fattened holocaust to vulcan, or at least may be hung up as a victim to juno: while our nursling at a single reading of the book of life is handed over to the custody of the bishop, and rigour is changed to favour, and the forum being transferred from the laity, death is routed by the clerk who is the nursling of books. but now let us speak of the clerks who are vessels of virtue. which of you about to preach ascends the pulpit or the rostrum without in some way consulting us? which of you enters the schools to teach or to dispute without relying upon our support? first of all, it behoves you to eat the book with ezechiel, that the belly of your memory may be sweetened within, and thus as with the panther refreshed, to whose breath all beasts and cattle long to approach, the sweet savour of the spices it has eaten may shed a perfume without. thus our nature secretly working in our own, listeners hasten up gladly, as the load-stone draws the iron nothing loth. what an infinite host of books lie at paris or athens, and at the same time resound in britain and in rome! in truth, while resting they yet move, and while retaining their own places they are carried about every way to the minds of listeners. finally, by the knowledge of literature, we establish priests, bishops, cardinals, and the pope, that all things in the ecclesiastical hierarchy may be fitly disposed. for it is from books that everything of good that befalls the clerical condition takes its origin. but let this suffice: for it pains us to recall what we have bestowed upon the degenerate clergy, because whatever gifts are distributed to the ungrateful seem to be lost rather than bestowed. let us next dwell a little on the recital of the wrongs with which they requite us, the contempts and cruelties of which we cannot recite an example in each kind, nay, scarcely the main classes of the several wrongs. in the first place, we are expelled by force and arms from the homes of the clergy, which are ours by hereditary right, who were used to have cells of quietness in the inner chamber, but, alas! in these unhappy times we are altogether exiled, suffering poverty without the gates. for our places are seized now by dogs, now by hawks, now by that biped beast whose cohabitation with the clergy was forbidden of old, from which we have always taught our nurslings to flee more than from the asp and the cockatrice; wherefore she, always jealous of the love of us, and never to be appeased, at length seeing us in some corner protected only by the web of some dead spider, with a frown abuses and reviles us with bitter words, declaring us alone of all the furniture in the house to be unnecessary, and complaining that we are useless for any household purpose, and advises that we should speedily be converted into rich caps, sendal and silk and twice-dyed purple, robes and furs, wool and linen: and, indeed, not without reason, if she could see our inmost hearts, if she had listened to our secret counsels, if she had read the book of theophrastus or valerius, or only heard the twenty-fifth chapter of ecclesiasticus with understanding ears. and hence it is that we have to mourn for the homes of which we have been unjustly robbed; and as to our coverings, not that they have not been given to us, but that the coverings anciently given to us have been torn by violent hands, insomuch that our soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly cleaveth unto the earth. we suffer from various diseases, enduring pains in our backs and sides; we lie with our limbs unstrung by palsy, and there is no man who layeth it to heart, and no man who provides a mollifying plaster. our native whiteness that was clear with light has turned to dun and yellow, so that no leech who should see us would doubt that we are diseased with jaundice. some of us are suffering from gout, as our twisted extremities plainly show. the smoke and dust by which we are continuously plagued have dulled the keenness of our visual rays, and are now infecting our bleared eyes with ophthalmia. within we are devoured by the fierce gripings of our entrails, which hungry worms cease not to gnaw, and we undergo the corruption of the two lazaruses, nor is there anyone to anoint us with balm of cedar, nor to cry to us who have been four days dead and already stink, lazarus come forth! no healing drug is bound around our cruel wounds, which are so atrociously inflicted upon the innocent, and there is none to put a plaster upon our ulcers; but ragged and shivering we are flung away into dark corners, or in tears take our place with holy job upon his dunghill, or--too horrible to relate--are buried in the depths of the common sewers. the cushion is withdrawn that should support our evangelical sides, which ought to have the first claim upon the incomes of the clergy, and the common necessaries of life thus be for ever provided for us, who are entrusted to their charge. again, we complain of another sort of injury which is too often unjustly inflicted upon our persons. we are sold for bondmen and bondwomen, and lie as hostages in taverns with no one to redeem us. we fall a prey to the cruel shambles, where we see sheep and cattle slaughtered not without pious tears, and where we die a thousand times from such terrors as might frighten even the brave. we are handed over to jews, saracens, heretics and infidels, whose poison we always dread above everything, and by whom it is well known that some of our parents have been infected with pestiferous venom. in sooth, we who should be treated as masters in the sciences, and bear rule over the mechanics who should be subject to us, are instead handed over to the government of subordinates, as though some supremely noble monarch should be trodden under foot by rustic heels. any seamster or cobbler or tailor or artificer of any trade keeps us shut up in prison for the luxurious and wanton pleasures of the clergy. now we would pursue a new kind of injury by which we suffer alike in person and in fame, the dearest thing we have. our purity of race is diminished every day, while new authors' names are imposed upon us by worthless compilers, translators, and transformers, and losing our ancient nobility, while we are reborn in successive generations, we become wholly degenerate; and thus against our will the name of some wretched stepfather is affixed to us, and the sons are robbed of the names of their true fathers. the verses of virgil, while he was yet living, were claimed by an impostor; and a certain fidentinus mendaciously usurped the works of martial, whom martial thus deservedly rebuked: "the book you read is, fidentinus! mine, though read so badly, 't well may pass for thine!" what marvel, then, if when our authors are dead clerical apes use us to make broad their phylacteries, since even while they are alive they try to seize us as soon as we are published? ah! how often ye pretend that we who are ancient are but lately born, and try to pass us off as sons who are really fathers, calling us who have made you clerks the production of your studies. indeed, we derived our origin from athens, though we are now supposed to be from rome; for carmentis was always the pilferer of cadmus, and we who were but lately born in england, will to-morrow be born again in paris; and thence being carried to bologna, will obtain an italian origin, based upon no affinity of blood. alas! how ye commit us to treacherous copyists to be written, how corruptly ye read us and kill us by medication, while ye supposed ye were correcting us with pious zeal. oftentimes we have to endure barbarous interpreters, and those who are ignorant of foreign idioms presume to translate us from one language into another; and thus all propriety of speech is lost and our sense is shamefully mutilated contrary to the meaning of the author! truly noble would have been the condition of books if it had not been for the presumption of the tower of babel, if but one kind of speech had been transmitted by the whole human race. we will add the last clause of our long lament, though far too short for the materials that we have. for in us the natural use is changed to that which is against nature, while we who are the light of faithful souls everywhere fall a prey to painters knowing nought of letters, and are entrusted to goldsmiths to become, as though we were not sacred vessels of wisdom, repositories of gold-leaf. we fall undeservedly into the power of laymen, which is more bitter to us than any death, since they have sold our people for nought, and our enemies themselves are our judges. it is clear from what we have said what infinite invectives we could hurl against the clergy, if we did not think of our own reputation. for the soldier whose campaigns are over venerates his shield and arms, and grateful corydon shows regard for his decaying team, harrow, flail and mattock, and every manual artificer for the instruments of his craft; it is only the ungrateful cleric who despises and neglects those things which have ever been the foundation of his honours. chapter v the complaint of books against the possessioners the venerable devotion of the religious orders is wont to be solicitous in the care of books and to delight in their society, as if they were the only riches. for some used to write them with their own hands between the hours of prayer, and gave to the making of books such intervals as they could secure and the times appointed for the recreation of the body. by whose labours there are resplendent to-day in most monasteries these sacred treasuries full of cherubic letters, for giving the knowledge of salvation to the student and a delectable light to the paths of the laity. o manual toil, happier than any agricultural task! o devout solicitude, where neither martha nor mary deserves to be rebuked! o joyful house, in which the fruitful leah does not envy the beauteous rachel, but action and contemplation share each other's joys! o happy charge, destined to benefit endless generations of posterity, with which no planting of trees, no sowing of seeds, no pastoral delight in herds, no building of fortified camps can be compared! wherefore the memory of those fathers should be immortal, who delighted only in the treasures of wisdom, who most laboriously provided shining lamps against future darkness, and against hunger of hearing the word of god, most carefully prepared, not bread baked in the ashes, nor of barley, nor musty, but unleavened loaves made of the finest wheat of divine wisdom, with which hungry souls might be joyfully fed these men were the stoutest champions of the christian army, who defended our weakness by their most valiant arms; they were in their time the most cunning takers of foxes, who have left us their nets, that we might catch the young foxes, who cease not to devour the growing vines. of a truth, noble fathers, worthy of perpetual benediction, ye would have been deservedly happy, if ye had been allowed to beget offspring like yourselves, and to leave no degenerate or doubtful progeny for the benefit of future times. but, painful to relate, now slothful thersites handles the arms of achilles and the choice trappings of war-horses are spread upon lazy asses, winking owls lord it in the eagle's nest, and the cowardly kite sits upon the perch of the hawk. liber bacchus is ever loved, and is into their bellies shoved, by day and by night; liber codex is neglected, and with scornful hand rejected far out of their sight. and as if the simple monastic folk of modern times were deceived by a confusion of names, while liber pater is preferred to liber patrum, the study of the monks nowadays is in the emptying of cups and not the emending of books; to which they do not hesitate to add the wanton music of timotheus, jealous of chastity, and thus the song of the merry-maker and not the chant of the mourner is become the office of the monks. flocks and fleeces, crops and granaries, leeks and potherbs, drink and goblets, are nowadays the reading and study of the monks, except a few elect ones, in whom lingers not the image but some slight vestige of the fathers that preceded them. and again, no materials at all are furnished us to commend the canons regular for their care or study of us, who though they bear their name of honour from their twofold rule, yet have neglected the notable clause of augustine's rule, in which we are commended to his clergy in these words: let books be asked for each day at a given hour; he who asks for them after the hour is not to receive them. scarcely anyone observes this devout rule of study after saying the prayers of the church, but to care for the things of this world and to look at the plough that has been left is reckoned the highest wisdom. they take up bow and quiver, embrace arms and shield, devote the tribute of alms to dogs and not to the poor, become the slaves of dice and draughts, and of all such things as we are wont to forbid even to the secular clergy, so that we need not marvel if they disdain to look upon us, whom they see so much opposed to their mode of life. come then, reverend fathers, deign to recall your fathers and devote yourselves more faithfully to the study of holy books, without which all religion will stagger, without which the virtue of devotion will dry up like a sherd, and without which ye can afford no light to the world. chapter vi the complaint of books against the mendicants poor in spirit, but most rich in faith, off-scourings of the world and salt of the earth, despisers of the world and fishers of men, how happy are ye, if suffering penury for christ ye know how to possess your souls in patience! for it is not want the avenger of iniquity, nor the adverse fortune of your parents, nor violent necessity that has thus oppressed you with beggary, but a devout will and christ-like election, by which ye have chosen that life as the best, which god almighty made man as well by word as by example declared to be the best. in truth, ye are the latest offspring of the ever-fruitful church, of late divinely substituted for the fathers and the prophets, that your sound may go forth into all the earth, and that instructed by our healthful doctrines ye may preach before all kings and nations the invincible faith of christ. moreover, that the faith of the fathers is chiefly enshrined in books the second chapter has sufficiently shown, from which it is clearer than light that ye ought to be zealous lovers of books above all other christians. ye are commanded to sow upon all waters, because the most high is no respecter of persons, nor does the most holy desire the death of sinners, who offered himself to die for them, but desires to heal the contrite in heart, to raise the fallen, and to correct the perverse in the spirit of lenity. for which most salutary purpose our kindly mother church has planted you freely, and having planted has watered you with favours, and having watered you has established you with privileges, that ye may be co-workers with pastors and curates in procuring the salvation of faithful souls. wherefore, that the order of preachers was principally instituted for the study of the holy scriptures and the salvation of their neighbours, is declared by their constitutions, so that not only from the rule of bishop augustine, which directs books to be asked for every day, but as soon as they have read the prologue of the said constitutions they may know from the very title of the same that they are pledged to the love of books. but alas! a threefold care of superfluities, viz., of the stomach, of dress, and of houses, has seduced these men and others following their example from the paternal care of books, and from their study. for, forgetting the providence of the saviour (who is declared by the psalmist to think upon the poor and needy), they are occupied with the wants of the perishing body, that their feasts may be splendid and their garments luxurious, against the rule, and the fabrics of their buildings, like the battlements of castles, carried to a height incompatible with poverty. because of these three things, we books, who have ever procured their advancement and have granted them to sit among the powerful and noble, are put far from their heart's affection and are reckoned as superfluities; except that they rely upon some treatises of small value, from which they derive strange heresies and apocryphal imbecilities, not for the refreshment of souls, but rather for tickling the ears of the listeners. the holy scripture is not expounded, but is neglected and treated as though it were commonplace and known to all, though very few have touched its hem, and though its depth is such, as holy augustine declares, that it cannot be understood by the human intellect, however long it may toil with the utmost intensity of study. from this he who devotes himself to it assiduously, if only he will vouchsafe to open the door who has established the spirit of piety, may unfold a thousand lessons of moral teaching, which will flourish with the freshest novelty and will cherish the intelligence of the listeners with the most delightful savours. wherefore the first professors of evangelical poverty, after some slight homage paid to secular science, collecting all their force of intellect, devoted themselves to labours upon the sacred scripture, meditating day and night on the law of the lord. and whatever they could steal from their famishing belly, or intercept from their half-covered body, they thought it the highest gain to spend in buying or correcting books. whose worldly contemporaries observing their devotion and study bestowed upon them for the edification of the whole church the books which they had collected at great expense in the various parts of the world. in truth, in these days as ye are engaged with all diligence in pursuit of gain, it may be reasonably believed, if we speak according to human notions, that god thinks less upon those whom he perceives to distrust his promises, putting their hope in human providence, not considering the raven, nor the lilies, whom the most high feeds and arrays. ye do not think upon daniel and the bearer of the mess of boiled pottage, nor recollect elijah who was delivered from hunger once in the desert by angels, again in the torrent by ravens, and again in sarepta by the widow, through the divine bounty, which gives to all flesh their meat in due season. ye descend (as we fear) by a wretched anticlimax, distrust of the divine goodness producing reliance upon your own prudence, and reliance upon your own prudence begetting anxiety about worldly things, and excessive anxiety about worldly things taking away the love as well as the study of books; and thus poverty in these days is abused to the injury of the word of god, which ye have chosen only for profit's sake. with summer fruit, as the people gossip, ye attract boys to religion, whom when they have taken the vows ye do not instruct by fear and force, as their age requires, but allow them to devote themselves to begging expeditions, and suffer them to spend the time, in which they might be learning, in procuring the favour of friends, to the annoyance of their parents, the danger of the boys, and the detriment of the order. and thus no doubt it happens that those who were not compelled to learn as unwilling boys, when they grow up presume to teach though utterly unworthy and unlearned, and a small error in the beginning becomes a very great one in the end. for there grows up among your promiscuous flock of laity a pestilent multitude of creatures, who nevertheless the more shamelessly force themselves into the office of preaching, the less they understand what they are saying, to the contempt of the divine word and the injury of souls. in truth, against the law ye plough with an ox and an ass together, in committing the cultivation of the lord's field to learned and unlearned. side by side, it is written, the oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding beside them: since it is the duty of the discreet to preach, but of the simple to feed themselves in silence by the hearing of sacred eloquence. how many stones ye fling upon the heap of mercury nowadays! how many marriages ye procure for the eunuchs of wisdom! how many blind watchmen ye bid go round about the walls of the church! o idle fishermen, using only the nets of others, which when torn it is all ye can do to clumsily repair, but can net no new ones of your own! ye enter on the labours of others, ye repeat the lessons of others, ye mouth with theatric effort the superficially repeated wisdom of others. as the silly parrot imitates the words that he has heard, so such men are mere reciters of all, but authors of nothing, imitating balaam's ass, which, though senseless of itself, yet became eloquent of speech and the teacher of its master though a prophet. recover yourselves, o poor in christ, and studiously regard us books, without which ye can never be properly shod in the preparation of the gospel of peace. paul the apostle, preacher of the truth and excellent teacher of the nations, for all his gear bade three things to be brought to him by timothy, his cloak, books and parchments, affording an example to ecclesiastics that they should wear dress in moderation, and should have books for aid in study, and parchments, which the apostle especially esteems, for writing: and especially, he says, the parchments. and truly that clerk is crippled and maimed to his disablement in many ways, who is entirely ignorant of the art of writing. he beats the air with words and edifies only those who are present, but does nothing for the absent and for posterity. the man bore a writer's ink-horn upon his loins, who set a mark tau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry, ezechiel ix.; teaching in a figure that if any lack skill in writing, he shall not undertake the task of preaching repentance. finally, in conclusion of the present chapter, books implore of you: make your young men who though ignorant are apt of intellect apply themselves to study, furnishing them with necessaries, that ye may teach them not only goodness but discipline and science, may terrify them by blows, charm them by blandishments, mollify them by gifts, and urge them on by painful rigour, so that they may become at once socratics in morals and peripatetics in learning. yesterday, as it were at the eleventh hour, the prudent householder introduced you into his vineyard. repent of idleness before it is too late: would that with the cunning steward ye might be ashamed of begging so shamelessly; for then no doubt ye would devote yourselves more assiduously to us books and to study. chapter vii the complaint of books against wars almighty author and lover of peace, scatter the nations that delight in war, which is above all plagues injurious to books. for wars being without the control of reason make a wild assault on everything they come across, and, lacking the check of reason they push on without discretion or distinction to destroy the vessels of reason. then the wise apollo becomes the python's prey, and phronesis, the pious mother, becomes subject to the power of phrenzy. then winged pegasus is shut up in the stall of corydon, and eloquent mercury is strangled. then wise pallas is struck down by the dagger of error, and the charming pierides are smitten by the truculent tyranny of madness. o cruel spectacle! where you may see the phoebus of philosophers, the all-wise aristotle, whom god himself made master of the master of the world, enchained by wicked hands and borne in shameful irons on the shoulders of gladiators from his sacred home. there you may see him who was worthy to be lawgiver to the lawgiver of the world and to hold empire over its emperor, made the slave of vile buffoons by the most unrighteous laws of war. o most wicked power of darkness, which does not fear to undo the approved divinity of plato, who alone was worthy to submit to the view of the creator, before he assuaged the strife of warring chaos, and before form had put on its garb of matter, the ideal types, in order to demonstrate the archetypal universe to its author, so that the world of sense might be modelled after the supernal pattern. o tearful sight! where the moral socrates, whose acts were virtue and whose discourse was science, who deduced political justice from the principles of nature, is seen enslaved to some rascal robber. we bemoan pythagoras, the parent of harmony, as, brutally scourged by the harrying furies of war, he utters not a song but the wailings of a dove. we mourn, too, for zeno, who lest he should betray his secret bit off his tongue and fearlessly spat it out at the tyrant, and now, alas! is brayed and crushed to death in a mortar by diomedon. in sooth we cannot mourn with the grief that they deserve all the various books that have perished by the fate of war in various parts of the world. yet we must tearfully recount the dreadful ruin which was caused in egypt by the auxiliaries in the alexandrian war, when seven hundred thousand volumes were consumed by fire. these volumes had been collected by the royal ptolemies through long periods of time, as aulus gellius relates. what an atlantean progeny must be supposed to have then perished: including the motions of the spheres, all the conjunctions of the planets, the nature of the galaxy, and the prognostic generations of comets, and all that exists in the heavens or in the ether! who would not shudder at such a hapless holocaust, where ink is offered up instead of blood, where the glowing ashes of crackling parchment were encarnadined with blood, where the devouring flames consumed so many thousands of innocents in whose mouth was no guile, where the unsparing fire turned into stinking ashes so many shrines of eternal truth! a lesser crime than this is the sacrifice of jephthah or agamemnon, where a pious daughter is slain by a father's sword. how many labours of the famous hercules shall we suppose then perished, who because of his knowledge of astronomy is said to have sustained the heaven on his unyielding neck, when hercules was now for the second time cast into the flames. the secrets of the heavens, which jonithus learnt not from man or through man but received by divine inspiration; what his brother zoroaster, the servant of unclean spirits, taught the bactrians; what holy enoch, the prefect of paradise, prophesied before he was taken from the world, and finally, what the first adam taught his children of the things to come, which he had seen when caught up in an ecstasy in the book of eternity, are believed to have perished in those horrid flames. the religion of the egyptians, which the book of the perfect word so commends; the excellent polity of the older athens, which preceded by nine thousand years the athens of greece; the charms of the chaldaeans; the observations of the arabs and indians; the ceremonies of the jews; the architecture of the babylonians; the agriculture of noah the magic arts of moses; the geometry of joshua; the enigmas of samson; the problems of solomon from the cedar of lebanon to the hyssop; the antidotes of aesculapius; the grammar of cadmus; the poems of parnassus; the oracles of apollo; the argonautics of jason; the stratagems of palamedes, and infinite other secrets of science are believed to have perished at the time of this conflagration. nay, aristotle would not have missed the quadrature of the circle, if only baleful conflicts had spared the books of the ancients, who knew all the methods of nature. he would not have left the problem of the eternity of the world an open question, nor, as is credibly conceived, would he have had any doubts of the plurality of human intellects and of their eternity, if the perfect sciences of the ancients had not been exposed to the calamities of hateful wars. for by wars we are scattered into foreign lands, are mutilated, wounded, and shamefully disfigured, are buried under the earth and overwhelmed in the sea, are devoured by the flames and destroyed by every kind of death. how much of our blood was shed by warlike scipio, when he was eagerly compassing the overthrow of carthage, the opponent and rival of the roman empire! how many thousands of thousands of us did the ten years' war of troy dismiss from the light of day! how many were driven by anthony, after the murder of tully, to seek hiding places in foreign provinces! how many of us were scattered by theodoric, while boethius was in exile, into the different quarters of the world, like sheep whose shepherd has been struck down! how many, when seneca fell a victim to the cruelty of nero, and willing yet unwilling passed the gates of death, took leave of him and retired in tears, not even knowing in what quarter to seek for shelter! happy was that translation of books which xerxes is said to have made to persia from athens, and which seleucus brought back again from persia to athens. o glad and joyful return! o wondrous joy, which you might then see in athens, when the mother went in triumph to meet her progeny, and again showed the chambers in which they had been nursed to her now aging children! their old homes were restored to their former inmates, and forthwith boards of cedar with shelves and beams of gopher wood are most skilfully planed; inscriptions of gold and ivory are designed for the several compartments, to which the volumes themselves are reverently brought and pleasantly arranged, so that no one hinders the entrance of another or injures its brother by excessive crowding. but in truth infinite are the losses which have been inflicted upon the race of books by wars and tumults. and as it is by no means possible to enumerate and survey infinity, we will here finally set up the gades of our complaint, and turn again to the prayers with which we began, humbly imploring that the ruler of olympus and the most high governor of all the world will establish peace and dispel wars and make our days tranquil under his protection. chapter viii of the numerous opportunities we have had of collecting a store of books since to everything there is a season and an opportunity, as the wise ecclesiastes witnesseth, let us now proceed to relate the manifold opportunities through which we have been assisted by the divine goodness in the acquisition of books. although from our youth upwards we had always delighted in holding social commune with learned men and lovers of books, yet when we prospered in the world and made acquaintance with the king's majesty and were received into his household, we obtained ampler facilities for visiting everywhere as we would, and of hunting as it were certain most choice preserves, libraries private as well as public, and of the regular as well as of the secular clergy. and indeed while we filled various offices to the victorious prince and splendidly triumphant king of england, edward the third from the conquest--whose reign may the almighty long and peacefully continue--first those about his court, but then those concerning the public affairs of his kingdom, namely the offices of chancellor and treasurer, there was afforded to us, in consideration of the royal favour, easy access for the purpose of freely searching the retreats of books. in fact, the fame of our love of them had been soon winged abroad everywhere, and we were reported to burn with such desire for books, and especially old ones, that it was more easy for any man to gain our favour by means of books than of money. wherefore, since supported by the goodness of the aforesaid prince of worthy memory, we were able to requite a man well or ill, to benefit or injure mightily great as well as small, there flowed in, instead of presents and guerdons, and instead of gifts and jewels, soiled tracts and battered codices, gladsome alike to our eye and heart. then the aumbries of the most famous monasteries were thrown open, cases were unlocked and caskets were undone, and volumes that had slumbered through long ages in their tombs wake up and are astonished, and those that had lain hidden in dark places are bathed in the ray of unwonted light. these long lifeless books, once most dainty, but now become corrupt and loathsome, covered with litters of mice and pierced with the gnawings of the worms, and who were once clothed in purple and fine linen, now lying in sackcloth and ashes, given up to oblivion, seemed to have become habitations of the moth. natheless among these, seizing the opportunity, we would sit down with more delight than a fastidious physician among his stores of gums and spices, and there we found the object and the stimulus of our affections. thus the sacred vessels of learning came into our control and stewardship; some by gift, others by purchase, and some lent to us for a season. no wonder that when people saw that we were contented with gifts of this kind, they were anxious of their own accord to minister to our needs with those things that they were more willing to dispense with than the things they secured by ministering to our service. and in good will we strove so to forward their affairs that gain accrued to them, while justice suffered no disparagement. indeed, if we had loved gold and silver goblets, high-bred horses, or no small sums of money, we might in those days have furnished forth a rich treasury. but in truth we wanted manuscripts not moneyscripts; we loved codices more than florins, and preferred slender pamphlets to pampered palfreys. besides all this, we were frequently made ambassador of this most illustrious prince of everlasting memory, and were sent on the most various affairs of state, now to the holy see, now to the court of france, and again to various powers of the world, on tedious embassies and in times of danger, always carrying with us, however, that love of books which many waters could not quench. for this like a delicious draught sweetened the bitterness of our journeyings and after the perplexing intricacies and troublesome difficulties of causes, and the all but inextricable labyrinths of public affairs afforded us a little breathing space to enjoy a balmier atmosphere. o holy god of gods in sion, what a mighty stream of pleasure made glad our hearts whenever we had leisure to visit paris, the paradise of the world, and to linger there; where the days seemed ever few for the greatness of our love! there are delightful libraries, more aromatic than stores of spicery; there are luxuriant parks of all manner of volumes; there are academic meads shaken by the tramp of scholars; there are lounges of athens; walks of the peripatetics; peaks of parnassus; and porches of the stoics. there is seen the surveyor of all arts and sciences aristotle, to whom belongs all that is most excellent in doctrine, so far as relates to this passing sublunary world; there ptolemy measures epicycles and eccentric apogees and the nodes of the planets by figures and numbers; there paul reveals the mysteries; there his neighbour dionysius arranges and distinguishes the hierarchies; there the virgin carmentis reproduces in latin characters all that cadmus collected in phoenician letters; there indeed opening our treasuries and unfastening our purse-strings we scattered money with joyous heart and purchased inestimable books with mud and sand. it is naught, it is naught, saith every buyer. but in vain; for behold how good and how pleasant it is to gather together the arms of the clerical warfare, that we may have the means to crush the attacks of heretics, if they arise. further, we are aware that we obtained most excellent opportunities of collecting in the following way. from our early years we attached to our society with the most exquisite solicitude and discarding all partiality all such masters and scholars and professors in the several faculties as had become most distinguished by their subtlety of mind and the fame of their learning. deriving consolation from their sympathetic conversation, we were delightfully entertained, now by demonstrative chains of reasoning, now by the recital of physical processes and the treatises of the doctors of the church, now by stimulating discourses on the allegorical meanings of things, as by a rich and well-varied intellectual feast. such men we chose as comrades in our years of learning, as companions in our chamber, as associates on our journeys, as guests at our table, and, in short, as helpmates in all the vicissitudes of life. but as no happiness is permitted to endure for long, we were sometimes deprived of the bodily companionship of some of these shining lights, when justice looking down from heaven, the ecclesiastical preferments and dignities that they deserved fell to their portion. and thus it happened, as was only right, that in attending to their own cures they were obliged to absent themselves from attendance upon us. we will add yet another very convenient way by which a great multitude of books old as well as new came into our hands. for we never regarded with disdain or disgust the poverty of the mendicant orders, adopted for the sake of christ; but in all parts of the world took them into the kindly arms of our compassion, allured them by the most friendly familiarity into devotion to ourselves, and having so allured them cherished them with munificent liberality of beneficence for the sake of god, becoming benefactors of all of them in general in such wise that we seemed none the less to have adopted certain individuals with a special fatherly affection. to these men we were as a refuge in every case of need, and never refused to them the shelter of our favour, wherefore we deserved to find them most special furtherers of our wishes and promoters thereof in act and deed, who compassing land and sea, traversing the circuit of the world, and ransacking the universities and high schools of various provinces, were zealous in combatting for our desires, in the sure and certain hope of reward. what leveret could escape amidst so many keen-sighted hunters? what little fish could evade in turn their hooks and nets and snares? from the body of the sacred law down to the booklet containing the fallacies of yesterday, nothing could escape these searchers. was some devout discourse uttered at the fountain-head of christian faith, the holy roman curia, or was some strange question ventilated with novel arguments; did the solidity of paris, which is now more zealous in the study of antiquity than in the subtle investigation of truth, did english subtlety, which illumined by the lights of former times is always sending forth fresh rays of truth, produce anything to the advancement of science or the declaration of the faith, this was instantly poured still fresh into our ears, ungarbled by any babbler, unmutilated by any trifler, but passing straight from the purest of wine-presses into the vats of our memory to be clarified. but whenever it happened that we turned aside to the cities and places where the mendicants we have mentioned had their convents, we did not disdain to visit their libraries and any other repositories of books; nay, there we found heaped up amid the utmost poverty the utmost riches of wisdom. we discovered in their fardels and baskets not only crumbs falling from the masters' table for the dogs, but the shewbread without leaven and the bread of angels having in it all that is delicious; and indeed the garners of joseph full of corn, and all the spoil of the egyptians, and the very precious gifts which queen sheba brought to solomon. these men are as ants ever preparing their meat in the summer, and ingenious bees continually fabricating cells of honey. they are successors of bezaleel in devising all manner of workmanship in silver and gold and precious stones for decorating the temple of the church. they are cunning embroiderers, who fashion the breastplate and ephod of the high priest and all the various vestments of the priests. they fashion the curtains of linen and hair and coverings of ram's skins dyed red with which to adorn the tabernacle of the church militant. they are husbandmen that sow, oxen treading out corn, sounding trumpets, shining pleiades and stars remaining in their courses, which cease not to fight against sisera. and to pay due regard to truth, without prejudice to the judgment of any, although they lately at the eleventh hour have entered the lord's vineyard, as the books that are so fond of us eagerly declared in our sixth chapter, they have added more in this brief hour to the stock of the sacred books than all the other vine-dressers; following in the footsteps of paul, the last to be called but the first in preaching, who spread the gospel of christ more widely than all others. of these men, when we were raised to the episcopate we had several of both orders, viz., the preachers and minors, as personal attendants and companions at our board, men distinguished no less in letters than in morals, who devoted themselves with unwearied zeal to the correction, exposition, tabulation, and compilation of various volumes. but although we have acquired a very numerous store of ancient as well as modern works by the manifold intermediation of the religious, yet we must laud the preachers with special praise, in that we have found them above all the religious most freely communicative of their stores without jealousy, and proved them to be imbued with an almost divine liberality, not greedy but fitting possessors of luminous wisdom. besides all the opportunities mentioned above, we secured the acquaintance of stationers and booksellers, not only within our own country, but of those spread over the realms of france, germany, and italy, money flying forth in abundance to anticipate their demands; nor were they hindered by any distance or by the fury of the seas, or by the lack of means for their expenses, from sending or bringing to us the books that we required. for they well knew that their expectations of our bounty would not be defrauded, but that ample repayment with usury was to be found with us. nor, finally, did our good fellowship, which aimed to captivate the affection of all, overlook the rectors of schools and the instructors of rude boys. but rather, when we had an opportunity, we entered their little plots and gardens and gathered sweet-smelling flowers from the surface and dug up their roots, obsolete indeed, but still useful to the student, which might, when their rank barbarism was digested heal the pectoral arteries with the gift of eloquence. amongst the mass of these things we found some greatly meriting to be restored, which when skilfully cleansed and freed from the disfiguring rust of age, deserved to be renovated into comeliness of aspect. and applying in full measure the necessary means, as a type of the resurrection to come, we resuscitated them and restored them again to new life and health. moreover, we had always in our different manors no small multitude of copyists and scribes, of binders, correctors, illuminators, and generally of all who could usefully labour in the service of books. finally, all of both sexes and of every rank or position who had any kind of association with books, could most easily open by their knocking the door of our heart, and find a fit resting-place in our affection and favour. in so much did we receive those who brought books, that the multitude of those who had preceded them did not lessen the welcome of the after-comers, nor were the favours we had awarded yesterday prejudicial to those of to-day. wherefore, ever using all the persons we have named as a kind of magnets to attract books, we had the desired accession of the vessels of science and a multitudinous flight of the finest volumes. and this is what we undertook to narrate in the present chapter. chapter ix how, although we preferred the works of the ancients, we have not condemned the studies of the moderns although the novelties of the moderns were never disagreeable to our desires, who have always cherished with grateful affection those who devote themselves to study and who add anything either ingenious or useful to the opinions of our forefathers, yet we have always desired with more undoubting avidity to investigate the well-tested labours of the ancients. for whether they had by nature a greater vigour of mental sagacity, or whether they perhaps indulged in closer application to study, or whether they were assisted in their progress by both these things, one thing we are perfectly clear about, that their successors are barely capable of discussing the discoveries of their forerunners, and of acquiring those things as pupils which the ancients dug out by difficult efforts of discovery. for as we read that the men of old were of a more excellent degree of bodily development than modern times are found to produce, it is by no means absurd to suppose that most of the ancients were distinguished by brighter faculties, seeing that in the labours they accomplished of both kinds they are inimitable by posterity. and so phocas writes in the prologue to his grammar: since all things have been said by men of sense the only novelty is--to condense. but in truth, if we speak of fervour of learning and diligence in study, they gave up all their lives to philosophy; while nowadays our contemporaries carelessly spend a few years of hot youth, alternating with the excesses of vice, and when the passions have been calmed, and they have attained the capacity of discerning truth so difficult to discover, they soon become involved in worldly affairs and retire, bidding farewell to the schools of philosophy. they offer the fuming must of their youthful intellect to the difficulties of philosophy, and bestow the clearer wine upon the money-making business of life. further, as ovid in the first book of the de vetula justly complains: the hearts of all men after gold aspire; few study to be wise, more to acquire: thus, science! all thy virgin charms are sold, whose chaste embraces should disdain their gold, who seek not thee thyself, but pelf through thee, longing for riches, not philosophy. and further on: thus philosophy is seen exiled, and philopecuny is queen, which is known to be the most violent poison of learning. how the ancients indeed regarded life as the only limit of study, is shown by valerius, in his book addressed to tiberius, by many examples. carneades, he says, was a laborious and lifelong soldier of wisdom: after he had lived ninety years, the same day put an end to his life and his philosophizing. isocrates in his ninety-fourth year wrote a most noble work. sophocles did the same when nearly a hundred years old. simonides wrote poems in his eightieth year. aulus gellius did not desire to live longer than he should be able to write, as he says himself in the prologue to the noctes atticae. the fervour of study which possessed euclid the socratic, taurus the philosopher used to relate to incite young men to study, as gellius tells in the book we have mentioned. for the athenians, hating the people of megara, decreed that if any of the megarensians entered athens, he should be put to death. then euclid, who was a megarensian, and had attended the lectures of socrates before this decree, disguising himself in a woman's dress, used to go from megara to athens by night to hear socrates, a distance of twenty miles and back. imprudent and excessive was the fervour of archimedes, a lover of geometry, who would not declare his name, nor lift his head from the diagram he had drawn, by which he might have prolonged his life, but thinking more of study than of life dyed with his life-blood the figure he was studying. there are very many such examples of our proposition, but the brevity we aim at does not allow us to recall them. but, painful to relate, the clerks who are famous in these days pursue a very different course. afflicted with ambition in their tender years, and slightly fastening to their untried arms the icarian wings of presumption, they prematurely snatch the master's cap; and mere boys become unworthy professors of the several faculties, through which they do not make their way step by step, but like goats ascend by leaps and bounds; and, having slightly tasted of the mighty stream, they think that they have drunk it dry, though their throats are hardly moistened. and because they are not grounded in the first rudiments at the fitting time, they build a tottering edifice on an unstable foundation, and now that they have grown up, they are ashamed to learn what they ought to have learned while young, and thus they are compelled to suffer for ever for too hastily jumping at dignities they have not deserved. for these and the like reasons the tyros in the schools do not attain to the solid learning of the ancients in a few short hours of study, although they may enjoy distinctions, may be accorded titles, be authorized by official robes, and solemnly installed in the chairs of the elders. just snatched from the cradle and hastily weaned, they mouth the rules of priscian and donatus; while still beardless boys they gabble with childish stammering the categorics and peri hermeneias, in the writing of which the great aristotle is said to have dipped his pen in his heart's blood. passing through these faculties with baneful haste and a harmful diploma, they lay violent hands upon moses, and sprinkling about their faces dark waters and thick clouds of the skies, they offer their heads, unhonoured by the snows of age, for the mitre of the pontificate. this pest is greatly encouraged, and they are helped to attain this fantastic clericate with such nimble steps, by papal provisions obtained by insidious prayers, and also by the prayers, which may not be rejected, of cardinals and great men, by the cupidity of friends and relatives, who, building up sion in blood, secure ecclesiastical dignities for their nephews and pupils, before they are seasoned by the course of nature or ripeness of learning. alas! by the same disease which we are deploring, we see that the palladium of paris has been carried off in these sad times of ours, wherein the zeal of that noble university, whose rays once shed light into every corner of the world, has grown lukewarm, nay, is all but frozen. there the pen of every scribe is now at rest, generations of books no longer succeed each other, and there is none who begins to take place as a new author. they wrap up their doctrines in unskilled discourse, and are losing all propriety of logic, except that our english subtleties, which they denounce in public, are the subject of their furtive vigils. admirable minerva seems to bend her course to all the nations of the earth, and reacheth from end to end mightily, that she may reveal herself to all mankind. we see that she has already visited the indians, the babylonians, the egyptians and greeks, the arabs and the romans. now she has passed by paris, and now has happily come to britain, the most noble of islands, nay, rather a microcosm in itself, that she may show herself a debtor both to the greeks and to the barbarians. at which wondrous sight it is conceived by most men, that as philosophy is now lukewarm in france, so her soldiery are unmanned and languishing. chapter x of the gradual perfecting of books while assiduously seeking out the wisdom of the men of old, according to the counsel of the wise man (eccles. xxxix.): the wise man, he says, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, we have not thought fit to be misled into the opinion that the first founders of the arts have purged away all crudeness, knowing that the discoveries of each of the faithful, when weighed in a faithful balance, makes a tiny portion of science, but that by the anxious investigations of a multitude of scholars, each as it were contributing his share, the mighty bodies of the sciences have grown by successive augmentations to the immense bulk that we now behold. for the disciples, continually melting down the doctrines of their masters, and passing them again through the furnace, drove off the dross that had been previously overlooked, until there came out refined gold tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times to perfection, and stained by no admixture of error or doubt. for not even aristotle, although a man of gigantic intellect, in whom it pleased nature to try how much of reason she could bestow upon mortality, and whom the most high made only a little lower than the angels, sucked from his own fingers those wonderful volumes which the whole world can hardly contain. but, on the contrary, with lynx-eyed penetration he had seen through the sacred books of the hebrews, the babylonians, the egyptians, the chaldaeans, the persians and the medes, all of which learned greece had transferred into her treasuries. whose true sayings he received, but smoothed away their crudities, pruned their superfluities, supplied their deficiencies, and removed their errors. and he held that we should give thanks not only to those who teach rightly, but even to those who err, as affording the way of more easily investigating truth, as he plainly declares in the second book of his metaphysics. thus many learned lawyers contributed to the pandects, many physicians to the tegni, and it was by this means that avicenna edited his canon, and pliny his great work on natural history, and ptolemy the almagest. for as in the writers of annals it is not difficult to see that the later writer always presupposes the earlier, without whom he could by no means relate the former times, so too we are to think of the authors of the sciences. for no man by himself has brought forth any science, since between the earliest students and those of the latter time we find intermediaries, ancient if they be compared with our own age, but modern if we think of the foundations of learning, and these men we consider the most learned. what would virgil, the chief poet among the latins, have achieved, if he had not despoiled theocritus, lucretius, and homer, and had not ploughed with their heifer? what, unless again and again he had read somewhat of parthenius and pindar, whose eloquence he could by no means imitate? what could sallust, tully, boethius, macrobius, lactantius, martianus, and in short the whole troop of latin writers have done, if they had not seen the productions of athens or the volumes of the greeks? certes, little would jerome, master of three languages, ambrosius, augustine, though he confesses that he hated greek, or even gregory, who is said to have been wholly ignorant of it, have contributed to the doctrine of the church, if more learned greece had not furnished them from its stores. as rome, watered by the streams of greece, had earlier brought forth philosophers in the image of the greeks, in like fashion afterwards it produced doctors of the orthodox faith. the creeds we chant are the sweat of grecian brows, promulgated by their councils, and established by the martyrdom of many. yet their natural slowness, as it happens, turns to the glory of the latins, since as they were less learned in their studies, so they were less perverse in their errors. in truth, the arian heresy had all but eclipsed the whole church; the nestorian wickedness presumed to rave with blasphemous rage against the virgin, for it would have robbed the queen of heaven, not in open fight but in disputation, of her name and character as mother of god, unless the invincible champion cyril, ready to do single battle, with the help of the council of ephesus, had in vehemence of spirit utterly extinguished it. innumerable are the forms as well as the authors of greek heresies; for as they were the original cultivators of our holy faith, so too they were the first sowers of tares, as is shown by veracious history. and thus they went on from bad to worse, because in endeavouring to part the seamless vesture of the lord, they totally destroyed primitive simplicity of doctrine, and blinded by the darkness of novelty would fall into the bottomless pit, unless he provide for them in his inscrutable prerogative, whose wisdom is past reckoning. let this suffice; for here we reach the limit of our power of judgment. one thing, however, we conclude from the premises, that the ignorance of the greek tongue is now a great hindrance to the study of the latin writers, since without it the doctrines of the ancient authors, whether christian or gentile, cannot be understood. and we must come to a like judgment as to arabic in numerous astronomical treatises, and as to hebrew as regards the text of the holy bible, which deficiencies, indeed, clement v. provides for, if only the bishops would faithfully observe what they so lightly decree. wherefore we have taken care to provide a greek as well as a hebrew grammar for our scholars, with certain other aids, by the help of which studious readers may greatly inform themselves in the writing, reading, and understanding of the said tongues, although only the hearing of them can teach correctness of idiom. chapter xi why we have preferred books of liberal learning to books of law that lucrative practice of positive law, designed for the dispensation of earthly things, the more useful it is found by the children of this world, so much the less does it aid the children of light in comprehending the mysteries of holy writ and the secret sacraments of the faith, seeing that it disposes us peculiarly to the friendship of the world, by which man, as s. james testifies, is made the enemy of god. law indeed encourages rather than extinguishes the contentions of mankind, which are the result of unbounded greed, by complicated laws, which can be turned either way; though we know that it was created by jurisconsults and pious princes for the purpose of assuaging these contentions. but in truth, as the same science deals with contraries, and the power of reason can be used to opposite ends, and at the same the human mind is more inclined to evil, it happens with the practisers of this science that they usually devote themselves to promoting contention rather than peace, and instead of quoting laws according to the intent of the legislator, violently strain the language thereof to effect their own purposes. wherefore, although the over-mastering love of books has possessed our mind from boyhood, and to rejoice in their delights has been our only pleasure, yet the appetite for the books of the civil law took less hold of our affections, and we have spent but little labour and expense in acquiring volumes of this kind. for they are useful only as the scorpion in treacle, as aristotle, the sun of science, has said of logic in his book de pomo. we have noticed a certain manifest difference of nature between law and science, in that every science is delighted and desires to open its inward parts and display the very heart of its principles, and to show forth the roots from which it buds and flourishes, and that the emanation of its springs may be seen of all men; for thus from the cognate and harmonious light of the truth of conclusion to principles, the whole body of science will be full of light, having no part dark. but laws, on the contrary, since they are only human enactments for the regulation of social life, or the yokes of princes thrown over the necks of their subjects, refuse to be brought to the standard of synteresis, the origin of equity, because they feel that they possess more of arbitrary will than rational judgment. wherefore the judgment of the wise for the most part is that the causes of laws are not a fit subject of discussion. in truth, many laws acquire force by mere custom, not by syllogistic necessity, like the arts: as aristotle, the phoebus of the schools, urges in the second book of the politics, where he confutes the policy of hippodamus, which holds out rewards to the inventors of new laws, because to abrogate old laws and establish new ones is to weaken the force of those which exist. for whatever receives its stability from use alone must necessarily be brought to nought by disuse. from which it is seen clearly enough, that as laws are neither arts nor sciences, so books of law cannot properly be called books of art or science. nor is this faculty which we may call by a special term geologia, or the earthly science, to be properly numbered among the sciences. now the books of the liberal arts are so useful to the divine writings, that without their aid the intellect would vainly aspire to understand them. chapter xii why we have caused books of grammar to be so diligently prepared while we were constantly delighting ourselves with the reading of books, which it was our custom to read or have read to us every day, we noticed plainly how much the defective knowledge even of a single word hinders the understanding, as the meaning of no sentence can be apprehended, if any part of it be not understood. wherefore we ordered the meanings of foreign words to be noted with particular care, and studied the orthography, prosody, etymology, and syntax in ancient grammarians with unrelaxing carefulness, and took pains to elucidate terms that had grown too obscure by age with suitable explanations, in order to make a smooth path for our students. this is the whole reason why we took care to replace the antiquated volumes of the grammarians by improved codices, that we might make royal roads, by which our scholars in time to come might attain without stumbling to any science. chapter xiii why we have not wholly neglected the fables of the poets all the varieties of attack directed against the poets by the lovers of naked truth may be repelled by a two-fold defence: either that even in an unseemly subject-matter we may learn a charming fashion of speech, or that where a fictitious but becoming subject is handled, natural or historical truth is pursued under the guise of allegorical fiction. although it is true that all men naturally desire knowledge, yet they do not all take the same pleasure in learning. on the contrary, when they have experienced the labour of study and find their senses wearied, most men inconsiderately fling away the nut, before they have broken the shell and reached the kernel. for man is naturally fond of two things, namely, freedom from control and some pleasure in his activity; for which reason no one without reason submits himself to the control of others, or willingly engages in any tedious task. for pleasure crowns activity, as beauty is a crown to youth, as aristotle truly asserts in the tenth book of the ethics. accordingly the wisdom of the ancients devised a remedy by which to entice the wanton minds of men by a kind of pious fraud, the delicate minerva secretly lurking beneath the mask of pleasure. we are wont to allure children by rewards, that they may cheerfully learn what we force them to study even though they are unwilling. for our fallen nature does not tend to virtue with the same enthusiasm with which it rushes into vice. horace has expressed this for us in a brief verse of the ars poetica, where he says: all poets sing to profit or delight. and he has plainly intimated the same thing in another verse of the same book, where he says: he hits the mark, who mingles joy with use. how many students of euclid have been repelled by the pons asinorum, as by a lofty and precipitous rock, which no help of ladders could enable them to scale! this is a hard saying, they exclaim, and who can receive it. the child of inconstancy, who ended by wishing to be transformed into an ass, would perhaps never have given up the study of philosophy, if he had met him in friendly guise veiled under the cloak of pleasure; but anon, astonished by crato's chair and struck dumb by his endless questions, as by a sudden thunderbolt, he saw no refuge but in flight. so much we have alleged in defence of the poets; and now we proceed to show that those who study them with proper intent are not to be condemned in regard to them. for our ignorance of one single word prevents the understanding of a whole long sentence, as was assumed in the previous chapter. as now the sayings of the saints frequently allude to the inventions of the poets, it must needs happen that through our not knowing the poem referred to, the whole meaning of the author is completely obscured, and assuredly, as cassiodorus says in his book of the institutes of sacred literature: those things are not to be considered trifles without which great things cannot come to pass. it follows therefore that through ignorance of poetry we do not understand jerome, augustine, boethius, lactantius, sidonius, and very many others, a catalogue of whom would more than fill a long chapter. the venerable bede has very clearly discussed and determined this doubtful point, as is related by that great compiler gratian, the repeater of numerous authors, who is as confused in form as he was eager in collecting matter for his compilation. now he writes in his th section: some read secular literature for pleasure, taking delight in the inventions and elegant language of the poets; but others study this literature for the sake of scholarship, that by their reading they may learn to detest the errors of the gentiles and may devoutly apply what they find useful in them to the use of sacred learning. such men study secular literature in a laudable manner. so far bede. taking this salutary instruction to heart, let the detractors of those who study the poets henceforth hold their peace, and let not those who are ignorant of these things require that others should be as ignorant as themselves, for this is the consolation of the wretched. and therefore let every man see that his own intentions are upright, and he may thus make of any subject, observing the limitations of virtue, a study acceptable to god. and if he have found profit in poetry, as the great virgil relates that he had done in ennius, he will not have done amiss. chapter xiv who ought to be special lovers of books to him who recollects what has been said before, it is plain and evident who ought to be the chief lovers of books. for those who have most need of wisdom in order to perform usefully the duties of their position, they are without doubt most especially bound to show more abundantly to the sacred vessels of wisdom the anxious affection of a grateful heart. now it is the office of the wise man to order rightly both himself and others, according to the phoebus of philosophers, aristotle, who deceives not nor is deceived in human things. wherefore princes and prelates, judges and doctors, and all other leaders of the commonwealth, as more than others they have need of wisdom, so more than others ought they to show zeal for the vessels of wisdom. boethius, indeed, beheld philosophy bearing a sceptre in her left hand and books in her right, by which it is evidently shown to all men that no one can rightly rule a commonwealth without books. thou, says boethius, speaking to philosophy, hast sanctioned this saying by the mouth of plato, that states would be happy if they were ruled by students of philosophy, or if their rulers would study philosophy. and again, we are taught by the very gesture of the figure that in so far as the right hand is better than the left, so far the contemplative life is more worthy than the active life; and at the same time we are shown that the business of the wise man is to devote himself by turns, now to the study of truth, and now to the dispensation of temporal things. we read that philip thanked the gods devoutly for having granted that alexander should be born in the time of aristotle, so that educated under his instruction he might be worthy to rule his father's empire. while phaeton unskilled in driving becomes the charioteer of his father's car, he unhappily distributes to mankind the heat of phoebus, now by excessive nearness, and now by withdrawing it too far, and so, lest all beneath him should be imperilled by the closeness of his driving, justly deserved to be struck by the thunderbolt. the history of the greeks as well as romans shows that there were no famous princes among them who were devoid of literature. the sacred law of moses in prescribing to the king a rule of government, enjoins him to have a copy made of the book of divine law (deut. xvii.) according to the copy shown by the priests, in which he was to read all the days of his life. certes, god himself, who hath made and who fashioneth every day the hearts of every one of us, knows the feebleness of human memory and the instability of virtuous intentions in mankind. wherefore he has willed that books should be as it were an antidote to all evil, the reading and use of which he has commanded to be the healthful daily nourishment of the soul, so that by them the intellect being refreshed and neither weak nor doubtful should never hesitate in action. this subject is elegantly handled by john of salisbury, in his policraticon. in conclusion, all classes of men who are conspicuous by the tonsure or the sign of clerkship, against whom books lifted up their voices in the fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters, are bound to serve books with perpetual veneration. chapter xv of the advantages of the love of books it transcends the power of human intellect, however deeply it may have drunk of the pegasean fount, to develop fully the title of the present chapter. though one should speak with the tongue of men and angels, though he should become a mercury or tully, though he should grow sweet with the milky eloquence of livy, yet he will plead the stammering of moses, or with jeremiah will confess that he is but a boy and cannot speak, or will imitate echo rebounding from the mountains. for we know that the love of books is the same thing as the love of wisdom, as was proved in the second chapter. now this love is called by the greek word philosophy, the whole virtue of which no created intelligence can comprehend; for she is believed to be the mother of all good things: wisdom vii. she as a heavenly dew extinguishes the heats of fleshly vices, the intense activity of the mental forces relaxing the vigour of the animal forces, and slothfulness being wholly put to flight, which being gone all the bows of cupid are unstrung. hence plato says in the phaedo: the philosopher is manifest in this, that he dissevers the soul from communion with the body. love, says jerome, the knowledge of the scriptures, and thou wilt not love the vices of the flesh. the godlike xenocrates showed this by the firmness of his reason, who was declared by the famous hetaera phryne to be a statue and not a man, when all her blandishments could not shake his resolve, as valerius maximus relates at length. our own origen showed this also, who chose rather to be unsexed by the mutilation of himself, than to be made effeminate by the omnipotence of woman--though it was a hasty remedy, repugnant alike to nature and to virtue, whose place it is not to make men insensible to passion, but to slay with the dagger of reason the passions that spring from instinct. again, all who are smitten with the love of books think cheaply of the world and wealth; as jerome says to vigilantius: the same man cannot love both gold and books. and thus it has been said in verse: no iron-stained hand is fit to handle books, nor he whose heart on gold so gladly looks: the same men love not books and money both, and books thy herd, o epicurus, loathe; misers and bookmen make poor company, nor dwell in peace beneath the same roof-tree. no man, therefore, can serve both books and mammon. the hideousness of vice is greatly reprobated in books, so that he who loves to commune with books is led to detest all manner of vice. the demon, who derives his name from knowledge, is most effectually defeated by the knowledge of books, and through books his multitudinous deceits and the endless labyrinths of his guile are laid bare to those who read, lest he be transformed into an angel of light and circumvent the innocent by his wiles. the reverence of god is revealed to us by books, the virtues by which he is worshipped are more expressly manifested, and the rewards are described that are promised by the truth, which deceives not, neither is deceived. the truest likeness of the beatitude to come is the contemplation of the sacred writings, in which we behold in turn the creator and the creature, and draw from streams of perpetual gladness. faith is established by the power of books; hope is strengthened by their solace, insomuch that by patience and the consolation of scripture we are in good hope. charity is not puffed up, but is edified by the knowledge of true learning, and, indeed, it is clearer than light that the church is established upon the sacred writings. books delight us, when prosperity smiles upon us; they comfort us inseparably when stormy fortune frowns on us. they lend validity to human compacts, and no serious judgments are propounded without their help. arts and sciences, all the advantages of which no mind can enumerate, consist in books. how highly must we estimate the wondrous power of books, since through them we survey the utmost bounds of the world and time, and contemplate the things that are as well as those that are not, as it were in the mirror of eternity. in books we climb mountains and scan the deepest gulfs of the abyss; in books we behold the finny tribes that may not exist outside their native waters, distinguish the properties of streams and springs and of various lands; from books we dig out gems and metals and the materials of every kind of mineral, and learn the virtues of herbs and trees and plants, and survey at will the whole progeny of neptune, ceres, and pluto. but if we please to visit the heavenly inhabitants, taurus, caucasus, and olympus are at hand, from which we pass beyond the realms of juno and mark out the territories of the seven planets by lines and circles. and finally we traverse the loftiest firmament of all, adorned with signs, degrees, and figures in the utmost variety. there we inspect the antarctic pole, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; we admire the luminous milky way and the zodiac, marvellously and delightfully pictured with celestial animals. thence by books we pass on to separate substances, that the intellect may greet kindred intelligences, and with the mind's eye may discern the first cause of all things and the unmoved mover of infinite virtue, and may immerse itself in love without end. see how with the aid of books we attain the reward of our beatitude, while we are yet sojourners below. why need we say more? certes, just as we have learnt on the authority of seneca, leisure without letters is death and the sepulture of the living, so contrariwise we conclude that occupation with letters or books is the life of man. again, by means of books we communicate to friends as well as foes what we cannot safely entrust to messengers; since the book is generally allowed access to the chambers of princes, from which the voice of its author would be rigidly excluded, as tertullian observes at the beginning of his apologeticus. when shut up in prison and in bonds, and utterly deprived of bodily liberty, we use books as ambassadors to our friends, and entrust them with the conduct of our cause, and send them where to go ourselves would incur the penalty of death. by the aid of books we remember things that are past, and even prophesy as to the future; and things present, which shift and flow, we perpetuate by committing them to writing. the felicitous studiousness and the studious felicity of the all-powerful eunuch, of whom we are told in the acts, who had been so mightily kindled by the love of the prophetic writings that he ceased not from his reading by reason of his journey, had banished all thought of the populous palace of queen candace, and had forgotten even the treasures of which he was the keeper, and had neglected alike his journey and the chariot in which he rode. love of his book alone had wholly engrossed this domicile of chastity, under whose guidance he soon deserved to enter the gate of faith. o gracious love of books, which by the grace of baptism transformed the child of gehenna and nursling of tartarus into a son of the kingdom! let the feeble pen now cease from the tenor of an infinite task, lest it seem foolishly to undertake what in the beginning it confessed to be impossible to any. chapter xvi that it is meritorious to write new books and to renew the old just as it is necessary for the state to prepare arms and to provide abundant stores of victuals for the soldiers who are to fight for it, so it is fitting for the church militant to fortify itself against the assaults of pagans and heretics with a multitude of sound writings. but because all the appliances of mortal men with the lapse of time suffer the decay of mortality, it is needful to replace the volumes that are worn out with age by fresh successors, that the perpetuity of which the individual is by its nature incapable may be secured to the species; and hence it is that the preacher says: of making many books there is no end. for as the bodies of books, seeing that they are formed of a combination of contrary elements, undergo a continual dissolution of their structure, so by the forethought of the clergy a remedy should be found, by means of which the sacred book paying the debt of nature may obtain a natural heir and may raise up like seed to its dead brother, and thus may be verified that saying of ecclesiasticus: his father is dead, and he is as if he were not dead; for he hath left one behind him that is like himself. and thus the transcription of ancient books is as it were the begetting of fresh sons, on whom the office of the father may devolve, lest it suffer detriment. now such transcribers are called antiquarii, whose occupations cassiodorus confesses please him above all the tasks of bodily labour, adding: "happy effort," he says, "laudable industry, to preach to men with the hand, to let loose tongues with the fingers, silently to give salvation to mortals, and to fight with pen and ink against the illicit wiles of the evil one." so far cassiodorus. moreover, our saviour exercised the office of the scribe when he stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground (john viii.), that no one, however exalted, may think it unworthy of him to do what he sees the wisdom of god the father did. o singular serenity of writing, to practise which the artificer of the world stoops down, at whose dread name every knee doth bow! o venerable handicraft pre-eminent above all other crafts that are practised by the hand of man, to which our lord humbly inclines his breast, to which the finger of god is applied, performing the office of a pen! we do not read of the son of god that he sowed or ploughed, wove or digged; nor did any other of the mechanic arts befit the divine wisdom incarnate except to trace letters in writing, that every gentleman and sciolist may know that fingers are given by god to men for the task of writing rather than for war. wherefore we entirely approve the judgment of books, wherein they declared in our sixth chapter the clerk who cannot write to be as it were disabled. god himself inscribes the just in the book of the living; moses received the tables of stone written with the finger of god. job desires that he himself that judgeth would write a book. belshazzar trembled when he saw the fingers of a man's hand writing upon the wall, mene tekel phares. i wrote, says jeremiah, with ink in the book. christ bids his beloved disciple john, what thou seest write in a book. so the office of the writer is enjoined on isaiah and on joshua, that the act and skill of writing may be commended to future generations. christ himself has written on his vesture and on his thigh king of kings and lord of lords, so that without writing the royal ornaments of the omnipotent cannot be made perfect. being dead they cease not to teach, who write books of sacred learning. paul did more for building up the fabric of the church by writing his holy epistles, than by preaching by word of mouth to jews and gentiles. he who has attained the prize continues daily by books, what he long ago began while a sojourner upon the earth; and thus is fulfilled in the doctors writing books the saying of the prophet: they that turn many to righteousness shall be as the stars for ever and ever. moreover, it has been determined by the doctors of the church that the longevity of the ancients, before god destroyed the original world by the deluge, is to be ascribed to a miracle and not to nature; as though god granted to them such length of days as was required for finding out the sciences and writing them in books; amongst which the wonderful variety of astronomy required, according to josephus, a period of six hundred years, to submit it to ocular observation. nor, indeed, do they deny that the fruits of the earth in that primitive age afforded a more nutritious aliment to men than in our modern times, and thus they had not only a livelier energy of body, but also a more lengthened period of vigour; to which it contributed not a little that they lived according to virtue and denied themselves all luxurious delights. whoever therefore is by the good gift of god endowed with gift of science, let him, according to the counsel of the holy spirit, write wisdom in his time of leisure (eccles. xxxviii.), that his reward may be with the blessed and his days may be lengthened in this present world. and further, if we turn our discourse to the princes of the world, we find that famous emperors not only attained excellent skill in the art of writing, but indulged greatly in its practice. julius caesar, the first and greatest of them all, has left us commentaries on the gallic and the civil wars written by himself; he wrote also two books de analogia, and two books of anticatones, and a poem called iter; and many other works. julius and augustus devised means of writing one letter for another, and so concealing what they wrote. for julius put the fourth letter for the first, and so on through the alphabet; whilst augustus used the second for the first, the third for the second, and so throughout. he is said in the greatest difficulties of affairs during the mutinensian war to have read and written and even declaimed every day. tiberius wrote a lyric poem and some greek verses. claudius likewise was skilled in both greek and latin, and wrote several books. but titus was skilled above all men in the art of writing, and easily imitated any hand he chose; so that he used to say that if he had wished it he might have become a most skilful forger. all these things are noted by suetonius in his lives of the xii. caesars. chapter xvii of showing due propriety in the custody of books we are not only rendering service to god in preparing volumes of new books, but also exercising an office of sacred piety when we treat books carefully, and again when we restore them to their proper places and commend them to inviolable custody; that they may rejoice in purity while we have them in our hands, and rest securely when they are put back in their repositories. and surely next to the vestments and vessels dedicated to the lord's body, holy books deserve to be rightly treated by the clergy, to which great injury is done so often as they are touched by unclean hands. wherefore we deem it expedient to warn our students of various negligences, which might always be easily avoided and do wonderful harm to books. and in the first place as to the opening and closing of books, let there be due moderation, that they be not unclasped in precipitate haste, nor when we have finished our inspection be put away without being duly closed. for it behoves us to guard a book much more carefully than a boot. but the race of scholars is commonly badly brought up, and unless they are bridled in by the rules of their elders they indulge in infinite puerilities. they behave with petulance, and are puffed up with presumption, judging of everything as if they were certain, though they are altogether inexperienced. you may happen to see some headstrong youth lazily lounging over his studies, and when the winter's frost is sharp, his nose running from the nipping cold drips down, nor does he think of wiping it with his pocket-handkerchief until he has bedewed the book before him with the ugly moisture. would that he had before him no book, but a cobbler's apron! his nails are stuffed with fetid filth as black as jet, with which he marks any passage that pleases him. he distributes a multitude of straws, which he inserts to stick out in different places, so that the halm may remind him of what his memory cannot retain. these straws, because the book has no stomach to digest them, and no one takes them out, first distend the book from its wonted closing, and at length, being carelessly abandoned to oblivion, go to decay. he does not fear to eat fruit or cheese over an open book, or carelessly to carry a cup to and from his mouth; and because he has no wallet at hand he drops into books the fragments that are left. continually chattering, he is never weary of disputing with his companions, and while he alleges a crowd of senseless arguments, he wets the book lying half open in his lap with sputtering showers. aye, and then hastily folding his arms he leans forward on the book, and by a brief spell of study invites a prolonged nap; and then, by way of mending the wrinkles, he folds back the margin of the leaves, to the no small injury of the book. now the rain is over and gone, and the flowers have appeared in our land. then the scholar we are speaking of, a neglecter rather than an inspecter of books, will stuff his volume with violets, and primroses, with roses and quatrefoil. then he will use his wet and perspiring hands to turn over the volumes; then he will thump the white vellum with gloves covered with all kinds of dust, and with his finger clad in long-used leather will hunt line by line through the page; then at the sting of the biting flea the sacred book is flung aside, and is hardly shut for another month, until it is so full of the dust that has found its way within, that it resists the effort to close it. but the handling of books is specially to be forbidden to those shameless youths, who as soon as they have learned to form the shapes of letters, straightway, if they have the opportunity, become unhappy commentators, and wherever they find an extra margin about the text, furnish it with monstrous alphabets, or if any other frivolity strikes their fancy, at once their pen begins to write it. there the latinist and sophister and every unlearned writer tries the fitness of his pen, a practice that we have frequently seen injuring the usefulness and value of the most beautiful books. again, there is a class of thieves shamefully mutilating books, who cut away the margins from the sides to use as material for letters, leaving only the text, or employ the leaves from the ends, inserted for the protection of the book, for various uses and abuses--a kind of sacrilege which should be prohibited by the threat of anathema. again, it is part of the decency of scholars that whenever they return from meals to their study, washing should invariably precede reading, and that no grease-stained finger should unfasten the clasps, or turn the leaves of a book. nor let a crying child admire the pictures in the capital letters, lest he soil the parchment with wet fingers; for a child instantly touches whatever he sees. moreover, the laity, who look at a book turned upside down just as if it were open in the right way, are utterly unworthy of any communion with books. let the clerk take care also that the smutty scullion reeking from his stewpots does not touch the lily leaves of books, all unwashed, but he who walketh without blemish shall minister to the precious volumes. and, again, the cleanliness of decent hands would be of great benefit to books as well as scholars, if it were not that the itch and pimples are characteristic of the clergy. whenever defects are noticed in books, they should be promptly repaired, since nothing spreads more quickly than a tear and a rent which is neglected at the time will have to be repaired afterwards with usury. moses, the gentlest of men, teaches us to make bookcases most neatly, wherein they may be protected from any injury: take, he says, this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the lord your god. o fitting place and appropriate for a library, which was made of imperishable shittim-wood, and was all covered within and without with gold! but the saviour also has warned us by his example against all unbecoming carelessness in the handling of books, as we read in s. luke. for when he had read the scriptural prophecy of himself in the book that was delivered to him, he did not give it again to the minister, until he had closed it with his own most sacred hands. by which students are most clearly taught that in the care of books the merest trifles ought not to be neglected. chapter xviii showeth that we have collected so great store of books for the common benefit of scholars and not only for our own pleasure nothing in human affairs is more unjust than that those things which are most righteously done, should be perverted by the slanders of malicious men, and that one should bear the reproach of sin where he has rather deserved the hope of honour. many things are done with singleness of eye, the right hand knoweth not what the left hand doth, the lump is uncorrupted by leaven, nor is the garment woven of wool and linen; and yet by the trickery of perverse men a pious work is mendaciously transformed into some monstrous act. certes, such is the unhappy condition of sinful nature, that not merely in acts that are morally doubtful it adopts the worse conclusion; but often it depraves by iniquitous subversion those which have the appearance of rectitude. for although the love of books from the nature of its object bears the aspect of goodness, yet, wonderful to say, it has rendered us obnoxious to the censures of many, by whose astonishment we were disparaged and censured, now for excess of curiosity, now for the exhibition of vanity, now for intemperance of delight in literature; though indeed we were no more disturbed by their vituperation than by the barking of so many dogs, satisfied with the testimony of him to whom it appertaineth to try the hearts and reins. for as the aim and purpose of our inmost will is inscrutable to men and is seen of god alone, the searcher of hearts, they deserve to be rebuked for their pernicious temerity, who so eagerly set a mark of condemnation upon human acts, the ultimate springs of which they cannot see. for the final end in matters of conduct holds the same position as first principles in speculative science or axioms in mathematics, as the chief of philosophers, aristotle, points out in the seventh book of the ethics. and therefore, just as the truth of our conclusions depends upon the correctness of our premises, so in matters of action the stamp of moral rectitude is given by the honesty of aim and purpose, in cases where the act itself would otherwise be held to be morally indifferent. now we have long cherished in our heart of hearts the fixed resolve, when providence should grant a favourable opportunity, to found in perpetual charity a hall in the reverend university of oxford, the chief nursing mother of all liberal arts, and to endow it with the necessary revenues, for the maintenance of a number of scholars; and moreover to enrich the hall with the treasures of our books, that all and every of them should be in common as regards their use and study, not only to the scholars of the said hall, but by their means to all the students of the before-named university for ever, in the form and manner which the following chapter shall declare. wherefore the sincere love of study and zeal for the strengthening of the orthodox faith to the edifying of the church, have begotten in us that solicitude so marvellous to the lovers of pelf, of collecting books wherever they were to be purchased, regardless of expense, and of having those that could not he bought fairly transcribed. for as the favourite occupations of men are variously distinguished according to the disposition of the heavenly bodies, which frequently control our natural composition, so that some men choose to devote themselves to architecture, others to agriculture, others to hunting, others to navigation, others to war, others to games, we have under the aspect of mercury entertained a blameless pleasure in books, which under the rule of right reason, over which no stars are dominant, we have ordered to the glory of the supreme being, that where our minds found tranquillity and peace, thence also might spring a most devout service of god. and therefore let our detractors cease, who are as blind men judging of colours; let not bats venture to speak of light; and let not those who carry beams in their own eyes presume to pull the mote out of their brother's eye. let them cease to jeer with satirical taunts at things of which they are ignorant, and to discuss hidden things that are not revealed to the eyes of men; who perchance would have praised and commended us, if we had spent our time in hunting, dice-playing, or courting the smiles of ladies. chapter xix of the manner of lending all our books to students it has ever been difficult so to restrain men by the laws of rectitude, that the astuteness of successors might not strive to transgress the bounds of their predecessors, and to infringe established rules in insolence of licence. accordingly, with the advice of prudent men, we have prescribed the manner in which we desire that the communication and use of our books should be permitted for the benefit of students. imprimis, we give and grant all and singular the books, of which we have made a special catalogue, in consideration of affection, to the community of scholars living in ---- hall at oxford, as a perpetual gift, for our soul and the souls of our parents, and also for the soul of the most illustrious king edward the third from the conquest, and of the most pious queen philippa, his consort: to the intent that the same books may be lent from time to time to all and singular the scholars and masters of the said place, as well regular as secular, for the advancement and use of study, in the manner immediately following, that is to say: five of the scholars sojourning in the hall aforesaid shall be appointed by the master thereof, who shall have the charge of all the books, of which five persons three and not fewer may lend any book or books for inspection and study; but for copying or transcribing we direct that no book shall be allowed outside the walls of the house. therefore, when any scholar secular or religious, whom for this purpose we regard with equal favour, shall seek to borrow any book, let the keepers diligently consider if they have a duplicate of the said book, and if so, let them lend him the book, taking such pledge as in their judgment exceeds the value of the book delivered, and let a record be made forthwith of the pledge and of the book lent, containing the names of the persons delivering the book and of the person who receives it, together with the day and year when the loan is made. but if the keepers find that the book asked for is not in duplicate, they shall not lend such book to any one whomsoever, unless he shall belong to the community of scholars of the said hall, unless perhaps for inspection within the walls of the aforesaid house or hall, but not to be carried beyond it. but to any of the scholars of the said hall, any book may be lent by three of the aforesaid keepers, after first recording, however, his name, with the day on which he receives the book. nevertheless, the borrower may not lend the book entrusted to him to another, except with the permission of three of the aforesaid keepers, and then the name of the first borrower being erased, the name of the second with the time of delivery is to be recorded. each keeper shall take an oath to observe all these regulations when they enter upon the charge of the books. and the recipients of any book or books shall thereupon swear that they will not use the book or books for any other purpose but that of inspection or study, and that they will not take or permit to be taken it or them beyond the town and suburbs of oxford. moreover, every year the aforesaid keepers shall render an account to the master of the house and two of his scholars whom he shall associate with himself, or if he shall not be at leisure, he shall appoint three inspectors, other than the keepers, who shall peruse the catalogue of books, and see that they have them all, either in the volumes themselves or at least as represented by deposits. and the more fitting season for rendering this account we believe to be from the first of july until the festival of the translation of the glorious martyr s. thomas next following. we add this further provision, that anyone to whom a book has been lent, shall once a year exhibit it to the keepers, and shall, if he wishes it, see his pledge. moreover, if it chances that a book is lost by death, theft, fraud, or carelessness, he who has lost it or his representative or executor shall pay the value of the book and receive back his deposit. but if in any wise any profit shall accrue to the keepers, it shall not be applied to any purpose but the repair and maintenance of the books. chapter xx an exhortation to scholars to requite us by pious prayers time now clamours for us to terminate this treatise which we have composed concerning the love of books; in which we have endeavoured to give the astonishment of our contemporaries the reason why we have loved books so greatly. but because it is hardly granted to mortals to accomplish aught that is not rolled in the dust of vanity, we do not venture entirely to justify the zealous love which we have so long had for books, or to deny that it may perchance sometimes have been the occasion of some venial negligence, albeit the object of our love is honourable and our intention upright. for if when we have done everything, we are bound to call ourselves unprofitable servants; if the most holy job was afraid of all his works; if according to isaiah all our righteousness is as filthy rags, who shall presume to boast himself of the perfection of any virtue, or deny that from some circumstance a thing may deserve to be reprehended, which in itself perhaps was not reprehensible. for good springs from one selfsame source, but evil arises in many ways, as dionysius informs us. wherefore to make amends for our iniquities, by which we acknowledge ourselves to have frequently offended the creator of all things, in asking the assistance of their prayers, we have thought fit to exhort our future students to show their gratitude as well to us as to their other benefactors in time to come by requiting our forethought for their benefit by spiritual retribution. let us live when dead in their memories, who have lived in our benevolence before they were born, and live now sustained by our beneficence. let them implore the mercy of the redeemer with unwearied prayer, that the pious judge may excuse our negligences, may pardon the wickedness of our sins, may cover the lapses of our feebleness with the cloak of piety, and remit by his divine goodness the offences of which we are ashamed and penitent. that he may preserve to us for a due season of repentance the gifts of his good grace, steadfastness of faith, loftiness of hope, and the widest charity to all men. that he may turn our haughty will to lament its faults, that it may deplore its past most vain elations, may retract its most bitter indignations, and detest its most insane delectations. that his virtue may abound in us, when our own is found wanting, and that he who freely consecrated our beginning by the sacrament of baptism, and advanced our progress to the seat of the apostles without any desert of ours, may deign to fortify our outgoing by the fitting sacraments. that we may be delivered from the lust of the flesh, that the fear of death may utterly vanish and our spirit may desire to be dissolved and be with christ, and existing upon earth in body only, in thought and longing our conversation may be in heaven. that the father of mercies and the god of all consolation may graciously come to meet the prodigal returning from the husks; that he may receive the piece of silver that has been lately found and transmit it by his holy angels into his eternal treasury. that he may rebuke with his terrible countenance, at the hour of our departure, the spirits of darkness, lest leviathan, that old serpent, lying hid at the gate of death, should spread unforeseen snares for our feet. but when we shall be summoned to the awful judgment-seat to give an account on the testimony of conscience of all things we have done in the body, the god-man may consider the price of the holy blood that he has shed, and that the incarnate deity may note the frame of our carnal nature, that our weakness may pass unpunished where infinite loving-kindness is to be found, and that the soul of the wretched sinner may breathe again where the peculiar office of the judge is to show mercy. and further, let our students be always diligent in invoking the refuge of our hope after god, the virgin mother of god and blessed queen of heaven, that we who for our manifold sins and wickednesses have deserved the anger of the judge, by the aid of her ever-acceptable supplications may merit his forgiveness; that her pious hand may depress the scale of the balance in which our small and few good deeds shall be weighed, lest the heaviness of our sins preponderate and cast us down to the bottomless pit of perdition. moreover, let them ever venerate with due observance the most deserving confessor cuthbert, the care of whose flock we have unworthily undertaken, ever devoutly praying that he may deign to excuse by his prayers his all-unworthy vicar, and may procure him whom he hath admitted as his successor upon earth to be made his assessor in heaven. finally, let them pray god with holy prayers as well of body as of soul, that he will restore the spirit created in the image of the trinity, after its sojourn in this miserable world, to its primordial prototype, and grant to it for ever to enjoy the sight of his countenance: through our lord jesus christ. amen. the end of the philobiblon of master richard de aungerville, surnamed de bury, late bishop of durham this treatise was finished in our manorhouse of auckland on the th day of january, in the year of our lord one thousand three hundred and forty-four, the fifty-eighth year of our age being exactly completed, and the eleventh year of our pontificate drawing to an end; to the glory of god. amen. http://www.ebookforge.net the private library _what we do know what we don't know what we ought to know about our books_ by arthur l. humphreys _fourth edition._ london: strangeways & sons sold by hatchards, piccadilly, w. mdcccc _preface_ _with all the literature published on behalf of free libraries--institutions which, after all, are of doubtful good--no one so far has written a book to assist in making the private library combine practical useful qualities with decorative effect._ _for many years i have had opportunities of inspecting and reporting upon collections of books in numerous country houses, and i must say that the condition of books in the greater number of them is chaotic. a man will talk about all his possessions--his pictures, his objets d'art, his horses, his garden, and his bicycle, but rarely will he talk about his books; and if he does so, all his geese are swans, or just as often, all his swans are geese. there are servants in every house qualified to do everything except handle a book. there is no reason why the library should not be just as much a place of amusement as the billiard-room, where the men are usually to be found. books are much more amusing than billiards, and you may learn to play in jest or work in earnest with books just as you take to any other amusement. the whole truth is that at present books do not get a proper share of attention, and it is with the desire to remedy such a condition of things that i have printed this little volume, containing things that we do know, that we don't know, and that we ought to know about our books._ _a. l. h._ piccadilly, w. contents page what is a good edition? what is a fine copy? book values on the care of books the art of reading common-place books reference books boudoir libraries bookbinding book hobbies old country libraries weeding out the catalogue classification of books bookcases miscellaneous appliances the library annexe a librarian the library architecturally munificent book-buying the medici and their friends the dukes of urbino pieresc mr. ruskin's advice index the private library. _what is a good edition?_ a good edition should be a complete edition, ungarbled and unabridged. if the author is a classic, the _format_ of the copy chosen should in some way represent the style of the author. _gibbon_, for instance, should be in large octavo or quarto, with print of a size to correspond. this is not always possible, for english editions of books often aim at mere cheapness, and of many great authors there exist no good editions. thus there is no suitable edition of the classics printed in england, as there is and for long has been in france. a good edition is not necessarily an expensive edition, nor is it necessarily noble and generous in print and margin. the editions known as the 'globe' editions of pope and others are good editions because ( ) they are complete; ( ) each one has been taken in hand and superintended by the most competent scholar and has notes sufficient but not pedantic; ( ) because they are well printed on paper of fair quality by printers who give wages liberally to careful press readers; ( ) because each work being a work of the first or classic order, it is bound in a simple and unaffected style, without meretricious gold or tawdry ornament. now the 'globe' editions are fitting in their place as types of right editions of the cheap kind. i will now take right editions of the more liberal and expensive kind. the 'cambridge' _shakespeare_, the last issue, each play in a separate volume, is right because ( ) the print, paper, spacing, and simplicity of binding, are suited to the dignity of the work; ( ) the edition has had brought to it fulness of knowledge and rightness of judgment; ( ) each volume is light to handle and easy to hold, and flexible in opening. but it would be misleading to say that these are the only examples of right editions. in other books which i might name, excellent work has been brought to play which in the two types already named there was not scope for. i would like therefore to take another instance, and name the editions of pope's _works_, edited by courthope and elwin, of walpole's _letters_, edited by peter cunningham, and boswell's _johnson_, edited by birkbeck hill. these editions contain excellent and workmanlike features, such as good arrangement and good indexing, with notes and elucidations sufficiently ample. the size too of each volume is not extravagant as in certain _éditions de luxe_. now in order that we may have good editions, there are, at least, ten people who must work well together: ( ) the author, ( ) the publisher, ( ) the printer, ( ) the reader, ( ) the compositor, ( ) the pressman, ( ) the paper maker, ( ) the ink maker, ( ) the bookbinder, ( ) the consumer.[ ] when these ten people are not working in harmony, a book is spoilt. too often the author, without technical knowledge of book production, insists on certain whims and fancies of his own being carried out. too often the publisher aims at cheapness and nothing more. the publications issued by pickering in the 'forties' and 'fifties' were models of good workmanship. pickering published and whittingham printed, and it was their custom to first sit in consultation upon every new book, and painfully hammer out each in his own mind its ideal form and proportions. then two sundays at least were required to compare notes in the little summer house in mr. whittingham's garden at chiswick. here they would discuss size and quality of paper, the shape of the printed page, the number of lines, the size of the type, the form and comeliness of the title-page.[ ] in all technical details the _edinburgh_ edition of r. l. stevenson's works is satisfying. here are more 'lines of beauty' than in almost any other modern printed book. as we handle it we feel _satisfied_ that it _is right_. perhaps it was such a _format_ that mr. ruskin had in mind when he shaped out a scheme of a royal series of books, which should be models of good work all round. and though it is necessary that we have cheap editions, and that books should circulate everywhere, we want to save the book trade from shoddy work by keeping good models before us. that we produce the best thought in the best form, and not in any mean, shabby dress, ought indeed to be a serious aim of everybody engaged in the matter. footnotes: [ ] stevens' _who spoils our english books?_ [ ] stevens' _who spoils our english books?_ _what is a fine copy?_ to judge of a fine copy requires some years' handling of books. to some, the school prize, in light brown calf, represents an ideal of book beauty; to others, a padded binding and round corners. but these are neither beautiful nor in any way fine copies. the school prize book is not a fine copy ( ) because it is bound in a very perishable leather; ( ) because its margins have been trimmed away and ploughed into; ( ) because it is received in a form which renders it impossible to stamp one's own individuality upon it; ( ) it has gaudy and meaningless ornaments stamped down the back. the padded binding is impossible as a fine copy because it has had applied to it a wholly incongruous method of preservation. books require to be clothed, but not to be upholstered. the round corners usually adopted by the upholster binder can claim no advantage, and they rob the book of its natural neatness and squareness of edge. school prize bindings and padded bindings are sins against the sanctity of common sense. what then is a fine copy? almost, though not entirely, essential is it that it be in the original binding as put out by the publisher, whether it be a paper covering, or cloth, or boards. the reason for this is that in securing a book in such a condition one has the book _in full measure_, and there is no necessity to undo anything which has already been done. now, if a book be bought in a leather binding, the chances are that it is a leather binding which in no way suits its new owner, and he therefore has not only to sacrifice the binding, but in rebinding it he must sacrifice some of the margins too. the novels of scott and marryat in their original boards are delightful to handle. a fine copy should be a clean copy free from spots. when a book is spotted it is called 'foxed,' and these 'foxey' books are for the most part books printed in the early part of this century, when paper-makers first discovered that they could bleach their rags, and, owing to the inefficient means used to neutralise the bleach, the book carried the seeds of decay in itself, and when exposed to any damp soon became discoloured with brown stains.[ ] a foxed book cannot have the fox marks removed, and such a book should be avoided. ink marks can be removed, and a name written upon a title-page can generally be entirely obliterated without leaving any sign that it has been there. here let me beg people who give presents of books never to write upon title-pages, but upon the fly-leaf. many thousands of beautiful and valuable volumes are annually ruined for ever by their owners cutting the name from the title. a cut title-page is irreparable. a fine copy may be a bound copy, in which case the edges must not have been cut down, though the top edge may have been gilded, and the binding must be appropriate and not provincial in appearance. a provincial binding lacks finish, the board used is too thick or too thin, or not of good quality, and the leather not properly pared down and turned in. all such things go to spoil good books. in north's _lives of the norths_ there is a passage which well describes the man of judgment in books. dr. john north, whose life forms part of this work, is most picturesquely described in his book-loving habits. 'he courted, as a fond lover, all best editions, fairest characters, best bound and preserved. if the subject were in his favour (as the classics), he cared not how many of them he had, even of the same edition, if he thought it among the best, _rather better bound, squarer cut, neater covers, or some such qualification caught him_.' and then his biographer adds, what is so true, and especially of books, 'continual use gives men a judgment of things comparatively, and they come to fix on what is most proper and easy, which no man upon cursory view would determine.' large paper copies are not necessarily fine copies. when a cheap trumpery piece of book-making is printed on hand-made paper or japanese vellum paper the result is vulgarity, just as when a common person attempts to swagger about in fine clothes. no, a book must show good binding and be appropriately apparelled, or it cannot be referred to as a fine copy. in the matter of large paper copies it is necessary to form a separate judgment in each case. one thing is certain, that the man who collects large paper books as large paper books is a vulgarian and a fool. he who collects such large paper books as mature judgment determines are appropriate, and because he sees them to have genuine points of merit over and above small paper copies, is a book lover. in a charming little volume, written by an american bibliophile, i read the following passage, confirming in part the foregoing:-- 'good editions of good books, though they may often be expensive, cannot be too highly commended. one can turn to a page in inviting letterpress so much easier than to a page of an unattractive volume.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] blades' _enemies of books_ (p. ). [ ] ellwanger's _story of my house_, p. . _book values._ it would be impossible to tell all the causes which go towards determining the value of a book and which cause it to fluctuate in price. there is but one way to arrive at a reliable knowledge of book values, and that is to begin stall-hunting as soon as you leave school or college and continue until past middle age, absorbing information from stalls, from catalogues, and from sale-rooms. the records of prices at which books have been sold in the auction rooms, and which are regularly issued, are useless in the hands of an inexperienced person. to make up your mind on monday that you are going to begin a career of successful bargain-hunting and book-collecting is only to be defrauded on all the other five remaining days. experience must be bought, and an eye for a good copy of a book, or for a bargain of any kind, only comes after years of practice. i admit that if a man begins collecting some particular class of books, say angling books, he may sooner arrive at safe judgment alone; but even here he has a pretty wide field to make blunders in. when gabriel naudé wrote his pamphlet, _avis pour dresser une bibliothèque_, he laid down his first rule thus:--'the first means is to take the counsel and advice of such as are able to give it _viva voce_.' this was written more than two hundred years ago, and still no better advice could possibly be given to a book collector. by all means find a man whom you can trust, and whose knowledge is ample, and stick to him. do not yourself bid in the auction room, or you will soon find out your mistake. place your list of wants and your list of commissions in the hands of one good man whom you have reason to trust, and you will then get your money's worth. i have said that it is impossible to set down all the causes which affect the prices of books, but in an old french bibliographical book, by d. clement,[ ] the subject is gone into more minutely than it has ever since been treated. first, there are causes which may be classed under the heading of _rarity_. secondly, there are causes which must be grouped under the head _condition_. according to clement, there are two sorts of rarity in books; the one absolute, the other conditional or contingent. there are rare editions of very common books. there are books of almost common occurrence in public libraries, which are rarely seen in the market. a book or an edition of which but very few copies exist is called 'necessarily rare;' one which is only with difficulty to be met with--however many copies may be extant--he calls 'contingently rare.' under the first head he classes; ( ) books of which few copies were printed; ( ) books which have been suppressed; ( ) books which have been almost entirely destroyed by casual fire, or other accident; ( ) books of which a large portion of the impression has been wasted--usually for want of success when published; ( ) volumes of which the printing was never completed; ( ) copies on large paper or on vellum. under the second head, he enumerates; ( ) books on subjects which interest only a particular class of students; ( ) books in languages which are little known; ( ) heretical, licentious, and libellous books; ( ) first editions of a classic author from ms.; ( ) first productions of the printing press in a particular town; ( ) the productions of the celebrated printers of the sixteenth century; ( ) books in the vernacular language of an author who printed them in a foreign country; ( ) books privately printed; ( ) works, the various parts of which have been published under different titles, in different sizes, or in various places. clement then analyses the degrees of rarity thus: ( ) every book, which is no longer current in the trade, and requires some pains in the search for it, is 'of infrequent occurrence;' ( ) if there are but few copies in the country in which we live, and those not easily met with, it is 'rare;' ( ) if the copies are so dispersed that there are but few of them, even in the neighbouring countries, so that there is increased difficulty to procure them, it is 'very rare;' ( ) if the number of copies be but fifty or sixty, and those scattered, it is 'extremely rare;' ( ) and finally, every work of which there are not ten copies in the world is 'excessively rare.' in all these cases, it must be supposed that the book is a book sought for, and that the seekers are more numerous than the sought.[ ] in the matter of _condition_ and its effect upon price, long training is required before all the qualities of a copy can be properly defined. there are copies on 'vellum,' 'large paper,' 'fine paper,' 'coloured paper.' there are 'crisp' copies, 'uncut' copies, 'tall' copies, 'ruled' copies, and 'illustrated' copies, _cum multis aliis_.[ ] fashion determines much as to price. as soon as it becomes a fad to collect books relating to some particular subject, competition instantly steps in, and prices go up. it may be well to state, for the benefit of a very numerous and uninitiated public, that, _because a book is old, it is not necessarily rare_. there are many thousands of people who have most imperfect and valueless books, mostly on theology, or some controversial abominations, and these people spend days wasting their own and booksellers' time in seeking to sell at prices which their own imagination alone has determined is right. distrust the advertisements of large paper editions. _very_ few of them are worth purchasing, and very few, indeed, increase in value. fight against the first-edition craze, which is the maddest craze that ever affected book collecting. again and again it must be repeated, and cannot be gainsaid, that _a first edition may be the best, but in most cases it is the worst_. in every case, inquire and find out which is the _best_ edition as to completeness, good paper and print, and safe editing, if such has been necessary, and then purchase a copy of that edition. one remark finally. the prices of _all good books_ are going up, and any one who lays out money with care within the next ten years will have the enjoyment of his library and a good investment as well. footnotes: [ ] d. clement, _bibliothèque curieuse_. [ ] edwards, _memoirs of libraries_, ii. - . [ ] edwards, ii. . _on the care of books._ the two things most neglected in houses are the trimming of lamps and the care of the books. the condition of many libraries in large country houses is most lamentable. in such neglect are they that it would take months, and in some cases years, working day and night, to restore them to a healthy condition. for, poor things! they are really so neglected, that their covers become like the limbs of rheumatic people. if you touch them they seem to shriek and cry with pain. they are either parched for lack of a proper atmosphere, or else they are sticking together with the damp or thickly covered with dust.[ ] there is nothing else in a house like this, and why are these things so? it is because there are so few people who understand the care of books. i once read the following in a daily paper, and thought i recognised in it a familiar hand, that of mr. andrew lang:-- 'the foes of books are careless people--first of all. they tear pages open with their thumbs, or cut them with sharp knives which damage the margins. it is so difficult to keep paper knives, and ivory paper knives are the favourite pasture of some scholars, who bite the edges till the weapon resembles a dissipated saw. to avoid this temptation some employ mediæval daggers, or skene dhus, but the edges spoil a book. cigarette ashes are very bad for books, so is butter, also marmalade. dr. johnson and wordsworth are said to have been very careless with their books. dr. johnson used to clean his from dust by knocking them together, as mr. leighton says housemaids do. scott was very careful; he had a number of wooden dummies made, and, when a volume was borrowed, he put the dummy in its place on the shelf, inscribing it with the name of the borrower. he also defended his shelves with locked brazen wires. "tutus clausus ero" ("i shall be safe if shut up"), his anagram, was his motto, under a portcullis. borrowers, of course, are nearly the worst enemies of books, always careless, and very apt to lose one volume out of a set. housemaids are seldom bibliophiles. their favourite plan is to dust the books in the owner's absence, and then rearrange them on fancy principles, mostly upside down. one volume of _grote_ will be put among french novels, another in the centre of a collection on sports, a third in the midst of modern histories, while others are "upstairs and downstairs, and in my lady's chamber." the diversity of sizes, from folio to duodecimo, makes books very difficult to arrange where room is scanty. modern shelves in most private houses allow no room for folios, which have to lie, like fallen warriors, on their sides.' all that is very true, particularly about housemaids. indeed, i have rarely found any woman who cared sufficiently for her books to really fondly tend them. the principal enemy which books have is damp. this means ruination, more perhaps to the paper than to the binding, though both suffer. a fungus growth comes on the leather, and inside there come stains and 'fox' marks. damp is caused ( ) through lack of fires or warmth; ( ) through too many sides of a room being exposed to the elements without having the walls battened; ( ) the thaw following a frost, proper means for warmth not being adopted during the frost. the only remedy for damp is the trying process of opening each volume and suspending it open, after wiping with a dry cloth each page affected. the next worst enemies are gas and heat. gas alone, provided the books are not placed high up, will not be nearly so destructive as it is generally supposed; but all atmospheres heated too highly are destructive. mr. poole, a very experienced american librarian, has reported as follows, and, i think, very rightly:-- 'the burning of many gas lights doubtless has a tendency to increase the evil by increasing the heat. yet the deterioration of bindings goes on in the libraries where gas is never used. this fact shows that the chief injury arises from heat, and not merely from the sulphurous residuum of gas combustion.' mr. poole made an experiment in the upper gallery of a library, and found that-- 'while the temperature of the floor was ° fahr., that of the upper gallery was found to be °. such a temperature dries up the oil of the leather, and burns out its life. books cannot live where men cannot live.' similarly, mr. blades wrote in his little manual: 'the surest way to preserve your books is to treat them as you would your own children, who are sure to sicken if confined in an atmosphere which is impure, too hot, too cold, too damp, or too dry. it is just the same with the progeny of literature.' in london particularly dust, smoke, and soot get at books and do great damage. to have the top edges gilded is an excellent way to prevent dust getting into the leaves. books which have roughly trimmed tops harbour dust much more readily, and it is with great difficulty removed from such. if a book is very dusty, a small brush is perhaps the best means to adopt to remove the offending particles. books should not be either swung together or beaten together. the carpet in a library should not reach to the wall, or right to the cases, but should fall short so as to be removed when required to be cleaned. a librarian at bath gives the following advice:-- 'our books are taken down once a year, in the month of august, to be dusted, and, for the last four or five years, i have adopted a simple plan. when the books are well dusted i take about half an ounce of the best horn glue, and, having dissolved it in the usual way, i add to it about a pint of warm water and a teaspoonful of glycerine, and stir it well. then dipping a soft sponge into the solution, i wash over the backs of the books. if the leather is much perished or decayed, it will unduly absorb the size, and a second touch over may be necessary. the glycerine will have the effect of preventing the glue from drying too hard or stiffening the leather. when dry, the books may be rubbed over with a chamois leather. the above process, i find, helps to nourish the leather, and to restore that property which the heated air has destroyed. it also freshens up and greatly improves the appearance of the volumes upon the shelves. the operation must be repeated once a year at least.' bottles of preparation are sold ready made up for this purpose. mr. blades warmly echoed the sentiment that housemaids and helps are seldom bibliophiles, and, if, peradventure, one eve in a family can be indoctrinated with book reverence, there may be salvation for all the books. mr. blades himself had a fine library, and goes fully into the subject of the period of dusting and its methods.[ ] 'books _must_ now and then be taken down out of their shelves, but they should be tended lovingly and with judgment. if the dusting can be done just outside the room, so much the better. the books removed, the shelf should be lifted quite out of its bearings, cleansed, and wiped, and then each volume should be taken separately and gently rubbed on back and edges with a soft cloth. in returning the volumes to their places, notice should be taken of the binding, and especially when the books are in whole calf or morocco, care should be taken not to let them rub together. the best-bound books are soonest injured, and generally deteriorate in bad company. certain volumes, indeed, have evil tempers, and will scratch the faces of all their neighbours who are too familiar with them. such are books with metal clasps and rivets on their edges; and such, again, are those abominable old rascals, chiefly born in the fifteenth century, who are proud of being dressed in real boards with brass corners, and pass their lives with fearful knobs and metal bosses. . . . . when your books are being dusted, don't impute too much common sense to your assistants--take their ignorance for granted.' mr. blades then points out certain dangers which beset the inexperienced handler of books. never lift a book by one of its corners. do not pile books up too high. be careful not to rub the dust _into_ instead of _off_ the edges. if mildew or damp is discovered, carefully wipe it away, and let the book stand open for some days in a very dry spot--but not in front of a fire. be careful that no grit is on the duster, or it will surely mark your books. do not wedge books in too tightly. common-sense must dictate what is right, but every volume should _fit easily_ in its place. children and servants are not to be classed as friendly to books, but little lapses on their part are much more easily tolerated than the ignorance of the person who ought to know better. such people insist upon having their books bound in hideous bindings, and mutilated almost beyond recognition by the bookbinder's plough. i will talk about bookbinding later, but this i will say, that in no way can a book be easier ruined than by being placed unconditionally in the hands of a bookbinder. it is frequently supposed that the insect, known as the bookworm, is a great enemy to books. 'tis true where the bookworm exists it does irreparable damage, but fortunately it is not an insect which may be found every day. in america, they have, i believe, greater trouble from these boring insects. they have 'fish bugs,' 'silver fish,' and 'bustle tails,' scientifically known as _lepisma saccharina_. another is known as 'buffalo bug,' or 'carpet bug,' or the _anthrenus varius_ of scientists. a third is _blatta australasia_, a species of cockroach. the following maxims may be learned by heart, or if preferred, they can be bought by experience: do not bite your paper knife until it has the edge of a saw. do not cut books except with a proper ivory paper knife. it is ruination to a good book not to cut it right through into the corners. do not turn the leaves of books down. particularly, do not turn down the leaves of books printed on plate paper. if you are in the habit of lending books, do not mark them. these two habits together constitute an act of indiscretion. it is better to give a book than to lend it. never write upon a title-page or half-title. the blank fly-leaf is the right place. books are neither card-racks, crumb-baskets, or receptacles for dead leaves. books were not meant as cushions, nor were they meant to be toasted before a fire. valets and maids appear to take kindly to the packing of everything except books. i will therefore say that only small quantities (twelve volumes to twenty) should be packed in a parcel. boxes, either wine-cases, or boxes specially made, should be used. books being very solid and heavy should be packed in strong cases, and the method of packing them should be to place them upright alternately on back and edge in layers. by this means they can be fitted tightly to the case they are meant to travel in. leather bound volumes should be wrapped up singly before being packed, and the box should be carefully lined with paper so that any roughness on the wood of the box may not damage the volumes. book and parcel post volumes should have three or four thicknesses of paper, and if bound volumes a strawboard on either side as well as paper. footnotes: [ ] leighton (john), _book-plate annual_. [ ] _enemies of books._ _the art of reading._ first, how to read. the reason why so many people who read much know so little, is because they read isolated books instead of reading one book in connexion with another. the memory is trained by association, and if you read two books in succession on one subject you know more than twice as much as if you had read one book only. a good memory is a memory which assimilates. every one has a good memory for something. a good memory rejects and sifts, and does not accept everything offered to it like a pillar-box. do not join reading societies, because they kill individuality. choose your subject, and work all round it. there is an extensive literature on the subject of 'the art of reading,' 'the best hundred books,' &c. most of it is useless and bewildering. the best advice i have ever seen in print about reading was by sir herbert maxwell, and it appeared some years ago at the end of a _nineteenth century_ article. it is as follows: 'if any young person of leisure were so much at a loss as to ask advice as to what he should read, mine should be exceedingly simple--_read anything_ bearing on a definite object. let him take up any imaginable subject to which he feels attracted, be it the precession of the equinoxes or postage stamps, the athenian drama or london street cries; let him follow it from book to book, and unconsciously his knowledge, not of that subject only, but of many subjects, will be increased, for the departments of the realm of knowledge are divided by no _octroi_. he may abandon the first object of his pursuit for another; it does not matter, one subject leads to another; he will have acquired the habit of acquisition; he will have gained that conviction of the pricelessness of time which makes it intolerable for a man to lie abed of a morning.' the art of reading is a thing to learn, and with it comes the equally valuable art of skipping. mr. balfour's advice to readers is to learn the arts of skipping and skimming, and the late philip gilbert hamerton said:--'the art of reading is to skip judiciously. the art is to skip all that does not concern us, whilst missing nothing that we really need. no external guidance can teach this; for nobody but ourselves can guess what the needs of our intellect may be.' no one knows how to skim and skip who has not first well threshed out some subject for himself. no one can tear the heart out of a book who has not first been through the student period. advice is poured forth in lengthy magazine articles, and lectures, but as far as i know there is nothing which embodies such good sense on this subject, excepting sir herbert maxwell's advice above, as a tiny pamphlet, about two inches square, written by miss lucy soulsby, and sold for twopence. it is rather absurdly called _things in books clothing_! below are printed only such passages, gathered from many sources, as i think are necessary to be known about the art of reading. 'it is true that the most absolute master of his own hours still needs thrift if he would turn them to account, and that too many _never_ learn this thrift, whilst others learn it late. . . . . few intellectual men have the art of economising the hours of study. the very necessity which every one acknowledges of giving vast portions of life to attain proficiency in anything, makes us prodigal where we ought to be parsimonious, and careless where we have need of unceasing vigilance. the best time-savers are a love of soundness in all we learn or do, and a cheerful acceptance of inevitable limitations.'[ ] 'in exchange for the varied pleasures of the fashionable life, the intellectual life can offer you but one satisfaction, for all its promises are reducible simply to this, that you shall come at last, after infinite labour, into contact with some great _reality_; that you shall know and do in such sort that you will feel yourself on firm ground, and be recognised--probably not much applauded, but yet recognised--as a fellow-labourer by other knowers and doers. before you come to this, most of your present accomplishments will be abandoned by yourself as unsatisfactory and insufficient, but one or two of them will be turned to better account, and will give you, after many years, a tranquil self-respect, and, what is still rarer and better, a very deep and earnest reverence for the greatness which is above you. severed from the vanities of the illusory, you will live with the realities of knowledge as one who has quitted the painted scenery of the theatre to listen by the eternal ocean or gaze at the granite hills.'[ ] 'reading, with me, incites to reflection instantly. i cannot separate the origination of ideas from the reception of ideas. the consequence is, as i read i always begin to think in various directions, and that makes my reading slow.'[ ] 'when a particular object has to be attained, reading cannot be too special. there is an enormous waste of intelligence through a neglect of this fact, but otherwise reading should "come by nature." when i look through the list of the best hundred books, i cannot help saying to myself, "here are the most admirable and varied materials for the formation of a prig."'[ ] 'let us not be afraid of using a dictionary. _a_ dictionary? a dozen; at all events, until dr. murray's huge undertaking is finished. and even then, for no one dictionary will help us through some authors--say, chaucer, or spenser, or sir thomas browne. let us use our full lexicon, and latin dictionary, and french dictionary, and anglo-saxon dictionary, and etymological dictionary, and dictionaries of antiquity, and biography, and geography, and concordances, anything and everything that will throw light on the meanings and histories of words.'[ ] 'to master a book, perhaps the best possible way is to write an essay in refutation of it. you may be bound few things will escape you then. the next best way may perhaps be to edit and annotate it for students, though, if some recent hebdomadal animadversions upon certain oxford styles of annotation are well founded, this is questionable. the worst way, i should think, would be to review it for a newspaper.'[ ] 'reading, and much reading, is good. but the power of diversifying the matter infinitely in your own mind, and of applying it to every occasion that arises is far better.'[ ] 'a person once told me that he never took up a book except with the view of making himself master of some subject which he was studying, and that while he was so engaged he made all his reading converge to that point. in this way he might read parts of many books, but not a single one from "end to end." this i take to be an excellent method of study, but one which implies the command of many books.'[ ] 'never read a book without pencil in hand. if you dislike disfiguring the margins and fly-leaves of your own books, borrow a friend's; but by all means use a pencil, if only to jot down the pages to be re-read. to transcribe striking, beautiful, or important passages is a tremendous aid to the memory; these will live for years, clear and vivid as day, when the book itself has become spectral and shadowy in the night of oblivion. a manuscript volume of such passages, well indexed, will become in time one of the most valuable books in one's library.'[ ] 'no man, it appears to me, can tell another what he ought to read. a man's reading, to be of any value, must depend upon his power of association, and that again depends upon his tendencies, his capacities, his surroundings, and his opportunities.'[ ] * * * * * i am fully convinced that the above passages condense all that is best worth knowing upon the 'art of reading.' next in importance is what to read. be very careful about reading books which are recommended, because they are books of the hour. fools step in and say read this and that without thinking to put themselves in your place. because a book suits one person, it is only a rare chance that it will suit a friend equally. before recommending a book to another with assurance, you must know the book well, and the friend to whom it is recommended you must know much better. read the book which suggests something responsive and sympathetic. no one can tell you this as well as you can find it for yourself. practice will teach you to choose a book, as practice has taught you to choose a friend. you will almost be able to choose it in the dark. there are affinities for books as for people, but this does not come at once. the proper appreciation of the great books of the world is the reward of lifelong study. you must work up to them, and unconsciously you will become trained to find great qualities in what the world has decided is great. novel reading is not a part of the intellectual life, it is a part of the fashionable life. lamb says that bridget elia 'was tumbled early, by accident or design, into a spacious library of good old english reading, without much selection or prohibition, and browsed at will upon that fair and wholesome pasturage.' and he adds, 'had i twenty girls they should be brought up exactly in this fashion.' ruskin says, 'there need be no choosing at all. keep the modern magazine and novel out of your girl's way; turn her loose into the old library every wet day, and let her alone. she will find out what is good for her.' mr. ruskin notwithstanding, there will ever be a large public who will read nothing unless it has a story in it. nearly all readers of books may be divided into two classes, those who read as students towards some definite end, and those who read for amusement. the latter class are greatly in the majority, and i have no hesitation in saying that a love of fiction will always predominate over a love of research, even in its light form. the student class, among whom are many critics, usually fail to understand the position of the fiction lovers, with the result that the fiction readers and fiction itself get a great many jibes and taunts. to open this question would involve a long argument, and would bring about no good. all experience goes to prove that a very large section of the public, not being students, loves to read the books of the hour, and great pleasure may be got therefrom. the smaller section, trained to different habits, and regarding books in a more serious light, put their collection of books to different purposes, and, i know, get great pleasure therefrom. the two classes can run parallel together, and one class should not try to exterminate the other.[ ] in country houses the books in billiard-rooms and in the bedrooms should appropriately be fiction. not many guests at a house-party are in the frame of mind to take up serious books, nor are there the opportunities given for application which such would require. i think where the general house library is (as is very often the case) not a living room, there is then much more reason for separating fiction and light literature, and placing them in a very accessible position. it will often be found advisable, as fiction accumulates, to weed out and decide what volumes shall be bound and what rejected or placed in the servants' library. shelves should therefore be reserved for books which are thus going through a period of probation.[ ] a fiction library may be made very interesting if it is so arranged as to represent the history of france or of england, or any country. from the boundless stores of fiction writers--in fact, from scott alone almost--a sequence of volumes may be arranged which, if read in proper order, would make a very excellent romance history. almost every interesting episode of history has had its story woven into romance. thus there are, i believe, about eighteen historical romances relating to the monmouth rebellion alone. 'much of love,' said lord bowen, 'has only been learned under the instruction of some woman who has herself only learned it from a book. authoresses, indeed, have not unfrequently betrayed the key to some of their sex's secrets. were it not for _northanger abbey_ and miss austen, some of the old mysteries of girlish friendship would have remained untold, and we should never have known or understood the curiosity which may lurk in a refined bosom at seventeen. man would scarcely have guessed but for _jane eyre_ the impression which can be made, it seems, upon a heart by a middle-aged gentleman with the manners of a bear and the composure of a prig. furthermore, it is through women's novels that we have had brought home to us most adequately what women who have tasted it, or seen it, can best relate, the despicable egotism of a weak man. anzoleto in _consuelo_, tito in _romola_.'[ ] it is important for every one to fix upon a time for everyday study, and remember to read when you have a disposition so to do. do not think that spare moments not spent in reading are lost. some spare time must be kept for thinking. if you have 'nerves,' it is no good to read then; read when the mind is quiet and receptive. this will probably be when dressing in the morning, or at night before going to bed. keep a small bookcase in your dressing-room; in so doing you will learn the art of going to bed well. read at any time when curiosity is aroused as to any person, place, or subject, and keep reference books at hand to answer questions intelligently. napoleon read all the new novels in a travelling carriage, and pitched them out of the window as each was finished. active minds, to read advantageously, should seek a quiet _sanctum_ of their own. a very admirable suggestion was made a short time since, i think by dr. ernest hart, that it should be more a custom to have bookcases in bedrooms. many persons, and, i believe, notably mr. gladstone, read before going to bed. i think all bedrooms should have a selection of favourite books, and i do not think that novels are nearly so suitable as books of short essays and sketches. few people would sit up sufficiently long to read a novel through, and many would therefore not begin what they knew they would be unable to finish. footnotes: [ ] p. g. hamerton. [ ] p. g. hamerton. [ ] h. w. beecher. [ ] james payn. [ ] _blackwood's magazine_, february, . [ ] _blackwood's magazine_, february, . [ ] burke. [ ] thirlwall. [ ] _blackwood's magazine_, february, . [ ] j. s. blackie. [ ] h. d. traill. [ ] see mr. gladstone's ideas on the subject, in _gladstone in the evening of his days_, p. . [ ] bowen's lecture on _novel reading_. _common-place books._ very numerous methods have been suggested whereby memory may be assisted and the assimilation of our reading proceed without indigestion. a reader is often pictured with note-book in hand, supposed to be memorising what he is reading. there is no doubt that note-books are very useful, but no note-book or commonplace-book should take the place of the natural memory--and every one has a good memory for something. thomas fuller has wittily said, 'adventure not all thy learning in one bottom, but divide it between thy memory and thy note-books. . . . . a commonplace-book contains many notions in garrison, whence an owner may draw out an army into the field on competent warning.' every one has his and her own way of keeping a commonplace-book. mr. sala, i remember, once gave a minute account of his jottings in this way:[ ] 'todd's _index rerum_ was, in its day, very little else than an alphabeted book--a forerunner of what stationers now sell in various sizes called _where is it?_ the simplest form of commonplace-book is a plain quarto ms. book ruled in an ordinary way, and in this entries may be made without being alphabeted. do not write extracts or notes right across the line, but make your entries thus, having the keyword clear and easy to be seen:-- 'picus de mirandola.--his extraordinary gifts. his being sought after by women. compare with h. t. buckle. see also hallam's _literary history_, part i. chap. iii.' in the matter of note-books, i am sure that it is best for every one to make notes in the way best suited to his convenience. many, i think, find that taking notes while reading a book is an undesirable interruption. to such, it may be suggested to have slips of paper about half an inch wide, and four or five inches long, and insert these at the pages which contain anything notable. then, when the book is finished, go through and transcribe or memorise such passages as are thus marked. i think it a great mistake to attempt too rigid a system in note-books, or too much red tape of any kind, because whenever this is done, the time and thought, which should be given to the matter of the extract helping to fix it upon the memory, is given instead to the secondary matter of keeping your note-books very neat. footnote: [ ] 'periodically i am addressed by two constant and somewhat exigeant classes of correspondents: the young gentlemen who wish me to give them a list of the works requisite to form a journalist's library; and, next, the esteemed individuals of both sexes and all ages who want me to tell them how to keep a commonplace-book. i have replied to both these questions over and over again; and to give yet another list of the books which i think would be useful to professional writers for the press would be to outrage the patience of my non-professional patrons. the recipe for keeping a commonplace-book may, however, it is to be hoped, be repeated without giving offence to any one. here it is; and pray observe that i have had it printed in small type, in order that the susceptibilities of readers who want to be amused and do not require to be instructed may not be wounded:--procure a blank book, strongly bound, big or little, according to the largeness or smallness of your handwriting. let the book have an index. it will be better if the paper of the book were ruled. when in the course of your reading you come on a passage which strikes you as worthy of being common-placed, copy it legibly in your commonplace-book. say that the passage is the following, from bacon's _natural history_: "so the beard is younger than the hair of the head, and doth, for the most part, wax hoary later." at the end of this passage inscribe a circle or an ellipse, a square or a lozenge, just as you choose to do; and in the inscribed space write with red ink (better still with carmine) the figure . then index the passage under letter b. "beard younger than hair of head. ." if you wish to be very careful in your common-placing, you may double index the passage by turning to letter h, and indicating the passage as "head, hair of, older than beard." and so you may continue to transcribe consecutively all the passages which strike you in the course of your reading: never omitting to number the passage and to index it as soon as numbered. that is the system adopted by the distressed compiler, and he has made constant use of it for nearly forty years.'--g. a. sala. _reference books._ i have been very often asked for a book which will 'tell one everything.' there is no such book, and there never could be such a book. omniscience may be a foible of men, but it is not so of books. knowledge, as johnson said, is of two kinds, you may know a thing yourself, and you may know where to find it.[ ] now the amount which you may actually know yourself must, at its best, be limited, but what you may know of the sources of information may, with proper training, become almost boundless. and here come the value and use of reference books--the working of one book in connexion with another--and applying your own intelligence to both. by this means we get as near to that omniscient volume which tells everything as ever we shall get, and although the single volume or work which tells everything does not exist, there is a vast number of reference books in existence, a knowledge and proper use of which is essential to every intelligent person. necessary as i believe reference books to be, they can easily be made to be contributory to idleness, and too mechanical a use should not be made of them. very admirable reference books come to us from america, where great industry is shown, and funds for publishing them never seem to be short. the french, too, are excellent at reference books, but the inferior way in which they are printed makes them tiresome to refer to. larousse's _grand dictionnaire_ is a miracle. a good atlas is essential as a reference book, and maps of the locality where we live. a good map of old london is very useful in studying _pepys' diary_ for instance. a good verbal dictionary is essential. sometimes several should be in use: thus, halliwell's _archaic dictionary_ and nares' _glossary_ are useful in studying shakespeare. richardson's _dictionary_ embodies all the good points of johnson's _dictionary_, and is very excellent for quotations. poetical _concordances_ and _dictionaries of quotations_, both prose and poetry, are useful, though very rarely does one find the quotation required in any professed book of quotations. a good _biographical dictionary_ is a joy; such is lippincott's, an american work. a good _classical dictionary_ is also necessary, and may be supplemented by smith's _dictionary of greek and roman biography_. it would be interesting to see how far it would be possible to collect an ideal reference library, and this, i think, has never been carefully done. it must be borne in mind that reference books are not all books arranged alphabetically (though the man who first wrote an alphabeted book should be canonised). reference books consist of such works as rawlinson's historical works, wilkinson's _history of the ancient egyptians_, and fergusson's _history of architecture_. all such books are reference books, and many thousands more. i think it will be found a good plan in the library to keep reference books (viz., those which are likely to be in frequent use) in a separate case--perhaps a revolving case--and in no library should this section be neglected. mr. walter wren, the well-known coach, once lectured on 'what is education?' and in his lecture he made the following remarks:-- 'i think the first thing that made me a teacher was my noticing, when a boy, how men and women read books and papers, and knew no more about them when they had read them than they did before. . . . . lots of people seem to know nothing, and to want to know nothing; at any rate, they never show any wish to learn anything. i was once in a room where not one person could say where droitwich was; once, at a dinner of fourteen, where only one besides myself knew in what county salisbury was. i have asked, i believe, over a hundred times where stilton is, and have been told twice--this when stilton cheese was handed. i mention this to show the peculiar conservative mental apathy of englishmen.' 'a reader should be familiar with the best method by which the original investigation of any topic may be carried on. when he has found it, he appreciates, perhaps for the first time, for what purpose books are for, and how to use them. . . . . no person has any claim to be a scholar until he can conduct such an original investigation with ease and pleasure.' the foregoing was the advice of a well-known american librarian. footnote: [ ] those who read everything acquire something, and especially they acquire, as the bishop of oxford (dr. wilberforce), once said, the invaluable power of knowing where, when they wanted first-hand information, they could most easily obtain it. that is the knowledge of the lawyer; and the knowledge of the lawyer, if he is competent, gradually becomes of the kind which qualifies him to be a judge.--_spectator_, january nd, . _boudoir libraries._ women have their own way of loving books. they are very rarely students, and more rarely still do they amass really great libraries, though many of the famous women of history have done so. yet a woman likes to have her own books, and she likes, too, to have them separate from her husband's or her brothers', or the general family collection. most women like tiny editions fitted into tiny cases.[ ] colour is much more to a woman than to a man, and in the binding of her books she will very often be very happily inspired. i think that it is in de maistre's _journey round my room_ that he says, 'it is certain that colours exercise an influence over us to the extent of rendering us gay or sad, according to their shades.' charming tiny bookcases are now sold in various woods and in all sizes, and these have the advantage of being easily moved from place to place. a very pretty effect can be produced by a book-screen, but this, to be of service for taking books, must be placed in a room larger than most boudoirs. in choosing bindings for small books do not be surprised if, when bound, your books are not as flexible as they should be. the easy opening of a book, and this particularly applies to small books, depends very much upon the thickness of the paper used, and small books printed on thick paper will never open well. much blame is often heaped upon binders in this direction which is by no means their fault. roan, parchment, vellum, morocco, and buckram are all suitable for boudoir bindings. very pretty effects are produced by binding a series of small books in vellum with green lettering-pieces, and green edges instead of gilded edges. white backs, with pink or blue lettering-pieces, are also very dainty; and a pretty effect of another kind is produced by dark brown polished calf, with round backs, raised bands, and yellow edges. reference books, such as verbal dictionaries, dictionaries of quotations, a classical dictionary, an atlas, or a biographical dictionary, should always be to hand; and even when these are in the large library, duplicates should be kept in the boudoir. in a very charming book, already referred to, called _the story of my house_, there is certain practical advice which seems to be the result of much experience and excellent taste on the part of the writer. 'with regard to the bookcases themselves, their height should depend upon that of the ceilings, and the number of one's volumes. for classification and reference it is more convenient to have numerous small cases of similar or nearly similar size, and the same general style of construction, than a few large cases in which everything is engulphed. with small or medium-sized receptacles, each one may contain volumes relating to certain departments or different languages, as the case may be; by this means a volume and its kindred may be readily found.' 'the style and colour of the bindings, also, may subserve a similar purpose; as, for instance, the poets in yellow or orange, books on nature in olive, the philosophers in blue, the french classics in red, &c. unless methodically arranged, even with a very small library, a volume is often difficult to turn to when desired for immediate consultation, requiring tedious search, especially if the volumes are arranged upon the shelves with respect to size and outward symmetry. this may be avoided by the use of small bookcases and a definite style of binding.' i think here that the boudoir library should have its own catalogue, and every bookshelf marked or numbered. every boudoir library should have a catalogue. 'in a room ten and a half to eleven feet high, five feet is a desirable height for the bookcases. besides the drawers at the base, this will afford space for four rows of books, to include octavos, duodecimos, and smaller volumes. the shelves should, of course, be shifting. . . . . by leaving the top of the bookcase twelve to thirteen inches wide, ample space will be allowed for additional small books, porcelain, and _bric-à-brac_. it must be borne in mind that tall bookcases, in addition to the inaccessibility of the volumes in the upper shelves, have little, if any, space for pictures on the walls above them.' it may be appropriate here to remind readers of an essay in addison's _spectator_ upon my lady's library. 'some months ago, my friend, sir roger, being in the country, enclosed a letter to me, directed to a certain lady, whom i shall here call by the name of _leonora_, and as it contained matters of consequence, desired me to deliver it to her with my own hand. accordingly, i waited upon her ladyship early in the morning, and was desired by her woman to walk into her lady's library till such time as she was in readiness to receive me. the very sound of a _lady's library_ gave me a great curiosity to see it; and as it was some time before the lady came to me, i had an opportunity of turning over a great many of her books, which were ranged together in very beautiful order. at the end of the _folios_ (which were finely bound and gilt) were great jars of _china_, placed one above another in a very noble piece of architecture. the _quartos_ were separated from the _octavos_ by a pile of smaller vessels, which rose in a delightful pyramid. the _octavos_ were bounded by tea dishes of all shapes, colours, and sizes, which were so disposed on a wooden frame that they looked like one continued pillar indented with the finest strokes of sculpture, and stained with the greatest variety of dyes. that part of the library which was designed for the reception of plays and pamphlets and other loose papers, was enclosed in a kind of square, consisting of one of the prettiest grotesque works that ever i saw, and made up of scaramouches, lions, monkies, mandarines, trees, shells, and a thousand other odd figures in _china_ ware. in the midst of the room was a little japan table, with a quire of gilt paper upon it, and on the paper a silver snuff-box, made in the shape of a little book. i found there were several other counterfeit books upon the upper shelves, which were carved in wood, and served only to fill up the number, like fagots in the muster of a regiment. i was wonderfully pleased with such a mixt kind of furniture, as seemed very suitable both to the lady and the scholar, and did not know at first whether i should fancy myself in a grotto, or in a library.' footnote: [ ] napoleon was a great lover of small books. 'an insatiate reader while on his travels, napoleon complained, when at warsaw, in , and when at bayonne, in , that his librarian at paris did not keep him well supplied with books. "the emperor," wrote the secretary to barbier, "wants a portable library of a thousand volumes in mo., printed in good type without margin, and composed as nearly as possible of forty volumes on religion, forty of epics, forty of plays, sixty of poetry, a hundred of novels, sixty of history, the remainder, to make up the thousand, of historical memoirs. the religious works are to be the old and new testament, the koran, a selection of the works of the fathers of the church, works respecting the aryans, calvinists, of mythology, &c. the epics are to be homer, lucan, tasso, telemachus, the henriade, &c." machiavelli, fielding, richardson, montesquieu, voltaire, corneille, racine, and rousseau were also among the authors mentioned.' _bookbinding._ as far as i am aware there are only four bookbinders in london who may be trusted not to mutilate a book, and there are only two who have any sense of design and harmony of colour. in sending a book to be bound, if you value the book, you cannot be too careful or minute in giving instructions as to your wishes. i think the best way to assist by advice is to picture a number of everyday instances of people requiring books to be bound, and to take such familiar cases instancing well-known books and show how each case can best be dealt with. first of all, the right leather to use for binding is morocco. this is best; more durable, and a better choice of colour is given you. half-morocco is good, but see that you get a good wide strip of morocco, and that it is not all cloth sides with a very narrow spine of leather. valuable books should never be cut down. in many cases the top edges may be gilded which is a preservative from dust, but there are many other cases where instructions should be given to 'gild on the rough,' the three other sides should be left alone. i will first take the case of the 'cambridge' _shakespeare_, the hand-made paper edition, already spoken of, where each play has been issued in a separate volume, and in all forty thin volumes. now the first question to settle is: shall i have each of the forty volumes bound separately, or shall i bind the forty in twenty double volumes? or another question may arise in your mind, shall i keep the book in its neat linen cover as published, and get another small paper copy, and bind that instead? such questions must be settled--each one for himself. all i will say now is that the large paper forty volume edition when bound in twenty double volumes makes a very ideal copy of a great english classic; so, presuming that it is to be bound, you must choose the style of binding. it should rest between half-morocco and whole morocco, the latter costing about double the former. i think half-morocco is right for the book in most cases, whole morocco being unnecessarily expensive. then comes colour, which must largely be referred to your own taste--olive-green, brown, dark red, and light apple green, would all be appropriate colours to choose from. the binder should have a book of colours and shades ready for you to select one from. be sure and see that you have a coarse-grained levant morocco, which is much handsomer than the less good hard fine-grained morocco; of course it should be a polished or crushed levant binding, though when you see the pattern piece of leather it will be rough and unpolished. at any rate select a colour which, when polished, will work '_clean_.' do not select anything _very light_ in morocco, it will probably not work 'clean,' but come out spotted even when new. you will now select 'end papers.' these, i am sorry to say, are mostly very ugly, though there have recently been made some beautiful cloudy coloured papers, which now and then, and apparently by accident, are very beautiful, and they are also rather expensive. some of the japanese papers have pretty and very unobtrusive marblings worked upon them, and occasionally, too, a brocade paper looks well; but for a classic, the plainer the better, and very often a monotint end paper, or even a plain white, looks exceedingly well. in the matter of end and side papers, it is as well to know that these can very easily be altered even after the book is finished. the revival of flat backs has been the cause of some disputing. i think myself that the pleasure with which the trained eye regards the flat back is sufficient excuse for it. as far as technique goes, the flat back is, i believe, just as lasting and as flexible as the round. much must however be determined by the size and shape of the book as to whether a flat back is adopted or not. the _shakespeare_ which is now under consideration, when _bound in double volumes_, would, i think, look well with a flat back, and with flat raised bands between the panels; whereas, when bound in forty single volumes, it would be better to have a round back. as to decoration and finish, the most lamentable errors of taste are often committed. over-adornment is a curse. a person sees an attractive pattern lying in a shop, and wants all his or her books bound like it, without for a moment considering the anachronisms and impossible combinations that will thereby be perpetrated. it is the same with clothes. a man sees another man with a fine coat, and he straightway thinks he, too, will have a coat of that same make and pattern. never does it occur to him to gauge the stature or character of the man who was first wearing the coat. there is yet a good deal of the monkey and the ape left in us. we seem to do our best to stifle our individuality, and reduce our souls to one sad dead level of accursed and wicked imitation. some day we shall have our eyes opened, and then see that a man may break the whole of the ten commandments at once, and yet he shall be saved if he be not vulgar, and it is both senseless and vulgar to copy old bindings on to modern books. the only decoration which the copy of shakespeare could require is a gilt line, or double gilt lines, round the panels of the back. the full gilt back is fortunately becoming extinct. it may well die. decoration of books should only be carried out when we are sure we have an appropriate design, and when we are sure that the book is worth it. there are now some other details to be looked after. i refuse to class them as minor details, because towards the making of the perfect book everything right is _essential_. ( ) the _shakespeare_, being a book printed on paper of good quality, should have the top edge gilt, but the other sides should be left untouched or very slightly trimmed. ( ) there should be one or two markers in each volume, and the colour of these markers should harmonise with the colour of the binding. ( ) the lettering should be chosen yourself. there should be a principal title _stamped boldly and deeply_, and subordinate lettering stamped lower down and in smaller type. thus shakespeare's works or shakespeare merely in the top panel, with the editor's name underneath, and then below should be lettered the plays contained in each volume, and below that, at the foot, the date of publication. ( ) three weeks to a month at least should be allowed for the binding of such a work. ( ) a folded copy in quires of a book is always preferable to a cloth-bound copy. ( ) if a binder should ever suggest either a padded binding, a russia leather binding, or a tree calf binding, you may instantly leave his premises, for he cannot understand his business. it will be understood that the rules which apply to the binding of this shakespeare equally apply to most other books. i propose, however, to take such instances as i think present difficulties not already met, and see how they can be overcome. a second instance shall be the new edition of _pepys' diary_. the fact that this, and many other books, are published volume by volume makes it somewhat difficult to know whether to bind them at once or not to do so. in the case of the new edition of _pepys' diary_, as neither the binding of the large or small paper is unsightly, it should be left until complete, one good reason for this being that, if it be bound volume by volume as published, the binder will require a pattern volume each time, and your pattern volume will be lying about his workshop each time a volume is published. to register a pattern is by no means advisable in the case of a really well-bound series of books. it may do well enough for scientific and other journals, when great nicety of detail is not so much required. in the case of well-bound volumes, a pattern should accompany the order. a book like _murray's dictionary_, volumes of which are slow in completing themselves, the parts of the volumes, current and incomplete, should either be tied up in paper, and kept together, or they should be placed between two pieces of millboard on the shelf where they will finally be placed. a third instance shall be an old book which requires repairing or restoring. we will suppose that it is an old copy of _clarissa harlowe_, which you have picked up on a country book-stall. now the binding is probably very much broken, and, being very dry, is getting rapidly worse. it is time, therefore, that it went into hospital, and at the bookbinder's hospital very clever operations are performed. to restore a binding, paste is rubbed over the leather, and, after it is dry, it is washed over with a thin solution of glue size. again, when dry, the volume is varnished and afterwards rubbed over with a cloth upon which a few drops of sweet oil have been dropped. here is one operation just in outline. there are very many others, which i can only refer to. if there are ink marks on any of the volumes of your _clarissa_, which you wish removed, this can probably be done so that no trace is left. similarly many grease-spots can be effectually removed. if a page is torn, it can be repaired, or if a piece of it is missing, it can be facsimiled, and the whole of the inside of the volume can be washed throughout. never destroy an old binding if you can help it, and never obliterate marks of ownership, for it is interesting to trace the owners of a book. if a bookplate is in your _clarissa_, and you wish your own to appear, transplant the former one to the end cover, and put your own in the front if you wish. never have such a book as we are now discussing cut down. a book has recently been written and published by mr. c. g. leland on _mending and repairing_, in which the author recommends the amateur to repair his own books. i believe mr. leland is an expert hand at many arts and crafts, but i do not think that every amateur should attempt experiments in repairing his own books unless he means to give a great deal of time to it, which very few would, i think, care to do. the following remarks, taken from a review, i think by mr. a. lang, are valuable:--'the binder is often very mischievous. he not only "cuts down" books, impairing their shapeliness and ruining them for sale, nay, even cutting off lines, but he is apt to lose fly-leaves, with imprints, and rare autographs. what he rejects may have a merely fanciful or sentimental interest, still that interest can be expressed in terms of currency. an eighth of an inch in margin may represent a large sum of money, and it is just as easy not to cut down the volume. old bookplates ought to be kept, on new bindings of old books. they are the pedigree of a volume. the ancient covers, if discarded, should be examined. they are often packed with fragments of old manuscripts, deeds, woodcuts, or engravings. the ages have handed books on to us; it is our duty to hand them on to coming generations, clean, sound, uninjured.' the fourth case shall be paper-bound novels, english and french editions, and tauchnitz copies. i have no hesitation in saying that the best material is buckram. it has the merit of being good--that is to say, durable, cheap, artistic, and not harsh to handle, as many linens are. there are some half-a-dozen good colours in buckram, and these, when relieved by lettering-pieces of some contrasting colour, can be made most decorative and economical. i believe buckram is in every way a most excellent material for binding, and for students who buy and use german and french text-books published in paper, this material is excellent for their libraries as well. here may be added a few words as to pamphlets and magazines. it has been recommended that pamphlets be kept in boxes, which may be placed upon the shelves as books, but this will not be found either convenient or secure. the best way is to bind pamphlets in volumes according to size, or if _very_ numerous, according to date or subject, and let them each be entered separately in the catalogue. in the cataloguing of private libraries it is sometimes thought that certain sections, such as pamphlets and magazines, are not worth entering, but the only safe rule is that, if it is worth keeping, it is worth cataloguing. single pamphlets should be bound in limp roan, and volumes of pamphlets in buckram or half-calf, with full lettering on the back. magazines, when they are kept complete, should, of course, be bound up in their volumes, either yearly or half-yearly; but it often happens that a magazine is bought for a single article, and many of these accumulating, it is quite easy for such articles as are of special interest to be taken from the remainder, and treated as pamphlets. in the case of magazines and scientific periodicals of importance, it is well to keep the covers and bind them at the end of each volume. music should be bound in limp roan in preference to limp calf, because the latter would sooner show scratches and marks, particularly as a large surface is exposed. if you want your pamphlets and novels to look nice, beware of your binder using what he calls his odd pieces, generally monsters of ugliness. family papers, autograph letters, and ms. matter of all kinds should be placed in the hands of an expert, with instructions to calendar them, viz., catalogue them, giving a _précis_ of the contents of each one. they should then be mounted and bound up in volumes, with abstract of contents in front of the volume. it will be well to consider the advisability of having typed copies made of the whole wherever unpublished records exist. much, very much, more might be written about practical details in bookbinding, but nothing is so valuable as experience, and a few mistakes will be the best teacher. remember that morocco is the best material, whether it be half or whole morocco, pigskin is second, calf is third, vellum is fourth, roan is fifth, buckram is sixth, though it may frequently take the place of calf. _book hobbies._ it has been remarked that only an auctioneer admires all schools of literature. i think it is certain that the way to get most enjoyment from books is to specialise a little. mr. pepys, it will be remembered, collected black letter ballads, penny merriments, penny witticisms, penny compliments, and penny godlinesses, and what pepys paid a penny for are now worth much gold. lord crawford is, i believe, one of the most enthusiastic among present day collectors, and i am told that he spends many hours in arranging and cataloguing his extensive and curious collection. as far as i can gather from the printed catalogues which have been issued of lord crawford's library, he is rivalling pepys in his collection of ballads. other subjects which he has taken up are proclamations and papal bulls. i cannot omit saying that if lord crawford's example were followed by a few more rich men, they would find therein very amusing hobbies. the catalogues of the ballads and the proclamations in the library at haigh hall have been compiled by lord crawford's own hand, and there are no better catalogues of a private collection in existence. the late lord braybrooke collected county histories, and got together a most valuable and interesting collection. but, judging from his own account of his collection,[ ] it was too general to be very interesting. there is hardly a more useful or profitable book hobby than the collecting of topographical books, but each one should confine himself to one county, or at most two, and even with discrimination in buying, a single county collection soon becomes extensive. what should be aimed at in such a collection is the putting together whatever will illustrate the archæology, general history, folk lore, dialect, and natural history, of a district or county, and wherever there is a church and a manor, there is a history. each parish history is the unit of the history of the nation, and any one investigating the parochial history of a single parish will find much national history written in between the lines. with regard to topographical and genealogical books, i may say that the prices of these are rapidly rising, and will continue to rise, owing largely to the increasing competition in america for these books. sir walter gilbey has, it is well known, a fine collection of sporting books. there is no sport but what has its literature, and if there is one subject more than another, upon which the english mind is unchanging, it is sport, and this being so, sporting books will always offer a fine field for collectors. as the coaching age recedes farther back, so it will be found that an increasing number of men will want to read about what they no longer can hear _viva voce_. all out-door subjects are good hobbies. flower culture and the laying out of grounds, birds and natural history generally are good subjects, but it must be understood that no one can find another a subject, one can only _suggest_, and that is all i propose to do here. books offer a very endless variety of hobbies. so i have merely named one or two highways, and there is an endless maze of bypaths which offer delightful hunting grounds. dr. johnson, it may be remembered, expressed a very sound commonsense view of this matter to boswell: 'when i mentioned that i had seen in the king's library fifty-three editions of my favourite _thomas à kempis_ . . . . in eight languages . . . . johnson said he thought it unnecessary to collect many editions of a book which were all the same except as to paper and print. he would have the original, and all the translations, and all editions having variations in the text. he approved of the famous collection of the editions of horace by douglas, and, he added, "every man should try to collect one book in that manner. . . . ."' footnote: [ ] _murray's magazine_, september, . _old country libraries._ the library of chaucer's clerk of oxenford, which represented about the maximum that an ordinary student would possess, consisted of 'a twenty bokes, clothed in black and red, of aristotle and his philosophie,' and these he kept 'at his beddes hed.' dr. jessopp, in one of his learned papers,[ ] has pointed out that in the thirteenth century the number of books in the world was, to say the least, small. a library of five hundred volumes would, in those days, have been considered an important collection, and after making all due allowances for ridiculous exaggerations, which have been made by ill-informed writers on the subject, it may safely be said that nobody in the thirteenth century--at any rate in england--would have erected a large and lofty building as a receptacle for books, simply because nobody could have contemplated the possibility of filling it. here and there amongst the larger and more important monasteries there were undoubtedly collections of books, the custody of which was entrusted to an accredited officer, but the time had not yet come for making libraries well stored with such priceless treasures as leland, the antiquary, saw at glastonbury, just before that magnificent foundation was given as a prey to the spoilers. a library, in any such sense as we now understand the term, was not only no essential part of a monastery in those days, but it may almost be said to have been a rarity. in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries we rarely meet with any indications of a literary taste among the laity; the books they purchased were more for ornament than use. but in the fifteenth century we find books mentioned in a manner which would seem to indicate that the laity were enabled to use them with pleasure. in , alice, lady west, left to joan, her son's wife, 'all her books of latin, english, and french;' and from the memoranda of sir john howard, we learn that that worthy knight could read at his leisure 'an englyshe boke, callyd _dives et pauper_,' for which, and 'a frenshe boke,' in , he paid thirteen shillings and fourpence. the library of this member of the howard family was sufficiently extensive to enable him to select therefrom, on the occasion of his going to scotland, thirteen volumes for his solace and amusement on the voyage.[ ] in the paston _letters_ will be found a catalogue of the library of one of the members of this fifteenth century family. in the monasteries books were, of course, used and treasured long before they became part of the household goods of rich laymen. the catalogue of the house of the white canons, at titchfield, in hampshire, dated , shows that the books were kept in a small room on shelves, and set against the walls. a closet of this kind was evidently not a working place, but simply a place of storage. by the beginning of the fifteenth century, the larger monasteries had accumulated many hundred volumes, and it began to be customary to provide for the collections separate quarters, rooms constructed for the purpose. the presses in the cloisters were still utilised for books in daily reference.[ ] duke humphrey was a great book collector and patron of letters, and presented to the university of oxford many of the illuminated treasures which he had collected. the magnificent collection of charles v. of france, also a great bibliomaniac, was brought by the duke of bedford into england. this library contained volumes of great splendour, and the introduction of these books into england stimulated a spirit of inquiry among the more wealthy laymen. guy beauchamp, earl of warwick, collected a very fine library of early romances, which about , he left to the monks of bordesley abbey, in worcestershire. a list of this library will be found in todd's _illustrations of gower and chaucer_. mr. j. w. clark has, with quite wonderful learning, drawn a picture of student-life of the past with such graphic vigour that we can almost reinstate colet, casaubon, and erasmus, and picture them exactly as they worked among their books. in macaulay's chapter upon _the state of england in _, are given numerous facts about the difficulty the clergy had in getting books, and the little desire there was among the squires to possess libraries. few knights of the shire had libraries so good as may now perpetually be found in a servants' hall, or in the back parlour of a small shopkeeper. an esquire passed among his neighbours for a great scholar if _hudibras_ and _baker's chronicle_, _tarleton's jests_, and the _seven champions of christendom_, lay in his hall window among the fishing rods and fowling pieces. no circulating library, no book society, then existed, even in the capital; but in the capital those students who could not afford to purchase largely had a resource. the shops of the great booksellers, near st. paul's churchyard, were crowded every day and all day long with readers. in the country there was no such accommodation, and every man was under the necessity of buying whatever he wished to read. macaulay further points out that cotton seems, from his _angler_, to have found room for his whole library in his hall window; and cotton was a man of letters. in the _life of dr. john north_ there is an account of that delightful person's dealings with mr. robert scott, of little britain, a very famous bookseller in the seventeenth century. dr. john north is really a fascinating personality.[ ] his soul was 'never so staked down as in an old bookseller's shop, for, having taken orders, he was restless till he had compassed some of that sort of furniture as he thought necessary for his profession. 'i have borne him company,' says his biographer, 'at shops for hours together, and, minding him of the time, he hath made a dozen proffers before he would quit. by this care and industry he made himself master of a very considerable library, wherein the choicest collection was greek.' pepys wished that his name should go down to posterity as a man fond of books. the arrangements for the settlement of his library after death prove this. the numerous references throughout the _diary_ show that he had a passion for collecting, and showed good judgment in what he got together. pepys, like dr. john north, dealt of robert scott, who, when sending his distinguished customer four scarce books, the total cost of which was only _l._ _s._, writes, 'without flattery i love to find a rare book for you.'[ ] r. scott, the bookseller, to mr. pepys. '_june th, ._ 'sir,--having at length procured campion, hanmer, & spencer's hist. of ireland, fol. (which i think, you formerly desired) i here send itt you, with very scarce bookes besides, viz. pricaei defensio hist. britt. to, and old harding's chronicle, as alsoe the old ship of fooles, in old verse, by alex. berkley, priest; which last, though nott scarce, yett soe very fayre and perfect, that seldome comes such another; the priceus you will find deare, yett i never sold it under _s._, and att this tyme you can have it of a person of quality; butt i love to find a rare book for you, and hope shortly to procure for you a perfect hall's chronicle. 'i am, sir, 'your servant to command, 'robert scott.' campion, hanmer, & spencer fol. : : hardings chronicle, to. : : pricaei defens. hist. britt. : : shipp of fooles, fol. : : ------ : : ====== the contents of pepys' famous collections of manuscripts, books and rare single-sheet literature are known more or less to students, and are found by them to be of the utmost value. it is amusing to notice how careful pepys was not to admit into his library any 'risky' books. little did he think that the key to the diary would be one day discovered. when he bought in the strand 'an idle, rogueish, french book, _l'escholle des filles_,' he resolved, as already stated, as soon as he had read it, to burn it, 'that it might not stand in the list of books, nor among them, to disgrace them, if it should be found.' he was equally solicitous about rochester's _poems_. pepys' books were numbered consecutively throughout the library, and therefore, when rearranged, they needed to be all renumbered. this was done by pepys himself, his wife, and deb willett, who were busy until near midnight 'titleing' the books. with so many references to pepys and his book-collecting as we find in the _diary_, it is puzzling to read, under date, october , , after references to 'sister poll,' 'i abroad to the office, and thence to the duke of albemarle, all my way reading a book of mr. evelyn's translating and sending me as a present, about directions for gathering a library, _but the book is above my reach_.' pepys, one would think, had by this time gone far enough in himself gathering a library to understand the little pamphlet by naudeus, librarian to cardinal mazarin, which evelyn translated, and which was issued in , and which is now very rare. there is a charming letter from evelyn to pepys, dated th august, , giving very many interesting details of the private libraries of the seventeenth century, and which goes a very long way to modify macaulay's rather overdrawn picture of the scarcity of books and private libraries in . this letter of evelyn's might be compared with addison's picture of 'tom folio' in the _tatler_.[ ] tom folio stood for a great book collector, thomas rawlinson. the eighteenth century produced a host of great book collectors. william oldys, humphrey wanley, and thomas rawlinson just mentioned. these men were great experts, who infected with enthusiasm many great patrons of letters, such as charles, earl of sunderland, the earl of pembroke, lord somers, lord oxford, topham beauclerk, colonel stanley, and george earl spencer, whose famous library now at manchester has been called the finest private library in europe. in his _life of sir walter scott_, lockhart has inserted a visitor's impression of the library at abbotsford. 'the visitor might ransack a library, unique, i suppose, in some of its collections, and in all departments interesting and characteristic of the founder. so many of the volumes were enriched with anecdotes or comments in his own hand, that to look over his books was, in some degree, conversing with him.' the catalogue of the abbotsford library was printed by the maitland club in , and is one of the best catalogues of a private collection ever printed. footnote: [ ] _nineteenth century_, january, . [ ] parker, _domestic architecture_. [ ] putnam, _books and their makers_, vol. i. [ ] see _ante_, p. . [ ] many interesting references to pepys' collections are found in mr. h. b. wheatley's _pepys, and the world he lived in_. the following extracts are taken from the same writer's new and final edition of the _diary_:-- _may , ._--'after that to a bookseller's and bought for the love of the binding three books: the french _psalms_ in four parts, bacon's _organon_, and farnab. _rhetor_.'[ ] _dec. , ._--'hither come mr. battersby; and we falling into a discourse of a new book of drollery in verse called _hudebras_,[ ] i would needs go find it out, and met with it at the temple: cost me _s._ _d._' _july , ._--'so to paul's churchyarde about my books, and to the binder's, and directed the doing of my _chaucer_,[ ] though they were not full neate enough for me, but pretty well it is; and thence to the clasp-maker's to have it clasped and bossed.' _jan. , - ._--'up and by and by to my bookseller's, and there did give thorough direction for the new binding of a great many of my old books, to make my whole study of the same binding, within very few.' _aug. , ._--'up, and despatched several businesses at home in the morning, and then comes sympson to set up my other new presses[ ] for my books, and so he and i fell into the furnishing of my new closett, and taking out the things out of my old, and i kept him with me all day, and he dined with me, and so all the afternoon till it was quite dark hanging things, that is my maps and pictures and draughts, and setting up my books, and as much as we could do, to my most extraordinary satisfaction.' _dec. , ._--'spent the evening in fitting my books, to have the number set upon each, in order to my having an alphabet of my whole, which will be of great ease to me. this day captain batters come from sea in his fireship and come to see me, poor man, as his patron, and a poor painful wretch he is as can be. after supper to bed.' _dec. , ._--'home full of trouble on these considerations, and, among other things, i to my chamber, and there to ticket a good part of my books, in order to the numbering of them for my easy finding them to read as i have occasion.' _jan. , - ._--'so home and to supper, and then saw the catalogue of my books, which my brother had wrote out, now perfectly alphabeticall, and so to bed.' _feb. , - ._--'mightily pleased with the play, we home by coach, and there a little to the office, and then to my chamber, and there finished my catalogue of my books with my own hand, and so to supper and to bed, and had a good night's rest, the last night's being troublesome, but now my heart light and full of resolution of standing close to my business.' _feb. , - ._--'thence away to the strand, to my bookseller's, and there staid an hour, and bought the idle, rogueish book, _l'escholle des filles_, which i have bought in plain binding, avoiding the buying of it better bound, because i resolve, as soon as i have read it, to burn it, that it may not stand in the list of books, nor among them, to disgrace them if it should be found. thence home, and busy late at the office, and then home to supper and to bed.' [ ] _index rhetoricus_, of thomas farnaby, was a book which went through several editions. the first was published at london, by r. allot, in . [ ] the first edition of butler's _hudibras_ is dated , and it probably had only been published a few days when pepys bought it and sold it at a loss. he subsequently endeavoured to appreciate the work, but was not successful. the edition in the pepysian library is dated . [ ] this was speght's edition of , which is still in the pepysian library. the book is bound in calf, with brass clasps and bosses. it is not lettered. [ ] these presses still exist, and, according to pepys' wish, they are placed in the second court of magdalene college, in a room which they exactly fit, and the books are arranged in the presses just as they were when presented to the college. [ ] _tatler_, no. . _weeding out._ it is necessary that a large country-house library should occasionally be weeded out and overhauled. the libraries which were formed in past generations cannot be expected to suit present-day requirements. in a great many country-house libraries there is little else than a great mass of turgid theology, but very often buried among these are really valuable books. upon the death of the head of a family, the library should be carefully gone over in order that the new owner may get an idea of the books--a collection which he may be excused from knowing much of as he did not collect it. the books should then be re-arranged to suit the views of those who are most likely to use them, and certain rejected volumes should be disposed of and others put in their places. how much this is necessary might be illustrated by many anecdotes. _the catalogue._ i have said, under the heading 'classification,' that it is not advisable or necessary to attempt any rigid classification upon the shelves. one good reason for this is that by so doing you are trying to do what can so much better be done by a catalogue. no one who uses books very much but sooner or later becomes grateful for the existence of an alphabet and an arrangement by a b c. carlyle once said, 'a library is not worth anything without a catalogue; it is a polyphemus without any eye in his head, and you must confront the difficulties, whatever they may be, of making proper catalogues.' 'the classification of pepys' library was to be found in the catalogues, and as pepys increased in substance he employed experts to do this work for him.'[ ] no catalogue is of any use unless you can tell from it ( ) all that the library possesses of the known books of a known author at one view, as well as ( ) all that it possesses, by whomsoever written, on a known and definite subject. the old catalogues were mostly very bad. old methods have now given way to newer and better bibliographical systems, and, to take the case of a large country house, where books are scattered about in many rooms, a catalogue is most essential. the catalogue should, in most cases, be in ms., and not typewritten. such an arrangement admits of additions being made more easily. the printed catalogue is adopted where the library is of special value, or if it has any particular class of books predominating to make it of use as a bibliography of a special subject. lord crawford's sectional catalogues of his library, already referred to, are the most valuable lists i know of for student purposes, but i believe very few people have ever seen them. the catalogue of lord crawford's proclamations, at haigh hall, is a marvel of industry and accuracy. mr. locker lampson's rowfant library was catalogued, and the catalogue printed and sold, because it had special value as a collection of elizabethan poetry. mr. edmund gosse's library catalogue was printed because it contained special collections of seventeenth-century literature. whether the library be a student's library or a general library, a catalogue is essential. gibbon had a catalogue of his books. i have seen so many amateur attempts at cataloguing private libraries that i am bound to say i do not think the plan of cataloguing one's own books in any way answers. any catalogue may be better than no catalogue, but, if a catalogue is to be done, it is better by far to call in the assistance of some one whose work it is. it frequently happens that a family inherits a large library, and the inheritors, not having formed the collection, naturally can know but little, if anything, of its contents. now, in such a case, and in many other cases, the best plan is to have your books overhauled, sifted, certain volumes weeded out, if necessary, others rebound, and the whole remainder carefully catalogued and described, the cases being numbered and the shelves lettered. very often the owner of a library sets out to catalogue his or her own books, and makes the initial mistake of entering them one by one in a ms. volume already bound up. such a plan must end in failure and disorder, because it is impossible by this means to get the titles strictly alphabetical. others i have seen commence writing the titles from the backs of the books. other difficulties which are encountered are with anonymous books, and with such authors as used pseudonyms, and, in some cases, many pseudonyms. such was henri beyle, whose books bear various disguises, such as de stendhal, cotonet, salviati, viscontini, birkbeck, strombeck, césar alexandre bombet. the british museum library has ninety-one rules of cataloguing, forming, perhaps, the best cataloguing code in the world; but for private libraries such elaboration and detail is not necessary. the following are the main rules to be adopted in private libraries:--[ ] . the catalogue should be arranged in one general alphabet, this being the most useful and the readiest form for reference. to render it, as nearly as possible, a correct representation of the contents of the library, each work has but one principal descriptive entry. the shelfmark is confined to this entry--duplicate shelfmark references, when the position of books is likely to be often altered, from the accession of additions to the library, &c., leading to frequent and unavoidable errors. . this entry is under the author's name when given on the title-page, or otherwise known, as being the only arrangement which allows one general rule to be followed throughout the catalogue. . anonymous works, whose authors' names are unknown, are placed under the subjects to which they relate. . cross references are made: from the subjects of biographies to the authors; from the principal anonymous and pseudonymous works to the writer's real names where known; from works included in, or noticed in the title-pages of other publications, to those publications. . to obviate the imperfections necessarily attendant on an alphabetical arrangement, and for the greater facility of reference, short classifications are introduced of the chief subjects on which the books in the library treat, referring to the names of the authors in the same general alphabet; thereby uniting the advantages of the alphabetical and classified systems, and acting in some measure as a key to the prevailing character of the library. . all authors' names are followed by full stops: any articles placed under a writer's name, of which he is not the author, but which are anonymous answers to, or criticisms on, his works; anonymous memoirs placed under the subjects; or any entries whatever, in which the heading name prefixed is not that of the author, are distinguished by a line following the name. . the headings of the short classifications are distinguished by being doubly underlined with red ink. the name to be referred to is singly underlined, but when the reference is to another heading, and not to an author, it is doubly underlined. in preparing titles for the catalogue (whether it be intended to transcribe or print them), it should be an imperative instruction that they be written on slips of paper (or on cards) of uniform size. it is also useful to include in them a word or two which may serve to identify the origin of the books--whether by purchase, by copyright, or by gift--and to indicate the date of their respective acquisition. footnotes: [ ] wheatley, _pepys and the world he lived in_, p. . [ ] i believe these rules were originally drawn up by mr. b. r. wheatley. _classification of books._ the classification of books, according to any set system, or according to subjects upon the shelves of a library, is not easy, and for many reasons it is not worth attempting. unless the library is a very large one, say, ten to twenty thousand volumes, with ample and adaptable shelving, it is not to be desired. the main difficulty in shelf classification lies in the fact that books on similar and kindred subjects are issued in all sizes. there are books on furniture, for instance, in folio, in quarto, and in octavo. when shelf classification is imperative, the folios are all put together, the quartos together, and the octavos together. this is the nearest realisation of a shelf classification, and by this method the folios may be far separated from the quartos, and the quartos from the octavos. moreover, if appearance count for anything, as indeed it should in the most modest library, it will be impossible to carry out any plan of shelf classification and preserve at the same time an appearance of method and fitness. in planning out how your books are to be placed, a great consideration is the placing of them, so that books likely to be frequently referred to shall be easy of access, and books less likely to be in request shall be housed higher up.[ ] reference books should, as far as possible, be placed together, and all easy of access. the main divisions into which a private library classes itself are history and biography, fiction, poetry and drama, theology, travel, art, belles lettres; but there are so many considerations besides those of subject in any general classification which should determine the position of a volume that i must emphasise what has already been said about actual personal convenience being first studied, and the library as arranged on the shelves should be the result of personal convenience and graceful effect. this is more particularly necessary when a library is in course of expansion. the subjects which will expand quickest, and the space they will require, can never be accurately gauged, and frequent upheavals and readjustments will be necessary if any rigid plan is aimed at. i would suggest that a separate shelf--or, if necessary, a separate case--be reserved for unbound periodicals and for accessions, which are, as it were, _sub judice_. often, too, a separate case is necessary for rare and handsome books, and a locked case for _facetiæ_. it is worth while to observe that pepys found that the best way to find his numerous books was to number them consecutively throughout the library.[ ] numerous elaborate plans of book classification have been put forward, principally by americans, but in no way are they adaptable to the requirements of private libraries, and i doubt very much the possibility of comprehending them in such a way as to apply them in an intelligible manner even to public libraries. mr. b. r. wheatley, in an admirable paper upon library arrangement,[ ] gives the following excellent practical advice:-- 'if i had the planning of rooms for a private library, i should select as the best possible arrangement a suite of three rooms, or one long room or gallery divided by columns into three compartments, of which the centre should be the largest, with several small contiguous ante-rooms, the entrances to which, if so desired, might be concealed, for uniformity or completeness of appearance, by filling them with sham or dummy book-backs, the titles of which may be made an occasion for witticism or joking allusion to local and family history. 'a good library arrangement is not achieved at once, but is a slow growth through difficulties met and conquered. some of the best portions of it will be those which have flashed across your mind when there seemed no pathway out of the thicket of difficulty in which you were struggling. the arrangement of books, where the shelves are not made to order to suit your plans, must naturally be of a progressive character in its development in your mind. 'in some old libraries, collected mostly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there is such a preponderance of those portly tomes in folio in which our sturdy ancestors delighted, that they materially affect and disconcert our ordinary plans. i have known an instance in which the library shelves projected slightly in their upper part, and, there thus being an appropriate depth, i arranged on these shelves two long parallel rows, completely round the room, of these noble volumes of our old divines, state papers, statutes, treaties, trials, and our county histories; and the effect in strength and power (as ruskin might have said) of these long lines of large stout books of nearly equal height and size was really magnificent. sometimes you meet with such a valuable and massive body of topography as will not allow of its cavalierly being made a subsidiary section of the class of history, and the form and weighty character of the folios suggest that some deep and separate bookcases should be chosen in which it may assume the important individuality that it deserves. 'folios of a modern date, being of very unequal sizes, would have a raggedness of outline which would be less observed nearer to the ground than in the elevated position just referred to. as a general rule, a row of folios on the lowest shelf will be succeeded by one of quartos, and then above the ledge the octavos and duodecimos will be placed, but they should not ascend in too rigid a law of gradual decrease. rows of small books at the top of a bookcase look as petty to the mind as to the eyes, and, indeed, are in general more appropriately placed in dwarf bookcases specially fitted for their reception. 'for small libraries, not exceeding to volumes, the letters of the alphabet may be used for the cases, and small figures for the shelves, on the principle of the greater including the less, the letters having a more important appearance. but in larger libraries, where there is a chance of the alphabet being doubled or trebled, one regular series of large numbers for the cases, with small letters for the shelves, is to be preferred.' books should be marked in pencil, with a shelf letter and a case number. long sets of books need be numbered in the first volume only. in the case of collections of pamphlets each item ought to be separately catalogued. the catalogue should complement the arrangement on the shelves, and not be tautological. tables of contents of collected editions given in catalogue. a synoptical table of contents should be prefixed to the catalogue. for those who desire a rough outline of headings into which a library usually classifies itself, i will name one. the briefest is as follows:--( ) theology, ( ) philosophy and science, ( ) art, ( ) political economy, ( ) law, ( ) history and literature. footnotes: [ ] no bookshelves ought to be beyond the reach of a moderately tall person. [ ] 'the books were numbered consecutively throughout the library, and, therefore, when rearranged, they needed all to be renumbered. all hands were pressed into this service, and we read that on the th of february, - , pepys himself, his wife, and deb. willett were busy until near midnight "titleing" the books for the year, and setting them in order. they all tired their backs, but the work was satisfactory. . . . . (_see ante_, p. .) 'the books are arranged in eleven curious old mahogany bookcases, which are mentioned in the _diary_ under date august , . "up and dispatched several businesses at home in the morning, and then comes sympson to set up my other new presses for my books, and so he and i fell into the furnishing of my new closett, and taking out the things out of my old, and i kept him with me all day, and he dined with me, and so all the afternoon till it was quite darke hanging things, that is, my maps and pictures and draughts, and setting up my books, . . . . to my most extraordinary satisfaction."'--wheatley, _pepys and the world he lived in_, pp. - . [ ] _library journal_, august, . _bookcases._ the chief faults of bookcases arise from their being designed and made by men who have never used a book. a first requisite in bookcases is simplicity, bearing in mind that the books are the ornament and not the bookcases. the cabinet-maker, among other things, is too fond of embellishments, and sacrifices space to what seem odd angularities and irregularities. no bookcase should be above eight and a half feet in height. no ladder should be necessary to get at books. if books are 'skied' up to the ceiling they must suffer from the heated air. it is heat, not gas merely, which damages books. a room may be made to look very beautiful by being surrounded with fumed oak bookcases, eight feet high. the shelves should be made movable with tonks' patent.[ ] mr. gladstone[ ] speaks of the looseness and the tightness of movable shelves, the weary arms, the aching fingers, and the broken finger-nails. this can be avoided by the use of the patent here named. the bottom cases should be deeper and wider, to take quartos and folios, but there should always be an extra shelf for turning a folio section into an octavo section. nineteen-twentieths of the books in circulation are octavos and smaller volumes. on each side of the fireplace there should be an arm projecting about four feet and a half. the inner side of this should have a comfortable reading-seat, and on the outer side, farthest from the fire, there may be shelves for books. if the structural arrangements of the room admit of these projecting arms being placed, without sacrifice of comfort, at a greater distance from the fireplace, the books may be placed on the upper part of the inner side as well, the lower part being used as a lounge. it must be remembered that heat and excessive dryness are fatal to good bindings and, indeed, to all parts of a book, and therefore no bookcase should approach too near a fireplace, nor should bookcases be placed backing upon hot-water pipes. the shelves should be edged with leather and such leather must _not_ be stiffened by cardboard or brown paper--simply leather, and there should be a roller shutter of silk to draw down in front of the books during absence from home. the cases[ ] should everywhere be perfectly flush, without any sort of protruding ornament. it will be found a great advantage to make the framework of the various cases of equal dimensions, so that the shelves can be made transferable. in estimating the extent of shelving which it may be necessary to provide, we may calculate that in an ordinary library a space two feet high and two feet wide will, on an average, contain about thirty-five volumes, and it may be estimated roughly that every thousand volumes in a library will require about a hundred square feet of shelving. if fixed shelves are made, the usual height will be--[ ] for folios to inches. " quartos " " " octavos " " smaller sizes " these spaces will allow ample room for the average sizes. the 'atlas' folios and 'elephant' folios are best accommodated in single shelves, in which they may be flat, or on trays or table cases.[ ] bear in mind always to allow sufficient space for expansion. nothing causes more disorder than insufficient shelf accommodation. all cases should be numbered and lettered, that is, each section should have a number, and each shelf a letter. for the accommodation of expensive bindings or rare books and mss., a special case may sometimes be required. very beautiful specimens of such may be seen sketched in the books of chippendale, sheraton, and heppelwhite, but it is in all cases better to avoid glass fronts and adopt ornamental brass wire work if any special protection be needed. the late mr. blades, a great expert in this matter, said, 'it is a mistake to imagine that keeping the best-bound volumes in a glass-doored bookcase is a preservative. the damp air will certainly penetrate, and as the absence of ventilation will assist formation of mould, the books will be worse off than if they had been placed in open shelves. if securing be desirable, by all means abolish the glass and place ornamental brass wire work in its stead.'[ ] 'it is more important to see that the shelves intended for choice and richly bound books should be covered with leather, and expressly such as are intended for books of large sizes. in the case of books of special value, the leather should be well padded, should be of the best quality, and should have a polished surface.'[ ] in the _nineteenth century_ for march, , already quoted from, mr. gladstone wrote upon 'books, and the housing of them.' this paper showed a sound grasp of the subject and showed mr. gladstone in a new and very interesting light. appended are some extracts from this paper, all of which i think experts would agree to, _except the fixed shelves_, and here, i think, any one who has handled books very much will be at issue with mr. gladstone. he himself says:--'i have recommended that, as a rule, the shelves be fixed, and have given reasons for the adoption of such a rule. i do not know whether it will receive the sanction of authorities, and i make two admissions. first, it requires that each person owning and arranging a library should have a pretty accurate general knowledge of the size of his books. secondly, it may be expedient to introduce here and there, by way of exception, a single movable shelf.' now, a man must be able not only to gauge very accurately the limits of his library and the various sizes of books, but he must be able to look into the future if he would safely embark on fixed shelves. and this is wholly impossible. fixed shelves should only be adopted where cost has to be reduced to a minimum, but in the majority of instances movable shelves will be found preferable. the paragraphs which deal with bookcases in mr. gladstone's article may here be given:-- 'the question of economy, for those who from necessity or choice consider it at all, is a very serious one. it has been a fashion to make bookcases ornamental. now, books want for and in themselves no ornament at all. . . the man who looks for society in his books will readily perceive that, in proportion as the face of his bookcase is occupied by ornament, he loses that society; and conversely, the more that face approximates to a sheet of book-backs, the more of that society he will enjoy. and so it is that three great advantages come hand in hand, and, as will be seen, reach their maximum together: the sociability of books, minimum cost in providing for them, and ease of access to them. 'in order to attain these advantages, two conditions are fundamental. first, the shelves must, as a rule, be fixed; secondly, the cases, or a large part of them, should have their side against a wall, and thus, projecting into the room for a convenient distance, they should be of twice the depth needed for a single line of books, and should hold two lines, one facing each way. twelve inches is a fair and liberal depth for two rows of octavos. the books are thus thrown into stalls, but stalls after the manner of a stable. . . . this method of dividing the longitudinal space by projections at right angles to it, if not very frequently used, has long been known. a great example of it is to be found at trinity college, cambridge, and is the work of sir christopher wren. he has kept these cases down to a very moderate height; for he doubtless took into account that great heights require long ladders, and that the fetching and use of these greatly add to the time consumed in getting or replacing a book.' it must here be added that mr. gladstone's plan is much more fitted for a large public library than for the library of a private person, for whom he is prescribing. though the library in the form of an annexe[ ] is in many ways an ideal form for housing a large library, yet these are hardly likely to be in the majority, and most people find that they have to house their books in a circumscribed space, with no room for such bays and projections as he suggests except perhaps one by the fireplace. footnotes: [ ] tonks' fittings are specially adapted for the shelves of book-cases or other shelves, the adjustment of which has, from time to time, to be varied to suit the varying requirements of a library, &c. the method hitherto generally adopted for such shelves is to support them at each end by two studs, the heads of which are mortised into the shelf, and the pins driven or otherwise fitted into holes two or more inches apart, bored in two rows into the upright frames; these holes are very seldom accurately fitted to the pins, and even where so done in the first instance, from the shrinking or expansion of the wood, they soon become too large or too small for the pins, and the alteration of the adjustment of a shelf is thereby rendered an extremely troublesome operation. the patent fittings remedy this, and save both time and trouble; in place of the rows of holes so far apart, metal strips perforated at intervals of three-quarters of an inch for the reception of the very simple but strong metal plates, which take the place of the old studs, are mortised in and screwed to the frames. the insertion, at the required intervals, of the plates into the perforations in these strips is made instantaneously, consequently the position of a shelf can be easily altered without an irritating expense of trouble, and waste of time. the thinness of the plates renders any mortising in the shelf unnecessary, and the small intervals between the perforations in the strips enables the whole space occupied by the shelves to be used most economically. these fittings, when used with a shelf sufficiently strong itself to bear the weight, will support without strain more than half a ton. [ ] _nineteenth century_, march, . [ ] edwards, _memoirs of libraries_, ii., . [ ] the sizes of books.--the associated librarians of great britain decided upon a uniform and arbitrary scale for the measurement and description of the sizes of books. in consequence of the many and varied sizes of papers now manufactured, the terms folio, quarto or to., octavo or vo., twelvemo or mo., and so on, as indicating the number of folds in the printed sheets, can no longer be relied upon as a definite guide to the sizes of books, hence the change, as follows:-- large folio la. fol. over inches. folio fol. below " small folio sm. fol. " " large octavo la. vo. " " octavo vo. " " small octavo sm. vo. " " duodecimo mo. " " decimo octavo mo. is " minimo mo. below " large quarto la. to. " " quarto to. " " small quarto sm. to. " " [ ] edwards, _memoirs of libraries_, ii., . [ ] blades, _enemies of books_. [ ] edwards, ii., . [ ] see p. . _miscellaneous appliances._ whether the library be considered as a workshop or a morning-room, there are certain necessary appliances, which will contribute a great deal to comfort, and the proper preservation of books. thus, proper tables will be required. mr. gladstone, i believe, has, or had, three tables in his temple of peace--one for correspondence, one for politics, and one for literary work. this, no doubt, is a very excellent plan to be followed by those whose time is precious, and who have to divide each day up for fixed duties. the 'shannon' and other american tables are very excellent for correspondence work, being fitted with pigeon-holes and drawers, and i have no doubt but that equally well-made tables are made specially fitted for literary work. such a table should measure not less than six feet by three; its top should be a clear, flat surface, and it should stand firmly on its legs, and these legs should be four, and should not be placed to be in the way of the person sitting at the table. an ink-well should be sunk flush with the top of the case, and it should have a brass cover. a knee-hole table is not the best for literary work, but it may be the best for letter-writing. of chairs, one good, firm, hard-seated chair is necessary. mr. ellwanger[ ] says, 'i have two chairs for my reading--a stiff one for books i _have_ to read; a luxurious one for books i like to read. my luxurious chair is of dark green leather, a treat to sink into, modelled after the easy armchair of the eversley rectory, known from its seductive properties as "sleepy hollow."' a very prettily designed and useful hard-seated chair is that known as the goldsmith chair, being modelled upon the chair which belonged to oliver goldsmith. a revolving bookcase is a very appropriate article of furniture in a library. it may be made especially useful for reference-books, or any such books as are being used together at one time for purposes of study and comparison. these revolving bookcases are made in all sizes, and can, of course, be made to suit any particular requirement; thus i have seen them made with a top which can be raised to a slope with a ledge like a standing desk, upon which a large atlas can be rested and consulted. apart from this, i strongly recommend the use of a standing desk for health's sake when a great deal of writing has to be done. it frequently happens that books being taken from the shelf, the volumes left behind fall down in an untidy heap. to obviate this, there is a very simple form of metal book support sold, which keeps a half-filled shelf neat and tidy. an alternative to this is the old plan of inserting dummies, whereby no blanks are seen. as i have so strongly advocated shelves the tops of which are within reach of the hand, i need not say much about steps, but where steps are really needed, they should be _very_ light, and capable of being easily lifted with one hand. they should have an upright rod support rising about four feet above the top step; this for the purpose of safety when using the steps. cabinets of drawers for prints and very large books should also be secured if required, and cushioned desks for books with metal bosses or metal mountings of any description. last, but by no means least, let there be good ink, and plenty of it; good pens, and a variety of them; and good blotting-paper, frequently renewed; and paper-knives of various sizes. footnote: [ ] _the story of my house._ _the library annexe._ what in many ways is an ideal library is a library housed in a building specially constructed as an annexe to a residence. i feel sure that, within the next ten years, there will be many moderately wealthy men who will be anxious to form libraries and special collections of books, housing them in this way. the idea is only new as applied to large country mansions. hitherto students of moderate means have managed to construct buildings specially adapted for study and free from interruption. the only instance of a library annexe attached to a country mansion with which i am acquainted is the recent and very notable instance at hawarden, of which more later. the late vicar of middleton cheney, in oxfordshire, and, i think, dr. jessopp, of scarning, have both found that their work has been assisted by library annexes. horace walpole said of topham beauclerk that he had built a library in great russell street, that reached 'half-way to highgate.' lord bacon spent ten thousand pounds in building himself a retreat in his grounds at gorhambury. mr. gladstone's scheme at hawarden is likely to be followed by many others. of course the hawarden library has been endowed, and made practically open and free. it is the idea of a private library as a temple of peace for the owner and his visitors which we would like to see extended. one fancies that books might be on a better footing in country houses if they had the honour of a separate building. then they would, at any rate, be on as good a footing as the stables or as the greenhouse, which at present they are not. books are not so much wall covering, or so much furniture. they are much more; they should be treated more like living creatures, and if only their owners would get upon speaking terms with them, how readily would they get a response. roughly, then, one would like to see attached to every large country establishment a book building, a centre of intelligence and light, where we might be sure of finding a good atlas, a good biographical dictionary, and good verbal dictionary. i do not understand why so little importance has hitherto been attached to this. such a building should have a large central room and several separate small rooms for private study. the illustrations in a charming little book called _mr. gladstone in the evening of his days_ convey what is meant very well. from this little volume i give extracts which seem very clear to any one interested in this matter:-- 'everywhere about in the large room are books--books--books. the iron library (the building is of iron) is arranged in the same ingenious way as mr. gladstone's private library at hawarden castle. there are windows on either side of the long room, and between these windows high bookcases, running towards the centre of the room, are put up. there are books on either side of these cases, and the part facing the centre of the room is again arranged to hold books. it is truly marvellous how many books can thus be stored without a single one being out of sight.' 'there is the same simplicity, the same quiet comfort, the same air of repose, and the same absence of library conventionality about. . . . .' 'through a door . . . . you reach the second room in the library, to which mr. gladstone has given the name of the "humanity room." it is arranged on exactly the same plan as the first, and contains secular works chiefly. you note madame de sévigné's _letters_ on one shelf, in neat and dainty little volumes; and yellow-backed zola lower down.'[ ] any one who proposed having a library as a separate building should certainly study mr. gladstone's experiments at st. deiniol's library, or procure _mr. gladstone in the evening of his days_, wherein are given illustrations of the interior plan and general economy of the structure. certainly mr. gladstone's ideas as to the arrangement of books as put forth in the _nineteenth century_ for march, , are much more applicable to an annexe library than to the housing of books in an ordinary private dwelling. thus the arrangement of the bays made by the projections could not be carried out without extensive structural alterations in one house out of twenty in the country, and not one house out of a thousand in london. his ideas, however, are wholly practicable and admirably thorough when applied to the annexe library. it is interesting to see mr. gladstone's calculations as to shelf accommodation. they were disputed at the time by some cavilling critics, but have since been shown to be accurate. mr. gladstone is speaking[ ] of the bookcases round the walls and the projecting arms, and he says:--'i will now exhibit to my readers the practical effect of such arrangement in bringing great numbers of books within easy reach. let each projection be three feet long, twelve inches deep (ample for two faces of octavos), and nine feet high, so that the upper shelf can be reached by the aid of a wooden stool of two steps, not more than twenty inches high, and portable without the least effort of a single hand. i will suppose the wall-space available to be eight feet, and the projections, three in number, with end pieces, need only put out three feet five, while narrow strips of bookcase will run up the wall between the projections. under these conditions, the bookcases thus described will carry about volumes. 'and a library forty feet long and twenty feet broad, amply lighted, having some portion of the centre fitted with very low bookcases, suited to serve for some of the uses of tables, will receive on the floor from , to , volumes of all sizes without losing the appearance of a room . . . . while leaving portions of space available near the windows for purposes of study. if a gallery be added, there will be accommodation for a further number of , and the room need be no more than sixteen feet high.' this estimate of shelf accommodation may be compared with one which was made by mr. justin winsor, the well-known librarian of the harvard library. he says:--'the book room of the roxbury branch of the public library of boston is fifty-three feet long by twenty-seven feet wide, and having three storeys of eight feet each in height will hold , volumes. . . . . i doubt if any other construction can produce this result.' the building at hawarden cost, i believe, _l._, but whether this is with fittings or not i do not know. it is certain that for men whose books are more numerous than costly the annexe plan is admirable, and the difficulty of excluding damp where four walls are exposed to the elements could surely be overcome. i do not think that mr. gladstone makes any mention of iron bookcases, but these are often adopted, and have been made in a very convenient form, particularly that called the radcliffe iron bookcase, arranged by sir henry acland and mr. w. froude. of this i append a description written by sir henry acland himself. 'the advantages of the bookcase consist in its great stability, in its movability and neatness. it carries average octavo volumes, on either side; it is seven feet high, and stands on any floor space on forty-eight inches by eighteen inches. the cases may stand in any number end to end, or down the centre of a passage, or be placed so as to form squares of any dimensions multiple of the length of the cases, and therefore may enclose studies lined with books, books being also on the outside of the square. when the cases stand end to end they need not be put close to each other, but may have a space in which are shelves of any desired length. therefore ten iron cases placed in a line, so as to include a space of forty inches between each two cases, will carry the contents of nineteen cases, or plus volumes, at the cost of ten cases, plus the wooden shelves of nine. the iron framework costs about _l._ _s._, and the wooden shelves about _s._ the iron portion will carry only octavos, but the spaces as described above will carry folios, because, to insure stability in the iron frames, diagonal ties run down the centre and divide the shelves into two portions, viz., the two frontages described above. but the stability being ensured in each iron case independently, the intermediate shelves in the spaces may be of the full width of the frames, namely, twenty inches.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] these notices of the hawarden library may be compared with the accounts given in dennistoun's _dukes of urbino_ of a great florentine library:-- 'adjoining (the main library) was a study, fitted up with inlaid and gilded panelling, beneath which . . . . were depicted minerva with her ægis, apollo with his lyre, and the nine muses, with their appropriate symbols. a similar small study was fitted up immediately over this one, set round with armchairs encircling a table, all mosaicked with _tarsia_, . . . while in each compartment of the panelling was the portrait of some famous author, and an appropriate distich. . . . to the right and left of the carriage entrance into the great courtyard are two handsome saloons, each about forty-five feet by twenty-two, and twenty-three in height. that on the left contained the famous library of ms. collected by count federigo; the corresponding one received the printed books which, gradually purchased by successive dukes, became, under the last sovereign a copious collection. baldi, in his description of the palace, printed in bianchini's works, dwells on the judicious adaptation of the former, its windows set high against the northern sky, admitting a subdued and steady light which invited to study; its air cool in summer, temperate in winter; its walls conveniently sheltered. . . . .' [ ] _nineteenth century_, march, . _a librarian._ until we have more properly trained librarians, it is useless to recommend owners of private libraries to find a librarian, because at present there are very few such men in existence who are properly qualified. a love of books is not enough in a librarian. an orderly mind and great receptive power are most essential. practical knowledge of bookbinding and a sense of colour are equally essential. he must have no fads of his own to be ever thrusting forward. if he is mad on geology or astronomy, he won't do. what, above all, he must know are the sources of information. a study in the 'lives' of some of the great librarians would best show what is here meant. mr. elton[ ] names antonio maggliabecchi, the jeweller's shop-boy, who became renowned throughout the world for his abnormal knowledge of books. he never at any time left florence; but he read every catalogue that was issued, and was in correspondence with all the collectors and librarians of europe. he was blessed with a prodigious memory, and knew all the contents of a book by 'hunting it with his finger,' or once turning over the pages. he was believed, moreover, to know the habitat of all the rare books in the world; and according to the well-known anecdote he replied to the grand duke, who asked for a particular volume: 'the only copy of this work is at constantinople, in the sultan's library, the seventh volume in the second bookcase, on the right as you go in.' a similar story was told by wendell phillips, the american statesman, about a countryman of his own, george sumner. an englishman came to rome and was anxious to know whether there was in the library of the pope, the great library of the vatican, a certain book. . . . . the gentleman went to the italians that used the library. they referred him to the private secretary of one of the cardinals, and after a moment's thought the secretary answered, 'no, sir, i don't know; but there is a young man in the city from boston, and if the book is there he will know. they went to george sumner, and asked him if there was such a volume in the library. 'yes, it is in the tenth alcove, the third shelf, the seventh book to your right as you enter.' similar stories, doubtless, could be told of bradshaw, the cambridge university librarian, or of thomas ruddiman and george buchanan. mr. lloyd p. smith[ ] gives the following definition, among others, of the qualifications of a librarian: 'librarians, like editors and proofreaders, are expected to know everything; and in one sense they should know everything--that is, they should have that _maxima pars eruditionis_, which consists in knowing where everything is to be found. a librarian should be able, of his own knowledge, to answer many questions, and especially the two questions which meet him at every turn, "where can i find such-and-such information?" and "what is the best work on such-and-such a subject?" these are legitimate questions, which it should be the pride of every librarian to answer offhand . . . . all the book-learning in the world, however, will be insufficient for the practical duties of his place, unless the librarian has also the organ of order. his motto should be, "a place for everything and everything in its place."' 'the book of regulations for the court and household of guidobaldo i. contains these rules for the administration of the library:--"the librarian should be learned, of good presence, temper, and manners, correct, and ready of speech. he must get from the gardrobe an inventory of the books, and keep them arranged and easily accessible, whether latin, greek, hebrew, or others, maintaining also the rooms in good condition. he must preserve the books from damp and vermin, as well as from the hands of trifling, ignorant, dirty, and tasteless persons. to those of authority and learning, he ought himself to exhibit them with all facility, courteously explaining their beauty and remarkable characteristics, the handwriting and miniatures, but observant that such abstract no leaves. when ignorant or merely curious persons wish to see them, a glance is sufficient, if it be not some one of considerable influence. when any lock or other requisite is needed, he must take care that it be promptly provided. he must let no book be taken away but by the duke's orders, and if lent, must get a written receipt, and see to its being returned. when a number of visitors come in, he must be specially watchful that none be stolen. all which is duly seen to by the present courteous and attentive librarian, messer agabito."'[ ] footnotes: [ ] _library assoc. report_, , p. . [ ] _great book collectors_, p. . [ ] _american library journal_, vol. i., p. . [ ] _memoirs of the dukes of urbino_, p. . _the library architecturally._ vitruvius, in his _architecture_, lays down the rule that libraries ought to face the east, because their use requires the morning light, which will preserve their contents from decay; whereas, if the room should face the south or west, they are liable to be damaged by damp. mr. j. w. clark, the very learned historian of the university of cambridge, commenting on this, says that the first of these considerations did influence early builders, but after the reformation, when considerations of personal comfort began to be generally accepted, the library could be placed in the position which commanded the greatest amount of warmth. ancient libraries were never placed on the ground, but usually on the first floor, or even higher, for the sake of preserving their contents from the damp to which ground floors are necessarily subject.[ ] the architect is very frequently a great enemy to the library. underestimating the amount of wall space likely to be required for the housing of the books, or placing shelves and galleries in such a position that the books are not readily got at. frequently, too, a country house has no room whatever designed either for study or the reception of books. the entire collection of books should be accessible without steps or ladders. hot-water pipes should not approach nearer than three feet to the books. electric light is the best luminant, but gas may safely be used provided there is sufficient ventilation. the walls, which are towards the outer air, and even the others also, if of brick or stone, ought to be battened. i have taken from a very excellent book, kerr's _gentleman's house_, such ideas and notes as i think are likely to be useful in arranging a library in a country house. mr. kerr suggests two plans for a large country house with a library. 'the idea which might first occur to the mind is that of a single spacious apartment; but for convenience and in order to preserve the domestic character, it is generally preferable to make use of several smaller apartments as a _suite of libraries_. on this plan the arrangement which is perhaps most favourable to considerations of utility, and on the whole most characteristic, is to set out a given width of clear passage way along the central line of the rooms, and then to divide the space on each side into a succession of compartments or bays, by means of transverse bookcases in pairs back to back; such bays being only large enough to accommodate a reading table with sufficient space around for reaching the books, opening the doors of the cases if any, and so on. if the rooms be lighted from the roof, the lights ought to correspond with the division into compartments, so that none of the fronts of the bookcases shall be placed in shadow. if there be windows in the walls, there ought to be one in each bay along one side of the room or both as may be desired. bookcases against the walls are obviously most serviceable with the ceiling light; with side windows, even when these are on a high level, there is always a difficulty in reading the back lettering under the light; and when the windows are on a low level, dwarf bookcases under them are practically of little use. 'as for _artistic treatment_, nothing can be more appropriate for the character of a library than those effects which are at the command of the architect in a suite of apartments of this kind, laid out probably with some variety in the general forms as well as in the fittings, and involving perhaps the introduction of sculptures and paintings of a suitable kind. elaborate effects, however, of whatever sort, and the accommodation of any other works of art than those whose merits are kindred to the character of the more proper contents, ought not to be encouraged.' a second or alternative plan is a large room with a gallery. 'as regards curiosities and other _artistic or scientific collections_, these may very properly be accommodated, whether in upright cases to correspond with the bookcases, or in cabinets to take the place of the reading tables. 'the arrangements proper for the alternative plan of a large _single library_ are obviously simple. a gallery is probably carried round the apartment; the bookcases extend along the wall below and are reproduced above; the light comes either from the roof or the upper part of the walls; the floor area is generally occupied solely by reading tables and cabinets. objects of art and curiosity, when of large size, are more prominently displayed by this arrangement, and the whole effect may be made very imposing; but it is doubtful whether convenience and comfort can by any means be so properly provided for as in the other model. 'there are questions of detail which might be further entered upon, but a reference to what has already been advanced under the head of the ordinary library will probably suffice.' in other parts of his excellent manual, mr. kerr goes more into detail, and refers to the various general purposes to which a library, as distinct from a study, is put in a country house, as follows:-- 'there is a certain standard room which constitutes the library of an average gentleman's house, and the various gradations by which this may be either diminished in importance or augmented are easily understood. it is not a library in the sole sense of a depository for books. there is, of course, the family collection, and the bookcases in which this is accommodated form the chief furniture of the apartment. but it would be an error, except in very special circumstances, to design the library for mere study. it is primarily a sort of morning-room for gentlemen rather than anything else. their correspondence is done here, their reading, and, in some measure, their lounging; and the billiard-room, for instance, is not unfrequently attached to it. at the same time the ladies are not exactly excluded. 'the _position_ of the room internally ought therefore to be in immediate connexion with the principal dwelling rooms, so as to be equally accessible; whilst, on the other hand, as regards external influences, it ought to be kept sufficiently quiet (although this is very seldom a practical problem), to prevent the interruption of reading or writing. in accordance with these general ideas, and bearing out, moreover, the somewhat sober effect which bookcases always produce, the _style_ of design and decoration ought to be, although not devoid of cheerfulness, certainly subdued in character.' as regards aspect, mr. kerr is at one with the old vitruvius already referred to. 'it is not often easy to obtain a choice _aspect_ for the library, but whenever this primary pleasantness can be had for it so much the better, and it certainly ought never to be entirely neglected in this respect. the reasons for preferring the south-east in the case of day rooms generally have already been argued; for a library, perhaps, a rather more eastward aspect is better, so that the sun may be off the windows at least before noon; even due east might be preferred by some persons, the sunshine being thus lost about half-past ten. in any case, however, the morning sun is to be preferred to that of midday or afternoon. if the room be large enough _end windows_ may be used to advantage here as elsewhere. a _bay window_ also is often adopted. 'a difficult question which often arises is how sufficiently to provide for persons engaged in writing a _front light from the left_. it is not that a snug seat by the fireside, with a table conveniently at hand, and a left front light, can by any possibility be provided for many persons at once; but it is very unfortunate when no position whatever will combine these advantages. in a library especially this problem must be well worked out, and not for one writer only, but for several. ingenuity and perseverance will accomplish wonders, and therefore, with the help of end light, a good library may be expected in this respect to be brought very near perfection. 'the _fireplace_ ought to be placed so as to make a good winter fireside, because this is in a measure a sitting-room. '_intercommunication_ is frequently made with the drawing-room, and sometimes intimately, and this carries with it, no doubt, a certain sort of convenience, because the two rooms can be thrown together occasionally; but it is a question whether, in a good house, and looking at such a question broadly, it is not, on the whole, a serious loss to both rooms as regards their more proper purposes. a door to the dining-room is not formally advisable, nor even one to the gentleman's room, although both these arrangements are to be met with, and are occasionally convenient. a communication with the billiard-room, sometimes made, may give the library too completely the character of a lounge, so as to render it somewhat unfit for its better purposes. when the library of a small house is used as a study, by a clergyman, for instance, or as the business room, a door to the dining-room may be so useful as to be specially admissible, the dining-room being thus brought to serve as a waiting-room for the occasion. the interposition, if possible, of a lobby or small ante-room will, however, be an aid to propriety in almost all these cases. 'it is to be observed that we have been hitherto dealing with the ordinary library of an average house and no more; but when the owner is a man of learning we must either add a _study_ or constitute the library itself one. in the latter case, in order to prevent disturbance, the door will be more conveniently placed, not in the main corridor, but indirectly connected therewith. no door of intercommunication ought to connect it with any other room (except possibly the gentleman's room), and the position externally ought to be more than ordinarily secluded. double doors also may be required. in short, the library, which has hitherto been a public room and somewhat of a lounge, becomes now essentially a private retreat. 'when the books form a _large collection_, and strangers, perhaps, are occasionally admitted for reading or reference, the library necessarily assumes more extensive proportions, and its arrangements become more complicated. for example, heating apparatus becomes very possibly indispensable; the question comes up of ceiling lights; the apartments are probably carried up to the height of two storeys, and galleries formed around. seclusion becomes again still more a point to be considered. 'the library of the house should also be as comfortable as possible, with broad easy chairs, low centre table for books and periodicals, a large pedestal desk with circular revolving top, to shut up all papers and keep them free from dust. this kind of desk i consider invaluable to any man who really uses his library as a work-room, whether it be for real literary work and study, or for the ordinary examination and arrangement of household accounts; for it is quite impossible, on an ordinary writing table, to keep papers clean or tidy, and this circular-headed desk shuts down at once papers as they lie, which then cannot be "tidied" by the housemaid, who would seem to take a pleasure in putting away papers and notes in all kinds of out-of-the-way corners; the desk should have plenty of drawers and pigeon-holes; these latter, not as many of them are, an inch too narrow or two inches too wide for ordinary letters, but all made for the objects for which they are intended. it may seem absurd to say--think carefully of the use to which the drawers are to be put--but how often are they practically useless or wasteful of precious room, by being made shallower or deeper than is required. the room should be surrounded with bookcases, the lower portion made to take large books, and with some part of it covered in with cupboard fronts, with shelving inside to file away periodicals and papers; the shelf which this lower projection forms will do admirably for the arrangement of ornaments, small busts, or other personal things, with which a man crowds the room he really lives in; of course, i am speaking to those who make a den or working-room of their library, and not to those who fit a back room up with various tiers of shelving, on which are arranged a library of books which are seldom looked at, and where the room is only occasionally used, and that only for the purpose of a cloak-room on grand occasions. above this lower nest of cupboards and shelving should be shelving arranged for various sizes of books, part carried up all round the room, so as to be within easy reach; the top of these will be found useful for china or busts, or other objects of art, while the centre portions may be carried up to the ceiling to give greater accommodation; all these breaks will take away from the stiffness of the room, and, if properly arranged, will all assist in making the library a room pleasant to work or play in. all this kind of work can be made of plain deal, stained and polished, and is infinitely cheaper than the elaborate movable cases of wainscot or walnut, in which the aim of the designer seems often to make the frame-work as expensive as possible, whereas, in truth, the books within are really what should be thought of and cared for. 'the floor should be painted or stained and varnished all over, so as to be easily cleaned and dusted, and everything that is likely to permanently hold dust should be avoided. on the floor, thus painted, a few cheap indian or other rugs may be laid about in places where most necessary and useful. 'too much trouble cannot be taken to make the library a pleasant room to live in; it should have everything arranged and adapted for use and comfort, and not be stiff and dreary with any set arrangement. the panels of the cupboard doors may be filled in with japanese lacquer-work or painted decoration, and here and there, in the recesses, nests of shelves may be fitted with projecting brackets, designed as part of them, for pieces of china, vases of flowers, or busts, and not looking like bats stuck on to a barn door. 'i must not omit to say that in the lower portion of the bookcase should be arranged drawers--not carried down to the floor, for these are inconvenient--for use for prints and valuable photographs and sketches. 'the library should be essentially home-like, with the wall-space fitted up as conveniently as possible; on the top of the bookcases or nests of shelves, spring roller-blinds might be easily arranged in the cornices to draw down at night or other times, and fasten with clips to protect and preserve the books, &c., within them. 'i might offer many other suggestions for the decoration and furniture of the rooms i have specially referred to. i trust those i have made will be of some practical use, and that, above all, you will believe that my aim throughout has been to avoid all dogmatic and set rules of fashion or design, and to insist only that truth and beauty of form and colour, combined with fitness and common sense, are the main elements of all true artistic treatment in decoration and furniture of modern houses.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] willis and clark, _history of cambridge university_, vol. iii., p. . [ ] edis, _decoration and furniture of town houses_, pp. - . _munificent book-buying._ nordau has estimated that, in england alone, there are from eight hundred to a thousand millionaires, and in europe altogether, there are at least a hundred thousand persons with fortunes of a million and even more. one could hope that it might be considered a kindness now and then to remind some of these millionaires of certain openings for their money which do not, so far, seem to have occurred to them. mr. bernard shaw not long since pointed out in the _contemporary review_ an opening whereby an economic library might be established, and do great lasting honour to a possible founder. rich men can always be found to vie with one another in lavish expenditure over a ball or a wedding. thousands of pounds go for a racehorse and for stable management generally, and the amount we spend upon sports annually is , , _l._, or about a pound per head of the population. one hardly likes to say that any sum spent upon sport and outdoor life is too much, but yet this sum is out of proportion. one is jealous of horses and sport, not so much perhaps for the amount spent upon them as much as because one sees that the man who hunts and has racehorses, cares and knows about these things to the extermination of all other interests. life becomes ill balanced, whereas it is necessary to touch life at many points. 'the strenuous scholar pure and simple,' is becoming more rare, though the type of which the late mark pattison was one will never quite die out. but it is not the strenuous _scholar_ that one is so anxious to perpetuate, as it is the strenuous and scholarly man of affairs and men of trained ability who have mental muscle for parliamentary work and social problems. such a class ought to have many recruits from among the wealthier families. it would assist very much towards this end if men of aptitude were properly trained to act as custodians of books in private houses. the art of knowing how to use books is one which must be learnt, and when properly learnt there is very little indeed that may not be readily found to hand in a library of but small dimensions. there are, i believe, in england twenty-two packs of staghounds, and packs of foxhounds. as every one of the masters of these packs must be a rich man, i should like to know that he at any rate had a sound copy of the _history_ of the county where he hunts; that he had in his smoking room a good encyclopædia, with fifty other good reference books, and a hundred good novels. the rich men of old combined patronage of learning with the pomp and splendour of their lives. lucullus distinguished himself by his vast collection of books, and the liberal access he allowed to lovers of books. 'it was a library,' says plutarch, 'whose walls, galleries and cabinets were open to all visitors; and the ingenious youths, when at leisure, resorted to this abode of the muses, to hold literary conversations, in which lucullus himself loved to join.' the emperor augustus was himself an author and a book lover, and called one of his libraries by the name of his sister, octavia, and the other the temple of apollo. tiberius had a library, and trajan also, and these spent constantly upon their books and the housing of them. i have taken from renaissance history pictures of several men who might be taken as types which should exist in every highly civilised country. they have been vividly and admirably pictured by biographers, and one can only hope that the rich men of to-day may in five hundred years' time have as lasting reputations as that of cosimo, the princely patron of learning, and niccolo, the man of scholarship and refinement of life. _passages illustrative of the foregoing._ _the medici and their friends._ 'the chief benefit conferred by cosimo de' medici on learning was the accumulation and the housing of large libraries. during his exile he built the library of s. giorgio maggiore at venice, and after his return to florence he formed three separate collections of mss. while the hall of the library of s. marco was in process of construction, niccolo de' niccoli died, in , bequeathing his mss., valued at golden florins, to sixteen trustees. among these were cosimo and lorenzo de' medici, ambrogio traversari, lionardo bruni, carlo marsuppini, poggio bracciolini, giannozzo manetti, and franco sachetti. at the same time the estate of niccolo was compromised by heavy debts. these debts cosimo cancelled, obtaining in exchange the right to dispose of the library. in the hall of the convent was finished. four hundred of niccolo's mss. were placed there, with this inscription upon each: _ex hereditate doctissimi viri nicola de nicolis de florentiâ_. tommasso parentucelli made a catalogue at cosimo's request, in which he not only noted the titles of niccoli's books, but also marked the names of others wanting to complete the collection. this catalogue afterwards served as a guide to the founders of the libraries of fiesole, urbino, and pesaro, and was, says vespasiano, indispensable to book-collectors. of the remaining volumes cosimo kept some for his own (the medicean) library, and some he gave to his friends. at the same time he spared no pains to buy codices, while vespasiano and fra giuliano lapaccini were employed in copying rare mss. as soon as cosimo had finished building the abbey of fiesole, he set about providing this also with a library suited to the wants of learned ecclesiastics. of the method he pursued, vespasiano, who acted as his agent, has transmitted the following account:--"one day when i was in his room, he said to me, 'what plan can you recommend for the formation of this library?' i answered that to buy the books would be impossible, since they could not be purchased. 'what, then, do you propose?' he added. i told him that they must be copied. he then asked if i would undertake the business. i replied that i was willing. he bade me begin at my leisure, saying that he left all to me; and for the monies wanted day by day, he ordered that don arcangelo, at that time prior of the monastery, should draw cheques upon his bank, which should be honoured. after beginning the collection, since it was his will that it should be finished with all speed possible, and money was not lacking, i soon engaged forty-five copyists, and in twenty-two months provided two hundred volumes, following the admirable list furnished by pope nicholas v."'[ ] * * * * * 'cosimo's zeal for learning was not confined to the building of libraries or to book collecting. his palace formed the centre of a literary and philosophical society, which united all the wits of florence and the visitors who crowded to the capital of culture. vespasiano states that "he was always the father and benefactor of those who showed any excellence." distinguished by versatility of tastes and comprehensive intellect, he formed his own opinion of the men of eminence with whom he came in contact, and conversed with each upon his special subject. when giving audience to the scholars, he discoursed concerning letters; in the company of theologians he showed his acquaintance with theology, a branch of learning always studied by him with delight. so also with regard to philosophy. astrologers found him well versed in their science, for he somewhat lent faith to astrology, and employed it on certain private occasions. musicians in like manner perceived his mastery of music, wherein he much delighted. the same was true about sculpture and painting: both of these arts he understood completely, and showed great favour to all worthy craftsmen. in architecture he was a consummate judge, for without his opinion and advice no building was begun or carried to completion.'[ ] * * * * * 'never was there a time in the world's history when money was spent more freely upon the collection and preservation of mss. and when a more complete machinery was put in motion for the sake of securing literary treasures. prince vied with prince, and eminent burgher with burgher, in buying books. the commercial correspondents of the medici and other great florentine houses, whose banks and discount offices extended over europe and the levant, were instructed to purchase relics of antiquity without regard for cost, and to forward them to florence. the most acceptable present that could be sent to a king was a copy of a roman historian.'[ ] * * * * * 'among the friends of cosimo, to whose personal influences at florence the revival of learning owed a vigorous impulse, niccolo de' niccoli claims our attention. . . . . his judgment in matters of style was so highly valued that it was usual for scholars to submit their essays to his eyes before they ventured upon publication. . . . . notwithstanding his fine sense of language, niccolo never appeared before the world of letters as an author. . . . certainly his reserve in an age noteworthy for display has tended to confer on him distinction. the position he occupied at florence was that of a literary dictator. all who needed his assistance and advice were received with urbanity. he threw his house open to young men of parts, engaged in disputations with the curious, and provided the ill-educated with teachers. foreigners from all parts of europe paid him visits. the strangers who came to florence at that time, if they missed the opportunity of seeing him at home, thought they had not been in florence. the house where he lived was worthy of his refined taste and cultivated judgment, for he had formed a museum of antiquities--inscriptions, marbles, coins, vases, and engraved gems. there he not only received students and strangers, but conversed with sculptors and painters, discussing their inventions as freely as he criticised the essays of the scholars. . . . . vespasiano's account of his personal habits presents so vivid a picture that i cannot refrain from translating it at length:--"first of all, he was of a most fair presence; lively, for a smile was ever on his lips, and very pleasant in his talk. he wore clothes of the fairest crimson cloth, down to the ground. he never married, in order that he might not be impeded in his studies. a housekeeper provided for his daily needs. he was, above all men, the most cleanly in eating, as also in all other things. when he sat at table, he ate from fair antique vases, and, in like manner, all his table was covered with porcelain and other vessels of great beauty. the cup from which he drank was of crystal, or of some other precious stone. to see him at table--a perfect model of the men of old--was of a truth a charming sight. he always willed that the napkins set before him should be of the whitest, as well as all the linen." . . . . what distinguished niccolo was the combination of refinement and humane breeding with open-handed generosity and devotion to the cause of culture. he knew how to bring forward men of promise and place them in positions of eminence.'[ ] * * * * * 'lorenzo attracted to his villa the greatest scholars and most brilliant men of the time, a circle which included poliziano, landino, ficino, pico della mirandola, alberti, pulci, and michael angelo. the interests of this circle, as of all similar italian circles of the time, were largely absorbed in the philosophy and literature of greece, and special attention was devoted to the teachings of plato. plato's writings were translated into latin by ficino, and the translation was printed in , at the cost of filippo valvio. ficino was too poor himself to undertake the publication of his works, and this was the case with not a few of the distinguished authors of the age. the presentation of books to the public required at this time what might be called the endowment of literature, and endowment which was supplied by the liberality of wealthy patrons possessed of literary appreciation or public-spirited ambition, or of both. as symonds expresses it, "great literary undertakings involved in that century the substantial assistance of wealthy men, whose liberality was rewarded by a notice in the colophon or in the title-page." the formal dedication was an invention of a somewhat later date.'[ ] * * * * * 'of palla degli strozzi's services in the cause of greek learning i have already spoken. beside the invitation which he caused to be sent to manuel chrysoloras, he employed his wealth and influence in providing books necessary for the prosecution of hellenic studies. "messer palla," says vespasiano, "sent to greece for countless volumes, all at his own cost. the _cosmography_ of ptolemy, together with the picture made to illustrate it, the _lives_ of plutarch, the works of plato, and very many other writings of philosophers, he got from constantinople. the _politics_ of aristotle were not in italy until messer palla sent for them; and when messer lionardo of arezzo translated them, he had the copy from his hands." in the same spirit of practical generosity palla degli strozzi devoted his leisure and his energies to the improvement of the _studio pubblico_ at florence, giving it that character of humane culture which it retained throughout the age of the renaissance. to him, again, belongs the glory of having first collected books for the express purpose of founding a public library. this project had occupied the mind of petrarch, and its utility had been recognised by coluccio de' salutati, but no one had as yet arisen to accomplish it. "being passionately fond of literature, messer palla always kept copyists in his own house and outside it, of the best who were in florence, both for greek and latin books; and all the books he could find he purchased, on all subjects, being minded to found a most noble library in santa trinità, and to erect there a most beautiful building for the purpose. he wished that it should be open to the public, and he chose santa trinità because it was in the centre of florence, a site of great convenience to everybody. his disasters supervened and what he had designed he could not execute."'[ ] * * * * * 'cosimo used to regret that "he had not begun to spend money upon public works ten years earlier than he did." every costly building that bore his name, each library he opened to the public, and all the donations lavished upon scholars, served the double purpose of cementing the despotism of his house and of gratifying his personal enthusiasm for culture. . . . . of his generosity to men of letters, the most striking details are recorded. when niccolo de' niccoli ruined himself, cosimo opened for him an unlimited credit with the medicean bank.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] symonds, _the revival of learning_, pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] symonds, _revival of learning_, pp. , . [ ] symonds, _revival of learning_, pp. - . [ ] putnam, _books and their makers_, vol. i., p. . [ ] symonds, _revival of learning_, p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . _the dukes of urbino._ 'mr. roscoe has observed that "by no circumstance in the character of an individual is the love of literature so strongly evinced as by the propensity for collecting together the writings of illustrious scholars, and compressing the 'soul of ages past' within the narrow limits of a library." but it is not easy now to appreciate the obstacles attending such a pursuit in the age of federigo. the science of bibliography can scarcely be said to have existed before the invention of printing, in consequence of the extreme difficulty of becoming acquainted with works of which there were but few copies, and these widely scattered, perhaps scarcely known. great outlay was required, either to search out or transcribe manuscripts, and even the laborious habits which then accompanied learning shrank from a task so beset by obstructions. yet there was a bright exception in thomas of saranza, whose learning supplied the knowledge, and whose elevation to the triple tiara as nicholas v. procured him the opportunities necessary for amassing a library. not only did he found that of the vatican, but he prepared for cosimo, _pater patrie_, a list of authors for the infant collection of s. marco, at florence, which, being recognised as a standard catalogue, was adopted by count federigo. the longer life allowed to the latter enabled him to outstrip these bibliomaniacs, and all contemporary accumulators, until the fame of his library stood unrivalled. accordingly ruscelli, in his _imprese illustri_, avers it to be "notorious that the earliest and most famous collection formed out of the ruins of antiquity was that of urbino, from whence many excellent authors were edited, and copies supplied."'[ ] * * * * * 'in no respect did he look to expense; and whenever he learned the existence of any desirable book in italy, or abroad, he sent for it without heeding the cost. his librarian, vespasiano, wrote, "it is now above fourteen years since he began to make this collection, and he has ever since at urbino, florence, and elsewhere, thirty-four transcribers, and has resorted to every means requisite for amassing a famous and excellent library."'[ ] * * * * * 'to the right and left of the carriage entrance into the great courtyard, are two handsome saloons, each about forty-five feet by twenty-two, and twenty-three in height. that on the left contained the famous library of manuscripts collected by count federigo; the corresponding one received the printed books, which, gradually purchased by successive dukes, became under the last sovereign, a copious collection. baldi, in his description of the palace, printed in bianchini's work, dwells on the judicious adaptation of the former, its windows set high against the northern sky, admitting a subdued and steady light which invited to study; its air cool in summer, temperate in winter; its walls conveniently shelved; the character and objects of the place fittingly set forth in a series of rude hexameters inscribed on the cornices. adjoining was a closet fitted up with inlaid and gilded panelling, beneath which timoteo della vite, a painter whose excellence we shall attest in our thirtieth chapter, depicted minerva with her ægis, apollo with his lyre, and the nine muses with their appropriate symbols. a similar small study was fitted up immediately over this one, set round with arm-chairs encircling a table, all mosaicked with _tarsia_, and carved by maestro giacomo of florence, while on each compartment of the panelling was the portrait of some famous author, and an appropriate distich. one other article of furniture deserves special notice--a magnificent eagle of gilt bronze, serving as a lectern in the centre of the manuscript room. it was carried to rome at the devolution of the duchy to the holy see, but was rescued by pope clement xi. from the vatican library, and restored to his native town, where it has long been used in the choir of the cathedral.'[ ] * * * * * 'of francesco maria's literary pursuits we have various pleasing memorials. not satisfied with the valuable library of mss. that had descended to him from the feltrian dukes, he formed another of standard printed works. indeed, he became an assiduous book-collector; and the letters of his librarian, benedetto benedetti, in the oliveriana library, are full of lists which his agents in venice, florence, and even frankfort are urged to supply. in his own voluminous correspondence, we find constant offers from authors of dedications or copies of their productions, the tone of which is highly complimentary to his taste for letters. in , the archbishop of monreale, in spain, transmits him the regulations he proposed to prescribe in bequeathing his library to a seminary he had founded in his diocese, expressing a hope that they might prove useful to the duke's collection, "at this moment without parallel in the world." instead of quoting the vague testimony of courtly compliment, as to the use which this philosophic prince made of these acquisitions, let us cite the brief records of his studies, preserved in his own diary. in , "terminated an inspection of the whole works of aristotle, on which i have laboured no less than fifteen years, having had them generally read to me by maestro cesare benedetti, of pesaro."'[ ] * * * * * 'francesco di giorgio, in his _treatise on architecture_, mentions duke federigo as holding out inducements for the learned men at his court to illustrate the works of classic authors on architecture and sculpture. but no testimony to his literary habits can be more satisfactory than that of his librarian, vespasiano, to the following purpose. the duke was a ready latin scholar, and extremely fond of ancient history. as a logician he had attained considerable aptitude, having studied aristotle's _ethics_ along with maestro lazzaro, a famous theologian, who became bishop of urbino, discussing with him the most intricate passages. by the like process he mastered the stagirite's politics, physics, and other treatises; and having acquired more philosophy than any contemporary prince, his thirst for new sources of knowledge induced him to devote himself to theology with equal zeal. the principal works of st. thomas aquinas and duns scotus were habitually read to him; he preferred the former as more clear, but admitted that the latter displayed more subtlety in argument. he was well acquainted with the bible, as well as the commentaries of saints ambrose, jerome, augustine, and gregory; also with the writings of the greek fathers, such as saints basil, chrysostom, gregory naziazen, nicetas, athanasius, and cyril. among the classic authors whom he was in the habit of reading or listening to were livy, sallust, quintus curtius, justin, cæsar, plutarch, Ælius spartianus, Æmylius protus, tacitus, suetonius, eusebius. all men of letters visiting urbino were hospitably entertained, and several were always attached to his court. his largesses to such were at all times liberal. he spent above ducats in this way when at florence, and remitted similar bounties to rome and naples. he gave ducats to the learned campano, professor of belles-lettres at perugia in , who aided him in collecting ancient mss., and became bishop of teramo.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] dennistoun, _memoirs of the dukes of urbino_, vol. i., p. . [ ] _ibid._, vol. i., pp. - . [ ] _memoirs of the dukes of urbino_, vol. i., pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, vol. i., p. . _pieresc._ 'when any library was to be sold by public outcry, he took care to buy the best books, especially if they were of some neat edition that he did not already possess. he bound his books in red morocco, with his cypher or initials in gold. one binder always lived in the house, and sometimes several were employed at once "when the books came rolling in on every side."' 'your house and library' (says the dedication of a book to pieresc) 'are a firmament wherein the stars of learning shine; the desks are lit with starlight, and the books are in constellations, and you sit like the sun in the midst, embracing and giving light to them all.' 'the library is to be open to all the world without the exception of any living soul; readers were to be supplied with chairs and writing materials, and the attendants will fetch all books required in any language or department of learning, and will change them as often as is necessary.'[ ] * * * * * 'bouchard states, in his funeral oration on pieresc, "to this his shop and storehouse of wisdom and virtue, peireskius did not only courteously admit all travellers, studious of art and learning, opening to them all the treasures of his library, but he would keep them there a long time, with free and liberal entertainment; and at their departure, would give them books, coins, and other things, which seemed most suitable to their studies; also he freely gave them at his own expense, whatever things they wanted, most liberally, even as to all other learned men, who were absent, and whose names he had only heard of; whatever he had among his books or relics of antiquity, which he thought might assist them in their writings, he would send it them of his own accord, not only without their desiring the same, but many times when they were ignorant of such things.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] _memoirs of the dukes of urbino_, pp. , . [ ] elton, _great book collectors_, pp. - . [ ] _the library_, july, . _mr. ruskin's advice._ 'i say first we have despised literature. what do we, as a nation, care about books? how much do you think we spend altogether on our libraries, public or private, as compared with what we spend on our horses? if a man spends lavishly on his library, you call him mad--a biblio-maniac. but you never call any one a horse maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by their horses, and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by their books. or, to go lower still, how much do you think the bookshelves of the united kingdom, public and private, would fetch, as compared with the contents of its wine-cellars? what position would its expenditure on literature take as compared with its expenditure on luxurious eating? we talk of food for the mind, as of food for the body: now a good book contains such food inexhaustibly; it is a provision for life, and for the best part of us; yet how long most people would look at the best book before they would give the price of a large turbot for it!'[ ] 'it will be long yet before that comes to pass. nevertheless, i hope it will not be long before royal or national libraries will be founded in every considerable city, with a royal series of books in them; the same series in every one of them, chosen books, the best in every kind, prepared for that national series in the most perfect way possible; their text printed all on leaves of equal size, broad of margin, and divided into pleasant volumes, light in the hand, beautiful and strong, and thorough as examples of binder's work.'[ ] 'i could shape for you other plans, for art galleries and for natural history galleries, and for many precious, many, it seems to me, needful things; but this book plan is the easiest and needfullest, and would prove a considerable tonic to what we call our british constitution, which has fallen dropsical of late, and has an evil thirst, and evil hunger, and wants healthier feeding. you have got its corn laws repealed for it; try if you cannot get corn laws established for it dealing in a better bread--bread made of that old enchanted arabian grain, the sesame, which opens doors, doors, not of robbers', but of kings' treasuries.'[ ] * * * * * 'whatever the hold which the aristocracy of england has on the heart of england, in that they are still always in front of her battles, this hold will not be enough, unless they are also in front of her thoughts.'[ ] * * * * * 'but it is not gold that you want to gather! what is it? greenbacks? no; not those neither. what is it then--is it ciphers after a capital i? cannot you practise writing ciphers, and write as many as you want? write ciphers for an hour every morning, in a big book, and say every evening, i am worth all those noughts more than i was yesterday. won't that do? well, what in the name of plutus is it you want? not gold, not greenbacks, not ciphers after a capital i? you will have to answer after all, "no; we want, somehow or other, money's _worth_." well, what is that? let your goddess of getting-on discover it, and let her learn to stay therein.'[ ] * * * * * 'and the entire object of true education is to make people not merely _do_ the right things, but _enjoy_ the right things--not merely industrious, but to love industry--not merely learned, but to love knowledge--not merely pure, but to love purity--not merely just, but to hunger and thirst after justice.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] _sesame and lilies._ [ ] _sesame and lilies._ [ ] _crown of wild olive_, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . index abbotsford library catalogue, printed by maitland club, abbotsford library, impressions of, accessions, on placing, acland, sir h., the 'radcliffe' bookcase, addison, essay on 'my lady's library,' addison's picture of 'tom folio,' advertisements, which to distrust, Ælius, Æmylius protus, agabito, librarian to the duke of urbino, albemarle, duke of, alberti, ambrose, st., american tables, angelo, michael, angling books, anonymous literature, how to catalogue, , _anthrenus varius_, bookboring insect, apollo library, appliances for the library, aquinas, st. thomas, arcangelo, don, _archaic dictionary_, _architecture_, by vitruvius, aristotle, inspection of the works of, aristotle's _politics_, athanasius, st., augustine, st., augustus, emperor, author and booklover, austen, j., _northanger abbey_, author, the, ---- whims and fancies of, autograph letters, how to catalogue, bacon, lord, ---- his retreat at gorhambury, bacon's _natural history_, ---- _organon_, baker's _chronicle_, baldi's description of a florentine palace, , balfour, mr., advice on reading, barclay, a., _ship of fools_, basil, st., beauchamp, guy, earl of warwick, library of early romances, beauclerk, t., ---- library of, in great russell street, bedford, duke of, and charles v.'s library, beecher, h. w., on reading, benedetti, b., book lists of, ---- librarian to francesco maria, ---- c., of pesaro, beyle, henri, pseudonyms used by, bianchini's works, , bible, bibliography, science of, when commenced, bibliomaniacs, great, blackie, j. s., on reading, _blackwood's magazine_, extracts from, , , blades, w., _enemies of books_, , , ---- on the handling of books, ---- on the preservation of books, , _blatta australasia_, a bookboring cockroach, bookbinding, ---- and the bookbinder, ---- colour, , ---- covers, what to choose, ---- errors of taste, ---- gilding, ---- good, what is fatal to, ---- leather, kind to choose, ---- lettering, ---- marbling, ---- provincial, ---- style and colour of, ---- style, , ---- the, remarks on, ---- what is good and bad, , books, accidentally destroyed, ---- arranging, difficulty of, ---- care of, , ---- ---- maxims for, ---- classification of, ---- commonplace, ---- contents of, how to master the, , ---- counterfeit, ---- dusting, , ---- enemies of, , , , , , ---- binding, fifteenth-century, ---- handling, ---- housing of, ---- metal bosses on, desks for, ---- packing, , ---- ------ rare and handsome, ---- ------ reference, ---- rare, what constitutes, ---- ------ why so called, ---- how to read, ---- recommending, ---- reference, ---- ------ list of good, ---- ------ on placing, ---- ------ uses of, ---- repairing, , ---- restoring, , ---- ruined, how often, ---- shelfmarking, ---- sizes of, as decided upon by the associated librarians of great britain, ---- suppressed, ---- treatment of, ---- valueless, bookcase, the 'radcliffe' iron, ---- revolving, bookcases, , ---- at trinity college, cambridge, ---- beautiful specimens of, ---- for rare and beautiful books, &c., ---- glass doors undesirable, ---- height of, , ---- in bedrooms, ---- lettering and numbering, , ---- shelves covered with padded leather, ---- tonks' patent fittings advisable, book-collecting, revival in, at florence, book collectors, early, ---- collectors of the eighteenth century, ---- hobbies, ---- readers, two classes, ---- screen, bookshelves, book support, metal, ---- values, ---- ---- how to determine, booksellers, old london, bookworm, the, bordesley abbey, and the earl of warwick's library, boston public library, roxbury branch, dimensions of book-room, boswell, _life of johnson_, boudoir bindings, pretty effects of, ---- libraries, ---- library catalogue, bowen, on _novel reading_, bracciolini, poggio, bradshaw, h., the cambridge university librarian, braybrooke, lord, his collection of county histories, british museum library catalogue, brontë, c., _jane eyre_, bruni, lionardo, buchanan, g., buckram binding, buffalo bug, or carpet bug, burke, on reading, bustle tails, bookboring insects, butler's _hudibras_, , cæsar, _cambridge university_, _history of_, by willis and clark, campano, bishop of teramo, campion, hanmer and spencer's history of ireland, care of books, on the, ---- maxims to be learned, carlyle, on a library catalogue, carpet bug, or buffalo bug, casaubon, among his books, catalogue, a fifteenth-century, ---- alphabetical system, advantages of, ---- classification of the, ---- sectional, lord crawford's, ---- the, ---- the, alphabetical arrangement of, ---- the, classified system, advantages of, ---- the, cross-references, ---- the, how not to make, , ---- the, expert advice on, ---- the, rules to be observed, ---- the, subjects, classification of, ---- the, preparing titles, chairs, library, charles v. of france, library of, chaucer, speght's edition ( ), chippendale, bookcase designs by, chrysoloras, m., chrysostom, st., _clarissa harlowe_, clark, j. w., on the position of the library, ---- student-life of the past, classic authors, list of, classics, no suitable edition in england as in france, classification, ---- of books, clement xi., pope, and the eagle lectern, clement, d., _bibliothèque curieuse_, clement, d., on degrees of rarity, , colet, among his books, collected editions, how to catalogue, commonplace books, ---- books, simplest form of, compositor, the, condition, as affecting the price of books, , _consuelo_, consumer, the, cosimo's generosity to men of letters, ---- medicean library, ---- plan of the formation of a library, ---- versatility and comprehensive intellect, ---- zeal for learning, cotton's library, dimensions of, counterfeit books, county collections, what should be aimed at, ---- histories, on collecting, courthope's edition of pope, crawford, lord, ballad catalogue, ---- collection of books, pamphlets, ballads, &c., ---- sectional catalogue, cross-references, when to make, cunningham, p., edition of walpole's letters, curiosities, arrangement of, in library, cyril, st., damp, an enemy to books, de maistre's _journey round my room_, dennistoun's _memoirs of the dukes of urbino_, , , , desk, standing, dictionaries, use of, _dives et pauper_, drawings, safe keeping of, duns scotus, dusting of books, , edis' _decoration and furniture of town houses_, Éditions de luxe, education, what is? edwards, _memoirs of libraries_, , , , ---- on bookcases, , elizabethan poetry, catalogue of, ellwanger's _story of my house_, , elton, _great book collectors_, , elwin's edition of pope, enemies of books, , , , erasmus, among his books, eusebius, evelyn's directions for gathering a library, ---- letter to pepys on the seventeenth century libraries, eversley rectory armchair, facetiæ, on placing, family papers, how to catalogue, farnaby, t., _index rhetoricus_, federigo, count, famous library of mss., , ---- duke, literary habits of, feltrian dukes, mss., fergusson's _architecture_, ficino, translator of plato, fiction library, how to arrange, fiesole, abbey of, on building a library at, fiesole abbey, library of, fifteenth century library catalogue, fine copy? what is a, , first edition craze, fight against, fish bugs, bookboring insects, florence, revival in learning at, ---- _studio pubblico_, improvement of the, florentine library, description of a great, floriculture, on collecting books on, 'foxed' book, a, foxhounds in england, francesco maria's literary pursuits, froude, w., the 'radcliffe' bookcase, fuller, t., on memory and note-books, gas, an enemy to books, genealogical books, rise in price of, getting-on, goddess of, gibbon, edward, ---- library catalogue, gilbey, sir w., sporting books, gilding, advice on, giorgio, f. di, _treatise on architecture_, gladstone, w. e., _books, and the housing of them_, ---- _gladstone in the evening of his days_, , , ---- on library shelves, gladstone's temple of peace, tables in, glastonbury, treasures at, 'globe' edition of english classics, goldsmith chair, the, good edition, how to make, ---- what is a, gosse, e., library catalogue, gregory, st., greek fathers, writings of, greenbacks, guidobaldo i., library rules, haigh hall, ballad catalogue at, ---- library catalogue, who compiled by, hallam's _literary history_, hamerton, philip g., advice on reading, , , harding's _chronicle_, hart, dr. e., on books in bedrooms, hawarden library annexe, ---- ---- cost of, heat, an enemy to books, heppelwhite, bookcase design by, hill, b., edition of boswell's johnson, howard, sir j., library of, 'humanity room' at hawarden, humphrey, duke, ireland, history of, ink maker, the, jerome, st., jessopp, dr., library annexe of, ---- on old libraries, johnson, dr., careless with his books, ---- life of, ---- on knowledge, ---- on the editions of _thomas à kempis_, johnson's _dictionary_, justin, kerr's _gentleman's house_, knowledge, on. extract from the _spectator_, ---- two kinds of, lady's library, how arranged, lamb, choice of books, lampson, l., rowfant library catalogue, landino, lang, a., remarks on the 'binder,' ---- on the care of books, lapaccini, fra g., a ms. copyist, large-paper copies, , larousse's _grand dictionnaire_, leather for binding, lectern, an historic eagle, leighton, j., _book-plate annual_, ---- careless handling of books, leland, c. g., on _mending and repairing_, ---- glastonbury treasures, leonora's library, how arranged, _lepisma saccharina_, bookboring insects, _l'escholle des filles_, librarian, a, ---- qualifications of a good, , ---- the motto of a good, libraries, classification of headings of, ---- in country houses, lamentable condition of, ---- old country, ---- xiith century, ---- xiiith century, ---- xviith century, ---- suite of, ---- public, originator of, _library, the_ extract from, library, appliances for the, ---- the, architecturally, ---- arrangement, on, ---- arrangement of, two plans, ---- artistic treatment of the, ---- aspect for the, ---- an economic, ---- curiosities in, ---- decorations of the, ---- enemy of the, ---- fireplace, ---- intercommunication, ---- on heating, , ---- on lighting, ---- portable, composition of a, ---- position of the, , ---- rules, ---- study attached to the, ---- windows in the, ---- annexe, the, _library association report_, , ---- _journal_, reference to, ---- ---- american, lionardo, m., translator of aristotle's _politics_, lippincott's _biographical dictionary_, livy, lockhart, _life of sir w. scott_, lorenzo and his literary circle, lucullus' vast collection of books, macaulay, private libraries in , ---- _state of england in _, magazines, how to bind, maggliabecchi, anecdote of, ---- his abnormal knowledge of books, manetti, giannozzo, manuscripts, how to catalogue, ---- collecting and preserving at florence, ---- collection of ancient, ---- famous library of, ---- of the feltrian dukes, ---- urbino's library of, marbling, what to choose, marryat, original binding of his novels, marsuppini, carlo, maxwell, sir h., advice on reading, medicean library, medici, cosimo de', on housing of large libraries, ---- the, and their friends, ---- lorenzo de', memory and note-books, mending and repairing, middleton cheney, library annexe at, mirandola, p. della, , monastic libraries, old, monmouth rebellion, romances on, monreale, archbishop of, morocco leather, kind to choose, munificent book-buying, murray's _dictionary_, ---- _magazine_, on county histories, music, how to bind, napoleon, on the composition of a portable library, ---- a lover of small books, ---- and novel-reading, nares' _glossary_, natural history, on collecting books on, naudé, g., _avis pour dresser une bibliothèque_, , naziazen, st. gregory, niccoli, n. de', home life and habits of, ---- literary dictator at florence, ---- to whom he bequeathed his library, nicetas, nicholas v. pope, book list of, _nineteenth century_, extracts from the, , , nordau, millionaires in england, north, dr. john, his book-loving habits, ---- dr. j., library of, ---- life of, north's _lives of the norths_, notes, suggestions on taking, novel-reading, ---- lecture on, , novels, how to bind, octavia library, oldys, w., oliveriana library, oxford, lord, ---- university of. duke humphrey's collection of illuminated treasures, pamphlets, how to bind, ---- how to catalogue, , paper, coloured, ---- fine, ---- hand-made, ---- japanese vellum, ---- vellum, ---- knives, ---- maker, the, parentucelli, t., catalogue of s. marco library, parker's _domestic architecture_, reference to, paston _letters_, pattison, mark, a type of a scholar, payn, j., on the best hundred books, pembroke, earl of, pepys' books, how numbered and titled, ---- book presses, ---- book presses at magdalene college, ---- collection of ballads, &c., ---- diary, , , , &c. ---- library catalogue, ---- library catalogue, classification of, , ---- a lover of books, ---- manuscripts, ---- single sheets, periodicals, unbound, on placing, pesaro, library of, petrarch, project of a public library, phillips, w., anecdote of george sumner, pickering, publications issued by, pieresc, and his books, ---- funeral oration on, plato, teachings of, plato's works, plutarch, ---- on lucullus' library, plutarch's _lives_, poetical concordances, poliziano, poole, mr., on enemies to books, pope, 'globe' edition of, pope's works, the edition of courthope and elwin, preservation of book covers, a recipe for, pressman, the, priceus, _defensio hist. brit._, printer, the, prints, safe keeping of, private library, divisions or classification of a, _psalms_, french, pseudonyms, how to catalogue, publisher, the, pulci, putnam's _books and their makers_, , ptolemy's _cosmography_, quintus curtius, quotations, dictionary of, radcliffe bookcases, cost of, rare books, what constitutes, ---- why so called, rarity as affecting the price of books, rawlinson, t., reader, the, reading, the art of, ---- ---- literature on, ---- seat, record, unpublished, advisability of typing, reference books, ---- american, ---- french, ---- uses of, regulations, book of, of guidobaldo i, renaissance history, richardson's _dictionary_, rochester's _poems_, romances, guy beauchamp's library of, _romola_, roscoe, mr., on book-collecting, rowfant library catalogue, ruddiman, t., ruskin, j., advice on book collecting, , ---- choice of books, ---- his scheme of a royal series of books, ruskin's _crown of wild olive_, ---- _sesame and lilies_, , sachetti, franco, sala, g. a., on common-place books, , sallust, salutati, c. de, on utility of public libraries, s. giorgio maggiore, library of, ---- mss. of, at florence, s. marco, catalogue of library of, santa trinità, proposed public library at, scott, r., bill of books supplied to pepys, ---- bookseller of the xviith century, scott, sir w., life of, ---- his care of books, ---- novels of, original bindings of, _seven champions of christendom_, seventeenth century literature, catalogue of, sévigné, mme. de, letters of, shakespeare, 'cambridge' edition of, , 'shannon' tables, shaw, g. b., on an economic library, shelf classification, difficulty of, sheraton, bookcase designs by, silver fish, bookboring insects, 'sleepy hollow,' an armchair at eversley, smith, l. p., qualifications of a librarian, smith, w., _greek and roman biography_, somers, lord, soulsby, miss lucy, _things in book clothing_, spartianus, _spectator_, extract from, on knowledge, spencer, george, earl, ---- earl, library at manchester, sport, reference to, sporting books, on collecting, staghounds in england, stanley, col., steps, library, stevens, _who spoils our english books?_ , stevenson, r. l., works. 'edinburgh' edition, strozzi, palla degli, greek learning, ---- originator of public libraries, subjects, short, classification of, suetonius, sumner, g., anecdote of, ---- his knowledge of books, sunderland, charles, earl of, suppressed books, symonds, on great literary undertakings, ---- _revival of learning_, , , , tables, library, tacitus, tarleton's _jests_, _tatler_--addison's picture of tom folio, tiberius, library of, title-pages, ruined, titles, how to prepare, thirlwall, on reading, _thomas à kempis_, editions of, thomas of saranza, founder of the vatican library, todd's _gower and chaucer_, ---- _index rerum_, tonk's patent fittings for bookcases, topographical books, on collecting, ---- rise in price of, traill, h. d., on book readers, trajan, library of, traversari, ambrogio, _urbino_, _dukes of_, , ---- _memoirs of the_, ---- book-collecting by, ---- hospitality to men of letters, ---- library of, ---- his collection of ancient mss., valvio, g., publisher of plato ( ), vespasiano, a mss. copyist, ---- on casimo's plan of forming a library, ---- on federigo's literary habits, ---- on the s. marco library catalogue, vitruvius' _architecture_, , walpole, h., on beauclerk's library, walpole's letters, edited by cunningham, wanley, h., warwick, earl of, library of early romances, list of, , weeding out, wheatley, b. r., on library arrangement, wheatley, h. b., _pepys and the world he lived in_, , , _where is it?_ white canons, catalogue of the house of the, whittingham, books printed by, whittingham's garden at chiswick, wilberforce, dr., on knowledge, wilkinson's _ancient egyptians_, willett, deb., willis and clark, _history of cambridge university_, wordsworth, careless with his books, wren, sir c., bookcases at trinity college, cambridge, wren, w., on education, zola, _london_: strangeways, _printers._ * * * * * transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. page , " ssued" changed to "issued" (issued in a separate) page , "cuttting" changed to "cutting" (even cutting off lines) page , "callendar" changed to "calendar" (instructions to calendar) page , "aelus" changed to "Ælius" (Ælius, ) page , "aemylius" changed to "Æmylius" (Æmylius protus, ) page , "lionardi" changed to "lionardo" (bruni, lionardo, ) page , brontè changed to "brontë" (brontë, c.,) page , "gentlemen's" changed to "gentleman's" (kerr's _gentlemen's house_, ) page , "lapaccim" changed to "lapaccini" (lapaccini, fra g., a ms. copyist, ) page , "bookbinding" changed to "bookboring" (_lepisma saccharina_, bookboring insects) page , "th" changed to "the" (_library, the_,) page , "nazianzen" changed to "naziazen" (naziazen, st. gregory, ) page , "mms." changed to "mss." (vespasiano, a mss.) buckram is sometimes capitalized and sometimes not. this was retained. this book hyphenates or not on a whim. for example: common-place and commonplace. these were retained. generously made available by the internet archive.) in the track of the book-worm by irving browne: thoughts, fancies and gentle gibes on collecting and collectors by one of them. done into a book at the roycroft printing shop at east aurora, new york, u. s. a. mdcccxcvii copyrighted by the roycroft printing shop of this edition but five hundred and ninety copies were printed and types then distributed. each copy is signed and numbered and this book is number irving browne chapters. . objects of collection . who have collected . diverse tastes . the size of books . binding . paper . women as collectors . the illustrator . book-plates . the book-auctioneer . the book-seller . the public librarian . does book collecting pay . the book-worm's faults . poverty as a means of enjoyment . the arrangement of books . enemies of books . library companions . the friendship of books ballads. . how a bibliomaniac binds his books . the bibliomaniac's assignment of binders . the failing books . suiting paper to subject . the sentimental chambermaid . a woman's idea of a library . the shy portraits . the snatchers . the stolid auctioneer . the prophetic book . the book-seller . the public librarian . the book-worm does not care for nature . how i go a-fishing . the book-thief . the smoke traveler . the fire in the library . cleaning the library . ode to omar . my dog . my clocks . a portrait . my schoolmate . my shingle . solitaire . my friends the books to book-worms all, of high or low degree, whate'er of madness be their stages, and just as well unknown as known to me, i dedicate these trifling pages, in hope that when they turn them o'er they will not find the track a bore. the track of the book-worm. i. objects of collection. philosophers have made various and ingenious but incomplete attempts to form a succinct definition of the animal, man. at first thought it might seem that a perfect definition would be, an animal who makes collections. but one must remember that the magpie does this. yet this definition is as good as any, and comes nearer exactness than most. what has not the animal man collected? clocks, watches, snuff-boxes, canes, fans, laces, precious stones, china, coins, paper money, spoons, prints, paintings, tulips, orchids, hens, horses, match-boxes, postal stamps, miniatures, violins, show-bills, play-bills, swords, buttons, shoes, china slippers, spools, birds, butterflies, beetles, saddles, skulls, wigs, lanterns, book-plates, knockers, crystal balls, shells, penny toys, death-masks, tea-pots, autographs, rugs, armour, pipes, arrow heads, locks of hair and key locks, and hats (jules verne's "tale of a hat"), these are some of the most prominent subjects in search of which the animal man runs up and down the earth, and spends time and money without scruple or stint. but all these curious objects of search fall into insignificance when compared with the ancient, noble and useful passion for collecting books. one of the wisest of the human race said, the only earthly immortality is in writing a book; and the desire to accumulate these evidences of earthly immortality needs no defense among cultivated men. ii. who have collected books. the mania for book-collecting is by no means a modern disease, but has existed ever since there were books to gather, and has infected many of the wisest and most potent names in history. euripides is ridiculed by aristophanes in "the frogs" for collecting books. of the roman emperor, gordian, who flourished (or rather did not flourish, because he was slain after a reign of thirty-six days) in the third century, gibbon says, "twenty-two acknowledged concubines and a library of sixty thousand volumes attested the variety of his inclinations." this combination of uxorious and literary tastes seems to have existed in another monarch of a later period--henry viii.--the seeming disproportion of whose expenditure of , pounds for jewels in three years, during which he spent but pounds for books and binding, is explained by the fact that he was indebted for the contents of his libraries to the plunder of monasteries. henry printed a few copies of his book against luther on vellum. cicero, who possessed a superb library, especially rich in greek, at his villa in tusculum, thus describes his favorite acquisitions: "books to quicken the intelligence of youth, delight age, decorate prosperity, shelter and solace us in adversity, bring enjoyment at home, befriend us out-of-doors, pass the night with us, travel with us, go into the country with us." petrarch, who collected books not simply for his own gratification, but aspired to become the founder of a permanent library at venice, gave his books to the church of st. mark; but the greater part of them perished through neglect, and only a small part remains. boccaccio, anticipating an early death, offered his library to petrarch, his dear friend, on his own terms, to insure its preservation, and the poet promised to care for the collection in case he survived boccaccio; but the latter, outliving petrarch, bequeathed his books to the augustinians of florence, and some of them are still shown to visitors in the laurentinian library. from boccaccio's own account of his collection, one must believe his books quite inappropriate for a monastic library, and the good monks probably instituted an auto da fe for most of them, like that which befell the knightly romances in "don quixote." perhaps the naughty story-teller intended the donation as a covert satire. the walls of the room which formerly contained montaigne's books, and is at this day exhibited to pilgrims, are covered with inscriptions burnt in with branding-irons on the beams and rafters by the eccentric and delightful essayist. the author of "ivanhoe" adorned his magnificent library with suits of superb armor, and luxuriated in demonology and witchcraft. the caustic swift was in the habit of annotating his books, and writing on the fly-leaves a summary opinion of the author's merits; whatever else he had, he owned no shakespeare, nor can any reference to him be found in the nineteen volumes of swift's works. military men seem always to have had a passion for books. to say nothing of the literary and rhetorical tastes of cæsar, "the foremost man of all time," frederick the great had libraries at sans souci, potsdam, and berlin, in which he arranged the volumes by classes without regard to size. thick volumes he rebound in sections for more convenient use, and his favorite french authors he sometimes caused to be reprinted in compact editions to his taste. the great conde inherited a valuable library from his father, and enlarged and loved it. marlborough had twenty-five books on vellum, all earlier than . the hard-fighting junot had a vellum library which sold in london for , pounds, while his great master was not too busy in conquering europe not only to solace himself in his permanent libraries, and in books which he carried with him in his expeditions, but to project and actually commence the printing of a camp library of duodecimo volumes, without margins, and in thin covers, to embrace some three thousand volumes, and which he had designed to complete in six years by employing one hundred and twenty compositors and twenty-five editors, at an outlay of about , pounds. st. helena destroyed this scheme. it is curious to note that napoleon despised voltaire as heartily as frederick admired him, but gave fielding and le sage places among his traveling companions; while the bibliomaniac appears in his direction to his librarian: "i will have fine editions and handsome bindings. i am rich enough for that." the main thing that shakes one's confidence in the correctness of his literary taste is that he was fond of "ossian." julius cæsar also formed a traveling library of forty-four little volumes, contained in an oak case measuring by by inches, covered with leather. the books are bound in white vellum, and consist of history, philosophy, theology, and poetry, in greek and latin. the collector was sir julius cæsar, of england, and this exquisite and unique collection is in the british museum. the books were all printed between and . southey brought together fourteen thousand volumes, the most valuable collection which had up to that time been acquired by any man whose means and estate lay, as he once said of himself, in his inkstand. time fails me to speak of erasmus, de thou, grotius, goethe, bodley; hans sloane, whose private library of fifty thousand volumes was the beginning of that of the british museum; the cardinal borromeo, who founded the ambrosian library at milan with his own forty thousand volumes, and the other great names entitled to the description of bibliomaniac. we must not forget sir richard whittington, of feline fame, who gave pounds to found the library of christ's hospital, london. the fair sex, good and bad, have been lovers of books or founders of libraries; witness the distinguished names of lady jane gray, catherine de medicis, and diane de poictiers. it only remains to speak of the great opium-eater, who was a sort of literary ghoul, famed for borrowing books and never returning them, and whose library was thus made up of the enforced contributions of friends--for who would have dared refuse the loan of a book to thomas de quincey? the name of the unhappy man would have descended to us with that of the incendiary of the temple of diana at ephesus. but the great thomas was recklessly careless and slovenly in his use of books; and burton, in the "book-hunter," tells us that "he once gave in copy written on the edges of a tall octavo 'somnium scipionis,' and as he did not obliterate the original matter, the printer was rather puzzled, and made a funny jumble between the letter-press latin and the manuscript english." i seriously fear that with him must be ranked the gentle elia, who said: "a book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us that we know the topography of its blots and dog's ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins, or over a pipe, which i think is the maximum." and yet a great degree of slovenliness may be excused in charles because, according to leigh hunt, he once gave a kiss to an old folio chapman's "homer," and when asked how he knew his books one from the other, for hardly any were lettered, he answered: "how does a shepherd know his sheep?" the love of books displayed by the sensual henry and the pugnacious junot is not more remarkable than that of the epicurean and sumptuous lucullus, to whom pompey, when sick, having been directed by his physician to eat a thrush for dinner, and learning from his servants that in summer-time thrushes were not to be found anywhere but in lucullus' fattening coops, refused to be indebted for his meal, observing: "so if lucullus had not been an epicure, pompey had not lived." of him the veracious plutarch says: "his furnishing a library, however, deserved praise and record, for he collected very many and choice manuscripts; and the use they were put to was even more magnificent than the purchase, the library being always open, and the walks and reading rooms about it free to all greeks, whose delight it was to leave their other occupations and hasten thither as to the habitation of the muses." it is not recorded that socrates collected books--his wife probably objected--but we have his word for it that he loved them. he did not love the country, and the only thing that could tempt him thither was a book. acknowledging this to phædrus he says: "very true, my good friend; and i hope that you will excuse me when you hear the reason, which is, that i am a lover of knowledge, and the men who dwell in the city are my teachers, and not the trees or the country. though i do indeed believe that you have found a spell with which to draw me out of the city into the country, like a hungry cow before whom a bough or a bunch of fruit is waved. for only hold up before me in like manner a book, and you may lead me all round attica, and over the wide world. and now having arrived, i intend to lie down, and do you choose any posture in which you can read best." iii. diverse tastes. it is fortunate for the harmony of book-collectors that they do not all desire the same thing, just as it was fortunate for their young state that all the romans did not want the same sabine woman. otherwise the helenic battle of the books would be fiercer than it is. thus there are bibliomaniacs who reprint rare books from their own libraries in limited numbers; authors, like walpole, who print their own works, and whose fame as printers is better deserved than their reputation as writers; like thackeray, who design the illustrations for their own romances, or, like astor, who procure a single copy of their novel to be illustrated at lavish expense by artists; amateurs who bind their own books; lunatics who yearn for books wholly engraved, or printed only on one side of the leaf, or greek books wholly in capitals, or others in the italic letter; or black-letter fanciers; or tall copy men; or rubricists, missal men, or first edition men, or incunabulists. one seeks only ancient books; another limited editions; another those privately printed; a fourth wants nothing but presentation copies; yet another only those that have belonged to famous men, and still another illustrated or illuminated books. there is a perfectly rabid and incurable class, of whom the most harmless are devoted to pamphlets; another, rather more dangerous, to incorrect or suppressed editions; and a third, stark mad, to play-bills and portraits. one patronizes the drama, one poetry, one the fine arts, another books about books and their collectors; and a very recherche class devote themselves to works on playing-cards, angling, magic, or chess, emblems, dances of death, or the jest books and facetiæ. finally, there are those unhappy beings who run up and down for duplicates, searching for every edition of their favorite authors. in very recent days there has arisen a large class who demand the first editions of popular novelists like dickens, thackeray and hawthorne, and will pay large prices for these issues which have no value except that of rarity. i can quite understand the enthusiasm of the collector over the beautiful first editions of the greek and latin classics, or for the first "paradise lost," or even for the ugly first folio "shakespeare," and why he should prefer the comparatively rude first walton's angler to pickering's edition, the handsomest of this century, with its monumental title page. but why a first edition of a popular novel should be more desirable than a late one, which is usually the more elegant, i confess i cannot understand. it is one of those things which, like the mystery of religion, we must take on trust. so when a bookseller tells me that a copy of the first issue of "the scarlet letter" has sold for seventy-five dollars, and that a copy of the second, with the same date, but put out six months later, is worth only seventy-five cents, i open my eyes but not my purse, especially when i consider that the second is greatly superior to the first on account of its famous preface of apology, and when i read of some one's bidding $ for a copy of poe's worthless "tamerlane," i am flattered by the reflection that there is one man in the world whom i believe to be eighteen hundred and seventy-five times as great a fool as i am! iv. the size of books. were i a despotic ruler of the universe i would make it a serious offense to publish a book larger than royal octavo. books should be made to read, or at all events to look at, and in this view comfort and ease should be consulted. any one who has ever undertaken to read a huge quarto or folio will sympathize with this view. the older and lazier the book-worm grows the more he longs for little books, which he can hold in one hand without getting a cramp, or at least support with arms in an elbow chair without fatigue. darwin remorselessly split big books in two. mr. slater says in "book collecting:" "when the library at sion college took fire the attendants, at the risk of their lives, rescued a pile of books from the flames, and it is said that the librarian wept when he found that the porters had taken it for granted that the value of a book was in exact proportion to its size." few of us, i suspect, ever read our family bible, and all of us probably groan when we lift out the unabridged dictionary. the "century dictionary" is a luxury because it is published in small and convenient parts. i cannot conceive any good in a big book except that the ladies may use it to press flowers or mosses in, or the nurses may put it in a chair to sit the baby on at table. i have heard of a gentleman who inherited a mass of folio volumes and arranged them as shelves for his smaller treasures, and of another who arranged his -mos on a stand made up of the seventeen volumes of pinkerton's "voyages" and denon's "egypt" for shelves. what reader would not prefer a dainty little elzevir to the huge folio, cæsar's "commentaries," even with the big bull in it, and the wicker idol full of burning human victims? what can be more pleasing than the modern quantin edition of the classics? or, to speak of a popular book, take the "pastels in prose," the most exquisite book for the price ever known in the history of printing. the small book ought however to be easily legible. the health and comfort of the human eye should be consulted in the size of the type. nothing can be worse in this regard than the pickering diamond classics, if meant to be read; and it seems that there are too many of them to be intended as mere curiosities of printing. let us approve the exit of the folio and the quarto, and applaud the modern tendency toward little and handy volumes. large paper however is a worthy distinction when the subject is worth the distinction and the edition is not too large. nothing raises the gorge of the true book-worm more than to see an issue on large paper of a row of histories, for example; and the very worst instance conceivable was a large paper webster's "unabridged dictionary" issued some years ago. the book thus distinguished ought to be a classic, or peculiar for elegance, never a series, or stereotyped, the first struck off, and the issue ought not to be more than from fifty to one hundred copies; any larger issue is not worth the extra margin bestowed, and no experienced buyer will tolerate it. but if all these conditions are observed, the large paper copies bear the same relation to the small that a proof before letters of a print holds to the other impressions. large margins are very pleasant in a library as well as in wall street, and much more apt to be permanent. there are some favorite books of which the possessor longs in vain for a large copy, as for instance, the pickering "walton and cotton." a great deal of fun is made of the book-worm because of his desire for large paper and of his insistence on uncut edges, but his reasons are sound and his taste is unimpeachable. the tricks of the book-trade to catch the inexperienced with the bait of large paper are very amusing. "strictly limited" to so many copies for england and so many for america, say a thousand in all, or else the number is not stated, and always described as an edition de luxe, and its looks are always very repulsive. but the bait is eagerly bitten at by a shoal of beings anxious to get one of these rarities--a class to one of whom i once found it necessary to explain that "uncut edges" does not mean leaves not cut open, and that he would not injure the value of his book by being able to read it, and was not bound to peep in surreptitiously like a maid-servant at a door "on the jar." i once knew a satirical book-worm who issued a pamphlet, "one hundred copies on large paper, none on small." there is no just distinction in an ugly large-paper issue, and sometimes it is not nearly so beautiful as the small, especially when the latter has uncut edges. the independence of the collector who prefers the small in such circumstances is to be commended and imitated. too great inequality in uncut edges is also to be shunned as an ugliness. it seems that some french books are printed on paper of two different sizes, the effect of which is very grotesque, and the device is a catering to a very crude and extravagant taste. v. binding. the binding of books for several centuries has held the dignity of a fine art, quite independent of printing. this has been demonstrated by exhibitions in this country and abroad. but every collector ought to observe fitness in the binding which he procures to be executed. true fitness prevails in most old and fine bindings; seldom was a costly garb bestowed on a book unworthy of it. but in many a luxurious library we see a modern binding fit for a unique or rare book given to one that is comparatively worthless or common. not to speak of bindings that are real works of art, many collectors go astray in dressing lumber in purple and fine linen--putting full levant morocco on blockhead histories and such stuff that perishes in the not using. it is a sad spectacle to behold a unique binding wasted on a book of no more value than a backgammon board. there are of course not a great many of us who can afford unique bindings, but those who cannot should at least observe propriety and fitness in this regard, and draw the line severely between full dress and demi-toilette, and keep a sharp eye to appropriateness of color. i have known several men who bound their books all alike. nothing could be worse except one who should bind particular subjects in special styles, pace mr. ellwanger, who, in "the story of my house," advises the book-worm to "bind the poets in yellow or orange, books on nature in olive, the philosophers in blue, the french classics in red," etc. i am curious to know what color this pleasant writer would adopt for the binding of his books by military men, such for example as "major walpole's anecdotes." (p. ). ambrose fermin didot recommended binding the "iliad" in red and the "odyssey" in blue, for the greek rhapsodists wore a scarlet cloak when they recited the former and a blue one when they recited the latter. the churchmen he would clothe in violet, cardinals in scarlet, philosophers in black. i have imagined how a bibliomaniac binds his books. i'd like my favorite books to bind so that their outward dress to every bibliomaniac's mind their contents should express. napoleon's life should glare in red, john calvin's gloom in blue; thus they would typify bloodshed and sour religion's hue. the prize-ring record of the past must be in blue and black; while any color that is fast would do for derby track. the popes in scarlet well may go; in jealous green, othello; in gray, old age of cicero, and london cries in yellow. my walton should his gentle art in salmon best express, and penn and fox the friendly heart in quiet drab confess. statistics of the lumber trade should be embraced in boards, while muslin for the inspired maid a fitting garb affords. intestine wars i'd clothe in vellum, while pig-skin bacon grasps, and flat romances, such as "pelham," should stand in calf with clasps. blind-tooled should be blank verse and rhyme of homer and of milton; but newgate calendar of crime i'd lavishly dab gilt on. the edges of a sculptor's life may fitly marbled be, but sprinkle not, for fear of strife, a baptist history. crimea's warlike facts and dates of fragrant russia smell; the subjugated barbary states in crushed morocco dwell. but oh! that one i hold so dear should be arrayed so cheap gives me a qualm; i sadly fear my lamb must be half-sheep. no doubt a book-worm so far gone as this could invent stricter analogies and make even the binder fit the book. so we should have the bibliomaniac's assignment of binders. if i could bring the dead to day, i would your soul with wonder fill by pointing out a novel way for bibliopegistic skill. my walton, trautz should take in hand, or else i'd give him o'er to hering; matthews should make the gospels stand a solemn warning to the erring. the history of the inquisition, with all its diabolic train of cruelty and superstition, should fitly be arrayed by payne. a book of dreams by bedford clad, a papal history by de rome, should make the sense of fitness glad in every bibliomaniac's home. as our first mother's folly cost her sex so dear, and makes men grieve, so milton's plaint of eden lost would be appropriate to eve. hayday would make "one summer" be doubly attractive to the view; while general wolfe's biography should be the work of pasdeloup. for lives of dwarfs, like thomas thumb, petit's the man by nature made, and when munchasen strikes us dumb it is by means of gascon aid. thus would i the great binders blend in harmony with work before 'em, and so riviere i would commend to turner's "liber fluviorum." after all, whether one can afford a three-hundred or a three-dollar binding, the gentle elia has said the last word about fitness of bindings when he observed: "to be strong-backed and neat-bound is the desideratum of a volume; magnificence comes after. this, when it can be afforded, is not to be lavished on all kinds of books indiscriminately. "where we know that a book is at once both good and rare--where the individual is almost the species, 'we know not where is that prometian torch that can its light relumine;' "such a book for instance as the 'life of the duke of newcastle' by his duchess--no casket is rich enough, no casing sufficiently durable, to honor and keep safe such a jewel. "to view a well arranged assortment of block-headed encyclopoedias (anglicana or metropolitanas), set out in an array of russia and morocco, when a tithe of that good leather would comfortably reclothe my shivering folios, would renovate parcelsus himself, and enable old raymond lully to look like himself again in the world. i never see these impostors but i long to strip them and warm my ragged veterans in their spoils." there spoke the true book-worm. what a pity he could not have sold a part of his good sense and fine taste to some of the affluent collectors of this period! doubtless an experienced binder could give some amusing examples of mistakes in indorsing books with their names. one remains in my memory. a french binder, entrusted with a french translation of "uncle tom's cabin," in two volumes, put "l'oncle" on both, and numbered them "tome ," "tome ." charles cowden-clarke tells of his having ordered leigh hunt's poems entitled "foliage" to be bound in green, and how the book came home in blue. that would answer for the "blue grass" region of kentucky. i have no patience with those disgusting realists who bind books in human or snake skin. in his charming book on the law reporters, mr. wallace says of desaussures' south carolina reports: "when these volumes are found in their original binding most persons, i think, are struck with its peculiarity. the cause of it is, i believe, that it was done by negroes." what the "peculiarity" is he does not disclose. but book-binding seems to be an unwonted occupation for negro slaves. it was not often that they beat skins, although their own skins were frequently beaten. vi. paper. it is a serious question whether the art of printing has been improved except in facility. is not the first printed book still the finest ever printed? but in one point i am certain that the moderns have fallen away, at least in the production of cheap books, and that is in the quality and finish of the paper. not to speak of injurious devices to make the book heavy, the custom of calendering the paper, or making it smooth and shiny, practised by some important publishers, is bad for the eyes, and the result is not pleasant to look at. it is like the glare of the glass over the framed print. it is said to be necessary to the production of the modern "process" pictures. even here however there is a just mean, for some of the modern paper is absurdly rough, and very difficult for a good impression of the types. modern paper however has one advantage: mr. blades, in his pleasant "enemies of books," tells us "that the worm will not touch it," it is so adulterated. one hint i would give the publishers--allow us a few more fly leaves, so that we may paste in newspaper cuttings, and make memoranda and suggestions. it is predicted by some that our nineteenth century books--at least those of the last third--will not last; that the paper and ink are far inferior to those of preceding centuries, and that the destroying tooth of time will work havoc with them. no doubt the modern paper and the modern ink are inferior to those of the earlier ages of printing, when making a book was a fine art and a work of conscience, but whether the modern productions of the press will ultimately fade and crumble is a question to be determined only by a considerable lapse of time, which probably no one living will be qualified to pronounce upon. take for what they are worth my sentiments respecting the failing books. they say our books will disappear, that ink will fade and paper rot-- i sha'n't be here, so i don't care a jot. the best of them i know by heart, as for the rest they make me tired; the viler part may well be fired. oh, what a hypocritic show will be the bibliomaniac's hoard! cheat as hollow as a backgammon board. just think of lamb without his stuffing, and the iconoclastic howells, who spite of puffing is destitute of bowels. 'twould make me laugh to see the stare of mousing bibliomaniac fond at pages bare as overreach's bond. those empty titles will displease the earnest student seeking knowledge,-- barren degrees, like these of western college. that common stuff, "excelsior," in poetry so lacking, i care not for-- 'tis only fit for packing. it has occurred to me that publishers might appeal to bibliomaniacal tastes by paying a little more attention to their paper, and i have thrown a few suggestions on this point into rhyme, so that they may be readily committed to memory: suiting paper to subject. printers the paper should adapt unto the subject of the book, thus making buyers wonder-rapt before they at the contents look. thus beerbohm's learned book on eggs on a laid paper he should print, but motley's "dutch republic" begs rice paper should its matter hint. that curious problem of what man inhabited the iron mask than whatman paper never can a more suggestive medium ask. the "book of dates," by mr. haydon, should be on paper calendered; that swift on servants be arrayed on a hand-made paper is inferred. though angling-books have never been accustomed widely to appear on fly-paper, 'twould be no sin to have them wormed from front to rear. the good that authors thus may reap i'll not pursue to tedium, but hint, for books on raising sheep buckram is just the medium. vii. women as collectors. women collect all sorts of things except books. to them the book-sense seems to be denied, and it is difficult for them to appreciate its existence in men. to be sure, there have been a few celebrated book-collectors among the fair sex, but they have usually been rather reprehensible ladies, like diane de poictiers and madame pompadour. probably aspasia was a collector of mss. lady jane grey seems to have been a virtuous exception, and she was cruelly "cropped." i am told that there are a few women now-a-days who collect books, and only a few weeks ago a lady read, before a woman's club in chicago, a paper on the collection and adornment of books, for which occasion a fair member of the club solicited me to write her something appropriate to read, which of course i was glad to do. but this was in chicago, where the women go in for culture. in thirty years' haunting of the book-shops and print-shops of new york, i have never seen a woman catching a cold in her head by turning over the large prints, nor soiling her dainty gloves by handling the dirty old books. women have been depicted in literature in many different occupations, situations and pleasures, but in all the literature that i have read i can recall only one instance in which she is imagined a book-buyer. this is in "the sentimental journey," and in celebrating the unique instance let me rise to a nobler strain and sing a song of the sentimental chambermaid. when you're in paris, do not fail to seek the quai de conti, where in the roguish parson's tale, upon the river front he bespoke the pretty chambermaid too innocent to be afraid. on this book-seller's mouldy stall, crammed full of volumes musty, i made a bibliophilic call and saw, in garments rusty, the ancient vender, queer to view, in breeches, buckles, and a queue. and while to find that famous book, "les egaremens du coeur," i dilligently undertook, i suddenly met her; she held a small green satin purse, and spite of time looked none the worse. i told her she was known to fame through ministerial mentor, and though i had not heard her name, that this should not prevent her from listening to the homage due to one to sentiment so true. she blushed; i bowed in courtly fashion; in pockets of my trousers then sought a crown to vouch my passion, without intent to rouse hers; but i had left my purse 'twould seem-- and then i woke--'twas but a dream! the heart will wander, never doubt, though waking faith it keep; that is exceptionally stout which strays but in its sleep; and hearts must always turn to her who loved, "les egaremens du coeur." m. uzanne, in "the book-hunter in paris," avers that "the woman of fashion never goes book-hunting," and he puts the aphorism in italics. he also says that the occasional woman at the book-stalls, "if by chance she wants a book, tries to bargain for it as if it were a lobster or a fowl." also that the book-stall keepers are always watchful of the woman with an ulster, a water-proof, or a muff. these garments are not always impervious to books, it seems. the imitative efforts of women at "extra-illustrating" are usually limited to buying a set of photographs at rome and sticking them into the cracks of "the marble faun," and giving it away to a friend as a marked favor. poor hawthorne! he would wriggle in his grave if he could see his fair admirers doing this. mr. blades certainly ought to have included women among the enemies of books. they generally regard the husband's or father's expenditure on books as so much spoil of their gowns and jewels. we book-men are up to all the tricks of getting the books into the house without their knowing it. what joy and glee when we successfully smuggle in a parcel from the express, right under our wife's nose, while she is busy talking scandal to another woman in the drawing-room! the good creatures make us positively dishonest and endanger our eternal welfare. how we "hustle around" in their absence, when the embargo is temporarily raised; and when the new purchases are detected, how we pretend that they are old, and wonder that they have not seen them before, and rattle away in a fevered, embarrassed manner about the scarcity and value of the surreptitious purchases, and how meanly conscious we are all the time that the pretense is unavailing and the fair despots see right through us. god has given them an instinct that is more than a match for our acknowledged superior intellect. and the good wife smiles quietly but satirically, and says, in the form in that case made and provided, "my dear, you'll certainly ruin yourself buying books!" with a sigh that agitates a very costly diamond necklace reposing on her shapely bosom; or she archly shakes at us a warning finger all aglow with ruby and sapphire, which she has bought on installments out of the house allowance. fortunate for us if the library is not condemned to be cleaned twice a year. these beloved objects ought to deny themselves a ring, or a horse, or a gown, or a ball now and then, to atone for their mankind's debauchery in books; but do they? they ought to encourage the bibliomania, for it keeps their husbands out of mischief, away from "that horrid club," and safe at home of evenings. the book-worm is always a blameless being. he never has to hie to canada as a refuge. he is "absolutely pure," like all the baking powders. the gentle addison, in "the spectator," thus described a woman's library: "the very sound of a lady's library gave me a great curiosity to see it; and as it was some time before the lady came to me, i had an opportunity of turning over a great many of her books, which were ranged together in a very beautiful order. at the end of the folios (which were finely bound and gilt) were great jars of china placed one above another in a very noble piece of architecture. the quartos were separated from the octavos by a pile of smaller vessels, which rose in a delightful pyramid. the octavos were bounded by tea-dishes of all shapes, colors, and sizes, which were so disposed on a wooden frame that they looked like one continued pillar indented with the finest strokes of sculpture, and stained with the greatest variety of dyes. that part of the library which was designed for the reception of plays and pamphlets, and other loose papers, was inclosed in a kind of square, consisting of one of the prettiest grotesque works that i ever saw, and made up of scaramouches, lions, mandarins, monkeys, trees, shells, and a thousand other odd figures in china ware. in the midst of the room was a little japan table with a quire of gilt paper upon it, and on the paper a silver snuff-box made in shape of a little book. i found there were several other counterfeit books upon the upper shelves, which were carved in wood, and served only to fill up the number, like fagots in the muster of a regiment. i was wonderfully pleased with such a mixed kind of furniture as seemed very suitable both to the lady and the scholar, and did not know at first whether i should fancy myself in a grotto or in a library". if so great a favorite with the fair sex could say such satirical things of them, i may be permitted to have my own idea of a woman's idea of a library. i do not care so much for books, but libraries are all the style, with fine "editions de luxe" one's formal callers to beguile; with neat dwarf cases round the walls, and china teapots on the top, the empty shelves concealed by falls of india silk that graceful drop. a few rare etchings greet the view, like "harmony" and "harvest moon;" an artist's proof on satin too by what's-his-name is quite a boon. my print called "jupiter and jo" is very rarely seen, but then another copy i can show inscribed with "jupiter and ." a fisher boy in marble stoops on pedestal in window placed, and one of rogers' lovely groups is through the long lace curtains traced. and then i make a painting lean upon a white and gilded easel, illustrating that famous scene of joseph andrews and lady teazle. of course my shelves the works reveal of plutarch, rollin, and of tupper, while bowdler's shakespeare and "lucille" quite soothe one's spirits after supper. and when i visited dear rome i bought a lot of photographs, and had them mounted here at home, and though my dreadful husband laughs, i've put them in "the marble faun," and envious women vainly seek at scribner's shop, from early dawn, to find a volume so unique. and monthly here, in deep surmise, minerva's bust above us frowning, a club of women analyze the works of ibsen and of browning. in the charming romance, "realmah," the noble african prince prescribes monogamy to his subjects, but he allows himself three wives; one is a state wife, to sit by his side on the throne, help him receive embassadors, and preside at court dinners; another a household wife, to rule the kitchen and the homely affairs of the palace; the third is a love-wife, to be cherished in his heart and bear him children. why would it not be fair to the book-worm to concede him a book-wife, who should understand and sympathize with him in his eccentricity, and who should care more for rare and beautiful books than for diamonds, laces, easter bonnets and ten-button gloves? in regard to women's book-clubs, a recent writer, mr. edward sanford martin, in "windfalls of observation," observes: "if a man wants to read a book he buys it, and if he likes it he buys six more copies and gives (not all the same day, of course) to six women whose intelligence he respects. but if a club of fifteen girls determine to read a book, do they buy fifteen copies? no. do they buy five copies? no. do they buy--no, they don't buy at all; they borrow a copy. it doesn't lie in womankind to spend money for books unless they are meant to be a gift for some man." mr. martin is a little too hard here, for i have been told of such clubs which sometimes bought one copy. to be sure they always bully the bookseller into letting them have it at cost on account of the probable benefit to his trade. but it is true that no normally organized woman will forego a dollar's worth of ribbon or gloves for a dollar's worth of book. i have sometimes read aloud to a number of women while they were sewing, but i do it no more, for just as i got to a point where you ought to be able to hear a pin drop, i always have heard some woman whisper, "lend me your eighty cotton." a story was told me of the first meeting of a browning club in a large city in ohio. my informant was a young lady from the east, who was present, and my readers can safely rely on the correctness of the narration. the club was composed of young ladies from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, all of the "first families." it was thought best to take an easy poem for the first meeting, and so one of them read aloud, "the last ride together". after the reading there was a moment's silence, and then one observed that she would like to know whether they took that ride on horseback or in a "buggy." another silence, and then an artless young bud ventured the remark that she thought it must have been in a buggy, because if it was on horseback he could not have got his arm around her. i once thought of sending this anecdote to mr. browning, but was warned that he was destitute of the sense of humor, especially at his own expense, and so desisted. "ah, that our wives could only see how well the money is invested in these old books, which seem to be by them, alas! so much detested." but the wives are not always unwise in their opposition to their husband's book-buying. there is nothing more pitiful than to see the widow of a poor clergyman or lawyer trying to sell his library, and to witness her disappointment at the shrinkage of value which she had been taught and accustomed to regard as so great. a woman who has a true and wise sympathy with her husband's book-buying is an adored object. i recollect one such, who at her own suggestion gave up the largest and best room in her house to her husband's books, and received her callers and guests in a smaller one--she also received her husband's blessing. viii. the illustrator. the popular notion of the illustrator, as the term is used by the book-worm, is that he buys many valuable books containing pictures and spoils them by tearing the pictures out, and from them constructs another valuable book with pictures. we smile to read this in the newspapers. if it were strictly true it would be a very reprehensible practice. but generally the books compelled to surrender their prints to the illustrator are good for nothing else. to lament over them is as foolish as to grieve over the grape-skins out of which has been pressed the luscious johannisburger, or to mourn over the unsightly holes which the porcelain-potter has made in the clay-bank. even among book-worms the illustrator, or the "grangerite," as the term of reproach is, has come in for many hard knocks in recent years. john hill burton set the tune by his merry satire in "the book-hunter," in which he portrays the grangerite illustrating the pious watts' stanzas, beginning, "how doth the little busy bee." in his first edition mr. burton mentioned among "great writers on bees," whose portrait would be desirable, aristarchus, meaning probably aristomachus. this mistake is not corrected in the last edition, but the name is omitted altogether. mr. beverly chew "drops into poetry" on the subject, and thus apostrophises the grangerite: "ah, ruthless wight, think of the books you've turned to waste, with patient skill." mr. henri pere du bois thus describes the ordinary result: "of one hundred books extended by the insertion of prints which were not made for them, ninety-nine are ruined; the hundredth book is no longer a book; it is a museum. an imperfect book, built with the spoils of a thousand books; a crazy quilt made of patches out of gowns of queens and scullions." so burton compares the grangerite to genghis kahn. mr. lang declares the grangerites are "book ghouls, and brood, like the obscene demons of arabian superstition, over the fragments of the mighty dead." i would like to show mr. lang how i have treated his "letters to dead authors" and "old friends" by illustration. he would probably feel, with Æsop's lawyer, that "circumstances alter cases," although he says "no book deserves the honor". so a reviewer in "the nation" stigmatises grangerism as "a vampire art, maiming when it does not murder" (i did not know that vampires "maim" their victims) "and incapable of rising beyond canibalism" (not that they feed on one another, but when critics get excited their metaphors are apt to become mixed). "g. w. s.," of the new york "tribune," speaks of the achievement of the illustrators as "colossal vulgarities." mr. percy fitzgerald observes: "the pitiless grangerite slaughters a book for a few pictures, just as an epicure has had a sheep killed for the sweetbread". these are very choice hard words. there is much extravagance, but some justice in all this criticism. as a question of economics i do not find any great difference between a book-worm who spends thousands of dollars in constructing one attractive book from several not attractive, and one who spends a thousand dollars in binding a book, or for an example of a famous old binder. if there is any difference it is in favor of the grangerite, who improves the volume for the intelligent purposes of the reader, as against the other who merely caters to "the lust of the eye". i am willing to concede that the grangerite is sometimes guilty of some gross offenses against good taste and good sense. the worst of these is when he extends the text of the volume itself to a larger page in order to embrace large prints. this is grotesque, for it spoils the very book. he is also blamable when he squanders valuable prints and time and patience on mere book lumber, such as long rows of histories; and when he stuffs and crams his book; and when his pictures are not of the era of the events or of the time of life of the persons described; and when they are too large or too small to be in just proportion to the printed page; and when the book is so heavy and cumbersome that no one can handle it with comfort or convenience. above all he is blamable, in my estimation, when he entrusts the selection of prints to an agent. such agency is frequently very unsatisfactory, and at all events the illustrator misses the sport of the hunt. few men would entrust the furnishing or decorating of a house, the purchase of a horse, or the selection of a wife to a third person, and the delicate matter of choosing prints for a book is essentially one to be transacted in person. the danger of any other procedure in the case of a wife was illustrated by cromwell's agency for henry eighth in the affair of anne of cleves, the "flanders mare." but when it is properly done, it seems to me that the very best thing the book-worm ever does is to illustrate his books, because this insures his reading them, at least with his fingers. not always, for a certain chronicler of collections of privately illustrated books in this country narrates, how "relying upon the index" of a book, which he illustrated, he inserted a portrait of sam johnson, the famous, whereas "the text called for sam johnson, an eccentric dramatic writer," etc. his binder, he says, laughed at him for being ignorant that there "two sam johnsons" (there are four in the biographical dictionaries, one of whom was an early president of king's college in new york). but if done personally and conscientiously it is a means of valuable culture. as one of the oldest survivors of the genus illustrator in this country, i have thus assumed to offer an apology and defense for my much berated kind. and now let me make a few suggestions as to what seems to me the most suitable mode of the pursuit. in illustrating there seem to be two methods, which may be described as the literal or realistic, and imaginative. the first consists simply in the insertion of portraits, views and scenes appropriate to the text. a pleasing variety may be imparted to this method by substituting for a mere portrait a scene in the life of the celebrity in question. for example, if charles v. and titian are mentioned together, it would be interesting to insert a picture representing the historical incident of the emperor picking up and handing the artist a brush which he had dropped--and one will have an interesting hunt to find it. but i am more an adherent of the romantic school, which finds excellent play in the illustration of poetry. for example, in the poem, "ennui," in "the croakers," for the line, "the fiend, the fiend is on me still," i found, after a search of some years, a picture of an imp sitting on the breast of a man in bed with the gout. in the same stanza are the lines, "like a cruel cat, that sucks a child to death," and for this i have a print from a children's magazine, of a cat squatting on the breast of a child in a cradle. now i would like "a madagascar bat," which rhymes to "cat" in the poem. "and like a tom-cat dies by inches," is illustrated by a picture of a cat caught by the paw in a steel trap. "simon" was "a gentleman of color," the favorite pastry cook and caterer of new york half a century ago--before the days of mr. ward mcallister. "the croaker" advises him to "buy an eye-glass and become a dandy and a gentleman." this is illustrated by a rare and fine print of a colored gentleman, dressed in breeches, silk stockings, and ruffled shirt, scanning an overdressed lady of african descent through an eye-glass. "the ups and downs of politics" is illustrated by a cruikshank print, the upper part of which shows a party making an ascension in a balloon and the lower part a party making a descent in a diving-bell, and entitled "the ups and downs of life." to illustrate the phrase, "seeing the elephant," take the print of pyrrhus trying to frighten his captive, fabricus, by suddenly drawing the curtains of his tent and showing him an elephant with his trunk raised in a baggage-smashing attitude. for "the croakers" there are apt illustrations also of the following queer subjects: korah, dathan and abiram; miss atropos, shut up your scissors; albany's two steeples high in air, reading cobbett's register, bony in his prison isle, giant wife, beauty and the beast, fly market, tammany hall, the dove from noah's ark, rome saved by geese, cæsar offered a crown, cæsar crossing the rubicon, dick ricker's bust, sancho in his island reigning, the wisest of wild fowl, reynold' beer house, a mummy, a chimney sweep, the arab's wind, pygmalion, danae, highland chieftain with his tail on, nightmare, shaking quakers, polony's crazy daughter, bubble-blowing, first pair of breeches, banquo's ghost, press gang, fair lady with the bandaged eye, a warrior leaning on his sword, a warrior's tomb, a duel, and a street flirtation. as the charm of illustrating consists in the hunt for the prints, so the latter method is the more engrossing because the game is the more difficult to run down. portraits, views and scenes are plenty, but to find them properly adaptable is frequently difficult. some things which one would suppose readily procurable are really hard to find. for example, it was a weary chase to get a treadmill, and so of a drum-major, although the latter is now not uncommon: and although i know it exists, i have not attained unto a bastinado. sirens and mermaids are rather retiring, and when vedder depicted the sea-serpent he conferred a boon on illustrators. "god's scales," in which the mendicant weighs down the rich man, is a rarity. milton leaving his card on galileo in prison is among my wants, although i have seen it. as to scarce portraits, let me sing a song of the shy portraits. oh, why do you elude me so-- ye portraits that so long i've sought? that somewhere ye exist, i know-- indifferent, good, and good for naught. lucrezia, of the poisoned cup, why do you shrink away by stealth? to view your "mug" with you i'd sup, and even dare to drink your health. oh! why so coy, godiva fair? you're covered by your shining tresses, and i would promise not to stare at sheerest of go-diving dresses. come out, old bluebeard; don't be shy! you're not so bad as froude's great hero; xantippe, fear no law gone by when scolds were ducked in ponds at zero. not mealy-mouthed was mrs. behn, and prudish was satiric jane, but equally they both shun men, as if they bore the mark of cain. george barrington, you may return to country which you "left for good;" psalmanazar, i would not spurn your language when 'twas understood. jean grolier, you left many books-- they come so dear i must ignore 'em-- but there's no evidence of your looks for us surviving "amicorum." this country's overrun by grangers-- i'm ignorant of their christian names but my afflicted eyes are strangers to one i want whom men call james. there's heber, man of many books-- you're far more modest than the bishop; i'm curious to learn your looks, and care for nothing shown at his shop. and oh! that wondrous, pattern child! his truthfulness, no one can match it; dear little george! i'm almost wild to find a wood-cut of his hatchet. show forth your face, anonymous, whose name is in the books i con most frequently; so famous thus, will you not come to me anon? by way of jest i have inserted an anonymous portrait opposite an anonymous poem, and was once gravely asked by an absent-minded friend if it really was the portrait of the author. one however will probably look in vain for portraits of "quatorze" and "quinze," for which a print seller of new york once had an inquiry, and i have been told of a collector who returned arlington because of the cut on his nose, and ogle because of his damaged eye. but there is more sport in hunting for a dodo than a rabbit. it is also a pleasant thing to lay a picture occasionally in a book without setting out to illustrate it regularly, so that it may break upon one as a surprise when he takes up the book years afterward. it is a grateful surprise to find in ruskin's "modern painters" a casual print from roger's "italy," and in hamerton's books some sporadic etchings by rembrandt or hayden. it is like discovering an unexpected "quarter" in the pocket of an old waistcoat. for example, in "with thackeray in america," mr. eyre crowe tells how the second number of the first edition of "the newcomes" came to the author when he was in paris, and how he found fault with doyle's illustration of the games of the charterhouse boys. he says: "the peccant accessory which roused the wrath of the writer was the group of two boys playing at marbles on the left of the spectator. 'why,' said the irate author, 'they would as soon thought of cutting off their heads as play marbles at the charterhouse!' this woodcut was, i noticed, suppressed altogether in subsequent editions." now in my copy--not being the possessor of the first edition--i have made a reference to mr. crowe's passage, and supplied the suppressed cut from an early american copy which cost me twenty-five cents. how many of the first edition men know of the interesting fact narrated by mr. crowe? the illustrator ought always at least to insert the portrait of the author whenever it has been omitted by the publisher. second: what to illustrate. the illustrator should not be an imitator or follower, but should strive after an unhackneyed subject. a man is not apt to marry the woman who flings herself at his head; he loves the excitement of courting; and so there is not much amusement in utilizing common pictures, but the charm consists in hunting for scarce ones. it is very natural to tread in others' tracks, and easy, because the market affords plenty of material for the common subjects. shakespeare and walton and boswell's johnson, and a few other things of that sort, have been done to death, and there is fairer scope in something else. biographies of painters, elia's essays, sir thomas browne's "religio medici" and "urn burial," "childe harold," horace, virgil, the life of bayard, or of vittoria colonna, or philip sidney, and sappho are charming subjects, and not too common. a ponderous or voluminous work lends itself less conveniently to the purpose than a small book in one or two volumes. great quartos and folios are mere mausoleums or repositories for expensive prints, too huge to handle, and too extensive for any one ever to look through, and therefore they afford little pleasure to the owners or their guests. an illustrated shakespeare in thirty volumes is theoretically a very grand object, but i should never have the heart to open it, and as for histories, i should as soon think of illustrating a dictionary. walton is a lovely subject, but i would adopt a small copy and keep it within two or three volumes. after all there is nothing so charming as a single little illustrated volume, like "ballads of books," compiled by brander matthews; andrew lang's "letters to dead authors," or "old friends," friswell's "varia," the "book of death," "melodies and madrigals," "the book of rubies," winter's "shakespeare's england." a gentleman who published, a good many years ago, a monograph of privately illustrated books in this country, spoke of the work that i had done in this field, and criticised me for my "apparent want of method," "eccentricity," "madness," "vagaries," "omnivorousness," and "lack of speciality or system," and finally, although he blamed me for having illustrated pretty much everything, he also blamed me for not having illustrated any "biographical works." this criticism seems not only inconsistent, but without basis, for one man may not dictate to another what he shall prefer to illustrate for his own amusement, any more than what sort of a house or pictures he shall buy or what complexion or stature his wife shall have. the author also did me the honor to spell my name wrong, and did the famous greek amatory poet the honor of mentioning among my illustrated work, "odes to anacreon." would that i could find that book! i offer these suggestions with diffidence, and with no intention to impose my taste upon others. if the illustrator can get or make something absolutely unique he is a fortunate man. for example, i know one, stigmatized as eccentric, who has illustrated a printed catalogue of his own library with portraits of the authors, copies of prints in the books, and duplicates of engraved title-pages; also one who has illustrated a collection in print or in manuscript of his own poems; also one who has illustrated a life of hercules, written by himself, printed by one of his own family, and adorned with prints from antique gems and other subjects; and even a lawyer who has illustrated a law book written by himself, in which he has found place for prints so diverse and apparently out of keeping as jonah and the whale, john brown, a man pacing the floor in a nightgown with a crying baby, a "darkey" shot in a melon-patch, an elephant on the rampage, cupid, hudibras writing a letter, joanna southcote, launce and his dog, a dog catching a boy going over a wall, dr. watts, robinson crusoe, barnum in the form of a hum-bug, jacob hall the rope dancer, lord mayor's procession, raphael discoursing to adam, gathering sea-weed, artemus ward, a whale ashore, a barber-shop, gilpin's ride, king lear, st. lawrence on his gridiron, charles lamb, terpsichore, and a child tumbling into a well. the owner of such a book may be sure that it is unique, as the man was certain his coat of arms was genuine, because he made it himself. third: the illustrator should not be in a hurry. there are three singular things about the hunt for pictures. one is, the moment you have your book bound, no matter how many years you may have waited, some rare picture you wanted is sure to turn up. hence the reluctance of the illustrator to commit himself to binding, a reluctance only paralleled by that of the lover to marry the woman he had courted for ten years, because then he would have no place to spend his evenings. (i have had books "in hand" for twenty years). another is, when you have found your rare picture you are pretty certain to find one or two duplicates. prints, like accidents or crimes, seem to come in cycles and schools. i have known a man to search in vain in thirty print-shops in london, and coming home find what he wanted in a new york print-shop, and two copies at that. the third is, that you are continually coming very near the object without quite attaining it. thus one may get lady godiva alone, and the effigy of peeping tom on the corner of an old house at coventry, but to procure the whole scene is, so far as i know, out of the question. it would seem that mr. anthony comstock has put his ban on it. so one will find it difficult to get "god's scales," in which wealth and poverty are weighed against each other, but i have had other scales thrust at me, such as those in which the emblems of love are weighed against those of religion, and a king against a beggar, but even the latter is not the precise thing, for in these days there are poor kings and rich beggars. one opinion in which all illustrators agree seems sound, and that is, that photographs are not to be tolerated. photography is the most misrepresentative of arts. but an exception may be indulged in the case of those few celebrities who are too modest to allow themselves to be engraved, and of whom photography furnishes the only portraiture. a photographic copy of a rare portrait in oil is also admissible. some also exclude wood-cuts. i am not such a purist as that. they are frequently the only means of illustrating a subject, and small and fine wood-cuts form charming head and tail pieces and marginal adornments. one who eschews wood-cuts must forego such interesting little subjects as washington and his little hatchet, god's scales, the skeleton in the closet, and many of those which i have particularized. i flatter myself that i have made the margins of a good many books very interesting by means of small wood-cuts, of which our modern magazines provide an abundant and exquisite supply. these furnish a copious source of specific illustration. with their zeal illustrators are sometimes apt to be anachronistic. every book ought to be illustrated in the spirit and costume of its time. the book should not be stuffed too full of prints; let a better proportion be preserved between the text and the illustrations than falstaff observed between his bread and his sack. the prints should not be so numerous as to cause the text to be forgotten, as in the case of a tedious sermon. probably nearly every collector expects that his treasures will be dispersed at his death, if not sooner. but it is a serious question to the illustrator, what will become of these precious objects upon which he has spent so much time, thought and labor, and for which he has expended so much money. he never cares and rarely knows, and if he knows he never tells, how much they have cost, but he may always be certain that they will never fetch their cost. let us not indulge in any false dreams on this subject. the time may have been when prints were cheap and when the illustrator may have been able to make himself whole or even reap a profit, but that day i believe has gone by. one can hardly expect that his family will care for these things; the son generally thinks the book-worm a bore, and the wife of one's bosom and the daughter of one's heart usually affect more interest than they feel, and if they kept such objects would do so from a sense of duty alone, as the ancient romans preserved the cinerary urns of their ancestors. for myself, i have often imagined my grandson listlessly turning over one of my favorite illustrated volumes, and saying, "what a funny old duffer grandad must have been!" such a book-club, as the "grolier," of new york, is a fortunate avenue of escape from these evils. there one might deposit at least some of his peculiar treasures, certain that they would receive good care, be regarded with permanent interest, and keep alive his memory. to augment his books by inserting prints is ordinarily just the one thing which the book-worm can do to render them in a deeper sense his own, and to gain for himself a peculiar proprietorship in them. generally he cannot himself bind them, but by this means he may render himself a coadjutor of the author, and place himself on equal terms with the printer and the binder. after he has illustrated a favorite book once, it is an enjoyable occupation for the book-worm to do it over again, in a different spirit and with different pictures. "second thoughts are best," it has been said, and i have more than once improved my subject by a second treatment. there is another form of illustration, of which i have not spoken, and that is the insertion of clippings from magazines and newspapers in the fly leaves. sometimes these are of intense interest. my own dickens, thackeray and hawthorne, in particular have their porticoes and posterms plentifully supplied with material of this sort. the latest contribution of this kind is to "martin chuzzlewit," and consists in the information that a western american "land-shark" has recently swindled people by selling them swamp-lots, attractively depicted on a map and named eden. in my pepys i have laid mr. lang's recent letter to the diarist. so on a fly leaf of hawthorne's life it is pleasing to see a cut of his little red house at lenox, now destroyed by fire. ix. book-plates. a rather modern form of book-spoliation has arisen in the collection of book-plates. these are literally derived "ex libris," and the business cannot be indulged, as a general thing, without in some sense despoiling books. it cannot be denied that it is a fascinating pursuit. so undoubtedly is the taking of watches or rings or other "articles of bigotry or virtue," on the highway. but somehow there is something so essentially personal in a book-plate, that it is hard to understand why other persons than the owners should become possessed by a passion for it. many years ago when burton, the great comedian, was in his prime, he used to act in a farce called "toodles"--at all events, that was his name in the play--and he was afflicted with a wife who had a mania for attending auctions and buying all kinds of things, useful or useless, provided that they only seemed cheap. one day she came home with a door-plate, inscribed, "thompson"--"thompson with a p," as toodles wrathfully described it; and this was more than toodles could stand. he could not see what possible use there could ever be in that door-plate for the toodles family. in those same days, there used to be displayed on the door of a modest house, on the east side of broadway, in the city of new york, somewhere about eighth street, a silver door-plate inscribed, "mr. astor." this appertained to the original john jacob. in those days i frequently remarked it, and thought what a prize it would be to mrs. toodles or some collector of door-plates. now i can understand why one might acquire a taste for collecting book-plates of distinguished men or famous book-collectors, just as one collects autographs; but why collect hundreds and thousands of book-plates of undistinguished and even unknown persons, frequently consisting of nothing more than family coats-of-arms, or mere family names? i must confess that i share to a certain extent in mr. lang's antipathy to this species of collecting, and am disposed to call down on these collectors shakespeare's curse on him who should move his bones. but i cannot go with mr. lang when he calls these well-meaning and by no means mischevious persons some hard names. in some localities it is quite the vogue to take off the coffin-plate from the coffin--all the other silver "trimmings," too, for that matter--and preserve it, and even have it framed and hung up in the home of the late lamented. there may be a sense of proprietorship in the mourners, who have bought and paid for it, and see no good reason for burying it, that will justify this practice. at all events it is a family matter. the coffin plate reminds the desolate survivors of the person designated, who is shelved forever in the dust. but what would be said of the sense or sanity of one who should go about collecting and framing coffin-plates, cataloguing them, and even exchanging them? book-worms penetrate to different distances in books. some go no further than the title page; others dig into the preface or bore into the table of contents; a few begin excavations at the close, to see "how it comes out." but that worm is most easily satisfied who never goes beyond the inside of the front cover, and passes his time in prying off the book-plates. i think i have heard of persons who collect colophons. these go to work in the reverse direction, and are even more reprehensible than the accumulators of book-plates, because they inevitably ruin the book. a book-plate is appropriate, sometimes ornamental, even beautiful, in its intended place in the proprietor's book. out of that, with rare exceptions, it strikes one like the coffin-plate, framed and hanging on the wall. it gives additional value and attractiveness to a book which one buys, but it ought to remain there. if one purchases books once owned by a, b and c--undistinguished persons, or even distinguished--containing their autographs, he does not cut them out to form a collection of autographs. if the name is not celebrated, the autograph has no interest or value; if famous, it has still greater interest and value by remaining in the book. so it seems to me it should be in respect to book-plates. let mr. astor's door-plate stay on his front door, and let the energetic mrs. toodles content herself in buying something less invididual and more adaptable. a book-plate really is of no value except to the owner, as the man says of papers which he has lost. it cannot be utilized to mark the possessions of another. in this respect it is of inferior value to the door-plate, for possibly another mr. astor might arise, to whom the orignal door-plate might be sold. a boston newspaper tells of a peddler of door-plates who contracted to sell a salem widow a door-plate; and when she gave him her name to be engraved on it, gave only her surname, objecting to any first name or initials, observing: "i might get married again, and if my initials or first name were on the plate, it would be of no use. if they are left off, the plate could be used by my son." thus much about collecting book-plates. one word may be tolerated about the character of one's own book-plate. to my taste, mere coats-of-arms with mottoes are not the best form. they simply denote ownership. they might well answer some further purpose, as for example to typify the peculiar tastes of the proprietor in respect to his books. a portrait of the owner is not objectionable, indeed is quite welcome in connection with some device or motto pertaining to books and not to mere family descent. but why, although a collector may have a favorite author, like hawthorne or thackeray, for example, should he insert his portrait in his book-plate, as is often done? mr. howells would writhe in his grave if he knew that somebody had stuck thackeray's portrait or scott's in "silas lapham," and those calvinists who think that the "scarlet letter" is wicked, would pronounce damnation on the man who should put the gentle hawthorne's portrait in a religious book. to be sure, one might have a variety of book-plates, with portraits appropriate to different kinds of books--napoleon's for military, calvin for religious, walton's for angling and a composite portrait of howells-james for fiction of the photographic school; but this would involve expense and destroy the intrinsic unity desirable in the book-plate. so let the portrait, if any, be either that of the proprietor or a conventional image. if i were to relax and allow a single exception it would be in favor of dear charles lamb's portrait in "fraser's," representing him as reading a book by candle light. (for the moment this idea pleases me so much that i feel half inclined to eat all my foregoing words on this point, and adopt it for myself. at any rate, i hereby preempt the privilege.) i have referred to mr. lang's antipathy to book-plate collectors, and while, as i have observed, he goes to extravagant lengths in condemning their pursuit, still it may be of interest to my readers to know just what he says about them, and so i reproduce below a ballad on the subject, with (the material for) which he kindly supplied me when i solicited his mild expression of opinion on the subject: the snatchers. the romans snatched the sabine wives; the crime had some extenuation, for they were leading lonely lives and driven to reckless desperation. lord elgin stripped the grecian frieze of all its marbles celebrated, so our art-students now with ease consult the figures overrated. napoleon stole the southern pictures and hung them up to grace the louvre; and though he could not make them fixtures, they answered as an art-improver. bold men ransack an egyptian tomb, and with the mummies there make free; such intermeddling with time's womb may aid in archeology. so cruncher dug up graves in haste, to sell the corpses to the doctors; this trade was not against his taste, though misses "flopped," and vowed it shocked hers. the modern snatcher sponges leaves and boards of books to crib their labels; most petty, trivial of thieves, surpassing all we read in fables. he pastes them in a big, blank book to show them to some rival fool, and i pronounce him, when i look, an almost idiotic ghoul. x. the book-auctioneer. there is one figure that stands in a very unpleasant relation to books. if anybody has any curiosity to know what i consider the most undesirable occupation of mankind, i will answer candidly--that of an auctioneer of private libraries. it does not seem to have fallen into disrepute like that of the headsman or hangman, and perhaps it is as unpleasantly essential as that of the undertaker. but it generally thrives on the unhappiness of those who are compelled to part with their books, on the rivalries of the rich, and the strifes of the trade. it was urged against mr. cleveland, on his first canvass for the presidency, that when he was sheriff he had hanged a murderer. for my own part, i admired him for performing that solemn office himself rather than hiring an underling to do it. but if he had been a book-auctioneer, i might have been prejudiced against him. not so ignoble and inhuman perhaps as that of the slave-seller, still the business must breed a sort of callousness which is abhorrent to the genial book-worm. how i hate the glib rattle of his tongue, the mouldiness of his jests and the transparency of his puffery! i should think he would hate himself. it must be worse than acting hamlet or humpty dumpty a hundred consecutive nights. dante had no punishment for the book-worm in hell, if i remember right, but if he deserved any pitiless reprobation, it would be found in compelling him to cry off books to all eternity. grant that the auctioneer is a person of sensibility and acquainted with good books, then his calling must give him many a pang as he observes the ignorance and carelessness of his audience. it is better and more fitting that he should know little of his wares. he ought to be well paid for his work, and he is--no man gets so much for mere talk except the lawyer, and perhaps not even he. i do not so much complain of his favoritism. when there is something especially desirable going, i frequently fail to catch his eye, and my rival gets the prize. but in this he is no worse than the speaker. on the other hand he sometimes loads me up with a thing that i do not want, and in possession of which i would be unwilling to be found dead, pretending that i winked at him--a species of imposition which it is impolitic to resent for fear of being entirely ignored. these discretionary favors are regarded as a practical joke and must not be declined. but what i do complain of is his commercial stolidity, surpassing that of charles surface when he sold the portraits of his ancestors. the "bete noir" of the book trade is the stolid auctioneer. let not a sad ghost from the scribbling host revisit this workaday sphere; he'll find in the sequel all talents are equal when they come to the auctioneer. not a whit cares he what the book may be, whether missal with glorious show, a folio shakespeare, or an elzevir, or a tupper, or e. p. roe. without any qualms he knocks down the psalms, or the chaste imitatio, and takes the same pains to enhance his gains with a ribald boccaccio. he rattles them off, not stopping to cough, he shows no distinction of person; one minute's enough for similar stuff like shelley and ossian macpherson. a paradise lost is had for less cost than a bulky "fifteener" in greek, and addison's prose quite frequently goes for a tenth of a worthless "unique." this formula stale of his will avail for an epitaph meet for his rank, when dropping his gavel he falls in the gravel, "do i hear nothing more?--gone--to--? i speak feelingly, but i think it is pardonable. i once went through an auction sale of my own books, and while i lost money on volumes on which i had bestowed much thought, labor and expense, i made a profit on gibbon's "decline and fall" in tree-calf. i do not complain of the loss; what i was mortified by was the profit. but the auctioneer was not at all abashed; in fact he seemed rather pleased, and apparently regarded it as a feather in his cap. i have always suspected that the shameless purchaser was silas wegg. xi. the bookseller. considering his importance in modern civilization, it is singular that so little has been recorded of the bookseller in literature. shakespeare has a great deal to say of books of various kinds, but not a word, i believe, of the bookseller. it is true that ursa major gave a mitigated growl of applause to the booksellers, if i recollect my boswell right, and he condescended to write a life of cave, but bookseller in his view meant publisher. it is true that charles knight wrote a book entitled "shadows of the old booksellers," but here too the characters were mainly publishers, and his account of them is indeed shadowy. the chief thing that i recall about any of the booksellers thus celebrated is that tom davies had "a pretty wife," which is probably the reason why doctor johnson thought tom would better have stuck to the stage. so far as i know, the most vivid pen-pictures of booksellers are those depicting the humble members of the craft, the curb-stone venders. they are much more picturesque than their more affluent brethren who are used to the luxury of a roof. rummaging over the contents of an old stall, at a half book, half old iron shop in ninety-four alley, leading from wardour street to soho, yesterday, i lit upon a ragged duodecimo, which has been the strange delight of my infancy; the price demanded was sixpence, which the owner (a little squab duodecimo of a character himself) enforced with the assurance that his own mother should not have it for a farthing less. on my demurring to this extraordinary assertion, the dirty little vender reinforced his assertion with a sort of oath, which seemed more than the occasion demanded. "and now," said he, "i have put my soul to it." pressed by so solemn an asseveration, i could no longer resist a demand which seemed to set me, however unworthy, upon a level with his nearest relations; and depositing a tester, i bore away the battered prize in triumph. --essays of elia. monsieur uzanne, who has treated of the elegancies of the fan, the muff, and the umbrella, has more recently given the world a quite unique series of studies among the bookstalls and the quays of paris--"the book hunter in paris"--and this too one finds more entertaining than any account of quaritch's or putnam's shop would be. i must bear witness to the honesty and liberality of booksellers. when one considers the hundreds of catalogues from which he has ordered books at a venture, even from across the ocean, and how seldom he has been misled or disappointed in the result, one cannot subscribe to a belief in the dogma of total depravity. i remember some of my booksellers with positive affection. they were such self-denying men to consent to part with their treasures at any price. and as a rule they are far more careless than ordinary merchants about getting or securing their pay. to be sure it is rather ignoble for the painter of a picture, or the chiseller of a statue, or the vender of a fine book, to affect the acuteness of tradesmen in the matter of compensation. the excellent bookseller takes it for granted, if he stoops to think about it, that if a man orders a caxton or a grolier he will pay for it, at his convenience. it was this unthinking liberality which led a new york bookseller to give credit to a distinguished person--afterwards a candidate for the presidency--to a considerable amount, and to let the account stand until it was outlawed, and his sensibilities were greviously shocked, when being compelled to sue for his due, his debtor pleaded the statute of limitations! his faith was not restored even when the acute buyer left a great sum of money by his will to found a public library, and the legacy failed through informality. i have only one complaint to make against booksellers. they should teach their clerks to recognize the book-worm at a glance. it is very annoying, when i go browsing around a book-shop, to have an attendant come up and ask me, who have bought books for thirty years, if he can "show me anything"--just as if i wanted to see anything in particular--or if "anybody is waiting on me"--when all i desire is to be let alone. some booksellers, i am convinced, have this art of recognition, for they let me alone, and i make it a rule always to buy something of them, but never when their employees are so annoyingly attentive. i do not object to being watched; it is only the implication that i need any assistance that offends me. it is easy to recognize the book-worm at a glance by the care with which he handles the rare books and the indifference with which he passes the standard authors in holiday bindings. once i had a bookseller who had a talent for drawing, which he used to exercise occasionally on the exterior of an express package of books. one of these wrappings i have preserved, exhibiting a pen-and-ink drawing of a war-ship firing a big gun at a few small birds. perhaps this was satirically intended to denote the pains and time he had expended on so small a sale. but i will now immortalize him. the most striking picture of a bookseller that i recall in all literature is one drawn by m. uzanne, in the charming book mentioned above, which i will endeavor to transmute and transmit under the title of the prophetic book. "la croix," said the emperor, "cease to beguile; these bookstalls must go from my bridges and quays; no longer shall tradesmen my city defile with mouldering hideous scarecrows like these." while walking that night with the bibliophile, on the quai malaquais by the rue de saints peres, the emperor saw, with satirical smile, enkindling his stove, in the chill evening air, with leaves which he tore from a tome by his side, a bookseller ancient, with tremulous hands; and laying aside his imperial pride, "what book are you burning?" the emperor demands. for answer pere foy handed over the book, and there as the headlines saluted his glance, napoleon read, with a stupefied look, "account of the conquests and victories of france." the dreamer imperial swallowed his ire; pere foy still remained at his musty old stand, till france was environed by sword and by fire, and germans like locusts devoured the land. doubtless the occupation of bookseller is generally regarded as a very pleasant as well as a refined one. but there is another side, in the estimation of a true book-worm, and it is not agreeable to him to contemplate the life of the book-seller. he stands surrounded by rare tomes which find with him their transient homes, he knows their fragrant covers; he keeps them but a week or two, surrenders then their charming view to bibliomaniac lovers. an enviable man, you say, to own such wares if but a day, and handle, see and smell; but all the time his spirit shrinks, as wandering through his shop he thinks he only keeps to sell. the man who buys from him retains his purchase long as life remains, and then he doesn't mind if his unbookish eager heirs, administering his affairs, shall throw them to the wind. or if in life he sells, in sooth, 'tis parting with a single tooth, a momentary pain; booksellers, like sir walter's jew, must this keen suffering renew, again and yet again. and so we need not envy him who sells us books, for stark and grim remains this torture deep. this universalistic hell-- throughout this life he's bound to sell; he has, but cannot keep. xii. the public librarian. there is one species of the book-worm which is more pitiable than the bookseller, and that is the public librarian, especially of a circulating library. he is condemned to live among great collections of books and exhibit them to the curious public, and to be debarred from any proprietorship in them, even temporary. but the greater part this does not grieve a true book-worm, for he would scorn ownership of a vast majority of the books which he shows, but on the comparatively rare occasions when he is called on to produce a real book (in the sense of bibliomania), he must be saddened by the reflection that it is not his own, and that the inspection of it is demanded of him as a matter of right. i have often observed the ill concealed reluctance with which the librarian complies with such a request; how he looks at the demandant with a degree of surprise, and then produces the key of the repository where the treasure is kept under guard, and heaving a sigh delivers the volume with a grudging hand. it was this characteristic which led me in my youth, before i had been inducted into the delights of bibliomania and had learned to appreciate the feelings of a librarian, to define him as one who conceives it to be his duty to prevent the public from seeing the books. i owe a good old librarian an apology for having said this of him, and hereby offer my excuses to one whose honorable name is recorded in the book of life. much is to be forgiven to the man who loves books, and yet is doomed to deal out books that perish in the using, which no human being would ever read a second time nor "be found dead with." these are the true tests of a good book, especially the last. shelley died with a little Æschylus on his person, which the cruel waves spared, and when tennyson fell asleep it was with a shakespeare, open at "cymbeline." one may be excused for reading a good deal that he never would re-read, but not for owning it, nor for owning a good deal which he would feel ashamed to have for his last earthly companion. but now for my tribute to the public librarian. his books extend on every side, and up and down the vistas wide his eye can take them in; he does not love these books at all, their usefulness in big and small he counts as but a sin. and all day long he stands to serve the public with an aching nerve; he views them with disdain-- the student with his huge round glasses, the maiden fresh from high school classes, with apathetic brain; the sentimental woman lorn, the farmer recent from his corn, the boy who thirsts for fun, the graybeard with a patent-right, the pedagogue of school at night, the fiction-gulping one. they ask for histories, reports, accounts of turf and prize-ring sports, the census of the nation; philosophy and science too, the fresh romances not a few, also "degeneration." "they call these books!" he said, and throws them down in careless heaps and rows before the ticket-holder; he'd like to cast them at his head, he wishes they might strike him dead, and with the reader moulder. but now as for the shrine of saint he seeks a spot whence sweet and faint a leathery smell exudes, and there behind the gilded wires for some loved rarity inquires which common gaze eludes. he wishes omar would return that vulgar mob of books to burn, while he, like virgil's hero, would shoulder off this precious case to some secluded private place with temperature at zero. and there in that seraglio of books not kept for public show, he'd feast his glowing eyes, forgetting that these beauties rare, morocco-clad and passing fair, are but the sultan's prize. but then a tantalizing sense invades expectancy intense, and with extorted moan, "unhappy man!" he sighs, "condemned to show such treasure and to lend-- i keep, but cannot own!" xiii. does book collecting pay. we now come to the sordid but serious consideration whether books are a "good investment" in the financial sense. the mind of every true book-worm should revolt from this question, for none except a bookseller is pardonable for buying books with the design of selling them. booksellers are a necessary evil, as purveyors for the book-worm. i regard them as the old woman regarded the thirty-nine articles of faith; when inquired of by her bishop what she thought of them, she said, "i don't know as i've anything against them." so i don't know that i have anything against booksellers, although i must concede that they generally have something against me. as no well regulated man ever grudges expense on the house that forms his home, or on its adornment, and rarely cares or even reflects whether he can get his money back, so it is with the true bibliomaniac. he never intends to part with his books any more than with his homestead. then again the use and enjoyment of books ought to count for something like interest on the capital invested. many times, directly or indirectly, the use of a library is worth even more than the interest on the outlay. it is singular how expenditure in books is regarded as an extravagance by the business world. one may spend the price of a fine library in fast or showy horses, or in travel, or in gluttony, or in stock speculations eventuating on the wrong side of his ledger, and the money-grubbing community think none the worse of him. but let him expend annually a few thousands in books, and these sons of mammon pull long faces, wag their shallow heads, and sneeringly observe, "screw loose somewhere," "never get half what he has paid for them," "too much of a book-worm to be a sharp business man." a man who boldly bets on stocks in wall street is a gallant fellow, forsooth, and excites the admiration of the business community (especially of those who thrive on his losses) even when he "comes out at the little end of the horn." as ruskin observes, we frequently hear of a bibliomaniac, never of a horse-maniac. it is said there is a private stable in syracuse, new york, which has cost several hundred thousand dollars. the owner is regarded as perfectly sane and the building is viewed with great pride by the public, but if the owner had expended as much on a private library his neighbors would have thought him a lunatic. if a man in business wants to excite the suspicion of the sleek gentlemen who sit around the discount board with him, or yell like lunatics at the stock exchange with him, or talk with him about the tariff or free silver, or any other subject on which no two men ever agree unless it is for their interest, let it leak out that he has put a few thousand dollars into a mazarine bible, or a caxton, or a first folio shakespeare or some other rare book. no matter if he can afford it, most of his associates regard him as they do a bedlamite who goes about collecting straws. fortunate is he if his wife does not privately call on the family attorney and advise with him about putting a committee over the poor man. but if we must regard book-buying in a money sense, and were to admit that books never sell for as much as they cost, it is no worse in respect to books than in respect to any other species of personal property. what chattel is there for which the buyer can get as much as he paid, even the next day? when it is proposed to transform the seller himself into the buyer of the same article, we find that the bull of yesterday is converted into the bear of to-day. circumstances alter cases. i have bought a good many books and "objects of bigotry and virtue," and have sold some, and the nearest i ever came to getting as much as i paid was in the case of a rare print, the seller of which, after the lapse of several years, solicited me to let him have it again, at exactly what i paid for it, in order that he might sell it to some one else at an advance. i declined his offer with profuse thanks, and keep the picture as a curiosity. so i should say, as a rule, that books are not a good financial investment in the business sense, and speaking of most books and most buyers. give a man the same experience in buying books that renders him expert in buying other personal property, the mere gross objects of trade, and let him set out with the purpose of accumulating a library that shall be a remunerative financial investment, and he may succeed, indeed, has often succeeded, certainly to the extent of getting back his outlay with interest, and sometimes making a handsome profit. but this needs experience. just as one must build at least two houses before he can exactly suit himself, so he must collect two libraries before he can get one that will prove a fair investment in the vulgar sense of trade. i dare say that one will frequently pay more for a fine microscope or telescope than he can ever obtain for it if he desires or is pressed to sell it, but who would or should stop to think of that? the power of prying into the mysteries of the earth and the wonders of the heavens should raise one's thoughts above such petty considerations. so it should be in buying that which enables one to converse with shakespeare or milton or scan the works of raphael or durer. when the pioneer on the western plains purchases an expensive rifle he does not inquire whether he can sell it for what it costs; his purpose is to defend his house against indians and other wild beasts. so the true book-buyer buys books to fight weariness, disgust, sorrow and despair; to loose himself from the world and forget time and all its limitations and besetments. in this view they never cost too much. and so when asked if book-collecting pays, i retort by asking, does piety pay? "honesty is the best policy" is the meanest of maxims. honesty ought to be a principle and not a policy; and book-collecting ought to be a means of education, refinement and enjoyment, and not a mode of financial investment. xiv. the book-worm's faults. this is not a case of "snakes in iceland," for the book-worm has faults. one of his faults is his proneness to regard books as mere merchandise and not as vehicles of intellectual profit, that is to say, to be read. too many collectors buy books simply for their rarity and with too little regard to the value of their contents. the circassian slave-dealer does not care whether his girls can talk sense or not, and too many men buy books with a similar disregard to their capacity for instructing or entertaining. it seems to me that a man who buys books which he does not read, and especially such as he cannot read, merely on account of their value as merchandise, degrades the noble passion of bibliomania to the level of a trade. when i go through such a library i think of what christ said to the traders in the temple. another fault is his lack of independence and his tendency to imitate the recognized leaders. he is too prone to buy certain books simply because another has them, and thus even rare collections are apt to fall into a tiresome routine. the collector who has a hobby and independence to ride it is admirable. let him addict himself to some particular subject or era or "ana," and try to exhaust it, and before he is conscious he will have accumulated a collection precious for its very singularity. it strikes me that the best example of this idea that i have ever heard of is the attempt, in which two collectors in this country are engaged, to acquire the first or at least one specimen of every one of the five hundred fifteenth century printers. if this should ever succeed, the great libraries of all the world would be eager for it, and the undertaking is sufficiently arduous to last a lifetime. sometimes out of this fault, sometimes independently of it, arises the fault by which book collecting degenerates into mere rivalry--the vulgar desire of display and ambition for a larger or rarer or costlier accumulation than one's neighbor has. the determination not to be outdone does not lend dignity or worth to the pursuit which would otherwise be commendable. during the late civil war in this country the chaplain of a regiment informed his colonel, who was not a godly person, that there was a hopeful revival of religion going on in a neighboring and rival regiment, and that forty men had been converted and baptized. "dashed if i will submit to that," said the swearing colonel: "adjutant, detail fifty men for baptism instantly!" so mr. roe, hearing that mr. doe has acquired a caxton or other rarity of a certain height, and absolutely flawless except that the corners of the last leaf have been skillfully mended and that six leaves are slightly foxed, cannot rest night or day for envy, but is like the troubled sea until he can find a copy a sixteenth of an inch taller, the corners of whose leaves are in their pristine integrity, and over whose brilliant surface the smudge of the fox has not been cast, and then how high is his exaltation! not that he cares anything for the book intrinsically, but he glories in having beaten doe. now if any speaks to him of doe's remarkable copy, he can draw out his own and create a surprise in the bosom of doe's adherent. the laurels of miltiades no longer deprive him of rest. he has overcome in this trivial and childish strife concerning size and condition, and he holds the champion's belt for the present. he not only feels big himself but he has succeeded in making doe feel small, which is still better. i don't know whether there will be any book-collecting in mr. bellamy's utopia, but if there is, it will not be disfigured by such meanness, but collectors will go about striving to induce others to accept their superior copies and everything will be as lovely as in heine's heaven, where geese fly around ready cooked, and if one treads on your corn it conveys a sensation of exquisite delight. it has been several times remarked by moralists that human nature is selfish. one of course does not expect another to relinquish to him his place in a "queue" at a box-office or his turn at a barber's shop, but in the noble and elegant pursuit of book-collecting it would be well to emulate the politeness of the french at fontenoy, and hat in hand offer our antagonist the first shot. but i believe the only place where the book-worm ever does that is the auction room. i no sooner come into the library, but i bolt the door to me, excluding lust, ambition, avarice, and all such vices, whose nurse is idleness, the mother of ignorance, and melancholy herself, and in the very lap of eternity, among so many divine souls, i take my seat with so lofty a spirit and sweet content, that i pity all our great ones and rich men that know not this happiness. --heinsius. the modern book-worm is not the simple and absent-minded creature who went by this name a century ago or more. he is no mere antiquarian, dryasdust or dominie sampson, but he is a sharp merchant, or a relentless broker, or a professional railroad wrecker, or a keen lawyer, or a busy physician, or a great manufacturer--a wide awake man of affairs, quite devoid of the conventional innocency and credulity which formerly made the name of book-worm suggestive of a necessity for a guardian or a committee in lunacy. no longer does he inquire, as becatello inquired of alphonso, king of naples, which had done the better--poggius, who sold a livy, fairly writ in his own hand, to buy a country home near florence, or he, who to buy a livy had sold a piece of land? no longer is the scale turned in the negotiation of a treaty between princes by the weight of a rare book, as when cosimo dei medici persuaded king alphonso of naples to a peace by sending him a codex of livy. no longer does the book-worm sit in his modest book-room, absorbed in his adored volumes, heedless of the waning lamp and the setting star, of hunger and thirst, unmindful of the scent of the clover wafted in at the window, deaf to the hum of the bees and the low of the kine, blind to the glow of sunsets and the soft contour of the blue hills, and the billowy swaying of the wheat field before the gentle breath of the south. no longer can it be said that the book-worm does not care for nature. i feel no need of nature's flowers-- of flowers of rhetoric i have store; i do not miss the balmy showers-- when books are dry i o'er them pore. why should i sit upon a stile and cause my aged bones to ache, when i can all the hours beguile with any style that i would take? why should i haunt a purling stream, or fish in miasmatic brook? o'er euclid's angles i can dream, and recreation find in hook. why should i jolt upon a horse and after wretched vermin roam, when i can choose an easier course with fox and hare and hunt at home? why should i scratch my precious skin by crawling through a hawthorne hedge, when hawthorne, raking up my sin, stands tempting on the nearest ledge? no need that i should take the trouble to go abroad to walk or ride, for i can sit at home and double quite up with pain from akenside. the modern book-worm deals in sums of six figures; he keeps an agent "on the other side;" he cables his demands and his decisions; his name flutters the dovecotes in the auction-room; to him is proffered the first chance at a rarity worth a king's ransom; too busy to potter in person with such a trifle as the purchase of a mazarine bible, he hires others to do the hunting and he merely receives the game; the tiger skin and the elephant's tusk are laid at his feet to order, but he misses all the joy and ardor of the hunt. how different is all this from sir thomas urquhart's account of his own library, of which he says: "there were not three works therein which were not of mine own purchase, and all of them together, in the order wherein i had ranked them, compiled like to a complete nosegay of flowers, which in my travels i had gathered out of the gardens of sixteen several kingdoms." another fault of the book-worm is the affectation of collecting books on subjects in which he takes no practical interest, simply because it is the fashion or the books are intrinsically beautiful. many a man has a fine collection on angling, for example, who hardly knows how to put a worm on a hook, much less attach a fly. i fear i am one of these hypocritical creatures, for this is how i go a-fishing. tis sweet to sit in shady nook, or wade in rapid crystal brook, impervious in rubber boots, and wary of the slippery roots, to snare the swift evasive trout or eke the sauntering horn-pout; or in the cold canadian river to see the glorious salmon quiver, and them with tempting hook inveigle, fit viand for a table regal; or after an exciting bout to snatch the pike with sharpened snout; or with some patient ass to row to troll for bass with motion slow. oh! joy supreme when they appear splashing above the water clear, and drawn reluctantly to land lie gasping on the yellow sand! but sweeter far to read the books that treat of flies and worms and hooks, from pickering's monumental page, (late rivalled by the rare dean sage), and major's elder issues neat, to burnand's funny "incompleat." i love their figures quaint and queer, which on the inviting page appear, from those of good dame juliana, who lifts a fish and cries hosanna, to those of stothard, graceful quaker, of fishy art supremest maker, whose fisherman, so dry and neat, would never soil a parlor seat. i love them all, the books on angling, and far from cares and business jangling, ensconced in cosy chimney-corner, like the traditional jack horner, i read from walton down to lang, and hum that song the milkmaid sang. i get not tired nor wet nor cross, nor suffer monetary loss-- if fish are shy and will not bite, and shun the snare laid in their sight-- in order home at night to bring a fraudulent, deceitful string, and thus escape the merry jeers of heartless piscatory peers; nor have to listen to the lying of fishermen while fish are frying, who boast of draughts miraculous which prove too large a draught on us. i spare the rod, and rods don't break; nor fish in sight the hook forsake; my lines ne'er snap like corset laces; my lines are fallen in pleasant places. and so in sage experience ripe, my fishery is but a type. xv. poverty as a means of enjoyment in collecting. poor collectors are not only not at a disadvantage in enjoyment, but they have a positive advantage over affluent rivals. if i were rich, probably i should not throw my money away just to experience this superiority, but it nevertheless exists. i do not envy, but i commiserate my brother collector who has plenty of money. he who only has to draw his check to obtain his desire fails to reach the keenest bliss of the pursuit. if diamonds were as common as cobble stones there would be no delight in picking them up. to constitute a bibliomaniac in the true sense, the love of books must combine with a certain limitation of means for the gratification of the appetite. the consciousness of some extravagance must be always present in his mind; there must be a sense of sacrifice in the attainment; in a rich man the disease cannot exist; he cannot enter the kingdom of the bibliomaniac's heaven. there is the same difference of sensation between the acquirement of books by a wealthy man and by him of slender purse, that there is between the taking of fish in a net and the successful result of a long angling pursuit after one especially fat and evasive trout. when a prince kills his preserved game, with keepers to raise it for him and to hand him guns ready loaded, so that all he has to do is to squint and pull the trigger, this is not hunting; it is mere vulgar butchery. what knows he of the joys of the tramper in the forest, who stalks the deer, or scares up smaller game, singly, and has to work hard for his bag? we read in dibdin's sumptuous pages of the celebrated contest between the duke of devonshire and the marquis of blandford for the possession of the valdarfar decameron; we read with admiration, but we also read of the immortal battle of elia with the little squab-keeper of the old book-stall in ninety-four alley, over the ownership of a ragged duodecimo for a sixpence; we read with affection. so we read leigh hunt's confession that when he "cut open a new catalogue of old books, and put crosses against dozens of volumes in the list, out of the pure imagination of buying them, the possibility being out of the question." poverty hath her victories no less renowned than wealth. to haunt the book-stores, there to see a long-desired work in luxurious and tempting style, reluctantly to abandon it for the present on account of the price; to go home and dream about it, to wonder, for a year, and perchance longer, whether it will ever again greet your eyes; to conjecture what act of desperation you might in heat of passion commit toward some more affluent man in whose possession you should thereafter find it; to see it turn up again in another book-shop, its charms slightly faded, but yet mellowed by age, like those of your first love, met in later life--with this difference, however, that whereas you crave those of the book more than ever, you are generally quite satisfied with yourself for not having, through the greenness of youth, yielded untimely to those of the lady; to ask with assumed indifference the price, and learn with ill-dissembled joy that it is now within your means; to say you'll take it; to place it beneath your arm, and pay for it (or more generally order it "charged"); to go forth from that room with feelings akin to those of ulysses when he brought away the palladium from troy; to keep a watchful eye on the parcel in the railway coach on your way home, or to gloat over the treasures of its pages, and wonder if the other passengers have any suspicion of your good fortune; and finally to place the volume on your shelf, and thenceforth to call it your own--this is indeed a pleasure denied to the affluent, so keen as to be akin to pain, and only marred by the palling which always follows possession and the presentation of your book-seller's account three months afterwards. xvi. the arrangement of books. there was a time when i loved to see my books arranged with a view to uniformity of height and harmony of color without respect to subjects. that time i regard as my vealy period. that was the time when we admired "somnambula," and when the housewife used to have all the pictures hung on the same level, and to buy vases in pairs exactly alike and put them on either side of the parlor clock, which was generally surmounted by a prancing saracen or a weaving penelope. granting that a collection is not extensive enough to demand a strict arrangement by subjects, i like to see a little artistic confusion--high and low together here and there, like a democratic community; now and then some giants laid down on their sides to rest; the shelves not uniformly filled out as if the owner never expected to buy any more, and alongside a dainty angler a book in red or blue cloth with a white label--just as childred in velvet and furs sit next a newsboy, or a little girl in calico with a pigtail at sunday school, or as beggars and princes kneel side by side on the cathedral pavement. it is good to have these "swell" books rub up against the commoners, which though not so elegant are frequently a great deal brighter. at a country funeral i once heard the undertaker say to the bearers, "size yourselves off." there is no necessity or artistic gain in such a ceremony in a library, and a departure from stiff uniformity is quite agreeable. then i do not care to have the book cases all of the same height, nor even of the same kind of wood, nor to have them all "dwarfs," with bric-a-brac on the top. i would rather have more books on top. in short, it is pleasant to have the collection remind one in a way of topsy--not that it was "born," but "growed" and is expected to grow more. there is a modern notion of considering a library as a room rather than as a collection of books, and of making the front drawing-room the library, which is heretical in the eyes of a true book-worm. this is probably an invention of the women of the house to prevent any additions to the books without their knowledge, and to discourage book-buying. we have surrendered too much to our wives in this; they demand book cases as furniture and to serve as shelves, without any regard to the interior contents or whether there are any, except for the color of the bindings and the regularity of the rows. all of us have thus seen "libraries" without books worthy the name, and book-cases sometimes with exquisite silk curtains, carefully and closely drawn, arousing the suspicion that there were no books behind them. my ideal library is a room given up to books, all by itself, at the top or in the rear of the house, where "company" cannot break through and say to me, "i know you are a great man to buy books--have you seen that beautiful limited holiday edition of ben hur, with illustrations?" xvii. enemies of books. mr. blades regards as "enemies of books" fire, water, gas, heat, dust and neglect, ignorance and bigotry, the worm, beetles, bugs and rats, book-binders, collectors, servants and children. he does not include women, borrowers, or thieves. perhaps he considers them rather as enemies of the book-owners. the worm is not always to be considered an enemy to authors, although he may be to books. james payn, in speaking of the recent discovery, in the british museum, of a copy on papyrus of the humorous poems of the obscure greek poet, herodles, says: "the humorous poems of herodles possess, however, the immense advantage of being 'seriously mutilated by worms'; wherever therefore an hiatus occurs, the charitable and cultured mind will be enabled to conclude that (as in the case of a second descent upon a ball supper) the 'best things' have been already devoured." it was doubtless to guard against thieves that the ancient books were chained up in the monasteries, but the practice was effectual also against borrowers. de bury, in his "philobiblon" has a chapter entitled "a provident arrangement by which his books may be lent to strangers," in which the utmost leniency is to lend duplicate books upon ample security. not to adopt the harsh judgment of an ancient author, who says, "to lend a book is to lose it, and borrowing but a hypocritical pretense for stealing," we may conclude, in a word, that to lend a book is like the presidency of the united states, to be neither desired nor refused. collectors are not so much exposed to the ravages of thieves as book-sellers are, and a book-thief ought to be regarded with leniency for his good taste and his reliance on the existence of culture in others. after all, it is one's own fault if he lends a book. one should as soon think of lending one of his children, unless he has duplicate or triplicate daughters. it would be difficult to foretell what would happen to a man who should propose to borrow a rare book. perhaps death by freezing would be the safest prediction. although grolier stamped "et amicorum" on his books, that did not mean that he would lend them, but only that his friends were free of them at his house. it is amusing to note, in mr. castle's monograph on book-plates, how many of them indicate a stern purpose not to lend books. mr. gosse regards book-plates as a precaution not only against thieves, but against borrowers. he observes of the man who does not adopt a book-plate: "such a man is liable to great temptations. he is brought face to face with that enemy of his species, the borrower, and does not speak with him in the gate. if he had a book-plate he would say, 'oh! certainly i will lend you this volume, if it has not my book-plate in it; of course one makes it a rule never to lend a book that has.' he would say this and feign to look inside the volume, knowing right well that this safeguard against the borrower is there already." one may make a gift of a book to a friend, but there is as much difference between giving a book and lending one as there is between indorsing a note and giving the money. i have considerable respect for and sympathy with a good honest book-thief. he holds out no false hopes and makes no false pretences. but the borrower who does not return adds hypocrisy and false pretences to other crime. he ought to be committed to the state prison for life, and put at keeping the books of the institution. in a buried temple in cnidos, in , mr. newton found rolls of lead hung up, on which were inscribed spells devoting enemies to the infernal gods for sundry specified offenses, among which was the failure to return a borrowed garment. on which agnes repplier says: "would that it were given to me now to inscribe, and by inscribing doom, all those who have borrowed and failed to return our books; would that by scribbling some strong language on a piece of lead we could avenge the lamentable gaps on our shelves, and send the ghosts of the wrong-doers howling dismally into the eternal shades of tartarus." i have spoken of a certain amount of sympathy as due from a magnanimous book-owner toward a pilferer of such wares. this is always on the condition that he steals to add to his own hoard and not for mere pecuniary gain. the following is suggested as a christian mode of dealing with the book-thief. ah, gentle thief! i marked the absent-minded air with which you tucked away my rare book in your pocket. 'twas past belief-- i saw you near the open case, but yours was such an honest face i did not lock it. i knew you lacked that one to make your set complete, and when that book you chanced to meet you recognized it. and when attacked by rage of bibliophilic greed, you prigged that small quantin ovide, although i prized it. i will not sue, nor bring your family to shame by giving up your honored name to heartless prattle. i'll visit you, and under your unwary eyes secrete and carry off the prize, my ravished chattel. it greatly rejoices me to observe that mr. blades does not include tobacco among the enemies of books. in one sense tobacco may be ranked as a book-enemy, for self-denial in this regard may furnish a man with a good library in a few years. i have known a very pretty collection made out of the ordinary smoke-offerings of twenty years. undoubtedly there are libraries so fine that smoking in them would be discountenanced, but mine is not impervious to the pipe or cigar, and i entertain the pleasing fancy that tobacco-smoke is good for books, disinfects them, and keeps them free from the destroying worm. as i do not myself smoke, i like to see my friends taking their ease in my book-room, with the "smoke of their torment ascending" above my modest volumes. i know how they feel, without incurring the expense, and so to them i indite and dedicate the smoke traveller. when i puff my cigarette, straight i see a spanish girl, mantilla, fan, coquettish curl, languid airs and dimpled face, calculating fatal grace; hear a twittering serenade under lofty balcony played; queen at bull-fight, naught she cares what her agile lover dares; she can love and quick forget. let me but my meerschaum light, i behold a bearded man, built upon capacious plan, sabre-slashed in war or duel, gruff of aspect but not cruel, metaphysically muddled, with strong beer a little fuddled, slow in love and deep in books, more sentimental than he looks, swears new friendships every night. let me my chibouk enkindle,-- in a tent i'm quick set down with a bedouin lean and brown, plotting gain of merchandise, or perchance of robber prize; clumsy camel load upheaving, woman deftly carpet weaving; meal of dates and bread and salt, while in azure heavenly vault throbbing stars begin to dwindle. glowing coal in clay dudheen carries me to sweet killarney, full of hypocritic blarney; huts with babies, pigs and hens mixed together; bogs and fens; shillalahs, praties, usquebaugh, tenants defying hated law, fair blue eyes with lashes black, eyes black and blue from cudgel-thwack,-- so fair, so foul, is erin green. my nargileh once inflamed, quick appears a turk with turban, girt with guards in palace urban, or in house by summer sea slave-girls dancing languidly; bow-string, sack and bastinado, black boats darting in the shadow; let things happen as they please, whether well or ill at ease, fate alone is blessed or blamed. with my ancient calumet i can raise a wigwam's smoke, and the copper tribe invoke,-- scalps and wampum, bows and knives, slender maidens, greasy wives, papoose hanging on a tree, chieftains squatting silently, feathers, beads and hideous paint, medicine-man and wooden saint,-- forest-framed the vision set. my cigar breeds many forms-- planter of the rich havana, mopping brow with sheer bandanna; russian prince in fur arrayed; paris fop on dress parade; london swell just after dinner; wall street broker--gambling sinner; delver in nevada mine; scotch laird bawling "auld lang syne;" thus raleigh's weed my fancy warms. life's review in smoke goes past. fickle fortune, stubborn fate, right discovered all too late, beings loved and gone before, beings loved but friends no more, self-reproach and futile sighs, vanity in birth that dies, longing, heart-break, adoration,-- nothing sure in expectation save ash-receiver at the last. in the early history of new england, when the town of deerfield was burned by the indians, captain dunstan, who was the father of a large family, deeming discretion the better part of valor, made up his mind to run for it and to take one child (as a sample, probably), that being all he could safely carry on his horse. but on looking about him, he could not determine which child to take, and so observing to his wife, "all or none," he set her and the baby on the horse, and brought up the rear on foot with his gun, and fended off the redskins and brought the whole family into safety. such is the tale, and in the old primer there was a picture of the scene--although i do not understand that it was taken from the life, and the story reflects small credit on the character of the aborigines for enterprise. i have often conjectured which of my books i would save in case of fire in my library, and whether i should care to rescue any if i could not bring off all. perhaps the problem would work itself out as follows: the fire in the library. twas just before midnight a smart conflagration broke out in my dwelling and threatened my books; confounded and dazed with a great consternation i gazed at my treasures with pitiful looks. "oh! which shall i rescue?" i cried in deep feeling; i wished i were armed like briareus of yore, while sharper and sharper the flames kept revealing the sight of my bibliographical store. "my lamb may remain to be thoroughly roasted, my crabbe to be broiled and my bacon to fry, my browning accustomed to being well toasted, and waterman taylor rejoicing to dry." at hazard i grasped at the rest of my treasure, and crammed all pockets with dainty eighteens; i packed up a pillow case, heaping good measure, and turned me away from the saddest of scenes. but slowly departing, my face growing sadder, at leaving old favorites behind me so far, a feminine voice from the foot of the ladder cried, "bring down my cook-book and harper's bazar!" it has been hereinbefore intimated that women may be classed among the enemies of books. there is at least one time of the year when every book-worm thinks so, and that is the dread period of house-cleaning--sometimes in the spring, sometimes in the autumn, and sometimes, in the case of excessively finical housewives, in both. that is the time looked forward to by him with apprehension and looked back upon with horror, because the poor fellow knows what comes of cleaning the library. with traitorous kiss remarked my spouse, "remain down town to lunch to-day, for we are busy cleaning house, and you would be in minnie's way." when i came home that fateful night, i found within my sacred room the wretched maid had wreaked her spite with mop and pail and witch's broom. the books were there, but oh how changed! they startled me with rare surprises, for they had all been rearranged, and less by subjects than by sizes. some volumes numbered right to left, and some were standing on their heads, and some were of their mates bereft, and some behind for refuge fled. the women brave attempts had made at placing cognate books together;-- they looked like strangers close arrayed under a porch in stormy weather. she watched my face--that spouse of mine-- some approbation there to glean, but seeing i did not incline to praise, remarked, "i've got it clean." and so she had--and also wrong; she little knew--she was but thirty-- i entertained a preference strong to have it right, though ne'er so dirty. that wife of mine has much good sense, to chide her would have been inhuman, and it would be a great expense to graft the book-sense on a woman. such are my reflections when i consider a fire in my own little library. but when i regard the great and growing mass of books with which the earth groans, and reflect how few of them are necessary or original, and how little the greater part of them would be missed, i sometimes am led to believe that a general conflagration of them might in the long run be a blessing to mankind, by the stimulation of thought and the deliverance of authors from the influence of tradition and the habit of imitation. when i am in this mood i incline to think that much is ode to omar. omar, who burned (or did not burn) the alexandrian tomes, i would erect to thee an urn beneath sophia's domes. so many books i can't endure-- the dull and commonplace, the dirty, trifling and obscure, the realistic race. would that thy exemplary torch could bravely blaze again, and many manufactories scorch of book-inditing men. the poets who write "dialect," maudlin and coarse by turns, most ardently do i expect thou'lt wither up with burns. all the erratic, yawping class condemn with judgment stern, walt whitman's awful "leaves of grass" with elegant swinburne. of commentators make a point, the carping, blind, and dry; rend the "baconians" joint by joint, and throw them on to fry. especially i'd have thee choke law libraries in sheep with fire derived from ancient coke, and sink in ashes deep. destroy the sheep--don't save my own-- i weary of the cram, the misplaced diligence i've shown-- but kindly spare my lamb. fear not to sprinkle on the pyre the woes of "esther waters"; they'll only make the flame soar higher, and warn eve's other daughters. but 'ware of howells and of james, of trollope and his rout; they'd dampen down the fiercest flames and put your fire out. xviii. library companions. as a rule i do not care for any constant human companion in my library, but i do not object to a cat or a small dog. that picture of montaigne, drawn by himself, amusing his cat with a garter, or that other one of doctor johnson feeding oysters to his cat hodge, is a very pleasing one. in my library hangs durer's picture of st. jerome in his cell, busy with his writing, and a dog and a lion quietly dozing together in the foreground. as i am no saint i have never been able to keep a lion in my library for any great length of time, but i have maintained a dog there. lamb even contended that his books were the better for being dog's-eared, but i do not go so far as that. nor do i pretend that his presence will prevent the books from becoming foxed. here is a portrait of my dog. he is a trifling, homely beast, of no use, or the very least; to shake imaginary rat or bark for hours at china cat; to lie at head of stairs and start, like animated, woolly dart, upon a non-existent foe; or on hind legs like monkey go, to beg for sugar or for bone; never content to be alone; to bask for hours in the sun. rolled up till head and tail are one; usurping all the softest places and keeping them with doggish graces; to sneak between the housemaid's feet and scour unnoticed on the street; wag indefatigable tail; cajole with piteous human wail; to dance with dainty dandy air when nicely parted is his hair, and look most ancient and dejected when it has been too long neglected; to sleep upon my book-den rug and dream of battle with a pug; to growl with counterfeited rabies; to be more trouble than twin babies;-- these are the qualities and tricks that in my heart his image fix; and so in cursory, doggerel rhyme i celebrate him in his time, nor wait his virtues to rehearse in cold obituary verse. there is one other speaking companion that i would tolerate in my library, and that is a clock. i have a number of clocks in mine, and if it were not for their unanimous and warning voice i might forget to go to bed. perhaps my reader would like to hear an account of my clocks. five clocks adorn my domicile and give me occupation, for moments else inane i fill with their due regulation. four of these clocks, on each lord's day, as regular as preaching, i wind and set, so that they may the flight of time be teaching. my grandfather's old clock is chief, with foolish moon-faced dial; procrastination is a thief it always brings to trial. its height is as the tallest men, its pendulum beats slow, and when its awful bell booms ten, young men get up and go. another clock is bronze and gilt, penelope sits on it, and in her fingers holds a quilt-- how strange 'tis not a bonnet! memorial of those weary years when she the web unravelled, while ithacus choked down his fears and slow from ilium travelled. ceres upon the third, with spray of grain, in classic gown, seems sadly to recall the day proserpine sank down, with scarcely time to say good-bye, unto the world of dis; and keeps account, with many a sigh, of harvest time in this. another clock is rococo, of louis sept or seize, with many a dreadful furbelow an artist's hair to raise, suggestions of a giddy court, with fan and boufflant bustle, when silken trains made gallant sport and o'er the floor did rustle. the fourth was brought, in foolish trust from alpland far away, a baby clock, and so it must be tended every day. importunate and trivial thing! thou katydid of clocks! defying all my skill to bring right time from out thy box. with works of wood and face of brass on which queer cherubs play, the tedious hours thou well dost pass, and none thy chirp gainsay. among the silent companions in my study are the effigies of the four greatest geniuses of modern times in the realms of literature, art, music and war--a print of shakespeare; one of michael angelo's corrugated face with its broken nose; a bust of beethoven, resembling a pouting lion; and a print of napoleon at st. helena, representing him dressed in a white duck suit, with a broad-brimmed straw hat, and sitting looking seaward, with those unfathomable eyes, a newspaper lying in his lap. unhappy faces all except the first--his cheerful, probably because he has effected an arrangement with an otherwise idle person, named bacon, to do all his work for him. but there is another portrait, at which i look oftener, the original of which probably takes more interest in me, but is unknown to every visitor to my study. i myself have not seen her in half a century. i call it simply a portrait. a gentle face is ever in my room, with features fine and melancholy eyes, though young, a little past life's freshest bloom, and always with air of sad surmise. a great white cap almost conceals her hair, a collar broad falls o'er her shoulders slender; the fashion of a bygone age an air of quaintness to her simple garb doth render. those hazel eyes pursue me as i move and seem to watch my busy toiling pen; they hold me with an anxious yearning love, as if she dwelt upon the earth again. my mother's portrait! fifty years ago, when i was but a heedless happy boy, the influence of her being ceased to flow, and she laid down life's burden and its joy. and now as i sit pondering o'er my books, so vainly seeking a receding rest, i read the wonder in her steadfast looks: "is this my son who lay upon my breast?" and when for me there is an end of time, and this unsatisfying work is done, if i shall meet thee in thy peaceful clime, young mother, wilt thou know thy gray-haired son? there is one other work of art which adorns my library--a medallion by a dear friend of mine, an eminent sculptor, the story of which i will put into his mouth. he calls the face my schoolmate. the snows have settled on my head but not upon my heart, and incidents of years long fled from out my memory start. my hand is cunning to contrive the shapes my brain invents, and keep in marble forms alive that which my soul contents; and i have wife, and children tall, grandchildren cluster near, and sweet the applause of men doth fall on my undeafened ear. but still my mind will backward turn for half a century, and without reasoning will yearn for sight or news of thee, thou playmate of my boyhood days, when life was all aglow, when the sweetest thing was thy girlish praise, as i drew thee o'er the snow to the old red school-house by the road, where we learned to spell and read, when thou wert all my fairy load and i was thy prancing steed. oh! thou wert simple then and fair. artless and unconstrained, with quaintly knotted auburn hair from which the wind refrained, and from thine earnest steady eyes shone out a nature pure, formed by kind heaven, a man's best prize, to love and to endure. oh! art thou still in life and time, or hast thou gone before? and hath thy lot been like to mine, or pinched and bare and sore? and didst thou marry, or art thou still of the spinster tribe? perchance thou art a widow now, steeled against second bribe? do grandsons round thy hearthstone play, or dost thou end thy race? and could that auburn hair grow gray, and wrinkles line thy face? i cannot make thee old and plain-- i would not if i could-- and i recall thee without stain, simply and sweetly good; and i have carved thy pretty head and hung it on my wall, and to all men let it be said, i like it best of all; for on a far-off snowy road, before i had learned to read, thou wert all my fairy load and i was thy prancing steed! i have reserved my queerest library companion till the last. it is not a book, although it is good for nothing but to read. it is not an autograph, although it is simply the name of an individual. it is my office sign which i have cherished, as a memento of busier days. some singular reflections are roused when i gaze at my shingle. my shingle is battered and old, no longer deciphered with ease, so i've taken it in from the cold, and fastened it up on a frieze. a long generation ago, with feelings of singular pride i regarded its glittering show, and pointed it out to my bride. companions of youth have grown few, its loves and aversions are faint; no spirit to make friends anew-- an old enemy seems like a saint. my clients have paid the last fee for passage in charon's sad boat, imposing no duty on me save to utter this querelous note; and still as i toil in life's mills, in loneliness growing profound, to attend on the proof of their wills and swear that their wits were quite sound! so i work with the scissors and pen, and to show of old courage a spark, i must utter a jest now and then, like whistling of boys in the dark. i tack my old friend on the wall, so that infantile grandson of mine may not think, if my life he recall, that i died without making a sign. when at court on the great judgment day with penitent suitors i mingle, may my guilt be washed cleanly away, like that on my faded old shingle! of course my chief occupation in my library is reading and writing. to be sure, i do a good deal of thinking there. but there is another occupation which i practice to a great extent, which does not involve reading or writing at all, nor thinking to any considerable degree. that is playing solitaire. i play only one kind of this and that i have played for many years. it requires two packs of cards, and requires building on the aces and kings, and so i have them tacked down on a lap-board to save picking out and laying down every time. this particular game is called "st. elba," probably because napoleon did not play it, and it can be "won" once in about sixty trials. i do not care for card-playing with others, but i have certain reasons for liking solitaire. i like to play cards with a man of sense, and allow him to play with me, and so it has grown a delight intense to play solitaire on my knee. i love the quaint form of the sceptered king, the simplicity of the ace, the stolid knave like a wooden thing, and her majesty's smirking face. diamonds, aces, and clubs and spades-- their garb of respectable black a moiety brilliant of red invades, as they mingle in motley pack. independent of anyone's signal or leave, relieved from the bluffing of poker, i've no apprehension of ace up a sleeve, and fear no superfluous joker. i build up and down; all the cards i hold, and the game is always fair, for i am honest, and so is my old companion at solitaire. let kings condescend to the lower grades, queens glitter with diamonds rare, knaves flourish their clubs, and peasants wield spades, but give me my solitaire. xix. the friendship of books. to many peaceful men of the legal robe the companionship of books is inexpressibly dear. what a privilege it is to summon the greatest and most charming spirits of the past from their graves, and find them always willing to talk to us! how delightful to go to our well-known book-shelves, lay hands on our favorite authors--even in the dark, so well do we know them--take any volume, open it at any page, and in a few minutes lose all sense and remembrance of the real world, with its strife, its bitterness, its disappointments, its hollowness, its unfaithfulness, its selfishness, in the pictures of an ideal world! the real world, do we say? which is the real world, that of history or that of fiction? in this age of historic doubt and iconoclasm, are not the heroes of our favorite romances much more real than those of history? captain ed'ard cuttle, mariner, is much more real to us than captain joseph cook; cooper's two admirals than the great nelson; leather-stocking than the yellow-haired custer; henry esmond than any of the pretenders; hester prynne and becky sharp than catherine of russia or aspasia or lucrezia; sidney carton than philip sidney. even the kings and heroes who have lived in history live more vividly for us in romance. we know the crooked richard and the crafty louis xi. most familiarly, if not most accurately, through shakespeare and scott; and where in history do we get so haunting a picture of the great napoleon and waterloo as in victor hugo's wondrous but inaccurate chapter? happy is the man who has for his associates david, solomon, job, paul, and john, in spite of the assaults of modern criticism upon the scriptures! no one can shake our faith in don quixote, although the accounts of the knight "without fear and without reproach" are so short and vague. there is no doubt about the travels of christian, although those of stanley may be questioned. the vicar of wakefield is a much more actual personage than peter who preached the crusades. sir roger de coverley and his squire life are much more probable to us than sir william temple in his gardens. there is no character in romance who has not or might not have lived, but we are thrown into grave doubts of the saintly washington and the devilish napoleon depicted three quarters of a century ago. we cast history aside in scepticism and disgust; we cling to romance with faith and delight. "the things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal." so let the writer hereof sing a song in praise of my friends the books. friends of my youth and of my age within my chamber wait, until i fondly turn the page and prove them wise and great. at me they do not rudely glare with eye that luster lacks, but knowing how i hate a stare, politely turn their backs. they never split my head with din, nor snuffle through their noses, nor admiration seek to win by inartistic poses. if i should chance to fall asleep, they do not scowl or snap, but prudently their counsel keep till i have had my nap. and if i choose to rout them out unseasonably at night, they do not chafe nor curse nor pout, but rise all clothed and bright. they ne'er intrude with silly say, they never scold nor worry; they ne'er suspect and ne'er betray, they're never in a hurry. anacreon never gets quite full, nor horace too flirtatious; swift makes due fun of johnny bull, and addison is gracious. saint-simon and grammont rehearse their tales of court with glee; for all their scandal i'm no worse,-- they never peach on me. for what i owe montaigne, no dread to meet him on the morrow; and better still, it must be said, he never wants to borrow. paul never asks, though sure to preach, why i don't come to church; though dr. johnson strives to teach, i do not fear his birch. my dickens never is away whene'er i choose to call; i need not wait for thackeray in chill palatial hall. i help to bring amelia to, who always is a-fainting; i love the oxford graduate who explains great turner's painting. my memory is full of graves of friends in days gone by; but time these sweet companions saves,-- these friends who never die! so here endeth "in the track of the book-worm." printed by me, elbert hubbard, at the roycroft shop in east aurora, n. y., u. s. a., and completed this twenty-sixth day of june, mdcccxcvii. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) the book-hunter [illustration: yours truly, j.h. burton] the book-hunter etc. by john hill burton d.c.l., ll.d. author of 'a history of scotland,' 'the scot abroad,' 'the reign of queen anne,' &c. a new edition _with a memoir of the author_ william blackwood and sons edinburgh and london mdccclxxxii _all rights reserved_ _publisher's note._ _the learned author of 'the book-hunter,' very shortly before his death, gave his consent that the work should be reprinted._ _this has now been done from his own copy, with any slight additions or emendations which it, or the notes of literary friends, supplied, and in a form which, it is hoped, will be acceptable to all lovers of choice books._ _a memoir of dr burton, by his widow, has been prefixed, and a copious index added._ _the portrait of the author has been reproduced from a characteristic photograph, and etched by mr w.b. hole, a.r.s.a. the view in the library, and the vignettes of craighouse and dalmeny, have been drawn by miss rose burton, and engraved by miss e.p. burton._ george street, edinburgh, _may _. _the author's advertisement to the second edition._ the author, in again laying his little book before the public, has taken advantage of some suggestions kindly contributed by the critics who reviewed the previous edition, and he has thus been enabled to correct a few inaccuracies which they have courteously characterised as mere errors of the press. productions of this indefinite kind are apt to grow in the hands of an author; and in the course of his revision he was unable to resist the temptation to throw in a few additional touches here and there, as to which he can only hope that they will not deteriorate the volume in the eyes of those who thought well of it in its old shape. . [illustration] [illustration] _contents._ page memoir of the author, i _the book-hunter._ part i.--his nature. introductory, a vision of mighty book-hunters, reminiscences, classification, the prowler and the auction-haunter, part ii.--his functions. the hobby, the desultory reader or bohemian of literature, the collector and the scholar, the gleaner and his harvest, pretenders, his achievements in the creation of libraries, the preservation of literature, librarians, bibliographies, part iii.--his club. clubs in general, the structure of the book clubs, the roxburghe club, some book-club men, part iv.--book-club literature. generalities, john spalding, robert wodrow, the early northern saints, sermons in stones, index, list of illustrations. portrait of the author, _frontispiece._ the avenue, craighouse, i craighouse, lix dalmeny churchyard, civ a nook in the author's library, [illustration: _the avenue, craighouse._] memoir of the author. chapter i. aberdeen. _parentage--patons--grandholm--jersey--"peninsular war"--school and schoolmasters--flogging--college--competition for bursaries--home life--aunt and grand-aunt--holiday rambles--letter._ john hill burton, the subject of this notice, was born on the d of august , in the gallowgate of aberdeen. he was wont to style himself, as in his childhood he had heard himself described, "the last of the gallowgate bairns;" the gallowgate being an old part of aberdeen devoted chiefly to humble trade, no one, in modern times at least, even distantly connected with gentility living there. his father, william kinninmont burton, is believed to have been an only son, and no kith or kin of his were ever seen or heard of by his children. the only relic of their father's family possessed by them is a somewhat interesting miniature on ivory, well painted in the old-fashioned style, representing a not beautiful lady in antique head-dress and costume, and marked on the back "mary burton." william kinninmont burton held a commission in the army, though he had not been originally intended for a military life. he was, it is supposed, engaged in trade in london when the military enthusiasm, excited by the idea of an invasion of great britain by napoleon, fired him, like so many other young men, into taking up arms as a volunteer. in the end of last century he came to aberdeen as a lieutenant in a regiment of "fencibles," or some such volunteer title, and there captivated the affections of a beautiful young lady, miss eliza paton, a daughter of the laird of grandholm, an estate four miles distant from aberdeen. of this lady and of her family a few words must be said. so small was the value of land in scotland in the beginning of the century, that it is safe to suppose the estate of grandholm yielded less than one-third of its present rental. the circumstances and social position of the family were, besides, seriously lowered by the extraordinary character of the then laird. john paton, grandfather of dr burton, was a man not devoid of talent, and of a strikingly handsome gentlemanly appearance and manner. he married, early in life, a beautiful miss lance, an englishwoman, who, after bearing him ten children in about as many years, fell into a weak state of health, of mind as well as body. the laird nursed his wife devotedly for a long period of years, cherishing her to the exclusion of all other persons or interests. his children he regarded as the enemies of his adored wife, and consequently of himself, and his conduct to them from first to last was little less than brutal. when the enfeebled wife at last died, the husband's grief verged on madness. he would not allow her body to be buried in the ordinary manner, but caused a tomb to be erected in a wood near the house of grandholm, where the corpse was placed in an open coffin, and where the bereaved husband could go daily to bewail his loss. the distracted mourner rejected all attentions from children, relatives, or friends, yet apparently dreaded being left alone, for he advertised for a male companion or keeper to bear him company. the writer has often heard dr burton amuse himself and his audience by describing the extraordinary varieties of struggling humanity who applied for the situation. ultimately, it is believed, none of them was selected, and the laird fled from his natural home, and from that time till his death lived chiefly in london, leaving his large young family to take care of themselves as they best could. the three sons went successively to india or other foreign parts, and died there, one of them leaving a son, whose family are the present possessors of grandholm. of the seven daughters--several of whom were very handsome--two only were married, namely, eliza, who became mrs burton, mother of the historiographer; and margaret, who espoused rather late in life a dr brown, and continued as a widow to inhabit an old house belonging to the grandholm family in old aberdeen till june , when she died at the age of ninety-eight. the young family, thus deserted by their natural protector, fell chiefly under the authority of his eldest daughter, mary--said, of all his children, to most resemble the laird himself. among this lady's nephews and nieces there linger strange traditions of the violence of her temper, and of the intensity of her loves and hates. it is hardly necessary to say that none of the females at least of the family received any particular education. mary was a woman of strong natural abilities, and of an excellent business faculty. she managed the very small resources left at her command with consummate skill, and in her later years made of grandholm a hospitable, cheerful, old-fashioned home for those whom it pleased her to receive there. her sister eliza's marriage had not pleased her. there was much to justify her objection to it; william burton, not then holding a commission, was entirely without pecuniary resources. his strongest talent seems to have been for painting, and by such occupation as he could get in drawing and painting in london he was barely able to maintain himself. the old grandfather and his lieutenant, aunt mary, have been described to the writer in the darkest colours as having constantly interposed between the true lovers, william burton and his beloved eliza paton, who, in spite of all advice to the contrary, soon became his wife. what the laird of grandholm and his daughter mary did was no doubt done in the harshest manner, but their actions themselves seem hardly blamable. when william burton found it impossible to maintain his wife in london, she was received again into her paternal home with her infant, william, john hill burton's elder brother. the wife, of course, earnestly and constantly desired to rejoin her husband. the father and sister declined to facilitate her doing so by paying the expense of her return journey, concluding that if her husband was unable to meet that outlay, he was not in a position to maintain her beside himself. after some six or eight years of mutual longing for each other's society, separated by the distance of london from aberdeen, william burton succeeded in exchanging his position in the fencibles for a lieutenancy in a line regiment under orders for india. there also he went unaccompanied by his wife. after brief service in india he had to return home in ill health. then at last the husband and wife were reunited; first to live together for a time in aberdeen--afterwards to go with their two sons to jersey. the eldest son, william, ten years older than john, afterwards went into the indian army, and died in india, leaving a son and daughter. john hill burton's earliest recollections dated from his stay with his parents in garrison in jersey. this must have been about the year or , when he was therefore two or three years old. he used to say he remembered the relieving of guard in jersey; that he had an infantine recollection of a military guard-room by night; and remembered a "lady fanny," the wife, as he believed, of the colonel of the regiment, who showed some slight kindness towards him and other garrison children. the greatest adventure of dr burton's unadventurous life occurred when he was returning with his parents from jersey, in a troop-ship. the vessel was chased by a french privateer, and for some time the little family had reason to fear becoming inmates of a french prison. it was this incident which dr burton used in his later life to say entitled him to assert that he had been in the peninsular war. the homeward journey from jersey was to aberdeen, which it is believed lieutenant burton and his family never left again till his death. his failing health obliged him to retire from active service on the half-pay of a lieutenant. his wife, from some writings to be hereafter mentioned, seems also to have enjoyed an allowance of £ per annum from her father. besides william and john hill, there were born in aberdeen to william burton and eliza paton three sons--two of whom died early, one of them being accidentally drowned in the don at grandholm--and one daughter. the surviving brother of dr burton is a retired medical officer of the east india company. the sister, mary, remains unmarried. the little household established in aberdeen about the year knew the woes of failing health and narrow means, part of the latter doled out to them by an unwilling hand. lieutenant burton's health continued to decline till his death, about the year . his son john was then ten years old, and had begun his school education. his recollections of schools and schoolmasters were vivid and picturesque. the one schoolmaster--almost the only teacher--to whom he acknowledged any obligation, was james melvin. to him, he was wont to say, he owed his good scotch knowledge of latin; and he delighted even till the end of his life in dwelling on dr melvin's methods of teaching, and on the fine spirit of generous emulation and eagerness for knowledge which inspired his pupils. both before and after the time of his studies under dr melvin he had experience of schoolmasters of a different type. the tales of flogging under these pedagogues were so absolutely sickening, that dr burton's family used to beg him to stop his narrations to spare their feelings. he had beheld, though he had never undergone, the old-fashioned process of flogging by _heezing up_ the culprit on the back of the school-porter, so as to bring his bare back close to the master's lash. the trembling victim, anticipating such punishment, used to be sent to summon the porter. he frequently returned with a half-sobbing message, "please, sir, _he says_ he's not in." the fiction did not lead to escape. cromar was the name of the chief executioner in these scenes. detested by his pupils, he was a victim to every sort of petty persecution from them, so that cruelty acted and reacted between him and them. on one memorable occasion he flogged john burton with such violence as to cause to himself an internal rupture. the offence which led to this unmeasured punishment was "looking impudent!"--and the look of supposed impudence was produced by a temporarily swollen lip; but the swollen lip was the effect of a single combat with a schoolfellow; and fighting was so rife, and so severely repressed, that it appeared less dangerous to meet the consequences of the supposed impertinent face than those of the battle. the unfortunate pupil of course continued to grimace, and the wretched schoolmaster to flog, till the pupil streamed with blood, and the master sat down from sheer exhaustion and an injury from which he never recovered. before john hill burton had completed his course at the grammar school he gained a bursary by competition, and began his studies at marischal college. the open competition for bursaries at aberdeen was a subject on which he delighted to talk, often with tears of enthusiasm in his eyes. the entire impartiality, the complete openness of these competitions to the whole world, the spectacle of high learning freely offered to whoever could by merit earn it, seemed to dr burton, to his life's end, as fine a subject of contemplation as any the world could offer. during his last illness, a friend, who knew his strong interest in his alma mater, presented him with mr m'lean's 'life at a northern university.' he read it with the utmost delight, often reading passages aloud with great emotion, on account of the vivid picture they presented of the scenes of his youth. it was a rough hard life that of an aberdeen college student fifty or sixty years ago. mr m'lean says of his fellow-students: "as the most of them came from the country--generally from the highlands and western islands of scotland--they brought with them all their native roughness and coarseness of manners. the great majority of those who had spent their lives in town frequented the neighbouring university,[ ] where the entrance and other examinations were not nearly so severe. in general, the great bulk of the students were far behind in good manners, and that polish which a large town always gives. their secluded habits when at college, and their intercourse only with their own number, prevented any improvement in this matter. on the whole, their conduct in the class, and their behaviour towards some of the professors, were anything but gentlemanly."[ ] [footnote : marischal college. mr m'lean's descriptions refer to king's; but the two colleges, close together, must have been pretty similar in their manners and customs even before they were, as they now are, formally united.] [footnote : life in a northern university. by neil m'lean, author of 'memoirs of marshal keith,' 'romance of the seal and whale fishing,' &c., &c. glasgow; john s. marr & sons: london; simpkin, marshall, & co. .] another quotation from mr m'lean may be allowed, as embodying the descriptions often given by dr burton of the motley crew of competitors for the scholarships and bursaries dispensed by the university: "gazing round the room, i noted that my competitors consisted of raw-boned red-haired highlandmen, fresh from their native hills, with all their rusticity about them. all the northern counties had sent their quota to swell the number, and even the orkney and shetland islands were represented. many rosy-faced young fellows were also to be seen, who had left their country occupations for a little, and who, if unsuccessful"--_i.e._, in gaining a bursary--"would return to them, and work in their leisure hours at their favourite classics until another competition came round. here and there were to be seen a few rather better dressed than the rest; whilst amongst the crowd the eye rested on many a studious, thin, cadaverous, hard-worked face, which made you look again, and feel in your heart that there sat a bursar. a more motley crowd, as respects age, dress, and features, could scarcely be found anywhere; and yet over all there was an intellectual, manly look, a look of innocence and unacquaintance with the low ways of the world."[ ] [footnote : life in a northern university.] among this motley crowd john hill burton was no model student. he took his full share of the rough sport so well described in the 'northern university'--wrenched off door-knockers and house-bells, transplanted sign-boards, &c. he was but a schoolboy in years when he left school for college, and his mother was frequently obliged to provide him with a private tutor, not so much to assist him in his studies as to keep him from idleness during his hours at home. home was, during these years, for a time sad, and was always quiet. during his father's lifetime it was diversified by frequent changes of abode within a very narrow circuit. the writer has seen some half-dozen small houses, in a rather unlovely suburb of aberdeen, all within sight of each other, which had successively been inhabited by lieutenant burton and his family; the poor invalid craving for the real change which might have benefited his health, and seeking relief, instead, in constant change of house. mrs burton was entitled to an abode at grandholm as well as her sisters, and the little family went there occasionally, at least after lieutenant burton's death. the place, which is a rather interesting one, filled a considerable space in the affections of the children. its inmates did not. clearly sister eliza never was forgiven for her unfortunate marriage. affection for her husband and for his memory prevented her apologising for it, and her children were not of the sort to apologise for their existence. a series of petty slights, small unkindnesses, imbittered the mind of the poverty-stricken widow against her unmarried sisters, and her feeling was strongly inherited by her children. a house in old aberdeen has been already mentioned as the abode of mrs margaret brown, dr burton's last surviving aunt. this quaint old house had been purchased by mrs brown's grandmother, mother of the laird of grandholm, and at the beginning of the century was inhabited by her maiden daughter margaret, or, as she was oftener called, peggy paton. this lady lived to the age of ninety, and at her death left her house and fortune to her niece and name-daughter, margaret paton (mrs brown), who in her turn adopted a grand-niece, the daughter already mentioned of dr burton's eldest brother, william,--the same who, having nursed her aged aunt till her death, in the last year of his life so tenderly ministered to her uncle, the subject of this notice. the second in the line of female owners of the old house, peggy paton, was, for the outer world, what george eliot calls "a charicter"--one of those distinguishing features of country-town life which the march of improvement has swept away: a lady by birth, but owing little to schools or teachers, books or travel: a woman of strong natural understanding and some wit, who loved her nightly rubber at whist, could rap out an oath or a strong pleasantry, and whose quick estimates of men and things became proverbs with the younger generation. for her inner circle peggy paton was a most motherly old maid. she it was who, when she found her niece eliza _would_ marry lieutenant burton, mediated between father and daughter, and arranged matters as well as might be in an affair in which her good sense found much to disapprove, and her heart much to excuse. not only to her niece margaret, her adopted daughter, but also to her other nieces at grandholm, motherless by death, and fatherless by desertion, did she fill a mother's part as far as these robust virgins would permit her. sister eliza's rough little children, or rougher great boys, always found kindness in the house in the old town, first in their grand-aunt's[ ] time, and afterwards in that of her successor, mrs brown. david, dr burton's younger brother, was lovingly tended by them during part of the lingering illness of which he died, and the youngest of eliza paton's sons remained an inmate of mrs brown's house that he might continue his education in aberdeen, when his mother removed to edinburgh. [footnote : it may not be counted indelicate, as it refers to a period years gone by, to mention that peggy paton once had a lover, and that this, her first lover, was no other than the son of that moir of stoneywood, whose correspondence is so frequently quoted in dr burton's 'history of scotland.' the young man was peggy's first cousin, the lairds of grandholm and stoneywood having married sisters--mackenzie by name. the laird of stoneywood is known to posterity by his ingenious achievement of ferrying the rebel army across the dornoch firth in small fishing-boats collected by stoneywood all along the coast. on the defeat of the pretender, and the suppression of the insurrection in , stoneywood's estate was confiscated, and he fled to the continent. family tradition adds that his escape was achieved by his disguising himself as a miller and swimming across the don from stoneywood to grandholm, where the laird of grandholm, who was of opposite politics, had removed the ferry-boat, and saw but did not denounce his kinsman. the houses of grandholm and stoneywood are exactly opposite each other on the two sides of the don. mrs moir of stoneywood did not immediately follow her husband, but remained with her friends to bring up her children, among them miss peggy's lover, who, soon after his engagement to her, joined his father on the continent and there died.] for those who do not know aberdeen, it may be proper to say that _old_ aberdeen is as entirely distinct from new aberdeen as edinburgh is from leith--in a different way. the distance between them is somewhat greater, about two miles; and whereas new aberdeen is a highly prosperous commercial city, as entirely devoid of beauty or interest as any city under the sun, old aberdeen is a sweet, still, little place, hardly more than a village in size, in appearance utterly unlike any other place in scotland, resembling a little english cathedral town,--the towers and spires of college and cathedral beautifully seen through ancient trees from the windows of miss peggy paton's old house, to which that managing lady added a wing, and which possessed a good flower and fruit garden, wherein grew plenty of gooseberries, ever dr burton's favourite fruit. his birthday, d august, was, during his mother's life, always celebrated by a family feast of them. such were the scenes and circumstances of dr burton's childhood and early youth. as he grew old enough to begin those long walks which to the end were the great pleasure of his life, he made acquaintance with the beautiful scenery of the upper dee and don. in holiday time his mother used to give him a small sum of money, at most one pound, and allow him to travel as far as the amount would take him. his legs were almost always his only conveyance; throughout his life he entertained an aversion to either riding or driving. his temper was too impatient, too energetic, to allow him to enjoy progress without exertion. after railways existed he sometimes used them in aid of his walking power; but all horse vehicles were odious to him, partly by reason of an excessive tenderness for animals. he could not bear to see a horse whipped, or any living creature subjected to bodily pain. wonderful are the accounts the writer has heard of the duration of that holiday pound: how dr burton and sometimes a chosen companion would subsist day after day on twopence-worth of oatmeal, that by so doing they might travel the farther; or how, having improvidently finished their supply, they would walk some incredible distance without any food at all, till they reached either their home or the house of some friend. in these holiday rambles dr burton made the acquaintance of several families either more or less related to him through his grandholm kindred, or willing, in the old scotch fashion, to extend hospitality to any wayfarer who needed it. in this way dr burton has described himself as the guest of mrs gordon at abergeldie, who, as he said, made a request that when he came to visit her he would if possible arrive before midnight. invercauld, glenkindie, tough, and many other country-houses, were visited in the same unceremonious way. the letter here given was written to his mother during one of these holiday rambles, when its writer was about twenty, and describes some of the scenes of the wonderful flood of ' , so graphically described by sir thomas dick lauder. the colonel h. was the son of dr burton's godfather, and a man of mature years at the time the highlander and dr burton describe him as having "run away." the writer can offer no explanation of this rather amusing passage in the letter: it might either be a mere joke or refer to some family quarrel of the colonel's. "lakefield, _ th september _. "my dear mother,--i have just arrived at lakefield in the midst of determined and ceaseless rain. i expected of course to meet a.h. here, but it seems he ran away the other day, and will by this time be in aberdeen. he wrote to mrs grant from elgin, but she has not yet heard of his arrival in aberdeen. "in my way here i ran a risk of being violently used for his sake. as i was perambulating slowly the border of loch ness i met a tall, gaunt-looking man, who eyed me rather suspiciously, and stretched forth his hands in the attitude of one interrupting a stray sheep. i looked at the being in my turn, and began to be a little suspicious of his purpose, and to think of my dirk. the man approached nearer still in the attitude of making a spring. when he had come so close that i could hardly escape him, he roared out: 'is't you 'at's the laad colonel h. 'at's been runnan' awa'?' 'no,' said i, 'i am not.' "the man continued to eye me rather suspiciously, and then went slowly away. i suppose he hoped to be rewarded for me. i have told you that i got rain. when i was proceeding to huntly, as you are aware, in the coach, there came two or three heavy gusts of wind from the hills, carrying along with it a sort of soft drizzle, but nothing like rain, and the roads appeared dry. after i had passed keith, however, the whole country had a drenched and draggled appearance, the burns were swollen, the corn was hanging like wet hair, the trees were drooping and black, and the country people themselves looked as if they had been held in water for the last six months. a heavy and unceasing rain came on. the clouds grew black and seemed to settle, everything had a ghastly and dismal appearance. i met a man, and asked him if it always rained here. 'ou ay, sir,' replied he, 'it's the parish o' _rayne_.' i was content with the answer, and asked nothing more. in a condition you may easily imagine, i reached elgin and dried myself. the rain stopped, but the clouds did not clear. i went and visited the cathedral, and wandered about the ruins for an hour or two. it is a noble and beautiful building, but i will not begin to speak about it, as the post leaves in a few minutes. on saturday afternoon i left elgin for forres, with the hope of better weather. during the walk i could hardly persuade myself i was out of aberdeenshire, the country is so very like, but it is rather flatter. next morning was clear and cloudless, and the sun shone bright over a country drenched and covered with water. i wished that day to reach inverness, but a new difficulty appeared. i was told that the findhorn was so swollen that no mortal man could get across. i saw the boatman going to his ferry-house, and i followed him to see how the matter stood. i soon came to a deep and rapid sweep of water, which appeared to spread far beyond two narrow banks which might have formerly bounded it. this i thought to be the findhorn, but ere i went many paces farther another sight met my eyes--the real river itself dashing through the glen with an awful majesty, and carrying roots, trees, and herbage of every description hurriedly over its broad breast. in the midst of this scene of devastation appeared the ruins of a noble bridge, nothing but the piers remaining, and these dashing to pieces in the furious current. the stream i had seen at first was the river flowing down the road. the river fell in the evening, and i crossed the ferry. i had two days of most delightful weather, and yesterday evening i had a sunset and moonlight walk by the side of loch ness, among the most noble scenery i ever beheld. the sky was perfectly clear, and without a single cloud. "i must now finish, as the post is going away. if you see joseph [_i.e._, the late joseph robertson, a constant companion and attached friend], tell him i will write to him soon and have a deal to say to him, particularly of my discovering a sculptured stone in elgin cathedral. notwithstanding the fineness of the evening, this day is determinedly rainy. if you see any of the h.'s, give mrs grant's compliments.--adieu for the present; and i remain, my dear mother, your affectionate and dutiful son, "j. hill burton." the writer has heard many farther details of the excursion of which this letter records the beginning. the temporary clearing up of the weather referred to was but a hollow truce in the tremendous elemental warfare of that memorable autumn. the flood described in the findhorn was but a faint precursor of the wave sixty feet high, which, a week or two later, burst through the splendid girdle of rock which at relugas confines that loveliest of scotch rivers, and spread over the fertile plain beneath, changing it into a sea. at some points in morayshire, the enormous overflow of the rivers broke down the banks which bound the ocean, and permanently changed the coast-line of the country. the most striking and extraordinary part of sir thomas dick lauder's description of this flood is an extract from the log of a sailing packet--a sea-going vessel--which directed its course over and about the plain of moray, picking the inhabitants off the roofs of their houses, or such other elevations as they could reach. dr burton had the good fortune to see the fall of foyers during this great flood, and had the temerity to cross its stream, which lay on his road, upon a remaining parapet of the fallen bridge! chapter ii. edinburgh. _apprenticeship in lawyer's office--grandfather's letter--j.h. burton's letters to his mother, conveying first impressions of edinburgh, and account of passing civil law trial._ on the completion of his studies, john burton was apprenticed to a writer in aberdeen. he has talked of this period as one of the most painful of his life. he was utterly unable to master the routine of office-work, or to submit to its restraints; and one of his most joyful days was that in which his indentures were, by mutual desire, cancelled. a piece of yellow old paper was found in dr burton's desk when he died. it was a letter written some fifty-five years before, and had probably lain there during all these years. as it refers to this period of dr burton's life, it may be given. it seems fully to bear out the writer's conception of the unsympathising character of the intercourse between mrs burton and her family. no stronger incentive to exertion could have been offered to a man of dr burton's character, than the desire to falsify the implied prediction of such a missive. with a view to its effect in this way it had probably been given him by his mother. it is an entire letter, and the whole is here printed. "grandholm, _june th_. "dear eliza,--i have this day received a letter from my father, part of which i think it necessary to transcribe to you, as the best mode of giving you his meaning. "'the account of john burton's being in such an idle unemployed way displeases me much. i wish you, mary, would speak to his mother on the subject; tell her i would have acquainted her with my displeasure before now, only, on account of her misfortune in her family [this must refer to the death of her son david], i deferred what i ought to have done. why was he taken away from his attendance at mr winchester's office? doctor dauney said he could not be better than with him, as there was plenty of business, such as was going. tell her that as i have neither funds nor inclination to support idle gentlemen, or rather vagabonds, i have given directions to mr alcock not to pay up her next half-year's annuity, till he hears from me on the subject, and until she gives you satisfactory accounts concerning her son's return to mr winchester's office or otherwise. tell her not to write to me, but to act as is her duty.'" the sister here continues, "i hope mary [dr burton's only sister, the youngest child of his mother] continues well, and that you will not fail to give me an answer to this, as you see it will be absolutely necessary to give attention to the subject. barbara continues very unwell.--i remain yours sincerely, m. paton." whether the threat conveyed in this letter was executed, the writer has now no means of knowing. the expression of it alone was cruel enough--the threat to starve a poor mother into forcing a son to continue a business utterly repugnant to him. mrs burton, however, did not protect herself by the sacrifice of her son. she believed in her son's powers, and acted on her belief in spite of all opposition; and she had her reward. she lived to see her son gaining fame in letters, and to find in him the utmost devotion a son can show to a mother. he never forgot or failed to acknowledge his obligations to her. these were undoubtedly great. she not only gave him, in part personally, his education, but when that was finished, and she hoped to find peace for her declining years in the little home she had prepared for herself, she sacrificed that also to her hope of her son's advancement--her faith in his talents and perseverance. with the death of her husband, perhaps also on account of that of her father, and the loss of her two little sons, mrs burton's pecuniary position seems to have become somewhat easier. whilst her son john was destined for business in aberdeen, she had built a small house for her own occupation in the neighbourhood. when he set his mind on the higher walk of his profession, and desired to come to the scotch bar, the necessary expense could only be compassed by the devoted mother selling her newly built house, and casting in her lot with her son. she, her young daughter, and an aberdeenshire maiden (so primitive in her ideas, that she conceived the only way of reaching edinburgh from warriston must be by _wading_ the water of leith), followed john to edinburgh, and took up their abode in a very small house on the north side of warriston crescent in the year . dr burton was no great letter-writer. after he began, as he said, to write for print, he considered it waste of time to write anything which was not to be printed, except in briefest form. his letters to his wife and family during absences on the continent or elsewhere, seldom contained more than a bare itinerary, past and future, often referring them for particulars to the article in 'blackwood,' which was to grow out of his travels. his mother was naturally the recipient of the writing which came before the days of print,--before the days of penny postage also. almost every letter contains a history of how his mother's last reached him, as well as how he hoped to have that which he is writing conveyed to her without paying the awful tax of postage. the next letters here offered belong to the beginning of his edinburgh life, and relate to a feat of mental exertion equal to his bodily performances. he was at the time living in lodgings, for the purpose of passing his legal examinations preparatory to coming to the bar; but he may be allowed to give the history of this part of his life entirely in his own words. "edinburgh, _ d nov. _. "my dear mother,--i have just arrived here, and as there is a friend of mr dauney's just about to set off for aberdeen, i preferred letting you get a bit of a note or so to sending you a newspaper. of course i have nothing to write you about but my own concerns. a delightful moonlight night for travelling, but the coach rather full: there were three nice children, with whom i contrived to amuse myself. all went on well till we came to burntisland ferry, where we had to proceed so far in an open boat. the sea poured in in a rather disagreeable manner; and while i thought every one was getting a good ducking but myself, a large miscreant of a wave contrived to escape every other passenger, and to settle right upon my shoulders. i have not yet secured a lodging in edinburgh, but have been wandering through all the streets admiring. of the old town i think far more than of the new, it is so majestic and magnificent, and am resolved, if i can, to live in it. "i dined at mr dauney's to-day. he has requested me to stay with him till i can get lodgings conveniently, but i expect to be stowed away to-morrow. i delivered mr innes's parcel; and remain, my dear mother, your most affectionate son, j. hill burton. "_p.s._--i would have written you a long letter, but do not wish to absent myself from table." * * * * * " keir street, edinburgh, _tuesday evening, th nov. _. "my dear mother,--i take the opportunity of mr innes's parcel, which leaves this to-morrow afternoon, to give you a more succinct account of my affairs than you could derive from my laconic epistle of last week. i must, however, preface by requesting you to write me as soon as you conveniently can, either by innes or l. smith's conveyance, as i am anxious to hear the state of your cold, and how james is succeeding at school. "when i dismounted from the coach i was peculiarly struck by the sight of magnificent streets, with scarcely a human being to be seen along them. i expected to have found them of that crowded description so often characteristic of a metropolis; but to one who is accustomed to see our grand mercantile thoroughfare, the paucity of perambulators in _some_ of the streets of edinburgh appears rather peculiar. _others_ i found at particular periods to be thickly inhabited. my first course was to direct my course through the rain to g.b.'s dwelling, where i found him reading a large bible. he appears to have carried fanaticism to a ridiculous pitch, unworthy of his education and station in life. he put into my hands a tract (composed i am afraid by himself), with injunctions to read it. i intend to send it to you as a curiosity. his brother charles, whom i best knew, used to be a clever and sensible boy, very well informed; i hope he, too, is not also among the prophets. how few steer a middle course! g.b. cannot do the most trifling act without connecting it with religion. it is a mere disease. others never think of it at all. i think it is dr johnson who says something to this effect: '----was mad, and showed it by kneeling down and saying his prayers on the street. now there are many men who are not mad, yet i am afraid are worse than poor ----, for they never pray at all.' but to return--i inquired at mr b. if he could recommend me to any cheap and respectable lodging. after applying some thought to the subject, he began to recollect that he did know of one or two. with regard to one the address was rather imperfect, as he knew neither the name nor the number, but had a guess of the street. the other i discovered, and now occupy, although he gave me both a wrong name and wrong number. "immediately on leaving b.'s i went to dauney, who appeared glad to see me, and kindly asked me to dine with him. he has a very handsome house. mrs dauney is a very agreeable person, and they have two children. he would not hear of my leaving him till i had got accommodated with good lodgings. the rooms i now occupy i did not enter till yesterday. they were inhabited by a person just about to leave them, and i had no recommendation to others so well situated. the person who keeps the lodgings is named m'gregor. i have a room and closet, neat enough, for which i pay s. a-week, which includes coals. i could not have a place nearly so cheap in the new town. the situation is delightful. it is behind the old town, and the windows look across towards it and the castle, just as those in union terrace look towards belmont street. the view extends as far as the firth of forth. "there are, moreover, other advantages. heriot's hospital and the old city wall are close by; and when i choose i may, in going to the new town, pass through the west port and the grassmarket. "i have been a good deal annoyed about my luggage, which has not yet been sent up, so that you may imagine some of my present drapery has been worn long enough. "i directed a person, calling himself the clyde shipping company's agent here, to get them sent up last saturday, which was to be done 'pointedly.' i amused myself from day to day annoying the man, till at last his patience appeared determined to weather out mine, so i went to leith to-day and saw after them myself--found the man had nothing to do whatever with the concern, and neither could nor did give directions. the clerk, after blessing himself the usual number of times, stated his opinion that it would have been better for both parties had they left his office some time ago, so i expect to see them early to-morrow. i will let you know of their safe arrival if before three. i read your poetry[ ] all over, but did i begin to remark on it here i would exceed the limits which a narration of facts has left me. it has afforded me much pleasure in the loneliness, which, of course, i feel a little at first. however, i cannot say it makes me at all sad. there is something independent and free in the idea that none of the vast multitude you are among cares more for your life or welfare than the breeze that passes. i begin my studies to-morrow, and if i behave properly will have a good deal to do. [footnote : mrs burton wrote verses well. she occasionally published in the 'gentleman's magazine.'] "by the way, i may here mention a somewhat important circumstance. the greater part of the entrance fee is paid immediately on passing the civil law trial, which you know i wished to do this spring. the whole fee is less than £ , and the part payable _then_ is more than £ . the fees are to be raised, but the increase cannot be levied upon me; it only applies to those who have not commenced their studies at the period of raising. speak to r. alcock about this. i daily meet troops of aberdonians. i dined on friday last with a young man, fordyce, and yesterday with mr j. jopp. i calculate i have about fifty fellow-citizens connected with law here.... "_wednesday, half-past two._--just got my luggage--cost s. all right, save that your jars have bolted, and played the very deuce with some of my books, two waistcoats, and a pair of drawers. "hoping your cold is better, i remain, my dear mother, your affectionate and dutiful son, "j. hill burton." * * * * * " keir street, edinburgh, _ th nov. _. "my dear mother,--i have scarcely an instant's time to say a word or so in reply to yours.... it was not _one_ of the jars which burst, but there was a general conspiracy among them all to slip out at the side of the paper. "i do not board for anything, just get in a little bit of meat or anything i want, can take my own way, and am never annoyed. i breakfasted and dined last sunday with mr h. constable, who is a very agreeable young fellow. he is the proprietor of the miscellany.[ ] by the way, i find out that if i do not pass my civil law trial before i shall be compelled to pay £ to a widows' fund. too bad to make young fellows, who may never have a _widow_ all their _lives_, pay so much. determined, if i pay it, to get a widow immediately.... [footnote : probably a mistake. he was the brother of the proprietor.] "breakfasted to-day with the b.'s. at the theatre with mellis day before yesterday. i hope mary continues better.--your affectionate son, j. hill burton." * * * * * " keir street, edinburgh, _ st dec. _. "my dear mother,--i have got something to communicate with regard to my prospects of entering the faculty, which will not be of the most agreeable nature. i was told from the proper authority (i have already mentioned to you) that a widows' fund subscription is to be charged against those who enter after st january . i have consulted the act of parliament, and find it is leviable against those who enter after st january . the last examination this year will be on _tuesday week_,--the last for passing which £ and an annual payment of £ is not charged. now for this examination i intend to prepare myself, unless you inform me _immediately_ that the money, £ , cannot be obtained. see mr alcock immediately, and explain this, but tell it to _no other person_, as i should not like it to be known that i had failed. i expect to know your intentions at farthest by _monday_, as i must then give warning to the faculty. you must be expeditious, as i can assure you _i_ shall be. the subject is not difficult, and i think i may be able to prepare myself for an ordinary examination. should i find it _impossible_, i will still reserve to myself, even after you send the money, the power of withdrawing. the widows' subscription (as the act states) is repayable to those who are rejected or die before joining, and i presume the entry-money is so too. if it is _not_, i should insure my life. "if you consent to my arrangements, you must send me a certificate of my age--an extract from the register of baptisms, or something of that sort. i suppose cordiner can give it you.... "should i not pass my civil law trial immediately, i will still have the satisfaction of passing at some early period, avoiding an additional £ which it is intended will be imposed, and from which no advantage, either real or fortuitous, is to be expected. now the widows' fund, you know, when one has a widow, will be a very good sort of thing--£ per annum, i believe. so if any lady wishes me to marry her, she had better advise me by all means to join the scheme. i know of no way of making one's own by it just now but by marrying some old advocate's widow who is on the list. "what you do, do quickly. write me as soon as you can, and _definitely_, with bill for the money if possible--if not, a plain statement of its impossibility. i will work hard till i hear from you. how are you all? i am in good health, and remain, my dear mother, your affectionate and dutiful son, j. hill burton." * * * * * "edinburgh, _ th december _. "my dear mother,--i this morning received your and mr alcock's letters, enclosing a bill for £ and order for £ , and having no opportunity to-morrow, i take this occasion to acknowledge receipt and return thanks. tell mr alcock i am afraid i will never be able to repay him his kindness in procuring me this sum upon my very cavalier notice. with regard to yourself, you know, i suppose, we have a pretty long account together, and the balance somewhat against me, as it will always remain. "i suppose you will have received my hurried note of last night. i thought you had entirely forgot my £ amid the other weighty matters you had to settle for me. i am still preparing and covering the civil law with rapid strides, but to make one's self master of a subject so intricate in a fortnight is something of a consideration; however, i do not despair. i am doing my best, and if i do not use my utmost endeavour, after what has been done for me by others, i will allow you to call me anything you please. "still i beg you will not make yourself too sanguine of my success. in the meantime tell _no one_, not even robertson, what i am attempting, that in the case of my being remitted to my studies (that is the term), it may not be generally known. i give in my name for examination on monday next--it takes place on tuesday fortnight. but i do not know when i will be acquainted with the issue. do not be afraid that i will confuse or disturb myself much about it. you know i have been accustomed to such things, as eels are to be skinned. "while writing, i have been interrupted by a porter who has come seething in with a large box. to open a parcel is a most interesting thing, and the imagination revels with pleasure over its uncertain contents; but the rich and varied stores of this have exceeded expectation. i am glad you sent the certificate of baptism. i do not consider it at all necessary to write by post, as this goes by a most careful hand; but should i not hear next week of your having received it, then i _shall_ write by post. perhaps i may enclose a receipt to mr alcock. he 'hinted,' it seems, 'the danger of placing so much money,' &c. i have not time to let my imagination run loose just now, or else i might have pictured to myself the thousand things which might be done with such a treasure; but i assure you i never should have thought of anything (as things now stand) but the intended destination of it, and of _that_ i shall have enough to think. but you know the fable, or story rather, of the priest and the hostler. i have not time to tell it you now, but perhaps robertson can furnish you with it.... "i remain, my dear mother, your sincerely affectionate son, j. hill burton." * * * * * "edinburgh, _ th december _. "my dear mother,--if you had not been in expectation of such an event, i might have commenced my letter after william's manner, with saying, 'you will be surprised to hear i have passed,' but as the matter stands, i must begin with--'i have the satisfaction of informing you, &c.' it is just about a quarter of an hour since i was examined, the time being deferred from yesterday to to-day. the questions were very easy, at least i thought them so, and i think i answered each. if there were any i did not answer, it was from abstracting my attention from the more trifling to the more difficult branches of the law. so far of my examinations are over; but you must hold in mind that if i do not pass my scots law trial in a year, the £ must still be paid. one thing i have lost by preparation, the chance of gaining the prize in the civil law class. this is given by the greatest number of correct answers to one hundred questions. ten of these have already been answered. _i_ only accomplished _seven_ of them, and consider i have forfeited my chance. seven is a good proportion out of ten difficult questions; but as the person who gains the prize is seldom deficient by above two or three, i do not conceive i have a chance. you may now tell whom you please that i have passed, but need not be publishing it to all the world. had i _not_ passed, i should have been called a rash foolish fellow for attempting it; but as it is, it will be said i have done quite right. you may tell robertson 'and them,' and mrs brown; and tell mrs b. i will now have time to write her, and send a barrel of oysters.... ask robertson and sim and cordiner, and so on, to drink my health. i go to a party at mr constable's to-night, the only place (excepting mr dauney's) i have been engaged at since i arrived. i have had nothing whatever to interfere with my studies for this last fortnight. tell james and mary i can now have time to read their letters. on saturday mr g.b. called on me, asking me to attend a prayer-meeting, and finding i was busy, told me if i saw things in as clear a light as he did, i would see the vanity of attending to these earthly things. i trust, without irreligion, one may say he is mistaken. i write from mr constable's, which is near the post-office. my dinner-hour is long past, and the post is just going, so i must bid you adieu. write me soon, and inform me how you are pleased with the contents of this. my 'passage' only cost me s. of fee, and s. d. as fine for being absent from the society. i hope you are all well, and remain, my dear mother, your affectionate and dutiful son, j. hill burton." * * * * * "edinburgh, _ th december _. "my dear mother,--i supposed you received my last letter, written somewhat hurriedly, but of which i suppose you were able to discover the principal fact. since writing, i have been relaxing myself a little, and going about making a few calls, a thing i have neglected of late; but i beg you will not suppose this to be a hint that i am to grow idle. i intend, indeed, to be very busy all winter. i expect to hear from you soon, and to know what is doing in aberdeen. i called upon mrs h. to-night, who told me my grand-aunt had been very unwell lately. i trust this is a mistake; but not having heard from your quarter for some days, the fact may be so, without my having known it.... i just despatched the oysters, and i would wish that you could send to mr dyce, and inquire whether they have come free of expense, as i left money with the seller to pay the coach-hire. i have not sent you any, as they are rather dear-- s. d. for a barrel with two hundred. now, i presume you might buy the same number in aberdeen for about quarter the sum. "i live here in a sort of honourable solitude--few acquaintances, and few annoyances; it is just the sort of life i like. i am to have one or two of the young men i know to spend saturday evening with me, and to discuss your nice plum-cakes which i have just cut. among them is a young pole--a count lubienski, a very agreeable and intelligent gentleman--a class-fellow. "i may now, by the way, give you the history of my discoveries with respect to the widows' fund, &c., which i presume have proved rather mysteriously annoying to you. when i first heard the report of the matter, i called on the librarian and requested information. he told me that those who did not pass before , had to pay it. _i_ then said it was due at passing the civil law trials, and so, &c.; and then the man shrugged his shoulders, and allowed i had convinced him it was only payable by those who did not pass their _civil law_ trials before , and i said no more about the matter. dining, however, with dauney on tuesday fortnight last, i heard an observation which led me to a different conclusion, so i procured the act as soon as might be, and saw how the matter lay. "presuming i had a whole month before me, i determined to try the thing, notwithstanding the shaking of heads of those to whom i was _obliged_ to communicate it. "finding, on inquiry, that there would be no opportunity of being examined after the th, i will allow i was a little startled, but still stuck fast, and had a sort of feeling i would be able to pass, as i do not like setting about what i cannot perform. "proceeding in my labours, i gathered confidence, and when the day came thought it would be rather hard were i rejected. there were four examined at the same time, and being before myself, i had to stand their statements of the difficulty and minuteness of the questions, and they stared not a little when i told them i had studied the subject for a fortnight and two days; for previous to that time i had been engaged in the _history_ of roman law at college, and had commenced with the principles. after the first question i felt myself secure; yet i will allow i felt a little easy (_i.e. relieved_) when each of the examiners shook hands with me, and told me i had given perfect satisfaction. "the librarian tells me some are rejected in the civil law trials, but _none_ in the scotch law, for which i must next year be prepared. i hope the saving will counter-balance the trouble of raising the money. i believe i shall enclose you my acknowledgment for the £ (the £ goes to the library, or something of that sort, which, though rather apocryphal in my nomenclature, shows the destination of the money). tell the children[ ] if they will write i will answer them soon, and enclose them something. pray remember me to mr alcock, and repeat my sense of obligation to him. tell miss seton i am now on the same shelf with her nephew. remember me to the misses leith and all friends, miss johnstone and mrs wemyss, and all your not very extensive circle.... write me soon; and i remain, my dear mother, your affectionate and dutiful son, j. hill burton. [footnote : dr burton's youngest brother and sister.] "_p.s._--i understand that should i 'kick' before passing advocate, the money will be returned. this would not be the case, however, were i to prove fickle, so i must consider my steps taken, and all thoughts of the aberdeen law as ended; however, i shall finish my apprenticeship in summer. had i time, i should like to go a week or two to the continent (norway or so). j.h.b." chapter iii. beginning of literary life. _particulars regarding passing of civil law trial--letters containing account of first years in edinburgh and beginning of literary life--first marriage--wife's death--publications during married life and widowhood--political economy._ if genius is to be defined as the power of taking a great deal of trouble, dr burton certainly possessed genius. his most remarkable power was that of mental labour. it did not seem to fatigue or excite him. in his best years his capability for mental work was limited only by the need of food and sleep, and he could reduce these needs to a minimum, and apparently without any future reaction. he has told the writer that he did not go to bed at all during the fortnight's preparation for his civil law trial, described in the last chapter, but worked continuously, day and night, living almost entirely on strong tea and coffee. after his examination was over, he felt no actual fatigue or discomfort. he went to bed at his usual hour, but slept till the night of the second day was falling, a period of wellnigh forty-eight hours. he sustained no injury to health, and became entitled to style himself advocate. he never had much practice at the bar; and the need of earning a livelihood first led him to literary publication. the two letters next offered refer to the following years of his life, when the little family was reunited in edinburgh. their mother's absence on a visit to relations in aberdeen gave occasion for the letters. " howard place, south, _ th july _. "my dear mother,--i take the opportunity of spalding's[ ] going to aberdeen to write you a few lines. james received the other day two letters--one from you, and one from mary. [footnote : william spalding, author of a history of english literature and other works; a close friend till his too early death.] "the latter mentioned you had sent a letter for me, which has not yet arrived. i hope to receive it soon, or that you will write me another, giving a more particular account of your health than the letters to james have stated. "i am at all events glad to hear yourself say you are not worse, and hope that a little such exertion and variety as you must meet will tend to strengthen you. we have been going on just as usual; perhaps i have been a little more idle than usual during the past week, being the last of the session. i have had one or two friends in to dine, but did not give them very splendid entertainments. james is most particular in his care of the cat, and we both prowl about occasionally looking for gooseberries. "i caught a hedgehog the other evening, which has been let loose in the garden. i have been unable to discover his place of abode, but we sometimes meet him taking an evening stroll through the walks. he is an object of great interest to the cat, whose curiosity, however, he seems decidedly to baffle.... "i am sorry to hear robertson is unwell, but i suppose he is able to write, and he must really be at the trouble of sending me a letter before i can trouble myself farther about his trunks. "i shall be engaged to-morrow and next day in the justiciary court, and shall be otherwise very busy during the rest of the month.... "by the way, could you ascertain anything about the next circuit? you might perhaps send a note to daniel (alexander daniel, esq., advocate, farquhar's court, upperkirkgate), asking him to call on you and see if he can get me a case or two.... "with kindest remembrances to grand-aunt and mrs brown.--my dear mother, your affectionate son, "john hill burton." the fondness for animals and for gooseberries were lifelong tastes. that for animals did not extend to taking much trouble about them; but dr burton had none of a student's nervousness about slight noises or interruptions. he would have thought a house dull without the sounds of birds or other pets in it, and one of his favourite amusements was to watch the ways of animals. he had examples, in his acquaintance among dogs and cats, of heart and conscience in the two species respectively, too trivial for notice here. dr burton has stated in the letters previously quoted some of the studies which he pursued at college in edinburgh. his contribution to mrs gordon's 'life of professor wilson' furnishes a lively picture of college life and experience in edinburgh. he attended the course of the late sir william hamilton, and gained some distinction in the study of moral philosophy and metaphysics, so much that his appointment as assistant and successor to sir william was seriously considered by himself and others. had he become professor of logic and metaphysics, he would no doubt have discharged the duties of the situation well. at that time of his life, great versatility, along with extraordinary diligence, was the chief characteristic of his mind. in later years he did not pursue the study of mental science. before the period in dr burton's life which we have now reached, he had contributed many articles to the 'aberdeen magazine,' published by his kind old friend lewis smith. these were lately collected and republished by mr smith; but, to judge from such specimens as the writer has seen, they are not, on the whole, of a character to increase dr burton's present reputation. he seems to have tried his hand at every kind of composition--romance, drama, poetry. in the last mentioned he had most success. his sentimental verses are pretty. his romances are so much crowded with incident as to be almost unintelligible. he was true to his own peculiar taste in novels. if a novel was recommended to him he used to inquire, "is there plenty of murder in it?" he disliked almost equally the philosophical novel, and the domestic or social novel. of the former he used to say he preferred to read _either_ philosophy or fiction; he could not endure them combined. to hear even a sentence of the best social or domestic novel read irritated him intolerably. he would ask, "how any one could feel interest in the talk of a set of ordinary silly people, such as one must meet with every day. it was bad enough to hear them talk when one could not help it." quantities of early works, never printed, are still preserved by his family. the habit of writing--_not_ letter-writing--seems to have begun as soon as he could use a pen, and while his orthography--never a strong point--was excessively weak. "the rosted baron" remains a popular work in a small circle. it is a tale, crowded, as its title indicates, with blood and flames. the idea may have been taken from the burning of frendraught. it was written when dr burton was quite a boy, and is now one of a heap of manuscripts in a childish hand on very yellow paper remaining in his repositories. " howard place, south, _ th july _. "my dear mother,-- ... i was extremely glad to receive your letter by post this morning, showing me that you are able to go about, and that you are enjoying yourself as much as possible. james[ ] and i have been getting on very well and very comfortably. [footnote : dr burton's eight years younger brother.] "i am obliged to delay our proposed jaunt till monday next, as i find it impossible to get my work finished before friday, the day i had fixed on. you are aware that i have long delayed an article on criminal trials for the 'westminster review.' i have now set about it seriously, and am resolved not to stir until it is finished, which i hope may be on saturday. i have likewise some things to finish for chambers before i go, and then i think i shall be able to enjoy a few days of a stravaig.... i got a slight interruption last night; just as the twilight came on, alex. smith came in. now i had been living like a hermit for some time, and though he has been more than a fortnight returned i had not seen smith for ten days. the matter was irresistible. we set to and got very jolly together. he complained of having low spirits, but they were soon elevated, and before he went away he was leaping over the chairs, and very anxious to leap out at the window. i received on monday the enclosed letter from miss h. to you, and wrote by way of answer that i should send it to aberdeen intimating my intended visit. by the way, a circumstance of some consequence occurs to me at this moment. if you remain for three weeks in aberdeen and then leave it, you will do so just about a fortnight (i think) before the circuit. might it not be as well to remain until that period, when i might attend the circuit and bring you back? i do not know at this moment the day of the circuit, but the newspapers will inform you. "you may tell robertson [the before mentioned 'joseph'] that his clothes may rot where they are until he chooses to write to me himself about them. i suppose james will write you a household statement some time or other soon. if you wish to amuse yourself with reading the lives i wrote in the last number of the biography,[ ] they are archbishop hamilton, sir william hamilton, dr robert henry, edward henryson, j. bonaventura hepburn, roger hog, john holybush, and henry home of kames.... the gooseberries appear to dwindle as they ripen. i am afraid few will remain for you, but you will find a sufficient number where you are. i intend to _walk_ to dunkeld, and to take two days. al. smith may come a bit with us.... all my little stock of news is exhausted. pray remember me to my grand-aunt, mrs brown, and my aunts; and i am, my dear mother, your affectionate son, "john hill burton." [footnote : the cyclopædia of universal biography.] this letter describes the beginning of the life of literary labour which john hill burton's was to the end. he would not have liked to see it described as labour. he even disliked the word work as applied to his own pursuits, and he did indeed work as easily as most men play. he was unconscious of his own powers of mental application: his mind worked with as much ease as his lungs breathed. the great bulk of his earlier writings must be quite irrecoverable now. he wrote school-books, specially a set of historical abridgments for the use of schools, under the name of dr white; he also compiled much of the information in oliver and boyd's 'almanac,' and almost all the letterpress of billings's 'ecclesiastical and baronial antiquities.' dr burton's whole resources at this time were derived from his pen. he has described this mode of life as a somewhat anxious but by no means unhappy one. the anxiety lay in that in which all sorts of business share--the finding work, looking for employment. the employment once found was agreeable to him. he rapidly acquired a power of mastering almost any subject on which he had to write, though he always looked forward with hope to the time, which eventually came, when he might live securely on a fixed income, free to write from the fulness of his mind and not from outward pressure. the house in howard place was carefully managed by his mother. on a life spent entirely in town proving unsuitable to her health, dr burton took for her a little cottage at brunstane, which served as country quarters for the family for several years. in dr burton married isabella lauder, daughter of captain lauder of flatfield, in perthshire. he then occupied a house in scotland street, and his mother and sister left him to reside in the little cottage called liberton bank. there his beloved and revered mother died, in . his sister still lives in the cottage with a little flock of young relatives which her kindness has gathered around her. dr burton's first appearance in independent authorship was in , when he published his 'life and correspondence of david hume.' this work at once gained for him a recognised position among men of letters. in he published a volume containing the lives of simon lord lovat and duncan forbes of culloden. this is an eminently readable work, as are all his minor productions. literary persons did not consider its merits quite equal to the promise given in its predecessor. during these years much of the spare time left by the need of frequent publication was filled by the task of editing mr jeremy bentham's literary remains, to which dr burton was joint editor along with dr (afterwards sir john), bowring. he published, as a precursor to the greater work, one styled 'benthamiana; an introduction to the works of jeremy bentham.' in he wrote for messrs chambers a little book entitled 'political and social economy: its practical application.' may the writer here be permitted to state that she considers this small and little-noticed work the best of all her husband's productions? though the subject is usually considered particularly dry, there is an ease, rapidity, firmness, and completeness in this little book, which carries the reader on in spite of himself or his prejudices. the book was first published in two small paper-covered volumes. the writer by chance got possession of the first, which ended without even a full stop; she, then a young girl of not particularly studious habits, having read it, its arguments so filled her mind, that she could not rest till, out of her not over-abundant pocket-money, she had purchased the other volume. the author was then unknown to her. he was afterwards gratified by hearing this testimony to the value of a work which he himself did not esteem so highly as his others. it may not be counted impertinent to repeat it here, for this reason, that the little book in question was intended as a popular treatise, not addressed to the learned, but to the unlearned. it fulfils to perfection the idea of what such a treatise should be. there is in the style not the slightest approach to condescension, or that writing down to the meaner capacity which must always offend an adult student; while the first principles of the science discussed are stated with such lucidity, that his capacity must be mean indeed who cannot grasp them, and they are illustrated by statistics which will remain always interesting, even to the best informed. probably the particular charm of the book arises from its having been written _currente calamo_. the information had been all previously stored in the author's mind before he ever thought of writing it. when he began to write, it poured forth without effort or any reference to authorities. the book was written in some marvellously short time,--the writer fears now to say how short. it was counted in days. it would have been quite contrary to dr burton's principles to boast of rapidity of composition. his greater works are monuments of industry. dr burton's information on economic subjects had probably been acquired during his studies and correspondence about the abolition of the corn laws. he was interim editor of the 'scotsman' at an early period of the corn-law agitation, and during his editorship committed the journal to anti-corn-law principles. he was at that time in correspondence with mr cobden, whom he visited in lancashire, and who tried to induce him to remove to that part of the world for the purpose of editing an anti-corn-law newspaper. mrs burton was fond of society, and her husband had not then become positively averse to it. his acquaintance in edinburgh gradually increased. it included lord jeffrey and his family, lord murray, who remained a fast friend during his life, and all the remaining members of the old edinburgh circle. about the year , the writer first saw dr burton, accompanied by his wife, as guests at one of those late evening parties given by mrs jeffrey during the last years of her husband's life--a very faint reflection of the earlier hospitalities of craigcrook and moray place. in dr burton left scotland street for a house in royal crescent, better suited for occasional reception than the other. but in the heaviest blow of his life fell on him in the loss of his wife. his five married years had been a period of perfect domestic happiness. he found himself left with three infant daughters; their guide and his gone from him. he has described his sufferings at this time to the writer as fully realising to him the common phrase, "a broken heart." as each day passed, and each night returned, he rose and lay down with the feeling that his heart was broken. he of course shunned all society, and never again recovered any real zest for it. he sometimes thought of imitating his grandfather under like circumstances with a difference--he thought of flying, not to london, but to the backwoods of america, or some place where he should never see a white face, and becoming a "wild man," a savage--a personage of whom he always believed himself to share many of the characteristics. only consideration for his little girls deterred him from such a course. although an excessively affectionate parent, dr burton had no pleasure in the company of children, owing to his want of any system with them. he could not, according to the common phrase, "manage" children at all--a necessary art for any one who has much of their company. he secured the services of a former governess of his wife, a miss wade, as care-taker of his children; and, as soon as he could, removed from the house in royal crescent to a small one in castle street, and afterwards, from a wish to let his children amuse themselves with little gardens of their own, to one in ann street. he has told the writer's father, cosmo innes, then his most intimate friend, that the first relief to his oppressed spirits was obtained from the nearest realisation of the "wild man" life to be found within his own country. he took long walks in all weathers, sometimes walking all night as well as all day, at times with a companion, oftener with none. the late alexander russel, then editor of the 'scotsman,' was his companion in some of these rambles, joseph robertson in others, and cosmo innes in others. it was mr russel who accompanied him in the run across ireland, which took place about this time, and of which his printed sketch is one of the liveliest of his minor writings. his pace was so rapid, and his powers of walking so inexhaustible, that with the lapse of years it became more and more difficult to find a companion who could keep up with him. he has described to mr innes one particular walk taken alone to the waterfall called the grey mare's tail. the whole excursion was performed in pitiless rain and wind, which gave the waterfall every advantage, and it was while battling with the elements in climbing the hill to view it that dr burton felt the first return of his natural elasticity of spirit. he soon found also the best medicine of all in hard work. the years between the death of his first wife and his second marriage were the most active of his literary life, at least in the line of periodical literature. he contributed regularly to 'blackwood's magazine,' besides other periodicals. in he published narratives from criminal trials in scotland. in a 'treatise on the law of bankruptcy in scotland,' and in the same year his 'history of scotland from the revolution to the extinction of the last jacobite rebellion.' chapter iv. second stage of literary life. _appointed secretary to the prison board--second marriage--daily life--death of infant child--first volunteers--removal to craighouse._ in dr burton was appointed secretary to the prison board, at a salary of £ per annum, and was thus relieved of the necessity, which had pressed on him for more than twenty years, of maintaining himself by his pen. on his appointment to this office he removed from ann street to the house then lauriston place, the site of which is now occupied by the simpson memorial hospital. in the situation was half rural. the house stood in a good old-fashioned garden of its own, beyond which lay a field containing some old trees; and the house possessed good offices, stables, &c., which were soon adapted to a workshop for dr burton himself, and rabbit and pigeon houses for his children. the productiveness of the garden was marred by incursions of rabbits,--_not_ the children's pets, but wild rabbits, however incredible that may appear, now that the situation has got so entirely separated from the country by new buildings. at that time there was no building between lauriston place and morningside. dr burton, while a widower, had become a more and more frequent visitor at the house of cosmo innes in inverleith row. the writer does not recollect ever seeing him there along with other company--he preferred finding the family alone. she has met him occasionally in company in other houses--memorably in that of the late mrs cunningham, lord cunningham's widow--but never, so far as she can remember, in that of her father. he was at that time considered a good talker--his company was sought for the sake of his conversation. his defect in conversation was that he was a bad listener. his own part was well sustained. his enormous store of varied information poured forth naturally and easily, and was interspersed with a wonderful stock of lively anecdotes and jokes. but he always lacked that greatest power of the conversationalist, that subtle ready sympathy which draws forth the best powers of others. he was invaluable at a dull dinner-table, furnishing the whole _frais de la conversation_ himself; but he never probably appeared to quite such advantage as in the family party at inverleith row. his long walks with mr innes, sometimes on a saturday, often on a sunday, generally ended by his accepting the proffered invitation to dinner on his return. as he was the only guest, nothing could be more suitable or delightful than his amusing the whole circle during the whole time of his stay; and he has himself stated that his attention was first drawn to a shy and particularly silent girl by her irresistible outbursts of laughter at his stories, which outbursts in their turn encouraged him to pour forth story after story of his vast repertory in that sort. on the d of august john hill burton married katharine innes as his second wife. he had by that time become accustomed to combine office with literary work, and, with the extraordinary activity and adaptability of his intellect, found them helpful to each other. about the time of his second marriage he conceived the project of his complete 'history of scotland,' and directed his studies and investigations towards its execution, continuing, as his manner was, to throw off slight foretastes of his greater work as articles for 'blackwood,' &c. his mode of life at that time was to repair to the office of the prison board, in george street, about eleven. he remained there till four, and made it matter of conscience neither to do any ex-official writing, nor to receive ex-official visits during these hours. he gave his undivided attention to the duties of his office, but has often said that these made him a better historian than he could have been without them. he conceived it highly useful for every literary man, but especially for a historian, to get acquainted with official forms and business. he has himself expressed this opinion fully in his printed works. returning from his office to dinner at five, he would, after dinner, and after a little family chat in the drawing-room, retire to the library for twenty minutes or half an hour's perusal of a novel as mental rest. his taste in novels has been already described. although he would read only those called exciting, they did not apparently excite him, for he read them as slowly as if he was learning them by heart. he would return to the drawing-room to drink a large cup of extremely strong tea, then again retire to the library to commence his day of literary work about eight in the evening. he would read or write without cessation, and without the least appearance of fatigue or excitement, till one or two in the morning. always an excellent sleeper, he would go to bed and to sleep till nine or ten of the same morning, seldom joining the family breakfast, but breakfasting by himself immediately before going to his office. in lauriston place three more children were born to dr burton, a son and two daughters. when the elder of the two little girls was hardly a year old the whole nursery sickened, first of measles, then of hooping-cough. little rose, the baby, being recommended change of air, the family went to south queensferry, and there the baby died, and was buried in dalmeny churchyard. some earlier associations had attached both dr burton and his wife to the neighbourhood; and during his latter years dr burton frequently alluded to this little baby, the only child he lost, being laid there,--and expressed a wish that when their time came, his wife and he should lie there also. his wish was carried out in his own case. in july of the following year the first company of volunteers formed in scotland exercised in the field at lauriston place. dr burton sympathised strongly in the volunteer movement, and joined the advocates' corps. though never seriously apprehensive of an invasion of our coasts, he considered it proper that we should increase our military strength while foreign nations were so enormously augmenting theirs. he drilled regularly with the volunteers while they continued to assemble in his field, and until an accident had temporarily lamed him. he marched past the queen on the brilliant sunny day of the first great volunteer review in the queen's park in , his wife looking on in the company of his old friend sir john kincaid, then an inspector of prisons. lauriston place was considered sufficiently rural to obviate the necessity of going to the country, and during the six years of its occupancy the family seldom left it. dr burton gave his wife a little pony-carriage, by means of which sea-bathing could be had, when desired, from lauriston place. during the year , the new buildings in the neighbourhood spoiled the situation of the house, so as to render it hardly habitable. the field where the volunteers had drilled was built upon almost up to the windows of the house. to escape these disagreeables, a cottage at lochgoilhead was taken for august and september, and much enjoyed by the whole family. a complete removal was also determined on for the following whitsuntide. an old house near the braid hills had been a childish haunt of his wife's, and it had been a childish dream of hers to repair that house, then a ruin, and live in it. the situation of the place seemed, and seems to her, the finest in the neighbourhood of edinburgh, and the house was a historical one of no small interest. the greatest part of it had been built in the year queen mary married darnley ( ), but part of the building was very much older; a subterranean passage especially, of considerable length, well arched, too narrow for a sally-port, unaccountable therefore by any other theory, dr burton always believed as old as the romans. craighouse had been besieged by queen mary's son in person, and had stood the siege and resisted the king.[ ] the then laird of craighouse, whose name was kincaid, ran away with a widow, who was a royal ward, and married her in spite of the king; whether with or without the lady's own consent no record condescends to specify. the laird was afterwards nearly ruined by a fine, of which a part consisted of a favourite _nag_, which it would appear king jamie had been personally acquainted with and coveted. [footnote : see pitcairn's criminal trials.] the distance of craighouse from the town was not great--nothing as a walk to such walkers as dr burton and all his family; but it was enough to interfere seriously with evening engagements. once home from business, it was an effort to return again to the town to dine or attend any sort of social gathering. the thing was not impossible, but its difficulty served as too good an excuse for dr burton's increasing unsociability. for a time, while some of the old circle still survived, dr burton saw them with pleasure at his own table, but he too early adopted a determination--which no one should ever adopt--to make no new friends. almost all his old friends predeceased him, and he found himself thrown entirely on the society of his own family. but to return. from a romantic wish to give his wife what he imagined she desired, dr burton returned from lochgoilhead, leaving his family there, took all the steps for obtaining a lease of craighouse in their absence, and on their return presented his wife, as her birthday gift, with the keys of craighouse--a huge bunch of antique keys, some of them with picturesque old handles. mrs burton and all her family loved their beautiful home as much as any home ever was loved. they occupied it for seventeen years. during the exceptionally severe winter of - , the most essential repairs were executed on the old house, and the family moved into it in march. the th of march was long kept by them as a festival--the anniversary of the day on which they drove out to take possession of craighouse in a spring snowstorm. they had resolved to get possession before the snowdrops, with which the beautiful avenue was carpeted, should be over; and they did--but the snowdrops were buried in snow. [illustration: _craighouse._] chapter v. third stage of literary life. _craighouse--birth and marriages--office and literary work--"perth days"--captain speke--library--athenæum--historiographership--unsociability and hospitality--st albans--strasburg--london--stories, jokes, and nonsense-verses._ at craighouse a second son was born to dr burton; his seventh and youngest child. there also his eldest and his third daughters married; the younger, matilda lauder, in june , becoming the wife of william lennox cleland, of adelaide, south australia; the elder, isabella jessie, that of james rodger, m.d., of aberdeen, in april . the whole of the period at craighouse was one of active literary as well as official life. dr burton walked daily to the office of prisons, no longer to perform the duty of secretary, but that of manager, at the same salary he had enjoyed as secretary. the transference of the principal part of the duty to london altered his position but slightly. both before and after this change a monthly visit to the general prison at perth was part of his duty. his wife occasionally accompanied him in these excursions, and by experience can judge of the fatigue, or rather the exertion without fatigue, which he underwent in them. at home dr burton was never an early riser, but in travelling he willingly performed a first stage before breakfast. on his "perth days," in going from craighouse he was obliged to be astir by four in the morning. his wife usually drove him to the railway station in time to catch a train starting at six. sometimes he would consent to be met again on the arrival of the latest return train at night and driven home; generally he preferred walking home, after a call at his office, to see if anything there required his attention. he thus arrived at perth by breakfast-time; spent the whole day in passing from cell to cell of the many hundred prisoners there confined, interrogating each of them, and taking notes of anything requiring notice; and reached home not till nearly midnight, yet never appearing at all fatigued. latterly he gave up this great effort and did not return till the following day, sleeping in a hotel at perth on the occasions of his official visits. in he published the first four volumes of his 'history of scotland, from agricola's invasion to the revolution of ,' and in other three volumes, completing the work, and, together with the portion published in , forming a complete narrative of scotch history from the earliest times down to the suppression of the jacobite insurrection of ' . as offshoots from his great work, he published, first in 'blackwood's magazine,' and then, with some additions, in volume shape, two pleasant books--the 'book-hunter' and the 'scot abroad,'--besides many other slighter works. during these years he was often obliged to refuse his pen for fugitive writing, from unwillingness to interrupt his more serious tasks. the following is a note declining, very characteristically, an application of the kind from his valued friend, mr russel, editor of the 'scotsman':-- "_ th august ._ "my dear russel,--what am i expected to do with the cat stane? not to review it, i hope. i have had a sniff of it already in the proceedings of the antiquarian society. it is a brilliant specimen of the pedantic pottering of the learned body which enables me to append to my name the a.s.s., fraudulently inverted into s.s.a. such twaddle always excites me into feverishness. i haven't nerve for it. "i see the grandfather of hengist and horsa is made out very clearly, but there seem insuperable difficulties in proving hengist and horsa themselves. this strikes me as a characteristic of the author's[ ] profession. he has to deal with parents actual and possible, but the offspring are seen evanescently, often loom in the distance, and sometimes can't be got to exist even when most desired.--yours truly, j.h. burton." [footnote : the late professor simpson.] dr simpson's really universal genius led him pretty deeply into archæology, in which he sometimes, as on the present occasion, showed more zeal than knowledge. one of the first summers at craighouse was enlivened by a long visit from the african traveller, captain speke. dr burton met with him in the hospitable house of his friendly publisher, the late john blackwood, at strathtyrum. captain speke was then preparing, or endeavouring to prepare, for the press, his book, the 'discovery of the source of the nile.' the truly gallant captain being more practised in exploring than in writing, mr blackwood suggested his going home with dr burton, that he might have the benefit of his advice in the formation of his materials into a book. the family at craighouse became warmly attached to their guest. he endeared himself by his simple unassuming character, and a peculiar sweetness of temper. the sorrow at craighouse was great on hearing, during the following autumn, of his most lamentable death. he who had escaped so many dangers--was so well accustomed to firearms--accidentally shot by his own gun while partridge-shooting near his paternal home! while at craighouse, dr burton's library gradually increased from being an ordinary room full of books, to a collection numbering about , volumes. from his earliest years dr burton had been a collector of books, and craighouse led to the increase of his collection in two ways. the distance from the town was an impediment to the use of the advocates' library in his historical studies, and there was space at craighouse for any number of books. there were always rooms which could be taken into occupation when wanted; and to his life's end it was a favourite amusement of dr burton's to construct and erect shelves for his books. in an article in 'blackwood's magazine' for august , there occurs the following lively description of the impression made by the library on the mind of a visitor. before the passage quoted was published, dr burton had left craighouse for morton house, but the description evidently refers to craighouse:-- "we have had the privilege of dropping in upon him [dr burton clearly being meant, though not named] in what we might call his lair, if the word did not sound disrespectful. it was in a venerable, half-castellated, ivy-grown manor-house, among avenues of ancient trees, where the light had first to struggle through the foliage before it fell on the narrow windows, in walls that were many feet in thickness. and seldom, surely, has so rich a collection been stowed away in so strange a suite of rooms. rooms, indeed, are hardly the word. the central point, where the proprietor wrote and studied, was a vaulted chamber, and all around was a labyrinth of passages to which you mounted or descended by a step or two; of odd nooks and sombre little corridors, and tiny apartments squeezed aside into corners, and lighted either from the corridor or by a lancet-window or a loophole. the floors were of polished oak or deal; the ceilings of stone or whitewashed; and as to the walls, you could see nothing of them for the panelling of shelves and the backs of the volumes. it was books--books--books--everywhere; the brilliant modern binding of recent works relieving the dull and far more appropriate tints of work-worn leather and time-stained vellum. to the visitor it seemed confusion worse confounded; though wherever his glance happened to fall, he had assurance of the treasures heaped at random around him. but his host carried the clue to the labyrinth in his brain, and could lay his hand on the spur of the moment on the book he happened to want. and with the wonders he had to offer for your admiration, you forgot the flight of time, till you woke up from your abstraction in the enchanted library, to inquire about the manuscript that was in course of publication." in spring dr burton generally spent some time in london, partly on official business, partly in literary research at the british museum. he was elected a member of the athenæum club without application or ballot, an honour which he valued highly. he delighted in the dignified and literary tone of the club, and frequented it much when in london. about the office of historiographer-royal becoming vacant, it was bestowed on dr burton, with a salary of £ per annum, thus bringing his annual income to nearly £ , instead of £ . the compliment was enhanced by the fact of a conservative ministry being then in office. dr burton was a decided, though not aggressive, liberal in politics. though personally more and more unsociable as years advanced, dr burton was excessively hospitable. he could not bear that any person, rich or poor, should leave his house unrefreshed, and he made both servants and children welcome to see their friends if these did not trespass on his time. a nervous inquiry in later years, if he heard of any guest being expected, was, "he, or she, will not meddle with me, will he?" assured that the privacy of his library would be respected, any one was free to the rest of the house; and if they showed no disposition to intrude, dr burton would gradually become tame to them, and in some few instances appear to enjoy a temporary addition to the family circle. such instances were, however, rare and ever rarer. he was strongly attached to his home and home circle, and preferred having no addition to it. a very partial parent to all his children, his sons were his special pride and happiness. during the first years of craighouse, his wife was able to accompany him in those long rambles on the pentlands which were his favourite amusement. afterwards, when she was unable for the exertion, he found pleasant companions in his sons. several times during those years he spent some weeks on the continent. he generally wrote daily during all absences, but his letters, as already said, were for the most part brief,--chiefly craving for news from home, which was also written for him daily. if any accident prevented his receiving his daily letter, he expressed agonies of apprehension about all possible or impossible ills. in regard to the health of his family he was painfully anxious and apprehensive. the subjoined letters are offered as specimens of his correspondence. "athenÆum club, _ th june _. "my dear willie,[ ]--as you and i have often gone geologising together, i'll tell you how i got on at st albans, where, i suppose you know, i saw cousin william.[ ] you know the conglomerates. they are generally hard little stones in a casing of sandstone, lime, or other soft matter. i have known for thirty years, in a lapidary's window in perth, a large piece of conglomerate, where all is hard and flinty, taking a beautiful polish. after much inquiry i found that this was got in hertfordshire, where st albans is. i could get no account of any rock of it, however. but as there was a committee of agriculturists smoking in the inn every evening, i joined them, and got my information. [footnote : dr burton's eldest son, then a boy of fifteen.] [footnote : william burton, artist, son of dr burton's eldest brother.] "it always occurs in cakes under the soil, and is very troublesome in ploughing. it is called the 'mother stone,' or the 'breeding stone,' from a supposition that it is the nursery of all the flints. when its nodules grow large enough, they set up as flints on their own account. there is therefore a great desire to extirpate it from the fields, and it might be found by their sides, or, as one man said, 'you may foind it anywheres, and you maint never foind it nowheres.' so i prowled about and got plenty, chipping off as much as i could conveniently carry. "tell tucky and cos[ ] all this. i'm sure it will amuse them.--your affectionate papa." [footnote : his two younger children.] * * * * * "strasburg, _ th august _. "my dear cosmo,[ ]--you have been very industrious, and have earned your holidays, so i hope you will have a good swing of them before we begin our latin exercises. meanwhile i am going to give you a little lesson in history and geography suggested by my travels. [footnote : dr burton's youngest son, eleven or twelve years old.] "look at some map containing holland. you find me land at rotterdam, and go round by arnheim to nymegen. this town used to be strongly fortified. i rambled in the remains of the fortifications, like small hills and valleys covered with bright grass. i saw a quantity of fine mushrooms growing in them, and the tall yellow flowers known as samson's rod. the reason of the fortification is this. the hollanders were an industrious, frugal people, who made a fruitful country out of swamps and sand. nymegen is in the border. it is the gate, as it were, to holland, and the fortifications kept the gate shut against enemies. "in the year there reigned in france louis xiv., called louis the grand. he had greatly enlarged his dominions, taking one country after another. he possessed the whole between holland and france, and now he was to besiege nymegen and take holland. the hollanders said to the british: 'we have been good friends; you are strong. surely you will not let this cruel king rob us of the fruits of our industry? besides, if louis takes one country after another he will be so strong that you will not be able to resist him--it is your interest as well as ours. come and help us in our sore distress.' "so queen anne sent over an army under marlborough. not only did he save nymegen, but he took from king louis the chief fortified town he had in the neighbourhood--venlo,--and many others along the river maas or meuse. there was an alliance with the germans, and when king louis heard that a german army was going to join the british he said, 'together they will be too strong for me, let us destroy the german army in the first place.' for this purpose he sent an army to the danube. "for reasons i may tell you afterwards, all great battles are fought on flat ground. marlborough thought that if he could get his army over the hills and into the plains of the danube, he could fight the french before they destroyed the germans. accordingly he crossed what is called the 'watershed' between the rhine and the danube. you will find it at geislingen, between heidelberg and here. there is always high ground, and generally a valley in it at the sources of streams running in different directions. you may see this in the pentlands, where the burns on one side run into the water of leith, and those on the other into the esk." the end of this letter has unfortunately been lost. the fragment above quoted serves to illustrate dr burton's strong interest in military history. his accounts of battles and battle-fields are allowed to be the most striking parts of his histories. his interest in such subjects arose partly from the faint infantile recollections already described. he purchased and studied works on fortification and military strategy. "athenÆum club, pall mall, s.w., _ th april _. "my dear love,[ ]--i got this morning your letter of tuesday; very pleasant and refreshing, and more than once read over. but the exile can't hear too much from home, especially when the conditions are critical,[ ] and i must not yet count that all critical conditions are at an end; so pray don't let a day pass without something being posted to me, though it should be but a card with the briefest inscription. [footnote : this letter is addressed to the writer.] [footnote : his youngest daughter had had a mild attack of scarlet fever, from which she was completely recovered before he left home.] "i dined yesterday with the vindicator,[ ] when horne, who you know is now dean of faculty, was in all his glory. on monday i dined with everest, dined also with ellice and colonel mure, the member for renfrewshire--rather too much gaiety, but i have no other engagement. i don't yet see when i shall get away, but will let you know whenever i myself know. [footnote : mr hosack, author of an ingenious and exhaustive work, 'mary queen of scots and her accusers,' in which he vindicates the character of queen mary. notwithstanding their difference of opinion on that fruitful subject of dispute, the two authors were fast friends.] "i sent will an engineering work yesterday, which i hope will profit and please him.--love to all from your affectionate j.h. burton." constitutionally irritable, energetic, and utterly persistent, dr burton did not know what dulness or depression of spirits was. with grief he was indeed acquainted, and while such a feeling lasted it engrossed him; but his spirits were naturally elastic, and both by nature and on principle he discouraged in himself and others any dwelling on the sad or pathetic aspects of life. he has said that the nearest approach he had ever felt to low spirits was when he had finished some great work, and had not yet begun another. such blanks in his life were short, and ever shorter and fewer. he found necessary excitement in his work, and, when he joined his family, needed no particular encouragement or inducement to lead him to talk either about what he was doing or something else. as he advanced in years his family learned more and more to leave the choice of subjects of conversation entirely to him. any subject not chosen by himself was apt to prove irritating. sometimes even his own did. often his irritations were amusing. if his wife, or some one else, chose to affect a ludicrous degree of ignorance on some of his special subjects, they might probably elicit a volley of information which would not have been vouchsafed to them in answer to a serious question. old reminiscences sometimes led on to those laughable sayings in which dr burton's talk was rich. for instance,--he had once rented an old inn at pettycur as summer quarters, and a favourite amusement, both at the time and afterwards, was to imagine and describe the visitors who might have called on him there in ignorance of the changed destination of the house. he would imagine and mimic the tones of a drouthy highland drover demanding refreshment,--which, by the way, he would have been sure to get had he so applied to dr burton; of an entirely drunk lowlander, persisting in representing himself as a _bonâ fide_ traveller; of a highly conservative old nobleman, posting up to town with his carriage-and-four in spite of railways: this story ended with, "a wicked and perverse generation shall come seeking a _sign_, and no sign shall be given them." he delighted in a sort of practical bull, or confusion of ideas, such as--"one may never have a _widow_ all his _life_." a favourite story was of a too hospitable elder in a country parish, who invited his minister to sup and spend the night in his house without his wife's consent. the wife sees a male figure in the darkish entrance of the house, and in her anger deals him a violent blow on the head with the family bible, ejaculating, "that's for asking him to stay a' nicht." the husband, from an inner room, exclaims, "eh, woman, ye have felled the minister!" on which the virago says _to her victim_, "my dear, i thocht it was yersel'!" ministers and clergy of all denominations are often the text of jokes. another story referred to an episcopal clergyman, who was frequently too late in reaching his church, and whose curate on such occasions began to read the morning service instead of him, and had reached in one of the lessons the well-known verse, st john xiv. , "i am the way, and the truth, and the life," when his ecclesiastical superior, panting with exertion, reaches the reading-desk, pushes his curate from his place, and intones, "_i_ am the way, and the truth, and the life," adding a strictly private aside to his curate, "_you_ the way, and the truth, and the life, indeed!" another minister arriving at church drenched with rain, and claiming sympathy from his wife, is told by her to "gang up into the pu'pit; ye'll be dry eneuch there." a story in a different spirit, said to have been reported to him by lord cockburn, is ascribed to a scotch shepherd. a set of gentlemen were imprecating the prevailing east wind, and asked the shepherd if he could in any way defend that prevalent evil of his country. "ay, sirs," said he; "it weets the sod, it slocks the yows [_i.e._, quenches the thirst of the ewes], and it's god's wull." many aberdeenshire stories are valueless without dr burton's aberdeen accent, which he could intensify at pleasure. a reminiscence of college days at aberdeen was of one of the professors there trying to discipline his unruly class, who came tumbling in while the professor was opening proceedings by reciting the lord's prayer in latin, according to custom, and wound up his "in secula seculorum, amen," with "quis loupavit ower the factions [aberdeen for forms or benches], ille solvit doon a saxpence." two neat little _mots_ relate, the one to the familiar subject of london eggs, the other, to the name of his youngest son. london grocers--as all londoners know--label their eggs _fresh eggs_, and _new-laid eggs_, only the respective prices of the different sorts or hard-bought experience pointing to the signification of the two appellations. dr burton on hearing this, said, "oh, of course the _new-laid eggs_ become _fresh_ in time." the writer wished to bestow the name of david on her youngest son, in addition to that of cosmo, in memory of her husband's young brother david, whom she had heard described as an interesting child at the time of his early death. dr burton opposed this wish, not desiring to diminish the compliment to the child's grandfather and name-father, cosmo innes. the child was ultimately christened cosmo innes--thus, as his father said, remaining _entirely cosmetic_. two legal stories were told respectively of lord ----and lord corehouse:-- lord ---- is pronouncing sentence on an assassin who had stabbed a soldier: "you did not only maliciously, wickedly, and feloniously stab or cut his person, thereby depriving him of his life, but did also sever the band of his military breeches, which are her majesty's." lord corehouse is listening to the pleading of an advocate who describes some performance which, as he says, "could be done as easily as your lordship could leap out of your breeches." lord corehouse interrupts: "mr ----, the saltatory feat which you are pleased to ascribe to me is not one which i have ever attempted, and i do not feel sure that if i did i could perform it with any of that ease which you suppose." enough, perhaps, of such reminiscences, which, written, may fail altogether of their effect when spoken. the writer recollects vaguely an immense number, of which confused images present themselves. crocodiles with their hands in their breeches-pockets. persons throwing off their coats and waistcoats like newfoundland dogs. a master and man sleeping; master on the boards a-top, and the man in the bed; master remarking in the morning he would have preferred the lower station, but for the concetty o' the thing. coming down early one morning in great spirits at the prospect of a long day's outing with his son, he said to the boy-- "i am not an early riser, as you may surmise, sir; but when i'm on a ploy, sir, i feel just like a boy, sir." no chance rhyme or pun, bad, good, or indifferent, was let slip, however much taking it up might interrupt the subject under discussion. the following childish little poem seems worth preservation now. it was presented to his daughter matilda on the death of her little dog. she happening to visit a relative, who was physician in a lunatic asylum, and showing the little poem, it was printed in the 'asylum magazine,' from which it was copied into the 'animal world:' lament for foxey. poor little foxey, with your coaxy little way, you're gone for aye. i'll no longer hark to your garrulous bark, see the fleeching grimace of your comical face, nor be touched by your yelping when you get a skelping. you had no orthodoxy poor foxey, nor a commanding spirit, nor any great merit. the reason for sorrow, then, what is it? just that you're missed, and that's all that shall befall the rest of us, even the best of us. an empty chair somewhere, to be filled by another some day or other. sick cur or hero in his prime, it's a matter of time. the world is growing, growing, the blank is going, going, and will be gone anon. chapter vi. literary life (_continued_). _illness--resignation of office--sale of craighouse--morton--domestic life--'queen anne'--letters about ballad-lore--singular incident connected with it--letters from abroad._ in the end of the year dr burton had the first severe illness of his life. on the th day of december of that year, mrs cunningham, widow of lord cunningham, died at morton house, which had been the summer home of her twenty years of widowhood, and at which illness had detained her during the winter of . the editor of the 'scotsman' applied to dr burton for an obituary notice of mrs cunningham--an old friend of his, and still older of his wife. he was then too ill to be applied to on any subject, or to be told of his old friend's death. for several days at that time he was alarmingly ill from bronchitis, accompanied by unusually high fever. this passed off but slowly. the bodily health and strength appeared to be fully restored at the end of a few weeks, but there was an undefinable change. shortly after this illness, though not in consequence of it, dr burton resigned his office of prison manager. he retired on an allowance of two-thirds of his former salary, remaining chairman of the board of prisons and statistics, of which he was an honorary member. he had not fully regained strength when, to the unspeakable sorrow of its inmates, they learned that craighouse was sold to the committee of the lunatic asylum, was to be immediately adapted to the purposes of an asylum, and that they must quit it at whitsuntide. they had held it first on a lease, then on a second short lease, but afterwards had merely rented it from year to year, not imagining that any other tenant would covet it with all its pretty heavy responsibilities. dr burton had, from his natural irritability, sometimes said he would prefer to be elsewhere; but when it came to finding some other place which would hold his books--some place not too far to move them to--to the abandonment of his own carpentery, &c.,--he lamented the departure as much as others. his one proviso as to the new abode was, that it was not to be in the town, or nearer the town than craighouse. the whole spring dr burton's family sought in all directions for a suitable abode, and at last pitched on that left vacant by mrs cunningham's death as most nearly combining all the various requisites. on the th of may the flitting from craighouse to morton was completed. morton is fully two miles farther from edinburgh than craighouse, the approach to it from the town being a continuous ascent on to a shoulder of the pentlands. its situation is pretty and entirely rural, but with nothing of the unrivalled beauty of that of craighouse, which commanded a view extending from north berwick law to ben lomond, yet lay well sheltered among its lovely hills and splendid trees. the great drawback of morton house, for dr burton's family, lay in the greater distance from the town. the time spent in travelling the up-hill road was a serious loss, to say nothing of the fatigue. dr burton never would allow this to be a disadvantage, so far as he was concerned, but the writer is persuaded it was seriously prejudicial to his health. during the summer of this year dr burton was invited to oxford to receive the honour of a d.c.l. degree. he went, and was highly delighted with his visit. he had some years previously received a similar compliment from the university of edinburgh. dr burton, by way of setting a good example to his family, who continued to lament the loss of craighouse, attached himself excessively to morton. he was farther attached to it by the recollection of having been mrs cunningham's guest there. it was one of the very few houses at which he occasionally dined after he went to craighouse. soon after he had gone to craighouse, he formed a resolution against dining out _in the town_. his neighbours in the country were so few that he had no reason to dread too frequent invitations from them; and he occasionally dined, as has been said, with mrs cunningham at morton, and with his nearest neighbour, equally at craighouse as at morton, mr john skelton, at the beautiful hermitage of braid. dr burton was generally invited by the latter to meet his distinguished friend, the historian, mr anthony froude. he may during these years have been once or twice a guest at colinton house, then inhabited by lord dunfermline, and as often at bonally, the house of his old friend the late professor hodgson. during his residence at morton, dr burton and his family dined with their neighbours, mr and mrs stevenson, at swanston cottage, once. on one occasion he was persuaded to actually _drive_ with his wife as far as duddingston, where he dined and enjoyed a pleasant summer evening with professor and mrs laurie and their family. once he went still farther and dined with his old friend mr jenner, at easter duddingston. mr jenner and he had been associated with lord murray, angus fletcher, and others, in the foundation of the first ragged school, as it was then called, in edinburgh, and had remained friends ever since. on the committee of the ragged school splitting up on the question of religious instruction, all the gentlemen named had espoused the principle carried out in the united industrial school--that of combined secular and separate religious instruction. with these exceptions, and that of a very few visitors at home, the life at morton was entirely domestic. during the whole of his three years' stay at morton, dr burton always hoped to induce the remains of his circle of old friends to dine with him once more. they had become few indeed--were limited to professor blackie and dr john brown. he never succeeded in persuading these gentlemen to come. insuperable difficulties on one side or other always intervened. during these three years there never was any social gathering at morton except entertainments which dr burton's family gave to the country people, and which sometimes included a few young friends as assistants. dr burton was no longer called on to visit his office daily. to attend the board meetings once a-week was sufficient. as soon as he had finished his 'history of scotland' in , he conceived the project of writing a 'history of the reign of queen anne.' it was an ambitious attempt. lord macaulay's too early death had prevented his performing the task, and mr thackeray was understood to have contemplated it, but to have shrunk from its vastness. dr burton had been collecting material for this work in all his summer tours during the past ten years, and in all his visits to the british museum while in london. he had written a great part of it before he was interrupted by his illness in the end of ' , and the removal from craighouse early in ' . the most marked change in dr burton after that illness was in his impaired power of mental application. his general health was good, even strong; he still enjoyed long rambles with his sons, and walked to town and back at his former rapid rate; but now that he had no longer any office work, now that he might sit and read or write all day if he would, he did not do so. instead of, as formerly, resenting all interruption while engaged in his library, he seemed to seek every excuse for leaving it and his literary occupation. though not rising earlier than formerly, he would go to bed comparatively early, and several times a-day would propose to his wife to go to visit her flowers, to do a little gardening, to go and feed the fowls--in short, to share in any little diversion going. a visit of the writer's to her sister in argyleshire gave occasion for the following notes on ballad-lore, in which major mackay of carskey, mrs burton's brother-in-law, was also strong:-- "morton, _ d may _. "my dear love,--i recollect having come across the ballad incident you mention upwards of fifty years ago, when i was zealous in ballad-lore. if it had been in one of those accepted as genuine and poetical i would have remembered the ballad, but my impression is that it was condemned as a fabrication for this and other neologies. the _button_ is not a conspicuous item of female attire as of the male, and shakespeare has been attacked for the vulgarity of even making lear say, 'prithee, undo this button,' though i think it fine. "if the major is curious in ballad-lore, i can give him abundant information in it. for the musical item, the best collection i know is motherwell's, both for good poetic taste in selection, and the tunes accompanying some of the contents....--your affectionate "j.h. burton." * * * * * "morton, _wednesday evening_, _ th may _. "my dear love,--looking for the ballad you want, and not finding it by recollection, i came by accident to the very line-- 'when she cam' to her father's land the tenants a' cam' her to see; never a word she could speak to them, but the buttons aff her claes would flee.' the ballad is known by the title of the marchioness of douglas, but better known by the-- 'o waly, waly, up yon bank, and waly, waly, doon yon brae.' it was printed first in jamieson's collection-- ; again in chambers's, p. . the 'waly' has been by cockney critics called scotch for 'wail ye.' the word may come from the same etymological source as 'wail,' but it is a scots adverb, indicative of the intensity of sorrow. "it will be hard to find any one who is my master in ballad-lore (though other things have of late taken the preponderance). my services in the cause are certified by robert chambers in his collection, published in --fifty years ago. "i had then collected several versions from old people in aberdeenshire. while writing this it dawns on my recollection that i lost the bulk of the collection, and that some years ago i got a letter from america, written by some one publishing scots ballads, asking me to help him. making a search for any remnant of the old collection, i found one ballad only, and sent it. then came the odd conclusion--he had the rest of the collection, as he found by comparison of handwriting. "this little affair coming in upon others of so much more moment to me--i can't tell exactly how many years ago--was forgotten utterly until your inquiry about the 'buttons' brought it up. when i am through with 'queen anne' i may look back on it and other trifles.... "i do not think i have any news for you. mary says the violet roots were sent on monday.--your affectionate "j.h. burton." in the summer of dr burton went abroad for the last time, for the purpose of tracing the course of marlborough's campaigns. from his daily letters home a few passages may be selected:-- "mons, _ th june _. "my dear will,--i think you may well write to ratisbon after receiving this. "i leave the low country when i have completed my inquiries. "what little remains belongs to the danube district, which i shall haunt for the remainder of my time. it got its name because the romans found it a _ratis-bona_, or good pier for crossing. it is by the germans called regensberg, or the town of rain.--_n.b._ i went through the old scots college there when its inmates had been driven out, and the only article i found left behind was a large umbrella. after three days' cessation the thunder and torrents have returned yesterday. i walked three hours in rain, which soused me, and then i had as long of sunshine to dry me, and arrived in very comfortable condition, but i had been starved and was afraid to make up by a heavy supper; i had consequently, after a long sleep, such an appetite, that though i had breakfast, i joined the _table d'hôte_ dinner at one o'clock. "yesterday and the day before i went over the marching grounds of our army in , especially the battle-field of malplaquet. if you look into any of the histories of the period, or lives of marlborough in the library, you will see all about it. they are concentrated in the room which i latterly used, and are concentrated opposite to the fireplace. "i have had extreme interest in pursuing my inquiries, yet don't i long to go about in some country where one can get a drink of pure water by the roadside, such as you and i have enjoyed on occasion. the country people only get it in deep draw-wells. they have plenty of water for their agriculture--too much; it is like the ancient mariner's complaint--'water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink.' the peasantry are amply provided with brandy. i passed yesterday about thirty houses where they get it for two sous, not quite a penny a glass. i wonder all your friends at brown brothers' do not swarm to such a land.... "i have no doubt everything is beautiful, i hope also fruitful, about morton. i feel sure of one thing, that mamma has abundance of her favourite flowers.--love to all from your affectionate papa, j.h. burton." * * * * * "regensberg, _ st june _. "my dear love,--i have but a scrap of paper available.... "fine weather at last. eating cherries. last night i got a comfortable sleep for nothing. for reasons good no doubt, but unknown, the train stopped from p.m. to a.m., at a country station. i lay on a bench, with my head on my small bag, and never had a sounder sleep.--your affectionate j.h. burton." * * * * * "donauwÖrth, _ th june _. "my dear cos,--this afternoon i expect to be at blenheim, and so at the farthest limits of my battle-fields. i spoke of not going to the alps, in consideration of the depressing of our neighbours the pentlands; but being so close to them, i can't resist a step farther, and then the pentlands are not so very ill used, for they are put much on a level with the grampians. at the beginning of next week i expect to be moving homewards, and i still think, as i wrote to mamma, the last place to catch me at, before taking to the water, is antwerp. "this is a very fishy place, not of the danube rolling majestically not many yards from where i am writing, but of the sea. the inn i am in is called the krebs or crab, round the corner is the crawfish, and somewhere else the shrimps. "i wonder what you are now all doing in the belvidere,[ ] and what projects you are all making for the summer, and whether you have ripe strawberries, and there is good promise of cherries and apples; and so, with kind love to all, adieu from your affectionate papa, j.h. burton." [footnote : a tower within the grounds of morton, used by his sons as a workshop.] * * * * * "deggendorf, bayerischer wald, _ st july _. "my dear love,--i had a misgiving that i had given a false prospect of reaching me at regensburg, so i came round that way again, and was rewarded by yours of the th, and willy's of what he calls the _ d july_. "i did not pursue the plan i spoke of to cos, of getting a peep of the alps, my investigations cutting off the time assigned to it. but i have gone into a siding here to see the much-boasted, and, it would seem, newly discovered touring ground of the wald. "i have got through my work now, but i can still find some in the neighbourhood of antwerp,--so that is my point, and there i shall hope for letters. when i last went to blenheim, some five years ago, the railway only reached a point some fifteen miles from it, and i could not get back to my inn until its opening at five o'clock. now there is train all the way. it must be supported by agricultural produce. such wealth of fertility i never saw. i think, standing at any point in the great haugh of the danube, i could see as much grain as all scotland could produce. this had a curious social influence, causing me some hardships. "the towns are all conglomerates of farm-steadings. the country was of old so cursed by war, that a steading in the fields was a lost affair. the old habit still rules, and in a town the size, say, of linlithgow, there is not a shop or an inn except the store, whence the farmers draw their oceans of beer in great jugs, or sometimes meet to quaff it on the premises. i had to bribe the owner of such an establishment to give me brown bread and cheese; hard living of this kind, however, suits my constitution. luckily, in consideration, i suppose, of there being no refuge for belated travellers, the station-master had a nice clean bedroom, which he was entitled to let. "i propose remaining here till to-morrow, that i may have a glimpse of the much-lauded wald.--love to all from your affectionate goodman, j.h. burton." * * * * * "eger, _ th july _. "my dear love,--the best account i can give you of where i am is, that i expect to reach leipzic this evening. but it will still be some time ere i reach antwerp, and you may as well write me somewhat. if any letters i get there prompt me to return with the least possible delay, i shall do so, but otherwise i shall wait, occupying myself in the netherlands for the antwerp steamer on saturday, the th i think it is, to-morrow week. "in going into the bayerischer wald i went where it was not easy to get speedily out, though i found a railway right through just opened. the night before last i slept, i suppose, some or feet above the sea, in a huge garret with some twenty beds in it. somebody was sound asleep in one, but disappeared before i awoke. i supposed the house to have been temporary, for accommodating the workers making the railway, but i found it to be the _hospice_ of the old road across the mountains. it has been a sort of pilgrimage, i think--_gasthaus zur landes grenze_. "the scenery is naught in comparison with the scots highlands, or even our pentlands. it is only in scotland and the lakes that hills of humble height look alpine. the wald is something like your harz, but higher; so adieu.--love to all from j.h. burton." * * * * * "thale, _monday, th july _. "my dear love,--i think you know this place. i found that if anything out of the direct line to antwerp, it was only so to the extent of its short side line, some ten miles or so. when scenery is good, i enjoy a second visit to it more than the first, and this was specially so in the present instance; for in my visit from grund, i took the most difficult and least profitable course, by climbing laterally to the level of the ross treppe, instead of going along the stream, and seeing the variety of cleft granite, unexampled, i think, elsewhere in that class of rock.... "i am longing to see your beautiful gardens, and all--but have nothing to grumble at--health never better.--affectionate remembrances to the rest, from your affectionate gudeman, j.h. burton." * * * * * "antwerp, _ th july _. "my dear love,--to my great contentment i received here this morning your three letters, the latest dated on the th. i expect to-morrow, at p.m., to sail by the steamer windsor. "i have had a grand time of it--everything going right with me, and yet i have a longing for home. "from sultry, the weather has drifted into cold and rain. yesterday the rain poured powerfully all morning, and having some arrears of sleep to make up, i slumbered as long as it continued. adieu, my dear.--yours, "j.h. burton." during this summer, dr burton and his eldest son walked from morton to north berwick and back in the same day, a walk of at least fifty miles. in former years sixty was an ordinary day's work. once during captain speke's stay at craighouse, dr burton traversed a distance within twenty-four hours, which captain speke computed at seventy miles. chapter vii. the end. _sale of library--letters from shetland and aberdeen--winter illness--charities--recovery--magazine articles again--literary executorship of late mr edward ellice--rev. james white of methlick--last illness and death--concluding remarks--burial at dalmeny._ would that in biography, as in romance, the story might end at its brightest point! but the true tale must follow its subject through the valley of the shadow of death, and on to his grave. the remainder of ' and beginning of ' were spent at morton in finishing the 'history of the reign of queen anne;' but the work did not go on with the ease and pleasure of former works, and on its conclusion, dr burton formed the resolution to sell his library. this determination was combated by his family and friends, as well as by his friendly publisher, with all the arguments in their power, but in vain. dr burton never would allow that parting with his treasured volumes, the collection of which had been the pride of his life, cost him a pang. he had done with his books, he said. they were no book-hunter's library, but a collection made for use, and, that use over, had better be again turned into money. dr burton did not contemplate undertaking any other great work; and the possession of so extensive a library forced him to live in a larger house than was convenient, and rendered leaving it very troublesome. in the proceeds of its sale dr burton was again disappointed. but before it could be brought to sale, while he was engaged in the laborious task of cataloguing his books for sale, he refreshed himself by a summer trip to shetland, taking aberdeen on his return journey, where he had the gratification of being present at the baptism of his little grandchild, the daughter of dr and mrs rodger. he wrote from lerwick, th july :-- "my dear love,--i am not in what might be called an interesting country--low hills, rocky, stony, heathery, and peaty--but a new country has always something of interest to pass the time with. i saw a valuable archæological phenomenon to-day. the roman roads were all paved, and went straight over hill and across valley--never troubled about levels. in the parts of britain where the romans are historically known to have been, such roads have been fully identified. but there, as well as in other places, where it has been questioned if the romans ever were--any road strewn or surfaced with stones that have been laid down in the paving of the road, is adopted as a roman road. i have often supposed that this conclusion was too readily adopted. and to-day i walked for some distance on a road that has all the requisites--yet no one is wild enough to say that the romans were in shetland. the weather to-day was warmer than i have yet known it, the sun, such as he is, having nearly the whole twenty-four hours to do his work in. the next stage will be kirkwall, then wick. "i shall intimate my motions as i find them coming up for consideration. i feel very elastic. there is nothing in my mind demanding either hard work or anxious adjustment. the 'queen anne' pressed very hard on me before i had done; and the press has rather too justly noticed a slovenliness about the conclusion. then came immediately various cares and troubles, accompanied by the not very severe, but tedious, drudgery of the index; but i am not going to grumble more, since i am at present in comparative freedom and idleness.--yours, my dear love, j.h. burton." the next is dated merely _sunday_. "my dear love,-- ... the weather here has been divine, with daylight, one may say, for twenty-four hours. the people are kind and cleanly, and all the necessaries of life are abundant. i do not know when i have enjoyed better health. there is nothing abnormal about me, except the extent of my appetite. walking thirty miles here, is less fatiguing than from morton to edinburgh. "love to all the household, and remembrances to guests, from yours affectionately, j.h. burton." * * * * * "douglas hotel, aberdeen, _ th july _. "my dear love,-- ... i had some fun yesterday with a class of people i detest--those who, because a man has been studious, and has written books, count that he is public property, who may be hailed by any one like a mountebank or street musician. "there were some forty or fifty at dinner, and i found from the tenor of the conversation that i was taken for the american judge haliburton, the author of 'sam slick,' and other embodiments of smart yankeyism. no direct question on the point was put to me, and i let the affair take its run, though a good deal to the bewilderment of some people, who i saw really knew me.[ ] good cold weather: seeing one by one the remnants of my generation of school and college friends.--love to all, from your affectionate "j.h. burton. "_p.s._--on monday i hired a boat, or small ship, and went a-hunting after antiquities. passing wire and rousay, i recalled some association in the names, and i think it was with poor nurse barbara. i was able to call on mat.'s old friend, mrs burroughs; her husband, now general, was out. they live in great grandeur, on about the dreariest hillside nature ever created." [footnote : a rather amusing comment on this letter is conveyed in the following extract from one addressed to dr burton's publishers, by mr george m'crie, a grandson of the eminent scotch divine of the same name:-- "in the month of july last year, i happened to be travelling southward, in the steamer st magnus, from orkney. before calling at wick, and while the tourists on board were gazing at john o' groat's house, i was spoken to by an elderly gentleman, on the 'bridge,' regarding some of the steamer's arrangements. i satisfied his curiosity as well as i was able, and thought no more of the matter. we had a large number of passengers, and i did not notice him again until we were coming out together in a boat, after a ramble on shore at pulteneytown. a fellow-passenger, who had previously noticed the elderly gentleman and myself in conversation, then whispered to me, 'a celebrated literary man that, sir, with whom you were speaking before we went ashore; no other than the famous judge haliburton of america, the author of "sam slick."' some doubt, i must confess, crossed my mind at this stage. i surely had heard of the judge's death some years before, but thinking, very pardonably, that i must be mistaken, i replied, 'oh, indeed!' and viewed my late acquaintance with some curiosity. i am imaginative, but it was difficult, in truth, to connect this staid and sober personage with the idea of the american satirist, however proverbially dissimilar authors may be to their own creations. however, i am no hunter after celebrities, literary or otherwise, and i would not, in all likelihood, have taken any steps to further conversation with the one in question, had he not, by chance, been seated close beside me on the quarterdeck when we resumed our journey south. the steamer was rolling heavily, and his seat was not a comfortable one. i gave him a camp-stool which i had secured, and in return he kindly again entered into conversation with me. we talked about many things, but i could not help thinking that the american author seemed well informed, for a transatlantic stranger, regarding the coast, the route generally, and, singularly enough, regarding scottish antiquities. at last an observation, which i timidly hazarded regarding the united states, showed me, in the reply it received, that i was hopelessly at sea regarding my fellow-passenger's identity. before we came to aberdeen he had told me that his name was john hill burton. the similarity of the sound of the names had misled my too easily persuaded informant and my own credulous self. i had taken the author of the 'book-hunter' for the author of the 'clockmaker'! "dr hill burton most kindly continued to converse with me for several hours after we had exchanged cards. my own is a name not unconnected with scottish ecclesiastical history, and this, to him, was a sufficient topic. being an edinburgh man by birth, i ought to have known him by sight, but i have been absent from my native city for many years, and may be excused for not recognising one of edinburgh's most distinguished dwellers, now unhappily lost to us. "g.m. m'c."] * * * * * "banchory, _ th july _. "my dear love,--i am here in the scene of many recollections going back to boyhood, and the interest of them takes a zest from knowing that you, too, must have stored up associations with the spot, though of a later period. i think the avenue trees at blackhall were cut down before your day. they are not now much missed in the general landscape. the lapse of half a century has given such a growth to the surrounding plantations, that where i remember bare hills, or freshly planted and uglier than bare, there are now great stretches deserving to be called forest land." * * * * * dr burton returned from this pleasant little trip well, and in good spirits, but the winter was one of illness. on the th of november it was found necessary to call in medical advice on account of a severe exoema affecting chiefly one leg. the doctor ordered confinement to bed, besides other remedies. on the th of december these had proved successful, and dr burton was able to be up, and, at christmas, to assist his wife in carrying gifts to all their poor neighbours--a plan substituted that year for the first time instead of a christmas-tree for the same class of people. dr burton was always much interested in the christmas-tree, and used to contribute largely to it what he called _trash_--_i.e._, cheap fancy articles, if he happened to be in london before christmas-time, or money if he did not. his mode of visiting poor people was peculiar. he no sooner heard of any plan of benevolence towards them than he was determined it should be immediately carried out, and utterly impatient of all preparations. he chose to carry a basket, the heavier the better, but would on no account enter a cottage, still less speak to an inmate. he preferred such expeditions in the dark, that he might successfully hide himself outside while his wife went in to distribute his bounty. on the th of january a recurrence of the former symptoms again obliged him to take to bed. on the th of february he was able to rise and go down to the library. on the th of march he again became ill, and towards the end of that month had an alarming attack of bronchitis and congestion of the lungs. slight hope was entertained of his recovery for some days, but this illness appeared a turning-point, and by the th of april he was able to come down-stairs. no more ths were marked by disaster or recovery till again the th of august. during the summer dr burton appeared to have recovered completely. he wrote several articles for 'blackwood's magazine,' and took regular walks, first with his wife, and, when his walking power improved so as to exceed hers, with his son. he also began to edit the literary remains of the late mr edward ellice, to whom he was joint literary executor along with mrs ellice. at the time of the general assembly dr burton had the pleasure of seeing once more his valued friend, the rev. james white, minister of methlick. this gentleman had been his schoolfellow at the grammar school in aberdeen. the two old friends spent a pleasant summer evening together at morton. on the saturday before his own death dr burton learned that of mr white. "ah! so jamie white's gone," he said, "and _without the catalogues_." the last part of his sentence referred to old class lists in which joannes burton and jacobus white's names appear next each other. they believed themselves the last survivors of their grammar school class. on tuesday, d august, he walked into edinburgh and out again as usual, though his family drove in at the same time that he walked, and drove out again also at the same time, in the hope that he would avail himself of a seat in the pony-carriage, at least for part of the way. his aversion to driving clung to him. he did not appear fatigued, declared himself the better for the walk, and even next day still boasted of the advantage which he thought he always gained from a long walk. on thursday, th august, he became very hoarse, and complained of sore throat. on friday these complaints were better. on saturday, th, he slept almost the whole day, rousing himself to take food when required, and always intending to rise, but as the shades of evening fell announcing his intention of "making a day of it," and being very active and down in good time next day. on sunday, th, he did come down as early as usual, and did not complain, but appeared languid, lying on the sofa the greater part of the day,--a thing he had never done before. he read and talked as usual. he sat at table with his family at dinner for the last time. it was observed that he looked ill, so ill that his wife resolved to send for the doctor as soon as possible next day, which was monday, again the th, of august. the night had passed quietly, but on the doctor's arrival he pronounced the case very grave. the lungs were much congested, and the heart's action weak. the day brought no aggravation of the symptoms; again the night was quiet. on tuesday, th august, there was a slight improvement, which continued throughout the night. on wednesday, th, the improvement seemed more marked till about ten a.m. about that time a change in the countenance was observed. on the doctor's visit about twelve he pronounced the case all but hopeless, and five hours later life was extinct. consciousness remained till almost the last moment. the illness was attended by no bodily pain, little even of uneasiness, and the mind was calm and placid throughout. since the beginning of illness, nine months before, the natural irritability, or impatience of temper, had been diminishing. dr burton was by no means, as all his friends seemed to suppose, a fretful or unreasonable invalid. with but few exceptions he was gentle and grateful to his attendants, especially to his wife. he was perfectly aware of his own condition, though never directly told it. his friend mr belcombe, the clergyman of the episcopal chapel at morningside, called for him on tuesday, th august, was received by him with pleasure, and spent some time with him. dr burton had been brought up an episcopalian, and continued attached to the moderate party in that church through life. it can hardly be expected that the writer should offer a critical estimate of one so lately dead, and so nearly related to her. in the preceding sketch she has endeavoured to inform the public on all particulars in which they might be supposed interested in the life of a man who served them during life with considerable acceptance. his voluminous works may speak for themselves, or find a more competent exponent than the present writer. she has endeavoured to give a picture of himself. john hill burton can never have been handsome, and he so determinedly neglected his person as to increase its natural defects. his greatest mental defect was an almost entire want of imagination. from this cause the characters of those nearest and dearest to him remained to his life's end a sealed book. he was fond of talking, and still fonder of writing, about character; but even his liveliest pictures, such as that of de quincey the opium-eater, are but a collection of external habits or peculiarities, not necessarily bearing at all on the real nature--the inner man. his was the sort of mind which more naturally classifies than individualises, in this agreeing with the late mr buckle, who appreciated dr burton's historical labours, and was in his turn appreciated by him. to both, individual character seemed a small subject not worth study. the characters of women, especially, were by dr burton all placed in the same category. he conceived of them all as baby-worshippers, flower-lovers, &c.--all alike. dr burton was excessively kind-hearted within the limits placed by this great want. to any sorrow or suffering which he could understand he craved with characteristic impatience to carry immediate relief; and the greatest enjoyment of his life, especially of its later years, was to give pleasure to children, poor people, or the lower animals. many humble folks will remember the bunches of flowers he thrust silently into their hands, and the refreshment he never failed to press on their acceptance in his own peculiar manner. he was liberal of money to a fault. he never refused any application even from a street beggar. he quite allowed that these ought not to be encouraged, but he urged that the municipality ought to take charge of them, and prevent their appealing to the compassion of the public, who could not, as he said, be expected to perform the disagreeable task of disciplining vagrants at the wages of a penny a case. no printer's devil or other chance messenger failed to receive his sixpence or shilling, besides a comfortable meal. it was his constant custom to ask his sons if any of their wants were unsupplied, if they required money for furnishing their workshop or laboratory, or for any of their studies or amusements. it is but just to them to add that the question was almost always answered in the negative. many of the "motley crew" along with whom dr burton received his education fell into difficulties in the course of their lives. an application from one of them always met with a prompt response. to send double the amount asked on such occasions was his rule, if money was the object desired. in his earlier life he would also spare no trouble in endeavouring to help these unfortunates to help themselves. as he grew old he was less zealous, probably from being less sanguine of success, in this service. on saturday the th of august the mortal remains of john hill burton were laid beside those of his infant child in the lovely little churchyard of dalmeny. it had been at first intended that he should be buried in the dean cemetery, where his mother and his first wife were interred, and where his valued friend william brodie[ ] had erected a beautiful monument over their graves; but after orders had been given to this effect, his wife became strongly possessed by the wish to carry out his repeatedly expressed injunction to have him laid in dalmeny. [footnote : since deceased--october , --and also buried there.] katharine burton. morton, _ th september _. [illustration: _dalmeny church._] [illustration: a nook in the author's library.] [illustration] the book-hunter. _part i.--his nature._ introductory. of the title under which the contents of the following pages are ranged i have no better justification to offer than that it appeared to suit their discursive tenor. if they laid any claim to a scientific character, or professed to contain an exposition of any established department of knowledge, it might have been their privilege to appear under a title of greek derivation, with all the dignities and immunities conceded by immemorial deference to this stamp of scientific rank. i not only, however, consider my own trifles unworthy of such a dignity, but am inclined to strip it from other productions which might appear to have a more appropriate claim to it. no doubt, the ductile inflections and wonderful facilities for decomposition and reconstruction make greek an excellent vehicle of scientific precision, and the use of a dead language saves your nomenclature from being confounded with your common talk. the use of a greek derivative gives notice that you are scientific. if you speak of an acanthopterygian, it is plain that you are not discussing perch in reference to its roasting or boiling merits; and if you make an allusion to monomyarian malacology, it will not naturally be supposed to have reference to the cooking of oyster sauce. like many other meritorious things, however, greek nomenclature is much abused. the very reverence it is held in--the strong disinclination on the part of the public to question the accuracy of anything stated under the shadow of a greek name, or to doubt the infallibility of the man who does it--makes this kind of nomenclature the frequent protector of fallacies and quackeries. it is an instrument for silencing inquiry and handing over the judgment to implicit belief. get the passive student once into palæozoology, and he takes your other hard names--your ichthyodorulite, trogontherium, lepidodendron, and bothrodendron--for granted, contemplating them, indeed, with a kind of religious awe or devotional reverence. if it be a question whether a term is categorematic, or is of a quite opposite description, and ought to be described as _sun_categorematic, one may take up a very absolute positive position without finding many people prepared to assail it. antiquarianism, which used to be an easy-going slipshod sort of pursuit, has sought this all-powerful protection, and called itself archæology. an obliterated manuscript written over again is called a palimpsest, and the man who can restore and read it a paleographist. the great erect stone on the moor, which has hitherto defied all learning to find the faintest trace of the age in which it was erected, its purpose, or the people who placed it there, seems as it were to be rescued from the heathen darkness in which it has dwelt, and to be admitted within the community of scientific truth, by being christened a monolith. if it be large and shapeless, it may take rank as an amorphous megalith; and it is on record that the owner of some muirland acres, finding them described in a learned work as "richly megalithic," became suddenly excited by hopes which were quickly extinguished when the import of the term was fully explained to him. should there be any remains of sculpture on such a stone, it becomes a lithoglyph or a hieroglyph; and if the nature and end of this sculpture be quite incomprehensible to the adepts, they may term it a cryptoglyph, and thus dignify, by a sort of title of honour, the absoluteness of their ignorance. it were a pity if any more ingenious man should afterwards find a key to the mystery, and destroy the significance of the established nomenclature. the vendors of quack medicines and cosmetics are aware of the power of greek nomenclature, and apparently subsidise scholars of some kind or other to supply them with the article. a sort of shaving soap used frequently to be advertised under a title which was as complexly adjusted a piece of mosaic work as the geologists or the conchologists ever turned out. but perhaps the confidence in the protective power of greek designations lately reached its climax, in an attempt to save thieves from punishment by calling them kleptomaniacs. it is possible that, were i to attempt to dignify the class of men to whom the following sketches are devoted by an appropriate scientific title, a difficulty would start up at the very beginning. as the reader will perhaps see, from the tenor of my discourse, i would find it difficult to say whether i should give them a good name or a bad--to speak more scientifically, and of course more clearly, whether i should characterise them by a predicate eulogistic, or a predicate dyslogistic. on the whole, i am content with my first idea, and continue to stick to the title of "the book-hunter," with all the more assurance that it has been tolerated, and even liked, by readers of the kind i am most ambitious of pleasing.[ ] [footnote : to afford the reader, however, an opportunity of noting at a glance the appropriate learned terms applicable to the different sets of persons who meddle with books, i subjoin the following definitions, as rendered in d'israeli's curiosities, from the chasse aux bibliographes et aux antiquaires mal avisés of jean joseph rive:-- "a bibliognoste, from the greek, is one knowing in title-pages and colophons, and in editions; the place and year when printed; the presses whence issued; and all the minutiæ of a book."--"a bibliographe is a describer of books and other literary arrangements."--"a bibliomane is an indiscriminate accumulator, who blunders faster than he buys, cock-brained and purse-heavy."--"a bibliophile, the lover of books, is the only one in the class who appears to read them for his own pleasure."--"a bibliotaphe buries his books, by keeping them under lock, or framing them in glass-cases." the accurate peignot, after accepting of this classification with high admiration of its simplicity and exhaustiveness, is seized in his supplementary volume with a misgiving in the matter of the bibliotaphe, explaining that it ought to be translated as a grave of books, and that the proper technical expression for the performer referred to by rive, is bibliothapt. he adds to the nomenclature bibliolyte, as a destroyer of books; bibliologue, one who discourses about books; bibliotacte, a classifier of books; and bibliopée, "_l'art d'écrire ou de composer des livres_," or, as the unlearned would say, the function of an author. of the dignity with which this writer can invest the objects of his nomenclature, take the following specimen from his description of the bibliographe:-- "nothing is rarer than to deserve the title of bibliographe, and nothing more difficult and laborious than to attain a just title to it. "bibliography being the most universal and extensive of all sciences, it would appear that all subjects should come under the consideration of the bibliographe; languages, logic, criticism, philosophy, eloquence, mathematics, geography, chronology, history, are no strangers to him; the history of printing and of celebrated printers is familiar to him, as well as all the operations of the typographic art. he is continually occupied with the works of the ancients and the moderns; he makes it his business to know books useful, rare, and curious, not only by their titles and form, but by their contents; he spends his life in analysing, classifying, and describing them. he seeks out those which are recommended by talented authors; he runs through libraries and cabinets to increase the sum of his knowledge; he studies authors who have treated of the science of books, he points out their errors; he chooses from among new productions those which bear the stamp of genius, and which will live in men's memories; he ransacks periodicals to keep himself well up to the discoveries of his age, and compare them with those of ages past; he is greedy of all works which treat of libraries, particularly catalogues, when they are well constructed and well arranged, and their price adds to their value. such is the genuine _bibliographe_." this reminds one of the old roman jurists, who briefly defined their own science as the knowledge of things human and divine.] few wiser things have ever been said than that remark of byron's, that "man is an unfortunate fellow, and ever will be." perhaps the originality of the fundamental idea it expresses may be questioned, on the ground that the same warning has been enounced in far more solemn language, and from a far more august authority. but there is originality in the vulgar everyday-world way of putting the idea, and this makes it suit the present purpose, in which, a human frailty having to be dealt with, there is no intention to be either devout or philosophical about it, but to treat it in a thoroughly worldly and practical tone, and in this temper to judge of its place among the defects and ills to which flesh is heir. it were better, perhaps, if we human creatures sometimes did this, and discussed our common frailties as each himself partaking of them, than that we should mount, as we are so apt to do, into the clouds of theology or of ethics, according as our temperament and training are of the serious or of the intellectual order. true, there are many of our brethren violently ready to proclaim themselves frail mortals, miserable sinners, and no better, in theological phraseology, than the greatest of criminals. but such has been my own unfortunate experience in life, that whenever i find a man coming forward with these self-denunciations on his lips, i am prepared for an exhibition of intolerance, spiritual pride, and envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, towards any poor fellow-creature who has floundered a little out of the straight path, and being all too conscious of his errors, is not prepared to proclaim them in those broad emphatic terms which come so readily to the lips of the censors, who at heart believe themselves spotless,--just as complaints about poverty, and inability to buy this and that, come from the fat lips of the millionaire, when he shows you his gallery of pictures, his stud, and his forcing-frames. no; it is hard to choose between the two. the man who has no defect or crack in his character--no tinge of even the minor immoralities--no fantastic humour carrying him sometimes off his feet--no preposterous hobby--such a man, walking straight along the surface of this world in the arc of a circle, is a very dangerous character, no doubt; of such all children, dogs, simpletons, and other creatures that have the instinct of the odious in their nature, feel an innate loathing. and yet it is questionable if your perfectionised sir charles grandison is quite so dangerous a character as your "miserable sinner," vociferously conscious that he is the frailest of the frail, and that he can do no good thing of himself. and indeed, in practice, the external symptoms of these two characteristics have been known so to alternate in one disposition as to render it evident that each is but the same moral nature under a different external aspect,--the mask, cowl, varnish, crust, or whatever you like to call it, having been adapted to the external conditions of the man--that is, to the society he mixes in, the set he belongs to, the habits of the age, and the way in which he proposes to get on in life. it is when the occasion arises for the mask being thrown aside, or when the internal passions burst like a volcano through the crust, that terrible events take place, and the world throbs with the excitement of some wonderful criminal trial.[ ] [footnote : it has often been observed that it is among the society of friends, who keep so tight a rein on the passions and propensities, that these make the most terrible work when they break loose. de quincey, in one of his essays on his contemporaries, giving a sketch of a man of great genius and high scholarship, whose life was early clouded by insanity, gives some curious statements about the effects of the system of rigid restraint exercised by the society of friends, which i am not prepared either to support or contradict. after describing the system of restraint itself, he says: "this is known, but it is not equally known that this unnatural restraint, falling into collision with two forces at once--the force of passion and of youth--not unfrequently records its own injurious tendencies, and publishes the rebellious movements of nature by distinct and anomalous diseases. and, further, i have been assured, upon most excellent authority, that these diseases--strange and elaborate affections of the nervous system--are found _exclusively_ among the young men and women of the quaker society; that they are known and understood exclusively amongst physicians who have practised in great towns having a large quaker population, such as birmingham; that they assume a new type and a more inveterate character in the second or third generation, to whom this fatal inheritance is often transmitted; and, finally, that if this class of nervous derangements does not increase so much as to attract public attention, it is simply because the community itself--the quaker body--does not increase, but, on the contrary, is rather on the wane." there exist many good stories which have for their point the passions of the natural man breaking forth, in members of this persuasion, in a shape more droll than distressing. one of the best of these is a north-country anecdote preserved by francis douglas in his description of the east coast of scotland. the hero was the first quaker of that barclay family which produced the apologist and the pugilist. he was a colonel in the great civil wars, and had seen wild work in his day; but in his old age a change came over him, and, becoming a follower of george fox, he retired to spend his latter days on his ancestral estate in kincardineshire. here it came to pass that a brother laird thought the old quaker could be easily done, and began to encroach upon his marches. barclay, a strong man, with the iron sinews of his race, and their fierce spirit still burning in his eyes, strode up to the encroacher, and, with a grim smile, spoke thus: "friend, thou knowest that i have become a man of peace and have relinquished strife, and therefore thou art endeavouring to take what is not thine own, but mine, because thou believest that, having abjured the arm of the flesh, i cannot hinder thee. and yet, as thy friend, i advise thee to desist; for shouldst thou succeed in rousing the old adam within me, perchance he may prove too strong, not only for me, but for _thee_." there was no use of attempting to answer such an argument.] the present, however, is not an inquiry into the first principles either of ethics or of physiology. the object of this rambling preamble is to win from the reader a morsel of genial fellow-feeling towards the human frailty which i propose to examine and lay bare before him, trusting that he will treat it neither with the haughty disdain of the immaculate, nor the grim charity of the "miserable sinner:" that he may even, when sighing over it as a failing, yet kindly remember that, in comparison with many others, it is a failing that leans to virtue's side. it will not demand that breadth of charity which even rather rigid fathers are permitted to exercise by the licence of the existing school of french fiction.[ ] neither will it exact such extensive toleration as that of the old aberdeen laird's wife, who, when her sister lairdesses were enriching the tea-table conversation with broad descriptions of the abominable vices of their several spouses, said her own "was just a gueed, weel-tempered, couthy, queat, innocent, daedlin, drucken body--wi' nae ill practices aboot him ava!" but all things in their own time and place. to understand the due weight and bearing of this feeling of optimism, it is necessary to remember that its happy owner had probably spent her youth in that golden age when it was deemed churlish to bottle the claret, and each guest filled his stoup at the fountain of the flowing hogshead; and if the darker days of dear claret came upon her times, there was still to fall back upon the silver age of smuggled usquebaugh, when the types of a really hospitable country-house were an anker of whisky always on the spigot, a caldron ever on the bubble with boiling water, and a cask of sugar with a spade in it,--all for the manufacture of toddy. [footnote : in the renowned dame aux camélias, the respectable, rigid, and rather indignant father, addresses his erring son thus: "que vous ayez une maîtresse, c'est fort bien; que vous la payiez comme un galant homme doit payer l'amour d'une fille entretenue, c'est on ne peut mieux; mais que vous oubliez les choses les plus saintes pour elle, que vous permettiez que la bruit de votre vie scandaleuse arrive jusqu'au fond de ma province, et jette l'ombre d'une tache sur le nom honorable que je vous ai donné--voilà ce qui ne peut être, voilà ce qui ne sera pas." so even the french novelists draw the line "somewhere," and in other departments of morals they may be found drawing it closer than many good uncharitable christians among us would wish. in one very popular novel the victim spends his wife's fortune at the gaming-table, leaves her to starve, lives with another woman, and, having committed forgery, plots with the mephistopheles of the story to buy his own safety at the price of his wife's honour. this might seem bad enough, but worse remains. it is told in a smothered whisper, by the faithful domestic, to the horrified family, that he has reason to suspect his master of having indulged, once at least, if not oftener, in brandy-and-water!] the habits of that age have passed away, and with them the drunken laird and the widely tolerant wife. the advancing civilisation which has nearly extinguished this class of frailties among those who have the amplest means of indulgence in them, is, no doubt, doing for other frailties, and will come at last to the one in hand, leaving it an object of admiring and compassionate retrospect to an enlightened posterity. there are people, however, too impatient to wait for such results from the mellowing influence of progressive civilisation. such a consideration suggests to me that i may be treading on dangerous ground--dangerous, i mean, to the frail but amiable class to whom my exposition is devoted. natural misgivings arise in one who professes to call attention to a special type of human frailty, since the world is full of people who will be prepared to deal with and cure it, provided only that they are to have their own way with the disease and the patient, and that they shall enjoy the simple privilege of locking him up, dieting him, and taking possession of his worldly goods and interests, as one who, by his irrational habits, or his outrages on the laws of physiology, or the fitness of things, or some other neology, has satisfactorily established his utter incapacity to take charge of his own affairs. no! this is not a cruel age; the rack, the wheel, the boot, the thumbikins, even the pillory and the stocks, have disappeared; death-punishment is dwindling away; and if convicts have not their full rations of cooked meat, or get damaged coffee or sour milk, or are inadequately supplied with flannels and clean linen, there will be an outcry and an inquiry, and a secretary of state will lose a percentage of his influence, and learn to look better after the administration of patronage. but, at the same time, the area of punishment--or of "treatment," as it is mildly termed--becomes alarmingly widened, and people require to look sharply into themselves lest they should be tainted with any little frailty or peculiarity which may transfer them from the class of free self-regulators to that of persons under "treatment." in owen's parallelograms there were to be no prisons: he admitted no power in one man to inflict punishment upon another for merely obeying the dictates of natural propensities which could not be resisted. but, at the same time, there were to be "hospitals" in which not only the physically diseased, but also the mentally and _morally_ diseased, were to be detained until they were cured; and when we reflect that the laws of the parallelogram were very stringent and minute, and required to be absolutely enforced to the letter, otherwise the whole machinery of society would come to pieces, like a watch with a broken spring,--it is clear that these hospitals would have contained a very large proportion of the unrationalised population. there is rather an alarming amount of this sort of communism now among us, and it is therefore with some little misgiving that one sets down anything that may betray a brother's weakness, and lay bare the diagnosis of a human frailty. indeed, the bad name that proverbially hangs the dog has already been given to the one under consideration, for bibliomania is older in the technology of this kind of nosology than dipsomania, which is now understood to be an almost established ground for seclusion, and deprivation of the management of one's own affairs. there is one ground of consolation, however,--the people who, being all right themselves, have undertaken the duty of keeping in order the rest of the world, have far too serious a task in hand to afford time for idle reading. there is a good chance, therefore, that this little book may pass them unnoticed, and the harmless class, on whose peculiar frailties the present occasion is taken for devoting a gentle and kindly exposition, may yet be permitted to go at large. so having spoken, i now propose to make the reader acquainted with some characteristic specimens of the class. a vision of mighty book-hunters. as the first case, let us summon from the shades my venerable friend archdeacon meadow, as he was in the body. you see him now--tall, straight, and meagre, but with a grim dignity in his air which warms into benignity as he inspects a pretty little clean elzevir, or a tall portly stephens, concluding his inward estimate of the prize with a peculiar grunting chuckle, known by the initiated to be an important announcement. this is no doubt one of the milder and more inoffensive types, but still a thoroughly confirmed and obstinate case. its parallel to the classes who are to be taken charge of by their wiser neighbours is only too close and awful; for have not sometimes the female members of his household been known on occasion of some domestic emergency--or, it may be, for mere sake of keeping the lost man out of mischief--to have been searching for him on from bookstall unto bookstall, just as the mothers, wives, and daughters of other lost men hunt them through their favourite taverns or gambling-houses? then, again, can one forget that occasion of his going to london to be examined by a committee of the house of commons, when he suddenly disappeared with all his money in his pocket, and returned penniless, followed by a waggon containing copies of rare editions of the bible? all were fish that came to his net. at one time you might find him securing a minnow for sixpence at a stall--and presently afterwards he outbids some princely collector, and secures with frantic impetuosity, "at any price," a great fish he has been patiently watching year after year. his hunting-grounds were wide and distant, and there were mysterious rumours about the numbers of copies, all identically the same in edition and minor individualities, which he possessed of certain books. i have known him, indeed, when beaten at an auction, turn round resignedly and say, "well, so be it--but i daresay i have ten or twelve copies at home, if i could lay hands on them." it is a matter of extreme anxiety to his friends, and, if he have a well-constituted mind, of sad misgiving to himself, when the collector buys his first _duplicate_. it is like the first secret dram swallowed in the forenoon--the first pawning of the silver spoons--or any other terrible first step downwards you may please to liken it to. there is no hope for the patient after this. it rends at once the veil of decorum spun out of the flimsy sophisms by which he has been deceiving his friends, and partially deceiving himself, into the belief that his previous purchases were necessary, or, at all events, serviceable for professional and literary purposes. he now becomes shameless and hardened; and it is observable in the career of this class of unfortunates, that the first act of duplicity is immediately followed by an access of the disorder, and a reckless abandonment to its propensities. the archdeacon had long passed this stage ere he crossed my path, and had become thoroughly hardened. he was not remarkable for local attachment; and in moving from place to place, his spoil, packed in innumerable great boxes, sometimes followed him, to remain unreleased during the whole period of his tarrying in his new abode, so that they were removed to the next stage of his journey through life with modified inconvenience. cruel as it may seem, i must yet notice another and a peculiar vagary of his malady. he had resolved, at least once in his life, to part with a considerable proportion of his collection--better to suffer the anguish of such an act than endure the fretting of continued restraint. there was a wondrous sale by auction accordingly; it was something like what may have occurred on the dissolution of the monasteries at the reformation, or when the contents of some time-honoured public library were realised at the period of the french revolution. before the affair was over, the archdeacon himself made his appearance in the midst of the miscellaneous self-invited guests who were making free with his treasures,--he pretended, honest man, to be a mere casual spectator, who, having seen, in passing, the announcement of a sale by auction, stepped in like the rest of the public. by degrees he got excited, gasped once or twice as if mastering some desperate impulse, and at length fairly bade. he could not brazen out the effect of this escapade, however, and disappeared from the scene. it was remarked by the observant, that an unusual number of lots were afterwards knocked down to a military gentleman, who seemed to have left portentously large orders with the auctioneer. some curious suspicions began to arise, which were settled by that presiding genius bending over his rostrum, and explaining in a confidential whisper that the military hero was in reality a pillar of the church so disguised. the archdeacon lay under what, among a portion of the victims of his malady, was deemed a heavy scandal. he was suspected of reading his own books--that is to say, when he could get at them; for there are those who may still remember his rather shamefaced apparition of an evening, petitioning, somewhat in the tone with which an old schoolfellow down in the world requests your assistance to help him to go to york to get an appointment--petitioning for the loan of a volume of which he could not deny that he possessed numberless copies lurking in divers parts of his vast collection. this reputation of reading the books in his collection, which should be sacred to external inspection solely, is, with a certain school of book-collectors, a scandal, such as it would be among a hunting set to hint that a man had killed a fox. in the dialogues, not always the most entertaining, of dibdin's bibliomania, there is this short passage: "'i will frankly confess,' rejoined lysander, 'that i am an arrant _bibliomaniac_--that i love books dearly--that the very sight, touch, and mere perusal----' 'hold, my friend,' again exclaimed philemon; 'you have renounced your profession--you talk of _reading_ books--do _bibliomaniacs_ ever _read_ books?'" yes, the archdeacon read books--he devoured them; and he did so to full prolific purpose. his was a mind enriched with varied learning, which he gave forth with full, strong, easy flow, like an inexhaustible perennial spring coming from inner reservoirs, never dry, yet too capacious to exhibit the brawling, bubbling symptoms of repletion. it was from a majestic heedlessness of the busy world and its fame that he got the character of indolence, and was set down as one who would leave no lasting memorial of his great learning. but when he died, it was not altogether without leaving a sign; for from the casual droppings of his pen has been preserved enough to signify to many generations of students in the walk he chiefly affected how richly his mind was stored, and how much fresh matter there is in those fields of inquiry where compilers have left their dreary tracks, for ardent students to cultivate into a rich harvest. in him truly the bibliomania may be counted among the many illustrations of the truth so often moralised on, that the highest natures are not exempt from human frailty in some shape or other. let us now summon the shade of another departed victim--fitzpatrick smart, esq. he, too, through a long life, had been a vigilant and enthusiastic collector, but after a totally different fashion. he was far from omnivorous. he had a principle of selection peculiar and separate from all other's, as was his own individuality from other men's. you could not classify his library according to any of the accepted nomenclatures peculiar to the initiated. he was not a black-letter man, or a tall copyist, or an uncut man, or a rough-edge man, or an early-english-dramatist, or an elzevirian, or a broadsider, or a pasquinader, or an old-brown-calf man, or a grangerite, or a tawny-moroccoite, or a gilt-topper, a marbled-insider, or an _editio princeps_ man; neither did he come under any of the more vulgar classifications of collectors whose thoughts run more upon the usefulness for study than upon the external conditions of their library, such as those who affect science, or the classics, or english poetic and historical literature. there was no way of defining his peculiar walk save by his own name--it was the fitzpatrick-smart walk. in fact, it wound itself in infinite windings through isolated spots of literary scenery, if we may so speak, in which he took a personal interest. there were historical events, bits of family history, chiefly of a tragic or a scandalous kind,--efforts of art or of literary genius on which, through some hidden intellectual law, his mind and memory loved to dwell; and it was in reference to these that he collected. if the book were the one desired by him, no anxiety and toil, no payable price, was to be grudged for its acquisition. if the book were an inch out of his own line, it might be trampled in the mire for aught he cared, be it as rare or costly as it could be. it was difficult, almost impossible, for others to predicate what would please this wayward sort of taste, and he was the torment of the book-caterers, who were sure of a princely price for the right article, but might have the wrong one thrown in their teeth with contumely. it was a perilous, but, if successful, a gratifying thing to present him with a book. if it happened to hit his fancy, he felt the full force of the compliment, and overwhelmed the giver with his courtly thanks. but great observation and tact were required for such an adventure. the chances against an ordinary thoughtless gift-maker were thousands to one; and those who were acquainted with his strange nervous temperament, knew that the existence within his dwelling-place of any book not of his own special kind, would impart to him the sort of feeling of uneasy horror which a bee is said to feel when an earwig comes into its cell. presentation copies by authors were among the chronic torments of his existence. while the complacent author was perhaps pluming himself on his liberality in making the judicious gift, the recipient was pouring out all his sarcasm, which was not feeble or slight, on the odious object, and wondering why an author could have entertained against him so steady and enduring a malice as to take the trouble of writing and printing all that rubbish with no better object than disturbing the peace of mind of an inoffensive old man. every tribute from such _dona ferentes_ cost him much uneasiness and some want of sleep--for what could he do with it? it was impossible to make merchandise of it, for he was every inch a gentleman. he could not burn it, for under an acrid exterior he had a kindly nature. it was believed, indeed, that he had established some limbo of his own, in which such unwelcome commodities were subject to a kind of burial or entombment, where they remained in existence, yet were decidedly outside the circle of his household gods. these gods were a pantheon of a lively and grotesque aspect, for he was a hunter after other things besides books. his acquisitions included pictures, and the various commodities which, for want of a distinctive name, auctioneers call "miscellaneous articles of vertu." he started on his accumulating career with some old family relics, and these, perhaps, gave the direction to his subsequent acquisitions, for they were all, like his books, brought together after some self-willed and peculiar law of association that pleased himself. a bad, even an inferior, picture he would not have--for his taste was exquisite--unless, indeed, it had some strange history about it, adapting it to his wayward fancies, and then he would adopt the badness as a peculiar recommendation, and point it out with some pungent and appropriate remark to his friends. but though, with these peculiar exceptions, his works of art were faultless, no dealer could ever calculate on his buying a picture, however high in artistic merit or tempting as a bargain. with his ever-accumulating collection, in which tiny sculpture and brilliant colour predominated, he kept a sort of fairy world around him. but each one of the mob of curious things he preserved had some story linking it with others, or with his peculiar fancies, and each one had its precise place in a sort of _epos_, as certainly as each of the persons in the confusion of a pantomime or a farce has his own position and functions. after all, he was himself his own greatest curiosity. he had come to manhood just after the period of gold-laced waistcoats, small-clothes, and shoe-buckles, otherwise he would have been long a living memorial of these now antique habits. it happened to be his lot to preserve down to us the earliest phase of the pantaloon dynasty. so, while the rest of the world were booted or heavy shod, his silk-stockinged feet were thrust into pumps of early oxford cut, and the predominant garment was the surtout, blue in colour, and of the original make before it came to be called a frock. round his neck was wrapped an ante-brummelite neckerchief (not a tie), which projected in many wreaths like a great poultice--and so he took his walks abroad, a figure which he could himself have turned into admirable ridicule. one of the mysteries about him was, that his clothes, though unlike any other person's, were always old. this characteristic could not even be accounted for by the supposition that he had laid in a sixty years' stock in his youth, for they always appeared to have been a good deal worn. the very umbrella was in keeping--it was of green silk, an obsolete colour ten years ago--and the handle was of a peculiar crosier-like formation in cast-horn, obviously not obtainable in the market. his face was ruddy, but not with the ruddiness of youth; and, bearing on his head a brutus wig of the light-brown hair which had long ago legitimately shaded his brow, when he stood still--except for his linen, which was snowy white--one might suppose that he had been shot and stuffed on his return home from college, and had been sprinkled with the frowzy mouldiness which time imparts to stuffed animals and other things, in which a semblance to the freshness of living nature is vainly attempted to be preserved. so if he were motionless; but let him speak, and the internal freshness was still there, an ever-blooming garden of intellectual flowers. his antiquated costume was no longer grotesque--it harmonised with an antiquated courtesy and high-bred gentleness of manner, which he had acquired from the best sources, since he had seen the first company in his day, whether for rank or genius. and conversation and manner were far from exhausting his resources. he had a wonderful pencil--it was potent for the beautiful, the terrible, and the ridiculous; but it took a wayward wilful course, like everything else about him. he had a brilliant pen, too, when he chose to wield it; but the idea that he should exercise any of these his gifts in common display before the world, for any even of the higher motives that make people desire fame and praise, would have sickened him. his faculties were his own as much as his collection, and to be used according to his caprice and pleasure. so fluttered through existence one who, had it been his fate to have his own bread to make, might have been a great man. alas for the end! some curious annotations are all that remain of his literary powers--some drawings and etchings in private collections all of his artistic. his collection, with its long train of legends and associations, came to what he himself must have counted as dispersal. he left it to his housekeeper, who, like a wise woman, converted it into cash while its mysterious reputation was fresh. huddled in a great auction-room, its several catalogued items lay in humiliating contrast with the decorous order in which they were wont to be arranged. _sic transit gloria mundi._ let us now call up a different and a more commonplace type of the book-hunter--it shall be inchrule brewer. he is guiltless of all intermeddling with the contents of books, but in their external attributes his learning is marvellous. he derived his nickname, from the practice of keeping, as his inseparable pocket-companion, one of those graduated folding measures of length which may often be seen protruding from the moleskin pocket of the joiner. he used it at auctions and on other appropriate occasions, to measure the different elements of a book--the letterpress--the unprinted margin--the external expanse of the binding; for to the perfectly scientific collector all these things are very significant.[ ] they are, in fact, on record among the craft, like the pedigrees and physical characteristics recorded in stud-books and short-horn books. one so accomplished in this kind of analysis could tell at once, by this criterion, whether the treasure under the hammer was the same that had been knocked down before at the roxburghe sale--the askew, the gordonstoun, or the heber, perhaps--or was veritably an impostor--or was in reality a new and previously unknown prize well worth contending for. the minuteness and precision of his knowledge excited wonder, and, being anomalous in the male sex even among collectors, gave occasion to a rumour that its possessor must veritably be an aged maiden in disguise. [footnote : of the copy of the celebrated elzevir cæsar, in the imperial library at paris, brunet triumphantly informs us that it is four inches and ten-twelfths in height, and occupies the high position of being the tallest copy of that volume in the world, since other illustrious copies put in competition with it have been found not to exceed four inches and eight, or, at the utmost, nine, twelfths. "ces détails," he subjoins, "paroitront sans doute puérils à bien des gens: mais puisque c'est la grandeur des marges de ces sorts de livres qu'en détermine la valeur, il faut bien fixer le _maximum_ de cette grandeur, afin que les amateurs puissent apprécier les exemplaires qui approchent plus ou moins de la mésure donnée."] his experience, aided by a heaven-born genius tending in that direction, rendered him the most merciless detector of sophisticated books. nothing, it might be supposed on first thought, can be a simpler or more easily recognised thing than a book genuine as printed. but in the old-book trade there are opportunities for the exercise of ingenuity inferior only to those which render the picture-dealer's and the horse-dealer's functions so mysteriously interesting. sometimes entire facsimiles are made of eminent volumes. more commonly, however, the problem is to complete an imperfect copy. this will be most satisfactorily accomplished, of course, if another copy can be procured imperfect also, but not in the same parts. great ingenuity is sometimes shown in completing a highly esteemed edition with fragments from one lightly esteemed. sometimes a colophon or a decorated capital has to be imitated, and bold operators will reprint a page or two in facsimile; these operations, of course, involve the inlaying of paper, judiciously staining it, and other mysteries. paris is the great centre of this kind of work, but it has been pretty extensively pursued in britain; and the manufacture of first folio shakespeares has been nearly as staple a trade as the getting up of genuine portraits of mary queen of scots. it will establish a broad distinction to note the fact, that whereas our friend the archdeacon would collect several imperfect copies of the same book, in the hope of finding materials for one perfect one among them, inchrule would remorselessly spurn from him the most voluptuously got-up specimen (to use a favourite phrase of dibdin's) were it tainted by the very faintest suspicion of "restoration." among the elements which constitute the value of a book--rarity of course being essential--one might say he counted the binding highest. he was not alone in this view, for it would be difficult to give the uninitiated a conception of the importance attached to this mechanical department of book-making by the adepts. about a third of dibdin's bibliographical decameron is, if i recollect rightly, devoted to bindings. there are binders who have immortalised themselves--as staggemier, walther, payne, padaloup, hering, de rome, bozerian, deseuille, bradel, faulkner, lewis, hayday, and thomson. their names may sometimes be found on their work, not with any particularities, as if they required to make themselves known, but with the simple brevity of illustrious men. thus you take up a morocco-bound work of some eminence, on the title-page of which the author sets forth his full name and profession, with the distinctive initials of certain learned societies to which it is his pride to belong; but the simple and dignified enunciation, deeply stamped in his own golden letters, "bound by hayday," is all that that accomplished artist deigns to tell. and let us, after all, acknowledge that there are few men who are entirely above the influence of binding. no one likes sheep's clothing for his literature, even if he should not aspire to russia or morocco. adam smith, one of the least showy of men, confessed himself to be a beau in his books. perhaps the majority of men of letters are so to some extent, though poets are apt to be ragamuffins. it was thomson, i believe, who used to cut the leaves with his snuffers. perhaps an event in his early career may have soured him of the proprieties. it is said that he had an uncle, a clever active mechanic, who could do many things with his hands, and contemplated james's indolent, dreamy, "feckless" character with impatient disgust. when the first of the seasons--winter it was, i believe--had been completed at press, jamie thought, by a presentation copy, to triumph over his uncle's scepticism, and to propitiate his good opinion he had the book handsomely bound. the old man never looked inside, or asked what the book was about, but, turning it round and round with his fingers in gratified admiration, exclaimed--"come, is that really our jamie's doin' now?--weel, i never thought the cratur wad hae had the handicraft to do the like!" the feeling by which this worthy man was influenced was a mere sensible practical respect for good workmanship. the aspirations of the collectors, however, in this matter, go out of the boundaries of the sphere of the utilitarian into that of the æsthetic. their priests and prophets, by the way, do not seem to be aware how far back this veneration for the coverings of books may be traced, or to know how strongly their votaries have been influenced in the direction of their taste by the traditions of the middle ages. the binding of a book was, of old, a shrine on which the finest workmanship in bullion and the costliest gems were lavished. the psalter or the breviary of some early saint, a portion of the scriptures, or some other volume held sacred, would be thus enshrined. it has happened sometimes that tattered fragments of them have been preserved as effective relics within outer shells or shrines; and in some instances, long after the books themselves have disappeared, specimens of these old bindings have remained to us beautiful in their decay;--but we are getting far beyond the inchrule. your affluent omnivorous collector, who has more of that kind of business on hand than he can perform for himself, naturally brings about him a train of satellites, who make it their business to minister to his importunate cravings. with them the phraseology of the initiated degenerates into a hard business sort of slang. whatever slight remnant of respect towards literature as a vehicle of knowledge may linger in the conversation of their employers, has never belonged to theirs. they are dealers who have just two things to look to--the price of their merchandise, and the peculiar propensities of the unfortunates who employ them. not that they are destitute of all sympathy with the malady which they feed. the caterer generally gets infected in a superficial cutaneous sort of way. he has often a collection himself, which he eyes complacently of an evening as he smokes his pipe over his brandy-and-water, but to which he is not so distractedly devoted but that a pecuniary consideration will tempt him to dismember it. it generally consists, indeed, of blunders or false speculations--books which have been obtained in a mistaken reliance on their suiting the craving of some wealthy collector. caterers unable to comprehend the subtle influences at work in the mind of the book-hunter, often make miscalculations in this way. fitzpatrick smart punished them so terribly, that they at last abandoned him in despair to his own devices. several men of this class were under the authority of the inchrule, and their communings were instructive. "thorpe's catalogue just arrived, sir--several highly important announcements," says a portly person with a fat volume under his arm, hustling forward with an air of assured consequence. there is now to be a deep and solemn consultation, as when two ambassadors are going over a heavy protocol from a third. it happened to me to see one of these myrmidons returning from a bootless errand of inspection to a reputed collection; he was hot and indignant "a _collection_," he sputtered forth--"that a _collection_!--mere rubbish, sir--irredeemable trash. what do you think, sir?--a set of the common quarto edition of the delphini classics, copies of newton's works and bacon's works, gibbon's decline and fall, and so forth--nothing better, i declare to you: and to call _that_ a collection!" whereas, had it contained the pardoner and the frere, sir clyomon and clamydes, a knacke to knowe a knave, banke's bay horse in a trance, or the works of those eminent dramatists, nabbes, may, glapthorne, or chettle, then would the collection have been worthy of distinguished notice. on another occasion, the conversation turning on a name of some repute, the remark is ventured, that he is "said to know something about books," which brings forth the fatal answer--"_he_ know about books! nothing--nothing at all, i assure you; unless, perhaps, about their insides." the next slide of the lantern is to represent a quite peculiar and abnormal case. it introduces a strangely fragile, unsubstantial, and puerile figure, wherein, however, resided one of the most potent and original spirits that ever frequented a tenement of clay. he shall be called, on account of associations that may or may not be found out, thomas papaverius. but how to make palpable to the ordinary human being one so signally divested of all the material and common characteristics of his race, yet so nobly endowed with its rarer and loftier attributes, almost paralyses the pen at the very beginning. in what mood and shape shall he be brought forward? shall it be as first we met at the table of lucullus, whereto he was seduced by the false pretence that he would there meet with one who entertained novel and anarchical opinions regarding the golden ass of apuleius? no one speaks of waiting dinner for him. he will come and depart at his own sweet will, neither burdened with punctualities nor burdening others by exacting them. the festivities of the afternoon are far on when a commotion is heard in the hall as if some dog or other stray animal had forced its way in. the instinct of a friendly guest tells him of the arrival--he opens the door, and fetches in the little stranger. what can it be? a street-boy of some sort? his costume, in fact, is a boy's duffle great-coat, very threadbare, with a hole in it, and buttoned tight to the chin, where it meets the fragments of a parti-coloured belcher handkerchief; on his feet are list-shoes, covered with snow, for it is a stormy winter night; and the trousers--some one suggests that they are inner linen garments blackened with writing-ink, but that papaverius never would have been at the trouble so to disguise them. what can be the theory of such a costume? the simplest thing in the world--it consisted of the fragments of apparel nearest at hand. had chance thrown to him a court single-breasted coat, with a bishop's apron, a kilt, and top-boots, in these he would have made his entry. the first impression that a boy has appeared vanishes instantly. though in one of the sweetest and most genial of his essays he shows how every man retains so much in him of the child he originally was--and he himself retained a great deal of that primitive simplicity--it was buried within the depths of his heart--not visible externally. on the contrary, on one occasion when he corrected an erroneous reference to an event as being a century old, by saying that he recollected its occurrence, one felt almost a surprise at the necessary limitation in his age, so old did he appear, with his arched brow loaded with thought, and the countless little wrinkles which engrained his skin, gathering thickly round the curiously expressive and subtle lips. these lips are speedily opened by some casual remark, and presently the flood of talk passes forth from them, free, clear, and continuous--never rising into declamation--never losing a certain mellow earnestness, and all consisting of sentences as exquisitely jointed together as if they were destined to challenge the criticism of the remotest posterity. still the hours stride over each other, and still flows on the stream of gentle rhetoric, as if it were _labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum_. it is now far in to the night, and slight hints and suggestions are propagated about separation and home-going. the topic starts new ideas on the progress of civilisation, the effect of habit on men in all ages, and the power of the domestic affections. descending from generals to the special, he could testify to the inconvenience of late hours; for, was it not the other night that, coming to what was, or what he believed to be, his own door, he knocked, and knocked, but the old woman within either couldn't or wouldn't hear him, so he scrambled over a wall, and, having taken his repose in a furrow, was able to testify to the extreme unpleasantness of such a couch. the predial groove might indeed nourish kindly the infant seeds and shoots of the peculiar vegetable to which it was appropriated, but was not a comfortable place of repose for adult man. shall i try another sketch of him, when, travel-stained and foot-sore, he glided in on us one night like a shadow, the child by the fire gazing on him with round eyes of astonishment, and suggesting that he should get a penny and go home--a proposal which he subjected to some philosophical criticism very far wide of its practical tenor. how far he had wandered since he had last refreshed himself, or even whether he had eaten food that day, were matters on which there was no getting articulate utterance from him. though his costume was muddy, however, and his communications about the material wants of life very hazy, the ideas which he had stored up during his wandering poured themselves forth as clear and sparkling, both in logic and language, as the purest fountain that springs from a highland rock. how that wearied, worn, little body was to be refreshed was a difficult problem: soft food disagreed with him--the hard he could not eat. suggestions pointed at length to the solution of that vegetable unguent to which he had given a sort of lustre, and it might be supposed that there were some fifty cases of acute toothache to be treated in the house that night. how many drops? drops! nonsense. if the wine-glasses of the establishment were not beyond the ordinary normal size, there was no risk--and so the weary is at rest for a time. at early morn a triumphant cry of _eureka_! calls me to his place of rest. with his unfailing instinct he has got at the books, and lugged a considerable heap of them around him. that one which specially claims his attention--my best bound quarto--is spread upon a piece of bedroom furniture readily at hand, and of sufficient height to let him pore over it as he lies recumbent on the floor, with only one article of attire to separate him from the condition in which archimedes, according to the popular story, shouted the same triumphant cry. he had discovered a very remarkable anachronism in the commonly received histories of a very important period. as he expounded it, turning up his unearthly face from the book with an almost painful expression of grave eagerness, it occurred to me that i had seen something like the scene in dutch paintings of the temptation of st anthony. suppose the scene changed to a pleasant country-house, where the enlivening talk has make a guest forget "the lang scots miles, the mosses, waters, slaps, and stiles," that lie between him and his place of rest. he must be instructed in his course, but the instruction reveals more difficulties than it removes, and there is much doubt and discussion, which papaverius at once clears up as effectually as he had ever dispersed a cloud of logical sophisms; and this time the feat is performed by a stroke of the thoroughly practical, which looks like inspiration--he will accompany the forlorn traveller, and lead him through the difficulties of the way--for have not midnight wanderings and musings made him familiar with all its intricacies? roofed by a huge wideawake, which makes his tiny figure look like the stalk of some great fungus, with a lantern of more than common dimensions in his hand, away he goes down the wooded path, up the steep bank, along the brawling stream, and across the waterfall--and ever as he goes there comes from him a continued stream of talk concerning the philosophy of immanuel kant, and other kindred matters. surely if we two were seen by any human eyes, it must have been supposed that some gnome, or troll, or kelpie was luring the listener to his doom. the worst of such affairs as this was the consciousness that, when left, the old man would continue walking on until, weariness overcoming him, he would take his rest, wherever that happened, like some poor mendicant. he used to denounce, with his most fervent eloquence, that barbarous and brutal provision of the law of england which rendered sleeping in the open air an act of vagrancy, and so punishable, if the sleeper could not give a satisfactory account of himself--a thing which papaverius never could give under any circumstances. after all, i fear this is an attempt to describe the indescribable. it was the commonest of sayings when any of his friends were mentioning to each other "his last," and creating mutual shrugs of astonishment, that, were one to attempt to tell all about him, no man would believe it, so separate would the whole be from all the normal conditions of human nature. the difficulty becomes more inextricable in passing from specific little incidents to an estimation of the general nature of the man. the logicians lucidly describe definition as being _per genus et differentiam_. you have the characteristics in which all of the _genus_ partake as common ground, and then you individualise your object by showing in what it differs from the others of the genus. but we are denied this standard for papaverius, so entirely did he stand apart, divested of the ordinary characteristics of social man--of those characteristics without which the human race as a body could not get on or exist. for instance, those who knew him a little might call him a loose man in money matters; those who knew him closer laughed at the idea of coupling any notion of pecuniary or other like responsibility with his nature. you might as well attack the character of the nightingale, which may have nipped up your five-pound note and torn it to shreds to serve as nest-building material. only immediate craving necessities could ever extract from him an acknowledgment of the common vulgar agencies by which men subsist in civilised society; and only while the necessity lasted did the acknowledgment exist. take just one example, which will render this clearer than any generalities. he arrives very late at a friend's door, and on gaining admission--a process in which he often endured impediments--he represents, with his usual silver voice and measured rhetoric, the absolute necessity of his being then and there invested with a sum of money in the current coin of the realm--the amount limited, from the nature of his necessities, which he very freely states, to seven shillings and sixpence. discovering, or fancying he discovers, signs that his eloquence is likely to be unproductive, he is fortunately reminded that, should there be any difficulty in connection with security for the repayment of the loan, he is at that moment in possession of a document, which he is prepared to deposit with the lender--a document calculated, he cannot doubt, to remove any feeling of anxiety which the most prudent person could experience in the circumstances. after a rummage in his pockets, which develops miscellaneous and varied, but as yet by no means valuable possessions, he at last comes to the object of his search, a crumpled bit of paper, and spreads it out--a fifty-pound bank-note! the friend, who knew him well, was of opinion that, had he, on delivering over the seven shillings and sixpence, received the bank-note, he never would have heard anything more of the transaction from the other party. it was also his opinion that, before coming to a personal friend, the owner of the note had made several efforts to raise money on it among persons who might take a purely business view of such transactions; but the lateness of the hour, and something in the appearance of the thing altogether, had induced these mercenaries to forget their cunning, and decline the transaction. he stretched till it broke the proverb that to give quickly is as good as to give twice. his giving was quick enough on the rare occasions when he had wherewithal to give, but then the act was final, and could not be repeated. if he suffered in his own person from this peculiarity, he suffered still more in his sympathies, for he was full of them to all breathing creatures, and, like poor goldy, it was agony to him to hear the beggar's cry of distress, and to hear it without the means of assuaging it, though in a departed fifty pounds there were doubtless the elements for appeasing many a street wail. all sums of money were measured by him through the common standard of immediate use; and with more solemn pomp of diction than he applied to the bank-note, might he inform you that, with the gentleman opposite, to whom he had hitherto been entirely a stranger, but who happened to be nearest to him at the time when the exigency occurred to him, he had just succeeded in negotiating a loan of "twopence." he was and is a great authority in political economy. i have known great anatomists and physiologists as careless of their health as he was of his purse, whence i have inferred that something more than a knowledge of the abstract truth of political economy is necessary to keep some men from pecuniary imprudence, and that something more than a knowledge of the received principles of physiology is necessary to bring others into a course of perfect sobriety and general obedience to the laws of health. further, papaverius had an extraordinary insight into practical human life; not merely in the abstract, but in the concrete; not merely as a philosopher of human nature, but as one who saw into those who passed him in the walk of life with the kind of intuition attributed to expert detectives--a faculty that is known to have belonged to more than one dreamer, and is one of the mysteries in the nature of j.j. rousseau; and, by the way, like rousseau's, his handwriting was clear, angular, and unimpassioned, and not less uniform and legible than printing--as if the medium of conveying so noble a thing as thought ought to be carefully, symmetrically, and decorously constructed, let all other material things be as neglectfully and scornfully dealt with as may be. this is a long proemium to the description of his characteristics as a book-hunter--but these can be briefly told. not for him were the common enjoyments and excitements of the pursuit. he cared not to add volume unto volume, and heap up the relics of the printing-press. all the external niceties about pet editions, peculiarities of binding or of printing, rarity itself, were no more to him than to the arab or the hottentot. his pursuit, indeed, was like that of the savage who seeks but to appease the hunger of the moment. if he catch a prey just sufficient for his desires, it is well; yet he will not hesitate to bring down the elk or the buffalo, and, satiating himself with the choicer delicacies, abandon the bulk of the carcass to the wolves or the vultures. so of papaverius. if his intellectual appetite were craving after some passage in the oedipus, or in the medeia, or in plato's republic, he would be quite contented with the most tattered and valueless fragment of the volume, if it contained what he wanted; but, on the other hand, he would not hesitate to seize upon your tall copy in russia gilt and tooled. nor would the exemption of an _editio princeps_ from everyday sordid work restrain his sacrilegious hands. if it should contain the thing he desires to see, what is to hinder him from wrenching out the twentieth volume of your encyclopédie méthodique, or ersch und gruber, leaving a vacancy like an extracted front tooth, and carrying it off to his den of cacus? if you should mention the matter to any vulgar-mannered acquaintance given to the unhallowed practice of jeering, he would probably touch his nose with his extended palm and say, "don't you wish you may get it?" true, the world at large has gained a brilliant essay on euripides or plato--but what is that to the rightful owner of the lost sheep? the learned world may very fairly be divided into those who return the books borrowed by them, and those who do not. papaverius belonged decidedly to the latter order. a friend addicted to the marvellous boasts that, under the pressure of a call by a public library to replace a mutilated book with a new copy, which would have cost £ , he recovered a volume from papaverius, through the agency of a person specially bribed and authorised to take any necessary measures, insolence and violence excepted--but the power of extraction that must have been employed in such a process excites very painful reflections. some legend, too, there is of a book creditor having forced his way into the cacus den, and there seen a sort of rubble-work inner wall of volumes, with their edges outwards, while others, bound and unbound, the plebeian sheepskin and the aristocratic russian, were squeezed into certain tubs drawn from the washing establishment of a confiding landlady. in other instances the book has been recognised at large, greatly enhanced in value by a profuse edging of manuscript notes from a gifted pen--a phenomenon calculated to bring into practical use the speculations of the civilians about pictures painted on other people's panels.[ ] what became of all his waifs and strays, it might be well not to inquire too curiously. if he ran short of legitimate _tabula rasa_ to write on, do you think he would hesitate to tear out the most convenient leaves of any broad-margined book, whether belonging to himself or another? nay, it is said he once gave in copy written on the edges of a tall octavo somnium scipionis; and as he did not obliterate the original matter, the printer was rather puzzled, and made a funny jumble between the letterpress latin and the manuscript english. all these things were the types of an intellectual vitality which despised and thrust aside all that was gross or material in that wherewith it came in contact. surely never did the austerities of monk or anchorite so entirely cast all these away as his peculiar nature removed them from him. it may be questioned if he ever knew what it was "to eat a good dinner," or could even comprehend the nature of such a felicity. yet in all the sensuous nerves which connect as it were the body with the ideal, he was painfully susceptible. hence a false quantity or a wrong note in music was agony to him; and it is remembered with what ludicrous solemnity he apostrophised his unhappy fate as one over whom a cloud of the darkest despair had just been drawn--a peacock had come to live within hearing distance from him, and not only the terrific yells of the accursed biped pierced him to the soul, but the continued terror of their recurrence kept his nerves in agonising tension during the intervals of silence. [footnote : "si quis in aliena tabula pinxerit, quidam putant, tabulam picturæ cedere: aliis videtur picturam (qualiscunque sit) tabulæ cedere: sed nobis videtur melius esse tabulam picturæ cedere. ridiculum est enim picturam apellis vel parrhasii in accessionem vilissimæ tabulæ cedere."--_inst._ ii. . .] peace be with his gentle and kindly spirit, now for some time separated from its grotesque and humble tenement of clay. it is both right and pleasant to say that the characteristics here spoken of were not those of his latter days. in these he was tended by affectionate hands; and i have always thought it a wonderful instance of the power of domestic care and management that, through the ministrations of a devoted offspring, this strange being was so cared for, that those who came in contact with him then, and then only, might have admired him as the patriarchal head of an agreeable and elegant household. let us now, for the sake of variety, summon up a spirit of another order--magnus lucullus, esq. of grand priory. he is a man with a presence--tall, and a little portly, with a handsome pleasant countenance looking hospitality and kindliness towards friends, and a quiet but not easily solvable reserve towards the rest of the world. he has no literary pretensions, but you will not talk long with him without finding that he is a scholar, and a ripe and good one. he is complete and magnificent in all his belongings, only, as no man's qualities and characteristics are of perfectly uniform balance and parallel action, his library is the sphere in which his disposition for the complete and the magnificent has most profusely developed itself. as you enter its gothic door a sort of indistinct slightly musky perfume, like that said to frequent oriental bazaars, hovers around. everything is of perfect finish--the mahogany-railed gallery--the tiny ladders--the broad-winged lecterns, with leathern cushions on the edges to keep the wood from grazing the rich bindings--the books themselves, each shelf uniform with its facings or rather backings, like well-dressed lines at a review. their owner does not profess to indulge much in quaint monstrosities, though many a book of rarity is there. in the first place, he must have the best and most complete editions, whether common or rare; and, in the second place, they must be in perfect condition. all the classics are there--one complete set of valpy's in good russia, and many separate copies of each, valuable for text or annotation. the copies of bayle, moreri, the trevoux dictionary, stephens's lexicon, du cange, mabillon's antiquities, the benedictine historians, the bollandists' lives of the saints, grævius and gronovius, and heavy books of that order, are in their old original morocco, without a scratch or abrasure, gilt-edged, vellum-jointed, with their backs blazing in tooled gold. your own dingy well-thumbed bayle or moreri possibly cost you two or three pounds; his cost forty or fifty. further, in these affluent shelves may be found those great costly works which cross the border of "three figures," and of which only one or two of the public libraries can boast, such as the celebri famiglie italiane of litta, denon's egypt, the great french work on the arts of the middle ages, and the like; and many is the scholar who, unable to gratify his cravings elsewhere, has owed it to lucullus that he has seen something he was in search after in one of these great books, and has been able to put it to public use. throughout the establishment there is an appearance of care and order, but not of restraint. some inordinately richly-bound volumes have special grooves or niches for themselves lined with soft cloth, as if they had delicate lungs, and must be kept from catching cold. but even these are not guarded from the hand of the guest. lucullus says his books are at the service of his friends; and, as a hint in the same direction, he recommends to your notice a few volumes from the collection of the celebrated grollier, the most princely and liberal of collectors, on whose classic book-stamp you find the genial motto, "_joannis grollierii et amicorum._" having conferred on you the freedom of his library, he will not concern himself by observing how you use it. he would as soon watch you after dinner to note whether you eschew common sherry and show an expensive partiality for that madeira at twelve pounds a-dozen, which other men would probably only place on the table when it could be well invested in company worthy of the sacrifice. who shall penetrate the human heart, and say whether a hidden pang or gust of wrath has vibrated behind that placid countenance, if you have been seen to drop an ink-spot on the creamy margin of the mentelin virgil, or to tumble that heavy aquinas from the ladder and dislocate his joints? as all the world now knows, however, men assimilate to the conditions by which they are surrounded, and we civilise our city savages by substituting cleanness and purity for the putrescence which naturally accumulates in great cities. so, in a noble library, the visitor is enchained to reverence and courtesy by the genius of the place. you cannot toss about its treasures as you would your own rough calfs and obdurate hogskins; as soon would you be tempted to pull out your meerschaum and punk-box in a cathedral. it is hard to say, but i would fain believe that even papaverius himself might have felt some sympathetic touch from the spotless perfection around him and the noble reliance of the owner; and that he might perhaps have restrained himself from tearing out the most petted rarities, as a wolf would tear a fat lamb from the fold. such, then, are some "cases" discussed in a sort of clinical lecture. it will be seen that they have differing symptoms--some mild and genial, others ferocious and dangerous. before passing to another and the last case, i propose to say a word or two on some of the minor specialties which characterise the pursuit in its less amiable or dignified form. it is, for instance, liable to be accompanied by an affection, known also to the agricultural world as affecting the wheat crop, and called "the smut." fortunately this is less prevalent among us than the french, who have a name for the class of books affected by this school of collectors in the _bibliothèque bleue_. there is a sad story connected with this peculiar frailty. a great and high-minded scholar of the seventeenth century had a savage trick played on him by some mad wags, who collected a quantity of the brutalities of which latin literature affords an endless supply, and published them in his name. he is said not long to have survived this practical joke; and one does not wonder at his sinking before such a prospect, if he anticipated an age and a race of book-buyers among whom his great critical works are forgotten, and his name is known solely for the spurious volume, sacred to infamy, which may be found side by side with the works of the author of trimalcion's feast--"par nobile fratrum." there is another failing, without a leaning to virtue's side, to which some collectors have been, by reputation at least, addicted--a propensity to obtain articles without value given for them--a tendency to be larcenish. it is the culmination, indeed, of a sort of lax morality apt to grow out of the habits and traditions of the class. your true collector--not the man who follows the occupation as a mere expensive taste, and does not cater for himself--considers himself a finder or discoverer rather than a purchaser. he is an industrious prowler in unlikely regions, and is entitled to some reward for his diligence and his skill. moreover, it is the essence of that very skill to find value in those things which, in the eye of the ordinary possessor, are really worthless. from estimating them at little value, and paying little for them, the steps are rather too short to estimating them at nothing, and paying nothing for them. what matters it, a few dirty black-letter leaves picked out of that volume of miscellaneous trash--leaves which the owner never knew he had, and cannot miss--which he would not know the value of, had you told him of them? what use of putting notions into the greedy barbarian's head, as if one were to find treasures for him? and the little pasquinade is _so_ curious, and will fill a gap in that fine collection so nicely! the notions of the collector about such spoil are indeed the converse of those which cassio professed to hold about his good name, for the scrap furtively removed is supposed in no way to impoverish the loser, while it makes the recipient rich indeed. those habits of the prowler which may gradually lead a mind not strengthened by strong principle into this downward career, are hit with his usual vivacity and wonderful truth by scott. the speaker is our delightful friend oldenbuck of monkbarns, the antiquary, and what he says has just enough of confession in it to show a consciousness that the narrator has gone over dangerous ground, and, if we did not see that the narrative is tinged with some exaggeration, has trodden a little beyond the limits of what is gentlemanly and just. "'see this bundle of ballads, not one of them later than , and some of them a hundred years older. i wheedled an old woman out of these, who loved them better than her psalm-book. tobacco, sir, snuff, and the complete syren, were the equivalent! for that mutilated copy of the complaynt of scotland i sat out the drinking of two dozen bottles of strong ale with the late learned proprietor, who in gratitude bequeathed it to me by his last will. these little elzevirs are the memoranda and trophies of many a walk by night and morning through the cowgate, the canongate, the bow, st mary's wynd--wherever, in fine, there were to be found brokers and trokers, those miscellaneous dealers in things rare and curious. how often have i stood haggling on a halfpenny, lest, by a too ready acquiescence in the dealer's first price, he should be led to suspect the value i set upon the article!--how have i trembled lest some passing stranger should chop in between me and the prize, and regarded each poor student of divinity that stopped to turn over the books at the stall as a rival amateur or prowling bookseller in disguise!--and then, mr lovel, the sly satisfaction with which one pays the consideration, and pockets the article, affecting a cold indifference, while the hand is trembling with pleasure!--then to dazzle the eyes of our wealthier and emulous rivals by showing them such a treasure as this' (displaying a little black smoked book about the size of a primer)--'to enjoy their surprise and envy, shrouding meanwhile, under a veil of mysterious consciousness, our own superior knowledge and dexterity;--these, my young friend, these are the white moments of life, that repay the toil and pains and sedulous attention which our profession, above all others, so peculiarly demands!'" there is a nice subtle meaning in the worthy man calling his weakness his "profession," but it is in complete keeping with the mellow teniers-like tone of the whole picture. ere we have done i shall endeavour to show that the grubber among book-stalls has, with other grubs or grubbers, his useful place in the general dispensation of the world. but his is a pursuit exposing him to moral perils, which call for peculiar efforts of self-restraint to save him from them; and the moral scott holds forth--for a sound moral he always has--is, if you go as far as jonathan oldenbuck did--and i don't advise you to go so far, but hint that you should stop earlier--say to yourself, thus far, and no farther. so much for one of the debased symptoms which in very bad cases sometimes characterise an otherwise genial failing. there is another peculiar, and, it may be said, vicious propensity, exhibited occasionally in conjunction with the pursuit. this propensity is, like the other, antagonistic in spirit to the tenth commandment, and consists in a desperate coveting of the neighbour's goods, and a satisfaction, not so much in possessing for one's self, as in dispossessing him. this spirit is said to burn with still fiercer flame in the breasts of those whose pursuit would externally seem to be the most innocent in the world, and the least excitive of the bad passions--namely, among flower-fanciers. from some mysterious cause, it has been known to develop itself most flagrantly among tulip-collectors, insomuch that there are legends of dutch devotees of this pursuit who have paid their thousands of dollars for a duplicate tuber, that they might have the satisfaction of crushing it under the heel.[ ] this line of practice is not entirely alien to the book-hunter. peignot tells us that it is of rare occurrence among his countrymen, and yet, as we have seen, he thought it necessary to correct the technical term applied to this kind of practitioner, by calling him a bibliothapte when he conceals books--a bibliolyte when he destroys them. dibdin warmed his convivial guests at a comfortable fire, fed by the woodcuts from which had been printed the impression of the bibliographical decameron. it was a quaint fancy, and deemed to be a pretty and appropriate form of hospitality, while it effectually assured the subscribers to his costly volumes that the vulgar world who buy cheap books was definitively cut off from participating in their privileges. [footnote : "the great point of view in a collector is to possess that not possessed by any other. it is said of a collector lately deceased, that he used to purchase scarce prints at enormous prices in order to destroy them, and thereby render the remaining impressions more scarce and valuable."--grose's olio, p. . i do not know to whom grose alludes; but it strikes me, in realising a man given to such propensities--taking them as a reality and not a joke--that it would be interesting to know how, in his moments of serious thought, he could contemplate his favourite pursuit--as, for instance, when the conscientious physician may have thought it necessary to warn him in time of the approaching end--how he could reckon up his good use of the talents bestowed on him, counting among them his opportunities for the encouragement of art as an elevator and improver of the human race.] let us, however, summon a more potent spirit of this order. he is a different being altogether from those gentle shadows who have flitted past us already. he was known in the body by many hard names, such as the vampire, the dragon, &c. he was an irish absentee, or, more accurately, a refugee, since he had made himself so odious on his ample estate that he could not live there. how on earth he should have set about collecting books is one of the inscrutable mysteries which ever surround the diagnosis of this peculiar malady. setting aside his using his books by reading them as out of the question, he yet was never known to indulge in that fondling and complacent examination of their exterior and general condition, which, to inchrule and others of his class, seemed to afford the highest gratification that, as sojourners through this vale of tears, it was their lot to enjoy. nor did he luxuriate in the collective pride--like that of david when he numbered his people--of beholding how his volumes increased in multitude, and ranged with one another, like well-sized and properly dressed troops, along an ample area of book-shelves. his collection--if it deserved the name--was piled in great heaps in garrets, cellars, and warerooms, like unsorted goods. they were accumulated, in fact, not so much that the owner might have them, as that other people might not. if there were a division of the order into positive, or those who desire to make collections--and negative, or those who desire to prevent them being made, his case would properly belong to the latter. imagine the consternation created in a small circle of collectors by a sudden alighting among them of a _helluo librorum_ with such propensities, armed with illimitable means, enabling him to desolate the land like some fiery dragon! what became of the chaotic mass of literature he had brought together no one knew. it was supposed to be congenial to his nature to have made a great bonfire of it before he left the world; but a little consideration showed such a feat to be impossible, for books may be burnt in detail by extraneous assistance, but it is a curious fact that, combustible as paper is supposed to be, books won't burn. if you doubt this, pitch that folio swammerdam or puffendorf into a good rousing fire, and mark the result. no--it is probable that, stored away in some forgotten repositories, these miscellaneous relics still remain; and should they be brought forth, some excitement might be created; for, ignorant as the monster was, he had an instinct for knowing what other people wanted, and was thus enabled to snatch rare and curious volumes from the grasp of systematic collectors. it was his great glory to get hold of a unique book and shut it up. there were known to be just two copies of a spare quarto called rout upon rout, or the rabblers rabbled, by felix nixon, gent. he possessed one copy; the other, by indomitable perseverance, he also got hold of, and then his heart was glad within him; and he felt it glow with well-merited pride when an accomplished scholar, desiring to complete an epoch in literary history on which that book threw some light, besought the owner to allow him a sight of it, were it but for a few minutes, and the request was refused. "i might as well ask him," said the animal, who was rather proud of his firmness than ashamed of his churlishness, "to make me a present of his brains and reputation." it was among his pleasant ways to attend book-sales, there to watch the biddings of persons on whose judgment he relied, and cut in as the contest was becoming critical. this practice soon betrayed to those he had so provoked the chinks in the monster's armour. he was assailable and punishable at last, then, this potent tyrant--but the attack must be made warily and cautiously. accordingly, impartial bystanders, ignorant of the plot, began to observe that he was degenerating by degrees in the rank of his purchases, and at last becoming utterly reckless, buying, at the prices of the sublimest rarities, common works of ordinary literature to be found in every book-shop. such was the result of judiciously drawing him on, by biddings for valueless books, on the part of those whom he had outbid in the objects of their desire. auctioneers were surprised at the gradual change coming over the book-market, and a few fortunate people obtained considerable prices for articles they were told to expect nothing for. but this farce, of course, did not last long; and whether or not he found out that he had been beaten at his own weapons, the devouring monster disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. reminiscences. such incidents bring vividly before the eye the scenes in which they took place long long ago. if any one in his early youth has experienced some slight symptoms of the malady under discussion, which his constitution, through a tough struggle with the world, and a busy training in after life, has been enabled to throw off, he will yet look back with fond associations to the scenes of his dangerous indulgence. the auction-room is often the centre of fatal attraction towards it, just as the billiard-room and the _rouge-et-noir_ table are to excesses of another kind. there is that august tribunal over which at one time reigned scott's genial friend ballantyne, succeeded by the sententious tait, himself a man of taste and a collector, and since presided over by the great nisbet, whose hand has dropped the ensign of office even before the present lot has an opportunity of obtaining from it the crowning honour. i bow with deferential awe to the august tribunal before which so vast a mass of literature has changed hands, and where the future destinies of so many thousands--or, shall it be rather said, millions--of volumes have been decided, each carrying with it its own little train of suspense and triumph. more congenial, however, in my recollection, is that remote and dingy hall where rough carfrae, like thor, flourished his thundering hammer. there it was that one first marked, with a sort of sympathetic awe, the strange and varied influence of their peculiar maladies on the book-hunters of the last generation. there it was that one first handled those pretty little pets, the elzevir classics, a sort of literary bantams, which are still dear to memory, and awaken old associations by their dwarfish ribbed backs like those of ponderous folios, and their exquisite, but now, alas! too minute type. the eyesight that could formerly peruse them with ease has suffered decay, but _they_ remain unchanged; and in this they are unlike to many other objects of early interest. children, flowers, animals, scenery even, all have undergone mutation, but no perceptible shade of change has passed over these little reminders of old times. there it was that one first could comprehend how a tattered dirty fragment of a book once common might be worth a deal more than its weight in gold. there it was too, that, seduced by bad example, the present respected pastor of ardsnischen purchased that beautiful greek new testament, by jansen of amsterdam, which he loved so, in the freshness of its acquisition, that he took it with him to church, and, turning up the text, handed it to a venerable woman beside him, after the fashion of an absorbed and absent student who was apt to forget whether he was reading greek or english. the presiding genius of the place, with his strange accent, odd sayings, and angular motions, accompanied by good-natured grunts of grotesque wrath, became a sort of household figure. the dorsal breadth of pronunciation with which he would expose mr ivory's erskine, used to produce a titter which he was always at a loss to understand. though not the fashionable mart where all the thorough libraries in perfect condition went to be hammered off--though it was rather a place where miscellaneous collections were sold, and therefore bargains might be expected by those who knew what they were about--yet sometimes extraordinary and valuable collections of rare books came under his hammer, and created an access of more than common excitement among the denizens of the place. on one of these occasions a succession of valuable fragments of early english poetry brought prices so high and far beyond those of ordinary expensive books in the finest condition, that it seemed as if their imperfections were their merit; and the auctioneer, momentarily carried off with this feeling, when the high prices began to sink a little, remonstrated thus, "going so low as thirty shillings, gentlemen,--this curious book--so low as thirty shillings--and _quite imperfect_!" those who frequented this howf, being generally elderly men, have now nearly all departed. the thunderer's hammer, too, has long been silenced by the great quieter. one living memorial still exists of that scene--the genial and then youthful assistant, whose partiality for letters and literary pursuits made him often the monitor and kindly guide of the raw student, and who now, in a higher field, exercises a more important influence on the destinies of literature. i passed the spot the other day--it was not desolate and forsaken, with the moss growing on the hearthstone; on the contrary, it flared with many lights--a thronged gin-palace. when one heard the sounds that issued from the old familiar spot, the reflection not unnaturally occurred that, after all, there are worse pursuits in the world than book-hunting. classification. perhaps it would be a good practical distribution of the class of persons under examination, to divide them into private prowlers and auction-hunters. there are many other modes of classifying them, but none so general. they might be classified by the different sizes of books they affect--as folios, quartos, octavos, and duodecimos--but this would be neither an expressive nor a dignified classification. in enumerating the various orders to which fitzpatrick smart did _not_ belong, i have mentioned many of the species, but a great many more might be added. some collectors lay themselves out for vellum-printed volumes almost solely. there are such not only among very old books, but among very new; for of a certain class of modern books it frequently happens that a copy or two may be printed on vellum, to catch the class whose weakness takes that direction. it may be cited as a signal instance of the freaks of book-collecting, that of all men in the world junot, the hard-fighting soldier, had a vellum library--but so it was. it was sold in london for about £ . "the crown octavos," says dibdin, "especially of ancient classics, and a few favourite english authors, brought from four to six guineas. the first virtually solid article of any importance, or rather of the greatest importance, in the whole collection, was the matchless didot horace, of , folio, containing the original drawings from which the exquisite copperplate vignettes were executed. this was purchased by the gallant mr george hibbert for £ . nor was it in any respect an extravagant or even dear purchase." it now worthily adorns the library of norton hall. some collectors may be styled rubricists, being influenced by a sacred rage for books having the contents and marginal references printed in red ink. some "go at" flowered capitals, others at broad margins. these have all a certain amount of magnificence in their tastes; but there are others again whose priceless collections are like the stock-in-trade of a wholesale ballad-singer, consisting of chap-books, as they are termed--the articles dealt in by pedlars and semi-mendicants for the past century or two. some affect collections relating to the drama, and lay great store by heaps of play-bills arranged in volumes, and bound, perhaps, in costly russia. of a more dignified grade are perhaps those who have lent themselves to the collection of the theses on which aspirants after university honours held their disputations or impugnments. sometimes out of a great mass of rubbish of this kind the youthful production of some man who has afterwards become great turns up. of these theses and similar tracts a german, count dietrich, collected some hundred and forty thousand, which are now in this country. those collectors whose affections are invested in the devices or trade emblems of special favourites among the old printers must not be passed without a word of recognition. men who have had the opportunity of rummaging among old libraries in their boyhood are the most likely to cultivate pets of this kind. there is a rich variety of choice in the luxuriantly floral gothic, the cold serene classic, and that prolific style combining both, which a popular writer on the Æsthetics of art has stigmatised by the term "sensual," ordering all his votaries to abjure it accordingly. to intellects not far enough advanced to acknowledge the influence of such terms, or to comprehend their application to what we should or should not like and admire, there is a fortunate element even in their deficiencies. they can admire the devices of the old printers from association with the boyish days when they were first noticed, from an absolute liking for their fantastic fancies, and possibly from an observation in some of them of the indications of the gradual development of artistic purity and beauty. in many of them in which the child has seen only an attractive little picture, the man has afterwards found a touch of poetic or religious thought. there is the hand pouring oil into a lamp of pure etruscan shape, symbolical of the nutriment supplied to the intellectual flame. in another, the gardener carefully plants the seedlings which are to bear the fruit of knowledge to the coming generations; in another, the sun rising bright over the eastern sea signifies the dawn of the restoration of classical learning to the european nations. other interpretations of the kind, called quaint conceits, can be read from these printers' devices. there is gesner's bibliotheca swarming with frogs and tadpoles like a quagmire in honour of its printer, a german frog, latinised christopherus froshoverus. the _quæ extant_ of varro, printed at dort, are adorned with many lively cuts of bears and their good-humoured cubs, because the printer's name is joannis berewout. so the aulus gellius, printed by gryphius of lyons, more than a hundred years earlier, begins and ends with formidable effigies of griffins. the device of michael and phillip lenoir is a jet-black shield, with an ethiopian for crest, and ethiopians for supporters; and apiarius has a neat little cut representing a bear robbing a bee's nest in a hollow tree. most instructive of them all, ascensius has bequeathed to posterity the lively and accurate representation, down to every nail and screw, of the press in which the great works of the sixteenth century were printed, with the brawny pressman pulling his proof. collectors there have been, not unimportant for number and zeal, whose mission it is to purchase books marked by peculiar mistakes or errors of the press. the celebrated elzevir cæsar of is known by this, that the number of the th page is misprinted . all that want this peculiar distinction are counterfeits. the little volume being, as brunet says, "une des plus jolies et plus rares de la collection des elsevier," gave a temptation to fraudulent imitators, who, as if by a providential arrangement for their detection, lapsed into accuracy at the critical figure. how common errors are in editions of the classics, is attested by the one or two editions which claim a sort of canonisation as immaculate--as, for instance, the virgil of didot, and the horace of foulis. a collector, with a taste for the inaccurate, might easily satiate it in the editions so attractive in their deceptive beauty of the great birmingham printer baskerville. the mere printers' blunders that have been committed upon editions of the bible are reverenced in literary history; and one edition--the vulgate issued under the authority of sixtus v.--achieved immense value from its multitude of errors. the well-known story of the german printer's wife, who surreptitiously altered the passage importing that her husband should be her lord (herr) so as to make him be her fool (narr), needs confirmation. if such a misprint were found, it might quite naturally be attributed to carelessness. valarian flavigny, who had many controversies on his hand, brought on the most terrible of them all with abraham ecchellensis by a mere dropped letter. in the rebuke about the mote in thy brother's eye and the beam in thine own, the first letter in the latin for eye was carelessly dropped out, and left a word which may be found occasionally in martial's epigrams, but not in books of purer latin and purer ideas.[ ] [footnote : a traditional anecdote represents the rev. william thomson, a clergyman of the church of scotland, as having got into a scrape by a very indecorous alteration of a word in scripture. a young divine, on his first public appearance, had to read the solemn passage in st corinthians, "behold, i show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." thomson scratched the letter _c_ out of the word changed. the effect of the passage so mutilated can easily be tested. the person who could play such tricks was ill suited for his profession, and being relieved of its restraints, he found a more congenial sphere of life among the unsettled crew of men of letters in london, over whom smollett had just ceased to reign. he did a deal of hard work, and the world owes him at least one good turn in his translation of cunningham's latin history of britain from the revolution to the hanover succession. the value of this work, in the minute light thrown by it on one of the most memorable periods of british history, is too little known. the following extract may give some notion of the curious and instructive nature of this neglected book. it describes the influences which were in favour of the french alliance, and against the whigs, during marlborough's campaign. "and now i shall take this opportunity to speak of the french wine-drinkers as truly and briefly as i can. on the first breaking out of the confederate war, the merchants in england were prohibited from all commerce with france, and a heavy duty was laid upon french wine. this caused a grievous complaint among the topers, who have great interest in the parliament, as if they had been poisoned by port wines. mr portman seymour, who was a jovial companion, and indulged his appetites, but otherwise a good man; general churchill, the duke of marlborough's brother, a man of courage, but a lover of wine; mr pereira, a jew and smell-feast, and other hard drinkers, declared, that the want of french wine was not to be endured, and that they could hardly bear up under so great a calamity. these were joined by dr aldridge, who, though nicknamed the priest of bacchus, was otherwise an excellent man, and adorned with all kinds of learning. dr ratcliffe, a physician of great reputation, who ascribed the cause of all diseases to the want of french wines, though he was very rich, and much addicted to wine, yet, being extremely covetous, bought the cheaper wines; but at the same time he imputed the badness of his wine to the war, and the difficulty of getting better. therefore the duke of beaufort and the earl of scarsdale, two young noblemen of great interest among their acquaintance, who had it in their power to live at their ease in magnificence or luxury, merrily attributed all the doctor's complaints to his avarice. all those were also for peace rather than war. and all the bottle-companions, many physicians, and great numbers of the lawyers and inferior clergy, and, in fine, the loose women too, were united together in the faction against the duke of marlborough."--ii. .] questions as to typographical blunders in editions of the classics are mixed up with larger critical inquiries into the purity of the ascertained text, and thus run in veins through the mighty strata of philological and critical controversy which, from the days of poggio downwards, have continued to form that voluminous mass of learning which the outer world contemplates with silent awe. to some extent the same spirit of critical inquiry has penetrated into our own language. what we have of it clusters almost exclusively around the mighty name of shakespeare. shakespearian criticism is a branch of knowledge by itself. to record its triumphs--from that greatest one by which the senseless "table of greenfield," which interrupted the touching close of falstaff's days, was replaced by "'a babbled of green fields"--would make a large book of itself. he who would undertake it, in a perfectly candid and impartial spirit, would give us, varied no doubt with much erudition and acuteness, a curious record of blundering ignorance and presumptuous conceit, the one so intermingling with the other that it would be often difficult to distinguish them.[ ] [footnote : without venturing too near to this very turbulent arena, where hard words have lately been cast about with much reckless ferocity, i shall just offer one amended reading, because there is something in it quite peculiar, and characteristic of its literary birthplace beyond the atlantic. the passage operated upon is the wild soliloquy, where hamlet resolves to try the test of the play, and says-- "the devil hath power t' assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me." the amended reading stands-- "as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me too--damme."] the quantity of typographical errors exposed in those pages, where they are least to be expected, and are least excusable, opens up some curious considerations. it may surely be believed that, between the compositors who put the types together and the correctors of the press, the printing of the bible has generally been executed with more than average care. yet the editions of the sacred book have been the great mine of discovered printers' blunders. the inference from this, however, is not that blunders abound less in other literature, but that they are not worth finding there. the issuing of the true reading of the scripture is of such momentous consequence, that a mistake is sure of exposure, like those minute incidents of evidence which come forth when a murder has been committed, but would never have left their privacy for the detection of a petty fraud. the value to literature of a pure shakespearian text, has inspired the zeal of the detectives who work on this ground. some casual detections have occurred in minor literature,--as, for instance, when akenside's description of the pantheon, which had been printed as "serenely great," was restored to "severely great." the reason, however, why such detections are not common in common books, is the rather humiliating one that they are not worth making. the specific weight of individual words is in them of so little influence, that one does as well as another. instances could indeed be pointed out, where an incidental blunder has much improved a sentence, giving it the point which its author failed to achieve--as a scratch or an accidental splash of the brush sometimes supplies the painter with the ray or the cloud which the cunning of his hand cannot accomplish. poetry in this way sometimes endures the most alarming oscillations without being in any way damaged, but, on the contrary, sometimes rather improved. i might refer to a signal instance of this, where, by some mysterious accident at press, the lines of a poem written in quatrains got their order inverted, so that the second and fourth of each quatrain changed places. this transposition was pronounced to operate a decided improvement on the spirit and originality of the piece,--an opinion in which, unfortunately, the author did not concur; nor could he appreciate the compliment of a critic, who remarked that the experiment tested the soundness of the lines, which could find their feet whatever way they were thrown about.[ ] [footnote : one curious service of printers' blunders, of a character quite distinct from their bibliological influence, is their use in detecting plagiarisms. it may seem strange that there should be any difficulty in critically determining the question, when the plagiarism is so close as to admit of this test; but there are pieces of very hard work in science, tables of reference, and the like, where, if two people go through the same work, they will come to the same conclusion. in such cases, the prior worker has sometimes identified his own by a blunder, as he would a stolen china vase by a crack. peignot complains that some thirty or forty pages of his dictionnaire bibliographique were incorporated in the siècles littéraires de la france, "avec une exactitude si admirable, qu'on y a precieusement conservé toutes les fautes typographiques."] there have been, no doubt, cruel instances of printers' blunders in our own days, like the fate of the youthful poetess in the fudge family:-- "when i talked of the dewdrops on freshly-blown roses, the nasty things printed it--freshly-blown noses." suchlike was the fatality which suddenly dried up the tears of those who read a certain pathetic ode, in which the desolate widow was printed as "dissolute;" and the accident which destroyed a poetic reputation by making the "pale martyr in his sheet of fire" come forward with "his shirt on fire." so also a certain printer, whose solemn duty it was to have announced to the world that "intoxication is folly," whether actuated by simplicity of soul or by malignity, was unable to resist the faint amendment which announced the more genial doctrine that "intoxication is jolly."[ ] [footnote : see this and other cases in point set forth in an amusing article on "literary mishaps," in hedderwick's miscellany, part ii.] a solid scholar there was, who, had he been called to his account at a certain advanced period of his career, might have challenged all the world to say that he had ever used a false quantity, or committed an anomaly in syntax, or misspelt a foreign name, or blundered in a quotation from a greek or latin classic--to misquote an english author is a far lighter crime, but even to this he could have pleaded not guilty. he never made a mistake in a date, or left out a word in copying the title-page of a volume; nor did he ever, in affording an intelligent analysis of its contents, mistake the number of pages devoted to one head. as to the higher literary virtues, too, his sentences were all carefully balanced in a pair of logical and rhetorical scales of the most sensitive kind; and he never perpetrated the atrocity of ending a sentence with a monosyllable, or using the same word twice within the same five lines, choosing always some judicious method of circumlocution to obviate reiteration. poor man! in the pride of his unspotted purity, he little knew what a humiliation fate had prepared for him. it happened to him to have to state how theodore beza, or some contemporary of his, went to sea in a candian vessel. this statement, at the last moment, when the sheet was going through the press, caught the eye of an intelligent and judicious corrector, more conversant with shipping-lists than with the literature of the sixteenth century, who saw clearly what had been meant, and took upon himself, like a man who hated all pottering nonsense, to make the necessary correction without consulting the author. the consequence was, that people read with some surprise, under the authority of the paragon of accuracy, that theodore beza had gone to sea in a _canadian_ vessel. the victim of this calamity had undergone minor literary trials, which he had borne with philosophical equanimity; as, for instance, when inconsiderate people, destitute of the organ of veneration, thoughtlessly asked him about the last new popular work, as if it were something that he had read or even heard of, and actually went so far in their contumelious disrespect as to speak to him about the productions of a certain charles dickens. the "canadian vessel," however, was a more serious disaster, and was treated accordingly. a charitable friend broke his calamity to the author at a judicious moment, to prevent him from discovering it himself at an unsuitable time, with results the full extent of which no one could foresee. it was an affair of much anxiety among his friends, who made frequent inquiries as to how he bore himself in his affliction, and what continued to be the condition of his health, and especially of his spirits. and although he was a confirmed book-hunter, and not unconscious of the merits of the peculiar class of books now under consideration, it may be feared that it was no consolation to him to reflect that, some century or so hence, his books and himself would be known only by the curious blunder which made one of them worth the notice of the book-fanciers. consequences from printers' blunders of a still more tragic character even than this, have been preserved--as for instance, the fate of guidi the italian poet, whose end is said to have been hastened by the misprints in his poetical paraphrase of the homilies of his patron, clement xi. an odd accident occurred to a well-known book lately published, called men of the time. it sometimes happens in a printing-office that some of the types, perhaps a printed line or two, fall out of "the forme." those in whose hands the accident occurs generally try to put things to rights as well as they can, and may be very successful in restoring appearances with the most deplorable results to the sense. it happened thus in the instance referred to. a few lines dropping out of the life of robert owen, the parallelogram communist, were hustled, as the nearest place of refuge, into the biography of his closest alphabetical neighbour--"oxford, bishop of." the consequence is that the article begins as follows:-- "oxford, the right reverend samuel wilberforce, bishop of, was born in . a more kind-hearted and truly benevolent man does not exist. a sceptic, as regards religious revelation, he is nevertheless an out-and-out believer in spirit movements." whenever this blunder was discovered, the leaf was cancelled; but a few copies of the book had got into circulation, which some day or other may be very valuable. from errors of the press there is a natural transition to the class who incur the guilt of perpetrating them, and whose peculiar mental qualities impart to them their special characteristics. that mysterious body called compositors, through whose hands all literature passes, are reputed to be a placid and unimpressionable race of practical stoics, who do their work dutifully, without yielding to the intellectual influences represented by it. a clause of an act of parliament, with all its whereases, and be it enacteds, and hereby repealeds, creates, it is said, quite as much emotion in them as the most brilliant burst of the fashionable poet of the day. they will set you up a psalm or a blasphemous ditty with the same equanimity, not retaining in their minds any clear distinction between them. your writing must be something very wonderful indeed, before they distinguish it from other "copy," except by the goodness or badness of the hand. a state paper which all the world is mad to know about, is quite safe in a printing-office; and, if report speak truly, they will set up what is here set down of them, without noting that it refers to themselves. it is said that this stoic indifference is a wonderful provision for the preservation of the purity of literature, and that, were compositors to think with the author under the "stick," they might make dire havoc. we are not to suppose, however, that they take less interest in, or are less observant of, the work of their hands than other workmen. the point of view, however, from which their observation is taken, is not exactly the same as that of their co-operator, the author whose writing they set up, nor is their notification of specialties of a kind which would always be felt by him as complimentary. the tremendous philippic of junius brutus against the scandalous and growing corruptions of the age, is remembered in the "chapel" solely because its fiery periods exhausted the largest font of italics possessed by the establishment. the exhaustive inquiry by a great metaphysician into the quantification of the predicate, is solely associated with the characteristic fact that the press was stopped during the casting of an additional hundredweight of parentheses for its special use. a youthful poet i could recall, who, with a kind of exulting indignation, thought he had discovered a celebrated brother of the lyre appropriating his ewe lamb in a flagrant plagiarism. there was at least one man who had the opportunity of being acquainted with the productions of his unappreciated muse--the printer. to him, accordingly, he appealed for confirmation of his suspicions, demanding if he did not see in the two productions a similarity that in some places even approached identity. the referee turned over page after page with the scrupulous attention of one whose acuteness is on trial. after due deliberation he admitted that there was a very striking similarity, only it seemed to him that the other's brevier was a shade thinner in the hair-stroke than his own, and the small caps. would go a thought more to the pound; while as to the semicolons and marks of interrogation, they looked as if they came out of a different font altogether. it is pleasant to be remembered for something, and the present author has the assurance that these pages will be imprinted on the memory of the "chapel" by the decorated capitals and gothic devices with which a better taste than his own has strewed them. the position, indeed, conceded to him in the book-hunting field through the influence of these becoming decorations has communicated to him something of the uneasiness of juvenal's "miserum est aliorum incubere famæ, ne collapsa ruant subductis tecta columnis." and having so disburdened himself, he rejoices in the thought that whoever compliments him again on the taste and talent displayed in the printing and adorning of this volume, will only prove that he has not read it. returning to compositors, and what they note and do not note, if the fresh author has happened to feel it a rather damping forecast of his reception by the public that those who have had the first and closest contact with his efforts are not in any way aroused by their remarkable originality, yet one who may have had opportunities of taking a wide view of the functions of the compositor will not wonder that, like the deaf adder, he systematically closes his ear to the voice of the charmer. that the uninitiated reader may form some practical conception of my meaning, i propose to set down a few items from the weekly contents of a compositor's "bill-book," slightly enlarging his brief entries with the view of rendering them the more intelligible. " . a time job--viz., inserting, as per author's proof, 'hear hears' and 'great cheerings' in report of speech to be delivered by alderman noddles at the great meeting on the social system. " . picking out all the 'hear hears' and 'great cheerings' from said speech, in respect it was not permitted to be delivered, the meeting having dispersed when the alderman stood up; and breaking up the same into pages, with title, 'a plan for the immediate and total extirpation of intemperance by prohibiting the manufacture of bottles.' " . a sheet of a volume of poems, titled 'life thoughts by a life thinker,' beginning-- "'far i dipt beneath the surface, through the texture of the earth, till my heart's triumphant musings dreamt the dream of that new birth, when the engineer's deep science through the mighty sphere shall probe, and the railway trains to melbourne sweep the centre of the globe, and the electro-motive engine renders it no more absurd that a human being should be in two places like a bird.' "item--introduction, explaining the difficulties in the way of the poet's success, in an age devoted to forms and superficialities, by reason of his muscular originality, impulsive grasping at the infinite, and resolute disdain of popular and conventional models; but expressing opinion that, as he turns round on the pivot of his own individual idiosyncrasy, he will come out all right. " . advertisement by a disinterested draper, beginning, 'awful sacrifices,' and ending, 'early application necessary to prevent disappointment.' " . two sticks of prayer for a devotional work which has had an unexpected run, and is largely distributed over the office for an expeditious issue of a new edition. " . part of an accountant's report, containing schemes for the ranking of the creditors on ten bankrupt estates, each of which has drawn accommodation bills on all the others. " . signature yy of 'a treatise on the form and material of the sickle used by the welsh druids in cutting the mistletoe,' being a series of quotations in arabic, hindoo, greek, german, and gaelic, cemented together by thin lines of english. this is a stock job which keeps the office going like a balance-wheel when there is nothing else specially pressing, and is rather popular, as it contains a good many ethnological and etymological tables, implying scheme-work, which the compositors who are adepts in that department contemplate with great satisfaction as they put it together." it is surely pleasant to suppose that the compositor has acquired the faculty of passing such dizzying whirls of heterogeneous elements without absorbing them all, and that, when his day's labour is over, he may find his own special intellectual food in his milton or his locke. in this view, his apathy to the literary matter passing through his hands may be contemplated as among the special beneficences in the providential order of things, like the faculty of healthy vitality to throw off morbid influences; and perhaps it has still closer analogy to that professional coolness which separates the surgeon from a nervous sympathy with the sufferings of those on whom he operates--a phenomenon which, though sometimes denounced as professional callousness, is one of the most beneficent specialties in the lot of mankind. in the several phases of the book-hunter, he whose peculiar glory it is to have his books illustrated--the grangerite, as he is technically termed--must not be omitted. "illustrating" a volume consists in inserting in or binding up with it portraits, landscapes, and other works of art bearing a reference to its contents. this is materially different from the other forms of the pursuit, in as far as the quarry hunted down is the raw material, the finished article being a result of domestic manufacture. the illustrator is the very ishmaelite of collectors--his hand is against every man, and every man's hand is against him. he destroys unknown quantities of books to supply portraits or other illustrations to a single volume of his own; and as it is not always known concerning any book that he has been at work on it, many a common book-buyer has cursed him on inspecting his own last bargain, and finding that it is deficient in an interesting portrait or two. tales there are, fitted to make the blood run cold in the veins of the most sanguine book-hunter, about the devastations committed by those who are given over to this special pursuit. it is generally understood that they received the impulse which has rendered them an important sect, from the publication of granger's biographical history--hence their name of grangerites. so it has happened that this industrious and respectable compiler is contemplated with mysterious awe as a sort of literary attila or gengis khan, who has spread terror and ruin around him. in truth the illustrator, whether green-eyed or not, being a monster that doth make the meat he feeds on, is apt to become excited with his work, and to go on ever widening the circle of his purveyances, and opening new avenues toward the raw material on which he works. to show how widely such a person may levy contributions, i propose to take, not a whole volume, not even a whole page, but still a specific and distinguished piece of english literature, and describe the way in which a devotee of this peculiar practice would naturally proceed in illustrating it. the piece of literature to be illustrated is as follows:-- "how doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour, and gather honey all the day from every opening flower!" the first thing to be done is to collect every engraved portrait of the author, isaac watts. the next, to get hold of any engravings of the house in which he was born, or houses in which he lived. then will come all kinds of views of southampton--of its gothic gate, and its older than gothic wall. any scrap connected with the inauguration of the watts statue must of course be scrupulously gathered. to go but a step beyond such commonplaces--there is a traditional story about the boyhood of isaac which has been told as follows. he took precociously to rhyming: like pope, he lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. it happened that this practice was very offensive to his father, a practical man, who, finding his admonitions useless, resolved to stop it in an effectual manner. he accordingly, after the practice of his profession--being a schoolmaster--assailed with a leathern thong, duly prepared, the cuticle of that portion of the body which has from time immemorial been devoted to such inflictions. under torture, the divine songster abjured his propensity in the following very hopeful shape-- "oh, father, do some pity take, and i will no more verses make." it is not likely that this simple domestic scene has been engraved either for the divine hymns, or the improvement of the mind. the illustrator will therefore require to get a picture of it for his own special use, and will add immensely to the value of his treasure, while he gives scope to the genius of a cruikshank or a doyle. we are yet, it will be observed, only on the threshold. we have next to illustrate the substance of the poetry. all kinds of engravings of bees attic and other, and of bee-hives, will be appropriate, and will be followed by portraits of huber and other great writers on bees, and views of mount hybla and other honey districts. some scripture prints illustrative of the history of samson, who had to do with honey and bees, will be appropriate, as well as any illustrations of the fable of the bear and the bees, or of the roman story of the _sic vos non vobis_. a still more appropriate form of illustration may, however, be drawn upon by remembering that a periodical called the bee was edited by dr anderson; and it is important to observe that the name was adopted in the very spirit which inspired watts. in both instances the most respected of all winged insects was brought forward as the type of industry. portraits, then, of dr anderson, and any engravings that can be connected with himself and his pursuits, will have their place in the collection. it will occur, perhaps, to the intelligent illustrator, that dr anderson was the grandfather of sir james outram, and he will thus have the satisfaction of opening his collection for all illustrations of the career of that distinguished officer. having been aptly called the bayard of the indian service, the collector who has exhausted him and his services will be justified by the principles of the craft in following up the chase, and picking up any woodcuts or engravings referring to the death of the false bourbon, or any other scene in the career of the knight without fear or reproach. here, by a fortunate and interesting coincidence, through the bourbons the collector gets at the swarms of bees which distinguish the insignia of royalty in france. when the illustrator comes to the last line, which invites him to add to what he has already collected a representation of "every opening flower," it is easy to see that he has indeed a rich garden of delights before him. in a classification of book-hunters, the aspirants after large-paper copies deserve special notice, were it only for the purpose of guarding against a common fallacy which confounds them with the lovers of tall copies. the difference is fundamental, large-paper copies being created by system, while tall copies are merely the creatures of accident; and dibdin bestows due castigation in a celebrated instance in which a mere tall copy had, whether from ignorance or design, been spoken of as a large-paper copy. this high development of the desirable book is the result of an arrangement to print so many copies of a volume on paper of larger size than that of the bulk of the impression. the tall copy is the result of careful cutting by the binder, or of no cutting at all. in this primitive shape a book has separate charms for a distinct class of collectors who esteem rough edges, and are willing, for the sake of this excellence, to endure the martyrdom of consulting books in that condition.[ ] [footnote : "but devious oft, from ev'ry classic muse, the keen collector meaner paths will choose: and first the margin's breadth his soul employs, pure, snowy, broad, the type of nobler joys. in vain might homer roll the tide of song, or horace smile, or tully charm the throng; if, crost by pallas' ire, the trenchant blade, or too oblique, or near the edge, invade, the bibliomane exclaims, with haggard eye, 'no margin!'--turns in haste, and scorns to buy." --ferriar's bibliomania, v. - .] the historian of the private libraries of new york makes us acquainted with a sect well known in the actually sporting world, but not heretofore familiar in the bibliological. here is a description of the waltonian library of the reverend dr bethune. in the sunshine he is a practical angler, and-- "during the darker seasons of the year, when forbidden the actual use of his rod, our friend has occupied himself with excursions through sale catalogues, fishing out from their dingy pages whatever tends to honour his favourite author or favourite art, so that his spoils now number nearly five hundred volumes, of all sizes and dates. pains have been taken to have not only copies of the works included in the list, but also the several editions; and when it is of a work mentioned by walton, an edition which the good old man himself may have seen. thus the collection has all the editions of walton, cotton, and venables in existence, and, with few exceptions, all the works referred to by walton, or which tend to illustrate his favourite rambles by the lea or the dove. every scrap of walton's writing, and every compliment paid to him, have been carefully gathered and garnered up, with prints and autographs and some precious manuscripts. nor does the department end here, but embraces most of the older and many of the modern writers on ichthyology and angling." the prowler and the auction-haunter. these incidental divisions are too numerous and complex for a proper classification of book-hunters, and i am inclined to go back to the idea that their most effective and comprehensive division is into the private prowler and the auction-haunter. the difference between these is something like, in the sporting world, that between the stalker and the hunter proper. each function has its merits, and calls for its special qualities and sacrifices. the one demands placidity, patience, caution, plausibility, and unwearied industry--such attributes as those which have been already set forth in the words of the antiquary. the auction-room, on the other hand, calls forth courage, promptness, and the spirit of adventure. there is wild work sometimes there, and men find themselves carried off by enthusiasm and competition towards pecuniary sacrifices which at the threshold of the temple they had solemnly vowed to themselves to eschew. but such sacrifices are the tribute paid to the absorbing interest of the pursuit, and are looked upon in their own peculiar circle as tending to the immortal honour of those who make them. this field of prowess has, it is said, undergone a prejudicial change in these days, the biddings being nearly all by dealers, while gentlemen-collectors are gradually moving out of the field. in old days one might have reaped for himself, by bold and emphatic biddings at a few auctions, a niche in that temple of fame, of which the presiding deity is dr frognal dibdin--a name familiarly abbreviated into that of foggy dibdin. his descriptions of auction contests are perhaps the best and most readable portions of his tremendously overdone books. conspicuous beyond all others stands forth the sale of the roxburghe library, perhaps the most eminent contest of that kind on record. there were of it some ten thousand separate "lots," as auctioneers call them, and almost every one of them was a book of rank and mark in the eyes of the collecting community, and had been, with special pains and care and anxious exertion, drawn into the vortex of that collection. although it was created by a duke, yet it has been rumoured that most of the books had been bargains, and that the noble collector drew largely on the spirit of patient perseverance and enlightened sagacity for which monkbarns claims credit. the great passion and pursuit of his life having been of so peculiar a character--he was almost as zealous a hunter of deer and wild swans, by the way, as of books, but this was not considered in the least peculiar--it was necessary to find some strange influencing motive for his conduct; so it has been said that it arose from his having been crossed in love in his early youth. such crosses, in general, arise from the beloved one dying, or proving faithless and becoming the wife of another. it was, however, the peculiarity of the duke's misfortune, that it arose out of the illustrious marriage of the sister of his elected. she was the eldest daughter of the duke of mecklenburg-strelitz. though purchased by a sacrifice of regal rank, yet there would be many countervailing advantages in the position of an affluent british duchess which might reconcile a young lady, even of so illustrious a descent, to the sacrifice, had it not happened that lord bute and the princess of wales selected her younger sister to be the wife of george iii. and the queen of great britain, long known as the good queen charlotte. then there arose, it seems, the necessity, as a matter of state and political etiquette, that the elder sister should abandon the alliance with a british subject. so, at all events, goes the story of the origin of the duke's bibliomania; and it is supposed to have been in the thoughts of sir walter scott, when he said of him that "youthful misfortunes, of a kind against which neither wealth nor rank possess a talisman, cast an early shade of gloom over his prospects, and gave to one splendidly endowed with the means of enjoying society that degree of reserved melancholy which prefers retirement to the splendid scenes of gaiety." dibdin, with more specific precision, after rambling over the house where the great auction sale occurred, as inquisitive people are apt to do, tells us of the solitary room occupied by the duke, close to his library, in which he slept and died: "all his migrations," says the bibliographer, "were confined to these two rooms. when mr nichol showed me the very bed on which this bibliomaniacal duke had expired, i felt--as i trust i ought to have felt on the occasion." scott attributed to an incidental occurrence at his father's table the direction given to the great pursuit of his life. "lord oxford and lord sunderland, both famous collectors of the time, dined one day with the second duke of roxburghe, when their conversation happened to turn upon the _editio princeps_ of boccaccio, printed in venice in , and so rare that its very existence was doubted of." it so happened that the duke remembered this volume having been offered to him for £ , and he believed he could still trace and secure it: he did so, and laid it before his admiring friends at a subsequent sitting. "his son, then marquess of bowmont, never forgot the little scene upon this occasion, and used to ascribe to it the strong passion which he ever afterwards felt for rare books and editions, and which rendered him one of the most assiduous and judicious collectors that ever formed a sumptuous library."[ ] and this same boccaccio was the point of attack which formed the climax in the great contest of the roxburghe roup, as the duke's fellow-countrymen called it. i am not aware that any of the english bibliographers have alluded to any special cause for this volume's extreme rarity. peignot attributes it to a sermon preached by the italian pulpit orator savonarola, on the th of february , against indecorous books, in consequence of which the inhabitants of florence made a bonfire of their boccaccios,--an explanation which every one who pleases is at liberty to believe.[ ] [footnote : article on pitcairn's criminal trials, in the st vol. of miscellaneous prose works.] [footnote : predicatoriana, p. ] the historian of the contest terms it "the waterloo among book-battles," whereto "many a knight came far and wide from his retirement, and many an unfledged combatant left his father's castle to partake of the glory of such a contest." he also tells us that the honour of the first effective shot was due to a house in the trade--messrs payne and foss--by whom "the aldine greek bible was killed off the first in the contest. it produced the sum of £ , s. d. thus measuredly, and guardedly, and even fearfully, did this tremendous battle begin." the earliest brilliant affair seems to have come off when lord spencer bought two caxtons for £ , a feat of which the closing scene is recorded, with a touching simplicity, in these terms:--"his lordship put each volume under his coat, and walked home with them in all the flush of victory and consciousness of triumph." as every one does not possess a copy of the three costly volumes of which the bibliographical decameron consists--and, further, as many a one so fortunate as to possess them has not had patience and perseverance enough to penetrate to the middle of the third volume, where the most readable part is to be found--a characteristic extract, describing the heat of the contest, may not be unwelcome:-- "for two-and-forty successive days--with the exception only of sundays--were the voice and hammer of mr evans heard with equal efficacy in the dining-room of the late duke, which had been appropriated to the vendition of the books; and within that same space (some thirty-five feet by twenty) were such deeds of valour performed, and such feats of book-heroism achieved, as had never been previously beheld, and of which the like will probably never be seen again. the shouts of the victors and the groans of the vanquished stunned and appalled you as you entered. the striving and press, both of idle spectators and determined bidders, was unprecedented. a sprinkling of caxtons and de wordes marked the first day, and these were obtained at high, but, comparatively with the subsequent sums given, moderate prices. theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, and philology chiefly marked the earlier days of this tremendous contest; and occasionally during these days, there was much stirring up of courage, and many hard and heavy blows were interchanged; and the combatants may be said to have completely wallowed themselves in the conflict. at length came poetry, latin, italian, and french: a steady fight yet continued to be fought; victory seemed to hang in doubtful scales--sometimes on the one, sometimes on the other side of mr evans, who preserved throughout (as it was his bounden duty to preserve) a uniform, impartial, and steady course; and who may be said on that occasion, if not 'to have rode the whirlwind,' at least to have 'directed the storm.'" but the dignity and power of the historian's narrative cannot be fully appreciated until we find him in the midst of the climax of the contest--the battle, which gradually merged into a single combat, for the possession of the venetian boccaccio. according to the established historical practice, we have in the first place a statement of the position taken up by the respective "forces." "at length the moment of sale arrived. evans prefaced the putting-up of the article by an appropriate oration, in which he expatiated on its extreme rarity, and concluding by informing the company of the regret, and even anguish of heart, expressed by mr van praet that such a treasure was not to be found in the imperial collection at paris. silence followed the address of mr evans. on his right hand, leaning against the wall, stood earl spencer; a little lower down, and standing at right angles with his lordship, appeared the marquess of bland-ford. lord althorp stood a little backward, to the right of his father, earl spencer." the first movement of the forces gives the historian an opportunity of dropping a withering sneer at an unfortunate man, so provincial in his notions as to suppose that a hundred pounds or two would be of any avail in such a contest. "the honour of firing the first shot was due to a gentleman of shropshire, unused to this species of warfare, and who seemed to recoil from the reverberation of the report himself had made. 'one hundred guineas,' he exclaimed. again a pause ensued; but anon the biddings rose rapidly to five hundred guineas. hitherto, however, it was evident that the firing was but masked and desultory. at length all random shots ceased, and the champions before named stood gallantly up to each other, resolving not to flinch from a trial of their respective strengths. _a thousand guineas_ were bid by earl spencer--to which the marquess added _ten_. you might have heard a pin drop. all eyes were turned--all breathing wellnigh stopped--every sword was put home within its scabbard--and not a piece of steel was seen to move or to glitter except that which each of these champions brandished in his valorous hand." but even this exciting sort of narrative will tire one when it goes on page after page, so that we must take a leap to the conclusion. "two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds," said lord spencer. "the spectators were now absolutely electrified. the marquess quietly adds his usual _ten_" and so there an end. "mr evans, ere his hammer fell, made a short pause--and indeed, as if by something preternatural, the ebony instrument itself seemed to be charmed or suspended in the mid air. however, at last down dropped the hammer." such a result naturally created excitement beyond the book-collectors' circle, for here was an actual stroke of trade in which a profit of more than two thousand per cent had been netted. it is easy to believe in dibdin's statement of the crowds of people who imagined they were possessors of the identical venetian boccaccio, and the still larger number who wanted to do a stroke of business with some old volume, endowed with the same rarity and the same or greater intrinsic value. the general excitement created by the dispersal of the roxburghe collection proved an epoch in literary history, by the establishment of the roxburghe club, followed by a series of others, the history of which has to be told farther on. of the great book-sales that have been commemorated, it is curious to observe how seldom they embrace ancestral libraries accumulated in old houses from generation to generation, and how generally they mark the short-lived duration of the accumulations of some collector freshly deposited. one remarkable exception to this was in the gordonstoun library, sold in . it was begun by sir robert gordon, a morayshire laird of the time of the great civil wars of the seventeenth century. he was the author of the history of the earldom of sutherland, and a man of great political as well as literary account. he laid by heaps of the pamphlets, placards, and other documents of his stormy period, and thus many a valuable morsel, which had otherwise disappeared from the world, left a representative in the gordonstoun collection. it was increased by a later sir robert, who had the reputation of being a wizard. he belonged to one of those terrible clubs from which satan is entitled to take a victim annually; but when gordon's turn came, he managed to get off with merely the loss of his shadow; and many a morayshire peasant has testified to having seen him riding forth on a sunny day, the shadow of his horse visible, with those of his spurs and his whip, but his body offering no impediment to the rays of the sun. he enriched the library with books on necromancy, demonology, and alchemy. the largest book-sale probably that ever was in the world, was that of heber's collection in . there are often rash estimates made of the size of libraries, but those who have stated the number of his books in six figures seem justified when one looks at the catalogue of the sale, bound up in five thick octavo volumes. for results so magnificent, richard heber's library had but a small beginning, according to the memoir of him in the gentleman's magazine, where it is said, that "having one day accidentally met with a little volume called the vallie of varietie, by henry peacham, he took it to the late mr bindley of the stamp-office, the celebrated collector, and asked him if this was not a curious book. mr bindley, after looking at it, answered, 'yes--not very--but rather a curious book.'" this faint morsel of encouragement was, it seems, sufficient to start him in his terrible career, and the trifle becomes important as a solemn illustration of the _obsta principiis_. his labours, and even his perils, were on a par with those of any veteran commander who has led armies and fought battles during the great part of a long life. he would set off on a journey of several hundred miles any day in search of a book not in his collection. sucking in from all around him whatever books were afloat, he of course soon exhausted the ordinary market; and to find a book obtainable which he did not already possess, was an event to be looked to with the keenest anxiety, and a chance to be seized with promptitude, courage, and decision. at last, however, he could not supply the cravings of his appetite without recourse to duplicates, and far more than duplicates. his friend dibdin said of him, "he has now and then an ungovernable passion to possess more copies of a book than there were ever parties to a deed or stamina to a plant; and therefore i cannot call him a duplicate or a triplicate collector." he satisfied his own conscience by adopting a creed, which he enounced thus: "why, you see, sir, no man can comfortably do without three copies of a book. one he must have for a show copy, and he will probably keep it at his country-house; another he will require for his own use and reference; and unless he is inclined to part with this, which is very inconvenient, or risk the injury of his best copy, he must needs have a third at the service of his friends." this last necessity is the key-note to heber's popularity: he was a liberal and kindly man, and though, like wolsey, he was unsatisfied in getting, yet, like him, in bestowing he was most princely. many scholars and authors obtained the raw material for their labours from his transcendent stores. these, indeed, might be said less to be personal to himself than to be a feature in the literary geography of europe. "some years ago," says the writer in the gentleman's magazine, "he built a new library at his house at hodnet, which is said to be full. his residence at pimlico, where he died, is filled, like magliabechi's at florence, with books, from the top to the bottom--every chair, every table, every passage containing piles of erudition. he had another house in york street, leading to great james's street, westminster, laden from the ground-floor to the garret with curious books. he had a library in the high street, oxford, an immense library at paris, another at antwerp, another at brussels, another at ghent, and at other places in the low countries and in germany." [illustration] _part ii.--his functions._ the hobby. having devoted the preceding pages to the diagnosis of the book-hunter's condition, or, in other words, to the different shapes which the phenomena peculiar to it assume, i now propose to offer some account of his place in the dispensations of providence, which will probably show that he is not altogether a mischievous or a merely useless member of the human family, but does in reality, however unconsciously to himself, minister in his own peculiar way to the service both of himself and others. this is to be a methodical discourse, and therefore to be divided and subdivided, insomuch that, taking in the first place his services to himself, this branch shall be subdivided into the advantages which are purely material and those which are properly intellectual. and, first, of material advantages. holding it to be the inevitable doom of fallen man to inherit some frailty or failing, it would be difficult, had he a pandora's box-ful to pick and choose among, to find one less dangerous or offensive. as the judicious physician informs the patient suffering under some cutaneous or other external torture, that the poison lay deep in his constitution--that it must have worked in some shape--and well it is that it has taken one so innocuous--so may even the book-hunter be congratulated on having taken the innate moral malady of all the race in a very gentle and rather a salubrious form. to pass over gambling, tippling, and other practices which cannot be easily spoken of in good society, let us look to the other shapes in which man lets himself out--for instance to horse-racing, hunting, photography, shooting, fishing, cigars, dog-fancying, dog-fighting, the ring, the cockpit, phrenology, revivalism, socialism; which of these contains so small a balance of evil, counting of course that the amount of pleasure conferred is equal--for it is only on the datum that the book-hunter has as much satisfaction from his pursuit as the fox-hunter, the photographer, and so on, has in his, that a fair comparison can be struck? these pursuits, one and all, leave little or nothing that is valuable behind them, except, it may be, that some of them are conducive to health, by giving exercise to the body and a genial excitement to the mind; but every hobby gives the latter, and the former may be easily obtained in some other shape. they leave little or nothing behind--even the photographer's portfolio will bring scarcely anything under the hammer after the death of him whose solace and pursuit it had been, should the positives remain visible, which may be doubted. and as to the other enumerated pursuits, some of them, as we all know, are immensely costly, all unproductive as they are. but the book-hunter may possibly leave a little fortune behind him. his hobby, in fact, merges into an investment. this is the light in which a celebrated quaker collector of paintings put his conduct, when it was questioned by the brethren, in virtue of that right to admonish one another concerning the errors of their ways, which makes them so chary in employing domestic servants of their own persuasion. "what had the brother paid for that bauble [a picture by wouvermans], for instance?" "well, £ ." "was not that then an awful wasting of his substance on vanities?" "no. he had been offered £ for it. if any of the friends was prepared to offer him a better investment of his money than one that could be realised at a profit of per cent, he was ready to alter the existing disposal of his capital." it is true that amateur purchasers do not, in the long-run, make a profit, though an occasional bargain may pass through their hands. it is not maintained that, in the general case, the libraries of collectors would be sold for more than they cost, or even for nearly so much; but they are always worth something, which is more than can be said of the residue of other hobbies and pursuits. nay, farther; the scholarly collector of books is not like the ordinary helpless amateur; for although, doubtless, nothing will rival the dealer's instinct for knowing the money-value of an article, though he may know nothing else about it, yet there is often a subtle depth in the collector's educated knowledge which the other cannot match, and bargains may be obtained off the counters of the most acute. a small sprinkling of these--even the chance of them--excites him, like the angler's bites and rises, and gives its zest to his pursuit. it is the reward of his patience, his exertion, and his skill, after the manner in which monkbarns has so well spoken; and it is certain that, in many instances, a collector's library has sold for more than it cost him. no doubt, a man may ruin himself by purchasing costly books, as by indulgence in any other costly luxury, but the chances of calamity are comparatively small in this pursuit. a thousand pounds will go a great way in book-collecting, if the collector be true to the traditions of his pursuit, such as they are to be hereafter expounded. there has been one instance, doubtless, in the records of bibliomania, of two thousand pounds having been given for one book. but how many instances far more flagrant could be found in picture-buying? look around upon the world and see how many men are the victims of libraries, and compare them with those whom the stud, the kennel, and the preserve have brought to the gazette. find out, too, anywhere, if you can, the instance in which the money scattered in these forms comes back again, and brings with it a large profit, as the expenditure of the duke of roxburghe did when his library was sold. but it is necessary to arrest this train of argument, lest its tenor might be misunderstood. the mercenary spirit must not be admitted to a share in the enjoyments of the book-hunter. if, after he has taken his last survey of his treasures, and spent his last hour in that quiet library, where he has ever found his chief solace against the wear and worry of the world, the book-hunter has been removed to his final place of rest, and it is then discovered that the circumstances of the family require his treasures to be dispersed,--if then the result should take the unexpected shape that his pursuit has not been so ruinously costly after all--nay, that his expenditure has actually fructified--it is well. but if the book-hunter allow money-making--even for those he is to leave behind--to be combined with his pursuit, it loses its fresh relish, its exhilarating influence, and becomes the source of wretched cares and paltry anxieties. where money is the object, let a man speculate or become a miser--a very enviable condition to him who has the saving grace to achieve it, if we hold with byron that the accumulation of money is the only passion that never cloys. let not the collector, therefore, ever, unless in some urgent and necessary circumstances, part with any of his treasures. let him not even have recourse to that practice called barter, which political philosophers tell us is the universal resource of mankind preparatory to the invention of money as a circulating medium and means of exchange. let him confine all his transactions in the market to purchasing only. no good ever comes of gentlemen amateurs buying and selling. they will either be systematic losers, or they will acquire shabby, questionable habits, from which the professional dealers--on whom, perhaps, they look down--are exempt. there are two trades renowned for the quackery and the imposition with which they are habitually stained--the trade in horses and the trade in old pictures; and these have, i verily believe, earned their evil reputation chiefly from this, that they are trades in which gentlemen of independent fortune and considerable position are in the habit of embarking. the result is not so unaccountable as it might seem. the professional dealer, however smart he may be, takes a sounder estimate of any individual transaction than the amateur. it is his object, not so much to do any single stroke of trade very successfully, as to deal acceptably with the public, and make his money in the long-run. hence he does not place an undue estimate on the special article he is to dispose of, but will let it go at a loss, if that is likely to prove the most beneficial course for his trade at large. he has no special attachment to any of the articles in which he deals, and no blindly exaggerated appreciation of their merits and value. they come and go in an equable stream, and the cargo of yesterday is sent abroad to the world with the same methodical indifference with which that of to-day is unshipped. it is otherwise with the amateur. he feels towards the article he is to part with all the prejudiced attachment, and all the consequent over-estimate, of a possessor. hence he and the market take incompatible views as to value, and he is apt to become unscrupulous in his efforts to do justice to himself. let the single-minded and zealous collector then turn the natural propensity to over-estimate one's own into its proper and legitimate channel. let him guard his treasures as things too sacred for commerce, and say, _procul, o procul este, profani_, to all who may attempt by bribery and corruption to drag them from their legitimate shelves. if, in any weak moment, he yield to mercenary temptation, he will be for ever mourning after the departed unit of his treasure--the lost sheep of his flock. if it seems to be in the decrees of fate that all his gatherings are to be dispersed abroad after he is gone to his rest, let him, at all events, retain the reliance that on them, as on other things beloved, he may have his last look; there will be many changes after that, and this will be among them. nor, in his final reflections on his conduct to himself and to those he is to leave, will he be disturbed by the thought that the hobby which was his enjoyment has been in any wise the more costly to him that he has not made it a means of mercenary money-getting.[ ] [footnote : atticus was under the scandal of having disposed of his books, and cicero sometimes hints to him that he might let more of them go his way. in truth, atticus carried this so far, however, that he seems to have been a sort of dealer, and the earliest instance of a capitalist publisher. he had slaves whom he occupied in copying, and was in fact much in the position of a rich virginian or carolinian, who should find that the most profitable investment for his stock of slaves is a printing and publishing establishment.] the desultory reader or bohemian of literature. having so put in a plea for this pursuit, as about the least costly foible to which those who can afford to indulge in foibles can devote themselves, one might descant on certain auxiliary advantages--as, that it is not apt to bring its votaries into low company; that it offends no one, and is not likely to foster actions of damages for nuisance, trespass, or assault, and the like. but rather let us turn our attention to the intellectual advantages accompanying the pursuit, since the proper function of books is in the general case associated with intellectual culture and occupation. it would seem that, according to a received prejudice or opinion, there is one exception to this general connection, in the case of the possessors of libraries, who are under a vehement suspicion of not reading their books. well, perhaps it is true in the sense in which those who utter the taunt understand the reading of a book. that one should possess no books beyond his power of perusal--that he should buy no faster than as he can read straight through what he has already bought--is a supposition alike preposterous and unreasonable. "surely you have far more books than you can read," is sometimes the inane remark of the barbarian who gets his books, volume by volume, from some circulating library or reading club, and reads them all through, one after the other, with a dreary dutifulness, that he may be sure that he has got the value of his money. it is true that there are some books--as homer, virgil, horace, milton, shakespeare, and scott--which every man should read who has the opportunity--should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. to neglect the opportunity of becoming familiar with them is deliberately to sacrifice the position in the social scale which an ordinary education enables its possessor to reach. but is one next to read through the sixty and odd folio volumes of the bollandist lives of the saints, and the new edition of the byzantine historians, and the state trials, and the encyclopædia britannica, and moreri, and the statutes at large, and the gentleman's magazine from the beginning, each separately, and in succession? such a course of reading would certainly do a good deal towards weakening the mind, if it did not create absolute insanity. but in all these just named, even in the statutes at large, and in thousands upon thousands of other books, there is precious honey to be gathered by the literary busy bee, who passes on from flower to flower. in fact, "a course of reading," as it is sometimes called, is a course of regimen for dwarfing the mind, like the drugs which dog-breeders give to king charles spaniels to keep them small. within the span of life allotted to man there is but a certain number of books that it is practicable to read through, and it is not possible to make a selection that will not, in a manner, wall in the mind from a free expansion over the republic of letters. the being chained, as it were, to one intellect in the perusal straight on of any large book, is a sort of mental slavery superinducing imbecility. even gibbon's decline and fall, luminous and comprehensive as its philosophy is, and rapid and brilliant the narrative, will become deleterious mental food if consumed straight through without variety. it will be well to relieve it occasionally with a little boston's fourfold state, or hervey's meditations, or sturm's reflections for every day in the year, or don juan, or ward's history of stoke-upon-trent. isaac d'israeli says, "mr maurice, in his animated memoirs, has recently acquainted us with a fact which may be deemed important in the life of a literary man. he tells us, 'we have been just informed that sir william jones _invariably_ read through every year the works of cicero.'" what a task! one would be curious to know whether he felt it less heavy in the twelve duodecimos of elzevir, or the nine quartos of the geneva edition. did he take to it doggedly, as dr johnson says, and read straight through according to the editor's arrangement, or did he pick out the plums and take the dismal work afterwards? for the first year or two of his task, he is not to be pitied perhaps about the offices, or the dialogue on friendship, or scipio's dream, or even the capital speeches against verres and catiline; but those tiresome letters, and the tusculan questions, and the de natura! it is a pity he did not live till angelo maï found the de republica. what disappointed every one else might perhaps have commanded the admiration of the great orientalist. but here follows, on the same authority, a more wonderful performance still. "the famous bourdaloue reperused every year st paul, st chrysostom, and cicero."[ ] the sacred author makes but a slight addition to the bulk, but the works of st chrysostom are entombed in eleven folios. bourdaloue died at the age of seventy-two; and if he began his task at the age of twenty-two, he must have done it over fifty times. it requires nerves of more than ordinary strength to contemplate such a statement with equanimity. the tortures of the classic hades, and the disgusting inflictions courted by the anchorites of old, and the brahmins of later times, do not approach the horrors of such an act of self-torture. [footnote : curiosities of literature, iii. .] of course any one ambitious of enlightening the world on either the political or the literary history of rome at the commencement of the empire, must be as thoroughly acquainted with every word of cicero as the writer of the times leader on a critical debate is with the newly-delivered speeches. the more fortunate vagabond reader, too, lounging about among the letters, will open many little veins of curious contemporary history and biography, which he can follow up in tacitus, sallust, cæsar, and the contemporary poets. both are utterly different from the stated-task reader, who has come under a vow to work so many hours or get through so many pages in a given time. _they_ are drawn by their occupation, whether work or play; _he_ drives himself to his. all such work is infliction, varying from the highest point of martyrdom down to tasteless drudgery; and it is as profitless as other supererogatory inflictions, since the task-reader comes to look at his words without following out what they suggest, or even absorbing their grammatical sense, much as the stupid ascetics of old went through their penitential readings, or as their representatives of the present day, chiefly of the female sex, read "screeds of good books," which they have not "the presumption" to understand. the literary bohemian is sometimes to be pitied when his facility of character exposes him to have a modification of this infliction forced upon him. this will occur when he happens to be living in a house frequented by "a good reader," who solemnly devotes certain hours to the reading of passages from the english or french classics for the benefit of the company, and becomes the mortal enemy of every guest who absents himself from the torturing performance. as to collectors, it is quite true that they do not in general read their books successively straight through, and the practice of desultory reading, as it is sometimes termed, must be treated as part of their case, and if a failing, one cognate with their habit of collecting. they are notoriously addicted to the practice of standing arrested on some round of a ladder, where, having mounted up for some certain book, they have by wayward chance fallen upon another, in which, at the first opening, has come up a passage which fascinates the finder as the eye of the ancient mariner fascinated the wedding-guest, and compels him to stand there poised on his uneasy perch and read. peradventure the matter so perused suggests another passage in some other volume which it will be satisfactory and interesting to find, and so another and another search is made, while the hours pass by unnoticed, and the day seems all too short for the pursuit which is a luxury and an enjoyment, at the same time that it fills the mind with varied knowledge and wisdom. the fact is that the book-hunter, if he be genuine, and have his heart in his pursuit, is also a reader and a scholar. though he may be more or less peculiar, and even eccentric, in his style of reading, there is a necessary intellectual thread of connection running through the objects of his search which predicates some acquaintance with the contents of the accumulating volumes. even although he profess a devotion to mere external features--the style of binding, the cut or uncut leaves, the presence or the absence of the gilding--yet the department in literature holds more or less connection with this outward sign. he who has a passion for old editions of the classics in vellum bindings--stephenses or aldines--will not be put off with a copy of robinson crusoe or the ready reckoner, bound to match and range with the contents of his shelves. those who so vehemently affect some external peculiarity are the eccentric exceptions; yet even they have some consideration for the contents of a book as well as for its coat. the collector and the scholar. either the possession, or, in some other shape, access to a far larger collection of books than can be read through in a lifetime, is in fact an absolute condition of intellectual culture and expansion. the library is the great intellectual stratification in which the literary investigator works--examining its external features, or perhaps driving a shaft through its various layers--passing over this stratum as not immediate to his purpose, examining that other with the minute attention of microscopic investigation. the geologist, the botanist, and the zoologist, are not content to receive one specimen after another into their homes, to be thoroughly and separately examined, each in succession, as novel-readers go through the volumes of a circulating library at twopence a-night--they have all the world of nature before them, and examine as their scientific instincts or their fancies suggest. for all inquirers, like pointers, have a sort of instinct, sharpened by training and practice, the power and acuteness of which astonish the unlearned. "reading with the fingers," as basnage said of bayle--turning the pages rapidly over and alighting on the exact spot where the thing wanted is to be found--is far from a superficial faculty, as some deem it to be,--it is the thoroughest test of active scholarship. it was what enabled bayle to collect so many flowers of literature, all so interesting, and yet all found in corners so distant and obscure. in fact, there are subtle dexterities, acquired by sagacious experience in searching for valuable little trinkets in great libraries, just as in other pursuits. a great deal of that appearance of dry drudgery which excites the pitying amazement of the bystander is nimbly evaded. people acquire a sort of instinct, picking the valuables out of the useless verbiage, or the passages repeated from former authors. it is soon found what a great deal of literature has been the mere "pouring out of one bottle into another," as the anatomist of melancholy terms it. there are those terrible folios of the scholastic divines, the civilians, and the canonists, their majestic stream of central print overflowing into rivulets of marginal notes sedgy with citations. compared with these, all the intellectual efforts of our recent degenerate days seem the work of pigmies; and for any of us even to profess to read all that some of those indomitable giants wrote, would seem an audacious undertaking. but, in fact, they were to a great extent solemn shams, since the bulk of their work was merely that of the clerk who copies page after page from other people's writings. surely these laborious old writers exhibited in this matter the perfection of literary modesty. far from secretly pilfering, like the modern plagiarist, it was their great boast that they themselves had not suggested the great thought or struck out the brilliant metaphor, but that it had been done by some one of old, and was found in its legitimate place--a book. i believe that if one of these laborious persons hatched a good idea of his own, he could experience no peace of mind until he found it legitimated by having passed through an earlier brain, and that the author who failed thus to establish a paternity for his thought would sometimes audaciously set down some great name in his crowded margin, in the hope that the imposition might pass undiscovered. authorities, of course, enjoy priority according to their rank in literature. first come aristotle and plato, with the other great classical ancients; next the primitive fathers; then abailard, erigena, peter lombard, ramus, major, and the like. if the matter be jurisprudence, we shall have marcianus, papinianus, ulpianus, hermogenianus, and tryphonius to begin with; and shall then pass through the straits of bartolus and baldus, on to zuichemus, sanchez, brissonius, ritterhusius, and gothofridus. if all these say the same thing, each of the others copying it from the first who uttered it, so much the more valuable to the literary world is deemed the idea that has been so amply backed--it is like a vote by a great majority, or a strongly-signed petition. there is only one quarter in which this practice appears to be followed at the present day--the composition, or the compilation, as it may better be termed, of english law-books. having selected a department to be expounded, the first point is to set down all that coke said about it two centuries and a half ago, and all that blackstone said about it a century ago, with passages in due subordination from inferior authorities. to these are added the rubrics of some later cases, and a title-page and index, and so a new "authority" is added to the array on the shelves of the practitioner. whoever is well up to such repetitions has many short cuts through literature to enable him to find the scattered originalities of which he may be in search. whether he be the enthusiastic investigator resolved on exhausting any great question, or be a mere wayward potterer, picking up curiosities by the way for his own private intellectual museum, the larger the collection at his disposal the better--it cannot be too great.[ ] no one, therefore, can be an ardent follower of such a pursuit without having his own library. and yet it is probably among those whose stock is the largest that we shall find the most frequent visitors to the british museum and the state paper office; perhaps, for what cannot be found even there, to the imperial library at paris, or the collections of some of the german universities. [footnote : i am quite aware that the authorities to the contrary are so high as to make these sentiments partake of heresy, if not a sort of classical profanity. "studiorum quoque, quæ liberalissima impensa est, tamdiu rationem habet, quamdiu modum. quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? onerat discentem turba, non instruit: multoque satius est paucis te auctoribus tradere, quam errare per multos. quadraginta millia librorum alexandræ arserunt: pulcherrimum regiæ opulentiæ monumentum alius laudaverit, sicut et livius, qui elegantiæ regum curæque egregium id opus ait fuisse. non fuit elegantia illud aut cura, sed studiosa luxuria. immo ne studiosa quidem: quoniam non in studium, sed in spectaculum comparaverant: sicut plerisque, ignaris etiam servilium literarum libri non studiorum instrumenta, sed coenationum ornamenta sunt. paretur itaque librorum quantum satis sit, nihil in apparatum. honestius, inquis, hoc te impensæ, quam in corinthia pictasque tabulas effuderint. vitiosum est ubique, quod nimium est. quid habes, cur ignoscas homini armaria citro atque ebore captanti, corpora conquirenti aut ignotorum auctorum aut improbatorum, et inter tot millia librorum oscitanti, cui voluminum suorum frontes maxime placent titulique? apud desidiosissimos ergo videbis quicquid orationum historiarumque est, tecto tenus exstructa loculamenta; jam enim inter balnearia et thermas bibliotheca quoque ut necessarium domus ornamentum expolitur. ignoscerem plane, si studiorum nimia cupidine oriretur: nunc ista conquisita, cum imaginibus suis descripta et sacrorum opera ingeniorum in speciem et cultum parietum comparantur."--_seneca_, de tranquillitate, c. ix. there are some good hits here, which would tell at the present day. seneca is reported to have had a large library; it is certain that he possessed and fully enjoyed enormous wealth; and it is amusing to find this commendation of literary moderation following on a well-known passage in praise of parsimonious living, and of the good example set by diogenes. modern scepticism about the practical stoicism of the ancients is surely brought to a climax by a living writer, m. fournier, who maintains that the so-called tub of diogenes was in reality a commodious little dwelling--neat but not gorgeous. it must be supposed, then, that he spoke of his tub much as an english country gentleman does of his "box."] to every man of our saxon race endowed with full health and strength, there is committed, as if it were the price he pays for these blessings, the custody of a restless demon, for which he is doomed to find ceaseless excitement, either in honest work, or some less profitable or more mischievous occupation. countless have been the projects devised by the wit of man to open up for this fiend fields of exertion great enough for the absorption of its tireless energies, and none of them is more hopeful than the great world of books, if the demon is docile enough to be coaxed into it. then will its erratic restlessness be sobered by the immensity of the sphere of exertion, and the consciousness that, however vehemently and however long it may struggle, the resources set before it will not be exhausted when the life to which it is attached shall have faded away; and hence, instead of dreading the languor of inaction, it will have to summon all its resources of promptness and activity to get over any considerable portion of the ground within the short space allotted to the life of man. that the night cometh when no man can work, haunts those who have gone so far in their investigations, and draws their entire energies into their pursuit with an exclusiveness which astonishes the rest of the world. but the energies might be more unfitly directed. look back, for instance--no great distance back--on the great high-priest of our national school of logic and metaphysics,--he who gathered up its divers rays, and, helping them with light from all other sources of human knowledge, concentrated the whole into one powerful focus. no one could look at the massive brow, the large, full, lustrous eyes, the firm compressed lip, without seeing that the demon of energy was powerful within him, and had it not found work in the conquest of all human learning, must have sought it elsewhere. you see in him the nature that must follow up all inquiries, not by languid solicitation but hot pursuit. his conquests as he goes are rapid but complete. summing up the thousands upon thousands of volumes, upon all matters of human study and in many languages, which he has passed through his hands, you think he has merely dipped into them or skimmed them, or in some other shape put them to superficial use. you are wrong: he has found his way at once to the very heart of the living matter of each one; between it and him there are henceforth no secrets.[ ] [footnote : how a nature endowed with powerful impulses like these might be led along with them into a totally different groove, i am reminded by a traditionary anecdote of student life. a couple of college chums are under the impression that their motions are watched by an inquisitive tutor, who for the occasion may be called dr fusby. they become both exceeding wroth, and the more daring of the two engages on the first opportunity to "settle the fellow." they are occupied in ardent colloquy, whether on the predicates or other matters it imports not, when a sudden pause in the conversation enables them to be aware that there is a human being breathing close on the other side of the "oak." the light is extinguished, the door opened, and a terrific blow from a strong and scientifically levelled fist hurls the listener down-stairs to the next landing-place, from which resting-place he hears thundered after him for his information, "if you come back again, you scoundrel, i'll put you into the hands of dr fusby." from that source, however, no one had much to dread for some considerable period, during which the doctor was confined to his bedroom by serious indisposition. it refreshed the recollection of this anecdote, years after i had heard it, and many years after the date attributed to it, to have seen a dignified scholar make what appeared to me an infinitesimally narrow escape from sharing the fate of dr fusby, having indeed just escaped it by satisfactorily proving to a hasty philosopher that he was not the party guilty of keeping a certain copy of occam on the sentences of peter lombard out of his reach.] descending, however, from so high a sphere, we shall find that the collector and the scholar are so closely connected with each other that it is difficult to draw the line of separation between them. as dynamic philosophers say, they act and react on each other. the possession of certain books has made men acquainted with certain pieces of knowledge which they would not otherwise have acquired. it is, in fact, one of the amiable weaknesses of the set, to take a luxurious glance at a new acquisition. it is an outcropping of what remains in the man, of the affection towards a new toy that flourished in the heart of the boy. whether the right reverend or right honourable thomas has ever taken his new-bought baskerville to bed with him, as the tommy that was has taken his humming-top, is a sort of case which has not actually come under observation in the course of my own clinical inquiries into the malady; but i am not prepared to state that it never occurred, and can attest many instances where the recent purchase has kept the owner from bed far on in the night. in this incidental manner is a general notion sometimes formed of the true object and tenor of a book, which is retained in the mind, stored for use, and capable of being refreshed and strengthened whenever it is wanted. in the skirmish for the caxtons, which began the serious work in the great conflict of the roxburghe sale, it was satisfactory to find, as i have already stated, on the authority of the great historian of the war, that earl spencer, the victor, "put each volume under his coat, and walked home with them in all the flush of victory and consciousness of triumph."[ ] ere next morning he would know a good deal more about the contents of the volumes than he did before. [footnote : the author, from a vitiated reminiscence, at first made the unpardonable blunder of attributing this touching trait of nature to the noble purchaser of the valderfaer boccaccio. for this, as not only a mistake, but in some measure an imputation on the tailor who could have made for his lordship pockets of dimensions so abnormal, i received due castigation from an eminent practical man in the book-hunting field.] the gleaner and his harvest. there are sometimes agreeable and sometimes disappointing surprises in encountering the interiors of books. the title-page is not always a distinct intimation of what is to follow. whoever dips into the novellæ of leo, or the extravagantes, as edited by gothofridus, will not find either of them to contain matter of a light, airy, and amusing kind. dire have been the disappointments incurred by the diversions of purley--one of the toughest books in existence. it has even cast a shade over one of our best story-books, the diversions of hollycot, by the late mrs johnston. the great scholar, leo allatius, who broke his heart when he lost the special pen with which he wrote during forty years, published a work called apes urbanæ--urban bees. it is a biographical work, devoted to the great men who flourished during the pontificate of urban viii., whose family carried bees on their coat-armorial. the history of new york, by diedrich knickerbocker, has sorely perplexed certain strong-minded women, who read nothing but genuine history. the book which, in the english translation, goes by the name of marmontel's moral tales, has been found to give disappointment to parents in search of the absolutely correct and improving; and edgeworth's essay on irish bulls has been counted money absolutely thrown away by eminent breeders. there is a sober-looking volume, generally bound in sheep, called macewen on the types--a theological book, in fact, treating of the types of christianity in the old law. concerning it, a friend once told me that, at an auction, he had seen it vehemently competed for by an acute-looking citizen artisan and a burly farmer from the hills. the latter, the successful party, tossed the lot to the other, who might have it and be d----d to it, he "thought it was a buik upo' the tups," a word which, it may be necessary to inform the unlearned reader, means rams: but the other competitor also declined the lot; he was a compositor or journeyman printer, and expected to find the book honestly devoted to those tools of his trade of which it professed to treat. mr ruskin, having formed the pleasant little original design of abolishing the difference between popery and protestantism, through the persuasive influence of his own special eloquence, set forth his views upon the matter in a book which he termed a treatise "on the construction of sheepfolds." i have been informed that this work had a considerable run among the muirland farmers, whose reception of it was not flattering. i think i could also point to a public library in england, the keeper of which justified his high character for classification and arrangement by binding up this production between "suggestions as to eating off turnips with stock" and "an inquiry concerning the best materials for smeering." peignot discusses, by the way, with his usual scientific precision, as a department in bibliography, "titres de livres qui ont induit en erreur des bibliothecaires et des libraires peu instruits." after mentioning a treatise de missis dominicis, which was not a religious book, as it might seem, but an inquiry into the functions of certain officers sent into the provinces by the emperors and the early kings of france, he comes nearer to our own door in telling how "un ignorant avait placé le _traité des fluxions de maclaurin_ avec les livres de pathologie, prenant pour une maladie les fluxions mathématiques."[ ] [footnote : dict. de bibliologie, i. .] logic has not succeeded as yet in discovering the means of framing a title-page which shall be exhaustive, as it is termed, and constitute an infallible finger-post to the nature of a book. from the beginning of all literature it may be said that man has been continually struggling after this achievement, and struggling in vain; and it is a humiliating fact, that the greatest adepts, abandoning the effort in despair, have taken refuge in some fortuitous word, which has served their purpose better than the best results of their logical analysis. the book which has been the supreme ruler of the intellect in this kind of work, stands forth as an illustrious example of failure. to those writings of aristotle which dealt with mind, his editing pupils could give no name,--therefore they called them the things after the physics--the _metaphysics_; and that fortuitous title the great arena of thought to which they refer still bears, despite of efforts to supply an apter designation in such words as psychology, pneumatology, and transcendentalism. writhing under this nightmare kind of difficulty, men in later times tried to achieve completeness by lengthening the title-page; but they found that the longer they made it, the more it wriggled itself into devious tracks, and the farther did it depart from a comprehensive name. some title-pages in old folios make about half an hour's reading.[ ] one advantage, however, was found in these lengthy titles--they afforded to controversialists a means of condensing the pith of their malignity towards each other, and throwing it, as it were, right in the face of the adversary. it will thus often happen that the controversialist states his case first in the title-page; he then gives it at greater length in the introduction; again, perhaps, in a preface; a third time in an analytical form, through means of a table of contents; after all this skirmishing, he brings up his heavy columns in the body of the book; and if he be very skilful, he may let fly a few parthian arrows from the index. [footnote : a good modern specimen of a lengthy title-page may be found in one of the books appropriate to the matter in hand, by the diligent french bibliographer peignot:-- "dictionnaire raisonnÉ de bibliologie: contenant-- mo, l'explication des principaux termes relatifs à la bibliographie, à l'art typographique, à la diplomatique, aux langues, aux archives, aux manuscrits, aux médailles, aux antiquités, &c.; do, des notices historiques détaillées sur les principales bibliothèques anciennes et modernes; sur les différentes sectes philosophiques; sur les plus célèbres imprimeurs, avec une indication des meilleures éditions sorties de leurs presses, et sur les bibliographes, avec la liste de leurs ouvrages; tio, enfin, l'exposition des différentes systèmes bibliographiques, &c.,--ouvrage utile aux bibliothécaires, archivistes, imprimeurs, libraires, &c. par g. peignot, bibliothécaire de la haute-saône, membre-correspondant de la société libre d'emulation du haut-rhin. _indocti discant, et ament meminisse periti._ paris, an x. ." here follows a rival specimen selected from the same department of literature:-- "bibliographie instructive; ou, traitÉ de la connaissance des livres rares et singuliers; contenant un catalogue raisonné de la plus grande partie de ces livres précieux, qui ont paru successivement dans la république des lettres, depuis l'invention de l'imprimerie jusqu'à nos jours; avec des notes sur la différence et la rareté de leurs éditions, et des remarques sur l'origine de cette rareté actuelle, et son dégré plus ou moins considerable; la manière de distinguer les éditions originales, d'avec les contrefaites; avec une description typographique particulière, du composé de ces rares volumes, au moyen de laquelle il sera aisé de reconnoître facilement les exemplaires, ou mutilés en partie, ou absolument imparfaits, qui s'en rencontrent journellement dans le commerce, et de les distinguer sûrement de ceux qui seront exactement complets dans toutes leurs parties. disposé par ordre de matières et de facultés, suivant le système bibliographique généralement adopté; avec une table générale des auteurs, et un système complet de bibliographie choisie. par guillaume-françois de bûre le jeune, libraire de paris."] it is a remarkable thing that a man should have been imprisoned, and had his ears cut off, and become one of the chief causes of our great civil wars, all along of an unfortunate word or two in the last page of a book containing more than a thousand. it was as far down in his very index as w that the great offence in prynne's histrio-mastix was found, under the head "women actors." the words which follow are rather unquotable in this nineteenth century; but it was a very odd compliment to queen henrietta maria to presume that these words must refer to her--something like hugo's sarcasm that, when the parisian police overhear any one use the terms "ruffian" and "scoundrel," they say, "you must be speaking of the emperor." the histrio-mastix was, in fact, so big and so complex a thicket of confusion, that it had been licensed without examination by the licenser, who perhaps trusted that the world would have as little inclination to peruse it as he had. the calamitous discovery of the sting in the tail must surely have been made by a hebrew or an oriental student, who mechanically looked for the commencement of the histrio-mastix where he would have looked for that of a hebrew bible. successive licensers had given the work a sort of go-by, but, reversing the order of the sibylline books, it became always larger and larger, until it found a licenser who, with the notion that he "must put a stop to this," passed it without examination. it got a good deal of reading immediately afterwards, especially from attorney-general noy, who asked the star-chamber what it had to do with the immorality of stage-plays to exclaim that church-music is not the noise of men, but rather "a bleating of brute beasts--choristers bellow the tenor as it were oxen, bark a counterpoint as a kennel of dogs, roar out a treble like a set of bulls, grunt out a bass as it were a number of hogs." but mr attorney took surely a more nice distinction when he made a charge against the author in these terms: "all stage-players he terms them rogues: in this he doth falsify the very act of parliament; for _unless they go abroad_, they are not rogues." in the very difficulties in the way of framing a conclusive and exhaustive title, there is a principle of compensation. it clears literature of walls and hedgerows, and makes it a sort of free forest. to the desultory reader, not following up any special inquiry, there are delights in store in a devious rummage through miscellaneous volumes, as there are to the lovers of adventure and the picturesque in any district of country not desecrated by the tourist's guide-books. many readers will remember the pleasant little narrative appended to croker's edition of boswell, of johnson's talk at cambridge with that extensive book-hunter, dr richard farmer, who boasted of the possession of "plenty of all such reading as was never read," and scandalised his visitor by quoting from markham's book of armorie a passage applying the technicalities of heraldry and genealogy to the most sacred mystery of christianity. one who has not tried it may form an estimate of this kind of pursuit from charles lamb's specimens of the writings of fuller. no doubt, as thus transplanted, these have not the same fresh relish which they have for the wanderer who finds them in their own native wilderness, yet, like the specimens in a conservatory or a museum, they are examples of what may be found in the place they have come from. but there are passages worth finding in books less promising. those who potter in libraries, especially if they have courage to meddle with big volumes, sometimes find curious things--for all gems are not collected in caskets. in searching through the solid pages of hatsell's precedents in parliament for something one doesn't find, it is some consolation to alight on such a precedent as the following, set forth as likely to throw light on the mysterious process called "naming a member." "a story used to be told of mr onslow, which those who ridiculed his strict observance of forms were fond of repeating, that as he often, upon a member's not attending to him, but persisting in any disorder, threatened to name him--'sir, sir, i must name you'--on being asked what would be the consequence of putting that threat in execution and naming a member, he answered, 'the lord in heaven knows.'" in the perusal of a very solid book on the progress of the ecclesiastical differences of ireland, written by a native of that country, after a good deal of tedious and vexatious matter, the reader's complacency is restored by an artless statement how an eminent person "abandoned the errors of the church of rome, and adopted those of the church of england." so also a note i have preserved of a brief passage descriptive of the happy conclusion of a duel runs thus:-- "the one party received a slight wound in the breast; the other fired in the air--and so the matter terminated."[ ] [footnote : this passage has been quoted and read by many people quite unconscious of the arrant bull it contains. indeed, an eminent london newspaper, to which the word bull cannot be unfamiliar, tells me, in reviewing my first edition, that it is no bull at all, but a plain statement of fact, and boldly quotes it in confirmation of this opinion. there could be no better testimony to its being endowed with the subtle spirit of the genuine article. irish bulls, as it has been said of constitutions, "are not made--they grow," and that only in their own native soil. those manufactured for the stage and the anecdote-books betray their artificial origin in their breadth and obviousness. the real bull carries one with it at first by an imperceptible confusion and misplacement of ideas in the mind where it has arisen, and it is not until you reason back that you see it. horace walpole used to say that the best of all bulls, from its thorough and grotesque confusion of identity, was that of the man who complained of having been "changed at nurse;" and perhaps he is right. an irishman, and he only, can handle this confusion of ideas so as to make it a more powerful instrument of repartee than the logic of another man: take, for instance, the beggar who, when imploring a dignified clergyman for charity, was charged not to take the sacred name in vain, and answered, "is it in vain, then? and whose fault is that?" i have doubts whether the saying attributed to sir boyle roche about being in two places at once "like a bird," is the genuine article. i happened to discover that it is of earlier date than sir boyle's day, having found, when rummaging in an old house among some jacobite manuscripts, one from robertson of strowan, the warrior poet, in which he says about two contradictory military instructions, "it seems a difficult point for me to put both orders in execution, unless, as the man said, i can be in two places at once, like a bird." a few copies of these letters were printed for the use of the abbotsford club. this letter of strowan's occurs in p. .] professional law-books and reports are not generally esteemed as light reading, yet something may be made even of them at a pinch. menage wrote a book upon the amenities of the civil law, which does anything but fulfil its promise. there are many much better to be got in the most unlikely corners; as, where a great authority on copyright begins a narrative of a case in point by saying, "one moore had written a book which he called irish melodies;" and again, in an action of trespass on the case, "the plaintiff stated in his declaration that he was the true and only proprietor of the copyright of a book of poems entitled the seasons, by james thomson." i cannot lay hands at this moment on the index which refers to mr justice best--he was the man, as far as memory serves, but never mind. a searcher after something or other, running his eye down the index through letter b, arrived at the reference "best--mr justice--his great mind." desiring to be better acquainted with the particulars of this assertion, he turned up the page referred to, and there found, to his entire satisfaction, "mr justice best said he had a great mind to commit the witness for prevarication." the following case is curiously suggestive of the state of the country round london in the days when much business was done on the road:--a bill in the exchequer was brought by everett against a certain williams, setting forth that the complainant was skilled in dealing in certain commodities, "such as plate, rings, watches, &c.," and that the defendant desired to enter into partnership with him. they entered into partnership accordingly, and it was agreed that they should provide the necessary plant for the business of the firm--such as horses, saddles, bridles, &c. (pistols not mentioned)--and should participate in the expenses of the road. the declaration then proceeds, "and your orator and the said joseph williams proceeded jointly with good success in the said business on hounslow heath, where they dealt with a gentleman for a gold watch; and afterwards the said joseph williams told your orator that finchley, in the county of middlesex, was a good and convenient place to deal in, and that commodities were very plenty at finchley aforesaid, and it would be almost all clear gain to them; that they went accordingly, and dealt with several gentlemen for divers watches, rings, swords, canes, hats, cloaks, horses, bridles, saddles, and other things; that about a month afterwards the said joseph williams informed your orator that there was a gentleman at blackheath who had a good horse, saddle, bridle, watch, sword, cane, and other things to dispose of, which, he believed, might be had for little or no money; that they accordingly went, and met with the said gentleman, and, after some small discourse, they dealt for the said horse, &c. that your orator and the said joseph williams continued their joint dealings together in several places--viz., at bagshot, in surrey; salisbury, in wiltshire; hampstead, in middlesex; and elsewhere, to the amount of £ and upwards."[ ] [footnote : this case has been often referred to in law-books, but i have never met with so full a statement of the contents of the declaration as in the retrospective review (vol. v. p. ).] here follows a brief extract from a law-paper, for the full understanding of which it has to be kept in view that the pleader, being an officer of the law who has been prevented from executing his warrant by threats, requires, as a matter of form, to swear that he was really afraid that the threats would be carried into execution. "farther depones, that the said a.b. said that if deponent did not immediately take himself off he would pitch him (the deponent) down stairs--which the deponent verily believes he would have done. "farther depones, that, time and place aforesaid, the said a.b. said to deponent, 'if you come another step nearer i'll kick you to hell'--which the deponent verily believes he would have done."[ ] [footnote : it is curious to observe how bitter a prejudice themis has against her own humbler ministers. most of the bitterest legal jokes are at the expense of the class who have to carry the law into effect. take, for instance, the case of the bailiff who had been compelled to swallow a writ, and, rushing into lord norbury's court to proclaim the indignity done to justice in his person, was met by the expression of a hope that the writ was "_not returnable_ in this court."] i know not whether "lay gents," as the english bar used to term that portion of mankind who had not been called to itself, can feel any pleasure in wandering over the case-books, and picking up the funny technicalities scattered over them; but i can attest from experience that, to a person trained in one set of technicalities, the pottering about among those of a different parish is exceedingly exhilarating. when one has been at work among interlocutors, suspensions, tacks, wadsets, multiplepoindings, adjudications in implement, assignations, infeftments, homologations, charges of horning, quadriennium utiles, vicious intromissions, decrees of putting to silence, conjoint actions of declarator and reduction-improbation,--the brain, being saturated with these and their kindred, becomes refreshed by crossing the border of legal nomenclature, and getting among common recoveries, demurrers, quare impedits, tails-male, tails-female, docked tails, latitats, avowrys, nihil dicits, cestui que trusts, estopels, essoigns, darrein presentments, emparlances, mandamuses, qui tams, capias ad faciendums or ad withernam, and so forth. after vexatious interlocutors in which the lord ordinary has refused interim interdict, but passed the bill to try the question, reserving expenses; or has repelled the dilatory defences, and ordered the case to the roll for debate on the peremptory defences; or has taken to avizandum; or has ordered re-revised condescendence and answers on the conjoint probation; or has sisted diligence till caution be found judicio sisti; or has done nearly all these things together in one breath,--it is like the consolation derived from meeting a companion in adversity, to find that at westminster hall, "in fermedon the tenant having demanded a view after a general imparlance, the demandant issued a writ of petit cape--held irregular." also, "if, after nulla bona returned, a testatum be entered upon the roll, quod devastavit, a writ of inquiry shall be directed to the sheriff, and if by inquisition the devastavit be found and returned, there shall be a scire facias quare executio non de propriis bonis, and if upon that the sheriff returns scire feci, the executor or administrator may appear and traverse the inquisition." again, "if the record of nisi prius be a die sancti trinitatis in tres septimanas nisi a june, prius venerit, which is the day after the day in bank, which was mistaken for a die sancti michaelis, it shall not be amended." it is interesting to observe that at one end of the island a panel means twelve perplexed agriculturists, who, after having taken an oath to act according to their consciences, are starved till they are of one mind on some complicated question; while, at the other end, the same term applies to the criminal on whose conduct they are going to give their verdict. it would be difficult to decide which is the more happy application; but it must be admitted that we are a great way behind the south in our power of selecting a nomenclature immeasurably distant in meaning from the thing signified. we speak of a bond instead of a mortgage, and we adjudge where we ought to foreclose. we have no such thing as chattels, either personal or real.[ ] if you want to know the english law of book-debts, you will have to look for it under the head of assumpsit in a treatise on nisi prius, while a lawyer of scotland would unblushingly use the word itself, and put it in his index. so, too, our bailments are merely spoken of as bills, notes, or whatever a merchant might call them. our garneshee is merely a common debtor. baron and feme we call husband and wife, and coverture we term marriage. [footnote : a late venerable practitioner in a humble department of the law, who wanted to write a book, and was recommended to try his hand at a translation of latin law-maxims as a thing much wanted, was considerably puzzled by the maxim, "catella realis non potest legari;" nor was he quite relieved when he turned up his ainsworth and found that catella means a "little puppy." there was nothing for it, however, but obedience, so that he had to give currency to the remarkable principle of law, that "a genuine little whelp cannot be left in legacy." he also translated "messis sequitur sementem," with a fine simplicity, into "the harvest follows the seed-time;" and "actor sequitur forum rei," he made "the agent must be in court when the case is going on." copies of the book containing these gems are exceedingly rare, some malicious person having put the author up to their absurdity.] still, for the honour of our country, it is possible to find a few technicalities which would do no discredit to our neighbours. where one of them would bring a habeas corpus--a name felicitously expressive, according to the english method, of civil liberty--an inhabitant of the north, in the same unfortunate position, would take to running his letters. we have no turbary, or any other easement; but, to compensate us, we have thirlage, outsucken multures, insucken multures, and dry multures; as also we have a soumin and roumin, as any one who has been so fortunate as to hear mr outram's pathetic lyric on that interesting right of pasturage will remember, in conjunction with pleasing associations. to do the duty of a duces tecum we have a diligence against havers. we have no capias ad faciendum (abbreviated cap ad fac), nor have we the fieri facias, familiarly termed fi fa, but we have perhaps as good in the in meditatione fugæ warrant, familiarly abbreviated into fugie, as poor peter peebles termed it, when he burst in upon the party assembled at justice foxley's, exclaiming, "is't here they sell the fugie warrants?"[ ] [footnote : there are two old methods of paying rent in scotland--kane and carriages; the one being rent in kind from the farmyard, the other being an obligation to furnish the landlord with a certain amount of carriage, or rather cartage. in one of the vexed cases of domicile, which had found its way into the house of lords, a scotch lawyer argued that a landed gentleman had shown his determination to abandon his residence in scotland by having given up his "kane and carriages." it is said that the argument went further than he expected--the english lawyers admitting that it was indeed very strong evidence of an intended change of domicile when the laird not only ceased to keep a carriage, but actually divested himself of his walking-cane.] i am not sure but, in the very mighty heart of all legal formality and technicality--the statutes at large--some amusing as well as instructive things might be found. let me offer a guiding hint to the investigator ambitious of entering on this arduous field. the princely collector will, of course, put himself in possession of the magnificent edition of the statutes issued by the record commission, but let not the unprofessional person who must look short of this imagine that he will find satisfaction in the prim pages of a professional lawyer's modern edition. these, indeed, are not truly the statutes at large, but rather their pedantic and conventional descendants, who have taken out letters of administration to their wild ancestors. they omit all the repealed statutes in which these ancestors might be found really at large sowing their wild oats, and consequently all that would give them interest and zest for those in search of such qualities. it is not, for instance, in the decorous quartos of roughhead, but in the hoary blackletter folios, looking older than they are--for blackletter adhered to the statutes after it had been cast off by other literature--that one will find such specimens of ancestral legislation as the following:-- attorneys.--( henry vi. c. .) "item: whereas of time not long past, within the city of norwich, and the counties of norfolk and suffolk, there were no more but six or eight atturneys at the most coming to the king's courts, in which time great tranquillity reigned in the said city and counties, little trouble or vexation was made by untrue or foreign suits, and now so it is, that in the said city and counties there be four score atturneys or more, the more part of them having no other thing to live upon, but only his gain by the practise of atturneyship: and also the more part of them not being of sufficient knowledge to be an atturney, which come to every fair, market, and other places, where is any assembly of people, exhorting, procuring, moving, and inciting the people to attempt untrue and foreign suits for small trespasses, little offences, and small sums of debt, whose actions be triable and determinable in court barons, whereby proceed many suits, more of evil will and malice than of truth of the thing, to the manifold vexations and no little damage of the inhabitants of the said city and counties, and all to the perpetual diminution of all the court barons in the said counties, unless convenient remedy be provided in this behalf. the foresaid lord the king, considering the premises, by the advice, assent, and authority aforesaid, hath ordained and stablished that at all times, from hencefort, there shall be but six common atturneys in the said county of norfolk, and six common atturneys in the said county of suffolk, and two common atturneys in the said city of norwich, to be atturneys in the courts of record." fustian.--( henry vii. c. .) "now so it is, that divers persons, by subtilty and undue sleights and means, have deceivably imagined and contrived instruments of iron, with the which irons, in the most highest and secret places of their houses, they strike and draw the said irons over the said fustians unshorn; by means whereof they pluck off both the nap and cotton of the same fustians, and break commonly both the ground and threeds in sunder, and after by crafty sleeking, they make the same fustians to appear to the common people fine, whole, and sound: and also they raise up the cotton of such fustians, and then take a light candle and set it in the fustian burning, which sindgeth and burneth away the cotton of the same fustian from the one end to the other down to the hard threeds, in stead of shering, and after that put them in colour, and so subtilly dress them that their false work cannot be espied without it be by workmen sherers of such fustians, or by the wearers of the same, and so by such subtilties, whereas fustians made in doublets or put to any other use, were wont and might endure the space of two years and more, will not endure now whole by the space of four months scarcely, to the great hurt of the poor commons and serving men of this realm, to the great damage, loss, and deceit of the king's true subjects, buyers and wearers of such fustians," &c. the history of statute-making is not absolutely divested of pleasantry. the best tradition connected with it at present arising in the memory is not to be brought to book, and must be given as a tradition of the time when george iii. was king. its tenor is, that a bill which proposed, as the punishment of an offence, to levy a certain pecuniary penalty, one half thereof to go to his majesty and the other half to the informer, was altered in committee, in so far that, when it appeared in the form of an act, _the punishment_ was changed to whipping and imprisonment, _the destination_ being left unaltered. it is wonderful that such mistakes are not of frequent occurrence when one remembers the hot hasty work often done by committees, and the complex entanglements of sentences on which they have to work.[ ] bentham was at the trouble of counting the words in one sentence of an act of parliament, and found that, beginning with "whereas" and ending with the word "repealed," it was precisely the length of an ordinary three-volume novel. to offer the reader that sentence on the present occasion would be rather a heavy jest, and as little reasonable as the revenge offered to a village schoolmaster who, having complained that the whole of his little treatise on the differential calculus was printed bodily in one of the earlier editions of the encyclopædia britannica (not so profitable as the later), was told that he was welcome, in his turn, to incorporate the encyclopædia britannica in the next edition of his little treatise. [footnote : a polite correspondent reminds me of the registration act, g. iii. c. , in which the fruit of penalties is divided between the informer, who gets one half, and certain charitable purposes, to which the other is devoted, while the only penalty set forth in the act is transportation for fourteen years.] in the supposition, however, that there are few readers who, like lord king, can boast of having read the statutes at large through, i venture to give a title of an act--a title only, remember, of one of the bundle of acts passed in one session--as an instance of the comprehensiveness of english statute law, and the lively way in which it skips from one subject to another. it is called-- "an act to continue several laws for the better regulating of pilots, for the conducting of ships and vessels from dover, deal, and the isle of thanet, up the river thames and medway; and for the permitting rum or spirits of the british sugar plantations to be landed before the duties of excise are paid thereon; and to continue and amend an act for preventing fraud in the admeasurement of coals within the city and liberties of westminster, and several parishes near thereunto; and to continue several laws for preventing exactions of occupiers of locks and wears upon the river thames westward; and for ascertaining the rates of water-carriage upon the said river; and for the better regulation and government of seamen in the merchant service; and also to amend so much of an act made during the reign of king george i. as relates to the better preservation of salmon in the river ribble; and to regulate fees in trials and assizes at nisi prius," &c. but this gets tiresome, and we are only half way through the title after all. if the reader wants the rest of it, as also the substantial act itself, whereof it is the title, let him turn to the d of geo. ii., chap. . no wonder, if he anticipated this sort of thing, that bacon should have commended "the excellent brevity of the old scots acts." here, for instance, is a specimen, an actual statute at large, such as they were in those pigmy days:-- "item, it is statute that gif onie of the king's lieges passes in england, and resides and remains there against the king's will, he shall be halden as traiter to the king." here is another, very comprehensive, and worth a little library of modern statute-books, if it was duly enforced:-- "item, it is statute and ordained, that all our sovereign lord's lieges being under his obeisance, and especially the isles, be ruled by our sovereign lord's own laws, and the common laws of the realm, and none other laws." the irish statute-book conveys more expressively than any narrative the motley contrasts of a history in the fabric of which the grotesque and the tragic are so closely interwoven. so early as the middle of the sixteenth century, english statesmen discover usquebaugh, and pass an act to extinguish it at once: "forasmuch as _aqua vitæ_, a drink nothing profitable to be daily drunken and used, is now universally throughout this realm of ireland made, and especially in the borders of the irishry, and for the furniture of irishmen, and thereby much corn, grain, and other things are consumed, spent, and wasted," and so forth. to get men to shave and wash themselves, and generally to conform to the standard of civilisation in their day, seems innocent if not laudable; yet is there a world of heartburning, strife, oppression, and retaliatory hatred expressed in the title of "an act, that the irishmen dwelling in the counties of dublin, meath, uriell, and kildare, shall go apparelled like englishmen, and wear their beards after the english manner, swear allegiance, and take english surnames." further on we have a whole series of acts, with a conjunction of epithets in their titles which, at the present day, sounds rather startling, "for the better suppressing tories, robbers, and rapparees, and for preventing robberies, burglaries, and other heinous crimes." the classes so associated having an unreasonable dislike of being killed, difficulties are thus put in the way of those beneficially employed in killing them, insomuch that they, "upon the killing of any one of their number, are thereby so alarmed and put upon their keeping, that it hath been found impracticable for such person or persons to discover and apprehend or kill any more of them, whereby they are discouraged from discovering and apprehending or killing," and so forth. there is a strange and melancholy historical interest in these grotesque enactments, since they almost verbatim repeat the legislation about the highland clans passed a century earlier by the lowland parliament of scotland. there is one shelf of the law library laden with a store of which few will deny the attractive interest--that devoted to the literature of criminal trials. it will go hard indeed, if, besides the reports of mere technicalities, there be not here some glimpses of the sad romances which lie at their heart; and, at all events, when the page passes a very slight degree beyond the strictly professional, the technicalities will be found mingled with abundant narrative. the state trials, for instance--surely a lawyer's book--contains the materials of a thousand romances: nor are these all attached to political offences; as, fortunately, the book is better than its name, and makes a virtuous effort to embrace all the remarkable trials coming within the long period covered by the collection. some assistance may be got, at the same time, from minor luminaries, such as the newgate calendar--not to be commended, certainly, for its literary merits, but full of matters strange and horrible, which, like the gloomy forest of the castle of indolence, "sent forth a sleepy horror through the blood." there are many other books where records of remarkable crimes are mixed up with much rubbish, as, the terrific register, god's revenge against murder, a little french book called histoire générale des larrons ( ), and if the inquirer's taste turn towards maritime crimes, the history of the bucaniers, by esquemeling. a little work in four volumes, called the criminal recorder, by a student in the inner temple, can be commended as a sort of encyclopædia of this kind of literature. it professes--and is not far from accomplishing the profession--to give biographical sketches of notorious public characters, including "murderers, traitors, pirates, mutineers, incendiaries, defrauders, rioters, sharpers, highwaymen, footpads, pickpockets, swindlers, housebreakers, coiners, receivers, extortioners, and other noted persons who have suffered the sentence of the law for criminal offences." by far the most luxurious book of this kind, however, in the english language, is captain johnston's lives of highwaymen and pirates. it is rare to find it now complete. the old folio editions have been often mutilated by over use; the many later editions in octavo are mutilated by design of their editors; and for conveying any idea of the rough truthful descriptiveness of a book compiled in the palmy days of highway robbery, they are worthless. all our literature of that nature must, however, yield to the french causes célèbres, a term rendered so significant by the value and interest of the book it names, as to have been borrowed by writers in this country to render their works attractive. it must be noted as a reason for the success of this work, and also of the german collection by feuerbach, that the despotic continental method of procedure by secret inquiry affords much better material for narrative than ours by open trial. we make, no doubt, a great drama of a criminal trial. everything is brought on the stage at once, and cleared off before an audience excited so as no player ever could excite; but it loses in reading; while the continental inquiry, with its slow secret development of the plot, makes the better novel for the fireside. there is a method by which, among ourselves, the trial can be imbedded in a narrative which may carry down to later generations a condensed reflection of that protracted expectation and excitement which disturb society during the investigations and trials occasioned by any great crime. this is by "illustrating" the trial, through a process resembling that which has been already supposed to have been applied to one of watts's hymns. in this instance there will be all the newspaper scraps--all the hawker's broadsides--the portraits of the criminal, of the chief witnesses, the judges, the counsel, and various other persons,--everything in literature or art that bears on the great question. he who inherits or has been able to procure a collection of such illustrated trials, a century or so old, is deemed fortunate among collectors, for he can at any time raise up for himself the spectre as it were of the great mystery and exposure that for weeks was the absorbing topic of attraction for millions. the curtains are down--the fire burns bright--the cat purrs on the rug; atticus, soused in his easy-chair, cannot be at the trouble of going to see macbeth or othello--he will sup full of horrors from his own stores. accordingly he takes down an unseemly volume, characterised by a flabby obesity by reason of the unequal size of the papers contained in it, all being bound to the back, while the largest only reach the margin. the first thing at opening is the dingy pea-green-looking paragraph from the provincial newspaper, describing how the reapers, going to their work at dawn, saw the clay beaten with the marks of struggle, and, following the dictates of curiosity, saw a bloody rag sticking on a tree, the leaves also streaked with red, and, lastly, the instrument of violence hidden in the moss; next comes from another source the lamentations for a young woman who had left her home--then the excitement of putting that and that together--the search, and the discovery of the body. the next paragraph turns suspense into exulting wrath: the perpetrator has been found with his bloody shirt on--a scowling murderous villain as ever was seen--an eminent poacher, and fit for anything. but the next paragraph turns the tables. the ruffian had his own secrets of what he had been about that night, and at last makes a clean breast. it would have been a bad business for him at any other time, but now he is a revealing angel, for he noted this and that in the course of his own little game, and gives justice the thread which leads to a wonderful romance, and brings home desperate crime to that quarter where, from rank, education, and profession, it was least likely to be found. then comes the trial and the execution; and so, at a sitting, has been swallowed all that excitement which, at some time long ago, chained up the public in protracted suspense for weeks. the reader will see, from what i have just been saying, that i am not prepared to back charles lamb's index expurgatorius.[ ] it is difficult, almost impossible, to find the book from which something either valuable or amusing may not be found, if the proper alembic be applied. i know books that are curious, and really amusing, from their excessive badness. if you want to find precisely how a thing ought not to be said, you take one of them down, and make it perform the service of the intoxicated spartan slave. there are some volumes in which, at a chance opening, you are certain to find a mere platitude delivered in the most superb and amazing climax of big words, and others in which you have a like happy facility in finding every proposition stated with its stern forward, as sailors say, or in some other grotesque mismanagement of composition. there are no better farces on or off the stage than when two or three congenial spirits ransack books of this kind, and compete with each other in taking fun out of them. [footnote : "in this catalogue of _books which are no books--biblia a biblia_--i reckon court calendars, directories, pocket-books, draught-boards bound and lettered on the back, scientific treatises, almanacs, statutes at large; the works of hume, gibbon, robertson, beattie, soame jenyns, and generally all those volumes which 'no gentleman's library should be without;' the histories of flavius josephus (that learned jew) and paley's moral philosophy. with these exceptions, i can read almost anything. i bless my stars for a taste so catholic, so unexcluding. i confess that it moves my spleen to see these _things in books' clothing_ perched upon shelves, like false saints, usurpers of true shrines, intruders into the sanctuary, thrusting out the legitimate occupants. to reach down a well-bound semblance of a volume, and hope it some kind-hearted play-book, then, opening what 'seem its leaves,' to come bolt upon a withering population essay. to expect a steele, or a farquhar, and find--adam smith. to view a well-arranged assortment of block-headed encyclopædias (anglicanas or metropolitanas) set out in an array of russia or morocco, when a tithe of that good leather would comfortably reclothe my shivering folios, would renovate paracelsus himself, and enable old raymund lully to look like himself again in the world. i never see these impostors but i long to strip them, to warm my ragged veterans in their spoils."--essays of elia.] there is a solid volume, written in an inquiring spirit, but in a manner which reminds one of deep calling unto deep, about the dark superstitions of a country which was once a separate european kingdom. i feel a peculiar interest in it, from the author having informed me, by way of communicating an important fact in literary history, and also as an example to be followed by literary aspirants, that, before committing the book to the press, he had written it over sixteen times. it would have been valuable to have his first manuscript, were it only that one might form some idea of the steps by which he had brought it into the condition in which it was printed. but its perusal in that condition was not entirely thrown away, since i was able to recommend it to a teacher of composition, as containing, within a moderate compass--after the manner, in fact, of a handbook--good practical specimens of every description of depravity of style of which the english language is susceptible. in the present day, when few scholars have opportunities of enriching the world with their prison hours, perhaps the best conditions for testing how far any volume or portion of printed matter, however hopeless-looking, may yet yield edifying or amusing matter to a sufficient pressure, will occur when a bookish person finds himself imprisoned in a country inn, say for twenty-four hours. such things are not impossible in this age of rapid movement. it is not long since a train, freighted with musical artistes, sent express to perform at a provincial concert and be back immediately in town for other engagements, were caught by a great snow-storm which obliterated the railway, and had to live for a week or two in a wayside alehouse, in one of the dreariest districts of scotland. the possessor and user of a large library undergoing such a calamity in a modified shape will be able to form a conception of the resources at his disposal, and to calculate how long it will take him to exhaust the intellectual treasures at his command, just as a millionaire, haunted as such people sometimes are by the dread of coming on the parish, might test how long a life his invested capital would support by spending a winter in a shetland cottage, and living on what he could procure. having exhausted all other sources of excitement and interest, the belated traveller is supposed to call for the literature of the establishment. perhaps the directory of the county town is the only available volume. who shall say what the belated traveller may make of this? he may do a turn in local statistics, or, if his ambition rises higher, he may pursue some valuable ethnological inquiries, trying whether celtic or saxon names prevail, and testing the justice of mr thierry's theory by counting the norman patronymics, and observing whether any of them are owned by persons following plebeian and sordid occupations. if in after-life the sojourner should come in contact with people interested in the politics or business of that county town, he will surprise them by exhibiting his minute acquaintance with its affairs. if, besides the directory, an almanac, old or new, is to be had, the analysis may be conducted on a greatly widened basis. the rotations of the changes of the seasons may at the same time suggest many appropriate reflections on the progress of man from the cradle to the grave, and all that he meets with between the alpha and omega; and if the prisoner is a man of genius, the announcements of eclipses and other solar phenomena will suggest trains of thought which he can carry up to any height of sublimity. a person in the circumstances supposed, after he has exhausted the directory and the almanac, may perhaps be led to read (if he can get) zimmerman on solitude, hervey's meditations, watts on the improvement of the mind, or hannah more's sacred dramas. who knows what he may be reduced to? i remember the great irish liberator telling how, when once detained in an inn in switzerland, he could find no book to beguile the time with but the lettres provinciales of pascal. i have no doubt that the coerced perusal of them to which he had to submit did him a deal of good. let us imagine that nothing better is to be found than the advertising sheet of an old newspaper--never mind. let the unfortunate man fall to and read the advertisements courageously, and make the best of them. an advertisement is itself a fact, though it may sometimes be the vehicle of a falsehood; and, as some one has remarked, he who has a fact in hand is like a turner with a piece of wood in his lathe, which he can manipulate to his liking, tooling it in any way, as a plain cylinder or a richly ornamented toy. there have been fortunate instances of people driven to read them finding good jokes and other enjoyable things in advertisements--such things as make one almost regret that so little attention has been paid to this department of literature.[ ] besides the spontaneous undesigned attractions to be found in it, there have been men of distinguished parts whose powers have found development in the advertisement line. george robins, a hero in his day, is surely not yet quite forgotten; and though he were, doubtless his works will be restored to notice by future philosophers who will perhaps find in them the true spirit of the nineteenth century. advertisements, more prosaic than his, however, bring us into the very heart of life and business, and contain a world of interest. suppose that the dirty broadside you pick up in the dingy inn's soiled room contains the annual announcement of the reassembling of the school in which you spent your own years of schoolboy life--what a mingled and many-figured romance does it recall of all that has befallen to yourself and others since the day when the same advertisement made you sigh, because the hour was close at hand when you were to leave home and all its homely ways to dwell among strangers! going onward, you remember how each one after another ceased to be a stranger, and twined himself about your heart; and then comes the reflection, where are they all now? you remember how "he, the young and strong, who cherished noble longings for the strife, by the roadside fell and perished, weary with the march of life." you recall to your memory also those two inseparables--linked together, it would seem, because they were so unlike. the one, gentle, dreamy, and romantic, was to be the genius of the set; but alas, he "took to bad habits," and oozed into the slime of life, imperceptibly almost, hurting no creature but himself--unless it may be that to some parent or other near of kin his gentle facility may have caused keener pangs than others give by cruelty and tyranny. the other, bright-eyed, healthy, strong, and keen-tempered--the best fighter and runner and leaper in the school--the dare-devil who was the leader in every row--took to greek much about the time when his companion took to drinking, got a presentation, wrote some wonderful things about the functions of the chorus, and is now on the fair road to a bishopric. [footnote : take, for instance, the announcement of the wants of an affluent and pious elderly lady, desirous of having the services of a domestic like-minded with herself, who appeals to the public for a "groom to take charge of two carriage-horses of a serious turn of mind." so also the simple-hearted innkeeper, who founds on his "limited charges and civility;" or the description given by a distracted family of a runaway member, who consider that they are affording valuable means for his identification by saying, "age not precisely known--but looks older than he is."] next arises the vision of "the big boy," the lout--the butt of every one, even of the masters, who, when any little imp did a thing well, always made the appropriate laudation tell to the detriment of the big boy, as if he were bound to be as superfluous in intellect as in flesh. he has sufficiently dinned into him to make him thoroughly modest, poor fellow, how all great men were little. napoleon was little, so was frederic the great, william iii., the illustrious condé, pope, horace, anacreon, campbell, tom moore, and jeffrey. his relations have so thoroughly given in to the prejudice against him, that they get him a cadetship because he is fit for nothing at home; and now, years afterwards, the newspapers resound with his fame--how, when at the quietest of all stations when the mutiny suddenly broke out in its most murderous shape, and even experienced veterans lost heart, he remained firm and collected, quietly developing, one after another, resources of which he was not himself aware, and in the end putting things right, partly by stern vigour, but more by a quiet tact and genial appreciation of the native character. but what has become of the dux--him who, in the predictions of all, teachers and taught, was to render the institution some day illustrious by occupying the woolsack, or the chief place at the speaker's right hand? a curious destiny is his: at a certain point the curve of his ascent was as it were truncated, and he took to the commonest level of ordinary life. he may now be seen, staid and sedate in his walk, which brings him, with a regularity that has rendered him useful to neighbours owning erratic watches, day by day to a lofty three-legged stool, mounted on which, all his proceedings confirm the high character retained by him through several years for the neatness of his handwriting, and especially for his precision in dotting his i's and stroking his t's. this is all along of the use which the reflective man may make of an old advertisement. if it be old, the older the better--the more likely is it to contain matter of curious interest or instruction about the ways of men. to show this, i reprint two advertisements from british newspapers. from the public advertiser of th march . "to be sold, a black girl, the property of j. b----, eleven years of age, who is extremely handy, works at her needle tolerably, and speaks english perfectly well: is of an excellent temper, and willing disposition. "inquire of mr owen, at the angel inn, behind st clement's church in the strand." from the edinburgh evening courant, th april . "a black boy to sell. "to be sold, a black boy, with long hair, stout made, and well-limbed--is good tempered, can dress hair, and take care of a horse indifferently. he has been in britain nearly three years. "any person that inclines to purchase him may have him for £ . he belongs to captain abercrombie at broughton. "this advertisement not to be repeated." there was at that time probably more of this description of property in britain than in virginia. it had become fashionable, as one may see in hogarth. such advertisements--they were abundant--might furnish an apt text on which a philosophical historian could speculate on the probable results to this country, had not mansfield gone to the root of the matter by denying all property in slaves. so much for the chances which still remain to the devourer of books, if, after having consumed all the solid volumes within his reach, he should be reduced to shreds and patches of literature,--like a ship's crew having resort to shoe-leather and the sweepings of the locker. pretenders. but now to return to the point whence we started--the disposition, and almost the necessity, which the true enthusiast in the pursuit feels to look into the soul, as it were, of his book, after he has got possession of the body. when he is not of the omnivorous kind, but one who desires to possess a particular book, and, having got it, dips into the contents before committing it to permanent obscurity on his loaded shelves, there is, as we have already seen, a certain thread of intelligent association linking the items of his library to each other. the collector knows what he wants, and why he wants it, and that _why_ does not entirely depend on exteriors, though he may have his whim as to that also. he is a totally different being from the animal who goes to all sales, and buys every book that is cheap. that is a painfully low and grovelling type of the malady; and, fortunately for the honour of literature, the bargain-hunter who suffers under it is not in general a special votary of books, but buys all bargains that come in his way--clocks, tables, forks, spoons, old uniforms, gas-meters, magic lanterns, galvanic batteries, violins (warranted real cremonas, from their being smashed to pieces), classical busts (with the same testimony to their genuineness), patent coffee-pots, crucibles, amputating knives, wheel-barrows, retorts, cork-screws, boot-jacks, smoke-jacks, melon-frames, bath-chairs, and hurdy-gurdies. it has been said that once, a coffin, made too short for its tenant, being to be had an undoubted bargain, was bought by him, in the hope that, some day or other, it might prove of service in his family. his library, if such it may be termed, is very rich in old trade-directories, justices of peace and registers of voters, road-books, and other useful manuals; but there are very learned books in it too. that clean folio herodotus was certainly extremely cheap at half-a-crown; and you need not inform him that the ninth book is wanting, for he will never find that out. the day when he has discovered that any book has been bought by another person, a better bargain than his own copy, is a black one in his calendar; but he has a peculiar device for getting over the calamity by bringing down the average cost of his own copy through fresh investments. having had the misfortune to buy a copy of goldsmith's history of england for five shillings, while a neighbour flaunts daily in his face a copy obtained for three, he has been busily occupied in a search for copies still cheaper. he has now brought down the average price of his numerous copies of this more agreeable than accurate work to three shillings and twopence, and hopes in another year to get below the three shillings. neither is the rich man who purchases fine and dear books by deputy to be admitted within the category of the genuine book-hunter. he must hunt himself--must actually undergo the anxiety, the fatigue, and, so far as purse is concerned, the risks of the chase. your rich man, known to the trade as a great orderer of books, is like the owner of the great game-preserve, where the sport is heavy butchery; there is none of the real zest of the hunter of the wilderness to be had within his gates. the old duke of roxburghe wisely sank his rank and his wealth, and wandered industriously and zealously from shop to stall over the world, just as he wandered over the moor, stalking the deer. one element in the excitement of the poorer book-hunter he must have lacked--the feeling of committing something of extravagance--the consciousness of parting with that which will be missed. this is the sacrifice which assures the world, and satisfies the man's own heart, that he is zealous and earnest in the work he has set about. and it is decidedly this class who most read and use the books they possess. how genial a picture does scott give of himself at the time of the roxburghe sale--the creation of abbotsford pulling him one way, on the other his desire to accumulate a library round him in his tusculum. writing to his familiar terry, he says, "the worst of all is, that while my trees grow and my fountain fills, my purse, in an inverse ratio, sinks to zero. this last circumstance will, i fear, make me a very poor guest at the literary entertainment your researches hold out for me. i should, however, like much to have the treatise on dreams by the author of the new jerusalem, which, as john cuthbertson, the smith, said of the minister's sermon, 'must be neat wark.' the loyal poems by n.t. are probably by poor nahum tate, who was associated with brady in versifying the psalms, and more honourably with dryden in the second part of absalom and achitophel. i never saw them, however, but would give a guinea or thirty shillings for the collection." one of the reasons why dibdin's expatiations among rare and valuable volumes are, after all, so devoid of interest, is, that he occupied himself in a great measure in catering for men with measureless purses. hence there is throughout too exact an estimate of everything by what it is worth in sterling cash, with a contempt for small things, which has an unpleasant odour of plush and shoulder-knot about it. compared with dear old monkbarns and his prowlings among the stalls, the narratives of the boccaccio of the book-trade are like the account of a journey that might be written from the rumble of the travelling chariot, when compared with the adventurous narrative of the pedestrian or of the wanderer in the far east. everything is too comfortable, luxurious, and easy--russia, morocco, embossing, marbling, gilding--all crowding on one another, till one feels suffocated with riches. there is a feeling, at the same time, of the utter useless pomp of the whole thing. volumes, in the condition in which he generally describes them, are no more fitted for use and consultation than white kid gloves and silk stockings are for hard work. books should be used decently and respectfully--reverently, if you will; but let there be no toleration for the doctrine that there are volumes too splendid for use, too fine almost to be looked at, as brummel said of some of his dresden china. that there should be little interest in the record of rich men buying costly books which they know nothing about and never become acquainted with, is an illustration of a wholesome truth, pervading all human endeavours after happiness. it is this, that the active, racy enjoyments of life--those enjoyments in which there is also exertion and achievement, and which depend on these for their proper relish--are not to be bought for hard cash. to have been to him the true elements of enjoyment, the book-hunter's treasures must not be his mere property, they must be his achievements--each one of them recalling the excitement of the chase and the happiness of success. like monkbarns with his elzevirs and his bundle of pedlar's ballads, he must have, in common with all hunters, a touch of the competitive in his nature, and be able to take the measure of a rival,--as monkbarns magnanimously takes that of davie wilson, "'commonly called snuffy davie, from his inveterate addiction to black rappee, who was the very prince of scouts for searching blind alleys, cellars, and stalls, for rare volumes. he had the scent of a slow-hound, sir, and the snap of a bull-dog. he would detect you an old blackletter ballad among the leaves of a law-paper, and find an _editio princeps_ under the mask of a school corderius.'" in pursuing the chase in this spirit, the sportsman is by no means precluded from indulgence in the adventitious specialties that delight the commonest bibliomaniac. there is a good deal more in many of them than the first thought discloses. an _editio princeps_ is not a mere toy--it has something in it that may purchase the attention even of a thinking man. in the first place, it is a very old commodity--about four hundred years of age. if you look around you in the world you will see very few movables coeval with it. no doubt there are wonderfully ancient things shown to travellers,--as in glammis castle you may see the identical four-posted bedstead--a very creditable piece of cabinet-makery--in which king malcolm was murdered a thousand years ago. but genuine articles of furniture so old as the _editio princeps_ are very rare. if we should highly esteem a poker, a stool, a drinking-can, of that age, is there not something worthy of observance, as indicating the social condition of the age, in those venerable pages, made to look as like the handwriting of their day as possible, with their decorated capitals, all squeezed between two solid planks of oak, covered with richly embossed hog-skin, which can be clasped together by means of massive decorated clasps? and shall we not admit it to a higher place in our reverence than some mere item of household furnishing, when we reflect that it is the very form in which some great ruling intellect, resuscitated from long interment, burst upon the dazzled eyes of europe and displayed the fulness of its face? his achievements in the creation of libraries. so much, then, for the benefit which the class to whom these pages are devoted derive to themselves from their peculiar pursuit. let us now turn to the far more remarkable phenomena, in which these separate and perhaps selfish pursuers of their own instincts and objects are found to concur in bringing out a great influence upon the intellectual destinies of mankind. it is said of brindley, the great canal engineer, that,--when a member of a committee, where he was under examination, a little provoked or amused by his entire devotion to canals, asked him if he thought there was any use of rivers,--he promptly answered, "yes, to feed navigable canals." so, if there be no other respectable function in life fulfilled by the book-hunter, i would stand up for the proposition that he is the feeder, provided by nature, for the preservation of literature from age to age, by the accumulation and preservation of libraries, public or private. it will require perhaps a little circumlocutory exposition to show this, but here it is. a great library cannot be constructed--it is the growth of ages. you may buy books at any time with money, but you cannot make a library like one that has been a century or two a-growing, though you had the whole national debt to do it with. i remember once how an extensive publisher, speaking of the rapid strides which literature had made of late years, and referring to a certain old public library, celebrated for its affluence in the fathers, the civilians, and the medieval chroniclers, stated how he had himself freighted for exportation, within the past month, as many books as that whole library consisted of. this was likely enough to be true, but the two collections were very different from each other. the cargoes of books were probably thousands of copies of some few popular selling works. they might be a powerful illustration of the diffusion of knowledge, but what they were compared with was its concentration. had all the paper of which these cargoes consisted been bank-notes, they would not have enabled their owner to create a duplicate of the old library, rich in the fathers, the civilians, and the medieval chroniclers. this impossibility of improvising libraries is really an important and curious thing; and since it is apt to be overlooked, owing to the facility of buying books, in quantities generally far beyond the available means of any ordinary buyer, it seems worthy of some special consideration. a man who sets to to form a library will go on swimmingly for a short way. he will easily get tennyson's poems--macaulay's and alison's histories--the encyclopædia britannica--buckle on civilisation--all the books "in print," as it is termed. nay, he will find no difficulty in procuring copies of others which may not happen to be on the shelves of the publisher or of the retailer of new books. of voltaire's works--a little library in itself--he will get a copy at his call in london, if he has not set his mind on some special edition. so of scott's edition of swift or dryden, croker's edition of boswell's johnson, and the like. one can scarcely suppose a juncture in which any of these cannot be found through the electric chain of communication established by the book-trade. of gibbon's and hume's histories--jeremy taylor's works--bossuet's universal history, and the like, copies abound everywhere. go back a little, and ask for kennet's collection of the historians--echard's history, bayle, moreri, or father daniel's history of france, you cannot be so certain of immediately obtaining your object, but you will get the book in the end--no doubt about that. everything has its caprices, and there are some books which might be expected to be equally shy, but in reality, by some inexplicable fatality, are as plentiful as blackberries. such, for instance, are famianus strada's history of the dutch war of independence--one of the most brilliant works ever written, and in the very best latin after buchanan's. there is buchanan's own history, very common even in the shape of the early scotch edition of , which is a highly favourable specimen of arbuthnot's printing. then there are barclay's argenis, and raynal's philosophical history of the east and west indies, without which no book-stall is to be considered complete, and which seem to be possessed of a supernatural power of resistance to the elements, since, month after month, in fair weather or foul, they are to be seen at their posts dry or dripping. so the collector goes on, till he perhaps collects some five thousand volumes or so of select works. if he is miscellaneous in his taste, he may get on pretty comfortably to ten or fifteen thousand, and then his troubles will arise. he has easily got baker's and froissart's and monstrelet's chronicles, because there are modern reprints of them in the market. but if he want cooper's chronicle, he may have to wait for it, since its latest form is still the black-letter. true, i did pick up a copy lately, at braidwood's, for half-a-guinea, but that was a catch--it might have caused the search of a lifetime. still more hopeless it is when the collector's ambition extends to the ladder of perfection of wynkin de worde, or to his king rycharde cure de lion, whereof it is reported in the repertorium bibliographicum, that "an imperfect copy, wanting one leaf, was sold by auction at mr evans's, in june , to mr watson taylor for £ , s." "woe betide," says dibdin, "the young bibliomaniac who sets his heart upon breton's flourish upon fancie and pleasant toyes of an idle head, , to; or workes of a young wyt trussed up with a fardell of pretty fancies!! threescore guineas shall hardly fetch these black-letter rarities from the pigeon-holes of mr thorpe. i lack courage to add the prices for which these copies sold." but he has some comfort reserved for the hungry collector, in the intimation that the ravisht soul and the blessed weaper, by the same author, may be had for £ .[ ] it creates a thrilling interest to know, through the same distinguished authority, that the heber sale must have again let loose upon the world "a merry gest and a true, howe john flynter made his testament," concerning which we are told, with appropriate solemnity and pathos, that "julian notary is the printer of this inestimably precious volume, and mr heber is the thrice-blessed owner of the copy described in the typographical antiquities." [footnote : library companion, p. .] such works as the knightly tale of galogras, the temple of glas, lodge's nettle for nice noses, or the book of fayts of armes, by christene of pisa, or caxton's pylgremage of the sowle, or his myrrour of the worlde, will be long inquired after before they come to the market, thoroughly contradicting that fundamental principle of political economy, that the supply is always equal to the demand. he, indeed, who sets his mind on the possession of any one of these rarities, may go to his grave a disappointed man. it will be in general the consolation of the collector, however, that he is by no means the "homo unius libri." there is always something or other turning up for him, so long as he keeps within moderate bounds. if he be rich and ravenous, however, there is nothing for it but duplicating--the most virulent form of book-mania. we have seen that heber, whose collection, made during his own lifetime, was on the scale of those public libraries which take generations to grow, had, with all his wealth, his liberality, and his persevering energy, to invest himself with duplicates, triplicates--often many copies of the same book. it is rare that the private collector runs himself absolutely into this quagmire, and has so far exhausted the market that no already unpossessed volume turns up in any part of the world to court his eager embraces. the limitation constitutes, however, a serious difficulty in the way of rapidly creating great public libraries. we would obtain the best testimony to this difficulty in america, were our brethren there in a condition to speak or think of so peaceful a pursuit as library-making. in the normal condition of society there--something like that of holland in the seventeenth century--there are powerful elements for the promotion of art and letters, when wealth gives the means and civilisation the desire to promote them. the very absence of feudal institutions--the inability to found a baronial house--turns the thoughts of the rich and liberal to other foundations calculated to transmit their name and influence to posterity. and so we have such bequests as john jacob astor's, who left four hundred thousand dollars for a library, and the hundred and eighty thousand which were the nucleus of the smithsonian institution. yes! their efforts in this direction have fully earned for them their own peculiar form of laudation as "actually equal to cash." hence, as the book-trade and book-buyers know very well, the "almighty dollar" has been hard at work, trying to rear up by its sheer force duplicates of the old european libraries, containing not only all the ordinary stock books in the market, but also the rarities, and those individualities--solitary remaining copies of impressions--which the initiated call uniques. it is clear, however, that when there is but one copy, it can only be in one place; and if it have been rooted for centuries in the bodleian, or the university of tubingen, it is not to be had for harvard or the astorian. dr cogswell, the first librarian of the astorian, spent some time in europe with his princely endowment in his pocket, and showed himself a judicious, active, and formidable sportsman in the book-hunting world. whenever, from private collections, or the breaking-up of public institutions, rarities got abroad into the open market, the collectors of the old country found that they had a resolute competitor to deal with--almost, it might be said, a desperate one--since he was in a manner the representative of a nation using powerful efforts to get possession of a share of the literary treasures of the old world. in the case of a book, for instance, of which half-a-dozen copies might be known to exist, the combatants before the auctioneer would be, on the one side, many an ambitious collector desiring to belong to the fortunate circle already in possession of such a treasure; but on the other side was one on whose exertions depended the question, whether the book should henceforth be part of the intellectual wealth of a great empire, and should be accessible for consultation by american scholars and authors without their requiring to cross the atlantic. let us see how far, by a brief comparison, money has enabled them to triumph over the difficulties of their position. it is difficult to know exactly the numerical contents of a library, as some people count by volumes, and others by the separate works, small or great; and even if all should consent to count by volumes, the estimate would not be precise, for in some libraries bundles of tracts and other small works are massed in plethoric volumes for economy, while in affluent institutions every collection of leaves put under the command of a separate title-page is separately bound in cloth, calf, or morocco, according to its rank. the imperial library at paris is computed to contain above eight hundred thousand volumes; the astorian boasts of approaching a hundred thousand: the next libraries in size in america are the harvard, with from eighty thousand to ninety thousand; the library of congress, which has from sixty thousand to seventy thousand; and the boston athenæum, which has about sixty thousand. there are many of smaller size. in fact, there is probably no country so well stocked as the states with libraries of from ten thousand to twenty thousand volumes,--the evidence that they have bought what was to be bought, and have done all that a new people can to participate in the long-hoarded treasures of literature which it is the privilege of the old world to possess. i know that, especially in the instance of the astorian library, the selections of books have been made with great judgment, and that, after the boundaries of the common crowded market were passed, and individual rarities had to be stalked in distant hunting-grounds, innate literary value was still held an object more important than mere abstract rarity, and, as the more worthy quality of the two, that on which the buying power available to the emissary was brought to bear. the zeal and wealth which the citizens of the states have thrown into the limited field from which a library can be rapidly reaped, are manifested in the size and value of their private collections. a volume, called the private libraries of new york, by james wynne, m.d., affords interesting evidence of this phenomenon. it is printed on large thick paper, after the most luxurious fashion of our book clubs, apparently for private distribution. the author states, however, that "the greater part of the sketches of private libraries to be found in this volume, were prepared for and published in the evening post about two years since. their origin is due to a request on the part of mr bigelow, one of the editors of the post, to the writer, to examine and sketch the more prominent private collections of books in new york." such an undertaking reveals, to us of the old country, a very singular social condition. with us, the class who may be thus offered up to the martyrdom of publicity is limited. the owners of great houses and great collections are doomed to share them with the public, and if they would frequent their own establishments, must be content to do so in the capacity of librarians or showmen, for the benefit of their numerous and uninvited visitors. they generally, with wise resignation, bow to the sacrifice, and, abandoning all connection with their treasures, dedicate them to the people--nor, as their affluence is generally sufficient to surround them with an abundance of other enjoyments, are they an object of much pity. but that the privacy of our ordinary wealthy and middle classes should be invaded in a similar shape, is an idea that could not get abroad without creating sensations of the most lively horror. they manage these things differently across the atlantic, and so here we have "over" fifty gentlemen's private collections ransacked and anatomised. if _they_ like it, we have no reason to complain, but rather have occasion to rejoice in the valuable and interesting result. it is quite natural that their ways of esteeming a collection should not be as our ways. there is a story of a cockney auctioneer, who had a location in the back settlements to dispose of, advertising that it was "almost entirely covered with fine old timber." to many there would appear to be an equal degree of verdant simplicity in mentioning among the specialties and distinguishing features of a collection--the biographia and encyclopædia britannica, lowndes's manual, the quarterly and edinburgh reviews, boyle, ducange, moreri, dodsley's annual register, watt's bibliotheca, and diodorus siculus. the statement that there is in dr francis's collection a "complete set of the recueil des causes célèbres, collected by maurice mejan, in eighteen volumes--a scarce and valuable work"--would throw any of our black-letter knight-errants into convulsions of laughter. there are also some instances of perhaps not unnatural confusion between one merely local british celebrity and another, as where it is set forth that in mr noyes's collection "there is a fine copy of sir robert walpole's works, in five large quarto volumes, embellished with plates." but under all this inexperience of the ways of the craft as it is cultivated among us, and unconsciousness of such small parochial distinctions as may hold between sir robert walpole, our prime minister, and horace walpole, the man of letters and trinkets, the book contains a quantity of valuable and substantial matter, both as a record of rich stores of learning heaped up for the use of the scholar, and marvellous varieties to dazzle the eyes of the mere dibdinite. the prevailing feature throughout is the lavish costliness and luxury of these collections, several of which exceed ten thousand volumes. where collections have grown so large that, on the principles already explained, their increase is impeded, the owner's zeal and wealth seem to have developed themselves in the lavish enshrining and decorating of such things as were attainable.[ ] [footnote : take as a practical commentary on what has been said (p. ) on "illustrating" books, the following passage describing some of the specialties of a collection, the general features of which are described further on:-- "but the crowning glory is a folio copy of shakespeare, illustrated by the collector himself, with a prodigality of labour and expense, that places it far above any similar work ever attempted. the letterpress of this great work is a choice specimen of nichol's types, and each play occupies a separate portfolio. these are accompanied by costly engravings of landscapes, rare portraits, maps, elegantly coloured plates of costumes, and water-colour drawings, executed by some of the best artists of the day. some of the plays have over folio illustrations, each of which is beautifully inlaid or mounted, and many of the engravings are very valuable. some of the landscapes, selected from the oldest cosmographies known, illustrating the various places mentioned in the pages of shakespeare, are exceedingly curious as well as valuable. "in the historical plays, when possible, every character is portrayed from authoritative sources, as old tapestries, monumental brasses, or illuminated works of the age, in well-executed drawings or recognised engravings. there are in this work a vast number of illustrations, in addition to a very numerous collection of water-colour drawings. in addition to the thirty-seven plays, are two volumes devoted to shakespeare's life and times, one volume of portraits, one volume devoted to distinguished shakespearians, one to poems, and two to disputed plays, the whole embracing a series of forty-two folio volumes, and forming, perhaps, the most remarkable and costly monument, in this shape, ever attempted by a devout worshipper of the bard of avon. the volume devoted to shakespeare's portraits was purchased by mr burton, at the sale of a gentleman's library, who had spent many years in making the collection, and includes various 'effigies' unknown to many laborious collectors. it contains upwards of plates, for the most part proofs. the value of this collection may be estimated by the fact, that a celebrated english collector recently offered its possessor £ for this single volume. "in the reading-room directly beneath the main library, are a number of portfolios of prints illustrative of the plays of shakespeare, of a size too large to be included in the illustrated collection just noticed. there is likewise another copy of shakespeare, based upon knight's pictorial royal octavo, copiously illustrated by the owner; but although the prints are numerous, they are neither as costly nor as rare as those contained in the large folio copy. "among the curiosities of the shakespeare collection are a number of copies of the disputed plays, printed during his lifetime, with the name of shakespeare as their author. it is remarkable, if these plays were not at least revised by shakespeare, that no record of a contradiction of their authorship should be found. it is not improbable that many plays written by others were given to shakespeare to perform in his capacity as a theatrical manager, requiring certain alterations in order to adapt them to the use of the stage, which were arranged by his cunning and skilful hand, and these plays afterward found their way into print, with just sufficient of his emendations to allow his authorship of them, in the carelessness in which he held his literary fame, to pass uncontradicted by him. "there is a copy of an old play of the period, with manuscript annotations, and the name of shakespeare written on the title-page. it is either the veritable signature of the poet, or an admirably imitated forgery. mr burton inclined to the opinion that the work once belonged to shakespeare, and that the signature is genuine. if so, it is probably the only scrap of his handwriting on this continent. this work is not included in the list given of ireland's library, the contents of which were brought into disrepute by the remarkable literary forgeries of the son, but stands forth peculiar and unique, and furnishes much room for curious speculation."--( - .)] the descriptions of a remorseless investigator like this have a fresh individuality not to be found here, where our habitual reserve prevents us from offering or enjoying a full, true, and particular account of the goods of our neighbours, unless they are brought to the hammer,--and then they have lost half the charm which they possessed as the household gods of some one conspicuous by position or character, and are little more estimable than other common merchandise. it would be difficult to find, among the countless books about books produced by us in the old country, any in which the bent of individual tastes and propensities is so distinctly represented in tangible symbols; and the reality of the elucidation is increased by the sort of innocent surprise with which the historian approaches each "lot," evidently as a first acquaintance, about whom he inquires and obtains all available particulars, good-humouredly communicating them in bald detail to his reader. here follows a sketch--and surely a tempting one--of a new york interior:-- "mr burton's library contains nearly sixteen thousand volumes. its proprietor had constructed for its accommodation and preservation a three-storey fire-proof building, about thirty feet square, which is isolated from all other buildings, and is connected with his residence in hudson street by a conservatory gallery. the chief library-room occupies the upper floor of this building, and is about twenty-five feet in height. its ceiling presents a series of groined rafters, after the old english style, in the centre of which rises a dome-skylight of stained glass. the sides of the library are fitted up with thirty-six oak book-cases of a gothic pattern, which entirely surround it, and are nine feet in height. the space between the ceiling and the book-cases is filled with paintings, for the most part of large size, and said to be of value. specimens of armour and busts of distinguished authors decorate appropriate compartments, and in a prominent niche, at the head of the apartment, stands a full-length statue of shakespeare, executed by thom, in the same style as the tam o' shanter and old mortality groups of this scotch sculptor. "the great specialty of the library is its shakespeare collection; but, although very extensive and valuable, it by no means engrosses the entire library, which contains a large number of valuable works in several departments of literature. "the number of lexicons and dictionaries is large, and among the latter may be found all the rare old english works so valuable for reference. three book-cases are devoted to serials, which contain many of the standard reviews and magazines. one case is appropriated to voyages and travels, in which are found many valuable ones. in another are upwards of one hundred volumes of table-talk, and numerous works on the fine arts and bibliography. one book-case is devoted to choice works on america, among which is sebastian munster's cosmographia totius orbis regionum, published in folio at basle in , which contains full notes of columbus, vespucci, and other early voyagers. another department contains a curious catalogue of authorities relating to crime and punishment; a liberal space is devoted to facetiæ, another to american poetry, and also one to natural and moral philosophy. the standard works of fiction, biography, theology, and the drama, are all represented. "there is a fair collection of classical authors, many of which are of aldine and elzevir editions. among the rarities in this department is a folio copy of plautus, printed at venice in , and illustrated with woodcuts." the author thus coming upon a roman writer of plays, named plautus, favours us with an account of him, which it is unnecessary to pursue, since it by no means possesses the interest attached to his still-life sketches. let us pass on and take a peep at the collection of chancellor kent, known in this country as the author of kent's commentary:-- "to a lawyer, the chancellor's written remarks on his books are, perhaps, their most interesting feature. he studied pen in hand, and all of his books contain his annotations, and some are literary curiosities. his edition of blackstone's commentaries is the first american edition, printed in philadelphia in . it is creditable to the press of that time, and is overlaid with annotations, showing how diligently the future american commentator studied the elegant work of his english predecessor. the general reader will find still more interest in the earlier judicial reports of the state of new york, printed while he was on the bench. he will find not merely legal notes, but biographical memoranda of many of the distinguished judges and lawyers who lived at the commencement of the century, and built up the present system of laws. "in proceeding from the legal to the miscellaneous part of the library, the visitor's attention will, perhaps, be attracted by an extensive and curious collection of the records of criminal law. not merely the english state trials and the french _causes célèbres_ are there, but the criminal trials of scotland and of america, and detached publications of remarkable cases, newgate calendars, malefactors' register, chronicles of crime, with ghastly prints of newgate and old bailey, with their executions. the chancellor is not responsible for this part of the library, which owes its completeness to the morbid taste of his successor, who defends the collection as best illustrating the popular morals and manners of every period, and contends that fiction yields in interest to the gloomy dramas of real life." the practice attributed to the chancellor of annotating his books is looked on by collectors as in the general case a crime which should be denied benefit of clergy. what is often said, however, of other crimes may be said of this, that if the perpetrator be sufficiently illustrious, it becomes a virtue. if milton, for instance, had thought fit to leave his autograph annotations on the first folio shakespeare, the offence would not only have been pardoned but applauded, greatly to the pecuniary benefit of any one so fortunate as to discover the treasure. but it would be highly dangerous for ordinary people to found on such an immunity. i remember being once shown by an indignant collector a set of utterly and hopelessly destroyed copies of rare tracts connected with the religious disputes of queen elizabeth's day, each inlaid and separately bound in a thin volume in the finest morocco, with the title lengthways along the back. these had been lent to a gentleman who deemed himself a distinguished poet, and he thought proper to write on the margin the sensations caused within him by the perusal of some of the more striking passages, certifying the genuineness of his autograph by his signature at full length in a bold distinct hand. he, worthy man, deemed that he was adding greatly to the value of the rarities; but had he beheld the owner's face on occasion of the discovery, he would have been undeceived. there are in dr wynne's book descriptions, not only of libraries according to their kind, but according to their stage of growth, from those which, as the work of a generation or two, have reached from ten to fifteen thousand, to the collections still in their youth, such as mr lorimer graham's of five thousand volumes, rich in early editions of british poetry, and doubtless, by this time, still richer, since its owner was lately here collecting early works on the literature of scotland, and other memorials of the land of his fathers. certainly, however, the most interesting of the whole is the library of the rev. dr magoon, "an eminent and popular divine of the baptist church." he entered on active life as an operative bricklayer. there are, it appears, wall-plates extant, and not a few, built by his hands, and it was only by saving the earnings these brought to him that he could obtain an education. when an english mechanic finds out that he has a call to the ministry, we can easily figure the grim ignorant fanatical ranter that comes forth as the result. if haply he is able to read, his library will be a few lean sheepskin-clad volumes, such as boston's crook in the lot, fisher's marrow of modern divinity, brooks's apples of gold, bolton's saint's enriching examination, and halyburton's great concern. the bricklayer, however, was endowed with the heavenly gift of the high æsthetic, which no birth or breeding can secure, and threw himself into that common ground where art and religion meet--the literature of christian medieval art. things must, however, have greatly changed among our brethren since the days of cotton mather, or even of jonathan edwards, when a person in dr magoon's position could embellish his private sanctuary in this fashion. "the chief characteristic of the collection is its numerous works on the history, literature, and theory of art in general, and of christian architecture in particular. there is scarcely a church, abbey, monastery, college, or cathedral; or picture, statue, or illumination, prominent in christian art, extant in italy, germany, france, or the british islands, that is not represented either by original drawings or in some other graphic form. "in addition to these works, having especial reference to christian art, are many full sets of folios depicting the leading galleries of ancient, medieval, and modern art in general. some of these, as the six elephant folios on the louvre, are in superb bindings; while many others, among which are the dresden gallery and retzsch's outlines, derive an additional value from once having formed a part of the elegant collection of william reginald courtenay. "but what renders this collection particularly valuable, is its large number of original drawings by eminent masters which accompany the written and engraved works. amongst these are two large sepia drawings, by amici, of the pantheon and st peter's at rome. these drawings were engraved and published with several others by ackermann. both the originals, and the engravings executed from them, are in the collection. the original view near the basilica of st marco, by samuel prout, the engraving of which is in finden's byron, and the interior of st marco, by luke price, the engraving of which is in price's venice illustrated, grace the collection. there is likewise a superb general view of venice, by wyld; a fine exterior view of rheims cathedral, by buckley; an exterior view of st peter's at caën, by charles vacher; and the interior of st germain des prés at paris, by duval." the early history of the american settlements is naturally the object around which many of these collections cluster; but the scraps of this kind of literature which have been secured have a sadly impoverished aspect in comparison with the luxurious stores which american money has attracted from the old world.[ ] here one is forcibly reminded of those elements in the old-established libraries of europe which no wealth or zeal can achieve elsewhere, because the commodity is not in the market. [footnote : "this collection [mr menzies's] contains four thousand volumes, and is for the most part in the english language. its chief specialty consists in works on american history and early american printed books. among the latter may be mentioned a series of the earliest works issued from the press in new york. of these, is a letter of advice to a young gentleman, by r.l., printed and sold by william bradford, in new york, . richard lyon, the author, came early to this country, and officiated as a private tutor to a young english student at cambridge, to whom the letter of advice was written. it is undoubtedly the earliest work which issued from the press in new york, and is so extremely rare, that it is questionable whether another copy is to be found in the state. there is a collection of tracts comprised in seven volumes, written by the rev. george keith, and published by bradford, at new york, - . keith was born in scotland, and settled in east jersey, in the capacity of surveyor-general, in . the several tracts in the collection are on religious subjects, and are controversial in their character. as early specimens of printing, and as models of the manner in which the religious controversies of the day were conducted, they are both instructive and curious. in addition to these is a work entitled the rebuker rebuked, by daniel leeds, ; a sermon preached at kingston in jamaica, by william corbin, ; the great mystery of foxcraft, by daniel leeds, ; a sermon preached at trinity church, in new york, by john sharp, ; an alarm sounded to the inhabitants of the world, by bath bowers, ; and lex parliamentaria, . all the above works were printed by bradford, the earliest new york publisher, and one of the earliest printers in america. they constitute, perhaps, the most complete collection in existence of the publications of this early typographer. the whole are in an excellent state of preservation, and are nearly, if not quite, unique."] america had just one small old library, and the lamentation over the loss of this ewe-lamb is touching evidence of her poverty in such possessions. the harvard library dates from the year . in the college buildings were burned, and though books are not easily consumed, yet the small collection of five thousand volumes was overwhelmed in the general ruin. so were destroyed many books from the early presses of the mother country, and many of the firstlings of the transatlantic printers; and though its bulk was but that of an ordinary country squire's collection, the loss has been always considered national and irreparable. it is, after all, a rather serious consideration--which it never seems as yet to have occurred to any one to revolve--how entirely the new states of the west and the south seem to be cut off from the literary resources which the old world possesses in her old libraries. whatever light lies hidden beneath the bushel in these venerable institutions, seems for ever denied to the students and inquirers of the new empire rising in the antipodes, and consequently to the minds of the people at large who receive impressions from students and inquirers. books can be reprinted, it is true; but where is the likelihood that seven hundred thousand old volumes will be reprinted to put the astorian library on a par with the imperial? well, perhaps some quick and cheap way will be found of righting it all when the aerial navigation company issues its time-bills, and news come of battles "from the nation's airy navies grappling in the central blue." in the meantime, what a lesson do these matters impress on us of the importance of preserving old books! government and legislation have done little, if anything, in britain, towards this object, beyond the separate help that may have been extended to individual public libraries, and the copyright act deposits. of general measures, it is possible to point out some which have been injurious, by leading to the dispersal or destruction of books. the house and window duties have done this to a large extent. as this statement may not be quite self-evident, a word in explanation may be appropriate. the practice of the department having charge of the assessed taxes has been, when any furniture was left in an unoccupied house, to levy the duty--to exempt only houses entirely empty. it was a consequence of this that when, by minority, family decay, or otherwise, a mansion-house had to be shut up, there was an inducement entirely to gut it of its contents, including the library. the same cause, by the way, has been more destructive still to furniture, and may be said to have lost to our posterity the fashions of a generation or two. tables, chairs, and cabinets first grow unfashionable, and then old; in neither stage have they any friends who will comfort or support them--they are still worse off than books. but then comes an after-stage, in which they revive as antiquities, and become exceeding precious. as pompeiis, however, are rare in the world, the chief repositories of antique furniture have been mansions shut up for a generation or two, which, after more fashions than generations have passed away, are reopened to the light of day, either in consequence of the revival of the fortunes of their old possessors, or of their total extinction and the entry of new owners. how the house and window duties disturbed this silent process by which antiques were created is easily perceived. one service our legislature has done for the preservation of books in the copies which require to be deposited under the copyright act at stationers' hall for the privileged libraries. true, this has been effected somewhat in the shape of a burden upon authors, for the benefit of that posterity which has done no more for them specially than it has for other people of the present generation. but in its present modified shape the burden should not be grudged, in consideration of the magnitude of the benefit to the people of the future--a benefit the full significance of which it probably requires a little consideration to estimate. the right of receiving a copy of every book from stationers' hall has generally been looked on as a benefit to the library receiving it. the benefit, however, was but lightly esteemed by some of these institutions, the directors of which represented that they were thus pretty well supplied with the unsaleable rubbish, while the valuable publications slipped past them; and, on the whole, they would sell their privilege for a very small annual sum, to enable them to go into the market and buy such books, old and new, as they might prefer. the view adopted by the law, however, was, that the depositing of these books created an obligation if it conferred a privilege, the institution receiving them having no right to part with them, but being bound to preserve them as a record of the literature of the age.[ ] [footnote : i am not aware that in the blue-books, or any other source of public information, there is any authenticated statement of the quantity of literature which the privileged libraries receive through the copyright act. the information would afford a measure of the fertility of the british press. it is rather curious, that for a morsel of this kind of ordinary modern statistics, one must have recourse to so scholarly a work as the quarto volume of the _præfationes et epistolæ editionibus principibus auctorum veterum præpositæ, curante beriah botfield, a.m._ the editor of that noble quarto obtained a return from mr winter jones, of the number of deposits in the british museum from to . counting the "pieces," as they are called--that is, every volume, pamphlet, page of music, and other publication--the total number received in was . it increased by steady gradation until , when it reached . it then got an impulse, from a determination more strictly to enforce the act, and next year the number rose to , , and in it reached , . in this great mass, the number of books coming forth complete in one volume or more is roundly estimated at , but a quantity of the separate numbers and parts which go to make up the total are elementary portions of books, giving forth a certain number of completed volumes annually. from the same authority, it appears that the total number of publications which issued from the french press in was estimated at , ; but this includes "sermons, pamphlets, plays, pieces of music, and engravings." in the same year the issues from the german press, austria not included, are estimated at , , all apparently actual volumes, or considerable pamphlets. austria in published volumes and parts. what a contrast to all this it must be to live in sleepy norway, where the annual literary prowess produces volumes! in holland the annual publications approach . "during the year , works in the russian language, and in foreign languages were printed in russia; besides scientific and literary treatises in the different periodicals." the number of works anywhere published is, however, no indication of the number of books put in circulation, since some will have to be multiplied by tens, others by hundreds, and others by thousands. we know that there is an immense currency of literature in the american states, yet, of the quantity of literature issued there, the publishers' circular for february gives the following meagre estimate:--"there were works published in america during . of these were reprints from england, were new editions, and were translations from the french or german. the new american works thus number only , and among them are included sermons, pamphlets, and letters, whereas the reprints are in most cases _bonâ fide_ books."] if the rule come ever to be thoroughly enforced, it will then come to pass that of every book that is printed in britain, good or bad, five copies shall be preserved in the shelves of so many public libraries, slumbering there in peace, or tossed about by impatient readers, as the case may be. for the latter there need not perhaps be much anxiety; it is for the sake of those addicted to slumbering in peaceful obscurity that this refuge is valuable. there is thus at least a remnant saved from the relentless trunk-maker. if the day of resuscitation from the long slumber should arrive, we know where to find the book--in a privileged library. the recollection just now occurs to me of a man of unquestionable character and scholarship, who wrote a suitable and intelligent book on an important subject, and at his own expense had it brought into the world by a distinguished publisher, prudently intimating on the title-page that he reserved the right of translation. giving the work all due time to find its way, he called at the row, exactly a year after the day of publication, to ascertain the result. he was presented with a perfectly succinct account of charge and discharge, in which he was credited with three copies sold. now, he knew that his family had bought two copies, but he never could find out who it was that had bought the third. the one mind into which his thoughts had thus passed, remained ever mysteriously undiscoverable. whether or not he consoled himself with the reflection that what might have been diffused over many was concentrated in one, it is consolatory to others to reflect that such a book stands on record in the privileged libraries, to come forth to the world if it be wanted. nor is the resuscitation of a book unsuited to its own age, but suited to another, entirely unexampled. that beautiful poem called albania was reprinted by leyden, from a copy preserved somewhere: so utterly friendless had it been in its obscurity, that the author's history, and even his name, were unknown; and though it at once excited the high admiration of scott, no scrap of intelligence concerning it could be discovered in any quarter contemporary with its first publication. the discourse on trade by roger north, the author of the amusing lives of lord-keeper guildford and his other two brothers, was lately reprinted from a copy in the british museum, supposed to be the only one existing. though neglected in its own day, it has been considered worthy of attention in this, as promulgating some of the principles of our existing philosophy of trade. on the same principle, some rare tracts on political economy and trade were lately reprinted by a munificent nobleman, who thought the doctrines contained in them worthy of preservation and promulgation. the spirit of despotism, by vicesimus knox, was reprinted, at a time when its doctrines were popular, from a single remaining copy: the book, though instructive, is violent and declamatory, and it is supposed that its author discouraged or endeavoured to suppress its sale after it was printed. in the public duty of creating great libraries, and generally of preserving the literature of the world from being lost to it, the collector's or book-hunter's services are eminent and numerous. in the first place, many of the great public libraries have been absolute donations of the treasures to which some enthusiastic literary sportsman has devoted his life and fortune. its gradual accumulation has been the great solace and enjoyment of his active days; he has beheld it, in his old age, a splendid monument of enlightened exertion, and he resolves that, when he can no longer call it his own, it shall preserve the relics of past literature for ages yet to come, and form a centre whence scholarship and intellectual refinement shall diffuse themselves around. we can see this influence in its most specific and material shape, perhaps, by looking round the reading-room of the british museum--that great manufactory of intellectual produce, where so many heads are at work. the beginning of this great institution, as everybody knows, was in the fifty thousand volumes collected by sir hans sloane--a wonderful achievement for a private gentleman at the beginning of the last century. when george iii. gave it the libraries of the kings of england, it gained, as it were, a better start still by absorbing collections which had begun before sloane was born--those of cranmer, prince henry, and casaubon. the ambrosian library at milan was the private collection of cardinal borromeo, bequeathed by him to the world. it reached forty thousand volumes ere he died, and these formed a library which had arisen in free, natural, and symmetrical growth, insomuch as, having fed it during his whole life, it began with the young and economic efforts of youth and poverty, and went on accumulating in bulk and in the costliness of its contents as succeeding years brought wealth and honours to the great prelate. what those merchant princes, the medici, did for the laurentian library at florence is part of history. old cosmo, who had his mercantile and political correspondents in all lands, made them also his literary agents, who thus sent him goods too precious to be resold even at a profit. "he corresponded," says gibbon, "at once with cairo and london, and a cargo of indian spices and greek books were often imported by the same vessel." the bodleian started with a collection which had cost sir thomas bodley £ , , and it was augmented from time to time by the absorption of tributary influxes of the same kind. some far-seeing promoters of national museums have reached the conclusion that it is not a sound ultimate policy to press too closely on the private collector. he is therefore permitted, under a certain amount of watchful inspection, to accumulate his small treasury of antiquities, shells, or dried plants, in the prospect that in the course of time it will find its way, like the feeding rills of a lake, into the great public treasury.[ ] [footnote : the most complete mass of information which we probably possess in the english language about the history of libraries, both home and foreign, is in the two octavos called memoirs of libraries, including a handbook of library concerns, by edward edwards.] in many instances the collectors whose stores have thus gone to the public, have merely followed their hunting propensities, without having the merit of framing the ultimate destiny of their collections, but in others the intention of doing benefit to the world has added zest and energy to the chase. of this class there is one memorable and beautiful instance in richard of bury, bishop of durham, who lived and laboured so early as the days of edward iii., and has left an autobiographical sketch infinitely valuable, as at once informing us of the social habits, and letting us into the very inner life, of the highly endowed student and the affluent collector of the fourteenth century. his little book, called philobiblion, was brought to light from an older obscure edition by the scholar printer badius ascensius, and was the first fruit of his press when he set it up in paris in the year . an english translation of it was published in . it is throughout adorned with the gentle and elevated nature of the scholar, and derives a still nobler lustre from the beneficent purpose to which the author destined the literary relics which it was the enjoyment of his life to collect and study. being endowed with power and wealth, and putting to himself the question, "what can i render to the lord for all that he hath conferred on me?" he found an answer in the determination of smoothing the path of the poor and ardent student, by supplying him with the means of study. "behold," he says, "a herd of outcasts rather than of elect scholars meets the view of our contemplations, in which god the artificer, and nature his handmaid, have planted the roots of the best morals and most celebrated sciences. but the penury of their private affairs so oppresses them, being opposed by adverse fortune, that the fruitful seeds of virtue, so productive in the unexhausted field of youth, unmoistened by their wonted dews, are compelled to wither. whence it happens, as boetius says, that bright virtue lies hid in obscurity, and the burning lamp is not put under a bushel, but is utterly extinguished for want of oil. thus the flowery field in spring is ploughed up before harvest; thus wheat gives way to tares, the vine degenerates to woodbine, and the olive grows wild and unproductive." keenly alive to this want, he resolved to devote himself, not merely to supply to the hungry the necessary food, but to impart to the poor and ardent scholar the mental sustenance which might possibly enable him to burst the bonds of circumstance, and, triumphing over his sordid lot, freely communicate to mankind the blessings which it is the function of cultivated genius to distribute. the bishop was a great and powerful man, for he went over europe commissioned as the spiritual adviser of the great conqueror, edward iii. wherever he went on public business--to rome, france, or the other states of europe--"on tedious embassies and in perilous times," he carried about with him "that fondness for books which many waters could not extinguish," and gathered up all that his power, his wealth, and his vigilance brought within his reach. in paris he becomes quite ecstatic: "oh blessed god of gods in zion! what a rush of the glow of pleasure rejoiced our heart as often as we visited paris--the paradise of the world! there we longed to remain, where, on account of the greatness of our love, the days ever appeared to us to be few. there are delightful libraries in cells redolent of aromatics--there flourishing greenhouses of all sorts of volumes: there academic meads trembling with the earthquake of athenian peripatetics pacing up and down: there the promontories of parnassus and the porticos of the stoics." the most powerful instrument in his policy was encouraging and bringing round him, as dependents and followers, the members of the mendicant orders--the labourers called to the vineyard in the eleventh hour, as he calls them. these he set to cater for him, and he triumphantly asks, "among so many of the keenest hunters, what leveret could lie hid? what fry could evade the hook, the net, or the trawl of these men? from the body of divine law down to the latest controversial tract of the day, nothing could escape the notice of these scrutinisers." in further revelations of his method he says, "when, indeed, we happened to turn aside to the towns and places where the aforesaid paupers had convents, we were not slack in visiting their chests and other repositories of books; for there, amidst the deepest poverty, we found the most exalted riches treasured up; there, in their satchels and caskets, we discovered not only the crumbs that fell from the master's table for the little dogs, but, indeed, the shew-bread without leaven--the bread of angels containing all that is delectable." he specially marks the zeal of the dominicans or preachers; and in exulting over his success in the field, he affords curious glimpses into the ways of the various humble assistants who were glad to lend themselves to the hobby of one of the most powerful prelates of his day.[ ] [footnote : "indeed, although we had obtained abundance both of old and new works, through an extensive communication with all the religious orders, yet we must in justice extol the preachers with a special commendation in this respect; for we found them, above all other religious devotees, ungrudging of their most acceptable communications, and overflowing with a certain divine liberality; we experienced them not to be selfish hoarders, but meet professors of enlightened knowledge. besides all the opportunities already touched upon, we easily acquired the notice of the stationers and librarians, not only within the provinces of our native soil, but of those dispersed over the kingdoms of france, germany, and italy, by the prevailing power of money; no distance whatever impeded, no fury of the sea deterred them; nor was cash wanting for their expenses, when they sent or brought us the wished-for books; for they knew to a certainty that their hopes reposed in our bosoms could not be disappointed, but ample redemption, with interest, was secure with us. lastly, our common captivatrix of the love of all men (money), did not neglect the rectors of country schools, nor the pedagogues of clownish boys, but rather, when we had leisure to enter their little gardens and paddocks, we culled redolent flowers upon the surface, and dug up neglected roots (not, however, useless to the studious), and such coarse digests of barbarism, as with the gift of eloquence might be made sanative to the pectoral arteries. amongst productions of this kind, we found many most worthy of renovation, which, when the foul rust was skilfully polished off, and the mask of old age removed, deserved to be once more remodelled into comely countenances, and which we, having applied a sufficiency of the needful means, resuscitated for an exemplar of future resurrection, having in some measure restored them to renewed soundness. moreover, there was always about us in our halls no small assemblage of antiquaries, scribes, bookbinders, correctors, illuminators, and, generally, of all such persons as were qualified to labour advantageously in the service of books. "to conclude. all of either sex, of every degree, estate, or dignity, whose pursuits were in any way connected with books, could, with a knock, most easily open the door of our heart, and find a convenient reposing place in our bosom. we so admitted all who brought books, that neither the multitude of first-comers could produce a fastidiousness of the last, nor the benefit conferred yesterday be prejudicial to that of to-day. wherefore, as we were continually resorted to by all the aforesaid persons, as to a sort of adamant attractive of books, the desired accession of the vessels of science, and a multifarious flight of the best volumes were made to us. and this is what we undertook to relate at large in the present chapter."] the manner in which richard of bury dedicated his stores to the intellectual nurture of the poor scholar, was by converting them into a library for durham college, which merged into trinity of oxford. it would have been a pleasant thing to look upon the actual collection of manuscripts which awakened so much recorded zeal and tenderness in the great ecclesiastic of five hundred years ago; but in later troubles they became dispersed, and all that seems to be known of their whereabouts is, that some of them are in the library of baliol.[ ] another eminent english prelate made a worthy, but equally ineffectual, attempt to found a great university library. this was the rev. john fisher, bishop of rochester, who gave what was called "the noblest library in england" to the newly founded college of st john's. it was not a bequest. to make his gift secure, it was made over directly to the college, but as he could not part with his favourites while he lived, he borrowed the whole back for life. this is probably the most extensive book loan ever negotiated; but the reformation, and his own tragic destiny, were coming on apace, and the books were lost both to himself and his favourite college.[ ] [footnote : edwards on libraries, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : edwards on libraries, vol. i. p. .] the preservation of literature. the benefactors whose private collections have, by a generous act of endowment, been thus rendered at the same time permanent and public, could be counted by hundreds. it is now, however, my function to describe a more subtle, but no less powerful influence which the book-hunter exercises in the preservation and promulgation of literature, through the mere exercise of that instinct or passion which makes him what he is here called. what has been said above must have suggested--if it was not seen before--how great a pull it gives to any public library, that it has had an early start; and how hard it is, with any amount of wealth and energy, to make up for lost time, and raise a later institution to the level of its senior. the imperial library of paris, which has so marvellously lived through all the storms that have swept round its walls, was founded in the fourteenth century. it began, of course, with manuscripts; possessing, before the beginning of the fifteenth century, the then enormous number of a thousand volumes. the reason, however, of its present greatness, so far beyond the rivalry of later establishments, is, that it was in active operation at the birth of printing, and received the first-born of the press. there they have been sheltered and preserved, while their unprotected brethren, tossed about in the world outside, have long disappeared, and passed out of existence for ever. among the popular notions passing current as duly certified axioms, just because they have never been questioned and examined, one is, that, since the age of printing, no book once put to press has ever died. the notion is quite inconsistent with fact. when we count by hundreds of thousands the books that are in the paris library, and not to be had for the british museum, we know the number of books which a chance refuge has protected from the general destruction, and can readily see, in shadowy bulk, though we cannot estimate in numbers, the great mass which, having found no refuge, have disappeared out of separate existence, and been mingled up with the other elements of the earth's crust. we have many accounts of the marvellous preservation of books after they have become rare--the snatching of them as brands from the burning; their hairbreadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach. it would be interesting, also, to have some account of the progress of destruction among books. a work dedicated apparently to this object, which i have been unable to find in the body, is mentioned under a very tantalising title. it is by a certain john charles conrad oelrichs, author of several scraps of literary history, and is called a dissertation concerning the fates of libraries and books, and, in the first place, concerning the books that have been eaten--such i take to be the meaning of "dissertatio de bibliothecarum ac librorum fatis, imprimis libris comestis." this is nearly as tantalising as the wooden-legged britisher's explanation to the inquisitive yankee, who solemnly engaged to ask not another question were he told how that leg was lost, and was accordingly told that "it was bitten off." nor is there anything to allay the curiosity thus excited in finding that the french, in the all-comprehensive spirit of their classification and nomenclature, include the book-eater with the decorous title bibliophage, seeing that in so gossiping a work as peignot's dictionnaire de bibliologie, all that is communicated under this department is, "bibliophage signifie celui qui mange des livres." we are not favoured with any examples explanatory of the kind of books most in demand by those addicted to this species of food, nor of the effect of the different classes of books on the digestive organs. religious and political intolerance has, as all the world knows, been a terrible enemy to literature, not only by absolute suppression, but by the restraints of the licenser. so little was literary freedom indeed understood anywhere until recent days, that it was only by an accident after the revolution that the licensing of books was abolished in england. the new licenser, edmond bohun, happened in fact to be a jacobite, and though he professed to conform to the revolution settlement, his sympathies with the exiled house disabled him from detecting disaffection skilfully smothered, and the house of commons, in a rage, abolished his office by refusing to renew the licensing act. of the extent to which literature has suffered by suppression, there are no data for a precise estimate. it might bring out some curious results, however, were any investigator to tell us of the books which had been effectually put down after being in existence. it would of course be found that the weak were crushed, while the strong flourished. among the valuable bibliographical works of peignot, is a dictionary of books which have been condemned to the flames, suppressed, or censured. we do not require to go far through his alphabet to see how futile the burnings and condemnations have been in their effect on the giants of literature. the first name of all is that of abelard, and so going on we pick up the witty scamp aretin, then pass on to d'aubigné the great warrior and historian, bayle, beaumarchais, boulanger, catullus, charron, condillac, crébillon, and so on, down to voltaire and wicliffe. wars and revolutions have of course done their natural work on many libraries, yet the mischief effected by them has often been more visible than real, since they have tended rather to dispersion than destruction. the total loss to literature by the dispersion of the libraries of the monastic establishments in england, is probably not nearly so great as that which has accompanied the chronic mouldering away of the treasures preserved so obstinately by the lazy monks of the levant, who were found by mr curzon at their public devotions laying down priceless volumes which they could not read, to protect their dirty feet from the cold floor. in the wildest times the book repository often partakes in the good fortune of the humble student whom the storm passes over. in the hour of danger, too, some friend who keeps a quiet eye upon its safety may interpose at the critical moment. the treasures of the french libraries were certainly in terrible danger when robespierre had before him the draft of a decree, that "the books of the public libraries of paris and the departments should no longer be permitted to offend the eyes of the republic by shameful marks of servitude." the word would have gone forth, and a good deal beyond the mere marks of servitude would have been doubtless destroyed, had not the emergency called forth the courage and energies of renouard and didot.[ ] [footnote : edwards on libraries, vol. ii. p. .] there are probably false impressions abroad as to the susceptibility of literature to destruction by fire. books are not good fuel, as, fortunately, many a housemaid has found, when, among other frantic efforts and failures in fire-lighting, she has reasoned from the false data of the inflammability of a piece of paper. in the days when heretical books were burned, it was necessary to place them on large wooden stages, and after all the pains taken to demolish them, considerable readable masses were sometimes found in the embers; whence it was supposed that the devil, conversant in fire and its effects, gave them his special protection. in the end it was found easier and cheaper to burn the heretics themselves than their books. thus books can be burned, but they don't burn, and though in great fires libraries have been wholly or partially destroyed, we never hear of a library making a great conflagration like a cotton mill or a tallow warehouse. nay, a story is told of a house seeming irretrievably on fire, until the flames, coming in contact with the folio corpus juris and the statutes at large, were quite unable to get over this joint barrier, and sank defeated. when anything is said about the burning of libraries, alexandria at once flares up in the memory; but it is strange how little of a satisfactory kind investigators have been able to make out, either about the formation or destruction of the many famous libraries collected from time to time in that city. there seems little doubt that cæsar's auxiliaries unintentionally burnt one of them; its contents were probably written on papyrus, a material about as inflammable as dried reeds or wood-shavings. as to that other burning in detail, when the collection was used for fuel to the baths, and lasted some six weeks--surely never was there a greater victim of historical prejudice and calumny than the "ignorant and fanatical" caliph omar al raschid. over and over has this act been disproved, and yet it will continue to be reasserted with uniform pertinacity in successive rolling sentences, all as like each other as the successive billows in a swell at sea.[ ] [footnote : one of the latest inquirers who has gone over the ground concludes his evidence thus: "omar ne vint pas à alexandrie; et s'il y fut venu, il n'eut pas trouvé des livres à brûler. la bibliothèque n'existait plus depuis deux siècles et demi."--fournier, l'esprit dans l'histoire. what shall we say to the story told by zonaras and repeated by pancirole, of the burning, in the reign of the emperor basilisc, of the library of constantinople, containing one hundred and twenty thousand volumes, and among them a copy of the iliad and the odyssey, written in golden letters on parchment made from the intestines of the dragon?] apart, however, from violence and accident, there is a constant decay of books from what might be called natural causes, keeping, like the decay of the human race, a proportion to their reproduction, which varies according to place or circumstance; here showing a rapid increase where production outruns decay, and there a decrease where the morbid elements of annihilation are stronger than the active elements of reproduction. indeed, volumes are in their varied external conditions very like human beings. there are some stout and others frail--some healthy and others sickly; and it happens often that the least robust are the most precious. the full fresh health of some of the folio fathers and schoolmen, ranged side by side in solemn state on the oaken shelves of some venerable repository, is apt to surprise those who expect mouldy decay; the stiff hard binding is as angular as ever,--there is no abrasion of the leaves, not a single dog-ear or a spot, or even a dust-border on the mellowed white of the margin. so, too, of those quarto civilians and canonists of leyden and amsterdam, with their smooth white vellum coats, bearing so generic a resemblance to dutch cheeses, that they might be supposed to represent the experiments of some gouda dairyman on the quadrature of the circle. an easy life and an established position in society are the secret of their excellent preservation and condition. their repose has been little disturbed by intrusive readers or unceremonious investigators, and their repute for solid learning has given them a claim to attention and careful preservation. it has sometimes happened to me, as it probably has to many another inquisitive person, to penetrate to the heart of one of these solid volumes and find it closed in this wise:--as the binder of a book is himself bound to cut off as little as possible of its white margin, it may take place, if any of the leaves are inaccurately folded, that their edges are not cut, and that, as to such leaves, the book is in the uncut condition so often denounced by impatient readers. so have i sometimes had to open with a paper-cutter the pages which had shut up for two hundred years that knowledge which the ponderous volume, like any solemn holder-forth whom no one listens to, pretended to be distributing abroad from its place of dignity on the shelf. sometimes, also, there will drop out of a heavy folio a little slip of orange-yellow paper covered with some cabalistic-looking characters, which a careful study discovers to be a hint, conveyed in high or low dutch, that the dealer from whom the volume was purchased, about the time of some crisis in the thirty years' war, would be rather gratified than otherwise should the purchaser be pleased to remit to him the price of it. though quartos and folios are dwindling away, like many other conventional distinctions of rank, yet are authors of the present day not entirely divested of the opportunity of taking their place on the shelf like these old dignitaries. it would be as absurd, of course, to appear in folio as to step abroad in the small-clothes and queue of our great-grandfathers' day, and even quarto is reserved for science and some departments of the law. but then, on the other hand, octavos are growing as large as some of the folios of the seventeenth century, and a solid roomy-looking book is still practicable. whoever desires to achieve a sure, though it may be but a humble, niche in the temple of fame, let him write a few solid volumes with respectably sounding titles, and matter that will rather repel the reader than court him to such familiarity as may beget contempt. such books are to the frequenter of a library like country gentlemen's seats to travellers, something to know the name and ownership of in passing. the stage-coachman of old used to proclaim each in succession--the guide-book tells them now. so do literary guide-books in the shape of library-catalogues and bibliographies, tell of these steady and respectable mansions of literature. no one speaks ill of them, or even proclaims his ignorance of their nature, and your "man who knows everything" will profess some familiarity with them, the more readily that the verity of his pretensions is not likely to be tested. a man's name may have resounded for a time through all the newspapers as the gainer of a great victory or the speaker of marvellous speeches--he may have been the most brilliant wit of some distinguished social circle--the head of a great profession--even a leading statesman; yet his memory has utterly evaporated with the departure of his own generation. had he but written one or two of these solid books, now, his name would have been perpetuated in catalogues and bibliographical dictionaries; nay, biographies and encyclopædias would contain their titles, and perhaps the day of the author's birth and death. let those who desire posthumous fame, counting recollection as equivalent to fame, think of this. it is with no desire to further the annihilation or decay of the stout and long-lived class of books of which i have been speaking, that i now draw attention to the book-hunter's services in the preservation of some that are of a more fragile nature, and are liable to droop and decay. we can see the process going on around us, just as we see other things travelling towards extinction. look, for instance, at school-books, how rapidly and obviously they go to ruin. true, there are plenty of them, but save of those preserved in the privileged libraries, or of some that may be tossed aside among lumber in which they happen to remain until they become curiosities, what chance is there of any of them being in existence a century hence? collectors know well the extreme rarity and value of ancient school-books. nor is their value by any means fanciful. the dominie will tell us that they are old-fashioned, and the pedagogue who keeps a school, "and ca's it a acaudemy," will sneer at them as "obsolete and incompatible with the enlightened adjuncts of modern tuition;" but if we are to consider that the condition of the human intellect at any particular juncture is worth studying, it is certainly of importance to know on what food its infancy is fed. and so of children's play-books as well as their work-books; these are as ephemeral as their other toys. retaining dear recollections of some that were the favourites, and desiring to awaken from them old recollections of careless boyhood, or perhaps to try whether your own children inherit the paternal susceptibility to their beauties, you make application to the bookseller--but, behold, they have disappeared from existence as entirely as the rabbits you fed, and the terrier that followed you with his cheery clattering bark. neither name nor description--not the announcement of the benevolent publishers, "darton, harvey, and darton"--can recover the faintest traces of their vestiges.[ ] old cookery-books, almanacs, books of prognostication, directories for agricultural operations, guides to handicrafts, and other works of a practical nature, are infinitely valuable when they refer to remote times, and also infinitely rare. [footnote : i question if toy literature, as it may be called, has received the consideration it deserves, when one remembers how great an influence it must have on the formation of the infant mind. i am not prepared to argue that it should be put under regulation--perhaps it is best that it should be left to the wild luxuriance of nature--but its characteristics and influence are surely worthy of studious observation. it happened to me once to observe in the library of an eminent divine a large heap of that class of works which used to be known as "penny bookies." my reverend friend explained, in relation to them, that they were intended to counteract some pernicious influences at work--that he had made the important and painful discovery that the influence of this class of literature had been noticed and employed by the enemies of the church. in confirmation of this view, he showed me some passages, of which i remember the following:-- "b was a bishop who loved his repose, c was a curate who had a red nose," d was a dean, but how characterised i forget. i did not think, however, that the proposed antidote, in which the mysteries of religion and the specialties of a zealous class in the english church were mixed up with childish prattle, was much more decorous or appropriate than what it was intended to counteract.] but of course the most interesting of all are the relics of pure literature, of poems and plays. whence have arisen all the anxious searches and disappointments, and the bitter contests, and the rare triumphs, about the early editions of shakespeare, separately or collectively, save from this, that they passed from one impatient hand to another, and were subjected to an unceasing greedy perusal, until they were at last used up and put out of existence? true it was to be with him-- "so sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, and yet anon repairs his drooping head, and tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore flames in the forehead of the morning sky." but his tuneful companions who had less vital power have lain like some ancient cemetery or buried city, in which antiquaries have been for a long age digging and searching for some fragment of intellectual treasure. one book, and that the most read of all, was hedged by a sort of divinity which protected it, so far as that was practicable, from the dilapidating effects of use. the bible seems to have been ever touched with reverent gentleness, and, when the sordid effects of long handling had become inevitably conspicuous, to have been generally removed out of sight, and, as it were, decently interred. hence it is that, of the old editions of the bible, the copies are so comparatively numerous and in such fine preservation. look at those two folios from the types of guttenburg and fust, running so far back into the earliest stage of the art of printing, that of them is told the legend of a combination with the devil, which enabled one man to write so many copies identically the same. see how clean and spotless is the paper, and how black, glossy, and distinct the type, telling us how little progress printing has made since the days of its inventors, in anything save the greater rapidity with which, in consequence of the progress of machinery, it can now be executed. the reason of the extreme rarity of the books printed by the early english printers is that, being very amusing, they were used up, thumbed out of existence. such were caxton's book of the ordre of chyualry; his knyght of the toure; the myrour of the world; and the golden legende; cocke lorell's bote, by de worde; his kalender of shepeherdes, and suchlike. if any one feels an interest in the process of exhaustion, by which such treasures were reduced to rarity, he may easily witness it in the _débris_ of a circulating library; and perhaps he will find the phenomenon in still more distinct operation at any book-stall where lie heaps of school-books, odd volumes of novels, and a choice of watts's hymns and pilgrim's progresses. here, too, it is possible that the enlightened onlooker may catch sight of the book-hunter plying his vocation, much after the manner in which, in some ill-regulated town, he may have beheld the _chiffonniers_, at early dawn, rummaging among the cinder heaps for ejected treasures. a ragged morsel is perhaps carefully severed from the heap, wrapped in paper to keep its leaves together, and deposited in the purchaser's pocket. you would probably find it difficult to recognise the fragment, if you should see it in the brilliancy of its resuscitation. a skilled and cautious workman has applied a bituminous solvent to its ragged edges, and literally incorporated, by a sort of paper-making process, each mouldering page into a broad leaf of fine strong paper, in which the print, according to a simile used for such occasions, seems like a small rivulet in a wide meadow of margin. this is termed inlaying, and is a very lofty department in the art of binding. then there is, besides, the grandeur of russia or morocco, with gilding, and tooling, and marbling, and perhaps a ribbon marker, dangling out with a decoration at its end--all tending, like stars, and garters, and official robes, to stamp the outer insignia of importance on the book, and to warn all the world to respect it, and save it from the risks to which the common herd of literature is liable. the french have, as usual, dignified the process which restores diseased books to health and condition by an appropriate technical name--it is bibliuguiancie; and under that title it will be found fitly and appropriately discussed in the dictionnaire de bibliologie of peignot, who specially mentions two practitioners of this kind as having conferred lustre on their profession by their skill and success--vialard and heudier.[ ] [footnote : there is something exceedingly curious, not only in its bearing on the matter of the text, but as a record of some peculiar manners and habits of the fourteenth century, in richard of bury's injunctions as to the proper treatment of the manuscripts which were read in his day, and the signal contrast offered by the practice both of the clergy and laity to his decorous precepts:-- "we not only set before ourselves a service to god in preparing volumes of new books, but we exercise the duties of a holy piety, if we first handle so as not to injure them, then return them to their proper places and commend them to undefiling custody, that they may rejoice in their purity while held in the hand, and repose in security when laid up in their repositories. truly, next to the vestments and vessels dedicated to the body of the lord, holy books deserve to be most decorously handled by the clergy, upon which injury is inflicted as often as they presume to touch them with a dirty hand. wherefore, we hold it expedient to exhort students upon various negligencies which can always be avoided, but which are wonderfully injurious to books. "in the first place, then, let there be a mature decorum in opening and closing of volumes, that they may neither be unclasped with precipitous haste, nor thrown aside after inspection without being duly closed; for it is necessary that a book should be much more carefully preserved than a shoe. but school folks are in general perversely educated, and, if not restrained by the rule of their superiors, are puffed up with infinite absurdities; they act with petulance, swell with presumption, judge of everything with certainty, and are unexperienced in anything. "you will perhaps see a stiff-necked youth, lounging sluggishly in his study, while the frost pinches him in winter time, oppressed with cold, his watery nose drops, nor does he take the trouble to wipe it with his handkerchief till it has moistened the book beneath it with its vile dew. for such a one i would substitute a cobbler's apron in the place of his book. he has a nail like a giant's, perfumed with stinking filth, with which he points out the place of any pleasant subject. he distributes innumerable straws in various places, with the ends in sight, that he may recall by the mark what his memory cannot retain. these straws, which the stomach of the book never digests, and which nobody takes out, at first distend the book from its accustomed closure, and, being carelessly left to oblivion, at last become putrid. he is not ashamed to eat fruit and cheese over an open book, and to transfer his empty cup from side to side upon it; and because he has not his alms-bag at hand, he leaves the rest of the fragments in his books. he never ceases to chatter with eternal garrulity to his companions; and while he adduces a multitude of reasons void of physical meaning, he waters the book, spread out upon his lap, with the sputtering of his saliva. what is worse, he next reclines with his elbows on the book, and by a short study invites a long nap; and by way of repairing the wrinkles, he twists back the margins of the leaves, to the no small detriment of the volume. he goes out in the rain, and now flowers make their appearance upon our soil. then the scholar we are describing, the neglecter rather than the inspector of books, stuffs his volume with firstling violets, roses, and quadrifoils. he will next apply his wet hands, oozing with sweat, to turning over the volumes, then beat the white parchment all over with his dusty gloves, or hunt over the page, line by line, with his forefinger covered with dirty leather. then, as the flea bites, the holy book is thrown aside, which, however, is scarcely closed in a month, and is so swelled with the dust that has fallen into it, that it will not yield to the efforts of the closer. "but impudent boys are to be specially restrained from meddling with books, who, when they are learning to draw the forms of letters, if copies of the most beautiful books are allowed them, begin to become incongruous annotators, and wherever they perceive the broadest margin about the text, they furnish it with a monstrous alphabet, or their unchastened pen immediately presumes to draw any other frivolous thing whatever that occurs to their imagination. there the latinist, there the sophist, there every sort of unlearned scribe tries the goodness of his pen, which we have frequently seen to have been most injurious to the fairest volumes, both as to utility and price. there are also certain thieves who enormously dismember books by cutting off the side margins for letter-paper (leaving only the letters or text), or the fly-leaves put in for the preservation of the book, which they take away for various uses and abuses, which sort of sacrilege ought to be prohibited under a threat of anathema. "but it is altogether befitting the decency of a scholar that washing should without fail precede reading, as often as he returns from his meals to study, before his fingers, besmeared with grease, loosen a clasp or turn over the leaf of a book. let not a crying child admire the drawings in the capital letters, lest he pollute the parchment with his wet fingers, for he instantly touches whatever he sees. "furthermore, laymen, to whom it matters not whether they look at a book turned wrong side upwards or spread before them in its natural order, are altogether unworthy of any communion with books. let the clerk also take order that the dirty scullion, stinking from the pots, do not touch the leaves of books unwashed; but he who enters without spot shall give his services to the precious volumes. "the cleanliness of delicate hands, as if scabs and postules could not be clerical characteristics, might also be most important, as well to books as to scholars, who, as often as they perceive defects in books, should attend to them instantly, for nothing enlarges more quickly than a rent, as a fracture neglected at the time will afterwards be repaired with increased trouble."--philobiblion, p. .] i have recourse to our old friend monkbarns again for a brilliant description of the prowler among the book-stalls, in the performance of the function assigned to him in the dispensation of things,--renewing my already recorded protest against the legitimacy of the commercial part of the transaction:-- "'snuffy davie bought the game of chess, , the first book ever printed in england, from a stall in holland, for about two groschen, or twopence of our money. he sold it to osborne for twenty pounds, and as many books as came to twenty pounds more. osborne resold this inimitable windfall to dr askew for sixty guineas. at dr askew's sale,' continued the old gentleman, kindling as he spoke, 'this inestimable treasure blazed forth in its full value, and was purchased by royalty itself for one hundred and seventy pounds! could a copy now occur, lord only knows,' he ejaculated, with a deep sigh and lifted-up hands,--'lord only knows what would be its ransom!--and yet it was originally secured, by skill and research, for the easy equivalent of twopence sterling. happy, thrice happy, snuffy davie!--and blessed were the times when thy industry could be so rewarded!'" in such manner is it that books are saved from annihilation, and that their preservers become the feeders of the great collections in which, after their value is established, they find refuge; and herein it is that the class to whom our attention is at present devoted perform an inestimable service to literature. it is, as you will observe, the general ambition of the class to find value where there seems to be none, and this develops a certain skill and subtlety, enabling the operator, in the midst of a heap of rubbish, to put his finger on those things which have in them the latent capacity to become valuable and curious. the adept will at once intuitively separate from its friends the book that either is or will become curious. there must be something more than mere rarity to give it this value, although high authorities speak of the paucity of copies as being everything. david clement, the illustrious french bibliographer, who seems to have anticipated the positive philosophy by an attempt to make bibliography, as the germans have named it, one of the exact sciences, lays it down with authority, that "a book which it is difficult to find in the country where it is sought ought to be called simply _rare_; a book which it is difficult to find in any country may be called _very rare_; a book of which there are only fifty or sixty copies existing, or which appears so seldom as if there never had been more at any time than that number of copies, ranks as _extremely rare_; and when the whole number of copies does not exceed ten, this constitutes _excessive rarity_, or rarity in the highest degree." this has been received as a settled doctrine in bibliography; but it is utter pedantry. books may be rare enough in the real or objective sense of the term, but if they are not so in the nominal or subjective sense, by being sought after, their rarity goes for nothing. a volume may be unique--may stand quite alone in the world--but whether it is so, or one of a numerous family, is never known, for no one has ever desired to possess it, and no one ever will. but it is a curious phenomenon in the old-book trade, that rarities do not always remain rare; volumes seeming to multiply through some cryptogamic process, when we know perfectly that no additional copies are printed and thrown off. the fact is, that the rumour of scarcity, and value, and of a hunt after them, draws them from their hiding-places. if we may judge from the esteem in which they were once held, the elzevirs must have been great rarities in this country; but they are now plentiful enough--the heavy prices in the british market having no doubt sucked them out of dingy repositories in germany and holland--so that, even in this department of commerce the law of supply and demand is not entirely abrogated. he who dashes at all the books called rare, or even very rare, by clement and his brethren, will be apt to suffer the keen disappointment of finding that there are many who participate with him in the possession of the same treasures. in fact, let a book but make its appearance in that author's bibliothèque curieuse, historique, et critique, ou catalogue raisonné des livres difficiles à trouver; or in graesses's trésor des livres rares et précieux; or in the dictionnaire bibliographique des livres rares, published by caileau--or let it be mentioned as a rarity in eibert's allgemeines bibliographisches lexicon, or in debure, clement, osmont, or the repertorium bibliographicum,--such proclamation is immediate notice to many fortunate possessors who were no more aware of the value of their dingy-looking volumes than monsieur jourdain knew himself to be in the habitual daily practice of talking prose. so are we brought again back to the conclusion that the true book-hunter must not be a follower of any abstract external rules, but must have an inward sense and literary taste. it is not absolutely that a book is rare, or that it is run after, that must commend it to him, but something in the book itself. hence the relics which he snatches from ruin will have some innate merits to recommend them. they will not be of that unhappy kind which nobody has desired to possess for their own sake, and nobody ever will. something there will be of original genius, or if not that, yet of curious, odd, out-of-the-way information, or of quaintness of imagination, or of characteristics pervading some class of men, whether a literary or a polemical,--something, in short, which people desirous of information will some day or other be anxious to read,--such are the volumes which it is desirable to save from annihilation, that they may find their place at last in some of the great magazines of the world's literary treasures. librarians. it will often be fortunate for these great institutions if they obtain the services of the hunter himself, along with his spoils of the chase. the leaders in the german wars often found it an exceedingly sound policy to subsidise into their own service some captain of free lances, who might have been a curse to all around him. your great game-preservers sometimes know the importance of taking the most notorious poacher in the district into pay as a keeper. so it is sometimes of the nature of the book-hunter, if he be of the genial sort, and free of some of the more vicious peculiarities of his kind, to make an invaluable librarian. such an arrangement will sometimes be found to be like mercy twice blessed,--it blesseth him that gives and him that takes. the imprisoned spirit probably finds freedom at last, and those purchases and accumulations which, to the private purse, were profuse and culpable recklessness, may become veritable duty; while the wary outlook and the vigilant observation, which before were only leading a poor victim into temptation, may come forth as commendable attention and zealous activity. sometimes mistakes have been made in selections on this principle, and a zeal has been embarked which has been found to tend neither to profit nor edification; for there have been known, at the head of public libraries, men of the cerberus kind, who loved the books so dearly as to be unable to endure the handling of them by the vulgar herd of readers and searchers--even by those for whose special aid and service they are employed. they who have this morbid terror of the profanation of the treasures committed to their charge suffer in themselves the direst torments--something like those of a cat beholding her kittens tossed by a dog--whenever their favourites are handled; and the excruciating extent of their agonies, when any ardent and careless student dashes right into the heart of some _editio princeps_ or tall copy, or perhaps lays it open with its face on the table while he snatches another edition that he may collate a passage, is not to be conceived. it is then the dog _worrying_ the kittens. such men will only give satisfaction in great private libraries little disturbed by their proprietors, or in monastic or other corporate institutions, where it is the worthy object of the patrons to keep their collection in fine condition, and, at the same time, to take order that it shall be of the least possible service to education or literature. angelo maï, the great librarian of the vatican, who made so many valuable discoveries himself, had the character of taking good care that no one else should make any within his own strictly preserved hunting grounds. in the general case, however, a bibliophile at the head of a public library is genial and communicative, and has a pleasure in helping the investigator through the labyrinth of its stores. such men feel their strength; and the immense value of the service which they may sometimes perform by a brief hint in the right direction which the inquiry should take, or by handing down a volume, or recommending the best directory to all the learning on the matter in hand, has laid many men of letters under great obligations to them. the most eminent type of this class of men was magliabecchi, librarian to the grand-duke of tuscany, who could direct you to any book in any part of the world, with the precision with which the metropolitan policeman directs you to st paul's or piccadilly. it is of him that the stories are told of answers to inquiries after books, in these terms: "there is but one copy of that book in the world. it is in the grand seignior's library at constantinople, and is the seventh book in the second shelf on the right hand as you go in." his faculties were, like those of all great men, self-born and self-trained. so little was the impoverished soil in which he passed his infancy congenial to his pursuits in after life, that it was not within the parental intentions to teach him to read, and his earliest labours were in the shop of a greengrocer. had his genius run on natural science, he might have fed it here, but it was his felicity and his fortune to be transferred to the shop of a patronising bookseller. here he drank in an education such as no academic forcing machinery could ever infuse. he devoured books, and the printed leaves became as necessary to his existence as the cabbage-leaves to the caterpillars which at times made their not welcome appearance in the abjured greengrocery. like these verdant reptiles, too, he became assimilated to the food he fed on, insomuch that he was in a manner hot-pressed, bound, marble-topped, lettered, and shelved. he could bear nothing but books around him, and would allow no space for aught else; his furniture, according to repute, being limited to two chairs, the second of which was admitted in order that the two together might serve as a bed. another enthusiast of the same kind was adrien baillet, the author, or, more properly speaking, the compiler, of the jugemens des savans. some copies of this book, which has a quantity of valuable matter scattered through it, have baillet's portrait, from which his calm scholarly countenance looks genially forth, with this appropriate motto, "dans une douce solitude, à l'abri du mensonge et de la vanité, j'adoptai la critique, et j'en fis mon étude, pour découvrir la vérité." him, struggling with poverty, aggravated with a thirst for books, did lamoignon the elder place at the head of his library, thus at once pasturing him in clover. when the patron told his friend, hermant, of his desire to find a librarian possessed of certain fabulous qualifications for the duty, his correspondent said, "i will bring the very man to you;" and baillet, a poor, frail, attenuated, diseased scholar, was produced. his kind patron fed him up, so far as a man who could not tear himself from his books, unless when nature became entirely exhausted, could be fed up. the statesman and his librarian were the closest of friends; and on the elder lamoignon's death, the son, still more distinguished, looked up to baillet as a father and instructor. men of this stamp are generally endowed with deep and solid learning. for any one, indeed, to take the command of a great public library, without large accomplishments, especially in the languages, is to put himself in precisely the position where ignorance, superficiality, and quackery are subjected to the most potent test, and are certain of detection. the number of librarians who have united great learning to a love of books, is the best practical answer to all sneers about the two being incompatible. nor, while we count among us such names as panizzi, birch, halkett, naudet, laing, cogswell, jones, pertz, and todd, is the race of learned librarians likely to decay. it will be worth while for the patrons of public libraries, even in appointments to small offices, to have an eye on bookish men for filling them. one librarian differs greatly from another, and on this difference will often depend the entire utility of an institution, and the question whether it is worth keeping it open or closing its door. of this class of workman it may be said quite as aptly as of the poet, that he is born, not made. the usual testimonies to qualification--steadiness, sobriety, civility, intelligence, &c.--may all be up to the mark that will constitute a first-rate book-keeper in the mercantile sense of the term, while they are united in a very dreary and hopeless keeper of books. such a person ought to go to his task with something totally different from the impulses which induce a man to sort dry goods or make up invoices with eminent success. in short, your librarian would need to be in some way touched with the malady which has been the object of these desultory remarks. bibliographies. a passing remark is due to the place and function in literature of those books which act the part of gentleman-usher towards other books, by introducing them to the notice of strangers. the talk about librarians, in fact, brings these naturally before us by the law of association, since the duties of the librarian are congenial to this special department of the literary world, the work of which has indeed been chiefly performed by eminent librarians. the best general name for the class of books which i refer to, is that of bibliographies, given to them by the french. like most other products of human ingenuity, they are varied in their objects and their merits. at the one end of the scale is the leipsic bibliotheca horatiana, ambitious only of commemorating the several editions of horace, or kuster's bibliotheca historica brandenburgica, sacred to the histories of that duchy; while the other extremity aims at universality, an object which has not yet been accomplished, and seems every day fleeing farther off from those who are daring enough to pursue it. in , when the world of literature was rather smaller than it now is, conrade gesner, in his bibliotheca, made the first attempt at a universal bibliography. the incompleteness of the result is confessed in the epitome of the bibliotheca, printed five years afterwards, which professes only to record _nearly_ all the books written since the world began, and yet boasts of adding more than two thousand names of authors to the number mentioned in the original bibliotheca.[ ] [footnote : gesner's is a work in which many curious things may be found, as, for instance the following, which would have gladdened the heart of scott, had it been his fortune to alight on it: "thomas leirmant, vel ersiletonus, natione scotus, edidit rhythmica quædam, et ob id rhythmicus apud anglos cognominatus est. vixit anno ."] of what any list of all the books that have appeared in the world might be, one may form some conception by the effort of dr watt, accomplished nearly fifty years ago. the work is said to have killed him; and no one who turns over the densely printed leaves of his four quartos, can feel surprised at such a result. it is by no means perfect or complete, even as a guide to books in the compiler's native tongue, yet stands in honourable contrast with the failure of several efforts to continue this portion of it down to later days. the voluminous france littéraire of quérard confesses its imperfections even to accomplish its limited object, by professing to devote its special attention to books of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. as to bibliographies of the present century aiming at universality, the allgemeines gelehrten lexicon of jöcher--when accompanied by adelung's supplement, which is its better-half--for scholarship and completeness casts into shade anything produced either in france or here. it is a guide which few people consult without passing a compliment either internally or aloud on the satisfactory result. that it contains an account of every, or nearly every, book is at once contradicted by its bulk, yet it is often remarked that no one appeals to it in vain--a specialty which seems to have arisen from the peculiar capacity of its editors to dive, as it were, into the hearts of those likely to seek their aid. naturally, the most satisfactory of bibliographies are those limited to books of a special class. these are frequent in law and divinity, but are most numerous in history. hence have we such valued guides as lelong, dupin, dufresnoy, and our own dynasty of historical bibliographers, which, including leland, bale, pitts, and tanner, reached its climax in bishop nicholson, whose introduction to the sources of british history, hitherto so valuable, will be superseded for most practical purposes on the completion of mr duffus hardy's descriptive catalogue of materials relating to the history of great britain and ireland. science, though it can boast of the great compilations of haller, and of other sources of reference to its literature, takes less aid from such guides than other departments of intellectual labour, for the obvious reason that, except to the few who are pursuing its history through its dawn and progress, the latest books on any department generally supersede their predecessors. they are, in fact, themselves the guides which show the scientific inquirer his work, not lying like that of the historian and divine in old books, but in existing things and practical experiments. of books intended to show what is to be found in others, an extremely curious history attaches to one, the bibliotheca of photius. it is known of course to all divines, but not necessarily, perhaps, to every other person, that this turbulent and ambitious patriarch, during what he calls his embassy to syria, occupied himself in taking down notes of the contents of theological treatises by his predecessors and contemporaries, with his judgments on their merits. being a man of controversial propensities, he selected for criticism the works of the authors with whom he was at war. ranking himself among the orthodox, he thus collected notes of the works of heterodox writers, and, among these, of several eminent arians; and the rather startling result of his labours is, that a considerable quantity of arian literature has thus been preserved, which, but for the exertions of the man who intended to exterminate it by his censure, would have been entirely lost to the world. there are among bibliographers many highly meritorious leaders through the mysteries of occult literature--as, for instance, those who, like placcius, mylius, barbière, and melzi, have devoted themselves to the discovery and publication of the authorship of anonymous works. their function is, on the whole, a rather cruel one, and suggests that those who betake themselves to it are men of austere character. sometimes, to be sure, it falls to their lot to place the laurel wreath of fame on the deserving brow, but very seldom before the grave has closed over it. the resuscitation of books which have passed unnoticed because they were beyond their age, or failed to touch its sympathies, has been the class of instances in which honour has been thus conferred; and it has seldom fallen to the lot of the living, for the reason that it is the nature of the human being not very resolutely to conceal from an inquiring public those of his actions which receive the approval of his own conscience and taste. in dealing with the living, and often the recently departed, it is the function of this class of investigators to expose the weaknesses and inconsistencies of the wise and great. it is they who have told the world about the youthful jacobitism of the eminent pillar of the constitution; of the early radicalism of the distinguished conservative; of the more than questionable escapades of the popular, yet sedate divine, whose works are the supreme model of decorous piety. in this wise, indeed, the function of the bibliographer of the anonymous much resembles the detective's. like that functionary, he must not let feelings of delicacy or humanity interfere with the relentless execution of his duty, for of those who have achieved eminence as public teachers, all that they have ever told the world is the world's property. whatever mercy may be shown to the history of their private life, cannot be claimed for the sayings which they have made or tried to make public. if they have at other times uttered opinions different from those which have achieved for them fame and eminence, those early utterances are an effective test of the value and sincerity of the later, and were it for this object only, the world is entitled to look at them. this is one of the penalties which can only be escaped by turning aside from the path to eminence.[ ] [footnote : it will be agreeable news to the severely disposed, to know that a wholesale exposure of those british authors who attempt to hide their deeds in darkness is now in progress, the work having been undertaken, as police reports say, by "a thoroughly efficient officer of indomitable activity."] passing from this class of interesting though rather unamiable elucidations, i come to another class of bibliographies, of which it is difficult to speak with patience--those which either profess to tell you how to find the best books to consult on every department of learning, or undertake to point out to you the books which you should select for your library, or for your miscellaneous reading. as to those which profess to be universal mentors, at hand to help you with the best tools for your work, in whichever department of intellectual labour it may happen to be, _they_ break down at once. whoever has set himself to any special line of investigation, cannot open one of those books without discovering its utter worthlessness and incapacity to aid him in his own specialty. as to the other class of bibliographers, who profess to act the guide, philosopher, and friend to the collector and the reader, i cannot imagine anything more offensively audacious than the function they assume. it is an attempt of the pedagogue to assert a jurisdiction over grown intellects, and hence such books naturally develop in flagrant exaggeration the pragmatical priggism which is the pedagogue's characteristic defect. i would except from this condemnation a few bibliographers, who, instead of sitting in the schoolmaster's chair and dictating to you what it is proper that you should read, rather give you a sly hint that they are going a-vagabondising through the byways of literature, and will take you with them if you like. among these i would chiefly be inclined to affect the company of peignot, whose wild and wayward course of reading provides for you something like to a ramble over the mountains with an alpine hunter, the only kind of guide to whom the thorough pedestrian wanderer should give up his freedom. one of peignot's books, called predicatoriana, ou révélations singulières et amusantes sur les prédicateurs, brings one into scenes apt to shock a mind not tolerably hardened by eclectic reading. it is an anonymous publication, but has been traced home by the literary detectives. it may be characterised as a collection of the buffooneries of sermons. a little book enlivened by something like the same spirit, called the scotch presbyterian eloquence, is known among ourselves; and there is an answer to it assailing the episcopal church of scotland, in a tone which decidedly improves on the lesson of sarcasm and malignity taught by the other side. both writers are dishonest in the statements they make and the passages they quote from their adversaries, and both are grotesque and profane. peignot, not being influenced by polemical rancour, is no doubt honest in his quotations, and tells you that the persons who preached the passages quoted by him uttered them in all religious sincerity. yet wide as the christian world stretches beyond our corner of it, by so far does the frenchman's book in grotesqueness and profanity out-shadow the attempts of the scottish polemical combatants. of that highly patrician class of bibliographies which offer their services exclusively to the collectors of rare, curious, and costly books, there are so many notices dotted over this volume, that i shall only stop here to mark the recentness of their appearance in literature. to judge from the title-page, one might trace them as far back as , in john hallervord's bibliotheca curiosa, in which the editor professes to indicate many authors which are very rare and known to few; but this book would give no satisfaction to pure rarity seekers. hallervord takes curious in its old sense, which corresponds in some measure with the present use of the word interesting; and the specialty of the books being known to few, seems to refer to their profundity and the rarity of learning sufficient to sound their depths. nor does the list published a few years later by the london bookseller hartley, though it professes to signalise very rare books, show that nice sense which discriminates game of a high order from the vulgar and useful.[ ] i suspect that before we reach the dawn of this class of literature proper, we must descend at once to the year , distinguished by the simultaneous appearance of clement's bibliothèque curieuse, and freytag's analecta de libris rarioribus.[ ] [footnote : catalogus universalis librorum in omni facultate linguaque insignium et rarissimorum, &c. londini, apud joannem hartley, bibliopolam, exadversum hospitio grayensi, in vico vulgo holborn dicto. mdcxcix.] [footnote : of course the bibliographers prey relentlessly on each other, and bibliographical notices of bibliographies abound. le brun sets aside a department for them, but the most handy reference to them that has come my way is a chronological list in the dictionnaire bibliographique, ou nouveau manuel du libraire, by m. p*****--identified by his brother detectives as m. psaume.] [illustration] [illustration] _part iii.--his club._ clubs in general. an author of the last generation, professing to deal with any branch of human affairs, if he were ambitious of being considered philosophical, required to go at once to the beginning of all things, where, finding man alone in the world, he would describe how the biped set about his own special business, for the supply of his own wants and desires; and then finding that the human being was, by his instincts, not a solitary but a social animal, the ambitious author would proceed in well-balanced sentences to describe how men aggregated themselves into hamlets, villages, towns, cities, counties, parishes, corporations, select vestries, and so on. i find that, without the merit of entertaining any philosophical views, i have followed, unconsciously, the same routine. having discussed the book-hunter as he individually pursues his object, i now propose to look in upon him at his club, and say something about its peculiarities, as the shape in which he takes up the pursuit collectively with others who happen to be like-minded to himself. those who are so very old as to remember the episcopal church of scotland in that brief period of stagnant depression when the repeal of the penal laws had removed from her the lustre of martyrdom, and she had not yet attained the more secular lustre which the zeal of her wealthy votaries has since conferred on her, will be familiar with the name of bishop robert jolly. to the ordinary reader, however, it may be necessary to introduce him more specifically. he was a man of singular purity, devotedness, and learning. if he had no opportunity of attesting the sincerity of his faith by undergoing stripes and bondage for the church of his adoption, he developed in its fulness that unobtrusive self-devotion, not inferior to martyrdom, which dedicates to obscure duties the talent and energy that, in the hands of the selfish and ambitious, would be the sure apparatus of wealth and station. he had no doubt risen to an office of dignity in his own church--he was a bishop. but to understand the position of a scottish bishop in those days, one must figure parson adams, no richer than fielding has described him, yet encumbered by a title ever associated with wealth and dignity, and only calculated, when allied with so much poverty and social humility, to deepen the incongruity of his lot, and throw him more than ever on the mercy of the scorner. the office was indeed conspicuous, not by its dignities or emoluments, but by the extensive opportunities it afforded for self-devotion. one may have noticed his successor of later times giving lustre to newspaper paragraphs as "the lord bishop of moray and ross." it did not fall to the lot of him of whom i write to render his title so flagrantly incongruous. a lordship was not necessary, but it was the principle of his church to require a bishop, and in him she got a bishop. in reality, however, he was the parish clergyman of the small and poor remnant of the episcopal persuasion who inhabited the odoriferous fishing-town of fraserburgh. there he lived a long life of such simplicity and abstinence as the poverty of the poorest of his flock scarcely drove them to. he had one failing to link his life with this nether world--he was a book-hunter. how with his poor income, much of which went to feed the necessities of those still poorer, he should have accomplished anything in a pursuit generally considered expensive, is among other unexplained mysteries. but somehow he managed to scrape together a curious and interesting collection, so that his name became associated with rare books, as well as with rare christian virtues. when it was proposed to establish an institution for reprinting the works of the fathers of the episcopal church in scotland, it was naturally deemed that no more worthy or characteristic name could be attached to it than that of the venerable prelate who, by his learning and virtues, had so long adorned the episcopal chair of moray and ross, and who had shown a special interest in the department of literature to which the institution was to be devoted. hence it came to pass that, through a perfectly natural process, the association for the purpose of reprinting the works of certain old divines was to be ushered into the world by the style and title of the jolly club. there happened to be amongst those concerned, however, certain persons so corrupted with the wisdom of this world, as to apprehend that the miscellaneous public might fail to trace this designation to its true origin, and might indeed totally mistake the nature and object of the institution, attributing to it aims neither consistent with the ascetic life of the departed prelate, nor with the pious and intellectual objects of its founders. the counsels of these worldly-minded persons prevailed. the jolly club was never instituted,--at least, as an association for the reprinting of old books of divinity, though i am not prepared to say that institutions more than one so designed may not exist for other purposes. the object, however, was not entirely abandoned. a body of gentlemen united themselves together under the name of another scottish prelate, whose fate had been more distinguished, if not more fortunate; and the spottiswoode society was established. here, it will be observed, there was a passing to the opposite extreme; and so intense seems to have been the anxiety to escape from all excuse for indecorous jokes or taint of joviality, that the word club, wisely adopted by other bodies of the same kind, was abandoned, and this one called itself a society. to that abandonment of the _medio tutissimus_ has been attributed its early death by those who contemn the taste of those other communities, essentially book clubs, which have taken to the devious course of calling themselves "societies." in fact, all our _societies_, from the broad-brimmed society of friends downwards, have something in them of a homespun, humdrum, plain, flat--not unprofitable, perhaps, but unattractive character. they may be good and useful, but they have no dignity or splendour, and are quite destitute of the strange meteoric power and grandeur which have accompanied the career of _clubs_. societies there are, indeed, which identify themselves through their very nomenclature with misfortune and misery, seeming proudly to proclaim themselves victims to all the saddest ills that flesh is heir to--as, for instance, destitute sick societies, indigent blind societies, deaf and dumb societies, burial societies, and the like. the nomenclature of some of these benevolent institutions seems likely to test the etymological skill of the next generation of learned men. perhaps some ethnological philosopher will devote himself to the special investigation and development of the phenomenon; and if such things are done then in the way in which they are now, the result will appear in something like the following shape:-- "man, as we pursue his destiny from century to century, is still found inevitably to resolve himself into a connected and antithetic series of consecutive cycles. the eighteenth century having been an age of individuative, the nineteenth necessarily became an age of associative or coinonomic development. he, the man--to himself the _ego_, and to others the mere _homo_--ceased to revolve around the centre of gravity of his own personality, and, following the instincts of his adhesive nature, resolved himself into associative community. in this necessary development of their nature all partook, from the congresses of mighty monarchs down to those humbler but not less majestic types of the predominant influence, which, in the expressive language of that age, were recognised as twopenny goes. it is known only to those whose researches have led them through the intricacies of that phase of human progress, how multifarious and varied were the forms in which the inner spirit, objectively at work in mankind, had its external subjective development. not only did associativeness shake the monarch on his throne, and prevail over the counsels of the assembled magnates of the realm, but it was the form in which each shape and quality of humanity, down even to penury and disease, endeavoured to express its instincts; and so the blind and the lame, the deaf and dumb, the sick and poor, made common stock of their privations, and endeavoured by the force of union to convert weakness into strength," &c. when the history of clubs is fully written, let us hope that it will be in another fashion. if it sufficiently abound in details, such a history would be full of marvels, from the vast influences which it would describe as arising from time to time by silent obscure growth out of nothing, as it were. just look at what clubs have been, and have done; a mere enumeration is enough to recall the impression. not to dwell on the institutions which have made pall mall and its neighbourhood a conglomerate of palaces, or on such lighter affairs as "the four-in-hand," which the railways have left behind, or the "alpine," whose members they carry to the field of their enjoyment: there was the mermaid, counting among its members shakespeare, raleigh, beaumont, fletcher, and jonson; then came the king's head; the october; the kit-cat; the beef-steak; the terrible calves head; johnson's club, where he had bozzy, goldie, burke, and reynolds; the poker, where hume, carlyle, ferguson, and adam smith took their claret. in these, with all their varied objects--literary, political, or convivial--the one leading peculiarity was the powerful influence they exercised on the condition of their times. a certain club there was with a simple unassuming name,--differing, by the way, only in three letters from that which would have commemorated the virtues of bishop jolly. the club in question, though nothing in the eye of the country but an easy knot of gentlemen who assembled for their amusement, cast defiance at a sovereign prince, and shook the throne and institutions of the greatest of modern states. but if we want to see the club culminating to its highest pitch of power, we must go across the water and saturate ourselves with the horrors of the jacobin clubs, the breton, and the feuillans. the scenes we will there find stand forth in eternal protest against johnson's genial definition in his dictionary, where he calls a club "an assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions." the structure of the book clubs. there has been an addition, by no means contemptible, to the influence exercised by these institutions on the course of events, in the book clubs, or printing clubs as they are otherwise termed, of the present day. they have within a few years added a department to literature. the collector who has been a member of several may count their fruit by the thousand, all ranging in symmetrical and portly volumes. without interfering either with the author who seeks in his copyrights the reward of his genius and labour, or with the publisher who calculates on a return for his capital, skill, and industry, the book clubs have ministered to literary wants, which these legitimate sources of supply have been unable to meet. i hope no one is capable of reading so far through this book who is so grossly ignorant as not to know that the book clubs are a set of associations for the purpose of printing and distributing among their members certain books, calculated to gratify the peculiar taste which has brought them together and united them into a club. an opportunity may perhaps be presently taken for indulging in some characteristic notices of the several clubs, their members, and their acts and monuments: in the mean time let me say a word on the utilitarian efficiency of this arrangement--on the blank in the order of terrestrial things which the book club was required to fill, and the manner in which it has accomplished its function. there is a class of books of which the production has in this country always been uphill work;--large solid books, more fitted for authors and students than for those termed the reading public at large--books which may hence, in some measure, be termed the raw materials of literature, rather than literature itself. they are eminently valuable; but, since it is to the intellectual manufacturer who is to produce an article of saleable literature that they are valuable, rather than to the general consumer, they do not secure an extensive sale. of this kind of literature the staple materials are old state papers and letters--old chronicles--specimens of poetic, dramatic, and other literature, more valuable as vestiges of the style and customs of their age than for their absolute worth as works of genius--massive volumes of old divinity--disquisitions on obsolete science, and the like. it is curious, by the way, that costly books of this sort seem to succeed better with the french than with us, though we do not generally give that people credit for excelling us in the outlay of money. perhaps it is because they enjoy the british market as well as their own that they are enabled to excel us; but they certainly do so in the publication, through private enterprise, of great costly works, having a sort of national character. the efforts to rival them in this country have been considerable and meritorious, but in many instances signally unfortunate. take, for instance, the noble edition of hollingshed and the other chroniclers, published in quarto volumes by the london trade; the parliamentary history, in thirty-six volumes, each containing about as much reading as gibbon's decline and fall; the state trials; sadler's and thurlow's state papers; the harleian miscellany, and several other ponderous publications of the same kind. all of them are to be had cheap, some at just a percentage above the price of waste paper. when an attempt was made to publish in the english language a really thorough biographical dictionary, an improvement on the french biographie universelle, it stuck in letter a, after the completion of seven dense octavo volumes--an abortive fragment bearing melancholy testimony to what such a work ought to be. publications of this kind have, in several instances, caused great losses to some, while they have brought satisfaction to no one concerned in them. a publisher has just the same distaste as any other ordinary member of the human family to the loss of five or ten thousand pounds in hard cash. then, as touching the purchasers,--no doubt the throwing of a "remnant" on the market may sometimes bring the book into the possession of one who can put it to good use, and would have been unable to purchase it at the original price. but the rich deserve some consideration as well as the poor. it will be hard to find the man so liberal and benevolent that he will joyfully see his neighbour obtain for thirty shillings the precise article for which he has himself paid thirty pounds; nor does there exist the descendant of adam who, whatever he may say or pretend, will take such an antithesis with perfect equanimity. even the fortunate purchasers of portions of "the remnant," or "the broken book," as another pleasant technicality of the trade has it, are not always absolutely happy in their lot. they have been tempted by sheer cheapness to admit some bulky and unwieldy articles into their abodes, and they look askance at the commodity as being rather a sacrifice to mammon than a monument of good taste. it has been the object of the machinery here referred to, to limit the impressions of such works to those who want and can pay for them--an extremely simple object, as all great ones are. there is, however, a minute nicety in the adjustment of the machinery, which was not obvious until it came forth in practice--a nicety without which the whole system falls to pieces. it was to accomplish this nicety that the principle of the club was found to be so well adapted. a club is essentially a body to which more people want admission than can gain it; if it do not manage to preserve this characteristic, it falls to pieces for want of pressure from without, like a cask divested of its hoops. to make the books retain their value, and be an object of desire, it was necessary that the impressions should be slightly within the natural circulation--that there should be rather a larger number desirous of obtaining each volume than the number that could be supplied with it. the club effected this by its own natural action. so long as there were candidates for vacancies and the ballot-box went round, so long were the books printed in demand and valuable to their possessors. if there were or people willing to possess and pay for a certain class of books, the secret of keeping up the pressure from without and the value of the books, was to limit the number of members and participators to . there is nothing noble or disinterested in this. the arrangement has no pretension to either of these qualities; nor, when we come to the great forces which influence the supply and demand of human wants, whether in the higher or the humbler departments, will we find these qualities in force, or indeed any other motive than common selfishness. it is a sufficient vindication of the arrangement that it produced its effect. if there were ten or twenty disappointed candidates, the hundred were possessed of the treasures which none could have obtained but for the restrictive arrangements. scott used to say that the bannatyne club was the only successful joint-stock company he ever invested in--and the remark is the key-note of the motives which kept alive the system that has done so much good to literature. to understand the nature and services of these valuable institutions, it is necessary to keep in view the limits within which alone they can be legitimately worked. they will not serve for the propagation of standard literature--of the books of established reputation, which are always selling. these are merchandise, and must follow the law of trade like other commodities, whether they exist in the form of copyright monopolies, or are open to all speculators. no kind of co-operation will bring the volumes into existence so cheaply as the outlay of trade capital, which is expected to replace itself with a moderate profit after a quick sale. the perfection of this process is seen in the production and sale of that book which is ever the surest of a market--the bible; and when a printer requires the certain and instantaneous return of his outlay, that is the shape in which he is most secure of obtaining it. on the other hand, the clubs will not avail for ushering into the world the books of fresh ambitious authors. that paradise of the geniuses, in which their progeny are to be launched full sail, where they are to encounter no risks, and draw all the profits without discount or percentage, as yet exists only in the imagination. it would not work very satisfactorily to have a committee decreeing the issues, and the remuneration to be paid to each aspirant--ten thousand copies of poppleton's epic, and a cheque for a thousand pounds handed over out of the common stock, to begin with--half the issue, and half the remuneration for the lyrics of astyagus, as a less robust and manful production, but still a pleasant, murmuring, meandering, earnest little dream-book, fresh with the solemn purpose of solitude and silence. no, it must be confessed our authors and men of letters would make sad work of it, if they had the bestowal of the honours and pecuniary rewards of literature in their hands, whether these were administered by an intellectual hierarchy or by a collective democracy. hence the clubs have wisely confined their operations to books which are not the works of their members; and to keep clear of all risk of literary rivalries, they have been almost exclusively devoted to the promulgation of the works of authors long since dead, whether by printing from original manuscripts or from rare printed volumes. it has been pleaded that this machinery might have been rendered influential for the encouragement of living authorship. it has been, for instance, observed, with some plausibility, that he who has the divine fervour of the author in him, will sacrifice all he has to sacrifice--time, toil, and health--so that he can but secure a hearing by the world; and institutions of the nature of the book clubs might afford him this at all events, leaving him to find his way to wealth and honours, if the sources of these are in him. no doubt the history of book-publishing shows how small are the immediate inducements and the well-founded hopes that will set authors in motion, and, indeed, a very large percentage of valueless literature proves that the barriers between the author and the world are not very formidable, or become somehow easily removable. this, in fact, furnishes the answer to the pleading here alluded to; and it may further be safely said, where the book demanding an introduction professes to be a work of genius, addressing itself to all mankind, that if it really be what it professes, the market will get it. no production of the kind is liable to be lost to the world. here it is plaintively argued by philemon, that the rewards of genius are very unequally distributed. who can deny it? nothing is distributed with perfect balance like chemical equivalents in this world, at least so far as mortal faculties are capable of estimating the elements of happiness and unhappiness in the lot of our fellow-men; nor can one imagine that a world, all balanced and squared off to perfection, would be a very tolerable place to live in. genius must take its chance, like all other qualities, and, on the whole, in a civilised country it gets on pretty well. is it not something in itself to possess genius? and is it seemly, or a good example to the uninspired world, that its owner should deem it rather a misfortune than a blessing because he is not also surrounded by plush and shoulder-knots? if all geniuses had a prerogative right to rank and wealth, and all the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, could we be sure that none but genuine geniuses would claim them, and that there would be no margin for disputation with "solemn shams"? milton's fifteen pounds are often referred to by him who finds how hard it is to climb, &c.; but we have no "return," as the blue-books call it, of all the good opportunities afforded to intellects ambitious of arising as meteors but only showing themselves as farthing rush-lights. on the other hand, no doubt, the wide fame and the rich rewards of the popular author are not in every instance an exact measure of his superiority to the disappointed aspirant. his thousand pounds do not furnish incontrovertible evidence that he is a hundred times superior to the drudge who goes over as much work for ten pounds, and there may possibly be some one making nothing who is superior to both. such aberrations are incident to all human affairs; but in those of literature, as in many others, they are exceptional. here, as in other spheres of exertion, merit will in the general case get its own in some shape. indeed, there is a very remarkable economic phenomenon, never, as it occurs to me, fully examined, which renders the superfluous success of the popular author a sort of insurance fund for enabling the obscure adventurer to enter the arena of authorship, and show what he is worth. political economy has taught us that those old bugbears of the statute law called forestallers and regraters are eminent benefactors, in as far as their mercenary instincts enable them to see scarcity from afar, and induce them to "hold on" precisely so long as it lasts but no longer, since, if they have stock remaining on hand when abundance returns, they will be losers. thus, through the regular course of trade, the surplus of the period of abundance is distributed over the period of scarcity with a precision which the genius of a joseph or a turgot could not achieve. the phenomenon in the publishing world to which i have alluded has some resemblance to this, and comes to pass in manner following. the confirmed popular author whose books are sure to sell is an object of competition among publishers. if he is absolutely mercenary, he may stand forth in the public market and commit his works to that one who will take them on the best terms for the author and the worst for himself, like the contractor who gives in the lowest estimate in answer to an advertisement from a public department. neither undertaking holds out such chances of gain as independent speculation may open, and thus there is an inducement to the enterprising publisher to risk his capital on the doubtful progeny of some author unknown to fame, in the hope that it may turn out "a hit." of the number of books deserving a better fate, as also of the still greater number deserving none better than the fate they have got, which have thus been published at a dead loss to the publisher, the annals of bookselling could afford a moving history. when an author has sold his copyright for a comparative trifle, and the book turns out a great success, it is of course matter of regret that he cannot have the cake he has eaten. this is one side of the balance-sheet, and on the other stands the debit account in the author who, through a work which proved a dead loss to its publisher, has made a reputation which has rendered his subsequent books successful, and made himself fashionable and rich. there have been instances where publishers who have bought for little the copyright of a successful book have allowed the author to participate in their gains; and i am inclined to believe that these instances are fully as numerous as those in which an author, owing his reputation and success to a book which did not pay its expenses, has made up the losses of his first publisher. if we go out of the hard market and look at the tendency of sympathies, they are all in the author's favour. publishers, in fact, have, though it is not generally believed, a leaning towards good literature, and a tendency rather to over than to under estimate the reception it may meet with from the world. in considering whether they will take the risk of a new publication, they have no criterion to value it by except its literary merit, for they cannot obtain the votes of the public until they are committed; and, indeed, there have been a good many instances where a publisher, having a faith in some individual author and his star, has pushed and fought a way for him with dogged and determined perseverance, sometimes with a success of which, were all known, he has more of the real merit than the author, who seems to have naturally, without any external aid, taken his position among the eminent and fortunate. there are, at the same time, special disquisitions on matters of science or learning intended for peculiar and limited audiences, which find their way to publicity without the aid of the publisher. for these there is an opening in certain institutions far older than the book clubs, and possessed of a far higher social and intellectual position, since they have the means of conferring titles of dignity on those they adopt into their circle--titles which are worn not by trinkets dangling at the button-hole, but by certain cabalistic letters strung to the name in the directory of the town where the owner lives, or in the numberless biographical dictionaries which are to immortalise the present generation. so the author of an essay, especially in scholarship or science, will, if it be worth anything, find a place for it in the transactions of one or other of the learned societies. it will probably keep company with, if indeed it be not itself one of, a series of papers which appear in the quarto volumes of the learned corporation's transactions, merely because they cannot get into the octavo pages of the higher class of periodicals; but there they are, printed in the face of the world, whose inhabitants at large may worship them if they so please, and their authors cannot complain that they are suppressed. whether the authors of these papers may have been ambitious of their appearance in a wider sphere, or are content with their appearance in "the transactions," it suffices for the present purpose to explain how these volumes are a more suitable receptacle than those printed by the book clubs for essays or disquisitions by men following up their own specialties in literature or science; and if it be the case that some of the essays which appear in the transactions of learned bodies would have gladly entered society under the auspices of some eminent periodical, yet it is proper at the same time to admit that many of the most valuable of these papers, concerning discoveries or inventions which adepts alone can appreciate, could only be satisfactorily published as they have been. and so we find our way back to the proposition, that the book clubs have been judiciously restricted to the promulgation of the works of dead authors. this has not necessarily excluded the literary contributions of living men, in the shape of editing and commenting; and it is really difficult to estimate the quantity of valuable matter which is thus deposited in obscure but still accessible places. a deal of useful work, too, has been done in the way of translation; and where the book to be dealt with is an icelandic saga, a chronicle in saxon, in irish celtic, or even in old norman, one may confess to the weakness of letting the original remain, in some instances, unexamined, and drawing one's information with confiding gratitude from the translation furnished by the learned editor. let me offer one instance of the important service that may be done by affording a vehicle for translations. the late dr francis adams, a village surgeon by profession, was at the same time, from taste and pursuit, a profound greek scholar. he was accustomed to read the old authors on medicine and surgery--a custom too little respected by his profession, of whom it is the characteristic defect to respect too absolutely the standard of the day. as a physician, who is an ornament to his profession and a great scholar, once observed to me, the writings of the old physicians, even if we reject them from science, may be perused with profit to the practitioner as a record of the diagnosis of cases stated by men of acuteness, experience, and accuracy of observation. adams had translated from the greek the works of paul of Ægina, the father of obstetric surgery, and printed the first volume. it was totally unnoticed, for in fact there were no means by which the village surgeon could get it brought under the notice of the scattered members of his profession who desired to possess such a book. the remainder of his labours would have been lost to the world had it not been taken off his hands by the sydenham club, established for the purpose of reprinting the works of the ancient physicians. the roxburghe club. great institutions and small institutions have each individually had a beginning, though it cannot always be discovered, distance often obscuring it before it has been thought worth looking after. there is an ingenious theory abroad, to the effect that every physical impulse, be it but a wave of a human hand, and that every intellectual impulse, whether it pass through the mind of a newton or a brickmaker, goes, with whatever strength it may possess, into a common store of dynamic influences, and tells with some operative power, however imperceptible and infinitesimal, upon all subsequent events, great or small, so that everything tells on everything, and there is no one specific cause, primary or secondary, that can be assigned to any particular event. it may be so objectively, as the transcendentalists say, but to common apprehensions there are specific facts which are to them emphatic as beginnings, such as the day when any man destined for leadership in great political events was born, or that whereon the cape of good hope was doubled, or america was discovered. the beginning of the book clubs is marked by a like distinctness, both in date and circumstance. the institution did not spring in full maturity and equipment, like pallas from the brain of jove; it was started by a casual impulse, and remained long insignificant; but its origin and early progress are as distinctly and specifically its own, as the birth and infancy of any hero or statesman are his. it is to the garrulity of dibdin writing before there was any prospect that this class of institutions would reach their subsequent importance and usefulness, that we owe many minute items of detail about the cradle of the new system. we first slip in upon a small dinner-party, on the th of june in the year , at the table of "hortensius." the day was one naturally devoted to hospitality, being the birthday of the reigning monarch, george iii.; but this the historian passes unnoticed, the object of all-absorbing interest being the great conflict of the roxburghe book-sale, then raging through its forty-and-one days. of hortensius it is needless to know more than that he was a distinguished lawyer, and had a fine library, which having described, dibdin passes on thus to matters of more immediate importance: "nor is the hospitality of the owner of these treasures of a less quality and calibre than his taste; for hortensius regaleth liberally--and as the 'night and day champagnes' (so he is pleased humorously to call them) sparkle upon his gottingen-manufactured table-cloth, 'the master of the revels,' or (to borrow the phraseology of pynson) of the 'feste royalle,' discourseth lustily and loudly upon the charms--not of a full-curled or full-bottomed 'king's bench' periwig--but of a full-margined bartholomæus or barclay like his own."[ ] [footnote : bibliographical decameron, vol. iii. p. .] after some forty pages of this sort of matter, we get another little peep at this momentous dinner-party. "on the clearance of the gottingen-manufactured table-cloth, the roxburghe battle formed the subject of discussion, when i proposed that we should not only be all present, if possible, on the day of the sale of the boccaccio, but that we should meet at some 'fair tavern' to commemorate the sale thereof." they met accordingly on the th of june, some eighteen in number, "at the st albans tavern, st albans street, now waterloo place." surely the place was symbolical, since on the th of june, two years afterwards, the battle of waterloo was fought; and as the importance attributed to the contest at roxburghe house on the th procured for it afterwards the name of the waterloo of book-battles, it came to pass that there were two waterloo commemorations treading closely one on the other's heels. the pecuniary stake at issue, and the consequent excitement when the valdarfer boccaccio was knocked off, so far exceeded all anticipation, that at the festive board a motion was made and carried by acclamation, for meeting on the same day and in the same manner annually. and so the roxburghe club, the parent of all the book clubs, came into existence. it must be admitted that its origin bears a curious generic resemblance to some scenes which produce less elevating results. on the day of some momentous race or cock-fight, a parcel of sporting devotees, "regular bricks," perhaps, agree to celebrate the occasion in a tavern, and when the hilarity of the evening is at its climax, some festive orator, whose enthusiasm has raised him to the table, suggests, amidst loud hurrahs and tremendous table-rapping, that the casual meeting should be converted into an annual festival, to celebrate the event which has brought them together. at such an assemblage, the list of toasts will probably include eclipse, cotherstone, mameluke, plenipo, the flying dutchman, and other illustrious quadrupeds, along with certain bipeds, distinguished in the second degree as breeders, trainers, and riders, and may perhaps culminate in "the turf and the stud all over the world." with a like appropriate reference to the common bond of sympathy, the roxburghe toasts included the uncouth names of certain primitive printers, as valdarfer himself, pannartz, fust, and schoeffher, terminating in "the cause of bibliomania all over the world."[ ] [footnote : as of other influential documents, there have been various versions of the roxburghe list of toasts, and a corresponding amount of critical discussion, which leaves the impression common to such disputes, that this important manifesto was altered and enlarged from time to time. the version which bears the strongest marks of completeness and authenticity, was found among the papers of mr hazlewood, of whom hereafter. it is here set down as nearly in its original shape as the printer can give it:-- the order of y^e tostes. the immortal memory of john duke of roxburghe. christopher valdarfer, printer of the decameron of . gutemberg, fust, and schoeffher, the inventors of the art of printing. william caxton, the father of the british press. dame juliana berners, and the st albans press. wynkyn de worde, and richard pynson, the illustrious successors of william caxton. the aldine family, at venice. the giunta family, at florence. the society of the bibliophiles at paris. the prosperity of the roxburghe club. the cause of bibliomania all over the world. it will be seen that this accomplished black-letterer must have been under a common delusion, that our ancestors not only wrote but pronounced the definite article "the" as "ye." every blunderer ambitious of success in fabricating old writings is sure to have recourse to this trick, which serves for his immediate detection. the gothic alphabet, in fact, as used in this country, had a theta for expressing in one letter our present t and h conjoined. when it was abandoned, some printers substituted for it the letter y as most nearly resembling it in shape, hence the "ye" which occurs sometimes in old books, but much more frequently in modern imitations of them. the primitive roxburgheians used to sport these toasts as a symbol of knowingness and high caste in book-hunting freemasonry. their representative man happening, in a tour in the highlands, to open his refreshment wallet on the top of ben lomond, pledged his guide in the potent _vin du pays_ to christopher valdarfer, john gutemberg, and the others. the celt had no objection in the world to pledge successive glasses to these names, which he had no doubt belonged "to fery respectaple persons," probably to the chief landed gentry of his entertainer's neighbourhood. but the best glenlivet would not induce him to pledge "the cause of bibliomania all over the world," being unable to foresee what influence the utterance of words so unusual and so suspiciously savouring of demonology might exercise over his future destiny.] the club thus abruptly formed, consisted of affluent collectors, some of them noble, with a sprinkling of zealous practical men, who assisted them in their great purchases, while doing minor strokes of business for themselves. these, who in some measure fed on the crumbs that fell from the master's table, were in a position rather too closely resembling the professionals in a hunt or cricket club. the circle was a very exclusive one, however; the number limited to thirty-one members, "one black ball excluding;" and it used to be remarked, that it was easier to get into the peerage or the privy council than into "the roxburghe." nothing has done so much to secure the potent influence of clubs as the profound secrecy in which their internal or domestic transactions have generally been buried. the great safeguard of this secrecy will be found in that rigid rule of our social code which prohibits every gentleman from making public the affairs of the private circle; and if from lack of discretion, as it is sometimes gently termed, this law is supposed to have a lax hold on any one, he is picked off by the "one," "two," "three black balls." it is singular that a club so small and exclusive as the roxburghe should have proved an exception to the rule of secrecy, and that the world has been favoured with revelations of its doings which have made it the object of more amusement than reverence. in fact, through failure of proper use of the black ball, it got possession of a black sheep, in the person of a certain joseph hazlewood. he had achieved a sort of reputation in the book-hunting community by discovering the hidden author of drunken barnaby's journal. in reality, however, he was a sort of literary jack brag. as that amusing creation of theodore hook's practical imagination mustered himself with sporting gentlemen through his command over the technicalities or slang of the kennel and the turf, so did hazlewood sit at the board with scholars and aristocratic book-collectors through a free use of their technical phraseology. in either case, if the indulgence in these terms descended into a motley grotesqueness, it was excused as excessive fervour carrying the enthusiast off his feet. when hazlewood's treasures--for he was a collector in his way--were brought to the hammer, the scraps and odds and ends it contained were found classified in groups under such headings as these--garlands of gravity, poverty's pot pourri, wallat of wit, beggar's balderdash, octagonal olio, zany's zodiac, noddy's nuncheon, mumper's medley, quaffing quavers to quip queristers, tramper's twattle, or treasure and tinsel from the tewksbury tank, and the like. he edited reprints of some rare books--that is to say, he saw them accurately reprinted letter by letter. of these one has a name which--risking due castigation if i betray gross ignorance by the supposition--i think he must certainly have himself bestowed on it, as it excels the most outrageous pranks of the alliterative age. it is called, "green-room gossip; or, gravity gallinipt; a gallimaufry got up to guile gymnastical and gyneocratic governments; gathered and garnished by gridiron gabble, gent., godson to mother goose." the name of joseph hazlewood sounds well; it is gentleman-like, and its owner might have passed it into such friendly commemoration as that of bliss, cracherode, heber, sykes, utterson, townley, markland, hawtrey, and others generally understood to be gentlemen, and, in virtue of their bookish propensities, scholars. he might even, for the sake of his reprints, have been thought an "able editor," had it not been for his unfortunate efforts to chronicle the doings of the club he had got into.[ ] his history, in manuscript, was sold with his other treasures after his death, and was purchased by the proprietor of the athenæum, where fragments of it were printed some fifteen years ago, along with editorial comments, greatly to the amusement, if not to the edification, of the public. [footnote : a voice from the other side of the atlantic reveals the portentous nature of the machinery with which mr hazlewood conducted his editorial labours. the following is taken from the book on the private libraries of new york, already so freely quoted:-- "a unique book of unusual interest to the bibliophile in this department is the copy of ancient and critical essays upon english poets and poesy, edited by joseph hazlewood, vols. to, london, . this is hazlewood's own copy, and it is enriched and decorated by him in the most extravagant style of the bibliomaniac school in which he held so eminent a position. it is illustrated throughout with portraits, some of which are very rare; it contains all the letters which the editor received in relation to it from the eminent literary antiquarians of his day; and not only these, but all the collations and memoranda of any consequence which were made for him during its progress, frequently by men of literary distinction. to these are added all the announcements of the work, together with the impressions of twelve cancelled pages, printed four in one form and eight in another, apparently by way of experiment, with other cancelled matter; tracings of the facsimile woodcuts of the title to puttenham's arte of english poesie, with a proof of it on india paper, and three impressions of this title, one all in black, one with the letter in black and the device in red, and the third _vice versâ_; tracings for, and proofs of, other woodcuts; an impression of a leaf printed to be put into a single copy of the work, &c. &c.; for we must stop, although we have but indicated the nature rather than the quantity of the matter, all of it unique, which gives this book its peculiar value. but it should be remarked besides, that the editorial part of the work is interleaved for the purpose of receiving mr hazlewood's explanations and corrections, and those that he received from literary friends, which alone would give this copy a singular interest. it is bound by clarke in maroon morocco."] in these revelations we find how long a probation the system of book clubs had to pass through, before it shook off the convivial propensities which continued to cluster round the normal notion of a club, and reached the dry asceticism and attention to the duties of printing and editing, by which the greater number of book clubs are distinguished. it was at first a very large allowance of sack to the proportion of literary food, and it was sarcastically remarked that the club had spent a full thousand pounds in guzzling before it had produced a single valuable volume. we have some of the bills of fare at the "roxburghe revels," as they were called. in one, for instance, there may be counted, in the first course, turtle cooked five different ways, along with turbot, john dory, tendrons of lamb, souchée of haddock, ham, chartreuse, and boiled chickens. the bill amounted to £ , s. a-head; or, as hazlewood expresses it, "according to the long-established principles of 'maysterre cockerre,' each person had £ , s. to pay." some illustrious strangers appear to have been occasionally invited to attend the symposium. if the luxurious table spread for them may have occasioned them some surprise, they must have experienced still more in the tenor of the invitation to be present, which, coming in the name of certain "lions of literature," as their historian and the author of the invitation calls them, was expressed in these terms--"the honour of your company is requested to dine with the roxburghe dinner, on wednesday the th instant." one might be tempted to offer the reader a fuller specimen of the historian's style; but unfortunately its characteristics, grotesque as they are, cannot be exemplified in their full breadth without being also given at full length. the accounts of the several dinners read like photographs of a mind wandering in the mazes of indigestion-begotten nightmare.[ ] [footnote : it is but fair, however, to a reputation which was considerable within its own special circle, to let the reader judge for himself; so, if he think the opportunity worth the trouble of wading through small print, he may read the following specimen of mr hazlewood's style. he would certainly himself not have objected to its being taken as a criterion of the whole, since he was evidently proud of it. "consider, in the bird's-eye view of the banquet, the trencher cuts, foh! nankeen displays: as intersticed with many a brilliant drop to friendly beck and clubbish hail, to moisten the viands or cool the incipient cayenne. no unfamished livery-man would desire better dishes, or high-tasted courtier better wines. with men that meet to commune, that can converse, and each willing to give and receive information, more could not be wanting to promote well-tempered conviviality--a social compound of mirth, wit, and wisdom; combining all that anacreon was famed for, tempered with the reason of demosthenes, and intersected with the archness of scaliger. it is true we had not any greek verses in praise of the grape; but we had, as a tolerable substitute, the ballad of the 'bishop of hereford and robin hood,' sung by mr dodd, and it was of his own composing. it is true, we had not any long oration denouncing the absentees, the cabinet council, or any other set of men; but there was not a man present that at one hour and seventeen minutes after the cloth was removed but could have made a demosthenic speech far superior to any record of antiquity. it is true, no trace of wit is going to be here preserved, for the flashes were too general, and what is the critical sagacity of a scaliger compared to our chairman? ancients believe it! we were not dead drunk, and therefore lie quiet under the table for once, and let a few moderns be uppermost." the following chronicle of the third dinner and second anniversary records an interesting little personal incident:-- "after lord spencer left the chair, it was taken, i believe, by mr heber, who kept it up to a late hour,--mr dodd very volatile and somewhat singular, at the same time quite novel, in amusing the company with robin hood ditties and similar productions. i give this on after report, having left the room very early from severe attack of sickness, which appeared to originate in some vile compound partook of at dinner."] when dibdin protested against the publication of this record, he described it a great deal too attractively when he called it "the concoction of one in his gayer and unsuspecting moments--the repository of private confidential communications--a mere memorandum-book of what had passed at convivial meetings, and in which 'winged words' and flying notes of merry gentlemen and friends were obviously incorporated." no! certainly wings and flying are not the ideas that naturally associate with the historian of the roxburghe, although, in one instance, the dinner is sketched off in the following epigrammatic sentence, which startles the reader like a plover starting up in a dreary moor: "twenty-one members met joyfully, dined comfortably, challenged eagerly, tippled prettily, divided regretfully, and paid the bill most cheerfully." on another occasion the historian's enthusiasm was too expansive to be confined to plain prose, and he inflated it in lyric verse:-- "brave was the banquet, the red red juice, hilarity's gift sublime, invoking the heart to kindred use, and bright'ning halo of time." this, and a quantity of additional matter of like kind, was good fun to the scorners, and, whether any of the unskilful laughed at it, scarcely made even the judicious grieve, for they thought that those who had embarked in such pompous follies deserved the lash unconsciously administered to them in his blunders by an unhappy member of their own order. in fact, however, this was the youthful giant sowing his wild oats. along with them there lay also, unseen at first, the seed of good fruit. of these, was a resolution adopted at the second meeting, and thus set forth by the historian in his own peculiar style: "it was proposed and concluded for each member of the club to reprint a scarce piece of ancient lore to be given to the members, one copy to be on vellum for the chairman, and only as many copies as members." the earliest productions following on this resolution were on a very minute scale. one member, stimulated to distinguish himself by "a merry conceited jest," reprinted a french morsel called "la contenance de la table," and had it disposed of in such wise, that as each guest opened his napkin expecting to find a dinner-roll, he disclosed the typographical treasure. it stands no. on the list of roxburghe books, and is probably worth an enormous sum. the same enthusiast reprinted in a more formal manner a rarity called "news from scotland, declaring the damnable life of dr fian, a notable sorcerer," &c. this same morsel was afterwards reprinted for another club, in a shape calculated almost to create a contemptuous contrast between the infantine efforts of the roxburghe and the manly labours of its robust followers. it is inserted as what the french call a _pièce justificative_ in pitcairn's criminal trials, edited for the bannatyne, and there occupies ten of the more than pages which make up that solid book. it was not until the year that a step was taken by the roxburghe club which might be called its first exhibition of sober manhood. some of the members, ashamed of the paltry nature of the volumes circulated in the name of the club, bethought themselves of uniting to produce a book of national value. they took sir frederick madden into their counsels, and authorised him to print eighty copies of the old metrical romance of havelok the dane. this gave great dissatisfaction to the historian, who muttered how "a ms. not discovered by a member of the club was selected, and an excerpt obtained, not furnished by the industry or under the inspection of any one member, nor edited by a member; but, in fact, after much _pro_ and _con._, it was made a complete hireling concern, truly at the expense of the club, from the copying to the publishing." the value of this book has been attested by the extensive critical examination it has received, and by the serviceable aid it has given to all recent writers on the infancy of english literature. it was followed by another interesting old romance, william and the wer wolf, valuable not only as a specimen of early literature, but for the light it throws on the strange wild superstition dealing with the conversion of men into wolves, which has been found so widely prevalent that it has received a sort of scientific title in the word lycanthropy. these two books made the reputation of the roxburghe, and proved an example and encouragement to the clubs which began to arise more or less on its model. it was a healthy protest against the dibdinism which had ruled the destinies of the club, for dibdin had been its master, and was the gamaliel at whose feet hazlewood and others patiently sat. of the term now used, the best explanation i can give is this, that in the selection of books--other questions, such as rarity or condition, being set aside or equally balanced--a general preference is to be given to those which are the most witless, preposterous, and in every literary sense valueless--which are, in short, rubbish. what is here meant will be easily felt by any one who chooses to consult the book which dibdin issued under the title of "the library companion, or the young man's guide and the old man's comfort in the choice of a library." this, it will be observed, is not intended as a manual of rare or curious, or in any way peculiar books, but as the instruction of a nestor on the best books for study and use in all departments of literature. yet one will look in vain there for such names as montaigne, shaftesbury, benjamin franklin, d'alembert, turgot, adam smith, malebranche, lessing, goethe, schiller, fénelon, burke, kant, richter, spinoza, flechier, and many others. characteristically enough, if you turn up rousseau in the index, you will find jean baptiste, but not jean jacques. you will search in vain for dr thomas reid, the metaphysician, but will readily find isaac reed, the editor. if you look for molinæus or du moulin, it is not there, but alphabetic vicinity gives you the good fortune to become acquainted with "moule, mr, his bibliotheca heraldica." the name hooker will be found, not to guide the reader to the ecclesiastical polity, but to dr jackson hooker's tour in iceland. lastly, if any one shall search for hartley on man, he will find in the place it might occupy, or has reference to, the editorial services of "hazlewood, mr joseph." though the roxburghe, when it came under the fostering care of the scholarly botfield, and secured the services of men like madden, wright, and taylor, outgrew the pedantries in which it had been reared, and performed much valuable literary work, yet its chief merit is in the hints its practice afforded to others. the leading principle, indeed, which the other clubs so largely adopted after the example of the roxburghe, was not an entire novelty. the idea of keeping up the value of a book by limiting the impression, so as to restrain it within the number who might desire to possess it, was known before the birth of this the oldest book club. the practice was sedulously followed by hearne the antiquary, and others, who provided old chronicles and books of the class chiefly esteemed by the book-hunter. the very fame of the restricted number, operating on the selfish jealousy of man's nature, brought out competitors for the possession of the book, who never would have thought of it but for the pleasant idea of keeping it out of the hands of some one else. there are several instances on record of an unknown book lying in the printer's warerooms, dead from birth and forgotten, having life and importance given to it by the report that all the copies, save a few, have been destroyed by a fire in the premises. this is an illustration in the sibylline direction of value being conferred by the decrease of the commodity; but by judiciously adjusting the number of copies printed, the remarkable phenomenon has been exhibited of the rarity of a book being increased by an increase in the number of copies. to understand how this may come to pass, it is necessary to recall the precept elsewhere set forth, and look on rarity as not an absolute quality, but as relative to the number who desire to possess the article. ten copies which two hundred people want constitute a rarer book than two copies which twenty people want. even to a sole remaining copy of some forgotten book, lying dead, as it were, and buried in some obscure library, may collective vital rarity be imparted. let its owner print, say, twenty copies for distribution--the book-hunting community have got the "hark-away," and are off after it. in this way, before the days of the clubs, many knowing people multiplied rarities; and at the present day there are reprints by the clubs themselves of much greater pecuniary value than the rare books from which they have been multiplied. some book-club men. no one probably did more to raise the condition of the book clubs than sir walter scott. in the roxburghe made proffers of membership to him, partly, it would seem, under the influence of a waggish desire to disturb his great secret, which had not yet been revealed. dibdin, weighting himself with more than his usual burden of ponderous jocularity, set himself in motion to intimate to scott the desire of the club that the author of waverley, with whom it was supposed that he had the means of communicating, would accept of the seat at the club vacated by the death of sir mark sykes. scott got through the affair ingeniously with a little coy fencing that deceived no one, and was finally accepted as the author of waverley's representative. the roxburghe had, however, at that time, done nothing in serious book-club business, having let loose only the small flight of flimsy sheets of letterpress already referred to. it was scott's own favourite club, the bannatyne, that first projected the plan of printing substantial and valuable volumes. at the commencement of the same year, , when he took his seat at the roxburghe (he did not take his bottle there, which was the more important object, for some time after), he wrote to the late robert pitcairn, the editor of the criminal trials, in these terms: "i have long thought that a something of a bibliomaniacal society might be formed here, for the prosecution of the important task of publishing _dilettante_ editions of our national literary curiosities. several persons of rank, i believe, would willingly become members, and there are enough of good operatives. what would you think of such an association? david laing was ever keen for it; but the death of sir alexander boswell and of alexander oswald has damped his zeal. i think, if a good plan were formed, and a certain number of members chosen, the thing would still do well."[ ] [footnote : notices of the bannatyne club, privately printed.] scott gave the bannatyners a song for their festivities. it goes to the tune of "one bottle more," and is a wonderful illustration of his versatile powers, in the admirable bibulous sort of joviality which he distils, as it were, from the very dust of musty volumes, thus:-- "john pinkerton next, and i'm truly concerned i can't call that worthy so candid as learned; he railed at the plaid, and blasphemed the claymore, and set scots by the ears in his one volume more. one volume more, my friends, one volume more-- celt and goth shall be pleased with one volume more. as bitter as gall, and as sharp as a razor, and feeding on herbs as a nebuchadnezzar, his diet too acid, his temper too sour, little ritson came out with his two volumes more. but one volume, my friends, one volume more-- we'll dine on roast beef, and print one volume more." i am tempted to add a word or two of prosaic gossip and comment to the characteristics thus so happily hit off in verse. john pinkerton was, upon the whole, a man of simple character. the simplicity consisted in the thorough belief that never, in any country or at any period of the world's history, had there been created a human being destined to be endowed with even an approach to the genius, wisdom, and learning of which he was himself possessed. he never said a word in praise of any fellow-being, for none had ever risen so much above the wretched level of the stupid world he looked down upon as to deserve such a distinction. he condescended, however, to distribute censure, and that with considerable liberality. for instance, take his condensed notice of an unfortunate worker in his own field, walter goodal, whose works are "fraught with furious railing, contemptible scurrility, low prejudice, small reading, and vulgar error." thus having dealt with an unfortunate and rather obscure author, he shows his impartiality by dealing with macpherson, then in the zenith of his fame, in this wise: "his etymological nonsense he assists with gross falsehoods, and pretends to skill in the celtic without quoting one single ms. in short, he deals wholly in assertion and opinion, and it is clear that he had not even an idea what learning and science are." nor less emphatic is his railing at the plaid and blaspheming at the claymore. donald and his brethren are thus described: "being mere savages, but one degree above brutes, they remain still in much the same state of society as in the days of julius cæsar; and he who travels among the scottish highlanders, the old welsh, or wild irish, may see at once the ancient and modern state of women among the celts, when he beholds these savages stretched in their huts, and their poor women toiling like beasts of burden for their unmanly husbands;" and finally, "being absolute savages, and, like indians and negroes, will ever continue so, all we can do is to plant colonies among them, and by this, and encouraging their emigration, try to get rid of the breed." this fervency is all along of the question whether the picts, or piks, as pinkerton chooses to call them, were celts or goths. if we turn to the books of his opponent on this question, joseph ritson, we find him paid back in his own coin, and that so genuine, that, on reading about gross ignorance, falsehood, and folly, one would think he was still enjoying pinkerton's own flowers of eloquence, were it not that the tenor of the argument has somehow turned to the opposite side. i drop into the note below a specimen from the last words of this controversy, as characteristic of the way in which it was conducted, and a sample of the kind of dry fuel which, when ignited by these incendiaries, blazed into so much rage.[ ] [footnote : "see pinkerton's enquiry, i. , &c., . he explains the _vecturiones_ of marcellinus, '_vectveriar_, or _pikish_ men, as,' he untruly says, 'the icelandic writers call them in their norwegian seats _vik-veriar_,' and, either ignorantly or dishonestly to countenance this most false and absurd hypothesis, corrupts the pihtas of the saxons into pihtar, a termination impossible to their language. it is true, indeed, that he has stumbled upon a passage in rudbeck's atlantica, i. , in which that very fanciful and extravagant writer speaks of the _packar_, _baggar_, _paikstar_, _baggeboar_, _pitar_, and _medel pakcar_, whom he pretends '_britanni_ vero _peiktar_ appellant, et _peictonum_ tam eorum qui in galliis quam in britannia resident genitores faciunt.' he finds these pacti also in the argonauticks, v. ; and his whole work seems the composition of a man whom 'much learning hath made mad.'"--ritson's annals of the caledonians, &c., i. .] ritson was a man endowed with almost superhuman irritability of temper, and he had a genius fertile in devising means of giving scope to its restless energies. i have heard that it was one of his obstinate fancies, when addressing a letter to a friend of the male sex, instead of using the ordinary prefix of mr or the affix esq., to use the term "master," as master john pinkerton, master george chalmers. the agreeable result of this was, that his communications on intricate and irritating antiquarian disputes were delivered to, and perused by, the young gentlemen of the family, so opening up new little intricate avenues, fertile in controversy and misunderstanding. but he had another and more inexhaustible resource for his superabundant irritability. in his numerous books he insisted on adopting a peculiar spelling. it was not phonetic, nor was it etymological; it was simply ritsonian. to understand the efficacy of this arrangement, it must be remembered that the instinct of a printer is to spell according to rule, and that every deviation from the ordinary method can only be carried out by a special contest over each word. general instructions on such a matter are apt to produce unexpected results. one very sad instance i can now recall; it was that of a french author who, in a new edition of his works, desired to alter the old-fashioned spelling of the imperfect tense from o to a. to save himself trouble, on the first instance occurring in each proof, he put in the margin a general direction to change all such o's into a's. the instruction was so literally and comprehensively obeyed, that, happening to glance his eye over the volume on its completion, he found the letter o entirely excluded from it. even the sacred name of napoleon was irreverently printed napalean, and the revolution was the revalutian. ritson had far too sharp a scent for any little matter of controversy and irritating discussion to get into a difficulty like this. he would fight each step of the way, and such peculiarities as the following, profusely scattered over his books, may be looked upon as the names of so many battles or skirmishes with his printers--_compileër_, _writeër_, _wel_, _kil_, _onely_, _probablely_. even when he condescended to use the spelling common to the rest of the nation, he could pick out little causes of quarrel with the way of putting it in type--as, for instance, in using the word ass, which came naturally to him, he would not follow the practice of his day in the use of the long and short ([s]s), but inverted the arrangement thus, s[s]. this strange creature exemplified the opinion that every one must have some creed--something from without having an influence over thought and action stronger than the imperfect apparatus of human reason. scornfully disdaining revelation from above, he groped below, and found for himself a little fetish made of turnips and cabbages. he was as fanatical a devotee of vegetarianism as others have been of a middle state or adult baptism; and, after having torn through a life of spiteful controversy with his fellow-men, and ribaldry of all sacred things, he thus expressed the one weight hanging on his conscience, that "on one occasion, when temptéed by wet, cold, and hunger in the south of scotland, he ventured to eat a few potatoes dressed under the roast, nothing less repugnant to feelings being to be had."[ ] [footnote : see an essay on abstinence from animal food as a moral duty. by joseph ritson.] to return to the services of him of mightier renown, whose genial drolleries led to these notices. scott printed, as a contribution to his favourite club, the record of the trial of two highlanders for murder, which brought forth some highly characteristic incidents. the victim was a certain sergeant davis, who had charge of one of the military parties or guards dispersed over the highlands to keep them in order after the ' . davis had gone from his own post at braemar up glen clunie to meet the guard from glenshee. he chose to send his men back and take a day's shooting among the wild mountains at the head of the glen, and was seen no more. how he was disposed of could easily be divined in a general way, but there were no particulars to be had. it happened, however, that there was one highlander who, for reasons best known to himself--they were never got at--had come to the resolution of bringing his brother highlanders, who had made away with the sergeant, to justice. it was necessary for his own safety, however, that he should be under the pressure of a motive or impulse sufficient to justify so heartless and unnatural a proceeding, otherwise he would himself have been likely to follow the sergeant's fate. any reference to his conscience, the love of justice, respect for the laws of the land, or the like, would of course have been received with well-merited ridicule and scorn. he must have some motive which a sensible highlander could admit as probable in itself, and sufficient for its purpose. accordingly the accuser said he had been visited by the sergeant's ghost, who had told him everything, and laid on him the heavy burden of bringing his slaughterers in the flesh to their account. if that were not done, the troubled spirit would not cease to walk the earth, and so long as he walked would the afflicted denouncer continue to be the victim of his ghostly visits. the case was tried at edinburgh, and though the evidence was otherwise clear and complete, the lowland jury were perplexed and put out by the supernatural episode. a highland story, with a ghost acting witness at second-hand, roused all their saxon prejudices, and they cut the knot of difficulties by declining to convict. a point was supposed to have been made, when the counsel for the defence asked the ghost-seer what language the ghost, who was english when in the flesh, spoke to the highlander, who knew not that language; and the witness answered, through his interpreter, that the spectre spoke as good gaelic as ever was heard in lochaber. sir walter scott, however, remarks that there was no incongruity in this, if we once get over the first step of the ghost's existence. it is curious that scott does not seem to have woven the particulars of this affair into any one of his novels. among those who contributed to place the stamp of a higher character on the labours of the book clubs, one of the most remarkable was sir alexander boswell. a time there was, unfortunately, when his name could not easily be dissociated from exasperating political events; but now that the generation concerned in them has nearly passed away, it becomes practicable, even from the side of his political opponents, to glance at his literary abilities and accomplishments without recalling exciting recollections. he was a member of the roxburghe, and though he did not live to see the improvement in the issues of that institution, or the others which kept pace with it, he, alone and single-handed, set the example of printing the kind of books which it was afterwards the merit of the book clubs to promulgate. he gave them, in fact, their tone. he had at his paternal home of auchinleck a remarkable collection of rare books and manuscripts; one of these afforded the text from which the romance of sir tristrem was printed. he reprinted from the one remaining copy in his own possession the disputation between john knox and quentin kennedy, a priest who came forward against the great reformer as the champion of the old religion. from the auchinleck press came also reprints of lodge's fig for momus, churchyard's mirrour of man, the book of the chess, sir james dier's remembrancer of the life of sir nicholas bacon, the dialogus inter deum et evam, and others. the possession of a private printing-press is, no doubt, a very appalling type of bibliomania. much as has been told us of the awful scale on which drunkards consume their favoured poison, one is not accustomed to hear of their setting up private stills for their own individual consumption. there is a sardanapalitan excess in this bibliographical luxuriousness which refuses to partake with other vulgar mortals in the common harvest of the public press, but must itself minister to its own tastes and demands. the owner of such an establishment is subject to no extraneous caprices about breadth of margins, size of type, quarto or folio, leaded or unleaded lines; he dictates his own terms; he is master of the situation, as the french say; and is the true autocrat of literature. there have been several renowned private presses: walpole's, at strawberry hill; mr johnes's, at hafod; allan's, at the grange; and the lee priory press. none of these, however, went so distinctly into the groove afterwards followed by the book clubs as sir alexander boswell's auchinleck press. in the bibliographical decameron is a brief history, by sir alexander himself, of the rise and progress of his press. he tells us how he had resolved to print knox's disputation: "for this purpose i was constrained to purchase two small fonts of black-letter, and to have punches cut for eighteen or twenty double letters and contractions. i was thus enlisted and articled into the service, and being infected with the _type_ fever, the fits have periodically returned. in the year , having viewed a portable press invented by mr john ruthven, an ingenious printer in edinburgh, i purchased one, and commenced compositor. at this period, my brother having it in contemplation to present bamfield to the roxburghe club, and not aware of the poverty and insignificance of my establishment, expressed a wish that his tract should issue from the auchinleck press. i determined to gratify him, and the portable press being too small for general purposes, i exchanged it for one of mr ruthven's full-sized ones; and having increased my stock to _eight_ small fonts, roman and italic, with the necessary appurtenances, i placed the whole in a cottage, built originally for another purpose, very pleasantly situated on the bank of a rivulet, and, although concealed from view by the surrounding wood, not a quarter of a mile from my house."[ ] [footnote : bibliographical decameron, vol. ii. p. .] to show the kind of man who co-operated with scott in such frivolities, let me say a word or two more about sir alexander. he was the son, observe, of johnson's jamie boswell, but he was about as like his father as an eagle might be to a peacock. to use a common colloquial phrase, he was a man of genius, if ever there was one. had he been a poorer and socially humbler man than he was--had he had his bread and his position to make--he would probably have achieved immortality. some of his songs are as familiar to the world as those of burns, though their author is forgotten,--as, for instance, the song of parental farewell, beginning-- "good-night, and joy be wi' ye a'; your harmless mirth has cheered my heart," and ending with this fine and genial touch-- "the auld will speak, the young maun hear; be canty, but be good and leal; your ain ills aye hae heart to bear, another's aye hae heart to feel: so, ere i set i'll see you shine, i'll see you triumph ere i fa'; my parting breath shall boast you mine. good-night, and joy be wi' you a'." his "auld gudeman, ye're a drucken carle," "jenny's bawbee," and "jenny dang the weaver," are of another kind, and perhaps fuller of the peculiar spirit of the man. this consisted in hitting off the deeper and typical characteristics of scottish life with an easy touch that brings it all home at once. his lines do not seem as if they were composed by an effort of talent, but as if they were the spontaneous expressions of nature. take the following specimen of ludicrous pomposity, which must suffer a little by being quoted from memory: it describes a highland procession:-- "come the grants o' tullochgorum, wi' their pipers on afore 'em; proud the mithers are that bore 'em, fee fuddle, fau fum. come the grants o' rothiemurchus, ilka ane his sword an' durk has, ilka ane as proud's a turk is, fee fuddle, fau fum." to comprehend the spirit of this, one must endow himself with the feelings of a lowland scot before waverley and rob roy imparted a glow of romantic interest to the highlanders. the pompous and the ludicrous were surely never more happily interwoven. one would require to go further back still to appreciate the spirit of "skeldon haughs, or the sow is flitted." it is a picture of old ayrshire feudal rivalry and hatred. the laird of bargainy resolved to humiliate his neighbour and enemy, the laird of kerse, by a forcible occupation of part of his territory. for the purpose of making this aggression flagrantly insulting, it was done by tethering or staking a female pig on the domain of kerse. the animal was, of course, attended by a sufficient body of armed men for her protection. it was necessary for his honour that the laird of kerse should drive the animal and her attendants away, and hence came a bloody battle about "the flitting of the sow." in the contest, kerse's eldest son and hope, jock, is killed, and the point or moral of the narrative is, the contempt with which the old laird looks on that event, as compared with the grave affair of flitting the sow. a retainer who comes to tell him the result of the battle stammers in his narrative on account of his grief for jock, and is thus pulled up by the laird-- "'is the sow flitted?' cries the carle; 'gie me an answer, short and plain-- is the sow flitted, yammerin' wean?'" to which the answer is-- "'the sow, deil tak her, 's ower the water, and at her back the crawfords clatter; the carrick couts are cowed and bitted.'" hereupon the laird's exultation breaks forth,-- "'my thumb for jock--the sow's flitted!'" another man of genius and learning, whose name is a household one among the book clubs, is robert surtees, the historian of durham. you may hunt for it in vain among the biographical dictionaries. let us hope that this deficiency will be well supplied in the biographia britannica, projected by mr murray. surtees was not certainly among those who flare their qualities before the world--he was to a peculiar degree addicted, as we shall shortly see, to hiding his light under a bushel; and so any little notice of him in actual flesh and blood, such as this left by his friend, the rev. james tate, master of richmond school, interests one:-- "one evening i was sitting alone--it was about nine o'clock in the middle of summer--there came a gentle tap at the door. i opened the door myself, and a gentleman said with great modesty, 'mr tate, i am mr surtees of mainsforth. james raine begged i would call upon you.' 'the master of richmond school is delighted to see you,' said i; 'pray walk in.' 'no, thank you, sir; i have ordered a bit of supper; perhaps you will walk up with me?' 'to be sure i will;' and away we went. as we went along, i quoted a line from the odyssey. what was my astonishment to hear from mr surtees, not the next only, but line after line of the passage i had touched upon. said i to myself, 'good master tate, take heed; it is not often you catch such a fellow as this at richmond.' i never spent such an evening in my life." what a pity, then, that he did not give us more of the evening, which seems to have left joyful memories to both: for surtees himself thus commemorated it in macaronics, in which he was an adept:-- "doctus tatius hic residet, ad coronam prandet ridet, spargit sales cum cachinno, lepido ore et concinno, ubique carus inter bonos rubei montis præsens honos." in the same majestic folio in which this anecdote may be found--the memoir prefixed to the history of durham--we are likewise told how, when at college, he was waiting on a don on business; and, feeling coldish, stirred the fire. "pray, mr surtees," said the great man, "do you think that any other undergraduate in the college would have taken that liberty?" "yes, mr dean," was the reply--"any one as cool as i am!" this would have been not unworthy of brummell. the next is not in brummell's line. arguing with a neighbour about his not going to church, the man said, "why, sir, the parson and i have quarrelled about the tithes." "you fool," was the reply, "is that any reason why you should go to hell?" yet another. a poor man, with a numerous family, lost his only cow. surtees was collecting a subscription to replace the loss, and called on the bishop of lichfield, who was dean of durham, and owner of the great tithes in the parish, to ascertain what he would give. "give!" said the bishop; "why, a cow, to be sure. go, mr surtees, to my steward, and tell him to give you as much money as will buy the best cow you can find." surtees, astonished at this unexpected generosity, said--"my lord, i hope you will ride to heaven upon the back of that cow." a while afterwards he was saluted in the college by the late lord barrington, with--"surtees, what is the absurd speech that i hear you have been making to the dean?" "i see nothing absurd in it," was the reply; "when the dean rides to heaven on the back of that cow, many of you prebendaries will be glad to lay hold of her tail!" i have noted these innocent trifles concerning one who is chiefly known as a deep and dry investigator, for the purpose of propitiating the reader in his favour, since the sacred cause of truth renders it necessary to refer to another affair in which his conduct, however trifling it might be, was not innocent. he was addicted to literary practical jokes of an audacious kind, and carried his presumption so far as to impose on sir walter scott a spurious ballad which has a place in the border minstrelsy. nor is it by any means a servile imitation, which might pass unnoticed in a crowd of genuine and better ballads; but it is one of the most spirited and one of the most thoroughly endowed with individual character in the whole collection. this guilty composition is known as "the death of featherstonhaugh," and begins thus:-- "hoot awa', lads, hoot awa'; ha' ye heard how the ridleys, and thirlwalls, and a', ha' set upon albany featherstonhaugh, and taken his life at the dead man's haugh? there was williemoteswick and hardriding dick, and hughie of hawdon, and will of the wa', i canna tell a', i canna tell a', and many a mair that the deil may knaw. the auld man went down, but nicol his son ran awa' afore the fight was begun; and he run, and he run, and afore they were done there was many a featherston gat sic a stun, as never was seen since the world begun. i canna tell a', i canna tell a', some got a skelp and some got a claw, but they gar't the featherstons haud their jaw. some got a hurt, and some got nane, some had harness, and some got staen." this imposture, professing to be taken down from the recitation of a woman eighty years old, was accompanied with some explanatory notes, characteristic of the dry antiquary, thus: "hardriding dick is not an epithet referring to horsemanship, but means richard ridley of hardriding, the seat of another family of that name, which, in the time of charles i., was sold on account of expenses incurred by the loyalty of the proprietor, the immediate ancestor of sir matthew ridley. will o' the wa' seems to be william ridley of walltown, so called from its situation on the great roman wall. thirlwall castle, whence the clan of thirlwalls derived their name, is situated on the small river of tippell, near the western boundary of northumberland. it is near the wall, and takes its name from the rampart having been _thirled_--that is, pierced or breached--in its vicinity." in the life of surtees, the evidence of the crime is thus dryly set forth, in following up a statement of the transmission of the manuscript, and of its publication: "yet all this was a mere figment of surtees's imagination, originating probably in some whim of ascertaining how far he could identify himself with the stirring times, scenes, and poetical compositions which his fancy delighted to dwell on. this is proved by more than one copy among his papers of this ballad, corrected and interlined, in order to mould it to the language, the manners, and the feelings of the period and of the district to which it refers. mr surtees no doubt had wished to have the success of his attempt tested by the unbiassed opinion of the very first authority on the subject; and the result must have been gratifying to him." in scott's acknowledgment of the contribution, printed also in the life of surtees, there are some words that must have brought misgivings and fear of detection to the heart of the culprit, since scott, without apparently allowing doubts to enter his mind, yet marked some peculiarities in the piece, in which it differed from others. "your notes upon the parties concerned give it all the interest of authority, and it must rank, i suppose, among those half-serious, half-ludicrous songs, in which the poets of the border delighted to describe what they considered as the _sport of swords_. it is perhaps remarkable, though it may be difficult to guess a reason, that these cumbrian ditties are of a different stanza and character, and obviously sung to a different kind of music, from those on the northern border. the gentleman who collected the words may perhaps be able to describe the tune." there is perhaps no system of ethics which lays down with perfect precision the moral code on literary forgeries, or enables us to judge of the exact enormity of such offences. the world looks leniently on them, and sometimes sympathises with them as good jokes. allan cunningham, who, like ramsay, was called "honest allan," did not lose that character by the tremendous "rises" which he took out of cromek about those remains of nithsdale and galloway song--a case in point so far as principle goes, but differing somewhat in the intellectual rank of the victim to the hoax. the temptation to commit such offences is often extremely strong, and the injury seems slight, while the offender probably consoles himself with the reflection that he can immediately counteract it by confession. vanity, indeed, often joins conscientiousness in hastening on a revelation. surtees, however, remained in obdurate silence, and i am not aware that any edition of the minstrelsy draws attention to his handiwork. lockhart seems not only to have been ignorant of it, but to have been totally unconscious of the risk of such a thing, since he always speaks of its author as a respectable local antiquary, useful to scott as a harmless drudge. perhaps surtees was afraid of what he had done, like that teller in the house of commons who is said by tradition to have attempted to make a bad joke in the division on the habeas corpus act by counting a fat man as ten, and, seeing that the trick passed unnoticed, and also passed the measure, became afraid to confess it. the literary history of "the death of featherstonhaugh" naturally excited uneasiness about the touching ballad of "barthram's dirge," also contributed to the minstrelsy as the fruit of the industrious investigations of surtees. most readers will remember this:-- "they shot him dead at the nine-stone rig, beside the headless cross, and they left him lying in his blood, upon the moor and moss." after this stanza, often admired for its clearness as a picture, there is a judicious break, and then come stanzas originally deficient of certain words, which, as hypothetically supplied by surtees, were good-naturedly allowed to remain within brackets, as ingenious suggestions:-- "they made a bier of the broken bough, the sauch and the aspine grey, and they bore him to the lady chapel, and waked him there all day. a lady came to that lonely bower, and threw her robes aside; she tore her ling [long] yellow hair, and knelt at barthram's side. she bathed him in the lady well, his wounds sae deep and sair, and she plaited a garland for his breast, and a garland for his hair." a glance at the reprint of the life of surtees for the book club called after his name, confirms the suspicions raised by the exposure of the other ballad--this also is an imposition.[ ] [footnote : the editor of the life prints the following note by mr raine, the coadjutor of surtees in his investigations into the history of the north of england: "i one evening in looking through scott's minstrelsy wrote opposite to this dirge, _aut robertus aut diabolus_. surtees called shortly after, and, pouncing upon the remark, justified me by his conversation on the subject, in adding to my note, _ita, teste seipso_."--p. .] altogether, such affairs create an unpleasant uncertainty about the paternity of that delightful department of literature, our ballad poetry. where next are we to be disenchanted? of the way in which ancient ballads have come into existence, there is one sad example within my own knowledge. some mad young wags, wishing to test the critical powers of an experienced collector, sent him a new-made ballad, which they had been enabled to secure only in a fragmentary form. to the surprise of its fabricator, it was duly printed; but what naturally raised his surprise to astonishment, and revealed to him a secret, was, that it was no longer a fragment, but a complete ballad,--the collector, in the course of his industrious inquiries among the peasantry, having been so fortunate as to recover the missing fragments! it was a case where neither could say anything to the other, though cato might wonder _quod non rideret haruspex, haruspicem cum vidisset_. this ballad has been printed in more than one collection, and admired as an instance of the inimitable simplicity of the genuine old versions! it may perhaps do something to mitigate surtees's offence in the eye of the world, that it was he who first suggested to scott the idea of improving the jacobite insurrections, and, in fact, writing waverley. in the very same letter, quoted above, where scott acknowledges the treacherous gift, he also acknowledges the hints he has received; and, mentioning the highland stories he had imbibed from old stewart of invernahyle, says: "i believe there never was a man who united the ardour of a soldier and tale-teller--or man of talk, as they call it in gaelic--in such an excellent degree; and as he was as fond of telling as i was of hearing, i became a violent jacobite at the age of ten years old; and even since reason and reading came to my assistance, i have never got rid of the impression which the gallantry of prince charles made on my imagination. certainly i will not renounce the idea of doing something to preserve these stories, and the memory of times and manners which, though existing as it were yesterday, have so strangely vanished from our eyes." so much for certain men of mark whose pursuits or hobbies induced them to cluster round the cradle of this new literary organisation. when it was full grown it gathered about it a large body of systematic workers, who had their own special departments in the great republic of letters. to offer a just and discriminating account of these men's services would draw me through an extensive tract of literary biography. there is a shallow prejudice very acceptable to all blockheads, that men who are both learned and laborious must necessarily be stupid. it is best to meet the approach of such a prejudice at once, by saying that the editors of club books are not mere dreary drudges, seeing the works of others accurately through the press, and attending only to dates and headings. around and throughout the large library of volumes issued by these institutions, there run prolific veins of fresh literature pregnant with learning and ability. the style of work thus set agoing has indeed just the other day been incorporated into a sort of department of state literature since the great collection called the chronicles and memorials of great britain and ireland during the middle ages, of which the master of the rolls accepts the responsibility, is carried out in the very spirit of the book clubs, in which indeed most of the editors of the chronicles have been trained. without prejudice to others, let me just name a few of those to whom the world is under obligation for services in this field of learned labour. for england, there are james orchard halliwell, sir frederic madden, beriah botfield, sir henry ellis, alexander dyce, thomas stapleton, william j. thoms, crofton croker, albert way, joseph hunter, john bruce, thomas wright, john gough nichols, payne collier, joseph stevenson, and george watson taylor, who edited that curious and melancholy book of poems, composed by the duke of orleans while he was a prisoner in england after the battle of agincourt--poems composed, singularly enough, in the english language, and at a period extremely deficient in native vernacular literature. in scotland, it was in the earlier issues of the bannatyne that thomas thomson, too indolent or fastidious to commit himself to the writing of a book, left the most accessible vestiges of that power of practically grasping historical facts and conditions, which scott admired so greatly, and acknowledged so much benefit from. he was followed by professor innes, who found and taught the secret of extracting from ecclesiastical chartularies, and other early records, the light they throw upon the social condition of their times, and thus collected matter for the two pleasant volumes which have become so popular. the bannatyne club, lately finding no more to do, wound up with a graceful compliment to david laing--the man to whom, after scott, it has been most indebted. and, lastly, it is in the scotch book clubs that joseph robertson has had the opportunity of exercising those subtle powers of investigation and critical acumen, peculiarly his own, which have had a perceptible and substantial effect in raising archæology out of that quackish repute which it had long to endure under the name of antiquarianism. for ireland, of which i have something farther to say at length, let it suffice in the mean time to name dean butler, dr reeves, mr o'donovan, mr eugene curry, and dr henthorn todd. there is another and distinct class of services which have been performed through the medium of the club books. the roxburghe having been founded on the principle that each member should print a volume, to be distributed among his colleagues, an example was thus set to men of easy fortune and scholarly tastes, which has been followed with a large liberality, of which the public have probably but a faint idea. not only in those clubs founded on the reciprocity system of each member distributing and receiving, but in those to be presently noticed, where the ordinary members pay an annual sum, to be expended in the printing of their books, have individual gentlemen come forward and borne the expense of printing and distributing costly volumes. in some instances valuable works have thus been presented to the members at the cost of those who have also undergone the literary labour of editing them. there is something extremely refined and gentlemanlike in this form of liberality. the recipient of the bounty becomes the possessor of a handsome costly book without being subjected in any way to the obligation of receiving a direct gift at the hands of the munificent donor; for the recipient is a sort of corporation--a thing which the lawyers say has no personal responsibility and no conscience, and which all the world knows to have no gratitude. [illustration] [illustration] _part iv.--book-club literature._ generalities. nearly a quarter of a century after the birth of the first book club, a new era was ushered in by its brother, the camden, established for the printing of books and documents connected with the early civil, ecclesiastical, and literary history of the british empire. it discarded the rule which threw on each member the duty of printing and distributing a book, and tried the more equitable adjustment of an annual subscription to create a fund for defraying the expense of printing volumes to be distributed among the members. these, at first limited to , expanded to . clubs with various objects now thickly followed. any attempt to classify them as a whole, is apt to resemble whately's illustration of illogical division--"_e.g._, if you were to divide 'book' into 'poetical, historical, folio, quarto, french, latin,'" &c. one of the systems of arrangement is topographical, as the chetham, "for the purpose of publishing biographical and historical books connected with the counties palatine of lancaster and chester."[ ] the surtees, again, named after our friend the ballad-monger, affects "those parts of england and scotland included in the east between the humber and the firth of forth, and in the west between the mersey and the clyde--a region which constituted the ancient kingdom of northumberland." the maitland, with its headquarters in glasgow, gives a preference to the west of scotland, but has not been exclusive. the spalding club, established in aberdeen, the granite capital of the far north, is the luminary of its own district, and has produced fully as much valuable historical matter as any other club in britain. then there is the irish archæological--perhaps the most learned of all--with its casual assistants, the ossianic, the celtic, and the iona. the Ælfric may be counted their ethnical rival, as dealing with the productions of the anglo-saxon enemies of the celt. the camden professes, as we have seen, to be general to the british empire. the name of the club called "the oriental translation fund," tells its own story. [footnote : among other volumes of interest, the chetham has issued a very valuable and amusing collection of documents about the siege of preston, and other incidents of the insurrection of in lancashire.] there are others, too, with no topographical connection, which express pretty well their purpose in their names--as the shakespeare, for the old drama--the percy, for old ballads and lyrical pieces. the hakluyt has a delightful field--old voyages and travels. the rae society sticks to zoology and botany; and the wernerian, the cavendish, and the sydenham, take the other departments in science, which the names given to them readily indicate. in divinity and ecclesiastical history we have the parker society, named after the archbishop. its tendencies are "low," or, at all events, "broad;" and as it counted some seven thousand members, it could not be allowed the run of the public mind without an antidote being accessible. hence "the library of anglo-catholic theology," the tendency of which was not only shown in its name, but in its possessing among its earliest adherents the rev. e.b. pusey and the rev. john keble. the same party strengthened themselves by a series of volumes called the "library of the fathers of the holy catholic church anterior to the division of the east and west, translated by members of the english church." in scotland, the two branches which deny the supremacy of rome (it would give offence to call them both protestant) are well represented by the spottiswoode, already referred to as the organ of episcopacy; and the more prolific wodrow, which, named after the zealous historian of the troubles, was devoted to the history of presbyterianism, and the works of the presbyterian fathers. thus are the book clubs eminently the republic of letters, in which no party or class has an absolute predominance, but each enjoys a fair hearing. and whereas if we saw people for other purposes than literature combining together according to ecclesiastical divisions, as high church or low, episcopalian or presbyterian, we should probably find that each excluded from its circle all that do not spiritually belong to it, we are assured it is quite otherwise in the book clubs--that high churchmen or romanists have not been excluded from the parker, or evangelical divines prohibited from investing in the library of anglo-catholic theology. nay, the most zealous would incline to encourage the communication of their own peculiar literary treasures to their avowed theological opponents, as being likely to soften their hearts, and turn them towards the truth. some adherents of these theological clubs there also are of slightly latitudinarian propensities, to whom the aspirations of honest religious zeal, and the records of endurance and martyrdom for conscience' sake, can never be void of interest, or fail in summoning up feelings of respectful sympathy, whatever be the denominational banner under which they have been exhibited. some of these clubs now rest from their labours, the literary strata in which they were employed having been in fact worked out. whether dead or living, however, their books are now a considerable and varied intellectual garden, in which the literary busy bee may gather honey all the day and many a day. it will be readily supposed from the different and utterly separate grooves in which they run, and is very well known to the prowler among club books, that although these volumes profess to be printed from old manuscripts, or to be mere reprints of rare books, they take a considerable portion of their tone and tendency from the editor. in fact, the editor of a club book is, in the general case, a sort of literary sportsman, who professes to follow entirely his own humour or caprice, or, say, his own taste and enjoyment, in the matter which he selects, and the manner in which he lays it before his friends. hence, many of these volumes, heavy and unimpressible as they look, yet are stamped strongly with the marks of the individuality, or of the peculiar intellectual cast, of living men. take down, for instance, the volume of the camden called "de antiquis legibus liber," otherwise, "cronica majorum et vicecomitum londoniarum," printed from "a small folio, nine inches and a half in length and seven inches in breadth, the binding of white leather covering wooden backs, and containing leaves of parchment, paged continuously with arabic cyphers." it is partly a record of the old municipal laws of the city of london, partly a chronicle of events. had it fallen to be edited by a philosophical inquirer into the origin and principles of jurisprudence, or an investigator of the rise and progress of cities, or a social philosopher of any kind, it is hard to say what might have been made of it--easy to say that it would have been made something very different from what it is. the editor was an illustrious genealogist. accordingly, early in his career as expositor of the character of the volume, he alights upon a proper name, not entirely isolated, but capable of being associated with other names. thus, he is placed on a groove, and off he goes travelling in the fashion following over pages of printed quarto: "henry de cornhill, husband of alice de courcy, the heiress of the barony of stoke courcy com. somerset, and who, after his decease, re-married warine fitz-gerald the king's chamberlain, leaving by each an only daughter, co-heirs of this barony, of whom joan de cornhill was the wife of hugh de neville, proto forester of england, wife first of baldwine de riviers, eldest son and heir-apparent of william de vernon, earl of devon, deceased in his father's lifetime; and, secondly, of the well-known favourite of king john, fulk de breauté, who had name from a commune of the canton of goderville, arrondissement of le havre, department of la seine inférieure, rendered accompt of this his debt in the same roll;" and so on over the remainder of the pages. if you turn over a few of them you will find the same sort of thing: "agnes, the first daughter, was married to william de vesey, of whom john de vesey, issueless, and william de vesey, who had issue, john de vesey, who died before his father; and afterwards the said william de vesey, the father, without heir of his body;" and so on. the reader whose fortune it has been to pass a portion of his early days among venerable scottish gentlewomen of the old school, will perhaps experience an uneasy consciousness of having encountered matter of this description before. it may recall to him misty recollections of communications which followed a course something like this: "and so ye see, auld pittoddles, when his third wife deed, he got married upon the laird o' blaithershin's aughteenth daughter, that was sister to jemima, that was married intil tam flumexer, that was first and second cousin to the pittoddleses, whase brither became laird afterwards, and married blaithershin's baubie--and that way jemima became in a kind o' way her ain niece and her ain aunty, an' as we used to say, her gude-brither was married to his ain grannie." but there is the deep and the shallow in genealogy, as in other arts and sciences, and, incoherent as it may sound to the uninitiated, the introduction to the liber de antiquis legibus is no old woman's work, but full of science and strange matter.[ ] it all grows, however, in genealogical trees, these being the predominant intellectual growth in the editor's mind. in fact, your thorough genealogist is quite a peculiar intellectual phenomenon. he is led on by a special and irresistible internal influence or genius. if he should for some time endeavour to strive after a more cosmopolite intellectual vitality, the ruling spirit conquers all other pursuits. the organism of the tree resumes its predominance, and if he have healthy sturdy brains, whatever other matter they may have collected is betimes dragged into the growth, and absorbed in the vitality of the majestic bole and huge branches. there is perhaps no pursuit more thoroughly absorbing. the reason is this: no man having yet made out for himself an articulate pedigree from adam--sir thomas urquhart, the translator of rabelais, to be sure, made one for himself, but he had his tongue in his cheek all the while--no clear pedigree going back to the first of men, every one, whether short or long, celtic or saxon, comes into the clouds at last. it is when a pedigree approaches extinction that the occasion opens for the genealogist to exercise his subtlety and skill, and his exertions become all the more zealous and exciting that he knows he must be baffled somewhere. the pursuit is described as possessing something like the same absorbing influence which is exercised over certain minds by the higher mathematics. the devotees get to think that all human knowledge centres in their peculiar science and the cognate mysteries and exquisite scientific manipulations of heraldry, and they may be heard talking with compassionate contempt of some one so grossly ignorant as not to know a bar-dexter from a bend-sinister, or who asks what is meant by a cross potent quadrate party per pale. [footnote : i remember hearing of an instance at a jury trial in scotland, where counsel had an extremely subtle point of genealogy to make out, and no one but a ploughman witness, totally destitute of the genealogical faculty, to assist him to it. his plan--and probably a very judicious one in the general case--was to get the witness on a table-land of broad unmistakable principle, and then by degrees lure him farther on. thus he got the witness readily to admit that his own mother was older than himself, but no exertion of ingenuity could get his intellect a step beyond that broad admission.] these are generally great readers--reading is absolutely necessary for their pursuit; but they have a faculty of going over literary ground, picking up the proper names, and carrying them away, unconscious of anything else, as pointers go over stubble fields and raise the partridges, without taking any heed of the valuable examples of cryptogamic botany or palæozoic entomology they may have trodden over. a certain writer on logic and metaphysics was once as much astonished as gratified by an eminent genealogical antiquary's expression of interest in a discovery which his last book contained. the philosopher thought his views on the subjectivity of the nominalists and the objectivity of the realists had at last been appreciated; but the discovery was merely this, that the name of a person who, according to the previously imperfect science of the genealogist, ought not to have existed then and there, was referred to in a letter from spinoza, cited in defence of certain views upon the absolute. the votaries of this pursuit become powers in the world of rank and birth, from the influence they are able to bring upon questions of succession and inheritance. hence they are, like all great influences, courted and feared. their ministry is often desired and sometimes necessary; but it is received with misgiving and awe, since, like the demons of old summoned by incantation, they may destroy the audacious mortal who demands their services. the most sagacious and sceptical men are apt to be mildly susceptible to conviction in the matter of their own pedigrees, and, a little conscious of their weakness, they shrink from letting the sacred tree be handled by relentless and unsympathising adepts. one of these intellectual tyrants, a man of great ability, when he quarrelled with any one, used to threaten to "bastardise" him, or to find the bend-sinister somewhere in his ancestry; and his experience in long genealogies made him feel assured, in the general case, of finding what he sought if he went far enough back for it. the next volume you lay hand on is manifestly edited by an ecclesiologist, or a votary of that recent addition to the constituted "ologies," which has come into existence as the joint offspring of the revival of gothic architecture and the study of primitive-church theology. through this dim religious light he views all the things in heaven and earth that are dealt with in his philosophy. his notes are profusely decorated with a rich array of rood screens, finial crockets, lavatories, aumbries, lecterns, lych sheds, albs, stoups, sedilia, credence tables, pixes, hagioscopes, baudekyns, and squenches. it is evident that he keeps a bestiary, or record of his experiences in bestiology, otherwise called bestial eikonography; and if he be requested to give a more explicit definition of the article, he will perhaps inform you that it is a record of the types of the ecclesiological symbolisation of beasts. if you prevail on him to exhibit to you this solemn record, which he will open with befitting reverence, the faintest suspicion of a smile curling on your lip will suffuse him with a lively sorrow for your lost condition, mixed with righteous indignation towards the irreverent folly whereof you have been guilty. he finds a great deal beyond sermons in stones, and can point out to you a certain piece of rather confused-looking architecture, which he terms a symbolical epitome of all knowledge, human and divine--an eikonographic encyclopædia. if you desire an antidote to all this, you may find it in the editor in true blue who so largely refers to the book of the universal kirk, the hynd let loose, the cloud of witnesses, naphtali, and faithful witness-bearing exemplified, and is great in his observations on the auchinshauch testimony, the sanquhar declaration, and that fine amalgamation of humility and dogmatism, the informatory vindication.[ ] [footnote : "an informatory vindication of a poor, wasted, misrepresented remnant of the suffering anti-popish, anti-prelatic, anti-erastian, anti-sectarian, _only true_ church of christ in scotland."] there is no occasion for quarrelling with these specialties. they are typical of a zeal often prolific both in amusement and instruction; and when a man has gone through the labour of rendering many hundreds of pages from a crabbed old manuscript, or of translating as much from a nearly unknown tongue, it would be hard to deny him the recreation of a few capers on his own hobby. keep in mind that everything of this kind is outside the substance of the book. the editor has his swing in the introduction and appendix, and the notes; perhaps also in the title and index, if he can make anything of them. but it is a principle of honour throughout the clubs that the purity of the text shall not be tampered with; and so, whether dark or light, faint or strong, it is a true impression of the times, as the reader will perhaps find in the few specimens i propose to show him. as touching the literary value of what is thus restored, there are some who will say, and get applause for doing so, that there are too many bad or second-rate books in existence already; that every work of great genius finds its way to the world at once; and that the very fact of its long obscurity proves a piece of literature to be of little value. for all this, and all that can be added to it, there are those who love these recovered relics of ancestral literature, and are prepared to give reasons for their attachment. in the first place, and apart from their purely literary merits, they are records of the intellect and manners of their age. whoever desires to be really acquainted with the condition of a nation at any particular time--say with that of england during elizabeth's reign, or the commonwealth--will not attain his object by merely reading the most approved histories of the period. he must endeavour as far as he can to live back into the times, and to do this most effectually he had better saturate himself to the utmost with its fugitive literature, reading every scrap he may lay hand on until he can find no more. looking at these relics, on the other hand, as pure literature, no doubt what is recalled out of the past loses the freshness and the fitness to surrounding conditions which gave it pungency and emphasis in its own day, while it has not that hold on our sympathies and attachment possessed by the household literature which generation after generation has been educated to admire, and which, indeed, has made itself a part of our method of thought and our form of language. but precisely because it wants this qualification has resuscitated literature a peculiar value of its own. it breaks in with a new light upon the intellect of the day, and its conventional forms and colours. there is not in the intellectual history of mankind any so effective and brilliant an awakening as the resuscitation of classical literature. it was not one solitary star arising after another at long intervals and far apart in space, but a sudden blazing forth of a whole firmament of light. but that is a phenomenon to all appearance not to be repeated, or, more correctly speaking, not to be completed, since it broke up unfinished, leaving the world in partial darkness. literature has been ever since wailing the loss of the seventy per cent of livy's history, of the eighty per cent of tacitus and of euripides, of the still larger proportion of Æschylus and sophocles, of the mysterious triumphs of menander, and of the whole apparatus of the literary renown of varro and of atticus.[ ] what would the learned world give for the restoration of these things? it may safely offer an indefinite reward, for so well has its surface been ransacked for them that their existence is hardly possible, though some sanguine people enjoy the expectation of finding them in some obscure back-shelves in the sultan's library. the literary results of the costly and skilful scientific process for restoring the baked books found in herculaneum were so appallingly paltry, as to discourage the pursuit of the lost classics. the best thing brought to light during the present century, indeed, is that institute of gaius which cost angelo maï such a world of trouble, and was the glory and boast of his life; but it is not a very popular or extensively read book after all. the manuscripts that have been extracted from the dirty greedy fingers of the armenian and abyssinian monks, are the most valuable pieces of literature that have been rescued from the far past. important light on the early history of eastern christianity will no doubt be extracted from them; but they are written in those oriental tongues which are available only to the privileged few. [footnote : the applicability of this to varro has been questioned. it is a matter in which every one is entitled to hold his own opinion. to say nothing of the other extant shreds of his writings--and i never found any one who had anything to say for them--i cannot account even the de re rustica as much higher in literary rank than a farmers' and gardeners' calendar. no doubt it is valuable, as any such means of insight into the practical life of the egyptians or the phoenicians would be, even were it less methodical than what we have from varro. but this, or other writing like it, will hardly account for his great fame among contemporaries. look, for instance, to cicero at the outset of the academics: "tu ætatem patriæ, tu descriptiones temporum, tu sacrorum jura, tu sacerdotum munera, tu domesticam, tu bellicam disciplinam, tu sedem regionum et locorum, tu omnium divinarum humanarumque rerum nomina, genera officia, causas aperuiste: plurimumque poetis nostris omninoque latinis, et literis luminis attulisti, et verbis: atque ipse varium et elegans omni fere numero poema fecisti: philosophiamque multis locis inchoasti--ad impellendum satis, ad edocendum parum." laudation could scarcely be pitched in higher tone towards the works of the great youatt, or mr huxtable's contributions to the department of literature devoted to manure and pigs. the de re rustica, written when its author was eighty years old, seems to have been about the last of what he calls his seven times seventy works, and it is natural to suppose that somewhere in the remaining four hundred and eighty-nine lay the merits which excited such encomiums. the story about gregory the great suppressing the best of varro's works to hide st augustine's pilferings from them, would be a valuable curiosity of literature if it could be established.] unlikely as the treasures opened by the revival of classic literature are to be to any extent increased, let us not despise the harvest of our own home gleaners. they do not find now and then a buried hamlet, or paradise lost, or hudibras--though, by the way, the poetical remains of butler, which in wit and sarcasm are second only to his great work, were rescued from oblivion by the drudging antiquary thyer, who was so conceited of the performance that he had the portrait of his own respectable and stupid face engraved beside that of butler, in order perhaps that all men might see how incapable he was of fabricating the pieces to which it is prefixed. there is a good deal of the poetry of the club books of which it may at least be said, that worse is printed and praised as the produce of our contemporaries. it is not so much, however, in poetry or the drama as in historical literature that the clubs develop their strength. it is difficult to estimate the greatness of the obligations of british history to these institutions. they have dug up, cleansed, and put in order for immediate inspection and use, a multitude of written monuments bearing on the greatest events and the most critical epochs in the progress of the empire. the time thus saved to investigators is great and priceless. in no other department of knowledge can the intellectual labourer more forcibly apply the latin proverb which warns him that his work is indefinite, but his life brief. in the ordinary sciences the philosopher may and often does content himself with the well-rounded and professedly completed system of the day. but no one can grapple with history without feeling its inexhaustibleness. its final boundaries seem only to retreat to a farther distance the more ground we master, as mr buckle found, when he betook himself, like another atlas, to grapple with the history of the whole world. the more an investigator finds his materials printed for him, the farther he can go. no doubt it is sometimes desirable, even necessary, to look to some manuscript authority for the clearing-up of a special point; but too often the profession of having perused a great mass of manuscript authorities is an affectation and a pedantry. he who searches for and finds the truth in any considerable portion of history, performs too great an achievement to care for the praise of deciphering a few specimens of difficult handwriting, and revealing the sense hidden in certain words couched in obsolete spelling. if casual discoveries of this kind do really help him to great truths, it is well; but it too often happens that he exaggerates their value, because they are his own game, shot on his own manor. until he has exhausted all that is in print, the student of history wastes his time in struggling with manuscripts. hence the value of the services of the book clubs in immensely widening the arena of his immediate materials. to him their volumes are as new tools to the mechanic, or new machinery to the manufacturer. they economise, as it is termed, his labour: more correctly speaking, they increase its productiveness. these books are fortunately rich in memorials of the great internal contest of the seventeenth century. the notes, for instance, of the proceedings of the long parliament, by sir ralph verney, edited for the camden by mr bruce, come upon us fresh from that scene of high debate, carrying with them the very marks of strife. the editor informs us that the manuscript is written almost entirely in pencil on slips of foolscap paper, which seem to have been so folded as to be conveniently placed on the knee, and transferred to the pocket as each was completed. "they are," he says, "full of abrupt terminations, as if the writer occasionally gave up the task of following a rapid speaker who had got beyond him, and began his note afresh. when they relate to resolutions of the house, they often contain erasures, alterations, or other marks of the haste with which the notes were jotted down, and of the changes which took place in the subject-matter during the progress towards completion. on several important occasions, and especially in the instance of the debate on the protestation [as to the impeachment of strafford], the confusion and irregularity of the notes give evidence to the excitement of the house; and when the public discord rose higher, the notes become more brief and less personal, and speeches are less frequently assigned to their speakers, either from greater difficulty in reporting, or from an increased feeling of the danger of the time, and the possible use that might be made of notes of violent remarks. on several of the sheets there are marks evidently made by the writer's pencil having been forced upwards suddenly, as if by some one, in a full house, pressing hastily against his elbow while he was in the act of taking his note." john spalding. looking from the opposite end of the island, and from a totally different social position, another watchful observer recorded the events of the great contest. this was john spalding, commonly supposed to have been commissary-clerk of aberdeen, but positively known in no other capacity than as author of the book aptly entitled the troubles, or, more fully, "memorials of the troubles in scotland and in england," from to . little, probably, did the commissary-clerk imagine, when he entered on his snug quiet office, where he recorded probates of wills and the proceedings in questions of marriage law, that he was to witness and record one of the most momentous conflicts that the world ever beheld--that contest which has been the prototype of all later european convulsions. less still could he have imagined that fame would arise for him after two hundred years--that vehement though vain efforts should be made to endow the simple name of john spalding with the antecedents and subsequents of a biographical existence, and that the far-off descendants of many of those lairds and barons, whose warlike deeds he noticed at humble distance, should raise a monument to his memory in an institution called by his name. he was evidently a thoroughly retiring man, for he has left no vestige whatever of his individuality. some specimens of his formal official work might have been found in the archives of his office--these would have been especially valuable for the identification of his handwriting and the settlement of disputed questions about the originality of manuscripts; but these documents, as it happens, were all burnt early in last century with the building containing them. so ardent and hot has been the chase after vestiges of this man, that the fact was once discovered that with his own hand he had written a certain deed concerning a feu-duty or rent-charge of £ , s. d., bearing date st january ; but in spite of the most resolute efforts, this interesting document has not been found. it is probably to this same unobtrusive reserve, which has shrouded his very identity, that we owe the valuable peculiarities of the commissary-clerk's chronicle. he sought no public distinctions, took no ostensible side, and must have kept his own thoughts to himself, otherwise he would have had to bear record of his own share of troubles. in this calm serenity--folding the arms of resignation on the bosom of patience, as the persians say--he took his notes of the wild contest that raged around him, setting down each event, great or small, with systematic deliberation, as if he were an experimental philosopher watching the phenomena of an eclipse or an eruption. hence nowhere, perhaps, has it been permitted to a mere reader to have so good a peep behind the scenes of the mighty drama of war. we have plenty of chroniclers of that epoch--marching us with swinging historic stride on from battle unto battle--great in describing in long sentences the musterings, the conflicts, and the retreats. in spalding, however, we shall find the numbers and character of the combatants, their arms, their dresses, the persons who paid for these, and the prices paid--the amount they obtained in pay, and the amount they were cheated out of--their banners, distinguishing badges, watchwords, and all other like particulars, set down with the minuteness of a bailiff making an inventory of goods on which he has taken execution. he is very specific in what one may term the negative side of the characteristics of war--the misery and desolation it spreads around. the losses of this "gudeman" and that lone widow are stated as if he were their law agent, making up an account to go to a jury for damages for the "spulzie of outside and inside plenishing, nolt, horse, sheep, cocks and hens, hay, corn, peats, and fodder." he specifies all the items of mansions and farm-houses attacked and looted, or "harried," as he calls it--the doors staved in, the wainscoting pulled down--the windows smashed--the furniture made firewood of--the pleasant plantations cut down to build sleeping-huts--the linen, plate, and other valuables carried off: he will even, perchance, tell how they were distributed--who it was that managed to feather his nest with the plunder, and who it was that was disappointed and cheated. he had opportunities of bestowing his descriptive powers to good purpose. besides its ordinary share in the vicissitudes and calamities of the war, his town of aberdeen was twice pillaged by montrose, with laudable impartiality--once for the covenanters and once for the royalists. here is his first triumphant entry:-- "upon the morne, being saturday, they came in order of battle, being well armed both on horse and foot, ilk horseman having five shot at the least, whereof he had ane carbine in his hand, two pistols by his sides, and other two at his saddle-torr; the pikemen in their ranks with pike and sword; the musketeers in their ranks with musket, musket-staff, bandelier, sword, powder, ball, and match. ilk company, both horse and foot, had their captains, lieutenants, ensigns, sergeants, and other officers and commanders, all for the most part in buff coats and goodly order. they had five colours or ensigns, whereof the earl of montrose had one having his motto drawn in letters, 'for religion, the covenant, and the countrie.' the earl marechal had one, the earl of kinghorn had one, and the town of dundee had two. they had trumpeters to ilk company of horsemen, and drummers to ilk company of footmen. they had their meat, drink, and other provisions, bag and baggage, carried with them, done all by advice of his excellency field-marshal leslie, whose counsel general montrose followed in this business. then, in seemly order and good array, this army came forward and entered the burgh of aberdeen about ten hours in the morning, at the over kirk gateport, syne came down through the broadgate, through the castlegate, over at the justice port to the queen's links directly. here it is to be noted that few or none of this haill army wanted are blue ribbon hung about his craig [viz., neck] under his left arm, whilk they called 'the covenanters' ribbon,' because the lord gordon and some other of the marquis's bairns had ane ribbon, when he was dwelling in the toun, of ane red flesh colour, which they wore in their hats, and called it 'the royal ribbon,' as a sign of their love and loyalty to the king. in dispite or dirision whereof this blue ribbon was worn and called 'the covenanters' ribbon' by the haill soldiers of this army." the well-ordered army passed through, levying a fine on the malignants, and all seemed well; but because the citizens had not resisted montrose, the loyal barons in the neighbourhood fell on them and plundered them; and because they had submitted to be so plundered, the covenanting army came back and plundered them also. "many of this company went and brack up the bishop's yetts, set on good fires of his peats standing within the close: they masterfully broke up the haill doors and windows of this stately house; they brake down beds, boards, aumries, glassen windows, took out the iron stauncheons, brake in the locks, and such as they could carry had with them, and sold for little or nothing; but they got none of the bishop's plenishing to speak of, because it was all conveyed away before their coming." on sunday, montrose and the other leaders duly attended the devotional services of the eminent covenanting divines they had brought with them. "but," says spalding, "the renegate soldiers, in time of both preachings, is abusing and plundering new aberdeen pitifully, without regard to god or man;" and he goes on in his specific way, describing the plundering until he reaches this climax: "no foul--cock or hen--left unkilled. the haill house-dogs, messens, and whelps within aberdeen felled and slain upon the gate, so that neither hound nor messen or other dog was left that they could see." but there was a special reason for this. the ladies of aberdeen, on the retiring of montrose's army, had decorated all the vagabond street-dogs with the blue ribbon of the covenant. this was in . five years afterwards montrose came back on them in more terrible guise still, to punish the town for having yielded to the covenant. in aberdeen, cavalier principles generally predominated; but after being overrun and plundered successively by either party, the covenanters, having the acting government of the country at their back, succeeded in establishing a predominance in the councils of the exhausted community. spalding had no respect for the civic and rural forces they attempted to embody, and speaks of a petty bailie "who brought in ane drill-master to learn our poor bodies to handle their arms, who had more need to handle the plough and win their livings." montrose had now with him his celebrated army of highlanders--or irish, as spalding calls them--who broke at a rush through the feeble force sent out of the town to meet them. montrose "follows the chase to aberdeen, his men hewing and cutting down all manner of men they could overtake within the town, upon the streets, or in their houses, and round about the town, as our men were fleeing, with broadswords, but mercy or remeid. these cruel irish, seeing a man well clad, would first tyr [_i.e._, strip] him and save the clothes unspoiled, then kill the man; ... nothing heard but pitiful howling, crying, weeping, mourning, through all the streets.... it is lamentable to hear how thir irishes, who had gotten the spoil of the town, did abuse the samin. the men that they killed they would not suffer to be buried, but tirled them of their clothes, syne left their naked bodies lying above the ground. the wife durst not cry nor weep at her husband's slaughter before her eyes, nor the mother for her son--which if they were heard, then they were presently slain also; ... and none durst bury the dead. yea, and i saw two corpses carried to the burial through the old town with women only, and not are man amongst them, so that the naked corpses lay unburied so long as these limmers were ungone to the camp." the commissary-clerk was on montrose's side, but he had the hatred of a lowlander of that day for the highlanders. he has a great many amusing episodes describing the light-fingered lads from the hills coming down, and in the general confusion of the times plundering cavalier and covenanter alike; and on these occasions he drops his usual placidity and becomes rabid and abusive, as the best-tempered americans are said to become when they speak of niggers, and deals out to them the terms limmers, thieves, robbers, cut-throats, masterful vagrants, and so forth, with great volubility. of some of their chiefs, renowned in history, he speaks as mere robber-leaders, and when they are known by one name in their own country and another in the lowlands, he puts an _alias_ between the two. the very initial words of his chronicle are, "efter the death and burial of angus macintosh of auldterlie, _alias_ angus williamson." montrose having departed, argyle's troops commenced to plunder the district for having submitted to his enemy, and these, being doubly offensive as covenanters and highlanders, are treated accordingly. but it is necessary to be impartial; and having bestowed so much on the cavalier annalist, let us take a glimpse at the other side. robert wodrow. from the collections of the reverend robert wodrow, the historian of the sufferings of the church of scotland, a rich harvest has been reaped by the northern clubs, one of which appropriately adopted his name. he was a voluminous writer and an inexhaustible collector. it is generally classed among the failings of the book-hunter that he looks only to the far past, and disregards the contemporary and the recent. wodrow was a valuable exception to this propensity. reversing the spirit of the selfish bull which asks what posterity has done for us, he stored up contemporary literature for subsequent generations; and he thus left, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, such a library as a collector of the nineteenth, could he have sent a caterer before him, would have prepared to await his arrival in the world. the inestimable value of the great collection of the civil-war pamphlets made by george thomason, and fortunately preserved in the british museum, is very well known. just such another of its kind is wodrow's, made up of the pamphlets, broadsides, pasquinades, and other fugitive pieces of his own day, and of the generation immediately preceding. these are things easily obtained in their freshness, but the term fugitive is too expressive of their nature, and after a generation or two they have all flown away, save those which the book-hunter has exorcised into the vaults of some public collection. there is perhaps too little done in our own day in preserving for posterity these mute witnesses of our sayings and doings. they are too light and volatile to be caught by the copyright act, which so carefully deposits our quartos and octavos in the privileged libraries. it is pleasant, by the way, at this moment, to observe that the eminent scholar who has charge of the chief portion of wodrow's gatherings, as keeper of the advocates' library, is following his example, by preserving a collection of the pamphlets of the present century which will keep our posterity in employment, if they desire to unwind the intricacies of all our civil and ecclesiastical sayings and doings. wodrow carried on an active correspondence about matters of contemporary policy, and the special inquiries connected with his history: selections from this mass have furnished three sturdy volumes. besides pamphlets, he scraped together quantities of other people's manuscripts--some of them rising high enough in importance to be counted state papers. how the minister of the quiet rural parish of eastwood could have got his hands on them is a marvel, but it is fortunate that they were saved from destruction; and it is nearly equally fortunate that they have been well ransacked by zealous club-book makers, who have by this time probably exhausted the better part of their material. in the next place, wodrow left behind several biographies of eminent members of his own church, its saints and martyrs; and goodly masses out of this storehouse have also been printed. but by far the most luxurious morsel in the worthy man's intellectual larder was not intended to reach the profane vulgar, but destined for his own special rumination. it consists in the veritable contents of his private note-books, containing his communings with his own heart and his imagination. they were written on small slips of paper, in a hand direly cramped and minute; and lest this should not be a sufficient protection to their privacy, a portion was committed to certain ciphers, which their ingenious inventor deemed, no doubt, to be utterly impregnable. in stenography, however, the art of lock-picking always keeps ahead of the art of locking, as that of inventing destructive missiles seems to outstrip that of forging impenetrable plates. wodrow's trick was the same as that of samuel pepys, and productive of the same consequences--the excitement of a rabid curiosity, which at last found its way into the recesses of his secret communings. they are now printed, in the fine type of the maitland club, in four portly quartos, under the title, wodrow's analecta. few books would hold out so much temptation to a commentator, but their editor is dumb, faithfully reprinting the whole, page by page, and abstaining both from introduction and explanatory foot-note. perhaps in the circumstances this was a prudent measure. those who enjoy the weaknesses of the enthusiastic historian have them at full length. as to others partially like-minded with him, but more worldly, who would rather that such a tissue of absurdities had not been revealed, they are bound over to silence, seeing that a word said against the book is a word of reproach against its idolised author--for as to the editor, he may repeat after macbeth, "thou canst not say i did it." mr buckle's ravenous researches into the most distant recesses of literature revealed to him this pose. he has taken some curious specimens out of it, but he might have made his anthology still richer had he been in search of the picturesque and ludicrous, instead of seeking solid support for his great theory of positivism. what he chiefly amuses one with in this part of the world, however, is the solemn manner in which he treats the responsibility of giving increased publicity to such things, and invokes the deity to witness that his objects are sincere, and he is influenced by no irreverence. this feeling may arise from a very creditable source, but a native of scotland has difficulty in understanding it. in this country, being, as many of us have been, within the very skirts of the great contests that have shaken the realm--jacobitism on the one hand and covenantism on the other--we are roughened and hardened, and what shocks our sensitive neighbours is very good fun to ourselves. it appears that wodrow had intended to publish a book on remarkable special providences--something of a scientific character it was to be, containing a classification of their phenomena, perhaps a theory of their connection with revealed religion. the natural laws by which they are ruled, he could not, of course, have sought to discover, since the principle on which he set out predicated the non-existence of such laws. the advantage of the peep enjoyed into his private note-book is, that we have his incompleted inquiries containing the stories as to which even he--a very poor adept at scepticism--required some confirmation. it is quite evident that we thus have something more valuable to philosophy, and infinitely more amusing, than his completed labours would have been. here, for instance, is one of his break-downs--an interesting phenomenon, but not irrefragably proved. "this day i have an accompt from marion stevenson, who says she had it from one who was witness to it, that near dunglass there was a child found upon the highway by some shearers, to their uptaking lately born; and they brought it to the next house, where the woman putting on the pan to make some meat for it, the pan filled full of corn; and when she turned it out and put it on the second time, it filled full of bear; and when put on the third time, it filled full of blood; and upon this the child began to alter its shapes some way, and to speak, and told them this year should have great plenty, and the next year also, but the third the land should be filled with blood and fire and sword! and the child desired it might be taken to the place where it was found, and left there. i hear not yet what was done with it. this is so incredible, that i set it down only for after trial and inquiry about it--no confirmation." his wife tells him a story which in her youth she had heard narrated by mr andrew reid, minister of kirkbean. it is a case of true love crossed by the interference of cruel relations. the swain leaves the country for several years--gets on--remembers the old love, and returns to fulfil his vows. it happens that on the day of his return the loved one dies. he is on his way to her house in the dusk of eve when he meets an old man, who tells him that he is going on a bootless errand--he will find a dead corpse for the warm living heart he expected. the stranger, however, pitying his distress, tells him there is a remedy--hands to the lover certain pills, and says, "if you will give her these, she will recover." so it turned out, and they were happily married. a certain visitor at the house, however, "a very eminent christian," refused to salute the lady with the usual courtesies. he takes the husband aside, "and tells him that he was very much persuaded his wife was a devil, and indeed he could not salute her; and after some discourse prevailed so far with him as to follow his advice, which was to go with her and take her to that room where he found her, and lay her down upon the bed where he found her, and quit her of a devil. which he did, and immediately she became a dead corpse half consumed." "this had need," says cautious wodrow, "to be weel attested, and i have writ to mr reid anent it." curiosity urged me to look for and find among wodrow's manuscripts mr reid's answer. he says he often heard the story from his father as a truth, but had been unaccountably negligent in noting the particulars of it; and then he favours his correspondent with some special providences anent himself, which appear not to have been sufficiently pungent for wodrow's taste. a philosophical investigator of the established national superstitions would find excellent types of all of them in the analecta. in the department of second-sight, for instance, restricted, with due observance to geographical propriety, within the highland line, a guest disturbs a convivial meeting at blair-athol by exclaiming that he beholds a dirk sticking in the breast of their entertainer. that night he is stabbed to the heart; and even while the seer beheld the visionary dagger, a bare-legged gilly was watching outside to execute a long-cherished highland vengeance. the marquess of argyle, who was afterwards beheaded, was playing with some of his clan at bowls, or bullets, as wodrow calls them, for he was not learned in the nomenclature of vain recreations. "one of the players, when the marquess stooped down to lift the bullet, fell pale, and said to them about him, 'bless me! what is that i see?--my lord with the head off, and all his shoulders full of blood.'" in the department of fairy tricks, the infant of thomas paton, "a very eminent christian," in its first use of speech, rattles out a volley of terrific oaths, then eats two cheeses, and attempts to cut its brother's throat. this was surely sufficient evidence to satisfy the most sceptical that it was a changeling, even had it not, as the result of certain well-applied prayers, "left the house with an extraordinary howling and crying." ghost and witch stories abound. the following is selected on account of the eminence of its hero, gilbert rule, the founder and first principal of the university of edinburgh: he was travelling on the dreary road across the grampians, called the cairn o' mont, on which stood a lone desolate inn. it has now disappeared, but i remember it in its dreary old age, standing alone on the moor, with its grim gables and its loupin'-on stane,--just the sort of place where, in the romances, the horrified traveller used to observe a trap-door in his bedroom floor, and at supper picked the finger of a murdered man out of a mutton-pie. there rule arrived late at night seeking accommodation, but he could get none--the house was crammed. the only alternative was to make a bed for him in an empty house close by; it had been unoccupied for thirty years, and had a bad repute. he had to sleep there alone, for his servant would not go with him. let wodrow himself tell what came to pass. "he walked some time in the room, and committed himself to god's protection, and went to bed. there were two candles left on the table, and these he put out. there was a large bright fire remaining. he had not been long in bed till the room door is opened, and an apparition, in shape of a country tradesman, came in and opened the curtains without speaking a word. mr rule was resolved to do nothing till it should speak or attack him, but lay still with full composure, committing himself to the divine protection and conduct. the apparition went to the table, lighted the two candles, brought them to the bedside, and made some steps toward the door, looking still to the bed, as if he would have mr rule rising and following. mr rule still lay still, till he should see his way further cleared. then the apparition, who the whole time spoke none, took an effectual way to raise the doctor. he carried back the candles to the table, and went to the fire, and with the tongs took down the kindled coals, and laid them on the deal chamber floor. the doctor then thought it time to rise and put on his clothes, in the time of which the spectre laid up the coals again in the chimney, and, going to the table, lifted the candles and went to the door, opened it, still looking to the principal as he would have him following the candles, which he now, thinking there was something extraordinary in the case, after looking to god for direction, inclined to do. the apparition went down some steps with the candles, and carried them into a long trance, at the end of which there was a stair which carried down to a low room. this the spectre went down, and stooped, and set down the lights on the lowest step of the stair, and straight disappears." the learned principal, whose courage and coolness deserve the highest commendation, lighted himself back to bed with the candles, and took the remainder of his rest undisturbed. being a man of great sagacity, on ruminating over his adventure, he informed the sheriff of the county "that he was much of the mind there was murder in the case." the stone whereon the candles were placed was raised, and there "the plain remains of a human body were found, and bones, to the conviction of all." it was supposed to be an old affair, however, and no traces could be got of the murderer. rule undertook the functions of the detective, and pressed into the service the influence of his own profession. he preached a great sermon on the occasion, to which all the neighbouring people were summoned; and behold, "in the time of his sermon, an old man near eighty years was awakened, and fell a-weeping, and before all the whole company acknowledged that, at the building of that house, he was the murderer." in wodrow's note-book the devil often cuts a humiliating figure, and is treated with a deal of rude and boisterous jeering. a certain "exercised christian," probably during a fit of indigestion, was subjected to a heavy wrestling with doubts and irreconcilable difficulties, which raised in his mind horrible suggestions. the devil took occasion to put in a word or two for the purpose of increasing the confusion, but it had the directly opposite effect, and called forth the remark that, "on the whole the devil is a great fool, and outshoots himself oft when he thinks he has poor believers on the haunch." on another occasion the devil performed a function of a very unusual kind, one would think. he is known to quote scripture for his purposes, but who ever before heard of his writing a sermon--and, as it seems, a sound and orthodox one? there was, it appears, a youth in the university of st andrews, preparing to undergo his trials as a licentiate, who had good reason to fear that he would be plucked. he found he could make nothing whatever of the trial sermon, and was wandering about by lonely ways, seeking in vain for inspiration. at last "there came up to him a stranger, in habit like a minister, in black coat and band, and who addressed the youth very courteously." he was mighty inquisitive, and at length wormed out the secret grief. "i have got a text from the presbytery. i cannot for my life compose a discourse on it, so i shall be affronted." the stranger replied--"sir, i am a minister; let me hear the text?" he told him. "oh, then, i have an excellent sermon on that text in my pocket, which you may peruse and commit to your memory. i engage, after you have delivered it before the presbytery, you will be greatly approven and applauded." the youth received it thankfully; but one good turn deserves another. the stranger had an eccentric fancy that he should have a written promise from the youth to do him afterwards any favour in his power; and there being no other liquid conveniently at hand for the signature of the document, a drop of the young man's blood was drawn for the purpose. note now what followed. "upon the presbytery day the youth delivered an excellent sermon upon the text appointed him, which pleased and amazed the presbytery to a degree; only mr blair smelt out something in it which made him call the youth aside to the corner of the church, and thus he began with him: 'sir, you have delivered a nate sermon, every way well pointed. the matter was profound, or rather sublime; your style was fine and your method clear; and, no doubt, young men at the beginning must make use of helps, which i doubt not you have done.' so beginning, blair, who was a man of mighty gifts and repute, pressed on so close with repeated questions that the awful truth at last came out." there was nothing for it but that the presbytery must engage in special exercise for the penitent youth. they prayed each in succession to no purpose, till it came to blair's turn. "in time of his prayer there came a violent rushing of wind upon the church--so great that they thought the church should have fallen down about their ears--and with that the youth's paper and covenant drops down from the roof of the church among the ministers." a large proportion of wodrow's special providences are performed for the benefit of the clergy, either to provide them with certain worldly necessaries of which they may happen to be in want, or to give effect to their pious indignation, or, as some might be tempted to call it, their vindictive spite, again those who revile them. perhaps an interdicted pastor, wandering over the desolate moors where he and his hunted flock seek refuge, is sorely impeded by some small want of the flesh, and gives expression to his wishes concerning it; when forthwith he is miraculously supplied with a shoulder of mutton or a pair of trousers, according to the nature of his necessities. he encounters ridicule or personal insult, and instantly the blasphemer is struck dead, or idiotic, or dumb, after the example of those who mocked elisha's bald head; and wodrow generally winds up these judgments with an appropriate admonitory text, as, for instance, "touch not his anointed, and do his prophets no harm." as the persons for whom these special miracles are performed generally happen to be sorely beset by worldly privations and dangers, which are at their climax at the very time when they are able to call in supernatural intervention, a logician might be inclined to ask why, if the operations, and, as it were, the very motives, of the deity are examined in respect of those events which are propitious to his favourite, they should not also be examined with the same critical pertinacity as to the greatly predominating collection of events which are decidedly unpropitious to him, so as to bring out the reason why the simpler course of saving him from all hardships and persecution had not been followed, instead of the circuitous plan of launching heavy calamities against him, and then issuing special miraculous powers to save him from a small portion of these calamities. but such logic would probably be unprofitably bestowed, and it is wiser to take the narratives as they stand and make the best use of them. whoever looks at them with a cold scientific eye, will at once be struck by the close analogy of wodrow's vaticinations and miracles to those of other times and places, and especially to those credited to the saints of the early catholic church, to which many of them, indeed, bear a wonderfully exact resemblance. the early northern saints. carried on by the power of association, we are thus brought to the door of an exceedingly interesting department of book-club literature,--the restoration of the true text of the early lives of the saints--a species of literature now recognised and separated from others by the title of hagiology. everybody knows, or ought to know, that the great library of this kind of literature, published by the bollandists, begins with the beginning of the year, and gives the life of each saint successively according to his day in the calendar. ignorance is more excusable on the question what constitutes saintship, and, supposing you to have found your saint, on the criterion by which the day of his festival should be adjusted in the calendar. technically, to make a saint, there should be an act of pontifical jurisdiction, all the more solemn than any secular judicial act as the interests affected are more momentous; but only a small number of the saints stand on record in the proceedings of the vatican. in fact, the great body of them were in the enjoyment of their honours hundreds of years before the certifying process was adopted, and to investigate all their credentials was far too weighty a task to be attempted. it is taken for granted that they have been canonised, and if it be difficult to prove that they have gone through this ceremony, they hold their ground through the still greater difficulty of proving that they have not. some of those whose sanctity is established by this kind of acclamation are so illustrious, that it would be ludicrous to suppose even the vatican capable of adding to their eminence--more so, to imagine any process by which they could be unsanctified; such are st patrick, st george, and st kentigern. but there is a vast crowd of village or parochial saints firmly established within their own narrow circles, but as unknown at the court of rome as any obscure curate working in some distant valley, or among the poor of some great city. in such a crowd there will naturally be questionable personages. st valentine, st fiacre, st boniface, st lupus, st maccesso, st bobbio, st fursy, and st jingo, have names not endowed with a very sanctimonious sound, but they are well-established respectable saints. even alban butler, however, has hard work in giving credit to st longinus, st quirinus, st mercurius, st hermes, st virgil, st plutarch, and st bacchus. it is the occurrence of such names that makes moreri speak of the bollandist selection as rather loose, since it contains "vies des saintes bonnes, médiocres, mauvaises, vrayes, douteuses, et fausses." the saint's festival-day is generally the anniversary of his death, or "deposition," as it is technically termed; but this is by no means an absolute rule. few compilers deserve more sympathy than those who try to adjust saints' days by rule and chronology, since not only does one saint differ from another in the way in which his feast is established, but for the same saint there are different days in different countries, and even in different ecclesiastical districts--the diocese of paris having, for instance, some special saints' days of its own, which differ from the practice throughout the rest of catholic christendom. some saints, too, have been shifted about from day to day by authority. queen margaret of scotland, the wife of malcolm, whose real source of influence was that she represented the old saxon line of england, had two great days,--that of her deposition on july the th, and that of her translation on july the th; but, by a papal ordinance immediately after the revolution, her festival was established upon the th of june. this was rather a remarkable day in britain, being that on which the poor infant son of the last of the jameses, afterwards known in parliamentary language as the pretender, was born. the adjustment of queen margaret's day to that event was a stroke of policy for the purpose of rendering the poor child respectable, and removing all doubts about warming-pans and other disagreeables; but it is not known that the measure exercised the slightest influence on the british parliament. bollandus, who was the first seriously to lay his hand to the great work called after him, was a belgian jesuit. he had got through january and february in five folio volumes, when he died in . under the auspices of his successor, daniel papebroch, march appeared in and april in , each in three volumes. so the great work crept on day by day and year by year, absorbing the whole lives of many devoted labourers, conspicuous among whom are the unmelodious names of peter bosch, john stilting, constantine suyskhen, urban sticken, cornelius bye, james bue, and ignacius hubens. in , a hundred and four years after january, september was completed. it filled eight volumes, for the work accumulated like a snow-ball as it rolled, each month being larger than its predecessor. here the ordinary copies stop in forty-seven volumes, for the evil days of the jesuits were coming on, and the new literary oligarchy, where voltaire, montesquieu, and d'alembert held sway, had not been propitious to hagiology. a part of october was accomplished under the auspices of maria theresa, the empress queen, but for some reason or other it came within the category of rare books, and was not to be easily obtained until it was lately reprinted. whatever effect such a phenomenon may have on some denominations of the religious world, it can afford nothing but pure satisfaction to all historical investigators to know that this great work has been resumed in this middle of the nineteenth century. i have before me the ninth volume for october, embracing the twentieth and twenty-first days of that month, and containing about as much matter as the five volumes of macaulay's history. on the st of october there is, to be sure, a very heavy job to be got through in st ursula and her eleven thousand virgins, whose bones may be seen in musty presses in the church of the ursulines in cologne; but still as it moves forward, it is evident that the mighty work continues to enlarge its proportions. the winter is coming on too, a period crowded with the memorials of departed saints, as being unpropitious to men of highly ascetic habits, so that those who have undertaken the completion of the bollandist enterprise have their work before them. there is a marvellous uniformity in all the arrangements of this array of volumes which have thus appeared at intervals throughout two centuries. they dealt with matter too sublimely separated from the temporal doings of men to be affected by political events, yet could they not entirely escape some slight touches from the convulsions that had recast the whole order and conditions of society. when october was begun, belgium, where the work is published, was attached to the austrian empire, and the french revolution had not yet come. the jesuits, though not favourites among monarchs, profess a decorous loyalty, and the earlier volumes of the month have portraits of the empress queen, and others of the imperial family, in the most elaborate court costume of the days before the revolution; while the later volumes, still loyal, are illustrated by the family circle of the protestant king of constitutional belgium, whose good-natured face and plain broad-cloth coat are those doubtless of the right man, though one cannot help imagining that he feels himself somehow in the wrong place. the crowds of saints who come sometimes swarming in on a single day to these teeming volumes, give one an almost oppressive notion of the quantity of goodness that must have, after all, existed in this wicked world. the labours of the bollandists, not only in searching through all available literature, but in a special correspondence established with their jesuit brethren throughout the world, are absolutely astounding. their conscientious minuteness is wonderful; and many a one who thinks he is master of the ecclesiastical lore of his own parish, which he has made his specialty, has been petrified to find what he thought his discoveries all laid down with careful precision as matters of ordinary knowledge in some corner of these mighty volumes. the bollandists obtained their information from the spot, and it is on the spot that this kind of literature must be worked out. a thoroughly accomplished antiquary, working within a limited district, will thus bring forth more full and satisfactory results, so far as they go, than even the bollandists have achieved, and hence the great value of the services of the book clubs to hagiology. the writer of the letters bearing the signature "veritas," in all the newspapers, would, of course, specially object to the resuscitation of this class of literature, "because it is full of fabulous accounts of miracles and other supernatural events which can only minister to credulity and superstition." but even in the extent and character of this very element there is a great significance. the size of a current falsehood is the measure of the size of the human belief that has swallowed it, and is a component part of the history of man. the best critical writers on ancient history have agreed not to throw away the cosmogony and the hierology of greece. it is part of grecian history that the creed of the people was filled with a love of embodied fancies, so graceful and luxuriant. no less are the revel rout of valhalla part of the virtual history of the scandinavian tribes. but the lives of our saints, independently altogether of the momentous change in human affairs and prospects which they ushered in, have a substantial hold on history, of which neither the classical nor the northern hierology can boast. poseidon and aphrodite, odin and freya, vanish into the indefinite and undiscoverable at the approach of historical criticism. but separately altogether from their miracles, cuthbert and ninian, columba and kentigern, had actual existences. we know when they lived and when they died. the closer that historical criticism dogs their steps, the clearer it sees them, and the more it knows about their actual lives and ways. even if they were not the missionaries who introduced christianity among us,--as men who, in the old days before britain became populous and affluent in the fruits of advanced civilisation, trod the soil that we tread, it would be interesting to know about them--about the habitations they lodged in, the garments they wore, the food they ate, the language they spoke, their method of social intercourse among each other, and the sort of government under which they lived. that by investigation and critical inquiry we can know more of these things than our ancestors of centuries past could know, is still a notion comparatively new which has not been popularly realised. the classic literature in which our early training lies has nothing in it to show us the power of historical inquiry, and much to make us slight it. the romans, instead of improving on the greeks, fell in this respect behind them. father herodotus, credulous as he was, was a better antiquary than any who wrote in latin before the revival of letters. occupied entirely with the glory of their conquests, and blind to the future which their selfish tyranny was preparing for them, the romans were equally thoughtless of the past, unless it were exaggerated and falsified into a narrative to aggrandise their own glory. their authors abdicated the duty of leaving to the world the true narrative of the early struggles and achievements out of which the republic and the empire arose. it is easy to be sceptical at any time. we can cut away romulus and remus from accepted history now, hundreds of years after the empire has ceased to govern or exist. but the golden opportunity for sifting the genuine out of the fabulous has long passed away. it is seldom possible to construct the infant histories of departed nationalities. the difference between the facilities which a nation has for finding out its own early history, and those which strangers have for constructing it when the nationality has allowed its deathbed to pass over without the performance of that patriotic task, is nearly as great as a man's own facilities for writing the history of his youth, and those of the biographer who makes inquiries about him after he is buried. we are becoming wiser than the romans in this as in other matters, and are constructing the infant histories of the various european nations out of the materials which each possesses. the biographies of those saints or missionaries who first diffused the light of the gospel among the various communities of the christian north, form a very large element in these materials; and no wonder, when we remember that the church possessed all the literature, such as it was, of the age. in applying, however, to the british empire, this new source of historical information, there arose the difficulty that it was chiefly supplied from ireland. if all hagiology were under a general suspicion of the fabulous, irish history was known to be a luxuriant preserve of fables, and these causes of dubiety being multiplied by each other in the mind, it seemed almost impossible to obtain a hearing for the new voice. in fact, during a long period the three nations were engaged in a competition which should carry its history through the longest track of fictitious glory, and this was a kind of work in which ireland beat her neighbours entirely. hence, when all were pressing pretty close upon the deluge, ireland took the leap at once and cleared that gulf. as a fairish record of these successful efforts, i would recommend to the reader's notice a very well-conditioned and truly learned-looking folio volume, called "the general history of ireland, collected by the learned jeffrey keating, d.d., faithfully translated from the original irish language, with many curious amendments taken from the psalters of tara and cashel, with other authentic records, by dermod o'connor, antiquary to the kingdom of ireland." opposite to the title-page is a full-length portrait of brian boroomh, whose fame has been increased of late years by the achievements of his descendant in the cabbage-garden. the monarch is in full burnished plate armour, with scarf and surcoat--all three centuries at least later in fashion than the era attributed to him. but that is a trifle. it would involve much hard and useless work to make war on the anachronisms of historical portraits, and we are not to judge of historical works by their engraved decorations. here, however, the picture is sober truth itself to what the inquiring reader finds in the typography. after the descriptive geographical introduction common in old histories, the real commencement comes upon us in this form:-- "of the first invasion of ireland before the flood!" "various," the author tells us, "are the opinions concerning the first mortal that set a foot upon this island. we are told by some that three of the daughters of cain arrived here, several hundred years before the deluge. the white book, which in the irish is called leabhar dhroma sneachta, informs us that the oldest of these daughters was called banba, and gave a name to the whole kingdom. after these, we are told that three men and fifty women arrived in the island; one of them was called ladhra, from whom was derived the name of ardladhan. these people lived forty years in the country, and at last they all died of a certain distemper in a week's time. from their death, it is said that the island was uninhabited for the space of an hundred years, till the world was drowned. we are told that the first who set foot upon the island were three fishermen that were driven thither by a storm from the coast of spain. they were pleased with the discovery they had made, and resolved to settle in the country; but they agreed first to go back for their wives, and in their return were unfortunately drowned by the waters of the deluge at a place called tuath inbhir. the names of these three fishermen were capa, laighne, and luasat. others, again, are of opinion that ceasar, the daughter of bith, was the first that came into the island before the deluge.... when noah was building the ark to preserve himself and his family from the deluge, bith, the father of ceasar, sent to desire an apartment for him and his daughter, to save them from the approaching danger. noah, having no authority from heaven to receive them into the ark, denied his request. upon this repulse, bith fiontan, the husband of ceasar, and ladhra her brother, consulted among themselves what measures they should take in this extremity." the result was, that, like the laird of macnab, they "built a boat o' their ain," but on a much larger scale, being a fair match with the ark itself. but justice should be done to every one. the learned dr keating does not give us all this as veritable history; on the contrary, being of a sceptical turn of mind, he has courage enough to stem the national prejudice, and throw doubt on the narrative. he even rises up into something like eloquent scorn when he discusses the manner in which some antediluvian annals were said to be preserved. thus:-- "as for such of them who say that fiontan was drowned in the flood, and afterwards came to life, and lived to publish the antediluvian history of the island--what can they propose by such chimerical relations, but to amuse the ignorant with strange and romantic tales, to corrupt and perplex the original annals, and to raise a jealousy that no manner of credit is to be given to the true and authentic chronicles of that kingdom?" i shall quote no more until after the doctor, having exhausted his sceptical ingenuity about the antediluvian stories, finds himself again on firm ground, prepared to afford his readers, without any critical misgivings, "an account of the first inhabitants of ireland after the flood." he now tells us with simple and dignified brevity that "the kingdom of ireland lay waste and uninhabited for the space of three hundred years after the deluge, till partholanus, son of seara, son of sru, son of easru, son of framant, son of fathochda, son of magog, son of japhet, son of noah, arrived there with his people." from such a patriarchal nomenclature the reader of keating is suddenly introduced to a story of domestic scandal, in which a "footman" and a "favourite greyhound" make their frequent appearance. then follow many great epochs--the arrival of the firbolgs, the dynasty of the tuatha de danans, with revolutions and battles countless, before we come to the commencement of a settled dynasty of kings, of whom more than ninety reigned before the christian era. it is, after all, more sad than ridiculous to remember that within the present generation many historians believed not only what keating thus tells as truth, but also what he ventured to doubt; and if the english antiquaries, according to their wont, called for records,--did these not exist abundantly, if they could be got at, in those authentic genealogies, which were from time to time adjusted and collated with so much skill and scrupulous accuracy by the official antiquaries who met in the hall of tara? the reader unacquainted with such an out-of-the-way and rather weedy corner of literature, may think this vague exaggeration; and i shall finish it by quoting the latest printed, so far as i know, of the numerous solemn and methodical statements about the manner in which the records of these very distant matters were authenticated. "when the said princes got the kingdom into their hands, they assigned large territories to their antiquaries and their posterity to preserve their pedigree, exploits, actions, &c.; and so very strict they were on this point, that they established a triennial convention at tara, where the chief kings of ireland dwelt, where all the antiquaries of the nation met every third year to have their chronicles and antiquities examined before the king of ireland, the four provincial kings, the king's antiquary-royal, &c.; the least forgery in the antiquary was punished with death, and loss of estate to his posterity for ever--so very exact they were in preserving their venerable monuments, and leaving them to posterity truly and candidly; so that even at this day (though our nation lost estate and all almost) there is not an ancient name of ireland, of the blood-royal thereof descended, but we can bring, from father to father, from the present man in being to adam--and i, thaddy o'roddy, who wrote this, have written all the families of the milesian race from this present age to adam."[ ] [footnote : miscel. of irish arch. soc., i. .] to all this preposterous, and now scarcely credible extravagance of fiction, there attaches a melancholy political moral. poor ireland, trodden by a dominant party whose hand was strengthened by her potent neighbour, sought relief from the gloom of the present, by looking far back into the fabulous glories of the past--and it seemed the last drop in her cup of bitterness when this pleasant vista was also to be closed by the hard utilitarian hand of the unsympathising saxon. after "this sort of thing" it was naturally difficult to get sensible men to listen to proposals for opening valuable new sources of early history in ireland. in fact, down to the time when moore wrote his history in , no one could venture to look another in the face when speaking of the early irish annals, and the consequence was that that accomplished author wilfully shut his eyes to the rich supply of historical materials in which he might have worked to brilliant effect. yet, upon the general face of history, it must on examination have been fairly seen that ireland is the natural place where a great proportion of whatever is to be known about the primitive church in the british islands was to be found. indeed, in the history of christianity, not the least wonderful chapter contains the episode of the repose in the west, where a portion of the church, having settled down, grew up in calm obscurity, protected by distance from the desolating contest which was breaking up the empire of the world, and raged more or less wherever the roman sway had penetrated. of the southern britons it could no longer be said, as in the days of augustus, that they were cut off from all the world. england was an integral part of the empire, where, if the proconsul or legionary commander had not the hot sun and blue sky of italy, there were partial compensations in the bracing air which renewed his wasted strength, the new and peculiar luxuries in the shape of shellfish and wildfowl that enriched his table, and the facilities which his insular authority afforded him for strengthening his political position, and plotting for a fragment of the disintegrating empire. an admiral of the roman fleet had at one time established his power in britain, where he set up as cæsar, and sought to create a new imperial centre. thus the southern part of britain was a province of the true roman empire awaiting the coming of the wild hordes who were gathering for the general overthrow, and was not the place where either the christian church or italian civilisation could find permanent refuge. the destined destroyer was indeed close at hand. though the romans had their walls, their roads, their forts, and even a few villas in scotland, yet one going northward at that time through the territories of the gadeni and the otadeni, would observe the romanised character of the country gradually decreasing, until he found himself among those rough independent northern tribes, who, under the name of picts and scots, drove the romanised britons into the sea, and did for the insular portion of the empire what the hordes who were called goths, franks, and alemanni, were doing in the roman provinces of the continent. behind the scene of this destructive contest, christianity, having been planted, flourished in peaceful poverty. it grew here and there over ireland, and in a small portion of the remote part of scotland; and the distance from the scene of warfare necessary for its safety is shown by the fate of st ninian's little church in the mull of galloway. it was too near the field of strife to live. the isolation in which the western christians thus arose, was productive of ecclesiastical conditions very remarkable in themselves, but perfectly natural as the effects of their peculiar causes. the admirable organisation for carrying out the civil government of the roman empire, was a ready-made hierarchy for carrying out the ecclesiastical supremacy of the bishop of rome. it was far from the object of those who seized on the power of the cæsars to abolish that power. on the contrary, they desired to work it on their own account, and thus the machinery of the empire lived, exercising more or less vitality and power, down to the first french revolution. no part of its civil organisation, however, retained the comprehensive vitality which the learning and subtlety of the priesthood enabled them to preserve, or rather restore, to its spiritual branch. hence, wherever the conquerors of rome held sway, there the priests of rome obtained a sway also. but the one little fragment of the primitive church, which had been so curiously cut off during the great contest, was beyond the sway of the conquerors of rome, as it had been beyond the sway of the emperors themselves. hence, while the church, as united to rome, grew up in one great uniform hierarchy, the small, isolated church in the west grew up with different usages and characteristics; and when afterwards those who followed them were charged with schism, they asserted that they had their canons and usages directly from the apostles, from whom they had obtained the gospel and the regulations of the church pure and undefiled. thus arose the renowned contest between the early scottish church and the rest of christendom about the proper period of observing easter, and about the form of the tonsure. hence, too, arose the debates about the peculiar discipline of the communities called culdees, who, having to frame their own system of church government for themselves, humble, poor, and isolated as they were, constructed it after a different fashion from the potent hierarchy of rome. the history of these corporations possesses extreme interest, even to those who follow it without a predetermined design to identify every feature of their arrangements with a modern english diocese, or with a modern scottish presbytery; and not the least interesting portion of this history is its conclusion, in the final absorption, not without a struggle, of these isolated communities within the expanding hierarchy of the popes. in a few humble architectural remains, these primitive bodies have left vestiges of their peculiar character to the present day. neither deriving the form of their buildings nor their other observances from rome, they failed to enter with the rest of the church on that course of construction which led towards gothic architecture. the earliest christian churches on the continent were constructed on the plan of the roman basilica, or court of justice, and wherever the church of rome spread, this method of construction went with her. the oldest style of church-building--that which used to be called saxon, and is now sometimes termed norman, and sometimes romanesque--degenerated directly from the architecture of rome. there are ecclesiastical buildings in france and italy, of which it might fairly be debated, from their style, whether they were built by the latest of the classical, or the earliest of the gothic architects. the little church in the west had not the benefit of such models. places of worship, and cells, or oratories, were built of timber, turf, or osiers. the biographer of columba describes his followers as collecting wattles for the construction of their first edifice. but they had also a few humble dwellings of stone, which, naturally enough, had no more resemblance to the proud fanes of the romish hierarchy, than the primitive edifices of mexico and new zealand had to those of modern europe. they were first found in ireland; more lately, they have been traced in the western isles. they are small rude domes of rough stone; and if it may seem strange that the form adapted to the grandest of all architectural achievements should be accomplished by those rude masons who could not make a roman arch, it must be remembered, that while the arch cannot be constructed without artificial support or scaffolding, a dome on a small scale may, and is indeed the form to which rude artists, with rude stones, and no other materials, would naturally be driven. it is that in which boys build their snow-houses. i shall not easily forget how, once, accompanying a piscatorial friend on the loch of curran, near ballyskelligs, in kerry, i stepped on a small island to visit a norman ruin there, and saw, besides the ruin and a stone cross, one of these small rough domes, testifying, by its venerable simplicity, that it had stood there centuries before the norman church beside it. but the peculiar characteristics of the architecture of the west did not stop short with these simple types. it advanced, carrying in its advance its own significant character, until it became mingled with the architecture propagated from rome, as the christian community which worshipped within the buildings became absorbed in the hierarchy. the oratory of galerus, in kerry, is a piece of solid, well-conditioned masonry, built after a plan of no mean symmetry and proportion, yet with scarcely a feature in common with the early christian churches of the rest of europe. like the ruder specimens, it struggles for as much solidity and spaciousness as it can obtain in stonework without the help of the arch, and it makes a good deal out of the old egyptian plan of gradually narrowing the courses of stones inwards, until they come so near that large slabs of stone can be thrown across the opening. some buildings of the same sort have been lately revealed in the island of lewis: one is named teampul rona, and another, which is dedicated to st flannan, teampul beannachadh.[ ] the specialty of both these, as well as of the irish buildings, is that they are edifices beyond all question raised for christian worship, that they have been built with pains and skill, and yet that they have no vestige of that earlier type of christian architecture which europe in general obtained from rome. [footnote : see mr muir's very curious volume on "characteristics of old church architecture in the mainland and western islands of scotland."] in offering a few stray remarks on the lives of the saints, or, more properly speaking, the missionaries, whose labours lay in the british isles, it would be pedantic to cite the precise document, printed generally for one or other of the book clubs, which supplies the authority for each sentence. i must, however, mention one authority which stands supreme among its brethren--the edition of adamnan's life of st columba, edited by dr reeves, under the joint patronage of the irish archæological and the bannatyne clubs. the original work has long been accepted as throwing a light on the christianising of the north, second only to that shed by the invaluable morsels in bede. with wonderful industry and learning, the editor has incorporated the small book of adamnan in a mass of new matter, every word of which is equally instructive and interesting to the student. there is no doubt that the saints of irish origin supply by far the more important portion of our hagiology. they are countless. taking merely a topographical estimate of them--looking, that is, to the names of places which have been dedicated to them, or otherwise bear their names--we find them crowding ireland, and swarming over the highlands of scotland and the north of england into london itself, where st bride's well has given a gloomy perpetuity to the name of the first and greatest of irish female saints. some people would be content to attribute the frequentness of saintship among the irish and the highlanders to the opportunities enjoyed by them in consequence of the early church having found a refuge in ireland. others would attribute the phenomenon to the extreme susceptibility of the celtic race to religious enthusiasm, and would illustrate their views by referring to the present celtic population in ireland under the dominion of the priests, and their brethren of the west of scotland equally under the dominion of the doctrinal antipodes of the priests; while the parallel might be illustrated by a reference to those highland franciscans called "the men," whose belcher neckcloths represent the cord, and their kilmarnock bonnets the cowl. at the commencement of christianity the difference between the religious celt and the religious saxon was naturally far more conspicuous than it is now. bede's description of the thoughtful calmness with which ethelbert studied the preaching of augustin, with all the consequences which the adoption of the new creed must bring upon his kingdom, is still eminently characteristic of the saxon nature. in the life of st wilbrord a scene is described which is not easily alluded to with due reverence. the saint had prevailed on a frisian prince to acknowledge christianity, and be baptised. standing by the font, with one foot in the water, a misgiving seized on him, and he inquired touching his ancestors, whether the greater number of them were in the regions of the blessed, or in those of the spirits doomed to everlasting perdition. on being abruptly told by the honest saint that they were all, without exception, in the latter region, he withdrew his foot--he would not desert his race--he would go to the place where he would find his dead ancestors. the conversion of the picts by columba seems to have proceeded deliberately. we find him, in the narrative of his life, exercising much influence on brud their king, and occasionally enjoying a visit to the royal lodge on the pleasant banks of lochness. there he is seen commending his friend and fellow-labourer st cormac to the good offices of the regulus of the orkney islands, who is also at the court of brud, to whom he owes something akin to allegiance; for columba looks to brud as well as to the orcadian guest for the proper attention being paid to cormac. still, honoured and respected as he is in the court of the pictish monarch, columba is not that omnipotent person which he finds himself to be in dalriada and in ireland. there still sits an unpleasant personage at the king's gate. a magus, as he is called--a priest of the old heathen religion--is in fact well received at court, where, although doomed to be superseded by the christian missionary, he yet seems to have been retained by the king, as a sort of protest that he had not put himself entirely under the control of the priests of the new doctrine. it was indeed among their own people, the celts of ireland and of the irish colony in the west of scotland, that the reign of these saints was absolute. but if we count this ecclesiastical influence a feature of the celtic nation, either the welsh must not be counted as celts, or they must be looked on as exceptions from this spiritual dominion. they were the people among whom, of all the tribes who inhabited britain between the days of julius cæsar and those of william of normandy, it might have been primarily expected that we would find the most vital christianity and the greatest missionary force. they professed to have carried with them into their mountains the traditions and the nationality of that very important portion of the christianised roman empire which was called britannia. when the heart of the empire became paralysed, this branch, doubtless after a long harassing contest with the picts and the irish of the north, was broken, and partly subjected, partly driven away by the saxons. that they should have failed, through all their revolutions and calamities, to preserve any remnants of roman social habits, is not perhaps wonderful. but that they should have failed to preserve enough of christian influence to second and support the missions sent to the saxons, so soon after these had superseded the british power, looks like an exception to the usual rule of christian progress. the welsh antiquaries, through meritorious efforts, strive in vain to establish the existence of welsh ecclesiarchs during the time when the countless saints of ireland were swarming over scotland and penetrating into england. they point to a stone said to commemorate a victory gained over the picts and the saxons by the britons, not through their courage or their skill in fight, but by the halleluiahs raised by two saints who were present in their host. these saints, however, garmon and lupus, were, as bede tells us, frenchmen, missionaries from the gallican church to correct the errors of the britons. the venerable bede scolds these britons roundly for not having kept up the faith planted among them, and for not having been prepared to help augustin and his followers in the very hard task of converting the saxons. it is a pity that we do not know something more of roman christianity, and indeed of roman civilisation generally in britain, before the saxon days. there appears to have been among the romanised british christians little zeal and a good deal of controversy and dissent, and we hear a great deal more of the influence of the pelagian heresy among them than of the influence of christianity itself. the scantiness of our acquaintance with roman christianity in britain is the more to be regretted, because it would have been very interesting to compare its manifestations with those of the church which found refuge in the west during the dark days of rome--the days when the temporal empire was crushed, and the spiritual empire had not arisen. as we might expect from the ecclesiastical conditions already noticed, the persons who first exercise ecclesiastical authority in the two islands did not derive their strength from any foreign hierarchy, and had no connection with rome. any reference, indeed, to the influence of a roman pontiff, either actual or prospective, in the life of any of our early saints, will prepare the critic for finding that the life has been written centuries after the era of the saint, or has been tampered with. in adamnan's life of columba, rome is mentioned once or twice as a very great city, but there is no allusion throughout that remarkable biography to any spiritual central authority exercised by the bishop there over the presbyters in scotland and ireland. this is, of course, nothing more than the statement of what the reader of a book has not found in it. any other reader may find allusions to the supremacy of the popedom over these early christian communities, if he can. but i think he is likely to find none; and any one who desires to study the real history of the rise and progress of the spiritual dominion of rome would, with more profit, take up the books and records referring to events three or four hundred years after the age of columba. self-sustained as they were, these isolated communities had a very strong vitality. the picture exhibited in the hagiographies is truly the reign of the saints. their power was of an immediate, abrupt, and purely despotic kind, which would have been neutralised or weakened by anything like a central control. prompt and blind obedience to the commands of the saint-superior was the rule of hy or iona, and of all the other religious communities of the west. perhaps there were even here feuds, disputes, and mutinies of which no record has been preserved. the hagiographer can only commemorate those which were suppressed by some terrible manifestation of divine power, for the person whose life he commemorates is only conventionally and nominally to be spoken of as a mortal; he is in reality superhuman, wielding, whenever he pleases, the thunderbolts of the deity, annihilating dissent and disobedience to himself, as if it were blasphemy in the deity's own presence, and crushing by an immediate miracle any effort to oppose his will, were it even about the proper hour of setting off on a journey, or the dinner to be ordered for the day. the rank which those primitive clergy of ireland and the highlands occupy is almost invariably that of the saint, a rank as far separated from that which can be conferred by any human hierarchy as heaven is from earth. they were, as we have seen, independent of rome from the beginning, and this great host of saints had lived and left their biographies to the world long before the system of judicial canonisation. how a boundary is professed to be drawn between the genuine and the false among these saints of the north, cannot be easily understood. no one seems to object to any of them as spurious. many of them are so very obscure that only faint and fragmentary traces of them can be found, yet it seems never to be questioned that they occupied the transcendent spiritual rank usually attributed to them. of others nothing is known but the bare name, yet it is never doubted that the owner was entitled to his attribute of saint. the brethren at iona seem sometimes to have lived well, for we hear of the killing of heifers and oxen. a pragmatical fellow declines to participate in the meal permitted on the occasion of a relaxation of discipline--the saint tells him that since he refuses good meat at a time when he is permitted to have it, it is to be his doom to be one of a band of robbers who will be glad to appease their hunger on putrid horse-flesh. the ruling spirit, however, of this first christian mission, as we find it recorded, is undoubtedly asceticism. the mortification of the flesh is the temporal source of spiritual power. some incidents occur which put this spirit in a shape bordering on the ludicrous. a saint is at a loss to know how his power is waning. there is some mysterious countervailing influence acting against him, which manifests itself in the continued success of an irreverent king or chief, whom he thought he had taken the proper spiritual methods to humble. he at last discovers the mystery; the king had been _fasting_ against him--entering the field of asceticism with him, in short, and not without success. the biography of an asiatic despot, so far as other persons are concerned, is merely the history of his commands and their obedience. it is only incidentally, therefore, that one is likely to acquire any information from it about the people over whom he rules. in like manner, the life of an irish saint is the history of commanding and obeying; yet a few glimpses of social life may be caught through occasional chinks. the relation which the spiritual held towards the temporal powers is sufficiently developed to give ground for considerable inquiry and criticism. the more eminent of the saints had great influence in state affairs, ruling in some measure the monarchs themselves. some monarch is occasionally mentioned as the friend of columba, much as a bishop might allude to this or that lay lord as among his personal friends. we find him settling the succession of aidan, the king of the dalriadic scots, through an influence to which any opposition was utterly hopeless. send your sons to me, he says to aidan, and god will show me who is to be your successor. the sign falls on eochoid buidh, and the saint tells the king that all his other sons will come to a premature end, and they drop off accordingly, chiefly in battle. this power of fixing the evil eye, of prophesying death, is found in perpetual use among the early saints. it is their ultimate appeal in strife and contest, and their instrument of vengeance when thwarted or affronted; and a terrible instrument it must have been. who could gainsay those believed to hold in their hands the issues of life and death? in our conception of the kings with whom these saints were familiar, it may be well not to be misled by words. we shall realise them better at the present day by looking to madagascar or the marquesas islands than among the states of europe. the palace was a shanty of log or wattle, protected, perhaps, by a rampart of earth or uncemented stones, and the king had a stone chair with a few mystic decorations scratched on it, which served for his throne on state occasions. the prospect of acquiring a gold torque or a silver drinking-cup would have a material influence over his imperial policy. were we to believe the fabulous historians, ireland was for centuries a compact kingdom under one imperial sovereign, who presided over subsidiary rulers in the provinces. but although sometimes one provincial king was powerful enough to keep the others in subjection, old celtic ireland never was a kingdom, properly speaking, for it never had a nationality. some people maintain, not without reason, that the facility with which a nationality resolves itself into existence depends much, not only on race, but on geological conditions. the celtic irish seem to have always been too busy with local feuds and rivalries to achieve any broad nationality. and the nature of their country--a vast plain intersected by morasses and rivers, and here and there edged with mountain ranges--is unfavourable to the growth of a nationality, since it presents no general centre of defence against a foreign enemy, like that great central range of mountains in scotland, which columba's biographers call the dorsum britanniæ--the backbone of britain. ireland, indeed, seems to have had no conception of a nationality until such a thing was suggested by the normans and the saxons, after they had been long enough there to feel patriotic. and so it has generally happened that any alarming outbreaks against the imperial government have been led by people of norman or saxon descent. still there is no doubt, difficult as it may be to realise the idea, that at the times with which we are dealing, ireland enjoyed a kind of civilisation, which enabled its princes and its priests to look down on pictland, and even on saxon england, as barbarian. the roman dominion had not penetrated among them, but the very remoteness which kept the island beyond the boundaries of the empire, also kept it beyond the range of the destroyers of the empire, and made it in reality the repository of the vestiges of imperial civilisation in the north. perhaps the difference between the two grades of civilisation might be about the same as we could have found ten years ago between tahiti and new zealand. an extensive and minute genealogical ramification, when it is authentic, is a condition of a pretty far advanced state of civilisation. abandoning the old fabulous genealogies which went back among the biblical patriarchs, the rigid antiquaries of ireland find their way through authentic sources to genealogical connections of a truly marvellous extent. such illustrious men as the saints can, of course, be easily traced, as all were proud to establish connection with them; while columba himself and several others were men of royal descent. but of the casual persons mentioned in the life of columba, dr reeves hunts out the genealogy--fully as successfully, one would say, as that of any person of the country-gentleman class in britain, living at the beginning of this century, could be established. there are, indeed, many characteristics in the hagiologic literature bearing an analogy to modern social habits so close as to be almost ludicrous; and it is not easy to deal with these conditions of a very distant age, brought to us as they are through the vehicle of a language which is neither classical nor vernacular, but conventional--the corrupt latin in which the biographers of the saints found it convenient to write. it would appear that when he was in ireland, st columba kept his carriage, and the loss of the lynch-pin on one occasion is connected with a notable miracle. dr reeves, as appropriate to this, remarks that "the memoirs of st patrick in the book of armagh make frequent mention of his chariot, and even name his driver." it is difficult to suppose such a vehicle ever becoming available in iona; but there columba seems to have been provided with abundance of vessels, and he could send for a friend, in the way in which macgillicallum's "carriage," in the form of a boat, was sent for johnson and boswell. there are many other things in these books which have a sound more familiar to us than any sense which they really convey. here the saint blesses the store of a "homo plebeius cum uxore et filiis"--a poor man with a wife and family--a term expressively known in this day among all who have to deal with the condition of their fellow-men, from the chancellor of the exchequer to the relieving-officer. in the same chapter we are told "de quodam viro divite tenacissimo"--of a very hard-fisted rich fellow--a term thoroughly significant in civilised times. he is doomed, by the way, to become bankrupt, and fall into such poverty that his offspring will be found dead in a ditch--a fate also intelligible in the nineteenth century. in another place we have among the saint's suitors "plebeius pauperrimus, qui in ea habitabat regione quæ stagni litoribus aporici est contermina." the "stagnum aporicum" is lochaber; so here we have a pauper from the neighbourhood of lochaber--a designation which i take to be familiarly known at "the board of supervision for the relief of the poor in scotland." we are told, too, of the saint being at a plebeian feast, and of a plebeius in the island of raghery quarrelling with his wife. the thoughtful student will find a more distinguished analogy with the habits of later civilisation in the literature of these early churchmen. the subject of the introduction of letters into ireland, and the very early literature of that country, is too large to be handled here. it is certain that in columba's era, the middle of the sixth century, books were written and used in ireland. the respect paid to a book in that age was something beyond that of the most ardent book-hunter. many of the most exciting of the saintly miracles have for their end the preservation of a book in fire or in water. the custody of the book of armagh, containing st patrick's canons, was a great hereditary office; and the princely munificence which provided the book with a suitable case or shrine in the tenth century is recorded in irish history. besides their costly shrines already referred to, these books often had for an outer covering a bag or satchel, in which the sacred deposit was carried from place to place. the heart must be dead to all natural sensations that does not sympathise with dr reeves in the following triumphant announcement:-- "of leather cases the cover of the book of armagh is the most interesting example now remaining. it came, together with its inestimable enclosure, into the writer's possession at the end of , and is now lying before him. it is formed of a single piece of strong leather, inches long and broad, folded in such a way as to form a six-sided case inches long, - / broad, and - / thick, having a flap which doubles over in front, and is furnished with a rude lock and eight staples, admitted through perforations in the flap, for short iron rods to enter and meet at the lock. the whole outer surface, which has become perfectly black from age, is covered with figures and interlacings of the irish pattern in relief, which appear to have been produced by subjecting the leather, in a damp state, before it was folded, to pressure upon a block of the whole size, having a depressed pattern, and allowing it to remain until the impression became indelible." a pleasing peculiarity in the personal habits of these recluses is their frequent communion with birds and the gentler kind of beasts. their legendary histories speak of these animals as apt mediums of vaticination and miraculous intervention; but we must be content, in the present age, to suppose that their frequent appearance, their familiar intercourse with the saints, and the quaint and amiable incidents in which they figure, are in reality characteristic memorials of the kindly feelings and the innocent pursuits natural to men of gentle disposition and retired life. thus columba one day gives directions to a brother to be on the watch at a certain point in the island of iona, for there, by nine o'clock on that day, a certain stranger stork will alight and drop down, utterly fatigued with her journey across the ocean. that stork the brother is enjoined to take up gently, and convey to the nearest house, and feed and tend for three days, after which she will take wing and fly away to the sweet spot of her native ireland, whence she had wandered. and this the brother is to do because the bird is a guest from their own beloved native land. the brother departs, and returns at the proper time. columba asks no questions--he knows what has taken place, and commends the obedient piety of the brother who had sheltered and tended the wanderer. another saint, ailbhe, had a different kind of intercourse with certain cranes. they went about in a large body, destroying the corn in the neighbourhood, and would not be dispersed. the saint went and delivered on oration to them on the unreasonableness of their conduct, and forthwith, penitent and somewhat ashamed, they soared into the air and went their way. "st cuthbert's ducks" acquired a long celebrity. when that reverenced ascetic went to take up his residence in the wave-bounded solitude of the farne islands, he found the solan-geese there imbued with the wild habits common to their storm-nurtured race, and totally unconscious of the civilisation and refinement of their kinsmen who graze on commons, and hiss at children and dogs. st cuthbert tamed them through his miraculous powers, and made them as obedient and docile a flock as abbot ever ruled. the geese went before him in regular platoons, following the word of command, and doing what he ordered--whether it might be the most ordinary act of the feathered biped, or some mighty miracle. under his successors their conduct seems to have been less regular, though certainly not less peculiar; for we are told that they built their nests on the altar, and around the altar, and in all the houses of the island; farther, that, during the celebration of mass, they familiarly pecked the officiating priest and his assistants with their bills. it is curious enough that the miraculous education of these birds makes its appearance in a scottish legal or official document at the close of the fifteenth century. it is an instrument recording an attestation to the enormous value of the down of these renowned birds; and seems, indeed, to be an advertisement or puff by merchants dealing in the ware, though its ponderous latinity is in curious contrast with the neat examples of that kind of literature to which we are accustomed in these days.[ ] [footnote : "instrumentum super aucis sancti cuthberti."--spalding club.] one of the prettiest of the stories about birds is divided between st serf, the founder of a monastery in loch leven, and st kentigern, the patron of glasgow, where he is better known as st mungo. kentigern was one among a parcel of neophyte boys whom the worthy old serf, or servanus, was perfecting in the knowledge of the truth. their teacher had a feathered pet--"quædam avicula quæ vulgo ob ruborem corpusculi rubisca nuncupatur"--a robin-redbreast, in fact, an animal whose good fortune it is never to be mentioned without some kindly reference to his universal popularity, and the decoration which renders him so easily recognised wherever he appears. st serf's robin was a wonderful bird; he not only took food from his master's hand and pecked about him according to the fashion of tame and familiar birds, but took a lively interest in his devotions and studies by flapping his wings and crowing in his own little way, so as to be a sort of chorus to the acts of the saint. the old man enjoyed this extremely; and his biographer, with more geniality than hagiographers usually show, sympathises with this innocent recreation, applying the example of the bow that was not always bent, in a manner suggestive of suspicions that he was not entirely unacquainted with profane letters. one day, when the saint had retired to his devotions, the boys amused themselves with his little pet; and a struggle arising among them for its possession, the head was torn from the body--altogether a natural incident. thereupon, says the narrator, fear was turned to grief, and the avenging birch--"plagas virgarum quæ puerorum gravissima tormenta esse solent"--arose terribly in their sight. it was at this moment that an unpopular pupil, named kentigern--a new boy, apparently--a stranger who had not taken in good-fellowship to the rest of the school, but was addicted to solitary meditation, entered the guilty conclave. their course was taken--they threw the fragments of the bird into his hands, and bolted. st serf enters, and the crew are awaiting in guilty exultation the bursting of his wrath. the consecrated youth, however, fitting the severed parts to each other, signs the cross, raises his pure hands to heaven, and breathes an appropriate prayer--when lo! robin lifts his little head, expands his wings, and hops away to meet his master. in the eucharistic office of st kentigern's day, this event, along with the restoration to life of a meritorious cook, and other miracles, inspired a canticle which, for long subsequent ages, was exultingly sung by the choristers in the saint's own cathedral of glasgow, thus:-- "garrit ales pernecatus. cocus est resuscitatus. salit vervex trucidatus amputato capite." a bird proper, on the shield argent of the city of glasgow, has been identified with the resuscitated pet of the patron saint. the tree on which it is there perched is a commemoration of another of the saint's miracles. in a time of frost and snow his enemies had extinguished his fire; but immediately drawing on the miraculous resources ever at the command of his class on such emergencies, he breathed fire into a frozen branch from the forest; and it was centuries afterwards attested that the green branches of that forest made excellent firewood. another element in the blazon of the venice of the west is a fish, laid across the stem of the tree, "in base," as the heralds say, but not, as generally depicted, conformable either to their science or that of the ichthyologist. this fish holds in its mouth something like a dish--in reality a ring--and thus commemorates a miraculous feat of the same saint, which has found its way into the romances of the juvenile portion of the reading public, where it is a standard nuisance. queen cadyow, whose conduct was of such a character that it is wonderful how any respectable saint could have prevailed on himself to serve her, gives her bridal ring to a paramour. her husband lures the rival away to the bank of the clyde, to sleep after the fatigues of the chase, and there, furtively removing the ring, pitches it into the river. the reader knows the result by instinct. st kentigern, appealed to, directs the first salmon that can be caught in the clyde to be opened, and there, of course, is the ring in the stomach. this miracle is as common in the "acta sanctorum" as in the juvenile romances. it served st nathalan in such a manner as to preclude the supposition that the saint had invoked it on the occasion. he locked himself into iron chains, and threw their key into the river dee, in order that he might be unable to open the fetterlock before he had made a pilgrimage to the tombs of st peter and st paul; but the water did its duty, and restored the key in the stomach of a fish. we have naturally many fishing anecdotes connected with the northern saints. columba is described as out a-fishing one day with a parcel of his disciples, who are characterised as "strenui piscatores," a term which would be highly applicable to many a waltonian of the present day. the saint, desirous of affording them a pleasant surprise, directs them to cast their net where a wonderful fish was prepared for them; and they drag out an "esox" (whatever that may mean) of wonderful size. some of the inhabitants of the deep familiar to these saints were animals of a formidable kind. columba and a band of his disciples are going to cross the river ness, when they meet those who bear on their shoulders the body of one who, endeavouring to swim across the same river, had been bitten to death by a monster of the deep. the saint, in the face of this gloomy procession, requires that one of his disciples shall swim across the ness, and bring over a boat which is on the other side. a disciple named mocumin, whom the saint had miraculously cured of a bleeding of the nose, confident in the protecting power of his master, pulls off all his clothes save his tunica (whatever that may be--coat, kilt, or leathern shirt), and takes to the water. the monster, who is reposing deep down in the stillness of the profoundest pool, hears the stir of the water above, and is seen to rise with a splash on the surface, and make with distended jaws for the swimmer. the saint, of course, orders the beast back just at the moment when all seemed over, and is instantly obeyed. the characteristics of the monster could not be more closely identical with those of the crocodile or alligator, had the incident been narrated in egypt or america. adventures with such monsters in our northern waters supply many of the triumphs attributed to the saints. st colman of drumore actually extracted a young girl alive from the stomach of an "aquetalis bestia." she had been swallowed while standing on the edge of a lake, "camisiam suam lavantem"--washing her chemise, poor simple soul. st molua saw a monster, of the size of a large boat, in pursuit of two boys swimming unconscious of danger in a lake in the county of monaghan. he showed good worldly sense and presence of mind on the occasion; for, instead of alarming them with an announcement of their perilous condition, he called out to them to try a race and see which would reach the bank first. the beast, balked of his prey, took in good part an admonition by the saint, and returned no more to frighten boys. from fishes and aquatic monsters the law of association naturally leads us to the waters themselves. there are throughout the united kingdom multitudes of wells, still bearing the names of the saints to whom they were dedicated. the legends of miracles performed by their waters, through the intercession of their special saints, are countless. it is, perhaps, because cures effected by the use of waters may be accounted for otherwise than by supernatural intervention, that modern writers of the old faith speak with less reserve of the miracles at fountains than of the others they have to record, and even bring them down to modern times. many of them may be found recorded in his usual slipshod manner in the amiable pages of butler--as, for instance, in the life of st winfrid (november ), where we are told how "roger whetstone, a quaker, near bromsgrove, by bathing at holywell, was cured of an inveterate lameness and palsy by which he was converted to the catholic faith." some of the old saints' wells, remote from cities and advanced opinions, are still haunted by people who believe them to be endowed with supernatural healing virtues. it is in romish ireland, of course, that this belief has its most legitimate seat; but even in the most orthodoxly-presbyterian districts of scotland, a lingering dubious trust in the healing virtues of sanctified fountains has given much perplexity to the clergy. some of these fountains are in caverns, and if in any one of these the well falls into a rude-hewn basin like a font, we may be sure that a hermit frequented the cave, and that it was the place of worship of early converts. such a cave was the hiding-place, after the ' , of the worthy single-minded lord pitsligo, no bad prototype of the baron of bradwardine. it is entered by a small orifice like a fox's hole, in the face of the rugged cliffs which front the german ocean near trouphead. gradually it rises to a noble arched cavern, at the end of which is the font cut into the stone, where it would catch the outpourings of a small spring. when i saw it long years ago, it was filled with clear living water, which, save when it had been the frugal drink of the poor jacobite refugee, had probably been scarcely disturbed since the early day when heathen men and women went thither to throw off their idolatry and enter the pale of christendom. the unnoticeable smallness of many of these consecrated wells makes their very reminiscence and still semi-sacred character all the more remarkable. the stranger in ireland or the highlands of scotland hears rumours of a distinguished well miles on miles off. he thinks he will find an ancient edifice over it, or some other conspicuous adjunct. nothing of the kind--he has been lured all that distance over rock and bog to see a tiny spring bubbling out of the rock, such as he may see hundreds of in a tolerable walk any day. yet, if he search in old topographical authorities, he will find that the little well has ever been an important feature of the district--that, century after century, it has been unforgotten; and, with diligence, he may perhaps trace it to some incident in the life of the saint, dead more than years ago, whose name it bears. highlanders still make pilgrimages to drink the waters of such fountains, which they judiciously mix with the other aqua to which they are attached. they sometimes mimic the spirit of the old pilgrimage, by leaving behind them an offering at the fountain. i have seen such offerings by the brink of remote highland springs, as well as in ireland. the market value of them would not afford an alarming estimate of the intensity of the superstition still lingering in this form in the land. the logic of the depositors probably suggests, that the spiritual guardians of the fountain, though amenable to flattery and propitiation by gift, are not really well informed about the market value of worldly chattels, and are easily put off with rubbish. a historical inquiry into the worship or consecration of wells and other waters would be interesting. in countries near the tropics, where sandy deserts prevail, a well must ever have been a thing of momentous importance; and we find among the tribes of israel the digging down a well spoken of as the climax of reckless, heartless, and awful destructiveness. to find, however, how in watery ireland and scotland a mere dribblet of the element so generally abounding should have been an object of veneration for centuries, we must look to something beyond physical wants and their supply. the principal cause of the sanctification of springs must, of course, be explained by the first of christian ordinances. the spring close by the dwelling or cell of the saint--the spring on account of which he probably selected the centre of his mission--had not only washed the forefathers of the district from the stain of primeval heathenism, but had applied the visible sign by which all, from generation to generation, had been admitted into the bosom of the church. this might seem to afford a cause sufficient in itself for the effect, yet it appears to have been aided by other causes more recondite and mysterious. notwithstanding all the trash talked about druids and other persons of this kind, we know extremely little of the heathenism of the british isles. the little that we do know is learned from the meagre notices which the biographers of the saints have furnished of that which the saints superseded. it is not their function to commemorate the abominations of heathenism; they would rather bury it in eternal oblivion--_premat nox alta_--but they cannot entirely tell the triumphs of their spiritual heroes without some reference, however faint, to the conquered enemies. the earliest recorded conflicts between the new and the old creed are connected with fountains. in one page of the life of columba we find the saint, on a child being brought to him for baptism, in a desert place where no water was, striking the rock like moses, and drawing forth a rill, which remained in perennial existence--a fountain surrounded by a special sanctity. in the next page he deals with a well in the hands of the magi. they had put a demon of theirs into it to such effect, that any unfortunate person washing himself in the well or drinking of its water, was forthwith stricken with paralysis, or leprosy, or blindness of an eye, or some other corporeal calamity. the malignant powers with which they had inspired this formidable well spread far around the fear of the magi, and consequently their influence. but the christian missionaries were to show a power of a different kind--a power of beneficence, excelling and destroying the power of malignity. the process adopted is fully described. the saint, after a suitable invocation, washed his hands and feet in the water, and then drank of it with his disciples. the magi looked on with a malignant smile to see the accursed well produce its usual effect; but the saint and his followers came away uninjured: the demon was driven out of the well, and it became ever afterwards a holy fountain, curing many of their infirmities. another miracle, bearing against the magi, introduces us to one of their number by name, and gives a little of his domestic history. his name is broichan, and he is tutor to brud, king of the picts, with whom he dwells on the banks of the ness. it might have relieved the mind of the historical inquirer to be told that brud built for himself the remarkable vitrified fort of craig-phadric, which rises high above the ness, and to be informed of the manner in which its calcined rampart was constructed; but nothing is said on the subject, and craig-phadric stands on its own isolated merits, still to be guessed at, without one tangible word out of record or history to help any theory about its object or construction home to a conclusion. one is free, however, to imagine brud, the heathen king of the picts, living on the scarped top of the hill, in a lodging of wattled or wooden houses, surrounded by a rampart of stones fused by fire, as the only cement then known. such we may suppose to have been the "domus regia," whence the saint walked out in a very bad humour to the river ness, from the pebbles of which he selected one white stone, to be turned to an important use. broichan, the magus, had in his possession a female slave from ireland. columba, who seems to have held with him such intercourse as a missionary to the chocktaws might have with a great medicine-man, desired that the magus should manumit the woman, for what reason we are not distinctly told; but it is easy to suppose strong grounds for intervention when a christian missionary finds a woman, of his own country and creed, the slave of a heathen priest. columba's request was refused. losing patience, he had resort to threats; and at length, driven to his ultimatum, he denounced death to broichan if the slave were not released before his own return to ireland. columba told his disciples to expect two messengers to come from the king to tell of the sudden and critical illness of broichan. the messengers rushed in immediately after to claim the saint's intervention. broichan had been suddenly stricken by an angel sent for the purpose; and as if he had been taking his dram in a modern gin-palace, we are told that the drinking-glass, or glass drinking-vessel, "vitrea bibera," which he was conveying to his lips, was smashed in pieces, and he himself seized with deadly sickness. columba sends the consecrated pebble, with a prescription that the water in which it is dipped is to be drunk. if, before he drinks, broichan releases his slave, he is to recover; if not, he dies. the magus complies, and is saved. the consecrated stone, which had the quality of floating in water like a nut, was afterwards, as we are told, preserved in the treasury of the king of the picts. it has been lost to the world, along with the saint's white robe and his consecrated banner, both of which performed miracles after his death. but the sanitary influence attributed to the water in which consecrated stones have been dipped, is a superstition scarcely yet uprooted in scotland. sermons in stones. one of the clubs has lately deviated from the printing of letterpress, which is the established function of clubs, into pictorial art. as it threatens to repeat the act on a larger scale, it is proposed to take a glance at the result already afforded, in order that it may be seen whether it is a failure, or a success opening up a new vein for club enterprise. in distributing a set of pictorial prints among its members, the club in question may be supposed to have invaded the art-unions: but its course is in another direction, since its pictures are entirely subservient to archæology. the innovator in question is the spalding club, which has already distributed among its adherents a collection of portraits of the sculptured stones in scotland, and now proposes to do the same by the early architectural remains of the north. in giving effect to such a design, it will produce something like dugdale's monasticon and the great english county histories. if that which is to be done shall rival that which the club has achieved, it will be worthy of all honour. no one can open the book of the sculptured stones without being almost overwhelmed with astonishment at the reflection that they are not monuments excavated in egypt, or syria, or mexico, but have stood before the light of day in village churchyards, or in marketplaces, or by waysides throughout our own country. as you pass on, the eye becomes almost tired with the endless succession of grim and ghastly human figures--of distorted limbs--of preternatural beasts, birds, and fishes--of dragons, centaurs, and intertwined snakes--of uncouth vehicles, and warlike instruments, and mystic-looking symbols--of chains of interlaced knots and complex zigzags, all so crowding on each other that the tired eye feels as if it had run through a procession of temptations of st anthony or faust sabbaths. when this field of investigation and speculation is surveyed in all its affluence, one is not surprised to find that it has been taken in hand by a race of bold guessers, who, by the skilful appliance of a jingling jargon of asiatic, celtic, and classical phraseology, make nonsense sound like learning too deep to be fathomed. so, while rusticus will point out to you "the auld-fashioned standin' stane"--on which he tells you that there are plain to be seen a cocked hat, a pair of spectacles, a comb, a looking-glass, a sow with a long snout, and a man driving a gig,--mr urban will describe to you "a hieroglyphed monolith" in the terms following:-- "the buddhist triad is conspicuously symbolised by what the peasantry call a pair of spectacles. it consists of two circles, of which the one, having its radius - / inch wider than the other, is evidently buddha, the spiritual or divine intellectual essence of the world, or the efficient underived source of all; the other is dharma, the material essence of the world--the plastic derivative cause. the ligamen connecting them together, completes the sacred triad with the sangha derived from and composed of the two others. here, therefore, is symbolised the collective energy of spirit and matter in the state of action, or the embryotic creation, the type and sum of all specific forms, spontaneously evolved from the union of buddha and dharma. the crescent, likened by the vulgar-minded peasantry to a cocked hat, is the embodiment of the all-pervading celestial influence; and the decorated sceptres or sacred wands of office, laid across it at the mystic angle of forty-five degrees, represent the comprehensive discipline and cosmopolite authority of the conquering sarsaswete. the figure of the elephant--undoubted evidence of the oriental origin of this monoglyph--represents the embryo of organised matter; while in the chariot of the sun the never-dying inis na bhfiodhlhadth threads the sacred labyrinth, waving a branch of the mimosa serisha, which has been dipped in a sacred river, and dried beneath the influence of osiris. the figures called a comb and a looking-glass are the lingal emblems of the sacred phallic worship. the whole hierograph thus combines, in an extremely simple and instructive unity, the symbolisation of apis, osiris, uphon, and isis, phallos, pater Æther, and mater terra, lingam and yoni, vishnu, brama, and sarsaswete, with their saktes, yang and yiri, padwadevi, viltzli-pultzli, baal, dhanandarah, sulivahna and mumbo jumbo." the honest transcripts in the club book clear away a great deal of that unknown which is so convertible into the magnificent. it was extremely perplexing to understand that the elephant was profusely represented upon memorials familiar to the eyes of the inhabitants of scotland, at a period, if we might credit some theories, anterior to the time when roman soldiers were appalled in the punic war by the sudden apparition of unknown animals of monstrous size and preternatural strength. the whole flood of oriental theory was let loose by this evidence of familiarity with the usages of hindostan. but it is pretty evident, when we inspect him closely, that the animal, though a strange beast of some peculiar conventional type, is no elephant. that spiral winding-up of his snout, which passed for a trunk, is a characteristic refuge of embryo art, repeated upon other parts of the animal. it is necessitated by the difficulty which a primitive artist feels in bringing out the form of an extremity, whatever it may be--snout, horn, or hoof. he finds that the easiest termination he can make is a whirl, and he makes it accordingly. thus the noses, the tails, the feet of the characteristic monster of the sculptured stones, all end in a whirl, as the final letter of an accomplished and dashing penman ends in a flourish. the same difficulty is met in repeated instances on these stones by another ingenious resource. animals are united or twined together by noses or tails, to enable the artist to escape the difficulty of executing the extremities of each separately. there is a propensity to believe that whatever is old must have something holy and mysterious about it. it is difficult to suppose that, in making an ornament, men who would be so venerable, were they alive now, as our ancestors of many centuries ago, can have been in the slightest degree affected by the pomps and vanities of this wicked world. hence there is never a quaint gothic decoration, floral or animal, but it must be symbolic of some great mystery. so the reticulated and geometrical tracery on the sculptured stones has been invested with mythic attributes, under such names as "the runic knot." it has been counted symbolical of a mysterious worship or creed, and has been associated with druids and other respectable, but not very palpable, personages.[ ] [footnote : it would not be difficult to trace a resemblance between some of the exceedingly elaborate sculpture of the new zealanders and that of the sculptured stones, especially in the instance of the very handsome country-house of the chief rangihaetita, represented in mr angas's new zealanders illustrated. its name, by the way, in the native maori, is kai tangata, or eat-man house--so called, doubtless, in commemoration of the many jolly feasts held in it, on missionaries and others coming within wordsworth's description of "a being not too wise and good for human nature's daily food."] good theories are such a rarity in the antiquarian world, that it is a luxury to find one which, in reference to this sort of decoration, merits that character. the buildings, both ecclesiastical and civil, of the early christians of the north were, as we have seen, made of wattles or wicker-ware. the skill, therefore, of the architectural decorator took the direction of the variations in basket-work. we know that in the gothic age those forms which were found the most endurable and graceful in which stone could be placed upon stone, became also the ruling forms which guided the carver and the painter; so that all wood-work, metal-work, seal-cutting, illumination of books, and the like, repeated the ornaments of gothic architecture. it would only, then, be a prototype of an established phenomenon were it to be found that the sculptor of an earlier age adopted the decorations developed by the skillful platting of withes or wattles; and accordingly, this is just the character of the platted ornaments so prevalent on the sculptured stones.[ ] but, however these may have been suggested, they show the work of the undoubted artist, and furnish, as the advertisements say, "a varied assortment of the most elegant and attractive patterns." [footnote : see "an attempt to explain the origin and meaning of the early interlaced ornamentation found on the ancient sculptured stones of scotland, ireland, and the isle of man, by gilbert j. french of bolton." privately printed.] every one who in future attempts to unravel the mystery of these primitive sculptures must not only in gratitude but in common justice pay homage to the services of mr john stuart, the secretary of the antiquaries' society of scotland, to whose learning and zeal he owes the collective means of examining them. it will interest many to know that mr stuart has been at work again, and has a second collection of transcripts, in some respects even more instructive than the first. these will show, for instance, the point of junction between the sculptures of the east and of the west, which, in their extreme special features, are widely unlike each other. in the mean time, as the reader is perhaps tired of all this talk about books, and i would fain part with him in good humour, i venture to take him on an imaginary ramble in the wilds of argyllshire, in search of specimens of ancient native sculpture, that he may have an opportunity of noticing how much has yet to be gleaned off this stony field. so we are off together, on a fresh summer morning, along the banks of the crinan canal, until we reach the road which turns southward to loch swin and taivalich. after ascending so far, we strike off by a scarcely discernible track, and climb upwards among the curiously broken mountains of south knapdale. when we are high enough up we look on the other side of the first ridge, and see the brown heather dappled with tiny lakes, looking like molten silver dropped into their hollows; while far below, one of the countless branches of loch swin winds through a narrow inlet, among rocks cushioned to the water's edge with deep green foliage. we are not to descend to the region of lake and woodland, betrayed by this glimpse, but to keep the wilder upland; and at last, in a secluded hollow near the small tarn called lochcolissor, we reach a deserted village--a collection of roofless stone houses, looking, if one judged from mere externals, as if they might in their early days have given shelter to columba or oran. in the centre of this group of domestic ruins is an affluent fountain of the clearest water. standing over it is the object of our search--a tall, grey, profusely-lichened stone. at first it seems amorphous, as geologists say; but a closer view discloses on the one side a cross incised, on the other a network of floral decorations in relief. to trace these in their completeness, it would be necessary to accomplish the not easy task of removing the coating of lichen; and, by the way, if adepts in the cryptogamic department of botany shall succeed in finding a test of the precise age of those lichens, which they believe they have proved to be the growth of centuries, a key of the most valuable kind will be obtained for discovering the age of stone monuments.[ ] [footnote : any one who desires to see the extent to which science can find employment in this arid-looking corner of organic life, may look at a "memoir on the spermogones and pycnides of filamentous, fruticulose, and foliaceous lichens," by dr william lauder lindsay, in the d volume of the transactions of the royal society of edinburgh.] turn now in another direction. at the head of loch fyne, near dunderar, the grim tower of the macnaughtons--which, from some decorations on it, looks hugely like as if it had been built in the seventeenth century with the stones of an old church--we find a tuft of trees with a dyke round it, called kilmorich. it is a graveyard evidently, though it may not have been recently opened; the surface is uneven, and several rough stones, which may have been placed there at any time, stick through the earth. these, after a deliberate inspection, are found to have nothing of a sculptural character. but a small piece of rounded stone appears above the grass, and a little grubbing discloses a font, faintly decorated with some primitive fluting, on which a stone-mason would look with much scorn, and a scratching of a galley, the symbol of the argyll family, or some other of the races descended from ancient sea-kings. this gives encouragement, and a sharper glance around betrays a singular-looking rounded headstone, in which are two crescent-shaped holes. there are corresponding holes on the portion under the sod, which thus completes the rounded head of an ancient scoto-irish cross. the next point is to find the shaft--it lies not far off, deep in the turf. and when we take the grass and moss from its face, it discloses some extremely curious quadrilateral decorations, quite peculiar, and not in conformity with any type of form which would enable its date to be guessed at within a century or two of the reality. passing through the rich woods of ardkinglas, in a few miles we reach the burying-ground, called of old kilmaglas, but now the well-kept churchyard, in which stands the modern church of strachur. there are many who will remember the white house glimmering through the trees, and lament that memory is now all that it contains for them. here are several curious specimens of sculpture. some stones, not of the oldest type, have the crossed sword, symbolical alike of the warrior character of the dead and the religion of peace in which he rests. there is one with a figure in full chain-armour; and others, again, of an older date, ornamented with the geometric reticulations already discussed. descending a few miles farther, in the small fertile delta of the lachlan, and overshadowed almost by the old square castle of the m'lachlans, there is a bushy enclosure which may be identified as the old burial-place of kilmory. a large block of hewn stone, with a square hole in it, sets one in search of the cross of which it was the socket. this is found in the grass, sadly mutilated, but can be recognised by the stumps of the branches which once exfoliated into its circular head. beside it lies a flat stone, on which a sword is surrounded by graceful floral sculpture. let us cross over again to the valley perforated by loch crinan. northward of the canal there is a remarkable alluvial district, through which, although it seems crowded with steep mountain summits, one can travel over many a mile of level turf. from this soil the hills and rocks rise with extreme abruptness, in ridges at the border of the plain, and in isolated peaks here and there throughout its flat alluvial surface. conspicuous, in a minor degree, is a great barrow like a pyramid, with a chamber roofed with long stones in its centre. near it is one of those circles of rough stones called druidical, and farther on there is another, and then another; some of them tall pillars, others merely peeping above ground. they literally people the plain. this must have been a busy neighbourhood, whatever sort of work it may have been that went on around these untooled fragments of the living rock, which have so distracted our antiquaries in later centuries. if they were the means or the object of any kind of heathen worship, then the existence close beside them of the vestiges of early christianity may be set down as an illustration of the well-known historical opinion, that the first christian missionaries, instead of breaking the idols and reviling the superstitions of those whom they went to convert, professed to bring a new sanctity to their sacred places, and endeavoured to turn their impure faith, with the least possible violence, into the path of purity. our next trial is at kilmichael, about three miles from loch gilp. the churchyard is extremely fruitful in sculptured stones of various kinds--some floral, others geometrical, with wild beasts, monsters, and human figures. one of them was pointed out as the tomb of a member of the house of campbell, who bore the name of thomas, and was a great bard, and lived in london and other great cities--thomas campbell, in short. it seems to be true that his ancestors were buried in kilmichael churchyard, but my informant seemed to struggle with an idea that the stone covered with the sculpture of a far-past century had been really raised to his honour. the next generation will probably assert this as a fact. the genesis of such traditions is curious. the stone called rob roy's tomb, which lies beside an ancient font in the churchyard of balquhidder, is a sculptured stone raised for some one who had probably died in wealth and honour hundreds of years before rob stole cattle. by a slight ascent westward of the alluvial plain we reach kilmartin, a village with a large modern church. its graveyard is graced with many sculptured stones--twenty-five may be counted, conspicuous for their rich carving and excellent preservation. on one or two of the latest in date, there are knightly figures clad in chain-mail. a local antiquary could probably trace these home to some worshipful families in the neighbourhood, but there are others beyond the infancy of the oldest authentic pedigrees. while the stones in the eastern counties are all of extremely remote antiquity, offering no link of connection with later times, these highland specimens seem to carry their peculiarities with modified variations through several centuries into times comparatively late. there are among them stones bearing some types of extreme antiquity, and others which undoubtedly proclaim themselves as no older than the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. it is sometimes a difficult task, in judging of antiquities, to make a sufficient allowance for the spirit of imitation. there is nothing certainly more natural than that a new tombstone should be made after the fashion of time-honoured monuments, the pride of the graveyard in which it is to be placed. in kilmartin there are two decided imitations of the more ancient class of the western sculptured stones. though the symbols and decorations which they bear are of ancient outline, the heavy, and at the same time accurate and workmanlike, way in which they are cut, would mark them indubitably as modern, even if the one did not bear the date of , and the other of . but the sun is dropping behind ben cruachan and the jura hills. the time of holiday reading and holiday rambling has come to its end; and a voice calls the wanderer back to more sedate and methodical pursuits. [illustration] [illustration] index. aberdeen laird, an, described by his wife, _et seq._ adams, dr francis, an eminent greek scholar, _et seq._ adventures of saints, , . advertisements, reading of, _et seq._ --curious historical interest of, _et seq._ aidan and columba, . ailbhe, st, and the cranes, . albania, a poem, reprinted by leyden, . alexandrian library, destruction of, by fire, . almanacs, as affording profitable reading, _et seq._ amateur book-hunters, _et seq._ ambrosian library, the, at milan, . american collections dealing with early american history, _et seq._ americans duplicating old european libraries, --in relation to art and letters, _ib._ --combating for rarities, --ransacking and anatomising private collections, . ancient literature, considerable amount of, lost, . angelo maï of the vatican, --recovery by him of institute of gaius, . annotating of books a crime and a virtue, _et seq._ antiquarianism known as archæology, . architecture, church, of the early british christians, . ardsnischen, pastor of, buying a greek new testament, . armagh, book of, _et seq._ assessed taxes department in relation to decay of libraries, . astor, john jacob, the bequest of, . astorian library, wealth of the, _et seq._ atticus as a dealer and capitalist publisher, _note_. attorneys in norwich, in norfolk, and in suffolk, _et seq._ auchinleck press, account of, _et seq._ auctioneers: carfrae, _et seq._ --evans, _et seq._ --anecdote of a cockney auctioneer, . auction-haunter different from prowler, _et seq._ authors and compositors, _et seq._ bacon commending brevity of old scots acts, . bailiff, the, and the writ, _note_. baillet, adrien, librarian and author of jugemens des savans, _et seq._ ballad fabricating, . bannatyne club, _et seq._ --scott's song for festivities of, . barclay, colonel, a quaker, anecdote of, _note_. bargain hunters and their leanings, . baskerville, the birmingham printer, inaccuracy of, . bede on the saints, . bentham, words in one sentence of an act of parliament counted by, . bethune, rev. dr, waltonian library of, _et seq._ bible, inaccurate editions of, _et seq._ --old editions comparatively numerous, . bibliognoste, definition of, _note_. bibliographe, definition of, _note_. bibliographers, function of, a cruel one, _et seq._ --victimising each other, . bibliographical decameron, various quotations from, , _et seq._ bibliographies, _et seq._ --on special subjects, --those devoted to the best books, . bibliomane, definition of, . bibliomania a disease, . "bibliomania," dibdin's, quotations from, --ferriar's, quotation from, , _note_. bibliophile, definition of, . bibliotaphe, definition of, . _bibliothèque bleue_, anecdote connected with the, . bibliuguiancie discussed by peignot, . "bill-books" of compositors, _et seq._ binders, famous, . bindings, "inchrule" brewer's love of, --bindings as relics, . boccaccio, _editio princeps_ of, --cause of its extreme rarity, --sold at the roxburghe library sale, _et seq._ bodleian library, origin of, . bohemian of literature, _et seq._ bohun, edmond, a jacobite and last english licenser, . bollandus, his great work on the saints, _et seq._ --the persistent labours of his successors, . book-caterers, _et seq._ book-clubs, _et seq._ --their structure, --advantages of, _et seq._ --confining their attention to books of non-members, --the sydenham club, --the roxburghe club, _ib. et seq._, &c. --their gradual growth, _et seq._ --dibdin's description of the origin of the roxburghe club, --their secrecy, --the bannatyne club, _et seq._ --book-club men, _ib. et seq._ --character of their editors, , --value of such clubs to history, --their literature, --camden club, _ib._ --chetham club, --surtees club, _ib._ --maitland club, _ib._ --spalding club, _ib._ --irish archæological and other clubs, _ib. et seq._ --purity of text of book-club literature, and consequent historical value, _et seq._, --as art unions, _et seq._ book-hunters as creators of libraries, _et seq._, --as preservers of literature, _et seq._ --as _chiffoniers_, --as discoverers of valuable and curious books, --as librarians, _et seq._ --their clubs, _et seq._ --various titles of, , --vision of mighty book-hunters, --book-hunters as bibliothaptes and bibliolytes, _et seq._ --classification of, _et seq._ --as rubricists, --as aspirants after large paper copies, --their place in the dispensations of providence, _et seq._ --the harmlessness and advantages of their disease, _et seq._ --book-hunters and dealers, --in relation to other hobby-riders, --their lack of mercenary spirit, _ib. et seq._ --in the amateur phase, _et seq._ --their freedom from low company, --their intellectual advantages, _ib. et seq._ --from their pursuit readers and scholars, --their delight in a new toy, . books, annotating of, a crime and a virtue, _et seq._ --their decay from natural causes, _et seq._ --books, large and solid, factors in the acquisition of fame, --such only fitted for authors and students, --books, small and fragile, preserved by book-hunters, --rarity of old school-books, _ib. et seq._ --importance of any kind of old books, --rare books printed by early english printers, _et seq._ --david clement on rare books, _et seq._ --rare books not always rare, --books as introducers of books, --reproduction of old and rare books by book-clubs, _et seq._ --books used in ireland in sixth century, . boswell, sir alexander, as a book-club man, _et seq._ --his reprints, --his auchinleck press, --his character and writings, _et seq._ botfield, beriah, his work, _note_. bourdaloue, favourite reading of, . brewer, "inchrule," as a mighty book-hunter, _et seq._ --origin of his name, --his love of bindings, --his satellites, _et seq._ british museum, deposits of books in, _note_ --origin of library, _et seq._ brunet as an "inchruler," --his description of an elzevir cæsar, _ib. note_. buckle, historical researches of, . "bulls," irish, in unlikely books, _et seq._ --specimen of an index "bull," . burton, mr, private library of, _et seq._ butler, poetical remains of, discovered by the antiquary thyer, . camden club, purpose of, --a curious volume of, _et seq._ "canadian," mistaken use of, for candian, . carfrae, the auctioneer, _et seq_. --selling fragments of early english poetry, . "causes célèbres," records of french and german crime, _et seq._ --their fitness for novel-making, . celtic christianity, _et seq._, _et seq._ chetham club, purpose of, . church architecture of early british christians, _et seq._ classical literature, incompleteness of, --recent discoveries in, of paltry value, _et seq._ classification of book-hunters, . clement, david, illustrious french bibliographer, . clubs in general, _et seq._ cogswell, dr, first librarian of the astorian library, _et seq._ collectors and their satellites, _et seq._ --as book-readers, _et seq._ --in relation to the scholar, . columba, st adamnan's life of, --among the picts, --settling succession of aidan, --anecdotes of, , , , &c. --columba fishing, . compositors, characteristics of, _et seq._ --their reasons for interest in an author's work, _et seq._ --"bill-books" of, --their professional apathy, . copyright act, value of, . "course of reading," a so-called, . creation of libraries, _et seq._ criminal trials, attractive interest of, --"illustrating" of, . cuthbert, st, and the solan-geese, _et seq._ dame aux camélias quoted, _note_. dealers in their relations to book-buyers, . decay of books, _et seq._ de quincey on the society of friends, , . desultory reader, or bohemian of literature, _et seq._ devices of old printers, collection of, _et seq._ dibdin, quotation from his bibliomania, --known as "foggy dibdin," --at the roxburghe sale, --as a book-hunter, --on the cradle of the book-club system, --his "library companion," _et seq._ "didot" horace, in the junot library, . dietrich, collection of theses by, . diogenes, the so-called tub of, _note_. directory of a city, the, as affording profitable reading, . douglas, francis, anecdote told in his description of the east coast of scotland, _note_. "dragon" as a book-hunter, _vide_ "vampire." drunkenness of a former age, . duplicates, first buying of, --most virulent form of bibliomania, . early northern saints, _et seq._ ecchellensis, abraham, his controversy with flavigny, . ecclesiastical architecture, _et seq._ ecclesiologist, the, as editor of book-club literature, . editions of the classics, typographical blunders in, . "editio princeps," advantages of possessing an, --of boccaccio, . elzevir cæsar, brunet's measurement of, --origin of its rarity, . elzevirs, reason of their not being rare at present, . errors in the various editions of the bible, _et seq._ evans, the auctioneer, . exchequer bill, curious specimen of, _et seq._ facsimiles, extensive manufacture of, . farmer, dr richard, and johnson, _et seq._ feuerbach's german collection of _causes célèbres_, . ferrier's bibliomania, quotation from, _note_. fires in libraries, _et seq._ fisher, rev. john, bishop of rochester, originator of library of st john's, _et seq._ flavigny's controversy with abraham ecchellensis, . fountains, religious controversies connected with, _et seq._ french _causes célèbres_, _et seq._ french novels, the morals of, . friends, society of, greatest criminals found among, --de quincey's testimony to the same effect, _ib. et seq._ furniture, old, . fustian, curious statute of henry vii. concerning, _et seq._ game of chess, by caxton, captured in holland by snuffy davie, . genealogist, a, as editor of book-club literature, _et seq._ --his influence and genius, . genealogy, scottish peculiarities in, --extract on, from the liber de antiquis legibus, . genius, rewards of, unequally distributed, . glasgow, the shield argent of, _et seq._ gleaner, the, and his harvest, _et seq._ "good reader," a, the bore of a house, . gordon, sir robert, collector of gordonstoun library, _et seq._ government and public libraries, . graham, mr lorimer, collection by, _et seq._ grandison, sir charles, his perfection a defect, . "grangerites," peculiar glory of, _et seq._ --origin of name, _ib._ --their mode of proceeding, _et seq._ greek nomenclature, abuses and merits of, . grollier, a princely collector, . hagiology, . hallervord, john, bibliotheca curiosa of, . harvard library, loss of old, . havelok the dane reprinted by roxburghe club, . hazlewood, joseph, a black sheep in the roxburghe club, --description of his treasures, _ib. et seq._ --title of one of his reprints, --description of another of his reprints, _ib. note_ --fate of his history, . heathenism in the british isles, _et seq._ heber, richard, origin of his library, _et seq._ --dibdin and heber, --duplicating his collection, . hierology of greece, . highland springs, pilgrimages to, . historical literature, reprints of, --in manuscript, _ib. et seq._ histrio-mastix of prynne, its unfortunate history, _et seq._ hobby, the, of book-hunting, _et seq._ hortensius, . illustrating of criminal trials, --its advantages to posterity, _ib. et seq._ --at its height, _note_. --illustrating a folio copy of shakespeare, _ib. note_. illustrators of books, the, known as "grangerites," --their mode of proceeding, _et seq._ imperfect copies, completion of, . index expurgatorius of charles lamb, _note_. inlaying, process of, . iona, the saints of, . ireland, history of, in early times fabulous, ; keating's history, _ib. et seq._ ireland, primitive church in, _et seq_. irish archæological and other clubs, _et seq._ irish "bulls," instances of, . irish statutes and irish history, _et seq._ jöcher, allgemeines gelehrten lexicon of, . johnson and dr richard farmer, _et seq._ johnston, captain, his lives of highwaymen and pirates, . jolly, bishop robert, --as a book-hunter, . "jolly" club, the, . jones, sir william, reading cicero, . junot, the library of, . keating, jeffrey, d.d., his history of ireland, _et seq._ kent, chancellor, collection of, _et seq._ kentigern, st, anecdotes of, _et seq._ knox, vicesimus, spirit of despotism by, . lamb, charles, index expurgatorius of, _note_. large-paper copies, aspirants after, . laurentian library at florence, . law books, composition of, . law maxims, absurd book on, _note_. law papers as furnishing humorous reading, _et seq._ law technicalities, vagaries of, _et seq._ levant monks, apathy of, with reference to priceless books, . librarians recruited from the ranks of book-hunters, --disadvantages of "cerberus" librarians, _et seq._ --angelo maï of the vatican, --magliabecchi, _ib. et seq._ --adrien baillet, et _seq._ --librarians as scholars, _et seq._ libraries as stimulants to intellectual culture, _et seq._ --growth of great libraries, --impossibility of their being improvised, _ib. et seq_. --their gradual accumulation, _et seq._ --imperial library at paris, , , &c. --size of american libraries, harvard, astorian, library of congress, boston athenæum, --their large number in the states, _ib._ --the private libraries of new york, by james wynne, m.d., --specimen of a new york interior, --library of chancellor kent, _et seq._ --of mr lorimer graham, --of rev. dr magoon, _et seq._ --of mr menzies, _note_ --harvard library, --government and public libraries, --privileged libraries and the copyright act, _note_ --british museum library, _et seq._ --ambrosian library at milan, --laurentian library at florence, _ib._ --bodleian library, _ib._ --memoirs of libraries, by edward edwards, _note_ --durham college library, nucleus of trinity of oxford, --burning of alexandrian library, . licensing, abolition of, in england, . limiting number of impressions, _et seq._ literary forgeries, moral code of, _et seq._ long parliament, proceedings of, _et seq._ lucullus, magnus, of grand priory, _et seq._ lycanthropy, . magi, in their conflicts with saints, _et seq._ magliabecchi, the librarian, _et seq._ magoon, rev. dr, library of, _et seq._ maitland club, . margaret, queen of scotland, as a saint, . meadow, archdeacon, description of as a mighty book-hunter, --at an auction, --a portion of his collection sold, --reputed to read his own books, --his learning, . medici, library of the, _et seq._ men of the time, printers' blunders in, . menzies, mr, valuable american collection of, _note_. metaphysics, origin of name, . monkbarns as a book-hunter, _et seq._ --his description of snuffy davie's prowlings, _et seq._ nathalan, st, anecdote of, . newgate calendar, interest of, . new york, private libraries of, _et seq._ nomenclature, greek, abuses and merits of, . noy, attorney-general, and the histrio-mastix, . oelrichs, john charles conrad, rare work by, . old writers, their careful disclaiming of original ideas, . olio, grose's, extract from, _note_. onslow, mr, and naming of members of parliament, . owen's parallelograms, the nature of, --biographical notice of owen in men of the time, _et seq._ oxford, bishop of, biographical notice of, in men of the time, . palæographist, meaning of the name, . palimpsest, meaning of, . pamphlets, careful preservation of, enforced, . panel, meaning of, in england and in scotland, . papaverius, thomas, _et seq._ --his unpunctuality, --his costume, _ib. et seq._ --his eloquence, , --on vagrancy, --his irresponsibility in pecuniary matters, --his charity, --as a philosopher of human nature, --as a book-hunter, _ib. et seq._ --as a borrower of books, _et seq._ --his acute sensibility, . peignot, his dictionnaire de bibliologie, _note_, --his dictionary of condemned books, --as a vagabond bibliographer, _et seq._ philobiblion of richard of bury, --extract from, _note_. photius, curious history of the bibliotheca of, . picts, st columba among the, . pinkerton, john, description of, . playbills, collection of, a phase of bibliomania, . poems and plays as relics of pure literature, _et seq._ popular authors objects of competition among publishers, _et seq._ preservation of literature, _et seq._ --politics and religion, with reference to, --wars and revolutions with reference to, --books in the midst of fire, . pretenders, _et seq._ --generally bargain-hunters, --their devices, . printers' blunders serviceable to literature, _et seq._ --laughable examples of, _et seq._ --tragic results of, --examples of, in men of the time, . printing press, private, an appalling form of bibliomania, --possession of, by sir alexander boswell, . professional dealer, the, . prowler different from auction-haunter, _et seq._ prynne and his histrio-mastix, _et seq._ publishers and good literature, . quaker collector of paintings, a, anecdote of, . queen cadyow and st kentigern, . rambles in search of sculptured stones, _et seq._ rarity, the comparative, of certain books, _et seq._ --americans and the rarity of books, _et seq._ --rarity of works of early english printers, _et seq._ --rarity increased by increased number of copies, . ratcliffe, dr, a physician, _note_. reading of books by book-hunters and possessors of libraries, --impossible in certain cases, --ought to be desultory, _ib. et seq._ "reading with the fingers" a test of scholarship, . religion and politics in reference to the preservation of literature, . religious hypocrites, uncharitableness and intolerance of, --their development into criminals, . reminiscences of a book-hunting life, _et seq._ "remnants," or broken books, . rent-paying in scotland, _note_. resuscitated literature, peculiar value of, --objected to in hagiology, . richard of bury, bishop of durham, as a private collector, _et seq._ --as a benefactor of posterity, _et seq._ --originator of durham college library, the nucleus of trinity of oxford, --on the treatment of manuscripts (quotation from the philobiblion), _note_. ritson, joseph, opponent of john pinkerton, _et seq._ --his peculiarities, _et seq._ robespierre, draft of decree before, concerning the public libraries of paris, . romans as introducers of christianity into great britain, , --as slighters of history, _et seq._ rout upon rout, by felix nixon, . roxburghe club, , _et seq._ --its origin, --its dinner and toasts, --its members, --its "revels," --hazlewood's connection with, _ib._ and _note et seq._ --reprinting by, of ancient books, _et seq._ --its first serious efforts, --dibdin as its master, --under the care of the scholarly botfield, --its proffer of membership to sir walter scott, _et seq._ roxburghe, duke of, as a book-hunter, , --origin of his bibliomania, _et seq._ roxburghe library, sale of, _et seq._ --scenes at the auction, _et seq._ --earl spencer present, _et seq._ rubricists, book-hunters as, . rule, gilbert, ghost-story concerning, _et seq._ "runic knot," the, . saints, the early northern, _et seq._ --the making of, --festival days of, _et seq._ --bollandus and his successors on saints, _et seq._ --value in history of saint literature, _et seq._ --vestiges of the peculiar characteristics of early northern saints, _et seq._ --their church architecture, --saints of irish origin innumerable, --independent of rome, --mostly all obscure, _ib. et seq._ --as prophesiers of death, --personal habits of, --fishing and marine anecdotes of, _et seq._ scholars in relation to collectors, _et seq._ school-books, rarity of old, _et seq._ schoolboy life, reminiscences of, conjured up by an advertisement, _et seq._ scotch presbyterian eloquence, a curious book, . scots acts, brevity of, . scott, sir walter, as a book-club man, --his admission to the roxburghe club, _ib. et seq._ --writing a song for the bannatyne club, --his reprint of a trial for murder, _et seq._ --imposed on by robert surtees, _et seq._ --first idea of waverley suggested to him by surtees, . sculptured stones in scotland, _et seq._ --description of one, --their character, _et seq._ --mr john stuart's transcripts of, --ramble in search of, _et seq._ --one of them at lochcolissor, _ib._ --others in various parts, _et seq._ seneca commending literary moderation, _note_. serf, st, and his robin, . shakespearian criticism a branch of knowledge, _et seq._ --valuable to literature, . sheepfolds, ruskin on the construction of, . sloane, sir hans, originator of british museum library, . smart, fitzpatrick, as a mighty book-hunter, --his peculiar line known as the "fitzpatrick smart walk," --his fancy ill to please, --his household gods, --his dress, --his wonderful genius, --fate of his collection, _ib._ smithsonian institution, origin of, . snuffy davie, a prince of book-hunters, --his capture of the game of chess, . societies, book and other, _et seq._ --the transactions of learned, an outlet for genius, _et seq._ spalding club, --as an art-union, . spalding, john, value of his literary remains, _et seq._ --quotation from his "memorials," _et seq._ --characteristics of his writings, . spencer, earl, at the roxburghe library sale, _et seq._ --his skirmish for the caxtons, . spottiswoode society, purpose of the, . state trials replete with romance, . stated-task reader, the, . statute-making, pleasantry in, . stuart, mr john, and the sculptured stones in scotland, . superstitions, a book on, replete with errors in language, _et seq._ surtees club, . surtees, robert, the historian of durham, as a book-club man, --anecdotes of, _ib. et seq._ --imposing on sir walter scott, _et seq._ --his contributions to scott's minstrelsy, --suggesting waverley to scott, . sydenham club, . thomson, james, and his books, --his uncle's criticism on "winter," _ib._ thomson, rev. william, character of, _et seq._ --his translation of cunningham's latin history of britain, _note_. title of an english act, . title-page, a, no distinct intimation of contents of book, --framing of exhaustive title-page, _et seq._ --specimen of lengthy title-page, --advantages of such, . toy literature, _note._ transactions of learned societies, . trinity library, oxford, origin of, . types of guttenberg and faust, beauty of, . types, macewen on the, its fate at an auction, . typographical blunders, _et seq._ united states well stocked with libraries, --its citizens as book-hunters, . "vampire" as a book-hunter, --his collection, _et seq._ --his policy at auctions, _et seq._ vellum books, . verney, sir ralph, noting proceedings of the long parliament, _et seq._ vision, a, of mighty book-hunters, _et seq._ vulgate of sixtus v., multitude of errors in, . waltonian library, the, of rev. dr bethune, _et seq._ wars and revolutions, factors in the destruction of libraries, . watt, dr, his bibliography, . watts, isaac, and the "grangerites," _et seq._ wells dedicated to saints, _et seq._ wilberforce, samuel, bishop of oxford, humorous blunder in a biographical notice concerning, . wilbrod, st, and the frisian prince, . william and the wer wolf reprinted by roxburghe club, _et seq._ wodrow, rev. robert, his literary remains and collections, --his private note-books, --extracts from his note-books concerning "special providences," _et seq._ --his ghost and witch stories, _et seq._ --anecdote concerning the devil's sermon, _et seq._ "ye" and "the," common delusion concerning, _note_. the end. imprinted by william blackwood and sons, at their printing office, thistle street, edinburgh. [illustration] literary taste: how to form it with detailed instructions for collecting a complete library of english literature by arnold bennett contents chapter i the aim chapter ii your particular case chapter iii why a classic is a classic chapter iv where to begin chapter v how to read a classic chapter vi the question of style chapter vii wrestling with an author chapter viii system in reading chapter ix verse chapter x broad counsels chapter xi an english library: period i chapter xii an english library: period ii chapter xiii an english library: period iii chapter xiv mental stocktaking chapter i the aim at the beginning a misconception must be removed from the path. many people, if not most, look on literary taste as an elegant accomplishment, by acquiring which they will complete themselves, and make themselves finally fit as members of a correct society. they are secretly ashamed of their ignorance of literature, in the same way as they would be ashamed of their ignorance of etiquette at a high entertainment, or of their inability to ride a horse if suddenly called upon to do so. there are certain things that a man ought to know, or to know about, and literature is one of them: such is their idea. they have learnt to dress themselves with propriety, and to behave with propriety on all occasions; they are fairly "up" in the questions of the day; by industry and enterprise they are succeeding in their vocations; it behoves them, then, not to forget that an acquaintance with literature is an indispensable part of a self-respecting man's personal baggage. painting doesn't matter; music doesn't matter very much. but "everyone is supposed to know" about literature. then, literature is such a charming distraction! literary taste thus serves two purposes: as a certificate of correct culture and as a private pastime. a young professor of mathematics, immense at mathematics and games, dangerous at chess, capable of haydn on the violin, once said to me, after listening to some chat on books, "yes, i must take up literature." as though saying: "i was rather forgetting literature. however, i've polished off all these other things. i'll have a shy at literature now." this attitude, or any attitude which resembles it, is wrong. to him who really comprehends what literature is, and what the function of literature is, this attitude is simply ludicrous. it is also fatal to the formation of literary taste. people who regard literary taste simply as an accomplishment, and literature simply as a distraction, will never truly succeed either in acquiring the accomplishment or in using it half-acquired as a distraction; though the one is the most perfect of distractions, and though the other is unsurpassed by any other accomplishment in elegance or in power to impress the universal snobbery of civilised mankind. literature, instead of being an accessory, is the fundamental _sine qua non_ of complete living. i am extremely anxious to avoid rhetorical exaggerations. i do not think i am guilty of one in asserting that he who has not been "presented to the freedom" of literature has not wakened up out of his prenatal sleep. he is merely not born. he can't see; he can't hear; he can't feel, in any full sense. he can only eat his dinner. what more than anything else annoys people who know the true function of literature, and have profited thereby, is the spectacle of so many thousands of individuals going about under the delusion that they are alive, when, as a fact, they are no nearer being alive than a bear in winter. i will tell you what literature is! no--i only wish i could. but i can't. no one can. gleams can be thrown on the secret, inklings given, but no more. i will try to give you an inkling. and, to do so, i will take you back into your own history, or forward into it. that evening when you went for a walk with your faithful friend, the friend from whom you hid nothing--or almost nothing ...! you were, in truth, somewhat inclined to hide from him the particular matter which monopolised your mind that evening, but somehow you contrived to get on to it, drawn by an overpowering fascination. and as your faithful friend was sympathetic and discreet, and flattered you by a respectful curiosity, you proceeded further and further into the said matter, growing more and more confidential, until at last you cried out, in a terrific whisper: "my boy, she is simply miraculous!" at that moment you were in the domain of literature. let me explain. of course, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, she was not miraculous. your faithful friend had never noticed that she was miraculous, nor had about forty thousand other fairly keen observers. she was just a girl. troy had not been burnt for her. a girl cannot be called a miracle. if a girl is to be called a miracle, then you might call pretty nearly anything a miracle.... that is just it: you might. you can. you ought. amid all the miracles of the universe you had just wakened up to one. you were full of your discovery. you were under a divine impulsion to impart that discovery. you had a strong sense of the marvellous beauty of something, and you had to share it. you were in a passion about something, and you had to vent yourself on somebody. you were drawn towards the whole of the rest of the human race. mark the effect of your mood and utterance on your faithful friend. he knew that she was not a miracle. no other person could have made him believe that she was a miracle. but you, by the force and sincerity of your own vision of her, and by the fervour of your desire to make him participate in your vision, did for quite a long time cause him to feel that he had been blind to the miracle of that girl. you were producing literature. you were alive. your eyes were unlidded, your ears were unstopped, to some part of the beauty and the strangeness of the world; and a strong instinct within you forced you to tell someone. it was not enough for you that you saw and heard. others had to see and hear. others had to be wakened up. and they were! it is quite possible--i am not quite sure--that your faithful friend the very next day, or the next month, looked at some other girl, and suddenly saw that she, too, was miraculous! the influence of literature! the makers of literature are those who have seen and felt the miraculous interestingness of the universe. and the greatest makers of literature are those whose vision has been the widest, and whose feeling has been the most intense. your own fragment of insight was accidental, and perhaps temporary. _their_ lives are one long ecstasy of denying that the world is a dull place. is it nothing to you to learn to understand that the world is not a dull place? is it nothing to you to be led out of the tunnel on to the hillside, to have all your senses quickened, to be invigorated by the true savour of life, to feel your heart beating under that correct necktie of yours? these makers of literature render you their equals. the aim of literary study is not to amuse the hours of leisure; it is to awake oneself, it is to be alive, to intensify one's capacity for pleasure, for sympathy, and for comprehension. it is not to affect one hour, but twenty-four hours. it is to change utterly one's relations with the world. an understanding appreciation of literature means an understanding appreciation of the world, and it means nothing else. not isolated and unconnected parts of life, but all of life, brought together and correlated in a synthetic map! the spirit of literature is unifying; it joins the candle and the star, and by the magic of an image shows that the beauty of the greater is in the less. and, not content with the disclosure of beauty and the bringing together of all things whatever within its focus, it enforces a moral wisdom by the tracing everywhere of cause and effect. it consoles doubly--by the revelation of unsuspected loveliness, and by the proof that our lot is the common lot. it is the supreme cry of the discoverer, offering sympathy and asking for it in a single gesture. in attending a university extension lecture on the sources of shakespeare's plots, or in studying the researches of george saintsbury into the origins of english prosody, or in weighing the evidence for and against the assertion that rousseau was a scoundrel, one is apt to forget what literature really is and is for. it is well to remind ourselves that literature is first and last a means of life, and that the enterprise of forming one's literary taste is an enterprise of learning how best to use this means of life. people who don't want to live, people who would sooner hibernate than feel intensely, will be wise to eschew literature. they had better, to quote from the finest passage in a fine poem, "sit around and eat blackberries." the sight of a "common bush afire with god" might upset their nerves. chapter ii your particular case the attitude of the average decent person towards the classics of his own tongue is one of distrust--i had almost said, of fear. i will not take the case of shakespeare, for shakespeare is "taught" in schools; that is to say, the board of education and all authorities pedagogic bind themselves together in a determined effort to make every boy in the land a lifelong enemy of shakespeare. (it is a mercy they don't "teach" blake.) i will take, for an example, sir thomas browne, as to whom the average person has no offensive juvenile memories. he is bound to have read somewhere that the style of sir thomas browne is unsurpassed by anything in english literature. one day he sees the _religio medici_ in a shop-window (or, rather, outside a shop-window, for he would hesitate about entering a bookshop), and he buys it, by way of a mild experiment. he does not expect to be enchanted by it; a profound instinct tells him that sir thomas browne is "not in his line"; and in the result he is even less enchanted than he expected to be. he reads the introduction, and he glances at the first page or two of the work. he sees nothing but words. the work makes no appeal to him whatever. he is surrounded by trees, and cannot perceive the forest. he puts the book away. if sir thomas browne is mentioned, he will say, "yes, very fine!" with a feeling of pride that he has at any rate bought and inspected sir thomas browne. deep in his heart is a suspicion that people who get enthusiastic about sir thomas browne are vain and conceited _poseurs_. after a year or so, when he has recovered from the discouragement caused by sir thomas browne, he may, if he is young and hopeful, repeat the experiment with congreve or addison. same sequel! and so on for perhaps a decade, until his commerce with the classics finally expires! that, magazines and newish fiction apart, is the literary history of the average decent person. and even your case, though you are genuinely preoccupied with thoughts of literature, bears certain disturbing resemblances to the drab case of the average person. you do not approach the classics with gusto--anyhow, not with the same gusto as you would approach a new novel by a modern author who had taken your fancy. you never murmured to yourself, when reading gibbon's _decline and fall_ in bed: "well, i really must read one more chapter before i go to sleep!" speaking generally, the classics do not afford you a pleasure commensurate with their renown. you peruse them with a sense of duty, a sense of doing the right thing, a sense of "improving yourself," rather than with a sense of gladness. you do not smack your lips; you say: "that is good for me." you make little plans for reading, and then you invent excuses for breaking the plans. something new, something which is not a classic, will surely draw you away from a classic. it is all very well for you to pretend to agree with the verdict of the elect that _clarissa harlowe_ is one of the greatest novels in the world--a new kipling, or even a new number of a magazine, will cause you to neglect _clarissa harlowe_, just as though kipling, etc., could not be kept for a few days without turning sour! so that you have to ordain rules for yourself, as: "i will not read anything else until i have read richardson, or gibbon, for an hour each day." thus proving that you regard a classic as a pill, the swallowing of which merits jam! and the more modern a classic is, the more it resembles the stuff of the year and the less it resembles the classics of the centuries, the more easy and enticing do you find that classic. hence you are glad that george eliot, the brontës, thackeray, are considered as classics, because you really _do_ enjoy them. your sentiments concerning them approach your sentiments concerning a "rattling good story" in a magazine. i may have exaggerated--or, on the other hand, i may have understated--the unsatisfactory characteristics of your particular case, but it is probable that in the mirror i hold up you recognise the rough outlines of your likeness. you do not care to admit it; but it is so. you are not content with yourself. the desire to be more truly literary persists in you. you feel that there is something wrong in you, but you cannot put your finger on the spot. further, you feel that you are a bit of a sham. something within you continually forces you to exhibit for the classics an enthusiasm which you do not sincerely feel. you even try to persuade yourself that you are enjoying a book, when the next moment you drop it in the middle and forget to resume it. you occasionally buy classical works, and do not read them at all; you practically decide that it is enough to possess them, and that the mere possession of them gives you a _cachet_. the truth is, you are a sham. and your soul is a sea of uneasy remorse. you reflect: "according to what matthew arnold says, i ought to be perfectly mad about wordsworth's _prelude_. and i am not. why am i not? have i got to be learned, to undertake a vast course of study, in order to be perfectly mad about wordsworth's _prelude_? or am i born without the faculty of pure taste in literature, despite my vague longings? i do wish i could smack my lips over wordsworth's _prelude_ as i did over that splendid story by h.g. wells, _the country of the blind_, in the _strand magazine_!".... yes, i am convinced that in your dissatisfied, your diviner moments, you address yourself in these terms. i am convinced that i have diagnosed your symptoms. now the enterprise of forming one's literary taste is an agreeable one; if it is not agreeable it cannot succeed. but this does not imply that it is an easy or a brief one. the enterprise of beating colonel bogey at golf is an agreeable one, but it means honest and regular work. a fact to be borne in mind always! you are certainly not going to realise your ambition--and so great, so influential an ambition!--by spasmodic and half-hearted effort. you must begin by making up your mind adequately. you must rise to the height of the affair. you must approach a grand undertaking in the grand manner. you ought to mark the day in the calendar as a solemnity. human nature is weak, and has need of tricky aids, even in the pursuit of happiness. time will be necessary to you, and time regularly and sacredly set apart. many people affirm that they cannot be regular, that regularity numbs them. i think this is true of a very few people, and that in the rest the objection to regularity is merely an attempt to excuse idleness. i am inclined to think that you personally are capable of regularity. and i am sure that if you firmly and constantly devote certain specific hours on certain specific days of the week to this business of forming your literary taste, you will arrive at the goal much sooner. the simple act of resolution will help you. this is the first preliminary. the second preliminary is to surround yourself with books, to create for yourself a bookish atmosphere. the merely physical side of books is important--more important than it may seem to the inexperienced. theoretically (save for works of reference), a student has need for but one book at a time. theoretically, an amateur of literature might develop his taste by expending sixpence a week, or a penny a day, in one sixpenny edition of a classic after another sixpenny edition of a classic, and he might store his library in a hat-box or a biscuit-tin. but in practice he would have to be a monster of resolution to succeed in such conditions. the eye must be flattered; the hand must be flattered; the sense of owning must be flattered. sacrifices must be made for the acquisition of literature. that which has cost a sacrifice is always endeared. a detailed scheme of buying books will come later, in the light of further knowledge. for the present, buy--buy whatever has received the _imprimatur_ of critical authority. buy without any immediate reference to what you will read. buy! surround yourself with volumes, as handsome as you can afford. and for reading, all that i will now particularly enjoin is a general and inclusive tasting, in order to attain a sort of familiarity with the look of "literature in all its branches." a turning over of the pages of a volume of chambers's _cyclopædia of english literature_, the third for preference, may be suggested as an admirable and a diverting exercise. you might mark the authors that flash an appeal to you. chapter iii why a classic is a classic the large majority of our fellow-citizens care as much about literature as they care about aeroplanes or the programme of the legislature. they do not ignore it; they are not quite indifferent to it. but their interest in it is faint and perfunctory; or, if their interest happens to be violent, it is spasmodic. ask the two hundred thousand persons whose enthusiasm made the vogue of a popular novel ten years ago what they think of that novel now, and you will gather that they have utterly forgotten it, and that they would no more dream of reading it again than of reading bishop stubbs's _select charters_. probably if they did read it again they would not enjoy it--not because the said novel is a whit worse now than it was ten years ago; not because their taste has improved--but because they have not had sufficient practice to be able to rely on their taste as a means of permanent pleasure. they simply don't know from one day to the next what will please them. in the face of this one may ask: why does the great and universal fame of classical authors continue? the answer is that the fame of classical authors is entirely independent of the majority. do you suppose that if the fame of shakespeare depended on the man in the street it would survive a fortnight? the fame of classical authors is originally made, and it is maintained, by a passionate few. even when a first-class author has enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, the majority have never appreciated him so sincerely as they have appreciated second-rate men. he has always been reinforced by the ardour of the passionate few. and in the case of an author who has emerged into glory after his death the happy sequel has been due solely to the obstinate perseverance of the few. they could not leave him alone; they would not. they kept on savouring him, and talking about him, and buying him, and they generally behaved with such eager zeal, and they were so authoritative and sure of themselves, that at last the majority grew accustomed to the sound of his name and placidly agreed to the proposition that he was a genius; the majority really did not care very much either way. and it is by the passionate few that the renown of genius is kept alive from one generation to another. these few are always at work. they are always rediscovering genius. their curiosity and enthusiasm are exhaustless, so that there is little chance of genius being ignored. and, moreover, they are always working either for or against the verdicts of the majority. the majority can make a reputation, but it is too careless to maintain it. if, by accident, the passionate few agree with the majority in a particular instance, they will frequently remind the majority that such and such a reputation has been made, and the majority will idly concur: "ah, yes. by the way, we must not forget that such and such a reputation exists." without that persistent memory-jogging the reputation would quickly fall into the oblivion which is death. the passionate few only have their way by reason of the fact that they are genuinely interested in literature, that literature matters to them. they conquer by their obstinacy alone, by their eternal repetition of the same statements. do you suppose they could prove to the man in the street that shakespeare was a great artist? the said man would not even understand the terms they employed. but when he is told ten thousand times, and generation after generation, that shakespeare was a great artist, the said man believes--not by reason, but by faith. and he too repeats that shakespeare was a great artist, and he buys the complete works of shakespeare and puts them on his shelves, and he goes to see the marvellous stage-effects which accompany _king lear_ or _hamlet_, and comes back religiously convinced that shakespeare was a great artist. all because the passionate few could not keep their admiration of shakespeare to themselves. this is not cynicism; but truth. and it is important that those who wish to form their literary taste should grasp it. what causes the passionate few to make such a fuss about literature? there can be only one reply. they find a keen and lasting pleasure in literature. they enjoy literature as some men enjoy beer. the recurrence of this pleasure naturally keeps their interest in literature very much alive. they are for ever making new researches, for ever practising on themselves. they learn to understand themselves. they learn to know what they want. their taste becomes surer and surer as their experience lengthens. they do not enjoy to-day what will seem tedious to them to-morrow. when they find a book tedious, no amount of popular clatter will persuade them that it is pleasurable; and when they find it pleasurable no chill silence of the street-crowds will affect their conviction that the book is good and permanent. they have faith in themselves. what are the qualities in a book which give keen and lasting pleasure to the passionate few? this is a question so difficult that it has never yet been completely answered. you may talk lightly about truth, insight, knowledge, wisdom, humour, and beauty. but these comfortable words do not really carry you very far, for each of them has to be defined, especially the first and last. it is all very well for keats in his airy manner to assert that beauty is truth, truth beauty, and that that is all he knows or needs to know. i, for one, need to know a lot more. and i never shall know. nobody, not even hazlitt nor sainte-beuve, has ever finally explained why he thought a book beautiful. i take the first fine lines that come to hand-- the woods of arcady are dead, and over is their antique joy-- and i say that those lines are beautiful, because they give me pleasure. but why? no answer! i only know that the passionate few will, broadly, agree with me in deriving this mysterious pleasure from those lines. i am only convinced that the liveliness of our pleasure in those and many other lines by the same author will ultimately cause the majority to believe, by faith, that w.b. yeats is a genius. the one reassuring aspect of the literary affair is that the passionate few are passionate about the same things. a continuance of interest does, in actual practice, lead ultimately to the same judgments. there is only the difference in width of interest. some of the passionate few lack catholicity, or, rather, the whole of their interest is confined to one narrow channel; they have none left over. these men help specially to vitalise the reputations of the narrower geniuses: such as crashaw. but their active predilections never contradict the general verdict of the passionate few; rather they reinforce it. a classic is a work which gives pleasure to the minority which is intensely and permanently interested in literature. it lives on because the minority, eager to renew the sensation of pleasure, is eternally curious and is therefore engaged in an eternal process of rediscovery. a classic does not survive for any ethical reason. it does not survive because it conforms to certain canons, or because neglect would not kill it. it survives because it is a source of pleasure, and because the passionate few can no more neglect it than a bee can neglect a flower. the passionate few do not read "the right things" because they are right. that is to put the cart before the horse. "the right things" are the right things solely because the passionate few _like_ reading them. hence--and i now arrive at my point--the one primary essential to literary taste is a hot interest in literature. if you have that, all the rest will come. it matters nothing that at present you fail to find pleasure in certain classics. the driving impulse of your interest will force you to acquire experience, and experience will teach you the use of the means of pleasure. you do not know the secret ways of yourself: that is all. a continuance of interest must inevitably bring you to the keenest joys. but, of course, experience may be acquired judiciously or injudiciously, just as putney may be reached _via_ walham green or _via_ st. petersburg. chapter iv where to begin i wish particularly that my readers should not be intimidated by the apparent vastness and complexity of this enterprise of forming the literary taste. it is not so vast nor so complex as it looks. there is no need whatever for the inexperienced enthusiast to confuse and frighten himself with thoughts of "literature in all its branches." experts and pedagogues (chiefly pedagogues) have, for the purpose of convenience, split literature up into divisions and sub-divisions--such as prose and poetry; or imaginative, philosophic, historical; or elegiac, heroic, lyric; or religious and profane, etc., _ad infinitum_. but the greater truth is that literature is all one--and indivisible. the idea of the unity of literature should be well planted and fostered in the head. all literature is the expression of feeling, of passion, of emotion, caused by a sensation of the interestingness of life. what drives a historian to write history? nothing but the overwhelming impression made upon him by the survey of past times. he is forced into an attempt to reconstitute the picture for others. if hitherto you have failed to perceive that a historian is a being in strong emotion, trying to convey his emotion to others, read the passage in the _memoirs_ of gibbon, in which he describes how he finished the _decline and fall_. you will probably never again look upon the _decline and fall_ as a "dry" work. what applies to history applies to the other "dry" branches. even johnson's dictionary is packed with emotion. read the last paragraph of the preface to it: "in this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed.... it may repress the triumph of malignant criticism to observe that if our language is not here fully displayed, i have only failed in an attempt which no human powers have hitherto completed...." and so on to the close: "i have protracted my work till most of those whom i wish to please have sunk into the grave, and success and miscarriage are empty sounds: i therefore dismiss it with frigid tranquillity, having little to fear or hope from censure or from praise." yes, tranquillity; but not frigid! the whole passage, one of the finest in english prose, is marked by the heat of emotion. you may discover the same quality in such books as spencer's _first principles_. you may discover it everywhere in literature, from the cold fire of pope's irony to the blasting temperatures of swinburne. literature does not begin till emotion has begun. there is even no essential, definable difference between those two great branches, prose and poetry. for prose may have rhythm. all that can be said is that verse will scan, while prose will not. the difference is purely formal. very few poets have succeeded in being so poetical as isaiah, sir thomas browne, and ruskin have been in prose. it can only be stated that, as a rule, writers have shown an instinctive tendency to choose verse for the expression of the very highest emotion. the supreme literature is in verse, but the finest achievements in prose approach so nearly to the finest achievements in verse that it is ill work deciding between them. in the sense in which poetry is best understood, all literature is poetry--or is, at any rate, poetical in quality. macaulay's ill-informed and unjust denunciations live because his genuine emotion made them into poetry, while his _lays of ancient rome_ are dead because they are not the expression of a genuine emotion. as the literary taste develops, this quality of emotion, restrained or loosed, will be more and more widely perceived at large in literature. it is the quality that must be looked for. it is the quality that unifies literature (and all the arts). it is not merely useless, it is harmful, for you to map out literature into divisions and branches, with different laws, rules, or canons. the first thing is to obtain some possession of literature. when you have actually felt some of the emotion which great writers have striven to impart to you, and when your emotions become so numerous and puzzling that you feel the need of arranging them and calling them by names, then--and not before--you can begin to study what has been attempted in the way of classifying and ticketing literature. manuals and treatises are excellent things in their kind, but they are simply dead weight at the start. you can only acquire really useful general ideas by first acquiring particular ideas, and putting those particular ideas together. you cannot make bricks without straw. do not worry about literature in the abstract, about theories as to literature. get at it. get hold of literature in the concrete as a dog gets hold of a bone. if you ask me where you ought to begin, i shall gaze at you as i might gaze at the faithful animal if he inquired which end of the bone he ought to attack. it doesn't matter in the slightest degree where you begin. begin wherever the fancy takes you to begin. literature is a whole. there is only one restriction for you. you must begin with an acknowledged classic; you must eschew modern works. the reason for this does not imply any depreciation of the present age at the expense of past ages. indeed, it is important, if you wish ultimately to have a wide, catholic taste, to guard against the too common assumption that nothing modern will stand comparison with the classics. in every age there have been people to sigh: "ah, yes. fifty years ago we had a few great writers. but they are all dead, and no young ones are arising to take their place." this attitude of mind is deplorable, if not silly, and is a certain proof of narrow taste. it is a surety that in gloomy and egregious persons will be saying: "ah, yes. at the beginning of the century there were great poets like swinburne, meredith, francis thompson, and yeats. great novelists like hardy and conrad. great historians like stubbs and maitland, etc., etc. but they are all dead now, and whom have we to take their place?" it is not until an age has receded into history, and all its mediocrity has dropped away from it, that we can see it as it is--as a group of men of genius. we forget the immense amount of twaddle that the great epochs produced. the total amount of fine literature created in a given period of time differs from epoch to epoch, but it does not differ much. and we may be perfectly sure that our own age will make a favourable impression upon that excellent judge, posterity. therefore, beware of disparaging the present in your own mind. while temporarily ignoring it, dwell upon the idea that its chaff contains about as much wheat as any similar quantity of chaff has contained wheat. the reason why you must avoid modern works at the beginning is simply that you are not in a position to choose among modern works. nobody at all is quite in a position to choose with certainty among modern works. to sift the wheat from the chaff is a process that takes an exceedingly long time. modern works have to pass before the bar of the taste of successive generations. whereas, with classics, which have been through the ordeal, almost the reverse is the case. _your taste has to pass before the bar of the classics_. that is the point. if you differ with a classic, it is you who are wrong, and not the book. if you differ with a modern work, you may be wrong or you may be right, but no judge is authoritative enough to decide. your taste is unformed. it needs guidance, and it needs authoritative guidance. into the business of forming literary taste faith enters. you probably will not specially care for a particular classic at first. if you did care for it at first, your taste, so far as that classic is concerned, would be formed, and our hypothesis is that your taste is not formed. how are you to arrive at the stage of caring for it? chiefly, of course, by examining it and honestly trying to understand it. but this process is materially helped by an act of faith, by the frame of mind which says: "i know on the highest authority that this thing is fine, that it is capable of giving me pleasure. hence i am determined to find pleasure in it." believe me that faith counts enormously in the development of that wide taste which is the instrument of wide pleasures. but it must be faith founded on unassailable authority. chapter v how to read a classic let us begin experimental reading with charles lamb. i choose lamb for various reasons: he is a great writer, wide in his appeal, of a highly sympathetic temperament; and his finest achievements are simple and very short. moreover, he may usefully lead to other and more complex matters, as will appear later. now, your natural tendency will be to think of charles lamb as a book, because he has arrived at the stage of being a classic. charles lamb was a man, not a book. it is extremely important that the beginner in literary study should always form an idea of the man behind the book. the book is nothing but the expression of the man. the book is nothing but the man trying to talk to you, trying to impart to you some of his feelings. an experienced student will divine the man from the book, will understand the man by the book, as is, of course, logically proper. but the beginner will do well to aid himself in understanding the book by means of independent information about the man. he will thus at once relate the book to something human, and strengthen in his mind the essential notion of the connection between literature and life. the earliest literature was delivered orally direct by the artist to the recipient. in some respects this arrangement was ideal. changes in the constitution of society have rendered it impossible. nevertheless, we can still, by the exercise of the imagination, hear mentally the accents of the artist speaking to us. we must so exercise our imagination as to feel the man behind the book. some biographical information about lamb should be acquired. there are excellent short biographies of him by canon ainger in the _dictionary of national biography_, in chambers's _encyclopædia_, and in chambers's _cyclopædia of english literature_. if you have none of these (but you ought to have the last), there are mr. e.v. lucas's exhaustive _life_ (methuen, s. d.), and, cheaper, mr. walter jerrold's _lamb_ (bell and sons, s.); also introductory studies prefixed to various editions of lamb's works. indeed, the facilities for collecting materials for a picture of charles lamb as a human being are prodigious. when you have made for yourself such a picture, read the _essays of elia_ the light of it. i will choose one of the most celebrated, _dream children: a reverie_. at this point, kindly put my book down, and read _dream children_. do not say to yourself that you will read it later, but read it now. when you have read it, you may proceed to my next paragraph. you are to consider _dream children_ as a human document. lamb was nearing fifty when he wrote it. you can see, especially from the last line, that the death of his elder brother, john lamb, was fresh and heavy on his mind. you will recollect that in youth he had had a disappointing love-affair with a girl named ann simmons, who afterwards married a man named bartrum. you will know that one of the influences of his childhood was his grandmother field, housekeeper of blakesware house, in hertfordshire, at which mansion he sometimes spent his holidays. you will know that he was a bachelor, living with his sister mary, who was subject to homicidal mania. and you will see in this essay, primarily, a supreme expression of the increasing loneliness of his life. he constructed all that preliminary tableau of paternal pleasure in order to bring home to you in the most poignant way his feeling of the solitude of his existence, his sense of all that he had missed and lost in the world. the key of the essay is one of profound sadness. but note that he makes his sadness beautiful; or, rather, he shows the beauty that resides in sadness. you watch him sitting there in his "bachelor arm-chair," and you say to yourself: "yes, it was sad, but it was somehow beautiful." when you have said that to yourself, charles lamb, so far as you are concerned, has accomplished his chief aim in writing the essay. how exactly he produces his effect can never be fully explained. but one reason of his success is certainly his regard for truth. he does not falsely idealise his brother, nor the relations between them. he does not say, as a sentimentalist would have said, "not the slightest cloud ever darkened our relations;" nor does he exaggerate his solitude. being a sane man, he has too much common-sense to assemble all his woes at once. he might have told you that bridget was a homicidal maniac; what he does tell you is that she was faithful. another reason of his success is his continual regard for beautiful things and fine actions, as illustrated in the major characteristics of his grandmother and his brother, and in the detailed description of blakesware house and the gardens thereof. then, subordinate to the main purpose, part of the machinery of the main purpose, is the picture of the children--real children until the moment when they fade away. the traits of childhood are accurately and humorously put in again and again: "here john smiled, as much as to say, 'that would be foolish indeed.'" "here little alice spread her hands." "here alice's little right foot played an involuntary movement, till, upon my looking grave, it desisted." "here john expanded all his eyebrows, and tried to look courageous." "here john slily deposited back upon the plate a bunch of grapes." "here the children fell a-crying ... and prayed me to tell them some stories about their pretty dead mother." and the exquisite: "here alice put out one of her dear mother's looks, too tender to be upbraiding." incidentally, while preparing his ultimate solemn effect, lamb has inspired you with a new, intensified vision of the wistful beauty of children--their imitativeness, their facile and generous emotions, their anxiety to be correct, their ingenuous haste to escape from grief into joy. you can see these children almost as clearly and as tenderly as lamb saw them. for days afterwards you will not be able to look upon a child without recalling lamb's portrayal of the grace of childhood. he will have shared with you his perception of beauty. if you possess children, he will have renewed for you the charm which custom does very decidedly stale. it is further to be noticed that the measure of his success in picturing the children is the measure of his success in his main effect. the more real they seem, the more touching is the revelation of the fact that they do not exist, and never have existed. and if you were moved by the reference to their "pretty dead mother," you will be still more moved when you learn that the girl who would have been their mother is not dead and is not lamb's. as, having read the essay, you reflect upon it, you will see how its emotional power over you has sprung from the sincere and unexaggerated expression of actual emotions exactly remembered by someone who had an eye always open for beauty, who was, indeed, obsessed by beauty. the beauty of old houses and gardens and aged virtuous characters, the beauty of children, the beauty of companionships, the softening beauty of dreams in an arm-chair--all these are brought together and mingled with the grief and regret which were the origin of the mood. why is _dream children_ a classic? it is a classic because it transmits to you, as to generations before you, distinguished emotion, because it makes you respond to the throb of life more intensely, more justly, and more nobly. and it is capable of doing this because charles lamb had a very distinguished, a very sensitive, and a very honest mind. his emotions were noble. he felt so keenly that he was obliged to find relief in imparting his emotions. and his mental processes were so sincere that he could neither exaggerate nor diminish the truth. if he had lacked any one of these three qualities, his appeal would have been narrowed and weakened, and he would not have become a classic. either his feelings would have been deficient in supreme beauty, and therefore less worthy to be imparted, or he would not have had sufficient force to impart them; or his honesty would not have been equal to the strain of imparting them accurately. in any case, he would not have set up in you that vibration which we call pleasure, and which is super-eminently caused by vitalising participation in high emotion. as lamb sat in his bachelor arm-chair, with his brother in the grave, and the faithful homicidal maniac by his side, he really did think to himself, "this is beautiful. sorrow is beautiful. disappointment is beautiful. life is beautiful. _i must tell them_. i must make them understand." because he still makes you understand he is a classic. and now i seem to hear you say, "but what about lamb's famous literary style? where does that come in?" chapter vi the question of style in discussing the value of particular books, i have heard people say--people who were timid about expressing their views of literature in the presence of literary men: "it may be bad from a literary point of view, but there are very good things in it." or: "i dare say the style is very bad, but really the book is very interesting and suggestive." or: "i'm not an expert, and so i never bother my head about good style. all i ask for is good matter. and when i have got it, critics may say what they like about the book." and many other similar remarks, all showing that in the minds of the speakers there existed a notion that style is something supplementary to, and distinguishable from, matter; a sort of notion that a writer who wanted to be classical had first to find and arrange his matter, and then dress it up elegantly in a costume of style, in order to please beings called literary critics. this is a misapprehension. style cannot be distinguished from matter. when a writer conceives an idea he conceives it in a form of words. that form of words constitutes his style, and it is absolutely governed by the idea. the idea can only exist in words, and it can only exist in one form of words. you cannot say exactly the same thing in two different ways. slightly alter the expression, and you slightly alter the idea. surely it is obvious that the expression cannot be altered without altering the thing expressed! a writer, having conceived and expressed an idea, may, and probably will, "polish it up." but what does he polish up? to say that he polishes up his style is merely to say that he is polishing up his idea, that he has discovered faults or imperfections in his idea, and is perfecting it. an idea exists in proportion as it is expressed; it exists when it is expressed, and not before. it expresses itself. a clear idea is expressed clearly, and a vague idea vaguely. you need but take your own case and your own speech. for just as science is the development of common-sense, so is literature the development of common daily speech. the difference between science and common-sense is simply one of degree; similarly with speech and literature. well, when you "know what you think," you succeed in saying what you think, in making yourself understood. when you "don't know what to think," your expressive tongue halts. and note how in daily life the characteristics of your style follow your mood; how tender it is when you are tender, how violent when you are violent. you have said to yourself in moments of emotion: "if only i could write--," etc. you were wrong. you ought to have said: "if only i could _think_--on this high plane." when you have thought clearly you have never had any difficulty in saying what you thought, though you may occasionally have had some difficulty in keeping it to yourself. and when you cannot express yourself, depend upon it that you have nothing precise to express, and that what incommodes you is not the vain desire to express, but the vain desire to _think_ more clearly. all this just to illustrate how style and matter are co-existent, and inseparable, and alike. you cannot have good matter with bad style. examine the point more closely. a man wishes to convey a fine idea to you. he employs a form of words. that form of words is his style. having read, you say: "yes, this idea is fine." the writer has therefore achieved his end. but in what imaginable circumstances can you say: "yes, this idea is fine, but the style is not fine"? the sole medium of communication between you and the author has been the form of words. the fine idea has reached you. how? in the words, by the words. hence the fineness must be in the words. you may say, superiorly: "he has expressed himself clumsily, but i can _see_ what he means." by what light? by something in the words, in the style. that something is fine. moreover, if the style is clumsy, are you sure that you can see what he means? you cannot be quite sure. and at any rate, you cannot see distinctly. the "matter" is what actually reaches you, and it must necessarily be affected by the style. still further to comprehend what style is, let me ask you to think of a writer's style exactly as you would think of the gestures and manners of an acquaintance. you know the man whose demeanour is "always calm," but whose passions are strong. how do you know that his passions are strong? because he "gives them away" by some small, but important, part of his demeanour, such as the twitching of a lip or the whitening of the knuckles caused by clenching the hand. in other words, his demeanour, fundamentally, is not calm. you know the man who is always "smoothly polite and agreeable," but who affects you unpleasantly. why does he affect you unpleasantly? because he is tedious, and therefore disagreeable, and because his politeness is not real politeness. you know the man who is awkward, shy, clumsy, but who, nevertheless, impresses you with a sense of dignity and force. why? because mingled with that awkwardness and so forth _is_ dignity. you know the blunt, rough fellow whom you instinctively guess to be affectionate--because there is "something in his tone" or "something in his eyes." in every instance the demeanour, while perhaps seeming to be contrary to the character, is really in accord with it. the demeanour never contradicts the character. it is one part of the character that contradicts another part of the character. for, after all, the blunt man _is_ blunt, and the awkward man _is_ awkward, and these characteristics are defects. the demeanour merely expresses them. the two men would be better if, while conserving their good qualities, they had the superficial attributes of smoothness and agreeableness possessed by the gentleman who is unpleasant to you. and as regards this latter, it is not his superficial attributes which are unpleasant to you; but his other qualities. in the end the character is shown in the demeanour; and the demeanour is a consequence of the character and resembles the character. so with style and matter. you may argue that the blunt, rough man's demeanour is unfair to his tenderness. i do not think so. for his churlishness is really very trying and painful, even to the man's wife, though a moment's tenderness will make her and you forget it. the man really is churlish, and much more often than he is tender. his demeanour is merely just to his character. so, when a writer annoys you for ten pages and then enchants you for ten lines, you must not explode against his style. you must not say that his style won't let his matter "come out." you must remember the churlish, tender man. the more you reflect, the more clearly you will see that faults and excellences of style are faults and excellences of matter itself. one of the most striking illustrations of this neglected truth is thomas carlyle. how often has it been said that carlyle's matter is marred by the harshness and the eccentricities of his style? but carlyle's matter is harsh and eccentric to precisely the same degree as his style is harsh and eccentric. carlyle was harsh and eccentric. his behaviour was frequently ridiculous, if it were not abominable. his judgments were often extremely bizarre. when you read one of carlyle's fierce diatribes, you say to yourself: "this is splendid. the man's enthusiasm for justice and truth is glorious." but you also say: "he is a little unjust and a little untruthful. he goes too far. he lashes too hard." these things are not the style; they are the matter. and when, as in his greatest moments, he is emotional and restrained at once, you say: "this is the real carlyle." kindly notice how perfect the style has become! no harshnesses or eccentricities now! and if that particular matter is the "real" carlyle, then that particular style is carlyle's "real" style. but when you say "real" you would more properly say "best." "this is the best carlyle." if carlyle had always been at his best he would have counted among the supreme geniuses of the world. but he was a mixture. his style is the expression of the mixture. the faults are only in the style because they are in the matter. you will find that, in classical literature, the style always follows the mood of the matter. thus, charles lamb's essay on _dream children_ begins quite simply, in a calm, narrative manner, enlivened by a certain quippishness concerning the children. the style is grave when great-grandmother field is the subject, and when the author passes to a rather elaborate impression of the picturesque old mansion it becomes as it were consciously beautiful. this beauty is intensified in the description of the still more beautiful garden. but the real dividing point of the essay occurs when lamb approaches his elder brother. he unmistakably marks the point with the phrase: "_then, in somewhat a more heightened tone_, i told how," etc. henceforward the style increases in fervour and in solemnity until the culmination of the essay is reached: "and while i stood gazing, both the children gradually grew fainter to my view, receding and still receding till nothing at last but two mournful features were seen in the uttermost distance, which, without speech, strangely impressed upon me the effects of speech...." throughout, the style is governed by the matter. "well," you say, "of course it is. it couldn't be otherwise. if it were otherwise it would be ridiculous. a man who made love as though he were preaching a sermon, or a man who preached a sermon as though he were teasing schoolboys, or a man who described a death as though he were describing a practical joke, must necessarily be either an ass or a lunatic." just so. you have put it in a nutshell. you have disposed of the problem of style so far as it can be disposed of. but what do those people mean who say: "i read such and such an author for the beauty of his style alone"? personally, i do not clearly know what they mean (and i have never been able to get them to explain), unless they mean that they read for the beauty of sound alone. when you read a book there are only three things of which you may be conscious: ( ) the significance of the words, which is inseparably bound up with the thought. ( ) the look of the printed words on the page--i do not suppose that anybody reads any author for the visual beauty of the words on the page. ( ) the sound of the words, either actually uttered or imagined by the brain to be uttered. now it is indubitable that words differ in beauty of sound. to my mind one of the most beautiful words in the english language is "pavement." enunciate it, study its sound, and see what you think. it is also indubitable that certain combinations of words have a more beautiful sound than certain other combinations. thus tennyson held that the most beautiful line he ever wrote was: the mellow ouzel fluting in the elm. perhaps, as sound, it was. assuredly it makes a beautiful succession of sounds, and recalls the bird-sounds which it is intended to describe. but does it live in the memory as one of the rare great tennysonian lines? it does not. it has charm, but the charm is merely curious or pretty. a whole poem composed of lines with no better recommendation than that line has would remain merely curious or pretty. it would not permanently interest. it would be as insipid as a pretty woman who had nothing behind her prettiness. it would not live. one may remark in this connection how the merely verbal felicities of tennyson have lost our esteem. who will now proclaim the _idylls of the king_ as a masterpiece? of the thousands of lines written by him which please the ear, only those survive of which the matter is charged with emotion. no! as regards the man who professes to read an author "for his style alone," i am inclined to think either that he will soon get sick of that author, or that he is deceiving himself and means the author's general temperament--not the author's verbal style, but a peculiar quality which runs through all the matter written by the author. just as one may like a man for something which is always coming out of him, which one cannot define, and which is of the very essence of the man. in judging the style of an author, you must employ the same canons as you use in judging men. if you do this you will not be tempted to attach importance to trifles that are negligible. there can be no lasting friendship without respect. if an author's style is such that you cannot _respect_ it, then you may be sure that, despite any present pleasure which you may obtain from that author, there is something wrong with his matter, and that the pleasure will soon cloy. you must examine your sentiments towards an author. if when you have read an author you are pleased, without being conscious of aught but his mellifluousness, just conceive what your feelings would be after spending a month's holiday with a merely mellifluous man. if an author's style has pleased you, but done nothing except make you giggle, then reflect upon the ultimate tediousness of the man who can do nothing but jest. on the other hand, if you are impressed by what an author has said to you, but are aware of verbal clumsinesses in his work, you need worry about his "bad style" exactly as much and exactly as little as you would worry about the manners of a kindhearted, keen-brained friend who was dangerous to carpets with a tea-cup in his hand. the friend's antics in a drawing-room are somewhat regrettable, but you would not say of him that his manners were bad. again, if an author's style dazzles you instantly and blinds you to everything except its brilliant self, ask your soul, before you begin to admire his matter, what would be your final opinion of a man who at the first meeting fired his personality into you like a broadside. reflect that, as a rule, the people whom you have come to esteem communicated themselves to you gradually, that they did not begin the entertainment with fireworks. in short, look at literature as you would look at life, and you cannot fail to perceive that, essentially, the style is the man. decidedly you will never assert that you care nothing for style, that your enjoyment of an author's matter is unaffected by his style. and you will never assert, either, that style alone suffices for you. if you are undecided upon a question of style, whether leaning to the favourable or to the unfavourable, the most prudent course is to forget that literary style exists. for, indeed, as style is understood by most people who have not analysed their impressions under the influence of literature, there _is_ no such thing as literary style. you cannot divide literature into two elements and say: this is matter and that style. further, the significance and the worth of literature are to be comprehended and assessed in the same way as the significance and the worth of any other phenomenon: by the exercise of common-sense. common-sense will tell you that nobody, not even a genius, can be simultaneously vulgar and distinguished, or beautiful and ugly, or precise and vague, or tender and harsh. and common-sense will therefore tell you that to try to set up vital contradictions between matter and style is absurd. when there is a superficial contradiction, one of the two mutually-contradicting qualities is of far less importance than the other. if you refer literature to the standards of life, common-sense will at once decide which quality should count heaviest in your esteem. you will be in no danger of weighing a mere maladroitness of manner against a fine trait of character, or of letting a graceful deportment blind you to a fundamental vacuity. when in doubt, ignore style, and think of the matter as you would think of an individual. chapter vii wrestling with an author having disposed, so far as is possible and necessary, of that formidable question of style, let us now return to charles lamb, whose essay on _dream children_ was the originating cause of our inquiry into style. as we have made a beginning of lamb, it will be well to make an end of him. in the preliminary stages of literary culture, nothing is more helpful, in the way of kindling an interest and keeping it well alight, than to specialise for a time on one author, and particularly on an author so frankly and curiously "human" as lamb is. i do not mean that you should imprison yourself with lamb's complete works for three months, and read nothing else. i mean that you should regularly devote a proportion of your learned leisure to the study of lamb until you are acquainted with all that is important in his work and about his work. (you may buy the complete works in prose and verse of charles and mary lamb, edited by that unsurpassed expert mr. thomas hutchison, and published by the oxford university press, in two volumes for four shillings the pair!) there is no reason why you should not become a modest specialist in lamb. he is the very man for you; neither voluminous, nor difficult, nor uncomfortably lofty; always either amusing or touching; and--most important--himself passionately addicted to literature. you cannot like lamb without liking literature in general. and you cannot read lamb without learning about literature in general; for books were his hobby, and he was a critic of the first rank. his letters are full of literariness. you will naturally read his letters; you should not only be infinitely diverted by them (there are no better epistles), but you should receive from them much light on the works. it is a course of study that i am suggesting to you. it means a certain amount of sustained effort. it means slightly more resolution, more pertinacity, and more expenditure of brain-tissue than are required for reading a newspaper. it means, in fact, "work." perhaps you did not bargain for work when you joined me. but i do not think that the literary taste can be satisfactorily formed unless one is prepared to put one's back into the affair. and i may prophesy to you, by way of encouragement, that, in addition to the advantages of familiarity with masterpieces, of increased literary knowledge, and of a wide introduction to the true bookish atmosphere and "feel" of things, which you will derive from a comprehensive study of charles lamb, you will also be conscious of a moral advantage--the very important and very inspiring advantage of really "knowing something about something." you will have achieved a definite step; you will be proudly aware that you have put yourself in a position to judge as an expert whatever you may hear or read in the future concerning charles lamb. this legitimate pride and sense of accomplishment will stimulate you to go on further; it will generate steam. i consider that this indirect moral advantage even outweighs, for the moment, the direct literary advantages. now, i shall not shut my eyes to a possible result of your diligent intercourse with charles lamb. it is possible that you may be disappointed with him. it is--shall i say?--almost probable that you will be disappointed with him, at any rate partially. you will have expected more joy in him than you have received. i have referred in a previous chapter to the feeling of disappointment which often comes from first contacts with the classics. the neophyte is apt to find them--i may as well out with the word--dull. you may have found lamb less diverting, less interesting, than you hoped. you may have had to whip yourself up again and again to the effort of reading him. in brief, lamb has not, for you, justified his terrific reputation. if a classic is a classic because it gives _pleasure_ to succeeding generations of the people who are most keenly interested in literature, and if lamb frequently strikes you as dull, then evidently there is something wrong. the difficulty must be fairly fronted, and the fronting of it brings us to the very core of the business of actually forming the taste. if your taste were classical you would discover in lamb a continual fascination; whereas what you in fact do discover in lamb is a not unpleasant flatness, enlivened by a vague humour and an occasional pathos. you ought, according to theory, to be enthusiastic; but you are apathetic, or, at best, half-hearted. there is a gulf. how to cross it? to cross it needs time and needs trouble. the following considerations may aid. in the first place, we have to remember that, in coming into the society of the classics in general and of charles lamb in particular, we are coming into the society of a mental superior. what happens usually in such a case? we can judge by recalling what happens when we are in the society of a mental inferior. we say things of which he misses the import; we joke, and he does not smile; what makes him laugh loudly seems to us horseplay or childish; he is blind to beauties which ravish us; he is ecstatic over what strikes us as crude; and his profound truths are for us trite commonplaces. his perceptions are relatively coarse; our perceptions are relatively subtle. we try to make him understand, to make him see, and if he is aware of his inferiority we may have some success. but if he is not aware of his inferiority, we soon hold our tongues and leave him alone in his self-satisfaction, convinced that there is nothing to be done with him. every one of us has been through this experience with a mental inferior, for there is always a mental inferior handy, just as there is always a being more unhappy than we are. in approaching a classic, the true wisdom is to place ourselves in the position of the mental inferior, aware of mental inferiority, humbly stripping off all conceit, anxious to rise out of that inferiority. recollect that we always regard as quite hopeless the mental inferior who does not suspect his own inferiority. our attitude towards lamb must be: "charles lamb was a greater man than i am, cleverer, sharper, subtler, finer, intellectually more powerful, and with keener eyes for beauty. i must brace myself to follow his lead." our attitude must resemble that of one who cocks his ear and listens with all his soul for a distant sound. to catch the sound we really must listen. that is to say, we must read carefully, with our faculties on the watch. we must read slowly and perseveringly. a classic has to be wooed and is worth the wooing. further, we must disdain no assistance. i am not in favour of studying criticism of classics before the classics themselves. my notion is to study the work and the biography of a classical writer together, and then to read criticism afterwards. i think that in reprints of the classics the customary "critical introduction" ought to be put at the end, and not at the beginning, of the book. the classic should be allowed to make his own impression, however faint, on the virginal mind of the reader. but afterwards let explanatory criticism be read as much as you please. explanatory criticism is very useful; nearly as useful as pondering for oneself on what one has read! explanatory criticism may throw one single gleam that lights up the entire subject. my second consideration (in aid of crossing the gulf) touches the quality of the pleasure to be derived from a classic. it is never a violent pleasure. it is subtle, and it will wax in intensity, but the idea of violence is foreign to it. the artistic pleasures of an uncultivated mind are generally violent. they proceed from exaggeration in treatment, from a lack of balance, from attaching too great an importance to one aspect (usually superficial), while quite ignoring another. they are gross, like the joy of worcester sauce on the palate. now, if there is one point common to all classics, it is the absence of exaggeration. the balanced sanity of a great mind makes impossible exaggeration, and, therefore, distortion. the beauty of a classic is not at all apt to knock you down. it will steal over you, rather. many serious students are, i am convinced, discouraged in the early stages because they are expecting a wrong kind of pleasure. they have abandoned worcester sauce, and they miss it. they miss the coarse _tang_. they must realise that indulgence in the _tang_ means the sure and total loss of sensitiveness--sensitiveness even to the _tang_ itself. they cannot have crudeness and fineness together. they must choose, remembering that while crudeness kills pleasure, fineness ever intensifies it. chapter viii system in heading you have now definitely set sail on the sea of literature. you are afloat, and your anchor is up. i think i have given adequate warning of the dangers and disappointments which await the unwary and the sanguine. the enterprise in which you are engaged is not facile, nor is it short. i think i have sufficiently predicted that you will have your hours of woe, during which you may be inclined to send to perdition all writers, together with the inventor of printing. but if you have become really friendly with lamb; if you know lamb, or even half of him; if you have formed an image of him in your mind, and can, as it were, hear him brilliantly stuttering while you read his essays or letters, then certainly you are in a fit condition to proceed and you want to know in which direction you are to proceed. yes, i have caught your terrified and protesting whisper: "i hope to heaven he isn't going to prescribe a course of english literature, because i feel i shall never be able to do it!" i am not. if your object in life was to be a university extension lecturer in english literature, then i should prescribe something drastic and desolating. but as your object, so far as i am concerned, is simply to obtain the highest and most tonic form of artistic pleasure of which you are capable, i shall not prescribe any regular course. nay, i shall venture to dissuade you from any regular course. no man, and assuredly no beginner, can possibly pursue a historical course of literature without wasting a lot of weary time in acquiring mere knowledge which will yield neither pleasure nor advantage. in the choice of reading the individual must count; caprice must count, for caprice is often the truest index to the individuality. stand defiantly on your own feet, and do not excuse yourself to yourself. you do not exist in order to honour literature by becoming an encyclopædia of literature. literature exists for your service. wherever you happen to be, that, for you, is the centre of literature. still, for your own sake you must confine yourself for a long time to recognised classics, for reasons already explained. and though you should not follow a course, you must have a system or principle. your native sagacity will tell you that caprice, left quite unfettered, will end by being quite ridiculous. the system which i recommend is embodied in this counsel: let one thing lead to another. in the sea of literature every part communicates with every other part; there are no land-locked lakes. it was with an eye to this system that i originally recommended you to start with lamb. lamb, if you are his intimate, has already brought you into relations with a number of other prominent writers with whom you can in turn be intimate, and who will be particularly useful to you. among these are wordsworth, coleridge, southey, hazlitt, and leigh hunt. you cannot know lamb without knowing these men, and some of them are of the highest importance. from the circle of lamb's own work you may go off at a tangent at various points, according to your inclination. if, for instance, you are drawn towards poetry, you cannot, in all english literature, make a better start than with wordsworth. and wordsworth will send you backwards to a comprehension of the poets against whose influence wordsworth fought. when you have understood wordsworth's and coleridge's _lyrical ballads_, and wordsworth's defence of them, you will be in a position to judge poetry in general. if, again, your mind hankers after an earlier and more romantic literature, lamb's _specimens of english dramatic poets contemporary with shakspere_ has already, in an enchanting fashion, piloted you into a vast gulf of "the sea which is shakspere." again, in hazlitt and leigh hunt you will discover essayists inferior only to lamb himself, and critics perhaps not inferior. hazlitt is unsurpassed as a critic. his judgments are convincing and his enthusiasm of the most catching nature. having arrived at hazlitt or leigh hunt, you can branch off once more at any one of ten thousand points into still wider circles. and thus you may continue up and down the centuries as far as you like, yea, even to chaucer. if you chance to read hazlitt on _chaucer and spenser_, you will probably put your hat on instantly and go out and buy these authors; such is his communicating fire! i need not particularise further. commencing with lamb, and allowing one thing to lead to another, you cannot fail to be more and more impressed by the peculiar suitability to your needs of the lamb entourage and the lamb period. for lamb lived in a time of universal rebirth in english literature. wordsworth and coleridge were re-creating poetry; scott was re-creating the novel; lamb was re-creating the human document; and hazlitt, coleridge, leigh hunt, and others were re-creating criticism. sparks are flying all about the place, and it will be not less than a miracle if something combustible and indestructible in you does not take fire. i have only one cautionary word to utter. you may be saying to yourself: "so long as i stick to classics i cannot go wrong." you can go wrong. you can, while reading naught but very fine stuff, commit the grave error of reading too much of one kind of stuff. now there are two kinds, and only two kinds. these two kinds are not prose and poetry, nor are they divided the one from the other by any differences of form or of subject. they are the inspiring kind and the informing kind. no other genuine division exists in literature. emerson, i think, first clearly stated it. his terms were the literature of "power" and the literature of "knowledge." in nearly all great literature the two qualities are to be found in company, but one usually predominates over the other. an example of the exclusively inspiring kind is coleridge's _kubla khan_. i cannot recall any first-class example of the purely informing kind. the nearest approach to it that i can name is spencer's _first principles_, which, however, is at least once highly inspiring. an example in which the inspiring quality predominates is _ivanhoe_; and an example in which the informing quality predominates is hazlitt's essays on shakespeare's characters. you must avoid giving undue preference to the kind in which the inspiring quality predominates or to the kind in which the informing quality predominates. too much of the one is enervating; too much of the other is desiccating. if you stick exclusively to the one you may become a mere debauchee of the emotions; if you stick exclusively to the other you may cease to live in any full sense. i do not say that you should hold the balance exactly even between the two kinds. your taste will come into the scale. what i say is that neither kind must be neglected. lamb is an instance of a great writer whom anybody can understand and whom a majority of those who interest themselves in literature can more or less appreciate. he makes no excessive demand either on the intellect or on the faculty of sympathetic emotion. on both sides of lamb, however, there lie literatures more difficult, more recondite. the "knowledge" side need not detain us here; it can be mastered by concentration and perseverance. but the "power" side, which comprises the supreme productions of genius, demands special consideration. you may have arrived at the point of keenly enjoying lamb and yet be entirely unable to "see anything in" such writings as _kubla khan_ or milton's _comus_; and as for _hamlet_ you may see nothing in it but a sanguinary tale "full of quotations." nevertheless it is the supreme productions which are capable of yielding the supreme pleasures, and which _will_ yield the supreme pleasures when the pass-key to them has been acquired. this pass-key is a comprehension of the nature of poetry. chapter ix verse there is a word, a "name of fear," which rouses terror in the heart of the vast educated majority of the english-speaking race. the most valiant will fly at the mere utterance of that word. the most broad-minded will put their backs up against it. the most rash will not dare to affront it. i myself have seen it empty buildings that had been full; and i know that it will scatter a crowd more quickly than a hose-pipe, hornets, or the rumour of plague. even to murmur it is to incur solitude, probably disdain, and possibly starvation, as historical examples show. that word is "poetry." the profound objection of the average man to poetry can scarcely be exaggerated. and when i say the average man, i do not mean the "average sensual man"--any man who gets on to the top of the omnibus; i mean the average lettered man, the average man who does care a little for books and enjoys reading, and knows the classics by name and the popular writers by having read them. i am convinced that not one man in ten who reads, reads poetry--at any rate, knowingly. i am convinced, further, that not one man in ten who goes so far as knowingly to _buy_ poetry ever reads it. you will find everywhere men who read very widely in prose, but who will say quite callously, "no, i never read poetry." if the sales of modern poetry, distinctly labelled as such, were to cease entirely to-morrow not a publisher would fail; scarcely a publisher would be affected; and not a poet would die--for i do not believe that a single modern english poet is living to-day on the current proceeds of his verse. for a country which possesses the greatest poetical literature in the world this condition of affairs is at least odd. what makes it odder is that, occasionally, very occasionally, the average lettered man will have a fit of idolatry for a fine poet, buying his books in tens of thousands, and bestowing upon him immense riches. as with tennyson. and what makes it odder still is that, after all, the average lettered man does not truly dislike poetry; he only dislikes it when it takes a certain form. he will read poetry and enjoy it, provided he is not aware that it is poetry. poetry can exist authentically either in prose or in verse. give him poetry concealed in prose and there is a chance that, taken off his guard, he will appreciate it. but show him a page of verse, and he will be ready to send for a policeman. the reason of this is that, though poetry may come to pass either in prose or in verse, it does actually happen far more frequently in verse than in prose; nearly all the very greatest poetry is in verse; verse is identified with the very greatest poetry, and the very greatest poetry can only be understood and savoured by people who have put themselves through a considerable mental discipline. to others it is an exasperating weariness. hence chiefly the fearful prejudice of the average lettered man against the mere form of verse. the formation of literary taste cannot be completed until that prejudice has been conquered. my very difficult task is to suggest a method of conquering it. i address myself exclusively to the large class of people who, if they are honest, will declare that, while they enjoy novels, essays, and history, they cannot "stand" verse. the case is extremely delicate, like all nervous cases. it is useless to employ the arts of reasoning, for the matter has got beyond logic; it is instinctive. perfectly futile to assure you that verse will yield a higher percentage of pleasure than prose! you will reply: "we believe you, but that doesn't help us." therefore i shall not argue. i shall venture to prescribe a curative treatment (doctors do not argue); and i beg you to follow it exactly, keeping your nerve and your calm. loss of self-control might lead to panic, and panic would be fatal. first: forget as completely as you can all your present notions about the nature of verse and poetry. take a sponge and wipe the slate of your mind. in particular, do not harass yourself by thoughts of metre and verse forms. second: read william hazlitt's essay "on poetry in general." this essay is the first in the book entitled _lectures on the english poets_. it can be bought in various forms. i think the cheapest satisfactory edition is in routledge's "new universal library" (price s. net). i might have composed an essay of my own on the real harmless nature of poetry in general, but it could only have been an echo and a deterioration of hazlitt's. he has put the truth about poetry in a way as interesting, clear, and reassuring as anyone is ever likely to put it. i do not expect, however, that you will instantly gather the full message and enthusiasm of the essay. it will probably seem to you not to "hang together." still, it will leave bright bits of ideas in your mind. third: after a week's interval read the essay again. on a second perusal it will appear more persuasive to you. fourth: open the bible and read the fortieth chapter of isaiah. it is the chapter which begins, "comfort ye, comfort ye, my people," and ends, "they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." this chapter will doubtless be more or less familiar to you. it cannot fail (whatever your particular _ism_) to impress you, to generate in your mind sensations which you recognise to be of a lofty and unusual order, and which you will admit to be pleasurable. you will probably agree that the result of reading this chapter (even if your particular _ism_ is opposed to its authority) is finer than the result of reading a short story in a magazine or even an essay by charles lamb. now the pleasurable sensations induced by the fortieth chapter of isaiah are among the sensations usually induced by high-class poetry. the writer of it was a very great poet, and what he wrote is a very great poem. fifth: after having read it, go back to hazlitt, and see if you can find anything in hazlitt's lecture which throws light on the psychology of your own emotions upon reading isaiah. sixth: the next step is into unmistakable verse. it is to read one of wordsworth's short narrative poems, _the brothers_. there are editions of wordsworth at a shilling, but i should advise the "golden treasury" wordsworth ( s. d. net), because it contains the famous essay by matthew arnold, who made the selection. i want you to read this poem aloud. you will probably have to hide yourself somewhere in order to do so, for, of course, you would not, as yet, care to be overheard spouting poetry. be good enough to forget that _the brothers_ is poetry. _the brothers_ is a short story, with a plain, clear plot. read it as such. read it simply for the story. it is very important at this critical stage that you should not embarrass your mind with preoccupations as to the _form_ in which wordsworth has told his story. wordsworth's object was to tell a story as well as he could: just that. in reading aloud do not pay any more attention to the metre than you feel naturally inclined to pay. after a few lines the metre will present itself to you. do not worry as to what kind of metre it is. when you have finished the perusal, examine your sensations.... your sensations after reading this poem, and perhaps one or two other narrative poems of wordsworth, such as _michael_, will be different from the sensations produced in you by reading an ordinary, or even a very extraordinary, short story in prose. they may not be so sharp, so clear and piquant, but they will probably be, in their mysteriousness and their vagueness, more impressive. i do not say that they will be diverting. i do not go so far as to say that they will strike you as pleasing sensations. (be it remembered that i am addressing myself to an imaginary tyro in poetry.) i would qualify them as being "disturbing." well, to disturb the spirit is one of the greatest aims of art. and a disturbance of spirit is one of the finest pleasures that a highly-organised man can enjoy. but this truth can only be really learnt by the repetitions of experience. as an aid to the more exhaustive examination of your feelings under wordsworth, in order that you may better understand what he was trying to effect in you, and the means which he employed, i must direct you to wordsworth himself. wordsworth, in addition to being a poet, was unsurpassed as a critic of poetry. what hazlitt does for poetry in the way of creating enthusiasm wordsworth does in the way of philosophic explanation. and wordsworth's explanations of the theory and practice of poetry are written for the plain man. they pass the comprehension of nobody, and their direct, unassuming, and calm simplicity is extremely persuasive. wordsworth's chief essays in throwing light on himself are the "advertisement," "preface," and "appendix" to _lyrical ballads_; the letters to lady beaumont and "the friend" and the "preface" to the poems dated . all this matter is strangely interesting and of immense educational value. it is the first-class expert talking at ease about his subject. the essays relating to _lyrical ballads_ will be the most useful for you. you will discover these precious documents in a volume entitled _wordsworth's literary criticism_ (published by henry frowde, s. d.), edited by that distinguished wordsworthian mr. nowell c. smith. it is essential that the student of poetry should become possessed, honestly or dishonestly, either of this volume or of the matter which it contains. there is, by the way, a volume of wordsworth's prose in the scott library ( s.). those who have not read wordsworth on poetry can have no idea of the naïve charm and the helpful radiance of his expounding. i feel that i cannot too strongly press wordsworth's criticism upon you. between wordsworth and hazlitt you will learn all that it behoves you to know of the nature, the aims, and the results of poetry. it is no part of my scheme to dot the "i's" and cross the "t's" of wordsworth and hazlitt. i best fulfil my purpose in urgently referring you to them. i have only a single point of my own to make--a psychological detail. one of the main obstacles to the cultivation of poetry in the average sensible man is an absurdly inflated notion of the ridiculous. at the bottom of that man's mind is the idea that poetry is "silly." he also finds it exaggerated and artificial; but these two accusations against poetry can be satisfactorily answered. the charge of silliness, of being ridiculous, however, cannot be refuted by argument. there is no logical answer to a guffaw. this sense of the ridiculous is merely a bad, infantile habit, in itself grotesquely ridiculous. you may see it particularly in the theatre. not the greatest dramatist, not the greatest composer, not the greatest actor can prevent an audience from laughing uproariously at a tragic moment if a cat walks across the stage. but why ruin the scene by laughter? simply because the majority of any audience is artistically childish. this sense of the ridiculous can only be crushed by the exercise of moral force. it can only be cowed. if you are inclined to laugh when a poet expresses himself more powerfully than you express yourself, when a poet talks about feelings which are not usually mentioned in daily papers, when a poet uses words and images which lie outside your vocabulary and range of thought, then you had better take yourself in hand. you have to decide whether you will be on the side of the angels or on the side of the nincompoops. there is no surer sign of imperfect development than the impulse to snigger at what is unusual, naïve, or exuberant. and if you choose to do so, you can detect the cat walking across the stage in the sublimest passages of literature. but more advanced souls will grieve for you. the study of wordsworth's criticism makes the seventh step in my course of treatment. the eighth is to return to those poems of wordsworth's which you have already perused, and read them again in the full light of the author's defence and explanation. read as much wordsworth as you find you can assimilate, but do not attempt either of his long poems. the time, however, is now come for a long poem. i began by advising narrative poetry for the neophyte, and i shall persevere with the prescription. i mean narrative poetry in the restricted sense; for epic poetry is narrative. _paradise lost_ is narrative; so is _the prelude_. i suggest neither of these great works. my choice falls on elizabeth browning's _aurora leigh_. if you once work yourself "into" this poem, interesting yourself primarily (as with wordsworth) in the events of the story, and not allowing yourself to be obsessed by the fact that what you are reading is "poetry"--if you do this, you are not likely to leave it unfinished. and before you reach the end you will have encountered _en route_ pretty nearly all the moods of poetry that exist: tragic, humorous, ironic, elegiac, lyric--everything. you will have a comprehensive acquaintance with a poet's mind. i guarantee that you will come safely through if you treat the work as a novel. for a novel it effectively is, and a better one than any written by charlotte brontë or george eliot. in reading, it would be well to mark, or take note of, the passages which give you the most pleasure, and then to compare these passages with the passages selected for praise by some authoritative critic. _aurora leigh_ can be got in the "temple classics" ( s. d.), or in the "canterbury poets" ( s.). the indispensable biographical information about mrs. browning can be obtained from mr. j.h. ingram's short life of her in the "eminent women" series ( s. d.), or from _robert browning_, by william sharp ("great writers" series, s.). this accomplished, you may begin to choose your poets. going back to hazlitt, you will see that he deals with, among others, chaucer, spenser, shakespeare, milton, dryden, pope, chatterton, burns, and the lake school. you might select one of these, and read under his guidance. said wordsworth: "i was impressed by the conviction that there were four english poets whom i must have continually before me as examples--chaucer, shakespeare, spenser, and milton." (a word to the wise!) wordsworth makes a fifth to these four. concurrently with the careful, enthusiastic study of one of the undisputed classics, modern verse should be read. (i beg you to accept the following statement: that if the study of classical poetry inspires you with a distaste for modern poetry, then there is something seriously wrong in the method of your development.) you may at this stage (and not before) commence an inquiry into questions of rhythm, verse-structure, and rhyme. there is, i believe, no good, concise, cheap handbook to english prosody; yet such a manual is greatly needed. the only one with which i am acquainted is tom hood the younger's _rules of rhyme: a guide to english versification_. again, the introduction to walker's _rhyming dictionary_ gives a fairly clear elementary account of the subject. ruskin also has written an excellent essay on verse-rhythms. with a manual in front of you, you can acquire in a couple of hours a knowledge of the formal principles in which the music of english verse is rooted. the business is trifling. but the business of appreciating the inmost spirit of the greatest verse is tremendous and lifelong. it is not something that can be "got up." chapter x broad counsels i have now set down what appear to me to be the necessary considerations, recommendations, exhortations, and dehortations in aid of this delicate and arduous enterprise of forming the literary taste. i have dealt with the theory of literature, with the psychology of the author, and--quite as important--with the psychology of the reader. i have tried to explain the author to the reader and the reader to himself. to go into further detail would be to exceed my original intention, with no hope of ever bringing the constantly-enlarging scheme to a logical conclusion. my aim is not to provide a map, but a compass--two very different instruments. in the way of general advice it remains for me only to put before you three counsels which apply more broadly than any i have yet offered to the business of reading. you have within yourself a touchstone by which finally you can, and you must, test every book that your brain is capable of comprehending. does the book seem to you to be sincere and true? if it does, then you need not worry about your immediate feelings, or the possible future consequences of the book. you will ultimately like the book, and you will be justified in liking it. honesty, in literature as in life, is the quality that counts first and counts last. but beware of your immediate feelings. truth is not always pleasant. the first glimpse of truth is, indeed, usually so disconcerting as to be positively unpleasant, and our impulse is to tell it to go away, for we will have no truck with it. if a book arouses your genuine contempt, you may dismiss it from your mind. take heed, however, lest you confuse contempt with anger. if a book really moves you to anger, the chances are that it is a good book. most good books have begun by causing anger which disguised itself as contempt. demanding honesty from your authors, you must see that you render it yourself. and to be honest with oneself is not so simple as it appears. one's sensations and one's sentiments must be examined with detachment. when you have violently flung down a book, listen whether you can hear a faint voice saying within you: "it's true, though!" and if you catch the whisper, better yield to it as quickly as you can. for sooner or later the voice will win. similarly, when you are hugging a book, keep your ear cocked for the secret warning: "yes, but it isn't true." for bad books, by flattering you, by caressing, by appealing to the weak or the base in you, will often persuade you what fine and splendid books they are. (of course, i use the word "true" in a wide and essential significance. i do not necessarily mean true to literal fact; i mean true to the plane of experience in which the book moves. the truthfulness of _ivanhoe_, for example, cannot be estimated by the same standards as the truthfulness of stubbs's _constitutional history_.) in reading a book, a sincere questioning of oneself, "is it true?" and a loyal abiding by the answer, will help more surely than any other process of ratiocination to form the taste. i will not assert that this question and answer are all-sufficient. a true book is not always great. but a great book is never untrue. my second counsel is: in your reading you must have in view some definite aim--some aim other than the wish to derive pleasure. i conceive that to give pleasure is the highest end of any work of art, because the pleasure procured from any art is tonic, and transforms the life into which it enters. but the maximum of pleasure can only be obtained by regular effort, and regular effort implies the organisation of that effort. open-air walking is a glorious exercise; it is the walking itself which is glorious. nevertheless, when setting out for walking exercise, the sane man generally has a subsidiary aim in view. he says to himself either that he will reach a given point, or that he will progress at a given speed for a given distance, or that he will remain on his feet for a given time. he organises his effort, partly in order that he may combine some other advantage with the advantage of walking, but principally in order to be sure that the effort shall be an adequate effort. the same with reading. your paramount aim in poring over literature is to enjoy, but you will not fully achieve that aim unless you have also a subsidiary aim which necessitates the measurement of your energy. your subsidiary aim may be æsthetic, moral, political, religious, scientific, erudite; you may devote yourself to a man, a topic, an epoch, a nation, a branch of literature, an idea--you have the widest latitude in the choice of an objective; but a definite objective you must have. in my earlier remarks as to method in reading, i advocated, without insisting on, regular hours for study. but i both advocate and insist on the fixing of a date for the accomplishment of an allotted task. as an instance, it is not enough to say: "i will inform myself completely as to the lake school." it is necessary to say: "i will inform myself completely as to the lake school before i am a year older." without this precautionary steeling of the resolution the risk of a humiliating collapse into futility is enormously magnified. my third counsel is: buy a library. it is obvious that you cannot read unless you have books. i began by urging the constant purchase of books--any books of approved quality, without reference to their immediate bearing upon your particular case. the moment has now come to inform you plainly that a bookman is, amongst other things, a man who possesses many books. a man who does not possess many books is not a bookman. for years literary authorities have been favouring the literary public with wondrously selected lists of "the best books"--the best novels, the best histories, the best poems, the best works of philosophy--or the hundred best or the fifty best of all sorts. the fatal disadvantage of such lists is that they leave out large quantities of literature which is admittedly first-class. the bookman cannot content himself with a selected library. he wants, as a minimum, a library reasonably complete in all departments. with such a basis acquired, he can afterwards wander into those special byways of book-buying which happen to suit his special predilections. every englishman who is interested in any branch of his native literature, and who respects himself, ought to own a comprehensive and inclusive library of english literature, in comely and adequate editions. you may suppose that this counsel is a counsel of perfection. it is not. mark pattison laid down a rule that he who desired the name of book-lover must spend five per cent. of his income on books. the proposal does not seem extravagant, but even on a smaller percentage than five the average reader of these pages may become the owner, in a comparatively short space of time, of a reasonably complete english library, by which i mean a library containing the complete works of the supreme geniuses, representative important works of all the first-class men in all departments, and specimen works of all the men of the second rank whose reputation is really a living reputation to-day. the scheme for a library, which i now present, begins before chaucer and ends with george gissing, and i am fairly sure that the majority of people will be startled at the total inexpensiveness of it. so far as i am aware, no such scheme has ever been printed before. chapter xi an english library: period i [for much counsel and correction in the matter of editions and prices i am indebted to my old and valued friend, charles young, head of the firm of lamley & co., booksellers, south kensington.] for the purposes of book-buying, i divide english literature, not strictly into historical epochs, but into three periods which, while scarcely arbitrary from the historical point of view, have nevertheless been calculated according to the space which they will occupy on the shelves and to the demands which they will make on the purse: i. from the beginning to john dryden, or roughly, to the end of the seventeenth century. ii. from william congreve to jane austen, or roughly, the eighteenth century. iii. from sir walter scott to the last deceased author who is recognised as a classic, or roughly, the nineteenth century. period iii. will bulk the largest and cost the most; not necessarily because it contains more absolutely great books than the other periods (though in my opinion it _does_), but because it is nearest to us, and therefore fullest of interest for us. i have not confined my choice to books of purely literary interest--that is to say, to works which are primarily works of literary art. literature is the vehicle of philosophy, science, morals, religion, and history; and a library which aspires to be complete must comprise, in addition to imaginative works, all these branches of intellectual activity. comprising all these branches, it cannot avoid comprising works of which the purely literary interest is almost nil. on the other hand, i have excluded from consideration:-- i. works whose sole importance is that they form a link in the chain of development. for example, nearly all the productions of authors between chaucer and the beginning of the elizabethan period, such as gower, hoccleve, and skelton, whose works, for sufficient reason, are read only by professors and students who mean to be professors. ii. works not originally written in english, such as the works of that very great philosopher roger bacon, of whom this isle ought to be prouder than it is. to this rule, however, i have been constrained to make a few exceptions. sir thomas more's _utopia_ was written in latin, but one does not easily conceive a library to be complete without it. and could one exclude sir isaac newton's _principia_, the masterpiece of the greatest physicist that the world has ever seen? the law of gravity ought to have, and does have, a powerful sentimental interest for us. iii. translations from foreign literature into english. here, then, are the lists for the first period: prose writers £ s. d. bede, _ecclesiastical history_: temple classics. sir thomas malory, _morte d'arthur_: everyman's library ( vols.) sir thomas more, _utopia_: scott library george cavendish, _life of cardinal wolsey_: new universal library. richard hakluyt, _voyages_: everyman's library ( vols.) richard hooker, _ecclesiastical polity_: everyman's library ( vols.) francis bacon, _works_: newnes's thinpaper classics. thomas dekker, _gull's horn-book_: king's classics. lord herbert of cherbury, _autobiography_: scott library. john selden, _table-talk_: new universal library. thomas hobbes, _leviathan_: new universal library. james howell, _familiar letters_: temple classics ( vols.) sir thomas browne, _religio medici_, etc.: everyman's library. jeremy taylor, _holy living and holy dying_: temple classics ( vols.) izaak walton, _compleat angler_: everyman's library. john bunyan, _pilgrim's progress_: world's classics. sir william temple, _essay on gardens of epicurus_: king's classics. john evelyn, _diary_: everyman's library ( vols.) samuel pepys, _diary_: everyman's library ( vols.) _________ £ the principal omission from the above list is _the paston letters_, which i should probably have included had the enterprise of publishers been sufficient to put an edition on the market at a cheap price. other omissions include the works of caxton and wyclif, and such books as camden's _britannia_, ascham's _schoolmaster_, and fuller's _worthies_, whose lack of first-rate value as literature is not adequately compensated by their historical interest. as to the bible, in the first place it is a translation, and in the second i assume that you already possess a copy. poets £ s. d. _beowulf_, routledge's london library geoffrey chaucer, _works_: globe edition nicolas udall, _ralph roister-doister_: temple dramatists edmund spenser, _works_: globe edition thomas lodge, _rosalynde_: caxton series robert greene, _tragical reign of selimus_: temple dramatists michael drayton, _poems_: newnes's pocket classics christopher marlowe, _works_: new universal library william shakespeare, _works_: globe edition thomas campion, _poems_: muses' library ben jonson, _plays_: canterbury poets john donne, _poems_: muses' library ( vols.) john webster, cyril tourneur, _plays_: mermaid series philip massinger, _plays_: cunningham edition beaumont and fletcher, _plays_: a selection canterbury poets john ford, _plays_: mermaid series george herbert, _the temple_: everyman's library robert herrick, _poems_: muses' library ( vols.) edmund waller, _poems_: muses' library ( vols.) sir john suckling, _poems_: muses' library abraham cowley, _english poems_: cambridge university press richard crashaw, _poems_: muses' library henry vaughan, _poems_: methuen's little library samuel butler, _hudibras_: cambridge university press john milton, _poetical works_: oxford cheap edition john milton, _select prose works_: scott library andrew marvell, _poems_: methuen's little library john dryden, _poetical works_: globe edition [thomas percy], _reliques of ancient english poetry_: everyman's library ( vols.) arber's _"spenser" anthology_: oxford university press arber's _"jonson" anthology_: oxford university press arber's _"shakspere" anthology_: oxford university press _________ £ there were a number of brilliant minor writers in the seventeenth century whose best work, often trifling in bulk, either scarcely merits the acquisition of a separate volume for each author, or cannot be obtained at all in a modern edition. such authors, however, may not be utterly neglected in the formation of a library. it is to meet this difficulty that i have included the last three volumes on the above list. professor arber's anthologies are full of rare pieces, and comprise admirable specimens of the verse of samuel daniel, giles fletcher, countess of pembroke, james i., george peele, sir walter raleigh, thomas sackville, sir philip sidney, drummond of hawthornden, thomas heywood, george wither, sir henry wotton, sir william davenant, thomas randolph, frances quarles, james shirley, and other greater and lesser poets. i have included all the important elizabethan dramatists except john marston, all the editions of whose works, according to my researches, are out of print. in the elizabethan and jacobean periods talent was so extraordinarily plentiful that the standard of excellence is quite properly raised, and certain authors are thus relegated to the third, or excluded, class who in a less fertile period would have counted as at least second-class. summary of the first period. £ s. d. prose authors in volumes costing poets in " " __ __ _________ £ in addition, scores of authors of genuine interest are represented in the anthologies. the prices given are gross, and in many instances there is a per cent. discount to come off. all the volumes can be procured immediately at any bookseller's. chapter xii an english library: period ii after dealing with the formation of a library of authors up to john dryden, i must logically arrange next a scheme for the period covered roughly by the eighteenth century. there is, however, no reason why the student in quest of a library should follow the chronological order. indeed, i should advise him to attack the nineteenth century before the eighteenth, for the reason that, unless his taste happens to be peculiarly "augustan," he will obtain a more immediate satisfaction and profit from his acquisitions in the nineteenth century than in the eighteenth. there is in eighteenth-century literature a considerable proportion of what i may term "unattractive excellence," which one must have for the purposes of completeness, but which may await actual perusal until more pressing and more human books have been read. i have particularly in mind the philosophical authors of the century. prose writers. £ s. d. john locke, _philosophical works_: bohn's edition ( vols.) sir isaac newton, _principia_ (sections , , and ): macmillans gilbert burnet, _history of his own time_: everyman's library william wycherley, _best plays_: mermaid series william congreve, _best plays_: mermaid series jonathan swift, _tale of a tub_: scott library jonathan swift, _gulliver's travels_: temple classics daniel defoe, _robinson crusoe_: world's classics daniel defoe, _journal of the plague year_: everyman's library joseph addison, sir richard steele, _essays_: scott library william law, _serious call_: everyman's library lady mary w. montagu, _letters_: everyman's library george berkeley, _principles of human knowledge_: new universal library samuel richardson, _clarissa_ (abridged): routledge's edition john wesley, _journal_: everyman's library ( vols.) henry fielding, _tom jones_: routledge's edition henry fielding, _amelia_: routledge's edition henry fielding, _joseph andrews_: routledge's edition david hume, _essays_: world's classics laurence sterne, _tristram shandy_: world's classics laurence sterne, _sentimental journey_: new universal library horace walpole, _castle of otranto_: king's classics tobias smollett, _humphrey clinker_: routledge's edition tobias smollett, _travels through france and italy_: world's classics adam smith, _wealth of nations_: world's classics ( vols.) samuel johnson, _lives of the poets_: world's classics ( vols.) samuel johnson, _rasselas_: new universal library james boswell, _life of johnson_: everyman's library ( vols.) oliver goldsmith, _works_: globe edition henry mackenzie, _the man of feeling_: cassell's national library sir joshua reynolds, _discourses on art_: scott library edmund burke, _reflections on the french revolution_: scott library edmund burke, _thoughts on the present discontents_: new universal library edward gibbon, _decline and fall of the roman empire_: world's classics ( vols.) thomas paine, _rights of man_: watts and co.'s edition richard brinsley sheridan, _plays_: world's classics fanny burney, _evelina_: everyman's library gilbert white, _natural history of selborne_: everyman's library arthur young, _travels in france_: york library mungo park, _travels_: everyman's library jeremy bentham, _introduction to the principles of morals_: clarendon press thomas robert malthus, _essay on the principle of population_: ward, lock's edition william godwin, _caleb williams_: newnes's edition maria edgeworth, _helen_: macmillan's illustrated edition jane austen, _novels_: nelson's new century library ( vols.) james morier, _hadji baba_: macmillan's illustrated novels __________ £ the principal omissions here are jeremy collier, whose outcry against the immorality of the stage is his slender title to remembrance; richard bentley, whose scholarship principally died with him, and whose chief works are no longer current; and "junius," who would have been deservedly forgotten long ago had there been a contemporaneous sherlock holmes to ferret out his identity. poets. £ s. d. thomas otway, _venice preserved_: temple dramatists matthew prior, _poems on several occasions_: cambridge english classics john gay, _poems_: muses' library ( vols.) alexander pope, _works_: globe edition isaac watts, _hymns_: any hymn-book james thomson, _the seasons_: muses' library charles wesley, _hymns_: any hymn-book thomas gray, samuel johnson, william collins, _poems_: muses' library james macpherson (ossian), _poems_: canterbury poets thomas chatterton, _poems_: muses' library ( vols.) william cowper, _poems_: canterbury poets william cowper, _letters_: world's classics george crabbe, _poems_: methuen's little library william blake, _poems_: muses' library william lisle bowles, hartley coleridge, _poems_: canterbury poets robert burns, _works_: globe edition __________ £ summary of the period. prose writers in volumes, costing £ poets " " " __ __ __________ £ chapter xiii an english library: period iii the catalogue of necessary authors of this third and last period being so long, it is convenient to divide the prose writers into imaginative and non-imaginative. in the latter half of the period the question of copyright affects our scheme to a certain extent, because it affects prices. fortunately it is the fact that no single book of recognised first-rate general importance is conspicuously dear. nevertheless, i have encountered difficulties in the second rank; i have dealt with them in a spirit of compromise. i think i may say that, though i should have included a few more authors had their books been obtainable at a reasonable price, i have omitted none that i consider indispensable to a thoroughly representative collection. no living author is included. where i do not specify the edition of a book the original copyright edition is meant. prose writers: imaginative. £ s. d. sir walter scott, _waverley, heart of midlothian, quentin durward, red-gauntlet, ivanhoe_: everyman's library ( vols.) sir walter scott, _marmion_, etc.: canterbury poets charles lamb, _works in prose and verse_: clarendon press ( vols.) charles lamb, _letters_: newnes's thin paper classics walter savage landor, _imaginary conversations_: scott library walter savage landor, _poems_: canterbury poets leigh hunt, _essays and sketches_: world's classics thomas love peacock, _principal novels_: new universal library ( vols.) mary russell mitford, _our village_: scott library michael scott, _tom cringle's log_: macmillan's illustrated novels frederick marryat, _mr. midshipman easy_: everyman's library john galt, _annals of the parish_: everyman's library susan ferrier, _marriage_: routledge's edition douglas jerrold, _mrs. caudle's curtain lectures_: world's classics lord lytton, _last days of pompeii_: everyman's library william carleton, _stories_: scott library charles james lever, _harry lorrequer_: everyman's library harrison ainsworth, _the tower of london_: new universal library george henry borrow, _bible in spain, lavengro_: new universal library ( vols.) lord beaconsfield, _sybil, coningsby_: lane's new pocket library ( vols.) w.m. thackeray, _vanity fair, esmond_: everyman's library ( vols.) w.m. thackeray, _barry lyndon_, and _roundabout papers_, etc.: nelson's new century library charles dickens, _works_: everyman's library ( vols.) charles reade, _the cloister and the hearth_: everyman's library anthony trollope, _barchester towers, framley parsonage_: lane's new pocket library ( vols.) charles kingsley, _westward ho!_: everyman's library henry kingsley, _ravenshoe_: everyman's library charlotte brontë, _jane eyre, shirley, villette, professor, and poems_: world's classics ( vols.) emily brontë, _wuthering heights_: world's classics elizabeth gaskell, _cranford_: world's classics elizabeth gaskell, _life of charlotte brontë_ george eliot, _adam bede, silas marner, the mill on the floss_: everyman's library ( vols.) g.j. whyte-melville, _the gladiators_: new universal library alexander smith, _dreamthorpe_: new universal library george macdonald, _malcolm_ walter pater, _imaginary portraits_ wilkie collins, _the woman in white_ r.d. blackmore, _lorna doone_: everyman's library samuel butler, _erewhon_: fifield's edition laurence oliphant, _altiora peto_ margaret oliphant, _salem chapel_: everyman's library richard jefferies, _story of my heart_ lewis carroll, _alice in wonderland_: macmillan's cheap edition john henry shorthouse, _john inglesant_: macmillan's pocket classics r.l. stevenson, _master of ballantrae, virginibus puerisque_: pocket edition ( vols.) george gissing, _the odd women_: popular edition (bound) __________ £ names such as those of charlotte yonge and dinah craik are omitted intentionally. prose writers: non-imaginative. £ s. d. william hazlitt, _spirit of the age_: world's classics william hazlitt, _english poets and comic writers_: bohn's library francis jeffrey, _essays from edinburgh review_: new universal library thomas de quincey, _confessions of an english opium-eater_, etc.: scott library sydney smith, _selected papers_: scott library george finlay, _byzantine empire_: everyman's library john g. lockhart, _life of scott_: everyman's library agnes strickland, _life of queen elizabeth_: everyman's library hugh miller, _old red sandstone_: everyman's library j.h. newman, _apologia pro vita sua_: new universal library lord macaulay, _history of england_, ( ), _essays_ ( ): everyman's library ( vols.) a.p. stanley, _memorials of canterbury_: everyman's library thomas carlyle, _french revolution_ ( ), _cromwell_ ( ), _sartor resartus and heroes and hero-worship_ ( ): everyman's library ( vols.) thomas carlyle, _latter-day pamphlets_: chapman and hall's edition charles darwin, _origin of species_: murray's edition charles darwin, _voyage of the beagle_: everyman's library a.w. kinglake, _eothen_: new universal library john stuart mill, _auguste comte and positivism_: new universal library john brown, _horæ subsecivæ_: world's classics john brown, _rab and his friends_: everyman's library sir arthur helps, _friends in council_: new universal library mark pattison, _life of milton_: english men of letters series f.w. robertson, _on religion and life_: everyman's library benjamin jowett, _interpretation of scripture_: routledge's london library george henry lewes, _principles of success in literature_: scott library alexander bain, _mind and body_ james anthony froude, _dissolution of the monasteries_, etc.: new universal library mary wollstonecraft, _vindication of the rights of women_: scott library john tyndall, _glaciers of the alps_: everyman's library sir henry maine, _ancient law_: new universal library john ruskin, _seven lamps_ ( ), _sesame and lilies_ ( ), _stones of venice_ ( ): george allen's cheap edition ( vols.) herbert spencer, _first principles_ ( vols.) herbert spencer, _education_ sir richard burton, _narrative of a pilgrimage to mecca_: bohn's edition ( vols.) j.s. speke, _sources of the nile_: everyman's library thomas henry huxley, _essays_: everyman's library e.a. freeman, _europe_: macmillan's primers william stubbs, _early plantagenets_ walter bagehot, _lombard street_ richard holt hutton, _cardinal newman_ sir john seeley, _ecce homo_: new universal library david masson, _thomas de quincey_: english men of letters series john richard green, _short history of the english people_ sir leslie stephen, _pope_: english men of letters series lord acton, _on the study of history_ mandell creighton, _the age of elizabeth_ f.w.h. myers, _wordsworth_: english men of letters series __________ £ the following authors are omitted, i think justifiably:--hallam, whewell, grote, faraday, herschell, hamilton, john wilson, richard owen, stirling maxwell, buckle, oscar wilde, p.g. hamerton, f.d. maurice, henry sidgwick, and richard jebb. lastly, here is the list of poets. in the matter of price per volume it is the most expensive of all the lists. this is due to the fact that it contains a larger proportion of copyright works. where i do not specify the edition of a book, the original copyright edition is meant: poets. £ s. d. william wordsworth, _poetical works_: oxford edition william wordsworth, _literary criticism_: nowell smith's edition robert southey, _poems_: canterbury poets robert southey, _life of nelson_: everyman's library s.t. coleridge, _poetical works_: newnes's thin paper classics s.t. coleridge, _biographia literaria_: everyman's library s.t. coleridge, _lectures on shakspere_: everyman's library john keats, _poetical works_: oxford edition percy bysshe shelley, _poetical works_: oxford edition lord byron, _poems_: e. hartley coleridge's edition lord byron, _letters_: scott library thomas hood, _poems_: world's classics james and horace smith, _rejected addresses_: new universal library john keble, _the christian year_: canterbury poets george darley, _poems_: muses' library t.l. beddoes, _poems_: muses' library thomas moore, _selected poems_: canterbury poets james clarence mangan, _poems_: d.j. o'donoghue's edition w. mackworth praed, _poems_: canterbury poets r.s. hawker, _cornish ballads_: c.e. byles's edition edward fitzgerald, _omar khayyam_: golden treasury series p.j. bailey, _festus_: routledge's edition arthur hugh clough, _poems_: muses' library lord tennyson, _poetical works_: globe edition robert browning, _poetical works_: world's classics ( vols.) elizabeth browning, _aurora leigh_: temple classics elizabeth browning, _shorter poems_: canterbury poets p.b. marston, _song-tide_: canterbury poets aubrey de vere, _legends of st. patrick_: cassell's national library matthew arnold, _poems_: golden treasury series matthew arnold, _essays_: everyman's library coventry patmore, _poems_: muses' library sydney dobell, _poems_: canterbury poets eric mackay, _love-letters of a violinist_: canterbury poets t.e. brown, _poems_ c.s. calverley, _verses and translations_ d.g. rossetti, _poetical works_ christina rossetti, _selected poems_: golden treasury series james thomson, _city of dreadful night_ jean ingelow, _poems_: red letter library william morris, _the earthly paradise_ william morris, _early romances_: everyman's library augusta webster, _selected poems_ w.e. henley, _poetical works_ francis thompson, _selected poems_ __________ £ poets whom i have omitted after hesitation are: ebenezer elliott, thomas woolner, william barnes, gerald massey, and charles jeremiah wells. on the other hand, i have had no hesitation about omitting david moir, felicia hemans, aytoun, sir edwin arnold, and sir lewis morris. i have included john keble in deference to much enlightened opinion, but against my inclination. there are two names in the list which may be somewhat unfamiliar to many readers. james clarence mangan is the author of _my dark rosaleen_, an acknowledged masterpiece, which every library must contain. t.e. brown is a great poet, recognised as such by a few hundred people, and assuredly destined to a far wider fame. i have included fitzgerald because _omar khayyam_ is much less a translation than an original work. summary of the nineteenth century. prose-writers, in volumes, costing £ poets " " " __ ___ __________ £ grand summary of complete library. authors. volumes. price. . to dryden £ . eighteenth century . nineteenth century ___ ___ ________ £ i think it will be agreed that the total cost of this library is surprisingly small. by laying out the sum of sixpence a day for three years you may become the possessor of a collection of books which, for range and completeness in all branches of literature, will bear comparison with libraries far more imposing, more numerous, and more expensive. i have mentioned the question of discount. the discount which you will obtain (even from a bookseller in a small town) will be more than sufficient to pay for chambers's _cyclopædia of english literature_, three volumes, price s. net. this work is indispensable to a bookman. personally, i owe it much. when you have read, wholly or in part, a majority of these three hundred and thirty-five volumes, _with enjoyment_, you may begin to whisper to yourself that your literary taste is formed; and you may pronounce judgment on modern works which come before the bar of your opinion in the calm assurance that, though to err is human, you do at any rate know what you are talking about. chapter xiv mental stocktaking great books do not spring from something accidental in the great men who wrote them. they are the effluence of their very core, the expression of the life itself of the authors. and literature cannot be said to have served its true purpose until it has been translated into the actual life of him who reads. it does not succeed until it becomes the vehicle of the vital. progress is the gradual result of the unending battle between human reason and human instinct, in which the former slowly but surely wins. the most powerful engine in this battle is literature. it is the vast reservoir of true ideas and high emotions--and life is constituted of ideas and emotions. in a world deprived of literature, the intellectual and emotional activity of all but a few exceptionally gifted men would quickly sink and retract to a narrow circle. the broad, the noble, the generous would tend to disappear for want of accessible storage. and life would be correspondingly degraded, because the fallacious idea and the petty emotion would never feel the upward pull of the ideas and emotions of genius. only by conceiving a society without literature can it be clearly realised that the function of literature is to raise the plain towards the top level of the peaks. literature exists so that where one man has lived finely ten thousand may afterwards live finely. it is a means of life; it concerns the living essence. of course, literature has a minor function, that of passing the time in an agreeable and harmless fashion, by giving momentary faint pleasure. vast multitudes of people (among whom may be numbered not a few habitual readers) utilise only this minor function of literature; by implication they class it with golf, bridge, or soporifics. literary genius, however, had no intention of competing with these devices for fleeting the empty hours; and all such use of literature may be left out of account. you, o serious student of many volumes, believe that you have a sincere passion for reading. you hold literature in honour, and your last wish would be to debase it to a paltry end. you are not of those who read because the clock has just struck nine and one can't go to bed till eleven. you are animated by a real desire to get out of literature all that literature will give. and in that aim you keep on reading, year after year, and the grey hairs come. but amid all this steady tapping of the reservoir, do you ever take stock of what you have acquired? do you ever pause to make a valuation, in terms of your own life, of that which you are daily absorbing, or imagine you are absorbing? do you ever satisfy yourself by proof that you are absorbing anything at all, that the living waters, instead of vitalising you, are not running off you as though you were a duck in a storm? because, if you omit this mere business precaution, it may well be that you, too, without knowing it, are little by little joining the triflers who read only because eternity is so long. it may well be that even your alleged sacred passion is, after all, simply a sort of drug-habit. the suggestion disturbs and worries you. you dismiss it impatiently; but it returns. how (you ask, unwillingly) can a man perform a mental stocktaking? how can he put a value on what he gets from books? how can he effectively test, in cold blood, whether he is receiving from literature all that literature has to give him? the test is not so vague, nor so difficult, as might appear. if a man is not thrilled by intimate contact with nature: with the sun, with the earth, which is his origin and the arouser of his acutest emotions-- if he is not troubled by the sight of beauty in many forms-- if he is devoid of curiosity concerning his fellow-men and his fellow-animals-- if he does not have glimpses of the nuity of all things in an orderly progress-- if he is chronically "querulous, dejected, and envious"-- if he is pessimistic-- if he is of those who talk about "this age of shams," "this age without ideals," "this hysterical age," and this heaven-knows-what-age-- then that man, though he reads undisputed classics for twenty hours a day, though he has a memory of steel, though he rivals porson in scholarship and sainte beuve in judgment, is not receiving from literature what literature has to give. indeed, he is chiefly wasting his time. unless he can read differently, it were better for him if he sold all his books, gave to the poor, and played croquet. he fails because he has not assimilated into his existence the vital essences which genius put into the books that have merely passed before his eyes; because genius has offered him faith, courage, vision, noble passion, curiosity, love, a thirst for beauty, and he has not taken the gift; because genius has offered him the chance of living fully, and he is only half alive, for it is only in the stress of fine ideas and emotions that a man may be truly said to live. this is not a moral invention, but a simple fact, which will be attested by all who know what that stress is. what! you talk learnedly about shakespeare's sonnets! have you heard shakespeare's terrific shout: full many a glorious morning have i seen flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye, kissing with golden face the meadows green, gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. and yet, can you see the sun over the viaduct at loughborough junction of a morning, and catch its rays in the thames off dewar's whisky monument, and not shake with the joy of life? if so, you and shakespeare are not yet in communication. what! you pride yourself on your beautiful edition of casaubon's translation of _marcus aurelius_, and you savour the cadences of the famous: this day i shall have to do with an idle, curious man, with an unthankful man, a railer, a crafty, false, or an envious man. all these ill qualities have happened unto him, through ignorance of that which is truly good and truly bad. but i that understand the nature of that which is good, that it only is to be desired, and of that which is bad, that it only is truly odious and shameful: who know, moreover, that this transgressor, whosoever he be, is my kinsman, not by the same blood and seed, but by participation of the same reason and of the same divine particle--how can i be hurt?... and with these cadences in your ears you go and quarrel with a cabman! you would be ashamed of your literary self to be caught in ignorance of whitman, who wrote: now understand me well--it is provided in the essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary. and yet, having achieved a motor-car, you lose your temper when it breaks down half-way up a hill! you know your wordsworth, who has been trying to teach you about: the upholder of the tranquil soul that tolerates the indignities of time and, from the centre of eternity all finite motions over-ruling, lives in glory immutable. but you are capable of being seriously unhappy when your suburban train selects a tunnel for its repose! and the a.v. of the bible, which you now read, not as your forefathers read it, but with an æsthetic delight, especially in the apocrypha! you remember: whatsoever is brought upon thee, take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. for gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. and yet you are ready to lie down and die because a woman has scorned you! go to! you think some of my instances approach the ludicrous? they do. they are meant to do so. but they are no more ludicrous than life itself. and they illustrate in the most workaday fashion how you can test whether your literature fulfils its function of informing and transforming your existence. i say that if daily events and scenes do not constantly recall and utilise the ideas and emotions contained in the books which you have read or are reading; if the memory of these books does not quicken the perception of beauty, wherever you happen to be, does not help you to correlate the particular trifle with the universal, does not smooth out irritation and give dignity to sorrow--then you are, consciously or not, unworthy of your high vocation as a bookman. you may say that i am preaching a sermon. the fact is, i am. my mood is a severely moral mood. for when i reflect upon the difference between what books have to offer and what even relatively earnest readers take the trouble to accept from them, i am appalled (or should be appalled, did i not know that the world is moving) by the sheer inefficiency, the bland, complacent failure of the earnest reader. i am like yourself, the spectacle of inefficiency rouses my holy ire. before you begin upon another masterpiece, set out in a row the masterpieces which you are proud of having read during the past year. take the first on the list, that book which you perused in all the zeal of your new year resolutions for systematic study. examine the compartments of your mind. search for the ideas and emotions which you have garnered from that book. think, and recollect when last something from that book recurred to your memory apropos of your own daily commerce with humanity. is it history--when did it throw a light for you on modern politics? is it science--when did it show you order in apparent disorder, and help you to put two and two together into an inseparable four? is it ethics--when did it influence your conduct in a twopenny-halfpenny affair between man and man? is it a novel--when did it help you to "understand all and forgive all"? is it poetry--when was it a magnifying glass to disclose beauty to you, or a fire to warm your cooling faith? if you can answer these questions satisfactorily, your stocktaking as regards the fruit of your traffic with that book may be reckoned satisfactory. if you cannot answer them satisfactorily, then either you chose the book badly or your impression that you _read_ it is a mistaken one. when the result of this stocktaking forces you to the conclusion that your riches are not so vast as you thought them to be, it is necessary to look about for the causes of the misfortune. the causes may be several. you may have been reading worthless books. this, however, i should say at once, is extremely unlikely. habitual and confirmed readers, unless they happen to be reviewers, seldom read worthless books. in the first place, they are so busy with books of proved value that they have only a small margin of leisure left for very modern works, and generally, before they can catch up with the age, time or the critic has definitely threshed for them the wheat from the chaff. no! mediocrity has not much chance of hood-winking the serious student. it is less improbable that the serious student has been choosing his books badly. he may do this in two ways--absolutely and relatively. every reader of long standing has been through the singular experience of suddenly _seeing_ a book with which his eyes have been familiar for years. he reads a book with a reputation and thinks: "yes, this is a good book. this book gives me pleasure." and then after an interval, perhaps after half a lifetime, something mysterious happens to his mental sight. he picks up the book again, and sees a new and profound significance in every sentence, and he says: "i was perfectly blind to this book before." yet he is no cleverer than he used to be. only something has happened to him. let a gold watch be discovered by a supposititious man who has never heard of watches. he has a sense of beauty. he admires the watch, and takes pleasure in it. he says: "this is a beautiful piece of bric-à-brac; i fully appreciate this delightful trinket." then imagine his feelings when someone comes along with the key; imagine the light flooding his brain. similar incidents occur in the eventful life of the constant reader. he has no key, and never suspects that there exists such a thing as a key. that is what i call a choice absolutely bad. the choice is relatively bad when, spreading over a number of books, it pursues no order, and thus results in a muddle of faint impressions each blurring the rest. books must be allowed to help one another; they must be skilfully called in to each other's aid. and that this may be accomplished some guiding principle is necessary. "and what," you demand, "should that guiding principle be?" how do i know? nobody, fortunately, can make your principles for you. you have to make them for yourself. but i will venture upon this general observation: that in the mental world what counts is not numbers but co-ordination. as regards facts and ideas, the great mistake made by the average well-intentioned reader is that he is content with the names of things instead of occupying himself with the causes of things. he seeks answers to the question what? instead of to the question why? he studies history, and never guesses that all history is caused by the facts of geography. he is a botanical expert, and can take you to where the _sibthorpia europæa_ grows, and never troubles to wonder what the earth would be without its cloak of plants. he wanders forth of starlit evenings and will name you with unction all the constellations from andromeda to the scorpion; but if you ask him why venus can never be seen at midnight, he will tell you that he has not bothered with the scientific details. he has not learned that names are nothing, and the satisfaction of the lust of the eye a trifle compared to the imaginative vision of which scientific "details" are the indispensable basis. most reading, i am convinced, is unphilosophical; that is to say, it lacks the element which more than anything else quickens the poetry of life. unless and until a man has formed a scheme of knowledge, be it a mere skeleton, his reading must necessarily be unphilosophical. he must have attained to some notion of the inter-relations of the various branches of knowledge before he can properly comprehend the branch in which he specialises. if he has not drawn an outline map upon which he can fill in whatever knowledge comes to him, as it comes, and on which he can trace the affinity of every part with every other part, he is assuredly frittering away a large percentage of his efforts. there are certain philosophical works which, once they are mastered, seem to have performed an operation for cataract, so that he who was blind, having read them, henceforward sees cause and effect working in and out everywhere. to use another figure, they leave stamped on the brain a chart of the entire province of knowledge. such a work is spencer's _first principles_. i know that it is nearly useless to advise people to read _first principles_. they are intimidated by the sound of it; and it costs as much as a dress-circle seat at the theatre. but if they would, what brilliant stocktakings there might be in a few years! why, if they would only read such detached essays as that on "manners and fashion," or "the genesis of science" (in a sixpenny volume of spencer's _essays_, published by watts and co.), the magic illumination, the necessary power of "synthetising" things, might be vouch-safed to them. in any case, the lack of some such disciplinary, co-ordinating measure will amply explain many disastrous stocktakings. the manner in which one single ray of light, one single precious hint, will clarify and energise the whole mental life of him who receives it, is among the most wonderful and heavenly of intellectual phenomena. some men search for that light and never find it. but most men never search for it. the superlative cause of disastrous stocktakings remains, and it is much more simple than the one with which i have just dealt. it consists in the absence of meditation. people read, and read, and read, blandly unconscious of their effrontery in assuming that they can assimilate without any further effort the vital essence which the author has breathed into them. they cannot. and the proof that they do not is shown all the time in their lives. i say that if a man does not spend at least as much time in actively and definitely thinking about what he has read as he has spent in reading, he is simply insulting his author. if he does not submit himself to intellectual and emotional fatigue in classifying the communicated ideas, and in emphasising on his spirit the imprint of the communicated emotions--then reading with him is a pleasant pastime and nothing else. this is a distressing fact. but it is a fact. it is distressing, for the reason that meditation is not a popular exercise. if a friend asks you what you did last night, you may answer, "i was reading," and he will be impressed and you will be proud. but if you answer, "i was meditating," he will have a tendency to smile and you will have a tendency to blush. i know this. i feel it myself. (i cannot offer any explanation.) but it does not shake my conviction that the absence of meditation is the main origin of disappointing stocktakings. by the same author novels a man from the north anna of the five towns leonora a great man sacred and profane love whom god hath joined buried alive the old wives' tale the glimpse helen with the high hand clayhanger the card fantasias the grand babylon hotel the gates of wrath teresa of watling street the loot of cities hugo the ghost the city of pleasure short stories tales of the five towns the grim smile of the five towns belles-lettres journalism for women fame and fiction how to become an author the truth about an author the reasonable life how to live on twenty-four hours a day the human machine literary taste mental efficiency drama polite farces cupid and commonsense what the public wants (in collaboration with eden phillpotts) the sinews of war: a romance the statue: a romance at http://www.ebookforge.net the book-hunter at home. _of this edition copies have been printed, and upon fine paper._ [illustration: the book-hunter at home (jan six, by rembrandt)] the book-hunter at home by p. b. m. allan the second edition, revised [illustration] london philip allan & co. quality court, chancery lane _first edition_-- _second edition_-- printed by whitehead brothers, wolverhampton. the epistle dedicatory to the honourable and vertuous lady mistress e. k. a. madam, it would be churlish indeed were i to send this book into the world without some acknowledgment of the share which you have had in its making. indeed, i feel that you are chiefly responsible for it: without your encouragement, your active help, your patience with me at all times (at which i marvel constantly), it would never have arrived at completion. truly it is your name, not mine, that should appear upon the title-page; for although mine may have been the hand that penned the words, certain it is that yours was the mind that guided my pen throughout. it is to your sympathy, your judgment, your excellent taste, that i am indebted for every good thing that i have penned; and where i have put down aught that is trite or insipid, it is due to my own natural obstinacy in refusing, or carelessness in neglecting, to defer the matter to your better judgment. thus it is only right that whatever praise may be bestowed upon this book should be accorded to you; my shoulders alone must bear the censure of the discerning reader. i am, madam, your very dutiful, and loving husband, the author. preface in placing this second edition before his fellow book-lovers, the author would like to take the opportunity of thanking the numerous correspondents who have written to him from all parts of the world. in truth book-collecting establishes a bond between its devotees that is effected by no other pursuit. the first edition was put forth only after much hesitation, and with a good deal of fear and trembling: that a second edition would ever be required was unthinkable. but since the book has so obviously been the means of bringing pleasure to so many, the author feels that it is his duty to bring this second edition 'up to date,' to make it as perfect as his poor skill allows. accordingly the volume has been revised throughout, a number of additions have been made, both to the text and in the matter of footnotes, and the prices of books have been amended according to present conditions. three illustrations have been added. quality court, july, . contents chap page i. adventures among books ii. the library iii. books which form the library iv. chivalry and romance v. the care of books vi. the care of books (_continued_) vii. books of the collector viii. a plea for specialism ix. a plea for specialism (_continued_) index illustrations the book-hunter at home _frontispiece_ the peron page the hall of the knights " the home-made library " [illustration] chapter i adventures among books 'thou shalt make castels thanne in spayne.' chaucer. it is a sad truth that bargains are met with more frequently in our youth than in our age. the sophist may argue that age begets philosophy, and that philosophy contemns all worldly things; yet certain it is that the book-hunter, one of the most philosophical of beings, remains on the look-out for bargains to the very end of his career. nevertheless, it is a fact that in youth alone do we make those great bargains which lay the foundations of our careers as book-hunters. it is this sad truth which fosters in most of us the belief that we live in a decadent age, and that the days of our youth were infinitely more seemly than those which we now endure. but it is we who have changed: the bargains are still there, and may still be had at the cost of youthful energy and enthusiasm. 'ah, but you can't get the bargains nowadays that you could when i was a young man,' says the elderly bookseller, with a knowing shake of his head. can't you! then mankind must have changed strangely since the period of this sage's youth. bargains, and rich ones too, in everything that is bought and sold, are made every day and will continue to be made so long as human nature endures, bargains in books no less among them. the rich finds of which the aged bookseller dreams are bargains only in the light of present-day prices. as a matter of fact, the great majority of them were not really bargains at all. he may bitterly lament having parted with a copy of the first edition of the 'compleat angler,' in the 'sixties for twenty guineas, but he overlooks the fact that that was then its market value. had he asked a thousand pounds for it, his sanity would certainly have been open to question. 'why, when i was a boy,' he says, 'you could buy first editions of shelley, keats, or scott for pence.' precisely: which was their current value; by no stretch of the imagination can they be considered bargains. his business is, and has always been, to buy and sell; not to hoard books on the chance that they will become valuable 'some day.' neither can it be urged that 'people' (by which he means collectors) 'did not know so much about books fifty years ago.' collectors know, and have ever known, all that they need for the acquisition of their particular _desiderata_. if they were ignorant of the prices which volumes common in their day would realise at some future period, why, so were the dealers and every one else concerned! judging by analogy, we have every reason to believe that many volumes which we come across almost daily on the bookstalls, marked, perhaps, a few pence, will be fought for one day across the auction-room table. the chief reason why the elderly bookseller no longer comes across these advantageous purchases is that he has passed the age (though he does not know it) at which bargains are to be had. but bargains are not encountered, they are made. it is the youthful vigour and enthusiasm of the young collector, prompting him into the byways and alleys of book-land, that bring bargains to his shelves. so, if you are young and enthusiastic, and not to be deterred by a series of wild-goose chases, happy indeed will be your lot. for over the post-prandial pipe you will be able to hand such and such a treasure to your admiring fellow-spirit, saying: 'this i picked up for _n_-pence in camden town; this one cost me _x_-shillings at poynder's in reading: iredale of torquay let me have this for a florin; i found this on the floor in a corner of commin's shop at bournemouth; this was on david's stall at cambridge, and i nearly lost it to the fat don of king's'; and so on and so on. bargains, forsooth! our book-hunter was once outbid at sotheby's for a scarce volume which he found, a week later, on a barrow in clerkenwell for fourpence! the same year he picked up for ten shillings, in london, an early sixteenth-century folio, rubricated and with illuminated initials. it was as fresh as when it issued from the press, and in the original oak and pig-skin binding. he failed to trace the work in any of the bibliographies, nor could the british museum help him to locate another copy. david's stall at cambridge once yielded to him a scarce defoe tract for sixpence. but this being, as master pepys said, 'an idle rogueish book,' he sold it to a bookseller for two pounds, 'that it might not stand in the list of books, nor among them, to disgrace them, if it should be found.' a copy has recently fetched twenty guineas. doubtless every bibliophile is perpetually on the look-out for treasures, and it is essential that he learn, early in his career, to make up his mind at once concerning an out-of-the-way book. he who hesitates is lost, and this is doubly true of the book-collector. more than once in his early days of collecting has our book-hunter hesitated and finally left a book, only to dash back--perhaps a few hours later, perhaps next day--and find it gone. once upon a time a spotlessly clean little square octavo volume of terence, printed in italics, caught his eye upon a bookstall. one shilling was its ransom, but it was not the price that deterred him so much as the fact that every available nook and corner of his sanctum was already filled to overflowing with books. 'a nice clean copy of an early-printed book,' he mused. but early-printed books were not in his line--then; had they been in those early days of book-hunting, his library would have been slow indeed of growth. so he passed on and left it. all that evening the memory of the little square volume would keep recurring most absurdly. he didn't want it, it was not in his line, he would never read it, and so on and so on. but over his pipe that evening the colophon '. . . . _studio & impensis philippi de giunta florentini . . ., _,' came back to his memory; he must have been mad not to have bought it at that price, and such a fine copy too. and so to bed, sorely harassed in his bibliophilic mind. next morning he awoke sane and conscious of his folly. an early visit to the bookstall followed, but the little volume had gone; and it was not comforting to learn that it had been sold shortly after our bookman saw it, to a man who 'knew a lot about that kind of books.' let us hope that the purchaser treasures the little square volume, printed in italics, as much as our friend would. what poignant memories they are, these memories of rare books which we have found and failed to secure! two prominent instances of our bookman's folly stand out with bitter clearness, ever fresh in his memory as a reminder of the criminal stupidity of procrastination. one was an exceedingly scarce work by lawrence humphrey, entitled 'optimates sive de nobilitate eiusque antiqua origine,' printed in small octavo at basle in , which he once saw in a catalogue for five shillings. he sent for it three days after the receipt of the catalogue, and of course it had gone. the other was an unknown, or at least undescribed, edition of osorio's 'de gloria et nobilitate,' printed at barcelona in the early part of the sixteenth century. he lost this in the same manner, at two shillings! perhaps, however, you too have been guilty of these lapses, reader? _semel insanivimus omnes._ experience is better than advice, and for his part our book-hunter will not be caught napping again. the following incident will show you, moreover, that it is not always safe to order books from a catalogue even by return of post. for many years he had searched in vain for that rarest of all english heraldry books (though not properly english, for it is in the latin tongue), the 'de studio militari, libri quatuor' of master nicholas upton. it was edited by sir edward bysshe, and printed in folio at london in . the numerous booksellers in london and the country from whom he sought it had never seen it; indeed, most of them were unaware of its existence, though it is well known to all heralds. at length, coming home late one night, our book-hunter found on his table a catalogue from a bookseller who seems to garner more out-of-the-way books than any of his fellows. his catalogues are issued very frequently, for he has a large and quick sale, pricing most of his wares at less than five shillings. moreover, the fact that the books described therein are thrown together without any attempt at classification, even alphabetical, serves but to add a zest to the repast. but our book-hunter was tired, and his evil star was in the ascendant, for he went to bed leaving the catalogue unopened. reading it over a late breakfast next morning, upon the last page he came across the following entry:-- uptoni (nich.) de studio militari. johan de bado aureo, tractatus de armis. henrici spelmanni aspilogia. folio, calf. _scarce._ s. d. scarce, indeed! in less than five minutes he was driving hot-haste to the shop. of course it was sold: sold by _telegram dispatched the night before_. he was allowed to see it, even to handle it, and he frankly confesses that murderous thoughts rose within him as he held it in his hands. . . . the bookseller was an old man . . . the shop was very dark . . . just a push, and perhaps one firm application _super caput_ of a large-paper copy of camden's 'britannia' which lay handy upon the table. . . . but i am glad to say that our bookman's better nature prevailed, and sorrowfully he returned the volume to the dealer's hands. did he know the customer, and if so would he try to buy it back? certainly he would. a week later came a letter saying that the customer was also a collector of these things, but that he was willing to part with it 'at a price.' unfortunately his price was not our book-hunter's, and he failed to secure the treasure--then. now comes the more pleasant sequel. about a year later, coming home in the small hours from a dance, our bookman found a catalogue from this same bookseller on his table. although tired out, his previous bitter experience had taught him a lesson; so pulling up a chair before the remains of the fire he proceeded to skim through the catalogue. he had reached the last page, and was already beginning to nod, when suddenly his weariness vanished in a flash: he was wide awake and on his feet in an instant, for his eyes had met the same entry that had thrilled him a year ago. this time it was described as 'very scarce,' and the price was considerably enhanced; but he had his coat on and was in the street almost immediately. the nearest telegraph office likely to be open at such an hour was a mile away, and it was a miserable night, snowing and blowing; but no weather would have deterred him. so the telegram was safely dispatched, and he returned to bed, pinning a notice on the bedroom door to the effect that he was to be called, without fail, at seven o'clock. that night he was obsessed by uptons of all shapes and sizes. some he beheld with agony, cut down by the ruthless binder to duodecimo size; others there were no larger than pickering's diamond classics; some (on his chest) were of a size which i can only describe as 'atlas,' or, perhaps more appropriately, 'elephant folio,' large-paper copies with hideous margins. next morning our bookman was at the shop betimes. yes! his wire had arrived; upton was his at last! should the dealer send it for him by carrier? carrier, forsooth! as well entrust the koh-i-noor to a messenger boy. of course it was the same copy that our friend had missed previously, the owner having sold his books _en bloc_ in the meantime. why upton is so scarce it is hard to say; perhaps very few copies were printed, or perhaps a fire at the printer's destroyed most of them. certain it is that the premises of james allestry and roger norton, who published the book, were both burnt in the great fire twelve years after its publication. besides the two copies in the british museum, there are examples of it in several of the ancient libraries throughout the kingdom; but it is very rarely indeed to be met with in the london salerooms.[ ] dallaway mentions two copies as being, in , in the library of lord carlisle at naworth; and probably there are examples in some of the libraries of our older nobility. there would seem to be copies, also, in france; for several writers upon chivalry, such as la roque and sainte marie, make mention of it. the writer bought a portion of it, some forty-eight pages, a few years ago for four shillings. but take heart, brother bibliophile; it is quite possible that you may unearth a copy some day--if indeed the book be in your line--long buried in the dust of some old country bookshop. upton died in , and his work was so popular that numerous copies of the manuscript were made. the treatise on coat-armour, or 'cootarmuris,' as it is quaintly spelt, which comprises the third part of the 'book of saint albans' (first printed in ), is, for the greater part, a literal translation of the second half of the fourth book of the 'de studio militari' as printed by bysshe. ames, in his 'typographical antiquities,' asserts that upton's work was reprinted from the st. albans book in folio, , 'with the king's arms and caxton's mark printed in red ink.' but he gives no authority for his assertion, and it seems doubtful whether such a volume ever existed. at all events there does not appear to be any trace of such a book beyond this mention, and herbert, editing ames, omitted the whole passage. hain,[ ] probably copying ames, calls this supposititious work 'de re heraldica,' and states that it was printed at westminster in 'anglice.' so much for worthy master nicholas, canon of salisbury and protégé of the 'good duke humfrey.' there is a curious phenomenon of not infrequent occurrence among book-collectors, and that is the enforced acquisition of certain volumes solely by means of the passive persuasion of their presence. in other words, it is possible to bully the bibliophile into purchasing a book merely by obtruding it continually before his gaze, till at length its very presence becomes a source of annoyance to him. to escape from this incubus he purchases the volume. in nine cases out of ten, books so acquired never attain the same status as their fellow-volumes. they are invariably assigned either to the lowest or topmost shelves of the library, and are, in fact, pariahs. their owner did not really want them, and he can never quite forgive their presence on his shelves. generally their stay in any one home is not a long one, for they are weeded out at the first opportunity, and find no permanent rest until they come finally to that ultimate goal of books, the paper mills. i confess that in my early days of collecting this phenomenon was of not infrequent occurrence, being associated, probably, with the indecision of youth. and in this connection a bookseller once told me an interesting story. a certain young man of the working class, on his way to work every day, used to pass a bookstall situated in a narrow alley. every day he glanced at the books, and as custom was scanty he would notice what books were sold and with what works the bookseller filled the empty places on the shelves. in this way all of the books which the young man had first noticed gradually disappeared, with one exception. this was a volume bound in calf, containing some rather curious poems, and no one seemed to want it. at length, after some weeks, the young man could stand it no longer. he approached the bookseller, and for sixpence the volume became his. the verses seemed to him rather poor, though one entitled 'hans carvel' amused him rather. the title-page bore the date , and he wondered who was the 'e. curll at the peacock without temple-bar,' for whom the work was printed. some time afterwards he read in the newspaper that a certain book had been sold for a large sum because of a misprint in it. this set him wondering . . . 'at the peacock _without_ temple-bar . . .' temple-bar without a peacock he could imagine: surely this was a misprint! perhaps the book was valuable, and others had not 'spotted' the error! and now he bethought him of an acquaintance who kept a bookshop in the west end of the town, a man who knew a lot about old books. he would take it to him and ask his advice. so, one saturday afternoon he carried his 'treasure' to the shop in question. inside, an elderly man was examining a calf-bound volume. '. . . the first authentic edition, seventeen hundred and nine,' he was saying. the young man glanced at the volume under discussion, and as a page was turned he caught sight of the heading 'hans carvel.' good gracious; this volume was the same as his! just then the elderly man looked up, and the young fellow handed his volume to the bookseller, saying: 'here's another one, same as that, but mine's got something wrong on the front page.' the bookseller opened the newcomer's volume, looked at the title-page, and handed it without a word to his customer, who took it with a look of surprise. 'something wrong?' said he, 'why, bless me, what's this-- --that rascal curll's edition--where did you get this?' the young man told him, adding that he gave sixpence for it. 'sixpence, did you?' said the connoisseur; 'well, i'll give you six guineas for it': which he did, there and then. it was a copy of the rare 'pirated' collection of his poems, published without matt prior's knowledge, some two years before the first authentic edition appeared. some years later, when the elderly collector died, this volume came to the saleroom with the rest of his books. it realised forty pounds! so much for the ugly duckling. what an absorbing topic is that of 'lost books'! there is a fascination about the subject that every bibliophile must have experienced. 'hope springs eternal in the human breast,' and it is impossible to read of books long lost without making a mental note of their titles in the hope that some day we may come across them. perhaps it is these memories, pigeon-holed in our mind, that add a zest to anticipation whenever we go book-hunting on our travels. but alas! the reward for the bibliophile's hope in this direction is rare as the blossoming of the aloe. it is curious to think of the thousands of books that have completely disappeared. nowadays the act which assures the preservation in our greater libraries of every book published in this country will doubtless prevent the disappearance of a good many english books of lesser importance, such as school books and other works that are quickly superseded. but before the passing of this act there was nothing to prevent an unpopular or useless work from becoming extinct, and vast numbers must have disappeared in this country alone. there are many books, however, important books even, and books which we know to have been immensely popular in their day, of which so much as a glimpse has been denied us. the octavo of 'the passionate pilgrim,' the first issue of john barclay's satirical romance 'euphormionis lusinini satyricon,' published at london in , the 'famous historie of the vertuous and godly woman judith,' london, (of which a title-page has been preserved), what would not every book-collector give for copies of these? then there are such early-printed works as caxton's translation of the metamorphoses of ovid, probably published by him about , 'the life of st. margaret' (known by three leaves preserved in the bodleian), the 'goste of guido' or ghost of guy, and the epitaph of the king of scotland, all printed by pynson, as well as that mysterious volume ycleped 'the nigramansir,' said to be by john skelton the poet-laureate who lived under five kings and died in . many of skelton's works, perhaps even the majority of his writings, are known to us by title and hearsay alone; but who shall say that his 'speculum principis,' or 'the commedy achademios callyd by name,' which he himself mentions, are lost beyond all hope of recovery? 'the nigramansir' was actually seen by thomas warton, the poet-laureate, in the 'fifties of the eighteenth century, and is described by him in some detail. his account is so interesting that it deserves quoting. 'i cannot quit skelton,' he writes, 'without restoring to the public notice a play, or morality, written by him, not recited in any catalogue of his works, or annals of english typography; and, i believe, at present totally unknown to the antiquarians in this sort of literature. it is, _the_ nigramansir, _a morall_ enterlude _and a pithie written by maister_ skelton _laureate and plaid before the king and other estatys at woodstock on palme sunday._ it was printed by wynkin de worde in a thin quarto, in the year .' against this warton makes the following note: 'my lamented friend mr. william collins . . . . shewed me this piece at chichester, not many months before his death (collins died in ), and he pointed it out as a very rare and valuable curiosity. he intended to write the history of the restoration of learning under leo the tenth, and with a view to that design had collected many scarce books. some few of these fell into my hands at his death. the rest, among which, i suppose, was this interlude, were dispersed.' warton then goes on to describe the book in detail, and this circumstance, together with the fact that he quotes one of the stage directions ('_enter balsebub with a berde_') seems to point to the fact that he actually had the volume in his hands. it concerned the trial of simony and avarice, with the devil as judge. 'the characters are a necromancer or conjurer, the devil, a notary public, simonie, and philargyria or avarice. . . . there is no sort of propriety in calling this play the necromancer: for the only business and use of this character is to open the subject in a long prologue.'[ ] unfortunately there is no other mention of this interesting work, and of recent years its very existence has been doubted. 'it was at chichester,' wrote hazlitt, 'that the poet collins brought together a certain number of early books, some of the first rarity; his name is found, too, in the sale catalogues of the last century as a buyer of such; and the strange and regrettable fact is that two or three items which thomas warton actually saw in his hands, and of which there are no known duplicates, have not so far been recovered.' mr. gordon duff, in his 'english provincial printers,' mentions seventeen books described by herbert at the end of the eighteenth century, of which no copies are now known to exist. another rare volume is known to have existed about the same time. a copy, the only one known, of 'the fabulous tales of esope the phrygian' by robert henryson, published at london in , was formerly in the library of syon college; for it is included in reading's catalogue of that college library, compiled in . but its whereabouts is now unknown. fortunately in this case a later edition has survived. another mysterious volume is the treatise concerning elizabeth barton, the maid of kent, who was burnt at tyburn in . cranmer, describing her story to a friend, writes: 'and a boke (was) written of all the hole storie thereof, and putt into prynte, which euer syns that tyme hath byn comonly sold and goone abrod amongs all people.' from the confession of john skot, the printer of this work, at the trial, it seems that seven hundred copies were printed; but no copy is now known to exist. other works there are as yet unseen by bibliographer, such as markham's 'thyrsis and daphne,' a poem printed in , and the and quartos of ben jonson's 'epicoene or the silent woman.' this last was seen by william gifford a century ago, but neither is now known to exist. or is a copy extant of horace's 'art of poetry' english'd by jonson and published so late as . alas! the list of works by 'rare ben jonson' now lost to us, it is feared, for ever, is quite a lengthy one. who has seen the original issue of 'gude and godlie ballatis,' printed at edinburgh in ? of this book it has been said that, after the bible, it did more for the spread of reformation doctrines in scotland than any other volume; so presumably a fairly large edition was printed. that the editions of some of these early-printed books, now with us no more, were of considerable size may be judged from contemporary evidence of their widespread popularity. speaking of the 'morte d'arthur,' mr. e. g. duff remarks: 'of the popularity of the book we have striking evidence. of caxton's edition two copies are known, of which one is imperfect.[ ] the second edition, printed by wynkin de worde in , is known from one copy only, which is imperfect; while the third edition, also printed by de worde is, again, only known from one imperfect copy. it may well be, considering these facts, that there were other intervening editions which have entirely disappeared.' of the thirteen early editions of shakespeare's 'venus and adonis' only twenty-two copies have so far been traced. yet if each of these editions comprised only copies, the tale of survivors is not large out of a total of , . 'printers and publishers . . . strained their resources to satisfy the demands of eager purchasers,' remarks sir sidney lee; so presumably the estimate of per edition is a conservative one. where are these volumes now? it is difficult to believe they have been utterly destroyed, leaf by leaf, so that no vestige of them any longer exists. surely they will turn up at an auction sale some day, for they may well be safely ensconced, at this very moment, on the shelves of some neglected country library. mr. duff himself records the discovery recently of a copy of caxton's 'speculum,' 'amongst some rubbish in the offices of a solicitor at birkenhead.' what a vast number of books there is, also, of which only one copy is known to exist. of the early editions of shakespeare's plays alone, more than a dozen are known by solitary examples. of such books hazlitt remarks that he 'has met in the course of a lengthened career with treasures which would make a small library, and has beheld no duplicates.' probably many of these _incognita_ and _rarissima_ perished in the great fire of london; others again met their fate solely through their own popularity, being 'thumbed' to pieces. in pynson thought well enough to reprint caxton's 'book of good manners'; but of this once popular book one copy only--that which was formerly in the amherst library--now survives. then there is that ancient romance of european popularity 'the four sons of aymon.' one of the great cycle of charlemagne romances, such was its popularity that by the end of the thirteenth century it had penetrated even to iceland. many and various were the editions that issued from the early presses. caxton printed it about , but of this thick quarto impression one imperfect copy only has survived. a second edition, as we learn from the colophon of the third edition, was 'imprinted at london by wynken de worde, the viii daye of maye, and the year of our lorde m.ccccc. iiii'; but a solitary leaf, discovered in the binding of an ancient book, is the sole representative of an edition that ran probably into several hundreds. in the case of some at least of these early books there is another reason for their disappearance and scarcity. stephen vaughan, the indefatigable agent of mr. secretary cromwell, writing to his master from antwerp, mentions that he is 'muche desirous t'atteyne the knowlage of the frenche tonge,' but that he is unable to obtain a copy of the only primer which he knows to exist. this volume, called 'l'esclarcissement de la langue francoyse,' was 'compose par maistre jehan palsgraue, angloys, natyf de londres et gradue de paris,' and was printed by pynson, though it was finished and published by hawkins in . palsgrave, the author, seems to have been determined that his book should not fall into the hands of other teachers of french (he was 'scolemaster' to the princess mary, sister of henry viii., in , at a stipend of £ s. d.); and although vaughan writes that he 'made not a letle labour to mr. palsgrave to have one of his books,' yet 'in no wise he wolde graunt for no price.' so vaughan entreats thomas cromwell to obtain a copy for him, 'not doubtyng but though he unkyndly denyd me one, he will not denye youe one.' apparently palsgrave had entered into some kind of arrangement with the printer, for vaughan writes that he 'hathe willed pynson to sell none of them to any other person than to suche as he shall comaunde to have them, lest his proffit by teching the frenche tonge myght be mynished by the sale of the same to suche persons as, besids hym, wern disposed to studye the sayd tongue.' from this premise it is easy to understand why 'l'esclarcissement' is such a rare book. very few copies indeed are known to exist. yet one cannot help wondering what became of the copies that had not been disposed of at the author's death. possibly a very small number was printed, and perhaps 'johan haukyns,' faithful to his pact, destroyed those on hand. that the book was in high esteem may be gathered from the fact that, in spite of his rebuff, vaughan says: 'if i had one, i wolde no less exteme it then a jewell.' the letter ends with a delightful burst of ingenuousness. 'syr, i remember mr. palsgrave gave youe one of his books, which if it please you to geve me i wer muche bounde to youe.' whether he obtained a copy in the end history does not relate; but if our book-hunter is ever so fortunate as to come across one, like vaughan he will certainly 'no less exteme it then a jewell.' very many, indeed the vast majority, of the popular jest-books which appeared in such numbers during queen elizabeth's reign are now lost to us. some are known by later quotation of their titles, others by later editions, such as 'the life of long meg of westminster,' 'a lytle and bryefe treatyse called the defence of women,'[ ] etc. but these were small volumes of few pages, and were doubtless considered as little worthy of preservation as is the modern 'penny dreadful.' 'but, when we consider how very many of these early books have come down to our time only in single copies or even fragments out of an edition of some hundreds, it is only natural to suppose that a great number must have utterly disappeared.'[ ] it is not for want of enterprise that so many of these books have not so far been recovered. the smaller and more remote towns, even villages, of these islands and the continent have been, and are being, ransacked by dealers as well as collectors. the number of works hitherto undescribed that has been brought to light during the last sixty years must be considerable; and one still hears every now and then of some rich trover that has been unearthed. in a small octavo manuscript volume, in a worn brown binding, was offered at the end of a sale at sotheby's. it had stood, for how long no man knows, on the shelf of a small parish library in suffolk; and it was offered for sale 'presumably as being unreadable to country folk, and capable of being turned into hard cash wherewith a few works of fiction might be purchased.' acquired by the bodleian library for £ , it proved, by perhaps one of the most romantic chains of evidence ever attached to a book,[ ] to be the favourite devotional volume and constant companion of saint margaret, queen of scotland, who died in . it was not until that the original quarto edition ( ) of shakespeare's 'titus andronicus' was known to exist, when a copy was discovered and sold for £ . books travel far afield. at the dissolution of the monasteries the rich libraries that many of them possessed were scattered far and wide. one of these religious houses was famed for its rich store of books; and that the report was not exaggerated we know from its ancient library catalogue, still extant. in this case some of the books were taken by the inmates with them into exile in flanders; and when the small community migrated thence to portugal, the precious tomes were carried reverently with them. a fire at their convent in destroyed a large number of the volumes, and when some of the nuns returned to england in they brought the remaining books with them. some were sold, but three cases of these ancient books were sent back to the nuns who stayed behind in portugal, and of these cases two were lost in transit. london, however, has always been the centre of book production in this country, and it is there that any existing copies of these forgotten books are most likely to re-appear. was not a priceless manuscript, a household book of the black prince, discovered only a few years ago in the office of a city lawyer? once, in the course of his rambles by the bookstalls of the farringdon road,[ ] our book-hunter caught a glimpse of an old box almost covered by books and prints on one of the stalls. being unearthed, it proved to be a veritable gem of a trunk, about two feet by one, and nine inches deep. it had a convex lid, and was covered with shaggy horsehide, bound with heavily studded leather. the proprietor stated that he had found it in a cellar, full of old books, most of which had already been sold (his listener promptly pictured caxtons among them); and he was amused to think that any one could be so foolish as to offer him two shillings for such a dirty old box. however, it was carried home in triumph, regardless of the great interest shown by fellow-travellers in the train. a year or two ago the same vender produced a similar trunk, rather larger, which was full of ancient deeds relating to property in clerkenwell. these he sold for a shilling or two shillings apiece, according to size and seals. the box was larger than our bookman wanted, but apparently it soon found a purchaser. surely such instances must be common in this great city, and many a trunk must yet linger in cellars and attics in the old parts of the town. not many years ago our book-hunter chanced to visit an ancient house at the end of a small court off fleet street. inside, it seemed to be entirely lined with oak planking, and it was occupied, or at least that part into which he penetrated was, by a printer in a small way of business. the staircase was magnificent, of massive coal-black oak; and when our book-hunter remarked upon it, the printer informed him he had discovered that the house had once been the town residence of a famous bishop of tudor times.[ ] how the occupant discovered this fact our bookman does not remember; possibly the house is well known to antiquaries, and the occupier may have read about it or have been told by the previous tenant. but it is also within the bounds of possibility that he unearthed some deed or papers relating to the premises. it is strange, too, that one of the few letters of this bishop which have been preserved refers to books. 'ye promised unto me, long agone,' he writes to secretary cromwell, 'the triumphes of petrarche in the ytalion tonge. i hartely pray you at this tyme by this beyrer, . . . to sende me the said boke with some other at your deuotion; and especially, if it please you, the boke called cortigiano in ytalion.'[ ] there must be many such houses still extant in london, and who knows what there may be in their long-disused attics? hidden away in the darkness beneath their tiles, between joists and under the eaves, it is possible that books till now unknown to us, by sight at least, may still exist. or who has explored the lumber accumulated in many a disused cellar within a quarter of a mile of the mansion house? the very existence of the trunks which we have mentioned proves that such things do still linger in the nooks and crannies of this great city. and i would not confine my surmise in this direction to london alone. two ancient libraries there are, one in the north countrie, the other in the west, that to my certain knowledge have never been explored by modern bibliographer. the latter is spurned and neglected, the books are deep in dust and even mildew; the former is also neglected, but at least the house is inhabited. the owner, an old, old woman, will never permit of any volume being disturbed. it is said that her father collected the books many years ago, and that she still guards them jealously for him. perhaps one day a copy of the 'nigramansir' will emerge from its long sleep in some such house as these. indeed, it is not so much a matter of surprise that such books should have disappeared, as that they should have remained hidden for so long. in an ancient volume was accidentally discovered in an old manor-house in the north of england, where it had lain undisturbed for generations. it proved to consist of no less than five of caxton's publications bound up together. moreover, it was in the original binding, and was bound, probably, by one of caxton's workmen, whose initials it bore. on being put up for sale at sotheby's, it changed hands at £ , . the account which gairdner gives in the introduction to his last edition of the paston letters, of the loss and rediscovery of those historic documents, is also a striking example of the manner in which books may lie hidden for years. for nearly a century the originals of sir john fenn's compilation were utterly lost. 'even mr. serjeant frere who edited the fifth volume . . . declared that he had not been able to find the originals of that volume any more than those of the others. strange to say, however, the originals of that volume were in his house all the time. . . .' gairdner then applied to the owner of roydon hall for the remainder of the manuscripts, but received answer 'that he did not see how such mss. should have found their way to roydon.' yet there they were discovered (with many others) eight years later! even then the whereabouts of the letters forming fenn's first and second volumes, which he had presented in to king george iii., was still unknown. 'the late prince consort . . . caused a careful search to be made for them, but it proved quite ineffectual.' no wonder, for in they came to light in a suffolk manor-house! it is difficult to portray in words the sensations of the book-collector when engaged in searching some ancient building or library--especially if he be upon a 'hot scent.' the thrills that he experiences as he handles some rich volume that has lain hid for years, the delicious excitement that pervades him while exploring some huge charter chest or ancient oaken press, these are feelings not to be described in words. 'it was discovered in the library at such and such a place,' we read, and we barely stop to picture the scene of its finding or to imagine the sensations of its finder. the very finding at syon by 'master richard sutton, esq.,' of the manuscript containing the 'revelacions' of st. katherin of siena, from which de worde printed his edition, conjures up a whole romance in itself; yet in his eulogy of the work wynkyn dismisses the matter briefly, merely stating that it was found 'in a corner by itself.' 'we were shipwrecked,' says the mariner, relating his adventures; and in those three words what a world of incident and sensations is comprised! our book-hunter confesses frankly to having had much good luck in book collecting. some years ago he made up his mind to start collecting elzeviers, more with the intention of gathering a representative collection of books printed by that great family of printers than with any idea of specialising in them. probably he was urged thereto by reading that wholly delightful book 'the library' by andrew lang, wherein the author discourses so pleasantly on these rare pygmies of the book world. 'the pastissier françois,' we read, 'has lately fetched £ at a sale'; and the 'cæsar' of seemed nearly as rare, provided it were a copy of that impression wherein the th page is misprinted ' .' a little later our bookman was dipping, for the _n_-th time, into that bibliophile's bible 'the book hunter,' by john hill burton, whose opinion of the cæsar seemed even higher, for he devotes nearly half a page to the little volume which brunet describes as 'une des plus jolies et plus rares de la collection des elsevier.' that decided our friend. he would collect elzeviers. moreover, he would continue to collect them until he had acquired both the 'pastissier françois' and the 'cæsar.' such was the confidence of youth! so he sallied forth straight away, determined to ransack the nooks and corners of certain shops of his acquaintance. he didn't find the 'pastissier françois' that afternoon, but he found the 'cæsar' in charing cross road for _two shillings_. moreover, it had the requisite misprint and certain other distinctions which proclaim it to be of the rare impression, and it is no less than millimetres in height! he has not yet come across the pastissier, but doubtless he will find a copy one day, provided his luck holds good. the little 'pastissier' is a far more interesting volume than the 'cæsar.' the latter is a dainty book, beautifully printed upon fine paper, with folding maps and plans of castramentation. the 'pastissier,' on the other hand, is a disappointing little book in appearance, for it is but indifferently printed upon poor paper. it cannot even claim the merit of originality, being merely a pirated reprint of a volume that appeared in paris some two years previously.[ ] but it is very, very rare, and it has been celebrated by many distinguished pens. '"monsieur," said i, "pray forgive me if my question seems impertinent, but are you extremely fond of eggs?"' such were the words with which alexandre dumas first addressed charles nodier, the famous dramatist and bibliophile, whom he found sitting next to him at the théâtre porte-saint-martin. dumas' curiosity as to the little volume that was engrossing his neighbour's attention more than the play was at length allayed, and it was a view of the title-page that prompted his unusual question. looking over his neighbour's shoulder, he read, opposite the engraved frontispiece, as follows:-- [illustration: le pastissier franÃ�ois où est enseigné la maniere de faire toute sorte de pastisserie, tres-utile à toute sorte de personnes. _ensemble_ _le moyen d'aprester toutes sortes d'oeufs_ _pour les jours maigres & autres,_ _en plus de soixante façons._ _a amsterdam_ chez louys & daniel elzevier _a m dc lv._] but nodier was far from being the gourmet that dumas supposed him to be. he was merely a bookhunter devouring a rare 'find'; and the little book, he explained to dumas, was one of those tiny volumes published in the seventeenth century by the house of the elzeviers at leyden and amsterdam; and of all the many productions of that press, this was the most sought for by collectors. elzeviers, however, are no longer fashionable, in this country at least. the cæsar might possibly bring five pounds if it came to the notice of an elzevier specialist, but i doubt it.[ ] only the pastissier has retained its exalted price, probably on account of its notoriety. a copy, in modern calf binding, sold recently ( ) at sotheby's for so much as £ ; but lord vernon's copy, choicely bound by capé, realised only £ at the sudbury sale in june . however, it was a poor copy and much cut down. railway-trains, among other things, have killed elzeviers. nothing could be more convenient for saddle-bag or knapsack, or the restricted luggage which one could stow in the boot of a coach. but who makes a practice nowadays of putting books into his suit-case or gladstone-bag?[ ] besides, before the advent of railways, there was not the same facility for distributing books, and one might travel many leagues and visit many villages without coming to a place where there would be a bookshop. in travelling nowadays one is continually in the presence of cheap books. the fate of the little pastissier was probably that of many popular books. there must have been thousands of copies of it printed. dumas, in that delightful chapter of 'mes mémoires' which we have just quoted, makes nodier say, 'techener declares that there were five thousand five hundred copies issued, and i maintain that there were more than ten thousand printed'; and he goes on to declare that 'there are probably only ten examples of it left in europe.' willems, however, in his bibliography of the elzeviers published in , enumerates some thirty copies, and states that the highest price yet paid for the pastissier was , francs. but that was for a quite exceptional copy. from , francs to , francs seems to have been the average value of the book in willems' time, and, enthusiast as he is, he hesitates not to describe it as a 'bouquin insignifiant et médiocrement imprimé.' its scarcity at the present day is, perhaps, not surprising; for, from the very nature of its contents, its habitat must always have been the kitchen rather than the library. how long would such a tiny volume, with its thin paper leaves, bear the rough and greasy handling of chefs and 'pastissiers'? book-shelves are rare in kitchens, and the little book must have been continually moved from pillar to post. besides, it is unlikely that copies for kitchen use would be strongly bound in morocco. the very printing and paper of the book sufficiently indicate the use to which its producers at least expected it to be put. so the little 'french pastrycook' gradually disappeared. those for whose benefit it had been written would soon learn its secrets by heart and confide them verbally to their apprentices; and it would not be long ere the tattered and greasy booklet found its way into the dustbin. of all the _rarae aves_ sought by book-collectors this little volume is perhaps the most widely known. that copies may still exist in this country is shown to be possible by the fact (recorded by willems) that one was sold at an auction in belfast. another was found at brighton, and occasionally one appears in the london salerooms, as we have shown. it requires little imagination to picture merchants and travellers, whose paths led through the low countries at that time, slipping copies into their pockets or holsters for use in the household across the water. many a courtly exile during the protectorate, glancing through the bookshops of amsterdam, must have chanced upon the little volume as a gift for wife or daughter. numbers, also, must have found their way to france. some years ago our book-hunter happened to stay at an ancient hostel in rouen. from the outside the building was everything that could possibly be desired by bibliophile or antiquary. it was situated in one of those quaint narrow back streets that lead towards the place henri quatre; and the courtyard was so small as scarcely to allow a baker's cart to turn round in it. like many of the houses in this ancient town, its crookedness was such that it seemed impossible for it to remain standing much longer. misgivings arose within him as he ascended the staircase, which seemed to sway as he avoided the broken treads. but the sight of the bedroom he was to occupy, furnished with such furniture and such a bed, all spotlessly clean and polished, sent him into the seventh heaven of delight. here he could read and write undisturbed for as long as he chose to stay. surely pleasant surprises must be in store for one in every way in such surroundings as these! it was not long before he got one. 'will monsieur require anything to be cooked for him to-night?' inquired the trim hostess. it was rather late and our bookman was disinclined to seek a restaurant. besides, he was anxious to explore his lodging before it got too dark. an omelette would be delicious, provided she could make one properly. 'eggs, perhaps, and tea, with bread and butter'--could she turn the eggs into an omelette? 'why certainly,' with a merry laugh, 'of course--_i can prepare eggs in more than sixty ways._' to say that our book-hunter started would be to put it mildly. a certain title-page instantly rose before his eyes. there was only one way in which anybody could possibly learn to cook eggs in sixty different ways, and that was by studying the 'pastissier françois.' without the slightest doubt the hostess possessed a copy, and he was at last to look upon the tiny volume that he had sought for so long. but as she seemed so proud of her achievement, could she be induced to part with the precious tome? these and many other kindred thoughts passed rapidly through his mind as he repeated slowly 'en plus de soixante façons?' she laughed again. ah yes, but she couldn't repeat them _d'abord_, she would have to _refer to her book_. he had difficulty in controlling his voice sufficiently to inquire what her book was. oh, it was just a little book which her mother had given her, a little book of _la cuisine_. could he see it? why certainly, but it could not possibly interest monsieur, it was only a common little book, and dirty. ah, as usual it would be soiled, perhaps badly, for it was evidently still in constant use; but so long as it were complete one might possibly be able to clean it. what delightful thoughts and anticipations passed through his mind as the hostess slowly descended the rickety stairs to fetch her treasure! at last he had found it, and just in the very sort of house and town where he had always expected to come across it. well, well, if you make up your mind to have a thing and search eagerly enough for it, you are bound to obtain it in the long run. then another thought entered his mind: how much should he offer her for it? probably she would not part with it unless he named a sum which she could not resist; yet if the sum were at all large she might suspect the book's value and refuse. ten francs, twenty-five, a hundred? while he was deliberating this important point she was ascending the stairs. should he turn his back to her, shut his eyes, and tell her to place the volume on the middle of the table, then suddenly turn about and gloat upon the little treasure? before he could make up his mind she came in and he got his second surprise that day. it was not as pleasant as the first, for in her hands she held a thick octavo volume bound in shiny black leather. heavens! . . . a large-paper copy? . . . no, no, impossible. . . . 'le voici, m'sieu.' our poor book-hunter's feelings almost overcame him, and he opened the dirty manuscript volume mechanically, feebly muttering 'très intéressant.' she watched him closely, and from that moment considered him slightly mad. however, the book certainly did contain sixty-two recipes for cooking eggs as well as receipts for making fancy pastry and cakes. whether it was copied out of the 'pastissier' i know not; but certain it is that the hostess had no knowledge of, nor had ever seen, that volume. there must be many book-treasures lying hid in all these ancient towns of northern france, towns also that lie far off the restless tourist's track, small country towns in which the majority of the houses are slipshod timbered relics of a bygone age. no striking or unusual feature can they offer to the curious, and so for the most part they are dismissed in brief by the guide book. yet there is many an aged building in brittany where old books do still lie hid, as our bookman knows from the library of a friend who lives in finisterre. st. brieuc, guingamp, morlaix, quimper, even brest, all these must harbour long-forgotten books. but there are other towns which no power on earth shall force our book-hunter to disclose. one there is far off the beaten track, where the houses, painted with bright colours, lean all askew, supporting each other and sometimes almost toppling across the narrow winding streets. so that, entering it, one seems to have stepped suddenly into some such fairy town as exists in the pages of grimm or hans andersen; and, half ashamed, one peers curiously at the dwellers in this goblin town, as though expecting to find that they have pointed ears and narrow elfin feet. they never seem to move about, and, sitting at almost every doorstep, watch one intently from weird nooks and crannies. hurry and bustle are here unknown, and though they will reply to you in the best of french, yet to each other the townsfolk speak a strange and uncouth tongue. once, rambling in the narrow alleys about the ancient church, our book-hunter ventured through a gothic doorway along a broad passage that was guarded by a huge and ancient iron grille and presently he found himself in a small courtyard paved with moss-grown cobbles. about it was a timbered gallery, roofed, once doubtless level, now gently and gracefully undulating so that it seemed about to fall from off the wall to which it was attached. but the walls had also subsided with the gallery, so that the whole still showed a symmetry that was pleasing to the eye. above the gallery and across the front of the building had been painted the legend hotel du lion d'or, and a dim weatherbeaten shield above the doorway still bore the trace of a rampant lion. it seemed a large building, judging by the number of its windows, far larger than its present-day custom could possibly warrant. the place was curiously still, for the noise of carts and footsteps could never penetrate into that silent court, and it must have been many years since chaise or horseman clattered across its now mossy _pavé_. the stillness was almost uncanny, forbidding, and our book-hunter hesitated to cross the courtyard lest the sound of his footsteps should disturb the slumber of the ancient building. presently a rat squealed somewhere along the gallery, and a voice called out sharply within. the spell was broken, and entering the house he called for a 'petit verre' preparatory to finding out something of the inn's history. yes, it was very old, and madame had been born in it; but now that she was left alone with jeanne it was very lonely, and there was little custom. did they have many travellers there? oh no, not for a long time, the house was not easy to find, and as the old customers died none came to fill their places. but sometimes messieurs so and so came in of an evening and took a 'petit verre,' and then the neighbours were very friendly, so it was not so bad. so the hostess prattled on, only too pleased to impart the news of her little world to a newcomer from the greater one, while all the time fantastic visions rose before him. he pictured old hide-bound trunks that had been left behind by travellers who had never returned, trunks which, opened, would prove to contain priceless black-letter books: boxes, stored in attics and cellars and in concealed presses, which would contain ancient apparel with copies of the 'pastissier' in the pockets: small travelling bags, tendered by needy scholars in lieu of payment, which he would find stuffed with rare elzeviers: rusty iron-bound chests enclosing missals, books of hours and antiphonals: in short to such heights did his imagination soar that he resolved to sojourn there till he had explored the old house from attic to cellar. then a rat squealed again, near at hand. oh yes, they were everywhere, ever since monsieur gautier rented the left wing of the house to store grain in; and they were _so_ tame and _so_ large that madame was obliged to keep miou-miou in her bedroom every night. that decided our book-hunter. enthusiasm can be carried too far. even the possibilities of a rich trover would not compensate for having rats running about one's bed at night. moreover the vermin would surely have gnawed, if not devoured, any copies of the 'pastissier' that might have been lying about, even if these were innocent of bacon-grease stains. and so consoling himself, he took another 'petit verre' and departed, casting more than one regretful glance backwards at the old lion d'or. footnotes: [ ] apparently there is only one copy of upton's work in the united states at present--that which was formerly in the huth library. it was purchased at sotheby's in july, , by a well-known new york dealer, mr. g. d. smith, for ten guineas, the writer of these lines being the underbidder. mr. smith had sent "an unlimited commission" to secure it. an announcement in _the bookman's journal_ ( ) asking for information respecting other copies elicited but one response. since writing the above, the author has secured the splendid presentation copy given by upton's editor (bysshe) to the great parliamentary leader, sir humphrey mackworth, of neath, in glamorganshire. it had remained at glen uske until the dispersal of the mackworth library in . [ ] no. . see page . [ ] possibly the title was _nigromanser_, from _niger_, black, and _manser_, a bastard. [ ] the perfect copy was purchased by mr. pierpont morgan at the sale of the hoe library, in , for £ , . it formed originally one of the twenty-two caxtons which were dispersed in with the library of dr. francis bernard, physician to king james the second, when it realised two and tenpence! it became the property of the great robert harley, earl of oxford, and was acquired later by the countess of jersey for two and a half guineas. passing thus into the osterley park collection, it was purchased, when that library was sold in , by bernard quaritch for £ , , becoming the property, the same year, of mrs. abby e. pope, of brooklyn, u.s.a. [ ] by edward more of hambledon, bucks. [ ] mr. e. g. duff. [ ] for this romantic story see _books in manuscript_, by mr. falconer madan, vo, , p. _et seq._ [ ] book-collectors always speak of _the_ farringdon road; why, i know not, but the definite article certainly gives it an old-world tang. [ ] alas for romance! truth compels me to add that as the great fire swept across this very court, the existing house must date at earliest from king charles' reign. but the site and tradition as to its former owner may well be true. [ ] _the courtier_, by baldassare castiglione, was first printed at venice in , folio. this letter was written by the fearless churchman, then of wolsey's household, on the great cardinal's 'last lingering journey north.' there is, perhaps, a certain significance in his wish to study a volume which treats of the art of living in courts, and of becoming useful and agreeable to princes, for he was shortly to transfer his services to a royal master. [ ] at the sale of baron seillière's books in , a copy of this prototype of the elzevier volume, printed at paris 'chez jean gaillard,' , brought only £ , s. it was described as 'a beautiful copy, red morocco, super extra, gilt edges, by petit.' it is exceedingly rare, but--it is not an elzevier. [ ] a recent ( ) catalogue offers a copy for thirty-five shillings. [ ] i confess that i do, but then i am hopelessly out of date, or i shouldn't be fond of elzeviers. [illustration] chapter ii the library 'unto their lodgings then his guestes he riddes: where when all drownd in deadly sleepe he findes, he to his studie goes.'--spenser. what magic there is for the book-lover in that word 'library'! does it not instantly conjure up a vision of happy solitude, a peaceful seclusion where we may lie hidden from our fellow-creatures, an absence of idle chatter to distract our thoughts, and countless books about us on either hand? no man with any pretensions to learning can possibly fail to be impressed when he enters an ancient library, older perhaps by generations than the art of printing itself. 'with awe, around these silent walks i tread, these are the lasting mansions of the dead: "the dead!" methinks a thousand tongues reply, "these are the tombs of such as cannot die!" crowned with eternal fame, they sit sublime, and laugh at all the little strife of time.' they are delicious retreats, abodes of seasoned thought and peaceful meditation, these ancient homes of books. 'i no sooner come into the library,' wrote heinz, that great literary counsellor of the elzeviers, 'than i bolt the door, excluding lust, ambition, avarice, and all such vices, whose nurse is idleness, the mother of ignorance and melancholy. in the very lap of eternity, among so many divine souls, i take my seat with so lofty a spirit and sweet content, that i pity all great men and rich to whom this happiness is unknown.' happy indeed are those days when the book-lover has been accorded the freedom of some ancient library. a delicious feeling of tranquillity pervades him as he selects some nook and settles himself to read. presently the mood takes him to explore, and he wanders about from case to case, now taking down some plump folio and glancing at the title-page and type, now counting the engravings of another and collating it in his mind, now comparing the condition of a third with the copy which he has at home, now searching through the text of some small duodecimo to see whether it contains the usual blanks or colophon. but presently he will chance upon some tome whose appeal is irresistible. so he retires with it to his nook, and is soon absorbed once more with that tranquillity which is better than great riches. dearly, however, though we may treasure the benefits and conveniences which these libraries of ancient foundation afford, for most of us there is another library that is nearer to our hearts; that cosy chamber with which we are accustomed to associate warmth, comfort, soft chairs and footrests, a wide writing-table that we may pile high with books, with scribbling-paper, foolscap and marking-slips in plenty. in short, a room so far removed from earthly cares and noise, that the dim occasional sounds of the outside world serve but to accentuate our absolute possession of ease. here we may labour undisturbed though surrounded by a thousand friends. or, if the mood take us, we may abandon ourselves to idle meditation 'where glowing embers through the room teach light to counterfeit a gloom,' and, lying back at our ease, may gaze contentedly upon the faithful companions of our crowded solitude, gathering inspiration from their silent sympathy. each to his taste. whether we be student, book-hunter, librarian, or precentor,[ ] no earthly abode can be compared with that garden of our choice wherein we labour so contentedly. it may be a small room in our own house, it may be an ancient university or college library, but it is all one: it is a library, that haven of refuge from our worldly cares, where troubles are forgotten and sorrows lightened by the gently persuasive experience of the wise men that have gone before us. but, mark you, it must be literally removed from cares and noise, for it is impossible to study at all deeply while exposed to interruption. how terribly most of us have suffered from this form of mental torture, for it is little else! what trains of lucid thought, what word-pictures have been destroyed by thoughtless breakings of the chain of sequence! 'i have never known persons who exposed themselves for years to constant interruption who did not muddle away their intellects by it at last,' wrote miss florence nightingale. hamerton, quoting her, is equally emphatic upon this point. 'if,' he writes, 'you are reading in the daytime in a house where there are women and children, or where people can fasten upon you for pottering details of business, you may be sure that you will _not_ be able to get to the end of the passage without in some way or other being rudely awakened from your dream, and suddenly brought back into the common world. the loss intellectually is greater than any one who had not suffered from it could imagine. people think that an interruption is merely the unhooking of an electric chain, and that the current will flow, when the chain is hooked on again, just as it did before. to the intellectual and imaginative student an interruption is not that; it is the destruction of a picture.' who has not suffered from the idle chatter, or even worse--the lowered voice, that often assails the ear when working in our larger public libraries? some innocent-looking individual will be reading quietly some paces away, so quietly and decorously in fact that one's heart goes out to him as a sympathetic fellow-bookman. then enters some one whom he knows. in a flash he becomes a fiend incarnate. a word or two of greeting spoken in an ordinary voice one would pardon; but a long conversation is carried on in a monotonous forced undertone, terrible in its intensity. it is impossible to read so long as the conversation lasts, and murder surges in one's heart. o for the power to drop ten atlas folios in a pile upon their heads! people do not realise the carrying power of a strained and lowered voice. generally the volume of sound is the same as when speaking aloud, for the tone is merely lowered and the same amount of breath is used. but often more force is required to vibrate the slackened vocal chords, and the maddening sound reaches to every corner of the building. in the reading room of the british museum one is constantly aware of this buzzing going on all over the room. would that the rule enforced at one of our older monasteries were applied: 'in the chafynghowys al brethren schal speke latyn or els keep silence.' this would indeed ensure quietness nowadays. the rule for nuns, however (who, presumably, were not so well acquainted with latin) would be better still. they were not to speak at all.[ ] so, if it be possible, see to it that your library, study, sanctum, or whatever you may call that one room in the house which is sacred to the daughters of mnemosyne, is really your own: that it be a close closet to which you (and you alone) may retire at all seasons, certain in the knowledge that by closing the door you may shut out effectually all earthly cares and interruptions. whether you are engaged in research merely for the gratification of your desire to possess knowledge, or whether literary production be your aim, unless you may study undisturbed your labours will never bear their full fruit. interrupted, your knowledge will be scanty, diverse, and generally inapplicable, your literary output sketchy, incoherent, and disconnected. perhaps it is this incubus of interruption that drives so many men to working late at night. doubtless those whose habit it is to work at that season produce just as good work in those hours as at any other time; possibly better, for habit may have accustomed them to put forth their finest intellectual efforts at that time of day. but the mind that has been brought up to rise at seven and go to bed at ten, is undoubtedly at its best before noon. night working is not a natural tendency, it is an acquired habit; and though the expression 'burning the midnight oil' is taken to be synonymous with the acquisition of learning, yet in the long run it is but a poor economy of time, for the wisdom so acquired is often obtained at the cost of health and eyesight. and what is freedom from interruption but another name for solitude? it may be temporary, it may be prolonged, it may be permanent, but for the intellectual man it is absolutely essential. no one would be so foolish as to deny that literary work of the highest rank can be, and has been frequently, accomplished amid the bustle and noise of cities; witness the works of those literary giants who have passed their lives as town-dwellers. doubtless they obtained the necessary solitude by spiritual detachment. but on the other hand, for intense and prolonged meditation, for the communing with one's innermost soul on the immense principles of life and nature, for the production of such deep soul-searching work as we see in the compositions of à kempis, dante, milton, and wordsworth, absolute solitude for some seasons is essential. there must be complete freedom from the daily distractions caused by one's fellow-beings. 'believe me, upon my own experience,' wrote st. bernard, 'you will find more in the woods than in books; the forests and rocks will teach you what you cannot learn of the greatest masters.' it is not necessary, however, for us to take up our abode in a cave that we may meditate undisturbed. let us rather follow wordsworth's example when he pours forth gratitude 'for my own peaceful lot and happy choice; a choice that from the passions of the world withdrew, and fixed me in a still retreat; sheltered, but not to social duties lost, secluded, but not buried; and with song cheering my days, and with industrious thought; with the ever-welcome company of books; with virtuous friendship's soul-sustaining aid, and with the blessings of domestic love.' it is sufficient if we can withdraw at will into the solitudes. the younger pliny, moralising to his friend minutius (i should like to think him the progenitor of aldo manuccio), describes the delights of seclusion at his villa on the shore of the adriatic. 'at such a season,' says he, in a retrospect of the day's work, 'one is apt to reflect _how much of my life has been lost in trifles_! at least it is a reflection that frequently comes across me at laurentum, after i have been employing myself in my studies, or even in the necessary care of the animal machine; for the body must be repaired and supported if we would preserve the mind in all its vigour. in that peaceful retreat i neither hear nor speak anything of which i have occasion to repent. i suffer none to repeat to me the whispers of malice; nor do i censure any man, unless myself, when i am dissatisfied with my compositions. there i live undisturbed by rumour, and free from the anxious solicitudes of hope or fear, conversing only with myself and my books. true and genuine life! pleasing and honourable repose! more, perhaps, to be desired than the noblest employments! thou solemn lea and solitary shore, best and most retired scene for contemplation, with how many noble thoughts have you inspired me! snatch then, my friend, as i have, the first occasion of leaving the noisy town with all its very empty pursuits, and devote your days to study, or even resign them to ease. for, as my ingenious friend attilius pleasantly said, 'it is better to do nothing than to be doing nothings!'' the great cardinal ximenes, in the zenith of his power, built with his own hands a hut in a thick unfrequented wood, where he could retire occasionally from the busy world. here he used to pass a few days, every now and then, in meditation and study. these he was wont to describe as the happiest days of his life, and declared that he would willingly exchange all his dignities for his hut in the chestnut wood. thomas aquinas, coming to visit the learned bonaventura, asked him to point out the books which he used in his studies. the monk led him into his cell and showed him a few common volumes upon his table. thomas explained that the books he wished to see were those from which the learned master drew so many wonders. thereupon bonaventura showed him a small oratory. 'there,' he said, 'are my books; that is the principal book from which i draw all that i teach and write.' to the thoughtless and those of shallow intellect solitude is inseparable from loneliness. there is, for them, something terrible in the thought of being debarred, even temporarily, from the society of their fellow-beings. 'retirement,' says disraeli, 'to the frivolous is a vast desert; to the man of genius it is the enchanted garden of armida.' and for 'man of genius' i would substitute 'man of literary pursuits.' there is a pleasant story told of a monk who lived in the monastery of st. honorat, which is situated on one of the lerine islands, off the coast of provence. possessed of a mind which, in the larger world, would indubitably have become an influence in the artistic progress of mankind, he found the sole outlet for its expression in the painting of those exquisite miniatures which are at once the delight and the despair of a more modern age. but it was not in the scriptorium nor was it in the bestiaries or the examples of his predecessors that he acquired his art. every year, in the spring and autumn, he would go alone to one of the delicious islands of hyères, where there was a small hermitage. here he would spend the weeks, not altogether in prayer and fasting, but in making friends with the birds and small animals that resorted there; studying their gestures, plumage, and colours, that he might reproduce them faithfully on the vellum of his missals and devotional books. surely he learnt more on this deserted island than was possible at that time in the richest library in france. there is another kind of solitude, however, which can afford consolation to the soul as deep and as lasting as that afforded by the woods, the hills, the moors, the islands, those 'waste and solitary places; where we taste the pleasure of believing what we see is boundless, as we wish our souls to be'-- and that is, the solitude engendered by a deep communion with books. for, if our paths lie amid the toil and turmoil of the world, and if it be impossible for us to seek seclusion amid the wastes, where else than in a library can we obtain that mental solitude so necessary for the nourishing of our literary spirit? roger ascham, sick at heart with long parting from his beloved books, writes to sir william cecil from brussels in , to beg that 'libertie to lern, and leysor to wryte,' which his beloved cambridge alone could afford him. 'i do wel perceyve,' he says, 'their is no soch quietnesse in england, nor pleasur in strange contres, as even in s. jons colledg, to kepe company with the bible, plato, aristotle, demosthenes, and tullie.' and he goes on to say, 'thus i, first by myn own natur, . . . lastly caulled by quietnesse, thought it good to couche myself in cambridge ageyn.' yet although we may seek solitude among our books, how far removed are we from being really alone! 'a man is never less alone than when he is alone,' said the noble scipio[ ]; and this is especially true of the book-lover. what bibliophile does not prefer the companionship of his books to that of all other friends? what friends so steadfast, so reliable in their friendship, so helpful in our difficulties, so apt upon all occasions, as the books which form our library? they are never elated at our mistakes, they are never 'superior' when we display ignorance. human friendships are limited; but to the number of our most intimate acquaintances in cloth, vellum, and morocco, there is no end. it is this universal sympathy afforded by our books that makes our sanctum such a delicious retreat. here we need never be bored, for we can put aside the tedious or insipid at will, and turn to whatever subject or companion our fancy indicates. we are not bound to talk with persons or on themes that have no interest for us. there is no clashing of ideas, and complete harmony reigns amid our comfort. to the man of literary tastes there are few things more depressing than the conversations of 'small-talk' which an exacting society occasionally demands. who has not suffered from their enervating effects? we are not all possessed of that mental abstraction which la fontaine succeeded in carrying with him throughout life, forming a buffer from which all idle talk rebounded. he was once asked to dinner by a 'fermier-général' to amuse the guests. thoroughly bored, la fontaine ate much and said little, and rising very early from the table said that he had to go to the academy. 'oh,' said his host, 'but you are much too early for it.' 'oh well,' replied jean, '_i shall go the longest way to it._' poor jean was really very absent-minded. he had a son whom he confided at the age of fourteen to a friend to educate. not having seen the youth for a long time, he met him one day at the house of a savant without knowing him. afterwards he happened to mention that he thought him a youth of wit and taste. some one told him that the lad was his own son. 'is he indeed,' said jean, 'well i'm very glad to hear it.' there is no end to the delightful hobbies that we may cultivate in a library. here we may go fishing or whaling, fighting battles or exploring new countries, tracing pedigrees or going on crusade, cutting our way through virgin forests or filling herbaceous borders in our mind, or we may even descend into the pyramid of cheops. our book-hunter has a friend whose hobby takes the form of tracing the parentage and posterity of men who lived long years ago. they are mostly unknown to fame, and their names are only to be found in ancient peerages and suchlike books. whether they were good or bad, religious or wicked, useful to their country or indifferent, handsome or ugly, is immaterial to him. in some cases they founded families that have endured, in others they perished with all their kindred within a century of the norman conquest. but to our genealogist they are very living people. he is intimately acquainted with the most of them, no less than with their wives and children, their fathers and grandfathers, their uncles and their aunts. as to the personal characteristics of reginald fitz-ranulf lord of bosham castle in com. ebor, or his deeds or memorable actions (if, indeed, he ever perpetrated any) this student is unable to enlighten us. but that his wife was called gunnora and that she was a daughter and co-heir of richard de tourville, he is quite positive. apparently they had two sons, fulk and waleran, but our friend is strongly of opinion that hamon fitzreginald (who had a moiety of the manor of worthleys and was co-parcener with payn fitzgeoffrey lord of buncombe) was really a son of reginald by a former wife. the memory of this eager student is little short of marvellous. he can remember not only names and marriages, but at least several of the families which owned any manor that you like to mention. he would certainly have put to the blush pierre d'hozier, the great french genealogist whose memory was so wonderful that it was said he must surely have been present at all the marriages and baptisms in christendom! the library of this genealogist is a most interesting room. many of the books necessary for his researches are of folio size and must be ready to hand; so they are ranged round the apartment at the level of one's waist. on entering the room one is struck by this belt of massive volumes, the more so when their owner takes them up casually and turns to page after page without ever troubling to refer to the index. an evening spent with him is quite exciting. he asks the book-hunter's assistance over a knotty point. several huge sheets of paper are laid upon the table, and each step in the pedigree is debated graphically. volume after volume is referred to. at the slightest hitch out come patent rolls, close rolls, fine rolls, pipe rolls, and records of almost every description. presently the room has the appearance of having been struck by a tornado. volumes are lying about everywhere, and in every conceivable position. the floor is covered with them, all the chairs are in use, three patent rolls are lying open and face downwards on the mantelpiece, there are several on the hearthrug. in fact it is now impossible to move. yet our host, accustomed to these things, in his search for a volume jumps from spot to spot with the agility of an antelope. the book-shelves are half-emptied, some of the remaining volumes have fallen down. my coffee cup lies on a pile composed of _rotuli hundredorum_, a _placita abbreviatio_, and a _testa de nevil_. but it is good fun, if exhausting, and a sovereign cure for insomnia. our book-hunter usually leaves him about one o'clock in the morning, and the genealogist is genuinely sorry when he goes. but to tell the truth our bookman is not a bit the wiser as to reginald fitzranulf! one day friend brown (for so he is called) came to see the book-hunter in great distress. he had but lately become a parent, and was still slightly excited about it. ''pon my word,' said he, 'i don't know what to do. you know how proud i am of my family, and how i hoped all along that it would be a boy so that i could give it the name that generations of my ancestors possessed. and now mary says she won't hear of it.' the bookman sympathised with him, but asked what was the proposed name. 'turchetil,' said he; 'they were all called that for generations. but of course the name wasn't brown then, le brun was the family name in the twelfth century.' 'a fine lofty name,' replied his friend, 'but wouldn't turchetil brown sound rather funny nowadays?' 'i don't see why,' said he stiffly; 'they're both good old names.' the bookman assented, though inwardly he could not but agree with mrs. brown. turchetil le brun was one thing, and turchetil brown quite another. perhaps, however, a compromise might be reached. 'is there no other ancient name in your family that would do?' he suggested. 'yes,' said the genealogist, 'there are two others, but not so good as turchetil. they are baldric and bigod . . .' truly the study of genealogy has its disadvantages. there must have been great bitterness in the brown household before its mistress obtained her own way, and even more in the heart of our poor friend as he stood at the font and heard his firstborn son irrevocably named--george. another friend and brother collector with whom our book-hunter sometimes passes an evening is a medical man of no small talent. but attached as he is to his profession, archæology is for ever striving with medicine for the first place in his affections, and his knowledge of herbals and the literature of alchemy is immense. his collection of works dealing with these subjects is well known to the booksellers, and the book-hunter sometimes receives a line from him asking him to pay a visit for the purpose of examining some recently acquired treasure. of late his hobby has taken a curious turn. a chance conversation induced him to inquire into the death of queen anne. he professed to discover, in the accounts of her demise, certain symptoms which indicated a different disease from that usually assigned to her. so now he must needs hold an inquest upon the death of each one of our sovereigns, from the time of king william the conqueror. he is exceedingly enthusiastic about it, and is preparing a paper to read before the local antiquarian society. in this he hopes to prove conclusively the impossibility of lampreys having had any share in the death of henry the first, which was clearly due to appendicitis. sometimes when the book-hunter visited his medical friend he would find another collector there already, deep in bookish or scientific talk. like the doctor, the biologist was a specialist in books no less than in science, and his hobby comprised a field till recent times untilled. keen though he was in his pursuit, it was the sea that claimed his every day of leisure. an active mind, eager in the elucidation of the more abstruse problems of physiology, yet his alert bearing, his quickness of movement and springy step, spoke more of the quarterdeck than the laboratory. denied the sea as a profession, his heart was for ever in ships; and when at length preferment took him inland to one of the ancient seats of learning, the ordered training of his mind turned his hobby towards the history and evolution of all craft that sail upon the waters. he is a great authority upon all matters pertaining to the rigging of mediæval ships. the history of their hulls he leaves to the attention of the important societies of nautical research. but on the evolution of the sky-topsail or fore-top-gallant-backstays his word carries much weight. he will travel a hundred miles in a week-end to see an illumination or carving of a ship, and his vacations he spends touring france and flanders in search of stained glass windows that may throw some light upon his hobby. his collection of seals incised with ancient ships is a fine one, and the proceedings of more than one society are the richer for his researches. not long ago i came across another example of the manifold uses to which a private library can be put. a friend had given me a letter of introduction to a collector with whom he desired me to become acquainted. i was given to understand that the fellow-spirit was an exceedingly well-read man, and something of a wanderer. 'he's a great traveller,' said my friend with a laugh, 'there's hardly a country in the world that he has not visited.' 'what an interesting man he must be,' i replied, 'but why do you laugh?' 'oh, you'll see all right presently,' said he; 'but go and spend an evening with him; you will certainly be entertained--provided you are sympathetic and content to let him do all the talking.' so a few days later i called at the house of the traveller. he welcomed me in his study, a fine large room yet possessed of that cosiness imparted by the presence of many books. the walls were entirely covered with bookcases to a height of about eight feet; and these contained, he told me, about three thousand volumes. at the end of this long room was a wide bay window, and here was placed a comfortable easy chair with twin oak tables, very strong and low, at either arm. close at hand were a revolving bookcase and a stand containing five or six japanned cylinders about three feet long, and some six inches across, such as are used to contain nautical charts. 'you are fond of travel, are you not?' i remarked, as soon as i was settled. 'jones told me that there are few countries with which you are unacquainted.' 'that is so,' he replied; 'travel has always been my passion from my youth up, and of all the volumes which you see around you, there are scarcely a hundred that do not treat of some foreign country or voyage.' 'how interesting,' i replied; 'it is a wise old dictum that there is nothing like travel to broaden one's mind. unless we acquaint ourselves with the opinions held by men of other nations, men whose everyday life differs so widely from our own, who see things consequently from a different standpoint, how can we expect to regard any subject from all its various aspects, which is essential if we are to pronounce an opinion which----' 'quite so,' he interrupted, eyeing me suspiciously, and obviously fearing from my verbiage that he was about to be beset by a bore. (to tell the truth, i was rather glad of his interruption, for the sentence was beginning to get out of hand.) 'as you say, there's nothing like travel to broaden the mind. why,' he went on hurriedly, 'before i was eighteen i had been up aconcagua with conway.' 'really?' i said, trying to associate the two with a country and a date. (of course i knew where aconcagua was--it was one of the most familiar names in my geography, only for the moment memory was a little refractory. obviously it was a mountain, because he spoke of having been 'up' it. the name had a spanish ending--of course! now i knew.) 'a wonderful country, mexico,' i went on. 'mexico?' said he; 'yes, i know mexico too. been right through it, from chihuahua to tehuentepec and campeachy.' (this was unfortunate, but apparently he didn't notice the mistake, for he went on at once.) 'but as i was saying, i'd been up aconcagua before i left school.' 'good gracious,' i replied, amazed at his intrepidity, 'that must have been an experience!' 'rather,' said he: 'haven't you read conway's book? published in ' , i think.' he strode across the room and brought back a volume. 'yes, : capital book; well worth reading. but mexico,' he continued, without giving me time to display the knowledge that i suddenly recollected as i turned the pages of the book, 'ah! there's a country for you! how i enjoyed my first visit! ever been there?' 'alas! no,' i replied; 'but one of my fondest dreams has been to visit the ancient cities of the new world.' (i thought that was rather nicely put.) 'charnay,' he said; 'you know charnay, then? it was he who took me there first. early 'eighties, i think.' he pulled out another volume and turned to the title-page. 'here we are, "the ancient cities of the new world," ' . my copy is only the translation, published two years after the original appeared.' this puzzled me rather. if he had been eighteen in , he must have been a mere babe in . 'rather young, were you not, when you were there?' i ventured. 'young? why?' he replied. 'oh, only because you said that you were eighteen when you ascended aconcagua in , so i thought that you must have been rather young when you were in mexico in .' he stood still and stared at me, a puzzled look on his face. 'good gracious,' he said, 'didn't jones tell you? didn't he explain to you about me and my travels?' 'oh yes,' i hastened to reassure him, fearful that i had given offence; 'he told me that you were a widely-travelled man; and, if you will permit me to say so, i think he understated----' 'yes, yes,' he went on, 'but didn't he tell you _how_ i travelled? didn't he tell you that i had never been out of europe? this is my world,' he continued, waving his arm round the bookcases; 'here are my americas, my africa, my asia, my europe, and my australia. there (pointing to a case by the window) is my west indies, here (indicating another one) is my polynesia, there my arctic and antarctic. here (patting the back of the big easy chair) is my steamboat, my mule, and my camel. no weather can delay me, no storm prevent my setting out. though it snow a blizzard, still can i cross the very summits of the andes: be there a year-old drought, still may i journey from sydney to port darwin overland.' i could only marvel at the man. no world-wide traveller could have been prouder or have found greater satisfaction in the contemplation of his travels. and a further conversation assured me that, assisted by a good memory, he knew more, far more, of the countries about which he had read so many books than did ninety-nine out of a hundred of the tourists who had actually visited those lands. 'don't think,' he said, 'that i merely pass my time reading promiscuously all manner of books of travel. i do nothing of the sort. at the beginning of each year i map out the countries i intend to visit during that year. so much time is allotted to each, according to the size of the country and that of its travel literature. then i compile a list of the books that i intend to read, and the order in which they should be read. i have a fine collection of maps, and those tin cylinders over there contain charts, by means of which i am enabled to follow more accurately and minutely the different journeys and voyages that i make. 'let me give you an example.' here he took a thin octavo book from one of the cases. 'this is commodore john byron's narrative of the loss of h.m.s. _wager_, one of anson's squadron, on the coast of chili, in . it was published in , and is, in my opinion, one of the most thrilling tales of shipwreck and suffering that has ever been written. i dare say you remember campbell's beautiful lines in "the pleasures of hope"; they are pencilled on the fly-leaf of my copy:-- '"and such thy strength-inspiring aid that bore the hardy byron to his native shore-- in horrid climes, where chiloe's tempests sweep tumultuous murmurs o'er the troubled deep, 'twas his to mourn misfortune's rudest shock, scourg'd by the winds, and cradled on the rock, to wake each joyless morn and search again the famish'd haunts of solitary men." 'there is no map in the volume, much less a chart, to show where the ship struck, though we are told that the land was "on the larboard beam, bearing n.w.," and that they landed "in the latitude of between and ° south." but without charts and maps how can one possibly follow the journey of the four poor sufferers along the coast on that terrible march from mount misery (as they named the inhospitable promontory where they landed) to civilisation on the island of chiloe? with my maps i can follow their every footstep, with my chart i may visit each inlet that their frail canoe entered. nor need i refer to these aids whenever i may turn to the volume again, for here (he unfolded a beautifully drawn map bound at the end of the volume) i have copied a chart which shows with a red line the whole of their terrible journey. i have done this with several of the older works on travel which i possess, books that were published without maps.' to me at least it was a new aspect of book-collecting, and an interesting one. but i confess to having been impressed more by its originality and the patient perseverance of its devotee than by the knowledge which it had enabled him to accumulate. his was a vast knowledge, yet limited; for it was confined almost entirely to the topography and early exploration of the countries which he studied, together with such sociology as he would glean midst travellers' accounts of adventures and sport. development, resources, industry, had little place in it. he was thoroughly conversant with the early history of australia, could recite the names of all the early pioneers, and could plot burke's expedition or phillip's voyage to botany bay. but of melbourne or sydney to-day, their size, commerce, exports, the principal industries or railways, of these he knew nothing. on the other hand, with those countries which have come less quickly under the hand of civilisation, such as new guinea or west africa, he was well acquainted. he had followed the history of this last down to fairly modern times, knew the story of every settlement from bathurst to the bight and to benguela, with their principal exports; and could talk interestedly with any dweller on 'the coast.' he is still comparatively a young man. if ever he sets out to see the world for himself, his pleasures will far exceed those of the ordinary tourist. wherever he may go, he will need no guide-book to instruct him, in history at least. and he will visit out-of-the-way spots unnoticed by these authorities, but dear to him by reason of their mention in the pages of his fireside mentors, their association with some thrilling though unimportant event of which he has read. harbours, villages, buildings, will be familiar to him through some old print or coloured engraving; and he will eagerly compare the actual appearance with the mental picture he has borne for so long. disappointment sometimes there will be, but a delightful anticipation always. i hope, however, that i shall never be his travelling companion! and here i cannot forbear to mention one other book-collecting acquaintance. a bosom friend of the genealogist, he was at one time a fellow-worker, and they would sit closeted for hours debating the parentage of henry ap john. but he lacked that determination which prevented his friend from being constantly side-tracked, and the minutiæ of history had a fatal attraction for him. as to whether hugo de beauchamp of _com. wigorn._ (which was their pleasant way of saying that he lived in worcestershire) held his manor by serjeanty of the _condimentum_ was of small moment to him compared with the price which king edward paid him for a couple of goshawks or a greyhound; and he wondered of what sort was the tun of wine which he had from that sovereign as a christmas present. and so his book-buying became more and more confined, for it was restricted now to those curious and uncommon works which treat of the byways of history; such as the accounts of the wardrobe and hanaper, the reports of the lords marchers of the realm, books on feudal customs and offices, and the like. during the great war our friend busied himself with his majesty's ordnance. hitherto he had always associated the term with cast-iron cannon, and had vague recollections of the number of 'ordnance' carried by the great harry or fired from the tower of london during sir thomas wyatt's insurrection. but even when these dreams were dispelled, his thoughts still harped on mediæval equipment and harness while checking cases of boots or mess-tins; and he wondered how such things were managed before the days of railways. released at length from this employ, his interest increased with leisure to pursue his investigations. his passion now is the method in which the ancient campaigns of this country were conducted. he is quite an authority upon mediæval transport, by sea as well as by land, and he can tell you at once the quantities of bowstrings and quarrels 'indented for' during the crécy and poictiers campaigns. not long ago, poring over an ancient roll of parchment in the record office, he came across a list of the ships requisitioned for the agincourt expedition, with their names, ports, and tonnage, inscribed on the back of one of the membranes. great was his delight, and it will be some time before his friends will be allowed to forget this important discovery. how valuable are these researches of our book-collecting friends! do they not add a zest to those delightful evenings when, with curtains drawn and blazing fire, our favourite pipe aglow, a tall glass at our elbow, we hunt our treasures o'er again in comfort, roaming the bookstalls of our fancy? it is well, however, that our humours in book-lore are not all alike, else how tedious would some of these conferences become. elation and jealousy would be hard to banish at times when we held some coveted volume in our hands. but with divergence of tastes such feelings cannot exist, and we eagerly share our friends' enthusiasm in their treasures and their delight in some newly-found gem. it is a very serious business, this book-collecting. whether we are contented now to let our library be slow of growth, or whether we are still imbued with the ardour of our early youth, we are none the less under the spell of books. our paths may lie outside the pale of book-land for years, but the chance handling of a valuable or scarce volume will instantly awaken all our bibliophilic desires. book-collecting is not like other pursuits. in after years we may realise that many of our hobbies are but vanities, but the love of good books is something far beyond all these ephemeral pursuits. doubtless few of us realised at the outset of our careers as book collectors how completely we should be mastered by this love of books. who did not think that it comprised but occasional visits to the book-shops and bookstalls, perhaps even to an auction-room, and the reading of nondescript catalogues? but it is like all other hobbies: ridden at first with too little restraint, it soon gets the upper hand, and off it goes, bit between teeth, carrying its rider ever farther and farther afield. and no man of spirit would think of seeking to curb his hobby's gallop. we have mounted of our own free will, determined to pursue the chase, and never shall it be said that we were too timid to face the difficulties of the country ahead. the greater the difficulties the greater the sport, and in our enthusiasm we are determined to overcome all obstacles. so that, though our hobby may at length become our master, so enthralled are we in the pursuit that there is little danger of it assuming the semblance of a nightmare. the farther we go, the wider the fields which open to our view, and there is interest for us in all of them. we roam at our pleasure over vast fields of literature, digressing here and there just as our fancy takes us. there is no danger, moreover, in being side-tracked, for such divagations in the realms of bibliography as we may make will serve but to increase our knowledge of books in the right direction. the only risk that we shall incur is that of becoming specialists, which is precisely what we should most desire. and how delightful are these digressions in the world of books! there is no other occupation in which one may wander so innocuously. in most of the learned professions digressions are fatal to success. anthony despeisses was a lawyer who used frequently to digress. beginning one day in court to talk of ethiopia, an attorney who sat behind him remarked 'heavens! he is got into ethiopia, he will never come back.' despeisses, we are told, was so abashed with the ridicule that he chose rather to leave off pleading than to correct himself of this unfortunate habit, and quitted the bar for ever. doubtless he found solace among his books, for here at least he could digress to his heart's content. although, from a worldly point of view, side-tracks are fatal to success, yet they are as necessary a part of our literary education as is the application to study itself. without digressing as we applied ourselves to books, narrow indeed would be the views that we acquired. of what value is a vast acquaintance with the material details of a war, if we are ignorant as to the causes which brought it about, or the reasons why the nations were warring? 'ah yes,' perhaps you may exclaim, 'but politics and history are all one, for the former creates the latter.' precisely: so that in order to obtain a knowledge of the one, we must deviate to the other. sharon turner in his 'history of england during the middle ages' passes abruptly from the death of king henry the second to the military spirit of mohammedanism, from the troubadours to the early dissipations of king john, and devotes two of his five volumes to the literature of england with copious examples of early poetry. it is all history, yet how indispensable are the side-tracks. it is a subtle art, however, this knowledge of how and when to digress, and not easy to be learnt. gerard de st. amand died of grief in his middle age because louis xiv. could not bear his reading of a poem on the moon, in which he praised the king for his skill in swimming. on the other hand madame de staël obtained almost all the material for her literary work by a consummate skill in directing the digressions of conversation. upon whatever subject her pen was engaged, that was the theme to which she led all talk. sir thomas browne's famous letter 'to a friend upon occasion of the death of his intimate friend' is a masterpiece of the art of digressing. surely it is one of the quaintest letters of condolence ever written, if indeed it were ever intended to be such, for it has that stamp of careful literary composition which is usually so apparent in all letters written with a view to publication. the friend in question died of a consumption, and sir thomas recapitulates his disease, symptoms and death; contrasting each feature with the celebrated examples of history; moralising and discussing the opinions of the ancients upon these points as he goes along; and showing by his own experience that a man 'after a cough of almost fifty years, in whom all the lobes adhered unto the pleura,' might yet die of stone in the bladder. doubtless the friend to whom the letter was indited was highly edified by the aged doctor's learning, yet one cannot conceive that he would be greatly consoled by being informed, when discussing the patient's cough, that 'in cetaceous fishes, who have large and strong lungs, the same is not observed; nor yet in oviparous quadrupeds.' digressing in this manner is a risky business, and if the grief were still fresh, it is more than likely that the bereaved one would exclaim 'a fig for your fishes, sir.' but sir thomas was a wise and worldly man, and would know from experience precisely when to administer his soothing draught. the attractions of digressing are far more insidious than would appear at first sight. it is so easy, one finds such delightful things, it is all in the daily task of gathering knowledge, it may be useful to us some day, and so on. but, unwisely employed, it is a more terrible thief of time even than young's 'procrastination.' worse still, it is a _waster_; for the scrappy knowledge so often acquired by this means becomes invariably the 'little learning' which is so dangerous--and useless--a thing. so that unless we are strongly imbued with the spirit of scholarly research, determined that we will not deviate one iota from the particular side-track which we are exploring, we are in grave danger of becoming lost in the maze of paths. digressions in conversation and books can be of immense value, but he must be a man of iron will who can utilise to permanent advantage his resources in this direction. constant and purposeless digressions, in reading no less than in talk, are just as injurious as interruptions. the mind is switched from one subject to another, and an entire sequence of reasoning which we may have been building up by the study of some days is destroyed in a few moments by the opening up of an unexplored tract of thought. for many years there was a learned man at work in one of our ancient abbey libraries, cataloguing the manuscripts and monastic charters of the ancient foundation. their number runs into many thousands, and at the outset the keeper[ ] realised that if this task of providing an index and précis of the entire collection (which would be of incalculable value to the historical students who came after him) were to be accomplished in his lifetime, it would be necessary to adhere rigidly to his plan. any deviation, however slight, would mean the loss of valuable time. to the historian and antiquary such a determination must have cost more than we can imagine; for every now and again he came across some charter of great historical interest. 'ah,' he would sigh, reading it through, 'and now i suppose you must go back again into the obscurity in which you have lain for eight hundred years.' he quietly made his précis, indexed the document, and replaced it in the oaken press. there, thanks to his labours, it will be turned to at some future date to add laurels to the 'researches' of another man. perhaps the most innocuous way in which we may digress is by compiling one of those delectable literary hotch-potches known as 'commonplace books.' here, with careful selection, we may garner those delightful thoughts, those gay conceits or pithy stories, that strike our fancy as we read. and though perhaps it may be urged that such collections resemble a casket of loose jewels plucked from their settings, yet they are jewels none the less. we may store all our collections within one cover, or we may preserve separately our extracts from the poets, our biographies, our meditations, or our anecdotes. the first 'commonplacer' of whom i have seen mention was one photius, a colonel in the life guards at constantinople during the ninth century, or--as he was then called--protospatharius. later he became ambassador to the court of baghdad, and amused himself by compiling a volume which he called _myriobiblon_, a collection of extracts of the authors which he had read. he was a man, we are told, of extraordinary vigour of mind, and of encyclopædical knowledge, and he was so devoted to reading that he passed whole nights without sleep. accordingly we are not surprised to find that the myriobiblon, with its latin translation, forms a folio volume of some pages. when on an embassy to assyria, he carried his library--some rolls--with him, presumably on camels. thus, we suppose, he could bestride his dramatic camel, his poetic camel, or his theological camel as the mood took him. the myriobiblon was compiled merely as a handbook for his brother tarasius, that the latter might enjoy a brief synopsis of what the ambassador read on his travels. several authors are now known only by the extracts in this book; and among them may be mentioned a writer named conon, who is said to have written fifty novels, which photius condensed to his liking. all this, of course, was merely _pour passer le temps_; the really important works of this bookworm being a lexicon and a number of books on theology. needless to say in due course he became patriarch of constantinople. who nowadays keeps a commonplace book? doubtless a good many readers of to-day have neither time nor inclination to indulge this pleasing fashion, at one time so popular; but to anyone whose delight is the reading of good books as opposed to modern novels, there can be no more interesting amusement. it can be a risky thing, however, this commonplacing, and he would be a bold man who dared to assign unto any one writer a popular phrase for no other reason than that this one has first expressed it in writing. there is no new thing under the sun, and by continued expression a familiar maxim becomes at last a proverb. ask at a dinner-table who first wrote 'god tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.' the knowing ones will puzzle their brains in silence; some lady with religious tendencies will claim it for the holy writ, inclining towards isaiah; but the quiet bookish man at the end of the table will smile in a superior way, and offer to wager that he can name the author. you may safely accept his bet, for it is a hundred pounds to a penny that he will proclaim laurence sterne to have written it--he may even quote the context. granted that sterne did write it, but sterne was a widely-read man and a plagiarist of no mean ability. so you may ask the bookish man how he doth account for this saying occurring in that quaint collection of 'outlandish proverbs' entitled 'jacula prudentum,' by master george herbert, compiled _from ancient sources_ full a hundred years before the birth of the 'sentimental journey.'[ ] sometimes in ancient literature one comes across an expression which is in the vocabulary of everybody to-day, and one realises how very ancient some of these popular aphorisms must be. 'it is not alle golde that glareth,' wrote chaucer, and the same theme was sung in provençal by amanieu des escas near a hundred years before. but, like 'a bird in the hand,' it is so applicable to the failings to which mankind is prone, that its origin must surely have been far beyond even the classics of the old world, back in the dim ages of man's history. common also to all nations must some at least of these primitive sayings be, for there is a primæval simplicity about them that knows nothing of race or civilisation. 'a soft answer turns away wrath,' 'pride goes before a fall,' 'spare the rod and spoil the child,' are not all these and many others, collected by king solomon from the wisdom of the east, as applicable to our everyday life in this age as they have ever been in the whole history of mankind?[ ] enough of moralising, however; or else, convinced of the futility of attempting to assign originality to any man, you will come to agree with the young lady of fifteen who, priding herself on the possession of a literary _flair_, once remarked to the writer: 'in fact there is little doubt that junius never wrote the letters attributed to him at all!' footnotes: [ ] usually the precentor was also archivist and librarian. [ ] in one monastery, however, they were allowed to speak 'passing soft.' we know that 'passing soft!' [ ] 'nunquam minus solus quam cum solus.' alfonso d'este (born ) had it carved on the mantelpiece of his study at belvedere. [ ] dr. e. j. l. scott of westminster abbey, sometime egerton librarian of the british museum. he calendared no less than , documents at the abbey, but alas! a long life was insufficient to enable him to complete his task. the whole working portion of his latter years was spent in the muniment room, and it was there that he was seized with the illness which ended his life the same day ( ). the work which he accomplished (now being ably continued, on the lines which he laid down, by his successor, the present custodian of the abbey) has been utilized by scholars from universities all over the world. however busily employed, he was always ready instantly to lay aside his work in order to assist a student over some difficult point, whether of history or palæography. [ ] edition of , mo, page . 'to a close shorne sheep, god gives wind by measure.' first printed in _witts recreations_, . sterne might have reflected that it is not usually the custom to shear _lambs_. since the above was written, a correspondent has brought to the writer's notice a sixteenth century french version:--_au brébis tondue, dieu donne le vent par mesure._ [ ] it is curious to note how some of these famous sayings have been wrongly assigned. a recently published _dictionary of quotations_, assigns scipio's famous dictum, 'a man is never less alone than when he is alone,' to swift--a slight error of some nineteen centuries. w. c. hazlitt in his _book-collector_ makes an even more delightful howler, tracing the well-known verse in ecclesiastes (xii. ): 'of making many books there is no end . . .' etc., 'back at least to the reign of elizabeth' (_sic_), assigning it to a preacher at paul's cross in . [illustration] chapter iii books which form the library. 'he that walketh with wise men shall be wise.'-- proverbs xiii. . it is one of the tragedies of the book-collector's life that he is made aware continually of the deficiencies of his collection. every bookseller's catalogue that he takes up reveals these lacunæ; and even after many years of diligent book-hunting, when he can look upon his library with no small pride and has come to regard it as being more or less complete (for his own purposes, that is), some intimate friend to whom he is displaying his treasures will ask to see some well-known book, and he will be obliged to confess that he does not possess a copy. the reason probably is either that he has collected books upon no definite system, or that he has lost sight of the many works which his library should contain, through having confined himself too rigidly to specialism. both practices are bad, though the former is infinitely the worse. to collect books indiscriminately tends to develop the dread bibliomania. to specialise in a particular class of books should be the object of every collector; but to adhere so rigidly to that one class of literature as to exclude from our library the great books of the world, is to deprive ourselves of all the advantages which a library can offer. 'there are some books, as homer, virgil, horace, milton, shakespeare, and scott, which every man should read who has the opportunity; should read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. to neglect the opportunity of becoming familiar with them, is deliberately to sacrifice the position in the social scale which an ordinary education enables its possessor to reach.'[ ] what a number of famous names one can add, without which no library worthy the name can be complete! we are not all such sages as that great man philip melanchthon, whose library is said to have consisted of four authors only, namely, plato, pliny, plutarch, and ptolemy the geographer. but then, these are whole libraries in themselves. who, beside ourselves, shall decide what we shall read? 'a man's reading, to be of any value,' wrote professor blackie, 'must depend upon his power of association; and that again depends upon his tendencies, his capacities, his surroundings, and his opportunities.' but there are some authors whom the world has decided are great, whom we cannot possibly afford to neglect in the course of our literary education. there can be no doubt as to our decision here; and although it has been said truly that 'a lifetime will hardly suffice to know, as they ought to be known, these great masterpieces of man's genius,'[ ] yet these great classics should form the nucleus of our library, and to them we may add the other famous and approved books of the world as opportunities occur. it is not without diffidence that i venture to approach this important question as to what we should read. perhaps there is nothing more irritating to the real book-lover than to be told, usually by some well-meaning person, that he or she should read this or that. in nine cases out of ten the book or author recommended is one that we can safely afford to neglect. it is one of the commonest of human failings to imagine that a book which pleases us must necessarily please all others too, and we recommend it blindly to the first friend we come across, regardless of age, disposition, intellectual capacity, opportunity, surroundings, or even sex. it never even occurs to us to consider these matters, these vital qualities upon which the whole question of like or dislike depends. 'to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven'; and again, 'a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment,' wrote the preacher of judah. yet mindful though we be of these ancient words of wisdom, how rarely do we apply them to our everyday reading! if we be in the mood for reading we pick up any book at random; if it please us at the moment, we continue to read it. if it be distasteful to us, we put it aside immediately. possibly we recollect, next time that our eyes light upon a volume so discarded, that it was once displeasing, and we never take it up again. so, it may be urged, our mind exercises the power of selection for us: we can only absorb at any given time the class of literary food for which our mind then happens to be hungry. but the truth is far otherwise. if we take up and read a book at random, in nine cases out of ten we continue to read it simply because it entails no mental effort. we do not have to think of what we are reading; our eyes gallop over sentence after sentence, and so long as the language is colloquial and the facts are bald, all is well, and we can go on and on. it is not only the body that, unchecked, is inclined to be slothful. unless we have as complete a control over our minds as we have over our limbs, it is quite impossible that our reading shall benefit us to its full extent. there is another point of view also. 'every book that we take up without a purpose is an opportunity lost of taking up a book with a purpose.'[ ] and this does not mean that we should always be reading 'improving' books, that we must never read for recreation alone; for, i repeat, 'there is a time to every purpose under heaven.' but it does insist most emphatically that there should be a rhyme and a reason for reading any book at any time. there is a time for work and a time for play in reading no less than in the daily cycle of our lives. as to what shall constitute recreative reading, that is a matter which every man must decide for himself. i will venture to prophesy, however, that, by judicious selection and thoughtful reading, there will come a time when he will consider the reading of the great books to constitute the finest mental recreation in the world. to return, however, to the great writers, those giants of whom we have said that it behoves us all to know something at least. must we read them all? let us leave 'must' out of the question; for our lifetime, however long it may be, will be scarcely sufficient to know and appreciate to the full these great masters of human thought. yet at least it can be our aim ever to feed our minds only upon food of the finest quality and of a permanent nutritive value. but alas! how terribly limited are our capacities both as regards time and opportunity! how narrow the bounds which confine our reading abilities! though a list of the great writers contain all the constituents of an epicurean feast, yet to most of us it resembles the menu of a gargantuan banquet. as to the classics of the old world, surely, it may be urged, in such an essentially practical age we can afford to neglect books so hopelessly out of date? yet there can be no greater mistake than to imagine that the wisdom of the old world can ever be out of date, for it is the wisdom that has created the civilisation of the newer world. countless generations of men may pass away and be utterly forgotten, but the principles of morality inherent in man's nature will endure for ever. and it is these great principles of all that is good and noble in our nature that is brought out and developed insensibly by the study of the classics in our youth. moreover they are books that have been accepted by all the nations of europe as containing the bases of human thought. something at least we should all know of these great writers common to all civilised nations. to most of us, however, there is an insurmountable barrier surrounding them, the matter of language. the knowledge of greek and latin that we acquired at school has become painfully rusty. is it worth while slogging away laboriously with grammar and dictionary at the expense of valuable time which might otherwise be devoted to the more modern classics in our own tongue? candidly, it is not. if we have retained sufficient of our greek and latin to read it at sight with but an occasional reference to the dictionary well and good; but otherwise it is a painful waste of time. hamerton recommends that we read the ancients with the help of literal translations beside the original, in which way, he says, we 'may attain a closer acquaintance with ancient literature than would be possible by translation alone.' but to many, an english version must be the only door by which they may enter attica and rome. after all, it is for each one of us to decide how widely our time and opportunities shall permit us to wander on the slopes of mount parnassus. 'the best time-savers are the love of soundness in all we learn to do, and a cheerful acceptance of inevitable limitations.'[ ] yet it is better to have wandered on the lowermost slopes of the mountain than never to have entered ancient greece at all. who nowadays, outside the universities, reads these ancient classics? where will you find a business man of thirty years of age whose delight in his leisure time is the reading of horace or homer? here and there, perhaps, you may come across a man of classical education who still retains the love of ancient greece and rome, instilled into him in his youth, sufficiently to influence the course of his reading; but he is a rarity indeed. among the many thousands of young men employed in business in the great cities, most of whom have learnt something at least of the classics in their youth, scarcely will you find one who will confess to having time for such literature. yet all these thousands read many books each year, and can always find time to devour the latest popular novel. it is chiefly a question of recreation _versus_ education. tired and jaded with the day's business, the young man of to-day has little inclination to devote his leisure time to study. light frothy literature removes his thoughts from worldly cares, and by a complete change of subject stimulates a mind that has been enervated by concentration for hours on one particular theme. no effort is required, and, more important still, _it does not make one think_. for daily reading in the train or over meals, with this purpose always in view, so far so good. but what of the many hours of leisure in every man's life, when no mental recreation is needed? what does the average man read then? it must be confessed that in nine cases out of ten his literature remains precisely the same. doubtless the reason is simply because, having always been accustomed to reading the same kind of books, he knows no other sort. mention shakespeare, milton, shelley, and he stares at you aghast. 'good gracious,' he exclaims, 'i'm not going to read stuff like that; i should get the hump for a week; give me something cheerful.' and he picks up 'the bauble,' by mrs. risquet trashe. and he is quite right. to anyone whose literature has consisted for years of nothing but novels of the circulating library type, a sudden application to the great writers would indeed be depressing. is it necessary, however, or indeed wise, that any man's mental pabulum should consist entirely of novels? nothing is further from my mind than to decry the taste for novel-reading; for, wisely employed, novels can become one of the joys of life. one can but agree with miss austen when she inveighs, in 'northanger abbey,' against those who belittle the productions of the novelist. but would she have been so emphatic had she lived to witness the printing-presses spouting forth that frothy flood which effervesces round the more serious writings of to-day? would that every novel we take up had the delightful 'genius, wit, and taste' of jane austen to recommend it. how few and far between are the really good novels that we read! there can be no finer recreation for a tired mind than a good novel. there is, however, one habit of reading which has become almost a social evil; and that is the habit of reading newspapers which many indulge in, morning, noon, and night. it is difficult to imagine anything more calculated to destroy consecutive and considered thought than the enormous variety of inconsequential topics that assails one every time one opens a newspaper. the mind becomes completely fuddled with the heterogeneous patchwork of entirely useless information. the only method i have discovered by which one can acquire the important news and yet retain the serenity of one's mind is that of having such news only as she knows will be of use read out by one's wife at breakfast. and this does not mean that the mental discomforts of the newspaper are relegated to one's better-half, for women are usually interested in the smaller details of everyday life. no wonder that a large number of 'city men' live out their lives without ever opening a book that is worth reading meditatively; for newspaper-reading in course of time must completely undermine one's mental stability. after a few years, a book that is not composed of headlines, short chapters, small paragraphs and ejaculatory sentences, is unreadable without mental effort. so that long before he is middle-aged the city man has acquired the habit of 'glancing at' a news-sheet or magazine whenever he has nothing to do for a few minutes: a kind of reading that is about as advantageous to the mind as that which we indulge in when fingering the antique periodicals in the dentist's waiting-room. in later years he may or he may not overcome the repugnance he has acquired to anything deep or 'solid' (by which he generally means 'unparagraphed'): but i venture to think that, having once taken the plunge, there must be moments when he marvels at his foolishness in not having entered, years before, the city of the golden streets. perhaps it is unwise to use the word 'education' in speaking of the benefits to be derived from reading the great books, for to many people the term is synonymous with 'school,' where one is obliged frequently to do things against one's will. good books, that is the books that 'live,' are no mere education, they are steps up the path of civilisation itself. they are just as necessary for the advancement of knowledge as are the letters and numerals which we learnt at school. the greatest books of the world do _not_ teach us; _they help us to teach ourselves_, a very different matter. 'they are masters who instruct us without rod or ferule,' wrote an early book-lover[ ]; 'if you approach them they are not asleep; if you inquire of them they do not withdraw themselves; they never chide when you make mistakes; they never laugh if you are ignorant.' and the books which would be available to him would be chiefly the works of the early fathers, professedly books of moral instruction. but the books of our library 'are so many faithful and serviceable friends, gently teaching us everything through their persuasive and wise experience.'[ ] and that is precisely the point. good books do not instruct us so much as they persuade us; so that we come to be of the same mind as the great man who had deliberated and debated the matter so thoroughly for us. perchance we disagree and take a different standpoint. then can one almost see the spirit of the sage chuckling with delight at having found someone with whom to cross swords. '_i have made him think, i have made him think_,' he repeats gleefully; and, sure of his point, he delights in having held our attention so intently as to cause us to debate the issue with ourselves. it were foolish, however, to suppose that _all_ the great books of the world are at once suitable to every reader. time, above all other considerations, decides what we shall read; and the book which makes its greatest impression upon one man at thirty will fail to appeal to his neighbour till he be fifty or more. 'a man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age,' says benedick, and the converse is equally true. what a mistaken notion it is that puts into the hands of boys such classics as 'the pilgrim's progress' and 'don quixote'; for they are books which a knowledge of the world and of human nature alone can enable us to appreciate to the full. their very foundations are built upon the rock of experience, every page exhibits the thoughts and deeds of men. no wonder that nine boys out of ten grow up with a dislike of bunyan and all his works, and a contempt for the adventures of the immortal don. generally, however, all recollection of quixote, except that he had a rotten old horse and charged some windmills, has (mercifully) disappeared long before the reader has attained his eighteenth year. in later life, perhaps, we take up these books again, and are surprised to find that they have completely changed. there is hardly an incident in them that we remember, and we marvel how such and such a glorious passage could possibly have escaped us before. our book-hunter's experience must have been that of many others. long after his school-days were ended he took up, for the first time, 'the adventures of tom sawyer.' how wistfully he thought of the enjoyment that would have been his when at school, had but some kind chance put into his hands this and similar books in which boys, and real human boys, played the principal parts, not strange outlandish men, the like of whom he had never met. this unwise reading, this plunging, as it were, _in medias res_, is, i am inclined to think, the reason why to so many men the library of great authors is for ever locked. after a lengthy course of 'light' reading, they take up, all at once, some such work as 'bacon's essays' or the 'paradise lost,' determined 'to give the classics a chance.' they wade conscientiously through a good many pages, and then retire beaten, simply because they have failed to recognise that in reading, as in every other business, profession, craft, or pursuit, practice makes perfect. who is there, outside olympus, that can master any of these at sight? it is only by a continuous and continual course of reading that one comes at length to appreciate these great masters. 'the proper appreciation of the great books of the world is the reward of lifelong study. you must work up to them, and unconsciously you will become trained to find great qualities in what the world has decided is great.'[ ] 'that's all very well,' says the newspaper-reader, taking the word 'study' in its first dictionary sense; 'but i, for one, haven't got time--or inclination--for this lifelong application.' and yet, i reply, you have both time and inclination to apply yourself assiduously to newspapers, magazines, and suchlike reading. if you read at all, why not read good healthy stuff, which will be of permanent use to you in your journey through the world? why devour garbage when rich meats are constantly about you? 'to stuff our minds with what is simply trivial, simply curious, or that which at best has but a low nutritive power, this is to close our minds to what is solid and enlarging and spiritually sustaining.'[ ] look at it which way you will, the man who purposely neglects the great books deliberately closes the channels of knowledge flowing to his brain, sentences himself to intellectual exile, bolts and bars in his own face the only door which can lead him into the society of the wisest and greatest men this world has known. and what are the great books of the world? they are those which, from their native excellences, have been approved by generations of wise men as beneficial _for mankind_--not for their generation alone. times change and manners with them, but countless centuries are powerless to effect the slightest change in man's essence. do not the characters in the oldest book in the world still live in our everyday life, and are not they possessed of the very thoughts and reasonings that are our portion to-day? tastes may change vastly in even a short period, but it is only fashion, the constant craving for something new:-- 'manners with fortunes, humours turn with climes, tenets with books, and principles with times.' but the books which by common consent have been assigned places in the library of the immortals can never be out of fashion: for they contain the essences of human nature. how then shall we start to make acquaintance with these classics? with what books shall we begin, with what continue? these are questions which it is impossible to answer without a knowledge of those qualities so necessary in recommending books. but at least it is possible to indicate the general line to be followed. it would be foolish, for example, for the man whose reading hitherto has consisted entirely of the modern novels of a circulating library, to turn at once to the paradise lost, bacon's essays, or the poems of wordsworth. he would probably acquire a distaste for good literature which might never be overcome. it is like everything else that counts: we set the greatest store by those things that we have come by through difficulties. the longer the journey and the more beautiful the scenes we pass through, the greater our pleasure and subsequent recollection of it. let us begin our systematic reading by turning at first to those books which we shall appreciate immediately. have novels been our reading hitherto? then let us turn at once to some of the greater novelists, both living and dead. here the field is wide, and we may quickly find writers to our taste. thus we shall gradually work up to some name or names in the list of the immortals. in the same way we shall approach, step by step, the essayists, the moralists, the dramatists and (lastly) the poets. it cannot be emphasised too strongly that time above all other considerations decides what we shall read. moreover, there are passages in many of the greatest writers that appeal to a man before he has really arrived at the time of their understanding. so that, reading some such passage (_e.g._ addison's description of the widows' club in the 'spectator') as this, and finding the remainder not to his taste, he concludes that he has discovered the kernel and that the rest can be cast aside. practice alone makes perfect: _macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra_. with regard to editions, it were needless to specify them; the great books of the world are reprinted and re-edited every few years. but our editions should be _good_ ones. 'a good edition should be a complete edition, ungarbled and unabridged.'[ ] perchance you may prefer to have them, if it be possible, in the original editions? if so, you will be wise in your generation, but your purse will need to be a long one indeed. remember that the first edition is not necessarily the best. it may be, but in the great majority of cases it is not. in addition to the inevitable clerical mistakes and printer's errors which are almost always corrected in the second and subsequent editions, the author or editor frequently interpolates matter which the publication _de ipso_ has brought to his notice by reviews or correspondence. this is notably the case in large and important works. 'scott's last expedition,' published in two large octavo volumes in , rapidly passed through five editions the same year, corrections being incorporated in each successive edition (thereby distinguishing them from mere 'impressions'); so that the fifth edition remains the best, being the most correct. on the other hand, in the second edition an author sometimes omits passages or makes drastic emendations from prudential reasons. then it is that the first edition is to be sought for in preference to all others, for this alone contains the author's true opinions on certain subjects. such instances the book-lover gradually learns in his journey through the world of books. but i repeat that, apart from this question of first or later issue, our editions should be good ones. good editions are not merely luxuries. the better the type and paper, the greater our ease in reading, and--most important of all--the consequent safeguarding of our eyesight. it is not only type and paper, however, that constitute a good edition. in addition to these requisites it must contain the recognised text complete, it must be in a seemly and convenient shape, neither extravagant nor blatant, and it must not contain a long list of errata. of the many qualities that go to make up a good edition, after paper and print, these are perhaps the most important. but there is another immediate consideration: _shall it have notes?_ and this raises such a momentous point that i almost hesitate to approach it. the answer must be qualified. provided always that the edition has been superintended (i use the word advisedly) by a _recognised_ scholar, and that the notes are few, short, and concise, it is well. but who has not suffered under the tedious and tiresome verbosity of editors? the writer possesses an edition of pope in which page after page contains two lines of the poet and thirty-four lines of editor. reed's shakespeare ( ) frequently contains a solitary line of text with forty of notes. fortunately, however, such things are now numbered with the past. as to our editions of the greek and latin classics, whether we can read them in the original tongue or whether we must have recourse to translations, we have already debated. but without wishing to discourage the book-lover in any possible way from making (or renewing, as the case may be) acquaintance with these great writers, it must be borne in mind that few indeed are the translations from any language that are wholly in the spirit of the original. in recommending the following translations of some of the greater world-classics, literary and animate qualities have been had in view no less than scholarly translation. aeschylus and sophocles have been admirably rendered in english verse by mr. e. d. a. morshead. of the first, 'the house of atreus' (being the 'agamemnon,' 'libation-bearers,' and 'furies') was first published by him in , an octavo volume which was reprinted in and . 'the suppliant maidens,' 'the persians,' 'the seven against thebes,' and 'prometheus bound' were collected in one octavo volume in . his version of sophocles' 'oedipus the king' was published in , while the 'ajax' and 'electra' were printed in prose, . the plays of aristophanes are, perhaps, best known to english readers by hookham frere's excellent translations. his first volume, containing the 'acharnians,' the 'knights,' and the 'birds,' was originally printed at malta in , in which year a similar quarto volume containing the 'frogs' was also issued. but there are several later editions of both these volumes, and almost any bookseller can provide one. in addition to these plays, the 'clouds' and the 'wasps' were included in thomas mitchell's version first published in two octavo volumes dated and . but we may have a complete set of the eleven plays which have come down to us, in mr. b. b. rogers' scholarly translation in verse. this beautiful edition in eleven small quarto volumes was published by messrs. george bell and sons between and , and has the greek and english on opposite pages. for the plays of euripides we must turn to the metrical versions of professor gilbert murray, published by mr. george allen between and . perhaps it is not too much to say that this great scholar-poet has done more than any other to bring the greeks of old before those to whom a classical education has been denied. needless to say, the translation into english of the immortal homeric cycle has tempted many pens. among the best known versions are those of pope, chapman, and cowper. but this matter has been so thoroughly debated by mr. frederic harrison in his delightful volume 'the choice of books,' that i will refrain from poaching upon his preserve, and will content myself by remarking that the recommendations of this excellent judge are the 'iliad' of lord derby and the 'odyssey' of philip worsley. this last is a beautiful translation in the spenserian stanza, of which a second edition appeared in , in two octavo volumes. but if you are not already acquainted with mr. harrison's work you will do well to obtain it, and to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest all that he has to say therein upon 'the poets of the old world.' with regard to the latin classics, if we are unacquainted with the language there is greater difficulty; for it is next to impossible to render in english the light and vivacious lilt of the italian poets. our translations may be fine, scholarly, dignified and the rest of it, but they bear little semblance to the originals. dryden's version of the 'aeneid' may be read, not as a translation but as an epic in the english of a great poet; and to those who are masters of sufficient latin to explore the ancients by the help of commentaries, conington's translation will be of assistance. horace is utterly untranslatable, and prose translations afford little clue to the music of his songs. perhaps it goes without saying that in reading these ancient classics we shall necessarily lose much of their sentiment and allusion unless our memory has retained that atmosphere of classic times which we obtained by constant intercourse with these ancients during our years at school. we may refresh our memory, however, and at the same time glean the most modern thought upon those times, by having recourse to certain useful volumes, companions to our study of these classic writers. j. a. st. john's 'manners and customs of ancient greece,' three octavo volumes which appeared in , is a perfect encyclopædia in itself. of mr. leonard whibley's 'companion to greek studies' a third edition, with more than illustrations and maps, was published by the cambridge university press in . the fellow volume is by sir j. e. sandys, and is entitled 'a companion to latin studies.' the second edition, very fully illustrated, appeared in --a large octavo also published at a guinea by the same press. professor mahaffy's 'social life in greece from homer to menander' has gone through a number of editions. for the theatre of the greeks we must turn to 'the attic theatre' by a. e. haigh. the third edition, edited by mr. a. w. pickard-cambridge, was issued by the clarendon press, . it is the standard work upon this subject; and therein one can find all about everything pertaining to the greek theatre and the actual presentation of the play. a useful little guide to the study of ancient greece and italy is dr. j. b. mayer's 'guide to the choice of classical books,' a small octavo of which a third edition appeared in . in a 'new supplement' was published, and this contains fifty pages of 'helps to the study of ancient authors'--the best books which had appeared up to on the art, coins, law, history, philosophy, religion, science, domestic life, amusements, and almost every aspect of life in ancient rome and athens. copies of this invaluable reference book are probably in most of the public libraries throughout the kingdom. with regard to some of the other great world-classics, boccaccio has been attempted by many translators, none of whom can be said to have succeeded, and i forbear to recommend any english version. he is straightforward and not difficult to read in the original, and it is well worth learning sufficient italian to enable one to explore his rich charm for oneself. as to calderon, eight of his plays have been rendered in english by that prince of translators edward fitzgerald, though his version is not, nor did he pretend it to be, a close translation. yet it is more in the spirit of the dramatist than one would deem possible in an english version of a spanish author. six of these plays were first published by fitzgerald in , and this volume was reprinted in the series known as 'the king's classics' in . the complete set of eight may be obtained in one small octavo volume, in the beautiful 'eversley' series published by macmillan. but you may read seventeen of calderon's plays, in the french of damas hinard, in the 'chef d'oeuvre du théâtre espagnol,' - , which also includes the works of lope de vega: in all five small octavo volumes--if you are so lucky as to find them. with regard to don quixote, as a boy our book-hunter made more than one attempt to explore 'the ingenious gentleman' but always gave it up after proceeding less than half-way through the first volume. it was all so dry and outlandish, and the version he possessed was written in such stilted language. there were no notes to his edition, and whole passages and allusions were beyond his comprehension. looking back now i more than suspect that they were beyond the comprehension of the translator as well. 'rocinante,' spelt 'rosinante,' he thought was rather a pretty name for the don's charger; but he saw no humour in it until he discovered, many years later, that _rocin_ means a 'cart-horse' and _ante_, 'previously.' nor could he see anything amusing in the landlord's boast that he too had been a knight-errant in his time, roaming the isles of riaran in quest of adventures--until he learnt that this was a city slum, the resort of thieves and cut-throats. the whole work abounds with local and topical allusions, and it is essential that our edition be well supplied with notes. there is one which fulfils this condition and in addition provides a most scholarly text, more closely approaching the original than any other which has appeared hitherto. this is the masterly translation of john ormsby, which appeared in four octavo volumes in . it contains a valuable history of the work, together with a life of cervantes, and the appendices to the last volume contain a bibliography of the immortal book. dante must be read in the original tongue. there is a lofty and spiritual grandeur in the language of the three great epics which one can never hope to realise in reading translations, be they never so good. nevertheless those versions which are most in favour among students are of considerable value as commentaries, and are of great assistance in reading the original. one cannot do better at the outset of one's acquaintance with the great poet than to procure dr. j. a. carlyle's excellent version of the 'inferno.' a third edition was published in . it has explanatory notes and a prose translation, in measured, dignified language, above the text of the original; forming in all respects a handy and convenient volume. dr. a. j. butler's versions of the 'purgatory' and 'paradise' were issued, in octavo, in and respectively. aids to the study of dante are legion. the fourth edition of professor j. addington symond's 'introduction to the study of dante' appeared in ; whilst lord vernon's 'readings in dante,' six octavo volumes, is said to have occupied that great scholar for more than twenty-five years of his life. goethe is known to english readers chiefly by the immortal _faust_; and this work alone has engaged the attention of numerous scholars. a volume containing seven of goethe's plays in english was published in bohn's standard library in . it included sir walter scott's version of 'goetz von berlichingen,' the remainder being translated by miss swanwick and e. a. bowring. miss swanwick's 'faust' is well known and has often been reprinted; a beautiful edition illustrated by mr. gilbert james appeared in . there is a version, however, which stands far above the rest, a version which the writer for his part has always considered to rank with the greatest translations. this is the 'faust' of bayard taylor, which indeed may be read as a poem in itself. but then taylor had advantages possessed by few translators. an american by birth, his mother was a german, and he spent a part of his life in germany. from his birth he was bilinguous; and added to this linguistic advantage were his profound scholarship and poetic gift. there are numerous editions of his work, but only one--so far as i am aware, in this country at least--worthy of its great merit, namely, that which appeared in two octavo volumes in . it is an edition somewhat hard to obtain. for schiller's dramatic works we must have recourse to coleridge, who has given us versions of both parts of the 'wallenstein' and 'william tell.' the poems and ballads were rendered in english by sir e. bulwer lytton (lord lytton): two volumes, . heine's short four-line verses do not lend themselves to translating and though many have attempted it, the results are almost always a jingle, often approaching doggerel. the prose works have recently been translated by mr. c. g. leland, and the 'atta troll' by miss armour, both forming part of a twelve volume edition published between and . the mention of rabelais conjures up one of those extremely rare instances where a translation constitutes as great a classic as the original work. whether it was the difficulty of translation, or the despair of eclipsing so notable a success as had been achieved by their predecessor, that deterred other scholars from making the attempt, we know not; but certain it is that the version put forth by sir thomas urquhart in has remained, and seems likely to remain, the standard representation of the fantastic 'doctor in physick' in this language. urquhart, that polished and gifted scottish d'artagnan, translated the first three books only; the last two were added by motteux, a french refugee, in . urquhart's work, 'precise, elegant, and very faithful,' comes as near perfection as any translation can hope to be. motteux's rendering was revised by ozell; but unfortunately it falls far short of the version of sir thomas, who, with a longer life, might perhaps have undertaken these last two books as well. of these five books of master francis rabelais thus english'd, there have been, of course, numerous editions. our book-hunter prefers that which appeared in three quarto volumes in , with photogravure illustrations by m. louis chalon. both from a scholarly and a bibliographical standpoint it is all that can be desired, and one can have a copy for less than a pound. why is it that we all have some acquaintance at least with the arabian nights? what have these purely eastern tales to do with us? both questions may be answered at once. it is because they contain the very essence of oriental thought, manners, customs, habits, speech, and deeds: because we can learn from them more of the everyday life of the orient, both of to-day and of a thousand years ago, than an entire library of travels can teach us. surely it is more than mere curiosity that urges us to know something at least of the manner in which so many millions of our fellow-beings live. who has not read at least some of these glorious tales? who has not heard of sinbad or the roc, of scheherazade or of haroun al raschid? truly they are 'the tales that charm away the wakeful night in araby, romances'; wordsworth himself came early under their spell. he tells how as a young child 'a precious treasure had i long possessed, a little yellow, canvas-covered book, a slender abstract of the arabian tales; and, from companions in a new abode, when first i learnt that this dear prize of mine was but a block hewn from a mighty quarry-- that there were four large volumes, laden all with kindred matter, 'twas to me, in truth, a promise scarcely earthly.' and so he makes a covenant 'with one not richer than myself' that each should save up until their joint savings were sufficient to purchase the complete work. but alas! 'through several months, in spite of all temptation, we preserved religiously that vow; but firmness failed, nor were we ever masters of our wish.' there must be few books in the world from which we may learn so much while being so rapturously entertained. burton's edition is perhaps the best known to english readers, though lane's version is much to be preferred. of the latter there are many editions.[ ] how much has been written on the art of reading, and what scanty knowledge of that art have the most industrious of readers! outside the universities, reading is apt nowadays to be looked upon as a light form of recreation, generally to be indulged in on a rainy day. 'there's nothing to do but sit indoors and read,' one frequently hears remarked in country houses when the weather is too inclement to permit of motoring. novel-reading has indeed become a part of our fashionable life. how often, too, does one come across readers of both sexes who possess, seemingly, a wide knowledge of books, even of the great books of the world. yet in nine cases out of ten such knowledge is of the most superficial kind, acquired by 'dipping into' such and such an author to ascertain whether he be to his or her taste. frankly, the great author is almost invariably _not_ to the modern reader's taste; but the scanty knowledge acquired by perusing the first chapter, the headings of the remaining chapters, and the last chapter, enables the reader (save the mark!) to discourse at large on this particular writer among his own _coterie_. perchance one of his friends has similarly insulted the great author, and they are enabled to discuss the book for nearly a minute by the clock, each thinking the other a devilish well-read fellow. truly it has been said that 'just as profligacy is easy within the strict limits of the law, a boundless knowledge of books may be found with a narrow education.'[ ] more rarely one comes across a man who, being the fortunate possessor of a truly wonderful memory, is enabled to retain the bulk of the information which he has acquired by wide reading. there is a story told of a certain don at one of our older universities who, being possessed of an insatiable thirst for knowledge coupled with an excellent memory and an inexhaustible capacity for work, passed as a well-read if not a very learned man. there seemed to be few topics upon which he could not discourse on equal terms even with those who had made that subject their own. now it happened that there were two young fellows at the same college who, wearied of his constant superiority in conversation, determined to take brown (for such was his name) 'down a peg or two.' so each night at dinner in hall they skilfully turned the conversation to unusual topics, hoping to light upon some chink in the redoubtable brown's intellectual armour. once they tried him on the rarer british hemipterous homoptera, but soon discovered that he was a very fair entomologist. next evening the conversation veered to ancient scandinavian burial rites, but here again he could give them points. the byzantine coinage of cyprus was, of course, well known to him while he had himself worked on the oolitic foraminifera of the blue marl at biarritz. his experiments on the red colouring matter of _drosera rotundifolia_ had formed the subject of a monograph, and he was particularly interested in the hagiological folk-lore of lower brittany. it seemed almost hopeless. try as they would they could find no subject with which he was unacquainted. every night some fresh outlandish topic was introduced. brown looked very bored, and proceeded to tell them all there was to be said upon the subject. but one night a casual remark put them on the right track. someone happened to ask brown a question about indian music. he answered shortly, and remarked that it was a subject upon which a good deal of work was yet to be done. the conspirators looked across the table at each other, left the common-room early, and retired to jones's rooms. 'did you notice?' said jones. 'yes,' said smith; 'he evidently doesn't know much about oriental music.' 'but he will by to-morrow,' replied the astute jones. 'as soon as ever he gets to his rooms to-night, he'll read up everything he possibly can on indian music, and he'll continue in the library to-morrow. by dinner-time he'll be stuffed full of tom-toms and shawms and dulcimers, or whatever they play in india.' 'we must ride him off,' said smith. 'how about chinese music? he won't know anything about that.' this seemed such a promising topic that they got out the encyclopædia and found to their joy that there was quite a lengthy and learned disquisition on the subject. so they read it again and again, even learning the more abstruse sentences by heart. next day they were observed to chuckle whenever they caught each other's eye, and at lunch they were unusually cheerful and more than ordinarily attentive to the unsuspecting brown. that night at dinner they could hardly restrain their impatience, and smith introduced the topic, rather clumsily, as soon as the fish appeared. brown stared at them and said nothing. jones, plucking up courage, presently asked him a question about the dominant fifth of the scale used by the natives of quang-tung. he answered evasively. they could hardly conceal their delight, and their voices rose so that presently the whole table was looking at them. at some of their recondite utterances brown fairly winced, and it soon became evident to all what was afoot. upstairs in the common-room they pursued their unhappy victim. the senior tutor and the dean, secretly enjoying the fun, stood near. at last, flushed with victory, jones proceeded to administer the _coup de grâce_. 'you really ought to read something about chinese music, brown, it's a most interesting topic, and i'm sure you'd like to be able to talk about it. there are quite a number of good books on the subject. for a start you couldn't do better than study the article in the "encyclopædia academica." it's clear and concise, evidently written by a man who knows what he's talking about.' 'i _have_ read it,' said brown patiently; 'in fact i--er--_wrote_ it, _but i'm afraid it's quite out of date now_.' * * * * * we are not all the lucky possessors of such a capacity for acquiring knowledge. wide reading may be good from an educational point of view, but unless we are able to assimilate what we read better a thousand times to restrict our reading. gibbon's advice is bad, for it indicates merely the system he employed in compiling his monumental work. 'we ought not,' he remarks, 'to attend to the order of our books so much as (to the order) of our thoughts.' so, in the midst of homer he would skip to longinus; a passage in longinus would send him to pliny, and so on. general reading upon this plan, with no idea of collection in view, would in time reduce most of us to idiocy. let our reading be, above all things, well ordered and systematic. let us imitate ancillon rather than gibbon. ancillon never read a book throughout without reading in his progress many others of an exegetic nature; so that 'his library table was always covered with a number of books for the most part open.'[ ] an excellent habit, provided that we can resist the temptation to be side-tracked. the list of books by this industrious student, however, shows by their curious variety that he at least was not sufficiently strong-minded to resist wandering, during the compilation of his historical works, in the byways of literature. if we read the good solid books at all, let us at least read them with the aim of acquiring the maximum amount of information they afford. to read sketchily and diversely is not only a most painful waste of time, but it abuses our brains. suppose now that our bookman has decided to 'read up' the french revolution, a subject to which we all turn at some period of our lives. he has been led thereto, perhaps, by having lighted upon a translation of someone's memoirs, the recollections of some insignificant valet-de-chambre or dissolute curé (for such memoirs abound), more interesting by reason of its piquancy than its historical accuracy. he reads of persons and events that he recollects vaguely to have heard of before, and so he goes on and on. at the end, he has an ambiguous and temporary knowledge of names and events. he has become acquainted with certain facts that he may possibly remember; such as that the name of the french king was louis and that his queen was marie antoinette, that they tried to escape and got as far as varennes (_wherever that may be_), but were brought back and executed; that there were various politicians named mirabeau, danton, robespierre, desmoulins, and a curious party called the girondins, et cetera. as to the causes which led up to the revolution, the condition of the country and people, the ministry of turgot, the characters of the king and queen, necker's policy, the abbé siéyès, the tennis court, the composition of the assembly, and the host of essential facts, his knowledge is precisely _nil_. the terms right centre, extreme left, the jacobins, the white terror, assignats, hébertists and dantonists, the montagnards, the old cordelier, are so much 'hebrew-greek' to him. at the end of six months he will not be at all sure whether it was louis xiv., xv., or xvi. who was beheaded. surely his reading of these dubious memoirs has been a most mistaken course and a lamentable waste of time? he has gained nothing that has benefited him intellectually, and he has loaded his mind with an indigestible hotch-potch of unclassified information. how then should he have approached the subject? obviously he should have begun at the threshold, or rather at the outer gate. to plunge straight away into louis blanc's twelve volumes or lamartine's 'history of the girondins' would be as great a mistake as the reading of the unprofitable memoirs. a good beginning is half done. so, having prepared the way by a short study of the economic condition of france immediately prior to the revolution, that he may readily understand the causes of that event, let our reader begin with some elementary school text-book which will give him a short and concise view of the revolution as a whole. having laid the foundations he will confine himself at the outset to works in his own tongue; choosing his literature for each succeeding phase of the revolution in turn. but until he has obtained a thorough groundwork and has acquired sufficient knowledge to enable him to explore the more famous works in french, it were profitless to devour the scraps afforded by dubious memoir writers. if we read three books consecutively on any one subject, we know not merely three times as much as if we had read one only, but thirty times. and our knowledge of the subject will not be vague, inaccurate and fleeting, but it will be concise, accurate and permanent. to acquire a correct and lasting knowledge of any subject, whether it be an event or an epoch of history, a science or an art or craft, it is essential that we read consecutively and comparatively as many books upon that subject as our opportunities and time allow. it should also be borne in mind that if we are content to read one volume only, it is quite possible that we may chance upon an author who is inaccurate or biased, or whose work does not represent the latest stage of our knowledge upon that subject. footnotes: [ ] j. h. burton. [ ] mr. frederic harrison. [ ] mr. frederic harrison. [ ] p. g. hamerton. [ ] richard of bury (lived - ). [ ] m. octave uzanne. [ ] mr. a. l. humphreys. [ ] mr. frederic harrison. [ ] mr. a. l. humphreys. [ ] there is no doubt that burton was largely indebted to payne for his 'translation'; indeed he is said merely to have paraphrased and rearranged the version which payne had just previously prepared for the villon society, adding explanatory notes of a character which renders it essential that his edition be kept under lock and key. it was issued to subscribers by burton himself in london (though ostensibly 'by the kamashastra society at benares'), being printed, and probably bound, by brill at leyden. the kamashastra society was a myth. the ten volumes ( - ) were sold to the subscribers at ten guineas the set, and the entire edition ( ) was subscribed for before publication. (_ex inform_: e. h.-a., one of the original subscribers and a friend of burton.) six volumes of _supplemental nights_ were issued by burton between and . a set of the sixteen volumes now costs about forty pounds. it was reprinted (by h. s. nichols) in , in twelve volumes, only slightly expurgated, the present price being about twelve pounds. a supplementary volume of illustrations was issued with this last edition. [ ] mr. frederic harrison. [ ] isaac disraeli. [illustration] chapter iv chivalry and romance 'mekely, lordynges gentyll and fre, lysten awhile and herken to me.' hue de rotelande. once upon a time, long long before the venerable bede had completed that famous last chapter in his cell at jarrow, there lived in the ancient capital of sampsiceramus, a holy man named heliodorus. now in his youth heliodorus (as is not uncommon with the young) had turned his thoughts to worldly things; and being of a romantic nature, wearied by the eternal sameness of the books available to him, had conceived the extraordinary notion of writing an untrue book, a book that should never instruct or point a moral or show you where you are wrong, but should be all joyousness and enchantment. possessed with this great idea, timidly yet sure of himself, he set to work. the very first thing he did was sufficiently startling for those days. instead of selecting some great man for his central figure and putting his dialogue into the mouths of learned men, fathers of the church, philosophers, orators, or famous poets, he chose deliberately a young and handsome man of no particular learning, and--a woman! it was unheard of! a book, a voluminous roll closely written, containing nothing but the adventures of a pair of lovers! monstrous! yet it was done at last, and the roll, finding favour in the eyes of a bosom friend, was quickly passed from hand to hand. all were entranced by it. here was a book that had characters one could understand, for whom one could even feel affection. the loves of dashing young theagenes and his dear chariclea found an echo in many a youthful breast. meanwhile heliodorus disappears from view, and for many years we hear nothing of him until suddenly he reappears as a bishop in thessaly! now comes the sequel to his audacious design, but for which it is doubtful if we should ever have heard of him. a synod was convened, and heliodorus was condemned _because in his youth he had written a novel_. he was given his choice between bishopric and book, to retain the one he must destroy the other by word as well as by deed. at first sight the choice appears not difficult to make, for although so laical and original a work had proved to be popular, yet such popularity was hardly of a nature to appeal to so devout a christian as one who had already attained episcopal rank. but to heliodorus his work (which may well have been the employment of some years) stood for all that he held most dear. it was his conception of the ideal in worldly--as opposed to spiritual--life. less austere, perhaps, than many of the fathers of the early church whose works had seemed so tedious to him in his youth, his devoutness was tempered largely with a charity and forgiveness that were not unworthy of his creed. it was impossible to deny those principles of chivalric virtue and chastity which his novel preached, so he chose to stand by his book rather than by his benefice, and quitted thessaly. so runs the pleasing tale of nicephorus. but alas! the relentless voice of modern research will have it that the real author was not the bishop at all, but a sophist who lived in the third century of our era. be it as it may, i for my part shall go on believing the old romantic tale until a better one is invented for the sophist. the work itself is called 'ten books of aethiopian history,' for the first and last scenes are laid in egypt, but it is better known by the name of its hero and heroine. its popularity was immense, and it was soon translated into 'almost all languages.' later père amyot published a version in french for francis i., who was so delighted with the result that he made the translator abbé of belozane. racine tells us it was this ancient romance that first fired his imagination with the desire to write. his tutor discovered him absorbed in its contents, and snatching it from his hand angrily consigned it to the fire. racine bought another copy, which suffered a like fate. but so strong a hold upon him had the story, that he purchased a third, and devoured it in secret, offering it to his master with a smile when he had thoroughly mastered its contents. it seems that this ancient greek romance was lost for many centuries. at the sack of buda in , however, a manuscript of it was discovered in the royal library, where it had once formed part of the vast library amassed by matthias corvinus, the great king of hungary. matthias is said to have 'spoken almost all the european languages,' so doubtless he had passed many a pleasant hour with the tale. this manuscript (others have since been discovered) was printed at basel 'in officina ioan hervagii' in , a small quarto printed with greek types.[ ] that the early romances of chivalry possess a charm for the book-collector it is impossible to deny. they are 'a series of books,' writes mr. john ormsby, 'which, complete, would be a glory to any library in the world; which, in first editions, would now probably fetch a sum almost large enough to endow a college; and which . . . . is perhaps . . . . as worthless a set of books as could be made up out of the refuse novels of a circulating library.' times without number they have been derided and decried, even in the days when they were popular. the curate of la mancha was not the only one who disapproved of them. 'in our fathers tyme,' wrote old roger ascham, judging the flock by a few black sheep, 'nothing was red, but bookes of fayned cheualrie, wherein a man by redinge, shuld be led to none other ende, but onely to manslaughter and baudrye.' possevino, a learned jesuit and famous preacher of the sixteenth century, used to complain that for the last five hundred years the princes of europe had read nothing but romances. rené d'anjou listened to his chaplain inveighing against launcelot, amadis, and the romances of which he was particularly fond; but, says villeneuve, while respecting the preacher for his boldness, the king continued to read them, and even composed new volumes in imitation of them.[ ] full of monstrous fictions some of these ancient stories undoubtedly are. it were foolish to expect that all of them should attain the high level of those great legends which centre about the holy grail. good things have ever been imitated indifferently; and it was only the later series of tales which had to do chiefly with enchantments and fairies and 'giaunts, hard to be beleeved.' but alas! all alike have come under the ban of those who decry reading for recreation's sake. good and bad have been damn'd indifferently. one cannot help wondering however that so much has been written against them, and that so many have been at pains to point out their unreasonableness. one would have thought that the very fact of them _all_ abounding with incidents that are not only impossible but preposterous, would have given these critics pause, and have urged them to ask themselves why and wherefore such things were repeated. to anyone possessed of imagination the answer, of course, is obvious. the better tales all had the exaltation of the chivalric spirit in view, and sought to achieve this end by allegory as well as by parable. he must be a dullard indeed who fails to understand their symbolism. malory, describing the entry of tristram into the field, wishes to impress upon us the fact that he was indeed a 'preux chevalier, sans peur et sans reproche,' the model of a christian knight; so he mounts him on a white horse and arrays him in white harness, and he rides out at a postern, 'and soo he came in to the feld as it had ben a bryght angel.' doubtless those to whom understanding has been denied would argue hotly as to whether there is any authority for a knight painting his armour white. what sane man, reading 'the faerie queene,' could think that it purported to depict actual scenes or incidents? yet time and again the 'sheer impossibility' of these stories has been urged in condemnation of them. truly it is not every man who should turn to these ancient books which 'in sage and solemn tunes have sung of turneys and of trophies hung, of forests, and inchantments drear, _where more is meant than meets the ear_.' gavaudan, a troubadour of the twelfth century, meets the undiscerning critic more than half-way. let none judge, he writes, till he be capable of separating the grain from the chaff; 'for the fool makes haste to condemn, and the ignorant only pretends to know all things, and muses on the wonders that are too mighty for his comprehension.' 'romances,' says sharon turner, 'are so many little utopias, in which the writer tries to paint or to inculcate something which he considers to be more useful, more happy or more delightful, more excellent or more interesting, than the world he lives in, than the characters he surveys, or the events or evils which he experiences.' yet dunlop, who examined the romances of chivalry at some length in his 'history of fiction,' seems never to have suspected that these tales were written with any other intention than to amuse or that the events which they related were looked upon by their readers as other than facts. for arthur he has scant respect, 'nor,' says he, 'as we advance, do we find him possessed of a single quality, except strength and courage, to excite respect or interest.' surely the remark of one who must have been dead to all sense of imagination and romance--although purporting to be an authority upon them! the teaching of the whole arthurian cycle of romances was 'that noble men may see and lerne the noble actes of chyualrye, the ientyl and vertuous dedes that somme knyghtes vsed in tho dayes, by whyche they came to honour; and how they that were vycious were punysshed and ofte put to shame and rebuke.' the quest of the holy grail, motive of the most exquisite series of mystic tales that has ever been written, was, we are expressly informed, 'the hygh way of our lord jhesu cryst, and the way of a true good lyver, not that of synners and of mysbelievers.' godfrey de bouillon, the hero of another cycle, was 'moult preudhomme et sage et moult aymant dieu et gens d'esglise,' as we read in 'le triomphe des neuf preux' (folio, abbeville ). preposterous tales? perhaps; yet, as regards their moral side, not suffering greatly by comparison with our modern fiction. those whose reading is confined to the literature of to-day can have no idea of the influence which these romances had upon the lives of our forefathers. it was not merely a system of morality which they taught, it was a civilisation of a very high order. when we are inclined to mock at these 'preposterous tales' we should never forget that to them we owe a debt so immense that we are lost in the contemplation of it. it cannot be gainsaid that it was as much by the study and teaching of these romances as it was by the spirit which gave them birth, that our ancestors came to mould their lives in such a sort as to influence the civilisation of the whole of the western world. that the romances were the outcome of chivalry cannot be urged, though doubtless in a later age they helped to keep the spirit of knighthood alive. edward the black prince, the very model of mediæval chivalry, avowedly studied the ancient romances for patterns. when pedro the cruel had prevailed upon the prince to defend his cause, the princess bitterly bewailed her husband's decision. 'i see well,' said the prince, to whom her expressions were related, 'that she wishes me to be always at her side and never to leave her chamber. but a prince must be ready to win renown and to expose himself to all kinds of danger, as in days of old did roland, oliver, ogier, the four sons of aimon, charlemagne, the great leon de bourges, juan de tournant, lancelot, tristan, alexander, arthur and godfrey whose courage, bravery, and fearlessness, both warlike and heroic, all the romances extoll. and by saint george, i will restore spain to the rightful heir.' occleve, a little later, has no doubt as to the beneficial effects of perusing the romances. indeed he goes so far as to exhort his friend, sir john oldcastle, to leave off studying holy writ, and to read 'lancelot de lake, vegece, or the siege of troie or thebes.' 'what do ye now,' says caxton in 'the order of chivalry,' 'but go to the baynes and playe atte dyse? . . . leve this, leve it, and rede the noble volumes of saynt graal, of lancelot, of galaad, of trystram, of perseforest, of percyval, of gawayn, and many mo. ther shalle ye see manhode, curtosye, and gentylnesse.' what other system in this world could have bestowed that absolute serenity of mind which those who practised chivalry retained amid the tumults of their life? the saracens, abashed by the tranquil spirit of their royal prisoner, louis ix., mistook his humility for pride. in vain did they threaten him with torture: the king only replied 'je suis prisonnier du sultan, il peut faire de moi à son vouloir.' and when at last the sultan's murderer rushed into his prison, his hands dripping with blood, and crying, 'what will you give me for having destroyed him who would have put you to death?' the king was more struck with horror at the crime than with fear for his own safety, and remained motionless, disdaining to answer. thereupon the saracen, maddened by a tranquillity which he rightly attributed to the immense power of christian chivalry, presented the point of his blood-stained sword to the king's breast, crying, 'fais moi chevalier, ou je te tue.' 'fais toi chrestien,' replied the intrepid king, 'et je te ferai chevalier.' we are accustomed nowadays to look upon chivalry merely as a knightly institution which had to do solely with tournaments, banquets, knight-errantry, and the rescuing of encastled maidens. the modern acceptance of the term omits all those gentle qualities of mind which go to make the true chivalric disposition. we associate chivalry with 'fair play' combined with 'manliness'; and humility has no part in it. indeed it never enters into our mind that it was a system of 'humanyte, curtosye, and gentylnesse.' more, it was a religion deeply ingrained in the hearts of men, a religion which spread through all grades of society, and one which consisted in the beatifying of the noblest qualities of human nature; and it has left an indelible mark upon our national character. chivalry is not dead to-day as thoughtless people so often exclaim; it will never die so long as our national characteristics endure, though to-day it passes under a different name. 'sport' we call it now, and we pride ourselves in being 'sporting' even in the hour of death--witness the countless instances brought about by the late great war. bertrand du guesclin, one of the greatest and most fearless exponents of the chivalric spirit, and the black prince's most redoubtable enemy, fell at last into the hands of the english. one day at bordeaux the prince summoned him from his prison, and asked him how he fared. 'par may foy, monseigneur,' replied bertrand, 'il m'ennuye de n'entendre que le chant des souris de bourdeaux; je voudrois bien ouyr les rossignols de nostre pais'; but he added that he loved honour better than aught else and never had anything brought him more glory than his prison, seeing that, as all the other prisoners had been ransomed, he was kept there only through fear of his prowess. the prince of wales, touched in his honour (or rather pride) at du guesclin's words, agreed to liberate bertrand upon payment of seventy thousand florins of gold.[ ] 'but what was more extraordinary in this adventure,' says a french chronicler, 'was that the princess of wales gave him thirty thousand, and sir john chandos, who had taken him prisoner, took upon himself to pay what was wanting to make the sum complete.' 'sporting,' was it not? truly we are a marvellous race, and it is not to be wondered that other nations, from whom this spirit has long passed away, despair of ever being able to understand us. england has always been the home of chivalry. la colombière in his 'vray théatre d'honneur et de chevalerie ou le miroir heroique de la noblesse' remarks that the greatest number of the old romances have been more particularly employed in celebrating the valour of the knights of this kingdom than that of any other; because, in fact, they have always loved such exercises in an especial manner. 'the city of london,' writes francisco de moraes in the 'palmerin de inglaterra,' 'contained in those days all, or the greater part, of the chivalry of the world.' in perceforest a damozel says to his companion 'sire chevalier, i will gladly parley with you because you come from great britain; it is a country which i love well, for there habitually (coustumierement) is the finest chivalry in the world; c'est le pays au monde, si comme je croy, le plus remply des bas et joyeulx passetemps pour toutes gentilles pucelles et jeunes bacheliers qui pretendent a honneur de chevalerie.'[ ] the entire cycle of legends which has the holy grail for its centre is concerned with britain and britain alone. caerleon and winchester, tintagel and glastonbury, these are the chief stages in this great romance of perfect knighthood; and whether related by a scribe of hainault in the thirteenth century or sung by a welsh bard before the norman conquest or praised at the court at paris by the favourite troubadour of philip augustus, it is all one as regards the setting and the chief characters. 'whether for goodly men or for chivalrous deeds, for courtesy or for honour,' wrote the norman chronicler wace in the middle of the twelfth century, 'in arthur's day england bore the flower from all the lands near by, yea from every other land whereof we know. the poorest peasant in his smock was a more courteous and valiant gentleman than was a belted knight beyond the sea.' there is a pleasing story which relates how robert bruce, marching with his army in the mountains of ireland, heard a woman crying during one of the halts. he inquired immediately what was the matter, and was told that it was a camp-follower, a poor laundress, who was taken in child-bed; and as it was impossible to take her with them, she bemoaned her fate in being left behind to die. the king replied that he is no man who will not pity a woman then. he ordered that a tent should be pitched for her immediately, and that she should be attended at once by the other women; and there he tarried his host until she had been delivered and could be carried along with them. 'this,' says the chronicler, 'was a full great courtesy.' chivalry? in the very highest sense of the word. we must be careful lest, losing sight of the many attributes of chivalry, we incline towards the erroneous view that it was confined entirely to the upper classes. that the manuscript volumes of the romantic tales which were so eagerly purchased and treasured by the educated classes could never possibly come into the hands of the rude illiterate peasants is a fallacious argument. scanty indeed would be our folk-lore had it all been transmitted graphically. chaucer bears evidence of the widespread popularity of these heroic tales in his day: 'alexaundres storie is so commune that every wight that hath discrecioune hath herde somewhat or al of his fortune.' the incidents of these immortal tales were as well known to the humblest as to the highest in the land. we have abundant evidence of their popularity when recounted in front of the fire in hostel or homestead. even so late as milton's day it was the custom to recount knightly adventures and fairy tales about the evening fireside. when the live-long daylight fail then to the spicy nut-brown ale, with stories told of many a feat, how _faery mab_ the junkets eat, · · · · · · where throngs of knights and barons bold, in weeds of peace high triumphs hold, with store of ladies, whose bright eyes rain influence, and judge the prise, until at length thus done the tales, to bed they creep, by whispering winds soon lull'd asleep. how great a part of the pleasures of this world have they missed whose pulses are never stirred by the spirit of romance! content and peace of mind may be had by all who will offer up sacrifices to obtain them; but imagination is not to be had at any price unless it be a part of our birthright. content may yield a tranquillity of mind that refreshes the soul, but it is imagination alone that can produce that spiritual exaltation which takes our minds from worldly things, carries us backwards or forwards through countless ages of the past or æons of futurity, and enables us to ride in the chariot of phoebus. it is a vast library in itself. 'he had small need of books; for many a tale traditionary round the mountains hung, and many a legend, peopling the dark woods, nourished imagination in her growth.' it was the fortune of our book-hunter once to spend an afternoon in june upon the downs near winchester. to southward of the old town there is a deep grassy hollow, crescent-shaped, its southern slope fringed with wood; and here in the shade he lay reading the 'morte d'arthur' of old malory. coming at length to the noble tale of the sangreal, he read how king arthur, having come 'unto camelot by the houre of undorn on whytsonday,' and feasting with the fellowship of the round table, was told of the marvel wrought unto balin's sword by merlin. you will remember that balin fought unbeknown with his brother balan, that each wounded the other unto death, and that they were buried by merlin in the same tomb. then merlin 'lete make by his subtylyte that balyn's swerd was put in a marbel stone standyng up ryght as grete as a mylle stone, and the stone hoved alweyes above the water, and dyd many yeres, and so by adventure it swam doun the streme to the cyte of camelot that is in englysshe wynchestre.' to the west the downs slope steeply into the river valley, and set in the rich green meadows like a skein of silver threads the book-hunter could discern the itchen with its attendant rivulets. so he gazed across to the stream and pondered over this marvellous stone which 'hoved' always above the water, a sword set in it so that the pommel alone could be seen, 'and in the pomel therof were precyous stones wrought with subtyle letters of gold.' it was the symbol which was to prove the youthful galahad the _haut prince_ who should achieve the sangreal. that same evening, wandering along the river's bank below the city, his head full of the wondrous tale, an adventure befell him. it was dusk, and he had crossed the stream at a ford, when suddenly he saw the stone. it was lying upon its side, not a dozen paces from the water. there was no doubt whatever about it. it was roughly five feet long, about half as wide and thick, and of a curious reddish-brown--the colour of dried blood. 'sir,' said the squire who brought the news to the king and his knights, 'there is here bynethe at the ryver a grete stone which i saw flete above the water, and therin i sawe styckyng a swerd. the kynge sayde, i wille see that marveill. soo all the knyghtes went with hym. and whanne they came unto the ryver they fonde there a stone fletyng, _as hit were of reed marbel_, and therin stack a fair ryche swerd.' i confess that not a little awe was mingled with delight as our book-hunter gazed upon the stone, walked round it, touched it! then suddenly away in the old city a bell tolled, and he recollected that it was whitsun eve! that walk home in the twilight was something not easily to be forgotten, and neither supper nor a pipe could bring him back to earth and the twentieth century again. next morning he was up early, anxious to see if any trace were left of the spot where this marvel had occurred, for it was scarcely possible that the whole adventure was other than a dream. but the spot was soon found, and sure enough there was the stone or peron,[ ] and he could examine it in the sunshine at his leisure. how it got there or whence it came it were impossible to guess; the chalk for miles around contains nothing but flints, and the peron was smooth and polished 'as a mill-stone.' [illustration: the peron] that winchester is not camelot antiquaries have told us often enough. the city of the knights may have been in the west country or in wales for aught our bookman cares; but until they can produce a likelier site and a better peron he will continue to take sir thomas's word for it. one other point. i have said that the stone lay some few paces from the water. you will notice when you pay a pilgrimage to the stone (it lies at the ford, hard by a church) that the ground about it is almost level with the water, so that when the river is in flood the stone must be almost submerged: in other words, it would then _hove above the water_. it is easy to see from the bank on the other side that the river has changed its course by a few yards, leaving the stone now high and dry. if you dispute this, why then i can only say that the stone, as 'by adventure it swam down the stream,' must have been cast there by the river when in flood. that there is a cleft in the stone whence galahad withdrew the sword i can neither affirm nor deny; it _may_ have closed up, for with perons of this nature all things are possible, or the stone itself _may_ have got turned over.[ ] at all events i for one shall not be so rash as to cast suspicion upon so historic a relic. for those materialists who doubt that such an event ever took place, i will propound a theory. that the first twelve books of the 'morte d'arthur' were translated from the french by sir thomas malory seems probable. caxton says as much in his preface, and the epilogue to book xii. reads, 'here endeth the second book of syr tristram that was drawen oute of frensshe in to englysshe. but here is no rehersal of the thyrd book. and here foloweth the noble tale of the sancgreal that called is the hooly vessel.' it has been shown[ ] that the stories of the holy grail are probably of welsh origin, and--sir thomas is said to have been a welshman. is it possible that he was ever at winchester, that he wandered on whitsun eve (as did our book-hunter) along the itchen, that he came to and roused over the stone (smooth and polished as a mill-stone), so different from any to be seen hereabout, and that as he wandered back to camelot he wove the delicious romance about it? at all events, if he were ever there, it is at least possible that the spot was in his mind when adapting the welsh legends for his book. mark how well the events which i relate accord with the topography of the spot. the stone was 'beneath at the river,' the damozel who comes to view the marvel 'came rydynge doune the ryver . . . . on a whyte palfroy toward them,' and there is mention of the river meads. it is hard to believe that sir thomas would definitely assert that camelot 'is in english winchester,' and make it the chief scene of his romance, had he never visited the town. the book was finished, caxton tells us, 'the ix yere of the reygne of king edward the fourth,' ; but was not 'chapytred and emprynted and fynysshed in th'abbey westmestre' until 'the last day of july the yere of our lord m.cccc.lxxxv.,' . three weeks later a fateful battle was fought--that of bosworth, which placed the crown upon harry tudor's head. the facts that the new king was a great benefactor to winchester, that he held the castle to have been built by king arthur, and that he brought hither his queen to be delivered of his first-born (whom he named arthur), point to something more than a chance connection between the city and the book. henry tudor was also a welshman, and possibly malory was of the king's acquaintance, if not actually of his retinue. bale asserts that malory was occupied with affairs of state. but conclusions are dangerous things. the preface to the 'morte d'arthur' ascribes the ordering of the book to edward the fourth. '. . . i made a book unto th'excellent prynce and kyng of noble memorye kyng edward the fourth. the sayd noble ientylmen instantly requyred me t'emprynte thystorye of the sayd noble kyng and conquerour king arthur and of his knyghtes, _wyth thystorye of the saynt greal_, and of the deth and endynge of the sayd arthur; affermyng that . . . there ben in frensshe dyvers and many noble volumes of his actes and also of his knyghtes.'[ ] which looks rather as if edward the fourth (who had no reason to love the welsh--you will remember that he had beheaded owen tudor, richmond's grandfather) had heard of or read malory's work, and was anxious to possess it in print, though unwilling to credit it to a follower of the lancastrian party. it is a pleasant field for surmise, and, however wrongly, it is good to picture old sir thomas strolling along those pleasant meads beside the river, weaving his immortal cycle of tales. there is a connection somewhere between malory and caxton too. in malory finished his book, and in march of that year caxton began to translate le fevre's 'recueil des histoires de troyes.' where and when did malory meet caxton, who lived for some years about that time at bruges, discovering that they possessed the same literary tastes? did malory hand the manuscript of his work to caxton, in the service of the duchess of burgundy, sister of edward the fourth, and did the great printer (or the duchess) show it to that king? we shall never know, and only imagination can fill the gap. but to continue. it was whitsunday, and as the last notes of the voluntary echoed away among those 'antick pillars massy proof' of the great church, our book-hunter's thoughts turned once more to king arthur and his knights. for was it not upon this very day that the vision of the holy grail was vouchsafed to them as they sat at meat within the castle hall? 'and thenne the kynge and al estates wente home unto camelot, and soo wente to evensonge to the grete mynster. and soo after upon that to souper. . . . thenne anone they herd crakynge and cryenge of thonder, that hem thought the place shold alle to dryve. . . . not for thenne there was no knyght myghte speke one word a grete whyle. . . . thenne ther entred in to the halle the holy graile coverd with whyte samyte, but ther was none myghte see hit,[ ] nor who bare hit. . . . and whan the holy grayle had be borne thurgh the halle thenne the holy vessel departed sodenly, that they wyste not where hit becam: thenne had they alle brethe to speke.' so the man of books climbed the hill and presently stood within the beautiful hall with its glorious black marble pillars, sole remnant of the ancient stronghold. the round table (barbarously painted) now hangs upon the western wall, but it needed little imagination to picture it set down in the midst, covered with a fair silken cloth ('the kynge yede unto the syege peryllous and lyfte vp the clothe, and fonde there the name of galahad'), and on it set rich flagons and dishes, strangely wrought and worked with precious stones, and all about the table the famous knights in costumes strange to our eyes. . . . launcelot upon the king's left,[ ] now glancing with fatherly pride upon the youthful galahad (occupying the siege perilous), now smiling up at queen guenevere seated in the gallery with her maidens . . . . the walls hung with coarse dull-red cloth and bundles of sweet-smelling herbs hanging here and there, the floor strewn with fresh green rushes, gathered early that morning in the meadows below . . . . by the king's side a snow-white brachet, a golden collar about its neck . . . . and so on and so on. imagination forsooth! he must be dull indeed who, reading the book and standing in the hall, cannot picture the scene for himself. it is useless to declaim that the great hall of the castle was not completed until the time of henry the third, that it did not exist at all before the norman conquest, that the castle occupied by king arthur is more likely to have been on the site of the more ancient one which stood near the river (now known as wolvesey), and that the great round table (eighteen feet in diameter, of stout old english oak, cunningly bolted together) was made during the former king's reign and was never used by arthur at all. what are such crude exactitudes to us? as well object to the heavy plate-armour worn by the knights--everybody knows this to be an anachronism of nigh a thousand years. romantic phantasy and scientific data are as far apart as the poles, and none but a fool would try to reconcile them. king arthur feasted in the castle hall, says malory, and so far as our book-hunter is concerned he shall feast there as often and as long as he likes. there is a romance, too, about the name of this older castle. _wolvesey_ its scanty ruins are called to-day, and the antiquarians tell us that this was originally wulf's ey, or 'the wolf's isle.' was it once the scene of a battue by the young bloods of the tribe to drive out some wolves that had established themselves there, a fierce fight with axes and spears at close quarters whilst the rest of the tribe lined the opposite banks and prevented any escape? or was it the scene of some homeric combat _seul à seul_? perhaps some day a wolf's skull will be dug up there, with a stone axe sticking in it. but the history of it has gone for ever, had gone, probably, long centuries before king kynegils found it a strong site for his castle. it was at wolvesey that king alfred himself is said to have penned some part of the saxon chronicle now treasured in the library of corpus christi college, cambridge. he was a true book-lover, this great english king, and it is to the school of illuminators which arose later in the 'new minster' by st. swithun's that we are indebted for some of the most beautiful examples of mediæval art that have come down to us. the golden book of edgar, bede's 'ecclesiastical history'--in the cathedral library--and the exquisitely illuminated 'benedictional' of st. Ã�thelwold possessed by the duke of devonshire, all these were produced before the end of the tenth century by the artists who laboured so patiently in the scriptorium beside those peaceful meadows. for two centuries the winchester school of illuminators was renowned throughout the western world. it is a pleasant spot, this ancient city of camelot, and i like to read that among the aldermen who assembled at the tun moot in bygone days were a pinder, a mole-catcher, and an ale-conner. a stout fellow, this last, for without his permission not a single barrel of beer could be broached. the business transacted at the moot, we are told, was little more than to receive taxes, provide for the defence of the city, and settle disputes. after which the aldermen (with the permission of the ale-conner, it is to be presumed) proceeded to consume the ale allowed to them by custom immemorial at the rate of two gallons a man at each sitting. _o tempora, o mores!_ at one time, however, that kill-joy edgar came near to causing an insurrection, for he ordained that all drinking-horns should have pegs set in them at regular intervals and that no man might drink below his peg. thus were practically abolished those friendly drinking-bouts between danes and english that did so much to rid the town of its northern intruders. _floreat wintonia_, and may it stand for ever to book-lovers and lovers of romance as the ideal of all that is knightly and kingly and romantic--and hospitable. it is to be feared, however, that the spirit of romance is now moribund--if, indeed, it has not already passed away; and with it we are losing one of the most ennobling qualities in our nature. we pride ourselves nowadays in living in a 'matter-of-fact' age, by which we mean a practical, unromantic age. but is it a matter for so much pride after all? granted that the benefits which have accrued to mankind during the past century and a half are worth all the romance in the world; but is the relegation of romance to the domain of history a _sine qua non_ so far as progress is concerned? in our haste to get on we have tried to drive romance and progress in tandem, with steady-going progress in the shafts; but having found that together they need skilful handling, we have unharnessed the leader and hitched him on behind, to be dragged along anyhow in our wake. there must be many who regard the loss of romantic ideals as a matter for more than passing regret. reverence, too, not only for our elders and betters but even for the great works of our predecessors, is going the way of its cousin, romance. recently, rambling over the hampshire downs, our bookman toiled up the grassy bosom of this rolling land to a still loftier height whence on a clear day the isle of wight, nigh thirty miles away, can be distinguished. as he neared the top a mound came into view, one of those unmistakable monuments raised o'er the graves of the great chieftains of our ancient race. it was a most impressive spot, the highest point for many miles round, and the book-hunter wondered who he was that lay there in solemn majesty keeping watch through the long centuries over the land that once was his. on approaching closer the wayfarer was horrified to see that on the top of the mound, in the centre, there was a deep hole. its import was obvious. the mortal remains of one who had lain for centuries in a grandeur befitting his lordly rank had been torn from their sepulchre, probably by some irreverent commoner, and were now doubtless exhibited to the vulgar gaze, in a glass case. doubtless the ghoul (for he that rifles tombs is none other) who perpetrated this enormity described himself as an archæologist. possibly he was of gentle birth and had received a university education. if so, so much the greater his crime, for he could not plead ignorance. surely no seriously minded person can urge that the knowledge thus gained as to ancient methods of burial, age of the remains, and so on, warranted such sacrilege.[ ] we can only hope that the chieftain was granted five minutes with the archæologist when that individual at length entered the land of shadows. doubtless the archæologist had no qualms whatever, and slept soundly in the belief that by his 'researches' he had wrought great things for mankind; but when he encountered the chieftain it is unlikely that they would see eye to eye. 'happy are they who deal so with men in this world that they are not afraid to meet them in the next,' and happier still are they who deal so reverently with the earthly memorials of the dead, that there may be many to speak in their favour when they approach the great tribunal. [illustration: the hall of the knights] this particular form of irreverence, however, has been a byword throughout all the ages; civilisation and education have done little to check it, possibly because the romantic spirit which forbids such crimes is born, not made. king arthur's bones were dug up in the twelfth century. 'mummie is become merchandise, mizraim cures wounds, and pharoah is sold for balsoms,' wrote sir thomas browne five hundred years later. in the massive stone coffin which held the remains of our illustrious king alfred was discovered facing the high altar at hyde abbey, winchester, whither they had been translated in . the coffin was broken in pieces, the bones found in it were scattered, and the lead enveloping the remains was sold by the workmen. a stone from the wrecked tomb, bearing the name Ã�lfred, was carried off to cumberland as a curio. hyde abbey was razed to make way for a county bridewell. 'at almost every stroke of the mattock,' relates an eye-witness, 'some antient sepulchre or other was violated.' examples of such desecrations can be multiplied without number. the great alaric was wise indeed when he had the course of a river changed so that his bones, when lying at the bottom of it, might never be disturbed. our ancient laws dealt sternly with this matter. 'if any man shall dig up a body that has already been buried,' ruled henry the first, 'he shall be wargus,' that is, banished from his district as a rogue. 'malice provoketh not to dig up tombes and graves,' wrote an unknown elizabethan scholar, commenting on this; 'and though it should, yet religion doth now restraine it, by reason it is counted sacriledge to violate anythinge in churches or churchyards. covetousness made some to dig up the dead, because ornaments, jewels, or money, were in times past buried with many; but now that custome seasing, no man for desire of gaine is invited to commit this offence, and it now being generally reputed a most vile acte, no man will presume to transgresse these lawes, and every man is a law to himself therein.' but in this 'enlightened' age, when we are held to be above the need of such legislation, there is nothing to prevent the archæologist from practising his hobby where and when he please--so long as he avoids the churchyards. 'tush,' he cries, 'here lies an ancient heathen who was not even buried in consecrated ground. we may find some curious relics buried with him. up with his bones.' 'freedom for all men' may be a glorious motto, yet when we view these crimes (and the carved initials which deface so many of our most sacred monuments) we cannot but muse that there are many who should never be free--at least from the restraint of discipline. 'none can love freedom heartily, but good men: the rest love not freedom, but licence.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] there are pages in this editio princeps, after which should come a leaf with (_a_) blank (_b_) device of john hervey or hervagius. it was english'd by thomas underdowne, and published in small octavo by frauncis coldocke, at the sign of the greene dragon in paules churchyeard, in . [ ] "il estoit bon musicien, tres-bon poëte françois et italien, se delectant singulierement a lire les belles et naifues rithmes de nos poëtes prouençaux . . . . . . . tellement qu'il a compose en son temps plusieurs beaux et gracieux romans comme _la conqueste de la douce mercy, et le mortifiement de vaine plaisance_ . . . . . mais sur toutes choses aimoit il d'un amour passionnez la peinture . . . . . qu'il estoit en bruit et reputation entre les plus excellents peintres et enlumineurs de son temps." (nostradamus). he had a fine library which contained all the most celebrated compositions of the provençal poets and troubadours. [ ] it was quite a dramatic scene. bertrand taunted the prince until the latter named a sum; and to his surprise de guesclin at once cried "done!" and all at the table sprang to their feet. "oh sir," they cried to the prince, "what have you done!" "i hold you to your word," cried du guesclin--and so it was. see hay du chastelet, claude menard, and other biographers, also the inventaire des chartres, tome vi. (see also footnote on page .) [ ] this great romance does not appear ever to have been translated into english, which is somewhat strange, for its hero, perceforest, was king of england, and we are told at the outset that the volume had an english origin. philippe comte de hainault having accompanied marguerite daughter of philippe iii. (_le hardi_) to england in order to be present at her nuptials with edward i. ( ), the count made an excursion to the north of england. chancing to harbour at a monastery 'on the banks of the humber,' he was shown an ancient manuscript which had been discovered in a vault under the ancient (? saxon) part of the building. one of the monks had translated it into latin. philippe borrowed it and took it back with him to hainault, where it was reduced into french. it is every whit as good as the morte d'arthur, and still awaits its malory. the paris edition consists of six folio volumes, the page in double columns of black letter type, with lines to the column. the whole book contains rather more than six hundred thousand words. here is a chance for some enthusiast! at the least he would learn patience, carefulness--and a deal of mediæval french. [ ] o. fr. _pierron_. [ ] that there is a distinct crack on its upper side, you may see from the photograph here reproduced. [ ] sir j. rhys, 'studies in the arthurian legend,' oxford, , pp. - . [ ] in the list of books at the louvre belonging to charles v. of france, drawn up by gilles malet, his librarian, in , there is a volume 'du roy artus, de la table ronde, et de la mort dudit roy, tres bien escript et enlumine.' it would be interesting to compare this manuscript (if it is still in existence) with malory's work, and to see whether the incident of the _peron_ is described therein. [ ] _i.e._ the golden vessel, because of the samite (silken) covering. [ ] as the table is painted at present, 's. galahallt' is upon the king's immediate left. [ ] of one of these enterprising antiquaries (a clergyman) it is proudly related that in the course of _three years_ "he opened no less than a hundred and six tumuli and graves, and obtained from them a large proportion of that valuable collection of antiquities now in possession of mr. meyer, of liverpool." see _a corner of kent_, by j. r. planché, , page . [ ] milton. [illustration] chapter v the care of books 'wher so ever y be come over all i belonge to the chapell of gunvylle hall; he shal be cursed by the grate sentens that felonsly faryth and berith me thens. and whether he bere me in pooke or sekke for me he shall be hanged by the nekke, (i am so well beknown of dyverse men) but i be restored theder agen.' (_written in a breviary in the library of gonville and caius college._) wherein lies the charm of an old book? in its contents? not altogether, for then would the reprint be just as acceptable; perhaps more so, for it would be possibly more legible, probably cleaner, certainly in a more convenient shape. in its scarcity, then? partly, perhaps; yet not necessarily, for there are many 'old' books that are always eagerly bought up by collectors, though quite frequent in occurrence. then wherein lies the old book's charm? it is chiefly in its appearance. it is the spiritual appearance rather than the material aspect of a book, however, that draws the book-lover to it. to the true bibliophile there is an intangible _something_ about an old book which it is impossible to describe. that this feeling is closely akin to the impressive influence of antiquity there can be no doubt; for you may prove it by taking your book-lover successively to a modern free library and to a collection of ancient books, and noting carefully his expression in each. though he be surrounded by thousands of volumes issued from the press during the last half-century, rich and luxurious works even, yet the probability is that he will be merely bored. but watch him as he stands before the thick oak shelves eagerly scrutinising the dim lettering on ancient calf and vellum back! see how his eye flashes as he takes down an ancient quarto, gently and reverently lest the headband be grown weak with age, and, carefully blowing the dust from its top edge, turns eagerly to title-page and colophon! and this feeling is not influenced by the surroundings which one is accustomed to associate with old books. whether they be in a cathedral or college library, in a bookshop or the most modern of cases, it is all one to your true collector. it is the books and the books only about which he cares. no sooner does he feel the ancient tome within his hands than his soul is borne rapidly away upon the wings of fancy, far far back into the dim ages, high above all worldly considerations; caring, understanding, feeling, in tune with the magic so wondrously locked up in this ancient volume, to which his love of books alone has provided the key. it is no wonder that he is impressed, for the soul of the true book-collector is ever in communion with the _manes_ of those who gave birth to his books. he is brother to author, paper-maker, compositor, publisher, and binder, understanding all their hopes, doubts, and fears, in sympathy with all the thoughts that gave his volumes their shape, size, and appearance. have you not often realised, brother collector, the _spirit_ that is hidden in every old book, the concentrated thoughts that have been materialised in giving it birth? surely thoughts never die. 'our thoughts are heard in heaven' wrote a neglected poet, and are not books 'sepulchres of thought'? happier is the book-collector than he who acquires ancient pieces of furniture, old vases, or pewter mugs. for, unlike the old book, these things can be reproduced in facsimile so that you may not tell the difference between old and new, and the reproduction may be stronger and more serviceable than the original. moreover he is not troubled with qualms as to their genuineness, undergoing agonies of apprehension while each treasure--or otherwise--is submitted to the scrutiny of friends and experts. there is a lasting charm about a book of our choice which the antique-collector can never hope to experience. his treasure may be grotesque or it may be beautiful, in either case it may please the eye every time that he behold it, through many years. but beyond pleasure to the eye and perhaps a smug complacency in its possession, there is nothing else. he knows it inside-out, as it were, within a few minutes of its acquisition. very different, however, is the case with a book. after the attraction exercised by its ancient appearance, the exterior aspect is in reality but a secondary consideration, and when we have expressed ourselves as to whether it be a fine or a poor copy, we turn at once to its contents. the very wording of the title-page gives us an inkling of the writer's character, places us upon his plane, and tunes our thoughts in harmony with his. what book-lover does not sympathise with that great man lenglet du fresnoy? perhaps few men have come so completely under the spell of books; for he devoted a long life entirely to consuming the fruits of the master minds that had gone before him. in spite of the gossip concerning him, not always to his credit, that has come down to us, it is undeniable that by sheer love and knowledge of books he piled up a monument that will ever keep his name in memory among bibliophiles for he is numbered with such giants as hain, brunet, and lowndes. the 'methode pour étudier l'histoire' alone is sufficient to show his extraordinary knowledge of books; indeed, they were the very inspirers of his being and though his paths led him to high places, 'a passion for study for ever crushed the worm of ambition.' having spent the greater part of his eighty-two years among old books, it was a modern one which caused his end; for, slumbering over its dulness, he fell into the fire and was burned to death! it is said of him that he refused all the conveniences offered by a rich sister, that he might not endure the restraint of a settled dinner-hour; preferring to browse undisturbed among his beloved tomes. his immense knowledge of ancient books is shown by the vast number of diverse works which he wrote and edited; but so forcible and controversial were his writings that he was sent to the bastille some ten or twelve times. it is even related of him that he got to know the prison so well, that when tapin (one of the guards who usually conducted him thither) entered his chamber, he did not wait to hear his commission but began himself by saying 'ah! bonjour, monsieur tapin,' then turning to the woman who waited on him, 'allons vite, mon petit paquet, du linge et du tabac,' and went along gaily with m. tapin to the bastille. verily the true bibliophile is not as other men, and a modern world looks upon him askance. yet his portion is a happiness that riches cannot purchase, for his soul has found lasting comfort and contentment in a knowledge of the innermost recesses of human thought. there is no aspect or phase of the human mind with which he is unacquainted; and it is a knowledge that books alone can impart. yet our true book-lover is not of those whose very religion is the preservation of the pristine appearance of their books, who deem it sacrilege to destroy one jot of the contemporary leather in which their treasures are clothed: liking rather to glue, varnish, and patch, preferring even a grotesque effect rather than sacrifice an inch of decayed calf. their point of view is wholly admirable: that the only form in which we are justified in possessing a book is that in which it was originally issued to the world: that the men who bestowed great thought in giving it birth, to wit, author and publisher, know better what is meet and seemly for it than can any man of a different age: that one man's choice is another man's abhorrence: and so on, and so on. granted these things are so; but surely he who possesses the volume may have some say in its appearance, since it exists upon his shelf solely for his own delight and for no other man's? 'it is mine,' says praktikos, 'may i not clothe it in the colours of the rainbow if it please me?' 'then you are a vandal,' replies phulax, 'for you will ruin your book, and it will not be worth ten shillings when it returns from the binder.' and there's the rub: rebind your book and--in nine cases out of ten--_you will lower its market value_. therefore, if the book-collector have any eye to the purely commercial value of his library, he will do well to become an 'original-boards-uncut' man at once. handsome his library will never be, for here there will be a whole set of paper-bound volumes lacking backs, here a folio strangely patched and mended, there a book in rather dirty vellum somewhat cockled by damp, and so on. but he will have the satisfaction of knowing that his volumes retain, in their appearance at least, something of the spirit of the time in which they first saw light. perhaps they will create for him the more easily that stimulating yet peaceful atmosphere imparted by a collection of old books. is there not, then, any alternative to preserving one's volumes in a disreputable condition? assuredly there is--there are two alternatives. either the collector will be so wise (and, incidentally, so wealthy) as never to purchase a dilapidated book, or else he must exercise great common sense and much good taste, putting fancy entirely to one side. you possess a copy of cotton's translation of the commentaries of messire blaize de montluc, folio . it is a good, clean, tall copy, but clothed in tattered contemporary brown calf. half of the back is missing, two of the corners are badly broken, and a piece of the leather upon the under cover is torn off. perchance you elect to send it to your binder, with strict instructions that it is to be repaired with plain calf. in due course the volume is returned to you, and it now presents a fearful and marvellous appearance. it is the proud possessor of a new back, nearly but not quite matching the sides in colour, and upon this the remaining upper half of the original back has been pasted. the corners bulge strangely, and you can discern new leather underneath the old and wherever the old was deficient. the sides shine with polishing, and a patch--again not quite matching the original, for it is next to impossible to do this--has been inserted on the under cover. the whole volume shines unnaturally, and has rather a piebald appearance. in short, it reminds one of bardolph's face--'all bubukles and whelks and knobs.' but perchance you possess another copy in precisely the same condition inside and out, and this you have decided must be rebound. it goes to your binder, always with your very definite instructions, and in due course returns, modestly attired in morocco of, let us say, a dark sage-green hue. on each side there is a plain double panel, 'blind' tooled; the back is simply lettered blaize de montluc and there are 'blind' lines at the sides of each band; but, beyond the lettering, there is no gilding whatever on the back. the edges have not been trimmed, much less cut, but have been left precisely as they were originally. suppose now for an instant that you do _not_ possess either copy, but that both are offered to you by a bookseller at precisely the same price. what will be your feelings as you handle the repaired copy? it is more than probable that you will sigh '_poor thing_' as you open it gently for fear of cracking the old piece pasted on to the back. but, '_what a nice clean copy_' you will say as you take up the other; and it is improbable that you will hesitate long in making choice. the repairing of moderately old bindings is an excellent thing so long as it is not carried to extremes. obviously there are many cases where it would be sheer foolishness to rebind the volume, slight repairs _at the hands of an experienced binder_ being all that is necessary to enable the book to be described as a _fine, tall, clean copy, in the original binding, neatly repaired_. and this is where one's carefully considered judgment and good taste must be exercised. but advice is easier to give than to follow. if our purse be a slender one, it is next to impossible to confine our purchases to perfect copies in choice condition. and so it is unavoidable that a certain number of our volumes should be in a more or less dilapidated state. a book that we have long sought for crops up; it is a perfect copy, more or less clean inside, but in a sad state of decay as regards the binding. on this account it is offered to us at one-half the price which a sound copy would fetch, perhaps even less. of course we buy it, and many others like it; so that at length we are faced with the choice between a formidable binder's bill and the alternative of harbouring a collection of wrecks. this temptation to acquire imperfect books and poor copies is a most insidious one, and few collectors can withstand it altogether. andrew lang, than whom there was never a more genuine book-lover, seems to have been as susceptible as most of us. 'i believe no man,' he writes in 'books and bookmen,' 'has a library so rich in imperfect works as the author of these pages.' yet although the purchasing of a volume in a state of decay (externally, that is) is sometimes unavoidable, it should be every collector's endeavour, however modest his means, to avoid buying dilapidated books. if a book be at all frequent in occurrence it is far better to bide our time until a better copy turns up, even though we may have to pay a few shillings more for it, than to rest content with the possession of a sorry example in which we can take no pride, and one that will never be worth a penny more than we gave for it until it has passed through the binder's hands. remember also that although the choicest binder in europe may lavish his art upon our volume, yet a taller and cleaner copy _in the original, or contemporary, binding_, and in perfect condition, will ever command a better price in the sale-room. our choice in binding--however appropriate to the book--may not be the choice of him who next possesses the volume. as an example of this discretion which one must exercise in rebinding one's volumes, here is an incident that occurred in a london sale-room a few years ago. a copy of jane austen's 'mansfield park' in three volumes, , was put up for auction and realised £ . it was bound in boards and was entirely uncut. nevertheless it was not in the original binding, but it had been rebound in precisely the same style as that in which it was originally published. the paper labels had been reprinted in facsimile, and the edges had not been tampered with in any respect, not even 'trimmed.' the best price that had been realised previously for an uncut copy in the original boards was £ s. the owner was indeed wise in his generation. had he sent the volumes to his binder to be bound in full morocco 'extra,' at a cost of, perhaps, twenty shillings apiece, the work would have realised, probably, seven or eight pounds. but by good judgment (and, in the writer's opinion at least, good taste) his expenditure would not exceed fifteen shillings for the three, his profit being four times as great. not long ago two copies of the first edition of keats' 'endymion' appeared at an auction-sale in london. both were 'uncut,' but one was in the original form in which it issued from the press, the other was bound in morocco. the former realised £ , the latter £ , s. _dictum sapienti sat est._ old books, by which i intend sixteenth and early seventeenth century volumes, are always best left alone as regards the binding. if they be at all dilapidated, it is as well to have a case[ ] made for them which can be lettered on the back, and they can then stand upon the shelf among one's other books. nothing is more unseemly and incongruous than an ancient volume in a modern cover, and, try as the most skilful binder may, it is impossible to imitate an ancient binding so closely as to deceive the eye even momentarily. do not seek to make them presentable by patching and repairing, unless they be too far gone for their value to be of any consideration. in the case of early-printed books and works of great rarity, never, upon any account, tamper with your copy or seek to improve it in any way. not only, as i have said, is it quite impossible to impart a contemporary appearance to a fifteenth-century book however famous and skilful the binder, but age leaves its mark upon the constitutions of books as surely as it does upon mankind. no volume of that age will stand the handling of a casual reader, still less the pulling, patting, and pressing that re-sewing and re-covering necessitate, however gently such processes be carried out. there is a terrible story (i hope it is untrue) told of a certain peer who decided to send to the auction-room the six or seven caxtons which had descended to him with a noble library from his ancestors. as, however, the volumes were bound in fifteenth-century sheepskin (probably in caxton's house) he thought that their appearance would be rendered rather more attractive if they were rebound first of all. so he sent them forthwith to the local binder; and on their return, now gorgeously clothed in 'calf gilt extra' (à la school prize), he despatched them to the london sale-room. the result may be imagined. his foolishness must have robbed him of a sum running well into four figures! there is another point also to be considered, and that is the _pedigree_ of a volume. the solitary impression of a binder's tool upon a fragment of binding may identify a volume and its previous owners. some years ago the writer purchased an ancient folio without title-page and colophon, bound in tattered fragments of ancient calf covering stout oak boards. there was, apparently, nothing to indicate when, where, or by whom the volume was printed or bound, or whence it came. but from a certain peculiarity in the type (which he noticed when studying the early printers of nürnberg) he now knows the name of the printer and the town in which he plied his trade; while from a certain woodcut which that printer used also in two other _dated_ works only, _both printed the same year_, he discovered when the volume in all probability was printed. a scrutiny of the remains of the binding revealed the blind impressions of four different stamps. as these occur frequently in conjunction upon the bindings executed by the monks at a certain monastery in germany in the sixteenth century, there is little difficulty in assigning a _provenance_ to the volume. furthermore the initial h in a heart-shaped impression identifies the binder as a monk whose initials h.g. (on two heart-shaped tools) are of frequent occurrence on contemporary volumes at that time in the possession of the monastery. needless to say, it has _not_ been rebound. the tattered pieces of skin have been carefully pasted down, and a case--lettered on the back--now contains the book upon his shelf.[ ] in the case, however, of more recent books bound in tattered or perished calf, books of which one may obtain duplicates at any time, except they be works of extreme value there is no reason why they should not be re-bound. even here, however, the collector must tread warily; for should he send his copy of tim bobbin's lancashire dialogue of _tummus and meary_ to the binders with brief instruction that it is to be bound in full morocco, it may be returned to him in all the splendour of a sixteenth-century florentine binding. with regard to books published in cardboard covers with paper backs and paper labels, what is to be done with these when the backs are dirty or torn off, the labels of some volumes missing? must they be re-bound in leather or cloth? not necessarily, and i for my part maintain that the delightful ease which one experiences in handling them when reading the early editions of byron, scott, or irving, and those writers who flourished in the first few decades of the nineteenth century when books were commonly issued in this form, is sufficient excuse for retaining them in their original shape. such volumes may easily be made presentable at the cost of a little time and trouble, as i shall presently show. an appearance of antiquity is never a _desideratum_ to the honest book-collector. i say 'honest' advisedly, for there have been--and doubtless are--persons so misguided as to stoop to the fabrication of certain small and excessively valuable books. to such, an appearance of age is no doubt indispensable in their wares. but these are torments which afflict the wealthy only; and for this i at least am sincerely thankful. there is no doubt, however, that in the collection of many things antiquity in appearance is desirable: witness the modern fabrication of 'antique' furniture and pottery. our book-hunter was once acquainted with a certain country gentleman, a learned man and most excellent companion, whose passion for rare things once got the better of his judgment. it was not books that he collected, but butterflies; and he was inordinately proud of a rather seedy-looking 'large copper' which his cabinet contained. for the benefit of his admiring entomological friends he would recite how his grandfather had caught it with his hat when on a holiday in the fens. it grew to be quite an exciting tale. one day, however, in the course of a country ramble they fell to discussing the romancer, or man who resorts to fiction that his adventures may be the more interesting. and as (for the sake of argument) the man of books affected to praise him, remarking that any soulless fool can tell the bald truth whereas it requires an artistic temperament to adorn a tale with realistic embellishment (!), his friend turned to him eagerly. being encouraged, he confessed that his large copper was not all that it appeared to be. in short, the bookman discovered that he had secured it himself while on a summer tour in switzerland, and with the aid of a camel's-hair brush had succeeded in reducing it to a venerable state. 'of course,' the entomologist hastened to explain, 'no one could possibly tell that it was not my grandfather's. he had a very fine collection, and probably there was more than one large copper in it, though there was only the one in the cabinet that came to me. i shall never forget my feelings when it happened. i had taken it out of the drawer to show to a friend, when we both saw, outside the window, what we thought was an _antiopa_. we rushed out, and when we came back we found that the cat. . . . dear me; i was quite overcome. . . . but that summer i caught the one you have seen in switzerland; and as my dear friend was no more and nobody else knew of the catastrophe, i thought there would be no harm in merely restoring a specimen to my grandfather's collection.' but the bookman pointed out to him that when he died and his collection was sold his family would benefit by some pounds through his indiscretion; for it was now known to all his friends as a genuine english specimen. this troubled the entomologist greatly, for it was a point of view that had never occurred to him, and, like the rich young man, 'he went away grieved.' so it is sometimes in book-collecting: there is a temptation to 'restore' an incomplete book. should the collector find that his copy of a certain work lacks a portrait, what is more natural than to go to the print-shop and purchase a portrait of the same individual for insertion in his copy? and in this there may be little harm, provided that the book is of no value _and that he makes a note in ink inside the front cover as to what he has done_. but occasionally some unscrupulous book-fiend--he is, of course, no true book-collector--substitutes for a damaged page a page from another copy, or perhaps of a later edition; sometimes he supplies his volume with a spurious title-page or other leaf; and, worst of all, substitutes in his copy of the second edition, whereof the title-page is damaged, the title-page of a first edition, of which he possesses an incomplete copy. and here let me utter a word of warning. apparently it is the practice of certain cheap second-hand booksellers to abstract the engraved plates from folio books, occasionally also removing the 'list of plates' that the theft may remain undiscovered, and to sell the works thus mutilated as sound and perfect copies. needless to say to the print collector such plates are invariably worth a shilling or two apiece, if portraits considerably more. i know to my cost one london bookseller who habitually removes the engraved portraits with which certain seventeenth-century folios, especially historical ones, are wont to be embellished. how many rare volumes this ghoul has ruined it is impossible to say, probably some hundreds. our book-hunter confesses to having been caught by him three times, discovering the reason for the cheapness of his bargains (!) some time later. a friend has also suffered from his attentions. i need hardly add that his shop is now avoided, by two book-hunters at least, as something unclean. occasionally, also, one comes across scarce volumes bereft of title-pages, these having been torn out by some vampire to adorn his scrapbook. surely no fate can be too bad for the man who dismembers books. his proper place is certainly in the inferno, where, in company with bertrand de born, he will be condemned for ever to carry his own head, after it has been separated from his body, in the shape of a lantern.[ ] as soon as ever you reach home with your purchases from a ramble along the bookstalls, and whenever you receive books that you have ordered through a bookseller's catalogue, collate your acquisitions carefully. whenever it is possible refer to a bibliography to see that your copy is all that it should be. nothing is more annoying than to discover, perhaps years afterwards, that your copy of a rare book, which you fondly imagined to be a fine one in every respect, lacks a page or so, or a leaf of index or errata, or a plate. it is a good plan to make a point of keeping books upon your table until they have been properly collated and catalogued, when--and not before--they may be placed upon the shelves. frequently you will discover that a second book, or even a third, has been bound up with your volume, and you would have overlooked these but for collating. it was a common practice at one time (as, indeed, it is with some collectors nowadays) to bind up thin books with thicker ones to save the expense of binding. probably this is the reason why certain sixteenth and seventeenth century works which consist of but fifty or sixty leaves are so hard to find, being bound at the end of larger works and thus commonly escaping the cataloguer's eye. it is necessary for the collector to exercise the greatest caution in acquiring a valuable old book from any but a reputable bookseller. the fabrication of a page or so--especially a title-page--is a comparatively small matter to the nefarious dealer who hopes by this means to obtain for his copy the price which a perfect one would command. 'perfect' copies of rare fifteenth-century works are made up from two or more imperfect ones, title-pages and leaves are reproduced in facsimile, blank leaves and engravings are inserted: for all these the collector must be continually upon his guard. other books there are which have certain passages frequently mutilated, or a genealogical tree or a table generally missing. hazlitt gives two examples of this species of knavery. one, in which a reproduction of the scarce portrait of milton usually attached to the first edition of his 'poems,' , had been actually split and laid down on old paper to make it resemble the original print: the other, a case in which a copy of lovelace's 'lucasta,' , lacked a plate representing lucy sacheverell (which makes a good deal of the value of the book), and a copy of the modern reproduction of this plate to be found in singer's 'select poets' had been soaked off and 'lined' to give it the appearance of a genuine impression mounted, and then bound in. and these mutilations are not the only things of which the collector must beware. early in the history of books, the reputation that hall-marked the publications of certain famous presses became a source of envy to less fortunate printers. type and imprints were soon counterfeited, and the fine editions of the classics printed at venice by the great aldine press were reproduced at lyons and elsewhere. in this matter of forgery and pirated reprints, you will find gustave brunet's 'imprimeurs imaginaires et libraires supposés' of value. it is a catalogue of books printed with fictitious indication of place or with wrong dates, an octavo volume published in . these things, however, cannot be learnt at once, and it is only by the continual study of catalogues and bibliographies that one comes to know them. needless to say, however, all reputable booksellers will take back a work which is discovered to be imperfect, provided that the volume be returned without delay. books, like those who gave them birth, are of all conditions; but from the collector's point of view they may be divided conveniently into five classes. to the first class belong those volumes which are described by booksellers and auctioneers as 'fine copies.' ever since their publication they have been in the possession of wealthy men, often peers, and (sometimes like their owners!) have passed their lives for the most part undisturbed amid luxurious surroundings. they are invariably richly bound, often in historic bindings, and are clean and fresh inside. frequently they are sumptuous works and presentation copies, and they always command high prices. in a word, they are aristocrats among books. they are not necessarily rare volumes, though frequently they are large-paper copies, and for the true collector they do not offer so much attraction as the second class, in which we place those books that are more eagerly sought after. these are generally rare books, such as incunabula and the higher class english literature of the seventeenth century, and are to be found in the libraries of wealthy collectors who are also learned men. they are always well bound and in good condition, though sometimes they have their headlines shaved, occasionally they are slightly imperfect, or have been cleaned and repaired. but they are always desirable books, and evoke spirited bidding whenever they appear in the auction-room. class three comprises the great army of what may be termed 'middle-class books.' they are bound usually in half-bindings, when they are not in the publisher's cloth, and are good, clean, _sound_, copies of such works as county histories, antiquarian books, sets of the learned societies' publications and of 'standard authors.' they are such stable and solid books as you will usually find in the libraries of the well-to-do middle classes. in short they are gilt-edged securities, and command a steady price in the market. to class four may be assigned the volumes contained in the average second-hand bookseller's shop in this country. they are the [greek: hoi polloi] among books, and for the most part they include the more frequent and more modern english works. usually they are quite desirable copies, though frequently they lack a portrait or other plate, sometimes they have a torn or mounted title-page, or other imperfection. they are generally in cloth or calf bindings which are almost invariably somewhat decrepit, being either rubbed or perished, or cracked at the joints. they are dusty and rather unkempt, and fox-marks are common, for such volumes have passed through many hands and have not always been accorded the care that is due to good books. but it is here that one comes across books 'in the original boards uncut,' and, if expense be no object to you, you may often raise such purchases to a higher class. books in class five are the outcasts of the book-world, being those decrepit volumes which stack the bookstalls and barrows in the larger towns. they are the weedings of auction sales and shops, books that are not worth cataloguing by the dealer. like human beings they have drifted through life with all its vicissitudes, knowing many masters and earning the gratitude of none. and so at length, deprived even of a home, they find their way into the streets, where they are soon reduced to wreckage. at first sight it would seem that they owe their situation to their quality, both intrinsic and extrinsic--that they are valueless either as literature or as specimens of book-production, or that they are imperfect or odd volumes. in many cases this may be true, but in general it is not so. the wrecks of handsomely produced books of high-class literature are common on the bookstalls and barrows, as all collectors of modest means are aware. they owe their situation _chiefly to inconsiderate handling_ and to the carelessness of their successive owners. as to the practice of inserting illustrations in books that are published without them, 'grangerising,' as it is called, it is perhaps best left alone. at first sight there appears to be small harm in providing, let us say, a volume of travels or the description of a town with an appropriate engraved frontispiece, or adorning your biography of so-and-so with a portrait. but the temptation to overstep the bounds of seemliness is so great that it is seldom the collector stops at a mere frontispiece. in most cases the grangerite soon loses his self-control, and develops an acute mania for embellishing his volume with all and every print upon which he can lay his hands, apposite in the slightest degree to the subject of the book. every year the sale-rooms witness these monstrosities. biographies issued in a single volume are 'extended' ('rended asunder' would be a better term) to fifteen or twenty volumes by the insertion of hundreds of engravings depicting every place mentioned in the text and every man or woman that the subject of the biography ever met. i have seen an octavo volume multiplied into twenty-five folio ones in this fashion, the leaves being inlaid to suit the size of the huge portraits and views stuffed into the disjointed sections of the wretched book. nor is it only engravings that are used. play-bills, lottery-tickets, tradesmen's advertisements, autograph letters, maps, charts, broadsides, street ballads, bills even, all are grist for the grangerite's mill. it is a singularly futile hobby, and it is certainly a pernicious form of bibliomania, for it is responsible for the destruction of many good books. whether its devotee imagines that any one is ever going to wade through his twenty monstrosities, turning, perhaps, six illustrations between page and page of text, we have not discovered. his completed labours form a compilation about as valuable as a scrap-book. if it were possible to gather into one volume, or rather portfolio, every portrait, let us say, of a certain celebrity _that has ever been published_, one would possess a valuable storehouse for reference purposes; and such a volume, from its _completeness_, would be invaluable in the british museum. but these limits are too narrow for the true grangerite. he desires a wider field of action. so he embarks upon a task which he can never hope to complete. though he labour all his life there will always be _some_ one or more engravings that he has failed to secure; and so far from being 'invaluable,' his collection becomes merely of passing interest. as a book it is, of course, grotesque. the fate of most of these collections is probably the same. so long as the binding remains in good condition they are ensured a niche on some neglected shelf; but once the marks of age or wear and tear manifest themselves their fate is sealed. they come speedily into the hands of those booksellers who deal also in prints, and beneath such ruthless hands the labour of years is undone in a few minutes. at least it is pleasant to think that the poor pages, separated for so many years, come together again if only for a few hours before they reach the paper-mill! whether the sober-minded collector whose pride is the well-being of his books is justified in adding a frontispiece and, say, half-a-dozen good engravings to a book that he appreciates, is a moot question. doubtless the correct view is that books should not be meddled with by amateur book-producers, that both publisher and author know best what is most fitting for the volume they produce, that any book which has been tampered with internally in any way becomes a monster and is to be avoided. but this brings up again the old question, 'may we not do what we like with our own volumes?' personally i am of opinion that the judicious and extremely moderate adornment of certain books is justified by the result. there is no doubt that the insertion in an _un_illustrated volume of travel of, let us say, six engraved plates depicting scenes mentioned in the text, adds a charm to the volume and enhances both its appearance and the pleasure of its perusal. similarly the addition of an _authentic_ portrait to a biography certainly lends an added interest, whilst the addition of a map is often of the greatest assistance to the reader. but that books should be mutilated, torn apart, and stuffed with play-bills, lottery-tickets, and the like, no sane book-lover will admit. there are some books that seem to ask for illustration. who has handled the three folio volumes which comprise the first edition of clarendon's 'history of the rebellion' without feeling that by rights they should contain fine mezzotint portraits of the chief actors in that great drama? but they must be mezzotints, mark you--mere line engravings would be out of place among those bank-note paper leaves with their handsome great-primer type. this question of seemliness, too, must be considered carefully ere we add a single plate to any volume. not every engraving, however beautiful in design and impression, is at once suitable to every book that treats of the subject it depicts. that the illustrations be contemporary with the text goes without saying. no one would be so foolish as to insert modern 'half-tone' illustrations in a seventeenth-century book. that heading 'extra-illustrated,' so dear to certain booksellers, must send a shudder through many of the discerning readers of their catalogues. books that are extra-illustrated should be avoided by the collector on principle. there is something foolishly egotistical in seeking (by those who have no knowledge of book-production) to 'improve' the work of other men whose business is the making of books. there can be no necessity for it; the author is quite sure to have added the illustrations that are requisite for the volume. it is only books that were published without illustrations that we are justified in attempting to embellish. illustrations in a book are invariably a question of the author's and publisher's tastes; the cost of their production is not usually an all-important item: it is the setting up of the type, the paper, and the binding that count--not the illustrations. it was the fashion in the early decades of the last century to issue volumes of engravings suitable for illustrating the works of contemporary writers, such as byron and scott: and these illustrations can be used when you have your editions rebound. there is no particular merit about the greater part of them, but they depict incidents described in the text, so at least they are apposite. each to his taste; our book-hunter for his part needs no second-rate illustrations to help him visualise the glories of childe harold or don juan; and he has long since confined his grangerising to the sparing addition of finely engraved portraits to biographical volumes. footnotes: [ ] with regard to these cases, the collector will use his own judgment as to whether they be of the 'slip-in' variety, by which means the binding is rubbed every time that he withdraws and inserts his volume; whether such cases be lined with velvet, and roomy enough to obviate this friction; or whether they shall open with a flap at the side. [ ] if you are interested in the pedigrees of your volumes (by which we mean the identification of their previous owners) you will find m. guigard's 'nouvel armorial du bibliophile,' octavo, paris, , useful where armorial bindings are concerned. it is an interesting volume, and appeared first of all in four parts (large octavo, paris), between and . there are cuts of every coat of arms identified, but these are almost entirely french. mr. cyril davenport's 'english heraldic book-stamps' was published in large octavo, in . for early book-plates you must consult the numerous works upon this subject that have appeared in recent years. an excellent series of articles entitled "books on book-plates," by f.c.p., appeared in 'the bookman's journal and print collector' between february and july, (nos. - , - , , , and ). there is also 'a bibliography of book-plates,' by messrs. fincham and brown, in which the plates are arranged chronologically. the ex-libris society issues a journal, and there are numerous other volumes upon this subject, which you will find mentioned in mr. courtney's 'register of national bibliography.' [ ] canto xviii. [illustration] chapter vi the care of books--(_continued_) 'in the name of christ all men i pray, no wight this book doth carry away, by force or theft or any deceit. why not? because no treasure so sweet as my books, which the grace of christ display.' (_written in latin hexameters at the end of the leechbook of bald._) there can be no subject of such prime importance to the collector as the housing of his books. in most cases the books themselves have small say in the matter, for a certain room in the house is allotted to them without any consideration as to its suitability for storing books, and there they must abide, making such shift as their possessor shall determine. this must always be the case where their owner is in lodgings or in any temporary abode, where it is not considered worth while going to the expense of putting up permanent shelves for his books. but, after careless handling, there is nothing that ruins books more quickly than an indifference to their well-being; and unless our volumes are constantly placed in their proper position, that is upon their _feet_, they will age speedily and visibly both inside and out. 'the surest way to preserve your books in health is to treat them as you would your own children,' wrote that great bibliophile, william blades; and the care which should ever be bestowed upon ancient volumes cannot be too strongly emphasised. and it is not only 'ancient' volumes that require attention. cloth bindings are hardly so durable as leather, and without proper care a library of modern books can be reduced to wreckage in a year. it is just as easy to provide proper accommodation for one's books, wherever one may be living, as it is to provide comforts for oneself. treat your books well and they will last you all your life, giving pleasure every time that you may take them in your hands. remember also that although one may judge the propensities of a collector from the titles of his volumes and his character from their contents, yet there is nothing which indicates his habits so surely as the external appearance of his books. whenever our book-hunter enters the library of a fellow-bookman he can gauge at once the depths of his feelings towards books, let alone the extent of his bibliographical knowledge. surely no man is such a giant among his fellows that he may allow the life-works of the greatest geniuses of this world to be spurned underfoot? 'take thou a book into thine hands,' wrote thomas à kempis, 'as simeon the just took the child jesus into his arms to carry him and kiss him.' what true book-lover could find it in his heart wantonly to injure a good book? '. . . as good almost kill a man as kill a good book,' wrote milton in that oft-quoted passage in his areopagitica; 'who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, god's image; but hee who destroyes a good booke kills reason itselfe, kills the image of god, as it were in the eye. many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good booke is the pretious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm'd and treasur'd up on purpose to a life beyond life.' it is not only the critic who destroys books, for neglect may approach dangerously near to wanton destruction. at the least, he who regards not the welfare of his books is an accessory before the fact of their destruction. 'books,' says that veteran bibliophile m. octave uzanne, 'are so many faithful and serviceable friends, gently teaching us everything through their persuasive and wise experience.' surely if good books are so much to us, such a great part of our lives, it behoves us to respect them not a little. have they not taught us, guided us, advised us, soothed us, and amused us from our youth up? and is it meet that we should repay their constant friendship with indignity? 'thou, whosoever thou art that studiest in this book,' wrote an unknown book-lover many centuries ago upon the margin of a favourite volume, 'take heed to turn the leaves lightly and smoothly, that thou mayest avoid tearing them on account of their thinness; and seek to imitate the example of jesus christ who, when he had gently opened the book of isaiah and read it with attention, at length closed it reverently and returned it to the minister.' on this subject of shelving our book-hunter can speak from experience, for he has provided proper accommodation for a thousand to three thousand volumes in three temporary abodes.[ ] it takes a little time, a fair amount of trouble, and an outlay of three or four pounds; but when once accomplished such shelving is a thing of no small pride to oneself, and the object of a good deal of admiration by one's friends. briefly, the plan he has always adopted is to erect shelves of pine or deal stained brown, nine inches wide and five-eighths or three-quarters of an inch thick, along the entire walls of his sanctum. it is firmly made and will last a lifetime, yet it can readily be taken to pieces in a few minutes. [illustration: the home-made library] in erecting such shelving the first thing to do is to estimate how many feet of it you will require. on an average one foot will contain ten octavo or quarto volumes or six folio ones. there should be ten inches between the shelves for octavos, twelve inches for quartos, and fourteen inches for folios: while at the bottom you may have a shelf sixteen inches in height for such large folios as you may acquire or already possess. should the huge folios (almost folissimos) published by the record commission in the early years of the nineteenth century fall within the category of your collecting activities, you will require one shelf at least no less than nineteen inches in height. if only for the sake of your peace of mind i would strongly advise you not to begin collecting early spanish antiphonaries, such as you may see in the escurial; for these are frequently six feet high and four feet wide, and are really out of place in the small domestic library. i forget for the moment their precise dimensions in millimetres. it is a mistake to have the top shelves too high. not to speak of the inconvenience of having to stretch upon tip-toe or mount a chair in order to obtain a volume, your books will be subjected to a higher temperature the nearer they are to the ceiling. blades, in his 'enemies of books,' is emphatic upon this point. 'heat alone,' he says, 'without any noxious fumes is, if continuous, very injurious to books; and, without gas, bindings may be utterly destroyed by desiccation, the leather losing all its natural oils by long exposure to much heat. it is, therefore, a great pity to place books high up in a room where heat of any kind is used, for it must rise to the top, and if sufficient to be of comfort to the readers below is certain to be hot enough above to injure the bindings.' gas is one of the greatest enemies of books, the sulphur in the gas fumes attacking the leather bindings readily, so that in time they are reduced to tinder. so if gas be the illuminant in your study, see to it that no volume of yours be above the level of the burner. in any case, if space will permit, the highest shelf should not be more than six feet from the ground. for similar reasons of temperature, the bottom shelves should be six inches above the floor. as to the actual length of the shelves, if constructed of wood five-eighths of an inch thick _when planed_, they should not exceed two feet two inches in length between supports. if made longer they will gradually bend in the middle under the weight of the books and soon look unsightly. but if made of three-quarter-inch wood, they may well be three feet long. now as to the actual construction of the cases. we will suppose that the entire case, that is shelves and uprights, is to be made of planks five-eighths of an inch thick when planed. the first thing to do is to estimate how many feet of timber you will require. measure your wall space. in calculating the length of shelving remember that each _upright_ is five-eighths of an inch thick; and in estimating the height of the uprights, don't forget to add the thicknesses of the shelves to the spaces between them. perhaps the following example will be useful. to find height of upright:-- top shelf space ½in. nd shelf space in. rd shelf space in. th shelf space in. th shelf space in. th shelf space in. height of lowest shelf from floor in. thickness of shelves, each / in. ¾in. ------ height of upright-- ft., ¼in. ------ the top shelf will be ft. in. from the ground. the uprights must be two inches wider than the shelves in order that the latter may not rest against the wall. there must always be a space between shelves and wall to allow a free circulation of air about the books. therefore, let your uprights be eleven inches and your shelves nine inches in width. in estimating the amount of timber required, don't forget the top. the manner in which the shelves are supported by the uprights is as follows. strips of wood five-eighths of an inch square and nine inches long are screwed across the uprights, and on these the shelves rest. so when you order the wood from your carpenter or timber merchant see that he sends you also a sufficiency of these strips, two for each shelf. the fixing of these strips will entail a certain amount of carpentry, and in addition to bradawl, screwdriver, and footrule you will need a hard pencil and a carpenter's square, as well as some stout iron screws one inch long. two screws are sufficient for each strip. if you are anything of a carpenter you will countersink the holes for the heads of the screws; this will also prevent a possible splitting of the strip. when your carpentering is completed, the whole case must be stained to your taste. for this purpose our book-hunter has found nothing so good as the solution known as 'solignum,' which may be purchased at any ironmonger's. in addition to being a wood-preservative, it has the advantage of being obnoxious to insects. it dries a pleasing brown, not unlike old oak. the only objection to its use that he has discovered is that it smells strongly, though not unpleasantly, for about a fortnight. one coat is quite sufficient, and after a few days you may rub the shelves with an old duster to remove any of the solution that has not yet been absorbed. the case should now be put together, the tops (which are in one piece, the entire width of the case) and lowest shelves being screwed to the uprights. the other shelves are merely rested on the strips. you will find that if your floor be level, and you have sawn the bottoms of the uprights squarely, there will be no necessity to affix the case to the wall: the weight of the books alone will keep it in position. if the floor proves uneven, small wedges underneath the uprights will be sufficient. you will find it an advantage to cover the shelves and their sides with green baize. this protects the bindings of the books considerably, and it is easily stuck on with glue. it has also the advantage of _holding_ the dust which collects, and with the aid of a small 'vacuum-cleaner' such as most households possess nowadays, the cases may be cleaned thoroughly without removing a single shelf.[ ] felt would be better, but it is, of course, much more expensive. sir john cheke, tutor to edward the sixth, that learned man who, says milton, 'taught cambridge and king edward greek,' used buckram. 'among other lacks,' he writes from cambridge in to a friend in london, 'i lack painted bucram to lai betweyne bokes and bordes in mi studi, which i now have trimd. i have need of xxx yardes. chuse you the color.' but the buckram of his day was probably a very different material from the cloth which we are accustomed to associate with the binding of books. at all events i certainly should not recommend its use when you trim your studi. on no account must you paint or varnish your shelves, unless, of course, you intend to cover them with baize or felt. however good the paint, however hard the varnish, heavy leather-bound books will adhere to them in course of time. so that when you come to remove a volume which you have treasured in its ancient calf, you will find that the leather at the bottom edges of the boards remains behind with the shelf. therefore, unless you intend to line them, let your shelves be stained or sparingly polished only. care must be taken not to place any volume near wet or even damp 'solignum.' make sure that it is thoroughly dry or covered with baize before you place a single volume on the shelves. should you wish your work to look particularly neat, you may putty over the heads of the screws before you begin staining operations. an additional 'finish' is given by numbering the cases with roman numerals in gold upon small stained blocks (about inches by ¼ inches) affixed to the top of each case. the shelves may also be lettered with letters of the alphabet cut out of gold paper. but perhaps you may prefer to designate the cases of your library by the names of ancient rome, as was the practice followed notably in these days in the library of sir robert cotton. it is a pleasant conceit, and there is certainly something more dignified about 'vespasian, vii, ,' or 'cleopatra, iv, ' than there is about a mere 'b, vi, ,' or 'xiv, c, .' asinius pollio, that great warrior, historian, and book-lover of the augustan age, is said to have been the first to adorn his library with portraits and busts of celebrated men as well as with statues of minerva and the muses, an example that was soon followed by others. pollio was the first to found a public library at rome, which he endowed with the money obtained in his illyrian campaign, says pliny: but in how many public libraries at the present day will you find a memorial of this great patron of virgil and horace? the effect of placing statuettes of marble or plaster, about sixteen inches high, on the top of one's book-cases is singularly pleasing; and there is an appropriateness about it to the eye that it is impossible to describe. one may have beautiful reproductions of all the most famous classical statues and busts for a few shillings. what can be more appropriate than for calliope to preside over your case containing homer and virgil, dante and milton; or that euterpe should be enthroned above theocritus and horace, shelley and swinburne? you may carry your fancy on these lines as far as you like, and you may include any figure that pleases you, from the well-known 'discobolus' (over your case of sporting books!) to the exquisite statue which many still persist in calling the 'venus de milo.'[ ] a friend of our book-hunter has adopted a somewhat similar plan. above each case in his library he has placed an oaken shield on which are emblazoned the arms of one of the ancient historic families of england, such as warren, clare, mortimer, or doyly. the effect is striking, and the bold colouring of fesses and chevrons lightens the sombre tone of the mahogany cases. the shields are chosen for their distinctive features, and, once learnt, it would be impossible in seeking 'warr. c, ' to mistake the scarlet chevrons of clare for the blue and white chess-board coat of warren. on the matter of cases with glass doors we need not touch here; it has been thoroughly debated by such masters as blades and lang. for the storing of valuable books and bindings such cases are excellent, provided always that there is a free circulation of air about the volumes, or that the doors are opened every day. but for one who is at work continually in his library, and is referring constantly to his books, the repeated opening and closing of glass doors would be something more than irritating. charles v. of france had grilles of brass wire put in the windows of his library in the louvre, to preserve the books from the attacks of 'birds and other beasts.' the document recording the payment for this work makes the sinister remark that the books were in the tower 'devers la fauconnerie.' precisely what the clerk of the works thought we shall never know; possibly he pictured a goshawk pouncing upon the 'veluyau ynde' in which some chubby duodecimo was clothed. in the end, however, the 'oyseaux et autres bestes' had to make room for the books; and the tour de la fauconnerie, known thenceforth as the tour de la librairie, was panelled throughout with 'bois d'irlande,' carved and inlaid (as it seems) with cypress wood. however, this was so long ago as . we must now turn to another important matter--perhaps the most important subject to the collector after the housing of his volumes--namely, the binding of his books. it is a subject that is naturally of the greatest moment to the bibliophile, for it is as essentially a part of his volumes as are their leaves and print. it is constantly before him, and will continue to occupy his thoughts to the end of his book-collecting career. so often, however, has it been treated, so many are the books upon it by skilled craftsmen, that it were needless (and, indeed, presumptuous for the writer) to enter into any details here concerning its methods. i would strongly urge every young collector, however, to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the craft so far as can be done without actually becoming apprentice to a bookbinder. bookbinding is taught nowadays at most of the county council schools of technics throughout the kingdom; and there are opportunities in this direction for the young bibliophile to-day which his elder brethren regard with envy. even where such practical instruction is unobtainable it is possible to acquire a quite considerable knowledge of the craft by a diligent study of practical text-books and the scrutinous handling of volumes bound in all ages. as he reads each page, each section of his manual, the collector should examine repeatedly the volumes lying by his side. our book-hunter began his study of bookbinding with a small and excellent text-book by mr. joseph zaehnsdorf, a member of the well-known firm of binders (sm. vo, rd ed. ); but it has perhaps been superseded by the more recent work of mr. douglas cockerell, namely, 'bookbinding and the care of books,' a perfectly invaluable little book to the collector (sm. vo, th ed. , published by mr. john hogg, paternoster row). a diligent application to this book and constant reference to bound volumes during his perusal will teach the collector sufficient about the binding of books for his purpose. he will be able to distinguish between a cased and a bound book, a well-bound and a badly-bound volume, good and bad sewing, tooling, etc.; and he will learn the advantages of the solid back. now he may turn to the valuable work by mr. h. p. horne entitled 'the binding of books' ( vo, ) from which he will learn a great deal that is of interest concerning the history of binding. an excellent pamphlet on bookbinders and the history of their craft, by mr. w. h. j. weale, was issued in by the authorities of the victoria and albert museum at south kensington. it was published at one shilling, and consists of pages with illustrations of binders' stamps and tools, and has an excellent index. at the time of writing it is still in print. but you will find valuable lists of works on the history and practice of bookbinding in mr. cyril davenport's delightful volume 'the book: its history and development' ( vo, , messrs. constable and co.). and there are two small volumes on the qualities of the modern book-binding leathers which the collector will do well to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest at the outset of his bibliopegic studies. they are 'leather for libraries' ( vo, london ), by a committee of the library association, and the report of the committee of the society of arts on leather for bookbinding, also octavo, london . now as to the practical application of his knowledge of bookbinding. he will have realised at the outset of his career that unless a book be strongly bound in leather at the first, much use will quickly reduce it to the condition of a wreck. the british museum authorities, recognising this, wisely rebind in leather certain volumes published in cloth covers which are to be placed on the shelves of the reading room. where much use is accorded to the volumes doubtless the ideal way, if one were possessed of sufficient means, would be to purchase new books in quires only, and to have them bound in vellum, pigskin or morocco straight away. with regard to second-hand books (by which i mean old-time literature) these would be rebound, similarly, before they were assigned places on the shelves. fortunately, however, in the private library our volumes are immune from that careless handling usually accorded to books by those who love not learning for learning's sake, but look upon it as a necessary part of their worldly education. usually there is no need to rebind these ancient tomes whose 'joints' are so delicately described by the bookseller as 'tender': their very infirmity will ensure that they be accorded careful handling. but there comes a time when the old fellow succumbs to his arthrodial trouble, and there is nothing for it but to send him to the binder that he may acquire a second youth. then it is that the collector's learning in the art of binding will prove of the greatest use. he will take the patient in his hands, examine him minutely, and write a long prescription which he will slip into the volume opposite the title-page, before proceeding to wrap him up for the journey. it will run something like this: m. pasquier's 'recherches de la france' fo: paris . to be bound in full niger, dark brown (as i usually have it). solid back, big round bands. all edges untouched. old marbled endpapers, cloth joints. blind panel and lozenge tooling on sides (like the pattern you have of my big menestrier). on the back a broad gold line either side of each band. panels plain. to be lettered (thick fount) recherches de la france and in the middle panel pasquier. the engraved portrait facing the title-page to be washed and sized. tears on pp. , to be mended. pigskin, vellum, and morocco (by which i intend goatskin): there are no alternatives if durability be our aim; calf, of course, we have learnt long ago to eschew. no leather, except russia, perishes more quickly or more easily. rather have a book bound in cloth than in calf any day. buckram is good and stands fairly rough handling; it is useful for binding catalogues and cheap books. see that your binder gives you good thick boards when he clothes your books in buckram. years ago, when books were most commonly bound in calf, a custom arose of stamping the lettering on thin pieces of leather of a different colour from the binding, and these were stuck on to the back of the book. there is no doubt that these leather labels have _sometimes_ a pleasing effect, and for a time the custom was very popular. but it is a bad habit. besides the meretricious effect generally produced, the paste which holds the label to the back of the book perishes in time, and the label drops off. a visit to any large second-hand bookshop will afford an admirable illustration of the result of this habit. here one may see sets of shakespeare's works and other classics which present a most woebegone appearance owing to several of the volumes having shed their labels. the only excuse for this custom that i have ever heard urged, is that one always knows when to rebind volumes so adorned: it is when the labels begin to fall. as to the merits and demerits of the different coloured moroccos, you will find these fully dealt with in the bookbinding manuals. white and black we are warned against especially. the bookbinding authorities tell us that vellum, if exposed to a strong light, perishes and chips off like egg-shell; and we are warned to place vellum bound volumes with their backs to the wall, lettering the fore-edge with pen and ink, as was often done of old. but if kept away from the windows this precaution seems to be unnecessary. the beautiful brown vellum used for binding and repairing old books by messrs. john ramage and son is very attractive and is, perhaps, as durable a binding as it is possible to have. possibly other bookbinders use it, though i do not remember to have seen it used by any other firm. so far as i am aware this firm is the only one in london capable of executing work of the very highest class at a price within the means of the modest collector. it has been said that there are only four bookbinders in london who may be trusted not to mutilate a book, and that there are only two who have any sense of design and harmony of colour. but this is not to be wondered at when we consider that the majority of the bookbinders' customers know nothing whatever of bookbinding good or bad, requiring only that their volumes shall present a gorgeous appearance to the eye. consequently the ordinary binder is rarely called upon to pay those minute attentions to detail demanded by a hypercritical collector. bibliophiles are born, not made, and it were foolish to expect that every bookbinder has the love of books at heart. in nine cases out of ten it is our own fault if the binder goes wrong, for it means that our instructions have been either too meagre or lacking in a knowledge of technical detail. when sending a book to the binder, definite instructions should always be enclosed. the details should be set forth clearly on a slip accompanying the volume. it should be stated: (i) whether the book is to be bound in pigskin, vellum, or morocco (levant, niger, smooth or rough grained). (ii) the colour. and here let me say that it is always better to choose the leather (the actual skin) oneself. the binder will make up two little books, lettered with the collector's name on the cover, containing moroccos of different hues; one he will give to the collector, the other he will retain. as every sample in these books is numbered, when ordering it is merely necessary to give the number (written _very distinctly_!). it is perhaps superfluous to add that, at the outset, the collector will have obtained a guarantee from his binder that only acid-free skins shall be used in binding his books. and he will also be careful to avoid selecting the very bright tints, such skins not being so durable as those of more sombre hue. (iii) whether quarter, half, or whole binding. (iv) if quarter or half binding, whether the sides are to be covered with cloth (buckram or linen, and colour) or paper (marbled or plain, and colour). (v) treatment of the edges: whether top edge gilt (t.e.g.), all edges gilt, gilt on red, gilt on the rough, marbled, sprinkled, yellow, red, or blue edges (the last two very effective on folio books bound in pigskin), edges trimmed or untrimmed, uncoloured, etc. (vi) round or square back. (vii) solid or hollow back. (viii) round or square raised bands, big or small, or 'no bands' (_i.e._ not showing). (ix) end-papers (white, plain coloured or marbled). (x) whether, in the case of a large book, it is to have cloth joints (inside the covers). (xi) design in gold or blind tooling on sides and back. (xii) lettering on back. this should be given in capital letters precisely as it is desired to appear. if any lettering is required in a panel other than the title-panel (second from top), it should be stated which one; the number of the volume or the author's name is put sometimes in the third panel from the top and sometimes in the fourth. (xiii) leaves to be mended, cleaned, or pressed; and any directions regarding illustrations, maps, etc. a goodly list? yes, but a necessary one unless one is content to leave these things to the binder's discretion. he _may_ be one of the two who are said to possess 'a sense of design and harmony of colour'; but unless the collector has enclosed instructions as to all these points, if on its return the appearance of the book displease him he has only himself to blame. the care which the book-lover bestows upon his volumes should not end, however, when they return from the binder. unless attended to from time to time a leather binding--however good the leather--will perish, probably, within a lifetime. vellum, apparently, is everlasting, provided it be kept away from the light and not exposed to great changes of weather or temperature. but pigskin, goatskin, and of course calf, in time lose by evaporation certain fats which are inherent in the leather. some collectors use furniture-polish or brown boot-polish to brighten up dingy old bindings, and this certainly has a pleasing (and often surprising) effect. but it is a bad practice, for the polish hardens the leather, which soon cracks worse than before. 'it would add immensely to the life of old leather bindings,' writes mr. cockerell, 'if librarians would have them treated, say once a year, with some preservative.' and he goes on to recommend that the bindings be rubbed over with a solution of paraffin wax dissolved in castor oil. our book-hunter has used a preparation of glycerine for some years with success, but the paraffin wax promises to evaporate less rapidly. old calf bindings should be treated at least once every year. what shall we do with our volumes in 'original boards, uncut' when their paper backs become tattered, their labels illegible? is there no other treatment for them than a visit to the binder's? that depends entirely upon one's energy, one's capacity for taking pains, one's neatness of finger, and the time at one's disposal. as i have said, the pleasure in handling volumes so attired is sufficient excuse for a desire to retain them in their original condition as long as possible. there is a facility in opening, a lightness in holding, and a simple charm in their appearance that is unknown to their more richly clad brethren. our book-hunter for his part has long since given up sending such volumes to the binder's. let the adept exercise his craft upon tomes in worn-out leather bindings; with the repairing of books in their original boards our amateur himself will deal. it is not a difficult matter, and it can be done by the bibliophile at home. the first requisites are some sheets of strong, tough paper, brown and coloured. these can be procured for a few pence from any paper-merchant or place where they sell wrapping-paper. a pot of 'stickphast' paste, a pencil, a ruler, a pocket-knife, and a pair of scissors are the accessories. sometimes it is necessary only to re-back the volume. this is a simple matter. first of all the tattered paper on the back is scraped off, then a strip of brown or coloured paper is cut the required width and an inch and a half longer than the height of the volume. cover the strip with paste, then take the volume in your left hand and paste the back and half an inch on to the sides, having first of all placed a sheet of clean paper, slightly larger than the book, inside the cover at each end (_i.e._ under the boards). this is to prevent soiling. now press the back of the book on to the strip, lying on the table ready pasted, so that it adheres; and with your right hand press the sides of the strip over on to the sides of the book. experience will quickly teach you that if you use too much paste you will make a mess; whilst if you use too little the strip will not stick. if the paper is very thick it is necessary to rub the paste well into it. next put the back of the book upon the table (which we trust you have covered with a newspaper) and allow the boards to fall flat, holding the leaves upright. now comes the tricky part of the business: you have got to fold the projecting ends of the new back _over_ the top and bottom of the boards and _under_ the body of the book. if this is not quite lucid, get a volume in boards and hold it as we have directed, you will soon see what is meant. it is a ticklish operation and the paper is easily torn if too thin _or too damp_. it also requires some patience, for probably you will find that the strip has come away from the sides during your manipulations. press it down again and do the other end. pressing and pulling gently and kneading are the secrets of success. a small rubber squeegee such as photographers use is useful here. with it you can press out the superfluous paste under the sides of the strip; but it must be used cautiously and not too hard. now close the volume, not forgetting to insert sheets of clean paper between boards and leaves at either end, take it up again in your left hand, and pat and finger it carefully till you are satisfied that all is well. then remove a volume of similar thickness from a rather tightly packed shelf, and insert your patient in its place _as far as the strip_. leave it here to dry for at least twenty-four hours. if the original paper label is legible and intact, it can be easily soaked off the tattered back, though you may have to operate first of all with the pocket-knife to remove it entire from the book. press it between blotting-paper and allow it to dry naturally. when the new back is dry (not before) the label may be pasted on to it. if, however, the label is missing or too tattered to be of service, there is nothing for it but to write another one with your best penmanship, copying the original, if you have it, in facsimile. such labels should be written with indian (_waterproof_) ink upon rather thin paper of a different colour from the back. light buff is the most useful colour, though pale blue and light green can be used sometimes with advantage. should you wish to make your work look extra neat, and to disguise the fact that the volume has been rebacked, it is possible sometimes to raise the end-papers at the inner corners of the boards, so that the projecting ends of the backing-strip may be tucked under. so much for rebacking. sometimes, however, the boards are too dirty or broken to be retained, or some of the boards in a set of volumes are missing. then there is nothing for it but to provide new boards or patch up and re-cover the old ones. here again the labour is not very great. new boards may be cut from a cardboard box of suitable size and thickness. those used by dressmakers are not very suitable, the card being generally too soft. if your volume lacks one or both boards, paste the back with stickphast, and then press on to it a strip of very thin linen (a strip torn from an old cambric handkerchief serves admirably) about two inches wider than the back and an inch shorter than the height of the book. the linen will project an inch on either side of the back. now put the volume aside to dry. when the back is dry, having provided suitable boards, paste the linen sides on the underside of each board, _i.e._ so that when the book is shut, the linen is between leaves and board. the best way to do this is to take a volume of similar thickness, cover it with newspaper, and place it flat upon the table with its fore-edge to the back of the 'patient.' then lay the board on the supporting volume, and so paste the linen to it. do one side after the other, stand the book 'ajar,' and allow to dry. now you may proceed just as in re-backing, covering the boards first of all by pasting over them a rather thin but _opaque_ paper. you will find the squeegee useful here. these side-papers are measured and cut one inch larger than the volume at head, foot, and fore-edge. the projecting edges are folded over the boards and rubbed down with the squeegee. the corners need some attention and pressing. when you have re-backed your book and all is dry, you will have to provide it with end-papers. any opaque white paper will do, provided it is not too stiff. that used for lining chests of drawers will answer the purpose, though a paper of slightly better quality is preferable. measure it carefully about one-eighth of an inch less at head and foot than the height of the book. you need not trouble about the width: so long as the free edge projects beyond the fore-edge when you close the book it can be cut level afterwards. do not use too much paste, and crease the paper carefully along, and slightly into, the 'joint' with an ivory paperknife. do not close the book until it is dry. whenever you may have occasion to add new end-papers, remember to preserve all indications of the pedigree of your book, by which i mean traces of previous ownership. if there be a bookplate, soak it off, and when dry paste it inside the end cover. if there be autographs of interest on the boards, soak the paper off, cut out the writing and paste it back again when you have finished the book. when you have provided your volume with new boards, however, you may prefer to clothe it in a 'whole binding'; that is, to use a single piece of paper to cover both back and sides. this is slightly more difficult and some little patience is needed; but when successfully accomplished the effect repays one amply. lay your book on a sheet of coloured paper, so that the boards are flat whilst you are holding the leaves perpendicularly; then pencil and rule lines all round, leaving a margin of about three-quarters of an inch. cut out this piece, paste it, paste the back and boards, and lay the book down again on the paper just as you did to begin with. the book is held in this position with either hand whilst the edges are turned up over the boards. it takes a little practice, and one requires some experience in the shrinkage of the paper used. old boards that have their corners broken can be easily repaired by the use of plenty of paste rubbed well into the breaks, and by using fairly strong covering paper. there is another matter of which mention must be made here, for it is a necessary adjunct to the binding of books, and that is cleaning, or washing, as it is generally called. often one comes across leaves in a volume that are stained or spotted in such a manner as to spoil the appearance of the book which otherwise is perfect. such blemishes can usually be removed when the volume is rebound. either it is not such a difficult matter as many who have written of these things would have us believe, or else our book-hunter has been singularly fortunate. for he confesses to having achieved considerable success in this direction. like all other matters involving care and thoroughness, it takes a good deal of time, and no small amount of trouble; but apart from these considerations there is no reason why any bibliophile endowed with patience and a capacity for taking pains, should not attend to the washing of his more 'grubby' volumes himself. it is not the writer's intention here to go into the various processes employed, for that has been done already by experienced bookbinders; but perhaps the methods which he has employed successfully may be of interest and, possibly, of some use to beginners. perhaps it is hardly necessary to say that your first experiments should be made upon books of no value whatever, preferably volumes that have been picked out of the penny tub for this purpose. you will also have procured (if indeed you do not already possess) a copy of mr. douglas cockerell's invaluable little book which i have already mentioned, and have studied it as has been suggested above. mr. zaehnsdorf's work also contains a chapter on this subject. the paraphernalia required are not numerous or expensive, for they consist merely of three or four wide-mouthed glass-stoppered bottles in which to store your chemicals, and a few photographer's developing dishes (the _deep_ ones, of white porcelain) of a suitable size for octavo, quarto, or folio leaves. obviously the first thing to do is to remove from the book the leaf or leaves that require cleaning. unless, like gerard de leew, the antwerp printer, you are 'a man of grete wysedom in all maner of kunnyng,' you will not attempt to clean the leaves of a book _in situ_. in fact he would be a very brave (or foolish) man who, without great experience, tried to remove any sort of stain from a page without removing the leaf first of all. our own experience is that it is better to pull the whole book to pieces--or rather _take_ it to pieces, for the word 'pull' in this connection makes one shudder. carefully cut the threads that hold the quires to the bands, and little by little remove each quire. if the book is in an old leather binding, with a solid back, your task will be no easy one, for it is necessary to scrape away the glue from the back after it has been damped. a cloth dipped in very hot water and wrung out _tightly_ is sometimes of use here, but you must use the greatest caution. having removed the leaf, or rather sheet of four pages (we will suppose that the volume has been 'cut') that requires cleaning, you have now to diagnose its complaint and prescribe the correct remedy, which you will have learnt from the text-books we have mentioned. but if the leaf is not merely stained in part, but altogether brown and discoloured, the following treatment probably will prove efficacious. put half an ounce of permanganate of potash in a jug that holds about a pint and a half, and fill it up with hot water. stir with a piece of wood until the permanganate is dissolved. then lay your sheet in a developing dish and pour the hot solution in gently, taking care that there are no bubbles and that the leaf is completely covered. at the end of five minutes (or ten if the paper is thick and heavily sized) pour back the liquid into the jug, and, holding the dish over a sink, let cold water run across it in a gentle stream until _all_ the permanganate is washed away. the leaf will now be stained a deep brown. stand the dish on end (the leaf of course sticks to the bottom of the dish) to drain while you prepare the bleaching part of the operation. now take a similar jug, put half an ounce of oxalic acid into it, and again fill up with hot water. pour this (hot but not boiling) over the leaf as before. when the leaf is as white as the dish itself, which will take from five minutes to a quarter of an hour, pour off the solution and wash the surplus fluid away. then let the leaf wash in gently running water for one hour. our book-hunter always uses the bath for this purpose, but a tin foot-bath under a tap does excellently. the best way to dry the leaf is to press it gently between two sheets of unused blotting-paper, then remove the upper sheet and allow the leaf to dry naturally. remember, however, that after any washing or bleaching, leaves must always be 'sized' to give back to the paper that substance which the washing has taken out. you will find full instructions for doing this in the text-books i have mentioned. it is quite a simple matter. mr. cockerell recommends that the permanganate bath be only 'warmed slightly,' and that the leaf be left in it for 'about an hour.' our book-hunter has found (fortunately not to his cost, for the volumes which he used for experimental purposes were valueless) that this sometimes rots the paper, and on one occasion the leaves at the end of an hour came to pieces when the solution was poured off. if used hot and quickly it does not seem to injure the paper, but the water must never be so hot that you cannot bear your finger in it, and you must take care never to use a _stronger_ solution. a strong solution of permanganate will reduce paper to pulp in a few minutes. for similar reasons our bookman prefers oxalic to sulphurous acid, but this too must never be used stronger than i have indicated. i hasten to add, however, in deference to such an excellent authority, that our book-hunter does not _recommend_, but merely states the methods with which he personally has been successful. the most difficult stains to remove that the writer has yet come across are those made by a child's paint-box. some colours are easily removed, but seventeenth-century gamboge is a perfect beast. the only successful way to deal with these 'stains' is by studying the chemistry of the 'colours,' and the re-actions of the chemicals of which they are made. with a little experimenting there is no reason why any of these pigments should not be removed successfully, and at some future period of leisure our book-hunter hopes to record his own experiences in this matter. here a word of warning. do not handle permanganate of potash in the room where your bleached leaves are drying. if you do probably you will be annoyed to find small purple specks on the leaves where the fine permanganate dust has settled. it is unpleasant stuff to use, and stains everything with which it comes into contact. undoubtedly it is at its best in a closely stoppered bottle. rubber gloves would be useful, if they did not make one 'all thumbs.' remember that oxalic acid will remove the stains from your hands just as well as from paper--also that it bleaches carpets. (item, don't conduct your operations in the dining-room.) the best thing with which to handle the leaves when wet is a broad flat bone paper-knife with smooth edges. on various occasions when our bookman has not had time to complete the bleaching process, he has dried the leaves in their brown state and put them aside for a week before bleaching. so far he has not found this to have any ill effect on the paper, though possibly if kept for a longer period--especially if they got damp--the permanganate might rot them. a very hot and strong solution of alum i have used with success for leaves that are more dirty than stained, and do not really require bleaching. ether is excellent for stains of a greasy nature, though some may prefer the stains to the vapour which it gives off. with hydrochloric acid, so strongly recommended by some, i have never had any success. if used strong it destroys the paper, and if used weak the leaf has to be left in it for so long as to reduce the paper almost to a pulp. remember that as a general rule, the shorter the process of washing the better. long immersion tends to rot the fibres of the paper. with regard to staining the leaf so as to match the rest of the book, our book-hunter generally uses a solution of cigarettes (virginians are quite the best). possibly this is a very bad practice, but at least it is effective, the stain diffuses easily, and it can be regulated to any shade. coffee is recommended by some. thumb-marks and the stains of dirty fingers are best removed by rubbing them lightly (and very carefully) with one of those disc-shaped erasers used by typists. these erasers remove the surface of the paper, so they must be used with extreme caution.[ ] there is yet another byway of book-collecting which we must study before we may graduate in book-lore. to the uninitiated the word 'bibliography' conveys little more than a mere writing about books. but it is a vast study, and, if we are to become proficient in it, one that will occupy us for many years. for the specialist there is no more delightful pursuit than the compilation of a bibliography upon the subject of his choice. not only will it give him a sound bibliographical knowledge of the books which he desires and hopes ultimately to possess, but it will enable him to collate immediately every volume that he acquires. it will also open up a new field of interest for the young collector, for he will be constrained to study books from their material aspect; and with a knowledge of the 'natural history' of the book will come a regard for the well-being of his volumes. so also will he be brought into touch with modern methods of bibliography, and he will certainly find an additional interest in his books. the main objects of bibliography are, briefly, to determine (i) whether a book is genuine. (ii) whether it is complete and perfect. (iii) whether it is in its original condition, _i.e._ as it issued from the press. (iv) whether it has been made up by the insertion of leaves or quires from another copy or edition. (v) to provide a standard collation (_i.e._ an accurate description of the book in its original state) with which other copies may be compared. for the purpose of the specialist we may add (vi) to provide a bibliographical catalogue of those books in which he is especially interested. all this may sound very simple, but it must be borne in mind that where no standard collation is available, the only method of providing one is by a diligent, thorough, and precise study of the leaves, quires, watermarks and 'make up' of a number of copies. as these things frequently vary considerably in different copies of the same book, the task of standardising a collation is by no means an easy one. the difficulties that beset one in the case of early-printed books are immense; but with the inconstancies of incunabula we are not concerned here. it is easily begun, this making of a bibliography, and it is a delightful hobby, though necessarily it takes up a good deal of time. the plan which our book-hunter adopted is as follows, and it has been so successful and valuable to him that he has no hesitation in recommending it. first of all he procured a card-index box capable of holding about a thousand cards. upon these he entered the books as he came across them in catalogues of all sorts, under the authors' names. thus: diago (francisco) historia de los antiquos condes de barcelona fo: barcelona, . after each he generally pencils the price and bookseller, or other authority for the book's existence; but this is for his own guidance only, and is by the way. a fresh card is used for every book. this forms a rough index of every work upon his subject with which he is acquainted. now for the bibliography proper. for this our bookman uses single sheets of paper, eight inches by five, ruled with feint lines. these are contained in a 'spring-back' portfolio, thus forming a handy volume in which pages can be inserted anywhere at will. at the top of the page he writes the author's name, just as for the index, and beneath this (leaving a line blank) he copies the title-page of the book _in extenso_, using red ink for red print, capitals where capitals occur, and underlining those words which are in italics. the end of each line is indicated by a vertical stroke. then follows a complete collation of the book. the following illustration, however, will convey a better idea than can be given in words. it will be noticed that after the size (which is given in the english notation) the measurement _of the title-page_ in millimetres is added within parentheses. if more than one copy has been examined this measurement is of the largest. the reason why the form-notation is given as well as the actual size, is because it is easier to carry the form-notation in one's head. basnage (jacques) dissertation | historique | sur les duels | et les ordres | de | chevalerie. | par monsieur b... | (printer's device) | a amster dam, | chez pierre brunel, sur le dam | a la bible d'or. | m.dcc.xx. ^o ( Ã� ), amsterdam, . pp: xvi, , x. title. 'avertissement' ( pp.). contents ( pp.). pp: - text. then ten pages (unnumbered) containing the 'table des matières,' which begins on page (b). at the end is a blank leaf, completing quire l. reg: prelim: *----* ; text and index a----l , in eights. [a]. the author, jacques basnage de franquenet, was born at rouen in , studied at saumur, geneva, and sedan, and became a protestant minister in his native town. on the revocation of the edict of nantes he retired to rotterdam, where he devoted his life to literary researches. he died at the hague in . for his great reputation as a skilful diplomatist, see voltaire's 'age of louis xiv.' another edition of this work was published in octavo at basle in . whenever our book-hunter has an afternoon to spare, pocketing a handful of cards from the index he sets off for the british museum (or wherever he may happen to be working at the time, where access may be had to the volumes he requires) and settles himself to collate and copy title-pages. but it must be borne in mind that the collation of any volume cannot be considered as 'standard' until at least three copies of the book have been examined, all of which are identical. the majority of the common books printed after the year vary not at all in their make up; and having once collated such a volume, the comparison with it of other copies takes but a very few minutes. sixteenth-century books, however, especially those printed in the first half of the century, vary sufficiently in their collations to demand a much more careful scrutiny. if the volume under examination is a book of which different copies vary considerably, you must naturally be exceedingly cautious in declaring that your collation represents the form in which the book was issued from the press. it is quite possible that you will find differences in each of six copies. at the end of each collation our book-hunter puts a letter or letters in brackets to denote the habitations of the copies he has examined, the tallest copy (of which the title-page's measurements are given) being distinguished by an asterisk; thus: a, b*, n. 'a' represents our book-hunter's own copy, 'b' that in the bodleian library, 'n' that in the bibliothèque nationale; and so on. mention, of course, from which copy the collation has been taken is made in the text; or, if you prefer it, you may denote this, so that it may be seen at a glance, by entering the necessary distinguishing letter in _red_ ink. as i have said, it is a fascinating pursuit, but unless the subject in which you specialise is a narrow one, you may be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. take heed that you do not undertake more than you have time or opportunity to complete; or else, embarking upon a labour of hercules you may liken yourself to sisyphus. mazzuchelli began 'gli scrittori d'italia,' but succeeded in finishing only the first two letters of the alphabet. the temptation to leave behind us some great work by which our name will become in time a household word, is doubtless a great one; but gigantic though our _magnum opus_ may be in our own estimation, it does not follow that others will set a like value upon it, or, indeed, upon the labours of its author. jean de la haye, the preacher in ordinary to anne of austria, published his _biblia maxima_ in nineteen folio volumes; but, says the bibliographer, 'no part of it is esteemed except the _prolegomena_, and even they are too diffuse.' louis barbier gained the confidence of the duke of orleans by his great tact (which probably amounted to servility) and skill in repeating the tales of rabelais. mazarin appointed him bishop of langres for having betrayed his master. when he died in , he left a hundred crowns to whoever would write an epitaph worthy of him. so bernard de la monnoye wrote the following: 'ci git un très grand personnage, qui fut d'un illustre lignage, qui posseda mille vertus, qui ne trompa jamais, qui fut toujours fort sage, je n'en dirai pas d'avantage, c'est trop mentir pour cent écus.' but whether bernard got the legacy history does not relate. it is astonishing, however, what can be accomplished in this direction by diligence. le clerc, not content with having produced a 'bibliothèque universelle et historique,' laboured till he had given to the world a 'bibliothèque choisie' and a 'bibliothèque ancienne et moderne,' in all eighty-two duodecimo volumes! beausobre and l'enfant compiled a 'bibliothèque germanique,' comprising the period - ; and published it in fifty volumes. baillet's 'catalogue des matières' occupies thirty-five folio volumes. but of course all these were mere lists and criticisms of books, not detailed bibliographies of carefully collated works. it is a great gift, this gift of 'finding time.' 'when i see how much varro wrote,' says st. augustine in his 'de civitate dei,' 'i marvel much that ever he had any leisure to read; and when i perceive how many things he read, i marvel more that ever he had any leisure to write.' the creation of opportunity is no lesser gift. 'a wise man,' says bacon, 'will make more opportunities than he finds.' tomaso de andrada, a portuguese jesuit, wrote his _magnum opus_ in a dungeon, in chains, without clothes, with little food, writing only in the middle of the day by the help of a faint light which he received through an air-hole. the compilation of bibliographies began early in the history of books, and doubtless grew out of the catalogues which the early printers put forth. conrad von gesner compiled a 'bibliotheca universalis' which was printed at zurich in four volumes between and . françois grudé published a 'bibliothèque françoise' in . it is a catalogue of french authors and is not confined to any particular subject, but at least it is a step in the direction of classification. from that date the number of these invaluable works has steadily increased, and about the middle of the seventeenth century l'abbé put forth the first (?) of those useful book-collector's aids, a 'bibliotheca bibliothecarum.' this interesting little volume is really a list of books (under their authors' names) which also contain lists of authors. as l'abbé says in the preface to his volume, so pleasantly dedicated 'lectoribus philobiblis,' he designs his book to be a 'bibliothecam bibliothecarum, catalogum catalogorum, nomenclatorem nomenclatorum, indicem indicum, et quid non?' the only edition which i have seen was printed at paris in , but the licence is dated . another edition was printed at rouen in , a third at leipzig in , and a fourth some years later, all in duodecimo or small octavo. grudé's book is a choice one. it is entitled 'le premier volume de la bibliothèque du sieur de la croix-du-maine: qui est un catalogue général de toutes sortes d'autheurs, qui ont escrit en françois depuis cinq cents ans et plus jusques à ce iourd'huy,' and was published at paris 'chez abel l'angelier' in . it is one of those folio volumes printed in large pica on thick paper that delight the heart of the bibliophile and are a joy to handle. at the back of the title-page is an oval portrait of henry of navarre, dated . he was not a handsome man, if one may judge by this portrait, in fact it would be difficult to draw a more repellent face; yet the book was dedicated to the king in a long 'epistre au roy' which ends with the author's quaint anagram 'race du mans, si fidel a son roy' (françois de la croix du maine). but perhaps the portrait was omitted in the royal copy. the work was to have been completed in three volumes, of which the first two were to contain works published in the vernacular, and the third those printed in latin. but alas! the author left only this first volume, which contains some three thousand authors, with short biographies of them. one hesitates to connect this premature end of the book (or, indeed, the author's assassination six years later) with the unlucky portrait! altogether a very delightful volume. nowadays a bibliography that is not at once complete, detailed, and meticulously accurate is of no value. in this critical age when the methods of modern science are applied to books, it behoves the bibliographer to be careful, thorough, and precise. unless he can bring these three attributes to bear upon his work, far better that he should never undertake it; for the result will be not only valueless but misleading, and he will certainly fail to obtain 'that lasting fame and perpetuity of praise which god and good men have consented shall be the reward of those whose published labours advance the good of mankind.' there is one small appendage of the private library which must be mentioned before we close the chapter. a list of the prices which he has paid for his books forms a record that is indispensable to the book-collector. it is impossible to carry all one's 'bargains' in one's head, and if pencilled inside the book itself it is exposed to that publicity which one naturally shuns. such a record is of something more than curious interest, for a knowledge of the rise or fall in the price of those books in which he is interested is essential to the collector. whenever he comes across, in a bookseller's catalogue, a book that he already possesses, he will like to know how the present price compares with that which he gave for his copy. a convenient shape for this useful book is an ordinary folio account book (our book-hunter's measures inches Ã� ½ inches), and it should be ruled for 'cash,' with an inner margin. between the inner margin and (outer) cash column he rules two lines, dividing the middle of the page into three columns, of which the left-hand one is the widest. the illustration over-page will show you precisely what is meant. at the top of each page is placed a letter of the alphabet, and, immediately beneath or alongside this, the date of a year. in the inner margin each line is numbered down the page. in the next column is written the author and short title of the book--sufficient to identify it--then the place where it was bought, then the date when purchased, and in the cash column the price which was paid for it. in our book-hunter's ledger the first few pages are headed [greek: theta] (_books presented to me_) and the next heading is [greek: phi] (_books published by instalments, extending over several years_) then comes a and so on, each year having a letter assigned to it.[ ] now for the practical use of this ledger. inside the front cover of every one of his volumes our book-hunter affixes a book-plate; and in the left-hand bottom corner of this he writes the year-letter and number of the book's entry in his ledger: _e.g._ a , l , etc. thus supposing that one wishes to find out when and where one acquired a certain book and how much was paid for it, one has only to raise the front cover of the volume in question, and find its index mark. suppose it to be 'e .' turning to our ledger we find that e represents the year , and no. is the volume in question. similarly a signifies no. of , l is no. of , and so on. if your library be a large one, and a search for the volume would entail trouble, you may conveniently pencil this index mark against the book's entry in your catalogue, but in such a way that it cannot be mistaken for the shelf-mark. it is as well to write the entries in the ledger upon the recto of the leaves only, so that the verso (being numbered like the _opposite_ recto) may be used for recording the bindings, published prices, previous owners, etc., of the volumes opposite. when all the letters of the alphabet have been used up, they may be repeated doubled, as aa , dd , etc. c c +------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | . | fuller's 'holy warre,' | thorp, guildford | th january | | | | . | vredius--'sigilla com. flandriae' | poynder, reading | rd january | | | | . | anstis--'observations on the bath' | harding, london | rd february | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | . | | | | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ footnotes: [ ] it may be that you are contemplating the erection of shelves for your books? if so, perhaps the writer's experience may save you some little time and trouble. but if your treasures are already housed in a manner fitting, then he will claim your indulgence and ask that you be so good as to skip the next few pages. [ ] but as the shelves are not fixed to the uprights, it is a simple matter to remove each shelf in turn from the room, and brush out the dust with a stiff clothes-brush. [ ] it does not represent the roman venus, and there is no place named 'milo.' were the statue anywhere else than in the louvre, probably it would be known generally (as it is to scholars) by its proper name--the aphrodite of melos. [ ] the writer possesses a copy of the first edition of "mr. sponge's sporting tour," which is a perfect museum. at some period of its existence it was relegated to the harness-room; and its leaves bear the insignia of almost every known preparation used in dressing boots, harness, saddles, buckles, dogs, horses' hoofs, and human hair. not for all the wealth of the indies would he remove a single stain. most of them have been identified by his friends (it is feared with more regard for humour than accuracy) in marginal notes. sherlock holmes would certainly have considered it worthy of a monograph. [ ] i will not venture to suggest that you follow the example of a book-collecting acquaintance who has an extra heading for 'books that i have _acquired_!' [illustration] chapter vii books of the collector 'to give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.'--proverbs, i. . just as anyone who sets out to collect prints or antiques must provide himself at the outset with certain books necessary for obtaining a knowledge of the subject, so the book-collector must gather to himself those works which, if studied carefully, will enable him to become thoroughly conversant with the objects of his favourite pursuit. to the real collector there is no more delightful reading than the literature which deals with the subject he has made his own; and the more ample and specialised it be, the greater will be his delight. what bibliophile has not read, and read again, such delightful works as burton's 'book hunter,' blades' 'enemies of books' and 'life and typography of william caxton,' 'the library' and 'books and bookmen' by andrew lang, harrison's 'choice of books' and 'among my books,' clark's 'care of books,' edwards' 'libraries and founders of libraries,' and many others of equal charm? indeed, these volumes may well be among the first that he who embarks upon the peaceful sea of book-collecting gathers to himself. nor is there any less fascination in the more specialised works, such as mr. gordon duff's 'early printed books,'[ ] 'english provincial printers,' and 'the printers of westminster and london to ,' bradshaw's 'collected papers,' mr. a. w. pollard's 'early illustrated books,' wheatley's 'prices of books,' professor ferguson's 'aspects of bibliography,' and the publications of the bibliographical society. all these and many others are necessary if we are to acquire a thorough knowledge of old books. they are, or should be, in every large public library; and we may read them through and through at our leisure, learning more from each perusal. there are certain works, however, which the book-collector should himself possess, for he will have continual recourse to them throughout his book-collecting career. doubtless some of them will make an inroad upon his purse, but it will be money well spent, and the knowledge which he will gain from them will save him many a shilling. their acquisition must be looked upon in the same light as the shelves and fittings of the library. [sidenote: general bibliographies.] first of all we will take those bibliographies which deal with books published in the english language, and there are certain of these volumes that are indispensable to the book-collector. among them are lowndes' 'bibliographer's manual,' in six octavo volumes, last published in [ ] (alas! sadly deficient, but still of considerable use), which one can have for about a pound, and hazlitt's valuable 'bibliographical collections and notes on early english literature,' complete in eight octavo volumes, published between and . the bibliographical society's publications, from onwards, are of the greatest value, comprising lists of english printers, early editions of rare books, lists of early english plays, tales, and prose romances, with numerous bibliographies. for recourse to these, probably it will be necessary to visit the nearest important public library, though one may purchase individual numbers from time to time at the second-hand booksellers'. arber's 'term catalogues,' published in three quarto volumes between and , gives a complete list of works entered at stationers' hall from to . it followed the same author's 'transcripts of the registers of the worshipful company of stationers of london, - ,' which was privately printed in five volumes between and . a second 'transcript' of these registers, from to , was issued similarly in - , in three more volumes. sir egerton brydges' 'british bibliographer' (in which he was assisted by joseph haslewood) was published in four octavo volumes, - , and is an entertaining work, though not one which it is necessary that the collector should acquire. the second edition of his 'censura literaria' appeared in ten volumes in , and the 'restituta; or titles, extracts, and characters of old books in english literature revived,' was published in four volumes, - . all these afford interesting reading; but they are for the armchair and fireside rather than the desk: and the information that they contain must not always be regarded as infallible. payne collier's 'account of the rarest books in the english language,' which appeared in two volumes in , is rather more dull than its title suggests. karslake's 'notes from sotheby's' is useful, being a compilation of notes from catalogues of book-sales between and . quaritch's 'general catalogue of books' is useful for reference. it comprises short descriptions of more than , works, and was published in in six volumes. an additional volume containing an index to the whole was issued in . the catalogue of the huth library, five large octavo volumes published in , is also valuable. then there is, of course, the british museum catalogue, which was printed in under the title 'a catalogue of books in the library of the british museum, printed in england, scotland, and ireland, and of books in english printed abroad, to the year ': three octavo volumes. for an actual list of the published works of all british authors of note, one must consult the 'dictionary of national biography': while the more detailed bibliographies to each volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature' are of great assistance, though they vary considerably, and do not pretend to be complete. allibone's 'critical dictionary of english literature and british and american authors,' in three volumes, was published by lippincott (philadelphia) between and . there is a supplement to it by j. f. kirk, which appeared in two volumes in . it is a work of considerable value to the bibliographer. with regard to the books printed abroad (as well as in england), it is essential that the collector procure a copy of brunet's 'manuel de libraire et de l'amateur de livres,' a most valuable work dealing with the literature of all countries. the last (fifth) edition of this great work was published in six octavo volumes at paris, - . in a companion volume by pierre deschamps was issued, entitled 'dictionnaire de géographie ancienne et moderne à l'usage du libraire,' a dictionary of the latin and greek names of places with their modern equivalents and some account of the first presses at those places. there is a modern-ancient index. a supplement to the 'manuel' was published by mm. p. deschamps and gustave brunet in two volumes, and . the complete work, in all nine large octavo volumes, - , cost formerly about £ ; however, a reprint of the fifth edition--an exact facsimile in type and size--was issued by brockhaus of leipzig (at ten pounds the set) in . graesse's 'trésor de livres rares et précieux' is also valuable. it comprises books in all tongues and contains a mass of bibliographical information. published in six quarto volumes (vol. is in two parts) between and , a supplement was issued in : in all seven volumes.[ ] of all the older general bibliographies, however, there are few that can compare with old david clement's 'bibliothèque curieuse historique et critique, ou catalogue raisonné de livres dificiles à trouver.' not, i hasten to add, for its accuracy or even the amount of information it contains. but there is a charm about these nine old quarto volumes with their handsome type and title-pages in red and black that appeals irresistibly to the collector. he was a true bibliophile, this worthy lutheran pastor, and his gradations of rarity are delightfully expressive and concise. 'rare,' 'très-rare,' 'fort-rare,' he describes his treasures, and occasionally 'peu-commun'; but he does not hesitate to condemn as 'rare et mauvaise' an edition that disturbs his bibliographical soul. alas! his work was only carried as far as the letter h (hesiod). [sidenote: early-printed books.] for early-printed books the collector will require ludwig hain's 'repertorium bibliographicum . . . usque ad annum ,' which was published at stuttgart in four octavo volumes, - , and is still the standard work upon this subject. for those who collect fifteenth-century books this work is essential, for all catalogues and descriptions of books of that period refer to it. generally the mere number of the work in hain's monumental list is referred to, such as 'h ,' which means that the volume offered for sale is as described by hain, number in the 'repertorium.' in dr. konrad burger added an index of printers to this great work, while between and dr. w. copinger published a supplement, adding some , new entries to hain's , . dr. burger added a further supplement in , and between and dr. dietrich reichling published appendices, additions and emendations to all of these, adding an index thereto in . for early german books, panzer's 'annalen der altern deutschen litteratur' to , which appeared at nürnberg in two volumes between and , has not yet been entirely superseded; though considerable additions have been made by mozler, weller, and petzholdt. mr. c. e. sayle's 'list of early english printed books in the university library at cambridge, to ,' in four octavo volumes, was published by that university between and ; while for books printed at oxford from the establishment of the first press there in to , you must consult mr. falconer madan's 'the early oxford press,' published in . blades' 'life and typography of william caxton' i have already mentioned; and although many of us may never behold a caxton save through a sheet of glass, yet every book-collector should be acquainted with the work of this great father of the english press. blades' work first appeared in two quarto volumes, published respectively in and , and is much to be preferred to 'the biography and typography of william caxton' which is practically a reprint in a cheaper form issued in one octavo volume in . a second edition of this last appeared in . in the preface to the reprint, blades states that 'only one additional fact of any importance has been added, viz. that caxton was married . . .' and that 'the bibliography has been curtailed.' proctor's 'index to the early printed books in the british museum from the invention of printing to the year md.,' begun in , was cut short by his untimely death. the museum authorities have now in course of publication an important work entitled 'a catalogue of books printed in the fifteenth century now in the british museum,' which is being compiled by mr. a. w. pollard and his assistants; it will be completed in six folio (really atlas quarto) volumes. of these the first part, dealing with block-books and the productions of german presses, appeared in ; part ii., also german-printed books, in ; part iii., germany, switzerland, austria and hungary, in : while part iv., the productions of italy, appeared in . parts v. and vi. will contain the works of england, france, and other countries, part vi. also containing a general index to the entire work. the introduction to part i. gives a valuable résumé of the study of scientific bibliography from panzer in . mr. gordon duff's great work on the english incunabula, 'fifteenth century books,' was issued by the bibliographical society in . it contains fifty-three facsimiles, and records the existence of books or fragments issued in english, or by the printers in this country, before the end of the year . in france much valuable work has been done on the early presses of that country. m. anatole claudin has put forth some extremely useful books on the early printers of poitiers, limoges, rheims, and of many other towns; whilst for the exposition universelle of he prepared a monumental work upon the early printers of paris. this sumptuous book, entitled 'histoire de l'imprimerie en france au xv^e et au xvi^e siècle,' was printed in two large quarto (atlas quarto) volumes, copiously adorned with illuminated and other illustrations. the chapter on antoine verard is delightful. there is a large number of books, too, on the incunabula of various european towns and districts, such as augsburg, bavaria, belgium, bohemia, ferrara, mainz, lyons, mantua, nürnberg, rome, rouen, toulouse, to mention only a few. for the incunabula printed with greek characters legrand's 'bibliographie hellénique,' which appeared in two octavo volumes in , is useful. for a description of the early 'block-books,' the prototype of printing, the collector must have recourse to sotheby's beautiful work entitled 'principia typographica,' published in three large quarto volumes in . it contains no less than a hundred and twenty full-page facsimiles, some in colour, of block-books, early types, paper-marks, etc., and is one of the most important works on the history of printing that has ever been produced.[ ] he will do well also to acquire bigmore and wyman's 'bibliography of printing,' a valuable work which appeared in three quarto volumes, - ; and there is an immense amount of information concerning individual printers and stationers with their productions in 'the library' (in progress), the three large volumes of 'bibliographica' published in twelve parts between and , and the transactions of the bibliographical society. [sidenote: engravings.] if early wood-engravings interest you, there are several works to which you may turn for guidance. lippman's 'wood engraving in italy in the fifteenth century,' of which an english edition was published in , and kristeller's 'early florentine woodcuts' which appeared in , treat of illustrated italian books. venetian books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are dealt with by prince d'essling in his 'bibliographie des livres à figures vénitiens - ,' of which a new edition appeared in . the works of dutch and belgian artists are dealt with by sir w. m. conway in 'the woodcutters of the netherlands in the fifteenth century.' this was published in . m. claudin's 'histoire de l'imprimerie en france' contains many illustrations of early parisian woodcuts and illuminations, while muther's 'die deutsche bücherillustration der gothik und frührenaissance,' published in , is also useful. for english engravers you will find sir sidney colvin's 'early engraving and engravers in england' ( ) useful, as well as lewine's 'bibliography of eighteenth century art and illustrated books,' which appeared in . a very delightful work on the eighteenth-century french engravers is m. h. cohen's 'guide de l'amateur de livres à gravures du xviii^e siècle,' of which the fifth edition was published in . bewick's work has been dealt with by mr. austin dobson in his 'thomas bewick and his pupils,' octavo, ; and 'a descriptive and critical catalogue of works illustrated by thomas and john bewick' was published by e. j. selwyn in . mr. a. w. pollard's 'early illustrated books,' of which a new edition appeared in , is of value from the historical point of view. [sidenote: place-names and dates.] cotton's 'typographical gazetteer,' of which the second (and better) edition was printed at oxford in , is valuable for the identification of ancient latin place-names. a second series was published in . j. hilton's 'chronograms' ( ) and 'chronograms continued' ( ) are often of great assistance with regard to dates. in this indefatigable collector published a third volume, quarto, containing more than four thousand additional examples. for mere lists of works upon definite subjects one may consult sargant and whishaw's 'guide-book to books' ( ) and 'the best books,' by w. s. sonnenschein. [sidenote: pseudonyms.] for the identification of authors who wrote under a pseudonym you will find 'a handbook of fictitious names,' by 'olphar hamst' (which was the pseudonym of ralph thomas) useful. it was published in . but this has been partly superseded by cushing's 'initials and pseudonyms,' large octavo, london, ; and the valuable work of emil weller, entitled 'lexicon pseudonymorum,' of which the second edition was published at regensburg the same year, in octavo. this contains thousands of pseudonyms of all nations and all ages. cushing also published 'a dictionary of revealed authorship,' in two volumes, . then there is the valuable 'dictionary of the anonymous and pseudonymous literature of great britain,' by halkett and laing, which appeared in four octavo volumes between and . mr. f. marchmont's 'concise handbook of literature issued anonymously under pseudonyms or initials,' appeared in . antoine barbier's 'dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes' was published first in four octavo volumes at paris so long ago as - . a second edition was put forth in - . but between and a third edition, revised and enlarged, was incorporated with 'les supercheries littéraires dévoilées' of joseph marie quérard (the second edition), the whole being edited by mm. gustave brunet and olivier barbier, and issued in seven large octavo volumes. the first three volumes ( - ) appeared under the title of quérard's work, the last four ( - ) under that of barbier. quérard's work, which first appeared in four octavo volumes, - , is, as its title indicates, a dictionary of those books in french which have been published under fictitious names, are spurious, or have been wrongly ascribed. it is valuable for the identification of many fictitious memoirs and like books. barbier's work deals with french anonymous and pseudonymous books. de manne's 'nouveau dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes,' octavo, lyon, , deals chiefly with contemporary french works. for pseudonymous books in italian one must consult the work of vincenzo lancetti, which appeared at milan, in octavo, , as well as the 'dizionario di opere anonime e pseudonime di scrittori italiani,' by g. m. (gaetano de' conti melzi), also published at milan in three octavo volumes, - . a supplement, by g. passano, was issued at ancona in . dibdin's rather sumptuously produced works are perhaps of more interest than bibliographical value, though his edition (vols. - , - ) of the 'typographical antiquities,' begun by ames ( ), and augmented by herbert ( vols., - ), is useful, in spite of the fact that it was never completed. for illustrations of the early printers' devices you must still have recourse to the 'bibliographical decameron,' three large octavo volumes, published in . for the devices of french printers there is a more recent work entitled 'marques typographiques des libraires et imprimeurs de france, - ,' by m. silvestre, which was printed in two octavo volumes at paris, - . it contains illustrations of more than devices. every year witnesses the production of these indispensable aids to book-collecting, and the modern trend of such works is towards a constricted specialism. by this means it is possible to realise a minuteness and accuracy unobtainable in wider fields. the 'bibliografia aragonesa del siglo xvi' of señor sanchez, a sumptuous work with illustrations of title-pages, colophons, etc., which was published in two folio volumes in - , is a striking example of this. there are bibliographies of almost every class of books, and a great number dealing with the works of individual authors and printers of renown; but these are in the domain of the specialist. there are certain works, however, which will be of assistance to the collector in compiling a list of authorities upon his special subject. dr. julius petzholdt's 'bibliotheca bibliographica' was published at leipzig so long ago as ; sabin's 'bibliography of bibliographies' appeared at new york in ; while vallée's 'bibliographie des bibliographies' (though neither very accurate nor complete) was published at paris, in large octavo, in . a supplement to this last was issued in . for the large number of bibliographical works which have issued from the press since that date you must consult mr. w. p. courtney's invaluable 'register of national bibliography,' in three volumes, to ; which, indeed, for modern purposes has superseded the above-mentioned works. in passing we would remark that the 'national' of its title-page is in the wider sense of the term. and here a word of warning. always make a point of entering the _errata_ with a pencil in the margins of every reference-book that you acquire. do this before you assign a place to the volume on the shelf; otherwise you may quote or condemn a passage or date which has been rendered wrongly owing to a clerical or printer's error, and has been put right in the _errata_.[ ] need we say that this practice should not necessarily be confined to works of reference? one may even find some amusement here. was it not scarron who wrote a poem, 'a guillemette, chienne de ma soeur,' but quarrelling with his sister just as the volume was about to appear, put in the _errata_, 'for _chienne de ma soeur_ read _ma chienne de soeur_'! all these works will assuredly impart to the book-collector much knowledge of ancient books and their attributes, but he will still be at sea with regard to that most necessary part of their collection, namely, their commercial value. there is only one way in which this knowledge may be obtained, and that is by the study of catalogues. to arrive at a proper estimate of a book's value from the purely financial point of view, a close study of booksellers' catalogues and auction-sale prices through many years is necessary. the divergence in price of identical works is somewhat disturbing at first to the novice, and it is only after some considerable experience and the actual handling of books that one is enabled to arrive at a proper estimate of their worth. 'continual use gives men a judgment of things comparatively, and they come to fix on what is most proper and easy, which no man, upon cursory view, would determine.'[ ] before the writer are two catalogues, one from a country bookseller, the other from a well-known london house. each contains a copy of the 'thesaurus cornucopiæ et horti adonidis,' printed by aldus manutius in . the former offers it for s., the latter for £ . why this extraordinary difference in price? the reasons are ample. the london copy has this description: 'fol.; th cent. english binding of brown calf, gilt borders and centre-pieces, g.e. (by thomas berthelet, the royal binder), in fine condition: beautiful copy, perfectly clean and large, Ã� m.m., enclosed in case.' the country bookseller's copy, on the other hand, is described as follows: 'folio, russia (joints broken), has the ll. of text complete, but wants the ll. unnumbered, of preliminary matter.' in other words, one copy is a very choice specimen of the book, tall, clean, and perfect; while the other is an undesirable copy of ordinary size, imperfect, and in poor condition. there is another point also. the london dealer specialises in such books, in fact deals only in ancient and scarce works, and has a definite _clientèle_ of rich and well-known collectors. he can 'place' certain rare books at once, for he knows the _desiderata_ of each of his customers and the deficiencies of their collections. the countryman, on the other hand, deals in all manner of books, ancient and modern, has few rich purchasers among his customers, and knows nothing whatever of their book-buying propensities. any volume that he offers for sale may remain on his hands for an indefinite time. then there are such volumes as 'association books,' by which is meant books possessing an additional interest by reason of their former association with some notability, such association being evident by autographs, corrections, annotations, additions, or binding. such volumes often exceed enormously the price of ordinary copies. the first edinburgh edition ( ) of burns' poems is worth usually about £ ; but a copy realised £ at auction a few years ago. the reason for this extraordinary price was that in this volume all those lines in which asterisks occur were filled in with the full names in the handwriting of the poet. moreover it contained an additional stanza on 'tam samson' in burns' autograph. for such a jewel one cannot consider the figure excessive, and it will doubtless run well into three figures if it ever appear in the sale-room again. similarly, each year witnesses the sale of certain of these 'association' volumes; and unless you are aware of the reasons causing these high prices to rule, such records will be worse than useless to you. a superficial study of all auction-sale prices is apt to be intensely misleading. unless you are actually on the spot or have handled the volume in question, the price that it realises will tell you little as to the stable value of the work. a torn page, a shaved headline, the underlining of a line or two with ink, a 'mounted' frontispiece, a missing plate, or even a worn impression of it, all these things affect the price of a volume. then there are considerations outside the book itself. a scarce volume included in a sale of unimportant books is unlikely to realise so high a price as it might have done had it appeared in a huth or ashburnham sale; for important books attract important bidders. the prices paid for poor copies at the frere sale in were enormous; the reason being, probably, that this library had long been known to contain _desiderata_ for which public and private collections alike had hitherto thirsted in vain; the sale was something of a _battue_, and the room was thronged with buyers from all parts of the kingdom. it is a ticklish question, this matter of the price which the collector pays, and should pay, for his books, and one that may not be resolved early in his career. in addition to exercising your memory when perusing the catalogues which reach you, you will do well to obtain and study 'prices of books: an enquiry into the changes in the price of books which have occurred in england at different periods,' an interesting volume by that great connoisseur, henry b. wheatley. it was published in octavo in . most of the catalogues that one receives from the booksellers are of little use when read, and no useful purpose is served by preserving them. but there are certain dealers who specialise in a definite class of books, and their catalogues are always of value, for they contain only works upon a definite subject or of a definite class. such catalogues form most useful reference works, and even bibliographies of that particular subject. by all means preserve them; you may have them plainly bound in buckram (when you have collected a sufficient number of them) at the cost of a shilling or two, or you may keep them in a small portfolio on your shelf. sotheby's auction-sale catalogues are also valuable. they are nicely produced, and have fine margins for making notes. it is well worth obtaining these regularly, which one may do by paying a small subscription. most of them contain a miscellaneous assortment of books, and are not worth keeping, but on the other hand most of the famous libraries that are dispersed in this country pass through the bond street house, and the catalogues of these are of the greatest value. * * * * * the history of booksellers' catalogues is an interesting one, and as yet we have no authoritative work upon this intermediary between publisher and reader. the earliest catalogue so far known was printed at mainz by peter schoeffer in . it was a catalogue of books for sale by himself or his agent, and consisted of a single sheet, probably intended to be used as a poster. it is in abbreviated latin, and comprises the titles of twenty-one books, being headed-- 'volentes sibi comparare infrascriptos libros magna cum diligentia correctos, ac in huiusmodi littera moguntie impressos, bene continuatos, veniant ad locum habitationis infrascriptum.' and at the foot is printed in large type-- 'hec est littera psalterii' --a specimen of the type with which the psalter mentioned in the list was printed. beneath this would be written the name of the place where the books could be obtained, this being the case with the only copy of this advertisement that has come down to us, schoeffer's traveller having written at the foot, 'venditor librorum repertibilis est in hospicio dicto zum willden mann'--'the bookseller is to be found at the sign of the wild man.' caxton adopted the same expedient with regard to his _sarum ordinale_. this advertisement, which is in english, is as follows: 'if it plese ony man spirituel or temporal to bye ony pyes of two and thre comemoracions of salisburi use enpryntid after the forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come to westmonester in to the almonesrye at the reed pale and he shal haue them good chepe.' at the foot of this was printed 'supplico stet cedula'--please don't tear down the bill. the 'pyes' of this advertisement (the english form of the latin _pica_) were the guides by which one might learn the proper combinations of collects and prayers for saints' days, at certain epochs, according to the salisbury ritual. the 'reed pale,' or red pale, was the heraldic sign which caxton adopted for his printing-house.[ ] other printers soon followed schoeffer's example; notably johan mentelin of strasbourg. but these were mere lists of books, sometimes eulogies of an individual work, printed for the most part by one particular press and issued by the actual printer. in anton koberger of nürnberg issued a catalogue of the books which he had for sale, twenty-two in all, though not all of them were printed by himself. koberger was perhaps the most important printer and publisher of the fifteenth century. he is said to have employed twenty-four presses at nürnberg, besides having books printed for him in other towns.[ ] he it was who introduced the printing-press into nürnberg in . his enterprise, however, was not limited to the mere printing of books. he is said to have had sixteen shops where his books were sold, and agents in every city in christendom! truly he was the father of booksellers. another german printer, erhart ratdolt, printed at venice, before , a handsome sheet in red and black in which he enumerates some forty-six books arranged under six headings, which he had for sale. they comprised the productions of several presses, the list being headed 'libri venales venetiis impressi.' some thirty or more of these catalogues of german printers,[ ] produced before the end of the fifteenth century, are known. in antoine verard, one of the most important figures in the annals of french printing, began business at paris by putting forth an edition of the decameron. from this date he continued as a publisher, and has been called 'the most important paris publisher of the fifteenth century.' so far as i am aware no catalogue of the books which he had for sale has yet been discovered; though from the fact that our king henry vii. purchased a number of his volumes it would seem that his agents or travellers were in possession of lists. beckmann, in his 'history of inventions and discoveries,' says: 'it appears that the printers themselves first gave up the bookselling part of the business, and retained only that of printing; at least this is said to have been the case with that well-known bookseller john rainman, who was born at oehringen and resided at augsburg'; and goes on to say that he was at first a printer and letter-founder, and supplied aldus with his types. but this offset of the main business of book-production began still earlier: witness the catalogues of koberger and ratdolt already quoted. many other printers also there were, before , who were acting as agents or 'booksellers' to other firms. this was the case, too, with many of the parisian houses. 'printing therefore gave rise[ ] to a new and important branch of trade, that of bookselling, which was established in germany chiefly at frankfort-on-the-main, where, at the time of the fairs particularly, there were several large booksellers' shops in that street which still retains the name of "book street."'[ ] this ancient custom of having bookstalls in the streets (particularly about the church or cathedral) upon fair-days still survives in more than one old-world town upon the continent. indeed it is this very custom that gave rise to the term 'stationer.' the early booksellers were wont to erect their stalls or 'stations' against the very walls of the cathedrals, whence they were known as 'stacyoneres.' beckmann mentions two other of these early booksellers at augsburg--joseph burglin and george diemar. 'sometimes,' he continues, 'they were rich people of all conditions, particularly eminent merchants, who caused books which they sold to be printed at their own expense.' george willer, a bookseller who kept a large shop at augsburg, was the first, says, beckmann, who hit upon the plan of causing a catalogue of all the new books to be printed, in which the size and printers' names were marked. his catalogues from to were printed by nicholas bassé at frankfort. beckmann relates that a collection of these sixteenth-century german book-catalogues was in the library of professor baldinger of göttingen; possibly it still reposes in the fine library of that university. 'in all these catalogues, which are in quarto and not paged,' continues beckmann, 'the following order is observed. the latin books occupy the first place . . . and after these, books of jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy, poetry and music. the second place is assigned to german works, which are arranged in the same manner.' bassé's collection is entitled 'collectio in unum corpus omnium librorum hebraeorum, graecorum, latinorum necnon germanice, italice, gallice, et hispanice scriptorum, qui in nundinis francofurtensibus ab anno usque ad nundinas autumnales anni . . . . desumpta ex omnibus catalogis willerianis singularum nundinarum, & in tres tomos distincta . . . . plerique in aedibus georgij willeri ciuis & bibliopole augustani, venales habentur.' it was printed in quarto at frankfort 'ex officina typographica nicolai bassaei, mdxcii.' part (which has a separate pagination and title) is in german, and contains german books only. part , also a distinct work, has a title-page in both latin and french, and contains books in italian, spanish, and french. this title reads: 'recueil en un corps des livres italiens, espagnols, et françois, qui ont este exposez en vente en la boutique des imprimeurs frequentans les foires de francfort depuis l'an jusques à la foire de septembre . extraict des catalogues des dictes foires, et reduict en method conuenable, et tres utile.' an exceedingly interesting work, this last part. a priced catalogue of the books printed by christian wechel is extant. it was printed at paris in , a duodecimo of twelve leaves, containing about three hundred books. these are classed under the headings grammatica, dialectica, rhetorica, historica, poetica, moralia, physica, et mathematica, theologia, legalis, and medica. under each of these headings the books are divided into 'graece' and 'latine,' but 'grammatica' and 'theologia' have each the additional subheading 'hebraice.' the prices are interesting. they vary from twopence (the _ars versificatoria_ of ulric von hutten and a nicholas beroald) to s.--a _hippiatria_ in french. there are six at d., ten at d., forty-five at d., none at d. or d., twenty-two at d., four at d., seventeen at d., and thirty-seven at s. there are ten at s. d., twenty-three at s. d., and twelve at s. d.; whilst from s. to s. the prices rise by d. but only one volume is priced at s. d., and two each at s. d. and s. there are from two to four volumes at s., s., s., s., s., and s.; whilst six are priced at s., and five at s. the more expensive works are chiefly illustrated 'standard' authors, such as modestus ('de vocabulis rei militaris,' s.), vegetius (_gallice, cum picturis_, s., or in latin _permultis picturis_, s.), and several medical works such as galen (two at s.) and jo. tagaultius ( s.). a vegetius 'in minore forma' but also 'picturis' is priced at s. at the end is, in latin: 'and these are the books, printed with our types, which we offer you. moreover there are others of all kinds for sale in our shop (taberna), both in italian and german and french.' then comes the announcement of a forthcoming edition of eustathius' commentary on the first book of homer's iliad. there is extant a list, printed in , of books published at subiaco and rome by sweynheim and pannartz, the german printers who first established the printing-press in italy. this list is contained in a letter written by the printers to pope sixtus iv., asking for assistance. it mentions twenty-eight works, and comprises , volumes,[ ] which looks as if the book-buyers of rome had combined to procure a reduction in the price of books; and there were no booksellers at that time to whom the publishers could dispose of their volumes as 'remainders.' no wonder that they described themselves as struggling '_sub tanto cartharum fasce_'--beneath so great a load of paper. it must have been circumstances such as these that induced the early publishers to put forth a 'bad seller' from time to time adorned with a fresh title-page. notices of such cases abound, and they are not entirely confined to the _first_ publishers. 'but,' invariably remarks the astute and relentless bibliographer, 'it is all the same edition.' in there appeared a compilation from all the catalogues published at the different fairs in germany from to , by johann cless, and it was published in quarto at frankfort. unfortunately the original form of the catalogues from which this compilation was made was neglected, so that the work presents merely a list of books catalogued under their subjects; and only occasionally is the name of the printer given. the first volume consists of those published in latin, the second volume those which appeared in the german tongue. the books are entered under the christian name of the author, which does not facilitate reference; but date, place, and size are given. another writer, george draud, produced in a 'bibliotheca librorum germanicorum classica'; but this also is merely a catalogue of all kinds of books printed in german up to . this was republished in two quarto volumes at frankfort in . beckmann remarks, however, that many books are mentioned by draud which never were printed, and many titles, names, and dates are given incorrectly. grudé's work, published in , has already been mentioned.[ ] in the same way other countries were putting forth catalogues throughout the sixteenth century. occasionally one comes across them bound with various works, and sometimes, more commonly, beneath the calf or vellum covers of the books of that period. in this country for many decades after the introduction of printing, the output of the english presses was not sufficiently large to keep pace with the demand for books; so that there grew up a considerable trade in the importation of books from abroad. in london françois regnault received a continuous supply of foreign-printed works from his paris shop, while others such as the birckmanns, who had shops in cologne, antwerp, and other large towns, kept up the number. doubtless these, and many others like them, issued catalogues of the books they had for sale. in andrew maunsell published his catalogue of english printed books in two parts, and in april john bill, a leading london bookseller, issued the first number of his 'catalogus universalis,' a translation of the half-yearly frankfort _mess-katalog_, and continued this enterprise twice a year for eleven years at least. from october he added a supplement of books printed in english. a book-catalogue of william jaggard of is also known. the title of this catalogue states that--like bill's--it is 'to be continued for every half-year,' but so far no further issue has come to light.[ ] you will find a list of the catalogues published by english booksellers since in mr. a. growoll's 'three centuries of english book-trade bibliography,' which was issued in octavo at new york in . in henry fetherstone, another london stationer, published a catalogue of books which he had recently purchased in italy. among these was the famous library of giacomo barocci, a gentleman of venice, consisting of two hundred and forty-two manuscript volumes, now in the bodleian library. writing to the archbishop of armagh in , sir henry bourchier says, 'i doubt not but your grace hath heard of the greek library brought from venice by mr. fetherston, which the earl of pembroke hath bought for the university library of oxford; it cost him £ ; there are of them two hundred and fifty volumes. dr. lindsell, now dean of litchfield, tells me that it is a great treasure, far exceeding the catalogue.' as this collection formed but a part of the books which fetherstone brought from venice to this country, one cannot but marvel at such an intrepid stroke of business. presumably the volumes were transported by ship. the history of booksellers has been attempted more than once,[ ] so i will content myself with remarking that in addition to being 'rich people of all conditions,' some at least of these early booksellers were--like the early printers--men of great learning. william goeree, the bookseller of amsterdam, was a student by nature, but it was his fortune to be brought up by a step-father to whom letters were unknown. his great desire, a university education, was denied him, and he was forced to choose some business. so he elected to embark upon a career where he would at least enjoy the conversation of the learned, and would be free to pursue his studies undisturbed by the strictures of his step-sire. as a bookseller he prospered, and profiting by the atmosphere of learning in which his paths lay, he found time between the hours of business to produce several valuable works upon such diverse subjects as architecture, sculpture, painting, engraving, botany, physic, and antiquities! fabert, the bookseller of metz and author of 'notes sur la coutume de lorraine,' which he published in folio in , was esteemed so highly both for his learning and abilities, that his son abraham fabert was thought not unworthy of being educated with the duc d'epernon. abraham rose to be marshal of france: but in spite of his great talents and still greater attainments, the bookseller's son ever retained that natural modesty inherent only in great minds. offered the order of the holy ghost by louis xiv. he refused it on the ground that it should be worn only by the ancient nobility. whereupon the king wrote to him 'no person to whom i may give this order will ever receive more honour from it than you have gained by your noble refusal, proceeding from so generous a principle.' one can only meditate _o si sic omnes_! there are two reference-books that will be of use to you if you are interested in this subject. both were published by the bibliographical society. the first, by mr. gordon duff, is entitled 'a century of the english book trade,' and is a list of early english stationers. it appeared in . the other, compiled by nine members of the society under the editorship of mr. r. b. mckerrow, was published in , and is called 'a dictionary of printers and booksellers in england, scotland, and ireland, and of foreign printers of english books, - .' * * * * * to the collector all catalogues are interesting, and although one may not readily come across publishers' catalogues of the sixteenth century, yet seventeenth-century ones are not so rare, and those of the eighteenth century comparatively common. what interesting reading these old catalogues provide! often it is worth while purchasing the flotsam of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries from the penny tub merely for the sake of the catalogues which one frequently comes across bound at the end of such volumes. the desecration of a book is anathema to the bibliophile; but provided always that when you have paid your penny the volume proves to be but common trash and of no value whatever, you need not hesitate to remove the desired leaves and consign the wreckage to the waste-paper basket. perhaps nothing shows so clearly the change in manners and sentiments of each age as do these ancient catalogues. doubtless many of the works therein described are to be found among the pages of any modern bookseller's list. but there they are scattered among works of all times, and strike the imagination as being merely the curiosities of a bygone age. here, gathered together in one list, they are exhibited in company with their fellows, and there is little diversity of sentiment to distract one's attention. though they treat of the most diverse subjects under the sun, yet there is a strange similitude about them which is characteristic of their age. and this impression is not due to the language in which their titles are couched; they are just the sort of books which we should expect our forefathers of that period to read. whatever their subjects, whatever their titles, they are clearly all birds of a feather. take the following, all of which occur in 'a catalogue of some books printed for henry brome, since the dreadful fire of london.' the history of the life of the duke espernon, the great favourite of france. . . . scarronides or virgil travesty . . by charles cotton, esq. elvira, a comedy, or the worst not alwaies true, by the earl of bristol. mr. simpson's division viol, in folio, price s. a treatise wherein is demonstrated, that the church and state of england are in equal danger with the trade, in quarto, by roger cook, esq. erasmus colloquies, in english. the fair one of tuis, a new piece of gallantry. elton's art military, in folio. sir kenelm digby's two excellent books of receipts; one of physick and chirurgery; the other of cookery and drinks, with other curiosities. the exact constable, price d., useful for all gentlemen. toleration discussed, by mr. l'estrange. the lord coke's institutes, in four parts. dr. heylin on the creed, in folio, price s. who could hesitate to assign a period to these? is not 'the civil war and restoration' writ big about them all? plainer, indeed, would it be were we to analyse each separate item; for the tastes of the age and trend of men's thoughts as depicted in the pages of master pepys are amply reflected here. beware, however, lest you come across a catalogue of some such rogue as edmund curll, that shameless rascal who gloried in the obscene productions of his minions, hesitating not to assign them to the greatest writers of the day. though fined and pilloried for his scandalous publications, he regarded such 'accidents' merely as a medium of advertisement, and had no hesitation in calling attention to the fact that he had suffered corporal punishment on account of a book that he wished to sell. in the course of his crooked career he fell foul of pope by publishing a book entitled 'court poems,' which he ascribed to 'the laudable translator of homer.' pope promptly retorted by putting forth an essay with the delightful title 'a full and true account of a horrid and barbarous revenge by poison on the body of mr. edmund curll, bookseller; with a faithful copy of his last will and testament.' neither words nor deeds, however, could repress a man so destitute of moral worth; and, later, he came once more under the poet's lash in the 'dunciad,' where we read-- 'obscene with filth the miscreant lies bewray'd.' yet even the devil must have his due, and curll certainly was concerned in the production of a number of works of general and abiding interest. here is a curious example of his wares, from one of his catalogues dated . it is a version of sallengre's 'l'elogie de l'ivresse,' a humorous (and scarce) little volume first published in . ebrietatis encomium--or, the praise of drunkenness. wherein is authentically and most evidently proved the necessity of frequently getting drunk; and that the practice of getting drunk is most ancient, primitive, and catholic. confirm'd by the example of heathens, turks, infidels, primitive christians, saints, popes, bishops, doctors, philosophers, poets, free-masons, and other men of learning in all ages. by a person of honour, price s. d.[ ] how it intrigues one to know who were the saints, popes, and bishops thus addicted to tippling! truly a _chronique scandaleuse_, and one which would surely have appealed to louis maimbourg, that ingenious jesuit historian, had it but appeared in his day. we are told that he never took up his pen till he had heated his imagination by wine, nor ever attempted to describe a battle till he had drunk two bottles--lest, as he said jestingly, the horrors of the combat should enfeeble his style! perhaps this trait in his character also explains how it was that 'he signalised himself by strange descriptions and burlesque sallies of humour in the pulpit,' and that his works exhibit 'great fire and rapidity in their style.'[ ] at all events he lived to be seventy-six, which is some consolation to those who seek to impart originality to their work by this means. here is another volume that i should like to possess, from the same catalogue. the court gamester: or, full and easy instructions for playing the games now in vogue, after the best method, as they are played at court, and in the assemblies, viz. ombre, picquet, and the royal game of chess. wherein the frauds in play are detected, and the laws of each game annex'd, to prevent disputes. _written for the use of the young princesses._[ ] by richard seymour, esq. price s. evidently richard seymour, esq., had some experience of the young princesses' play. one wonders whether the disputes were frequent and heated, and whether richard was the detector or detected with regard to the 'frauds in play'! enough, however, of examples: you will find abundance in these old catalogues to keep you interested and amused for many an hour. moreover, your natural inquisitiveness will enable you to discover a great deal about books and authors which you would otherwise never, perhaps, come across. for certain titles will excite your interest and curiosity, so that you will 'look up' the volume in your bibliography. then you will turn to your biographical dictionary and find out all that you can about the author. so it is that your knowledge of books and their writers will grow. it is a pleasant pastime, this fireside book-hunting, and of the greatest value to the collector. let me add, as a note, that you will find the 'cambridge history of english literature' valuable for acquiring a _contemporary_ knowledge of books. with regard to book-auctions (which seem to have been introduced into europe by the elzeviers) and sale-catalogues, you will find all the information that you may require upon this subject in so far as great britain is concerned, in mr. john lawler's excellent little volume 'book auctions in england in the seventeenth century,' of which a new edition was published in . the fashion of selling books to the highest bidder is, in this country, of comparatively recent date; for the first auction of books held in london was presided over in by one william cooper, an enterprising bookseller, who disposed in this manner of the library belonging to the rev. dr. lazarus seaman. with regard to the book-auctions held by the elzeviers, you must consult that great authority, m. alphonse willems. before leaving this subject of catalogues i cannot forbear quoting from one to whom i am already indebted: 'in perusing these old catalogues one cannot help being astonished at the sudden and great increase of books; and when one reflects that a great, perhaps the greater, part of them no longer exists, this perishableness of human labours will excite the same sensations as those which arise in the mind when one reads in a church-yard the names and titles of persons long since mouldered into dust. in the sixteenth century there were few libraries, and these, which did not contain many books, were in monasteries, and consisted principally of theological, philosophical, and historical works, with a few, however, on jurisprudence and medicine: while those which treated of agriculture, manufactures, and trade, were thought unworthy of the notice of the learned and of being preserved in large collections. the number of these works was, nevertheless, far from being inconsiderable; and at any rate many of them would have been of great use, as they would have served to illustrate the instructive history of the arts. catalogues, which might have given occasion to inquiries after books that may be still somewhere preserved, have suffered the fate of tomb-stones, which, being wasted and crumbled to pieces by the destroying hand of time, become no longer legible. a complete series of them, perhaps, is now nowhere to be found.'[ ] * * * * * there is yet another side of book-collecting with which it is essential that the bibliophile become acquainted, and that is a knowledge of the scarce and valuable editions of the more modern classic writers. by 'modern' i intend those authors who flourished during the nineteenth and latter part of the eighteenth centuries, and include such writers as arnold, the brontës, the brownings, burns, byron, carlyle, coleridge, dickens, keats, lamb, shelley, stevenson, swinburne, tennyson, thackeray, and other famous contemporaries. you may meet with their works continually, and many a prize may slip through your hands unless you are acquainted with the collector's _desiderata_ regarding each of these authors. many of them, perhaps the majority, published their earliest works anonymously or under a _nom de plume_, and when once you have become aware of the titles of such books or their writers' pseudonyms, you are not likely to forget them. a few years ago ( ) messrs. hodgson the auctioneers discovered a thin folio consisting of an illustrated title-page and eight lithographed plates depicting scenes in the life of a ballet-girl, among a portfolio of engravings which had been sent to them for disposal. there was no letterpress, but the title ran 'flore et zephyr, ballet mythologique par theophile wagstaffe,' and it was published in london and paris, . the owner thought it unworthy of notice in a lengthy catalogue of his books, but in spite of its gallic title its author was none other than thackeray, and it was one of his first publications. on being offered for sale, it was knocked down at £ . 'poems by two brothers,' a small octavo published at london in , will bring you twenty pounds if you are so fortunate as to come across it. the brothers were alfred and charles tennyson. then there is a slim octavo of some pages which appeared at newark in , entitled 'poems on various occasions.' it is by lord byron, and is worth fifty pounds at least; if in the original boards, more than double that amount. 'king glumpus: an interlude in one act,' a pamphlet consisting of some twenty pages, was probably by john barrow; but it was illustrated by thackeray, and is usually to be found under the heading 'thackerayana.' it was printed in , on blue writing paper, and issued privately in buff wrappers. recently it has fetched £ , but you may have a hundred for it any day.[ ] shelley's 'adonais: an elegy on the death of john keats' was first published at pisa in , a large quarto in blue wrappers. it has recently fetched , dollars in america, and you may have even more for a perfect copy, in the original state, of his 'queen mab,' printed by the author at , chapel street, grosvenor square, in . both are exceedingly scarce. another rare book of shelley's is 'original poetry,' by victor and cazire, which was put forth at worthing in . the poet wrote it in his youth, and although it was known that such a volume had been printed and that it had been suppressed by its author immediately before publication, it was considered a lost work until its rediscovery in . byron's 'english bards and scotch reviewers' one can purchase in the second, third, or fourth editions (all in octavo) in the original boards, for as many pence; though the first edition, in duodecimo, undated, is scarce. it was published in , and has but fifty-four pages of verse. the fourth edition appeared in , though some copies are dated , and has one thousand and fifty-two lines of verse in eighty-five pages. but the next year another edition was put forth containing eighteen additional lines. for this (fifth) edition the title-page of the fourth edition was used. it was not merely rigidly suppressed by the author, but immediately prior to publication it was destroyed by him, and, so far as i am aware, only one copy has, till now, been recovered.[ ] for burns' 'poems, chiefly in the scottish dialect,' published at kilmarnock in , you may have two hundred pounds at least; if in the original boards, and perfect, considerably more. a copy has changed hands at a thousand. of shelley's 'alastor: or the spirit of solitude, and other poems,' octavo , keats' 'endymion,' , fitzgerald's 'omar khayyám,' published by quaritch in , and a large number of others, you will learn from time to time. mr. j. h. slater's 'early editions . . . of modern authors,' which appeared in , will be of value to you, though like all works which deal with current prices it now needs revision. from the bibliographical standpoint it is excellent, but the safest guides to mere market values are the quarterly records of auction-sale prices entitled 'book-auction records,' and the bi-monthly publication known as 'book-prices current' issued by mr. elliot stock. in addition there are bibliographies of almost all the greatest victorian writers. there is no doubt that the early editions of the english classics will get more and more valuable as time goes on. in the case of many it may be years before any decided rise in their sale-room price takes place; but as the number of book-collectors increases with the population, while the number of copies of these _desiderata_ tends to become less owing to the absorption of certain of them in the public libraries, so it is only natural that increased competition should result in a corresponding increase in their value. the early editions of massinger, beaumont and fletcher, and of the later elizabethan and stuart dramatists, which command but a few pounds to-day, will run, in all probability, well into three figures during the next half-century. a good copy of the first issue of milton's 'comus,' printed in , could be had for £ in . in one with the title-page mended brought £ . ten years later £ was not thought excessive for it, whilst in a fine and perfect copy made £ . $ , was the ransom of a copy at new york in . other books there are which have had similar meteoric rises in value. the first edition of walton and cotton's 'compleat angler' was published in at one and sixpence. at the beginning of the nineteenth century the average price for a fine copy seems to have been between three and four pounds. in so much as fifteen pounds was paid for a copy in a similar state. thirty years later it had risen to eighty-five pounds, and during the few years following, the demand for it seems to have increased its value considerably, for in a copy realised no less than £ . but eight years later even this sum was easily doubled. then came the van antwerp sale at sotheby's. a perfect copy, in the original sheepskin binding, was offered; the hammer fell at the enormous figure of £ , . this sum has not yet ( ) been eclipsed; but that it was not a fancy price[ ] is shown by the fact that in a copy _not_ in the original binding realised no less than £ , . in the collection of these early impressions of the great writers, however, you must exercise considerable caution and judgment. the examples which i have quoted will show you that it is not always immediately, nor even within a lifetime from their death, that the works of our greatest authors become valuable. 'fame is a revenue payable only to our ghosts,' wrote sir george mackenzie, and for literary fame time is indeed the ordeal by fire. we may look upon the auction-room as a court of claims to literary fame, but it is public opinion, backing the authorities who sit round the table, that determines each claimant's case. it is the book that makes the price, not the price that makes the book. doubtless those who, relying upon their own judgment alone, gave fifty pounds for tennyson's 'helen's tower' ( ) some twenty years ago, thought they were safe in their investment. yet twelve years later it could be had for thirty shillings. fitzgerald's 'polonius,' , was once thought cheap at five guineas. to-day you may buy it for little more than a sovereign. it is a risky business, this collecting of the early editions of authors dead but a generation ago; and he would be a bold man who ventured to assert that the present prices of the first editions of the victorian authors may be considered as stable. bargains are bargains, and the temptation to buy is often great. but what constitutes a bargain from the collector's point of view? you cannot define it without reference to price, worth, or value; and if these be unstable it cannot constitute a bargain. 'an advantageous purchase' say the dictionaries; but if the price drop subsequently is it advantageous to _you_? you may think to play the wise man by collecting early editions of your own or your father's contemporaries, but it is odds on that you will burn your fingers. yet the works of those great writers, those immortals 'on fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled' are stable in our affections as is the sun in the firmament. whatever fortune may overtake the works of those ephemerals whom by mere fashion we applaud to-day and neglect to-morrow, the works of those great writers who have been accorded a niche in the hall of fame will ever command our purses no less than our respect. footnotes: [ ] of this book, published in octavo in , it is impossible to speak too highly. both as a text-book for the student and a reference book for the collector it is invaluable. the other two volumes by mr. duff are also of the greatest assistance. 'the printers, stationers, and bookbinders of westminster and london from to ' was published in , and 'the english provincial printers, stationers, and bookbinders to ' in --both by the cambridge university press. they are still ( ) in print, and cost six and five shillings respectively. [ ] a stereotyped reprint of the revised edition published between and . each of the first five volumes is in two parts, often bound separately. vol. is an appendix. [ ] brockhaus of leipzig has also ( ) published a facsimile reprint of this work--price £ . [ ] the term _incunabula_ is now applied to all books printed before the year . it is a vast study in itself, this bibliography of fifteenth-century books; and thanks to the labours of a small group of men who have devoted their lives to the subject, it is now upon a definite scientific basis. carefully prepared monographs are issued from time to time, dealing with the different founts used by the early printers; but as this subject is unlikely to engage the attentions of those for whom this work is written (who, like the writer, are of modest means), i forbear to enter upon it in detail. [ ] it is a tedious game, but a very necessary one, and is a service due to an author. in entering a long list of errata in a folio book which has many lines to the page (cotton's 'monluc' has lines, and the edition of sandford's 'genealogical history of the kings and queens of england' has nearly errata!) the following method saves a lot of time. take a strip of paper about an inch wide, place it on a page, and make a dash on the strip at every fifth line of text, numbering the dashes , , , , etc. this measurer saves one counting the lines every time. [ ] dr. john north. [ ] for schoeffer's list, see mr. e. g. duff's 'early printed books,' , p. , where there is also an illustration of it. for caxton's advertisement, see an excellent article upon these early catalogues, by mr. a. w. pollard, in 'the bibliophile' for march (vol. . no. i, p. ). [ ] mr. e. g. duff, _op. cit._, p. . [ ] a collection of thirty-two facsimiles of these fifteenth-century book advertisements was published by herr konrad burger in . [ ] this is not strictly accurate, for there were agents or booksellers (call them what you will) who bought and sold manuscripts at rome in very early times. a document dated (quoted by laborde, 'les ducs de bourgogne,' tom. , p. ) mentions one thomas de maubeuge, 'bookseller at paris,' who sold a volume to the duke of normandy for fourteen florins of gold. [ ] beckmann, _op. cit._ [ ] mr. e. g. duff, _op. cit._ beckmann has , , quoting fabricius' 'bibliotheca latina,' ed. , vol. iii. p. , where the document is printed in full. [ ] see p. . [ ] for more upon this subject, with regard to this country, see the camb. hist. eng. lit. vol. iv. chap, xviii., 'the english book-trade,' by mr. h. g. aldis. [ ] curwen's 'history of booksellers,' vo, , deals chiefly with the later english houses; while mr. e. marston's 'sketches of booksellers of other days,' mo, , is concerned only with eight london booksellers, from tonson to lackington. mr. f. a. mumby's 'the romance of bookselling,' vo, , contains a bibliography of the subject, but says little about the early continental book-marts. mr. w. roberts' 'earlier history of english bookselling,' vo, , deals with london alone, and does not help us. there is a short article on the frankfort fairs, by mr. g. smith, in 'the library,' , pp. - . [ ] this was one of the five publications on account of which curll was set in the pillory in . [ ] l'advocat: dict. histor. [ ] the italics are not mine. [ ] beckmann, _op. cit._ [ ] like many of these _rarissima_ it has been reprinted in facsimile--crown vo, copies only, . [ ] the various editions and impressions of this book have given rise to confused accounts respecting them. the british museum catalogue gives five distinct impressions of the third edition and five of the fourth edition. of the fourth edition, some large-paper copies were issued; they are scarce and worth thirty shillings or more. the first edition is undated, but the paper is water-marked ' '. a copy of this last, in the original boards uncut, realised dollars in new york in march, . it usually fetches about £ in england. [ ] the three copies which were sold between dec. and june , however, fetched , dollars, £ , and £ . the last was in the original sheepskin. [illustration] chapter viii a plea for specialism 'the road lies plain before me; 'tis a theme single and of determined bounds.'--wordsworth. most book-collectors embark upon their life-long hobby without any clearly defined scheme of collecting, buying just those books which take their fancy, and in many cases not realising that they have caught the dread contagion of bibliomania until they suddenly find that more shelf-room is required for their books, and that the expenditure upon their hobby is growing out of all proportion to their means. it is then generally too late to stop, and although they may avoid the book-stalls for some days, nay even weeks, the passion of collecting is only dormant, and will break out with renewed vigour either upon a sudden (though perhaps only temporary) condition of affluence, or upon the receipt of that most insidious of all temptations, a bookseller's catalogue--especially if it be a 'clearance' one. this passion for collecting books resolves itself at length into two categories. either the patient grows rapidly worse and plunges headlong into the vortex of auctions, catalogues, and bibliographies, amassing during the process a vast nondescript collection of books; or else he improves slowly but surely, growing daily shrewder in his purchases. so that at length, having completely recovered his composure, he finds himself the possessor of a collection of books valuable alike from commercial and utilitarian standpoints. the former of these collectors is generally said to suffer from acute bibliomania. his knowledge of books is vast but of a general kind, and for practical purposes it cannot compare with that acquired by his fellow-collector who had seen the folly of a headlong course. his complaint is well known; indeed it was recognised in the first century of our era, when seneca condemned the rage for mere book-collecting, and rallied those who were more pleased with the outsides than the insides of their volumes. lucian, too, in the next century, employed his prolific pen in exposing this then common folly. even the wise collector, however, runs some risk of being engulfed by his hobby and swept away by the flood of books. there is but one remedy, or rather alleviation, for book-collecting is quite incurable and follows a man to his grave (unless, of course, he be cast upon a desert island), and that is _specialism_. every collector should become a specialist. it will give him a definite ambition, something to look for among other books, something to complete; and there is a thousand times more satisfaction in possessing a select collection of works of a definite class or upon a definite subject, than in the accumulation of a vast heterogeneous mass of books. he will get to know the greater part of the works upon his own subject, become an authority upon it in time, and perhaps will even attempt a bibliography if it be an out-of-the-way subject. he will know precisely what he wants, what to search for, and what price to pay. in short, he will be lifted out of the fog of miscellaneous books into the clear atmosphere of a definite and known class of works. it is such an easy step, and such an immensely important one, this determination to confine one's collecting activities to a certain class of books. 'what a blessing it is,' said a book-loving friend not long ago, 'not to have to worry about all sorts of books. i have never ceased congratulating myself that i took the resolution to confine myself entirely to herbals. before, i had a vast but untrustworthy knowledge of titles and editions which a bad memory did not assist. now, thank goodness, i have forgotten all that, but i flatter myself that i really do know something about herbals.' and what a profitless occupation is the aimless collecting of heterogeneous books. if bibliographical knowledge be our aim, their very diversity tends to confuse us. if recreation be our object, better far to join a circulating library than garner volumes which, once read, are never to be opened again. learning and study cannot be intended, for the formation of a library of nondescript books collected upon no system or plan can, at best, endow us with but a smattering of knowledge. there was once a certain bishop who used continually to collect useless luxuries. the emperor charlemagne, perceiving this, ordered a merchant who traded in rare and costly objects to paint a common mouse with different colours and to offer it to the bishop, as being a rare and curious animal which he had just brought from palestine. the bishop is transported with delight at the sight of it, and immediately offers the merchant three silver pounds for such a treasure. but the merchant, acting on his instructions, bargains with the bishop, saying that he would rather throw it into the sea than sell it for so little. finally the bishop offers twenty pounds for it. the merchant, wrapping up the 'ridiculus mus' in precious silk, is going away when the collector, unable to bear the thought of losing so great a curio, calls him back and says that he will give him a bushel of silver for it. this the merchant accepts: the money is paid; and the merchant returns to the emperor to give him an account of the transaction. then charlemagne convokes the bishops and priests of all the province, and placing before them the money which the mouse has fetched, reads them a homely lesson on the foolishness of collecting profitless trifles. sternly he enjoins them in future to use their money in administering to the wants of the poor rather than to throw it away on such unprofitable baubles as a painted mouse. the guilty bishop, now become the laughing-stock of the province, is permitted to depart without punishment. doubtless the great majority of book-collectors are not specialists. they may set greater store by a certain class of works which appeals to them from some whimsical reason, but until they have grown middle-aged in their pursuit most of them are but _dilettanti_. 'yes,' i can hear you exclaim, 'but if your collecting propensities are to be curbed and countless books passed by, books which your very instinct urges you to acquire, surely you will lose most of the charm of collecting? how dull to be obliged to purchase only those works to which you have vowed to confine yourself.' dull! no. i can assure you from my own experience that this restraint will but serve to redouble your eagerness, to sharpen an appetite in danger of becoming blunted by a plethora of _desiderata_ and a shrinkage of your purse. so that whereas before, a short stroll about the book-shops would discover to you abundance, or at least plenty, of books that you would like casually to possess, now that you have become a specialist you must go further afield. often you will return empty-handed from your rambles, and your sanctum (to the delight of the housemaid) will not be invaded quite so often by stacks of 'dirty old books.' order will come out of chaos; many works bought upon impulse because they appealed to you at the moment will be weeded out and discarded. moreover the shillings which this process yields will enable you to send that priceless gem, the _chef d'oeuvre_ of your collection, to the binder's, that its extrinsic appearance may be fashioned in keeping with its intrinsic worth. more important still, you will become a known man. the booksellers will remember you, and one day when you reach home from a long and barren ramble, you will find a postcard awaiting you, announcing the discovery of some book for which you have long sought. 'sir,--i have found a copy of the vitruvius fo. venice, , that you asked me for some time ago. you can have it for s. (vellum, clean copy). shall i send it?--yours respectfully, john brown.' your ramble may have been on a cold winter's afternoon, it may have been raining and muddy underfoot, but will not this cheer you up and warm you better than any cup of tea? and what will be your sensations as you undo the parcel, take out the treasure (which you once saw in johnson's catalogue for £ ), turn eagerly to its title-page, and collate it as gently as though you were handling some priceless work of art? don't tell me! the specialist gets a thousand times more pleasure out of his hobby than ever did casual buyer. besides, what rapture will be his whenever he chance upon some book for which he has long been searching, or upon some work on his very subject and yet unknown to him; for book-collecting is full of surprises. some of the booksellers will ask you for a list of your wants. you may safely supply them with one, and it is not necessary to state the maximum price which you are prepared to pay for each. should you do so, probably it will be taken to indicate that you are prepared to pay the price named, and the book when found will be offered to you at that price (or a few shillings less to give the idea of a bargain) when you might have had it at a considerably lower figure. remember also that the very fact of a book being sought for enhances its price. suppose that a country bookseller sees an advertisement in the trade journal asking for a copy of a certain obscure sixteenth-century work, and that he recollects he has a copy somewhere in stock. he finds it among his shelves marked, possibly, five shillings. when he answers the advertisement it is more than likely that he will ask a pound or even two for it. at the same time, however, you must consider whether or not the book is worth as much to you. it may be a little known and, to the world at large, a valueless book, and you may have to wait some years before you are able to secure a copy; whereas by advertising for it you may procure a copy almost immediately. do you prefer to take the chance of having to wait years for a book which you urgently want, or to pay a longish price and possess it at once? there is another point to be considered. should you ever part with your collection _en bloc_, or should your executors dispose of it, this volume will be an item of the collection of works in which you specialise. as such it will be much more likely to realise the larger than the smaller price, especially as the disposal of a collection of books upon a definite subject attracts to the rostrum other collectors of a like class of works. surely every book-collector is in his heart of hearts a specialist. have you ever taken into your hands some choice gem of your collection without wishing that there were others in your library of the same genus? is there not some one volume among your books that demands your first consideration when new shelving is put up, when your books are re-arranged; the volume to which you would fly first of all if a fire broke out in your sanctum? brother bookman, i can almost hear you turn in your chair at the awful prospect of having to make choice between your beloved tomes! indeed i am with you whole-heartedly, for there are two books, two priceless gems, rescued (the one from austria, the other france) after years of patient search, two books which ever strive for the ascendancy in my bibliophilic affections. far from me be it to make distinction between them. granted, however, that you have made up your mind as to the identity of _the_ treasure, do you not wish to possess other equally choice works of the same class, on the same subject? suppose some distant relative of yours with great propriety should die, bequeathing you all unexpectedly far more worldly goods than you had ever hoped to possess; supposing also that you were 'without encumbrances' or ties of any description, and that your sole aim and ambition in this world was the collecting unto yourself of the choicest fruits of master minds: what would be your first act, in so far as your hobby is concerned? i know what our book-hunter would do under such conditions. he would take the next train to paris, proceed to a certain shop not a great distance from the rue st. honoré, mount the step-ladder and hand down to the delighted henri just precisely what he fancied _in his own particular line_. this process he would continue elsewhere until he had formed a goodly nucleus round which to amass still scarcer volumes as they came to hand. and i venture to think that you would do the same, though not necessarily in paris. what is it that makes a man a specialist? is it a particular knowledge of a certain subject? do all book-collecting doctors garner only herbals and early medical works? does the poet-collector specialise in poetry, the freemason in masonic books, the angler in works dealing only with his pastime? not always, perhaps; but doubtless this is the case with the great majority of collectors. sometimes a chance purchase may shape the entire course of a man's collecting, sometimes he is led to the subject to which he devotes his collecting energies by devious byways. our book-hunter has a friend who began to collect old french books on chivalry through a touch of influenza. when convalescent his doctor ordered him a sea-voyage. an hour after the advice was given he met a shipping friend, who offered him a cabin in a ship just about to start on a trading voyage in the mediterranean. at crete the ship was detained for some repairs, so he took the opportunity to visit rhodes in a coasting vessel. he was much struck with the famous street of the knights and ancient buildings of the great military order that once owned the island, and regretted that he knew so little about it. nor did his scanty knowledge of these things enable him to appreciate to the full the buildings of the order at malta. on his return to this country he spent some time at the british museum, delving into these knightly records of the past, but was unable even then to discover all that he wished to know. so for a time he took up his abode in paris, working daily at the archives, the arsenal library, and bibliothèque nationale. then came the library of the vatican. to-day his collection of ancient works on la chevalerie, in most of the languages of europe, is a thing to be proud of, and his sub-collection on the hospitallers and their commanderies is especially rich. probably there are few works upon this subject with which he is unacquainted, and the bibliography upon which he is at work bids fair to become the standard volume. what an immense part chance plays in all our lives. some of the most momentous events in the world's history have turned upon the most trivial happenings. had not a wild boar run in a certain direction, probably there would have been no norman conquest of england! robert of normandy, out hunting with his friends, roused a boar which, running a certain course, necessitated the duke's return through the village street where he saw and fell in love with the burgess's daughter who became the mother of william the conqueror. had the boar run north instead of south, probably robert would never have seen arlette, and william would never have been born. olaf of norway, the great sea-king whose name was feared from brittany to the orkneys, was converted to christianity by a chance landing at the scilly isles, where haply he visited the cell of a holy man that dwelt there. let us now draw up a list of those subjects which generally engage the attention of specialists. the list is a lengthy one and offers an infinite variety. each heading will comprise various sub-headings, and of these i shall speak more in detail. . arctic, antarctic, whaling. . africa. . americana. . architecture, building construction. . australasia. . bibles. . bibliography, bookbinding, printing. . biography, memoirs, diaries. . celebrated authors and books. . celebrated presses. . chapbooks, ballads, broadsides. . civil war and commonwealth. . classics. . cookery books. . costume. . crime and prisons. . dictionaries, etymology. . drama, the stage. . early-printed books. . early romances. . economics. . facetiae, curiosa, books on gallantry. . fine arts, including technique, theory, criticism, history of the arts, furniture, tapestries, decorations, gems, ceramics, plate. . first editions of esteemed authors. . folk-lore, fables, mysteries. . freemasonry, rosicrucianism, and secret societies. . french revolution. . gardening. . heraldry, chivalry, crusades, genealogy, peerages, ceremonies, and books on seals and brasses. . history and chronicles. . husbandry, agriculture. . illustrated books, books of engravings. . legal. . liturgies, mass and prayer books. . locally-printed books. . mathematical and early scientific. . medical (early), including herbals and early botanical. . military, including archery, arms, armour, fencing, and duelling. . music. . napoleon. . natural history. . nautical and naval. . numismatics, medals. . occult, astrology, astronomy, alchemy, witchcraft, magic. . pamphlets and tracts. . philosophy. . poetry. . privately-printed books. . school books. . sport, games, pastimes. . theology, lives and works of the early fathers, history of the church, inquisition, works on the religious sects. . tobacco. . topography, including atlases, geography, and county histories. . trades. . travels and exploration. . voyages, shipwrecks. from this list are purposely omitted books printed upon vellum, books of hours of the virgin mary, and illuminated books; for these are rarities within reach of the wealthy only. nor is 'bindings' included, for the man who collects these is no book-lover in the truest sense of the word, and his hobby does not fall properly within the category of book-collecting, being classed rather under the heading art and vertu, bric-à-brac, or what you will. naturally all book-collectors (save perhaps the 'original-boards-uncut' man) are sensible to the charm of a choicely bound copy, provided always that the binding be appropriate and that it is impossible to obtain the book in its original covers; but it is for something more than the mere outsides of his treasures that the real book-lover cares. needless to say, there are other subjects which have their devotees. some collectors specialise in large-paper copies, some prefer certain editions which contain matter suppressed later. others collect early children's books, gipsy literature, egyptology, books on inventions, ballooning, etc. but most of these are more in the nature of sub-headings to the subjects in our list, and offer a more restricted field of collecting. indeed i am in some doubt as to whether the large-paper collector should be included here, for his penchant is as far removed from true book-collecting as is that of the specialist in bindings. his hobby can have nothing to do with literature, since it is only the external characteristics of a book which appeal to him. he may be 'wise in his generation,' but his pursuit approaches closely to bibliomania. this objection may perhaps also be urged against one other subject in our list, namely, privately-printed books. but here there is an ulterior interest beyond the mere singularity of their production; for there are very many books of great merit, chiefly memoirs and family histories, which their authors have designed, from personal and contemporary reasons, to come only into the hands of their own families and acquaintances. so here is your list, reader, take your choice. but perchance you are already numbered among the elect, one of those _magi_ among bibliophiles who are at once the despair of the booksellers and the wise men of their generation? is it not to the specialists that we owe the bulk of our knowledge of old books--for who else is it that produce the bibliographies, numerous but not nearly numerous enough, that delight the heart of the collector? all praise to them, and, brother bibliophile, if you are not yet of their number in heart at least, read through the foregoing list once more and put a mark with your pencil against the heading which is most to your taste. if you do not see your chosen subject at once, a scrutiny will probably discover it for you included in another and wider subject.[ ] for example, astronomy and astrology, inseparably bound up in the ancient works, are included in the heading 'occult.' herbals, which deal with the medicinal qualities of plants, you will find under 'medical.' is your purse a long one? would you not like to garner folios and quartos with weird and heavy types that speak of a craft yet in its infancy; books that perchance have seen or even been handled by the actual combatants of barnet or of bosworth field; books with monstrous crude yet wholly delightful woodcuts that bring before us the actual appearance of our forebears under the king-maker, richard crouchback, and harry richmond? or would you like to gather to yourself as many examples as you may, in the finest possible condition, of the exquisite art of aldo manuccio the elder? but perhaps the following, from a recent catalogue, represents a class ( ) more to your palate. l'histoire du tres fameux et tres redoute palmerin d'olive . . . . traduite de castillan en francoys reueue et derechef mise en son entier, selon nostre vulgaire moderne et usite, par jean maugin, dit l'angeuin. _with_ _large spirited woodcuts (some being nearly full-page) representing duels, battles, etc., and_ _large ornamental initial letters_. folio, paris, . is your purse a light one? then fifteenth-century books are denied you, as are all other esteemed works of the middle ages such as romances and classics. but there is hardly another heading in our list, save perhaps the first editions of the great authors, which you may not make your own. almost every subject has its bibliography, and many fresh volumes are added yearly to the ever-increasing list of 'books about books.' you will find what bibliographies have appeared upon your particular subject, up to , by referring to mr. w. p. courtney's 'register of national bibliography,' which should be (if indeed it is not) in every public library throughout the kingdom. some day an enterprising public body will purchase a building with fifty-five rooms (or thereabouts), each of which will contain a small and carefully selected collection of books on each one of these subjects. each room will have its own catalogue and its own librarian, who will be an expert in the subject over which he presides. the rooms, of course, will vary in size according to the magnitude of the subject and the number of sub-headings which it comprises. readers will have access to the shelves in almost every case, books of great value alone being kept under lock and key. how invaluable such a library would be, and what a vast amount of time would all readers be saved! we should know instantly to whom to turn for expert advice upon any subject--for the sub-librarians would naturally be acquainted with more than the mere outsides of the volumes in their charge. we should be able to handle the latest works upon our subject immediately; and we should have, ready to our hand, a history of its literature from the earliest times to the present day. as to whether the acquisition of knowledge by this method would not turn us all into journalists, however, is another matter. with the first heading in our list shall be included several others, namely ( ) africa; ( ) australasia; ( ) travels and explorations (which heading includes every land under the sun not specially mentioned in our list), and ( ) voyages and shipwrecks; in short, all those subjects which concern 'foreign parts.' they are subjects which are most likely to engage the attentions of collectors who have been seafaring in their time, though, as has been shown in chapter ii., it is not every traveller who has been far afield. books on arctic and antarctic exploration, as well as whaling voyages, comprise much reading that is as interesting to the landsman as to the sailor. most of its literature is within easy reach of the collector of modest means, though the earlier volumes are naturally increasing gradually in price. one of the hardest to obtain is william scoresby's 'account of the arctic regions,' which was published in two octavo volumes at edinburgh in . you will be lucky if you find a clean sound copy of it with the plates unspotted. it is now getting very scarce, as is weddell's 'voyage towards the south pole in - ' (octavo, london, ). each of these headings can be subdivided according to your requirements. africa you may divide conveniently into west, south, east, and central; north africa being best classified under the various countries which it contains, namely, algiers, morocco, tripoli, and tunis. egypt, of course, has a vast literature of its own. similarly books on australasia may be divided into those which deal with polynesia, new guinea, australia (again divided into its states), tasmania, and new zealand; though, properly speaking, the first of these should be classified under the heading 'voyages.' there is little doubt that those collectors who have devoted their energies during the past twenty-five years to the collecting of books on africa, especially the south, will prove at no very distant date to have been wise in their purchases. just as early americana are so eagerly bought by our neighbours across the atlantic at immense prices, far and away out of all proportion to their intrinsic worth as literature or history, so will the day come when those of our kin whose fathers sought a home in the 'great dark continent' will go to any length to procure works which deal with the early history of that newer world; and this will be the case, perhaps even sooner, with our australasian friends. the early books on australia are most interesting. besides governor phillip's 'voyage to botany bay' ( ) and his letters therefrom ( ) there are such compilations as john callander's version of the comte de tournay's 'terra australis cognita,' or voyages to the southern hemisphere during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, three octavo volumes published at edinburgh between and . then there is admiral hunter's 'historical journal of the transactions at port jackson and norfolk island' ( ).[ ] hunter sailed with the first fleet in under arthur phillip, the first governor of botany bay, as second in command of h.m.s. _sirius_, and afterwards became governor-general of new south wales in succession to phillip. his journal gives a very valuable account of the early days of the colony. barrington's, mitchell's, and sturt's handsome volumes, all with fine plates, are still to be had for shillings. they seem a very good investment. books on the south seas have a peculiar interest, for the subject at once conjures up the name of the immortal captain cook; and the accounts of his remarkable voyages between and are perhaps the most eagerly sought for of all books on polynesia. the first voyage of discovery in which the great explorer took part was in the years to . his ship, the _endeavour_, was accompanied in the first part of the voyage by the _dolphin_ and _swallow_; and an account of the _endeavour's_ voyage was published surreptitiously in by, it is said, certain of the petty officers of cook's vessel.[ ] but the compilation of an authentic account of the voyage, from the rough notes and diaries, was entrusted to dr. hawkesworth, and was published in in three quarto volumes. from this task hawkesworth gleaned £ , and although we are told that the book 'was read with an avidity proportioned to the novelty of the adventures which it recorded,' yet the compiler so far offended against the canons of good taste as to cause considerable offence. cook gained such credit for his intrepidity that he was promptly promoted from lieutenant to commander. a second expedition was soon planned, and in the _resolution_ and the _adventure_ set sail, the former returning to england in . the results of this voyage were drawn up by captain cook himself, and published in in two quarto volumes. in he sailed once more in the _resolution_, but was destined never to return, for on st. valentine's day, , he met his death at the hands of the natives of hawaii. the expedition returned the next year, and the official account of it was published in , in three quarto volumes, of which the first two were from the pen of cook, the third volume being written by james king. the following year a second edition appeared, also in three quarto volumes. all these works have maps, charts, and folding plates, which are sometimes bound up separately into folio volumes. a few of these somewhat crude plates were engraved by bartolozzi. admiral james burney's 'chronological history of voyages and discoveries in the south sea,' was published in five quarto volumes between and . the author was one of cook's officers, and the diary of the last voyage which he sailed in company with the great navigator is still ( ) in manuscript. his account of the death of captain cook, however, was published in the 'cornhill magazine' so lately as november . during the first half of the nineteenth century many handsome works upon these subjects issued from the press. for the most part they are sumptuous books, many of them having coloured plates and sometimes folding ones. they were published chiefly for subscribers at prices ranging from two guineas to fifteen; and during the last few years they have risen considerably in price. until the decline of the coloured engraving in the 'fifties of last century they were legion in number, both quartos and octavos, and many are still to be had for a few shillings. but a study of booksellers' catalogues alone will give you an idea of their prices and values. needless to say, works upon voyages, travels, and explorations issued in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are becoming increasingly scarce and valuable. here a word of warning. before you purchase any of these illustrated volumes, make sure (by referring to a bibliography or standard collation if possible) that it is intact. frequently a plate or a map is missing, and sometimes an unscrupulous seller will go so far as to remove the 'list of plates' in order that the blemish may remain undetected. with such defects, books of travel are generally of little worth. some of the byways included in these headings of travel and foreign countries are of considerable interest for the bibliographer no less than for the traveller. who has confined his attentions to the early saracenic literature of north africa? there is a number of works dealing with it, chiefly sixteenth-century spanish books, and all are of considerable value. luis del marmol's 'descripcion general del affrica' is in three folio volumes, of which the first two were printed at granada in , the third volume being dated at malaga, . but though marmol affixed his own name to it, the work is little more than a translation of the 'description of africa,' by leo africanus, a fellow-countryman of marmol, who composed his work in arabic. marmol was certainly well qualified for his task, for he was taken prisoner by the moors in , and was eight years in captivity in africa. curio's 'sarracenicae historiae' was first published in folio at basel in ; but it was english'd by t. newton in , quarto, black letter, london--if you are so lucky as to come across it. it is called 'a notable historie of the saracens.' dan's 'histoire de la barbarie,' folio, paris, , appears in the sale-room from time to time. [sidenote: americana.] . americana--what a vast subject in itself! its very definition signifies the inclusion of everything upon any subject whatsoever that has ever been written upon the americas! but in the bibliographer's reading this term is generally taken to imply those early works relating to the discovery and settlement of the united states and canada, though not necessarily in the english language. for the purposes of our list, however, we will confine its meaning solely to the united states; classifying books upon canada, alaska, and mexico under the heading travels and exploration. under the latter heading also, of course, will come the various countries of central and south america. many have been the collections upon the early history of new england, and you will do well to obtain the catalogues of the huth, church, auchinleck, winsor, livingston, grenville, and hoe collections. the famous collection of americana from the library at britwell court was to have been sold by auction at sotheby's in august ; but it was purchased _en bloc_ to go to new york, where it was dispersed by public auction the following january. the sale catalogue (sotheby's) is an extremely good one, and contains a large number of works previously undescribed. the well-known library of americana amassed by dr. white kennet, bishop of peterborough during the latter part of the seventeenth century, and entrusted by him in to the keeping of the society for the propagation of the gospel 'for their perpetual use,' was sold by order of that society at sotheby's in august and realised very high prices, though most of the items were in poor condition. the gem of the collection, 'new england canaan,' , and most of the other important volumes (seventy-nine in all) had been presented previously by the society to the british museum. the highest price realised was £ , which was paid for 'a true relation of the late battell fought in new england between the english and the salvages,' , a small quarto of sixteen leaves, said to be by the rev. philip vincent.[ ] there are two valuable bibliographies upon this subject, both necessarily large and important works. they are sabin's 'dictionary of books relating to america,' in nineteen octavo volumes published at new york from to , which, however, comprises only the headings from a to simms: and evans' 'american bibliography,' privately printed in eight quarto volumes at chicago, to . harrisse's 'bibliotheca americana vetustissima' (new york, ) with its supplement (paris, ) is a bibliography of the rarest books concerning america that appeared between and . mr. w. h. miner's 'the american indians, north of mexico,' published by the cambridge university press in , contains a bibliography of works on the aboriginals. [sidenote: architecture.] . works upon architecture are, _de natura_, for the greater part 'art books,' and comprise not only such large works as furttenbach's massive tomes and the works of britton and billing, but the many beautifully illustrated books published by ackermann at the beginning of last century. most of them, english and foreign, are books of considerable value, for the plates were often produced by the great masters of engraving, and they readily command high prices whenever they appear in the market. but there is a large and increasing number of smaller works which deal with buildings and designs, as well as those books concerning buildings of an historical interest. there does not seem to be any monumental bibliography of architectural books, but you will find useful lists in mr. w. p. courtney's volumes. the older books upon this subject are necessarily scarce: such as alberti's 'libri de re Ã�dificatoria decem,' which appeared first at florence in . this work, however, was reprinted at paris in , and you may have a copy of it for a couple of pounds, though the first french translation 'l'architecture et art de bien bastir, trad. par deffunct jan martin,' folio, paris, , with fine large woodcuts, will cost you four times as much. it is a fine book, and contains a portrait of the author as well as a three-page epitaph by ronsard on the deffunct jan martin. [sidenote: bibles.] . the collection of bibles is perhaps one of the commonest subjects to engage the attention of specialists. there is a numerous bibliography, ranging from anthony johnson's little tract 'an historical account of the english translations of the bible,' printed in , down to the rev. j. l. mombert's 'english versions of the bible,' of which a new edition appeared in . you will find the volumes of anderson, cotton, eadie, loftie, dore, darlow and moule, stoughton, and scrivener of assistance to you here, as well as westcott's 'general view of the history of the english bible,' of which a third and revised edition was published in . it contains a useful list of english editions of the holy writ. the huth collection, that portion of it which was sold in - , was especially rich in bibles, as was the amherst library, dispersed in - . this last contained editions from (the so-called 'mazarin' bible) to king charles the first's own copy of the cambridge edition. the sale catalogues of these will be of value to you. . bibliography is perhaps the subject nearest to the heart of every bibliophile. but since the collection of 'books about books' must of necessity be the stepping-stone by which the book-lover attains his knowledge of the extrinsic attributes of his hobby, i have dealt with this subject at some length in the chapter wherein are treated the 'books of the collector.' [sidenote: biography.] . biography, memoirs, diaries: what a flood of names and memories occur to one under this heading! not only the immortal boswell and pepys, but fanny burney, alexandre dumas, mary wortley-montague, lord herbert of cherbury, _et permulti alii_. also, this heading will comprise that great series of mysterious and 'racy' books ycleped 'court memoirs,' and the somewhat less exciting but--to our book-hunter's mind at least--more interesting works which border on the domain of history, such as the memoirs of blaise de montluc and saint-simon: works which bring home to us the everyday life of those far-off days more clearly than anything that has ever been written about them since. how meagre is the stock of valuable historical memoirs with which we may furnish our libraries to-day! there is abundance to be had--after long searching, but the great memoirs which we may have to hand, such as froissart and monstrelet, waurin and la marche, must number scarce a couple of dozen. perhaps some day a philanthropic publisher will give us good editions (unabridged) of sir james melvil, sir philip warwick, edmund ludlow, bulstrode whitlock, sir thomas herbert, robert cary, denzil lord holles, and many other valuable contemporary evidences now scarcely to be had, and when found usually in ancient tattered calf. why is it, too, that the great mass of french chroniclers who bear witness to english doings in the wars of normandy, brittany, burgundy, anjou and touraine remain still untranslated and almost unprocurable? there are so many delightful memoirs to which one would like to have access at will. jean de boucicault, marshal of france, stands out as one of the most interesting figures in mediæval france and, indeed, europe. nicknamed 'le meingre,' he was vicomte de turenne, and bore arms at the age of ten. his father[ ] also was a marshal of france. few men have lived such a stirring life as this paragon of knightly prowess. at rosebeque in (where philip van artevelde and , flemings were slain), being then a page of honour to charles vi., he fought at the king's side and acquitted himself so well that he received knighthood at the king's hands. thenceforward he was fighting continually in flanders, normandy, brittany, languedoc--in short wherever there was fighting to be done. in , marching with the flower of the french chivalry through bulgaria against the turks, he was one of the three thousand knights taken prisoner at the disastrous battle of nicopoli; but was among the twenty-five whose lives were spared by the savage victor. four years later he was defending constantinople for the emperor against his late captor, and here again he distinguished himself greatly by his bravery. not long after this he was appointed governor of genoa. in command of the genoese fleet he undertook to chastise the cypriots for an outrage on some genoese gentlemen. but calling at rhodes on the way, the grand master of the hospitallers persuaded him to try the effect of mediation first of all, and proceeded to cyprus himself for that purpose. whereupon the marshal, 'to beguile the time, and give employment to the fiery spirits on board his squadron' (says a later chronicler) 'ran down at a venture to the syrian city of scanderoon, which place he carried by assault and plundered.' encouraged by this success, on the grand master's return he persuaded that great personage to accompany him on a further expedition, and together they harried the whole coast of syria, the hospitaller confining his attention to the infidels whilst the marshal razed the factories which the venetians (enemies to the genoese) had established at baruth and other places. thus passing a very pleasant summer. in italy he took an active part in the turmoil betwixt guelphs and ghibellines, and seized milan for the former ( ). at agincourt in he commanded the vanguard of the french army, and was taken prisoner. being sent to england, he remained there until his death six years later. this great soldier was a man of many accomplishments, an ardent musician as well as a poet; and his leisure was passed chiefly in composing ballads, rondeaux, and virelays. yet his 'livre des faicts' remains unenglish'd. another truly great man of a later period was that great warrior of saintly life and death, henri, duc de montmorency. after a long and noble career of arms in the service of his king no less than of his countrymen, he fell a victim to the jealousy of cardinal de richelieu. 'dieu vouloit que sa mort fust aussi admirable que sa vie,' writes his biographer; 'que ses dernieres actions couronnassent toutes les autres; et que ses vertus chrestiennes jettassent encor plus d'eclat que n'avoient fait les heroiques.' brought to the scaffold he refused to avail himself of the indulgence of having his hands at liberty. 'so great a sinner as i,' he said, 'cannot die with too much ignominy.' of his own accord he took off his splendid dress. 'how can i,' said he, 'being so great a sinner go to my death in such attire when my guiltless saviour died naked upon the cross.' yet save we are contented to turn to a poorly printed seventeenth-century edition of his life, there is no place (to my knowledge at least) where we can read of this truly great man, and, of course, no version other than that in the french tongue. then there is that great and vivacious chronicle of the house of burgundy during the fifteenth century, the memoirs of messire olivier, sieur de la marche. no historian would write of the flemish wars, from the peace of arras in to the taking of ghent by the archduke maximilian in , without constant reference to this invaluable work, for la marche was often an eye-witness of the events which he records. yet so far it has not been rendered in english, and i know of no complete edition in modern french. it is the same with the memorials of bouchet, chartier, de coussy, crillon, olivier de clisson, and many other great soldiers, all of whom have much to say of the wars 'contre les anglois.' the famous history of bertrand du guesclin[ ] contained in 'le triomphe des neuf preux' does not seem to have been reprinted after its second appearance in spanish at barcelona in , and there is no english version. why is it that biography has such a peculiar fascination for most men? is it but curiosity to know how others have passed their lives, mere idle inquisitiveness? or is it that we may store up in our minds what these great ones said and did upon occasions that may occur to us some day? this is, perhaps the more likely; for women dislike biographies, and women, we are told, care not a fig for examples, but act upon their native intuition. be the reason what it may, the fact remains that for one man who looks to the future there are fifty who look to the past. moreover the sages of all times encourage us to seek examples in the lives of other men, and examples are certainly of more value than idle speculations. 'with what discourses should we feed our souls?' asked one of that pleasant philosopher maximus of tyre. 'with those that lead the mind [greek: epi ton prosthen chronon]--towards former times,' replied the sage--those that exhibit the deeds of past ages. possibly it would be better to include biographical dictionaries under this heading than under 'dictionaries.' oettinger's 'bibliographie biographique universelle,' published first in quarto at leipzig, , describes some , biographies, under their subjects' names. a second edition appeared in two octavo volumes at brussels four years later. there is a useful catalogue of biographical dictionaries in all languages at the end of the third volume of john gorton's 'general biographical dictionary,' the edition. [sidenote: famous authors and books.] . celebrated authors and books. how interesting it would be to know which individual work, after the bible, has passed through the greatest number of editions. 'the pilgrim's progress,' 'robinson crusoe,' 'the decameron,' 'the compleat angler,' 'paradise lost,' all these must have been reprinted an immense number of times; while others such as 'gil blas' and 'don quixote' would not be so very far behind. then there are the ancients, such as homer, horace, virgil, with the great host of classics of the old world. perhaps, however, the palm would be awarded to the 'imitatio christi' of the saintly thomas à kempis. the editions of it, from the presses of almost every country in the old and the new worlds, run well into four figures. an english collector, edmund waterton, succeeded in amassing no less than thirteen hundred, and at his death the british museum acquired all those of his treasures which were not already upon its shelves. there is another name to couple with this, though (i hasten to add) from a purely bibliographical standpoint--that of the great dominican giacomo di voraggio, or jacobus de voragine. except to the student of early fathers, the hagiologist, and the bibliophile, his very name has almost sunk into oblivion; but to these savants he stands forth as the compiler of that marvellous collection of the lives of the saints, known as the golden legend. the first latin edition of his great work was printed in folio at cologne in , and six years later it appeared in french at lyons and in italian at venice. caxton translated and published an english version, and from that time to the middle of the sixteenth century it is said to have undergone more impressions than any other contemporary work.[ ] it is not only editions of individual works, however, that this heading comprises. upon reading a book which pleases us greatly it is but natural to seek other works by the same author; and with the book-collector this tendency often becomes the basis of a definite plan of campaign. who has yet formed a complete collection of the works and editions of defoe, of alexandre dumas, or even of that indefatigable jesuit antiquary claude françois menestrier? there are bibliographies of all three, but i do not know of any library that possesses a complete collection of either. every year sees the addition of bibliographies upon this subject, and we have now excellent accounts of the publications of bunyan, cervantes, defoe, milton, sir walter raleigh, sir isaac newton, isaac walton, and many other famous men. under this heading also is included the collection of books dealing with a particular author or book, such, for example, as the many published works upon the authorship of the 'imitatio christi,' the 'eikon basilike,' or the letters of junius, and--commonest sub-heading of all--'shakespeareana.' the british museum authorities have issued a bibliography (large quarto, ), of books in that library relating to shakespeare, which you may have for a few shillings. if this be your hobby, however, perhaps the first book which you will acquire, at the very outset of your career, will be sir sidney lee's monumental 'life of william shakespeare,' which has become a classic in itself. of this, the first edition appeared in , but a new edition (the seventh) rewritten and greatly enlarged, was published in . it is, at the time of writing, the fullest and best, so is much to be preferred. it contains a full account of the earliest and subsequent editions and editors of the immortal writer. mr. a. w. pollard published in a bibliographical account of 'shakespeare folios and quartos,' and you will find a lengthy list of books upon this subject in appendix i of sir sidney lee's work ( ). mr. william jaggard's 'shakespeare bibliography' purports to be 'a dictionary of every known issue of the writings of our national poet and of recorded opinion thereon in the english language.' it was published at stratford-on-avon in , a thick octavo volume of more than pages. the fifth volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature' contains some pages of shakespeareana in the bibliographies to chapters viii. to xii. [sidenote: famous presses.] . celebrated presses. of all the famous printers this world has seen, there are two in particular whose productions have engaged the attentions of collectors continually, namely, the manuccios ('aldines') and the elzeviers. the reason for this is not far to seek. unlike the productions of caxton or de worde (whose works, mostly in the vernacular, have usually engaged the attentions of english collectors only), the volumes issued by these two great foreign houses stand out for their conspicuous merit both as specimens of book-production and as examples of scholarly editing. should you decide, however, to confine your attention to some other of the great printers, then a delightful hobby will be yours; for the field is narrow, and your collecting must take the form of a personal inspection of each volume purchased. it will be book-hunting with a vengeance; the booksellers' catalogues (which rarely give the printers) will be of little use to you except as regards certain specimens with which you are acquainted, and each volume that you acquire will have been unearthed by your own hands. it is a subject which has been chosen so frequently by specialists that there are bibliographies of almost all the well-known printers, most of them, it were needless to add, in french. for a list of them, you must consult the work of bigmore and wyman, as well as that of mr. w. p. courtney. there is a chance here, also, for the public librarian. how many of the public libraries in this country possess a collection of books illustrating the history and progress of printing in their particular towns? most provincial public libraries now possess collections of books relating to the history and topography of their localities; and it should not be difficult to form similar collections of locally-printed books. it would be an interesting hobby for the private collector too, and such a collection would be of the greatest interest and value from the bibliographical standpoint. similarly it would not be difficult to form a small collection of books printed by, say, the french or german or italian printers before , or the paris or venetian printers up to . there is a considerable field for the collector here. [sidenote: ballads and broadsides.] . chapbooks, broadsides, and ballads: a curious byway of book-collecting this, for the knowledge to be gleaned from these _curiosa_ is not probably of great value. nor can a great deal be said in favour of their utility. perhaps, however, the first two would be classed more properly with no. --facetiae and curiosa, leaving ballads only under this heading. the earl of crawford and balcarres' 'bibliotheca lindesiana: a catalogue of a collection of english ballads of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, printed for the most part in black letter' was printed privately in small quarto in . it is undoubtedly the finest collection of this kind in the world. ritson's 'ancient songs and ballads' was revised by hazlitt in . then there are such volumes as payne collier's 'illustrations of english popular literature,' published in - , huth's 'ancient ballads and broadsides published in england in the sixteenth century' ( ), and others which will be mentioned when discussing facetiae ( ) and pamphlets and tracts ( ). lemon's 'catalogue of a collection of printed broadsides in the possession of the society of antiquaries of london' ( ) and lilly's 'black letter ballads and broadsides,' ( ) will also be of use to you here, as will the publications of the percy, ballad, and philobiblon societies. in j. russell smith, the antiquarian publisher of soho square, issued a 'catalogue of a unique collection of four hundred ancient english broadside ballads, printed entirely in the black letter' which he had for sale--a small octavo volume with notes and facsimiles. it is a valuable little book and somewhat hard to obtain. for other reference-books upon this subject, you must turn to the headings 'ballads' and 'broadsides' in mr. w. p. courtney's valuable 'register of national bibliography.' this heading also includes the collection of proclamations and single sheet posters of all kinds. there is a fine collection of royal proclamations in the library of the society of antiquaries, probably the most perfect in existence. 'bookes' of proclamations were issued by r. grafton in ( vo), r. barker in (folio), norton and bill in (folio)--all in black letter--and by several other the king's printers during the seventeenth century. for the purposes of the historian they are simply invaluable. the ( th) earl of crawford and balcarres has printed a bibliography of proclamations, vols. v. and vi. of his 'bibliotheca lindesiana.' [sidenote: civil war and commonwealth.] . civil war and commonwealth is properly speaking a sub-heading of no. --history; but it is a favourite subject with book-collectors, and the volumes issued during this period are _sui generis_ and mostly of considerable interest. with the abolition of the star chamber in the drastic repression of the printers disappeared, and, freed from all control, the presses now poured forth political tracts and volumes of every description. needless to say a great number of the books thus issued were anonymous publications. but two years later an order for the regulating of printing came into force, and cromwell's censorship was reinforced by a further act in . nevertheless a large mass of political matter continued, throughout the interregnum, to make its appearance on the stalls and in the shops. what would not cromwell have given to suppress 'killing no murder'! edwards' 'catalogue of the great rebellion tracts in the british museum' was included in his 'memoirs of libraries,' which appeared in . george thomason's famous collection of royalist tracts will be dealt with under the heading 'pamphlets.' [sidenote: classics.] . of all the subjects in our list perhaps none comprises volumes of greater beauty and printed with greater distinction than this--the classics of the old world. it is a rare field for the scholar to-day, for the time when no library could be considered complete without editions of most of the old masters of greece and italy is long past; and there is nothing like the competition nowadays to secure the well-known editions which formerly adorned the shelves of our grandfathers. not long ago our book-hunter witnessed the sale of a sixteenth-century folio isocrates, bound in ancient green morocco, for seven and sixpence; and similar volumes are described continually in the modern booksellers' catalogues. there is more scope here for the collection of masterpieces of typography than in any other heading in our list. aldines, estiennes, elzeviers, plantins, baskervilles, barbous--all are within the reach of the most modest purse. you need not trouble to study dibdin's 'introduction to the knowledge of rare and valuable editions of the greek and latin classics': if you are sufficiently fond of immortal books and beautiful printing to make this subject your hobby, your own eyes and hands will guide you in the choice of editions--from the bibliographical standpoint. [sidenote: cookery books.] . the collection of cookery books offers a wider field for the book-collector's activities than would appear at first sight. besides the considerable number of works of a purely culinary nature, there are many sources whence we can learn much concerning the dietary and table customs of our ancestors. caxton's (or rather de worde's) 'book of curtesye' is a primer of good manners for a small boy at table and elsewhere, and it may well find a place, in modern shape, on the shelf beside other volumes on household economy. 'don't dip your meat in the salt-cellar,' the wise man tells master jackie, 'lest folk apoynte you of unconnyngnesse.' he must be careful, also, not to expectorate across the table, 'ne at the borde ye shall no naylis pare ne pyke your teth with knyf.' injunctions that are, perhaps, unnecessary nowadays; but all must agree with the great printer that 'it is a tedyous thynge for to here a chylde multeplye talkyng.' are books on table-manners published nowadays? the latest i remember to have seen is trusler's 'the honours of the table, or rules for behaviour during meals, with the whole art of carving,' which appeared in . it has woodcuts by bewick, and is a curious and scarce little volume. even such unlikely volumes as dugdale's 'origines juridiciales' (folio, london ), the egerton and rutland papers, and other volumes of household accounts issued by the learned societies contain menus and long lists of foodstuffs and drinks consumed at various feasts. w. c. hazlitt's account of some 'old cookery books and ancient cuisine' appeared in mo in . it has a list of some of the older works. there is also a bibliography of books upon this subject in dr. a. w. oxford's 'notes from a collector's catalogue' which appeared in . his 'english cookery books to the year ' was published in . you will find a useful paper upon old english cookery in the 'quarterly review' for january . m. georges vicaire's 'bibliographie gastronomique,' a handsome octavo volume with facsimiles, appeared at paris in . then there are such books on dieting as cornaro's 'discorsi della vita sobria' and lessius on the right course of preserving health, both english'd in and printed at cambridge in a tiny volume entitled 'hygiasticon'; also tryon's 'way to health,' sir thomas elyot's 'castel of helth,' and other works of this nature. 'the forme of cury,' compiled about by the master cook of richard ii., was published by samuel pegge in ; and the 'libre cure cocorum,' about , was issued by the philological society in . the 'boke of cookery' printed by pynson in , and buttes' 'dyets dry dinner,' , you will probably have to go without unless your purse be a deep one; indeed so far as i am aware no duplicate is known of the first-mentioned! [sidenote: costume.] . books on costume, like works on architecture and the fine arts, are _de natura_ 'art books.' during the first few decades of the nineteenth century there were published a number of folio volumes containing fine coloured plates, depicting the costumes of various foreign countries. numerous books of travels issued during the same period also were embellished with similar plates; whilst of late years monographs have appeared on the history of various articles of attire, such as shoes, gloves, hats, etc. it is not a large field for the specialist, and at present i am unaware of any modern bibliography upon this subject. there are lists of costume books in fairholt's 'costume in england' ( edition), 'the heritage of dress' by mr. w. m. webb ( ), and a paper on them by mr. f. w. b. haworth in the quarterly record of the manchester public library for (vol. vii. pp. - ). some of the older works on costume are extremely interesting for their curious engravings. for the most part they are valuable works. 'le recueil de la diversite des habits, qui sont de present en usage, tant es pays d'europe, asie, afrique et isles sauvages, le tout fait apres le naturel' was put forth by richard breton, a paris printer, in , octavo. it contains full-page wood-engravings of costume; it is a little difficult, however, to see why the 'sauvages' should be included in a book of costume. but perhaps they are covered by the phrase 'apres le naturel.' beneath each engraving is a rhyming and punning quatrain. here is the one beneath the portrait of a young lady of demure appearance, entitled 'l'espousée de france': 'l'espousée est coiffée, aussi vestue comme voyez, quant elle prent mary, a demonstrer sa beauté s'esuertue, en ce iour la, n'ayant le cueur marry.' there are other interesting sixteenth-century works by abraham de bruyn, nicolas de nicolay, cesare vecellio, pietro bertelli, ferdinand bertelli, and others, all with copper and wood engravings. [sidenote: crime.] . books dealing with crimes and prisons are classed generally under the heading _curiosa_ ( ); but accounts of murders, rogueries, piracies, etc., are so common and so frequently engage the attentions of specialists that i have thought fit to place this subject in a class by itself. needless to say the majority of works on this subject are in the shape of pamphlets or tracts, though some (such as the 'trial of queen caroline') run to more than one thick volume. you must not expect to come across many of samuel rowlands' tracts on roguery, ( - ), for they are worth literally their weight in gold, and more. many of them, however, have been reprinted by the hunterian club ( - ). nor will you find readily 'the blacke dogge of newgate' by luke hutton, which appeared first about , though 'the life and death of gamaliel ratsey, a famous thief of england,' was reprinted by payne collier. mr. f. w. chandler's two volumes on 'the literature of roguery,' published in , will be of great assistance to you here; whilst payne collier's 'illustrations of early english popular literature' contains several murder pamphlets. the newgate calendar is well known and may be had, in varying states of completeness, of the booksellers from time to time, together with the many accounts of famous murders and trials. [sidenote: dictionaries.] . dictionaries and etymologies are subjects which generally engross the attentions of 'curious antiquaries.' some of the older dictionaries are of great interest. a few years ago our book-hunter purchased in london for half a crown a copy of cooper's 'thesaurus linguae romanae et britanniae,' a thick folio printed at london by henry bynneman in . it is bound in the original sheepskin, a portion of a vellum psalter having been used to strengthen the joints. the worthy bishop's text is delightful (cooper died bishop of winchester in ), the interpretations being in black letter, and it is full of quaint conceits. at the end is a biographical dictionary which certainly contains some startling statements. baret's 'alvearie or triple dictionarie,' , and rider's 'bibliotheca scholastica,' , you may still come across, but do not set your heart upon acquiring a copy of huloet's 'abcedarium anglico-latinum' put forth at london in . perhaps the finest collection of dictionaries amassed by any one collector in this country was that of the reverend dr. skeat of cambridge; but alas! at his death it was partly dispersed. [sidenote: drama.] . shakespeareana has already been dealt with under heading no. , and the bibliography of the drama is a voluminous one. you will find the following works of value to you at the outset, if this be the subject of your choice. hazlitt's 'manual for the collector and amateur of old english plays' was issued in , whilst mr. f. e. schelling's 'elizabethan drama, - ,' appeared in two volumes, new york, in . the second volume contains a useful bibliography. mr. w. w. greg's 'list of english plays written before and printed before ' was published by the bibliographical society in . there is a supplementary volume which deals with masques, pageants, and some additional plays; it appeared in . the bibliography to chapter iv. in the tenth volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature' contains useful lists of works on the drama. the office-book of sir henry herbert, master of the revels, to , was edited by professor quincy adams and published by the yale university press ('cornell studies in english,' vol. iii.) in . it is the chief source of information about english plays and playwrights from until the civil war, and the documents of the period - are important to students of the restoration drama. [sidenote: early-printed books.] . by the term 'early-printed books' the bookseller generally means fifteenth-century works, or _incunabula_ as they are now called. you must needs be a rich man if this be your hobby, for every volume issued prior to the year --however worthless as literature or useless from a bibliographical standpoint--is now worth at least a couple of pounds, provided it is complete and in good condition. you _may_ pick up an example or two of early printing for a few shillings on your rambles, but every day the chance of a bargain in this direction is smaller. there is not a bookseller throughout the kingdom who is not aware of the minimum value of _any_ volume printed in the fifteenth century, and a private purchase and treasure trove are the only sources available to the 'incunabulist' to-day. as regards works of reference on this subject, such books have already been dealt with in the chapter on the books of the collector. [sidenote: early romances.] . early romances, too, will tax your exchequer somewhat heavily, for these glorious folio and quarto examples of early woodcut engraving are eagerly snapped up whenever they appear in the market. one of the finest collections of these fascinating volumes in recent times was that amassed by baron achille seillière. a portion of it was sold at sotheby's in february . most of these treasures were exquisitely bound by the great french masters of book-binding, and the sale of lots realised £ , , an average of about £ a volume. yet it is safe to assert that the same collection to-day would fetch more than double that amount.[ ] the first folio edition (_lyon_, ) of honoré bonnor's 'l'arbre des batailles' realised only £ . at the fairfax murray sale in the quarto lyons edition ( ) made £ . the lisbon edition of 'le triomphe des neuf preux' ( ) brought £ . the same copy at the fairfax murray sale realised £ . a second portion of this fine collection afterwards came under the hammer in paris, and realised similar prices. there is a numerous bibliography. mr. a. esdaile's 'list of english tales and prose romances' was published by the bibliographical society in , as was mr. f. w. bourdillon's 'early editions of the roman de la rose.' the second edition of w. j. thom's 'early english prose romances' appeared in three small octavo volumes in , whilst quaritch's 'catalogue of mediæval literature, especially the romances of chivalry' was issued--large octavo--in . mr. h. l. d. ward's 'catalogue of mediæval romances in the british museum,' in three volumes, was completed in . for foreign romances lenglet du fresnoy's 'bibliothèque des romans,' is useful. the comte de tressan's 'corps d'extraits des romans de chevalerie,' published in twelve volumes in , has exquisite plates by marillier. it is an interesting compendium of all the most famous romances of chivalry. the early english text society has published a large number of old english romances both in verse and prose. [sidenote: facetiae, curiosa.] . facetiae, curiosa--a somewhat broad subject which would include chapbooks, broadsides, jest books, as well as those works which treat of 'gallantry' and subjects generally not alluded to in polite society! the literature upon all these topics is so large that it is impossible to attempt a résumé of it here, but you will find a very useful bibliography in the fourth volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature,' pages to . carew hazlitt's 'fugitive tracts' ( ) and 'studies in jocular literature' ( ) are both useful; and mr. g. f. black has recently ( ) printed a bibliography of _gipsies_. witchcraft, sometimes classed under this heading, shall be dealt with when we consider the occult. [sidenote: fine arts.] . works upon the fine arts are, like books on architecture, chiefly illustrated. doubtless such books are collected generally by students and craftsmen, but under this heading must be included books on gems, ancient statuary, and ceramics, cameos, rings, and the like. there is a large number of works which treat of these from the sixteenth century onwards, and many are to be had for a few shillings. footnotes: [ ] or turn to the index. [ ] quarto. it was abridged in octavo the same year. [ ] similarly, a quarto volume containing an account of the second voyage, 'drawn up from authentic papers,' appeared anonymously in ; an octavo 'journal' having appeared, also anonymously, the previous year. [ ] it was a cropped copy. the one in the wilton park library, sold at sotheby's in march, , lacked two blank leaves and was unbound; but it was a fine large copy and fetched £ . [ ] he was a contemporary of geoffroi de la tour landry, who relates a pleasing story of his amours in chapter xxiii. of the book which he wrote for the delectation of his three daughters. [ ] du guesclin gave striking proofs of courage in his childhood, and at won a prize at a tournament (where he was unknown and against his father's will). he spent most of his life fighting the english, gained several victories over them, and recovered poitou, limousin, and many towns in normandy and brittany. charles v. created him constable of france in , and he died in in harness, at the ripe age of , while besieging a town in languedoc. he was buried in the abbey of st. denis, at the feet of the royal master whom he had served so well. it is said that he could neither read nor write (which is probably incorrect), but his life and deeds were recorded shortly after his death (as in the case of bayard) by a 'loyal serviteur'--folio, gothic letter, printed by guillaume le roy at lyons about . of this there does not appear to be any english version. (see also footnote on page .) [ ] melchior cano, a later provincial of his order, is reported to have said concerning this book, 'the author of this legend had surely a mouth of iron, a heart of lead, and but little wisdom or soundness of judgment'; for it abounds with the most puerile and ridiculous fables and absurdities. but of course 'voragine' wrote in accordance with the fashion and beliefs of his time. [ ] the portion of the sudbury hall library sold at sotheby's in june realised £ , , s. there were lots, an average of more than £ a volume. the prices realised at the sale of that part of the britwell court library dispersed at sotheby's in december , however, far exceeded any hitherto obtained. lots brought £ , --an average of nearly £ , a volume. but in this case every book was _rarissimus_. a small volume containing the only known copy of the fourth edition of shakespeare's 'venus and adonis' ( ), the first edition of 'the passionate pilgrim' ( --one other copy known), and 'epigrammes and elegies' by davies and marlow (_circa_ ), realised £ , --and departed forthwith to the united states. [illustration] chapter ix a plea for specialism--(_continued_) 'like ships before whose keels, full long embayed in polar ice, propitious winds have made unlooked-for outlet to an open sea.' wordsworth. [sidenote: first editions.] to most of us it matters but little what becomes of our books when we are dead. we garner them for our own use and benefit absolutely, and when we are gone they may well be distributed among other book-lovers for aught we care. no doubt a considerable zest is added to collecting in the case of those lucky ones who, being established in the land, purpose to 'lay down' a library for their posterity. in such cases almost invariably there must be a thought of future value. it is but natural. whether he lay down wine or books no man is so foolish as to lay down trash. such schemes, however, do not always result in that success which their owner intended. like wine, the value of books may 'go off.' there are two classes of books, however, that he who is wealthy enough to lay down a library may acquire with perfect assurance. they are, in fact, gilt-edged securities. one is the original editions of _famous_ elizabethan and early stuart authors, the other, the more estimable _incunabula_. just as the population of the world increases yearly, so every year there are more and more book-collectors, and, consequently, more competition to acquire rarities. every day, too, the chances of further copies coming to light are more remote. books are not everlasting, and there will come a time when the only fifteenth-century volumes in existence will be those treasured in velvet-lined boxes and glass cases. there can be little doubt that in fifty years' time a collection of beaumont and fletcher's or massinger's plays in the original quartos will be worth not merely double its present value, but quadruple and more. then there are the famous prose authors of the early stuart period, such as bacon, barclay, robert burton, daniel, donne, drayton, shelton, and even the prolific gervase markham, to mention only a few. all these are good investments, as regards their first editions, _for your children's children_. as regards the first editions of more modern authors we are on much more delicate ground. first editions of really great men, such as milton, pope, or dryden, probably will always command a high price not only on account of their scarcity but because they are sought for by all students who make a study of those authors. but when we come to those more modern writers concerning whose merits tastes differ, then the collector's activity becomes a gamble. the first editions of thomas hardy or rudyard kipling _may_ be worth more than their weight in gold in a hundred years, but it is also quite possible that succeeding generations will find in them more of the sentiments of the day than of those innate characteristics of the human mind which make a book really great, and will pass them by. this matter, however, has been dealt with in the chapter on the books of the collector, and with regard to bibliographies of the writings of the chief nineteenth-century authors, you will find mention of these in the appendices to the later volumes of the 'cambridge history of english literature.' [sidenote: folk-lore, mysteries.] . folk-lore, fables, fairy-tales, accounts of mysteries and miracle-plays, mummers, minstrels and troubadours, pageants, masques and moralities: an interesting medley. books of fables, whether by Ã�sop, bidpai, la fontaine, gay, or kriloff, would form an interesting collection by themselves, and it would be amusing to trace the pedigree of some of the tales. our national jokes are said to be very ancient in origin; possibly some day the curate's egg will be traced to a budding priest of amen-ra, lunching with the hierophant. then there are books of proverbs--more than one would think--and the folk-lore of all countries that provides fairy-tales more entertaining than ever came out of the head of perrault or andersen. altogether a heading which contains some fascinating literature. it is doubtful whether such books as the 'arabian nights,' le grand's collections of ancient norman tales, and balzac's 'contes drôlatiques' should be included here; perhaps _de natura_ they should be classed rather with 'facetiae and curiosa.' the literature upon this subject is a large one, and there is an excellent list of writings upon minstrels, mysteries, miracle plays, and moralities in the fifth volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature,' pages to ; as well as in mr. courtney's invaluable work. [sidenote: freemasonry, etc.] . freemasonry is another of those subjects (like architecture, law, and early science) which usually engage the attentions of those whose businesses lead, or have at one time led, them to those things. some of the booksellers specialise in such works, and the older books on freemasonry cannot be said to be of frequent occurrence in the ordinary booksellers' catalogues. the finest extant library of masonic books in the english tongue is said to be at the freemasons' hall, in london, but it is accessible only to freemasons. a catalogue of it was privately printed by h. w. hemsworth in , and more recently by w. j. hughan in ; a supplement to this last appeared in . the masonic books at no. golden square were also catalogued by hemsworth ( ), and more recently by mr. edward armitage--quarto, . [sidenote: french revolution.] . the mention of books on the french revolution at once conjures up the name of that indefatigable collector and cabinet minister, john wilson croker. during his period of office at the admiralty he amassed there more than ten thousand revolutionary books, tracts, and writings; and when the accession of the whigs drove him from his home there, he sold his entire library to the british museum. but neither change of government nor loss of income could cure the fever of collecting and six years later he had amassed another collection as large as the first. this also was purchased by the museum authorities. before he died he had garnered a third collection as large as the two previous ones put together, and this also found a home in bloomsbury. a 'list of the contents' of these three collections was published by the museum authorities in . croker's magnificent collection of letters and writings on the same period was sold for only £ at his death; it went _en bloc_ to the library of sir thomas phillips at middle hill. [sidenote: gardens.] . what book-lover does not love a garden? 'god first planted a garden: and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures. it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man,' wrote bacon. whether it be the tranquil beauty of an old-world pleasaunce or the peaceful occupation of gardening that appeals to the temperament of the bibliophile, certain it is that the book-lover is invariably a lover of the garden also. to him the very mention of stone moss-grown walks, a sundial, roses, and green lawn conjures up a vision of delight. to talk of those who wrote of gardens would be to mention the literature of all time; for gardens are as old as the human race. indeed, 'gardens were before gardeners, and but some hours after the earth,' says sir thomas browne in that most delightful of discourses, 'the garden of cyrus.' a history of gardening in england has been compiled by the hon. miss alicia amherst; a second edition was published in , and an enlarged edition in . hazlitt's 'gleanings in old garden literature' (which contains a bibliography) appeared in . the famous library of old gardening literature, said to be the most complete and extensive of its kind, amassed by m. krelage, a bulb merchant of haarlem, has recently been incorporated in the state agricultural library of wageningen, holland.[ ] [sidenote: heraldry, &c.] . heraldry is the next subject which claims our attention; and under this head we will include all those works which treat of la chevalerie and noblesse, the orders of knighthood, the templars and hospitallers, the crusades, peerages, genealogical works, family histories, books on parliament and ceremonies, pomps, festivals, pageants, processions, works on brasses and seals, as well as those which treat of the science of blazon proper. here, at all events, is a variety of sub-headings. the first english bibliography of works upon this subject which our book-hunter has come across so far is a thin quarto volume entitled 'catalogus plerumque omnium authorum qui de re heraldica scripserunt,' by thomas gore, and it appeared first in . a second edition was published in : both are now very scarce. this work contains a list of writers, both english and foreign, upon chivalry, nobility, and such kindred subjects. but a quarto volume, which appeared in , entitled 'the art of making devises,' translated by t. b[lount] from the french of h. estienne, contains, in the preliminary matter, a list of writers on nobility. dallaway's 'inquiries into the origin and progress of the science of heraldry in england,' large quarto, gloucester, , contains a list of english heraldic writers, with their works; and sir egerton brydges published a more copious list in the third volume of his 'censura literaria.' moule's 'bibliotheca heraldica magnae britanniae' appeared in , a large octavo. he gives descriptions of english works on heraldry, genealogy, regal descents and successions, coronations, royal progresses and visits, the laws and privileges of honour, titles of honour, precedency, peerage cases, orders of knighthood, baptismal, nuptial, and funeral ceremonies, and chivalry generally. at the end is a short list of foreign writers upon these subjects--out of many thousands. there is an interleaved copy, containing many additions, in the british museum. more recently mr. g. gatfield has put forth a valuable work, entitled 'a guide to printed books and manuscripts relating to english and foreign heraldry and genealogy,' an octavo volume of which a limited edition was printed in . guigard's 'bibliothèque héraldique de la france' appeared at paris in . it has a useful bibliography of french books upon all the subjects chosen by moule. the henry bradshaw society also has published rare coronation tracts and coronation service books. few classes in our list contain more sumptuous volumes than those comprised under this heading. in our own tongue we have anstis' and ashmole's handsome folios on the garter, the latter with its beautiful folding plates; jaggard's edition ( ) of favyn's 'theatre d'honneur et de chevalerie' by an unknown translator, sandford's 'genealogical history of the kings and queens of england' (stebbing's edition, , please), milles' 'catalogue of honor or treasury of the nobility peculiar and proper to the isle of great britaine,' not forgetting gwillim (the sixth edition, ) and, of course, master nicholas upton. all these are handsome folios with copperplate engravings. the french books on noblesse are equally sumptuous. 'le vray theatre d'honneur et de chevalerie ou le miroir heroique de la noblesse,' by marc de vulson, sieur de la colombière, appeared at paris in two folio volumes in . it is a magnificent book, and a classic in this department of literature. the same author's 'la science heroique' was published first, also in folio at paris, in ; but in a second edition, considerably augmented, was put forth. of the author i find nothing further memorable than that, having surprised his wife with a gallant, he slew them both, and then took a post-chaise to paris to solicit the king's pardon, which he immediately obtained. there are many other equally fine works in french, but it were tedious to catalogue them here. two handsome volumes on jousting and tournaments have recently been put forth. 'the history of the tournament in england and france,' by mr. f. h. cripps-day, was issued by quaritch in , whilst 'the tournament: its periods and phases,' by mr. r. c. clephan, was published the same year. books on seals are much less numerous, though none the less ornate; for engravings are practically essential here. they are, generally, scarce; for the circle of readers to which such volumes appeal can never have been a wide one; so it is improbable that large impressions of any of them were printed. the 'sigilla comitum flandriae' of oliver vredius, a small folio, with nearly three hundred engravings of mediæval seals, was printed first at bruges in . it is a beautiful volume, the seals being drawn to scale and exquisitely engraved by four bruges engravers--samuel lommelin, adrian his son, francis schelhaver, and francis his son. unfortunately the plates became worn after printing off a few copies (especially those on pages , , ), and the early impressions are much to be preferred. a good test is to turn to the engraved genealogical tree on the recto of leaf cc . in the later-printed copies the foot of this engraving is most indistinct. a french translation appeared at bruges in . two of the scarcest english books upon seals were compiled by clergymen. the first, a thin quarto of pages, is entitled 'a dissertation upon the antiquity and use of seals in england. collected by * * * * ,' and was printed for william mount and thomas page on tower hill in . its author was the rev. john lewis, a former curate at margate, who died in . there is an engraved frontispiece of seals, and several copperplates in the text. it is very, very scarce, and it was some years before our book-hunter succeeded in obtaining a copy. the other authority was the rev. george henry dashwood, of stowe bardolph. from his private press he produced, in , a quarto volume consisting of fourteen engraved plates (by w. taylor) of seals, with descriptions opposite. it is entitled 'engravings from ancient seals attached to deeds and charters in the muniment room of sir thomas hare, baronet, of stowe bardolph,' and is common enough. copies on large paper are not infrequent. but in a 'second series' appeared. this consists of eight plates and descriptions, and at the end are two leaves of notes to both series. our book-hunter has not yet come across a duplicate (even in the british museum or at the antiquaries) of this second volume, which he was so fortunate as to find a week after receiving the first. a publication containing a fine collection of armorial seals was produced at brussels between and . it was published in fifteen parts, large octavo, and is entitled 'sceaux armoiries des pays-bas et des pays avoisinants.' lechaudé-d'anisy's 'recueil des sceaux normands,' an oblong quarto which appeared at caen in , is another of these handsome books; but we have already lingered too long over this fascinating heading. [sidenote: history.] . history is a somewhat wide subject, for it comprises descriptions of any epoch or sequence of events in the existence of anything! we can read histories of the glacial age or of charles ii, of the quakers or tasmania, of the life of a cabbage or the crimean war. even a dissertation on the development of the inkpot would be deemed history nowadays. for the present, however, we will confine ourselves to that branch of it which treats of the human element, nations and communities, and events in their development. we must include travels, politics, diaries, memoirs, and biographies, for all of these are indispensable adjuncts. the voyages of columbus, the greville papers, the memoirs of fezensac, and the paston letters are no less history than freeman's 'norman conquest,' froude's 'armada,' or napier's 'peninsular war.' it is a student's subject, and as rational a branch of book-collecting as there be. the collecting of early editions of the chroniclers, english or foreign, is an interesting by-way. the series of british chronicles issued under the direction of the master of the rolls is a fairly complete one, and the works of many other early historians have been published from time to time by the learned societies. a lengthy list of bibliographies is given in mr. courtney's work, and there are useful bibliographies at the end of each volume of the 'cambridge modern history.' under this heading we will include 'events'; such as the armada, the great fire of london, the gordon riots, the ' , but not, i think, the french revolution or the napoleonic era, the literatures of which are of such magnitude as to demand separate headings. there are collections of books on all these subjects and many similar ones which fall naturally under the heading 'history.' [sidenote: husbandry.] . the word 'husbandry' has an old-world flavour now: the classical 'agriculture' is preferred. it is a change, however, that we bookworms and curious antiquaries in nowise relish. the old english or scandinavian term which came to us from our forefathers is more seemly to our mind than the modern latin importation. nowadays any word is better than one drawn from our old english tongue. we may not speak of anything so indelicate as a belly, but we can mention an abdomen in the politest society. provided we denote them by their latin or greek names, we may even mention any parts of our viscera (i may not say bowels) without raising a blush. mention them in english, and we are at once boors and churls. but the husbandman's occupation has changed with the language. originally he was merely a hus-bondi, or house-inhabitor, though probably he had more to do with agriculture than the farmer who ousted him. the 'fermor' farmed or rented certain land from his overlord, making what he could out of the tenants on it. and in time even the word 'farmer' will pass out of use. just as the charwoman to-day insists upon a fictitious gentility, so in years to come the farmer will denote himself an agriculturist, possibly with the epithet 'scientific.' we no longer talk of villeins and carles; both have become sadly perverted in their meaning, although the dictionary still allows the latter to mean 'a strong man.' but, it hastens to add, vindictively, 'generally an old or a rude-mannered one.' so is our language changing. they are quaint volumes, the older treatises on husbandry, and for the most part they contain an extraordinary medley of information. there is a charm about their titles and language that few other classes of books possess. poultry, we know, can be obstinate wildfowl, but who nowadays would write of their 'husbandlye ordring and governmente'? such was the title of mascall's work put forth in . pynson printed an interesting book on estate management in for, probably, john fitzherbert: 'here begynneth a ryght frutefull mater; and hath to name the boke of surveying and improuvements.' it is full of curious conceits, even concerning the good housewife who, says gervase markham in his 'country contentments,' 'must bee cleanly both in body and garments, she must have a quicke eye, a curious nose, a perfect taste, and ready eare.' but these volumes are not easy to find, even though the book-hunter's nose be as curious as a housewife's, and, when perfect, are of considerable value. tusser's curious rhyming 'hundred good pointes of husbandrie,' enlarged later to 'five hundred pointes,' is perhaps the commonest of these earlier works. between and it went through eight editions, though the first is known only by the unique copy in the british museum. a useful list of writers upon agricultural subjects from to appeared in . it is by mr. d. mcdonald. [sidenote: illustrated books.] . illustrated books and books of engravings might perhaps have been included as a sub-heading to 'the fine arts'; but they form a distinct class and so frequently engage the attention of specialists, that our book-hunter has thought fit to put them in a class by themselves. some will have only those volumes illustrated by one of the cruikshank brothers, others prefer blake's or bewick's designs, and so on. some again cleave to the volumes illustrated by paul avril or adolf lalauze, kate greenaway or randolph caldecott. with regard to the early book-illustrators, several text-books that will be useful to those who specialise in this subject have been mentioned in the chapter dealing with the books of the collector. an excellent conspectus of book illustration, from the earliest times to the present day, is contained in the fifth chapter of 'the book: its history and development,' by mr. cyril davenport (octavo, ). at the end is a useful list of english and foreign works on book-illustration and its various methods. 'a descriptive bibliography of books in english relating to engraving and the collection of prints' by mr. howard c. levis, was put forth in . [sidenote: legal.] . law need not detain us. its literature has not merely kept pace with, but has far outstripped, the growth of english law; and it extends back at least to the 'tractatus de legibus' of ranulf de glanville, the great justiciar under henry ii. the collector of ancient law books will probably be a member of one of the four great london seats of law, or at least have access to their famous libraries; there are printed catalogues of all of them. the advocates' library at edinburgh, too, possesses a magnificent collection of ancient law books. a catalogue of it was published by david irving in , and more recently in seven quarto volumes, to . if you collect old french 'coutumiers,' cooper's 'catalogue of books on the laws and jurisprudence of france' may be useful to you. it was printed in octavo, . [sidenote: liturgies.] . the collection of liturgies is a subject that usually goes hand in hand with the collection of bibles and theological works. but it is for all that a distinct subject, and may well engage the undivided attention of the collector. 'a new history of the book of common prayer,' by messrs. proctor and frere, is perhaps at present the standard work upon the history of our english prayer book. the latest edition is dated , and it is published by the house of macmillan. the rev. w. h. j. weale's 'bibliographia liturgica, catalogus missalium, ritus latini ab anno impressorum' appeared in . the henry bradshaw society was founded in for the publication of rare liturgical tracts; whilst maskell's 'ancient liturgy of the church of england' (third edition, octavo, ) contains a collection of the service books in use in england before the reformation. [sidenote: locally-printed books.] . locally-printed books is a heading of considerable interest from the bibliographical point of view. the term is a wide one, for the volumes it includes range from those printed in a particular country to those produced in an individual town. has anyone yet attempted to form a collection of books printed in barbadoes or java, in donegal or dover? probably; but i am unaware of any attempts at bibliographies. with the growth of the public library in every town of importance throughout the kingdom, there are increasing opportunities for valuable work in this direction; and every year should see the issue of bibliographies by those institutions, works which would contain not merely a list of books printed in each particular town, but a history of printing in that place. mr. falconer madan's 'oxford books' may well serve as a model for such works. it was published in two octavo volumes at oxford in and respectively, the first volume being concerned with the productions of the early presses of that town. there are useful lists of books which issued from the early presses of scotland by mr. h. g. aldis, and ireland by mr. e. r. mcc. dix. 'the annals of scottish printing,' a large quarto by r. dickson and j. p. edmond, was printed at cambridge in . a model for the county bibliography is the 'bibliotheca cornubiensis' of messrs. g. c. boase and w. p. courtney, produced in three octavo volumes, between and ; and there are accounts of the early presses in several english counties, as well as at cambridge, york, birmingham and other important towns. but a considerable amount of work has still to be done in this direction. a valuable little book appeared in issued by the cambridge university press. it is entitled 'the english provincial printers, stationers, and bookbinders, to ,' and is by mr. e. gordon duff. there are accounts of the early presses at oxford, st. albans, hereford, exeter, york, cambridge, tavistock, abingdon, ipswich, worcester and canterbury; and it is a volume that should find a place on the shelf of every bibliophile. there is an interesting byway in connection with this heading: the collection of english books printed abroad. is there anywhere a collection of books in the english tongue printed at paris? one constantly comes across such volumes, especially those issued during the first half of the nineteenth century. after that time, bernhard tauchnitz of leipzig appears to have gathered into his hands the trade of english books printed abroad. recently our book-hunter came across a curious example of these peregrine volumes. it is a narrow octavo of some three hundred pages, entitled 'an introduction to the field sports of france,' and was printed by auguste lemaire at st. omer (pas de calais) in . at the end is the following note: 'the reader will make due allowance for any misprints he may discover, when apprised that the printer knows nothing of the english language, and they chiefly occur in the commencement of the work.' evidently m. lemaire warmed to his task as he went on. but the 'dame of our ladie of comfort of the order of s. bennett in cambray' who translated st. francis de sales' 'delicious entertainment of the soule' was even more modest. her version was printed at douai by gheerart pinson in , and apparently neither printer nor translator was very proud of the work, for in the 'apology for errors' we are told that 'the printer was a wallon who understood nothing at all english, and the translatresse a woman that had not much skille in the french.' still, imperfect though typography and translation be, between them they produced a book that is eagerly sought by collectors to-day. this is a topic, however, that is full of pitfalls. hundreds of european-printed books now bear asiatic imprints; thousands of seventeenth and eighteenth century works printed at paris bear the imprint of the hague or some other dutch town. our english publishers have not been innocent of this charge either. many a volume printed in holland and germany bears the london imprint. the original edition of burton's translation of the 'arabian nights,' issued by him in london, claims to have been produced at benares.[ ] [sidenote: mathematical and early scientific.] . 'the seconde parte of the catalogue of english printed bookes' for sale by andrew maunsell in , concerned, we are told, 'the sciences mathematicall, as arithmetick, geometrie, astronomie, astrologie, musick, the arte of warre, and navigation.' but it is not my intention to include musick and the arte of warre here, this heading comprising those works which deal with mathematics and physics only, with their dependent subjects, such as (in addition to those mentioned by master maunsell) geodesy, mensuration of all kinds, meteorology, seismography, and books on chance and probabilities. sir henry billingsley's edition of euclid's 'elements' ( ) is naturally a rare book, as is john blagrave's 'mathematical jewel,' a folio issued in . it is one of the earliest english books upon mathematics. blagrave[ ] was the author of a number of works on geometry, navigation, dialling, etc. for a history of mathematics you must turn to the four quarto volumes of that ingenious frenchman, m. jean etienne montucla. this work, the 'histoire de mathematiques,' first appeared in two volumes in ; but the author devoted the later years of his life to enlarging it and the new edition was published at paris in . it was reprinted in . this mathematician is said to have written a treatise on squaring the circle, but our book-hunter has not yet come across a copy. 'a history of ancient astronomy' appeared at paris (quarto) in : it was by that great man who presided over the memorable assembly at the tennis court on the th june , jean sylvain bailly. four years later he produced a history of modern astronomy from the foundation of the alexandrian school to (three vols. quarto, paris, - ): and in came the history of indian and oriental astronomy from the same pen. all these contain interesting details of the origin and progress of astronomical science, with the lives, writings, and discoveries of astronomers. with regard to our own great mathematician, sir isaac newton, a bibliography of his works has been published by mr. g. j. gray; the second edition appeared at cambridge in . mr. d. e. smith's 'rara arithmetica,' a catalogue of arithmetical works which appeared prior to the year , was printed, in a limited edition, at boston (united states) in . it is a sumptuously produced work in two large octavo volumes, copiously illustrated. professor de morgan's 'arithmetical books from the invention of printing to the present time' contains brief notices of a large number of works 'drawn up from actual inspection.' it was published--a thin octavo of pages--in , and the books are arranged chronologically; but there is an index of authors. [sidenote: medical.] . the collection of early medical books is a hobby that must appeal chiefly to the chirurgeon. its sub-headings are not numerous, and each comprises volumes of considerable bibliographical interest. there are curious books on 'poysons' as well as upon the commoner branches of surgery, and there are glorious editions of all the ancient Ã�sculapians, such as hippocrates, dioscorides, galen, and avicenna. herbals are doubtless collected by many who are not possessed of medical knowledge, and a number of them treat more of simples and housewifery than leechcraft, which is probably one reason of their attraction for the non-medical collector. but as these volumes in general are so inextricably bound up with the science of healing, i have thought fit to include them here. there is no denying that the fascination of these curious volumes, often (as in fuch's magnificent tome) containing woodcuts that are a sheer delight to the bibliographer no less than to the botanist, is a strong one. it is a moot point whether works on early chemistry or alchemy should be included here or under the heading 'occult,' seeing that they usually centre about the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone. perhaps they would be classed more accurately with early scientific. but for the purposes of our list i have reserved that heading for those books which treat of mathematics and physics only. with the early works upon astrology we need not concern ourselves here: they have more to do with divination and horoscopes than the craft of healing, so their appeal is chiefly to the student of the occult. it is impossible, however, to classify under one heading all those early works which treat of the beginnings of scientific knowledge. the star-gazer, the herbalist, the necromancer, and the leech, must be content to share among themselves a class of books which deals generally with the search into the great unknown. a useful catalogue of books on alchemy was printed in two large quarto volumes at glasgow in . it is by professor john ferguson, and is entitled 'bibliotheca chemica,' being a list of the hermetic books in the library of mr. james young. the three volumes entitled 'leechdoms, wortcunning, and starcraft of early england' by the rev. oswald cockayne, published in the 'rolls' series, - , contain a valuable contribution to the early medical science of this country. dr. j. f. payne's 'english medicine in the anglo-saxon times' (the fitz-patrick lectures for ) is for the most part a dissertation on that work. some of the prescriptions of these early leeches are rather quaint. 'if a man's head burst . . . let him take roots of this same wort, and bind them on his neck. then cometh to him good benefit.' the following is an excellent remedy for toothache: 'sing this for toothache after the sun hath gone down--"caio laio quaque voaque ofer saeloficia sleah manna wyrm." then name the man and his father, then say: "lilimenne, it acheth beyond everything; when it lieth low it cooleth; when on earth it burneth hottest; finit. amen."' if after this the tooth still continues to ache beyond everything, it is evident that there is a wyrm in it. for stomach-ache, you must press the left thumb upon the stomach and say 'adam bedam alam betar alam botum.' this is infallible. collections of medical authors began at an early date. van der linden's 'de scriptis medicis, libri duo' appeared first at amsterdam in , octavo--a valuable list of authors and the editions of their works. but it was reprinted with additions several times during the author's lifetime (he died in ); and in appeared at nürnberg as a thick quarto entitled 'lindenius renovatus.' dr. e. t. withington's 'medical history from the earliest times,' octavo, , is useful for reference; whilst dr. norman moore has recently produced (oxford, ) a 'history of the study of medicine in the british isles.' dr. e. j. waring's 'bibliotheca therapeutica' was published in two octavo volumes by the new sydenham society in - . it is a list of the books which have been written on each individual drug, classes of medicines, and general therapeutics. there is an index of authors. the first volume of albrecht von haller's 'bibliotheca anatomica' was published at london 'in vico vulgo dicto the strand' in ; the second volume at zurich in . both are in quarto, and are biographical as well as bibliographical. the same author published a 'bibliotheca chirurgica' and a 'bibliotheca medicinae practicae' at berne and basel between and . his 'bibliotheca botanica,' two quarto volumes, appeared at zurich in - . for other writers upon botany you must consult curtius sprengel's 'historia rei herbariae,' two octavo volumes which appeared at amsterdam in and . 'a guide to the literature of botany' by b. d. jackson was issued by the index society in . jean jacques manget, a geneva physician who died in at the age of ninety-one, was another voluminous compiler of bibliographies upon medical subjects. [sidenote: military.] . under the heading 'military' are included not only historical accounts of military operations but those works which treat of the military art and the progress of its development. obviously it is a subject that is as old as mankind, and dissertations on drill with the stone battle-axe must find a place here. many of the books on arms and armour (such as sir samuel meyrick's beautiful folio volumes) are fine works, and some of the earlier publications on castramentation and siege operations are interesting. we must not forget to mention the beautiful little elzevier 'cæsar' of . it is a wide heading, for such books as the commentaries of blaise de montluc and the memoirs of olivier de la marche must be included, as they deal in large part with military operations. books on archery, fencing, and duelling are also comprised by this heading. if this be your subject, our book-hunter trusts that you have been more successful than he has in your quest for the 'traicté de l'espée françoise, par maistre jean savaron' (small octavo, paris, ). he narrowly missed a copy in paris some years ago, and so far this scarce little volume of fifty-six pages has eluded him as successfully as the 'pastissier françois.' probably, on account of its slimness, it is usually bound up with more substantial works, and thus escapes the eyes of book-hunters and cataloguers. savaron also wrote a 'traicté contre les duels,' which is equally scarce. works on duelling are legion, and range from carafa's rather large folio entitled 'de monomachia seu de duello,' rome, , down to the little 'dissertation historique sur les duels et les ordres de chevalerie: par monsieur b * * * *,' which is by master jacques basnage--a duodecimo produced first at amsterdam in . an italian bibliography of this subject by j. gelli and g. e. levi appeared in . for the most part they are uncommon works and not easy to find. it is a subject that borders closely on the chivalry of our list, for of course that subject was (like heraldry) entirely military in origin. a 'bibliography of english military books up to , and of contemporary foreign works' was compiled by captain m. j. d. cockle and published in quarto in . mr. carl thimm's 'art of fence: a complete bibliography' appeared in ; an enlarged edition was put forth in . [sidenote: music.] . books on music may be divided conveniently into the numerous sub-headings which treat of particular instruments, songs, printed music generally, and accounts of the early musicians and their works. treatises upon the violin are fairly numerous;[ ] but i do not remember having come across many works on the jew's harp or ocarina. there are interesting old books on the virginals, harpsichord, and spinet. before the end of the fifteenth century a number of missalia, gradualia, psalteria, and libri cantionum ('quas vulgo mutetas appellant') had appeared from the press. the 'theoricum opus musice disciplina' of franchino gafori, or gaffurius (which, by the way, is merely an abridgment of boethius), is said to be the earliest printed treatise on music. it was printed first at naples in . antiphonals and troparies must also be included here. a new edition of grove's 'dictionary of music and musicians,' by mr. j. a. fuller-maitland, appeared in . dr. charles burney's 'general history of music' occupied that great english musician between and --four quarto volumes. 'the literature of music,' an octavo by mr. j. e. matthew, was put forth in the series known as the booklovers' library in ; whilst the 'oxford history of music,' edited by dr. w. h. hadow, appeared in six volumes between and . m. henry de curzon's valuable work, 'guide de l'amateur d'ouvrages sur la musique,' was printed at paris in . for a bibliography of operas you must turn to the 'dictionnaire des opéras,' of mm. clement and larousse. rimbault's 'bibliotheca madrigaliana,' which is a bibliographical account of the musical and poetical works published in england during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, appeared in ; and you will find a list of early songs, madrigals, and 'ayres' in the fourth volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature,' pages - . hazlitt's 'catalogue of early english music in the harleian library,' was published in . there are useful articles on early music printing, by mr. r. steele, in the bibliographical society's journal for , and by mr. barclay squire in the third volume of 'bibliographica.' [sidenote: napoleon.] . the collector of books dealing with napoleon i. has a somewhat narrow field to range in. there is a large number of english tracts and pamphlets that deal with the great man and his proposed invasion of england, as well as biographies, memoirs, and diaries concerning him. a collection of such works was formed in the later years of the nineteenth century by an insatiable grangerite named broadley, and in due time his library came under the hammer at hodgson's. it was a remarkable collection: anything that concerned 'boney,' however remotely, was grist to this collector's mill. a catalogue of his library was compiled and published by mr. w. v. daniel in . m. gustave davois' 'bibliographie napoléonienne française' to was printed in three octavo volumes at paris, - . of m. kircheisen's 'bibliographie du temps de napoléon,' two quarto volumes, published at geneva in and , have appeared up to the time of writing. [sidenote: natural history.] . the early books on natural history would probably be regarded by the modern zoologist as bibliographical curiosities rather than intelligent text-books; and truly the accounts of even the larger mammals given by these early observers of nature are extraordinary. most of us will remember reading caesar's description of the elks in the hercynian forest, which slept leaning up against the trees because they had no joints in their legs. the inhabitants, cunning fellows, sought out the favoured trees and sawed them nearly through; so that when the unfortunate elks settled themselves to sleep, the booby-traps came into operation. having no joints in their legs, the poor beasts were unable to rise, and so became an easy prey to the savage teuton. herodotus, too, was somewhat credulous in the matter of animals; sir john mandeville was not always to be trusted; and even bernard von breydenbach, who made a journey to the holy land about , beheld strange beasts, like spenser's giaunts, 'hard to be beleeved.' but perhaps the palm among these mediæval monsters is held by the eale, or, as it became later, the yale or jall; that strange beast which has survived--in effigy at least--unto our own times. it appears that pliny was the first to discover this singular animal, and his description of it is recorded in many of those quaint mediæval natural history volumes known as 'bestiaries.' the reverend edward topsell, in his 'historie of foure-footed beasts' (folio, ) thus describes it: 'there is bred in ethiopia a certain strange beast about the bignesse of a sea-horse, being of colour blacke or brownish: it hath the cheeks of a boare, the tayle of an elephant, and hornes above a cubit long, which are moveable upon his head at his owne pleasure like eares; now standing one way, and anone moving another way, as he needeth in fighting with other beastes, for they stand not stiffe but bend flexibly, and when he fighteth he always stretcheth out the one, and holdeth in the other, for purpose as it may seeme, that if one of them may be blunted or broken, then hee may defend himselfe with the other. it may well be compared to a sea-horse, for above all other places it loveth best the waters.' unfortunately no specimen has been seen by travellers for some years now, so probably it is quite extinct. certainly you will not find a jall in the zoo, or even at south kensington, though you may see a very excellent statue of him on king henry viii.'s bridge at hampton court. there are numerous bibliographies of works upon all classes of animals, fish, flesh, and fowl--even the good red herring.[ ] for these you must turn to mr. w. p. courtney's invaluable work. the 'bibliographia zoologiae et geologiae, a general catalogue of all books on zoology and geology,' was compiled by l. agassiz and h. e. strickland for the ray society--four octavo volumes, published between and . a 'bibliotheca entomologica,' by h. a. hagen, appeared at leipzig, two octavo volumes, in - . [sidenote: nautical and naval.] . the next subject, nautical and naval, will comprise chiefly borrowings from other headings; for it will necessarily include books of voyages and discoveries, works on navigation, meteorology, and oceanography, as well as geographical books, and such purely nautical volumes as dictionaries of the marine, the history of ships and shipping, and accounts of the navy and mercantile fleet. there is a number of early works on the astrolabe and globes, but you must not expect easily to come across 'the rutter of the sea,' printed by robert copland and richard bankes in . it is the first english printed book on navigation, being a translation of 'le grand routier' of pierre garcie. the society for nautical research was founded in , and it issues a monthly journal known as 'the mariner's mirror,' wherein are treated those subjects which pertain to the history of ships, sails, and rigging; in fact, everything that has to do with the evolution of the ship. the original 'mariner's mirrour' was a translation (by anthony ashley in ) of wagenaar's 'speculum nauticum,' first published in . needless to say, it is a scarce work, as are all these elizabethan volumes upon seafaring. in volume iv. of the 'cambridge history of english literature' you will find two chapters on the literature of the sea from the pens of those great authorities commander c. n. robinson and mr. john leyland. if this be your subject, they will amply repay perusal. there is an excellent list of early works, pages to . [sidenote: numismatics.] . numismatics is one of those subjects which generally engage the attentions of students rather than book-collectors, for the volumes upon coins and medals are necessarily text-books for the collector of these things. such works are, of course, for the most part illustrated; and some of the older ones are of considerable interest on account of their engravings. it is not only to the collector and 'curious antiquary,' however, that some of these works are valuable, for in them occasionally the historian is able to unearth matter scarcely obtainable elsewhere. menestrier's 'histoire du roy louis le grand par les medailles, emblemes, deuises, jettons, inscriptions, armoiries, et autres monumens publics' (folio, paris, ) is one of many such works. it not only contains engravings of every medal struck to commemorate the birth, life, marriage, actions, victories, processions, and entertainments of the roi-soleil (among them one commemorating the siege of londonderry in ), but it has a very fine folding plate of the place des victoires as it was in . this engraving not only shows the famous monument erected to the glory of louis xiv., and destroyed at the revolution, but gives the details of the panels and a very full description of it. thus we may have to hand all the inscriptions, mottoes, and dates which were graven upon that historic monument. [sidenote: occult.] . civilisation mates but ill with romance, and for the passing of superstition (the child of imagination and romance) none can shed a tear. yet at least it served to raise our daily lives out of the rut of commonplace. our pulses are no longer stirred at the mere mention of the word magic, and even black magic is coldly discussed where not so very long ago none would have dared to speak it save with 'bated breath.' yet we are all mystics by birth, and scarce one of us there is who as a child has not experienced the fear of darkness. we cannot explain it, and though the child may soon be taught to laugh at his fear, yet none the less was he endowed with this unaccountable dread of the unknown. among real book-collectors probably this particular branch of specialism attracts but few; for the greater part of those who collect such works are students of the occult (whether serious or idle) and have no true love for their books quâ books. seemingly it is an absorbing hobby, for those who devote their attention to necromancy soon become known among their friends. 'philosophy is odious and obscure; both law and physic are for petty wits; divinity is basest of the three, unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile; 'tis magic, magic, that hath ravish'd me.' thus doctor faustus, the gamaliel of those whose study are the arcana of nature and the world of shadows. yet whether we be mystics or materialists what would not each one of us (not necessarily bibliophiles) give to possess the volume which faustus had at the hands of mephistophilis? _meph._ 'hold, take this book, peruse it thoroughly: the iterating of these lines brings gold; the framing of this circle on the ground brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder, and lightning; pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself, and men in armour shall appear to thee, ready to execute what thou desir'st.' _faust._ 'thanks, mephistophilis; yet fain would i have a book wherein i might behold all spells and incantations, that i might raise up spirits when i please.' _meph._ 'here they are in this book.' [_turns to them._] _faust._ 'now would i have a book where i might see all characters and planets of the heavens, that i might know their motions and dispositions.' _meph._ 'here they are too.' [_turns to them._] _faust._ 'nay, let me have one book more--and then i have done--wherein i might see all plants, herbs, and trees, that grow upon the earth.' _meph._ 'here they be.' _faust._ 'oh, thou art deceived.' _meph._ 'tut, i warrant thee.' [_turns to them._] truly a marvellous volume. the astronomical and herbal portions of it we can understand, and herein doubtless the 'encyclopædia britannica' could give it points, though possibly in a less handy shape. but even wecker's 'de secretis' fails lamentably when it comes to producing whirlwinds or men in armour. as it is to be presumed, however, that the doctor returned the volume at length to the owner in person, it is unlikely that the book-collector will ever behold it--at least in this world. it is a wide subject, this heading 'occult,' and includes works on alchemy, apparitions, astrology, cheiromancy, demonology, devil lore, evil spirit possession, the evil eye, hermetic philosophy, magic white and black, phrenology, physiognomy, prophecy, sorcery and divination, popular superstitions, vampires, and witchcraft. we can even include conjuring! early-printed books on all these subjects are legion, and the numerous works on lycanthropy or werewolves, must also find a place under this heading. claude prieur's curious work is rare though not particularly valuable; it is a duodecimo printed at louvain in , and is entitled 'dialogue de la lycantropie ou transformation d'hommes en loups, vulgairement dit loups-garous . . . .' books on monsters must also be included here. dr. ernest martin's 'histoire des monstres,' octavo, paris, , contains a bibliography of this curious subject. the rev. timothy harley's 'moon lore'--another out-of-the-way heading--also contains twenty-five pages of bibliography. it was printed in . savonarola's 'compendium revelationum,' the work which probably hastened him to the stake, you will come across most easily in the anonymous 'mirabilis liber,' which appeared at paris first in . this curious work also contains the prophecies of methodius (bemechobus), the sibyls, augustinus, birgitta, lichtenberger, joachim, antonio, catherine of siena, severus, j. de vatiguerro, g. baugé, and j. de la rochetaillée. indagine, the author of a curious book on cheiromancy, physiognomy, and astrology, was really johann of hagen, a german carthusian who died in . there is a list of some books on witchcraft, demonology, and astrology in the seventh volume of the 'cambridge history of english literature,' pages to ; though curiously it omits one of the most interesting and best-known works on demon-lore--the 'de natura daemonum' of jean laurent anania, a small octavo produced by aldus at venice in . it is an interesting little work which treats of the origin of demons and their influence on men. the first volume of mr. f. leigh gardner's valuable 'catalogue raisonné of works on the occult sciences' appeared in . it contains books on the rosicrucians. the second volume, dealing with astrological works, was issued in ; and the third, books on freemasonry, in --three slim octavo volumes. professor john ferguson's 'witchcraft literature of scotland' appeared at edinburgh in . a scarce anonymous work was put forth at london in , with the title 'the lives of alchemistical philosophers; with a critical catalogue of books in occult chemistry, and a selection of the most celebrated treatises on the theory and practice of the hermetic art.' it contains (pp. - ) a list of alchemical books. j. j. manget's 'bibliotheca chemica curiosa, seu rerum ad alchemiam pertinentium thesaurus,' was printed in two folio volumes at geneva in . [sidenote: pamphlets and tracts.] . the collecting of pamphlets and tracts is an interesting byway of book-collecting. they are of almost every description under the sun. some collectors will have those that deal with parliamentary proceedings, some specialise in the marprelate and no popery tracts, some in the satires of the restoration journalists, whilst others will gather pasquinades, mazarinades, and political pamphlets, as well as those that deal with some particular social or historical event. it is a subject that, perhaps, comprises more grotesque titles than any heading in our list. knox's famous 'first blast of the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women' must certainly have been rather startling to queen bess, and attersoll's 'god's trumpet sounding the alarme' (quarto, ) is vigorous; but the personal invective displayed by some of the elizabethan and early stuart pamphleteers is hard to beat. 'an olde foxe tarred and feathered,' 'a new gag for an old goose,' 'a whip for an ape,' and 'an almond for a parrat,' are all curious, but surely the palm is carried by the following effort of john lyly (against martin marprelate), put forth in : 'pappe with an hatchet. alias a figge for my godsonne. or cracke me this nut. or a countrie cuffe, that is, a sound boxe of the eare, for the idiot martin to hold his peace, seeing the patch will take no warning. written by one that dares call a dog, a dog, and made to prevent martin's dog daies. imprinted by john anoke, and john astile, for the baylive of withernam, cum privilegio perennitatis, and are to bee sold at the signe of the crab tree cudgell in thwackcoate lane.' in richard bankes printed a curious little tract with the following title: 'here begynneth a lytell newe treatyse or mater intytuled and called the ix. drunkardes, which treatythe of dyuerse and goodly storyes ryght plesaunte and frutefull for all parsones to pastyme with.' i hasten to add that the 'parsones' of mr. bankes' day were not necessarily in holy orders. it was printed in octavo, black letter, and the only copy that seems to be known is in the douce collection at the bodleian. professor edward arber's 'introductory sketch to the martin marprelate controversy,' which appeared in , contains a list of the more important tracts connected with that subject; and you will find mr. w. pierce's 'historical introduction to the marprelate tracts' ( ) useful. there are valuable lists of, and information upon, pamphlets of most descriptions and of all periods in the volumes of the 'cambridge history of english literature.' mr. a. f. pollard's 'tudor tracts, - ' appeared in . one of the most remarkable collections of pamphlets ever formed was that amassed during the commonwealth by an enterprising london bookseller named george thomason. he succeeded in gathering together[ ] more than , pamphlets and tracts relating to the times; and being an ardent royalist, was at great pains to prevent the collection from becoming known to the authorities. when the royalist cause was scotch'd by the execution of king charles, the collection was transferred to oxford, and lodged in the bodleian library for safety; and although thomason died in , his collection remained at oxford until nearly a century later, when it was purchased by king george iii. for £ , and presented by him to the british museum. it is, of course, quite priceless now, and contains a large number of tracts not otherwise known. a catalogue of the collection was printed by the museum authorities in , two demy octavo volumes with the title: 'a catalogue of the pamphlets, books, newspapers, and manuscripts relating to the civil war, the commonwealth, and restoration, collected by g. thomason, - .' [sidenote: philosophy.] . 'a farmer should be a philosopher,' said mr. jorrocks; and although most book-collectors who specialise in philosophical works would disclaim any connection between the two subjects, yet it is not easy to say where philosophy either begins or ends. the dictionaries are very cautious, contenting themselves with the assertion that any 'application of pure thought' or rational explanation of 'things' comes under this heading. perhaps mr. jorrocks was more correct than most of his hearers imagined, for farming in this country certainly requires a deal of pure thought--if it is to be made to pay. for our purpose, however, we will narrow this heading down to those books which deal with the moral aspects of mental influences, and those which centre about the science of metaphysics. [sidenote: poetry.] . poetry is another heading over which we need not linger. he who specialises in this class of literature may be either a student of english poesy or a lover of prosody. if the former, the following volumes will be of assistance to him. thomas warton's 'history of english poetry' first appeared in three quarto volumes issued between and ; but a new edition, edited by w. c. hazlitt in four octavo volumes, was published in . professor w. j. courthope's work of the same title was issued in six volumes between and ; whilst professor g. saintsbury's 'history of english prosody from the twelfth century to the present day,' begun in , was completed in , three octavo volumes. [sidenote: privately-printed.] . privately-printed books. a curious byway of collecting, this; for although it comprises books upon every subject under the sun, yet it will not help the collector to acquire knowledge upon any single subject. for some there is doubtless a certain attraction about books that have been put forth surreptitiously, as it were; yet to the ordinary book-collector such volumes seem to partake rather of the nature of pariahs. they are among books, but not of them, lacking the credentials of their companions. they are of three species only: ( ) personal books; of interest only to a family and its relations; ( ) books refused by the publishing houses as being unlikely to appeal to the general public; ( ) improper books, which, if issued publicly, would most likely incur an action by the public prosecutor. some years ago bertram dobell, a london bookseller, collected upwards of a thousand volumes issued in this manner, and published a catalogue of his collection, with interesting notes. this collection was finally sold _en bloc_ to the library of congress at washington, u.s.a., in . j. martin's 'bibliographical catalogue of privately printed books' was published first in , two volumes; but a second edition appeared twenty years later. [sidenote: school books.] . the collecting of old school books is a branch of our hobby that seldom engages the bibliophile's attention. doubtless the recollection of many painful hours spent in their company is responsible for their neglect. yet there is a charm about the early-printed mentors of our youth which it is impossible to deny, and there is a growing demand for them--as the booksellers will tell you. the number that has disappeared from the ken of bibliographer must be large, for it is difficult to imagine a more unpopular type of book--at least with those who are obliged to use them; and if your taste has altered to such an extent that you now desire them above all things, you may reasonably hope to unearth many a curio. our earliest printers were concerned with such works. in john anwykyll's latin grammar was printed at oxford, and we must not forget caxton's 'stans puer ad mensam,' put forth in . pynson issued a 'promptorium puerorum sive medulla grammaticæ' in , and de worde printed others. most of the productions of the famous st. albans press were school books, to the annoyance of the boys at the grammar school there. hoole's 'new discovery of the old art of teaching school' is understood to have been a most unpopular discovery among his scholars. it was first printed at london in , and was reprinted in facsimile at the university press, liverpool, in . at the end of this reprint is a useful bibliography of ancient school books, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. hoole's pupils must have been somewhat out of the ordinary. 'n.b.,' he remarks in 'the usher's duty,' 'those children that are more industriously willing to thrive, may advantage themselves very much by perusal of _gerards meditations_, _thomas de kempis_, _st. augustins soliloquies_, or his _meditations_, or the like pious and profitable books, which they may buy both in english and latine, and continually bear about in their pockets, to read on at spare times.' upon enquiry at one of our larger public schools, however, i find that the number of children--even those who are more industriously willing to thrive--who advantage themselves by continually bearing these pious books in their pockets is not large. [sidenote: sport.] . the next heading in our list, sports, games, and pastimes, naturally comprises a large number of sub-headings. the term 'sport' may be confined[ ] conveniently to those subjects which have to do with animals, such as angling, coaching, cock-fighting, coursing, falconry, hunting, horses, racing, steeplechasing, and shooting. other subjects, chiefly of an outdoor nature, may be classed as pastimes, such as archery, boxing, fencing, mountaineering, skating, and yachting. then there are the diversions of short duration governed by rules, which we call games, such as cricket, curling, bowls, football, cards, chess, etc. there are bibliographies of almost all these, which you will find in mr. courtney's work. if you are fond of hunting you will enjoy mr. baillie-grohman's edition of the famous 'livre de chasse' of gaston phoebus, comte de foix. it was translated into english by edward, duke of york, between and , under the title 'the master of game'; and to this reprint of is added a list of old hunting books, and a valuable glossary of ancient hunting terms and phrases. 'la chasse de loup,' a small quarto printed at paris in , is a scarce work. it consists of but folios, and has large woodcuts, and it is by jean de clamorgan, seigneur de saane. but you will find this treatise in _la maison rustique_. books on cock-fighting are not very numerous, nor of frequent occurrence. a number of such works are mentioned by mr. harrison weir in that part of 'our poultry' which deals with game-fowl. 'the royal pastime of cockfighting,' by r. h. (_i.e._ robert howlet), a duodecimo printed at london in , is now very scarce and valuable; but a facsimile reprint ( copies) was issued in . 'the cocker,' by 'w. sketchly, gent.,' is of fairly frequent appearance, though a copy will cost you four or five pounds. but it has been reprinted at least twice. a small volume entitled 'cocking and its votaries' by s. a. t[aylor] was put forth in , but our book-hunter has not yet been so fortunate as to come across a copy.[ ] it was, i believe, privately printed. old roger ascham was a keen devotee of this sport, and wrote a volume entitled 'the book of the cockpit'; but no copy of this work is known (at least to bibliographers) to exist at the present day. 'but of all kinds of pastimes fit for a gentleman,' he writes in 'the scholemaster,' 'i will, god willing, in a fitter place more at large declare fully, in my _book of the cockpit_; which i do write to satisfy some.' from which it seems that he was actually engaged upon the book. apparently there is no record of its publication, though an old devotee of the sport once told mr. harrison weir that he had seen a copy. 'the commendation of cockes and cock-fighting; wherein is shewed, that cocke-fighting was before the comming of christ,' by george wilson, the sporting vicar of wretton, was printed in black letter by henry tomes 'over against graies inne gate, in holbourne,' in . i wish you luck, brother collector, but i cannot be sanguine that you will ever come across a copy though it was many times reprinted. the tenth edition is dated . under this heading also are included books on dogs, cats and bees (!) though the inclusion of the latter reminds one of the story of the imported tortoise, which the customs officials (after much debate) decided was an insect, and therefore not liable to quarantine! then there are books of sporting memoirs, sporting dictionaries, sport in particular countries, as well as works which treat of maypoles and mumming, festivals, and old english pastimes. books upon dancing, cards, chess, and other games all have their devotees. 'a bibliography of works in english on playing cards and gaming,' by mr. frederic jessel, appeared in , octavo. the library of m. preti of paris, a well-known chess-player who devoted his attention to the history of the game, was sold at sotheby's early in . it included lots, comprising some volumes; but the entire collection realised only £ . the sale catalogue is a useful one--if you are so fortunate as to come across it. but there is a numerous bibliography and you will find a list of such volumes in mr. w. p. courtney's 'register of national bibliography.' [sidenote: theology.] . theology and the lives of the fathers of the early christian church is a field of such magnitude that we may divide it conveniently into periods or countries or controversies. books on the council of trent engage the attentions of some, others are attracted by the history of the waldenses or the byzantine churches. some again specialise in the writings of certain great characters, such as bonaventura, augustine, or erasmus. a 'bibliotheca erasmiana, ou repertoire des oeuvres d'erasme' appeared at ghent in and was followed four years later by a new edition. similarly there are now accounts of the writings of almost all the great churchmen, such as cranmer, latimer, tindale, laud, ken, etc. the only bibliography of knox with which i am acquainted is that appended to the six volumes of laing's edition of his works, published at edinburgh - . [sidenote: tobacco.] . tobacco is a cheery subject for the book-collector, and somehow the very word conjures up a vision of warmth and comfort. 'my pipe is lit, my grog is mix'd, my curtains drawn and all is snug; old puss is in her elbow-chair, and tray is sitting on the rug.' what book-collector, i do not mean book-speculator, does not smoke a pipe? i refuse to believe that any book-lover could possibly sit in an easy chair before the fire and pore over browne's 'hydriotaphia,' sidney's 'arcadia,' more's 'utopia,' or cotton's 'montluc' (all in folio, please) without a pipe in his mouth. why, it is unthinkable. yet the books which treat of tobacco are not all couched in that tranquil tone which is induced by the soothing weed. 'the whole output of literature on tobacco,' writes professor routh, 'is eminently characteristic of the age in its elaborate titles, far-fetched conceits, and bitter invective. the spirit of criticism is so strong that even the partisans of the weed satirise the habits of the smoker.' king james's 'counter blaste to tobacco,' first issued in , braithwaite's 'the smoaking age,' , and barclay's 'nepenthes, or, the vertues of tobacco,' , have all been reprinted of late years. bragge's 'bibliotheca nicotiana' was printed at birmingham in . [sidenote: topography.] . topography and county histories need not detain us. anderson's 'book of british topography' is a list of county histories, etc., that had appeared up to ; and mr. a. l. humphrey's 'handbook to county bibliography' amplifies and carries the record down to . with this heading we can include the collection of atlases and maps. sir h. g. fordham's 'studies in carto-bibliography, british and french, and in the bibliography of itineraries and road books' contains a useful bibliography of this subject. it was published by the clarendon press in . [sidenote: trades.] . books on trades should form an interesting series for the collector. works on 'dialling' and clock-making are frequent enough, but i do not remember to have come across very many books which treat of the locksmith's art or coach-making, though such volumes appear from time to time in the catalogues. there must be treatises on almost every trade under the sun; our book-hunter possesses a small volume which deals with the making of sealing-wax and wafers. old treatises on brewing must be plentiful, as doubtless are volumes on all the larger and more important industries; but are there manuals for the loriner, the patten-maker, the umbrella-manufacturer? doubtless there are, though they must be few in number, and scarce too, since those for whom they were intended probably would not be the best preservers of books. only about a century ago a small manual was put forth for the use of those whose business was the heraldic decoration of carriage-panels. it was very popular in the trade, but is now scarcely to be had, and when found is invariably filthy and dilapidated. like the little 'pastissier françois,' such practical treatises soon go the way of all superseded books. [sidenote: travels and voyages.] and . travel books and voyages have already been discussed under the heading 'foreign parts'--the first subject with which i have dealt in detail. most globe-trotters nowadays are members of the royal geographical society, and the library catalogue of that institution is a valuable one for reference. it was printed in , under the care of mr. h. r. mill. * * * * * and so i bid you farewell, brother book-hunter. there is no subject with which i have dealt but could have had a volume to itself: my aim throughout has been to strike the happy medium between a tedious list of titles and editions and a description too brief to be of interest. thank you for your patience and sympathy (of the latter indeed i was assured at the outset, for we book-hunters are a class that knows no other feeling when reading about our beloved books), and allow me to express the sincere wish that good fortune may attend you on your expeditions. may your 'finds' be frequent, cheap, clean, tall, perfect, and broad of margin, and may you never suffer from borrowers, bookworms, acid-tanned leathers, clumsy letterers and insecure shelf-fastenings. may good scribbling paper, sharp pencils, uncrossed nibs, clean ink and blotting-paper be ever at your hand, and may your days be passed in wholesome leisure, in the divine fellowship of books. _vale._ the end. footnotes: [ ] msr. f. c. wieder, the librarian, writing to the 'times literary supplement' of th february (p. ), states that 'the catalogue is in preparation, and arrangements will be made that the books of this library can be sent on loan to foreign students through the intermediary of public libraries.' [ ] see note on p. . [ ] the moated manor-house (southcote, near reading) which he built provides an excellent example of the way in which learned men (especially mathematicians!) go astray when they insist upon being their own architects. a more unhandy house it is difficult to conceive; and in winter-time the dinner must invariably have been cold by the time it reached the dining-room. the writer of these lines prospected it from attics to cellars some years ago, but as usual "drew blank." [ ] mr. e. heron-allen's 'de fidiculis bibliographia' was issued in parts, and forms two small quarto volumes, and ; but only about sixty complete sets are known to exist. [ ] dodd's 'essay towards a natural history of the herring,' , contains a chapter of bibliography. [ ] you will find the whole tale--a most interesting one--in 'bibliographica,' vol. iii., p. , from the pen of mr. falconer madan. [ ] lord lovat's definition of 'sport' was as follows: 'sport is the fair, difficult, exciting, perhaps dangerous pursuit of a wild animal that has the odds in its favour, whose courage, speed, strength and cunning are more or less a match for our own, and whose death, being of service, is justifiable.' but this seems to apply more to hunting than anything else; it certainly precludes coaching, cock-fighting, racing, and steeplechasing. [ ] the copy in the pittar sale at sotheby's in november was extra-illustrated and finely bound. it fetched £ , s. index _achademios_, skelton's, . aeschylus, translations of, . aesop, the _fabulous tales of_, . _aethiopica_, the, . africa, books on, , . agincourt expedition, the, . agriculture, books on, . a kempis, thomas, . alaric's grave, . alchemy, books on, , . alfred, king, . ---- his tomb, . allibone's _critical dictionary_, . americana, . ames' _typographical antiquities_, , , . amyot, père, . ancillon, charles, . andrada, tomaso de, . anjou, rené duc d', . antiphonaries, spanish, . aquinas, thomas, . _arabian nights_, the, . arber's _term catalogues_, . architecture, books on, . arctic and antarctic, books on, . aristophanes, translations of, . armorial bindings, n. arthur, king, his character, . ascham, roger, on books of chivalry, . ---- on cambridge, . ---- his _book of the cockpit_, . association books, . astrology, books on, - . astronomy, books on, . attic theatre, the, . auctions, the history of book-, . _auction records, book-_, . augustine, st., on varro, . austen, jane, her _mansfield park_, . ---- on novels, . australia, books on, . _aymon, the four sons of_, , . balin and balan, . ballads, . _ballatis, gude and godlie_, . bankes's _ix. drunkardes_, . barbary, books on, - . barbier's _ouvrages anonymes_, . barbier, louis, . barclay's _euphormionis_, . barocci, giacomo, his library, . barrow, a desecrated, . barton, elizabeth, her book, . bassé, nicholas of frankfort, . beckmann, johann, on catalogues, - , , . belvedere, motto at, n. bernard, dr. francis, n. bewick, books on, . bibles, . _bibliographica_, . bibliographies of bibliographies, . ---- some early, - . bibliography, - , - . ---- compiling a, - , . ---- examples of great industry in, . ---- the objects of, . _bibliography_, mr. courtney's _register of national_, , . ---- growoll's _english book trade_, . bigmore and wyman's _bibliography of printing_, . bill, john, . binding, _see_ bookbinding. biographies, . ---- dictionaries of, . bishop, a tudor, his town house, . black prince, the, , . ---- his household book, . blackie, professor, quoted, . blades' _life of caxton_, . blagrave's manor-house, n. block-books, sotheby on, . boccaccio, on translating, . bonaventura, . _book-auction records_, . _book of curtesye_, the . _book of good manners_, the, . _bookhunter_, burton's, . _book-prices current_, . books printed abroad, english, . books, the care of, . ---- the charm of old, - . ---- cleaning, - . ---- english printed abroad, . ---- the five classes of, - . ---- imperfect, , - . ---- lost, - . ---- repairing, _see_ bookbinding. ---- travel far afield, . bookbinders, london, . bookbinding, - . ---- books on, , . ---- leathers, , . ---- prescription for, , - . bookbindings, armorial, n. ---- collecting, . ---- old, their value, - . ---- paper, , - . ---- polishing old, . ---- preservative for, . ---- repairing, - , - . bookcases, - . book-collectors, the doctor, . ---- the genealogist, - . ---- the sailor, . ---- the soldier, . ---- the traveller, - . bookplates, works on, n. booksellers, books upon, n. ---- mr. mckerrow's _dictionary of_, . bookshelves, making, - . ---- staining, , . botany, early, - . boucicault, marshal jean, - . bouillon, godfrey de, . bourchier, sir henry, . box, an old, . british museum catalogue, . ---- ---- talking in the reading room of the, . brittany, old books in, . ---- old hostel in, . britwell court library, . broadsides, , . browne, sir thomas, . ---- quoted, , . bruce, king robert, . brunet, j. c., . ---- his _manuel de libraire_, . brydges' _british bibliographer_, . buckram for shelves, . bunyan's _pilgrim's progress_, . burney, admiral james, . burns' _poems_, value of, . ---- ---- a unique copy of, . burton, john hill, quoted, . ---- his _bookhunter_, . burton's _arabian nights_, n. bury, richard of, quoted, . byron's _english bards_, . ---- _poems_, . byron, j., _wreck of the wager_, . cæsar, the elzevier, - , . calderon, translations of, . cambridge and roger ascham, . ---- books, mr. sayle on, . camelot, , , . campbell, thomas, quoted, . card games, books on, . castiglione, baldassare, . cataloguer, an abbey, . catalogues, bound at the end of books, - . ---- early booksellers', - . ---- a restoration one, . ---- of nicholas bassé, . ---- john bill, . ---- johan cless, . ---- george draud, . ---- william jaggard, . ---- andrew maunsell, . ---- sweynheim and pannartz, . ---- christian wechel, . caxton, his advertisement, . ---- binding by, . ---- book by, . ---- his _book of good manners_, , . ---- on chivalry, quoted, . ---- his _four sons of aymon_, , . ---- _the life of_, by blades, . ---- a lost book by, . ---- and malory, , . ---- his _metamorphoses of ovid_, . ---- on rebinding a, . ---- his _recueil des histoires_, . ---- his _speculum_, . cervantes' _don quixote_, , . 'chafynghowys,' the, . chance, . chapbooks, , . charlemagne, a story of, . _chasse de loup, la_, . chaucer, quotations from, , , . cheke, sir john, . chess, books on, . chivalry, books on, . ---- a collector of books on, . ---- england the home of, . ---- romances of, - , , . ---- and 'sport,' . _chronograms_, hilton's, . civil war, books on the, . classics, the, , - . ---- collecting the, . claudin, m. anatole, works by, . cleaning books, - . clement's _bibliothèque curieuse_, . clerkenwell, books bought in, , . cless, johan of frankfort, . cockfighting, books on, . collating, , - . collectors, _see_ book-collectors. collins, william, of chichester, , . colombière, la, books by, - . commonplace books, - . commonwealth, books on the, . _companions to greek_ and _latin studies_, . conon, lost books by, . cook, captain, - . cookery books, . cooper's _thesaurus_, . coronation books, . _cortigiano, il_, n. corvinus, matthias, . costume, books on, . cotton, sir robert, his library, . cotton's _typographical gazetteer_, . courtney's _register of national bibliography_, , . crabbe, quotation from, . cranmer on the maid of kent, . crawford, the earl of, his _bibliotheca lindesiana_, , . crimes, books on, . croix du maine, f. de la, . croker's french revolution collections, . cromwell, thomas, , . curiosa, . curll, edmund, - . ---- his edition of prior, , . _curtesye_, the _book of_, . dante, translations of, . david's book-stall, . _defence of women_, the, . _de gloria et nobilitate_, . demonology, books on, . _de re heraldica_, . despeisses, anthony, . _de studio militari_, - . dibdin's works, . dictionaries, . digressions, - . disraeli, isaac, quoted, . don, story of a, . _don quixote_, , . drama, books on the, . draud, george of frankfort, . dress, books on, . drinking-horns, . dryden's _aeneid_, . duelling, books on, . duff, mr. e. g., books by, , , , . ---- quoted, , , , . du fresnoy, lenglet, . du guesclin, bertrand, , n. dumas, alexandre, - . eale, the, - . early-printed books, . ---- ---- ---- authorities on, - . early romances, . _ebrietatis encomium_, . editions good and bad, - . elks, the hercynian, . _elzeviers_, _seq._, . engravers and engraving, authorities on, . ---- ---- books on, . entomology, books on, . _epicoene or the silent woman_, . _epitaph of the king of scotland_, the, . errata, on, - . este, alfonso d', n. etymologies, . _euphormionis lusinini sat._, . euripides, translations of, . extra-illustrating, . fabert, abraham, . _fabulous tales of esope_, . facetiÃ�, . farringdon road, _the_, . _faust_, translations of, . faustus his book, . fenn, sir john, . fetherstone, henry, . fitzgerald's _polonius_, . ---- translations, . _flore et zephyr_, . forgeries, book, - . _four sons of aymon_, the , . freemasonry, books on, , . french revolution, the, , . ---- ---- croker's collections on the, . gairdner, james, quoted, . gardens, books on, . gavaudan, quoted, . genealogist, the, - . genealogy, books on, . _geology_, books on, . gibbon, edward, . gipsies, book on, . giunta terence, a, - . goeree, william, . goethe, translations of, . _golden legend_, the, . _goste of guido_, the, . graesse's _trésor de livres rares_, . grail, the holy, , , . ---- ---- appears to the knights, , . grangerising, - . graves, the desecration of, - . greek, aids to reading, , . ---- incunabula, . ---- theatre, . growoll's _book-trade bibliography_, . grudé, françois, . hain's _repertorium_, . hamerton, p. g., on interruptions, . ---- on reading the classics, . harrison, mr. frederic, on reading, , , , . ---- on the classics, . ---- _the choice of books_, . hazlitt, w. c., on lost books, , . ---- his _bibliographical collections_, - . health, books on preserving, . heine, translations of, . heinz, quoted, . heliodorus, . henry vii. and winchester, . heraldry, books on, . herbals, - . herbert, george, his _jacula prudentum_, . herbert, sir henry, _office book of_, . herbert, william, lost books described by, . hilton's _chronograms_, . hinard, damas, . _historie of judith_, the, . history, books on, . hoccleve, . homer, translations of, - . hoole's _new discovery_, ; his pupils, _ib._ horace, on translating, . hospitallers, , . hotel du lion d'or, . housewife, the perfect, . hozier, pierre d', . humphrey, lawrence, . humphreys, mr. a. l., quoted, , . husbandry, books on, . hyde abbey, . hyères, the monk illuminator at, . _hygiasticon_, . illuminator of st. honorat, the, . illuminators, the winchester, - . illustrated books, . _imitatio christi_, . incunabula, definition of, n. ---- _see_ early-printed books. interruptions, - . _jacula prudentum_, . jaggard, william, . jall, the, - . jest books, . ---- ---- some early, . jonson, ben, lost works of, . _judith, the famous historie of_, . karslake's _notes from sotheby's_, . keats' _endymion_, . keeper of the abbey muniments, n. kempis, thomas à, . kennet, bishop white, . _king glumpus_, . koberger, anton, . l'abbé's _bibliotheca_, . la colombière, books by, - . la fontaine, jean de, . la marche, olivier de, . la monnoye, bernard de, . lang, andrew, on elzeviers, . ---- his imperfect books, . large copper, story of a, - . large paper copies, . law, books on, . lawler's _book-auctions_, . _lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse_, . _library, the_, by a. lang, . library, 'laying down a,' . libraries, two old country, - . lion d'or, the, . liturgies, books on, . locally-printed books, . london, books hidden in, . londonderry, medal of the siege of, . _long meg of westminster_, . lost books, - . louis ix (st.) and the saracens, . louis xiv., his monument, . louvre library, the, . lovelace's _lucasta_, . lowndes' _bibliographer's manual_, . lycanthropy, books on, . mackenzie, sir g., quoted, . magic, books on, - . maid of kent, the, . maimbourg, louis, . malory, sir thomas, - . ---- his _morte d'arthur_, , , - . ---- and caxton, , . malta, the knights of, - , . manners, books on, . _manners, the book of good_, . _mansfield park_, . margaret of scotland, . markham's housewife, . ---- _thyrsis and daphne_, . mariner's mirror, the, . marmol, luis del, - . marprelate tracts, . mathematics, books on, . masques, books on, , . maunsell, andrew, . medical books, . ---- ---- a collector of, . _meg of westminster_, . melanchthon, philip, . memoirs, . menestrier's _louis le grand_, . military books, . milton, quotations from, , , , , , . ---- his _comus_, . minstrels, books on, . miracle plays, books on, . modern authors, valuable works of, - . ---- ---- bibliographies of, - . monastic rules, . monsters, books on, . montluc, blaise de, - . montmorency, henri, duc de, . moon lore, . moralities, books on, . more's _defence of women_, . morte d'arthur, _see_ malory. mouse, the painted, . music, books on, . _myriobiblon_, . mysteries, books on, . napoleon, books on, - . natural history, books on, . nautical books, . _neuf preux, le triomphe des_, , , . _new england canaan_, . newspapers, on reading, . newton, sir i., bibliography of, . nightingale, miss, on interruptions, . night working, . _nigramansir_, the, . normandy, robert of, . notes, editors', . novels, on reading, . ---- the first, - . numismatics, books on, . occleve, . occult, books on the, . olaf, king, . _optimates_, by l. humphrey, . ordnance, mediæval, . _original poetry by victor and cazire_, . ormsby, john, on romances, . osorio's _de gloria_, . ovid's _metamorphoses_, by caxton, . _oxford books_, by mr. f. madan, . pageants, books on, . painted mouse, a, . _palmerin d'olive_, . palsgrave, john, . pamphlets and tracts, . panzer's _annalen_, . _pappe with an hatchet_, . _passionate pilgrim, the_, . _pastissier françois, le_, - . ---- ---- prices of, , , . paston letters, the, . pedigree hunting, . 'pegs,' . _perceforest_, quotation from, . ---- description of, n. 'peregrine' volumes, . peron, the, - . philosophy, books on, . photius, . _pilgrim's progress, the_, . pinson, gheerart, . place des victoires, monument in the, . plays, books on old, . pliny on seclusion, . poetry, . _poems by two brothers_, . ---- _on various occasions_, . pollard, mr. a. w.'s _fifteenth-century books_, - . pollio, asinius, . pope on curll, . ---- quotation from, . portugal, a convent in, . prayer books, works on, . precentor, the, n. prescriptions, some early, . presses, celebrated, . prices of books, - , - . ---- ---- some early, . ---- ---- on determining, - . _prices of books_, wheatley's, - . printers' marks, books on, - . printers, mr. mckerrow's _dictionary of_, . prior, his pirated _poems_, , . prisons, books on, . privately-printed books, - , . proclamations, . proctor's _early printed books_, . prophecies, a book of, . provence, a monk of, . pseudonyms, books on, . pynson, richard, , , . quaritch's _general catalogue_, . quérard's _supercheries littéraires_, . quotations, doubtful origin of, , . ---- wrongly assigned, n. rabelais, translations of, . racine and heliodorus, . rainman, john, . ratdolt, erhart, . reading, the art of, - , , - . ---- wide, - . rebellion tracts, , . rebinding, - . recommending books, . regnault, françois, . rené d'anjou, . revolution, the french, , . rigging, an authority upon, . roguery, books on, . romances of chivalry, - , , . romance, the spirit of, - , . rosicrucians, books on the, . rouen, an old inn at, . round table at winchester, the, , . rowlands' tracts, . roydon hall, . st. amand, gerard de, . st. augustine on varro, . st. bernard on solitude, . st. honorat, the monk of, . st. katherin of siena, . st. louis and the saracens, . st. margaret's _devotional_, . ---- ---- _life_, by pynson, . sallengre's _l'elogie de l'ivresse_, . sanchez's _bibliografia aragonesa_, . saracenic literature, . savaron, jean, . savonarola's compendium, . _sawyer, tom, the adventures of_, . sayle's _books at cambridge_, . schiller, translations of, . schoeffer's catalogue, . school books, old, . scipio africanus, quoted, , n. scott, dr. e. j. l., n. _scott's last expedition_, . sea, books on the, - . seals, books on, . seillière, baron a., the library of, n, . seymour, richard, esq., . shakespeareana, , . shakespeare's _passionate pilgrim_, , n. ---- plays, , . ---- _titus andronicus_, . sharon turner on digressions, . ---- on romances, . shelley, quotation from, . ---- _adonais_ and _queen mab_, , . ---- _original poetry_, . shelves, - . ships, an authority upon old, . 'shorn lamb' proverb, . skelton, john, lost books by, . slater's _early editions_, . solitude, - . sophocles, translations of, . sotheby on block-books, . south seas, books on the, . southcote manor-house, n. spanish folios, . specialism, the advantages of, _seq._ specialists, subjects of, - . _speculum_, caxton's, . _speculum principis_, skelton's, . spenser, quoted, . sport, books on, . ---- definition of, n. staël, madame de, . staining bookshelves, , . ---- leaves of books, . stains, removing, - . 'stationers,' . sterne, laurence, . sweynheim and pannartz, . syon college library, , . taylor, bayard, . tennyson, a. and c., . ---- _helen's tower_, . terence, a giunta, , . thackeray's _flore et zephyr_, . ---- king glumpus, . theagenes and chariclea, . theology, . _thesaurus cornucopiæ_, - . thomas aquinas, . thomas à kempis, . thomason, george, . _thyrsis and daphne_, . titles, some curious, - . _titus andronicus_, . tobacco, books on, . tombs, the desecration of, - . topography, books on, . tracts, . trades, books on, . traveller, the library, - . trials, books on, . _triomphe des neuf preux, le_, , , . tristram on a white horse, . trunk, an old, . trusler's _honours of the table_, . turner, sharon, on digressions, . ---- on romances, . university don, a widely read, - . upton, nicholas, - . urquhart, sir thomas, . varro, st. augustine on, . vaughan, stephen, , . vellum, brown, . ---- perishable, . _venus and adonis_, , n. 'venus de milo,' n. verard, antoine, , . 'victor and cazire,' . vincent's _true relation_, . virgil, translations of, . voragine, jacobus de, . wace, quoted, . _wager_, h.m.s., the loss of, . 'wagstaffe, theophile,' . walloon printer, a, . walton's _compleat angler_, , . 'wargus,' . warton, thomas, . washing and cleaning, - . wechel, christian, - . werewolves, books on, . westminster abbey muniments, n. wheatley's _prices of books_, - . willems, alphonse, , . willer, george, , . william the conqueror, . winchester, - . ---- ancient customs of, . ---- castle hall at, , . witchcraft, books on, . wolvesey castle, . worde, wynkyn de, , , , . wordsworth, quoted, , , . ximenes, cardinal, , . yale, the, - . zoology, books on, . transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. page , "adminster" changed to "administer" page , "seul á" changed to "seul à" page , "père" changed to "père" page , "litteraires" changed to "littéraires" the amenities of book-collecting and kindred affections [illustration: caricature of two great victorians w. m. thackeray and charles dickens] the amenities of book-collecting and kindred affections by a. edward newton [illustration: colophon] with illustrations john lane, the bodley head london mcmxx printed in the united states of america dedication _if, as eugene field suggests, womenfolk are few in that part of paradise especially reserved for book-lovers i do not care. one woman will be there, for i shall insist that eight and twenty years probation entitles her to share my biblio-bliss above as she has shared it here below. that woman is my wife._ a. edward newton october, essay introductory a man (or a woman) is the most interesting thing in the world; and next is a book, which enables one to get at the heart of the mystery; and although not many men can say why they are or what they are, any man who publishes a book can, if he is on good terms with his publisher, secure the use of a little space to tell how the book came to be what it is. some years ago a very learned friend of mine published a book, and in the introduction warned the "gentle reader" to skip the first chapter, and, as i have always maintained, by inference suggested that the rest was easy reading, which was not the case. in point of fact, the book was not intended for the "gentle reader" at all: it was a book written by a scholar for the scholar. now, i have worked on a different plan. my book is written for the "tired business man" (there are a goodly number of us), who flatters himself that he is fond of reading; and as it is my first book, i may be permitted to tell how it came to be published. one day in the autumn of , a friend, my partner, with whom it has been my privilege to be associated for so many years, remarked that it was time for me to take a holiday, and handed me a copy of the "geographical magazine." the number was devoted to egypt; and, seduced by the charm of the illustrations, on the spur of the moment i decided on a trip up the nile. things moved rapidly. in a few weeks my wife and i were in the mediterranean, on a steamer headed for alexandria. we had touched at genoa and were soon to reach naples, when i discovered a feeling of homesickness stealing over me. i have spent my happiest holidays in london. already i had tired of egypt. the nile has been flowing for centuries and would continue to flow. there were books to be had in london, books which would not wait. somewhat shamefacedly i put the matter up to my wife; and when i discovered that she had no insuperable objection to a change of plan, we left the steamer at naples, and after a few weeks with friends in rome, started _en grande vitesse_ toward london. by this time it will have been discovered that i am not much of a traveler; but i have always loved london--london with its wealth of literary and historic association, with its countless miles of streets lined with inessential shops overflowing with things that i don't want, and its grimy old book-shops overflowing with things that i do. one gloomy day i picked up in the charing cross road, for a shilling, a delightful book by richard le gallienne, "travels in england." like myself, le gallienne seems not to have been a great traveler--he seldom reached the place he started for; and losing his way or changing his mind, may be said to have arrived at his destination when he has reached a comfortable inn, where, after a simple meal, he lights his pipe and proceeds to read a book. exactly my idea of travel! the last time i read "pickwick" was while making a tour in northern italy. it is wonderful how conducive to reading i found the stuffy smoking-rooms of the little steamers that dart like water-spiders from one landing to another on the italian lakes. it was while i was poking about among the old book-shops that it occurred to me to write a little story about my books--when and where i had bought them, the prices i had paid, and the men i had bought them from, many of whom i knew well; and so, when my holiday was done, i lived over again its pleasant associations in writing a paper that i called "book-collecting abroad." subsequently i wrote another,--"book-collecting at home,"--it being my purpose to print these papers in a little volume to be called "the amenities of book-collecting." i intended this for distribution among my friends, who are very patient with me; and i sent my manuscript to a printer in the closing days of july, . a few days later something happened in europe, the end of which is not yet, and we all became panic-stricken. for a moment it seemed unlikely that one would care ever to open a book again. acting upon impulse, i withdrew the order from my printer, put my manuscript aside, and devoted myself to my usual task--that of making a living. byron says, "the end of all scribblement is to amuse." for some years i have been possessed of an itch for "scribblement"; gradually this feeling reasserted itself, and i came to see that we must become accustomed to working in a world at war, and to realizing that life must be permitted to resume, at least to some extent, its regular course; and the idea of my little book recurred to me. it had frequently been suggested by friends that my papers be published in the "atlantic." what grudge they bore this excellent magazine i do not know, but they always said the "atlantic"; and so, when one day i came across my manuscript, it occurred to me that it would cost only a few cents to lay it before the editor. at that time i did not know the editor of the "atlantic" even by name. my pleasure then can be imagined when, a week or so later, i received the following letter:-- _oct. , ._ dear mr. newton:-- the enthusiasm of your pleasant paper is contagious, and i find myself in odd moments looking at the gaps in my own library with a feeling of dismay. i believe that very many readers of the "atlantic" will feel as i do, and it gives me great pleasure to accept your paper. yours sincerely, ellery sedgwick. shortly afterward, a check for a substantial sum fluttered down upon my desk, and it was impossible that i should not remember how much milton had received for his "paradise lost,"--the receipt for which is in the british museum,--and draw conclusions therefrom entirely satisfactory to my self-esteem. my paper was published, and the magazine, having a hardy constitution, survived; i even received some praise. there was nothing important enough to justify criticism, and as a result of this chance publication i made a number of delightful acquaintances among readers and collectors, many of whom i might almost call friends although we have never met. not wishing to strain the rather precarious friendship with mr. sedgwick which was the outcome of my first venture, it was several years before i ventured to try him with another paper. this i called "a ridiculous philosopher." i enjoyed writing this paper immensely, and although it was the reverse of timely, i felt that it might pass editorial scrutiny. again i received a letter from mr. sedgwick, in which he said:-- two days ago i took your paper home with me and spent a delightful half-hour with it. now, as any editor would tell you, there is no valid reason for a paper on godwin at this time, but your essay is so capitally seasoned that i cannot find it in my heart to part with it. indeed i have been gradually making the editorial discovery that, if a paper is sufficiently readable, it has some claim upon the public, regardless of what the plans of the editor are. and so the upshot of my deliberation is that we shall accept your paper with great pleasure and publish it when the opportunity occurs. the paper appeared in due course, and several more followed. the favor with which these papers were received led the "atlantic" editors to the consideration of their reprint in permanent form, together with several which now appear for the first time. all the illustrations have been made from items in my own collection. i am thus tying a string, as it were, around a parcel which contains the result of thirty-six years of collecting. it may not be much, but, as the irishman said of his dog, "it's mine own." my volume might, with propriety, be called "newton's complete recreations." i have referred to my enjoyment in writing my "ridiculous philosopher." i might say the same of all my papers. i am aware that my friend, dr. johnson, once remarked that no man but a block-head writes a book except for money. at some risk, then, i admit that i have done so. i have written for fun, and my papers should be read, if read at all, for the same purpose, not that the reader will or is expected to laugh loud. the loud laugh, in goldsmith's phrase, it may be remembered, bespeaks the vacant mind. but i venture to hope that the judicious will pass a not unpleasant hour in turning my pages. one final word: i buy, i collect "presentation books"; and i trust my friends will not think me churlish when i say that it is not my intention to turn a single copy of this, my book, into a presentation volume. whatever circulation it may have must be upon its own merits. any one who sees this book in the hands of a reader, on the library table, or on the shelves of the collector, may be sure that some one, either wise or foolish as the event may prove, has paid a substantial sum for it, either in the current coin of the realm, or perchance in thrift stamps. it may, indeed, be that it has been secured from a lending library, in which case i would suggest that the book be returned instantly. "go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves." and having separated yourself from your money, in the event that you should feel vexed with your bargain, you are at liberty to communicate your grievance to the publisher, securing from him what redress you may; and in the event of failure there yet remains your inalienable right, which should afford some satisfaction, that of damning the author. "oak knoll," daylesford, pennsylvania, _april , _. table of contents i. book-collecting abroad ii. book-collecting at home iii. old catalogues and new prices iv. "association" books and first editions v. "what might have been" vi. james boswell--his book vii. a light-blue stocking viii. a ridiculous philosopher ix. a great victorian x. temple bar then and now xi. a macaroni parson xii. oscar wilde xiii. a word in memory list of illustrations caricature of two great victorians _frontispiece in color_ w. m. thackeray and charles dickens title of "paradise lost." first edition title of franklin's edition of cicero's "cato major" letter of thomas hardy to his first publisher, "old tinsley" page of original ms. of hardy's "far from the madding crowd" bernard quaritch title of ms. of "lyford redivivus" bernard alfred quaritch samuel johnson painted by sir joshua reynolds about , for johnson's step-daughter, lucy porter. engraved by watson page of prayer in dr. johnson's autograph title of keats's copy of spenser's works portrait of tennyson reading "maud" to the brownings, by rossetti dr. johnson's church, st. clement danes from a pen-and-ink sketch by charles g. osgood inscription to mrs. thrale in dr. johnson's hand inscription to general sir a. gordon in queen victoria's hand george d. smith photographed by genthe autograph ms. of lamb's poem, "elegy on a quid of tobacco" dr. a. s. w. rosenbach photographed by genthe title of "robinson crusoe." first edition title of "oliver twist" presentation copy to w. c. macready original illustration for "vanity fair" becky sharp throwing dr. johnson's "dixonary" out of the carriage window, as she leaves miss pinkerton's school from the first pen-and-ink sketch, by thackeray, afterwards elaborated specimen proof-sheet of george moore's "memoirs of my dead life" title of george moore's "pagan poems" presentation copy to oscar wilde title of blake's "marriage of heaven and hell" charles lamb's house at enfield inscription by joseph conrad in a copy of "the nigger of the 'narcissus'" the author's book-plate henry e. huntington stoke poges church a fine example of fore-edge painting title of blake's "songs of innocence and experience" "a leaf from an unopened volume" specimen page of an unpublished manuscript of charlotte brontë title of the kilmarnock edition of burns's poems fifteenth-century english ms. on vellum: boËthius's "de consolatione philosophiÆ" title of george herbert's "the temple." first edition first page of a rare edition of "robinson crusoe" autograph ms. of a poem by keats--"to the misses m---- at hastings" inscription to swinburne from dante rossetti autograph inscription by stevenson, in a copy of his "inland voyage" title of a unique copy of stevenson's "child's garden of verses" new building of the grolier club inscription to charles dickens, junior, from charles dickens illustration, "the last of the spirits," by john leech for dickens's "christmas carol" from the original water-color drawing autograph dedication to dickens's "the village coquettes" title of meredith's "modern love," with autograph inscription to swinburne inscription by dr. johnson in a copy of "rasselas" inscription by woodrow wilson, in a copy of his "constitutional government of the united states" inscription by james whitcomb riley charles lamb frances maria kelly miss kelly in various characters ms. dedication of lamb's works to miss kelly autograph letter of lamb to miss kelly charles and mary lamb james boswell of auchinleck, esqr. painted by sir joshua reynolds. engraved by john jones samuel johnson in a tie-wig painted by sir joshua reynolds. engraved by zobel inscription to rev. william j. temple, from james boswell title of mason's "elfrida." first edition ms. of boswell's agreement with mr. dilly, reciting the terms agreed on for the publication of "corsica" ms. indorsement by boswell on the first paper drawn by him as an advocate dr. johnson in traveling dress, as described in boswell's "tour" engraved by trotter inscription to james boswell, junior, from james boswell samuel johnson painted by sir joshua reynolds. engraved by heath inscription to edmund burke, by james boswell mrs. piozzi engraved by ridley from a miniature extract from ms. letter of mrs. thrale title of miss burney's "evelina." first edition mrs. thrale's breakfast-table samuel johnson. the "streatham portrait" painted by sir joshua reynolds. engraved by doughty ms. inscriptions by mrs. thrale title of "the prince of abissinia" ("rasselas"). first edition ms. of the last page of mrs. thrale's "journal of a tour in wales" miss amy lowell, of boston samuel johnson william godwin, the ridiculous philosopher charles lamb's play-bill of godwin's "antonio" ms. letter from william godwin anthony trollope from a photograph by elliot and fry temple bar as it is to-day old temple bar: demolished in temple bar in dr. johnson's time temple bar first page of dr. johnson's petition to the king on behalf of dr. dodd mr. allen's copy of the last letter dr. dodd sent dr. johnson caricature of oscar wilde from an original drawing by aubrey beardsley "our oscar" as he was when we loaned him to america from a contemporary english caricature ms. inscription to j. e. dickinson, from oscar wilde harry elkins widener title of stevenson's "memoirs of himself" printed for private distribution only, by mr. widener beverly chew henry e. huntington among his books photographed by genthe harry elkins widener's book-plate the amenities of book-collecting and kindred affections i book-collecting abroad if my early training has been correct, which i am much inclined to doubt, we were not designed to be happy in this world. we were simply placed here to be tried, and doubtless we are--it is a trying place. it is, however, the only world we are sure of; so, in spite of our training, we endeavor to make the best of it, and have invented a lot of little tricks with which to beguile the time. the approved time-killer is work, and we do a lot of it. when it is quite unnecessary, we say it is in the interest of civilization; and occasionally work is done on so high a plane that it becomes sport, and we call these sportsmen, "captains of industry." one of them once told me that making money was the finest sport in the world. this was before the rules of the game were changed. but for the relaxation of those whose life is spent in a persistent effort to make ends meet, games of skill, games of chance, and kissing games have been invented, and indoor and outdoor sports. these are all very well for those who can play them; but i am like the little boy who declined to play old maid because he was always "it." having early discovered that i was always "it" in every game, i decided to take my recreation in another way. i read occasionally and have always been a collector. many years ago, in an effort to make conversation on a train,--a foolish thing to do,--i asked a man what he did with his leisure, and his reply was, "i play cards. i used to read a good deal but i wanted something to occupy my mind, so i took to cards." it was a disconcerting answer. it may be admitted that not all of us can read all the time. for those who cannot and for those to whom sport in any form is a burden not to be endured, there is one remaining form of exercise, the riding of a hobby--collecting, it is called; and the world is so full of such wonderful things that we collectors should be as happy as kings. horace greeley once said, "young man, go west." i give advice as valuable and more easily followed: i say, young man, get a hobby; preferably get two, one for indoors and one for out; get a pair of hobby-horses that can safely be ridden in opposite directions. we collectors strive to make converts; we want others to enjoy what we enjoy; and i may as well confess that the envy shown by our fellow collectors when we display our treasures is not annoying to us. but, speaking generally, we are a bearable lot, our hobbies are usually harmless, and if we loathe the subject of automobiles, and especially discussion relative to parts thereof, we try to show an intelligent interest in another's hobby, even if it happen to be a collection of postage-stamps. our own hobby may be, probably is, ridiculous to some one else, but in all the wide range of human interest, from postage-stamps to paintings,--the sport of the millionaire,--there is nothing that begins so easily and takes us so far as the collecting of books. and hear me. if you would know the delight of book-collecting, begin with something else, i care not what. book-collecting has all the advantages of other hobbies without their drawbacks. the pleasure of acquisition is common to all--that's where the sport lies; but the strain of the possession of books is almost nothing; a tight, dry closet will serve to house them, if need be. it is not so with flowers. they are a constant care. some one once wrote a poem about "old books and fresh flowers." it lilted along very nicely; but i remark that books stay old, indeed get older, and flowers do not stay fresh: a little too much rain, a little too much sun, and it is all over. pets die too, in spite of constant care--perhaps by reason of it. to quiet a teething dog i once took him, her, it, to my room for the night and slept soundly. next morning i found that the dog had committed suicide by jumping out of the window. the joys of rugs are a delusion and a snare. they cannot be picked up here and there, tucked in a traveling-bag, and smuggled into the house; they are hard to transport, there are no auction records against them, and the rug market knows no bottom. i never yet heard a man admit paying a fair price for a rug, much less a high one. "look at this scherazak," a friend remarks; "i paid only nine dollars for it and it's worth five hundred if it's worth a penny." when he is compelled to sell his collection, owing to an unlucky turn in the market, it brings seventeen-fifty. and rugs are ever a loafing place for moths--but that's a chapter by itself. worst of all, there is no literature about them. i know very well that there are books about rugs; i own some. but as all books are not literature, so all literature is not in books. can a rug-collector enjoy a catalogue? i sometimes think that for the over-worked business man a book-catalogue is the best reading there is. did you ever see a rug-collector, pencil in hand, poring over a rug-catalogue? print-catalogues there are; and now i warm a little. they give descriptions that mean something; a scene may have a reminiscent value, a portrait suggests a study in biography. then there are dimensions for those who are fond of figures and states and margins, and the most ignorant banker will tell you that a wide margin is always better than a narrow one. prices, too, can be looked up and compared, and results, satisfactory or otherwise, recorded. prints, too, can be snugly housed in portfolios. but for a lasting hobby give me books. book-collectors are constantly being ridiculed by scholars for the pains they take and the money they spend on first editions of their favorite authors; and it must be that they smart under the criticism, for they are always explaining, and attempting rather foolishly to justify their position. would it not be better to say, as leslie stephen did of dr. johnson's rough sayings, that "it is quite useless to defend them to any one who cannot enjoy them without defense"? i am not partial to the "books which no gentleman's library should be without," fashionable a generation or two ago. the works of thomas frognall dibdin do not greatly interest me, and where will one find room to-day for audubon's "birds" or roberts's "holy land" except on a billiard-table or under a bed? the very great books of the past have become so rare, so high-priced, that it is almost useless for the ordinary collector to hope ever to own them, and fashion changes in book-collecting as in everything else. aldines and elzevirs are no longer sought. our interest in the classics being somewhat abated, we pass them over in favor of books which, we tell ourselves, we expect some day to read, the books written by men of whose lives we know something. i would rather have a "paradise lost" with the first title-page,[ ] in contemporary binding, or an "angler," than all the aldines and elzevirs ever printed. [illustration: paradise lost. a poem written in ten books by _john milton_. licensed and entred according to order. _london_ printed, and are to be sold by _peter parker_ under _creed,_ church neer _aldgate_; and by _robert boulter_ at the _turks head_ in _bishopsgate-street_; and _matthias walker_, under _st. dunstons_ church in _fleet-street_, . ] that this feeling is general, accounts, i take it, for the excessively high prices now being paid for first editions of modern authors like shelley, keats, lamb, and, to come right down to our own day, stevenson. would not these authors be amazed could they know in what esteem they are held, and what fabulous prices are paid for volumes which, when they were published, fell almost stillborn from the press? we all know the story of fitzgerald's "rubaiyat": how a "remainder" was sold by quaritch at a penny the copy. it is now worth its weight in gold, and keats's "endymion," once a "remainder" bought by a london bookseller at fourpence, now commands several hundred dollars. i paid three hundred and sixty dollars for mine--but it was once wordsworth's and has his name on the title-page. but it is well in book-collecting, while not omitting the present, never to neglect the past. "old books are best," says beverly chew, beloved of all collectors; and i recall lowell's remark: "there is a sense of security in an old book which time has criticized for us." it was a recollection of these sayings that prompted me, if prompting was necessary, to pay a fabulous price the other day for a copy of "hesperides, or the works both humane and divine of robert herrick, esq.," a beautiful copy of the first edition in the original sheep. we collectors know the saying of bacon: "some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested"; but the revised version is, some books are to be read, others are to be collected. mere reading books, the five-foot shelf, or the hundred best, every one knows at least by name. but at the moment i am concerned with collectors' books and the amenities of book-collecting; for, frankly,-- i am one of those who seek what bibliomaniacs love. some subjects are not for me. sydney smith's question, "who reads an american book?" has, i am sure, been answered; and i am equally sure that i do not know what the answer is. "americana"--which was not what sydney smith meant--have never caught me, nor has "black letter." it is not necessary for me to study how to tell a caxton. caxtons do not fall in my way, except single leaves now and then, and these i take as goldsmith took his religion, on faith. nor am i the rival of the man who buys all his books from quaritch. buying from quaritch is rather too much like the german idea of hunting: namely, sitting in an easy chair near a breach in the wall through which game, big or little, is shooed within easy reach of your gun. no, my idea of collecting is "watchful waiting," in season and out, in places likely and unlikely, most of all in london. but one need not begin in london: one can begin wherever one has pitched one's tent. i have long wanted franklin's "cato major." a copy was found not long ago in a farmhouse garret in my own county; but, unluckily, i did not hear of it until its price, through successive hands, had reached three hundred dollars. but if one does not begin in london, one ends there. it is the great market of the world for collectors' books--the best market, not necessarily the cheapest. [illustration: m. t. cicero's _cato major_ or his discourse of old-age: with explanatory notes. _philadelphia_: printed and sold by b. franklin, mdccxliv. ] my first purchase was a bohn edition of pope's homer, the iliad and the odyssey in two volumes--not a bad start for a boy; and under my youthful signature, with a fine flourish, is the date, . i read them with delight, and was sorry when i learned that pope is by no means homer. i have been a little chary about reading ever since. we collectors might just as well wait until scholars settle these questions. i have always liked pope. in reading him one has the sense of progress from idea to idea, not a mere floundering about in arcady amid star-stuff. when dr. johnson was asked what poetry is, he replied, "it is much easier to say what it is not." he was sparring for time and finally remarked, "if pope is not poetry it is useless to look for it." years later, when i learned from oscar wilde that there are two ways of disliking poetry,--one is to dislike it, and the other, to like pope,--i found that i was not entirely prepared to change my mind about pope. in i went to london for the first time, and there i fell under the lure of dr. johnson and charles lamb. after that, the deluge! the london of was the london of dickens. there have been greater changes since i first wandered in the purlieus of the strand and holborn than there were in the hundred years before. dickens's london has vanished almost as completely as the london of johnson. one landmark after another disappeared, until finally the county council made one grand sweep with aldwych and kingsway. but never to be forgotten are the rambles i enjoyed with my first bookseller, fred hutt of clement's inn passage, subsequently of red lion passage, now no more. poor fellow! when, early in , i went to look him up, i found that he had passed away, and his shop was being dismantled. he was the last of three brothers, all booksellers. from hutt i received my first lesson in bibliography; from him i bought my first "christmas carol," with "stave ," not "stave one," and with the green end-papers. i winced at the price: it was thirty shillings. i saw one marked twenty guineas not long ago. from hutt, too, i got a copy of swinburne's "poems and ballads," , with the moxon imprint, and had pointed out to me the curious eccentricity of type on page . i did not then take his advice and pay something over two pounds for a copy of "desperate remedies." it seemed wiser to wait until the price reached forty pounds, which i subsequently paid for it. but i did buy from him for five shillings an autograph letter of thomas hardy to his first publisher, "old tinsley." as the details throw some light on the subject of hardy's first book, i reproduce the letter, from which it will be seen that hardy financed the publication himself. when, thirty years ago, i picked up my hardy letter for a few shillings, i never supposed that the time would come when i would own the complete manuscript of one of his most famous novels. yet so it is. not long since, quite unexpectedly, the original draft of "far from the madding crowd" turned up in london. its author, when informed of its discovery, wrote saying that he had "supposed the manuscript had been pulped ages ago." one page only was missing; mr. hardy supplied it. then arose the question of ownership, which was gracefully settled by sending it to the auction-room, the proceeds of the sale to go to the british red cross. i cannot say that the bookseller who bought it gave it to me exactly, but we both agree that it is an item which does honor to any collection. although it is the original draft, there are very few corrections or interlineations, the page reproduced (see next page) being fairly representative. [illustration: letter of thomas hardy to his first publisher, "old tinsley" i paid five shillings for this letter many years ago, in london. maggs, in his last catalogue, prices at fifteen guineas a much less interesting letter from hardy to arthur symons, dated december , , on the same subject.] only those who are trying to complete their sets of hardy know how difficult it is to find "desperate remedies" and "under the greenwood tree" "in cloth as issued." my love for book-collecting and my love for london have gone hand in hand. from the first, london with its wealth of literary and historic interest has held me; there has never been a time, not even on that gloomy december day twenty years ago, when, with injuries subsequently diagnosed as a "compound comminuted tibia and fibula," i was picked out of an overturned cab and taken to st. bartholomew's hospital for repairs, that i could not say with boswell, "there is a city called london for which i have as violent an affection as the most romantic lover ever had for his mistress." the book-shops of london have been the subject of many a song in prose and verse. every taste and pocket can be satisfied, i have ransacked the wretched little shops to be found in the by-streets of holborn one day, and the next have browsed in the artificially stimulated pastures of grafton street and bond street, and with as much delight in one as in the other. [illustration: facsimile of a page of hardy's "far from the madding crowd," much reduced in size] [illustration: bernard quaritch "the extensive literature of catalogues is probably little known to most readers. i do not pretend to claim a thorough acquaintance with it but i know the luxury of reading good catalogues and such are those of bernard quaritch."--oliver wendell holmes.] i cannot say that "i was 'broke' in london in the fall of ' ," for the simple reason that i was not in london that year; but i am never long in london without finding myself as light in heart and pocket as eugene field--the result of yielding to the same temptations. i knew the elder quaritch well, and over a cup of tea one winter afternoon years ago, in a cold, dingy little room filled with priceless volumes in the old shop in piccadilly, he confided to me his fears for his son alfred. this remarkable old man, who has well been called the napoleon of booksellers, was certain that alfred would never be able to carry on the business when he was gone. "he has no interest in books, he is not willing to work hard as he will have to, to maintain the standing i have secured as the greatest bookseller in the world." quaritch was very proud, and justly, of his eminence. how little the old man knew that this son, when the time came, would step into his father's shoes and stretch them. alfred, when he inherited the business, assumed his father's first name and showed all his father's enthusiasm and shrewdness. he probably surprised himself, as he surprised the world, by adding lustre to the name of bernard quaritch, so that, when he died, the newspapers of the english-speaking world gave the details of his life and death as matters of general interest. the book-lovers' happy hunting-ground is the charing cross road. it is a dirty and sordid street, too new to be picturesque; but almost every other shop on both sides of the street is a bookshop, and the patient man is frequently rewarded by a find of peculiar interest. one day, a few years ago, i picked up two square folio volumes of manuscript bound in old, soft morocco, grown shabby from knocking about. the title was "lyford redivivus, or a grandame's garrulity." [illustration: title of ms. of "lyford redivivus"] examination showed me that it was a sort of dictionary of proper names. in one volume there were countless changes and erasures; the other was evidently a fair copy. although there was no name in either volume to suggest the author, it needed no second glance to see that both were written in the clear, bold hand of mrs. piozzi. the price was but trifling, and i promptly paid it and carried the volumes home. some months later, i was reading a little volume, "piozziana," by edward mangin,--the first book about mrs. thrale-piozzi,--when, to my surprise, my eye met the following:-- [illustration: bernard alfred quaritch "he probably surprised himself as he surprised the world by adding lustre to the name of bernard quaritch."] early in the year , i called on her [mrs. piozzi] then resident in bath, to examine a manuscript which she informed me she was preparing for the press. after a short conversation, we sat down to a table on which lay two manuscript volumes, one of them, the fair copy of her work, in her own incomparably fine hand-writing. the title was "lyford redivivus"; the idea being taken from a diminutive old volume, printed in , and professing to be an alphabetical account of the names of men and women, and their derivations. her work was somewhat on this plan: the christian or first name given, charity, for instance, followed by its etymology; anecdotes of the eminent or obscure, who have borne the appellation; applicable epigrams, biographical sketches, short poetical illustrations, &c. i read over twelve or fourteen articles and found them exceedingly interesting; abounding in spirit, and novelty; and all supported by quotations in hebrew, greek, latin, italian, french, celtic, and saxon. there was a learned air over all, and in every page, much information, ably compressed, and forming what i should have supposed, an excellent popular volume. she was now seventy-five; and i naturally complimented her, not only on the work in question, but on the amazing beauty and variety of her hand-writing. she seemed gratified and desired me to mention the ms. to some london publisher. this i afterwards did, and sent the work to one alike distinguished for discernment and liberality, but with whom we could not come to an agreement. i have heard no more of "lyford redivivus" since, and know not in whose hands the ms. may now be. a moment later it was in mine, and i was examining it with renewed interest. my secret is out. i collect, as i can, human-interest books--books with a _provenance_, as they are called; but as i object to foreign words, i once asked a bryn mawr professor, dr. holbrook, to give me an english equivalent. "i should have to make one," he said. "you know the word _whereabouts_, i suppose." i admitted that i did. "how would _whenceabouts_ do?" i thought it good. in recent years, presentation, or association, books have become the rage, and the reason is plain. every one is unique, though some are uniquer than others. my advice to any one who may be tempted by some volume with an inscription of the author on its fly-leaf or title-page is, "yield with coy submission"--and at once. while such books make frightful inroads on one's bank account, i have regretted only my economies, never my extravagances. i was glancing the other day over arnold's "record of books and letters." he paid in seventy-one dollars for a presentation keats's "poems," , and sold it at auction in for five hundred.[ ] a few years later i was offered a presentation copy of the work, with an inscription to keats's intimate friends, charles and mary cowden clarke, for a thousand dollars, and while i was doing some preliminary financing the book disappeared, and forever; and i have never ceased regretting that the dedication copy of boswell's "life of johnson," to sir joshua reynolds, passed into the collection of my lamented friend, harry widener, rather than into my own. "i shall not pass this way again" seems written in these volumes. but my record is not all of defeats. the "whenceabouts" of my presentation "vanity fair" is not without interest--its story is told in wilson's "thackeray in the united states." the great man took particular delight in schoolboys. when, during his lecturing tour, he visited philadelphia, he presented one of these boys with a five-dollar gold-piece. the boy's mother objected to his pocketing the coin, and thackeray vainly endeavored to convince her that this species of beneficence was a thing of course in england. after a discussion the coin was returned, but three months later the lad was made happy by the receipt of a copy of "vanity fair," across the title-page of which he saw written, in a curiously small and delicate hand, his name, henry reed, with w. m. thackeray's kind regards, april, . one day, some years ago, while strolling through piccadilly, my attention was attracted by a newspaper clipping posted on the window of a bookshop, which called attention to a holograph volume of johnson-dodd letters on exhibition within. i spent several hours in careful examination of it, and, although the price asked was not inconsiderable, it was not high in view of the unusual interest of the volume. i felt that i must own it. when i am going to be extravagant i always like the encouragement of my wife, and i usually get it. i determined to talk over with her my proposed purchase. her prophetic instinct in this instance was against it. she reminded me that the business outlook was not good when we left home, and that the reports received since were anything but encouraging. "that amount of money," she said, "may be very useful when you get home." the advice was good; indeed, her arguments were so unanswerable that i determined not to discuss it further, but to buy it anyhow and say nothing. early the next morning i went back, and to my great disappointment found that some one more forehanded than i had secured the treasure. my regrets for a time were keen, but on my return to this country i found myself in the height of the panic. securities seemed almost worthless and actual money unobtainable; then i congratulated my wife on her wisdom, and pointed out what a fine fellow i had been to follow her advice. six months later, to my great surprise, the collection was again offered me by a bookseller in new york at a price just fifty per cent in advance of the price i had been asked for it in london. the man who showed it to me was amazed when i told him just when he had bought it and where, and the price he had paid for it. i made a guess that it was ten per cent below the figure at which it had been offered to me. "i am prepared," i said, "to pay you the same price i was originally asked for it in london. you have doubtless shown it to many of your customers and have not found them as foolish in their enthusiasm over johnson as i am. you have had your chance to make a big profit; why not accept a small one?" there was some discussion; but as i saw my man weakening, my firmness increased, and it finally ended by my handing him a check and carrying off the treasure. [illustration: portrait of dr. johnson by sir joshua reynolds. painted about for johnson's stepdaughter, lucy porter _engraved by watson_] the collection consists of original manuscripts relating to the forgery of dodd, twelve pieces being in dr. johnson's handwriting. in dr. william dodd, the "unfortunate" clergyman, as he came to be called, was condemned to death for forging the name of his pupil, lord chesterfield, to a bond for forty-two hundred pounds. through their common friend edmund allen, johnson worked hard to secure dodd's pardon, writing letters, petitions, and addresses, to be presented by dodd, in his own or his wife's name, to the king, the queen, and other important persons, johnson taking every care to conceal his own part in the matter. in all there are thirty-two manuscripts relating to the affair. they were evidently used by sir john hawkins in his "life of johnson," but it is doubtful whether boswell, although he quotes them in part, ever saw the collection.[ ] pearson, from his shop in pall mall place, issues catalogues which for size, style, and beauty are unexcelled--they remind one more of publications _deluxe_ than of a bookseller's catalogue. it is almost vain to look for any item under a hundred pounds, and not infrequently they run to several thousand. a catalogue now on my writing table tells me of a caxton: "tully, his treatises of old age and friendship," one of four known copies, at twenty-five hundred pounds; and i'd gladly pay it did my means allow. from pearson i secured my holograph prayer of dr. johnson, of which birkbeck hill says: "having passed into the cabinet of a collector it remains as yet unpublished." it is dated ashbourne, september , (johnson died on december of that year), and reads:-- almighty lord and merciful father, to thee be thanks, and praise for all thy mercies, for the awakening of my mind, the continuance of my life, the amendment of my health, and the opportunity now granted of commemorating the death of thy son jesus christ, our mediator and redeemer. enable me o lord to repent truly of my sins--enable me by thy holy spirit to lead hereafter a better life. strengthen my mind against useless perplexities, teach me to form good resolutions and assist me that i may bring them to effect, and when thou shalt finally call me to another state, receive me to everlasting happiness, for the sake of our lord jesus christ, amen. prayers in dr. johnson's hand are excessively rare. he wrote a large number, modeled evidently upon the beautiful collects--prose sonnets--of the church of england prayer book; but after publication by their first editor, dr. george strahan, in , most of the originals were deposited in the library of pembroke college, oxford; hence their scarcity. [illustration page of prayer in dr. johnson's autograph] from pearson, too, came my beautiful uncut copy of "a journey to the western islands of scotland," with a receipt for one hundred pounds in johnson's handwriting on account of the copyright of the book, and, more interesting still, a brief note to mrs. horneck (the mother of goldsmith's "jessamy bride"), reading: "mr. johnson sends mrs. horneck and the young ladies his best wishes for their health and pleasure in their journey, and hopes his wife [johnson's pet name for the young lady] will keep him in her mind. wednesday, june ." the date completes the story. forster states that goldsmith, in company with the hornecks, started for paris in the middle of july, . this was the dear old doctor's good-bye as the party was setting out. to spend a morning with mr. sabin, the elder, in his shop in bond street is a delight never to be forgotten. the richest and rarest volumes are spread out before you as unaffectedly as if they were the last best-sellers. you are never importuned to buy; on the contrary, even when his treasures are within your reach, it is difficult to get him to part with them. one item which you particularly want is a part of a set held at a king's ransom; some one has the refusal of another. it is possible to do business, but not easy. [illustration: john keats's copy of spenser's works] his son, frank, occasionally takes advantage of his father's absence to part with a volume or two. he admits the necessity of selling a book sometimes in order that he may buy another. this, i take it, accounts for the fact that he consented to part with a copy of "the works of that famous english poet, mr. edmond spenser"--the fine old folio of , with the beautiful title-page. a "name on title" ordinarily does not add to a book's value; but when that name is "john keats" in the poet's hand, and in addition, "severn's gift, ," one is justified in feeling elated. john keats! who in the realm of poetry stands next to the great elizabethans. it was spenser's "fairy queen" which first fired his ambition to write poetry, and his lines in imitation of spenser are among the first he wrote. at the time of the presentation of this volume, severn had recently made his acquaintance, and keats and his friends were steeped in elizabethan literature. the finest edition of the works of spenser procurable was no doubt selected by severn as a gift more likely than any other to be appreciated by the poet. remember that books from keats's library, which was comparatively a small one, are at the present time practically non-existent; that among them there could hardly have been one with a more interesting association than this volume of spenser. remember too that keats's poem,-- sweet are the pleasures that to verse belong, and doubly sweet a brotherhood in song,-- was addressed to my great-great-uncle, george felton mathew; and let me refer to the fact that on my first visit to england i had spent several days with his sister, who as a young girl had known keats well, and it will be realized that the possession of this treasure made my heart thump. stimulated and encouraged by this purchase, i successfully angled for one of the rarest items of the recent browning sale, the portrait of tennyson reading "maud," a drawing in pen and ink by rossetti, with a signed inscription on the drawing in the artist's handwriting:-- i hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood. browning's inscription is as follows:-- tennyson read his poem of maud to e.b.b., r.b., arabel and rossetti, on the evening of thursday, septr. , , at dorset st., manchester square. rossetti made this sketch of tennyson as he sat reading to e.b.b., who occupied the other end of the sofa. r.b. march , ' . warwick crescent. w. m. rossetti and miss browning were also present on this famous evening, which is vivaciously described by mrs. browning in an autograph letter to mrs. martin inserted in the album. one of the pleasantest things which has happened to us here is the coming down on us of the laureate, who, being in london for three or four days from the isle of wight, spent two of them with us, dined with us, smoked with us, opened his heart to us (and the second bottle of port), and ended by reading "maud" through from end to end, and going away at half-past two in the morning. if i had had a heart to spare, certainly he would have won mine. he is captivating with his frankness, confidingness, and unexampled naïveté! think of his stopping in "maud" every now and then--"there's a wonderful touch! that's very tender. how beautiful that is!" yes, and it was wonderful, tender, beautiful, and he read exquisitely in a voice like an organ, rather music than speech. [illustration: portrait of tennyson, reading "maud" to robert and mrs. browning, by rossetti] thus are linked indissolubly together the great victorians: browning, tennyson, rossetti, and mrs. browning. it would be difficult to procure a more interesting memento. at new oxford street, west, is a narrow, dingy little shop, which you would never take to be one of the most celebrated bookshops in london--spencer's. how he does it, where he gets them, is his business, and an inquiry he answers only with a smile; but the fact is, there they are--just the books you have been looking for, presentation copies and others, in cloth and bound. spencer owes it to book-collectors to issue catalogues. they would make delightful reading. he has always promised to do it, but he, as well as we, knows that he never will. but he is kind in another way, if kindness it is: he leaves you alone for hours in that wonderful second-story room, subjected to temptation almost too great to be resisted. autograph letters, first drafts of well-known poems, rare volumes filled with corrections and notes in the hand of the author, are scattered about; occasionally, such an invaluable item as the complete manuscript of "the cricket on the hearth." it was from the table in this room that i picked up one day a rough folder of cardboard tied with red tape and labeled "lamb." opening it, i found a letter from lamb to taylor & hessey, "acknowledging with thanks receit of thirty-two pounds" for the copyright of "elias (alas) of last year," signed and dated, june , . i felt that it would look well in my presentation "elia," in boards, uncut, and was not mistaken. my acquaintance with mr. dobell i owe to a paragraph that i read many years ago in labouchere's "truth." one day this caught my eye:-- from the catalogue of a west end bookseller i note this: "garrick, david. 'love in the suds. a town eclogue,' first edition. . very rare. guineas." the next post brought me a catalogue from bertram dobell, the well-known bookseller in the charing cross road. there i read, "garrick, david. 'love in the suds. a town eclogue,' first edition, , boards, pence." the purchaser of the former might do well to average by acquiring mr. dobell's copy. old dobell is in a class by himself--scholar, antiquarian, poet, and bookseller.[ ] he is just the type one would expect to find in a shop on the floor of which books are stacked in piles four or five feet high, leaving narrow tortuous paths through which one treads one's way with great drifts of books on either side. to reach the shelves is practically impossible, yet out of this confusion i have picked many a rare item. don't be discouraged if, on your asking for a certain volume, mr. dobell gently replies, "no, sorry." that means simply that he cannot put his mental eye on it at the moment. it, or something as interesting, will come along. don't hurry; and let me observe that the prices of this eighteenth-century bookshop are of the period. i once sought, for years, a little book of no particular value; but i wanted it to complete a set. i had about given up all hope of securing a copy when i finally found it in a fashionable shop on piccadilly. it was marked five guineas, an awful price; but i paid it and put the volume in my pocket. that very day i stumbled across a copy in a better condition at dobell's, marked two and six. i bethought me of labby's advice and "averaged." from dobell came wordsworth's copy of "endymion"; likewise a first edition of the old-fashioned love-story, "henrietta temple," by disraeli, inscribed, "to william beckford with the author's compliments," with many pages of useless notes in beckford's hand; he seems to have read the volumes with unnecessary care. nor should i forget a beautiful copy of thomson's "seasons," presented by byron "to the hon'ble frances wedderburne webster," with this signed impromptu:-- go!--volume of the wintry blast, the yellow autumn and the virgin spring. go!--ere the summer's zephyr's past and lend to loveliness thy lovely wing. the morning's mail of a busy man, marked "personal," takes a wide scope, ranging all the way from polite requests for a loan to brief statements that "a prompt remittance will oblige"; but at the bottom of the pile are the welcome catalogues of the second-hand booksellers--for books, to be interesting, must at least be second-hand. indeed, as with notes offered for discount, the greater the number of good indorsers the better. in books, indorsements frequently take the form of bookplates. i am always interested in such a note as this: "from the library of charles b. foote, with his bookplate." auction catalogues come, too. these also must be scanned, but they lack the element which makes the dealers' catalogues so interesting--the prices. with prices omitted, book-auction catalogues are too stimulating. the mind at once begins to range. doubt takes the place of certainty. the arrival of a catalogue from the sign of the caxton head, mr. james tregaskis's shop in high holborn, in the parish of st.-giles's-in-the-fields, always suspends business in my office for half an hour; and while i glance rapidly through its pages in search of nuggets, i paraphrase a line out of boswell, that "jimmie hath a very pretty wife." why shouldn't a book merchant have a pretty wife? the answer is simple: he has, nor are good-looking wives peculiar to this generation of booksellers. tom davies, it will be remembered, who, in the back parlor of his little bookshop in russell street, covent garden, first introduced boswell to johnson, had a wife who, we are told, caused the great doctor to interrupt himself in the lord's prayer at the point, "lead us not into temptation," and whisper to her, with waggish and gallant good humor, "you, my dear, are the cause of this." like causes still produce like effects. [illustration: dr. johnson's church, st. clement danes _from a pen-and-ink sketch by charles g. osgood_] from tregaskis i secured my "memoirs of george psalmanazar," , an interesting book in itself; but its chief value is the signature and note, "given to h. l. thrale by dr. sam johnson," i suppose about . following mrs. thrale's usual practice, there are scattered through the volume a number of notes and criticisms in her handwriting. it was psalmanazar, afterwards discovered to be a notorious old scamp, whose apparent piety so impressed dr. johnson that he "sought" his company; and of whom he said, "sir, contradict psalmanazar! i should as soon think of contradicting a bishop." [illustration: inscription to mrs. thrale in dr. johnson's hand] side by side with this volume on my shelves stands the "historical and geographical description of formosa," a work of sheer imagination if ever there was one. my "haunch of venison," , in wrappers, uncut, with the rare portrait of goldsmith drawn by bunbury (he married goldsmith's little comedy, it will be remembered), also came from him, as did my "london, a poem in imitation of the third satire of juvenal," and the first edition of the first book on london, stow's "survay," . from another source came one of the last books on london, "our house." this book, delightful in itself, is especially interesting to me by reason of the personal inscription of its charming and witty writer: "to a.e.n., a welcome visitor to 'our house,' from elizabeth robins pennell." continuing along holborn citywards, one comes to (and usually passes) the great turnstile, a narrow court leading into lincoln's inn fields. here is another bookshop that i frequent,--hollings's,--not for the rarest things, but for the choice little bits which seem almost commonplace when you are buying them, and give so much pleasure when you get them safely on your shelves at home. i never spend a few hours with mr. redway, the manager, without thinking of the saying of one of our most delightful essayists, augustine birrell, who, to our loss, seems to have forsaken literature for politics: "second-hand booksellers are a race of men for whom i have the greatest respect; ... their catalogues are the true textbooks of literature." one sometimes has the pleasure of running across some reference in a catalogue to a book of which one has a better or more interesting copy at half the price. for example, i saw quoted in a catalogue the other day at eighty pounds a "set of the life of the prince consort, in _five_ volumes, with an inscription in each volume in the autograph of her majesty queen victoria. the first volume being published before her majesty was proclaimed empress of india, she signed as queen; the other four volumes her majesty signed as queen-empress." in my collection there are _seven_ volumes, the five mentioned above and two additional volumes, the "speeches and addresses" and the "biography of the prince consort." my copies also are signed, but note: the volume of "speeches and addresses" has this intensely personal inscription:-- to major general, the hon. a. gordon, in recollection of his great, & good master from the beloved prince's broken hearted widow victoria r. osborne _jan: . _. the "biography" has this:-- to major general, the hon. alexander gordon, c.b. in recollection of his dear master from the great prince's affectionate and sorrowing widow, victoria r. _april, ._ volume one of the "life" is inscribed:-- to lieutenant general, the hon. sir alexander gordon, k.c.b., in recollection of his dear master, from victoria r. _january _. volume two:-- to lieut. general, the hon. sir alexander hamilton gordon, k.c.b., from victoria r. _dec. _. volume three:-- to general, the hon. sir alex. h. gordon, k.c.b., from victoria r.i. _dec. _. the inscriptions in the last three volumes are identical, except for the dates. all are written in the large, flowing hand with which we are familiar, and indicate a declining scale of grief. time heals all wounds, and as these volumes appear at intervals, grief is finally assuaged and majesty asserts itself. [illustration: inscription to general sir a. gordon in queen victoria's hand] ii book-collecting at home in the preceding chapter i wrote of the amenities of book-collecting in london, of my adventures in the shops of bond street and piccadilly, of holborn and the strand--almost as though this paradise of the book-collector were his only happy hunting-ground. but all the good hunting is not found in london: new york has a number of attractive shops, philadelphia at least two, while there are several in chicago and in unexpected places in the west. where in all the world will you find so free a buyer, always ready to take a chance to turn a volume at a profit, as george d. smith? he holds the record for having paid the highest price ever paid for a book at auction: fifty thousand dollars for a copy of the gutenberg bible, purchased for mr. henry e. huntington at the hoe sale; and not only did he pay the highest price--he also bought more than any other purchaser of the fine books disposed of at that sale. i have heard smith's rivals complain that he is not a bookseller in the proper sense of the word--that he buys without discretion and without exact knowledge. such criticism, i take it, is simply the natural result of jealousy. george d. smith has sold more fine books than perhaps any two of his rivals. [illustration: george d. smith "g. d. s." as he is known in the new york auction rooms. like "g. b. s." of london, he is something of an enigma. what are the qualities which have made him, as he undoubtedly is, the greatest bookseller in the world? _from a photograph by arnold genthe_] there is no affectation of dignity or of knowledge about him, and it is well that there is not. no one knows all there is to know about books; a man might know much more than he--such men there are--and yet lack the qualities which have enabled him to secure and retain the confidence and commissions of his patrons. he is practically the main support of the auction-rooms in this country, and i have frequently seen him leave a sale at which he had purchased every important book that came up. he had knowledge and confidence enough for that, and i cannot see why his frankness and lack of affectation should be counted against him. it takes all kinds of men to make a world, and george is several kinds in himself. twenty-five years ago, in london, early in my book-collecting days, i came across a bundle of dusty volumes in an old book-shop in the strand,--the shop and that part of the strand have long since disappeared,--and bought the lot for, as i remember, two guineas. subsequently, upon going through the contents carefully, i found that i had acquired what appeared to be quite a valuable little parcel. there were the following:-- "tales from shakespeare": baldwin and cradock, fifth edition, . lamb's "prose works": volumes, moxon, . "the letters of charles lamb": volumes, moxon, ; with the inscription, "to j. p. collier, esq. from his friend h. c. robinson." talfourd's "final memorials of charles lamb": volumes, moxon, . by the way, the last was wordsworth's copy, with his signature on the title-page of each volume; and i observed for the first time that the book was dedicated to him. loosely inserted in several of the volumes were newspaper clippings, a number of pages of manuscript in john payne collier's handwriting, a part of a letter from mary lamb addressed to jane collier, his mother, and in several of the volumes were notes in collier's handwriting referring to matters in the text: as where, against a reference to lamb's "essay on roast pig," collier says, in pencil, "my mother sent the pig to lamb." again, where talfourd, referring to an evening with lamb, says, "we mounted to the top story and were soon seated beside a cheerful fire: hot water and its better adjuncts were soon before us," collier writes, "both lamb and talfourd died of the 'better adjuncts.'" there was a large number of such pencil notes. the pages of manuscript in collier's heavy and, as he calls it, "infirm" hand begin:-- in relation to c. lamb and southey, mr. cosens possesses as interesting a ms. as i know. it is bound as a small quarto, but the writing of lamb, and chiefly by southey is post vo. they seem to have been contributions to an "annual anthology" published by cottle of bristol. the ms. begins with an "advertisement" in the handwriting of southey, and it is followed immediately by a poem in lamb's handwriting headed "elegy on a quid of tobacco," in ten stanzas rhiming alternately thus:-- it lay before me on the close grazed grass beside my path, an old tobacco quid: and shall i by the mute adviser pass without one serious thought? now heaven forbid![ ] the next day, collier copied more of the poem, for on another sheet he remarks, "as my hand is steadier to-day i have copied the remaining stanzas." on still another sheet, referring to the cosens ms., collier writes:-- the whole consists of about sixty leaves chiefly in the handwriting of southey and it contains ... productions by lamb, one a sort of _jeu d'esprit_ called "the rhedycinian barbers" on the hair-dressing of twelve young men of christ church college, and the other headed, "dirge for him who shall deserve it." this has no signature but the whole is in lamb's clear young hand, and it shows very plainly that he partook not only of the poetical but of the political feeling of the time. the signatures are various, erthuryo, ryalto, walter, and so forth, and at the end are four love elegies and a serious poem by charles lamb, entitled, "living without god in the world." how many of these were printed elsewhere, or in cottle's "anthology," i do not know. i would willingly copy more did not my hand fail me. j. p. c. [illustration: autograph ms. of lamb's poem, "elegy on a quid of tobacco"] twenty years later, in new york one day, george d. smith asked me if i would care to buy an interesting volume of southey mss., and to my great surprise handed me the identical little quarto which collier had many years before found so interesting that he had made excerpts from it. it might not have made such instant appeal to my recollection of my purchase in london had it not been for an inserted note, almost identical with the one on the loose slip in my lamb volume, obviously in collier's "infirm" hand, repeating briefly what he had said on the loose sheets in my volumes at home. mr. cosens, the former owner of the manuscripts, had added a note: "in or charles lamb contributed to the 'annual anthology' which a mr. cottle, a bookseller of bristol, published jointly with coleridge and southey. this manuscript is partly in the handwriting of southey and was formerly the property of cottle of bristol." upon investigation i ascertained that the little volume of manuscript verse had passed from mr. cosens's possession into that of augustin daly, at whose sale it had been catalogued as a southey ms., with small reference to its lamb interest. although the price was high, the temptation to buy was too strong to be resisted; so after many years the small quarto of original poems by lamb, southey, and others, and collier's description of it, stand side by side in my library. for me the three poems by lamb outweigh in interest and value all others. the volume is labeled, "southey manuscripts, a long time since the property of a mr. cottle of bristol." the most scholarly bookseller in this country to-day is dr. rosenbach--"rosy" as we who know him well call him. it was not his original intention to deal in rare books, but to become a professor of english, a calling for which few have a finer appreciation; but mere scholars abound. he must have felt that we collectors needed some one to guide our tastes and deplete our bank accounts. in both he is unequaled. his spacious second-floor room in walnut street is filled with the rarest volumes. "ask and it shall be given you"--with a bill at the end of the month. it is a delightful place to spend a rainy morning, and you are certain to depart a wiser if a poorer man. i once spent some hours with the doctor in company with my friend tinker--not the great tinker who plays ball for a bank president's wage, but the less famous tinker, professor of english at yale. we had been looking at shakespeare folios and quartos, and spenser's and herrick's and milton's priceless volumes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when, looking out of the window, rosy remarked, "there goes john g. johnson." "oh!" said my friend, "i thought you were going to say john dryden. it would not have surprised me in the least." [illustration: dr. a. s. w. rosenbach _photograph by arnold genthe_] don't expect ever to "discover" anything at rosenbach's, except how ignorant you are. rosy does all the discovering himself, as when, a few years ago, he found in a volume of old pamphlets a copy of the first edition of dr. johnson's famous "prologue spoken at the opening of the theatre in drury lane." it will be remembered that this prologue contains several of the doctor's most famous lines: criticisms of the stage, as true to-day as when they were uttered; as where he says,-- the drama's laws, the drama's patrons give, for we that live to please, must please to live. it has also the line in which, speaking of shakespeare, he says, "and panting time toil'd after him in vain." garrick having criticized this line, johnson remarked, "sir, garrick is a prosaical rogue. the next time i write i will make both time and space pant." the discovery by dr. rosenbach of this prologue shows that the days of romance in book-hunting are not over. it is not to be found in the british museum. so far as we know, it is the only copy in existence. rosy has declined to sell it, though tempting offers have been made, for he is a booklover as well as a bookseller. that he is a rare judge of human nature, too, is evidenced by a little card over his desk on which is printed the text,-- "it is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he hath gone his way then he boasteth."--proverbs xx. . that is exactly what i did when i secured from him my "robinson crusoe," the first edition in two volumes, with the third, which may not be defoe's. it lacks one "point" perhaps: the word "apply," the last word on page of the preface, is correctly spelled, not spelled "apyly," as in some copies i have seen. the matter, i believe, is not clear. the type may have been correctly set at first and have become corrupted in process of printing, or a few copies may have been so printed before the error, being noted, was corrected.[ ] after page , of volume , the paper is of thinner and poorer quality than in the pages preceding it. the three volumes are clean, the binding contemporary calf, the folding maps immaculate, and the first two volumes were once the property of "mr. william congreve." altogether it is a book of which this collector "boasteth." for some unexplained reason i have never been able to buy as many books from walter hill of chicago as i should like. he is one of the most amiable and reliable men in the business. his catalogues issued from time to time are delightful. he once put me under an obligation which i have not yet repaid and which i want to record. several years ago i met him in the streets of philadelphia and said to him, "hello! what are you doing here? are you buying or selling?" "both," said he; "i bought some nice books only a few minutes ago at sessler's." "don't tell me," i cried, "that 'oliver twist,' that presentation copy to macready, was among them." "it was," said he; "why, did you want it?" "want it!" said i; "i have just been waiting for my bank account to recover from a capital operation, to buy it." [illustration: title of "robinson crusoe." first edition] "all right," said he, "i'll turn it over at just what i paid for it, and you can send me your check when you are ready." i was mean enough to accept his offer, and the book is to-day worth at least twice what i paid. yet, come to think of it, several nice volumes, "collated and perfect," came from him. there is my "vicar," not the first edition, with the misprints in volume , page , paged ; and page , "waekcfield" for "wakefield,"--that came from north,--but the one with rowlandson plates. and "evelina," _embellished with engravings_, and wretchedly printed on vile paper; and "she stoops to conquer," with all the errors just as they should be--a printer's carnival; and i have no doubt there are many more. sessler has some unexpectedly fine things from time to time. he goes abroad every year with his pocket full of money, and comes back with a lot of things that quickly empty ours. dickens is one of his specialties, and from him i have secured at least five of the twenty-one presentation dickenses that i boast of. a few years ago quite a number came on the market at prices which to-day seem very low. in my last book-hunting experience in london i saw only one presentation dickens; but as the price was about three times what i had accustomed myself to pay sessler, i let it pass. [illustration: title of "oliver twist"] sessler studies his customer's weaknesses--that's where his strength lies. when i came back from europe some years ago, i discovered that he had bought for me, in my absence, at the lambert sale, one item which he knew i could not resist. it was a little pen-and-ink drawing by thackeray, the first sketch, afterwards more fully elaborated, illustrating "vanity fair," where, at the end of the first chapter, the immortal becky, driving away from miss pinkerton's school, throws dr. johnson's "dixonary" out of the window of the carriage as it drives off. i think that all who knew him will agree with me that luther s. livingston was too much of a gentleman, too much of a scholar,--perhaps i should add, too much of an invalid,--to take high rank as a bookseller. his knowledge was profound. he was an appreciative bibliographer, witness the work he did on lamb for mr. j. a. spoor of chicago; but i always felt a trifle embarrassed when i asked him the _price_ of anything he had to sell; one could ask him anything else, but to offer money to livingston seemed rather like offering money to your host after an excellent dinner. [illustration: becky sharp throwing dr. johnson's "dixonary" out of the carriage window, as she leaves miss pinkerton's school _from the first pen-and-ink sketch, by thackeray, afterwards elaborated_] he enjoyed the love and respect of all book-collectors and we all congratulated him when he graduated from the bookshop to the library. for many years in charge of the rare-book department of dodd, mead & company, and subsequently a partner of robert dodd, he was the first custodian of the choice collection of books formed by the late harry elkins widener and bequeathed by the latter's mother to harvard. a more admirable selection could not have been made. a scholar and a gentleman, he brought to that position just the qualities needed for a post of such distinction, but, unhappily, he lived hardly long enough to take possession of it. he died at christmas, , after a long and painful illness. james f. drake, in new york, specializes in association books and in first editions of nineteenth-century authors. his stock i have frequently laid under contribution. my surtees and many other colored-plate books came from him, and first editions innumerable of authors now becoming "collected." i know of no bibliography of george moore, but my set is, i think, complete. many are presentation copies. george moore's many admirers will remember that his volume, "memoirs of my dead life," is much sought in the first english edition. i have the proof sheets of the entire volume, showing many corrections, as in the specimen on page . my "literature at nurse,"--a pamphlet attacking the censorship of the novel established by mudie,--which was published at threepence, and now commands forty dollars, is inscribed to willie wilde; while "pagan poems" was a suitable gift "to oscar wilde with the author's compliments." [illustration: specimen proof-sheet of george moore's "memoirs of my dead life"] there is no halt in the constantly advancing value of first editions of oscar wilde. that interest in the man still continues, is evidenced by the steady stream of books about him. ransome's "oscar wilde," immediately suppressed; "oscar wilde three times tried," and "the first stone," privately printed by the "unspeakable scot," already difficult to procure, are among the latest. [illustration: title of george moore's "pagan poems"] for books of the moment, published in small editions which almost immediately become scarce, drake's shop in fortieth street is headquarters; and as my club in new york is near by, i find myself frequently dropping in for a book and a bit of gossip. there are drawbacks as well as compensations to living in the country. "gossip about book collecting" has its charms, as william loring andrews has taught us. it is sometimes difficult to get it, living as i do "twelve miles from a lemon"; and so, when i am in new york and have absorbed what i can at drake's, who is very exact in the information he imparts, i usually call on gabriel wells. how wells receives you with open arms and a good cigar, in his lofty rooms on the avenue overlooking the library, is known to most collectors. books in sets are,--perhaps i should say, were,--his specialty; recently he has gone in for very choice items, which, when offered, must be secured, or anguish is one's portion thereafter. my last interview with him resulted in my separating myself from a bunch of liberty bonds, which i had intended as a solace for my old age; but a few words from wells convinced me that dr. johnson was right when he said, "it is better to live rich than die rich"; and so i walked away with a copy of blake's "marriage of heaven and hell," which is about as rare a book as one can hope to find at the end of a busy day. it was, if i remember correctly, ernest dressel north who first aroused my interest in lamb, bibliographically. i had learned to love him in a dumpy little green cloth volume, "elia and eliana," published by moxon, which i had picked up at leary's, and which bears upon its title-page the glaring inaccuracy,--"the only complete edition." i have this worthless little volume among my first editions; to me it is one, and it is certainly the last volume of lamb i would part with. it must be all of thirty years ago that i went to london with a list of books by and about charles lamb--some twenty volumes in all--which north had prepared for me. i came across this list not long ago, and was amused at the prices that he suggested i might safely pay. guineas where his list gives shillings would not to-day separate the books from their owners. [illustration: title of blake's "marriage of heaven and hell"] it was at this time, too, that i made my first lamb pilgrimage, going to every place of interest i could find, from christ's hospital, then in newgate street, where i saw the blue-coat boys at dinner, to the neglected grave in edmonton churchyard, where charles and mary lamb lie buried side by side. the illustration facing page is made from a negative i procured in , of the house at enfield in which lamb lived from october, , until may, . a good story is told of my friend, edmund d. brooks, the bookseller of far-off minneapolis. brooks, who knows his way about london and is as much at home with the talent there as any other man, set out one day to make a "quick turn," in stock-market parlance. armed with a large sum of money, the sinews of book-buying as well as of war, he casually dropped in on walter spencer, who was offering for sale the manuscript of dickens's "cricket." the price was known to be pretty steep, but brooks was prepared to pay it. what he did not know was that, in an upper room over spencer's shop, another bookseller, also with a large sum in pocket, was debating the price of this very item, raising his offer by slow degrees. but it did not take brooks long to discover that negotiations were progressing and that quick action was necessary. calling spencer aside, he inquired the price, paid the money, and took the invaluable manuscript away in a taxi. the whole transaction had occupied only a couple of minutes. spencer then returned to his first customer, who continued the attack until, to close the argument, spencer quietly remarked that the manuscript had been sold, paid for, and had passed out of his possession. it reminds one of the story of how the late a. j. cassatt, the master mind of the railroad presidents of his time, bought the philadelphia, wilmington & baltimore railway right under the nose of president garrett of the baltimore & ohio. there were loud cries of anguish from the defeated parties on both occasions, but the book-selling story is not over yet, for a few hours later sabin, the bookseller _de luxe_, had the dickens manuscript displayed in his shop-window in bond street, and brooks had a sheaf of crisp bank of england notes in his pocket, with which to advance negotiations in other directions. i take little or no interest in bindings; i want the book as originally published, in boards uncut, in old sheep, or in cloth, and as clean and fair as may be. i am not without a sense for color, and the backs of books bound in various colored leathers, suitably gilt, placed with some eye for arrangement on the shelves, are to me as beautiful and suggestive as any picture; yet, as one cannot have everything, i yield the beauty and fragrance of leather for the fascination of the "original state as issued." [illustration: charles lamb's house at enfield] nor am i unmindful how invariably in binding a book, in trimming, be it ever so little, and gilding its edges, one lops off no small part of its value. this fact should be pointed out to all young collectors. they should learn to let their books alone, and if they must patronize a binder, have slip-cases or pull-cases made. they serve every purpose. the book will be protected if it is falling apart and unpresentable, and one's craving for color and gilt will be satisfied. as eckel says in his "bibliography of dickens," "the tendency of the modern collector has steadily moved toward books in their original state,--books as they were when created,--and it is doubtful if there will be much deviation from this taste in the future." only the very immature book-buyer will deprive himself of the pleasure of "collecting," and buy a complete set of some author he much esteems, in first editions, assembled and bound without care or thought other than to produce a piece of merchandise and sell it for as much as it will fetch. the rich and ignorant buyer should be made to confine his attention to the purchase of "subscription" books. these are produced in quantity especially for his benefit, and he should leave our books alone. the present combination of many rich men and relatively few fine books is slowly working my ruin; i know it is. we live in a law-full age, an age in which it seems to be every one's idea to pass laws. i would have a law for the protection of old books, and our legislators in washington might do much worse than consider this suggestion. [illustration: inscription in a copy of "the nigger of the 'narcissus'"] one other form of book the collector should be warned against--the extra-illustrated volume. the extra-illustration of a favorite author is a tedious and expensive method of wasting money, and mutilating other books the while. i confess to having a few, but i have bought them at a very small part of what they cost to produce, and i do not encourage their production. i know something of the art of inlaying prints. i had a distinguished and venerable teacher, the late ferdinand j. dreer of philadelphia, who formed a priceless collection of autographs, which at his death he bequeathed to the historical society of pennsylvania. mr. dreer was a collector of the old school. he was a friend of john allan, one of the earliest book-collectors in this country, of whom a "memorial" was published by the bradford club in . mr. dreer spent the leisure of years and a small fortune in inlaying plates and pages of text of such books as he fancied. i remember well as a lad being allowed to pore over his sumptuous extra-illustrated books, filled with autograph letters, portraits, and views, for hours at a time. little did i think that these volumes, the object of such loving care, would be sold at auction. many years after his death the family decided to dispose of a portion of his library. stan. henkels conducted the sale. when the well-known volumes came up, i was all in a tremble. it seemed hardly possible that any of the famous dreer books were to come within my grasp. but alas! fashions change, as i have said before. a "history of the bank of north america," our oldest national bank, which enjoys the unique distinction of not calling itself a national bank, went, not to an officer or director of that sound old philadelphia institution, but to george d. smith of new york, for a song--in a high key, but a song nevertheless. an "oration in carpenter's hall" in philadelphia brought close to a thousand dollars; but, in addition to the rare portraits and views, there were fifty-seven autograph letters in it. sold separately, they would have brought several times as much. smith was the buyer. then there came a "history of christ church," full of most interesting material, as "old christ church" is the most beautiful and interesting colonial church in america. where was the rector, where were the wardens and the vestry thereof? no sign of them. smith was the buyer. the books were going and for almost nothing, in every case to "smith." at last came the "memoirs of nicholas biddle," of the famous old bank of the united states. hear! ye biddles, if any biddles there be. there are, in plenty, but not here. smith, having bought all the rest, stopped when he saw me bidding; the hammer fell, and i was the owner of the most interesting volume in the whole dreer collection,--the volume i had so often coveted as a boy, with the letters and portraits of penn, franklin, adams, jefferson, madison, marshall, and so forth,--in all twenty-eight of them, and mine for ten dollars apiece, book, portraits, and binding thrown in. it is painful to witness the slaughter of another's possessions; it makes one wonder--but that is not what we collect books for. in the last analysis pretty much everything, including poetry, is merchandise, and every important book sooner or later turns up in the auction rooms. the dozen or fifty men present represent the bookbuyers of the world--you are buying against them. when you sell a book at auction the whole world is your market. this refers, of course, only to important sales. at other times books are frequently disposed of at much less than their real value. these sales it pays the book-collector to attend, personally, if he can; or, better still, to entrust his bid to the auctioneer or to some representative in whom he has confidence. most profitable of all for the buyer are the sales where furniture, pictures, and rugs are disposed of, with, finally, a few books knocked down by one who knows nothing of their value. many are the volumes in my library which have been picked up on such occasions for a very few dollars, and which are worth infinitely more than i paid for them. i have in mind my copy of the first edition of boswell's "corsica," in fine old calf, with the inscription "to the right honourable, the earl marischal of scotland, as a mark of sincere regard and affection, from the author, james boswell." this stands me only a few dollars. in london i should have been asked--and would have paid--twenty pounds for it. some men haunt the auction rooms all the time. i do not. i have a living to make and i am not quick in making it; moreover, the spirit of competition invariably leads me astray, and i never come away without finding myself the owner of at least one book, usually a large one, which should properly be entitled, "what will he do with it?" * * * * * no book-collector should be without a book-plate, and a book-plate once inserted in a volume should never be removed. when the plate is that of a good collector, it constitutes an indorsement, and adds a certain interest and value to the volume. i was once going through the collection of a friend, and observing the absence of a book-plate, i asked him why it was. he replied, "the selection of a book-plate is such a serious matter." it is; and i should never have been able to get one to suit me entirely had not my good friend, osgood of princeton, come to my rescue. [illustration: the book-plate illustrates an incident described in boswell. johnson and goldsmith were walking one day in the poets' corner of westminster abbey. looking at the graves, johnson solemnly repeated a line from a latin poet, which might be freely translated, "perchance some day our _names_ will mingle with these." as they strolled home through the strand, goldsmith's eye lighted upon the heads of two traitors rotting on the spikes over temple bar. remembering that johnson and he were rather jacobitic in sentiment, pointing to the heads and giving johnson's quotation a twist, goldsmith remarked, "perhaps some day our _heads_ will mingle with those."] he was working in my library some years ago on an exquisite appreciation of johnson, when, noticing on my writing-table a pen-and-ink sketch, he asked, "what's this?" i replied with a sigh that it was a suggestion for a book-plate which i had just received from london. i had described in a letter exactly what i wanted--an association plate strictly in eighteenth-century style. fleet street was to be indicated, with temple bar in the background. it was to be plain and dignified in treatment. what came was indeed a sketch of fleet street and very much more. there were scrolls and flourishes, eggs and darts and _fleurs-de-lis_--a little of everything. in a word it was impossible. "let me see what i can do," said osgood. when i returned home that evening there was waiting for me an exquisite pencil sketch, every detail faultless: fleet street with its tavern signs, in the background temple bar with johnson and goldsmith, the latter pointing to it and remarking slyly, "_forsitan et nomen nostrum miscebitur istis_." i was delighted, as i had reason to be. in due course, after discussions as to the selection of a suitable motto, we finally agreed on a line out of boswell: "sir, the biographical part of literature is what i love most"; and the sketch went off to sidney smith of boston, the distinguished book-plate engraver. i have a fondness for college professors. i must have inherited it from a rich old uncle, from whom i unluckily inherited nothing else, who had a similar weakness for preachers. let a man, however stupid, once get a license to wear his collar backwards, and the door was flung wide and the table spread. i have often thought what an ecstasy of delight he would have been thrown into had he met a churchman whose rank permitted him to wear his entire ecclesiastical panoply backwards. my weakness for scholars is just such a whimsy. as a rule they are not so indulgent to collectors as they should be. they write books that we buy and read--when we can. my lifelong friend, felix schelling (in england he would be sir felix) is more lenient than most. my copy of his "elizabethan drama," which has made him famous among students, is uncut and, i am afraid, to some extent unopened. frankly, it is too scholarly to read with enjoyment. indeed, i sometimes think that it was my protest that led him to adopt the easier and smoother style apparent in his later books, "english literature during the lifetime of shakespeare," and "the english lyric." be this as it may, he has shown that he can use the scholarly and the familiar style with equal facility; and when he chooses, he can turn a compliment like one of his own sixteenth-century courtiers. i had always doubted that famous book-index story, "mill, j. s., 'on liberty'; ditto, 'on the floss,'" until one day my friend tinker sent me a dedication copy of his "dr. johnson and fanny burney," in which i read--and knew that he was poking fun at me for my bookish weakness--this:-- this copy is a genuine specimen of the first edition, uncut and unopened, signed and certified by the editor. chauncey brewster tinker. no copy is now known to exist of the suppressed first state of the first edition--that in which, instead of the present entry in the index, under pope, alexander, page , occurred the words, "pope alexander ." how much more valuable this copy would have been if this blunder--"point," the judicious would call it--had not been corrected until the second edition! the work of my office was interrupted one summer morning several years ago by the receipt of a cable from london, apparently in code, which, i was advised, would not translate. upon its being submitted to me i found that it did not require translating, but i was not surprised that it was somewhat bewildering to others. it read, "_johnson piazza dictionary pounds forty hut_." to me it was perfectly clear that mrs. thrale-piozzi's copy of johnson's dictionary in two volumes folio was to be had from my friend hutt for forty pounds. i dispatched the money and in due course received the volumes. inserted in one of them was a long holograph letter to the thrales, giving them some excellent advice on the management of their affairs. i think it very probably in your power to lay up eight thousand pounds a year for every year to come, increasing all the time, what needs not be increased, the splendour of all external appearance, and surely such a state is not to be put in yearly hazard for the pleasure of keeping the house full, or the ambition of outbrewing whitbread. stop now and you are safe--stop a few years and you may go safely on thereafter, if to go on shall seem worth the while. johnson's letters, like his talks, are compact with wisdom, and many of them are as easy as the proverbial old shoe. fancy sam johnson, the great lexicographer, writing to mrs. thrale and telling her to come home and take care of him and, as he says, to come with a whoop, come with a call, come with a good will, or come not at all. i own thirty or forty johnson letters, including the one in which he describes what she called his "menagerie"--dependents too old, too poor, or too peevish to find asylum elsewhere. he writes, "we have tolerable concord at home, but no love. williams hates everybody. levet hates desmoulines, and does not love williams. desmoulines hates them both. poll loves none of them." but i must be careful. i had firmly resolved not to say anything which would lead any one to suspect that i am johnson-mad, but i admit that such is the case. i am never without a copy of boswell. what edition? any edition. i have them all--the first in boards uncut, for my personal satisfaction; an extra-illustrated copy of the same, for display; birkbeck hill's, for reference, and the cheap old bohn copy which thirty years ago i first read, because i know it by heart. yes, i can truly say with leslie stephen, "my enjoyment of books began and will end with boswell's 'life of johnson.'" +-----------------------------------------------+ | "thou fool! to seek companions in a crowd! | | into thy room and there upon thy knees, | | before thy bookshelves, humbly thank thy god, | | that thou hast friends like these!" | +-----------------------------------------------+ iii old catalogues and new prices the true book-lover is usually loath to destroy an old book-catalogue. it would not be easy to give a reason for this, unless it is that no sooner has he done so than he has occasion to refer to it. such catalogues reach me by almost every mail, and i while away many hours in turning over their leaves. anatole france in his charming story, "the crime of sylvestre bonnard," makes his dear old book-collector say, "there is no reading more easy, more fascinating, and more delightful than that of a catalogue"; and it is so, for the most part; but some catalogues annoy me exceedingly: those which contain long lists of books that are not books; genealogies; county (and especially town) histories, illustrated with portraits; obsolete medical and scientific books; books on agriculture and diseases of the horse. how it is that any one can make a living by vending such merchandise is beyond me--but so are most things. living, however, in the country, and going to town every day, i spend much time on the trains, and must have something to read besides newspapers,--who was it who said that reading newspapers is a nervous habit?--and it is not always convenient to carry a book; so i usually have a few catalogues which i mark industriously, thus presenting a fine imitation of a busy man. one check means a book that i own, and i note with interest the prices; another, a book that i would like to have; while yet another indicates a book to which under no circumstances would i give a place on my shelves. when my library calls for a ridding up, these slim pamphlets are not discarded as they should be, but are stored in a closet, to be referred to when needed, until at last something must be done to make room for those that came to-day and those that will come to-morrow. on one of these occasional house-clearings i came across a bundle of old catalogues which i have never had it in me to destroy. one of them was published in , by a man i knew well years ago, charles hutt, of clement's inn gateway, strand. hutt himself has long since passed away; so has his shop, the gateway; and, indeed, the strand itself--his part of it, that is. i sometimes think that the best part of old london has disappeared. need i say that i refer to holywell street and the clare market district which lay between the strand and lincoln's inn fields, which dickens knew and described so well? hutt in his day was a man of considerable importance. he was the first london bookseller to realize the direction and value of the american market. had he lived, my friends sabin and spencer and maggs would have had a serious rival. all the old catalogues before me are alike in one important respect, namely, the uniformly low prices. from the standpoint of to-day the prices were absurdly low--or are those of to-day absurdly high? i, for one, do not think so. when a man puts pen to paper on the subject of the prices of rare books, he feels--at least i feel--that it is a silly thing to do,--and yet we collectors have been doing it always, or almost always,--to point out that prices have about reached top notch, and that the wise man will wait for the inevitable decline before he separates himself from his money. now, it is my belief that books, in spite of the high prices that they are bringing in the shops and at auction, have only just begun their advance, and that there is no limit to the prices they will bring as time goes on. the only way to guess the future is to study the past; and such study as i have been able to make leads me to believe that for the really great books the sky is the limit. "the really great books!" what are they, and where are they? i am not sure that i know; they do not often come my way, nor, when they do, am i in a position to compete for them; but as i can be perfectly happy without an ocean-going yacht, contenting myself with a motor-boat, so can i make shift to get along without a gutenberg bible, without a first folio of shakespeare, or any of the quartos, in short, _sans_ any of those books which no millionaire's library can be without. but this i will say, that if i could afford to buy them, i would pay any price for the privilege of owning them. a man may be possessed of relatively small means and yet indulge himself in all the joys of collecting, if he will deny himself other things not so important to his happiness. it is a problem in selection, as elia points out in his essay "old china," when a weighing for and against and a wearing of old clothes is recommended by his sister bridget, if the twelve or sixteen shillings saved is to enable one to bring home in triumph an old folio. as a book-collector, lamb would not take high rank; but he was a true book-lover, and the books he liked to read he liked to buy. and just here i may be permitted to record how i came across a little poem, in the manuscript of the author, which exactly voices his sentiments--and mine. i was visiting princeton not long ago, that beautiful little city, with its lovely halls and towers; and interested in libraries as i always am, had secured permission to browse at will among the collections formed by the late laurence hutton. after an inspection of his "portraits in plaster,"--a collection of death-masks, unique in this country or elsewhere,--i turned my attention to his association books. it is a difficult lot to classify, and not of overwhelming interest; not to be compared with the richard waln meirs collection of cruikshank, which has just been bequeathed to the library; but nothing which is a book is entirely alien to me, and the hutton books, with their inscriptions from their authors, testifying to their regard for him and to his love of books, are well worth examination. i had opened many volumes at random, and finally chanced upon brander matthews's "ballads of books," a little anthology of bookish poems, for many years a favorite of mine. turning to the inscription, i found--what i found; but what interested me particularly was a letter from an english admirer, one thomas hutchinson, inclosing some verses, of which i made a copy without the permission of any one. i did not ask the librarian, for he might have referred the question to the trustees, or something; but i did turn to a speaking likeness of "larry" that hung right over the bookcase and seemed to say, "why, sure, fellow book-lover; pass on the torch, print anything you please." and these are the verses:-- ballade of a poor book-lover i though in its stern vagaries fate a poor book-lover me decreed, perchance mine is a happy state-- the books i buy i like to read: to me dear friends they are indeed, but, howe'er enviously i sigh, of others take i little heed-- the books i read i like to buy. ii my depth of purse is not so great nor yet my bibliophilic greed, that merely buying doth elate: the books i buy i like to read: still e'en when dawdling in a mead, beneath a cloudless summer sky, by bank of thames, or tyne, or tweed, the books i read--i like to buy. iii some books tho' tooled in style ornate, yet worms upon their contents feed, some men about their bindings prate-- the books i buy i like to read: yet some day may my fancy breed my ruin--it may now be nigh-- they reap, we know, who sow the seed: the books i read i like to buy. envoy tho' frequently to stall i speed, the books i buy i like to read; yet wealth to me will never hie-- the books i read i like to buy. two things there are which go to make the price of a book--first the book itself, its scarcity, together with the urgency of the demand for it (a book may be unique and yet practically valueless, because of the fact that no one much cares to have it); and second, the plentifulness of money, or the ease with which its owner may have acquired his fortune. no one will suppose that, at the famous auction in london something over a hundred years ago, when earl spencer bid two thousand, two hundred and fifty pounds for the famous boccaccio, and the marquis of blandford added, imperturbedly, "ten," and secured the prize--no one will suppose that either of the gentlemen had a scanty rent-roll. in england, the days of the great private libraries are over. for generations, indeed for centuries, the english have had the leisure, the inclination, and the means to gratify their taste. they once searched the continent for books and works of art, very much as we now go to england for them. they formed their libraries when books were plentiful and prices low. moreover, there were fewer collectors than there are to-day. we are paying big prices,--the english never sell except at a profit,--but, all things considered, we are not paying more for the books than they are worth. there are probably now in england as many collectors as there ever were, but nevertheless the books are coming to this country; and while we may never be able to rival the treasures of the british museum and the bodleian, outside the great public libraries the important collections are now in this country, and will remain here. and i am not sure how much longer the london dealers are going to retain their preëminence. we hear of new york becoming the centre of the financial world. it will in time become the centre of the bookselling world as well, the best market in which to buy and in which to sell. with the possible exception of quaritch, george d. smith has probably sold as many rare books as any man in the world; while dr. rosenbach, on the second floor of his shop in philadelphia, has a stock of rare books unequaled by any other dealer in this country. ask any expert where the great books are, and you will be told, if you do not know already, of the wonders of mr. morgan's collections; of how mr. huntington has bought one library after another until he has practically everything obtainable; of mr. william k. bixby's manuscripts, of mr. white's collection of the elizabethans, and of mr. folger's shakespeares. there are as many tastes as there are collectors. caxtons and incunabula of any sort are highly regarded; even the possession of a set of the shakespeare folios makes a man a marked man, in spite of the fact that henrietta bartlett says they are not rare; but then, miss bartlett has been browsing on books rarer still, namely, the first quartos, of which there are of "hamlet" two copies only, one in this country with a title-page, but lacking the last leaf, while the other copy, in the british museum, has the last leaf but lacks the title-page; and "venus and adonis," of the first eight editions of which only thirteen copies are known to exist. all of these are as yet in england, except one copy of the second edition, which is owned by the elizabethan club of yale university. of "titus andronicus" there is only one copy of the first printing, this in the library of h. c. folger of new york. surely no one will dispute miss bartlett's statement that the quartos are rare indeed. [illustration: henry e. huntington of new york a few years ago he conceived the idea of forming the greatest private library in the world. with the help of "g. d. s." and assisted by a staff of able librarians, he has accomplished what he set out to do.] but why continue? enough has been said: the point i want to make is that fifty years from now someone will be regretting that he was not present when a faultless first folio could have been had for the trifling sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, at which figure a dealer is now offering one. or, glancing over a copy of "book prices current" for , bewail the time when presentation copies of dickens could have been had for the trifling sum of a thousand dollars. hush! i feel the spirit of prophecy upon me. i sat with harry widener at anderson's auction rooms a few years ago, on the evening when george d. smith, acting for mr. huntington, paid fifty thousand dollars for a copy of the gutenberg bible. no book had ever sold for so great a price, yet i feel sure that mr. huntington secured a bargain, and i told him so; but for the average collector such great books as these are mere names, as far above the ordinary man as the moon; and the wise among us never cry for them; we content ourselves with--something else. in collecting, as in everything else, experience is the best teacher. before we can gain our footing we must make our mistakes and have them pointed out to us, or, by reading, discover them for ourselves. i have a confession to make. forty years ago i thought that i had the makings of a numismatist in me, and was for a time diligent in collecting coins. in order that they might be readily fastened to a panel covered with velvet, i pierced each one with a small hole, and was much chagrined when i was told that i had absolutely ruined the lot, which was worth, perhaps, ten dollars. this was not a high price to pay for the discovery i then made and noted, that it is the height of wisdom to leave alone anything of value which may come my way; to repair, inlay, insert, mount, frame, or bind as little as possible. this is not to suggest that my library is entirely devoid of books in bindings. a few specimens of the good binders i have, but what i value most is a sound bit of straight-grained crimson morocco covering the "poems of mr. gray" with one of the finest examples of fore-edge painting i have ever seen, representing stoke poges church yard, the scene of the immortal "elegy." i was much pleased when i discovered that this binding bore the stamp of taylor & hessey, a name i had always associated with first editions of charles lamb. how many people have clipped signatures from old letters and documents, under the mistaken notion that they were collecting autographs. i happen to own the receipt for the copyright of the "essays of elia." it was signed by lamb twice, originally; one signature has been cut away. it is a precious possession as it is, but i could wish that the "collector" in whose hands it once was had not removed one signature for his "scrapbook"--properly so called. nor is the race yet dead of those who, indulging a vicious taste for subscription books, think that they are forming a library. my coins i have kept as an ever-present reminder of the mistake of my early days. luckily i escaped the subscription-book stage. [illustration: stoke poges church a fine example of fore-edge painting] what we collect depends as well upon our taste as upon our means, for, given zeal and intelligence, it is surprising how soon one acquires a collection of--whatever it may be--which becomes a source of relaxation and instruction; and after a little one becomes, if not exactly expert, at least wise enough to escape obvious pitfalls. when experience directs our efforts the chief danger is past. but how much there is to know! i never leave the company of a man like dr. rosenbach, or a. j. bowden, or the late luther livingston, without feeling a sense of hopelessness coming over me. what wonderful memories these men have! how many minute "points" about books they must have indexed, so to speak, in their minds! and there are collectors whose knowledge is equally bewildering. mr. white, or beverly chew, for example; and harry widener, who, had he lived, would have set a new and, i fear, hopeless standard for us. not knowing much myself, i have found it wise not to try to beat the expert; it is like trying to beat wall street--it cannot be done. how can an outsider with the corner of his mind compete with one who is playing the game ever and always? the answer is simple--he can't; and he will do well not to try. it is better to confess ignorance and rely upon the word of a reliable dealer, than to endeavor to put one over on him. this method may enable a novice to buy a good horse, although such has not been my experience. i think it was trollope who remarked that not even a bishop could sell a horse without forgetting that he was a bishop. i think i would rather trust a bookseller than a bishop. and speaking of booksellers, they should be regarded as hamlet did his players, as the abstract and brief chronicles of the time; and it would be well to remember that their ill report of you while you live is much worse than a bad epitaph after you are dead. their stock in trade consists, not only in the books they have for sale, but in their knowledge. this may be at your disposal, if you use them after your own honor and dignity; but to live, they must sell books at a profit, and the delightful talk about books which you so much enjoy must, at least occasionally, result in a sale. go to them for information as a possible customer, and you will find them, as dr. johnson said, generous and liberal-minded men; but use them solely as walking encyclopædias, and you may come to grief. i have on the shelves over yonder a set of foxe's "martyrs" in three ponderous volumes, which i seldom have occasion to refer to; but in one volume is pasted a clipping from an old newspaper, telling a story of the elder quaritch. a young lady once entered his shop in piccadilly and requested to see the great man. she wanted to know all that is to be known of this once famous book, all about editions and prices and "points," of which there are many. finally, after he had answered questions readily enough for some time, the old man became wise, and remarked, "now, my dear, if you want to know anything else about this book, my fee will be five guineas." the transaction was at an end. had quaritch been a lawyer and the young lady a stranger, her first question would have resulted in a request for a retainer. but i am a long time in coming to my old catalogues. let me take one at random, and opening it at the first page, pick out the first item which meets my eye. here it is:-- alken, henry--analysis of the hunting field. woodcuts and colored illustrations. first edition, royal vo. original cloth, uncut. ackerman, . £ . it was the last work but one of a man who is now "collected" by many who, like myself, would as soon think of riding a zebra as a hunter. my copy cost me $ , while my "life of mytton," third edition, i regarded as a bargain at $ . had i been wise enough to buy it five and thirty years ago, i would have paid about as many shillings for it. with sporting books in mind it is quite natural to turn to surtees. his "jorrocks' jaunts and jollities" is missing from this catalogue, but here are a lot of them. "mr. sponge's sporting tour" in full levant morocco, extra, by tout, for three guineas, and "ask mamma" in cloth, uncut, for £ _s._ "handley cross" is priced at fifty shillings, and "facey romford's hounds" at two pounds--all first editions, mind you, and for the most part just as you want them, in the original cloth, uncut. my advice would be to forget these prices of yesteryear, and if you want a set of the best sporting novels ever written (i know a charming woman who has read every one of them) go at once to them that sell. but while we are thinking of colored-plate books, let us see what it would have cost us to secure a copy of À beckett's "comic history of rome." here it is, "complete in numbers as originally published," four guineas; while a "comic history of england," two volumes, bound by riviere from the original parts, in full red levant morocco, extra, cost five guineas. i have tried to read these histories--it cannot be done. it is like reading the not very funny book of an old-time comic opera (always excepting gilbert's), which depended for its success on the music and the acting--as these books depend on their illustrations by leech. it is on account of the humor of their wonderfully caricatured portraits of historic personages, in anachronistic surroundings, that these books live and deserve to live. what could be better than the landing of julius cæsar on the shores of albion, from the deck of a channel steamer of leech's own time? did you observe that the "history of rome" was bound up from the original parts? this, according to modern notions, is a mistake. parts should be left alone--severely alone, i should say. i have no love for books "in parts," and as this is admitted heresy, i should perhaps explain. as is well known, some of the most desired of modern books, "pickwick" and "vanity fair" for example, were so published, and particulars as to one will indicate the reason for my prejudice against all books "in parts." in april, , in new york, the coggeshall dickens collection was dispersed, and a copy of "pickwick" in parts was advertised, no doubt correctly, as the most nearly perfect copy ever offered at a public sale. two full pages of the catalogue were taken up in a painstaking description of the birthmarks of this famous book. it was, like most of the other great novels, brought out "twenty parts in nineteen,"--that is, the last number was a double number,--and with a page of the original manuscript, it brought $ . when a novel published less than a century ago brings such a price, it must be of extraordinary interest and rarity. was the price high? decidedly not! there are said to be not ten such copies in existence. it was in superb condition, and manuscript pages of "pickwick" do not grow on trees. all the details which go to make up a perfect set can be found in eckel's "first editions of charles dickens." briefly, in order to take high rank it is necessary that each part should be clean and perfect and should have the correct imprint and date; it should have the proper number of illustrations by the right artist; and these plates must be original and not reëtched, and almost every plate has certain peculiarities which will mislead the unwary. but this is not all. each part carried certain announcements and advertisements. these must be carefully looked to, for they are of the utmost value in determining whether it be an early or a later issue of the first edition. an advertisement of "rowland and son's toilet preparations" where "simpson's pills" should be, might lead to painful discussion. but it is difficult to say whether the possession of a copy of "pickwick" like the coggeshall copy is an asset or a liability. it must be handled with gloves; the pea-green paper wrappers are very tender, and not everyone who insists on seeing your treasures knows how to treat such a pamphlet; and, horror of horrors! a "part" might get stacked up with a pile of "outlooks" on the library table, or get mislaid altogether. so on the whole i am inclined to leave such books to those whose knowledge of bibliography is more exact than mine, and who would not regard the loss of a "part" as an irretrievable disaster. my preference is to get, when i can, books bound in cloth or boards "as issued." they are sufficiently expensive and can be handled with greater freedom. my library is, in a sense, a circulating library: my books move around with me, and a bound book, in some measure at least, takes care of itself. having said all of which, i looked upon that coggeshall "pickwick," and lusted after it. there is, however, an even greater copy awaiting a purchaser at rosenbach's. it is a presentation copy in parts, the only one known to exist. each of the first fourteen parts has dickens's autograph inscription, "mary hogarth from hers most affectionately," variously signed--in full, "charles dickens," with initials, or "the editor." after the publication of the fourteenth part miss hogarth, his sister-in-law, a young girl in her eighteenth year, died suddenly, and the shock of her death was so great that dickens was obliged to discontinue work upon "pickwick" for two months. no doubt this is the finest "pickwick" in the world. it has all the "points" and to spare--and the price, well, only a very rich or a very wise man could buy it. [illustration: "blake being unable to find a publisher for his songs, mrs. blake went out with half a crown, all the money they had in the world, and of that laid out s. d. on the simple materials necessary for setting in practice the new revelation. upon that investment of s. d. he started what was to prove a principal means of support through his future life.... the poet and his wife did everything in making the book,--writing, designing, printing, engraving, everything except manufacturing the paper. the very ink, or color rather, they did make."--gilchrist.] but to return to my catalogue. here is pierce egan's "boxiana," five volumes, vo, as clean as new, in the original boards, uncut,--that's my style,--and the price, twelve pounds; three hundred and fifty dollars would be a fair price to-day. and here is the "anecdotes of the life and transactions of mrs. margaret rudd," a notorious woman who just escaped hanging for forgery, of whom dr. johnson once said that he would have gone to see her, but that he was prevented from such a frolic by his fear that it would get into the newspapers. i have been looking for it in vain for years; here it is, in new calf, price nine shillings, and sterne's "sentimental journey," first edition, in contemporary calf, for thirty. let us turn to poetry. arnold, matthew, not interesting; nothing, it chances, by blake; his "poetical sketches," , has always been excessively rare, only a dozen or so copies are known, and "songs of innocence and of experience," while not so scarce, is much more desired. this lovely book was originally "songs of innocence" only; "experience" came later, as it always does. of all the books i know, this is the most interesting. it is in very deed "w. blake, his book," the author being as well the designer, engraver, printer, and illuminator of it. to attempt in a paragraph any bibliographical account of the "songs" is as impossible as to give the genealogy of a fairy. in the ordinary sense the book was never published. blake sold it to such of his friends as would buy, at prices ranging from thirty shillings to two guineas. later, to help him over a difficulty (and his life was full of difficulties), they paid him perhaps as much as twenty pounds and in return got a copy glowing with colors and gold. hence no two copies are exactly alike. it is one of the few books of which a man fortunate enough to own any copy may say, "i like mine best." the price to-day for an average copy is about two thousand dollars. i can see clearly now that in order to be up to date there must be a new edition of this book every minute. i had just suggested $ as the probable price of the "songs" when a priced copy of the linnell catalogue of his blake collection reached me. this, the last and greatest blake collection in england, was sold at auction on march , , and accustomed as i am to high prices i was bewildered as i turned its pages. there were two copies of the "songs"; each brought £ . the "poetical sketches" was conspicuous by its absence, while the "marriage of heaven and hell" was knocked down for £ . the drawings for dante's "divina commedia," sixty-eight in all, brought the amazing price of £ . and these prices will be materially advanced before the booksellers are done with them, as we shall see when their catalogues arrive. we come back to earth with a thud after this lofty flight, in the course of which we seem to have been seeing visions and dreaming dreams, much as blake himself did. [illustration: "a leaf from an unopened volume" an unpublished manuscript in the autograph of charlotte brontë, written in microscopical characters on sixteen pages measuring - / by - / inches; in a wrapper of druggist's blue paper] continuing to "beat the track of the alphabet," we reach brontë and note that now scarce item, "poems by currer, ellis and acton bell," the genuine first edition printed by hasler in , for aylott & jones, before the title-page bore the smith-elder imprint; price two pounds five. walter hill's last catalogue has a smith-elder copy at $ . , but the right imprint now makes a difference of several hundred dollars. about a year ago edmund d. brooks, of minneapolis, was offering charlotte brontë's own copy of the book, with the aylott and jones imprint, with some manuscript notes which made it especially interesting to brontë collectors, the most important of whom, by the way, is my lifelong friend, h. h. bonnell of philadelphia, whose unrivaled brontë collection is not unworthy of an honored place in the brontë museum at haworth. i called his attention to it, but he already had a presentation copy to ebenezer elliott, the corn-law rhymer. burns: the first edinburgh edition, for a song; no kilmarnock edition--that fine old item which every collector wants has always been excessively scarce; and in this connection let me disinter a good story of how one collector secured a copy. the story is told of john allan, from whom, as a collector, i am descended by the process of clasping hands. my old friend, ferdinand dreer, for more than sixty years a distinguished collector in philadelphia, was an intimate friend of allan's, and passed on to me the collecting legends he had received from him. allan was an old scotchman, living in new york when the story begins, who by his industry had acquired a small fortune, much of which he spent in the purchase of books. he collected the books of his period and extra-illustrated them. lives of mary queen of scots, and byron; dibdin, of course, and americana; but burns was his ruling passion. he had the first edinburgh edition, and longed for the kilmarnock--as who does not? he had a standing order for a copy up to seven guineas, which in those days was considered a fair price, and finally one was reported to him from london at eight. he ordered it out, but it was sold before his letter arrived, and he was greatly disappointed. some time afterward a friend from the old country visited him, and as he was sailing, asked if he could do anything for him at home. "yes," said allan, "get me, if you possibly can, the kilmarnock edition of burns." his friend was instructed as to its scarcity and the price he might have to pay for it. on his return his friend, engaged as usual in his affairs, discovered that one of his workmen was drunk. in those days it was not considered good form to get drunk except on saturday night. how could he get drunk in the middle of the week? where did he get the money? the answer was that by pawning some books ten shillings had been raised. "and what books had you?" "oh, burns and some others; every scotchman has a copy of burns." then, suddenly remembering his old friend in new york, he asked, "what sort of a copy was it?" "the old kilmarnock," was the reply. not to make the story too long, the pawn-ticket was secured for a guinea, the books redeemed, and the kilmarnock burns passed into allan's possession. [illustration: title of the kilmarnock edition of burns's poems] after his death his books were sold at auction ( ). this was during our civil war, and several times the sale was suspended owing to the noise of a passing regiment in the street. notwithstanding that times were not propitious for book-sales, his friends were astonished at the prices realized: the burns fetched $ . it was probably a poor copy. a generation or two ago not as much care was paid to condition as now. very few uncut copies are known. one is owned by a man as shouldn't. another is in the burns museum in ayrshire, which cost the museum trustees a thousand pounds; the canfield, which was purchased by harry widener for six thousand dollars, and the van antwerp copy, which, at the sale of his collection in london in , brought seven hundred pounds; but much bibliographical water has gone over the dam since , and for some reason the van antwerp books, with the exception of one or two items, did not bring as good prices as they should have done. they were sold at an unfortunate moment and perhaps at the wrong place. in walter hill's current catalogue there is a kilmarnock burns, in an old binding, which looks very cheap to me at $ . at the allan sale an eliot bible brought the then enormous sum of $ . supposing an eliot bible were obtainable to-day, it would bring, no doubt, five thousand dollars, perhaps more. this is a long digression. there are other desired volumes besides burns. here is a "paradise lost," perhaps not so fine a copy as sabin is now offering for four hundred pounds; but the price is only thirty pounds; and this reminds me that in beverly chew's copy, an exceptionally fine one, as all the books of that fastidious collector are, there is an interesting note made by a former owner to this effect: "this is the first edition of this book and has the first title-page. it is worth nearly ten pounds and is rising in value. ." alphabetically speaking, it is only a step from milton to moore, george. here is his "flowers of passion," for which i paid fifteen dollars ten or more years ago--priced at half a crown. but let us take up another catalogue, one which issued from the world-famous shop in piccadilly, quaritch's. forty years ago quaritch thought it almost beneath his dignity as a bookseller to offer for sale any except the very rarest books in english; very much as, up to within the last few years, the universities of oxford and cambridge did not think it worth their while to refer more than casually to the glories of english literature. when we open an old quaritch catalogue, we step out of this age into another, which leads me to observe how remarkable is the change in taste which has come over the collecting world in the last fifty years. formerly it was the fashion to collect extensively books of which few among us now know anything: books in learned or painful languages, on philosophy or religion, as well as those which, for the want of a better name, we call "classics"; books frequently spoken of, but seldom read. such books, unless very valuable indeed, no longer find ready buyers. we have come into our great inheritance. we now dip deep in our "well of english undefyled"; aldines and elzevirs have gone out of fashion. even one of the rarest of them, "le pastissier françois," is not greatly desired; and i take it that the reason for this change is chiefly due to the difference in the type of men who are prominent among the buyers of fine books to-day. formerly the collector was a man, not necessarily with a liberal education, but with an education entirely different from that which the best educated among us now receive. i doubt if there are in this country to-day half a dozen important bookbuyers who can read latin with ease, let alone greek. of french, german, and italian some of us have a working knowledge, but most of us prefer to buy books which we can enjoy without constant reference to a dictionary. the world is the college of the book-collector of to-day. many of us are busy men of affairs, familiar, it may be, with the price of oil, or steel, or copper, or coal, or cotton, or, it may be, with the price of the "shares" of all of these and more. books are our relaxation. we make it a rule not to buy what we cannot read. some of us indulge the vain hope that time will bring us leisure to acquaint ourselves fully with the contents of all our books. we want books written in our own tongue, and most of us have some pet author or group of authors, or period, it may be, in which we love to lose ourselves and forget the cares of the present. one man may have a collection of pope, another of goldsmith, another of lamb, and so on. the drama has its votaries who are never seen in a theatre; but look into their libraries and you will find everything, from "ralph roister doister" to the "importance of being earnest." and note that these collections are formed by men who are not students in the accepted sense of the word, but who, in the course of years, have accumulated an immense amount of learning. clarence s. bement is a fine example of the collector of to-day, a man of large affairs with the tastes and learning of a scholar. it has always seemed to me that professors of literature and collectors do not intermingle as they should. they might learn much from each other. i yield to no professor in my passion for english literature. my knowledge is deficient and inexact, but what i lack in learning i make up in love. but we are neglecting the quaritch catalogue. let us open it at random, as old people used to open their bibles, and govern their conduct by the first text which met their eyes. here we are: "grammatica graeca," milan, ; the first edition of the first book printed in greek; one of six known copies. so it is possible for only six busy men to recreate themselves after a hard day's work with a first greek grammar. too bad! here is another: macrobius, "the saturnalia"--"a miscellany of criticism and antiquities, full of erudition and very useful, similar in their plan to the 'noctes atticæ' of aulus gellius." no doubt, but as dead as counterfeit money. here is another: boethius, "de consolatione philosophiæ." boethius! i seem to have heard of him. who was he? not in "who's who," obviously. let us look elsewhere. ah! "famous philosopher and official in the court of theodoric, born about a.d., put to death without trial about ." they had a short way with philosophers in those days. if william the second to none in germany had adopted this method with his philosophers, the world might not now be in such a plight. _note_: a college professor to whom i was in confidence showing these notes the other day, remarked, "i suggest that you soft-pedal that boethius business, my boy." (how we middle-aged men love to call each other boys; very much as young boys flatter themselves with the phrase, "old man.") "the 'consolation of philosophy' was the best seller for a thousand years or so. boethius's reputation is not in the making, as yours is, and when yours is made, it will in all probability not last as long." i thought i detected a slight note of sarcasm in this, but i may have been mistaken. [illustration: fifteenth-century english manuscript on vellum, "de consolatione philosophiæ." rubricated throughout. its chief interest is the contemporary binding, consisting of the usual oak boards covered with pink deerskin, let into another piece of deerskin which completely surrounds it and terminates in a large knot. a clasp fastens the outer cover. it was evidently intended to be worn at the girdle. the british museum possesses very few bindings of this character and these service books. lay books are of even greater rarity.] let us look further. here we are: "coryat's crudities, hastily gobbled up in five moneths trauells." tom coryat was a buffoon and a beggar and a braggart, who wrote what has come to be regarded as the first handbook on travel. browning thought very highly of it, as i remember, and walter hill is at this very minute offering his copy of the "crudities" for five hundred dollars. the catalogues say there are very few perfect copies in existence, in which case i should like to content myself with browning's imperfect copy. i love these old books, written by frail human beings for human beings frail as myself. clowns are the true philosophers, and all vagabonds are beloved, most of all, locke's. don't confuse my locke with the fellow who wrote on the "human understanding," a century or two ago. here is the "ship of fools," another best seller of a bygone age. the original work, by sebastian brandt, was published not long after the invention of printing, in . edition followed edition, not only in its original swabian dialect, but also in latin, french, and dutch. in an english version,--it could hardly be called a translation,--by alexander barclay, appeared from the press of pynson--he who called caxton "worshipful master." for quite two hundred years it was the rage of the reading world. in it the vices and weaknesses of all classes of society were satirized in a manner which gave great delight; and those who could not read were able to enjoy the fine, bold woodcuts with which the work was embellished. no form of folly escaped. even the mediæval book-collector is made to say:-- still am i busy bookes assemblynge, for to have plentie it is a pleasaunt thynge, in my conceyt and to have them ay in hande, but what they mene do i not understande. this is one of the books which can usually be found in a quaritch catalogue, if it can be found anywhere. at the hoe sale a copy brought $ ; but the average collector will make shift to get along with an excellent reprint which was published in edinburgh forty years or so ago, and which can be had for a few shillings, when he chances to come across it. here is a great book! the first folio of shakespeare, the cornerstone of every great library. what's in a name? did shakespeare of stratford write the plays? the late dr. furness declined to be led into a discussion of this point, wisely remarking, "we have the plays; what difference does it make who wrote them?" but the question will not down. the latest theory is that bacon wrote the psalms of david also, and to disguise the fact tucked in a cryptogram, another name. if you have at hand a king james's version of the bible, and will turn to the forty-sixth psalm and count the words from the beginning to the forty-sixth word, and will then count the words from the end until you again come to the forty-sixth word, you may learn something to your advantage. but, whoever wrote them, the first folio--the plays collected by heming and condell, and printed in , at the charges of isaac iaggard, and ed. blount--is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, volume in all literature. in it not less than twenty dramas, many of which rank among the literary masterpieces of the world, were brought together for the first time. is it any wonder, therefore, that the first folio of shakespeare, shakespeare! "not our poet, but the world's," is so highly regarded? the condition and location of practically every copy in the world is known and recorded. originally the price is supposed to have been a guinea, and a century passed before collectors and scholars realized that it, like its author, was not for an age, but for all time. in a copy brought £ , and in "an original copy in a genuine state" changed hands at £ ; but what shall be said of the price it fetches to-day? when, a few years ago, a philadelphia collector paid the record price of almost twenty thousand dollars, people unlearned in the lore of books expressed amazement that a book should bring so large a sum; but he secured one of the finest copies in existence, known to collectors as the locker-lampson copy, which had been for a short time in the possession of william c. van antwerp, of new york, who, unluckily for himself and for the book-collecting world, stopped collecting almost as soon as he began. this splendid folio has now found a permanent resting place in the widener memorial library at harvard. it is no doubt inevitable that these notable books should at last come to occupy honored niches in great mausoleums, as public libraries really are, but i cannot escape the conviction that edmond de goncourt was right when he said in his will:-- "my wish is that my drawings, my prints, my curiosities, my books--in a word these things of art which have been the joy of my life--shall not be consigned to the cold tomb of a museum, and subjected to the stupid glance of the careless passer-by; but i require that they shall all be dispersed under the hammer of the auctioneer, so that the pleasure which the acquiring of each one of them has given me shall be given again, in each case, to some inheritor of my own tastes." i wish that my friends, the pennells, had followed this course when they gave up their london apartments in the adelphi and disposed of their valuable whistler collection. but no, with characteristic generosity the whole collection goes to the nation as a gift--the library of congress at washington is to be its resting-place. the demand for whistler is ever increasing with his fame which, the pennells say, will live forever. those who have a lot of whistler material smile--the value of their collections is enhanced. those of us who, like the writer, have to be content with two butterflies, or at most three, sigh and turn aside. possession is the grave of bliss. no sooner do we own some great book than we want another. the appetite grows by what it feeds on. the shakespeare folio is a book for show and to be proud of, but we want a book to love. here it is: walton's "compleat angler," beloved by gentle men, such as all collectors are. we welcome the peace and contentment which it suggests, "especially," as its author says, "in such days and times as i have laid aside business and gone a-fishing." therein lies the charm of this book, for those of us who are wise enough occasionally to lay aside business and go a-fishing or a-hunting, albeit only book-hunting; for it is the spirit of sport rather than the sport itself that is important. old isaak walton counted fishermen as honest men. i wonder did he call them truthful? if so, there has been a sad falling off since his day, for i seem to remember words to this effect: "the fisherman riseth up early in the morning and disturbeth the whole household. mighty are his preparations. he goeth forth full of hope. when the day is far spent, he returneth, smelling of strong drink, and the truth is not in him." i wish that some day i might discover an "angler," not on the banks of a stream, but all unsuspected on some book-stall. it is most unlikely; those days are past. i shall never own a first "angler." this little book has been thumbed out of existence almost, by generations of readers with coarse, wet hands who carried the book in their pockets or left it lying by the river in the excitement of landing a trout. five impressions, all rare, were made before the author died in his "neintyeth" year, and was buried in the south transept of the cathedral of william of wykeham. but walton wrote of fishers of men as well as of fishing. his lives of john donne, the dean of st. paul's; of richard hooker, the "judicious," as he is usually called, when called at all; of george herbert, and several other men, honorable in their generation, are quaint and charming. these lives, published originally at intervals of many years, are not rare, nor is the volume of , the first collected edition of the lives, unless it is a presentation copy. such a copy sold twenty years ago for fifteen pounds. some years ago i paid just three times this sum for a copy inscribed by walton to the lord bishop of oxford. i did not then know that the bishop of oxford was also the famous dr. john fell, the hero of the well-known epigram:-- i do not like you dr. fell, the reason why i cannot tell; but this i know and know full well, i do not like you dr. fell,-- or i would willingly have paid more for it. but i am wandering from my text. to return to the "angler." fifty pounds was a fair price for a fine copy fifty years ago. george d. smith sold a copy a few weeks since for five thousand dollars, and the heckscher copy a few years ago brought thirty-nine hundred dollars; but the record price appears to have been paid for the van antwerp copy, which is generally believed to be the finest in existence. it is bound in original sheepskin, and was formerly in the library of frederick locker-lampson. it was sold in london some ten years ago and was purchased by quaritch for "an american," which was a sort of _nom de guerre_ of the late j. p. morgan, for £ . [illustration: the rare first edition, and, according to mr. livingston in "the bibliophile," the earlier issue of the two printed in that year. a very large copy. from the hagen collection. said to be the finest copy in existence. it is bound in contemporary vellum, and measures - / × - / inches.] when "anglers" could be had for fifty pounds, "vicars" brought ten, or fifteen if in exceptionally fine condition, and the man who then spent this sum for a "vicar" chose as wisely as did the vicar's wife her wedding gown, "not for a fine glossy surface, but for qualities as would wear well." these two little volumes, with the salisbury imprint and a required blunder or two, will soon be worth a thousand dollars. when i paid £ for mine some years ago, i felt that i was courting ruin, especially when i recalled that dr. johnson thought rather well of himself for having secured for goldsmith just half this sum for the copyright of it. boswell's story of the sale of the manuscript of the "vicar of wakefield," as johnson related it to him, is as pretty a bit of bibliographical history as we have. those who know it will pardon the intrusion of the story for the sake of the pleasure it may give others. "i received," said johnson, "one morning a message from poor goldsmith that he was in great distress, and as it was not in his power to come to me, begged that i would come to him as soon as possible. i sent him a guinea, and promised to come to him directly. i accordingly went as soon as i was drest, and found that his landlady had arrested him for his rent, at which he was in a violent passion. i perceived that he had already changed my guinea, and had got a bottle of madeira and a glass before him. i put the cork into the bottle, desired he would be calm, and began to talk to him of the means by which he might be extricated. he then told me that he had a novel ready for the press, which he produced to me. i looked into it and saw its merit; told the landlady i should soon return, and having gone to a bookseller, sold it for sixty pounds. i brought goldsmith the money, and he discharged his rent, not without rating his landlady in a high tone for having used him so ill ... and sir," continued johnson, "it was a sufficient price, too, when it was sold; for then the fame of goldsmith had not been elevated, as it afterwards was by his 'traveller'; and the bookseller had such faint hopes of profit by his bargain, that he kept the manuscript by him a long time, and did not publish it till after 'the traveller' had appeared. then, to be sure, it was accidentally worth more money." here we have a characteristic sketch of the two men--the excitable, amiable, and improvident goldy, and the wise and kindly johnson, instantly corking the bottle and getting down to brass tacks, as we should say. the first edition of "robinson crusoe" is another favorite book with collectors; as why should it not be? here is a copy in two volumes (there should be three) in red morocco, super extra, gilt edges, by bedford. it should be in contemporary calf, but the price was only £ . turning to a bookseller's catalogue published a year or two ago, there is a copy " vols. vo. with map and plates, in original calf binding," and the price is twenty-five hundred dollars. a note in one of stan. henkel's recent auction catalogues, and there are none better, clears up a point which has always troubled me, and which i will quote at length for the benefit of other collectors who may not have seen it. the supposed "points," signifying the first issues of this famous book, are stumbling-blocks to all bibliographers. professor w. p. trent, of columbia university, undoubtedly the foremost authority on defoe, after extended research and the comparison of many copies, states that he is of the opinion that any purchaser entering taylor's shop at the sign of the ship, in pater noster row on april th, (usually taken as the date of issue), might have been handed a copy falling under any of the following categories:-- with "apply" in the preface, and "pilot," on page , line . with "apply" in the preface, and "pilate" on page . with "apyly" in the preface, and "pilate" on page . with "apyly" in the preface, and "pilot" on page . it is unquestionably wrong, in his opinion, to call any one of these "first issue." prof. trent sees no reason to believe that there was a re-issue with "apyly" corrected in the preface. both these mistakes were quite probably corrected while the sheets were passing through the press, and it depends on how the sheets were collated by the binder what category of the four given any special copy belongs to. this is a great relief to me, as my copy, which was once congreve's, while leaving nothing to be desired in the matter of condition, binding, and plates, has the word "apply" in the preface and "pilot" on page ; but it is perfectly clear, having in mind the spacing of the types, that the longer word has given way to the shorter. there is, however, another edition of "robinson crusoe" which, for rarity, puts all first editions in the shade. so immediate was the success of this wonderful romance that it was issued in a newspaper, very much as popular novels are now run. it was published in the "original london post," or "heathcot's intelligence," numbers from to , october , , to october , . this was publication in parts with a vengeance. of the entire series of leaves, only one is in facsimile. i see that i have not yet said that i own this copy. there is a copy in the british museum, but i am told that it is very imperfect, and i know of no other. i was, a few evenings ago, looking over arnold's "first report of a book-collector." i had just given an old-time year's salary for a manuscript poem by keats, and i was utterly bewildered by reading this: "only a few months after i began collecting, more than one hundred pages of original manuscripts of keats that were just then offered for sale came in my way and were secured at one-fifth of their value." if the price i paid for one page is any criterion as to the value of one hundred pages, mr. arnold is by now a very rich man; and elsewhere in his "report" he gives a list of books sold at sotheby's in at prices which make one's mouth water. chapman's homer, , £ ; chaucer's works, , £ ; "robinson crusoe," - , £ ; goldsmith's "vicar," , £ ; goldsmith's "deserted village," , £ ; herrick's "hesperides," , £ ; milton's "paradise lost," , £ . but why continue? the point of it all is his comment: "if the beginner is alarmed by these prices, let him remember that such are paid only for well-known and highly prized rarities"; and remember, too, that this is the comment of an astute collector upon the prices of only twenty years ago. [illustration: first page of a rare edition of "robinson crusoe"] it is, however, only proper to bear in mind, when referring to english auction prices, that the "knockout" may have been, and probably was, in operation. this time-honored and beneficent custom results in enriching the london book-dealer at the expense of the owner or the estate whose books are being sold. the existence of the "knockout" is pretty generally admitted by the london dealers, but they usually couple the admission with the statement that no reputable dealer will have anything to do with its operations. it is always the other fellow who is in the ring. reduced to its simplest terms, a "knockout" consists of a clique of men who agree that certain books (or anything else) shall be bought at auction without competition. one book, or class of books, shall be bought by a, b will buy another, c another, and so on. at some convenient time or place after the books have been delivered, a second auction is held and they are again put up. this time there is real competition, but the profits go into a pool which is equally divided among the members. this custom has taken such a strong hold on the trade that it seems impossible to break it up. should a private person bid at a sale at which the scheme is intended to operate, he would get, either nothing, or books at such a price as would cause him to remember the sale to his dying day. there is nothing analogous to it in this country, and it was to escape from its operations that it was decided to sell the great hoe collection at anderson's in new york city a few years ago. most of the books then sold realized the highest prices ever known. many of the london dealers were represented,--quaritch, maggs, and several others came in person,--and the sale will long be remembered in the annals of the trade. after the above explanation it is hardly necessary to say that "book auction records," published by karslake in london, has no value whatever as a guide to prices, in comparison with "american book prices current," to the compilation of which the late luther s. livingston devoted so much of his time--time which we now know should have been spent in doing original work in bibliography. returning for a moment to mr. arnold and his contributions to bibliography, he did the booksellers a good turn and helped collectors justify their extravagance to their wives by publishing some years ago "a record of books and letters." mr. arnold devoted the leisure of six years to forming a collection of books with perseverance and intelligence; then he suddenly stopped and turned over to bangs & company, the auctioneers, the greater part of his collection, and awaited the result with interest. i say "with interest" advisedly, for the result fully justified his judgment. in his "record" he gives the date of acquisition, together with the cost of each item, in one column, and in another the selling price. he also states whether the item was bought of a bookseller or a collector, or at auction. he had spent a trifle over ten thousand dollars, and his profit almost exactly equalled his outlay. i said his profit, but i have used the wrong word. his profit was the pleasure he received in discovering, buying, and owning the treasures which for a time were in his possession. the difference in actual money between what he paid and what he received, some ten thousand dollars, was the reward for his industry and courage in paying what doubtless many people supposed to be extravagant prices for his books. [illustration: autograph ms. of a poem by keats--"to the misses m---- at hastings] [illustration: signature] let us examine one only. it is certainly not a fair example, but it happens to interest me. he had a copy of keats's "poems," , with an inscription in the poet's handwriting: "my dear giovanni, i hope your eyes will soon be well enough to read this with pleasure and ease." there were some other inscriptions in keats's hand, and for this treasure arnold paid a bookseller, in , seventy-one dollars. at the auction in it brought five hundred dollars, and it subsequently passed into the van antwerp collection, finally going back to london, where it was sold in for ninety pounds, being bought by quaritch. finally it passed into the possession of the late w. h. hagen and, at the sale of his library, in may, , was knocked down to "g.d.s." for $ . from him i tried to secure it, but was "too late."[ ] my copy of the poems has, alas, no inscription, but it cost me in excess of five hundred dollars; and a well-known collector has just paid rosenbach nine thousand dollars for keats's three slender volumes, each with inscriptions in the poet's hand. three into nine is a simple problem: even i can do it; but the volume of "poems" is much rarer than "endymion" or "lamia." iv "association" books and first editions no books have appreciated more in value than presentation or association volumes, and the reason is not far to seek. of any given copy there can hardly be a duplicate. for the most part presentation copies are first editions--_plus_. frequently there is a note or a comment which sheds biographical light on the author. in the slightest inscription there is the record of a friendship by means of which we get back of the book to the writer. and speaking of association books, every one will remember the story that general wolfe, in an open boat on the st. lawrence as he was being rowed down the stream to a point just below quebec, recited the lines from gray's "elegy,"-- "the boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r, and all that beauty, all that wealth, e'er gave await alike the inevitable hour. the paths of glory lead but to the grave,"-- adding, "i would rather be the author of that piece than have the honor of beating the french to-morrow." when wolfe left england he carried with him a copy of the "elegy," the gift of his fiancée, miss katherine lowther. he learned the poem by heart, he underscored his favorite lines, among them the passage quoted; he filled the book with his notes. after his death the book and a miniature of the lady were returned to her, and only a few days ago this book, a priceless volume of unique association interest, was offered for sale. the first man who saw it bought it. he had never bought a fine book before, but he could not resist this one. when i heard of the transaction i was grieved and delighted--grieved that so wonderful a volume had escaped me, delighted that i had not been subjected to so terrible a temptation. what was the price of it? only the seller and the buyer know, but i fancy some gilt-edged securities had to be parted with. how the prices of these books go a-soaring is shown by the continuous advance in the price of a copy of shelley's "queen mab." it is a notable copy, referred to in dowden's "life of shelley." on the fly leaf is an inscription in shelley's hand, "mary wollstonecraft godwin, from p.b.s."; inside of the back cover shelley has written in pencil, "you see, mary, i have not forgotten you"; and elsewhere in the book in mary's hand, we read, "this book is sacred to me, and as no other creature shall ever look into it, i may write in it what i please. yet what shall i write? that i love the author beyond all powers of expression and that i am parted from him"; and much more to the same effect. at the ives sale in this volume of supreme interest brought $ ; in , at the frederickson sale, it brought $ ; and a year ago a dealer sold it for $ ; and cheap at that, i say, for where will you find another? i have before me a copy of stevenson's "inland voyage." pamphlets aside, which, by reason of their manner of publication, are now rare, it may be said to be the author's first book. it has an inscription, "my dear cummy: if you had not taken so much trouble with me all the years of my childhood, this little book would never have been written. many a long night you sat up with me when i was ill; i wish i could hope by way of return to amuse a single evening for you with my little book! but whatever you may think of it, i know you will continue to think kindly of the author." i thought, when i gave four hundred dollars for it, that i was paying a fabulous price; but as i have since been offered twice that sum, rosenbach evidently let me have a bargain. he tells me that it is good business sometimes to sell a book for less than it is worth. he regards it as bait. he angles for you very skilfully, does rosy, and lands you--me--every time. [illustration: autograph inscription by stevenson, in a copy of his "inland voyage] "a child's garden of verses" is another book which has doubled in value two or three times in the last few years. gabriel wells is now offering a copy, with a brief inscription, for three hundred dollars, having sold me not long ago, for twice this sum, a copy in which stevenson's writing is mingled with the type of the title-page so that it reads:-- robert louis stevenson his copy of a child's garden of verses and if it is [in] the hands of any one else, explain it who can! but not by the gift of robert louis stevenson that stevenson afterward changed his mind and gave it to "e. f. russell, with hearty good will," is shown by another inscription. this copy was purchased at the sale for the british red cross in london, shortly after the outbreak of the war. it may be some time before it is worth what i paid for it, or the price may look cheap to-morrow--who shall say? watching the quotations of the first editions of stevenson is rather like looking at the quotations of stocks you haven't got, as they recover from a panic. a point or two a day is added to their prices; but stevenson's move five or ten points at a time, and there has been no reaction--as yet. only a year or two ago i paid drake fifty dollars for a copy of "the new arabian nights"; and a few days ago i saw in the papers that a copy had just been sold for fifty pounds in a london auction room.[ ] [illustration: title of a unique copy of stevenson's "child's garden of verses"] i cannot quite understand stevenson's immense vogue. perhaps it is the rare personality of the man. try as we may, it is impossible to separate the personality of a man from his work. why is one author "collected" and another not? i do not know. practically no one collects scott, or george eliot, or trollope; but trollope collectors there will be, and "the macdermots of ballycloran" and "the kellys and the o'kellys" will bring fabulous prices some of these days--five hundred dollars each; more, a thousand, i should say; and when you pay this sum, look well for the errors in pagination and see that mortimer street is spelt morimer on the title-page of volume three of the former. and remember, too, that this book is so rare that there is no copy of it in the british museum--at least so i am told; but you will find one on my shelves, in the corner over there, together with everything else this great victorian has written--of all novelists my favorite. trollope proved the correctness of johnson's remark, "a man may write at any time if he will set himself doggedly at it." this we know trollope did, we have his word for it. his personality was too sane, too matter of fact, to be attractive; but his books are delightful. one doesn't read trollope as coleridge did shakespeare--by flashes of lighting (this isn't right, but it expresses the idea); but there is a good, steady glow emanating from the author himself, which, once you get accustomed to it, will enable you to see a whole group of mid-victorian characters so perfectly that you come to know them as well as the members of your own family, and, i sometimes think, understand them better. but for one collector who expresses a mild interest in trollope, there are a thousand who regard the brave invalid, who, little more than twenty years ago, passed away on that lonely samoan island in the pacific, as one of the greatest of the moderns, as certain of immortality as charles lamb. they may be right. his little toy books and leaflets, those which the author and the printer with various kinds of skill concocted in the winter at davos on the hill, and elsewhere, are simply invaluable. the author and the printer were one and the same--r. l. s., assisted, or perhaps hindered, by s. l. o., mrs. stevenson's son, then a lad. of these stevensons, "penny whistles" is the rarest. but two copies are known. one is in a private collection in england; the other was bought at the borden sale in by mrs. widener, for twenty-five hundred dollars, in order to complete, as far as might be, the stevenson collection now in the widener memorial library. it was a privately printed forerunner of "a child's garden of verses," published several years later. it is a far cry from these bijoux to stevenson's regularly published volumes; but when it is remembered that these latter were printed in fairly large editions and relatively only a few years ago, it will be seen that no other author of yesterday fetches such high prices as stevenson. in recent years there have been published a number of bibliographies without which no collector can be expected to keep house. we are indebted to the grolier club for some of the best of these. its members have the books and are most generous in exhibiting them, and it must indeed be a churlish scholar who cannot freely secure access to the collections of its members. aside from the three volumes entitled "contributions to english bibliography," published and sold by the club, the handbooks of the exhibitions held from time to time are much sought, for the wealth of information they contain. the club's librarian, miss ruth s. granniss, working in coöperation with the members, is largely responsible for the skill and intelligence with which these little catalogues are compiled. the time and amount of painstaking research which enter into the making of them is simply enormous. indeed, no one quite understands the many questions which arise to vex the bibliographer unless they have attempted to make for themselves even the simplest form of catalogue. over the door of the room in which they work should be inscribed the text, "be sure your sin will find you out." some blunders are redeemed by the laughter they arouse. here is a famous one:-- shelley--prometheus--unbound, etc. " --prometheus--bound in olive morocco, etc. but for the most part the lot of the bibliographer, as dr. johnson said of the dictionary-maker, is to be exposed to censure without hope of praise. that oscar wilde continues to interest the collector is proved, if proof were necessary, by the splendid bibliography by stuart mason, in two large volumes. its editor tells us that it was the work of ten years, which i can readily believe; and robert ross, wilde's literary executor, says in the introduction, that, in turning over the proof for ten minutes, he learned more about wilde's writings than wilde himself ever knew. it gave me some pleasure, when i first took the book up, to see that mason had used for his frontispiece the caricature of wilde by aubrey beardsley, the original of which now hangs on the wall near my writing-table, together with a letter from ross in which he says, "from a technical point of view this drawing is interesting as showing the artistic development of what afterwards was called his japanese method in the 'salome' drawings. here it is only in embryo, but this is the earliest drawing i remember in which the use of dotted lines, a peculiarity of beardsley, can be traced."[ ] [illustration: the new building of the grolier club east sixtieth st., new york] another favorite bibliography is that of dickens, by john c. eckel. his "first editions of charles dickens" is a book which no lover of dickens--and who is not?--can do without. it is a book to be read, as well as a book of reference. in it mr. eckel does one thing, however, which is, from its very nature, hopeless and discouraging. he attempts to indicate the prices at which first editions of his favorite author can be secured at auction, or from the dealers in london and this country. alas, alas! while waiting to secure prizes at eckel's prices i have seen them soaring to figures undreamed of a few years ago. in his chapter on "presentation copies," he refers to a copy of "bleak house" given by dickens to dudley costello. "some years ago," he says, "it sold for $ . . eighteen months later the collector resold the book to the dealer for $ . , who made a quick turn and sold the book for ten per cent advance, or $ . ." these figures mr. eckel considers astonishing. i now own the book, but it came into my possession at a figure considerably in excess of that named. a copy of "american notes," with an inscription, "thomas carlyle from charles dickens, nineteenth october, ," gives an excellent idea of the rise in the price of a book, interesting itself and on account of its inscription. at auction, in london, in , it sold for £ . after passing through the hands of several dealers it was purchased by w. e. allis, of milwaukee; and at the sale of his books in new york, in , it was bought by george d. smith for $ . smith passed the book on to edwin w. coggeshall; but its history is not yet at an end, for at his sale, on april , , it was bought by the firm of dutton for $ , and by them passed on, the story goes, to a discriminating collector in detroit, a man who can call all the parts of an automobile by name. fortunately, while this book was in full flight, i secured a copy with an inscription, "w. c. macready from his friend charles dickens, eighteenth october, ." now, what is my copy worth? [illustration: inscription to charles dickens, junior, from charles dickens] seven years ago i paid charles sessler nine hundred dollars for three books: a presentation "carol," to tom beard, a "cricket," to macready, and a "haunted man," to maclise. at the coggeshall sale a dealer paid a thousand dollars for a "carol," while i gave smith ten per cent advance on a thousand dollars for a "chimes," with an inscription, "charles dickens, junior, from his affectionate father, charles dickens." this copy at the allis sale had brought seven hundred and seventy-five dollars, at which time i was prepared to pay five hundred dollars for it. [illustration: an illustration, "the last of the spirits," by john leech, for dickens's "christmas carol" _from the original water-color drawing_] i always return from these all-star performances depressed in spirit and shattered in pocket. "where will it stop?" i say to myself. "when will you stop?" my wife says to me. and both questions remain unanswered; certainly not, while presentation dickenses can be had and are lacking from my collection. i now possess twenty-one, and it is with presentation dickenses as with elephants--a good many go to the dozen; but i lack and sadly want--shall i give a list? no, the prices are going up fast enough without stimulation from me. wait until my "wants" are complete; then let joy be unconfined. a final word on dickens: the prices are skyrocketing because everyone loves him. age cannot wither nor custom stale his infinite variety. as a great creative genius he ranks with shakespeare. he has given pleasure to millions; he has been translated into all the languages of europe. "pickwick," it is said, stands fourth in circulation among english printed books, being exceeded only by the bible, shakespeare, and the english prayer-book; and the marvel is that when dickens is spoken of, it is difficult to arrive at an agreement as to which is his greatest book. but this paper is supposed to relate to prices rather than to books themselves. other seductive arguments having failed, one sometimes hears a vendor of rare books add, in his most convincing manner, "and you couldn't possibly make a better investment." the idea, i suppose, is calculated to enable a man to meet his wife's reproachful glance, or something worse, as he returns home with a book under his arm. but when one is about to commit some piece of extravagance, such as buying a book of which one already has several copies, one will grasp at any straw, the more so as there may be some truth in the statement. [illustration: dedication to "the village coquettes," by charles dickens _from the manuscript formerly in the coggeshall collection, much reduced in size_] there are, however, so many good reasons why we should buy rare books, that it seems a pity ever to refer to the least of them. i am not sure that i am called on to give any judgment in the matter; but my belief is that the one best and sufficient reason for a man to buy a book is because he thinks he will be happier with it than without it. i always question myself on this point, and another which presses it closely--can i pay for it? i confess that i do not always listen so attentively for the answer to this second question; but i try so to live as to be able to look my bookseller in the eye and tell him where to go. i govern myself by few rules, but this is one of them--never to allow a book to enter my library as a creditor. "un livre est un ami qui ne change jamais"; i want to enjoy my friends whenever i am with them. one would get very tired of a friend if, every time one met him, he should suggest a touch for fifty or five hundred dollars. on the shelves in my office are some books that are mine, some in which there is at the moment a joint ownership, and some which will be mine in the near future, i hope--and doubtless in this hope i am not alone; but the books on the shelves around the room in which i write are mine, all of them. the advice given by "punch" to those about to marry--"don't"--seems, then, to be the best advice to a man who is tempted to buy by the hope of making a profit out of his books; but i observe that this short and ugly word deters very few from following their inclinations in the matter of marriage, and this advice may fall, as advice usually falls, on deaf ears. only when a man is safely ensconced in six feet of earth, with several tons of enlauding granite upon his chest, is he in a position to give advice with any certainty, and then he is silent; but it will nevertheless be understood that i do not recommend the purchase of rare books as an investment, and this in spite of the fact that many collectors have made handsome profits out of the books they have sold. while a man may do much worse with his money than buy rare books, he cannot be certain that he can dispose of them at a profit, nor is it necessary that he should do so. he should be satisfied to eat his cake and have it; books selected with any judgment will almost certainly afford this satisfaction, and of what other hobby can this be said with the same assurance? [illustration: title of meredith's "modern love," with autograph inscription to swinburne] the possession of rare books is a delight best understood by the owners of them. they are not called upon to explain. the gentle will understand, and the savage may be disregarded. it is the scholar whose sword is usually brandished against collectors; and i would not have him think that, in addition to our being ignorant of our books, we are speculators in them also. let him remember that we have our uses. unlearned men of books assume the care, as eunuchs are the guardians of the fair. it may as well be admitted that we do not buy expensive books to read. we may say that it is a delight to us to look upon the very page on which appeared for the first time such a sonnet as "on first looking into chapman's homer," or to read that bit of realism unsurpassed, where robinson crusoe one day, about noon, discovered the print of a man's naked foot upon the sand; but when we sit down with a copy of keats, we do not ask for a first edition; much less when we want to live over again the joys of our childhood, do we pick up a copy of defoe which would be a find at a thousand dollars. but first editions of keats's poems, , in boards, with the paper label if possible, and a defoe unwashed, in a sound old calf binding, are good things to have. they are indeed a joy forever, and will never pass into nothingness. i cannot see why the possession of fine books is more reprehensible than the possession of valuable property of any other sort. in speaking of books as an investment, one implies first editions. first editions are scarce; tenth editions, as charles lamb stutteringly suggested, are scarcer, but there is no demand for them. why, then, first editions? the question is usually dodged; the truth may as well be stated. there is a joy in mere ownership. it may be silly, or it may be selfish; but it is a joy, akin to that of possessing land, which seems to need no defense. we do not walk over our property every day; we frequently do not see it; but when the fancy takes us, we love to forget our cares and responsibilities in a ramble over our fields. in like manner, and for the same reason, we browse with delight in a corner of our library in which we have placed our most precious books. we should buy our books as we buy our clothes, not only to cover our nakedness, but to embellish us; and we should buy more books and fewer clothes. i am told that, in proportion to our numbers and our wealth, less money is spent on books now than was spent fifty years ago. i suppose our growing love of sport is to some extent responsible. golf has taken the place of books. i know that it takes time and costs money. i do not play the game myself, but i have a son who does. perhaps when i am his age, i shall feel that i can afford it. my sport is book-hunting. i look upon it as a game, a game requiring skill, some money, and luck. the pleasure that comes from seeing some book in a catalogue priced at two or three times what i may have paid for a copy, is a pleasure due to vindicated judgment. i do not wish to rush into the market and sell and secure my profit. what is profit if i lose my book? moreover, if one thinks of profit rather than of books, there is an interest charge to be considered. a book for which i paid a thousand dollars a few years ago, no longer stands me at a thousand dollars, but at a considerably greater sum. a man neat at figures could tell with mathematical accuracy just the actual cost of that book down to any given minute. i neither know nor want to know. there is another class of collector with whom i am not in keen sympathy, and that is the men who specialize in the first published volumes of some given group of authors. these works are usually of relatively little merit, but they are scarce and expensive: scarce, because published in small editions and at first neglected; expensive, because they are desired to complete sets of first editions. anthony trollope's first two novels have a greater money value than all the rest of his books put together--but they are hard to read. in like manner, a sensational novel, "desperate remedies," by hardy, his first venture in fiction, is worth perhaps as much as fifty copies of his "woodlanders," one of the best novels of the last half century. george gissing, when he was walking our streets penniless and in rags, could never have supposed that a few years later his first novel, "workers in the dawn," would sell for one hundred and fifty dollars, but it has done so. i have a friend who has just paid this price. just here i would like to remark that for several years i have been seeking, without success, a copy of the first edition of that very remarkable book, samuel butler's "the way of all flesh." booksellers who jauntily advertise, "any book got," will please make a note of this one. nor do i think it necessary to have every scrap, every waif and stray, of any author, however much i may esteem him. my collection of johnson is fairly complete, but i have no copy of father lobo's "abyssinia." it was an early piece of hack-work, a translation from the french, for which johnson received five pounds. it is not scarce; one would hardly want to read it. it was the recollection of this book, doubtless, that suggested the "prince of abissinia" to johnson years later, when he wanted to write "fiction," as the dear old ladies in "cranford" called "rasselas"; but it has never seemed necessary to my happiness to have a copy of "lobo." on the other hand i have "stocked" "rasselas" pretty considerably, and could supply any reasonable demand. such are the vagaries of collectors. [illustration: in a copy of "rasselas"] only once, i think, have i been guilty of buying a book i did not particularly want, because of its speculative value--that was when i stumbled across a copy of woodrow wilson's "constitutional government in the united states" with a long inscription in its author's cursive hand. even in this case i think it was my imagination rather than avarice that led me to pay a fancy price for a book which some day when i am not "among those present" will fetch as many thousands as i paid hundreds. in , when the inscription was written, its author was a relatively unimportant man--to-day he is known throughout the world and is in a position to influence its destinies as no other man has ever been. [illustration: the constitution of the united states, like the constitution of every living state, grows and is altered by force of circumstances and changes in affairs. the effect of a written constitution is only to render the growth more subtle, more studious, more conservative, more a thing of carefully, almost unconsciously, wrought sequences. our statesmen must, in the midst of origination, have the spirit of lawyers. woodrow wilson princeton, oct., ' . ] no paper dealing with the prices of books would be complete without the remark that condition is everything. any rare book is immensely more valuable if in very fine condition. imagine for a moment a book worth, say, six hundred dollars in good condition,--for example, the "vicar of wakefield,"--and then imagine--if you can--a copy of this same book in boards uncut. would twenty-five hundred dollars be too high a price for such a copy? i think not. another point to be remembered is that the price of a book depends, not only on its scarcity, but also on the universality of the demand for it. and once again i may take the "vicar" as an example of what i mean. the "vicar" is not a scarce book. for from six to eight hundred dollars, dependent upon condition, one could, i think, lay his hands on as many as ten copies in as many weeks. it is what the trade call a bread-and-butter book--a staple. there is always a demand for it and always a supply at a price; but try to get a copy of fanny burney's "evelina," and you may have to wait a year or more for it. it was the first book of an unknown young lady; the first edition was very small, it was printed on poor paper, proved to be immensely popular, and was immediately worn out in the reading; but there is no persistent demand for it as there is for the "vicar," and it costs only half as much. in reading over whatever i have written on the subject of the prices of rare books, i am aware that my remarks may sound to some like a whistle--a whistle to keep up my courage at the thought of the prices i am paying. but so long as the "knockout" does not get a foothold in this country,--and it would immediately be the subject of investigation if it did, and be stopped, as other abuses have been,--the prices of really great books will always average higher and higher. "of the making of many books there is no end," nor is there an end to the prices men will be willing to pay for them. [illustration: this first book of my writings is dearest to my soul, because all of 'em's bought called "the old swimmin' hole." ever thine, {benj. f. johnson, boone co., ind.-- {james whitcomb riley. for--wallace h. cathcourt(?), cleveland, ohio indianapolis, jan. ] v "what might have been" on a cold, raw day in december, , there was laid to rest in brompton cemetery, in london, an old lady,--an actress,--whose name, frances maria kelly, meant little to the generation of theatre-goers, then busy with the rising reputation of henry irving and ellen terry. she was a very old lady when she died--ninety-two, to be exact; she had outlived her fame and her friends, and few followed her to her grave. i have said that the day was cold and raw. i do not know certainly that it was so; i was not there; but for my sins i have passed many decembers in london, and take the right, in charles lamb's phrase, to damn the weather at a venture. fanny kelly, as she was called by the generations that knew her, came of a theatrical family, and most of her long life had been passed on the stage. she was only seven when she made her first appearance at drury lane, at which theatre she acted for some thirty-six years, when she retired; subsequently she established a school of dramatic art and gave from time to time what she termed "entertainments," in which she sometimes took as many as fourteen different parts in a single evening. with her death the last link connecting us with the age of johnson was broken. she had acted with john philip kemble and with mrs. siddons. by her sprightliness and grace she had charmed fox and sheridan and the generations which followed, down to charles dickens, who had acted with her in private theatricals at her own private theatre in dean street,--now the royalty,--taking the part of captain bobadil in _every man in his humor_. nothing is more evanescent than the reputation of an actor. every age lingers lovingly over the greatness of the actors of its own youth; thus it was that the theatre-goer of the eighteen-eighties only yawned when told of the grace of miss kelly's ophelia, of the charm of her lydia languish, or of her bewitchingness in "breeches parts." to some she was the old actress for whom the government was being solicited to do something; a few thought of her as the old maiden lady who was obsessed with the idea that charles lamb had once made her an offer of marriage. it was well known that, half a century before, lamb had been one of her greatest admirers. every reader of his dramatic criticisms and his letters knew that; they knew, too, that in one of his daintiest essays, perhaps the most exquisite essay in the language, "dream children, a reverie," lamb, speaking apparently more autobiographically than usual even for him, says:-- [illustration: charles lamb] "then i told how, for seven long years, in hope sometimes, sometimes in despair, yet persisting ever, i courted the fair alice w----n; and, as much as children could understand, i explained to them what coyness, and difficulty, and denial meant to maidens--when suddenly, turning to alice, the soul of the first alice looked out at her eyes with such a reality of re-presentment, that i became in doubt which of them stood there before me, or whose that bright hair was; and while i stood gazing, both the children gradually grew fainter to my view, receding and still receding, till nothing at last but two mournful features were seen in the uttermost distance, which, without speech, strangely impressed upon me the effects of speech:-- "'we are not of alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all. the children of alice call bartrum father. we are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. we are only what might have been.'" i am quoting, not from the printed text, but from the original manuscript, which is my most cherished literary possession; and this lovely peroration, if such it may be called, is the only part of the essay which has been much interlineated or recast. it appears to have occasioned lamb considerable difficulty; there was obviously some searching for the right word; a part of it, indeed, was entirely rewritten. the coyness, the difficulty, and the denial of alice: was it not immortally written into the record by lamb himself? miss kelly's rejection of an offer of marriage from him must be a figment of the imagination of an old lady, who, as her years approached a century, had her dream-children, too--children who called lamb father. there the matter rested. fanny kelly was by way of being forgotten; all the facts of lamb's life were known, apparently, and he had lain in a curiously neglected grave in edmonton churchyard for seventy years. innumerable sketches and lives and memorials of him, "final" and otherwise, had been written and read. his letters--not complete, perhaps, but volumes of them--had been published and read by the constantly increasing number of his admirers, and no one suspected that lamb had had a serious love-affair--the world accepting without reserve the statement of one of his biographers that "lamb at the bidding of duty remained single, wedding himself to the sad fortunes of his sister." then, quite unexpectedly, in , john hollingshead, the former manager of the gaiety theatre, discovered and published two letters of charles lamb written on the same day, july , . one, a long letter in lamb's most serious vein, in which he formally offers his hand, and in a way his sister's, to miss kelly, and the other a whimsical, elfish letter, in which he tries to disguise the fact that in her refusal of him he has received a hard blow. [illustration: miss frances maria kelly] by reason of this important discovery, every line that lamb had written in regard to fanny kelly was read with new interest, and an admirable biography of him by his latest and most sympathetic critic, edward verrall lucas, appearing shortly afterwards, was carefully studied to see what, if any, further light could be thrown upon this interesting subject. but it appears that the whole story has been told in the letters, and students of lamb were thrown back upon the already published references. in the works of lamb, published in , he had addressed to miss kelly a sonnet:-- you are not, kelly, of the common strain, that stoop their pride and female honor down to please that many-headed beast, the town, and vend their lavish smiles and tricks for gain; by fortune thrown amid the actor's train, you keep your native dignity of thought; the plaudits that attend you come unsought, as tributes due unto your natural vein. your tears have passion in them, and a grace of genuine freshness, which our hearts avow; your smiles are winds whose ways we cannot trace, that vanish and return we know not how-- and please the better from a pensive face, and thoughtful eye, and a reflecting brow. and early in the following year he had printed in a provincial journal an appreciation of her acting, comparing her, not unfavorably, with mrs. jordan, who, in her day, then over, is said to have had no rival in comedy parts. lamb's earliest reference to miss kelly, however, appears to be in a letter to the wordsworths, in which he says that he can keep the accounts of his office, comparing sum with sum, writing "paid" against one and "unpaid" against t'other (this was long before the days of scientific bookkeeping and muchvaunted efficiency), and still reserve a corner of his mind for the memory of some passage from a book, or "the gleam of fanny kelly's divine plain face." this is an always quoted reference and seems correctly to describe the lady, who is spoken of by others as an unaffected, sensible, clear-headed, warm-hearted woman, plain but engaging, with none of the vanities or arrogance of the actress about her. it will be recalled that lamb had no love for blue-stocking women, and speaking of one, said, "if she belonged to me i would lock her up and feed her on bread and water till she left off writing poetry. a female poet, or female author of any kind, ranks below an actress, i think." this shortest way with minor poets has, perhaps, much to recommend it. it was lamb's whim in his essays to be frequently misleading, setting his signals at full speed ahead when they should have been set at danger, or, at least, at caution. thus in his charming essay "barbara s----" (how unconsciously one invariably uses this adjective in speaking of anything lamb wrote), after telling the story of a poor little stage waif receiving by mistake a whole sovereign instead of the half a one justly due for a week's pay, and how she was tempted to keep it, but did not, he adds, "i had the anecdote from the mouth of the late mrs. crawford." here seemed to be plain sailing, and grave editors pointed out who mrs. crawford was: they told her maiden name, and for good measure threw in the names of her several husbands. but lamb, in a letter to bernard barton in , speaking of these essays, said: "tell me how you like 'barbara s----.' i never saw mrs. crawford in my life, nevertheless 'tis all true of somebody." and some years later, not long before he died, to another correspondent he wrote: "as miss kelly is just now in notoriety,"--she was then giving an entertainment called "dramatic recollections" at the strand theatre,--"it may amuse you to know that 'barbara s----' is all of it true of her, being all communicated to me from her own mouth. can we not contrive to make up a party to see her?" there is another reference to miss kelly, which, in the light of our subsequent knowledge, is as dainty a suggestion of marriage with her as can be found in the annals of courtship. it appeared in "the examiner" just a fortnight before lamb's proposal. in a criticism of her acting as rachel in "the jovial crew," now forgotten, lamb was, he says, interrupted in the enjoyment of the play by a stranger who sat beside him remarking of miss kelly, "what a lass that were to go a gypsying through the world with!" knowing how frequently lamb addressed elia, his other self, and elia, lamb, may we not suppose that on this occasion the voice of the stranger was the voice of elia? was it unlikely that miss kelly, who would see the criticism, would hear the voice and recognize it as lamb's? i love to linger over these delicate incidents of lamb's courtship, which was all too brief. but what of mary? i think she cannot but have contemplated the likelihood of her brother's marriage and determined upon the line she would take in that event. years before she had written, "you will smile when i tell you i think myself the only woman in the world who could live with a brother's wife, and make a real friend of her, partly from early observations of the unhappy example i have just given you, and partly from a knack i know i have of looking into people's real character, and never expecting them to act out of it--never expecting another to do as i would in the same case." mary lamb was an exceptional woman; and even though her brother might have thought he kept the secret of his love to himself, she would know and, i fancy, approve. was it not agreed between them that she was to die first? and when she was gone, who would be left to care for charles? before i come to the little drama--tragedy one could hardly call it--of lamb's love-affair as told in his own way by his letters, i may be permitted to refer to two letters of his to miss kelly, one of them relatively unimportant, the other a few lines only, both unpublished, which form a part of my own lamb collection. these letters, before they fell from high estate, formed a part of the "sentimental library" of harry b. smith, to whom i am indebted for much information concerning them. it will be seen that both these letters work themselves into the story of lamb's love-affair, which i am trying to tell. so far as is known, four letters are all that he ever addressed to the lady: the two above referred to, and the proposal and its sequel, in the collection of mr. huntington of new york, where i saw them not long ago. i have held valuable letters in my hand before, but these letters of lamb! i confess to an emotional feeling with which the mere book-collector is rarely credited. [illustration: miss kelly in various characters.] the earlier and briefer letter is pasted into a copy of the first edition of the "works of charles lamb," , "in boards, shaken," which occupies a place of honor on my shelves. it reads: "mr. lamb having taken the liberty of addressing a slight compliment to miss kelly in his first volume, respectfully requests her acceptance of the collection. th june, ." the compliment, of course, is the sonnet already quoted. [illustration: mr lamb having taken the liberty of addressing a slight compliment to mrs. kelly in his first volume, respectfully requests her acceptance of the collection. th june ] the second letter was written just ten days before lamb asked miss kelly to marry him. the bones playfully referred to were small ivory discs, about the size of a two-shilling piece, which were allotted to leading performers for the use of their friends, giving admission to the pit. on one side was the name of the theatre; on the other the name of the actor or actress to whom they were allotted. the letter reads: dear miss kelly,-- if your bones are not engaged on monday night, will you favor us with the use of them? i know, if you can oblige us, you will make no bones of it; if you cannot, it shall break none betwixt us. we might ask somebody else; but we do not like the bones of any strange animal. we should be welcome to dear mrs. liston's, but then she is so plump, there is no getting at them. i should prefer miss iver's--they must be ivory i take it for granted--but she is married to mr. ----, and become bone of his bone, consequently can have none of her own to dispose of. well, it all comes to this,--if you can let us have them, you will, i dare say; if you cannot, god rest your bones. i am almost at the end of my bon-mots. c. lamb. th _july_, . this characteristic note in lamb's best punning manner ("i fancy i succeed best in epistles of mere fun; puns and that nonsense") may be regarded as a prologue to the drama played ten days later, the whole occupying but the space of a single day. [illustration: dear miss kelly,-- if your bones are not engaged on monday night, will you favor us with the use of them? i know, if you can oblige us, you will make no bones of it; if you cannot, it shall break none betwixt us. we might ask somebody else, but we do not like the bones of any strange animal. we should be welcome to dear mrs. listons, but then she is so plump, there is no getting at them. i should prefer miss iver's--they must be ivory i take it for granted--but she is married to mr. ----, and become bone of his bone, consequently can have none of her own to dispose of. well, it all comes to this,--if you can let us have them, you will, i dare say; if you cannot, god rest your bones. i am almost at the end of my bon-mots. c lamb th july, ] and now the curtain is lifted on the play in which lamb and miss kelly are the chief actors. lamb is in his lodgings in great russell street, covent garden, the individual spot he likes best in all london. bow street police court can be seen through the window, and mary lamb seated thereby, knitting, glances into the busy street as she sees a crowd of people follow in the wake of a constable, conducting a thief to his examination. lamb is seated at a table, writing. we, unseen, may glance over his shoulder and see the letter which he has just finished. dear miss kelly,-- we had the pleasure, _pain_ i might better call it, of seeing you last night in the new play. it was a most consummate piece of acting, but what a task for you to undergo! at a time when your heart is sore from real sorrow! it has given rise to a train of thinking which i cannot suppress. would to god you were released from this way of life; that you could bring your mind to consent to take your lot with us, and throw off forever the whole burden of your profession. i neither expect nor wish you to take notice of this which i am writing, in your present over-occupied & hurried state.--but to think of it at your pleasure. i have quite income enough, if that were to justify me for making such a proposal, with what i may call even a handsome provision for my survivor. what you possess of your own would naturally be appropriated to those for whose sakes chiefly you have made so many hard sacrifices. i am not so foolish as not to know that i am a most unworthy match for such a one as you, but you have for years been a principal object in my mind. in many a sweet assumed character i have learned to love you, but simply as f. m. kelly i love you better than them all. can you quit these shadows of existence, & come & be a reality to us? can you leave off harassing yourself to please a thankless multitude, who know nothing of you, & begin at last to live to yourself & your friends? as plainly & frankly as i have seen you give or refuse assent in some feigned scene, so frankly do me the justice to answer me. it is impossible i should feel injured or aggrieved by your telling me at once, that the proposal does not suit you. it is impossible that i should ever think of molesting you with idle importunity and persecution after your mind [is] once firmly spoken--but happier, far happier, could i have leave to hope a time might come when our friends might be your friends; our interests yours; our book-knowledge, if in that inconsiderable particular we have any little advantage, might impart something to you, which you would every day have it in your power ten thousand fold to repay by the added cheerfulness and joy which you could not fail to bring as a dowry into whatever family should have the honor and happiness of receiving _you_, the most welcome accession that could be made to it. in haste, but with entire respect & deepest affection, i subscribe myself c. lamb. _july_, . no punning or nonsense here. it is the most serious letter lamb ever wrote--a letter so fine, so manly, so honorable in the man who wrote it, so honoring to the woman to whom it was addressed, that, knowing lamb as we do, it can hardly be read without a lump in the throat and eyes suffused with tears. the letter is folded and sealed and sent by a serving-maid to the lady, who lives hard by in henrietta street, just the other side of covent garden--and the curtain falls. before the next act we are at liberty to wonder how lamb passed the time while miss kelly was writing her reply. did he go off to the "dull drudgery of the desk's dead wood" at east india house, and there busy himself with the prices of silks or tea or indigo, or did he wander about the streets of his beloved london? i fancy the latter. in any event the curtain rises a few hours later, and lamb and his sister are seen as before. she has laid aside her knitting. it is late afternoon. lamb is seated at the table endeavoring to read, when a maid enters and hands him a letter; he breaks the seal eagerly. again we look over his shoulder and read:-- henrietta street, _july_ th, . an early & deeply rooted attachment has fixed my heart on one from whom no worldly prospect can well induce me to withdraw it, but while i thus frankly & decidedly decline your proposal, believe me, i am not insensible to the high honour which the preference of such a mind as yours confers upon me--let me, however, hope that all thought upon this subject will end with this letter, & that you henceforth encourage no other sentiment towards me than esteem in my private character and a continuance of that approbation of my humble talents which you have already expressed so much and so often to my advantage and gratification. believe me i feel proud to acknowledge myself your obliged friend f. m. kelly. lamb rises from his chair and attempts to walk over to where mary is sitting; but his feelings overcome him, and he sinks back in his chair again as the curtain falls. it moves quickly, the action of this little drama. the curtain is down but a moment, suggesting the passage of a single hour. when it is raised, lamb is alone; he is but forty-five, but looks an old man. the curtains are drawn, lighted candles are on the table. we hear the rain against the windows. lamb is writing, and for the last time we intrude upon his privacy. now poor charles lamb, now dear charles lamb, "saint charles," if you will! our hearts go out to him; we would comfort him if we could. but read slowly one of the finest letters in all literature: a letter in which he accepts defeat instantly, but with a smile on his face; tears there may have been in his eyes, but she was not to see them. see lamb in his supreme rôle--_of a man_. how often had he urged his friends to play that difficult part--which no one could play better than he. the letter reads:-- dear miss kelly,-- _your injunctions shall be obeyed to a tittle._ i feel myself in a lackadaisical no-how-ish kind of a humor. i believe it is the rain, or something. i had thought to have written seriously, but i fancy i succeed best in epistles of mere fun; puns & that nonsense. you will be good friends with us, will you not? let what has past "break no bones" between us. you will not refuse us them next time we send for them? yours very truly, c. l. p.s. do you observe the delicacy of not signing my full name? n.b. do not paste that last letter of mine into your book. we sometimes, mistakenly, say that the english are not good losers. to think of charles lamb may help us to correct that opinion. all good plays of the period have an epilogue. by all means this should have one; and ten days later lamb himself provided it. it appeared in "the examiner," where, speaking of fanny kelly's acting in "the hypocrite," he said,-- "she is in truth not framed to tease or torment even in jest, but to utter a hearty yes or no; to yield or refuse assent with a noble sincerity. we have not the pleasure of being acquainted with her, but we have been told that she carries the same cordial manners into private life." the curtain falls! the play is at an end. [illustration: charles and mary lamb] vi james boswell--his book sitting one evening with my favorite book and enjoying the company of a crackling wood fire, i was interrupted by a cheerful idiot who, entering unheard, announced himself with the remark, "this is what i call a library." indifferent to a forced welcome, he looked about him and continued, "i see you are fond of boswell. i always preferred macaulay's 'life of johnson' to boswell's--it's so much shorter. i read it in college." argument would have been wasted on him. if he had been alone in his opinion, i would have killed him and thus exterminated the species; but he is only one of a large class, who having once read macaulay's essay, and that years ago, feel that they have received a peculiar insight into the character of samuel johnson and have a patent to sneer at his biographer. having a case of books by and about the dear old doctor, i have acquired a reputation that plagues me. people ask to see my collection, not that they know anything about it, or care, but simply to please me, as they think. climbing to unusual intellectual heights, when safe at the top, where there is said to be always room, they look about and with a knowing leer murmur, "oh! rare ben!" i have become quite expert at lowering them from their dangerous position without showing them the depths of their ignorance. this is a feat which demands such skill as can be acquired only by long practice. macaulay's essay is anathema to me. if it were a food-product, the authorities would long since have suppressed it on account of its artificial coloring matter; but prep.-school teachers and college professors go on "requiring" its reading from sheer force of habit; and as long as they continue to do so, the true samuel johnson and the real james boswell will both remain unknown. out of a thousand who have read this famous essay and remember its wonderfully balanced sentences, which stick in the memory like burrs in the hair, perhaps not more than one will be able to recall the circumstances under which it was written. purporting to be a review of a new edition of boswell's "life of johnson," edited by john wilson croker, it is really a personal attack on a bitter political enemy. written at a time when political feeling ran high, it begins with a lie. using the editorial "we," macaulay opens by saying, "we are sorry to be obliged to say that the merits of mr. croker's performance are on a par with those of a certain leg of mutton on which dr. johnson dined while travelling from london to oxford, and which he, with characteristic energy, pronounced to be as bad as could be." [illustration: james boswell of auchinleck, esqr. _painted by sir joshua reynolds. engraved by john jones_] let us see how sorry macaulay really was. in a letter written to his sister just before croker's book appeared he writes: "i am to review croker's edition of bozzy.... i detest croker more than cold boiled veal.... see whether i do not dust the varlet's jacket in the next number of the 'edinburgh review.'" and he did, and the cloud of dust he then raised obscured johnson, settled on boswell, and for a time almost smothered him. i suspect that macaulay prepared himself for writing his smashing article by reading croker's book through in half a dozen evenings, pencil in hand, searching for blemishes. after that, his serious work began. blinded by his hatred of the editor, he makes johnson grotesque and repulsive, and grossly insults boswell. he started with the premise that boswell was mean, but that his book was great. then the proposition defined itself in his mind something like this: boswell was one of the smallest men that ever lived, yet his "life of johnson" is one of the greatest books ever written. boswell was always laying himself at the feet of some eminent man, begging to be spit upon and trampled upon, yet as a biographer he ranks with shakespeare as a dramatist; and so he goes on, until at last, made dizzy by the sweep of his verbal seesaw and the lilt of his own brutal rhetoric, he finally reaches the conclusion that, _because_ boswell was a great fool, he was a very great writer. absurdity can go no further. well may we ask ourselves what boswell had done to be thus pilloried? nothing! except that he had written a book which is universally admitted to be the best book of its kind in any language. what manner of a man was james boswell? he was, more than most men, a mass of contradictions. it would never, i think, have been easy to answer this question. since macaulay answered it, in his cocksure way, and answered it wrongly, to answer it rightly is most difficult. it is so easy to keep ringing the changes on macaulay. any fool with a pen can do it. some time ago, apropos of the effort being made to preserve the house in great queen street, in london, in which boswell lived when he wrote the biography, some foolish writer in a magazine said, "boswell shrivels more and more as we look at him.... it would be absurd to preserve a memorial to him alone."--"shrivels!" impossible! johnson and boswell as a partnership have been too long established for either member of the firm to "shrivel." unconsciously perhaps, but consciously i think, boswell has so managed it that, when the senior partner is thought of, the junior also comes to mind. johnson's contribution to the business was experience and unlimited common sense; boswell made him responsible for output: the product was words, merely spoken words, either of wisdom or of wit. distribution is quite as important as production--any railroad man will tell you so. boswell had a genius for packing and delivering the goods so that they are, if anything, improved by time and transportation. let me have one more fling at macaulay. he missed, and for his sins he deserved to miss, two good things without which this world would be a sad place. he had no wife and he had no sense of humor. either would have told him that he was writing sheer nonsense when he said, "the very wife of his [boswell's] bosom laughed at his fooleries." what are wives for, i should like to know, if not to laugh at us? but reputation is like a pendulum, and it is now swinging from macaulay. james boswell is coming into his own. the biographer will outlive the essayist, brilliant and wonderful writer though he be; and i venture the prophecy that, when the traveler from new zealand takes his stand on the ruined arch of london bridge to sketch the ruins of st. paul's, he will have a pocket edition of boswell with him, in which to read something of the lives of those strange people who inhabited that vast solitude when it was called london. * * * * * james boswell was born in . his father was a scottish judge, with the title of lord auchinleck. auchinleck is in ayrshire, and the estate had belonged to the boswells for over two hundred years when the biographer of johnson was born. as a young man, he was rather a trial to his father, and showed his ability chiefly in circumventing the old man's wishes. the father destined him for the law; but he was not a good student, and was fond of society; so the choice of the son was for the army. we, however, know boswell better than he knew himself, and we know that when he fancied that he heard the call to arms, what he really wanted was to parade around in a scarlet uniform and make love to the ladies. but even in those early days there must have been something attractive about him, for when he and his father went up to london to solicit the good offices of the duke of argyle to secure a commission for him, the duke is reported to have declined, saying, "my lord, i like your son. the boy must not be shot at for three shillings and six-pence a day." boswell was only twenty when he first heard of the greatness of samuel johnson and formed a desire to meet him; but it was not until several years later that the great event occurred. what a meeting it was! it seems almost to have been foreordained. a proud, flippant, pushing young particle, irresponsible and practically unknown, meets one of the most distinguished men then living in london, a man more than thirty years his senior and in almost every respect his exact opposite, and so carries himself that, in spite of a rebuff or two at the start, we find johnson a few days later shaking him by the hand and asking him why he does not come oftener to see him. [illustration: portrait of dr. johnson by sir joshua reynolds, probably idealized. the doctor is wearing a tie-wig and holds a copy of "irene" _engraved by zobel_] the description of the first meeting between johnson and boswell, written many years afterwards, is a favorite passage with all good boswellians. "at last, on monday, the th of may[ ] [ ], when i was sitting in mr. davies' back parlour, after having drunk tea with him and mrs. davies, johnson unexpectedly came into the shop; and mr. davies, having perceived him through the glass-door in the room in which we were sitting, advancing toward us,--he announced his aweful approach to me, somewhat in the manner of an actor in the part of horatio, when he addresses hamlet on the appearance of his father's ghost, 'look, my lord, it comes!'" this is a good example of boswell's style. in the fewest possible words he creates a picture which one never forgets. we not only hear the talk, we see the company, and soon come to know every member of it. without this meeting the world would have lost one of the most delightful books ever written, boswell himself would probably never have been heard of, and johnson to-day would be a mere name instead of being, as he is, next to shakespeare, the most quoted of english authors. as augustine birrell has pointed out, we have only talk _about_ other talkers. johnson's is a matter of record. johnson stamped his image on his own generation, but it required the genius of boswell to make him known to ours, and to all generations to come. "great as johnson is," says burke, "he is greater in boswell's books than in his own." that we now speak of the "age of johnson" is due rather to boswell than to the author of the "dictionary," "rasselas," and endless "ramblers." someone has said that the three greatest characters in english literature are falstaff, mr. pickwick, and dr. johnson. had james boswell created the third of this great trio, he would indeed rank with shakespeare and with dickens; but johnson was his own creation, and boswell, posing as an artist, painted his portrait as mortal man has never been painted before. in his pages we see the many-sided johnson, the great burly philosopher, scholar, wit, and ladies' man--boswell makes him a shade too austere--more clearly than any other man who ever lived. as a portrait-painter, boswell is the world's greatest artist; and he is not simply a portrait-painter--he is unsurpassed at composition, atmosphere, and color. his book is like rembrandt's night watch--the canvas is crowded, the portraits all are faultless and distinct, but there is one dominating figure standing out from the rest--one masterly, unsurpassed, and immortal figure. boswell, when he first met johnson, was twenty-two years of age. a year later he writes him: "it shall be my study to do what i can to render your life happy; and if you die before me, i shall endeavor to do honor to your memory." he kept his word. from that hour almost to the time of johnson's death (i say almost, for just before the end there seems to have fallen upon their friendship a shadow, the cause of which has never been fully explained), they were unreservedly friends. superficially they had little in common, but in essentials, all that was important; and they supplemented each other as no two men have ever done before or since. reading the life casually, as it is usually read, one would suppose that they were very much together; but such is not the case. birkbeck hill, boswell's most painstaking editor, has calculated that, including the time when boswell and johnson were together in the hebrides, they could have seen each other only for days in all; and this on the assumption that boswell, when in london, was always in johnson's company, which we know was not the case; moreover, when they were apart there were gaps of years in their correspondence. boswell, however, weaves the story of johnson's life so skillfully that we come to have the feeling that whenever johnson was going to say anything important, boswell was at his side. johnson, in speaking of his dictionary once said, "why, sir, i knew very well how to go about it and have done it very well." boswell could have said the same of his great work. we had no great biography before his, and in comparison we have had none since. the combination of so great a subject for portraiture and so great an artist had never occurred before and may never occur again. geniuses ordinarily do not run in couples. boswell hoped that his book would bring him fame. over it he labored at a time when labor was especially difficult for him. for it he was prepared to sacrifice himself, his friends, anything. whatever would add to his book's value he would include, at whatever cost. a more careful and exact biographer never lived. reynolds said of him that he wrote as if he were under oath; and we all remember the reply he made to hannah more, who, when she heard he was engaged in writing the life of her revered friend, urged him to mitigate somewhat the asperities of his disposition: "no, madam, i will not cut his claws or make my tiger a cat to please anyone." and for writing this book boswell has been held up to almost universal scorn. his defenders have been few and faint-hearted. i have never derived much satisfaction from boswell's rescue (the word is lowell's) by carlyle. that unhappy old dyspeptic, unable to enjoy a good dinner himself, could not forgive boswell his gusto for the good things of life. what were boswell's faults above those of other men, that stones should be thrown at him? he drank too much! true, but what of it? who in his day did not? johnson records that many of the most respectable people in his cathedral city of lichfield went nightly to bed drunk. he was an unfaithful husband! admitted; but mrs. boswell forgave him, and why should not we? he was proud! he was, but the pride of race is not unheard of in the scion of an old family; nor did he allow his pride to prevent his attaching himself to an old man who admitted that he hardly knew who was his grandfather. he had a taste for knowing people highly placed! he had, and he came to number among his friends the greatest scholar, the greatest poet, the greatest painter, the greatest actor, the greatest historian, and most of the great statesmen of his day; and these men, though they laughed with him frequently, and at him sometimes, did not think him altogether a fool. he was vain and foolish! yes, and inquisitive; yet while neither wise nor witty himself, he had an exquisite appreciation of wit in others. he carried repartees and arguments with accuracy. mrs. thrale very cleverly said that his long-head was better than short-hand; yet, as some one has pointed out, to follow the hum of conversation with so much intelligence required unusual quickness of apprehension and cannot be reconciled with the opinion that he was simply endowed with memory. he lived beyond his means and got into debt! i seem to have heard something of this of other men whose fathers were not enjoying a comfortable estate and whose children were not adequately provided for. let there be an end to a discussion of the weaknesses of boswell. they have been sufficiently advertised and his good qualities overlooked. if a man is a genius, let his personal shortcomings be absorbed in the greatness of his work. the worst that can be fairly said of boswell is that he was vain, inquisitive, and foolish. let us forget the silly questions he sometimes put to johnson, and remember how often he started something which made the old doctor perform at his unrivaled best. the difficulty is that boswell told on himself. as he was speaking to johnson one day of his weaknesses, the old man admitted that he had them, too, but added, "i don't tell of them. a man should be careful not to tell tales of himself to his own disadvantage." it would have been well if boswell could have remembered this excellent bit of advice; but johnson's advice, whether sought or unsought, was too frequently disregarded. one of his most intimate friends, sir joshua reynolds, has testified to his truthfulness, and even a casual reader of the life will admit that he was courageous. tossed and gored by johnson, as he frequently was, he always came back; and, much as he respected the old man, he was never overawed by him. he differed with him on the wisdom of taxing the american colonies, on the merits of the novels of fielding, on the poetry of gray, and on many other subjects. to differ with johnson required courage and conversational ability of no common order. indeed, it may be doubted whether, next to johnson himself, boswell was not the best talker in the circle--and johnson's circle included the most brilliant men of his time. he was sometimes very happy in his reference to himself: as where, having brought paoli and johnson together, he compares himself to an isthmus connecting two great continents. indeed, the great work is so famous as a biography of johnson that few people realize to what an extent and how subtly boswell has made it his own autobiography. johnson once said, "sir, the biographical part of literature is what i love best." i am inclined to think that it is so with most of us. it would have been impossible for boswell, the biographer _par excellence_, not to have told in one way or another the story of his own life. he told it in his account of the island of corsica, and in his letters to his life-long friend, temple. these deserve to be better known than they are. they are indeed just such letters as samuel pepys might have written in cipher to his closest friend, whom he had already provided with a key. the first letter of this correspondence is dated edinburgh, july, , when boswell was eighteen years of age; and the last was on his writing-desk in london when the shadow of death fell upon him, thirty-seven years later. the manner in which these letters came to be published is interesting. an english clergyman touring in france, having occasion to make some small purchases at a shop in boulogne, observed that the paper in which they were wrapped was a fragment of an english letter. upon inspection a date and some well-known names were observed, and further investigation showed that the piece of paper was part of a correspondence carried on nearly a century before between boswell and a friend, the reverend william johnson temple. on making inquiry, it was ascertained that this piece of paper had been taken from a large parcel recently purchased from a hawker, who was in the habit of passing through boulogne once or twice a year, for the purpose of supplying the different shops with paper. beyond this no further information could be obtained. the whole contents of the parcel were immediately secured. at the death of the purchaser of these letters they passed into the hands of a nephew, from whom they were obtained, and published in , after such editing and expurgating as was then fashionable. who did the work has never been discovered, nor does it matter, as the letters fortunately passed into the collection of j. p. morgan, and are now, finally, being edited, together with such other letters as are available, by professor tinker of yale. students of eighteenth-century literature have good reason for believing that a volume of supreme interest is in preparation for them; for such self-revealing letters, such human documents as those of james boswell, could have been written only by their author, or by samuel pepys. as these letters are little known, let me give a few excerpts from them as originally published. on one of his journeys to london, boswell writes:-- i have thought of making a good acquaintance in each town on the road. no man has been more successful in making acquaintances easily than i have been; i even bring people quickly on to a degree of cordiality ... but i know not if i last sufficiently, though surely, my dear temple, there is always a warm place for you. further along on the road he writes again:-- i am in charming health and spirits. there is a handsome maid at this inn, who interrupts me by coming sometimes into the room. i have no confession to make, my priest; so be not curious. on his way back to edinburgh he goes somewhat out of his way to stop again at this inn and have another look at the handsome chambermaid,--her name was matty,--and finds that she has disappeared, as handsome chambermaids have a way of doing; but boswell comforts himself by reflecting that he can find mistresses wherever he goes. he remembers also that he had promised dr. johnson to accept a chest of books of the moralist's own selection, and to "read more and drink less." [illustration: james boswell. inner temple, london .-- a present from my worthy friend temple. inscription in boswell's copy of mason's "elfrida"] again he writes from edinburgh:-- i have talked a great deal of my sweet little mistress; i am, however, uneasy about her. furnishing a house and maintaining her with a maid will cost me a great deal of money, and it is too like marriage, or too much a settled plan of licentiousness; but what can i do? i have already taken the house, and the lady has agreed to go in at whitsuntide; i cannot in honour draw back.... nor am i tormented because my charmer has formerly loved others. besides she is ill-bred, quite a rompish girl. she debases my dignity: she has no refinement, but she is very handsome and very lively. what is it to me that she has formerly loved? so have i. temple's letters to boswell have not been preserved, but he appears to have warned him of the danger of his course, for boswell comes back with,-- i have a dear infidel, as you say; but don't think her unfaithful. i could not love her if she was. there is a baseness in all deceit which my soul is virtuous enough to abhor, and therefore i look with horror on adultery. but my amiable mistress is no longer bound to him who was her husband: he has used her shockingly ill; he has deserted her, he lives with another. is she not then free? she is, it is clear, and no arguments can disguise it. she is now mine, and were she to be unfaithful to me she ought to be pierced with a corsican poniard; but i believe she loves me sincerely. she has done everything to please me; she is perfectly generous, and would not hear of any present. boswell seemed to enjoy equally two very different things, namely, going to church and getting drunk. on easter sunday he "attends the solemn service at st. paul's," and next day informs mr. temple that he had "received the holy sacrament, and was exalted in piety." but in the same letter he reports that he is enjoying "the metropolis to the full," and that he has had "too much dissipation." he resolves to do better when his book on corsica appears, and he has the reputation of a literary man to support. meanwhile, he confesses:-- i last night unwarily exceeded my one bottle of old hock; and having once broke over the pale, i run wild, but i did not get drunk. i was, however, intoxicated, and very ill next day. i ask your forgiveness, and i shall be more cautious for the future. the drunken manners of this country are very bad. boswell's affairs with chambermaids, grass widows, and women of the town moved along simultaneously with efforts to land an heiress. he asks temple to help him in an affair with a miss blair. temple did his best and failed. he reported his failure and boswell was deeply dejected for five minutes; then he writes: my dear friend, suppose what you please; suppose her affections changed, as those of women too often are; suppose her offended at my _spanish stateliness_ [italics mine]; suppose her to have resolved to be more reserved and coy in order to make me more in love. then he felt that he must have a change of scene, and off he was to london. i got into the fly at buckden [he says], and had a very good journey. an agreeable young widow nursed me, and supported my lame foot on her knee. am i not fortunate in having something about me that interests most people at first sight in my favour? in a letter to mrs. thrale, johnson once wrote: "it has become so much the fashion to publish letters that in order to avoid it, i put as little into mine as i can." boswell was not afraid of publication. his fear, as he said, was that letters, like sermons, would not continue to attract public curiosity, so he spiced his highly. did he do or say a foolish thing, he at once sat down and told temple all about it, usually adding that in the near future he intended to amend. his comment on his contemporaries is characteristic. "hume," he says, "told me that he would give me half-a-crown for every page of johnson's dictionary in which he could not find an absurdity, if i would give him half-a-crown for every page in which he could find one." he announces adam smith's election to membership in the famous literary club by saying: "smith is now of our club--it has lost its select merit." of gibbon he says: "i hear nothing of the publication of his second volume. he is an ugly, affected, disgusting fellow, and poisons our literary club to me." as he grows older and considers how unsuccessful his life has been, how he had failed at the bar both in scotland and in london, he begins to complain. he can get no clients; he fears that, even were he entrusted with cases, he would fail utterly. i am afraid [he says], that, were i to be tried, i should be found so deficient in the forms, the quirks and the quiddities, which early habit acquires, that i should expose myself. yet the delusion of westminster hall, of brilliant reputation and splendid fortune as a barrister, still weighs upon my imagination. i must be seen in the courts, and must hope for some happy openings in causes of importance. the chancellor, as you observe, has not done as i expected; but why did i expect it? i am going to put him to the test. could i be satisfied with being baron of auchinleck, with a good income for a gentleman in scotland, i might, no doubt, be independent. what can be done to deaden the ambition which has ever raged in my veins like a fever? but the highest spirits will sometimes flag. boswell, the friendly, obliging, generous roué, was getting old. he begins to speak of the past. do you remember when you and i sat up all night at cambridge, and read gray with a noble enthusiasm; when we first used to read mason's "elfrida," and when we talked of that elegant knot of worthies, gray, mason and walpole? "elfrida" calls itself on the title-page, "a dramatic poem written on the model of the ancient greek tragedy." i happen to own and value highly the very copy of this once famous poem, which boswell and temple read together; on the fly leaf, under boswell's signature, is a characteristic note in his bold, clear hand: "a present from my worthy friend temple." [illustration: title of mason's "elfrida." first edition] he becomes more than ever before the butt of his acquaintance. he tells his old friend of a trick which has been played on him--only one of many. he was staying at a great house crowded with guests. i and two other gentlemen were laid in one room. on thursday morning my wig was missing; a strict search was made, all in vain. i was obliged to go all day in my nightcap, and absent myself from a party of ladies and gentlemen who went and dined with an earl on the banks of the lake, a piece of amusement which i was glad to shun, as well as a dance which they had at night. but i was in a ludicrous situation. i suspect a wanton trick, which some people think witty; but i thought it very ill-timed to one in my situation. when his father dies and he comes into his estates, he is deeply in debt; he hates scotland, he longs to be in london, to enjoy the club, to see johnson, to whom he writes of his difficulties, asking his advice. johnson gives him just such advice as might be expected. to come hither with such expectations at the expense of borrowed money, which i find you know not where to borrow, can hardly be considered prudent. i am sorry to find, what your solicitations seem to imply, that you have already gone the length of your credit. this is to set the quiet of your whole life at hazard. if you anticipate your inheritance, you can at last inherit nothing; all that you receive must pay for the past. you must get a place, or pine in penury, with the empty name of a great estate. poverty, my dear friend, is so great an evil, that i cannot but earnestly enjoin you to avoid it. live on what you have; live, if you can, on less; do not borrow either for vanity or pleasure; the vanity will end in shame, and the pleasure in regret; stay therefore at home till you have saved money for your journey hither. his wife dies and johnson dies. one by one the props are pulled from under him; he drinks, constantly gets drunk; is, in this condition, knocked down in the streets and robbed, and thinks with horror of giving up his soul, intoxicated, to his maker. "oh, temple, temple!" he writes, "is this realizing any of the towering hopes which have so often been the subject of our conversation and letters?" at last he begins a letter which he is never to finish. "i would fain write you in my own hand but really cannot." these were the last words poor boswell ever wrote. * * * * * but boswell's life is chiefly interesting where it impinges upon that of his great friend. a few months after the famous meeting in davies's book-shop, he started for the continent, with the idea, following the fashion of the time, of studying law at utrecht, johnson accompanying him on his way as far as harwich. after a short time at the university, during which he could have learned nothing, we find him wandering about europe in search of celebrities,--big game,--the hunting of which was to be the chief interest of his life. he succeeded in bagging voltaire and rousseau,--there was none bigger,--and after a short stay in rome he turned north, sailing from leghorn to corsica, where he met paoli, the patriot, and finally returned home, escorting thérèse levasseur, rousseau's mistress, as far as london. hume at this time speaks of him as "a friend of mine, very good-humored, very agreeable and very mad." meanwhile his father, lord auchinleck, who had borne with admirable patience such stories as had reached him of his son's wild ways, insisted that it was time for him to settle down; but boswell was too full of his adventures in the island of corsica and his meeting with paoli, to begin drudgery at the law. his accounts of his travels made him a welcome guest at london dinner-parties, and he had finally decided to write a book of his experiences. at last the father, by a threat to cut off supplies, secured his son's return; but his desire to publish a book had not abated, and while he finally was admitted to the scotch bar, we find him corresponding with his friend mr. dilly, the publisher, in regard to the book upon which he was busily employed. from an unpublished letter, which i was fortunate enough to secure quite recently from a book-seller in new york, gabriel wells, we may follow boswell in his negotiations. edinburgh, _ august, _. sir i have received your letter agreeing to pay me one hundred guineas for the copy-right of my account of corsica, &c., the money to be due three months after the publication of the work in london, and also agreeing that the first edition shall be printed in scotland, under my direction, and a map of corsica be engraved for the work at your expence. in return to which, i do hereby agree that you shall have the sole property of the said work. our bargain therefore is now concluded and i heartily wish that it may be of advantage to you. i am sir your most humble servant james boswell. to mr. dilly, bookseller, london. [illustration: copy of james boswell's agreement with mr. dilly, reciting the terms agreed on for the publication of "corsica"] through the kindness of my fellow collector and generous friend, judge patterson of philadelphia, i own an interesting fragment of a brief in boswell's hand, written at about this period. it appears therefrom that boswell had been retained to secure the return of a stocking-frame of the value of a few shillings, which had been forcibly carried off. the outcome of the litigation is not known, but the paper bears the interesting indorsement, "this was the first paper drawn by me as an advocate. james boswell." [illustration: ms. indorsement by boswell on the first paper drawn by him as an advocate] but i am allowing my collector's passion to carry me too far afield. the preface of boswell's "account of corsica" closes with an interesting bit of self-revelation. he says, characteristically,-- for my part i should be proud to be known as an author; i have an ardent ambition for literary fame; for of all possessions i should imagine literary fame to be the most valuable. a man who has been able to furnish a book which has been approved by the world has established himself as a respectable character in distant society, without any danger of having that character lessened by the observation of his weaknesses. to preserve a uniform dignity among those who see us every day is hardly possible; and to aim at it must put us under the fetters of a perpetual restraint. the author of an approved book may allow his natural disposition an easy play, and yet indulge the pride of superior genius, when he considers that by those who know him only as an author he never ceases to be respected. such an author in his hours of gloom and discontent may have the consolation to think that his writings are at that very time giving pleasure to numbers, and such an author may cherish the hope of being remembered after death, which has been a great object of the noblest minds in all ages. a brief contemporary criticism sums up the merits of "corsica" in a paragraph. "there is a deal about the island and its dimensions that one doesn't care a straw about, but that part which relates to paoli is amusing and interesting. the author has a rage for knowing anybody that was ever talked of." boswell thought that he was the first, but he proved to be the second englishman (the first was an englishwoman) who had ever set foot upon the island. he visited paoli, and his accounts of his reception by the great patriot and his conversation with the people are amusing in the extreme. to his great satisfaction it was generally believed that he was on a public mission. the more i disclaimed any such thing, the more they persevered in affirming it; and i was considered as a very close young man. i therefore just allowed them to make a minister of me, till time should undeceive them.... the ambasciadore inglese--as the good peasants and soldiers used to call me--became a great favorite among them. i got a corsican dress made, in which i walked about with an air of true satisfaction. on another occasion:-- when i rode out i was mounted on paoli's own horse, with rich furniture of crimson velvet, with broad gold lace, and had my guard marching along with me. i allowed myself to indulge a momentary pride in this parade, as i was curious to experience what should really be the pleasure of state and distinction with which mankind are so strangely intoxicated. the success of this publication led boswell into some absurd extravagances which he thought were necessary to support his position as a distinguished english author. praise for his work he skillfully extracted from most of his friends, but johnson proved obdurate. he had expressed a qualified approval of the book when it appeared; but when boswell in a letter sought more than this, the old doctor charged him to empty his head of "corsica," which he said he thought had filled it rather too long. boswell wrote at least two of what we should to-day call press notices of himself. one is reminded of the story of the man in a hired dress-suit at a charity ball rushing about inquiring the whereabouts of the man who puts your name in the paper. to such an one boswell presented this brief account of himself on the occasion of the famous shakespeare jubilee. one of the most remarkable masks upon this occasion was james boswell, esq., in the dress of an armed corsican chief. he entered the amphitheatre about twelve o'clock. he wore a short dark-coloured coat of coarse cloth, scarlet waistcoat and breeches, and black spatter-dashes; his cap or bonnet was of black cloth; on the front of it was embroidered in gold letters, "viva la liberta," and on one side of it was a handsome blue feather and cockade, so that it had an elegant as well as a warlike appearance. on the breast of his coat was sewed a moor's head, the crest of corsica, surrounded with branches of laurel. he had also a cartridge-pouch into which was stuck a stiletto, and on his left side a pistol was hung upon the belt of his cartridge-pouch. he had a fusee slung across his shoulder, wore no powder in his hair, but had it plaited at full length with a knot of blue ribbon at the end of it. he had, by way of staff, a very curious vine all of one piece, with a bird finely carved upon it emblematical of the sweet bard of avon. he wore no mask, saying that it was not proper for a gallant corsican. so soon as he came into the room he drew universal attention. the novelty of the corsican dress, its becoming appearance, and the character of that brave nation concurred to distinguish the armed corsican chief. may we not suppose that several bottles of "old hock" contributed to his enjoyment of this occasion? here is the other one:-- boswell, the author, is a most excellent man: he is of an ancient family in the west of scotland, upon which he values himself not a little. at his nativity there appeared omens of his future greatness. his parts are bright, and his education has been good. he has travelled in post-chaises miles without number. he is fond of seeing much of the world. he eats of every good dish, especially apple pie. he drinks old hock. he has a very fine temper. he is somewhat of a humorist and a little tinctured with pride. he has a good manly countenance, and he owns himself to be amorous. he has infinite vivacity, yet is observed at times to have a melancholy cast. he is rather fat than lean, rather short than tall, rather young than old. his shoes are neatly made, and he never wears spectacles. the success of "corsica" was not very great, but it sufficed to turn boswell's head completely. he spent as much time in london as he could contrive to, and led there the life of a dissipated man of fashion. he quarreled with his father, and after a series of escapades with women of the town and love-affairs with heiresses, he finally married his cousin, margaret montgomerie, a girl without a fortune. much to boswell's disgust, his father, on the very same day, married for the second time, and married his cousin. for a time after marriage he seemed to take his profession seriously, but he deceived neither his father nor his clients. the old man said that jamie was simply taking a toot on a new horn. meanwhile boswell never allowed his interest in johnson to cool for a moment. when he was in london,--and he went there on one excuse or another as often as his means permitted,--he was much with johnson; and when he was at home, he was constantly worrying johnson for some evidence of his affection for him. finally johnson writes, "my regard for you is greater almost than i have words to express" (this from the maker of a dictionary); "but i do not chuse to be always repeating it; write it down in the first leaf of your pocketbook, and never doubt of it again." neither wife nor father could understand the feeling of reverence and affection which their jamie had for johnson. i always delight in the story of his father saying to an old friend, "there's nae hope for jamie, mon. jamie is gaen clean gyte. what do you think, mon? he's done wi' paoli--he's off wi' the land-louping scoundrel of a corsican; and whose tail do you think he has pinned himself to now, mon? a dominie, mon--an auld dominie: he keeped a schule, and ca'd it an academy." mrs. boswell, a sensible, cold, rather shadowy person, saw but little of johnson, and was satisfied that it should be so. there is one good story to her credit. unaccustomed to the ways of genius, she caught johnson, who was nearsighted, one evening burnishing a lighted candle on her carpet to make it burn more brightly, and remarked, "i have seen many a bear led by a man, but never before have i seen a man led by a bear." boswell was just the fellow to appreciate this, and promptly repeated it to johnson, who failed to see the humor of it. in his father died and he came into the estate, but by his improvident management he soon found himself in financial difficulties. johnson's death two years later removed a restraining influence that he much needed. he tried to practice law, but he was unsuccessful. never an abstemious man, he now drank heavily and constantly, and as constantly resolved to turn over a new leaf. shortly after johnson's death, boswell published his "journal of the tour of the hebrides," which reached a third edition within the year and established his reputation as a writer of a new kind, in which anecdotes and conversation are woven into a narrative with a fidelity and skill which were as easy to him as they were impossible to others. the great success of this book encouraged him to begin, and continue to work upon, the great biography of johnson on which his fame so securely rests. others had published before him. mrs. piozzi's "anecdotes of the late samuel johnson" had sold well, and hawkins, the "unclubable knight," as johnson called him, had been commissioned by the booksellers of london to write a formal biography, which appeared in ; while of lesser publications there was seemingly no end; nevertheless, boswell persevered, and wrote his friend temple that his mode of biography which gives not only a history of johnson's visible progress through the world, and of his publications, but a view of his mind in his letters and conversations, is the most perfect that can be conceived, and will be more of a life than any work that has yet appeared. he had been preparing for the task for more than twenty years; he had, in season and out, been taking notes of johnson's conversations, and johnson himself had supplied him with much of the material. thus in poverty, interrupted by periods of dissipation, amid the sneers of many, he continued his work. while it was in progress his wife died, and he, poor fellow, justly upbraided himself for his neglect of her. [illustration: dr. johnson in traveling dress, as described in boswell's tour _engraved by trotter_] meanwhile, a "new horn" was presented to him. he had, or thought he had, a chance of being elected to parliament, or at least of securing a place under government; but in all this he was destined to be disappointed. it would be difficult to imagine conditions more unfavorable to sustained effort than those under which boswell labored. he was desperately hard up. always subject to fits of the blues, which amounted almost to melancholia, he many a time thought of giving up the task from which he hoped to derive fame and profit. he considered selling his rights in the publication for a thousand pounds. but it would go to his heart, he said, to accept such a sum; and again, "i am in such bad spirits that i have fear concerning it--i may get no profit, nay, may lose--the public may be disappointed and think i have done it poorly--i may make enemies, and even have quarrels." then the depression would pass and he could write: "it will be, without exception, the most entertaining book you ever read." when his friends heard that the life would make two large volumes quarto, and that the price was two guineas, they shook their heads and boswell's fears began again. at last, on may , , the book appeared, with the imprint of charles dilly, in the poultry; and so successful was it that by august twelve hundred copies had been disposed of, and the entire edition was exhausted before the end of the year. the writer confesses to such a passion for this book that of this edition he owns at present four copies in various states, the one he prizes most having an inscription in boswell's hand: "to james boswell, esquire, junior, from his affectionate father, the authour." of other editions--but why display one's weakness? "should there," in boswell's phrase, "be any cold-blooded and morose mortals who really dislike it," i am sorry for them. to me it has for thirty years been a never-ending source of profit--and pleasure, which is as important. it is a book to ramble in--and with. i have never, i think, read it through from cover to cover, as the saying is, but some day i will; meanwhile let me make a confession. there are parts of it which are deadly dull; the judicious reader will skip these without hint from me. i have, indeed, always had a certain sympathy with george henry lewes, who for years threatened to publish an abridgment of it. it could be done: indeed, the work could be either expanded or contracted at will; but every good boswellian will wish to do this for himself; tampering with a classic is somewhat like tampering with a will--it is good form not to. [illustration: to james boswell esq: junior, from his affectionate father the authour.] what is really needed is a complete index to the sayings of johnson--his _dicta_, spoken or written. it would be an heroic task, but heroic tasks are constantly being undertaken. my friend osgood, of princeton, a ripe scholar and an ardent johnsonian, has been devoting the scanty leisure of years to a concordance of spenser. no one less competent than he should undertake to supervise such a labor of love. it will be remembered that the bible is not lacking in quotations, nor is shakespeare; but these sources of wisdom aside, boswell, quoting johnson, supplies us more frequently with quotations than any other author whatever. could the irascible old doctor come to earth again, and with that wonderful memory of his call to mind the purely casual remarks which he chanced to make to boswell, he would surely be amazed to hear himself quoted, and to learn that his _obiter dicta_ had become fixed in the minds of countless thousands who perhaps have never heard his name. i chanced the other day to stop at my broker's office to see how much i had lost in an unexpected drop in the market, and to beguile the time, picked up a market letter in which this sentence met my eye: "the unexpected and perpendicular decline in the stock of golden rod mining shares has left many investors sadder if not wiser. when will the public learn that investors in securities of this class are only indulging themselves in proving the correctness of franklin's [_sic_] adage, that the expectation of making a profit in such securities is simply _the triumph of hope over experience_?" good boswellians will hardly need to be reminded that this is dr. johnson on marriage. he had something equally wise to say, too, on the subject of "shares"; but in this instance he was speaking of a man's second venture into matrimony, his first having proved very unhappy. * * * * * most men, when they write a book of memoirs in which hundreds of living people are mentioned, discreetly postpone publication until after they and the chief personages of the narrative are dead. johnson refers to bolingbroke as a "cowardly scoundrel" for writing a book (charging a blunderbuss, he called it) and leaving half a crown to a beggarly scotchman to pull the trigger after his death. boswell spent some years in charging his blunderbuss; he filled it with shot, great and small, and then, taking careful aim, pulled the trigger. cries of rage, anguish, and delight instantly arose from all over the kingdom. a vast number of living people were mentioned, and their merits or failings discussed with an _abandon_ which is one of the great charms of the book to-day, but which, when it appeared, stirred up a veritable hornets' nest. as some one very cleverly said, "boswell has invented a new kind of libel." "a man who is dead once told me so and so"--what redress have you in law? none! the only thing to do is to punch his head. fortunately boswell escaped personal chastisement, but he made many enemies and alienated some friends. mrs. thrale, by this time mrs. piozzi, quite naturally felt enraged at boswell's contemptuous remarks about her, and at his references to what johnson said of her while he was enjoying the hospitality of streatham. the best of us like to criticize our friends behind their backs; and johnson could be frank, and indeed brutal, on occasion. mrs. boscawen, the wife of the admiral, on the other hand, had no reason to be displeased when she read: "if it is not presumptuous in me to praise her, i would say that her manners are the best of any lady with whom i ever had the happiness to be acquainted." bishop percy, shrewdly suspecting that boswell's judgment was not to be trusted, when he complied with his request for some material for the life, desired that his name might not be mentioned in the work; to which boswell replied that it was his intention to introduce as many names of eminent persons as he could, adding, "believe me, my lord, you are not the only bishop to grace my pages." we may suspect that he, like many another, took up the book with fear and trembling, and put it down in a rage. wilkes, too, got a touch of tar, but little he cared; the best beloved and the best hated man in england, he probably laughed, properly thinking that boswell could do little damage to his reputation. but what shall we say of lady diana beauclerk's feelings when she read the stout old english epithet which johnson had applied to her. johnson's authorized biographer, sir john hawkins, dead and buried "without his shoes and stawkin's," as the old jingle goes, had sneered at boswell and passed on; verily he hath his reward. boswell accused him of stupidity, inaccuracy, and writing fatiguing and disgusting "rigmarole." his daughter came to the rescue of his fame, and boswell and she had a lively exchange of letters; indeed boswell, at all times, seemed to court that which most men shrink from, a discussion of questions of veracity with a woman. but on the whole the book was well received, and over his success boswell exulted, as well he might; he had achieved his ambition, he had written his name among the immortals. with its publication his work was done. he became more and more dissipated. his sober hours he devoted to schemes for self-reform and a revision of the text for future editions. he was engaged on a third printing when death overtook him. the last words he wrote--the unfinished letter to his old friend temple--have already been quoted. the pen which he laid down was taken up by his son, who finished the letter. from him we learn the sad details of his death. he passed away on may , , in his fifty-fifth year. like many another man, boswell was always intending to reform, and never did. his practice was ever at total variance with his principles. in opinions he was a moralist; in conduct he was--otherwise. let it be remembered, however, that he was of a generous, open-hearted, and loving disposition. a clause in his will, written in his own hand, sheds important light upon his character. "i do beseech succeeding heirs of entail to be kind to the tenants, and not to turn out old possessors to get a little more rent." what were the contemporary opinions of boswell? walpole did not like him, but walpole liked few. paoli was his friend; with goldsmith and with garrick he had been intimate. mrs. thrale and he did not get along well together; he could not bear the thought that she saw more of johnson than he, and he was jealous of her influence over him. fanny burney did not like him, and declined to give him some information which he very naturally wanted for his book, because she wanted to use it herself. gibbon thought him terribly indiscreet, which, compared with gibbon, he certainly was. reynolds and he were firm friends--the great book is dedicated to sir joshua. of boswell, johnson wrote during their journey in scotland, "there is no house where he is not received with kindness and respect"; and elsewhere, "he never left a house without leaving a wish for his return"; also, "he was a man who finds himself welcome wherever he goes and makes friends faster than he can want them"; and "he was the best traveling companion in the world." if there is a greater test than this, i do not know it. it is summering and wintering with a man in a month. burke said of him that "good humor was so natural to him as to be scarcely a virtue to him." i know many admirable men of whom this cannot be said. several years ago, being in ayrshire, i found myself not far from auchinleck; and although i knew that boswell's greatest editor, birkbeck hill, had experienced a rebuff upon his attempt to visit the old estate which johnson had described as "very magnificent and very convenient," i determined, out of loyalty to james boswell, to make the attempt. i thought that perhaps american nerve would succeed where english scholarship had failed. we had spent the night at ayr, and early next morning i inquired the cost of a motor-trip to take my small party over to auchinleck; and i was careful to pronounce the word as though spelled afflek, as boswell tells us to. "to where, sir?" "afflek," i repeated. the man seemed dazed. finally i spelled it for him, "a-u-c-h-i-n-l-e-c-k." "ah, sir, auchinleck,"--in gutturals the types will not reproduce,--"that would be two guineas, sir." "very good," i said; "pronounce it your own way, but let me have the motor." we were soon rolling over a road which boswell must have taken many times, but certainly never so rapidly or luxuriously. how dr. johnson would have enjoyed the journey! i recalled his remark, "sir, if i had no duties and no reference to futurity, i would spend my life driving briskly in a post-chaise with a pretty woman." futurity was not bothering me and i had a pretty woman, my wife, by my side. moreover, to complete the doctor's remark, she was "one who could understand me and add something to the conversation." we set out in high spirits. as we approached the house by a fine avenue bordered by venerable trees,--no doubt those planted by the old laird, who delighted in such work,--my courage almost failed me; but i had gone too far to retire. to the servant who responded to my ring i stated my business, which seemed trivial enough. i might as well have addressed a graven image. at last it spoke. "the family are away. the instructions are that no one is to be admitted to the house under pain of instant dismissal." means elsewhere successful failed me here. "you can walk in the park." "thanks, but i did not come to scotland to walk in a park. perhaps you can direct me to the church where boswell is buried." "you will find the tomb in the kirk in the village." coal has been discovered on the estate, and the village, a mile or two away, is ugly, and, to judge from the number of places where beer and spirits could be had, their consumption would seem to be the chief occupation of the population. i found the kirk, with door securely locked. would i try for the key at the minister's? i would; but the minister was away for the day. would i try the sexton? i would; but he, too, was away, and i found myself in the midst of a crowd of barefooted children who embarrassed me by their profitless attentions. it was cold and it began to rain. i remembered that we were not far from greenock where "when it does not rain, it snaws." my visit had not been a success, i cannot recommend a boswell pilgrimage. i wished that i was in london, and bethought me of johnson's remark that "the noblest prospect in scotland is the high-road that leads to england." on that high-road my party made no objection to setting out. i once heard an eminent college professor speak disparagingly of boswell's "life of johnson," saying that it was a mere literary slop-pail into which boswell dropped scraps of all kinds--gossip, anecdotes and scandal, literary and biographical refuse generally. i stood aghast for a moment; then my commercial instinct awakened. i endeavored to secure this nugget of criticism in writing, with permission to publish it over the author's name. in vain i offered a rate per word that would have aroused the envy of a kipling. my friend pleaded "writer's cramp," or made some other excuse, and it finally appeared that, after all, this was only one of the cases where i had neglected, in boswell's phrase, to distinguish between talk for the sake of victory and talk with the desire to inform and illustrate. against this opinion there is a perfect chorus of praise rendered by a full choir.[ ] [illustration: samuel johnson _painted by sir j. reynolds. engraved by heath_] the great scholar jowett confessed that he had read the book fifty times. carlyle said, "boswell has given more pleasure than any other man of this time, and perhaps, two or three excepted, has done the world greater service." lowell refers to the "life" as a perfect granary of discussion and conversation. leslie stephen says that his fondness for reading began and would end with boswell's "life of johnson." robert louis stevenson wrote: "i am taking a little of boswell daily by way of a bible. i mean to read him now until the day i die." it is one of the few classics which is not merely talked about and taken as read, but is constantly being read; and i love to think that perhaps not a day goes by when some one, somewhere, does not open the book for the first time and become a confirmed boswellian. "what a wonderful thing your english literature is!" a learned hungarian once said to me. "you have the greatest drama, the greatest poetry, and the greatest fiction in the world, and you are the only nation that has any biography." the great english epic is boswell's "life of johnson." [illustration: inscription to edmund burke, by james boswell] vii a light-blue stocking sometime, when seated in your library, as it becomes too dark to read and is yet too light,--to ring for candles, i was going to say, but nowadays we simply touch a button,--let your thoughts wander over the long list of women who have made for themselves a place in english literature, and see if you do not agree with me that the woman you would like most to meet in the flesh, were it possible, would be mrs. piozzi, born hester lynch salusbury, but best known to us as mrs. thrale. let us argue the matter. it may at first seem almost absurd to mention the wife of the successful london brewer, henry thrale, in a list which would include the names of fanny burney, jane austen, george eliot, the brontës, and mrs. browning; but the woman i have in mind should unite feminine charm with literary gifts: she should be a woman whom you would honestly enjoy meeting and whom you would be glad to find yourself seated next to at dinner. [illustration: mrs. piozzi engraved by ridley from a miniature] the men of the johnsonian circle affected to love "little burney," but was it not for the pleasure her "evelina" gave them rather than for anything in the author herself? according to her own account, she was so easily embarrassed as to be always "retiring in confusion," or "on the verge of swooning." it is possible that we would find this rather limp young lady a trifle tiresome. jane austen was actually as shy and retiring as fanny burney affected to be. she could hardly have presided gracefully in a drawing-room in a cathedral city; much less would she have been at home among the wits in a salon in london. of george eliot one would be inclined to say, as dr. johnson said of burke when he was ill, "if i should meet burke now it would kill me." perhaps it would not kill one to meet george eliot, but i suspect few men would care for an hour's tête-à-tête with her without a preliminary oiling of their mental machinery--a hateful task. the brontës were geniuses undoubtedly, particularly emily, but one would hardly select the author of "wuthering heights" as a companion for a social evening. mrs. browning, with her placid smile and tiresome ringlets, was too deeply in love with her husband. after all, the woman one enjoys meeting must be something of a woman of the world. she need not necessarily be a good wife or mother. we are provided with the best of wives and at the moment are not on the lookout for a good mother. it may at once be admitted that as a mother mrs. thrale was not a conspicuous success; but she was a woman of charm, with a sound mind in a sound body. although she could be brilliant in conversation, she would let you take the lead if you were able to; but she was quite prepared to take it herself rather than let the conversation flag; and she must have been a very exceptional woman, to steady, as she did, a somewhat roving husband, to call dr. johnson to order, and upon occasion to reprove burke, even while entertaining the most brilliant society of which london at the period could boast. at the time when we first make her acquaintance, she was young and pretty, the mistress of a luxurious establishment; and if she was not possessed of literary gifts herself, it may fairly be said that she was the cause of literature in others. in these days, when women, having everything else, want the vote also (and i would give it to them promptly and end the discussion), it may be suggested that to shine by a reflected light is to shine not at all. frankly, mrs. thrale owes her position in english letters, not to anything important that she herself did or was capable of doing, but to the eminence of those she gathered about her. but her position is not the less secure; she was a charming and fluffy person; and as firmly as i believe that women have come to stay, so firmly am i of the opinion that, in spite of all the well-meaning efforts of some of their sex to prevent it, a certain, and, thank god, sufficient number of women will stay charming and fluffy to the end of the chapter. on one subject only could mrs. thrale be tedious--her pedigree. i have it before me, written in her own bold hand, and i confess that it seems very exalted indeed. she would not have been herself had she not stopped in transcribing it to relate how one of her ancestors, katherine tudor de berayne, cousin and ward of queen elizabeth and a famous heiress, as she was returning from the grave of her first husband, sir john salusbury, was asked in marriage by maurice wynne of gwydir, who was amazed to learn that he was too late, as she had already engaged herself to sir richard clough. "but," added the lady, "if in the providence of god i am unfortunate enough to survive him, i consent to be the lady of gwydir." nor does the tale end here, for she married yet another, and having sons by all four husbands, she came to be called "mam y cymry,"--mother of wales,--and no doubt she deserved the appellation. with such marrying blood in her veins it is easily understood that, as soon as thrale's halter was off her neck,--this sporting phrase, i regret to say, is dr. johnson's,--she should think of marrying again; and that having the first time married to please her family, she should, at the second venture, marry to please herself. but this chapter is moving too rapidly--the lady is not yet born. * * * * * hester lynch salusbury's birthplace was bodvel, in wales, and the year, . she was an only child, very precocious, with a retentive memory. she soon became the plaything of the elderly people around her, who called her "fiddle." her father had the reputation of being a scamp, and it fell to her uncle's lot to direct, somewhat, her education. handed from one relation to another, she quickly adapted herself to her surroundings. her mother taught her french; a tutor, latin; quin, the actor, taught her to recite; hogarth painted her portrait; and the grooms of her grandmother, whom she visited occasionally, made her an accomplished horsewoman. in those days education for a woman was highly irregular, but judging from the results in the case of mrs. thrale and her friends, who shall say that it was ineffective? we have no elizabeth carters nowadays, good at translating epictetus, and--we have it on high authority--better at making a pudding. study soon became little hester's delight. at twelve years she wrote for the newspapers; also, she used to rise at four in the morning to study, which her mother would not have allowed had she known of it. i have a letter written many years afterwards in which she says: "my mother always told me i ruined my figure and stopt my growth by sitting too long at a writing desk, though ignorant how much time i spent at it. dear madam, was my saucy answer,-- "tho' i could reach from pole to pole and grasp the ocean with my span, i would be measur'd by my soul. the mind's the standard of the man." she is quoting dr. watts from memory evidently, and improving, perhaps, upon the original. but little girls grow up and husbands must be found for them. henry thrale, the son of a rich southwark brewer, was brought forward by her uncle; while her father, protesting that he would not have his only child exchanged for a barrel of "bitter," fell into a rage and died of an apoplexy. her _dot_ was provided by the uncle; her mother did the courting, with little opposition on the part of the lady and no enthusiasm on the part of the suitor. so, without love on either side, she being twenty-two and her husband thirty-five, she became mrs. thrale. "my uncle," she records in her journal, "went with us to the church, gave me away, dined with us at streatham after the ceremony, and then left me to conciliate as best i could a husband who had never thrown away five minutes of his time upon me unwitnessed by company till after the wedding day was done." [illustration: extract from ms. letter of mrs. thrale] more happiness came from this marriage than might have been expected. henry thrale, besides his suburban residence, streatham, had two other establishments, one adjoining the brewery in southwark, where he lived in winter, and another, an unpretentious villa at the seaside. he also maintained a stable of horses and a pack of hounds at croydon; but, although a good horsewoman, mrs. thrale was not permitted to join her husband in his equestrian diversions; indeed, her place in her husband's establishment was not unlike that of a woman in a seraglio. she was allowed few pleasures, and but one duty was impressed upon her, namely, that of supplying an heir to the estate; to this duty she devoted herself unremittingly. in due time a child was born, a daughter; and while this was of course recognized as a mistake, it was believed to be one which could be corrected. meanwhile thrale was surprised to find that his wife could think and talk--that she had a mind of her own. the discovery dawned slowly upon him, as did the idea that the pleasure of living in the country may be enhanced by hospitality. finally the doors of streatham park were thrown open. for a time her husband's bachelor friends and companions were the only company. included among these was one arthur murphy, who had been _un maître de plaisir_ to henry thrale in the gay days before his marriage, when they had frequented the green rooms and ranelagh together. it was murphy who suggested that "dictionary johnson" might be secured to enliven a dinner-party, and then followed some discussion as to the excuse which should be given johnson for inviting him to the table of the rich brewer. it was finally suggested that he be invited to meet a minor celebrity, james woodhouse, the shoemaker poet. johnson rose to the bait,--johnson rose easily to any bait which would provide him a good dinner and lift him out of himself,--and the dinner passed off successfully. mrs. thrale records that they all liked each other so well that a dinner was arranged for the following week, without the shoemaker, who, having served his purpose, disappears from the record. and now, and for twenty years thereafter, we find johnson enjoying the hospitality of the thrales, which opened for him a new world. when he was taken ill, not long after the introduction, mrs. thrale called on him in his stuffy lodgings in a court off fleet street, and suggested that the air of streatham would be good for him. would he come to them? he would. he was not the man to deny himself the care of a young, rich, and charming woman, who would feed him well, understand him, and add to the joys of conversation. from that time on, whether at their residence in deadman's place in southwark, or at streatham, or at brighton, even on their journeys, the thrales and johnson were constantly together; and when he went on a journey alone, as was sometimes the case, he wrote long letters to his mistress or his master, as he affectionately called his friends. who gained most by this intercourse? it would be hard to say. it is a fit subject for a debate, a copy of boswell's "life of johnson" to go to the successful contestant. johnson summed up his obligations to the lady in the famous letter written just before her second marriage, probably the last he ever wrote her. "i wish that god may grant you every blessing, that you may be happy in this world ... and eternally happy in a better state; and whatever i can contribute to your happiness i am ready to repay for that kindness which soothed twenty years of a life radically wretched." on the other hand, the thrales secured what, perhaps unconsciously, they most desired, social position and distinction. at streatham they entertained the best, if not perhaps the very highest, society of the time. think for a moment of the intimates of this house, whose portraits, painted by reynolds, hung in the library. there were my lords sandys and westcote, college friends of thrale; there were johnson and goldsmith; garrick and burke; burney, and reynolds himself, and a number of others, all from the brush of the great master; and could we hear the voices which from time to time might have been heard in the famous room, we should recognize boswell and piozzi, baretti, and a host of others; and would it be necessary for the servant to announce the entrance of the great mrs. siddons, or mrs. garrick, or fanny burney, or hannah more, or mrs. montagu, or any of the other ladies who later formed that famous coterie which came to be known as the blue-stockings? but johnson was the thrales' first lion and remained their greatest. he first gave streatham parties distinction. the master of the house enjoyed having the wits about him, but was not one himself. johnson said of him that "his mind struck the hours very regularly but did not mark the minutes." it was his wife who, by her sprightliness and her wit and readiness, kept the ball rolling, showing infinite tact and skill in drawing out one and, when necessary, repressing another; asking--when the doctor was not speaking--for a flash of silence from the company that a newcomer might be heard. but i am anticipating. all this was not yet. a salon such as she created at streatham park is not the work of a month or of a year. if mrs. thrale had ever entertained any illusions as to her husband's regard for her, they must have received a shock when she discovered, as she soon did, that mr. thrale had previously offered his hand to several ladies, coupling with his proposal the fact that, in the event of its being accepted, he would expect to live for a portion of each year in his house adjoining the brewery. the famous brewery is now barclay & perkins's, and still stands on its original site, where the globe theatre once stood, not far from the surrey end of southwark bridge. a more unattractive place of residence it would be hard to imagine, but for some reason mr. thrale loved it. on the other hand, streatham was delightful. it was a fine estate, something over an hour's drive from fleet street in the direction of croydon. the house, a mansion of white stucco, stood in a park of more than a hundred acres, beautifully wooded. drives and gravel-walks gave easy access to all parts of the grounds. there was a lake with a drawbridge, and conservatories, and glass houses stocked with fine fruits. grapes, peaches, and pineapples were grown in abundance, and dr. johnson, whose appetite was robust, was able for the first time in his life to indulge himself in these things to his heart's content. in these delightful surroundings the thrales spent the greater part of each year, and here assembled about them a coterie almost, if not quite, as distinguished as that which made holland house famous half a century later. a few years ago barrie wrote a delightful play, "what every woman knows"; and i hasten to say, for the benefit of those who have not seen this play, that what every woman knows is how to manage a husband. in this respect mrs. thrale had no superior. making due allowance, the play suggests the relationship of the thrales. a cold, self-contained, and commonplace man is married to a sprightly and engaging wife. with her to aid him, he is able so to carry himself that people take him for a man of great ability; without her, he is utterly lost. to give point to the play, the husband is obliged to make this painful discovery. mrs. thrale, mercifully, never permitted her husband to discover how commonplace he was. could he have looked in her diary he might have read this description of himself, and, had he read it, he would probably have made no remark. he spoke little. "mr. thrale's sobriety, and the decency of his conversation, being wholly free from all oaths, ribaldry and profaneness, make him exceedingly comfortable to live with; while the easiness of his temper and slowness to take offence add greatly to his value as a domestic man. yet i think his servants do not love him, and i am not sure that his children have much affection for him. with regard to his wife, though little tender of her person, he is very partial to her understanding; but he is obliging to nobody, and confers a favor less pleasingly than many a man refuses one." elsewhere she refers to him as the handsomest man in london, by whom she has had thirteen children, two sons and eleven daughters. both sons and all but three of the daughters died either in infancy or in early childhood. constantly in that condition in which ladies wish to be who love their lords, mrs. thrale, by her advice and efforts, once, at least, saved her husband from bankruptcy, and frequently from making a fool of himself. she grew to take an intelligent interest in his business affairs, urged him to enter parliament, successfully electioneered for him, and in return was treated with just that degree of affection that a man might show to an incubator which, although somewhat erratic in its operations, might at any time present him with a son. * * * * * such was the household of which dr. johnson became a member, and which, to all intents and purposes, became his home. retaining his lodgings in a court off fleet street, he established in them what mrs. thrale called his menagerie of old women: dependents too poor and wretched to find asylum elsewhere. to them he was at all times considerate, if not courteous. it was his custom to dine with them two or three times each week, thus insuring them an ample dinner; but the library at streatham was especially devoted to his service. when he could be induced to work on his "lives of the poets," it became his study; but for the most part it was his arena, where, in playful converse or in violent discussion, he held his own against all comers. in due time, under the benign influence of the thrales, he overcame his repugnance to clean linen. mr. thrale suggested silver buckles for his shoes, and he bought them. as he entered the drawing-room, a servant might have been seen clapping on his head a wig which had not been badly singed by a midnight candle as he tore the heart out of a book. the great bear became bearable. one of his most intimate friends, baretti, a highly cultivated man, was secured as a tutor for the thrale children, of whom the eldest, nicknamed "queenie," was johnson's favorite. henry thrale's table was one of the best in london. by degrees it became known that at streatham one might always be sure of an excellent dinner and the best conversation in england. dr. johnson voiced, not only his own, but the general opinion, that to smile with the wise and to feed with the rich was very close upon human felicity; and he would have admitted, had his attention been called to it, that there was at least one house in london in which people could enjoy themselves as much as at a capital inn. [illustration: title of miss burney's "evelina." first edition] and people did. for the best description of life at streatham we must turn to the pages of fanny burney (madame d'arblay). her diary is a work of art, but that part of it which pleases most is where the art is so concealed that one feels that the daily entries are intended for no other eye than the writer's. it is its confidential character which is its greatest charm. as the years pass, it loses this quality, and to the extent that it does so it becomes less interesting to us. "evelina" has just been published and fanny has become a welcome guest at the thrales' when the record opens. "i have now to write an account of the most consequential day i have spent since my birth; namely, my streatham visit," is an early entry. johnson is there and "is very proud to sit by miss burney at dinner." mrs. thrale, described as a very pretty woman, gay and agreeable, without a trace of pedantry, repeats some lines in french, and dr. johnson quotes latin which mrs. thrale turns into excellent english. then the talk is of garrick, who, some one says, appears to be getting old, on which johnson remarks that it must be remembered that his face has had more wear and tear than any other man's. then mrs. montagu is mentioned, and the merits of her book on shakespeare are discussed, and reynolds and his art, and finally the talk drifts back again to "evelina," and dr. johnson, stimulated by the gayety of an excellent dinner in such surroundings, cries, "harry fielding never drew so good a character.... there is no character better drawn anywhere--in any book, by any author"; and fanny pinches herself in delight, under the table, as she had a right to do, for was not the great cham of literature praising her? and so with talks and walks and drives and dinners and tea-drinkings unceasing, with news, gossip, and scandal at retail, wholesale, and for exportation, it was contrived that life at streatham was as delightful as life can be made to be. occasionally there was work to be done. dr. johnson was called on for an introduction to something, or the proof-sheets of "the lives of the poets" arrived, and it became mrs. thrale's duty to keep the doctor up to his work--no easy task when a pretty woman was around, and there were always several at streatham. breakfast was always served in the library, and tea was pouring incessantly. thanks to boswell and to "little burney," we know this life better than we know any other whatever; and what life elsewhere is so intimate and personal, so well worth knowing? [illustration: mrs. thrale's breakfast-table] one morning mrs. thrale, entering the library and finding johnson there, complained that it was her birthday, and that no one had sent her any verses. she admitted to being thirty-five, yet swift, she said, fed stella with them till she was forty-six. thereupon johnson without hesitation began to compose aloud, and mrs. thrale to write at his dictation,-- "oft in danger, yet alive, we are come to thirty-five; long may better years arrive, better years than thirty-five. could philosophers contrive life to stop at thirty-five, time his hours should never drive o'er the bounds of thirty-five. high to soar, and deep to dive, nature gives at thirty-five. ladies, stock and tend your hive, trifle not at thirty-five; for howe'er we boast and strive, life declines from thirty-five; he that ever hopes to thrive must begin by thirty-five; and all who wisely wish to wive must look on thrale at thirty-five,"-- adding, as he concluded, "and now, my dear, you see what it is to come for poetry to a dictionary-maker. you may observe that the rhymes run in alphabetical order exactly." but life is not all cakes and ale. mr. thrale's ample income was constantly in jeopardy from his business speculations. he was led by a charlatan to spend a fortune in the endeavor to brew without hops; this failing, he sought to recoup himself by over-brewing, despite the protests of his wife, seconded by dr. johnson, who was becoming an excellent man of affairs. listen to the man whose boast was that he was bred in idleness and the pride of literature. "the brewhouse must be the scene of action.... the first consequence of our late trouble ought to be an endeavor to brew at a cheaper rate, an endeavor not violent and transient, but steady and continual, prosecuted with total contempt of censure or wonder, and animated by resolution not to stop while more can be done. unless this can be done, nothing can help us; and if this is done we shall not want help. surely there is something to be saved; there is to be saved whatever is the difference between vigilance and neglect, between parsimony and profusion." it is proper to observe that it is dr. johnson, and not andrew carnegie, who is speaking, and in mrs. thrale's copy of the dictionary, which i happen to own, his gift to her, there is pasted in the book a letter in dr. johnson's autograph written about this time, one paragraph of which reads, "i think it very probably in your power to lay up eight thousand pounds a year for every year to come, increasing all the time, what needs not be increased, the splendour of all external appearance; and surely such a state is not to be put in yearly hazard for the pleasure of keeping the house full, or the ambition of outbrewing whitbread. stop now and you are safe--stop a few years and you may go safely on thereafter, if to go on shall seem worth the while." meanwhile, mr. thrale was quietly digging his grave with his teeth. warned by his physician and his friends that he must exercise more and eat less, he snapped his fingers at them, i was going to say; but he did nothing so violent. he simply disregarded their advice and gave orders that the best and earliest of everything should be placed upon his table in profusion. his death was the result, and at forty mrs. thrale found herself a widow, wealthy, and with her daughters amply provided for. she, with dr. johnson and several others, was an executor of the estate, and promptly began to grapple with the problems of managing a great business. not long after thrale's death we find this entry in her journal: "i have now appointed three days a week to attend at the counting-house. if an angel from heaven had told me twenty years ago that the man i knew by the name of dictionary johnson should one day become partner with me in a great trade, and that we should jointly or separately sign notes, drafts, etc., for three or four thousand pounds, of a morning, how unlikely it would have seemed ever to happen! unlikely is not the word, it would have seemed incredible, neither of us then being worth a groat, and both as immeasurably removed from commerce as birth, literature, and inclination could get us." the opinion was general that mrs. thrale had been a mere sleeping partner, and her friends were amazed at the insight the sparkling little lady showed in the management of a great business. "such," says mrs. montagu, "is the dignity of mrs. thrale's virtue, and such her superiority in all situations of life, that nothing now is wanting but an earthquake to show how she will behave on that occasion." but this state of things was not long to continue. a knot of rich quakers came along, and purchased the enterprise for a hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds. dr. johnson was not quite clear that the property ought to be sold; but when the sale was finally decided upon, he did his share toward securing a good price. capitalization of earning power has never been more succinctly described than when, in going over the great establishment with the intending purchasers, he made his famous remark, "we are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice." for mrs. thrale and her daughters the affair was a matter of great moment; excitement ran high. fanny burney was staying at streatham while the business was pending, and it was arranged that on the day the transaction was to be consummated, if all went well, mrs. thrale would, on her return from town, wave a white pocket-handkerchief out of the coach window. dinner was at four; no mrs. thrale. five came, and no mrs. thrale. at last the coach appeared and out of the window fluttered a handkerchief. [illustration: the best-known portrait of dr. johnson, by sir joshua reynolds. originally in the library at streatham. sold in for £ . passed eventually into the national gallery. _engraved by doughty_] mrs. thrale's own notes are amusing. she was glad to bid adieu to the brewhouse and to the borough--the business had been a great burden. her daughters were provided for, and she did not much care for money for herself. by the bargain she had purchased peace, and, as she said, "restoration to her original rank in life"; recording in her journal, "now that it is all over i'll go to church and give god thanks and forget the frauds, follies and inconveniences of commercial life; as for dr. johnson, his honest heart was cured of its incipient passion for trade by letting him into _some_ and _only some_ of its mysteries." a final word on the subject of the thrale brewhouse, which still exists. a year or two ago i spent a morning looking for deadman's place, which has disappeared, but the great enterprise dominates the whole district, which is redolent with the odor of malt and hops. johnson's connection with the business is immortalized by his portrait--the famous one so generally known--being used as its trademark. the original picture is in the national gallery, but an excellent copy hangs in the directors' room of the brewery. the furnishings of this room are of the simplest. i doubt if they would fetch at auction a five-pound note, were it not for the fact that johnson's chair and desk are among them. in this room a business running annually into millions is transacted. the english love to leave old things as they are. with them history is always in the making. [illustration: ms. inscriptions by mrs. thrale] not many sundays after mrs. thrale's thanksgiving she had a visitor at streatham--a visitor who, when he left, carried with him as a token of her regard two little calf-bound volumes, in one of which was the inscription, "these books written by dr. samuel johnson were presented to mr. gabbrielle piozzi by hester-lynch thrale. streatham, sunday june, "; with a further note in an equally clear and flowing hand: "and twenty eight years after that time presented again to his nephew john piozzi salusbury by hester lynch piozzi. brynbella st august, ." [illustration: title of "the prince of abissinia" ("rasselas"). first edition] i am able to be exact in this small matter, for the volumes in question were given me not long ago by a friend who understands my passion for such things. the book was the first edition of the "prince of abissinia" (it was not known as "rasselas" until after dr. johnson's death), and mrs. thrale at the time did not know piozzi sufficiently well to spell his name correctly; but she was soon to learn, and to learn, too, that she was in love with him and he with her. she had first met piozzi about a year before, at a musicale at the house of dr. burney, fanny's father. on this occasion she had taken advantage of his back being turned to mimic him as he sat at the piano. for this she was reprimanded by dr. burney, and she must have felt that she deserved the correction, for she took it in good part and behaved with great decorum during the rest of the evening. after a year in her widow's weeds,--which must have tormented johnson, for he hated the thought of death and liked to see ladies dressed in gay colors,--she laid aside her severe black and began to resume her place in society. the newspapers marked the change, and every man who entered her house was referred to as a possible husband for the rich and attractive widow. finally she was obliged to write to the papers and ask that they would let the subject alone. but it soon became evident to johnson and to the rest of the world that piozzi was successfully laying siege to the lady; as why should he not? the fact that he was a catholic, an italian, and a musician could hardly have appeared to him as reasons why he should not court a woman of rare charm and distinction, with whom he had been on terms of friendship for several years; a woman who was of suitable age, the mistress of a fine estate and three thousand pounds a year, and whose children were no longer children but young ladies of independent fortune. that she should marry some one seemed certain. why not piozzi? her daughters protested that their mother was disgracing herself and them, and the world held up its hands in horror at the thought; the co-executors of the estate became actually insulting, and fanny burney was so shocked at the idea that she finally gave up visiting streatham altogether. society ranged itself for and against the lady--few for, many against. there were other troubles, too: a lawsuit involving a large sum was decided against her, and johnson, ill, querulous, and exacting, behaved as an irritable old man would who felt his influence in the family waning. i am a johnsonian,--tinker has called me so and tinker may be depended upon to know a johnsonian when he sees one,--but i am bound to admit that johnson had behaved badly and was to behave worse. johnson was very human and the lady was very human, too. they had come to a parting of the ways. it was inevitable that the life at streatham must be terminated. its glory had departed, and the expense of its upkeep was too great for the lady; so a tenant was secured and mrs. thrale and dr. johnson prepared to leave the house in which so many happy years had been spent. dr. johnson was once more to make his lodgings in bolt court, and mrs. thrale, after a visit to brighton, was to go to bath to repose her purse. the engagement, or understanding, or whatever it was, with piozzi was broken off, and italy was proposed as a place of residence for him. broken hearts there were in plenty. life for mrs. thrale at bath proved to be impossible. if concealment did not feed on the damask of her cheek, love did, and at last it became evident, even to the young ladies, that their mother was pining away for piozzi, and they gave their consent that he be recalled. he came at once. mrs. thrale, on his departure, had sent him a poem which reached him at dover. she now sent him another which was designed to reach him on his return, at calais. over mountains, rivers, vallies, see my love returns to calais, after all their taunts and malice, ent'ring safe the gates of calais. while delay'd by winds he dallies, fretting to be kept at calais, muse, prepare some sprightly sallies to divert my dear at calais; say how every rogue who rallies envies him who waits at calais for her that would disdain a palace compar'd to piozzi, love and calais. pretty poor poetry those who know tell me; but if piozzi liked it, it served its purpose. and now mrs. thrale announced her engagement in a circular letter to her co-executors under the thrale will, sending, in addition, to johnson a letter in which she says, "the dread of your disapprobation has given me some anxious moments, and i feel as if acting without a parent's consent till you write kindly to me." johnson's reply is historic:-- madam,--if i interpret your letter right, you are ignominiously married: if it is yet undone, let us once more talk together. if you have abandoned your children and your religion, god forgive your wickedness; if you have forfeited your fame and your country, may your folly do no further mischief. if the last act is yet to do, i who have loved you, esteemed you, reverenced you, and served you, i who long thought you the first of womankind, entreat that, before your fate is irrevocable, i may once more see you. i was, i once was, madam, most truly yours, sam johnson. _july , ._ it was a smashing letter, and showed that the mind which had composed the famous letter to chesterfield and another, equally forceful, to macpherson had not lost its vigor. but those letters had brought no reply. his letter to mrs. thrale did, and one at once dignified and respectful. the little lady was no novice in letter-writing, and i can imagine that upon the arrival of her letter the weary, heartsick old man wept. remember that his emotions were seldom completely under his control, and that he had nothing of the bear about him but its skin. sir [she wrote]; i have this morning received from you so rough a letter in reply to one which was both tenderly and respectfully written, that i am forced to desire the conclusion of a correspondence which i can bear to continue no longer. the birth of my second husband is not meaner than that of my first; his sentiments are not meaner; his profession is not meaner; and his superiority in what he professes acknowledged by all mankind. is it want of fortune, then, that is ignominious? the character of the man i have chosen has no other claim to such an epithet. the religion to which he has been always a zealous adherent will, i hope, teach him to forgive insults he has not deserved; mine will, i hope, enable me to bear them at once with dignity and patience. to hear that i have forfeited my fame is indeed the greatest insult i ever yet received. my fame is as unsullied as snow, or i should think it unworthy of him who must henceforth protect it. johnson, she says, wrote once more, but the letter has never come to light; the correspondence, which had continued over a period of twenty years, was at an end. an interesting letter of thomas hardy on this subject came into my possession recently. in it he says, "i am in full sympathy with mrs. thrale under the painful opposition to her marriage with piozzi. the single excuse for johnson's letter to her on that occasion would be that he was her lover himself, and hoped to win her, otherwise it was simply brutal." i do not think that johnson was her lover, and i am afraid i must agree that johnson was brutal. in extenuation i urge that he was a very weary, sick old man. at the time mrs. thrale's detractors were many and her defenders few. two dates were given as to the time of her marriage, which started some wandering lies, much to her disadvantage. the fact is that both dates were correct, for she was married to piozzi once by a catholic and several weeks later by a church of england ceremony. in her journal she writes under date of july , , "i am now the wife of my faithful piozzi ... he loves me and will be mine forever.... the whole christian church, catholic and protestant, all are witnesses." for two years they traveled on the continent. no marriage could have been happier. piozzi, by comparison with his wife, is a rather shadowy person. he is described as being a handsome man, a few months older than she, with gentle, pleasant, unaffected manners, very eminent in his profession; nor was he, as was so frequently stated, a man without a fortune. the difference in their religious views was the cause of no difficulty. each respected the religion of the other and kept his or her own. "i would preserve my religious opinions inviolate at milan as my husband did his at london," is an entry in her journal. she was staying at milan when tidings of johnson's death reached her. all of her correspondents hastened to apprize her of the news. i have a long letter to her from one henry johnson,--who he was, i am unable to determine,--written one day after the funeral, describing the procession forming in bolt court; the taking of mourning coaches in fleet street and "proceeding to westminster abbey where the corpse was laid close to the remains of david garrick, esquire." that madam piozzi, as we must now call her, was deeply affected, we cannot doubt. only a few days before the news of his death reached her, we find her writing to a friend, urging him not to neglect dr. johnson, saying, "you will never see any other mortal so wise or so good. i keep his picture constantly before me." before long she heard, too, that several of her old friends had engaged to write his life, and piozzi urged her to be one of the number. the result was the "anecdotes of the late samuel johnson during the last twenty years of his life." it is not a great work, but considering the circumstances under which it was written, her journals being locked up in england while she was writing at florence, greater faults than were found in it could have been overlooked. it provided boswell with some good anecdotes for his great book, and it antedated hawkins's "life of johnson" by about a year. the public appetite was whetted by the earlier publication of boswell's "journal of a tour of the hebrides," in which he had given a taste of his quality, and the "anecdotes" appeared at a time when everything which related to johnson had a great vogue. the book was published by cadell, and so great was the demand, that the first edition was exhausted on the day of publication; so that, when the king sent for a copy in the evening, on the day of its publication, the publisher had to beg for one from a friend. bozzy and piozzi thus became rival biographers in the opinion of the public, and the public got what pleasure it could out of numerous caricatures and satires with which the bookshops abounded, many of these being amusing and some simply scurrilous, after the fashion of the time. meanwhile, the piozzis had become tired of travel and wished again to enjoy the luxury of a home. "prevail on mr. piozzi to settle in england," had been dr. johnson's parting advice. it was not difficult to do so, and on their return, after a short stay in london, they took up residence in bath. here madam piozzi, encouraged by the success of the "anecdotes," devoted herself to the publication of two volumes of "letters to and from the late samuel johnson." their preparation for the press was somewhat crude: it consisted largely in making omissions here and there, and substituting asterisks for proper names; but the copyright was sold for five hundred pounds, and the letters showed, if indeed it was necessary to show, how intimate had been the relationship between the doctor and herself. as time went on, there awakened in madam piozzi a longing for the larger life of streatham, and her husband, always anxious to accomplish her wishes, decided that she should return to the scene of her former triumphs; but dr. johnson, the keystone of her social arch, was gone, and there was no one to take his place. her husband was a cultured gentleman, but he was not to the english manner born. the attempt was made, however, and on the seventh anniversary of their wedding day streatham was thrown open. seventy people sat down to dinner, the house and grounds were illuminated, and the villagers were made welcome. a thousand people thronged through the estate. one might have supposed that a young lord had come into his own. it was a brave effort, but it was soon seen to be unavailing. a man's fame may be like a shuttle-cock, having constantly to be struck to prevent its falling; but not a woman's. she had lost caste by her marriage. it was not forgotten that her husband was "a foreigner," that he had been a "fiddler"; while his wife had been the object of too much ridicule, the subject of too many lampoons. but the lady had resources within herself; she was an inveterate reader and she had tasted the joys of authorship. she now published a volume of travels and busied herself with several other works, the very names of which are forgotten except by the curious in such matters. while she was thus engaged a bitter and scandalous attack was made upon her by baretti. now, baretti was a liar, and in proof of her good sense and forgiving disposition, i offer in evidence the entry that she made in her journal when she heard of his death. "baretti is dead. poor baretti!... he died as he lived, less like a christian than a philosopher, leaving no debts (but those of gratitude) undischarged and expressing neither regret for the past nor fear for the future.... a wit rather than a scholar, strong in his prejudices, haughty in spirit, cruel in anger. he is dead! so is my enmity." on another occasion she contrived to quiet a hostile critic who had ridiculed her in verse; much damage may be done by a couplet, as she well knew, and the lines,-- see thrale's grey widow with a satchel roam and bring in pomp laborious nothings home,-- were not nice, however true they might be. madam piozzi determined to take him in hand. she contrived at the house of a friend to get herself placed opposite to him at a supper-table, and after observing his perplexity with amusement for a time, she raised her wine-glass to him and proposed the toast, "good fellowship for the future." the critic was glad to avail himself of the dainty means of escape from an awkward situation. however, it was evident that life at streatham could not be continued on the old scale. funds were not as plentiful as in the days of the great brewmaster; so after a few years, when her husband suggested their retiring to her native wales, she was glad to fall in with the idea. a charming site was selected, and a villa built in the italian style after her husband's design. it was called "brynbella," meaning beautiful brow; half welsh and half italian, like its owners. i fancy their lives were happier here than they had been elsewhere, for they built upon their own foundation. piozzi had his piano and his violin, and the lady busied herself with her books; while the monotony of existence was pleasantly broken by occasional visits to bath, where they had many friends. and during these years, letters and notes, comment and criticism, dropped from her pen like leaves from a tree in autumn. she lived over again in memory her life in london, reading industriously, and busy in the pleasant and largely profitless way which tends to make days pass into months and months into years and leave no trace of their passing. she must always have had a pen in her hand: it goes without saying that she had kept a diary; in those days everyone did, and most had less than she to record. it was dr. johnson who suggested that she get a little book and write in it all the anecdotes she might hear, observations she might make, or verse that might otherwise be lost. these instructions were followed literally, but no little book sufficed. she filled many large quarto volumes, six of which, entitled "thraliana," passed through the london auction rooms in , bringing £ . one volume, which perhaps does not belong to the series, but which in every way accords with dr. johnson's suggestion, formed part of the late a. m. broadley's collection until, at his death, it passed with several other items, into that of the writer. [illustration: facsimile, much reduced in size, of the last page of mrs. thrale's "journal of a tour in wales," undertaken in the company of dr. johnson in the summer of .] mr. broadley took an ardent interest in everything that related to mrs. thrale, and published, a few years ago, her "journal of the welsh tour," undertaken in the summer of . dr. johnson also kept a diary on this journey, but his is bald and fragmentary, while that of the lady is an intimate and consecutive narrative. the original manuscript volume, in its original dark, limp leather binding is before me. it comprises ninety-seven pages in mrs. thrale's beautiful hand, beginning, "on tuesday, th july, , i began my journey through wales. we set out from streatham in our coach and four post horses, accompanied by dr. johnson and our eldest daughter. baretti went with us as far as london, where we left him and hiring fresh horses they carried us to the mitre at barnet"; and so on throughout the whole tour, until she made this, her final entry:-- september th. when i rose mr. thrale informed me that the parliament was suddenly dissolved and that all the world was bustle; that we were to go to southwark, not to streatham, and canvass away. i heard the first part of this report with pleasure, the latter with pain; nothing but a real misfortune could, i think, affect me so much as the thoughts of going to town thus to settle for the winter before i have had any enjoyment of streatham at all; and so all my hopes of pleasure blow away. i thought to have lived in streatham in quiet and comfort, have kissed my children and cuffed them by turns, and had a place always for them to play in; and here i must be shut up in that odious dungeon, where nobody will come near me, the children are to be sick for want of air, and i am never to see a face but mr. johnson's. oh, what a life that is! and how truly do i abhor it! at noon however i saw my girls and thought susan vastly improved. at evening i saw my boys and liked them very well too. how much is there always to thank god for! but i dare not enjoy poor streatham lest i should be forced to quit it. i value this little volume highly, as who, interested in the lady, would not? it is an unaffected record of a journey, of interesting people who met interesting people wherever they went, and its publication by broadley was a pious act. but that the broadley volume, published a few years ago, gets its chief value from the sympathetic introduction by thomas seccombe, must, i think, be admitted. it is no longer the fashion to "blush as well as weep for mrs. thrale." this silly phrase is macaulay's. rather, as sir walter raleigh remarked to me in going over some of her papers in my library, "what a dear, delightful person she was! i have always wanted to meet her." in the future, what may be written of mrs. thrale will be written in better taste. at this time of day why should she be attacked because she married a man who did not speak english as his mother tongue, and who was a musician rather than a brewer? one may be an enthusiastic admirer of dr. johnson--i confess i am--and yet keep a warm place in one's heart for the kindly and charming little woman. admit that she was not the scholar she thought she was, that she was "inaccurate in narration": what matters it? she was a woman of character, too. she was not overpowered by dr. johnson, as was fanny burney, to such a degree that at last she came to write like him, only more so. mrs. thrale, by her own crisp, vigorous english, influenced the doctor finally to write as he talked, naturally, without that undue elaboration which was characteristic of his earlier style. if johnson mellowed under the benign influence of the lady, she was the gainer in knowledge, especially in such knowledge as comes from books. it was mrs. thrale rather than her husband who formed the streatham library. her taste was robust, she baulked at no foreign language, but set about to study it. i have never seen a book from her library--and i have seen many--which was not filled with notes written in her clear and beautiful hand. these volumes, like the books which lamb lent coleridge, and which he returned with annotations tripling their value, are occasionally offered for sale in those old book-shops where our resolutions not to be tempted are writ in so much water; or they turn up at auction sales and astonish the uninitiated by the prices they bring. several of these volumes are in the collection of the writer: her dictionary, the gift of dr. johnson, for instance, and a "life of psalmanazar," another gift from the same source; but the book which, above all others, every johnsonian would wish to own is the property of miss amy lowell of boston, a poet of rare distinction, a critic, and america's most distinguished woman collector. who does not envy her the possession of the first edition of boswell's "life of johnson," filled with the marginalia of the one person in the world whose knowledge of the old man rivaled that of the great biographer himself? and to hear miss lowell quote these notes in a manner suggestive of the charm of madam piozzi herself, is a delight never to be forgotten. [illustration: miss amy lowell, of boston, poet, critic, and america's most distinguished woman collector] about the time of the piozzis' removal to wales, they decided to adopt a nephew, the son of piozzi's brother, who had met with financial reverses in italy. the boy had been christened john salusbury in honor of mrs. piozzi, and she became greatly attached to the lad and decided to leave him her entire fortune. he was brought up as an english boy, and his education was a matter which gave her serious concern. meanwhile, the years that had touched the lady so lightly had left their impress upon her husband, who does not seem to have been strong. he was a great sufferer from gout, and finally died, and was buried in the parish church of tremeirchion, which years before he had caused to be repaired, and had built there a burial vault in which his remains were placed. they had lived in perfect harmony for twenty-five years, thus effectually overturning the prophecies of their friends. she continued to reside at brynbella until the marriage of her adopted son, when she generously gave him the estate and removed to bath, that lovely little city where so many celebrities have gone to pass the closing years of eventful lives. as a "bath cat" she continued her interest in men, women, and books until the end. having outlived all her old friends, she proceeded to make new; and when nearly eighty astonished everyone by showing great partiality for a young and handsome actor,--and, if reports be true, a very bad actor,--named conway. there was much smoke and doubtless some fire in the affair: letters purporting to be hers to him were published after her death. they may not be genuine, and if they are they show simply, as leslie stephen says, that at a very advanced age she became silly. on her eightieth birthday she gave a ball to six or seven hundred people in the assembly rooms at bath, and led the dancing herself with her adopted son (who by this time was sir john salusbury piozzi), very much to her satisfaction. a year later she met with an accident, from the effects of which she died. she was buried in tremeirchion church beside her husband. a few years ago, on the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of johnson, a memorial tablet was erected in the quaint old church, reading,-- _near this place are interred the remains of_ hester lynch piozzi dr. johnson's mrs. thrale _born , died _ mrs. piozzi's life is her most enduring work. trifles were her serious business, and she was never idle. always a great letter-writer, she set in motion a correspondence which would have taxed the capacity of a secretary with a typewriter. to the last she was a great reader, and observing a remark in boswell on the irksomeness of books to people of advanced age, she wrote on the margin, "not to me, at eighty." her wonderful memory remained unimpaired until the last. she knew english literature well. she spoke french and italian fluently. latin she transcribed with ease and grace; of greek she had a smattering, and she is said to have had a working knowledge of hebrew; but i suspect that her hebrew would have set a scholar's hair on end. with all these accomplishments, she was not a pedant, or, properly speaking, a blue-stocking, or if she was, it was of a very light shade of blue. she told a capital story, omitted everything irrelevant and came to the point at once; in brief, she was a man's woman. and to end the argument where it began,--for arguments always end where they begin,--i came across a remark the other day which sums up my contention. it was to the effect that, in whatever company mrs. piozzi found herself, others found her the most charming person in the room. [illustration: samuel johnson] viii a ridiculous philosopher i am not sure that i know what philosophy is; a philosopher is one who practices it, and we have it on high authority that "there was never yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently." there is an old man in wilkie collins's novel, "the moonstone," the best novel of its kind in the language, who, when in doubt, reads "robinson crusoe." in like manner i, when in doubt, turn to boswell's "life of johnson," and there i read that the fine, crusty old doctor was hailed in the strand one day by a man who half a century before had been at pembroke college with him. it is not surprising that johnson did not at first remember his former friend, and he was none too well pleased to be reminded that they were both "old men now." "we are, sir," said dr. johnson, "but do not let us discourage one another"; and they began to talk over old times and compare notes as to where they stood in the world. edwards, his friend, had practiced law and had made money, but had spent or given away much of it. "i shall not die rich," said he. "but, sir," said johnson, "it is better to live rich than to die rich." and now comes edwards's immortal remark, "you are a philosopher, dr. johnson. i have tried, too, in my time to be a philosopher; but, i don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in." [illustration: william godwin, the ridiculous philosopher] with the word "cheerfulness," edwards had demolished the scheme of life of most of our professed philosophers, who have no place in their systems for the attribute that goes furthest toward making life worth while to the average man. cheerfulness is a much rarer quality than is generally supposed, especially among the rich. it was not common even before we learned that, in spite of browning, though god may be in his heaven, nevertheless, all is wrong with the world. if "most men lead lives of quiet desperation," as thoreau says they do, it is, i suspect, because they will not allow cheerfulness to break in upon them when it will. a good disposition is worth a fortune. give cheerfulness a chance and let the professed philosopher go hang. but it is high time for me to turn my attention, and yours, if i may, to the particular philosopher through whom i wish to stick my pen, and whom, thus impaled, i wish to present for your edification--say, rather, amusement. his name was william godwin; he was the husband of mary wollstonecraft and the father-in-law of shelley. godwin was born in cambridgeshire in , and came of preaching stock. it is related that, when only a lad, he used to steal away, not to go in swimming or to rob an orchard, but to a meeting-house to preach; this at the age of ten. the boy was father to the man: to the end of his life he never did anything else. he first preached orthodoxy, later heterodoxy, but he was always a preacher. i do not like the tribe. i am using the word as indicating one who elects to teach by word rather than by example. when a boy he had an attack of smallpox. religious scruples prevented him from submitting to vaccination, for he said he had no wish to run counter to the will of god. in this frame of mind he did not long remain. he seems to have been a hard student--what we would call a grind. he read enormously, and by twenty he considered that he was fully equipped for his life's work. he was as ready to preach as an irishman is to fight, for the love of it; but he was quarrelsome as well as pious, and, falling out with his congregation, he dropped the title of reverend and betook himself to literature and london. at this time the french revolution was raging, and the mental churning which it occasioned had its effect upon sounder minds than his. godwin soon became intimate with tom paine and others of like opinions. wherever political heresy and schism was talked, there godwin was to be found. he stood for everything which was "advanced" in thought and conduct; he joined the school which was to write god with a small g. all the radical visionaries in london were attracted to him, and he to them. he thought and dreamed and talked, and finally grew to feel the need of a larger audience. the result was "an enquiry concerning political justice," a book which created a tremendous sensation in its day. it seemed the one thing needed to bring political dissent and dissatisfaction to a head. much was wrong at the time, much is still wrong, and doubtless reformers of godwin's type do a certain amount of good. they call attention to abuses, and eventually the world sets about to remedy them. a "movement" is in the air; it centres in some man who voices and directs it. for the moment the man and the movement seem to be one. ultimately the movement becomes diffused, its character changes; frequently the man originally identified with it is forgotten--so it was with godwin. "political justice" was published in . in it godwin fell foul of everything. he assailed all forms of government. the common idea that blood is thicker than water, is wrong: all men are brothers; one should do for a stranger as for a brother. the distribution of property is absurd. a man's needs are to be taken as the standard of what he should receive. he that needs most is to be given most--by whom, godwin did not say. marriage is a law and the worst of all laws: it is an affair of property, and like property must be abolished. the intercourse of the sexes is to be like any other species of friendship. if two men happen to feel a preference for the same woman, let them both enjoy her conversation and be wise enough to consider sexual intercourse "a very trivial object indeed." i have a copy of "political justice," before me, with tom paine's signature on the title-page. what a whirlwind all this once created, especially with the young! its author became one of the most-talked-of men of his time, and godwin's estimate of himself could not have been higher than that his disciples set upon him. compared with him, "paine was nowhere and burke a flashy sophist." he gloried in the reputation his book gave him, and he profited by it to the extent of a thousand pounds; to him it was a fortune. pitt, who was then prime minister, when his attention was called to the book, wisely remarked, "it is not worth while to prosecute the author of a three-guinea book, because at such a price very little harm can be done to those who have not three shillings to spare." the following year godwin published his one other book that has escaped the rubbish heap of time--"the adventures of caleb williams," a novel. it is the best of what might be called "the nightmare series," which would begin with "the castle of otranto," include his own daughter's "frankenstein," and end, for the moment, with bram stoker's "dracula." "caleb williams" has genuine merit; that it is horrible and unnatural may be at once admitted, but there is a vitality about it which holds your interest to the last; unrelieved by any flash of sentiment or humor, it is still as entirely readable as it was once immensely popular. colman, the younger, dramatized it under the name of "the iron chest," and several generations of playgoers have shuddered at the character of falkland, the murderer, who, and not caleb williams, is the chief character. his other novels are soup made out of the same stock, as a _chef_ would say, with a dash of the supernatural added. godwin had now written all that he was ever to write on which the dust of years has not settled, to be disturbed only by some curious student of a forgotten literature; yet he supposed that he was writing for posterity! meanwhile he, who had been living with his head in the clouds, became aware of the existence of "females." it was an important, if belated, discovery. he was always an inveterate letter-writer, and his curious letters to a number of women have been preserved. he seems to have had more than a passing fancy for amelia alderson, afterward mrs. opie, the wife of the artist. he was intimate with mrs. robinson, the "perdita" of the period, in which part she attracted the attention of the prince of wales. mrs. inchbald and mrs. reveley were also friends, with whom he had frequent misunderstandings. his views on the subject of marriage being well known, perhaps these ladies, merely to test the philosopher, sought to overcome his objection to "that worst of institutions." if so, their efforts were unsuccessful. godwin, however, seems to have exerted a peculiar fascination over the fair sex, and he finally met one with whom, as he says, "friendship melted into love." godwin, saying he would ne'er consent, consented. mary wollstonecraft, the author of the "rights of woman," now calling herself mrs. imlay, triumphed. her period of romance, followed fast by tragedy, was for a brief time renewed with godwin. she had had one experience, the result of which was a fatherless infant daughter, fanny; and some time after she took up with godwin, she urged upon him the desirability of "marriage lines." godwin demurred for a time; but when mary confided to him that she was about to become a mother, a private wedding in st. pancras church took place. separate residence was attempted, in order to conform to godwin's theory that too close familiarity might result in mutual weariness; but godwin was not destined to become bored by his wife. she had intelligence and beauty; indeed, it seems likely that he loved her as devotedly as it was possible for one of his frog-like nature to do. shortly after the marriage a daughter was born, and christened mary; and a few days later the remains of mary wollstonecraft godwin were interred in the old graveyard of st. pancras, close by the church which she had recently left as a bride. no sketch of godwin's life would be complete without the well-known story of the expiring wife's exclamation: "i am in heaven"; to which godwin replied, "no, my dear, you only mean that your physical sensations are somewhat easier." thus, by that "divinity that shapes our ends rough," godwin, who did not approve of marriage and who had no place in his philosophy for the domestic virtues, became within a few months a husband, a widower, a stepfather, and a father. probably no man was less well equipped than he for his immediate responsibilities. he had been living in one house and his wife in another, to save his face, as it were, and also to avoid interruptions; but this scheme of life was no longer possible. a household must be established; some sort of a family nurse became an immediate necessity. one was secured, who tried to marry godwin out of hand. to escape her attentions he fled to bath. but his objections to marriage as an institution were waning, and when he met harriet lee, the daughter of an actor, and herself a writer of some small distinction, they were laid aside altogether. his courtship of miss lee took the form of interminable letters. he writes her: "it is not what you are but what you might be that charms me"; and he chides her for not being prepared faithfully to discharge the duties of a wife and mother. few women have been in this humor won; miss lee was not among them. godwin finally returned to london. he was now a man approaching middle age, cold, methodical, dogmatic, and quick to take offense. he began to live on borrowed money. the story of his life at this time is largely a story of his squabbles. a more industrious man at picking a quarrel one must go far to find; and that the record might remain, he wrote letters--not short, angry letters, but long, serious, disputatious epistles, such as no one likes to receive, and which seem to demand and usually get an immediate answer. ritson writes him: "i wish you would make it convenient to return to me the thirty pounds i loaned you. my circumstances are by no means what they were at the time i advanced it, nor did i, in fact, imagine you would have retained it so long." and again: "though you have not the ability to repay the money i loaned you, you might have integrity enough to return the books you borrowed. i do not wish to bring against you a railing accusation, but am compelled, nevertheless, to feel that you have not acted the part of an honest man." godwin seems to have known his weakness, for he writes of himself: "i am feeble of tact and liable to the grossest mistakes respecting theory, taste, and character." and again: "no domestic connection is fit for me but that of a person who should habitually study my gratification and happiness." this sounds ominous from one who was constantly looking for a "female companion"; and it was to prove so. * * * * * it is with a feeling of relief that we turn, for a moment, from the sordid life of godwin the philosopher to godwin the dramatist. he was sadly in need of funds, and, following the usual custom of an author in distress, had written a tragedy, for which charles lamb had provided the epilogue. john philip kemble, seduced by godwin's flattery and insistence, had finally been prevailed upon to put it on the stage. kemble had made up his mind that all the good tragedies that could be written had been written, and had not his objections been overruled, the tragedy, "antonio," would never have been produced, and one of lamb's most delightful essays, in consequence, never written. with the usual preliminaries, and after much correspondence and discussion, the night of the play came. it was produced at the theatre royal, drury lane--what a ring it has! lamb was there in a box next to the author, who was cheerful and confident. it is a pity to mutilate lamb's account of it, but it is too long to quote except in fragments. the first act swept by solemn and silent ... applause would have been impertinent, the interest would warm in the next act.... the second act rose a little in interest, the audience became complacently attentive.... the third act brought the scene which was to warm the piece progressively to the final flaming forth of the catastrophe, but the interest stood stone still.... it was christmas time and the atmosphere furnished some pretext for asthmatic affections. some one began to cough, his neighbors sympathized with him, till it became an epidemic; but when from being artificial in the pit the cough got naturalized on the stage, and antonio himself seemed more intent upon relieving his own lungs than the distress of the author, then godwin "first knew fear," and intimated that, had he been aware that mr. kemble labored under a cold, the performance might possibly have been postponed. in vain did the plot thicken. the procession of verbiage stalked on, the audience paid no attention whatever to it, the actors became smaller and smaller, the stage receded, the audience was going to sleep, when suddenly antonio whips out a dagger and stabs his sister to the heart. the effect was as if a murder had been committed in cold blood, with the audience betrayed into being accomplices. the whole house rose in clamorous indignation--they would have torn the unfortunate author to pieces if they could have got him. [illustration: charles lamb's play-bill of "antonio," by godwin. "damned with universal consent"] the play was hopelessly and forever damned, and the epilogue went down in the crash. over my writing-table hangs a dark oak frame containing a souvenir of this performance--the programme which charles lamb used on this fateful evening. it is badly crumpled, crumpled no doubt by elia in his agony. no reference is made to the play being by godwin except a note in charles lamb's handwriting which reads, "by godwin," with the significant words, "damned with universal consent." godwin bore his defeat with philosophic calm. he appealed to friends for financial assistance and to posterity for applause. but it was really a serious matter. he was on the verge of ruin, and now did what many another man has done when financial difficulties crowded thick and fast--he married again. a certain mrs. clairmont fell in love with godwin even before she had spoken to him. she was a fat, unattractive widow, and apparently did all the courting. she took lodgings close by godwin's, and introduced herself--"is it possible that i behold the immortal godwin?" this is flattery fed with a knife. when a widow makes up her mind to marry, one of two things must be done, and quickly--her victim must run or submit. godwin was unable to run and a marriage was the result. like his first wedding, it was for a time kept a profound secret. an idea of godwin and his wife at this period is to be had from lamb's letters. he refers constantly to godwin as the professor, and to his wife as the professor's rib, who, he says, "has turned out to be a damned disagreeable woman, so much so as to drive godwin's old cronies"--among whom was lamb--"from his house." it was a difficult household. mrs. godwin had two children by her first husband: a daughter whose right name was mary jane, but who called herself claire--she lived to become the mistress of lord byron and the mother of his daughter allegra; also a son, who was raised a pet and grew up to be a nuisance. godwin's immediate contribution to the establishment was the illegitimate daughter of his first wife, who claimed imlay for her father, and his own daughter mary, whose mother had died in giving her birth. in due course there was born another son, christened william, after his father. something had to be done, and promptly. godwin began a book on chaucer, of whose life we know almost as little as of shakespeare's. in dealing with chaucer, godwin introduced a method which subsequent writers have followed. actual material being scanty, they fill out the picture by supposing what he might have done and seen and thought. godwin filled two volumes quarto with musings about the fourteenth century, and called it a "life of chaucer." mrs. godwin--who was a "managing woman"--had more confidence in trade than in literature. she opened a bookshop in hanway street under the name of thomas hodgkins, the manager; subsequently in skinner street, under her own name, m. j. godwin. from this shop there issued children's books, the prettiest and wisest, for "a penny plain and tuppence colored," and more. "the children's book-seller," as he called himself, was presently successful, and parents presented his little volumes to their children, with no suspicion that the lessons of piety and goodness which charmed away selfishness were published, revised, and sometimes written by a philosopher whom they would scarcely venture to name. it was godwin who suggested to charles lamb and his sister that the "tales from shakespeare" be written. godwin's own contributions were produced under the name of baldwin. lamb writes: "hazlitt has written some things and a grammar for godwin, but the gray mare is the better horse. i do not allude to mrs. godwin, but to the word grammar, which comes near gray mare, if you observe." it would certainly surprise godwin could he know that, while his own "works" are forgotten, some of the little publications issued by the "juvenile library," skinner street, snow hill, are worth their weight in gold. the years passed on. godwin lived more or less in constant terror of his wife, of whom lamb writes: "mrs. godwin grows every day in disfavor with god and man. i will be buried with this inscription over me: 'here lies charles lamb, the woman-hater, i mean that hated one woman. for the rest, god bless 'em, and when he makes any more, make 'em prettier.'" as he grew older godwin moderated his views of men somewhat, so that "he ceased to be disrespectful to any one but his maker"; and he once so far forgot himself as to say "god bless you" to a friend, but quickly added, "to use a vulgar expression." he remained, however, always prepared to sacrifice a friend for a principle. he seemed to feel that truth had taken up its abode in him, and that any question which he had submitted to the final judgment of his own breast had been passed upon finally and forever. this search for truth has a great fascination for a certain type of mind. it does not appear dangerous: all one has to do is thrust one's feet in slippers and muse; but it has probably caused as much misery as the search for the pole. the pole has now been discovered and can be dismissed, but the search for truth continues. it will always continue, for the reason that its location is always changing. every generation looks for it in a new place. [illustration: letter from william godwin i bought this letter one hundred years to a day after it had been written, for a sum which would have amazed its writer, and temporarily, at least, have relieved him of his financial difficulties.] one night lamb, dropping in on godwin, found him discussing with coleridge his favorite problem, "man as he is and man as he ought to be." the discussion seemed interminable. "hot water and its better adjuncts" had been entirely overlooked. finally lamb stammered out, "give me man as he ought _not_ to be, and something to drink." it must have been on one of these evenings that godwin remarked that he wondered why more people did not write like shakespeare; to which lamb replied that he could--if he had the mind to. the older generation was passing away. long before he died godwin was referred to as though he were a forgotten classic; but there was to be a revival of interest in him, due entirely to the poet shelley. the mere mention of shelley's name produced an explosion. he had been expelled from oxford for atheism. reading revolutionary books, as well as writing them, he had come across "political justice" and was anxious to meet the author. he sought him out, eventually made the acquaintance of his daughter mary, by this time a beautiful and interesting girl of seventeen years, and in due course eloped with her, deserting his wife harriet. where was godwin's philosophy now? we may well ask. at no time in his long life was godwin so ridiculous as in his relations with shelley. in their flight, shelley and mary had taken with them mrs. godwin's daughter claire. the mother made after the runaways post-haste and overtook them in calais, her arrival creating consternation in the camp of the fugitives; but they all declined to return. in such scorn was shelley generally held, that the rumor that he had bought both godwin's daughter and his step-daughter for a sum in hand created no amazement, the pity rather than the possibility of it being most discussed. financial affairs, too, in skinner street were going badly. from the record of notes given and protested at maturity, one might have supposed that godwin was in active business in a time of panic. "don't ask me whether i won't take none or whether i will, but leave the bottle on the chimleypiece and let me put my lips to it when i am so dispoged." such was the immortal mrs. gamp's attitude toward gin. godwin's last manner in money matters was much the same: money he would take from any one and in any way when he must, but, like mrs. gamp, he was "dispoged" to take it indirectly. indignant with shelley, whose views on marriage were largely of his teaching, godwin refused to hold any communication with him except such as would advance his (godwin's) fortunes at shelley's expense. their transactions were to be of a strictly business character (business with shelley!). we find godwin writing him and returning a check for a thousand pounds because it was drawn to his order. how sure he must have been of it! "i return your cheque because no consideration can induce me to utter a cheque drawn by you and containing my name. to what purpose make a disclosure of this kind to your banker? i hope you will send a duplicate of it by the post which will reach me on saturday morning. you may make it payable to joseph hume or james martin or any other name in the whole directory." and then godwin would forge the name of "joseph hume or james martin or any other name in the whole directory," and guarantee the signature by his own indorsement, and the business transaction would be complete. pretty high finance this, for a philosopher! not until after the death of harriet, when shelley's connection with mary was promptly legalized, would godwin consent to receive them. he then expressed his great satisfaction, and wrote to his brother in the country that his daughter had married the eldest son of a wealthy baronet. if this world affords true happiness, it is to be found in a home where love and confidence increase with years, where the necessities of life come without severe strain, where luxuries enter only after their cost has been carefully considered. we are told that wealth is a test of character--few of us have to submit to it. poverty is the more usual test. it is difficult to be very poor and maintain one's self-respect. godwin found it impossible. he, whose chief wish it had been to avoid domestic entanglements and who wanted his gratification and happiness studied habitually, was living in a storm-centre of poverty, misery, and tragedy. claire was known to have had a baby by lord byron, who had deserted her; harriet shelley had drowned herself in the serpentine; fanny godwin, his step-daughter, took poison at bristol. the philosopher, almost overcome, sought to conceal his troubles with a lie. to one of his correspondents he refers to fanny's having been attacked in wales with an inflammatory fever "which carried her off." meanwhile, the sufferings of others he bore with splendid fortitude. in a very brief letter to mary shelley, answering hers in which she told him of the death of her child, he said, "you should recollect that it is only persons of a very ordinary sort and of a pusillanimous disposition that sink long under a calamity of this nature." but he covered folio sheets in his complainings to her, counting on her sensitive heart and shelley's good-nature for sympathy and relief. with the death of shelley, godwin's affairs became desperate. taking advantage of some defect in the title of the owner of the property which he had leased, he declined for some time to pay any rent, meanwhile carrying on a costly and vexatious lawsuit. curiously enough, in the end, justice triumphed. godwin was obliged to pay two years' arrears of rent and the costs of litigation. of course, he looked upon this as an extreme hardship, as another indication of the iniquity of the law. but he was now an old man; very little happiness had broken in upon him, and his friends took pity on him. godwin was most ingenious in stimulating them to efforts on his behalf. a subscription was started under his direction. he probably felt that he knew best how to vary his appeals and make them effective. so much craft one would not have suspected in the old beggar. one thing he always was--industrious. he finished a wretched novel and at once began a "history of the commonwealth." he finished "the lives of the necromancers," and promptly began a novel; but with all his writings he has not left one single phrase with which his name can be associated, or a single thought worth thinking. it is almost superfluous to say that he had no sense of humor. with his head in the clouds and his feet in his slippers, he mused along. hazlitt tells a capital story of him. godwin was writing a "life of chatham," and applied to his acquaintances to furnish him with anecdotes. among others, a mr. fawcett told him of a striking passage in a speech by lord chatham on general warrants, at the delivery of which he (mr. fawcett) had been present. "every man's house has been called his castle. and why is it called his castle? is it because it is defended by a wall, because it is surrounded with a moat? no, it may be nothing more than a straw-built shed. it may be open to all the elements; the wind may enter it, the rain may enter--but the king cannot enter." fawcett thought that the point was clear enough; but when he came to read the printed volume, he found it thus: "every man's house is his castle. and why is it called so? is it because it is defended by a wall, because it is surrounded with a moat? no, it may be nothing more than a straw-built shed. it may be exposed to all the elements; the rain may enter into it, all the winds of heaven may whistle around it, but the king cannot,"--and so forth. things were going from bad to worse. most of his friends were dead or estranged from him. he had made a sad mess of his life and he was very old. finally, an appeal on his behalf was made to the government, the government against which he had written and talked so much. it took pity on him. lord grey conferred on him the post of yeoman usher of the exchequer, whatever that may be, with a residence in new palace yard. the office was a sinecure, "the duties performed by menials." for this exquisite phrase i am indebted to his biographer, c. kegan paul. it seems to suggest that a "menial" is one who does his duty. almost immediately, however, a reformed parliament abolished the office, and godwin seemed again in danger; but men of all creeds were now disposed to look kindly on the old man. he was assured of his position for life, and writing to the last, in he died, at the age of eighty, and was buried by the side of mary wollstonecraft in st. pancras churchyard. if there is to be profit as well as pleasure in the study of biography, what lesson can be learned from such a life? many years before he died godwin had written a little essay on "sepulchres." it was a proposal for erecting some memorial to the dead on the spot where their remains were interred. were one asked to suggest a suitable inscription for godwin's tomb it might be how not to do it. in the ever-delightful "angler," speaking of the operation of baiting a hook with a live frog, walton finally completes his general instructions with the specific advice to "use him as though you loved him." in baiting my hook with a dead philosopher i have been unable to accomplish this. i do not love him; few did; he was a cold, hard, self-centred man who did good to none and harm to many. as a husband, father, friend, he was a complete failure. his search for truth was as unavailing as his search for "gratification and happiness." he is all but forgotten. it is his fate to be remembered chiefly as the husband of the first suffragette. what has become of the wonderful things he was going to do all complete in a minute or two? where are now his novel philosophies and theories? to ask the question is to answer it. constant striving for the unobtainable frequently results in neglect of important matters close at hand--such things as bread and cheese and children are neglected. some happiness comes from the successful effort to make both ends meet habitually and lap over occasionally. my philosophy of life may be called smug, but it can hardly be called ridiculous. ix a great victorian for a time after the death of any author, the world, if it has greatly admired that author, begins to feel that it has been imposed upon, becomes a little ashamed of its former enthusiasm and ends by neglecting him altogether. this would seem to have been anthony trollope's case, to judge from the occasional comment of english critics, who, if they refer to him at all, do so in some such phrase as, "about this time trollope also enjoyed a popularity which we can no longer understand." from one brief paper purporting to be an estimate of his present status, these nuggets of criticism are extracted:-- mr. trollope was not an artist. trollope had something of the angry impatience of the middle-class mind with all points of view not his own. "tancred" is as far beyond anything that trollope wrote as "orley farm" is superior to a chancery pleading. we have only to lay "alroy" on the same table with "the prime minister" to see where anthony trollope stands. it is not likely that trollope's novels will have any vogue in the immediate future; _every page brings its own flavor of unreality_. [italics mine.] and in referring to plantagenet palliser, who figures largely in so many of his novels, the author says:-- some nicknames are engaging; "planty pall" is not one of these. the man is really not worth writing about. "is he popenjoy?" is perhaps the most readable of all mr. trollope's works. it is shorter than many. finally, when it is grudgingly admitted that he did some good work, the answer to the question, "why is such work neglected?" is, "because the world in which trollope lived has passed away." it would seem that absurdity could go no further. american judgment is in general of a different tenor, although professor phelps, of yale, in his recent volume, "the advance of the english novel," dismisses trollope with a single paragraph, in which is embedded the remark, "no one would dare call trollope a genius." short, sharp and decisive work this; but professor phelps is clearing the decks for meredith, to whom he devotes twenty or more pages. i respect the opinion of college professors as much as charles lamb respected the equator; nevertheless, i maintain that, if trollope was not a genius, he was a very great writer; and i am not alone. only a few days ago a cultivated man of affairs, referring to an interesting contemporary caricature of dickens and thackeray which bore the legend, "two great victorians," remarked, "they were great victorians, indeed, but i have come to wonder in these later years whether anthony trollope will not outlive them both." and while the mere book-collector should be careful how he challenges the opinion of "one who makes his living by reading books and then writing about them,"--the phrase is professor phelps's,--nevertheless, when one's opinion is supported, as mine is, by the authority of such a novelist as our own howells, he may perhaps be forgiven for speaking up. [illustration: from a photograph by mess^{rs} elliot & fry] mr. howells not long ago, in a criticism of the novels of archibald marshall, refers to him as a "disciple of anthony trollope," whom he calls "the greatest of the victorians." this is high praise--perhaps too high. criticism is, after all, simply the expression of an opinion; the important question is, whether one has a right to an opinion. it is easy to understand why the author of "silas lapham" should accord high place to trollope. trollope can never be popular in the sense that dickens is popular, nor is it so necessary to have him on the shelves as to have thackeray; but any one who has not made trollope's acquaintance has a great treat in store; nor do i know an author who can be read and re-read with greater pleasure. but to fall completely under the lure of his--genius, i was going to say, but i must be careful--he should be read quietly--and thoroughly: that is to say, some thirty or forty volumes out of a possible hundred or more. it may at once be admitted that there are no magnificent scenes in trollope as there are in thackeray; as, for example, where rawdon crawley in "vanity fair," coming home unexpectedly, finds becky entertaining the marquis of steyne. on the other hand, you will not find in any of his best stories anything so deadly dull as the endless talk about georgie osborne, aged variously five, seven, or ten years, in the same volume. how often have i longed to snatch that infant from his nurse and impale him on the railings of st. james's park! for the most part, people in trollope's stories lead lives very like our own, dependent upon how our fortunes may be cast. they have their failures and their successes, and fall in love and fall out again, very much as we do. at last we begin to know their peculiarities better than we know our own, and we think of them, not as characters in a book, but as friends and acquaintances whom we have grown up with. some we like and some bore us exceedingly--just as in real life. his characters do not lack style,--the duke of omnium is a very great person indeed,--but trollope himself has none. he has little or no brilliancy, and we like him the better for it. the brilliant person may become very fatiguing to live with--after a time. it is, however, in this country rather than in england that trollope finds his greatest admirers. to-day the english call him "mid-victorian." nothing worse can be said. even dickens and thackeray have to fight against an injunction to this effect, which i cannot believe is to be made permanent. nothing is more seductive and dangerous than prophecy, but one more forecast will not greatly increase its bulk, and so i venture to say that, dickens and thackeray aside, trollope will outlive all the other novelists of his time. dickens has come to stay; thackeray will join the immortals with two novels under his arm, and perhaps one novel of george eliot and one by charles reade will survive; but beaconsfield, bulwer-lytton, kingsley, and a host of others once famous, will join the long procession headed for oblivion, led by ann radcliffe. and if it be trollope's fate to outlast all but the greatest of his contemporaries, it will be due to the simplicity and lack of effort with which he tells his tale. there is no straining after effect--his characters are real, live men and women, without a trace of caricature or exaggeration. his humor is delicious and his plots sufficient, although he has told us that he never takes any care with them; and aside from his character-drawing, he will be studied for the lifelike pictures of the upper-and middle-class english society of his time. not one only, but all of his novels might be called "the way we live now." someone has said that he is our greatest realist since fielding; he has been compared with jane austen, lacking her purity of style, but dealing with a much larger world. "i do not think it probable that my name will remain among those who in the next century will be known as the writers of english prose fiction." so wrote trollope in the concluding chapter of his autobiography. and he adds: "but if it does, that permanency of success will probably rest on the characters of plantagenet palliser, lady glencora, and the reverend mr. crawley." now it is as certain that trollope is remembered as it is that we are in the next century; but it is not so much for any single character, or group of characters, or, indeed, any single book, that he is remembered, as it is for the qualities i have referred to. we may not love the english people, but we all love england; we love to go there and revel in its past; and the england that trollope described so accurately is rapidly passing away; it was going perhaps more quickly than the english people themselves knew, even before this war began. to read trollope is to take a course in modern english history--social history to be sure, but just as important as political, and much more interesting. he has written a whole series of english political novels, it is true, but their interest is entirely aside from politics. it may be admitted that there are dreary places in trollope, as there are dreary reaches on the lovely thames, but they can be skipped, and more rapidly; and, as dr. johnson says, "who but a fool reads a book through?" the reason so many american girls marry, or at least used to marry, englishmen, was because they found them different from the men whom they had grown up with; not finer, not as fine, perhaps, but more interesting. it is for some such reason as this that we get more pleasure out of trollope than we do out of howells, whose work, in some respects, resembles his. and trollope, although he frequently stops the progress of his story to tell us what a fine thing an english gentleman is, never hesitated to "paint the warts," and it is not altogether unpleasant to see the warts--on others. trollope takes, or appears to take, no care with his plots. the amazing thing about him is that he sometimes gives his plot away; but this seems to make no difference. in the dead centre of "can you forgive her?" trollope says that you must forgive her if his book is written aright. lady mason, in "orley farm," confesses to her ancient lover that she is guilty of a crime; but when she comes to be tried for it, the interest in her trial is intense; so in "phineas redux," where phineas is tried for murder, the reader is assured that he is not guilty and that it will come out all right in the end; but this does not in the least detract from the interest of the story. compare with this wilkie collins's "moonstone," probably the best plot in english fiction. the moment that you know who stole the diamond and how it was stolen, the interest is at an end. i have referred to the trial in "orley farm." it is, in my judgment, the best trial scene in any novel. i made this statement once to a well-read lawyer, and he was inclined to dispute the point, and of course mentioned "pickwick." i reminded him that i had said the best, not the best known. bardell vs. pickwick is funny, inimitably funny, never to be forgotten, but burlesque. the trial in "a tale of two cities" is heroic romance; but the trial in "orley farm" is real life. the only trial which can be compared to it is effie deans's, which i confess is infinitely more pathetic, too much so to be thoroughly enjoyed. in "orley farm" one can see and hear mr. furnival, with his low voice and transfixing eye; one knows that the witness in his hands is as good as done for; and as for mr. chaffanbrass,--and did dickens ever invent a better name?--he knew his work was cut out for him, and he did it with horrible skill. one sees plainly that the witnesses were trying to tell the truth, but that chaffanbrass, intent on winning his case, would not let them: he was fighting, not for the truth, but for victory. the sideplay is excellent, the suppressed excitement in the court-room, the judge, the lawyers, are all good. at last mr. furnival rises: "gentlemen of the jury," he said, "i never rose to plead a client's cause with more confidence than i now feel in pleading that of my friend, lady mason." and after three hours he closes his great speech with this touching bit: "and now i shall leave my client's case in your hands. as to the verdict which you will give, i have no apprehension. you know as well as i do that she has not been guilty of this terrible crime. that you will so pronounce i do not for a moment doubt. but i do hope that the verdict will be accompanied by some expression on your part which may show to the world at large how great has been the wickedness displayed in the accusation." and trollope adds: "and yet as he sat down he knew that she had been guilty! to his ear her guilt had never been confessed; but yet he knew that it was so, and knowing that, he had been able to speak as though her innocence were a thing of course. that those witnesses had spoken the truth he also knew, and yet he had been able to hold them up to the execration of all around them as though they had committed the worst of crimes from the foulest of motives! and more than this, stranger than this, worse than this,--when the legal world knew,--as the legal world soon did know,--that all this had been so, the legal world found no fault with mr. furnival, conceiving that he had done his duty by his client in a manner becoming an english barrister and an english gentleman." i have frequently heard people say that they would like to attend a trial. it is not worth while: trials are either shocking or stupid; the best way to see a trial is to read "orley farm." those of us who love trollope love him for those very qualities which cause fatigue in others. our lives, it may be, are fairly strenuous; it is hardly necessary for us to have our feelings wrung of an evening. when the day is done and i settle down in my arm-chair by the crackling wood fire, i am no longer inclined to problems, real or imaginary. i suppose the average man does his reading with what comfort he may after dinner; it is the time for peace--and trollope. it may be that the reader falls asleep. what matter? better this, i should say, than that he should be kept awake by the dissection of a human soul. this vivisection business is too painful. no, give me those long descriptions of house-parties, those chapters made up of dinner conversations, of endless hunting scenes, of editorials from newspapers, of meetings of the house, of teas on the terrace, and above all, give me the clergy--not in real life for a minute, but in the pages of trollope. but nothing happens, you say. i admit that there is very little blood and no thunder; but not all of us care for blood and thunder. trollope interests one in a gentler way; in fact, you may not know that you have been interested until you look at your watch and find it past midnight. and you can step from one book to another almost without knowing it. the characters, the situations repeat themselves over and over again; your interest is not always intense, but it never entirely flags. you are always saying to yourself, i'll just read one more chapter. after you have read fifteen or twenty of his novels,--and you will surely read this number if you read him at all,--you will find that you are as intimate with his characters as you are with the members of your own family, and you will probably understand them a great deal better. professor phelps says that he is constantly besieged with the question: "where can i find a really good story?" i would recommend that he keep a list of trollope's best novels at hand. surely they are in accord with his own definition of what a novel should be--a good story well told. i will make such a list for him if he is in any difficulty about it. i am told by those who know, that trollope's sporting scenes are faultless. never having found a horse with a neck properly adjusted for me to cling to, i have given up riding. seated in my easy-chair, novel in hand, in imagination i thrust my feet into riding-boots and hear the click of my spurs on the gravel, as i walk to my mount; for some one has "put me up"; forgetful of my increasing girth, i rather fancy myself in my hunting clothes. astride my borrowed mount, following a pack of hounds, i am off in the direction of trumpeton wood. fox-hunting, so fatiguing and disappointing in reality, becomes a delight in the pages of trollope. the fox "breaks" at last, the usual accident happens, someone misjudges a brook or a fence and is thrown. if the accident is serious, they have a big man down from london. i know just who he will be before he arrives; and when the services of a solicitor or man of business are required, he turns out to be an old friend. although i have never knowingly killed a grouse or a partridge, being utterly unfamiliar with the use of shooting irons of any kind, trollope makes me long for the first of august, that i may tell my man to pack my box and take places in the night mail for scotland. and then comes the long hoped-for invitation to spend a week end at matching priory; or, it may be that the duke of omnium's great establishment, gatherum castle, is to be open to me. dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies, m.p.'s, with the latest news from town, of ministries falling and forming--i have been through it all before. i know the company; when a man enters the room, i know in advance just what turn the gossip will take. but, above all, the clergy! was there ever a more wonderful gallery of portraits? balzac, you will say. i don't know--perhaps; but beginning with the delightful old warden, his rich, pompous, but very human son-in-law, archdeacon grantley, bishop proudie and his shrewish lady, and that uriah heep of clergymen, mr. slope--it is a wonderful assemblage of living men and women leading everyday lives without romance, almost without incident. trollope was the painter, perhaps i should say the photographer, _par excellence_ of his time. he set up his camera and took his pictures from every point of view. possibly he was not a very great artist, but he was a wonderfully skillful workman. as he says of himself, he was at his writing-table at half-past five in the morning; he required of himself words every quarter of an hour; his motto was _nulla dies sine linea_--no wet towel around his brow. he went "doggedly" at it, as dr. johnson says, and wrote an enormous number of books for a total of over seventy thousand pounds. he looked upon the result as comfortable, but not splendid. "you are defied to find in trollope a remark or an action out of keeping with the character concerned. i would give a pound for every such instance found by an objector, if he would give me a penny for every strictly consistent speech or instance i might find in return." i am quoting from a little book of essays by street; and it seems to me that he has here put his finger upon one of trollope's most remarkable qualities: his absolute faithfulness. he was a realist, if i understand the word, but he did not care to deal much with the disagreeable or the shocking, as those whom we call realists usually do. his pictures of the clergy, of whom he says that, when he began to write, he really knew very little, delighted some and offended others. an english critic, hain friswell, a supreme prig, says they are a disgrace, almost a libel; but the world knows better. on the whole his clergy are a very human lot, with faults and weaknesses just like our own. to my mind mrs. proudie, the bishop's lady, is a character worthy of dickens at his very best. there is not a trace of caricature or exaggeration about her, and the description of her reception is one of the most amusing chapters ever written. in another vein, and very delicate, is the treatment of mrs. proudie's death. the old bishop feels a certain amount of grief: his mainstay, his lifelong partner has been taken from him; but he remembers that life with her was not always easy; one feels that he will be consoled. trollope tells an amusing story of mrs. proudie. he was writing one day at the athenæum club when two clergymen entered the room, each with a novel in his hand. soon they began to abuse what they were reading, and it turned out that each was reading one of his novels. said one, "here is that archdeacon whom we have had in every novel that he has ever written." "and here," said the other, "is that old duke whom he talked about till everyone is tired of him. if i could not invent new characters i would not write novels at all." then one of them fell foul of mrs. proudie. it was impossible for them not to be overheard. trollope got up and, standing between them, acknowledged himself to be the culprit; and as to mrs. proudie, said he, "i'll go home and kill her before the week is out." "the biographical part of literature is what i love most." after his death in , his son published an autobiography which trollope had written some years before. swinburne calls it "exquisitely comical and conscientiously coxcombical." whatever this may mean, it is generally thought to have harmed his reputation somewhat. in it he speaks at length of his novels: tells us how and when and where he wrote them; expressing his opinion as dispassionately as if he were discussing the work of an author he had never seen. painstaking and conscientious he may have been, but in his autobiography he shows no sign of it--on the contrary, he stresses quantity rather than quality. for this very reason a set--what the publishers call a "definitive edition"--of trollope will never be published. there is no demand for one. editions of him in sumptuous binding, gilt-top, with uncut (and unopened) edges, under glass, will not be found in the houses of those who select their books at the same time they make their choice of the equipment of their billiard-room. the immortality of morocco trollope will never have; but on the open shelves of the man or woman whose leisure hours are spent in their libraries, who know what is best in english fiction, there will be found invariably six or ten of his novels in cloth, by this publisher or that, worn and shapeless from much reading. there is frequently some discussion as to the sequence in which trollope's books should be read. especially is this true of what his american publishers, dodd, mead & co., call the "barsetshire" series and the "parliamentary" series. the novels forming what they term the "manor house" series have no particular connection with each other. they recommend the following order:-- the barsetshire novels the warden barchester towers dr. thorne framley parsonage the small house at allington the last chronicle of barset the parliamentary novels the eustace diamonds can you forgive her? phineas finn phineas redux the prime minister the duke's children the manor-house novels orley farm the vicar of bullhampton is he popenjoy? john caldigate the belton estate good stories all of them; and the enthusiastic trollopian may wish also to read "the three clerks," in which chaffanbrass is introduced for the first time; "the bertrams," of which trollope says, "i do not remember ever to have heard even a friend speak well of it"; "castle richmond," which is hard going: "miss mackenzie," in which there is a description of a dinner-party _à la russe_, not unworthy of the author of mrs. proudie's reception in "barchester towers." the list is by no means complete, but by this time we may have enough and not wish to make lotta schmidt's acquaintance, or give a hoot "why frau frohman raised her prices." i once knew but have forgotten. personally, trollope was the typical englishman: look at his portrait. he was dogmatic, self-assertive, rather irritable and hard to control, as his superiors in the post-office, in which he spent the greater part of his life, well knew; not altogether an amiable character, one would say. his education was by no means first-class, and his english is the english we talk rather than the english we write; but he was able to use it in a way sufficient for his purpose. listen to the conclusion of his autobiography:-- it will not, i trust, be supposed by any reader that i have intended in this so-called autobiography to give a record of my inner life. no man ever did so truly--and no man ever will. rousseau probably attempted it, but who doubts but that rousseau has confessed in much the thoughts and convictions, rather than the facts, of his life? if the rustle of a woman's petticoat has ever stirred my blood; if a cup of wine has been a joy to me; if i have thought tobacco at midnight in pleasant company to be one of the elements of an earthly paradise; if, now and again, i have somewhat recklessly fluttered a five-pound note over a card-table--of what matter is that to any reader? i have betrayed no woman. wine has brought me no sorrow. it has been the companionship of smoking that i have loved, rather than the habit. i have never desired to win money, and i have lost none. to enjoy the excitement of pleasure, but to be free from its vices and ill effects--to have the sweet, and leave the bitter untasted--that has been my study. the preachers tell us that this is impossible. it seems to me that hitherto i have succeeded fairly well. i will not say that i have never scorched a finger--but i carry no ugly wounds. for what remains to me of life i trust for my happiness still chiefly to my work--hoping that when the power of work is over with me, god may be pleased to take me from a world in which, according to my view, there can be no joy; secondly, to the love of those who love me; and then to my books. that i can read and be happy while i am reading, is a great blessing. could i remember, as some men do, what i read, i should have been able to call myself an educated man. to trust for happiness chiefly to work and books,--to taste the sweet and leave the bitter untasted,--some may call such a scheme of life commonplace; but the most eventful lives are not the happiest--probably few authors have led happier lives than anthony trollope. one final word i am forced to say. since this awful war broke out, i read him in a spirit of sadness. the england that he knew and loved and described with such pride is gone forever. it will, to the coming generation, seem almost as remote as the england of elizabeth. the church will go, the state will change, and the common people will come into their own. the old order of things among the privileged class, much pay for little work, will be reversed. it will be useless to look for entailed estates and a leisure class--for all that made england a delightful retreat to us. if england is to continue great and powerful, as i earnestly hope and believe she is, england must be a better place for the poor and not so enervating for the rich, or both rich and poor are valiantly fighting her battles in vain. +-------------------------------------+ | for the row that i prize is yonder, | | away on the unglazed shelves, | | the bulged and the bruised octavos, | | the dear and the dumpy twelves. | | | | austin dobson. | +-------------------------------------+ x temple bar then and now the king of england is not a frequent visitor to the city of london, meaning by "the city" that square mile or so of old london whose political destinies are in the keeping of the lord mayor, of which the bank of england is almost the exact centre, st. paul's the highest ground, and temple bar the western boundary. it might be said that the king is the only man in england who has no business in the city. his duties are in the west end--in westminster; but to the city he goes on state occasions; and it so happened that several years ago i chanced to be in london on one of them. i had reached london only the night before, and i did not know that anything out of the ordinary was going on, until over my breakfast of bacon and eggs--and such bacon!--i unfolded my "times" and learned that their majesties were that morning going in state to st. paul's cathedral to give thanks for their safe return from india. it was not known that they had been in any great peril in india; but royal progresses are, i suppose, always attended with a certain amount of danger. at any rate the king and queen had reached home safely, and wanted to give thanks, according to historic precedent, in st. paul's; and the ceremony was set for that very morning. inquiring at the office of my hotel in pall mall, i learned that the royal procession would pass the doors in something over an hour, and that the windows of a certain drawing-room were at my disposal. it would have been more comfortable to view the royal party from a drawing-room of the carlton; but what i wanted to see would take place at temple bar; so, my breakfast dispatched, i sallied forth to take up my position in the crowded street. it was in february--a dark, gloomy, typical london morning. the bunting and decorations, everywhere apparent, had suffered sadly from the previous night's rain and were flapping dismally in the cold, raw air; and the streets, though crowded, wore a look of hopeless dejection. i am never so happy as in london. i know it well, if a man can be said to know london well, and its streets are always interesting to me; but the strand is not my favorite street. it has changed its character sadly in recent years. the strand no longer suggests interesting shops and the best theatres, and i grieve to think of the ravages that time and hall caine have made in the lyceum, which was once irving's, where i saw him so often in his, and my, heyday. however, my way took me to the strand, and, passing charing cross, i quoted to myself dr. johnson's famous remark: "fleet street has a very animated appearance; but the full tide of human existence is at charing cross." as i neared the site of temple bar, however, i observed that, for this morning, at any rate, the tide was setting toward the city. [illustration: temple bar as it is to-day] my progress through the crowd was slow, but i finally reached my objective point, the griffin, which marks the spot where for many centuries temple bar stood. taking up my position just in front of the rather absurd monument, which forms an "island" in the middle of the street, i waited patiently for the simple but historic and picturesque ceremony to begin. before long the city dignitaries began to arrive. first came the sheriffs and aldermen in coaches of state, wearing their scarlet-and-ermine robes. finally, a coach appeared, out of the window of which protruded the end of the great mace, emblem of city authority; and at last the lord mayor himself, in all his splendor, in a coach so wonderful in its gold and color that one might have supposed it had been borrowed from cinderella for the occasion. while i was wondering how many times and under what varying conditions this bit of pageantry had been enacted on this very spot, a slight wave of cheering down the strand apprised me of the approach of the royal procession. the soldiers who lined both sides of the street became, at a word of command, more immovable than ever, standing at "attention," if that is the word which turns men into statues. at the same time a band began the national anthem, and this seemed the signal for the mayor and his attendants to leave their coaches and group themselves just east of the monument. a moment later the royal party, in carriages driven by postilions with outriders, swept by; but the state carriage in which sat the king and queen was brought to a halt immediately in front of the city party. the lord mayor, carrying his jeweled sword in his hand, bowed low before his sovereign, who remained seated in the open carriage. words, i presume, were spoken. i saw the lord mayor extend his greetings and tender his sword to the king, who, saluting, placed his hand upon its hilt and seemed to congratulate the city upon its being in such safe keeping. the crowd cheered--not very heartily; but history was in the making, and the true londoner, although he might not like to confess it, still takes a lively interest in these scenes which link him to the past. while the city officials, their precious sword--it was a gift from queen elizabeth--still in their keeping, were returning to their coaches and taking their places, there was a moment's delay, which gave me a good opportunity of observing the king and his consort, who looked very much like the pictures of them we so frequently see in the illustrated papers. the king looked bored, and i could not help noticing that he was not nearly as interested in me as i was in him. i felt a trifle hurt until i remembered that his father, king edward, had in the same way ignored mark twain, that day when the king was leading a procession in oxford street, and mark was on top of an omnibus, dressed to kill in his new top-coat. evidently kings do not feel bound to recognize men in the street whom they have never seen before. the lord mayor and his suite, having resumed their places, were driven rapidly down fleet street toward st. paul's, the royal party following them. the whole ceremony at temple bar, the shadow of former ceremonies hardly more real, had not occupied much over five minutes. the crowd dispersed, fleet street and the strand immediately resumed their wonted appearance except for the bunting and decorations, and i was left to discuss with myself the question, what does this king business really mean? many years ago andrew carnegie wrote a book, "triumphant democracy," in which, as i vaguely remember, he likened our form of government to a pyramid standing on its base, while a pyramid representing england was standing on its apex. there is no doubt whatever that a pyramid looks more comfortable on its base than on its apex; but let us drop these facile illustrations of strength and weakness and ask ourselves, "in what way are we better off, politically, than the english?" in theory, the king, from whom no real authority flows, may seem a little bit ridiculous, but in practice how admirably the english have learned to use him! if he is great enough to exert a powerful influence on the nation for good, his position gives him an immense opportunity. how great his power is, we do not know,--it is not written down in books,--but he has it. if, on the other hand, he has not the full confidence of the people, if they mistrust his judgment, his power is circumscribed: wise men rule and majesty does as majesty is told to do. "we think of our prime minister as the wisest man in england for the time being," says bagehot. the english scheme of government permits, indeed, necessitates, her greatest men entering politics, as we call it. is it so with us? our plan, however excellent it may be in theory, in practice results in our having constantly to submit ourselves--those of us who must be governed--to capital operations at the hands of amateurs who are selected for the job by drawing straws. that we escape with our lives is due rather to our youth and hardy constitution than to the skill of the operators. to keep the king out of mischief, he may be set the innocuous task of visiting hospitals, opening expositions, or laying corner-stones. tapping a block of granite with a silver trowel, he declares it to be "well and truly laid," and no exception can be taken to the masterly manner in which the work is done. occasionally, once a year or so, plain bill smith, who has made a fortune in the haberdashery line, say, bends the knee before him and at a tap of a sword across his shoulder arises sir william smith. bill smith was not selected for this honor by the king himself; certainly not! the king probably never heard of him; but the men who rule the nation, those in authority, for reasons sufficient if not good, selected smith for "birthday honors," and he is given a stake in the nation. and so it goes. the knight may become a baronet, the baronet a baron, the baron a duke--this last not often now, only for very great service rendered the empire; and with each advance in rank comes increases of responsibility--in theory, at least. have our political theories worked out so well that we are justified in making fun of theirs as we sometimes do? i think not. after our country has stood as well as england has the shocks which seven or ten centuries may bring it, we may have the right to say, "we order these things better at home." * * * * * while musing thus, the strand and temple bar of a century and a half ago rise up before me, and i notice coming along the footway a tall, burly old man, walking with a rolling gait, dressed in a brown coat with metal buttons, knee-breeches, and worsted stockings, with large silver buckles on his clumsy shoes. he seems like a wise old fellow, so i approach him and tell him who i am and of my perplexities. "what! sir, an american? they are a race of convicts and ought to be thankful for anything we allow them short of hanging." and then, seeing me somewhat disconcerted, he adds less ferociously: "i would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government rather than another." saying which, he turns into a court off fleet street and is lost to view. it was only after he had disappeared that i realized that i had been speaking to dr. johnson. just when the original posts, bars, and chains gave way to a building known as temple bar, we have no means of knowing. honest john stow, whose effigy in terra cotta still looks down on us from the wall of the church of st. andrew undershaft, published his famous "survay of [elizabethan] london" in . in it he makes scant mention of temple bar; and this is the more remarkable because he describes so accurately many of the important buildings, and gives the exact location of every court and lane, every pump and well, in the london of his day. stow assures his readers that his accuracy cost him many a weary mile's travel and many a hard-earned penny, and his authority has never been disputed. he refers to the place several times, but not to the gate itself. "why this is, i have not heard, nor can i conjecture," to use a phrase of his; but we know that a building known as temple bar must have been standing when the "survay" appeared; for it is clearly indicated in aggas's pictorial map of london, published a generation earlier; otherwise we might infer that in stow's time it was merely what he terms it, a "barre" separating the liberties of london from westminster--the city from the shire. it is obvious that it gets its name from that large group of buildings known as the temple, which lies between fleet street and the river, long the quarters of the knights templar, and for centuries past the centre of legal learning in england. referring to the "new temple by the barre," stow tells us that "over against it in the high streets stand a payre of stockes"; and adds that the whole street "from the barre to the savoy was commanded to be paved in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of king henry the sixt" (this sturdy lad, it will be remembered, began to "reign" when he was only nine months old), with "tole to be taken towards the charges thereof." this practice of taking "tole" from all non-freemen at temple bar continued until after the middle of the nineteenth century, and fine confusion it must have caused. the charge of two pence each time a cart passed the city boundary finally aroused such an outcry against the "city turnpike" that it was done away with. whoever received this revenue must have heartily bewailed the passing of the good old days; for a few years before the custom was abandoned, the toll collected amounted to over seven thousand pounds per annum. [illustration: old temple bar demolished in ] the first reference which seems to suggest a building dates back to the time when "sweet anne bullen" passed from the tower to her coronation at westminster, at which time the fleet street conduit poured forth red wine, and the city waits--or minstrels--"made music like a heavenly noyse." we know, too, that it was "a rude building," and that it was subsequently replaced by a substantial timber structure of classic appearance, with a pitched roof, spanning the street and gabled at each end. old prints show us that it was composed of three arches--a large central arch for vehicular traffic, with smaller arches, one on each side, over the footway. all of the arches were provided with heavy oaken doors, studded with iron, which could be closed at night, or when unruly mobs, tempted to riot, threatened--and frequently carried out their threat--to disturb the peace of the city. the city proper terminated at lud gate, about halfway up ludgate hill; but the jurisdiction of the city extended to temple bar, and those residing between the two gates were said to be within the liberties of the city and enjoyed its rights and privileges, among them that of passing through temple bar without paying toll. although lud gate was the most important gate of the old city, originally forming a part of the old london wall, from time immemorial temple bar has been the great historic entrance to the city. at temple bar it was usual, upon an accession to the throne, the proclamation of a peace, or the overthrow of an enemy, for a state entry to be made into the city. the sovereign, attended by his trumpeters, would proceed to the closed gate and demand entrance. from the city side would come the inquiry, "who comes here?" and the herald having made reply, the royal party would be admitted and conducted to the lord mayor. with the roll of years this custom became slightly modified. when queen elizabeth visited st. paul's to return thanks for the defeat of the spanish armada, we read that, upon the herald and trumpeters having announced her arrival at the gate, the lord mayor advanced and surrendered the city sword to the queen, who, after returning it to him, proceeded to st. paul's. on this occasion--as on all previous occasions--the sovereign was on horseback, queen elizabeth having declined to ride, as had been suggested, in a vehicle drawn by horses, on the ground that it was new-fangled and effeminate. for james i, for charles i and cromwell and charles ii, similar ceremonies were enacted, the coronation of charles ii being really magnificent and testifying to the joy of england in again having a king. queen anne enters the city in a coach drawn by eight horses, "none with her but the duchess of marlborough, in a very plain garment, the queen full of jewels," to give thanks for the victories of the duke abroad; and so the stately historic procession winds through the centuries, always pausing at temple bar, right down to our own time. * * * * * but to return to the actual "fabrick," as dr. johnson would have called it. we learn that, soon after the accession of charles ii, old temple bar was marked for destruction. it was of wood, and, although "newly paynted and hanged" for state occasions, it was felt that something more worthy of the great city, to which it gave entrance, should be erected. inigo jones was consulted and drew plans for a new gate, his idea being the erection of a really triumphant arch; but, as he died soon after, his plan was abandoned. other architects with other plans came forward. at length the king became interested in the project and promised money toward its accomplishment; but charles ii was an easy promiser, and as the money he promised belonged to someone else, nothing came of it. while the project was being thus discussed, the plague broke out, followed by the fire which destroyed so much of old london, and public attention was so earnestly directed to the rebuilding of london itself that the gate, for a time, was forgotten. temple bar had escaped the flames, but the rebuilding of london occasioned by the fire gave christopher wren his great opportunity. a new st. paul's with its "mighty mothering dome," a lasting monument to his genius, was erected, and churches innumerable, the towers and spires of which still point the way to heaven--instructions which, we may suspect, are neglected when we see how deserted they are; but they serve, at least, to add charm and interest to a ramble through the city. great confusion resulted from the fire, but london was quick to see that order must be restored, and it is much to be regretted that wren's scheme for replanning the entire burned district was not carried out. fleet street was less than twenty-four feet wide at temple bar--not from curb to curb, for there was none, but from house to house. this was the time to rebuild london; although something was done, much was neglected, and wren was finally commissioned to build a new gate of almost the exact dimensions of the old one. [illustration: temple bar in dr. johnson's time] the work was begun in and progressed slowly, for it was not finished until two years later. what a fine interruption to traffic its rebuilding must have occasioned! constructed entirely of portland stone, the same material as st. paul's, it consisted, like the old one, of three arches--a large flattened centre arch, with small semicircular arches on either side. above the centre arch was a large window, which gave light and air to a spacious chamber within; while on either side of the window were niches, in which were placed statues of king james and his queen, anne of denmark, on the city side and of charles i and charles ii on the westminster side. the curious may wish to know that the mason was joshua marshall, whose father had been master-mason to charles i; that the sculptor of the statues was john bushnell, who died insane; and that the cost of the whole, including the statues at four hundred and eighty pounds, was but thirteen hundred and ninety-seven pounds, ten shillings. the fog and soot and smoke of london soon give the newest building an appearance of age, and mercifully bring it into harmony with its surroundings. almost before the new gate was completed, it had that appearance; and before it had a chance to grow really old, there arose a demand for its removal altogether. petitions praying for its destruction were circulated and signed. verse, if not poetry, urging its retention was written and printed. if that gate is pulled down, 'twixt the court and the city, you'll blend in one mass, prudent, worthless and witty. if you league cit and lordling, as brother and brother, you'll break order's chain and they'll war with each other. like the great wall of china, it keeps out the tartars from making irruptions, where industry barters, like samson's wild foxes, they'll fire your houses, and madden your spinsters, and cousin your spouses. they'll destroy in one sweep, both the mart and the forum, which your fathers held dear, and their fathers before 'em. but, attacked by strong city men and defended only by sentiment, temple bar still continued to impede traffic and shut out light and air, while the generations who fought for its removal passed to their rest. it became the subject of jokes and conundrums. why is temple bar like a lady's veil? it was asked; the answer being that both must be raised (razed) for busses. the distinction between a buss and a kiss, suggested by herrick, of whom the eighteenth-century city man never heard, would have been lost; but we know that-- kissing and bussing differ both in this, we buss our wantons and our wives we kiss. no account of temple bar would be complete without reference to the iron spikes above the centre of the pediment, on which were placed occasionally the heads of persons executed for high treason. this ghastly custom continued down to the middle of the eighteenth century, and gave rise to many stories, most of them legendary, but which go to prove, were proof necessary, that squeamishness was not a common fault in the days of the georges. to refer, however briefly, to the taverns which clustered east and west of temple bar and to the authors who frequented them, would be to stop the progress of this paper--and begin another. dr. johnson only voiced public opinion when he said that a tavern chair is a throne of human felicity. for more than three centuries within the shadow of temple bar there was an uninterrupted flow of wine and wit and wisdom, with, doubtless, some wickedness. from ben jonson, whose favorite resort was the devil, adjoining the bar on the south side, down to tennyson, who frequented the cock, on the north, came the same cry, for good talk and good wine. o plump head-waiter at the cock, to which i most resort, how goes the time? 'tis five o'clock-- go fetch a pint of port. this does not sound like the author of "locksley hall," but it is; and while within the taverns, "the chief glory of england, its authors," were writing and talking themselves into immortality, just outside there ebbed and flowed beneath the arches of temple bar, east in the morning and west at night, the human stream which is one of the wonders of the world. [illustration: clipping from a newspaper published in ] meanwhile the importance of temple bar as a city gate was lessening; "a weak spot in our defenses," a wit calls it, and points out that the enemy can dash around it through the barber's shop, one door of which opens into the city, and the other into the "suburbs"; but down to the last it continued to play a part in city functions. in it is lit with twenty thousand lamps as the queen goes to a state ball in guildhall. a few months later, it is draped in black as the remains of the iron duke pause for a moment under its arches, on the way to their final resting-place in st. paul's cathedral. in a few years we see it draped with the colors of england and prussia, when the princess royal, as the bride of frederick william, gets her "farewell" and "god bless you" from the city, on her departure for berlin. five years pass and the young prince of wales and his beautiful bride, alexandra, are received with wild applause by the mob as their carriage halts at temple bar; and once again when, in february, , queen victoria, the prince and princess of wales, and their court go to st. paul's to return thanks for the prince's happy recovery from a dangerous illness. with this event the history of temple bar in its old location practically ceases. it continued a few years longer a "bone in the throat of fleet street"; but at last its condition became positively dangerous, its gates were removed because of their weight, and its arches propped up with timbers. finally, in , its removal was decided upon, by the corporation of london, and temple bar, from time immemorial one of london's most notable landmarks, disappears and the griffin on an "island" rises in its stead. "the ancient site of temple bar has been disfigured by boehm with statues of the queen and the prince of wales so stupidly modeled that they look like statues out of noah's ark. it is bad enough that we should have german princes foisted upon us, but german statues are worse." in this manner george moore refers to the memorial commonly called the griffin, which, shortly after the destruction of the old gate, was erected on the exact spot where temple bar formerly stood. it is not a handsome object; indeed, barring the albert memorial, it may be said to represent victorian taste at its worst. it is a high, rectangular pedestal, running lengthwise with the street, placed on a small island which serves as a refuge for pedestrians crossing the busy thoroughfare. on either side are niches in which are placed the lifesize marble figures described by moore. but this is not all: there are bronze tablets let into the masonry, showing in _basso-rilievo_ incidents in the history of old temple bar, with portraits, medallions, and other things. this base pedestal, if so it may be called, is surmounted by a smaller pedestal on which is placed a heraldic dragon or griffin,--a large monster in bronze,--which is supposed to guard the gold of the city. we do not look for beauty in fleet street, and we know that only in the victorian sense is this monument a work of art; but it has the same interest for us as a picture by frith--it is a human document. memories of the past more real than the actual present crowd upon us, and we turn under an archway into the temple gardens, glad to forget the artistic sins of boehm and his compeers. * * * * * ask the average londoner what has become of old temple bar, and he will look at you in blank amazement, and then, with an effort of memory, say, "they've put it up somewhere in the north." and so it is. on its removal the stones were carefully numbered, with a view to reërection, and there was some discussion as to where the old gate should be located. it is agreed now that it should have been placed in the temple gardens; but for almost ten years the stones, about one thousand in number, were stored on a piece of waste ground in the farrington road. finally, they were purchased by sir henry meux, the rich brewer, whose brewery, if out of sight, still indicates its presence by the strong odor of malt, at the corner of oxford street and tottenham court road. sir henry meux was the owner of a magnificent country seat, theobald's park, near waltham cross, about twelve miles north of london; and he determined to make temple bar the principal entrance gate to this historic estate. so to theobald's park, anciently tibbals, i bent my steps one morning. being in a reminiscent mood, i had intended to follow in the footsteps of izaak walton, from the site of his shop in fleet street just east of temple bar, and having, in the words of the gentle angler, "stretched my legs up tottenham hill," to take the high road into hertfordshire; but the english spring having opened with more than its customary severity, i decided to go by rail. it was raining gently but firmly when my train reached its destination, waltham cross, and i was deprived of the pleasure i had promised myself of reaching temple bar on foot. an antique fly, drawn by a superannuated horse, was secured at the railway station, and after a short drive i was set down before old temple bar, the gates of which were closed as securely against me as ever they had been closed against an unruly mob in its old location. driving along a flat and monotonous country road, one comes on the old gate almost suddenly, and experiences a feeling, not of disappointment but of surprise. the gate does not span the road, but is set back a little in a hedge on one side of it, and seems large for its setting. one is prepared for a dark, grimy portal, whereas the soot and smoke of london have been erased from it, and, instead, one sees an antique, creamy-white structure tinted and toned with the green of the great trees which overhang it. prowling about in the drenching rain, i looked in vain for some sign of life. i shouted to king james, who looked down on me from his niche; and receiving no reply, addressed his consort, inquiring how i was to secure admittance. a porter's lodge on one side, almost hidden in the trees, supplied an answer to my question, and on my giving a lusty pull at the bell, the door was opened and a slatternly woman appeared and inquired my business. "to look over temple bar," i replied. "hutterly himpossible," she said; and i saw at once that tact and a coin were required. i used both. "go up the drive to the great 'ouse and hask for the clerk [pronounced clark] of the works, mr. 'arrison; 'e may let ye hover." i did as i was told and had little difficulty with mr. harrison. the house itself was undergoing extensive repairs and alterations. it has recently passed, under the will of lady meux, to its present owner, together with a fortune of five hundred thousand pounds in money. many years ago henry meux married the beautiful and charming valerie langton, an actress,--a gaiety girl, in fact,--but they had had no children, and when he died in , the title became extinct. thereafter lady meux, enormously wealthy, without relatives, led a retired life, chiefly interested in breeding horses. a chance courtesy paid her by the wife of sir hedworth lambton, who had recently married, together with the fact that he had established a reputation for ability and courage, decided her in her thought to make him her heir. sir hedworth, a younger son of the second earl of durham, had early adopted the sea as his profession. he had distinguished himself in the bombardment of alexandria, and had done something wonderful at ladysmith. he was a hero, no longer a young man, without means--who better fitted to succeed to her wealth and name? in lady meux died, and this lovely country seat, originally a hunting-lodge of king james, subsequently the favorite residence of charles i, and with a long list of royal or noble owners, became the property of the gallant sailor. all that he had to do was to forget that the name of meux suggested a brewery and exchange his own for it, and the great property was his. it reads like a chapter out of a romance. thus it was that the house was being thoroughly overhauled for its new owner at the time of my visit. but i am wandering from temple bar. armed with a letter from mr. harrison, i returned to the gate. first, i ascertained that the span of the centre arch, the arch through which for two centuries the traffic of london had passed, was but twenty-one feet "in the clear," as an architect would say; next, that the span of the small arches on either side was only four feet six inches. no wonder that there was always congestion at temple bar. i was anxious also to see the room above, the room in which formerly messrs. child, when it had adjoined their banking-house, had stored their old ledgers and cash-books. keys were sought and found, and i was admitted. the room was bare except for a large table in the centre, on which were quill pens and an inkstand in which the ink had dried up years before. one other thing there was, a visitor's book, which, like a new diary, had been started off bravely years before, but in which no signature had recently been written. i glanced over it and noticed a few well-known names--english names, not american, such as one usually finds, for i was off the beaten track of the tourist. the roof was leaking here and there, and little pools of water were forming on the floor. it was as cold as a tomb. i wished that a tavern, the cock, the devil, or any other, had been just outside, as in the old days when temple bar stood in fleet street. the slatternly woman clanked her keys; she too was cold. i had seen all there was to see. the beauty of temple bar is in its exterior, and, most of all, in its wealth of literary and historic associations. i could muse elsewhere with less danger of pneumonia, so i said farewell to the kings in their niches, who in this suburban retreat seemed like monarchs retired from business, and returned to my cab. the driver was asleep in the rain. i think the horse was, too. i roused the man and he roused the beast, and we drove almost rapidly back to the station; no, not to the station, but to a public house close by it, where hot water and accompaniments were to be had. "when is the next train up to london?" i asked an old man at the station. "in ten minutes, but you'll find it powerful slow." i was not deceived; it took me over an hour to reach london. as if to enable me to bring this story to a fitting close, i read in the papers only a few days ago: "vice-admiral sir john jellicoe was to-day promoted to the rank of admiral, and sir hedworth meux, who until now has been commander-in-chief at portsmouth, was appointed admiral of the home fleet."[ ] good luck be with him! accepting the burdens which properly go with rank and wealth, he is at this moment cruising somewhere in the cold north sea, in command of perhaps the greatest fleet ever assembled. upon the owner of temple bar, at this moment, devolves the duty of keeping watch and ward over england. [illustration: temple bar] xi a macaroni parson it will hardly be questioned that the influence of the priesthood is waning. why this is so, it is not within the province of a mere book-collector to discuss; but the fact will, i think, be admitted. in the past, however, every country and almost every generation has produced a type of priest which seems to have been the special product of its time. the soothsayer of old rome, concealed, perhaps, in a hollow wall, whispered his warning through the marble lips of a conveniently placed statue, in return for a suitable present indirectly offered; while to-day billy sunday, leaping and yelling like an apache indian, shrieks his admonitions at us, and takes up a collection in a clothes-basket. it is all very sad and, as oscar wilde would have said, very tedious. priests, prophets, parsons, or preachers! they are all human, like the rest of us. too many of them are merely insurance agents soliciting us to take out policies of insurance against fire everlasting, for a fee commensurate, not with the risk, but with our means. it is a well-established trade, in which the representatives of the old-line companies, who have had the cream of the business, look with disapproval upon new methods, as well they may, their own having worked so well for centuries. the premiums collected have been enormous, and no evidence has ever been produced that the insurer took any risk whatever. and the profession has been, not only immensely lucrative, but highly honorable. in times past priests have ranked with kings: sometimes wearing robes of silk studded with jewels; on fortune's cap the topmost button, exhibit wolsey; sometimes appearing in sackcloth relieved by ashes; every man in his humor. but it is not my purpose to inveigh against any creed or sect; only i confess my bewilderment at the range of human interest in questions of doctrine, while simple christianity stands neglected. the subject of this paper, however, is not creeds in general or in particular, but an eighteenth-century clergyman of the church of england. it will not, i think, be doubted by those who have given the subject any attention that religious affairs in england in the eighteenth century were at a very low ebb indeed. carlyle, as was his habit, called that century some hard names; but some of us are glad occasionally to steal away from our cares and forget our present "efficiency" in that century of leisure. perhaps not for always, but certainly for a time, it is a relief to ... live in that past georgian day when men were less inclined to say that "time is gold," and overlay and to quote austin dobson again, with a slight variation:-- seventeen hundred and twenty-nine:-- that is the date of this tale of mine. first great george was buried and gone; george the second was plodding on. whitefield preached to the colliers grim; bishops in lawn sleeves preached at him; walpole talked of "a man and his price"; nobody's virtue was over-nice:-- certainly not that of the clergyman of whom i am about to speak. and now, without further delay, i introduce william dodd. doctor dodd, he came to be called; subsequently, the "unfortunate doctor dodd," which he certainly considered himself to be, and with good reason, as he was finally hanged. william dodd was born in lincolnshire, in , and was himself the son of a clergyman. he early became a good student, and entering clare hall, cambridge, at sixteen, attracted some attention by his close application to his studies. but books alone did not occupy his time: he attained some reputation as a dancer and was noted for being very fond of dress. he must have had real ability, however, for he was graduated with honors, and his name appears on the list of wranglers. immediately after receiving his arts degree, he set out to make a career for himself in london. young dodd was quick and industrious: he had good manners and address, made friends quickly, and was possessed of what, in those days, was called "a lively imagination," which seems to have meant a fondness for dissipation; with friends to help him, he soon knew his way about the metropolis. its many pitfalls he discovered by falling into them, and the pitfalls for a gay young blade in london in the middle of the eighteenth century were many and sundry. but whatever his other failings, of idleness dodd could not be accused. he did not forget that he had come to london to make a career for himself. he had already published verse; he now began a comedy, and the death of the prince of wales afforded him a subject for an elegy. from this time on he was prepared to write an ode or an elegy at the drop of a hat. the question, should he become author or minister, perplexed him for some time. for success in either direction perseverance and a patron were necessary. perseverance he had, but a patron was lacking. while pondering these matters, dodd seemed to have nipped his career in the bud by a most improvident marriage. his wife was a mary perkins, which means little to us. she may have been a servant, but more likely she was the discarded mistress of a nobleman who was anxious to see her provided with a husband. in any event, she was a handsome woman, and his marriage was not his greatest misfortune. shortly after the wedding, we hear of them living in a small establishment in wardour street, not then, as now, given over to second-hand furniture shops, but rather a good quarter frequented by literary men and artists. who supplied the money for this venture we do not know; it was probably borrowed from someone, and we may suspect that dodd already was headed the wrong way--or that, at least, his father thought so; for we hear of his coming to london to persuade his son to give up his life there and return to cambridge to continue his studies. shortly after this time he published two small volumes of quotations which he called "beauties of shakespeare." he was the first to make the discovery that a book of quotations "digested under proper heads" would have a ready sale. shakespeare in the dead centre of the eighteenth century was not the colossal figure that he is seen to be as we celebrate the tercentenary of his death. i suspect that my friend felix schelling, the great elizabethan scholar, feels that anyone who would make a book of quotations from shakespeare deserves dodd's end, namely, hanging; indeed, i have heard him suggest as much; but we cannot all be schellings. the book was well received and has been reprinted right down to our own time. in the introduction he refers to his attempt to present a collection of the finest passages of the poet, "who was ever," he says, "of all modern authors, my first and greatest favorite"; adding that "it would have been no hard task to have multiplied notes and parallel passages from greek, latin and english writers, and thus to have made no small display of what is commonly called learning"; but that he had no desire to perplex the reader. there is much good sense in the introduction, which we must also think of as coming from a young man little more than a year out of college. as it was his first, so he thought it would be his last, serious venture into literature, for in his preface he says: "better and more important things henceforth demand my attention, and i here, with no small pleasure, take leave of shakespeare and the critics: as this work was begun and finish'd before i enter'd upon the sacred function in which i am now happily employ'd." dodd had already been ordained deacon and settled down as a curate in west ham in essex, where he did not spare himself in the dull round of parochial drudgery. so passed two years which, looking back on them from within the portals of newgate prison, he declared to have been the happiest of his life. but he soon tired of the country, his yearning for city life was not to be resisted, and securing a lectureship at st. olave's, hart street, he returned to london and relapsed into literature. a loose novel, "the sisters," is credited to him. whether he wrote it or not is a question, but he may well have done so, for some of its pages seem to have inspired his sermons. under cover of being a warning to the youth of both sexes, he deals with london life in a manner which would have put the author of "peregrine pickle" to shame; but as nobody's virtue was over-nice, nobody seemed to think it particularly strange that a clergyman should have written such a book. in many respects he reminds us of his more gifted rival, laurence sterne. dodd's great chance came in , when a certain mr. hingley and some of his friends got together three thousand pounds and established an asylum for magdalens, presumably penitent. the scheme was got under way after the usual difficulties; and as, in the city, the best way to arouse public interest is by a dinner, so in the west end a sermon may be made to serve the same purpose. sterne had talked a hundred and sixty pounds out of the pockets of his hearers for the recently established foundling hospital; dodd, when selected to preach the inaugural sermon at magdalen house, got ten times as much. who had the greater talent? dodd was content that the question should be put. the charity became immensely popular. "her majesty" subscribed three hundred pounds, and the cream of england's nobility, feeling a personal interest in such an institution, and perhaps a personal responsibility for the urgent need of it, made large contributions. the success of the venture was assured. dodd was made chaplain. at first this was an honorary position, but subsequently a small stipend was attached to it. the post was much to his liking, and it became as fashionable to go to hear dodd and see the penitent magdalens on sunday, as to go to ranelagh and vauxhall with, and to see, impenitent magdalens during the week. services at magdalen house were always crowded: royalty attended; everybody went. sensational and melodramatic, dodd drew vivid pictures of the life from which the women and young girls had been rescued: the penitents on exhibition and the impenitents in the congregation, alike, were moved to tears. frequently a woman swooned, as was the fashion in those days, and her stays had to be cut; or someone went into hysterics and had to be carried screaming from the room. dodd must have felt that he had made no mistake in his calling. horace walpole says that he preached very eloquently in the french style; but it can hardly have been in the style of bossuet, i should say. the general wantonness of his subject he covered by a veneer of decency; but we can guess what his sermons were like, without reading them, from our knowledge of the man and the texts he chose. "these things i command you, that ye love one another," packed the house; but his greatest effort was inspired by the text, "whosoever looketh on a woman." it does not require much imagination to see what he would make out of that! but for all his immense popularity dodd was getting very little money. his small living in the country and his hundred guineas or so from the magdalen did not suffice for his needs. he ran into debt, but he had confidence in himself and his ambition was boundless; he even thought of a bishopric. why not? it was no new way to pay old debts. influence in high places was his; but first he must secure a doctor's degree. this was not difficult. cambridge, if not exactly proud of him, could not deny him, and dodd got his degree. the king was appealed to, and he was appointed a royal chaplain. it was a stepping-stone to something better, and dodd, always industrious, now worked harder than ever. he wrote and published incessantly: translations, sermons, addresses, poems, odes, and elegies on anybody and everything: more than fifty titles are credited to him in the british museum catalogue. and above all things, dodd was in demand at a "city dinner." his blessings--he was always called upon to say grace--were carefully regulated according to the scale of the function. a brief "bless, o lord, we pray thee" sufficed for a simple dinner; but when the table was weighted down, as it usually was, with solid silver, and the glasses suggested the variety and number of wines which were to follow one another in orderly procession until most of the company got drunk and were carried home and put to bed, then dodd rose to the occasion, and addressed a sonorous appeal which began, "bountiful jehovah, who has caused to groan this table with the abundant evidences of thy goodness." the old-line clergy looked askance at all these doings. bishops, secure in their enjoyment of princely incomes, and priests of lesser degree with incomes scarcely less princely, regarded dodd with suspicion. why did he not get a good living somewhere, from someone; hire a poor wretch to mumble a few prayers to half-empty benches on a sunday while he collected the tithes? why this zeal? when a substantial banker hears of an upstart guaranteeing ten per cent interest, he awaits the inevitable crash, certain that, the longer it is postponed, the greater the crash will be. in the same light the well-beneficed clergyman regarded dodd. dodd himself longed for tithes; but as they were delayed in coming, he, in the meantime, decided to turn his reputation for scholarship to account, and accordingly let it be known that he would board and suitably instruct a limited number of young men; in other words, he fell back upon the time-honored custom of taking pupils. he secured a country house at ealing and soon had among his charges one philip stanhope, a lad of eleven years, heir of the great earl of chesterfield, who was so interested in the worldly success of his illegitimate son, to whom his famous letters were addressed, that he apparently gave himself little concern as to the character of instruction that his lawful son received. dodd's pupils must have brought a substantial increase of his small income, which was also suddenly augmented in another way. about the time he began to take pupils, a lady to whom his wife had been a sort of companion died and left her, quite unexpectedly, fifteen hundred pounds. nor did her good fortune end there. as she was attending an auction one day, a cabinet was put up for sale, and mrs. dodd bid upon it, until, observing a lady who seemed anxious to obtain it, she stopped bidding, and it became the property of the lady, who in return gave her a lottery ticket, which drew a prize of a thousand pounds for mrs. dodd. with these windfalls at his disposal, dodd embarked upon a speculation quite in keeping with his tastes and abilities. he secured a plot of ground not far from the royal palace, and built upon it a chapel of ease which he called charlotte chapel, in honor of the queen. four pews were set aside for the royal household, and he soon had a large and fashionable congregation. his sermons were in the same florid vein which had brought him popularity, and from this venture he was soon in receipt of at least six hundred pounds a year. with his increased income his style of living became riotous. he dined at expensive taverns, set up a coach, and kept a mistress, and even tried to force himself into the great literary club which numbered among its members some of the most distinguished men of the day; but this was not permitted. for years dodd led, not a double, but a triple life. he went through the motions of teaching his pupils. he preached, in his own chapels and elsewhere, sermons on popular subjects, and at the same time managed to live the life of a fashionable man about town. no one respected him, but he had a large following and he contrived every day to get deeper into debt. it is a constant source of bewilderment to those of us who are obliged to pay our bills with decent regularity, how, in england, it seems to have been so easy to live on year after year, paying apparently nothing to anyone, and resenting the appearance of a bill-collector as an impertinence. when goldsmith died, he owed a sum which caused dr. johnson to exclaim, "was ever poet so trusted before?" and goldsmith's debts were trifling in comparison with dodd's. but, at the moment when matters were becoming really serious, a fashionable living--st. george's--fell vacant, and dodd felt that if he could but secure it his troubles would be over. the parish church of st. george's, hanover square, was one of the best known in london. it was in the centre of fashion, and then, as now, enjoyed almost a monopoly of smart weddings. its rector had just been made a bishop. dodd looked upon it with longing eyes. what a plum! it seemed beyond his reach, but nothing venture, nothing have. on investigation dodd discovered that the living was worth fifteen hundred pounds a year and that it was in the gift of the lord chancellor. the old adage, "give thy present to the clerk, not to the judge," must have come into his mind; for, not long after, the wife of the chancellor received an anonymous letter offering three thousand pounds down and an annuity of five hundred a year if she would successfully use her influence with her husband to secure the living for a clergyman of distinction who should be named later. the lady very properly handed the letter to her husband, who at once set inquiries on foot. the matter was soon traced to dodd, who promptly put the blame on his wife, saying that he had not been aware of the officious zeal of his consort. the scandal became public, and dodd thought it best to go abroad. his name was removed from the list of the king's chaplains. no care was taken to disguise references to him in the public prints. libel laws in england seem to have been circumvented by the use of asterisks for letters: thus, laurence sterne would be referred to as "the rev. l. s*****," coupled with some damaging statement; but in dodd's case precaution of this sort was thought unnecessary. he was bitterly attacked and mercilessly ridiculed. even goldsmith takes a fling at him in "retaliation," which appeared about this time. it remained, however, for foote, the comedian, to hold him up to public scorn in one of his haymarket farces, in which the parson and his wife were introduced as dr. and mrs. simony. the satire was very coarse; but stomachs were strong in those good old days, and the whole town roared at the humor of the thing, which was admitted to be a great success. on dodd's return to london his fortunes were at a very low ebb indeed. a contemporary account says that, although almost overwhelmed with debt, his extravagance continued undiminished until, at last, "he descended so low as to become the editor of a newspaper." my editorial friends will note well the depth of his infamy. after a time the scandal blew over, as scandal will when the public appetite has been appeased, and dodd began to preach again: a sensational preacher will always have followers. someone presented him to a small living in buckinghamshire, from which he had a small addition to his income; but otherwise he was almost neglected. at last he was obliged to sell his interest in his chapel venture, which he "unloaded," as we should say to-day, on a fellow divine by misstating its value as a going concern, so that the purchaser was ruined by his bargain. but he continued to preach with great pathos and effect, when suddenly the announcement was made that the great preacher, dr. dodd, the macaroni parson, had been arrested on a charge of forgery; that he was already in the compter; that he had admitted his guilt, and that he would doubtless be hanged. the details of the affair were soon public property. it appears that, at last overwhelmed with debt, dodd had forged the name of his former pupil, now the earl of chesterfield, to a bond for forty-two hundred pounds. the bond had been negotiated and the money paid when the fraud was discovered. a warrant for his arrest was at once made out, and dodd was taken before justice hawkins (johnson's first biographer), who sat as a committing magistrate, and held him for formal trial at the old bailey. meanwhile all but four hundred pounds of the money had been returned; for a time it seemed as if this small sum could be raised and the affair dropped. this certainly was dodd's hope; but the law had been set in motion, and justice, rather than mercy, was allowed to take its course. the crime had been committed early in february. at the trial a few weeks later, the earl of chesterfield, disregarding dodd's plea, appeared against him, and he was sentenced to death; but some legal point had been raised in his favor, and it was several months before the question was finally decided adversely to him. dodd was now in newgate prison. there he was indulged in every way, according to the good old custom of the time. he was plentifully supplied with money, and could secure whatever money would buy. friends were admitted to see him at all hours, and he occupied what leisure he had with correspondence, and wrote a long poem, "thoughts in prison," in five parts. he also projected a play and several other literary ventures. meanwhile a mighty effort was set on foot to secure a pardon. dr. johnson was appealed to, and while he entertained no doubts as to the wisdom of capital punishment for fraud, forgery, or theft, the thought of a minister of the church of england being publicly haled through the streets of london to tyburn and being there hanged seemed horrible to him, and he promised to do his best. he was as good as his word. with his ready pen he wrote a number of letters and petitions which were conveyed to dodd, and which, subsequently copied by him, were presented to the king, the lord chancellor, to any one, in fact, who might have influence and be ready to use it. he even went so far as to write a letter which, when transcribed by mrs. dodd, was presented to the queen. one petition, drawn by johnson, was signed by twenty-three thousand people; but the king--under the influence of lord mansfield, it is said--declined to interest himself. [illustration: facsimile of the first page of dr. johnson's petition to the king on behalf of dr. dodd] and this brings me to a point where i must explain my peculiar interest in this thoroughgoing scoundrel. i happen to own a volume of manuscript letters written by dodd, from newgate prison, to a man named edmund allen; and as not every reader of boswell can be expected to remember who edmund allen was, i may say that he was dr. johnson's neighbor and landlord in bolt court, a printer by trade and an intimate friend of the doctor. it was allen who gave the dinner to johnson and boswell which caused the old man to remark, "sir, we could not have had a better dinner had there been a synod of cooks." the dodd letters to allen, however, are only a part of the contents of the volume. it contains also a great number of johnson's letters to dodd, and the original drafts of the petitions which he drew up in his efforts to secure mitigation of dodd's punishment. the whole collection came into my possession many years ago, and has afforded me a subject of investigation on many a winter's evening when i might otherwise have occupied myself with solitaire, did i happen to know one card from another. allen appears to have been an acquaintance of dodd's, and, i judge from the letters before me, called on johnson with a letter from a certain lady harrington, who for some reason which does not appear, was greatly interested in dodd's fate. boswell records that johnson was much agitated at the interview, walking up and down his chamber saying, "i will do what i can." dodd was personally unknown to johnson and had only once been in his presence; and while an elaborate correspondence was being carried on between them, johnson declined to go to see the prisoner, and for some reason wished that his name should not be drawn into the affair; but he did not relax his efforts. allen was the go-between in all that passed between the two men. in the volume before me, in all of dodd's letters to allen, johnson's name has been carefully blotted out, and johnson's letters intended for dodd are not addressed to him, but bear the inscription, "this may be communicated to dr. dodd." dodd's letters to johnson were delivered to him by allen and were probably destroyed, allen having first made the copies which are now in my possession. most of dodd's letters to allen appear to have been preserved, and johnson's letters to dodd, together with the drafts of his petitions, were carefully preserved by allen, dodd being supplied with unsigned copies. allen in this way carried out johnson's instructions to "tell nobody." dodd's letters seem for the most part to have been written at night. the correspondence began early in may, and his last letter was dated june , a few hours before he died. none of dodd's letters seem to have been published, and johnson's, although of supreme interest, do not appear to have been known in their entirety either to hawkins, boswell, or boswell's greatest editor, birkbeck hill. the petitions, so far as they have been published, seem to have been printed from imperfect copies of the original drafts. boswell relates that johnson had told him he had written a petition from the city of london, but they _mended_ it. in the original draft there are a few _repairs_, but they are in dr. johnson's own hand. the petition to the king evidently did not require mending, as the published copies are almost identical with the original. in the petition which he wrote for mrs. dodd to copy and present to the queen, johnson, not knowing all the facts, left blank spaces in the original draft for mrs. dodd to fill when making her copy; thus the original draft reads:-- to the queen's most excellent majesty madam:-- it is most humbly represented by ---- dodd, the wife of dr. william dodd, now lying in prison under sentence of death. that she has been the wife of this unhappy man for more than--years, and has lived with him in the greatest happiness of conjugal union, and the highest state of conjugal confidence. that she has been therefore for--years a constant witness of his unwearied endeavors for publick good and his laborious attendance on charitable institutions. many are the families whom his care has relieved from want; many are the hearts which he has freed from pain, and the faces which he has cleared from sorrow. that therefore she most humbly throws herself at the feet of the queen, earnestly entreating that the petition of a distressed wife asking mercy for a husband may be considered as naturally exciting the compassion of her majesty, and that when her wisdom has compared the offender's good actions with his crime, she will be graciously pleased to represent his case in such terms to our most gracious sovereign, as may dispose him to mitigate the rigours of the law. the case of the unfortunate dr. dodd was by now the talk of the town. if agitation and discussion and letters and positions could have saved him, saved he would have been, for all london was in an uproar, and efforts of every kind on his behalf were set in motion. he can hardly have been blamed for feeling sure that they would never hang him. johnson was not so certain, and warned him against over-confidence. rather curiously, merchants, "city people," who, one might suppose, would be inclined to regard the crime of forgery with severity, were disposed to think that dodd's sufferings in newgate were sufficient punishment for any crime he had committed. after all, it was said, the money, most of it, had been returned; so they signed a monster petition; twenty-three thousand names were secured without difficulty. but the west end was rather indifferent, and dr. johnson finally came to the conclusion that, while no effort should be relaxed (in a letter to mr. allen he says, "nothing can do harm, let everything be tried"), it was time for dodd to prepare himself for his fate. he thereupon wrote the following letter, which we may suppose allen either transcribed or read to the unfortunate prisoner:-- sir:-- you know that my attention to dr. dodd has incited me to enquire what is the real purpose of government; the dreadful answer i have put into your hands. nothing now remains but that he whose profession it has been to teach others to dye, learn how to dye himself. it will be wise to deny admission from this time to all who do not come to assist his preparation, to addict himself wholly to prayer and meditation, and consider himself as no longer connected with the world. he has now nothing to do for the short time that remains, but to reconcile himself to god. to this end it will be proper to abstain totally from all strong liquors, and from all other sensual indulgences, that his thoughts may be as clear and calm as his condition can allow. if his remissions of anguish, and intervals of devotion leave him any time, he may perhaps spend it profitably in writing the history of his own depravation, and marking the gradual declination from innocence and quiet to that state in which the law has found him. of his advice to the clergy, or admonitions to fathers of families, there is no need; he will leave behind him those who can write them. but the history of his own mind, if not written by himself, cannot be written, and the instruction that might be derived from it must be lost. this therefore he must leave if he leaves anything; but whether he can find leisure, or obtain tranquillity sufficient for this, i cannot judge. let him however shut his doors against all hope, all trifles and all sensuality. let him endeavor to calm his thoughts by abstinence, and look out for a proper director in his penitence, and may god, who would that all men shall be saved, help him with his holy spirit, and have mercy on him for jesus christ's sake. i am, sir, your most humble servant, sam johnson. _june , ._ then, in response to a piteous appeal, johnson wrote a brief letter for dodd to send to the king, begging him at least to save him from the horror and ignominy of a public execution; and this was accompanied by a brief note. sir:-- i most seriously enjoin you not to let it be at all known that i have written this letter, and to return the copy to mr. allen in a cover to me. i hope i need not tell you that i wish it success, but i do not indulge hope. sam johnson. as the time for dodd's execution drew near, he wrote a final letter to johnson, which, on its delivery, must have moved the old man to tears. it was written at midnight on the th of june, . accept, thou great and good heart, my earnest and fervent thanks and prayers for all thy benevolent and kind efforts in my behalf. oh! dr. johnson! as i sought your knowledge at an early hour in life, would to heaven i had cultivated the love and acquaintance of so excellent a man! i pray god most sincerely to bless you with the highest transports--the infelt satisfaction of humane and benevolent exertions! and admitted, as i trust i shall be, to the realms of bliss before you, i shall hail your arrival there with transports, and rejoice to acknowledge that you were my comforter, my advocate and my friend! god be ever with you! [illustration: mr. allen's copy of the last letter dr. dodd sent dr. johnson. dodd was hanged on june , ] the original letter in dodd's handwriting was kept by johnson, who subsequently showed it to boswell, together with a copy of his reply which boswell calls "solemn and soothing," giving it at length in the "life." my copy is in allen's hand, but there is a note to allen in dodd's hand which accompanied the original, reading: "add, dear sir, to the many other favors conferred on your unfortunate friend that of delivering my dying thanks to the worthiest of men. w. d." two other things johnson did: he wrote a sermon, which dodd delivered with telling effect to his fellow convicts, and he prepared with scrupulous care what has been called dr. dodd's last solemn declaration. it was without doubt intended to be read by dodd at the place of execution, but unforeseen circumstances prevented. various versions have been printed in part. the original in johnson's hand is before me and reads:-- to the words of dying men regard has always been paid. i am brought hither to suffer death for an act of fraud of which i confess myself guilty, with shame such as my former state of life naturally produces; and i hope with such sorrow as the eternal son, he to whom the heart is known, will not disregard. i repent that i have violated the laws by which peace and confidence are established among men; i repent that i have attempted to injure my fellow creatures, and i repent that i have brought disgrace upon my order, and discredit upon religion. for this the law has sentenced me to die. but my offences against god are without name or number, and can admit only of general confession and general repentance. grant, almighty god, for the sake of jesus christ, that my repentance however late, however imperfect, may not be in vain. the little good that now remains in my power, is to warn others against those temptations by which i have been seduced. i have always sinned against conviction; my principles have never been shaken; i have always considered the christian religion, as a revelation from god, and its divine author, as the saviour of the world; but the law of god, though never disowned by me, has often been forgotten. i was led astray from religious strictness by the vanity of show and the delight of voluptuousness. vanity and pleasure required expense disproportionate to my income. expense brought distress upon me, and distress impelled me to fraud. for this fraud, i am to die; and i die declaring that however i have offended in practice, deviated from my own precepts, i have taught others to the best of my knowledge the true way to eternal happiness. my life has been hypocritical, but my ministry has been sincere. i always believed and i now leave the world declaring my conviction, that there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved, but only the name of the lord jesus, and i entreat all that are here, to join with me, in my last petition that for the sake of christ jesus my sins may be forgiven. anything more gruesome and demoralizing than an eighteenth-century hanging it would be impossible to imagine. we know from contemporary accounts of dodd's execution that it differed only in detail from other hangings, which were at the time a common occurrence. his last night on earth was made hideous by the ringing of bells. under the window of his cell a small bell was rung at frequent intervals by the watch, and he was reminded that he was soon to die, and that the time for repentance was short. at daybreak the great bell of st. sepulchre's church just over the way began to toll, as was customary whenever prisoners in newgate were being rounded up for execution. "hanging days" were usually holidays. crowds collected in the streets, and as the day wore on, they became mobs of drunken men, infuriated or delighted at the proceedings, according to their interest in the prisoners. at nine o'clock the felon's gate was swung open and the prisoners were brought out. on this occasion, there were only two; frequently there were more--once indeed as many as fifteen persons were hanged on the same day. this was counted a great event. dodd was spared the ignominy of the open cart in which the ordinary criminal was taken to the gallows, and a mourning coach drawn by four horses was provided for him by some of his friends. this was followed by a hearse with an open coffin. the streets were thronged. after the usual delays the procession started, but stopped again at st. sepulchre's, that he might receive a nosegay which was presented him, someone having bequeathed a fund to the church so that this melancholy custom could be carried out. farther on, at holborn bar, it was usual for the cortège to stop, that the condemned man might be regaled with a mug of ale. ordinarily the route from newgate to tyburn was very direct, through and along the tyburn road, now oxford street; but on this occasion it had been announced that the procession would follow a roundabout course through pall mall. thus the pressure of the crowd would be lessened and everyone would have an opportunity of catching a glimpse of the unfortunate man; and everyone did. the streets were thronged, stands were erected and places sold, windows along the line of march were let at fabulous prices. in hyde park soldiers--two thousand of them--were under arms to prevent a rescue. the authorities were somewhat alarmed at the interest shown, and it was thought best to be on the safe side; the law was not to be denied. owing to the crowds, the confusion, and the out-of-the-way course selected, it was almost noon when the procession reached tyburn. we do not often think, as we whirl in our taxis along oxford street in the vicinity of marble arch, that this present centre of wealth and fashion was once tyburn. there is nothing now to suggest that it was, a century or two ago, an unlovely and little-frequented outskirt of the great city, given over to "gallows parties." at tyburn the crowd was very dense and impatient: it had been waiting for hours and rain had been falling intermittently. as the coach came in sight, the crowd pressed nearer; dodd could be seen through the window. the poor man was trying to pray. more dead than alive, he was led to the cart, on which he was to stand while a rope was placed about his neck. there was a heavy downpour of rain, so there was no time for the farewell address which dr. johnson had so carefully prepared. a sudden gust of wind blew off the poor man's hat, taking his wig with it: it was retrieved, and someone clapped it on his head backwards. the crowd was delighted; this was a hanging worth waiting for. another moment, and dr. dodd was swung into eternity. let it be said that there were some who had their doubts as to the wisdom of such exhibitions. might not such frequent and public executions have a bad effect upon public taste and morals? "why no, sir," said dr. johnson; "executions are intended to draw spectators. if they do not draw spectators they do not answer their purpose. the old method is satisfactory to all parties. the public is gratified by a procession, the criminal is supported by it." and his biographer, hawkins, remarks complacently: "we live in an age in which humanity is the fashion." * * * * * "and so they have hanged dodd for forgery, have they?" casually remarked the bishop of bristol, from the depths of his easy-chair. "i'm sorry to hear it." "how so, my lord?" "because they have hanged him for the least of his crimes." xii oscar wilde my interest in oscar wilde is a very old story: i went to hear him lecture when i was a boy, and, boy-like, i wrote and asked him for his autograph, which he sent me and which i still have. it seems strange that i can look back through thirty years to his visit to philadelphia, and in imagination see him on the platform of old horticultural hall. i remember, too, the discussion which his visit occasioned, preceded as it was by the publication in boston of his volume of poems, the english edition having been received with greater cordiality than usually marks a young poet's first production--for such it practically was. at the time of his appearance on the lecture platform he was a large, well-built, distinguished-looking man, about twenty-six years old, with rather long hair, generally wearing knee-breeches and silk stockings. any impressions which i may have received of this lecture are now very vague. i remember that he used the word "renaissance" a good deal, and that at the time it was a new word to me; and it has always since been a word which has rattled round in my head very much as the blessed word "mesopotamia" did in the mind of the old lady, who remarked that no one should deprive her of the hope of eternal punishment. [illustration: caricature of oscar wilde _from an original drawing by aubrey beardsley_] now, it would be well at the outset, in discussing oscar wilde, to abandon immediately all hope of eternal punishment--for others. my subject is a somewhat difficult one, and it is not easy to speak of wilde without overturning some of the more or less fixed traditions we have grown up with. we all have a lot of axioms in our systems, even if we are discreet enough to keep them from our tongues; and to do wilde justice, it is necessary for us to free ourselves of some of these. to make my meaning clear, take the accepted one that genius is simply the capacity for hard work. this is all very well at the top of a copy-book, or to repeat to your son when you are didactically inclined; but for the purposes of this discussion, this and others like it should be abandoned. having cleared our minds of cant, we might also frankly admit that a romantic or sinful life is, generally speaking, more interesting than a good one. few men in english literature have lived a nobler, purer life than robert southey, and yet his very name sets us a-yawning, and if he lives at all it is solely due to his little pot-boiler, become a classic, the "life of nelson." the two great events in nelson's life were his meeting with lady emma hamilton and his meeting with the french. now, disguise it as we may, it still remains true that, in thinking of nelson, we think as much of lady emma as we do of trafalgar. of course, in saying this i realize that i am not an englishman making a public address on the anniversary of the great battle. southey's life gives the lie to that solemn remark about genius being simply a capacity for hard work: if it were so, he would have ranked high; he worked incessantly, produced his to-day neglected poems, supported his family and contributed toward the support of the families of his friends. he was a good man, and worked himself to death; but he was not a genius. on the other hand, wilde was; but his life was not good, it was not pure; he did injury to his friends; and to his wife and children, the greatest wrong a man could do them, so that she died of a broken heart, and his sons live under an assumed name; yet, notwithstanding all this, perhaps to some extent by reason of it, he is a most interesting personality, and no doubt his future place in literature will be to some extent influenced by the fate which struck him down just at the moment of his greatest success. remembering dr. johnson's remark that in lapidary work a man is not upon oath, it has always seemed to me that something like the epitaph he wrote for goldsmith's monument in westminster abbey might with equal justice have been carved upon wilde's obscure tombstone in a neglected corner of bagneux cemetery in paris. the inscription i refer to translates: "he left scarcely any style of writing untouched and touched nothing that he did not adorn." i am too good a goldsmithian to compare goldsmith, with all his faults and follies, to wilde, with his faults and follies, and vices superadded; but wilde wrote "dorian gray," a novel original and powerful in conception, as powerful as "dr. jekyll and mr. hyde"; and remembering that wilde was also an essayist, a poet, and a dramatist, i think we may fairly say that he too touched nothing that he did not adorn. but, to begin at the beginning. wilde was not especially fortunate in his parents. his father was a surgeon-oculist of dublin, and was knighted by the lord lieutenant of ireland--just why, does not appear, nor is it important; his son always seemed a little ashamed of the incident. his mother was the daughter of a clergyman of the church of england. she was "advanced" for her time, wrote prose and verse, under the _nom de plume_ of "speranza," which were published frequently in a magazine, which was finally suppressed for sedition. if lady wilde was emancipated in thought, of her lord it may be said that he put no restraint whatever upon his acts. they were a brilliant, but what we would call to-day a bohemian, couple. i have formed an impression that the father, in spite of certain weaknesses of character, was a man of solid attainments, while of the mother someone has said that she reminded him of a tragedy queen at a suburban theatre. this is awful. oscar wilde was a second son, born in dublin, on the th of october, . he went to a school at enniskillen, afterwards to trinity college, dublin, and finally to magdalen college, oxford. he had already begun to make a name for himself at trinity, where he won a gold medal for an essay on the greek comic poets; but when, in june, , he received the newdigate prize for english verse for a poem, "ravenna," which was recited at the sheldonian theatre at oxford, it can fairly be said that he had achieved distinction. while at magdalen, wilde is said to have fallen under the influence of ruskin, and spent some time in breaking stones on the highways, upon which operation ruskin was experimenting. it may be admitted that the work for its own sake never attracted wilde: it was the reward which followed--breakfast-parties, with informal and unlimited talk, in ruskin's rooms. one does not have to read much of wilde to discover that he had as great an aversion to games, which kept him in the open, as to physical labor. bernard shaw, that other irish enigma, who in many ways of thought and speech resembles wilde, when asked what his recreations were, replied, "anything except sport." wilde said that he would not play cricket because of the indecent postures it demanded; fox-hunting--his phrase will be remembered--was "the unspeakable after the uneatable." but he was the leader, if not the founder, of the æsthetic cult, the symbols of which were peacock-feathers, sunflowers, lilies, and blue china. his rooms, perhaps the most talked about in oxford, were beautifully paneled in oak, decorated with porcelain supposed to be very valuable, and hung with old engravings. from the windows there was a lovely view of the river cherwell and the beautiful grounds of magdalen college. he soon made himself the most talked-of person in the place: abusing his foes, who feared his tongue. his friends, as he later said of someone, did not care for him very much--no one cares to furnish material for incessant persiflage. when he left oxford oscar wilde was already a well-known figure: his sayings were passed from mouth to mouth, and he was a favorite subject for caricature in the pages of "punch." finally, he became known to all the world as bunthorne in gilbert and sullivan's opera, "patience." from being the most talked-of man in oxford, he became the most talked-of man in london--a very different thing: many a reputation has been lost on the road between oxford and london. his reputation, stimulated by long hair and velveteen knee-breeches, gave whistler a chance to say, "our oscar is knee plush ultra." people compared him with disraeli. when he first became the talk of the town, great things were expected of him; just what, no one presumed to say. to keep in the going while the going was good, wilde published his volume of poems ( ); it followed that everyone wanted to know what this singular young man had to say for himself, and paid half a guinea to find out. the volume immediately went through several editions, and, as i have mentioned, was reprinted in this country. of these poems the "saturday review" said,--and i thank the "saturday review" for teaching me these words, for i think they fitly describe nine tenths of all the poetry that gets itself published,--"mr. wilde's verses belong to a class which is the special terror of the reviewers, the poetry which is neither good nor bad, which calls for neither praise nor blame, and in which one searches in vain for any personal touch of thought or music." it was at this point in his career that wilde determined to show himself to us: he came to america to lecture; was, of course, interviewed on his arrival in new york, and spoke with the utmost disrespect of the atlantic. [illustration: "our oscar" as he was when we loaned him to america _from a contemporary english caricature_] considering how little ballast wilde carried, his lectures here were a great success: "nothing succeeds like excess." he spoke publicly over two hundred times, and made what was, for him, a lot of money. looking back, it seems a daring thing to do; but wilde was always doing daring things. to lecture in new york, philadelphia, and boston was all very well; but it would seem to have required courage for wilde, fresh from oxford, his reputation based on impudence, long hair, knee-breeches, a volume of poems, and some pronounced opinions on art, to take himself, seriously, west to omaha and denver, and north as far as halifax. however, he went and returned alive, with at least one story which will never die. it was wilde who said that he had seen in a dance-hall in a mining-camp the sign, "don't shoot the pianist; he is doing his best." the success of this story was instant, and probably prompted him to invent the other one, that he had heard of a man in denver who, turning his back to examine some lithographs, had been shot through the head, which gave wilde the chance of observing how dangerous it is to interest one's self in bad art. he remarked also that niagara falls would have been more wonderful if the water had run the other way. on his return to england he at once engaged attention by his remark, "there is nothing new in america--except the language." of him, it was observed that delmonico had spoiled his figure. from london he went almost immediately to paris, where he found sufficient reasons for cutting his hair and abandoning his pronounced habiliments. thus he arrived, as he said of himself, at the end of his second period. wilde spoke french fluently and took steps to make himself at home in paris; with what success, is not entirely clear. he made the acquaintance of distinguished people, wrote verses, and devoted a good deal of time to writing a play for mary anderson, "the duchess of padua," which was declined by her and was subsequently produced in this country by lawrence barrett and minna gale. in spite of their efforts, it lived for but a few nights. meanwhile it cost money to live in paris, especially to dine at fashionable cafés, and wilde decided to return to london; but making ends meet is no easier there than elsewhere. he wrote a little, lectured when he could, and having spent the small inheritance he had received from his father, it seemed that "exit oscar" might fairly be written against him. but to the gratification of some, and the surprise of all, just about this time came the announcement of his marriage to a beautiful and charming lady of some fortune, constance lloyd, the daughter of a deceased barrister. whistler sent a characteristic wire to the church: "may not be able to reach you in time for ceremony; don't wait." indeed, it may here be admitted that in an encounter between these wits it was jimmie whistler who usually scored. of whistler as an artist i know nothing. my friends the pennells, at the close of their excellent biography, say, "his name and fame will live forever." this is a large order, but of whistler, with his rapier-like wit, it behooved all to beware. in a weak moment wilde once voiced his appreciation of a good thing of whistler's with, "i wish i had said that." quick as a flash, jimmie's sword was through him, and forever: "never mind, oscar, you will." it may be that the pennells are right. but to return. with mrs. wilde's funds, her husband's taste, and whistler's suggestions, a house was furnished and decorated in tite street, chelsea, and for a time all went well. but it soon became evident that some fixed income, certain, however small, was essential; fugitive verse and unsigned articles in magazines afford small resource for an increasing family. two sons were born, and, driven by the spur of necessity, wilde became the editor of "the woman's world," and for a time worked as faithfully and diligently as his temperament permitted; but it was the old story of pegasus harnessed to the plough. except for editorial work, the next few years were unproductive. "dorian gray," wilde's one novel, appeared in the summer of . it is exceedingly difficult to place: his claim that it was the work of a few days, written to demonstrate to some friends his ability to write a novel, may be dismissed as untrue--there is internal evidence to the contrary. it was probably written slowly, as most of his work was. in its first form it appeared in "lippincott's magazine" for july, ; but it was subjected to careful revision for publication in book form. wilde always claimed that he had no desire to be a popular novelist--"it is far too easy," he said. "dorian gray" is an interesting and powerful, but artificial, production, leaving a bitter taste, as of aloes in the mouth: one feels as if one had been handling a poison. the law compels certain care in the use of explosives, and poisons, it is agreed, are best kept in packages of definite shape and color, that they may by their external appearance challenge the attention of the thoughtless. only roosevelt can tell without looking what book should and what should not bear the governmental stamp, "guaranteed to be pure and wholesome under the food and drugs act." few, i think, would put this label on "dorian gray." wilde's own criticism was that the book was inartistic because it has a moral. it has, but it is likely to be overlooked in its general nastiness. in "dorian gray" he betrays for the first and perhaps the only time the decadence which was subsequently to be the cause of his undoing. i have great admiration for what is called, and frequently ridiculed as, the artistic temperament, but i am a believer also in the sanity of true genius, especially when it is united, as it was in the case of charles lamb, with a fine, manly, honest bearing toward the world and the things in it; but alone it may lead us to yearn with wilde to drift with every passion till my soul is a stringed lute on which all winds can play. it has been suggested on good authority that it is very unpleasant to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve. to expose one's soul to the elements, however interesting in theory, must be very painful in practice: wilde was destined to find it so. why the story escaped success at the hands of the adapter for the stage, i never could understand. the clever talk of the characters in the novel should be much more acceptable in the quick give-and-take of a society play than it is in a narrative of several hundred pages; moreover, it abounds in situations which are intensely dramatic, leading up to an overwhelming climax; probably it was badly done. it is with a feeling of relief that one turns from "dorian gray"--which, let us agree, is a book which a young girl would hesitate to put in the hands of her mother--to wilde's other prose work, so different in character. of his shorter stories, his fairy tales and the rest, it would be a delight to speak: many of them are exquisite, and all as pure and delicate as a flower, with as sweet a perfume. they do not know oscar wilde who have not read "the young king and the star child," and the "happy prince." that they are the work of the same brain that produced "dorian gray" is almost beyond belief. what a baffling personality was wilde's! here is a man who has really done more than william morris to make our homes artistic, and who is at one with ruskin in his effort that our lives should be beautiful; he had a message to deliver, yet, by reason of his flippancy and his love of paradox, he is not yet rated at his real worth. it is difficult for one who is first of all a wit to make a serious impression on his listeners. i think it is gilbert who says, "let a professed wit say, 'pass the mustard,' and the table roars." wilde was a careful and painstaking workman, serious as an artist, whatever he may have been as a man; and in the end he became a great master of english prose, working in words as an artist does in color, trying first one and then another until he had secured the desired effect, the effect of silk which seccombe speaks of. but he affected idleness. a story is told of his spending a week-end at a country house. pleading the necessity of working while the humor was on, he begged to be excused from joining the other guests. in the evening at dinner his hostess asked him what he had accomplished, and his reply is famous. "this morning," he said, "i put a comma in one of my poems." surprised and amused, the lady inquired whether the afternoon's work had been equally exhausting. "yes," said wilde, passing his hand wearily over his brow, "this afternoon i took it out again." just about the time that london had made up its mind that wilde was nothing but a clever man about town, welcome as a guest because of the amusement he afforded, "the soul of man under socialism" appeared in the "fortnightly magazine" for february, . london was at once challenged and amazed. this essay opens with a characteristic statement, one of those peculiarly inverted paradoxes for which wilde was shortly to become famous. "socialism," he says, "would relieve us from the sordid necessity of living for others"; and what follows is wilde at his very best. what is it all about? i am not sure that i know: it seems to be a plea for the individual, perhaps it is a defense of the poor; it is said to have been translated into the languages of the downtrodden, the jew, the pole, the russian, and to be a comfort to them; i hope it is. do such outpourings do any good, do they change conditions, is the millennium brought nearer thereby? i hope so. but if it is comforting for the downtrodden, whose wants are ill supplied, it is a sheer delight for the downtreader who, free from anxiety, sits in his easy-chair and enjoys its technical excellence. i know nothing like it: it is as fresh as paint, and like fresh paint it sticks to one; in its brilliant, serious, and unexpected array of fancies and theories, in truths inverted and distorted, in witticisms which are in turn tender and hard as flint, one is delighted and bewildered. wilde has only himself to blame if this, a serious and beautiful essay, was not taken seriously. "the soul of man under socialism" is the work of a consummate artist who, taking his ideas, disguises and distorts them, polishing them the while until they shine like jewels in a rare and unusual setting. naturally, almost every other line in such a work is quotable: it seems to be a mass of quotations which one is surprised not to have heard before. interesting as wilde's other essays are, i will not speak of them; with the exception of "pen, pencil and poison," a study of thomas griffiths wainewright, the poisoner, they will inevitably be forgotten. of wilde's poems i am not competent to speak: they are full of arcady and eros; nor am i of those who believe that "every poet is the spokesman of god." a book-agent once called on abraham lincoln and sought to sell him a book for which the president had no use. failing, he asked lincoln if he would not write an indorsement of the work which would enable him to sell it to others. whereupon the president, always anxious to oblige, with a humor entirely his own, wrote, "any one who likes this kind of book will find it just the kind of book they like." so it is with wilde's poetry: by many it is highly esteemed, but i am inclined to regard it as a part of his "literary wild oats." after several attempts in the field of serious drama, in which he was unsuccessful, by a fortunate chance he turned his attention to the lighter forms of comedy, in which he was destined to count only the greatest as his rivals. pater says these comedies have been unexcelled since sheridan; this is high praise, though not too high; but it is rather to contrast than to compare such a grand old comedy as the "school for scandal" with, say, "the importance of being earnest." they are both brilliant, both artificial; they both reflect in some manner the life and the atmosphere of their time; but the mirror which sheridan holds up to nature is of steel and the picture is hard and cold; wilde, on the other hand, uses an exaggerating glass, which seems specially designed to reflect warmth and fluffiness. wilde was the first to produce a play which depends almost entirely for its success on brilliant talk. in this field shaw is now conspicuous: he can grow the flower now because he has the seed. it was wilde who taught him how, wilde who, in four light comedies, gave the english stage something it had been without for a century. his comedies are irresistibly clever, sparkle with wit, with a flippant and insolent levity, and withal have a theatrical dexterity which shaw's are almost entirely without. while greatly inferior in construction to pinero's, they are as brilliantly written; the plots amount to almost nothing: talk, not the play, is the thing; and but for their author's eclipse they would be as constantly on the boards to-day in this country and in england as they are at present on the continent. the first comedy, "lady windermere's fan," was produced at the st. james's, february , . its success, despite the critics, was instant: full of saucy repartee, overwrought with epigrams of the peculiar kind conspicuous in the "soul of man," it delighted the audience. "punch" made a feeble pun about wilde's play being tame, forgetting the famous dictum that the great end of a comedy is to make the audience merry; and this end wilde had attained, and he kept his audiences in the same humor for several years--until the end. of his plays this is, perhaps, the best known in this country. it was successfully given in new york, philadelphia, and elsewhere, only a year or two ago. it might, i think, be called his "pleasant play": for a time it looks as if a pure wife were going astray, but the audience is not kept long in suspense: the plot can be neglected and the lines enjoyed, with the satisfactory feeling that it will all come out right in the end. "a woman of no importance" is in my judgment the least excellent of his four comedies; it might be called his "unpleasant" play: it is two acts of sheer talk, in wilde's usual vein, and two acts of acting. the plot is, as usual, insignificant. a certain lazy villain in high official position meets a young fellow and offers him a post as his secretary. the boy, much pleased, introduces his mother, and the villain discovers that the boy is his own son. the son insists that the father should marry his mother, but she declines. the father offers to make what amends he can, loses his temper, and refers to the lady as a woman of no importance; for which he gets his face well smacked. the son marries a rich american puritan. this enables wilde to be very witty at the expense of american fathers, mothers, and daughters. tree played the villain very well, it is said. never having seen wilde's next play acted, i once innocently framed this statement for the domestic circle: "i have never seen 'an ideal husband'"; and when my wife sententiously replied that she had never seen one either, i became careful to be more explicit in future statements. no less clever than the others, it has plot and action, and is interesting to the end. of all his plays it is the most dramatic. on its first production it was provided with a splendid cast, including lewis waller, charles hawtrey, julia neilson, maude millett, and fanny brough. in the earlier plays all the characters talked oscar wilde; in this wilde took the trouble, for it must have been to him a trouble, to conceal himself and let his people speak for themselves: they stay in their own characters in what they do as well as in what they say. "an ideal husband" was produced at the haymarket early in , and a few weeks later, at the st. james's, "the importance of being earnest." wilde called this a trivial comedy for serious people. it is clever beyond criticism; but, as one critic says, one might as well sit down and gravely discuss the true inwardness of a soufflé. in it wilde fairly lets himself loose; such talk there never was before; it fairly bristles with epigram; the plot is a farce; it is a mental and verbal extravaganza. wilde was at his best, scintillating as he had never done before, and doing it for the last time. he is reported to have said that the first act is ingenious, the second beautiful, and the third abominably clever. ingenious it is, but its beauty and cleverness are beyond praise. to have seen the lovely miss millard as cecily, the country girl, to have heard her tell gwendolen, the london society queen (irene vanbrugh), that "flowers are as common in the country as people are in london," is a delight never to be forgotten. wilde was now at the height of his fame. that the licenser of the stage had forbidden the performance of "salome" was a disappointment; but sarah bernhardt had promised to produce it in paris, and, not thinking that when his troubles came upon him she would break her word, he was able to overcome his chagrin. only a year or two before, he had been in need, if not in abject poverty. he was now in receipt of large royalties. no form of literary effort makes money faster than a successful play. wilde had two, running at the best theatres. his name was on every lip in london; even the cabbies knew him by sight; he had arrived at last, but his stay was only for a moment. against the advice and wishes of his friends, with "fatal insolence," he adopted a course which, had he been capable of thought, he must have seen would inevitably lead to his destruction. to those mental scavengers, the psychologists, i leave the determination of the exact nature of the disease which was the cause of wilde's downfall: it is enough for me to know that whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. the next two years wilde spent in solitary and degrading seclusion; his sufferings, mental and physical, can be imagined. many have fallen from heights greater than his, but none to depths more humiliating. many noble men and dainty women have been subjected to greater indignities than he, but they have been supported by their belief in the justice or honor of the cause for which they suffered. wilde was not, however, sustained by the consciousness of innocence, nor was he so mentally dwarfed as to be unable to realize the awfulness of his fate. the literary result was "de profundis." written while in prison, in the form of a letter to his friend robert ross, it was not published until five years after his death: indeed, only about one third of the whole has as yet appeared in english. "de profundis" may be in parts offensive, but as a specimen of english prose it is magnificent; it is by way of becoming a classic: no student of literature can neglect this cry of a soul lost to this world, intent upon proving--i know not what--that art is greater than life, perhaps. much has been written in regard to it: by some it is said to show that even at the time of his deepest degradation he did not appreciate how low he had fallen; that to the last he was only a _poseur_--a phrase-maker; that, genuine as his sorrow was, he nevertheless was playing with it, and was simply indulging himself in rhetoric when he said, "i, once a lord of language, have no words in which to express my anguish and my shame." one would say that it was not the sort of book which would become popular; nevertheless, more than twenty editions have been published in english, and it has been translated into french, german, italian, and russian. it was inevitable that "de profundis" should become the subject of controversy: oscar wilde's sincerity has always been challenged; he was called affected. his answer to this charge is complete and conclusive: "the value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it." for many years, indeed until quite recently, his name cast a blight over all his work. this was inevitable, but it was inevitable also that the work of such a genius should sooner or later be recognized. only a few years ago i heard a cultured lady say, "i never expected to hear his name mentioned in polite society again." but the time is rapidly approaching when oscar wilde will come into his own, when he will be recognized as one of the greatest and most original writers of his time. when shall we english-speaking people learn that a man's work is one thing and his life another? it is much to be regretted that wilde's life did not end with "de profundis"; but his misfortunes were to continue. after his release from prison he went to france, where he lived under the name of sebastian melmoth: but as sherard, his biographer, says, "he hankered after respectability." it was no longer the social distinction which the unthinking crave when they have all else: this great writer, he who had been for a brief moment the idol of cultured london, sought mere respectability, and sought it in vain. only when he was neglected and despised, miserable and broken in spirit, sincere feeling at last overcame the affectation which was his real nature and he wrote his one great poem, "the ballad of reading gaol." no longer could the "saturday review" "search in vain for the personal touch of thought and music": the thought is there, very simple and direct and personal without a doubt: the music is no longer the modulated noise of his youth. the ballad is an almost faultless work of art. what could be more impressive than the description of daybreak in prison:-- at last i saw the shadowed bars, like a lattice wrought in lead, move right across the whitewashed wall that faced my three-plank bed, and i knew that somewhere in the world god's dreadful dawn was red. the life begun with such promise drew to a close: an outcast, deserted by his friends, the few who remained true to him he insulted and abused. he became dissipated, wandered from france to italy and back again. in mercy it were well to draw the curtain. the end came in paris with the close of the century he had done so much to adorn. he died on november , , and was buried, by his faithful friend, robert ross, in a grave which was leased for a few years in bagneux cemetery. the kindness of robert ross to oscar wilde is one of the most touching things in literary history. the time has not yet come to speak of it at length, but the facts are known and will not always be withheld. owing largely to his efforts, a permanent resting-place was secured a few years ago in the most famous cemetery in france, the père lachaise. there, in an immense sarcophagus of granite, curiously carved, were placed the remains of him who wrote:-- "society, as we have constituted it, will have no place for me, has none to offer; but nature, whose sweet rains fall on unjust and just alike, will have clefts in the rock where i may hide, and sweet valleys in whose silence i may weep undisturbed. she will hang the night with stars so that i may walk abroad in the darkness without stumbling, and send the wind over my footprints so that none may track me to my hurt; she will cleanse me in great waters and with bitter herbs make me whole." it is too early to judge wilde's work entirely apart from his life: to do so will always be difficult: we could do so the sooner if we had a dr. johnson among us to speak with authority and say, "let not his misfortunes be remembered, he was a very great man." [illustration: ms. inscription to j. e. dickinson, from oscar wilde] xiii a word in memory to have been born and lived all his life in philadelphia, yet to be best known in london and new york; to have been the eldest son of a rich man and the eldest grandson of one of the richest men in america, yet of so quiet and retiring a disposition as to excite remark; to have been but a few years out of college, yet to have achieved distinction in a field which is commonly supposed to be the browsing-place of age; to have been relatively unknown in his life and to be immortal in his death--such are the brief outlines of the career of harry elkins widener. it is a curious commentary upon human nature that the death of one person well known to us affects us more than the deaths of hundreds or thousands not known to us at all. it is for this reason, perhaps, at a time when the papers bring us daily their record of human suffering and misery from the war in europe, that i can forget the news of yesterday and live over again the anxious hours which followed the brief announcement that the titanic, on her maiden voyage, the largest, finest, and fastest ship afloat, had struck an iceberg in mid-ocean, and that there were grave fears for the safety of her passengers and crew. there the first news ceased. the accident had occurred at midnight; the sea was perfectly calm, the stars shone clearly; it was bitter cold. the ship was going at full speed. a slight jar was felt, but the extent of the injury was not realized and few passengers were alarmed. when the order to lower the boats was given there was little confusion. the order went round, "women and children first." harry and his father were lost, his mother and her maid were rescued. in all that subsequently appeared in the press,--and for days the appalling disaster was the one subject of discussion,--the name of harry elkins widener appeared simply as the eldest son of george d. widener. few knew that, quite aside from the financial prominence of his father and the social distinction and charm of his mother, harry had a reputation which was entirely of his own making. he was a born student of bibliography. books were at once his work, his recreation, and his passion. to them he devoted all his time; but outside the circle of his intimate friends few understood the unique and lovable personality of the man to whom death came so suddenly on april , , shortly after he had completed his twenty-seventh year. [illustration: harry elkins widener] his knowledge of books was truly remarkable. in the study of rare books, as in the study of an exact science, authority usually comes only with years. with harry widener it was different. he had been collecting only since he left college, but his intense enthusiasm, his painstaking care, his devotion to a single object, his wonderful memory, and, as he gracefully says in the introduction to the catalogue of some of the more important books in his library, "the interest and kindness of my grandfather and my parents," had enabled him in a few years to secure a number of treasures of which any collector might be proud. harry elkins widener was born in philadelphia on january , . he received his early education at the hill school, from which he was graduated in . he then entered harvard university, where he remained four years, receiving his bachelor's degree in . it was while a student at harvard that he first began to show an interest in book-collecting; but it was not until his college days were over that, as the son of a rich man, he found, as many another man has done, that the way to be happy is to have an occupation. he lived with his parents and his grandfather in their palatial residence, lynnewood hall, just outside philadelphia. he was proud of the distinction of his relatives, and used to say, "we are a family of collectors. my grandfather collects paintings, my mother collects silver and porcelains, uncle joe collects everything,"--which indeed he does,--"and i, books." book-collecting soon became with him a very serious matter, a matter to which everything else was subordinated. he began, as all collectors do, with unimportant things at first; but how rapidly his taste developed may be seen from glancing over the pages of the catalogue of his library, which, strictly speaking, is not a library at all--he would have been the last to call it so. it is but a collection of perhaps three thousand volumes; but they were selected by a man of almost unlimited means, with rare judgment and an instinct for discovering the best. money alone will not make a bibliophile, although, i confess, it develops one. his first folio of shakespeare was the van antwerp copy, formerly locker lampson's, one of the finest copies known; and he rejoiced in a copy of "poems written by wil. shakespeare, gent," , in the original sheepskin binding. his "pickwick," if possibly inferior in interest to the harry b. smith copy, is nevertheless superb: indeed he had two, one "in parts as published, with all the points," another a presentation copy to dickens's friend, william harrison ainsworth. in addition he had several original drawings by seymour, including the one in which the shad-bellied mr. pickwick, having with some difficulty mounted a chair, proceeds to address the club. the discovery and acquisition of this drawing, perhaps the most famous illustration ever made for a book, is indicative of harry's taste as a collector. one of his favorite books was the countess of pembroke's own copy of sir philip sidney's "arcadia," and it is indeed a noble volume; but harry's love for his mother, i think, invariably led him, when he was showing his treasures, to point out a sentence written in his copy of cowper's "task." the book had once been thackeray's, and the great novelist had written on the frontispiece, "a great point in a great man, a great love for his mother. a very fine and true portrait. could artist possibly choose a better position than the above? w. m. thackeray." "isn't that a lovely sentiment?" harry would say; "and yet they say thackeray was a cynic and a snob." his "esmond" was presented by thackeray to charlotte brontë. his copy of the "ingoldsby legends" was unique. in the first edition, by some curious oversight on the part of the printer, page had been left blank, and the error was not discovered until a few sheets had been printed. in a presentation copy to his friend, e. r. moran, on this blank page, barham had written:-- by a blunder for which i have only myself to thank, here's a page has been somehow left blank. aha! my friend moran, i have you. you'll look in vain for a fault in one page of my book! signing the verse with his _nom de plume_, thomas ingoldsby. indeed, in all his books, the utmost care was taken to secure the copy which would have the greatest human interest: an ordinary presentation copy of the first issue of the first edition would serve his purpose only if he were sure that the dedication copy was unobtainable. his boswell's "life of johnson" was the dedication copy to sir joshua reynolds, with an inscription in the author's hand. he was always on the lookout for rarities, and dr. rosenbach, in the brief memoir which serves as an introduction to the catalogue of his stevenson collection, says of him:-- "i remember once seeing him on his hands and knees under a table in a bookstore. on the floor was a huge pile of books that had not been disturbed for years. he had just pulled out of the débris a first edition of swinburne, a presentation copy, and it was good to behold the light in his face as he exclaimed, 'this is better than working in a gold mine.' to him it was one." his collection of stevenson is a monument to his industry and patience, and is probably the finest collection in existence of that much-esteemed author. he possessed holograph copies of the vailima letters and many other priceless treasures, and he secured the manuscript of, and published privately for stevenson lovers, in an edition of forty-five copies, an autobiography written by stevenson in california in the early eighties. this item, under the title of "memoirs of himself," has an inscription, "given to isobel stewart strong ... for future use, when the underwriter is dead. with love, robert louis stevenson." the catalogue of his stevenson collection alone, the painstaking work of his friend and mentor, dr. rosenbach, makes an imposing volume and is an invaluable work of reference for stevenson collectors. harry once told me that he never traveled without a copy of "treasure island," and knew it practically by heart. i, myself, am not averse to a good book as a traveling companion; but in my judgment, for constant reading, year in and year out, it should be a book which sets you thinking, rather than a narrative like "treasure island," but--_chacun à son goût._ [illustration: title of stevenson's "memoirs of himself"] but it were tedious to enumerate his treasures, nor is it necessary. they will ever remain, a monument to his taste and skill as a collector, in the keeping of harvard university--his alma mater. it is, however, worth while to attempt to fix in some measure the individuality, the rare personality of the man. i cannot be mistaken in thinking that many, looking at the wonderful library erected in cambridge by his mother in his memory, may wish to know something of the man himself. there is in truth not much to tell. a few dates have already been given, and when to these is added the statement that he was of retiring and studious disposition, considerate and courteous, little more remains to be said. he lived with and for his books, and was never so happy as when he was saying, "now if you will put aside that cigar for a moment, i will show you something. cigar ashes are not good for first editions"; and a moment later some precious volume would be on your knees. what collector does not enjoy showing his treasures to others as appreciative as himself? many delightful hours his intimates have passed in his library, which was also his bedroom,--for he wanted his books about him, where he could play with them at night and where his eye might rest on them the first thing in the morning,--but this was a privilege extended only to true book-lovers. to others he was unapproachable and almost shy. of unfailing courtesy and an amiable and loving disposition, his friends were very dear to him. "bill," or someone else, "is the salt of the earth," you would frequently hear him say. "are you a book-collector, too?" his grandfather once asked me across the dinner-table. laughingly i said, "i thought i was, but i am not in harry's class." to which the old gentleman replied,--and his eye beamed with pride the while,--"i am afraid that harry will impoverish the entire family." i answered that i should be sorry to hear that, and suggested that he and i, if we put our fortunes together, might prevent this calamity. [illustration: beverly chew, of new york, who combines a profound love of english literature with an inexhaustible knowledge of first editions] his memory was most retentive. once let him get a fact or a date imbedded in his mind and it was there forever. he knew the name of every actor he had ever seen, and the part he had taken in the play last year and the year before. he knew the name of every baseball player and had his batting and running average. when it came to the chief interest of his life, his thirst for knowledge was insatiable. i remember one evening when we were in new york together, in beverly chew's library, harry asked mr. chew some question about the eccentricities of the title-pages of the first edition of milton's "paradise lost." mr. chew began rolling off the bibliographical data, like the ripe scholar that he is, when i suggested to harry that he had better make a note of what mr. chew was saying. he replied, "i should only lose the paper; while if i get it in my head i will put it where it can't be lost; that is," he added, "as long as i keep my head." and his memory extended to other collections than his own. for him to see a book once was for him to remember it always. if i told him i had bought such and such a book, he would know from whom i bought it and all about it, and would ask me if i had noticed some especial point, which, in all probability, had escaped me. he was a member of several clubs, including the grolier club, the most important club of its kind in the world. the late j. p. morgan had sent word to the chairman of the membership committee that he would like harry made a member. the question of his seconder was waived: it was understood that mr. morgan's endorsement of his protégé's qualifications was sufficient. it was one night, when we were in new york together during the first hoe sale, that i had a conversation with harry, to which, in the light of subsequent events, i have often recurred. we had dined together at my club and had gone to the sale; but there was nothing of special interest coming up, and after a half hour or so, he suggested that we go to the theatre. i reminded him that it was quite late, and that at such an hour a music-hall would be best. he agreed, and in a few moments we were witnessing a very different performance from the one we had left in the anderson auction rooms; but the performance was a poor one. harry was restless and finally suggested that we take a walk out fifth avenue. during this walk he confessed to me his longing to be identified and remembered in connection with some great library. he expanded this idea at length. he said: "i do not wish to be remembered merely as a collector of a few books, however fine they may be. i want to be remembered in connection with a great library, and i do not see how it is going to be brought about. mr. huntington and mr. morgan are buying up all the books, and mr. bixby is getting the manuscripts. when my time comes, if it ever does, there will be nothing left for me--everything will be gone!" we spent the night together, and after i had gone to bed he came to my room again, and calling me by a nick-name, said, "i have got to do something in connection with books to make myself remembered. what shall it be?" [illustration: mr. huntington among his books] i laughingly suggested that he write one, but he said it was no jesting matter. then it came out that he thought he would establish a chair at harvard for the study of bibliography in all its branches. he was much disturbed by the lack of interest which great scholars frequently evince toward his favorite subject. with this he returned to his own room, and i went to sleep; but i have often thought of this conversation since i, with the rest of the world, learned that his mother was prepared, in his memory, to erect the great building at harvard which is his monument. his ambition has been achieved. associated with books, his name will ever be. the great library at harvard is his memorial. in its _sanctum sanctorum_ his collection will find a fitting place. we lunched together the day before he sailed for europe, and i happened to remark at parting, "this time next week you will be in london, probably, lunching at the ritz." "yes," he said, "very likely with quaritch." while in london harry spent most of his time with that great bookseller, the second to bear the name of quaritch, who knew all the great book-collectors the world over, and who once told me that he knew no man of his years who had the knowledge and taste of harry widener. "so many of your great american collectors refer to books in terms of steel rails; with harry it is a genuine and all-absorbing passion, and he is so entirely devoid of side and affectation." in this he but echoed what a friend once said to me at lynnewood hall, where we were spending the day: "the marvel is that harry is so entirely unspoiled by his fortune." harry was a constant attendant at the auction rooms at sotheby's in london, at anderson's in new york, or wherever else good books were going. he chanced to be in london when the first part of the huth library was being disposed of, and he was anxious to get back to new york in time to attend the final hoe sale, where he hoped to secure some books, and bring to the many friends he would find there the latest gossip of the london auction rooms. alas! harry had bought his last book. it was an excessively rare copy of bacon's "essaies," the edition of . quaritch had secured it for him at the huth sale, and as he dropped in to say good-bye and give his final instructions for the disposition of his purchases, he said: "i think i'll take that little bacon with me in my pocket, and if i am shipwrecked it will go with me." and i know that it was so. in all the history of book-collecting this is the most touching story. the death of milton's friend, edward king, by drowning, inspired the poet to write the immortal elegy, "lycidas." who would not sing for lycidas?-- he must not float upon his watery bier unwept. when shelley's body was cast up by the waves on the shore near via reggio, he had a volume of keats's poems in his pocket, doubled back at "the eve of st. agnes." and in poor harry widener's pocket there was a bacon, and in this bacon we might have read, "the same man that was envied while he lived shall be loved when he is gone." [illustration: harry elkins widener's book-plate] index À becket, gilbert, _comic history of rome_, ; _comic history of england_, . adam, robert b., _n._ adams, john, . advertisements, importance of, in verifying first editions of certain books, . ainsworth, w. h., . albert, prince consort. _see_ martin, sir theodore. albert memorial, . alderson, amelia (mrs. opie), . aldines, , . alexandra, princess of wales, . alken, henry, _analysis of the hunting field_, and _life of john mytton_, illustrated by, . allan, john, , , . allen, edmund, , _ff._ allen, john, _memorial_ of, . allis, william e., , . _american book prices current_, . anderson, mary, . anderson's auction rooms, , . andrews, william loring, _gossip about book-collecting_, . anne, queen, . anne of denmark, queen of james i, . arblay, madame d'. _see_ burney, fanny. argyle, archibald campbell, duke of, . arnold, william harris, _record of books and letters_, , - ; _first report of a book-collector_, , . association books , _ff._ _athenæum, the_, _n._ auchinleck, alexander boswell, lord, his death, ; mentioned, , , , . auchinleck, boswell's birthplace, the author's visit to, - . auction catalogues, . auction sales, , . audubon, john j., _birds of north america_, . aulus gellius, _noctes atticæ_, . austen, jane, , , . bacon, francis, lord, quoted, ; and shakespeare, ; _essaies_ ( ), widener's last purchase, , . bagehot, walter, . bangs & co., . _bank of north america, history of the_, , . barclay, alexander, . barclay and perkins's, . baretti, giuseppe m. a., attacks mrs. piozzi, ; mentioned, , . barham, thomas, _ingoldsby legends_, unique presentation copy of first edition, . barrett, lawrence, . barrie, sir james m., _what every woman knows_, . bartlett, henrietta, . barton, bernard, . beaconsfield, benjamin disraeli, earl of. _see_ disraeli. beard, tom, presentation copy of _a christmas carol_ to, . beardsley, aubrey, caricature of o. wilde, , . beauclerk, lady diana, . beckford, william, presentation copy of disraeli's _henrietta temple_ to, . bell, currer, ellis, and acton, _poems_, . _see_ brontë sisters. bement, clarence s., . berayne, katherine tudor de ("mam y cymry"), . bernhardt, sarah, . bible, the, shakespeare "cryptogram" in, , . _see_ gutenberg bible. bibliographies, _ff._ _biddle, nicholas, memoirs of_, . bindings, , , . birrell, augustine, quoted, , . bixby, william k., , . blair, miss, . blake, william, _marriage of heaven and hell_, , ; _poetical sketches_, , ; _songs of innocence and experience_, , ; linnell collection, sale of, . blandford, marquis of. _see_ spencer, george. blount, edward, . "blue-stockings, the", . boccaccio, giovanni, the _decameron_, . boehm, sir j. e., , . boethius, _de consolatione philosophiæ_ (ms.), , . boleyn, anne, . bolingbroke, henry st. john, viscount, . bonnell, h. h., . _book auction records_, . _book prices current_, . book-collecting, delights of, _ff._; changing fashions in, . book-plates, , . books, "as originally published," , ; advancing prices of, _ff._, _ff._ _see_ association books, bindings, extra-illustrated books, presentation books, subscription books. booksellers, second-hand, catalogues of, _ff._ boscawen, mrs. edward, . boswell, james, quoted, on london, ; macaulay's characterization of, refuted, , ; early years, , ; first meeting with johnson, , ; his style, ; portraiture of johnson, ; devotion to johnson, ; not very much in johnson's company, ; qualities as a biographer, , ; weaknesses considered, _ff._, _ff._; carlyle on, ; conversational powers, ; life of johnson, largely his own autobiography, , ; letters to temple, _ff._; last days and death, , , ; wanderings about europe, , ; letter to dilly, ; first paper drawn by, as an advocate, ; "press notices" of himself, - ; marries margaret montgomerie, ; continued interest in johnson, , ; death of his father, ; financial difficulties, ; effect of johnson's death on, ; publishes the _journal of the tour to the hebrides_, ; its success encourages him to undertake johnson's life, ; the _life_ published ( ), , ; wife's death, ; thinks of running for parliament, ; contemporary opinions of, ; johnson on, ; mentioned, , , , , , . _life of samuel johnson_, dedication copy, to sir joshua reynolds, , , ; divers editions of, ; macaulay's essay on, considered and criticized, _ff._; merits of, in general, ; its success, ; presentation copy of, to james boswell, jr., ; effect of its publication, - ; almost universally praised, , ; the great english epic, ; mrs. thrale's copy of, ; mentioned, , , , , . _an account of corsica_, - , ; presentation copy of, . boswell, james, jr., , . boswell, mrs. margaret, her _bon mot_ on johnson, ; her death, ; mentioned, , , . bowden, a. j., . bradford club, . brandt, sebastian, _the ship of fools_, , . bristol, bishop of, . british museum, , , . broadley, a. m., published mrs. thrale's _journal of a tour in wales_, , . brontË, charlotte, presentation copy of _henry esmond_ to, ; mentioned, . brontË, emily, . brontË museum, . brontË sisters, , . _see_ bell, currer, etc. brooks, edmund d., bookseller, , , . brough, fanny, . browning, arabel, . browning, elizabeth barrett, letter of, , ; mentioned, , . browning, robert, _pauline_, ; mentioned, , , , . bulwer-lytton, sir edward, . bunbury, henry w., . burke, edmund, inscription to, from boswell, ; mentioned, , , , , , . burney, dr. charles, , . burney, fanny (madame d'arblay), _evelina_, , , , ; her _diary_, quoted, on life at streatham park, _ff._; mentioned, , , , , . burns, robert, _poems_, first edinburgh edition, , ; kilmarnock edition, - , . burns museum, . bushnell, john, . butler, samuel, _the way of all flesh_, . byron, allegra, , . byron, george gordon, lord, copy of thomson's _seasons_ presented by, to frances w. webster, ; mentioned, . caine, hall, . carlton hotel, london, . carlyle, thomas, presentation copy of dickens's _american notes_ to, ; on boswell, ; mentioned, , . carnegie, andrew, _triumphant democracy_, quoted, . cassatt, a. j., . catalogues of second-hand books, _ff._, _ff._; amusing blunders in, , . caxton, william, his books in general, , ; his edition of _tully, his treatises on old age and friendship_, ; mentioned, . caxton head, sign of the, . chaffanbrass, mr., , . chapman, george, translation of homer, . charing cross, . charing cross road, the book-lover's happy hunting-ground, , . charles i, , . charles ii, , . charlotte, queen of george iii, dodd's letter to, ; mentioned, , . chatham, william pitt, earl of, . chaucer, geoffrey, _works_, . chesterfield, philip dormer stanhope, fourth earl of, , . chesterfield, philip stanhope, fifth earl of, , . chew, beverly, , , , , , . _christ church, history of_, . christ's hospital, . cicero, _cato major_, franklin's edition of, ; _treatises of old age and friendship_ (caxton), . "city" of london, royal visit to, _ff._; physical boundaries and jurisdiction of, . clairmont, mrs. m. j., godwin's second wife, . _see_ godwin, mrs. m. j. clairmont, mary jane (claire), lord byron's mistress, , , , . clarke, charles cowden, . clarke, mary cowden, . classics, the, collectors' waning interest in, . clough, sir richard, . cock (tavern), the, . coggeshall, edwin w., sale of his dickens collection, , , , . coleridge, samuel taylor, , . collier, jane, . collier, john payne, , , , . collins, w. wilkie, _the moonstone_, , . colman, george, jr., . common prayer, book of, . congreve, william, . conrad, joseph, inscription in _the nigger of the narcissus_, . _contributions to english bibliography_, . conway, w. a., and mrs. thrale-piozzi, , . corsica, boswell's visit to, and its results, , . coryat, thomas, _coryat's crudities_, , . cosens, f. w., his lamb and southey mss., - . costello, dudley, . cottle, joseph, _annual anthology_, , and _n._, . cowper, william, _the task_, thackeray's copy of, with inscription, , . "crawford, mrs.," , . croker, john wilson, his edition of boswell's _life_ and macaulay, , . cromwell, oliver, . cruikshank, george, . daly, augustin, . davies, thomas, bookseller, , , , . davies, mrs. thomas, , . defoe, daniel, _robinson crusoe_, first edition, , , - , ; rare newspaper edition of, ; mentioned, , . devil tavern, the, , . dibdin, thomas frognall, . dickens, charles, disappearance of his london, ; the author's presentation copies of various works of, ; eckel's _first editions of charles dickens_, , , , ; value of presentation copies of, ; coggeshall collection of his works, , , ; why prices of early editions continue to advance, ; and miss kelly, ; mentioned, , , , , , , . _a christmas carol_, first edition, , ; presentation copies of, . _the cricket on the hearth_, manuscript of, , , ; presentation copy of, to macready, . _oliver twist_, presentation copy of, to macready, , . _pickwick papers_, in parts (coggeshall copy), - ; copy of, inscribed to mary hogarth, , ; fourth in circulation among printed books, ; "in parts as published," ; presentation copy of, to w. h. ainsworth, ; . _bleak house_, presentation copy of, to d. costello, . _american notes_, presentation copies of, to carlyle, , and to macready, . _the haunted man_, presentation copy of, to maclise, . _the chimes_, presentation copy of, to c. dickens, jr., . _the village coquette_, dedication of, . _a tale of two cities_, . dickens, charles, jr., presentation copy of _the chimes_ to, . dickinson, john ehret, inscription from o. wilde to, . dilly, charles, publisher of _corsica_, letter of boswell to, , ; publishes the _life of johnson_, , . disraeli, benjamin, _henrietta temple_, presentation copy of, to w. beckford, ; mentioned, , . dobell, bertram, bookseller, and _n._, . dobson, austin, quatrain by, ; quoted, . dodd, mrs. mary, , , , , . dodd, robert, . dodd, william (the "macaroni parson"), the johnson-dodd letters, - , _ff._; his history, _ff._; _beauties of shakespeare_, , ; _the sisters_, ; chaplain at magdalen house, ; character of his preaching, ; made a royal chaplain, ; tutor to lord chesterfield's son, ; builds charlotte chapel and becomes prosperous and extravagant, ; leads a triple life, ; tries to purchase living of st. george's, hanover square, ; and is disgraced, ; convicted of forgery and sentenced to death, , ; _thoughts in prison_, ; dr. johnson's aid enlisted to obtain his pardon, , , ; his execution, - . dodd, rev. mr., father of william, , . dodd, mead & co., . donne, john, walton's _life_ of, . dowden, edward, _life of shelley_, . drake, james f., bookseller, , , . dreer, ferdinand j., , , . dutton, e. p., & co., . eckel, john c., _first editions of charles dickens_, , , _ff._ _edinburgh review_, . edmonton churchyard, . egan, pierce, _boxiana_, . _elia and eliana_, . eliot, george. _see_ evans, mary ann. "eliot" bible, . elizabeth, queen, , , , . elizabethan club, . elliott, ebenezer, . elzevirs, , . england, dispersion of great private libraries in, , . english literature, three greatest characters in, . evans, mary ann, , , , . _examiner, the_, , . executions, public, in england, in th century, , . extra-illustrated books, , . fell, john, bishop of oxford, . field, eugene, . fielding, henry, , . fitzgerald, edward, _rubaiyat_, . fleet street, in author's book-plate, . folger, h. c., . foote, samuel, . fore-edge painting, fine example of, . forman, h. buxton, . _formosa, historical and geographical description of_, . forster, john, . _fortnightly magazine_, . fox, charles james, . foxe, john, _the book of martyrs_, . france, anatole, _the crime of sylvestre bonnard_, . franklin, benjamin, his edition of the _cato major_, ; mentioned, , . frederick william, crown prince of prussia, . french revolution, . friswell, hain, . furness, horace h., . gale, minna, . gamp, sairey, . garrett, mr., president of b. & o. railroad, . garrick, david, _love in the suds_, ; mentioned, , , . garrick, mrs. david, . gaskell, elizabeth c., _cranford_, . george iii, , , , , . george v, , . gibbon, edward, , . gilbert, william s., , . gilbert and sullivan, _patience_, wilde caricatured in, . gissing, george, _workers in the dawn_, . godwin, fanny, illegitimate daughter of mary wollstonecraft, , . godwin, m. j., godwin's second wife, lamb's comments on, , , ; her bookshop on skinner st., ; pursues shelley and his companions, , . godwin, mary wollstonecraft, godwin's first wife, dies in childbirth, ; mentioned , . godwin, mary wollstonecraft, d, copy of _queen mab_ inscribed to, ; marries shelley, , . _see_ shelley, mary w. godwin, william, sketch of his life, _ff._; a political heretic and schismatic, ; _enquiry concerning political justice_, , ; _adventures of caleb williams_, , ; fascination for the fair sex, ; relations with mary wollstonecraft, , : marries her, ; her death, ; courts harriet lee, ; financial troubles, , ; quarrelsomeness, ; his tragedy, _antonio_, "damned with universal consent," - ; marries mrs. clairmont, , ; _life of chaucer_, , ; books for children, ; suggests _tales from shakespeare_ to the lambs, ; his opinions become less advanced, ; revival of interest in, through shelley, ; absurd relations with shelley, , ; his financial troubles thicken, , , ; his later literary work, ; hazlitt's anecdote of, ; becomes yeoman usher of the exchequer, ; death, ; essay on "sepulchres," , ; the "husband of the first suffragette," . goldsmith, oliver, _a haunch of venison_ ( ), ; _the vicar of wakefield_, "points" of first edition, , , , ; edition with rowlandson plates, ; _she stoops to conquer_, , ; johnson's story of the sale of ms. of the _vicar_, , ; _the traveller_, ; _the deserted village_, ; mentioned, , , , , , , , , . goncourt, edmond de, . gordon, gen. sir alexander, presentation copies of martin's _life of the prince consort_ to, from queen victoria, , . _grammatica groeca_, , . granniss, ruth s., . gray, thomas, _poems_, : the _elegy_, ; gen. wolfe's copy of the _elegy_, , ; mentioned, , . greeley, horace, . griffin, the, on the site of temple bar, , , . grolier club, bibliographies published by, _ff._; exhibitions of, ; mentioned, , . gutenberg bible, record price paid by h. e. huntington for, at hoe sale, , ; mentioned, . hagen, w. h., his copy of _paradise lost_, _n._; sale of his collection, , , ; mentioned, . hamilton, lady emma, . hardy, thomas, _desperate remedies_, , , ; letter of, to "old tinsley," , ; _far from the madding crowd_, ms. of, , , ; _under the greenwood tree_, ; _the woodlanders_, ; quoted, . harrington, lady, , . harrison, mr., at theobald's park, , . harvard university, harry e. widener graduated at, ; his collection now in keeping of, ; the widener memorial library, . hawkins, sir john, _life of johnson_, , , ; boswell and, , ; mentioned, , , . hawtrey, charles, . hazlitt, william, anecdote of godwin, , ; mentioned, . heath, james, engraver, _n._ heming and condell, . henkels, stan, , . henry vi, . herbert, george, walton's _life_ of, ; _the temple_, . herrick, robert, _hesperides_, first edition, , , . hill, george birkbeck, editor of boswell, , , , , . hill, walter, bookseller, , , , . hingley, mr., . hodgkins, thomas, . hoe, robert, sale of his collection, , , , , . hogarth, mary, presentation copy of _pickwick papers_ in parts to, , . hogarth, william, . holbrook, richard t., . hollings, frank, bookseller, . hollingsworth, john, . homer, pope's translation of, ; chapman's, . hooker, richard, walton's _life_ of, . horneck, miss, . horneck, mrs., . howells, william dean, , . hume, david, , . huntington, henry e., pays record price for gutenberg bible, ; mentioned, , , , . hutchinson, thomas, _ballad of a poor book-lover_ (ms.), . huth, alfred, sale of his collection, . hutt, charles, bookseller, . hutt, fred, bookseller, , , . hutton, laurence, his collection of death-masks, ; mentioned, . iaggard, isaac, . imlay, mrs. gilbert. _see_ godwin, mary wollstonecraft. incunabula, . irving, henry, , . ives, brayton, his copy of shelley's _queen mab_, . james i, , , . jefferson, thomas, . jellicoe, sir john (viscount), . johnson, henry, . johnson, john g., . johnson, samuel, on poetry and pope, ; holograph prayer of, ; many prayers written by, ; _journey to the western islands of scotland_, , ; letter to mrs. horneck, ; and mrs. davies, ; psalmanazar _memoirs_, inscribed by, to mrs. thrale, , ; _prologue spoken at the opening of the theatre in drury lane_, , ; and the author's book-plate, , ; mrs. thrale's copy of the _dictionary_, ; letter to the thrales, ; his letters considered, , ; his story of the sale of the ms. of _the vicar of wakefield_, ; translator of lobo's _abyssinia_, ; _the prince of abissinia (rasselas)_, , , ; and jonson, ; macaulay's representation of, ; first meeting with boswell, , ; what his fame owes to boswell, , ; his advice to boswell, ; on boswell's _corsica_, ; effect of his death on boswell, ; mrs. thrale's _anecdotes_, ; hawkins's _life_ of, ; need of an index to his _dicta_, , ; on boswell, ; introduced to the thrales by murphy, ; growth and long continuance of the intimacy, ; their first and greatest lion, , ; practically a member of the thrale household, , ; his "menagerie of old women," ; at streatham, , ; verses to mrs. thrale, ; business adviser to the thrales, ; executor of thrale's estate, , ; streatham portrait of, , ; presentation copy of _the prince of abissinia_ to mrs. thrale, , ; violent letter to mrs. thrale on her engagement to piozzi, and her reply, , ; effect of his death on mrs. thrale-piozzi, , ; author's imaginary meeting with, , ; his efforts to obtain a reprieve for dr. dodd, _ff._; letter of ghostly counsel to dodd, and prayer for him, , ; writes "gallows speech" for dodd (undelivered), , , ; on public executions, ; mentioned, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . _see_ boswell, james; dodd, william; thrale-piozzi, hester lynch. jones, inigo, . jonson, ben, , . jordan, dorothea, . jowett, benjamin, . karslake, frank, . keats, john, _endymion_, wordsworth's copy of, , , ; _poems_ ( ), presentation copies of, , , , and _n._, ; his copy of spenser's _works_, presented by severn, , ; influence of spenser on, ; rarity of books from his library, ; prices of mss. of his works, ; _to the misses m---- at hastings_ (ms.), , _n._; _lamia_, ; _the eve of st. agnes_, . kelly, frances maria, relations with lamb, - ; as an actress, , ; lamb's admiration for, , ; his offer of marriage, _ff._, _ff._; the original of his "barbara s----," ; lamb's earlier letters to, - ; her reply to his offer of marriage, . kemble, john philip, , , . kennerley, mitchell, . king, edward, . kingsley, charles, . "knockout, the," at london auctions, , . labouchere, henry, _truth_, . lamb, charles, autograph letter to taylor & hessey, ; receipt for copyright of _elia_, , ; _elia_, presentation copy of, ; _prose works_ ( ), ; _letters_ ( ), ; _elegy on a quid of tobacco_, , _n._, ; in the cosens mss., , , ; birth and growth of the author's interest in, , ; his burial-place, ; his house at enfield, ; _old china_, ; as book-collector and book-lover, ; admiration for miss kelly, _ff._; _dream children_ reminiscent of her, , ; resurrection of his letter offering marriage to her, _ff._; sonnet to her, ; on blue-stockings, ; "barbara s----," , ; writes epilogue to godwin's _antonio_, ; describes its first performance and damnation, , ; his copy of the play-bill, with comments, ; on mrs. godwin, , ; _bon mots_ of, ; mentioned, , , , , , , , , . _see_ kelly, frances maria. lamb, charles and mary, _tales from shakespeare_, , . lamb, mary, and her brother's courtship of miss kelly, , , , ; mentioned, , , . lambert, william h., sale of his collection, . lambton, sir hedworth, assumes name of meux and inherits lady meux's estates, , ; on active service in the late war, and _n._ _see_ temple bar. lee, harriet, courted by godwin, . leech, john, illustration for _a christmas carol_, ; . levasseur, thÉrÈse, . lewes, george henry, . lincoln, abraham, . linnell, john, his blake collection, . _lippincott's magazine_, . livingston, luther s., , , , , . lloyd, constance, marries wilde, . lobo, father, his _abyssinia_ translated by dr. johnson, . locke, john, . locke, william j., _the belovèd vagabond_, . locker-lampson, frederick, his copy of the first folio of shakespeare, ; and of the _compleat angler_, first edition, ; mentioned, . london, the great market of the world for collectors' books, _ff._; and dickens, ; bookshops of, _ff._; stow's _survay_ of, , , ; changes in, , , ; preëminence of, as a book-market, passing to new york? ; aggas's pictorial map of, ; the plague and the great fire, . _london_, a poem, . london county council, . lowell, amy, . lowell, james russell, , , . lowther, katherine, and gen. wolfe's copy of gray's _elegy_, . lucas, edmund v., , . lud gate, . macaulay, hannah more, . macaulay, thomas babington, lord, his essay on boswell's _johnson_ criticized, _ff._ maclise, daniel, presentation copy of dickens's _the haunted man_, to, . macpherson, james, . macready, william c., presentation copies to, of _oliver twist_, , , , _american notes_, , and _the cricket on the hearth_, . macrobius, _saturnalia_, . madison, james, . magdalen house, dodd chaplain at, , . maggs, the brothers, booksellers, , . mangin, edward, _piozziana_, quoted, . mansfield, william murray, earl of, . marlborough, sarah, duchess of, . marshall, archibald, . marshall, john, . marshall, joshua, . martin, sir theodore, _life of the prince consort_, inscribed presentation copy of, to gen. sir a. gordon, , . martin, mrs., letter of mrs. browning to, . mary, queen of george v, , . mason, stuart, _bibliography of oscar wilde_, . mason, william, _elfrida_, boswell's copy of, , . mathew, caroline, . mathew, george felton, poem of keats addressed to, ; _n._ matthews, brander, _ballads of books_, . meirs, richard waln, . melmoth, sebastian, name assumed by wilde in paris, . meredith, george, _modern loves_, inscribed to swinburne, ; mentioned, . meux, sir hedworth. _see_ lambton, sir hedworth. meux, lady henry, makes sir h. lambton her heir, , . meux, sir henry, buys temple bar and sets it up at theobald's park, . millard, evelyn, . millett, maude, . milton, john, _paradise lost_, first edition, with first title-page, and _n._, , , , ; _lycidas_, , . montagu, elizabeth, , , . montgomerie, margaret. _see_ boswell, margaret. moore, george, _memoirs of my dead life_, proof-sheets of, , ; _literature at nurse_, and _pagan poems_, presentation copies of, , ; _flowers of passion_, ; quoted, on the griffin, . moran, e. r., . more, hannah, , , . morgan, john pierpont, acquires boswell's letters to temple, ; mentioned, , , , . morley, christopher, _n._ morris, william, . mudie's lending library, . murphy, arthur, introduces johnson to the thrales, , . neilson, julia, . nelson, horatio, lord, , . new york, and the rare-book market, . newton, a. edward, book-plate of, , ; visit to auchinleck, - ; imaginary meeting with dr. johnson, , ; visit to theobald's park (temple bar), - . north, ernest d., bookseller, , . _oration in carpenter's hall_ (philadelphia), . _original london post_, _robinson crusoe_ published serially in, . osbourne, s. lloyd, . osgood, charles g., , , , . paine, thomas, , , . paoli, pascal, , , , , . pater, walter, quoted, on wilde's comedies, . _patissier, françois, le_, . patterson, john m., . paul, c. kegan, . pearson, mr., bookseller, - . pembroke, mary (sidney) herbert, countess of, . pembroke college (oxford), . penn, william, . pennell, elizabeth robins, _our house_, presentation copy of, to the author, , , . pennell, joseph, , . pepys, samuel, . percy, hugh (bishop), . percy, mrs., presentation copy of _rasselas_ to, . perkins, mary. _see_ dodd, mary. phelps, william lyon, on trollope, , , . pickwick, mr., seymour's original drawing of, . pinero, sir a., . piozzi, gabriel, copy of johnson's _prince of abissinia (rasselas)_ presented to, by mrs. thrale, , ; his acquaintance with mrs. t., - ; becomes engaged to her, ; their marriage, , ; his death, ; mentioned, , , . piozzi, hester lynch. _see_ thrale-piozzi, hester lynch. plague, the, in london, . pope, alexander, his _homer_, ; dr. johnson, and o. wilde, on, ; mentioned, . presentation books, . princeton university, . prints, collecting, ; inlaying, . psalmanazar, george, _memoirs_, association copy of, ; johnson and, , . _punch_, , . pynson, richard, . quaritch, bernard, the napoleon of booksellers, ; his catalogues, _ff._; mentioned, , . quaritch, bernard alfred, a worthy son of his father, ; on widener, , ; mentioned, , , , . quin, james, . radcliffe, ann, . _ralph roister doister_, . ransome, arthur, _oscar wilde_, . reade, charles, . redway, w. e., manager of hollings's, . reed, henry, copy of _vanity fair_ presented to, by thackeray, . rembrandt, h. van rijn, . reveley, mrs., . reynolds, sir joshua, dedication copy of boswell's _johnson_ to, ; mentioned, , , , _n._, , , . rice, mrs. hamilton, builds widener memorial library, ; mentioned, , , . roberts, _the holy land_, . robinson, mary darby ("perdita"), . robinson, henry crabbe, . roosevelt, theodore, . rosenbach, a. s. w. ("rosy"), bookseller, - ; quoted, on widener, ; his catalogue of widener's stevenson collection, ; mentioned, , , , , . ross, robert, quoted, ; and wilde, , . rossetti, dante g., his sketch of tennyson reading _maud_, , ; inscription to swinburne, . rossetti, w. m., . rousseau, jean-jacques, . rudd, margaret, _anecdotes of the life and transactions of_, . rug-collecting, , . ruskin, john, , . russell, e. f., . sabin, frank, , . sabin, f. t., bookseller, , , , . st. george's, hanover square, . st. paul's, london, thanksgiving service in, , ; rebuilt by wren after the great fire, . salusbury, hester lynch. _see_ thrale-piozzi, hester lynch. salusbury, sir john, . salusbury, mrs. john, . salusbury, john piozzi, , , , . sandys, lord, . _saturday review_, quoted, on wilde's poetry, . schelling, felix, _elizabethan drama_ and other books, ; mentioned, . scott, sir walter, _the heart of midlothian_, ; mentioned, . sessler, charles, bookseller, , , , . severn, joseph, copy of spenser's _works_ presented by, to keats, . seymour, robert, original drawings for _pickwick papers_, . shakespeare, william, folios and quartos, , ; _hamlet_, first quartos of, ; _venus and adonis_, early editions of, ; _titus andronicus_, ; the first folio, , , ; _poems written by wil. shakespeare, gent._ ( ), ; mentioned, , , , . shaw, g. bernard, , . shelley, mrs. harriet, deserted by shelley, ; her death, . shelley, mary wollstonecraft, _frankenstein_, . _see_ godwin, mary w., d. shelley, percy b., _queen mab_, presentation copy of, to mary w. godwin, ; and godwin, ; elopes with mary w. godwin, ; marries her, ; death, , ; mentioned, , . sherard, robert h., biographer of wilde, . sheridan, richard b., , . siddons, sarah, , . sidney, sir philip, _arcadia_, countess of pembroke's copy of, . skelton, john, _poems_, , . smith, adam, . smith, george d., bookseller, _ff._, , , , , , . smith, harry b., his "sentimental library," ; mentioned, . smith, sidney, engraver, . smith, sydney, . smith, elder & co., . smollett, tobias, . sotheby's auction rooms, , . southey, robert, _life of nelson_, ; mentioned, , and _n._, , . southwark, thrale brewery in, , . spencer, george, marquis of blandford, . spencer, george john, earl, . spencer, walter, bookseller, , , , , . spenser, edmund, copy of his _works_ presented to keats by severn, , ; his influence on keats, ; mentioned, . spoor, j. a., . stanhope, philip, pupil to dr. dodd, . _see_ chesterfield, fifth earl of. stephen, sir leslie, , , . sterne, laurence, _a sentimental journey_, ; mentioned, , . stevenson, isobel s., . stevenson, robert louis, _inland voyages_, inscribed copy of, ; _a child's garden of verses_, unique copy of, , , ; prices of first editions of, , , ; _the new arabian nights_, ; his popularity, ; _penny whistles_, ; widener's collection of his works, , , ; _vailima letters_ (holographs) ; _memoirs of himself_ (ms.), privately printed by h. e. widener, , ; _treasure island_, , ; mentioned, , . stoke poges church yard, . stoker, bram, _dracula_, . stow, john, _survay of london_, first edition, ; quoted, , . strahan, george, . streatham park, the thrales' country seat, , , , ; life at, described by fanny burney, _ff._; closed, ; reopened, , . strong, isobel stewart, . subscription books, . sullivan, sir arthur. _see_ gilbert and sullivan. sunday, "billy," . surtees, r. s., his sporting novels, , . swinburne, algernon c., _poems and ballads_, first edition, ; inscription to, by rossetti, ; moore's _modern love_, inscribed to, ; mentioned, . talfourd, thomas noon, _final memorials of charles lamb_, , . taylor and hessey, , . temple, rev. william j., boswell's letters to, history of the collection, , ; extracts from the letters, - ; his letters to b. not preserved, ; mentioned, . temple bar, in the author's book-plate, ; the western boundary of the "city," ; history of, _ff._; the first structure, - ; the second, built by wren in and after, - ; demand for its removal, , ; iron spikes on, ; taverns surrounding, , ; lessening importance of, , ; last functions in which it played a part, ; removed in , ; purchased by sir h. meux, and removed to theobald's park, ; a visit to, described, - . temple, the, . tennyson, alfred, sketch of, reading _maud_, , ; mentioned, . terry, ellen, . thackeray, william m., copy of _vanity fair_ presented by, to henry reed, ; sketch for illustration of _vanity fair_, , ; _vanity fair_, in parts, , , ; sentence written in his copy of cowper's _the task_, ; copy of _henry esmond_, presented by, to charlotte brontë, ; mentioned, , . theobald's park, temple bar now set up at, _ff._ thomson, james, _the seasons_, copy of, presented by lord byron to f. w. webster, . thrale, henry, marries hester l. salusbury, ; their ménage, _ff._; parties at streatham, , the brewery, ; described by his wife, , ; elected to parliament, ; his table among the best in london, ; business troubles, ; advised by johnson, , ; death, ; mentioned, , . _see_ thrale-piozzi, hester lynch. thrale, hester lynch. _see_ thrale-piozzi. thrale, "queenie," . thrale-piozzi, hester lynch, _lyford redivivus_ (ms.), , ; psalmanazar's _memoirs_ inscribed by johnson to, , ; her copy of the _dictionary_, , ; _anecdotes of dr. johnson_, , ; and boswell's _johnson_, , ; her qualities, in general, , ; her pedigree, , ; birth, early years and education, , ; marries thrale, ; their ménage, _ff._; her one duty, ; johnson introduced to, ; beginning of their long-enduring familiar intercourse, , ; relations with thrale, , ; her numerous progeny, ; business ability, , ; life at streatham, _ff._; johnson's verses to, ; coexecutor with johnson of thrale's estate, ; sells the brewery, , ; acquaintance with piozzi, , ; verses to piozzi, ; engaged to him, ; johnson's violent letter to, and her reply, , ; marries piozzi, , ; effect of johnson's death on, , ; _letters to and from the late samuel johnson_, ; other works published by, ; baretti's attack on, ; builds brynbella, ; busy with her pen, ; _thraliana_, ; _journal of a tour in wales_, ms. of, - ; macaulay's "silly phrase" concerning, ; modern opinion of, ; her influence on johnson, ; literary taste, ; her copy of boswell's _johnson_, ; death of piozzi, ; last days, at bath, , ; death and burial, ; last words on, , ; mentioned, , , . thurlow, edward, lord, . tinker, chauncey b., _dr. johnson and fanny burney_, dedication copy, ; mentioned, , , . titanic, steamship, loss of, , , . tregaskis, james, bookseller, - . trent, william p., . trollope, anthony, quoted, ; _the macdermots of ballycloran_, and _the kellys and the o'kellys_, , ; his novels considered, , , _ff._, _ff._; later criticism of, , ; his simplicity, ; his autobiography, quoted, , ; his plots, ; _can you forgive her?_, ; _orley farm_, , , ; _phineas redux_, ; the photographer _par excellence_ of his time, ; his clerical gallery, ; mrs. proudie, , ; his autobiography, ; suggested order of reading his novels, ; a typical englishman, ; effect of the war on the england he wrote of, . trollope, henry m., . tyburn, execution of dodd at, - . united states, book-shops in, _ff._ "unspeakable scot, the," _the first stone_, . van antwerp, william c., , , , , . vanbrugh, irene, . victoria, princess royal, . victoria, queen, inscribed copy of martin's _life of the prince consort_ presented by, to gen. sir a. gordon, , ; mentioned, . wainewright, t. g., . wales, prince of (afterward george iv), . wales, prince of (afterward edward vii), . waller, lewis, . walpole, horace, _the castle of otranto_, ; mentioned, , . walton, izaak, _the compleat angler_, , , , , ; his _lives_ of donne, etc., ; mentioned, , . watts, isaac, . webster, frances w., copy of thomson's _the seasons_ presented by lord byron to, . wellington, arthur wellesley, duke of, . wells, gabriel, bookseller, , , , . westcote, lord, . whistler, james, pennell collection of his works, ; and wilde, , . white, w. a., , . widener, george d., , . widener, mrs. george d. _see_ rice, mrs. hamilton. widener, harry elkins, his collection given to harvard university by his mother, ; sketch of his life, , ; lost on the titanic, , ; devotion to, and knowledge of, books, , ; as a book-collector, , ; some of his treasures, _ff._; stevenson collection, ; personality and characteristics, , ; and the grolier club, ; his ambition to be remembered in connection with a great library, , ; at the huth sale, ; his last purchase, bacon's _essaies_, , ; mentioned, , , , . widener, peter a. b., . widener memorial library, , , . wilde, constance, . wilde, oscar, on poetry and pope, ; presentation copy of moore's _pagan poems_ to, , ; advancing value of first editions of, ; multiplicity of books about him, , ; _the importance of being earnest_, , , ; bibliography of, ; beardsley's caricature of, , ; lectures in u.s., , , ; personal appearance, ; difficulties of discussing him, ; his place in literature as influenced by his character, , ; _dorian gray_, , - ; early life, , ; leads the "æsthetic cult," , ; at oxford, and in london, , ; _poems_ ( ), , ; _the duchess of padua_, ; _the woman's world_, ; fairy tales, ; _the soul of man under socialism_, , ; _pen, pencil, and poison_, ; his poems, , ; his dramatic works--_lady windermere's fan_, ; _a woman of no importance_, , ; _an ideal husband_, , ; _salome_, ; success of the plays, ; his downfall, , ; in prison, ; _de profundis_, , ; effect of his reputation on his works, , ; in paris under assumed name, ; _the ballad of reading gaol_, ; death, ; robert ross and, , ; mentioned, . _wilde, oscar, three times tried_, . wilde, willie, . wilde, lady ("speranza"), . wilkes, john, . wilson, woodrow, _constitutional history of the united states_, with inscription, , . winchester cathedral, . wolfe, general james, sale of his copy of gray's _elegy_, , . wollstonecraft, mary, becomes godwin's mistress, , ; marries him, , . _see_ godwin, mary wollstonecraft. woodhouse, james, , . wordsworth, william, his copy of _endymion_, , , ; mentioned, , . wren, christopher, builds new temple bar, , . wykeham, william of, . wynne, maurice, of gwydir, . the riverside press cambridge·massachusetts u. s. a. * * * * * footnotes: [ ] the facsimile (page ) is from the first edition, with the first title-page. from the hagen collection. mr. hagen has written on the fly-leaf, "rebound from original calf binding which was too far gone to repair." in the process of binding it was seen that the title-page was part of a signature and not a separate leaf as in the case of the issue with the "second" title, , which would seem to settle the priority of these two titles. [ ] see _infra_, chapter iii, p. , where the further adventures of this book are related, and where its price at the hagen sale, may , , becomes $ , with a. e. n. as the bidder-up. [ ] see _infra_, chapter xi, pp. _ff._ [ ] i had a letter from mr. dobell early in the war, telling me that business was very bad in his line, and that he had taken to writing bad war-poems, which, he said, was a harmless pastime for a man too old to fight. i am not sure that the writing of bad poetry is a harmless pastime, and i was just about to write and tell him so, when i read in the _athenæum_ that he had passed away quite suddenly. [ ] the facsimile is from the original manuscript by charles lamb. first published in in what is usually referred to as cottle's "annual anthology." the poem is generally attributed to southey, but it sounds like lamb, who liked tobacco, whereas southey did not. the ms., in ten stanzas, is undoubtedly in lamb's handwriting. [ ] see professor trent's remarks on this "point," in chapter iii, p. . [ ] the facsimile on page is from the original manuscript of john keats's "to some ladies," published in keats's first volume ( ). the ladies were the sisters of george felton mathew, to whom keats also addressed a poem. it will be observed that in the second verse he used the word "gushes" at the end of the third as well as the first line. this error does not occur in the printed text. on the other hand the ms. shows a correction which has never been made in the printed text, where the word "rove" is corrected to "muse." there is an interesting communication in the athenæum, april , , by h. buxton forman, anent this holograph. [ ] in walter hill's recent catalogue a copy is priced at $ . [ ] see _infra_, page . [ ] i received a note some time ago from christopher morley, saying, "let us hereafter and forever drink tea together on this date in celebration of this meeting." [ ] the original of the portrait opposite was owned by boswell, who used the engraving as the frontispiece of his "life of johnson." now in the johnson collection of robert b. adam, esq., of buffalo. there is a proof plate with an inscription in boswell's hand: "this is the first impression of the plate after mr. heath the engraver thought it was finished. he went with me to sir joshua reynolds who suggested that the countenance was too young and not thoughtful enough. mr. heath thereupon altered it so much to its advantage that sir joshua was quite satisfied and heath then saw such a difference that he said he would not for a hundred pounds have had it remain as it was." [ ] this was written in april, . sir hedworth meux is not now in active service. * * * * * typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: rememberd that=> remembered that {pg } a 'becket=> À becket {pg } bronté=> brontë {pg } grannis, ruth s., .=> granniss, ruth s., . {pg } generously made available by the internet archive.) this is a copy of the first edition of this book. it is published in the united states by messrs dodd, mead & company, new york; but, in deference to the wishes of collectors, the original london imprint is retained. erratum. page , for _anderton_ read _anderson_. the confessions of a collector by william carew hazlitt author of 'four generations of a literary family,' etc. london ward & downey _limited_ york buildings, adelphi, w.c. contents page chapter i my antecedents--how and whence the passion came to me--my father's people--and my mother's--my uncle--his genuine feeling for what was old and curious--a disciple of charles lamb--books my first love--my courtship of them under my father's roof--my clandestine acquisitions--a small bibliographical romance--my uncle as a collector--some of his treasures--his choice, and how he differed from my father--an adventure of the latter at a bookstall-- bargains--the author moralises upon them--a new view--i begin to be a bibliographer--venice strikes my fancy as a subject for treatment--my want of acquaintance with it--mr quaritch and mr ruskin do not encourage me--i resolve to proceed--i teach myself what was requisite to enable me to do so--some of my experiences--molini the elder--the london library forty years ago--what became of my collections for the work--preparing for another and greater scheme, chapter ii i survey the ground before i start--i contemplate a new british bibliography--richard heber--his extraordinary acquirements--his vast library--his manuscript notes in the books--a high estimate of heber as a scholar and a reader-- he eclipses all other collectors at home and abroad--a sample or so of his flyleaf memoranda--a few very interesting books noticed--a _historiette_--anecdotes of some bargains and discoveries by him and his contemporaries--the _phoenix nest_ at sion college-- marlowe's _dido_--mystery connected with the library at lee priory--the oldest collections of english plays--a little note about lovelace--heber's generosity as a lender--his kindness to dyce--fate of his rarest books--how he obtained some of them--the daniel ballads and their true history-- result of a study of _heber's catalogue_ and other sources of knowledge--the _handbook_ appears--mr frederick harrison and sir walter besant pay me compliments, chapter iii the _handbook_ of and its fruits--mr henry huth--his beneficial influence on my bibliographical labours--he invites me to co-operate in the formation of his library--i edit books for him--he declines to entertain the notion of a librarian--my advantages and risks--a few heavy plunges-- a _barnaby's journal_--a _book of hours of the virgin_--the butler mss.--archbishop laud--montaigne--mr huth answerable for my conversion into a speculator--the immense value of the departure to my progress as a bibliographer--a caxton from the country--why i had to pay so much for it--mr huth's preferences--his _americana_--deficiencies of his library gradually supplied--his dramatic series--beaumont and fletcher and ben jonson--mr huth a linguist and a scholar--his first important purchase--contrasted with heber--the drawer at mr quaritch's kept for mr huth--his uncertainty or caprice explained by himself--his failing health becomes an obstacle--the fancy a personal one, chapter iv literary results of my acquaintance with mr huth--the new _bibliography_ in progress, and the book gradually superseded--some other literary acquaintances--george daniel--john payne collier and frederic ouvry, his son-in-law--the millers of craigentinny--'inch-rule' miller--he purchases at the heber sale by cartloads--my efforts to procure particulars of all the rare books at britwell--i let mr christie-miller have one or two items-- an anecdote--mr miller's london house formerly samuel rogers's--his son--where they are all buried--the rev. thomas corser--his fine library--what it cost and what it fetched--his difficulties in forming it--whither much of it went--my exploits at the sale--description of the house where the books were kept--mr corser's peculiar interest in my eyes--his personal character--the sad change in the book market since corser's day--mr samuel sanders--a curious incident--mr cosens, mr turner and mr lawrence--their characteristics--some account of mr cosens as he gave it to me--his line of collecting--my assistance requested--a few of his principal acquisitions and their subsequent fortunes--frederic locker--his idiosyncrasies--his want of judgment--his _confidences_, chapter v mr henry pyne--his ideas as a collector, and my intercourse with him--his office one of my regular lounges--his willingness to part with certain books--i buy a pig in a poke, and it turns out well--mr pyne's sale--a frost--i buy all the best lots for a trifle--the volume of _occasional forms of prayer_ and its history--pyne's personal career and relations--his investigation of the affairs of a noble family--the booksellers--joseph lily--his sale--his services to mr huth--the daniel books in --daniel's flyleaf fibs--the event an extraordinary _coup_--the napier first folio shakespear knocked down and out at £ --why some books are dear without being very rare--f. s. ellis and the corser sale--my successful tactics--he lends me sir f. freeling's interleaved _bibliotheca anglo-poetica_ chapter vi my transactions with mr ellis--rarities which came from him, and how he got them--riviere the bookbinder--how he cleaned a valuable volume for me--his irritability--a strange tale about an unique tract--the old gentleman and the immoral publication--dryden's copy of spenser--the unlucky _contretemps_ at ellis's--a second somewhere else-- mr b. m. pickering--our pleasant and profitable relations-- thomas fuller's mss. epigrams--charles cotton's copy of taylor the water-poet's works--a second one, which pickering had, and sold to me--he has a first edition of _paradise lost_ from me for two guineas and a half-- taylor's thumb bible, chapter vii mr john pearson--origin of our connection--his appreciable value to me--he assists, through me, in completing the huth library--lovelace's _lucasta_--the turbervile--the imperfect chaucer--the copy of ruskin's poems at reading-- the walton's _angler_--locker and pearson--james toovey-- curious incident in connection with sir thomas phillipps-- willis & sotheran--two unique cookery books--only just in time--the caxton's _game and play of the chess_--a valuable haul from the west of england--a reverend gentleman's mss. _diaries of travel_--the wallers--lamb's _tales from shakespear_, --the folio ms. of edmond waller's poems-- an unique book of verse--a rare american item--the rimells--i take from them and sell to them--some notable _americana_--the walfords--an unique tract by taylor the water poet--john russell smith and his son--my numerous transactions with the latter--another unknown taylor--john camden hotten--i sift his stores in piccadilly--the bunyan volume from cornwall--john salkeld--my expedition to his shop on a sunday night, and its fruit--a rather ticklish adventure or two--messrs jarvis & son--my finds there--king james i.'s copy of charron, dedicated to prince henry--the unknown fishmongers' pageant for --the long-lost english version of henryson's _Æsop_, , chapter viii messrs reeves & turner--my literary work for the firm--my advantageous acquisitions here--cheap rates at which rare books were formerly obtainable--the large turn-over of the business--wake of cockermouth--an unique wynkyn de worde--a supposed undescribed shakespear in a house-sale at bognor-- tom arthur--the wynkyn de worde, which i secured for another shilling--arthur and sir thomas phillipps of middle hill--the bristol book shops--lodge's _rosalynd_, --mr elliot stock--my literary work for him--one volume unexpectedly productive--mr henry stopes--my recovery for him of a sarum breviary, which belonged to an ancestor in queen mary's days--his wife's family and sir walter scott-- a canterbury correspondent and his benefits--two more uniques--a singular recovery from new york--casual strokes of good luck in the provinces--the wynkyn de worde at wrexham--a _trouvaille_ in the haymarket--books with autographs and inscriptions--a few words about booksellers and publishers, chapter ix at the auction-rooms--their changeable temperature--my finds in wellington street--certain conclusions as to the rarity of old english books--curiosities of cataloguing and stray lots--a little ipswich recovery--a narrow escape for some very rare volumes in --a few remarkable instances of good fortune for me--not for others--three very severe 'frosts'--a great boom--sir john fenn's wonderful books at last brought to light--an odd circumstance about one of them--the writer moralises--a couple of imperfect caxtons bring £ --the gentlemen behind the scene and those at the table--books converted into _vertu_--my intervention on one or two occasions--the auctioneers' world--the 'settlement' principle--my confidence in sotheby's as commission agents--my three _sir richard whittingtons_--_a reductio ad absurdum_--the house in leicester square and its benefactions in my favour--change from the old days-- unique a.b.c.'s and other early school books--the somers tracts--mr quaritch and his bibliographical services to me--his independence of character--the british museum--my resort to it for my venetian studies forty years ago--the sources of supply in the printed book department--my later attitude toward it as a bibliographer--the vellum monstrelet and its true history--bookbinders--leighton, riviere, bedford, pratt--horrible sight which i witnessed at a binder's--my publishers--dodsley's old plays--my book on the livery companies of london--presentation-copies, chapter x as an amateur--old china--dr diamond of twickenham-- unfavourable results of his tutorship--my adventure at lowestoft--alderman rose--i turn over a new leaf--morgan-- his sale to me of various objects--the seventeenth century dishes--the sèvres tray of --the pair of japanese dishes--blue and white--hawthorn--the odd vase--my finds at hammersmith--mr sanders of chiswick and his chelsea china-- gale--the ruby-backed eggshell--a recollection of ralph bernal--buen retiro and capo di monte--reynolds of hart street--the wedgewood teapot--the _rose du barri_ vases--my bowls--an eccentric character and his treasures-- reminiscences of midhurst and up park--the zurich jug and my zurich visitor--the diamond sale, chapter xi the stamp book--a passing taste--dr diamond again--an establishment in the strand--my partiality for lounging-- one of my haunts and its other visitors--our entertainer himself--his principals abroad--the _cinque cento_ medal-- canon greenwell--mr montagu--story of a dutch priest--my experience of pictures--the stray portrait recovered after many years--the two wilson landscapes--sir joshua's portrait of richard burke--hazlitt's likeness of lamb--the picture market and some of its incidence--story of a painting--plate--the rat-tailed spoon--dr diamond smitten-- the hogarth salver--the edmund bury godfrey and blacksmiths' cups--irish plate--danger of repairing or cleaning old silver--the city companies' plate, chapter xii coins--origin of my feeling for them--humble commencement-- groping in the dark--my scanty means and equally scanty knowledge, but immense enthusiasm and inflexibility of purpose--the maiden acquisition sold for sixteenpence--the two earliest pieces of the new departure--to whom i first went--continuity of purchases in all classes--visit to italy ( )--my eyes gradually opened--count papadopoli and other numismatic authorities--my sketch of the coins of venice published ( )--casual additions to the collection and curious adventures--singular illusions of the inexperienced--anecdotes of a relative--two wild money-changers tamed--captain hudson--the auction-thief--a small joke to be pardoned, chapter xiii my principal furnishers--influence of early training on my taste--rejection of inferior examples an invaluable safeguard--i outgrow my first instructors--necessity for emancipation from a single source of supply--mr schulman of amersfoort--his influential share in amplifying my numismatic stores--my visit to him--the rare _daalder_ of louis napoleon, king of holland--my adventures at utrecht and brussels--flattering confidence--in the open market-- schulman's catalogues--mm. rollin & feuardent--their english representative--courtesy and kindness to the writer--occasional purchases--the late mr montagu-- discussion about an athenian gold _stater_--an atmospheric experiment--my manifold obligations to mr whelan--mr cockburn of richmond allows me to select from his english collection--i forestall mr montagu--messrs spink & son-- their prominent rank and cordial espousal of my interests and wants--development of my cabinet under their auspices-- my agreeable relations with them--their business-like policy, liberality and independence--the prince of naples-- we give and take a little--the monthly _numismatic circular_--the clerical client, chapter xiv the coin sales--my stealthy accumulations from some of them--comparative advantages of large and small sales--the disappointment over one at genoa--the boyne sale--its meagre proportion of fine pieces--my comfort, and what came to me--narrow escape of the collection from sacrifice to a foreign combination--trade sales abroad--a new departure-- considerations on poorly-preserved coins--i resign them to the learned--i have to classify by countries and their divisions--my personal appurtenances--suggestions which may be useful to others--the great bactrian discovery--extent of representative collections of ancient money--antony and cleopatra--adherence to my own fixed and deliberate plan-- the argument to be used by any one following in my footsteps--advice of an old collector to a new one, chapter xv literary direction given to my numismatic studies and choice--the wallenstein thaler--the good caliph haroun el reschid--some of the twelve peers of france who struck money--lorenzo de' medici, called _the magnificent_--robert the devil--alfred the great--harold--the empress matilda-- marino faliero--massaniello--the technist thinks poorly of me--my plea for the human, educating interest in coins--the penny box now and then makes a real collector--how i threw myself _in medias res_--first impressions of the greek series--my difficulty in apprehending facts--early illusions gradually dissipated--what constitutes a typical greek and roman cabinet--and what renders great collections great--redundance in certain cases defended--official authorities except to my treatment of the subject--tom tidler's ground--the technical _versus_ the vital and substantial interest in coins--my width of sympathy beneficial to myself and likely to prove so to my followers--outline and distribution of my collection-- autotype replicas and forgeries--romantic evolution of bactrian coinage and history--caution to my fellow-collectors against excessive prices for greek coins--wait and watch--mr hyman montagu and his roman gold, and the moral--the best coins not the dearest--our national series--its susceptibility to eclectic treatment--a whimsical speculation--an untechnical method of looking at a coin--a burst bubble--the continental currencies--their clear superiority of interest and instructive power--the writer's attitude toward them, chapter xvi the question of condition considered more at large--how one most forcibly realises its importance and value--limited survival of ancient coins in fine state--practical tests at home and abroad--lower standard in public institutions and the cause--only three collectors on my lines besides myself--the romance of the shepherd sale--its confirmation of my views--small proportion of genuine amateurs in the coin-market--fastidious buyers not very serviceable to the trade--an anecdote by the way--the eye for state more educated in england than abroad--american feeling and culture--what will rare old coins bring, when the knowledge of them is more developed?--the ladies stop the way-- continental indifference to condition--difficulties attendant on ordering from foreign catalogues--contrast between them and our own--_d'une beauté excessive_-- condition a relative term--its dependence on circumstances--words of counsel--final conclusions--do i regret having become a collector?--my mistakes, confessions of a collector chapter i my antecedents--how and whence the passion came to me--my father's people--and my mother's--my uncle--his genuine feeling for what was old and curious--a disciple of charles lamb--books my first love--my courtship of them under my father's roof--my clandestine acquisitions--a small bibliographical romance--my uncle as a collector--some of his treasures--his choice, and how he differed from my father--an adventure of the latter at a bookstall--bargains--the author moralises upon them--a new view--i begin to be a bibliographer--venice strikes my fancy as a subject for treatment--my want of acquaintance with it--mr quaritch and mr ruskin do not encourage me--i resolve to proceed--i teach myself what was requisite to enable me to do so--some of my experiences--molini the elder--the london library forty years ago--what became of my collections for the work--preparing for another and greater scheme. when one makes in later life some sort of figure as a collector, it may become natural to consider to what favouring circumstances the entrance on the pursuit or pursuits was due. in the present case those circumstances were slight and trivial enough. although i belonged to a literary family, none of my ancestors had been smitten by the bibliomania or other cognate passion, simply because at first our resources were of the most limited character, and my grandfather was a man of letters and nothing more. he was without that strange, inexplicable cacoethes, which leads so many to gather together objects of art and curiosities on no definite principle or plea throughout their lives, to be scattered again when they depart, and taken up into their bookcases or cabinets by a new generation. this process, broadly speaking, has been in operation thousands of years. it is an inborn and indestructible human trait. the earliest vestige of a feeling for books among us is unconnected with collecting as a passion. my great-grandfather, the presbyterian or congregational minister, had his shelf or two of volumes, mostly of a professional cast. we hear of the _fratres poloni_, five stupendous folios, brimful of erudition--books which seem, to our more frivolous and superficial and hurrying age, better suited to occupy a niche in a museum as a monumental testimony to departed scholarship--books, alas! which those blind instruments of the revolutionary spirit of change, the paper mill and the fire, draw day by day nearer to canonisation in a few inviolable resting-places, as in sanctuaries dedicated to the holy dead. they will enter on a new and more odorous life: we shall look awfully upon them as upon literary petrifactions, which to bygone ages were living and speaking things. the rev. w. hazlitt was, nevertheless, a man of unusually generous sympathies for his time and his cloth; he could relish secular as well as sacred literature, and his distinguished son thought better of him as a letter-writer than as a preacher. but neither engaged in the pursuit of books otherwise than as practical objects of study or entertainment. there was nothing 'hobby-horsical,' to borrow coleridge's expression, about the matter. hazlitt himself secured, as he tells us, stall copies of favourite books or pamphlets, devoured the contents, and then probably cast them aside. this i take to have been shakespear's plan. i cannot believe the great poet to have been a bibliophile like jonson. he merely recognised in other men's work material or suggestion for his own. i conclude that with my father and the scotish blood of his maternal progenitors, the stoddarts and moncrieffs, a certain share of taste for antiquities, or, at any rate, for memorials of the past in a literary shape, was inherited by the hazlitts. my immediate paternal ancestor, the late mr registrar hazlitt, undoubtedly possessed a strong instinctive disposition to form around him a collection of books. he was emphatically acquisitive almost to the last; and had he been a richer man, he would probably have left behind him a fairly good and extensive library. my father was deficient in knowledge and insight--i might add, in judgment. he bought the wrong copies, or he allowed the right ones to be massacred by a pagan binder; but he was a book-lover. the nucleus of his collection had been a set of hazlitt's works, a few volumes given to him by miss lamb and others, and, of course, his own publications. his alliance by marriage to the reynells introduced another stage in our bibliographical evolution. my mother's brother, mr charles weatherby reynell, of whom i have so much to say elsewhere, was not only a book-buyer on a modest scale, but a gentleman with a vague, undefined liking for anything which struck him as quaint and curious--a coin, a piece of china, a picture, a bit of old painted glass, a chippendale chair--it hardly signified what it was; but books had the first place, i think, in his heart, and he knew a good deal about such as he had purchased, and thought a good deal about them too, albeit they were, as copies, hardly calculated for the meridian of the fastidious connoisseur. in short, my relative was a disciple of the lamb school; he selected for merit rather than condition, and his _petite bibliothéque_ was part of his very being. my father and mr reynell may be regarded as my bibliographical and archæological sponsors, and they have to answer for a good deal. instead of becoming a distinguished civil servant, a prosperous trader, or a successful professional man, they contributed, i maintain, to mould me into what i was and am--a bibliographer, a collector, an antiquary. books, as they were my father's only, and my uncle's chief, paramours, were my first love. my father often laid out money on them, when i am now sure that he could ill afford it, and when the hour of pressure arrived, it was the books to which we had to bid farewell. how many i have seen come and go, while i was a boy under my father's roof--successive copies of the same favourite work, or little lots of different volumes. stibbs's, opposite somerset house, and next door to the _morning chronicle_ office, is almost the earliest shop of the kind which i remember; a second was william brown's, originally on the same premises. these two establishments witnessed the flux and reflux of many a brown paper parcel sent home in a moment of impulse, and launched on its backward voyage at a lower quotation in some financial dilemma--a contingency too frequent in the days before relief arrived in the shape of an official post. i am haunted in all my maturer life by a feeling of remorse, that on two or three occasions i was betrayed into making foolish investments on my own authority, when neither my father nor myself could properly defray the expense. but the _lues_ which was, in due course, to assume such enlarged dominion over me, and to branch into so many channels, was already an active agency; and my visits to the shop in the strand, kept by mr brown, bore mischievous fruit in one instance at all events, when i secured for s. a set of singer's _select early english poets_, in boards, uncut. my father was terribly concerned, not knowing where this sort of fancy was likely to end; but he recognised, perhaps, his own teaching, and eventually the singer was bound by leighton in half-blue morocco. it was a beautiful little set, i thought, and brand-new in its fresh livery. the day came when we had to say good-bye to it--not to it alone; and i should have wished never to behold it again. i did, however; i met with it at an auction; it was faded, thumbed, disreputable. i had not the courage to touch it; it was no longer mine. i mused as i left the place upon its career and its destiny, and it made me really sad. i have spoken of mr reynell as one of my teachers or masters. he was a person who had a genuine love for our older literature, and enjoyed even better opportunities than my father of indulging it. but his purchases were sparing and desultory, and he never attained any distinction as a collector. he had not studied the subject, and he never became wealthy enough to secure the services of competent advisers. in fact, his want of knowledge rendered him distrustful of counsel. the result was that he accumulated, during a very prolonged life, a singular assemblage of nondescript property, of which the really valuable proportion was infinitesimal. it was perfectly fortuitous, that he had picked up an exceedingly rare _psalter_, in rather ragged state, for s., which at his sale, a year or two back, mr quaritch deemed worth £ , and a folio _roman de la rose_, which fetched a good price, and cost him the same moderate sum. as a rule, he invariably, from want of training and fine instinct, bought the wrong article, or, if the right one, in the wrong condition. he had not the eye of george daniel, r. s. turner, or henry huth, for form and fitness. yet he was my instructor in a degree and a sense, and many delightful talks we have had about old books, which one or the other of us had seen or admired. he always listened with interest to my stories of adventures up and down the book-world, of which some are reserved for a future chapter; but he felt his inability, i concluded, to enter into the field with stronger competitors, and he usually returned to the contemplation of his own humble appurtenances with a sense of contentment, if not of superiority. he was totally different from my father in his ideas about books. he did not, in general, care for the modern side, unless it was a first edition of his life-long friend leigh hunt, of hazlitt, or of some other author to whom he was personally attached. on the contrary, my father never cultivated the older editions or original copies. the best standard text was his line. i had from him a little anecdote which shews him in the light of a book-hunter; but then it was for an immediate and isolated literary purpose. while he was engaged about in editing the works of defoe, he tried to procure a copy of the _account of the apparition of mrs veal_, and went, among other likely resorts, to baker of old street, st luke's. that individual derided the notion of finding such a rarity; and my father, turning away, cast an eye on baker's twopenny box outside. there what should he disinter but the identical pamphlet, and he takes twopence out of his pocket, which he hands to the boy, and puts the prize into it, which he carries home in triumph. it was the only bargain of which i ever heard him speak. he was not that way built. i sometimes wish that my experiences had not been infinitely more numerous. the seeking and winning of bargains constitute an attractive pursuit and an equally attractive topic. you have the power of regaling your less fortunate or unpractical acquaintances with the strange chances, which enabled you to become the master for a trifle of such and such treasures and you gain confidence in your continued good fortune,-- 'when a fool finds a horse-shoe, he thinks aye the like to do.' it has sometimes appeared to me, however, that the general public looks with modified respect on this class of venture, more especially as it does not share the profits; and what is absolutely certain is, that the whole system of treating literature from a commercial point of view is narrowing and lowering, and tends to harden, if not to extinguish, that fine sensibility which is proper to the bibliophile. since i was led by a union of circumstances to look upon rare books as a source of advantage, i have grown sensible of a change for the worse in my nature; yet, i think, only so far as the bare ownership is concerned. the volumes which i loved as a younger man are still dear to me; i keep them in my mind's eye; they stand in no peril at my hands of being degraded into _goods_ or _stuff_; i do not hold them, because the outlay or capital which they represent is far more than i can afford to lock up; and in the nature of things i have to content myself with being the recipient of the difference, if not of feeling, that i appreciate the book and know its history better than the man to whom it passes from me. i should be truly ashamed if i had to confess that with the actual proprietary interest in the literary or bibliographical rarities which i have had through my hands during the last forty years my substantial affection for the subject-matter and the authors began and ended. thousands of precious volumes, which might be mine, if i had been otherwise situated, are merely as a question of form and pecuniary arrangement in the british museum, in the bodleian, or in some private library; they are one and all before me at any moment, when i choose to summon them. i remember how they are bound, and the story which each tells; but they are in the keeping of others. should i be happier, were they in mine? my father was one of the oldest members of the london library in st james's square, and i long availed myself of his ticket to frequent and use that highly valuable institution. i consider that this circumstance tended importantly to stimulate and confirm my natural bookish propensity. for whatever besides i have been and am, my central interest, as well as claim to public consideration, is associable with the cause of our earlier vernacular literature. i shall be able to demonstrate with tolerable clearness by-and-by that i have through my quiet, and in a manner uneventful, career busied myself with several other topics, not to mention those which lie outside such an undertaking as the present; but my friends seem to have agreed that it is as a bibliographer that i most distinctly and emphatically pose. i shall argue that point no further. what is more relevant is that at the london library i met with smedley's _sketches from venetian history_, which i perused with enjoyment as a novice, and that this acquaintance led to others and to an exchange of ideas with people about the subject and its position in english literature. with no resources of my own, and with very slight aid from my father, i set to work and collected material. my imperfect knowledge of languages was a stumbling block. when i waited on mr quaritch in castle street and laid bare my ignorance of italian by asking for cicognara's work on _fabrics_ instead of _buildings_, that distinguished personage tellingly reproved me by suggesting that the first thing for me to do was to learn italian. my perseverance, however, was indomitable. i had set my heart on writing about venice. it was enough. i did not, as mr quaritch observed, know much about italian. i had never seen the place. when i wrote to mr ruskin respectfully soliciting helpful suggestions, he left my letter unanswered. what could be done? why, i borrowed the few works which were to be found at our library, bought some which were not, and for others i sent to italy through molini. i taught myself french and italian, and the venetian dialect. i studied all the views of the city which i could find, and i brought out my first rough draft in , when i was three-and-twenty. an amusing illustration of my early faculty of inspiring confidence in the minds of those with whom i dealt was afforded by the perfect trust of molini in my solvency and his unwillingness to allow my father any credit, while the latter actually discharged both my obligations and his own. the elder molini was himself of venetian origin, and of a family which gave more than one doge to the republic; he always impressed my fancy as the ideal of a decayed italian grandee. not only his appearance, but his deportment, was that of a gentleman. he served me excellently well; but true it is that, in spite of his ducal ancestry and exalted traditions, there was the lombard beneath and not far from the surface. the representative of doges, this sovereign prince by inheritance and blood, was the only man who ever charged me interest on an overdue account. as to my book, it is familiar enough that it was reprinted in by messrs smith, elder & co., and is viewed as the standard english work on the subject, so far as it goes. but i contemplate a third and greatly improved edition, which will carry the narrative to the end. my collections for the task are now in the library, to which i partly gave, and partly sold, them a generation since. they included a copy of the much overestimated _squittinio della liberta veneta_, published at mirandola in . there are very few now living who recollect, as i do, the library as it originally appeared, when mr cochrane was curator, and the institution occupied only the upper part of the house in the square. i was not a personal subscriber till ; but i had the complete range of the shelves _jure patris_, and my loan of an unlimited number of books for an unlimited term was never called in question. i have kept volumes at our house for three years uninterruptedly. in those days there were fewer members, and the demand for the class of publications which i required was extremely limited. one of the staff at the library, a subordinate dignitary, used to dabble a little in books on his own account, and occasionally offered me his purchases. i think that his more distinguished colleagues gradually learned to do the same. but the first-indicated individual, i remember very well, once had on sale a set of fourteen volumes of some neglected publication, for which he submitted a proposal of eighteenpence. he resided at hammersmith, while i was at kensington, and i am sure that i do not exaggerate when i say that he carried this merchandise half a dozen times between his abode and st james's square before i agreed to take the lot off his hands. i thought of corporal nym and the lute-case. i was even now beginning to be multifarious and polygonal. i have sketched out in my _four generations of a literary family_ my apprenticeship to bibliography. the starting-point was about , when mr bohn produced his revision of the _manual_ of lowndes, , of which mr f. s. ellis used to speak as a very creditable performance for a drunken bookseller. my haunt in st james's square again befriended me. i met with the heber catalogue, herbert's _typographical antiquities_, and such like. i was unconsciously shifting my ground; yet it was to be long enough before the new departure took form. i allowed myself ample time to ruminate over the matter, to reconnoitre, and to make notes. a copy of the augmented and revised lowndes became my memorandum book. the original meagre sketch of the venetian work had introduced me to mr russell smith the publisher, who undertook it on my father agreeing to contribute to the cost. i acquired the habit of frequenting smith's shop in soho square; i bought a few trifles from him, and in he took my commission for a book at the bliss sale--lord westmoreland's _otia sacra_, --for which my father, to his consternation, learned that i had to give nearly £ . the copy was in the original calf binding, and was one of the very few which were entirely perfect. it was my earliest purchase at an auction. - - passed away--the second edition of the _venetian history_ appeared--and i, after sundry experiments, finally resolved to cast my lot in with antiquarian literature as an editor and a bibliographer. it is not my present mission to enter into detail respecting my innumerable experiences of a normal character in connection with publishers and booksellers. these are matters of no permanent value or interest to anyone. i have had, in common with the majority of folks similarly situated, my sorrows, my disappointments, my wrongs and my triumphs. _luctor et emergo._ i have known what it has been to be unfairly abused and perhaps unfairly commended. i have kept myself proudly and wilfully apart, and under circumstances, of which no other person has ever comprehended or measured the difficulties, i have held my ground, although once or twice the keel of my dingy has grazed the rocks. chapter ii i survey the ground before i start--i contemplate a new british bibliography--richard heber--his extraordinary acquirements--his vast library--his manuscript notes in the books--a high estimate of heber as a scholar and a reader--he eclipses all other collectors at home and abroad--a sample or so of his flyleaf memoranda--a few very interesting books noticed--a _historiette_--anecdotes of some bargains and discoveries by him and his contemporaries--the _phoenix nest_ at sion college--marlowe's _dido_--mystery connected with the library at lee priory--the oldest collections of english plays--a little note about lovelace--heber's generosity as a lender--his kindness to dyce--fate of his rarest books--how he obtained some of them--the daniel ballads and their true history--result of a study of _heber's catalogue_ and other sources of knowledge--the _handbook_ appears--mr frederick harrison and sir walter besant pay me compliments. i soon learned to divide into two camps, as it were, the authorities available to a student of our earlier literature. there were books like those of dibdin, brydges, park, beloe, hartshorne and lowndes, and the auction catalogues, on the one hand, and on the other there were herbert's _ames_, ritson's _bibliographia poetica_, and collier's _bibliographical catalogue_, to be reinforced presently by corser's _collectanea anglo-poetica_. these two classes were widely different and immensely unequal. i began by drawing a line of distinction, and by depending for my statements on the second group and type rather than the first. but as i discerned by degrees the difference in too many instances between the books themselves and the account of them in works of reference, and as i studied more and more, at my leisure from other employments, the heber and a few more capital catalogues, revealing to me the imperfections in the treatment of the whole subject, i commenced, just in the same way as i had done in the case of venice, revolving in my thought the practicability of improving our bibliographical system, and placing it on a broader and sounder basis. the london library copy of the _heber catalogue_ bears unmistakeable traces of my industrious manipulation in years gone by. i conceived a strong regard for that extraordinary, that unique collection and its accomplished owner. of his private history i have heard certain anecdotes, which indicate that his life was not a very happy one, nor the end of it very comfortable; but as a scholar, as a bibliographer, and as a benefactor to the cause which he so zealously espoused and on which he lavished a noble fortune, he was a man to whose equal i am unable to refer. i turn again and again to his sale catalogue, and amid much that is dry and monotonous enough i am never weary of perusing the notes, chiefly from his own pen, where he places on permanent record the circumstances, often romantic and fascinating, under which he gained possession of this or that volume. remarks or memoranda by mr payne collier and others are interspersed; but the interest seems to centre in those of the possessor, which make his personality agreeably conspicuous, and have always struck me as elevating him above the ordinary standard as a collector, if not as entitling him to the highest rank among those of this or any other country. for when we compare his stupendous accumulations of literary memorials of all ages and regions, in print and in manuscript, with those of harley, grenville, miller, beckford, spencer, huth and others, and then set side by side his conversance with the subject-matter in so many cases, and the purely amateurish feeling and grasp of his predecessors, contemporaries, and successors in a vast preponderance of instances, how can we fail to perceive, and forbear to acknowledge, his claim to the first place? i have mentioned elsewhere that heber was partly instrumental in saving the library of george iii. from being sold by the prince regent to the czar. the _bibliotheca heberiana_, in thirteen parts, is a work which it is impossible to open at any page without encountering some point of interest or instruction; but undoubtedly the second, fourth and eighth portions contain the notices and information likely to be most attractive to english and english-speaking persons, and it entered not immaterially into my earlier life to study and utilise what i found here. no class of anecdote can be more enduringly valuable in the eyes of the bibliophile than those with which the work under consideration is so unstintingly enriched, and i may not be blamed for exemplifying and justifying by some typical specimens my estimate of heber's scholarship and energy. if there is a less agreeable side to the question, it is the feeling of regret, in examining the catalogue, that he should not have restricted himself to some range, instead of embracing the entire world of letters, instead of aiming at centralising universality. in heber book-collecting was not a taste, but a voracious passion. his incomparable library, to a private individual deficient, as he was, in method and arrangement, was of indifferent value; as a public one, if he had chosen to dedicate it to that object, it would have proved a splendid monument to his name for all time, especially if the very numerous duplicates had been exchanged for remaining _desiderata_. my jottings in corroboration of my view are, however, almost exclusively derived from those sections of the catalogue devoted to an account of the early english literature, in which the collection was so marvellously rich. since this is merely a sort of introductory feature in my little undertaking, and i was desirous of affording some samples of one of my bibliographical primers, i do not deal with technical detail, but limit myself to literary _adversaria_, and to heber's own personal remarks about his possessions, as distinguished from those of the compilers of the catalogue. under 'bevis of hampton,' heber notes, 'for an account of the romance of bevis see ritson's _dissertation_, prefixed to his _metrical romances_,' and he copies out what is found there. to his copy of the edition of _boethius_ in english, printed at the exempt monastery of tavistock in , he appends a long memorandum, stating that he had bought it at forster's sale in for £ , s. d., imperfect and ill-bound, and had afterward completed it from a second, which had belonged to ratcliff and gough. he refers us to robert of gloucester, the _harleian catalogue_, and other authorities, states that lord bute gave £ , in , for mason's copy, and estimates his own at about £ . it fetched £ . it might now be worth £ . on churchyard's _discourse of the queenes maiesties entertainment in suffolk and norfolk_, there is this commentary: 'this must have been printed in - , because frobisher returned from his last journey while this book was printing. i have another copy of this tract, corresponding minutely throughout with the present, except in the dedication.... the address to the reader differs also, but merely in the typography.' of dekker's _bellman of london_, , he says, 'i have compared this edition with that of , which corresponds exactly, except that six pages of introductory matter are prefixed, and four pages of canting terms are subjoined, entitled "operis peroratio."' to the 'o per se o' of the same writer he has attached a still more elaborate account of the readings of various impressions. he appears to have compared all the editions in his hands with remarkable attention and interest. when we come to gascoigne's _posies_, , there is a historiette which seems well deserving of reproduction: 'this interesting copy of g. gascoigne's poems, diligently read and copiously be-noted by his contemporary, gabriel harvey, came from the ancient and curious library of the parkers of browsholme, hereditary bow-bearers of bolland forest under the dukes of buccleuch. in the first instance, my friend, thomas lyster parker, merely proposed to arrange, beautify and enlarge the family collection, for which purpose he called in ford the bookseller to his assistance, who gave the greater part of the volumes new manchester liveries instead of their old, time-worn coats, in which they had weathered centuries under the domicile of their protectors. subsequent events induced mr p. to dispose of the whole; a few of the caxtons were distributed in london to lord spencer and others at considerable prices; but the bulk was sold to ford, from whom i purchased the present and several more. the manchester shears have, i fear, somewhat abridged the margins. i prize the volume as no ordinary rarity--it affords a curious average sample of the manner in which g. h. recorded his studies in the margins of his books, his neat handwriting, his various learning, his quaintness, his pedantry, and above all his self-satisfied perseverance.' gascoigne's works, , heber made a receptacle for collations with other texts, and i may be pardoned for breaking through my own rule by appending a remark by a former owner, george steevens, 'this volume of gascoigne's works was bought for £ , s. at mr mallet's, _alias_ mallock's, _alias_ m'gregor's sale, march , . he was the only scotchman who died in my memory unlamented by an individual of his own nation. on the flyleaf of googe's _eglogs_, , is a composite note by steevens, heber and the cataloguer. heber, alluding to steevens's remarks, says, 'mr steevens had never looked into thomas rawlinson's cat., part vii., sold at london house, march , where a copy occurs (perhaps indeed the present one) among the poetæ in vo. see also ballard's cat. of mr t. britton, small-coal man, - , no. .' the _temple of glass_, by lydgate, evoked the following: 'i believe there are three editions of this tract--i. the present in caxton's types; ii. an edition by wynkyn de worde; iii. an edition by berthelet, of which there was a copy in pearson's collection, bought by malone, and left by him to bindley, at whose sale it was bought by james boswell.' just below occurs the entry of berthelet's impression, with a memorandum by boswell, 'the price, £ , s. d., which this volume had been previously sold for, is marked above. on the st of jan., , i purchased it for £ , s.!!!' but as it had been left as a legacy by mr malone to mr bindley, at whose sale i bought it, i scarcely know how to estimate the _pretium affectionis_ of a book which was at once a memorial of two such dear and respected friends. at heber's sale the copy fetched £ . a singular assemblage of _penny merriments_, published between and (heber cat. iv., ) bears this interesting note of _provenance_, 'this curious collection belonged originally to narcissus luttrell, and passed with the rest of his valuable library to mr edward wynne of chelsea, on whose decease it was sold by auction at leigh & sotheby's, march, (see cat., lot ). mr baynes was the purchaser for £ , s. d., and bequeathed the poetical and romantic portion of his library to mr ritson, at whose sale i bought it.' we enter on a different atmosphere and line of culture, when we scan heber's note on a small metrical tract by 'playne piers' on the clergy, printed secretly in the time of henry viii., and mis-described by some authorities as in prose: 'if maunsell had examined it with due attention, he must have perceived that a large portion of the text (though not the whole) is written in verse, and runs into loosely-accentuated rhyming stanzas and couplets. to say the truth, i am more than half-disposed to ascribe the authorship to the famous w. roy, of whose poem, _rede me and be not wroth_, the present composition reminds me both in sentiment and measure. it is worthy of remark that g. steevens's copy of the first edition of that poem (now in my possession) is bound exactly uniform, and being of precisely the same dimensions, they probably were united in one cover till he separated them. it is plain that he attached equal and considerable importance to both, having bestowed on each his best russia binding, with his initials on the sides, and inscribed his autograph on the back of title and at the foot of the last leaf--infallible signs of his especial favour.' in the case of a caxton of extraordinary beauty, the _hoole lyf of jason_, heber gives an account of the copies known to him, and concludes that his own, in the original binding of oak covered with calf, and with many rough leaves, is the finest. it had been watson taylor's. another very beautiful one occurred at the selsey sale in , and fetched £ , mr walford desiring to see how far mr quaritch would go and seeing accordingly. he was fortunate enough, however, to have it taken off his hands by mr ellis, who sold it to an american, i believe, for £ . heber, as we all know, was a general scholar, and was at home in foreign no less than in english books. he observes of a very early _roman de la rose_: 'this edition is executed in the characters of ulric gering, the earliest parisian printer, and is very scarce. there is said to be a copy in the public library at lyons. see delandine's catalogue. gering exercised his art from to , in which year he died. the present is neither one of the earliest nor latest efforts of his press--perhaps about . it has signatures, but neither catchwords nor numerals. it has also many grotesque woodcuts. the execution and presswork very clear and beautiful.' of the romantic accident which threw robinson's _golden mirrour_, , into heber's hands, i give an account in the handbook, where i also shew that the author belonged to alton in cheshire. briefly, rodd the bookseller found the volume of elizabethan tracts, this included, at a marine store dealer's on saffron hill about , and being put into the scales it was found to be worth _fourpence threefarthings_. rodd sold it to heber for £ . it was a glorious haul, yet not so good as that of warton the historian, who picked off a broker's board at salisbury for sixpence the edition of _venus and adonis_, bound up with several other pieces of equal or even greater rarity. those were halcyon days, were they not? but how much the cost governs the appreciation! what comes to us cheap, because no one else wants it, we hold cheap, and that is the history of many of the early bargains. the _phoenix nest_, , contains the ensuing flyleaf matter: 'i gave mr isaac reed five guineas for this very scarce book in the summer of .--r. h....' heber enters into very careful detail as to the authors of the several poems, and where some of them appear in other books. the copy was uncut, and sold at his sale for £ , s. i accidentally discovered another very fine one at sion college, bound up at the end of a common volume, and pointed it out to the librarian, the reverend mr milman, who did not seem to be very strongly impressed by the communication. had it been a sermon worth twopence, he might have felt otherwise. of _pierceforest_, of which he possessed the edition by giles gourmont, - , in folio, heber speaks as follows: 'this is a romance of great character, value and merit. mr warton, upon whatever authority, asserts it to have been originally written in verse about , and not till many years afterwards translated into prose, an assertion which cannot be confirmed; no ms. of any metrical romance under that title appearing to be anywhere extant, and indeed it is probable that he confounded _pierceforest_ with _perceval_. it is, however, believed to be one of the oldest prose romances extant, and is mentioned by caxton in his _book of the ordre of chyvalry_.' a volume by spenser receives this perhaps somewhat out-of-date notice; but it demonstrates the habit of heber in regard to all classes of works of importance in his possession: 'this is the first edition of spenser's _shepheard's calendar_, and _of extraordinary rarity, not to be found in the most distinguished libraries_. mr todd was obliged to take a journey to cambridge to obtain a sight of a copy. the subsequent editions in to are rare and valuable, but far less so than the present....' we have to go back a long way, and cross the sea, before we reach the _patria_ of the next sample, the _historia naturalis_ of pliny, printed by jenson in , in rich old blue morocco, from the library of camus de limari, at whose sale in it fetched livres. heber has inscribed a ms. note on the flyleaf to this effect. the book sold at his sale for £ , s. we return home at the next specimen, which is gosson's _playes confuted in five actions_ in the same volume with lodge's _reply to gosson_, and a third tract relating to the theatre. mr heber notes: 'the present vol. contains only out of a remarkably curious collection of pieces, bound together soon after the publication of the latest, somewhere about . this may be ascertained by the antiquity of the handwriting, which exactly records them all, on the reverse of the title-page of _playes confuted_. so late as they all remained together in mr beauclerc's collection (see cat., ), with the exception of gascoigne's _delicate diet for drunkards_. they seem afterwards to have passed into mr nassau's library, who divided them into different vols., which are now all in my possession. 'as to gascoigne's _delicate diet_, it is, i apprehend, the same copy contained in g. steevens's collection of gascoigne's works, now in my possession--in fact, no other is known.' it was on that account, presumably, that the copy sold at heber's sale for £ , s. d. the history of marlowe's _dido_, , must not be repeated here, as it is already printed in the _handbook_. nobody has ever seen the elegy by nash on marlowe, mentioned by warton. the copy of _dido_ given by isaac reed to george steevens, and bought at steevens's sale in by sir egerton brydges, was transferred by the latter to heber, at whose sale it produced £ . the duke of devonshire's, which had previously been kemble's, cost henderson the actor _fourpence_. a good deal of mystery surrounds the lee priory collection, which seems to have at one time contained many dramatic rarities of the first order, most, if not all, of which eventually found their way to heber. henry oxenden of barham, near canterbury, is known to have owned in an extraordinary assemblage of old english plays, bound together in six volumes, and comprising the _taming of a shrew_ (not shakespear's), , _ralph roister doister_, _hamlet_ ( ), and other precious remains. what became of them, there is no record; but it has sometimes occurred to me that they might have gone to lee priory. at lord mostyn's, at gloddaeth in carnarvonshire, there is a second series of volumes; but of the contents i have no personal knowledge. to return to the heber _dido_ for a moment, it may be permissible to transcribe steevens's note: 'this copy was given me by mr reed. such liberality in a collector of old plays is at least as rare as the rarest of our dramatic pieces.--g. s.' now and again, of course, heber is misinformed, or his information has been superseded, as where he alludes to shakespear's henry the fourth, , as a first-rate rarity. his copy sold for £ , s. in the note about it he takes occasion to mention that steevens bought many of the books of the rev. j. bowle, whom gifford called 'the stupidest of two-legged creatures,' but who had a very curious library, of white. but heber's insight into the contents and merits of his books is admirable. in his copy of tatham's _ostella_, , he draws our attention to the author's ode to lovelace on his journey into holland, and adds, 'it must have been written before his marriage. the prologue on the removal of the cockpit has not been hitherto noticed, and on the next page is a mention of a play called "the whisperer; or, what you please," of which this is the only record.' these extracts might be indefinitely extended; but in a volume not intended for merely bibliographical purposes the foregoing citations may suffice to establish heber's intelligent and painstaking treatment of his books and to explain the stress which i laid on his _catalogue_ in my younger days as one of the leading resources in an attempt to remodel, on an improved and enlarged plan, our national stores. so long as the original gatherer lived, his books were at the service of all who approached him with a legitimate aim, and more particularly at that of the scholar and the editor. we repeatedly hear from mr dyce how greatly he was indebted to heber for the means of completing his texts of the early dramatists and poets, of whose works the original copies were often nowhere else to be found. heber was the warm friend and helper of the men of letters of his time, and deserves to be classed among them. many of his rarest volumes unfortunately passed into hands where they still remain, and where they are not so readily available. i am thinking of the britwell and other closed private libraries, of which the proprietors are indifferent to literature or jealous of intrusion. the zealous bibliographer blesses them both, and prays for the music of the hammer. a careful survey of the _heber catalogue_ leads to the conclusion, from the immense number of rarities there offered for sale for the first time, that the owner succeeded in obtaining a notable proportion of his early books direct from the trade or from private sources by that most powerful of inducements--the known willingness to pay promptly and well for everything brought to him. the note to thorpe the bookseller, enclosing an order on his bankers for £ for the ballads, of which the daniel volume was merely a selection, is still extant; the money seems to have reached thorpe's hands before the purchase left them, in consequence of heber being from home; even he speaks there of being ashamed of himself for his extravagance, and he asks the vendor whether it was the inheritance of the stationers' company. he was not aware that the lot came from helmingham hall through fitch of ipswich, and that it had been milked by daniel. my association with the london library and gradual contact with the british museum, with collectors, and with the book trade, tended to stimulate a natural affection for old books, while it gradually and, at first, unconsciously gave to the movement a bibliographical and commercial direction. i conceived in my mind, apart from any collateral matters, a grand literary scheme. i saw before me all that former men, heber included, had achieved toward a british bibliography; and i determined to combine and collate the whole, and make it the nucleus of a new work. the result was the appearance in of the _handbook of early english literature_. i made not only the british museum, and the oxford and cambridge libraries, but sion college, south kensington, and lambeth, pay me toll. i did not at first attend personally at lambeth; but the present bishop of oxford, who was then librarian, copied such titles as i indicated to him, and his lordship, i have to say, was very accurate, and wrote a very clear hand. i always found dr stubbs extremely kind and obliging in this way. maitland was before my time. i did not consider at the time that i had much ground for being ashamed of this performance; it was undeniably a long advance on my precursors; that i had a great deal to learn and unlearn was an experience to be gained by degrees, and at more or less casual opportunities; and it will become necessary to enter into some particulars of the circumstances which led and enabled me to undo piecemeal my maiden essay, and to build up from the ruins such a colossal structure as, on its near completion, no other civilised country can boast of possessing. thirty years have passed away. the handbook has become only one of a series. in the _hazlitt memoirs_ i judged it to be high time to expose the ingenious strategy of the rev. canon ainger and mr alexander ireland in respect to my lamb and hazlitt labours. i have been, as a rule, fairly reticent and forbearing in these cases, and have refrained from appealing to the press. but i procured the insertion in two journals of protests against the assumption of mr frederic harrison that a bibliography of english history was a novel project, and the apparent claim of sir walter besant, as i infer from a paragraph in the _globe_, to the rectification of the whittington legend. i ought to be pleased that so illustrious a personage as sir walter thinks so humble an one as myself worth such flattering recognition. peradventure, if i should reproduce my work, i shall be charged with having borrowed my statements from a great author and scholar. chapter iii the _handbook_ of and its fruits--mr henry huth--his beneficial influence on my bibliographical labours--he invites me to co-operate in the formation of his library--i edit books for him--he declines to entertain the notion of a librarian--my advantages and risks--a few heavy plunges--a _barnaby's journal_--a _book of hours of the virgin_--the butler mss.--archbishop laud--montaigne--mr huth answerable for my conversion into a speculator--the immense value of the departure to my progress as a bibliographer--a caxton from the country--why i had to pay so much for it--mr huth's preferences--his _americana_--deficiencies of his library gradually supplied--his dramatic series--beaumont and fletcher and ben jonson--mr huth a linguist and a scholar--his first important purchase--contrasted with heber--the drawer at mr quaritch's kept for mr huth--his uncertainty or caprice explained by himself--his failing health becomes an obstacle--the fancy a personal one. the appearance of the _handbook_ introduced me to the late mr henry huth, and gave me the free range for years of his fine library, with the incidental advantage of assisting in its enlargement, and in the preparation of the catalogue. i had written to mr huth in the winter of , soliciting the title and collation of a unique book in his hands, and he wrote back, furnishing the information not quite correctly, but stating that he was always, when in town, at home on sunday afternoons. this slight incident produced a ten years' intimacy, and was instrumental in inaugurating a new era in my bibliographical career. it was when i had reached the letter k in the alphabet that i added mr huth to my acquaintance, and thenceforward my book, as it appeared in parts, reflected in its pages the beneficial fruit of weekly visits to that gentleman's house, and his friendly co-operation in an enterprise which more or less interested him personally. our constant intercourse and my widening knowledge of certain classes of books, for which we had a common liking, naturally led to mr huth, in the most delicate manner, suggesting after a while, that he should be obliged if i would let him hear of any with which i might meet; and during many years i was in the habit of sending to him single volumes or parcels which fell in my way, and which he had the option of rejecting if he did not care for them, or they happened to be duplicates. i very soon, too, persuaded him to allow me to carry out small literary undertakings for him, for the sake of distributing the very limited number of copies printed among his friends and my own. i became sensible of the inconvenience and awkwardness attendant on the completion of his library, as it involved commercial relations distasteful to us both, and i ventured, as soon as i could, to propose to him a yearly allowance for my help and advice. this idea he was unwilling to entertain, however, because he thought that it would involve something like my domestication on the premises, and the library, as usual, was almost personal to himself. i therefore most reluctantly continued to add to his collection on my own terms, and, with the books which i edited for him and for the publishers, and the general exercise of my bibliographical experience elsewhere, i was in a position to develop by steady degrees my large, yet still rather loosely-defined, project for a general catalogue of early english literature. my _handbook_ was brought to an end in , about a twelvemonth subsequent to the fortuitous meeting with mr huth. but every day, when the more powerful motive for book-hunting existed, seemed to do its part in opening my eyes to the illimitable magnitude of the field on which i had entered, and in compelling me to pass my pen through some article which i had been tempted to borrow from a secondary authority. in other words, the _handbook_ was no sooner bound, than i began to convert a considerable proportion of it into waste-paper. my relations with mr huth were, on the whole, as agreeable as they were advantageous. many and many a rarity in his catalogue passed through my hands, and even when he acquired books elsewhere, he grew into the habit of asking me to go and look through them before they were sent home. my improving familiarity with his tastes and wants placed me in a favoured position, when i stumbled on items in the book-shops and the sale-rooms. sometimes i had to incur rather formidable risks, and to buy for the library very expensive works, subject to them being approved, and merely on the certainty that they were not duplicates, and were clear _desiderata_. such was the case with the extraordinary copy of george turbervile's _poems_, , in the original sheep binding, as clean and spotless as when it left the first vendor three centuries prior, and nearly the only one known. john pearson, of york street, covent garden, had obtained it of a retired dealer at shrewsbury for £ , and he asked me £ , with the proviso that it was not returnable as imperfect. i collated it on the spot, and f. s. ellis very kindly and liberally lent me the money to pay for it. luckily mr huth took to it, and gave me fifty guineas for my trouble. it is one of the chief elizabethan gems in a library abounding in them. i remember being in boone's shop, in bond street, one day, and seeing there a marvellous and matchless copy of brathwaite's _barnaby's journal_, almost uncut, and beautifully bound in red morocco. boone demanded £ , s. for it. i put it in my pocket. the following sunday i saw mr huth, and inquired what sort of a copy of barnaby he had. he replied that his was as good an one as could be desired, and he opened the case where it lay, and handed it to me. i took mine out, and handed it to him. he smiled. of course, there was no comparison. his went as a duplicate to lilly. he did not judge boone's dear at twenty-five guineas; it would bring twice that sum now. i was so much accustomed to frequent the booksellers, and i was so well known and trusted that i overlooked the circumstance, in my earlier visits to bond street, that i had not dealt quite so regularly or largely there as elsewhere, and one day when boone shewed me a fine _book of hours_, of which the price was £ , i coolly placed it under my arm, and walked out of the place, with an intimation that i should like to have it. i suppose that the firm was reassured when i called, a day or so after, and gave them my cheque for the amount. we became very good friends, and i took several things off boone's hands for mr huth. the _hours_ i have just mentioned was bound in old velvet; and the owner rather unwisely, as i thought, let bedford give it a new morocco livery. one offer on the part of this house to me i was unable to entertain--the butler mss. formerly in the hands of the poet's editor, thyer, and containing matter not printed by him. boone spoke of £ ; but i declined. what became of them, i never heard; they were not sold with his stock. his retirement destroyed a link between the old school and the new. he had many curious stories to relate about those whom his uncle and himself had known--about libri and dibdin. he (the younger b.) was fairly shrewd and experienced, but thoroughly straightforward. i recollect picking off his shelf one morning an old tract of no particular value, but, as it happened, not in the british museum, to which i transferred it, bearing on the title the unrecognised autograph, _w. bathon_; it was the copy which belonged to archbishop laud, when he occupied the see of bath and wells. there was a somewhat parallel incident at the sale of lord selsey's books at sotheby's in . i took down from a shelf at random an old italian book, and perceived at the foot of the title the signature of montaigne the essayist. i instantaneously closed it, and put it back, for i saw mr toovey approach. i waited to see it sold; it fell to me at s. f. s. ellis came into the room a moment after, and heard of the find. he explained to me that he had a montaigne client, and wished me to let him have my bargain, which i surrendered for a consideration. i consider mr huth answerable for my conversion from a pure amateur into a commercial speculator in books. he was the prime mover in producing the change in my views and arrangements--one which certainly responded to my convenience in working out my great project as a bibliographer, by supplying me in the interval, where the direct practical result was _nil_, with ways and means, rather than to my natural feeling, which would have kept me outside the market as a buyer and seller. my unconquerable and boundless ambition to become the creator of an entirely new bibliographical system, so far as the early literature of great britain and ireland was concerned, reconciled me, to some extent, to the unwelcome, though profitable, labour of utilising for my own purposes the stores which i accumulated and distributed from year to year, commencing with that which immediately succeeded my introduction to mr huth. i had already fulfilled that gentleman's own express desire, that i should co-operate in the extension of his library in the direction which i was beginning to study in earnest; but my first notable achievement was a purchase which found another destination. jeffreys of bristol sent me up, in the winter of , a beautiful copy of caxton's _golden legend_, wanting sixteen leaves, which were supplied from one by wynkyn de worde. it was an edition of which the althorp copy was the only perfect one known. the owner asked £ . i hardly understood why he sent it to me, as i had never had any transaction with him. it was on a friday. i called at b. m. pickering's the next morning, and casually stated that i had had such a book offered to me, and that i intended, on the sunday, to name the matter to mr huth, who did not then possess the volume. pickering begged to see it first; he came down to my house the same evening, and took it away under his arm at £ . if it had not been for john pearson persuading jeffrey to raise his price, i should have had it £ cheaper. mr huth subsequently procured another imperfect copy, and at my request lord spencer very kindly forwarded his own to london to enable a facsimilist to complete both. mr huth had some very strong preferences--favourite authors and topics. anything by wither or quarles, with curious woodcuts, on an educational theme, or in exceptionally fine state, was sure game. he did not care for theology, unless it was by such a man as fuller or jeremy taylor; and of folios he was shy, in the absence of a valid reason; there were so many which it was imperative to tolerate, commencing with the four shakespears. to _americana_ he became at last a convert, but i knew him when he put the question--a pertinent question, too--what he had to do with that sort of book? henry stevens, however, and then others, made the interest clearer to him, and he gave way till, in the end, he was master of a fairly good collection, including such capital features as hariot's _virginia_, , and such unique _morçeaux_ as rich's _news from virginia_, . i was fortunate enough to enter on the scene, when in numerous respects his shelves were very deficient, and when some of the leading poets of the seventeenth century were conspicuous by their absence. he had not, at the time i refer to, even beaumont and fletcher, or jonson, or carew, or lovelace, by way of example. as i run through his catalogue, i notice hundreds and hundreds of volumes which he had been quietly and patiently waiting to receive from someone, as he never went in quest of anything in his life, beyond calling at lilly's, ellis's, or quaritch's, on his way home; and nearly all his dramatic acquisitions, except the quarto shakespears and other rarities from the daniel and charlemont sales in - , were late additions, obtained for him by myself, as scarcely a second individual would have dreamed of him not having them, or being willing to take them. all his shirleys, massingers, fords, and the rest, came to him at prices which, compared with current figures, make them appear almost nominal. massinger's _virgin martyr_, , cost him most; for b. m. pickering charged me £ , s. for the copy, and i have not met with another since that time. his beaumont and fletcher, , which has been lately trotted up to a startling figure by the americans, cost me s. and is one of the finest i ever saw; one leaf was torn, and a second copy was bought for £ to make the defect good. in the same way his ben jonson, - , the most complete one in existence, with a duplicate title and a cancel leaf, was obtained from stibbs for s. it had been colonel cunningham's, and was spotless in the original calf binding. mr huth was not a heber; but he liked to look into his books, and of many he had a fair knowledge. he was a linguist and a scholar, and was led by the circumstances of his origin (his father being a german and his mother a spaniard) to contract a partiality for the literature of those two countries. the ancient spanish romance, the early german book with woodcuts, were well represented. one of the former, in its pristine stamped livery, was among his earliest purchases, when he frequented payne & foss's establishment with his brother louis, just toward the close of the career of that distinguished firm, which supplied heber and his contemporaries--grenville, hibbert, the freelings, and others--and the price was £ . it might at present be £ , if mr quaritch were in the right cue. although mr huth cannot be said to have been a mere amasser of old books, without an interest in their characteristics and literary value, it is curious that he never, so far as i am aware, inserted a ms. note of any kind in a volume, or his autograph, or a bookplate or _ex libris_. he seemed to shrink from asserting his personality in these respects, and was so far the reverse of heber, whose memoranda accompanied thousands of the items in his immense library, and manifested his earnestness and indefatigability in obtaining and perpetuating information--nothing else. of conceit or pedantry no one ever had less. toward the last, while the catalogue was in course of preparation by mr f. s. ellis and myself, an unpleasant _contretemps_ produced a coolness between mr huth and the writer, and i saw nothing farther of him, although we occasionally corresponded down to the period of his death in , the melancholy circumstances of which i have narrated in my _four generations of a literary family_. he made additions to his library rather languidly in later years; but he bought here and there to fill up gaps or otherwise, and some of the entries belonging to the earlier letters of the alphabet form an appendix to the above-mentioned work. there used to be a little drawer at quaritch's, where any book thought to be acceptable to mr huth was deposited day by day against his arrival about five in the afternoon. once it was an unique tract of _king edward the fourth and the tanner of tamworth_, for which he was asked £ , s., and he held it up between two fingers, and exhibited it to an acquaintance with him as rather a dear pennyworth. but he took it, and at the same time he rejected an equally unique and far more curious metrical account of the martyrdom of two churchmen in the time of henry viii., which the british museum was glad enough to secure. as he has said to me frankly enough, it was a toss up, whether he bought or did not buy; of course it was a mere fancy, and it is only a piece of history at present that one or two of the booksellers, acquainted with his peculiarity, passed on volumes now and then from one to the other, and what had not pleased in king street, caught the fish in garrick street at an advanced quotation. mr huth was not only vacillating in his pursuit of books, and so missed many which he ought to have secured, but his health began to fail some time prior to his decease, and he was either abroad or in a frame of mind unequal to the discussion of literary questions and the transaction of unnecessary business. his library, as it appears from the printed catalogue, is a very different monument from that which he might have left, had he been more consistent or been more willing to repose confidence in others. the precious volumes, which went elsewhere through his periodical apathy or indisposition, are barely numerable, and it was the more to be regretted, since the outlay was immaterial and the grand _nucleus_ was there. i suspect that the cause of wavering was one which is common to so many collectors in all departments, and leads in a majority of instances to the abrupt dispersion of the property. i allude to the almost ostentatious indifference of relatives and friends to the treasures, unless, perhaps, they are pictures or china, which a man gathers round him. in this instance £ , had been expended in books, mss., drawings and prints, and the worthy folks who came to the house, what did they know about them? what did they care? a man might well hesitate and wonder whether there was any good in persevering with a hobby personal to himself. i do not know whether mr huth suspected me of extravagance in the purchase of curiosities, but i remember that he one day, at prince's gate, when we were together, rather gravely, yet with his usual gentleness, observed that it was very important to husband one's resources--to use his own phrase. he entered more with me than with any other stranger into trivial and ordinary matters; and apropos of expenditure i recall his allusion to the habit of some of his clerks in the city laying out a larger sum on their luncheons than he did. possibly they went home, not to dinner, but to tea. i have mentioned in _four generations of a literary family_ farther particulars of mr huth, which i of course do not here reproduce. i recollect being at prince's gate one sunday, when professor ---- called, and began to eulogise the palatial residence, the splendid book-room, the noble cases, and so forth; and i at once saw that he was making our host rather uncomfortable by his _gaucherie_. on some pretext i induced the professor to accompany me, when i took my leave, and i am sure that mr huth was grateful. i do not know that i grudged huth anything, for he was worthy of his fortune. perhaps i was a little envious of his knowledge of the notes of birds, which he told me that he possessed, and of which i have the most imperfect and inaccurate idea. i judge that he was reticent even to his family about his affairs, for, after his sudden death, his widow, to whom he left everything, found to her surprise, i was told, that there was more even than she had expected. so that he had acted up to his own maxim. a man may be frugal with £ , a year as he may be with the thousandth part of it--more so indeed, as there is a so much wider margin. chapter iv literary results of my acquaintance with mr huth--the new _bibliography_ in progress, and the book gradually superseded--some other literary acquaintances--george daniel--john payne collier and frederic ouvry, his son-in-law--the millers of craigentinny--'inch-rule' miller--he purchases at the heber sale by cartloads--my efforts to procure particulars of all the rare books at britwell--i let mr christie-miller have one or two items--an anecdote--mr miller's london house formerly samuel rogers's--his son--where they are all buried--the rev. thomas corser--his fine library--what it cost and what it fetched--his difficulties in forming it--whither much of it went--my exploits at the sale--description of the house where the books were kept--mr corser's peculiar interest in my eyes--his personal character--the sad change in the book market since corser's day--mr samuel sanders--a curious incident--mr cosens, mr turner and mr lawrence--their characteristics--some account of mr cosens as he gave it to me--his line of collecting--my assistance requested--a few of his principal acquisitions and their subsequent fortunes--frederic locker--his idiosyncrasies--his want of judgment--his _confidences_. my bibliographical pursuits and exigencies, setting aside my concurrent literary ventures, themselves sufficiently numerous and onerous to have employed a person of average application, had the inevitable effect of making me more or less intimately known to most of the persons who in my time have studied or possessed books. my commerce was with the holders as well as with the buyers and sellers of them. on the one hand i had to face the problem of life, and on the other that of title-taking. of my purely literary work, which is not unknown to a few, i may say that the proportion of _pot-boilers_ is not unreasonably large; it might have been larger, had i not chosen as an alternative to turn to account my conversance with old books as a _moyen de parvenir_, but during all the term of my relationship with mr huth i was incessantly engaged in storing up notes on the volumes, which came and which went, against an opportunity for publication. that aim and my contributions to literature, such as the _venetian history_, the warton, the dodsley, the blount's _tenures_, united to constitute my compensation for the rather distasteful ordeal of espousing the commercial side. the bibliographical toil was enormous, for the few hundreds of articles, which mr huth and others acquired, were a mere handful in comparison with the mass which i gradually digested into my system, and reduced to form and method. i judge it to be the most intelligible plan, with a view to tracing my somewhat peculiar and anomalous career in connection with books, china, coins and other objects of general interest, to proceed, after furnishing the previous sketch of mr huth and my participation in his experiences as a collector, with some account of certain other individuals who influenced me and proved more or less valuable as instruments for carrying out my central and cardinal policy. george daniel of canonbury and john payne collier were practically before my time; but i corresponded with the latter on literary subjects, and daniel i occasionally met in the street or in the sale-room. with collier's relative, frederic ouvry the solicitor, i had some transactions; but i found him an undecided and capricious sort of person, who had evidently imbibed from collier a tincture of feeling for the older literature without having any solid convictions of his own. the best part of his library consisted of books which he had purchased from his connexion by marriage, and which the latter had obtained more or less accidentally in the course of his prolonged career. ouvry, however, did not get all. for in a note to myself, collier expressly says that his unique copy of constable's _diana_, , was exchanged by him with heber for 'books he more wanted.' it was he who lent me the fragment of _adam bel_, _clym of the clough_ and _william of cloudisle_, more ancient and correct than copland's text in the british museum, for my _early popular poetry_, , before i met with the second and yet more curious and valuable one of in the hands of the late mr henry bradshaw, which i collated for my _early popular poetry of scotland and the northern border_, . the name most directly and intimately associated with that of mr heber, in a bibliographical sense, is that of mr william henry miller of craigentinny, near edinburgh, a gentleman who amassed a fortune by occupations outside his profession as a solicitor, and whom we find bidding at least as early as for books of price against all comers. mr miller made it his speciality to take only the finest and tallest copies, and he thence gained the sobriquet of _inch-rule_ or _measure_ miller, because he invariably carried with him the means of comparing the height of any book with which he met against his own; and if the new one had a superior altitude, out went the shorter specimen to make room for the more millerian example. at the heber sale, this gentleman saw his opportunity, and used it well. the bibliophobia had set in; prices were depressed, so far as the early english poetry was concerned, and thorpe the bookseller, under his instructions, swept the field--the drama, the classics, and the miscellanea he left to others. nearly the whole of the rarities in that particular division, set forth in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth parts of the catalogue, fell to mr miller; and of many no duplicates have since occurred. the purchaser must have laid out thousands, and have added to his collection positive cartloads. he died in . of his successor, mr samuel christy, the hatter of piccadilly, who assumed the name of christie-miller, i saw comparatively little; but i used to hear odd things about him from david laing and from riviere the bookbinder. in my ardour for organising my own _bibliography_ on an enlarged and exhaustive footing, i jesuitically availed myself of the periodical consignments of books to riviere for binding; and, with the leave of the latter, took notes of everything in his hands. mr christie-miller himself vouchsafed me a certain amount of information, and from david laing i derived many other particulars about the britwell library, so that with these channels of help and light, and others in the shape of occurrences of duplicate copies of recent years, i flatter myself that there is very little in that rather jealously-guarded repository which i have not put on record in print or in ms. i have been guilty of extending the miller library only in two or three instances. the late proprietor coveted more than one volume which he saw in my possession; but i always gave mr huth the preference, and as a rule that gentleman never let a good thing go begging. i must relate an amusing episode, which happened in connection with mr christie-miller about . i had called at john pearson's in york street, and found him from home; but i waited for him on the doorstep, and presently he arrived with two folio volumes under his arm. i asked him what he had got there. 'why,' said he, 'two lots which were sold separately to-day at sotheby's as "old newspapers, etc."' and he handed them to me, as i stood by him outside his shop. i glanced at the contents, and inquired how much he expected for his purchase. he said, 'if you will take the volumes now as they are, twelve guineas.' i did. riviere broke them up, bound the seventy black-letter ballads in a volume, which i sold to mr miller for £ , and returned me the residue, a collection of penny _garlands_, which went to the british museum, and some rubbish, which dropped into my waste-paper basket. christie-miller owned the house in st james's place which had once been classic ground as the residence of samuel rogers. i went there two or three times, and met his (miller's) wife and son. the latter was a mild youth, who had been educated at high-class schools and a university, and who had (like his father) an imperfect acquaintance not only with literature but with grammar. he was phenomenally ignorant and dull, like his parent. all three at present lie seventy feet beneath the ground, near holyrood, where a monument has been erected to their memory. if the ferocious socialist hereafter disinters the remains of haughty and purse-proud book-collectors of former times, he will probably not dig down low enough to find the bones of the millers. a personage far more in sympathy with mr heber was the reverend thomas corser, of stand, near manchester, whose acquaintance it was my honour to enjoy from about to the time of his death. i have taken occasion elsewhere to explain how it was that mr corser and myself were bound together in a measure by a community of interest apart from books. while he was as zealous and genuine an enthusiast as heber, and regarded his acquisitions as something better than shelf-furniture, he was in one important respect totally different from his great predecessor who, as a man of large fortune, had only to decide on purchases and to refer the vendors to his bankers. mr corser, on the contrary, was a man of very limited resources, and found it a difficult task now and then to keep pace with the _desiderata_ submitted to his notice by the booksellers and auctioneers. i know as a fact that at the bright sale in , which must have marked a comparatively early stage in his bibliographical career, he was obliged to pay five per cent to the agent (thorpe or rodd), who bought for him; and his bill was not far from £ . altogether his fine and interesting library cost him, as he told me, £ ; and it realised about £ , , chiefly owing to the competition of the british museum, mr huth, and mr miller. the national collection made a splendid haul--far better than it would have done, had mr huth been better advised. as it was, i secured at my own risk a large number of lots at very high prices, which his agent lilly had overlooked, or did not duly appreciate. i bought personally, as well as through f. s. ellis, to the value altogether of £ or £ , and ellis subsequently congratulated me on my dexterity in giving my commissions to him, and thus removing one of my most formidable competitors. he instanced one lot, which thus went to him at s., and for which he would have given £ , s. the rectory at stand was a small, detached house near the church, and had no suitable accommodation for such an assemblage of treasures as mr corser gradually accumulated within its walls. nearly all the bedrooms, as well as reception-rooms, had book-cases or cupboards crammed with volumes. i paid repeated visits here, and enjoyed the free range of everything which i desired to examine, provided that my excellent friend could put his hand on it. he had to light a candle on one occasion to hunt for a caxton in a bedroom cupboard; and latterly, when he was disabled by paralysis, poor fellow! and unable to help me, i had to search as best i could for this or that book or tract, of which very possibly no second copy was to be seen anywhere in the whole world except in that secluded parsonage. i cherish, with a gratification never to be lessened or forgotten, the memory of this delightful intercourse with one whose people had known my people in the days gone by, and who, besides being a collector of old books, had made himself a master, like heber, of the contents; and who, as a younger man, enjoyed the genteel recreation of angling, and in his maturer life relished good wine and good talk. when i think of the rector of stand, and look at most of the circle which at present constitutes the book-collecting world, and governs the market, i perceive the difference and the fall! and just at this moment the almighty-dollar type rules the roost, and makes its caterers and agents look big and reckless at sales, and the disciples of the old-fashioned school, to which mr corser belonged, button up their pockets and retire. one of the last men who collected books for their own sake, and not from mere ostentation and purse-pride, was the late mr samuel sanders, who, as he informed me, had been a buyer from his youth, and who bequeathed his extensive collections to one of the colleges. i knew him very slightly. but, not long before his death, i was in the room at sotheby's and expressed to a stranger my regret at having missed the day before an unique wynkyn de worde, of which i lacked the true particulars. it was mr sanders, and he apprised me that he was the purchaser through mr quaritch, and would bring up the volume for my inspection next day, which he accordingly did. my gallery of bibliographical acquaintances is not deficient in variety. during a more or less brief period, i saw a good deal from time to time of mr f. w. cosens, mr r. s. turner and mr edwin lawrence. of the two latter i have little more to say than i have noted down in another publication. i used to meet mr turner at mr huth's. his line of collecting was, on the whole, a little outside my speciality or specialities, and mr lawrence was mainly associated in my mind as a member of a literary club to which i sometimes went as my father's guest. he was a subscriber to some of my literary enterprises, and i thence learned that he was f.s.a., as those letters accompanied his signature not only in his communications, but in his cheques. he was, like turner, an ill-hung man; but i have understood that he was very kind and generous, and i know that he was a first-rate judge (like turner again) of what was the right article, both in books and in other cognate matters. mr cosens was altogether different. he was self-educated and self-helped. his practical conversance with literary affairs was almost _nil_; but he was willing to take a good deal on credit, and had a natural leaning toward letters and art. he introduced himself to me, as lawrence indeed had done, and invited me to assist him in a scheme which he had rather vaguely formed for collecting together the mss. remains of our early poets and verse-writers. i was instrumental in procuring for him a tolerably voluminous body of this sort of material, as mr huth was indifferent to it, and among much that was of inferior account, from the incessant absorption of valuable mss. by public libraries, mr cosens succeeded in obtaining a fair number of interesting and even important items, particularly an ancient codex on vellum of the _prick of conscience_, and a volume of elizabethan lyrics, which i bought at an auction, unbound, and for which mr christie-miller gave me some roman parchment to enable riviere to clothe it in a becoming style. this book contained _amoris lachrymæ_ and other poems by nicholas breton, printed in his _bower of delights_, . boone valued it at £ , but i gave £ under the hammer, and i thought £ , under the circumstances, not extravagant. its subsequent history is curious enough. when the cosens mss. were sold by sotheby, the cataloguing was so well done that what i had got for £ i had knocked down to me for as many shillings, and the lot is now, i believe, in great russell street. again, thanks to the auctioneer's clever manipulation, the old vellum ms. bought at the corser sale by ellis for £ , sold by him to me for £ , and by me to cosens for £ , s., fell to me at £ . it has found its probably final resting-place in the bodleian. frederick locker, or, as he subsequently became, locker-lampson, was a gentleman to whose bibliographical side i have devoted a fair share of space in the _four generations of a literary family_. during a few years, and prior to the preparation and issue of his privately-printed catalogue, i saw a good deal of him, and he became the channel for some of my acquisitions which mr huth did not require, or when the latter was in a less eager humour for buying. locker was very partial to certain books. he aimed at getting all four editions of davison's _poetical rhapsody_, and he succeeded. over the first one of he made a tactical blunder by letting one bookseller understand that he wanted the volume when it accidentally occurred, and giving his commission to another. it was a very poor copy indeed, and cost him £ , plus ten per cent. that of came to him dear enough, too. i had changed mr huth's copy, which was not satisfactory, for a beautiful one in the original vellum wrapper, and had the duplicate at £ . i sold it to ellis for £ , and he charged locker £ . the latter upbraided me, who had no knowledge of his views, with making him pay £ more than was necessary! he always struck me as a most unfortunate purchaser; and there was about him a flaccidity, which made him appear inconsistent and insincere. he gave an exorbitant price for a most wretched imperfect copy of barnfield's poems, , and he actually paid highly for two copies of _england's helicon_, , both wanting the last leaf, and both otherwise indifferent. surely these old books, to be interesting and desirable, should be fine and complete. the mere text, where there is no extrinsic feature, such as a signature or a bookplate, you can have in a five shilling or a fivepenny re-issue. yet locker found some one to sing the praises of the rowfant books in strains--well, significant of a _quid pro quo_ for recent experience of friendly hospitality. this gentleman, however, was in his best days as a collector a genuine enthusiast, and might have been occasionally seen at an early hour walking up and down on the pavement, awaiting the arrival of some bookseller, in whose brand-new catalogue had appeared a nugget to his taste. this phase of the book-fancier's career, by the way, has its curious side. such a thing has been known as for the publisher of a list of old books to lard and season it with a few excruciating rarities which had yet to be acquired, and to bring to his door fasting all the competitors for such matters within a radius or telegrams from the more remote--with a common result. locker's _confidences_, which he made almost a parade, in referring to their future appearance, in characterising as a publication of absolute necessity posthumous, was, if one may compare small things with great, as perfect a disappointment as the talleyrand _memoirs_, so anxiously looked for, and at last printed, only to create a murmur of surprise at the almost total absence of interest and point. the contents of the locker volume might have been imparted to the public with the most complete immunity from consequences in the writer's life-time--they are phenomenally mild and neutral. from my personal impression of the distinguished individuals with whom the author of _london lyrics_ was connected or associated, i should not have dreamed of him so thoroughly missing the mark, and leaving us a legacy so flat and commonplace. chapter v mr henry pyne--his ideas as a collector, and my intercourse with him--his office one of my regular lounges--his willingness to part with certain books--i buy a pig in a poke, and it turns out well--mr pyne's sale--a frost--i buy all the best lots for a trifle--the volume of _occasional forms of prayer_ and its history--pyne's personal career and relations--his investigation of the affairs of a noble family--the booksellers--joseph lilly--his sale--his services to mr huth--the daniel books in --daniel's flyleaf fibs--the event an extraordinary _coup_--the napier first folio shakespear knocked down and out at £ --why some books are dear without being very rare--f. s. ellis and the corser sale--my successful tactics--he lends me sir f. freeling's interleaved _bibliotheca anglo-poetica_. at a lower level than the individuals above mentioned, yet still on a basis which made it possible for me to render them subservient to my all-engrossing design, were mr henry pyne, assistant commissioner of tithes, and two or three minor characters, with whom my contact was transient. mr pyne entered far more conspicuously and materially into my bibliographical and personal history than any person save mr huth. i formed his acquaintance while the _handbook_ was on the stocks, and he assisted me to the extent of his power by placing at my disposal his collection of english books, printed not later than the year . he had begun by adopting a wider range; but circumstances led him to restrict himself to the limit laid down by maitland in his _lambeth catalogue_. i worked very hard at mr pyne's office in st james's square, and at his private house, at the stores he had brought together on this rather hard-and-fast principle; to me, as a bibliographer, the extrinsic merits of the copies were immaterial, and i owed to my estimable and thenceforward life-long acquaintance the means of rendering my introductory experiment of less empirical and secondary than it would otherwise have been. i cannot turn over the leaves of the volume without identifying many and many an entry with mr pyne and his unwearied kindness and sympathy, and in all cases where the book was eminently rare i have cited him as the owner of the copy which i used. our relationship grew into intimacy, and as his official functions appeared to be light and unexacting, his spacious room at the tithe office was my habitual halting-place on my way home from town. he shewed me any fresh purchase, spoke of what he had seen or heard, and discussed with me points connected with my current literary affairs. i thoroughly appreciated our intercourse, which was less constrained and formal than that with mr huth, and i regarded mr pyne as my benefactor in his way to an equal extent. the financial strength of the former placed him in a position which was not altogether natural, although i am far from thinking that he failed to fill the rank, to which his wealth entitled him, with dignity and judgment. it was, indeed, due to mr huth's half involuntary self-assertion, as a man of great fortune, that we at last fell out, as it was not my cue to yield even to him beyond a certain point, and i had had reason to complain of the mode in which he conducted the editorship of his catalogue, a proceeding whereby he was the sole loser. with mr pyne i was at my ease. we never had a word of difference or the shadow of a rupture all the years i knew him. i have noticed mr pyne's law made for himself in regard to his choice of books; but he had kept some of those which lay outside the strict chronological barrier, and they were long under the charge of a bookseller in king william street, strand. it was in the full flood of mr huth's collecting fancy, and it occurred to me one day to ascertain from mr pyne, if possible, how it stood with the property. he said that he was meditating the sale of the boxful to someone. what did it contain? he could not recollect exactly, but there were civil war tracts, some pieces of earlier date, and so on. how much did he propose to get for them? this he also could not resolve. i had no conception whatever of the nature and extent of the parcel, but i offered him at a venture £ , s., and he accepted the sum. it was a downright little find. sixty rare pamphlets went to mr huth at as many guineas; the british museum purchased several; and a literary coal merchant, who had just then been providentially inspired with an ardour for the monuments of the civil war period, gave me £ for the refuse. but mr pyne was once or twice tempted by my offers for books in his own series, and i had from him, among others, _the prayer and complaint of the ploughman unto christ_, , and gervase markham's _discourse of horsemanship_, . i gave him £ for the first, just double what it had cost him. they were both for mr huth. pyne informed me one morning at his office, when i called as usual, that at a shop in marylebone lane he had seen cocker's _decimal arithmetic_, (first edition), marked eighteenpence. i went, and bought it. it was a very fine copy. the portrait belongs to the _vulgar arithmetic_. the anti-climax was reached when mr pyne's library came to the hammer some years since. it was a two days' sale at sotheby's; the books were poorly described, the trade was not eager for them, and the british museum had no funds. my own hands were rather tied by a temporary circumstance; but the opportunity was not one to be thrown away. i gave a long string of commissions to a bookseller whom i thought that i could trust, and he got me at nominal prices all the rarest lots, comprising a few of the gems in the english historical series, and some absolutely unique. i cannot divine how it so chanced; but about £ placed me in possession of all i wanted. one item my agent missed, and i had to hunt down the acquirer, who gave it up to me at a trifling advance. the museum soon afterward came into the usual grant, and gave me £ for what they wanted--nearly everything. i met professor arber at the institution in great russell street just after the transfer, and he deplored the loss which the national library had sustained by not bidding for such desiderata. he did not hear from me at that time that they were all in the building. perhaps he discovered the fact subsequently. there was one article in the pyne auction, of which the simple-minded cataloguer had as correct an estimate as messrs reeves & turner, who sold it to my friend. i had seen it in the booksellers' list at £ , described as a quarto volume, two and a-half inches thick, in vellum; but i was not just then in a buying humour; and it passed into other hands. but it was the identical collection of _occasional forms of prayer_ of the time of elizabeth, in spotless state, with the autograph of humphrey dyson on nearly every title-page, which had been missing ever since dyson's time, and which reeves had picked up somewhere in essex. i sent a commission of twenty-five guineas for it, and obtained it for £ , s. the present was one of my most striking experiences. where the leading buyers were on those eventful days i cannot even dream. mr pyne used to say that there were three prices for old books--the market, the fancy, and the drop one--and i imagine that his taste, if not his resources, led him to espouse the last in great measure, so that he never became master of many volumes of first-rate consequence. he told me that the rise in the figures for rare early literature at the bright sale in drove some of the existing collectors out of the market. what would they think, if they were now among us, and witnessed £ given for two imperfect copies of caxton's chaucer? pyne had had varied experiences. as a young man, he resided at gibraltar, and he told me that he had there an intrigue with a spanish beauty, the unexpected advent or return of whose husband necessitated her lover's desperate leap out of the window. one of his daughters married our resident in cashmere, and she was, when i met her in london, regretting the rule by which all presents from the native princes had to be given up to government, as once, on her return home, the rajah sent a messenger to meet her with an oblation of a gold teapot. my old acquaintance had gone into the intricate affairs of the mostyn family of mostyn and gloddaeth, and declared that he found them hopeless. lord mostyn owned the moor on which the town of llandudno was subsequently built; and i have mentioned that he owned a splendid library and collection of antiquities. but when i was last at gloddaeth, even the flower-garden was farmed. his lordship borrowed £ of my father-in-law, and repaid him in garden tools. it always impressed me as a curious trait in pyne that he possessed so slight a knowledge of the world. he gravely informed me one day, when we were together, that he had gone to a saleroom in quest of an additional book-case, and that a dealer approached him with an offer of his services. he explained his object, and pointed to the article he had come to view. the dealer begged to know his pleasure touching the price, and he named six guineas; and he said to me with affecting simplicity: 'a most extraordinary coincidence! the thing fetched just the money.' of course it did. there have been very few book-buyers of the last and present generation of whom i have not known something, but our correspondence was, as a rule, purely bibliographical or incidental. of the booksellers with whom i have mixed i have already specified the boones. the other principal houses were those of joseph lilly, bernard quaritch, f. s. ellis, b. m. pickering, john pearson and his successors, messrs j. pearson & co., and willis & sotheran. my transactions with the wallers, the rimells, the walfords, reeves & turner, edward stibbs, john salkeld, and some of the provincial dealers, have also been a source of combined pleasure and profit. i may affirm one thing with confidence, that if i have been asked a price for an article, i have always paid it, and that i should not be accused of procuring books or mss. below their value, because i happened, perhaps, to have gained a wrinkle more about them than the vendor. when i first encountered lilly it was as a simple amateur. i was at that time--about or --purchasing rare old books, for which my late father unexpectedly discovered that he had to pay; i made my _début_ in this charlatan-like course at a shop in lombard street, kept by a mr elkins; but i never offended again. lilly then had a place of business in bedford street, and when i contracted my humble liability with him, and accidentally brushed elbows with mr huth once or twice, neither of them foresaw how strongly i should influence the library of the latter, or how i should find it practicable to select from lilly's shelves many scores of rare volumes with a view to their translation to his own particular client through me. for, apart from mr huth, i do not think that in his later years lilly had a large circle of customers, and i know that more than once he has begged mr pyne on a saturday afternoon to buy something of him, as he had not sold a single volume during the week. this might have been a joke; but there are not many jokes without a substratum of truth. lilly was a bluff, plain-spoken, imperfectly-bred man; but i always found him civil and obliging, and he lent me any book which i required for editorial or other purposes without hesitation. he compiled his catalogues with no ordinary care, and would often take a pleasure in pointing out some little discovery which he had made about an edition or copy of an old writer. he presented me in with a bound collection of these, and they contain a variety of useful notices. he was no scholar or linguist, yet it was said of him that, if he had a hebrew or sanscrit book, he seemed to know whether it possessed value or not. he left behind him a large stock, which was publicly sold, and of which i was a purchaser here and there. it struck me as a curious trait in a man who had much natural shrewdness that he allowed many volumes of the rarest character to remain on his shelves, when they might have been with very slight trouble converted into money. under the hammer they commanded prices which paid homage to the departed owner's supposed capability of placing everything to the best advantage; the trade hung off a good deal; and lilly was not popular, besides. the british museum wanted nearly all that i bought. there was one very early volume of prayers, printed on vellum, for which lilly had asked £ , s.; it came to me at £ , s., and i might, if john pearson had not suspected it to be something valuable, have had it for half that amount. but the odd feature about the matter was that, although i submitted it to mr blades, and to everyone else likely to be able to tell me, no one could say where it was printed. the museum gladly gave me the sum which its former proprietor had justly deemed it worth without finding anybody to agree with him. the daniel sale in and the corser one, the latter spread over two or three seasons ( - ), represented the most profitable and conspicuous incidents in lilly's career, as they supplied the material, each in its way, which most largely helped to raise the library of his principal, mr huth, to the rank which it occupied, and still occupies in the hands of a son. the daniel books had been collected under specially favourable circumstances. they were selected at leisure during a period of over thirty years from auction-room and book-shop, whenever an item, which struck their proprietor's practical instinct as a safe and desirable investment, occurred; and some of the most important--the quarto shakespears, the unique chapbooks, and the elizabethan poetry, were secured just when a marked depression had set in--dibdin's bibliophobia, which was to the bibliomania what the anti-cyclone is to the whirlwind; while not a few highly remarkable lots-- the ballads the quarto edition of the _book of st. albans_ the _lucrece_, , the chester's _love's martyr_, , besides others, no doubt, were obtained _sub rosâ_ by a mysterious strategy, at which daniel would darkly hint in conversation with you, but of which you were left to surmise for yourself the whole truth. the general opinion is, that he procured them through fitch of ipswich, whose wife had been a housekeeper or confidential servant of the tollemaches, from helmingham hall, bentley, the suffolk seat of that ancient family. but when i consider the numberless precious volumes, which have dropped, so to speak, into my hands, coming, as i of course did, at a far less auspicious juncture, i arrive at the conclusion, not that daniel bought freely everything really valuable and cheap, but that he must have had abundant opportunities, as a person of leisure and means, of becoming the master of thousands of other literary curiosities, which would have brought him or his estate a handsome profit by waiting for the return of the tide. this gentleman improved the occasion, however, so far as his acquisitions went, by making flyleaves the receptacles of a larger crop of misleading statements than i ever remember to have seen from the hand of a single individual; let us charitably suppose that he knew no better; and the compiler of his catalogue must be debited with a similar amount of ignorance or credulity, since there probably never was one circulated with so many unfounded or hyperbolical assertions, from the time that messrs sotheby & co. first started in business. if the means are justified by the end, however, the retired accountant had calculated well; the bait, which he had laid, was greedily swallowed; and the prices were stupendous. it was a battle _à l'outrance_ between the british museum, mr huth, sir william tite, and one or two more. but the national library and mr huth divided the _spolia opima_, and doubtless the lion's share fell to the latter. the museum authorities can always wait. mr huth did not want the first folio shakespear, , as he had acquired at the gardner sale in a very good one in an eighteenth-century russia binding, not very tall, but very sound and fine. the daniel one, which went to lady coutts at over £ , came from william pickering, and cost about £ , as i was informed by a member of the daniel family. it thoroughly jumped with the owner's idiosyncrasy to pronounce his copy, whenever he spoke of it, as the finest in existence, which it neither was nor is. one of the best which i have seen was that sold at sotheby's for miss napier of edinburgh through the recommendation of mr pyne aforesaid, who admonished the lady to put a reserve of £ on it. this was wholesome advice, for it was put in at that figure, and the only advance was £ from a member of a solid ring opposite to myself, who had looked in from curiosity to see how the bidding went. at £ it would have fallen a prey to the junto; it was in the old binding; it only wanted the verses; the condition was large, crisp, and clean, the title-page (which had been shifted to the middle for some reason, and was said in the catalogue to be deficient) immaculate; and i was prompted to say £ . angry and disconcerted looks met me from the enemy's line, and i weighed the utility of pursuing the matter. at £ it became the property of six or eight gentlemen, and i understood that the ultimate price left £ behind it. but the volume even in perfect state is not very rare. it is merely that, in common with the first editions of walton's _angler_, the _faëry queene_, the _pilgrim's progress_, _paradise lost_, burns, and a few more, everybody desires it. the auctioneers have a stereotyped note to the effect that the first shakespear is yearly becoming more difficult to procure, which may be so, but simply because, although fresh copies periodically occur, the competition more than proportionately increases. there is a steadfast run on capital books, not only in english, but in all languages--ay, let them be even in irish, welsh, manx, or indian hieroglyphics. i personally attended the corser sales, although mr ellis held my commissions for all that i particularly coveted. i was therefore a spectator rather than an actor in that busy and memorable scene; i now and then intervened, if i felt that there was a lot worth securing on second thoughts, not comprised in my instructions to my representative. the glut of rarities was so bewildering, that i got nearly everything which i had marked. it was before the day, when mr quaritch asserted himself so emphatically and so irrepressibly, and john pearson was not yet very pronounced in his opposition. i had therefore to count only on lilly and ellis, apart from the orders of the british museum through boone. by employing ellis i substantially narrowed the hostile competition to two, and lilly was not very formidable beyond those lots which mr huth had singled out, nor boone, save for such as he was instructed to buy for the nation at a price--not generally a very high one. the britwell library just nibbled here and there at a _desideratum_, and had to pay very smartly for it, when it traversed me. lilly, ellis and myself (when i was there) usually sat side by side; neither of them knew what my views were till some time afterward. but i occasionally stood behind. there was an amusing little episode in relation to a large-paper copy in the old calf binding of samuel daniel's _civil wars_, , with the autograph of lucy, lady lyttelton. two copies occurred in successive lots, the large paper first; the others did not notice the difference in size, till i had bought the rare variety, and then lilly, holding the usual sort of copy in his hand, and turning round to the porter, asked him to bring the other. but he was of course too late in his discovery. mr corser had given £ for the book, which was knocked down to me under such circumstances at £ , s., and at the higher rate, one endorsed by the excellent judgment of the late proprietor, it passed in due course to mr huth. one of my direct acquisitions at this sale was the exceedingly rare volume of poems by james yates, ; there were two copies in successive lots; and i suggested that they should be sold together. the price was £ ; but most unfortunately they both proved imperfect, so that my hope of obtaining a rich prize for my friend's library was frustrated. by the way, the copy given by mr reynardson to the public library at hillingdon about has long gone astray. lilly did not actively interfere in the book-market subsequently to the dispersion of the corser treasures. i confess that, if i had had a free hand, i should have bought far more than he did; and if it had not been for my personal offices, the huth collection would have missed many undeniably desirable and almost unique features in the catalogue, as it stands. mr huth himself was not very conversant with these matters, and his leading counsellor had much to learn. i retain to this hour a foolish regret, that i permitted mr christie-miller to carry off anything, but i am sufficiently patriotic to be glad, that the british museum was so successful. i have in my mind's eye the long rows of old quarto tracts as they lay together, while mr rye, the then keeper, was looking through them preparatorily to their consignment to a cataloguer; and i felt some remorse at having been directly instrumental without his knowledge in making many of them costlier. poor mr huth was not prosperous as an utterer of _bons-mots_. the only one i ever heard him deliver--and it was weak to excess--was that he had bought at the corser auction a good dish of greenes. i apprehend that it was not so very long prior to this signal event in my bibliographical history, that i had regular dealings with f. s. ellis, then in king street, covent garden. i invariably found him most well-informed, most obliging, and most liberal. while i was finishing my _handbook_, he volunteered (as i have said) the loan of sir francis freeling's interleaved _bibliotheca anglo-poetica_, on the blank pages of which freeling had often recorded the sources, whence he procured his rare books at a very different tariff from that prevailing in longman & co.'s catalogue. it may not be generally known that this eminent collector, whose curious library was sold in , enjoyed through his official position at the general post office peculiar facilities for establishing a system of communication with the authorities in the country towns, and he certainly owed to this accident quite a number of bargains (as we should now esteem them) from dick of bury st edmunds. i must not repeat myself, and i have already transcribed from the volume above-mentioned several of freeling's memoranda in my own publication of . chapter vi my transactions with mr ellis--rarities which came from him, and how he got them--riviere the bookbinder--how he cleaned a valuable volume for me--his irritability--a strange tale about an unique tract--the old gentleman and the immoral publication--dryden's copy of spenser--the unlucky _contretemps_ at ellis's--a second somewhere else--mr b. m. pickering--our pleasant and profitable relations--thomas fuller's mss. epigrams--charles cotton's copy of taylor the water-poet's works--a second one, which pickering had, and sold to me--he has a first edition of _paradise lost_ from me for two guineas and a half--taylor's thumb bible. ellis after a while penetrated my pharisaical duplicity in acquiring from him and others, to keep my pot boiling at home, while i amassed material for my barren bibliographical enterprise, every item calculated to fit my purpose; he now and then resisted my overtures; but as a rule he gave way on my undertaking to pay his price. i owed to him a large number of eminently rare volumes, of which he did not always appreciate the full significance. i could specify scores of unique or all but unique entries in the huth catalogue, which filtered through me from this source, and ministered to my leading aim--not the earning of money so much as the advancement of bibliographical knowledge. some of these prizes came to hand in a strange and romantic manner enough. two young oxonians brought into the shop in king street the copy of withals' _dictionary_, , which was not only unique and in the finest condition, but which settled the question as to the book having been printed, as the older bibliographers declared, by caxton. a correspondent at aberdeen offered sir david lyndsay's _squire meldrum_, , and verstegan's _odes_, , both books of the highest rarity, and the lyndsay unexceptionable, but the other horribly oil-stained. i exchanged the withals for twenty guineas, and the remaining two for thirty more. the first was in the original binding, and it was not for me to disturb it; but the scotish book and the _odes_ i committed to riviere. he made a grimace, when he examined the latter, and asked me if i was aware how much it would cost to clean it. i assured him that that was a point which i entirely left to him, and he restored it to me after a season in morocco with scarcely a vestige of the blemish. he informed me that he had _boiled the leaves in oil_--a species of homoeopathic prescription; and i cheerfully paid him seven guineas for his skill and care. he was a capital old fellow, originally a bookseller at bath, and was constantly employed by christie-miller and ouvry. he was ambidexter; for he executed a vast amount of modern binding for the trade, and was famous for his tree-marbled calf, which i have frequently watched in its various stages in his workshop. he was a trifle irritable at times. i had given him an elizabethan tract to bind, and on inquiring after a reasonable interval it was not merely not done, but could not be found. i called two or three times, and riviere at last exclaimed: 'damn the thing; what do you want for it?'--pulling out his cheque-book. i replied that i wanted nothing but my property, bound as ordered; and he was so far impressed by my composure, that he said no more, and eventually brought the stray to light. at the donnington sale in leicestershire, when the old library removed from moira house, armagh, was brought to the hammer, there was in a bundle a particular pamphlet entitled _the eighth day_, , an ephemeral poem on the restoration by richard beling, of which sir james ware had descended to the grave without beholding a copy. in fact, no one else had. this precious _morçeau_ found its way to a stall-keeper in london, who confidently appraised it at one shilling. he had occasional proposals for it, but they never topped the moiety; and he at last carried it to edward stibbs in museum street, and told him that, if he could not get his price, he would burn it. stibbs behaved in a truly princely manner by handing him half-a-crown. in a day or two ellis called, saw the prize, and gave £ , s. for it. i happened to catch sight of it on his counter, and he forced me to rise to £ , s.--it was intended as a prohibitive demand; but i was not to be intimidated or gainsaid. mr huth did not offer a remark, when i sent it to him in the usual way (with other recent finds) at £ . what is its true value? an odd adventure once befell ellis without directly affecting me. he mentioned to me that an old gentleman had called one day, and had bought a copy of cleveland's poems at six shillings. he paid for it; and shortly after he returned, and beckoning ellis aside, as there was a third party present, he demanded of him with a very grave air whether he was acquainted with the nature of the publication, which he had sold to him. as ellis hardly collected his drift, and seemed to await a farther disclosure, he added, 'that is a most indecent book, sir.' ellis expressed his sorrow, and engaged to take it back, and reimburse him. 'nothing of the kind, sir,' rejoined his visitor; 'i shall carefully consider the proper course to pursue;' and he quitted the premises. when he reappeared, it was to announce that after the most anxious deliberation he had burned the immoral volume! samuel addington of st. martin's lane, of whom there is some account in _four generations of a literary family_, formed his collections, as a rule, wholly from direct purchases under the hammer. he had no confidence in his own knowledge of values, and liked to watch the course of competition. it was his way, and not altogether a bad one, of gauging the market, and supplying his own deficiencies at other people's expense. but addington occasionally bought prints of his friend mrs noseda, on whose judgment he implicitly relied, and now and then he took a book or so of ellis. i was in the shop in king street one day when he was there, and ellis succeeded in fixing him with £ 's worth of mss. of course, it was all whim; and the money was a secondary matter. he pulled out his cheque-book on the spot, and paid for the purchase. we had many a chat together, and he was obliging enough in one or two instances to lend me something in his possession for myself or a friend. i never heard the origin of his career as a collector. he was somewhat before my time. but i ascribed his peculiarly fitful method of buying to uncertainty as to the commercial aspect and expediency of a transaction; for of real feeling for art or literature i do not believe that he had a tittle. when i was talking to ellis in king street one day, an individual strongly pitted with small-pox presented himself, and asked for a catalogue. he said in a tone, which suggested the presence of a pebble in his mouth, that he was 'mr murray re-printer.' this person was the predecessor of professor arber in his scheme for bringing our earlier literature within the reach of the general reader, who as a rule does not care a jot for it. of course it would be idle to pretend that i monopolised the innumerable curiosities, which ellis was continually having through his hands. i did not even see the copy of spenser's works, , dryden's mss. notes, which he sold for £ to trinity college, cambridge, having got it at an auction for £ , where it was entered in the catalogue without a word; nor did i venture to stand between mr huth and him in the case of the miraculously fine copy in the original binding of the romance of _palmendos_, , which mason of barnard's inn brought in by chance. mr huth unfortunately re-clothed both that and the withals in modern russia. mason unwisely relinquished his employment as a brewer's actuary for the book-trade, and that, again, for a yet worse one--drink. many valuable volumes passed through his hands, and he afforded me the opportunity of taking notes of some of them. i was once--once, only i think--so unhappy and so _gauche_ as to incur the serious displeasure of my estimable acquaintance, and it was thus. dr furnivall happened to enter the place of business with a volume in his hand, which he was going to offer to the british museum on behalf of the owner, mr peacock of bottesford manor, and without reflection i tried, standing on tom tiddler's ground, to dissuade him from his project in the hearing of ellis, and to let me have the refusal for mr huth. it was a beautiful little book, _the school of virtue_, the second part, , and unique. to the museum it went surely enough; and i was upbraided by ellis, perhaps not undeservedly, with having thwarted him in his own intended effort to intercept the article _in transitu_ with the same view as myself; and i apologised. he was terribly ruffled at my indiscretion; and i was sorry that i had perpetrated it. dr furnivall is my nearly forty years' old friend. he is associated in my recollection only with two transactions, both alike unfortunate: the one just narrated, and a second, which was more ludicrous than anything else. i had seen on his table at his own house a remarkably good copy of brathwaite's _complete gentlewoman_, , and i thought of mr huth. i knew furnivall to be no collector, and i suggested to him that, if he did not urgently require the brathwaite, for which he had given s., i would gladly pay him a guinea for it, and find him a working copy into the bargain. he pleasantly declined, and i was astonished the next morning to receive from him a fierce epistle enjoining me to restore to him instantly the book, which i had taken. i contented myself with writing him a line, to intimate that i had not the volume, and that i thought when he found it, he would be sorry that he had expressed his views in such a manner. i heard no more from him, till, a few days subsequently in my absence, he called on me, and asked to see my wife, and to her he declared his extreme regret at what had occurred, and announced the discovery of the lost treasure underneath a pile of papers, where he had probably put it himself. the affair was not exactly a joke; but it was just the kind of impulsive thoughtlessness, which distinguishes my eminent contemporary, and to which i dare say that he would readily plead guilty. i made no secret of the business; and it produced no substantial difference in our relations. i understood, rightly or wrongly, that he had gone so far as to advertise the supposed larceny; but i treated the matter with stoical indifference, and i believe that we have shaken hands over it years upon years. i used to see at ellis's the late william morris. he was then in the prime of life, and i recollect his long curly black hair. i do not think that he had yet imbibed those socialistic ideas, which afterward distinguished him, and which one is surprised to find in a person of considerable worldly resources--in other words, with something to lose. i bought a copy of his _earthly paradise_, when it first came out; but beyond the smooth versification, and correct phraseology i failed to discern much in it. i have often seen morris stalking along with his rod and bag in the vicinity of barnes. of his typographical and artistic styles i own that i had a very indifferent opinion, for they seemed to me to be incongruous and unsympathetic. they did not appeal to my appreciation of true work. i regarded them as bastard and empirical; they might do very well for wall-papers. i must not be too sure; but i should imagine that any one, who is familiar with the early printed books illustrated by engravings of whatever kind, would be apt to take the same view. the graphic portion of morris's publications is intelligible, however, and sane; one can see what is meant, if one does not agree with the treatment. it is not so utterly outrageous as mr beardsley's performances. there were two other personages, with little in common between them, whom i met in king street--george cruikshank and mr a. c. swinburne. i have come across the latter elsewhere; but cruikshank whom my grandfather had known so well, a short, square-set figure, who once entered the shop, while i was there, it was not my fortune to behold on more than that single occasion. i had started as a bookman nearly soon enough to meet william pickering himself; but with his son, b. m. pickering, when he opened a small shop in piccadilly, my intercourse was prompt and continuous. he was a man of rather phlegmatic and unimpressionable temperament, but thoroughly honourable and trustworthy. my earliest dealings with him were on my own personal account, while i cherished the idea, that i might take my place among the collectors of the day, and i obtained from him a few very rare volumes, including a copy of _england's helicon_, quarto, , which he had found in a bundle at sotheby's in , shortly after the realisation of £ at the same rooms for one at the wolfreston sale. he gave £ for this but it was not very fine, and like the wolfreston and every other known copy, except malone's in the bodleian, wanted, as i subsequently discovered, the last leaf. pickering had it washed and bound in brown morocco by bedford, and charged me £ , s. for it. perhaps the most remarkable purchase which i ever made in this direction was a copy of richard crashaw's poems, in which an early owner had inserted a ms. text of upward of fifty otherwise unknown epigrams by thomas fuller. pickering marked the volume s., and said nothing about the unique feature. dr grosart printed the collection from this source. my relations with the younger pickering were almost equally divided in point of time into two epochs: from to , when i bought for myself, and thenceforward till the date of his death, when i added him to the number of those who assisted me in carrying out, through mr huth and a few others, my interminable task of cataloguing the entire _corpus_, with very slight reservations, of our early national literature. pickering never objected to let me become the medium for filling up gaps in the huth library from his periodical acquisitions; i paid him his price; and i paid it promptly, as i did all round. our maiden transaction was a very humble one. it was a copy of a little tract called _a caution to keep money_, , and it was a sort of experiment. i had to give s. for it, and at the same not very extravagant figure it went to my acquaintance. he eyed it rather wistfully; the low price was somewhat against it; but he accepted it, and fortunately or otherwise he did not take its counsel practically to heart. but i discovered the futility of allowing cheapness to appear as a recommendation in the case of one, who knew comparatively little of the selling value, and to whom cheapness was not the slightest object. the pamphlet in question was the pioneer of many scores of articles of the highest rarity and interest, which found their way through the same channel to the ultimate possessor. among them was a curious copy in the original calf binding with many uncut leaves of taylor the water poet's works, , formerly belonging to charles cotton the angler; it had come from the hastings library at donnington, and i paid pickering £ for it. a second one, which i had of him, was the only example containing anything in the nature of a presentation from the author, whose autograph is of the rarest occurrence; but unfortunately in this case the memorandum was written by the recipient. the folio taylor is one of those books, which has unaccountably fallen in price of late years; and certainly it is by no means uncommon. i was almost invariably on the acquiring side. once i sold pickering, as i have already related, a caxton, and at another time a first edition of _paradise lost_, , in the original sheep cover. i had seen the latter at a shop in great russell street, of which the rather impetuous master, when i put some query to him, seemed undecided, whether he would let me have the book after all for £ , s., or throw it at my head. he did the former, and an american agent begged me as a favour to let him pay me double the money, which, as i thought him to be in jest, i declined. i subsequently parted with it to pickering for £ , s. d., which was about the prevailing tariff thirty years since. i may take the present opportunity of mentioning that it was at the same emporium in bloomsbury, that a later occupant apologised to me, in tendering me a beautiful uncut copy in sheep of taylor the water poet's _thumb bible_, for being so unreasonable as to want s. for the jeremy taylor, as he took it to be. i forgave him, and mr huth was very pleased to have the volume. pickering had, like his father, a singular weakness for accumulating stock, and laying up imperfect copies of rare books in the distant hope of completing them. yet he held his ground, and gradually enlarged his premises, till they were among the most spacious at the west end. poor fellow! he lost all his belongings in an epidemic, and never recovered from the shock. chapter vii mr john pearson--origin of our connection--his appreciable value to me--he assists, through me, in completing the huth library--lovelace's _lucasta_--the turbervile--the imperfect chaucer--the copy of ruskin's poems at reading--the walton's _angler_--locker and pearson--james toovey--curious incident in connection with sir thomas phillipps--willis & sotheran--two unique cookery books--only just in time--the caxton's _game and play of the chess_--a valuable haul from the west of england--a reverend gentleman's mss. _diaries of travel_--the wallers--lamb's _tales from shakespear_, --the folio ms. of edmond waller's poems--an unique book of verse--a rare american item--the rimells--i take from them and sell to them--some notable _americana_--the walfords--an unique tract by taylor the water poet--john russell smith and his son--my numerous transactions with the latter--another unknown taylor--john camden hotten--i sift his stores in piccadilly--the bunyan volume from cornwall--john salkeld--my expedition to his shop on a sunday night, and its fruit--a rather ticklish adventure or two--messrs jarvis & son--my finds there--king james i.'s copy of charron, dedicated to prince henry--the unknown fishmongers' pageant for --the long-lost english version of henryson's _Æsop_, . i first met with john pearson, if i remember rightly, when he had a room at noble's in the strand. he had sent me his catalogue, and i went to buy a small london tract, for which he demanded £ , s., because it had all the three blank leaves; it was in fact a speech delivered to king james i. on his entry into the city in by richard martin of the middle temple. mr huth sent it to bedford, who removed the leaves, which constituted the feature; but i did not see the mischief, till it fell to my lot to catalogue the piece years afterward. my good friend was very tiresome and difficult in these small matters, which in bibliography are apt to become great ones. i obtained for him a bipartite volume by ben jonson, comprising the description of james i.'s reception in london and his previous entertainment at althorp, in - , at two different points, and explained to him the desirability of having them bound together, as the latter portion was named on the first title. they went to bedford, i suppose, without a word, and were clothed in separate jackets. pearson became another of my coadjutors. his intelligence, energy, and good fortune did me excellent service. he dealt of course with many other persons, both here and in america; but a handsome proportion of his prizes passed through me to mr huth. the latter at that period--in the seventies--still lacked some of the most ordinary _desiderata_ of a collection, which was beginning under my auspices to assume a more general character than it possessed, when i entered on the scene in . even lovelace's _lucasta_, of which i purchased of pearson george daniel's copy for £ , s., carew's poems, , of which i met with a beautiful specimen on thick paper in the original binding for s., and many others, were absent. it was pearson's object to come to the front, and i perhaps did my part in making him known to my patron, who eventually added his shop to his places of call, and inspected the articles, which the proprietor and i had agreed to lay before him as suitable and deficient. the turbervile above noticed was my most signal gain from this quarter. i shall never forget pearson's exultation, when i acceded to his proposal; he seemed, as he cried, 'i have made £ by it,' as if he would have leapt over the counter. his commercial transactions became sufficiently wide and lucrative, and all my purchases of him did not go to mr huth. a curious little piece of luck befel me in the case of a chaucer wanting the end, which he had kept for years, and at length sold to me in despair. the next week reeves & turner obtained a second of the same impression by thomas petyt, _wanting the commencement_. reeves let me take out the leaves i required for a trifle. i never experienced from pearson any deficiency of straightforwardness, except that once mrs noseda and he had, i think, a joint hand in passing off a facsimile frontispiece of taylor the water-poet's works, and i was the victim. i said nothing, but, like the frenchman's jackdaw, thought the more. he was an exceptionally shrewd and vigilant character, and nearly broke lovejoy of reading's heart by getting from his assistant an uncut copy of ruskin's poems for a shilling during lovejoy's absence. but pearson paid the price, which the fellow asked. i was in the shop, when he had just received through a third party a lovely copy of walton's _angler_, , in the pristine binding for £ plus £ , s. to the bringer. the last copy in the market in precisely the same condition brought successively £ and £ . someone tells me that in both cases the buyer and the seller was one and the same party. poor walton! like chaucer, spenser, shakespear, and our other great ones, he has been converted into _bric-à-brac_. to your millionaire amateur it does not signify whether it is a book or a tea-pot or a violin, if the price is high enough--better still, if it is higher than was ever given before. that is his intelligent seeing-point. in the present instance the holder of the walton, if the above-named view be correct, did not meet with a customer so enthusiastic as himself. he was a trifle too much _in excelsis_. pearson was almost the introducer of those stupendous prices for really first-rate books or rarities in book-form, which have now gone on ascending, till it is hard to tell where they will stop. frederic locker told me that he had asked him fifty guineas for a prose tract by southwell a few years anterior in date to any recorded. why not five hundred? with pearson's successors i have had many years' pleasant acquaintance. _verbum sap._ the volumes, which have changed hands on that ground, would form a library and a fine one. with the late james toovey i never had a single transaction. but mr huth often spoke of him and of the _temple of leather and literature_, as his place of business in piccadilly was jocularly called from toovey's predilection for old morocco bindings. i do not pretend to know what was the exact nature of this business; but it must have been a very profitable one. ordinary bookselling made only a small part of it. i always took toovey to be a jew, till i found that he was a catholic; and it was a laughable circumstance that, when the library of sir thomas phillipps of middle-hill had to be valued, he was the very person selected to perform the task, although phillipps had laid down in his will that the house should never be entered, nor the books examined, _by mr halliwell or a papist_. willis & sotheran's in the strand was known to me by tradition. my father had bought books of willis in early times, when the latter was in prince's street and in the piazza, before he joined mr sotheran. the shop in the strand united with pickering's and one or two more to supply me with a handful or so of curiosities, while i remained what is termed an _amateur_. later, it was one of the marts, to which i regularly resorted with advantage in quest of the wants of mr huth or the british museum. an old-established business, it mechanically attracted year by year an endless succession of private parcels and single lots, which generally rendered the monthly catalogues remunerative reading. it is more than a quarter of a century ago, since i received one of these lists at kensington, and spied out two unique items in the shape of _cookery books_ of the elizabethan period at s. d. each. i was on the top of the next omnibus going londonward, and entered the premises with a nervous uncertainty not legible on my countenance. i applied for the lots; _they brought them to me_; they were in splendid state; i clapped them in my pocket, and i left the place with a lightened heart. i met some of my friends, who were coming in, as i walked out, and i guessed their mission. how sorry i was for them! mr pyne was one. there came into my thoughts a saying of mr huth's elucidatory of the success of his firm: 'we do not profess,' quoth he, 'to be cleverer than other folks; but we get up earlier in the morning.' mr huth owed his copy of caxton's _game of chess_ to willis & sotheran. an individual brought it into the shop, and offered it for sale. it was in vellum, but wanted a i. and a viii., the former a blank leaf. what the firm gave, i never heard; but when lilly approached them on behalf of mr huth, the demand was £ . it is always wise to start with a margin. the ultimate figure was £ . it was the second edition, of which trinity college, cambridge, the duke of devonshire, and lord tollemache, have perfect copies. it was the buyer (francis), whom willis & sotheran employed about , to whom we were all indebted for discovering at or near plymouth the unique tragedy of _orestes_, , which went to the museum, and for a duplicate of which payne collier safely offered at the time fifty guineas, and the equally rare copy of drayton's _harmony of the church_, , which was acquired by mr corser, and at his sale by mr christie-miller. i have not heard that the west of england has of recent years yielded many such finds as it formerly did. it was long a profitable hunting ground. speaking of drayton, of whose early editions it has fallen to my lot to secure several at different times, i am reminded that in willis & sotheran's catalogue appeared that eminent writer's _tragical legend of robert duke of normandy_, , of which only three copies are known; the volume turned out on examination to want a leaf; but luckily in another list issued by the firm there was a second example misdescribed as _drayton's poems_, which, though elsewhere imperfect, supplied the immediate deficiency; and the duplicate, which had served me so well, was wasted. i had been about the same time disappointed by missing at a shop in old bond street (not boone's) the _english ape_, , in the original binding at £ , s. d.; and curiously enough the house in the strand purchased it, bound it in red morocco, and put it in a subsequent monthly circular at £ , s. i had to stretch my purse-strings, and go to the higher figure. i have elsewhere given willis himself credit for introducing me to a small literary commission, which if it did not yield much money, did not entail much labour. the only other experience of the same class afforded me the labour without any result. it was a parson of independent fortune, who called me in for my opinion on certain _diaries of travel_, which he had written, and which he thought (most correctly) in need of editorship. the negotiation came to nothing, and so did my fee. it was not my province to inform the reverend gentleman that his mss. were waste-paper, nor would the mention of his name be of any utility. he was unconsciously one of those sempiternal caterers for the paper-mill, whose unprinted effusions generally figure in the auctions among the bundles in the wane of the season, and they resemble in their inevitable doom the processions through the streets of the drover's charges on their way to our shambles. let us pray that from the pulp of this holy man's _derelicta_, swept out by his executors, something worthier and more durable may evolve. there is quite a group of minor or secondary dealers, whose absolute rank to me was indifferent, and from whom it has been my fortune in the course of my career as a bibliographical huntsman to bring away spoils of the chase neither few nor unimportant. an odd case of rather shallow misrepresentation occurred, when i went to an emporium in conduit street in search of a copy of stapylton's _musoeus_, . it was marked s. d. in the catalogue, but, said the owner, 'that is a misprint for s.' i put down the larger sum, merely inquiring how the odd sixpence crept in! the wallers of fleet street, originally next to saint dunstan's church, subsequently higher up, had known my grandfather. the younger was my more particular acquaintance, and helped me to many choice items. i recollect that i refused a spotless copy of lamb's _tales from shakespear_, in old sheep, , for s. d., which waller assured me that mr george daniel had seen, and estimated at a guinea; and i regret this more than i congratulate myself on the acquisition of an unique folio ms. of edmond waller's poems, which his namesake had got from a furniture sale for one shilling, and let me have for fifty, of an unknown impression of _a description of love_, , tenderly and mercifully swaddled between two imperfect books in a volume, and itself (the sole thing of value) as clean as a new penny, and several other ungratefully forgotten blessings. it was to the waller volume that the last editor of the poet was indebted for the unprinted and otherwise undescribed dedication to queen henrietta maria, of which i furnished the earliest notice an age since to _notes and queries_. by the way, i must not overlook the matchless copy in boards uncut of the _papers relating to the colony of massachusetts bay_, published at boston, , for which i tendered waller s., and for which an american house gave £ . i had not much to do with the rimells and the walfords. the former put in my way two or three rarities, and i furnished them with a couple of valuable _americana_ for the carter-brown library at new york. the books which i associate with this firm are philipot's elegies on the death of william glover, esquire of shalston in buckinghamshire, , which cost me s., and gardyne's _theatre of the scottish kings_, , both alike scarce to excess. of neither are more than two copies known, and the grenville one of the second is mutilated. mr christie-miller would have been glad to possess the philipot; but it went to the national library; the gardyne passed into the huth collection. the walfords were instrumental in enabling me to track out a pamphlet by taylor the water poet relative to a murder at ewell in , of which i had been on the scent for years, and of which a copy at last occurred in a huge pile of miscellanies at sotheby's tied up together at the close of a season. i found that walford was the buyer; and when i waited on him, it turned out that it was a commission. for whom? well, a customer in scotland. but he did not want the account of a transaction at ewell! well; he would write, if i would name my price. i offered s. the tract came up; i took all the particulars; and the museum relieved me of it at £ , s. no duplicate has ever been seen, i believe. john russell smith was one of my earliest publishers. i became acquainted with him in in that capacity, and continued to do literary work on his behalf down to . i subsequently purchased a large number of old books of him and of his son, alfred russell smith, through whose hands passed some very rare articles less highly appreciated by him than by myself. which was the truer estimation, i do not know; but smith now and then ingenuously stated to me that a lot in the catalogue, which i selected, had been ordered over and over again. such was the case with the _book of measuring of land_, by sir richard de benese, canon of merton abbey, printed at southwark about by james nicholson, priced s. in the original stamped binding, and henry vaughan the silurist's _thalia rediviva_, marked s. smith said one morning that a party had sent him three tracts, which he shewed me, and wanted s. for the lot; and he should expect s. for his trouble, if they would suit me. 'very well,' said i. but the party advanced to s. and smith by consequence to s. still i was agreeable; and at that figure they became mine. two of them were by taylor the water poet, one unique--the original narrative of his journey to bohemia, ; and it was, as so many of these exceedingly rare items often are, in a perfect state of preservation. i once went through hotten's stores in piccadilly, and found nothing but the copy which mr huth had, of wither's _psalms_, printed in the netherlands, , in unusually fine condition, and marked s. hotten had from cornwall, in a volume, cowley's poems set to music by w. king, , and bunyan's _profitable meditations_, the latter unique, and now in the british museum. i somehow missed that; but i bought the cowley; it is the identical one described in the huth catalogue. hotten had a curious propensity for marking his old books at figures, which might denote the exiguity of his profit--or the reverse. he would not ask s. or a guinea, but s. d. there was a constitutional and aggravating proneness on his part as a publisher to the pursuit of a tortuous path in preference to a straight one; and i am afraid that he took a certain pride in trying to outwit or overreach his client. most unwillingly i had in the case of a small book, which he took, to involve him in two bills of costs from his sheer perversity in regard to his engagements; and the curious, but unfortunate sequel was that his successors, in taking over the interest, repudiated their balance of liability, and exposed themselves to a farther superfluous outlay. what was a poor author to do? when he was in orange street, red lion square, i saw a good deal of john salkeld, a north-countryman, whom i always found perfectly satisfactory and reliable. he never had occasion to carry out the practice on me, as i was a most exemplary paymaster, especially in those cases, when i thought that the money was at once an object and an encouragement; but salkeld often spoke to me of less punctual clients at a distance, whom he should like to _hug_. my most notable adventure in connection with him was the result of a catalogue, which he sent to me, so that i got it the last thing on a saturday night. there was a wither's _emblems_, daniel's _works_ and _panegyrick_ in a volume on large paper, and one or two other matters. they were not very cheap; but they were worth having, thought i. i knew that salkeld resided over his shop, and on the sunday evening i walked up to town from kensington, proceeded to orange street, found my man at home, and carried off my plunder in triumph. what charming books they were! for no better a copy of the wither mr huth had paid toovey £ . both wanted the pointers to the dial. like so many other of my doings in the book-market, the solitary experience which i had of a person named noble was with an immediate eye to mr huth. he (noble) had come into possession of a handful of scarce old english tracts, including a volume containing several by lady eleanor audley, a very rare item in the series of george chapman's poetical works--his _epicede on prince henry_, , absolutely complete with the folded engraving, and joshua sylvester's elegy on the same personage, so difficult to procure in such condition as mr huth always desired. these treasures i converted for noble into cash, and was immediately afterward favoured with a casual suggestion elsewhere, which led me to take them to riviere to be measured for new coats, except the lady audley volume, which i deposited at great russell street. i had paid noble £ for it, thinking it must be worth £ ; but before i reached bloomsbury, i thought that it might not be too dear at £ , s. the only other misadventure of the kind--if it may be so termed, as no unpleasant consequences ensued--was in connection with a book, which some one stole from stibbs in museum street, and sold to salkeld, who sold it to me. i was apprised by the original owner that he had traced it to my hands; but i pointed out that i had purchased it in good faith in open market, and for the rest i referred him to the trustees of the national library, where it had found a resting-place. messrs jarvis & son succeeded during my acquaintance with them in stumbling upon a variety of bargains and prizes, which i usually appropriated. one was a splendid copy of greene's _pandosto_, , the only known one of that of in the museum being imperfect. a second acquisition was the copy, which had belonged to james i. of the long-lost first edition of lennard's translation of charron _de la sagesse_, dedicated to prince henry; and a third was a singular metrical tract by john mardelay, clerk of the mint to henry viii. called _a rueful complaint of the public weal to england_, printed under edward vi., and completely unknown. there was a remarkable coincidence between this mardelay piece and an equally unique little volume by thomas nelson, , which i purchased elsewhere about the same time, that both were folded in a precisely similar manner, as if the old owner grudged the space, which they occupied in a drawer or a box. they were perfectly clean and very much as they had left the printer's hands. the nelson was the hitherto undiscovered pageant of the fishmongers under the mayoralty of john allot, lord mayor of london, and mayor of the staple, and was six-and-twenty years anterior to any of which the company was aware. it was not published, but privately issued to members. i held this to be a great find, and i reproduced the text in the _antiquary_, before i parted with the original to the museum. the printer could not make out the meaning of _staple_, and in the first proof put _steeple_. there was one more striking episode in my temporary contact with jarvis & son. i saw in a catalogue of miscellaneous books sold at sotheby's in a lot, which fixed my attention as a bibliographer. it was the english or anglicised version of henryson's _Æsop_, printed at london in , and of which david laing, in his edition of the old scotish poet, , speaks as having been seen by him in the library of sion college, when he visited that institution about . he mentions that he wished to verify something at a later date, and that the volume had disappeared. i found on inspection that this was the identical book, no other being known anywhere, and i bought it under the hammer for £ , and let jarvis & son have it for £ , s. they sold it to lord rosebery. it had probably been a wanderer above half a century, since it quitted the college in the pocket of some divine of elastic conscience or short memory. chapter viii messrs reeves & turner--my literary work for the firm--my advantageous acquisitions here--cheap rates at which rare books were formerly obtainable--the large turn-over of the business--wake of cockermouth--an unique wynkyn de worde--a supposed undescribed shakespear in a house-sale at bognor--tom arthur--the wynkyn de worde, which i secured for another shilling--arthur and sir thomas phillipps of middle hill--the bristol book shops--lodge's _rosalynd_, --mr elliot stock--my literary work for him--one volume unexpectedly productive--mr henry stopes--my recovery for him of a sarum breviary, which belonged to an ancestor in queen mary's days--his wife's family and sir walter scott--a canterbury correspondent and his benefits--two more uniques--a singular recovery from new york--casual strokes of good luck in the provinces--the wynkyn de worde at wrexham--a _trouvaille_ in the haymarket--books with autographs and inscriptions--a few words about booksellers and publishers. my much-respected publisher and acquaintance, mr reeves, of the firm of reeves & turner, was in business in st clement's churchyard, when i first met with him about . he succeeded mr russell smith as my publisher, and acted as my agent for some books, while others he entrusted to my editorship. the most important in the latter category were the dodsley and the montaigne, to the latter of which i contributed only the introduction, my father revising the text for me, and seeing the proofs, as i was at this juncture extremely busy with all sorts of ventures, and was, above everything else, intent on a new bibliographical departure. thousands of volumes had been in my hands during the last few years, had answered my questions, and had gone on their way, leaving me wiser and not poorer. the toll, which they paid me, had placed me in a position to pursue a vast quixotic undertaking; and i had no other means of executing it. messrs reeves & turner's premises were a favourite haunt of bargain-hunters in days gone by. mr reeves frequently attended outside and country sales, and bought many private lots; and every morning certain members of the trade made the place their first destination. i am not going to allege that i never participated in the advantages myself; but my gains were occasional and accidental; although i was long an habitual caller at the shop, the necessity for consulting mr reeves about some current literary affair making such visits imperative. i have noticed the somewhat strange absence of perception and training which led reeves to sacrifice an incalculable amount of valuable property, constantly passing through his hands in former years, and often going to others, who knew better how to turn it to account, where i describe the unique collection of _occasional forms of prayer_ of the reign of queen elizabeth, and the statement of the sagacious cataloguer that the volume containing them was so many inches thick. but it was ever so. there was no discrimination. at one time i bought an important first edition of heywood, , for half-a-guinea, and a theological tract worth a couple of shillings was marked at the same price. they had only just come in, and not to draw undue attention to the heywood, i tendered a guinea for the two. on another occasion, a lovely little copy of donatus _de octo partibus orationis_, an unknown ancient impression, four leaves, octavo, fell to me here at s. but i should make too long a story, if i were to set down all the _trouvailles_, which i owed to my excellent friend's omission to employ a capable assistant, or to look into these details himself, i might grow monotonous, unless the circumstances happened to be salient or peculiar. reeves, when he was in business in st clement's churchyard, must have for some years done an enormous volume of trade, for he shewed me one day in the early eighties his bank-book, where it appeared that in a year he had paid in £ , , exclusively of small amounts, which were used as cash. yet sadly too little came of all this exhausting labour. he parted at too trivial a profit; he was too eager to turn over; and his assistants have told me that he often sold out of the open window for sixpence, items which had cost a couple of shillings. the auction-room in chancery lane did not, it is to be feared, contribute to his welfare. no man, however, was more honourable or trustworthy. he once remitted £ to a person, of whom he had purchased a lot of books, on finding them more profitable than he had expected. someone spoke of him to me as 'a nobleman who dealt in books'--an improvement on johnson's definition of tom davies. wake of cockermouth, a member of the society of friends, who deals in every conceivable and inconceivable object of curiosity, but is a highly deserving and industrious man, sent me on one occasion at £ , s. a tract of six leaves from the press of wynkyn de worde--the _stans puer ad mensam_ of sulpitius. it was an edition of , earlier than any on record, and the british museum paid me £ , s. for it. the curious part was that some months later reeves had a very bad copy of the grammar of the same author from the same press--a thick volume in quarto, marked £ , s., and i took a note of it, and left it. wake, shrewdly calculating that as i had given £ , s. for the little tract of six leaves, i could not hesitate to take this one of at least sixty at £ , s., bought the lot on speculation, and reported it to me. i returned him my thanks. his deduction was arithmetically, but not bibliographically, accurate. i had put into my hands at reeves's one day the catalogue of a house-sale at bognor, there was a single lot in it: 'shakespeare's poems, º, .' no such book was known; yet it was perfectly possible that it might have been printed. reeves thought that it might be worth my while to go down, and inspect it. i did, and had a day at the seaside. the volume was a lintot! the auctioneer apologised; but he did not offer to defray my travelling expenses. there are many among us, who remember arthur in holywell street. he was a singular character, and had been a porter, i think, at one of the auction-rooms. my purchases of him were very numerous; and they were always right and reasonable, or i should not have been his client. he left £ to mr ridler his assistant, who, called in reeves to appraise the stock, and obtained it within that amount. while arthur was in business, there was a grammatical tract in english printed by de worde in his catalogue at £ , s. i went in to ask for it, and ridler said that i could not have it. 'is it out of the house?' i enquired. 'no,' said he; 'but it is put aside for a gentleman, who always gives me something for myself.' 'what does he give you?' said i. 'a shilling,' quoth he. 'i will give you two.' the lot left the shop in my pocket. i acquired several curious articles from ridler himself. he was, as a rule, reluctant to sell anything except through the catalogue. but he made an exception in my favour by pulling out of a drawer on one occasion a very fine copy of the very book which wake of cockermouth had previously offered me; and i agreed to give £ , s. d. for it. it is now in the museum. in a second case he sold me, with a stern proviso that it was not returnable on any account whatever, a defective copy of john constable's poems, printed by pynson, , which nearly completed the museum one--only two copies, both imperfect, being known! the constable was bound up with a foreign tract of no value in such a manner as to mystify our good friend. he no longer honours me with his catalogue. i ceased to find much in my way, and perhaps i was not worth the postage. ridler it was, who once signalised a volume as 'difficult of procuration.' it was arthur who had the only copy ever been with the colophon of slatyer's _paloealbion_, ; he got it for a few shillings of lazarus in the same street, and sold it to sir thomas phillipps of middle hill for £ , as ridler informed me many years ago. the last mad freak of phillipps was the transmission of an order to arthur to send him one of his catalogues _en bloc_. some of the lots had been sold; but the remainder was duly shipped to the broadway, worcestershire; and a pretty parcel of rubbish it must have been! this is _book-scavengering_. you only require a besom and a purse, and a block of warehouses. with the exception of jeffreys and george of bristol and wake above named, i have not known much of the provincial dealers. jeffreys sent me the _golden legend_ by caxton, as i have said, and a few other rare things, and with george my transactions were limited to just one. mr pyne had returned from these parts, and had seen at jeffreys' or lasbury's (as he thought) lodge's _rosalynd_, , at £ , s., bound up with an imperfect copy of lyly's _euphues_. _he declined it_, but on his arrival home he reconsidered the matter, and wrote to the wrong man. i dropped in, just as he was deliberating whether it was worth while to write to the right one; but he concluded by giving up the volume to me. i had to pay £ for it, george stating that a party had assured him it was quite worth the higher sum. i did not dare to dispute the point; i bound the lodge, for which mr huth gave me £ , and let mr pyne have the lyly. the only other copy known of the _rosalynd_ is in the bodleian, and the single antecedent impression ( ) exists in an unique and imperfect one. the book, as it is familiar to most people, has the foundation-story of _as you like it_. the mention of that drama reminds me that rosalind and rosaline were rather favourite names with our early poets. spenser introduces rose daniel, the writer's sister, into his _faëry queen_ under that designation, as he had done another lady in his _shepherd's calendar_. shakespear himself has rosaline in _love's labours lost_ and _romeo and juliet_, and thomas newton wrote a poem no longer known beyond its registration in , entitled: _a pleasant new history; or, a fragrant posie, made of three flowers: rosa, rosalynd, and rosemary_. i edited a few small books for mr elliot stock, and had the opportunity of taking notes of one or two very rare volumes in that gentleman's private library. i met in the shop one day my friend m----, who told me that he had come to buy the new english translation of the _imitatio christi_. i expressed surprise. he explained that it was to give away. i still expressed surprise. 'well,' said he, 'you see it is the fine style.' i had thought that that lay in the original latin; but i scarcely presumed to hint such a thing. i passed for one who had long laboured under a very grave misapprehension, and who was at length undeceived. i did not grow very rich out of mr stock's commissions; they were, as i have mentioned, little undertakings; perhaps they did not sell very well--i fancy that the general editor of the series gave me to understand that his own contributions were the only ones which did. but one of them--the _old cookery books_, introduced me to a city gentleman, whose library i assisted in completing. he was a very good fellow, who had been spoiled by companies and company-mongers. he had conceived, before i met him, the design of collecting everything in all languages relative to fermented liquors and the processes of their manufacture. he was not fastidious as to condition, though he preferred a good copy to a bad one; and i left his shelves fuller than i found them. he unconsciously made up the deficiency in mr stock's cheque; and my researches on his behalf were bibliographically useful to me, as they brought under my notice a variety of pamphlets and other ephemerides illustrative of a by no means uninteresting topic. besides, he threw in my way editorial work worth £ or more. a rather curious incident evolved from our temporary acquaintance. quaritch had in his catalogue just then a sarum service-book, which purported to have belonged in queen mary's days to one _l. stokes_; i looked at it; and i saw that the name was _stopes_, and i concluded that the old proprietor was the same leonard stopes who printed an _ave maria_ to the queen in or about . the book also bore the signature of his brother, james stopes. leonard was of st john's college, oxford. the point was, that my casual correspondent was henry stopes, and was a descendant of leonard or james. he was hugely delighted by the discovery; and he purchased the _breviary_. it was his wife, a very pleasant and accomplished scotish lady, daughter of mr carmichael, clerk to sir walter scott as sheriff-depute, who wrote the almost superfluous confutation of the claims set up on behalf of bacon to the authorship of shakespear's plays. had it not been for my intuitive surmise, that the inscription in the volume was mis-rendered, a piece of family history, valuable at least in somebody's eyes, might have been overlooked. bohn of canterbury helped me to a good thing or two. that is a neighbourhood formerly most rich in early english books; and a good deal of obscurity hangs over certain incidents connected with the books once belonging to henry oxenden of barham and to lee warly, and to the hand, which sir egerton brydges seems to have had in obtaining some of the rarest for the library at lee priory. a sale of the residual portion of the lee warly collection took place _in situ_ many years ago, and a few remarkable items found their way to mr huth, particularly oxenden of barham's ms. _commonplace book_, , in which the original proprietor had written a list of his old plays bound up together in six volumes. i copied out this inventory for the huth catalogue; but it was one of the numerous omissions made by mr ellis _to save space_. bohn met with a fair number of curious tracts, some of which he sold to me. two of them were _the metynge of doctor barons and doctor powell at paradise gate_, printed early in the reign of edward vi. and in verse, and the _history of king edward the fourth and the tanner of tamworth_, a black-letter ballad in pamphlet form with woodcuts, both unique. mr huth declined the former, god knows why, but took the latter. through the late mr sabin i once sent a couple of commissions to new york for as many unique items, which had been sold at sotheby's in , a little before my time, among the wolfreston books. they were the _cruel uncle_, , the story of richard iii. and his nephews, and _a map of merry conceits_, by lawrence price, . i secured the latter only for £ , s., and it went to the national library. this was my sole transatlantic experience in the way of purchases. i have now and then of course laid my hand on a stray volume or so in some unexpected corner, as when i was in conway in , i ran through a local stationer's humble stock, and discovered paul festeau's _french grammar_, , a phenomenally rare book, of which i never saw more than two copies, and those of different editions. it cost me sixpence and the labour. the author was a native of blois, where, says he, 'the true tone of the french tongue is to be found by the unanimous consent of all frenchmen.' at another time, a bookseller at wrexham had attended the house-sale of the rev. mr luxmoore's effects in the vicinity, and among the lots was richard whitford's _work for householders_, printed by wynkyn de worde in --the unique copy which had been sir francis freeling's. the buyer had marked this £ , s., without finding a customer; i basely offered him £ , and he accepted the amount. it is the copy described in the huth catalogue. it reached mr huth through ellis, who estimated it to me at £ . the luxmoore books were represented to me as having been thrown out on a lawn, and sold at random; and the same story was related of a second haul, which i once made of a mr fennell in whitefriars, including an unique copy of chamberlain's _nocturnal lucubrations_, . i have never been a stall-hunter. i do not rise sufficiently early; and, sooth to say, it has grown by report a barren quest. at brooks's in hammersmith, which i mention more particularly below, i would turn over dreary lots of volumes which he had carted away from some house-sale for a song; but i never laid out anything there or elsewhere. i always found the cheapest books were to be obtained at the auctions, or at mr quaritch's, or at mr ellis's. to be sure, brooks once had uncut cloth copies of the first editions of tennyson's _in memoriam_, _maud_, and _princess_ at ninepence each, or two shillings the three; but i passed them. a sensible proportion of my discoveries was thus turned to good account; but such was not invariably the case. i have, on the contrary, now and then ordered a book or books from a country catalogue, simply because it or they were undescribed by me, and when i had done with them, i was often obliged to be satisfied with reimbursing myself. again, it sometimes occurred that i transcribed the full particulars in a shop, and went no farther. one of my latest adventures in this latter way was at messrs pickering & chatto's in the haymarket, where i have always met with the greatest kindness and consideration. on information received, as the policeman says, i proceeded to the premises, and there, surely enough, i found a dilapidated and imperfect copy, yet still a copy, of the first part of the first edition of johnson's _seven champions of christendom_, . the second part, , was in the heber sale from isaac reed's collection, where it fetched s. but no trace of the first was discoverable, till this one turned up, dog's eared, torn, and deficient of three leaves at the end. it was in the original vellum wrapper, and must have been reduced to its actual degradation by excess of affection or of neglect. it has been my fortune to rescue from oblivion many and many an item in our early literature, of which only just so much survived as was absolutely needed to make out the story; and i have known cases, in which it has been requisite to employ two or even three copies, all defective, to accomplish this. so far i have presented a sketch of my life-long touch with the collectors of books and the dealers in them, and have shown that to a certain extent i am entitled to rank in both categories, my own share in the commercial side being due to the exigencies, to which i have adverted, rather than to choice. i think it not improbable that during the period from to the regular trade might have been prepared to raise a handsome subscription to send me and my family to a distant colony. yet i exercised an influence beneficial rather than the reverse on their businesses, since i paid them their prices, and relieved them of large numbers of volumes, which they might have kept on their shelves. there was a jealousy, however, and a natural one. of books with autographs and inscriptions i have published in more than one periodical rather copious particulars and varied examples, ranging in date from the monastic era to our own days. i have generally found no difficulty in judging as to the character of entries in books by private owners; and considering the large number of surviving volumes which contain matter of this kind, fabrications are certainly uncommon, as well as fairly self-convicting. yet it cannot be a source of surprise, that the less experienced book-hunter falls into occasional traps. it is so pleasant and so tempting to be master of some copy which has once been consecrated by the fingers of a king or a queen, or a king's lady, or a queen's favourite, or a renowned soldier, poet, or whatever it may be, that we do not always pause to weigh the decent probabilities, do we? the worst thing of all to do is to trust to ordinary catalogues and dealers of the commoner type. the latter have constantly by them specimens of the libraries of queen elizabeth, mary of scotland, james i., with imposing lateral, if not dorsal, blazons, and autograph attestations of proprietorship or gift. an eminent member of the trade once offered me a copy of may's _lucan_, in which the translator, quoth he, had written, 'ben jonson, from thomas may.' i recollect an early chaucer with _thomas randolph_ on the title; of course the vendor avouched it to be the signature of the poet. joseph lilly had a black-letter tome with the name _george gascoigne_ attached to it, and advertised it as a _souvenir_ of that distinguished elizabethan writer; but unluckily the writer died, before the book was printed. there was similarly more than a single w. shakespear just about the same period of time; but we have not come across any sample of his cunning in caligraphy. perhaps he _wrote_ better than the dramatist. that excessively interesting _florio's montaigne_, , in the british museum carries the impress of former appurtenance to our great bard, and its history is much in its favour; but some question it (do not some question everything?), not that the inscription belongs to a namesake, but that it does so to a disciple of mr ireland junior. as an illustration of the manner, in which one may be misled without remedy by an auctioneer's catalogue, a copy of cranmer's bible, , was offered for sale a few years since, and, says the cataloguer, 'on the second leaf occurs "tho. cranmer" in contemporary handwriting.' in fact, some one at the time under the line of dedication to the archbishop of canterbury had inserted his name, to shew who he was. but there was no unwillingness on the part of the auctioneer's assistant--or the auctioneer himself--to catch a flat. alas! that the world should be so full of guile! henry holl and myself were once parties to a mild practical joke on a fashionable bookseller and stationer named westerton near hyde park corner, who engaged to procure for his clients at the shortest notice any books required. we drew up between us a list of some of the rarest volumes in the english language, and one or the other took it to westerton's, desiring the latter to let him have them punctually the following day. we did not go near the shop for some time after that, i remember. of course we never heard anything of our _desiderata_. the fellow woke up probably to the hoax. there is not the slightest wish on my part to disparage the qualifications of the bookseller as a type; but it has always struck me as unreasonable, looking at the large number of persons, whose subsistence is wholly derived from this pursuit--and often a very good one, too--to represent the calling as an indifferent and an uncommercial line of industry. for there must be thousands earning livelihoods by it, although very few realise the el dorado of £ a year, which i have heard mr quaritch cite as a kind of minimum, which it is in the power of any poor creature to make out of books. moreover, it is to be recollected that many and many, who have chosen the employment, would scarcely be capable of discharging the duties of any other; it is recommendable for variety and liberty; and it brings those engaged in it into contact with celebrated people and interesting incidence. _imprimis_, as of every other calling, there are too many booksellers. within my memory their ranks have sensibly increased. they are not dealers in the sense in which mr quaritch is one; their training has been slight and superficial; and their stocks are of the thinnest and poorest quality. still, in town and country alike, they maintain a sort of ground, and when you pass and repass their places of business, you wonder how they live, and conclude that the occupation must be profitable even on the smallest scale. for the bargain-hunter--from his point of view--there is nothing to be got out of these outlying or minor emporia nowadays; the whole actual traffic in valuable commodities centres in two or three london auction-rooms and half-a-dozen west-end houses. for all the rest it is a scramble and a pittance. i have almost ceased to look at ordinary shop catalogues; and the stall was a thing of the past before my day. if i wanted a cheap book, i should go to mr quaritch or to a sale-room. your suburban and provincial merchant in all kinds of second-hand property is desiccated. much the same appears to be at present predicable of the publisher. he tells you that it is a poor vocation, a slender margin for himself, yet the number of houses devoted to the business was never greater, and of some the experience and capital must be equally limited, as the printer and paper-maker can tell you. a curious, almost comic, side in the question of literary earnings, is the habitual propensity for embracing one of two extremes. a. is coining money; his publishers are all that a man could desire or expect; he has taken so much in such and such a time from them on account of his last book. you listen to his tale with jesuitical reticence; you have just parted from a member of the firm, who has told you exactly how many copies have been sold, and you can do the rest for yourself. b., on the contrary, never makes any appreciable sum by his efforts; all publishers are rogues; and the public is an ass. how much in both these views has to be allowed for temperament and imagination? perhaps b. does nearly as well as a. chapter ix at the auction-rooms--their changeable temperature--my finds in wellington street--certain conclusions as to the rarity of old english books--curiosities of cataloguing and stray lots--a little ipswich recovery--a narrow escape for some very rare volumes in --a few remarkable instances of good fortune for me--not for others--three very severe 'frosts'--a great boom--sir john fenn's wonderful books at last brought to light--an odd circumstance about one of them--the writer moralises--a couple of imperfect caxtons bring £ --the gentlemen behind the scene and those at the table--books converted into _vertu_--my intervention on one or two occasions--the auctioneers' world--the 'settlement' principle--my confidence in sotheby's as commission-agents--my three _sir richard whittingtons_.--_a reductio ad absurdum_--the house in leicester square and its benefactions in my favour--change from the old days--unique a.b.c.'s and other early school-books--the somers tracts--mr quaritch and his bibliographical services to me--his independence of character--the british museum--my resort to it for my venetian studies forty years ago--the sources of supply in the printed book department--my later attitude toward it as a bibliographer--the vellum monstrelet and its true history--bookbinders--leighton, riviere, bedford, pratt--horrible sight which i witnessed at a binder's--my publishers--dodsley's old plays--my book on the livery companies of london--presentation-copies. i now proceed to speak a few words about the two auctions, with which i have been familiar--sotheby's and puttick & simpson's. both these distributing agencies repay careful study. you must consider the circumstances, and bear in mind selden's maxim, _distingue tempora_. the rooms are very variable in their temperature. now it is high, now low. it is not always necessarily what is being sold, but what is being asked for. for instance, just at the present moment there is a desperate run on sixteenth and seventeenth century english books and on _capital_ productions, because a few americans have taken the infection; they know nothing of values, so long as the article is right; and therefore the price is no object. it is merely necessary to satisfy yourself that your client wants the book or books, and you may without grave risk pose at the sale-room table and in the papers as a model of intrepidity. but the game does not usually last very long; the wily american soon grows weary or distrustful; and the call for these treasures subsides, and with it the courage of the bidders. the market resumes its normal tranquillity, till a fresh fad is set afloat with similar results. no prudent buyer loses himself in these whirlpools. he watches his opportunities, and they periodically recur amid all the feverish competition arising from temporary causes. at sotheby's my finds have been endless. it is in those rooms that ever since , when i made notes at the bandinel sale, i have figured as an inevitable feature in the scene, when anything remarkable, either bibliographically or commercially, has been submitted to the hammer; and i have not often had reason to lament oversights on one score or the other. when i have missed a lot, of which i desired the particulars for my collections, it has illustrated my conviction of the immense unsuspected rarity of a preponderance of the national fugitive literature. this accident occurred in the case of a tract called _the declaration of the duke of brabant_ (philip iii. of spain) _proffering a truce with the netherlands_, , and i have not since met with a second copy. it is over twenty years ago. i have occasionally registered the title of a piece, which i have found in the warehouse in the hands of a cataloguer; and it was fortunate that i did so as regarded _a farewell to captain_ (afterward sir walter) _gray_, on his departure for holland, , as the article was never again seen. there has been a good deal of this sort of miscarriage. quite at the outset of my bibliographical career, the most ancient printed english music-book, , was bought for the british museum at the price of £ ; it was only the _bassus_ part with that to _triplex_ bound up at the end; and the cataloguer _had put it into a bundle_. attention was drawn to the mistake in time, and the lot was re-entered with full honours. on the other hand, i have been repeatedly indebted to sotheby's staff for useful and valuable help. mr john bohn never failed to point out whatever he supposed to be of service, and in mr a. r. smith shewed me a small volume printed at ipswich by john owen about , entitled _an invective against drunkenness_, so far known only from maunsell's catalogue, . in quite the earlier portion of my experience here occurred the disastrous and destructive fire of , which made a holocaust of the offor library, and proved fatal to much of lord charlemont's. it was a most fortunate circumstance that just at the moment halliwell-phillipps had some of the rarest of the charlemont books on loan from the auctioneers at his private house in old brompton, and they were thus saved. i was away, when mr bolton corney's books were sold at sotheby's, and did not see them. but one was returned by the buyer as imperfect; it was drayton's _odes and eglogs_ ( ), and was said to want two leaves. i examined it, and found that it was complete, and had two duplicate leaves with variations in the text. i bought it for £ , s., and sold it to john pearson on my way home for £ . s. a somewhat analogous incident befel me at the burton-constable auction in , where a volume containing the _theatre of fine devices_, , the only copy known, and several other rare pieces in the finest state, was sold with all faults, because a copy of wither's _motto_, , at the end, was slightly cropped. i left a commission of £ , s. for this, and saw it knocked down for £ , s. i put the wither in the waste-paper basket, and divided the rest between the british museum and messrs pearson & co. there were two other dispersions of curious old books, which i may exemplify. at the auchinleck sale the prices were not low, but were extremely moderate, considering the character of many of the early scotish tracts there offered; but the other instance, where a gentleman had with the assistance of john pearson and others formed a collection of early english poetry, making the _bibliotheca anglo-poetica_ the nucleus, was a deplorable fiasco. books went for fewer shillings than they were worth pounds. i bought drayton's _mortimeriados_, , _clean and uncut_, which mr quaritch had acquired for the late owner for £ , for s. no one particularly wanted that class of books just at the moment, and the field was open to the opportunist. the proprietor, who was living, must have been gratified. i never witnessed a more thorough frost than this except at the pyne sale already described and at those of the dramatic libraries of mr kershaw and dr rimbault, although i believe that the firm is steadfastly persuaded that the most signal collapse, in recent times at least, was the two-days' auction of prince lucien bonaparte's philological stores, which realised £ ! the kershaw and rimbault affairs were rather notable as yielding a large crop between them of old english plays, which were not in the huth library, and which dropped to myself at nominal prices. the slaughter of rimbault's property took place on a saturday afternoon. i recollect the buzz in the room, when shirley's _lady of pleasure_ was carried to s. i bought nearly everything worth buying. then there was the other side of the picture, as when the frere, or rather fenn, books came to the hammer at sotheby's in . as nothing in the before-mentioned auctions seemed too low, so nothing here seemed to be too extravagant. there was a kind of mysterious halo round the affair. people had heard of such books being in existence, and longed to put the report to a practical test. herbert, in his revision of ames, had quoted sir john fenn, the john fenn esquire of his day, as the owner of certain rarities, of which nothing absolutely reliable was known. but the items really material to myself amounted to no more than twenty, of which several were mere verifications. mr quaritch was in great form. he made himself master of all the principal lots, as any one can do by bidding long enough. a copy of herbert's _typographical antiquities_ with an extra volume of original specimens, of which the chief portion was of very slight significance, produced £ . a volume of tracts, of which nearly all the title-pages had been mutilated by fenn for the sake of the printer's marks, and of which the central interest lay in the first edition of greene's _groatsworth of wit_, , fetched £ . the first might have been worth £ and the second (with the defects indicated) £ . a really valuable lot, which belonged to sir john fenn, and which had gone somehow equally astray, was subsequently offered for sale at another room, and brought £ . it was nicholas breton's _works of a young wit_ ( ), and was one of my bibliographical _desiderata_. i took a full note of it of course, and should have willingly gone to £ as a matter of purchase. mr quaritch trusted to the prevailing american boom, and was there to win the day against all comers with the feeling that those who opposed him had with him only a common market. failing one or two wealthy enthusiasts, the volume might lie on his shelves, so long as he lived, at that figure. this is what mr quaritch himself has characterised as a species of gambling. what is to be said or thought of the two imperfect copies of caxton's first edition of the _canterbury tales_ bringing in - £ and £ respectively? all that can be argued is, that the worth is positively artificial, and that to the individuals, for whom mr quaritch destines them, money is a drug or a form of speaking. then there was the second folio shakespear which fetched the unheard-of price of £ , and the third, to which i presently advert. the disregard of precedents in such cases brings a certain type of early literature within the magical circle of _objets de vertu_, when economic laws cease to operate, and books seem to lose their true dignity in the hands of the virtuoso. beyond a certain financial altitude there are no _bonâ fide_ bookmen. a sale, which might in its way deserve to be classed with the frere-fenn one at sotheby's, fell to the lot of the leicester square house in . it was bipartite, and rather on the incongruous principle discountenanced in the horatian _epistle to the pisos_. for the first division consisted of mss. and printed books formerly belonging to thomas astle the antiquary, and chiefly relating to suffolk, the tower, and america; while the second was a series of autograph letters, particularly a small parcel addressed by mottley the historian to prince bismarck between and . the auctioneers looked on the day's sale as worth £ ; it realised four times as much. a single lot of _americana_ brought £ . the mottley correspondence was highly interesting, and indeed important, and some of the allusions were almost droll from their homely familiarity. the nine letters were knocked down _en bloc_ for £ . the first item in this remarkable series, written from vienna, the hague, and london, found the prussian statesman at a watering-place in the south of france, and at that time the two men appear to have been well known to each other; for mottley subscribes himself 'always most sincerely your old friend;' and the next of starts with 'my dear old bismarck.' there was evidently much cordiality and sympathy. a good deal of pleasantry arises out of some photographs of the great german's family and himself, which were a long time in arriving. but a singular interest centres in a letter of , urging the desirability of mediation between the two then belligerent powers; it is marked _private and confidential_; and i do not imagine that anything came of it. the day's sale embraced another lot of a somewhat mysterious character, as regarded a portion of the contents. i refer to two letters from sir christopher hatton in his own hand to a lady, couched in most familiar and affectionate terms, and subscribed with the same fictitious signature as hatton employed in corresponding with the queen herself. it is so usual to associate the ownership of a library in middle-class hands with a single generation--scarcely that very often--that events like the auchinleck, astle, and frere sales strike and impress us, and often, indeed generally, produce results gratifying to the beneficiaries; and so it was with the berners street and way affairs. volumes, which were known to exist somewhere, at last emerged from their places of concealment. mr swainson had bought many of his books at the sale of george steevens in ; the way lot belonged to about the same date. among the latter were such prizes as the original editions of _arthur of little britain_ and _england's helicon_. the berners street business took place on the premises; there was of course a settlement; and john payne collier, who looked in, could get nothing. i was offered, some time after, a rare little treatise, which i declined; and i subsequently heard a queer story about a copy of it (? the same) having been removed from joseph lilly's tail-pocket, while he was attending the auction. i put this and that together. it was certainly much the same thing at the osterley park, beckford, and fountaine sales. the quotations are suggestive of lunacy, not on the part of the immediate purchasers, who are middlemen, but on that of the ulterior acquirer behind the scenes. what could be more childishly extravagant or absurd than guineas for henry viii.'s _prayer book_ on vellum, , with mss. notes by the king and members of his family? what could be indeed? why, the £ paid for a third folio shakespear, - , with both titles--a book which has been repeatedly sold for £ or £ , and which the auctioneers misdescribed, as if it had been something unique and unknown. the beckford books realised perfectly insane prices, and were afterward resold for a sixth or even tenth of the amount to the serious loss of somebody, when the barometer had fallen. the thuanus copy of buchanan's poems, , which was carried to £ , was offered to me in october, , for £ . of course there have always been inflations of value for special articles or under particular circumstances here and elsewhere; and i must confess to an instance of _malice prepense_ at one of the corser sales at sotheby's, when i made ellis pay £ for warren's _nursery of names_, , by sitting next to addington at the table, and whispering in his ear the praises of the book and its fabulous rarity. he left it at £ . there was no other competitor within a fifty-pound note's distance. the museum could not have gone beyond £ or £ . i stood behind quaritch at sir john simeon's sale in wellington street, and when it came to two lots, the first being the _history of oliver of castile_, printed at york in , and the second one of david laing's publications, i told him that if he would let me have the first, i would not bid on the second. he was so amiable as to assent, and the almost unique little volume fell to me at s. unhappily some one else opposed him for the laing, which realised its normal value. i looked as grieved as i could, when he good-humouredly turned round to inquire what he had got. i have said that marked the date, when i graduated at sotheby's as a bibliographer. as a private buyer to a sparing and experimental extent i had known that house since , when i was baulked, as i have elsewhere related, in my attempt to obtain an unique copy of the earl of surrey's english version of the _fourth book of virgil's Æneid_, which was unique in a second sense--in being the only lot of value among a mass of rubbish. the auctioneer's world is classifiable into two sections: buyers and sellers. if you do not belong to one of these divisions, the profession scarcely knows where you come in in the economy of nature. you enter into the nondescript species. the man with the hammer views his commission as the elixir of life, as the sole object, for which men and women are born and exist; he has no other motive or seeing-point; and he does not expect others to have it. your friends, as a rule, estimate you according to the house, in which you live, and the undertaker by the order, which he gets for your funeral; but the auctioneer appraises you by your value to him as a bidder at his table and by the marketable quality of the property, which you leave behind. if it happens that you are only a scholar, occasionally picking up a cheap lot, or a bibliographer, taking notes for the benefit of others without profit and without thanks, he eyes you with a mixture of commiseration and surprise, and has a private feeling, perhaps, that there is a percentage somewhere. and so there is--in fame, for which he cares nothing except as an advertisement for his business; and it is natural enough, that the staff takes its cue from the principal, and unless you distribute _largesse_, sets you down as a troublesome nondescript. i think that i am right in saying that it was the member of the firm of walford brothers, who attended the sales, who was referring at the table to the knock-out system, and mr hodge, who was in the rostrum, disclaimed any knowledge of such a thing, whereupon says mr walford to him, 'you are the only person who does not know about it, then.' the other day at the sale of the boyne coins nine continental dealers were counted--_confrères_ indeed. had it not been for the english competition, the result would have been absolutely disastrous. thus much may be confidently affirmed of sotheby's. as commission-agents they are implicitly trustworthy. i have had a long and large experience, and where i have not been able, or have not deemed it politic, to attend in person, i have found that i could depend on the discretion of the auctioneer. let one instance suffice. in there appeared in a catalogue published by the firm _the famous and remarkable history of sir richard whittington_, octavo, , a mediocre copy, but twenty years earlier than any on record. i left a commission of five guineas, and the lot fell to me at as many shillings. only three copies are known, all of different issues: and every one has been in turn mine. two are now in the british museum; the other, from the daniel sale, is in the huth library. there was an imperfect copy of the first edition of the _paradise of dainty devices_, , in a catalogue issued by the firm in . it was described as probably unique, as wanting a , which had been supplied from the next earliest edition in the british museum, and as bound by f. bedford; it was further stated, that every possible search had been made for a second copy without success. this was a tissue of romantic inventions on the part, not of the auctioneer, i apprehend, but on that of the ingenious and candid owner, who was rewarded for his pains by seeing his property fetch £ ! some time before, mr burt the facsimilist came up to me at the museum, and shewed me the copy, asking me whether i could refer him to another, whence the missing leaf might be supplied. i did so; but he eventually took it, not from the next earliest issue, which was not in the library, but from that of . bedford was dead, when the volume was bound. i leave the _judicial_ reader to sum up! at one of the scotish sales at sotheby's--david laing's, i think--kerr & richardson of glasgow bought against quaritch at an utterly extravagant price some specimens of old scotish binding, but thought better of it afterward, and the next morning richardson went to piccadilly, and offered to lose the last bid, if quaritch liked to have the book. 'no,' replied the other; 'i thank you; i was mad yesterday; but now i have come to my senses again.' i have recorded in a previous page an anecdote connected with the simeon sale at sotheby's. i may take the present opportunity of adding that sir john simeon was a resident in the isle of wight, and a friend of tennyson, who met longfellow under that roof. there is a curious story of wilberforce, when he was at winchester, making one of a picnic party at simeon's, and, the guests strolling about, as they pleased, the bishop was discovered sitting down in a field alone, with a handkerchief over his head as a sunshade, one foot in a rabbit-hole, and in his hand a bottle of champagne. to the house in leicester square i feel myself under considerable obligations for acts of courtesy and kindness. in former years i bought there rather largely; and it was very possible, even in a full room, to obtain bargains, such as do not go many to the sovereign. i remember that it was here that i got the fishmongers' pageant for , a tract of the utmost rarity, the _merry devil of edmonton_, , a prose version of the story far scarcer than the play, and mistaken by some of those present for it, till it was knocked down to me, and a volume of early pieces relating to murders, accidents, and other cognate matters in the finest state. there seemed to be no voice lifted up for them beyond a bid, which i could easily cap. one of the most remarkable early grammars in the british museum occurred here, and fetched only s. although it was in the highest preservation and wholly undescribed. another work of this class, which led to a certain amount of inquiry, was an _a b c_ printed on paper like linen at riga in russian poland for the use of the german children there, who preponderate in number, about --perhaps the oldest example of the kind. it was very appropriately lotted with thomas morton's _treatise of the nature of god_, ! the two did not bring more than s. the riga primer was, i conclude, a find, as the british museum sent down an individual to my house to procure information about it and similar productions in connection with some task which he had before him. there was a singular little upheaval, so to speak, at puttick & simpson's a few years ago, when certain tracts, so far known only from report or the stationers' register, occurred. i took memoranda of them all, but somehow omitted to bid for them. what became of the others, i do not know; but an extraordinarily rare elizabethan pamphlet respecting edward glemham, , fell to mr quaritch, and from him passed to me at s. my intimacy with the market-value of these relics inspired my eminent acquaintance by degrees with a distrust of me, and led to a cessation of his catalogues. i own that i should have looked from such a quarter for greater magnanimity. he sold me a small piece by ralph birchensha on irish affairs, , for £ , s., less ten per cent. for cash, and subsequently wrote to demand for what consideration i was willing to surrender it. but both purchases were bespoken: the former for the british museum, the latter for mr huth. it was on this ground that i had the bad luck to fall into a trap laid by myself. in some sale a copy of dekker's _belman of london_, , occurred in a volume in old vellum with the same author's _lanthorn and candlelight_, bearing the same date as the first piece, and so far known only in a re-issue of . i committed the stupid and double blunder of fancying that it was the former and less important article, which was imperfect, and of suggesting to the auctioneers, that the book should be sold with all faults. even then i had to give £ , s. d. for it, and it turned out that the missing sheet in the middle was in the _lanthorn and candlelight_. i separated the two pieces, and sold the _belman_ to smith; and the other, when i had kept it a twelvemonth or so in the vain hope of completion, i handed over to the museum. i just saved myself. nothing is much more remarkable than the jetsam, which chance brings up to the surface here and in wellington street alike. some of the rarest books and pamphlets in our early literature have fallen under my eyes in leicester square. once it was a parcel, i recollect, including, among others, drayton's _shepheard's garland_, ; but the lots were uniformly, in point of condition, hopeless; and i had to leave them to others. but the most signal acquisition on my part was the series of the somers tracts in thirty folio volumes, which had belonged to the famous chancellor, and had passed through several hands, but were still in the original calf binding. this set of books and tracts comprised some of the rarest _americana_, especially the _laws of new york_, printed there in - , and probably one of the earliest specimens of local typography. i forget what i left with the auctioneers; but the price, at which the hammer fell, was £ . a single item was worth double that sum; and there were hundreds and hundreds. i spoke to mr quaritch after the sale, and begged him to say why he had not bidden for the article. i apprehend that he overlooked it--at all events its peculiar importance. what a lottery! now alike in wellington street and here all is changed. a new school has arisen, and every article of the slightest consequence is carried to the last shilling--and beyond. the highest bidder never despairs of finding, when he gets home, somebody more enthusiastic or more foolish than himself. i sometimes look round, while a sale is proceeding, and nearly all the faces are strange. they are those of young men, who represent firms, or who speculate on their own account. there are no cheap lots, save to the preternaturally knowing or lucky. i have reserved to the last the name, which should by right, perhaps, have come first in order--that of mr quaritch, because he co-operated with me in the enterprise, which constituted throughout my motive for mingling in the commercial circle, and has enabled me to preserve from the risk of destruction a vast body of original matter. mr quaritch cannot have realised any appreciable advantage from publishing my _bibliographical collections_ from to ; and he left me a perfectly free hand with the printer, saying that his share of the business was to pay the bill and sell the books. i waxed tired of the practical side, when i lost £ by a single volume of the series. but, while he associated himself with me in a variety of ways, some more mutually profitable than this one, our practical transactions were, comparatively speaking, not so important or heavy as might have been expected. mr quaritch used at one time to have cheap books as well as dear; and i suppose that i gave the preference to the former. i saw a copy of _fortunatus_ in english in his window one day, marked s., and i went in to buy it. he was just by the door, and when he learned my object, 'ah,' said he, 'i have kept that book so long, that it is s. if you want it,' and the higher figure i had to pay. there was never any remarkable event in my life immediately identifiable with these classic premises. i fear that i was suspected of knowing too much. i was not like the good folks, to whom, when he had bought the first copy of the mazarin bible, he exhibited an ordinary early printed specimen on their application for leave to inspect the real article. they were just as happy and just as wise. how many thumbs it saved! i shall always cherish a sentiment of gratitude toward mr quaritch for his valuable aid during a whole decade in putting it in my power to present in instalments the fruit of my labour at the auction-rooms and elsewhere, and in agreeing to defray the entire cost of the _general index_ to a large portion of it. i look forward to the possibility of carrying on the task piecemeal, till it embraces the entire _corpus_ of our earlier national literature in all its branches, each item derived from the printed original, and illustrated by such notes as may appear desirable and appropriate. thousands of new titles await the printer. it was through this medium that lord crawford was pleased to honour me with a proof of his lordship's catalogue of _proclamations_, thinking that it might be of service; but i had to return the copy with a message by the same channel that the descriptions were drawn up on a different principle from mine, and that i never accepted information at second-hand, if i could possibly avoid it. after what i had seen of lord crawford's bibliographical discernment, i was rather distressed to hear that his lordship is regarded as one of the best-informed men on the board of trustees in great russell street. but the qualifications of an _ex-officio_ member cannot be always satisfactory. i conclude that it is, except among the general public, an open secret that mr quaritch has been during quite a long series of years eminently indebted for his success to the varied and extraordinary erudition of his adviser, mr michael kerny. mr quaritch was accustomed to say to me: 'i am a shopkeeper; mr kerny is a gentleman;' and there was a degree of truth in this remark. yet the former is something more than _le grand marchand_; his enterprise and pluck are marvellous; and they are the outcome, for the most part, not of foolhardihood, but of genius. a man, who buys blindly, soon reaches the end of his tether. that mr quaritch for divers reasons has often made unwise purchases, and has missed his mark, may be perfectly the fact; but in the main he has obviously struck the right vein; and he pursues his policy season after season, witnessing the departure of old clients (or, as he would rather put it, customers) and the advent of new ones. he despises popularity, and has ere this given umbrage by his _brusquerie_ to supporters of long standing and high position; and he leaves them to do as they please to seek other pastures or to return to their former allegiance. he is a striking example--the most striking i have ever seen--of a man, who knows how to accommodate unusual independence of character and conduct to commercial life. the successive authorities in the printed book department of the british museum have earned my cordial gratitude by their uniform deference to my somewhat peculiar and somewhat exacting requirements. they soon formed the habit, when it was found that i was an earnest and genuine worker, of waiving in my favour, so far as it was consistent with reason and propriety, the hard and fast rule of the establishment, and even under the now rather remote and quasi-historical keepership of mr watts. it was as a simple student that i in the first place sought the british museum, and in the old reading-room initiated myself in the learning requisite to qualify me, as i imagined, for becoming the english historian of venice. i was self-complacently happy in the unconsciousness of my own intense ignorance of the magnitude of the task and of the fact that, at a distance of forty years, i should still have merely reached a more advanced stage of my labours. it at any rate speaks for my perseverance and resolution, that my interest in the topic is unabated, and my desire and intention, to see the project of my youth completed on a suitable and satisfactory scale inflexible. i ventured into type in and , and since then i have printed farther instalments destined to fall into their places, when the time arrives. but accident directed my steps and thoughts about the same time into a different groove, and i turned my attention to book-collecting and bibliography, at first vaguely and desultorily, and by degrees on a more systematic principle; and cogent circumstances--that necessity for living, which dr johnson ignored--finally drove me into the market as a speculator. my conversance with old books was very special and defective; of many classes i knew next to nothing; but i gradually gained a fair insight into the value of those, for which i had contracted a personal liking--the early poetry and romances--and i tried my hand as a hunter for specialities. i naturally turned to the museum as a channel; for i was not acquainted with many of the booksellers, and i had yet to meet with mr huth. it may not be, indeed is not, generally known, how wide a diversity of persons offer their possessions or acquisitions to the national library. there are great differences of opinion respecting the questions of rarity and value, and the authorities are most unconscionably plagued by a host of individuals of imperfect bibliographical attainments, who shoot parcels of old volumes in great russell street in the expectation of a more or less rich harvest, in which they are apt to be more or less disappointed. here and there a real treasure is netted. the bishop of bath and wells brought a small octavo volume from ickworth, comprising the _prophete jonas_ and other tracts of singular scarcity and importance. a gentleman from woolwich introduced a quarto volume in old vellum of poetical compositions of the middle of the sixteenth century, including the _scholehouse of women_, the _defence of women_, the _seven sorrows that women have when their husbands be dead_, etc., with the autograph on a flyleaf of 'john hodge, of the six clerks' office .' such prizes atone for a vast amount of annoyance and rubbish. but mr maskell, mr halliwell, mr henry stevens, and myself have probably, apart from purchases made direct from the sales and the shops, contributed of late years most largely to supply _lacunæ_ in the early english department, and supersede the three-volume catalogue. at the bodleian the late dr coxe and the rev. mr madan have always done their best to help me, and at cambridge the late mr henry bradshaw was a host in himself. these relations, however, were purely bibliographical; while those with the museum were of a more mingled yarn, and my connection with that institution, both as regarded printed literature and manuscripts, was in fact part of the system, which i have above fully explained. i did a good deal _con amore_. a strange story reached me about a copy of monstrelet's chronicles in french, printed on vellum, for which mr quaritch was not willing to give as much as the owner desired, in fact throwing discredit on the genuineness of the book. whereupon it was carried to great russell street, duly inspected, and as to the price--the authorities were prepared to hand over all the cash in hand, about £ . mr quaritch was stated to have been very wroth, when he found that he had missed the lot, and declared that his ground for scepticism was the fact that the only copy in the market or likely to occur for sale was in russia; and he then learned for the first time, that the present one had been obtained at st petersburg. i called on mr garnett, and inquired what were the actual circumstances, so far as the museum was concerned; and it appeared that the book did come from russia, and consisted only of vols. and ; but the library already possessed vol. (wanting one leaf only) in an incomplete set formerly belonging to king henry vii.; and the purchase was arranged. the keeper referred to the accounts, and found that the transaction took place in , and that the sum given was £ . my experiences of bookbinders have been tolerably manifold, and not exempt from the sorrows, with which the employers of this class of skilled labour are bound to become familiar. the earliest of my acquaintances was mr leighton, who executed a great deal of work for sir william stirling-maxwell--in those days known as william stirling of keir. there was a stupendous copy of maxwell's _cloister-life of charles v._, published at a few shillings, which i understood leighton to say had cost with the illustrations and elaborate spanish binding about £ . i saw the book in brewer street, but not the value. leighton's speciality was spanish calf, as riviere's was the tree-marbled pattern. i had a considerable amount of work done for me here, while i filled the _rôle_ of a collector on my own account in a humble degree. but when i had occasion, at a later period, to put volumes into new liveries, and their condition demanded nice handling, i employed riviere, whom i found very satisfactory and punctual. his place of business in piccadilly adjoining pickering's shop was during years one of my not least agreeable resorts, and i profited, with the concurrence of the principal, by the constant presence on the premises of undescribed books or editions consigned for binding. of bedford i saw very little. he was a true artist, and a very unassuming, pleasant fellow, whom i occasionally visited at his address in or near york street, westminster. my first call was in consequence of mr huth having given me leave to take notes of some rare volumes, which were in course of treatment. bedford was more reliable than riviere, who could bind well, if he liked; but he sometimes left too much to subordinates. pratt, who had been a workman at bedford's, was a respectable binder, but an indifferent cleaner and mender, two very essential features, where the slightest neglect or oversight may prove disastrous. it is trying to look in casually, and perceive that the tender title-page of a quarto shakespear has parted with one of the letters of the poet's name or a figure of the date, and that one of these is floating on the surface of a tub of water; and such thrilling episodes have occurred. if it is in some cases an advantage to take your acquisitions to a binder, and have them separately clothed, it is in others, and perhaps for the most part, one to buy ready-bound. it saves expense, delay, and annoyance. of my publishers i am scarcely entitled to speak in a volume devoted to the collecting side beyond such works as directly arose from my pursuit as a book-lover pure and simple between and . but, when i look closely at my professedly literary undertakings, i discern more or less in nearly all of them a bibliographical spirit and training. my venetian labours included the formation of a fair representative collection of books relating to the subject and a study of the mss. within my reach. my pronounced taste for method and minutiæ in early english literature extended to italy, when i was endeavouring to concentrate on the history of the republic all the direct and collateral light, which i was enabled to gather from various sources; and the same thing may be truly predicated of the commissions, which i executed for several publishers, beginning with russell smith and reeves & turner. mine have been chiefly enterprises, where a knowledge of detail and a familiarity with extant or available material were apt to prove of eminent service; and such was especially the case with the _early popular poetry_ and the _dodsley_. disciples of the _belles-lettres_, who entertain less respect for the extrinsic side or part of their tasks, may be wiser than myself; but it strikes me, that it is difficult to do justice to a subject without surveying the entire ground occupied by it. two very mortifying illustrations of the soundness of this view occurred to me at different times. in my collected edition of randolph, i collated everything with the original editions except the _aristippus_ and had the satisfaction of discovering, when it was too late, that all but the first issue were incomplete in many places, in one to the extent of omitting a line. in my reconstructed and enlarged dodsley, _in fifteen thick octavo volumes, containing eighty-four dramas_, i have a table of _errata_ of _thirty-six items_, many very trivial and even dubious; and of this total _five-and-twenty_ occur in one play, which i neglected to compare with the old copy deposited in an inconvenient locality, and gave from the shakespear society's text. i attach greater blame to myself, that i should have forgotten, when i reprinted in my suckling of , to set right the stupid mistake in the song from 'the sad one,' of _dawn_ for _down_. i shall remain highly pleased, that i succeeded, in the volume entitled _tales and legends_, in putting in type my long-cherished ideas about robin hood and faustus; and i adopted a sort of old-fashioned, vernacular style throughout the book, apparently not unsuitable to the nature of the topics treated. both the stories just mentioned were there for the first time presented in an english form and text agreeably to my view and estimate of the facts relative to two of the most remarkable characters in romance. the accumulation of absurdities round those heroes of the closet and the stage prompted me, years and years since, to endeavour to reduce the legends to a shape more compatible with evidence and probability. yet i am informed that some of the critics wondered, what the aim of the volume was. it struck others, as well as myself, as fairly clear; indeed the undertaking was strictly on recognised lines. but i had unfortunately omitted to graduate as a specialist and to add myself to the roll of the faithful. another venture, which involved the writer in a slight temporary _imbroglio_, was the monograph on the _livery companies of london_. i was most unhappy in the season and circumstances of launching this work. it was a tolerably hard six months' task, and i hurried it forward, inasmuch as i knew that a rival scheme was on the stocks. considering that it is a big book with numerous illustrations supplied by the editor, it is perhaps not much worse than it might have been, had it proceeded from a pen writing _superiorum approbatione_. the rumour arose that, as soon as the real work on the subject appeared, the attempt of an outsider would sink into merited oblivion; but the real work did not appear, and its proposed author had to content himself, in the presence of his disappointment, with sending me an anonymous communication, based on erroneous intelligence, that the word _gild_ ought to be spelled with a _u_, as it is in _guildhall_, _gild_ signifying _to face with gold_. a far more serious misadventure, however, was occasioned by an unlucky clerical oversight. in the account of the cutlers' company i stated that there had been, many years before, a defalcation by the clerk, whereas i should have said 'by a clerk;' the wrong article and the capital letter drew down on me the ire of the party, who still occupied the position of clerk to the gild, and who pleaded damage to his reputation by the misprint, pointed out to him by the frustrated compiler aforesaid. there could be no sustainable plea of injury, and the large amount lost rendered it obvious that there must have been neglect by superiors; but the publishers thought it better to agree to cancel the leaf, which was done in all copies unsold or recoverable. the clerk was in fact the responsible officer, and although he might have had no hand in the misappropriation, he must have exercised a very imperfect control over the accounts, to render such a thing possible. owing to the unlucky retention in my agreement for the livery companies' book of certain clauses, i involved myself in an unpleasantness, which made me anxious to get rid of the entire business. accordingly, the moment that i was advised by the firm, that they had (without previous consultation with me as a royalty-holder) converted themselves into a limited company, i solicited a cheque in settlement of all claims, and obtained it. i have very possibly set a precedent, by which others might not do ill to profit. i know that to my more recent acquaintances and auxiliaries i must have appeared rather niggard of presentation copies of my publications. but i used to be generous enough in distributing such things, till i was thoroughly disheartened and disgusted. some stopped short of acknowledgment; others might without much disadvantage have done the same. i sent a privately-printed volume worth several pounds as a gift to a reverend professor at cambridge, and he wrote back on a card: 'thanks. curious.' my former schoolmaster at merchant taylors had only to say that i had left out a greek accent in a quotation, and a female relative, after two years' deliberation, apprised me that i was guilty of printing the wrong article in a french maxim. when i forwarded to mr william chappell direct as from myself an important volume edited for mr huth, he pointed out to the latter, leaving me unrecognised, that i had made a slip in a particular place. an official at the british museum, who solicited one of my books as a memorial, which would be cherished as an heirloom in his family, forthwith passed it on to a bookseller, who priced it in his catalogue at £ , s., and mr huth, till i explained the circumstances, imagined that i was the culprit. chapter x as an amateur--old china--dr diamond of twickenham--unfavourable results of his tutorship--my adventure at lowestoft--alderman rose--i turn over a new leaf--morgan--his sale to me of various objects--the seventeenth century dishes--the sèvres tray of --the pair of japanese dishes--blue and white--hawthorn--the odd vase--my finds at hammersmith--mr sanders of chiswick and his chelsea china--gale--the ruby-backed eggshell--a recollection of ralph bernal--buen retiro and capo di monte--reynolds of hart street--the wedgewood teapot--the _rose du barri_ vases--my bowls--an eccentric character and his treasures--reminiscences of midhurst and up park--the zurich jug and my zurich visitor--the diamond sale. in crossing over from the literary to other fields, where i have instructed and amused myself and a few others by my studies, i pass to ground, where i occupy a somewhat different position--that of an absolute, incorruptible amateur. i see clearly enough that, whatever advantage may attach itself to the commercial side in these matters, the genuine pleasure lies in purchasing for oneself, even if the price is here and there such as to ensure loss on realisation; for there is the sense of patronage and superiority. i never descended to petty transactions; but where an appreciable amount was involved; i would far liefer have stood aloof, or have acquired for myself. there was only the sovereign motive in the background, which conquered my instinctive repugnance to the conversion of literary monuments into a commodity and of my hardly-acquired knowledge into a mint. outside books, i have conceived, as i proceeded, and as i mingled with other hobby-riders, an interest in such matters of secondary human concernment as china, coins, plate, postage stamps, pictures, and furniture. the two former have occupied in my thought a station not much less prominent than that of literature; and as i abandoned the practical inquiry into the first subject after ten years' devotion to it, i shall commence by giving some account of my observations and experiences in that particular market, which, like all others, offers its peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. there is hardly a triter remark than that we are slaves to our passions; and the genuine collector certainly is unto his, whatever his line may be. where there are ample resources, it signifies less; but the servitude presses very heavily on the more necessitous or more moderately endowed. it is in vain to say that a man ought not to buy luxuries, if he cannot afford them; he will have them, as another will drink alcohol or chew opium. to secure something which he covets he is capable of pawning his coat or 'dining with duke humphrey.' had i been exempt from fancies, i might have spared myself the ordeal of going into the highways and byways in quest of that doubtful benefactor a publisher; i might have dispensed with ingratiating myself with booksellers and bookbuyers; i might have enjoyed the pleasures of reading and thinking amid some sort of _paterna rura_. but as a citizen, who leaves london only for the sake of the satisfaction which it yields to return to it (for your londoner, if he likes to see and _feel_ the country must _live in urbe_), i naturally contracted certain pleasant and costly vices incidental to a metropolis, and became an unthrift and through my unthriftiness a hireling. i often resolve to break my fetters; but i lack the courage. the tastes, in which i have graduated, have sweetened my life, and enlarged my vision, if they have trenched a little on my freedom; and i even think that they have tended to humanise me, and subdue a not too tractable temper to the harder and sterner uses of the world. i have not the least objection to avow that, when i accidentally acquired in at llandudno an example or two of oriental ceramic art, i was deplorably ignorant of the bearings and merits of the pursuit, and had, as usual, no idea that i had embarked in one. a good-natured and well-informed relative, who was always ready and pleased to serve and flatter me, suggested that my eastern porcelain was _brom'ichham_. of course an english factory could not, in the first place, have produced the things at the price. i received a good deal of encouragement and sympathy from those near and dear to me just about this time; my extravagance was censured; and my early insolvency considered probable. through my father i became acquainted about that time with dr diamond of twickenham house, the possessor of one of the most extensive and miscellaneous assemblages of porcelain and pottery of all ages and countries ever formed in this country. who had first bitten the doctor, i never heard; i found him, on my first introduction, the owner of a mass of examples, good, bad and indifferent, of all of which, however insignificant and obscure, he could tell you the pedigree and place of origin. he had many other tastes; he was curious about photography, books, pictures, prints, coins, and plate; his house was a museum, of which he was the curator and showman; but i think that during the last years of his life old china and plate kept the ascendancy. my personal progress was at first leisurely, for i do not recollect that i made any farther investments till when, happening to be at lowestoft where alderman rose, brother of james anderson rose, also a collector, was then staying, he and i were equally seduced by the attractions of a shop kept by a person named burwood. it was extremely fortunate for the latter that rose and myself had nearly all our knowledge to learn; we bought largely and not too well, and burwood was so exhausted by the drain on his stock, that he announced his intention of travelling down into herefordshire, in order to buy some very valuable bits reported to him from a farmhouse in that rather distant shire. there was a second depôt in the same watering-place, kept by an old man and his wife, with whom it was a favourite phrase, when their stock ran low, to say that they must 'take a journey.' in short, i amassed a large hamper of ware on this occasion, and brought it home. diamond, as soon as he was apprised of my new foible, exclaimed, 'god help him!' and i suspected that there must be something in it, when i called at a place in orange street, red lion square, and ascertained that that and the herefordshire farmhouse were one. i soon made a second discovery, which almost discouraged me from prosecuting the fancy any farther. diamond had knowledge and feeling; but i now saw that he was deficient in taste. i had naturally modelled my small collection on his plan or want of plan; i fell in with one or two dealers, who opened my eyes; and the lowestoft cargo was thrown overboard. a jew named moss had a whole tableful of crockery in exchange for a good plaque of limoges enamel of the earlier epoch. he once let me have at a moderate price an old sèvres plate painted with a pastoral scene, and with a rich amethyst blue and gold festooned border. i continue to think favourably of it. he brought it and a number of other pieces, all rubbish, in company with a co-religionist, to my house at kensington in the evening. he was so discouraged by my frugal selection, that i lost sight of him. he was not miserly in his warnings against his professional contemporaries. this is a common trait. i began to work on a new principle--to buy fewer and better things, studying condition, to which the doctor was more or less insensible; and i found myself about the owner, even on such a basis, of a multitude of wares which threatened to compete in the early future with the twickenham prototype. this was all the more serious, so to speak, inasmuch as while i drew from very few sources, the doctor was a mark for everybody, while he continued to buy with zest and avidity. all sorts of people came to the high iron gates, bringing every variety of article for sale; and few carried their freights back. even those who were on the list of private guests occasionally shewed their good taste by drawing out of their breast-pockets at dessert some object for diamond's approval and purchase. there was major ----, one of her majesty's messengers, who was an habitual offender (as i thought) in such a way. but in the eyes of our common host the end in those days justified the means. it was all fish. i dealt in chief measure with a house in hanway street (morgan), gale in holborn, brooks at hammersmith, and reynolds of hart street, bloomsbury. i seldom left these tracks, and met there with only too much to tempt me. morgan sold me a few pieces of sèvres and some very fine oriental. it was curious that, just after my purchase of three or four large porcelain dishes, the 'china earth' of the stuart era, a gentleman of old family from newcastle-on-tyne looked in at morgan's, and observing a broken specimen of the same lot, mentioned that at home he had some precisely similar, which had belonged to his predecessors since . a very beautiful sèvres tea-stand of small dimensions, with a circumference representing a tressure of six curves, has the marks of the maker, the painter, and the gilder, and belongs to ; i gave him £ for it; morgan tried to get the companion cup and saucer; but it brought £ ; and was bought, i think, by the late mr lawrence, f.s.a. he had a rather prolonged and troublesome negotiation in one instance on my behalf. the executors of some gentleman offered him a pair of superb japanese dishes, inches in diameter and of a rare pattern and shape, for £ . i declined them at that figure, and heard no more of the matter, till he informed me that his correspondents had modified their views, so as to make it possible for me to possess the lot for £ . i took them; and the vendor has repeatedly applied to me, asking if i have the dishes still, and care to part. he sold me a few other rather costly articles--costly in my eyes. morgan initiated me in the true facts about blue and white, and helped me to steer clear of the blunders, which many of my contemporaries perpetrated over that craze. i have a small cylindrical bottle, white and ultramarine, which illustrates the matter as well as a dearer example, and shews the pains which the chinese took to prepare their paste and pigments during the best period--the seventeenth century. both are most brilliant, and it is alike the case with chinese and japanese ware of this class, that the ancient appears to a superficial or inexperienced observer more modern than that made in our own time, of which the ground and the decoration are faded and weak. i likewise gained an insight from the same source into the mysteries of hawthorn, which seems to be rather plum-blossom. i handled a goodly number of specimens; but i encountered scarcely any, which awakened a very strong interest. really fine examples are of the rarest occurrence, and it is still more difficult to obtain pairs of vases or jars with the genuine covers or lids. they are generally false or wooden. odd pieces are not wanted. you must have either a couple or a set of two, three, five, six, according to circumstances. a collector had long cast a longing eye on a very beautiful vase in a london shop, but would not have it, because it was odd. he kept a sharp look-out for the companion, and at last he found it to his immense satisfaction at newcastle, and brought it up to town. on inquiry at the dealer's there, he found that the latter, despairing of getting rid of his piece, had consigned it to a friend at newcastle in the hope of meeting with a customer. this was agreeable to the circular system, by which curiosities go the round of the watering-places and spas in quest of homes. i saw a worcester jug at bournemouth, which had visited nearly every resort in the kingdom, and still awaited an admirer. i very soon abandoned the idea about lowestoft porcelain. gillingwater in his _history_ of the place ( ) merely mentions that they had clay, suitable for making pottery, in the neighbourhood; but there was no material for fine china. very possibly certain pieces of oriental were shipped thither in the white, and locally decorated. but i have yet to see an important example of so-called lowestoft, which was not really of chinese origin. at the place of business long kept by brooks i was an habitual caller, and used to meet mr sanders of chiswick, whose collection of chelsea porcelain was probably one of the finest ever brought together. it comprised many large examples in figures and _nefs_ seldom seen and of great importance. it was sanders, who related to me the anecdote of a singular find at antwerp of chelsea figures in a confectioner's establishment. the proprietor or his family once belonged to chelsea, and had taken these pieces with them as part of their trade fittings or decorations; and he willingly exchanged them for others on payment of a reasonable difference. sanders and myself occasionally met also at sotheby's. he must have been a person of no mean resources; but his ways were mysterious, and his home, i fear, uncomfortable. perhaps he found the neighbouring sign of the hoppoles more congenial for this reason; he found it, poor fellow, only too much so. i possess numerous memorials of my transactions with brooks. he had, besides china, occasional pictures on which i may have sometimes looked with extravagant distrust; and he was in fact an omnivorous buyer and not an injudicious one. i recall a tall chelsea cup and saucer with a stalk handle, painted with fruit, and marked in puce, which my good acquaintance had obtained from a small house-sale in chiswick--the sole treasure of the establishment. it was in the finest state. 'they thought me a fool,' remarked brooks, 'because i gave £ , s. for it.' 'and what would they say of the person,' i put to him, 'who took it of you at a profit?' he grinned, and informed me that a medical man in the neighbourhood would jump at it. this frightened me, and i closed with him at £ . i owed many another prize to the same agency, particularly, in a small way perhaps, an old dresden plate with a crimson and gold border, painted with a bird and foliage, the prototype of the chelsea pattern, of which examples have fetched £ . brooks had this lying in a drawer, and one day i disinterred it, and took it home at s. my hammersmith man was not invariably so discreet in his consumption of liquor as he ought to have been; and i have to confess with some shame and contrition, that i priced, not for the first time, a very fine cambrian ware mug marked (as usual) in gold, when he was a trifle festive, and he let me have it for s. he had two; the other was badly cracked; and i saw it in another shop some time after, valued at £ , s. there were two examples of ceramic ware in his hands at different times, protected and (as i thought) disguised by old black frames. i asked him to take them out for me, that i might be satisfied as to their condition, which he did. one was a wedgwood plaque, light blue, with figures in relief; the other an original capo di monte one, literally hidden under accumulated dirt. it was of the second period, in the _alto relievo_ style, and represents the bath of diana, i believe. the sharpness of the impression was a strong contrast to the modern copies from the moulds. brooks asked £ for it; i took both. he was _ultimus romanorum_ in the sense that he left no successor in hammersmith with a stock of the kind worth regarding. brooks was an odd-looking small man, and he and his wife resembled mr and mrs johnson in the vauxhall song. i once spoke to him of his _confrères_ in the trade, and as to his relations with them, more particularly in the old china line, and his less explanatory than sententious rejoinder was: 'i knows them, and they knows me.' gale, who lived in holborn, where i regularly visited him, was the brother of the county court judge. he was an intelligent fellow, but not very speculative, nor did i ever, save once, carry away from him anything very notable. he set before me, however, on one occasion a splendid pair of ruby-backed eggshell plates painted with quails, and said that the price was £ . i felt slightly nervous, lest he should have made a mistake; but i agreed to his terms, asked him to pack the things up, and departed. i nearly broke them by a collision on the pavement, but eventually landed them in safety, calling _en route_ at reynolds's in hart street, who told me that a customer would give him £ for them, if i would let him have them at a figure below that. they are as thin and transparent as paper. it may be just worth noting that a cup and saucer of capo di monte of the first type, the paste opaque and the decoration spanish, was sold to me by gale as buen retiro. it is painted in the same taste, and has the same mark--_m_ for madrid; but i have always regarded it as of italian origin, and as the work of the operatives who migrated from the neighbourhood of madrid to capo di monte. the real buen retiro resembles eggshell. ralph bernal had formerly dealt with gale, who was fond of narrating anecdotes of the great collector's hesitation and nearness. there was a particular sèvres cup and saucer, which brought a heavy sum in his sale, and which he got for £ , s., after a palaver with the holder of some months' duration. reynolds allowed me to make his premises in bloomsbury one of my regular lounges. i did not altogether take a great deal off his hands, as he paid attention to wedgwood, bronzes, ivories, and jade, rather than to china; and as i grew wiser, i also grew more exclusive, from a persuasion that one or two subjects are amply sufficient for any single madman, especially a rather poor one. i have stated that my range of sources of supply was limited. i was now and then attracted by an object in a strange window, and might go in, and demand the figure expected. it was the height of the run upon chelsea, when i did so in holborn, and the owner, in response to my appeal, proceeded to disengage from a hook an old chelsea plate valued by him at £ , s. unfortunately the poor fellow lost his balance, and let the plate go; it was broken into i know not how many fragments. i shall never forget his astonishment and dismay. what could i do? a neighbour of his once fixed me with a nantgarw plate, and was lavish in his eulogy. 'why,' he exclaimed, allusively to its lustrous brilliance, 'it laughs at you.' my acquisitions at public sales have in thirty or more years been limited to two: a derby mug painted with a military subject, which i gave away, and a large dresden plaque in a rich frame, which occurred at sotheby's ever so long ago, when sales were occasionally held in the warehouse downstairs. the piece was an exquisite copy of the painting by rubens of his second wife and their child on her knee. although there was no picture or china buyer present, it fetched £ , s., and f. s. ellis pronounced it a bargain at that figure. i verily trust it may be so (ellis named such an amount as £ ); for it has hung in my study ever since, and owes me some interest. time was, when the bijou tea-pot held me in bondage. i have two of that very soft paste made at mennecy in the department of the seine, and a third of the finest dresden porcelain, painted with landscapes (even on the lid), and with the spout richly gilt. i was tempted, side by side with the mennecy pieces, by a milk-jug with a silver hinge of sceaux-penthièvre, of which the paste is also remarkable for its softness. it was a factory conducted under the patronage of the duc de penthièvre. its products are very rare. a welsh clergyman obliged me with a present of a few specimens of china, including a small octagon blue and white dish with _salopian_ impressed in large characters on the bottom. i value it the more, because the authentic early salopian is most difficult to procure, and it is the fashion to ascribe to this manufactory the worcester marked with an _s_. i look upon the nantgarw, of which i relate a trivial anecdote, the swansea, and the colebrooke dale groups, as rather cold, insipid, and tawdry. the first-named is common enough in plates, dishes, and shaped pieces; but i possess a cup and saucer most exquisitely painted in roses with their stalks and leaves, but without a mark, which i have always attributed to this source. i never saw another similar. but i did take from reynolds from time to time a few articles: a wedgwood tea-pot of solid green jasper, a small chelsea dish of the vernon service with exotic birds and the gold anchor, a pair of _rose du barri_ tulip-lipped sèvres vases, inches high, painted with cupids, and so on. i deemed the tea-pot dear at £ ; but the vendor, who had studied the particular branch of the subject, reassured me by offering to buy it back at any time at the same price; and he put this in the receipt--not to great purpose; for he died years ago. for the vernon dish he asked £ , and took £ . the pair of _rose du barri_ vases, which belong to the louis xvi. epoch, he picked up at a lombard's for a trifle, and paid me the compliment of charging me £ for them. but their quality was excellent, and in their gilding there was that free hand, which distinguishes the early work, and is charming from its very informality. the rich gold scrolls and foliage on either side do not correspond, as they would in pieces of modern fabric. i appear, as i look back, to have been thrown from my early manhood among curiosity hunters and dealers. i was once very dead on the bowl, when it offered special attractions of any kind. i have one, which is _jewelled_ round the border inside and out, but of which the drawback is that it has in the heel an extremely unconventional painting. the jewelling is in the manufacturing process, and was imitated at sèvres. a second came from scotland, and is remarkable for the presence of a christian legend in the base of the interior, derived from the teaching of the jesuits in china. i negotiated it at a marine-store dealer's at north end; but he thought so well of it or of me, that he would not surrender it under £ , s. the most expensive specimen i possess cost me £ . it has a turquoise ground, is very richly decorated inside and out, is of large size, and of course absolutely perfect. but i was vouchsafed the sight of one at deal in the hands of a private owner, for which a matter of £ was expected. i preferred my own. the palissy, henri deux, and other costly _faïence_ i never acquired. there was a fellow at hammersmith, named glendinning, who had on sale during countless years a specimen of palissy, for which he suggested a cheque for £ , and which was a palpable copy. this strange character, who was a sort of commercial munchausen, never wearied of spinning the most outrageous yarns about the goods, which he had, or had had, for sale, and would repeat conversations between the 'prim'er' (gladstone) and himself, no doubt as thoroughly _bonâ fide_ as everything else about him. the works of correggio were to be seen only on his first floor; but you might inspect copies in trafalgar square and the louvre. there was a pair of modern french decorative vases at this establishment, said by the proprietor to have been obtained by him at the sale of the effects of a great lady in hyde park, a _chère amie_ of his majesty napoleon iii. his majesty, quoth my friend, paid eighty guineas for the objects, which were manufactured expressly for his lady friend in . the vendor judged his purchase with all this imposing provenance rather reasonable at thirty guineas; nor did i contradict him. i did not order the vases to be sent home; but they arrived on approval; and there they remained. i repeatedly invited him to fetch them away, as, however cheap, they would not suit me at the price. he eventually sacrificed them and himself, and his family, by accepting £ , s. when i was at midhurst in , i had a glimpse of the splendid collection of porcelain formed by the late mr fisher. i had arranged with a common friend to go to up park, harting, not far off, to view the sèvres purchased in or about by the featherstonhaughs for £ , , and which is shortly to be dispersed under the hammer, because the heir is obliged to strip the house to enable him to keep it up. besides the china, they had a great deal of plate, which was allowed, till the family was warned, to lie about the house, and superb antique furniture. one of the rothschilds offered, i was told, £ for a single florentine table. it was something of the same kind, which a west end dealer found in a lodging-house at hastings, whither he had taken his family for the air, and purchased for £ after a prolonged negotiation with the landlady. he sold it for £ more. i once obtained of brooks a -inch vase with a _gros bleu_ ground and painted with birds, without a mark, and sold to me as worcester. i took it to be sèvres from the peculiar unctuous appearance of the paste and the method of treatment; and i remain of the same opinion. mortlock shewed me two cups, asking me not to look at the marks, and to tell him what they were. one was sèvres and the other a staffordshire copy. the paste and the bird on the latter betrayed its origin. it seems strange that the sèvres of a certain epoch should be valuable beyond all comparison with other porcelain, that of france included, and that the modern manufacture, indeed the whole of this century's work, should be so slightly esteemed. but the skill and taste lavished on that of the louis quinze, or even seize, period are immense. it is different with chelsea, derby, and worcester, of all of which you may have examples of early date of poor, as well as of fine, quality. the sèvres and vincennes seem to have been more especially destined for rich patrons. brooks was an excellent judge of china, and fairly reasonable. but he sometimes, like most of us, committed mistakes, and sometimes overshot the mark as to price and value. he long had on view a cup and saucer with the gold anchor, which he had probably bought as chelsea, and for which he demanded £ . it was a _contrefaçon_ by the wily flemings of tournay. i eyed with much longing a beautiful jug of plymouth ware, but unsigned, which he estimated at the same figure; but i deemed it too high, and brooks was not the man to give way as a rule. after his death, reynolds of hart street obtained the piece, and sold it to me for a third of the amount. with respect to chelsea, derby, and worcester china it is necessary, as i have just hinted, to be aware that much of the early work is of poor paste and decoration, and that the date is not a guarantee or criterion. of all these factories there are abundant specimens of coarse execution and cheap fabric, though undoubtedly of original and genuine character. the chelsea figure of justice, inches in height, is, for instance, of two distinct types: the first very inferior to the later, which exhibits the result of the introduction of italian, perhaps venetian, workmen. the mark on this porcelain seems to be borrowed from venice, and is common to the ware made in that city. somehow--perhaps in exchange--mr quaritch had on sale in the seventies a fine pair of old cylindrical japanese jars, such as in the common modern ware they use as stick or umbrella stands; i cast amorous glances at them; but the holder demanded sixty sovereigns; and i retired. they were the only objects of interest and value in the lot. her britannic majesty's consul at zurich had been advised by some one, that i was in possession of an old zurich jug mounted in silver, and solicited leave to inspect it, as he was engaged on a history of the porcelain factory at that place. i let him see my piece, which was not silver-mounted, but was far more interesting and important, because it had the original china hinge. my visitor averred that he had never met with any similar example, and expressed his anxiety, if i cared to part with it at any time, to become the purchaser. i mentioned that i had been foolish enough twenty years before to give £ , s. for it. he stated his readiness to pay £ , and would, i dare say, have doubled the offer; but i declined. while waller the bookseller was still in fleet street, knowing me to be interested in old china, he shewed me one day upstairs in his private apartments a french cup and saucer, which had been given to him in paris, and which, according to the donor, had formerly belonged to that misconstrued enthusiast robespierre. it struck me, i own, as of somewhat later date; it was uninscribed; and of course relics of this class are unlike books in not carrying on their face any valid or satisfactory evidence of their origin and prior fortunes. waller meant kindly in letting me see his curiosity, and i offered no comment. credentials i discerned none. an unhappy acquisition here was one, which i owed to my indiscreet interference with things, which i did not understand. i bought of waller for £ a series of plaister casts of medals in a box, and subsequently parted with the lot for precisely as many shillings. i fared nearly as ill in a case, where i took of stibbs of museum street a worm-eaten xylographic block, which placed it in my power to convert five guineas into two; and i fear that the buyer at the lower figure did not bless me. it was some modern fabrication ingeniously executed on a riddled square of ancient wood. i saw the last of the diamond collection, when it was offered at sotheby's. there was a considerable attendance; but the company was not a strong one, nor was the property. the doctor had preferred _multa_ to _multum_. there was a large mass of specimens, curious and quaint, and a few handsome pieces, but nothing capital, no productions, which bore accentuation. the affair was the converse of the fountaine one, where the quantity was limited, the quality magnificent, princely. naturally the quotations corresponded. the best price was obtained for a lot, which was not in the category of porcelain or pottery. it consisted of a couple of gothic crowns of victoria, , which, as diamond told me, had been presented by wyon to him, and which were in the original case. they were proofs, but of the ordinary type, and they realised eighteen guineas. if they had belonged to one of the rare varieties, that of with the _décolletée_ bust, or the one dated , they would have still been extravagantly dear. i remember cockburn the richmond silversmith mentioning to me that a customer, who owed him £ , begged him as a favour to take the amount in gothic crowns, of which he handed him twenty-four unused. there was a ridiculous notion, that the _graceless_ florin was rare, and diamond inquired about it of hugh owen, author of the monograph on bristol china, and cashier of the great western railway. the following sunday owen came down to twickenham with a small cargo of them. chapter xi the stamp book--a passing taste--dr diamond again--an establishment in the strand--my partiality for lounging--one of my haunts and its other visitors--our entertainer himself--his principals abroad--the _cinque cento_ medal--canon greenwell--mr montagu--story of a dutch priest--my experience of pictures--the stray portrait recovered after many years--the two wilson landscapes--sir joshua's portrait of richard burke--hazlitt's likeness of lamb--the picture market and some of its incidence--story of a painting--plate--the rat-tailed spoon--dr diamond smitten--the hogarth salver--the edmund bury godfrey and blacksmiths' cups--irish plate--danger of repairing or cleaning old silver--the city companies' plate. i have to retrace my steps to reynolds, because he was quite fortuitously instrumental in inoculating me with a new weakness--the postage stamp. he was a man in very indifferent health, and during two years or so was laid up, so that he was unable to attend to his regular business, and beguiled his leisure with a study of wedgwood and philately. the former proved sufficiently profitable to him, as soon as he was strong enough to attend to work; the latter was a mere passing amusement, and fructified only to the extent of placing him in possession of an album, formed by the consolidation of a number of others purchased and broken up. this he had by him, and did not propose to sell. i remarked it on a shelf once or twice; the topic was beginning to awaken interest; and i elicited from the owner, that he might be tempted by £ . he was ultimately tempted by £ . there were about stamps; and the collection has since been greatly enlarged and entirely rearranged. i relinquished the pursuit, because i was advised that the liability to deception was excessive, and there my book lies, a record of a foolish passion. i sincerely believe, that diamond had a finger in drawing my attention to stamps; for he had an important collection, which he shewed to me at twickenham and which he sold, i understood, to a public institution for £ . the frequenters of the strand, where it is a gorge toward st clement's, must recollect the morality in metal-work over the premises of a stamp-merchant there. it represented a deadly combat between him and a figure of more stalwart proportions personifying the evil genius of the collector--the stamp-forger. this ingenious and impressive piece of mechanism was illuminated at night, and attracted the attention, which it so well deserved. but the police inconsiderately suppressed the spectacle, merely because it blocked the traffic at a difficult point, endangered human life, and was misconstrued into an advertisement. i am persuaded that the sole chance of securing certain old issues in a few series is the acquisition of a genuine collection, as it stands, and the sale of the _residuum_. i made an effort in this direction one day some time since at puttick's; but the album contained a good deal that i did not want, and some forgeries; and it fetched £ . i mention it as a flattering mark of confidence on the part of messrs sotheby & co., that a very valuable album, which was to be sold in a few days, was lent by them to me for the purpose of examination at my own house. but i did not bid for it, after all. my varied tastes necessarily brought me into relations with many individuals, to whose superior training and experience i have been indebted for much useful information and much entertaining anecdote. i have during too large a proportion of my life played the part of a lounger and a gossip. how much i should have to deduct from my career, if i were to leave out of the reckoning the time spent in curiosity-shops! spent, yet not wholly wasted; for i hang the fruit to ripen, and it has rendered some of my pages less dull and some of my statements less imperfect than they might have been. instead of being dependent on book-learning, i have handled the objects, into which i proposed to inquire, and have mixed with the wise men of the west, who had grown up amid them. at the english agency of rollin & feuardent of paris i have passed, i should think, months in the aggregate. i have had opportunities of examining there antique jewellery, gems, bronzes, porcelain, medals, coins; and there i have met men, who sympathise in my predilections, and whom i have been enabled to emulate only at a distance--canon greenwell, sir john evans, mr murdoch, mr montagu, lord grantley, and more. i have seen a duke enter the room, hat in hand, to sell a bronze to the firm. i have seen the _soi-disant_ representative of the gonzagas of mantua come to arrange a small pecuniary transaction. i have passed on the stair a turkish gentleman, who might have been mistaken for the grand signior, on his way down from turning something or other into currency. it was on those very boards that ruskin knelt to examine the cypriot antiquities of cesnola. the effect and success of the great montagu sale, now nearly completed, were rather spoiled by the aim of the late owner at exhaustiveness; and the result was that numerous lots occurred, containing coins in poor state, which had been acquired for the sake of rare mint-marks. they not only fetched, as a rule, little themselves, but exercised an unfavourable influence even on other items, which happened to be in their neighbourhood. if the collection had been restricted to fine examples, the prices would have been much higher. how often and how long will it be necessary to reiterate the warning that coin-fanciers cannot fall into a more serious and costly error than the sacrifice of other considerations to technical _minutiæ_, which do not strictly concern them in the way of ownership? montagu was rather weak or incomplete in british and saxon, till he bought addington's collection _en bloc_. mr whelan mentioned to him one day, that he ought to strengthen himself in this direction, and he spoke of addington. 'but,' said m. 'he would not sell, would he?' whelan asked his leave to put the inquiry; a. agreed; and the price was £ , on which w. took five per cent., and the vendor made him a present of £ . montagu subsequently parted with the scotish portion to mr richardson for £ . canon greenwell most powerfully and favourably impressed me. he was a churchman with the most liberal views and a scholarly archæologist. he was very intimate with mr whelan, and stayed with him, when in town. we had good talk over the topics, which interested us in common; but with mr whelan himself my intercourse, spreading over many years, has been most regular, as it has been most agreeable and instructive. he was born in the business, and has been largely employed by the british museum and by the auctioneers as an expert. he of course attended some of the country sales, and his experience could not fail to be singular. i called on his return from staffordshire. he had been unlucky on a visit to the same neighbourhood; all the world was there, and heavy prices ruled. undaunted, he made a second attempt, and got an extraordinary haul of _cinque cento_ bronze medals, which went for about s. each. the auctioneer knew nothing about them, and whelan drew up an _extempore_ catalogue, by which they were sold--mainly to him. his principals struck me at first, i confess, as rather _laisser aller_ folks; but while they do not disdain petty traffic, their profits chiefly arise from transactions, where there is a nabobish margin of £ or £ . it comes to what f. s. ellis used to say, that it is of no use to clear per cent., if the amount is only eighteenpence; nor is it a great deal better to do as mr quaritch has ere now done, to lay out nearly £ on a volume, keep it a year or two, and then sell it at £ advance. whelan told me a funny story of a dutch priest, who once smuggled cigars into london. he related the affair to whelan in this way in his broken english. 'i bring over six hundred cigar. they ask me in english at custom house, "you have any thing to declare?" i shrug the shoulder. they ask me in french same thing. i shrug the shoulder. they ask me in jarman. i shrug the shoulder. they ask me in hollands. i do same. then they hold up board with writing in six language. i shrug the shoulder again. "what devil language," they say, "do this man talk?" and i go forth on my way.' a few family portraits and miniatures descended to me by reason of two of my foregoers having been artists; and one of the former, a likeness of hazlitt in oils by himself, met with a curious adventure. before the exhibition of a sculptor borrowed it of my father on the plea that he desired to execute a bust for that great event; and we lost sight equally of him and it, till i received one day from mr frederick locker a catalogue of a sale at christie's, where our long-lost picture formed a lot, against which locker had placed a mark, to draw my attention. i represented the circumstances to the auctioneers, but finally bought back the property. i once purchased a couple of richard wilson landscapes in the original frames, with the painter's initials and the date ; and i have dabbled a little in water colours. but, on the whole, i have been only an onlooker, with an hereditary feeling for art and a consciousness of total incapacity for it. i was at althorp in , just when lord spencer had acquired the portrait by sir joshua of richard burke for £ ; and i happened to be in conversation with mr christie-miller at st james's place, when some one delivered at the door as a present (i believe) an original drawing of the right honourable thomas grenville. without being aware that the national portrait gallery possessed the real likeness of charles lamb by hazlitt, which had been purchased for £ , i was led a few years since to go to hodgson's rooms in chancery lane by the entry in a catalogue of what was alleged to be the lamb painting. my father approved, subject to my opinion, of the purchase at £ or so. i at once dismissed the notion of bidding, because i felt sure, that there was something wrong; and the late mr macmillan became its possessor at £ . a visit to south kensington and an interview with the curator of the gallery, where i beheld the fine, if rather bizarre, work itself, confirmed my judgment and my distrust. it is notorious enough, that the picture-market is a man-trap of the most signal and treacherous character. whatever may be true of books, manuscripts, coins, or stamps, paintings and prints are the greatest snare and pitfall of all. i have frequently gazed with private misgivings, which i might have found it difficult to explain or justify, at a portrait in a broker's shop, and as i passed and re-passed the place have speculated on the real history of the production. i know full well that the preposterous sums realised for the artist in fashion--at present it is romney--are explainable on principles, which would make me hesitate to enter the field as a competitor under any circumstances. at sotheby's, many years ago, they had to put into an auction a portrait, to which a curious misadventure had occurred. it was a likeness of charles the second in the first instance; but an ingenious person, judging that the martyred monarch was more negotiable than the merry one, and unwittingly oblivious of the discordant costume, had painted in a head of charles the first. brooks of hammersmith once bought a portrait by sir francis grant, p.r.a., which he could sell--not to me--at s. it was not long after grant's death. the president, when some one mentioned to him the name of hazlitt as an art critic, declared that he had never heard of him. whose fault was that? i was told a neat anecdote of a celebrated and prosperous adventurer in this particular field of activity, where for the right sort of things the margins of profit are far better than in books or even in china. a party came into his shop, and wished to know if he would buy a picture by so-and-so. he intimated indifference, but on second thoughts asked the price. £ . the work of art changed hands, and was laid on an easel. client appeared. what a charming picture! yes, just bought it. price? £ . work of art changes hands again. client reappears. no wall-room; most unfortunate. oh, no matter; cheque for the amount; picture fetched back, and reinstated on easel. second client enters. his eye catches the object, placed at the point most likely to accomplish that effect. he demands the figure. the actual cost; the vendor has not long left the premises with a cheque for £ ; and, well, ten per cent. commission. could anything be more moderate? clever! a sort of commercial legerdemain. the unsceptical acquiescence of the less experienced west-end picture dealer in the appropriation of an anonymous work of art is perhaps more particularly characteristic of the leicester square expert. my uncle reynell was, i remember, passing a shop in that vicinity, and noticing a portrait suspended near the entrance, with a humble assessment in chalk, said to himself, but in the hearing of the proprietor, 'rather like so-and-so.' the next time he passed, he observed the addition of a ticket, on which was paraded his _sotto voce_ suggestion in an amplified form--'a very fine portrait of so-and-so (i forget the name which mr reynell mentioned) by so-and-so, price £ .' the enterprising shopkeeper had found an artist to go with a casual passer-by's speculative identification of the sitter, and had readjusted the figures accordingly. i am unable to plead that i never went in for prints or drawings. for i looked on, an age since, at sotheby's, and saw a lot going for s. the firm was not quite so proud at that time, as it has since become, and accepted sixpenny bids. i offered s. d., and was dismayed when the property fell to me; for it was a bulky portfolio, containing sketches in sepia and water-colour and other matters. there were some signed examples, however, by stanfield, sandby, nasmyth, and varley, and so i bore up against my fate. _apropos_ of sixpenny bids, i once wanted a copy of bacon's _sylva sylvarum_ to cut up for a literary purpose, and offered that amount to mr hodge, who insisted on having a shilling at one bound. i refused, and had to go round the corner, and buy another copy for double the higher figure. i tried to punish the auctioneer's pride, and punished my own folly. i have never personally (for the best of all reasons) trodden the somewhat insidious and evidently very seductive path which leads to the conversion of a share of your estate into ancient gold and silver plate. but i have lived side by side with more than one enthusiast of this type. diamond contracted in later days a fancy for queen anne silver, and grew enamoured of the rat-tailed spoon; and a second friend, whose employments took him all over the country and into provincial towns, before the great change occurred, and everything gravitated to london, has related to me a series of stories of his fortunes as an occasional collector. in the case of the doctor, the old textbooks on porcelain and pottery became of secondary account, and his little lot of early and curious volumes was consigned to an american agent for disposal in the states; but i think that i stumbled on them shortly after at an auction in leicester square. chaffers on _hall-marks_ superseded chaffers on the less favoured topic, and cockburn's shop in richmond and other depôts supplied the material for gratifying the new taste. when one went to twickenham house (now no more), one was introduced, not to a fresh dish, or cup and saucer, or ceramic knick-knack, but to a rat-tailed spoon of special merit, or a silver mug with an inedited mark. it was growing toward the close of the scene; whatever the plea might have been for the prior line, it was at any rate pursued with ardour and consistency; the owner's heart and soul were in it; it was a sort of religion with him; he believed in it, as his associates believed in him, and identified him and his name, and his home, with the subject. but the more recent foible was deficient in depth and sincerity; his set had been educated--educated by him--in a different school; and they looked wistfully and languidly at the objects, which their entertainer submitted for their criticism or approbation. it was in truth a passing whim, an old man's infection with the prevailing epidemic for what can scarcely be of real interest or importance to private individuals except where there is hereditary association or in the shape of works of reference. friends noted an abatement in the enthusiasm; pieces mysteriously disappeared; nearly the whole accumulation, never a very large one, melted away; and the master was not long in following. my remaining friend was imbued with a liking for old silver rather because he was fond of seeing it about him and on his table than in connection with any systematic plan. he was not guiltless of an affection for bargains, and never, i believe, went higher than s. an ounce. in the old days--in the forties and fifties--some tolerable examples were procurable at that rate, especially in the provinces; but latterly he found the market too stiff for him--not for his purse, but for his views. many a desirable lot he has missed for sixpence in the ounce. a large salver engraved with masks by hogarth, which lazarus the dealer offered him at s. d., he lost, because he remained immoveable at s., and had the satisfaction of hearing that it eventually brought about four times the money, passing from hand to hand. my friend acted on a different principle from that, which i should have followed with ample funds at my command. i would have secured a few first-rate examples, as he did, to some extent, in china. he had bought chelsea figures, when they were at reasonable prices, and he gave only £ , s. for a set of four (out of five) beakers of the same porcelain, painted with exotic birds on a dark blue ground. benjamin bade him £ for them; but he quietly remarked: 'if they are worth that to you, they are worth as much to me.' this was a favourite saying of his; he would draw out the expert, and then shut him up so. he never ceased to lament the lazarus salver. at a sale at christie's a young man present heard a valuable piece of plate going for s. (as he thought), and it struck him that it would be a nice present for a young woman of his acquaintance; and at s. it was his. the auctioneer's clerk forthwith solicited a deposit of £ . there was a gesture of impatience from the salesman, accompanied by a general titter, and the lot was put up again. £ per ounce may be regarded as a maximum figure even for fine early work; but this limit is constantly exceeded; it was the other day, when some _cinque cento_ example reached £ . the edmund bury godfrey tankard realised £ in , and weighed only oz. dwt. the blacksmiths' cup, once belonging to that gild, has been more than once sold under the hammer. it was bought by ralph bernal about sixty years since at £ per ounce; but on the last occasion it exceeded £ . the cup weighs oz. the irish collection of mr robert day, of cork, dispersed at two intervals, the last in , eclipsed the normal standard of value, as it embraced some of the finest extant specimens of the workmanship of the silversmiths or hammerers of cork, youghal, and other irish localities. antiquities in metal-work have their share of romance. bargains fall to the vigilant or the experienced seeker. we have all heard of the solid silver picture frames at beddington, the seat of the carews, as black as ink, and bought by the jews at the price of ordinary material; and not so long since there was a house-sale at wimbledon, where the trade acquired among them ornamental objects of solid gold, described in the auctioneer's catalogue as silver-gilt. there is no problem in commerce or in morality more difficult of solution than that, which is involved in the question of right on the part of persons, who in the first place make it their study, and in the second their livelihood, to outstrip and outwit the rest of the world in a particular sphere of industry, to combine together for their own profit and the defeat of what is termed legitimate competition. the contention on the other side is that these specialists are to waive their superior information for the benefit of proprietors, in whom they have no interest, and to whom they are under no obligation. it awakened my personal attention to the cogent need of exercising the utmost care in sending plate to the cleaner and repairer, when a tankard of the george i. period returned home to me with part of the hall-mark obliterated. the piece had at one time been in daily use, and was slightly dented; and in straightening it the maker's symbol suffered from encroachment. sending your treasures of this class to the doctor's is as parlous as committing a book or tract in old parchment or sheep to the mercy of the uncanny bibliopegist or a piece of unblemished porcelain to the duster of a charwoman. the marks in the works by chaffers and cripps are not implicitly reliable, and a _manual_ furnishing actual facsimiles of them is still a deficiency. the same criticism applies to the monograph of chaffers on porcelain and pottery. i was led to look into the question of hall-marks on old silver plate by seeing a spoon of henry viii.'s time with the leopard's head, the animal's mouth open, and the tongue protruding. this was also a mint-mark on some of the anglo-gallic money and on the groats of henry vii. with the full-faced portrait. my volume on the livery companies of london laid on me, among innumerable other duties, that of making the circuit of the companies' halls, and of studying the admirable monograph of mr cripps. i had an opportunity, owing to an old friend being a past master, of reproducing the illustrations from the clockmakers' book of the plate belonging to that gild; and i followed the same course with one or two others in a more limited measure. when i was dining at merchant taylors' hall one evening, i observed immediately in front of me at table a large silver salver, which i felt sure i had recently seen somewhere; but i only regained the clue, when i remembered that it was one of the examples engraved in my own work. chapter xii coins--origin of my feeling for them--humble commencement--groping in the dark--my scanty means and equally scanty knowledge, but immense enthusiasm and inflexibility of purpose--the maiden acquisition sold for sixteenpence--the two earliest pieces of the new departure--to whom i first went--continuity of purchases in all classes--visit to italy ( )--my eyes gradually opened--count papadopoli and other numismatic authorities--my sketch of the coins of venice published ( )--casual additions to the collection and curious adventures--singular illusions of the inexperienced--anecdotes of a relative--two wild money-changers tamed--captain hudson--the auction-thief--a small joke to be pardoned. i started as a numismatist by the merest accident in , at the precise juncture when, owing to the sudden death of mr huth, i was concluded by my well-wishers to be on the brink of ruin. my son, who was then quite a little fellow, had had a first-brass roman coin presented to him by a gentleman, whose intentions were excellent; and shortly after a relative, who had kept by him in a bag a number of 'butcher's' pennies of george iii. and a few other miscellaneous pieces, and who was profoundly anxious to throw them away, made a free gift of the whole collection to the same recipient. i was naturally led to examine our _treasure trove_, not by the light of experience of coins, of which i had absolutely not a tittle, but by that of my knowledge of collateral and analogous matters, in which several years' training had developed certain conclusions; and i soon formed a private estimate of the twofold donation unfavourable to the judgment of the late proprietors. the youthful owner himself was not the master of any definite views on the subject. there was the bag and there its contents; and they remained for some time inviolate, while i was deliberating and instituting inquiries at intervals, myself a sheer tyro. i believe that in my strolls about the suburbs i added to the cabinet without greatly improving it. mr huth was no more; and the future was not reassuring. my early acquisitions went many to the shilling. i was not more than a lesson or so ahead so far of my boy and his kind friends. of works of reference, despite my acquaintance with books, i knew nothing. of those, who could have put me on the right track, i was equally ignorant. i do not think that i had heard of such an institution as the numismatic society. it was new ground, and i stood on the edge of it contemplatively, bag in hand--the bag not even strictly my own--with a wavering sentiment and with decreased resources--resources likely to decrease yet more. one morning chance led me, as i passed, to linger at the window of messrs lincoln & son in new oxford street; and after a pause i went in. the result was momentous in this sense, that i saw at the shop mentioned a 'butcher's' penny, which bore the same relation to the inmates of the bag as an immaculate copy of a book or a faultless piece of china bears to the most indifferent specimens imaginable; and i handed half-a-crown to lincoln for his coin, which i took home with a rather full heart. we compared notes, and i privately meditated a _coup_. a few days after, our sixteen 'butcher's' pennies and sundries just realised what i had given for the cornerstone of a new collection; and i may say that at a distance of nearly twenty years i yet keep that piece, which has become a very difficult one to procure in unexceptionable state--far more so than the twopence of the same type and date. my son and i thus acquired an assemblage of numismatic monuments represented only by an unit. but it was not very long, before i revisited lincoln's, and doubled the collection at one bound by buying a half-crown of queen anne for eight shillings and sixpence. these two were my earliest investments, when i seriously began; but i must explain that i was not only fettered by lack of courage and the apprehension of contracted means, but by the fact of being in partnership with my son in the venture. his pocket-money and savings partly contributed to the revised and enlarged scheme; and in the earlier stages i am sure that progress was hesitating and slow. in the end, the estate of my partner was swallowed up; and whatever funds were required came from the other member of the firm. in the case of what was a pure hobby at first and long after its original commencement, it is impossible to lay down the exact chronological lines or the order, in which certain coins or series were acquired. the english and roman long united to monopolise my attention; my son ceased, as he grew older, to manifest an interest in the subject; and i found myself invested with a paramount discretion, held in check only by very slender means of exercising it. i may as well add here, that i deemed it best, under the circumstances, to return the amount, which the retiring sharer in the concern had sunk in purchases; and i was thus at liberty to do as i pleased. i am speaking of a period, which seems nearly prehistoric. it was about fifteen years since, that i took over the entire responsibility in this affair, and found myself in possession of coins of various kinds, chiefly selected at the emporium in new oxford street, and representing a considerable outlay. i had discerned the errors of others in collecting, but i had not failed to commit one or two myself. i conclude that it is a very usual oversight on the part of the novice to neglect to measure his ground, and lay his plan, beforehand; it was so with me; i bought rather at random coins, medals, and tokens; and even under these wide conditions i vaguely calculated that from £ to £ would place me in possession of a cabinet, capable of vying with most of those in existence. it has been from no wish to exaggerate the importance of the initiative taken in under a casual impulse, that i have written down the foregoing particulars. but as i have uninterruptedly persevered from that date to the present in enlarging and improving the collection, and in communicating the fruits of my researches to the public, it appeared worth while to put on record the facts connected with the formation and development of the new taste. there have been men, who have gained a rank as numismatists far higher than any to which i can aspire or pretend, whose beginnings at least were not less humble and not less fortuitous. when i affirm that a single season suffices to exhaust the patience or enthusiasm of many an amateur, it will supply some indication of my earnestness, when i state that at the end of three years i had barely emerged from my novitiate. i still retained my loyalty to lincoln, but i made occasional investments elsewhere. i had abandoned the ambitious notion of comprising medals and tokens in my range, but on the other hand, through the miscellaneous nature of lincoln's stock and his large assortment on sale of foreign coins, i conceived the possibility of admitting a few chosen specimens of the various continental series. i resembled a ship without a compass; i had never had under my eyes any guide to this family of monuments, and i could only estimate its extent and cost from the selection put before me. how necessarily imperfect, nay fragmentary, that was, i did not learn till long afterward. the foreign section of the new oxford street stores constituted my continental side in its first state, not so much as regarded condition, as variety and completeness. for somehow my furnishers began to understand my views touching character and preservation, and although i have throughout my career felt bound to change specimens from time to time, i apprehend that the preference for fine coins set in with me unusually early, and saved me from a good deal of loss and annoyance. under the auspices of the same firm i extended my lines to greek coins. lincoln happened to have placed on view about pieces in silver, and i took all that struck me as being within my standard--i forget how few. about the same time i added to them some in gold and copper. i thenceforward, during many years, was in the habit of selecting from the series immediately in hand whatever interested me, and this is another way of saying that my possessions were growing considerable. my grand safeguard was my peremptory principle of rejecting everything, no matter how rare or otherwise valuable, which did not rise to my fastidious qualification; and the greater the choice submitted to me, the more stringent became my application of the rule. it was in pure self-defence. my pocket-money, so to speak, was extremely limited; and i thus closed the door against a deluge of rubbish or of mediocre property. i laid down for my own government the paradoxical maxim, that if a poor man buys at all, he can afford to buy only the finest things. that is to say, he should never acquire what does not represent the outlay or, if possible, a profit on it. i felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into a quicksand, and i saw no other practicable outlet in the event of realisation. i farther satisfied myself that it was highly imprudent to engage in the purchase of greek and roman coins at inflated quotations, especially greek silver and roman second and third brass, in the face of the continual finds, which forced the prices downward, and reduced a specimen, perhaps, from £ to £ at a jump. there is absolutely no security for the buyer within these lines, and i make it my policy to wait, and complacently look on, while lots are adjudged to others at figures beyond my estimate. in the greek copper and the roman first brass in fine patinated state, one is tolerably safe. of all the series i am fondest of the former, and indeed any early money in that metal, whether classical or continental, is my weak point, provided that it is as nearly _fleur de coin_ as may be. an immaculate first brass of one of the more interesting augusti or (better yet) _augustæ_, with a picturesque reverse, rejoices the eye; and it is no prejudice to it, if it is rare! i remember that it was not long, before i rebelled in my own mind against the not uncommon practice of placing the greek and roman money on a footing of equality, and appreciated the discernment of those, who limited their researches to the former. for it struck me that, if you take out of the reckoning the republican series, which is really hellenic in its origin and style, and a few early aurei and first and second brass recommendable by their personality or their interesting reverses, there is not such a great _residuum_ of solid importance left behind. the mere rarities of the later period i do not count; they correspond to the greek coinages, when the latter merge in the asiatic types. but of the greek of the fine and finest epochs alone there is more than enough to satisfy and impoverish half a dozen such collectors as myself, if we merely selected our favourites. i had added to my cabinet a tolerably large number of foreign specimens, when i paid a short visit to italy in . five years had passed since the episode of the butcher's pennies, and since the day when i made my maiden purchase of lincoln, and he with commendable discretion extended his hand for the money, before he surrendered the coin. we have learned to understand each other a little better, and he does not object to a running account. i did not enjoy the opportunity of making exhaustive researches; but the localities, of which i gained experience, yielded little enough for my numismatic purposes. the italian impressed one with the notion, that he not merely laid no stress on preservation, but did not comprehend to the full extent what it signified. i have a remembrance of having recrossed the channel with a handful of examples, which i might better have left behind me, and which i have long since renounced. some came from milan, where i met with a most urbane individual, whose stock was principally milanese, and very poor milanese, too. at venice i ascended a very dark and mysterious staircase leading out of the piazza, with the highly unpleasant sensation that a poniard or a trap-door might be in reserve for me, when i was ushered by my conductor into an apartment, where i was invited to sit down and inspect sundry trays of gold coins. but the light was so dim, that i could not distinguish the state, hardly the type, and i ignominiously retired, putting down two _lire_, by way of footing, for a silver _teston_ of henry iv. of france. otherwise there was exceedingly little of any note, so far as my observation went. i obtained a coin or two at a depôt on the piazza and one or two knick-knacks at another, where there was the usual apocrypha about the total ruin of the seller by the acceptance of rather less than a moiety of the original demand. venice is in this respect slightly oriental. sir robert hamilton gave me an entertaining account of his experiences at constantinople, where he was asked the equivalent of a guinea for something, and at the conclusion of a protracted negotiation, crowned by a cup of coffee, the price descended to the clown's ninepence. it was three-and-twenty years, since i had posed as the historian of the republic, and the sparing degree, in which i had been in the meantime enabled to secure specimens of its coinage, partly prepared me for the apparent difficulty of procuring this class of money in good state. i brought away from venice itself absolutely nothing beyond a silver _soldino_ of the fourteenth century doge giovanni dolfino; but at milan and bologna i succeeded in finding a couple of early gold ducats. i did not visit the museum, nor was i so fortunate as to find count nicoló papadopoli at home. i scarcely recollect how it happened; but i had heard of the count as a prominent venetian numismatist, and i threaded some of the less agreeable thoroughfares of the city, including the clothes-market, in search of his palatial residence on the grand canal. both the cavaliere his secretary and himself were absent; but i left my address, and ever since he has honoured me with his interesting and valuable publications on the theme, which he so well loves. a jeweller in bologna, of whom i took two or three pieces, offered me a double gold crown (_doppio di oro_) of giovanni bentivoglio ii., the type without the portrait, for _lire_. it seemed to me too dear. i was right. a year or two after, i got it in piccadilly for less than half. some one referred me to schweitzer's exhaustive work on the coins of venice, and, count papadopoli sending me periodically his numismatic labours, i was encouraged to draw up the sketch of the 'coins of venice,' which appeared in the _antiquary_ in , as part of a scheme for reproducing my history on an improved basis. the advance of the subject by stealthy degrees to the foreground and to a conspicuous place in my studies and employments, had its agreeable and its serious aspect. it was a pursuit, which consumed time, and while it entailed endless outlay, yielded no return. still i had such a genuine relish for it, that i did not allow myself to be disheartened. it may give some idea of my disinterested, perhaps enviable, ardour, if i mention that i revisited milan, at the expense of a long detour, to get a silver coin of one of the medici, which i considered on second thoughts worth having at nine _lire_. it served me a good turn, for when a london dealer seemed disposed to shed tears on discovering that an assistant had sold me a similar piece for the same money ( s. d.), i exhibited my prior purchase, and he was consoled. it exemplifies the singular nicety of appreciation among the experts, that a third and fourth came to me at a subsequent date at s. each. with others i have not been quite so happily placed. a party bought a _scudo_ of ferdinando i. dé medici, , in his cardinal's dress, in a lot at a sale, and gave it up to me as a favour for s., which made him a present of the residue; i was the obliged, and said not a word. he assured me that the other items were worthless, yet he did not throw them in. i bowed and withdrew. i have ever found it so. all my successive departures in this as in other doings have depended on chance. both at home and abroad i have often stumbled unexpectedly on the means of filling a gap, and have quite as often congratulated myself on the command of just knowledge enough to avoid mistakes and snares. not always. for i once found myself at st peter's, guernsey, with nothing to do, and visited so often the only place in the town, where there was any semblance of coins, that i felt bound to pay my footing, and gave s. for a silver london penny of ethelred ii.--a very fine specimen, but a very common piece. i subsequently bought another of a different mint in london for s. i added the guernsey acquisition to my travelling expenses, with a private determination to avoid for the future these pitfalls. i never committed myself very seriously. at brighton, strolling about i fell in with a jew, who had a very fine early rupee, which on reference to his scales he estimated at eighteenpence. i bought elsewhere a greater rarity--a double rupee of the last century--for four shillings. one of the finest anne farthings of the common britannia type, , which i have seen, was the fruit of a visit to a depôt in hastings, and the demand for it was not unreasonable--twelve shillings. at a corner shop in bournemouth, the hebrew proprietor was from home; but his consort waited on me. 'any old coins, madam?' 'well, no,' she thought not--yet, stay, she would _shew_ me a shekel or two--family relics, and not for sale. she retired, and presently produced them. i told her that they must be of great and peculiar interest to her and her husband, and i disappointed her, i think, by not seeming eager to possess them. she muttered something _sotto voce_ about seven guineas; whether that was a figure at which she would risk mr ----'s displeasure by parting with each or all of the heirlooms, i do not know. they were all false. the shekel, which belongs to my collection, once had a rather startling adventure. an acquaintance, a clergyman of the establishment and an university man, asked leave to see it. i handed it to him, and as if he had cabman's blood in his veins, he instantaneously placed it between his teeth. a significant gesture from me arrested his action. on taking his farewell he mentioned that he should shortly send one of his sons to look through my coins. i bowed, and i subsequently declined the proposed honour in writing. how could i tell that the teeth of the offspring might not be sharper than those of his intelligent papa? the ignorance of the average man in everything, which does not concern his immediate calling, is well-nigh inconceivable. i held in my pocket an unusually well-preserved example of a bell-metal piece of the first french revolution, when i was calling on a friend, who by training and descent should have acquired a tincture of conversance with such matters. he paid me the compliment of begging to be permitted to see the coin, eyed it for a moment, and then threw it across the table to me. a relative, who was distinguished by his fulness and variety of information, and who, if he sinned, did so in the direction of not under-estimating the few relics which he personally owned, used to be fond of telling me, that he possessed a complete numismatic history of the revolution in france, and when i appeared in the first instance curious on the subject, he displayed a handful of defaced copper or bell-metal pieces which, had they been better, represented only an instalment of a very large series. the same gentleman had similarly acquired in the vicinity of leicester square at prices, which struck him as favourable to the buyer, some very rare and desirable examples of greek numismatic art, including a syracusan medallion or dekadrachm. on being informed with suitable delicacy that his purchases were forgeries, he was almost equally balanced between a sentiment of wrath against the vulgar broker, who had swindled him and a stealthy suspicion that his informant desired to wheedle him out of really valuable possessions. he cherished some old halfpence of the early georges, which he found in his boyhood in a hollow tree in kensington gardens. so far, so good. they were not coins; it was a strictly personal association. the interest died with him. but two of the drollest accidents, which ever happened to me, succeeded each other on the same morning. i entered a money-changer's in coventry street, and inquired for old coins. the bureaucrat was as short in his address as he was in his stature. 'what did i want?' 'i did not know till i saw them.' 'he had no time to waste on such matters.' i apologised for my intrusion; he looked at me, and then he pushed a bowl of money toward me. in a minute or so he joined me in a search, and we somehow entered into conversation. he found that i was literary. 'had i ever heard of hazlitt's _life of napoleon_? it was his favourite book.' i handed him ninepence, shook hands with him on the strength of his revelation, and departed, labouring to look grave. i had no sooner emerged from that singular experience, than i encountered another. a party in wardour street had a similar inquiry put to him, and he laid before me an assortment of metallic monuments, which i investigated for some time without meeting with a solitary item worth pricing. on intimating so much in a polite manner, the owner impressed me with a persuasion that he intended to spring over the counter, and seize me by the throat; but i met the crisis by demonstrating the impossibility of purchasing duplicates and of always finding _desiderata_ even in the choicest stocks; and his phrensy began to abate. he seemed a decent fellow--a watchmaker by his calling; and i pulled out my watch, and invited him to examine it. it required cleaning and regulating. 'clean it, and regulate it, then,' said i, 'and i will call for it in ten days.' we parted on the best terms. i have certainly obtained in the by-ways here and there, at home and abroad, occasional plums. i owed to a silversmith in london my £ piece of victoria, , with a plain edge, without the garter, and with the original reading. it cost me £ . s. but i have slowly arrived at the conclusion that the orthodox merchant is the most satisfactory on the whole--the safest and the cheapest. when i was a boy, the kenneys introduced me to captain hudson, a retired east india commander, who resided in one of the best houses at notting hill, while that locality was sufficiently agreeable and select. hudson stands out in my retrospective view as the donor of some very special guava jelly, and as the proprietor of a £ piece of victoria--of course of . he shewed it to me as a great compliment one day, and it made me look upon him as a personage of unbounded wealth. yes; it was very good on his part to let a little lad like me take it in his hand. i often think of captain hudson, and wonder, whether my specimen and his are the same. the auction-thief is only too familiar a feature in the sale-rooms, where portable objects of value are exhibited. at one establishment there is a standing notice, inviting information as to more or less recent larcenies of property, which it becomes the privilege of the auctioneer to make good at a fair assessment. books are perhaps the commonest and safest game, as the room is more frequently, prior to the commencement of the sale, left to take care of itself. but coins have been occasionally appropriated by enthusiasts, whose impatience precluded them from waiting, till the time came. one person used, during quite a lengthened period, to select with unerring judgment from every sale in wellington street the best lot, and when he was at last detected, his genuine ardour was shown by the fact, that the whole of his selections were found at his residence intact. it was really hard on the offender to place before him treasures, for which he might on demand have been prepared to sacrifice his little finger, and expect him to incur the risk of some one else carrying them off, unless he secured them beforehand. the firm dealt tenderly with him--no doubt, on this ground, and merely offered him a piece of advice, which was that he should not throw himself again in the way of temptation. the delicacy of the circumstances was appreciated by messrs sotheby and co. at one of the coin-sales in wellington street four successive lots were purchased by lincoln, rollin, and _money_, the last a term applied, where cash is paid down at the time. lincoln bought the second as well as the first, and in the catalogue the entry was _do._ some one reconstructed the sequence, and made it run: _lincoln do roll in money._ i crave pardon for this undoubted ineptitude. chapter xiii my principal furnishers--influence of early training on my taste--rejection of inferior examples an invaluable safeguard--i outgrow my first instructors--necessity for emancipation from a single source of supply--mr schulman of amersfoort--his influential share in amplifying my numismatic stores--my visit to him--the rare _daalder_ of louis napoleon, king of holland--my adventures at utrecht and brussels--flattering confidence--in the open market--schulman's catalogues--mm. rollin & feuardent--their english representative--courtesy and kindness to the writer--occasional purchases--the late mr montagu--discussion about an athenian gold _stater_--an atmospheric experiment--my manifold obligations to mr whelan--mr cockburn of richmond allows me to select from his english collection--i forestall mr montagu--messrs spink & son--their prominent rank and cordial espousal of my interests and wants--development of my cabinet under their auspices--my agreeable relations with them--their business-like policy, liberality and independence--the prince of naples--we give and take a little--the monthly _numismatic circular_--the clerical client. my numismatic haunts and providers have not, especially of late, been numerous. i once took a small lot of a house in rathbone place--a silver medaglia of marguerite de foix, marchioness of saluzzo, , which came from lyons, and a bronze piece of ragusa in sicily, found in the island of sardinia, with others. but messrs lincoln & son were my earliest furnishers, and they, with mm. rollin & feuardent of paris, messrs spink & son of london, and mr schulman, of amersfoort, have mainly contributed to build up my unpretending cabinet. the influence of messrs lincoln & son in forming my taste was more or less considerable. their stock was miscellaneous, and i perhaps incautiously suffered it to reflect itself in my collection. the firm indeed, after a while, thought that my lines were too general, for whatever series they put on view from time to time gave up its choicer elements to me; and eventually my good friends perceived that, although i was certainly not a specialist in one sense, i was in another. i took only the best; and this proved an invaluable safeguard. for, by making a hard and fast rule, that no coin whatever shall be admissible in the presence of a defect or of imperfect condition, one shuts out the bulk of the objects submitted to notice. a thousand average lots in a dealer's hands are not apt to yield above five per cent. of eligible purchases, which are not duplicates. in a continental stock the proportion would be much lower. the gold coins do not so signally fail; it is in the inferior metals, especially the billon and copper, that the difficulty lies. i emerged, it is fair to own, from my researches and selections at the lincoln establishment without serious damage or trouble, considering that i entered into relations with the house as a perfect stranger, and was in my numismatic infancy. they began, as time went on, to see that i was in earnest, and would at length scarcely allow me to buy any article likely to appear on farther examination unsatisfactory; and by a few exchanges of early acquisitions, on which they were generous enough to let me lose nothing, i stood in the end better than i perhaps deserved. mr lincoln has told me that he started on his numismatic career by advertising on the back page of the catalogues of his father, who was a book seller, a short list of coins on sale by him at the same address. the strength and spirit, which the father infuses into his child, the latter is now and then prone to use against the giver; and i am afraid that i have appeared ungrateful to my original source of supply--in fact, my dry-nurses--inasmuch as i outgrew by insensible degrees their power of satisfying my wants, and directed my attention elsewhere. messrs lincoln & son filled in the groundwork of my scheme, and continue to fill up gaps at intervals; but it was impossible for me to shut my eyes to the fact, that the rate of progress, which my numismatic studies were attaining, rendered a restriction to a single firm out of the question. i could never have committed to writing my notes, imperfect as they may be, on the coins of all countries and periods with certain exceptions, had i not left the original groove, and entered the market, prepared to avail myself of every particular, which was to be gleaned both at home and abroad, alike in the shape of information, correction, and addition. it was through the lincolns i became acquainted with mr atkins, author of the two works on tokens and colonial coins, and he introduced to me the name of schulman of amersfoort. this was about ten years since; and the result was that schulman thenceforward sent me periodical consignments for selection and his well-compiled catalogues. from this quarter i derived, rather contrary to the expectation which i had been led to form, a highly valuable assortment of coins at fair prices. i surmise that a considerable proportion of my correspondent's picked acquisitions has found its way to me. his parcels from season to season embraced an alarming and chronic percentage of hopeless specimens, notwithstanding my exhortations to him to be more select; and i am persuaded that this circumstance proceeded from the sender's inability, in common with all the continental dealers, to distinguish and appreciate condition, as he has often offered a proof at a slight advance on the figure asked for an ordinary and mediocre example. schulman has been during his career in the constant habit of falling in with a variety of continental coins, which are scarcely ever seen in england; and as a rule his tariff is moderate enough--not quite so moderate, perhaps, as it used to be, especially the fine early copper, since he discovered my partiality for it. but i feel nevertheless that my collection owes a great deal to my amersfoort correspondent. our business has been necessarily conducted by letter. in i was at utrecht, and went over to his place. i had previously called, when i was at amsterdam, at bom's, and there i was shown the priced catalogue of a quite recent local auction. against a silver daalder of louis napoleon, king of holland, of an excessively rare type, i observed my friend's name as the purchaser for gulden, and the first object which met my eyes in schulman's room was this very piece. i took it in my hand. 'ah!' cried he, 'that won't suit you; i want gulden for it.' i laid it down again, implying in my manner a sort of apology. i made a few purchases, and left him. he subsequently inserted the _daalder_ in a catalogue at gulden. he had tried the higher sum without success. i did not take any notice, and forgot all about it, till in a parcel sent on approval this was one of the items, the price gulden. allowing the usual discount, the piece remained with me at . i always cherished a suspicion that it was put into the sale in the spuistraat by master schulman himself, and bought in. my good friend acquired for me at amsterdam a / _stuiver_ of batavia, which he reported to me as _beau_. when it reached my hands, i was not altogether satisfied, nor did he reassure me, when he stated that my specimen was far finer than those in the museums at the hague and at batavia. the / is considerably rarer than the / . schulman once advertised an example of the former at gulden or s. d., describing it as '_de toute beautè_'; but i missed it. i have had repeated arguments both with schulman and bom on the subject of a rather numerous and important class of dutch coins, which almost habitually present themselves _fleur de coin_. i used to contend that these are re-strikes; but i have been assured over and over again that the netherlands government will not suffer any of the ancient dies to be employed for this purpose, and that they are jealously guarded at utrecht. schulman added, that he had endeavoured in vain to prevail on the authorities to allow him to take a few impressions of certain patterns of louis napoleon, which were never issued, and are almost unknown. like many of his foreign _confrères_, schulman undertakes the compilation and conduct of sales by auction, and favours his clients with the catalogues. i have taken the line, under these somewhat delicate circumstances, of simply mentioning that if such or such a lot answers the printed description, and fetches so much or thereabout, i shall not object to it. i put no questions as to ownership; they do not concern me at all. i listen to a variety of tales about artificial sales and fictitious names; but the grand point is, that a coin is a coin, and if it is sold under unpropitious surroundings, it is likely to prove cheaper, and where it is misdescribed, it returns whence it came. it was while i was at utrecht, that i hunted through a huge mass of rubbish in the shape of obsolete currencies, and found at the conclusion that my bill only came to three-halfpence for a most beautiful _double liard_ of maria theresa, struck for the austrian netherlands in . i had an interview at brussels with a very pleasant fellow, who keeps, or at least kept, a curiosity-shop near ste. gudule. he had a few patterns and other pieces belonging to the first french revolutionary era, which i was glad to secure, and some bracteates, for which he asked £ , and as to which my courage failed me a little. i feared that they were too dear. he wrapped them up carefully, and said, 'take them with you, and if you do not care for them, let me have them back again.' i had to return them with my acknowledgments, which were sincere. my misgivings were correct. once for all, it is well to explain that any ostensibly egotistical details, which are here given, have for their motive the guidance and enlightenment of new enterers on the scene, with which the writer has during nearly twenty years been agreeably and profitably familiar. if i had not exercised discretion in my relationship with foreign houses, i might have been overwhelmed by an avalanche of worthless rubbish, the refuse of the auctions. but by keeping a watchful eye and a tight hand over myself, as it were, i have retained only a limited _residuum_, which answers my purpose best on every account. the plan affords me illustrations in the best state of all the european schools of numismatic art, ancient, mediæval, and modern, no less than medallic portraits of the most celebrated men and women of all ages; and i ask the question advisedly: what advantage accrues to a private collector from possessing every minute variety of type, every mint-mark, and every date? the idea is surely a fallacy. the mint and other public institutions may fitly preserve them for reference and record; but for individuals they appear to be surplusage. schulman obliged me with a set of his catalogues, about thirty in number, issued between and the present time, and i found them fruitful in suggestions. they are not bare lists, but, where it is needful, carefully annotated; and in the unavoidable absence of some originals i have experienced from them and other similar compilations the greatest assistance. the method, which the continental houses pursue in drawing up their accounts of the property on sale by auction or otherwise, constitutes the result a work of permanent reference and authority. such is especially the case with those specified in the bibliography to the _coin collector_, . they are of course secondary evidences; but where one cannot describe a coin from the coin they are admirable, and in general trustworthy, substitutes. our english numismatic catalogues are improving, but still lack the profuse and laborious detail, which is extended on the continent even to lots of minor significance. i was brought into contact with the english representative of the paris firm of rollin & feuardent in a perfectly accidental way. i had detected in a forthcoming sale at sotheby's, among a heap of miscellanies in a bag, a well-preserved _double_ in piedfort of henry iii. of france. i pointed it out to lincoln; but he missed it, and mr whelan was the acquirer. it was destined for a client, and i did not secure it; but the matter made mr whelan and myself acquainted, and we have been very pleasantly so ever since. his father was in the same line of business before him, and knew edward wigan and other men of that generation. i have already observed that the agency in bloomsbury is the resort of well-nigh all the most eminent hunters, not only for coins and medals, but for antiquities of every description. it is not that i am able to speak of myself as a conspicuous figure in the circle, which frequents this spot, or as an appreciable element in the large mercantile transactions, which are conducted here and at headquarters. but i am indulgently tolerated, and now and then i find a trifle or two to my liking. mr whelan stands in due awe of my excruciating and almost outrageous passion for _state_, and looks upon me (with much good-nature) as a most difficult party to please and to fit. he is fully aware, how narrow my means are, and seldom tenders me, except as a compliment or for numismatic purposes, his grander _bijoux_. yet in all my series there are some few, which i highly prize, and which came to me thence; and i may particularise a very rare british copper coin of cunobeline, which brought £ , s. d. at the montagu sale, but cost its former possessor £ , s. this fact did not appear in the catalogue. the last time i met mr montagu was at mr whelan's. i shewed him two pieces which i happened to have just had from schulman; one was the campen imitation of the gold sovereign of mary i. of england, and far scarcer than the original; and montagu admired them both. a few weeks, and he was no more. we had met at the numismatic society's rooms, where i attended a meeting as a guest; and i recollect montagu pulling out of his pocket for my inspection a coin he had exhibited that evening to the members and others present. it was the unique _half george noble_ of henry viii. discovered by curt the dealer at paris, sold by him to the rev. mr shepherd for £ , and at the shepherd sale in acquired by its late owner for £ . the montagu cabinet was naturally rich in pedigree coins, and had, i believe, all the english, although not all the greek, rarities. it even possessed the five-broad piece of charles i. by rawlins, which fetched the extraordinary sum of £ . spink & son secured it at that price, and sold it to the british museum for per cent. profit. i was tempted by the edward vi. half-crown and threepence, and by the james i. silver crown of the _quæ deus_ type, which had been bergne's and bryce's, and which i preferred to the _exurgat_ one as superior in tone, while it was nearly equal in preservation. the five-broad piece is said to have been given by the king on the scaffold to archbishop juxon; it is a pattern, and apparently unique. the type resembles that of the ordinary broad, of which there are impressions in silver. i have one of unusually medallic fabric. i heard an odd story of a f.n.s. to whom some ignorant correspondent offered the _noble_ itself--a piece of great value--and who pronounced it worth s. d.--the current rate at the time of issue, about . the forster example in fetched £ , s. a rather distressing incident occurred to 'pedigree' wells of piccadilly during his absence one day from business. he had in his window a coin advertised as 'a three-pound piece of charles i.' to which the astute owner attached no price, leaving that detail to be regulated by the circumstances. a person entered the shop, and saw mrs wells, who was unversed in numismatic subtleties, and laying down £ , said, 'i will take that coin in the window,' which accordingly he did, greatly to wells's satisfaction, no doubt, and to the promotion of domestic harmony. the hero of this small anecdote owed his _sobriquet_ to his fertility of resource in providing his fine-art acquisitions with a genealogical tree. we had a controversy in bloomsbury on one occasion about a gold athenian _stater_ sent to me on approval. all gold athenian _staters_ are _ipso facto_ doubtful. whelan condemned it. canon greenwell, who was present, was not sure. i shewed it to dr head; and he supported whelan. the coin was returned. at another time i obtained from a dealer who avouched, and still avouches, it to be absolutely genuine, a gold [greek: êmiekton] of the same state; and at this whelan equally shook his head. but i took it to be right, and retained it. the fact is, that the athenians struck gold very sparingly, and there have been modern attempts to supply the deficiency. one leading inducement to fabricate pieces lacking in series or of signal rarity has been the cheapness of labour and the more limited conversance with the discrepancies between originals and copies or absolutely fictitious examples, partly arising from the absence of means of communication among numismatists in various countries. these inventions or _contrefaçons_ were calculated, again, for different markets. the false gold _staters_ of nicomedes ii. of bithynia, which are executed with unusual skill, and the far less clever imitations of the athenian gold, could only answer the purpose, where they found an english or french customer able to pay a handsome price for the means of supplying a hopeless or almost hopeless lacuna in his greek cabinet. but those of such common coins as the tetradrachms of athens or alexander the great appealed rather to still more inexperienced buyers, whom a low figure was apt to tempt; and these even occur plated or washed with silver. whelan once amused me and himself by submitting to atmospheric treatment a large copper coin of the two sicilies--a -grana piece of ferdinand iv. . he offered it to me, and i declined it, because the surface was unsatisfactory in my eyes. he said nothing; but about three months later he brought it to me from a window sill, where it had been taking an aërial bath of rather prolonged duration; and the effect was certainly surprising. all the repellent aspect of the superficies had vanished. i took it, and laughed, when he told me that there was only a shilling to pay for a quarter's incessant scientific manipulation. i have been studiously frugal in my adoption of oriental coins, because, frankly speaking, i have no faith in them as an investment. but i have retained a few early acquisitions, including a square gold _mohur_ of the emperor of hindostan, the famous akbar, and a _dinar_ in the same metal of the good caliph, haroun el reschid. whelan helped me to both these. the latter formed part of a parcel of such pieces, the property of a parsee at calcutta, and sold in london. the _dinars_ of el reschid were rather numerous, and were not recognised. the british museum got several, and i got the finest. how were the public to guess that they were connected with so celebrated a personage, when the catalogue described them as of _el reschid_? there also remains with me a gold _dinar_ of the th century, of the last caliph of bagdad. my learned friend, mr michael kerny, deciphered for me many years ago the inscriptions in the older arabic character in the inner circle on either side. they read: _praise to god mohammed the apostle of god god bless him and protect the iman there is no god but god only he has no peer al mustansir b--illah prince of the faithful by the grace of god_. an ill-starred swede visited england, or rather london, several years ago, and endeavoured to find a customer for a rather weighty package of old currency of the northern kingdoms, which he had borne with him across the sea, and after fruitless essays elsewhere he tried whelan. the latter did not see his way, and the stranger re-embarked for his native country with his burden, so to speak, on his back. on the floor in bloomsbury street, however, he left two small pieces (_schillings_ of christian iv. and ), which, as whelan had no idea who he was, or what his address, he presented to me. he gave me, too, a fine -_lire_ piece of napoleon i. , struck at milan. what a gain it is to be thought poor and deserving! many have been the good turns, many the valuable hints and items of information, and many, again, the pleasant hours, which i have spent in bloomsbury street. there is a huge black cat there, which is very friendly with habitual visitors; it used to make a practice of squeezing itself into sir john evans's bag, and remaining there, while he stayed. at bloomsbury street is one of my numismatic libraries of reference, to which i have long enjoyed free access. the custodian is not only well versed in coins and other curiosities, but is a reader and a repository of much entertaining literary and theatrical anecdote. i know that i take more than i give; but whelan now and again consults me about an old book or a continental coin, which he does not happen to have seen. i owed to my excellent acquaintance my introduction to lord grantley, whom i first met under his roof and from whom i have received kind help in my work and otherwise. his lordship, however, does not quite follow the same lines as i do. he is understood to be engaged in deciphering and elucidating the merovingian or merwing series--one, about which we have learned a good deal of recent years, and have a good deal more, i apprehend, to discover. i knew the late mr cockburn of richmond in consequence of having met him at dr diamond's at twickenham house. he was a fellow of the numismatic society, and when i first became acquainted with him possessed a small cabinet. he hinted at an intention of discontinuing the pursuit, and even of realising. he next offered me the collection for £ . i had to let him understand that i had not so much money to spare; but i ascertained that he had been a buyer in bygone years, and had certain desirable items in his hands. i timidly inquired whether it would be possible to select a few _desiderata_, and mr cockburn agreed to that proposal. he had many coins in poor state, and many which were duplicates; and by concentrating my strength, such as it was, on the best things, i procured for about £ nearly all that i wanted. two anglo-saxon pennies which puzzled me a little, and as to which the british museum authorities did not give me a reassuring opinion, i unfortunately missed. the residue cockburn sold _en bloc_ to montagu, and when the latter parted with the said two pennies in a sale of duplicates, i had the satisfaction of seeing them printed in the catalogue in capital letters! they might have come to me at £ the couple. i thanked the british museum, and applauded its discrimination. it appears, by the way, to be almost going too far to say that the portrait on the later groat and on the shilling of henry vii. is the earliest resemblance of an english king as distinguished from a conventional representation; for surely the bust on the groats of richard iii. makes a distinct movement in the same direction; and even on the money of edward iv. there is discernible a commencing tendency to realism. apart from the english coins, cockburn had purchased in the course of time about eighty roman second brass, which he insisted on selling in the lump, although i frankly told him, that very few would suit me. i gave him £ for them, selected a dozen or so of the finest, and let lincoln have the remainder for £ , s. d.--his own valuation. cockburn did not seem to sell for profit, and i admired his independence. he professed to pass on to me at cost price. for the sovereign of edward vi. ( th year) he had paid £ to lincoln; it was f.d.c.; and for an equally fine biga farthing of anne he charged me on the same principle s. other pieces, as the half-groat of mary i. at £ and the pattern shilling and sixpence of the commonwealth by blondeau at £ , struck me as dear enough. for eight varied _cunetti_ in mint-state he charged s. his anglo-saxon pennies were not unreasonable; harthacanut at £ was the highest; a halfpenny of edmund of east anglia was judged to be worth £ . had not montagu swooped down on the quarry, i might have left yet less behind me in a few weeks. i was snugly nibbling at it. the name, which deserves on some grounds the greatest prominence in these numismatic memorials--that of spink & son--not inappropriately crowns the list of my auxiliaries and caterers. i cannot recollect the precise circumstances, under which i first approached the firm--then in gracechurch street only; but i quickly discovered its enterprising spirit and friendly sentiment. it was a house, which had not at that period--about --long devoted special attention to the numismatic side; and through the possession of capital it rapidly came to the front. the stock of coins of all kinds grew in a marvellously short time only too varied and abundant, and under the auspices of spink & son, who behaved toward me as a person in humble circumstances with the utmost generosity and kindness, my collection developed in such a degree as to become almost serious, considering that this was another new outlet for my limited funds, and the largest of all. i had originally conceived the notion, which soon enough proved itself a chimerical one, that by investing my pocket-money to the extent of £ or so over a course of years in these instructive relics of the past i should satisfy all reasonable requirements, and pose as the owner of a rather conspicuous cabinet. my riper conclusions pointed to £ as the _minimum_, under the most advantageous and careful management, for a representative gathering like mine in first-rate state, an amount equivalent with good husbandry to £ , under normal conditions, where folks exercise too little circumspection, or are in too great a hurry. the moral may be, that no man should mount a hobby in the dark. i have persevered, where many would have, i am sure, despaired. but i imagine that the motive for early relinquishment is not by any means the unexpected outlay so often as the distaste arising from errors of judgment and the annoying sense of imposition. the cost to myself in labour and thought has been quite equal to that in cash; but i have thus steered clear of the dangers, which beset inexperienced and desultory collectors. if you lean upon other people's knowledge, you have to buy two articles instead of one. this thesis has no immediate bearing on spink & son, who never urged me to purchase anything against my judgment, and were always prepared to exchange a coin, if i altered my mind about it. they certainly put aside all pieces likely to be of interest to me, but the interest was not invariably commercial. it might be an example, which i desired to register, just as i was in the habit of doing with early english books; and when i had taken my note, and did not care to invest, the bargain was open to the next comer. a signal feature and facility in transactions here i have found to be the prompt exhibition with the marked price of every purchase and all purchases within the briefest possible interval. coins are no sooner acquired, than they are placed on view with the exception of certain specialities, which are temporarily laid aside, till one or two clients have had the opportunity of seeing them. i have long rather undeservedly been on this favoured list; and i believe that no coin, thought to be in my way, has been sold during some years past, till i have refused it. i had the unexpected good fortune to meet here with the thaler of nicholas schinner, bishop of sion, , absolutely f.d.c., and the kelch thaler of zurich, , nearly as fine. the zurich thaler of , with the three decapitated martyrs, was reported from germany, and alleged to be in mint state; but when it arrived, i identified it with the indifferent example in the boyne sale, and of course rejected it accordingly. such coins as these have a future. i had put in my pocket, and taken home, just prior to the issue of the monthly catalogue, a gold russian coin attributed to the reign of ivan the terrible, one of the numerous suitors of our queen elizabeth; but it was a century later. still i might have liked it, had not a telegram from russia arrived, and induced me to surrender the piece to some one, who evidently felt a peculiar interest in it. i was less considerate to the prince of naples, who is forming a private cabinet, and who ordered a rare _grosso_ of the roman republican era ( th century), which i had forestalled. it was _fleur de coin_, and i could not make up my mind to let it go, even to so exalted a personage. the most striking point is, that i had merely signified my wish to have the coin, and that spink & son might have sent it to the prince, on the plea that i had not actually bought it. i occasionally have the pleasure of making my good friends a slight return for their consideration. they had obtained at a sale for fifty shillings in a lot two examples of the very rare _mezzo scudo_ struck in in the name of the florentine republic with the monogram of the standard-bearer for the year, just prior to the establishment of the medici family in power. they shewed both to me, and permitted me to select the better for s. i then pointed out that at the rossi sale in one had fetched £ , s., and recommended them to mark the remaining specimen £ , s., at which figure a foreign dealer jumped at it. at the boyne sale in a third was carried to £ , s. by the same individual. the piece is remarkable as the heaviest denomination so far struck in florence in silver. piccadilly, to which the coin and medal department has been transferred, constitutes my second library of reference, as spink & son have spared no cost to bring together all the most valuable and important numismatic books and catalogues in all languages. this has formed a largely serviceable and welcome element in my connection with the firm, and has conferred on me without the slightest expense all the advantages attendant on the personal possession of the volumes. the english collector of foreign coins has, as a rule, as slight an acquaintance with these rich sources of information as i should have had in the absence of such facilities. the monthly _numismatic circular_ has tended in a direct and an indirect manner to draw spink & son into closer touch with holders and purchasers of coins everywhere; and the prospect of being able to examine, if not to acquire in all cases, an incessant volume of these interesting monuments seems to me likely to go on improving. i shall return to the subject of the circular in a succeeding chapter. a characteristic injustice was perpetrated on this firm by a divine, who honoured it with an order for a certain early english silver penny, and to whom, though a stranger and in the country, the coin was sent, packed up in the customary manner, on approval. the reverend gentleman reported in due course that it arrived at his address broken in half, and declined to pay for it. there was no absolute plea of negligence in the method of enclosure; the client authorised its transmission to him; and he did not even propose to defray the cost or part of it. the dealers took him before the magistrate, and the latter decided in favour of the client on the ground that the coin was a very old one, and had lasted long enough. verily, as there are land thieves and water thieves, there are paid magisterial owls as well as unpaid. chapter xiv the coin sales--my stealthy accumulations from some of them--comparative advantages of large and small sales--the disappointment over one at genoa--the boyne sale--its meagre proportion of fine pieces--my comfort, and what came to me--narrow escape of the collection from sacrifice to a foreign combination--trade sales abroad--a new departure--considerations on poorly-preserved coins--i resign them to the learned--i have to classify by countries and their divisions--my personal appurtenances--suggestions which may be useful to others--the great bactrian discovery--extent of representative collections of ancient money--antony and cleopatra--adherence to my own fixed and deliberate plan--the argument to be used by any one following in my footsteps--advice of an old collector to a new one. from the very limited nature of my resources i have been forced to content myself with being a casual buyer. i have witnessed the dispersion of all the finest assemblages of coins, which have come to the hammer or into the market in the course of nearly twenty years, and have involuntarily played the part of a spectator and note-maker, where it would have delighted me to compete for the best with the best. i have not attended auctions as a buyer either of china or of coins save in one or two instances at the outset, and i have subsequently rejected these acquisitions as indiscreet. the principal sales, which have fallen under my observation, were those of lake price, shepherd, whithall, marsham, rostron, webb, carfrae, ashburnham, montagu, and bunbury, - ; these were limited to the english, greek, and roman series; and i presume that some filtered unrecognised into my cabinet. of the foreign collections, or those into which the continental element entered, i took more particular note and more direct cognisance. there were the rossi, remedi, ingram, leyster, dillon, samuel smith, united service institution, boyne, and durazzo, between the year and the present time. the latter group immediately or eventually contributed a really large body of additions. from the ingram sale came the double gold _scudo_ of pope julius ii. by francia, which i mention only, because it was, i think, my earliest heavy purchase of the kind. the leyster affair was antecedent to the serious competition of spink & son for such property; and the bulk went abroad. from such purchases as lincoln & son effected i took anything, which passed my standard; but too many of the lots were poor, and not a few were fabrications. it was a vast collection formed by a gentleman in ireland at a distance from any centre and without much apparent taste or discretion; and the german houses very probably did well over it. lord dillon's coins yielded a few items, which i was glad to get--one or two polish gold pieces, a venetian -ducat one, and so forth; and among the silver there was a half _dick-thaler_ of sigismund, archduke of austria, for the tyrol, , which mr schulman assured me did not exist, and which i engraved in my _coins of europe_, . i have since met with a second. it is hard to determine which is the superior market, a big sale or a small one. at the former items may be overlooked; the latter does not attract buyers so freely. to mr samuel smith of liverpool i was indebted, when he parted with his comparatively limited acquisitions, for the finest specimens which i have seen of the bern thaler of , and the lorraine one of , at a far more moderate tariff than inferior examples have brought before or since. then in the entire sale not more than three items altogether excited any interest on my part. it was just the same when the royal united service institution submitted its numismatic property to public competition. it was in the main a mass of rubbish; i picked out one or two silver pieces and a lot of about thirty _selected_ copper, of the latter of which i kept less than half. the unselected copper numbered or so, and were only eligible for the melting-pot. the durazzo collection, sold at genoa, was a singular disappointment. the catalogue was rather sumptuous and very detailed. a rumour prevailed at the time that the alleged _provenance_ of the collection was not strictly veracious, and that the property actually belonged to vitalini the italian dealer. as a numismatic amateur during almost a score of years i have experienced a good deal of this kind of personation; but i argue that it matters little whence a coin comes to one, so long as the character and state are right, with the added advantage that in passing from an inferior to possibly a better atmosphere the purchase improves in value. there were about lots, of which the majority consisted of roman and greek; the remainder was continental. many of the italian rarities were included; and genoa and monaco were very strongly represented. i knew that spink & son had sent commissions, and i augured well for the result; but i had not indicated my views personally, and indeed the catalogue did not reach my hands, till it was too late for me to intervene. i had never before known such a series of the money of monaco to be offered simultaneously. when no news in any shape came to my ears, it transpired on inquiry that a few papal coins, recently acquired by me, belonged to the collection, and that the prevailing feature of the latter was a state of preservation so utterly hopeless, that some of the company retired after the first day. the actual metallic records were there, i presume; but they did not harmonise with the estimates of the too romantic cataloguer. even now, after the event, who ought to feel surprise, if whatever there may have been of any merit, should ultimately drift to these hospitable shores, and--? the dispersion of the cabinet of the late william boyne in london interested me uniquely, for it was particularly rich in the italian series, and the incident differed from those, which had preceded it within my remembrance, inasmuch as the property was brought within reach of inspection, and one could sit at a table in wellington street, prior to the commencement of operations, and examine the coins, catalogue in hand. it was a ten-days' affair, and it was computed that there were , items. still i resolved to go through with my project for seeing every lot, which i had marked, and judging whether it was a desirable acquisition. i read between the lines of the catalogue with the aid of one or two of my numismatic acquaintances, who warned me against expecting too much; for they were familiar with my idiosyncrasies. taking tray by tray, i actually saw far more than i contemplated; nearly the whole property passed before me in review; and i was grievously disappointed. it was an indiscriminate assemblage of coins of all sorts, evidently bought at random or _en bloc_, and poverty of condition preponderated in a lamentable measure. there was one consolation. i was enabled to concentrate all my pecuniary forces on the few objects, which struck me as exceptional; and i succeeded in making myself master of nearly all the specialities among the italians, which i coveted, and several _desiderata_ elsewhere. the competition was sensibly mitigated by an _entente cordiale_ among a portion of the company, and the bulk returned to the continent. had the collection been equally attractive and important to myself from a numismatic and a commercial point of view, i should have found much more than i could have possibly grasped; but the prevalent state conformed to the normal continental definition of _beau_, which in english signifies _crucible_. there was little enough in the boyne catalogue, which i had not learned from a careful previous study of those of all the great italian, german, and french collections, which had been published or privately printed. but the occasion supplied me with a precious opportunity of holding in my hands coins, which, whatever might be their value or want of value as possessions, were and are in many instances of immense rarity, and seemed, when in direct contact, additionally substantial and authentic. four or five bidders saved the issue from being a _fiasco_ in a financial sense. but the selection of london as the scene may tend to accelerate a little the recognition in great britain of the ancient money of the continent as at all events an appropriate chronological sequel to that of greece and rome, while it represents in itself a body of material of inexhaustible curiosity and value to the historian and the artist. i purposely abstain from classing with the sales of explicit or professed private properties those, which, as season succeeds season, are dedicated by the trade everywhere to the object of converting their surplus or unrealised stock into money. one feels an almost painful delicacy in handling this part of the subject; and i propose to restrict myself to the criticism that it is possible to secure many absolute bargains at a reduced price by making an offer to the party who, for anything one knows, may be a kind of trinity in unity--owner, cataloguer, and auctioneer. coins are speculative goods; and if a lot or so misses certain expected channels, it is sometimes a lodger with the proprietor long enough to make him tired of looking at it. then, when he is in his most despondent vein, comes the moment for the opportunist, and there are twenty-four pence in every shilling. the auction-rooms among ourselves and abroad, wherever there is a volume of business in coins (and in other second-hand commodities), appear to be vehicles, however, more and more for a systematic organisation, by which the dealer sells his goods under the hammer instead of over the counter. foragers are observed collecting in one market by virtue of their special knowledge lots suitable for disposal in this way in another or others; and they have a machinery adapted to their peculiar requirements. their stock is always a floating one. thousands of pounds pass through their hands in a season. there are not many in the line, for it demands some capital, some credit, and some courage. there is one house, which avers that it carries on this system for the public good--in order to diffuse a conversance with numismatic science. we have more heroes and philanthropists than we dream of, have we not? as i mentally or otherwise glance through my at length not so very inconsiderable accumulation of ancient or obsolete currencies, i strive to think how my own experience is capable of serving those, who have the starting-point nearer within view. it seems at first sight to be regretted, that not merely such large sums of money, but so much time and labour, should be expended in perpetuity in the stereotyped process of gathering up the wrong things, gradually detecting their character, and retrieving the error by casting overboard the original lot, and beginning anew on a truer basis. the cause of numismatic archæology of course imperatively demands the preservation of every item of every mint, no matter how degraded may be its state, or how insignificant its individuality, so long as it is of that high degree of scarcity, which entitles it to monumental regard. i may more emphatically specify, as falling within such a definition, the examples engraved and described by my correspondent, count nicolò papadopoli, in his _monete italiane inedite_, , the major part of which come very far short of my personal ideas of works of art, but of which the affectionate custody by posterity becomes a duty on historical grounds. at the same time, as my aim has been necessarily a narrow one, and as i elected at a very early stage in my experience to figure as one of the apostles of condition, i cheerfully resign these records to others, and am quite satisfied with engraved reproductions of them. on that precaution i lay the utmost stress. in my first apprenticeship to numismatics i believe that i was unusually ignorant of a subject, which the works of reference introduced since my school-days have rendered so much more accessible and intelligible. but i was industrious and observant, and was not deficient in taste. i began to collect at a period of life, when i was able to discern the fallacy of the penny-box principle; my level was never very low, if it was not in the earlier years so high as it ultimately grew; and i no sooner perceived a mistake, than i hastened to rectify it. an appreciable interval elapsed, however, before i found myself in possession of a sufficient body of coins to make a distribution into countries or sections of any service. there were so many specimens; the metals were unequally represented; and i recollect that gold resembled the plums in a school pudding. it was a gala day, when i received my first cabinet home, and entered into a rudimentary and tentative phase of classification; and it was then, too, that not my opulence, but my excessive poverty and humility, as a collector was revealed to me. providentially, these shocks are generally broken by some circumstance, and in my case it was my still most empirical acquirement of the full bearings and scope of my adventurous enterprise. the cabinet stood half empty; i felt the reproach; and i proceeded not only to fill it, but to gather tenants for a second--and a third, with an overflow capable of furnishing one or two more. such a development might have had comparatively slight significance, because a coin, which is worth a penny, may occupy a larger space than one, which is worth £ ; but in a parallel ratio with the increase in number was the rise in the qualifying standard, or, in other words, i was constantly and heavily adding to my stores, and putting in rigorous force the principle of exclusion. there could be only one result. now, in the hope, that certain general particulars, which have cost the writer an infinite amount of trouble to collect for his own benefit and instruction during a series of years, may be acceptable and useful to others, proposing to embark in the same undertaking, i shall reduce the fruit of my own efforts to a summary, indicative of what has seemed to me, after long and deliberate consideration, to be adequate to the purposes of anyone of moderate views, who seeks to assemble together a fairly representative _corpus_ of the various chronological monuments of european rulers and regions and of the successive schools of numismatic art. completeness in any given series is by no means essential to the mastery of a competent idea of its character and merits from all ways of looking; and the study of mints and mint-marks is a mere technical detail, which owes its leading interest to its incidental illustrations of topography and of the careers of engravers--many of them otherwise distinguished. many persons start with the greek or roman, or perhaps both, from a belief that they are the most ancient and the most instructive. my first roman coin was a most disreputable specimen of a very common first brass of hadrian, handsomely presented to my son by a captain at a watering-place, and my first greek a forgery of one of the numberless tetradrachms of alexander the great. i was in the _berceaunette_ stage; but i was not quite so long in it as some are. i am indebted to lincoln & son for having conferred on me the rudiments (if not something more) of my education in these two very important divisions of every cabinet of any pretensions whatever; and i may at last presume to offer myself as a counsellor of others, who may be situated as i was in my nonage. it entirely depends on the breadth of a new collector's plan, which is usually influenced by his resources, how far he proceeds in his selection of the greek coinage, for under any circumstances a selection it must be. no individual, no public institution, can boast of possessing a complete series in all metals. i resorted to the principle of choosing under each coin-striking region of ancient hellas a sufficient number of pieces in electrum, gold, silver, and copper or bronze to represent a chronological succession of its products, and i also observed the rule of comprising, if possible, all such as exhibited the portraitures, or at least titles, of rulers of personal eminence. a numismatist pure and simple attaches, very justly attaches from his special point of view, emphatic weight to many examples, of which the sole attraction and value are their accidental rarity without regard to their intrinsic interest; this is not a wise policy for the private amateur, whatever his fortune may be. such relics ought to find their resting-place in a public repository, and a full record of them should be preserved in one of the learned transactions for general reference. how immensely one was pleased to learn that sir wollaston franks had fallen in with a bactrian dekadrachm; and the satisfaction, so far as i was concerned, was augmented by the news, that he had presented it to the british museum. if it had been submitted as a purchase or even gift to myself, i should have declined it, as it fails to respond to my postulates. it is merely a voucher. it is my impression, based on a long experience, that about three hundred greek coins of all varieties and types will be found to embrace everything of real note, and will provide the possessor with numismatic specimens in all metals, of every region, of every period and style, of each denomination, and of all such great personalities as are known to have struck money, not only within the limits of european greece, but in the countries and colonies subject to its sovereigns in their varied degrees of power and prosperity or by its cities from their first rude development to their zenith in political influence and commercial wealth. a proportion of gold is highly desirable, particularly the athenian, syracusan, and egyptian; the copper must be very fine and patinated; the silver is the easiest to find, except in certain series. i succeeded in furnishing myself with the majority of typical examples alike in silver and bronze, and indeed (except under attica) in the most precious metal. i could never meet with more than a single athenian specimen--a [greek: êmiekton]; but the most beautiful and fascinating productions are the gold tetradrachms and octodrachms of the ptolemies, so rich in their portraiture, costume, and design. three or four of these gems suffice for a moderate programme. i found fifty pounds inadequate to the purchase of even three. there is a particularly charming one of ptolemy iii., and no one must forget that great, if not very good, lady, the cleopatra of history, whose portrait appears both on her brother's and her own coins in egypt and on those of mark antony in the roman consular series. to any collector aiming at the not unreasonable object of securing her likeness it may be useful to mention, that her veiled or deified bust accompanies certain bronze pieces of moderate price and excellent quality. the writer has attentively scrutinised the catalogues of all the sales of greek and roman money, which have taken place in his time, and the conclusion to be drawn from the descriptive accounts and the realised figures is so far a consolatory one for the great majority, who cannot afford to go beyond a comparatively low figure. for it becomes clearly apparent that the costliest pieces are not the most powerful in their appeal to us on historical or artistic grounds. remember that we have to take into account these points of interest: history, with which is closely embodied religious cult, biography, topography, and art. a thoroughly well-meaning dealer exclaims, if you challenge the quotation for some indifferent specimen of a not too remarkably executed _tetradrachm_ or _drachma_:--'but look at the rarity! the last one sold for so much.' and i am sorry to say, that this plea too frequently prevails. i have always turned a deaf ear to all attempts to induce me to acquire on any terms coins, which were not highly preserved, whatever their scarcity of occurrence might be. i preferred to examine them in other hands, or even to contemplate engravings derived from superior examples. let a person in my position lay down for himself this principle for his guidance:--my space is limited; my means are the same; the material or means of supply, as time goes on, is infinite and inexhaustible; no collection in the universe is complete; therefore, incompleteness being a relative expression, i will take here and there, from this sale or that, from this or that place of business, just as many coins as serve to gratify my love of the beautiful, my reverence for great names, my curiosity to hold in my hand pieces of currency which, alike in the case of greece and rome, united with their monetary import and use symbols of an earnest religious faith and proud records of national achievements by sea and land. to possess an even extensive assemblage of such monuments i found in my own experience, and others may do the same, that a man has not to be quite a croesus; nor in truth is it peremptory to insist in such extreme measure as i have on faultless beauty of state. i may have been too luxurious, too dainty. at any rate, all which contributes to render coins of all periods and kinds serviceable and agreeable is within the reach of individuals of very straitened purchasing powers. but it is necessary to guard against disproportion, which is very likely to arise in all sections from the occurrence of the products of _trouvailles_ in tempting condition at a modest tariff. my recommendation is to avoid even the semblance of duplicates, where the sole difference is the date or the mint-mark, or possibly a slight variation in the legend. my natural sympathy is with the poorer collector, who has perchance to exercise a little self-denial to enable him to carry out successfully and profitably his hobby; the rich have only to buy and to pay; and those, who may choose to follow in my footsteps more or less, will soon discover, as i did, that to arrive at a satisfactory result under pecuniary disadvantages is a task demanding knowledge, discretion, and patience. of the passions of the human mind that which directs us to a certain object or aim, if not to more than one, with irresistible vehemence, and holds us bound within its range as by a spell, is one of the strongest, most ancient, and most unreasoning. my own life during the past thirty or forty years, or in other words the best part of my career, has been mainly engrossed by the pursuit of two or three fancies; the serious business of existence seems to have been a secondary question; and the most substantial testimony to my earnestness of purpose and (i have to own) my thorough subjection to the influence of the taste, is to be found in my irresponsive surroundings and my sacrifice of other interests to what my less sentimental friends would call an _ignis fatuus_. chapter xv literary direction given to my numismatic studies and choice--the wallenstein thaler--the good caliph haroun el reschid--some of the twelve peers of france who struck money--lorenzo de' medici, called _the magnificent_--robert the devil--alfred the great--harold--the empress matilda--marino faliero--massaniello--the technist thinks poorly of me--my plea for the human, educating interest in coins--the penny box now and then makes a real collector--how i threw myself _in medias res_--first impressions of the greek series--my difficulty in apprehending facts--early illusions gradually dissipated--what constitutes a typical greek and roman cabinet--and what renders great collections great--redundance in certain cases defended--official authorities except to my treatment of the subject--tom tidler's ground--the technical _versus_ the vital and substantial interest in coins--my width of sympathy beneficial to myself and likely to prove so to my followers--outline and distribution of my collection--autotype replicas and forgeries--romantic evolution of bactrian coinage and history--caution to my fellow-collectors against excessive prices for greek coins--wait and watch--mr hyman montagu and his roman gold, and the moral--the best coins not the dearest--our national series--its susceptibility to eclectic treatment--a whimsical speculation--an untechnical method of looking at a coin--a burst bubble--the continental currencies--their clear superiority of interest and instructive power--the writer's attitude toward them. my own sectional arrangement obeyed my doubtless peculiar training as a man of letters rather than a numismatist, and side by side with my peremptory instruction to myself as to quality i kept steadily in view the importance and charm, as it seemed to me, of comprising in my plan all those coins, which existed in the various series relating to celebrated historical personages and events. the dealers ignore this aspect of the question; they merely concern themselves with what is rare or common, dear or cheap. i negotiated a thaler of wallenstein; the price was rather high; but i agreed to take it on account of the celebrity of the man. the vendor had never heard of him; he knew it only as an uncommon piece! you purchase a small gold coin of 'el reschid'; the hand, which is held out to receive the money for it--not so much over the metal--is not conscious that it may have been actually through those of the striker, the hero of the _arabian nights_, nor forsooth does he care. no one will probably offer a shilling more for it for such a reason. it may occur that an insignificant, ill-struck coin of base metal appertains to milon of narbonne, or roland, nephew of charlemagne and the orlando of the poets, or to richard of the lion heart; one examines its credentials, and yields it a place of honour. i obtained in a lot of italian copper a small quattrino, as it is called, with _lav. medices dux_ on one side and _pisavr_ on the other: what was it but money issued in --and that year alone--by lorenzo de' medici, called the _magnificent_, as duke of pesaro? it may be equally predicated of arthur of bretagne, the possible prototype of the hero of romance, arthur of little britain, and of robert of normandy, called _le diable_, that their personal surpasses their numismatic distinction; for in the latter way they survive only in monuments of the poorest material, aspect, and style. nor is it very different with the coins of alfred the great, of harold, who fell at hastings, of henry beauclerc, of stephen, of the empress matilda, in the english series, and with such continental celebrities as the hero-doges of venice, enrico dandolo, marino faliero, and francesco foscari; or as king robert of sicily, gaston de foix, joanna of naples, massaniello. yet, on the contrary, there are splendid medallic evidences of others both in ancient and modern times; and it appears to redeem a cabinet from the imputation of being a portrait-gallery of illustrious obscure, if we leaven its contents with the effigies of men and women, whose names are familiar to all fairly educated people. this principle, then, collaterally influenced me in my selection, and made me anxious to omit no record of consequence illustrating a historical individual or incident. i aimed at approximating to a collection of medals, as far as the coin would permit. i also affected the earliest examples of each country, bearing a note of the year of issue and of the current value; and altogether my project became quite powerfully tinctured by my prepossessions and lessons as a book-student. i looked with comparative lukewarmth at the technical side, and i apprehend that i enjoy an indifferent repute among my more learned contemporaries, who pride themselves on their familiarity with mechanical and official details. all these points are excessively important and interesting in their way; and i have entered into them a good deal in my two numismatic publications. i was disposed in my private capacity to regard the human constituents of these remains of former ages; and i promise that it will repay the trouble of investigating the illustrated works of reference, in default of possessing the objects themselves, by shewing how similar motives have swayed rulers and states from the outset in regulating the costume of their coinage, how they have habitually made it a political vehicle, and how the annals and fortunes of the country are to be read on its changing and varying face as in the pages of a volume. it is the more to be lamented on that account, since it may not suit everybody to collect coins, that the pictorial feature in nearly all numismatic undertakings is the most imperfect and misleading and in the old-fashioned or cheap books amounts to little better than caricature. i grant that there is the proud lust of ownership; but the discs of metal are of no real relevance outside the story, which they are able to tell us, if or when we are qualified to read it. all the rest, in a high sense, is but bullion, is it not?--and the criticism emphatically applies to heterogeneous assemblages of obsolete currencies, formed without taste, and held without fruit. this feeling, and the persuasion that the most extensive and long-established collections in the world are more or less incomplete, actuated me, so soon as i had graduated far enough to lay down regulations for my own use and to decide once for all on treating condition as primary, and historical and personal interest as covetable _succeedanea_, which lightened and seasoned the rest. most of us have heard, among the famous greeks and romans, of philip and alexander of macedon, darius of persia, pyrrhus, cleopatra, julius cæsar, mark antony, augustus, nero, and the antonines; and it is customary for school-boys to explore the recesses of the penny box in shop or on stall in quest of pieces of bronze bearing the effigies of these ancient celebrities. school-boys have done this during centuries, and many of them have done nothing more. but here and there the child is father to the man, and the proprietor of a celebrated cabinet has it in his power to range over a life-long past wealthy in profitable and pleasant recollections, and to exhibit to his friends as a curiosity the humble piece, which first seduced him. in the present case the pursuit dated from a maturer period, and i was debarred from such a privilege. i have learned much from coins; but i came to the study with a fair tincture of preparatory knowledge, and while i entertained becoming reverence for the great names of antiquity and of the renaissance associated with it, i was old enough to be aware how many other claims it had on our attention and regard. i turned to the ancient greek series, i recollect, with the vague impression that it consisted of objects, which appealed to all persons of taste--an impression, which had been experienced by thousands before me, and which is perhaps generally due to conversation with more erudite acquaintance rather than to books. works of reference come later. they did so with me. i had overheard talk of the grandeur and charm of design, the antiquity, the familiar names and myths; and perhaps someone let me see one or two, which struck me as curious, or some engravings of the school, which preceded autotype and other allied processes. the end of it was that i bought a few inexpensive examples of lincoln, and afterward, when it came to the turn of the roman money, i was attracted by the beauty and cheapness of the family or consular series and by the ease, with which the second and third brass were obtainable. but it demanded a longer time than i care to own to enable me to perceive the affinity between the republican silver _denarii_ and the productions of the professedly hellenic school. if i had mingled with collectors, or consulted books or experts, i should have learned far more quickly and perfectly my self-set lesson. but i have never been gregarious or clubable; and i pursued my own way with the result that i committed an abundance of mistakes, yet not half so many as i deserved from my unbending persistence in depending on my personal researches and judgment. this dogged opinionativeness and hard tone of mind have proved disadvantageous through life. i quitted school much more ignorant, i dare say, than i needed to have done, because it was not my cue or bent to comprehend what the teachers delivered, or to relish the methods, which they pursued; and the single point, which i brought away from my attendance at a twelve months' course of lectures on law and jurisprudence at the inner temple, was the persuasion that in a particular line of argument, in which i happened to follow the lecturer, he was wrong. i hold a very kind note from dr phillimore, thanking me for my correction. one of my numismatic illusions was the uniform low rate, at which the roman consular _denarii_ and other coins of that class, as well as the imperial currencies, could be secured in course of time. i soon found that a piece had only to be rare, or in gold, or rather exquisitely patinated, to stand out in high relief, and make a serious inroad on one's resources. i have been fairly watchful and enterprising during the best part of twenty years, and my greek and roman collections still await several clear _desiderata_, not because those _desiderata_ are scarce and expensive, but because they are typical. i possess about pieces, perhaps, in all metals; five-and-twenty more would render my two series substantially representative. i shall get what i want by waiting. what i have suffices meanwhile to gratify my sense of that artistic and ideal genius, for which my elders had prepared me, so far as the greek and roman consular go, and my feeling for all that rome has left behind it in grand personalities, splendid achievement, and records of thought and custom. it cannot be fruitless or irrelevant to repeat that the magnitude of the most famous collections is chiefly owing to the presence of numberless varieties and sub-varieties of coins--even of unimportant ones. a man makes a principle of accumulating every year of the bronze money of the present reign, or farthings of every conceivable description, or maundy money. _cui bono?_ this is a course of policy which should be reserved for the public institution and the numismatic chronicler. i have a gold _stater_, perhaps of philip of macedon, an electrum one of cyzicus or lampsacus, a silver tetradrachm of alexander the great, and another of the athenian republic; i do not covet all the more or less slightly variant examples, which may exist. it is different, where the coin is remarkable in itself, and the type is distinct, as, for instance, in the contemporary and posthumous money of alexander of macedon, in the progressive improvement in the currency of athens, in the specimens of syracusan medallic art, which shew the stages, through which it passed; and in the pieces, which have preserved to us the likeness of such celebrities as cleopatra, julius cæsar, mark antony, and which vary in certain physiognomical details. here there is a more or less intelligible plea for repetition or redundancy. but in avoiding the admittance of practical duplicates i flatter myself that i have avoided a troublesome and costly error, which punishes you in two ways--when you acquire and when you realise. i have sometimes speculated why it is that _i_, for one, shut up books on coins after a short consultation and turn to the things themselves--the tangible realities. there must be somehow a cross with the magpie in one's blood. the only kind of publication of a numismatic complexion, which strikes me as endurable, is that which is written on sympathetic lines, in a broadly appreciative temper and spirit. the dry calendars compiled by official experts, and the catalogues of auctions, are hard reading. they are mere lexicons or printed transfers. yet when i endeavoured to follow in the footsteps of one or two earlier writers, who gave wise prominence (as i thought) to the human and living interest resident in coins of all ages and countries in former times, i was reproved by the learned as too _literary_ in my style, although in my larger book i afforded ample scope to the technical aspect of the question, and merely asserted my view by making it an independent section in distinct type. but the true cause of offence or disagreement was and is my presumption as a layman in trespassing on the preserves of tom tiddler. it has been objected to my unusual width of range that it precludes full justice, as it is the fashion to call it, to any of the series. the reply to this, however, is obvious, and has already in fact been given. unless a private cabinet is formed with a special eye to the official study of a group of coins or of the monetary products of a region, the object should be, not exhaustive treatment, which in the first place is impossible, but eclectic, which tends to familiarise the holder with the policy and progress of all nationalities in all parts of the globe from time to time in rendering _media_ of exchange objects of interest, instruction and beauty, as well as of use. a man emerges from the latter plan with a clearer and broader appreciation of the subject and its manifold bearings than he does, if he draws the line at a country, at a period, or at a type. it may be a just source of pride to be able to say that you are the existing repository of so many examples or varieties, of which no one else can boast the ownership; but, looking at the ultimate aim, it is not clear where the solid advantage lies. my appurtenances in this direction embrace: . greek and roman; . continental; . english and scotish; . american; . oriental. the last-named occupy a space proportionate to the narrowness of their appeal to my sympathy. the money of the ancients, more especially that of greece, when one casts one's eyes on its portraiture, symbols, legends, fabric, and costume, i treasure as everlastingly impressive testimony to the force of soil, climate, and social and religious conditions, and as the basis of every essay of any pretensions in collecting. the difficulties and dangers are unusually great, as the disparities of estimated value are great; and the liability to error and deception are manifold. the wholesale official system at home of multiplying autotype copies of rare and valuable pieces originated in a sound idea; but has been carried too far, and forms an inducement to impose reproductions on inexperienced persons already perplexed by encountering casts and other forgeries; and then, again, the greek and roman series are a constant mark for the ingenious foreigner, who has busied himself, as we have all heard, ever so long since in fabricating for enthusiastic admirers of the antique the almost unfailing _lacunæ_ in their cabinets. some classes of coins are more subject to falsification than others. the athenian gold and the bactrian silver are very favourite game for the gentile, the jew, and the mahometan alike. they forget their religious antagonism in a fraternal community of aim. i have referred to the bactrian coinage as having been extensively forged. but there has strangely accumulated, since those days, when the surviving number was almost computable on the fingers, a vast chronological monument, disclosing to our eyes a marvellous oriental legend of mighty rulers and long, prosperous reigns, coins their only historians. i was favoured by the museum authorities with an early glance at the magnificent purchase from general cunningham of his bactrian numismatic collection for £ , by virtue of a special parliamentary grant; and this has at once placed our national cabinet in a most satisfactory and enviable position in this respect. of the money of upward of thirty kings of this region--the ancient affghanistan--the silver is now copiously represented, but not so the gold or the copper. i tell the story of the -_stater_ piece, in the most precious metal, of eukratides, king of bactria, in my _coin-collector_. of the copper or bronze i have long owned a very beautiful example, probably of heliocles; in _my_ state these latter productions are peculiarly rare. never was such a case of time drawing truth out of a well; and we have not reached the end of the matter yet. there will be further discoveries. here is a conspicuous instance of the peril attendant on giving extravagant prices for coins of supposed rarity. there are among the bactrians silver tetradrachms and smaller denominations, which can be bought for fewer shillings than they once commanded sovereigns. my obolos of demetrius, for example, cost s.; it is valued by mionnet at £ . but you must exercise particular caution in this direction for the reason, which i have assigned. i shall be entirely satisfied, if i succeed in procuring a selection affording a competent idea of the prevailing character and costume of the whole, of which the earlier reigns are immeasurably the more desirable; a complete sequence is out of the question; even the british museum under the most favourable conditions does not possess it--perhaps never will. i really think that with the poorer coin-collector it is the same as with his analogue in the book market. the most beautiful and most interesting objects in the greek and roman coinages are well within his means of attainment, if he chooses to wait and watch, provided that he cares to do what the present deponent did, do his best to eke out his deficiency of resources with acquired knowledge and discrimination. in that case he may rise one morning the owner of an assemblage of these delightful and educating remains, and may ask himself the question, in what manner and degree it differs from those most famous and most frequently quoted in our numismatic records. he will find that what he lacks in common with all, who have not bottomless purses, are just the rare denominations or values, or types, of which he may probably possess examples substantially identical--perhaps in superior condition. take the roman gold of the late mr hyman montagu. that gentleman suddenly conceived it to be his mission to become master, not merely of all the really interesting coins in that metal and series; but it was peremptory that he should outdo everybody else, and be able to proclaim that he had every gold piece struck by every obscure and insignificant ruler down to the fall of the empire; and i believe that he was gratified. he could plead nothing for his project beyond its completeness; and that very feature was its weak point. think how infinitely preferable it is to select the best; they are to be had at moderate prices; they appeal to everyone, who has a fair degree of culture; and they occupy less room. the rarities are usually of poor work and fabric as well as of princes, who reigned just long enough to stamp their names and effigies on a circular disc of gold. mr montagu, however, felt bound to draw a broad line of distinction between humbler aspirants and himself; and he erected this monument to his memory. it is much the same thing with the greek in all its varieties and ramifications, of which, no less than of the roman, i furnish a comprehensive sketch in my _coin-collector_. the money of ephemeral rulers and governments, or high and unusual denominations, like the syracusan medallion or -drachma piece form the trying part and aspect of an undertaking. i soon discovered that i could command even with a slender purchasing power all that was essential to enable me to comprehend the monetary story of the most remarkable, and one of the greatest, empires of the ancient world. when i turned over the pages of the carfrae, ashburnham, montagu and bunbury catalogues, it was easy to perceive how these grand collections assumed such bewildering and fatiguing proportions; and i saw to my surprise that, rather than forego a particular item, condition was often waived. i thought that i discerned, for private connoisseurs as distinguished from great institutions like the british museum, a radical error of judgment and policy here, and i congratulate myself on having avoided it. condition, on which i shall have something more to say by-and-by, i could and can understand; and as i have never regretted losing a dear coin, i have never regretted letting a poor one pass. but i have seen with complacency my rich friends snatch out of my hands some things, which i should have been content to have at my estimate; and if i am patient they will fall to me another day. i take what comes, and am thankful. at one of the numerous montagu sales a piece realised £ , s. i dare say that it passed through one or two hands; but it became mine at last for half-a-sovereign. i must change the scene. i was never led away in respect to the money of the united kingdom, not even by patriotism, so far as to find funds and accommodation for every constituent part of every series within these lines. if i were not an englishman, i should declare unreservedly that a less interesting, more monotonous, and worse executed body of material than the coinages of england, scotland, ireland, and their dependencies, with certain emphatic exceptions, does not exist. it has asked all my loyalty to overcome an instinctive repugnance to the uncouth abortions struck as currency by our british, anglo-saxon, and many of our anglo-norman, progenitors. you may contemplate the entire gallery and succession in numismatic books, with autotype reproductions of these caricatures. a heavy proportion of them are barbarous and feeble imitations of greek, roman, and mediæval patterns. perhaps in art and style they resemble most closely the gaulish and visigothic series. if we reserve one or two types of offa of mercia and alfred the great, the commonest are the best, because they were struck under the authority of sovereigns, whose power was established. i put to myself the question at a very early stage, how many representatives was it necessary for me to assemble before me of these classes or schools of production? the answer is readable in the presence of fifty or sixty britons, saxons, danes, and normans; and i have no courage to swell their ranks. when i look at them, i can find nothing to justify the cost of their maintenance but the weak little sentiment, that these pieces of gold, silver, copper, or tin passed from hand to hand, when the part, where i am a dweller, was a dark, swampy forest, with a few squalid huts dotted here and there, and that one or two of these bits of money may have been in the pouch of cymbeline, or krause (_vulgo_ carausius) or alfred. in fact, i have a silver penny of the royal cake-burner, which weighs two grains more than any other known; it was colonel murchison's; but possibly it had previously belonged to the king himself! seriously speaking, our native currencies acquired their value and rank only, when the french and low country types began to attract notice and emulation; and i should be satisfied with drawing the line at edward iii. as a commencing point and at anne as a finishing one. the view is by no means original; i have met with several, who averted their eyes from the peculiarly humble and uncouth beginnings of the british people in this way; and the late mr montagu parted long before his death, on the ground of their dearth of interest, with the whole of his hanoverian collections. between these extremities there is undeniably a rich field for choice. numismatists have always, i apprehend, regarded me as a heretic, for the simple reason that i attached, in the absence of some specific ground, no importance to mint-marks or to minor differences. i have accustomed myself to take a coin in my hand, and estimate it on its merits. i am able to see what ruler or state it represents, its period, its style, its value. it may bear on its face a striking portrait of some illustrious personage--a potent sovereign, a distinguished soldier, a great lady--of whom the lineaments are nowhere else extant. it may be money of necessity, narrating to us, as fully as it can, a tragic or a noble story. it may be the first piece which was struck by a famous individual or place, or the last--perchance out of church or college plate with the original border of a dish remaining to commemorate a crisis. all these and other similar characteristics are broad and clear. but i have always been impatient of the stress laid by experts on an inverted letter in the legend, an added or omitted dot, or some such fantastic and puerile refinement. these _minutiæ_ do not constitute the primary use and significance of the coin as a source of study and instruction. a cabinet formed on a practical principle yields the best and most lasting fruit. you have only to scan the pages of the numberless printed works of reference to become aware that in the english and scotish series the slight variations among products of the same issue are interminable, and individuals are found to enter with avidity and at a lavish outlay into such trivialities. not i. from the remotest period of our own history we have coined in england itself only seventy denominations in all metals; and i computed in my _coin-collector_ that about pieces would substantially represent all the different reigns and clearly distinct types of the united kingdom, not including the anglo-gallic money which is not very voluminous. whatever may be thought of the practice of acquiring virtual duplicates in the more ancient currencies, its extension to the georgian and victorian eras is absolutely unreasoning and futile. there is no plea for it on the score of art, history, or curiosity. it is only the other day, that patterns and proofs of george iii. and iv., william iv. and her present majesty were carried to prices, which would have secured in the aggregate some of the finest and costliest examples of greek workmanship or the great rarities and _desiderata_ in the english series itself--the oxford and petition crowns, the florin of edward iii., the triple sovereign of edward vi., or even the half george noble of henry viii. but the bladder has been pricked, and the nonsensical craze has visibly subsided. it had its rise, no doubt, in competition among two or three wealthy, but poorly informed, gentlemen, who soon grew tired of a desperately expensive and foolish amusement. naturally the artificial quotations brought to light hoarded specimens; and supply and demand changed places. my british division follows the same system as the others. the chief part, requisite for my plan, is in hand; a small residuum has yet to come; and i must wait for it. that side which took, and has held, my fancy more powerfully, was the continental. what impressed me was its infinite interest, diversity, and curiosity; what recommended it was its unfamiliarity and comparative cheapness even in the choicest condition. there was a time, when the foreign dealers, and some of our own, were prepared to part with nearly all the coins in the respective metals at a tariff, which was far more consonant with my means than the tall figures ruling elsewhere through the generous rivalry of my affluent contemporaries; and a five-pound note still stands one in better stead on this ground than on the english and scotish; but i hold a certificate of approbation in the shape of a slowly upward tendency on my own special lines, and i rejoice that my wants grow fewer. between the relative merits of the british coinage and that of the european continent there is no actual standard of comparison, especially when it is borne in mind, that some of the best of our native examples were produced by foreign engravers. i confidently anticipate that in the early future the money of the various political divisions of europe will appreciably usurp the position at present almost monopolised among ourselves by our own money or that of the ancients. i hear it objected, that the continental class is so immense and so fathomless. true, it is; but when you regard condition, that difficulty ceases to operate, for you have only to stand by, and pick the best, and you will find that about in is the proportion of pieces worth having. the total in the boyne sale ( ) was estimated at , ; and i doubt whether there were real prizes (duplicates excepted) from beginning to end. the coins in the two superior metals laid side by side with those of great britain of the same period almost invariably excel ours in every respect, and there is an abundance of high denominations both in gold and silver, which the continental houses know fairly well how to appraise: grand old pieces of and thalers in silver and of , , , and ducats in gold. i have generally viewed these _bijoux_ from a respectful distance. but as a beginner i was forcibly struck by the magnificent copper coins of early date and careful execution, which now and then occur in irreproachable state at rates, of which no one can reasonably complain. at the price, which was commonly demanded a short while since for a pattern halfpenny of george iii., you might have half a hundred of them in course of time. i have personally experienced a far larger measure of trouble in meeting with satisfactory specimens of all epochs than in the english or even scotish sections; but it is such a much vaster field, and some countries are more difficult than others. where expense is not a consideration, a system of correspondence with all the leading centres and occasional visits in person are to be recommended; but consignments on approval form a tolerable substitute, and are rather exciting--with a tendency, i have found, to disappointment. the happiest moments are apt to be between the receipt of the parcel and the disclosure of the contents. yet i have to confess myself very greatly indebted to mr schulman of amersfoort for his supplies. london is of very slight use; you must keep in touch with the continent; and unhappily, within the last few years, the continent has grown sensibly dearer for fine copper. the quality of indifferent stock held by the trade everywhere must be incalculable--i must have waded through a ton or so. the italian copper series, taking up the thread, as it were, where the roman and ostrogothic rulers let it fall, is customarily regarded with special tenderness and respect, and is certainly entitled to rank high, as the work, during the finest period of art, of celebrated engravers. but the other sections set before us very persuasively their claims to attention; and it was this rather perplexing competition for notice and choice, which led me--which leads me to-day--to accord admission only to the bearers of the highest testimonials. that is a very drastic method of exclusion. chapter xvi the question of condition considered more at large--how one most forcibly realises its importance and value--limited survival of ancient coins in fine state--practical tests at home and abroad--lower standard in public institutions and the cause--only three collectors on my lines besides myself--the romance of the shepherd sale--its confirmation of my views--small proportion of genuine amateurs in the coin-market--fastidious buyers not very serviceable to the trade--an anecdote by the way--the eye for state more educated in england than abroad--american feeling and culture--what will rare old coins bring, when the knowledge of them is more developed?--the ladies stop the way--continental indifference to condition--difficulties attendant on ordering from foreign catalogues--contrast between them and our own--_d'une beauté excessive_--condition a relative term--its dependence on circumstances--words of counsel--final conclusions--do i regret having become a collector?--my mistakes. _condition_, with the majority of coin-collectors, does not rule at all. a man wants a particular piece for the sake of study or of possession; and so long as the type is there, he is satisfied. that is the general religion of amateurs. with a second section this quality becomes a merit; if the coin is a good one, so much the better, if it is not too dear. with half-a-dozen perchance in each generation, if with so many, the state is a postulate; the purchaser of the item depends on that above everything else; and the price is secondary. i have known very few persons in my time, who seemed thoroughly to understand what a fine coin was. it is not sufficient that it is well-preserved or even _fleur de coin_; for it may have been badly struck, or it may be damaged by a flaw or by the cleaner. it should be well struck, perfectly preserved, and unsophisticated. if there is a tone or _patina_, that should be pure and uniform. the value and force of condition in coins are not fully recognisable, till one is fortunate enough to accumulate a body similar in style and rank. in a collection of first-rate examples each new-comer enhances the rest, and is enhanced by them, and the converse is true of the presence of inferior productions, which demoralise and deteriorate their companions. it seemed to me that this was signally demonstrated, where at sotheby's rooms a ten-shilling piece in silver of the oxford declaration type, , occurred among an assortment of poor material, and brought £ . it was in mint-state, and in a sale with others of similar stamp would have doubtless attracted wider attention, and commanded at all events twice the money. i exchanged it with lincoln for an indifferent one in my possession, which had cost me five guineas, and for which he allowed me eight, so that it came to me at about ten per cent. on the auction price. my undeviating experience is that the survival of really fine old coins, except in the greek and roman series, where continual finds operate to shake values, so far as all but the roman first brass and the greek copper are concerned, is very small. i have repeatedly put this point to a practical test. mr whelan once overhauled on my behalf at paris some coins, and brought over with him _sixteen_, of which i rejected _eight_. messrs lincoln & son several years since placed on view about greek silver pieces; of course many were duplicate specimens; but i failed to discover more than about a score within my rather exacting and trying lines. at the sale of the united service institution in there were fully copper coins; from these thirty or so were selected as likely to suit me; and i reduced the number on a final scrutiny to half. when the boyne cabinet of old continental money was offered for sale, the series being so peculiarly on my lines, i carefully marked the catalogue, and in due course examined the collection. there were by estimation , pieces, more or less; it was a heavy task; but my object was numismatic as well as commercial. i aimed at taking notes no less than at venturing on a few purchases; and i found the same thing. the items had been over-described as regarded condition; and i could not see more than twenty or thirty, which were likely to be of advantage to me in augmenting my small gathering without detriment to the prevailing quality. even in the montagu sales of greek silver, where such high prices ruled, and of which so much was made in the papers, the proportion of first-rate pieces was inconsiderable. i went through the whole; and the apology tendered by the exhibitor before the auction was that many of them were so rare. this plea may hold very good for a public repository like the british museum, which is supposed to possess an example of every existing piece of ancient currency (by the way, it by no means does); but i maintain that it is no argument for a private collector, unless it happens that he is closely studying a particular section of numismatics. under ordinary circumstances, the coin, and for that matter the medal also, is to be treated as a work of art or as a curiosity by its owner or seeker, and it appears to be inconsistent with the nature of the case to amass a huge assemblage of numismatic monuments, which are not required for use, and which are not suitable as ornaments or _chefs d'oeuvre_. the prevailing standard in our own and in foreign public institutions is not usually high, because they have been largely indebted to gifts and legacies in days when preservation was not even so much regarded as at present. i am persuaded that a fine sense of the constituent features of a good coin has always been, and remains, a signal exception to the general rule. i cannot remember in the course of the eighteen years, which i have dedicated in partial measure to these interesting objects of inquiry and regard, more than three instances, in which my _beau ideal_ of a cabinet has been fulfilled. but i must be careful not to omit to note that i did not see the montagu collection of english coins so largely derived from those of mr addington and mr bryce. the cases, to which i refer, were those of mr lake price, mr shepherd and mr rostron, who observed the principle recommended by me, and carried out most scrupulously in my own selection. the result in all instances was that high, and even extraordinary, prices were obtained. the quality was uniform; there was _bona fides_; and the names helped. there was, of course, nothing strange or singular in the realisation of £ for a _half george noble_ of henry viii.; but what illustrated, as well as any example, the force of a favourable prejudice, was the advance of a shilling of charles ii. of (a common date) to £ , because it was marvellously fine, and was in that atmosphere. i procured an exact duplicate the same day for s. the shepherd cabinet was remarkable for beautifully struck anglo-norman halfpennies and farthings in silver, some of them of the highest rarity, if not unique; and, then, mr montagu was in the field. everything concurred to render the shepherd affair a great success. i had not waited for this notable event (it took place in ) to come to the conclusion, that quality was to be preferred to quantity. at an early stage in my numismatic career, i began to follow exactly the same rule at a distance--that is, so far as my resources would allow me; and i vexed the spirit of one at least of the firms, with which i chiefly dealt, by making it the shoot for my inferior duplicates. i must in this way have weeded my trays of hundreds of pieces, which satisfied me at the outset, tolerably fastidious as i was; and i feel the relief and the benefit. but how completely a hobby of this or any other kind, when it is pursued as a serious business, engrosses time and attention, and becomes part of one's life--perchance the greater part, i did not realise for some time after my entrance into the arena, or i should have hesitated to proceed. a sensible proportion--almost a preponderant one--of collectors resemble windfalls; they never arrive at maturity; they commit mistakes, which dishearten them, or they discover the hopeless magnitude of the scheme, and abandon it after a season or two, nay, after a single transaction, over which they chew the cud, with the result that the lot returns to the vendor at a reduced figure. the members of the trade are fully aware, that those who are genuine amateurs, and who never swerve from their undertaking during life, may be counted on the fingers. the bookseller may have a large number of customers; but he lives by a very small one; and it is so with all dealers in luxuries and fancies. the student of condition in coins and medals is by no means the frequenter of his premises, whom the numismatic expert most delights to see, although he may be of the private opinion, that his policy is the right one, for he is necessarily a difficult person to suit and to please; the man, who wants the coin, so long as it is authentic and legible, is the more welcome visitor. he acquires at lower quotations; yet the attendant profit to the vendor is probably more, because for mediocre property the competition is so much less severe. of all clients in the world, those, who are content to take examples otherwise with no future before them but the crucible, are the most valuable; they deserve to be bowed in and out. the rare phenomenon, who knows more than the master of the shop, and touches nothing but what the foreigner calls _pijoux_, is a questionable god-send, for he has too keen a nose for rarities, and only carries away what is sure money and has no determinable value. a vexatious incident happened to a leading house in this sort of way. doubtless every dealer has had his experience of letting prizes go without being aware of it; and it is a distasteful aggravation of the annoyance to notify a great bargain to the party concerned. in a window in new oxford street the story goes, that a foreign silver coin was exhibited for sale, the price s. a gentleman of continental origin went in, and asked to see it. 'was that the lowest price?' 'yes.' 'ah! well, it was a nice coin, but rather dear. say twelve shillings. no, fifteen it must be.' but the proposed buyer continued to look at the piece, and to lament the impossibility of securing it at so high a tariff, till the owner, impatient at the loss of his time, agreed to accept the reduction. our friend put his purchase in his pocket, and laid down the amount and then, as he turned to leave the shop, he held up his finger, and with a pleasant smile observed, 'that co-in worth one hundred pound.' the feelings of the victim were probably homicidal. he scarcely forgave me, i fear, for purchasing for £ , s. a very fine thaler of wallenstein, , of which an inferior example just afterward realised a far higher figure, but which was itself one in a lot sold under the hammer for £ , s. it is true that it was badly catalogued. the english dealers have certainly a superior eye to those abroad for what i term _state_. there may not be many, who lay so great a stress on this aspect of the matter as those, whose collections realised in consequence abnormal prices, and enjoy a classical celebrity; but the mean average among us is, no doubt, higher than it is either in america or on the continent. the american coin-market is in a totally different stage of development from that in books; our transatlantic cousins have not that local and technical experience so essential in the study of numismatics; and they can scarcely be said to compete seriously so far for the rarer and more important objects. they have in the course of the last fifty years made very considerable progress, as we all know, in literary antiquities and in works of art. but the coin and medal have their turn to come. there is not, perhaps, any one living, who will witness the vast revolution in prices, when the wealthier citizens of the united states become our rivals for what is finest and scarcest in this remaining field. one obstacle in the way of coins coming to the front is the inherent necessity for keeping them out of view; they are not so showy as pictures, china, furniture, or even books; and they demand on the part of an amateur, desirous of accomplishing equally satisfactory results, a larger amount of study and caution. the ladies frequently influence these things: they prefer ornaments, which set off their _salons_ and corridors to advantage; and the numismatist meets with discouragement, unless he is unusually resolute or impassioned. nay, it is so in the old country, where tradition looks farther back, and is more deeply rooted; and the dealer never cares to see a client enter, accompanied by his wife or daughter. they operate as refrigerators. on the continent with its past infinitely remote, and with its immense area abounding with centres of culture and inquiry, the general feeling for high preservation in coins is certainly not so pronounced as among ourselves. setting aside, as mere commercial parlance, the phrases employed by the foreign houses to denote condition, collectors themselves are comparatively insensible or indifferent to the matter. i have had frequent occasion to return with a feeling of disappointment specimens sent me on approval from abroad, and even purchased on commission, where my agent was the cataloguer, and in my judgment misdescribed the lot; and a new snare has been prepared for the unwary in the form of illustrated lists, where, if you select an item which has been engraved, the auctioneer seeks to hold you to your bargain on the plea that you have had an opportunity of seeing the coin in the plate. but the fact is that the coin and the representation of it even by some photographic process are not necessarily identical, and i should recommend any amateur giving his orders to a continental establishment to ignore the illustrations as tests or _criteria_. several articles in a paris sale, which appeared very fair in the letterpress account and in the _planches_ accompanying it, came over to me; and i peremptorily refused to take them as being at variance with the catalogue, to which the agent stood at once in the relation of compiler and owner. the foreign houses court english support, and although they are fully aware that their clients at a distance wholly depend on trustworthy descriptions, they habitually misrepresent the circumstances, and expect the buyer to bear the brunt of their want of care or faith. on the other hand, the neglect to convey the full or exact truth may often arise from ignorance or absence of taste and judgment. for i have observed the relative valuation of poor, tolerable, fine, and superb examples of a particular coin in the hands of this or that dealer. an english house would be glad to get rid of the former two categories at any figure, or would melt them; the third he would expect to reimburse him for the first and second; and the _fleur de coin_ or proof he would hardly know how to estimate too highly. his foreign contemporary acts very differently; he has a scale, it is true; but between the worst and the best the financial distance is surprisingly small. for a distinctly bad example he asks you a _franc_, for a finer one, two, for a really first-rate specimen, four, and for a proof, six. in the case of one of the english sources of supply, the difference would be, that for the fine piece you would have to pay ten _francs_ or their equivalent and for the proof not impossibly five-and-twenty. this corroborates my statement, inasmuch as it shews that condition does not form so influential a factor abroad in determining values, as it does at home. the 'numismatiste et antiquaire' complacently schedules his property as _assez beau_, _beau_, _très beau_; all these notations are practically worthless; the experienced buyer knows beforehand what he will get, if he sends for the items; and it is wise to limit oneself to such prodigies of excellence as are shadowed under the terms _f.d.c._, _superbe_, and _d'une beauté excessive_. when you receive your parcel, you find that you have what lincoln or spink would offer as a fine coin. schulman of amersfoort had my commission in the sale of the local find a year or so since to obtain for me a gold _zecchino_ of ercole i., duke of ferrara, which the aforesaid averred to be '_d'une beauté excessive_;' but a representative of the british museum attended in person, and bought it over me. i afterward examined it in great russell street, was very glad that i had missed it, and procured a better one in the boyne sale for less money. condition is, after all, a relative term. it depends, . on the metal; . on the fabric. gold and electrum are subject to ordinary wear and tear in common with the inferior materials used for coinage, and are more liable to clipping and sweating for the sake of the intrinsic value; but these products do not suffer corrosion; the only superficial injury which is noticeable has arisen from their deposit in certain soils, as in the sand of egypt, where the effect is to blister or speckle the surface. the russian platinum series appears to be sensitive to nothing but friction and use, and as it has not been an ordinary circulating medium, it occurs as a rule unworn. as regards the lower metals, silver, copper, lead and tin, the money struck in these naturally follows the laws, to which they submit; but it also exhibits the results of imperfect preparation and alloy. the finer the silver, the less difficult it becomes to procure specimens in a satisfactory state; but scarcely any are exempt from oxidisation, which is apt in course of time to destroy the surface and the type. a peculiar tarnish, which it is not easy to remove, is found on particular coins--for example, shillings and sixpences of george iii. --and in metal of low standard an expectation of improvement from cleaning processes is generally illusory. the presence of chemical decomposition in copper, lead or tin pieces ought to be sufficient to deter the fastidious collector from entertaining them as purchases. copper is heir to all sorts of ills: verdegris, rust, corrosion, and blisters, and where the defect has been of long duration, there is no really effectual remedy, as the recognised appliances may not succeed or, which is almost worse, may succeed only in part. then, secondly, the circumstances of issue, as in obsidional pieces and other money of necessity, have been so hurried and incomplete, that the discovery of a faultless specimen is impossible, and it is for the seeker to decide whether he will tolerate a flaw, which is inseparable from the acquisition, or dispense with it. i do not of course allude to the vendor's expression, 'fine for the coin,' but to certain cases, where a real difficulty exists in every series, especially where _billon_ prevails in currencies. so much depends, first, on the skill or care, with which the amalgam was originally made, and, again, on the subsequent treatment of the example in passing from hand to hand. the coating of white solution in the older pieces has almost invariably disappeared; it is something, if the type is irreproachable. there is a perpetual confusion in the catalogues between copper and mixed metal from the failure of the plating operation; but the value is an almost sure clue. for this reason the -_grossi_ piece or _fiorino_ of monaco, , should not have been sold in the boyne auction, , as copper. but certainly the cataloguer misinterpreted the _g. xii._ on the piece into grana. that august government was not in the habit of giving four shillings for sixpence. these plated currencies are a terrible plague to the numismatist, as specimens out of have parted with their white coats. where a really valuable and important coin is concerned, it is a subject for careful deliberation, whether it is best to let it pass, to keep it as it is, or to restore it. if the foreign matter is merely a loose incrustation or _stratum_, there is no great uncertainty or danger; where the mischief is more deeply seated, the risk of failure grows fearfully. i have a silver crown of queen elizabeth in almost perfect state, but as black as ink; i shrink from touching it. i applied ammonia to a first brass of one of the roman emperors, and spoiled it, although the dirt seemed to be recent and tractable. a _testone_ of one of the medici of florence was perfectly discoloured and disfigured; the most simple of all remedies acted like an enchantment; it emerged _fleur de coin_; and whatever objection may be said to exist to these experiments, the forbearance from employing chemicals, and the natural action of the atmosphere, gradually bring back the tone and the age. where one is able to meet with early _billon_ money, which has miraculously escaped all deteriorating agencies, it is a real pleasure to contemplate the mixture of bloom and _patina_, which time has lent to a piece. but this can hardly occur, unless the proportion of fine metal is sensible. in the greek and roman series, as well as in those of more modern days, there are various forms of deception and danger, against which i have had occasion to guard. of course no one, who is out of leading strings, buys a roman first or second brass, which has been polished with brick-dust, a lot which had befallen an entire cabinet sold at an auction within my remembrance. but there are less obvious sources of degradation due to various causes and motives, amongst which tooling for the purpose of creating an artificial bloom or _patina_, and plugging in order to disguise a bore or piercing, are the most usual. the strangest feature about sophistication and forgery seems to be the elaborate trouble, which it must have cost to spoil a genuine coin or to fabricate a false one, where the original in good state is not difficult to procure. this may be ascribed to perverted ingenuity; but it is literally vain to attempt to trace to their parentage these phenomena. the systematic manufacture of roman money is more understandable, because it flourished just when that money was most eagerly sought. after all, the perils which beset the path of the collector, lend a fillip to the pursuit. were there not such occasional contingencies, a career would be really deficient in anecdote and excitement, just as, without its rocks, quicksands, and sharks the sea would be less adventurous and less interesting. * * * * * i have personally come, and i trust that i may have been so fortunate as to bring some of the perusers of this small book, to the threefold conclusion under all the heads which i have discussed: . that for all ordinary buyers for their own pleasure and instruction the eclectic principle is the best; . that condition is a primary requirement; . that it is thoroughly practicable for an individual of very moderate fortune by persevering study--in itself a recreation--to form an extensive and valuable assemblage of whatever description of artistic property he prefers on terms, which will secure on realisation the return of the capital with interest. this appears to be the only aspect of the collecting question worth considering. wealthy men, who indulge a taste for books, pictures, china, coins, or plate, do not commonly sympathise with the poorer sort, who have to deliberate over a heavier purchase, and to wait years, perhaps, for a dearly-coveted acquisition; and i pique myself a little on having achieved under serious drawbacks a creditable degree of success in the matter of coins. if i had attempted the same task in other directions--almost in any other direction, i should have failed, inasmuch as books, pictures, plate, and china of an equal or parallel quality go too few to the £ to have suited me; and even postage stamps are in an unreachable altitude for a different reason--it is one of the enterprises, where exhaustive treatment seems to be an essential feature in the programme; while the interest is serial and concrete, rather than individual. one misses the perspective, the art, the sentiment, so omnipresent in genuine antiquities. as a sort of grown-up child's hobby-horse it might be well enough, i thought; but when it acquires its own literature and society, and, before you can see completeness in the near distance, locks up the purchase-money of a considerable estate, that fantasy and myself take different turnings. so that the coin, rather even than the book--not looking, of course, at the practical side--is the most manageable species of property, for supposing outlay to be a governing principle, all the other classes of objects of art are more or less _vertu_; and certain books have of late become so through the entrance into the field of the fortunatus type of _bibliophile_. the diversity of paths is wonderfully great, whether the means of acquisition are abundant or scanty; and for either contingency, as regards extent, there is a plea and a defence. the man, who possesses a miniature cabinet with a few hundred samples is apt to wax tired of surveying his property, even if they are all favourites with little histories of their own; and his friends share his tendency to indifference and defection. on the contrary, when the collection is very extensive and constantly growing, the personal attachment is transferred to the newest comers. it is like the mother with her last child; and the owner of a really large assemblage of coins resembles that of a great estate, who does not see portions of it from year's end to year's end. he occupies a parallel position to the master of a grand library, and is a curator with the power of sale rather than a proprietor and _an intimate_. my personal tastes are fairly steadfast, and i have never been enabled to soar into the regions, where some of my distinguished and opulent acquaintances, such as captain p---- and lord g----, disburse more in a twelvemonth than i have done in a lifetime. but i have been truer on the other hand, to the plan, with which i set out. i felt certain that i should have to exercise a great deal of self-restraint and self-denial; i turned away with a sigh from many a prize, which might have been mine; and there has been this recompense--if it is one--that i have seen those coveted objects change hands more than once in several cases, while i pursue year after year--nay, decade after decade--my humbler programme and flight, till ultimately i may perhaps succeed, just as i am making my bow, in the part of the tortoise in the fable. some people are supremely happy without books, except the family bible, the _london directory_, bradshaw, and a handful of cheap printed paper in book-form, without china, without coins, without anything except tables and chairs. do i wish i were as these? not, as i now look at life, but perhaps, if i had, like them, been an eight-days' puppy-dog--then, well, yes. one of the huths, with whom i was debating this point, agreed with me that tables and chairs were very excellent things, but something more was to be desired, to be cultivated, if possible. but it is as human to go to extremes, as it is to err in other ways; and some men (i know one myself) make what ought to be the secondary consideration the first. i do not mean that i sit on the floor, and eat my food with my fingers; but the little _additamenta_ to a home preponderate and overflow somewhat; one must take warning in time from gentlemen, one's predecessors, who at last could barely find their tables and chairs. seeing that i have been up and down the market during a decently long succession of years, i am perhaps entitled to pay myself a few compliments on the singular rarity of occasions, which have found me on the losing and victimised side. thrice have i suffered for my sins; for it was always my own fault. i handled things, which i did not understand; it is an error, against which i should urge every one to guard most strenuously. if you engage in the purchase of a strange commodity lying outside your own experience, it is marvellous in how many a way you are liable to the trumper. it is provoking to note the studious politeness, the almost brotherly interest, with which your friends will point out to you your sad mistake, when you have made it. for mysteries, to which you lack the key, _noli tangere_ is the maxim. there are plenty of objects always in the market, which are fair to the eye, but bitter in the proof. how grateful i was to the enthusiast in his teens, who, when i had wasted a five-pound note on a worm-eaten xylographic block, put down a couple of guineas for it, and left me only poorer by the difference! index a addington, samuel, - , , - , Æsop, ainger, canon, akbar, the emperor, alexander the great, alfred the great, , allot, john, anne, queen, antonius, marcus, , arthur of little britain, arthur, thomas, , ashburnham, earl of, astle, thomas, f.r.s., atkins, mr, auchinleck sale, audley, lady eleanor, b bacon, francis, , baker of old street, barnes, robert, baynes, john, beauclerc, topham, beaumont and fletcher, beckford, w., bedford, f., - , - beling, richard, beloe, william, benjamin, bentivoglio, gio., bernal, ralph, , besant, sir walter, bindley, james, birchensha, ralph, bismarck, prince, blondeau, pierre, boethius, bohn, h. g., ----, john, ----, john, of canterbury, bolland forest, bom of amsterdam, - bonaparte, lucien, boones, the, - boswell, james, boyne, w., , - , , , bradshaw, henry, brathwaite, richard, , breton, n., , bright, b. h., britton, thomas, brooks, w., , - , - , brown, william, browsholme, bryce collection, brydges, sir egerton, , - , buccleuch, dukes of, buchanan, george, bunbury, sir h., bunyan, john, burke, richard, burton-constable sale, burwood, burt, a. a., butler, samuel, c camus de limari, carausius of britain, carew, thomas, carfrae collection, carmichael, mr, caxton, william, , , , , , cesnola, chaffers, w., , chapman, george, chappell, w., charlemagne, charlemont, lord, , charles, i., , ---- ii., , charron, pierre, chaucer, geoffrey, - , , - chester, robert, churchyard, t., cicognara, cleopatra, , cleveland, john, cockburn, john, , cocker's _decimal arithmetic_, cockpit, the, coleridge, s. t., collier, j. p., , , , constable, henry, ----, john, corney, bolton, corser, rev. t., , - , - , cosens, f. w., - cotton, charles, coutts, lady, cowley, abraham, coxe, dr, cranmer, archbp., crashaw, richard, crawford, lord, - cripps, mr, cruikshank, george, cunningham, colonel, ----, general, cutlers' company, - cymbeline or cunobeline, czar, the, d dandolo, enrico, daniel, george, , - , , , - , ----, rose, ----, samuel, , davies, thomas, davison, f., - day, robert, defoe, d., dekker, thomas, - , - demetrius of bactria, devonshire, duke of, diamond, dr, , - , - , , - dibdin, t. f., , dillon, lord, dodsley, robert, , - dolfino, gio., donatus, Ælius, drayton, michael, - , , dryden, john, durazzo collection, dyce, rev. a., dyson, humphrey, e edmund of east anglia, edward iii., , ---- iv., , ---- vi., elizabeth, queen, , , elkins of lombard street, ellis, f. s., , , , , , , , , - , - , , ercole i. of ferrara, - ethelred ii., eukratides of bactria, evans, sir john, f faliero, marino, faustus, featherstonhaughs, the, fenn, sir john, - fennell, mr, ferdinand iv. of sicily, festeau, paul, fisher of midhurst, fishmongers' company, , fitch of ipswich, ford of manchester, ford, john, foscari, francesco, fountaine, sir a., , francia, franks, sir wollaston, freelings, the, , freres, the, - - fuller, thomas, , furnivall, f. j., - g gale, richard, , - gardyne, alexander, garnett, richard, gascoigne, george, - , , gaston de foix, george iii., , , ---- iv., ----, w., gering, ulric, gladstone, w. e., glemham, edward, glendinning, john, - gloddaeth, glover, william, godfrey, edmund berry, gosson, stephen, gourmont, giles, grant, sir f., grantley, lord, , - , gray, sir walter, greene, robert, , greenwell, canon, , , grenville, thomas, , grosart, dr, h halliwell-phillipps, j. o., , , hamilton, sir robert, hariot, thomas, harold ii., haroun el reschid, , harrison, f., harthacanute, hartshorne, c. h., harvey, gabriel, - hastings, marquis of, - , hatton, sir chris., hazlitt, rev. w., - ----, w. - - ----, mr registrar, - , , head, dr, heber, richard, - , , heliocles of bactria, henderson, john, henrietta maria, henry i. of england, ---- iv. of england, ---- vii. of england, ---- viii. of england, , , , ---- iii. of france, ---- iv. of france, henry, prince, henryson, robert, herbert, w., , , heywood, thomas, hibbert, george, hodge, john, hogarth, w., holl, henry, hotten, john camden, - hudson, captain, huth, henry, , _et seq._, , , - , , - , - , , - - , , , - , , , , , , , - i ireland, a., ivan the terrible, j jarvis & son, - jeffreys of bristol, , jenson, n., joanna of naples, johnson, richard, - ----, samuel, jonson, benj. , julius cæsar, julius ii., juxon, archbp., k kemble, j. p., kenneys, the, kerny, michael, , kerr & richardson, kershaw, mr, l laing, david, - , , lamb, charles, , , , ----, mary, lasbury of bristol, laud, archbp., lawrence, edwin, , lazarus of holywell street, ---- (silversmith), lee priory, - leighton, mr, , - libri, g., lilly, joseph, , , - , , , lincoln & son, - , , - , , , locker-lampson, f., , , lodge, thomas, london library, - , - , louis xv. and xvi., lovejoy of reading, lovelace, richard, - , lowndes, w. t., , luttrell, narcissus, luxmore, rev. mr, lydgate, john, lyly, john, lyndsay, sir d., lyttleton, lady, m macmillan, a., madan, rev. mr, mallet, mr, malone, edmond, maria theresa, mardelay, john, marguerite de foix, marlowe, c., - martin, richard, mary, queen, maskell, w., mason of barnard's inn, massaniello, massinger, philip, matilda, empress, maunsell, andrew, , may, thomas, medici family, , , , millers of craigentinny, - , , , , , milman, rev. mr, milon of narbonne, milton, john, molini, - moncrieffs, the, monstrelet, montagu, h., - , - , - , - - - , , montaigne, , , morgan, - morris, william, mortlock, morton, thomas, mostyn, lord, , mottley, j. l., murchison, colonel, murdoch, mr, n napier, miss, naples, prince of, napoleon, i., napoleon, louis, king of holland, - nash, thomas, nasmyth, nelson, thomas, newton, thomas, nicomedes ii. of bithynia, noble, mr, , - noseda, mrs, , nym, corporal, o offa of mercia, offor, george, orlando, ouvry, f., owen, hugh, owen or oswen, john, oxenden, henry, , oxford, bishop of, - p papadopoli, count n., - , park, thomas, parkers of browsholme, peacham, henry, peacock of bottesford manor, mr, pearson, john, , , , , - , pearson & co., , perceval le gallois, petyt, thomas, philip iii. of spain, philip of macedon, phillipps, sir thomas, , philipot, thomas, phillimore, dr, pickering, b. m., , , - ----, w., , pickering & chatto, pierceforest, pliny, powell, dr, price, lake, ----, lawrence, ptolemy iii., puttick & simpson, , - pyne, henry, - , , , , , pynson, richard, q quaritch, b., , , , , - , , , , - , - , , , - , - , , quarles, f., r randolph, thomas, rawlins, thomas, rawlinson, thomas, reed, isaac, , - reeves & turner, , , - , reynardson, mr, reynell, c. w., , , reynolds, sir joshua, reynolds of hart street, , - , - , , - richard, coeur-de-lion, richard iii., , richard de benese, richardson, mr, rich's news from virginia, ridler, w., - - rimbault, dr, - rimells, the, riviere, robert, , - , , ritson, joseph, , , robert le diable, ---- of sicily, robespierre, robin hood, robinson, richard, rodd, thomas, , rogers, samuel, roland, rollin & feuardent, , , rose, james anderson, ----, sir w., rosebery, lord, rostron collection, roy, william, ruskin, john, , , s sabin, mr., salkeld, john, - - sandby, p., sanders, samuel, ----, mr, of chiswick, - schinner, nicolas, bp. of sion, schulman, j., - , , , scott, sir walter, selsey, lord, shakespear, w., , , - , - , - , , , , , , , shepherd collection, shirley, james, , simeon, sir john, singer, s. w., sion college, slatyer, w., smith, a. r., - , ----, j. r., , - , ----, samuel, somers, lord, - sotheby & co., , - - , - , - , southwell, robert, spencer, lord, , spenser, edmund, , , , spink & son, - , , stanfield, steevens, george, - , , - , stevens, henry, stibbs, edward, , , , , stirling-maxwell, sir w., stock, elliot, - stoddarts, the, stopes, henry, - ----, james, ----, leonard, ----, mrs, stubbs, dr, - suckling, sir john, surrey, earl of, swainson, mr, swinburne, a. c., sylvester, joshua, t tatham, john, taylor, jeremy, , ----, john, - , , - thorpe, thomas, , thuanus, todd, rev. h. j., tollemaches, the, , toovey, james, , , turbervile, george, , turner, r. s., , v varley, vaughan, henry, verstegan, richard, - virgil, vitalini, w wake, henry, - , - walfords, the, , - , wallenstein, , waller, edmond, wallers, the, - , walton, isaak, , - ware, sir james, warly, lee, warren, w., warton, thomas, , watson-taylor, watts, thomas, way, g. w., wells, _pedigree_, westerton, charles, westmoreland, earl of, whelan, f., - , - , _whisperer, the_, a play, whittington, sir richard, , wigan, edward, william iv., willis & sotheran, withals, john, , wither, george, , , wolfrestons, the, , wynkyn de worde, , , - , wynne, edward, of chelsea, wyon, w., y yates, james, _colston & coy. limited, printers, edinburgh._ transcriber's notes: passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. the original text contains a letter with a diacritical mark that is not represented in this text version. the original text includes greek characters that have been replaced with transliterations in this text version. [illustration] the book-lover's library. edited by henry b. wheatley, f.s.a. how to form a library by h.b. wheatley, f.s.a. _second edition._ new york a.c. armstrong & son, broadway. london: elliot stock. _preface._ _it will be generally allowed that a handy guide to the formation of libraries is required, but it may be that the difficulty of doing justice to so large a subject has prevented those who felt the want from attempting to fill it. i hope therefore that it will not be considered that i have shown temerity by stepping into the vacant place. i cannot hope to have done full justice to so important a theme in the small space at my disposal, but i think i can say that this little volume contains much information which the librarian and the book lover require and cannot easily obtain elsewhere. they are probably acquainted with most of this information, but the memory will fail us at times and it is then convenient to have a record at hand._ _a book of this character is peculiarly open to criticism, but i hope the critics will give me credit for knowing more than i have set down. in making a list of books of reference, i have had to make a selection, and works have been before me that i have decided to omit, although some would think them as important as many of those i have included._ _i need not extend this preface with any lengthy explanation of the objects of the book, as these are stated in the introduction, but before concluding i may perhaps be allowed to allude to one personal circumstance. i had hoped to dedicate this first volume of the book lover's library to henry bradshaw, one of the most original and most learned bibliographers that ever lived, but before it was finished the spirit of that great man had passed away to the inexpressible grief of all who knew him. it is with no desire to shield myself under the shelter of a great name, but with a reverent wish to express my own sense of our irreparable loss that i dedicate this book (though all unworthy of the honour) to his memory._ contents. page introduction chapter i. how men have formed libraries ii. how to buy iii. public libraries iv. private libraries v. general bibliographies vi. special bibliographies vii. publishing societies viii. child's library ix. one hundred books how to form a library. introduction. although there can be little difference of opinion among book lovers as to the need of a handbook which shall answer satisfactorily the question--"how to form a library"--it does not follow that there will be a like agreement as to the best shape in which to put the answer. on the one side a string of generalities can be of no use to any one, and on the other a too great particularity of instruction may be resented by those who only require hints on a few points, and feel that they know their own business better than any author can tell them. one of the most important attempts to direct the would-be founder of a library in his way was made as long ago as by dr. dibdin, and the result was entitled _the library companion_.[ ] the book could never have been a safe guide, and now it is hopelessly out of date. tastes change, and many books upon the necessity of possessing which dibdin enlarges are now little valued. dr. hill burton writes of this book as follows in his _book-hunter_: "this, it will be observed, is not intended as a manual of rare or curious, or in any way peculiar books, but as the instruction of a nestor on the best books for study and use in all departments of literature. yet one will look in vain there for such names as montaigne, shaftesbury, benjamin franklin, d'alembert, turgot, adam smith, malebranche, lessing, goethe, schiller, fénélon, burke, kant, richter, spinoza, flechier, and many others. characteristically enough, if you turn up rousseau in the index, you will find jean baptiste, but not jean jacques. you will search in vain for dr. thomas reid the metaphysician, but will readily find isaac reed the editor. if you look for molinæus, or du moulin, it is not there, but alphabetical vicinity gives you the good fortune to become acquainted with "moule, mr., his _bibliotheca heraldica_." the name of hooker will be found, not to guide the reader to the _ecclesiastical polity_, but to dr. jackson hooker's _tour in iceland_. lastly, if any one shall search for hartley _on man_, he will find in the place it might occupy, or has reference to, the editorial services of 'hazlewood, mr. joseph.'" although this criticism is to a great extent true, it does not do justice to dibdin's book, which contains much interesting and valuable matter, for if the _library companion_ is used not as a guide to be followed, but as a book for reference, it will be found of considerable use. william goodhugh's _english gentleman's library manual, or a guide to the formation of a library of select literature_, was published in . it contains classified lists of library books, but these are not now of much value, except for the notes which accompany the titles, and make this work eminently readable. there are some literary anecdotes not to be found elsewhere. a most valuable work of reference is mr. edward edwards's report on the formation of the manchester free library, which was printed in . it is entitled, "_librarian's first report to the books sub-committee on the formation of the library, june , , with lists of books suggested for purchase_." the lists are arranged in the following order:-- . works--collective and miscellaneous--of standard british authors; with a selection of those of the standard authors of america. . works relative to the history, topography, and biography of the united kingdom, and of the united states of america. . works relative to political economy, finance, trade, commerce, agriculture, mining, manufactures, inland communication, and public works. . works relating to physics, mathematics, mechanics, practical engineering, arts, and trades, etc. . voyages and travels. . works on zoology, botany, mineralogy, and geology. . periodical publications and transactions of learned societies (not included in lists , , or ), collections, encyclopædias, gazetteers, atlases, dictionaries, bibliographies, indexes, etc. these draft lists include distinct works, extending to about , volumes, including pamphlets, but exclusive of parliamentary papers and reports, or _blue books_. such a practically useful collection of lists of books will not easily be found elsewhere. mr. edwards gives some rules for the formation of libraries in the second volume of his _memoirs of libraries_ (p. ), where he writes, "no task is more likely to strip a man of self-conceit than that of having to frame, and to carry out in detail a plan for the formation of a large library. when he has once got beyond those departments of knowledge in which his own pursuits and tastes have specially interested him, the duty becomes a difficult one, and the certainty, that with his best efforts, it will be very imperfectly performed is embarrassing and painful. if, on the other hand, the task be imposed upon a 'committee,' there ensues almost the certainty that its execution will depend at least as much on chance as on plan: that responsibility will be so attenuated as to pass off in vapour; and that the collection so brought together will consist of parts bearing but a chaotic sort of relation to the whole." mr. henry stevens printed in his pretty little book entitled _catalogue of my english library_, which contains a very useful selection of standard books. in his introduction the author writes, "it was my intention in the outset not to exceed volumes, but little by little the list has increased to volumes. i have been considerably puzzled to know what titles to strike out in my next impression, being well aware that what is trash to one person is by no means such to another; also that many books of more merit than those admitted have been omitted. you may not think it difficult to strike out twenty authors, and to add twenty better ones in their place, but let me relate to you a parable. i requested twenty men, whose opinions on the literary exchange are as good as those of the barings or the rothschilds on the royal, each to expunge twenty authors and to insert twenty others of better standing in their places, promising to exclude in my next impression any author who should receive more than five votes. the result was, as may be supposed, not a single expulsion or addition." in mons. hector bossange produced a companion volume, entitled _ma bibliothèque française_. it contains a select list of about volumes, and is completed with indexes of subjects, authors, and persons. for helpful bibliographical guides we often have to look to the united states, and we do not look in vain. a most useful handbook, entitled _the best reading_, was published in by george p. putman, and the work edited by f.b. perkins is now in its fourth edition.[ ] the books are arranged in an alphabet of subjects, and the titles are short, usually being well within a single line. a very useful system of appraisement of the value of the books is adopted. thus: _a_, means that the book so marked is considered _the_ book, or as good as any, _at a moderate cost_; _b_ means, in like manner, the best of the more elaborate or costly books on the subject. in the department of fiction, a more precise classification has been attempted, in which a general idea of the relative importance of the _authors_ is indicated by the use of the letters _a_, _b_, and _c_, and of the relative value of their several works by the asterisks * and **." having noted a few of the guides which are now at hand for the use of the founders of a library, we may be allowed to go back somewhat in time, and consider how our predecessors treated this same subject, and we can then conclude the present introduction with a consideration of the less ambitious attempts to instruct the book collector which may be found in papers and articles. one of the earliest works on the formation of a library was written by bishop cardona, and published at tarragona in , in a thin volume entitled _de regia s. laurentii bibliothecâ. de pontificia vaticana_ [etc.]. justus lipsius wrote his _de bibliothecis syntagma_ at the end of the sixteenth century, and next in importance we come to gabriel naudé, who published one of the most famous of bibliographical essays. the first edition was published at paris in , and the second edition in . this was reprinted in paris by j. liseux in --"_advis pour dresser une bibliothèque, présenté à monseigneur le président de mesme_, par g. naudé p. paris, chez françois farga, ." this essay was translated by john evelyn, and dedicated to lord chancellor clarendon. "_instructions concerning erecting of a library_; presented to my lord the president de mesme. by gabriel naudeus p., and now interpreted by jo. evelyn, esquire, london, ." naudé enlarges on the value of catalogues, and recommends the book-buyer to make known his desires, so that others may help him in the search, or supply his wants. he specially mentions two modes of forming a library; one is to buy libraries entire, and the other is to hunt at book-stalls. he advised the book-buyer not to spend too much upon bindings. naudé appears to have been a born librarian, for at the early age of twenty the president de mesme appointed him to take charge of his library. he left his employer in , in order to finish his medical studies. cardinal bagni took him to rome, and when bagni died, naudé became librarian to cardinal barberini. richelieu recalled him to paris in , to act as his librarian, but the minister dying soon afterwards, naudé took the same office under mazarin. during the troubles of the fronde, the librarian had the mortification of seeing the library which he had collected dispersed; and in consequence he accepted the offer of queen christina, to become her librarian at stockholm. naudé was not happy abroad, and when mazarin appealed to him to reform his scattered library, he returned at once, but died on the journey home at abbeville, july , . the mazarin library consisted of more than , volumes, arranged in seven rooms filled from top to bottom. it was rich in all classes, but more particularly in law and physic. naudé described it with enthusiasm as "the most beautiful and best furnished of any library now in the world, or that is likely (if affection does not much deceive me) ever to be hereafter." such should be a library in the formation of which the kings and princes and ambassadors of europe were all helpers. naudé in another place called it "the work of my hands and the miracle of my life." great therefore was his dejection when the library was dispersed. of this he said, "beleeve, if you please, that the ruine of this library will be more carefully marked in all histories and calendars, than the taking and sacking of constantinople." naudé's letter on the destruction of the mazarin library was published in london in , and the pamphlet was reprinted in the _harleian miscellany_. "_news from france, or a description of the library of cardinall mazarini, before it was utterly ruined._ sent in a letter from g. naudæus, keeper of the publick library. london, printed for timothy garthwait, ." to. leaves. in was published at london, by samuel hartlib, a little book entitled, "_the reformed librarie keeper, with a supplement to the reformed school, as subordinate to colleges in universities._ by john durie. london, william du-gard, ."[ ] john durie's ideas on the educational value of libraries and the high function of the librarian are similar to those enunciated by carlyle, when he wrote, "the true university of these days is a collection of books." of this point, as elaborated in the proposal to establish professorships of bibliography, we shall have something more to say further on. it is always interesting to see the views of great men exemplified in the selection of books for a library, and we may with advantage study the lists prepared by george iii. and dr. johnson. the king was a collector of the first rank, as is evidenced by his fine library, now in the british museum, and he knew his books well. when he was about to visit weymouth, he wrote to his bookseller for the following books to be supplied to him to form a closet library at that watering place. the list was written from memory, and it was printed by dibdin in his _library companion_, from the original document in the king's own handwriting: the holy bible. vols. vo. cambridge. new whole duty of man. vo. the annual register. vols. vo. the history of england, by rapin. vols. vo. . elémens de l'histoire de france, par millot. vols. mo. . siècle de louis xiv., par voltaire, mo. siècle de louis xv., par voltaire, mo. commentaries on the laws of england, by sir william blackstone. vols. vo. newest edition. the justice of the peace and parish officer, by r. burn. vols. vo. an abridgement of samuel johnson's dictionary. vols. vo. dictionnaire françois et anglois, par m.a. boyer. vo. the works of the english poets, by sam. johnson. vols. mo. a collection of poems, by dodsley, pearch, and mendez. vols. mo. a select collection of poems, by j. nichols. vols. mo. shakespeare's plays, by steevens. oeuvres de destouches. vols. mo. the works of sir william temple. vols. vo. the works of jonathan swift. vols. mo. dr. johnson recommended the following list of books to the rev. mr. astle, of ashbourne, derbyshire, as a good working collection:-- rollin's ancient history. universal history (ancient). puffendorf's introduction to history. vertot's history of the knights of malta. vertot's revolutions of portugal. vertot's revolutions of sweden. carte's history of england. present state of england. geographical grammar. prideaux's connection. nelson's feasts and fasts. duty of man. gentleman's religion. clarendon's history. watts's improvement of the mind. watts's logick. nature displayed. lowth's english grammar. blackwall on the classicks. sherlock's sermons. burnet's life of hale. dupin's history of the church. shuckford's connection. law's serious call. walton's complete angler. sandys's travels. sprat's history of the royal society. england's gazetteer. goldsmith's roman history. some commentaries on the bible. it is curious to notice in both these lists how many of the books are now quite superseded. in another place boswell tells us what were johnson's views on book collecting. "when i mentioned that i had seen in the king's library sixty-three editions of my favourite _thomas à kempis_, amongst which it was in eight languages, latin, german, french, italian, spanish, english, arabick, and armenian, he said he thought it unnecessary to collect many editions of a book, which were all the same, except as to the paper and print; he would have the original, and all the translations, and all the editions which had any variations in the text. he approved of the famous collection of editions of horace by douglas, mentioned by pope, who is said to have had a closet filled with them; and he said every man should try to collect one book in that manner, and present it to a publick library." dr. johnson's notion as to the collection of editions which are alike except in the point of paper is scarcely sound, but it has been held by a librarian of the present day, as i know to my cost. on one occasion i was anxious to see several copies of the first folio of shakespeare ( ), and i visited a certain library which possessed more than one. the librarian expressed the opinion that one was quite sufficient for me to see, as "they were all alike." the possessor of a private library can act as a _censor morum_ and keep out of his collection any books which offend against good morals, but this _role_ is one which is unfit for the librarian of a public library. he may put difficulties in the way of the ordinary reader seeing such books, but nevertheless they should be in his library for the use of the student. a most amusing instance of misapplied zeal occurred at the advocates' library on the th june, . the minutes tell the tale in a way that speaks for itself and requires no comment. "mr. james burnet [afterwards lord monboddo], and sir david dalrymple [afterwards lord hailes], curators of the library, having gone through some accounts of books lately bought, and finding therein the three following french books: _les contes de la fontaine_, _l'histoire amoureuse des gaules_ and _l'ecumoire_, they ordain that the said books be struck out of the catalogue of the library, and removed from the shelves, as indecent books, unworthy of a place in a learned library." at a conference of representatives of institutions in union with the society of arts held in july, , the question of the compilation of a catalogue of books fitted for the libraries of institutions was raised, and shortly afterwards was published, under the sanction of the council, "_a handbook of mechanics' institutions, with priced catalogue of books suitable for libraries, and periodicals for reading rooms_, by w.h.j. traice." a second edition of this book was published in . the list, however, is not now of much use, as many of the books have been superseded. theology and politics are not included in the classification. in mr. mullins read a paper before a meeting of the social science association at birmingham, on the management of free libraries, and, in its reprinted form, this has become a handbook on the subject: "_free libraries and news-rooms, their formation and management._ by j.d. mullins, chief librarian, birmingham free libraries. third edition. london, sotheran and co., ." an appendix contains copies of the free libraries acts and amendments, and a "short list of books for a free lending library, ranging in price from _s._ to _s._ _d._ per volume." mr. axon read a paper on the formation of small libraries intended for the co-operative congress in , which was reprinted as a pamphlet of eight pages: "_hints on the formation of small libraries intended for public use._ by wm. e.a. axon. london, n. trübner and co." mr. a.r. spofford has given a valuable list of books and articles in periodicals, on the subject of libraries in chapter (library bibliography), of the _report on public libraries in the u.s._ ( ). the volume of _transactions and proceedings of the conference of librarians_, london, , contains two papers on the selection of books, one by mr. robert harrison, librarian of the london library, and the other by the late mr. james m. anderson, assistant librarian of the university of st. andrews. mr. harrison gives the following as the three guiding principles of selection in forming a library: . policy; . utility; . special or local appropriateness; and he deals with each successively. mr. anderson writes that "the selection of books should invariably be made ( ) in relation to the library itself, and ( ) in relation to those using it." we have chiefly to do with the formation of libraries, and therefore the use made of them when they are formed cannot well be enlarged upon here, but a passing note may be made on the proposal which has been much discussed of late years, viz. that for professorships of books and reading. the united states report on public libraries contains a chapter on this subject by f.b. perkins and william matthews (pp. - ), and mr. axon also contributed a paper at the first annual meeting of the library association. the value of such chairs, if well filled, is self-evident, for it takes a man a long time (without teaching) to learn how best to use books, but very special men would be required as professors. america has done much to show what the duties of such a professor should be, and harvard college is specially fortunate in possessing an officer in mr. justin winsor who is both a model librarian and a practical teacher of the art of how best to use the books under his charge. footnotes: [ ] "_the library companion, or the young man's guide and the old man's comfort in the choice of a library._ by the rev. t.f. dibdin, f.r.s., a.s., london, ." [ ] _the best reading_: hints on the selection of books; on the formation of libraries, public and private; on courses of reading, etc., with a classified bibliography for every reference. fourth revised and enlarged edition, continued to august, , with the addition of select lists of the best french, german, spanish, and italian literature. edited by frederic beecher perkins; new york, g.p. putnam's sons, . second series, to , by lynds e. jones. [ ] dr. richard garnett read an interesting paper on this book under the title of _librarianship in the seventeenth century_, before the library association. see _library chronicle_, vol. i. p. ( ). chapter i. how men have formed libraries. as long as books have existed there have been book collectors. it is easy now to collect, for books of interest are to be found on all sides; but in old times this was not so, and we must therefore admire the more those men who formed their libraries under the greatest difficulties. in a book devoted to the formation of libraries it seems but fair to devote some space to doing honour to those who have formed libraries, and perhaps some practical lessons may be learned from a few historical facts. englishmen may well be proud of richard aungerville de bury, a man occupying a busy and exalted station, who not only collected books with ardour united with judgment, but has left for the benefit of later ages a manual which specially endears his memory to all book lovers. he collected books, and often took them in place of corn for tithes and dues, but he also produced books, for he kept copyists in his house. many of these books were carefully preserved in his palace at durham, but it is also pleasant to think of some of them being carefully preserved in the noble mansion belonging to his see which stood by the side of the thames, and on the site of the present adelphi. petrarch was a book-loving poet, and he is said to have met the book-loving ecclesiastic richard de bury at rome. he gave his library to the church of st. mark at venice in ; but the guardians allowed the books to decay, and few were rescued. boccaccio bequeathed his library to the augustinians at florence, but one cannot imagine the books of the accomplished author of the _decameron_ as very well suited for the needs of a religious society, and it was probably weeded before boccaccio's death. the remains of the library are still shown to visitors in the laurentian library, the famous building due to the genius of michael angelo. cardinal john bessarion gave his fine collection (which included about greek mss.) to st. mark's in , and in the letter to the doge which accompanied his gift, he tells some interesting particulars of his early life as a collector. he writes, "from my youth i have bestowed my pains and exertion in the collection of books on various sciences. in former days i copied many with my own hands, and i have employed on the purchase of others such small means as a frugal and thrifty life permitted me to devote to the purpose." the rev. joseph hunter printed in a valuable catalogue of the library of the priory of bretton in yorkshire, and added to it some notices of the libraries belonging to other religious houses, in which he gives us a good idea of the contents of these libraries. he writes, "on comparing the bretton catalogue with that of other religious communities, we find the libraries of the english monasteries composed of very similar materials. they consisted of-- . the scriptures; and these always in an english or the latin version. a greek or hebrew manuscript of the scriptures is not found in leland's notes, or, i believe, in any of the catalogues. in wetstein's catalogue of mss. of the new testament, only one (codex ) is traced into the hands of an english community of religious. . the commentators. . the fathers. . services and rituals of the church. . writers in the theological controversies of the middle ages. . moral and devotional writings. . canon law. . the schoolmen. . grammatical writers. . writers in mathematics and physics. . medical writers. . collections of epistles. . the middle age poets and romance-writers. . the latin classics. . the chronicles. . the historical writings of doubtful authority, commonly called legends. most of the manuscripts which composed the monastic libraries were destroyed at the reformation." humphry plantagenet duke of gloucester, whose fame has been so lasting as the 'good duke humphry,' was also a book-collector of renown; but most of the old libraries we read about have left but little record of their existence: thus the common library at guildhall, founded by dick whittington in , and added to by john carpenter, the town clerk of london, has been entirely destroyed, the books having, in the first instance, been carried away by edward seymour duke of somerset. although, as we have seen from mr. hunter's remarks, there was a considerable amount of variety in the subjects of these manuscript collections, we must still bear in mind that in a large number of instances the contents of the libraries consisted of little more than breviaries and service books. it has been pointed out that this fact is illustrated by the union of the offices of precentor and armarius in one person, who had charge of the library (armarium) and its great feeder, the writing-room (scriptorium), as well as the duty of leading the singing in the church. many lists of old libraries have been preserved, and these have been printed in various bibliographical works, thus giving us a valuable insight into the reading of our forefathers. when we come to consider libraries of printed books in place of manuscripts, we naturally find a greater variety of subjects collected by the famous men who have formed collections. montaigne, the friend of all literary men, could not have been the man we know him to have been if he had not lived among his books. like many a later book-lover, he decorated his library with mottoes, and burnt-in his inscriptions letter by letter with his own hands. grotius made his love of books do him a special service, for he escaped from prison in a box which went backwards and forwards with an exchange of books for his entertainment and instruction. grolier and de thou stand so pre-eminent among book collectors, and from the beauty of the copies they possessed the relics of their libraries are so frequently seen, that it seems merely necessary here to mention their names. but as frenchmen may well boast of these men, so englishmen can take pride in the possession of the living memory of archbishop parker, who enriched cambridge, and of sir thomas bodley, who made the library at oxford one of the chief glories of our land. old lists of books are always of interest to us as telling what our forefathers cared to have about them, but it is seldom that a list is so tantalising as one described by mr. edward edwards in his _libraries and founders of libraries_. anne of denmark presented her son charles with a splendid series of volumes, bound in crimson and purple velvet. abraham van der dort, who was keeper of charles's cabinet, made an inventory of this cabinet; and having no notion of how to make a catalogue of books, he has managed to leave out all the information we wish for. the inventory is among the harleian mss. ( ), and the following are specimens of the entries:-- "im'pris books in crimson velvet, whereof are bound to. and y^e th in folio, adorn'd with some silver guilt plate, and y^e claspes wanting. given to y^e king by queen ann of famous memory. item, more books, thereof being in long to. and y^e lesser cover'd over also with purple velvet. given also to y^e king by y^e said queen ann." most of the famous private libraries of days gone by have left little record of their existence, but evelyn's collection is still carefully preserved at wotton, the house of the diarist's later years, and pepys's books continue at cambridge in the cases he had made for them, and in the order he fixed for them. in a long letter to pepys, dated from sayes court, th august, , evelyn gives an account of such private libraries as he knew of in england, and in london more particularly. he first mentions lord chancellor clarendon, to whom he dedicated his translation of naudé's advice, and who "furnished a very ample library." evelyn observes that england was peculiarly defective in good libraries: "paris alone, i am persuaded, being able to show more than all the three nations of great britain." he describes dr. stillingfleet's, at twickenham, as the very best library.[ ] he did not think much either of the earl of bristol's or of sir kenelm digby's books, but he says lord maitland's "was certainly the noblest, most substantial and accomplished library that ever passed under the spear." in a useful little volume published at london in , and entitled, _a critical and historical account of all the celebrated libraries in foreign countries, as well ancient as modern_, which is stated to be written by "a gentleman of the temple," are some "general reflections upon the choice of books and the method of furnishing libraries and cabinets." as these reflections are interesting in themselves, and curious as the views of a writer of the middle of the eighteenth century on this important subject, i will transfer them bodily to these pages. "nothing can be more laudable than forming libraries, when the founders have no other view than to improve themselves and men of letters: but it will be necessary, in the first place, to give some directions, which will be of great importance towards effecting the design, as well with regard to the choice of books as the manner of placing to advantage: nor is it sufficient in this case, to be learned, since he who would have a collection worthy of the name of a library must of all things have a thorough knowledge of books, that he may distinguish such as are valuable from the trifling. he must likewise understand the price of books, otherwise he may purchase some at too high a rate, and undervalue others: all which requires no small judgment and experience. "let us suppose, then, the founder possessed of all those qualifications, three things fall next under consideration. "first, the number of books; secondly, their quality; and, lastly, the order in which they ought to be ranged. "as to the quantity, regard must be had, as well to places as to persons; for should a man of moderate fortune propose to have a library for his own use only, it would be imprudent in him to embarrass his affairs in order to effect it. under such circumstances he must rather consider the usefulness than the number of books, for which we have the authority of seneca, who tells us that a multitude of books is more burthensome than instructive to the understanding. "but if a private person has riches enough for founding a library, as well for his own use as for the public, he ought to furnish it with the most useful volumes in all arts and sciences, and procure such as are scarcest and most valuable, from all parts, that the learned, of whom there are many classes, may instruct themselves in what may be useful to them, and may gratify their enquiries. but as the condition and abilities of such as would form libraries are to be distinguished, so regard must likewise be had to places, for it is very difficult to procure, or collect books in some countries, without incredible expense; a design of that kind would be impracticable in america, africa, and some parts of asia; so that nothing can be determined as to the number of books, that depending entirely upon a variety of circumstances, and the means of procuring them, as has been observ'd before. "as to the second topic, special care must be taken in the choice of books, for upon that alone depends the value of a library. we must not form a judgment of books either by their bulk or numbers, but by their intrinsic merit and usefulness. alexander severus's library consisted of no more than four volumes, that is the works of plato, cicero, virgil, and horace. melanchthon seems to have imitated that prince, for his collection amounted to four books only, plato, pliny, plutarch, and ptolemy. "there is another necessary lesson for those who form designs of making libraries, that is, that they must disengage themselves from all prejudices with regard either to ancient or modern books, for such a wrong step often precipitates the judgment, without scrutiny or examination, as if truth and knowledge were confined to any particular times or places. the ancients and moderns should be placed in collections, indifferently, provided they have those characters we hinted before. "let us now proceed to the third head, the manner of placing books in such order, as that they may be resorted to upon any emergency, without difficulty, otherwise they can produce but little advantage either to the owners or others. "the natural method of placing books and manuscripts is to range them in separate classes or apartments, according to the science, art, or subject, of which they treat. "here it will be necessary to observe, that as several authors have treated of various subjects, it may be difficult to place them under any particular class; plutarch, for instance, who was an historian, a political writer, and a philosopher. the most advisable method then is to range them under the head of miscellaneous authors, with proper references to each subject, but this will be more intelligible by an example. "suppose, then, we would know the names of the celebrated historians of the ancients; nothing more is necessary than to inspect the class under which the historians are placed, and so of other faculties. by this management, one set of miscellaneous authors will be sufficient, and may be resorted to with as much ease and expedition as those who have confined themselves to one subject. in choice of books regard must be had to the edition, character, paper and binding. as to the price, it is difficult to give any positive directions; that of ordinary works is easily known, but as to such as are very scarce and curious, we can only observe that their price is as uncertain as that of medals and other monuments of antiquity, and often depends more on the caprice of the buyer than the intrinsic merit of the work, some piquing themselves upon the possession of things from no other consideration than their exorbitant price." dr. byrom's quaint library is still preserved at manchester in its entirety. bishop moore's fine collection finds a resting place in the university library at cambridge, and the relics of the library of harley, earl of oxford, a mine of manuscript treasure, still remain one of the chief glories of the british museum. how much cause for regret is there that the library itself, which osborne bought and johnson described, did not also find a settled home, instead of being dispersed over the land. it is greatly to the credit of the rich and busy man to spend his time and riches in the collection of a fine library, but still greater honour is due to the poor man who does not allow himself to be pulled down by his sordid surroundings. the once-famous small-coalman, thomas britton, furnishes a most remarkable instance of true greatness in a humble station, and one, moreover, which was fully recognized in his own day. he lived next door to st. john's gate, clerkenwell, and although he gained his living by selling coals from door to door, many persons of the highest station were in the habit of attending the musical meetings held at his house. he was an excellent chemist as well as a good musician, and thomas hearne tells us that he left behind him "a valuable collection of musick mostly pricked by himself, which was sold upon his death for near an hundred pounds," "a considerable collection of musical instruments which was sold for fourscore pounds," "not to mention the excellent collection of printed books that he also left behind him, both of chemistry and musick. besides these books that he left, he had some years before his death ( ) sold by auction a noble collection of books, most of them in the rosicrucian faculty (of which he was a great admirer), whereof there is a printed catalogue extant, as there is of those that were sold after his death, which catalogue i have by me (by the gift of my very good friend mr. bagford), and have often looked over with no small surprize and wonder, and particularly for the great number of mss. in the before-mentioned faculties that are specified in it."[ ] dr. johnson, although a great reader, was not a collector of books. he was forced to possess many volumes while he was compiling his dictionary, but when that great labour was completed, he no longer felt the want of them. goldsmith, on the other hand, died possessed of a considerable number of books which he required, or had at some time required, for his studies. "the select collection of scarce, curious, and valuable books, in english, latin, greek, french, italian, and other languages, late the library of dr. goldsmith, deceased," was sold on tuesday, the th of july, , and the catalogue will be found in the appendix to forster's life. there were lots in folio, in quarto, and in octavo and smaller sizes. among the books of interest in this list are chaucer's works, ; davenant's works, ; camoens, by fanshawe, ; cowley's works, ; shelton's don quixote; raleigh's history of the world, ; bulwer's artificial changeling, ; verstegan's antiquities, ; hartlib's legacie, ; sir k. digby on the nature of bodies, ; warton's history of english poetry, ; encyclopédie, vols., ; fielding's works, vols., ; bysshe's art of poetry; hawkins's origin of the english drama, vols., ; percy's reliques, vols., dublin, ; sir william temple's works; and de bure, bibliographie instructive. a catalogue such as this, made within a few weeks of the death of the owner, cannot but have great interest for us. the library could not have been a very choice one, for there is little notice of bindings and much mention of odd volumes. it was evidently a working collection, containing the works of the poets goldsmith loved, and of the naturalists from whom he stole his knowledge. gibbon was a true collector, who loved his books, and he must have needed them greatly, working as he did at lausanne away from public libraries. after his death the library was purchased by 'vathek' beckford, but he kept it buried, and it was of no use to any one. eventually it was sold by auction, a portion being bought for the canton, and another portion going to america. there was little in the man gibbon to be enthusiastic about, but it is impossible for any true book lover not to delight in the thoroughness of the author of one of the noblest books ever written. the fine old house where the _decline and fall_ was written and the noble library was stored still stands, and the traveller may stroll in the garden so beautifully described by gibbon when he walked to the historical _berceau_ and felt that his herculean labour was completed. his heart must be preternaturally dull which does not beat quicker as he walks on that ground. the thought of a visit some years ago forms one of the most vivid of the author's pleasures of memory. charles burney, the greek scholar, is said to have expended nearly £ , on his library, which consisted of more than , printed volumes and a fine collection of mss. the library was purchased for the british museum for the sum of £ , . charles burney probably inherited his love of collecting from his father, for dr. burney possessed some twenty thousand volumes. these were rather an incumbrance to the doctor, and when he moved to chelsea hospital, he was in some difficulty respecting them. mrs. chapone, when she heard of these troubles, proved herself no bibliophile, for she exclaimed, "twenty thousand volumes! bless me! why, how can he so encumber himself? why does he not burn half? for how much must be to spare that never can be worth his looking at from such a store! and can he want to keep them all?" the love of books will often form a tie of connection between very divergent characters, and in dealing with men who have formed libraries we can bring together the names of those who had but little sympathy with each other during life. george iii. was a true book collector, and the magnificent library now preserved in the british museum owes its origin to his own judgment and enthusiastic love for the pursuit. louis xvi. cared but little for books until his troubles came thick upon him, and then he sought solace from their pages. during that life in the temple we all know so well from the sad reading of its incidents, books were not denied to the persecuted royal family. there was a small library in the "little tower," and the king drew up a list of books to be supplied to him from the library at the tuileries. the list included the works of virgil, horace, ovid, and terence; of tacitus, livy, cæsar, marcus aurelius, eutropius, cornelius nepos, florus, justin, quintus curtius, sallust, suetonius and velleius paterculus; the _vies des saints_, the _fables de la fontaine_, _télèmaque_, and rollin's _traité des etudes_.[ ] the more we know of napoleon, and anecdotes of him are continually being published in the ever-lengthening series of french memoirs, the less heroic appears his figure, but he could not have been entirely bad, for he truly loved books. he began life as an author, and would always have books about him. he complained if the printing was bad or the binding poor, and said, "i will have fine editions and handsome binding. i am rich enough for that."[ ] thus spoke the true bibliophile. mr. edwards has collected much interesting information respecting napoleon and his libraries, and of his labours i here freely avail myself. bourrienne affirms that the authors who chiefly attracted napoleon in his school days were polybius, plutarch, and arrian. "shortly before he left france for egypt, napoleon drew up, with his own hand, the scheme of a travelling library, the charge of collecting which was given to john baptist say, the economist. it comprised about three hundred and twenty volumes, more than half of which are historical, and nearly all, as it seems, in french. the ancient historians comprised in the list are thucydides, plutarch, polybius, arrian, tacitus, livy, and justin. the poets are homer, virgil, tasso, ariosto, the _télèmaque_ of fénélon, the _henriade_ of voltaire, with ossian and la fontaine. among the works of prose fiction are the english novelists in forty volumes, of course in translations, and the indispensable _sorrows of werter_, which, as he himself told goethe, napoleon had read through seven times prior to october, . in this list the bible, together with the _koran_ and the _vedas_, are whimsically, but significantly, entered under the heading politics and ethics (politique et morale).[ ] napoleon was not, however, satisfied with the camp libraries which were provided for him; the good editions were too bulky and the small editions too mean: so he arranged the plan of a library to be expressly printed for him in a thousand duodecimo volumes without margins, bound in thin covers and with loose backs. "in this new plan 'religion' took its place as the first class. the bible was to be there in its best translation, with a selection of the most important works of the fathers of the church, and a series of the best dissertations on those leading religious sects--their doctrines and their history--which have powerfully influenced the world. this section was limited to forty volumes. the koran was to be included, together with a good book or two on mythology. one hundred and forty volumes were allotted to poetry. the epics were to embrace homer, lucan, tasso, _telemachus_, and the _henriade_. in the dramatic portion corneille and racine were of course to be included, but of corneille, said napoleon, you shall print for me 'only what is vital' (ce qui est resté), and from racine you shall omit '_les frères ennemis_, the _alexandre_, and _les plaideurs_. of crébillon, he would have only _rhadamiste_ and _atrée et thyeste_. voltaire was to be subject to the same limitation as corneille.'"[ ] in prose fiction napoleon specifies the _nouvelle héloise_ and rousseau's _confessions_, the masterpieces of fielding, richardson and le sage, and voltaire's tales. soon after this napoleon proposed a much larger scheme for a camp library, in which history alone would occupy three thousand volumes. history was to be divided into these sections--i. chronology and universal history. ii. ancient history (_a._ by ancient writers, _b._ by modern writers). iii. history of the lower empire (in like subdivisions). iv. history, both general and particular. v. the modern history of the different states of europe. the celebrated bibliographer barbier drew up, according to the emperor's orders, a detailed catalogue of the works which should form such a library. "he calculated that by employing a hundred and twenty compositors and twenty-five editors, the three thousand volumes could be produced, in satisfactory shape, and within six years, at a total cost of £ , , supposing fifty copies of each book to be printed."[ ] the printing was begun, but little was actually done, and in six years napoleon was in st. helena. in his last island home napoleon had a library, and he read largely, often aloud, with good effect. it is an interesting fact that among napoleon's papers were found some notes on geography written when a boy, and these close with the words--"_sainte-hélène--petite ile_."[ ] in recapitulating here the names of a few of the famous men who have formed libraries it will be necessary to divide them into two classes, , those whose fame arises from their habit of collecting, and , those authors in whose lives we are so much interested that the names of the books they possessed are welcomed by us as indications of their characters. what can be said of the libraries of the duke of roxburghe, earl spencer, thomas grenville, and richard heber that has not been said often before? two of these have been dispersed over the world, and two remain, one the glory of a noble family, and the other of the nation, or perhaps it would be more proper to say both are the glory of the nation, for every englishman must be proud that the spencer library still remains intact. heber left behind him over , volumes, in eight houses, four in england and four on the continent, and no record remains of this immense library but the volumes of the sale catalogues. such wholesale collection appears to be allied to madness, but heber was no selfish collector, and his practice was as liberal as grolier's motto. his name is enshrined in lasting verse by scott:-- "thy volumes, open as thy heart, delight, amusement, science, art, to every ear and eye impart; yet who of all that thus employ them, can like the owner's self enjoy them?-- but hark! i hear the distant drum: the day of flodden field is come-- adieu, dear heber! life and health, and store of literary wealth." --marmion, _introduction to the sixth canto_. the duke of sussex was a worthy successor of his father, george iii., in the ranks of book-collectors, and his library is kept in memory by pettigrew's fine catalogue. douce and malone the critics, and gough the antiquary, left their libraries to the bodleian, and thus many valuable books are available to students in that much-loved resort of his at oxford. anthony morris storer, who is said to have excelled in everything he set his heart on and hand to, collected a beautiful library, which he bequeathed to eton college, where it still remains, a joy to look at from the elegance of the bindings. his friend lord carlisle wrote of him-- "whether i storer sing in hours of joy, when every look bespeaks the inward boy; or when no more mirth wantons in his breast, and all the man in him appears confest; in mirth, in sadness, sing him how i will, sense and good nature must attend him still." jacob bryant the antiquary left his library to king's college, cambridge. at one time he intended to have followed storer's example, and have left it to eton college, but the provost offended him, and he changed the object of his bequest. it is said that when he was discussing the matter, the provost asked whether he would not arrange for the payment of the carriage of the books from his house to eton. he thought this grasping, and king's gained the benefit of his change of mind. among great authors two of the chief collectors were scott and southey. scott's library still remains at abbotsford, and no one who has ever entered that embodiment of the great man's soul can ever forget it. the library, with the entire contents of the house, were restored to scott in by his trustees and creditors, "as the best means the creditors have of expressing their very high sense of his most honourable conduct, and in grateful acknowledgment of the unparalleled and most successful exertions he has made, and continues to make for them." the library is rich in the subjects which the great author loved, such as demonology and witchcraft. in a volume of a collection of ballads and chapbooks is this note written by scott in : "this little collection of stall tracts and ballads was formed by me, when a boy, from the baskets of the travelling pedlars. until put into its present decent binding, it had such charms for the servants, that it was repeatedly, and with difficulty, recovered from their clutches. it contains most of the pieces that were popular about thirty years since, and i dare say many that could not now be procured for any price." it is odd to contrast the book-loving tastes of celebrated authors. southey cared for his books, but coleridge would cut the leaves of a book with a butter knife, and de quincey's extraordinary treatment of books is well described by mr. burton in the _book hunter_. charles lamb's loving appreciation of his books is known to all readers of the delightful elia. southey collected more than , volumes, which sold in for nearly £ . he began collecting as a boy, for his father had but few books. mr. edwards enumerates these as follows: the _spectator_, three or four volumes of the _oxford magazine_, one volume of the _freeholder's magazine_, and one of the _town and country magazine_, pomfret's _poems_, the _death of abel_, nine plays (including _julius cæsar_, _the indian queen_, and a translation of _merope_), and a pamphlet.[ ] southey was probably one of the most representative of literary men. his feelings in his library are those of all book-lovers, although he could express these feelings in language which few of them have at command:-- my days among the dead are passed; around me i behold, where'er these casual eyes are cast, the mighty minds of old: my never-failing friends are they, with whom i converse day by day. with them i take delight in weal, and seek relief in woe; and while i understand and feel how much to them i owe, my cheeks have often been bedewed with tears of thoughtful gratitude. my thoughts are with the dead; with them i live in long-past years; their virtues love, their faults condemn, partake their hopes and fears, and from their lessons seek and find instruction with a humble mind. my hopes are with the dead; anon my place with them will be and i with them shall travel on through all futurity; yet leaving here a name, i trust, that will not perish in the dust. mr. henry stevens read a paper or rather delivered an address at the meeting of the library association held at liverpool in , containing his recollections of mr. james lenox, the great american book collector. i had the pleasure of listening to that address, but i have read it in its finished form with even greater delight. it is not often that he who pleases you as a speaker also pleases you as writer, but mr. stevens succeeds in both. if more bibliographers could write their reminiscences with the same spirit that he does, we should hear less of the dullness of bibliography. i strongly recommend my readers to take an early opportunity of perusing this paper in the liverpool volume of the transactions of the library association. mr. stevens, among his anecdotes of mr. lenox, records that he "often bought duplicates for immediate use, or to lend, rather than grope for the copies he knew to be in the stocks in some of his store rooms or chambers, notably stirling's _artists of spain_, a high-priced book." this is a common trouble to large book collectors, who cannot find the books they know they possess. the late mr. crossley had his books stacked away in heaps, and he was often unable to lay his hands upon books of which he had several copies. footnotes: [ ] narcissus marsh, archbishop of armagh, is said to have given £ for bishop stillingfleet's library. [ ] _reliquiæ hearnianæ_, by bliss, nd edition, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] edwards, _libraries and founders of libraries_, p. . [ ] edwards, _libraries and founders_, p. . [ ] _correspondance de napoleon i^er_, iv. pp. , , quoted by edwards, _libraries and founders_, p. . [ ] edwards, _libraries and founders_, p. . [ ] edwards, _libraries and founders_, p. . [ ] edwards, _libraries and founders_, p. . [ ] _libraries and founders of libraries_, p. . chapter ii. how to buy. a discussion has arisen lately in bibliographical journals as to how best to supply libraries with their books, the main principle agreed upon being that it is the duty of the librarian to buy his books as cheaply as possible. some of these views are stated by mr. h.r. tedder in a letter printed in the _library chronicle_ for july, (vol. i. p. ). it appears that professor dziatzko contends that the books should always be bought as cheaply as possible, but that dr. julius petzholdt holds the opinion that the chief object of the librarian should be to get his books as early as possible and not to wait until they can be had at second-hand. mr. tedder thinks that the two plans of rapidity of supply and cheapness of cost can in some respect be united. of course there can be no difference of opinion in respect to the duty of the librarian to get as much for his money as he can, but there are other points which require to be considered besides those brought forward before a satisfactory answer to the question--how to buy? can be obtained. there are three points which seem to have been very much overlooked in the discussion, which may be stated here. . is the librarian's valuable time well occupied by looking after cheap copies of books? . will not the proposed action on the part of librarians go far to abolish the intelligent second-hand bookseller in the same way as the new bookseller has been well-nigh abolished in consequence of large discounts? . will not such action prevent the publication of excellent books on subjects little likely to be popular? . most librarians find their time pretty well occupied by the ordinary duties of buying, arranging, cataloguing, and finding the books under their charge, and it will be generally allowed that the librarian's first duty is to be in his library, ready to attend to those who wish to consult him. now the value of his time can be roughly estimated for this purpose in money, and the value of the time spent in doing work which could be as well or better done by a bookseller should fairly be added to the cost of the books. . it has hitherto been thought advisable to have one or more second-hand booksellers attached to an important library, from whom the librarian may naturally expect to obtain such books as he requires. of course a man of knowledge and experience must be paid for the exercise of these qualities, but the price of books is so variable that it is quite possible that the bookseller, from his knowledge, may buy the required books cheaper than the librarian himself would pay for them. as far as it is possible to judge from the information given us respecting the collection of libraries, bookbuyers have little to complain of as to the price paid by them to such respectable booksellers as have acted as their agents. perhaps too little stress has been laid upon that characteristic which is happily so common among honest men, viz. that the agent is as pleased to get wares cheap for a good customer as for himself. mr. tedder says in his letter, "for rarer books i still consider it safer and cheaper in the long run to cultivate business relations with one or more second-hand booksellers, and pay them for their knowledge and experience." but is this quite fair, and is it not likely that the rarer books will be supplied cheaper if the bookseller is allowed to pay himself partly out of the sale of the commoner books, which it is now proposed the librarian shall buy himself? my contention is that it is for the advantage of libraries that intelligent booksellers, ready to place their knowledge at the service of the librarians, should exist, and it is unwise and uneconomic to do that which may cause this class to cease to exist. sellers of books must always exist, but it is possible to drive out of the trade those who do it the most honour. we see what has occurred in the new book trade, and there can be little doubt that the book-buyer loses much more than he gains by the present system of discount. when the bookseller could obtain sufficient profit by the sale of new books to keep his shop open, it was worth his while to take some trouble in finding the book required; but now that the customer expects to buy a book at trade price, he cannot be surprised if he does not give full particulars as to the publisher of the book he requires if it is reported to him as "not known." those only who, by taking a large quantity of copies, obtain an extra discount, can make new bookselling pay. . there are a large number of books which, although real additions to literature, can only be expected to obtain a small number of readers and buyers. some of these are not taken by the circulating libraries, and publishers, in making their calculations, naturally count upon supplying some of the chief libraries of the country. if these libraries wait till the book is second-hand, the number of sales is likely to be so much reduced that it is not worth while to publish the book at all, to the evident damage of the cause of learning. it has been often suggested that an arrangement should be made by libraries in close proximity, so that the same expensive book should not be bought by more than one of the libraries. no doubt this is advantageous in certain circumstances, but in the case of books with a limited sale it would have the same consequence as stated above, and the book would not be published at all, or be published at a loss. selden wrote in his _table talk_: "the giving a bookseller his price for his books has this advantage; he that will do so, shall have the refusal of whatsoever comes to his hand, and so by that means get many things which otherwise he never should have seen." and the dictum is as true now as it was in his time. many special points arise for consideration when we deal with the question--how to buy at sales? and mr. edward edwards gives the following four rules for the guidance of the young book-buyer (_memoirs of libraries_, vol. ii. p. ): . the examination of books before the sale, not during it. . a steady unintermittent bidding up to his predetermined limit, for all the books which he wants, from the first lot to the last; and--if there be any signs of a "combination"--for a few others which he may _not_ want. . careful avoidance of all interruptions and conversation; with especial watchfulness of the hammer immediately after the disposal of those especially seductive lots, which may have excited a keen and spirited competition. (there is usually on such occasions a sort of "lull," very favourable to the acquisition of good bargains.) . the uniform preservation and storing up of priced catalogues of all important sales for future reference. a case of conscience arises as to whether it is fit and proper for two buyers to agree not to oppose each other at a public sale. mr. edwards says, "at the sales lord spencer was a liberal opponent as well as a liberal bidder. when mason's books were sold, for example, in , lord spencer agreed with the duke of roxburghe that they would not oppose each other, in bidding for some books of excessive rarity, but when both were very earnest in their longings, "toss up, after the book was bought, to see who should win it." thus it was that the duke obtained his unique, but imperfect, copy of caxton's _historye of kynge blanchardyn and prince eglantyne_, which, however, came safely to althorp fourteen years later, at a cost of two hundred and fifteen pounds; the duke having given but twenty guineas."[ ] it is easy to understand the inducement which made these two giants agree not to oppose each other, but the agreement was dangerously like a "knock-out." mr. henry stevens (in his _recollections of mr. james lenox_) boldly deals with this question, and condemns any such agreement. he writes, "shortly after, in , there occurred for sale at the same auction rooms a copy of '_aratus, phaenomena_,' paris, , in ^o, with a few manuscript notes, and this autograph signature on the title, 'jo. milton, pre. _s._ _d._ .' this i thought would be a desirable acquisition for mr. lenox, and accordingly i ventured to bid for it as far as £ , against my late opponent for the drake map, but he secured it at £ _s._, remarking that 'mr. panizzi will not thank you for, thus running the british museum.' 'that remark,' i replied, 'is apparently one of your gratuities. mr. panizzi is, i think, too much a man of the world to grumble at a fair fight. he has won this time, though at considerable cost, and i am sure mr. lenox will be the first to congratulate him on securing such a prize for the british museum.' 'i did not know you were bidding for mr. lenox.' 'it was not necessary that you should.' 'perhaps at another time,' said he, 'we may arrange the matter beforehand, so as not to oppose each other.' 'very well,' i replied, 'if you will bring me a note from mr. panizzi something to this effect: 'mr. stevens, please have a knock-out with the bearer, the agent of the british museum, on lot **, and greatly oblige mr. john bull and your obdt. servant, a.p.,' i will consider the proposition, and if mr. lenox, or any other of my interested correspondents, is not unwilling to combine or conspire to rob or cheat the proprietors, the 'thing' may possibly be done. meanwhile, until this arrangement is concluded, let us hold our tongues and pursue an honest course.' that man never again suggested to me to join him in a 'knock-out.'" in another place mr. stevens relates his own experience as to holding two commissions, and the necessity of buying the book above the amount of the lowest of the two. the circumstance relates to a copy of the small octavo latin edition of the _columbus letter_, in eight leaves, at the first libri sale, feb. , . mr. stevens writes, "mr. brown ordered this lot with a limit of guineas, and mr. lenox of £ . now as my chief correspondents had been indulged with a good deal of liberty, scarcely ever considering their orders completely executed till they had received the books and decided whether or not they would keep them, i grew into the habit of considering all purchases my own until accepted and paid for. consequently when positive orders were given, which was very seldom, i grew likewise into the habit of buying the lot as cheaply as possible, and then awarding it to the correspondent who gave the highest limit. this is not always quite fair to the owner; but in my case it would have been unfair to myself to make my clients compete, as not unfrequently the awarded lot was declined and had to go to another. well, in the case of this columbus letter, though i had five or six orders, i purchased it for £ _s._, and, accordingly, as had been done many times before within the last five or six years without a grumble, i awarded it to the highest limit, and sent the little book to mr. john carter brown. hitherto, in cases of importance, mr. lenox had generally been successful, because he usually gave the highest limit. but in this case he rebelled. he wrote that the book had gone under his commission of £ , that he knew nobody else in the transaction, and that he insisted on having it, or he should at once transfer his orders to some one else. i endeavoured to vindicate my conduct by stating our long-continued practice, with which he was perfectly well acquainted, but without success. he grew more and more peremptory, insisting on having the book solely on the ground that it went under his limit. at length, after some months of negotiation, mr. brown, on being made acquainted with the whole correspondence, very kindly, to relieve me of the dilemma, sent the book to mr. lenox without a word of comment or explanation, except that, though it went also below his higher limit, he yielded it to mr. lenox for peace.... from that time i resorted, in cases of duplicate orders from them, to the expedient of always putting the lot in at one bid above the lower limit, which, after all, i believe is the fairer way in the case of positive orders. this sometimes cost one of them a good deal more money, but it abated the chafing and generally gave satisfaction. both thought the old method the fairest when they got the prize. but i was obliged, on the new system of bidding, to insist on the purchaser keeping the book without the option of returning it." there can be no doubt that the latter plan was the most satisfactory. some persons appear to be under the impression that whatever a book fetches at a public sale must be its true value, and that, as the encounter is open and public, too much is not likely to be paid by the buyer; but this is a great mistake, and prices are often realized at a good sale which are greatly in advance of those at which the same books are standing unsold in second-hand booksellers' shops. much knowledge is required by those who wish to buy with success at sales. books vary greatly in price at different periods, and it is a mistake to suppose, from the high prices realized at celebrated sales, which are quoted in all the papers, that books are constantly advancing in price. although many have gone up, many others have gone down, and at no time probably were good and useful books to be bought so cheap as now. if we look at old sale catalogues we shall find early printed books, specimens of old english poetry and the drama, fetching merely a fraction of what would have to be given for them now; but, on the other hand, we shall find pounds then given for standard books which would not now realize the same number of shillings; this is specially the case with classics. the following passage from hearne's _diaries_ on the fluctuations in prices is of interest in this connection:--"the editions of classicks of the first print (commonly called _editones principes_) that used to go at prodigious prices are now strangely lowered; occasioned in good measure by mr. thomas rawlinson, my friend, being forced to sell many of his books, in whose auction these books went cheap, tho' english history and antiquities went dear: and yet this gentleman was the chief man that raised many curious and classical books so high, by his generous and courageous way of bidding."[ ] these first editions, however, realize large prices at the present time, as has been seen at the sale of the sunderland library. it is experience only that will give the necessary knowledge to the book buyer, and no rules laid down in books can be of any real practical value in this case. persons who know nothing of books are too apt to suppose that what they are inclined to consider exorbitant prices are matters of caprice, but this is not so. there is generally a very good reason for the high price. we must remember that year by year old and curious books become scarcer, and the number of libraries where they are locked up increase; thus while the demand is greater, the supply diminishes, and the price naturally becomes higher. a unique first edition of a great author is surely a possession to be proud of, and it is no ignoble ambition to wish to obtain it. footnotes: [ ] _libraries and founders of libraries_, , p. . [ ] _reliquiæ hearnianæ_, , vol. ii. p. . chapter iii. public libraries. libraries may broadly be divided into public and private, and as private libraries will vary according to the special idiosyncrasies of their owners, so still more will public libraries vary in character according to the public they are intended for. the answer therefore to the question--how to form a public library?--must depend upon the character of the library which it is proposed to form. up to the period when free town libraries were first formed, collections of books were usually intended for students; but when the public libraries' acts were passed, a great change took place, and libraries being formed for general readers, and largely with the object of fostering the habit of reading, an entirely new idea of libraries came into existence. the old idea of a library was that of a place where books that were wanted could be found, but the new idea is that of an educational establishment, where persons who know little or nothing of books can go to learn what to read. the new idea has naturally caused a number of points to be discussed which were never thought of before. but even in town libraries there will be great differences. thus in such places as birmingham, liverpool, and manchester, the free libraries should be smaller british museums, and in this spirit their founders have worked; but in smaller and less important towns a more modest object has to be kept in view, and the wants of readers, more than those of consulters of books, have to be considered. mr. beriah botfield has given a very full account of the contents of the libraries spread about the country and associated with the different cathedrals in his _notes on the cathedral libraries of england_, . these libraries have mostly been formed upon the same plan, and consist very largely of the works of the fathers, and of old divinity. some contain also old editions of the classics, and others fine early editions of english authors. in former times these libraries were much neglected, and many of the books were lost; but the worst instance of injury to a library occurred at lincoln at the beginning of the present century, when a large number of caxtons, pynsons, wynkyn de wordes, etc., were sold to dr. dibdin, and modern books purchased for the library with the proceeds. dibdin printed a list of his treasures under the title of "the lincolne nosegay." mr. botfield has reprinted this catalogue in his book. the first chapter of the _united states report on public libraries_ is devoted to public libraries a hundred years ago. mr. h.e. scudder there describes some american libraries which were founded in the last century. one of these was the loganian library of philadelphia. here is an extract from the will of james logan, the founder-- "in my library, which i have left to the city of philadelphia for the advancement and facilitating of classical learning, are above one hundred volumes of authors, in folio, all in greek, with mostly their versions. all the roman classics without exception. all the greek mathematicians, viz. archimedes, euclid, ptolemy, both his geography and almagest, which i had in greek (with theon's commentary, in folio, above pages) from my learned friend fabricius, who published fourteen volumes of his _bibliothèque grecque_, in quarto, in which, after he had finished his account of ptolemy, on my inquiring of him at hamburgh, how i should find it, having long sought for it in vain in england, he sent it to me out of his own library, telling me it was so scarce that neither prayers nor price could purchase it; besides, there are many of the most valuable latin authors, and a great number of modern mathematicians, with all the three editions of newton, dr. watts, halley, etc." the inscription on the house of the philadelphia library is well worthy of repetition here. it was prepared by franklin, with the exception of the reference to himself, which was inserted by the committee. be it remembered, in honor of the philadelphia youth (then chiefly artificers), that in mdccxxxi they cheerfully, at the instance of benjamin franklin, one of their number, instituted the philadelphia library, which, though small at first, is become highly valuable and extensively useful, and which the walls of this edifice are now destined to contain and preserve: the first stone of whose foundation was here placed the thirty-first day of august, . mr. f.b. perkins, of the boston public library, contributed to the _report on public libraries in the united states_ a useful chapter on "how to make town libraries successful" (pp. - ). the two chief points upon which he lays particular stress, and which may be said to form the texts for his practical remarks, are: ( ) that a public library for popular use must be managed not only as a literary institution, but also as a business concern; and ( ) that it is a mistake to choose books of too thoughtful or solid a character. he says, "it is vain to go on the principle of collecting books that people ought to read, and afterwards trying to coax them to read them. the only practical method is to begin by supplying books that people already want to read, and afterwards to do whatever shall be found possible to elevate their reading tastes and habits." a series of articles on "how to start libraries in small towns" was published in the _library journal_ (vol. i. pp. , , , , , ), and mr. axon's _hints on the formation of small libraries_ has already been mentioned. we must not be too rigid in the use of the term public libraries, and we should certainly include under this description those institutional libraries which, although primarily intended for the use of the members of the societies to which they belong, can usually be consulted by students who are properly introduced. of public libraries first in order come the great libraries of a nation, such as the british museum. these are supplied by means of the copyright law, but the librarians are not from this cause exonerated from the troubles attendant on the formation of a library. there are old books and privately printed and foreign books to be bought, and it is necessary that the most catholic spirit should be displayed by the librarians. the same may be said in a lesser degree of the great libraries of the more important towns. in england the universities have noble libraries, more especially those of oxford and cambridge, but although some colleges possess fine collections of books, college libraries are not as a rule kept up to a very high standard. the united states report contains a full account of the college libraries in america (pp. - ). the libraries of societies are to a large extent special ones, and my brother, the late mr. b.r. wheatley, in a paper read before the conference of librarians, , entitled "hints on library management, so far as relates to the circulation of books," particularly alluded to this fact. he wrote, "our library is really a medical and surgical section of a great public library. taking the five great classes of literature, i suppose medicine and its allied sciences may be considered as forming a thirtieth of the whole, and, as our books number , , we are, as it were, a complete section of a public library of nearly a million volumes in extent." the united states report contains several chapters on special libraries, thus chapter is devoted to those of schools and asylums; , to theological libraries; , to law; , to medical; and , to scientific libraries. for the formation of special libraries, special bibliographies will be required, and for information on this subject reference should be made to chapter vi. of the present work. when we come to deal with the free public libraries, several ethical questions arise, which do not occur in respect to other libraries. one of the most pressing of these questions refers to the amount of fiction read by the ordinary frequenters of these libraries. this point is alluded to in the united states report on public libraries. mr. j.p. quincy, in the chapter on free libraries (p. ), writes, "surely a state which lays heavy taxes upon the citizen in order that children may be taught to read is bound to take some interest in what they read; and its representatives may well take cognizance of the fact that an increased facility for obtaining works of sensational fiction is not the special need of our country at the close of the first century of its independence." he mentions a free library in germanstown, pa., sustained by the liberality of a religious body, and frequented by artisans and working people of both sexes. it had been in existence six years in , and then contained volumes. no novels are admitted into the library. the following is a passage from the librarian's report of : "in watching the use of our library as it is more and more resorted to by the younger readers of our community, i have been much interested in its influence in weaning them from a desire for works of fiction. on first joining the library, the new comers often ask for such books, but failing to procure them, and having their attention turned to works of interest and instruction, in almost every instance they settle down to good reading and cease asking for novels. i am persuaded that much of this vitiated taste is cultivated by the purveyors to the reading classes, and that they are responsible for an appetite they often profess to deplore, but continue to cater to, under the plausible excuse that the public will have such works." mr. justin winsor in chapter (reading in popular libraries) expresses a somewhat different view. he writes, "every year many young readers begin their experiences with the library. they find all the instructive reading they ought to have in their school books, and frequent the library for story books. these swell the issues of fiction, but they prevent the statistics of that better reading into which you have allured the older ones, from telling as they should in the average." at the london conference of librarians ( ), mr. p. cowell, librarian of the liverpool public library, read a paper on the admission of fiction in free public libraries, where he discussed the subject in a very fair manner, and deplored the high percentage of novel reading in these libraries. at the second annual meeting of the library association ( ) mr. j. taylor kay, librarian of owens college, manchester, in his paper on the provision of novels in rate-supported libraries, more completely condemned this provision. he concluded his paper with these words: "clearly a hard and fast line must be drawn. a distinct refusal by the library committees to purchase a single novel or tale would be appreciated by the rate-payers. the suggestion of a sub-committee to read this literature would not be tolerated, and no man whose time is of value would undergo the infliction. the libraries would attain their true position, and the donations would certainly be of a higher class, if the aims of the committees were known to be higher. manchester has already curtailed its issues of novels. it has been in the vanguard on the education question: and let us hope it will be true to its traditions, to its noble impulses, and lead the van in directing the educational influence of the free libraries, and striking out altogether any expenditure in the dissemination of this literature." this question probably would not have come to the front if it were not that the educational value of free libraries, as the complement of board schools, has been very properly put forward by their promoters. with this aim in view, it does startle one somewhat to see the completely disproportionate supply of novels in the free libraries. this often rises to per cent. of the total supply, and in some libraries even a higher percentage has been reached. there are, however, exceptions. at the baltimore peabody institute fiction did not rise to more than one-tenth of the total reading. the following are some figures of subjects circulated at that library above :-- belles lettres fiction biography greek and latin classics history (american) law natural history theology periodicals (literary) periodicals (scientific) mr. cowell says that during the year ending st august, , , volumes were issued at the reference library alone (liverpool free public library); of these , were strictly novels. the high-percentage of novel reading is not confined to free public libraries, for we find that in the odd fellows' library of san francisco, in , , volumes of prose fiction were lent out of a total of , . the other high figures being essays, ; history, ; biography and travels, . in the college of the city of new york, of the books taken out by students between nov. , and nov. , volumes were novels, the next highest numbers were science, ; poetry, ; history, .[ ] in considering this question one naturally asks if the masterpieces of our great authors, which every one should read, are to be mixed up with the worthless novels constantly being published in the condemnation of fiction; but, to some extent, both mr. cowell and mr. kay answer this. the first of these gentlemen writes: "as to the better class novels, which are so graphic in their description of places, costumes, pageantry, men, and events, i regret to say that they are not the most popular with those who stand in need of their instructive descriptions. i could generally find upon the library shelves 'harold,' 'the last of the barons,' 'westward ho!' 'hypatia,' 'ivanhoe,' 'waverley,' 'lorna doone,' etc., when not a copy of the least popular of the works of mrs. henry wood, 'ouida,' miss braddon, or rhoda broughton were to be had." mr. kay corroborates this opinion in his paper. most of us recognize the value of honest fiction for children and the overwrought brains of busy men, but the reading of novels of any kind can only be justified as a relaxation, and it is a sad fact that there is a large class of persons who will read nothing but novels and who call all other books dry reading. upon the minds of this class fiction has a most enervating effect, and it is not to be expected that ratepayers will desire to increase this class by the indiscriminate supply of novels to the free libraries. some persons are so sanguine as to believe that readers will be gradually led from the lower species of reading to the higher; but there is little confirmation of this hope to be found in the case of the confirmed novel readers we see around us. the librarian who, with ample funds for the purpose, has the duty before him of forming a public library, sets forward on a pleasant task. he has the catalogues of all kinds of libraries to guide him, and he will be able to purchase the groundwork of his library at a very cheap rate, for probably at no time could sets of standard books be bought at so low a price as now. many books that are not wanted by private persons are indispensable for a public library, and there being little demand for them they can be obtained cheap. when the groundwork has been carefully laid, then come some of the difficulties of collecting. books specially required will not easily be obtained, and when they are found, the price will probably be a high one. books of reference will be expensive, and as these soon get out of date, they will frequently need renewal. footnotes: [ ] _library journal_, vol. ii. p. . chapter iv. private libraries. treating of private libraries, it will be necessary to consider their constitution under two heads, according as they are required in town or country. in london, for instance, where libraries of all kinds are easily accessible, a man need only possess books on his own particular hobby, and a good collection of books of reference; but in the country, away from public libraries, a well-selected collection of standard books will be necessary. . _town._ every one who loves books will be sure to have some favourite authors on special subjects of study respecting which he needs no instruction farther than that which is ready to his hand. books on these subjects he will need, both in town and country, if he possesses two houses. some collectors make their town house a sort of gathering-place for the accessions to their country libraries. here a class is completed, bound, and put in order, and then sent to the country to find its proper place in the family library. this is an age of books of reference, and as knowledge increases, and the books which impart it to readers become unwieldy from their multitude, there are sure to be forthcoming those who will reduce the facts into a handy form. i have gathered in the following pages the titles of some of the best books of reference which are to be obtained. many, if not all of these, are to be found in that magnificent library of reference--the reading room of the british museum. in some cases where the books are constantly being reprinted, dates have been omitted. there are, doubtless, many valuable works which i have overlooked, and some text-books i have had to leave out owing to the exigencies of space, but i trust that the present list will be found useful. _abbreviations._--dictionnaire des abréviations latines et françaises usitées dans les inscriptions lapidaires et métalliques, les manuscrits et les chartes du moyen age. par l. alph. chassant. quatrième édition. paris, . sm. vo. _anthropology._--notes and queries on anthropology, for the use of travellers and residents in uncivilized lands. drawn up by a committee appointed by the british association. london, . sm. vo. _antiquities._--dictionary of greek and roman antiquities. edited by dr. william smith. roy. vo. ---- dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines d'après les textes et les monuments ... ouvrage rédigé ... sous la direction de ch. daremberg et edm. saglio. paris, . to. ---- the life of the greeks and romans described from antique monuments, by e. guhl and w. koner, translated from the third german edition by f. hueffer. london, . vo. ---- gallus or roman scenes of the time of augustus. by w.a. becker, translated by f. metcalfe. london. ---- charicles: illustrations of the private life of the ancient greeks. by w.a. becker, translated by f. metcalfe. london. _antiquities._--archæological index to remains of antiquity of the celtic, romano-british and anglo-saxon periods. by john yonge akerman. london, . vo. ---- introduction to english antiquities. by james eccleston. london, . vo. ---- the english archæologist's handbook. by henry godwin. oxford, . vo. _architecture._--a dictionary of the architecture and archæology of the middle ages.... by john britton. london, . ---- history of architecture in all countries, from the earliest times to the present day. by james fergusson. london, - . vols. vo. ---- nicholson's dictionary of the science and practice of architecture, building, carpentry, etc. new edition, edited by edward lomax and thomas gunyon. london. vols. to. ---- an encyclopædia of architecture, historical, theoretical, and practical. by joseph gwilt, revised by wyatt papworth. new edition. london, . vo. ---- the dictionary of architecture, issued by the architectural publication society. a to oz. vols. roy. to. (in progress.) ---- a glossary of terms used in grecian, roman, italian, and gothic architecture. fifth edition, enlarged. oxford, . vols. vo. ---- an encyclopædia of cottage, farm, and villa architecture and furniture.... by j.c. loudon. london, . vo. _arts, manufactures_, etc.--ure's dictionary of arts, manufactures, and mines, containing a clear exposition of their principles and practice. by robert hunt, assisted by f.w. rudler. seventh edition. london, . vols. vo. ---- spons' encyclopædia of the industrial arts, manufactures, and commercial products. london, . vols. roy. vo. ---- history of physical astronomy. by robert grant. london [ ]. a most valuable book, but now out of print and scarce. ---- an historical survey of the astronomy of the ancients. by g. cornewall lewis. london, . vo. _bible._--dictionary of the bible, comprising its antiquities, biography, mythology, and geography. by dr. william smith. roy. vo. ---- a biblical cyclopædia or dictionary of eastern antiquities, geography, natural history, sacred annals and biography, theology and biblical literature, illustrative of the old and new testaments. edited by john eadie, d.d., ll.d. twelfth edition. london, . vo. ---- the bible atlas of maps and plans to illustrate the geography and topography of the old and new testaments and the apocrypha, with explanatory notes by samuel clark, m.a. also a complete index of the geographical names ... by george grove. london, . to. _bible._ see _concordances_. _bibliography._--see chapters v. and vi. _biography._--mr. chancellor christie contributed a very interesting article to the _quarterly review_ (april, ) on biographical dictionaries, in which he details the history of the struggle between the publishers of the _biographie universelle_ and messrs. didot, whose dictionary was eventually entitled _nouvelle biographie générale_. the new edition of the _biographie universelle_ ( vols. imp. vo. paris, ) is an invaluable work. chalmers's biographical dictionary ( vols. vo. - ) is a mine of literary wealth, from which compilers have freely dug. rose's ( vols. vo. ) was commenced upon a very comprehensive plan, but the lives were considerably contracted before the work was completed. it is, however, a very useful work. l.b. phillips's "dictionary of biographical reference" contains , names, and gives the dates of birth and death, which in many instances is all the information the consulter requires, and should more be required, he is referred to the authority. this book is quite indispensable for every library. there are several national biographical dictionaries, and at last a thoroughly satisfactory biographia britannica is in course of publication by messrs. smith & elder. the "dictionary of national biography, edited by leslie stephen," has reached the fifth volume, and extends to bottisham. ---- robert chambers's biographical dictionary of eminent scotsmen (glasgow, - . vols. vo.) will be found useful. _biography._--dr. william allen's "american biographical dictionary" was published at boston in . ---- biographie nouvelle des contemporains ... par a.v. arnault [etc.]. paris, - . vols. vo. mr. edward smith points this book out to me as specially valuable for information respecting actors in the french revolution. ---- handbook of contemporary biography. by frederick martin. london, . sm. vo. ---- men of the time: a dictionary of contemporaries. eleventh edition. revised by thompson cooper. london, . sm. vo. a volume of pages should contain a fair representation of the men of the day, and yet it is ludicrously incomplete. the literary side is as much overdone as the scientific side is neglected. this is not the place to make a list of shortcomings, but it will probably astonish most of our readers to learn that such eminent men of the time as sir frederick abel, sir frederick bramwell, and the late dr. w.b. carpenter are not mentioned. as this book has as a high reputation, the editor should thoroughly revise it for a new edition. ---- men of the reign. a biographical dictionary of eminent characters of both sexes, who have died during the reign of queen victoria. edited by t. humphry ward. (uniform with "men of the time.") london, . _biography._--dictionnaire universel des contemporains.... par g. vapereau. cinquième edition. paris, . vo. ---- supplément. oct. . ---- biographie nationale des contemporains, redigée par une société de gens de lettres sous la direction de m. ernest glaeser. paris, . royal vo. ---- dictionnaire général de biographie contemporaine française et etrangère. par ad. bitard. paris, . vo. ---- to this list of contemporary biography may be added the indexes of obituary notices published by the index society. (_bishops._)--fasti ecclesiæ anglicanæ, or a calendar of the principal ecclesiastical dignitaries in england and wales, and of the chief officers in the universities of oxford and cambridge, from the earliest time to the year . compiled by john le neve. corrected and continued from to the present time by t. duffus hardy. oxford, . vols. vo. ---- fasti ecclesiæ hibernicæ. the succession of the prelates and members of cathedral bodies in ireland. by henry cotton, d.c.l. dublin, - . vols. vo. (_lawyers._)--lives of the chief justices of england. by john lord campbell. second edition. london, . vols. vo. ---- lives of the lord chancellors and keepers of the great seal of england. by john lord campbell. fourth edition. london, . vols. sm. vo. (_scientific men._)--poggendorff (j.c.). biographisch-literarisches handwörterbuch zur geschichte der exacten wissenschaften, enthaltend nachweisungen über lebensverhältnisse und leistungen von mathematikern, astronomen, physikern, chemikern, mineralogen, geologen u.s.w. aller völker und zeiten. leipzig, . roy. vo. * * * * * (_cambridge._)--athenæ cantabrigienses. by charles henry cooper, f.s.a., and thompson cooper. cambridge, - . vol. i. - . vol. ii. - . vo. ---- graduati cantabrigienses, - . cura josephi romilly, a.m. cantabrigiæ, . ---- graduati cantabrigienses, - . cura henrici richardo luard, s.t.p. cantabrigiæ, . (_oxford._)--athenæ and fasti oxonienses. by ant. à wood. new edition, with notes, additions, and continuation by the rev. dr. p. bliss. vols. to. - . ---- catalogue of all graduates in the university of oxford, - . oxford, . vo. (_dublin._)--a catalogue of graduates who have proceeded to degrees in the university of dublin from the earliest recorded commencements to july, , with supplement to december , . dublin, . vo. vol. ii. - . dublin, . vo. (_eton._)--alumni etonenses, or a catalogue of the provosts and fellows of eton college and king's college, cambridge, from the foundation in to the year . by thomas harwood. birmingham, . to. (_westminster._)--the list of the queen's scholars of st. peter's college, westminster, admitted on that foundation since , and of such as have been thence elected to christ church, oxford, and trinity college, cambridge, from the foundation by queen elizabeth, , to the present time. collected by joseph welch. a new edition ... by an old king's scholar. london, . roy. vo. * * * * * _botany._--an encyclopædia of trees and shrubs; being the arboretum et fruticetum britannicum abridged.... by j.c. loudon. london, . vo. ---- loudon's encyclopædia of plants ... new edition corrected to the present time. edited by mrs. loudon. london, . vo. ---- the vegetable kingdom; or the structure, classification and uses of plants, illustrated upon the natural system. by john lindley, ph.d., f.r.s. third edition. london, . vo. ---- international dictionary of plants in latin, german, english and french, for botanists, and especially horticulturists, agriculturists, students of forestry and pharmaceutists, by dr. william ulrich. leipzig, . vo. _botany._--topographical botany: being local and personal records towards shewing the distribution of british plants traced through counties and vice-counties of england, wales and scotland. by hewett cottrell watson. second edition, corrected and enlarged. london, . vo. the need of an authoritative list of botanical names must be frequently felt by a large number of writers, those who have but little knowledge of the science even more than botanists themselves. the following work will be found useful for this purpose, but there is reason to hope that a much larger and more exhaustive list will shortly be published, as mr. daydon jackson, secretary of the linnean society, is, we believe, now engaged upon such a work. "nomenclator botanicus seu synonymia plantarum universalis.... autore ernesto theoph. steudel; editio secunda, stuttgartiæ et tubingæ, ." royal vo. _cards._--facts and speculations on the origin and history of playing cards. by william andrew chatto. london, . vo. ---- a descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the british museum, accompanied by a concise general history of the subject, and remarks on cards of divination and of a politico-historical character. by william hughes willshire, m.d. printed by order of the trustees, . royal vo. _chemistry._--a dictionary of chemistry and the allied branches of other sciences, founded on that of the late dr. ure. by henry watts. - . vols. vo. supplement, . second supplement, . third supplement, - . vols. ---- handbook of modern chemistry, inorganic and organic, for the use of students. by charles meymott tidy, m.b., f.c.s. london, . vo. ---- handbook of chemistry. by l. gmelin. trans. by h. watts. london, - . vols. vo. ---- industrial chemistry, based upon the german edition of payen's "précis de chimie industrielle," edited by b.h. paul. london, . ---- a treatise on chemistry. by [sir] h.e. roscoe and c. schorlemmer. london. vo. _coins._--a numismatic manual. by john yonge akerman, f.s.a. london, . vo. ---- the silver coins of england arranged and described by e. hawkins. london, . vo. ---- the gold coins of england arranged and described, being a sequel to mr. hawkins's silver coins of england, by his grandson, robert lloyd kenyon. london, . vo. _commerce._--a dictionary, practical, theoretical, and historical, of commerce and commercial navigation. by the late j.r. mcculloch. latest edition by a.j. wilson. london, . vo. ---- history of british commerce, - . by leone levi. london, . vo. _concordances._ _aristophanes._--a complete concordance to the comedies and fragments of aristophanes. by henry dunbar, m.d. oxford, . to. _bible._--a complete concordance to the holy scriptures of the old and new testaments. by alexander cruden, m.a. london, . to. second edition , third edition ; this is the last corrected by the author. most of the concordances published since are founded upon cruden. ---- an analytical concordance to the holy scriptures, or the bible presented under distinct and classified heads of topics. edited by john eadie, d.d., ll.d. london and glasgow, . vo. _homer._--a complete concordance to the iliad of homer. by guy lushington prendergast. london, . to. ---- a complete concordance to the odyssey and hymns of homer, to which is added a concordance to the parallel passages in the iliad, odyssey and hymns. by henry dunbar, m.d. oxford, . to. _milton._--a complete concordance to the poetical works of milton. by guy lushington prendergast, madras civil service. madras, . to. originally published in parts. ---- a complete concordance to the poetical works of john milton. by charles dexter cleveland, ll.d. london, . sm. vo. the rev. h.j. todd compiled a verbal index to the whole of milton's poetry, which was appended to the second edition of his life of the poet ( ). _pope._--a concordance to the works of alexander pope. by edwin abbott, with an introduction by edwin a. abbott, d.d. london, . royal vo. _shakespeare._--the complete concordance to shakspere: being a verbal index to all the passages in the dramatic works of the poet. by mrs. cowden clarke. london, . royal vo. ---- shakespeare-lexicon: a complete dictionary of all the english words, phrases and constructions in the works of the poet. by dr. alexander schmidt. (berlin and london), . vols. royal vo. ---- a concordance to shakespeare's poems: an index to every word therein contained. by mrs. horace howard furness. philadelphia, . ---- a handbook index to the works of shakespeare, including references to the phrases, manners, customs, proverbs, songs, particles, etc., which are used or alluded to by the great dramatist. by j.o. halliwell, esq., f.r.s. london, . vo. only fifty copies printed. _tennyson._--a concordance of the entire works of alfred tennyson, p.l., d.c.l., f.r.s. by d. barron brightwell. london, . vo. _tennyson._--concordance to the works of alfred tennyson, poet laureate. london, . "the holy grail," etc., is indexed separately. ---- an index to "in memoriam." london, . * * * * * _costume._--a cyclopædia of costume or dictionary of dress, including notices of contemporaneous fashions on the continent.... by james robinson planché, somerset herald. london, - . vols. to. vol. i. dictionary. vol. ii. general history of costume in europe. _councils._--councils and ecclesiastical documents relating to great britain and ireland. edited after spelman and wilkins, by arthur west haddan, b.d., and william stubbs, m.a. oxford, . vol. ii. part i. . vol. iii. . vo. ---- england's sacred synods. a constitutional history of the convocations of the clergy from the earliest records of christianity in britain to the date of the promulgation of the present book of common prayer, including a list of all councils, ecclesiastical as well as civil, held in england in which the clergy have been concerned. by james wayland joyce, m.a. london, . vo. _dates._--see _history_. _dictionaries._ (_english._)--one of the most useful english dictionaries is the "imperial dictionary" by ogilvie, which has been edited with great care by charles annandale.[ ] the vocabulary is very full, the etymology is trustworthy, and the definitions are clear and satisfactory. the engravings which are interspersed with the text are excellent, and greatly add to the utility of the dictionary. for years preparations have been made for a standard english dictionary, and at last the work has been commenced under the able editorship of dr. james a.h. murray. in , on the suggestion of archbishop trench, the philological society undertook the preparation of a dictionary, "which by the completeness of its vocabulary, and by the application of the historical method to the life and use of words, might be worthy of the english language and of english scholarship." the late mr. herbert coleridge and dr. furnivall undertook the editorship, and a large number of volunteers came forward to read books and extract quotations. mr. coleridge died in the midst of his work, and upon dr. furnivall devolved the entire editorship in addition to his other onerous duties as secretary of the philological society. he projected the admirable system of sub-editing, which proved so successful. as the work proceeded several of the most energetic and most competent workers undertook to sub-edit the materials already collected, each one taking a separate letter of the alphabet. some two million quotations were amassed, but still the man was wanting who would devote his life to forming the dictionary from these materials. in course of time dr. murray came forward, and in he prepared some specimens for submission to the delegates of the clarendon press, who agreed to publish the dictionary. the first part was published in , and the second in .[ ] it is hoped that in future it will be possible to issue a part every six months. at present the alphabet is carried down to batten. this is one of the most magnificent pieces of work that has ever been produced in any country, and it is an honour to every one concerned. to the philological society who conceived it, to dr. murray and his staff who have devoted so much labour and intellect to its production, and to the clarendon press who have published it to the world. it is, moreover, an honour to the country which now possesses a well-grounded hope of having, at no distant day, the finest historical dictionary ever produced. in this connection the _encyclopædic dictionary_, now in course of publication by messrs. cassell, should be mentioned as a valuable work. up to a few years ago it was impossible to obtain any satisfactory etymological information on english words from our dictionaries. mr. hensleigh wedgwood partly removed this reproach by the publication of his very valuable "dictionary of english etymology" in ,[ ] but in this work mr. wedgwood only dealt with a portion of the vocabulary. professor skeat commenced the publication of his indispensable "etymological dictionary of the english language" (clarendon press) in , and in he produced a second edition. in professor skeat published "a concise etymological dictionary," which is something more than an abridgment, and a book which should find a place in all libraries of reference. a glossarial index to the printed english literature of the thirteenth century. by h. coleridge. london, . vo. this was one of the earliest publications which grew out of the preparations for the great philological society's dictionary. stratmann's dictionary of the old english language (third edition, krefeld, ) is an indispensable work. a new edition, prepared by mr. h. bradley, is about to be issued by the clarendon press. of single volume dictionaries, mr. hyde clarke's "new and comprehensive dictionary of the english language as spoken and written" in weale's educational series (price _s._ _d._) is one of the most valuable. i have time after time found words there which i have searched for in vain in more important looking dictionaries. mr. clarke claims that he was the first to raise the number of words registered in an english dictionary to , . the rev. james stormonth's "dictionary of the english language, pronouncing, etymological, and explanatory," is a work of great value. it is so well arranged and printed that it becomes a pleasure to consult it. those who are interested in dialects will require all the special dictionaries which have been published, and these may be found in the bibliography now being compiled by the english dialect society, but those who do not make this a special study will be contented with "a dictionary of archaic and provincial words, obsolete phrases, proverbs, and ancient customs, from the fourteenth century, by j.o. halliwell" (fifth edition, london, , vols. vo.), which is well-nigh indispensable to all. nares's glossary ( - , new edition, by j.o. halliwell and t. wright, vols. vo. ) is also required by those who make a study of old english literature. the following is a short indication of some of the most useful working dictionaries: _arabic._--lane. _greek._--liddell & scott's greek-english lexicon, both in to. and in abridged form in square mo. _latin._--the clarendon press publish a latin dictionary founded on andrews's edition of freund, and edited by c.t. lewis and c. short, which is of great value. smith's dictionary, both the large edition and the smaller one, and that of riddle are good. _french._--the dictionaries of fleming and tibbins, and spiers, keep up their character, but for idioms the international french and english dictionary of hamilton and legros is the best. for smaller dictionaries cassell's is both cheap and good. bellows's pocket dictionary has obtained considerable fame, but those who use it need a good eyesight on account of the smallness of the type. it is, however, beautifully printed. the standard french dictionaries of that language alone are the noble work of littré and the excellent dictionary of poitevin ( vols. to.). for early french godefroy's elaborate work, which is now in progress, must be consulted. _german._--fluegel's german and english dictionary still holds its own, but koehler's dictionary is also excellent. hilpert's and lucas's dictionaries, both good ones, are now out of print. of standard german dictionaries grimm's great work is still in progress. sanders's dictionary is also of great value. _danish and norwegian._--the dictionary by ferrall, repp, rosing and larsen is good. _dutch._--calisch ( vols. vo. ). _hebrew._--fuerst, gesenius. _icelandic._--vigfusson. _italian._--baretti's dictionary still keeps up its character, but millhouse's work is also good. _portuguese._--vieyra. _russian._--alexandrow. _sanscrit._--monier williams. boehtlingk and roth. _pâli._--childers. _spanish._--neumann and baretti, and also velasquez. _swedish._--oman. * * * * * _drama._--biographia dramatica; or a companion to the playhouse ... originally compiled in the year by david erskine baker, continued thence to by isaac reed, and brought down to the end of november, ... by stephen jones. london, . vols. vo. ---- a dictionary of old english plays existing either in print or in manuscript, from the earliest times to the close of the seventeenth century; by james o. halliwell, esq., f.r.s. london, . vo. _drugs._--pharmacographia: a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin met with in great britain and british india. by friedrich a. flückiger, ph.d., and daniel hanbury, f.r.s. second edition. london, . vo. _ecclesiology._--dictionary of doctrinal and historical theology. edited by the rev. j.h. blunt, m.a. second edition. london, . imp. vo. ---- dictionary of christian antiquities. by william smith, ll.d., and professor s. cheatham. london, - . vols. royal vo. ---- dictionary of sects, heresies, ecclesiastical parties, and schools of religious thought. edited by the rev. john henry blunt, m.a. london, . imp. vo. ---- glossary of ecclesiastical ornament and costume, compiled from ancient authorities and examples. by a. welby pugin, architect.... enlarged and revised by the rev. bernard smith, m.a. third edition. london, . to. ---- a glossary of liturgical and ecclesiastical terms. compiled and arranged by the rev. frederick george lee, d.c.l. london, . sq. vo. ---- see _ritual_. _encyclopædias._--the encyclopædia britannica, or a dictionary of arts, sciences and general literature. ninth edition. edinburgh, . to. now in course of publication. ---- encyclopædia metropolitana, or universal dictionary of knowledge.... london, - . vols. to. ---- chambers's encyclopædia. vols. royal vo. ---- dictionary of science, literature, and art. by w.t. brande. . new edition, edited by the rev. j.w. cox. london, - . vols. vo. _encyclopædias._--rees's cyclopædia ( vols., plates vols. , to.) can be bought excessively cheap, and is well worth a place in a library where room can be found for it, as many of its articles have never been superseded. ---- grand dictionnaire universel du xix^e siècle français, historique, géographique, mythologique, bibliographique, littéraire, artistique, scientifique, etc.... par pierre larousse. paris, - . vols. to. supplément, tome , . ---- dictionnaire universel des sciences, des lettres et des arts ... redigé avec la collaboration d'auteurs spéciaux par m.n. bouillet ... douzième édition. paris, . vo. _geography._--a general dictionary of geography, descriptive, physical, statistical, historical, forming a complete gazetteer of the world. by a. keith johnston. new edition. london, . vo. ---- the library cyclopædia of geography, descriptive, physical, political and historical, forming a new gazetteer of the world. by james bryce, m.a. and keith johnston. london, . royal vo. ---- index geographicus, being a list alphabetically arranged of the principal places on the globe, with the countries and sub-divisions of the countries in which they are situated and their latitudes and longitudes. compiled specially with reference to keith johnston's royal atlas, but applicable to all modern atlases and maps, edinburgh, . roy. vo. _geography._--etymologisch-geographisches lexikon. separat-ausgabe des lexikalischen theils der nomina geographica von dr. j.j. egli. leipzig, . royal vo. ---- dictionary of greek and roman geography, by various writers, edited by dr. w. smith. london, . vols. vo. (_scotland._)--ordnance gazetteer of scotland. a survey of scottish topography, statistical, biographical and historical. edited by francis h. groome. edinburgh, . vol. , roy. vo. (_france._)--santini. dictionnaire général ... des communes de france et des colonies. paris. vo. ---- dictionnaire des postes de la république française. ^e édition. rennes, . roy. vo. (_italy._)--il libro dé comuni del regno d'italia. compilato sopra elementi officiali da achille moltedo. napoli, . roy. vo. (_united states._)--the national gazetteer, a geographical dictionary of the united states.... by l. de colange, ll.d. london, . roy. vo. (_india._)--cyclopædia of india and of eastern and southern asia, commercial, industrial, and scientific.... edited by edward balfour.... second edition. madras, - . vols. roy. vo. third edition. london, . vols. the first edition was published in , and two supplements in . _geology._--a catalogue of british fossils: comprising the genera and species hitherto described, with references to their geological distribution.... by john morris, f.g.s. second edition. london, . vo. _geology._--principles of geology. by sir charles lyell. th edition. london, - . vols. vo. ---- manual of elementary geology. by sir charles lyell. london, . vo. _history._--blair's chronological and historical tables from the creation to the present times.... [edited by sir henry ellis.] imp. vo. london, . ---- atlas universel d'histoire et de géographie contenant ^e la chronologie.... ^e la généologie.... ^e la géographie.... par m.n. bouillet. deuxième édition. paris, . vo. ---- dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie contenant ^e l'histoire proprement dite.... ^e la biographie universelle.... ^e la mythologie.... ^e la géographie ancienne et moderne. par m.n. bouillet ... ouvrage revu et continué par a chassang. nouvelle édition (vingt-cinquième), avec un supplement. paris, . vo. ---- the map of europe by treaty, showing the various political and territorial changes which have taken place since the general peace of , with numerous maps and notes. by edward hertslet, c.b. london, . vol. , - ; vol. , - ; vol. , - .--this work shows the changes which have taken place in the map of europe by treaty or other international arrangements. it contains a list of treaties, etc., between great britain and foreign powers for the maintenance of the peace of europe and for the settlement of european questions, - . _history._--moniteur des dates, contenant un million des renseignements biographiques, généalogiques et historiques. par edouard oettinger. dresde, - . thin vols. to. tomes , , , supplément commencé par e.m. oettinger considérablement augmenté ... par dr. hugo schramm. leipzig, - . ---- haydn's dictionary of dates and universal information relating to all ages. th edition, by benjamin vincent. london. ---- the manual of dates. a dictionary of reference of the most important facts and events in the history of the world. by george h. townsend. fifth edition entirely remodelled and edited by frederick martin. london, . vo. ---- encyclopædia of chronology, historical and biographical. by b.b. woodward, b.a., and william l.r. gates. london, . vo. ---- the dictionary of chronology, or historical and statistical register. compiled and edited by william henry overall, f.s.a. london, . vo. ---- the anniversary calendar, natal book, and universal mirror; embracing anniversaries of persons, events, institutions, and festivals, of all denominations, historical, sacred and domestic, in every period and state of the world. london, . vols. vo. _history._--an epitome of the civil and literary chronology of rome and constantinople, from the death of augustus to the death of heraclius. by henry fynes clinton, m.a. edited by the rev. c.j. fynes clinton, m.a. oxford, . vo. ---- fasti romani: the civil and literary chronology of rome and constantinople, from the death of augustus to the death of justin ii. [to the death of heraclius]. by henry fynes clinton, m.a. oxford, - . vols. to. ---- fasti hellenici: the civil and literary chronology of greece, from the earliest accounts to the death of augustus. by henry fynes clinton, m.a. oxford, - . vols. to. ---- descriptive catalogue of materials relating to the history of great britain and ireland to the end of the reign of henry vii. by thomas duffus hardy. london, - . vol. i. from the roman period to the norman invasion. vol. ii. a.d. to a.d. . vol. iii. a.d. to a.d. . ---- the dictionary of english history. edited by sidney j. low, b.a., and f.s. pulling, m.a. london, . vo. ---- introduction to the study of english history. by samuel r. gardiner, hon. ll.d., and j. bass mullinger, m.a. london, . vo. the second part by mr. mullinger is devoted to authorities, and is a model of what such a work should be. _history._--handy-book of rules and tables for verifying dates with the christian era ... with regnal years of english sovereigns from the norman conquest to the present time, a.d. to . by john j. bond. london, . sm. vo. ---- the annals of england: an epitome of english history, from contemporary writers, the rolls of parliament and other public records. library edition. oxford and london, . vo. contains some valuable information as to the sources of history in the appendix. ---- the representative history of great britain and ireland, being a history of the house of commons and of the counties, cities, and boroughs of the united kingdom from the earliest period. by t.h.b. oldfield. london, . vols. vo. ---- an index to "the times," and to the topics and events of the year . [by j. giddings.] london, . vo. ---- an index to "the times," and to the topics and events of the year . by j. giddings. london, . vo. ---- index to "the times" newspaper, , to september, . london. . ---- annals of our time, from the accession of queen victoria, , to the peace of versailles, . by j. irving. london, . vo. supplement (feb. -july, ). london, . vo. (_france._)--dictionnaire historique de la france.... par ludovic lalanne. paris, . vo. * * * * * _insurance._--the insurance cyclopædia, being a dictionary of the definition of terms used in connexion with the theory and practice of insurance in all its branches; a biographical summary ... a bibliographical reportery.... by cornelius walford. london, vol. , , to vol. . royal vo. _language._--see _dictionaries_, _philology_. _law._--the law-dictionary, explaining the rise, progress, and present state of the british law.... by sir thomas edlyne tomlins; fourth edition by thomas colpitts granger. london, . vols. to. ---- wharton's law-lexicon, forming an epitome of the law of england ... seventh edition by j.m. lely, m.a. london, . royal vo. ---- a law dictionary, adapted to the constitution and laws of the united states of america and of the several states of the american union.... by john bouvier. fourteenth edition. philadelphia, . ---- the lawyer's reference manual of law books and citations. by charles c. soule. boston, . vo. ---- ancient law; its connection with the early history of society, and its relation to modern ideas. by h.s. maine. london, . vo. _law._--lectures in jurisprudence. by john austin. third edition, revised and edited by r. campbell. london, . vols. vo. ---- justice of the peace and parish officer. by r. burn. the th edition was published in . the th edition of archbold's justice of the peace appeared in . ---- blackstone's commentaries on the laws of england. student's edition. _literature._ (_english._)--cyclopædia of english literature. edited by robert chambers. edinburgh, . new edition by robert carruthers. edinburgh. vols. royal vo. ---- dictionary of english literature, being a comprehensive guide to english authors and their works. by davenport adams. london, n.d. sq. vo. ---- professor henry morley's _english writers_, his _tables of english literature_, and his volumes of selections, entitled _library of english literature_, will be found of great value. (_american._)--cyclopædia of american literature: embracing personal and critical notices of authors, and selections from their writings.... by evert a. duyckinck and george l. duyckinck. edited to date by m. laird simons. philadelphia, . vols. imp. vo. ---- the poets and poetry of europe, with introductions and biographical notices, by henry wadsworth longfellow. london, . roy. vo. (_polish._)--bentkowskiego (f.). historya literatury polskiey. warszawie, . vols. vo. (_russian._)--otto (friedrich). history of russian literature, with a lexicon of russian authors. translated from the german by george cox. oxford, . vo. (_spanish._)--ticknor (george). history of spanish literature. new york, . vols. vo. (_classical._)--a history of latin literature from ennius to boethius. by george augustus simcox, m.a. london, . vols. vo. ---- a history of roman classical literature. by r.w. browne, m.a. london, . vo. ---- a history of roman literature. by w.s. teuffel, translated by wilhelm wagner, ph.d. london, . vols. vo. ---- bibliographical clue to latin literature. edited after dr. e. hübner, with large additions by the rev. john e.b. mayor. london, . mo. ---- guide to the choice of classical books. by joseph b. mayor. third edition, with supplementary list. london, . * * * * * _manuscripts._--guide to the historian, the biographer, the antiquary, the man of literary curiosity, and the collector of autographs, towards the verification of manuscripts, by reference to engraved facsimiles of handwriting. [by dawson turner.] yarmouth, . roy. vo. a most valuable alphabetical index of the names of celebrated men, with references to the books where specimens of their writing can be found. _mathematics._--dictionnaire des mathématiques appliqués.... par h. sonnet. paris, . roy. vo. _mechanics._--knight's american mechanical dictionary.... by edward h. knight. london and new york, - . vols. royal vo. ---- cyclopædia of useful arts, mechanical and chemical, manufactures, mining and engineering. edited by charles tomlinson. london, . vols. roy. vo. _medical._--the cyclopædia of anatomy and physiology. edited by robert b. todd, m.d., f.r.s. london, - . vols, in , royal vo. ---- a dictionary of practical medicine.... by james copland. london, . vols. vo. ---- an expository lexicon of the terms, ancient and modern, in medical and general science; including a complete medico-legal vocabulary.... by r.g. mayne, m.d. london, . vo. ---- cooper's dictionary of practical surgery and encyclopædia of surgical science. new edition brought down to the present time by samuel a. lane. london, . vols, royal vo. ---- medical lexicon: a dictionary of medical science ... by robley dunglison, m.d., ll.d. a new edition enlarged and thoroughly revised by richard j. dunglison, m.d. philadelphia, . roy. vo. _monograms._--dictionnaire des monogrammes, marques figurées, lettres initiales, noms abrégés, etc., avec lesquels les peintres, dessinateurs, graveurs et sculpteurs ont designé leurs noms. par françois brulliot. nouvelle édition. munich, - . parts. imp. vo. _music._--general history of the science and practice of music. by sir john hawkins. london, . vols. to. ---- history of music from the earliest ages to the present period. by charles burney. london, - . vols. to. ---- biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique. par f.j. fétis. deuxième édition. paris, - . vols. roy. vo. ---- supplément et complément, publiés sous la direction de m. arthur pougin. paris, - . vols. roy. vo. ---- dictionary of music and musicians. edited by [sir] g. grove. london, . vo. in progress. _mythology._--dictionary of greek and roman biography and mythology, edited by dr. w. smith. - . vols. vo. _natural history._--dictionary of natural history terms, with their derivations, including the various orders, genera, and species. by david h. mcnicoll, m.d. london, . sm. vo. _natural history._--see _botany_, _zoology_. _painters._--a general dictionary of painters.... by matthew pilkington, a.m. a new edition, corrected and revised by r. a. davenport. london, . vo. ---- a catalague raisonné of the works of the most eminent dutch, flemish, and french painters, ... to which is added a brief notice of the scholars and imitators of the great masters of the above schools. by john smith. london, - . parts. roy. vo. ---- the picture collector's manual, adapted to the professional man and the amateur; being a dictionary of painters ... together with an alphabetical arrangement of the scholars, imitators, and copyists of the various masters, and a classification of subjects. by james r. hobbes. london, . vols. vo. _peerage._--courthope's "historical peerage," founded on sir nicholas harris nicolas's "synopsis of the peerage," is an indispensable work, but it only refers to english titles. mr. solly's "index of hereditary titles of honour" contains the peerage and baronetage of england, scotland, and ireland. ---- the official baronage of england, to , by james e. doyle (vols. - . to.), has just appeared. _peerage._--of the current peerages, burke's, dod's, debrett's, and foster's, all have their points of merit. _periodicals._--catalogue of scientific serials of all countries, including the transactions of learned societies in the natural, physical and mathematical sciences, - . by samuel h. scudder. library of harvard university, . vo.--in this valuable list of periodicals, which is arranged geographically according to countries with an alphabet under each country, transactions and journals are joined together in the same arrangement. at the end there are an index of towns, an index of titles, and an index of minor subjects. ---- an index to periodical literature. by wm. fred. poole. new york. roy. vo. st ed. ; nd ed. ; rd ed. . ---- catalogue of scientific papers ( - ). compiled and published by the royal society of london. london, - . vols. to. ( - .) vol. , ; vol. , .--vol. , a-clu; vol. , coa-gra; vol. , gre-lez; vol. , lhe-poz; vol. , pra-tiz; vol. , tka-zyl; vol. , a-hyr; vol. , i-zwi. ---- the celebrated dr. thomas young published in the second volume of his _course of lectures on natural philosophy and the mechanical arts_ ( ) a most valuable catalogue of books and papers relating to the subject of his lectures, which is classified minutely, and occupies quarto pages in double columns. in kelland's new edition ( ) the references are abridged and inserted after the several lectures to which they refer. _philology._--max müller's "lectures on the science of language"; marsh's "lectures" and "origin and history of the english language"; abp. trench's "english. past and present"; "select glossary." _physics._--elementary treatise on natural philosophy. by a. p. deschanel. vo. ---- elementary treatise on physics. by a. ganot, edited by e. atkinson. sm. vo. _plate._--old english plate, ecclesiastical, decorative, and domestic, its makers and marks. by wilfred joseph cripps, m.a., f.s.a. second edition. london, . vo. _plays._--see _drama_. _pottery._--marks and monograms on pottery and porcelain of the renaissance and modern periods, with historical notices of each manufactory.... by william chaffers. fourth edition. london, . roy. vo. _prices._--history of prices from to . by thomas tooke and william newmarch. london, - . vols. vo. _prints._--an introduction to the study and collection of ancient prints. by william hughes willshire, m.d. edin. second edition, revised and enlarged. london, . vols. vo. ---- the print collector, an introduction to the knowledge necessary for forming a collection of ancient prints. by j. maberly, ... edited with notes, an account of contemporary etching and etchers, and a bibliography of engraving. by robert hoe, jun. new york, . sq. vo. ---- etching and etchers. by p.g. hamerton. new edition. london, . vo. _printing._--typographia or the printers' instructor: including an account of the origin of printing.... by j. johnson, printer. london, . vols. vo. ---- a dictionary of the art of printing. by william savage. london, . vo. _proverbs._--a hand-book of proverbs, comprising an entire republication of ray's collection of english proverbs ... and a complete alphabetical index ... in which are introduced large additions collected by henry g. bohn, . london, . ---- a polyglot of foreign proverbs, comprising french, italian, german, dutch, spanish, portuguese, and danish, with english translations and a general index. by henry g. bohn. london, . ---- english proverbs and proverbial phrases collected from the most authentic sources, alphabetically arranged and annotated. by w. carew hazlitt. london, . vo. second edition. london, . sm. vo. _quotations._--many thoughts of many minds: being a treasury of references, consisting of selections from the writings of the most celebrated authors. compiled and analytically arranged by henry southgate. third edition. london, . vo. second series. london, . vo. _quotations._--noble thoughts in noble language: a collection of wise and virtuous utterances in prose and verse, from the writings of the known good and the great unknown. edited by henry southgate. london. vo. ---- prose quotations from socrates to macaulay, with indexes. by s. austin allibone. philadelphia, . roy. vo. ---- poetical quotations from chaucer to tennyson, with copious indexes. by s. austin allibone. philadelphia, . roy. vo. ---- a dictionary of quotations from the english poets. by henry g. bohn. london, . sq. vo. second edition. london. sm. vo. ---- an index to familiar quotations, selected principally from british authors, with parallel passages from various writers, ancient and modern. by j.c. grocott. liverpool, . sm. vo. ---- familiar quotations: being an attempt to trace to their source passages and phrases in common use. by john bartlett. author's edition. london, sm. vo. ---- words, facts and phrases, a dictionary of curious, quaint, and out-of-the-way matters. by eliezer edwards. london, . sm. vo. _quotations._--the reader's handbook of allusions, references, plots and stories, with their appendices. by the rev. e. brewer, ll.d.... third edition. london, . sm. vo. ---- dictionary of phrase and fable.... by the rev. e. cobham brewer, ll.d. twelfth edition. london, no date. ---- a dictionary of latin and greek quotations, proverbs, maxims and mottos, classical and mediæval, including law terms and phrases. edited by h.t. riley, b.a. london, . sm. vo. _receipts._--cooley's cyclopædia of practical receipts and collateral information in the arts, manufactures, professions and trades ... designed as a comprehensive supplement to the pharmacopoeia.... sixth edition, revised and greatly enlarged by richard v. tuson. london, . vols. vo. _records._--handbook of the public record office. by f.s. thomas, secretary of the public record office. london, . roy. vo. ---- index to the printed reports of sir francis palgrave, k.h., the deputy-keeper of the public records, - . london, . by john edwards and edward james tabrum. in one alphabet. _ritual._--hierurgia; or, transubstantiation, invocation of saints, relics and purgatory, besides those other articles of doctrine set forth in the holy sacrifice of the mass expounded; and the use of holy water, incense, and images [etc.] illustrated. by d. rock, d.d. second edition. london, . vo. _ritual._--hierurgia anglicana; or, documents and extracts illustrative of the ritual of the church in england after the reformation. edited by members of the ecclesiological, late cambridge camden society. london, . vo. _sports._--an encyclopædia of rural sports, or complete account (historical, practical, and descriptive) of hunting, shooting, fishing, racing, etc., etc. by delabere p. blaine. a new edition. london, . vo. _taxes._--a sketch of the history of taxes in england from the earliest times to the present day. by stephen dowell. london, . vo. vol. to the civil war . _theology._--see _ecclesiology_. _topography._--a topographical dictionary of england.... by samuel lewis. seventh edition. london, . ---- a topographical dictionary of wales.... by samuel lewis. fourth edition. london, . vols. to. ---- a topographical dictionary of ireland.... by samuel lewis. second edition. london, . vols. to. ---- see _geography_. _wills._--an index to wills proved in the court of the chancellor of the university of oxford, and to such of the records and other instruments and papers of that court as relate to matters or causes testamentary. by the rev. john griffiths, m.a., keeper of the archives. oxford, . roy. vo. in one alphabet, with a chronological list appended. _zoology._--nomenclator zoologicus, continens nomina systematica generum animalium tam viventium quam fossilium, secundum ordinem alphabeticum disposita, adjectis auctoribus, libris in quibus reperiuntur, anno editionis, etymologia et familiis, ad quas pertinent, in singulis classibus. auctore l. agassiz.... soliduri, - . to. ---- nomenclator zoologicus, continens nomina systematica generum animalium tam viventium quam fossilium, secundum ordinem alphabeticum disposita sub auspicis et sumptibus c.r. societatis zoologico-botanicæ conscriptus a comite augusto de marschall [ - ]. vindobonæ, . vo. . _country._ a library in a large country house should contain a representative collection of english literature, and also a selection of books of reference from the previous list. standard authors, in their best editions, county histories, books of travel, books on art, and a representative collection of good novels, will of course find a place upon the shelves. a book such as stevens's _my english library_ will be a good guide to the foundation of the library, but each collector will have his special tastes, and he will need guidance from the more particular bibliographies which are ready to his hand, and a note of which will be found in chapter v. room will also be found for sets of magazines, such as the _gentleman's_, the _edinburgh_, and the _quarterly_, and for the transactions of such societies as the owner may be member of. the issues of publishing societies form quite a library of themselves, and an account of these will be found in chapter vii. we have seen on a previous page how napoleon wished to form a convenient travelling library, in which everything necessary could be presented in a comparatively small number of handy volumes. few men are like napoleon in the wish to carry such a library about with them; but where space is scarce there are many who find it necessary to exercise a wise spirit of selection. this, however, each man must do for himself, as tastes differ so widely. auguste comte succeeded in selecting a library in which all that it is necessary for a positivist to know is included in volumes, but this result is obtained by putting two or more books together to form one volume. positivist library for the th century. volumes. i. _poetry._ (thirty volumes.) the iliad and the odyssey, in vol. without notes. Æschylus, the king oedipus of sophocles, and aristophanes, in vol. without notes. pindar and theocritus, with daphnis and chloe, in vol. without notes. plautus and terence, in vol. without notes. virgil complete, selections from horace, and lucan, in vol. without notes. ovid, tibullus, juvenal, in vol. without notes. fabliaux du moyen age, recueillies par legrand d'aussy. dante, ariosto, tasso, and petrarch, in vol. in italian. select plays of metastasio and alfieri, also in italian. i promessi sposi, by manzoni, in vol. in italian. don quixote, and the exemplary novels of cervantes, in spanish, in vol. select spanish dramas, a collection edited by don josé segundo florez, in vol. in spanish. the romancero espagnol, a selection, with the poem of the cid, vol. in spanish. select plays of p. corneille. molière, complete. select plays of racine and voltaire, in vol. la fontaine's fables, with some from lamotte and florian. gil blas, by lesage. the princess of cleves, paul and virginia, and the last of the abencerrages, to be collected in vol. les martyres, par chateaubriand. select plays of shakespeare. paradise lost and lyrical poems of milton. robinson crusoe and the vicar of wakefield, in vol. tom jones, by fielding, in english, or translated by chéron. the seven masterpieces of walter scott--ivanhoe, waverley, the fair maid of perth, quentin durward, woodstock (les puritains), the heart of midlothian, the antiquary. select works of byron, don juan in particular to be suppressed. select works of goethe. the arabian nights. ii. _science._ (thirty volumes.) arithmetic of condorcet, algebra, and geometry of clairaut, the trigonometry of lacroix or legendre, to form vol. analytical geometry of auguste comte, preceded by the geometry of descartes. statics, by poinsot, with all his memoirs on mechanics. course of analysis given by navier at the ecole polytechnique, preceded by the reflections on the infinitesimal calculus by carnot. course of mechanics given by navier at the ecole polytechnique, followed by the essay of carnot on equilibrum and motion. theory of functions, by lagrange. popular astronomy of auguste comte, followed by the plurality of worlds of fontenelle. mechanical physics of fischer, translated and annotated by biot. alphabetical manual of practical philosophy, by john carr. the chemistry of lavoisier. chemical statics, by berthollet. elements of chemistry, by james graham. manual of anatomy, by meckel. general anatomy of bichat, preceded by his treatise on life and death. the first volume of blainville on the organization of animals. physiology of richerand, with notes by bérard. systematic essay on biology, by segond, and his treatise on general anatomy. nouveaux eléments de la science de l'homme, par barthez ( nd édition, ). la philosophie zoologique, par lamarck. duméril's natural history. the treatise of guglielmini on the nature of rivers (in italian). discourses on the nature of animals, by buffon. the art of prolonging human life, by hufeland, preceded by hippocrates on air, water, and situation, and followed by cornaro's book on a sober and temperate life, to form vol. l'histoire des phlegmasies chroniques, par broussais, preceded by his propositions de médecine, and the aphorisms of hippocrates (in latin), without commentary. les eloges des savans, par fontenelle et condorcet. iii. _history._ (sixty volumes.) l'abrégé de géographie universelle, par malte brun. geographical dictionary of rienzi. cook's voyages, and those of chardin. history of the french revolution, by mignet. manual of modern history, by heeren. le siècle de louis xiv., par voltaire. memoirs of madame de motteville. the political testament of richelieu, and the life of cromwell, to form vol. history of the civil wars of france, by davila (in italian). memoirs of benvenuto cellini (in italian). memoirs of commines. l'abrégé de l'histoire de france, par bossuet. the revolutions of italy, by denina. the history of spain, by ascargorta. history of charles v., by robertson. history of england, by hume. europe in the middle ages, by hallam. ecclesiastical history, by fleury. decline and fall of the roman empire, by gibbon. manual of ancient history, by heeren. tacitus (complete), the translation of dureau de la malle. herodotus and thucydides, in vol. plutarch's lives, translation of dacier. cæsar's commentaries, and arrian's alexander, in vol. voyage of anacharsis, by barthelemy. history of art among the ancients, by winckelmann. treatise on painting, by leonardo da vinci (in italian). memoirs on music, by grétry. iv. _synthesis._ (thirty volumes.) aristotle's politics and ethics, in vol. the bible. the koran. the city of god, by st. augustine. the confessions of st. augustine, followed by st. bernard on the love of god. the imitation of jesus christ, the original, and the translation into verse, by corneille. the catechism of montpellier, preceded by the exposition of catholic doctrine, by bossuet, and followed by st. augustine's commentary on the sermon on the mount. l'histoire des variations protestantes, par bossuet. discourse on method, by descartes, preceded by the novum organum of bacon, and followed by the interpretation of nature, by diderot. selected thoughts of cicero, epictetus, marcus aurelius, pascal, and vauvenargues, followed by conseils d'une mère, by madame de lambert, and considérations sur les moeurs, par duclos. discourse on universal history, by bossuet, followed by the esquisse historique, by condorcet. treatise on the pope, by de maistre, preceded by the politique sacrée, by bousset. hume's philosophical essays, preceded by the two dissertations on the deaf, and the blind, by diderot, and followed by adam smith's essay on the history of astronomy. theory of the beautiful, by barthez, preceded by the essay on the beautiful, by diderot. les rapports du physique et du moral de l'homme, par cabanis. treatise on the functions of the brain, by gall, preceded by letters on animals, by georges leroy. le traité sur l'irritation et la folie, par broussais (first edition). the positive philosophy of auguste comte (condensed by miss martineau), his positive politics, his positivist catechism, and his subjective synthesis. paris, dante (tuesday, th july, ). auguste comte, ( rue monsieur le prince). this is an interesting list as having been compiled with special thought by a celebrated man, but in many of its details it is little likely to find acceptance with the general reader. it seems rather odd to an englishman to find the _princess of cleves_ included, while shakespeare is only to be found in a selection of his plays. it is not comte's fault that science has not stood still since , and that his selection of books is rather out of date. a list of a hundred good novels is likely to be useful to many, but few lists would be open to more criticism, for readers differ more as to what constitutes a good novel than upon any other branch of literature. the following list was contributed by mr. f.b. perkins to the _library journal_ (vol. i. p. ). the titles are very short, and they are put down in no particular order. most of us will miss some favourite book, but two people, mr. perkins says, have agreed on this list within four or five items. he says he was tempted to add a few alternatives, as amadis de gaul, morte d'arthur, paul and virginia, frankenstein, rasselas, etc. don quixote. gil blas. pilgrim's progress. tale of a tub. gulliver. vicar of wakefield. robinson crusoe. arabian nights. decameron. wilhelm meister. vathek. corinne. minister's wooing. undine. sintram. thisdolf. peter schlemihl. sense and sensibility. pride and prejudice. anastasius. amber witch. mary powell. household of sir t. more. cruise of the midge. guy mannering. antiquary. bride of lammermoor. legend of montrose. rob roy. woodstock. ivanhoe. talisman. fortunes of nigel. old mortality. quentin durward. heart of midlothian. kenilworth. fair maid of perth. vanity fair. pendennis. newcomes. esmond. adam bede. mill on the floss. romola. middlemarch. pickwick. chuzzlewit. nickleby. copperfield. tale of two cities. dombey. oliver twist. tom cringle's log. japhet in search of a father. peter simple. midshipman easy. scarlet letter. house with the seven gables. wandering jew. mysteries of paris. humphry clinker. eugénie grandet. knickerbocker's new york. charles o'malley. harry lorrequer. handy andy. elsie venner. challenge of barletta. betrothed (manzoni's). jane eyre. counterparts. charles auchester. tom brown's schooldays. tom brown at oxford. lady lee's widowhood. horseshoe robinson. pilot. spy. last of the mohicans. my novel. on the heights. bleak house. tom jones. three guardsmen. monte christo. les miserables. notre dame. consuelo. fadette (fanchon). uncle tom's cabin. woman in white. love me little love me long. two years ago. yeast. coningsby. young duke. hyperion. kavanagh. bachelor of the albany. footnotes: [ ] the imperial dictionary of the english language: a complete encyclopædic lexicon, literary, scientific, and technological. by john ogilvie, ll.d. new edition. carefully revised and greatly augmented, edited by charles annandale, m.a. london, - . vols. imp. vo. [ ] a new english dictionary on historical principles, founded mainly on the materials collected by the philological society. edited by james a.h. murray, ll.d., with the assistance of many scholars and men of science. oxford, clarendon press. royal to. [ ] a second edition appeared in - . chapter v. general bibliographies. a good collection of bibliographies is indispensable for a public library, and will also be of great use in a private library when its possessor is a true lover of books. one of the most valuable catalogues of this class of books is the "hand-list of bibliographies, classified catalogues, and indexes placed in the reading room of the british museum for reference" ( ). it is not intended to give in this chapter anything like a complete account of these books, as a separate volume would be required to do justice to them. here it will be sufficient to indicate some of the foremost works in the class. the catalogues of some of our chief libraries are amongst the most valuable of bibliographies for reference. the catalogue of the library of the london institution is one of the handsomest ever produced.[ ] unfortunately the cost of production was too great for the funds of the institution, and the elaborate catalogue of tracts was discontinued after the letter f. the london library being a specially well-selected one, the catalogue (which is a good example of a short-titled catalogue) is particularly useful for ready reference.[ ] the royal institution library is very rich in british topography, and the catalogue forms a convenient handbook.[ ] the catalogue of the patent office library is by no means a model, but the second volume forms a good book of reference.[ ] many other catalogues might be mentioned, but these will be sufficient for our present purpose. there is great want of a good handbook of literature, with the prices of the different books. until this want is supplied good booksellers' catalogues will be found the most trustworthy guides. pre-eminent among these are the catalogues of mr. quaritch, and the "catalogue of upwards of fifty thousand volumes of ancient and modern books," published by messrs. willis and sotheran in . mr. quaritch's catalogues are classified with an index of subjects and authors.[ ] a previous general catalogue was issued in , and a supplement - (pp. iv. ). now mr. quaritch is issuing in sections a new catalogue on a still larger scale, which is of the greatest value. for the study of early printed books, hain,[ ] panzer,[ ] and maittaire's[ ] books are indispensable. for general literature brunet's manual[ ] stands pre-eminent in its popularity. it has held its own since , when it was first published in three volumes, demy octavo. graesse's trésor[ ] is less known out of germany, but it also is a work of very great value. ebert's work[ ] is somewhat out of date now, but it still has its use. watt's bibliotheca[ ] is one of the most valuable bibliographies ever published, chiefly on account of the index of subjects which gives information that cannot be found elsewhere. the titles were largely taken from second-hand sources, and are in many instances marred by misprints. every one who uses it must wish that it was brought down to date, but it is scarcely likely that any one will sacrifice a life to such labour as would be necessary. moreover, the popular feeling is somewhat adverse to universal bibliographies, and it is thought that the literature of his own country is sufficiently large a subject for the bibliographer to devote his time to. english literature has not been neglected by english bibliographers, although a full bibliography of our authors is still a crying want. complete lists of the works of some of our greatest authors have still to be made, and it is to be hoped that all those who have the cause of bibliography at heart will join to remedy the great evil. it would be quite possible to compile a really national work by a system of co-operation such as was found workable in the case of the philological society's dictionary of the english language. sub-editors of the different letters might be appointed, and to them all titles could be sent. when the question of printing arose, it would be well to commence with the chief authors. these bibliographies might be circulated, by which means many additions would be made to them, and then they could be incorporated in the general alphabet. in such a bibliography books in manuscript ought to be included, as well as printed books. although there is little doubt that many books still remain unregistered, we are well supplied with catalogues of books made for trade purposes. maunsell[ ] was the first to publish such a list, and in was published a catalogue of books issued between and .[ ] william london[ ] published his catalogue in , and clavell's his in .[ ] bent's catalogue, published in , went back to ,[ ] and this was continued annually as the london catalogue. the british and english catalogues[ ] followed, and the latter is also published annually.[ ] for early printed books, ames and herbert's great work[ ] is of much value, but information respecting our old literature has increased so much of late that a new history of typographical antiquities is sadly needed. mr. blades has done the necessary work for caxton, but the first english printer's successors require similar treatment. william thomas lowndes, the son of an eminent bookseller and publisher, and himself a bookseller, published in his _bibliographer's manual_[ ] which has remained the great authority for english literature. it had become very scarce when henry bohn, in , brought out a new edition with additions in a series of handy volumes, which is an indispensable book of reference, although it is far from being the complete work that is required. allibone's _dictionary_[ ] contains much that is omitted in lowndes's manual, but it is more literary than bibliographical in its scope. the well-selected criticisms appended to the titles of the several books are of considerable interest and value to the reader. mr. w.c. hazlitt's handbooks[ ] are exceedingly valuable as containing information respecting a class of books which has been much neglected in bibliographical works. the compiler has been indefatigable for some years past in registering the titles of rare books as they occurred at public sales. mr. collier's account of rare books,[ ] founded on his bridgewater catalogue ( ), is of great use for information respecting out-of-the-way literature, as also is mr. corser's descriptive catalogue of old english poetry.[ ] accounts of books published in gaelic,[ ] in welsh,[ ] and in irish,[ ] have been published. the works of american authors are included in allibone's _dictionary_, referred to under english literature, but special books have also been prepared, such as trübner's guide,[ ] stevens's american books in the british museum,[ ] and leypoldt's great book, the american catalogue.[ ] catalogues of books on america, such as those of obadiah rich, have also been compiled, but these are more properly special bibliographies. france has always stood in a foremost position in respect to bibliography, and she alone has a national work on her literature, which stands in the very first rank--this is due to the enthusiastic bibliographer querard.[ ] a better model as to what a national bibliography should be could not well be found. the catalogue of current literature, which bears the name of o. lorenz, is also an excellent work.[ ] german literature has been, and is, well registered. heyse,[ ] maltzahn,[ ] heinsius,[ ] and kayser,[ ] have all produced valuable works. heinsius published his original lexicon in , and kayser his in , and supplements to both of these have been published about every ten years. a more condensed work was commenced by a. kirchhoff in , containing the catalogue of works published from to ; a second volume of the next five years appeared in , and since kirchhoff's death hinrichs has published a volume every five years. the leipzig book-fairs have had their catalogues ever since , and the half-yearly volumes now bearing the name of hinrichs,[ ] which have been published regularly since , and to which the fair catalogues succumbed in , may be considered as their legitimate successors. the literature of holland is well recorded by campbell[ ] and abkoude,[ ] and for belgium there is the _bibliographie de belgique_.[ ] italy can boast of a gamba[ ] and a bertocci,[ ] and a public office publishes the _bibliografia italiana_.[ ] spain is fortunate in possessing a splendid piece of bibliography in the great works of antonio.[ ] some years ago, when i was occupied in cataloguing one of the chief collections of spanish books in this country, i was in the daily habit of consulting these _bibliothecas_, and while comparing the books themselves with the printed titles, i seldom found a mistake. hidalgo's[ ] work and the boletin[ ] show that at the present time bibliography is not neglected in that country. the works of barbosa machado[ ] and silva[ ] show that portugal is not behind the sister kingdom in the love for bibliography. bibliographies of other countries might be mentioned here, but space will not permit. there is one branch of general bibliography to which special attention has been paid for a long period of years. o. placcius published his _theatrum anonymorum et pseudonymorum_ at hamburgh in ( nd ed. ). villani continued the record of pseudonymous literature by publishing at parma, in , a small volume entitled _la visiera alzata_. j.c. mylius published his _bibliotheca anonymorum et pseudonymorum_ at hamburgh in . barbier's great work on the anonymous in french literature was first published in - , the second edition appeared in - , and the third in - , as a continuation to the second edition of querard's _les supercheries littéraires_. querard's work is more curious than useful, because the author has entered into minute questions of authorship which do not really belong to the domain of bibliography. manne's volume ( ) is not of much value. lancetti published an octavo volume on pseudonyms in italian ( ), but barbier's work was not worthily imitated in any other country until mr. paterson commenced the publication of the very valuable work of the late mr. halkett.[ ] footnotes: [ ] a catalogue of the library of the london institution, systematically classed. [london] . vols. royal vo. vol. ( ), general library; vol. ( ), tracts and pamphlets arranged in alphabetical order as far as the letter f. (never completed); vol. ( ), general library, additions; vol. ( ), additions from to . [ ] catalogue of the london library, , st. james's square, s.w. with preface, laws and regulations, list of members and classified index of subjects. by robert harrison. fourth edition. sold at the library, , royal vo. pp. . ---- supplemental volume, - , sold at the library, , royal vo. pp. . [ ] a new classified catalogue of the library of the royal institution of great britain with indexes of authors and subjects, and a list of historical pamphlets, chronologically arranged. by benjamin vincent. london. sold at the royal institution. , vo. pp. xvii.- . ---- vol. ii., including the additions from to . london. sold at the royal institution. . vo. pp. xvii.- . [ ] catalogue of the library of the patent office, arranged alphabetically. in two volumes: vol. , authors; vol. , subjects. london. published and sold at the commissioners of patents sale department. - . royal vo. [ ] a general catalogue of books, offered for sale to the public at the affixed prices. by bernard quaritch london, , piccadilly, . vo. pp. x.- . [ ] - . hain (l.). repertorium bibliographicum in quo libri omnes ab arte typographica inventa usque ad annum md typis expressi, ordine alphabetico vel simpliciter enumerantur vel adcuratius recensentur. stuttgartiæ, - . vols. vo. [ ] - . panzer (g.w.). annales typographici ab artis inventæ origine ad annum . norimbergæ, - . vols. to. [ ] - . maittaire (m.). annales typographici ab artis inventæ origine ad annum , cum supplemento michaelis denisii. hag. com. et viennæ, - . vols in parts. [ ] brunet (j.c.). manuel du libraire, cinquième édition. paris, - . vols. vo. supplément par p. deschamps et g. brunet. paris, - , vols. royal vo. [ ] graesse (j.g.t.). trésor de livres rares et précieux ou nouveau dictionnaire bibliographique. dresde, - . vols. to. [ ] ebert (f.a.). allgemeines bibliographisches lexikon. leipzig, - . vols. to. ---- a general bibliographical dictionary, from the german [by a. brown]. oxford, . vols. vo. [ ] watt (r.). bibliotheca britannica: a general index to british and foreign literature. in two parts, authors and subjects. edinburgh, . vols. to. [ ] before . maunsell (a.). catalogue of english printed books. london, . to. part , divinitie. part , sciences mathematicall. [ ] - . a catalogue of certaine bookes which have been published and (by authoritie) printed in england both in latine and english, since the year until november, . london, . to. [ ] before . london (william). a catalogue of the most vendible books in england, orderly and alphabetically digested. with a supplement. - . to. [ ] - . clavell (r.). general catalogue of books printed in england since the dreadful fire of london, . fourth edition. london, . folio. [ ] - . a general catalogue of books in all languages, arts, and sciences, printed in great britain and published in london. london (w. bent), . vo. . london catalogue of books. london (w. bent), . vo. - . london catalogue of books. london (w. bent), . vo. - . london catalogue of books. london (hodgson), . vo. classified index. london (hodgson), . - . london catalogue of books. london (hodgson), . [ ] - . the british catalogue. sampson low, . and index. vols. vo. [ ] - . the english catalogue of books. sampson low. and indexes. vo. _continued annually._ [ ] - . ames (joseph). typographical antiquities: being an historical account of printing in england, with some memoirs of our antient printers, and a register of the books printed by them ... with an appendix concerning printing in scotland, ireland to the same time. london, . to. vol. considerably augmented by w. herbert. london, - . vols. to. enlarged by t.f. dibdin. london, - . vols. to. [ ] lowndes (w.t.), the bibliographer's manual of english literature. london, . vols. vo. new edition, by h.g. bohn. london, - . vols. sm. vo. [ ] allibone (s.a.). dictionary of english literature, and british and american authors. philadelphia, - . vols. royal vo. [ ] hazlitt (w. carew). handbook to the popular, poetical, and dramatic literature of great britain, from the invention of printing to the restoration. london (j. russell smith), . vo. ---- collections and notes, - . london (reeves & turner), . vo. ---- second series of bibliographical collections and notes on early english literature, - . london (bernard quaritch), . [ ] collier (j.p.). a bibliographical and critical account of the rarest books in the english language, alphabetically arranged. london, . vols. vo. [ ] corser (t.). collectanea anglo-poetica; or a bibliographical and descriptive catalogue of a portion of a collection of early english poetry. manchester (chetham society), - . vols. sm. to. [ ] _gaelic._ bibliotheca scoto-celtica; or, an account of all the books which have been published in the gaelic language. by john reid. glasgow, . vo. [ ] _welsh._ cambrian bibliography: containing an account of the books printed in the welsh language; or relating to wales, from the year to the end of the th century. by w. rowlands. llanidloes, . vo. [ ] _irish._ transactions of the iberno-celtic society for . containing a chronological account of nearly four hundred irish writers ... carried down to the year , with a descriptive catalogue of such of their works as are still extant. by e. o'reilly. dublin, . to. [ ] trübner's bibliographical guide to american literature: a classed list of books published in the united states of america during the last forty years. london, . vo. [ ] catalogue of the american books in the library of the british museum. christmas, . by h. stevens. london, . vo. [ ] the american catalogue under the direction of f. leypoldt. new york, . vols. to. suppl. - . compiled under the editorial direction of r.r. bowker by miss appleton. new york, . [ ] querard (j.m.). la france littéraire, ou dictionnaire bibliographique des savants qui ont écrit en français, plus particulièrement pendant les xviii^e et xix^e siècles. paris, - . vols. vo. ---- littérature française contemporaine ( - ). continuation de la france littéraire. paris, - . vols. vo. [ ] lorenz (o.). catalogue de la librairie française - . vols. - . vols. vo. the catalogue of books from to is in preparation. ---- tables des matières, - . paris, - . vols. vo. [ ] [heyse (c.w.).] bücherschatz der deutschen national-litteratur des xvi und xvii jahrhunderts. systematisch geordnetes verzeichniss einer reichhaltigen sammlung deutschen büchen. berlin, . vo. [ ] maltzahn (w. von). deutschen bücherschatz des sechszehnten, siebenzehnten und achtzehnten bis um die mitte des neunzehnten jahrhunderts. jena, . vo. [ ] heinsius (w.). allgemeines bücher lexicon, - . leipzig, - . vols. to. th supplement. [ ] kayser (c.g.). index librorum. vollständiges bücher-lexicon, enthaltend alle von bis zu ende des jahres (- ) in deutschland ... gedruckten bücher. leipzig, - . to. [ ] hinrichs (j.c.). verzeichniss der bücher ... welche in deutschland vom januar, , bis zum (december, ) neu erschienen oder neu aufgelegt worden sind. leipzig, - . mo. _in progress._ ---- repertorium über die nach den ... verzeichnissen, - , erschienenen bücher. von e. baldamus. ( - .) leipzig, - . mo. [ ] campbell (m.f.a.g.). annales de la typographie néerlandaise au xv^e siècle. la haye, . vo. ---- ^{er} supplément. la haye, . vo. [ ] abkoude (j. van). naamregister van de bekendste ... nederduitsche boeken ... tot . nu overzien en tot het jaar vermeerderd door r. arrenberg. rotterdam, . to. ---- alphabetische naamlijst van boeken tot , amsterdam, . to. - . amsterdam, - . vols. to. ---- wetenschappelijk register behoorende bij brinkman's alphabetische naamlijsten van boeken ... - ... bewerkt door r. van der meulen. amsterdam, . to. [ ] bibliographie de belgique. journal officiel de la librairie. année . bruxelles, . vo. [ ] gamba (b.). serie dei testi di lingua italiana e di altri opere importanti nella italiana letteratura del secolo xv al xix. quarta edizione. venezia, . vo. [ ] bertocci (d.g.). repertorio bibliografico delle opere stampate in italia nel secolo xix. vol. i. roma, . vo. [ ] bibliografia italiana: giornale compilato sui documenti communicati dal ministero dell'istruzione pubblica. anno - . - . firenze, - . vo. in progress. [ ] antonio (n.). bibliotheca hispana vetus sive hispani scriptores ... ad annum christi floruerunt. matriti, . vols. folia. ---- bibliotheca hispana nova sive hispanorum scriptorum qui ab anno ad floruere notitia. matriti, - . vols. folio. [ ] hidalgo (d.). diccionario general de bibliografia española. madrid, - . vols. vo. [ ] boletin de la libreria. año . . madrid, . vo. in progress. [ ] barbosa machado (d.). bibliotheca lusitana, historica, critica e cronologica. na qual se comprehende a noticia dos authores portuguezes, e das obras que compuserão. lisboa, - . vols. folio. [ ] silva (j.f. da). diccionario bibliographico portuguez. lisboa, - . tom. - . vo. [ ] a dictionary of the anonymous and pseudonymous literature of great britain, including the works of foreigners written in or translated into the english language. by the late samuel halkett, and the late rev. john laing. edinburgh (william paterson), - . vols. , , (to 'tis). chapter vi. special bibliographies. bibliographies of special subjects are more useful than any other books in the formation of a library. the articles in the new edition of the _encyclopædia britannica_ will be found valuable for this purpose, but those who wish for fuller information must refer to dr. julius petzholdt's elaborate _bibliotheca bibliographica_ (leipzig, ), or to the _bibliographie des bibliographies_ of m. léon vallée (paris, ). the late mr. cornelius walford contributed a paper "on special collections of books" to the transactions of the conference of librarians, (pp. - ), in which he specially referred to the subject of insurance. in the present chapter i propose to refer to some of the most useful bibliographies, but to save space the full titles will not be given, and this is the less necessary as they can mostly be found in the above books or in that useful little volume we owe to the authorities of the british museum--"hand-list of bibliographies, classified catalogues, and indexes placed in the reading-room," . _agriculture._--weston's tracts on practical agriculture and gardening ( ), contains a chronological catalogue of english authors, and donaldson's agricultural biography ( ) brings the subject down to a later date. victor donatien de musset-pathay published a _bibliographie agronomique_ in , and loudon's _encyclopædia of agriculture_ contains the literature and bibliography of agriculture, british, french, german, and american. _ana._--in peignot's _repertoire de bibliographies spéciales_ ( ) will be found at pp. - , a list of books of ana, and gabriel antoine joseph hécart published at valenciennes, , under the name of j.g. phitakaer, a bibliography entitled "anagrapheana." namur's _bibliographie des ouvrages publiés sous le nom d'ana_ was published at bruxelles in . the late sir william stirling maxwell made a collection of books of ana, a privately printed catalogue of which he issued in . _angling._--sir henry ellis printed privately in a small octavo pamphlet of pages which he entitled "a catalogue of books on angling, with some brief notices of several of their authors," which was an extract from the _british bibliographer_. in , pickering printed a _bibliotheca piscatoria_, which was formed upon sir henry ellis's corrected copy of the above catalogue. mr. j. russell smith published in "a bibliographical catalogue of english writers on angling and ichthyology," which was soon superceded by the following work by mr. t. westwood. "a new bibliotheca piscatoria, or a general catalogue of angling and fishing literature." london, (another edition, edited conjointly with t. satchell, ). mr. r. blakey published in , "angling literature of all nations." london, . mo. mr. j.j. manley, m.a., published in , "literature of sea and river fishing," as one of the handbooks of the international fisheries exhibition. _architecture._--lacroix (e.). bibliographie des ingénieurs, des architectes, des chefs d'usines industrielles, des elèves des ecoles polytechniques et professionnelles et des agriculteurs. première (--troisième) série. paris, - . to. _assurance_ (_life_).--lewis pocock published "a chronological list of books and single papers" relating to this subject in , a second edition of which was published in . _astronomy._--lalande published his valuable "bibliographie astronomique" at paris, . otto struve's catalogue of the library of the pulkova observatory, published at st. petersburg in , is highly esteemed by astronomers. the first part of the catalogue of the united states naval observatory at washington, by prof. e.s. holden, is devoted to astronomical bibliography. ---- houzeau (j.c.) and lancaster (a.), bibliographie générale de l'astronomie. bruxelles, . vo. in progress. ---- mr. e.b. knobel, secretary of the royal astronomical society, printed in the _monthly notices_ of that society for november, (pp. - ), a very useful short reference catalogue of astronomical papers and researches, referring more especially to ( ) double stars; ( ) variable stars; ( ) red stars; ( ) nebulæ and clusters; ( ) proper motions of stars; ( ) parallax and distance of stars; ( ) star spectra. mr. e.s. holden's "index catalogue of books and memoirs relating to nebulæ and clusters of stars" was printed in the _smithsonian miscellaneous collections_ in . _bible._--the famous le long published at paris, in , his "discours historiques sur les principales éditions des bibles polyglottes," and in , in two volumes, folio, his great work "bibliotheca sacra." this was edited and continued by a.g. masch, and published at halæ magd. in five volumes, quarto. - . t. llewelyn published in "historical account of the british or welsh versions and editions of the bible." a privately printed "list of various editions of the bible" was issued in , which has been attributed to dr. ducarel. john lewis's "complete history of the several translations of the holy bible and new testament into english" was published in , and dr. henry cotton's "list of editions" (oxford, , nd edition, ) was intended as an appendix to that work. orme's _bibliotheca biblica_ was published at edinburgh in , and hartwell horne's _manual of biblical bibliography_ at london in . bagster's _bible in every land_ ( ), although not strictly bibliographical, must be mentioned here, because it gives under each language a notice of all versions published in that language. lowndes' british librarian or book collector's guide. class i. religion and its history. london, . vo. parts , , are devoted to holy scriptures, biblical commentaries, biblical disquisitions, scripture biography, scripture geography, etc. the work itself was left incomplete dr. h. cotton published at oxford, in , a work entitled "rhemes and doway. an attempt to show what has been done by roman catholics for the diffusion of the holy scriptures in english." in j.g. shea published at new york a "bibliographical account of catholic bibles, testaments, and other portions of scripture translated from the latin vulgate, and printed in the united states," and in e.b. o'callaghan published at albany a "list of editions of the holy scriptures and parts thereof, printed in america previous to ." e. reuss published at brunswick, in , a bibliography of the greek new testament. dr. isaac hall printed a critical bibliography of american greek testaments at philadelphia in . mr. henry stevens, the eminent bibliographer, is a special authority on bibles, and his work, entitled "the bibles in the caxton exhibition, , or a bibliographical description of nearly one thousand representative bibles in various languages, chronologically arranged" (london, ), contains some of the information he possesses. _biography._--oettinger's _bibliographie biographique universelle_ ( ) is a most useful work, although it is now unfortunately somewhat out of date. _book-keeping._--b.f. foster's _origin and progress of book-keeping_ ( ) contains an account of books published on this subject from to . _botany._--pritzel's _thesaurus literaturæ botanicæ_ ( , another edition - ) is _the_ bibliography of the subject, and this work is supplemented by mr. daydon jackson's index of botany, published by the index society. trimen's botanical bibliography of the british counties, london, . vo. _chemistry._--r. ruprecht, bibliotheca chemica et pharmaceutica, - . _göttingen_, . _classics._--dr. edward harwood published his "view of the various editions of the greek and roman classics" in . he was followed in by thomas frognall dibdin, whose work was much enlarged, and reappeared in several editions; the fourth and best being published in ( vols. vo.). j.w. moss published his "manual of classical bibliography" in , vols. vo. henry g. bohn's general catalogue, part ii. section i. , contains a valuable list of greek and latin classics. engelmann's bibliotheca scriptorum classicorum et græcorum et latinorum ( ) is an elaborate work on the subject, and professor john e.b. mayor's translation and adaptation of dr. hübner's bibliographical clue to latin literature will be found to be a very useful handbook. _commerce._--see _trade_. _dialects._--mr. j. russell smith published, in , a useful "bibliographical list of the works that have been published towards illustrating the provincial dialects of england" ( pages). when the rev. professor skeat started the english dialect society, he at once laid the foundation of an extensive bibliographical list to include mss. as well as printed works. this bibliography is being published by the society in parts. _dictionaries._--william marsden printed privately, in , a valuable "catalogue of dictionaries, vocabularies, grammars, and alphabets." _dictionaries._--trübner's catalogue of dictionaries and grammars ( , second edition ) is a very useful work. h.b. wheatley's account of english dictionaries was published in the transactions of the philological society for . _drama._--a notice of some books in the english drama will be found in chapter iv. the _bibliothèque dramatique de mons. de soleinne_ ( - , vols.), with its continuation to , is a splendid catalogue, in which the books are fully described, with valuable notes and preface. _earthquakes._--mr. robert mallet's bibliography of earthquakes will be found in the british association report for , and mons. alexis perrey's bibliographie seismique in the dijon _memoires_ for , , and . _electricity._--sir francis ronalds' catalogue of books and papers relating to electricity, magnetism, and the electric telegraph ( ) contains a large number of titles. o. salle's bibliography of electricity and magnetism, to , was published in . _entomology._--dr. hagen's bibliotheca entomologica (leipzig, - ) is a carefully compiled and useful book. _epigrams._--there is a list of books connected with epigrammatic literature appended to _the epigrammatists_, by the rev. philip dodd. vo. london, . _fine art._--the first proofs of the universal catalogue of books in art, compiled for the use of the national art library and the schools of art in the united kingdom. london, . vols. sm. to. supplement. london, . ---- essai d'une bibliographie de l'histoire spéciale de la peinture et de la gravure en hollande et en belgique ( - ), par j.f. van someren, amsterdam, . vo. _freemasonry._--gowans (w.). catalogue of books on freemasonry and kindred subjects. new york, . vo. ---- hemsworth (h.w.). catalogue of books in the library at freemasons' hall, london. privately printed. there is a list of books on freemasonry in petzholdt's bibliotheca bibliographica, pp. - . mr. folkard printed privately a catalogue of works on freemasonry in the wigan free library in , and in the annals of the grand lodge of iowa, vol. ix. part i. ( ) is a catalogue of works on this subject in the library of the grand lodge of iowa. _future life._--catalogue of works relating to the nature, origin, and destiny of the soul, by ezra abbot. appended to w.r. alger's critical history of the doctrine of a future life. philadelphia, . vo. reprinted, new york, . _geography._--see _voyages and travels_. _health._--catalogue of the international health exhibition library. division i. health. division ii. education. london, . vo. _heraldry._--thomas moule's valuable _bibliotheca heraldica magnæ britanniæ_ was published in . there is a "list of the principal english and foreign text-books on heraldry" at the end of _the handbook of heraldry_, by j.e. cussans, london, . _history_ (_general_).--brunet (j.c.). table méthodique en forme de catalogue raisonné, histoire. paris, . vo. ---- oettinger (e.m.). historisches archiv. archives historiques, contenant une classification de , ouvrages pour servir à l'étude de l'histoire de tous les siècles et de toutes les nations. carlsruhe, . to. (_great britain and ireland._)--bishop nicholson's english, scotch, and irish historical libraries, , will still be found useful. mr. mullinger's portion of the introduction to the study of english history ( ) gives the latest information on the subject. sir duffus hardy's "descriptive catalogue of materials relating to the history of great britain and ireland to the end of the reign of henry viii." is an invaluable book, but is unfortunately incomplete. (_france._)--lelong (j.). bibliothèque historique ( - , vols, folio). "les sources de l'histoire de france," by a. franklin, was published in . _history_ (_germany._)--bibliographical essay on the scriptores rerum germanicarum, by a. asher, was published in . (_holland._)--nijhoff. bibliotheca historico-neerlandica. la haye, . (_italy._)--lichtenthal (p.). manuale bibliografico del viaggiatore in italia. milano, . a catalogue of sir richard colt hoare's collection of books relating to the history and topography of italy was printed in . the collection was presented to the british museum by hoare in . (_portugal._)--figaniere. bibliographia historica portugueza. lisboa, . (_spain._)--munoz y romero. diccionario bibliografico-historico ... de espana. madrid, . _language._--see _dictionaries_, _philology_. _law._--mr. stephen r. griswold contributed an article on law libraries to the u.s. report on libraries (pp. - ). he writes, "law books may be classified generally as follows: reports, treatises, statute law. the practice of reporting the decisions of the judges began in the reign of edward i., and from that time we have a series of judicial reports of those decisions. in the time of lord bacon, these reports extended to fifty or sixty volumes. during the two hundred and fifty years that have passed since then, nothing has been done by way of revision or expurgation; but these publications have been constantly increasing, so that at the close of the year the published volumes of reports were as follows: english, volumes; irish, volumes; scotch, volumes; canadian, volumes; american, volumes. with respect to treatises (including law periodicals and digests), and without including more than one edition of the same work, it is safe to say that a fair collection would embrace at least volumes. the statute law of the united states, if confined to the general or revised statutes and codes, may be brought within volumes. if, however, the sessional acts be included, the collection would amount to over volumes. it is thus seen that a fairly complete law library would embrace more than volumes, which could not be placed upon its shelves for less than $ , ." _law._--there is a useful list of legal bibliographies in the "hand-list of bibliographies in the reading-room of the british museum" (pp. - ). clarke's _bibliotheca legum_, which was compiled by hartwell horne ( ), is a valuable work. marvin's _legal bibliography_, which was published at philadelphia in , contains pages. the catalogue of the law library in the new york state library ( ), forms a useful guide to the subject, and herbert g. sweet's "complete catalogue of modern law books" is one of the latest catalogues of authority. _mathematics._--a really good bibliography of mathematics is still wanting. the following books, however, all from germany, are useful. _mathematics._--murhard (f.w.a.). bibliotheca mathematica. lipsiæ, - . vols. ---- rogg (j.). handbuch der mathematischen literatur. tübingen, . ---- sohncke (l.a.). bibliotheca mathematica. - . leipsic, . ---- erlecke (a.). bibliotheca mathematica. halle-a.-s., . ---- professor de morgan's arithmetical books ( ) is a model of what a good bibliography ought to be. _medical._--dr. billings contributed a chapter on "medical libraries in the united states" to the u.s. report on public libraries (pp. - ), in which he wrote--"the record of the researches, experiences, and speculations relating to medical science during the last four hundred years is contained in between two and three hundred thousand volumes and pamphlets; and while the immense majority of these have little or nothing of what we call 'practical value,' yet there is no one of them which would not be called for by some inquirer if he knew of its existence." the writer added a list of works of reference which should be in every medical library. there have been a specially large number of medical bibliographies, from haller's works downwards. james atkinson's medical bibliography ( , a and b only), is an amusing book, but of little or no utility. the most useful books are dr. billings's index catalogue of the library of the surgeon-general's office (washington, ) and the catalogue of the library of the royal medical and chirurgical society ( vols. ), by b.r. wheatley. neale's medical digest ( ) forms a convenient guide to the medical periodicals. the two great french dictionaries--raige-delorme and a. dechambre, dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences médicales ( series, commenced in , and still in progress); jaccoud, nouveau dictionnaire de médecine et de chirurgie pratiques ( , and still in progress)--contain very valuable references to the literature of the various subjects. of special subjects may be mentioned h. haeser's bibliotheca epidemiographica ( ), john s. billings's bibliography of cholera in the report of the cholera epidemic of in the united states ( , pp. - ), beer's bibliotheca ophthalmica ( ), dr. e.j. waring's bibliotheca therapeutica ( - , vols. vo.), and bibliography of embryology, in balfour's embryology, vol. ii. _meteorology._--a full bibliography of books and papers upon meteorology is being prepared at the united states signal office, and it is reported that , titles are now in the office. there have been several articles on this subject in _symons's meteorological magazine_, the last being in the number for december, . _mineralogy._--dana (j.d.). bibliography of mineralogy. . vo. _mining._--wigan free public library index catalogue of books and papers relating to mining, metallurgy, and manufactures. by henry tennyson folkard, librarian. southport, . roy. vo. _motion (perpetual)._--perpetuum mobile; or, search for self-motive power during the th, th, and th centuries, illustrated from various authentic sources in papers, essays, letters, paragraphs, and numerous patent specifications, with an introductory essay. by henry dircks, c.e. london, . sm. vo. second series. london, . sm. vo. _music._--engel (c.). the literature of national music. london, . vo. ---- catalogue of the library of the sacred harmonic society. a new edition [by w.h. husk]. london, . vo. ---- rimbault (f.). bibliotheca madrigaliana, a bibliographical account of the musical and poetical works published in england during the th and th centuries, under the titles of madrigals, ballets, ayres, canzonets, etc. london, . vo. there are bibliographies of the subject in f.l. kilter's history of music, london, , and f. clement, histoire générale de la musique religieuse. paris, . _natural history._--dryander's catalogue of sir joseph banks's library, now in the british museum, is the most famous bibliography of this subject, although made so many years ago. it consists of vols. vo. ( - ). vol. , general writers; vol. , zoology; vol. , botany; vol. , mineralogy; vol. , supplement. _natural history._--engelmann (w.). bibliotheca historico-naturalis. leipzig, . ---- zuckold (e.a.). bibliotheca historico-naturalis, physico-chemica et mathematica. göttingen, . ---- see _zoology_. _philology._--marsden (w.) bibliotheca marsdenia, philologica et orientalis. london, . to. ---- engelmann (w.). bibliotheca philologica. leipzig, . ---- see _dictionaries_. _political economy._--mcculloch (j.r.) the literature of political economy, london, .--this is a very valuable work up to the date of publication, but a good bibliography of the subject is still a desideratum. the late professor stanley jevons proposed to draw up a handy book of the literature for the index society, but, to the great loss of bibliography, was prevented by other work from undertaking it. he contributed a list of selected books in political economy to the _monthly notes_ of the library association (vol. , no. ). _poor._--a catalogue of publications in the english language on subjects relative to the poor will be found in eden's _state of the poor_, vol. iii. pp. ccclxvii--ccclxxxvi. _printing._--bigmore (e.c.), and wyman (c.w.h.). a bibliography of printing, with notes and illustrations. london, . to. ---- the literature of printing. a catalogue of the library illustrative of the history and art of typography, chalcography, and lithography, by r.m. hoe. london, . vo. the following is a list of some of the bibliographies of the productions of the chief printers: _aldus._--annales de l'imprimerie des alde ou histoire des trois manuce et de leurs éditions. par ant. aug. renouard. paris, an xii. seconde édition. paris, . vo. vols. _caxton._--the life and typography of william caxton, england's first printer, with evidence of his typographical connection with colard mansion, the printer at bruges. compiled from original sources by william blades. london, - . vols. to. a condensed edition was published under the following title: the biography and typography of william caxton, england's first printer. by william blades. second edition. london, . vo. _elzevirs._--willems (a.). les elzevier. histoire et annales typographiques. bruxelles, . vo. ---- c. pieters. annales de l'imprimerie des elsevier. gand, . vo. _plantin._--la maison plantin à anvers. par l. degeorge. deuxième édition, augmentée d'une liste chronologique des ouvrages imprimés par plantin à anvers de à . bruxelles, . vo. _stephens._--annales de l'imprimerie des estienne, ou histoire de la famille, des estienne et de ses éditions. par a.a. renouard. paris, - . vo. parts. _privately printed books._--the second edition of john martin's bibliographical catalogue of privately printed books was published in , and a newer work on this important subject is much required. mr. w.p. courtney has been engaged in the production of such a work for some years, and the labour could not be in better hands. _proverbs._--the _bibliographie parémiologique_ of pierre alexandre gratet-duplessis ( ), is one of the most elaborate and carefully compiled bibliographies ever published. sir william stirling maxwell printed privately a catalogue of his collection of books of proverbs, in which were specially marked those unknown to duplessis, or those published since the issue of his catalogue. _science._--an article on the scientific libraries in the united states was contributed by dr. theodore gill to the u.s. report on public libraries (pp. - ). it contains an account of the various periodical records of work in the various departments of science. _shorthand._--thomas anderson's history of shorthand, london ( ), contains lists of writers on shorthand in different languages. _theology._--there is an article on theological libraries in the united states, in the u.s. report on public libraries (pp. - ). the following extract contains some particulars respecting these.--"there are reported twenty-four libraries, which contain from , to , volumes; and these twenty-four libraries belong to ten different denominations. three baptist, two catholic, two congregational, three episcopal, one lutheran, two methodist, seven presbyterian, one reformed (dutch), one reformed (german), and two unitarian. and, if we include those libraries which contain less than , volumes, the list of different denominations to which they belong is extended to fifteen or sixteen." a considerable number of bibliographies of theology will be found in the british museum hand-list. darling's cyclopædia bibliographica ( - ), malcom's theological index (boston, ), and zuchold's bibliotheca theologica (göttingen, ), may be specially mentioned. _topography._--gough's british topography ( vols. to. ) is an interesting and useful book, and upcott's bibliographical account of the principal works relating to british topography, vols. vo. ( ), forms one of the best specimens of english bibliography extant. _topography._--mr. j.p. anderson's book of british topography ( ) is an indispensable book. mr. robert harrison has prepared for the index society an index of books on topography, arranged in one alphabet of places, which has not yet been published. mr. w.h.k. wright contributed a paper on "special collections of local books in provincial libraries" to the transactions of the first annual meeting of the library association, (pp. - ). another paper on the same subject, by mr. j.h. nodal, appears in the transactions of the second annual meeting of the library association, (pp. - ), entitled "special collections of books in lancashire and cheshire," and in the appendix (pp. - ) is a full account of these collections in public libraries and private hands. an indication of some of the chief bibliographies of particular counties and places is here added-- cornwall: boase & courtney, - . vols. a model bibliography. devonshire: j. davidson, . " plymouth (three towns' bibliotheca), r.n. worth, - . dorsetshire: c.h. mayo, privately printed, . gloucestershire: bibliotheca gloucestrensis, j. washbourn, - . gloucestershire: collectanea glocestriensia, j.d. phelps, . hampshire: bibliotheca hantoniensis, h.m. gilbert, ? " list of books, sir w.h. cope, . herefordshire: j. allen, jun., . kent: j. russell smith, . lancashire: h. fishwick, . man (isle of): w. harrison, . norfolk: s. woodward and w.c. ewing, . nottinghamshire: s.f. creswell, . sussex: g.s. butler, . yorkshire: rt. hon. john smythe, pontefract, . " e. hailstone, . " w. boyne, . _trade and finance._--catalogue of books, comprising the library of william paterson, founder of the bank of england, in vol. iii. of the collection of his "writings, edited by saxe bannister," ( vols. vo. london, ). ---- enslin und engelmann. bibliothek der handlungswissenschaft - . leipzig, . _trials._--the catalogue of the library of the philosophical institution of edinburgh ( ) contains (pp. - ) a very useful list of trials in an alphabet of the persons tried. the table is arranged under name, charge, date of trial, and reference. _voyages and travels._--locke's catalogue and character of most books of voyages and travels is interesting on account of locke's notes. (locke's works, , vols. vo., vol. x. pp. - .) there are catalogues of books of travels in pinkerton's collection ( ), and kerr's collection ( ). ---- boucher de la richaderie, bibliothèque universelle des voyages, paris, . vols. vo. ---- engelmann (w.). bibliotheca geographica. leipzig, . _zoology._--agassiz's bibliographia zoologicæ et geologicæ, published by the ray society, - , was a useful book in its day, but it is of no value bibliographically, and the titles being mostly taken at second-hand, the work is full of blunders. ---- carus and engelmann's bibliotheca zoologica, leipzig , forms a supplement to the bibliotheca historico-naturalis of engelmann. * * * * * a large number of bibliographies of particular authors have been published in this country and abroad, and it may be useful here to make a note of some of these. ariosto, orlando furioso: ulisse guidi, _bologna_, , . g.j. ferrazzi, _bassano_, . boccaccio: m. landau, _napoli_, . burns: j. mackie, _kilmar_, . calderon: e. dorer, _leipzig_, . camoens: adamson's life of camoens, vol. , . cervantes: e. dorer, _leipzig_, . corneille: e. picot, _paris_, . dante: bibliografia dantesca, _prato_, - . c.u.j. chevalier, . g.a. scartazzini, dante in germania, . j. petzholdt, _dresden_, . goethe: s. hirzel, . luther: e.g. vogel, _halle_, . j. edmands, _philadelphia_, . manzoni: a. vosmara, _milano_, . molière: p. lacroix, _paris_, . montaigne: j.f. payer, _paris_, . persius: j. tarlier, _bruxelles_, . petrarch: marsand, _milano_, . " a. hortis, _trieste_, . " g.j. ferrazzi, _bassano_, . c.u.j. chevalier, montpéliard, . rabelais: j.c. brunet, _paris_, . schiller: l. unflad, _münchen_, . tasso: g.j. ferrazzi, _bassano_, . voltaire: g. bengesco, _paris_, . * * * * * browning: f.j. furnivall, browning society, - . carlyle: r.h. shepherd, . defoe: m. stace, ; wilson, ; lee, . dickens: r.h. shepherd, . " j. cook, paisley, . hazlitt, leigh hunt, charles lamb: a. ireland, . ruskin: r.h. shepherd, . shakespeare: j. wilson, ; j.o. halliwell, ; moulin, ; sillig and ulrici, ; h.g. bohn, ; f. thimm, - ; k. knortz, ; unflad, ; justin winsor (poems); birmingham memorial library catalogue (j.d. mullens). shelley: h.b. forman, . tennyson: r.h. shepherd, . thackeray: r.h. shepherd, . wycliffe: j. edmands, . dr. garnett commenced a ms. list of such special bibliographies as he came across in treatises on the different subjects. this list is added to and kept in the reading room for use by the librarians. i was allowed the privilege of referring to this very useful list. chapter vii. publishing societies. a large amount of important information is to be found in the publications of the numerous societies formed for the purpose of supplying to their subscribers valuable works which are but little likely to find publishers. these publications have in a large number of instances added to our knowledge of history and literature considerably. the societies have much increased of late years, but no record of the publications is easily to be obtained, since the full account given in bohn's supplement to lowndes's _bibliographer's manual_. the earliest of publishing societies was the _dilettanti society_, instituted in london in , which issued some fine illustrated volumes of classical travel. a long period of time elapsed without any societies of a similar character being formed. _the roxburghe club_ formed in the year in commemoration of the sale of the magnificent library of john third duke of roxburghe (died march , ). it was chiefly intended as a social club, and a long list of bibliographical toasts was run through at the banquets. the publications were not at first of any great literary value, although some of them were curious and interesting. after a time competent editors were employed, and some important works produced. sir frederick madden's editions of "havelok the dane" was issued in , of the romance of "william and the werwolf" in , and of the old english version of "gesta romanorum" in . the valuable "manners and household expenses of england in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries," edited by t. hudson turner, was presented to the club by beriah botfield in ; payne collier's edition of the "household books of john duke of norfolk, and thomas earl of surrey, - ," was issued in , and his "five old plays illustrative of the early progress of the english drama" in ; the rev. joseph stevenson's edition of "the owl and the nightingale, a poem of the twelfth century," was issued in , and his edition of "the ayenbite of inwyt" in ; john gough nichols's edition of the "literary remains of king edward the sixth" appeared in and ( vols.), and dr. furnivall's edition of henry lonelich's "seynt graal" in - . several years elapsed before the second great printing club was founded. in _the bannatyne club_ was started in edinburgh, chiefly by sir walter scott, for the purpose of printing works illustrative of the history, antiquities and literature of scotland. it derives its names from george bannatyne (born feb. , , died ). a long series of books have been issued by the club to its members, many of which are of great interest. the catalogue of the abbotsford library was presented in to the members "by major sir walter scott, bart., as a slight return for their liberality and kindness in agreeing to continue to that library the various valuable works printed under their superintendence." in the same year appeared sir frederick madden's edition of _sir gawayne_. bishop gawin douglas's "palace of honour" was printed in , and his translation of virgil's "Æneid" in ( vols.). the club was closed in . _the maitland club_, which derived its name from sir richard maitland of lethington (born in , died march , ), was instituted in glasgow in . a volume containing "the burgh records of the city of glasgow, to ," was presented to the club in - ; the poems of drummond of hawthornden in ; robert wodrow's "collection upon the lives of the reformers and most eminent ministers of the church of scotland" in - ( vols.). dauncey's ancient scottish melodies in . sir bevis of hamtoun in the same year, the metrical romance of lancelot du lak in ; wodrow's analecta, or materials for a history of remarkable providences, in - ( vols.). henry laing's descriptive catalogue of ancient seals, in . the club was closed in . _the abbotsford club_ was founded in honour of sir walter scott in , by mr. w.b.d.d. turnbull. the first book (issued in ) was a volume of "ancient mysteries from the digby ms."; "arthur and merlin, a metrical romance," was printed in ; "romances of sir guy of warwick and rembrun his son," in ; "the legend of st. katherine of alexandra," in ; "sir degaree, a metrical romance of the end of the nineteenth century," in . the club was closed in . these printing clubs were select in their constitution, and the books being printed for the members in small numbers, they are difficult to obtain and their price is high. with the foundation of the camden society an entirely new system was adopted, and the general body of book lovers, poor as well as rich, were appealed to with great success, and valuable books were supplied to the subscribers at a price which would have been impossible without such means. the camden society is entitled to this honour on account of the general interest of its publications, but the surtees society was actually the first to inaugurate the new system. the subscription fixed was double that which the founders of the camden society adopted, but it was, perhaps, a bolder step to start a society, appealing to a somewhat restricted public with a two guinea subscription, than to appeal to the whole reading public with a subscription of one pound. before saying more of the surtees and camden societies, it will be necessary to mention some other printing clubs which preceded them. _the oriental translation fund_ was established in , with the object of publishing translations from eastern mss. into the languages of europe. when the issue of books was discontinued, the stock of such books as remained was sold off, and many of these can still be obtained at a cheap rate. _the iona club_ was instituted in , for the purpose of investigating the history, antiquities, and early literature of the highlands and islands of scotland, but little has been done in the way of publication. the first book was "collectanea de rebus albanicis," and the second, "transactions of the club," vol. i. in parts. a second volume was announced, but never appeared. _the surtees society_ was founded at durham in for the publication of inedited manuscripts, illustrative of the moral, the intellectual, the religious, and the social condition of those parts of england and scotland included on the east, between the humber and the frith of forth, and on the west, between the mersey and the clyde, a region which constituted the ancient kingdom of northumberland. the society is named after robert surtees, of mainforth, author of the "history of the county palatine of durham." although founded more than fifty years ago, the society is still flourishing, and carried on with the same vigour as of old. the series of publications is a long one, and contains a large number of most important works. the second book issued was "wills and inventories, illustrative of the history, manners, language, statistics, etc., of the northern counties of england, from the eleventh century downwards" (part was issued in ); the third, "the towneley mysteries or miracle plays"; the fourth, "testamenta eboracensia: wills illustrative of the history, manners, language, statistics, etc., of the province of york, from " (vol. ). the second volume of this series was issued in . "anglo-saxon and early english psalter" was issued in - ( vols.); "the durham household book; or, the accounts of the bursar of the monastery of durham, from to ," in . _the camden society_, instituted in , has issued to its subscribers a large number of books of the greatest interest on historical and literary subjects. the set of publications is so well known that it is not necessary to enumerate titles here. among the most valuable are the several volumes devoted to the correspondence of certain old families, such as the "plumpton correspondence" ( ), "egerton papers" ( ), "rutland papers" ( ), and "savile correspondence" ( ). the romances and chronicles must also be mentioned, and the remarkable edition of the oldest english dictionary, "promptorium parvulorum," which was fully and learnedly edited by the late mr. albert way. a second series was commenced in , which is still continued. the same year which saw the foundation of the camden society also gave birth to _the english historical society_. sixteen works of considerable value were issued, but the greatest of these is the grand "codex diplomaticus Ævi saxonici" of the late j. mitchell kemble ( - ). _the spalding club_, named after john spalding, commissary clerk of aberdeen, and founded at aberdeen in for the printing of the historical, ecclesiastical, genealogical, topographical, and literary remains of the north-eastern counties of scotland, was formed on the model of the exclusive clubs; but being affected by the more democratic constitution of the later printing societies, its subscription was fixed at one guinea. amongst the most interesting of the club's publications are the "sculptured stones of scotland" ( ), "barbour's brus" ( ), and the "fasti aberdonensis: selections from the records of the university and king's college of aberdeen from to " ( ). the year saw the foundation of three very important societies, viz. the parker, the percy, and the shakespeare. _the parker society_ took its name from the famous archbishop of canterbury, martin parker, and its objects were ( ) the reprinting, without abridgment, alteration or omission, of the best works of the fathers and early writers of the reformed english church published in the period between the accession of edward vi. and queen elizabeth; ( ) the printing of such works of other writers of the sixteenth century as may appear desirable (including under both classes some of the early english translations of the foreign reformers), and ( ) the printing of some mss. of the same authors hitherto unpublished. the society was an enormous success, and at one time the list contained seven thousand members; but owing to the multitude of copies printed, and the somewhat dry character of the books themselves, many of them can now be obtained at a ridiculously small sum, the price of a complete set usually averaging little more than a shilling a volume. when the series was completed, a valuable general index to the whole was compiled by mr. henry gough, . _the percy society_ took its name from bishop percy, author of the "reliques of ancient english poetry" (born , died ), and was founded for the purpose of bringing to light important but obscure specimens of ballad poetry, or works illustrative of that department of literature. the society was dissolved in , but during the thirteen years of its existence it produced a singularly interesting series of publications. the number of separate works registered in bohn's appendix to lowndes's bibliographer's manual is , besides "quippes for upstart newfangled gentlewomen by stephen gosson," which was suppressed, and "rhyming satire on the pride and vices of women now-a-days, by charles bansley," , which was reprinted in , but not issued. the set is much sought after, and fetches a good price. _the shakespeare society_ was founded in , to print books illustrative of shakespeare and of the literature of his time, and a very valuable collection of works was issued to the subscribers during the term of its existence. it was dissolved in , and the remaining stock was made up into volumes and sold off. there was much for the society still to do; but the controversy arising out of the discovery of the forgeries connected with john payne collier's name made it difficult for the shakespearians to work together with harmony. in this same year the _musical antiquarian society_ was founded, and during the seven years of its existence it issued books of madrigals, operas, songs, anthems, etc., by early english composers. in the following year ( ), the _motett society_ was founded for the publication of ancient church music. five parts only, edited by dr. rimbault, were issued. in the _society for the publication of oriental texts_ was founded, and a series of works in syriac, arabic, sanscrit, and persian was distributed to the subscribers until , when the society was dissolved. _the wodrow society_ was instituted in edinburgh in , for the publication of the early writers of the reformed church of scotland, and named after the rev. robert wodrow. among its publications are, "autobiography and diary of james melvill," "correspondence of the rev. r. wodrow" ( vols.), "history of the reformation in scotland, by john knox" ( vols.). the society was dissolved in . _the Ælfric society_ was founded in for the publication of those anglo-saxon and other literary monuments, both civil and ecclesiastical, tending to illustrate the early state of england. the publications, which were not numerous, were edited by benjamin thorpe and j.m. kemble, and the society was discontinued in . _the chetham society_, founded at manchester in , for the publication of historical and literary remains connected with the palatine counties of lancaster and chester, was named after humphrey chetham (born , died ). the society, which still flourishes, has now produced a very long series of important works, and the volumes, which are not often met with, keep up their price well. _the sydenham society_ for reprinting standard english works in medical literature, and for the translation of foreign authors, with notes, was founded in . after printing a number of important works, the society was dissolved in , and was succeeded by _the new sydenham society_. _the spottiswoode society_ was founded at edinburgh in , for the revival and publication of the acknowledged works of the bishops, clergy, and laity of the episcopal church of scotland, and rare, authentic, and curious mss., pamphlets and other works illustrative of the civil and ecclesiastical state of scotland. it takes its name from john spottiswoode, the first duly consecrated scottish archbishop after the reformation (born , died .) the late mr. hill burton gives an amusing account of the foundation of this society in his delightful _book-hunter_. he writes: "when it was proposed to establish an institution for reprinting the works of the fathers of the episcopal church in scotland, it was naturally deemed that no more worthy or characteristic name could be attached to it than that of the venerable prelate, who by his learning and virtues had so long adorned the episcopal chair of moray and ross [robert jolly], and who had shown a special interest in the department of literature to which the institution was to be devoted. hence it came to pass that, through a perfectly natural process, the association for the purpose of reprinting the works of certain old divines was to be ushered into the world by the style and title of the jolly club. there happened to be amongst those concerned, however, certain persons so corrupted with the wisdom of this world, as to apprehend that the miscellaneous public might fail to trace this designation to its true origin, and might indeed totally mistake the nature and object of the institution, attributing to it aims neither consistent with the ascetic life of the departed prelate, nor with the pious and intellectual object of its founders. the counsels of these worldly-minded persons prevailed. the jolly club was never instituted,--at least as an association for the reprinting of old books of divinity,--though i am not prepared to say that institutions, more than one so designed may not exist for other purposes. the object, however, was not entirely abandoned. a body of gentlemen united themselves together under the name of another scottish prelate, whose fate had been more distinguished, if not more fortunate, and the spottiswoode society was established. here, it will be observed, there was a passing to the opposite extreme, and so intense seems to have been the anxiety to escape from all excuse for indecorous jokes or taint of joviality, that the word club, wisely adopted by other bodies of the same kind, was abandoned, and this one called itself a society." the publications were discontinued about . _the calvin translation society_ was established at edinburgh in , and its work was completed in , by the publication of twenty-two commentaries, etc., of the great reformer in fifty-two volumes. _the ray society_ was founded in for the publication of works on natural history (zoology and botany), and a large number of valuable books, fully illustrated, have been produced, many of them translations from foreign works. many of the later publications are more elaborately coloured than the earlier ones. _the wernerian club_ was instituted in for the republication of standard works of scientific authors of old date. _the handel society_ was founded at london in , for the purpose of printing the works of handel in full score. sixteen volumes were issued, and in the society was dissolved, the german handel society resuming the publication. _the hanserd knollys society_ was instituted in for the publication of the works of early english and other baptist writers, and one of these was an edition of bunyan's pilgrim progress from the text of the first edition. the society was dissolved about . _the caxton society_ was instituted in for the publication of chronicles and other writings hitherto unpublished, illustrative of the history and miscellaneous literature of the middle ages. this society was formed on a somewhat original basis. the members were to pay no annual subscription, but they engaged to purchase one copy of all books published by the society. the expense of printing and publishing to be defrayed out of the proceeds of the sale, and the money remaining over to be paid to the editors. _the cavendish society_ was instituted in for the promotion of chemical science by the translation and publication of valuable works and papers on chemistry not likely to be undertaken by ordinary publishers. during its last years the society existed for the publication of gmelin's voluminous "handbook of chemistry," and when this work was completed, with a general index, the society ceased to exist. _the ecclesiastical history society_ was instituted in , and one of its early publications was the first volume of wood's "athenæ oxoniensis," edited by dr. bliss, but this only contained the life of anthony wood himself. the society was dissolved in , after publishing the book of common prayer according to a ms. in the rolls office, dublin ( vols.), and sundry other works. _the hakluyt society_, named after richard hakluyt (born , died ), was founded at the end of for the purpose of printing the most rare and valuable voyages, travels and geographical records, from an early period of exploratory enterprise to the circumnavigation of dampier. the first two volumes ("sir richard hawkins's voyage into the south sea, ," and "select letters of columbus") were issued in , and the society still flourishes. between and the society has presented to its members an important series of books of travel, at the rate of about two volumes a year for an annual subscription of one guinea. _the palæontographical society_ was founded in for the purpose of figuring and describing a stratigraphical series of british fossils. the annual volumes consist of portions of works by the most eminent palæontologists, and these works are completed as soon as circumstances allow, but several of them are still incomplete. _the arundel society_ is so important an institution that it cannot be passed over in silence, although, as the publications chiefly consist of engravings, chromolithographs, etc., it scarcely comes within the scope of this chapter. the society takes its name from thomas howard earl of arundel, in the reigns of james i. and charles i., who has been styled the "father of _vertu_ in england." it was founded in , and its purpose is to diffuse more widely, by means of suitable publications, a knowledge both of the history and true principles of painting, sculpture, and the higher forms of ornamental design, to call attention to such masterpieces of the arts as are unduly neglected, and to secure some transcript or memorial of those which are perishing from ill-treatment or decay. the publications of the society have been very successful, and many of them cannot now be obtained. most of the societies above described have appealed to a large public, and endeavoured to obtain a large amount of public support; but in was formed an exclusive society, with somewhat the same objects as the roxburghe club. _the philobiblon society_ was instituted chiefly through the endeavours of mr. r. monckton milnes (the late lord houghton) and the late mons. sylvain van de weyer. the number of members was at first fixed at thirty-five, but was raised in to forty, including the patron and honorary secretaries. the publications consist chiefly of a series of bibliographical and historical miscellanies, contributed by the members, which fill several volumes. besides these there are "the expedition to the isle of rhe by lord herbert of cherbury," edited and presented to the members by the earl of powis; "inventaire de tous les meubles du cardinal mazarin," edited and presented by h.r.h. the duke d'aumale; "memoires de la cour d'espagne sous la regne de charles ii., - ," edited and presented by william stirling (afterwards sir william stirling maxwell); "the biography and bibliography of shakespeare," compiled and presented by henry g. bohn; "analyse des travaux de la société des philobiblon de londres," par octave delepierre. _the ossianic society_ was instituted at dublin in for the preservation and publication of manuscripts in the irish language, illustrative of the fenian period of irish history, etc., with literal translations and notes. _the warton club_ was instituted in and issued four volumes, after which it was dissolved. _the manx society_ was instituted at douglas, isle of man, in , for the publication of national documents of the isle of man. all the societies mentioned above are registered in henry bohn's appendix to lowndes's bibliographer's manual, and lists of the publications up to are there given. most of them are also described in hume's "learned societies and printing clubs of the united kingdom" ( ). since, however, the publication of these two books, a considerable number of important printing societies have been formed, and of these a list is not readily obtainable, except by direct application to the respective secretaries. the newly printed general catalogue of the british museum in the reading room however contains a full list of the publications of the various societies under the heading of _academies_. the foundation of the _early english text society_ in caused a renewed interest to be taken in the publications of the printing clubs. the origin of the society was in this wise. when the philological society undertook the formation of a great english dictionary, the want of printed copies of some of the chief monuments of the language was keenly felt. mr. f.j. furnivall, with his usual energy, determined to supply the want, and induced the council of the philological society to produce some valuable texts. it was found, however, that these publications exhausted much of the funds of the society, which was required for the printing of the papers read at the ordinary meetings, so that it became necessary to discontinue them. mr. furnivall, then, in conjunction with certain members of the philological society, founded the early english text society. the society possessed the inestimable advantage of having among its founders mr. richard morris (afterwards the rev. dr. morris), who entered with fervour into the scheme, and produced a large amount of magnificent work for the society. dr. furnivall put the objects of the society forward very tersely when he said that none of us should rest "till englishmen shall be able to say of their early literature what the germans can now say with pride of theirs--'every word of it is printed, and every word of it is glossed.'" the society prospered, and in an extra series was started, in which were included books that had already been printed, but were difficult to obtain from their rarity and price. one hundred and twenty-six volumes have been issued between and , eighty-two volumes of the original series and forty-four of the extra series, and there can be no doubt that the publications of the society have had an immense influence in fostering the study of the english language. the prefaces and glossaries given with each work contain an amount of valuable information not elsewhere to be obtained. these books throw light upon the growth of the language, and place within the reach of a large number of readers works of great interest in the literature of the country. the greatest work undertaken by the society is the remarkable edition of "william's vision of piers the plowman," which prof. skeat has produced with an expenditure of great labour during nearly twenty years. the last part, containing elaborate notes and glossary, was issued in . the subjects treated of are very various. there is a fair sprinkling of romances, which will always be amongst the most interesting of a society's publications. manners and customs are largely illustrated in a fair proportion of the texts, as also are questions of social and political history. perhaps the least interesting to the general reader are the theological texts, which are numerous, but the writers of these were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of their times, and although they are apt to be prosy, they are pretty sure to introduce some quaint bits which compensate for a considerable amount of dulness. these books help us to form a correct idea of the beliefs of our forefathers, and to disabuse our minds of many mistaken views which we have learnt from more popular but less accurate sources. _the ballad society_ grew out of the publication, by special subscription, of bishop percy's folio manuscript, edited by f.j. furnivall and j.w. hales. this was issued in connection with the early english text society (but not as one of its texts), through the energy of mr. furnivall, who had many difficulties to overcome before he was able to get permission to print the manuscript, which had been very faithfully guarded from the eyes of critics. he had to pay for the privilege, and in the end the old volume was sold to the nation, and it now reposes among the treasures of the british museum. when this useful work was completed, mr. furnivall was anxious to follow it by a reprint of all the known collections of ballads, such as the roxburghe, bagford, rawlinson, douce, etc., and for this purpose he started the ballad society in . he himself edited some particularly interesting "ballads from manuscripts," and an elaborate account of captain cox's ballads and books in a new edition of robert laneham's letter on the entertainment at kenilworth in . the veteran ballad illustrator, mr. william chappell, undertook to edit the "roxburghe ballads," and produced nine parts, when the rev. j.w. ebsworth took the work off his hands. mr. ebsworth had previously reproduced the "bagford ballads," and he is now the editor-in-chief of the society. the following is a short list of the publications of the society: nos. , , , , "ballads from manuscripts"; nos. , , , , , , , , . "the roxburghe ballads," edited by wm. chappell; no. , "captain cox, his ballads and books"; no. , "love poems and humourous ones"; nos. , , , , "the bagford ballads." no. , "the amanda group of bagford ballads;" nos. , , , , , , "the roxburghe ballads," edited by the rev. j.w. ebsworth. no. completes the fifth volume of the "roxburghe ballads." there are two more volumes to come, and then mr. ebsworth will undertake "the civil war and protectorate ballads." much of the work on these volumes is done, and they only await an increase in the subscription list. it is to be hoped that when the good work done by the ballad society is better known, the editor will not be kept back in his useful course by the want of funds for printing. mr. ebsworth's thorough work is too well known to need praise here, but it may be noted that his volumes contain a remarkable amount of illustration of the manners of the time not to be obtained elsewhere. the value of this is the more apparent by the system of arrangement in marked periods which the editor has adopted. _the chaucer society_ was founded in by mr. furnivall, "to do honour to chaucer, and to let the lovers and students of him see how far the best unprinted manuscripts of his works differed from the printed texts." for the canterbury tales, mr. furnivall has printed the six best unprinted mss. in two forms--( ) in large oblong parts, giving the parallel texts; ( ) in octavo, each text separately. the six manuscripts chosen are--the ellesmere; the lansdowne (brit. mus.); the hengwrt; the corpus, oxford; the cambridge (university library); the petworth. dr. furnivall has now added harleian to complete the series. the society's publications are issued in two series, of which the first contains the different texts of chaucer's works, and the second such originals of and essays on these as can be procured, with other illustrative treatises and supplementary tales. _the spenser society_ was founded at manchester in for the publication of well-printed editions of old english authors in limited numbers. the chief publication issued to subscribers was a reprint, in three volumes folio, of the works of john taylor, the water-poet, from the original folio. the other publications are in small quarto, and among them are the works of john taylor not included in the folio, the works of wither, etc. _the roxburghe library_ was a subscription series, commenced by mr. w. carew hazlitt in , with the same objects as a publishing society. it was discontinued in . the following is a list of the publications:--"romance of paris and vienne"; "william browne's complete works," vols.; "inedited tracts of the th and th centuries ( - )"; "the english drama and stage under the tudor and stuart princes, - "; "george gascoigne's complete poems," vols.; "thomas carew's poems." _the harleian society_ was founded in . their chief publication has been the late colonel chester's magnificently edited registers of westminster abbey. other registers published are those of st. peter's, cornhill; st. dionis backchurch; st. mary aldermary; st. thomas the apostle; st. michael, cornhill; st. antholin, budge lane; and st. john the baptist, on wallbrook. of the other publications there are visitations of bedfordshire, cheshire, cornwall, cumberland, devon, essex, leicestershire, london , , nottingham, oxford, rutland, somersetshire, warwickshire, and yorkshire, and le neve's catalogue of knights. _the hunterian club_ was founded at glasgow in , and named after the hunterian library in the university. among the publications of the club are a series of tracts by thomas lodge and samuel rowlands; the poetical works of alexander craig; poetical works of patrick hannay; sir t. overburie's vision by richard niccols, . the printing of the famous bannatyne manuscript, compiled by george bannatyne, , was commenced by the society in , and the seventh part, which completed this invaluable collection of scottish poetry, was issued in . _the folk lore society_ was founded by the late mr. w.j. thoms (inventor of the term folk lore) in , and during the seven years of its existence it has done much valuable work, chiefly through the energetic direction of mr. g.l. gomme, the hon. sec. (now director). the object of the society is stated to be "the preservation and publication of popular traditions, legendary ballads, local proverbial sayings, superstitions and old customs (british and foreign), and all subjects relating to them." the principal publication of the society, the _folk lore record_, now the _folk lore journal_, was at first issued in volumes, and afterwards in monthly numbers. it is now a quarterly. the other publications are:--henderson's folk-lore of the northern counties of england and the borders, a new edition; aubrey's remaines of gentilisme and judaisme; gregor's notes on the folk-lore of the north-east of scotland; comparetti's book of sindibad and pedroso's portuguese folk tales; black's folk medicine; callaway's religious system of the amazulu. the year saw the formation of several publishing societies. _the new shakspere society_ was founded by dr. f.j. furnivall, for the reading of papers, which have been published in a series of transactions, and also for the publication of collations of the quarto plays, and works illustrating the great dramatist's times. among the latter works are harrison's description of england, stubbes's anatomie of abuses, dr. ingleby's shakespeare's centurie of prayse, etc. _the english dialect society_ was founded at cambridge by the rev. professor skeat. its objects are stated to be ( ) to bring together all those who have made a study of any of the provincial dialects of england, or who are interested in the subject of provincial english; ( ) to combine the labours of collectors of provincial english words by providing a common centre to which they may be sent, so as to gather material for a general record of all such words; ( ) to publish (subject to proper revision) such collections of provincial english words that exist at present only in manuscript; as well as to reprint such glossaries of provincial words as are not generally accessible, or are inserted in books of which the main part relates to other subjects; and ( ) to supply references to sources of information which may be of material assistance to word-collectors, students, and all who have a general or particular interest in the subject. the publications are arranged under the following series: a, bibliographical; b, reprinted glossaries; c, original glossaries; d, miscellaneous. in the society was transferred to manchester, and mr. j.h. nodal became honorary secretary. _the palæographical society_ was formed for the purpose of reproducing specimens of manuscripts, and it has produced a series of facsimiles of ancient manuscripts, edited by e.a. bond and e.m. thompson, part being issued in . at the end of the year _the index society_ was founded for the purpose of producing ( ) indexes of standard works; ( ) subject indexes of science, literature and art; and ( ) a general reference index. the publications were commenced in , and the first annual meeting was held in march, , the earl of carnarvon being the first president. the first publication was "what is an index?" by h.b. wheatley. among the important books issued by the society may be mentioned solly's "index of hereditary titles of honour"; daydon jackson's "guide to the literature of botany" and "literature of vegetable technology," and rye's "index of norfolk topography." the _society for the promotion of hellenic studies_ was founded in for the following objects: ( ) to advance the study of the greek language, literature, and art, and to illustrate the history of the greek race in the ancient, byzantine, and neo-hellenic periods, by the publication of memoirs and inedited documents or monuments in a journal to be issued periodically. ( ) to collect drawings, facsimiles, transcripts, plans, and photographs of greek inscriptions, mss., works of art, ancient sites and remains, and with this view to invite travellers to communicate to the society notes or sketches of archæological and topographical interest. ( ) to organise means by which members of the society may have increased facilities for visiting ancient sites and pursuing archæological researches in countries which, at any time, have been the sites of hellenic civilization. five volumes of the _journal_ have been issued. _the topographical society of london_ was formed in . the inaugural meeting was held at the mansion house, and the first annual meeting at drapers' hall on feb. , , with the lord mayor (sir john whitaker ellis), president, in the chair. the following reproductions have been issued to subscribers:--van der wyngaerde's view of london, ab. , sheets; braun & hogenberg's plan of london, sheet; visscher's view of london, sheets. _the browning society_ was founded by dr. furnivall in , and besides papers read at the meetings, the society has issued dr. furnivall's "bibliography of browning." _the wyclif society_ was founded also by dr. furnivall in , for the publication of the complete works of the great reformer. _the pipe roll society_ was established in , and in the first three volumes of its publications have been issued to the members. these are--vol. , pipe rolls, hen. ii.; vol. , hen. ii.; vol. , introduction. _the oxford historical society_ was formed in , and four handsome volumes have been issued for that year and . these are-- , "register of the university of oxford" (vol. , - , - ), edited by the rev. c.w. boase; , "remarks and collections of thomas hearne" (vol. , july , -march , ), edited by c.e. doble, m.a. both these volumes are supplied with temporary indexes. , "the early history of oxford, - ," by james parker; , "memories of merton college," by the hon. george c. brodrick; , "collectanea." first series. edited by c.r.l. fletcher. _the middlesex county record society_ was formed in "for the purpose of publishing the more interesting portions of the old county records of middlesex, which have lately been arranged and calendared by order of the justices." nothing has been published as yet, but mr. cordy jeaffreson is engaged upon the first two volumes, one of which will be issued shortly. the rev. dr. a.b. grosart has himself printed by subscription more works of our old writers than many a society, and therefore it is necessary to mention his labours here, although a complete list of them cannot be given. the chief series are: "the fuller worthies library," volumes; "the chertsey worthies library," vols. to., and "the huth library." chapter viii. child's library. the idea of a child's library is to a great extent modern, and it is not altogether clear that it is a good one, except in the case of those children who have no books of their own. it is far better that each child should have his own good books, which he can read over and over again, thus thoroughly mastering their contents. it is a rather wide-spread notion that there is some sort of virtue in reading for reading's sake, although really a reading boy may be an idle boy. when a book is read, it should be well thought over before another is begun, for reading without thought generates no ideas. one advantage of a child's library should be that the reader is necessarily forced to be careful, so as to return the books uninjured. this is a very important point, for children should be taught from their earliest years to treat books well, and not to destroy them as they often do. we might go farther than this and say that children should be taught at school how to handle a book. it is really astonishing to see how few persons (not necessarily children) among those who have not grown up among books know how to handle them. it is positive torture to a man who loves books to see the way they are ordinarily treated. of course it is not necessary to mention the crimes of wetting the fingers to turn over the leaves, or turning down pages to mark the place; but those who ought to know better will turn a book over on its face at the place where they have left off reading, or will turn over pages so carelessly that they give a crease to each which will never come out. for a healthy education it is probably best that a child should have the run of a library for adults (always provided that dangerous books are carefully excluded). a boy is much more likely to enjoy and find benefit from the books he selects himself than from those selected for him. the circumstances of the child should be considered in the selection of books; thus it is scarcely fair when children are working hard at school all day that they should be made to read so-called instructive books in the evening. they have earned the right to relaxation and should be allowed good novels. to some boys books of travels and history are more acceptable than novels, but all children require some fiction, and, save in a few exceptional cases, their imaginations require to be cultivated. it will soon be seen whether children have healthy or unhealthy tastes. if healthy, they are best left to themselves; if unhealthy, they must be directed. it is easy for the seniors to neglect the children they have under them, and it is easy to direct them overmuch, but it is difficult to watch and yet let the children go their own way. we are apt, in arranging for others, to be too instructive; nothing is less acceptable to children or less likely to do them good than to be preached at. moral reflections in books are usually skipped by children, and unless somewhat out of the common, probably by grown-up persons as well. instruction should grow naturally out of the theme itself, and form an integral part of it, so that high aims and noble thoughts may naturally present themselves to the readers. one of the chapters in the united states libraries' report is on "school and asylum libraries" (pp. - ), in which we are informed that new york was the pioneer in founding school libraries. "in governor de witt clinton, in his message to the legislature, recommended their formation; but it was not till that the friends of free schools saw their hopes realized in the passage of a law which permitted the voters in any school district to levy a tax of $ to begin a library, and a tax of $ each succeeding year to provide for its increase." another chapter in the same report is on "public libraries and the young" (pp. - ), in which mr. wm. j. fletcher advocates the use of the library as an addition to the school course. he writes, "it only remains now to say that, as we have before intimated, the public library should be viewed as an adjunct of the public school system, and to suggest that in one or two ways the school may work together with the library in directing the reading of the young. there is the matter of themes for the writing of compositions; by selecting subjects on which information can be had at the library, the teacher can send the pupil to the library as a student, and readily put him in communication with, and excite his interest in, classes of books to which he has been a stranger and indifferent." a very interesting book on this subject is entitled "libraries and schools. papers selected by samuel s. green. new york (f. leypoldt), ." it contains the following subjects: "the public library and the public schools;" "the relation of the public library to the public schools"; "libraries as educational institutions"; "the public library as an auxiliary to the public schools"; "the relation of libraries to the school system"; and "a plan of systematic training in reading at school." "_books for the young, a guide for parents and children._ compiled by c. m. hewins. new york (f. leypoldt), ," is an extremely useful little book. it contains a valuable list of books arranged in classes. certain marks are used to indicate the character of the books, thus the letter (_c_) indicates that the book is especially suitable for children under ten, (_b_) that it is especially suitable for boys, and (_g_) that it is especially suitable for girls. prefixed are eight sensible rules as to how to teach the right use of books. perkins's "best reading" contains a good list of books for children (pp. - ). the children's books of the present day are so beautifully produced that the elders are naturally induced to exclaim, "we never had such books as these," but probably we enjoyed our books as well as our children do theirs. what a thrill of pleasure the middle-aged man feels when a book which amused his childhood comes in his way: this, however, is seldom, for time has laid his decaying hand upon them-- "all, all are gone, the old familiar faces." the children for whom miss kate greenaway and mr. caldecott draw and mrs. gatty and mrs. ewing wrote are indeed fortunate, but we must not forget that charles and mary lamb wrote delightful books for the young, that miss edgeworth's stories are ever fresh, and that one of the most charming children's stories ever written is mrs. sherwood's _little woodman_. a short list of a child's library is quoted in the _library journal_ (vol. viii. p. ) from the _woman's journal_. the family for whom it was chosen consisted of children from three to twelve, the two eldest being girls. the books are mostly american, and but little known in this country-- snow-bound. illustrated. whittier. life of longfellow. kennedy. a summer in the azores. baker. among the isles of shoals. celia thaxter. the boys of ' . coffin. the boys of ' . coffin. story of our country. higginson. sir walter raleigh. towle. child's history of england. dickens. tales from shakespear. lamb. tales from homer. church. the wonder-book. illustrated. hawthorne. young folks' book of poetry. campbell. poetry for childhood. eliot. bits of talk about home matters. h.h. the seven little sisters. andrews. hans brinker, or the silver skates. dodge. room for one more. mary t. higginson. king arthur for boys. lanier. doings of the bodley family. scudder. mother-play and nursery-rhymes. children's robinson crusoe. the four-footed lovers. mammy tittleback and her family. h.h. the little prudy books. six volumes. the editor of the _library journal_ remarks on the list, "guest's lectures on english history is better than dickens's, and the 'prudy' children are so mischievous, so full of young americanisms, and so far from being 'wells of english undefiled,' that they are not always good companions for boys and girls. i have known a child's english spoiled by reading the prudy books." some of the old-fashioned children's books have been reprinted, and these will generally be found very acceptable to healthy-minded children, but some of the old books are not easily met with. no child's library should be without a good collection of fairy tales, a careful selection of the arabian nights, or robinson crusoe. gulliver's travels is very unsuited for children, although often treated as a child's book. berquin's _children's friend_, edgeworth's _parent's assistant_ and the aikins's _evenings at home_, will surely still amuse children, although some may think their teaching too didactic. it is only by practical experience that we can tell what children will like. _sandford and merton_ is, i believe, usually considered as hopelessly out of date, but i have found young hearers follow my reading of it with the greatest interest. _the pilgrim's progress_ will always have as great a fascination for the young as it must have for their elders; but there is much preaching in it which must be skipped, or the attention of the hearers will flag. chapter ix. one hundred books. in the fourth chapter of this volume two lists of selected books are given, viz. the comtist's library, and a list of one hundred good novels. since that chapter was written and printed, much public attention has been drawn to this branch of our subject by the publication of sir john lubbock's list of books which he recommended to the members of the working men's college, when he lectured at that place on "books." the comments by eminent men, which have appeared in the _pall mall gazette_, have also attracted attention, and it seems desirable that some note on this list should appear in these pages. the list issued by the _pall mall gazette_ is as follows: non-christian moralists. marcus aurelius, _meditations_. epictetus, _encheiridion_. confucius, _analects_. aristotle, _ethics_. mahomet, _koran_. theology and devotion. apostolic fathers, _wake's collection_. st. augustine, _confessions_. thomas à kempis, _imitation_ pascal, _pensées_. spinoza, _tractatus theologico-politicus_. butler, _analogy_. jeremy taylor, _holy living and holy dying_. keble, _christian year_. bunyan, _pilgrim's progress_. classics. aristotle, _politics_. plato, _phædo_ and _republic_. Æsop, _fables_. demosthenes, _de coronâ_. lucretius. plutarch. horace. cicero, _de officiis_, _de amicitiâ_, and _de senectute_. epic poetry. homer, _iliad_ and _odyssey_. hesiod. virgil. niebelungenlied. malory, _morte d'arthur_. eastern poetry. _mahabharata_ and _ramayana_ (epitomised by talboys wheeler). firdausi, _shah-nameh_ (translated by atkinson). _she-king_ (chinese odes). greek dramatists. Æschylus, _prometheus_, _the house of atreus_, trilogy, or _persæ_. sophocles, _oedipus_, trilogy. euripides, _medea_. aristophanes, _the knights_. history. herodotus. thucydides. xenophon, _anabasis_. tacitus, _germania_. gibbon, _decline and fall_. voltaire, _charles xii._ or _louis xiv._ hume, _england_. grote, _greece_. philosophy. bacon, _novum organum_. mill, _logic_ and _political economy_. darwin, _origin of species_. smith, _wealth of nations_ (selection). berkeley, _human knowledge_. descartes, _discourse sur la méthode_. locke, _conduct of the understanding_. lewes, _history of philosophy_. travels. cook, _voyages_. darwin, _naturalist in the beagle_. poetry and general literature. shakspeare. milton. dante. spenser. scott. wordsworth. pope. southey. longfellow. goldsmith, _vicar of wakefield_. swift, _gulliver's travels_. defoe, _robinson crusoe_. _the arabian nights._ _don quixote._ boswell, _johnson_. burke, _select works_. essayists--addison, hume, montaigne, macaulay, emerson. molière. sheridan. carlyle, _past and present_ and _french revolution_. goethe, _faust_ and _wilhelm meister_. marivaux, _la vie de marianne_. modern fiction. selections from--thackeray, dickens, george eliot, kingsley, scott, bulwer-lytton. it must be borne in mind by the reader that this list, although the one sent round for criticism by the editor of the _pall mall gazette_, is not really sir john lubbock's. this will be found on p. . sir john lubbock's address was not given in full, and the list drawn up by the _pall mall_, from the reports in the daily papers, contained in fact only about books. it seems necessary to allude particularly to this imperfect list, because it is the only one upon which the critics were asked to give an opinion, and their criticisms are peculiarly interesting, as they give us an important insight into the tastes and opinions of our teachers. in itself it is almost impossible to make a list that will be practically useful, because tastes and needs differ so widely, that a course of reading suitable for one man may be quite unsuitable for another. it is also very doubtful whether a conscientious passage through a "cut-and-dried" list of books will feed the mind as a more original selection by each reader himself would do. it is probably best to start the student well on his way and then leave him to pursue it according to his own tastes. each book will help him to another, and consultation with some of the many manuals of english literature will guide him towards a good choice. this is in effect what mr. bond, principal librarian of the british museum, says in his reply, to the circular of the editor of the _pall mall gazette_. he writes "the result of several persons putting down the titles of books they considered 'best reading' would be an interesting but very imperfect bibliography of as many sections of literature;" and, again, "the beginner should be advised to read histories of the literature of his own and other countries--as hallam's 'introduction to the literature of europe,' joseph warton's 'history of english poetry,' craik's 'history of english literature,' paine's history, and others of the same class. these would give him a survey of the field, and would quicken his taste for what was naturally most congenial to him." there probably is no better course of reading than that which will naturally occur to one who makes an honest attempt to master our own noble literature. this is sufficient for the lifetime of most men without incursions into foreign literature. all cultivated persons will wish to become acquainted with the masterpieces of other nations, but this diversion will not be advisable if it takes the reader away from the study of the masterpieces of his own literature. turning to the comments on the _pall mall gazette's_ list, we may note one or two of the most important criticisms. the prince of wales very justly suggested that dryden should not be omitted from such a list. mr. chamberlain asked whether the bible was excluded by accident or design, and mr. irving suggested that the bible and shakespeare form together a very comprehensive library. mr. ruskin's reply is particularly interesting, for he adds but little, contenting himself with the work of destruction. he writes, "putting my pen lightly through the needless--and blottesquely through the rubbish and poison of sir john's list--i leave enough for a life's liberal reading--and choice for any true worker's loyal reading. i have added one quite vital and essential book--livy (the two first books), and three plays of aristophanes (_clouds_, _birds_, and _plutus_). of travels, i read myself all old ones i can get hold of; of modern, humboldt is the central model. forbes (james forbes in alps) is essential to the modern swiss tourist--of sense." mr. ruskin puts the word _all_ to plato, _everything_ to carlyle, and _every word_ to scott. pindar's name he adds in the list of the classics, and after bacon's name he writes "chiefly the _new atlantis_." the work of destruction is marked by the striking out of all the _non-christian moralists_, of all the theology and devotion, with the exception of jeremy taylor and the _pilgrim's progress_. the nibelungenlied and malory's _morte d'arthur_ (which, by the way, is in prose) go out, as do sophocles and euripides among the greek dramatists. _the knights_ is struck out to make way for the three plays of aristophanes mentioned above. gibbon, voltaire, hume, and grote all go, as do all the philosophers but bacon. cook's voyages and darwin's naturalist in the _beagle_ share a similar fate. southey, longfellow, swift, hume, macaulay, and emerson, goethe and marivaux, all are so unfortunate as to have mr. ruskin's pen driven through their names. among the novelists dickens and scott only are left. the names of thackeray, george eliot, kingsley, and bulwer-lytton are all erased. mr. ruskin sent a second letter full of wisdom till he came to his reasons for striking out grote's "history of greece," "confessions of st. augustine," john stuart mill, charles kingsley, darwin, gibbon, and voltaire. with these reasons it is to be hoped that few readers will agree. mr. swinburne makes a new list of his own which is very characteristic. no. consists of "selections from the bible: comprising job, the psalms, ecclesiastes, the song of solomon, isaiah, ezekiel, joel; the gospels of st. matthew and st. luke, the gospel and the first epistle of st. john and epistle of st. james." no. is villon, and nos. to consist of the plays of ford, dekker, tourneur, marston, and middleton; names very dear to the lover of our old drama, but i venture to think names somewhat inappropriate in a list of books for a reader who does not make the drama a speciality. lamb's selections would be sufficient for most readers. mr. william morris supplies a full list with explanations, which are of considerable interest as coming from that distinguished poet. archdeacon farrar gives, perhaps, the best test for a favourite author, that is, the selection of his works in the event of all others being destroyed. he writes, "but if all the books in the world were in a blaze, the first twelve which i should snatch out of the flames would be the bible, _imitatio christi_, homer, Æschylus, thucydides, tacitus, virgil, marcus aurelius, dante, shakespeare, milton, wordsworth. of living authors i would save first the works of tennyson, browning and ruskin." another excellent test is that set up by travellers and soldiers. a book must be good when one of either of these classes decides to place it among his restricted baggage. mr. h.m. stanley writes, "you ask me what books i carried with me to take across africa. i carried a great many--three loads, or about lbs. weight; but as my men lessened in numbers, stricken by famine, fighting and sickness, they were one by one reluctantly thrown away, until finally, when less than miles from the atlantic, i possessed only the bible, shakespeare, carlyle's sartor resartus, norie's navigation, and nautical almanac for . poor shakspeare was afterwards burned by demand of the foolish people of zinga. at bonea, carlyle and norie and nautical almanac were pitched away, and i had only the old bible left." he then proceeds to give a list of books which he allowed himself when "setting out with a tidy battalion of men." lord wolseley writes, "during the mutiny and china war i carried a testament, two volumes of shakespeare that contained his best plays, and since then, when in the field, i have always carried: book of common prayer, thomas à kempis, soldier's pocket book.... the book that i like reading at odd moments is 'the meditations of marcus aurelius.'" he then adds, for any distant expedition, a few books of history (creasy's "decisive battles," plutarch's "lives," voltaire's "charles xii.," "cæsar," by froude, and hume's "england"). his fiction is confined to macaulay's "history of england" and the "essays." mr. quaritch remarks that "sir john's 'working man' is an ideal creature. i have known many working men, but none of them could have suggested such a feast as he has prepared for them." he adds, "in my younger days i had no books whatever beyond my school books. arrived in london in , i joined a literary institution, and read all their historical works. to read fiction i had no time. a friend of mine read novels all night long, and was one morning found dead in his bed." if mr. quaritch intends this as a warning, he should present the fact for the consideration of those readers who swell the numbers of novels in the statistics of the free libraries. looking at the _pall mall gazette's_ list, it naturally occurs to us that it would be a great error for an englishman to arrange his reading so that he excluded chaucer while he included confucius. among the names of modern novelists it is strange that jane austen and charlotte brontë should have been omitted. in sir john lubbock's own list it will be seen that the names of chaucer and miss austen occur. among essayists one would like to have seen at least the names of charles lamb, de quincey, and landor, and many will regret to find such delightful writers as walton and thomas fuller omitted. we ought, however, to be grateful to sir john lubbock for raising a valuable discussion which is likely to draw the attention of many readers to books which might otherwise have been most unjustly neglected by them.[ ] the following is sir john lubbock's list. it will be seen that several of the books, whose absence is remarked on, do really form part of the list, and that the objections of the critics are so far met. _the bible._ * * * * * marcus aurelius, _meditations_. epictetus. confucius, _analects_. _le bouddha et sa religion_ (st.-hilaire). aristotle, _ethics_. mahomet, _koran_ (parts of). * * * * * _apostolic fathers_, wake's collection. st. augustine, _confessions_. thomas à kempis, _imitation_. pascal, _pensées_. spinoza, _tractatus theologico-politicus_. comte, _cat. of positive philosophy_ (congreve). butler, _analogy_. jeremy taylor, _holy living and holy dying_. bunyan, _pilgrim's progress_. keble, _christian year_. * * * * * aristotle, _politics_. plato's dialogues--at any rate the _phædo_ and _republic_. demosthenes, _de coronâ_. lucretius. plutarch. horace. cicero, _de officiis_, _de amicitiâ_, _de senectute_. * * * * * homer, _iliad_ and _odyssey_. hesiod. virgil. niebelungenlied. malory, _morte d'arthur_. * * * * * maha-bharata, _ramayana_, epitomized by talboys wheeler in the first two vols. of his _history of india_. firdusi, _shah-nameh_. translated by atkinson. _she-king_ (chinese odes). * * * * * Æschylus, _prometheus_, _house of atreus_, trilogy, or _persæ_. sophocles, _oedipus_, trilogy. euripides, _medea_, aristophanes, _the knights_. * * * * * herodotus. xenophon, _anabasis_. thucydides. tacitus, _germania_. livy. gibbon, _decline and fall_. hume, _england_. grote, _greece_. carlyle, _french revolution_. green, _short history of england_. bacon, _novum organum_. mill, _logic_ and _political economy_. darwin, _origin of species_. smith, _wealth of nations_ (part of). berkeley, _human knowledge_. descartes, _discours sur la méthode_. locke, _conduct of the understanding_. lewes, _history of philosophy_. * * * * * cook, _voyages_. humboldt, _travels_. darwin, _naturalist in the beagle_. * * * * * shakespeare. milton, _paradise lost_, and the shorter poems. dante, _divina commedia_. spenser, _faerie queen_. dryden's poems. chaucer, morris's (or, if expurgated, clarke's or mrs. haweis's) edition. gray. burns. scott's poems. wordsworth, mr. arnold's selection. heine. pope. southey. * * * * * goldsmith, _vicar of wakefield_. swift, _gulliver's travels_. defoe, _robinson crusoe_. _the arabian nights._ cervantes, _don quixote_. boswell, _johnson_. burke, _select works_ (payne). essayists:--bacon, addison, hume, montaigne, macaulay, emerson. molière. sheridan. voltaire, _zadig_. carlyle, _past and present_. goethe, _faust_, _wilhelm meister_. white, _natural history of selborne_. smiles, _self help_. * * * * * miss austen, either _emma_ or _pride and prejudice_. thackeray, _vanity fair_ and _pendennis_. dickens, _pickwick_ and _david copperfield_. george eliot, _adam bede_. kingsley, _westward ho_! bulwer-lytton, _last days of pompeii_. scott's novels. footnotes: [ ] the whole of the correspondence has been reissued as a _pall mall "extra"_ no. , and threepence will be well laid out by the purchaser of this very interesting pamphlet. index. abbotsford club, . advocates' library, edinburgh, indecent books turned out, . Ælfric society, . arundel society, . authors, bibliographies of particular, . ballad society, . bannatyne club, . bibliographies (general), - . ---- (special), - . bindings in charles i.'s cabinet, . book collectors, . books, one hundred, - . booksellers, use of, . bossange (hector), ma bibliothèque française, . burton's book hunter, , , . buy, how to, - . calvin translation society, . camden society, . catalogues of public libraries, . cavendish society, . caxton society, . chaucer society, .[tn ] chetham society, . child's library, - . comte's positivist library, . dibdin's library companion, . dilettanti society, . durie's reformed librarie keeper, . early english text society, . ecclesiastical history society, . edwards (edward), report on formation of manchester free library, . ---- memoirs of libraries, , . ---- libraries and founders of libraries, , . english dialect society, . english historical society, . fiction in public libraries, . folk lore society, . franklin's foundation of the philadelphia library, . george iii.'s list of books, . goodhugh's library manual, . hakluyt society, . handel society, . hanserd knollys society, . harleian society, . hellenic studies, society for the promotion of, . hunterian club, . index society, . iona club, . johnson's (dr.) list of books, . libraries, how men have formed them, - . ---- (cathedral), . ---- (monastic), . ---- (private), - . ---- (public), - . ---- united states report on, , , . louis xvi., his books during his captivity, . lubbock's (sir john), list of books, - . maitland club, . manx society, . middlesex county record society, . motett society, . musical antiquarian society, . napoleon's libraries, . naudé, gilbert [tn gabriel], . novels, one hundred good, . ---- in public libraries, . oriental texts, society for the publication of, . oriental translation fund, . ossianic society, . oxford historical society, . palæographical society, . palæontographical society, . parker society, . percy society, . perkins's best reading, . philobiblon society, . pipe roll society, . positivist library, . printers, bibliographies of celebrated, . ray society, . reference, books of, - . roxburghe club, . roxburghe library, . sales, how to buy at, . shakespeare society, . shakspere (new) society, . societies (publishing), - . spalding club, . spenser society, . spottiswoode society, . stevens (henry), "my english library," . ---- his paper on mr. james lenox, , . surtees society, . sydenham society, . topographical bibliographies, . topographical society of london, . warton club, . wernerian club, . wodrow society, . wyclif society, [illustration] transcriber's note inconsistent spelling retained. chats in the book-room of this book only one hundred and fifty copies were privately printed for the author, on arnold's unbleached handmade paper, in the month of january ---of which this is _no. _ [illustration: h.n. pym] [illustration: _walker and boutall ph. fc._] chats in the book-room by horace n. pym editor of caroline fox's journals; a mother's memoir; a tour round my book-shelves, etc. etc. _with portrait by molly evans, and two photogravures of the book-room_ "if any one, whom you do not know, relates strange stories, be not too ready to believe or report them, and yet (unless he is one of your familiar acquaintance) be not too forward to contradict him."--sir matthew hale. privately printed for the author in the year by ballantyne, hanson & co. _to_ _my dearly loved son_ _julian tindale pym_ _i dedicate these "chats in the book-room," to which i ask him to extend that noble "patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill," which gilds and elevates his life._ h. n. p. christmas, foxwold chase, . table of contents "_youth longs and manhood strives, but age remembers, sits by the raked-up ashes of the past, spreads its thin hands above the whitening embers, that warm its creeping life-blood till the last._" o. w. holmes. page introduction chat i. on richard corney grain--his home qualities--his love for children--his benevolence--his power of pathos--his letter on a holiday chat ii. on a portrait of general wolfe--on the use of portraits in country-houses--on a sale at christie's--a curious story about a curious sale chat iii. on holiday trips--across the atlantic--some humours of the voyage--some stories told in the gun-room chat iv. on a private visit to newgate prison--in execution yard--some anecdotes of the condemned chat v. on book-binding--some worthy members of the craft--on over-work and the modern race for wealth--charles dickens on work--a song of the city--anecdote of mr. anstey guthrie chat vi. on an uninvited guest--her illness--her convalescence--her recovery--her gratitude--on texts in bedrooms--a welcoming banner chat vii. on some minor poets--on _vers de société_--on praed, c. s. calverley, locker-lampson, and mr. a. dobson chat viii. on mr. punch and his founders--concerning portraits of jerrold, kenny meadows, and horace mayhew--on mr. sala as a painter--a letter from g. a. sala chat ix. on our schooldays--on bedford, past and present--on r. c. lehmann--a poem by him--a christmas greeting by h. e. luxmoore chat x. on john poole, the author of "paul pry"--his friendship with dickens--his letter to dickens detailing the french revolution of chat xi. on ethie castle--its artistic treasures--a letter from charles ii.--a true family ghost story chat xii. on cardinal manning--dramatic effect at his _academia_--on poets who are never read, or "hardly ever" chat xiii. on a true story, called "jane will return"--on hamilton's "parodies"--an unknown one, by the rev. james bolton chat xiv. on autographs--mr. james payn and his lay-sermons--mrs. charles fox of trebah--her friendship with hartley coleridge--a letter from him--a letter from john bright to caroline fox--mr. ruskin as a mineral collector--five unpublished letters from him chat xv. on mrs. lyne stephens--the story of her early life--thackeray's sketch of her--her art collections--a wonderful sale at christie's--her charities and friendships--her death--her funeral sermon--her portraits "_i come not here your morning hour to sadden, a limping pilgrim, leaning on his staff,-- i, who have never deemed it sin to gladden this vale of sorrows with a wholesome laugh._" --the iron gate. list of illustrations portrait _to face the title page_ the book-room (first view) _page_ the book-room (second view) " introduction. "_some of your griefs you have cured, and the sharpest you still have survived; but what torments of pain you endured, from evils that never arrived!_" a few years ago a little inconsequent volume was launched on partial acquaintance, telling of some ordinary books which line our friendly shelves, of some kindly friends who had read and chatted about them, some old stories they had told, and some happy memories they had awakened. when those acquaintances had read the little book, they asked, like oliver, for more. a rash request, because, unlike oliver, they get it in the shape of another "olla podrida" of book-chat, picture-gossip, and perchance a stray "chestnut." their good-nature must be invoked to receive it, like c. s. calverley's sojourners-- "who when they travel, if they find that they have left their pocket-compass, or murray, or thick boots behind, they raise no rumpus." chat no. . "_lie softly, leisure! doubtless you, with too serene a conscience drew your easy breath, and slumbered through the gravest issue; but we, to whom our age allows scarce space to wipe our weary brows, look down upon your narrow house, old friend, and miss you._" --austin dobson. since we made our last "tour round the book-shelves," death has removed one of the kindest friends, and most genial companions, of the book-room. in richard corney grain, foxwold has lost one of its pleasantest and most welcome guests, and it is doubtful, well as the public cared for and appreciated his genius, if it knew or suspected how generous a heart, and how wide a charity, moved beneath that massive frame. when rare half-holidays came, it was no uncommon thing for dick grain to dedicate them to the solace and amusement of some hospital or children's home, where, with a small cottage piano, he would, moving from ward to ward, give the suffering patients an hour's freedom from their pain, and some happy laughs amid their misery. one day, after a series of short performances in the different parts of one of our large london hospitals, he was about to sing in the accident ward, when the secretary to the hospital gravely asked him "not to be too funny in this room, for fear he'd make the patients burst their bandages!" dick grain was never so happy, so natural, or so amusing as when, of his own motion, he was singing to a nursery full of children in a country house. those who knew him well were aware that, delightful as were all his humorous impersonations, he had a graver and more impressive side to his lovable and admirable character, and that he would sometimes, when sure he would be understood, sing a pathetic song, which made the tears flow as rapidly as in others the smiles had been evoked. who that heard it will forget his little french song, supposed to be sung by one of the first napoleon's old guard for bread in the streets. he sang in a terrible, hoarse, cracked voice a song of victory, breaking off in the middle of a line full of the sound of battle to cough a hacking cough, and beg a sous for the love of god! subjoined is one of his friendly little notes, full of the quiet happy humour that made him so welcome a guest in every friend's house. hothfield place, ashford, kent. "my dear pym, i shall be proud to welcome you and mrs. pym on wednesday the th, but why st. george's hall? why not go at once to a play and not to an entertainment? plays at night. entertainments in the afternoon. besides, we are so empty in the evenings now, the new piece being four weeks overdue. anyhow, i hope to see you at weymouth street on nov. th, at any hour after my work, say . or . , and so on, every quarter of an hour. "i am dwelling in the halls of the great, waited on by powdered menials, who rather look down on me, i think, and hide my clothes, and lay things out i don't wish to put on, and button my collar on to my shirt, and my braces on to my----, and when i try to throw the braces over my shoulders i hit my head with the buckle, and get my collar turned upside down, and tear out the buttons in my endeavours to get it right; and they fill my bath so full, that the displacement caused by my unwieldy body sends quarts of water through the ceiling on to the drawing-room--the red drawing-room. piano covered with the choicest products of eastern towns. luckily the party is small, so we only occupy the dragon's blood room, so perhaps they won't notice it. but a truce to fooling till nov. .--yours sincerely, r. corney grain." _nov. , ._ he was one of the most gifted, warmest-hearted friends; his cynicism was all upon the surface, and was never unkind, the big heart beat true beneath. his premature death has eclipsed the honest gaiety of this nation--"he should have died hereafter." chat no. . "_sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! to all the sensual world proclaim, one crowded hour of glorious life, is worth an age without a name._" --old mortality. a picture hangs at foxwold of supreme interest and beauty, being a portrait of general wolfe by gainsborough. its history is shortly this--painted in bath in , probably for miss lowther, to whom he was then engaged, and whose miniature he was wearing when death claimed him; it afterwards became the property of mr. gibbons, a picture collector, who lived in the regent's park in london, descending in due course to his son, whose widow eventually sold it to thomas woolner, the r.a. and sculptor; it was bought for foxwold from mrs. woolner in . the great master has most wonderfully rendered the hero's long, gaunt, sallow face lit up by fine sad eyes full of coming sorrow and present ill-health. his cocked hat and red coat slashed with silver braid are brilliantly painted, whilst his red hair is discreetly subdued by a touch of powder. one especial interest that attends this picture in its present home is, that within two miles of foxwold he was born, and passed some youthful years in the picturesque little town of westerham, his birthplace, and that his short and wonderful career will always be especially connected with squerryes court, then the property of his friend george warde, and still in the possession of that family. until recently no adequate or satisfactory life of wolfe existed, but mr. a. g. bradley has now filled the gap with his beautiful and affecting monograph for the macmillan series of english men of action: a little book which should be read by every english boy who desires to know by what means this happy land is what it is. in country houses the best decoration is portraits, portraits, and always portraits. in the town by all means show fine landscape and sea-scape--heathery hills and blue seas--fisher folks and plough boys--but when from your windows the happy autumn fields and glowing woods are seen, let the eye returning to the homely walls be cheered with the answer of face to face, human interests and human features leading the memory into historic channels and memory's brightest corners. how pleasant it is in the room where, in the spirit, we now meet, to chat beneath the brilliant eyes of r. b. sheridan, limned by sir joshua, or to note with a smile the dignified importance of fuseli, painted by harlow, or to turn to the last portrait of sir joshua reynolds, painted by himself, and of which picture mr. ruskin once remarked, "how deaf he has drawn himself." of the fashion in particular painters' works, christie's rooms give a most instructive object-lesson. it is within the writer's memory when romneys could be bought for £ apiece, and now that they are fetching thousands, the wise will turn to some other master at present neglected, and gather for his store pictures quite as full of beauty and truth, and whose price will not cause his heirs to blaspheme. a constant watchful attendance at christie's is in itself a liberal education, and it seldom happens that those who know cannot during its pleasant season find "that grain of gold" which is often hidden away in a mass of mediocrity. and then those clever, courteous members of the great house are always ready to give the modest inquirer the full benefit of their vast knowledge, and, if necessary, will turn to their priceless records, and guide the timid, if appreciative, visitor into the right path of selection. what a delightful thing it is to be present at a field-day in king street. the early lunch at the club--the settling into a backed-chair at the exactly proper angle to the rostrum and the picture-stand. (the rostrum, by the way, was made by chippendale for the founder of the house.) at one o'clock the great mr. woods winds his way through the expectant throng, and is promptly shut into his pulpit, the steps of which are as promptly tucked in and the business and pleasure of the afternoon begins. mr. woods, dominating his audience "as some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm," gives a quick glance round the big room, now filled with well-known faces, whose nod to the auctioneer is often priceless. sir william agnew rubs shoulders with lord rosebery, and sir t. c. robinson whispers his doubts of a picture to a trustee of the national collection; old mr. vokins extols, if you care to listen, the old english water-colourists, to many of whom he was a good friend, and mr. george redford makes some notes of the best pictures for the press; but mr. woods' quiet incisive voice demands silence as lot is offered with little prefix, and soon finds a buyer at a moderate price. the catalogues, which read so pleasantly and convey so much within a little space, are models of clever composition, beginning with items of lesser interest and carefully leading up to the great attractions of the afternoon, which fall to the bid of thousands of guineas from some great picture-buyer, amidst the applause of the general crowd. a pure romney, a winsome gainsborough, a golden turner, or a corot full of mystery and beauty, will often evoke a round of hand-clapping when it appears upon the selling-easel, and a swift and sharp contest between two or three well-known connoisseurs will excite the audience like a horse-race, a fencing bout, or a stage drama. the history of christie's is yet to be written, notwithstanding mr. redford's admirable work on "art sales," and when it is written it should be one of the most fascinating histories of the nineteenth century; but where is the horace walpole to indite such a work? and who possesses the necessary materials? one curious little history i can tell concerning a sale in recent years of the z---- collection of pictures and _objets d'art_, which will, to those who know it not, prove "a strange story." a former owner, distinguished by his social qualities and position, in a fit of passion unfortunately killed his footman. the wretched victim had no friends, and was therefore not missed, and the only person, besides his slayer, aware of his death, and how it was caused, was the butler. the crime was therefore successfully concealed, and no inquiries made. but after a little time the butler began to use his knowledge for his own personal purposes. putting the pressure of the blackmailer upon his unhappy master, he began to make him sing, by receiving as the price of his silence, first a fine picture or two, then some rare china, followed by art furniture, busts, more pictures, and more china, until he had well-nigh stripped the house. still, like the daughter of the horse-leech, crying, "give, give!" he made his nominal master assign to him the entire estates, reserving only to himself a life interest, which, in his miserable state of bondage, did not last long. the chief butler on his master's death took his name and possessions, ousting the rightful heirs; and after enjoying a wicked, but not uncommon, prosperity with his stolen goods for some years, he also died in the odour of sanctity, and went to his own place. his successors, hearing uneasy rumours, determined to be rid of their tainted inheritance; so placed all the pictures and pretty things in the sale-market, and otherwise disposed of their ill-gotten property. chat no. . "_where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat, wary of the weather, and steering by a star? shall it be to africa, a-steering of the boat, to providence, or babylon, or off to malabar._" --r. l. stevenson. the best holiday for an over-worked man, who has little time to spare, and who has not given "hostages to fortune," is to sail across the herring-pond on a cunarder or white star hotel, and so get free from newspapers, letters, visitors, dinner-parties, and all the daily irritations of modern life. those grand atlantic rollers fill the veins with new life, the tired brain with fresh ideas; and the happy, idle days slip away all too soon, after which a short stay in new york or boston city, and then back again. the study of character on board is always pleasant and instructive, and sometimes a happy friendship is begun which lasts beyond the voyage. then, again, the cliques into which the passengers so naturally fall, is funny to watch. the reading set, who early and late occupy the best placed chairs, and wade through a vast mass of miscellaneous literature, and are only roused therefrom by the ringing summons to meals; then there is the betting and gambling set, who fill card and smoking room as long as the rules permit, coming to the surface now and then for breath, and to see what the day's run has been, or to organise fresh sweepstakes; then there is often an evangelical set, who gather in a ring upon the deck, if permitted, and sing hymns, and address in fervid tones the sinners around them; then there are the gossips (most pleasant folk these), the flirts, the deck pedestrians, those who dress three times a day, and those who dress hardly at all: and so the drama of a little world is played before a very appreciative little audience. i remember on such a journey being greatly interested in the study of a delightful rugged old scotch engineer, whose friendship i obtained by a genuine admiration for his devotion to his engines, and his belief in their personality. it was his habit in the evening, after a long day's run, to sit alongside these throbbing monsters and play his violin to them, upon which he was a very fair performer, saying, "they deserved cheering up a bit after such a hard day's work!" this was a real and serious sentiment on his part, and inspired respect and an amused admiration on ours. the humours of one particular voyage which i have in my memory, were delightfully intensified by the presence on board of a very charming american child, called flossie l----, about fourteen years old, who by her capital repartees, acute observation, and pretty face, kept her particular set of friends very much alive, and made all who knew her, her devoted slaves and admirers. her remark upon a preternaturally grave person, who marched the deck each day before our chairs, "that she guessed he had a lot of laughter coiled up in him somewhere," proved, before the voyage was over, to be quite true. it was this gentleman who, one morning, solemnly confided to a friend that he was a little suspicious of the drains on board! americanisms, which are now every one's property, were at this time--i am speaking of twenty years ago--not so common, and glided from flossie's pretty lips most enchantingly. to be told on a wet morning, with half a gale of wind blowing, "to put on a skin-coat and gum-boots" to meet the elements, was at that day startling, if useful, advice. she professed a serious attachment for a new york cousin, aged sixteen, "because," she said, "he is so dissolute, plays cards, smokes cigars, reads novels, and runs away when offered candy." her quieter moments on deck were passed in reading 'dombey and son,' which, when finished, she pronounced to be all wrong, "only one really nice man in the book--carker--and he ought to have married floey." mr. hugh childers, then first lord of the admiralty, was a passenger on board our boat, and having with infinite kindness and patience explained to the child our daily progress with a big chart spread on the deck and coloured pins, was somewhat startled to see her execute a _pas seul_ over his precious map and disappear down the nearest gangway, with the remark, "my sakes, mr. childers, how terribly frivolous you are!" she had a youthful brother on board, who, one day at dinner, astonished his table by coolly saying, as he pointed to a most inoffensive old lady dining opposite to him, "steward, take away that woman, she makes me sick!" a stout and amiable friend of flossie's, who shall be nameless in these blameless records, on coming in sight of land assumed, and i fear did it very badly, some emotion at the first sight of her great country, only to be crushed by her immediate order, given in the sight and hearing of some hundred delighted passengers, "sailor, give this trembling elephant an arm, i guess he's going to be sick!" luckily for him the voyage was practically over, but for its small remnant he was known to every one on board as the trembling elephant. one day a pleasant little american neighbour at dinner touched one's sense of humour by naïvely saying, "if you don't remove that nasty little boiled hen in front of you, i know i must be ill." then there was a dull and solemn prig on board, who at every meal gave us, unasked, and _apropos des bottes_, some tremendous facts and statistics to digest, such as the number of shrimps eaten each year in london, or how many miles of iron tubing go to make the saltash bridge. finding one morning on his deck-chair, just vacated, a copy of whitaker's almanack and a volume of mayhew's "london labour and the london poor," we recognised the source of his elucidations, and promptly consigned his precious books to a watery grave. of that voyage, so far as he was concerned, the rest was silence. upon remarking to an american on board that the gentleman in question was rather slow, he brought down a nasmyth hammer with which to crack his nut by saying, "slow, sir; yes, he's a big bit slower than the hour hand of eternity!" i remember on another pleasant voyage to boston meeting and forming lasting friendship with the late judge abbott of that city, whose stories and conversation were alike delightful. he spoke of a rival barrister, who once before the law courts, on opening his speech for the defence of some notorious prisoner, said, "gentlemen, i shall divide my address to you into three parts, and in the first i shall confine myself to the _facts_ of this case; secondly, i shall endeavour to explain the _law_ of this case; and finally, i shall make an all-fired rush at your passions!" it was judge abbott who told me that when at the bar he defended, and successfully, a young man charged with forging and uttering bank-notes for large values. after going fully into the case, he was entirely convinced of his client's innocence, an impression with which he succeeded in imbuing the court. after his acquittal, his client, to mark his extreme sense of gratitude to his counsel's ability, insisted upon paying him double fees. the judge's pleasure at this compliment became modified, when it soon after proved that the said fees were remitted in notes undoubtedly forged, and for the making of which he had just been tried and found "not guilty!" speaking one day of the general ignorance of the people one met, he very aptly quoted one of beecher ward's witty aphorisms, "that it is wonderful how much knowledge some people manage to steer clear of." another quotation of his from the same ample source, i remember especially pleased me. speaking of the morbid manner in which many dwelt persistently on the more sorrowful incidents and accidents of their lives, he said, "don't nurse your sorrows on your knee, but spank them and put them to bed!" on one visit to the states i took a letter of special commendation to the worthy landlord of the parker house hotel in boston. on arriving i delivered my missive at the bar, was told the good gentleman was out, was duly allotted excellent rooms, and later on sat down with an english travelling companion to an equally excellent dinner in the ladies' saloon. in the middle of our repast we saw a small jewish-looking man wending his way between the many tables in, what is literally, the marble hall, towards us. standing beside our table, and regarding us with the benignant expression of an archbishop, he carefully, though unasked, filled and emptied a bumper of our well-iced pommery greno, saying, "now, gentlemen, don't rise, but my name's parker!" upon a first visit to america few things are more striking than the originality and vigour of some of the advertisements. one advocating the use of some hair-wash or cream pleased us greatly by the simple reason it gave for its purchase, "that it was both elegant and chaste." another huge placard represented our queen victoria arrayed in crown, robes, and sceptre, drinking old jacob townsend's sarsaparilla out of a pewter pint-pot. i also saw a most elaborate allegorical design with life-size figures, purporting to induce you to buy and try somebody's tobacco. i remember that a tall yankee, supposed to represent passion, was smoking the said tobacco in a very fiery and aggressive manner, that with one hand he was binding youth and folly together with chains, presumably for refusing him a light, whilst with the other he chucked vice under the chin, she having apparently been more amenable and polite. to note how customs change, i one day in new york entered a car in the broadway, taking the last vacant seat. a few minutes, and we stopped again to admit a stout negress laden with her market purchases. the car was hot, and i was glad to yield her my seat, and stand on the cooler outside platform. she took it with a wide grin, saying with a dramatic wave of her dusky paw, "you, sir, am a gentleman, de rest am 'ogs!" a speech which would not so many years ago have probably cost her her life at the next lamppost. a washington doctor once told me the following little story, which seems to hold a peculiar humour of its own. a country lad and lassie, promised lovers, are in new york for a day's holiday. he takes her into one of those sugar-candy, preserved fruit, ice, and pastry shops which abound, and asks her tenderly what she'll have? she thinks she'll try a brandied peach. the waiter places a large glass cylinder holding perhaps a couple of dozen of them on their table, so that they may help themselves. these peaches, be it known, are preserved in a spirituous syrup, with the whole kernels interspersed, and are very expensive. to the horror of the young man, the girl just steadily worked her way through the whole bottleful. having accomplished this feat without turning a hair, she pauses, when the lover, in a delicate would-be sarcastic note, asks with effusion, if she won't try another peach? to which the girl coyly answers, "no thank you, i don't like them, the seeds scratch my throat!" as is well known, most of the waiters and servants in american hotels are irish. dining with a dear old canadian friend at the windsor hotel in new york, we were particularly amused by the quaint look and speech of the irish gentleman who condescended to bring us our dinner. he had a face like an unpeeled kidney potato, with twinkling merry little blue eyes. not feeling well, i had prescribed for myself a water diet during the meal, and hoped my guest would atone for my shortcomings with the wine. after he had twice helped himself to champagne, the while i modestly sipped my seltzer, my waiter's indignation at what he supposed was nothing less than base treachery, found vent in the following stage-aside to me: "hev an oi, sorr, on your frind, he's a-gaining on ye!" chat no. . "_give them strength to brook and bear, trial pain, and trial care; let them see thy saving light; be thou 'watchman of their night.'_" --sabbath evening song. armed with a special order of the then lord mayor, sir robert nicholas fowler, i sallied forth one lovely blue day in june, and timidly rang the little brass bell beside the little green door giving into newgate prison. the gaol is now only used to house the prisoners on the days of trial, and for executions on the days of expiation; at other times, save for the presence of a couple of warders, it is entirely empty, and empty it was on this my day of call. presenting my mandate to the very civil warder who replied to my summons, i was (he having to guard the door) handed to his colleague's care, to be shown the mysteries of this great silent tomb, lying so gloomily amid the city's stir. the first point of interest was the chapel, with that terribly suggestive chair, standing alone in the centre of the floor opposite the pulpit, on which the condemned used to sit the sunday before his dreadful death, and, the observed of all the other prisoners, heard his own funeral sermon preached--a refinement of cruelty difficult to understand in this very christian country. then followed a visit to the condemned cells, two in number, and which are situated far below the level of the outside street. they are small square rooms with whitewashed walls, enlivened by one or two peculiarly ill-chosen texts; in each is a fixed truckle bedstead, with a warder's fixed seat on either side. the warder in attendance stated that he had passed many nights in them with condemned prisoners, and had rarely found his charges either restless or unable to sleep well, long, and calmly! there is an old story told of a murderer, about whose case some doubt was raised, and to whom the prison chaplain, as he lay under sentence of death, lent a bible. in due course a free pardon arrived, and as the prisoner left the gaol, he turned to the chaplain saying, "well, sir, here's your bible; many thanks for the loan of it, and i only hope i shall never want it again." then we visited the pinioning room; this process is carried out by strapping on a sort of leather strait-waistcoat, with buckles at the back and outside sockets for the arms and wrists. while putting on one of these, i found the leather was cold and damp; it then occurred to me, with some horror, that it was still moist with the death-sweat of the executed. the scaffold stands alone across one of the yards, in a little wooden building not inappropriately like a butcher's shop. when used, the large shutter in front is let down, and the interior is seen to consist of a heavy cross-beam on two uprights, a link or two of chain in the middle, a very deep drop, with padded leather sides to deaden the sound of the falling platform, a covered space on one side for the coffin, and on the other a strong lever, such as is used on railways to move the points, and which here draws the bolt, releasing the platform on which the culprit stands; a high stool for the victim, should he prove nervous or faint--and that is all the furniture and fittings of this gruesome building. the dark cell is perhaps the most dreadful part of this peculiarly ghastly show, and after being shut in it for a few minutes, which seemed hours, one fully understood its terrific taming power over the most rebellious prisoners: you are literally enveloped in a sort of velvety blackness that can be felt, which, with the absolute and awful silence, seemed to force the blood to the head and choke one. upon asking the warder to tell us something of the idiosyncrasies of the more celebrated criminals he had known, he stated that wainright the murderer was the most talkative, vain, and boastful person he had seen there, that his craving for tobacco was curiously extreme, and he was immensely gratified when the governor of the prison promised him a large cigar the night before his execution. the promise kept, he walked up and down the yard with the governor, detailing with unctuous pleasure his youthful amours and deceptions, like another pepys. "but," added my informant, "the pleasantest, cheeriest man we ever had to hang in my time was dr. lampson, full of fun and anecdote, with nice manners that made him friends all round. he was outwardly very brave in facing his fate, and yet, as he walked to the scaffold, those behind him saw all the back muscles writhing, working, and twitching like snakes in a bag, and thus belying the calm face and gentle smile in front. ah! we missed him very much indeed, and were very sorry to lose him. a real gentleman he was in every way!" it was pleasant, and a vast relief after this strange experience, to emerge suddenly from this dream of mad, sad, bad things into the roar of the city streets, to see the blue sky, and find men's faces looking once again pleasantly into our own; but, nevertheless, newgate should be seen by the curious, and those who can do so without coercion, before it disappears. chat no. . "_to all their dated backs he turns you round: these aldus printed, those du sueil has bound._" --pope. it is the present fashion to extol the old bookbinders at the expense of the living, and for collectors to give fabulous prices for a volume bound by de thou, geoffroy tory, philippe le noir, the two eves (nicolas and clovis), le gascon, derome, and others. beautiful, rare, and interesting as their work is, i venture to say that we have modern bookbinders in england and france who can, and do, if you give them plenty of time and a free hand as to price, produce work as fine, as original, as closely thought out, as beautiful in design, material, and colour, as that of any of the great masters of the craft of olden days. for perfectly simple work of the best kind, examine the bindings of the late francis bedford; and his name reminds me of a curious freak of the late duke of portland in relation to this art. he subscribed for all the ordinary newspapers and magazines of the day, and instead of consigning them to the waste-paper basket when read, had them whole bound in beautiful crushed morocco coats of many colours by the said bedford; then he had perfectly fitting oaken boxes made, lined with white velvet, and fitted with a patent bramah lock and duplicate keys, each box to hold one volume, the total cost of thus habiting this literary rubbish being about £ a volume. bedford kept a special staff of expert workmen upon this curious standing order until the duke died. by his will he, unfortunately, made them heirlooms, otherwise they would have sold well as curiosities, many bibliophiles liking to have possessed a volume with so odd a history. soon after the duke's death i went over the well-known house in cavendish square with my kind friend mr. woods of king street, and he showed me piles of these boxes, each containing its beautifully bound volume of uselessness. but to return to our sheepskins. i would ask, where can you see finer workmanship than mr. joseph w. zaehnsdorf puts into his enchanting covers? he once produced two lovely pieces of softly tanned, vellum-like leather of the purest white colour, and asked if i knew what they were. after some ineffectual guesses, he stated that the one with the somewhat coarser texture was a man's skin, and the finer specimen a woman's. the idea was disagreeable, and i declined to purchase or to have any volumes belonging to my simple shelves clothed in such garments. an english bookbinder who made a name in his day was hayday; he flourished (as the biographical dictionaries are fond of saying) in the beginning of the present reign. i possess samuel rogers' "poems" and "italy," in two quarto volumes, bound by him very charmingly. in this size turner's drawings, which illustrate these two books, are shown to admiration, and alone galvanise these otherwise dreary works. hayday was succeeded by one mansell, who also did some good work; but i think domestic affliction beclouded his later years, and affected his business, as i have lost sight of him for some years. among other english bookbinders of the present day i would name tout, whose simple, quaker-like work, with grolier tooling, is worth seeing. mackenzie was, in his day, a good old scotch binder; but the treasure i have personally found and introduced to many, is my excellent friend mr. birdsall of northampton. his specialty is supposed to be in vellum bindings, which material he manipulates with a grace and finish very satisfactory to see. he can make the hinges of a vellum-bound book swing as easily as a friend's door. he spares no time, thought, or trouble in working out suitable designs for the books entrusted to his care. for instance, i possess benjamin d'israeli's german grammar, used by him when a boy, and to bind it as he felt it deserved, he specially cast a brass stamp, with d'israeli's crest, which, impressed adown the back and on the panels, correctly finishes this interesting memento. then, again, when he had beau brummell's "life" to work upon, he used dies representing a poppy, as an emblem flower, a money-bag, very empty, and a teasel, signifying the hanger-on: these show thought, as well as a pleasant fancy, and greatly add to the interest of the completed binding. i have some work by m. marius michel, the great french binder, whose show-cases in the faubourg-saint-germain, in paris, were a treat to examine. he was kind enough to let me one fine day select and take therefrom two volumes of e. a. poe's works translated and noted by beaudelaire, beautifully clothed by him; and he, at the same visit, gave me an autograph copy of his "l'ornamentation des reliures modernes," with which, when i returned to england, i asked mr. birdsall to do what he could. set a binder to catch a binder, was in this case our motto, and mr. birdsall has, i think, fairly caught out his great rival, although i have not yet had an opportunity of taking m. michel's opinion upon the englishman's work. * * * * * one of the leading characteristics of the present day is its craze for work, unceasing work, work early and late, work done with a rush, destroying nerves, and rendering repose impossible. "late taking rest and eating the bread of carefulness" do not go together, the bread being as a rule anything but carefully consumed. r. l. stevenson somewhere says, "so long as you are a bit of a coward, and inflexible in money matters, you fulfil the whole duty of man," and perhaps this is the creed of the present race of over-workers. in the city of london we see this hasting to be rich brought to the perfection of a fine art (with a capital f and a capital a). charles dickens, who always resolved the wit of every question into a nutshell, makes eugene wrayburn, in "our mutual friend," strenuously object to being always urged forward in the path of energy. "there's nothing like work," said mr. boffin; "look at the bees!" "i beg your pardon," returned eugene, with a reluctant smile, "but will you excuse my mentioning that i always protest against being referred to the bees? ... i object on principle, as a two-footed creature, to being constantly referred to insects and four-footed creatures. i object to being required to model my proceedings according to the proceedings of the bee, or the dog, or the spider, or the camel. i fully admit that the camel, for instance, is an excessively temperate person; but he has several stomachs to entertain himself with, and i have only one." ... "but," urged mr. boffin, "i said the bee, they work." "yes," returned eugene disparagingly, "they work, but don't you think they overdo it? they work so much more than they need--they make so much more than they can eat--they are so incessantly boring and buzzing at their one idea till death comes upon them--that don't you think they overdo it?" some time since i cut from the pages of the _st. james' gazette_ the following "cynical song of the city," which pleasantly sets forth the present craze for work, and again proves, like dickens' bee, that we rather overdo it:-- "through the slush and the rain and the fog, when a greatcoat is worth a king's ransom, to the city we jolt and we jog on foot, in a 'bus, or a hansom; to labour a few years, and then have done, a capital prospect at twenty-one! there's a wife and three children to keep, with chances of more in the offing; we've a house at earl's court on the cheap, and sometimes we get a day's golfing. well! sooner or later we'll have better fun; the heart is still hopeful at thirty-one. the boy's gone to college to-day, the girls must have ladylike dresses; thank goodness we're able to pay-- the business has had its successes; we must grind at the mill for the sake of our son. besides, we're still youngish at forty-one. it has come! we've a house in the shires, we're one of the land-owning gentry, the children have all their desires, but _we_ must do more double-entry; we must keep things together, no time left for fun, ah! had we been twenty--not fifty--one! a baronet! j.p.! d.l.! but it means harder work, little pleasure; we must stick to the city as well, though we're tired and longing for leisure. we shall soon become toothless, dyspeptic, and done, as rich as the bank, though we can't chew a bun, and the gold-grubber's grave is the goal that we've won at seventy--eighty--or ninety-one." * * * * * guests at foxwold are given the opportunity, when black monday arrives, of catching a most unearthly and uneasily early train, which involves their rising with anything but a lark, swallowing a hurried breakfast, a mounting into fiery untamed one-horse shays soon after eight, and then being puffed away through south-eastern tunnels to the busy hum of those unduly busy men of whom we speak. to catch this early train, which means that you "leave the warm precincts of your cheerful bed, nor cast one longing lingering look behind," some of our friends most justly object, preferring the early calm, the well-considered uprisal, the dawdled breakfast, and the ladies' train at the maturer hour of . . our dear friend, mr. anstey guthrie, having firmly and most wisely declined the early train and any consequent worm, one very chilly morn, as the early risers were starting for the station, appeared at his chamber window awfully arrayed in white, and muttering with the fervour of another john bradford, "there goes anstey guthrie--but for the grace of god," plunged back into his rapidly cooling couch, "and left the world to darkness and to us." chat no. . "_it's idle to repine, i know; i'll tell you what i'll do instead, i'll drink my arrowroot, and go to bed._"--c. s. c. my good and kind old friend robert baxter, who now rests from his labours, was, during his long active life in westminster (dispensing law to the rich and sharing its profits with the poor), one of the most charitable and hospitable of men. occasionally, however, even his goodness was taxed with such severity, as to somewhat try his patience. the once well-known mrs. x---- of a----, a philanthropic but foolish old woman, arrived late one evening, uninvited, at his house in queen's square, suffering from the first symptoms of rheumatic fever. calmly establishing herself in the best guest-chamber, and surrounded by the necessary maid, nurse, and doctor, she turned her kind host's dwelling into a private hospital for many weeks. when at last she reached the stage of convalescence, and was allowed to take daily outings and airings, mr. baxter's capital old butler, sage, had the privilege of carrying the fair but weighty invalid downstairs to the carriage, and upstairs to her rooms once, and often twice, a day. no small effort for any man's strength, however athletic he might be, and sage, be it conceded, was a moderate giant. the weeks dragged themselves away, and at last the welcome date for a final flitting to her own home arrived. sage felt that he had well earned an extraordinary douceur for all his labours, and was not therefore surprised when the good lady on leaving slipped into his willing hand a suggestive looking folded-up blue slip of paper instead of the more limited gold. retiring to his pantry to satisfy his very natural curiosity as to the amount of the vail so fully deserved, his feelings may be imagined, but not described, when he found that instead of the expected cheque, it was what, in evangelical circles, is called a leaflet, bearing on its face the following appropriate and cheerful text: "thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee!" whilst upon the subject of misapplied texts, another instance, touched with a pleasant humour, occurs to me. many years ago i visited for the first time an old friend and his wife in their pleasant country house. upon being shown into what was evidently one of the best guest-chambers, i was intensely delighted to find over the mantelpiece the following framed text, in large illuminated letters: "occupy till i come!" unprepared to make so long a stay, i left on the monday morning following, and have no doubt the generous invitation still remains to welcome the coming guest. another story of a like nature was told us by mr. anstey guthrie, and is therefore worth repeating. he once saw a long procession of happy school-children going to some feast, headed by a band of music and a standard-bearer. the latter was staggering beneath an immense banner, on which was painted the lion of saint mark's, rampant, with mouth, teeth, and claws ready and rapacious; underneath was the singularly appropriate and happy legend, "suffer little children to come unto me." another capital story from the same source, which time cannot wither, nor custom stale, is, that at some small english seaside resort a spirited and generous townsman has presented a number of free seats for the parade, each one adorned with an iron label stating that "mr. jones of this town presented these free seats for the public's use, the sea is his, and he made it." [illustration] chat no. "_where are my friends? i am alone; no playmate shares my beaker: some lie beneath the churchyard stone, and some--before the speaker: and some compose a tragedy, and some compose a rondo; and some draw sword for liberty, and some draw pleas for john doe._" --w. m. praed. "_all analysis comes late._"--aurora leigh. the difficulty which has existed since lord tennyson's dramatic death, of choosing a successor to the laureateship, has partly arisen from the presence of so many minor poets, and the absence, with one remarkable exception, of any monarch of song. the exception is, of course, mr. swinburne, who stands alone as the greatest living master of english verse. the objections to his appointment may, in some eyes, have importance, but time has sobered his more erratic flights, leaving a large residuum of fine work, both in poetry and prose, which would make him a worthy successor to any of those gone before. of the smaller fry, it is difficult to prophesy which will hereafter come to the front, and what of their work may live. as oliver wendell holmes so pathetically says:-- "deal gently with us, ye who read! our largest hope is unfulfilled; the promise still outruns the deed; the tower, but not the spire we build. our whitest pearl we never find; our ripest fruit we never reach; the flowering moments of the mind, lose half their petals in our speech." the late lord lytton (owen meredith) was very unequal in all he produced. perhaps the following ballad from his volume of "selected poems," published in by longmans, is one of the best and most characteristic he has written:-- the wood devil. . "in the wood, where i wander'd astray, came the devil a-talking to me, o mother! mother! but why did ye tell me, and why did they say, that the devil's a horrible blackamoor? he black-faced and horrible? no, mother, no! and how should a poor girl be likely to know that the devil's so gallant and gay, mother? so gentle and gallant and gay, with his curly head, and his comely face, and his cap and feather, and saucy grace, mother! mother! ii. and 'pretty one, whither away? and shall i come with you?' said he. o mother! mother! and so winsome he was, not a word could i say, and he kiss'd me, and sweet were his kisses to me, and he kiss'd me, and kiss'd till i kiss'd him again, and o, not till he left me i knew to my pain 'twas the devil that led me astray, mother! the devil so gallant and gay, with his curly head, and his comely face, and his cap and feather, and saucy grace, mother! mother!" mr. edmund gosse's work is always scholarly and well thought out, framed in easy, pleasant english. in some of his poems he reminds one of the "autocrat of the breakfast table." his song of the "wounded gull" is very like dr. holmes, both in subject and treatment:-- "the children laughed, and called it tame! but ah! one dark and shrivell'd wing hung by its side; the gull was lame, a suffering and deserted thing. with painful care it downward crept; its eye was on the rolling sea; close to our very feet, it stept upon the wave, and then--was free. right out into the east it went too proud, we thought, to flap or shriek; slowly it steered, in wonderment to find its enemies so meek. calmly it steered, and mortal dread disturbed nor crest nor glossy plume; it could but die, and being dead, the open sea should be its tomb. we watched it till we saw it float almost beyond our furthest view; it flickered like a paper boat, then faded in the dazzling blue. it could but touch an english heart to find an english bird so brave; our life-blood glowed to see it start thus boldly on the leaguered wave." a few fortunate persons possess copies of mr. gosse's catalogue of his library, and it is, i rejoice to say, on the foxwold shelves. it is a most charming work, reflecting on every page, by many subtle touches, the refined humour and wide knowledge of the collector. mr. austin dobson wrote for the final fly-leaf as follows:-- "i doubt your painful pedants who can read a dictionary through; but he must be a dismal dog, who can't enjoy this catalogue!" of the little mutual admiration and log-rolling society, whose headquarters are in vigo street, no serious account need be taken. time will deal with these very minor poets, and whether kindly or not, time will prove. they may possibly be able to await the verdict with a serene and confident patience--and so can we. an exception may perhaps be made for some of mr. arthur symon's "silhouettes," as the following extract will show:-- "emmy's exquisite youth and her virginal air, eyes and teeth in the flash of a musical smile, come to me out of the past, and i see her there as i saw her once for a while. emmy's laughter rings in my ears, as bright, fresh and sweet as the voice of a mountain brook, and still i hear her telling us tales that night, out of boccaccio's book. there, in the midst of the villainous dancing-hall, leaning across the table, over the beer, while the music maddened the whirling skirts of the ball, as the midnight hour drew near. there with the women, haggard, painted, and old, one fresh bud in a garland withered and stale, she, with her innocent voice and her clear eyes, told tale after shameless tale. and ever the witching smile, to her face beguiled, paused and broadened, and broke in a ripple of fun, and the soul of a child looked out of the eyes of a child, or ever the tale was done. o my child, who wronged you first, and began first the dance of death that you dance so well? soul for soul: and i think the soul of a man shall answer for yours in hell." mr. austin dobson and the late mr. locker-lampson are perhaps the finest writers of _vers de société_ since praed; whilst in the broader school of humour c. s. calverley, mr. dodgson (of "alice in wonderland" fame), and the late james kenneth stephen, stand alone and unchallenged; and mr. watson, if health serve, will go far; and so with some pathetic words of one of these moderns we will end this somewhat aimless chat:-- "my heart is dashed with cares and fears, my song comes fluttering and is gone; oh, high above this home of tears, eternal joy,--sing on." chat no. . "_punch! in the presence of the passengers._" within the past year certain gentle disputes and friendly discussions as to the origin of _punch_, and who its first real editor was, and whether or no henry mayhew evolved it with the help of suitable friends in a debtor's prison, remind us that foxwold possesses some rather curious "memories" of this famous paper. these disputes should now be put to rest for ever by mr. spielmann's exhaustive "history of mr. punch," which, it may safely be supposed, appeared with some sort of authority from "mr. punch" himself. one of our "odds and ends" is a kit-kat portrait in oil of horace mayhew, "ponny," excellent both as a likeness and a work of art, which should eventually find hanging space in the celebrated _punch_ dining-room. there is also a pencil drawing of him, in which "the count," as he was called, is dressed in the smartest fashion of that day, and crowned with a d'orsay hat, resplendent, original, and gay. he made a rather unhappy marriage late in his life, and found that habits from which he was not personally free showed themselves rather frequently in his wife's conduct. one day, in a state of emotion and whisky and water, he pressed mark lemon's hand, and, bursting into tears, murmured, "my dear friend, she drinks! she drinks!!" "all right," was the editor's cheery reply, "my dear boy; cheer up, so do you!" near by hangs a characteristic pencil sketch of douglas jerrold, who, if small, was no hunchback (as has been lately stated), but was a very neatly made, active little man, with a grand head covered with a profusion of lightish hair, which he had a trick of throwing back, like a lion's mane, and a pair of bright piercing blue eyes. there is an engraving of a bust of him prefixed to his life (written by his son, blanchard jerrold), which well conveys the nobility of the well-set head. then comes a capital drawing of kenny meadows in profile, and a thoroughly characteristic irish phiz it is. these pencil portraits are all from the gifted hand of mr. george augustus sala, and formerly belonged to horace mayhew himself. mr. sala, as is now well known by means of his autobiography, was once an artist and book-illustrator, and foxwold is the proud possessor of the only picture in oil extant from his brush. it is called "saturday night in a gin-palace": it is full of a hogarthian power, and by its execution, drawing, and colour shows that had mr. sala made painting his profession instead of literature, he would have gone far and fared well. the little picture is signed "g. a. sala," and was found many years ago in an old house in brompton, when the present owner secured it for a moderate sum, and then wrote to mr. sala asking if the picture was authentic. a reply was received by the next post, in the beautiful handwriting for which he is famous, and runs as follows:--- mecklenburgh square, w.c., _tuesday, twenty-fifth june _. "dear sir, i beg to acknowledge receipt of your courteous and (to me) singularly interesting note. "yes, the little old oil-picture of the 'gin-palace bar' is mine sure enough. i can remember it as distinctly as though it had been painted yesterday. great casks of liquor in the background; little stunted figures (including one of a dustman with a shovel) in the foreground. details executed with laborious niggling minuteness; but the whole work must be now dingy and faded to almost total obscuration, since i remember that in painting it i only used turpentine for a medium, the spirit of which must have long since 'flown,' and left the pigment flat or 'scaly.' "the thing was done in paris six-and-twenty years ago (ap. ), and being brought to london, was sold to the late adolphus ackermann, of the bygone art-publishing firm of ackermann & co., strand (premises now occupied by e. rimmel, the perfumer), for the sum of five pounds. i hope that you did not give more than a few shillings for it, for it was a vile little daub. i was at the time when i produced it an engraver and lithographer, and i believe that mr. ackermann only purchased the picture with a view to encourage me to 'take up' oil-painting. but i did not do so. i 'took up' literature instead, and a pretty market i have brought my pigs to! at all events, _you_ possess the only picture in oil extant from the brush of yours very faithfully, george augustus sala." _to_ h. n. pym, esq. when mr. sala afterwards called to see the picture, he altered his mind as to its being "a vile little daub," and found the colours as fresh and bright as when painted. we greatly value it, if only as the cause of a lasting friendship it started with the artist. his own portrait by vernet, in pen and ink, now graces our little gallery; it is a back view, taken amidst his books, and a most characteristic and excellent likeness of this accomplished and versatile gentleman.[ ] one of our guest-chambers is solemnly dedicated to the honour and glory of "mr. punch," and on its walls hang some original oil sketches by john leech, drawings by charles keene, mr. harry furniss, randolph caldecote, mr. bernard partridge, mr. anstey guthrie, and mr. du maurier; whilst kindly caricatures of some of the staff, and a print of the celebrated dinner-table, signed by the contributors, complete the decoration of a very cheery little room. footnote: [ ] whilst these pages are passing through the press, george augustus sala has been mercifully permitted to rest from his labours. an unfortunate adventure with a new paper brought about serious troubles, physical and financial, and ended his useful and hard-working life in gloom: as mr. bancroft (a mutual friend) observed to the editor of this volume, "it is so sad when the autumn of such a life is tempestuous."--_december , ._ chat no. "_then be contented. thou hast got the most of heaven in thy young lot; there's sky-blue in thy cup! thou'lt find thy manhood all too fast--- soon come, soon gone! and age at last, a sorry breaking-up._" --thomas hood. it was my good fortune some short time since to revisit that most educational of english towns, bedford, and having many years ago had the extreme privilege of being a bedford schoolboy, i was able to draw a comparison between then and now. in the good old days these admirable schools were managed in the good old way--plenty of classics, plenty of swishing, plenty of cricket and boating, and plenty of holidays. we sometimes turned out boys who afterwards made their mark in the big world, and the school registers are proud to contain the names of such men as burnell, the oriental scholar, who out-knowledged even sir william jones in this respect; colonel fred. burnaby, brave soldier and attractive travel writer; inverarity, the lion-hunter and crack shot; sir henry hawkins, stern judge and brilliant wit, and many others of like degree. nor must we forgot that john bunyan here learnt sufficient reading and writing to enable him in after years to pen his marvellous book during his imprisonment in bedford gaol, which was then situated midway on the bridge over the river ouse. in that wonderful monument to the courage and enterprise of mr. george smith (kindest of friends and best of publishers), "the national dictionary of biography," the record is frequent of men who owed their education and perhaps best chance in the life they afterwards made a success, to bedford school, but,-- "long hushed are the chords that my boyhood enchanted, as when the smooth wave by the angel was stirred, yet still with their music is memory haunted, and oft in my dreams are their melodies heard." but if the good old school was a success in those bygone days, what must be said for it now, when, under the napoleon-like administration of its present chief, the school-house has been rebuilt in its own park, upon all the best and latest known principles of comfort and sanitation, where a boy can, besides going through the full round of usual study, follow the bent of his own peculiar taste, and find special training, whether it be in horse-shoeing or music, chemistry or wood-carving, ambulance work or drawing from the figure; whilst the beautiful river is covered with boats, the cricket-fields and football yards are crowded, and the bathing stations are a constant joy? truly the present generation of bedford boys are much blessed in their surroundings; and whilst they remember with gratitude the pious founder, sir william harper, should strive to do credit to his name and memory by the exercise of their powers in the battle of after-life, having received so thorough and broad-minded a training in the happy and receptive days of their youth. bedford town is now one of the most strikingly attractive in england, with its fine river embankment, its grand old churches, its statues erected to the memory of the "inspired tinker," bunyan, and the prison philanthropist, howard, both of whom lived about a mile or so from the town, the former at elstow, the latter at cardington. it was very good and heart-restoring to revisit the hospitable old school with its pleasant surroundings and to find, as robert louis stevenson says, that,-- "home from the indies, and home from the ocean, heroes and soldiers they all shall come home; still they shall find the old mill-wheel in motion, turning and churning that river to foam." * * * * * since printing our last little "tour round the bookshelves," in which we ventured to include some capital lines by our evergreen and many-sided friend rudolf chambers lehmann, he has again added to the interest of our visitors' book under the following circumstances. guests and home-birds were all resting after the exhausting idleness of an easter holiday when they were suddenly aroused from their day-dreams by loud cries of "fire!" accompanied by the sound of horses and chariots approaching the house at full speed. on looking out, like sister anne or a pretty page, we were able to assuage our guests' natural alarm by explaining that the local fire brigade were practising upon our vile bodies and dwelling, and if fear existed, danger did not. on their ultimately retiring, satisfied with their mock efforts, and fortified by beer, our welcome guest wrote with his usual flying pen the following characteristic lines to commemorate their visit:-- "fire! fire!!" (an easter monday incident.) "a day of days, an april day; cool air without, and cloudless sun; within, upon the ordered tray, cakes, and the luscious sally-lunn. since pym has walked, and guthrie climbed to rob some feathered songster's nest, their toil needs tea, the hour has chimed-- pour, lady, pour, and let them rest. but hark! what sound disturbs their tea, and clatters up the carriage drive? a dinner guest? it cannot be; no, no, the hour is only five. what sight is this the fates disclose, that breaks upon our startled view? two horses, countless yards of hose, nine firemen, and an engine too. where burns the fire? tush, 'tis but sport; the horses stop, the men descend, take hoses long, and hoses short, and fit them deftly end to end. attention! lo their chieftain calls-- they run, they answer to their names, and hypothetic water falls in streams upon imagined flames. well done, ye braves, 'twas nobly done; accept, the peril past, our thanks; though all your toil was only fun, and air was all that filled your tanks: no, not for nought you came and dared, return in peace, and drink your fill; it was, as mrs. pym declared, 'a highly interesting drill.'" _april , ._ another poet whose pen sometimes gilds our modest record of angels' visits, is a well-beloved cousin, harry luxmoore by name, at eton known so well. his christmas greeting for shall here appear, and prove to him how deep is foxwold's affectionate obligation for wishes so delightfully expressed:-- "glooms overhead a frozen sky, rings underfoot a snow-ribbed earth, yet somewhere slumbering sunbeams lie, and somewhere sleeps the coming birth. folded in root and grain is lying, the bud, the bloom we soon may see, and in the old year now a-dying is hid the new year that shall be. o what if snows be deep? so shrouded matures the soil with promise rife and sap, for all the skies be clouded, ripens at heart a lustier life. then welcome winter--while we shiver strength harbours deeper, and the blast of sounder, manlier force the giver strips off betimes our withered past. come bud and bloom, come fruit and flower, come weal, come woe, as best may be, still may the new year's hidden dower be good for you and horace, and all the little ones, and good for me." chat no. . "_my ears are deaf with this impatient crowd: their wants are now grown mutinous and loud._" --dryden. the following graphic account of the rising in paris in was written by john poole to charles dickens, and was recently found amongst the papers of mrs. john forster, the widow of the well-known writer, dickens' friend and biographer, and is, i think, worthy of print. john poole was a sometime celebrated character, having written that evergreen play "paul pry," as well as "little pedlington," and other humorous works mostly now forgotten. as he grew old poverty came to bear him company, and was only prevented from causing him actual suffering by the usual generosity of dickens and other members of that charmed circle, further aided by a small government grant, obtained for him by the same faithful friend from lord john russell. the letter is addressed to charles dickens, esq., no. devonshire terrace, york gate, regent's park, london, and deals with the celebrated uprisal of the french mob, when a force of , regulars and nearly , national guards was massed round paris to resist it. the carnage was terrible, some persons being killed on both sides, and , insurgents made prisoners. it was only by general cavaignac's firmness and tactful management under lamartine's directions, that the mob was reduced and the republican government established. the general was afterwards nearly elected president of the french republic, receiving , , votes, but prince louis napoleon beat him, and, as history tells, held the reins in various capacities for the next twenty eventful years. poole's letter, as that of an eye-witness, gives a remarkably clear impression of the scene as it appeared in his orbit. dickens, on receiving it, evidently sent it the round of his friends, and it then remained in john forster's possession until his death. "(paris), _saturday, jul _. "my dear dickens, i wrote to you through the embassy on the nd june, giving you an address for the three last dombeys, and enclosing a catalogue of the ex-king's wine; and on the th i sent you a word in a letter to macready. dombeys not yet arrived, and i shall wait no longer to acknowledge their arrival (as i have been doing), but at once proceed to give you a few lines. since the day of my writing to you i have lived four years: friday (the rd), saturday, sunday, monday, each a year. "the proceedings of the three days of february were mere child's-play compared with these. never shall i forget them, for they showed me scenes of blood and death. friday morning the '_rappel_' was beat--always a disagreeable hint. presently i heard discharges of musketry, then they beat the '_générale._' my _concierge_ ran into my room, and, with a long white face, told me the mob had erected huge barricades in the faubourg-saint-denis, and above, down to the porte st. denis, and that tremendous fighting was going on there. (the porte st. denis bears marks of the fray.) 'then, madame blanchard,' i said, 'as you seem to be breaking out again, i shall take a _sac-de-nuit_, and say adieu to you till you shall have returned to your good behaviour.'--'but monsieur could not get away for love or money--the insurgents have possession of the chemin de fer, and had torn up the rails as far as st. denis.' this was what she had been told, so i went out to ascertain the fact. "impossible to approach that quarter, and difficult to turn the corner of a street without interruption--groups of fifteen, twenty, thirty, fifty, in blouses, dotted all about. towards evening matters seemed rather more tranquil, and between six and seven o'clock i contrived (though not easily) to make my way to sestels, in the rue st. honoré (one of the very best of the second-rate restaurateurs in paris, 'which note'). the large saloon was filled with men in uniform, national guards chiefly, and only two women there. i was there about an hour, and in that time three dead bodies were carried past on covered litters. it was thought the disturbances were pretty well over, as a powerful body of troops had been ordered down to the scene of action. "at about eight o'clock i went out for the purpose of making a visit in the rue d'enghien, but found the whole width of the boulevard montmartre, which, as you know, leads to the boulevard st. denis, defended by a compact body of national guards--impassable! between nine and ten o'clock three regiments of cavalry, with cannon--a long, long procession--marched in the direction of the scene of insurrection. this was a comforting sight, and as such everybody seemed to consider it, and i went home. and this was midsummer eve!--walpurgis night! "the next day, saturday, midsummer day, i never shall forget! sleep had been hopeless--the night had been disturbed by the frequent beating of the '_générale_' and the cry '_aux armes!_' every now and then i looked up at the sky, expecting to see it red from some direful conflagration. day came, and soon the firing of musketry was heard, now from the direction of the faubourg-saint-antoine, now from the faubourg-saint-marceaux. then came the heavy booming of cannon--death in every echo! from twelve till nearly one, and again after a pause, it was dreadful. (i cannot make 'fun' of this, like the facetious correspondent of the _morning post_. who is he? surely he must be an ex-reporter for the cobourg play-house, with his vulgar, ill-timed play-house quotations. i am utterly disgusted and revolted at the tasteless levity with which he describes scenes of blood and destruction and death, and so treats of matters, all of which require grave and sober handling. and then he describes, as an eye-witness, things which, happen though they did, i am certain he could not have been present to see.) "well, as we were soon to be in a state of siege, and strictly confined to home, i can tell you nothing but what i saw here on this very spot. one event is a remembrance for life. in this house lived general de bourgon, one of what they call the 'old africans.' in the course of the morning general korte (another of them) called on him, and said, 'i dare say cavaignac has plenty to do. i will go and ask him if we can be of any service to him. if we can, i will send for you, so keep yourself in the way.' he was in paris 'on leave,' and had no horse with him, so he sent blanchard (the _concierge_) to the _manège_, which is in the next street, to inquire whether they had a horse that would 'stand fire.' yes; but they would not let it go out. the next message intimated that they must send it, or it would be taken by force. at about two o'clock, going out, i met, coming out of his apartments on the second floor (i, you know, am on the fourth), general de bourgon, in plain clothes, accompanied by his wife and his sister-in-law--the latter a very beautiful woman, somewhat in the style of mrs. norton. as usual, we exchanged _bon-jours_ in passing. i went as far as the boulevard at the end of the street. there was a strong guard at the 'hôtel des affaires Étrangères,' and there i was stopped. an officer of the national guard asked me whether i was proceeding in the direction of my residence. answering in the negative, he said (but with great courtesy), 'then, sir, i advise you to return; it is in your interest i do so; besides' (pointing in the direction where was heard a heavy firing), 'd'ailleurs, monsieur, ce n'est pas aujourd'hui un jour de promenade.' "i returned, and tried by the place vendôme, but about half-way up the rue de la paix was again stopped. after loitering about for an hour, and unable to get anything in the shape of positive information, i returned home. shortly after three i saw the general de bourgon in full uniform, and on horseback. he proceeded a few paces, stopped to have one of his stirrup-leathers adjusted, and then, followed by an orderly, went off at a brisk trot. soon afterwards a guard was placed in the middle and at each end of this street; no one was allowed to loiter, or to quit it but with good reason, and only then was passed on by one sentinel to the next, so from that moment i was not out of the house till monday morning. "at about half-past six the street--usually a noisy one--being perfectly still, i heard the measured tramp of feet approaching from the direction of the boulevard. i went to the window, and saw about fifteen or eighteen soldiers, some bearing, and the rest guarding, a litter, on which was stretched a wounded officer. he was bare-headed, his black stock had been removed, his coat thrown wide open, and over his left thigh was spread a soldier's grey greatcoat. to my horror the procession stopped at this door. it was the general brought home desperately wounded! i ran down and saw him brought up to his apartment, crying out with agony at every shake he received on the winding, slippery staircase. on the following friday (the th), at eleven o'clock at noon, after severe suffering, he died. in the course of the day i saw him; his neck was uncovered, and the eyes open (a painter had been making a sketch of him)--he looked like one in placid contemplation. previously to the fatal result, at one of my frequent visits of inquiry, i saw madame de bourgon (the sister-in-law). she replied mournfully, but without apparent emotion, 'we are in hopes they will be able to perform the amputation to-morrow.' (they could not.) 'but see! he has passed his life, as it were, on the field of battle--twelve years in africa--and to fall in this way! but it was his duty to go out.' "'and, madame, how is she?' "'eh, mon dieu, monsieur! how would you have her be? but a soldier's wife must be prepared for these things.' "(she, the sister-in-law, is the wife of the general's brother, colonel de bourgon.) his friend, general korte, too, was wounded, but not dangerously. "in all the african campaigns only two generals were killed, in these street fights six! but the insurgents fought at tremendous advantage. on that said saturday afternoon two incidents occurred, trifling if you will, but they struck me. a large flight of crows passed over, taking a direction towards the prison of st. lazare, showing that fighting was murderous; and a rainbow (one of the most beautiful i ever saw) rested like an arch on the line of roof of the opposite houses. beneath it seemed to come the noise of the fight; the sign of peace and the sounds of war and death. mrs. norton could make a verse or two out of this. this was midsummer's day! "our midsummer night's dreams were not pleasant, believe me. no--there was no sleep on that night--a night of terrible anxiety. paris was in a state of siege--no one allowed to be out of the house, nor a window permitted to be opened. all night was heard in ceaseless round, from the sentinel under my very window--'sentinelle prenez garde à vous.' i can hardly describe by words the peculiar tone in which this was uttered, but the syllable 'nelle' was accented, and the word 'vous' was uttered briskly and sharply, like a sort of bark. this was given _fortissimo_--repeated by the next _forte_--beyond him, _piano_--further on, _pianissimo_--till it returned, louder and louder, and then died away again, and so on, and on, and on till daybreak. then was beat the '_rappel_'--then the '_générale_'--then again the firing. "this was sunday morning, and from five o'clock till ten at night was not the happiest, but the longest day of my life. any sort of occupation was out of the question. each hour appeared a day. impossible to get out, or to receive a visit, or to send a message, or to procure any reliable information as to what was going on, or how or when these doings were likely to end. all was doubt, uncertainty, dread and anxiety intolerable. the only information to be procured was from the bearers of some wounded men as they passed now and then to the ambulance (the temporary hospital established at the church of the assumption). but no two accounts were alike. i was suffering deep anxiety concerning a good kind french family of my acquaintance, living within a five minutes' walk of this place. 'could i by any possibility procure a commissionaire to carry a note for me? i'll give him five francs (the hire being ten sous).' 'not, sir,' said my _concierge_, 'if you would give a hundred!' the poor general wanted some soldiers from the barracks (next to the assumption) to carry an order for him. after great difficulty the wife of the _concierge_ was allowed to go and fetch one; but she was searched for ammunition by the first sentinel, and then passed on thus and back again from one to another. no post in--no letters--no newspapers. at length, at a month's end, night came. that night like the last--'sentinelle prenez garde à vous,' &c. &c. "on monday morning ( th), after a sleepless night--for, for any means we had of knowing to the contrary, the insurgents might at any moment be expected to attack this quarter, a quarter marked down by them for fire and pillage--at about eight o'clock, i lay down on a sofa and slept soundly till ten; i awoke, and was struck by the appalling silence! this is a noisy street. always from about seven in the morning till late in the day one's head is distracted by the shrill cries of itinerant traders (to these are now added the cries of the vendors of cheap newspapers), the passage of carriages and carts of all descriptions, street-singers, organ-grinders endless, the screeching of parrots and barking of dogs exposed for sale by a _grocer_ on the opposite side of the way, together with the swarming of his and his neighbour's dirty children--all was hushed; not a footfall, 'not (a line that is not often applicable here) a drum was heard.' yes, i repeat it, this universal silence was appalling! not a person, save the still guards on duty, was to be seen. the shops were all closed, and, but for this circumstance, it seemed like a sunday! strange! (and i find it was the same with many other persons to whom i have mentioned the circumstance) i was uncertain during these anxious days as to the day of the week. at about eleven o'clock the _concierge_ came to tell me that the insurrection was at an end. in less than an hour there was heard a sharp fusillade and a heavy cannonade in the direction of the faubourg-saint-antoine. the insurgents had strengthened themselves at that point (she came to say), but that, so far as she could learn, general cavaignac had at length resolved, by bombarding the _quartier_, to suppress the insurrection before the day should end. _and he did!_ "frequently during the day parties of tired soldiers, scarcely able to walk, passed on their way from the scene of action to their barracks or their bivouac; wounded men were every now and then brought to the ambulance close by--one a cuirassier, who, as the guard saluted him, smiled faintly, and just raised his hand in sign of recognition, which fell again at his side; and, most striking of all, bands of prisoners from among the insurgents!! among them such hideous faces! scarcely human! no one knows whence they come. like the stormy petrel, they only are seen in troubled times. i saw some such in the days of february, but never before, nor afterwards, till now. imagine o. smith, well "made-up" for one of the bloodiest and most melodramatic of his bloody melodramas--a parisian dandy compared with some of these. some of them naked to the waist, smeared with blood, hair and beard matted and of incalculable growth, bloodshot eyes, scowling ferocious brutes, their tigers' mouths blackened with gunpowder--creatures to look at and shudder! and into their hands was paris and its peaceable honest inhabitants threatened to fall. with this i end. ever, my dear dickens, cordially and sincerely yours, john poole. "i began this on saturday, and have been writing it, as best as i can, till now, tuesday, three o'clock. pray acknowledge the receipt when or if you receive it. this is a general letter to you all. if forster thinks any paragraph of this worthy the _examiner_, he may use it. why does not the rogue write to me? has he, or can he have, taken huff at anything? though i cannot imagine why or at what. but _nobody_ writes to me. i can and will, some day, tell you a comic incident connected with all this, but it would not have been in keeping with the rest of this letter. paris is now quiet, but very dull." chat no. . "_all round the house is the jet black night; it stares through the window-pane; it crawls in the corners, hiding from the light, and it moves with the moving flame._ _now my little heart goes a-beating like a drum, with the breath of the bogie in my hair; and all round the candle the crooked shadows come and go marching along up the stair._ _the shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp, the shadow of the child that goes to bed-- all the wicked shadows coming, tramp, tramp, tramp, with the black night overhead._" --r. l. stevenson. on the beautiful rocks of red head, near arbroath, and surrounded by the glamour of sir walter scott's "antiquary," which was written in the alongside village of auchmithie, and the plot and incidents of which are principally placed here, stands ethie castle, the scotch home of the earls of northesk, and once one of the many residences of cardinal beaton, whose portrait by titian hangs in the hall. many of the quaint old rooms have secret staircases at the bed-heads leading to rooms above or below, and forming convenient modes of escape if the occupants of the middle chambers were threatened with sudden attack. there are also some dungeon-like rooms below, with walls of vast thickness, and "squints" through which to fire arrows or musket-balls. the castle has been greatly improved and partly restored by its last owner, without removing or destroying any of its characteristic points. searching, when a guest there some years ago, amongst the literary and other curious remains, which add a great charm to this most interesting house, the writer was impressed with the following characteristic letter from charles ii. to the then lord northesk, which he was permitted to copy, and now to print. the letter is curious, as showing the evident belief that the king held in his divine right to interfere with his subjects' affairs. it is a holograph, beautifully written in a small clear hand --- not unlike that of w. m. thackeray --- and has been fastened with a seal, still unbroken, no larger than a pea, but which nevertheless contains the crown and complete royal arms, and is a most beautiful specimen of seal-engraving. it would be interesting to know if this seal still exists amongst the curiosities at windsor castle:--- whitehall, _ nov. _. "my lord northesk, i am so much concerned in my l^d balcarriess that, hearing he is in suite of one of your daughters, i must lett you know, you cannot bestow her upon a person of whose worth and fidelity i have a better esteeme, which moves me hartily to recommend to you and your lady, your franck compliance with his designe, and as i do realy intend to be very kinde to him, and to do him good as occasion offers, as well for his father's sake as his owne, so if you and your lady condescend to his pretension, and use him kindly in it, i shall take it very kindly at your hands, and reckon it to be done upon the accounte of your affectionate frinde, charles r." _for the_ earle of northesk. looking at the fine portrait of the recipient of this royal request, which hangs in the castle, and the stern, unrelenting expression of the otherwise handsome face, it is not difficult to presume that he somewhat resented this interference with his domestic plans. no copy of lord northesk's reply exists, but its contents may be guessed by the second letter from whitehall, this time written by lord lauderdale:-- whitehall, _ jany. _. "my lord, yesterday i received yours of the th instant, and, according to your desire, i acquainted the king with it. his majesty commanded me to signify to you that he is satisfied. for as he did recommend that marriage, supposing that it was acceptable to both parties, so he did not intend to lay any constraint upon you. therfor he leaves you to dispose of your daughter as you please. this is by his majesty's command signified to your lordship by, my lord, your lordship's most humble servant, lauderdale." earl northesk. as, however, the marriage eventually did take place, let us hope that the young couple arranged it themselves, without any further expression of royal wishes by the evidently well-meaning, if somewhat imperative, king. ethie has, of course, its family legends and ghosts--what old scotch house is without them?--but the following, which i am most kindly permitted to repeat, is so curious in its modern confirmation, that it is well worth adding to the store of such weird narratives. many years ago, it is said that a lady in the castle destroyed her young child in one of the rooms, which afterwards bore the stigma of the association. eventually the room was closed, the door screwed up, and heavy wooden shutters were fastened outside the windows. but those who occupied the rooms above and below this gruesome chamber would often hear, in the watches of the night, the pattering of little feet over the floor, and the sound of the little wheels of a child's cart being dragged to and fro; a peculiarity connected with this sound being, that one wheel creaked and chirruped as it moved. years rolled by, and the room continued to bear its sinister character until the late lord northesk succeeded to the property, when he very wisely determined to bring, if possible, the legend to an end, and probe the ghostly story to its truthful or fictitious base. consequently he had the outside window shutters removed, and the heavy wall-door unscrewed, and then, with some members of his family present, ordered the door to be forced back. when the room was open and birds began to sing, it proved to be quite destitute of furniture or ornament. it had a bare hearth-stone, on which some grey ashes still rested, and by the side of the hearth was a child's little wooden go-cart on four solid wooden wheels! turning to his daughter, my lord asked her to wheel the little carriage across the floor of the room. when she did so, it was with a strange sense of something uncanny that the listeners heard one wheel creak and chirrup as it ran! since then the baby footsteps have ceased, and the room is once more devoted to ordinary uses, but the ghostly little go-cart still rests at ethie for the curious to see and to handle. many friends and neighbours yet live who testify to having heard the patter of the feet and the creak of the little wheel in former days, when the room was a haunted reality, but now the "little feet no more go lightly, vision broken!" [illustration] chat no. "_i work on, through all the bristling fence of nights and days, which hedge time in from the eternities._" --mrs. browning. the late cardinal manning always felt a great interest in our parish of brasted. in former times it formed part of hever chase, the property of sir thomas boleyn (the father of queen anne boleyn), who lived at hever castle, about four miles from brasted, a fine tudor specimen of domestic architecture, which is now somewhat jealously shown to the public on certain days. hever castle is the original of bovor castle, immortalised by mr. burnand in his wonderful "happy thoughts." the cardinal's father, who was at one time an opulent city merchant, and sometime governor of the bank of england, owned the estate of combe bank, formerly the english location of the argyll family, whose duke sat in the house of lords, until quite a recent date, as baron sundridge, the name of the adjacent village. in sundridge church are some family busts of the argylls by mrs. dawson damer, who stayed much at combe bank, and who lies buried with all her graving and sculpting tools in sundridge churchyard. the cardinal and his elder brother, charles manning, passed some youthful years in this house, and when financial trouble overtook their father, and he was obliged to part with the property, it became the ever-present desire and day-dream of the elder son to succeed in life and repurchase the place. he succeeded well in life, and enjoyed a very long and happy one; but he never became the owner of combe bank, the hope to do so only fading with his life. he owned, or leased, a pleasant old house at littlehampton; and if his brother, the cardinal, was in need of rest, he would lend it to him, when the cardinal's method of relaxation was to go to bed in a sea-looking room, and, with window open, read, write, and contemplate for some three or four days and nights, and then arise refreshed like a giant, and return to the manifold duties waiting for him in town. the cardinal's home in london was formerly the guard's institute in the vauxhall bridge road, which, failing in its first intention, was purchased as the palace for the then newly-elected cardinal-archbishop of westminster. it proved to be rather a dreary, draughty, uncomfortable abode, but having the advantage of a double staircase and some large reception rooms, was useful for the clerical assemblies he used to invoke. i had the privilege, without being a member of his church, of being allowed to attend the meetings of the _academia_ which the cardinal held every now and then during the london season. his friends would gather in one of the big rooms a little before eight in the evening, and sit in darkened circles around a small centre table, before which a high-backed carved chair stood. the entire light for the apartment proceeded from two big silver candlesticks on the table. as the clock chimed eight, the cardinal, clothed in crimson cassock and skull-cap, would glide into the room, and standing before the episcopal chair, murmur a short latin prayer, after which the discussion of the evening would begin; when all that wished had had their little say, the cardinal replied to the points raised by the various speakers, and closed the debate; after which he held a sort of informal reception, welcoming individually every guest. no one but a rembrandt could give the beautiful effect of the half-lights and heavy black shadows of this striking gathering, with its centre of colour and light in the tall red figure of the cardinal, his noble face and picturesque dress forming a mind-picture which can never fade from the memory. the strong theatrical effect, combined with the real simplicity of the scene, the personal interest of many of those who took part in the discussion, the associations with the past, the speculation whither the innovation of the installation of a roman catholic archbishop in westminster was tending, giving the observer bountiful food for much solemn thought. upon our book-shelves repose four volumes of the cardinal's sermons, preached when a member of the church of england, and archdeacon of chichester. they were bought at bishop wilberforce's sale, who was the cardinal's brother-in-law, and contain the autograph of william wilberforce, the bishop's eldest brother. upon the same shelf will be found a copy of "parochial sermons" by john henry newman, vicar of st. mary the virgin's, oxford. this volume formerly belonged to bishop stanley, and came from the library of his celebrated son, arthur penrhyn stanley, sometime dean of westminster. * * * * * a good book might be written by one who is duly qualified on "the poets who are not read." it would not be flattering to the ghosts of many of the departed great, but there is so much assumption on the part of the general reader, that he knows them all, has read them all, and generally likes them all, which if examined into closely would prove a snare and a delusion, that one is tempted to administer some gentle interrogatories upon the subject. first and foremost, then, who now reads byron? his works rest on the shelves, it is true, but are they ever opened, except to verify a quotation? does the general reader of this time steadily go through "childe harold," "don juan," and his other splendid works. not death but sleep prevails, from which perchance one day he may awake and again enjoy his share of fame and favour. it is the fashion with many persons to express the utmost sympathy with and acute knowledge of the work of robert browning, but we doubt if many of these could pass a civil service examination in the very poems they name so glibly. he is so hard to understand without time and close study, that few have the inclination to give either in these days of pressure, worry, and rush. upon neglected shelves cowper and crabbe lie dusty and unopened--the only person who read crabbe in these days was the late edward fitzgerald; and it is a small class apart that still looks up to wordsworth. the stars of keats and shelley, it is true, are just now in the ascendant, and may so remain for a little while. it is difficult and dangerous, we are told, to prophesy unless we know, but our private opinion is that lord tennyson's fame has been declining since his death, and that a large portion of his poems and all his plays will die, leaving a living residuum of such splendid work as "maud," "in memoriam," and some of his short poems. america has furnished us with dr. oliver wendell holmes, whose charm and finish is likely to continue its hold upon our imagination; then there is the quaker poet whittier, who will probably only live in a song or two; and longfellow, whose popularity has a long time since declined. he once wrote a sort of novel or romance called "hyperion," which showed his reading public for the first time that he was possessed of a gentle humour, which does not often appear in his poems. for instance, one of his characters, by name berkley, wishing to console a jilted lover, says-- "'i was once as desperately in love as you are now; i adored, and was rejected.' "'you are in love with certain attributes,' said the lady. "'damn your attributes, madam,' said i; 'i know nothing of attributes.' "'sir,' said she, with dignity, 'you have been drinking.' "so we parted. she was married afterwards to another, who knew something about attributes, i suppose. i have seen her once since, and only once. she had a baby in a yellow gown. i hate a baby in a yellow gown. how glad i am she did not marry me." the fate of most poets is to be cut up for dictionaries of quotations, for which amiable purpose they are often admirably adapted. chat no. . _"she will return, i know she will, she will not leave me here alone._" staying many years ago in a pleasant country-house, whilst walking home after evening church my host remarked, as we passed in the growing darkness a house from which streamed a light down the path from the front door, "ah! jane has not yet returned." the phrase sounded odd, and when we were snugly ensconced in the smoking-room, he that evening told me the following story, which, however, then stopped midway, but to which i am now able to add the sequel. a certain john manson (the name is, of course, fictitious), an elderly wealthy city bachelor, married late in life a young girl of great beauty, and with no friends or relations. she found her husband's country home, in which she was necessarily much alone, very dull, and she thought that he was hard and unsympathising when he was at home; whereas, although a curt, reserved manner gave this impression, he was really full of love for, and confidence in his young wife, and inwardly chafed at and deplored his want of power to show what his real feelings were. the misunderstanding between them grew and widened, like the poetical "rift within the lute," and soon after the birth of her child, a girl, she left her home with her baby, merely leaving a few lines of curt farewell, and was henceforth lost to him. his belief in her honesty never wavered; and night after night, with his own hand, he lighted and placed in a certain hall-window a lamp which thus illuminated the path to the door, saying, "jane will return, poor dear; and it's sure to be at night, and she'll like to see the light." years passed by, and jane made no sign, the light each evening shining uselessly; and still a stranger to her home, she died, leaving her daughter, now a beautiful girl of twenty, and marvellously like what her mother was when she married. the husband, unaware of the death of his wife, himself came to lay him for the last beneath his own roof-tree, and still his one cry was, "jane will return." it seemed as if he could not pass in peace from this world's rack until it was accomplished--when, lo! a miracle came to pass; for the daughter arrived one evening with a letter from her mother, written when she was dying, and asking her husband's forgiveness, and the light still beamed from the beacon window. the old man was only semi-conscious, and mistaking his child for her mother, with a strong voice cried out, "i knew you'd come back," and died in the moment of the joy of her supposed return. by a curious coincidence, since writing this true story, which was told to me in , some of the incidents, in an altered form, have found a place in mr. ian maclaren's popular book, "beside the bonnie brier bush." it would be interesting to know from whence he drew his inspiration, and whether his story should perchance trace back to a common ancestor in mine. * * * * * a few years ago mr. walter hamilton published, in six volumes, the most complete collection of english parodies ever brought together. amongst others, he gave a vast number upon the well-known poem by charles wolfe of "not a drum was heard." page after page is covered with them, upon every possible subject; but the following one, written by an "american cousin" many years ago, and which was not accessible to mr. hamilton, is perhaps worth repeating and preserving. he called it "the mosquito hunt," and it runs as follows, if my memory serves me faithfully, i having no written note of it:-- "not a sound was heard, but a horrible hum, as around our chamber we hurried, in search of the insect whose trumpet and drum our delectable slumber had worried. we sought for him darkly at dead of night, our coverlet carefully turning, by the shine of the moonbeam's misty light, and our candle dimly burning. about an hour had seemed to elapse, ere we met with the wretch that had bit us; and raising our shoe, gave some terrible slaps, which made the mosquito's quietus. quickly and gladly we turned from the dead, and left him all smash'd and gory; we blew out the candle, and popped into bed, and determined to tell you the story!" chat no. . "_the welcome news is in the letter found, the carrier's not commissioned to expound: it speaks itself._" --dryden. a pleasant hour may perhaps be passed in searching through the family autograph-box in the book-room. its contents are varied and far-fetched. a capital series of letters from that best and most genial of correspondents, james payn, are there to puzzle, by their very difficult calligraphy, the would-be reader. mr. payn, a dear friend to foxwold, is now a great invalid, and a brave sufferer, keeping, despite his pain, the same bright spirit, the same brilliant wit, and delighting with the same enchanting conversation. out of all his work, there is nothing so beautiful as his lay-sermons, published in a small volume called "some private views;" and but a little while since he wrote, on his invalid couch, a most affecting study, called "the backwater of life;" it has only up to the present time appeared in the _cornhill magazine_, but will doubtless be soon collected with other work in a more permanent form. it is a pathetic picture of how suffering may be relieved by wit, wisdom, and courage. as mr. leslie stephen well says in his brother's life, "for such literature the british public has shown a considerable avidity ever since the days of addison. in spite of occasional disavowals, it really loves a sermon, and is glad to hear preachers who are not bound by the proprieties of the religious pulpit. some essayists, like johnson, have been as solemn as the true clerical performer, and some have diverged into the humorous with charles lamb, or the cynical with hazlitt."[ ] in mr. payn's lay-sermons we have the humour and the pathos, the tears being very close to the laughter; and they reflect in a peculiarly strong manner the tender wit and delicate fancy of their author. but to return to our autograph-box. here we find letters from such varied authors as josef israels, the dutch painter, hubert herkomer, w. b. richmond, mrs. carlyle, wilkie collins, dean stanley, and a host of other interesting people. perhaps a few extracts, where judicious and inoffensive, may give an interest to this especial chat. the late mrs. charles fox of trebah was in herself, both socially and intellectually, a very remarkable woman. born in the lake country, and belonging to the society of friends, she formed, as a girl, many happy friendships with the wordsworths, the southeys, the coleridges, and all that charmed circle of intellect, every scrap of whose sayings and doings are so full of interest, and so dearly cherished. these friendships she continued to preserve after her marriage, and when she had exchanged her lovely lake home for an equally beautiful and interesting one on the cornish coast, first at perran and afterwards at trebah. one of her special friendships was with hartley coleridge, who indited several of his sonnets to his beautiful young friend. the subjoined letter gives a pleasant picture of his friendly correspondence, and has not been included in the published papers by his brother, the rev. derwent coleridge, who edited his remains. "dear sarah, if a stranger to the fold of happy innocents, where thou art one, may so address thee by a name he loves, both for a mother's and a sister's sake, and surely loves it not the less for thine. dear sarah, strange it needs must seem to thee that i should choose the quaint disguise of verse, and, like a mimic masquer, come before thee to tell my simple tale of country news, or,--sooth to tell thee,--i have nought to tell but what a most intelligencing gossip would hardly mention on her morning rounds: things that a newspaper would not record in the dead-blank recess of parliament. yet so it is,--my thoughts are so confused, my memory is so wild a wilderness, i need the order of the measured line to help me, whensoe'er i would attempt to methodise the random notices of purblind observation. easier far the minuet step of slippery sliding verse, than the strong stately walk of steadfast prose. since you have left us, many a beauteous change hath nature wrought on the eternal hills; and not an hour hath past that hath not done its work of beauty. when december winds, hungry and fell, were chasing the dry leaves, shrill o'er the valley at the dead of night, 'twas sweet, for watchers such as i, to mark how bright, how very bright, the stars would shine through the deep rifts of congregated clouds; how very distant seemed the azure sky; and when at morn the lazy, weeping fog, long lingering, loath to leave the slumbrous lake, whitened, diffusive, as the rising sun shed on the western hills his rosiest beams, i thought of thee, and thought our peaceful vale had lost one heart that could have felt its peace, one eye that saw its beauties, and one soul that made its peace and beauty all her own. one morn there was a kindly boon of heaven, that made the leafless woods so beautiful, it was sore pity that one spirit lives, that owns the presence of eternal god in all the world of nature and of mind, who did not see it. low the vapour hung on the flat fields, and streak'd with level layers the lower regions of the mountainous round; but every summit, and the lovely line of mountain tops, stood in the pale blue sky boldly defined. the cloudless sun dispelled the hazy masses, and a lucid veil but softened every charm it not concealed. then every tree that climbs the steep fell-side-- young oak, yet laden with sere foliage; larch, springing upwards, with its spikey top and spiney garb of horizontal boughs; the veteran ash, strong-knotted, wreathed and twined, as if some dæmon dwelt within its trunk, and shot forth branches, serpent-like; uprear'd the holly and the yew, that never fade and never smile; these, and whate'er beside, or stubborn stump, or thin-arm'd underwood, clothe the bleak strong girth of silverhow (you know the place, and every stream and brook is known to you) by ministry of frost, were turned to shapes of orient adamant, as if the whitest crystals, new endow'd with vital or with vegetative power, had burst from earth, to mimic every form of curious beauty that the earth could boast, or, like a tossing sea of curly plumes, frozen in an instant----" "so much for verse, which, being execrably bad, cannot be excused, except by friendship, therefore is the fitter for a friendly epistle. there's logic for you! in fact, my dear lady, i am so much delighted, not to say flattered, by your wish that i should write to you, that i can't help being rather silly. it will be a sad loss to me when your excellent mother leaves grasmere; and to-morrow my friend archer and i dine at dale end, for our farewell. but so it must be. i am always happy to hear anything of your little ones, who are such very sweet creatures that one might almost think it a pity they should ever grow up to be big women, and know only better than they do now. among all the anecdotes of childhood that have been recorded, i never heard of one so characteristic as jenny-kitty's wish to inform lord dunstanville of the miseries of the negroes. bless its little soul! i am truly sorry to hear that you have been suffering bodily illness, though i know that it cannot disturb the serenity of your mind. i hope little derwent did not disturb you with his crown; i am told he is a lovely little wretch, and you say he has eyes like mine. i hope he will see his way better with them. derwent has never answered my letter, but i complain not; i dare say he has more than enough to do.[ ] thank you kindly for your kindness to him and his lady. i hope the friendship of friends will not obstruct his rising in the church, and that he will consult his own interest prudently, paying court to the powers that be, yet never so far committing himself as to miss an opportunity of ingratiating himself with the powers that may be. let him not utter, far less write, any sentence that will not bear a twofold interpretation! for the present let his liberality go no further than a very liberal explanation of the words consistency and gratitude may carry him; let him always be honest when it is his interest to be so, and sometimes when it may appear not to be so; and never be a knave under a deanery or a rectory of five thousand a year! my best remembrances to your husband, and kisses for juliet and jenny-kitty, though she did say she liked mr. barber far better than me. i can't say i agree with her in that particular, having a weak partiality for your affectionate friend, hartley coleridge." another friend of the fox family was the late john bright, and the following letter to the now well-known caroline fox of penjerrick will be read with interest:-- torquay, _mo._ , . "my dear friend, i hope the 'one cloud' has passed away. i was much pleased with the earnestness and feeling of the poem, and wished to ask thee for a copy of it, but was afraid to give thee the trouble of writing it out for me. "for myself, i have endeavoured only to speak when i have had something to say which it seemed to me ought to be said, and i did not feel that the sentiment of the poem condemned me. "we had a pleasant visit to kynance cove. it is a charming place, and we were delighted with it. we went on through helston to penzance: the day following we visited the logan rock and the land's end, and in the afternoon the celebrated mount--the weather all we could wish for. we were greatly pleased with the mount, and i shall not read 'lycidas' with less interest now that i have seen the place of the 'great vision.' we found the hotel to which you kindly directed us perfect in all respects. on friday we came from penzance to truro, and posted to st. columb, where we spent a night at mr. northy's--the day and night were very wet. next day we posted to tintagel, and back to launceston, taking the train there for torquay. "we were pressed for time at tintagel, but were pleased with what we saw. "here, we are in a land of beauty and of summer, the beauty beyond my expectation, and the climate like that of nice. yesterday we drove round to see the sights, and w. pengelly and mr. vivian went with us to kent's cavern, anstey's cove, and the round of exquisite views. we are at cash's hotel, but visit our friend susan midgley in the day and evening. to-morrow we start for street, to stay a day or two with my daughter helen, and are to spend sunday at bath. we have seen much and enjoyed much in our excursion, but we shall remember nothing with more pleasure than your kindness and our stay at penjerrick. "elizabeth joins me in kind and affectionate remembrance of you, and in the hope that thy dear father did not suffer from the 'long hours' to which my talk subjected him. when we get back to our bleak region and home of cold and smoke, we shall often think of your pleasant retreat, and of the wonderful gardens at penjerrick. believe me, always sincerely thy friend, john bright." _to_ caroline fox, penjerrick, falmouth. there are few men whose every uttered word is regarded with greater respect and interest than mr. ruskin. it is well known that he has always been a wide and careful collector of minerals, gems, and fine specimens of the art and nature world. one of his various agents, through whom at one time he made many such purchases, both for himself and his oxford and sheffield museums, was mr. bryce wright, the mineralogist, and to him are addressed the following five letters:-- brantwood, coniston, lancashire, _ nd may ' _. "my dear wright, i am very greatly obliged to you for letting me see these opals, quite unexampled, as you rightly say, from that locality--but from that locality _i_ never buy--my kind is the opal formed in pores and cavities, throughout the mass of that compact brown jasper--this, which is merely a superficial crust of jelly on the surface of a nasty brown sandstone, i do not myself value in the least. i wish you could get at some of the geology of the two sorts, but i suppose everything is kept close by the diggers and the jews at present. "as for the cameos, the best of the two, 'supposed' (by whom?) to represent isis, represents neither egyptian nor oxonian isis, but only an ill-made french woman of the town bathing at boulogne, and the other is only a 'minerve' of the halles, a _petroleuse_ in a mob-cap, sulphur-fire colour. "i don't depreciate what i want to buy, as you know well, but it is not safe to send me things in the set way 'supposed' to be this or that! if you ever get any more nice little cranes, or cockatoos, looking like what they're supposed to be meant for, they shall at least be returned with compliments. "i send back the box by to-day's rail; put down all expenses to my account, as i am always amused and interested by a parcel from you. "you needn't print this letter as an advertisement, unless you like! ever faithfully yours, j. ruskin." brantwood, _ rd may_. "my dear wright, the silver's safe here, and i want to buy it for sheffield, but the price seems to me awful. it must always be attached to it at the museum, and i fear great displeasure from the public for giving you such a price. what is there in the specimen to make it so valuable? i have not anything like it, nor do i recollect its like (or i shouldn't want it), but if so rare, why does not the british museum take it. ever truly yours, j. ruskin." brantwood, _wednesday_. "my dear wright, i am very glad of your long and interesting letter, and can perfectly understand all your difficulties, and have always observed your activity and attention to your business with much sympathy, but of late certainly i have been frightened at your prices, and, before i saw the golds, was rather uneasy at having so soon to pay for them. but you are quite right in your estimate of the interest and value of the collection, and i hope to be able to be of considerable service to you yet, though i fear it cannot be in buying specimens at seventy guineas, unless there is something to be shown for the money, like that great native silver! "i have really not been able to examine the red ones yet--the golds alone were more than i could judge of till i got a quiet hour this morning. i might possibly offer to change some of the locally interesting ones for a proustite, but i can't afford any more cash just now. ever very heartily yours, j. ruskin." brantwood, _ rd nov. or th (?), friday_. "dear wright, my telegram will, i hope, enable you to act with promptness about the golds, which will be of extreme value to me; and its short saying about the proustites will, i hope, not be construed by you as meaning that i will buy them also. you don't really suppose that you are to be paid interest of money on minerals, merely because they have lain long in your hands. "if i sold my old arm-chair, which has got the rickets, would you expect the purchaser to pay me forty years' interest on the original price? your proustite may perhaps be as good as ever it was, but it is not worth more to me or sheffield because you have had either the enjoyment or the care of it longer than you expected! "but i am really very seriously obliged by the _sight_ of it, with the others, and perhaps may make an effort to lump some of the new ones with the gold in an estimate of large purchase. i think the gold, by your description, must be a great credit to sheffield and to me; perhaps i mayn't be able to part with it! ever faithfully yours, j. ruskin." herne hill, s.e., _ may ' _. "my dear bryce, i can't resist this tourmaline, and have carried it off with me. for you and regent street it's not monstrous in price neither; but i must send you back your (pink!) apatite. i wish i'd come to see you, but have been laid up all the time i've been here--just got to the pictures, and that's all. yours always, (much to my damage!) j. r." footnotes: [ ] "life of sir t. fitzjames stephen," by his brother, leslie stephen. smith, elder & co., . [ ] the rev. derwent coleridge was at the time keeping a school at helston, which was within an easy distance of perran, where mrs. fox was at this time living. chat no. . "_scarcely she knew, that she was great or fair, or wise beyond what other women are._" --dryden. an oval picture that hangs opposite sheridan's portrait is a fine presentment of the marquis de ségur, by vanloo. the marquis was born in , and eventually became a marshal of france, and minister of war to louis xvi. after his royal master's execution he fell into very low water, and it was only by his calm intrepidity in very trying circumstances that he escaped the guillotine. his memoirs have from time to time appeared, generally under the authority of some of his descendants. this interesting portrait belonged to the family of de ségur, and was parted with by the present head of the house to the late mrs. lyne stephens, who gave it to us. the history of this admirable woman is deeply interesting in every detail. she was the daughter of colonel duvernay, a member of a good old french family, who was ruined by the french revolution of . born at versailles in the year , her father had the child named yolande marie louise; and she was educated at the conservatoire in paris, where they soon discovered her wonderful talent for dancing. this art was encouraged, developed, and trained to the uttermost; and when, in due time, she appeared upon the ballet stage, she took the town by storm, and at once came to the foremost rank as the well-known mademoiselle duvernay, rivalling, if not excelling, the two ellsslers, cerito, and taglioni. she made wide the fame of the cachucha dance, which was specially rearranged for her; and the world was immediately deluged with her portraits, some good, some bad, many very apocryphal, and many very indifferent. in one of w. m. thackeray's wonderful "roundabout papers," which perhaps contain some of the most beautiful work he ever gave us, he thus recalls, in a semi-playful, semi-pathetic tone, his recollections of the great _danseuse_. "in william iv.'s time, when i think of duvernay dancing in as the bayadère, i say it was a vision of loveliness such as mortal eyes can't see nowadays. how well i remember the tune to which she used to appear! kaled used to say to the sultan, 'my lord, a troop of those dancing and singing girls called bayadères approaches,' and to the clash of cymbals and the thumping of my heart, in she used to dance! there has never been anything like it--never." after a few years of brilliant successes she retired from the stage she had done so much to grace and dignify, and married the late mr. stephens lyne stephens, who in those days, and after his good old father's death, was considered one of the richest commoners in england. he died in , after a far too short, but intensely happy, married life; and having no children, left his widow, as far as was in his power, complete mistress of his large fortune. they were both devoted to art, and being very acute connoisseurs, had collected a superb quantity of the best pictures, the rarest old french furniture, and the finest china. the bulk of these remarkable collections was dispersed at christie's in a nine-days'-wonder sale in , and proved the great attraction of the season, buyers from paris, new york, vienna, and berlin eagerly competing with london for the best things. some of the more remarkable prices are here noted, as being of permanent interest to the art-loving world, and testifying how little hard times can affect the sale of a really fine and genuine collection. as a rule, the prices obtained were very far in excess of those paid for the various objects, in many cases reaching four and five times their original cost. a pair of mandarin vases sold for guineas. the beautiful sèvres oviform vase, given by louis xv. to the marquis de montcalm, guineas. a pair of sèvres blue and gold jardinières, - / inches high, guineas. a clock by berthoud, guineas. a small upright louis xvi. secretaire, guineas. another rather like it, guineas. a marble bust of louis xiv., guineas. three sèvres oviform vases, from lord pembroke's collection, guineas. a single oviform sèvres vase, guineas. a pair of sèvres vases, guineas. a very beautiful sedan chair, in italian work of the sixteenth century, guineas. a clock by causard, guineas. a louis xv. upright secretaire, guineas. "dogs and gamekeeper," painted by troyon, guineas. "the infanta," a full-length portrait by velasquez, guineas. a bust of the infanta, also by velasquez, guineas. "faith presenting the eucharist," a splendid work by murillo, guineas. "the prince of orange hunting," by cuyp, guineas. "the village inn," by van ostade, guineas. a fine specimen of terburg's work, guineas. a portrait by madame vigée le brun, guineas. a lovely portrait by nattier, guineas. watteau's celebrated picture of "la gamme d'amour," guineas. a pair of small lancret's illustrations to la fontaine brought respectively guineas and guineas. drouais' superb portrait of madame du barry, guineas; and a small head of a girl by greuze sold for guineas. small pieces of china of no remarkable merit, but bearing a greatly enhanced value from belonging to this celebrated collection, obtained wonderful prices. for example:-- a sang-de boeuf crackle vase, - / inches high, guineas. a pair of china kylins, guineas. a circular pesaro dish, guineas. a pair of sèvres dark blue oviform vases, guineas. three sèvres vases, guineas. two small panels of old french tapestry, guineas. another pair, guineas. a circular sèvres bowl, inches in diameter, guineas. the ormolu ornaments of the time of louis xiv. brought great sums; for instance-- an ormolu inkstand sold for guineas. a pair of wall lights, guineas. a pair of ormolu candlesticks, guineas. another pair, guineas. a pair of ormolu andirons, guineas. little tables of louis xv. period also sold amazingly. an oblong one, - / inches wide, guineas. an upright secretaire, guineas. a small louis xvi. chest of drawers, guineas. a pair of louis xvi. mahogany cabinets, guineas. a pair of louis xvi. bronze candelabra brought guineas; and an ebony cabinet of the same time fetched the extraordinary price of guineas; and a little louis xv. gold chatelaine sold for guineas. the grand total obtained by this remarkable sale, together with some of the plate and jewels, amounted to £ , ! for thirty-four years, as a widow, mrs. lyne stephens administered, with the utmost wisdom and the broadest generosity, the large trust thus placed in her most capable hands. building and restoring churches for both creeds (she being catholic and her late husband protestant); endowing needy young couples whom she considered had some claim upon her, if only as friends; further adding to and completing her art collections, and finishing and beautifying her different homes in norfolk, paris, and roehampton. generous to the fullest degree, she would warmly resent the least attempt to impose upon her. an amusing instance of this occurred many years ago, when one of her husband's relations, considering he had some extraordinary claim upon the widow's generosity, again and again pressed her for large benevolences, which for a season he obtained. getting tired of his importunity, she at last declined to render further help, and received in reply a very abusive letter from the claimant, which wound up by stating that if the desired assistance were not forthcoming by a certain date, the applicant would set up a fruit-stall in front of her then town-house in piccadilly, and so shame her into compliance with his request. she immediately wrote him a pretty little letter in reply, saying, "that it was with sincere pleasure she had heard of her correspondent's intention of pursuing for the first time an honest calling whereby to earn his bread, and that if his oranges were good, she had given orders that they should be bought for her servants' hall!" during the franco-german war of she remained in paris in her beautiful home in the faubourg-saint-honoré, and would daily sally forth to help the sufferings which the people in paris were undergoing. no one will ever know the vast extent of the sacrifice she then made. her men-servants had all left to fight for their country, and she was alone in the big house, with only two or three maids to accompany her. during the commune she continued her daily walks abroad, and was always recognised by the mob as a good frenchwoman, doing her utmost for the needs of the very poor. her friend, the late sir richard wallace, who was also in paris during these troubles, well earned his baronetcy by his care of the poor english shut up in the city during the siege; but although mrs. lyne stephens' charity was quite as wide and generous as his, she never received, nor did she expect or desire it, one word of acknowledgment or thanks from any of the powers that were. she died at lynford, from the result of a fall on a parquet floor, on the nd september , aged , full of physical vigour and intellectual brightness, and still remarkable for her personal beauty; finding life to the last full of many interests, but impressed by the sadness of having outlived nearly all her early friends and contemporaries. she lingered nearly three weeks after the actual fall, during which her affectionate gratitude to all who watched and tended her, her bright recognition when faces she loved came near, her quick response to all that was said and done, were beautiful and touching to see, and very sweet to remember. her last words to the writer of these lines when he bade her farewell were, "my fondest love to my beloved julian;" our invalid son at foxwold, for whom she always evinced the deepest affection and sympathy. in her funeral sermon, preached by canon scott, himself an intimate friend, in the beautiful church she had built for cambridge, to a crowded and deeply sympathetic audience, he eloquently observed: "greatly indeed was she indebted to god; richly had she been endowed with gifts of every kind; of natural character, of special intelligence, of winning attractiveness, which compelled homage from all who came under the charm of her influence; with the result of widespread renown and unbounded wealth.... therefore it was that the blessing of god came in another form--by the discipline of suffering and trial. there was the trial of loneliness. soon bereft, as she was, of her husband, of whose affection we may judge by the way in which he had laid all he possessed at her feet; french and catholic, living amongst those who were not of her faith or nation, though enjoying their devoted friendship. with advancing years, deprived by death even of those intimate friends, she was lonely in a sense throughout her life.... nor must it be omitted that her great gift to cambridge was not merely an easy one out of superfluous wealth, but that it involved some personal sacrifice. friends of late had missed the sight of costly jewels, which for years had formed a part of her personal adornment. what had become of a necklace of rarest pearls, now no longer worn?--they had been sacrificed for the erection of this very church." again, in a pastoral letter by the roman catholic bishop of northampton to his flock, dated the th of november , he says: "we take occasion of this our advent pastoral, to commend to your prayers the soul of one who has recently passed away, mrs. lyne stephens. her innumerable works of religion and charity during her life, force us to acknowledge our indebtedness to her; she built at her sole cost the churches of lynford, shefford, and cambridge, and she gave a large donation for the church at wellingborough. it was she who gave the presbytery and the endowment of lynford, the rectory at cambridge, and our own residence at northampton. by a large donation she greatly helped the new episcopal income fund, and she was generous to the holy father on the occasion of his first jubilee. our indebtedness was increased by her bequests, one to ourselves as the bishop, one for the maintenance of the fabric of the cambridge church, another for the boy's home at shefford, and a fourth to the clergy fund of this diocese. her name has been inscribed in our _liber vitæ_, among the great benefactors whether living or dead, and for these we constantly offer up prayers that god may bless their good estate in life, and after death receive them to their reward." to the inmates of foxwold she was for nearly a quarter of a century a true and loving friend, paying them frequent little visits, and entering with the deepest sympathy into the lives of those who also loved her very dearly. the house bears, through her generosity, many marks of her exquisite taste and broad bounty, and her memory will always be fragrant and beautiful to those who knew her. there are three portraits of her at roehampton. the first, as a most winsome, lovely girl, drawn life-size by a great pastellist in the reign of louis philippe; the second, as a handsome matron, in the happy years of her all too short married life; and the last, by carolus duran, was painted in paris in . this has been charmingly engraved, and represents her as a most lovely old lady, with abundant iron-grey hair and large violet eyes, very wide apart. she was intellectually as well as physically one of the strongest women, and she never had a day's illness, until her fatal accident, in her life. her conversation and power of repartee was extremely clever and brilliant. a shrewd observer of character, she rarely made a mistake in her first estimate of people, and her sometimes adverse judgments, which at first sight appeared harsh, were invariably justified by the history of after-events. her charity was illimitable, and was always, as far as possible, concealed. a simple-lived, brave, warm-hearted, generous woman, her death has created a peculiar void, which will not in our time be again filled:-- "for some we loved, the loveliest and the best, that from his vintage, rolling time hath prest, have drunk their cup, a round or two before, and one by one crept silently to rest." the index "_studious he sate, with all his books around, sinking from thought to thought, a vast profound; plunged for his sense, but found no bottom there; then wrote, and flounder'd on, in mere despair._" --pope. america. humours of a voyage to, . baxter, robert. his hospitality, . bedford town and schools, . binders and their work, . bradley, a. g. life of wolfe, . bright, john. letter from, . calverley, c. s., . charles ii. and lord northesk, . christie's. a sale at, . christie's. lyne stephens sale, . coleridge, hartley. letter from, . combe bank, . craze, modern. for work, . cunarder. on board a, . "cynical song of the city," . dickens. on over-work, . dobson, austin, . ethie castle and its ghost story, . fox, caroline. john bright's letter to, . fox, mrs. charles, of trebah, . fox, mrs. charles, and hartley coleridge, . foxwold and its early train, . french revolution of , . gainsborough's portrait of wolfe, . ghost story at ethie, . gosse, edmund. poem by, . grain, r. corney. sketch of, . " " his charity, . " " letter from, . guthrie, anstey. bon-mot of, . hamilton's parodies, . holmes, oliver wendell, . humours of an atlantic voyage, . "jane will return." a true story, . jerrold, douglas. drawing of, . laureateship, the, . lehmann, r. c. poem by, . letter from john bright, . " " hartley coleridge, . " " charles ii., . " " r. corney grain, . " " lord lauderdale, . letter from john poole, . " " john ruskin, . " " g. a. sala, . longfellow. extract from, . lyne stephens, mrs., . " " sketch of her life, . " " her art collections, . " " thackeray's sketch of her, . " " her death, . " " her funeral sermon, . " " great sale at christie's, . lytton, robert, lord. poem by, . manning, cardinal, . manning, charles john, . mayhew, horace, . meadows, kenny. drawing of, . newgate. visit to, . northesk, lord, and charles ii., . parody. an unknown one, . payn, mr. james. his lay-sermons, . poets who are not read, . poole, john. letter from, . portland, duke of, and his books, . portraits of mrs. lyne stephens, . _punch._ memorials of, . " portraits of writers to, . reynolds, sir joshua. portrait by, . ruskin, john. letters from, . sala, g. a. letter from, . " " picture by, . sales at christie's, , . schools, bedford, . ségur, marquis de. portrait of, . sheridan, r. b. portrait of, . stevenson, r. l., . stories. american, . scott, canon. sermon by, . symon, arthur. poem by, . texts, inappropriate, , , . thackeray's description of mrs. lyne stephens, . westerham. birthplace of wolfe, . wolfe, general. portrait of, . woods, mr. thomas h., . work, modern. craze for, . z---- sale of pictures, . * * * * * the reader (_loquiter_). "_glad of a quarrel, straight i clap the door; sir, let me see your works and you no more!_" --pope. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | in this etext the caret ^ represents a superscript character. | | | | minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. | | | | punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant | | form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. | | | | ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. | | | | mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved to the beginning of | | the chat in which they occurred. the list of illustrations | | paginations were not corrected. | | | | other corrections: | | | | -- page : 'hotel des affaires Étrangers,' changed to 'hôtel des | | affaires Étrangères,' | | -- page : caligraphy changed to calligraphy. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [illustration: the great book-collectors charles & mary elton] [illustration: fabri de peiresc.] the great book-collectors by charles isaac elton author of 'origins of english history' 'the career of columbus,' etc. & mary augusta elton [illustration] london kegan paul, trench, trübner & co., ltd. mdcccxciii contents page chapter i. classical chapter ii. ireland--northumbria chapter iii. england chapter iv. italy--the age of petrarch chapter v. oxford--duke humphrey's books--the library of the valois chapter vi. italy--the renaissance chapter vii. italian cities--olympia morata--urbino--the books of corvinus chapter viii. germany--flanders--burgundy--england chapter ix. france: early bookmen--royal collectors chapter x. the old royal library--fairfax--cotton--harley--the university of cambridge chapter xi. bodley--digby--laud--selden--ashmole chapter xii. grolier and his successors chapter xiii. later collectors: france--italy--spain chapter xiv. de thou--pinelli--peiresc chapter xv. french collectors--naudÉ to renouard chapter xvi. later english collectors index list of illustrations portrait of peiresc _frontispiece_ (from an engraving by claude mellan.) initial letter from the 'gospels of st. cuthbert' seal of richard de bury portrait of the duke of bedford praying before st. george (from the book of hours commonly known as the 'bedford missal.') portrait of magliabecchi (from an engraving in the british museum.) binding executed for queen elizabeth (english jeweller's-work on a cover of red velvet. from a copy of 'meditationum christianarum libellus,' lyons, , in the british museum.) portrait of sir robert cotton (from an engraving by r. white after c. jonson.) portrait of sir thomas bodley (from an engraving in the british museum.) binding executed for grolier (from a copy of silius italicus, venice, , in the british museum.) portrait of de thou (from an engraving by morin, after l. ferdinand.) chapter i. classical. in undertaking to write these few chapters on the lives of the book-collectors, we feel that we must move between lines that seem somewhat narrow, having regard to the possible range of the subject. we shall therefore avoid as much as possible the description of particular books, and shall endeavour to deal with the book-collector or book-hunter, as distinguished from the owner of good books, from librarians and specialists, from the merchant or broker of books and the book-glutton who wants all that he sees. guillaume postel and his friends found time to discuss the merits of the authors before the flood. our own age neglects the libraries of shem, and casts doubts on the antiquity of the book of enoch. but even in writing the briefest account of the great book-collectors, we are compelled to go back to somewhat remote times, and to say at least a few words about the ancient book-stories from the far east, from greece and rome, from egypt and pontus and asia. we have seen the brick-libraries of nineveh and the copies for the king at babylon, and we have heard of the rolls of ecbatana. all the world knows how nehemiah 'founded a library,' and how the brave maccabæus gathered again what had been lost by reason of the wars. every desert in the east seems to have held a library, where the pillars of some temple lie in the sand, and where dead men 'hang their mute thoughts on the mute walls around.' the egyptian traveller sees the site of the book-room of rameses that was called the 'hospital for the soul.' there was a library at the breast of the sphinx, and another where cairo stands, and one at alexandria that was burned in julius cæsar's siege, besides the later assemblage in the house of serapis which omar was said to have sacrificed as a tribute of respect for the koran. asia minor was celebrated for her libraries. there were 'many curious books' in ephesus, and rich stores of books at antioch on the orontes, and where the gray-capped students 'chattered like water-fowl' by the river at tarsus. in pergamus they made the fine parchment like ivory, beloved, as an enemy has said, by 'yellow bibliomaniacs whose skins take the colour of their food'; and there the wealthy race of attalus built up the royal collection which antony captured in war and sent as a gift to cleopatra. it pleased the greeks to invent traditions about the books of polycrates at samos, or those of pisistratus that were counted among the spoils of xerxes: and the athenians thought that the very same volumes found their way home again after the victories of alexander the great. aristotle owned the first private library of which anything is actually recorded; and it is still a matter of interest to follow the fortunes of his books. he left them as a legacy to a pupil, who bequeathed them to his librarian neleus: and his family long preserved the collection in their home near the ruins of troy. one portion was bought by the ptolemies for their great alexandrian library, and these books, we suppose, must have perished in the war with rome. the rest remained at home till there was some fear of their being confiscated and carried to pergamus. they were removed in haste and stowed away in a cave, where they nearly perished in the damp. when the parchments were disinterred they became the property of apellicon, to whom the saying was first applied that he was 'rather a bibliophile than a lover of learning.' while the collection was at athens he did much damage to the scrolls by his attempt to restore their worm-eaten paragraphs. sulla took the city soon afterwards, and carried the books to rome, and here more damage was done by the careless editing of tyrannion, who made a trade of copying 'aristotle's books' for the libraries that were rising on all sides at rome. the romans learned to be book-collectors in gathering the spoils of war. when carthage fell, the books, as some say, were given to native chieftains, the predecessors of king jugurtha in culture and of king juba in natural science: others say that they were awarded as a kind of compensation to the family of the murdered regulus. their preservation is attested by the fact that the carthaginian texts were cited centuries afterwards by the writers who described the most ancient voyages in the atlantic. when the unhappy perseus was deprived of the kingdom of macedonia, the royal library was chosen by Æmilius paullus as the general's share of the plunder. asinius pollio furnished a great reading-room with the literary treasures of dalmatia. a public library was established by julius cæsar on the aventine, and two were set up by augustus within the precinct of the palace of the cæsars; and octavia built another near the tiber in memory of the young marcellus. the gloomy domitian restored the library at the capitol, which had been struck and fired by lightning. trajan ransacked the wealth of the world for his collection in the 'ulpiana,' which, in accordance with a later fashion, became one of the principal attractions of the thermæ of diocletian. the splendours of the private library began in the days of lucullus. enriched with the treasure of king mithridates and all the books of pontus, he housed his collection in such stately galleries, thronged with a multitude of philosophers and poets, that it seemed as if there were a new home for the muses, and a fresh sanctuary for hellas. seneca, a philosopher and a millionaire himself, inveighed against such useless pomp. he used to rejoice at the blow that fell on the arrogant magnificence of alexandria. 'our idle book-hunters,' he said, 'know about nothing but titles and bindings: their chests of cedar and ivory, and the book-cases that fill the bath-room, are nothing but fashionable furniture, and have nothing to do with learning.' lucian was quite as severe on the book-hunters of the age of the antonines. the bibliophile goes book in hand, like the statue of bellerophon with the letter, but he only cares for the choice vellum and bosses of gold. 'i cannot conceive,' said lucian, 'what you expect to get out of your books; yet you are always poring over them, and binding and tying them, and rubbing them with saffron and oil of cedar, as if they could make you eloquent, when by nature you are as dumb as a fish.' he compares the industrious dunce to an ass at a music-book, or to a monkey that remains a monkey still for all the gold on its jacket. 'if books,' he adds, 'have made you what you are, i am sure that you ought of all things to avoid them.' after the building of constantinople a home for literature was found in the eastern cities; and, as the boundaries of the empire were broken down by the saracen advance, learning gradually retired to the colleges and basilicas of the capital, and to the greek monasteries of stony athos, and patmos, and the 'green erebinthus.' among the romans of the east we cannot discern many learned men, but we know that there was a multitude ready to assist in the preservation of learning. the figures of three or four true book-lovers stand out amid the crowd of _dilettanti_. st. pamphilus was a student at the legal university of beyrout before he was received into the church: he devoted himself afterwards to the school of sacred learning which he established at cæsarea in palestine. here he gathered together about , volumes, almost all consisting of the works of the fathers. his personal labour was given to the works of origen, in whose mystical doctrine he had become a proficient at alexandria. the martyrdom of pamphilus prevented the completion of his own elaborate commentaries. he left the library to the church of cæsarea, under the superintendence of his friend eusebius. st. jerome paid a visit to the collection while he was still enrolled on the list of bibliophiles. he had bought the best books to be found at trêves and aquileia; he had seen the wealth of rome, and was on his way to the oriental splendour of constantinople: it is from him that we first hear of the gold and silver inks and the tyrian purple of the vellum. he declared that he had never seen anything to compare with the library of pamphilus; and when he was given twenty-five volumes of origen in the martyr's delicate writing, he vowed that he felt richer than if he had found the wealth of croesus. the emperor julian was a pupil of eusebius, and became reader for a time in the church at cæsarea. he was passionately fond of books, and possessed libraries at antioch and constantinople, as well as in his beloved 'lutetia' on the island in the seine. a sentence from one of his letters was carved over the door of his library at antioch: 'some love horses, or hawks and hounds, but i from my boyhood have pined with a desire for books.' it is said that another of his libraries was burned by his successor jovian in a parody of alexander's feast. it is true, at any rate, that the book-butcher set fire to the books at antioch as part of his revenge against the apostate. one is tempted to dwell on the story of these massacres. in many a war, as an ancient bibliophile complained, have books been dispersed abroad, 'dismembered, stabbed, and mutilated': 'they were buried in the earth or drowned in the sea, and slain by all kinds of slaughter.' 'how much of their blood the warlike scipio shed: how many on the banishment of boethius were scattered like sheep without a shepherd!' perhaps the subject should be isolated in a separate volume, where the rude omar, and jovian, and the despoilers of the monasteries, might be pilloried. seneca would be indicted for his insult to cleopatra's books: sir thomas browne might be in danger for his saying, that 'he could with patience behold the urn and ashes of the vatican, could he with a few others recover the perished leaves of solomon.' he might escape by virtue of his saving clause, and some excuse would naturally be found for seneca; but the rest might be treated like those genoese criminals who were commemorated on marble tablets as 'the worst of mankind.' for several generations after the establishment of the eastern empire, constantinople was the literary capital of the world and the main repository of the arts and sciences. mr. middleton has lately shown us in his work upon illuminated manuscripts that persia and egypt, as well as the western countries, 'contributed elements both of design and technical skill which combined to create the new school of byzantine art.' constantinople, he tells us, became for several centuries the main centre for the production of manuscripts. outside the domain of art we find little among the romans of the east that can in any sense be called original. they were excellent at an epitome or a lexicon, and were very successful as librarians. the treasures of antiquity, as gibbon has said, were imparted in such extracts and abridgments 'as might amuse the curiosity without oppressing the indolence of the public.' the patriarch photius stands out as a literary hero among the commentators and critics of the ninth century. that famous book-collector, in analysing the contents of his library for an absent brother, became the preserver of many of the most valuable classics. as commander of the guard he led the life of a peaceful student: as patriarch of byzantium his turbulence rent the fabric of christendom, and he was 'alternately excommunicated and absolved by the synods of the east and west.' we owe the publication of the work called _the myriad of books_ to the circumstance that he was appointed to an embassy at bagdad. his brother wrote to remind him of their pleasant evenings in the library when they explored the writings of the ancients and made an analysis of their contents. photius was about to embark on a dangerous journey, and he was implored to leave a record of what had been done since his brother had last taken part in the readings. the answer of photius was the book already mentioned: he reviews nearly three hundred volumes of the historians and orators, the philosophers and theologians, the travellers and the writers of romance, and with an even facility 'abridges their narrative or doctrine and appreciates their style and character.' the great imperial library which stood by st. sophia had been destroyed in the reign of leo the iconoclast in the preceding age, and in an earlier conflagration more than half a million books are said to have been lost from the basilica. the losses by fire were continual, but were constantly repaired. leo the philosopher, who was educated under the care of photius, and his son and successor constantine, were renowned as the restorers of learning, and the great writers of antiquity were collected again by their zeal in the square hall near the public treasury. the boundaries of the realm of learning extended far beyond the limits of the empire, and the arabian science was equally famous among the moors of spain and in the further parts of asia. we are told of a doctor refusing the invitation of the sultan of bokhara, 'because the carriage of his books would have required four hundred camels.' we know that the ommiad dynasty formed the gigantic library at cordova, and that there were at least seventy others in the colleges that were scattered through the kingdom of granada. the prospect was very dark in other parts of western europe throughout the whole period of barbarian settlement. we shall not endeavour to trace the slight influences that preserved some knowledge of religious books at the court of the merovingian kings, or among the visigoths and ostrogoths and burgundians. we prefer to pause at a moment preceding the final onslaught. the letters of sidonius afford us a few glimpses of the literary condition of southern gaul soon after the invasion of attila. the bishop of clermont gives us a delightful picture of his house: a verandah leads from the _atrium_ to the garden by the lake: we pass through a winter-parlour, a morning-room, and a north-parlour protected from the heat. every detail seems to be complete; and yet we hear nothing of a library. the explanation seems to be that the bishop was a close imitator of pliny. the villa in auvergne is a copy of the winter-refuge at laurentum, where pliny only kept 'a few cases contrived in the wall for the books that cannot be read too often.' but when the bishop writes about his friends' houses we find many allusions to their libraries. consentius sits in a large book-room when he is composing his verses or 'culling the flowers of his music.' when he visited the prefect of gaul, sidonius declared that he was whirled along in a stream of delights. there were all kinds of out-door amusements and a library filled with books. 'you would fancy yourself among a professor's book-cases, or in a book-shop, or amid the benches of a lecture-room.' the bishop considered that this library of the villa prusiana was as good as anything that could be found in rome or alexandria. the books were arranged according to subjects. the room had a 'ladies' side'; and here were arranged the devotional works. the illuminated volumes, as far as can now be judged, were rather gaudy than brilliant, as was natural in an age of decadence; but st. germanus was a friend of the bishop, and as we suppose of the prefect, and his copy of the gospels was in gold and silver letters on purple vellum, as may still be seen. by the gentlemen's seats were ranged the usual classical volumes, all the works of varro, which now exist only in fragments, and the poets sacred and profane; behind certain cross-benches was the literary food of a lighter kind, more suited to the weaker vessels without regard to sex. here every one found what would suit his own liking and capacity, and here on the day after their arrival the company worked hard after breakfast 'for four hours by the water clock.' suddenly the door was thrown open, and in his uniform the head cook appeared and solemnly warned them all that their meal was served, and that it was as necessary to nourish the body as to stuff the mind with learning. when the barbarians were established through gaul and italy the libraries in the old country-houses must have been completely destroyed. some faint light of learning remained while boethius 'trimmed the lamp with his skilful hand'; some knowledge of the classics survived during the lives of cassiodorus and isidore of seville. some of the original splendour may have lingered at rome, and perhaps in ravenna. when boethius was awaiting his doom in the tower at pavia, his mind reverted to the lettered ease of his life before he had offended the fierce theodoric. his philosophy found comfort in thinking that all the valuable part of his books was firmly imprinted on his soul; but he never ceased regretting the walls inlaid with ivory and the shining painted windows in his old library at rome. chapter ii. ireland--northumbria. the knowledge of books might almost have disappeared in the seventh century, when the cloud of ignorance was darkest, but for a new and remarkable development of learning in the irish monasteries. this development is of special interest to ourselves from the fact that the church of northumbria was long dependent on the irish settlement at iona. the anglians taught by paulinus very soon relapsed into paganism, and the second conversion of the north was due to the missionaries of the school of st. columba. the power of rome was established at the council of whitby; but in the days when aidan preached at lindisfarne the northumbrians were still in obedience to an irish rule, and were instructed and edified by the acts and lives of st. patrick, of st. brigit, and the mighty columba. we shall quote some of the incidents recorded about the irish books, a few legends of patrick and dim traditions from the days of columba, before noticing the rise of the english school. the first mention of the irish books seems to be contained in a passage of Æthicus. the cosmography ascribed to that name has been traced to very early times. it was long believed to have been written by st. jerome; but in its present form, at least, the work contains entries of a much later date. the passage in which ireland is mentioned may be even as late as the age of columbanus, when irish monks set up their churches at würzburg and on the shores of the lake of constance, or illuminated their manuscripts at bobbio under the protection of theodolind and her successors in lombardy. a wandering philosopher is represented as visiting the northern regions: he remained for a while in the isle of saints and turned over the painted volumes; but he despised the native churchmen and called them 'doctors of ignorance.' 'here am i in ireland, at the world's end, with much toil and little ease; with such unskilled labourers in the field the place is too doleful, and is absolutely of no good to me.' palladius came with twelve men to preach to the gael, and we are told that he 'left his books' at cellfine. the legendary st. patrick is made to pass into ulster, and he finds a king who burns himself and his home 'that he may not believe in patrick.' the saint proceeds to tara with eight men and a little page carrying the book-wallet; 'it was like eight deer with one fawn following, and a white bird on its shoulder.' the king and his chief druid proposed a trial by ordeal. the king said, 'put your books into the water.' 'i am ready for that,' said patrick. but the druid said, 'a god of water this man adores, and i will not take part in the ordeal.' the king said, 'put your books into the fire.' 'i am ready for that,' said patrick. 'a god of fire once in two years this man adores, and i will not do that,' said the druid. in the church by the oak-tree at kildare st. brigit had a marvellous book, or so her nuns supposed. the kildare gospels may have been illuminated as early as columba's time. gerard de barri saw the book in the year , and said that it was so brilliant in colouring, so delicate and finely drawn, and with such enlacements of intertwining lines that it seemed to be a work beyond the powers of mortal man, and to be worthy of an angel's skill; and, indeed, there was a strong belief that miraculous help had been given to the artist in his dreams. the 'book of durrow' called _the gospels of st. columba_, almost rivals the famous 'book of kells' with which mr. madan will doubtless deal in his forthcoming volume on manuscripts. a native poet declared that when the saint died in he had illuminated 'three hundred bright noble books'; and he added that 'however long under water any book of the saint's writing should be, not one single letter would be drowned.' our authorities tell us that the book of durrow might possibly be one of the three hundred, 'as it bears some signs of being earlier in date than the book of kells.' st. columba, men said, was passionately devoted to books. yet he gave his gospels to the church at swords, and presented the congregation at derry with the volume that he had fetched from tours, 'where it had lain on st. martin's breast a hundred years in the ground.' in one of the biographies there is a story about 'langarad of the white legs,' who dwelt in the region of ossory. to him columba came as a guest, and found that the sage was hiding all his books away. then columba left his curse upon them; 'may that,' quoth he, 'about which thou art so niggardly be never of any profit after thee'; and this was fulfilled, 'for the books remain to this day, and no man reads them.' when langarad died 'all the book-satchels in ireland that night fell down'; some say, 'all the satchels and wallets in the saint's house fell then: and columba and all who were in his house marvelled at the noisy shaking of the books.' so then speaks columba: 'langarad in ossory,' quoth he, 'is just now dead.' 'long may it be ere that happens,' said baithen. 'may the burden of that disbelief fall on him and not on thee,' said columba. another tradition relates to st. finnen's book that caused a famous battle; and that was because of a false judgment which king diarmid gave against columba, when he copied st. finnen's psalter without leave. st. finnen claimed the copy as being the produce of his original, and on the appeal to the court at tara his claim was confirmed. king diarmid decided that to every mother-book belongs the child-book, as to the cow belongs her calf; 'and so,' said the king, 'the book that you wrote, columba, belongs to finnen by right.' 'that is an unjust judgment,' said columba, 'and i will avenge it upon you.' not long afterwards the saint was insulted by the seizure and execution of an offender who had taken sanctuary and was clasped in his arms. columba went over the wild mountains and raised the tribes of tyrconnell and tyrone, and defeated king diarmid in battle. when the saint went to iona he left the copy of finnen's psalter to the head of the chief tribe in tyrconnell. it was called the _book of the battle_, and if they carried it three times round the enemy, in the sun's course, they were sure to return victorious. the book was the property of the o'donnells till the dispersion of their clan. the gilt and jewelled case in which it rests was made in the eleventh century: a frame round the inner shrine was added by daniel o'donnell, who fought in the battle of the boyne. a large fragment of the book remained in a belgian monastery in trust for the true representative of the clan; and soon after waterloo it was given up to sir neal o'donnell, to whose family it still belongs. it is now shown at the museum of the royal irish academy. 'the fragment of the original _book of the battle_', says o'curry, 'is of small quarto form, consisting of fifty-eight leaves of fine vellum, written in a small, uniform, but rather hurried hand, with some slight attempts at illumination.' we have now to describe the great increase of books in northumbria. in the year aidan set up his quarters with a few irish monks on the isle of lindisfarne, and his abbey soon became one of the main repositories of learning. the book called _the gospels of st. cuthbert_ was written in , and was regarded for nearly two centuries as the chief ornament of lindisfarne. the monastery was burned by the danes, and the servants of st. cuthbert, who had concealed the 'gospels' in his grave, wandered forth, with the saint's body in an ark and the book in its chest, in search of a new place of refuge. they attempted a voyage to ireland, but their ship was driven back by a storm. the book-chest had been washed overboard, but in passing up the solway firth they saw the book shining in its golden cover upon the sand. for more than a century afterwards the book shared the fortunes of a wandering company of monks: in the year it was laid on st. cuthbert's coffin in the new church at durham; early in the twelfth century it returned to lindisfarne. here it remained until the dissolution of the monasteries, when its golden covers were torn off, and the book came bare and unadorned into the hands of sir robert cotton, and passed with the rest of his treasures into the library of the british museum. [illustration: initial letter from the gospels of st. cuthbert.] theodore of tarsus had been consecrated archbishop of canterbury in the year . he brought with him a large quantity of books for use in his new greek school. these books were left by his will to the cathedral library, where they remained for ages without disturbance. william lambarde, the kentish antiquary, has left an account of their appearance. he was speaking of archbishop parker, 'whose care for the conservation of ancient monuments can never be sufficiently commended.' 'the reverend father,' he added, 'showed me the _psalter of david_, and sundry homilies in greek, and hebrew also, and some other greek authors, beautifully written on thick paper with the name of this theodore prefixed,' to whose library the archbishop thought that they had belonged, 'being thereto led by a show of great antiquity.' the monks of canterbury claimed to possess the books on pink vellum, with rubricated capitals, which pope gregory had sent to augustine. one of these afterwards belonged to parker, who gave it to corpus christi at cambridge: the experts now believe that it was written in the eighth century 'in spite of the ancient appearance of the figure-painting.' another is the _psalter of st. augustine_, now preserved among the cottonian mss. this is also considered to be a writing of the eighth century. in the bodleian library there is a third example, written in quarto with large uncial letters in double columns, in much the same style as the book given by parker to corpus christi. the bodleian specimen is especially interesting as containing on the fly-leaf a list in anglo-saxon of the contents of the library of solomon the priest, with notes as to other small collections. we have reached the period in which northumbria became for a time the centre of western culture. the supremacy of rome, set up at the council of whitby, was fostered and sustained by the introduction of the italian arts. vast quantities of books were imported. stately abbeys were rising along the coast, and students were flocking to seek the fruits of the new learning in well-filled libraries and bustling schools. we may judge how bright the prospect seemed by the tone of alcuin's letters to charles the great. he tells the emperor of certain 'exquisite books' which he had studied under egbert at york. the schools of the north are compared to 'a garden enclosed' and to the beds of spices: he asks that some of the young men may be sent over to procure books, so that in tours as well as at york they may gather the flowers of the garden and share in the 'outgoings of paradise.' a few years afterwards came the news of the harrying of northumbria by the vikings. the libraries were burned, and northumbria was overwhelmed in darkness and slavery; and alcuin wrote again, 'he who can hear of this calamity and not cry to god on behalf of his country, must have a heart not of flesh but of stone.' benedict biscop was our first english book-collector. the son of a rich thane might have looked to a political career; he preferred to devote himself to learning, and would have spent his life in a roman monastery if the pope had not ordered him to return to england in company with theodore of tarsus. his first expedition was made with his friend st. wilfrid. they crossed in a ship provided by the king of kent. travelling together as far as lyons, wilfrid remained there for a time, and benedict pushed on to mont cenis, and so to rome, after a long and perilous journey. on a second visit he received the tonsure, and went back to work at lindisfarne; but about two years afterwards he obtained a passage to italy in a trading-vessel, and it was on this occasion that he received the pope's commands. four years elapsed before he was in rome again: throughout the year he was amassing books by purchase and by the gifts of his friends; and returning by vienne he found another large store awaiting him which he had ordered on his outward journey. benedict was able to set up a good library in his new abbey at wearmouth; but his zeal appears to have been insatiable. we find him for the fifth time at the mart of learning, and bringing home, as bede has told us, 'a multitude of books of all kinds.' he divided his new wealth between the church at wearmouth and the abbey at jarrow, across the river. ceolfrid of jarrow himself made a journey to rome with the object of augmenting benedict's 'most noble and copious store'; but he gave to the king of northumbria, in exchange for a large landed estate, the magnificent 'cosmography' which his predecessor had brought to wearmouth. st. wilfrid presented to his church at ripon a _book of the gospels_ on purple vellum, and a bible with covers of pure gold inlaid with precious stones. john the precentor, who introduced the roman liturgy into this country, bequeathed a number of valuable books to wearmouth. bede had no great library of his own; it was his task 'to disseminate the treasures of benedict.' but he must have possessed a large number of manuscripts while he was writing the ecclesiastical history, since he has informed us that bishop daniel of winchester and other learned churchmen in the south were accustomed to supply him constantly with records and chronicles. st. boniface may be counted among the collectors, though he could carry but a modest supply of books through the german forests and the marshes of friesland. as a missionary he found it useful to display a finely-painted volume. writing to the abbess eadburga for a missal, he asked that the parchment might be gay with colours,--'even as a glittering lamp and an illumination for the hearts of the gentiles.' 'i entreat you,' he writes again, 'to send me _st. peters epistle_ in letters of gold.' he begged all his friends to send him books as a refreshment in the wilderness. bishop daniel is asked for the _prophecies_ 'written very large.' bishop lulla is to send a cosmography and a volume of poems. he applies to one archbishop for the works of bede, 'who is the lamp of the church,' and to the other for the pope's _answers to augustine_, which cannot be found in the roman bookshops. boniface was primate of germany; but he resigned his high office to work among the rude tribes of friesland. we learn that he carried some of his choicest books with him on his last ill-fated expedition, when the meadow and the river-banks were strewn with the glittering service-books after the murder of the saint and his companions. egbert of york set up a large library in the minster. alcuin took charge of it after his friend's death, and composed a versified catalogue, of such merit as the nature of the task allowed. 'here you may trace the footsteps of the fathers; here you meet the clear-souled aristotle and tully of the mighty tongue; here basil and fulgentius shine, and cassiodorus and john of the golden mouth.' as alcuin was returning from book-buying at rome he met charles the great at parma. the emperor persuaded the traveller to enter his service, and they succeeded by their joint efforts in producing a wonderful revival of literature. the emperor had a fine private collection of mss. adorned in the anglo-frankish style; and he established a public library, containing the works of the fathers, 'so that the poorest student might find a place at the banquet of learning.' alcuin presented to the emperor's own collection a revised copy of the vulgate illuminated under his personal supervision. towards the end of alcuin's career he retired to the abbey of st. martin at tours, and there founded his 'museum,' which was in fact a large establishment for the editing and transcription of books. here he wrote those delightful letters from which we have already made an extract. to his friend arno at salzburg he writes about a little treatise on orthography, which he would have liked to have recited in person. 'oh that i could turn the sentences into speech, and embrace my brother with a warmth that cannot be sent in a book; but since i cannot come myself i send my rough letters, that they may speak for me instead of the words of my mouth.' to the emperor he sent a description of his life at tours: 'in the house of st. martin i deal out the honey of the scriptures, and some i excite with the ancient wine of wisdom, and others i fill full with the fruits of grammatical learning.' very few book-lovers could be found in england while the country was being ravaged by the danes. the northern abbeys were burned, and their libraries destroyed. the books at york perished, though the minster was saved; the same fate befell the valuable collections at croyland and peterborough. the royal library at stockholm contains the interesting 'golden gospels,' decorated in the same style as the _book of lindisfarne_, and perhaps written at the same place. an inscription of the ninth century shows that it was bought from a crew of pirates by duke alfred, a nobleman of wessex, and was presented by him and his wife werburga to the church at canterbury. it seems possible that literature was kept alive in our country by king alfred's affection for the old english songs. we know that he used to recite them himself and would make his children get them by heart. he was not much of a scholar himself, but he had all the learning of mercia to help him. archbishop plegmund and his chaplains were the king's secretaries, 'and night and day, whenever he had time, he commanded these men to read to him.' from france came provost grimbald, a scholar and a sweet singer, and brother john of corbei, a paragon in all kinds of science. asser came to the court from his home in wales: 'i remained there,' he says, 'for about eight months, and all that time i used to read to him whatever books were at hand; for it was his regular habit by day and night, amidst all his other occupations, either to read to himself or to listen while others read to him.' st. dunstan was an ardent admirer of the old battle-chaunts and funeral-lays. he was, it need hardly be said, the friend of all kinds of learning. the saint was an expert scribe and a painter of miniatures; and specimens of his exquisite handiwork may still be seen at canterbury and in the bodleian at oxford. he was the real founder of the glastonbury library, where before his time only a few books had been presented by missionaries from ireland. his great work was the establishment of the benedictines in the place of the regular clergy: and the reform at any rate insured the rise of a number of new monasteries, each with its busy 'scriptorium,' out of which the library would grow. we must say a word in remembrance of archbishop Ælfric, the author of a great part of our english chronicle. he was trained at winchester, where the illuminators, it is said, were 'for a while the foremost in the world.' he enacted that every priest should have at least a psalter and hymn-book and half a dozen of the most important service-books, before he could hope for ordination. his own library, containing many works of great value, was bequeathed to the abbey of st. alban's. we end the story of the anglo-saxon books with a mention of leofric, the first bishop of exeter, who gave a magnificent donation out of his own library to the cathedral church. the catalogue is still extant, and some of the volumes are preserved at oxford. there were many devotional works of the ordinary kind; there were 'reading-books for winter and summer,' and song-books, and especially 'night-songs'; but the greatest treasure of all was the 'great book of english poetry,' known as the exeter book, in which cynewulf sang of the ruin of the 'purple arch,' and set forth the exile's lament and the traveller's song. chapter iii. england. a more austere kind of learning came in with the norman conquest. lanfranc and anselm introduced at canterbury a devotion to science, to the doctrines of theology and jurisprudence, and to the new discoveries which norman travellers were bringing back from the schools at salerno. lanfranc imported a large quantity of books from the continent. he would labour day and night at correcting the work of his scribes; and anselm, when he succeeded to the see, used often to deprive himself of rest to finish the transcription of a manuscript. lanfranc, we are told, was especially generous in lending his books: among a set which he sent to st. alban's we find the names of twenty-eight famous treatises, besides a large number of missals and other service-books, and two 'books of the gospels,' bound in silver and gold, and ornamented with valuable jewels. a historian of our own time has said that england in the twelfth century was the paradise of scholars. dr. stubbs imagined a foreign student making a tour through the country and endeavouring to ascertain its proper place in the literary world. he would have seen a huge multitude of books, and 'such a supply of readers and writers' as could not have been found elsewhere, except perhaps in the university of paris. canterbury was a great literary centre. at winchester there was a whole school of historians; at lincoln he might listen to walter map or learn at the feet of st. hugh. 'nothing is more curious than the literary activity going on in the monasteries; manuscripts are copied; luxurious editions are recopied and illuminated; there is no lack of generosity in lending or of boldness in borrowing; there is brisk competition and open rivalry.' the benedictines were ever the pioneers of learning: the regular clergy were still the friends of their books, and 'delighted in their communion with them,' as the philobiblon phrased it. we gather from the same source the lamentation of the books in the evil times that followed. the books complain that they are cast from their shelves into dark corners, ragged and shivering, and bereft of the cushions which propped up their sides. 'our vesture is torn off by violent hands, so that our souls cleave to the ground, and our glory is laid in the dust.' the old-fashioned clergy had been accustomed to treat religious books with reverence, and would copy them out most carefully in the intervals of the canonical hours. the monks used to give even their time of rest to the decoration of the volumes which added a splendour to their monasteries. but now, it is complained, the regulars even reject their own rule that books are to be asked for every day. they carry bows and arrows, or sword and buckler, and play at dice and draughts, and give no alms except to their dogs. 'our places are taken by hawks and hounds, or by that strange creature, woman, from whom we taught our pupils to flee as from an asp or basilisk. this creature, ever jealous and implacable, spies us out in a corner hiding behind some ancient cabinet, and she wrinkles her forehead and laughs us to scorn, and points to us as the only rubbish in the house; and she complains that we are totally useless, and recommends our being bartered away at once for fine caps and cambrics or silks, for double-dyed purple stuffs, for woollen and linen and fur.' 'nay,' they add, 'we are sold like slaves or left as unredeemed pledges in taverns: we are given to cruel butchers to be slaughtered like sheep or cattle. every tailor, or base mechanic may keep us shut up in his prison.' worst of all was the abominable ingratitude that sold the illuminated vellums to ignorant painters, or to goldsmiths who only wanted these 'sacred vessels' as receptacles for their sheets of gold-leaf. 'flocks and fleeces, crops and herds, gardens and orchards, the wine and the wine-cup, are the only books and studies of the monks.' they are reprehended for their banquets and fine clothes and monasteries towering on high like a castle in its bulwarks: 'for such things as these,' the supplication continues, 'we, their books, are cast out of their hearts and regarded as useless lumber, except some few worthless tracts, from which they still pick out a mixture of rant and nonsense, more to tickle the ears of their audience than to assuage any hunger of the soul.' a great religious revival began with the coming of the mendicant friars, who, according to the celebrated grostête, 'illumined our whole country with the light of their preaching and learning.' the franciscans and dominicans reached england in , and were established at oxford within two years afterwards, where the grey friars of st. francis soon obtained as great a predominance as the dominicans or black friars had gained in the university of paris. st. francis himself had set his face against literature. professor brewer pointed out in the _monumenta franciscana_ that his followers were expected to be poor in heart and understanding: 'total absolute poverty secured this, but it was incompatible with the possession of books or the necessary materials for study.' even roger bacon, when he joined the friars, was forbidden to retain his books and instruments, and was not allowed to touch ink or parchment without a special licence from the pope. we may quote one or two of the anecdotes about the saint. a brother was arguing with him on the text 'take nothing with you on the way,' and asked if it meant 'absolutely nothing'; 'nothing,' said the saint, 'except the frock allowed by our rule, and, if indispensable, a pair of shoes.' 'what am i to do?' said the brother: 'i have books of my own,' naming a value of many pounds of silver. 'i will not, i ought not, i cannot allow it,' was the reply. a novice applied to st. francis for leave to possess a psalter: but the saint said, 'when you have got a psalter, then you'll want a breviary, and when you have got a breviary you will sit in a chair as great as a lord, and will say to some brother, friar! go and fetch me my breviary!' and he laid ashes on his head, and repeated, 'i am your breviary! i am your breviary!' till the novice was dumbfounded and amazed; and then again the saint said that he also had once been tempted to possess books, and he almost yielded to the request, but decided in the end that such yielding would be sinful. he hoped that the day would come when men would throw their books out of the window as rubbish. a curious change took place when the mendicants got control of the schools. it was absolutely necessary that they should be the devourers of books if they were to become the monopolists of learning. in the century following their arrival, fitz-ralph, the archbishop of armagh, complained that his chaplains could not buy any books at oxford, because they were all snapped up by the men of the cord and cowl: 'every brother who keeps a school has a huge collection, and in each convent of freres is a great and noble library.' the grey friars certainly had two houses full of books in school street, and their brothers in london had a good library, which was in later times increased and richly endowed by sir richard whittington, the book-loving lord mayor of london. there were some complaints that the friars cared too much for the contents and too little for the condition of their volumes. the carmelites, who arrived in england after the two greater orders, had the reputation of being careful librarians, 'anxiously protecting their books against dust and worms,' and ranging the manuscripts in their large room at oxford at first in chests and afterwards in book-cases. the franciscans were too ready to give and sell, to lend and spend, the volumes that they were so keen to acquire. a dominican was always drawn with a book in his hand; but he would care nothing for it, if it contained no secrets of science. richard de bury had much to say about the friars in that treatise on the love of books, 'which he fondly named philobiblon,' being a commendation of wisdom and of the books wherein she dwells. the friars, he said, had preserved the ancient stores of learning, and were always ready to procure the last sermon from rome or the newest pamphlet from oxford. when he visited their houses in the country-towns, and turned out their chests and book-shelves, he found such wealth as might have lain in kings' treasuries; 'in those cupboards and baskets are not merely the crumbs that fall from the table, but the shew-bread which is angel's food, and corn from egypt and the choicest gilts of sheba.' he gives the highest praise to the preachers or friars of the dominican order, as being most open and ungrudging, 'and overflowing with a with a kind of divine liberality.' but both preachers and minorites, or grey friars, had been his pupils, his friends and guests in his family, and they had always applied themselves with unwearied zeal to the task of editing, indexing, and cataloguing the volumes in the library. 'these men,' he cries, 'are the successors of bezaleel and the embroiderers of the ephod and breast-plate: these are the husbandmen that sow, and the oxen that tread out the corn: they are the blowers of the trumpets: they are the shining pleiades and the stars in their courses.' brother agnellus of pisa was the first franciscan missionary at oxford, and the first minister of the order in this county. he set up a school for poor students, at which bishop grostête was the first reader or master; but we are told that he afterwards felt great regret when he found his friars bestowing their time upon frivolous learning. 'one day, when he wished to see what proficiency they were making, he entered the school while a disputation was going on, and they were wrangling and debating about the existence of the deity. "woe is me! woe is me!" he burst forth: "the simple brethren are entering heaven, and the learned ones are debating if there be one"; and he sent at once a sum of £ sterling to the court to buy a copy of the decretals, that the friars might study them and give over their frivolities.' the great difficulty was to prevent the brethren from studying the doctrine of aristotle, as it was to be found in vile latin translations, instead of attending to grostête, who was said to know 'a hundred thousand times more than aristotle' on all his subjects. grostête himself spent very large sums in importing greek books. in this he was helped by john basingstoke, who had himself studied at athens, and who taught the greek language to several of the monks at st. alban's. grostête upheld the eastern doctrines against the teaching of the papal court, and indeed was nicknamed 'the hammerer of the romans.' he based many of his statements upon books which he valued as his choicest possessions; but some of them, such as the _testament of the patriarchs_ and the _decretals of dionysius_ are now admitted to be forgeries. on grostête's death in he bequeathed his library, rich in marginal commentaries and annotations, to the friars for whom he had worked before he became bishop and chancellor. some generations afterwards their successors sold many of the books to dr. gascoigne, who used to work on them at the minorites' library: and some of those which he bought found their way to the libraries of balliol, oriel, and lincoln; the main body of grostête's books was gradually dispersed by gifts and sales, and dwindled down to little or nothing; so that, when leland paid his official visit after the suppression of the monasteries, he found very few books of any kind, but plenty of dust and cobwebs, 'and moths and beetles swarming over the empty shelves.' it has been said that richard de bury had not much depth of learning; and it has been a favourite theory for many years that his book might have been written for him by his secretary, the dominican robert holkot. the matter is not very important, since it is certain, in spite of ancient and modern detractors, that richard de bury or 'aungerville' was a most ardent bibliophile and a very devoted attendant in the 'library of wisdom.' he was the son of sir richard aungerville, a knight of suffolk; but in accordance with a fashion of the day he was usually called after his birthplace. he was born at bury st. edmunds in the year : he was educated at oxford, and afterwards took a prominent part in the civil troubles, taking the side of queen isabel and edward of windsor against the unfortunate edward ii. he was appointed tutor to the prince, and soon afterwards became the receiver of his revenues in wales. when the queen fled to her own country, richard followed with a large sum of money, collected by virtue of his office; and he had a narrow escape for his life, being chased by a troop of english lancers as far as paris itself, where he lay concealed for a week in the belfry of the minorites' church. when his pupil came to the throne many lucrative offices were showered on his faithful friend. richard became cofferer and treasurer of the wardrobe, and for five years was clerk of the privy seal; and during that period he was twice sent as ambassador to the pope at avignon, where he had the honour of becoming the friend of petrarch. the poet has himself described his meeting with the englishman travelling in such splendid fashion to lay before his holiness his master's claims upon france. 'it was at the time,' says petrarch, 'when the seeds of war were growing that produced such a blood-stained harvest, in which the sickles are not laid aside nor as yet are the garners closed.' he found in his visitor 'a man of ardent mind and by no means unacquainted with literature.' he discovered indeed that richard was on some points full of curious learning, and it occurred to him that one born and bred in britain might know the situation of the long-lost island of thule. 'but whether he was ashamed of his ignorance,' says petrarch, 'or whether, as i will not suspect, he grudged information upon the subject, and whether he spoke his real mind or not, he only answered that he would tell me, but not till he had returned home to his books, of which no man had a more abundant supply.' the poet complains that the answer never came, in spite of many letters of reminder; 'and so my friendship with a briton never taught me anything more about the isle of thule.' richard was consecrated bishop of durham in , after an amicable struggle between the pope and the king as to the hand that should bestow the preferment. a few months afterwards he became high treasurer, and in the same year was appointed lord chancellor. within the next three years he was sent on several embassies to france to urge the english claims, and he afterwards went on the same business to flanders and brabant. he writes with a kind of rapture of his first expeditions to paris; in later years he complained that the study of antiquities was superseding science, in which the doctors of the sorbonne had excelled. 'i was sent first to the papal chair, and afterwards to the court of france, and thence to other countries, on tedious embassies and in perilous times, bearing with me all the time that love of books which many waters could not extinguish.' 'oh lord of lords in zion!' he ejaculates, 'what a flood of pleasure rejoiced my heart when i reached paris, the earthly paradise. how i longed to remain there, and to my ardent soul how few and short seemed the days! there are the libraries in their chambers of spice, the lawns wherein every growth of learning blooms. there the meads of academe shake to the footfall of the philosophers as they pace along: there are the peaks of parnassus, and there is the stoic porch. here you will find aristotle, the overseer of learning, to whom belongs in his own right all the excellent knowledge that remains in this transitory world. here ptolemy weaves his cycles and epicycles, and here gensachar tracks the planets' courses with his figures and charts. here it was in very truth that with open treasure-chest and purse untied i scattered my money with a light heart, and ransomed the priceless volumes with my dust and dross.' he shows, as he himself confessed, an ecstatical love for his books. 'these are the masters that teach without rods and stripes, without angry words, without demanding a fee in money or in kind: if you draw near, they sleep not: if you ask, they answer in full: if you are mistaken, they neither rail nor laugh at your ignorance.' 'you only, my books!' he cries, 'are free and unfettered: you only can give to all who ask and enfranchise all that serve you.' in his glowing periods they become transfigured into the wells of living water, the fatness of the olive, the sweetness of the vines of engaddi; they seem to him like golden urns in which the manna was stored, like the fruitful tree of life and the four-fold river of eden. [illustration: seal of richard de bury.] richard de bury had more books than all the other bishops in england. he set up several permanent libraries in his manor-houses and at his palace in auckland; the floor of his hall was always so strewed with manuscripts that it was hard to approach his presence, and his bedroom so full of books that one could not go in or out, or even stand still without treading on them. he has told us many particulars about his methods of collection. he had lived with scholars from his youth upwards; but it was not until he became the king's friend, and almost a member of his family, that he was able 'to hunt in the delightful coverts' of the clerical and monastic libraries. as chancellor he had great facilities for 'dragging the books from their hiding-places'; 'a flying rumour had spread on all sides that we longed for books, and especially for old ones, and that it was easier to gain our favour by a manuscript than by gifts of coin.' as he had the power of promoting and deposing whom he pleased, the 'crazy quartos and tottering folios' came creeping in as gifts instead of the ordinary fees and new year's presents. the book-cases of the monasteries were opened, and their caskets unclasped, and the volumes that had lain for ages in the sepulchres were roused by the light of day. 'i might have had,' he said, 'abundance of wealth in those days; but it was books, and not bags of gold, that i wanted; i preferred folios to florins, and loved a little thin pamphlet more than an overfed palfrey.' we know that he bought many books on his embassies to france and flanders, besides his constant purchases at home. he tells us that the friars were his best agents; they would compass sea and land to meet his desire. 'with such eager huntsmen, what leveret could lie hid? with such fishermen, what single little fish could escape the net, the hook, and the trawl?' he found another source of supply in the country schools, where the masters were always ready to sell their books; and in these little gardens and paddocks, as chances occurred, he culled a few flowers or gathered a few neglected herbs. his money secured the services of the librarians and bookstall-men on the continent, who were afraid of no journey by land, and were deterred by no fury of the sea. 'moreover,' he added, 'we always had about us a multitude of experts and copyists, with binders, and correctors, and illuminators, and all who were in any way qualified for the service of books.' he ends his chapter on book-collecting with a reference to an eastern tale, comparing himself to the mountain of loadstone that attracted the ships of knowledge by a secret force, while the books in their cargoes, like the iron bars in the story, were streaming towards the magnetic cliff 'in a multifarious flight.' chapter iv. italy--the age of petrarch. the enlightenment of an age of ignorance cannot be attributed to any single person; yet it has been said with some justice, that as the mediæval darkness lifted, one figure was seen standing in advance, and that petrarch was rightly hailed as 'the harbinger of day.' his fame rests not so much on his poems as upon his incessant labours in the task of educating his countrymen. petrarch was devoted to books from his boyhood. his youth was passed near avignon, 'on the banks of the windy rhone.' after receiving the ordinary instruction in grammar and rhetoric, he passed four years at montpellier, and proceeded to study law at bologna. 'i kept my terms in civil law,' he said, 'and made some progress; but i gave up the subject on becoming my own master, not because i disliked the law, which no doubt is full of the roman learning, but because it is so often perverted by evil-minded men.' he seems to have worked for a time under his friend cino of pistoia, and to have attended the lectures of the jurist andrea, whose daughter novella is said to have sometimes taken the class 'with a little curtain in front of her beautiful face.' while studying at bologna, petrarch made his first collection of books instead of devoting himself to the law. his old father once paid him a visit and began burning the parchments on a funeral pile: the boy's supplications and promises saved the poor remainder. he tried hard to follow his father's practical advice, but always in vain; 'nature called him in another direction, and it is idle to struggle against her.' on petrarch's return to avignon he obtained the friendship of cardinal colonna: and here the whole course of his life was fixed when he first saw laura 'in a green dress embroidered with violets.' her face was stamped upon his mind, and haunted him through all efforts at repose: and perhaps it is to her influence that he owed his rank among the lyrical poets and the crown bestowed at rome. his whole life was thenceforth devoted to the service of the book. he declared that he had the writing-disease, and was the victim of a general epidemic. 'all the world is taking up the writer's part, which ought to be confined to a few: the number of the sick increases and the disease becomes daily more virulent.' a victim of the mania himself, he laughs at his own misfortune: yet it might have been better, he thought, to have been a labourer or a weaver at the loom. 'there are several kinds of melancholia: and some madmen will write books, just as others toss pebbles in their hands.' as for literary fame, it is but a harvest of thin air, 'and it is only fit for sailors to watch a breeze and to whistle for a wind.' petrarch collected books in many parts of europe. in , when he was twenty-five years of age, he made a tour through switzerland to the cities of flanders. the flemish schools had lost something of their ancient fame since the development of the university of paris. several fine collections of books were still preserved in the monasteries. the abbey of laubes was especially rich in biblical commentaries and other works of criticism, which were all destroyed afterwards in a fire, except a vulgate of the eighth century that happened to be required for use at the council of trent. petrarch described his visit to liège in a letter to a friend; 'when we arrived i heard that there was a good supply of books, so i kept all my party there until i had one oration of cicero transcribed by a colleague, and another in my own writing, which i afterwards published in italy; but in that fair city of the barbarians it was very difficult to get any ink, and what i did procure was as yellow as saffron.' a few years afterwards he went from avignon to paris, and was astonished at the net-work of filthy lanes in the students' quarter. it was a paradise of books, all kept at fair prices by the university's decree; but the traveller declared that, except in 'the world's sink' at avignon, he had never seen so dirty a place. at rome he was dismayed to find that all the books were the prey of the foreigner. the english and french merchants were carrying away what had been spared by the goths and vandals. 'are you not ashamed,' he cried to his roman friends, 'are you not ashamed that your avarice should allow these strangers every day to acquire some remnant of your ancient majesty?' he used to pore over his manuscripts on the most incongruous occasions, like pliny reading his critical notes at the boar-hunt. 'whether i am being shaved or having my hair cut,' he wrote, 'and whether i am riding or dining, i either read or get some one to read to me.' some of his favourite volumes are described in terms of delightful affection. he tells us how homer and plato sat side by side on the shelf,--the prince of poets by the prince of philosophers. he only knew the rudiments of greek, and was forced to read the iliad in the latin version. 'but i glory,' he said, 'in the sight of my illustrious guests, and have at least the pleasure of seeing the greeks in their national costume.' 'homer,' he adds, 'is dumb, or i am deaf; i am delighted with his looks; and as often as i embrace the silent volume i cry, "oh illustrious bard, how gladly would i listen to thy song, if only i had not lost my hearing, through the death of one friend and the lamented absence of another!"' in his treatise on fortune, petrarch has left us a study on book-collecting in the form of a dialogue between his natural genius and his critical reason. he argues, as it were, in his own person against the imaginary opponent. a paraphrase will show the nature and the result of the contest. '_petrarch._ i have indeed a great quantity of books. _critic._ that gives me an excellent instance. some men amass books for self-instruction and others from vanity. some decorate their rooms with the furniture that was intended to be an ornament of the soul, as if it were like the bronzes and statues of which we were speaking. some are working for their own vile ends behind their rows of books, and these are the worst of all, because they esteem literature merely as merchandise, and not at its real value; and this new fashionable infliction becomes another engine for the arts of avarice. _pet._ i have a very considerable quantity of books. _crit._ well! it is a charming, embarrassing kind of luggage, affording an agreeable diversion for the mind. _pet._ i have a great abundance of books. _crit._ yes, and a great abundance of hard work and a great lack of repose. you have to keep your mind marching in all directions, and to overload your memory. books have led some to learning, and others to madness, when they swallow more than they can digest. in the mind, as in the body, indigestion does more harm than hunger; food and books alike must be used according to the constitution, and what is little enough for one is too much for another. _pet._ but i have an immense quantity of books. _crit._ immense is that which has no measure, and without measure there is nothing convenient or decent in the affairs of men. _pet._ i have an incalculable number of books. _crit._ have you more than ptolemy, king of egypt, accumulated in the library at alexandria, which were all burned at one time? perhaps there was an excuse for him in his royal wealth and his desire to benefit posterity. but what are we to say of the private citizens who have surpassed the luxury of kings? have we not read of serenus sammonicus, the master of many languages, who bequeathed , volumes to the younger gordian? truly that was a fine inheritance, enough to sustain many souls or to oppress one to death, as all will agree. if serenus had done nothing else in his life, and had not read a word in all those volumes, would he not have had enough to do in learning their titles and sizes and numbers and their authors' names? here you have a science that turns a philosopher into a librarian. this is not feeding the soul with wisdom: it is the crushing it under a weight of riches or torturing it in the waters of tantalus. _pet._ i have innumerable books. _crit._ yes, and innumerable errors of ignorant authors and of the copyists who corrupt all that they touch. _pet._ i have a good provision of books. _crit._ what does that matter, if your intellect cannot take them in? do you remember the roman sabinus who plumed himself on the learning of his slaves? some people think that they must know what is in their own books, and say, when a new subject is started: 'i have a book about that in my library!' they think that this is quite sufficient, just as if the book were in their heads, and then they raise their eyebrows, and there is an end of the subject. _pet._ i am overflowing with books. _crit._ why don't you overflow with talent and eloquence? ah! but these things are not for sale, like books, and if they were i don't suppose there would be many buyers, for books do make a covering for the walls, but those other wares are only clothing for the soul, and are invisible and therefore neglected. _pet._ i have books which help me in my studies. _crit._ take care that they do not prove a hindrance. many a general has been beaten by having too many troops. if books came in like recruits one would not turn them away, but would stow them in proper quarters, and use the best of them, taking care not to bring up a force too soon which would be more useful on another occasion. _pet._ i have a great variety of books. _crit._ a variety of paths will often deceive the traveller. _pet._ i have collected a number of fine books. _crit._ to gain glory by means of books you must not only possess them but know them; their lodging must be in your brain and not on the book-shelf. _pet._ i keep a few beautiful books. _crit._ yes, you keep in irons a few prisoners, who, if they could escape and talk, would have you indicted for wrongful imprisonment. but now they lie groaning in their cells, and of this they ever complain, that an idle and a greedy man is overflowing with the wealth that might have sustained a multitude of starving scholars.' petrarch was in truth a careless custodian of his prisoners. he was too ready to lend a book to a friend, and his generosity on one occasion caused a serious loss to literature. the only known copy of a treatise by cicero was awaiting transcription in his library; but he allowed it to be carried off by an old scholar in need of assistance: it was pledged in some unknown quarter, and nothing was ever heard again of the precious deposit. he returned to avignon in , and made himself a quiet home at vaucluse. his letters are full of allusions to his little farm, to the poplars in the horse-shoe valley, and the river brimming out from the 'monarch of springs.' in these new lawns of helicon he made a new home for his books, and tried to forget in their company the tumults that had driven him from italy. in he received offers of a laureate's crown from rome, the capital of the world, and from paris, 'the birth-place of learning.' 'i start to-day,' he wrote to colonna, 'to receive my reward over the graves of those who were the pride of ancient rome, and in the very theatre of their exploits.' the capitol resounded to such cheers that its walls and 'antique dome' seemed to share in the public joy: the senator placed a chaplet on his brow, and old stephen colonna added a few words of praise amid the applause of the roman people. at parma, soon afterwards, petrarch formed another library which he called his 'second parnassus.' at padua he busied himself in the education of an adopted son, the young john of ravenna, who lived to be a celebrated professor, and was nicknamed 'the trojan horse,' because he turned out so many excellent grecians. in a cottage near milan the poet received a visit from boccaccio, who was at that time inclined to renounce the world. he offered to give his whole library to petrarch: he did afterwards send to his host a _dante_ of his own copying, which is now preserved in the vatican. the approach of a pestilence led petrarch to remove his home to venice: and here he was again visited by boccaccio, this time in company with leontio pilato, a calabrian greek trading in books between italy and constantinople. leontio was the translator of homer, and expounded his poems from the chair of rhetoric at florence. he was a man of forbidding appearance, and 'more obdurate,' said petrarch, 'than the rocks that he will encounter in his voyage': 'fearing that i might catch his bad temper, i let him go, and gave him a terence to amuse him on the way, though i do not know what this melancholy greek could have in common with that lively african.' leontio was killed by lightning on his return voyage; and there was much anxiety until it could be ascertained that his literary stock-in-trade had been rescued from the hands of the sailors. it was not till the end of the century that chrysoloras renewed the knowledge of the classics: but we may regard the austere leontio as the chief precursor of the crowd of later immigrants, each with a gem, or bronze, or 'a brown greek manuscript' for sale, and all eager to play their parts in the restoration of learning. towards the end of his life petrarch became tired of carrying his books about. when he broke up the libraries at parma and vaucluse he had formed the habit of travelling with bales of manuscripts in a long cavalcade; but he determined afterwards to offer the collection to venice, on condition that it should be properly housed, and should never be sold or divided. the offer was accepted by the republic, and the palazzo molina was assigned as a home for the poet and his books. petrarch, however, had other plans for himself. he wished to be near padua, where he held a canonry; and he accordingly built himself a cottage at arquà, among the euganean hills, about ten miles from the city. a few olive-trees and a little vine-yard sufficed for the wants of his modest household; and there, as he wrote to his brother, broken in body but easy in his mind, he passed his time in reading, and prepared for his end. his only regret was that there was no monastery near in which he might see his beloved gerard fulfilling his religious duties. he seems to have given up his love for fine books with other worldly vanities. he offers excuses for the plain appearance of a volume of 'st. augustine' which he was sending as a present. 'one must not,' said he, 'expect perfect manuscripts from scholars who are engaged on better things. a general does not sharpen the soldiers' swords. apelles did not cut out his own boards, or polycletus his sheets of ivory; some humble person always prepares the material on which a higher mind is to be engaged. so is it with books: some polish the parchment, and others copy or correct the text; others again do the illumination, to use the common phrase; but a loftier spirit will disdain these menial occupations.' the scholar's books are often of a rough and neglected appearance, for abundance of anything makes the owner 'careless and secure'; it is the invalid who is particular about every breath of air, but the strong man loves the rough breeze. 'as to this book of the _confessions_, its first aspect will teach you all about it. quite new, quite unadorned, untouched by the corrector's fangs, it comes out of my young servant's hands. you will notice some defects in spelling, but no gross mistakes. in a word, you will perhaps find things in it which will exercise but not disturb your understanding. read it then, and ponder upon it. this book, which would enflame a heart of ice, must set your ardent soul on fire.' on a summer night of the year , petrarch died peacefully at arquà, alone in his library. his few remaining books were sold, and some of them may still be seen in rome and paris. those which he had given to venice suffered a strange reverse of fortune. how long the gift remained in the palazzo molina we cannot tell. we conjecture that it was discarded in the next century, before bessarion presented his greek books to the senate, and became the actual founder of the library of st. mark. the antiquary tomasini found petrarch's books cast aside in a dark room behind the horses of lysippus. some had crumbled into powder, and others had been glued into shapeless masses by the damp. the survivors were placed in the libraria vecchia, and are now in the ducal palace; but it was long before they were permitted to enter the building that sheltered the gift of bessarion. chapter v. oxford--duke humphrey's books--the library of the valois. the university library at oxford was a development of richard de bury's foundation. the monks of durham had founded a hall, now represented by trinity college, in which richard had always taken a fatherly interest. he provided the ordinary texts and commentaries for the students, and was extremely anxious that they should be instructed in greek and in the languages of the east. a knowledge of arabic, he thought, was as necessary for the study of astronomy as a familiarity with hebrew was requisite for the understanding of the scriptures. the friars had bought a good supply of hebrew books when the jews were expelled from england; richard not only increased the available store, but supplied the means of using it. 'we have provided,' he said, 'a grammar in greek and hebrew for the scholars, with all the proper aids to instruct them in reading and writing those languages.' he formed the ambitious design of providing assistance to the whole university out of the books presented to the hall. the rules which he drew up were not unlike those already in use at the sorbonne. five students were chosen as wardens, of whom any three might be a quorum for lending the manuscripts. any book, of which they possessed a duplicate, might be lent out on proper security: but copying was not allowed, and no volume was on any account to be carried beyond the suburbs. a yearly account was to be taken of the books in store, and of the current securities; and if any profit should come to the wardens' hands it was to be applied to the maintenance of the library. when the bishop died some of his books went back to durham; but the monks were generous towards the hall, and on several occasions sent fresh supplies to oxford. it may also be observed that some of his best mss. were returned to the abbey of st. alban's. he had bought about thirty volumes from a former abbot for fifty pounds weight of silver; but the monks had continually protested against a transaction which they believed to be illegal, and on richard's death some of the books were given back, and others were purchased by abbot wentmore from his executors. de bury's generous care for learning was imitated in several quarters. a few years after his death the lady elizabeth de burgh made a bequest of a small but very costly library to her college of clare hall at cambridge. guy earl of warwick about the same time gave a collection of illuminated romances to the monks of bordesley. john de newton in the next generation divided his collection of classics, histories, and service-books, between st. peter's college at cambridge and the minster at york, where he had acted for some years as treasurer. the lending-library at durham hall was the only provision for the public, with the exception of a few volumes kept in the 'chest with four keys' at st. mary's. thomas cobham, bishop of worcester, had long been anxious to show his filial love for the university: as early as the year he had begun to prepare a room for a library 'over the old congregation-house in the north churchyard of st. mary's'; and, though the work was left incomplete, he gave all his books by will to be placed at the disposal of the whole body of scholars. owing to disputes that arose between the university and the college to which cobham had belonged, the gift did not take effect until . the university library was established in the upper room, which was used as a convocation house in later times; it is said not to have been completely furnished until the year , more than eighty years after the date of the bishop's benefaction. according to the first statute for the regulation of cobham's library, the best of the books were to be sold so as to raise a sum of £ , which according to the current rate of interest would produce a yearly income of £ for the librarian; the other books, together with those from the university chest, were to be chained to the desks for the general use of the students. it was soon found necessary to exclude the 'noisy rabble': and permission to work in the library was restricted to graduates of eight years' standing. richard de bury had warned the world in his chapter upon the handling of books, how hardly could a raw youth be made to take care of a manuscript; the student, according to the great bibliophile, would treat a book as roughly as if it were a pair of shoes, would stick in straws to keep his place, or stuff it with violets and rose-leaves, and would very likely eat fruit or cheese over one page and set a cup of ale on the other. an impudent boy would scribble across the text, the copyist would try his pen on a blank space, a scullion would turn the pages with unwashed hands, or a thief might cut out the fly-leaves and margins to use in writing his letters; 'and all these various negligences,' he adds, 'are wonderfully injurious to books.' a generous benefactor gave a copy of de lyra's 'commentaries,' which was set upon a desk in st. mary's chancel for reference. a large gift of books came from richard courteney, the chancellor of the university; and as a mark of gratitude he was allowed free access to the library during the rest of his life. among the other benefactors whose good deeds are still commemorated we find king henry iv., who helped to complete the library, his successor henry v., who contributed to its endowment as prince of wales, and his brothers john duke of bedford and humphrey duke of gloucester; and the roll of a later date includes the names of edmund earl of march, philip repington bishop of lincoln, and the munificent archbishop arundel. the good duke humphrey has been called 'the first founder of the university library.' we know from the records of that time that his gifts were acknowledged to be 'an almost unspeakable blessing.' he sent in all about three hundred volumes during his life, which were placed in the chests of cobham's library as they arrived, to be transferred to the new divinity schools as soon as room could be made for the whole collection. he had intended to bequeath as many more by way of an additional endowment, but died intestate: and there was a considerable delay before the university could procure the fulfilment of his charitable design. when the books at last arrived 'the general joy knew no bounds'; and the title of 'duke humphrey's library' was gratefully given to the whole assemblage of books which from several different quarters had come into the university's possession. the catalogue shows that the duke's store had consisted mainly of the writings of the fathers and arabian works on science: there were a few classics, including a quintilian, and aristotle and plato in latin: the works of capgrave and higden were the only english chronicles; but the duke was a devotee of the italian learning, and his gifts to oxford included more than one copy of the _divina commedia_, three separate copies of _boccaccio_, and no less than seven of _petrarch_. the fate of the libraries founded by de bury and duke humphrey of gloucester was to perish at the hands of the mob. bishop bale has told the sad story of the destruction of the monastic libraries. the books were used for tailors' measures, for scouring candlesticks and cleaning boots; 'some they sold to the grocers and soap-sellers'; some they sent across the seas to the book-binders, 'whole ships-full, to the wondering of foreign nations': he knew a merchant who bought 'two noble libraries' for _s._, and got thereby a store of grey paper for his parcels which lasted him for twenty years. the same thing happened at oxford. the quadrangle of one college was entirely covered 'with a thick bed of torn books and manuscripts.' the rioters in the protector somerset's time broke into the 'aungerville library,' as de bury's collection was called, and burnt all the books. some of de bury's books had been removed into duke humphrey's library, and met the same fate at the schools, with almost every other volume that the university possessed. so complete was the destruction that in an order was made to sell the desks and book-shelves, as if it were finally admitted that oxford would never have a library again. some few of the duke's books escaped the general destruction. of the half-dozen specimens in the british museum three are known by the ancient catalogues to have been comprised in his gifts to the university. two more remain at oxford in the libraries of oriel and corpus christi. we learn from mr. macray that only three out of the whole number of his mss. are now to be found in the bodleian. one of them contains the duke's signature: another is of high interest as being a translation out of _aristotle_ by leonardo aretino, with an original dedication to the duke. the third is a magnificent volume of _valerius maximus_ prepared, as we know from the monastic annals, under the personal supervision of abbot whethamstede, the 'passionate bibliomaniac' of st. alban's. it contains inscriptions, says mr. macray, recording its gift for the use of the scholars, with anathemas upon all who should injure it. 'if any one steals this book,' says the abbot, 'may he come to the gallows or the rope of judas.' [illustration: the duke of bedford praying before st. george. (_from the "bedford missal."_)] many of the duke of gloucester's books had come to him from the library of the french kings at the louvre, which had been purchased and dispersed by john, duke of bedford. the duke himself was in the habit of ordering magnificently illuminated books of devotion, which he gave as presents to his friends. the famous 'bedford missal' (really a book of hours) was offered by the duchess in his name to henry vi.; and mr. quaritch possesses another book of hours, which the duke presented to talbot, earl of shrewsbury, as a wedding gift. the house of valois was always friendly to literature. king john, who fought at creçy, began a small collection: he had the story of the crusades, a tract on the game of chess, and a book containing a french version of _livy_, which seems to have belonged afterwards to duke humphrey, and to have found its way later into the abbey of st. geneviève. his son charles le sage was the owner of about volumes, which he kept in his castle at the louvre. the first librarian was gilles malet, who prepared a catalogue in , which is still in existence. another was compiled a few years afterwards by antoine des essars, and a third was made for bedford when he purchased about volumes out of the collection in the year . these lists were so carefully executed that we can form a very clear idea of the library itself and the books in their gay bindings on the shelves. we are told that the king was so devoted to his '_belle assemblée_,' as christina of pisa calls it, that not only authors and booksellers, but the princes and nobles at the court, all vied in making offerings of finely illuminated manuscripts. they were arranged in the three rooms of the library tower. the wainscots were of irish yew, and the ceilings of cypress. the windows were filled with painted glass, and the rooms were lit at night with thirty chandeliers and a great silver lamp. on entering the lowest room the visitor saw a row of book-cases low enough to be used as desks or tables. a few musical instruments lay about; one of the old lists tells us of a lute, and guitars inlaid with ivory and enamel, and 'an old rebec' much out of repair. there were volumes in the book-cases. we will only mention a few of the most remarkable. there was queen blanche's bible in red morocco, and another in white boards, thomas waley's rhymes from ovid with splendid miniatures, and richard de furnival's _bestiaire d'amour_. one life of st. louis stood in a '_chemise blanche_,' and another in cloth of gold. st. gregory and sir john mandeville were clothed in indigo velvet. john of salisbury had a silk coat and long girdle, and most of the arabians were in tawny silk ornamented with white roses and wreaths of foliage. some bindings are noticed as being in fine condition, and others as being shabby or faded. the clasps are minutely described. they would catch a visitor's eye as the books lay flat on the shelves: and we suppose that the librarian intended to show the best way of knowing the books apart rather than to dwell on their external attractions. the oxford fashion was to catalogue according to the last word on the first leaf, or the first word over the page; but it was also a common custom to distinguish important volumes by such names as _the red book of the exchequer_, or _the black book of carnarvon_. we need not proceed to describe the other rooms. on the first floor there were books, consisting for the most part of romances with miniature illuminations. one of these was the _destruction de thèbes_, which at one time belonged to the duc de la vallière, and is now in the national library at paris. the upper floor contained nearly six hundred volumes mostly concerned with astronomy and natural science. it appears from the memoranda in the lists that there had been a habit of lending books to public institutions and to members of the royal family from the time when the library was first established; and it is estimated that about two hundred of the books must have been saved in this way to form the beginning of a new library in the louvre, which, after the expulsion of the english, began to attain some importance in the reign of louis xi. chapter vi. italy--the renaissance. the study of the classics had languished for a time after the deaths of petrarch and boccaccio. it revived again upon the coming of chrysoloras, who is said to have lighted in italy 'a new and perpetual flame.' poggio bracciolini was one of his first pupils; and he became so distinguished in literature that the earlier part of the fifteenth century is known as the age of poggio. leonardo aretino describes the enthusiasm with which the italians made acquaintance with the ancient learning. 'i gave myself up to chrysoloras,' he writes, 'and my passion for knowledge was so strong that the daily tasks became the material of my nightly dreams.' he told cosmo de' médici, when translating plato's dialogues, that they alone seemed to be infused with real life, while all other books passed by like fleeting and shadowy things. we are chiefly concerned with poggio as the discoverer of long-lost treasures. he saved quintilian and many other classics from complete extinction. 'some of them,' said his friend barbaro, 'were already dead to the world, and some after a long exile you have restored to their rights as citizens.' as a famous stock of pears had been named after an appius or claudius, so it was said that these new fruits of literature ought certainly to be named after poggio. the sole remaining copy of an ancient work upon aqueducts was discovered by him in the old library at monte cassino, which had survived the assaults of lombards and saracens, but in that later age seemed likely to perish by neglect. we have the record of an earlier visit by boccaccio, in which the carelessness of its guardians was revealed. the visitor, we are told, asked very deferentially if he might see the library. 'it is open, and you can go up,' said a monk, pointing to the ladder that led to an open loft. the traveller describes the filthy and doorless chamber, the grass growing on the window-sills, and the books and benches white with dust. he took down book after book, and they all seemed to be ancient and valuable; but from some of them whole sheets had been taken out, and in others the margins of the vellum had been cut off. all in tears at this miserable sight, boccaccio went down the ladder, and asked a monk in the cloister how those precious volumes had come to such a pass; and the monk told him that the brothers who wanted a few pence would take out a quire of leaves to make a little psalter for sale, and used to cut off the margins to make 'briefs,' which they sold to the women. poggio himself has described his discovery at the abbey of st. gall. 'by good fortune,' he says, 'we were at constance without anything to do, and it occurred to us to go to the monastery about twenty miles off to see the place where the quintilian was shut up.' the abbey had been founded by the irish missionaries who destroyed the idols of suabia, when according to the ancient legend the mountain-demon vainly called on the spirit of the lake to join in resisting the foe. its library had been celebrated in the ninth century, when the hungarian terror fell upon europe, and the barbarian armies in one and the same day 'laid in ashes the monastery of st. gall and the city of bremen on the shores of the northern ocean'; but the books had been fortunately removed to the abbey of reichenau on an island in the rhine. 'we went to the place,' said poggio, 'to amuse ourselves and to look at the books. among them we found the quintilian safe and sound, but all coated with dust. the books were by no means housed as they deserved, but were all in a dark and noisome place at the foot of a tower, into which one would not cast a criminal condemned to death.' he describes the finding of several other rare mss., and says: 'i have copied them all out in great haste, and have sent them to florence.' in he visited england in the train of cardinal beaufort. he said that he was unable to procure any transcripts, though he visited some of the principal libraries, and must have seen that the collection at the grey friars at least was 'well stocked with books.' he was more successful on the continent, where he brought the _history_ of ammianus out of a german prison into the free air of the republic of letters. he gave the original to cardinal colonna, and wrote to aretino about transcripts: 'niccolo has copied it on paper for cosmo de' médici: you must write to carlo aretino for another copy, or he might lend you the original, because if the scribe should be an ignoramus you might get a fable instead of a history.' among the pupils of chrysoloras, guarini of verona was esteemed the keenest philologist, and john aurispa as having the most extended knowledge of the classics. aurispa, says hallam, came rather late from sicily, but his labours were not less profitable than those of his predecessors; in the year he brought back from greece considerably more than two hundred mss. of authors hardly known in italy; and the list includes books of plato, of pindar, and of strabo, of which all knowledge had been lost in the west. aurispa lectured for many years at bologna and florence, and ended his days at the literary court of ferrara. philelpho was one of the most famous of the scholars who returned 'laden with manuscripts' from greece. to recover a lost poem or oration was to go far on the road to fortune, and a very moderate acquaintance with the text was expected from the hero of the fortunate adventure. when he lectured on his new discoveries at florence, where he had established himself in spite of the médici, philelpho according to his own account was treated with such deference on all sides that he was overwhelmed with bashfulness; 'all the citizens are turning towards me, and all the ladies and the nobles exalt my name to the skies.' he was the bitter enemy of poggio, and of all who supported the reigning family of florence. poggio had the art of making enemies, though he was a courtier by profession and had been secretary to eight popes. he raged against philelpho in a flood of scurrilous pamphlets; valla, the great latin scholar, was violently attacked for a mere word of criticism, and niccolo perotti, the grammarian, paid severely for supporting his friend. poggio was always in extremes. his eulogies in praise of lorenzo de' médici, and niccolo niccoli of florence are perfect in grace and dignity; his invectives were as scurrilous as anything recorded in the annals of literature. two generous benefactors preceded 'the father of his country' in providing libraries for florence. niccolo niccoli by common consent was the great mæcenas of his age; his passion for books was boundless, and he had gathered the best collection that had been seen in italy for many generations. the public was free to inspect his treasures, and any citizen might either read or transcribe as he pleased; 'in one word,' wrote poggio, 'i say that he was the wisest and the most benevolent of mankind.' by his will he appointed sixteen trustees, among whom was cosmo de' médici, to take charge of his books for the state. some legal difficulty arose after his death, but cosmo undertook to pay all liabilities if the management of the library were left to his sole discretion; and the gift of the 'florentine socrates' was eventually added to the books which cosmo had purchased in italy or had acquired in his levantine commerce. another citizen of florence had rivalled the generosity of niccoli. the chancellor coluccio salutati was revered by his countrymen for the majestic flow of his prose and verse. it is true that tiraboschi considered him to be 'as much like virgil or cicero as a monkey resembles a man.' salutati showed his gratitude to florence by endowing the city with his splendid library. but in this case also there were difficulties, and again the way was made smooth by the prompt munificence of the médici. cosmo himself bought up greek books in the levant, and was fortunate in securing some of the best specimens of byzantine art. his brother lorenzo, his son pietro, and lorenzo the magnificent in the next generation, all laboured in their turn to adorn the medicean collection. politian the poet, and mirandula, the phoenix of his age, were the messengers whom the great lorenzo sent out to gather the spoil; and he only prayed, he said, that they might find such a store of good books that he would be obliged to pawn his furniture to pay for them. on the flight of the reigning family the 'médici books' were bought by the dominicans at st. mark's; and they rested for some years in savonarola's home, stored in the gallery which holds the great choir-books illuminated by frà angelico and his companions. in the year the monks were in pecuniary distress, and were forced to sell the books to leo x., then cardinal de' médici. he took them to rome to ensure their safety, but was always careful to keep them apart from the official assemblage in the vatican; it is certain that he would have restored them to florence, if he had lived a short time longer. the patriotic design was carried out by clement vii., another member of that book-loving family, and their hereditary treasures at last found a permanent home in the gallery designed by michelangelo. the 'médici books' were catalogued by a humble bell-ringer, who lived to be a chief figure in the literary world. thomas of sarzana performed the task so well that his system became a model for librarians. while travelling in attendance on a legate, the future pope could never refrain from expensive purchases; to own books, we are told, was his ambition, 'his pride, his pleasure, passion, and avarice'; and he was only saved from ruin by the constant help of his friends. when he succeeded to the tiara as pope nicholas v., his influence was felt through christendom as a new literary force. he encouraged research at home, and gathered the records of antiquity from the ruined cities of the east, and 'the darkest monasteries of germany and britain.' his labours resulted in the restoration of the vatican library with an endowment of five thousand volumes; and he found time to complete the galleries for their reception, though he could never hope to finish the rest of the palace. a great part of his work was destroyed in by the rabble that 'followed the bourbon' to the sack of rome; but his institution survived the temporary disaster, and its losses were repaired by the energy of sixtus v. pope nicholas had no sympathy with the niggardly spirit that would have kept the 'barbarians' in darkness. he opened his greek treasure-house to the inspection of the whole western world. looking back to the crowd round his chair at the lateran or in his house near s^ta. maria maggiore, we recognise a number of familiar figures. perotti is translating polybius, and aurispa explaining the golden verses; guarini enlarges the world's boundaries by publishing the geography of strabo. an old tract upon the pope's munificence shows how the eastern fathers were restored to a place of honour. basil and cyril were translated, and the pope obtained the _commentary upon st. matthew_, of which erasmus made excellent use in his paraphrase: it was the book of which aquinas wrote that he would rather have a copy than be master of the city of paris. the pope desired very strongly to read homer in latin verse, and had procured a translation of the first book of the iliad. hearing that philelpho had arrived in rome, he hoped that the work might be finished by a master-hand, and to get a version of the whole iliad and odyssey he gave a large retaining fee, a palazzo, and a farm in the campagna, and made a deposit of ten thousand pieces of gold to be paid on the completion of the contract. joseph scaliger, the supreme judge in his day of all that related to books, said that of all these men of the italian renaissance he only envied three. one of course was pico of mirandula, a man of marvellous powers, who rose as a mere youth to the highest place as a philosopher and linguist. the next was politian, equally renowned for hard scholarship and for the sweetness and charm of his voluminous poems. the third was the greek refugee, theodore of gaza, so warmly praised by erasmus for his versatile talent; no man, it was said, was so skilled in the double task of turning greek books into latin, and rendering latin into greek. we should feel inclined to bracket another name with those of the famous trio. george of trebisond was a faithful expounder of the classics, the discoverer of many a lost treasure, and the author of a whole library of criticism. his life and labours were denounced in the once celebrated _book of the georges_. he was more than a lover of aristotle, said his enemies: he was the enemy of the divine plato, an apostate among the greeks, who had even dared to oppose their patron bessarion. the cardinal bessarion was complimented as 'the most latin of the greeks'; he might have ruled as pope in rome, some said, if it had not been for perotti refusing to disturb him in the library. but george of trebisond was vilified after poggio's fashion, and called 'brute' and 'heretic,' and 'more turkish than the filthiest turk,' with a hailstorm of still harder epithets. yet he was certainly a very accurate scholar; and he showed a proper manly spirit when he boxed poggio's ears in the theatre of pompey for reminding him of the cleverness expected from 'a starving greek.' his life, one is glad to think, had a very peaceful end. the old man had a house at rome in the piazza minerva: his tombstone, much defaced, is before the curtain as one enters the church of s^ta. maria. his son andrea used to help him in his work, and launched a pamphlet now and again at theodore of gaza. the brilliant scholar fell into a second childhood, and might be seen muttering to himself as he rambled with cloak and long staff through the streets of rome. the grand-daughter who took charge of him married madalena, a fashionable poet; and pope leo x. delighted in hearing their anecdotes about old times, when george and theodore fought their paper-wars, and wielded their pens in the battle of the books. before leaving the subject of the libraries in the two great capitals, we ought to bestow a word or two upon those splendidly endowed institutions by which a few florentine book-collectors have kept up the literary fame of their city, without pretending to emulate the splendour of the médici, or the wealth of the vatican, or the curious antiquities of st. mark. we desire especially to say something in remembrance of the 'riccardiana' which, from its foundation in the sixteenth century, has been famous for the value of its historical manuscripts. among these are the journals of frà oderigo, an early traveller in the east, a treatise in galileo's own writing, and a defence of savonarola's policy in the handwriting of pico of mirandula. we may see a copy of marshal strozzi's will, discussing his plans of suicide, a history of the city composed and written out by machiavelli, and a large and interesting series of poggio's literary correspondence. the most celebrated of the librarians was giovanni lami, who in the last century kept up with such spirit a somewhat dangerous controversy with the jesuits; but his monument at santa croce may have been owed less to his triumphs in argument than to his passionate devotion to books. his life was spent among them, and he died with a manuscript in his arms; and his memory is still preserved in florence by the greek collection with which he endowed the university. the abbé marucelli left his name to another florentine library. he was a philanthropist as well as a bibliophile; and he gave the huge assemblage of books which he had gathered at rome to the use of the students in the home of his boyhood. he wrote much, but was almost too modest to publish or preserve his works. perhaps the most interesting portion of his gift consisted of a series of about a hundred large folios in which, like the patriarch photius, he had written in the form of notes the results of the reading of a life-time. [illustration: antonio magliabecchi.] the magliabecchian library maintains the remembrance of a portent in literature. antonio magliabecchi, the jeweller's shop-boy, became renowned throughout the world for his abnormal knowledge of books. he never at any time left florence; but he read every catalogue that was issued, and was in correspondence with all the collectors and librarians of europe. he was blessed with a prodigious memory, and knew all the contents of a book by 'hunting it with his finger,' or once turning over the pages. he was believed, moreover, to know the habitat of all the rare books in the world; and according to the well-known anecdote he replied to the grand duke, who asked for a particular volume: 'the only copy of this work is at constantinople, in the sultan's library, the seventh volume in the second book-case, on the right as you go in.' he has been despised as 'a man who lived on titles and indexes, and whose very pillow was a folio.' dibdin declared that magliabecchi's existence was confined to 'the parade and pacing of a library'; but, as a matter of fact, the old bibliomaniac lived in a kind of cave made of piles and masses of books, with hardly any room for his cooking or for the wooden cradle lined with pamphlets which he slung between his shelves for a bed. he died in , in his eighty-second year, dirty, ragged, and as happy as a king; and certainly not less than eight thick volumes of sonnets and epigrams appeared at once in his praise. he left about , volumes of his own collecting, which he gave to the city upon condition that they should be always free to the public. the library that bears his name contains more than ten times that number. it includes about , printed books and mss. that once belonged to the grand dukes, and were kept in their palatine galleries. there have been many later additions; but the whole mass is now dedicated to the worthiest of its former possessors, and remains as a perpetual monument of the most learned and most eccentric of bookmen. chapter vii. italian cities--olympia morata--urbino--the books of corvinus. the memory of many great book-collectors has been preserved in the libraries established from ancient times in several of the italian cities. there are two at padua, of which the university library may claim to have had the longer existence: but the 'capitolina' can claim petrarch as one of its founders, and may boast of the books on antiquities gathered by pignoria, the learned commentator upon the remains of rome and the historian of his native city of padua. it may be worth noticing that there were several smaller collections in the churches, due to the industry of bookmen whose names have been forgotten. we hear of the books of st. anthony and of santa giustina: and as to the library in the church of st. john the tradition long prevailed that sixtus of sienna, a noted hunter after rare books, saw on its shelves a copy of the _epistle to the laodiceans_, and read it, and made copious extracts. mantua received many of the spoils of rome from ludovico gonzaga, which were lost in the later wars: the most famous acquisition was bembo's tablet of hieroglyphics, which was interpreted by the patient skill of lorenzo pignoria. at turin the king's library contains some of the papers and drawings of ligorio, who helped in the building of st. peter's: but most of his books were taken to ferrara, where he held an official appointment as antiquary. the university library contains the collections of the dukes of savoy, including a quantity of oriental mss., and some of the precious volumes illuminated by the monks of bobbio. the père jacob in his treatise upon famous libraries had some personal anecdote to record about the bookmen of each place that he visited. at naples he saw the collection of the works of pontanus, presented to the dominicans by his daughter eugenia; at bologna he found a long roll of the pentateuch, 'written by esdras'; and at ferrara he described the tomb of coelius, who was buried among his books, at his own desire, like a miser in the midst of his riches. ferrara derived a special fame from the munificence of the house of este and the memory of olympia morata. a long line of illustrious princes had built up 'an athens in the midst of boeotia.' ariosto sang the praises of the literary court, and tasso's misfortunes were due to his eagerness in accepting its pleasures. the library of lilio giraldi was a meeting-place for the scholars of italy, and it continued to be the pride of ferrara when it passed to cinthio giraldi the poet. renée of france, after the death of her husband, duke hercules, made ferrara a city of refuge for calvin and marot and the fugitive reformers from germany. olympia morata, the daughter of a protestant citizen, was chosen as the companion and instructress of the princess anna. they passed a quiet life among their books until a time of persecution arrived, when olympia found a hope of safety in marrying andrew grundler of schweinfurt. her love for books appears in the letters written towards the close of her life. in she tells curio of the storming of schweinfurt, where she lost her library: 'when i entered heidelberg barefoot, with my hair down, and in a ragged borrowed gown, i looked like the queen of the beggars.' 'i hope,' she said, 'that with the other books you will send me the commentary on jeremiah.' her friend answers that homer and sophocles are on their way: 'and you shall have jeremiah too, that you may lament with him the misfortunes of your husband's country.' olympia replied from her death-bed, returning her warmest thanks for the books. 'farewell, excellent curio, and do not distress yourself when your hear of my death. i send you such of my poems as i have been able to write out since the storming of schweinfurt; all my other writings have perished; i hope that you will be my aristarchus and will polish the poems; and now again, farewell.' the ducal library of ferrara was transferred to modena when the duchy was added to the states of the church. the collection at modena is still famous for its illuminated mss., and for the care bestowed by muratori and tiraboschi in their selection of printed books. the court of naples also might boast of some illustrious bibliophiles. queen joanna possessed one of those small _livres d'heures_ of 'microscopic refinement' which mr. middleton has classed among the 'greatest marvels of human skill.' rené of anjou, her unfortunate successor, found a solace for exile in his books, and showed in a burgundian prison that he could paint a vellum as cleverly as a monkish scribe. alfonso, the next king of naples, was a collector in the strictest sense of the term. he would go off to florence for bargains, and would even undertake a commission for a book-loving subject. antonio becatelli corresponded on these matters with his royal master. 'i have the message from florence that you know of a fine livy at the price of crowns: i pray your majesty to buy it for me and to send it here, and i will get the money together in the meantime. but i should like your majesty's opinion on the point, whether poggio or myself has chosen the better part. he has sold livy, the king of books, written out by his own hand, to buy an estate near florence; but i, to get my livy, have put up all my property for sale by auction.' the books collected by alfonso were at the end of the century carried off by charles viii., and were divided between the royal library at fontainebleau and the separate collection of anne of brittany. a romantic interest has always attached to the library at urbino. the best scholars in europe used to assemble at the palace, where duke federigo made such a gathering of books 'as had not been seen for a thousand years,' in the hall where emilia and the pale duke guidubaldo led the pleasant debates described in the 'cortegiano.' federigo, the most successful general in the italian wars, had built a palace of delight in his rude urbino, in which he hoped to set a copy of every book in the world. his book-room was adorned with ideal portraits by piero della francesca and melozzo: it was very large and lofty, 'with windows set high against the northern sky.' the catalogue of the books is still preserved in the vatican. it shows the names of all the classics, the fathers, and the mediæval schoolmen, many works upon art, and almost all the greek and hebrew works that were known to exist. among the more modern writers we find those whose works we have discussed, petrarch and his friends, guarini and perotti, and valla with his enemy poggio; among the others we notice alexander ab alexandro, a most learned antiquarian from naples, of whom erasmus once said: 'he seems to have known everybody, but nobody knows who he is.' the chief treasure of the place was a bible, illuminated in by a florentine artist, which the duke caused to be bound 'in gold brocade most richly adorned with silver.' 'shortly before he went to the siege of ferrara,' says his librarian, 'i compared his catalogue with those that he had procured from other places, such as the lists from the vatican, florence, venice, and pavia, down to the university of oxford in england, and i found that all except his own were deficient or contained duplicate volumes.' his son, duke guidubaldo, was a celebrated greek scholar; and the eulogies of bembo and castiglione on his duchess, elizabeth gonzaga, attest the literary distinction of her court. francesco, the third duke, lost his dominions to leo x.; but he showed his good taste in stipulating that the books were to be reserved as his personal effects. some of the early-printed books are still in the palace at urbino; others are at castel durante, or in the college of the sapienza at rome; and the splendid mss. form one of the principal attractions of the vatican. among private collectors the name of cardinal domenico capranica should be commemorated. though continually engaged in war and diplomacy, he found time to surround himself with books. on his death in he gave his palace and library towards the endowment of a new college at rome, and his plans were carried out with some alterations by his brother angelo capranica. two greeks of the imperial house of lascaris took important places in the history of the italian renaissance. constantine had found a refuge at milan after the conquest of his country, and here he became tutor to the lady hippolyta sforza, and published a grammar which was the first book printed in greek. he afterwards lectured at messina, where he formed a large collection of mss., which he bequeathed to the citizens. in a later age it was taken to spain by philip ii. and placed on the shelves of the escorial. john lascaris belonged to a younger generation. he was protected by leo x., and may be regarded as the true founder of the greek college at rome. in matters of literature he was the ambassador of lorenzo de' médici, and was twice sent to the turkish court in search of books. after the expulsion of the médici, john lascaris went to reside in paris, where he gave lectures on poetry, and employed himself in securing greek lecturers for a new college; and he was also engaged to help budæus, who had been his pupil, in arranging the books at fontainebleau. matthias corvinus, king of hungary, had the largest library in europe. it was credited with containing the impossible number of , volumes; its destruction during the turkish wars is allowed to have been one of the chief misfortunes of literature. matthias began his long reign of forty-two years in , and during all that time he was adding to his collections at buda. some have derided corvinus as a mere gormandiser with an appetite for all kinds of books. some have blamed him for risking such inestimable treasures upon a dangerous frontier. it is admitted that he worked hard to dispel the thick darkness that surrounded the hungarian people. he kept thirty scribes continually employed at buda, besides four permitted to work at florence by the courtesy of lorenzo de' médici. the whole library may be regarded as in some sense a florentine colony. fontius, the king's chief agent in the levant, had been a well-known author in florence: his commentary upon persius, once presented to corvinus himself, is now in the library at wolfenbüttel. attavante, the pupil of frà angelico, was employed to illuminate the mss. a good specimen of his work is the breviary of st. jerome at paris, which came out of the palace at buda and was acquired by the nation from the duc de la vallière. a traveller named brassicanus visited hungary in the reign of king louis. he was enraptured with the grand palace by the river, the tall library buildings and their stately porticoes. he passes the galleries under review, and tells us of the huge gold and silver globes, the instruments of science on the walls, and an innumerable crowd of well-favoured and well-clad books. he felt, he assures us, as if he were in 'jupiter's bosom,' looking down upon that 'heavenly scene.' he wished that he had brought away some picture or minute record; but we have his account of the books which he handled, the greek orations that are now lost for ever, the history of salvian saved by the king's good nature in presenting the book to his admiring visitor. the palace and library were destroyed when buda was taken by the turks. the pasha in command refused an enormous sum subscribed for the rescue of the books. the janissaries tore off the metal coverings from the rarer mss., and tossed the others aside; the only known copy of heliodorus, from which all our editions of the tale of chariclea are derived, was found in an open gutter. some books were burned and others hacked and maimed, or trodden under foot; many were carried away into the neighbouring villages. about four hundred were piled up in a deserted tower, and were protected against all intrusion by the seal of the grand vizier. there were adventures still in store for the captives. through the scattered villages dr. sambucus went up and down, recovering the strayed corvinian books for the emperor rodolph, a strange quixotic figure always riding alone, with swinging saddle-bags, and a great mastiff running on either side. many a disappointed wayfarer was turned away from the lonely tower. at last busbec the great traveller, because he was an ambassador from the emperor, was allowed to enter a kind of charnel-house, and to see what had been the lovely gaily-painted vellums lying squalidly piled in heaps. to see them was a high favour; the visitor was not permitted to touch the remains; and it was not until that about forty of the maltreated volumes were rescued by force of arms and set in a a place of safety among the emperor's books at vienna. it has always been a favourite exercise to track the corvinian mss. into their scattered hiding-places. some are in the vatican, others at ferrara, and some in their birth-place at florence. it is said that some of them have never left their home in hungary. venice possesses a 'history of the house of corvinus,' and jena has a work by guarini with the king's insignia 'most delicately painted on the title.' the portraits of the king and queen are on one of the examples secured by augustus of brunswick for his library at wolfenbüttel. mary of austria, the widow of king louis, presented two of the corvinian books to the _librairie de bourgogne_ at brussels; one was the missal, full of attavante's work, on which the sovereigns of brabant were sworn; the other was the 'golden gospels,' long the pride of the escorial, but now restored to belgium. other scattered volumes from the library of corvinus have been traced to various cities in france and germany. there has been much controversy on the question whether any of them are to be found in england. some think that examples might be traced among the arundel mss. in the british museum. thomas, earl of arundel, it is known, went on a book-hunting expedition to heidelberg, where he bought some of the remnants of the palatine collection. passing on to nuremberg he obtained about a hundred mss. that had belonged to pirckheimer, the first great german bibliophile; and these, according to some authorities, came out of the treasure-house at buda. the duke of norfolk was persuaded by john evelyn to place them in the gresham library, under the care of the royal society, and they afterwards became the property of the nation. oldys the antiquary distinctly stated that these 'were the remnants of the king of hungary'; 'they afterwards fell into the hands of bilibald pirckheimer.' the senator of nuremberg made the books his own in a very emphatic way: 'there is to be seen his head graved by albert dürer, one of the first examples of sticking or pasting of heads, arms, or cyphers into volumes.' pirckheimer died in , three years after the sack of buda, and had the opportunity of getting some of the books. we cannot tell to what extent he succeeded, or whether william oldys was right on the facts before him; but we know from pirckheimer's own letters that he was the actual owner of at least some mss. that 'came to him out of the spoils of hungary.' chapter viii. germany--flanders--burgundy--england. almost immediately after the invention of printing in germany there arose a vast public demand for all useful kinds of knowledge. the study of greek was essential to those who would compete with the italians in any of the higher departments of science, and great schools were established for the purpose by dringeberg in a town of alsace, and by rudolf lange at münster. the alsatian academy had the credit of educating rhenanus and bilibald pirckheimer. lange filled his shelves with a quantity of excellent classics that he had purchased during a tour in italy. hermann busch, the great critic, was taught in this school, and he used to say in after life that he often dreamed of lange's house, and saw an altar of the muses surrounded by the shadowy figures of ancient poets and orators. busch was sent afterwards to deventer, where he was the class-mate of erasmus. here one day, while the boys were at their themes, came rudolf agricola, the sturdy doctor from friesland, who wanted to see a germany 'more latin than latium,' and had vowed to abate the 'italian insolence.' the visitor told erasmus that he was sure to be a great man, and patted the young hermann on the head, saying that he had the look of a poet; and he is, indeed, still faintly remembered for the lines in which he celebrated the triumph of reuchlin. reuchlin had learned greek at paris and poitiers; at florence he studied the secrets of the cabala with mirandula; and he perfected his hebrew at rome, where he acted as an envoy from the elector palatine. reuchlin for many years led a peaceful life at tübingen, an oasis of freedom, in which he could print or read what he pleased. but in he was forced into a quarrel, which involved the whole question of the liberty of the press, and incidentally associated the cause of the reformation with the maintenance of classical learning. in the year one pfefferkorn, a monk who had been a convert from judaism, obtained an imperial decree that all hebrew books, except the scriptures, should be destroyed. reuchlin sprang forth to defend his beloved cabala, and maintained that only those volumes ought to be burned which were proved to have a taint of magic or blasphemy. he was cited to answer for his heresy before the grand inquisitor at cologne; and the world, at first indifferent, soon saw that the cause of the new learning was at stake. in the summer of there was a notable gathering of reformers at frankfort fair. we have nothing in our own days that quite resembles these mediæval marts; the annual concourse of merchants might perhaps be compared to one of our industrial exhibitions, or to some conjunction of all the trade of leipsic and nijni novgorod. the italians affected to believe that the fair by the main was chiefly taken up with the sale of mechanical contrivances; the germans knew that their 'attic mart' held streets of book-shops and publishers' offices. henri estienne saw professors here from oxford and cambridge, from louvain, and from padua: there was a crowd of poets, historians, and men of science; and he declared that another alexandrian library might be bought in those seething stalls, if one laid out money like a king, or like a maniac, as others might say. in this german athens a meeting was arranged between reuchlin and erasmus; they were joined at frankfort by hermann busch, who brought with him the manuscript of his 'triumph'; and perhaps it was not difficult to predict that the cause of the old books would be safe in the hands of pope leo x. they found themselves in company with that ferocious satirist, ulric von hutten, memorable for his threat to the citizens of mainz, when they proposed to destroy his library, and he answered, 'if you burn my books, i will burn your town.' the grand inquisitor was utterly overwhelmed by his volume of pasquinades, a work so witty that it was constantly attributed to erasmus, and so carefully destroyed that heinsius gave a hundred gold pieces for the copy which count hohendorf afterwards placed among the imperial rarities at vienna. the satirist's volume of _letters from obscure men_ completed the rout of the inquisition; and we are told by the way that it saved the life of erasmus by throwing him into a violent fit of laughter. we do not suppose that many germans of that day loved books for their delicate appearance, or the damask and satin of their 'pleasant coverture.' reuchlin may be counted among the bibliophiles, since he refused a large sum from the emperor in lieu of a hebrew bible. melanchthon's books were rough volumes in stamped pigskin, made valuable by his marginal notes. the library of erasmus may be shown to have been somewhat insignificant by these words in his will: 'some time ago i sold my library to john à lasco of poland, and according to the contract between us it is to be delivered to him on his paying two hundred florins to my heir; if he refuses to accede to this condition, or die before me, my heir is to dispose of the books as he shall think proper.' the principal bibliophiles in germany were the wealthy fuggers of augsburg, of whom charles v. used to say when he saw any display of magnificence, 'i have a burgess at augsburg who can do better than that.' these merchants were commonly believed to have discovered the philosopher's stone: they were in fact enriched by their trade with the east, and had found another fortune in the quicksilver of almaden, by which the gold was extracted from the ores of peru. raimond fugger amassed a noble library before the end of the fifteenth century. ulric his successor was the friend of henri estienne, who proudly announced himself as printer to the fuggers on many a title-page. ulric spent so much money on books that his family at one time obtained a decree to restrain his extravagance. his library was said to contain as many books as there were stars in heaven. the original stock received a vast accession under his brother's will, and he purchased another huge collection formed by dr. achilles gasparus. on his death he left the whole accumulated mass to the elector palatine, and the books thenceforth shared the fortunes of the heidelberg library. when tilly took the city in the best part of the collection was offered to the vatican, and leo allatius the librarian was sent to make the selection, and to superintend their transport to rome. the emperor napoleon thought fit to remove some of the mss. to paris; but, on their being seized by the allies in , it was thought that prescription should not be pleaded by rome: 'especially,' says hallam, 'when she was recovering what she had lost by the same right of spoliation'; and the whole collection of which the elector had been deprived was restored to the library at heidelberg. flanders had been the home of book-learning in very early times. the counts of hainault and the dukes of brabant were patrons of literature when most of the princes of europe were absorbed in the occupations of the chase. the flemish monasteries preserved the literary tradition. at alne, near liège, the monks had a bible which archdeacon philip, the friend of st. bernard, had transcribed before the year . we hear of another at louvain, about a century later in date, with initials in blue and gold throughout, which had taken three years in copying. deventer was known as 'the home of minerva' before the days of st. thomas à kempis. the forest of soigny provided a retreat for learning in its houses of val-rouge and val-vert and the sept-fontaines. the brothers of the common life had long been engaged in the production of books before they gave themselves to the labours of the printing-press at brussels. thomas à kempis himself has described their way of living at deventer. 'much was i delighted,' he said, 'with the devout conversation, the irreproachable demeanour and humility of the brethren: i had never seen such piety and charity: they took no concern about what passed outside, but remained at home, employed in prayer and study, or in copying useful books.' this work at good books, he repeated, is the opening of the fountains of life: 'blessed are the hands of the copyists: for which of the world's writings would be remembered, if there had been no pious hand to transcribe them?' he himself during his stay at deventer copied out a bible, a missal, and four of st. bernard's works, and when he went to zwolle he composed and wrote out a chronicle of the brotherhood. the abbey of st. bavon at ghent was endowed with a great number of books by rafael de mercatellis, the reputed son of philippe le bon, duke of burgundy. as abbot he devoted his life to increasing the splendour of his monastery. the illuminated mss. survived the perils of war and the excesses of the revolution, and are still to be seen in the university with the abbot's signature on their glittering title-pages. a more important collection belonged to louis de bruges, seigneur de la gruthuyse. as titular earl of winchester he was in some degree connected with this country. when edward iv. fled from england, and was chased by german pirates, this nobleman was governor of holland. he rescued the fugitives, and paid their expenses; and when edward recovered his throne he rewarded his friend with a title and a charge on the customs. the dignity carried no active privileges, and in it was surrendered to the king at calais. the books of la gruthuyse have been described as 'the bibliographical marvel of the age.' they were celebrated for their choice vellum, their delicate penmanship, and their exquisite illustrations. louis de bruges was the friend and patron of colard mansion, who printed in partnership with caxton. three copies are known of his work called the 'penitence of adam.' one belonged to the royal library of france: another was borrowed from a monastery by the duc d'isenghien, an enthusiastic but somewhat unscrupulous collector, and this copy was sold at the gaignat sale in ; the third was the property of m. lambinet of brussels, and is remarkable for the miniature in which mansion is represented as offering the book to his patron in the garden of la gruthuyse. after the death of louis his books passed to his son jean de bruges; but most of them were soon afterwards acquired by louis xii., who added them to the library at blois, the insignia of la gruthuyse being replaced by the arms of france. others were bequeathed to louis xiv. by the bibliophile hippolyte de béthune, who refused a magnificent offer from queen christina of sweden in order that his books might remain in france. a fine copy of the _forteresse du foy_ belonged to claude d'urfé, whose library of books, 'all in green velvet,' was kept in his castle at la bastie; when all the others were dispersed the gruthuyse volume remained as an heirloom, and descended to honoré d'urfé, the dreariest of all writers of romance. in it belonged to the duc de la vallière, and was purchased for the french government at one of his numerous sales. some of the flemish books remained in their original home. a volume of wallon songs was discovered at ghent in the last generation; and two other gruthuyse books in the same language, from the great collection of m. van hulthem, are now deposited in the burgundian library at brussels. the dukes of burgundy were of the book-loving race of the valois. the brothers, charles le sage, jean duc de berry, and philippe le hardi of burgundy, were all founders of celebrated libraries. philippe increased his store of books by his marriage with the heiress of flanders; he kept a large staff of scribes at work, and made incessant purchases from the lombard booksellers in paris. duke john, his successor, is remembered for his acquisition of a wonderful _valerius maximus_ from the librarian of the sorbonne. but the collections of which the remnants are now preserved in belgium were almost entirely the work of duke philippe le bon. he kept his books in many different places. he had a library at dijon, and another in paris, a few volumes in the treasury at ghent, a thousand volumes at bruges, and nearly as many at antwerp. it has been calculated that he possessed more than mss. in all; and, if that figure is correct, the house of bourgogne-valois was in this respect almost the richest of the reigning families of europe. under charles the bold the libraries appear to have been left alone, except as regards a few characteristic additions. the duchess margaret was the patroness of her countryman caxton, whose _recuyell_, probably published at bruges in during his partnership with colard mansion, was the first printed english book. the taste of the duchess may answer for the appearance in the library of the _moral discourses_, and the elegant _debates upon happiness_. the _cyropædia_ and the romance of _quintus curtius_ must be attributed to the warlike duke. at berne they have a relic of the fight where his men were shot down 'like ducks in the reeds.' it is a manuscript, with a note added to the following effect: 'these military ordinances of the excellent and invincible duke charles of burgundy were taken at morat on the th of june , being found in the pavilion of that excellent and potent prince.' when charles was killed at nancy in the following year his favourite _cyropædia_ was found by the swiss in his baggage. this volume was bought in by the queen of the belgians at a book-sale in paris, and has now been restored to its original home at brussels. after the death of charles the bold his library at dijon was given by the french king to george de la tremouille, the governor of the province. it passed to the family of guy de rocheford, and in the course of time many of the best works have found their way into the national collection. mary of burgundy retained the other libraries at brussels. after her marriage with maximilian her family treasures were for the most part dispersed in france, germany, and sweden, the needy prince being unable to resist the temptation of pilfering and pawning the books; but the generosity of margaret of austria, a great collector herself of fine copies and first editions, in some measure repaired the loss; and mary of austria, who became regent in , continued the work of restoration. the magnificence of the burgundian court and the commercial prosperity of the low countries led to a continuous demand for fine books among the other productions of luxury. we learn also by the venetian archives that throughout the fifteenth century books were being imported into england by the galleys that brought the produce of the east to our merchants in london and southampton. there were as yet but slight signs of literary activity; but it has been well said that 'the seed was germinating in the ground'; and many foreign works were brought home from time to time by those who had studied or travelled in italy. it was the fashion of the day to learn under guarini at ferrara; the list of his scholars includes the names of robert fleming, and bishop william gray, and the book-loving john tiptoft, earl of worcester, whose virtue and learning became the object of william caxton's celebrated eulogy. we may commemorate here the earlier labours of lord cobham, who caused wicliffe's works to be copied at a great expense and to be conveyed for safety to bohemia, and of sir walter sherington, who early in the same century built a library at glastonbury, and furnished it with 'fair books upon vellum.' towards the end of the century learning began to flourish under the patronage of lord saye, and the accomplished anthony lord rivers: and its future in this country was secure, when the english scholars began to flock towards florence to hear the lectures of chalcondylas and his successor politian. grocyn, our first greek professor, had drawn his learning from that source, and linacre had sat there in a class with the children of lorenzo de' médici. cardinal pole and the ciceronian de longueil shared as students in those tasks and sports at padua which were so vividly described by the english churchman in his record of their life-long friendship. thomas lilly, the master at st. paul's, not only worked at florence but went to perfect his greek in the isle of rhodes. sir thomas more was the pupil of grocyn, whom he seems to have excelled in scholarship. his affection for books is known by his son-in-law's careful biography. an anecdote cited by dibdin preserves a record of the fate of his library. when the chancellor was arrested, the officers were expected to listen to his talk with certain spies, on the chance that the prisoner might be led into a treasonable conversation; but, as mr. palmer said in his deposition, 'he was so busy trussing up sir thomas more's books in a sack that he took no heed to their talk'; and sir richard southwell on the same occasion deposed, that 'being appointed only to look to the conveyance of the books, he gave no ear unto them.' erasmus praised more as 'the most gentle soul ever framed by nature.' he was astonished at his learning, and indeed at the high standard that had already been attained in england. 'it is incredible,' he said, 'what a thick crop of old books spreads out on every side: there is so much erudition, not of any ordinary kind, but recondite and accurate and antique, both in greek and latin, that you need not go to italy except for the pleasure of travelling.' hallam remarked that erasmus was always ready with a compliment; but he admitted that before the year there were probably more scholars in england than in france, 'though all together they might not weigh as heavy as budæus.' chapter ix. france: early bookmen--royal collectors. we shall take budæus as our first example of the french bookmen in the period that followed the invention of printing. of guillaume budé, to give him his original name, it was said that he knew greek as minutely as the orators of the age of demosthenes. if there was any real foundation for the compliment it must have consisted in the fact that the frenchman had more acquaintance with the language than his instructor george of sparta. budæus is said to have paid a very large sum for a course of lectures on homer, and to have been not a pennyworth the wiser at the end. erasmus, who also learned of the spartan, confessed that his tutor only 'stammered in greek,' and that he seemed to have neither the desire nor the capacity for teaching. it is interesting to see how these students made the best of their bad materials. 'i have given my whole soul to greek,' wrote erasmus, 'and as soon as i get any money i shall buy books first, and then some clothes.' budæus was known as 'the prodigy of france,' and even scaliger allowed that his country would never see such a scholar again; and it is rather surprising that erasmus should have compared his style unfavourably with that of badius, the printer from brabant. budæus was the first to apply the historical method to the explanation of the civil law: with the assistance of jean grolier he brought out a very learned treatise on ancient weights and measures; and in publishing his commentaries on the greek language he was said to have raised himself to 'a pinnacle of philological glory.' one of the stories about his devotion to books may have been told of others, but is certainly characteristic of the man. a servant rushes in to say that the house is on fire; but the scholar answers, 'tell my wife: you know that i never interfere with the household.' he was married twice over, he used to say, to the muse of philology as well as to a mortal wife; but he confessed that he would never have got far with the first, if the second had not commanded in the library, always ready to look out passages and to hand down the necessary books. when charles viii. seized the royal library at naples, a few of the best mss. escaped his scrutiny, and these were sold by the dispossessed king to the cardinal d'amboise. a new school of illuminators at rouen provided the cardinal with a number of other splendid volumes. he lived till the year , and was able to collect a second library of printed books. he divided the whole into two portions at his death, the french books passing to a relation and afterwards to the family of la rochefoucauld, and the rest forming the foundation of a fine library long possessed by the archbishops of rouen. the archbishop juvenal des ursins died in the middle of the fifteenth century. he is celebrated as a lover of good books, though only a single example of his choice survived into the present generation. it was a magnificent missal on vellum, filled with the choicest miniatures, and known as the best specimen of its class in the possession of prince soltikoff. it is only a few years ago that it entered the collection of m. firmin-didot, who paid , francs for it at the prince's sale: in the year he gave it up to the city of paris; but like so many of the great books of france it perished in the fires of the commune. jacques de pars, the physician to charles vii., bequeathed his scientific mss. to the college of medicine at paris: and the value of his gift was manifested when the powerful louis xi. was forbidden to take out a medical treatise for transcription unless he would pledge his silver plate and find collateral security for its safe return. Étienne chevalier was one of the few servants of king charles who were tolerated by king louis. he became chief treasurer to louis xi., and built a great mansion in the rue de la verrerie in paris. the walls and ceilings were decorated with allegorical designs in honour of his friend agnès sorel, whose courage had led to the expulsion of the english invaders. the library was filled with choice mss., illuminated for the most part by jehan foucquet, the famous miniaturist from tours. nicholas chevalier, his descendant in the sixteenth century, was also illustrious as a bibliophile, and amidst his own printed folios and pedigrees rolled in blue velvet could still show the marvellous _livre d'heures_, of which all that now remains is a set of paintings hacked out from the text. m. le roux de lincy has compiled a long and interesting list of the french bibliophiles who preceded the age of grolier. we can only mention a few out of the number. of the poets we have charles, duke of orléans, the owner of eighty magnificent volumes preserved in the castle of blois, and pierre ronsard; and we may add the abbé philippe desportes, renowned not less for a rivalry with ronsard than for his sumptuous mode of living and the fortune expended on his library. to the statesmen may be added florimond robertet, the first of a long line of bibliophiles. among the learned ladies of the sixteenth century we may choose louise labé, surnamed 'la belle cordière,' who made a collection of a new kind, composed entirely of works in french, spanish, and italian, and charlotte guillard, a printer as well as a book-collector, who published at her own expense a volume of the commentaries of st. jerome. the most important of the private collectors in this period was arthur gouffier, seigneur de boissy, another of the faithful followers of charles vii. who were so fortunate as to gain the confidence of his jealous successor. he was a lover of fine bindings in the style rendered famous by grolier. one of his books belonged to the late baron jérôme pichon, the head of the french _société des bibliophiles_, and it is admitted that nothing even in grolier's library could excel it in delicacy of execution. his son, claude gouffier, created duc de rouannais, was a collector of an essentially modern type. he bought autographs and historical portraits, as well as rare mss. and good specimens of printing, and was careful to have his books well clothed in the fashionable painted binding. claude gouffier was tutor to the young duc d'angoulême, who came to the throne as francis i.; and to him may be due his royal pupil's affection for the books bedecked with the salamander in flames and the silver _fleurs-de-lys_. francis i. cared little for printed books in comparison with manuscript rarities; he added very few to the collection at fontainebleau beyond what he received as presents from his mother, queen louise, and his sister marguerite d'angoulême. the royal library owed many of its finest manuscripts to the delicate taste of the princess who was compared to the 'blossom of poetry' and praised as the 'marguerite des marguerites.' its wealth was much increased by the confiscation of the property of the constable de bourbon; and it should be remembered that among the additions from this source were most of the magnificently illuminated manuscripts that had belonged to jean duc de berri. the king was much attracted by the hope of making literary discoveries in the east; he obtained much information on the subject from john lascaris, and despatched pierre gilles to make purchases in the levantine monasteries. a similar commission was entrusted to guillaume postel, one of the greatest linguists that ever lived, but so crazy that he believed himself to be adam born to live again, and so unfortunate that he could seldom keep out of a prison. the reign of henri deux is of great importance in the annals of bibliography. an ordinance was made in , through the influence, as it is supposed, of diane de poitiers, by which every publisher was compelled to present copies of his books, printed on vellum and suitably bound, to the libraries at blois and fontainebleau, and such others as the king should appoint. about eight hundred volumes in the national collection represent the immediate results of this copy-tax; they are all marked with the ambiguous cypher, which might either represent the initials of the king and queen or might indicate the names of henri and diane. queen catherine de médici was an enthusiastic collector. when she arrived in france as a girl she brought with her from urbino a number of mss. that had belonged to the eastern emperors, and had been purchased by cosmo de' médici. she afterwards seized the whole library of marshal strozzi on the ground that they must be regarded as 'médici books,' having been inherited at one time by a nephew of leo x. on her death in she was found to have been possessed of about eight hundred greek manuscripts, all of the highest rarity and value. there was some danger that they would be seized by her creditors; but the king was advised that such an assemblage could not be got together again in any country or at any cost. the library was made an heir-loom of the crown: and at de thou's suggestion the books were stripped of their rich coverings and disguised in an official costume. diane de poitiers, a true _chasseresse des bouquins_, was herself the daughter of a bibliophile. the comte de st. vallier loved books in italian bindings, and there is a _roman de perceforest_ in the collection of the duc d'aumale, that bears the saint vallier arms and marks of ownership, though it was confidently believed to have been bound for grolier when it belonged to king louis-philippe. henri deux and the duchesse diane kept a treasure of books between them in the magnificent castle of anet: and after they were dead the books remained unknown and unnoticed in their hall until the death of the princesse de condé in the year . the sale which then took place was a revelation of beauty. the books were in good condition, and were all clad in sumptuous bindings. there was a remarkable diversity in their contents, the fathers and the poets standing side by side with treatises upon medicine and the management of a household, as if they had been acquired in great part by virtue of the tax upon the publishers. most of them, we are told, were bought by the 'intrepid book-hunter' m. guyon de sardières, whose whole library in its turn was engulphed in the miscellaneous collections of the duc de la vallière. an article in the _bibliophile français_ contains a curious argument in favour of diane de poitiers, as being one of a band of devoted frenchwomen who saved their country from foreign ideas. we are reminded of the patriotism of agnès sorel, and of the excellent influence of gabrielle d'estrées. the duchesse d'estampes, we are told, preserved francis i. from the influence of the italian renaissance, and prevented the subjugation of france 'by a benvenuto or da vinci'; and in the same way, when catherine de médici was preparing to introduce other strange fashions, diane came forward in her 'magical beauty' and saved the originality of her nation. the three sons of catherine were all fond of books in their way. francis _ii._ died before he had time to make any collection; if he had lived, mary of scotland, who shared his throne for a few weeks, might have led him into the higher paths of literature. some of their favourite volumes have been preserved; the young king's books bear the dolphin or the arms of france; the queen bound everything in black morocco emblasoned with the lion of scotland. charles ix. had a turn for literature, as beseemed the pupil of bishop amyot; he studied archæology in some detail, and purchased grolier's cabinet of coins. he brought the library of fontainebleau to paris, where his father had made the beginning of a new collection out of the confiscated property of the président ranconnet, and gave the management of the whole to the venerable amyot. his brother, the effeminate henri trois, cared much for bindings and little for books: it is said that he was somewhat of a book-binder himself, as his brother charles had worked at the armourer's smithy, and as some of his successors were to take up the technicalities of the barber, the cook, and the locksmith. being an extravagant idler himself, he passed laws against extravagance in his subjects; but though furs and heavy chains might be forbidden, he allowed gilt edges and arabesques on books, and only drew the line at massive gold stamps. his own taste combined the gloomy and the grotesque, his clothes and his bindings alike being covered with skulls and cross-bones, and spangles to represent tears, with other conventional emblems of sorrow. louise of lorraine, after the king's death, retired to the castle of chenonceau: and the widowed queen employed her time, in that 'palace of fairy-land,' at forming a small cabinet of books. the catalogue describes about eighty volumes, mostly bound by nicolas eve; and the gay morocco covers in red, blue, and green, were decorated with brilliant arabesques, or sprinkled with golden lilies. hardly any perfect specimens remain, even in the national library. they were all bequeathed by the queen to her niece the duchesse de vendôme; but in the hands of a later possessor they were put up for sale and dispersed, and have now for the most part disappeared. henri quatre is said to have fled to his books for consolation when abandoned by gabrielle d'estrées. though no bibliophile himself, he was anxious that everything should be done that could promote the interests of literature. he intended to establish a magnificent library in the collège de cambray, but died before the plans were completed. the books at blois, however, were brought to paris and thrown open to deserving students; the library already transported from fontainebleau and the mss. of catherine de médici were removed to the collège de clermont, and placed under the guardianship of de thou. marguerite de valois agreed with the king, if in nothing else, at least in a desire for the extension of knowledge. she was a most learned lady as well as a collector of exquisite books. no branch of science, sacred or profane, came amiss to the 'reine margot.' she may be regarded as the queen of the 'femmes bibliophiles' who occupied so important a position in the history of the court of france. in the domain of good taste she excels all competitors; as regards intellect we can hardly estimate the distance between marguerite and the elegant collectors whom we distinguish according to the names of their book-binders. anne of austria is remembered for the lace-like patterns of le gascon; and queen marie leczinska is famous for the splendour of her volumes bound by padeloup. even the libraries of the daughters of louis quinze, three diligent and well-instructed princesses, are only known apart by the colours of the moroccos employed by derôme. the dull contents of the pompadour's shelves would hardly be noticeable without her 'three castles,' or the 'ducal mantle,' by biziaux; and no one but louis quinze himself would have praised the intelligent choice of du barry, or cast a look upon her collection of odd volumes and 'remainders,' if they had not been decorated like the rest of her furniture. in all the lists of these 'ladies of old-time' by m. guigard, by m. quentin-bauchart, or by m. uzanne, it is difficult to find one who preferred the inside to the outside of the book. m. uzanne, indeed, has contended that no female bibliophile ever felt the passion that inspired a grolier or a de thou: that marie antoinette herself may have caged thousands of books at the trianon like birds in an aviary, without any real regard to their nature or the right way of using them; that these devotees of the book-chase were like an invalid master of hounds, keeping the pack in a gilded kennel without any exercise or any chance of practical work. we think that something perhaps might be said on the other side. the duchesse de berry in our own time possessed a serious collection, made under her own direction, in which might be found the _livre d'heures_ of henri deux, the prayer-book of joanna of naples, the best books of marguerite de valois and marie leczinska. the princess pauline buonaparte was the owner of a well-selected library. but our best example is madame elisabeth, the ill-fated daughter of france, who was dragged from her books at montreuil in the tumults of . only a short time before she had been absorbed in her simple collection. in the spring of she gave up her mornings to its arrangement. 'my library,' she wrote, 'is nearly finished: the desks are being put up, and you cannot imagine the fine effect of the books.' on september the th she writes to her friend again: 'montreuil and its mistress get on as well as two sweethearts. i am writing in the small room at the end; the books are settled in their shelves, and my library is really a little gem.' on the th of october she was standing on the terrace by the library-window, when she saw a crowd coming along the sèvres road, and heard the noise of pipes and drums; and on the same day she was forced to leave montreuil, and never saw her books again. chapter x. the old royal library--fairfax--cotton--harley--the university of cambridge. henry vii. was the founder of a royal collection which in time became a constituent portion of the library at the british museum. careful as he was of his money, the king endeavoured to buy every book published in french, and he acquired the whole of vérard's series of classics, printed on vellum with initials in gold and gorgeous illuminations, in some of which the printer is shown presenting his books to the royal collector. henry viii. established the separate library which was long maintained at st. james's; he intended it mainly for the education of princes of the blood royal, and supplied it with a quantity of early-printed books and a miscellaneous gathering of wreckage from the monasteries. during several succeeding reigns there were 'studies' and galleries of books at whitehall and windsor castle, at greenwich and oatlands, or wherever the court might be held. it is said that in the time of henry viii. the best english collection belonged to bishop fisher. 'he had the notablest library,' said fuller, 'two long galleries full, the books sorted in stalls, and a register of the name of each book at the end of its stall.' this great storehouse of knowledge the bishop had intended to transfer to st. john's college at cambridge; but on his disgrace it was seized by thomas cromwell and dispersed among his greedy retainers. under the protector somerset the protestant feeling ran high. martin bucer's manuscripts were bought for the young king; and the reformer's printed books were divided between archbishop cranmer and the duchess of somerset. about the same time an order was issued in the name of edward vi. for purging the king's library at westminster of missals, legends, and other 'superstitious volumes'; and their 'garniture,' according to the fashion of the time, was bestowed as a perquisite upon a grasping courtier. [illustration: binding executed for queen elizabeth.] queen elizabeth was naturally fond of fine books. she had a small collection before she reached the throne, and became in due course the recipient of a number of splendid presentation volumes. there is a copy of a french poem in her praise in the public library at oxford: its pages are full of exquisite portraits and designs, and on the sides there are 'brilliant bosses composed of humming-birds' feathers.' as a child she had bound her books in needle-work, or in 'blue corded silk, with gold and silver thread,' in the style afterwards adopted by the sisters at little gidding in the time of charles i. her testament, most carefully covered by her own handiwork, contains a note quoted by mr. macray in his 'annals of the bodleian library'; it refers to her walks in the field of scripture, where she plucked up the 'goodlie greene herbes,' which she afterwards ate by her reading, 'and chawed by musing.' her gallery at whitehall made a gallant show of mss. and classics in red velvet, with gilt clasps and jewelled sides, and all the french and italian books standing by in morocco and gold. archbishop parker tried to induce her to establish a national library; but the queen seems to have cared little about the plan. she allowed the archbishop on his own behalf to seek out the books remaining from the suppressed monasteries: at another time he obtained leave to recover as many as he could find of cranmer's books. he tracked some of them to the house of one dr. nevinson, who was forced to disgorge his treasures. parker kept a staff of scribes and painters in miniature, and had his own press and fount of type. he published many scarce tracts to save them from oblivion. others he ordered to be copied in manuscript, and these and all his ancient books he caused to be 'trimly covered'; so that we may say with dibdin, 'a more determined book-fancier existed not in great britain.' he gave some of his books to 'his nurse corpus christi' at cambridge, and some to the public library; and his gift to the college was compared to 'the sun of our english antiquity,' eclipsed only by the shadow of cotton's palace of learning. one would like to fancy a symposium of the great men talking over their books, in the room where ben jonson was king, and where 'mellifluous shakespeare, whose enchanting quill commanded mirth and passion, was but will.' jonson's books, as was said of himself, were like the great spanish galleons, bulky folios with '_sum ben jonson_' boldly inscribed. we know little about shakespeare's books, except that they probably went to the new place and passed among the chattels to susanna hall and her husband. his florio's version of montaigne is in the british museum, if the authenticity of his signature can be trusted. his neat aldine ovid is at the bodleian, inscribed with his initials, and a note: 'this little booke of ovid was given to me by w. hall, who sayd it was once will shakspere's.' we would call to our meeting gabriel harvey with his new italian books and pamphlets; and spenser, if possible, should be there; dr. dee would tell the piteous story of his four thousand volumes, printed and unprinted, greek, in french, and high-dutch mss., etc., and of forty years spent in gathering the books that were all on their way to the pawnshop. he might have told the fortunes of all the books with the help of his magical mirrors and crystals. francis bacon's store was to increase and multiply, to adorn the library at cambridge and fill the shelves at gray's inn; lord leicester's books, with their livery of the 'bear and ragged staff,' were to freeze for ages in the galleries at lambeth. we should have ascham inveighing against the ancients and their idle and blind way of living: 'in our father's time,' he says, 'nothing was read but books of feigned chivalry'; but captain cox would come forth to meet him, attired as in the tournament at kenilworth, or in the picture which dibdin has extracted from laneham. 'captain cox came marching on, clean trussed and gartered above the knee, all fresh in a velvet cap: an odd man, i promise you: by profession a mason, and that right skilful and very cunning in fence.... as for king arthur and huon of bourdeaux, ... the fryar and the boy, elynor rumming, and the nut-brown maid, with many more than i can rehearse, i believe he has them all at his fingers' ends.' james i., as became a 'solomon,' was the master of many books; but not being a 'fancier' he gave them shabby coverings and scribbled idle notes on their margins. he is forgiven for being a pedant, since buchanan said it was the best that could be made of him; it is difficult to be patient about his hint to the dutch that it would be well to burn the old scholar vorstius instead of making him a professor at leyden. he seems to have done more harm than good to the libraries in his own possession. we know how he broke into a 'noble speech' when he visited bodley at oxford, with the librarian trembling lest the king should see a book by buchanan, who had often whipped his royal pupil in days gone by: 'if i were not a king i would be an university-man, and if it was so that i must be a prisoner i would desire no other durance than to be chained in that library with so many noble authors.' the king gave sir thomas bodley a warrant under the privy seal to take what books he pleased from any of the royal palaces and libraries; 'howbeit,' said bodley, 'for that the place at whitehall is over the queen's chamber, i must needs attend her departure from thence, whereof at present there is no certainty known: how i shall proceed for other places i have not yet resolved.' prince henry had a more refined taste. the dilettanti of the prince's set took no part in the drunken antics of the court, where goring was master of the games, but sir john millicent 'made the best _extempore_ fool.' the prince bought almost the whole of the monastic library originally formed by henry lord arundel: about forty volumes had already been given by lord lumley to oxford. there was some danger that the books at whitehall would be destroyed in the fury of the civil war; but almost all of them were saved by the personal exertions of hugh peters, when selden had told him that there was not the like of these rare monuments in christendom, outside the vatican. whitelocke was appointed their keeper, and to his deputy, john dury, we owe the first english treatise on library management. thomas, lord fairfax, did a similar good service at oxford. when the city was surrended in the first thing that the general did was to place a guard of soldiers at the bodleian. there was more hurt done by the cavaliers, said aubrey, in the way of embezzlement and cutting the chains off the books, than was ever done afterwards. fairfax, he adds, was himself a lover of learning, and had he not taken this special care the library would have been destroyed; 'for there were ignorant senators enough who would have been content to have it so.' as a rule, we must admit that the puritans were friendly to literature, with a very natural exception as to merely ecclesiastical records. oliver cromwell gave some of the barocci mss. to the university of oxford; and the preservation of usher's library at trinity college, dublin, was due to the public spirit of the cromwellian soldiers, officers and men having subscribed alike for its purchase 'out of emulation to a former noble action of queen elizabeth's army in ireland.' [illustration: sir robert cotton.] sir robert cotton began about to gather materials for a history of england. with the help of camden and sir henry spelman he obtained nearly a thousand volumes of records and documents; and these he arranged under a system, by which they are still cited, in fourteen wainscot presses marked with the names of the twelve cæsars, cleopatra, and faustina. he was so rich in state papers that, as fuller said, 'the fountains were fain to fetch water from the stream,' and the secretaries and clerks of the council were glad in many cases to borrow back valuable originals. sir robert was at one time accused of selling secrets to the spanish ambassador, and various excuses were found for closing the library, until at last it was declared to be unfit for public use on account of its political contents. he often told his friends that this tyranny had broken his heart, and shortly before his death in he informed the lords of the council that their conduct was the cause of his mortal malady. the library was restored to his son sir thomas: and in sir john cotton's time the public made a considerable use of its contents; but it seems to have been still a matter of favour, for burnet complains that he was refused admittance unless he could procure a recommendation from the archbishop and the secretary of state. anthony wood gives a pleasant account of his visit: 'posting off forthwith he found sir john cotton in his house, joining almost to westminster hall: he was then practising on his lute, and when he had done he came out and received wood kindly, and invited him to dinner, and directed him to mr. pearson who kept the key. here was another trouble; for the said mr. pearson being a lodger in the shop of a bookseller living in little britain, wood was forced to walk thither, and much ado there was to find him.' the library was afterwards moved to essex street, and then to ashburnham house in little dean's yard, where the great fire took place in , which some attributed to 'dr. bentley's villainy.' dean stanley has told us how the headmaster of westminster, coming to the rescue, saw a figure issue from the burning house, 'in his dressing-gown, with a flowing wig on his head, and a huge volume under his arm.' this was dr. bentley the librarian, doing his best to save the alexandrian ms. of the new testament. mr. speaker onslow and some of the other trustees worked hard in the crowd at pumping, breaking open the presses, and throwing the volumes out at a window. the destruction was lamentable; but wonders have been done in extending the shrivelled documents and rendering their ashes legible. the public use of the collection had been already regulated by parliament when a comprehensive act was passed in , and the nation acquired under one title the cottonian library, sir hans sloane's museum, the earl of oxford's pamphlets and manuscripts, and all that remained of the ancient royal collections. robert harley, earl of oxford, made a great purchase in , and spent the next twenty years in building on that foundation. his son, earl edward, threw himself with zeal into the undertaking, and left at his death about , books, besides a huge body of manuscripts and an incredible number of pamphlets. we shall quote from the sketch by oldys, who shared with dr. johnson the task of compiling the catalogue. 'the earl had the rarest books of all countries, languages, and sciences': thousands of fragments, some a thousand years old: vellum books, of which some had been scraped and used again as 'palimpsests': 'a great collection of bibles, and editions of all the first printed books, classics, and others of our own country, ecclesiastical as well as civil, by caxton, wynkyn de worde, pynson, berthelet, rastall, grafton, and the greatest number of pamphlets and english heads of any other person: abundance of ledgers, chartularies, etc., and original letters of eminent persons as many as would fill two hundred volumes; all the collections of his librarian humphrey wanley, of stow, sir symonds d'ewes, prynne, bishop stillingfleet, john bagford, le neve, and the flower of a hundred other libraries.' a few of these collections ought to be separately mentioned. stow had died in great poverty, and indeed had been for many years a licensed beggar or bedesman; but in his youth he had been enabled by parker's protection to make a good collection out of the spoils of the abbeys; during the elizabethan persecution he was nearly convicted of treason for being in possession of remnants of popery, and found it very hard to convince the stern inquisitor that he was only a harmless antiquary. sir symonds d'ewes had endeavoured by his will, which he modelled upon that of de thou, to preserve undispersed through the ages to come the 'precious library' bequeathed in a touching phrase 'to adrian d'ewes, my young son, yet lying in the cradle.' notwithstanding all his bonds and penalties the event which he dreaded came to pass. harley had advised queen anne to buy a collection that included so many precious documents and records: the queen, wishing perhaps to rebuff her minister, said that it was indeed no merit in her to prefer arts to arms, 'but while the blood and honour of the nation was at stake in her wars she could not, till she had secured her living subjects an honourable peace, bestow their money upon dead letters'; and so, we are told, 'the earl stretched his own purse, and gave £ for the library.' peter le neve spent his life in gathering important papers about coat-armour and pedigrees. he had intended them for the use of his fellow kings-at-arms; but it was said that he had some pique against the heralds' college, and so 'cut them off with a volume.' the rest went to the auction-room: 'the earl of oxford,' said oldys, 'will have a sweep at it'; and we know that the cast was successful. as for john bagford, the scourge of the book-world, we have little to say in his defence. in his audacious design of compiling a history of printing he mangled and mutilated about , volumes, tearing out the title pages and colophons and shaving the margins even of such priceless jewels of bibliography as the bible of gutenberg and those of 'polyglott' cardinal ximènes. he cannot avoid conviction as a literary monster; yet his contemporaries regarded him as a miracle of erudition, and mr. pollard has lately put in a kindly plea in mitigation. we are reminded that bagford made no money by his crimes, that he took walking-tours through holland and germany in search of bargains, and that he made 'a priceless collection of ballads.' it might be said also for a further plea that what one age regards as sport another condemns as butchery. the ferrar family at little gidding were the inventors of 'pasting-printing,' as they called their barbarous mode of embellishment; and charles i. himself, in laud's presence, called their largest scrap-book 'the emperor of all books,' and 'the incomparablest book this will be, as ever eye beheld.' the huge volume made up for prince charles out of pictures and scraps of text was joyfully pronounced to be 'the gallantest greatest book in the world.' the practice of 'grangerising,' or stuffing out an author with prints and pages from other works, was even praised by dibdin as 'useful and entertaining,' though in our own time it is rightly condemned as a malpractice. next to harley's library in importance was that of john moore, bishop of ely, of which burnet said that it was a treasure beyond what one would think the life and labour of a man could compass. oldys has described it in his notes upon london libraries, which it is fair to remember were based on bagford's labours, as regards the earlier entries. 'the bishop,' he says, 'had a prodigious collection of books, written as well as printed on vellum, some very ancient, others finely illuminated. he had a capgrave's chronicle, books of the first printing at maintz and other places abroad, as also at oxford, st. alban's, westminster, etc.' there was some talk of uniting it with harley's collection; but in it was bought by george i. for guineas, and was presented to the public library at cambridge. the university had possessed a library from very early times. it owed much to the liberality of several successive bishops of durham. theodore beza and lord bacon were afterwards among its most distinguished benefactors. bishop hacket made a donation of nearly fifteen hundred volumes: and in a large collection of eastern mss., brought home from italy by george thomason, was added by an ordinance of the commonwealth. but, until the royal gift of the bishop of ely's books, the university received no such extraordinary favour of fortune as came to the sister institution through the splendid beneficence of bodley. chapter xi. bodley--digby--laud--selden--ashmole. the university of oxford still offers public thanks for bodley's generosity upon his calendar-day. the ancient library of duke humphrey and his pious predecessors had, as we have seen, been plundered and devastated. but sir thomas bodley, when retiring from office in , conceived the idea of restoring it to prosperity again; 'and in a few years so richly endowed it with books, revenues, and buildings, that it became one of the most famous in the world.' bodley has left us his own account of the matter:--'i concluded at the last to set up my staff at the library-door in oxon. i found myself furnished with such four kinds of aids as, unless i had them all, i had no hope of success. for without some kind of knowledge, without some purse-ability to go through with the charge, without good store of friends to further the design, and without special good leisure to follow such a work, it could not but have proved a vain attempt.' when méric casaubon visited oxford a few years afterwards he found the hall filled with books. 'do not imagine,' he wrote, 'that there are as many mss. here as in the royal library at paris. there are a good many in england, though nothing to what our king possesses; but the number of printed books is wonderful, and increasing every year. during my visit to oxford i passed whole days in this place. the books cannot be taken away, but it is open to scholars for seven or eight hours a day, and one may always see a number of them revelling at their banquet, which gave me no small pleasure.' bodley was not one of those who like libraries to be open to all comers. 'a grant of such scope,' said his statute, 'would but minister an occasion of pestering all the room with their gazing; and the babbling and trampling up and down may disturb out of measure the endeavours of those that are studious. admission, from the first, was granted only to graduates, and every one on his entrance had to take the oath against 'razing, defacing, cutting, noting, slurring, and mangling the books.' sir thomas was ably seconded by 'good mr. james,' his first librarian, and by the bookseller john bill, who collected for him at frankfort and lyons and other likely places on the continent. the most minute rules were laid down for the protection of the books against embezzlement. the volumes were chained to the desks, and readers were entreated to fasten the clasps and strings, to untangle the chains, and to leave the books as they found them. bodley was always enquiring about the store of chains and wires. 'i pray you write to john smith,' he said to james, 'that i may be furnished against easter with a thousand chains'; he hopes to bring enough for that number, 'if god send my books safe out of italy.' about the time of the king's visit he writes that he has sent a case of wires and clips by the carrier, 'which i make no doubt but you may in good time get fastened to your books.' his carefulness is shown by his directions for cleaning the room: 'i do desire that, after the library is well swept and the books cleansed from dust, you would cause the floor to be well washed and dried, and after rubbed with a little rosemary, for a stronger scent i should not like.' he often writes about his continental purchases. john bill, he says, had been at venice, florence, and rome, and half a score other italian cities, 'and hath bought us many books as he knew i had not, amounting to the sum of at least £ .' with regard to certain duplicates he says: 'the fault is mine and john bill's, who dealing with multitudes must perforce make many scapes.' 'jo. bill hath gotten everywhere what the place would afford, for his commission was large, his leisure very good, and his payment sure at home.' the agent bought largely at seville; 'but the people's usage towards all of our nation is so cruel and malicious that he was utterly discouraged.' [illustration: sir thomas bodley.] sir thomas bodley would accept a very small contribution or the gift of a single volume of any respectable sort. but he would have no 'riff-raff,' as he told dr. james, and would certainly have scorned the almanacs and play-books acquired after his death under a bequest from the melancholy burton, and the ships' logs and 'pickings of chandlers' and grocers' papers' which were received long afterwards as part of dr. rawlinson's great donation. he was always grateful for a well-meant present. he writes to his librarian: 'mr. schoolmaster of winton's gift of melanchthon and huss i do greatly esteem, and will thank him, if you will, by letter.' some of the earliest gifts were of a splendid kind. lord essex sent three hundred folios, including a fine budæus from the library of jerome osorio, captured at faro in portugal when the fleet was returning from cadiz. bodley himself gave a magnificent _romance of alexander_ that had belonged in to richard woodville, lord rivers. the librarian contributed about a hundred volumes, including early mss. procured from balliol and merton by his persuasion. merton college, for its own part, sent nearly two-score volumes of 'singular good books in folio.' sir henry savile gave the 'gospels' in russian and the greek 'commentaries on st. augustine,' and william camden out of his poverty brought a few manuscripts and ancient books. lawrence bodley, the founder's brother, came with thirty-seven 'very fair and new-bought works in folio, and lord lumley with forty volumes reserved out of the library sold to the prince. lord montacute contributed the works of the fathers, 'in sixty-six costly great volumes, all bought of set purpose and fairly bound with his arms,' mr. gent a number of medical treatises, sir john fortescue five good greek mss. and forty other books. we only mention a few of the choicer specimens or note the reappearance of old friends described in earlier chapters. in there arrived from exeter bishop leofric's vellum service-book, with several others that had lodged in its company since the days of edward the confessor. next year came one of the exquisite 'gospels' which pope gregory, as men said, had given to the missionary augustine; the other had been included in parker's gift to corpus christi. sir henry wotton contributed a valuable koran, to which in later years he added tycho brahés 'astronomy' with the author's ms. notes. thomas allen gave a relic of st. dunstan, containing the saint's portrait drawn by himself, and one of grostête's books that had been given by the friars to dr. gascoigne. mr. allen gave in all twelve rare mss. besides printed books, 'with a purpose to do more'; and bodley commends him as a most careful provoker and solicitor of benefactions. he was the mathematician, or rather the cabalistical astrologer, who taught sir kenelm digby, introducing that romantic giant to the art of ruling the stars, and how to melt and puff 'until the green dragon becomes the golden goose,' and all the other _arcana_ of alchemy. digby was a good friend to the bodleian. when quite a youth he cut down fifty great oaks to purchase a building-site near exeter college. the laying of the foundation-stone in was amusingly described by wood. the heads of houses were all assembled, and the university musicians 'had sounded a lesson on their wind-music,' standing on the leads at the west end of the library; but while the vice-chancellor was placing a piece of gold on the first stone, the earth fell in, and the scaffold broke, 'so that all those who were thereon, the proctors, principals of halls, etc., fell down all together one upon another, among whom the under-butler of exeter college had his shoulder broken or put out of joint, and a scholar's arm bruised.' it was at this time that digby made a generous gift of books, all tall copies in good bindings with his initials on the panels at the back. among them were early works on science by grostête and roger bacon, besides histories and chronicles. many of these books had belonged to thomas allen, who gave them to digby as a token of regard. sir kenelm wrote about them to sir robert cotton, who was to thank allen for his kindness: 'in my hands they will not be with less honourable memory of him than in any man's else.' he felt sure that allen would have wished them to be freely used: 'all good things are the better the more they are communicated'; but the university was to be the absolute mistress, 'to dispose of them as she pleaseth.' mr. macray quotes another passage about two trunks of arabic mss. digby had given them to laud for st. john's college or the bodleian, as he might prefer, but nothing had been heard about their arrival. he promised more books from his own library, which had been taken over to france after the civil war broke out. the books, however, remained abroad, and were confiscated on digby's death as being the chattels of an alien resident; but either by favour or purchase they soon became the property of the earl of bristol, and were afterwards sold by auction in london. two volumes were purchased for the bodleian in which must be regarded with the deepest interest. the 'bacon' and 'proclus' had belonged to the oxford friars, to gascoigne, to the astrologer secluded in gloucester hall. digby had written a note in each that it was the book of the university library, as witnessed by his initials; but it had taken them many generations to make the last stage of their journey from his book-shelf to their acknowledged home at oxford. it was chiefly through the generosity of laud that the bodleian obtained its wealth of oriental learning. but it was not only in the east that the archbishop devoted himself to book-collecting. like dr. dee, he saw the value of ireland as a hunting-ground, and employed his emissaries to procure painted service-books, the records of native princes, and the archives of the anglo-norman nobility. among his most precious acquisitions was an irish ms. containing the _psalter of cashel_, cormac's still unpublished _glossary_, and some of the poems ascribed to st. patrick and st. columba. on the continent the armies of gustavus adolphus were ravaging the cities of germany; and laud's agents were always at hand to rescue the fair books and vellums from the swedish pikemen. in this way he obtained the printed missal of and a number of latin mss. from the college of würzburg, and other valuable books from monasteries near mainz and eberbach in the duchy of baden. it appears by mr. macray's annals that his gifts to the university between and amounted to about thirteen hundred volumes, in more than twenty languages. to our minds the most attractive will always be the very copy of the 'acts' perused by the venerable bede, and the 'anglo-saxon chronicle' compiled in the abbey of peterborough. the men of laud's age would perhaps have attached greater importance to the eastern mss. acquired by the archbishop through robert huntingdon, the consul at aleppo, or the greek library of francesco barocci, which he persuaded william earl of pembroke to present to the university. in describing the persian mss. of his last gift, laud specially mentioned one as containing a history of the world from the creation to the end of the saracen empire, and as being of a very great value. he shows the greatest anxiety for the safety of the volumes: 'i would to god the place for them were ready, that they might be set up safe, and chained as the other books are.' he gave many books to st. john's college; and he retained a large collection in his palace at lambeth, which was bestowed on hugh peters after his death; it is satisfactory, however, to remember that 'the study of books' was recovered at the restoration, and that mr. ashmole was appointed to examine the accounts of the fanatic. laud was not the first to seek for the treasures of the east. before his gifts began sir thomas roe, who sat for oxford with selden, had presented to the bodleian a number of mss. acquired during his embassy to constantinople. joseph scaliger, the restorer of arabic learning in the west, had been especially interested in samaritan literature, and had corresponded about a copy of the pentateuch with one rabbi eleazar, 'who dwelt in sichem'; and, though the papers fell into the hands of robbers, they were afterwards delivered to peiresc. the traveller minutius had returned with coptic service-books, and peiresc, captivated with a new branch of learning, established an agency for eastern books at smyrna. the capucin gilles de loche averred that he had seen volumes in a monastery of the nitrian desert,'many of which seemed to be of the age of st. anthony': he had pushed into abyssinia and had heard the 'uncouth chaunts and clashing cymbals,' as mr. curzon heard them in a later age; and he had even cast his eyes on the _book of enoch_ with pallid figures and a shining black text; and peiresc was so inflamed with a desire to buy it at any price that in the end he acquired it. the books seen by the capucin in the convent of the syrians, stored 'in the vault beyond the oil-cellar,'have become our national property; and if there are not many of the age of st. anthony we have at least the volume, completed by the help of a monk's note of the eleventh century, and originally written in the year 'at ur of the chaldees by the hand of a man named jacob.' much less attention seems to have been paid to the collection of hebrew books than to those in coptic and arabic. selden, it is true, gave to the university library 'such of his talmudical and rabbinical books as were not already to be found there,' and purchases were made at the crevenna sale in amsterdam and at a sale during the present century of the mss. of matheo canonici at venice. the chief source from which the bodleian was supplied was the collection formed before by david oppenheimer, the chief rabbi at prague. in the british museum are the hebrew books presented by solomon da costa in . the donor's letter contained a few interesting details. there were three biblical mss. and a hundred and eighty printed books, all in very old editions: 'they were bound by order of king charles ii., and marked with his cypher, and were purchased by me in the days of my youth, and the particulars are they not written in the book that is found therewith?' they had been collected under the commonwealth, and had afterwards been sent to the binder by king charles; but as the bill was never paid they lay in the shop until the reign of george i., when they were sold to pay expenses, and so came into the possession of the excellent solomon da costa. the best antiquarian collections were those given to oxford by dr. rawlinson in the last century, by richard gough in , and by mr. douce in . mr. macray has enumerated nearly thirty libraries which richard rawlinson had laid under contribution, and his list includes such headings as the miscellaneous papers of samuel pepys, the thurloe state papers, the remains of thomas hearne, and documents belonging to gale and michael maittaire, sir joseph jekyll, and walter clavell of the temple. he cites a letter written by rawlinson in , as showing the curious accidents by which some of these documents were preserved: 'my agent last week met with some papers of archbishop wake at a chandler's shop: this is unpardonable in his executors, as all his mss. were left to christ church; but _quære_ whether these did not fall into some servant's hands, who was ordered to burn them, and mr. martin folkes ought to have seen that done.' mr. gough's collection related chiefly to english topography, anglo-saxon and northern literature, and printed service-books; it is stated to contain more than volumes, all given by a generous bequest to form 'an antiquary's closet.' mr. douce's large library contained a number of missals and _livres d'heures_. some of these are described as 'priceless gems rivalled only by the bedford missal,' especially one prayer-book illuminated for leonora, duchess of urbino, another that belonged to marie de médici, and 'a psalter on purple vellum, probably of the ninth century, which came from the old royal library of france.' among the most important of the earlier benefactions was the gift of the dodsworth papers by thomas lord fairfax. the archives of the northern monasteries had been kept for a time in eight chests in st. mary's tower at york. roger dodsworth, sir william dugdale's colleague in the preparation of the monasticon, made copies of many of these documents; and when the tower was blown up in the siege of he was one of the zealous antiquarians who saved the mouldering fragments on the breach. his whole store of archæological records became the property of fairfax at his death. they are of great historical importance, but at one time they were strangely neglected. wood says that all the papers were nearly spoiled in a damp season, when he obtained leave to dry them on the leads near the schools; but though it cost him a month's labour he undertook it with pleasure 'out of respect to the memory of mr. dodsworth.' the ashmolean books were some years ago transferred to the bodleian, but for several generations there was a strange assortment of antiquarian libraries gathered together in the museum which ashmole developed out of madam tradescant's 'closet of curiosities.' here were the books of the shiftless john aubrey, described by wood as 'sometimes little better than crazed': and here, according to wood's dying wish, lay his own books, 'and papers and notes about two bushels full,' side by side with dugdale's manuscripts. dibdin quotes several extracts from elias ashmole's diary, to show the old book-hunter's prowess in the chase. he buys on one day mr. milbourn's books, and on the next all that mr. hawkins left; he sees mrs. backhouse of london about the purchase of her late husband's library. in he writes: 'i bought mr. john booker's study of books, and gave £ .' being somewhat of an alchemist, he was glad to become the owner of lilly's volumes on magic, and most of dr. dee's collection came into his hands through the kindness of his friend mr. wale. when ashmole brought out his book upon the order of the garter he became the associate of the nobility; and we will leave him feasting at his house in south lambeth, clad in a velvet gown, and wearing his great chain 'of philagreen links in great knobs,' with ninety loops of gold. in noticing the lawyers who have been eminent for their devotion to books we might go back to very early times. we ought at least to mention sergeant william fletewode, recorder of london in the reign of elizabeth, who bought a library out of missenden abbey, consisting mainly of the romances of chivalry; it was sold with its later additions in under the title of _bibliotheca monastico-fletewodiana_. the lord chancellor ellesmere in the same reign formed a collection of old english poetry, which became the foundation of a celebrated library belonging to the dukes of bridgewater and afterwards to the marquis of stafford. sir julius cæsar, who was master of the rolls under james i., was 'often reflected upon' for his want of legal knowledge; but he collected a quantity of good mss. which passed into the library of mr. carteret-webb, after a narrow escape of being sold for £ to a cheesemonger. they are now in the british museum together with a box of exquisite miniature classics, with which he used to solace himself on a journey. arthur, earl of anglesea, was another distinguished lawyer, who was famous for having acquired the finest specimens of books in 'all faculties, arts, and languages.' the great bulk of selden's books were given by his executors to the bodleian; but several chests of monastic manuscripts were sent to the inner temple, and perished in a fire. he passed his whole life as a scholar; and yet, it is said, he deplored the loss of his time, and wished that he had neglected what the world calls learning, and had rather 'executed the office of a justice of the peace.' sir matthew hale should be remembered for his gift of mss. to lincoln's inn. he made it a condition that they should never be printed; and the language of his will shows a certain dread of dealing lightly with the secrets of tenure and prerogative. 'my desire is that they be kept safe and all together in remembrance of me. they were fit to be bound in leather, and chained and kept in archives: they are a treasure not fit for every man's view, nor is every man capable of making use of them.' we shall close our account of the century with a few words about dr. bernard, a stiff, hard, and straightforward reader, whose library of medicine and general literature was sold by auction in . 'being a person who collected his books not for ostentation or ornament he seemed no more solicitous about their dress than his own'; and therefore, says the compiler of his catalogue, 'you'll find that a gilt back or a large margin was very seldom any inducement to him to buy. it was sufficient to him that he had the book.' 'the garniture of a book,' he would observe,'was apt to recommend it to a great part of our modern collectors'; he himself was not a mere nomenclator, and versed only in title-pages, 'but had made that just and laudable use of his books which would become all those that set up for collectors.' he was the possessor of thirteen fine caxtons, which fetched altogether less than two guineas at his sale; the biddings seem to have been by the penny; and mr. clarke in his _repertorium bibliographicum_ observed that the penny at that time seems to have been more than the equivalent of our pound sterling in the purchase of black-letter rarities. chapter xii. grolier and his successors. jean grolier, the prince of book-collectors, was born at lyons in . his family had come originally from verona, but had long been naturalised in france. several of his relations held civic offices; Étienne grolier, his father, was in charge of the taxes in the district of lyons, and was appointed treasurer of the milanese territories at that time in the occupation of the french. jean grolier succeeded his father in both these employments. he was treasurer of milan in , when pope julius formed the league against the french, which was crushed at the battle of ravenna; and for nearly twenty years afterwards grolier took a principal part in administering the affairs of the province. young, rich, and powerful, a lover of the arts and a bountiful patron of learning, he became an object of almost superstitious respect to the authors and booksellers of italy. he was eager to do all in his power towards improving the machinery and diffusing the products of science. he loved his books not only for what they taught but also as specimens of typography and artistic decoration. to own one or two examples from his library is to take high rank in the army of bookmen. the amateur of bindings need learn little more when he comprehends the stages of grolier's literary passion, its fervent and florid beginnings, the majesty of its progress, and its austere simplicities in old age. grolier was the personal friend of gryphius, the printer of lyons, and of all the members of the house of aldus at venice. erasmus, who was revered by grolier as his god-father in matters of learning, once paid a compliment to the treasurer, which was not far from the truth. 'you owe nothing to books,' he wrote, 'but they owe a good deal to you, because it is by your help that they will go down to posterity.' the nature of grolier's relations with the venetian publishers appears in his letters to francis of asola about the printing of a work by budæus. he writes from milan in the year : 'i am thinking every day about sending you the "budæus" for publication in your most elegant style. you must add to your former favours by being very diligent in bringing out my friend's book, of which i now send you the manuscript revised and corrected by the author. you must take the greatest care, dear francis, to present it to the public in an accurate shape, and this indeed i must beg and implore. i want beauty and refinement besides; but this we shall get from your choice paper, unworn type, and breadth of margin. in a word, i want to have it in the same style as your "politian." if all this extra luxury should put you to loss, i will make it good. i am most anxious that the manuscript should be followed exactly, without any change or addition; and so, my dear francis, fare you well.' the book appeared with a dedication to grolier himself, in which francis of asola recounts the many favours received by the elder aldus in his lifetime, by himself, and by his father andreas. the presentation copy was magnificently printed on vellum, with initials in gold and colours. grolier inscribed it with his name and device, so that it became easy to verify its subsequent history. it appeared among the books of the prince de soubise, and belonged afterwards to the count macarthy, and in was bought by mr. payne and transferred to the althorp library. [illustration: binding executed for grolier.] grolier's books were generally stamped with the words '_et amicorum_' immediately after his name, to indicate as we suppose that they were the common property of himself and his friends, although it has been suggested that he was referring to his possession of duplicates. another of his marks was the use of some pious phrase, such as a wish that his portion might be in 'the land of the living,' which was either printed on the cover or written on a fly-leaf, if the volume were the gift of a friend. in the use of these distinctions he seems to have been preceded by thomas maioli, a book-collector of a family residing at asti, of whom very little is known apart from his ownership of books in magnificent bindings. grolier may have borrowed the phrase about his friends from a celebrated flemish collector called marcus laurinus, or mark lauwrin of watervliet, who was in constant correspondence with the treasurer about their cabinets of medals and coins. rabelais had a few valuable books, which he stamped with a similar design in greek, and the latin form occurs in many other libraries. we are inclined to refer the origin of the practice to a letter written by philelpho in , in which he tells his correspondent of the greek proverb that all things are common among friends. grolier's love of learning is shown by his own letters, and by the statements contained in the books that were so constantly dedicated to his name. to beatus rhenanus he wrote, with reference to an approaching visit: 'oh, what a festal day, to be marked (as they say) with a pure white stone, when i am able to pay my humble duty to my own rhenanus; and you see how great are my demands when you are entered as mine in my accounts.' as controller of the milanese district he became the object of much adulation, for which his flatterers had to atone when the french occupation came to an end. the dedication of a certain dialogue affords an instance in point. stefano negri sent his book to grolier in a splendid shape. the presentation copy on vellum may be seen at the british museum among the treasures of the grenville library. the writer represents himself in the preface as going about in search of a patron. he sees mercury descending from the clouds with a message from minerva. 'there is one man whom the goddess holds dear, struggling like ulysses through the flood of this stormy life: he is known as grolier to the world.' nay, what need have you, says the author, to sing the praises of that famous man? 'you must confess, even if you like it not, that he is most noble in his country and family, most wealthy in fortune, and most fair and beautiful in his bodily gifts.' as patron of all the arts the treasurer became the friend of francino gafori, the leader of the new school of music that was flourishing at milan. gafori seems to have been often in grolier's company. he dedicated to the treasurer his work on the harmony of musical instruments, as well as the _apologia_ in which he afterwards convicted the bologna school of its errors. 'my work,' he says in his later book, 'is sound enough if soundly understood'; and he tells his rival that, though he may writhe with rage, the harmony of gafori and the fame of jean grolier will live for ever. the introduction to his work upon harmony contains a few interesting details about grolier's way of living at milan. gafori addresses his book in a dialogue, and vows that it shall never come home again if grolier refuses to be the patron. a poetical friend adds a piece in which the muses appear without their proper emblems, and even apollo is bereft of his lyre. gafori, they say, has taken away their harmonies and will not give them back. they are advised to make their way to the concert at grolier's house, where the friend of the muses sits among the learned doctors. an illustration shows gafori sitting at his organ and the musicians with their wind-instruments at the end of the lofty hall. gafori himself, in another preface, declares that his musical offspring can hardly be kept at home; they used to be too shy to go out, though all the musicians were awaiting them; now that they have grolier's patronage they are all as bold as brass, and ready to rush through any danger to salute their generous friend. the history of the copy presented to grolier is not without interest. after the great musician's death the treasurer gave it to albisse, one of the king's secretaries: albisse in gave it to rasse de neux, a surgeon at paris, who was devoted to curious books; in it entered the library of st. germain-des-prés, and was nearly destroyed more than a century afterwards in a great fire. during the revolution it was added to the collection at the convent des célestins, and was afterwards deposited in the bibliothèque de l'arsenal, where we suppose that it still remains. grolier was fond of giving books to his friends. a commentary on the psalms with his name and device, now in the national library at paris, bears an inscription showing that he had given it to a monk named jacques guyard. he presented a fine copy of marcus aurelius to his friend eurialo silvestri; and there are volumes bearing his name in conjunction with those of maioli and laurinus which indicate similar gifts. he is known to have presented several volumes to the president de thou as a mark of gratitude for assistance during his later troubles. it is somewhat singular that jacques-auguste de thou never succeeded in getting possession of these books, though they had always been kept in his father's library; and they were not, indeed, replaced in the 'bibliotheca thuana' until it had become the property of the cardinal de rohan. it is interesting to learn that a volume of cicero was given by grolier to the artistic printer, geoffroy tory of bourges, who designed the lettering of his mottoes: they were of an antique or 'roman' shape, and were in two sizes, and proportioned, as we are told, 'in the same ratio to each other as the body and face of a man.' geoffroy tory mentioned them in a letter of the year . 'it was on the morrow of the epiphany,' says the light-hearted artist, 'that after my slumbers were over, and in consciousness of a joyous repast, i lay day-dreaming in bed, and twisting the wheels of my memory round: i thought of a thousand little fancies both grave and gay, and then there came before my mind those antique letters that i used to make for my lord, master jean grolier, the king's councillor, and a friend of the _belles lettres_ and of all men of learning, by whom he is loved and esteemed on both sides of the alps.' another testimony comes from dr. sambucus, who knew grolier well when he was living in paris, and used to be fond of inspecting his cabinet of coins. in the last year of grolier's life he received a book on the subject with a dedication to himself by the worthy doctor. grolier was reminded in the preface of their long talks on antiquarian subjects, and of the kindness which sambucus had received from the treasurer and the treasurer's father at milan. 'during the last three years,' says sambucus, 'i have been enriching my library, and i have added some very scarce coins to the cabinet that you used to admire.' he adds a few complaints about dealers and the tricks of the trade, which we need not repeat. 'and now farewell!' he ends, 'noble ornament of a noble race, by whose mouth nothing has ever been uttered that came not from the heart!' some account of grolier's career is to be found in de thou's great history. he praised the 'incredible love of learning' that had earned for a mere youth the intimate friendship of budæus. he showed with what administrative ability the milanese territories were governed, and with what dignity grolier filled the high office of treasurer at home. grolier, he says, built a magnificent mansion in the rue de bussy, which was known as the hôtel de lyon; in one of its halls he arranged the multitude of books 'so carefully, and with such a fine effect, that the library might have been compared to that which pollio established in rome'; and so great was the supply that, notwithstanding his many gifts to friends and various misfortunes which befell his collection, every important library in france was able after his death to show some of his grand bindings as its principal ornament. grolier's old age was disturbed by imputations against his official conduct, and it seemed at one time as if his fortune were in considerable danger. 'he was so confident in his innocence,' said the historian,'that he would not seek help from his friends; but he might have fallen at last, if he had not been protected by my father the president, who always used his influence to help the weak against the strong and the scholar against the ignorance of the vulgar.' the old treasurer kept his serene course of life until he reached his eighty-sixth year: he died at his hôtel de lyon, surrounded by his books, and was buried near the high altar in the church of st. germain-des-prés. upon grolier's death his property was divided among his daughters' families. some of the books were certainly sold; but the greater part of the library became the property of méric de vic, the old treasurer's son-in-law. méric was keeper of the seals to louis xiii. his son dominique became archbishop of auch. they were both fond of books, and took great care of grolier's three thousand exquisite volumes, of which they were successively the owners. they lived in a large house in the rue st. martin, which had been built by budæus, and here the books were kept until the great dispersion in the year . 'they looked,' said bonaventure d'argonne, 'as if the muses had taken the outsides into their charge, as well as the contents, they were adorned with such art and _esprit_, and looked so gay, with a delicate gilding quite unknown to the book-binders of our time.' the same visitor described the sale of . all paris was to be seen at the hôtel de vic. 'such a glorious collection ought all to have been kept together; but, as it was, everybody got some share of the spoil.' he bought some of the best specimens himself; and as he was only a poor monk of the chartreuse the prices can hardly have run high. m. le roux de lincy has traced the fate of the volumes dispersed at the sale. we hear, he says, of examples belonging to de mesmes and bigot, to colbert and lamoignon, captain du fay, the count d'hoym, and the prince de soubise. some of the finest were purchased by baron hohendorf and were transferred about the year to the imperial library at vienna. yet they never rose to any high price until the soubise sale towards the end of the last century, when the weight of the english competition for books began to be felt upon the continent. m. de lincy has traced the adventures of more than three hundred volumes, once in grolier's ownership, but now for the most part in public libraries. the earlier possessors are classified according to the dates of their purchases. of those who obtained specimens soon after the old treasurer's death we may notice especially paul pétau the antiquarian, de thou the historian, and pithou the statesman and jurist. perhaps we should add jean ballesdens, a collector of fine books and mss., whose library at his death in contained nine of grolier's books, and pierre séguier, to whom ballesdens acted as secretary; and as séguier was the personal friend of grolier, he may have been the original recipient of some of the volumes in question. pierre séguier founded a library which became one of the sights of paris. his grandson, charles séguier, the faithful follower of richelieu, was celebrated for his devotion to books. he used to laugh at his own bibliomania. 'if you want to corrupt me' he would say, 'you can always do it by giving me a book.' his house in the rue bouloi served as headquarters for the french academy before it gained a footing in the louvre; and on queen christina's visit in one of her first literary excitements was to visit chancellor séguier's _salon_. the decorations were considered worthy of being engraved and published by dorigny. the gallery stood between two large gardens. the ceilings were encrusted with mosaics on a gold ground with allegorical designs by vouet. the upper story contained about , books, and as many more were ranged in the adjoining rooms, one large hall being devoted to diplomatic papers, greek books from mount athos, and oriental mss. according to a description published in a large collection of porcelain was arranged on the walls above the book-cases and in cases set cross-wise on the floor: 'the china covered the whole cornice, with the prettiest effect in the world.' we are reminded of the lady's book-room which addison described as something between a grotto and a library. her books were arranged in a beautiful order; the quartos were fenced off by a pile of bottles that rose in a delightful pyramid; the octavos were bounded by tea-dishes of all shapes and sizes; 'and at the end of the folios were great jars of china placed one above the other in a very noble piece of architecture.' among the purchasers at the later sale we may notice the witty esprit fléchier, who bought several of the lighter latin poets, being a fashionable versifier himself and a dilettante in matters of binding and typography. in his account of the high commission in auvergne, appointed to examine into charges of feudal tyranny, the abbé tells us how his reputation as a bibliophile was spread by a certain père raphael at all the watering-places, and how two learned ladies came to inspect his books and carried off his favourite ovid. his library was removed to london and sold in the year ; and the occasion was of some importance as marking the beginning of the english demand for specimens from grolier's library. archbishop le tellier bought fifteen good examples, which he bequeathed in , with all his other books, to the abbey of st. geneviève. his whole collection included about , volumes, mostly dealing with history and the writings of the fathers. 'i have loved books from my boyhood,' he said, 'and the taste has grown with age.' he bought most of his collection during his travels in italy, in england, and in holland; but perhaps the best part of his store came from his tutor antoine faure, who left a thousand volumes to the archbishop, to be selected at the legatee's discretion. the most valuable portion of grolier's library was bought by his friend henri de mesmes. this included the long series of presentation copies, printed on vellum, and magnificently bound. de mesmes was a collector with a love of curiosities of all kinds. he seems to have been equally fond of his early specimens of printing, his flemish and italian illuminations, and the arabic and armenian treatises procured by his agents in the east. his library became a valuable museum which was praised by all the writers of that age, except indeed by françois pithou, who called de mesmes a literary grave-digger, and mourned over the burial of so many good books in those cold and gloomy sepulchres. there seems to have been little occasion for this outburst, since the library was open to all who could make a good use of it during the life of henri de mesmes and under his son and grandson. henri de mesmes the younger, its owner in the third generation, was renowned for his zeal in collecting; he is said to have even procured mss. from the court of the great mogul, dispatched by a french goldsmith at delhi, who packed them in red cotton and stuffed them into the hollow of a bamboo for safer carriage. one of the finest things in his whole library was the psalter which louis ix. had given to guillaume de mesmes: it had come by some means into the library at whitehall; but on the execution of charles i. the french ambassador had been able to secure it, and had restored it to the family of the original donee. the norman family of bigot rivalled the race of de mesmes in their ardour for book-collecting. jean bigot in had a magnificent library of volumes, partly inherited from his ancestors, and partly collected out of the monastic libraries at fécamp and mont st. michel and other places in that neighbourhood. his son louis-emeric took the library as his share of the inheritance: its improvement became the occupation of his life; he made many expeditions after books in foreign countries, but when he was at home his library was the general _rendez-vous_ of all who were interested in literature. the books were left to robert bigot upon trusts that were intended to prevent their dispersion. a sale, however, took place in , at which the monastic archives and most of the mss. were purchased by the government. by some arrangement, of which the history is unknown, the head of the family of de mesmes was persuaded to allow his books to be included in the bigot sale. there seems to have been an attempt to disguise the transaction by tearing off the bindings and defacing the coats of arms. the strangest thing about the sale was the fact that no notice was taken of its containing the finest portion of grolier's library. the splendid _aldines_, on vellum, fell into the hands of an ignorant notary with a new room to furnish: and he thought fit to strip off all the bindings, that had been a marvel of italian art, and to replace them with the gaudy coverings that were more suited to his _bourgeois_ desires. m. de lincy remarks that grolier's books were strangely neglected through a great part of the eighteenth century. at the very end of the period, count macarthy had the good taste to include a few of them in his collection of books upon vellum. mr. cracherode began, in , to buy all the specimens that came into the market: and the library which he bequeathed to the british museum contains no less than eighteen fine examples. eight more were comprised in the magnificent bequest of mr. thomas grenville's library in . there has been a demand for these books in england for more than a century and a half. but when we look at the catalogues of gaignat or la vallière they seem to have been altogether disregarded. when gaignat died in his collection was regarded as perfect; it was said that 'no one in the commonwealth of letters had ever brought together such a rich and admirable assembly.' yet he only had one 'grolier book,' a magnificent copy of paolo giovio's book on roman fishes, which passed to the duc de la vallière, and went for a few _livres_ at his sale. there were only two other specimens in the duke's library; and they seem to have been treated with equal indifference. m. de lincy was of opinion that the memory of grolier was almost entirely forgotten, except in his native city of lyons. the appearance of his books might be admired by an antiquary here and there; but the classics had gone out of fashion for a time, and the world gave its attention to old poetry, to mediæval romance, and even to 'books of _facetiæ_.' grolier's reputation had mainly depended on his generous patronage of literature. even the house of aldus had rejoiced to be the clients of a new mæcenas. the authors of that time were still too weak to go alone. in the absence of a demand for books it was essential to gain the favour of a great man who might open a way to fame and would at least provide a pension. we have all smiled at the adulations of an ancient preface and the arrogance which too often baulked the poor writer's hopes. d'israeli reminds us that one of the popes repaid the translation of a greek treatise with a few pence that might just have paid for the binding, and of cardinal este receiving ariosto's work with the question--'where on earth all that rubbish had been collected?' this was but a temporary phase, and literature became free from the burden as soon as the public had learned to read. the houses of plantin and the elzevirs required no help in selling out their cheap editions. a good dedication was still a feather in the patron's cap. queen christina considered that she was justly entitled to the patronage of her subjects' works: and marshal rantzau, when writers were scarce in denmark, brought out an anonymous work for the purpose of introducing a preface in which his fame as a book-collector was glorified. but the patron's function was gradually restricted; and at last it was nearly confined to cases where a dedication repaid assistance given in producing an unsaleable book. the later renown of grolier must rest on the fact that he invented a new taste. it would have been nothing to buy a few thousand aldine books, even if the collection included all the first editions, the papers of all sizes, the copies with uncut edges, and specimens of the true misprints. the family of aldus had a large library of this kind, which was dispersed at rome by its inheritor in the third generation; but it never attracted much attention, and was generally believed to have been merged in a collection at pisa. grolier introduced a fashion depending for its success on a multiplicity of details. he bought books out of large editions just issuing from the press; but he chose out the specimen with the best printing, and the finest paper, if vellum were not forthcoming. the condition was perfect. like the count macarthy he would have no dust or worm-holes: he was as microscopic in his views as the most accurate parisian bibliophile. the binding was in the best italian style: a general sobriety was relieved by the brilliancy of certain effects, by the purity of the design, perhaps above all by the perfection of the materials. the book was an object of interest, for its contents, or for historical or personal reasons; but it had also become an _objet d'art_, like a gem or a figure in porcelain. grolier preserved his dignity as a bibliophile, and his true followers have not degenerated into collectors of _bric-à-brac_. it is sufficient to name such men as m. renouard, the owner of many of grolier's treasures, or m. firmin-didot 'the friend of all good books,' or the collections of mr. beckford and baron seillière which have been in our own time dispersed. no doubt there is a tendency, especially among french amateurs, to regard books as mere curiosities; and m. uzanne has drawn an amusing picture of the book-hunter as a chrysalis in his library, destined to find his wings in a flight after mosaic bindings, autographs, original water-colours, or plates in early states. it is possible, however, to prevent the 'book-buying disease' from developing into a general collector's mania. with the world full of books, we must adopt some special variety for our admiration. one person will choose his library companions for their stateliness and splendid raiment, another for their flavour of antiquity, or the fine company that they kept in old times. montaigne loved his friends on the shelf, because they always received him kindly and 'blunted the point of his grief.' he turned the volumes over in his round tower within any method or design; 'at one while,' he says, 'i meditate, at another time i make notes, or dictate, as i walk up and down, such whimsies as meet you here.' he cared little about the look of their outsides, but thought a great deal about their readiness to divert him; 'it is the best _viaticum_ i have yet found out for this human pilgrimage, and i pity any man of understanding who is not provided with it.' we have omitted the best reason of all. one who has lived among his books will love them because they are his own. marie bashkirtseff expressed the matter well enough in a page of her journal:--'i have a real passion for my books, i arrange them, i count them, i gaze upon them: my heart rejoices in nothing but this heap of old books, and i like to stand off a little and look at them as if they were a picture.' chapter xiii. later collectors: france--italy--spain. we have still to notice one or two of grolier's contemporaries, who may be classed as great book-collectors of an old-fashioned type. they knew the whole history of 'the book,' and were themselves the owners of exquisite treasures, which are now hoarded up as the choicest remains of antiquity. but their function was not so much to collect books as rare and curious objects as to undertake the duty of saving the records of past history from destruction. they did the work in their day which has now devolved upon the guardians of public and national libraries. no private person could now take their place; but the interests of literature could hardly have been protected in a former age without the personal labour and enthusiasm of orsini and pétau. fulvio orsini was born in . he began life as a beggar, though for many years before his death he was the leader of italian learning. a poor girl had been abandoned with her child and was forced to beg her bread in the streets of rome. the boy obtained a place in the lateran when he was only seven years old: the canon delfini recognised his precocious talents and undertook to find him a classical education. the student obtained some small preferment, and succeeded to his patron's appointment. his marvellous acquaintance with ancient books secured him a place as librarian to the cardinal farnese, and he received many offers of more lucrative employment: but he found that if he accepted he would have to live away from rome; and he refused everything that could cause inconvenience to his mother, whose comfort was his constant care. on his death, in the year , he bequeathed his vast collections to the vatican, and the gift can only be compared to such important events as the arrival of the spoils of urbino, or the great purchase of mss. from the queen of sweden. orsini has been ridiculed for having more books than he could read, and for an excessive devotion to the antique. 'here is a library like an arsenal,' said the satirist, 'stored with all the requisites for any campaign. the owner buys all the books that come in his way: it is true that he will not read them; but he will have them magnificently bound, and ranged on the shelves with a mighty show, and there he will salute them several times a day, and will bring his friends and servants to make their acquaintance.' orsini is rebuked for his admiration of a dusty manuscript. 'when one of these old parchments falls into his hands, he makes you examine the decayed leaves on which the eye can hardly trace any marks of an ancient pen. 'what is this treasure that we have here?' he cries, 'and oh! what joy, here we have the delight of mankind, and the world's desire, and pleasures not to be matched in paradise!' 'there,' says our satirist, 'you have the very portrait of fulvio orsini. why, he once took a manuscript _terence_, full of holes and mistakes, in writing to cardinal toletus, and told him that it was worth all the gold in the world'; and, to convince his spanish eminence, he said that the book was a thousand years' old. '_est-il possible?_' replies the cardinal, 'you don't say so. i can only say, my friend, i would rather have a book hot from the press than all the old parchments that the sibyl had for sale.' jacques bongars, the faithful councillor and ambassador of henri quatre, was the owner of a remarkable library, consisting to a great extent of state papers and historical documents, which bongars had special facilities for collecting during his official visits to germany. he had studied law at bourges under the learned cujacius, of whom it is recorded that when his name was mentioned in the german lecture-rooms, every one present took off his hat. bongars has described his excitement at purchasing the great lawyer's library. 'my chief care has been to seek out the books belonging to cujas. i expect that you will have a fine laugh when you think of all that crowd that goes to court as if it were a fair, to do their business together, and to try to get money out of the king, while a regular courtier like myself rushes off to this lonely spot to spend his fortune on books and papers, all in disorder and half eaten by the book-worms. you will be able to judge if i am an avaricious man. no trouble or expense is anything to me where books are concerned. would to god that i were free, and had time to read them. i should not feel any envy then of m. de rosny's wealth or the persian's mountain of gold.' while residing at strasburg he bought the manuscripts belonging to the cathedral from some of the soldiers by whom the city was more than once pillaged during the wars of religion. about the year bongars arranged with paul pétau for the joint purchase of a large collection of manuscripts, which had belonged to the abbey of st. bénoit-sur-loire, and had been saved by the bailiff pierre daniel when the abbey was plundered. the share of bongars in this collection was transferred to strasburg, and passed eventually with the rest of his books to the public library of the city of berne. paul pétau was a man of universal accomplishments. he was the rival of scaliger in the science of chronology; his doctrinal works are praised as 'a monument of useful labour'; 'he solaced his leisure hours with greek and hebrew, as well as latin verse,' and, according to hallam's judgment, obtained in the last subject the general approbation of the critics. he formed a valuable museum of greek, roman, and gaulish antiquities, with a cabinet of frankish coins, to which peiresc was a generous contributor. his library contained several books that had belonged to grolier; but it was chiefly remarkable for its mss., of which several were published by sirmond and du chesne among other materials for the history of france. many of them had been acquired from the collection of greek and hebrew books formed by jean de saint andré, or out of the mass of chronicles, romances, and old french poems belonging to claude fauchet, and a large portion came, as we have seen, out of an ancient benedictine abbey. paul pétau's books of all kinds were left to his son alexander. the printed books, comprising a number of finely illustrated works on archæology, were sold at the hague in ; the sale included the old library inherited by francis mansard, and the mss. relating to roman antiquities that had been the property of lipsius. a thousand splendid volumes on parchment, the pride of the elder pétau, described by all who saw them in terms of glowing admiration, were sold in his son's lifetime to queen christina of sweden. she had always intended to buy some great collection, and had thought among others of buying up those of henri de mesmes, of de béthune, and the cardinal mazarin. she was delighted with her new acquisition, and carried it off to rome, where she made a triumphal entry with her books amidst the popular rejoicings. something may be learned about the italian collectors in the age that followed grolier's death, from the story of the strange wanderings of the manuscripts of leonardo da vinci. very little was known upon this subject until m. arsène houssaye found an account of what had happened among the papers of the barnabite mazenta, who died in the year . 'it was about fifty years ago,' says the memorandum, written shortly before the old monk's death, 'that thirteen volumes of leonardo's papers, all written backwards in his own way, fell into my hands. i was then studying law at pisa, and one of my companions in the class-room was aldus manutius, renowned as a book-collector. we received a visit from one of his relations called lelio gavardi; he had been tutor in the household of francesco melzi, who was the pupil and also the heir of leonardo.' melzi treasured up every line and scrap of the great man's works at his country-house in vaprio; but his sons did not care for art, and left the papers lying about in a lumber-room, so that gavardi was able to help himself as he pleased. he brought thirteen volumes, well-known in the history of literature, as far as florence at first, and then to aldus at pisa. 'i cried shame on him,' said mazenta, 'and as i was going to milan i undertook to return them to the melzi family. there i saw doctor horatio melzi, who was quite astonished at my taking so much trouble, and gave me the books for myself, saying that he had plenty more of the same sort in his garrets at home.' when mazenta became a monk the thirteen volumes passed to his brothers, who talked so much about the matter that there was a rush of amateurs to vaprio, and the doctor was overwhelmed with offers for the great man's books and drawings. 'one of these rascals,' said mazenta, 'was the sculptor pompeo leoni, who used to make the bronzes for the escorial, and he pretended that he would obtain an appointment for melzi at milan, if he would get back the thirteen volumes for king philip's new library in spain. leoni got possession of most of the books and kept them in his own cabinet. one of the volumes was presented by mazenta's brother to the ambrosian library and may still be seen there, in company with the huge _codice atlantico_, which leoni made up out of hundreds of separate fragments. at leoni's death his collection was bought by galeazzo arcanati, the illustrious owner of an artistic and literary museum. he resisted the proposals of purchase that poured in from foreign courts; our james i. is said to have offered three thousand gold doubloons for the great volume of designs; and on arcanati's death the whole collection was transferred by his widow to the ambrosiana. some changes had been made in the distribution of the papers since mazenta so easily acquired his thirteen books. the french took the same number away in ; but none of them ever returned, except the famous _codice atlantico_. in spain there were but few persons interested in books before the foundation of the escorial towards the end of the sixteenth century. we learn from mariana that soon after the year a vast gallery in the palace was filled with books, mostly greek mss., which had been assembled from all parts of europe; 'its stores,' he said, 'are more precious than gold: but it would be well if learned men had greater facilities for reading them; for what profit is there from learning if she is treated like a captive and traitor?' arias montanus, the first orientalist of his age, was appointed librarian by the founder; he was the owner of an immense quantity of mss. in greek, hebrew, and arabic, many of which were used in his edition of the antwerp polyglott bible, and these he bequeathed to the escorial, while his printed books were left to the university of seville. the first book was printed in valencia as early as the year ; but the prospects of literature remained dark until the termination of the moorish wars. on the capture of granada it was thought necessary to obliterate the memory of the koran, and scores of thousands of volumes, or a million as some say, were destroyed by cardinal ximènes in a celebrated _auto-da-fé_. about three hundred arabic works on medicine were preserved for the new library which the cardinal was founding in his university of alcalà. the cardinal spent vast sums in gathering materials for his mozarabic missal and the great complutensian polyglott. it is said that to avoid future criticism he gave his hebrew originals to be used in the making of fireworks, just as polydore vergil was accused in our country of burning the monastic chronicles out of which he composed his history, and as many italian writers were believed to have destroyed their classical authorities. when petrarch lost his cicero, it was thought that alcionio might have stolen it for his treatise upon exile; but we should probably be right in rejecting all these stories together as mere calumnies and 'forgeries of jealousy.' antonio lebrixa, who worked under the cardinal till his death in , had done much to revive a knowledge of books, and may be regarded as the principal agent in the introduction of the new italian learning. his pupil ferdinand nuñez, or nonnius as he is often called, carried on the good work at salamanca, and left his great library to the university. diego hurtado de mendoza was one of the most distinguished students who ever followed the lectures there. as a poet he has been called the spanish sallust: as the author of the adventures of lazarillo de tormes he takes a high place among the lighter authors of romance; and as a patron of learning he will always be remembered for having enriched the escorial with his transcripts from mount athos, and six chests of valuable mss. which he received in return for ransoming from his captivity at venice the son of soliman the magnificent. great credit must also be given to don ferdinand columbus for his good work at seville. the son of the great admiral and donna beatrix enriquez was one of the most celebrated bibliophiles in europe. he began making his collections very soon after his father's death. between and he had visited italy several times, and had travelled besides in england and france, in the low countries and in germany, buying books wherever he went. his great object was to procure illuminated mss. and early editions of romances and miracle-plays; but he was also fond of the classics, and his library at seville is still possessed of many copies of latin poets and orators which are full of his marginal notes. at louvain he became acquainted with nicholas clénard, who was lecturing there on greek and hebrew, and was just commencing the arabic studies by which his name became famous. don ferdinand had a commission to bring back professors for the university of salamanca, where learning was beginning to revive; and clénard was easily induced to visit a country which might contain the relics of moorish culture. ferrari, as we know, was very successful in the next generation in finding rare books in spain for borromeo's ambrosian library. at bruges, don ferdinand met jean vasée, a man just suited for an appointment as librarian, and he too was persuaded to accompany the traveller on his return. don ferdinand established a large library in his house at seville. clénard helped to arrange the books, and vasée became librarian. the volumes amounted at least to fifteen thousand in number, though the exact amount remains unknown owing to discrepancies in the earliest catalogues. don ferdinand hoped that the library would be kept up by the family of columbus. with that object he left it to his great-nephew don luis, with an annuity to provide for the expenses; if the legacy were refused, it was to pass to the chapter of the cathedral at seville, with alternative provisions in favour of the monastery of san pablo. as events turned out, the succession was not taken up on behalf of his young kinsman, and after some litigation the fernandina, or 'la colombina' as it was afterwards called, was adjudged to the chapter of seville and placed in a room by the moorish aisle at the giralda. owing chiefly to the generosity of queen isabella and the duc de montpensier the library of 'la colombina' has been restored to prosperity, although according to mr. ford it was long abandoned to 'the canons and book-worms.' it appears that in the middle of the last century three-quarters of the mss. had been destroyed by rough usage or by the water dripping in from the gutters; the books were in charge of the men who swept the church, and they allowed the school-children to play with the illustrated volumes and to tear out the miniatures and woodcuts. mr. harrisse has described with much detail the grandeur and the decline of this celebrated institution, and he gives reasons for supposing that it may have suffered even in recent years from the negligence of its guardians. it is satisfactory, however, to find that its most precious contents have passed safely through every period of danger; the library still contains some of the books of christopher columbus, and especially the _imago mundi_ with his marginal notes about the portuguese discoveries, 'in all which things,' he writes 'i had my share.' [illustration: j. a. de thou.] chapter xiv. de thou--pinelli--peiresc. it was long a saying among the french that a man had never seen paris who had not looked upon the books of thuanus. the historian jacques-auguste de thou held a leading place in literature, without pretending in any way to rival the greatness of joseph scaliger or the erudition of isaac casaubon. he was the master of a great store of personal and secret history collected in state papers and records; but he was also famous for the extent of his general scholarship, and for the patronage which he manifested towards all who laboured about books. he was himself a most fastidious collector. he never heard of the appearance of a valuable work without ordering three or four copies on the fine paper manufactured for his private use; and of any such book already issued he would order several sets of sheets to be taken to pieces in order to procure one perfect example. his library was not large. it consisted of about printed books and manuscripts, chiefly upon historical subjects; but they were all well selected, well bound, and in perfect condition. there is a letter upon this subject by henri estienne the printer, in which the high reputation of de thou's library is contrasted with lucian's just invective against the illiterate book-hunter: 'the satirist would have honoured a man like you, so learned and so generous in your library: you choose your books with taste, and proportion the cost of binding to the price of the volume; and lucian, i am sure, would have praised your carefulness in these respects.' in all matters connected with literature de thou was helped by his friend 'pithoeus,' of whom it was said that no one knew any particular author as well as pierre pithou knew all the classics. by talent and hard work combined pithou had 'distilled the quintessence of wisdom' out of the garnered stores of antiquity. upon his death de thou was inclined to give up his books and the work that had made life pleasant. he wrote in that strain to his associate isaac casaubon. 'on the loss of my incomparable friend, the partner of my cares and my counsellor in letters and politics, the web that i was weaving fell from my hand, and i should not have resumed my history were it not a tribute to the memory of one who has done so much for me.' de thou's end was hastened by the death of his wife. those who know the look of his books, stamped with a series of his family quarterings, will remember that he was first married to marie barbançon, and afterwards to gasparde de la chastre. 'i had always hoped and prayed,' he wrote at the commencement of his will, 'that my dearest gaspara chastræa would have outlived me.' admonished by her loss to set his affairs in order he began to take special pains in providing for the future of his books. he anticipated the public spirit of cardinal richelieu, to whom the merit is often assigned of having been the first to bequeath the use of his library to scholars. the cardinal was not particular about the methods by which he amassed his literary wealth: he is said to have increased his store by all the arts of cajolery, and even by bare intimidation; and he may have wished to make some amends by directing that 'persons of erudition' should have access to his books after his death. de thou had an equal love of books, and showed perhaps a kinder feeling about the use of the treasures which his own care had accumulated. 'it is important,' he wrote, 'for my own family and for the cause of learning that the library should be kept together which i have been for more than forty years collecting, and i hereby forbid any division, sale, or dispersion thereof; i bequeath it to such of my sons as shall apply themselves to literature, and they shall hold it in common, but so that it shall be free to all scholars at home or abroad. i leave its custody to pierre du puy until my sons are grown up, and he shall have authority to lend out the mss. under proper security for their safe return.' pierre and jacques du puy, the 'two puteani' as they were often called, were the sons of a distinguished bibliophile, charles du puy, who died in , and were themselves the leaders in a curious department of book-learning. their father was the founder of a library enriched by his care with the best specimens of early printing and a few rare mss. in the latter class he possessed an ancient bilingual copy of st. paul's epistles, a livy in uncial characters, and the precious fragments of the vatican virgil, which he gave to fulvio orsini in his lifetime. 'on his death,' says m. guigard, 'the bibliographical succession passed to pierre and jacques, his younger sons, the first a councillor of state, the other prior of st. sauveur-les-bray, and both employed as guardians of the books in the royal library. no two men were ever more ardently devoted to the interests of learning. they worked in concert at increasing and improving their father's library; but their chief object was to accumulate and preserve the obscurer materials of history. the _collection du puy_, which has now became national property, comprised more than volumes of fugitive pieces, memoirs, instructions, pedigrees, letters, and all the other miscellaneous documents that were classed by d'israeli 'under the vague title of state papers.' it has been said that the object of their 'titanic labour' was to ease the way for the historian de thou; but it is more likely that the brothers obeyed an instinct for the acquisition of secret history; 'life would have been too short to have decided on the intrinsic value of the manuscripts flowing down in a stream to the collectors.' the surviving brother bequeathed these state papers to the abbé de thou (the fourth possessor of the 'bibliotheca thuana') who sold them to charron de ménars; they were eventually purchased by louis xvi., and were deposited in the royal library, where the printed books and certain other mss. had been already received under a legacy from jacques du puy. when the historian died the brothers jointly undertook the trust that had fallen to pierre. 'among all the french scholars,' said gassendi,'these two puteani do most excel; and now, abiding with the sons of thuanus, they sustain by all the means in their power the library and the students that have been committed to their care. françois-auguste de thou, the historian's eldest son, became grand-master of the king's books; he added considerably to the 'bibliotheca thuana,' and his house became the meeting-place of the parisian _savants_. a brilliant career was cruelly cut short by the malignity of richelieu. the young cinq-mars was in a plot with the queen and gaston of orléans to overthrow the cardinal's power. his friend de thou was aware of the design, but had taken no part in the conspiracy. the cardinal arrested them both, and dragged them along the rhone in a boat attached to his own barge; and de thou was executed as a scapegoat, while most of the leaders saved their lives. the cardinal died soon afterwards, without having confiscated the library; and it passed to jacques-auguste, the historian's younger son, who by a tardy act of grace had been restored to the civil rights enjoyed by his brother before his unjust conviction. he was by all accounts as great a book-collector as his father; and he had the good fortune to marry an heiress, marie picardet, who brought with her a large quantity of books from her father's house in britanny. in the year the 'bibliotheca thuana' with all its additions passed to the abbé jacques-auguste de thou, who was soon afterwards compelled to part with it to the président charron de ménars. st. simon praised its new owner as a most worthy and honourable nonentity; but he had the sense to step into the breach and to save the 'thuana' from destruction. when he sold the library to the cardinal de rohan, in , he reserved the _collection du puy_ for his daughters. it is believed that the cardinal, through the cleverness of his secretary oliva, obtained the historian's choice examples for less than the price of the binding. we must follow the career of the collection to its melancholy end. the cardinal left it to his nephew the prince de soubise. the world knows him as the inventor of a sauce and as the general in one lost battle; but he had a higher fame among the booksellers for his prowess in the auction-room. he seems to have been the victim of a frenzy for books. he impressed them by crowds, and marshalled them in regiments and myriads. they all fell in before the hammer of the auctioneer. dibdin has described the catalogue. it was unostentatious and printed on indifferent material. he hoped, with his curious insistance on the point, that there were 'some few copies on large paper.' it is a mark of the changes in book-collecting that dibdin praised the index as excellent, 'enabling us to discover any work of which we may be in want'; but it is now regarded as remarkable for its poverty, and especially for the extraordinary carelessness that left eight noble specimens from grolier's library without the slightest mark of distinction. gian-vincenzio pinelli was a celebrated man of letters whose library at padua formed 'a perpetual academy' for all the scholars of his day. born at naples in , he spent the greater part of his long life at padua, where he was sent to study the law; but the only sign of his professional labours appears to have been that he rigidly excluded all works on jurisprudence from his magnificent library. his books, says hallam, were collected by the labours of many years: 'the catalogues of the frankfort fairs and those of the principal booksellers in italy were diligently perused, nor did any work of value appear from the press on either side of the alps which he did not instantly add to his shelves.' remembering the traditions of the age of poggio, when the rarest classics might be found perishing in a garret or a cellar, pinelli was always in the habit of visiting the dealers in old parchment and the brokers who carried off deeds and papers from sales, just as dr. rawlinson collected and gave to the bodleian a mass of unsorted documents, including, as we have seen, even the logs of recent voyages, and the pickings of "grocers' waste-paper." in each case the industry of the collector was constantly rewarded by the discovery of valuable literary materials, which would have been lost under ordinary circumstances. the library of pinelli was augmented by that of his friend paul aicardo, the two _literati_ having entered into an undertaking that the survivor should possess the whole fruit of their labours. on pinelli's death, in , his family determined to transfer his books to naples. the venetian government interfered on the ground that, though pinelli had been allowed to copy the archives and registers of the state, it had never been intended that the information should be communicated to a foreign power. their magistrate seized a hundred bales of books, of which fourteen were packed with mss. on examination it appeared that there were about three hundred volumes of political commentaries, dealing with the affairs of all the italian states; and it was arranged, by way of compromise, that these should remain at padua in a repository under the charge of an official guardian. the rest of the library was despatched in three shiploads from genoa. one vessel was captured by pirates, and the cargo was thrown overboard, only a few volumes being afterwards cast ashore. the other ships arrived safely at naples; but it appears that the new proprietors had little taste for literature. the whole remaining stock was found some years afterwards in a mouldy garret, packed in ninety bales; and it was purchased at last for crowns by cardinal frederic borromeo, who used it as the basis for the ambrosian library which he was at that time establishing in milan. another library was afterwards founded at venice by members of the pinelli family engaged in the levantine trade. on the death of its last possessor, maffeo pinelli, in , the collection was sold to a firm of english booksellers. it seems by dibdin's account to have been in a poor condition, though dr. harwood declared that, 'there being no dust in venice,' it had reposed for some centuries in excellent preservation. this immense body of books was re-sold in london two years afterwards at prices which barely covered the expenses incurred, though a large amount was obtained for a copy of the polyglott bible of ximènes in six folio volumes printed upon vellum. the praises of the great pinelli were spread abroad by scaliger, de thou, and casaubon; but his memory, perhaps, has been best preserved by the ardent friendship of peiresc. he was visited at padua by the young philosopher in whose mind he found a reflection of his own; and it was generally agreed that the lamp of learning had passed into safe hands when it was yielded by pinelli to the student from provence. nicolas fabry de peiresc belonged to an ancient family established near aix. his father had been selected by louis xii. to share the education of the princess renée. a man of learning himself, he spared no expense in the boy's instruction, who became celebrated even in his childhood for the strength of his precocious intellect. the most eminent professors in italy combined to exalt 'the ripe excellence of his unripe years'; and when pinelli died it was said that peiresc had taken the helm of knowledge and was guiding the ship as he pleased. he explored at leisure the riches of florence and rome, and afterwards watched the rise of the 'ambrosiana' at milan. a letter from joseph scaliger, who ruled literary europe like a king, from his chair at leyden, sent peiresc off to verona, where he hunted up evidence in support of the wild story that the scaligers were the representatives of the ducal line of la scala. julius cæsar scaliger, the father of the great philologist, had amused the world by claiming to be the son of benedetto and berenice della scala, to have been a page of the emperor maximilian, and to have fought in the battle of ravenna; and he pretended that he had become a cordelier, so as to rise to the papal throne and expel the venetians from his dominions. peiresc was by no means a believer in this extraordinary romance; but he did his best to collect the coins, epitaphs, and pedigrees, which might please his learned correspondent. crossing the alps, we are told, 'he viewed the lake of geneva and made a tour through a multitude of books'; and returned to aix with a library and cabinet of gems, 'thinking to himself that he would never see such plenty again.' when he visited paris in , his first object, he said, was to see the illustrious de thou, to thank him for his kind letters, and to enquire for messages from scaliger. 'i cannot express,' he repeats, 'how joyfully he entertained me.' de thou took down his books for the visitor, and showed him the records under lock and key that contained the secrets of his history, 'opening his very heart, and brimful of a wonderful sincerity.' next day casaubon came in from the _bibliothèque du roi_, and showed much pleasure at being introduced to the traveller. his letters of a later date show his high esteem for peiresc. 'i am eagerly waiting to hear what scaliger will say about the antiques, but i foresee that you will have room to glean after his harvest.' on another occasion he wrote: 'i do not know if you heard that the duke of urbino has sent me the polybius, but i am indeed most beholden to you for the kindness.' ten years afterwards peiresc came to paris again, wishing to explore the oriental treasures in the library of de mesmes, and to visit the huge collections in the houses of st. victor and st. germain. here he gained the friendship of pierre séguier and the elegant nicolas rigault, and of jérome bignon, the first of a long dynasty of librarians. in england he saw the bodleian, and talked with savile, and admired sir robert cotton as 'an honestly curious sort of man.' in holland his chief business was to visit scaliger, and we are told that he was careful not to ask about the treatise on squaring the circle, or to hint any doubt as to the truth of the verona romance. here at leyden he read in the great library, soon to be endowed with scaliger's books, and saw the room of which heinsius so nobly said: 'in the very bosom of eternity among all these illustrious souls i take my seat'; and at louvain he could only lament the death of justus lipsius, whom he regarded as 'the light and the loadstar of wisdom.' gassendi has left us an account of the library collected by peiresc. besides his acquisitions in the east, of which we have spoken elsewhere, the books came in crowds from his agents in france and germany, and his scribes in the vatican and escorial. 'when any library was to be sold by public outcry, he took care to buy the best books, especially if they were of some neat edition that he did not already possess.' he bound them in red morocco with his cypher or initials in gold. one binder always lived in the house, and sometimes several were employed at once, 'when the books came rolling in on every side.' he would even bind up bits of old volumes and worm-eaten leaves; good books, he said, were so badly used by the vulgar, that he would try to have them prized at least for their beauty, and so perhaps they might escape the hands of the tobacconist and the grocer. a treatise published by jerome alexander contained a wonderful description of the establishment. 'your house and library,' says the dedication, 'are a firmament wherein the stars of learning shine: the desks are lit with star-light and the books are in constellations: and you sit like the sun in the midst, embracing and giving light to them all.' peiresc was anxious to circulate the book, which contained a rare treatise by hesychius; but he took care to compose another dedication, which was printed and inserted without comment. notwithstanding his profuse purchases he did not leave a large collection at his death. his friends complained that he lent 'a world of books' that were never returned, and that he was especially lavish of any works that could be replaced by purchase. 'about ten years after his death,' says his friend lemontey, 'his relations brought his books to paris, where i saw them in ; they formed a great company of volumes, most curiously bound. they ought to have been sold _en bloc_, but as the genius of the library had fled, the fates ordained that they should be torn asunder.' most of the books were purchased for the collège de navarre. a great number of the mss. were destroyed, though there are still a few volumes in the public library at carpentras. these were purchased from louis thomassin, a member of peiresc's family, by don malachi d'inguimbert, librarian to pope clement xii., who founded the collection of carpentras when he became bishop of the diocese. there is a tradition that peiresc's correspondence, containing many thousands of documents, was destroyed by his grand-niece, 'a kind of female omar,' who insisted in using the papers for lighting fires and making trays for her silk-worms. peiresc employed some of the most learned men of his time to collect for him in italy. jacques gaffarel, who had been engaged in similar work for richelieu, was his principal agent in rome. at padua he was so fortunate as to secure the services of the archæologist tomasini. but his correspondence shows that the prince of librarians, gabriel naudé, was at once his agent, his adviser, and his friend; and it is from naudé that we take the words of grief which remain as the scholar's memorial. 'oh cruel fate and bitter death, thrust into the midst of our jollity! was there ever a man, i pray you, more skilled in history and philology, more ready to assist the student, more endowed with wit and wealth and worth, the equipment of any man who, like peiresc, is to hold the world of letters at his beck and call.' chapter xv. french collectors--naudÉ to renouard. gabriel naudé was a doctor of medicine, and held an appointment at one time as physician in ordinary to louis xiii. but even as a student he manifested that passion for books which furnished the real occupation of his life. before taking his degree at padua he was librarian to henri de mesmes, and afterwards to cardinal bagni at rome. on his patron's death he was placed in charge of the great library which cardinal barberini was establishing in his palace in the piazza of the quattro fontane. some part of his time was spent in collecting books for cardinal richelieu, who offered naudé the charge of his library in ; but, the cardinal having died in that year, naudé transferred his services to mazarin. he inspired his employer with the desire of emulating the magnificence of barberini and the patriotic generosity of borromeo; and the librarian's keen scent for books and minute knowledge of their values were thenceforth utilised in the work of creating the _bibliothèque mazarine_. richelieu had done things on a grand scale. he had confiscated to his own use the whole town-library at la rochelle; and naudé was anxious that mazarin's great undertaking should begin with an acquisition _en bloc_. a provincial governor named simeon dubois had made a collection in the limousin. his books had passed into the hands of jean descordes, a canon of limoges, who died in possessed of about volumes. naudé prepared the catalogue, and persuaded the cardinal to purchase the whole property by private contract. a few months afterwards the king gave him the state papers collected by antoine de loménie. a great number of printed books were added under naudé's superintendence, and in a short time the new library was opened to the public. its regulations were framed in a very liberal spirit, as may be learned from the first of naudé's rules: 'the library is to be open to all the world without the exception of any living soul; readers will be supplied with chairs and writing-materials, and the attendants will fetch all books required in any language or department of learning, and will change them as often as is necessary.' in reviewing the condition of the other great libraries, naudé pointed out that there was nothing like an unrestrained admission except at the bodleian, the ambrosian, and the angelica library at rome. the public had no rights at the vatican, or the laurentian, or the library of st. mark at venice. it was just the same at bologna, or naples, or in the duchy of urbino. the same thing, he said, might be seen in other countries. ximènes built a fine library at alcalà, and there was a collection of the books of nuñez at salamanca; there were the rantzaus at copenhagen and the fuggers at augsburg; they had done everything for the use of scholars except making the libraries free. the french themselves had the king's library, a vast accumulation at st. victor's, and a rich bequest from de thou; but the use of all this wealth of books was hampered by the most complicated restrictions. we can see that he was rejoicing in his own good work while he praised the stately ambrosiana. 'is it not astonishing,' he asks, 'that any one can go in when he likes, and stay as long as he cares to look about or to read or make extracts? all that he has to do is to sit at a desk and ask for any book that he wishes to study.' for some years after the new library was established naudé travelled in quest of books over the greater part of europe. he said that he would have ransacked spain if mazarin had not preferred an invasion by the regular army. he was the 'familiar spirit' of the auction-room, and it became a by-word that a visit from the great book-hunter was as bad as a storm in the book-shops. he boasted in his epigrams of exploits in flanders, in switzerland, and among the venetian book-stalls. at rome he bought books by the fathom; he skimmed the german shelves, and passed over into england to relieve the islanders of their riches. at lyons he met marshal villeroi, who gave him a great portion of the books which cardinal de tournon had bequeathed to the jesuits. we trace the result of his travels in his description of the libraries of europe. certain subjects, as he said, are in vogue at particular places, and we ought always to notice the book-fashions to show our respect for the feelings of mankind. 'for positive science we go to rome or florence or naples, and for jurisprudence to paris or milan; france supplies us with history; and if we wanted scholastic lore we might go to spain, or the colleges of oxford and cambridge.' in the mazarine library contained about , volumes, and naudé in his joy proclaimed it as the eighth wonder of the world. the parisians appeared to be delighted with the superb loménie mss. and the crowd of bright volumes in the cardinal's ordinary livery. but in the parliament got the upper hand of the 'red tyrant' in one of the unmeaning struggles of the wars of the fronde; the property of mazarin was confiscated for a time, and the library was put up for sale. the list of commissioners included the respectable names of alexandre pétau and pierre pithou; yet we are assured that the auction resembled a massacre, and that hardly any obstacle was placed in the way of the most impudent thefts. naudé in vain petitioned against a decree which had fallen like a thunder-bolt on the 'wonderful work of his life.' 'why will you not save this daughter of mine, this library that is the fairest and best-endowed in the world? can you permit the public to be deprived of such a precious and useful treasure? can you endure that this fair flower, which spreads its perfume through the world, should wither as you hold it in your hands?' naudé spent his own small fortune in ransoming the books on medicine. he had worked hard to persuade queen christina to purchase the whole collection; but when it came to the point she only bought a few mss. which were afterwards returned. the 'pallas of the north,' was interested in naudé's misfortunes. she invited him to take charge of the royal library at stockholm, and here he rested for a while. he made acquaintance in sweden with several celebrated men of letters; descartes was a guest at the court, and used to be ready to begin his metaphysical discourses at day-break. naudé on one occasion delighted the young queen by stepping a greek dance with professor meibomius, who was just at that time bringing out his work upon the music of the ancients. the climate, or the excitement of that vivacious court, began to disagree with naudé's health; he resigned his appointment and returned to france, but died at abbeville on his way to paris, a few months before his patron's return to power. when the public library was established again the cardinal purchased naudé's private collection of books; and care was taken to preserve them apart, as a mark of distinction, in a gallery named after the famous librarian. the hereditary collections of colbert and la moignon were as much indebted to their librarians as the mazarine to the labours of naudé. the minister jean-baptiste colbert was as celebrated for his books as for his finance: but the magnificence of the library was mainly due to its guardian calcavi and his successor the venerable baluze. colbert's manuscripts are believed to have been the most valuable ever amassed by a person of private fortune. among their eight thousand volumes were the choicest treasures from st. martin's abbey at metz, including the _book of hours_ used by charles the great, and a bible said to have been illuminated for charles the bald. there were about , printed books, almost all well-bound; and it was thought that the choicest levantine moroccos had been secured for the minister by an article in a treaty with the sultan. colbert died in , and the library remained in his family for half a century afterwards. in the marquis de seignelaye sold the books, and began to sell a portion of the manuscripts; the world was alarmed at the idea of a general dispersion; the remaining manuscripts, however, were offered to louis xv.; and there was great rejoicing when he wrote '_bon, , livres_' on the letter received from the marquis. the other famous library was amassed by 'an extraordinary family of book-collectors.' it was begun by guillaume de la moignon, who was president of the parliament of paris in . his son chrétien de la moignon was as zealous a book-buyer as his father, and he secured the renown of their library by engaging the services of adrien baillet. dibdin quoted passages from baillet's biography that show the tenderness with which the family treated his 'crazy body and nervous mind': 'madame la moignon and her son always took a pleasure in anticipating his wishes, soothing his irritabilities, promoting his views, and speaking loudly and constantly of the virtues of his head and heart.' baillet in his turn gave to his employers the credit of his best literary work. 'it was done for you,' he wrote, 'and in your house, and by one who is ever yours to command.' the library was much enlarged by its owner in the third generation; and by its union with the collection of m. berryer, who died in , it became 'one of the most splendid in europe.' it was dispersed during the troubles of the revolution, and a great portion was brought to london in ; but the works on jurisprudence were reserved, and were sold in paris a few years afterwards. david ancillon is perhaps best known as the defender of luther and calvin. but according to bayle he was an indefatigable book-collector, and notable for having set the fashion of buying books in the first edition. most people thought, said d'israeli, that the first edition was only an imperfect essay, 'which the author proposes to finish after trying the sentiments of the literary world.' bayle was on the side of ancillon. there are cases, as he remarked, in which the second edition has never appeared; and at any rate the man who waits for the reprint shows 'that he loves a pistole better than knowledge.' ancillon, however, always indulged himself with 'the most elegant edition,' whatever the first might have been; he considered that 'the less the eyes are fatigued in reading or work the more liberty the mind feels in judging of it.' it is easier to detect the merits in print than in manuscript: 'and so we see them more plainly in good paper and clear type than when the impression and paper are bad?' some have thought it better to have many editions of a good book: 'among other things,' says our critic, 'we feel great satisfaction in tracing the variations.' ancillon was naturally accused of an indiscriminate mania for collecting; and he confessed that he was to some extent infected with the 'book-disease.' it was said that he never left his books day or night, except when he went to preach to his humble congregation. he was convinced that some golden thought might be found in the dullest work. ancillon remained in france as long as his religion was tolerated. he found a home across the rhine after the revocation of the edict of nantes; but from that time he had to be content with german editions, all his fine tall volumes having been destroyed by the 'catholic' rioters at metz. if evelyn can be believed, the art of book-collecting had come to a very poor pass in france about the seventeenth century. it had been discovered that certain classes of books were the necessary furniture of every gentleman's library. if a man of quality built a mansion he would expect to find a book-room and a quantity of shelves; it was a simple matter further on to order so many yards of folios or octavos, all in red morocco, with the coat of arms stamped in gold. such collections, said la bruyère, are like a picture-gallery with a strong smell of leather: the owner is most polite in showing off 'the gold leaves, etruscan bindings, and fine editions'; 'we thank him for his kindness, but care as little as himself to visit the tan-yard which he calls his library.' we must not forget the financier bretonvilliers, who about the year determined to become a bibliophile, and so far succeeded that some of his local books on lorraine were purchased for the national library. he first built a hôtel, not far from the cathedral of notre-dame, with a large gallery in which with infinite pains he built up a magnificent book-case; the contents were of less importance; but he succeeded after a time in filling it with books stamped with his new device of an eagle holding the olive-branch. one or two of the more serious collectors may be noticed before we pass to the great age of rothelin and la vallière. henri du bouchet had gathered about eight thousand books, all very well chosen, according to the testimony of the père jacob; on his death in he bequeathed them to the abbey of st. victor on public trusts so that those who came after him might find a solace in what had been 'his dearest delight.' he requested that they might be free to students for three days in the week and for seven hours in the day; and his wishes were duly regarded until the great library of st. victor was dispersed in . the monks set up a tablet and bust in memory of the generous donor; and perceiving that the volumes were not emblazoned in the usual way they adopted the singular plan of inserting pieces of leather bearing his arms into holes cut in the ancient bindings. the abbé boisot was another of the scholars who lived entirely for books. while quite a young man he acquired a considerable library in his travels through spain and italy; and in , during an official visit to besançon, he was so fortunate as to acquire the mss. of the cardinal de granvelle, who had been the confidential minister of the emperor charles v. boisot wrote a delightful account of the adventures through which this collection had passed. 'at first,' he says, 'the servants used what they pleased, and then the neighbours' children helped themselves; when some packing-cases were wanted, the butler, to show his economy, sold the records contained in them to a grocer.' at last they were all tired of these 'useless old papers,' and determined to throw them away. jules chifflet, according to guigard, was the means of saving the remainder. he examined a number of the documents and recognised their importance, though they were mostly in cipher; but he died before they could be sorted out. boisot bought what he could from the heirs, and found a good many more mss. in the neighbourhood. they passed with the rest of boisot's books to the abbey of st. vincent at besançon; and during the revolution the whole collection became the property of the citizens and was transferred to the public library. the hereditary treasures of the bouhier family were dispersed in the same way through several provincial libraries. the collection had begun in the reign of louis xii., and something had been done in each generation afterwards by way of adding fine books and manuscripts. Étienne bouhier had collected in all parts of italy. jean bouhier in bought the accumulations of pontus de thyard, the learned bishop of châlons. his father's own library had been dispersed among his children; but jean bouhier succeeded in getting it together again, and added a large number of mss. which he had gathered for the illustration of the history of burgundy. the library became still more famous in the time of his grandson the president jean bouhier, who has been admired as the type of the true bibliophile. the bibliomaniac heaps up books from avarice or some animal instinct; he is a collector, it is said, 'without intelligent curiosity.' bouhier used to read his books and make notes upon them; and it is said that he carried the practice to such excess as to deface with marginal scribblings the finest work of henri estienne and antoine vérard. a visitor to his library described the sober magnificence of the rosewood shelves with silken hangings in which the rare editions and long rows of manuscripts were ranged. in the next generation there was a startling change. the library had been left to bouhier's son-in-law, chartraire de bourbonne: the grave offspring of aldus and gryphius found themselves in company with poets of the _talon rouge_ and muses of the _opéra bouffe_. when the gay de bourbonne died, the ill-assorted crowd passed to his son-in-law in his turn, and was transferred in to the abbey of clairvaux. we cannot name or classify the bibliophiles of the eighteenth century. it would be endless to describe them with the briefest of personal notes; how m. barré loved out-of-the-way books and fugitive pieces, or lambert de thorigny a good history, or how gabriel de sartines, the policeman of the parc aux cerfs, had a marvellous collection about paris. when count macarthy sold his books at toulouse his catalogue contained a list of about ninety others, issued in the same century, from which his riches were derived. we can point to a few of the mightiest nimrods. we see the serene gaignat pass, and the bustling la vallière; the duc d'estrées is recognised as a busy book-hunter, and there are the physicians hyacinthe baron and falconnet whose keenness no prey could escape. we can distinguish the forms of the elegant '_bibliomanes_' to whom their books were as pictures or as jewels to be enclosed in a shrine; there is count d'hoym with a house full of treasures, and boisset and girardot de préfond with their cabinets of marvels. if the crowds in the old-fashioned libraries are like the multitude at babel, these tall volumes in crushed morocco and 'triple gold bands' remind us of what our antiquaries have said of books glimmering in their wire cases 'like eastern beauties peering through their jalousies.' we ought to say something of m. de chamillard, best known in his public capacity as a good match for the king at billiards and as the minister who proposed the revocation of the edict of nantes. in private life michael de chamillard was a virtuoso with well-filled galleries and portfolios; and he had assembled a large company of books of fashionable appearance. but our real interest is not so much with the minister of billiards, as m. uzanne described him, but rather with his wife and three daughters, who were all true female bibliophiles. the eldest daughter, the marquise de dreux, was wife of the grand master of the ceremonies; but though his collection was gay and polite the marquise insisted on a separate establishment for the books that she had discovered and bought and bound. the duchesse de la feuillade and the duchesse de lorges insisted, like their elder sister, on having libraries for their separate use. the minister's wife was celebrated for the splendour of her books, and marvellous prices have been paid for specimens of her earlier style. but 'little madame de chamillard' attached herself in all things to the maintenon, and followed the uncrowned queen in abandoning the paths of vanity; she gave up the world, so far as gilt arabesques and crushed morocco were concerned, and dressed all her later acquisitions _à la janséniste_, in plain leather with perhaps the thinnest line of blind-tooling for an ornament. charles du fay was a captain in the guards, compelled by his misfortunes to confine himself to the battles of the book-sale. he lost a leg at the bombardment of brussels in ; and though he was promoted to a company in the guards, it became at last apparent that he could not serve on horseback. du fay, we are told, was fortunately fond of literature; and he devoted himself with eagerness to the task of collecting a magnificent library. history and latin poetry had always been his favourite subjects, and it appears that he was already collecting fine examples in this department during his campaigns in germany and flanders. m. de lincy commemorates the good taste that impelled du fay to buy several of grolier's books, and records the industry with which he sought to remedy his defects of education. professor brochard, he says, was a learned man, with a good library of his own, who went to inspect the books gathered by du fay from all parts of europe. the visitor expressed surprise that out of nearly four thousand volumes there should hardly be any in greek. 'i have hardly retained a word of the language,' said du fay. 'cato in his old age,' replied the professor, 'did not hesitate for a moment to learn it; and a person quite ignorant of greek can never know latin well.' du fay was an easy good-natured man, and at once followed his friend's advice, beginning from that day to buy greek books and to work at the language so as to be able to read them. his object, however, in forming a library was not so much to gather useful information as to set up a museum of literary rarities. the idea is in accordance with our modern taste, and perhaps with the common sense of mankind; but some of the old-fashioned collectors were angry with the poor epicure of learning. the président bouhier writes to marais in on seeing a catalogue of the library: 'this savours more of bibliomania than scholarship.' marais at once replied: 'your judgment on du fay's catalogue is most excellent: it is not a library, but a shop full of curious book-specimens, made to sell and not to keep for one's self.' many of du fay's books were bought by count d'hoym, who lived for many years at paris as ambassador from augustus of poland and saxony. the count has been accused of showing bad manners at court, and of bad faith in giving the trade secrets of dresden to the factory at sèvres; in bibliography at any rate, he was supreme among the amateurs, and his white eagle of poland appears upon no volume that is not among the best of its kind. he sat at one time at the feet of the abbé de rothelin; but he soon became his master's equal in matters of taste, and was accepted until his exile at nancy as the arbiter of elegance among the parisians. m. guigard quotes from the dedication of a 'treasury' of french poetry a passage that indicates his high position: 'to the poets in this assemblage, whoever they be, it is a glory, monseigneur, to enter your excellency's library, so full, so magnificent, so well chosen, that it is justly accounted the prodigy of learning.' charles d'orléans, abbé de rothelin, had died in , when most of his books became the property of the nation. in some respects he was the most distinguished of the book-collectors. his learning and wealth enabled him to make a collection of theology that has never been surpassed; and he had the good fortune to acquire the vast series of state papers and the priceless mediæval mss. collected by nicolas foucault. his special taste was for immaculate editions in splendid bindings; but nothing escaped his notice that was in any way remarkable or interesting. paul girardot de préfond was a timber-merchant who fell into an apathetic state on retiring from active business. his physician, hyacinthe baron, was an eminent book-collector, and he advised the patient to take up the task of forming a library. so successful was the prescription that the merchant became renowned during the next half century for his superb bindings, his specimens from grolier's stores, and the delphin and variorum classics which he procured from the library of gascq de la lande. on two occasions the sale of his surplus treasures made an excitement for the literary world. some of his rarest books were sold in , and twelve years afterwards his delphin series and the greater part of his general collection were purchased by count macarthy. mérard de st. just was another collector, whose exquisite taste is still gratefully remembered, though his small library has long been dispersed, and was indeed almost destroyed by a series of accidents before the outbreak of the great revolution. 'my library,' he said, 'is very small, but it is too large for me to fill it with good books.' he would not have the first editions of the classics, because they were generally printed on bad paper which it was disagreeable to touch, with the exception of works produced by the aldine press. nor would he buy mere curiosities, says guigard, but left them to persons who cared for empty display, 'like one who proudly exhibits his patents of nobility without being able to point to any distinguished action of his ancestors.' he was the owner of many choice books that had belonged to gaignat and charron de ménars, or had been bound for madame de pompadour, or to the undiscriminating du barry. in , we are told, he despatched the best part of his library to america, but had the grief of learning soon afterwards that they had been captured at sea by the english. his philosophical temper was shown in his reply to the bad news: 'i have but one wish upon the subject; i hope that the person who gets this part of the booty will be able to comprehend the value of the treasure that has come to his hands.' the elder mirabeau was a collector of another type. the 'friend of mankind' intended to gather together the best and largest library in the world. he cared nothing for the scarcity or the external adornments of a volume; but he had a huge appetite for knowledge, and he longed to have the means of referring to all that could illustrate the progress of the race. he did not live to attain any marked success in his gigantic design; but his library had at least the distinction of containing all the books of the comte de buffon, enriched with marginal notes in the naturalist's handwriting. a modest collection was formed a few years afterwards by pierre-louis guinguené, who wrote a valuable work on the literary history of italy. he is remembered as having published amid the terrors of an amusing essay on the authority of rabelais 'in the matter of this present revolution.' he led a peaceful life through all that troubled time, and succeeded in forming a very useful library containing about volumes; it was purchased for the british museum on his death, and became the foundation of the great series of works on the french revolution which has been brought together there. the long life of m. antoine renouard bridges over the space between the days of mirabeau and the time when the _élégants_ of the third empire had invented a new bibliomania. renouard had ordered bindings from the elder derôme; in he bought a book at la vallière's sale. in his _epictetus_ there is the following note: 'bought in may , the first book printed on vellum that entered my library; rather luxurious for a young fellow of seventeen, but then all my little savings were devoted to acquiring books; parties of pleasure, and elegancies of toilette, everything was sacrificed to my beloved books; and at that time a brisk and brilliant business permitted expenses which were followed by hard years of privation; it was in my first youth that i found it easiest to spend money on my books.' renouard began life as a manufacturer. his father made gauze stuffs, and kept a shop in the rue apolline. in the abbé le blond, the librarian of the collège mazarin, heard that molini had sold a fine aldine horace to a shopkeeper. 'the next day,' says renouard, 'le blond came into my library. "oh! i shall not have the book," he exclaimed, and when i looked round, he said, "i beg your pardon, i hoped to tempt you with a few _louis_ for your bargain, but i have given up the idea at once, and i only ask the double favour of seeing the book and of being allowed to make your acquaintance."' renouard was the historian of the house of aldus, and naturally became the possessor of some of grolier's finest books. during his career as a bookseller he parted with most of them; and at the sale of his library in the 'lucretius,' the 'virgil,' and the 'erasmus,' were all that remained in his collection. chapter xvi. later english collectors. in describing the english collections of the eighteenth century we have the advantage of using the memoranda of william oldys for the earlier part of the period. d'israeli deplored the carelessness which led the 'literary antiquary' to entrust his discoveries and reminiscences to the fly-leaves of notebooks, to 'parchment budgets,' and paper-bags of extracts. he expressed especial disappointment at the loss of the manuscript on london libraries, with its anecdotes of book-collectors and remarks on booksellers and the first publishers of catalogues. the book has come to light since his time, having been discovered among the important collections bequeathed by dr. william hunter to the university of glasgow; it was published by mr. w. j. thoms about the year in _notes and queries_, and was afterwards printed by him in a volume containing a diary and other 'choice notes' by oldys and an interesting memoir of his life. 'in his own departments of learning,' says mr. thoms, 'oldys exhausted all the ordinary sources of information,' and adds that 'his copious and characteristic accounts of men and books have endeared his memory to every lover of english literature.' oldys had some special advantages as a collector of old english poetry. he knew, as no one else at that time knew, the value of the plays and pamphlets that encumbered the stalls; he had no competitor to fear 'clad in the invulnerable mail of the purse.' oldys was born in ; he became involved, while quite a young man, in the disaster of the south sea bubble; and in he was obliged to leave london for a residence of some years in yorkshire. among the books that he abandoned was the first of his annotated copies of _langbaine_, which he found afterwards in the hands of a miserly fellow, begrudging him even a sight of the notes. 'when i returned,' he writes, 'i understood that my books had been dispersed; and afterwards, becoming acquainted with mr. thomas coxeter, i found that he had bought my _langbaine_ of a bookseller who was a great collector of plays and poetical books.' his autobiography shows that he soon restored his literary losses. his patron, lord oxford, for whom he afterwards worked as librarian, was anxious to buy everything that was rare. 'the earl,' says oldys, 'invited me to show him my collections of manuscripts, historical and political, which had been the earl of clarendon's, my collections of royal letters and other papers of state, together with a very large collection of english heads in sculpture.' mr. thoms quotes a note from the _langbaine_ to show that oldys had bought two hundred volumes 'at the auction of the earl of stamford's library at st. paul's coffee-house, where formerly most of the celebrated libraries were sold.' it was while oldys was living in yorkshire, under the patronage of lord malton, that he saw the end of the library of state papers collected by richard gascoyne the antiquary. the noble owner of the mss. had been advised to destroy the papers by a lawyer, mr. samuel buck of rotherham, 'who could not read one of those records any more than his lordship'; but he feared that they might contain legal secrets or disclose flaws in a title or, as oldys said, 'that something or other might be found out one time or other by somebody or other.' richard gascoyne, he adds, possessed a vast and most valuable collection of deeds, evidences, and ancient records, which after his death, about the time of the restoration, came to the family of the first earl of strafford. they were kept in the stone tower at wentworth woodhouse until , when lord malton 'burnt them all wilfully in one morning.' 'i saw the lamentable fire,' says oldys, 'feed upon six or seven great chests full of the said deeds, some of them as old as the conquest, and even the ignorant servants repining.... i did prevail to the preservation of some few old rolls and public grants and charters, a few extracts of escheats, and original letters of some eminent persons and pedigrees of others, but not the hundredth part of much better things that were destroyed.' one or two extracts from the 'diary and choice notes' will show the minute attention given by oldys to everything concerned with books. under the date of june th, , we read: 'saw mr. ames' old mss. on vellum, entitled _le romant de la rose_, which cost forty crowns at paris when first written, as appears by the inscription at the end: it had been bishop burnet's book, his arms being pasted in it, and mr. rawlinson's, being mentioned in one of his catalogues; in the same catalogue also is mentioned sir william monson's collection, which mr. west bought and lent me before the fatal fire happened at his chambers in the temple.' mr. thorns adds that sir william monson, an admiral of note in the reign of james i., formed considerable collections, principally about naval affairs. under the date of august th, we read of a visit to strype the historian. 'invited by dr. harris to his brother's at homerton, where old mr. strype is still alive, and has the remainder of his once rich collection of mss., tracts, etc.' dr. knight's letter of a few months' earlier date was printed by nichols in his _literary anecdotes_. 'i made a visit to old father strype when in town last: he is turned ninety, yet very brisk, and with only a decay of sight and memory.... he told me that he had great materials towards the life of the old lord burleigh and mr. foxe the martyrologist, which he wished he could have finished, but most of his papers are in "characters"; his grandson is learning to decipher them.' under the dates of september st and th oldys records that 'the yelverton library is in the possession of the earl of sussex, wherein are many volumes of sir francis walsingham's papers'; and a few days later, 'dr. pepusch offered me any intelligence or assistance from his ancient collections of music, for a history of that art and its professors in england; and as to dramatic affairs, he notes that the queen's set of plays had at first been thought too dear; but after mrs. oldfield the actress died, and they were reported to be his collection, then the queen would have them at any rate.' when oldys died his curious library was purchased by thomas davies, and was put up to auction in . the list of printed books comprises many literary treasures which in our days can hardly be procured, but at that time went for a song. 'the manuscripts were not so many as might be expected from so indefatigable a writer'; it seems that oldys had always been too generous with his gifts and loans. among his notices of the london libraries we find an interesting account of the collection at lambeth, then housed in the galleries above the cloisters. 'the oldest of the books were dudley's, the earl of leicester, which from time to time have been augmented by several archbishops of that see. it had a great loss in being deprived of archbishop sheldon's admirable collection of missals, breviaries, primers, etc., relating to the service of the church, as also archbishop sancroft's.' the books and mss. belonging to sancroft had in part been deposited at lambeth; but on his deprivation they were removed to emmanuel college at cambridge. oldys added that there was another apartment for mss., 'not only those belonging to the see, but those of the lord carew, who had been deputy of ireland, many of them relating to the state and history of that kingdom.' archbishop tenison had furnished another noble library near st. martin's lane 'with the best modern books in most faculties'; 'there any student might repair and make what researches he pleased'; and there too were deposited sir james ware's important irish mss. and many other portions of the clarendon collection, until offence was taken at their having been catalogued among the papers of the archbishop. in dulwich college there was another library to which mr. cartwright the actor gave a collection of plays and many excellent pictures; and 'here comes in,' says oldys, 'the queen's purchase of plays, and those by mr. weever the dancing-master, sir charles cotterell, mr. coxeter, lady pomfret, and lady mary wortley montague'; and here we might mention the sad case of mr. warburton the herald, whose forte was to find out valuable english plays. shortly before his death in he discovered that the cook had used up about fifty of the mss. for covering pies, and that among them were 'twelve unpublished pieces by massinger.' something may be said too as to the older collections formed in london for the use of schools. at westminster, it has been well said, dean williams 'enlarged the boundaries of learning.' according to hackett, he converted a waste room into a noble library, modelling it 'into a decent shape,' and furnishing it with a vast number of learned volumes. the best of them came from the library of mr. baker of highgate, who throughout a very long life had been gathering 'the best authors of all sciences in their best editions.' dean colet had endowed st. paul's school with philological works in hebrew, greek, and latin; but these were destroyed in the great fire, together with the whole library of the high master. this was mr. samuel cromleholme, who had the best set of neatly-bound classics in london; 'he was a great lover of his books, and their loss hastened the end of his life.' the shelves at merchant taylors and in the mercers' chapel were almost as well filled as those at st. paul's; and christ's hospital at that time had a good plain library in the mathematical school, with globes and instruments, 'and ships with all their rigging for the instruction of lads designed for the sea.' in the college of physicians was a fine collection 'in their own and the other faculties.' selden bequeathed to it his 'physical books,' and it was enriched by a gift of the whole library of lord dorchester, 'the pride and glory of the college.' we can only mention a few of the libraries described by oldys. the jews, he says, had a collection at bevis marks relating to the talmud and mischna and their ceremonial worship: the french protestants had another at the savoy, and the swedes another at their church in trinity lane. the baptists owned a great library in the barbican. the quakers had been for some years furnishing a library with all the works written by the friends. john whiting published the catalogue in ; 'and in my opinion,' says our critic, ''tis more accurately and perfectly drawn up than the bodleian library at oxford is by dr. hyde, for the quaker does not confound one man with another as the scholar does.' francis bugg, he adds, 'the scribbler against them,' had a better collection of their writings than any of the brethren; 'but i think i have read in some of his rhapsodies that he either gave or sold it to the library at oxford.' charles earl of sunderland was the greatest collector of his time. he bought the whole library of hadrian beverland, 'which was very choice of its kind,' and a great number of pétau's books as mentioned before; 'no bookseller,' it was said, 'hath so many editions of the same book as he, for he hath all, especially of the classics.' shortly before his death in he commissioned mr. vaillant to buy largely at the sale of mr. freebairn's library. in clarke's _repertorium_ we are told how a fine virgil was secured: 'and it was noted that when mr. vaillant had bought the printed virgil at £ he huzza'd out aloud, and threw up his hat for joy that he had bought it so cheap.' the great collection was afterwards taken to blenheim, and has been dispersed in our time; 'the king of denmark proffered the heirs £ , for it, and "queen zara" would have inclined them to part with it.' when the earl of sunderland died, humphrey wanley saw a good chance for the harleian. 'i believe some benefit may accrue to this library, even if his relations will part with none of the works; i mean by his raising the price of books no higher now; so that in probability this commodity may fall in the market, and any gentleman be permitted to buy an uncommon old book for less than forty or fifty pounds.' if we listen to the rev. thomas baker, the ejected fellow who gave books to st. john's at cambridge, we shall hear a complaint against wanley. lord oxford's librarian when he saw a fine book, even in a public institution, used to say, 'it will be better in my lord's library.' baker might have said, 'a plague on both your houses!' what he wrote was as follows:--'i begin to complain of the men of quality who lay out so much for books, and give such prices that there is nothing to be had for poor scholars, whereof i have felt the effects; when i bid a fair price for an old book, i am answered, "the quality will give twice as much," and so i have done.' the earls of pembroke were for several generations the patrons of learning. 'thomas, the eighth earl, was contemporary with those illustrious characters, sunderland, harley, and mead, during the augustan age of britain'; he added a large number of classics and early printed books to the library at wilton, and his successor earl henry still further improved it by adding the best works on architecture, on biographies, and books of numismatics; 'the earl of pembroke is stored with antiquities relating to medals and lives.' lord somers had the rare pieces in law and english history which have been published in a well-known series of tracts. lord carbury loved mystical divinity; the earl of kent was all for pedigrees and visitations; the earl of kinnoul made large collections in mathematics and civil law; and lord coleraine followed bishop kennett in forming 'a library of lives.' richard smith was remembered as having started in the pursuit of caxtons in the days of charles ii.; the taste was despised when oldys wrote, but it eventually grew into a mania. 'for a person of an inferior rank we never had a collector more successful. no day passed over his head in which he did not visit moorfields and little britain or st. paul's churchyard, and for many years together he suffered nothing to escape him that was rare and remarkable.' mr. john bridges of lincoln's inn was another 'notorious book-collector.' when his books were sold in the prices ran so high that the world suspected a conspiracy on the part of the executors. humphrey wanley was disappointed in his commissions, and called it a roguish sale; of the vendors he remarked 'their very looks, according to what i am told, dart out harping-irons.' tom hearne went to mr. bridges' chambers to see the sale, and descanted upon the fine condition of the lots: 'i was told of a gentleman of all souls that gave a commission of eight shillings for an homer, but it went for six guineas; people are in love with good binding rather than good reading.' some of the entries in the catalogue are of great interest. the first edition of homer, printed at florence in on large paper, went for about a quarter of the price of an aldine livy. lord oxford secured a 'lucian' in uncial characters, and a splendid missal illuminated for henry vii. there was a large-paper 'politian' in two volumes, very carelessly described as 'finely bound by grolier and his friends'; but the best of all was the ms. horace, with an exquisite portrait of the poet, 'from the library of matthias corvinus, king of hungary.' dr. mead was a collector of the same kind. all that was beautiful came naturally to this great man, of whom it was said that he lived 'in the full sunshine of human existence.' he was the owner of a very fine library, which he had 'picked up at rome.' he had a great number of early-printed classics, which fetched high prices at his sale in ; his french books, according to dibdin, and all his works upon the fine arts 'were of the first rarity and value,' and were sumptuously bound. his chief literary distinction rests on his edition of de thou's 'history' in seven folio volumes. he had received a large legacy from a brother, and spent it in the publication of a work 'from which nothing of exterior pomp and beauty should be wanting'; the ink and paper were procured from holland; and carte the historian was sent to france 'to rummage for mss. of thuanus.' oldys has a few notes upon curious collections which he thought might be diverting to a 'satirical genius.' a certain templar, he says, had a good library of astrology, witchcraft, and magic. mr britton, the small-coal man, had an excellent set of chemical books,'and a great parcel of music books, many of them pricked with his own hand.' the famous dryden, and mr. congreve after him, had collected old ballads and penny story-books. the melancholy burton, and dr. richard rawlinson, and the learned thomas hearne, had all been as bad in their way. mr. secretary pepys gave a great library to magdalen college at cambridge: but among the folios peeped out little black-letter ballads and 'penny merriments, penny witticisms, penny compliments, and penny godlinesses.' 'mr. robert samber,' says oldys, 'must need turn virtuoso too, and have his collection: which was of all the printed tobacco-papers he could anywhere light on.' for 'curiosity or dotage' none could beat mr. thomas rawlinson, whose vast collections were dispersed in seventeen or eighteen auctions before the final sale in . mr. heber in the present century is a modern example of the same kind. 'a book is a book,' he said: and he bought all that came in his way, by cart-loads and ship-loads, and in whole libraries, on which in some cases he never cast his eyes. the most zealous lovers of books have smiled at his duplicates, quadruplicates, and multiplied specimens of a single edition. thomas rawlinson, for all his continual sales, blocked himself out of house and home by his purchases: his set of chambers at gray's inn was so completely filled with books that his bed had to be moved into the passage. some thought that he was the 'tom folio' of addison's caricature, in which it was assumed that the study of bibliography was only fit for a 'learned idiot.' hearne defended his friend from the charge of pedantry, and declared that the mistake could only be made by a 'shallow buffoon.' rawlinson had a miserly craving after good books. if he had twenty copies of a work he would always open his purse for 'a different edition, a fairer copy, a larger paper.' his covetousness increased as the mass of his library was multiplied: and as he lived, said oldys, so he died, among dust and cobwebs, 'in his bundles, piles, and bulwarks of paper.' upon dr. mead's death his place in the book-world was taken by dr. anthony askew, who travelled far and wide in search of rare editions and large-paper copies. in describing the sale of his books in dibdin almost lost himself in ecstasies over the magnificent folios, and the shining duodecimos 'printed on vellum and embossed with knobs of gold.' it has been said that with this sale commenced the new era in bibliography, during which such fabulous prices were given for fine editions of the classics; but the date should perhaps be carried back to dr. mead's time. some credit for the new development should also be ascribed to joseph smith, who collected early-printed books and classics at venice, while acting as english consul. his first library was purchased by george iii. in , and now forms the best part of the 'king's library' at the british museum. his later acquisitions were sold in by public auction in london. among other classical libraries of an old-fashioned kind we should notice the osterley park collection, only recently dispersed, which was formed by bryan fairfax; it was purchased _en bloc_ in by mr. francis child, and passed from him to the family of the earl of jersey. topham beauclerc housed his thirty thousand volumes, as walpole declared, in a building that reached halfway from london to highgate; his collection was in two parts, of which the first was mainly classical, and the other was very rich in english antiquities and history. in was sold almost the last of the encyclopædic collections which used to fill the position now occupied by great public libraries. mr. crofts possessed a treasury of greek and roman learning; he was especially rich in philology, in italian literature, in travels, in scandinavian affairs; 'under the shortest heads, some one or more rare articles occur, but in the copious classes literary curiosity is gratified, is highly feasted.' dr. johnson's books were dispersed in a four-days' sale in . a copy of the interesting catalogue has lately been reprinted by the club. the most valuable specimen, as a mere curiosity, would be the folio with which he beat the bookseller, but we suppose that very little on the whole was obtained for the lots of learned volumes that had sprawled over his dusty floor. the doctor had but little sympathy with the fashions that were beginning to prevail. he laughs in the _rambler_ at 'cantilenus' with his first edition of _the children in the wood_, and the antiquary who despaired of obtaining one missing gazette till it was sent to him 'wrapped round a parcel of tobacco.' 'hirsutus,' we are told,'very carefully amassed all the english books that were printed in the black character'; the fortunate virtuoso had 'long since completed his caxton, and wanted but two volumes of a perfect pynson.' in our own day we can hardly realise the idea of such riches; but the 'rambler' scouted the notion of slighting or valuing a book because it was printed in the roman or gothic type. john ratcliffe of bermondsey was one of these 'black-letter dogs.' he had some advantages of birth and position; for, being a chandler and grocer, he could buy these old volumes by weight in the course of his trade. he died in , the master of a whole 'galaxy of caxtons'; his library is said to have held the essence of poetry, romance and history; it was more precious in flavour to the new _dilettanti_ than the copious english stores of james west, the judicious president of the royal society; it was far more refined than the 'omnium gatherum' scattered in on major pearson's death, or dr. farmer's ragged regiments of old plays and frowsy ballads, and square-faced broadsides 'bought for thrice their weight in gold.' m. paris de meyzieux was the owner of a splendid library. dibdin has described his third sale, held in london during , when the bibliomaniacs, it was said, used to cool themselves down with ice before they could face such excitement. of himself he confessed that when he had seen the illuminations of nicolas jany, the snow-white 'petrarch,' the 'virgil' on vellum, life had no more to offer: 'after having seen only these three books i hope to descend to my obscure grave in perfect peace and happiness.' the _livre d'heures_ printed for francis i., which had belonged to the duc de la vallière, was bought by sir mark sykes, and became one of his principal treasures at sledmere. mr. robert heathcote had a most elegant library, in which might be seen the tallest elzevirs and several aldine classics 'in the chaste costume of grolier.' it is said that the books passed lightly into his hands 'in a convivial moment,' much to their former owner's regret. about the year they passed into the miscellaneous crowd of mr. dent's books; and twenty years afterwards the whole collection was dispersed at a low price, when the book-mania was giving way for a time to an affection for cheap and useful literature. the fever was still high in when mr. heath's plain classics were snatched up at very extravagant terms. colonel stanley's library was typical of the taste of the day. his selection comprised rare spanish and italian poetry, novels and romances, 'de bry's voyages complete, fine classics, and a singular set of _facetiæ_.' it was sold in , a few weeks after the dispersal of mr. john hunter's very similar collection. this was immediately followed by an auction of mr. gosset's books, which lasted for twenty-three days: they seem to have chiefly consisted of divinity and curious works on philology. mr. john towneley's library was sold a few months afterwards. mr. towneley was the owner of a fine 'pontifical' of innocent iv., and a missal by giulio clovio from the farnese palace; his celebrated ms., known as the 'towneley iliad,' was bought by dr. charles burney, and passed with the rest of his books to the british museum. in mr. michael wodhull died, after half-a-century spent in the steady collection of good books in the auctions of london and paris: the recent sale of his library has made all the world familiar with his well-selected volumes, bound in russia by his faithful roger payne, and annotated on their fly-leaves with valuable memoranda of book-lore. we shall not repeat the story of mr. beckford's triumphant career, of the glories of fonthill or the later splendours of the hamilton palace collection. we should note his purchase of gibbon's books 'in order to have something to read on passing through lausanne.' 'i shut myself up,' said mr. beckford, 'for six weeks from early in the morning till night, only now and then taking a ride; the people thought me mad; i read myself nearly blind.' beckford never saw the books again 'after once turning hermit there.' he gave them to his physician, dr. scholl, and they were sold by auction in ; most of them were scattered about the world, but some are said to be still preserved at lausanne in the public library. this period was marked by the rivalry between bibliophiles of high rank and great wealth, whose homeric contests have been worthily described by dibdin in his history of the bibliomania. a note in one of the althorp caxtons records a more amicable arrangement. the book belonged to mr. george mason, at whose sale it was bought by the duke of roxburghe: 'the duke and i had agreed not to oppose one another at the sale, but after the book was bought, to toss up who should win it, when i lost it; i bought it at the roxburghe sale on the th of june, , for £ s.' the duke was chiefly interested in old english literature, italian poetry, and romances of the round table; but we are told that shortly before his death he was 'in full pursuit of a collection of our dramatic authors.' it was at his sale that the valdarfer boccaccio was purchased by lord blandford, afterwards duke of marlborough, for £ , a sum which at that time had never been reached as the price of a single volume. it passed into the great collection at white knights, which then contained, in addition to some of the rarest english books, the 'bedford missal,' another missal given by queen louise to marguerite d'angoulême, and a volume of prayers from the hand of the caligrapher nicolas jany. on the th of june, , the white knights library was sold on behalf of the owner's creditors; and the 'boccaccio' found a safe home at althorp, where george, earl spencer, had by fortunate purchases, by zeal in the pursuit of books, and by the aid of an accomplished librarian, formed that matchless collection which renouard justly described as 'the finest private library in europe.' index. Ælfric, archbishop, . agricola, rudolf, . aicardo, paul, . aidan, , . albisse, . alexander ab alexandro, . alfred, king, . allatius, leo, . alphonso, naples, . amboise, cardinal de, . ancillon, david, . anne, queen, , . anne of austria, . anne of brittany, . anselm, . apellicon, . arcanati, galeazzo, . aretino, carlo, . aretino, leonardo, , , . argonne, bonaventure d', , . aristotle, , , , , . arius, montanus, . arundel, archbishop, . arundel, henry, lord, . arundel, thomas, earl of, . ascham, roger, . ashmole, elias, , . askew, anthony, dr., . asser, . attavante, , . attalus, . aubrey, john, . augustus, . augustus of brunswick, . aumale, duc d', . aungerville (_see_ bury, richard de). aurispa, john, , . aquinas, thomas, . bacon, francis, . bacon, roger, , . bagford, john, - . bagni, . baillet, adrian, , . baker (of highgate), . baker, rev. thomas, . bale, bishop, . ballesdens, jean, , . baluze, Étienne, . barberini, cardinal, . barocci, francesco, , . baron, hyacinthe, , . barré, m., . bashkirtseff, marie, . basingstoke, john, . beauclerc, topham, . becatelli, antonio, . beckford, wm., , , . bede, , , . bedford, john, duke of, , , , . bentley, dr., , . bernard, dr., , . berri, jean duc de, , . berry, duchesse de, . berryer, m., . bessarion, cardinal, , . béthune, hippolyte de, , . beza, theodore, . bignon, jérome, . bigot, jean, , . bigot, robert, . bigot, louis, . bill, john, , . biscop, benedict, , . blanche, queen, . blandford, lord, . boccaccio, , , . bodley, lawrence, . bodley, sir thomas, , , - . boethius, , . boisot, abbé, , . bongars, jacques, , . boniface, st., , . booker, john, . borromeo, frederic, , . bouchet, henri, , . bouhier, Étienne de, . bouhier, jean de, . bouhier, president, , . bourbon, charles de, . brassicanus, . bretonvilliers, . bridges, john, , . bridget, st., , . bristol, earl of, . britton, thomas, . brochard, professor, . browne, sir thomas, . bruges, jean de, . bruges, louis de, - . bruges, _see_ la gruthuyse. bucer, martin, . buchanan, george, . budæus, , - , , , . buffon, . buonaparte, pauline, . burgh, elizabeth de, . burnet, bishop, . burney, dr. charles, . burton, robert, , . bury, richard de, - , - , - . busbec, angere, . busch, hermann, - . cæsar, julius, , . cæsar, sir julius, , . calcavi, . camden, william, , . canonici, matheo, . capranica, angelo, . capranica, domenico, . carbury, lord, . carew, lord, . cartwright (the actor), . casaubon, méric, . casaubon, isaac, , , , . charron de ménars, , , . chartraire de bourbonne, . chevalier, Étienne, . chevalier, nicolas, . chifflet, jules, . child, francis, . christina of pisa, . christina (queen of sweden), , , , , , . chrysoloras, , , . cino da pistoia, . cassiodorus, , . caxton, william, , , . ceolfrid of jarrow, . chamillard, madame de, . charles i., , , . charles ii., , . charles v. (of france), , , . charles v. (emperor), . charles vii. (of france), , . charles viii. (of france), , . charles ix. (of france), , . charles the bold, , . charles the great, , . charles of orléans, . clarendon, earl of, , . clavell, walter, . clement, vii., pope, . clement, xii., pope, . clénard, nicolas, . cleopatra, . cobham, bishop, . cobham, lord, . coelius, . colbert, , , . coleraine, lord, . colet, dean, . columba, st., , - , . columbus, christopher, . columbus, ferdinand, - . condé, princesse de, . congreve, . consentius, , . costa, solomon da, . cotton, sir john, . cotton, sir robert, , , , , , . cotton, sir thomas, . courteney, richard, . cox, captain, . coxeter, thomas, , . cracherode, clayton, . cranmer, archbishop, , . crofts, thomas, . cromleholme, samuel, . cujacius, . cuthbert, st., . daniel, bishop, . dee, dr., , , . dent, john, . descordes, jean, . des essars, antoine, . desportes, philippe, . d'ewes, sir symonds, . diane de poitiers, , . digby, sir kenelm, - . dodsworth, roger, - . domitian, . dorchester, lord, . douce, francis, - . dryden, . du barry, , . dubois, simeon, . dudley, robert (leicester), , . du fay, charles, , , . dugdale, sir william, . dunstan, st., , . du puy, charles, , . du puy, jacques, , . du puy, pierre, , . dury, john, . eadburga, abbess, . edward vi., . egbert of york, . elisabeth, madame, . elizabeth, queen, , . ellesmere, lord, . erasmus, , , , , , , , . essex, lord, . estienne, henri, , , , . estrées, duc d', . estrées, gabrielle d', . eusebius, . evelyn, john, , . fairfax, bryan, . fairfax, lord, , , , . falconnet, dr., . farmer, dr., . farnese, cardinal, . fauchet, claude, . faure, antoine, . ferrar, nicholas, , . finnen, st., . firmin-didot, , . fisher, bishop, , . fitz-ralph, archbishop of armagh, . fléchier, esprit, . fleming, robert, . fletewode, w., . folkes, martin, . fontius, . foucault, nicolas, . francis, st., , . francis, i., , . francis, ii., , . freebairn, . fugger, raimond, . fugger, ulric, , , . gaffarel, jacques, . gafori, franc, , . gaignat, , , . gale, thomas, . gascoigne, dr., , , . gascoyne, richard, . gascq de la lande, . gasparus, achilles, . george of trebisond, , . germanus, st., . gibbon, , . gilles, pierre, . giraldi, cinthio, . giraldi, lilio, . girardot de préfond, paul, , . gloucester, humphrey duke of, - , . gosset, . gouffier, arthur, , . gouffier, charles, . gough, richard, , . granvelle, cardinal de, . gray, william, . grenville, thomas, . grolier, Étienne, , . grolier, jean, , , , , , , , , , , . grostête, , , , , . guillard, charlotte, . guinguené, pierre-louis, . guy earl of warwick, . guy de rocheford, . guyon de sardières, . hackett, bishop, , . hale, sir matthew, . harley, edward, , , , . harley, robert, - . harley, gabriel, . hearne, thomas, , - . heath, benjamin, . heathcote, robert, . heber, richard, . heinsius, daniel, , . henri ii., , , . henri iii., . henri iv., . henry iv. (england), . henry v. (england), . henry vii. (england), , . henry viii. (england), . henry, prince, . hohendorf, baron, . holkot, robert, . hoym, count d', , , . hunter, john, . hunter, william, . huntingdon, robert, . hurtado de mendoza, diego, . hutten, ulric von, . inguimbert, don malachi d', . james i., - , , . james, dr. thomas, - . jekyll, sir joseph, . jerome, st., , , . jersey, earl of, . joanna ii. (naples), , . john, duke of burgundy, . john, king (france), . john, precentor, . john of ravenna, johnson, samuel, , , . jonson, ben, . jovian, . julian, emperor, , . julius ii., pope, . juvenal des ursins, . kennett, bishop, . kinnoul, earl of, . labé, louise, . lambert de thorigny, . la gruthuyse, louis de, , . lami, giovanni, . lamoignon, chrétien de, , . lamoignon, g. de, , , . lanfranc, . langarad, . lange, rudolf, . lascaris, constantine, . lascaris, john, , , . laud, archbishop, , . lauwrin, mark, , . la vallière, duc de, , , , , , , , . le blond, abbé, . lebrixa, antonio, . leland, john, . le neve, peter, , . leo x., pope, , , , , , . leo, the philosopher, . leofric, bishop, , . leoni, pompeo, . leontio pilato, , . le tellier, archbishop, , . ligorio, piero, . lilly, william, . lipsius, justus, , . loche, gilles de, . loménie, antoine de, . louis (of hungary), , . louis ix., . louis xi., , . louis xii., , , . louis xiii., , . louis xiv., . louis xv., , . louis xvi., . louis-philippe, . louise de loraine, . louise de savoie, , . lucian, , . lucullus, . lulla, bishop, . lumley, lord, , . macarthy, count, , , , , . magliabecchi, antonio, , . maintenon, madame de, . maioli, thomas, , . malton, lord, . mansion, colard, , . mansard, francis, . margaret of austria, . margaret of burgundy, . marguerite d'angoulême, , . marguerite de valois, , . marie antoinette, . marie leczinska, queen, , . mary of austria, , . mary of burgundy, . mary, queen of scots, , . marucelli, . mason, george, . matthias corvinus, - , . mazarin, cardinal, , - . mazenta, , . mead, dr., , , . médici, catherine de, - , . médici, cosmo de', , , , . médici, lorenzo de', , , , , . médici, marie de, . médici, pietro de', . melanchthon, philip, . melzi, francesco, . mérard de st. just, . mercatellis, rafael de, , . mesmes, guillaume, . mesmes, henri, , . mesmes, henri, junior, , , , . mesmes, jean antoine, . mesmes, louis-emeric, . mirabeau, honoré de, . mirandula, pico della, , , , . monson, sir william, . montacute, lord, . montaigne, . moore, john (bishop), , . morata, olympia, , . more, sir thomas, . naudé, gabriel, , . negri, stefano, , . neleus, . nevinson, dr., . newton, john de, . niccoli, niccolo, , . nicholas v. (pope), , . norfolk, duke of, . nuñez, ferdinand, , . o'donnell, david, . o'donnell, sir neal, . oldys, william, , , , , , . oppenheimer, david, . orsini, fulvio, , , . osorio, jerome, . palladius, . pamphilus, . paris de meyzieux, . parker, archbishop, , , , . pars, jacques de, . patrick, st., - , . paullus, Æmilius, . pearson, major, . peiresc, nicolas, , , - . pembroke, henry, earl of, . pembroke, thomas, earl of, . pembroke, william, earl of, . pepusch, john, . pepys, samuel, , . pétau, alexander, , . pétau, paul, , , , , . peters, hugh, , . petrarch, , , - , , , . philelpho, , , , . philip ii. (of spain), , . philippe le bon (burgundy), , . philippe le hardi (burgundy), , . photius, , , . pichon, jérôme, . pignoria antonio, . pinelli, gian-vincenzio, - . pinelli, maffeo, . pirckheimer, - . pithou, françois, . pithou, pierre, , , . poggio, - , , , , , . politian, , , . pollio asinius, , . polydore vergil, . pompadour, madame de, , . postel, guillaume, , . prynne, . ptolemy (philadelphia), , . rabelais, , . rameses, . ranconnet, , . rantzau, marshal, , , . rasse de neux, . ratcliffe, john, . rawlinson, richard, , , , , . rawlinson, thomas, , , . rené of anjou, . renée, princesse, , . renouard, antoine, , , , . repington, philip, . reuchlin, johann, - . rhenanus, beatus, , . richelieu, cardinal, , , . rigault, nicolas, . rivers, anthony, lord, . rivers, richard, lord, . robertet, florimond, . rodolph ii., emperor, . roe, sir thomas, . rohan, cardinal de, , . ronsard, pierre, . rothelin (charles d'orléans), , , . roxburghe, duke of, . saint andré, jean de, . saint vallier, comte de, . salutati, . sambucus, dr., , , . sammonicus serenus, . sancroft, archbishop, . sartines, gabriel de, . savile, sir henry, , . savonarola, , . saye, lord, . scaliger, joseph, , , , , , , . séguier, charles, . séguier, pierre, , . seillière, baron, . seignelaye, marquis de, . selden, , - , , . seneca, , . shakespeare, . sheldon, archbishop, . sherington, walter, . shrewsbury, . sidonius apollinaris, . silvestri, eurialo, . sixtus v., . sixtus of sienna, . smith, joseph, . smith, richard, . soltikoff, prince, . soubise, prince de, , , . spelman, sir henry, . spencer, george, earl, . spenser, . stafford, marquis of, . stanley, colonel, . stillingfleet, bishop, . stowe, . strozzi, marshal, , . strype, . sulla, . sunderland, earl of, , . sussex, earl of, . sykes, sir mark, . tenison, archbishop, . theodore of gaza, , . theodore of tarsus, , . thomason, george, . thou, abbé de, . thou, françois de, . thou, jacques-auguste de, , , , , , , , - , - , , - . thou, jacques-auguste de (junior), , . thyard, pontus de, . tiptoft, john, . toletus, cardinal, . tomasini, giacomo, , . tory, geoffroy, . tournon, cardinal de, . towneley, john, . trajan, . tyrannion, . urbino, elizabeth d', . urbino, federigo d', . urbino, francesco d', . urbino, guidubaldo d', , . urbino, leonora d', . urfé, claude d', . urfé, honors d', . usher, . van hulthem, . vasée, jean, . vendôme, duchesse de, . vérard, antoine, , . vic, dominique, . vic, méric de, . vinci, leonardo da, , - . vorstius, . wake, archbishop, . walsingham, sir francis, . wanley, humphrey, , , . ware, sir james, . webb, philip carteret, . west, james, . wentmore, abbot, . whethamstede, abbot, . whittington, sir richard, . wilfrid, st., , . williams, dean, . wodhull, michael, . wood, anthony, , , . ximènes, cardinal, , , . printed by t. and a. constable, printers to her majesty, at the edinburgh university press. transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation and printing errors have been repaired. see the html edition of this text for the complete list of corrections. accented characters have been made consistent to assist searching via the index: medici -> médici francois -> françois ximenes -> ximènes etienne -> Étienne orleans -> orléans derome -> derôme merard -> mérard meric -> méric hyphenation has been left as printed - inconsistencies are: shiploads, ship-loads birthplace, birth-place heirloom, heir-loom lifetime, life-time bookshops, book-shops the love affairs of a bibliomaniac by eugene field introduction the determination to found a story or a series of sketches on the delights, adventures, and misadventures connected with bibliomania did not come impulsively to my brother. for many years, in short during the greater part of nearly a quarter of a century of journalistic work, he had celebrated in prose and verse, and always in his happiest and most delightful vein, the pleasures of book-hunting. himself an indefatigable collector of books, the possessor of a library as valuable as it was interesting, a library containing volumes obtained only at the cost of great personal sacrifice, he was in the most active sympathy with the disease called bibliomania, and knew, as few comparatively poor men have known, the half-pathetic, half-humorous side of that incurable mental infirmity. the newspaper column, to which he contributed almost daily for twelve years, comprehended many sly digs and gentle scoffings at those of his unhappy fellow citizens who became notorious, through his instrumentality, in their devotion to old book-shelves and auction sales. and all the time none was more assiduous than this same good-natured cynic in running down a musty prize, no matter what its cost or what the attending difficulties. "i save others, myself i cannot save," was his humorous cry. in his published writings are many evidences of my brother's appreciation of what he has somewhere characterized the "soothing affliction of bibliomania." nothing of book-hunting love has been more happily expressed than "the bibliomaniac's prayer," in which the troubled petitioner fervently asserts: "but if, o lord, it pleaseth thee to keep me in temptation's way, i humbly ask that i may be most notably beset to-day; let my temptation be a book, which i shall purchase, hold and keep, whereon, when other men shall look, they'll wail to know i got it cheap." and again, in "the bibliomaniac's bride," nothing breathes better the spirit of the incurable patient than this: "prose for me when i wished for prose, verse when to verse inclined,-- forever bringing sweet repose to body, heart and mind. oh, i should bind this priceless prize in bindings full and fine, and keep her where no human eyes should see her charms, but mine!" in "dear old london" the poet wailed that "a splendid horace cheap for cash" laughed at his poverty, and in "dibdin's ghost" he revelled in the delights that await the bibliomaniac in the future state, where there is no admission to the women folk who, "wanting victuals, make a fuss if we buy books instead"; while in "flail, trask and bisland" is the very essence of bibliomania, the unquenchable thirst for possession. and yet, despite these self-accusations, bibliophily rather than bibliomania would be the word to characterize his conscientious purpose. if he purchased quaint and rare books it was to own them to the full extent, inwardly as well as outwardly. the mania for books kept him continually buying; the love of books supervened to make them a part of himself and his life. toward the close of august of the present year my brother wrote the first chapter of "the love affairs of a bibliomaniac." at that time he was in an exhausted physical condition and apparently unfit for any protracted literary labor. but the prospect of gratifying a long-cherished ambition, the delight of beginning the story he had planned so hopefully, seemed to give him new strength, and he threw himself into the work with an enthusiasm that was, alas, misleading to those who had noted fearfully his declining vigor of body. for years no literary occupation had seemed to give him equal pleasure, and in the discussion of the progress of his writing from day to day his eye would brighten, all of his old animation would return, and everything would betray the lively interest he felt in the creature of his imagination in whom he was living over the delights of the book-hunter's chase. it was his ardent wish that this work, for the fulfilment of which he had been so long preparing, should be, as he playfully expressed it, a monument of apologetic compensation to a class of people he had so humorously maligned, and those who knew him intimately will recognize in the shortcomings of the bibliomaniac the humble confession of his own weaknesses. it is easy to understand from the very nature of the undertaking that it was practically limitless; that a bibliomaniac of so many years' experience could prattle on indefinitely concerning his "love affairs," and at the same time be in no danger of repetition. indeed my brother's plans at the outset were not definitely formed. he would say, when questioned or joked about these amours, that he was in the easy position of sam weller when he indited his famous valentine, and could "pull up" at any moment. one week he would contend that a book-hunter ought to be good for a year at least, and the next week he would argue as strongly that it was time to send the old man into winter quarters and go to press. but though the approach of cold weather increased his physical indisposition, he was not the less interested in his prescribed hours of labor, howbeit his weakness warned him that he should say to his book, as his much-loved horace had written: "fuge quo descendere gestis: non erit emisso reditis tibi." was it strange that his heart should relent, and that he should write on, unwilling to give the word of dismissal to the book whose preparation had been a work of such love and solace? during the afternoon of saturday, november , the nineteenth instalment of "the love affairs" was written. it was the conclusion of his literary life. the verses supposably contributed by judge methuen's friend, with which the chapter ends, were the last words written by eugene field. he was at that time apparently quite as well as on any day during the fall months, and neither he nor any member of his family had the slightest premonition that death was hovering about the household. the next day, though still feeling indisposed, he was at times up and about, always cheerful and full of that sweetness and sunshine which, in his last years, seem now to have been the preparation for the life beyond. he spoke of the chapter he had written the day before, and it was then that he outlined his plan of completing the work. one chapter only remained to be written, and it was to chronicle the death of the old bibliomaniac, but not until he had unexpectedly fallen heir to a very rare and almost priceless copy of horace, which acquisition marked the pinnacle of the book-hunter's conquest. true to his love for the sabine singer, the western poet characterized the immortal odes of twenty centuries gone the greatest happiness of bibliomania. in the early morning of november the soul of eugene field passed upward. on the table, folded and sealed, were the memoirs of the old man upon whom the sentence of death had been pronounced. on the bed in the corner of the room, with one arm thrown over his breast, and the smile of peace and rest on his tranquil face, the poet lay. all around him, on the shelves and in the cases, were the books he loved so well. ah, who shall say that on that morning his fancy was not verified, and that as the gray light came reverently through the window, those cherished volumes did not bestir themselves, awaiting the cheery voice: "good day to you, my sweet friends. how lovingly they beam upon me, and how glad they are that my rest has been unbroken." could they beam upon you less lovingly, great heart, in the chamber warmed by your affection and now sanctified by death? were they less glad to know that the repose would be unbroken forevermore, since it came the glorious reward, my brother, of the friend who went gladly to it through his faith, having striven for it through his works? roswell martin field buena park, december, . the chapters in this book i my first love ii the birth of a new passion iii the luxury of reading in bed iv the mania of collecting seizes me v baldness and intellectuality vi my romance with fiammetta vii the delights of fender-fishing viii ballads and their makers ix booksellers and printers, old and new x when fanchonette bewitched me xi diagnosis of the bacillus librorum xii the pleasures of extra-illustration xiii on the odors which my books exhale xiv elzevirs and divers other matters xv a book that brings solace and cheer xvi the malady called catalogitis xvii the napoleonic renaissance xviii my workshop and others xix our debt to monkish men i my first love at this moment, when i am about to begin the most important undertaking of my life, i recall the sense of abhorrence with which i have at different times read the confessions of men famed for their prowess in the realm of love. these boastings have always shocked me, for i reverence love as the noblest of the passions, and it is impossible for me to conceive how one who has truly fallen victim to its benign influence can ever thereafter speak flippantly of it. yet there have been, and there still are, many who take a seeming delight in telling you how many conquests they have made, and they not infrequently have the bad taste to explain with wearisome prolixity the ways and the means whereby those conquests were wrought; as, forsooth, an unfeeling huntsman is forever boasting of the game he has slaughtered and is forever dilating upon the repulsive details of his butcheries. i have always contended that one who is in love (and having once been in love is to be always in love) has, actually, no confession to make. love is so guileless, so proper, so pure a passion as to involve none of those things which require or which admit of confession. he, therefore, who surmises that in this exposition of my affaires du coeur there is to be any betrayal of confidences, or any discussion, suggestion, or hint likely either to shame love or its votaries or to bring a blush to the cheek of the fastidious--he is grievously in error. nor am i going to boast; for i have made no conquests. i am in no sense a hero. for many, very many years i have walked in a pleasant garden, enjoying sweet odors and soothing spectacles; no predetermined itinerary has controlled my course; i have wandered whither i pleased, and very many times i have strayed so far into the tangle-wood and thickets as almost to have lost my way. and now it is my purpose to walk that pleasant garden once more, inviting you to bear me company and to share with me what satisfaction may accrue from an old man's return to old-time places and old-time loves. as a child i was serious-minded. i cared little for those sports which usually excite the ardor of youth. to out-of-door games and exercises i had particular aversion. i was born in a southern latitude, but at the age of six years i went to live with my grandmother in new hampshire, both my parents having fallen victims to the cholera. this change from the balmy temperature of the south to the rigors of the north was not agreeable to me, and i have always held it responsible for that delicate health which has attended me through life. my grandmother encouraged my disinclination to play; she recognized in me that certain seriousness of mind which i remember to have heard her say i inherited from her, and she determined to make of me what she had failed to make of any of her own sons--a professional expounder of the only true faith of congregationalism. for this reason, and for the further reason that at the tender age of seven years i publicly avowed my desire to become a clergyman, an ambition wholly sincere at that time--for these reasons was i duly installed as prime favorite in my grandmother's affections. as distinctly as though it were but yesterday do i recall the time when i met my first love. it was in the front room of the old homestead, and the day was a day in spring. the front room answered those purposes which are served by the so-called parlor of the present time. i remember the low ceiling, the big fireplace, the long, broad mantelpiece, the andirons and fender of brass, the tall clock with its jocund and roseate moon, the bellows that was always wheezy, the wax flowers under a glass globe in the corner, an allegorical picture of solomon's temple, another picture of little samuel at prayer, the high, stiff-back chairs, the foot-stool with its gayly embroidered top, the mirror in its gilt-and-black frame--all these things i remember well, and with feelings of tender reverence, and yet that day i now recall was well-nigh threescore and ten years ago! best of all i remember the case in which my grandmother kept her books, a mahogany structure, massive and dark, with doors composed of diamond-shaped figures of glass cunningly set in a framework of lead. i was in my seventh year then, and i had learned to read i know not when. the back and current numbers of the "well-spring" had fallen prey to my insatiable appetite for literature. with the story of the small boy who stole a pin, repented of and confessed that crime, and then became a good and great man, i was as familiar as if i myself had invented that ingenious and instructive tale; i could lisp the moral numbers of watts and the didactic hymns of wesley, and the annual reports of the american tract society had already revealed to me the sphere of usefulness in which my grandmother hoped i would ultimately figure with discretion and zeal. and yet my heart was free; wholly untouched of that gentle yet deathless passion which was to become my delight, my inspiration, and my solace, it awaited the coming of its first love. upon one of those shelves yonder--it is the third shelf from the top, fourth compartment to the right--is that old copy of the "new england primer," a curious little, thin, square book in faded blue board covers. a good many times i have wondered whether i ought not to have the precious little thing sumptuously attired in the finest style known to my binder; indeed, i have often been tempted to exchange the homely blue board covers for flexible levant, for it occurred to me that in this way i could testify to my regard for the treasured volume. i spoke of this one day to my friend judge methuen, for i have great respect for his judgment. "it would be a desecration," said he, "to deprive the book of its original binding. what! would you tear off and cast away the covers which have felt the caressing pressure of the hands of those whose memory you revere? the most sacred of sentiments should forbid that act of vandalism!" i never think or speak of the "new england primer" that i do not recall captivity waite, for it was captivity who introduced me to the primer that day in the springtime of sixty-three years ago. she was of my age, a bright, pretty girl--a very pretty, an exceptionally pretty girl, as girls go. we belonged to the same sunday-school class. i remember that upon this particular day she brought me a russet apple. it was she who discovered the primer in the mahogany case, and what was not our joy as we turned over the tiny pages together and feasted our eyes upon the vivid pictures and perused the absorbingly interesting text! what wonder that together we wept tears of sympathy at the harrowing recital of the fate of john rogers! even at this remote date i cannot recall that experience with captivity, involving as it did the wood-cut representing the unfortunate rogers standing in an impossible bonfire and being consumed thereby in the presence of his wife and their numerous progeny, strung along in a pitiful line across the picture for artistic effect--even now, i say, i cannot contemplate that experience and that wood-cut without feeling lumpy in my throat and moist about my eyes. how lasting are the impressions made upon the youthful mind! through the many busy years that have elapsed since first i tasted the thrilling sweets of that miniature primer i have not forgotten that "young obadias, david, josias, all were pious"; that "zaccheus he did climb the tree our lord to see"; and that "vashti for pride was set aside"; and still with many a sympathetic shudder and tingle do i recall captivity's overpowering sense of horror, and mine, as we lingered long over the portraitures of timothy flying from sin, of xerxes laid out in funeral garb, and of proud korah's troop partly submerged. my book and heart must never part. so runs one of the couplets in this little primer-book, and right truly can i say that from the springtime day sixty-odd years ago, when first my heart went out in love to this little book, no change of scene or of custom no allurement of fashion, no demand of mature years, has abated that love. and herein is exemplified the advantage which the love of books has over the other kinds of love. women are by nature fickle, and so are men; their friendships are liable to dissipation at the merest provocation or the slightest pretext. not so, however, with books, for books cannot change. a thousand years hence they are what you find them to-day, speaking the same words, holding forth the same cheer, the same promise, the same comfort; always constant, laughing with those who laugh and weeping with those who weep. captivity waite was an exception to the rule governing her sex. in all candor i must say that she approached closely to a realization of the ideals of a book--a sixteenmo, if you please, fair to look upon, of clear, clean type, well ordered and well edited, amply margined, neatly bound; a human book whose text, as represented by her disposition and her mind, corresponded felicitously with the comeliness of her exterior. this child was the great-great-granddaughter of benjamin waite, whose family was carried off by indians in . benjamin followed the party to canada, and after many months of search found and ransomed the captives. the historian has properly said that the names of benjamin waite and his companion in their perilous journey through the wilderness to canada should "be memorable in all the sad or happy homes of this connecticut valley forever." the child who was my friend in youth, and to whom i may allude occasionally hereafter in my narrative, bore the name of one of the survivors of this indian outrage, a name to be revered as a remembrancer of sacrifice and heroism. ii the birth of a new passion when i was thirteen years old i went to visit my uncle cephas. my grandmother would not have parted with me even for that fortnight had she not actually been compelled to. it happened that she was called to a meeting of the american tract society, and it was her intention to pay a visit to her cousin, royall eastman, after she had discharged the first and imperative duty she owed the society. mrs. deacon ranney was to have taken me and provided for my temporal and spiritual wants during grandmother's absence, but at the last moment the deacon came down with one of his spells of quinsy, and no other alternative remained but to pack me off to nashua, where my uncle cephas lived. this involved considerable expense, for the stage fare was three shillings each way: it came particularly hard on grandmother, inasmuch as she had just paid her road tax and had not yet received her semi-annual dividends on her fitchburg railway stock. indifferent, however, to every sense of extravagance and to all other considerations except those of personal pride, i rode away atop of the stage-coach, full of exultation. as we rattled past the waite house i waved my cap to captivity and indulged in the pleasing hope that she would be lonesome without me. much of the satisfaction of going away arises from the thought that those you leave behind are likely to be wretchedly miserable during your absence. my uncle cephas lived in a house so very different from my grandmother's that it took me some time to get used to the place. uncle cephas was a lawyer, and his style of living was not at all like grandmother's; he was to have been a minister, but at twelve years of age he attended the county fair, and that incident seemed to change the whole bent of his life. at twenty-one he married samantha talbott, and that was another blow to grandmother, who always declared that the talbotts were a shiftless lot. however, i was agreeably impressed with uncle cephas and aunt 'manthy, for they welcomed me very cordially and turned me over to my little cousins, mary and henry, and bade us three make merry to the best of our ability. these first favorable impressions of my uncle's family were confirmed when i discovered that for supper we had hot biscuit and dried beef warmed up in cream gravy, a diet which, with all due respect to grandmother, i considered much more desirable than dry bread and dried-apple sauce. aha, old crusoe! i see thee now in yonder case smiling out upon me as cheerily as thou didst smile those many years ago when to a little boy thou broughtest the message of romance! and i do love thee still, and i shall always love thee, not only for thy benefaction in those ancient days, but also for the light and the cheer which thy genius brings to all ages and conditions of humanity. my uncle cephas's library was stored with a large variety of pleasing literature. i did not observe a glut of theological publications, and i will admit that i felt somewhat aggrieved personally when, in answer to my inquiry, i was told that there was no "new england primer" in the collection. but this feeling was soon dissipated by the absorbing interest i took in de foe's masterpiece, a work unparalleled in the realm of fiction. i shall not say that "robinson crusoe" supplanted the primer in my affections; this would not be true. i prefer to say what is the truth; it was my second love. here again we behold another advantage which the lover of books has over the lover of women. if he be a genuine lover he can and should love any number of books, and this polybibliophily is not to the disparagement of any one of that number. but it is held by the expounders of our civil and our moral laws that he who loveth one woman to the exclusion of all other women speaketh by that action the best and highest praise both of his own sex and of hers. i thank god continually that it hath been my lot in life to found an empire in my heart--no cramped and wizened borough wherein one jealous mistress hath exercised her petty tyranny, but an expansive and ever-widening continent divided and subdivided into dominions, jurisdictions, caliphates, chiefdoms, seneschalships, and prefectures, wherein tetrarchs, burgraves, maharajahs, palatines, seigniors, caziques, nabobs, emirs, nizams, and nawabs hold sway, each over his special and particular realm, and all bound together in harmonious cooperation by the conciliating spirit of polybibliophily! let me not be misunderstood; for i am not a woman-hater. i do not regret the acquaintances--nay, the friendships--i have formed with individuals of the other sex. as a philosopher it has behooved me to study womankind, else i should not have appreciated the worth of these other better loves. moreover, i take pleasure in my age in associating this precious volume or that with one woman or another whose friendship came into my life at the time when i was reading and loved that book. the other day i found my nephew william swinging in the hammock on the porch with his girl friend celia; i saw that the young people were reading ovid. "my children," said i, "count this day a happy one. in the years of after life neither of you will speak or think of ovid and his tender verses without recalling at the same moment how of a gracious afternoon in distant time you sat side by side contemplating the ineffably precious promises of maturity and love." i am not sure that i do not approve that article in judge methuen's creed which insists that in this life of ours woman serves a probationary period for sins of omission or of commission in a previous existence, and that woman's next step upward toward the final eternity of bliss is a period of longer or of shorter duration, in which her soul enters into a book to be petted, fondled, beloved and cherished by some good man--like the judge, or like myself, for that matter. this theory is not an unpleasant one; i regard it as much more acceptable than those so-called scientific demonstrations which would make us suppose that we are descended from tree-climbing and bug-eating simians. however, it is far from my purpose to enter upon any argument of these questions at this time, for judge methuen himself is going to write a book upon the subject, and the edition is to be limited to two numbered and signed copies upon japanese vellum, of which i am to have one and the judge the other. the impression i made upon uncle cephas must have been favorable, for when my next birthday rolled around there came with it a book from uncle cephas--my third love, grimm's "household stories." with the perusal of this monumental work was born that passion for fairy tales and folklore which increased rather than diminished with my maturer years. even at the present time i delight in a good fairy story, and i am grateful to lang and to jacobs for the benefit they have conferred upon me and the rest of english-reading humanity through the medium of the fairy books and the folk tales they have translated and compiled. baring-gould and lady wilde have done noble work in the same realm; the writings of the former have interested me particularly, for together with profound learning in directions which are specially pleasing to me, baring-gould has a distinct literary touch which invests his work with a grace indefinable but delicious and persuasive. i am so great a lover of and believer in fairy tales that i once organized a society for the dissemination of fairy literature, and at the first meeting of this society we resolved to demand of the board of education to drop mathematics from the curriculum in the public schools and to substitute therefor a four years' course in fairy literature, to be followed, if the pupil desired, by a post-graduate course in demonology and folk-lore. we hired and fitted up large rooms, and the cause seemed to be flourishing until the second month's rent fell due. it was then discovered that the treasury was empty; and with this discovery the society ended its existence, without having accomplished any tangible result other than the purchase of a number of sofas and chairs, for which judge methuen and i had to pay. still, i am of the opinion (and judge methuen indorses it) that we need in this country of ours just that influence which the fairy tale exerts. we are becoming too practical; the lust for material gain is throttling every other consideration. our babes and sucklings are no longer regaled with the soothing tales of giants, ogres, witches, and fairies; their hungry, receptive minds are filled with stories about the pursuit and slaughter of unoffending animals, of war and of murder, and of those questionable practices whereby a hero is enriched and others are impoverished. before he is out of his swaddling-cloth the modern youngster is convinced that the one noble purpose in life is to get, get, get, and keep on getting of worldly material. the fairy tale is tabooed because, as the sordid parent alleges, it makes youth unpractical. one consequence of this deplorable condition is, as i have noticed (and as judge methuen has, too), that the human eye is diminishing in size and fulness, and is losing its lustre. by as much as you take the god-given grace of fancy from man, by so much do you impoverish his eyes. the eye is so beautiful and serves so very many noble purposes, and is, too, so ready in the expression of tenderness, of pity, of love, of solicitude, of compassion, of dignity, of every gentle mood and noble inspiration, that in that metaphor which contemplates the eternal vigilance of the almighty we recognize the best poetic expression of the highest human wisdom. my nephew timothy has three children, two boys and a girl. the elder boy and the girl have small black eyes; they are as devoid of fancy as a napkin is of red corpuscles; they put their pennies into a tin bank, and they have won all the marbles and jack-stones in the neighborhood. they do not believe in santa claus or in fairies or in witches; they know that two nickels make a dime, and their golden rule is to do others as others would do them. the other boy (he has been christened matthew, after me) has a pair of large, round, deep-blue eyes, expressive of all those emotions which a keen, active fancy begets. matthew can never get his fill of fairy tales, and how the dear little fellow loves santa claus! he sees things at night; he will not go to bed in the dark; he hears and understands what the birds and crickets say, and what the night wind sings, and what the rustling leaves tell. wherever matthew goes he sees beautiful pictures and hears sweet music; to his impressionable soul all nature speaks its wisdom and its poetry. god! how i love that boy! and he shall never starve! a goodly share of what i have shall go to him! but this clause in my will, which the judge recently drew for me, will, i warrant me, give the dear child the greatest happiness: "item. to my beloved grandnephew and namesake, matthew, i do bequeath and give (in addition to the lands devised and the stocks, bonds and moneys willed to him, as hereinabove specified) the two mahogany bookcases numbered and , and the contents thereof, being volumes of fairy and folk tales of all nations, and dictionaries and other treatises upon demonology, witchcraft, mythology, magic and kindred subjects, to be his, his heirs, and his assigns, forever." iii the luxury of reading in bed last night, having written what you have just read about the benefits of fairy literature, i bethought me to renew my acquaintance with some of those tales which so often have delighted and solaced me. so i piled at least twenty chosen volumes on the table at the head of my bed, and i daresay it was nigh daylight when i fell asleep. i began my entertainment with several pages from keightley's "fairy mythology," and followed it up with random bits from crofton croker's "traditions of the south of ireland," mrs. carey's "legends of the french provinces," andrew lang's green, blue and red fairy books, laboulaye's "last fairy tales," hauff's "the inn in the spessart," julia goddard's "golden weathercock," frere's "eastern fairy legends," asbjornsen's "folk tales," susan pindar's "midsummer fays," nisbit bain's "cossack fairy tales," etc., etc. i fell asleep with a copy of villamaria's fairy stories in my hands, and i had a delightful dream wherein, under the protection and guidance of my fairy godmother, i undertook the rescue of a beautiful princess who had been enchanted by a cruel witch and was kept in prison by the witch's son, a hideous ogre with seven heads, whose companions were four equally hideous dragons. this undertaking in which i was engaged involved a period of five years, but time is of precious little consideration to one when he is dreaming of exploits achieved in behalf of a beautiful princess. my fairy godmother (she wore a mob-cap and was hunchbacked) took good care of me, and conducted me safely through all my encounters with demons, giants, dragons, witches, serpents, hippogriffins, ogres, etc.; and i had just rescued the princess and broken the spell which bound her, and we were about to "live in peace to the end of our lives," when i awoke to find it was all a dream, and that the gas-light over my bed had been blazing away during the entire period of my five-year war for the delectable maiden. this incident gives me an opportunity to say that observation has convinced me that all good and true book-lovers practise the pleasing and improving avocation of reading in bed. indeed, i fully believe with judge methuen that no book can be appreciated until it has been slept with and dreamed over. you recall, perhaps, that eloquent passage in his noble defence of the poet archias, wherein cicero (not kikero) refers to his own pursuit of literary studies: "haec studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant; secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium praebent; delectant domi, non impediunt foris; pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur!" by the gods! you spoke tally, friend cicero; for it is indeed so, that these pursuits nourish our earlier and delight our later years, dignifying the minor details of life and affording a perennial refuge and solace; at home they please us and in no vocation elsewhere do they embarrass us; they are with us by night, they go with us upon our travels, and even upon our retirement into the country do they accompany us! i have italicized pernoctant because it is that word which demonstrates beyond all possibility of doubt that cicero made a practice of reading in bed. why, i can almost see him now, propped up in his couch, unrolling scroll after scroll of his favorite literature, and enjoying it mightily, too, which enjoyment is interrupted now and then by the occasion which the noble reader takes to mutter maledictions upon the slave who has let the lamp run low of oil or has neglected to trim the wick. "peregrinantur?" indeed, they do share our peregrinations, these literary pursuits do. if thomas hearne (of blessed memory!) were alive to-day he would tell us that he used always to take a book along with him whenever he went walking, and was wont to read it as he strolled along. on several occasions (as he tells us in his diary) he became so absorbed in his reading that he missed his way and darkness came upon him before he knew it. i have always wondered why book-lovers have not had more to say of hearne, for assuredly he was as glorious a collector as ever felt the divine fire glow within him. his character is exemplified in this prayer, which is preserved among other papers of his in the bodleian library: "o most gracious and merciful lord god, wonderful is thy providence. i return all possible thanks to thee for the care thou hast always taken of me. i continually meet with most signal instances of this thy providence, and one act yesterday, when i unexpectedly met with three old mss., for which, in a particular manner, i return my thanks, beseeching thee to continue the same protection to me, a poor, helpless sinner," etc. another prayer of hearne's, illustrative of his faith in dependence upon divine counsel, was made at the time hearne was importuned by dr. bray, commissary to my lord bishop of london, "to go to mary-land" in the character of a missionary. "o lord god, heavenly father, look down upon me with pity," cries this pious soul, "and be pleased to be my guide, now i am importuned to leave the place where i have been educated in the university. and of thy great goodness i humbly desire thee to signify to me what is most proper for me to do in this affair." another famous man who made a practice of reading books as he walked the highways was dr. johnson, and it is recorded that he presented a curious spectacle indeed, for his shortsightedness compelled him to hold the volume close to his nose, and he shuffled along, rather than walked, stepping high over shadows and stumbling over sticks and stones. but, perhaps, the most interesting story illustrative of the practice of carrying one's reading around with one is that which is told of professor porson, the greek scholar. this human monument of learning happened to be travelling in the same coach with a coxcomb who sought to air his pretended learning by quotations from the ancients. at last old porson asked: "pri'thee, sir, whence comes that quotation?" "from sophocles," quoth the vain fellow. "be so kind as to find it for me?" asked porson, producing a copy of sophocles from his pocket. then the coxcomb, not at all abashed, said that he meant not sophocles, but euripides. whereupon porson drew from another pocket a copy of euripides and challenged the upstart to find the quotation in question. full of confusion, the fellow thrust his head out of the window of the coach and cried to the driver: "in heaven's name, put me down at once; for there is an old gentleman in here that hath the bodleian library in his pocket!" porson himself was a veritable slave to the habit of reading in bed. he would lie down with his books piled around him, then light his pipe and start in upon some favorite volume. a jug of liquor was invariably at hand, for porson was a famous drinker. it is related that on one occasion he fell into a boosy slumber, his pipe dropped out of his mouth and set fire to the bed-clothes. but for the arrival of succor the tipsy scholar would surely have been cremated. another very slovenly fellow was de quincey, and he was devoted to reading in bed. but de quincey was a very vandal when it came to the care and use of books. he never returned volumes he borrowed, and he never hesitated to mutilate a rare book in order to save himself the labor and trouble of writing out a quotation. but perhaps the person who did most to bring reading in bed into evil repute was mrs. charles elstob, ward and sister of the canon of canterbury (circa ). in his "dissertation on letter-founders," rowe mores describes this woman as the "indefessa comes" of her brother's studies, a female student in oxford. she was, says mores, a northern lady of an ancient family and a genteel fortune, "but she pursued too much the drug called learning, and in that pursuit failed of being careful of any one thing necessary. in her latter years she was tutoress in the family of the duke of portland, where we visited her in her sleeping-room at bulstrode, surrounded with books and dirtiness, the usual appendages of folk of learning!" there is another word which cicero uses--for i have still somewhat more to say of that passage from the oration "pro archia poeta"--the word "rusticantur," which indicates that civilization twenty centuries ago made a practice of taking books out into the country for summer reading. "these literary pursuits rusticate with us," says cicero, and thus he presents to us a pen-picture of the roman patrician stretched upon the cool grass under the trees, perusing the latest popular romance, while, forsooth, in yonder hammock his dignified spouse swings slowly to and fro, conning the pages and the colored plates of the current fashion journal. surely in the telltale word "rusticantur" you and i and the rest of human nature find a worthy precedent and much encouragement for our practice of loading up with plenty of good reading before we start for the scene of our annual summering. as for myself, i never go away from home that i do not take a trunkful of books with me, for experience has taught me that there is no companionship better than that of these friends, who, however much all things else may vary, always give the same response to my demand upon their solace and their cheer. my sister, miss susan, has often inveighed against this practice of mine, and it was only yesterday that she informed me that i was the most exasperating man in the world. however, as miss susan's experience with men during the sixty-seven hot summers and sixty-eight hard winters of her life has been somewhat limited, i think i should bear her criticism without a murmur. miss susan is really one of the kindest creatures in all the world. it is her misfortune that she has had all her life an insane passion for collecting crockery, old pewter, old brass, old glass, old furniture and other trumpery of that character; a passion with which i have little sympathy. i do not know that miss susan is prouder of her collection of all this folderol than she is of the fact that she is a spinster. this latter peculiarity asserts itself upon every occasion possible. i recall an unpleasant scene in the omnibus last winter, when the obsequious conductor, taking advantage of my sister's white hair and furrowed cheeks, addressed that estimable lady as "madam." i'd have you know that my sister gave the fellow to understand very shortly and in very vigorous english (emphasized with her blue silk umbrella) that she was miss susan, and that she did not intend to be madamed by anybody, under any condition. iv the mania of collecting seizes me captivity waite never approved of my fondness for fairy literature. she shared the enthusiasm which i expressed whenever "robinson crusoe" was mentioned; there was just enough seriousness in de foe's romance, just enough piety to appeal for sympathy to one of captivity waite's religious turn of mind. when it came to fiction involving witches, ogres, and flubdubs, that was too much for captivity, and the spirit of the little puritan revolted. yet i have the documentary evidence to prove that captivity's ancestors (both paternal and maternal) were, in the palmy colonial times, as abject slaves to superstition as could well be imagined. the waites of salem were famous persecutors of witches, and sinai higginbotham (captivity's great-great-grandfather on her mother's side of the family) was cotton mather's boon companion, and rode around the gallows with that zealous theologian on that memorable occasion when five young women were hanged at danvers upon the charge of having tormented little children with their damnable arts of witchcraft. human thought is like a monstrous pendulum: it keeps swinging from one extreme to the other. within the compass of five generations we find the puritan first an uncompromising believer in demonology and magic, and then a scoffer at everything involving the play of fancy. i felt harshly toward captivity waite for a time, but i harbor her no ill-will now; on the contrary, i recall with very tender feelings the distant time when our sympathies were the same and when we journeyed the pathway of early youth in a companionship sanctified by the innocence and the loyalty and the truth of childhood. indeed, i am not sure that that early friendship did not make a lasting impression upon my life; i have thought of captivity waite a great many times, and i have not unfrequently wondered what might have been but for that book of fairy tales which my uncle cephas sent me. she was a very pretty child, and she lost none of her comeliness and none of her sweetness of character as she approached maturity. i was impressed with this upon my return from college. she, too, had pursued those studies deemed necessary to the acquirement of a good education; she had taken a four years' course at south holyoke and had finished at mrs. willard's seminary at troy. "you will now," said her father, and he voiced the new england sentiment regarding young womanhood; "you will now return to the quiet of your home and under the direction of your mother study the performance of those weightier duties which qualify your sex for a realization of the solemn responsibilities of human life." three or four years ago a fine-looking young fellow walked in upon me with a letter of introduction from his mother. he was captivity waite's son! captivity is a widow now, and she is still living in her native state, within twenty miles of the spot where she was born. colonel parker, her husband, left her a good property when he died, and she is famous for her charities. she has founded a village library, and she has written me on several occasions for advice upon proposed purchases of books. i don't mind telling you that i had a good deal of malicious pleasure in sending her not long ago a reminder of old times in these words: "my valued friend," i wrote, "i see by the catalogue recently published that your village library contains, among other volumes representing the modern school of fiction, eleven copies of 'trilby' and six copies of 'the heavenly twins.' i also note an absence of certain works whose influence upon my earlier life was such that i make bold to send copies of the same to your care in the hope that you will kindly present them to the library with my most cordial compliments. these are a copy each of the 'new england primer' and grimm's 'household stories.'" at the age of twenty-three, having been graduated from college and having read the poems of villon, the confessions of rousseau, and boswell's life of johnson, i was convinced that i had comprehended the sum of human wisdom and knew all there was worth knowing. if at the present time--for i am seventy-two--i knew as much as i thought i knew at twenty-three i should undoubtedly be a prodigy of learning and wisdom. i started out to be a philosopher. my grandmother's death during my second year at college possessed me of a considerable sum of money and severed every tie and sentimental obligation which had previously held me to my grandmother's wish that i become a minister of the gospel. when i became convinced that i knew everything i conceived a desire to see something, for i had traveled none and i had met but few people. upon the advice of my uncle cephas, i made a journey to europe, and devoted two years to seeing sights and to acquainting myself with the people and the customs abroad. nine months of this time i spent in paris, which was then an irregular and unkempt city, but withal quite as evil as at present. i took apartments in the latin quarter, and, being of a generous nature, i devoted a large share of my income to the support of certain artists and students whose talents and time were expended almost exclusively in the pursuit of pleasure. while thus serving as a visible means of support to this horde of parasites, i fell in with the man who has since then been my intimate friend. judge methuen was a visitor in paris, and we became boon companions. it was he who rescued me from the parasites and revived the flames of honorable ambition, which had well-nigh been extinguished by the wretched influence of villon and rousseau. the judge was a year my senior, and a wealthy father provided him with the means for gratifying his wholesome and refined tastes. we two went together to london, and it was during our sojourn in that capital that i began my career as a collector of books. it is simply justice to my benefactor to say that to my dear friend methuen i am indebted for the inspiration which started me upon a course so full of sweet surprises and precious rewards. there are very many kinds of book collectors, but i think all may be grouped in three classes, viz.: those who collect from vanity; those who collect for the benefits of learning; those who collect through a veneration and love for books. it is not unfrequent that men who begin to collect books merely to gratify their personal vanity find themselves presently so much in love with the pursuit that they become collectors in the better sense. just as a man who takes pleasure in the conquest of feminine hearts invariably finds himself at last ensnared by the very passion which he has been using simply for the gratification of his vanity, i am inclined to think that the element of vanity enters, to a degree, into every phase of book collecting; vanity is, i take it, one of the essentials to a well-balanced character--not a prodigious vanity, but a prudent, well-governed one. but for vanity there would be no competition in the world; without competition there would be no progress. in these later days i often hear this man or that sneered at because, forsooth, he collects books without knowing what the books are about. but for my part, i say that that man bids fair to be all right; he has made a proper start in the right direction, and the likelihood is that, other things being equal, he will eventually become a lover, as well as a buyer, of books. indeed, i care not what the beginning is, so long as it be a beginning. there are different ways of reaching the goal. some folk go horseback via the royal road, but very many others are compelled to adopt the more tedious processes, involving rocky pathways and torn shoon and sore feet. so subtile and so infectious is this grand passion that one is hardly aware of its presence before it has complete possession of him; and i have known instances of men who, after having associated one evening with judge methuen and me, have waked up the next morning filled with the incurable enthusiasm of bibliomania. but the development of the passion is not always marked by exhibitions of violence; sometimes, like the measles, it is slow and obstinate about "coming out," and in such cases applications should be resorted to for the purpose of diverting the malady from the vitals; otherwise serious results may ensue. indeed, my learned friend dr. o'rell has met with several cases (as he informs me) in which suppressed bibliomania has resulted fatally. many of these cases have been reported in that excellent publication, the "journal of the american medical association," which periodical, by the way, is edited by ex-surgeon-general hamilton, a famous collector of the literature of ornament and dress. to make short of a long story, the medical faculty is nearly a unit upon the proposition that wherever suppressed bibliomania is suspected immediate steps should be taken to bring out the disease. it is true that an ohio physician, named woodbury, has written much in defence of the theory that bibliomania can be aborted; but a very large majority of his profession are of the opinion that the actual malady must needs run a regular course, and they insist that the cases quoted as cured by woodbury were not genuine, but were bastard or false phases, of the same class as the chickenpox and the german measles. my mania exhibited itself first in an affectation for old books; it mattered not what the book itself was--so long as it bore an ancient date upon its title-page or in its colophon i pined to possess it. this was not only a vanity, but a very silly one. in a month's time i had got together a large number of these old tomes, many of them folios, and nearly all badly worm-eaten, and sadly shaken. one day i entered a shop kept by a man named stibbs, and asked if i could procure any volumes of sixteenth-century print. "yes," said mr. stibbs, "we have a cellarful of them, and we sell them by the ton or by the cord." that very day i dispersed my hoard of antiques, retaining only my prynne's "histrio-mastix" and my opera quinti horatii flacci ( vo, aldus, venetiis, ). and then i became interested in british balladry--a noble subject, for which i have always had a veneration and love, as the well-kept and profusely annotated volumes in cases , , and in the front room are ready to prove to you at any time you choose to visit my quiet, pleasant home. v baldness and intellectuality one of judge methuen's pet theories is that the soul in the human body lies near the center of gravity; this is, i believe, one of the tenets of the buddhist faith, and for a long time i eschewed it as one might shun a vile thing, for i feared lest i should become identified even remotely with any faith or sect other than congregationalism. yet i noticed that in moments of fear or of joy or of the sense of any other emotion i invariably experienced a feeling of goneness in the pit of my stomach, as if, forsooth, the center of my physical system were also the center of my nervous and intellectual system, the point at which were focused all those devious lines of communication by means of which sensation is instantaneously transmitted from one part of the body to another. i mentioned this circumstance to judge methuen, and it seemed to please him. "my friend," said he, "you have a particularly sensitive soul; i beg of you to exercise the greatest prudence in your treatment of it. it is the best type of the bibliomaniac soul, for the quickness of its apprehensions betokens that it is alert and keen and capable of instantaneous impressions and enthusiasms. what you have just told me convinces me that you are by nature qualified for rare exploits in the science and art of book-collecting. you will presently become bald--perhaps as bald as thomas hobbes was--for a vigilant and active soul invariably compels baldness, so close are the relations between the soul and the brain, and so destructive are the growth and operations of the soul to those vestigial features which humanity has inherited from those grosser animals, our prehistoric ancestors." you see by this that judge methuen recognized baldness as prima-facie evidence of intellectuality and spirituality. he has collected much literature upon the subject, and has promised the academy of science to prepare and read for the instruction of that learned body an essay demonstrating that absence of hair from the cranium (particularly from the superior regions of the frontal and parietal divisions) proves a departure from the instincts and practices of brute humanity, and indicates surely the growth of the understanding. it occurred to the judge long ago to prepare a list of the names of the famous bald men in the history of human society, and this list has grown until it includes the names of thousands, representing every profession and vocation. homer, socrates, confucius, aristotle, plato, cicero, pliny, maecenas, julius caesar, horace, shakespeare, bacon, napoleon bonaparte, dante, pope, cowper, goldsmith, wordsworth, israel putnam, john quincy adams, patrick henry--these geniuses all were bald. but the baldest of all was the philosopher hobbes, of whom the revered john aubrey has recorded that "he was very bald, yet within dore he used to study and sitt bare-headed, and said he never took cold in his head, but that the greatest trouble was to keepe off the flies from pitching on the baldness." in all the portraits and pictures of bonaparte which i have seen, a conspicuous feature is that curl or lock of hair which depends upon the emperor's forehead, and gives to the face a pleasant degree of picturesque distinction. yet this was a vanity, and really a laughable one; for early in life bonaparte began to get bald, and this so troubled him that he sought to overcome the change it made in his appearance by growing a long strand of hair upon his occiput and bringing it forward a goodly distance in such artful wise that it right ingeniously served the purposes of that hyperion curl which had been the pride of his youth, but which had fallen early before the ravages of time. as for myself, i do not know that i ever shared that derisive opinion in which the unthinking are wont to hold baldness. nay, on the contrary, i have always had especial reverence for this mark of intellectuality, and i agree with my friend judge methuen that the tragic episode recorded in the second chapter of ii. kings should serve the honorable purpose of indicating to humanity that bald heads are favored with the approval and the protection of divinity. in my own case i have imputed my early baldness to growth in intellectuality and spirituality induced by my fondness for and devotion to books. miss susan, my sister, lays it to other causes, first among which she declares to be my unnatural practice of reading in bed, and the second my habit of eating welsh-rarebits late of nights. over my bed i have a gas-jet so properly shaded that the rays of light are concentrated and reflected downward upon the volume which i am reading. miss susan insists that much of this light and its attendant heat falls upon my head, compelling there a dryness of the scalp whereby the follicles have been deprived of their natural nourishment and have consequently died. she furthermore maintains that the welsh-rarebits of which i partake invariably at the eleventh hour every night breed poisonous vapors and subtle megrims within my stomach, which humors, rising by their natural courses to my brain, do therein produce a fever that from within burneth up the fluids necessary to a healthy condition of the capillary growth upon the super-adjacent and exterior cranial integument. now, this very declaration of miss susan's gives me a potent argument in defence of my practices, for, being bald, would not a neglect of those means whereby warmth is engendered where it is needed result in colds, quinsies, asthmas, and a thousand other banes? the same benignant providence which, according to laurence sterne, tempereth the wind to the shorn lamb provideth defence and protection for the bald. had i not loved books, the soul in my midriff had not done away with those capillary vestiges of my simian ancestry which originally flourished upon my scalp; had i not become bald, the delights and profits of reading in bed might never have fallen to my lot. and indeed baldness has its compensations; when i look about me and see the time, the energy, and the money that are continually expended upon the nurture and tending of the hair, i am thankful that my lot is what it is. for now my money is applied to the buying of books, and my time and energy are devoted to the reading of them. to thy vain employments, thou becurled and pomaded absalom! sweeter than thy unguents and cosmetics and sabean perfumes is the smell of those old books of mine, which from the years and from the ship's hold and from constant companionship with sages and philosophers have acquired a fragrance that exalteth the soul and quickeneth the intellectuals! let me paraphrase my dear chaucer and tell thee, thou waster of substances, that for me was lever han at my beddes hed a twenty bokes, clothed in black and red of aristotle and his philosophie, than robes rich, or fidel, or sautrie; but all be that i ben a philosopher yet have i but litel gold in cofre! books, books, books--give me ever more books, for they are the caskets wherein we find the immortal expressions of humanity--words, the only things that live forever! i bow reverently to the bust in yonder corner whenever i recall what sir john herschel (god rest his dear soul!) said and wrote: "were i to pay for a taste that should stand me in stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me during life, and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading. give a man this taste and a means of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making him a happy man; unless, indeed, you put into his hands a most perverse selection of books. you place him in contact with the best society in every period of history--with the wisest, the wittiest, the tenderest, the bravest, and the purest characters who have adorned humanity. you make him a denizen of all nations, a contemporary of all ages. the world has been created for him." for one phrase particularly do all good men, methinks, bless burly, bearish, phrase-making old tom carlyle. "of all things," quoth he, "which men do or make here below by far the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the things we call books." and judge methuen's favorite quotation is from babington macaulay to this effect: "i would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading." kings, indeed! what a sorry lot are they! said george iii. to nicol, his bookseller: "i would give this right hand if the same attention had been paid to my education which i pay to that of the prince." louis xiv. was as illiterate as the lowliest hedger and ditcher. he could hardly write his name; at first, as samuel pegge tells us, he formed it out of six straight strokes and a line of beauty, thus: | | | | | | s --which he afterward perfected as best he could, and the result was louis. still i find it hard to inveigh against kings when i recall the goodness of alexander to aristotle, for without alexander we should hardly have known of aristotle. his royal patron provided the philosopher with every advantage for the acquisition of learning, dispatching couriers to all parts of the earth to gather books and manuscripts and every variety of curious thing likely to swell the store of aristotle's knowledge. yet set them up in a line and survey them--these wearers of crowns and these wielders of scepters--and how pitiable are they in the paucity and vanity of their accomplishments! what knew they of the true happiness of human life? they and their courtiers are dust and forgotten. judge methuen and i shall in due time pass away, but our courtiers--they who have ever contributed to our delight and solace--our horace, our cervantes, our shakespeare, and the rest of the innumerable train--these shall never die. and inspired and sustained by this immortal companionship we blithely walk the pathway illumined by its glory, and we sing, in season and out, the song ever dear to us and ever dear to thee, i hope, o gentle reader: oh, for a booke and a shady nooke, eyther in doore or out, with the greene leaves whispering overhead, or the streete cryes all about; where i maie reade all at my ease both of the newe and old, for a jollie goode booke whereon to looke is better to me than golde! vi my romance with fiammetta my bookseller and i came nigh to blows some months ago over an edition of boccaccio, which my bookseller tried to sell me. this was a copy in the original, published at antwerp in , prettily rubricated, and elaborately adorned with some forty or fifty copperplates illustrative of the text. i dare say the volume was cheap enough at thirty dollars, but i did not want it. my reason for not wanting it gave rise to that discussion between my bookseller and myself, which became very heated before it ended. i said very frankly that i did not care for the book in the original, because i had several translations done by the most competent hands. thereupon my bookseller ventured that aged and hackneyed argument which has for centuries done the book trade such effective service--namely, that in every translation, no matter how good that translation may be, there is certain to be lost a share of the flavor and spirit of the meaning. "fiddledeedee!" said i. "do you suppose that these translators who have devoted their lives to the study and practice of the art are not competent to interpret the different shades and colors of meaning better than the mere dabbler in foreign tongues? and then, again, is not human life too short for the lover of books to spend his precious time digging out the recondite allusions of authors, lexicon in hand? my dear sir, it is a wickedly false economy to expend time and money for that which one can get done much better and at a much smaller expenditure by another hand." from my encounter with my bookseller i went straight home and took down my favorite copy of the "decameron" and thumbed it over very tenderly; for you must know that i am particularly attached to that little volume. i can hardly realize that nearly half a century has elapsed since yseult hardynge and i parted. she was such a creature as the great novelist himself would have chosen for a heroine; she had the beauty and the wit of those florentine ladies who flourished in the fourteenth century, and whose graces of body and mind have been immortalized by boccaccio. her eyes, as i particularly recall, were specially fine, reflecting from their dark depths every expression of her varying moods. why i called her fiammetta i cannot say, for i do not remember; perhaps from a boyish fancy, merely. at that time boccaccio and i were famous friends; we were together constantly, and his companionship had such an influence upon me that for the nonce i lived and walked and had my being in that distant, romantic period when all men were gallants and all women were grandes dames and all birds were nightingales. i bought myself an old florentine sword at noseda's in the strand and hung it on the wall in my modest apartments; under it i placed boccaccio's portrait and fiammetta's, and i was wont to drink toasts to these beloved counterfeit presentments in flagons (mind you, genuine antique flagons) of italian wine. twice i took fiammetta boating upon the thames and once to view the lord mayor's pageant; her mother was with us on both occasions, but she might as well have been at the bottom of the sea, for she was a stupid old soul, wholly incapable of sharing or appreciating the poetic enthusiasms of romantic youth. had fiammetta been a book--ah, unfortunate lady!--had she but been a book she might still be mine, for me to care for lovingly and to hide from profane eyes and to attire in crushed levant and gold and to cherish as a best-beloved companion in mine age! had she been a book she could not have been guilty of the folly of wedding with a yeoman of lincolnshire--ah me, what rude awakenings too often dispel the pleasing dreams of youth! when i revisited england in the sixties, i was tempted to make an excursion into lincolnshire for the purpose of renewing my acquaintance with fiammetta. before, however, i had achieved that object this thought occurred to me: "you are upon a fool's errand; turn back, or you will destroy forever one of the sweetest of your boyhood illusions! you seek fiammetta in the delusive hope of finding her in the person of mrs. henry boggs; there is but one fiammetta, and she is the memory abiding in your heart. spare yourself the misery of discovering in the hearty, fleshy lincolnshire hussif the decay of the promises of years ago; be content to do reverence to the ideal fiammetta who has built her little shrine in your sympathetic heart!" now this was strange counsel, yet it had so great weight with me that i was persuaded by it, and after lying a night at the swan-and-quiver tavern i went back to london, and never again had a desire to visit lincolnshire. but fiammetta is still a pleasing memory--ay, and more than a memory to me, for whenever i take down that precious book and open it, what a host of friends do troop forth! cavaliers, princesses, courtiers, damoiselles, monks, nuns, equerries, pages, maidens--humanity of every class and condition, and all instinct with the color of the master magician, boccaccio! and before them all cometh a maiden with dark, glorious eyes, and she beareth garlands of roses; the moonlight falleth like a benediction upon the florentine garden slope, and the night wind seeketh its cradle in the laurel tree, and fain would sleep to the song of the nightingale. as for judge methuen, he loves his boccaccio quite as much as i do mine, and being somewhat of a versifier he has made a little poem on the subject, a copy of which i have secured surreptitiously and do now offer for your delectation: one day upon a topmost shelf i found a precious prize indeed, which father used to read himself, but did not want us boys to read; a brown old book of certain age (as type and binding seemed to show), while on the spotted title-page appeared the name "boccaccio." i'd never heard that name before, but in due season it became to him who fondly brooded o'er those pages a beloved name! adown the centuries i walked mid pastoral scenes and royal show; with seigneurs and their dames i talked-- the crony of boccaccio! those courtly knights and sprightly maids, who really seemed disposed to shine in gallantries and escapades, anon became great friends of mine. yet was there sentiment with fun, and oftentimes my tears would flow at some quaint tale of valor done, as told by my boccaccio. in boyish dreams i saw again bucolic belles and dames of court, the princely youths and monkish men arrayed for sacrifice or sport. again i heard the nightingale sing as she sang those years ago in his embowered italian vale to my revered boccaccio. and still i love that brown old book i found upon the topmost shelf-- i love it so i let none look upon the treasure but myself! and yet i have a strapping boy who (i have every cause to know) would to its full extent enjoy the friendship of boccaccio! but boys are, oh! so different now from what they were when i was one! i fear my boy would not know how to take that old raconteur's fun! in your companionship, o friend, i think it wise alone to go plucking the gracious fruits that bend wheree'er you lead, boccaccio. so rest you there upon the shelf, clad in your garb of faded brown; perhaps, sometime, my boy himself shall find you out and take you down. then may he feel the joy once more that thrilled me, filled me years ago when reverently i brooded o'er the glories of boccaccio! out upon the vile brood of imitators, i say! get ye gone, ye bandellos and ye straparolas and ye other charlatans who would fain possess yourselves of the empire which the genius of boccaccio bequeathed to humanity. there is but one master, and to him we render grateful homage. he leads us down through the cloisters of time, and at his touch the dead become reanimate, and all the sweetness and the valor of antiquity recur; heroism, love, sacrifice, tears, laughter, wisdom, wit, philosophy, charity, and understanding are his auxiliaries; humanity is his inspiration, humanity his theme, humanity his audience, humanity his debtor. now it is of tancred's daughter he tells, and now of rossiglione's wife; anon of the cozening gardener he speaks and anon of alibech; of what befell gillette de narbonne, of iphigenia and cymon, of saladin, of calandrino, of dianora and ansaldo we hear; and what subject soever he touches he quickens it into life, and he so subtly invests it with that indefinable quality of his genius as to attract thereunto not only our sympathies but also our enthusiasm. yes, truly, he should be read with understanding; what author should not? i would no more think of putting my boccaccio into the hands of a dullard than i would think of leaving a bright and beautiful woman at the mercy of a blind mute. i have hinted at the horror of the fate which befell yseult hardynge in the seclusion of mr. henry boggs's lincolnshire estate. mr. henry boggs knew nothing of romance, and he cared less; he was wholly incapable of appreciating a woman with dark, glorious eyes and an expanding soul; i'll warrant me that he would at any time gladly have traded a "decameron" for a copy of "the gentleman poulterer," or for a year's subscription to that grewsome monument to human imbecility, london "punch." ah, yseult! hadst thou but been a book! vii the delights of fender-fishing i should like to have met izaak walton. he is one of the few authors whom i know i should like to have met. for he was a wise man, and he had understanding. i should like to have gone angling with him, for i doubt not that like myself he was more of an angler theoretically than practically. my bookseller is a famous fisherman, as, indeed, booksellers generally are, since the methods employed by fishermen to deceive and to catch their finny prey are very similar to those employed by booksellers to attract and to entrap buyers. as for myself, i regard angling as one of the best of avocations, and although i have pursued it but little, i concede that doubtless had i practised it oftener i should have been a better man. how truly has dame juliana berners said that "at the least the angler hath his wholesome walk and merry at his ease, and a sweet air of the sweet savour of the mead flowers that maketh him hungry; he heareth the melodious harmony of fowls; he seeth the young swans, herons, ducks, cotes, and many other fowls with their broods, which meseemeth better than all the noise of hounds, the blasts of horns, and the cry of fowls that hunters, falconers, and fowlers can make. and if the angler take fish--surely then is there no man merrier than he is in his spirit!" my bookseller cannot understand how it is that, being so enthusiastic a fisherman theoretically, i should at the same time indulge so seldom in the practice of fishing, as if, forsooth, a man should be expected to engage continually and actively in every art and practice of which he may happen to approve. my young friend edward ayer has a noble collection of books relating to the history of american aboriginals and to the wars waged between those indians and the settlers in this country; my other young friend luther mills has gathered together a multitude of books treating of the napoleonic wars; yet neither ayer nor mills hath ever slain a man or fought a battle, albeit both find delectation in recitals of warlike prowess and personal valor. i love the night and all the poetic influences of that quiet time, but i do not sit up all night in order to hear the nightingale or to contemplate the astounding glories of the heavens. for similar reasons, much as i appreciate and marvel at the beauties of early morning, i do not make a practice of early rising, and sensible as i am to the charms of the babbling brook and of the crystal lake, i am not addicted to the practice of wading about in either to the danger either to my own health or to the health of the finny denizens in those places. the best anglers in the world are those who do not catch fish; the mere slaughter of fish is simply brutal, and it was with a view to keeping her excellent treatise out of the hands of the idle and the inappreciative that dame berners incorporated that treatise in a compendious book whose cost was so large that only "gentyll and noble men" could possess it. what mind has he who loveth fishing merely for the killing it involves--what mind has such a one to the beauty of the ever-changing panorama which nature unfolds to the appreciative eye, or what communion has he with those sweet and uplifting influences in which the meadows, the hillsides, the glades, the dells, the forests, and the marshes abound? out upon these vandals, i say--out upon the barbarians who would rob angling of its poesy, and reduce it to the level of the butcher's trade! it becomes a base and vicious avocation, does angling, when it ceases to be what sir henry wotton loved to call it--"an employment for his idle time, which was then not idly spent; a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, a procurer of contentedness, and a begetter of habits of peace and patience in those that professed and practised it!" there was another man i should like to have met--sir henry wotton; for he was an ideal angler. christopher north, too ("an excellent angler and now with god"!)--how i should love to have explored the yarrow with him, for he was a man of vast soul, vast learning, and vast wit. "would you believe it, my dear shepherd," said he, "that my piscatory passions are almost dead within me, and i like now to saunter along the banks and braes, eying the younkers angling, or to lay me down on some sunny spot, and with my face up to heaven, watch the slow-changing clouds!" there was the angling genius with whom i would fain go angling! "angling," says our revered st. izaak, "angling is somewhat like poetry--men are to be born so." doubtless there are poets who are not anglers, but doubtless there never was an angler who was not also a poet. christopher north was a famous fisherman; he began his career as such when he was a child of three years. with his thread line and bent-pin hook the wee tot set out to make his first cast in "a wee burnie" he had discovered near his home. he caught his fish, too, and for the rest of the day he carried the miserable little specimen about on a plate, exhibiting it triumphantly. with that first experience began a life which i am fain to regard as one glorious song in praise of the beauty and the beneficence of nature. my bookseller once took me angling with him in a wisconsin lake which was the property of a club of anglers to which my friend belonged. as we were to be absent several days i carried along a box of books, for i esteem appropriate reading to be a most important adjunct to an angling expedition. my bookseller had with him enough machinery to stock a whaling expedition, and i could not help wondering what my old walton would think, could he drop down into our company with his modest equipment of hooks, flies, and gentles. the lake whither we went was a large and beautiful expanse, girt by a landscape which to my fancy was the embodiment of poetic delicacy and suggestion. i began to inquire about the chub, dace, and trouts, but my bookseller lost no time in telling me that the lake had been rid of all cheap fry, and had been stocked with game fish, such as bass and pike. i did not at all relish this covert sneer at traditions which i have always reverenced, and the better acquainted i became with my bookseller's modern art of angling the less i liked it. i have little love for that kind of angling which does not admit of a simultaneous enjoyment of the surrounding beauties of nature. my bookseller enjoined silence upon me, but i did not heed the injunction, for i must, indeed, have been a mere wooden effigy to hold my peace amid that picturesque environment of hill, valley, wood, meadow, and arching sky of clear blue. it was fortunate for me that i had my "noctes ambrosianae" along, for when i had exhausted my praise of the surrounding glories of nature, my bookseller would not converse with me; so i opened my book and read to him that famous passage between kit north and the ettrick shepherd, wherein the shepherd discourses boastfully of his prowess as a piscator of sawmon. as the sun approached midheaven and its heat became insupportable, i raised my umbrella; to this sensible proceeding my bookseller objected--in fact, there was hardly any reasonable suggestion i had to make for beguiling the time that my bookseller did not protest against it, and when finally i produced my "newcastle fisher's garlands" from my basket, and began to troll those spirited lines beginning away wi' carking care and gloom that make life's pathway weedy o! a cheerful glass makes flowers to bloom and lightsome hours fly speedy o! he gathered in his rod and tackle, and declared that it was no use trying to catch fish while bedlam ran riot. as for me, i had a delightful time of it; i caught no fish, to be sure: but what of that? i could have caught fish had i so desired, but, as i have already intimated to you and as i have always maintained and always shall, the mere catching of fish is the least of the many enjoyments comprehended in the broad, gracious art of angling. even my bookseller was compelled to admit ultimately that i was a worthy disciple of walton, for when we had returned to the club house and had partaken of our supper i regaled the company with many a cheery tale and merry song which i had gathered from my books. indeed, before i returned to the city i was elected an honorary member of the club by acclamation--not for the number of fish i had expiscated (for i did not catch one), but for that mastery of the science of angling and the literature and the traditions and the religion and the philosophy thereof which, by the grace of the companionship of books, i had achieved. it is said that, with his feet over the fender, macaulay could discourse learnedly of french poetry, art, and philosophy. yet he never visited paris that he did not experience the most exasperating difficulties in making himself understood by the french customs officers. in like manner i am a fender-fisherman. with my shins toasting before a roaring fire, and with judge methuen at my side, i love to exploit the joys and the glories of angling. the judge is "a brother of the angle," as all will allow who have heard him tell father prout's story of the bishop and the turbots or heard him sing-- with angle rod and lightsome heart, our conscience clear, we gay depart to pebbly brooks and purling streams, and ne'er a care to vex our dreams. and how could the lot of the fender-fisherman be happier? no colds, quinsies or asthmas follow his incursions into the realms of fancy where in cool streams and peaceful lakes a legion of chubs and trouts and sawmon await him; in fancy he can hie away to the far-off yalrow and once more share the benefits of the companionship of kit north, the shepherd, and that noble edinburgh band; in fancy he can trudge the banks of the blackwater with the sage of watergrasshill; in fancy he can hear the music of the tyne and feel the wind sweep cool and fresh o'er coquetdale; in fancy, too, he knows the friendships which only he can know--the friendships of the immortals whose spirits hover where human love and sympathy attract them. how well i love ye, o my precious books--my prout, my wilson, my phillips, my berners, my doubleday, my roxby, my chatto, my thompson, my crawhall! for ye are full of joyousness and cheer, and your songs uplift me and make me young and strong again. and thou, homely little brown thing with worn leaves, yet more precious to me than all jewels of the earth--come, let me take thee from thy shelf and hold thee lovingly in my hands and press thee tenderly to this aged and slow-pulsing heart of mine! dost thou remember how i found thee half a century ago all tumbled in a lot of paltry trash? did i not joyously possess thee for a sixpence, and have i not cherished thee full sweetly all these years? my walton, soon must we part forever; when i am gone say unto him who next shall have thee to his own that with his latest breath an old man blessed thee! viii ballads and their makers one of the most interesting spots in all london to me is bunhill fields cemetery, for herein are the graves of many whose memory i revere. i had heard that joseph ritson was buried here, and while my sister, miss susan, lingered at the grave of her favorite poet, i took occasion to spy around among the tombstones in the hope of discovering the last resting-place of the curious old antiquary whose labors in the field of balladry have placed me under so great a debt of gratitude to him. but after i had searched in vain for somewhat more than an hour one of the keepers of the place told me that in compliance with ritson's earnest desire while living, that antiquary's grave was immediately after the interment of the body levelled down and left to the care of nature, with no stone to designate its location. so at the present time no one knows just where old ritson's grave is, only that within that vast enclosure where so many thousand souls sleep their last sleep the dust of the famous ballad-lover lies fast asleep in the bosom of mother earth. i have never been able to awaken in miss susan any enthusiasm for balladry. my worthy sister is of a serious turn of mind, and i have heard her say a thousand times that convivial songs (which is her name for balladry) are inspirations, if not actually compositions, of the devil. in her younger days miss susan performed upon the melodeon with much discretion, and at one time i indulged the delusive hope that eventually she would not disdain to join me in the vocal performance of the best ditties of d'urfey and his ilk. if i do say it myself, i had a very pretty voice thirty or forty years ago, and even at the present time i can deliver the ballad of king cophetua and the beggar maid with amazing spirit when i have my friend judge methuen at my side and a bowl of steaming punch between us. but my education of miss susan ended without being finished. we two learned to perform the ballad of sir patrick spens very acceptably, but miss susan abandoned the copartnership when i insisted that we proceed to the sprightly ditty beginning, life's short hours too fast are hasting-- sweet amours cannot be lasting. my physician, dr. o'rell, has often told me that he who has a well-assorted ballad library should never be lonely, for the limitations of balladly are so broad that within them are to be found performances adapted to every mood to which humanity is liable. and, indeed, my experience confirms the truth of my physician's theory. it were hard for me to tell what delight i have had upon a hot and gusty day in a perusal of the history of robin hood, for there is such actuality in those simple rhymes as to dispel the troublesome environments of the present and transport me to better times and pleasanter scenes. aha! how many times have i walked with brave robin in sherwood forest! how many times have little john and i couched under the greenwood tree and shared with friar tuck the haunch of juicy venison and the pottle of brown october brew! and will scarlet and i have been famous friends these many a year, and if allen-a-dale were here he would tell you that i have trolled full many a ballad with him in praise of maid marian's peerless beauty. who says that sherwood is no more and that robin and his merry men are gone forever! why, only yesternight i walked with them in that gracious forest and laughed defiance at the doughty sheriff and his craven menials. the moonlight twinkled and sifted through the boscage, and the wind was fresh and cool. right merrily we sang, and i doubt not we should have sung the whole night through had not my sister, miss susan, come tapping at my door, saying that i had waked her parrot and would do well to cease my uproar and go to sleep. judge methuen has a copy of bishop percy's "reliques of ancient english poetry" that he prizes highly. it is the first edition of this noble work, and was originally presented by percy to dr. birch of the british museum. the judge found these three volumes exposed for sale in a london book stall, and he comprehended them without delay--a great bargain, you will admit, when i tell you that they cost the judge but three shillings! how came these precious volumes into that book stall i shall not presume to say. strange indeed are the vicissitudes which befall books, stranger even than the happenings in human life. all men are not as considerate of books as i am; i wish they were. many times i have felt the deepest compassion for noble volumes in the possession of persons wholly incapable of appreciating them. the helpless books seemed to appeal to me to rescue them, and too many times i have been tempted to snatch them from their inhospitable shelves, and march them away to a pleasant refuge beneath my own comfortable roof tree. too few people seem to realize that books have feelings. but if i know one thing better than another i know this, that my books know me and love me. when of a morning i awaken i cast my eyes about my room to see how fare my beloved treasures, and as i cry cheerily to them, "good-day to you, sweet friends!" how lovingly they beam upon me, and how glad they are that my repose has been unbroken. when i take them from their places, how tenderly do they respond to the caresses of my hands, and with what exultation do they respond unto my call for sympathy! laughter for my gayer moods, distraction for my cares, solace for my griefs, gossip for my idler moments, tears for my sorrows, counsel for my doubts, and assurance against my fears--these things my books give me with a promptness and a certainty and a cheerfulness which are more than human; so that i were less than human did i not love these comforters and bear eternal gratitude to them. judge methuen read me once a little poem which i fancy mightily; it is entitled "winfreda," and you will find it in your percy, if you have one. the last stanza, as i recall it, runs in this wise: and when by envy time transported shall seek to rob us of our joys, you'll in our girls again be courted and i'll go wooing in our boys. "now who was the author of those lines?" asked the judge. "undoubtedly oliver wendell holmes," said i. "they have the flavor peculiar to our autocrat; none but he could have done up so much sweetness in such a quaint little bundle." "you are wrong," said the judge, "but the mistake is a natural one. the whole poem is such a one as holmes might have written, but it saw the light long before our dear doctor's day: what a pity that its authorship is not known!" "yet why a pity?" quoth i. "is it not true that words are the only things that live forever? are we not mortal, and are not books immortal? homer's harp is broken and horace's lyre is unstrung, and the voices of the great singers are hushed; but their songs--their songs are imperishable. o friend! what moots it to them or to us who gave this epic or that lyric to immortality? the singer belongs to a year, his song to all time. i know it is the custom now to credit the author with his work, for this is a utilitarian age, and all things are by the pound or the piece, and for so much money. "so when a song is printed it is printed in small type, and the name of him who wrote it is appended thereunto in big type. if the song be meritorious it goes to the corners of the earth through the medium of the art preservative of arts, but the longer and the farther it travels the bigger does the type of the song become and the smaller becomes the type wherein the author's name is set. "then, finally, some inconsiderate hand, wielding the pen or shears, blots out or snips off the poet's name, and henceforth the song is anonymous. a great iconoclast--a royal old iconoclast--is time: but he hath no terrors for those precious things which are embalmed in words, and the only fellow that shall surely escape him till the crack of doom is he whom men know by the name of anonymous!" "doubtless you speak truly," said the judge; "yet it would be different if i but had the ordering of things. i would let the poets live forever and i would kill off most of their poetry." i do not wonder that ritson and percy quarrelled. it was his misfortune that ritson quarrelled with everybody. yet ritson was a scrupulously honest man; he was so vulgarly sturdy in his honesty that he would make all folk tell the truth even though the truth were of such a character as to bring the blush of shame to the devil's hardened cheek. on the other hand, percy believed that there were certain true things which should not be opened out in the broad light of day; it was this deep-seated conviction which kept him from publishing the manuscript folio, a priceless treasure, which ritson never saw and which, had it fallen in ritson's way instead of percy's, would have been clapped at once into the hands of the printer. how fortunate it is for us that we have in our time so great a scholar as francis james child, so enamored of balladry and so learned in it, to complete and finish the work of his predecessors. i count myself happy that i have heard from the lips of this enthusiast several of the rarest and noblest of the old british and old scottish ballads; and i recall with pride that he complimented me upon my spirited vocal rendering of "burd isabel and sir patrick," "lang johnny more," "the duke o' gordon's daughter," and two or three other famous songs which i had learned while sojourning among the humbler classes in the north of england. after paying our compliments to the robin hood garlands, to scott, to kirkpatrick sharpe, to ritson, to buchan, to motherwell, to laing, to christie, to jamieson, and to the other famous lovers and compilers of balladry, we fell to discoursing of french song and of the service that francis mahony performed for english-speaking humanity when he exploited in his inimitable style those lyrics of the french and the italian people which are now ours as much as they are anybody else's. dear old beranger! what wonder that prout loved him, and what wonder that we all love him? i have thirty odd editions of his works, and i would walk farther to pick up a volume of his lyrics than i would walk to secure any other book, excepting of course a horace. beranger and i are old cronies. i have for the great master a particularly tender feeling, and all on account of fanchonette. but there--you know nothing of fanchonette, because i have not told you of her. she, too, should have been a book instead of the dainty, coquettish gallic maiden that she was. ix booksellers and printers, old and new judge methuen tells me that he fears what i have said about my bookseller will create the impression that i am unkindly disposed toward the bookselling craft. for the last fifty years i have had uninterrupted dealings with booksellers, and none knows better than the booksellers themselves that i particularly admire them as a class. visitors to my home have noticed that upon my walls are hung noble portraits of caxton, wynkin de worde, richard pynson, john wygthe, rayne wolfe, john daye, jacob tonson, richard johnes, john dunton, and other famous old printers and booksellers. i have, too, a large collection of portraits of modern booksellers, including a pen-and-ink sketch of quaritch, a line engraving of rimell, and a very excellent etching of my dear friend, the late henry stevens. one of the portraits is a unique, for i had it painted myself, and i have never permitted any copy to be made of it; it is of my bookseller, and it represents him in the garb of a fisherman, holding his rod and reel in one hand and the copy of the "compleat angler" in the other. mr. curwen speaks of booksellers as being "singularly thrifty, able, industrious, and persevering--in some few cases singularly venturesome, liberal, and kind-hearted." my own observation and experience have taught me that as a class booksellers are exceptionally intelligent, ranking with printers in respect to the variety and extent of their learning. they have, however, this distinct advantage over the printers--they are not brought in contact with the manifold temptations to intemperance and profligacy which environ the votaries of the art preservative of arts. horace smith has said that "were there no readers there certainly would be no writers; clearly, therefore, the existence of writers depends upon the existence of readers: and, of course, since the cause must be antecedent to the effect, readers existed before writers. yet, on the other hand, if there were no writers there could be no readers; so it would appear that writers must be antecedent to readers." it amazes me that a reasoner so shrewd, so clear, and so exacting as horace smith did not pursue the proposition further; for without booksellers there would have been no market for books--the author would not have been able to sell, and the reader would not have been able to buy. the further we proceed with the investigation the more satisfied we become that the original man was three of number, one of him being the bookseller, who established friendly relations between the other two of him, saying: "i will serve you both by inciting both a demand and a supply." so then the author did his part, and the reader his, which i take to be a much more dignified scheme than that suggested by darwin and his school of investigators. by the very nature of their occupation booksellers are broad-minded; their association with every class of humanity and their constant companionship with books give them a liberality that enables them to view with singular clearness and dispassionateness every phase of life and every dispensation of providence. they are not always practical, for the development of the spiritual and intellectual natures in man does not at the same time promote dexterity in the use of the baser organs of the body, i have known philosophers who could not harness a horse or even shoo chickens. ralph waldo emerson once consumed several hours' time trying to determine whether he should trundle a wheelbarrow by pushing it or by pulling it. a. bronson alcott once tried to construct a chicken coop, and he had boarded himself up inside the structure before he discovered that he had not provided for a door or for windows. we have all heard the story of isaac newton--how he cut two holes in his study-door, a large one for his cat to enter by, and a small one for the kitten. this unworldliness--this impossibility, if you please--is characteristic of intellectual progression. judge methuen's second son is named grolier; and the fact that he doesn't know enough to come in out of the rain has inspired both the judge and myself with the conviction that in due time grolier will become a great philosopher. the mention of this revered name reminds me that my bookseller told me the other day that just before i entered his shop a wealthy patron of the arts and muses called with a volume which he wished to have rebound. "i can send it to paris or to london," said my bookseller. "if you have no choice of binder, i will entrust it to zaehnsdorf with instructions to lavish his choicest art upon it." "but indeed i have a choice," cried the plutocrat, proudly. "i noticed a large number of grolier bindings at the art institute last week, and i want something of the same kind myself. send the book to grolier, and tell him to do his prettiest by it, for i can stand the expense, no matter what it is." somewhere in his admirable discourse old walton has stated the theory that an angler must be born and then made. i have always held the same to be true of the bookseller. there are many, too many, charlatans in the trade; the simon-pure bookseller enters upon and conducts bookselling not merely as a trade and for the purpose of amassing riches, but because he loves books and because he has pleasure in diffusing their gracious influences. judge methuen tells me that it is no longer the fashion to refer to persons or things as being "simon-pure"; the fashion, as he says, passed out some years ago when a writer in a german paper "was led into an amusing blunder by an english review. the reviewer, having occasion to draw a distinction between george and robert cruikshank, spoke of the former as the real simon pure. the german, not understanding the allusion, gravely told his readers that george cruikshank was a pseudonym, the author's real name being simon pure." this incident is given in henry b. wheatley's "literary blunders," a very charming book, but one that could have been made more interesting to me had it recorded the curious blunder which frederick saunders makes in his "story of some famous books." on page we find this information: "among earlier american bards we instance dana, whose imaginative poem 'the culprit fay,' so replete with poetic beauty, is a fairy tale of the highlands of the hudson. the origin of the poem is traced to a conversation with cooper, the novelist, and fitz-greene halleck, the poet, who, speaking of the scottish streams and their legendary associations, insisted that the american rivers were not susceptible of like poetic treatment. dana thought otherwise, and to make his position good produced three days after this poem." it may be that saunders wrote the name drake, for it was james rodman drake who did "the culprit fay." perhaps it was the printer's fault that the poem is accredited to dana. perhaps mr. saunders writes so legible a hand that the printers are careless with his manuscript. "there is," says wheatley, "there is a popular notion among authors that it is not wise to write a clear hand. menage was one of the first to express it. he wrote: 'if you desire that no mistake shall appear in the works which you publish, never send well-written copy to the printer, for in that case the manuscript is given to young apprentices, who make a thousand errors; while, on the other hand, that which is difficult to read is dealt with by the master-printers.'" the most distressing blunder i ever read in print was made at the time of the burial of the famous antiquary and litterateur, john payne collier. in the london newspapers of sept. , , it was reported that "the remains of the late mr. john payne collier were interred yesterday in bray churchyard, near maidenhead, in the presence of a large number of spectators." thereupon the eastern daily press published the following remarkable perversion: "the bray colliery disaster. the remains of the late john payne, collier, were interred yesterday afternoon in the bray churchyard in the presence of a large number of friends and spectators." far be it from the book-lover and the book-collector to rail at blunders, for not unfrequently these very blunders make books valuable. who cares for a pine's horace that does not contain the "potest" error? the genuine first edition of hawthorne's "scarlet letter" is to be determined by the presence of a certain typographical slip in the introduction. the first edition of the english scriptures printed in ireland ( ) is much desired by collectors, and simply because of an error. isaiah bids us "sin no more," but the belfast printer, by some means or another, transposed the letters in such wise as to make the injunction read "sin on more." the so-called wicked bible is a book that is seldom met with, and, therefore, in great demand. it was printed in the time of charles i., and it is notorious because it omits the adverb "not" in its version of the seventh commandment; the printers were fined a large sum for this gross error. six copies of the wicked bible are known to be in existence. at one time the late james lenox had two copies; in his interesting memoirs henry stevens tells how he picked up one copy in paris for fifty guineas. rabelais' printer got the satirical doctor into deep water for printing asne for ame; the council of the sorbonne took the matter up and asked francis i. to prosecute rabelais for heresy; this the king declined to do, and rabelais proceeded forthwith to torment the council for having founded a charge of heresy upon a printer's blunder. once upon a time the foulis printing establishment at glasgow determined to print a perfect horace; accordingly the proof sheets were hung up at the gates of the university, and a sum of money was paid for every error detected. notwithstanding these precautions the edition had six uncorrected errors in it when it was finally published. disraeli says that the so-called pearl bible had six thousand errata! the works of picus of mirandula, strasburg, , gave a list of errata covering fifteen folio pages, and a worse case is that of "missae ac missalis anatomia" ( ), a volume of one hundred and seventy-two pages, fifteen of which are devoted to the errata. the author of the missae felt so deeply aggrieved by this array of blunders that he made a public explanation to the effect that the devil himself stole the manuscript, tampered with it, and then actually compelled the printer to misread it. i am not sure that this ingenious explanation did not give origin to the term of "printer's devil." it is frightful to think what nonsense sometimes they make of one's sense and, what's worse, of one's rhymes. it was only last week, in my ode upon spring, which i meant to have made a most beautiful thing, when i talked of the dewdrops from freshly blown roses, the nasty things made it from freshly blown noses. we can fancy richard porson's rage (for porson was of violent temper) when, having written the statement that "the crowd rent the air with their shouts," his printer made the line read "the crowd rent the air with their snouts." however, this error was a natural one, since it occurs in the "catechism of the swinish multitude." royalty only are privileged when it comes to the matter of blundering. when louis xiv. was a boy he one day spoke of "un carosse"; he should have said "une carosse," but he was king, and having changed the gender of carosse the change was accepted, and unto this day carosse is masculine. that errors should occur in newspapers is not remarkable, for much of the work in a newspaper office is done hastily. yet some of these errors are very amusing. i remember to have read in a berlin newspaper a number of years ago that "prince bismarck is trying to keep up honest and straightforward relations with all the girls" (madchen). this statement seemed incomprehensible until it transpired that the word "madchen" was in this instance a misprint for "machten," a word meaning all the european powers. x when fanchonette bewitched me the garden in which i am straying has so many diversions to catch my eye, to engage my attention and to inspire reminiscence that i find it hard to treat of its beauties methodically. i find myself wandering up and down, hither and thither, in so irresponsible a fashion that i marvel you have not abandoned me as the most irrational of madmen. yet how could it be otherwise? all around me i see those things that draw me from the pathway i set out to pursue: like a heedless butterfly i flit from this sweet unto that, glorying and revelling in the sunshine and the posies. there is little that is selfish in a love like this, and herein we have another reason why the passion for books is beneficial. he who loves women must and should love some one woman above the rest, and he has her to his keeping, which i esteem to be one kind of selfishness. but he who truly loves books loves all books alike, and not only this, but it grieves him that all other men do not share with him this noble passion. verily, this is the most unselfish of loves! to return now to the matter of booksellers, i would fain impress you with the excellences of the craft, for i know their virtues. my association with them has covered so long a period and has been so intimate that even in a vast multitude of people i have no difficulty in determining who are the booksellers and who are not. for, having to do with books, these men in due time come to resemble their wares not only in appearance but also in conversation. my bookseller has dwelt so long in his corner with folios and quartos and other antique tomes that he talks in black-letter and has the modest, engaging look of a brown old stout binding, and to the delectation of discriminating olfactories he exhaleth an odor of mildew and of tobacco commingled, which is more grateful to the true bibliophile than all the perfumes of araby. i have studied the craft so diligently that by merely clapping my eyes upon a bookseller i can tell you with certainty what manner of books he sells; but you must know that the ideal bookseller has no fads, being equally proficient in and a lover of all spheres, departments, branches, and lines of his art. he is, moreover, of a benignant nature, and he denies credit to none; yet, withal, he is righteously so discriminating that he lets the poor scholar have for a paltry sum that which the rich parvenu must pay dearly for. he is courteous and considerate where courtesy and consideration are most seemly. samuel johnson once rolled into a london bookseller's shop to ask for literary employment. the bookseller scrutinized his burly frame, enormous hands, coarse face, and humble apparel. "you would make a better porter," said he. this was too much for the young lexicographer's patience. he picked up a folio and incontinently let fly at the bookseller's head, and then stepping over the prostrate victim he made his exit, saying: "lie there, thou lump of lead!" this bookseller was osborne, who had a shop at gray's inn gate. to boswell johnson subsequently explained: "sir, he was impertinent to me, and i beat him." jacob tonson was dryden's bookseller; in the earlier times a seller was also a publisher of books. dryden was not always on amiable terms with tonson, presumably because dryden invariably was in debt to tonson. on one occasion dryden asked for an advance of money, but tonson refused upon the grounds that the poet's overdraft already exceeded the limits of reasonableness. thereupon dryden penned the following lines and sent them to tonson with the message that he who wrote these lines could write more: with leering looks, bull-faced and freckled fair with two left legs, with judas-colored hair, and frowzy pores that taint the ambient air. these lines wrought the desired effect: tonson sent the money which dryden had asked for. when dryden died tonson made overtures to pope, but the latter soon went over to tonson's most formidable rival, bernard lintot. on one occasion pope happened to be writing to both publishers, and by a curious blunder he inclosed to each the letter intended for the other. in the letter meant for tonson, he said that lintot was a scoundrel, and in the letter meant for lintot he declared that tonson was an old rascal. we can fancy how little satisfaction messrs. lintot and tonson derived from the perusal of these missent epistles. andrew millar was the publisher who had practical charge of the production of johnson's dictionary. it seems that johnson drew out his stipulated honorarium of eight thousand dollars (to be more exact, l ) before the dictionary went to press; this is not surprising, for the work of preparation consumed eight years, instead of three, as johnson had calculated. johnson inquired of the messenger what millar said when he received the last batch of copy. the messenger answered: "he said 'thank god i have done with him.'" this made johnson smile. "i am glad," said he, quietly, "that he thanks god for anything." i was not done with my discourse when a book was brought in from judge methuen; the interruption was a pleasant one. "i was too busy last evening," writes the judge, "to bring you this volume which i picked up in a la salle street stall yesterday. i know your love for the scallawag villon, so i am sure you will fancy the lines which, evidently, the former owner of this book has scribbled upon the fly-leaf." fancy them? indeed i do; and if you dote on the "scallawag" as i dote on him you also will declare that our anonymous poet has not wrought ill. francois villon if i were francois villon and francois villon i, what would it matter to me how the time might drag or fly? he would in sweaty anguish toil the days and nights away, and still not keep the prowling, growling, howling wolf at bay! but, with my valiant bottle and my frouzy brevet-bride, and my score of loyal cut-throats standing guard for me outside, what worry of the morrow would provoke a casual sigh if i were francois villon and francois villon i? if i were francois villon and francois villon i, to yonder gloomy boulevard at midnight i would hie; "stop, stranger! and deliver your possessions, ere you feel the mettle of my bludgeon or the temper of my steel!" he should give me gold and diamonds, his snuff-box and his cane-- "now back, my boon companions, to our bordel with our gain!" and, back within that brothel, how the bottles they would fly, if i were francois villon and francois villon i! if i were francois villon and francois villon i, we both would mock the gibbet which the law has lifted high; he in his meagre, shabby home, _i_ in my roaring den-- he with his babes around him, _i_ with my hunted men! his virtue be his bulwark--my genius should be mine!-- "go, fetch my pen, sweet margot, and a jorum of your wine! . . . . . . . so would one vainly plod, and one win immortality-- if i were francois villon and francois villon i! my acquaintance with master villon was made in paris during my second visit to that fascinating capital, and for a while i was under his spell to that extent that i would read no book but his, and i made journeys to rouen, tours, bordeaux, and poitiers for the purpose of familiarizing myself with the spots where he had lived, and always under the surveillance of the police. in fact, i became so infatuated of villonism that at one time i seriously thought of abandoning myself to a life of crime in order to emulate in certain particulars at least the example of my hero. there were, however, hindrances to this scheme, first of which was my inability to find associates whom i wished to attach to my cause in the capacity in which colin de cayeulx and the baron de grigny served master francois. i sought the companionship of several low-browed, ill-favored fellows whom i believed suited to my purposes, but almost immediately i wearied of them, for they had never looked into a book and were so profoundly ignorant as to be unable to distinguish between a folio and a thirty-twomo. then again it befell that, while the villon fever was raging within and i was contemplating a career of vice, i had a letter from my uncle cephas, apprising me that captivity waite (she was now mrs. eliphalet parker) had named her first-born after me! this intelligence had the effect of cooling and sobering me; i began to realize that, with the responsibility the coming and the christening of captivity's first-born had imposed upon me, it behooved me to guard with exceeding jealousy the honor of the name which my namesake bore. while i was thus tempest-tossed, fanchonette came across my pathway, and with the appearance of fanchonette every ambition to figure in the annals of bravado left me. fanchonette was the niece of my landlady; her father was a perfumer; she lived with the old people in the rue des capucins. she was of middling stature and had blue eyes and black hair. had she not been french, she would have been irish, or, perhaps, a grecian. her manner had an indefinable charm. it was she who acquainted me with beranger; that is why i never take up that precious volume that i do not think, sweetly and tenderly, of fanchonette. the book is bound, as you see, in a dainty blue, and the border toolings are delicate tracings of white--all for a purpose, i can assure you. she used to wear a dainty blue gown, from behind the nether hem of which the most immaculate of petticoats peeped out. if we were never boys, how barren and lonely our age would be. next to the ineffably blessed period of youth there is no time of life pleasanter than that in which serene old age reviews the exploits and the prodigies of boyhood. ah, my gay fellows, harvest your crops diligently, that your barns and granaries be full when your arms are no longer able to wield the sickle! haec meminisse--to recall the old time--to see her rise out of the dear past--to hear fanchonette's voice again--to feel the grace of springtime--how gloriously sweet this is! the little quarrels, the reconciliations, the coquetries, the jealousies, the reproaches, the forgivenesses--all the characteristic and endearing haps of the maytime of life--precious indeed are these retrospections to the hungry eyes of age! she wed with the perfumer's apprentice; but that was so very long ago that i can pardon, if not forget, the indiscretion. who knows where she is to-day? perhaps a granny beldame in a parisian alley; perhaps for years asleep in pere la chaise. come forth, beloved beranger, and sing me the old song to make me young and strong and brave again! let them be served on gold-- the wealthy and the great; two lovers only want a single glass and plate! ring ding, ring ding, ring ding ding-- old wine, young lassie, sing, boys, sing! xi diagnosis of the bacillus librorum for a good many years i was deeply interested in british politics. i was converted to liberalism, so-called, by an incident which i deem well worth relating. one afternoon i entered a book-shop in high holborn, and found that the hon. william e. gladstone had preceded me thither. i had never seen mr. gladstone before. i recognized him now by his resemblance to the caricatures, and by his unlikeness to the portraits which the newspapers had printed. as i entered the shop i heard the bookseller ask: "what books shall i send?" to this, with a very magnificent sweep of his arms indicating every point of the compass, gladstone made answer: "send me those!" with these words he left the place, and i stepped forward to claim a volume which had attracted my favorable attention several days previous. "i beg your pardon, sir," said the bookseller, politely, "but that book is sold." "sold?" i cried. "yes, sir," replied the bookseller, smiling with evident pride; "mr. gladstone just bought it; i haven't a book for sale--mr. gladstone just bought them all!" the bookseller then proceeded to tell me that whenever gladstone entered a bookshop he made a practice of buying everything in sight. that magnificent, sweeping gesture of his comprehended everything--theology, history, social science, folk-lore, medicine, travel, biography--everything that came to his net was fish! "this is the third time mr. gladstone has visited me," said the bookseller, "and this is the third time he has cleaned me out." "this man is a good man," says i to myself. "so notable a lover of books surely cannot err. the cause of home rule must be a just one after all." from others intimately acquainted with him i learned that gladstone was an omnivorous reader; that he ordered his books by the cart-load, and that his home in hawarden literally overflowed with books. he made a practice, i was told, of overhauling his library once in so often and of weeding out such volumes as he did not care to keep. these discarded books were sent to the second-hand dealers, and it is said that the dealers not unfrequently took advantage of gladstone by reselling him over and over again (and at advanced prices, too) the very lots of books he had culled out and rejected. every book-lover has his own way of buying; so there are as many ways of buying as there are purchasers. however, judge methuen and i have agreed that all buyers may be classed in these following specified grand divisions: the reckless buyer. the shrewd buyer. the timid buyer. of these three classes the third is least worthy of our consideration, although it includes very many lovers of books, and consequently very many friends of mine. i have actually known men to hesitate, to ponder, to dodder for weeks, nay, months over the purchase of a book; not because they did not want it, nor because they deemed the price exorbitant, nor yet because they were not abundantly able to pay that price. their hesitancy was due to an innate, congenital lack of determination--that same hideous curse of vacillation which is responsible for so much misery in human life. i have made a study of these people, and i find that most of them are bachelors whose state of singleness is due to the fact that the same hesitancy which has deprived them of many a coveted volume has operated to their discomfiture in the matrimonial sphere. while they deliberated, another bolder than they came along and walked off with the prize. one of the gamest buyers i know of was the late john a. rice of chicago. as a competitor at the great auction sales he was invincible; and why? because, having determined to buy a book, he put no limit to the amount of his bid. his instructions to his agent were in these words: "i must have those books, no matter what they cost." an english collector found in rice's library a set of rare volumes he had been searching for for years. "how did you happen to get them?" he asked. "you bought them at the spencer sale and against my bid. do you know, i told my buyer to bid a thousand pounds for them, if necessary!" "that was where i had the advantage of you," said rice, quietly. "i specified no limit; i simply told my man to buy the books." the spirit of the collector cropped out early in rice. i remember to have heard him tell how one time, when he was a young man, he was shuffling over a lot of tracts in a bin in front of a boston bookstall. his eye suddenly fell upon a little pamphlet entitled "the cow-chace." he picked it up and read it. it was a poem founded upon the defeat of generals wayne, irving, and proctor. the last stanza ran in this wise: and now i've closed my epic strain, i tremble as i show it, lest this same warrior-drover, wayne, should ever catch the poet. rice noticed that the pamphlet bore the imprint of james rivington, new york, . it occurred to him that some time this modest tract of eighteen pages might be valuable; at any rate, he paid the fifteen cents demanded for it, and at the same time he purchased for ten cents another pamphlet entitled "the american tories, a satire." twenty years later, having learned the value of these exceedingly rare tracts, mr. rice sent them to london and had them bound in francis bedford's best style--"crimson crushed levant morocco, finished to a grolier pattern." bedford's charges amounted to seventy-five dollars, which with the original cost of the pamphlets represented an expenditure of seventy-five dollars and twenty-five cents upon mr. rice's part. at the sale of the rice library in , however, this curious, rare, and beautiful little book brought the extraordinary sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars! the rice library contained about five thousand volumes, and it realized at auction sale somewhat more than seventy-two thousand dollars. rice has often told me that for a long time he could not make up his mind to part with his books; yet his health was so poor that he found it imperative to retire from business, and to devote a long period of time to travel; these were the considerations that induced him finally to part with his treasures. "i have never regretted having sold them," he said. "two years after the sale the chicago fire came along. had i retained those books, every one of them would have been lost." mrs. rice shared her husband's enthusiasm for books. whenever a new invoice arrived, the two would lock themselves in their room, get down upon their knees on the floor, open the box, take out the treasures and gloat over them, together! noble lady! she was such a wife as any good man might be proud of. they were very happy in their companionship on earth, were my dear old friends. he was the first to go; their separation was short; together once more and forever they share the illimitable joys which await all lovers of good books when virtue hath mournfully writ the colophon to their human careers. although mr. rice survived the sale of his remarkable library a period of twenty-six years, he did not get together again a collection of books that he was willing to call a library. his first collection was so remarkable that he preferred to have his fame rest wholly upon it. perhaps he was wise; yet how few collectors there are who would have done as he did. as for myself, i verily believe that, if by fire or by water my library should be destroyed this night, i should start in again to-morrow upon the collection of another library. or if i did not do this, i should lay myself down to die, for how could i live without the companionships to which i have ever been accustomed, and which have grown as dear to me as life itself? whenever judge methuen is in a jocular mood and wishes to tease me, he asks me whether i have forgotten the time when i was possessed of a spirit of reform and registered a solemn vow in high heaven to buy no more books. teasing, says victor hugo, is the malice of good men; judge methuen means no evil when he recalls that weakness--the one weakness in all my career. no, i have not forgotten that time; i look back upon it with a shudder of horror, for wretched indeed would have been my existence had i carried into effect the project i devised at that remote period! dr. o'rell has an interesting theory which you will find recorded in the published proceedings of the national academy of sciences (vol. xxxiv., p. ). or, if you cannot procure copies of that work, it may serve your purpose to know that the doctor's theory is to this effect--viz., that bibliomania does not deserve the name of bibliomania until it is exhibited in the second stage. for secondary bibliomania there is no known cure; the few cases reported as having been cured were doubtless not bibliomania at all, or, at least, were what we of the faculty call false or chicken bibliomania. "in false bibliomania, which," says dr. o'rell, "is the primary stage of the grand passion--the vestibule to the main edifice--the usual symptoms are flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes, a bounding pulse, and quick respiration. this period of exaltation is not unfrequently followed by a condition of collapse in which we find the victim pale, pulseless, and dejected. he is pursued and tormented of imaginary horrors, he reproaches himself for imaginary crimes, and he implores piteously for relief from fancied dangers. the sufferer now stands in a slippery place; unless his case is treated intelligently he will issue from that period of gloom cured of the sweetest of madnesses, and doomed to a life of singular uselessness. "but properly treated," continues dr. o'rell, "and particularly if his spiritual needs be ministered to, he can be brought safely through this period of collapse into a condition of reenforced exaltation, which is the true, or secondary stage of, bibliomania, and for which there is no cure known to humanity." i should trust dr. o'rell's judgment in this matter, even if i did not know from experience that it was true. for dr. o'rell is the most famous authority we have in bibliomania and kindred maladies. it is he (i make the information known at the risk of offending the ethics of the profession)--it is he who discovered the bacillus librorum, and, what is still more important and still more to his glory, it is he who invented that subtle lymph which is now everywhere employed by the profession as a diagnostic where the presence of the germs of bibliomania (in other words, bacilli librorum) is suspected. i once got this learned scientist to inject a milligram of the lymph into the femoral artery of miss susan's cat. within an hour the precocious beast surreptitiously entered my library for the first time in her life, and ate the covers of my pet edition of rabelais. this demonstrated to dr. o'rell's satisfaction the efficacy of his diagnostic, and it proved to judge methuen's satisfaction what the judge has always maintained--viz., that rabelais was an old rat. xii the pleasures of extra-illustration very many years ago we became convinced--judge methuen and i did--that there was nothing new in the world. i think it was while we were in london and while we were deep in the many fads of bibliomania that we arrived at this important conclusion. we had been pursuing with enthusiasm the exciting delights of extra-illustration, a practice sometimes known as grangerism; the friends of the practice call it by the former name, the enemies by the latter. we were engaged at extra-illustrating boswell's life of johnson, and had already got together somewhat more than eleven thousand prints when we ran against a snag, an obstacle we never could surmount. we agreed that our work would be incomplete, and therefore vain, unless we secured a picture of the book with which the great lexicographer knocked down osborne, the bookseller at gray's inn gate. unhappily we were wholly in the dark as to what the title of that book was, and, although we ransacked the british museum and even appealed to the learned frognall dibdin, we could not get a clew to the identity of the volume. to be wholly frank with you, i will say that both the judge and i had wearied of the occupation; moreover, it involved great expense, since we were content with nothing but india proofs (those before letters preferred). so we were glad of this excuse for abandoning the practice. while we were contemplating a graceful retreat the judge happened to discover in the "natural history" of pliny a passage which proved to our satisfaction that, so far from being a new or a modern thing, the extra-illustration of books was of exceptional antiquity. it seems that atticus, the friend of cicero, wrote a book on the subject of portraits and portrait-painting, in the course of which treatise he mentions that marcus varro "conceived the very liberal idea of inserting, by some means or another, in his numerous volumes, the portraits of several hundred individuals, as he could not bear the idea that all traces of their features should be lost or that the lapse of centuries should get the better of mankind." "thus," says pliny, "was he the inventor of a benefit to his fellow-men that might have been envied by the gods themselves; for not only did he confer immortality upon the originals of these portraits, but he transmitted these portraits to all parts of the earth, so that everywhere it might be possible for them to be present, and for each to occupy his niche." now, pliny is not the only one who has contributed to the immortalization of marcus varro. i have had among my papers for thirty years the verses which judge methuen dashed off (for poets invariably dash off their poetry), and they are such pleasant verses that i don't mind letting the world see them. marcus varro marcus varro went up and down the places where old books were sold; he ransacked all the shops in town for pictures new and pictures old. he gave the folk of earth no peace; snooping around by day and night, he plied the trade in rome and greece of an insatiate grangerite. "pictures!" was evermore his cry-- "pictures of old or recent date," and pictures only would he buy wherewith to "extra-illustrate." full many a tome of ancient type and many a manuscript he took, for nary purpose but to swipe their pictures for some other book. while marcus varro plied his fad there was not in the shops of greece a book or pamphlet to be had that was not minus frontispiece. nor did he hesitate to ply his baleful practices at home; it was not possible to buy a perfect book in all of rome! what must the other folk have done-- who, glancing o'er the books they bought, came soon and suddenly upon the vandalism varro wrought! how must their cheeks have flamed with red-- how did their hearts with choler beat! we can imagine what they said-- we can imagine, not repeat! where are the books that varro made-- the pride of dilettante rome-- with divers portraitures inlaid swiped from so many another tome? the worms devoured them long ago-- o wretched worms! ye should have fed not on the books "extended" so, but on old varro's flesh instead! alas, that marcus varro lives and is a potent factor yet! alas, that still his practice gives good men occasion for regret! to yonder bookstall, pri'thee, go, and by the "missing" prints and plates and frontispieces you shall know he lives, and "extra-illustrates"! in justice to the judge and to myself i should say that neither of us wholly approves the sentiment which the poem i have quoted implies. we regard grangerism as one of the unfortunate stages in bibliomania; it is a period which seldom covers more than five years, although dr. o'rell has met with one case in his practice that has lasted ten years and still gives no symptom of abating in virulence. humanity invariably condones the pranks of youth on the broad and charitable grounds that "boys will be boys"; so we bibliomaniacs are prone to wink at the follies of the grangerite, for we know that he will know better by and by and will heartily repent of the mischief he has done. we know the power of books so well that we know that no man can have to do with books that presently he does not love them. he may at first endure them; then he may come only to pity them; anon, as surely as the morrow's sun riseth, he shall embrace and love those precious things. so we say that we would put no curb upon any man, it being better that many books should be destroyed, if ultimately by that destruction a penitent and loyal soul be added to the roster of bibliomaniacs. there is more joy over one grangerite that repenteth than over ninety and nine just men that need no repentance. and we have a similar feeling toward such of our number as for the nonce become imbued with a passion for any of the other little fads which bibliomaniac flesh is heir to. all the soldiers in an army cannot be foot, or horse, or captains, or majors, or generals, or artillery, or ensigns, or drummers, or buglers. each one has his place to fill and his part to do, and the consequence is a concinnate whole. bibliomania is beautiful as an entirety, as a symmetrical blending of a multitude of component parts, and he is indeed disloyal to the cause who, through envy or shortsightedness or ignorance, argues to the discredit of angling, or napoleonana, or balladry, or indians, or burns, or americana, or any other branch or phase of bibliomania; for each of these things accomplishes a noble purpose in that each contributes to the glory of the great common cause of bibliomania, which is indeed the summum bonum of human life. i have heard many decried who indulged their fancy for bookplates, as if, forsooth, if a man loved his books, he should not lavish upon them testimonials of his affection! who that loves his wife should hesitate to buy adornments for her person? i favor everything that tends to prove that the human heart is swayed by the tenderer emotions. gratitude is surely one of the noblest emotions of which humanity is capable, and he is indeed unworthy of our respect who would forbid humanity's expressing in every dignified and reverential manner its gratitude for the benefits conferred by the companionship of books. as for myself, i urge upon all lovers of books to provide themselves with bookplates. whenever i see a book that bears its owner's plate i feel myself obligated to treat that book with special consideration. it carries with it a certificate of its master's love; the bookplate gives the volume a certain status it would not otherwise have. time and again i have fished musty books out of bins in front of bookstalls, bought them and borne them home with me simply because they had upon their covers the bookplates of their former owners. i have a case filled with these aristocratic estrays, and i insist that they shall be as carefully dusted and kept as my other books, and i have provided in my will for their perpetual maintenance after my decease. if i were a rich man i should found a hospital for homeless aristocratic books, an institution similar in all essential particulars to the institution which is now operated at our national capital under the bequest of the late mr. cochrane. i should name it the home for genteel volumes in decayed circumstances. i was a young man when i adopted the bookplate which i am still using, and which will be found in all my books. i drew the design myself and had it executed by a son of anderson, the first of american engravers. it is by no means elaborate: a book rests upon a heart, and underneath appear the lines: my book and heart must never part. ah, little puritan maid, with thy dear eyes of honest blue and thy fair hair in proper plaits adown thy back, little thought we that springtime long ago back among the new england hills that the tiny book we read together should follow me through all my life! what a part has that primer played! and now all these other beloved companions bear witness to the love i bear that primer and its teachings, for each wears the emblem i plucked from its homely pages. that was in the springtime, captivity waite; anon came summer, with all its exuberant glory, and presently the cheery autumn stole upon me. and now it is the winter-time, and under the snows lies buried many a sweet, fair thing i cherished once. i am aweary and will rest a little while; lie thou there, my pen, for a dream--a pleasant dream--calleth me away. i shall see those distant hills again, and the homestead under the elms; the old associations and the old influences shall be round about me, and a child shall lead me and we shall go together through green pastures and by still waters. and, o my pen, it will be the springtime again! xiii on the odors which my books exhale have you ever come out of the thick, smoky atmosphere of the town into the fragrant, gracious atmosphere of a library? if you have, you know how grateful the change is, and you will agree with me when i say that nothing else is so quieting to the nerves, so conducive to physical health, and so quick to restore a lively flow of the spirits. lafcadio hearn once wrote a treatise upon perfumes, an ingenious and scholarly performance; he limited the edition to fifty copies and published it privately--so the book is rarely met with. curiously enough, however, this author had nothing to say in the book about the smells of books, which i regard as a most unpardonable error, unless, properly estimating the subject to be worthy of a separate treatise, he has postponed its consideration and treatment to a time when he can devote the requisite study and care to it. we have it upon the authority of william blades that books breathe; however, the testimony of experts is not needed upon this point, for if anybody be sceptical, all he has to do to convince himself is to open a door of a bookcase at any time and his olfactories will be greeted by an outrush of odors that will prove to him beyond all doubt that books do actually consume air and exhale perfumes. visitors to the british museum complain not unfrequently that they are overcome by the closeness of the atmosphere in that place, and what is known as the british museum headache has come to be recognized by the medical profession in london as a specific ailment due to the absence of oxygen in the atmosphere, which condition is caused by the multitude of books, each one of which, by that breathing process peculiar to books, consumes several thousand cubic feet of air every twenty-four hours. professor huxley wondered for a long time why the atmosphere of the british museum should be poisonous while other libraries were free from the poison; a series of experiments convinced him that the presence of poison in the atmosphere was due to the number of profane books in the museum. he recommended that these poison-engendering volumes be treated once every six months with a bath of cedria, which, as i understand, is a solution of the juices of the cedar tree; this, he said, would purge the mischievous volumes temporarily of their evil propensities and abilities. i do not know whether this remedy is effective, but i remember to have read in pliny that cedria was used by the ancients to render their manuscripts imperishable. when cneius terentius went digging in his estate in the janiculum he came upon a coffer which contained not only the remains of numa, the old roman king, but also the manuscripts of the famous laws which numa compiled. the king was in some such condition as you might suppose him to be after having been buried several centuries, but the manuscripts were as fresh as new, and their being so is said to have been due to the fact that before their burial they were rubbed with citrus leaves. these so-called books of numa would perhaps have been preserved unto this day but for the fanaticism of the people who exhumed and read them; they were promptly burned by quintus petilius, the praetor, because (as cassius hemina explains) they treated of philosophical subjects, or because, as livy testifies, their doctrines were inimical to the religion then existing. as i have had little to do with profane literature, i know nothing of the habits of such books as professor huxley has prescribed an antidote against. of such books as i have gathered about me and made my constant companions i can say truthfully that a more delectable-flavored lot it were impossible to find. as i walk amongst them, touching first this one and then that, and regarding all with glances of affectionate approval, i fancy that i am walking in a splendid garden, full of charming vistas, wherein parterre after parterre of beautiful flowers is unfolded to my enraptured vision; and surely there never were other odors so delightful as the odors which my books exhale! my garden aboundeth in pleasant nooks and fragrance is over it all; for sweet is the smell of my old, old books in their places against the wall. here is a folio that's grim with age and yellow and green with mould; there's the breath of the sea on every page and the hint of a stanch ship's hold. and here is a treasure from france la belle exhaleth a faint perfume of wedded lily and asphodel in a garden of song abloom. and this wee little book of puritan mien and rude, conspicuous print hath the yankee flavor of wintergreen, or, may be, of peppermint. in walton the brooks a-babbling tell where the cheery daisy grows, and where in meadow or woodland dwell the buttercup and the rose. but best beloved of books, i ween, are those which one perceives are hallowed by ashes dropped between the yellow, well-thumbed leaves. for it's here a laugh and it's there a tear, till the treasured book is read; and the ashes betwixt the pages here tell us of one long dead. but the gracious presence reappears as we read the book again, and the fragrance of precious, distant years filleth the hearts of men come, pluck with me in my garden nooks the posies that bloom for all; oh, sweet is the smell of my old, old books in their places against the wall! better than flowers are they, these books of mine! for what are the seasons to them? neither can the drought of summer nor the asperity of winter wither or change them. at all times and under all circumstances they are the same--radiant, fragrant, hopeful, helpful! there is no charm which they do not possess, no beauty that is not theirs. what wonder is it that from time immemorial humanity has craved the boon of carrying to the grave some book particularly beloved in life? even numa pompilius provided that his books should share his tomb with him. twenty-four of these precious volumes were consigned with him to the grave. when gabriel rossetti's wife died, the poet cast into her open grave the unfinished volume of his poems, that being the last and most precious tribute he could pay to her cherished memory. history records instance after instance of the consolation dying men have received from the perusal of books, and many a one has made his end holding in his hands a particularly beloved volume. the reverence which even unlearned men have for books appeals in these splendid libraries which are erected now and again with funds provided by the wills of the illiterate. how dreadful must be the last moments of that person who has steadfastly refused to share the companionship and acknowledge the saving grace of books! such, indeed, is my regard for these friendships that it is with misery that i contemplate the probability of separation from them by and by. i have given my friends to understand that when i am done with earth certain of my books shall be buried with me. the list of these books will be found in the left-hand upper drawer of the old mahogany secretary in the front spare room. when i am done, i'd have no son pounce on these treasures like a vulture; nay, give them half my epitaph and let them share in my sepulture. then when the crack of doom rolls back the marble and the earth that hide me, i'll smuggle home each precious tome without a fear a wife shall chide me. the dread of being separated by death from the objects of one's love has pursued humanity from the beginning. the hindoos used to have a selfish fashion of requiring their widows to be entombed alive with their corpses. the north american indian insists that his horse, his bow and arrows, his spear, and his other cherished trinkets shall share his grave with him. my sister, miss susan, has provided that after her demise a number of her most prized curios shall be buried with her. the list, as i recall it, includes a mahogany four-post bedstead, an empire dresser, a brass warming-pan, a pair of brass andirons, a louis quinze table, a mayflower teapot, a tomb of washington platter, a pewter tankard, a pair of her grandmother's candlesticks, a paul revere lantern, a tall dutch clock, a complete suit of armor purchased in rome, and a collection of japanese bric-a-brac presented to miss susan by a returned missionary. i do not see what miss susan can possibly do with all this trumpery in the hereafter, but, if i survive her, i shall certainly insist upon a compliance with her wishes, even though it involve the erection of a tumulus as prodigious as the pyramid of cheops. xiv elzevirs and divers other matters boswell's "life of johnson" and lockhart's "life of scott" are accepted as the models of biography. the third remarkable performance in this line is mrs. gordon's memoir of her father, john wilson, a volume so charmingly and tenderly written as to be of interest to those even who know and care little about that era in the history of english literature in which "crusty christopher" and his associates in the making of "blackwood's" figured. it is a significant fact, i think, that the three greatest biographers the world has known should have been scotch; it has long been the fashion to laugh and to sneer at what is called scotch dulness; yet what prodigies has not scotch genius performed in every department of literature, and would not our literature be poor indeed to-day but for the contributions which have been made to it by the very people whom we affect to deride? john wilson was one of the most interesting figures of a time when learning was at a premium; he was a big man amongst big men, and even in this irreverential time genius uncovers at the mention of his name. his versatility was astounding; with equal facility and felicity he could conduct a literary symposium and a cock-fight, a theological discussion and an angling expedition, a historical or a political inquiry and a fisticuffs. nature had provided him with a mighty brain in a powerful body; he had a physique equal to the performance of what suggestion soever his splendid intellectuals made. to him the incredible feat of walking seventy miles within the compass of a day was mere child's play; then, when the printer became clamorous, he would immure himself in his wonderful den and reel off copy until that printer cried "hold; enough!" it was no unusual thing for him to write for thirteen hours at a stretch; when he worked he worked, and when he played he played--that is perhaps the reason why he was never a dull boy. wilson seems to have been a procrastinator. he would put off his task to the very last moment; this is a practice that is common with literary men--in fact, it was encouraged by those who were regarded as authorities in such matters anciently. ringelbergius gave this advice to an author under his tuition: "tell the printers," said he, "to make preparations for a work you intend writing, and never alarm yourself about it because it is not even begun, for, after having announced it you may without difficulty trace out in your own head the whole plan of your work and its divisions, after which compose the arguments of the chapters, and i can assure you that in this manner you may furnish the printers daily with more copy than they want. but, remember, when you have once begun there must be no flagging till the work is finished." the loyalty of human admiration was never better illustrated than in shelton mackenzie's devotion to wilson's genius. to mackenzie we are indebted for a compilation of the "noctes ambrosianae," edited with such discrimination, such ability, such learning, and such enthusiasm that, it seems to me, the work must endure as a monument not only to wilson's but also to mackenzie's genius. i have noticed one peculiarity that distinguishes many admirers of the noctes: they seldom care to read anything else; in the noctes they find a response to the demand of every mood. it is much the same way with lovers of father prout. dr. o'rell divides his adoration between old kit north and the sage of watergrass hill. to be bitten of either mania is bad enough; when one is possessed at the same time of a passion both for the noctes and for the reliques hopeless indeed is his malady! dr. o'rell is so deep under the spell of crusty christopher and the corkonian pere that he not only buys every copy of the noctes and of the reliques he comes across, but insists upon giving copies of these books to everybody in his acquaintance. i have even known him to prescribe one or the other of these works to patients of his. i recall that upon one occasion, having lost an elzevir at a book auction, i was afflicted with melancholia to such a degree that i had to take to my bed. upon my physician's arrival he made, as is his custom, a careful inquiry into my condition and into the causes inducing it. finally, "you are afflicted," said dr. o'rell, "with the megrims, which, fortunately, is at present confined to the region of the pacchionian depressions of the sinister parietal. i shall administer father prout's 'rogueries of tom moore' (pronounced more) and kit north's debate with the ettrick shepherd upon the subject of sawmon. no other remedy will prove effective." the treatment did, in fact, avail me, for within forty-eight hours i was out of bed, and out of the house; and, what is better yet, i picked up at a bookstall, for a mere song, a first edition of "special providences in new england"! never, however, have i wholly ceased to regret the loss of the elzevir, for an elzevir is to me one of the most gladdening sights human eye can rest upon. in his life of the elder aldus, renouard says: "how few are there of those who esteem and pay so dearly for these pretty editions who know that the type that so much please them are the work of francis garamond, who cast them one hundred years before at paris." in his bibliographical notes (a volume seldom met with now) the learned william davis records that louis elzevir was the first who observed the distinction between the v consonant and the u vowel, which distinction, however, had been recommended long before by ramus and other writers, but had never been regarded. there were five of these elzevirs, viz.: louis, bonaventure, abraham, louis, jr., and daniel. a hundred years ago a famous bibliophile remarked: "the diminutiveness of a large portion, and the beauty of the whole, of the classics printed by the elzevirs at leyden and amsterdam have long rendered them justly celebrated, and the prices they bear in public sales sufficiently demonstrate the estimation in which they are at present held." the regard for these precious books still obtains, and we meet with it in curiously out-of-the-way places, as well as in those libraries where one would naturally expect to find it. my young friend irving way (himself a collector of rare enthusiasm) tells me that recently during a pilgrimage through the state of texas he came upon a gentleman who showed him in his modest home the most superb collection of elzevirs he had ever set eyes upon! how far-reaching is thy grace, o bibliomania! how good and sweet it is that no distance, no environment, no poverty, no distress can appall or stay thee. like that grim spectre we call death, thou knockest impartially at the palace portal and at the cottage door. and it seemeth thy especial delight to bring unto the lonely in desert places the companionship that exalteth humanity! it makes me groan to think of the number of elzevirs that are lost in the libraries of rich parvenus who know nothing of and care no thing for the treasures about them further than a certain vulgar vanity which is involved. when catherine of russia wearied of koritz she took to her affection one kimsky kossakof, a sergeant in the guards. kimsky was elated by this sudden acquisition of favor and riches. one of his first orders was to his bookseller. said he to that worthy: "fit me up a handsome library; little books above and great ones below." it is narrated of a certain british warrior that upon his retirement from service he bought a library en bloc, and, not knowing any more about books than a peccary knows of the harmonies of the heavenly choir, he gave orders for the arrangement of the volumes in this wise: "range me," he quoth, "the grenadiers (folios) at the bottom, the battalion (octavos) in the middle, and the light-bobs (duodecimos) at the top!" samuel johnson, dancing attendance upon lord chesterfield, could hardly have felt his humiliation more keenly than did the historian gibbon when his grace the duke of cumberland met him bringing the third volume of his "decline and fall of the roman empire" to the ducal mansion. this history was originally printed in quarto; gibbon was carrying the volume and anticipating the joy of the duke upon its arrival. what did the duke say? "what?" he cried. "ah, another ---- big square book, eh?" it is the fashion nowadays to harp upon the degeneracy of humanity; to insist that taste is corrupted, and that the faculty of appreciation is dead. we seem incapable of realizing that this is the golden age of authors, if not the golden age of authorship. in the good old days authors were in fact a despised and neglected class. the greeks put them to death, as the humor seized them. for a hundred years after his death shakespeare was practically unknown to his countrymen, except suckling and his coterie: during his life he was roundly assailed by his contemporaries, one of the latter going to the extreme of denouncing him as a daw that strutted in borrowed plumage. milton was accused of plagiarism, and one of his critics devoted many years to compiling from every quarter passages in ancient works which bore a similarity to the blind poet's verses. even samuel johnson's satire of "london" was pronounced a plagiarism. the good old days were the days, seemingly, when the critics had their way and ran things with a high hand; they made or unmade books and authors. they killed chatterton, just as, some years later, they hastened the death of keats. for a time they were all-powerful. it was not until the end of the eighteenth century that these professional tyrants began to lose their grip, and when byron took up the lance against them their doom was practically sealed. who would care a picayune in these degenerate days what dr. warburton said pro or con a book? it was warburton (then bishop of gloucester) who remarked of granger's "biographical history of england" that it was "an odd one." this was as high a compliment as he ever paid a book; those which he did not like he called sad books, and those which he fancied he called odd ones. the truth seems to be that through the diffusion of knowledge and the multiplicity and cheapness of books people generally have reached the point in intelligence where they feel warranted in asserting their ability to judge for themselves. so the occupation of the critic, as interpreted and practised of old, is gone. reverting to the practice of lamenting the degeneracy of humanity, i should say that the fashion is by no means a new one. search the records of the ancients and you will find the same harping upon the one string of present decay and former virtue. herodotus, sallust, caesar, cicero, and pliny take up and repeat the lugubrious tale in turn. upon earth there are three distinct classes of men: those who contemplate the past, those who contemplate the present, those who contemplate the future. i am of those who believe that humanity progresses, and it is my theory that the best works of the past have survived and come down to us in these books which are our dearest legacies, our proudest possessions, and our best-beloved companions. xv a book that brings solace and cheer one of my friends had a mania for bunyan once upon a time, and, although he has now abandoned that fad for the more fashionable passion of napoleonana, he still exhibits with evident pride the many editions of the "pilgrim's progress" he gathered together years ago. i have frequently besought him to give me one of his copies, which has a curious frontispiece illustrating the dangers besetting the traveller from the city of destruction to the celestial city. this frontispiece, which is prettily illuminated, occurs in virtue's edition of the "pilgrim's progress"; the book itself is not rare, but it is hardly procurable in perfect condition, for the reason that the colored plate is so pleasing to the eye that few have been able to resist the temptation to make away with it. for similar reasons it is seldom that we meet with a perfect edition of quarles' "emblems"; indeed, an "emblems" of early publication that does not lack the title-page is a great rarity. in the "good old days," when juvenile books were few, the works of bunyan and of quarles were vastly popular with the little folk, and little fingers wrought sad havoc with the title-pages and the pictures that with their extravagant and vivid suggestions appealed so directly and powerfully to the youthful fancy. coleridge says of the "pilgrim's progress" that it is the best summary of evangelical christianity ever produced by a writer not miraculously inspired. froude declares that it has for two centuries affected the spiritual opinions of the english race in every part of the world more powerfully than any other book, except the bible. "it is," says macaulay, "perhaps the only book about which, after the lapse of a hundred years, the educated minority has come over to the opinion of the common people." whether or not bunyan is, as d'israeli has called him, the spenser of the people, and whether or not his work is the poetry of puritanism, the best evidence of the merit of the "pilgrim's progress" appears, as dr. johnson has shrewdly pointed out, in the general and continued approbation of mankind. southey has critically observed that to his natural style bunyan is in some degree beholden for his general popularity, his language being everywhere level to the most ignorant reader and to the meanest capacity; "there is a homely reality about it--a nursery tale is not more intelligible, in its manner of narration, to a child." another cause of his popularity, says southey, is that he taxes the imagination as little as the understanding. "the vividness of his own, which, as history shows, sometimes could not distinguish ideal impressions from actual ones, occasioned this. he saw the things of which he was writing as distinctly with his mind's eye as if they were, indeed, passing before him in a dream." it is clear to me that in his youth bunyan would have endeared himself to me had i lived at that time, for his fancy was of that kind and of such intensity as i delight to find in youth. "my sins," he tells us, "did so offend the lord that even in my childhood he did scare and affright me with fearful dreams and did terrify me with dreadful visions. i have been in my bed greatly afflicted, while asleep, with apprehensions of devils and wicked spirits, who still, as i then thought, labored to draw me away with them, of which i could never be rid." it is quite likely that bunyan overestimated his viciousness. one of his ardent, intense temperament having once been touched of the saving grace could hardly help recognizing in himself the most miserable of sinners. it is related that upon one occasion he was going somewhere disguised as a wagoner, when he was overtaken by a constable who had a warrant for his arrest. "do you know that devil of a fellow bunyan?" asked the constable. "know him?" cried bunyan. "you might call him a devil indeed, if you knew him as well as i once did!" this was not the only time his wit served him to good purpose. on another occasion a certain cambridge student, who was filled with a sense of his own importance, undertook to prove to him what a divine thing reason was, and he capped his argument with the declaration that reason was the chief glory of man which distinguished him from a beast. to this bunyan calmly made answer: "sin distinguishes man from beast; is sin divine?" frederick saunders observes that, like milton in his blindness, bunyan in his imprisonment had his spiritual perception made all the brighter by his exclusion from the glare of the outside world. and of the great debt of gratitude we all owe to "the wicked tinker of elstow" dean stanley has spoken so truly that i am fain to quote his words: "we all need to be cheered by the help of greatheart and standfast and valiant-for-the-truth, and good old honesty! some of us have been in doubting castle, some in the slough of despond. some have experienced the temptations of vanity fair; all of us have to climb the hill of difficulty; all of us need to be instructed by the interpreter in the house beautiful; all of us bear the same burden; all of us need the same armor in our fight with apollyon; all of us have to pass through the wicket gate--to pass through the dark river, and for all of us (if god so will) there wait the shining ones at the gates of the celestial city! who does not love to linger over the life story of the 'immortal dreamer' as one of those characters for whom man has done so little and god so much?" about my favorite copy of the "pilgrim's progress" many a pleasant reminiscence lingers, for it was one of the books my grandmother gave my father when he left home to engage in the great battle of life; when my father died this thick, dumpy little volume, with its rude cuts and poorly printed pages, came into my possession. i do not know what part this book played in my father's life, but i can say for myself that it has brought me solace and cheer a many times. the only occasion upon which i felt bitterly toward dr. o'rell was when that personage observed in my hearing one day that bunyan was a dyspeptic, and that had he not been one he would doubtless never have written the "pilgrim's progress." i took issue with the doctor on this point; whereupon he cited those visions and dreams, which, according to the light of science as it now shines, demonstrate that bunyan's digestion must have been morbid. and, forthwith, he overwhelmed me with learned instances from galen and hippocrates, from spurzheim and binns, from locke and beattie, from malebranche and bertholini, from darwin and descartes, from charlevoix and berkeley, from heraclitus and blumenbach, from priestley and abercrombie; in fact, forsooth, he quoted me so many authorities that it verily seemed to me as though the whole world were against me! i did not know until then that dr. o'rell had made a special study of dreams, of their causes and of their signification. i had always supposed that astrology was his particular hobby, in which science i will concede him to be deeply learned, even though he has never yet proved to my entire satisfaction that the reason why my copy of justinian has faded from a royal purple to a pale blue is, first, because the binding was renewed at the wane of the moon and when sirius was in the ascendant, and, secondly, because (as dr. o'rell has discovered) my binder was born at a moment fifty-six years ago when mercury was in the fourth house and herschel and saturn were aspected in conjunction, with sol at his northern declination. dr. o'rell has frequently expressed surprise that i have never wearied of and drifted away from the book-friendships of my earlier years. other people, he says, find, as time elapses, that they no longer discover those charms in certain books which attracted them so powerfully in youth. "we have in our earlier days," argues the doctor, "friendships so dear to us that we would repel with horror the suggestion that we could ever become heedless or forgetful of them; yet, alas, as we grow older we gradually become indifferent to these first friends, and we are weaned from them by other friendships; there even comes a time when we actually wonder how it were possible for us to be on terms of intimacy with such or such a person. we grow away from people, and in like manner and for similar reasons we grow away from books." is it indeed possible for one to become indifferent to an object he has once loved? i can hardly believe so. at least it is not so with me, and, even though the time may come when i shall no longer be able to enjoy the uses of these dear old friends with the old-time enthusiasm, i should still regard them with that tender reverence which in his age the poet longfellow expressed when looking round upon his beloved books: sadly as some old mediaeval knight gazed at the arms he could no longer wield-- the sword two-handed and the shining shield suspended in the hall and full in sight, while secret longings for the lost delight of tourney or adventure in the field came over him, and tears but half concealed trembled and fell upon his beard of white; so i behold these books upon their shelf my ornaments and arms of other days; not wholly useless, though no longer used, for they remind me of my other self younger and stronger, and the pleasant ways in which i walked, now clouded and confused. if my friend o'rell's theory be true, how barren would be age! lord bacon tells us in his "apothegms" that alonzo of aragon was wont to say, in commendation of age, that age appeared to be best in four things: old wood best to burn; old wine to drink; old friends to trust; and old authors to read. sir john davys recalls that "a french writer (whom i love well) speaks of three kinds of companions: men, women and books," and my revered and beloved poet-friend, richard henry stoddard, has wrought out this sentiment in a poem of exceeding beauty, of which the concluding stanza runs in this wise: better than men and women, friend, that are dust, though dear in our joy and pain, are the books their cunning hands have penned, for they depart, but the books remain; through these they speak to us what was best in the loving heart and the noble mind; all their royal souls possessed belongs forever to all mankind! when others fail him, the wise man looks to the sure companionship of books. if ever, o honest friends of mine, i should forget you or weary of your companionship, whither would depart the memories and the associations with which each of you is hallowed! would ever the modest flowers of spring-time, budding in pathways where i no longer wander, recall to my failing sight the vernal beauty of the puritan maid, captivity? in what reverie of summer-time should i feel again the graciousness of thy presence, yseult? and fanchonette--sweet, timid little fanchonette! would ever thy ghost come back from out those years away off yonder? be hushed, my beranger, for a moment; another song hath awakened softly responsive echoes in my heart! it is a song of fanchonette: in vain, in vain; we meet no more, nor dream what fates befall; and long upon the stranger's shore my voice on thee may call, when years have clothed the line in moss that tells thy name and days, and withered, on thy simple cross, the wreaths of pere la chaise! xvi the malady called catalogitis judge methuen tells me that one of the most pleasing delusions he has experienced in his long and active career as a bibliomaniac is that which is born of the catalogue habit. presuming that there are among my readers many laymen,--for i preach salvation to the heathen,--i will explain for their information that the catalogue habit, so called, is a practice to which the confirmed lover of books is likely to become addicted. it is a custom of many publishers and dealers to publish and to disseminate at certain periods lists of their wares, in the hope of thereby enticing readers to buy those wares. by what means these crafty tradesmen secure the names of their prospective victims i cannot say, but this i know full well--that there seems not to be a book-lover on the face of the earth, i care not how remote or how secret his habitation may be, that these dealers do not presently find him out and overwhelm him with their delightful temptations. i have been told that among booksellers there exists a secret league which provides for the interchange of confidences; so that when a new customer enters a shop in the fulham road or in oxford street or along the quays of paris, or it matters not where (so long as the object of his inquiry be a book), within the space of a month that man's name and place of residence are reported to and entered in the address list of every other bookseller in christendom, and forthwith and forever after the catalogues and price-lists and bulletins of publishers and dealers in every part of the world are pelted at him through the unerring processes of the mails. judge methuen has been a victim (a pleasant victim) to the catalogue habit for the last forty years, and he has declared that if all the catalogues sent to and read by him in that space of time were gathered together in a heap they would make a pile bigger than pike's peak, and a thousandfold more interesting. i myself have been a famous reader of catalogues, and i can testify that the habit has possessed me of remarkable delusions, the most conspicuous of which is that which produces within me the conviction that a book is as good as mine as soon as i have met with its title in a catalogue, and set an x over against it in pencil. i recall that on one occasion i was discussing with judge methuen and dr. o'rell the attempted escapes of charles i. from carisbrooke castle; a point of difference having arisen, i said: "gentlemen, i will refer to hillier's 'narrative,' and i doubt not that my argument will be sustained by that authority." it was vastly easier, however, to cite hillier than it was to find him. for three days i searched in my library, and tumbled my books about in that confusion which results from undue eagerness; 't was all in vain; neither hide nor hair of the desired volume could i discover. it finally occurred to me that i must have lent the book to somebody, and then again i felt sure that it had been stolen. no tidings of the missing volume came to me, and i had almost forgotten the incident when one evening (it was fully two years after my discussion with my cronies) i came upon, in one of the drawers of my oak chest, a sotheran catalogue of may, . by the merest chance i opened it, and as luck would have it, i opened it at the very page upon which appeared this item: "hillier (g.) 'narrative of the attempted escapes of charles the first from carisbrooke castle'; cr. vo, , cloth, / ." against this item appeared a cross in my chirography, and i saw at a glance that this was my long-lost hillier! i had meant to buy it, and had marked it for purchase; but with the determination and that pencilled cross the transaction had ended. yet, having resolved to buy it had served me almost as effectively as though i had actually bought it; i thought--aye, i could have sworn--i had bought it, simply because i meant to buy it. "the experience is not unique," said judge methuen, when i narrated it to him at our next meeting. "speaking for myself, i can say that it is a confirmed habit with me to mark certain items in catalogues which i read, and then to go my way in the pleasing conviction that they are actually mine." "i meet with cases of this character continually," said dr. o'rell. "the hallucination is one that is recognized as a specific one by pathologists; its cure is quickest effected by means of hypnotism. within the last year a lady of beauty and refinement came to me in serious distress. she confided to me amid a copious effusion of tears that her husband was upon the verge of insanity. her testimony was to the effect that the unfortunate man believed himself to be possessed of a large library, the fact being that the number of his books was limited to three hundred or thereabouts. "upon inquiry i learned that n. m. (for so i will call the victim of this delusion) made a practice of reading and of marking booksellers' catalogues; further investigation developed that n. m.'s great-uncle on his mother's side had invented a flying-machine that would not fly, and that a half-brother of his was the author of a pamphlet entitled ' to ; or the poor man's vade-mecum.' "'madam,' said i, 'it is clear to me that your husband is afflicted with catalogitis.' "at this the poor woman went into hysterics, bewailing that she should have lived to see the object of her affection the victim of a malady so grievous as to require a greek name. when she became calmer i explained to her that the malady was by no means fatal, and that it yielded readily to treatment." "what, in plain terms," asked judge methuen, "is catalogitis?" "i will explain briefly," answered the doctor. "you must know first that every perfect human being is provided with two sets of bowels; he has physical bowels and intellectual bowels, the brain being the latter. hippocrates (since whose time the science of medicine has not advanced even the two stadia, five parasangs of xenophon)--hippocrates, i say, discovered that the brain is subject to those very same diseases to which the other and inferior bowels are liable. "galen confirmed this discovery and he records a case (lib. xi., p. ) wherein there were exhibited in the intellectual bowels symptoms similar to those we find in appendicitis. the brain is wrought into certain convolutions, just as the alimentary canal is; the fourth layer, so called, contains elongated groups of small cells or nuclei, radiating at right angles to its plane, which groups present a distinctly fanlike structure. catalogitis is a stoppage of this fourth layer, whereby the functions of the fanlike structure are suffered no longer to cool the brain, and whereby also continuity of thought is interrupted, just as continuity of digestion is prevented by stoppage of the vermiform appendix. "the learned professor biersteintrinken," continued dr. o'rell, "has advanced in his scholarly work on 'raderinderkopf' the interesting theory that catalogitis is produced by the presence in the brain of a germ which has its origin in the cheap paper used by booksellers for catalogue purposes, and this theory seems to have the approval of m. marie-tonsard, the most famous of authorities on inebriety, in his celebrated classic entitled 'un trait sur jacques-jacques.'" "did you effect a cure in the case of n. m.?" i asked. "with the greatest of ease," answered the doctor. "by means of hypnotism i purged his intellectuals of their hallucination, relieving them of their perception of objects which have no reality and ridding them of sensations which have no corresponding external cause. the patient made a rapid recovery, and, although three months have elapsed since his discharge, he has had no return of the disease." as a class booksellers do not encourage the reading of other booksellers' catalogues; this is, presumably, because they do not care to encourage buyers to buy of other sellers. my bookseller, who in all virtues of head and heart excels all other booksellers i ever met with, makes a scrupulous practice of destroying the catalogues that come to his shop, lest some stray copy may fall into the hands of a mousing book-lover and divert his attention to other hunting-grounds. it is indeed remarkable to what excess the catalogue habit will carry its victim; the author of "will shakespeare, a comedy," has frequently confessed to me that it mattered not to him whether a catalogue was twenty years old--so long as it was a catalogue of books he found the keenest delight in its perusal; i have often heard mr. hamlin, the theatre manager, say that he preferred old catalogues to new, for the reason that the bargains to be met with in old catalogues expired long ago under the statute of limitations. judge methuen, who is a married man and has therefore had an excellent opportunity to study the sex, tells me that the wives of bibliomaniacs regard catalogues as the most mischievous temptations that can be thrown in the way of their husbands. i once committed the imprudence of mentioning the subject in mrs. methuen's presence: that estimable lady gave it as her opinion that there were plenty of ways of spending money foolishly without having recourse to a book-catalogue for suggestion. i wonder whether captivity would have had this opinion, had providence ordained that we should walk together the quiet pathway of new england life; would yseult always have retained the exuberance and sweetness of her youth, had she and i realized what might have been? would fanchonette always have sympathized with the whims and vagaries of the restless yet loyal soul that hung enraptured on her singing in the quartier latin so long ago that the memory of that song is like the memory of a ghostly echo now? away with such reflections! bring in the candles, good servitor, and range them at my bed's head; sweet avocation awaits me, for here i have a goodly parcel of catalogues with which to commune. they are messages from methuen, sotheran, libbie, irvine, hutt, davey, baer, crawford, bangs, mcclurg, matthews, francis, bouton, scribner, benjamin, and a score of other friends in every part of christendom; they deserve and they shall have my respectful--nay, my enthusiastic attention. once more i shall seem to be in the old familiar shops where treasures abound and where patient delving bringeth rich rewards. egad, what a spendthrift i shall be this night; pence, shillings, thalers, marks, francs, dollars, sovereigns--they are the same to me! then, after i have comprehended all the treasures within reach, how sweet shall be my dreams of shelves overflowing with the wealth of which my fancy has possessed me! then shall my library be devote to the magic of niddy-noddy, including the volumes which nobody wrote and the works of everybody. xvii the napoleonic renaissance if i had begun collecting napoleonana in my youth i should now have on hand a priceless collection. this reminds me that when i first came to chicago suburban property along the north shore could be bought for five hundred dollars an acre which now sells for two hundred dollars a front foot; if i had purchased real estate in that locality when i had the opportunity forty years ago i should be a millionnaire at the present time. i think i am more regretful of having neglected the napoleonana than of having missed the real-estate chances, for since my library contains fewer than two hundred volumes relating to bonaparte and his times i feel that i have been strangely remiss in the pursuit of one of the most interesting and most instructive of bibliomaniac fads. when i behold the remarkable collections of napoleonana made by certain friends of mine i am filled with conflicting emotions of delight and envy, and judge methuen and i are wont to contemplate with regret the opportunities we once had of throwing all these modern collections in the shade. when i speak of napoleonana i refer exclusively to literature relating to napoleon; the term, however, is generally used in a broader sense, and includes every variety of object, from the snuff-boxes used by the emperor at malmaison to the slippers he wore at st. helena. my friend, mr. redding, of california, has a silver knife and fork that once belonged to bonaparte, and mr. mills, another friend of mine, has the neckerchief which napoleon wore on the field of waterloo. in le blanc's little treatise upon the art of tying the cravat it is recorded that napoleon generally wore a black silk cravat, as was remarked at wagram, lodi, marengo and austerlitz. "but at waterloo," says le blanc, "it was observed that, contrary to his usual custom, he wore a white handkerchief with a flowing bow, although the day previous he appeared in his black cravat." i remember to have seen in the collection of mr. melville e. stone a finger-ring, which, having been brought by an old french soldier to new orleans, ultimately found its way to a pawn-shop. this bauble was of gold, and at two opposite points upon its outer surface appeared a napoleonic "n," done in black enamel: by pressing upon one of these ns a secret spring was operated, the top of the ring flew back, and a tiny gold figure of the little corporal stood up, to the astonishment and admiration of the beholder. another curious napoleonic souvenir in mr. stone's motley collection is a cotton print handkerchief, upon which are recorded scenes from the career of the emperor; the thing must have been of english manufacture, for only an englishman (inspired by that fear and that hatred of bonaparte which only englishmen had) could have devised this atrocious libel. one has to read the literature current in the earlier part of this century in order to get a correct idea of the terror with which bonaparte filled his enemies, and this literature is so extensive that it seems an impossibility that anything like a complete collection should be got together; to say nothing of the histories, the biographies, the volumes of reminiscence and the books of criticism which the career of the corsican inspired, there are napoleon dream-books, napoleon song-books, napoleon chap-books, etc., etc., beyond the capability of enumeration. the english were particularly active in disseminating libels upon napoleon; they charged him in their books and pamphlets with murder, arson, incest, treason, treachery, cowardice, seduction, hypocrisy, avarice, robbery, ingratitude, and jealousy; they said that he poisoned his sick soldiers, that he was the father of hortense's child, that he committed the most atrocious cruelties in egypt and italy, that he married barras' discarded mistress, that he was afflicted with a loathsome disease, that he murdered the duc d'enghien and officers in his own army of whom he was jealous, that he was criminally intimate with his own sisters--in short, there was no crime, however revolting, with which these calumniators were not hasty to charge the emperor. this same vindictive hatred was visited also upon all associated with bonaparte in the conduct of affairs at that time. murat was "a brute and a thief"; josephine, hortense, pauline, and mme. letitia were courtesans; berthier was a shuffling, time-serving lackey and tool; augereau was a bastard, a spy, a robber, and a murderer; fouche was the incarnation of every vice; lucien bonaparte was a roue and a marplot; cambaceres was a debauchee; lannes was a thief, brigand, and a poisoner; talleyrand and barras were--well, what evil was told of them has yet to be disproved. but you would gather from contemporaneous english publications that bonaparte and his associates were veritable fiends from hell sent to scourge civilization. these books are so strangely curious that we find it hard to classify them: we cannot call them history, and they are too truculent to pass for humor; yet they occupy a distinct and important place among napoleonana. until william hazlitt's life of bonaparte appeared we had no english treatment of bonaparte that was in any sense fair, and, by the way, hazlitt's work is the only one in english i know of which gives the will of bonaparte, an exceedingly interesting document. for a good many years i held the character of napoleon in light esteem, for the reason that he had but small regard for books. recent revelations, however, made to me by dr. o'rell (grandnephew of "tom burke of ours"), have served to dissipate that prejudice, and i question not that i shall duly become as ardent a worshipper of the corsican as my doctor himself is. dr. o'rell tells me--and his declarations are corroborated by frederic masson and other authorities--that bonaparte was a lover and a collector of books, and that he contributed largely to the dignity and the glorification of literature by publishing a large number of volumes in the highest style of the art. the one department of literature for which he seems to have had no liking was fiction. novels of all kinds he was in the habit of tossing into the fire. he was a prodigious buyer of books, and those which he read were invariably stamped on the outer cover with the imperial arms; at st. helena his library stamp was merely a seal upon which ink was smeared. napoleon cared little for fine bindings, yet he knew their value, and whenever a presentation copy was to be bound he required that it be bound handsomely. the books in his own library were invariably bound "in calf of indifferent quality," and he was wont, while reading a book, to fill the margin with comments in pencil. wherever he went he took a library of books with him, and these volumes he had deprived of all superfluous margin, so as to save weight and space. not infrequently when hampered by the rapid growth of this travelling library he would toss the "overflow" of books out of his carriage window, and it was his custom (i shudder to record it!) to separate the leaves of pamphlets, magazines, and volumes by running his finger between them, thereby invariably tearing the pages in shocking wise. in the arrangement of his library napoleon observed that exacting method which was characteristic of him in other employments and avocations. each book had its particular place in a special case, and napoleon knew his library so well that he could at any moment place his hand upon any volume he desired. the libraries at his palaces he had arranged exactly as the library at malmaison was, and never was one book borrowed from one to serve in another. it is narrated of him that if ever a volume was missing napoleon would describe its size and the color of its binding to the librarian, and would point out the place where it might have been wrongly put and the case where it properly belonged. if any one question the greatness of this man let him explain if he can why civilization's interest in napoleon increases as time rolls on. why is it that we are curious to know all about him--that we have gratification in hearing tell of his minutest habits, his moods, his whims, his practices, his prejudices? why is it that even those who hated him and who denied his genius have felt called upon to record in ponderous tomes their reminiscences of him and his deeds? princes, generals, lords, courtiers, poets, painters, priests, plebeians--all have vied with one another in answering humanity's demand for more and more and ever more about napoleon bonaparte. i think that the supply will, like the demand, never be exhausted. the women of the court have supplied us with their memoirs; so have the diplomats of that period; so have the wives of his generals; so have the tom-dick-and-harry spectators of those kaleidoscopic scenes; so have his keepers in exile; so has his barber. the chambermaids will be heard from in good time, and the hostlers, and the scullions. already there are rumors that we are soon to be regaled with memoirs of the emperor napoleon by the lady who knew the tailor who once sewed a button on the emperor's coat, edited by her loving grandson, the duc de bunco. without doubt many of those who read these lines will live to see the time when memoirs of napoleon will be offered by "a gentleman who purchased a collection of napoleon spoons in "; doubtless, too, the book will be hailed with satisfaction, for this napoleonic enthusiasm increases as time wears on. curious, is it not, that no calm, judicial study of this man's character and exploits is received with favor? he who treats of the subject must be either a hater or an adorer of napoleon; his blood must be hot with the enthusiasm of rage or of love. to the human eye there appears in space a luminous sphere that in its appointed path goes on unceasingly. the wise men are not agreed whether this apparition is merely of gaseous composition or is a solid body supplied extraneously with heat and luminosity, inexhaustibly; some argue that its existence will be limited to the period of one thousand, or five hundred thousand, or one million years; others declare that it will roll on until the end of time. perhaps the nature of that luminous sphere will never be truly known to mankind; yet with calm dignity it moves in its appointed path among the planets and the stars of the universe, its fires unabated, its luminosity undimmed. even so the great corsican, scrutinized of all human eyes, passes along the aisle of time enveloped in the impenetrable mystery of enthusiasm, genius, and splendor. xviii my workshop and others the women-folk are few up there, for 't were not fair, you know, that they our heavenly bliss should share who vex us here below! the few are those who have been kind to husbands such as we: they knew our fads and didn't mind-- says dibdin's ghost to me. it has never been explained to my satisfaction why women, as a class, are the enemies of books, and are particularly hostile to bibliomania. the exceptions met with now and then simply prove the rule. judge methuen declares that bibliophobia is but one phase of jealousy; that one's wife hates one's books because she fears that her husband is in love, or is going to be in love, with those companions of his student hours. if, instead of being folios, quartos, octavos, and the like, the judge's books were buxom, blithe maidens, his wife could hardly be more jealous of the judge's attentions to them than she is under existing circumstances. on one occasion, having found the judge on two successive afternoons sitting alone in the library with pliny in his lap, this spirited lady snatched the insidious volume from her husband's embraces and locked it up in one of the kitchen pantries; nor did she release the object of her displeasure until the judge had promised solemnly to be more circumspect in the future, and had further mollified his wife's anger by bringing home a new silk dress and a bonnet of exceptional loveliness. other instances of a similar character have demonstrated that mrs. methuen regards with implacable antipathy the volumes upon which my learned and ingenious friend would fain lavish the superabundance of his affection. many years ago the judge was compelled to resort to every kind of artifice in order to sneak new books into his house, and had he not been imbued with the true afflatus of bibliomania he would long ago have broken down under the heartless tyranny of his vindictive spouse. when i look around me and survey the persecution to which book-lovers are subjected by their wives, i thank the goddess fortune that she has cast my lot among the celibates; indeed, it is still one of the few serious questions i have not yet solved, viz.: whether a man can at the same time be true to a wife and to bibliomania. both are exacting mistresses, and neither will tolerate a rival. dr. o'rell has a theory that the trouble with most wives is that they are not caught young enough; he quotes dr. johnson's sage remark to the effect that "much can be made of a scotchman if caught young," and he asserts that this is equally true of woman. mrs. o'rell was a mere girl when she wedded with the doctor, and the result of thirty years' experience and training is that this model woman sympathizes with her excellent husband's tastes, and actually has a feeling of contempt for other wives who have never heard of father prout and kit north, and who object to their husbands' smoking in bed. i recall with what enthusiasm i once heard this superior creature commend the doctor for having accepted in lieu of a fee a set of calvin's "institutes," with copious notes, in twelve octavo volumes, and a portfolio of colored fox-hunting prints. my admiration for this model wife could find expression in no other way; i jumped from my chair, seized her in my arms, and imprinted upon her brow a fervent but respectful kiss. it would be hard to imagine a prettier picture than that presented to my vision as i looked in from the porch of the doctor's residence upon the doctor's family gathered together in the library after dinner. the doctor himself, snuggled down in a vast easy-chair, was dividing his attention between a brier pipe and the odes of propertius; his wife, beside him in her rocker, smiled and smiled again over the quaint humor of mrs. gaskell's "cranford"; upon yonder settee, francis mahony methuen, the oldest son, was deep in the perusal of wilson's "tales of the border"; his brother, russell lowell, was equally absorbed in the pathetic tale of "the man without a country"; letitia landon methuen, the daughter, was quietly sobbing over the tragedy of "evangeline"; in his high chair sat the chubby baby boy, beranger methuen, crowing gleefully over an illustrated copy of that grand old classic, "poems for infant minds by two young persons." for several moments i stood spellbound, regarding with ineffable rapture this inspiring spectacle. "how manifold are thy blessings, o bibliomania," thought i, "and how graciously they are distributed in this joyous circle, wherein it is permitted to see not only the maturer members, but, alas, the youth and even the babes and sucklings drinking freely and gratefully at the fountain-head of thy delights!" dr. o'rell's library is one of the most charming apartments i know of. it looks out upon every variety of scenery, for dr. o'rell has had constructed at considerable expense a light iron framework from which are suspended at different times cunningly painted canvases representing landscapes and marines corresponding to the most whimsical fancy. in the dead of winter, the doctor often has a desire to look out upon a cheery landscape; thereupon, by a simple manipulation of a keyboard, there is unrolled a panorama of velvety hillsides and flowery meads, of grazing sheep, and of piping rustics; so natural is the spectacle that one can almost hear the music of the reeds, and fancy himself in arcadia. if in midsummer the heat is oppressive and life seems burthensome, forthwith another canvas is outspread, and the glories of the alps appear, or a stretch of blue sea, or a corner of a primeval forest. so there is an outlook for every mood, and i doubt not that this ingenious provision contributes potently towards promoting bibliomaniac harmony and prosperity in my friend's household. it is true that i myself am not susceptible to external influences when once i am surrounded by books; i do not care a fig whether my library overlooks a garden or a desert; give me my dear companions in their dress of leather, cloth, or boards, and it matters not to me whether god sends storm or sunshine, flowers or hail, light or darkness, noise or calm. yet i know and admit that environment means much to most people, and i do most heartily applaud dr. o'rell's versatile device. i have always thought that de quincey's workshop would have given me great delight. the particular thing that excited de quincey's choler was interference with his books and manuscripts, which he piled atop of one another upon the floor and over his desk, until at last there would be but a narrow little pathway from the desk to the fireplace and from the fireplace to the door; and his writing-table--gracious! what a pelion upon ossa of confusion it must have been! yet de quincey insisted that he knew "just where everything was," and he merely exacted that the servants attempt no such vandalism as "cleaning up" in his workshop. of course there would presently come a time when there was no more room on the table and when the little pathway to the fireplace and the door would be no longer visible; then, with a sigh, de quincey would lock the door of that room and betake himself to other quarters, which in turn would eventually become quite as littered up, cluttered up, and impassable as the first rooms. from all that can be gathered upon the subject it would appear that de quincey was careless in his treatment of books; i have read somewhere (but i forget where) that he used his forefinger as a paper-cutter and that he did not hesitate to mutilate old folios which he borrowed. but he was extraordinarily tender with his manuscripts; and he was wont to carry in his pockets a soft brush with which he used to dust off his manuscripts most carefully before handing them to the publisher. sir walter scott was similarly careful with his books, and he used, for purposes of dusting them, the end of a fox's tail set in a handle of silver. scott, was, however, particular and systematic in the arrangement of his books, and his work-room, with its choice bric-a-brac and its interesting collection of pictures and framed letters, was a veritable paradise to the visiting book-lover and curio-lover. he was as fond of early rising as francis jeffrey was averse to it, and both these eminent men were strongly attached to animal pets. jeffrey particularly affected an aged and garrulous parrot and an equally disreputable little dog. scott was so stanch a friend of dogs that wherever he went he was accompanied by one or two--sometimes by a whole kennel--of these faithful brutes. in mrs. gordon's noble "memoirs" we have a vivid picture of professor wilson's workroom. all was confusion there: "his room was a strange mixture of what may be called order and untidiness, for there was not a scrap of paper or a book that his hand could not light upon in a moment, while to the casual eye, in search of discovery, it would appear chaos." wilson had no love for fine furniture, and he seems to have crowded his books together without regard to any system of classification. he had a habit of mixing his books around with fishing-tackle, and his charming biographer tells us it was no uncommon thing to find the "wealth of nations," "boxiana," the "faerie queen," jeremy taylor, and ben jonson occupying close quarters with fishing-rods, boxing-gloves, and tins of barley-sugar. charles lamb's favorite workshop was in an attic; upon the walls of this room he and his sister pasted old prints and gay pictures, and this resulted in giving the place a cheery aspect. lamb loved old books, old friends, old times; "he evades the present, he works at the future, and his affections revert to and settle on the past,"--so says hazlitt. his favorite books seem to have been bunyan's "holy war," browne's "urn-burial," burton's "anatomy of melancholy," fuller's "worthies," and taylor's "holy living and dying." thomas westwood tells us that there were few modern volumes in his library, it being his custom to give away and throw away (as the same writer asserts) presentation copies of contemporaneous literature. says barry cornwall: "lamb's pleasures lay amongst the books of the old english writers," and lamb himself uttered these memorable words: "i cannot sit and think--books think for me." wordsworth, on the other hand, cared little for books; his library was a small one, embracing hardly more than five hundred volumes. he drew his inspiration not from books, but from nature. from all that i have heard of him i judge him to have been a very dull man. allibone relates of him that he once remarked that he did not consider himself a witty poet. "indeed," quoth he, "i don't think i ever was witty but once in my life." his friends urged him to tell them about it. after some hesitation, he said: "well, i will tell you. i was standing some time ago at the entrance of rydal mount. a man accosted me with the question: 'pray, sir, have you seen my wife pass by?' whereupon i retorted, 'why, my good friend, i didn't know till this moment that you had a wife.'" illustrative of wordsworth's vanity, it is told that when it was reported that the next waverley novel was to be "rob roy," the poet took down his "ballads" and read to the company "rob roy's grave." then he said gravely: "i do not know what more mr. scott can have to say on the subject." wordsworth and dickens disliked each other cordially. having been asked his opinion of the young novelist, wordsworth answered: "why, i'm not much given to turn critic on people i meet; but, as you ask me, i will cordially avow that i thought him a very talkative young person--but i dare say he may be very clever. mind, i don't want to say a word against him, for i have never read a line he has written." the same inquirer subsequently asked dickens how he liked wordsworth. "like him!" roared dickens, "not at all; he is a dreadful old ass!" xix our debt to monkish men where one has the time and the money to devote to the collection of missals and illuminated books, the avocation must be a very delightful one. i never look upon a missal or upon a bit of antique illumination that i do not invest that object with a certain poetic romance, and i picture to myself long lines of monkish men bending over their tasks, and applying themselves with pious enthusiasm thereto. we should not flatter ourselves that the enjoyment of the delights of bibliomania was reserved to one time and generation; a greater than any of us lived many centuries ago, and went his bibliomaniacal way, gathering together treasures from every quarter, and diffusing every where a veneration and love for books. richard de bury was the king, if not the father, of bibliomaniacs; his immortal work reveals to us that long before the invention of printing men were tormented and enraptured by those very same desires, envies, jealousies, greeds, enthusiasms, and passions which possess and control bibliomaniacs at the present time. that vanity was sometimes the controlling passion with the early collectors is evidenced in a passage in barclay's satire, "the ship of fools"; there are the stanzas which apply so neatly to certain people i know that sometimes i actually suspect that barclay's prophetic eye must have had these nineteenth-century charlatans in view. but yet i have them in great reverence and honor, saving them from filth and ordure by often brushing and much diligence. full goodly bound in pleasant coverture of damask, satin, or else of velvet pure, i keep them sure, fearing lest they should be lost, for in them is the cunning wherein i me boast. but if it fortune that any learned man within my house fall to disputation, i draw the curtains to show my books them, that they of my cunning should make probation; i love not to fall into altercation, and while they come, my books i turn and wind, for all is in them, and nothing in my mind. richard de bury had exceptional opportunities for gratifying his bibliomaniac passions. he was chancellor and treasurer of edward iii., and his official position gained him access to public and private libraries and to the society of literary men. moreover, when it became known that he was fond of such things, people from every quarter sent him and brought him old books; it may be that they hoped in this wise to court his official favor, or perhaps they were prompted by the less selfish motive of gladdening the bibliomaniac soul. "the flying fame of our love," says de bury, "had already spread in all directions, and it was reported not only that we had a longing desire for books, and especially for old ones, but that any one could more easily obtain our favors by quartos than by money. wherefore, when supported by the bounty of the aforesaid prince of worthy memory, we were enabled to oppose or advance, to appoint or to discharge; crazy quartos and tottering folios, precious however in our sight as in our affections, flowed in most rapidly from the great and the small, instead of new year's gifts and remunerations, and instead of presents and jewels. then the cabinets of the most noble monasteries were opened, cases were unlocked, caskets were unclasped, and sleeping volumes which had slumbered for long ages in their sepulchres were roused up, and those that lay hid in dark places were overwhelmed with the rays of a new light. among these, as time served, we sat down more voluptuously than the delicate physician could do amidst his stores of aromatics, and where we found an object of love we found also an assuagement." "if," says de bury, "we would have amassed cups of gold and silver, excellent horses, or no mean sums of money, we could in those days have laid up abundance of wealth for ourselves. but we regarded books, not pounds; and valued codices more than florins, and preferred paltry pamphlets to pampered palfreys. on tedious embassies and in perilous times, we carried about with us that fondness for books which many waters could not extinguish." and what books they were in those old days! what tall folios! what stout quartos! how magnificent were the bindings, wrought often in silver devices, sometimes in gold, and not infrequently in silver and gold, with splendid jewels and precious stones to add their value to that of the precious volume which they adorned. the works of justin, seneca, martial, terence, and claudian were highly popular with the bibliophiles of early times; and the writings of ovid, tully, horace, cato, aristotle, sallust, hippocrates, macrobius, augustine, bede, gregory, origen, etc. but for the veneration and love for books which the monks of the mediaeval ages had, what would have been preserved to us of the classics of the greeks and the romans? the same auspicious fate that prompted those bibliomaniacal monks to hide away manuscript treasures in the cellars of their monasteries, inspired poggio bracciolini several centuries later to hunt out and invade those sacred hiding-places, and these quests were rewarded with finds whose value cannot be overestimated. all that we have of the histories of livy come to us through poggio's industry as a manuscript-hunter; this same worthy found and brought away from different monasteries a perfect copy of quintilian, a cicero's oration for caecina, a complete tertullian, a petronius arbiter, and fifteen or twenty other classics almost as valuable as those i have named. from german monasteries, poggio's friend, nicolas of treves, brought away twelve comedies of plautus and a fragment of aulus gellius. dear as their pagan books were to the monkish collectors, it was upon their bibles, their psalters, and their other religious books that these mediaeval bibliomaniacs expended their choicest art and their most loving care. st. cuthbert's "gospels," preserved in the british museum, was written by egfrith, a monk, circa ; aethelwald bound the book in gold and precious stones, and bilfrid, a hermit, illuminated it by prefixing to each gospel a beautiful painting representing one of the evangelists, and a tessellated cross, executed in a most elaborate manner. bilfrid also illuminated the large capital letters at the beginning of the gospels. this precious volume was still further enriched by aldred of durham, who interlined it with a saxon gloss, or version of the latin text of st. jerome. "of the exact pecuniary value of books during the middle ages," says merryweather, "we have no means of judging. the few instances that have accidentally been recorded are totally inadequate to enable us to form an opinion. the extravagant estimate given by some as to the value of books in those days is merely conjectural, as it necessarily must be when we remember that the price was guided by the accuracy of the transcription, the splendor of the binding (which was often gorgeous to excess), and by the beauty and richness of the illuminations. many of the manuscripts of the middle ages are magnificent in the extreme; sometimes inscribed in liquid gold on parchment of the richest purple, and adorned with illuminations of exquisite workmanship." with such a veneration and love for books obtaining in the cloister and at the fireside, what pathos is revealed to us in the supplication which invited god's blessing upon the beloved tomes: "o lord, send the virtue of thy holy spirit upon these our books; that cleansing them from all earthly things, by thy holy blessing, they may mercifully enlighten our hearts and give us true understanding; and grant that by thy teachings they may brightly preserve and make full an abundance of good works according to thy will." and what inspiration and cheer does every book-lover find in the letter which that grand old bibliomaniac, alcuin, addressed to charlemagne: "i, your flaccus, according to your admonitions and good will, administer to some in the house of st. martin the sweets of the holy scriptures; others i inebriate with the study of ancient wisdom; and others i fill with the fruits of grammatical lore. many i seek to instruct in the order of the stars which illuminate the glorious vault of heaven, so that they may be made ornaments to the holy church of god and the court of your imperial majesty; that the goodness of god and your kindness may not be altogether unproductive of good. but in doing this i discover the want of much, especially those exquisite books of scholastic learning which i possessed in my own country, through the industry of my good and most devout master, egbert. i therefore entreat your excellence to permit me to send into britain some of our youths to procure those books which we so much desire, and thus transplant into france the flowers of britain, that they may fructify and perfume, not only the garden at york, but also the paradise of tours, and that we may say in the words of the song: 'let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruit;' and to the young: 'eat, o friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, o beloved;' or exhort in the words of the prophet isaiah: 'every one that thirsteth to come to the waters, and ye that have no money, come ye, buy and eat: yea, come buy wine and milk, without money and without price.'" i was meaning to have somewhat to say about alcuin, and had intended to pay my respects to canute, alfred, the abbot of st. albans, the archbishop of salzburg, the prior of dover, and other mediaeval worthies, when judge methuen came in and interrupted the thread of my meditation. the judge brings me some verses done recently by a poet-friend of his, and he asks me to give them a place in these memoirs as illustrating the vanity of human confidence. one day i got a missive writ in a dainty hand, which made my manly bosom with vanity expand. 't was from a "young admirer" who asked me would i mind sending her "favorite poem" "in autograph, and signed." she craved the boon so sweetly that i had been a churl had i repulsed the homage of this gentle, timid girl; with bright illuminations i decked the manuscript, and in my choicest paints and inks my brush and pen i dipt. indeed it had been tedious but that a flattered smile played on my rugged features and eased my toil the while. i was assured my poem would fill her with delight-- i fancied she was pretty-- i knew that she was bright! and for a spell thereafter that unknown damsel's face with its worshipful expression pursued me every place; meseemed to hear her whisper: "o, thank you, gifted sir, for the overwhelming honor you so graciously confer!" but a catalogue from benjamin's disproves what things meseemed-- dispels with savage certainty the flattering dreams i dreamed; for that poor "favorite poem," done and signed in autograph, is listed in "cheap items" at a dollar-and-a-half. at http://www.ebookforge.net book-collector a general survey of the pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at home and abroad from the earliest period to the present time with an account of public and private libraries and anecdotes of their founders or owners and remarks on bookbinding and on special copies of books by w. carew hazlitt john grant london [illustration: key to the characters in the 'field-day at sotheby's.'] mr. g. s. snowden lord brabourne mr. dykes campbell mr. e. daniell mr. w. ward palmer's boy mr. railton mr. leighton dr. neligan mr. j. rimell mr. e. w. stibbs mr. c. hindley mr. e. g. hodge mr. h. sotheran earl of warwick mr. j. toovey mr. westell mr. molini mr. b. quaritch mr. walford mr. h. stevens mr. g. j. ellis henry mr. f. locker-sampson mr. j. roche mr. dobell mr. e. walford mr. reeves mr. robson [illustration: book sale at sotheby's auction rooms. from the original wash drawing by h.m. paget in possession of mess^rs sotheby, wilkinson & hodge, london. carl hentschel ph. sc.] preface several monographs by contemporary scholars on the inexhaustible theme of book-collecting have made their appearance during the last twenty years. all such undertakings have more or less their independent value and merit from the fact that each is apt to reflect and preserve the special experiences and predilections of the immediate author; and so it happens in the present case. a succession of essays on the same subject is bound to traverse the same ground, yet no two of them, perhaps, work from the same seeing point, and there may be beyond the topic substantially little in common between them and the rest of the literature, which has steadily accumulated round this attractive and fruitful subject for bookman and artist. during a very long course of years i have had occasion to study books in all their branches, in almost all tongues, of almost all periods, personally and closely. no early english volumes, while i have been on the track, have, if i could help it, escaped my scrutiny; and i have not let them pass from my hands without noting every particular which seemed to me important and interesting in a historical, literary, biographical, and bibliographical respect. the result of these protracted and laborious investigations is partly manifest in my _bibliographical collections_, - , extending to eight octavo volumes; but a good deal of matter remained, which could not be utilised in that series or in my other miscellaneous contributions to _belles lettres_. so it happened that i found myself the possessor of a considerable body of information, covering the entire field of book-collecting in great britain and ireland and on the european continent, and incidentally illustrating such cognate features as printing materials, binding, and inscriptions or autographs, some enhancing the interest of an already interesting item, others conferring on an otherwise valueless one a peculiar claim to notice. my collections insensibly assumed the proportions of the volume now submitted to the public; and in the process of seeing the sheets through the press certain supplementary notes suggested themselves, and form an appendix. it has been my endeavour to render the index as complete a clue as possible to the whole of the matter within the covers. as my thoughts carry me back to the time--it is fifty years--when i commenced my inquiries into literary antiquities, i see that i have lived to witness a new hegira: new ideas, new tastes, new authors. the american market and the shakespear movement[ ] have turned everything and everybody upside down. but time will prove the friend of some of us. in the following pages i have avoided the repetition of particulars to be found in my _four generations of a literary family_, , and in my _confessions of a collector_, , so far as they concern the immediate subject-matter. w. c. h. barnes common, surrey, _october _. footnotes: [ ] see the writer's _shakespear, himself and his work: a study from new points of view_, second edition, revised, with important additions, and several facsimiles, vo, . history of book-collecting chapter i the plan--the writer's practical career--deficiency of a general knowledge of the subject--the printed book and the manuscript independent branches of study--the rich and the poor collector--their relative systems and advantages--great results achieved by persons of moderate fortune--the rev. thomas corser--lamb and coleridge--human interest resident in collections formed by such men, and the genuine pleasure experienced by the owners--a case or two stated--the chevalier d'eon--the contrary practice--comparatively early culture in the provinces and interchange of books--lady collectors--rarity of hereditary libraries--the alterations in the aspect of books--the mill a fellow-labourer with the press--a word about values and prices--our social institutions answerable for the difference of feeling about book-collecting--districts formerly rich in libraries--distributing centres--possibility of yet unexplored ground--the universities and inns of court--successful book-hunting in scotland and ireland--present gravitation of all valuable books to london. a manual for the more immediate and especial use of english-speaking inquirers is bound to limit itself, in the first place, mainly to the literary products of the three kingdoms and the colonies; and, secondly, to a broad and general indication of the various paths which it is open to any one to pursue according to his tastes or possibilities, with clues to the best sources of intelligence and guidance. the english collector, where he crosses the border, as it were, and admits works of foreign origin into his bookcase, does not often do so on a large scale; but he may be naturally tempted to make exceptions in favour of certain _chefs-d'oeuvre_ irrespective of nationality. there are books and tracts which commend themselves by their typographical importance, by their direct bearing on maritime discovery, by their momentous relation to the fine arts, or by their link with some great personality. these stand out in relief from the normal category of foreign literature; they speak a language which should be intelligible to all. it must be obvious that in a restricted space a writer has no scope for anecdote and gossip, if they are not actually out of place in a technical undertaking. yet we have endeavoured to lay before our readers, in as legible a form as possible, a view of the subject and counsel as to the various methods and lines of collecting. such an enterprise as we offer, in the face of several which have already appeared under various titles and auspices, may at first sight seem redundant; but perhaps it is not really the case. a book of this class is, as a rule, written by a scholar for scholars; that is all very well, and very charming the result is capable of proving. or, again, the book is addressed by a bibliographer to bibliographers; and here there may be, with a vast deal that is highly instructive, a tendency to bare _technique_, which does not commend itself to many outside the professional or special lines. it was thought, under these circumstances, that a new volume, combining readability and a fair proportion of general interest with practical information and advice, was entitled to favourable consideration; and the peculiar training of the present writer during his whole life, at once as a _litterateur_ and a practical bookman, encouraged the idea on his part that it might well be feasible for him to carry the plan into execution, and produce a view of a permanently interesting and important subject in all its branches and aspects, appealing not only to actual book-collectors, but to those who may naturally desire to learn to what the science and pursuit amount. one of the best apologies for book-collecting, and even for the accumulation of fine books, is that offered by mcculloch in the preface to his own catalogue. the writer takes occasion to observe, among other points and arguments: "it is no doubt very easy to ridicule the taste for fine books and their accumulation in extensive libraries. but it is not more easy than to ridicule the taste for whatever is most desirable, as superior clothes, houses, furniture, and accommodation of every sort. a taste for improved or fine books is one of the least equivocal marks of the progress of civilisation, and it is as much to be preferred to a taste for those that are coarse and ill got up, as a taste for the pictures of reynolds or turner is to be preferred to a taste for the daubs that satisfy the vulgar. a man acts foolishly, if he spend more money on books or anything else than he can afford; but the folly will be increased, not diminished, by his spending it on mean and common rather than on fine and uncommon works. the latter when sold invariably bring a good price, more perhaps than was paid for them, whereas the former either bring nothing or next to nothing." mcculloch's maternal grandfather was possibly the book-lover from whom the eminent political economist inherited his taste. in common with the manuscript document and the autograph letter, the written book forms such a vast department of inquiry and study, that it would be undesirable, and indeed almost impracticable, in a volume of limited extent on book-collecting, to include the consideration of any collateral subject. the broad facts regarding our national collections of mss. are sufficiently well known, no less than the principal repositories in which they are to be found and consulted, and the individuals who have signalised themselves from time to time as owners of this class of property on various scales or on various principles. nearly everybody with any claim to culture is familiar with the names of cotton, arundel, harley, lansdowne, birch, burney, egerton, hardwicke, and stowe, in connection with precious assemblages of monuments in the national library; parker, tanner, fairfax, ashmole and others at oxford or cambridge; carew at lambeth, and a succession of private enthusiasts in this direction, either independently or in conjunction with the printed side--dering of surrenden, le neve, martin of palgrave, duke of buckingham, sir thomas phillipps, libri, lord ashburnham, heber, and bright. in the case of mss. it is equally true with printed literature that the interest and value depend on circumstances, and are liable to changes and vicissitudes. they may be classified into countries, periods, and subjects, and their appreciation depends on their character even more than on their mere rarity. an unique ms. may possibly be quite worthless. a comparatively common one may command a good price. how numerous soever the ancient copies of chaucer's _canterbury tales_ might be, another coming into the open market would still be an object of keen competition; and where importance is coupled with scarcity or uniqueness, of course the latter feature lends a high additional weight to the matter, and multiplies inquirers. we must, however, in justice to this branch of the topic and to our readers, refrain from further pursuit of the discussion of it, as its adequate treatment would absorb a monograph to the full extent as ample as the present, and such a manual is in point of fact a desideratum--one, too, which the improved state of bibliographical knowledge would assist in rendering much more satisfactory than was formerly possible. the _rolls of collectors_ by the present writer afford a convenient view of the different classes of society in the now united kingdom, which from the outset to the present day have created, during unequal periods of duration, more or less noteworthy centres of literary or bibliographical gatherings, from the harley, roxburghe, heber, or huth level to that of the owner--often not less to be admired or commended--of the humble shelf-ful of volumes. here names occur associated with the most widely varied aims in respect to scope and compass, yet all in a certain measure participating in the credit of admitting to their homes products of intellectual industry and ingenuity beyond such matter as family bibles, directories, railway guides, charles lamb's _biblia-a-biblia_, and sixpenny or threepenny editions of popular authors, which constitute the staple decorations of the average british middle-class household in this nonagenarian nineteenth century. so early as the time of the later stuarts, a movement seems to have commenced both in england and scotland, not only in the chief centres, but in provincial towns, for the education of the middle class, and even of the higher grade of agriculturists, who sent their children to schools, and at the same time, in the absence of circulating libraries, improved their own minds by the exchange of books, as we perceive in contemporary diaries and correspondence; and macaulay doubtless overcolours the ignorance and debasement of the bulk of society about the period of the revolution of , apparently in order to maintain a cue with which he had started. the diary of john richards, a farmer at warmwell in dorsetshire, - , is an unimpeachable witness on the other side; it is printed in the _retrospective review_, . it was about the same date that we find even in scotland a project for establishing throughout the country, in every parish, reference or lending libraries, and some pamphlets on the subject have come down to us; but we hear nothing more about it. this was in - , just when the indefatigable john dunton was sending from the press his multifarious periodical news-books for the benefit of the more literary sort in south britain. the circulating library in the united kingdom in its inception was intended more particularly for the better-to-do class, and even to-day its tariff is hardly compatible with very narrow resources. perhaps the earliest effort to bring literature within the reach of the working-man was charles knight's scheme of "book-clubs for all readers," mentioned in a letter to him of from dickens. a remarkable change in the fortunes and tactics of the collector has arisen from one in our social institutions. the book-hunter of times past, if he was a resident in the provinces, and worked on a more or less systematic and ambitious scale--nay, if he merely picked up articles from year to year which struck his fancy, relied, as he was able to do, on his country town. thither gravitated, as a rule, the products of public and private sales from the surrounding neighbourhood within a fairly wide radius. if a library was placed in the market, the sale took place on the premises or at the nearest centre; there was no thought of sending anything short of a known collection up to london. the transit in the absence of railways was too inconvenient and costly. these conditions, which long survived better possibilities, naturally made certain headquarters throughout the kingdom a perfect eldorado and elysium, first of all for local enthusiasts miles round, and later on for metropolitan bargain-seekers, who made periodical tours in certain localities at present as barren as arabia petræa. the principal points appear, so far as existing information goes, to have been in the north: newcastle, york, sheffield, leeds; in the midlands: birmingham and manchester; in the west: plymouth, exeter, and bristol; in the south: chichester; in the east: norwich, yarmouth, colchester, bury, and ipswich. it was at chichester that the poet collins brought together a certain number of early books, some of the first rarity; his name is found, too, in the sale catalogues of the last century as a buyer of such; and the strange and regrettable fact is, that two or three items, which thomas warton actually saw in his hands, and of which there are no known duplicates, have not so far been recovered. east anglia during a prolonged period was peculiarly rich in holders and seekers of the old book, both manuscript and printed. it formerly abounded in monastic institutions, affluent county families, and literary archæologists. we may mention lord petre, the hanmers of mildenhall, the herveys of ickworth, the bunburys of bury, the tollemaches, the freres, the fountaines, sir john fenn, martin of palgrave, dawson turner, and the rev. john mitford. it was the same, as we take elsewhere occasion to show, in the west of england, in the midlands, in the northern counties, and in the south of scotland. the absence of ready communication with the metropolis and the relative insignificance of provincial centres kept libraries together. their owners, while the agricultural interest was flourishing, had no motive for sale, and the inducement to part with such property was far less powerful, while the competition remained limited. in kent: canterbury and maidstone; in surrey: guildford, croydon, kingston, and even richmond, may have helped to supply local requirements to a certain extent. but the sydneys of penshurst, the oxindens of barham, the lee-warlys, the barretts of lee, the evelyns of sayes-court and wootton, and others among the gentry of these and the adjacent shires, probably filled their shelves in principal measure from the london shops during their periodical visits to the metropolis for various purposes. even in later times the suburbs of london, and now and then such localities as woolwich, reading, manchester, shrewsbury, salisbury, wrexham, conway, keswick, and dublin have yielded a prize or so, owing to the dispersion of some small library in the neighbourhood on the premises. otherwise one may prospect the country towns all over the three kingdoms nowadays, and not see anything save new stock and penny-box ware. even the provincial centres are, in general, sterile enough; but the rural districts are dried up. every species of property seems to drift to london. the bristol houses, kerslake, jefferies, george, lasbury, often came across rarities; but it is so no longer. the west has been threaded through. if there is a section of england where some good things may yet linger, it is, we should say, in staffordshire, lancashire, and shropshire, to which might perhaps be added worcestershire. the seats of our two ancient universities, and cathedral cities generally, have not yielded such ample fruit to the explorer, perhaps because there has always been a species of magnetic attraction, by which any spoils of the kind are drawn into the local libraries and museums. a graduate of oxford or cambridge, a canon of this or that church, a loyal dweller in winchester or lincoln, possesses or discovers a rare volume, and his impulse, if he does not keep it himself, is to bestow it on his place of residence or education. whatever happens, the stranger coming to hunt in these preserves arrives only in time to learn that the stall or the shop has given up some unique desideratum a day or two before, and is referred to the librarian of the college, or to the buyer at such an address, if he desires to inspect it, which, if his aims are simply commercial, be sure he does not. the aggravation is already sufficient! at the same time, the universities and inns of court have been from time to time the homes of many famous book-collections. robert burton, anthony wood, john selden, sir david dundas, mr. dyce, dr. bliss, dr. bandinel, dr. coxe, mr. bradshaw, are only a few select names. in the same way there was a time, and not so distant, when edinburgh, and even dublin, yielded their proportion of finds, and the duke of roxburghe and general swinton, david laing and james maidment, obtained no insignificant share of their extremely curious and valuable stores from their own ground. now the scotish amateur and bookseller equally look to the great metropolis for the supply of their wants, and the north country libraries are sent up to london for sale. the capital of scotland has lost its ancient prestige as a cover for this sort of sport, and is as unproductive as an ordinary english provincial town. from an acquisitive standpoint the locality signifies no longer. the game is up. the three kingdoms have been well-nigh ransacked and exhausted. the country town is as bare as a bird's tail of anything but common-place stuff, bought in the london market, and (if any dweller in a distant city is simple enough to order it from the unsophisticated vendor) charged with a good profit and the freight up. naturally the provincial dealer, if he stumbles on a gem or two in an accidental way, takes care that it is sold in no corner, unless it be at the corner of wellington street in the strand. he considers that the value may be a matter of doubt, and he leaves it to gentlemen to decide between them how much it is worth. do you blame him? it is a frequently debated point whether at home in great britain the feeling for books, in the collector's sense, is not on the decline; and, indeed, the causes of such a change are not far to seek. the acute pressure of business among the wealthy mercantile class, which principally contributes to the ranks of book-buyers, and the decrease of resources for such luxuries among the nobility and clergy, might be sufficient to explain a shrinkage in the demand for the older and rarer literature in our own and other languages; but there is another and even more powerful agency at work which operates in the same direction, and is adverse to the investment of money in objects which do not appeal directly to the eye. the _bibliophile_ discovers, when he has expended a small fortune (or perhaps a large one) in the formation of a library, that his friends evince no interest in it, have no desire to enter the room where the cases are kept, do not understand what they are told about this or that precious acquisition, and turn on their heel to look at the pictures, the antique furniture, or the china. this undoubtedly wide-spread sentiment strikes a very serious blow at a pursuit in which the enthusiast meets with slight sympathy or encouragement, unless it is at the hands of the dealers, naturally bound for their own sakes to keep him in heart by sympathy and flattery. doubtless the present aspect of the question might have become ere now more serious, had it not been for the american market and the extension of the system of public and free libraries. but, on the other hand, while enormous numbers of books are sold under the hammer year by year, there must be an approximately proportionate demand and an inexhaustible market, or the book trade could not keep pace with the auctioneers; and, moreover, we may be in a transitional state in some respects, and may be succeeded by those whose appetite for the older literature will be keener than it ever was. the complaint of a superabundance of books of all kinds is not a new one. it goes back at least to the reign of elizabeth and the age of shakespeare, for in , in a sermon preached at paul's cross, a divine says:-- "there is no ende of making bookes, and much reading is a wearinesse to the flesh, and in our carelesse daies bookes may rather seeme to want readers, than readers to want bookes." no one should be too positive whether it is to the rich or to the poor book-collector that the romantic element chiefly or more powerfully attaches itself. it has been our lot to enjoy the acquaintance of both classes, and we hesitate to pronounce any decided opinion. there is the unquestionable triumph of the man with a full purse or an inexhaustible banking account, who has merely to resolve upon a purchase or a series of purchases, and to write a cheque for the sum total. he is no sooner recognised by the members of the trade as a zealous enthusiast and a liberal paymaster, than offers arrive, and continue to arrive, from all sides. he is not asked to take any trouble; his library is an object of solicitude to everybody who has anything to sell; the order on his bankers is all that his humble servants desire. he finds himself, after the lapse of a decade or so, the master of a splendid collection, without having once known what it was to get disagreeably warm or anxious in the pursuit of a volume, to deliberate whether he could afford to buy it, or to submit to the ordeal of attending an auction, one of a motley throng in a fetid atmosphere. all these trials he has been spared; he has collected with kid gloves. on the contrary, a good deal may be said in favour of the amateur of moderate fortune, who by personal judgment slowly accumulates an important and enviable assemblage of literary monuments, like the rev. thomas corser, who spent £ during a lifetime on books, which realised £ , , and would now bring thrice as much, and perhaps even more; and in that of men such as charles lamb and samuel taylor coleridge, who had to pause before they laid out a few shillings in this way. the history of lamb's books is more humanly interesting than the history of the huth or grenville library; as chattels or furniture they were worthless; they were generally the poorest copies imaginable; but if they did not cost money, they often cost thought; they sometimes involved a sacrifice, if the price was in the high altitude of a sovereign. in the case of lamb, the sister's opinion was sought, and the matter lay ever so long in abeyance before the final decision was taken, and lamb hastened to the shop, uncertain if he might not be too late, if the person whom he saw emerging as he entered might not have _his_ book in his pocket. here was payment in full for the prize; the coin handed to the vendor was nothing to it; lamb had laid out more than the value in many a sleepless night and many an anxious calculation. lamb, although he probably never bound a volume of his own in his life, or purchased one for the sake of its cover, could grow enthusiastic over his favourite _duchess of newcastle_, and declare that no casket was rich enough, no casing sufficiently durable, to honour and keep safe such a jewel. collectors of the abstract type looked, and still look, at the essence or soul--at the object pure and simple. a book is a book for a' that. it may be imperfect, soiled, wormed, cropped, shabbily bound--all those things belong to its years; let it suffice that there is just enough of the author to be got in glimpses here and there to enable the proprietor of him in type to judge his quality and power. that is what such men as lamb wanted--all they wanted. a copy of burton's _anatomy_, of wither's _emblems_, or browne's _urn-burial_, in the best and newest morocco, was apt to be a hinderance to their enjoyment of the beauties of the text, was almost bound to strike them as an intrusion and an impertinence--perchance as a sort of sacrilege--as though the maker of the cover was seeking to place himself on a level with the maker of the book. nor are there wanting successive renewers of this school of collector--of men who have bought books and other literary property for their own sake, for their intrinsic worth, irrespectively of rarity and price. a relative of the writer devoted a long life--a very long one--to the acquisition of what struck him as being curious and interesting in its way and fell within his resources, which were never too ample; and in the end he succeeded in gathering together, without much technical knowledge of the subject, a fairly large assortment of volumes, not appealing for the most part to the severer taste of the more fastidious and wealthier amateur, but endeared to him at least, as lamb's were, by the circumstances under which they came to his hands. each one had its _historiette_. this gentleman represented, as i say, a type, and a very genuine and laudable one, too. i admired, almost envied him, not in his possession, but in his enjoyment of these treasures; they were to him as the apple of his eye. when i speak of him as a type, i mean that the same phenomenon still exists. in a letter of from the extreme north of england there is the ensuing passage, which strongly impressed my fancy: "ever since i had a house of my own--nearly twenty years--i have been a collector of books on a humble scale. . . . still, by being continually on the look-out for 'bargains,' i have managed to gather between three and four thousand volumes together, chiefly of a poetical nature." now, to my apprehension, the present aspect of the matter touches a higher or deeper chord than that reached by the owner of the most splendid library in the universe; for all this heliconian harvest signified personal search and personal sacrifice. we do not always bear in mind that the rare books of to-day were the current literature not merely of, but long posterior to, the period of their appearance. they suffered two kinds and stages of deterioration and waste. while they remained in vogue among readers and students, they necessarily submitted to a succession of more or less indifferent owners, who regarded without much concern objects which it was in their power to replace without much difficulty. the worst day dawned, however, for our ancient literature, especially that of a fugitive or sentimental class, when it had ceased to be in demand for practical purposes, and was not yet ripe for the men, in whose eyes it could only possess archæological attractions. independently of destruction by accidental fires, a century or two of neglect proved fatal to millions of volumes or other literary records in pamphlet or broadsheet form; and as tastes changed, the mill and the fire successively consumed the discarded favourites of bygone generations, just as at the present moment we pulp or burn from day to day cartloads of old science, and theology, and law, and fiction, and ever so much more, preparing to grow unique. the mill has been as busy as the press all these centuries on which we look back. it has neither eyes nor ears, nor has it compassion; it unrelentingly grinds and consumes all that comes in its way; age after age it has reduced to dust what the men of the time refuse in the presence of something newer, and, as they hold, better. the printers of each generation, from those of mainz downward, lent themselves, not unnaturally, not unwisely, to subjects in the first place (by way of experiment) which were not costly, and secondly to such as appealed to contemporary taste and patronage. we find under the former head indulgences, proclamations, broadsides, ballads; under the second, church service books of all kinds, succeeded after a while by certain of the classics. the impressions long remained limited; and continual use and subsequent neglect accomplished between them the task of creating the modern bibliographical and bibliomaniacal schools. even in anglo-saxon times the ferocity of warfare and the ravages of invasion on invasion, coupled with the scanty diffusion of literary taste, destroyed many of the monastic libraries. but, which is stranger and less excusable, even down to the second half of the seventeenth century, down to aubrey's day, the greatest havoc continued to be made in this way alike among printed books and mss., the latter being used for all sorts of utilitarian purposes--even as bungs for beer-barrels. in our own period it is immeasurably sadder and more astonishing to learn that, besides the losses arising from casual conflagrations to public and private libraries, the old vandalism is not extinct, and that nothing is sacred in its eyes, not even the priceless muniments of a cathedral church. what must the aggregate have become, if such a process had not been steadily in operation all these centuries! and, even as it is, the dispersion of old libraries, like those of johnson of spalding and skene of skene, encourages the waste-paper dealer to believe that the end is not yet reached. the frequenter of the auction-rooms of london alone has perpetually under his eyes a mountain of illegible printed matter sufficient to overload the shoulders of atlas. bibliomania has as many heads as the famed briareus; but it seldom lifts more than two or three at once. perhaps it would be impossible to name any variety of fancy which has not at some time entered into the pursuit which we are just now attempting to illustrate. the love of the book without regard to the binding, or of the binding irrespectively of the book; the fashion for works with woodcuts, of certain printers, of certain places, of certain dates; the establishment of a fixed rule as to a subject or a group of subjects, taken up collectively or in succession; a limitation as to price or as to size, for a candidate for admittance to some cabinets may not exceed so many inches in altitude; it must go back to the century which produced it, to be rewritten or reprinted, ere it may have a place. it is said of the elder wertheimer that, when some one expressed his astonishment at the price which he had given for an item, and even insinuated his want of wisdom, he retorted pleasantly that he might be a fool, but he thought that he knew greater ones than himself. do we not under existing conditions view with too uncharitable sentiments the marvellous good fortune of the book-hunters of the last century, at the very outset of a revival of the taste for our own vernacular literature? does it not seem tantalising to hear that warton the historian could pick up for sixpence a volume containing _venus and adonis_, , and seven other precious _morçeaux_, off a broker's counter in salisbury, when the british museum gave at the daniel sale £ for the shakespeare alone? what a thrill passes through the veins, as we read of rodd the bookseller meeting at a marine store-shop on saffron hill, somewhere about the thirties, with a volume of elizabethan tracts, and having it weighed out to him at threepence three-farthings! our space is far more limited than such anecdotes; but they all strike us as pointing the same moral. if one happens on a caxton or a quarto shakespeare to-day for a trifle, it is the isolated ignorance of the possessor which befriends one. but till the market came for these things, the price for what very few wanted was naturally low; and an acquirer like george steevens, edward capell, or edmond malone was scarcely apt to feel the keen gratification on meeting with some unique find that a man would now do, seeing that its rarity was yet unascertained, and even had it been so, was not likely to awaken much sensation. low prices do not alone establish cheapness. cheap books are those which are obtained by accident under the current value. in the time of the later stuarts, narcissus luttrell found from one penny to sixpence sufficient to satisfy the shopkeepers with whom he dealt for some of the most precious volumes in our language; and a shilling commanded a caxton. the huths of those days could not lay out their money in these things; they had to take up the ancient typography in the form of the classics, or large-paper copies of contemporary historians, or the publications of hearne. we do not know that the celebrated chevalier d'eon was singular in his views as a collector in the last century. he bought in chief measure, if we may judge from a document before us, what we should now term nondescripts, and in the aggregate gave a very handsome price at a london auction in for an assemblage of items at present procurable, if any one wanted them, at a far lower rate. there is not a lot throughout which would recommend itself to modern taste, save the _cuisinier françois_, and perhaps that was not in the old morocco livery considered by judges as _de rigueur_. we append the auctioneer's account entire, because it exhibits a fair example of the class of book which not only frenchmen, but ourselves, sought at that time more than those for which we have long learned to compete, and which were then offered under the hammer by the bundle, if not by the basketful. for £ , s., a hundred and twenty-five years ago, how many quarto shakespears could one have acquired? the chevalier d'eon, _bought of baker & leigh_. £ s. d. catalogus librorum mss. angl. et hibern index librorum bibliothecæ barberinæ, vols. reading catal. lib. in collegio sionensi le long, bibliothèque hist. de la france voyage literaire de deux religieux benedictins histoire de demelez de la cour de france memoires sur le rang entre les souv. de l'europe, &c. discours politiques sur tacite, par josseval dictionnaire mathematique, par ozanam dictionnaire practique du bon menager de campagne, par liger, vols. leland agt. bolingbroke's study of history mutel's causes of the corruption of christians bindon on commerce essay on money, trade, war, banks, &c. england's gazetteer, vols. halifax's advice to a daughter tresor de la pratique de medecine, vols. seneque de la consolation de la mort tacite (la morale de) par houssaie tite live reduit en maximes gracien l'homme universel l'ecole de l'homme memoire pour diminuer le nombre de preces receuil des edits le secret des cours, par walsingham receuil de maximes pour institut. du roy callieres de la science du monde traités des interests des princes' & souverains de l'europe sciences des princes, par naudé, vols. etat present du royaume de danemarc memoires de l'empire russien memoires & negociations secrettes de diverses cours de l'europe par m. la torre, vols. memoires pour servir a l'histoire de corse memoires militaires sur les anciens, vols. histoire generale de suisse memoire du card. richelieu, vols. la vie du card. richelieu, vols. la vie de mons. colbert voyage de grece, egypte, &c. voyage du mont du levant lettres du card. richelieu lettres d'un turque a paris lettres persanes, par montesquieu le passe tems agreable essai politique sur le commerce theorie de l'impot histoire du systeme des finances, & , vols. histoire du commerce, par huet le vrai cuisinier françois dictionnaire neologique relations de quelques religieux, vols. reflexions sur l'edit several lots of pamphlets, s. each five pamphlets, at d. each -------- £ ======== _jan. th, ._ recd. the contents for baker and self, geo. leigh. the neglect of our early literature continued, as we have said, down to the second half of the eighteenth century. prior to that time, all the information at our command tends to show that collectors almost uniformly restricted themselves to the books current in or about their own time, as we find even pepys asking bagford to secure for him, not caxtons or elizabethan books, but items which we should now regard with comparative or absolute indifference. while some insignificant trifle, which had happened to go out of print, was sought with avidity, while editions of the classics and continental writers, long since converted to waste paper, were objects of keen rivalry, the most precious examples of ancient english and scotish typography and poetry were obtainable for pence. a very interesting side to the subject before us is the share claimable in it by the fair sex. in our two _rolls of book-collectors_ we have included the names of several ladies, who in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as in the earlier part of the present, established a title to rank among possessors of libraries in a larger or smaller measure. two of the most prominent names are probably those of miss richardson currer, of eshton hall, yorkshire, and mrs. rylands of manchester, the latter not only the acquirer of the althorp treasures, but of a most valuable body of books, ancient and modern, in augmentation of them. this feature in the annals of collecting is the more to be borne in mind, in that it has in recent days declined almost to disappearance, and may be said to be limited to a few gentlewomen, who pursue special studies, like the hon. alicia amherst and mrs. earle, and bring together for use or reference the works illustrative of them. a study of the writer's _rolls of book-collectors_, which embrace over two thousand names, will satisfy any one that the hereditary or transmitted collections in this country are very few, if we limit ourselves to libraries of note, and do not compensate for the long catalogue of old libraries which have been dispersed even in our own time. are there really more than the miller and the huth, unless we add the spencer or althorp, kept intact and amplified, yet in the hands of a stranger? book-collecting by individuals is, then, mainly a personal affair, which begins and ends with a life. the continuance even of the two libraries above mentioned in private hands cannot be regarded as otherwise than precarious and terminable; the fourth succession of miller has just expired in an unexpected manner, and the destiny of the britwell treasures is problematical. rumour has long since pointed to the advocates' library at edinburgh as the ultimate reversioner. in a volume of moderate compass, professedly addressing itself in a special manner to english collectors, the consideration of foreign literature must of necessity be a secondary and incidental feature and element, although it may be quite true that our countrymen and countrywomen look so frequently aside, as it were, from the literary productions of their own soil to study those of other lands. in great britain we may be said to be much more cosmopolitan in our book-collecting tastes than many of our contemporaries on the continent of europe, germany perhaps excepted. in france, spain, portugal, italy, and elsewhere, the demand is almost exclusively for native authors; but the germans, americans, and ourselves take a pride, and a just one, in being more catholic and broad: we see the advantage, no doubt, and no doubt we reap the fruit, of such a policy. at the same time, in a monograph of limited scope it is obviously impossible to embrace even a general view of the enormously wide range which is before any one who crosses over from his own country to add to his english possessions even a select collection of books in foreign languages; and we have confined our efforts in this direction to an indication of such typical or special works (principally french) as are usually sought by people in these islands, who resort more or less to the continental market. even prominent anglo-french amateurs like mr. r. s. turner and lord ashburton are found keeping within certain classes of literature, and certain copies recommendable by their _provenance_, binding, or graphic peculiarities. chapter ii spoliation of public libraries in past times--denouncers of the robbers of books--schedule of public libraries in the united kingdom--view of the chief features of some of these--cathedral libraries--public libraries on the continent and in america--early english books in foreign collections--difference in the constitution of public collections--private libraries--their classification--the writer's _rolls of collectors_--the harleian library--the idea borrowed from abroad--formation of a new english school of collecting--the roxburghe sale in --richard heber and his vast library--his services to literature--his scholarship--the britwell library. it hardly falls within the province of a manual for the book-collector to dwell on the character and relative merits of the purely public libraries at home and abroad, or even on the bibliographical possessions of private personages which are not available for purchase. recent experience, however, teaches us that we are not entitled to count any longer on the intact preservation of the books of any individual or family, as the sale by auction has almost become fashionable. at any rate, there can be no harm in introducing a few remarks on this aspect and branch of our subject, particularly seeing that the effect of throwing on the market thousands of rare books, which were once thought to be hopelessly unattainable, has contributed to improve the prospects and opportunities of purchasers. the spoliation of public libraries at home and abroad is an aspect of the question or subject neither very agreeable nor very flattering. in england and other parts of the empire, within the last century, numerous examples have occurred where valuable or unique books have been stolen or mutilated. the national collection in great russell street has perhaps suffered the least, and whatever may be said about the system on which it was formerly conducted and managed, sufficient care seems always to have been exercised to guard against depredators of various kinds. so far as is publicly known, petty thefts of articles more or less easily replaceable are all that we have to regret. it is notorious that the bodleian has lost several important volumes, and no one will probably ever arrive at any definite information of the extent to which the libraries at cambridge and the other minor collections at the sister universities of oxford, edinburgh, and dublin have been pillaged and impoverished. it has been the same all over the continent. the bibliothèque nationale at paris, and many of the leading provincial libraries of france, have been robbed wholesale in former times, and in some cases annihilated. one has only to read the observations and evidence of m. achille jubinal accompanying a (then) inedited letter of montaigne ( vo, paris, ), to form an idea of the ravages which have been made through neglect of officials and dishonesty of visitors; and what must the fact be in italy, spain, portugal, and elsewhere? the denunciations against robbers of books and libraries date, however, from the remotest period, and were at first highly necessary as a means of safeguarding the treasures of monasteries and churches. isaac taylor, in his _history of the transmission of ancient books to modern times_, , p. , prints an anathema of this kind: "whosoever removeth this volume from this same mentioned convent, may the anger of the lord overtake him in this world, and in the next to all eternity. amen." let the energetic explorers who have transferred so many hundreds of such mss. to the vatican and the british museum look to it; and what are his holiness and the trustees in great russell street but palpable accessories after, if not before, the fact! a common peril hangs over them all. a visit to a library such as the british museum or the bodleian, or even to those of some of the colleges at oxford and cambridge, is apt to instil a feeling of reverential affection for the founders and benefactors of such institutions; the existing functionaries seem to withdraw into middle distance, and one enters into communion with the spirits of the departed. from the private collector's point of view these great public libraries are mainly serviceable for purposes of reference and comparative study. these storehouses of bibliographical and literary wealth may be classified into-- (i) national or quasi-national collections:-- the british museum guildhall library south kensington museum (dyce and forster and general fine art collections) society of antiquaries dr. william's library, gordon square chetham library, manchester spencer-rylands library, manchester bodleian university library, cambridge university library, edinburgh advocates' library, edinburgh signet library, edinburgh hunterian library, glasgow trinity college, dublin the british museum readily divides itself, of course very unequally, into the printed book and manuscript departments, and each of these has been periodically enriched by large donations or purchases _en bloc_, the former more especially by the gift of the grenville books, and the latter by the cottonian, harleian, lansdowne, stowe, and hardwicke mss. the bodleian would fall far short of what it is, had it not been for the bequests of tanner, selden, burton, crynes, gough, malone, and douce, and so with the university library at cambridge, which owes so much to bishop moore's books, and trinity, dublin, to archbishop marsh's. (ii) college libraries:-- sion college dulwich college eton college winchester college stonyhurst college st. cuthbert's college, ushaw cambridge colleges oxford colleges sion college preserves a few items of the rarest and most precious class--shakespeare's _lucrece_, , barnfield's _affectionate shepherd_, , the _phoenix nest_, , drayton's _matilda_, , and others; but a few specified in the old catalogue have disappeared. many of the most valuable volumes bequeathed by edward alleyn to dulwich are now among garrick's books in the british museum, or among malone's at oxford, _by conveyance_; but a few yet remain. eton college library contains a small number of early printed books (including caxton's _book of good manners_) and the unique copy of udall's _ralph roister doister_. at winchester they have a volume or two of very rare poetical tracts of elizabeth's and james i.'s time. stonyhurst is solely remarkable for mss. and printed works of robert southwell and other romish writers. of the subordinate libraries at oxford and cambridge the treasures are innumerable. those which belong to the printed department are very fully registered in special catalogues and by hazlitt, except, perhaps, the very recent legacy to trinity college, cambridge, of the library of the late mr. samuel sandars, rich in early english typography, and the result of life-long researches. outside these fall the royal library at windsor, which includes the unique perfect Æsop, and one of the two books on vellum (the _doctrinal of sapience_) printed by caxton; the archiepiscopal one at lambeth, rich in rare early printed books and mss., and the chetham and rylands foundations at manchester, the latter comprehending the althorp treasures _en bloc_. humphrey chetham also established the church libraries at turton and gorton, bibliographical notices of which have been printed by mr. gilbert french, to, ; and a few strays from the chetham collection will be incidentally mentioned hereafter. a reference to the writer's _collections_, where such facts are not matters of familiar knowledge, will show that the majority of this section is more remarkable for the possession of a few rarities, or even unique items, than for a systematic representation of classes and periods. yet some are very strong in specialities: christ church, oxford, in music; magdalen, cambridge, in early english books (pepys's); corpus, cambridge, in mss. (archbishop parker's); the bodleian, in shakespeariana, early popular books, elizabethan poetry, &c. (malone's, douce's, selden's, burton's), and so forth. (iii) cathedral libraries:-- st. paul's, london canterbury (christ church) york minster and chapter peterborough lichfield lincoln hereford at lincoln there was formerly the precious honeywood bequest, improperly sold to dibdin for guineas; but the library still contains about volumes, to which the dean and chapter make additions from time to time; and there is a paid custodian, who is one of the minor canons. york minster and chapter are rich in early typography and yorkshire books. the cathedral library is under the charge of a canon as librarian and a vicar-choral as sub-librarian, who receive no salary. it is open to the public on three days in summer and on two days in winter in each week. there is no fund for the support or improvement of the library, except the interest of £ and a few voluntary subscriptions. hereford possesses a remarkable assemblage of chained volumes. to the present group most properly appertains the library at westminster abbey, founded by lord-keeper williams, while he was dean of westminster. (iv) public libraries on the continent or in america:-- bibliothèque nationale, paris french institute (the gift of the late duc d'aumale), chantilly vatican library, rome royal library, naples medicean library, florence st. mark's library, venice royal library, turin imperial library, vienna imperial library, st. petersburg royal library, berlin library of electors and kings of bavaria, münich library of the dukes and kings of saxony, wölfenbüttel landerbibliothek, cassel public library, hamburg public library, göttingen public library, zürich archiepiscopal library, eichstadt archiepiscopal library, salzburg archiepiscopal library, worms, &c. plantin museum, antwerp university library, upsala royal library, copenhagen lenox and carter brown libraries, new york the two last named, as it may be at once concluded, are principally english and anglo-american in their character. our collectors do not, as we are aware, by any means restrict themselves to the literature of the mother country so exclusively as their transatlantic contemporaries; and for them therefore it becomes of importance and interest to acquire through catalogues a familiarity with the contents of the leading assemblages of foreign and classical literature in continental hands. but there are very few of the great public libraries abroad which have not casually or otherwise acquired english books, and those of the rarest description. at göttingen they have, from an auction at lüneburg in , the _c. merry tales_ of ; at cassel, marlowe's _edward ii._, ; and at hamburg the elizabethan edition of _blanchardine and eglantine_, , all unique or most rare; and this is only by way of instance or sample. the huth copy of shakespeare's _sonnets_, , was obtained from zürich. the private amateur does well if he keeps before him the salient features connected with his pursuit from this point of view. it is to be deeply regretted that the government of the netherlands did not take steps to preserve intact the enscheden collection at haarlem, in the same manner that that of belgium did the plantin heirlooms. the late mr. quaritch narrated an amusing and characteristic anecdote, commemorative of his participation in the enscheden sale, where the agent of the british museum waited till the morning to bid at the table for the _troy-book_, printed by wynkyn de worde in , and he bought it privately over-night of the auctioneer. there is, it must be noted, a fundamental difference in the constitution of public libraries in great britain and america as compared with those on the continent. the latter, if they do not restrict themselves, in principal measure, to the literature of their own country, or at least tongue, very seldom go far outside those limits otherwise than by accident or for works of reference. on the contrary, the english and american collections are cosmopolitan, like those who have formed them. at the british museum a volume in icelandic, chinese, hawaian, or any other character is welcomed nearly as much as one in the vernacular. in germany, at all events at berlin and vienna, english books of importance are recognised. but at the bibliothèque in paris it is not so. the french collect only the classics and their own literature, just as they ignore in coins all but the greek and roman and national series. within their own lines, however, it is wonderful, looking at all the political convulsions which the country and capital have undergone, what vast treasures remain in france--treasures of all epochs and in every class, from the rise to the fall of the monarchy, from volumes written for the carolingian, if not merovingian kings, to volumes bound for marie antoinette. some interesting and instructive notices of our own public libraries, and of a few private collections of former times, may be found in the later volumes of the _retrospective review_. the two _rolls of collectors_ before mentioned are capable of making a not inconsiderable volume; but they are classifiable in groups and periods, and certain individuals may be taken as the central figures in the successive onward movements. our immediate concern is with printed monuments, and consequently we do not hearken back beyond the men who witnessed the introduction of typography. nor does there appear, while the purchasing power of money for literary possessions or the book-closet was high, to have been any _esprit de corps_ or emulation tending to constitute schools or _côteries_, and to raise certain books or series to an artificial standard. men at first acquired at random what happened to fall in their way; booksellers there were few or (except at london or in the universities) next to none; and auctions were long unknown. except for topography and the classics, there was, down to the middle of the eighteenth century, no active competition. the bulk of the harleian library was probably obtained without extravagant outlay, though not without labour and time; not those divisions which we should now prize would be the most expensive, unless we include the manuscripts for which lord oxford had even then to pay a price. we have drawn the line where it appears that the principle of forming libraries, in the modern sense of the word, commenced in this country. down to the harleian epoch, when the continental system began to influence us, the shelf of books which we observe in many old prints was the limit of nearly all collectors: not necessarily of their resources, but of their views and of the feeling of the time. men acquired a handful or so of volumes, which came into their hands by gift or otherwise; from the absence or paucity of public institutions there were few individuals of any culture whatever without a few books besides the family bible and _pilgrim's progress_; but such a colossal accumulation as was formed under the auspices of the second lord oxford, and still more that of richard heber, was as undreamt of as the vast and multifarious contents of the building in great russell street as it now exists. a study of early correspondence and other sources of original information on the present point will be found to corroborate such a view of the average private collection in these islands anterior to the last century. it was not till many years after the dispersion of that noble harleian memorial of generous ardour among the public and private collections of england and the continent (dr. johnson in his letter to sir f. barnard, , says that many books passed direct into the _bibliothèque du roi_ at paris), that the shakespeare revival led to an inquiry, on the one hand, into the literature connected with the elizabethan period, and on the other to a partial discovery of how much of it had perished. that epoch may be regarded as the true hegira from which we have to date the modern annals of collecting; the antecedent time was in a sense pre-historic, for the most precious remains of our national literature were unheeded and uncalendared; the means of forming a comprehensive estimate of the printed stores in actual existence were yet latent or unknown, and the almost undivided attention of students and purchasers was directed to the ancient classics and foreign typography. it must be conceded, we think, that whatever the importance of those branches of inquiry may be, the cause of british letters is more closely and permanently bound up with our own classics and the products of our own soil; and we repeat that the movement which first gave a stimulus to a sort of revolt from the continental school and to the formation of a native one was the persuasion, on the part of a few scholars, that something more was to be done towards popularising the plays of shakespeare and his more eminent contemporaries, and elucidating their writings by the help of those who lived amid the same scenes and habits of thought and under the same institutions. leigh hunt used to speak to me of having attended the great roxburghe sale in just for the sake of gaining an idea of what such an affair was. it was, no doubt, a fine collection which the noble owner and his predecessors (particularly john, earl of roxburghe in the time of queen anne) had acquired, mainly in the preceding century, at very moderate prices; and the result must have been highly satisfactory to the estate. but many things have happened since then; the heber library, the most extensive, most valuable, and most ill-fated in its realisation: the grandest and proudest bibliographical monument of the nineteenth or any other century, has been completed and scattered; and yet to-day, if the general reader were asked, he would probably be of the belief that the first rank was due to the earlier personage and collection. there is somehow a prestige about the roxburghe sale which time seems incapable of weakening; yet in comparison with its successor it was a mere handful; and in fact the accumulations even of harley, the second earl of oxford, vast and precious as they may have been, were not equal in magnitude or in value to those of heber, of whom the most surprising and most interesting trait is his conversance with the interiors of so many of his treasures; nor should we ever forget his generosity in lending them to literary workers. the rev. alexander dyce, who so ably edited our elder dramatists and poets, could never have accomplished his projects, if heber had not come to his assistance with the rare, or even unique, original editions. we have taken elsewhere an opportunity of recording the probable obligation under which we all lie to heber for his offices in prevailing on the government under the regency to arrange the so-called gift to the country of the library of george iii. what an inestimable boon and advantage it would have been, had he left us his own magnificent gatherings, with the liberty of exchanging duplicates! to how many a subsequent collection would such a step have been the deathblow or rather an insuperable bar! the britwell and huth libraries would have been robbed of half their gems, and the daniel sale could not have proved the singular _coup_ and sensation which it was, had the heber element been absent. the flyleaves of an enormous proportion of heber's books are found enriched by his scholarly and often very interesting memoranda; they usually bear a stamp with bibliotheca heberiana, but never an _ex libris_. that distinction the accomplished owner resigned to minor luminaries. the notes are always pertinent and occasionally numerous; and the pages of the sale catalogue, of which we have no fewer than thirteen parts, are lifted above mechanical common-place by the curious and varied matter interspersed from this source, as well as to a certain extent from the pen of john payne collier, who edited the early poetical and dramatic portions, and attended the auction to secure some of the rarest old plays for his friend the duke of devonshire. heber had, in the course of a not very prolonged life (he died at sixty), absorbed by degrees mainly all that fell within his reach, both at home and abroad; and he acquired much which never came to england, but was warehoused at antwerp or elsewhere on the continent, pending future arrangements, which he did not live to make. the library is said to have cost £ , , and to have fetched about a third of that sum. as the owner had built it up from the ruins of others, so some more recent collectors found there their opportunity. a good deal of interesting information about this once conspicuous figure in book-collecting circles may be found in dibdin's _reminiscences_. heber seems to have inherited some shares in elliott's brewery at pimlico, and a residence within the precincts. how far this fortune contributed to enable him to devote so large an amount to the purchase of books and mss., we hardly know; it was said that he derived advantage from the slave trade, but perhaps this was a calumny. at any rate, there was trouble which saddened his later years. mr. william henry miller of craigentinny bought nearly the whole of the early english poetry, and made the britwell library what it was and is; and george daniel of canonbury carried off, at what might have then seemed exorbitant prices, the shakespeare quartos, to have the enjoyment of them for thirty years, and then leave them as a valuable inheritance to his family; for his death just occurred, when henry huth had begun to compete more courageously for this class of books, and when the national library was in a better position to offer tall figures for really vital acquisitions. it was in , and the struggle for the quartos and a few other prizes was principally between the british museum, mr. huth, and sir william tite. at the present moment the britwell collection is probably, on the whole, the finest private library in the kingdom; the founder of it was a solicitor in edinburgh, whose name already meets the eye as a purchaser in , when the marquis of blandford's books were sold at white-knight's, and it passed by bequest to the christy family, in whose hands it now remains. had it not been for heber and for the bibliophobia which prevailed, when his possessions came to the hammer in , it is doubtful whether miller of craigentinny could have achieved the extraordinary _coup_, which he did by transferring to his own shelves at one swoop the harvest of a lifetime--a lifetime almost dedicated to a single object. chapter iii the huth library--special familiarity of the writer with it--seven influential collectors of our time--the great dispersions of old-established libraries--althorp--ashburnham--johnson of spalding--list of the other leading collections, which no longer exist. during a long series of years it was my special good fortune to see nearly every week the late mr. henry huth, and to learn from him many particulars of the sources from which he had derived some of his fine and rare books. we made mr. huth's acquaintance not long after the enrichment of his library by the sale of george daniel's collection in ; and that, with his very important acquisitions when mr. corser died, and his early english poetry came into the market soon after, constituted the backbone or stamina of the new-comer. mr. huth did not collect on a large scale during a great length of time; he made his library, or had it made for him, chiefly between , when he bought his first folio shakespeare at dunn-gardner's auction, and . once or twice his health and spirits failed, and he was always more or less desultory and capricious. we saw him one afternoon, when he shyly mentioned that he had at last taken courage to order home the mazarin bible, which mr. quaritch had kept two years after giving £ for it at the perkins sale, and then sold to mr. huth for £ profit. he did not show the book to us, for he had not opened the parcel, and confessed that he was rather ashamed of himself. a very curious circumstance was that one of the rothschilds, who had been nibbling at the copy, called at quaritch's a day or so later, and was of course vexed to find that he had been anticipated. huth necessarily bought in every case, like addington and locker, at the top of the market, for he waited till the books were shown or sent to him; he never searched for them. condition governed his choice a good deal; he was fond of spanish books, his mother having been a spaniard, and of early german ones, being a german on his father's side. he took the classics and americana rather hesitatingly, and there is no doubt that the old english literature interested him most powerfully, as it was most fully represented on his shelves. the folio volume of black-letter ballads, knocked down to his agent at the daniel sale for £ , was regarded by him with special tenderness; but we think that its real history was unknown to him. he was not aware that it was only a selection by daniel from a much larger number obtained by thorpe the bookseller from a private source, suspected to have been a person in the employment of the tollemaches of helmingham hall, near ipswich. thorpe parted with the bulk to mr. heber for £ , and the latter, in sending the vendor the money, declared how conscious he was of his extravagance, and asked whether he had been so fortunate as to secure "the inheritance of the stationers' company!" a far more extensive collection, though of later date, came some years afterward into mr. huth's possession; it consisted of three hundred and thirty-four sheet ballads of the stuart period, which had formed part of a larger lot bought at a house-sale in the west of england for fifty shillings. some went to the british museum, some elsewhere; mr. huth's share cost him £ ! the huth catalogue is a disappointing production, owing to the circumstance that a good deal of useful information was suppressed, and the opportunity was not taken, where expense was the least object, to furnish an exhaustive account of the books. it is singular that the grenville and chatsworth catalogues were spoiled much in the same way, and that lord ashburnham's own privately printed account of his books is a thousandfold inferior to the auctioneer's one. the duke of roxburghe, mr. heber, mr. grenville, mr. daniel, lord spencer, mr. miller and mr. huth were seven personages who exercised on the printed book-market in their time (to say nothing of mss.) a very notable influence, particularly heber. one might add the names of mr. jolley, mr. bright, and mr. corser, who severally between and made their competition sensible and raised the standard of prices for many classes of old english books. it was said in , when the bright library was dispersed, that the advance in realised values led some collectors to relinquish the pursuit. the formation, not only of such a library as that of heber or harley, but that of corser or daniel or bright, will be in the future a sheer impossibility from the absence of the means of acquiring in many branches so large a proportion of the rarer _desiderata_. to gather together a collection of books on an extensive scale may always remain feasible; but the probability seems to be that assemblages of literary property outside mere works of reference will show a tendency to distribute themselves over a more numerous body of owners, including the public repository, which year by year removes a certain body of rare books of all kinds beyond the reach of competition. the bright episode was to a considerable extent a duel between mr. corser and the british museum. but mr. miller and lord ashburnham, and (it may be added) mr. henry cunliffe of the albany, were also in the field; and two years prior, maitland in his _account of the early printed books at lambeth_, , already takes occasion to animadvert on what he terms the puerile competition for rarities, which had then set in. miss richardson currer, of eshton hall, craven, yorkshire, whose extensive and valuable library came to the hammer in , was one of the most distinguished lady-collectors of the century. there is a privately printed catalogue of the books, of which two editions appeared in and . miss currer was a competitor side by side with those already named for a certain proportion of the literary treasures which were in the market in her time. the late lady charlotte schreiber confined herself to a few subjects, of which playing-cards were one; but both these personages have been eclipsed in our immediate day by mrs. rylands, who conceived, as a tribute to the memory of a deceased husband, the princely design of founding on the theatre of his commercial success a grand literary monument, of which the spencer books should be the nucleus and central feature. one of the greatest surprises of our time in a bookish way was not the sale of the library at althorp, which had been rumoured as a contingency many years before it occurred, but its transfer by the purchaser to manchester. we were all rather sorry to learn that the climax had at length been reached; the sacrifice was doubtless a painful one on more than one account; but it was presumably unavoidable, and the noble owner was encouraged by numerous precedents: the fashion for selling had quite set in then. i visited althorp in for the purpose of examining some of its treasures. i remember the room, and the corner of it where the largest private collection of caxtons in the world was kept, and the glass case which enshrined quite a number of elizabethan rarities. his lordship mounted a ladder to get me one or two of his aldines printed on vellum. he showed me a delightful old volume of tracts, bound in a vellum wrapper, some absolutely unique, which his grandfather had bought, and a copy of the romance of _richard coeur de lion_, , which came out of a poor cottage in lincolnshire. that former lord spencer once did a _gentlemanly_ act in handing payne the bookseller a _bonus_ of £ , on finding that a volume he had had from him was a caxton. alas! the spell is broken. althorp was its library, and that has left it for ever! _sic transit gloria._ in the wake of the spencer books have followed those of the late earl of ashburnham, whose representative had previously disposed of his father's coins and of some of the mss. the remainder of the latter still await dispersion or a purchaser _en bloc_. the ashburnham printed books included a considerable number of caxtons and wynkyn de wordes, the _st. albans chronicle_ and _book of hunting_, &c., printed at the same place, and many distinguished rarities in the foreign series of ancient typography; but first and foremost the perkins copy of the gutenberg or mazarin bible on vellum, which realised £ , being £ in excess of the figure given by the buyer. there was also the bible of on vellum, which fetched £ . but the prevalent characteristic of the collection was an ostensible indifference on the part of the nobleman who formed it to condition. there were several fine books and interesting examples of binding; but the absence of any definite plan and of judgment was conspicuous throughout. circumstances aided the immediate proprietor in his project for converting the property into cash, and the prices reached were, in the cases of the early printed volumes by caxton and others, simply unprecedented, looking at the sorry state of the copies offered. the catalogue (sooth to speak) was not very carefully or scientifically prepared, and when the important lots were put on the table, the company had, as a rule, some serious deduction to make from the account printed by the auctioneers. the noble vendor did not see anything unbecoming in attendance to note the prices of lots during the earlier stages, and did not disguise his gratification when a book brought a heavy profit. yet twenty years ago it was almost accounted a disgrace for an ancient family even to part with its heirlooms. in those cases, when want of the money cannot and is not pleaded, the proceeding seems all the stranger and the more discreditable. the late lord bought at the right time, and his son sold at the right time. the prices realised were not merely high, but outrageous. yet, after all, prices are a figure of speech and a relative term. to a wealthy manchester manufacturer a thousand pounds are nothing more than four figures on a piece of paper instead of one or two, and the sole difference between £ and £ is the substitution of one numeral for another. it was known, in a few cases, what the noble owner had given for the articles. his _jason_, printed by caxton, cost £ _plus_ commission, and produced £ . the _merlin_ of was bought for guineas, and realised £ . a little french volume by jean maugin, _les amours de cupidon et de psiche_, , was carried to £ , having been acquired for half-a-crown. certain other antecedent quotations were left far behind, as in the _canterbury tales_ of , which at dunn-gardner's sale in brought £ , and now went up to £ , and in the antonius andreas of , which was thought worth £ , as probably the earliest volume issued in the city of london. there was a notable drop in the biddings for the imperfect copies of chaucer from caxton's press, and a host of items went for next to nothing, which in an inferior sale would have realised far more. it is ever so; and of course there was half a century's interest on the outlay. still what an intense pleasure beyond money it had afforded the nobleman who formed it! and let us think, again, to how long a succession of holders the same beautiful or rare book has been a friend and a companion, a source of delight and pride! it was remarked in the room that the present earl had enlarged his father's possessions only to the extent of one volume (no. ), for which he gave £ , and which yielded him £ . he had no right to complain so far. concurrently with the ashburnham episode in , there came upon us all, like a shell, the extraordinary report, which proved too true, not only that the representative of johnson of spalding had determined to part with the valuable library preserved in the house since at least the time of the stuarts, if not of the tudors, but that mrs. johnson had actually called in a local clergyman to select what books he deemed worthy of being sent up to london for sale, and had committed the residue to a local auctioneer. _the catalogues were partly distributed before the books were added_, and very few booksellers were even aware of the matter, till the sale was over. not more than three or so, and a few private persons, were present; the volumes were made up in parcels and only one mentioned, and the bidding did not exceed two or three shillings a lot. supposing items, comprised in bundles at s. each; the grand total would be £ ! blades quotes the library as containing seven caxtons, and the late mr. henry bradshaw thought it worth while to pay a visit to spalding to make notes, which he very kindly communicated to us. one of the purchasers at the sale offered me two of his minor acquisitions for £ . although the library included a proportion of desirable articles, many of the books were esteemed so worthless that the acquirers removed the _ex libris_, and left the rest behind them! some of the caxtons in the public library at cambridge have belonged to the johnson family, and are supposed to have been formerly presented to it by those of spalding. they were acquired in the earlier half of the reign of henry viii. by martin johnson at the then current prices--from sixpence to a shilling or so; and a stray or two from the same collection, long prior to the dispersion of , has occurred in the auction-rooms. i have to mention in particular the _spalding chartulary_, sold in . but a few still remained on the old ground, and fortunately five were bound up together in one volume, which was not comprised in the wretched _fiasco_ and anti-climax. this precious collection was offered to mr. jacobus weale, while he was still curator at south kensington, for £ , and declined, because, as an officer of a public institution, he could not accept it at that price, and was unable to pay the real value. two, _curia sapientiæ_, by lydgate, and _parvus et magnus cato_, have since been acquired by the british museum, with five excessively rare specimens of the press of wynkyn de worde. the national library did not require the _reynard the fox_ or the _game of the chess_. the spalding case was as unique as some of the books themselves. the owner seems to have been grossly ignorant of their value, as well as wholly indifferent to the property as heirlooms. except as a matter of record and history, the collector need not so greatly concern himself with all those libraries which have been scattered, and yet he finds it desirable to refer to the catalogues, if they were publicly sold, in order to trace books from one hand to another, till they return into the market and find a new owner--perhaps himself. one might fill a volume with a list of all the sales which the last forty years have witnessed; but, taking the principal names, let us enumerate:-- addington ashburnham auchinleck (boswell) bandinel beckford blew bliss bolton corney collier corser cosens crossley dunn-gardner fountaine fraser of lovat frere fry gibson-craig halliwell-phillipps hamilton palace hartley henry cunliffe inglis ireland johnson of spalding laing maidment makellar of edinburgh middle hill mitford offor osterley park ouvry rimbault sir david dundas sir john fenn sir john simeon singer stourhead sunderland surrenden syston park way william morris (residue after private sale) wolfreston within these broad lines, which do not include libraries privately acquired by institutions, such as the dyce, forster, and sandars, or by the trade, which is an almost daily incidence, are comprehended a preponderant share of all the important books which have come to the front since the earliest period, of which there is an authentic register. for we have to recollect that many of the persons whose possessions were dispersed only in our time were buyers a century or more ago, and had from osborne, at what still appear to our weak minds provokingly low prices, his harleian bargains. by the way, he kept them a tolerably long time. did some one help him to find the money, or did he pay it by instalments? seriously speaking, it was rather a white elephant. one of the most notorious private transactions in the way of sales of books _en bloc_ was that by the royal society in of the printed portion of the pirkheimer library, presented to it by henry howard, duke of norfolk, the first president, and originally purchased by his ancestor, the celebrated earl of arundel, in . the dispersion of the harleian library doubtless gave an impetus to the revival in the eighteenth century of a taste for book-collecting; but of course a large proportion of the purchases from osborne himself was on the part of buyers who parted with their acquisitions, and of whom we have no further record. but the osterley park and ham house collections, the latter still intact, owed many indeed of their greatest treasures to this source. in dr. johnson, who had had a leading hand in the compilation of the harleian catalogue, and had so gained a considerable experience of the bearings of the matter, as they were then understood, addressed a long and interesting letter to the king's librarian on the subject of the public collections of europe and other bibliographical particulars. of the libraries above mentioned, the sunderland, syston park (sir john thorold), and hamilton-beckford collections owed their chief importance to early typography, _editiones principes_ of the classics, and bindings. among the blenheim books were a few miscellaneous rarities in the english class. of beckford's volumes many contained his mss. notes. the surrenden (dering family), stourhead (sir richard colt-hoare), and hartley libraries were historical and topographical. in the inglis, dunn-gardner, and osterley park (earl of jersey) catalogues we encounter, among a good deal that is more or less commonplace, the rarest ancient typography, poetry, and romances. we next approach the larger and more important private collections of books, which are more or less of a permanent and hereditary character, and which we have to content ourselves with admiring at a distance or otherwise according to circumstances. we cannot enumerate the holders of a few volumes or so up and down the country. the names of which we think are devonshire, bute, bath, dysart, bridgewater (earl of ellesmere), britwell, huth, aldenham (h. h. gibbs), and acton (or carnegie). the duke of fife is believed to possess some curious books inherited from skene of skene. the duke of northumberland owns a few, and a few are in the possession of lord robartes at llanhydrock, near bodmin, lord aldenham, and mr. wynn of peniarth. all these centres affect the book-collector in one of two ways: in showing him what exists, and in showing him now and then what he is never likely to obtain. for in these repositories there are actually certain things which have never been offered for sale, and of which the most indefatigable research has failed to bring to light other examples. such is not the case, however, with lord acton's library at aldenham park, near bridgnorth. that is a collection made by a scholar for scholars; it is wonderfully extensive and complete in its way, and it were much to be desired that it should be preserved intact. it commercial value is, relatively to its extent, inconsiderable. the collections at chatsworth and devonshire house (including the books of henry cavendish and many of those of thomas hobbes) principally consist of early printed literature, english and foreign, and old plays; of the latter the kemble dramatic library formed the _nucleus_, payne collier filling up at the heber and other sales many important _lacunæ_. the late duke ill-advisedly engaged a foreign gentleman to compile his catalogue, and the result is most unfortunate. besides the henry cavendish and hobbes elements, a few very valuable items came from the old library at bolton abbey, yorkshire. the althorp heirlooms, now removed to manchester, have been familiarised by the catalogues of them printed by dibdin; but there are hundreds of precious volumes which he has overlooked, and of which some account is given in the present writer's _collections_ from the books themselves. an idea of the dysart and britwell libraries is to be gathered from blades's _caxton_, dibdin's _ames_, and hazlitt's _collections_. of the possessions in this way of the marquises of bath and bute we gain only casual glimpses from the same sources. payne collier and hazlitt have made the bridgewater house library fairly well known. the huth one is elsewhere referred to, and of lord acton's a sale catalogue of a portion was prepared some years since, as well as a bibliographical account; but the former was suppressed, and the latter remains incomplete and in ms. of lord aldenham's collection (early english literature, bibles, classics, mss., &c.) there is a privately printed catalogue, , and there is also one of the late mr. locker-lampson's literary treasures. chapter iv classification of collections--origin of the taste for books--schedule of topics or branches of inquiry--each separately considered and the authorities cited--ancient typography--british history and topography--liturgies--books of hours--the _imitatio christi_--_pilgrim's progress_--books of emblems--books of characters--books printed before the great fire, at oxford, during the civil war and interregnum, &c.--monastic and patristic writers--english devotional and other books printed abroad--froschover's zürich bible of --other bibles--the french bible of - --minor specialisms. as books, in a manuscript or printed shape, are far more numerous and varied than any other species of property, and are also more largely sought for purposes of direct study and instruction, there exists the greater difficulty in attempting to advise collectors as to the line which it is best, wisest, or safest to embrace. the class of persons who engage in this attractive pursuit are:-- (i) pure amateurs, without any eye to the financial question. (ii) specialists of more than a single kind. (iii) students. (iv) speculators. (v) miscellaneous or casual buyers. the normal amateur starts, in general, without any well-defined scheme before him. he has seen in the hands of a friend, perhaps, a curious book; and the notion takes possession of him, rather stealthily, yet rather languidly too, that it might be a "nice" thing to have oneself--that or such another. the spirit of collecting, like a delicate germ, is at first easily extinguished; but an incident as trivial and fortuitous as the one just suggested has ere now constituted the _nucleus_ and starting-point of a large library. it may, indeed, be a favourable symptom and augury when a man begins circumspectly and deliberately; he is more apt, other circumstances favouring, to prosecute his scheme to the end, and to prove a valuable friend to the trade. we have mentioned that the specialist may be of more than one sort. he may, in short, be of ten thousand sorts; and the student, after all, may be bracketed with him; for both equally devote their exclusive attention to a prescribed class of works or branch of inquiry for a more or less definite term. the subjects which principally engage the notice of specialists are:-- ancient typography (including xylographic works). english, scotish, and irish history. english topography. english genealogy and family history. liturgies and prayer-books. books of hours. bibles. roman catholic books. english books printed abroad. voyages and travels. irish literature. scotish literature. early illustrated books. modern illustrated books. french illustrated books. books of emblems. books of engravings. early english poetry. early romances. early music. spanish romances. italian romances. dantesque literature. cromwell literature. civil war and commonwealth tracts. editions of the _imitatio christi_. editions of the _pilgrim's progress_. occult literature. folk-lore. tobacco. educational books. caricatures in book form. miracles and phenomena. broadsides. chap-books. there is probably not much of consequence to be suggested outside this calendar from which an intending collector may make his choice. each of the topics indicated is, for the most part, susceptible of being subdivided and subdivided again. _ancient typography_ is not only a large, but a difficult and costly field. it is, notwithstanding, a not unusual circumstance for a beginner, and not a rich one, to start by making himself master of a few examples of our first printers; and this arises from the fact that among the remains in such a line of collecting are pieces of no high interest or character, and copies whose condition does not attract the riper connoisseur. at the same time it arises from the feeling of the period which witnessed the dawn of the art, that a heavy percentage of the output of the printers of all countries amounts to little more than typographical curiosities, which may be substantially possessed in the form of an example of moderate cost. the novice generally selects books and tracts of foreign origin, and of a theological or technical complexion. perhaps he goes further--even so far as to discard his earlier purchases; perhaps he does not. it is a matter of taste and money. if he does not seek the finest and rarest specimens, especially in the english series, it is not too much to say that £ spread over a career would suffice to procure one a fair representation in which fust and schoeffer, gutenberg, mentelin, and caxton might appear in the form of a leaf--possibly a damaged one. yet there would be a chronological view in actual originals of the art of printing from the commencement in all countries. we go for our facts on this subject to panzer, hain, brunet, the british museum catalogue, &c. _british history_ and _topography_ are alike departments which can scarcely be regarded as specialities without questionable fitness. for when we survey the catalogues of those who have professedly restricted their aim to these two ranges, and reflect that all such collections are, by the light of bibliographical authorities, more or less tentative and imperfect, we are brought to the conclusion that there would be, in a thoroughly exhaustive treatment of the matter, less left outside than could be found within. of the divisions which present themselves above so much is capable of being drawn into the two other series. numerically an assemblage of ancient and modern books in these classes would be by possibility immense. but the attendant outlay, unless certain signal rarities were included, or it was deemed necessary to comprise all the poetical relics with a historical or a topographical side, ought not to be relatively so high as that on the preceding category, particularly if the acquirer were satisfied here and there with trustworthy reproductions of three-and-four-figure items. from £ to £ will go a long way in supplying a collection with that qualifying proviso; without it, four times the amount would barely cover you. the hartley and phillipps catalogues should be consulted, as well as upcott and other older authorities. _liturgies_ form one of the tastes and objects of pursuit of persons who have left behind them the fancies of their novitiate, and possess the means of purchasing a description of literature which is abnormally costly, and might prove more so, were the buyers more numerous. the editions of the prayer-book fall under this section, and are almost innumerable, being tantamount to _annuals_, and of many years we possess more than one issue. the printed _books of hours_ might, from their extent, as regards subordinate variations arising from the different uses and occasional changes in portions of the ritual, constitute in themselves a life's study and absorb a fortune. there is great disparity in their typographical and artistic execution, no less than in their commercial value. a tolerably full description of the series occurs in brunet, lowndes, maskell, the british museum catalogue, and in those of the principal collectors on these lines. of those adapted to english or scotish uses there is an account in hazlitt's _collections_; but we may look in the early future for an exhaustive monograph from the pen of mr. jacobus weale. the british museum is singularly rich in editions in all languages of the _imitatio christi_, having enjoyed the recent opportunity of supplying wants from an enormous collection sold by public auction _en bloc_. the offor catalogue is considered an authority on the _pilgrim's progress_ and other works of bunyan; but the national library contains a large proportion of these books, and the huth catalogue and hazlitt's _collections_ must not be overlooked. the authorities just cited, the corser catalogue, and the publications of the holbein society, will prove useful guides to any one desirous of studying the emblem series, which was some time since in marked request, but has sustained the customary relapse, and is what booksellers term rather _slow_ just now. our own literature is not particularly wealthy in these productions; there is nothing of consequence beyond whitney, peacham, _the mirror of majesty_, , wither, quarles, and harvey (_school of the heart_). but if the collector goes outside the national frontier, he meets with works of this class in even bewildering abundance in regard to number, variety of type and treatment, and degree of artistic and literary merit. moreover, among the works of this species just enumerated as of national origin, four of the six were more or less heavily indebted to the continent; the whitney was printed at leyden, and wither, quarles, and harvey did little more than write english letterpress to sets of foreign plates. _books of characters_, of which perhaps earle's _microcosmography_, , is the most familiar, have attracted attention from more than one of our book-fanciers; they constitute a somewhat extensive series, and we gain a fair _aperçu_ of it in the catalogue of the library of dr. bliss, of st. mary's hall, oxford, . it was bliss who reprinted earle in , and inserted a bibliography of publications on similar lines. the above-mentioned gentleman also lent himself to two other paths of collecting: one suggested by local associations, and consisting of works printed at oxford, the second dealing with those which appeared just prior to the great fire of london in . one of bliss's oxford friends, dr. bandinel, bodley's librarian, made it his speciality to bring together as many of the fugitive publications as possible relative to the civil war period and the commonwealth, and mr. john forster did the same. the bandinel catalogue, , is an excellent guide on this ground, although it is almost unnecessary to state that it is very incomplete. the best and most exhaustive assemblage of the literature of the troubles and interregnum ( - ) is the descriptive list of the king's pamphlets in the british museum formed by thomason the stationer. the interest and profit attendant on the study of the monastic and patristic writers, who may be said to be less strictly national and more cosmopolitan than those of later schools, are, as a rule, casual and slender for the merely literary consulter or peruser, supposing the rather extreme case, where such a person is sufficiently courageous and robust to engage in anything approaching a serious examination of these families of books. the authors were true enthusiasts, labouring to their lives' last thread in some obscure cell or dim closet, where pride of authorship, as we may feel and enjoy it, there was none, when beyond the walls of a convent or those of a native town their names were unknown, their personality unrecognised. except to the theologian or ritualist how repellent and illegible this mass of printed and manuscript matter must ever seem! how deficient in human sympathy and pertinence! these treatises, so erudite, so prolix, and so multifarious, were composed by men (universal, irrefragable, or seraphic doctors), and after a certain date by women too (angelical sisters), who had no knowledge of the world, of society, of human nature, or of real philosophy. yet they were, and long remained, the class of literature most cultivated, most studied, and most multiplied; and to this hour, notwithstanding the destruction of millions of them, they abound in our national, cathedral, and college libraries, and in private collections dedicated to that particular side of inquiry and learning. in the booksellers' catalogues we sometimes meet with examples, which are recommended to the curious buyer by their illustrations of conventual life, and their exposure of those vices which a state of celibacy is calculated to promote in both sexes. the chained book is not an uncommon feature in the ancient ecclesiastical repositories, and even in certain churches; and apart from the scriptures, it almost invariably enters into the department of early divinity or polemics. whatever may be thought of this branch of the theological library, there is an undoubted market for it, or some portions of it, as stocks are kept both here and abroad, although on a more restricted scale, perhaps, than formerly. it is extremely probable that, if any one who was learned enough and dexterous enough should make a decoction of all the uncountable folios which exist up and down the globe, the result might be a single volume of not very ample dimensions, affording its share of insight and edification. the call on the part of a narrow coterie of churchmen for the catholic literature of the sixteenth and succeeding centuries, more especially the books produced at continental presses, necessarily resulted in the rapid inflation of the value, while it brought to light from numberless recesses a vast assemblage of works previously undescribed and unknown. many of these works were produced at obscure localities in france and the netherlands; but paris, douay, brussels, antwerp, mecklin, tournai, bruges, ghent, breda, are responsible for a majority. besides the purely religious publications, quite a large number of secular books, and those of permanent and striking interest, owed their origin to the same region, particularly to amsterdam, the hague, middelburg, dort. the source of all this foreign production was mainly either the employment of englishmen and scots abroad on military service, or their residence there in exile or for other purposes. italy, switzerland, germany, and even poland, lent their presses to the british author; the scarce tracts by james crichton (the admirable) proceeded from milan or venice. we know what important centres for english controversial divinity and political pamphleteering were geneva, basle, and zürich, and the last-named place is particularly associated with the name of christopher fröschover, printer of the bible of . a distinct feature in this vast body of continental typography connected with us is the curious and often unique light which it incidentally throws on the lives of our countrymen and countrywomen, segregated by their employments or opinions from their compatriots at home, and obliged to resort to printers ignorant of the language which they committed to type. a tolerably exhaustive estimate may be found of this branch of the subject by a reference to the _general index_ of hazlitt's collections ( - ). to the duke of sussex's catalogue, and those of lea wilson, george offor, francis fry, william maskell, w. j. loftie, w. j. blew, farmer-atkinson, lord ashburnham, and the rev. w. makellar of edinburgh, we must go for the means of bibliographically estimating the editions of the scriptures and the prayer-book; and the huth and caxton exhibition catalogues should be consulted. the ordinary english and american collector seldom goes beyond english, french, german, and latin bibles. of all these, not even excepting the fust and gutenberg or mazarin, the original impression of the scriptures in french, published at paris and antwerp in six volumes between and , is by far the rarest; and the next place or rank is perhaps due to the german one, printed at zürich in the same number of volumes, - , of which an imperfect copy is in the huth library. the mazarin bible has grown rather commoner of late years. it is certainly much more so than coverdale's english one of in a perfect state, or tyndale's new testament of . it is a point about it not generally known, that the extant copies on vellum and on paper differ. for history, genealogy, topography, and well-nigh all other branches of human science, the student finds himself referred to the middle-hill library, now in course of gradual dispersion; but this is far richer in the manuscript than in the printed book department. he may also profitably consult the catalogues of mr. hartley and mr. tyrrell (city remembrancer), of whom the second collected largely on london. mr. bolton corney, mr. grenville, and mr. jadis made voyages and travels, books relating to america, and the first-named literary _adversaria_, distinct features in their enormous aggregate of volumes. information on early english poetry and the drama may be sought in the catalogues of sykes, perry, caldecott, heber, chalmers, jolley, wolfreston, way, daniel, corser, collier, frere, bliss, bright, mitford, ouvry, bandinel, halliwell-phillipps, and of course huth. mr. brook pulham concentrated his attention on the writings of george wither, mr. bragge on works illustrative of smokers and tobacco, and major irwin on the occult and supernatural. mr. henry pyne during a long series of years made an extensive collection, restricted to english books dated prior to the year , and as a rule, it must be added, to the commoner class of publications. chapter v voyages and travels--their strong american interest--maryland and pennsylvania--new plymouth--sir john mandeville--columbus and vespucci--early medical literature--harvey and the circulation of the blood--occult literature--phenomena--technical works--the paddle-wheel--books printed in a special manner--chapbooks--garlands--ballads--broadsides--street advertisements--general or miscellaneous collections--omnivorous buyers--richard heber, sir thomas phillipps, james crossley--a moral deduced--most interesting types of collector--advantages connected with restriction to personal tastes or wants--dangers of emulation and servility--mr. quaritch's _dictionary of collectors_--various sorts of genuine collector. voyages and travels have always engaged a large share of attention and study, and comprise the central and very interesting feature of almost the entire body of early americana, dealing with the discovery and colonisation of that continent. this part of the subject before us has received, owing to recent political occurrences, a further development in the direction of africa. to the purely american collector, who of course takes in canada, his own literary heirlooms are unexceptionally material; and if he works on a comprehensive principle, he admits every item relevant to the series, however costly and however individually trivial. an englishman, as a rule, is content with typical or representative examples. the late mr. huth long remained unpersuaded that books of this character were _desiderata_. there can be no doubt, however--and mr. huth concurred so far from the outset--that there are certain anglo-american works which are, so to speak, indispensable to a library of any pretensions. for instance, it must not be without such capital productions as those written or published in elucidation of the history of the new world by drake, cavendish, hakluyt, and purchas; or such, again, as contribute to throw light on the settlement of new england and the progress of the pilgrim fathers. this group of literature has grown within the last twenty years almost unattainable by the less opulent bibliophile; its commercial value has risen to four times that to which the previous generation was accustomed. the most signal feature in the whole series is, however, out of the pale of commerce. the precious manuscript found at fulham palace in , giving a detailed account of the settlement of new plymouth, has by a graceful international act been restored, as it were, to its fittest home, although many of us in old england would have, no doubt, preferred to see it deposited in great russell street. there is another source of association with the mother country which commends to the notice of many, not exclusively american in their tastes or objects, the literary memorials of maryland and pennsylvania, so intimately associated with the english families of calvert and penn. there is no rarer volume among the first anglo-american monuments than hariot's _virginia_, , which is worth from £ to £ . among the favourite books of travel are sir john mandeville's _voyages_, of which there are ancient editions in english, french, italian, and german, and which is being constantly reproduced with the quaint illustrations. the narratives of pinto, "prince of liars," and bruce are gaining increased credit and confidence. leo's _description of africa_, in the english version of , has a map already showing the source of the nile in an inland lake. the labours of the hakluyt and geographical societies have conferred respectively great benefits on the cause of discovery and verification. in the famous _letter of columbus_, , in its various forms, the _mundus novus_ and _paesi retrovate_ ( ) of vespucci, and a few other leading publications, there is a recognised interest regardless of the countries of origin. we owe to the entrance into the lists of sundry members of the medical profession a temporary emergence from oblivion and respite from the waste-basket of what the booksellers describe in their catalogues as "rare early medical." there is no doubt that among these obsolete publications may be detected many curious points and many evidences of former acquaintance with supposed latter-day inventions or ideas. a prominent feature in the series is harvey's latin treatise on the circulation of the blood, of which he was the (rather late british) discoverer. but, on the whole, the group of early works dealing with medicine and surgery is of questionable interest outside the purely practical range as a comparative study, and those which treat of anatomy and other cognate topics are in the last degree gruesome. they are the antipodes to the _belles lettres_. _occult literature_ is susceptible of a division into several classes or sections: religious cults, necromancy, magic, second sight, divination, astrology, palmistry, of which all have their special literatures and bibliographies. major irwin recently sold an extensive series of works on these and kindred topics. cornelius agrippa, ashmole, bulwer, lilly, partridge, gadbury are among the foremost names of older writers in the present categories. but for the faiths and worships of antiquity which may be ranked in the first order of importance and solid interest, we chiefly depend on modern books, such as payne, knight, inman, davies, forlong; and there is quite a small library on that branch which touches on theosophy and similar speculations--all having a common source in the grand principle of agnosticism. further information will be found collected on this and the topics which we notice below in hazlitt's _popular antiquities_, . for those who are interested in portents, phenomena, _lusus naturæ_, murders, earthquakes, fires, there is the catalogue of mr. nassau, . the british museum has in recent times grown more complete in the same direction. the founders and earlier curators of the institution appear to have regarded such _nugæ_ as beneath the dignity of a national library; but in fact the information which they, and possibly they alone, convey, is frequently of historical, biographical, or topographical relevance. there has been a rather marked tendency to a rise in the value of a section of technical publications which deals with the earliest notices in english literature of such subjects as electricity, the microscope, the steam-engine, the paddle-wheel, and the telephone, and the books identified with these subjects are now commanding very high prices. an uncut copy of thomas savery's _navigation improved_, , where the principle of the paddle-wheel is discussed, fetched at sotheby's in june , £ , s. this is a somewhat fresh departure, but it is not an unsound or unreasonable one, and the series is limited. an almost invariable incidence of these artificial figures is to draw out other copies, and then the barometer falls. the name of mr. eyton is identified with copies of books printed on vellum or on some special paper, not unfrequently for his own use or pleasure; and this gentleman's catalogue is serviceable to such as desire to follow his precedent, of which the modern _edition de luxe_ is an outgrowth. eyton would have proved an invaluable friend to japanese vellum, had he belonged to a later decade of the century. the chap-book, which dates from the reign of elizabeth, and was sold for a silver penny of her highness, becomes less rare under the stuarts, and common to excess at a later period down to our own days. a large proportion of this species of literature consists of abridgments of larger works or of new versions on a scale suited to the penny history and garland. pepys was rather smitten with those which appeared in and about his own time, and at magdalen, cambridge, with the rest of his library, a considerable number of them is bound up in volumes, lettered _penny merriments_ and _penny godlinesses_ respectively. the huth collection possesses many which were formerly in the heber and daniel libraries. all these productions share the common attributes of very coarse paper, very rough cuts, and very poor type. they are interesting as eminently _folk-books_--books printed for the multitude, and now, especially when the article happens to be of unusual importance and rarity, worth several times their weight in gold. two catalogues of chap-books and popular histories were edited by mr. halliwell for the percy society in - . in the present writer's bibliographical works, to which there is a general index, will be found an account of all that have come into the market between and . thousands upon thousands have unquestionably perished. the most fascinating member of the chap-book series is undoubtedly the _garland_--not so much a volume by a given author, such as the _court of venus_ ( ) and deloney's _garland of good will_, , as a miscellany by sundry hands. the next earliest of these collections known to us at present are the _muses' garland_, , and _love's garland_, . those in pepys's library at cambridge are of much later date, yet of some no duplicates can be quoted, so vast has been the destruction of these _ephemerides_. of the pepysian garlands a certain proportion are reprints of older editions or repositories of songs and ballads belonging to an anterior date, and here and there we meet with lyrics extracted from contemporary dramatic performances. besides pepys, narcissus luttrell the diarist displayed a taste for fugitive and popular publications, and the copies acquired by him eventually found their way, for the most part, into heber's hands, whence they have drifted in large measure either into the british museum or the miller and huth collections. numerous unique examples of the popular literature of his own day, again, are preserved among robert burton's books in the bodleian. allied to the chap-book are the broadsides of various classes, including the ballad, popular and political, the advertisement and the proclamation. so far as we know, the second division exhibits the most ancient specimen in our own literature, and is a notification on a single leaf by caxton respecting picas of salisbury use. this precious relic, of which only two copies are recorded, appeared about . it must have been soon after the introduction of printing into london and westminster that resort was had to the press for making public at all events matters of leading importance; but we do not seem to possess any actual evidence of the issue of such documents save in isolated instances till toward the end of the century, and they are chiefly in the shape of indulgences and other ecclesiastical manifestos, circulated in all probability in the most limited numbers and peculiarly liable to disappearance. the ballad proper cannot be said to be anterior to the closing years of henry viii., subsequently to the fall of cromwell, earl of essex, when the composition relative to that incident printed in the collections appeared, and was followed by the series preserved in the library of the society of antiquaries of london, and reprinted in the writer's _fugitive tracts_, . from the time of elizabeth onward the broadside in its varied aspects grew abundant, and served as a substitute for newspaper notices, so long as the press remained an insufficient medium. the british museum and society of antiquaries possess large collections of this kind. lord crawford has printed a catalogue of his _proclamations_, and in the writer's _collections_, - , occur thousands of these ephemerides arranged under what appeared to be their appropriate heads. during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the sheet _format_ lent itself largely and conveniently to teachers, quack doctors, astrologers, announcing their addresses, qualifications, and terms, no less than to the official, municipal, or parochial authorities, and to private persons who desired to give publicity to some current matter by the exhibition of the placard on a wall or a church door. there was yet another purpose which the broadside was made to serve: prospectuses of schemes and reports of companies' or societies' proceedings. the purely temporary interest of such publications accounts for their survival in unique examples and even fragments. there is a general notion that the _harleian miscellany_ and the _somers tracts_ represent between them a very large proportion of the extant pamphlets and broadsheets published during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. but, as a matter of fact, they do nothing of the sort. even in or about william laycock of the inner temple drew attention to the unsuspected importance of these fugitive publications in his printed proposal for buying them up by a public subscription; but even in the national library, with all its immense accumulations, and in hazlitt's _collections_, many thousands of items are probably deficient; while the two sets of books above mentioned contain a very slender percentage of the whole--in fact, mere representative selections. there have been men who coupled with a general plan a speciality or two. for instance, dyce, who laid a collateral stress on _shakespeariana_; ireland, who made himself strong in leigh hunt and hazlitt; crossley, who had a peculiar affection for defoe; bliss, who collected books of characters and books printed at oxford or just before the great fire of ; bandinel, who was smitten by the charms of the civil war literature; corser, whose bibliographical sweethearts were nicholas breton and richard brathwaite; and rimbault, who had two, old music and old plays. mr. g. l. gomme is similarly situated: anthropology and folklore are his foibles. it goes without saying that the shakespearian and dramatic student, from sir thomas hanmer downward, has usually made a stand on the literary remains and works tending to illustrate their own labours; but of course the relevance may be direct or indirect, and in the latter case the specialist is found to cast his net surprisingly wide. specialism, whether on the principle of personal taste or of particular studies, has manifest advantages in an age where the multitude and choice of books are so bewildering, where of every work of any sort of value or interest a man may have, not a single edition--all that in a majority of instances was once available--but a hundred or a thousand in all sorts of sizes and at all sorts of prices. with the discontinuance of the older paucity of literature, the facilities for lodging within a modest bookcase a coterie of literary favourites have sorrowfully decreased, and a collector finds it imperative to draw the line more and more rigidly, if he does not care to fall into one of two perils--excessive outlay or excessive bulk. for we have not, as regards the former, to go very far before we incur a serious expense, if it happens that the run is on the rarer english section or on what constitutes a picked library of the french type. of the miscellaneous group there are graduated and varying types. the omnivorous accumulator, especially where he does not insist on condition or binding, is the dealer's idol. in the forefront of this class stand _facile principes_ richard heber and sir thomas phillipps, for the reason that they bought everything--whole libraries and catalogues at a swoop. yet both these distinguished men have to be placed on a distinct footing from the normal promiscuous buyer, such as thomas jolley, joseph tasker, edward hailstone, edward solly, and a legion of others, to whom anything in the guise of a book was a sure bait, and who spurned evelyn's motto: "_meliora retinete_." ascending a step or two higher, we come to the men who repudiate specialism as narrowing and troublesome, and who impose on themselves no restraint save perchance in the direction of theology, science, and _arcana_. they stop peremptorily at the _belles lettres_. singer, mitford, bliss, bandinel, forster, cosens, ireland, crossley, sir john simeon, were more or less of this school. at a still greater altitude we meet with a yet stronger tendency to draw the line at character or condition, and there occur to us the names, under the former head, of capell, malone, douce, bright, chalmers, collier, ouvry, bolton corney, david laing, e. f. rimbault, halliwell-phillipps, frederick locker, w. h. miller, henry cunliffe, r. s. turner, and henry huth. from the same point of view, nearly in the clouds are discovered a small knot of fastidious _dilettanti_, who purchase a volume in the same spirit as they might do a picture or a piece of majolica; and of this minority sir andrew fountaine, sir david dundas, and samuel addington may perhaps be accepted as types. the most interesting, and it may with permission be added, intelligent type of book-collector, however, seems to be that where, after a certain measure of preparatory thought and training, one confines acquisitions for permanent ownership to volumes for which the acquirer has a genuine personal relish. in general, the principle of forming a library on this wholesome basis would be found not only more useful, but more economical, since the rarest and costliest articles are by no means, on the whole, the most interesting or the most instructive. in any case, the inconsiderate emulation by one collector of others, who may have different objects and perhaps ampler resources, is a course to be avoided. even here there is more than a single source or ground of inducement to purchase. setting aside the mere book of reference, which has to be multiplied to suit various exigencies, there may be said to be three classes of literary property which rationally appeal to our sympathy: (i) the volume which commends itself by its intrinsic value and charm; (ii) that which has grown dear from lengthened companionship and possibly hereditary link; (iii) and that which, unimportant so far as its internal claims and merits are concerned, bears on its face the evidence of having once belonged to a favourite of our own or a world's hero. one persuasive argument in favour of adopting the miscellaneous or typical course in the choice of a library is the rapid growth of the difficulty of meeting with the rarer items in all important specialities. it is the general plan on the part of every follower of particular lines to commence, very often casually, by bringing home from time to time a few volumes on a certain topic, or in a given class of literature, or by one or two of a school of writers; and such a proceeding succeeds tolerably well, till the owner makes discovery of volumes positively essential to his object, and unattainable save by a heavy outlay--perchance not even to be had at any price. it is nearly always the _lacunæ_ for which we yearn; one or two of our richer friends have them, and we have not. what we possess anybody can get in a morning's walk; we find that we have travelled a long distance, and have come to an _impasse_. it is very seldom indeed that a man is satisfied with the cheaper and commoner articles in a series, if he is aware of the existence of those which just constitute the corner-stones of such a collection as his. on the contrary, by the process of sampling or picking out here and there, now and again, a book or a set of books which chance or circumstances may throw in our path, we may gradually acquire a caseful of most desirable specimens, against which it is out of the question to raise any charge of incompleteness, where incompleteness is the governing aim. book-buying under these conditions is a humour. we are at liberty to take or leave. because we conceive a fancy for a work by this or that author, we feel under no obligation to accommodate every scrap which he has printed, or which his friends or followers have penned. the object of our personal selection suffices us; and there perhaps we begin and we end. it is our humour. the auctioneers' and booksellers' catalogues of the present day supply an instructive demonstration of the gradual withdrawal from the market of many thousands of articles, in early english literature more particularly, which at one time seemed to be of fairly frequent recurrence. they have been taken up into public collections all over the world; and the very few copies, not to speak of unique examples, which time had spared, are beyond the reach of the private purchaser of to-day. we have only to study with attention the heber and other leading records of former libraries existing in this and other countries to become convinced that the facilities for acquiring an approximately complete library of the rarer books grow narrower year by year. there is, i submit, far too prevalent a tendency in collectors to follow suit, to attach themselves to leaders of temporary fashions. i plead for a greater independence of opinion, where the taste is in any reasonable measure cultivated and developed, or, again, where an individual knows what pleases himself. by all means, if it happens that he does not admire shakespeare and bacon, sydney and jonson, dryden and pope, byron and shelley, scott's novels or lamb's _elia_, let him leave them alone, and make his own free choice, even if it be to go in for _john buncle_, the _adventures of a guinea_, or luttrell's _letters to julia_. there is always the room for hope that he may quit those pastures after a time and seek more fruitful ones. what is important and desirable, however, is that each person should be his own caterer. schools are only useful where some writer of real genius has been neglected or overlooked, or been boycotted by the press, and attention to his works is only a fair service to him, or a becoming, if tardy, tribute to his memory. apropos of the increasing difficulty of obtaining certain old books noted above, the extensive scale on which reproductions of original editions of early english literature have of recent years been made is certainly a boon to literary inquirers, since the presence of such reissues in our circulating libraries, if we do not choose to buy them, tends at every step in many branches of work to help us, and to render our undertakings more complete. it frequently occurs that volumes and tracts, which are of very slight literary or intrinsic value, contain valuable allusions and illustrations, which we might miss in the absence of available copies. it is worth while to take in one's hand even some puerile trifle by the author of _adonais_, if one is not obliged to buy it or asked to become the possessor. one feels a curiosity to glance for a moment at a volume which, we are constantly assured in the catalogue, the writer did his utmost to obliterate; and we sometimes wish that he had fully succeeded. any of us, taking in his hands the series of _english book-collectors_ in course of issue by mr. quaritch (nos. - ), will perceive without difficulty, if he go no farther, the two distinct camps, so to speak, into which the collecting fraternity may be, and is, broadly divided and classifiable. you have, on the one hand, the men who followed their personal taste, and amused their leisure in late years after a busy life by purchasing such works or such descriptions of literature as appealed to them and fell within their resources; again, the scholar or investigator who assembled round him what illustrated his studies, not merely with an aim at emulating others; or, once more, the gentleman of fortune, who evolved from his school-day acquisitions a feeling or a passion for higher things, and made it the business of his maturer time--even made it his career--to carry out on a scale and on lines dictated and governed by circumstances the predilection formed in boyhood. on the contrary, there are for our consideration and instruction the libraries which owed their existence to less interesting motives, to the vague and untrained pursuit of rare and expensive books and mss., on the judgment of others in rivalry of others, and the enterers into the field of competition with a practical eye and a financial side-look. of all these great divisions there are varieties naturally arising from personal character; but of the collector pure and simple of the older school, that type, we avow, most warmly and potently attracts us which limited itself to the small and unpretentious book-closet, with just those things which the master loved for their own sakes or for the sakes of the donors--where the commercial element was wanting, and where the library was not viewed in the same light as railway or mining stock. it is a famous principle to invest money prudently and well; but happy is he who is wise enough to keep his library within narrow limits, and rich enough to leave it, such as it may be, out of the category of realisable assets. mr. quaritch's project possesses in our eyes the incidental merit of providing us with personal accounts in a succinct form of many of the past proprietors of english and american libraries, and enables us to see at once how varied and fortuitous were the conditions under which the task was begun and accomplished, with what different measures of success and financial means; and in what a preponderance of instances it was an individual rather than an hereditary trait. broadly speaking, we recognise two varieties of collector from all time: the one who confers his name on a library, and the other whose library confers a name on him. even the family of genuine book-lovers--neither virtuosos nor speculators--presents more than a single type to our notice. we have the student who takes a subject for treatment, and forms a small gathering of the literary material necessary for his purpose, shooting it back perchance into the market, his immediate task accomplished. there is the man like coleridge, who regarded the volumes which fell in his way as casual and welcome visitors, of whom he asked questions, or who answered his, and whose margins gave themselves up to his untiring habit of registering whatever occurred to him, before the passing--possibly borrowed--volume went on its way again. there is lamb, who was less addicted to annotating his acquisitions, but who gave them a permanent home, if they had come to him _jure emptionis_, and were of the elect--not presentation--copies, cold and crude, thrust into his hand by some well-meaning acquaintance. there is edward fitzgerald, dissimilar from all these, yet so far cognate that he bought only the books which struck him as worth reading, if not turning to some practical account. nor should we in strict fairness refuse admittance within this highest circle even to such as selden, burton, pepys, and others who might be easily enumerated, who may have been little more than curiosity-hunters, but who had a genuine relish for pieces of old popular literature, the greatest rarities in the language inclusive, when there was barely any competition for them. the man of the old school, who ransacked the shops and the stalls, and even attended the auction, may have been a faddist and a superficial student; but his was an honest sort of zeal and affection; there was no vanity or jealousy; and we meet with cases where one collector would surrender to another an acquisition which the latter happened to have missed, and to want very badly indeed. so isaac reed gave up to george steevens marlowe's _dido_, and so george iii. enjoined his agent not to bid for him against a student or a scholar. i have not yet quite done with this aspect of the matter. i have to speak of the personages who have thought fit to impose on themselves a chronological or a financial limit, who drew the line at a given year, or would not go beyond a certain figure. mr. henry pyne laid down as the latest date which he would admit, and rarely exceeded a sovereign or two for a single article (dr. doran gave me to understand that fourpence was _his maximum_). it may appear strange to suggest that the higher the sum paid for a book (assuming it to be worth the money), the slighter the risk grows of the purchase proving pecuniarily unprofitable. yet at the same time outlay on a library is a relative term, and one individual may account himself as frugal in expending £ , in the course of a lifetime, as another may do in expending £ . the late earl of ashburnham bought in chief measure during the forties and fifties, when the reaction from the bibliomania still more or less sensibly prevailed, and considering his lordship's position and resources, he was not much more lavish than the above-mentioned mr. pyne, or indeed any other amateur of average calibre, while he was to the full extent as genuine a follower of the pursuit for its mere sake as anybody whom we could name--as the duke of roxburghe, mr. heber, mr. corser, or mr. crossley. in my _rolls of collectors_ i specify a type under the designation of _book-recipients_, and i instance such cases as dickens and thackeray; but in fact there are many who would never go in pursuit of anything of the kind beyond a work of reference, and whose utmost exploit is the payment of a friendly subscription. the only title to admittance into my category of such doubtful enthusiasts is the sentimental enhancement of value arising from the transformation of the margins of a common-place volume into a repository for manuscript remarks or graphic embellishments, which may send it back into the market some day a three-figure item in a catalogue. in attempting to indicate in a sort of tentative manner the publications to which a private collection might be advantageously and comfortably limited, one does not contemplate the shelf or so of mere works of reference, which have to be obtained even by such as are not amateurs in this direction, and, moreover, there is an obvious difficulty in prescribing for persons of infinitely varied ideas and prepossessions. now, as to volumes for reference, the class and extent of course depend on individual requirements, and the books outside this radius are apt to be subject in their selection to local circumstances, since a man associated with a district or county naturally contracts a sympathy with its special history or its archæological transactions, as well as any miscellaneous monographs relating to particular places or celebrated persons. with such specialities and preferences we cannot presume to interfere; but, as a rule, the aggregate body comprised in them need not be large or very expensive, and in catholic or general literature it becomes almost surprising when we have taken the pains to winnow from literary remains of real and permanent interest the preponderant mass, of which the facilities for occasional examination at a public library ought to suffice, how comparatively slender the residuum is. chapter vi the safest course--consideration of the relative value and interest of books in libraries--the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects--consolation for the less wealthy buyer--the best books among the cheapest--a few examples--abundance of printed matter in book-form--schedule of books which are books--remarks on english translations of foreign literature. when we inspect a great library, filling three or four apartments lined with cases, the first impression is that the possession of such an assemblage of literary monuments is a privilege reserved for the very wealthy; and to some extent so it is. but certain elements enter into the constitution of all extensive accumulations of property of any kind, whether it be books, prints, medals, or coins, which inevitably swell the bulk and the cost without augmenting in anything approaching an equal ratio the solid value. not to wander from our immediate field of inquiry and argument, the literary connoisseur, starting perhaps with a fairly modest programme, acquires almost insensibly an inclination to expand and diverge, until he becomes, instead of the owner of a taste, the victim of an insatiable passion. he not merely admits innumerable authors and works of whom or which he originally knew nothing, but there are variant impressions, copies with special readings or an unique _provenance_, bindings curious or splendid; and nothing at last comes amiss, the means of purchase presumed. yet, at the same time, he does not substantially possess, perhaps, much more than the master of a _petite bibliothèque_, on which the outlay has not been a hundredth part of his own. a considerable proportion of his shelf-furniture are distant acquaintances, as it were, and those acquisitions with which he is intimate are not unlikely to prove less numerous than the belongings of his humbler and less voracious contemporary. even where the object and ruling law are strict practical selections of what pleases the buyer, the range of difference is very wide. one man prefers the modern novelists, prose essayists, or verse writers; a second, collections of caricatures and prints in book-form; a third, topography; a fourth, the occult sciences, and so forth. i offer no objection to these partialities; but i entertain an individual preference for volumes chosen from nearly all branches of the _belles lettres_, each for its own sake. i do not vote of necessity in all cases for a book because it is rare, or because it is old, or because it is the best edition; but i do not think that i should like any scholar my friend to have the opportunity of pointing out to me (as he would, wouldn't he?) that i lacked any real essential, as the child tried to satisfy longfellow that his shelves were not complete without a copy of the undying romance of jack the giant-killer. it cannot fail to strike any one opening such books as bacon's _sylva sylvarum_ or markham's _way to get wealth_, for how comparatively, indeed absolutely, small a consideration it is possible to obtain two works so brimful of interest and curiosity on all subjects connected with gardening, agriculture, and rural pursuits or amusements. but both these works long remained--the bacon yet does so--outside the collector's pale and cognisance, and the real cause was that they were alike common; they had been the favourites of successive generations; edition upon edition had been demanded; and the survival of copies was too great to suit the book-hunter, who aims at shyer quarry. take again, as a sample, a noble old work like the english bayle, five substantial folios; it was a question of more than a five-pound note to become the master of a good, well-bound copy; one in morocco or russia by roger payne twice that amount could once scarcely have brought down; and now it is _articulo mortis_. the connoisseur finds it too bulky, and he hears that its matter has been superseded. at any rate, it is no longer the _mode_, and the mill begins to acquire familiarity with it. let the taste return for such big game, and copies will be as caxtons are. most part of the editions will ere then have been served up again in the form of cheap book-drapery. the _ne plus ultra_ of interest and respect seems to us to centre in such collections of books as those of samuel pepys, narcissus luttrell, the rev. henry white of lichfield, and charles lamb, where the volumes reflect the personal tastes of their owners, and are, or have been, objects to them of personal regard. what is to be thought or said of the man who simply buys works which happen to be in the fashion for the moment, and for which he competes with others as wise as himself, till the prices become ridiculous? english and american millionaires acquire specimens of early typography, poetry, binding, or what not, because they hear that it is the thing to do. one gentleman will give £ more for a copy, because he is credibly informed that it is three-eighths of an inch taller than any other known; and a second will take something from the vendor on the assurance that no library of any pretensions is complete without it. this sort of child's-play is not book-collecting. the true book-closet and its master have to be kinsfolk, not acquaintances introduced by some bookseller in waiting. humanly speaking, the poor little catalogue made by hearne of his own books and mss. comes nearer home to our affections than those of grenville and huth. in speaking and thinking of real books, it is necessary again to distinguish between articulate productions of two classes--between such a work, for example, as defoe's _robinson crusoe_ and such an one as thoreau's _walden_, or between gibbon's _decline and fall of the roman empire_ and sir thomas browne's _urn-burial_. the present is an enterprise directed toward the indication to collectors of different views and tastes of the volumes which they should respectively select for study or purchase. there are millions who have passed through life unconsciously without having read a book, although they may have seen, nay, possessed thousands. those which might have been recommended to them with advantage, and perused with advantage, were too obscure, too dull, too cheap, too unfashionable. it is of no use to read publications with which your acquaintances have no familiarity, and to the merits of which it might be a hard task to convert them. but, as we have said, we want space to enter into these details, and we can only generalise bibliographically, repeating that literature is broadly classifiable into books and things in book-form--specimens of paper, typography and binding, or counterfeit illusory distributions of printer's letter into words and sentences and volumes by the passing favourites of each succeeding age--what thoreau call its "tit-men." we might readily instance masterpieces of erudition or industry which leave nothing to be desired in the way of information and safe guidance, and which, at the same time, do not distantly realise our conception of books--real _bonâ fide_ books. they may be the best editions by the best binders, or they may be antiquarian periodicals or sets of learned transactions, reducing much of the elder lore cherished and credited by our ancestors to waste-paper; we feel that it is a sort of superstition which influences us in regarding them; but we fail to shake off the prejudice, or whatever it may be, and we hold up, on the contrary, to the gaze of some sceptical acquaintance a humble little volume in plain mellow sheep--say, a first walton, or bunyan, or carew, nay, by possibility a caxton or wynkyn de worde--which a roomful of perfectly gentlemanly books should not buy from us. it may strike the reader as a heresy in taste and judgment to pronounce the four shakespeare folios of secondary interest from the highest point of view, as being posthumous and edited productions. but so it is; yet caxton's first impression of chaucer's _canterbury tales_, if we were to happen upon it by accident, is a possession which we should not be easily persuaded to coin into sovereigns, and such a prize as the evelyn copy of spenser's _faëry queen_, , with the diarist's cypher down the back and his note of ownership inside the old calf cover, is worth a library of inarticulate printed matter. so, again, aubrey, in his _miscellanies_, _remains of gentilism and judaism_, _history of surrey_, and _natural history of wiltshire_, presents us with works very imperfect and empirical in their character--even foolish and irritating here and there; but between those undertakings and such as manning and bray's or brayley and britton's _surrey_ there is the difference that the latter are literary compilations, and the former personal relics inalienably identified with an individual and an epoch. it is the same with certain others, ancient as well as modern writers. take herodotus, athenæus, and aulus gellius on the one hand, and bishop kennett's _parochial antiquities_, white's _selborne_, knox's _ornithological rambles in sussex_, or lucas's _studies in nidderdale_ on the other. all these equally tell you, not what some one else saw or thought, but what they saw or thought themselves, and in a manner which will never cease to charm. there are works, again, which, without professing to entertain for the authors any strong personal regard, we read and re-peruse, as we admire a fine piece of sculpture or porcelain, an antique bronze or cameo, as masterpieces of art or models of style. we are perfectly conscious, as we proceed, that they are not to be trusted as authorities, and perhaps it is so on the very account which renders them irresistibly attractive. some of the most celebrated literary compositions in our language are more or less strongly imbued with the spirit of partisanship or a leaven of constitutional bias; yet we like to have them by us to steal half-an-hour's delight, just as we resort sometimes to alluring but dangerous stimulants. we have in our mind, not volumes of fiction, not even the historical novel, but serious narratives purporting to describe the annals of our country and the lives of our countrymen and countrywomen. we take them up and we lay them down with pleasure, and it is agreeable to feel that they are not far away; and they will not do us greater harm, if we combine an acquaintance with their deficiencies and faults as well as with their beauties, than the fascinating associates with whom we exchange civilities in the drawing-room or at the club, and with whose haunts and opinions we are alike unconcerned. of the romances under the soberer names of history, biography, and criticism, which abound in all the literatures of nearly all times, we are at liberty to credit as much or as little as we choose; but in how many instances we should regret to lose, or not to have inherited, these; and the personal partiality which constitutes the blemish here and there equally constitutes the merit. what makes us return again and again to certain books in all literatures, forgetful of chronology and biographical dictionaries? what draws us irresistibly for the twentieth time to works of such different origin and character as herodotus, cæsar, aulus gellius, browne's _urn-burial_ and _religio medici_, pepys's _diary_, defoe's _robinson crusoe_, boswell's _life of johnson_, and a handful of authors nearer to our own day? is it not their breadth, catholicism, and sincerity? is it not precisely those qualities which no sublunar systems of computing time can affect or delimit? if we take successively in hand the _odyssey_, the _arabian nights_, the _canterbury tales_, _don quixote_, _gil blas de santillane_, and _robinson crusoe_, do we without some reflection realise that between the first and the last in order of production thousands of years intervened? most of the romances of chivalry and the _faëry queen_ strike us as more antiquated than homer, assuredly more so than chaucer. the secret and the charm seems to lie in the fact that all great books are pictures of human nature, which is and has been always the same; and we are able to account in a similar manner for the stupendous popularity of such works as the _imitatio christi_ and the _pilgrim's progress_. above all things, they are strictly _bonâ fide_. they are no catch-pennies. we find ourselves with hundreds, nay, thousands of other books at our elbow or at our command, living in communion with half-a-dozen minds. we read our favourite books, and when we have reached the end of our tether, we recommence as if we were in the scilly islands, and there were no more obtainable or permissible. we never wax tired of conning over bayle st. john's _montaigne the essayist_, thoreau's _walden_, howell's _venetian life_ and _italian journeys_. _cuique suum._ we have known those who never let the sun set without dipping into burton's _anatomy of melancholy_, or who have some pet volume with which they renew their intimacy every year, as francis douce did with _reynard the fox_. there must usually be an unconscious sympathy in these cases, a pleasing revelation of extended identity, as if these other productions were what we should have liked to claim as our own, and as if we felt we should have said the same things and thought the same thoughts, if they had been ours. it is the same with some parts of some writers' labours, to be had separately, as _hamlet_, _as you like it_, _a midsummer night's dream_, _the merry wives of windsor_, _macbeth_, and the _merchant of venice_; and with a few detached or select compositions to which one has to thread one's way in a larger volume: a few songs scattered through the early dramatists and lyrists; gray's _elegy_; tennyson's _may queen_ (without the sequel), and _locksley hall_ and _in memoriam_ (missing the tags). in the present aspect of our inquiry, _famous books_ and the _best_ are by no means convertible terms. there are such, it is true, as fall under both categories: the hebrew scriptures, homer, herodotus, _arabian nights_, _canterbury tales_, montaigne's _essays_, shakespeare, gibbon. famous literary compositions at different levels or in their various classes are boccaccio's _decameron_, ariosto's _orlando furioso_, aretino, spenser's _faëry queen_, rabelais, _pilgrim's progress_, la fontaine's _tales_, rousseau's _confessions_, _tristram shandy_, _candide_, _don juan_; and even among these how fair a proportion depends for its value and fruitfulness on the student? and, again, on his training. for we are aware of readers who prefer bunyan to spenser, others who place sterne, voltaire, and byron before both, and not a few who have emerged with profit and without pollution from the perusal of the labours of rabelais and aretino. there is a literal deluge of moral and colourless works, on the contrary, from which even the average modern reader comes away only with an uncomfortable sense of waste of time and eyesight. of printed matter in book-shape there is no end. the mass grows day by day, almost hour by hour. yet the successful candidates for admission to our inner circle of publications of all ages and countries, which so far meet on common ground in being provided with a passport to succeeding times requiring and recognising no critical _visè_, increase in numbers slowly, o so slowly! it would be presumptuous and unsafe to attempt to discount the ultimate verdict on many now popular names; but it is to be apprehended that, looking at the much more numerous body of writers, the calls to immortality will hereafter be in a relatively diminishing ratio. the influences and agencies by which certain schools of thought and work are artificially forced to the front are too often temporary, and their life is apt to be, hamadryad-like, conterminous with that of their foster-parents. it has been my lot to witness the rise, decline, and evanescence of groups of authors and artists, whom it was almost sacrilegious to mention even with qualification. adverse criticism was out of the question for any one valuing his own repute. how various all the afore-mentioned standard or permanent books are, and still in one respect how similar! similar, inasmuch as they or their subject-matter are surrounded by an atmosphere which preserves them as in embalmed cerements. in strict truth, there may be some among the number which are far indeed from being individually important or costly, while others in a critical sense have long been entirely obsolete, or perhaps never possessed any critical rank. it does not signify. their testimonials are independent of such considerations. many, most of them, are on ever-living topics; many, again, in their essence and material properties are sanctified and odorous. i find myself possessed by a theory, possibly a weak and erroneous one, in favour of such a book, for instance, as johnson's _lives of the poets_, as johnson published it, with all its imperfections, with the full consciousness that improved editions exist. for the original output represents a genuine aspect of the author's mind, prejudices inclusive; and i am not sure that, had he lived to bring out a revised and enlarged impression, i should have looked upon it as so characteristic and spontaneous; and the same criticism applies to a number of other productions, dependent for their appreciation by us not upon their substantial, so much as on their sentimental, value. what is not unapt to strike an average mind is that, with such a caseful of volumes as my cursory and incomplete inventory represents and enumerates, how much, or perhaps rather how little, remains behind of solid, intrinsic worth, and what a preponderance of the unnamed printed matter resolves itself into _bric-à-brac_, unless it amounts to such publications, past and present, as one is content to procure on loan from the circulating library or inspect in the show-cases of our museums. happy the men who lived before literary societies, book-clubs, and cheap editions, which have between them so multiplied the aggregate stock or material from which the collector has to make his choice! there are occasional instances where co-operation is useful, and even necessary; but the movement has perhaps been carried too far, as such movements usually are. our forefathers could not have divined what an unknown future was to yield to us in the form of printed matter of all sorts and degrees. but they already had their great authors, their favourite books, their rarities, in sufficient abundance. it was a narrower field, but a less perplexing one; and from the seeing-point of the amateur, pure and simple, our gain is not unequivocal. i shall now proceed to draw up an experimental catalogue of works which appear to possess a solid and permanent claim to respect and attention for their own sakes, apart from any critical, textual, or other secondary elements. others without number might be added as examples of learning, utility, and curiosity; but they do not fall within this exceedingly select category:-- Æsop's _fables_. # in a form as near as may be to the original work. antoninus, _itinerary_. _arabian nights._ _arthur of little britain._ ashmole's _theatrum chemicum_. athenæus. aulus gellius. bacon's _sylva sylvarum_. bacon's _essays_. bayle's _dictionary_, in english. bidpai or pilpay [so called], _fables_ of. # a genuine english text. boccaccio's _decameron_. boswell's _life of johnson_ and _tour in the hebrides_. bradbury's _nature-printed ferns and seaweeds_. brand's _popular antiquities_. # latest recension, _not_ ellis's. browne's _religio medici_. browne's _urn-burial_. # the latter reminds us of lamb's style, allowing for difference of time. browne's _vulgar errors_. browning's _early poems_. # a moderate volume would hold all worth perpetuation. bunyan's _pilgrim's progress_. burton's _anatomy of melancholy_. # a book of academical cast, abounding in quaint conceits and curious extracts; full of false philosophy and morality. butler's _hudibras_. byron's _scotish bards_. byron's _childe harold_. byron's _don juan_. cæsaris _commentarii_. carew, thomas, _poems_. cervantes' _don quixote_, by jervis, vols. to. chappell's _popular music_. chaucer's _canterbury tales_. chronicles (english) series of. # including froissart and monstrelet, with the original illuminated illustrations to former. cicero, _de senectute et de amicitiâ_. # in the original latin. cobbett's _rural rides_. coleridge's _table-talk_. cotgrave's _french dictionary_. couch's _british fishes_. coventry, chester, towneley, and york mysteries. cunningham's _london_, by h. b. wheatley. defoe's _robinson crusoe_. delany, _diary and correspondence_. diogenes laertius. dodsley's _old plays_. douce's _illustrations of shakespeare_, vols. dunlop's _history of fiction_. sir h. ellis's _original letters_, three series. george ellis's _specimens of early english romances_. elton's _specimens of the classic poets_, vols. . # elton's versions of portions of homer appear to be superior to chapman, and to make it regrettable that he did not complete the work. _epinal glossary_, by sweet. # for the earliest english extant. evelyn's _diary_. evelyn's _sylva_. fairholt's _costume_, . fielding's _tom jones_. fox's _book of martyrs_. fournier's _vieux-neuf_, . gayton's _festivous notes on don quixote_. _gesta romanorum_, in english. gilchrist's _blake_. gilpin's _forest scenery_. _golden legend_, in english. goldsmith's _vicar of wakefield_. goldsmith's _citizen of the world_. grimm's _popular stories_. hakluyt's _voyages_. harleian miscellany. hearne's _diary_, nd edition. rawlinson's _herodotus_. herrick's _hesperides_. holland's _heröologia_, . homer, by chapman. # but better in the original. hone's popular works. # an original copy. horace, _satires and epistles_, by keightley. _horæ beatæ mariæ virginis._ # a printed edition for the engravings. james howell's _letters_. howells' _italian journeys_. howells' _venetian life_. _hundred merry tales_, . hunter's _new illustrations of shakespeare_. hunter's _historical tracts_. hunter's _account of new plymouth_, nd edition. irving's _scotish poetry_. johnson's _lives of the poets_. johnson's _rasselas_. # for the sake of its story, not of the book. _junius, letters of._ keightley's _mythology of greece and italy_. # some of the matter anticipated by sir t. browne in his _vulgar errors_. keightley's histories of greece, rome, and england (last editions). knox's _ornithological rambles in sussex_. lamb's _elia_. lamb's _letters_. lamb's _adventures of ulysses_. lamb's _rosamund gray_. langland's _piers ploughman_. latimer's _sermons_. _lazarillo de tormes_, in english. le houx, _vaux de vire_, in french. leland's _itinerary_ and _collectanea_, . le sage's _gil blas_, in french. lord lindsay's _lives of the lindsays_. # see that passage where the opinion of james, earl of balcarres, is quoted in regard to the duty of men to leave behind them some trace or record of their mind. edit. . lockhart's _life of scott_. lodge's _portraits_. # an early edition. lovelace's _poems_. lucas, _studies in nidderdale_. lysons, _magna britannia_, vols. lysons, _environs of london_, nd edition. malory's _morte arthur_. montaigne's _essays_, in french. morris's works on birds, birds' eggs, &c. nürnberg chronicle, . # the latin text. as a very early picture-book. olaus magnus. # original latin, with the woodcuts. ovid. # partly as in all appearance a favourite in some shape with our shakespeare. _paston letters._ pennant's _tours in wales and scotland_, and _journey to london_. # on account of their personality. you know that much is obsolete, and other men have improved on them; but there is somehow the same charm. pepys's _diary_, by wheatley. percy's _reliques_. phillips's _english dictionary_. photii _bibliotheca_. plato's _dialogues_. # perhaps the french version by cousin is preferable. plinii _epistolæ_. plutarch's _lives_. _popular (early) poetry of england_, vols. _popular (early) poetry of scotland and the border_, vols. poets. _select british poets_, . # includes ample selections from writers hardly worth possessing in a separate shape, including many even great and distinguished names. poets. _corpus poetarum latinorum et græcorum._ # the same remark applies. rabelais. randolph's _plays and poems_. _retrospective review._ _reynard the fox_, in english. richardson's _clarissa_. _robin hood ballads._ scot's _discovery of witchcraft_. selden's _table-talk_. shakespeare's _works_. shakespeare's _library_, vols. _songs of the dramatists._ southey's _commonplace book_. southey's _select letters_. # more especially for his delightful letters to children. spence's _anecdotes_. spenser's _works_. sterne's _tristram shandy_. st. john's (j. a.) _manners and customs of ancient greece_, . # a lifelong labour, and most delightful and instructive work. st. john's (bayle) _montaigne the essayist_. st. john's english version of saint simon. stow's _annals_. stow's _survey of london_, . strutt's _costume_, by planché. suckling's works. swift's _gulliver_. sydney's _arcadia_. tennyson's _lyrical poems_. # a judicious one-volume selection preferable. thoreau's _walden_, . thorne's _environs of london_. tottell's _miscellany_. virgil, _bucolics_ and _georgics_, by keightley. voltaire's _candide_, in french. voltaire's _philosophical dictionary_. walton's _angler_. warton's _english poetry_, . walpole's _letters_. wise's _new forest_. # best edition for engravings. white's _selborne_, st edition. wodroephe's _spare hours of a soldier_, . yarrell's _british birds_. how passing rich one would be with all these, and no more--rich beyond the greatest bibliomaniacs, and beyond the possessors of the rarest and costliest treasures in book-form! turn over the pages of the most splendid catalogues, and how few one would find to add! nor would all the before-recited productions appeal to all book-lovers. there are many who would excuse themselves from admitting rabelais. some might not particularly care for the works of foreign origin. some might be courageous enough to avow an indifference to milton and spenser, and even a dislike to bunyan. still the rule holds good, we think, that all our chosen authors or books have more or less powerful credentials. there remain to be added books of reference, as we have pointed out, curiosities, and this or that person's specialisms. from a strictly practical point of view, the language and sense of any great writer, ancient or modern, may be as well, nay, better, appreciated in a volume bought for a trifle than in a rare and luxurious edition, where the place and time of origin, the type, the paper, and the binding are adventitious accessories--almost _impedimenta_--and the book itself a work of art like a picture or a coin. but with either of the latter it is different, for there the canvas or the metal is an integral portion of the object. for instance, take the better parts of tennyson. is it not sufficient to read them in a modest foolscap octavo? do we require external aids? the poet is his own best illustrator, and if we purchase a pictorial edition, we are apt to find that the author and the artist are at variance in their interpretations. translations are always to be carefully avoided by all who can more or less confidently read the author in the original language. we have yet to meet with a version, whether of an ancient or of a modern classic, which is thoroughly appreciative and satisfactory. the majority are utterly disappointing and deceptive. it is in the transfer of the idiom and costume that the difficulty and consequent failure lie. no one who merely knows at second hand homer, herodotus, plautus, terence, horace, virgil, montaigne, le sage (a metonym for _gil blas_), cervantes, la fontaine, dumas, maupassant, balzac, can have had an opportunity of forming an adequate and just estimate of those authors. you might nearly as soon expect a frenchman to relish butler or dickens in their parisian habiliments. such a fact--for a fact it undoubtedly is--opens to our consideration a very large and a very grave problem, since the very limited extent to which the english public is conversant with greek and latin, and with even the latin family of modern languages, makes the admission that so many works of the highest importance and interest are only properly and truly readable in their own tongues tantamount to one that they are not properly and truly readable at all. of all forms of translation, the paraphrase is perhaps the worst, so far as an interpretation of the original sense goes, but not the most dangerous if we know it to be what it is, and do not look for more than a general idea of the meaning and plan of the author. to be practically serviceable, an english version of any classical or foreign work should be literal, and with the literalness as idiomatic as may be; and if the text to be rendered is in verse, the english equivalent should preferably be in verse without rhyme or in prose. the object to be attained in these cases is a transfer of the conceptions, notions, or theories of writers from languages which we do not understand to one which we do; and therefore the best translator is he who has absolutely no higher aim than this, and does not aspire to make his task a stalking-horse for his own literary ambition. there is scarcely an end of the various schemes adopted to convey to us intelligibly and successfully the sentiments and conceits of ancient authors as well as of those of other countries, and, all things considered, a _literal_ version in prose appears to present the fewest disadvantages, for it disarms the translator of the temptation to poetical flights and metrical ingenuity, and brings us nearer to the man and the age to be immediately and primarily studied. at best, a translation is an indifferent substitute for the book itself, as it was delivered to the world by some renowned hand, or even by some personage whose individuality is stamped, as in the case of the _imitatio christi_ or the _essays_ of montaigne, on every sentence indelibly and untransferably, and seems part of the very latin or french type. an amusing instance occurred in which a gentleman, having heard of the fine style of a kempis, bought as a present to a friend a copy of the latest english translation! and it is equally futile to look for the essence and spirit of the great gascon writer in the pages of florio or cotton, both of whom, though in unequal measure, to the exigencies of diction or an imperfect conversance with the dialect in which montaigne wrote sacrificed precious personal idiosyncrasies. the majority of the popular and current versions of the classics are unsatisfying and treacherous, because they have been executed either by under-paid scholars, like bohn's series, or by persons who have had a tendency to put themselves in the place of their author. we may not be very willing to part with our old favourites, such as chapman's _homer_, florio's _montaigne_, north's _plutarch_, shelton's _don quixote_, urquhart's _rabelais_, and smollett's _gil blas_; but it is to be feared that they must be prized as curiosities and rarities rather than as interpreters and guides. if a thoroughly reliable library of classical translations, on as literal a plan as possible, could be formed, it would be a real boon to the public--it would be what bohn's series ought to have been. of course, in the department of translation there are two leading divisions--the ancient and the modern classics; and for much the same reason that a story or a _jeu d'esprit_ seldom bears transplanting from one soil to another, both these branches of literature are apt to suffer when they change their garb. almost every man who writes is influenced by dominant environments, whether he be greek or roman, or oriental, or modern european of whatever nationality; and his mere expressions or sense rendered into a foreign tongue are usually like a painting without a background or an atmosphere. we may range over the whole field from the most ancient times to the most modern, and the same thing manifests itself. open before me is an illustration which will answer the purpose as well as any other, in the shape of muirhead's version of the _vaux de vire_ of jean le houx. at page we have the following stanza:-- "lorsque me presse l'heure, je retourne au logis; ma femme est la qui pleure, ainsi qu'il m'est aduis, et me dict en cholere: 'que fay ie seule au lict? est il seant de boire ainsi jusqu'à minuict?'" mr. muirhead translates thus-- "when late the hour appears, returning to my home, my wife is there in tears, as i hear when i come. she greets me testily: 'i lie a-bed alone: do you thus shamelessly carouse till midnight's gone?'" the same kind of paraphrastic dilution runs through the volume; nor is mr. muirhead wholly to blame. the original is idiomatic and terse, and he could not find exact equivalents in numerous cases. _ab uno disce omnes._ but what a privilege it becomes to be able to dispense with interpreters! my admiration of these festive _chansons_ arises from my appreciation of them in their native costume and diction. the knight of la mancha was of my opinion herein, for he likened a translation to a piece of flemish tapestry seen on the wrong side. a corollary which naturally suggests itself to my mind is that if a familiarity--say, even with latin and french alone--is expedient on no other account, it is eminently so on this one; and the mastery of the inner sense of a great and famous writer constitutes an ample reward for any expenditure of labour and time in acquiring the language in which he wrote, in making yourself as nearly his countryman as you can. i remember a saying, which may have been a wicked epigram, that the only book in bohn's classical library worthy of purchase or perusal was a version of one of aristotle's works which a gentleman had executed _con amore_ and presented to the publisher. a voluminous and not very well known body of literary material consists of foreign translations of contemporary english pamphlets of a historical or religious character, from the time of henry viii. to the revolution of , covering the entire stuart period. they cannot be said to be of primary consequence beyond the proof which they furnish of the interest felt abroad in passing transactions in this country, even in such incidents of minor moment as the trial of elizabeth cellier in for an obscure political libel, and the occasional value which they have acquired through the apparent loss of the english originals. we have, for example, a french account of a london ferryman, who, under pretence of conveying passengers across the river, strangled them ( ); a second, of the misdoings of a minister at malden in essex ( ); and a third, of the execution of two priests and two laymen at oxford in , the last existing also in italian, but none of them known in english. chapter vii transmission of ancient remains--the unique fragment and unique book--importance of the former--the st. alban's grammar-school find--a more recent one or two--mr. neal's volume--a tantalising entry in a country catalogue--_the hundred merry tales_--large volumes only known from small fragments--blind harry's _wallace_--aberdeen and other breviaries--the oxenden collection of old english plays--the idyll of _adam bell_, --john bagford: his unsuspected services to us--ought we to destroy the old theology?--other causes of the disappearance of books--unique books which still preserve their reputation--rare books which are not rare--books which are rare and not valuable--ratcliff, the waste-paper dealer, who had a collection of caxtons--the bystander's manifold experiences--narrowness of the circle of first-class buyers--the old collector and the new one--speculative investors. looking at the imperfect and unconsecutive condition in which much of our most precious early literature has been received by us, we are apt to reflect to how narrow and close an accident we owe two classes of existing remains: the unique book and the unique fragment. of course to term a volume or production unique is a perilous business; the bookseller and the auctioneer may do so _ex officio_; an inexperienced amateur may resort to the term as a pleasant and harmless self-deception; but no responsible writer or critic dares to pronounce anything whatever unique without an emphatic _caveat_. we have personally known cases where a publication by one of the early printers was first introduced to notice, and created a sort of sensation, as a mutilated fragment rescued from the binding of another work; this revelation brought to light, after an interval, a second of a different issue; anon at some auction occurred a perfect copy; and now the poor damaged worm-eaten leaves, once so reverently and so tenderly regarded, awake no further interest; the mystery and romance have vanished; and when we examine the book as a whole, we do not find its merits so striking as when we strained our eyes to decipher the old binder's pasteboard. the fragment is really an unusually and more than at first credibly important feature in the elder literature. it may be taken, after all deductions for occasional discoveries of the entire work, to be the sole existing voucher for a terribly large section of the more popular books of our forefathers, just as the stationers' register is for another. but it is far more than one degree trustworthier and more palpable; for it is, like the _torso_ of an ancient statue, a veritable part of the printed _integer_ and a certificate of its publication and former existence. many years ago there was a great stir in consequence of the detachment from the binding of another book--caxton's _boethius_--in the st. alban's grammar-school of a parcel of fragments belonging to books by caxton; these are now in the british museum. in the huth catalogue are noticed several relics of a similar kind; and indeed scarcely any great library, public or private, is without them. they may be accepted as provisional evidences. a rather curious circumstance seems to be associated with one of the huth fragments--three leaves of thomas howell's _new sonnets and pretty pamphlets_. the relic once belonged to thomas martin of palgrave, and includes two leaves of signature d, which are deficient in the capell copy of this work at cambridge. the latter is described as a quarto; but it would be interesting to discover that from the fragment the text could be completed. the inconvenience attending the examination of rare books in provincial libraries is very great and serious. a copy of statham's _abridgement of the statutes_, printed at rouen about , and bound in england, had as flyleaves two sheets of caxton's _chronicles of england_, possibly some of the waste found in caxton's warehouse after his death. there is a weird fascination about a newly found fragment of some lost literary composition. only a few months since, in a copy of cicero's _rhetorica_, printed by aldus manutius in , in the possession of mr. neal, quite a number of pieces of wastrel were disclosed on the removal of the covers, and among them portions of english metrical effusions of the period (for the volume must have been bound here). we view this _treasure trove_ wistfully and indulgently; there it is; no mortal eye had fallen on it in the course of three and a half centuries; and how can we be expected to judge its value or quality by the ordinary standard--on an ordinary critical principle? it has come to us like an unlooked-for testamentary windfall. we are not to look at it in the mouth too curiously or fastidiously, or we deserve to have lost it; and it is the very same thing with scores of remains of the kind, brought to light in various directions and ways from season to season, and (to the utmost extent of my power and opportunity) chronicled by me on my accustomed principle. when i was younger by some thirty years, i received the catalogue of a provincial bookseller, and was sanguine enough to suppose that i should become the happy master at the marked price ( s. d.) of no. , which ran as follows:-- "pynson and others--specimens of early printing, comprising _twenty leaves of the ballad of robin hood, &c. &c._, taken from the cover of an old missal." no time was lost in giving the order; _but the lot was sold, and the proprietors did not even know who had bought it_. i comforted myself as the fox did. yet such is the frailty of one's nature, that one cannot refrain, after long, long years, from sentimentalising over it. there is something so taking in the notion of a tattered, semi-illegible, unappropriated fractional relic, not a trunk even; it fascinates us like a coin of which the legend is almost beyond identification; there is mystery behind it; we may be on the track of a discovery which will help to make us famous. we have all heard of the _hundred merry tales_, rescued by mr. conybeare in the early years of the century from another book, of which the fragments assisted to form the covers, and how the treasure was prized till a complete copy occurred in a continental library and dispelled the charm. it was pointed out many years ago by the present writer (_old english jest-books_, , i., additional notes) that scot, in his _discovery of witchcraft_, , quotes the story from this miscellany of the miller's eels, and enabled us, before the göttingen copy was brought under notice, to complete the text, which is almost undecipherable in the conybeare (now huth) one. the fragmentary state by no means restricts itself to literary items of insignificant bulk. for, as we see, a potential factor in the creation of rare books has been a vast temporary popularity, succeeded by a prolonged period of neglect. the result is before us in the almost total evanescence of thousands of books extending to hundreds of pages. look at blind harry's _wallace_, a large volume, first printed in folio about ; a few leaves are all that remain of the _editio princeps_; and others have totally vanished. many of us are familiar with the tolerably ample dimensions of the service-books of various uses in the english church; and yet those of aberdeen, hereford, and york survive only in fragments or _torsi_; and the modern reprint of the first was formed from a combination of several imperfect originals. a similar fate has all but overtaken such excessively popular works as coverdale's bible, , and fox's _martyrs_, , an absolutely perfect copy of either of which i have never beheld. henry oxinden, of barham in kent, was the earliest recorded collector of old english plays, and bound up his dramatic possessions in six volumes before . he has left a list of them in his manuscript common-place book. tears almost steal into our eyes as we read the titles: the _hamlet_ of , the _taming of the shrew_, , _ralph roister doister_. of the first we know well enough the history to date: two copies, both imperfect. the second exists in the unique inglis, heber, and devonshire example; it is mentioned in longman's catalogue for , from which it was purchased by rodd, and sold to mr. inglis; it is reputed to have once belonged to pope. the remaining item survives in the titleless copy at present in the library of eton college, to which mr. briggs presented it in , not on account of the association of udall the author with that seminary of learning, but, curiously enough, by mere accident. among bagford's collections there is a single leaf of an otherwise unknown impression of clement robinson's _handful of pleasant delights_, a book only hitherto extant in a reprint. this precious little _morçeau_ altogether differs, so far as it goes, from the corresponding portion of the volume now preserved in the national library. let me insist a little on the instructive progress of knowledge in one or two cases. a fragment of a small tract in verse by lydgate, from the prolific press of wynkyn de worde, was proclaimed as an extraordinary and unique accession to our literary stores some eighty years since; it was called _the treatise of a gallant_, and had been taken from the covers of a volume of statutes in the library at nash court. some time after, a complete copy of another impression turned up, and ultimately a third, quite distinct from either of the previous two, was discovered in a volume of marvellously rare pieces sold by a bristol bookseller to the late mr. maskell for £ , and by him to the british museum. take another case connected with the same press. a piece entitled _the remorse of conscience_, by william lichfield, parson of all hallows, thames street, who died in , leaving a larger number of mss. behind him than lamb once humorously made coleridge do, long enjoyed the reputation of being a solitary survivor; but at present the world holds four, two recovered from bindings, and a third titleless, and all, in fact, more or less dilapidated by unappreciative or over-appreciative handlers. last, not least, the delightful idyll of _adam bell_, of which we were so glad on a time to follow the garrick exemplar, is now proved to have been in type in the reign of henry viii.; and a piece of a pre-reformation issue luckily preserves enough to show how, even in a production probably sold at a penny, it was thought worth while to alter a passage where the pope was originally alluded to. there are instances where we are deprived of the gratification of beholding so much as a morsel of a book sufficient to establish its former existence in hundreds, if not thousands, of copies. of the _four sons of aymon_, from the press of wynkyn de worde, , not a vestige has so far accrued; yet it once existed, as it is expressly cited in a later issue. so it is, again, with skelton's _nigramansir_, printed by de worde in , which was actually seen by weston the historian in the hands of collins the poet, and with _peter fabyl's ghost_ (the merry devil of edmonton) from the same press. we are accustomed to associate with the black-letter fragment the name of john bagford, who, in the closing years of the seventeenth and beginning of the next century, distinguished himself by the zeal with which he collected typographical specimens and memorials. in bagford's day, the relative value of old books was scarcely at all understood; there was no adequate discrimination between the productions of caxton and his immediate successors and those of living or recent printers; and, again, which was more excusable, volumes by early divines or by writers of established repute were more generally sought than those by schools of poetry and fiction, which at present command chief attention and respect. if we turn over the pages of an auctioneer's catalogue belonging to that era, we perceive, side by side, items estimated at about the same figure, of which many have become worth perhaps even less, while a few have left their former companions immeasurably behind, and one or two rank among the _livres introuvables_. those were the days when the classics were preserved with the most jealous care, and acquired at extravagant prices, and when our vernacular literature, from the introduction of typography down to the restoration, was an object of attention to an extremely limited constituency, and could be obtained for a song. the bagford collection of title-pages and fragments formerly constituted part of the harleian manuscripts in the british museum, but has been chiefly transferred to the printed book department of recent years. it resembles a typographical cemetery, a charnel-house of books crowded together without respect to their subject-matter or their literary rank: the leaf of a caxton, another of a valueless legal treatise, the title-page of _romeus and julietta_, on which shakespeare founded, as the phrase goes, his own play, and a broadsheet preserved entire, there being no more of it. but bagford, who helped dr. moore, bishop of ely, and perchance lord oxford, to some of their rarities, does not stand alone. he had many followers; but the scale of operations diminished as the orthodox collector multiplied and prices rose. sir john fenn, editor of the _paston letters_, whom we have named above, was a disciple, however, and martin of palgrave was another. many years since, for a proposed new _biographia britannica_ by murray of albemarle street, the present writer collected all the known particulars of bagford himself, who spent his last days in the charterhouse. his episcopal client or patron died in . before we condemn these biblioclasts, let us recollect one thing. it is not so much that they have rendered books imperfect by the abstraction of leaves or title-pages, as that they have actually preserved the sole testimony for the existence of hundreds of books, tracts, and broadsheets of which we should have otherwise known nothing, amid the wholesale destruction of early literature, which was not arrested till the close of the last century, and still proceeds in a modified form and degree. not many years since the _troy-book_ printed by caxton was discovered hanging up in a water-closet at harrogate; a portion had disappeared, but the remainder was secured, and was sold to a dealer in manchester for thirty guineas. it must be, and is, bagford's apology that he sacrificed to his typographical scheme material which was almost universally neglected, and for which there might seem, two hundred years ago, scarcely any prospect of a future call. yet, oddly enough, this very person was one of the pioneers, by his labours and example, in bringing back a taste for the older english school; he appeared at a juncture when sufficient time had elapsed for the destruction by various agencies of a vast proportion of the products of the press; but until the fashion, which he and others set, had begun to spread, it remained unknown how much was reduced from its original volume, and how much had perished. we have the less pretence for censuring the biblioclasts of the past, who could only use the eyes and experience of their own epoch, when instances are reported from time to time of the same ruthless practices even by those who might have been expected to know better; and there is more than one way of viewing the present notorious tendency to exterminate the old theology on the plea that it is worthless, since a generation may arise which will upbraid us for having converted to pulp this part of our inheritance, till it comes at last to survive in a stray leaf here or a mangled fragment there. an altogether different quarter from which a result conducive to the shrinkage or disappearance of copies of early works has arisen is the print-collecting movement, involving the devastation of the innumerable volumes which contain portraits, frontispieces, and other engravings, and the more than incidental risk of the consignment of the unvalued residue to the waste-basket; and it may be mentioned that within our personal knowledge hundreds upon hundreds of scarce old books have been destroyed by editors, lexicographers, and other literary workers, to save the trouble of transcribing extracts. it might be impossible to exhaust the variety of ways in which an extraordinarily large body of publications of former days has been reduced or raised to the position of rarities of graduated rank. after all these ages, all the indefatigable researches which have been undertaken for profit or for pleasure, all the libraries which have been formed and dispersed, true it is that the unique volume, which of course enjoys its designation only till a second copy is producible, still survives in such abundance, that one, if it were otherwise feasible, might form a library composed of nothing else. does it not become curious to consider to what lottery, as it were, we owe them--owe their arrest just at the dividing line between living and lost literature? whatever may be the cause, we have hitherto failed to trace duplicates of the metrical _ship of fools_, , _queen elizabeth's prayer-book_, , watson's _teares of fancie_, , _venus and adonis_, , , and , and of _lucrece_, . copies of these later productions must have found their way to shakespeare's country at the time. malone met with the _venus and adonis_ of at manchester in , and another collector with that of in the same shire; and the florio's _montaigne_ of , the only volume with the poet's autograph yet seen, was long preserved at smethwick, near birmingham. it was at manchester, too, that the copy of the _tragedy of richard iii._, , came to light as recently as . several of the works of nicholas breton and samuel rowlands survive in isolated copies. upwards of a century has elapsed since a medical man picked up in ayrshire in an assemblage of quarto tracts belonging to the ancient vernacular literature of scotland and to the parent press of edinburgh; and not a whisper has been raised to suggest the existence of a second copy of any of them, which is to be regretted so far, as some are imperfect. during years on years, the authorities at the advocates' library, edinburgh, kept this inestimable relic in a cupboard under the stairs. in the find at lamport hall, northamptonshire, thirty or forty years since, there were items upon items utterly unknown. it was the same at the wolfreston sale in . it goes without saying that among the heber stores the uniques were barely numerable; and many yet preserve their reputation as such. mr. caldecott, mr. jolley, and mr. corser were lucky in falling in with scores of tracts of the first order of rarity. no one has beheld the double of the _jests of the widow edith_, purchased by lord fitzwilliam for £ s. at west's sale in , and formerly lord oxford's; and the citation of the last name prompts the remark that many a book in the harleian library still awaits recovery, assuming the description in the catalogue to be correct. on the contrary, there are serious warnings to enthusiasts not to rely too implicitly on the reputation of a volume for uniqueness or high rarity in view of such phenomena as the occurrence within a short period of each other at the same mart in of two copies of the first edition of chaucer's _canterbury tales_, printed by caxton. here was a case where the publicity afforded to these matters brought out a second example, which the owner found to be worth a small estate. the writer's publication, _fugitive tracts_, - , vols., , very aptly and powerfully illustrates the present bearings of our subject. of the sixty pieces there reproduced, two-thirds appear to be unique, and only four are traceable in the heber catalogue. yet many of the items are of historical or biographical importance, and were, in fact, selected from a much larger number with that view; which seems to be tantamount to a recognition of the truth, that, enormous as is the total surviving body of early english and scotish literature, it represents in some sections or classes only a salvage of what was once in type, or, to speak more by the card, of what we have so far been able to recover. there are rare books which, paradoxical as it may seem, are not rare. take, for example, burton's _anatomy of melancholy_, ; the first folio shakespeare, ; milton's _lycidas_, _poems_, _paradise lost_, _paradise regained_, in the _editiones principes_; the works of the minor poets, suckling, carew, shirley, davenant; walton's _angler_, ; bunyan's _pilgrim's progress_, ; the kilmarnock burns, ; and many first editions of wordsworth, lamb, shelley, keats, tennyson. every season swells the roll of existing copies. on the contrary, spenser's _faëry queen_, books i.-iii., , and milton's _comus_, , are authentically scarce, the former especially so in fine state; and the same may be predicated of lovelace's _lucasta_ (the two parts complete). but the real meaning of the rarity of the other books above specified--and the list might be readily enlarged--is that, although the copies are numerous enough, the taste for capital productions has increased within a few years out of proportion to the recovery of new or unknown examples. we are finding frequent occasion to cite works of foreign origin, which are more or less habitually taken up into our own collections by miscellaneous or general buyers; and there is among these one which forms a signal illustration of the fallacy of uniqueness. it is the gutenberg or mazarin bible. scarcely a library of the first rank occurs here or elsewhere without offering a copy; and we are persuaded that at least forty must exist, either on paper or on vellum, throughout the world. the book occupies the same bibliographical position as the first folio shakespeare, the first edition of walton's _angler_, and the first burns; it tends to grow commoner, yet, so far, not cheaper. there are other books which, as it may be more readily understood, are rare without being valuable, and of which such of the commercial world as has it not in its power to expend large amounts on individual purchases, naturally seeks to make the most. it was almost amusing, some time since, to note the entries in some of the booksellers' lists under "black letter," "gothic letter," "rare law," "curious early english," and so forth; and the names of caxton, wynkyn de worde, and other ancient printers were freely introduced to help off a rather lame foreigner, who was alleged to have been professionally associated with one or the other of them. if the bookseller knows the book-buyer, it is highly requisite that the latter should study what he is going to buy. illustrations are not wanting of the loss of untold treasure through a medium more fatal than any other--through exhaustive popular demand. entire and large impressions of books, pamphlets, and broadsides have succumbed, not to the sacrilegious hand of the spoiler, but to the too affectionate, and not too cleanly, fingering of the multitude of men and women who read and then cast the sources of entertainment away. if we remember that certain of the bibles ordered to be kept in churches for general use chiefly survive in crumbling fragments, or at best woefully dilapidated copies, we cease to be surprised at the easy prey which more fugitive compositions have formed to a succession of careless and indifferent owners. the illiterate inscriptions on many books, which have thus become valuable, point to the hands through which they have passed, and tell a story of prolonged neglect, too often culminating in appropriation to domestic requirements. it is, anyhow, perfectly undeniable that of the miscellaneous early literature of all countries, the proportion which exists is in very numerous instances no more than a simple voucher for the work having passed the press. a single copy has formerly occurred or occurs fortuitously, and no duplicate can be cited. this is the position of thousands of volumes, and of many it is the chief merit. infinitely numerous are the strange tales, sometimes drawing up the moisture into the mouth, sometimes sufficient to make one's hair rigid, of books of price hung up for use at country railway stations, or employed by a tobacconist to wrap up his pennyworths of snuff, or converted by a lady of quality into curl-papers. what has become of the caxtons sent over to the netherlands in the last century by a confiding english gentleman their owner, for the inspection of a nameless mynheer his friend, who, when he was invited to restore them, lamented their disappearance in a fire? there was beyond a question an epoch, and a prolonged one, when the mill shared with household demands an immense quota of the cast-off literature of these islands. one of our early collectors of caxtons, ratcliff, whose books were sold in , acquired his taste (one in a thousand) through his vocation as a chandler or storekeeper in the borough. we may surmise how his caxtons came to him, and at what rates! these episodes appertain to the romantic and speculative aspect of book-collecting; but they really have another side. here, at a time when the first-fruits of the english press were unregarded, we find a man of ratcliff's status acquiring thirty caxtons. he lived just to see a rise in their value, yet a very slight and fluctuating one; for at last he went into the open market and purchased a few lots at west's auction in , and the caxtons thus obtained re-sold after ratcliff's death in one or two cases at a lower rate. he had inflated the market; the competitors were not more than two or three. but the time was soon to come when such persons could no longer afford to hold this kind of property--when it became fashionable for dukes and earls and men of large property to make our early typography an object of research; and so it continued down to the present time, till the agricultural depression arrived to create another organic change, and to direct these, as well as other costly luxuries, into new channels. not the chandler, or the government official, or the private gentleman of modest means, but the great manufacturer or the merchant-prince entered on the scene, and wrested from the landowner his long-cherished possessions. the west and ratcliff sales ( - ) were the two golden opportunities, however, of which the advisers of george iii. wisely availed themselves to purchase volumes at what we have been taught to consider nominal prices; and there they are in the british museum to-day, a recollection of one of the better traits in the character of that prince. when we say that the market for caxtons in was beginning to expand, we mean that the day for getting such things for a few pence or a shilling or two had gone by. here, for example, are some of the quotations from the ratcliff auction:-- £ s. d. chronicles of englande, fine copy, doctrinal of sapyence, the boke called cathon, tullius de senectute, in englyshe, the game and playe of chesse the boke of jason legenda aurea; or, the golden legend, these figures make even some of those in the west auction, , appear by comparison rather extravagant. for his majesty's agent at the latter gave as much as £ for the romance of _paris and vienne_, from the caxton press, . true, it seems to be unique, and might to-day require its purchaser, if it were for sale, to have £ in his pocket or at his bank to secure it. yet strange events still continue to happen from time to time. not caxtons nor shakespeares, but excellent books which command prices in the open market, are yet occasionally given away. a case occurred in lincolnshire about a year ago, when a library of some volumes was sold by an intelligent provincial auctioneer _al fresco_ in the dogdays, and put up in bundles, nearly all of which were knocked down at the first bid--_threepence_. say, lots at d. per lot = £ s. d. for the whole. there must have been an _entente cordiale_ among those in attendance, the gentleman in the rostrum inclusive. these instances of misdirection, which have been in times past more numerous than now, although two of the most recent and most signal have occurred in the same county (lincolnshire), inevitably tend to the destruction of copies, and so far illustrate our remarks on the causes of the gradual disappearance of books during former periods. there are, however, circumstances under which prices are depressed by collusion, as where a first folio shakespeare was knocked done for £ in an auction-room not five hundred miles from fleet street; or by an accident, as when the original _somers tracts_, in thirty folio volumes, comprising unique _americana_, fetched _bonâ fide_ under the hammer only £ . a single item was re-sold for sixty guineas, and would now bring thrice that amount. what a game of chance this book traffic is! imperfect books, as distinguished from fragments, constitute a rather complex and troublesome portion and aspect of collecting. they are susceptible of classification into books--( ) of which no perfect copy is known; ( ) of which none is known outside one or two great libraries; ( ) of which even imperfect examples, as of a specimen of early typography or of engraving, are valuable and interesting; ( ) of which copies are more or less easily procurable. it is only the last division at which an amateur of any pretensions and resources draws the line. with the other contingencies our keenest and richest book-hunters and our most important public collections have been and are obliged to be satisfied. when it is a question of a unique, or almost unique, caxton, wynkyn de worde, or pynson, or quite as much of a volume from the london, st. albans, tavistock, york, or edinburgh presses, what is to be done? the object, no doubt, _laisse à desirer_; but where is another? this sentiment and spirit operated twice, as we have elsewhere noted, within three months in in the case of two incomplete copies of the first edition by caxton of chaucer's _canterbury tales_. but for the defective copy of a common book some find an apology and a home: they cannot afford a better, or they require it for a special purpose. the upshot is, that for every old volume there is a customer, who is pleased with his acquisition according to his light; and we have met with such as seemed disposed to view the missing of damaged leaves as negative evidence of antiquity and genuineness. the bystander who has had the benefit of as long an innings as the present writer, witnesses perpetual changes and vicissitudes of sentiment; and from one point of view, at all events, the minute details, into which the too generally despised bibliographer enters, are valuable, because they present to us, in lists of editions of authors and books published from age to age, the astonishing evidence of mutable popularity or acceptability. there is a feature, which is almost amusing, in the ideas and estimates expressed of many works by our earlier antiquaries, when we look to-day at their position and rank. if we turn over the pages of hearne's _diary_, for instance, we constantly meet with accounts of literary curiosities and rarities, which we regard with different eyes by virtue of our enlarged information, while thousands of really valuable items--valuable on some score or other--go there unnoted, although copies of them must have passed through the sales, even more frequently than at present. the close of the nineteenth century has brought these matters to a truer level. we are better able to gauge the survival of books and editions. even in the sometimes tedious enumeration of editions of early books bibliography confers a sort of benefit, for it demonstrates the longevity in public estimation and demand of a host of books now neglected, yet objects of interest and utility to many successive ages. we have seen so many cranks and fancies successively take possession of the public. early typography; early poetry and romances; books of hours; books of emblems; roman catholic literature; liturgies; bewick; bartolozzi; the first edition (which was sometimes equally the last); books on vellum, on india-paper, or on yellow or some other bizarre colour or material, debarring perusal of the publication; copies with remarkable blunders or with some of the text inadvertently omitted--all these and a legion of others have had their day; and to some of them it happens that they drop out of view for a season, and then reappear for a second or third brief term of life and favour; and therefore, it being so, who can have the heart to blame the parties that in the exercise of their vocation make hay while the sun shines? there is one personage, and one alone, who makes it whether or no, summer and winter, to wit, the auctioneer; his commission is assured; on what or from whom he gets it he cares not. he cheerfully leaves the adjustment of accounts to gentlemen outside. the circumstances under which a new departure takes place, often without much previous warning, in the book-market, and disturbs the calculations of holders of certain classes of stock, are infinitely varied. the bibliographical barometer is surprisingly sensitive, and the slightest change of fashion in the older literature, and even in those sections of the more recent which embrace acknowledged rarities, is instantaneously felt. in some branches of collecting, and where the prices of commodities are such as to exclude all but a knot of wealthy amateurs, the entrance of a new-comer on the ground makes a vital difference, especially if the market is in need of support from existing wants having been supplied; and if one goes about a little, one hears men whispering in corners and questioning who the stranger is, and for what he is likely to prove good. should he be a strong man, that is, in purse, you will soon perceive, if you keep your eye on the auction-room, another strong man buying at all costs against all comers just the articles which commend themselves to the first _dramatis persona_. he buys nearly everything; they are for him alone, unless there are two in the field concurrently, and then one may be conveniently played off against the other. a small field it is! and this interesting commercial strategy is always going on, while the objects of pursuit continually vary. the dealer looks after, not his own desiderata--for he has none--but those of his immediate clients. in a large business a man is likely to have many; but the class which repays study, which turns sovereigns into bank-notes for him, is not a numerous one. half-a-dozen first-rate customers keep a shop open even in the most fashionable and expensive thoroughfare. the late joseph lilly leant during his last years mainly on one. a collector of the stamp of mr. hartley was almost sufficient to support such an establishment as newman's in holborn or toovey's in piccadilly. you might pass the latter, or both, day after day and week after week, and not see a soul enter or leave the premises; all was done by correspondence and flukes and a few real good buyers in the background. mr. quaritch in london or m. fontaine in paris will clear more in an afternoon by the change of hands of two or three heavy items than a small dealer, even if he is unusually lucky, will do in a twelvemonth out of thousands of petty and troublesome transactions. it is not particularly unusual for a big firm to sell at one sitting four or five thousand pounds worth of property. there are others which have not sold as much during the entire term of their career, and never will. the works which enjoy their turn of public favour are generally recognisable in the catalogues by the type in which they are set forth; and any one who has stood by and witnessed all the changes of the last thirty or forty years observes periodical phenomena in the transfer of typographical honours from one school of authors, or one group of subjects, to another. the most recent auctioneers' catalogues reflect the sentiment of the day in lavishing capitals on trifles from the pens of more or less ephemeral modern writers, and registering with corresponding brevity much of the old english literature, which a few years since was in the ascendant. a rare volume of elizabethan verse or prose halts after an insignificant brochure by lamb, dickens, or thackeray, which the respective authors would have judged scarcely worth preserving, to which their indifference, in point of fact, constitutes the cause of scarcity and consequent appreciation. so it was once upon a time, to be sure, with the caxton, the quarto shakespeare, the ballad, the penny black-letter garland, and many another article which we now hold so precious. the man who could secure caxtons and shakespeares for pence, was he happier? why, no; for he simply followed the market and nobody was envious. he lifted his acquisition off the counter or stall for the best of all reasons--because he fancied it--nay, because he intended to read it when he reached home. a plea from the absolute collector's point of view--i fear, a weak and false one--is occasionally advanced for books which were formerly in fashion and favour; for example, sylvester's _du bartas_, the platonic romances, townley's french _hudibras_, and a hundred--a thousand--ten thousand more. it is thought to be worth while to have a few of these deposed idols to show to your friends when they visit you, that they may join in a homily on changes of taste. perhaps it would suffice to compare notes through the medium of some _censura literaria_, or beloe, or collier. with most people space is a consideration, with a few, money; and an incidental and passing reflection need not be so costly in either way. for that reason such works as i have indicated, and a few others similar to them, are apt to prove serviceable and economical. the periodical reinforcement of the ranks of the book-collecting world, in the higher latitudes at least, is obviously imperative, as individuals do not usually commence investments of such a kind till they are well on in life and have put by a fortune, or at all events retired from business. some purely accidental matter directs attention to a line of bibliography which appears attractive and important; the money is there, and the expert will undertake the rest. it is not the interest of those engaged in the business to be critical; they are merely executive agents. but the demand for the costlier rarities and curiosities is so narrow, that the fresh aspirant is soon the central object of attention to the few who can provide him with what he imagines he wants. as a rule, where a man has no personal knowledge, and finds that he is gradually becoming a milch-cow for the trade, the hobby is not of long duration; it is only where the buyer can control and check the vendor that satisfactory relations are likely to continue, perhaps for years, perhaps for a lifetime. there is ever a tendency, on the part of the bookish commissariat, to strike the iron too hard. it does happen here and there that collectors are enabled to make their own prices for their acquisitions either by extraordinary reputation for judgment and by virtue of a well-known name, or by the fact of being carried by our common lot beyond earshot of their good fortune, or, once more, by the force of peculiar circumstances. as an almost inexorable rule, the stocks of dealers are coldly regarded, and even those of william pickering and joseph lilly were allowed to drop, so that, in the latter instance more particularly, some real bargains were obtained. yet, on the contrary, the books thrown on the market after the retirement of f. s. ellis and the death of james toovey went capitally, partly because they were supported by mr. quaritch (rather glad perhaps to get rid of his two confrères). then, more recently, the collection formed by mr. warton brought quite unexpected figures, and we feel justified in adding, figures sometimes scarcely warranted by the property. these instances, and this other aspect of the subject, strengthen our contention that the whole affair from beginning to end is a sort of lottery, a type of gambling. if those who enter into the fray do so with their eyes open, and do not object, who should? but assuredly the most egregious case in modern times of the absolute despotism of name and ownership over all other considerations was that of the portion of william morris's library submitted to public sale in december . the books themselves were, as a rule, below mediocrity in state, and could not have well possessed for the new acquirers even that special interest and value which morris recognised in them as aids to his artistic and literary labours. yet the prices realised were beyond anything on record, and were simply absurd. there seemed to be a violent struggle on the part of three or four competitors to secure these treasures at any cost, and they did so. let the very same copies recur, and in the hands of a person of inferior celebrity, and the shrinkage will probably be serious. the direct association was dissolved when the lots were adjudged to the highest bidders, and here the highest bidders were high indeed. to the speculative investor in literary property what can we have to say? he works with his eyes opened to their widest possibility of expansion, and carries his fortune or success in his hands. no doubt there are occasional flukes for him; but, generally speaking, the greatest have been for collections formed and dispersed without any view to profit, where the state of the market has accidentally favoured the owner, or there was some nimbus round the name. before you set about forming a library, you should consider in what sort of atmosphere, of your own or your friends' creation, it is likely to be sold hereafter. you ought almost to be able to calculate how celebrated you will die. chapter viii early english literature--absorption of the rarer items by public libraries or by america--future of collecting--poetical writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--fruits of a long neglect--want of discrimination among private buyers--necessity for a better training or sounder advice--remarks on our early literature--small proportion of high-class authors--safe and unsafe investments--condition of copies--writers whose works are of mysterious rarity--nicholas breton--"three-halfpenny ware"--paucity of great names in the post-restoration period down to our own--foreign works belonging to the english series: their chief places of origin--english presses--typographical vicissitudes of london--the scotish series--scotish presses--the irish series--irish presses--the irish stock--the list of claims, --anglo-american literature and early american editions of english classics--the american colonial group of books--the _bay psalm-book_, --the volumes of statutes printed at boston, philadelphia, and new york--sources of information on anglo-american bibliography--caution against impatience and enthusiasm. the entire range of the earlier english and scotish romantic, poetical, and even historical literature embraces so many items, which are either unattainable from their rarity or their cost, if they happen once in a lifetime to occur, that it may be said to be ground almost closed against the ordinary private buyer. articles which are to be seen by the hundred in the priced catalogues of libraries dispersed twenty or thirty years since with fairly moderate figures attached to them, have, owing to severer competition from america as well as at home, either for public or private purchasers, trebled or quadrupled in value. with the more modern literature, of which the positive scarcity does not warrant this great inflation, we may reasonably look for a fall; but in the case of volumes which are really rare, it is hard to see how the chances of collectors can be improved in the future. the upshot will be, that they must be satisfied with smaller fish or modify their lines; for of old and elderly books of intrinsic value and interest there is a plentiful choice. with regard to a considerable body of early english volumes, which formerly appeared in the catalogues of thorpe, rodd, the elder pickering, and others, it is to be said that the fewness of survivors was not appreciated, and half-a-dozen public or closed libraries have absorbed them all. it exemplifies the remarkable revolution in feeling and taste when we turn over the pages of one of william pickering's catalogues--that for --and observe a perfect set of the four folio shakespeares, - , marked £ , while a large-paper series of hearne's books, or of some standard edition of the classics in morocco, cost more; whereas at present the hearnes and the classics are barely saleable at any price, and the dramatic volumes might be worth twenty times more than they brought seventy years since. the poetical writers of the tudor, elizabethan, and stuart eras have had, in a commercial sense, two or three reverses of fortune. from the period of publication down to the last quarter of the eighteenth century they were to be bought at prices little beyond waste paper, so soon as the original interest in them had subsided. the editors of shakespeare--pope, hanmer, theobald, warburton, capell, steevens, malone, farmer, and reed--awakened a sort of new interest in the subject, just in time to save the slender salvage of a century and a half's neglect or indifference from the mill and the kitchen-fire; and their example led to others coming upon the ground, such as west, major pearson, the duke of roxburghe, lord blandford, lord spencer, bindley, and heber, whose motives were primarily acquisitive. in or about a strong reaction set in, and prices fell till - , when the bright and chalmers sales, and the more sensible competition of the british museum, again restored confidence and strength to the market. since that time, our old poets have not, on the whole, suffered any marked decline, and the most recent revival is in their favour. the americans, it seems, call for first editions, and they have not to call twice, though they may be required to pay smartly. this new ticket owes its origin to the usual agency. one or two transatlantic book-lovers gain the information from some source that this is the real article, that if you want fine poetry you must go to these fellows--not exactly shakespeare and spenser, for they had heard of them before--but to gascoigne, sydney, herrick, carew, suckling, lovelace, and the rest of the company; and above all, if you desire to enjoy their beauties and appreciate their genius fully and absolutely, you are referred to the _editio princeps_--not that which the author corrected and preferred, but the one in morocco extra, which your bookseller recommends to you. it is by no means that we seek to ridicule or discourage the pursuit, but we want and wish to see a more healthy and discriminating spirit among buyers. let intending collectors devote a reasonable time to a preparatory study of the subject and survey of the field and then they will perhaps accomplish better results at a lower cost. let them, once more, not be in too violent a hurry. the abundance of transmitted writings in a metrical shape only proves more conclusively the familiar fact that it is as easy to compose verses as it is difficult to compose poetry. the long succession of authors who fall within the category of poets has received an extent of editorial care and illustration in the course of the century, however, which argues the prevalence of a more favourable opinion of their merits. the names which are at present commanding chief notice are those which have always been esteemed: shakespeare, fletcher, beaumont, jonson, daniel, drayton, wither, sir john davis, herrick, carew, lovelace, and suckling; and among the scotish bards drummond takes the lead. the most singular feature about the matter is that, in the presence of all kinds of critical editions, the demand is not for them, but for the originals. the mission of the modern recensor comes to an end when, by a stupendous amount of research and erudition, he has emphasised the characteristics and gifts of a writer. then the amateur steps forward, and expresses his readiness to give any price for the good old book, undisfigured by notes and emendations! it is perhaps fruitless to attempt to turn the tide of common sentiment, and gentlemen must be permitted to choose their own money's worth. they may think and say that they want the volume as it left the author's hands, not diluted and overlaid by commentators. granted, it is a product of the time, even though the author did not see the proofs, and the printer could not always decipher the ms. but then comes the larger and more general question: how much of the better class of early verse-writers are worth reading? the present deponent, without being conscious that he is very hyper-critical, states the deliberate result of actual examination and perusal when he affirms that of the minor poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, save perhaps randolph, the productions of enduring value and interest could be brought within the compass of a moderate volume. it would be eminently unwise for any one who treats his library as an investment to yield to the existing tendency to exorbitant prices for the later poets and playwrights, as the rise is due to ephemeral causes, and the demand, for the most part, is not likely to exhaust the supply. if the truth may be told, the literature of past ages in all countries, and nowhere more so than in england, is, in proportion to its immense extent, excessively barren of high-class writers or written matter. each generation of collectors discovers this fact at last; but it discovers it for itself. we disdain to profit by the experience of our precursors, just as the little girl insisted on learning at her own cost how foolish it was to do a certain thing. because there are a few highly interesting catholic publications, your amateur must be absolutely complete in the series. if it seems expedient to possess an example or two of ancient typography, he ends by doing his best to accumulate every example in the market. there is more than a probability that the service-books of the romish church have their archæological and literary value: _ergo_, he orders every one which he sees advertised, albeit the differences are substantially far from momentous. he understands that some very curious volumes illustrative of ritualism and the various holy orders were printed here or abroad, and he proceeds to drain the booksellers' shelves throughout the universe of every bit of sorry stuff answering to this description. there are a dozen or so of collections of emblems, english or foreign, which are supposed to throw light on passages in shakespeare and other authors; this is sufficient leverage for the concentration under the unfortunate gentleman's roof of a closely packed cartload. seriously and bibliographically speaking, there is a fairly wide difference and disparity among the old editions of the poets and romancists; and there are, and always will be, a distinguished minority, of which the selling prices may be expected to remain firm. such men as shakespeare, jonson, beaumont, fletcher, chapman, massinger, and among the lyric group barnfield, watson, constable, wither (earlier works and _hallelujah_), carew, herrick, suckling, and lovelace, are to be viewed as standard and stable. then in the scotish series there is permanence in lyndsay, drummond, and burns. but, on the contrary, the minor, more obscure, or commoner productions must be carefully distinguished and circumspectly handled by those who do not desire or cannot afford to throw away their money. the names above cited are themselves very unequal; some, like breton, churchyard, whetstone, barnfield, watson, and constable, are sought, and will ever be sought, by reason of their peculiar rarity; and, save in a sentimental way, no one would probably dream of placing beaumont, chapman, wither, and some of the rest on a par with shakespeare, fletcher, and massinger. there has been, however, a tendency to force on the notice of book-buyers, _faute de mieux_, many writers whose productions are neither rare nor of the first class--heywood, dekker, webster, ford, and shirley--and to bracket them commercially with authentic _desiderata_ either on the score of merit or of scarcity. of the three former, the most difficult pieces to procure are the civic pageants. nearly all ford's and shirley's works, except the _echo_ of the latter, , are classable among common books even in the first editions. again, condition is a postulate which begins to assert itself in the book-market. poor and bad copies are eschewed by many or most of those who are willing to pay handsomely for fine specimens; and the worst type of indifferent exemplars is the sophisticated volume, which can be manipulated by experts to such an extent that even a person of considerable experience will now and then be at fault. the american collector grows more fastidious every day, and discovers blemishes which we on this side of the water try to tolerate, if the article is rare or we badly want it. our transatlantic friends, however, are more inexorable, and go so far as to return purchases not answering the description in the auctioneer's catalogue to their english commission-agents. we have instanced above two or three writers whose works command excessive prices mainly by virtue of the paucity of surviving copies, seconded by a faint and indirect literary interest; but we see that the list is open to extension. during the last half-century and upward the publications of nicholas breton have fetched sums, when they have occurred, totally incompatible with any intrinsic value; with some few exceptions they belong to the category of "three-halfpenny ware," as chamberlain the letter-writer styles such things in his correspondence with sir dudley carleton; half-a-dozen or so out of forty and more are undoubtedly curious and illustrative; but mr. corser and one or two other collectors made a speciality of the author. it is only the other day that sir john fenn's copy of breton's _works of a young wit_, , recorded by herbert in his _typographical antiquities_, and the only perfect one known, occurred at an auction and fetched £ ! a fine book it was, too, with the blank leaf at end. doubtless, the reason for the evanescence of breton's literary labours is to be sought in their estimation by many, besides the letter-writer above quoted, as barely more than waste paper. verily, their substantial worth is barely tangible. speaking from a connoisseur's rather than from a reader's point of view, when we leave behind us the pre-restoration writers of great britain and ireland, we do not encounter much difficulty in a commercial sense, if we consider the length of time and the almost innumerable names, excepting bunyan's _pilgrim's progress_, swift's _gulliver_, defoe's _robinson crusoe_, goldsmith's _vicar of wakefield_, and a few early byrons and shelleys, unless the buyer schedules among his _desiderata_ the earlier anglo-american literature. for as we draw nearer to our own day, items which were thought to be superlatively uncommon, including sundry pieces by tennyson and browning, have failed to maintain their reputation for scarcity, as any one might have foreseen that they would do. the preposterous prices paid for some copies have brought out others, and the ultimate supply will probably exceed the demand. even where an english collection may not enter the continental lines, but preserves its national character, there are numerous classes of books of foreign origin and from foreign presses, which are fairly entitled to consideration and admittance. these publications embrace not merely religious and controversial literature, but a large and important body of material for english and scotish biography and history, and for the elucidation of irish affairs. every season brings to light some new features in this immense series, which is, of course, susceptible of a classifying process, and may be ranged under such sections as we have above indicated, besides a considerable residue which falls under the head of poetry and typography, the latter constituting a branch of the history of english printing, and the former being worthy of notice as embracing some of the rarest metrical productions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which owed their issue from presses in germany and the low countries to various agencies, but chiefly to the exigencies of foreign military service by english and scotish officers during the english operations in the netherlands under elizabeth and during the thirty years' war. the foreign sources of english books, or books written by or about english, scotish, and irish folk, have been-- aire amsterdam antwerp arras augsburg basle bologna boulogne breda bruges brussels constantinople dort florence flushing geneva ghent gouda haarlem leipsic leyden lyons malines middelburg milan munich munster paris parma pisa rome rotterdam strasburg-in-elsass the hague tournai utrecht venice vevey wesel zürich it is always to be borne in mind that these adjuncts at the foot of title-pages in troubled periods are not unfrequently fictitious; and we have elsewhere equally shown that greenwich and waterford are names appended to early controversial works of which the writers desired to conceal the real parentage. of english presses it might seem almost superfluous to speak; but in fact the typographical fortunes of london have experienced their flux and reflux. at first we find the city itself in sole possession of the industry and privilege; then westminster came; thirdly, southwark. of the provincial places of origin, oxford appears to have been the foremost, and was followed at intervals by york, cambridge, canterbury, ipswich, worcester, and other centres, of which some preserved their reputation down to comparatively recent times, while oxford and cambridge of course remain important and busy seats of printing. beverley, nottingham, derby, northampton, bristol, birmingham, gateshead, and newcastle-on-tyne have never been more than occasional sources of literary production, and certain towns, such as lincoln and gainsborough, are only known from local or small popular efforts; there is an edition of _robin hood's garland_ with the gainsborough imprint. one or two publications purporting to have been executed at sherborne in dorsetshire belong to the firm of william bowyer of london. there was a distinct centralising tendency at a later period, by which the english metropolis absorbed the principal share of work, and it was followed, owing to economical causes, by a reaction which we know to be at present in full force, and which has restored to the provinces, but to new localities, bungay, guildford, bristol, no less than edinburgh and aberdeen, an appreciable proportion of the custom of the london publishing houses; nor is it unusual to send mss. abroad for the sake of the advantage accruing from cheaper labour. we not long since secured this boon in scotland; but scotland has grown as dear as london. the scotish series is a difficult and costly one to handle. the early vernacular literature of that country has suffered from two classes of destructive agency, neglect and fanaticism, to a greater extent than england, and the disappearance of the more popular books and tracts has been wholesale. the attempt on the part of a collector, however rich and persevering he might be, to form a complete series of original editions of the poetical and romantic writers of north britain, could only be made in ignorance of the utter impossibility of success. the late david laing abundantly illustrated this fact in his numerous publications, and further evidence of it may be found throughout the bibliographical works of the present writer. the old scotish presses were edinburgh, leith, st. andrew's, glasgow, stirling, and aberdeen; but a large proportion of the literary productions of scotish authors, including much of the historical group relative to mary queen of scots, proceeded from foreign places of origin, where the writers had settled or were temporarily resident. the principal channels through which we have in modern times augmented our information of their products are the catalogues of fraser of lovat, boswell of auchinleck, the duke of roxburghe, pitcairn, constable, chalmers, maidment, gibson-craig, david laing, and the rev. william makellar, the last a cousin of sir william stirling maxwell of keir, and a collector from to . a purely irish library would inherently differ both from one limited to english or to scotish books. there is no early typography or poetry, no works printed on vellum, no masterpieces of binding. the collectors in that part of the empire have always been few in number, and in fact irish books have been chiefly collected by persons who were not irishmen, nor even residents in that country. it used to be the case that, where a book was remarkably successful in england, the dublin booksellers reprinted it, and, as these reproductions are generally scarcer than the originals, doubtless in limited numbers. the series consists of a handful of books and tracts of the elizabethan and jacobean periods ( - ); of publications relative to the civil war ( - ); of others relative to the commonwealth and jacobite troubles ( - ); of literary illustrations of the state of ireland under the houses of orange, stuart, and brunswick or hanover, and of modern days. the bibliographical writings of sir james ware are usually quoted and consulted for the literature within his time, but they have become almost obsolete. the two other works of reference for amateurs and students are those by charles vallancey (_collectanea de rebus hibernicis_, - , vols.) and charles o'conor (_rerum hibernicarum scriptores veteres_, - , vols.). but we have to go to more recent authorities to discover that the typographical productions of ireland in the first decade of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries comprise a few books of the greatest rarity and one or two of which no copies are at present known. on the other hand, certain elizabethan volumes, purporting to have proceeded from irish presses, are generally believed to have an english origin, while others with german imprints of a later date (second half of the seventeenth century) are absolutely proved to have been clandestinely executed at home. a very fair and comprehensive idea of the salient features in the present series may be gained from the grenville and huth catalogues and from hazlitt's _collections_ (general index). considerable stress is laid by collectors on a large-paper copy with the _decisions_ filled in in ms., the memorandum, &c., of the _list of claims_, , in connection with the irish forfeitures. but in fact a copy of this work is always available, when any one wants it, which is seldom enough. there was no _regular_ printing here till the beginning of the seventeenth century, although one or two marian tracts falsely purport to have come from the waterford press. dublin had a printer, john frankton, who worked from to or thereabout, and produced many books, tracts, and broadsheets, some not yet recovered; the city also boasted a society of stationers in , and many volumes appeared at london "printed for the partners of the irish stock," referring to the plantation of ulster. the places in ireland itself, where the art of typography was pursued, were dublin, cork, waterford, drogheda, kilkenny, and belfast (as in the section just dismissed). but the rarest articles in the earlier series emanated from london or from continental presses, the writings of nicholas french and cranford's _tears of ireland_, , taking a prominent rank in the latter category. the leading collectors on irish lines have been sir robert peel, mr. grenville, mr. huth, mr. bradshaw, canon tierney, mr. shirley, and bishop daly. in the english series i have supposed the admission of a certain number or proportion of foreign books, which are of catholic interest, and have acquired a standing among many classes of collectors whose bias is principally national. but there are two other series of very unequal extent, importance, and costliness, which more directly appeal to the buyers of these islands, namely, the earlier anglo-american literature belonging to the colonial period, and the american reproductions of the favourite books of lamb, leigh hunt, hazlitt, thackeray, and others in the present century. the latter category enters into the department of curiosities, and has yet to acquire bibliographical importance. in one or two cases, works issued at home in numbers have been published in the states in book-form prior to their appearance here. this happened with the _yellow-plush correspondence_, reprinted direct from _fraser's magazine_ at philadelphia in , and curious as the writer's earliest separate publication. these papers were not collected in england till . the products of the colonial period include all the books emanating from american presses between , the date of the _bay psalm-book_ at cambridge, n.e., from the press of stephen day, and the declaration of independence. there has been a disposition to treat the whole of this output of printed matter with a special tenderness and reverence on political grounds; but it obviously is of a very mixed and unequal character, and, as time goes on, there must be a continuous winnowing process, and a consignment to oblivion of a vast assortment of the dullest theology and of political _ephemerides_. there will always remain a rich heirloom to our american kinsfolk and ourselves of historical nuggets in the shape of narratives of the fortunes and careers of the pilgrim fathers, their experiments in statecraft, their religious trials, their early superstitions and strange intolerance of personal liberty in a land chosen by its settlers for liberty's sake; and of course there is a section of literary products appertaining to the new world, namely, ritualistic ordinances, liturgical manuals, and collections of statutes, which derive what one is bound to term an artificial interest from the local circumstances, or, in other words, from the place of origin. a theological treatise, a bible, a volume of prayers, or a law-book, published in england in the second half of the seventeenth century, may be worth from sixpence to a sovereign; if it bears the imprint of boston, cambridge (n.e.), new york, philadelphia, or new london, its value may be computed in bank-notes. the _laws of massachusetts_, , was lately sold for £ , and the _papers relating to massachusetts bay_, , for £ , the latter in boards. the reason (so far as there is any) for this inflation is twofold: the patriotic sentiment which leads american amateurs to desire the oldest and most precious typographical and historical monuments of their country, and, secondly, the perhaps less justifiable enthusiasm of some englishmen for books which, as they may plead, are the offspring of the states while they were still english settlements. a copious and fairly contemporary view of the extensive family of works belonging to the earlier anglo-american library may be found in the bibliographies of stevens, sabin, and harrisse, and in the grenville, huth, lenox, and tower catalogues. there is not only no line of collecting which is more difficult and more costly than the present, but none which, within the last twenty years, has, so far as first-rate rarities are concerned, more seriously advanced, even inferior copies of certain books fetching at times five times as much as good ones did in the seventies. just lately the call appears to come from the other side of the atlantic. there are two or three new bidders. that is sufficient. chapter ix the modern side--words of advice--the place and functions of free libraries--coleridge and byron period--unhealthy state of the market--the dickens and thackeray movement--fashions in books--a valuable suggestion--slight actual demand for costly modern productions--two often make a market--effect of time in settling value--forecast of the durability of a few names--a large-paper copy of byron's poems, --cheap literature not a modern invention--the published price noted on the face of early volumes--an episode--practical buyers not to be considered collectors--the first edition considered from editorial and other points of view. in the acquisition of modern books, far greater caution is requisite than in that of the older literature, since the output is so enormous, and the changes in taste and depreciation in value so rapid and so capricious. the free and other circulating or reference libraries throughout the country must prove of immense service in superseding the necessity of purchasing volumes of temporary interest or of expensive character; and the average collector will, and does, find that a certain number of dictionaries of various kinds, and of works which happen to be favourites, suffice to exhaust his space and resources. the free library is an undoubted boon in two ways: in enabling us to read or consult books which we do not care to buy; and again, in affording us an opportunity at leisure of judging whether such and such a volume merits more than a passing notice and perusal. the sole method of arriving at this information is to take the publication home. even where shelf-room and funds are forthcoming, there is slight danger of any large percentage of recent literature being added to the stores of a judicious householder. to read, perhaps only to skim, and return, will be the general rule. it is inexpedient to lend oneself too exclusively to a period or a school; for even where one has to study for a purpose a particular class of authors, or a particular subject or group of subjects, the local institution is at hand to help one; and the cheap reproductions of the writings of the earlier centuries, erring, as they do, on the side of indulgence, place it in the power of individuals of modest means to have at their elbows a representative assemblage, not necessarily a cumbrous one, of the literature from chaucer to the present day, so that they may form a comparative estimate of the intellectual activity and wealth of successive ages, while, at the same time, the greek and latin authors are procurable in a collective shape, if they desire to compare notes and satisfy themselves on the obligations of the moderns to the ancients. it amounts to this, that the free library is an agency which should save us to a very material extent from actually acquiring books which are not worth holding; it is not only a medium for reference, but for testing and winnowing. but for the select private bookcase it is not, or ought not to be, a substitute. the free library is in its infancy and on its trial. in course of time the spread of education and the force of experience will confer on it better governing bodies, and better governing bodies will guarantee better curators. the actual generation of librarians, or so-called librarians, is the product of inefficient committees of control and selection; and the worst part is that some of these gentlemen receive salaries which would almost enable their employers to secure the services of qualified officers. i am not personally of the opinion that those institutions are an unmixed blessing. for already there was a marked tendency to a decline in the taste for collecting among the middle classes in the united kingdom, available resources being devoted to other outlets more generally acceptable to families; and the facilities afforded by the free library virtually amount to each individual parishioner being enabled, without appreciable cost, to possess books on a far larger scale than if he had a collection actually his own. the unfavourable operation of this state of affairs is twofold: it injures the literary market, and it promotes superficiality of study in the case of books which should be owned, not borrowed, to be thoroughly mastered and understood. the range of choice, which embraces the writers of the modern school in prose and verse, is both wide and difficult. during many years past the number of authors within these lines has been continually on the increase, yet, while merit and value may be questions of opinion, there can be no serious or legitimate doubt that the output of literary work of high character is not greater than it was, if indeed as great. in the course of a quarter of a century many popular names have either fallen or faded out of remembrance, alike of authors who belonged to antecedent generations, and of those who have enjoyed a transient and artificial celebrity, and have come and gone, as it were, under the eyes of their immediate contemporaries. with the advantages offered by lending libraries, it appears to be imprudent on the part of any one who cannot conveniently form an extensive collection of modern books to buy on the recommendation of the press or the trade new favourites; for literary acquisitions are unfortunately apt to occupy space, and, save in very exceptional cases, to deteriorate in value. even the original editions of the later works of tennyson are not in great demand, and the high figures realised by one or two of his early productions are explainable in the same way as those given for byrons and shelleys. the modern side of collecting is classifiable into numerous branches, according to the point of departure, as some differ in their view of what is modern from others. if we have to lay down a dividing line, however, we should make it comprehend the last decade of the eighteenth century, when many of the writers who were the contemporaries of our immediate foregoers began their literary careers. then, again, there are two branches of the later literature: the more recent writers themselves, and the reproductions, as i have noted, of the writers of former periods; and the extent to which the edited collections have been carried places it within the power of many who so desire to specialise on a certain line, and to deal representatively with the rest. the specialist who proposes to himself as a field for his activity the coleridge and byron period, or who, again, confines his efforts to the writings of one or two of that set, has his work before him. generally speaking, the first editions, which are those usually desired, are not uncommon; but there is almost always a _crux_, an _introuvable_, for which the not altogether blameable dealer puts on the screw, and charges more than for all the remaining items. bohn's _lowndes_ yields a fair account of this family of literature; and alexander ireland, richard herne shepherd, and others have bestowed vast pains on drawing up monographs on coleridge, hazlitt, hunt, shelley, lamb, keats, browning, tennyson, and the rest. it is difficult to foresee what the final upshot may be; probably, when fabulous prices have drawn forth from their hiding-places additional copies of many of these latter-day objects of keen pursuit, the market will fall and the craze will subside. it is a purely artificial and spurious one. a second group, to whose books a collector may reasonably and conveniently confine his attention, consists of the poets and prose-writers who are still, or who were till lately, among us; and a fairly numerous body of matter falls within this class, as we may judge from a glance at the names which present themselves in the publishers' and booksellers' lists. in selecting the contemporary school, there is the undoubted advantage that you can institute a comparison between the book and its author, and that you may fall in with him at dinner, in a drawing-room or in a shop, and congratulate him or solicit an explanation of some fine but obscure passage; and should you also be literary, he has the opportunity of exchanging compliments with you. the old dead writers receive praise and offer no equivalent. during a series of years there was a notorious run, which, as usual, became indiscriminate, on first editions of the writings of dickens, thackeray, and other foremost men of the period, eclipsing, as it seemed, even the demand for the earlier english classics, till the auctioneers and booksellers in their catalogues underlined at a venture every _editio princeps_, though it might be the last as well as the first, and, whether or no, a book of no mark. but the enthusiasm has at last contracted itself within narrower and more intelligent limits, and is restricted to productions which rank as masterpieces or are special favourites, and then all postulates have to be satisfied, all bibliographical minutiæ have to be studied. it is impossible to foresee how far this latest compromise may last; but whatever it is, there must always be some novelty to keep the market going, and bring grist to the mill. the world of fashion comprehends books as well as bonnets and dresses; but the literary section is a humble one by comparison, and is in few hands. every fresh _mode_ has somewhere its starter, and it usually prevails long enough to suit the purposes of the trade, when it makes way for its successor. if one had the ordering of these strategical devices, one would imagine that the true policy was to buy up a given class of books, procure the insertion of a clever article or two in the press, extolling their merits and lamenting the public ignorance and neglect, and then launch a jesuitically constructed catalogue devoted to such undeservedly disregarded treasures. but we may have been forestalled. who knows? the less current and every-day literary ware appeals to a more or less narrow constituency. there is a proverb, "the wool-seller knows the wool-buyer;" and it has to be so in books. there are volumes which, if they do not from their character or price suit one of a circle of half-a-dozen collectors, with whose means and wants the whole trade is generally familiar, are exceedingly likely to suit nobody outside the public libraries at public library prices. so much is this the case, that many booksellers do not think it worth their while to publish catalogues, and content themselves with reporting to the most probable purchaser fresh acquisitions. with certain very special and costly rarities _two_ often make a market. time will perform its habitual office or function for us and our successors of separating from the multitudinous accumulation of modern published or printed matter such portion as, on deliberate inquiry and scrutiny, appears to be of permanent value. there is no doubt that much will be thrown aside; but the _residuum_ which will bear the test of dispassionate judgment must prove considerable in itself, and also when taken into account as an appendix to the record left by preceding generations of writers. there may be certain authors and authoresses whom our descendants will like to have by them, even though they may no longer exert a sensible influence on literature and thought, just as we prize many of the older schools and types for characteristics and allusions which strike us as curious or entertaining; and soon, as decade follows decade, and the twentieth century has well opened, men and women, who were our grandsires' contemporaries, will seem through the lengthening vista almost as remote as they were from the stuart epoch with its elizabethan and shakespearian traditions. it is useless and invidious to particularise, and, besides, when one has drawn up a list of names, which are more or less obviously ephemeral, one cannot be certain as to the rest. some must live; some may. the astonishing demand for the first editions of our modern poets and novelists has, as was generally anticipated, subsided, and in some cases almost ceased; and it is extremely doubtful whether the taste will ever assume again the same unhealthy proportions. for one result of the matter has been to make it perfectly clear that copies of byron, shelley, keats, coleridge, lamb, dickens, thackeray, tennyson, and so forth, exist in much greater plenty than was at first supposed, though very little reflection should have sufficed to establish the fact as an eminent probability; and all that was needed to draw them from their resting-places was the series of paragraphs in the press conveying to holders how valuable their property had unexpectedly become. shall we not have more copies of shelley's poor little brochure of offered for sale ere long, as well as of thackeray's _exquisites_ and _king glumpus_? at the same time, while we insist that the survival of means of supply is too large, and the market too limited, to sustain the extravagant quotations of recent years, there will ever remain persons prepared to give generous prices for absolutely first-class examples of the best modern authors. there must be no qualification, nothing secondary, nothing dubious; and with these provisos, we do not venture to predict that the competition might not become keener than ever. the same experience will result here and there, whenever a book forming a desideratum in more than one cabinet occurs for sale, and is perhaps the first copy which has been offered. at sotheby's in june , shelley's _oedipus tyrannus_, , it is said, was carried under these circumstances to £ . it was, we believe, one of two copies, picked up by a well-known amateur for fourpence each. on another account--its perfectly immaculate state in boards--a large-paper copy of byron's poems, , was thought by mr. edward huth not too dear at £ . it had been acquired by a london bookseller in exchange for one in morocco from a correspondent in yorkshire, the latter receiving the bound book (which cost the vendor £ ) and £ difference, so that there was a profit on the transaction of £ . seriously speaking, the purchase was extravagantly dear, for the book on large paper is at all events not scarcer than on small. one of the most signal incidents, however, in modern auctioneering annals was the sale of mss. copies of the _endymion_ and _lamia_ of keats in the poet's handwriting for £ , and the subsequent offer to the purchasers at that figure of a large advance for their bargain. these two items are printed, and the written copies were those employed by the printer, as upon the first leaf of each ms. were the directions as to size. they were in the familiar round schoolboy hand, and presented occasional corrections. we heard a suggestion that there might have once, at all events, been a duplicate copy in existence. if the lots were worth the money, what would the manuscript of _venus and adonis_ or _hamlet_ fetch? the mischief which proceeds from the advertisements through the press of sensational sale prices is not one for which either the buyers or the sellers are responsible. it is due to the notorious circumstance that very few persons are able to discriminate accurately between an important item in an auction or elsewhere, and another submitted to their approval, ostensibly and professedly identical, but actually very different. a certain familiar type of bookseller will tell you that a copy of such or such a work fetched £ under the hammer last week, but that he can let you have his--same edition, same date, same nearly everything--for fifty shillings. of course it is no such matter; yet the bait is often swallowed, and the poor (or possibly rich) fish caught. the relatively cheap literature of the present day has been thought to be a revival rather than an invention. we meet with tracts published in the reign of elizabeth with the express notation of the price of issue, namely, one penny. the _book of common prayer_, , was to be sold at s. d. unbound, and s. in paste or boards. the ordinary amount charged for a tract extending to thirty or forty pages, and for a quarto play, was d. or a groat. the first folio shakespeare, , cost the original purchaser s.; percival's _spanish dictionary_, , appears to have come out at s. there are lists of advertisements attached to publications of the later stuart era showing that a large variety of popular productions brought the printer or stationer twopence or a penny. a curious little edition of _coffee-house jests_, , bears the imprint:-- "drogheda. printed for the sake of a penny: sold in waterford, cork, and kilkenny." but throughout these statistics, which are capable, of course, of infinite augmentation, we have to keep before us the difference in the value of money, and the purchasing power of the same amount in other and more practical directions; and it follows that the printed matter offered to-day for threepence or sixpence had no real parallel in former times, and that the absolutely cheap book is a product of modern facilities for manufacture. the published price not unfrequently presents itself at the foot of the title on books of the late seventeenth and earlier eighteenth centuries. the simplicity of some individuals who are ranked among occasional or casual buyers was illustrated many years since by a man going into a shop in fleet street and putting down eighteenpence in payment of hubert's _edward ii._, , in the window. the bookseller explained to him that his price was s. "but," insisted the customer, "look at the title-page; it was published at s. d." "then you had better go to the publisher," observed the other, replacing the volume. book-collecting seems scarcely to concern very closely those who regard the pursuit from a severely practical point of view, or in the aspect of absolute intrinsic importance. it is true enough that one may form, not only a library, but a remarkably extensive one, of books of reference and study; but this does not quite answer to the idea of a bibliophile--in fact, it is little more than the digestion into book-form of a mass of learning and useful information. again, if, without embracing such classes of volumes, we limit ourselves to those which, as we express the matter above, are positively important, we of course find on our shelves all the capital authors, ancient and modern; yet how many we should have to reject which are accounted indispensable to a choice cabinet! and such is apt to be more peculiarly the case in a selection formed on anglo-french lines, as anybody may readily judge by examining a catalogue of this kind, where pages and pages are occupied by irritating trifles of no solid pretensions whatever, not even those evident in personal or heraldic accessories. the general rule may be applied to our modern books, that, whatever they may be for purposes of instruction or entertainment, they seldom represent the outlay, and still more rarely a profit upon it when the day arrives for realising. during some time past we have witnessed the rise and fall, or at least disappearance from the front rank, of individuals and schools of individuals whose writings no amount of friendly support in the press was capable of propping up beyond three or four seasons. it is not that some of them may not hereafter, like our older authors, return to notice and currency; but they will suffer that intermediate period of neglect which has been experienced by well-nigh all our greatest names in letters. there is for literature, in common with its buyers, an earth, a purgatory, and a heaven--or something else. the public cannot keep pace with the vast and unbroken succession of literary produce, and the favourites of the day pass over to neutral ground, with very few exceptions, when their honeymoon has expired, to await the deliberate verdict of posterity on their merit and their station. to the investor for a more or less immediate return, however, they are precarious possessions, unless the market be carefully watched. the wealthy and absolutely uncommercial amateur disregards these risks and these counsels; and he is in a sense to be envied. the question of the first edition is not limited to any era of literary history and production, and the call for this class of book, at first (as usual) rather unreasoning, begins to be more critical and narrow. the author to be thus honoured by his posterity must have a certain bouquet and vogue. he must be a shakespeare, a jonson, a herrick, a burton, a defoe, a bunyan, a burns, or (if we cross the sea) a molière, a montaigne, or a cervantes. with the first edition in some bibliographical schemes is associated the best one. the possessor of both may pride himself on being able to show the earliest and latest state of the writer's mind, what he originally conceived, and what he decided to leave behind him as his _ultimum vale_. for the most part, however, first thoughts are treated as better than second, and it may actually be the case that, alike in ancient and modern books, the too fastidious and wavering ancient poet, or playwright, or essayist has done himself in maturer years an injustice by blotting the fresh impulses of his noviciate. it is a case, perhaps, where the public is entitled to intervene, and taking the two readings, deliver its award--always supposing that the text is that of a man worth the pains, and, again, that both versions are the language of the author, not that of the editor. it is obvious that, as a matter of literary and scientific or technical completeness, the last edition of a work is the most desirable; but it is particularly the case with volumes endeared by personal associations, such as gilbert white's _selborne_, that one prefers the text as the author left it, even if one has to be at the pains to consult a second publication for up-to-date knowledge. the present point is one to which i have adverted in an earlier place. apart from the collector, the first and the best impressions of writers of importance, whose texts underwent at their own hands more or less material changes, are necessarily an object of research to the editor or specialist who has dedicated his attention to such or such a study; and he is apt to pursue the matter still further than the amateur, who does not, as a rule, esteem the intermediate issues. it is this feeling and need which have led, since critical and comparative editions came into fashion, to the accumulation by their superintendents of an exhaustive array of titles and dates, with hints of the most remarkable various readings; and the cause of bibliography has gained, whether, in drawing together the series, the book-hunter or the literary worker be the pioneer. from the editorial and bibliographical points of view a complete sequence of the writings of our more distinguished and durable authors is generally practicable; but of excessively popular or favourite books, even of the elizabethan era, it is imperfect. we refer to such cases as the so far unseen second impression of shakespeare's _passionate pilgrim_ and the ostensible disappearance of the original quarto of _love's labor's lost_. two questions connected with the present part of the subject before us, now better understood and managed, were under the old system, so far as we can ascertain or judge, permitted to remain in a very loose and vague state. we allude to the law of copyright and the revision for the press. prior to the institution of the stationers' company and the existence of a register, the sole protection for authors and publishers was by the grant of a privilege or a monopoly for a term of years; yet even when registration had become compulsory, and was supposed to be effectual, spurious editions constantly found their way into the market, while books of which the writers might desire, on various grounds, to keep the mss. in their own hands, found their way into print through some irregular channel. such was the case with shakespeare's _hamlet_, , and (in a somewhat different way) with the third edition of his _passionate pilgrim_, ; and we perceive that of bacon's _essays_ during some years two parallel impressions were current without ostensible interference or warrant. there are frequent instances in which authors state that their motive in hastening into type was the rumour that a surreptitious and inaccurate text was threatened, as if there was no legal power to prevent such a class of piracy. the correction of proofs by early writers, if we except books of reference, and those not without qualification, was evidently very lax and precarious. the entire body of popular literature, the drama included, offers the appearance, when we investigate examples, of having been left to the mercy of the typographers, and the faulty readings of old plays are more readily susceptible of explanation from the fact that we owe their survival in a printed form as often as not to the clandestine sale of the prompters' copies to the stationer. the editors of our dramatists have consequently found it an extremely laborious task to restore the sense of corrupt passages, and have sometimes abandoned the attempt in despair. not a few of the pieces in the last edition of dodsley come within this category; and we may signalise the unique tragedy of _appius and virginia_, , as a prodigy of negligent and ignorant execution on the part of the original compositor. but to the same cause is due our still remaining uncertainty as to the true reading of numerous places in shakespeare himself. our collectors, however, are not particularly solicitous to study the present aspect of the matter, and the hunter for first editions is by no means likely to care an iota about the purity of the text, but may be more apt to congratulate himself on the ownership of the genuine old copy with all the errors of the press as vouchers for its character. who would exchange a second _hamlet_ of for a first one of , simply because the former happens to contain as much more, and the latter is little better than a _torso_? the long uncertainty and insecurity of authors' rights, whatever may be thought of the present position of the matter, led at a very early date to the adoption of such safeguards against plagiarism as it was in the power of specialists, at all events, to impose. some time after its original publication in , we find john palsgrave, compiler of the _eclaircissement de la langue françoise_, prohibiting the printer from giving or selling copies to any one without his leave, lest his profits as a teacher of the language should be prejudicially affected; and so it was that preceptors often reserved the right of sale, and dealt direct with buyers, and in one case (only a sample) a treatise on shorthand by richard weston ( ) is delivered to purchasers at eighteenpence on the express condition that they shall not allow the book to leave their own hands or premises. chapter x our failure to realise the requirements of illustrated books--the french school--la fontaine's _contes et nouvelles_, --imperfect conception of what constitutes a thoroughly complete copy--the crawford copy--comparative selling values of copies--the _fables_ of the same author--dorat--la borde--beaumarchais--contrast between the english and french schools--process-printing--the _edition de luxe_--its proper destination and limit--the illustrated copy--increasing difficulty in forming it--unsatisfactory character of the majority of specimens--analogy between the french taste in books and in _vertu_--temper of the foreign markets--the anglo-american collector--the parisian _goût_--the famous mud-stained volume of tracts in the british museum--foreign translations of early english tracts. of the _illustrated book_, the _illustrated copy_, and the _edition de luxe_ we have spoken a few words elsewhere.[ ] these are three forms of competition, which represent as many sources of danger and disappointment to the inexperienced. when we refer to illustrated books we of course signify books with woodcuts and other graphic embellishments from the earliest period, such as the block books, the _game and play of the chess_, the caxton _Æsop_, the _nürnberg chronicle_, , the _poliphilo_, , the _ship of fools_, , and the _dance of death_; collections of portraits and views; down to the productions of the modern school, and comprising the popular abridgments of crouch or burton, of which an idea may be gained from the list printed at the end of bliss's _reliquiæ hearnianæ_, , and the cheap editions of romances and story-books brought out by sundry stationers at prices ranging from threepence to a penny in the closing years of the seventeenth century. in the english series, independently of the woodcuts which incidentally occur in the books printed by caxton and his immediate successors and the _emblem_ series, there are roeslin's _birth of mankind_, by raynald, , braun's _civitates orbis terrarum_, gemini's _anatomy_, , godet's _genealogy of all the kings of england_, , saxton's _maps_, holinshed's _chronicles_, , harington's _ariosto_, , holland's _baziologia_, , and _heröologia_, , the various works illustrated by pass, elstracke, hollar, barlow, and others, vicars's _england's worthies_, , ricraft's _survey of england's champions_, , and other publications by ricraft with engravings, till we come down to the pictorial histories of england by bishop white, kennett, and rapin and tindal, pine's _horace_, and buck's _views_. no doubt among these there are interesting specimens for the respective periods. it is noticeable that in the holinshed of the illustrations are frequently repeated without regard to the context. the engravings by hollar and barlow are the most pleasing. but the _basiliologia_, , is the rarest book in the whole range of this class of literature. pine's _horace_, even in the first edition, , with the _post est_ reading, is common enough; and it has been found uncut. so far as we are concerned, we should prefer it in the original morocco. as a text it is of no account. coming lower down, we may specify or emphasise a few _chefs d'oeuvre_, such as hogarth's prints in the first or best states, turner's _liber studiorum_, sir joshua reynolds' graphic works, and lodge's _portraits_. but we are neither so wealthy nor so advanced as our french and german neighbours in this direction, and the former may be affirmed to stand alone in the possession of a class of books with engravings germane to the national genius and to the feeling and spirit of the time which produced such masterpieces in their way. of works illustrated by copper-plates, that by roeslin on midwifery, , above-named, seems to be the first in chronological order; but both this and the gemini of probably owed their embellishments to foreign sources. our own country is probably weakest in this department; many of the engravings in our early literature are direct copies from the german, dutch, or french masters; the names of some of our leading artists are those of foreigners; and we have comparatively little to show of strictly original work till the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when we may place our national efforts side by side with uninterrupted continental series from the middle of the fifteenth. we are also poorly provided with books of reference enabling amateurs to form an idea of the extent of the field and of the relative practicability and costliness of given classes or lines, whereas the foreign collector enjoys the advantage of many excellent and fairly trustworthy manuals. we want a general guide to english illustrated literature, which should exhibit its sources and inspiration, and the epochs and schools into which it is divisible. of course, it stands with the present description of literary monuments as it does with the normal book. an enterprise which should aim at being exhaustive would prove excessively serious in point of outlay, and would hardly be so satisfactory as one either on a miscellaneous or a special principle. meanwhile, it is desirable that statements offered in catalogues of various kinds should aim at accuracy as far as possible. it is singular what a vitality resides in errors when they have been pointed out by experts, and ought to be recognised. the auctioneers seem to keep the type of certain notes standing, as they are repeated in catalogue after catalogue without any other gain than that of misleading such as know no better. one familiar acquaintance of this class is the _dictum_ that the copper-plates in hugh broughton's _concent of scripture_, , are the earliest of the kind executed in england, although they had not only been preceded by the prints in harington's _ariosto_, , but by those accompanying the _birth of mankind_ by roeslin, , and the _anatomie delineatio_ of thomas gemini, . the average collector, who possesses tolerable judgment, and has the authorities at his elbow, cannot go far astray if he buys what pleases him among the ordinary books of medium price, and may acquire examples of every period and place of origin, as opportunities arise. or he may limit himself to early german, dutch, italian, or french books with woodcuts, to the french illustrated literature of the eighteenth century, to volumes with engravings by bewick, stothard, or bartolozzi, or to modern works with proof-plates, etchings, and other choice varieties. it is literally impossible to fix any _maximum_ or _minimum_ of cost in this case; so much depends in graphic publications on niceties of difference; and a law prevails here analogous to that which governs the print, that is to say, that a more or less slight point of detail vitally affects values. let us take such a familiar instance as lodge's _portraits of illustrious personages_. one may have a copy in bohn's libraries for a dozen shillings; and one may give seventy or eighty sovereigns for a large-paper copy with india proofs of the four-volume folio edition of . on the whole, the twelve-volume quarto book is almost preferable, as in the folio there is the disadvantage of three volumes having copper-plates and one (the fourth) steel engravings, and the quarto is obtainable for £ or £ in morocco. very few of the english portraits in the engraved series antecedent to lodge are trustworthy, as this branch of specialism was not properly studied and understood down to the present century, and even the heads executed by houbraken are not unfrequently apocryphal. such a criticism applies less to royal personages than to private individuals, of whom the painted likenesses were apt, after the lapse of years, to be not so easily identifiable. we have excellent monographs on bewick and bartolozzi by mr. hugo and mr. tuer respectively; and there is the delightful biography of stothard by mrs. bray, , with profuse illustrations of his various artistic productions and progressive style. many of the scarcer examples of bartolozzi have been imitated. to the collector who limits his interest to artists in book-shape, the first editions on large or largest paper of the _birds_, _quadrupeds_, and _select fables_ of bewick are most familiar and most desirable. stothard is seen to advantage in the engravings to ritson's _english songs_, . much of his work lies outside the mere library. for a general view of that branch of the subject, jackson and chatto's _treatise on wood engraving_, , may be recommended, so far as the printed book is concerned. we do not dwell on the modern illustrated literature, which demands less study, and offers few features of interest, especially that produced at home. too large a proportion of it, however, whatever may be the origin, is indifferent in quality and permanent worth. publications are at present, like other commodities, prepared with a main eye to sale; the sense of pride and honour on the part of the producer is dulled; he manufactures in gross. there are the showy volumes of yriate on venice, florence, and other subjects, with letterpress written apparently to accompany blocks and plates in the publisher's warehouse. perhaps, if we seek something more elevated and creditable, it will be in certain periodicals conducted on higher lines than those to which the ordinary publisher has from financial exigencies to be bound; and of these there are several both in france and england--nay, in italy, in australia. the illustrated book, as we are familiar with it here, affords innumerable examples of varied treatment, as the school of design and the public taste differ or fluctuate from century to century, from age to age, and even from season to season. we do not speak of the cheaper literature in this class, accompanied by engravings so intolerably poor as to disarm criticism, but to the higher efforts of the artist to respond to the author, and to appeal more directly to the eye. in this country, however, we have not so far been so fortunate, or otherwise, as to attain the continental ideal of what the graphic portion of a literary performance should be; and the question is intimately associated, particularly in france and among foreign buyers of the french school, who are numerous in all parts of the world, with that of binding, inasmuch as a volume possessing pictorial embellishments of whatever kind must fulfil all requirements in that respect no less than in the outward vesture, and what may be termed the complemental book-plate. one of the eighteenth-century french productions which answers most thoroughly to the just foregoing description, is the "fermiers généraux" edition of the _contes et nouvelles_ of la fontaine, vols. vo, . the ordinary copies of this work, of which the whole charm lies in the meretricious plates by eisen (for the text is inoffensive enough), are distinguished by the presence or otherwise of two or three plates in a particular state, those left as originally printed being preferred, because they offer certain unconventional details subsequently modified. but, in fact, to make a perfect exemplar of the work, to satisfy the demand of a rigid connoisseur, you have to combine features in the shape of proofs before letters and vignettes taken off separately, besides extra engravings by other artists not strictly belonging to the edition, until you have a complete album of _bijoux indiscrets_, and in the old french morocco by derome or bozerian a £ lot. the earl of crawford's copy, which was to have been sold at sotheby's in july (no. of catalogue), was a masterpiece of this description; but it was withdrawn. it has since been sold to another noble lord--the earl of carnarvon. a copy of the normal _decouvert_ type of the _contes et nouvelles_, , may be had, according to condition and binding, for between £ and £ . it has been said of the extra plates to the _contes et nouvelles_ of la fontaine that their rejection as part of the published work ought to be a matter neither of surprise nor of regret, for they are not only flagrantly indecent, but are poor and unsatisfying from an artistic point of view. another favourite edition of the _tales_ is that with the plates by romeyn de hooge, , vols. vo; but you must have it on fine paper in old morocco. looking at the illustrated editions of the _tales_ generally, the plates, except the charming head and tail pieces, do great injustice to the text, which the author can hardly have foreseen the possibility of being deformed and discredited by such forced and exaggerated constructions of his meaning. the edition of la fontaine's _fables_ by oudry, vols. folio, - , is almost equally sought by connoisseurs, though on somewhat different grounds. some copies in one of the plates, where there is a tavern sign, have on the board a lion rampant. in the bibliothèque at paris is a copy on largest paper bound for marie antoinette with original decorations by oudry himself on the covers; it is only a single book out of thousands which they have there, yet it might make a day's sale, and a remunerative one, in wellington street in the strand! boccaccio, vols. vo, , with plates by eisen, gravelot, and others, enters into this series; it is not an uncommon book, and is found with a french and an italian text, of which the former is generally preferred. it is necessary to secure a copy in all respects faultless. but far more important and relatively costly are the _baisers_ of dorat, , printed on _grand papier de hollande_, with the title in red and black, and, above all, laborde's _choix de chansons_, , always a dear publication when the state is right, and excessively difficult to obtain with proof plates; the magniac copy was bought by mr. quaritch at phillips's a few years since for upwards of £ , and sold by him, we believe, to lord carnarvon. another copy, with the plates in unlettered proof state, is marked £ in pearson & co.'s catalogue, - . _la folle journée_, by beaumarchais, with engravings of the same period and character, is also a charming production, and commands a good price. the minutiæ into which the enthusiasts for the graphic french literature produced in the closing years of the ancient régime permit themselves to enter is rather bewildering to a novice or an outsider, and certainly asks as much study as it can well be worth. the cultivation of the pursuit has naturally brought into existence a small library of monographs, of which that by cohen is one of the best known and the most frequently quoted. there is an equal degree of difference between the pictorial features of books produced in england and on the continent during the past and the present centuries. in france there still reigns the spirit of enterprise conducive to the execution of high-class work; but among ourselves it is painful to contemplate the decline, not of power, but of encouragement, and the unhealthy tendency to a style of illustration which will not probably be very creditable to the country in retrospect. a collection of modern illustrated works of mixed origin may well dispense, except by way of sample and contrast, with much of the fantastic and preposterous creations of some of the latter-day masters. the _edition de luxe_, the _large_, _larger_, and _largest paper_, the copy on yellow paper, blue paper, writing paper, on _papier de hollande_, _de chine_, or _d'inde_, or on japanese vellum, the very limited impression, are among the fancies and demands of the omnivorous past. a short study of the supplement to bonn's _lowndes_ and of martin's _privately printed books_ will suffice to show that not only a library, but a tolerably extended one, might be formed of these classes of literature exclusively; and indeed the thing has been more than once actually done. utterson, halliwell, laing, maidment, eyton, turnbull, and others have contributed to leave to us a voluminous inheritance of now rather neglected and undervalued curiosities of this kind. but even here the discriminating collector may still advantageously pick out items worth buying and holding, for in the case of every artificial _furore_ the good, bad, and indifferent are apt to rise and to fall together, while it is reserved only for the first to experience a revival--the revival of the fittest. the illustrated copy is an indefinite quantity as to character and importance or estimation, since no two correspond. nearly all those which have been formed are more or less unequal, even where there has been no regard to cost, and every care has been exercised in the selection of objects; for there is a chronic tendency to become complete. but so far as the normal undertaking of this class is concerned, we usually perceive a few desirable and appropriate prints or drawings as a sort of _pièce de resistance_, and the remainder is made up anyhow. even such a book as the pennant's _london_ in the huth collection strikes us as unsatisfactory on the ground stated; there is a share of merit in the choice of embellishments; there is also too considerable a residuum of comparative rubbish; and if it is so here, the reader may judge how the matter stands with illustrated books of the ordinary stamp made up for sale. there is one remark to be offered. the really fine prints and other similar productions are too valuable to treat in this way, as they would necessarily render the work, when it was ready for the client, too expensive. a pennant, for example, exclusively composed of first-rate material, and tolerably representative in regard to names and localities, would be worth thousands of pounds. the time for securing prizes for this purpose at a moderate figure has gone by. the catalogues advertise copies "extensively and tastefully" illustrated with hundreds or thousands of portraits and views; and the bidding or demand, as the case may be, is carried to £ , £ , or £ . our advice is, not to touch. it is preferable to have a few chosen examples in a portfolio. it is not always that the illustrated copy is restricted to engravings and other works of art. autograph letters enter into the plan, and facsimiles of title-pages or other cognate and more or less relevant objects. one of the most recent enterprises of this nature--a boswell's _johnson_--cost the actual possessor about £ , ; it was extended to forty-two volumes, and aimed at having a token of some kind of every one mentioned in the text. so we advance. it was deemed a piece of extravagance when, forty or fifty years ago, the late sir william stirling-maxwell expended about £ in forming an illustrated copy of his own _cloister life of charles v._ the nature-printing, autotype, photogravure, collotype, and other processes strike us as hardly falling within the category here contemplated, although that they are material accessions to our resources is undoubted. they are the fruit of a combination between nature and mechanical science; their fidelity for portraiture and technical purposes may be granted; but they do not realise the notion of artistic embellishment or interpretation, nor are they capable of rendering with anything approaching truth the more delicate and subtle touches of the miniaturist. the _edition de luxe_ is dilettantism _in extremis_. it is a movement which seems to rest on a false theory and basis. it should have limited itself to _nugæ literariæ_, to _bagatelles_, which no mortal sought to read, and which might be harmlessly printed on any material, of any latitude and longitude, in any type, or else to graphic works where the luxury would more comfortably and more suitably make itself manifest in illustrations varied and duplicated to whatever extent it pleased the issuer, or was calculated to gratify his clients. but to apply the principle to books so essentially appealing to practical readers as dickens, thackeray, scott, and others, was an unfortunate step and precedent, which has thrown on the market a large amount of stock not easily moved even at a heavy discount on the published price. merely looking at the _bibliophile_ pure and simple, and shutting our eyes to those phases of book-collecting, where the principle or sole aim is educational or religious, we incline to the conclusion that foreigners, and above all the french, are less practical than ourselves, and lay far greater stress on sentiment. the french, and we may perhaps add the anglo-french school of book-collecting, works on lines which to a normal lover of books must at first appear rather mysterious and strange, if not absolutely irrational. the closest analogy which it is in our power to suggest is the almost parallel sentiment and policy in regard to other branches of inquiry--china, furniture, numismatics. the frenchman and his english disciple have no respect whatever as _collectionneurs_ for substantial value, and agree in ignoring everything, good, bad, indifferent, outside a prescribed limit. the temper of the foreign markets, especially the french one, is so essentially different from that of england, that it demands an almost life-long study of the subject to comprehend the true principles by which they are guided and influenced. in what we are just now urging, we must of course be understood to allude to the _amateur_ pure and simple,--in fact, if it may be said without offence, to the virtuoso. there are foreign book-collectors, as there are english, who seek copies of works within their lines, whatever those lines may be, for the sake of information and reference. the collector has no such aim. he aspires to make himself master of so many items answering to certain inexorable postulates laid down by the experts in such matters. his taste has happened to take a bibliographical direction and shape; it is hardly a literary one; and the objects of his pursuit, instead of being pictures, prints, antiquities, gems, or coins, are things in book-form. monsieur and his british satellite cultivate exclusively what is french, just as in the numismatic department monsieur will only buy french coins or franco-italian ones, or the money of monsieur's direct ancestors, the greeks and romans. it is the same principle throughout; and the undoubted fact is before us that, if the article to be sold is right in all respects, the price is marvellous. one can understand a high appreciation of some superb or unique example of ancient typography, of a book which has belonged to a famous person, or of a manuscript like the _bedford missal_ or the _hours_ of anne of brittany. one can understand, again, the enthusiasm for an unrecorded old poem, romance, or play, for a production by an eminent author supposed to have perished, or for a precious relic such as the manesse ms., presented by the german emperor frederic to the library at heidelberg, from which it had been taken by the french during the wars of the revolution. but the parisian _goût_ is less intent on such matters than on flimsy and effeminate specialities. a copy of a book, it does not signify how valuable intrinsically it may be, is worth nothing in the eyes of _monsieur_ and _monsieur d'angleterre son ami_, unless it is in a particular vesture, with a particular _ex libris_, and of a particular measurement in _millesimes_. _mm. les amateurs_ reject not merely calf, but that vellum wrapper and that stitched paper envelope so dear to us english--so dear that when one of us has given hundreds of pounds for a book thus clothed, rather than commit it to a binder, we employ him to make us a case for the gem. the volume of tracts which charles i. borrowed of thomason the stationer, and let fall in the mud, what could monsieur do with it? absolutely nothing. but the british museum cherishes the relic, and would not on any account, we solemnly believe, suffer the stains to be removed. they are the credentials, the link between the king and ourselves. on the subject of french books in regard to their bindings we shall have more to say below. footnotes: [ ] _four generations of a literary family_, , ii. . chapter xi the extrinsic features in books--autographs--inscriptions--various classes of them and of interest in their subject-matter--the henry viii. _prayer-book_ of --some account of it--gabriel harvey--spenser--evelyn--milton--hypothetical _grands prix_--classification of inscriptions--examples--dramatists--poets--jonson, massinger, drayton, wycherley, killigrew--mere signatures--shakespeare's copy of florio's _montaigne_, --the earl of essex's copy of drayton's _eclogues_, --humphrey chetham--strays from his library--beau nash as a collector--sir joshua reynolds--william beckford and his _vathek_--foreign autographs and memoranda--a whimsical note in a copy of shakespeare's _passionate pilgrim_, --interesting ms. matter in a copy of stow's _survey_, --pepys's binder--dr. burney and his verses in _sandford and merton_--napoleon and josephine--the lutheran testament given by the latter to general buonaparte--a charming presentation copy from josephine of voltaire's _henriade_--what makes the interest in autographs--ineptitudes--the reviewer's copy--latter-day vandalism--arms on books--prefaces and dedications--_imprimaturs_. what may be treated as the casual accessories of books of nearly all periods and countries--the autograph inscription testifying to the ownership or signalising a gift from one possessor to another--have manifold and diversified elements of interest and attraction. these features offer a graduated scale of importance, just as it happens. the question depends on the donor, or the recipient, or the article given and received; and where all these combine to augment the charm and to complete the spell, the issue is electrifying. no more impressive corroboration of this truth could well be desired or produced than the henry viii. _prayer-book_ of on vellum, from the fountaine collection, with the mss. notes and autographs of the king, the princess mary, prince edward, and queen catherine parr. it fetched about guineas at christie's in . in the _bibliographer_, _bookworm_, and his own _collections_, the writer has formerly assembled together notices of all the most remarkable examples of english books, both printed and in ms., with inscriptions, _marginalia_, and other records of prior and successive possession, brought within his reach during more than thirty years past. there are not unreasonably people who may not see in an ordinary copy of a volume much tangible interest, yet who are prepared to recognise the value, and even importance, of one with the autograph and memoranda of some illustrious personage, of some great warrior or statesman, or of a famous man of letters, artist, or sculptor. the accidental and secondary feature in the work takes precedence of the rest; he pays for the sentiment and association. the direct human interest resident in such a relic is apt, in the opinion of many, to surpass that of the finest binding; for one has here the very characters traced long ago by the holder; one can imagine him (or her) seated at the table engaged in the task of leaving to the times to come this memento. the book is the casual receptacle; perchance in itself it is of inconsiderable worth; but the manuscript accessions are as an embalmment and a sanctification. the copy is not as others; it has descended to us as a part of a precious inheritance, of which the mere paper and print are the least significant; we are to approach and touch it reverently, as if the individual to whom it appertained were standing by, to reprove an ungentle hand and take back the legacy. it would be barely possible, were it of essential use, to schedule all the existing presentation or annotated copies of books in our own and other literatures, but we shall here make an effort to offer a general view of what is intended, and what may in some instances become attainable by watching opportunities:-- monastic or collegiate literature. editions of the bible. editions of the new testament. editions of the prayer-book. royal books:-- (i) with autograph notes by the owner. (ii) with inscription by the giver. (iii) with both. (iv) in binding identifiable with a royal personage. books which possess the signatures of noble or illustrious individuals, politicians, statesmen, soldiers. the same categories apply. books with literary inscriptions:-- (i) presentation copies with author's inscription. (ii) with his inscription and additional matter by him. (iii) with inscription by recipient. (iv) with autographs and mss. notes by both. foreign books:-- monastic and mediæval. with ms. matter of historical or genealogical interest. books from royal or noble libraries. books of literary interest. monastic inscriptions are generally limited in their interest to casual light shed by them on personages connected with the institution or on some local circumstance. of royal books, genuine and otherwise, the number has had a tendency to increase through the successive dispersion of old libraries everywhere, combined with the additional facilities for gaining access to those which still remain intact. the henry viii. _prayer-book_ on vellum is the only copy known in any state of the edition of , and may not have been publicly issued with this date. some of the royal memoranda are of signal interest and curiosity. on the back of the title, under the royal arms, the king himself says: "remember thys wrighter wen you doo pray for he ys yours noon can saye naye. henry r." at the passage: "i have not done penance for my malice," the same hand inserts in the margin: "trewe repentance is the best penance;" and farther on he makes a second marginal note on the sentence: "thou hast promysed forgyveness," . . . "repentance beste penance." this was a sort of family common-place book. inside the cover prince edward (afterward edward vi.) writes: "i will yf you will." the volume, which contains other matter of great historical value, appears to have been given by henry viii. shortly before his death to his daughter mary; for on a small piece of vellum inside the cover he has written: "myne owne good daughter i pray you remember me most hartely when you in your prayere do shew for grace to be attayned assurydly to yr lovyng fader henry r." the princess subsequently gave it to her stepmother, catherine parr, and it has a motto and signature of that lady's second husband, lord seymour of sudeley, the admiral. the old king, we observe, grew rather nervous about the future just at the last, and he at all events admitted that there was room for contrition. a companion volume and monument was the copy of the sarum _horæ_ of , printed on vellum, in the second portion of the ashburnham sale. this precious book belonged to the parr family, including the mother of queen katherine parr, and at any rate contained an inscription in the hand of the queen's brother, and of those of members of the carew, vaux, tailboys, nevill, and other families, besides being in beautiful condition; and the same library yielded a second copy of _hours_, , which had passed through the hands of henry viii. himself, as attested in one place by his autograph memorandum: "pray yow pray for me your loving cousin henry rex." such relics appear to bring back before us the dead players on the human stage, divested of all but their more redeeming characteristics. in the british museum we have the _great bible_ of on vellum, which enters into the present category by reason of its association with the same prince, though in a different way. on the reverse of the fly-leaf occurs: "this booke is presented vnto your most excellent highnesse by youre loving, faithfull, and obedient subiect and daylye oratour, anthonye marler, of london, haberdassher." truly a gift worthy of a king; and there it remains, a precious link with the past and a splendid memorial of the citizen of london who laid it at his sovereign's feet. propriety and sympathy of costume go very far indeed to establish and augment the estimation of printed volumes with manuscript tokens of former proprietorship. the collector who chooses this field of activity has to weigh the correlation and harmony between the volume itself and the individual or individuals to whom it once appertained. we have usually to content ourselves with the interest resident in an autograph, with or without further particulars; it is a book, perhaps, which formed part of the library of a distinguished elizabethan or jacobean writer or public character; but, if it were not, its worth might be nominal. again, the book is possibly one of great value, and exhibits an early autograph and mss. notes; it would be better without them. find the copy of _venus and adonis_, , given by shakespeare to lord southampton, the poet's copy of the _faëry queen_, - , sir fulke greville's copy of sydney's _arcadia_, , or a book of voyages belonging to drake or raleigh, and it is worth a library, and a good one too. the nearest approach we have yet made to this kind of combination is the first folio montaigne and the original edition of lord brooke's works, , with the signature of jonson, and the spenser of with the notes of dryden, unless the _paradise lost_, , with milton's presentation to a bookbinder at worcester be authentic. we must not omit in the present connection the copy of the prose story-book of _howleglas_, given in with others by edmund spenser to gabriel harvey. but an almost equally covetable possession was the copy just referred to of milton's _paradise lost_, , which occurred only the other day at a sale, where it was, as too often happens, mis-described, and brought £ . it bore on a small slip inlaid in a fly-leaf: "for my loving ffreind, mr. francis rea, booke binder in worcester these," and on another piece of paper: "presented me by the author to whom i gave two doubl sovereigns" = £ , nearly as much as the poet had for the copyright. the story of the book is unknown to us; it seems eminently likely that the first memorandum was written by milton; but whether it belonged to a wrapper forwarding the gift, or to a letter accompanying it, is problematical. rea of worcester must be the same individual who is described as having re-bound in june the jolley and ashburnham copy of higden's _polychronicon_, printed by caxton, ; but there an earlier owner, richard furney, calls him "one rede of worcester." at trinity, cambridge, there is the edition of spenser, , with a memorandum on the fly-leaf by jacob tonson, testifying to the mss. notes in the book being by dryden, and at wootton formerly was the _faëry queen_, , john evelyn's cypher in gold down the back of the cover and seventeen lines in his autograph on the fly-leaf. among our dramatists, ben jonson is conspicuous by the number of copies of his own performances which he presented to royal and noble personages or to private friends. of three gift-copies of his _volpone_, , one has an inscription to john florio, the other to henry lambton of lambton. the almost unique large-paper one of _sejanus_, , in the huth collection, was given to the poet's "perfect friend," francis crane. in the museum are the _masque of queens_ and the _masque of blackness and beauty_ offered to the queen of james i. but of shakespeare, beaumont and fletcher, and many others, we have not a single memorial of this kind. of massinger there is one: the copy of his _duke of milan_, , received from him by sir f. foljambe. in the case of taylor the water-poet, the nearest approach to anything of the sort is the ms. note of the recipient of a copy of his works, . of two equally prominent poets of the same epoch, daniel and drayton, the latter seems to have had a partiality for inscribing his autograph in presentation copies of his books, while of daniel in this way we do not recollect to have met with a single example. very engaging, on account of its manly and cordial tone, is the autograph epistle by sir richard fanshawe accompanying an extant copy of his translation of guarini's _faithful shepherd_, . the whole production may be seen in the huth catalogue (p. ), where we inserted it as a favourable sample of this kind of poetry or verse. the lines are headed: "to my deare friend mr. tho. brooke with pastor fido before an entended voyage," and commence:-- "this to the man i most affect i send, the faithfull shepherd to as true a friend. there on each page thou'lt tenderest passion see, but none more tender than my own for thee." the volume belongs to the series of memorials, which we possess in not too ample abundance, of the regard entertained by men of letters of former days for each other, or for their intimates, and ranks with the priceless copies of his own books presented by jonson to some of his distinguished contemporaries. if he, or any one else, made gifts of such things to the greatest of them all, every trace of such an incident has apparently disappeared. rarity of occurrence is not by any means an imperative feature in influencing or determining the value of inscriptions. no examples are probably more abundant than the books of izaak walton, either with an ordinary note of presentation, or with mss. notes in the writer's hand, if not with both; yet they invariably command a liberal price from the admission of walton by common acknowledgment into the select circle of literary men, whose works we love for the sake of the author. the following inscription in contemporary ms. occurs on the reverse of the old testament title to a cranmer's bible of : "thys byble ys john crogdens, cytyzen and merchant taylor of london, dwellynge in wattlynge street at y^e syne of y^e whyte horse, ." occasionally more or less curious personal traits or family clues are yielded by the memoranda on fly-leaves. a latin testament of bears: "e libris thomæ northcote e dono joh. rolle armig. de stephenstone in agro devoniensi;" a copy of jewell's sermons, , has "john willoughby, ," and "amor vincit omnia." in the savile copy of sir thomas more's works, , we read: "de dono h. savile anno ; found by mary savile, dec. , , amongst other books at metheby: for my daughter mary savile." if the reader will cross over with us into scotland for a moment or so, we will introduce him to a very interesting relic in the shape of a latin aristotle of , in which a cistercian monk of kinloss abbey, andrew langland, has enshrined two metrical compositions from his own pen; an epitaph on the regent murray, and an epistle to joannes ferrerius, professor at kinloss, , and continuator of hector boece. the epitaph is dialogue-wise between the bishop of orkney, who was absent from the funeral, and ferrerius, who attended it. at the sale of the library of the duke of leeds, a large-paper copy of wycherley's _miscellany poems_, , apparently given by the poet to lord treasurer danby, produced the outrageous price of £ . a far more interesting example was that which he presented to mistress mary twysden, as noticed in the _bibliographer_. a more important souvenir was the latin testament given by pope to bolingbroke in (christie's, april , , no. ); and a yet stronger sympathy must be felt with the juvenal and persius, vo, amsterdam, , which once belonged to t. killigrew, and subsequently to pope, whose english version occupies the interleaves, if the description given by wake of derby be correct, as the book itself we have not seen. we approach a different class of consideration when we leave behind us the more or less factitious and artificial attractions of early bindings and autograph memoranda, and pass to books which owe their extrinsic interest to a mere signature, as in the case of the copy of florio's _montaigne_, , which belonged to shakespeare, and possesses his autograph on the fly-leaf, and of which the _provenance_, as stated by madden in his pamphlet, , favours the authenticity; and again, in that of mr. collier's copy of drayton's _shepheard's garland_, , which bears on the title-page the signature of robert, earl of essex. there quite casually fell into our own hands a copy of one of archbishop usher's books, a stray from manchester, with "humfrey chetham's booke, ," on fly-leaf, and with it came a ms. on vellum, also formerly chetham's, of the _stimulus conscientiæ_ in english verse. they long lay in a garret at pennington hall, leigh, lancashire, the seat of the hiltons, with whom chetham was intimate, if not connected. we meet with a surprise now and then, as when such a work as the english _reynard the fox_ of - carries on its face a proof of the prior ownership of beau nash: "rich. nash arm. bathoniæ, ," but it is quite natural to find the autograph of sir joshua reynolds accompanying a series of french plates illustrative of the _odyssey_, . in old books, and in new ones too, there are inscriptions and inscriptions. we are all familiar with the scrawl of the clown, who has handed down to us his unconsecrated name on the title-page or fly-leaf of some volume of ours otherwise irreproachable. just a step above him is your fellow who writes some objurgatory _caveat_ against the malappropriator, and brings the almighty without scruple into the witness-box, in case any varlet should make free with his property:-- "hic liber est meus, testis est deus; si quis me quærit, hic nomen erit." "will. morsse, ." of the whimsical entries in old english books the diversity is endless. on the fly-leaf of a copy of roger edgworth's _sermons_, to, , occurs: "bryen o'rourke his hand and writting by fore god and man." a singular application of the holy scriptures presents itself in a couple of _iou_'s written by james haig of prettisides in longwood, co. wilts, on the back of the title to a new testament of . there is a curious, almost pathetic form of this habit of writing in books, practised from very early days down to our own, when we may easily remember how lamb and coleridge used to fill the blank leaves of a work of common interest, as it kept passing to and fro like a messenger, till the worth of the manuscript matter left that of the printed far behind indeed. in a mild kind of way this sort of thing was already going on in the sixteenth century. a copy of the english version of the _paraphrase_ of erasmus on the new testament, , passes similarly between two tudor-period intimates, and there is this: "mr. dunes, i woulde wish you to peruse v. chapter of marke, and there you shall finde great comforte to your soules health. thus fare you well in the lorde. wyllyam byrde." in the copy of shakespeare's _passionate pilgrim_, , bound up with an early edition of _venus and adonis_, a former owner represents with perfect justice, that although he gave three-halfpence for the two volumes in one, a corner of a leaf was defective; and there has been furthermore a profound arithmetical computation that if this gentleman and his heirs or assigns had invested the amount in good securities, the capital at this moment would have reached the vicinity of £ . in a copy of stow's _survey_, , which once belonged to sir thomas davies, lord mayor of london in , we encounter a memorandum on the fly-leaf: "i pray, put in the loose leaues carefully. john meriton. for mr. richardson, bookbinder in scalding alley." richardson bound for pepys. in an odd volume of _sandford and merton_, which fell in dr. burney's way, and which he gave to his daughter--johnson's "little burney"--he wrote:-- "see, see, my dear fan, here comes, spick and span, little sandford and merton, without stain or dirt on; 'tis volume the second, than the first better reckoned; pray read it with glee, and remember c. b. "april , ." beauty has been said to depend on variety, and so we ought not to object to examples selected from widely different sources. [illustration: book sale at sotheby's auction rooms _from the original water-colour drawing by thomas rowlandson, in possession of messrs sotheby, wilkinson & hodge, london_] horace's _multa renascentur_ comes into our mind when we stumble on a remark by wodhull the collector in an _acta apostolorum_ printed at oxford in : "in may, , mr. leigh, auctioneer, told me that a copy of this edition had lately sold for £ , observing, 'these are the times to sell books, not to buy them.'" a more notable man, william beckford, appears in a copy of the original french _vathek_, , as the second person of the drama by reason of the written matter referring to him, and being in the hand of m. chavannes of lausanne. the note occupies the whole of the available space on the title, and is as follows:--"a la demande de m. beckford je me suis chargé de corriger son manuscrit et de le faire imprimer à lausanne. m. beckford en quittant lausanne se hata de le faire imprimer à paris au prejudice de l'imprimeur de lausanne, et je dus menacer m. beckford de mettre dans les papiers son infidelité . . . et m. b. se hata de dedomager l'imprimeur pour éviter la publicité." so far as books with the autographs and mss. notes of men of the modern school, such as byron, coleridge, lamb, and shelley, are concerned, the opportunities for securing specimens have certainly grown more numerous. we have already in the places specified above furnished many illustrations of this section, and they might be readily extended. in the foreign department there is a perfectly inexhaustible store of material under a variety of heads: evidences of ownership and descent, biographical suggestions, historical links and side-lights, dated armorial _ex libris_. in the author met with a thick to volume, including the cologne edition of the _legenda sancti albani martyris_, printed about , on the fly-leaf or cover of which was a list of contents made in ; and in the hopetoun copy of the _ethica_ of aristotle the original owner had established the place of printing, otherwise unspecified, by a ms. note, dated , in which he stated that the book was presented to him by its typographer, "johannes mentelin argentin." in a copy of the works of petrarch in latin, folio, , occurs on the title: "liber antonij kressen juris vtriusq. doctoris emptus venecijs ligatus nurenberge mcccccv;" and the noble old volume (now in the british museum) is accompanied by a memoir of kressen, printed about , of uniform size, with a splendid portrait of the interesting nüremberger. a copy of the vulgate of commands attention from the presence of a coeval ms. note pasted on the first leaf: "hec biblia est petri dominici boninsegnis qui a fratre cosmo empta fuit anno mcccclxxxu. xviii. die februarii." a latin _horæ_ of the fifteenth century contains on a fly-leaf the ensuing little family story: "ces heures apartiennent a damoyselle michelle du derè femme de m. loys dorleans advocat en la court du parlement et lesquelles luy sont echeués par la succession de feu son père m. jehan duderè conseiller du roy & auditeur en sa chambre des comptes . amour & humilité sont les deux liens de nostre mariage." a st. jerome's _epistolæ_, printed at mainz about , is accompanied by the dated book-plate, , of christophorus baro à wolckhenstain. in the french series the number of interesting items from a personal or historical point of view, if not both, is of course great, although, as a rule, french collectors have been rather sparing as annotators of their literary possessions. in a copy of de bure's sale catalogue, , now in the huth library, occurs a peculiarly striking exception, however, in the shape of a ms. note in the handwriting of louis xvi., only three years prior to the fall of the bastille, "marquer les livres que je desire pour moi." in the duke of sussex's library was a new testament in french presented by josephine before her second marriage to napoleon. she had inscribed on the spare leaf preceding title: "au general bonaparte ce testament lutherain est presenté de part la veuve beauharnois," and below occurs in the illustrious recipient's hand, _buonaparte_. an association fully as historically and personally significant appertains to the voltaire's _henriade_, , in one of the volumes of which the to-be empress writes: "donné part madame la viscontesse de beauharnois: pensez à elle, aimez-la, n'oubliez jamais qu'elle est vôtre amie la plus attachée." was this an oblation at the same shrine? but this is a slight digression, warranted by the twofold circumstance that all these examples have belonged to english collectors, and are of a class quite as interesting to us as to those with whom they are more immediately associated by origin. the same may perhaps be said of the ms. sold in london in , formerly belonging to two persons so widely different as marie antoinette and robespierre, of the latter of whom it possessed the autograph. the interest seemed to centre in the signature of the revolutionary leader. the interest and respect with which the presence of handwriting in books is regarded are indefinitely varied. but the preponderance of worshippers is no doubt on the side of those who have shone in the _belles lettres_ and in society. sovereigns, unless it be frederic the great or napoleon, mary of scotland or marie antoinette, generals, politicians, professional men, do not go for much. the competition is for the poet, the novelist, the newsmonger, or some _enfant terrible_, whose autograph is rare to excess. to be on thoroughly good posthumous terms with collectors, one has no need to have been respectable, sober, benevolent, or pious; these are rather in the nature of draw-backs; but one must have possessed a strong personality. that is the secret. personality. schedule the illustrious of the past on this guiding principle, and you cannot err. men and women without infirmities, without vices, why, ask any dealer of repute and experience, and he will tell you that there is no call for their signatures or for their correspondence. they have too much character in one sense and too little in another. an autograph of dick turpin or claud du val would be worth a dozen of archdeacon paley or even of archbishop tillotson. the autograph collector certainly forms a separate _genus_. he does not buy books. he does not affect mss. where they exceed the limits of a fly-leaf or title-page entry. we are accustomed to criticise master john bagford unkindly because he stripped the volumes of their titles and then cast them away. but he lived a long while ago, when the value and rarity of many of these things were not so generally understood, and there were not customers all over the old and new worlds as many as one can tell on one's fingers to take an early book, if it was offered to them. even now it not seldom happens that an exceedingly interesting signature or note accompanies an item worth only so much per lb., and your connoisseur in the autograph surrenders all but his portion to its destiny. who can gainsay him? he shrugs his shoulders; he is no bookworm; he wants autographs alone. exceptions to the governing principle arise, however, and sometimes they are recognised, sometimes not. the most beautiful examples for internal condition, binding, even intrinsic interest, are occasionally sacrificed to this procrustes--this case-hardened bagford of our own day. not so long since we remarked as a treasure beyond our purse a copy of donne's _sermons_, with a brilliant portrait of the author, and a long inscription by izaak walton presenting the volume to his aunt. it was in the pristine english calf binding, as clean as when it left walton's hands _en route_ for his kinswoman, and such a delightful signature. what has become of it? it is sad even to commit to paper the story--one among many. an american gentleman acquired it, tore the portrait and leaf of inscription out, and threw the rest away! why, forsooth, should he keep a folio volume against his inclination? he left that to whomsoever it might chance to fall--a mangled corpse! it is not peremptorily necessary, however, that there should be witness in black on white to the prior holder of a literary _bijou_; for the external evidence may prove abundantly adequate to the satisfaction of the most sceptical. a binding is quite capable of serving as a voucher and guarantee for the _provenance_ of a printed book or manuscript, provided that all the links in the chain are sound. the prayer-book of queen henrietta maria, the _fables_ of la fontaine with the arms of marie antoinette as dauphine, an unquestioned grolier or maioli, and still more such a bibliographical phoenix as that volume bound in gold of lady elizabeth tyrrwhit's _prayers_, formerly belonging to queen elizabeth, which the late sir wollaston franks purchased at an incredible price and presented to the british museum--these, and many more, speak for themselves. yet where a royal or noble personage is not in the case, when it is only some shakespeare or some milton who is concerned, let us preferably have the written internal passport. we would barter all the books which we have indicated for the florio's _montaigne_ with the poet's signature on the fly-leaf, albeit it is in no better a covering than its shakespearian jacket of shabby old calf. more than one volume in the earlier range depends very disproportionately for its interest on the preliminary matter in the form of a preface or dedication. in _prefaces, dedications, epistles_, , the writer drew attention to this point, and furnished a considerable series of such _prolegomena_ in illustration of the fact. but there are cases, of course, where the inscription is of a piece with the book, as in davenant's _madagascar_, , where the poet wrote and printed on the leaf following the title: "if these poems live, may their memories, by whom they were cherish'd, _end. porter, h. jarmyn_, live with them." the imprimatur, or license to the printer, occasionally supplies a curious literary or biographical side-light. that to davenant's play of the _witts_, , runs: "this play, called the witts, as it was acted without offence, may be printed, not otherwise, ianuary, . henry herbert;" and before blount's _jocular tenures_, , we find: "i well knowing the learning and industry of the author, do allow the printing of this book. fra. north." once more there is sir isaac newton's _principia_, , with "imprimatur. s. pepys." chapter xii materials on which books are printed--early popular works printed on vellum--the _edition de luxe_ again--binding of books--earliest method and style--printers who were also binders--superiority of morocco to russia and calf--influence of climate and atmosphere on bindings--character of old english bindings--charm of a caxton or other precious volume in the original covers--a first folio shakespeare in old calf--our latter-day literature compared with the old--splendour of the liveries of books in the libraries of france under the ancient régime--disappointment at the interiors of well-bound volumes explained--the author plays a subordinate part--the parisian book-binding code--the difference between the french and ourselves--the original publisher's boards--the frenchman's _maroquin rouge_--a suggestion to collectors--bibliographical _simulacra_--do not touch!--sentiment finds a place in england in regard to the treatment of old books--thoughts which a book may awaken. it may be necessary to introduce a few words about the material on which the printed book has at various times been brought before its readers, or at least its purchasers. the oldest european fabrics employed for books of this class (not mss.) were paper and parchment, the latter very often prepared with very slight care, but the former of remarkable strength and durability. the cost must have been at first very onerous; but impressions of ancient volumes were usually limited. by degrees, fine vellum, alike conspicuous for its delicacy of quality and beauty of tone, was introduced, and became fashionable among the patrons of literature in italy and elsewhere during the renaissance. no such luxurious mode of presenting the type and giving full effect to the work of the illuminator, which so constantly formed a feature and a charm in the productions of the presses of the continent of europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries has ever since been found possible. it is rather singular that not merely classical authors and other _editiones principes_ received this sumptuous treatment, but even such books as grammars and theological treatises. a copy of the _grammatica_ of alexander gallus (or _de villâ dei_) was lately offered for sale by auction, and realised £ ; it was printed on vellum of excellent character and colour about . a visit to the galleries where the show-cases are ranged at the british museum in intelligible order, is by no means the worst method of arriving at an introductory or general acquaintance with this aspect of the matter. for there examples of printing on parchment or vellum in all countries from the earliest period are conveniently grouped together. the national library is fairly rich in treasures of the present class, partly owing to the two facts, that it has inherited a good deal from the old royal collections and the grenville one, and that it was already in the field when prices were more consistent with the financial resources of the institution. among the productions on vellum here to be found are the gutenberg, and fust and schoeffer, bibles ( - ); the psalters of and ; the cicero of ; the livy of ; the _book of st. albans_, ; one of the two known caxtons on vellum (the _speculum vitæ christi_, bought of mr. maskell in ); the sarum missals of and ; the great bible of ; and the works of aquinas, in seventeen folio volumes, formerly belonging to pope pius v. and philip iii. of spain. a curious episode is connected with the last item. in the time of panizzi the copy was offered for sale, and the museum commission (£ , we believe) was topped; but the book occurred again, and was acquired by coventry patmore, who presented it to the establishment, where he had for many years been an officer. on the whole, there is no doubt that the english, and much more the scotish, printers employed this costly and durable substance far more sparingly than those of the continent. of many no specimens whatever have descended to us; and the circumstances render it improbable that we shall hereafter add sensibly to our stores in this direction. in the case even of the romish service-books, printed on paper, it is a matter of common knowledge among book-lovers that the _canon missæ_, which was subject to exceptional wear and tear, is usually on vellum. in our own language, works which we are accustomed to view as essentially popular were occasionally struck off (in a few copies, no doubt) on parchment. there is the edition of _helyas, knight of the swan_, printed by wynkyn de worde, , of which only one copy remains, and the metrical version of the _ship of fools_, from the same press, , of which an unique copy is in the national french library. let us recollect, too, the scotish boece of , the great bible of , and the tudor prayer-book of . except paper, parchment (called in some old documents _parthemen_), and vellum, there are no substances which can be said to boast any degree of antiquity, so far as european literature is concerned. we have, as is sufficiently well known, many others of comparatively modern introduction, which tend to impart to the editions or specimens for which they are employed a special value and curiosity. such are: ( ) whatman's hand-made paper; ( ) dutch paper (_papier de hollande_), of which there are cheap and worthless imitations; ( ) china paper; ( ) india paper; ( ) japanese (so-called) vellum; ( ) tinted paper; ( ) writing paper; ( ) motley paper or paper of different colours; ( ) silk; ( ) satin. the _edition de luxe_ has consumed in its time an enormous total of some of these descriptions of receptacle for literary products. the lovers of the select in books, who more commonly regard their possessions as _vertu_ rather than as vehicles of instruction or amusement, not unnaturally prefer something which the ordinary purchaser cannot procure, or at any rate does not seek. the fancy appears to be, for the most part, worse than futile, unless it is that books with engravings sometimes gain by being taken off on one or another of these materials; although in practice illustrations are found to be just as apt to come out well on ordinary paper of good quality as on spurious vellum. it was not unusual in the last century, in mexico and in south america, to print on silk even ordinary works; it may have been possibly found cheaper than paper. satin is purely ceremonial. certain books occur of various dates, such as the _livre de quatre couleurs_, printed on paper of various shades or colours, either for some passing reason or as a mere matter of fancy. a modern jest-book appeared not long since, harmoniously executed on motley paper in a motley binding--a humorous conceit! it is sufficiently remarkable that neither the printing nor the book-binding industries ever erected themselves into societies or guilds, as did the representatives of so many trades far less important in the nature as well as the influence of their products. all the early typographers, at all events from the sixteenth century, were members of the stationers' company, and the investiture of books in liveries of different kinds became the function of an unprivileged and unchartered body, of which our knowledge is on that account even more limited and imperfect than it would otherwise have been. it is only through occasional and casual notices in correspondence or diaries that we hear of those who bound volumes for the older collectors, and we have to wait till we come down to the harleian era, before we find artificers of this class in possession of a recognised calling and competent staff. three employments, which have long been independent and distinct, those of the printer, stationer, and binder, were therefore at first and during a prolonged period in the same hands and under the same roof. anterior to the introduction of printed books, the literary product or record was either rolled up (_volutus_) or stitched, with or without a wrapper; and hence, when there were no volumes in the more modern acceptation in existence, there were rolls. we do not agree with the editor of aubrey's _letters_, &c., , where, in a note to a letter from thomas baker to hearne, he (the editor) remarks that the term _explicitus_ was applied to the completion of the process of unfolding a roll: it always signified the termination of the labour of the scribe, and even in early printed books occurs in the form _explicit_ to convey the same idea on the part of the printer. the most ancient binders were the monks, who stitched together their own compositions or transcripts, or, when the volume was more substantial, encased it in oaken boards, which a subsequent hand often improved and preserved by a coat of leather. but laymen were occasionally their own binders, as we perceive in the note to warton's poetry,[ ] where a "life of concubranus" in ms. is said to have been bound by william edis, afterward a monk at burton-on-trent, while he was a student at oxford in . at durham and winchester there were notable schools of art of the present class in the middle ages, and specimens occasionally occur, though rarely in good state. a very fine winchester piece of work was sold in among william morris's books (no. ), and all over the country and abroad, even down to the present time, the inmates of religious institutions occupy themselves with the same industry on a less ambitious scale, and with infinitely less artistic and picturesque results. when barclay wrote his english paraphrase of brandt's _stulltifera navis_ about , it almost seems as if the type of connoisseur, who understood the outside better than the interior of a book, was already in evidence, for the writer says:-- "still am i busy bookes assembling, for to have plentie it is a pleasaunt thing in my concept, and to haue them ay in hand: but what they meane do i not vnderstand. . . . lo in likewise of bookes i haue store, but fewe i reade, and fewer vnderstande, i folowe not their doctrine nor their lore, it is ynough to beare a booke in hande." in barclay's english _ship of fools_, , it is stated that at that time damask, satin, and velvet were employed as luxurious materials for the covering of books, and it seems to have been usual to draw a curtain before the case in which they were preserved. showy or gay bindings were approved, especially where the owner was not a reader, but, to quote the latin text, was "viridi contentus tegmine libri." the formation of book-binding into a distinct employment and organisation must have preceded any explicit evidence of the fact. the gradual increase in the output of literature of all kinds from the days of elizabeth necessitated the surrender to an independent craft of the envelopment of volumes in various liveries, more especially when the french and italians had set the fashion of elaborate ornamental patterns and rich gilding. already in the time of edward vi. the tariff chargeable for certain quasi-official publications, such as the bible and book of common prayer, was fixed by government, and at a later date scales of prices for binding in different styles or materials were periodically printed. that of is reprinted entire in the _antiquary_ for . the most usual styles were plain brown sheep or calf without any lettering, a publisher's label inside the volume sometimes supplying the latter deficiency, and communicating to a shelf of books an aspect far from picturesque; but vellum or parchment of varying consistence was also a favourite and inexpensive mode of covering the contents of a library. morocco and russia were later innovations, and the former is not unusually found altogether free from decoration or gilding and with a lettering, probably abbreviated and obscure, on the back. very sumptuous examples alike of calf and turkey leather binding frequently present themselves, either executed for ordinary persons, or without any note of the original owner; many are more or less successful copies of continental models, such as the lyonnese calf, the grolier and maioli pattern; but in general our ancestors seem to have been satisfied with the paned sides and floriate back, unless heraldic accessories intervened to usurp the space occupied by the lateral ornament or (as in some of john evelyn's or his sovereign's books) a gilt ornamental cypher formed the dorsal embellishment. a visit to some old church or parish, or even cathedral, library nowadays may afford a notion of the external aspect of the early book-closet of the english student or amateur. the glass case is conspicuously absent; the shelf on which the volumes are ranged has to our eyes a ragged, slatternly look; and nothing can well be more opposite to modern taste. yet the feeling for the printed matter between the two covers or behind the paper label was more genuine, may be, and more practical when a handful of volumes, reflecting the personal predilections or requirements of the owner, gradually accumulated, and the acquisition did not amount to a pursuit, much less to a passion and a competitive race. the professional binding of books in our country, whether they had been actually produced here or had been purchased abroad, was at the outset almost exclusively executed by printers, who must have had a special department to carry out this branch of work. we hear of the site of dean colet's original school having been a bookbinder's, and of the teaching establishment occupying the upper part of the building. the usual style of binding appears to have been the covering of stamped leather, of which such a rich store of examples still survives, and which was copied from the german and low-country models. for weightier books oaken boards frequently served as a foundation, on which the leather was laid. our sovereigns and nobility employed pynson, berthelet, raynes, and other typographers to clothe the volumes which formed their libraries, before the more luxurious and splendid fashion was introduced of investing them in richly gilt calf bindings, with or without armorial cognisances, and these were again superseded by the adoption of the continental taste for levant morocco (_maroquin de constantinople_). down to the time of the earlier stuarts the binding department more than probably remained part of the printer's functions, and calf or sheep was the usual material employed. thomas vautrollier, however, the elizabethan typographer, who carried on business in the black friars, and who adopted the _anchora spei_ as a device on his title-pages, seems to have occasionally bound copies of his own publications in morocco with the same symbol on the covers in gold--perhaps to order; and lyonnese calf was another style in favour at the same date. some highly preserved specimens of the latter have descended to us. another of the earlier essays in england in the direction of morocco bindings appears to have had in view as a model the grolieresque style of decoration. a copy of a latin bible printed at venice in , and presented in by the earl of arundel to sir william petre, bears the crest of the fitzalans, a white horse, on sides enclosed in a painted design, the compartments filled in with a dotted pattern. but examples of the same or a similar class are by no means uncommon. a copy of a very common volume, knolles's _history of the turks_, , was sold among the morris books in at a high price on account of the very charming red morocco binding, richly gilt, with the unusual feature of side-panels filled in with dotted scrolls. early continental collectors more usually than our own registered not only the place and date of purchase on the fly-leaf or title-page, but the circumstances attendant on the binding, as we find in the volume of tracts elsewhere mentioned, put into their existing covers in , in the nearly coeval assemblage of tracts formed and bound by udalric ellenbog in , and in the latin _petrarch_ of , bound for antonius kressen of nürnberg in , now in the british museum. the middle-period schools of collectors and binders, who displayed a preference for morocco over russia and calf, were assuredly wise in their generation. much of the russia has perished, or is perishing fast, under a variety of deleterious agencies; and the more modern calf, at least, does not bear its years well. but morocco, at first more expensive, withstands infinitely better and longer the incidence of social life. what noble sets of books, as well as single volumes, have almost crumbled away in damp country-houses, sometimes relegated to the garret or the stable by the intelligent and highly-educated proprietors, while others have fallen a prey to gas and dust in town. these sources of injury and natural ruin no material can of course long resist; and, the foreigner often enjoying the advantage of a less impure atmosphere, and not usually aiming at a larger collection than may be necessary as chamber-furniture, his acquisitions are apt to come down to us in a more contemporary state, although we grant that, where certain postulates have been fulfilled, we have shown our capability of presenting to a distant age an assemblage of the ancient literature of our own and other countries as immaculate as when it changed hands over the counter in tudor or in stuart times. binding and bibliography, no less than literature, are in opposite lobbies as regards the character of the objects which one sees submitted to periodical competition. the taste in books has undergone revolutionary changes; the volumes on which early owners lavished extravagant sums have too often become _per se_ waste paper; and it consequently happens that a catalogue devoted to an account of such relics of the past has to register titles and names which play a subordinate part in the matter, and are, as it were, merely useful as a means of identification. while a large number of splendid examples of binding in russia and morocco have been produced in great britain, there has scarcely been at any time a school of binding analogous to those which france, and even italy, have known, each with its distinctive and recognisable characteristics; nor have we attained in the liveries of our books to the same splendour and beauty of decoration, or to an equal degree of historical or personal interest. a large number of fine examples present themselves in our sale-rooms here, formerly ornaments of some of the noble collections formed in different parts of germany; too often they show traces of neglect, yet occasionally they have preserved their pristine beauty and freshness almost unimpaired. they are, for the most part, of the very favourite class, where the oaken boards constitute a receptacle or foundation for an encasement of leather (frequently pigskin) stamped with some beautiful historiette on either side, and carrying the date and other particulars of origin and ownership. we meet with numerous specimens from time to time of the libraries of the electors of saxony and bavaria in this picturesque and becoming raiment. there should be by right, and with advantage, as distinct an intellectual spirit or element of thought in the binding as in the writing and printing of a book. a man who traces on the covers and back of a volume lines, curves, circles, crescents, scrolls, and other figures without harmony and without significance--in other words, without _mind_ or _esprit_--is no true artist, but either an unskilful copyist or a rude beginner. different schools naturally adopted new ideas of the beautiful or the elegant; some of our most ancient patterns were scriptural or mathematical; the age ruled the prevailing taste and fashion, and everything in and out of nature has had its turn and its day. then, again, nationality goes for something: the frenchman is fond of his _lis_ and the scot of his thistle. artistic and historical book-covers have more than a special and technical importance, inasmuch as they contribute to enrich a pursuit which might otherwise become more limited in its interest than it is. for gay or splendid bindings assist in bringing the book, manuscript or printed, within the category of antiquities or curiosities, where it awakens sentiments in the breasts of persons, neither literary nor bibliographical in their tastes, akin to those which they entertain for a specimen of old furniture or old porcelain; and so indeed we see entire libraries, which are little more than assemblages of triumphs of the binder's art and agreeable memorials of prior ownership. a once rather famous emporium in piccadilly was known as the temple of leather and literature, because the extrinsic was supposed to govern; and the same point is illustrated by the enormous difference in pecuniary value between copies of many old works in morocco and in more humble garb. here dress makes the book no less than in the song it is said to make the man. so it was with the three independent libraries of _mesdames de france_, daughters of louis xv. each of these ladies had her favourite hue in morocco, with the royal arms on the sides; for madame adelaide it was red, for madame sophie, citron, and for madame victoire, green or olive. the ornamental details of early bindings, especially those of continental origin, embrace nearly every section of natural history: beasts, birds, fishes, insects, flowers, and fruit, and endless varieties of geometrical lines and curves. a spanish new testament, printed at venice in , even presented on its sides what were described in the ashburnham catalogue as "richly gilt raindrops." among flowers we most frequently meet with the rose, the daisy, the lily, and the tulip. many varieties of form in connection with the gift of books to friends or patrons formerly subsisted, apart from the autograph note inside the volume. we have adverted to the grolier group of bindings and certain other allied types perhaps borrowed from grolier, and the practice was followed, though on a very limited scale, in england, where the token in all cases was mainly confined to the title or fly-leaf, and consequently enters into a distinct category. a very unusual example of presentation occurs in a copy printed on vellum of voerthusius' _consecrationis augustæ liber unus_, printed at antwerp in , where the centres of either side of the volume are occupied by an inscription in gold letters to the archbishop-elector of cologne. of the grolier examples which have descended to us--and possibly the greater part has done so--we possess two or three types as regards the mode of registering the proprietorship; the books occur with and without the autograph: "jo. grolierij lugdunensis: et amicorum," which generally occurs at the end, and with variant mottoes: "portio mea domine sit in terra viventium," "spes mea dominus et verbo ejus fidem habeo," and "Æque difficilior." he was a noble patron of learning, and on the title of a volume on music, printed in , dedicated to him, appear his arms and the motto, "joannes grolierius musarum cultor." to the same school belongs the equally well-known maioli, with the similar method of establishing his claim: "tho. maioli et amicorum;" cristoforo beneo of milan ("questo libro e de christophore beneo de milano e soi amize"); antonio maldonado, of whom a volume of petrarch has on the upper cover the name of the poet, and on the reverse, "d. antonio maldonado," with a shield enclosing five fleurs-de-lis; and penelope coleona, with flowering vases heightened in silver, and her initials at the foot of the book. this is, of course, a most fascinating and covetable class of possession, and the difficulty of procuring genuine specimens of the henry deux and diane de poitiers bindings, and of all the other sumptuous and artistic productions of a like character belonging to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, has naturally suggested to certain ingenious persons the desirability of counterfeiting them. the maioli bindings have long been subject to this treatment and abuse; but at present almost every other book which offers itself in a fine state of preservation is suspicious from a wholesale system of forgery, which has more or less recently been introduced with considerable success, and culminated in an entire sale at a leading auction-room of a library almost exclusively composed of such fabrications. of the genuine old english bindings, the usual materials are vellum or parchment and sheep or calf. all these may be, and in general are, ostentatiously plain; but they are, on the contrary, susceptible of being rendered in the highest degree ornamental. nothing is more agreeable to the eye, and even the touch, than an old book in contemporary gilt calf, with arms on the sides, or in the original vellum wrapper, or, again, in the plebeian _mutton_. the two former modes of treatment may, as we have said, be developed to any extent in the direction of tooling and gilding; the sheep has to be left unadorned--_simplex munditiis_. what can we desire more characteristic and harmonious than a caxton, uncut and in oaken boards, or even in a secondary vesture of vellum, like the holford copy of the _life of godfrey of bouillon_? or than a volume of elizabethan poetry or a first walton's _angler_, in the primitive sheep, as clean as a new penny, like the huth examples of turbervile, , and walton? the purest copy of the first folio shakespeare we ever saw was miss napier's, in the original calf, but wanting the verses. it sold at the sale for £ , and subsequently for over £ . there exist such things as laneham's _letter from kenilworth_, , spenser's _faëry queen_, , allot's _england's parnassus_, , and davison's _poetical rhapsody_, , in the pristine vellum wrappers; and one of the bodleian copies of brathwaite's most rare _good wife_, , is just as it was received years since from the stationer who issued it. would any one wish to see these remains tricked out in the sprucest, or even the richest, modern habiliments? among ourselves in these islands we commonly prize and preserve (even in a leathern case) a highly preserved specimen of tudor or stuart binding; and there are instances where to exchange the old coat for a new one, however magnificent or (so to speak) appropriate, is not merely sacrilege, but absolute surrender of value. a copy of the first folio shakespeare, of a caxton, of spenser's _faëry queen_, in unblemished primitive clothing, could not be re-attired without making the party convicted of the act liable to capital punishment without benefit of clergy. besides the methods and kinds of binding above mentioned, there are others of a metallic and a textile character. we find volumes clothed in bronze, silver, silver-gilt, gold, and embroidered silks, the last variety usually associated with the nunnery of little gidding, without absolute certainty of correctness so far as the claim set up on behalf of that institution to be an exclusive source of such products goes. mr. brassington has furnished in his well-known work examples of all these more or less exceptional and luxurious liveries. in the most precious metal the most celebrated specimen is the _book of prayers_ of lady elizabeth tirrwhyt, , formerly belonging to queen elizabeth, and ascribed to the edinburgh goldsmith, george heriot. next in point of rarity to gold comes bronze; silver and silver-gilt are comparatively frequent; and the embroidered style is only uncommon where the execution and condition are unimpeachable, as in the case of a few in our public libraries. the most ordinary books found within embroidered covers are small editions of the common prayer and psalms; and they are almost invariably in a dilapidated state. gilding books was usually considered at a later epoch, at all events in france, part of the business of a binder, and so perhaps it may have been in the case of dubuisson, who flourished about the middle of the last century at paris; yet we observe on his ticket attached to an exquisitely gilt copy of an almanac for , in red morocco of the period, simply "doré par dubuisson," as if that portion or branch of the work only had been his. some curious episodes have ere now occurred in connection with sets of books, or even works in two or three volumes, in historical bindings, or with a remarkable and interesting _provenance_ of another kind. it was only at the sale of the last portion of the ashburnham library ( ), no. , that the third and fourth parts of tasso, _rime e prose_, , bound together by clovis eve for marie-marguerite de valois saint-remy, was acquired by a french firm through mr. quaritch, the purchaser having already secured at the hamilton palace sale the first and second portions, also in one volume, in the same binding, and the set still wants parts v.-vi., so that it will demand a small fortune to effect a perfect reunion. it is hazardous to discount the durability and permanence of our best modern bindings of english origin, and to answer our own question, whether hereafter they will be appreciated in the same way as those of the old masters here and abroad. yet we think that we can offer a valid and persuasive reason why we shall fall short of former ages in this handicraft. the feudal conditions and atmosphere, which go far to win our regard or arrest our attention in the case of the older binders and their work, have vanished, and can never revive. it is with the book from this point of view as it is from that of the autograph inscription or signature; both are extensions of the owner's personality; and what a personality it was! those who follow us at a distance may find reason to think and speak differently; but we can at the present moment scarcely realise the possibility of our latter-day literature acquiring a pedigree and an incrusted fragrance such as belong to works, however dull and worthless in themselves, from the libraries of grolier, maioli, de thou, peiresc, or pompadour. there is a sort of sensation of awe in taking up these volumes, as if they had passed through some holy ordeal, as if they had been canonised. it is not the piece of dressed leather with its decorative adjuncts which casts its spell over us: it is the reputation of the courtly patron of learning and art; of the statesman and soldier who sought a diversion in the formation of a library from severer employments; of the prince who loved to gather round him such evidences of his taste, or to lay them at the feet of _a chère amie_; of the licentious but superb lady marquise, who vied with her king in the magnificence of her books, as she did with his consort in that of her toilette--it is this which exercises upon our imagination its ridiculous yet unalterable sway. it is impossible to avoid the discovery, if we take for the first time a survey of a library chiefly conspicuous for the splendour of its bindings, how almost invariably we are disappointed by the contrast between the exterior and the contents. it would probably be far from easy to fill a small case with examples where a really valuable book was enshrined in a covering of corresponding character. it is our ordinary experience to meet with some obsolete nondescript classic, or some defunct theological treatise of alike infinitesimal worth, in a sumptuous morocco garb, bestowed on it by the author as a compliment to his sovereign, or by the sovereign as an oblation to his mistress. in those princely establishments for which such things were destined and reserved, it was necessary that all the constituent features should correspond in external grandeur, the costumes of the great folks themselves, the furniture, the decorations, the equipages, the dependents, the book-bindings. the remarkable changes of taste in books cannot be more powerfully and decisively exemplified than by the thousands of volumes which have descended to us in all languages and many branches of literature in liveries once only a subsidiary feature in the eyes of the possessors or acquirers, and at present often the sole title to regard and the sole object of competition. the work has become mere printed paper; but it is perhaps not less covetable as a triumph of bibliopegistic art, than as a memorial of the distinguished or interesting personages through whose hands it has passed to our own. the book, alas! has degenerated into a vehicle for external accessories. we are asked to admire, not the quality of the text or the style of the writer, but the beauty of the type, the splendour of the ink, and the elegance of the initial letters, on the one hand; on the other, the excellence of the leather, the brilliance of the gilding, the ingenuity and skill of the design, and the curiosity of the _ex libris_. but this has to be kept well in mind. it is the binding which constitutes the supreme feature of importance and attraction. a second copy in shabby attire may plead in vain its merits of production; but it fares as ill as a person of the highest respectability who labours under the misfortune of being badly dressed. there is no point of distinction on the part of our own countrymen more marked and enduring than the very qualified allegiance which they give to the parisian book-binding code. it is true enough that in england we admire not merely the old french school, but the modern one; but our loyalty and liking are by no means unreserved. a frenchman, in nine cases out of ten, will not, in the first place, buy any book that was born out of france, any more than he will buy an article of furniture or china, or a coin, emanating from a less favoured soil; nor will he willingly acquire even a volume of native origin in any state but the orthodox morocco; but his first impulse and act, if he does so under protest, is to strip and re-clothe the disreputable article, and have it put into habiliments worthy of the _cabinet choisi_ of monsieur. now, we have had, and no doubt have still, on this side of the channel certain heathens in the likeness of collectors who, no matter how perfect and how fresh, and how suitable, the original jacket, commit the heinous offence of following the continental mode, and in such a way thousands of lovely examples, transmitted to us as heirlooms from our ancient families, have been sacrificed. but let us congratulate ourselves that we have among us many who know better, who will not even let the binder desecrate a faultless copy of tennyson, byron, shelley, or keats in the publisher's boards. this is, however, not exactly an analogy. the analogy arises and grows possible when we compare such writers as montaigne, molière, corneille, or again, certain of the elzevir series, with our corresponding foremost names. if we meet with the latter in vellum or in sheep, we only too gladly preserve them as we find them, provided that the outward garb is irreproachable. of how many gems do we not know, in all the peerless glory of their pristine life, tenderly ensconced in morocco envelopes. let them never be acquainted with another existence! let no binder's unholy hand come near them! let them be exhibited as historical monuments. on the other hand, if we could oblige monsieur to comply with this law, he would be _désolé_; for it is not the matter which makes the book; it is the _maroquin rouge_. even in england, where we are more robust in our taste, the true collector is not a reader. he may buy a cheap book now and then; but he hands it to the cook when he has perused it. such things are outside his category; they are for those interesting creatures the toiling million. his possessions or _desiderata_ are not vehicles of instruction; they are far too valuable; they are objects of ocular and sensuous indulgence equally with china, paintings, sculpture, and coins. they are classable with bric-à-brac. you have an opportunity of appreciating the quality of the paper or vellum, the type, and the binding. the merits of the author are reserved. it is better, if a gentleman leans a little to the practical side, and chooses to admit literature for actual reading, to have two cases, one for books, the other for bibliographical _simulacra_. for it is not for one till he has graduated to lay his prentice fingers on a tome in the pristine _mutton_, or to endanger the maidenhood of a clovis eve, a padeloup, or a derome, which you must handle as if it were the choicest and daintiest proof medal or etching. why, one has to bear in mind that he is not dealing with a mere ordinary source of intellectual gratification and improvement, but with a mechanical product perfect in all its parts. let him come gloved, and his friend the owner will bless him. between a book bound in its original cloth or paper boards, and one in its rich vesture of morocco or russia, there is a contrast similar to that between a woodland and a park. in the one case, at a distance, perhaps, of fifty or even a hundred years from the period of publication, we hold in our hand a volume precisely in the state in which it passed from that of the contemporary salesman to the contemporary buyer; and not a stain nor a finger-mark save the mellowing touch of time is upon it anywhere. let us look at the description in a sale catalogue of such a rarity as lamb's _poetry for children_, , "in the original grey boards, with red labels," or a copy of the first edition of fielding's _tom jones_, absolutely uncut, and in the bookseller's pristine covers, or, better still, of the first part of the first edition of spenser's _faëry queen_, , in the elizabethan wrapper! it is not the mere circumstance, let it be understood, of untrimmed edges which makes the charm; many a book or pamphlet occurs as innocent of the binder's knife as the lamb unborn, and highly desirable it is too; but to render an example of this class complete, its authentic outward integument in blameless preservation is as essential to its repute and its marketable worth as the presence of the claws is held to be in the original valuation of a fur of fox or beaver. no educated eye can regard with indifference a more or less interesting volume clothed in a becoming livery by an accomplished artist either of other times or of these. if it is an ancient vesture, with the credentials in the form of a coat of arms, an _ex libris_, or a signature, or all of these, handed down with it to us, we appear to be able to disregard time, and feel ourselves brought within touch of the individual who owned it, of him who encased it in its lavishly gilt leathern coat, and of the circle to which it was long a familiar object, as it reposed unmolested in a corner of some _petite bibliothèque_ or study during generations--if the subject of which it treated had to be handled, a vicarious copy in working raiment doing duty for it. for it is not a book in the ordinary acceptation of the word; it is a _souvenir_ of the past, a message and a voice from remote times, ever growing remoter, or an _objet de luxe_, a piece of literary, or rather bibliographical, dandyism. in any case, its identity is to be preserved and held sacred. footnotes: [ ] hazlitt's edition, , iii. . chapter xiii english and other national binders--anonymous bindings--list of binders--the scotish school--mr. quaritch out-bidden--the vellum copy of boece's _chronicles of scotland_--most familiar names in england--embroidered bindings ascribed to the nuns of little gidding--provincial binders--edwards of halifax--fashion of edge-painting--amateur binding--forwarding and finishing--a baronet-binder--french liveries for english books--bedford's french style--incongruity of the parisian _goût_ with our literature--list of french binders--ancient stamped leather bindings of italy, flanders, and germany copied in france--ludovicus bloc of bruges--judocus de lede--rarity of early signed examples in france--andré boule ( )--enhancement of the estimation of old books in france by special bindings--the new collector counselled and admonished--what he is to do, and where he is to go. the english school of binding brings before us a roll of names borne by artists of successive periods and of varying merit, from the last quarter of the fifteenth century to the present time. that it is by no means exhaustive is due to the circumstance that in the case of many of the older, and some of the more recent, masters, there is no clue to the origin in the shape of an external inscription on the cover, as we find on foreign works, or in that of a ticket or a signature. as it so frequently happens with old pictures, the style of a binder was often, indeed generally, imitated by his pupils or successors, and we are apt to mistake the original productions for the copies, unless we engage in a very close study of minute details. in the english, scotish, and irish series it is equally true that the preponderance of bindings are unidentified. the monastic liveries, in which so many venerable tomes have come down to us, were executed within the walls of the buildings which held the books, and had perhaps produced them; and analogously most of our early printers were binders of their own stocks, as well as of any other works brought to them. we may incidentally remind the reader that one practice on their part was to utilise waste as end-papers or pasteboard, and to that circumstance we are indebted for the recovery of numerous typographical fragments belonging to publications not otherwise known. that pynson, julian notary, john reynes, and others executed book-binding outside their own productions seems to be proved by the existence of much early literature of foreign origin with english end-papers and covers. in fact, till the stationers' company made the sale of books or printed matter a separate industry, the typographer was his own binder and vendor. the bibliopegist, as an independent artificer whom we are able to identify, dates from the seventeenth century. we have already mentioned francis rea or read of worcester as flourishing in . john evelyn seems to have employed some one who executed good work in morocco, and in better taste than that done for royalty at the same period; yet we cannot be sure that he did not carry the books abroad for the purpose. pepys had in his service a binder named richardson, whom he mentions in the _diary_, and who is otherwise known. a copy of stow's _survey_, , passed through his hands; it is in the original calf; and he was merely engaged to repair it, as appears from a memorandum inside the cover. of authentic names of later english binders, considering the incalculable amount of work done, the number is extremely limited. if we tabulate, we find only:-- samuel mearne. # bookbinder to charles ii. elliot & chapman. # the harleian binders. robert black. # about . edwards of halifax. richard and mrs. wier. roger payne. roger payne and r. wier. baumgarten. staggemeier. # the binder of the psalter of , formerly in the sykes collection, and bought by quaritch at the perkins sale for £ . charles hering. benedict. h. walther. fargher & lindner. h. faulkner. c. kalthoeber. charles lewis the younger. charles the younger. j. mackenzie. c. murton. charles smith. f. & t. aitken. wickwar. j. wright. hayday. hayday & co. j. clarke. clarke & bedford. francis bedford. roger de coverly. grieve. henderson & bissett. mclehose of glasgow. holloway. robert riviere. # the business is carried on by grandsons. zaehnsdorf. cobden sanderson. r. montague ( - ). this represents not only the entire assemblage and succession, so far as england is concerned, but covers scotland and ireland; and several of the names are obviously those of foreigners. the scotish artists, if, as there is no absolute reason to doubt, a large number of early books were clothed on the spot, possessed much taste and originality, and some of them have descended to us in a pristine state of preservation with the lavish gilding as fresh and brilliant as when they left the workshop. we may fairly consider, looking at the intimate relationship between scotland and france in former times, that a certain proportion of volumes of scotish origin were bound abroad, just as americans at present send over their books to england. coming down to more recent days, the two names chiefly associated with scotland are c. murton and j. mackenzie, neither of whom attained special celebrity. but it is to be more than suspected that all important work in this direction was long executed out of scotland--either in london or in paris. the time came, however, when the scots acquired a school and style of their own, and all that can be pleaded for it is, that it is manneristic and peculiar. of recent years heavy prices have been paid for first-class examples, which are of unusual rarity. messrs. kerr & richardson, of glasgow, bought over mr. quaritch at the laing sale in london at a preposterous figure (£ ) a copy of one of sir george mackenzie's legal works simply for the covers; it was offered by the purchasers afterward to the underbidder, who quietly informed them that he had come to his senses again. there is no reason why the magnificent copy on vellum of boece's _chronicles of scotland_ ( ), which occurred at the hamilton sale in , should not have received its clothing of oaken boards covered with gilt calf at home. the most familiar names to english ears are perhaps those of roger payne, charles hering, c. kalthoeber, charles lewis, francis bedford, robert riviere, and zaehnsdorf. the genuine roger paynes in good state are very scarce and equally desirable. hering excelled in russia and half-binding. lewis bound with equal excellence in brown calf and venetian morocco, and was largely employed by heber. bedford had two or three periods, of which the last was, on the whole, the best; he was famous for his brown calf, but made it too dark at first, instead of allowing it to deepen in colour with time. riviere could do good work when he took pains; but he was unequal and uncertain. charles lewis had been preceded by another person of his name, who is noticed in nichols's _anecdotes_ (iii. ) as dying in , and as of chelsea. this personage was held in high esteem by his clients, and was very intimate with smollett the novelist, who is said to have had lewis in his mind, when he drew the character of strap in _roderick random_. fashions in binding, which occupy a distinct position, are the embroidered covers in gold, silver, and variegated threads, executed both abroad and in england, and of which many examples are ascribed to the nuns of little gidding in huntingdonshire; and velvet, silk, and metal bindings, which exist in sufficient abundance, and usually occur with marks of original ownership, lending to them a special value. much depends in all these instances on the character of the work and the preservation of the copy; and each book has to be judged on its own merits. a considerable proportion of indifferent specimens are constantly in the market. the little gidding bindings are made additionally interesting by the apparent connection between them and john farrer of little gidding, who had a principal hand in producing a volume on virginia entitled _virgo triumphans_, of which there were three issues, - , the last of which has the map by goddard in two states, one bearing the inscription: _john farrer, esq., collegit_. and the other: _domina virginia farrer collegit_. it is highly probable that the material for the book-covers worked by the nunnery were obtained by the farrers direct from virginia. but it may be well questioned whether the holy ladies did more than the decorative and finishing stages. the early provincial school of english binding is chiefly remarkable for the productions of edwards of halifax, who, with his two sons, james and thomas, held a prominent rank in the book-trade at halifax and in london in the last and present century, and whose name is also recognised as that of an enthusiastic amateur. it was at the sale of the private library of james edwards in that the celebrated _bedford missal_ occurred. the bindings of edwards present nothing very extraordinary; but many of them have painted edges or sides, sometimes executed with great care and skill. a copy of the _history of halifax_, with a view of the place thus given on the leaves, is a favourable illustration of a practice which was formerly carried out on an extensive scale, and of course with very unequal results. a brisk demand arose a short time since for this branch of ingenuity; but it has probably ere now subsided, having been in response to a call for the artist by one or two collectors. of course, the prices advanced instantaneously to high-water mark, from the certainty that the craze was ephemeral. but the school of edwards of halifax probably borrowed the idea from earlier men, who had occasionally decorated the edges of books in this way, and we may instance samuel mearne, bookbinder to charles ii., by whom a copy of north's _plutarch_, , was clothed in a richly gilt morocco vesture, the leaves gilt and painted with flowers. mearne also introduced what is known as the cottage-roof pattern. there are two fashions in the costlier department of binding which have recommended themselves to adoption by some connoisseurs in this country, and to which we do not find it easy to reconcile our taste: the investiture of old english books in parisian liveries and their treatment by our own binders in the french style. both courses of proceeding strike us, we have to confess, as equally unsatisfactory. there is an absence of harmony and accord between the book and its cover, like dissonant notes in music. at the same time, bedford was fairly successful in copying the french manner for foreign works, and his productions of this class are very numerous. the practice of clothing english volumes in foreign liveries was occasionally followed in early times. messrs. pearson & co. bought at paris some years ago a lovely copy of queen elizabeth's prayer-book, , in a richly gilt contemporary french, perhaps lyonnese, calf binding. the work was executed for an englishman resident abroad, more probably than for a local collector. but these instances are rare. one of a different character occurred to our notice in a copy of whitney's _choice of emblems_, printed at leyden in , and still preserved in the old dutch boards--old, but not coeval. of amateur binding all countries have had their examples to show, and here we do not intend the limitation of the artist to a particular pattern and material chosen by his employer, such as the hollis plain red morocco, or the duke of roxburghe's half-morocco with marbled paper sides for his old plays, but the conduct of the whole process under the owner's roof, as in the case of robert southey, whose first wife attired many of her husband's books in cotton raiment, and led him to speak of them as his cottonian library; or, nearer to us, in that of sir edward sullivan, who devotes himself to the finishing stages of any volumes belonging to friends or otherwise, when the article has been "forwarded" in an ordinary workshop. sir edward tools, gilds, decorates, and letters, and subscribes or inscribes himself _e. s. aurifex_. specimens of his handicraft occur fairly often in the market; as to their merit, opinions differ. but after all, there is a _soupçon_ of gratification in having a baronet to your binder; and we understand that sir edward is complaisant enough to accept commissions outside his personal acquaintance. a second essayist in the same way, who has become almost a member of the vocation, is cobden sanderson, who bound several books of ordinary character and moderate value for william morris, and whose merit, if the prices realised for the lots in the auction be any sort of a criterion, must be extremely high. the present writer and many others carefully examined the volumes, and failed to see any justification for the enthusiasm awakened in at least two competitors. specimens occur also now and then in the market of the beautiful morocco bindings executed by another and (as some think) superior amateur, mrs. prideaux. a copy of arnold's edition of wordsworth's _select poems_, , bound by this lady in levant morocco, with elaborate gold tooling on back and sides--only one small octavo volume--is priced in a catalogue of at £ , s. the parisian differs from us islanders in these particulars _toto cælo_. there is an utter and hopeless incompatibility. his predilection is for morocco _in genere_; he estimates it not only above russia (_calf_ is hardly in his dictionary), but above even the choicest vellum encasement to be procured or conceived; but on _maroquin rouge dentellé_ or _aux petits fers_ from some pre-revolutionary workshop he is hobbyhorsical to a pathetic extent. the most celebrated french binders are carefully enumerated by the latest authorities in their chronological order, but there is a difficulty in respect to many of them analogous to that encountered by the inquirer on english ground, since the names of several even of the best period are unknown, and the productions are accordingly classable only under their styles or their early owners. a good deal of the finest french work is attributed to the two eves, whose _chefs d'oeuvre_ must, and can easily, be distinguished from the tolerably frequent imitations put into the market from time to time, some probably nearly coeval with the original examples. prior to the eves, however, france had more or less skilful artists in this line of industry. in the frere sale at sotheby's in occurred a copy of philelphus _de liberorum educatione_, printed by gilles gourmont in , in the original stamped leather covers, with the name of andré boule on the sides. under francis i. we find the names of estienne roffet, _dit le faulcheur_, as "relieur du roy," and also with that of pignolet. the initials _g. g._ occur on a volume of in messrs. pearson & co.'s catalogue, - , no. ; they are probably those of gilles gourmont above mentioned. in , according to his edition of _meliadus de leonnois_, galliot du pré was sworn binder to the university of paris. in the imprint of his edition of _lancelot du lac_, paris, , philippe le noir describes himself as one of the two sworn binders of the same university; and we gather elsewhere that françois regnault was then the other. when we reach the seventeenth century, greater facilities naturally arise for identification of artists. one of the earliest directly associated with his own labours was le gascon ( - ), followed by the boyets ( - ), louis de bois ( - ), augustin du seuil, ( - ), and andreau (binder to the queen of louis xv.). from the commencing years of the eighteenth century, in addition to the binders just enumerated, there is a fairly consecutive series, who worked for the court and the public: padeloup, the two deromes, douceur (who was much employed by madame de pompadour), the two bozérians, le monnier, tessier, dubuisson (famous for his gilding), simier, thompson of paris, capé, duru, chambolle, lesne (who printed in a didactic poem on his craft), trautz, bauzonnet, marius-michel, and lortic. agreeably to the experience in every other department of skilled labour connected with book-production, the french obeyed here the early influence of italian and german taste, and the germ was teutonic, as in spain it was moorish. the stamped leather bindings, mainly common to germany, the netherlands, spain, &c., were largely copied in england for the royal and noble libraries of the tudor era. in some of those executed abroad, the artificer, as we have seen, was accustomed to place his name or initials very conspicuously outside the cover. ludovicus or lodewijk bloc, for instance, who flourished at ghent or bruges at the close of the fifteenth century, usually signs and claims his work in an elaborate inscription. two specimens bear: _ludovicus bloc ob amorem christi librum hunc recté ligavi_. jodocus de lede adopted a similar method of commemoration. in the case of foreign books, especially those of french origin, the presence of a pure and unblemished morocco binding by a recognised artist, coupled with the armorial cognisance or _ex libris_ of some famous amateur and the binder's ticket, which is equally _de rigueur_, enhances the commercial importance of a volume or set of volumes beyond calculation, and has its only analogue in the stupendous figures paid for the sèvres soft paste porcelain of the true epoch, when all the necessary conditions are happily united and fulfilled. nothing is more striking than the immense disparity between a book in the right sort of garniture and in the wrong one, or, again, in the true covers with some ulterior sophistication in the shape of added arms, restored joints, renovated gilding, and a hundred other subtleties difficult to detect. the case is on all fours with a specimen of unimpeachable sèvres contrasted with another of which the porcelain dates back beyond the painting and the gold. a french book in old morocco by derome, le gascon, or some other esteemed artist, with its credentials and pedigree above suspicion, may fetch £ or double; the identical production in old calf or in modern morocco or russia will not bring the price of the binding; all the magic is in the leather and the ticket. it is not a literary object, but an article of _vertu_. there is probably no description of continental books which has so greatly risen in value during the last thirty years as the illustrated publications of the last century, provided always that they conform to the very exacting requirements of a parisian exquisite. above all, they must be of the statutory tallness and breadth, and in the livery by bibliographical injunction and usage prescribed. no more impressive exemplification of the difference between a book or set of books in the french series, in the _right_ and in the _wrong_ state, could be afforded or desired than the edition of molière, , which in contemporary morocco may be worth £ , and in calf or any other ordinary dress a five-pound note. but after all, a still more signal case is that of laborde's _chansons mises en musique_, published in the same year, which, even in thoroughly preserved contemporary calf, brings under the hammer in proof state nearly £ , while in modern morocco it is rather dear at a quarter of that amount. the extreme rarity of pure and genuine specimens of the work of the earliest foreign binders--nay, of our own--has naturally produced a large inheritance of imitations of varied character and degree. there is nothing to save the amateur from deception but the same kind of training which qualifies collectors in other departments to distinguish what is true from what is false. a man who proposes to himself to make bindings a speciality, cannot do better than graduate by studying the most trustworthy and contemporary guides on the subject in different literatures, and then we should send him on a tour round the great public and private libraries of great britain and the continent. this, of course, applies only where the undertaker is in thorough earnest, and wishes to spare himself a good deal of expense and a good deal of mortification. illustrated catalogues are of very indifferent value, especially those of auctioneers, which too often offer the result of sophistication so cleverly disguised that to an inexperienced eye the repair is not palpable. if one goes in search of _desiderata_ to the trade, let it be to the dealer who knows his business and charges his price, but who supplies the article, and not to the empiric, who charges a price and does not supply it, for the excellent reason (among others) that this party does not know a fine binding when he sees it--or a spurious one. in curiosities generally it is the safest plan for a private collector to place himself more or less in the hands of the highest firms in the particular line which he selects, provided that he is not one of a hundred thousand, and is a mile or two ahead even of professional experts. then, wherever he goes and whatever he buys, he is always armed _cap-à-pie_. to him, to him solely, are the lots almost as precious as the purse of fortunatus; he alone it is who may fall in with caxtons, clovis eves, rembrandts, syracusan medallions, for a song, and carry them home without a qualm. a curious case, unique in its way, of what may be characterised as perverted ingenuity, occurred at a public sale in november at sotheby's rooms. it was, in the words of the catalogue, "a remarkable collection of magnificent modern bindings, formed by an amateur;" but the salient feature was--in fact, the ruling one, with one exception--that the whole of the specimens represented imitations of ancient work and of historical copies of early books. the interiors were authentic; they had simply served as the medium for carrying out a rather whimsical, not to say foolish, project, and the hundred and ten lots, destitute of any conspicuous or genuine interest, probably yielded very much less than the cost of their counterfeit liveries. the present volume is not a treatise on binding, and we can merely indicate the general bearings of this branch and aspect of book-collecting, on which several useful, and some very sumptuous and beautiful, monographs have appeared of recent years. an amateur cannot do better, for purposes of reference, than secure a copy of mr. quaritch's _catalogue of bindings_, , which includes particulars of all the principal works on the subject, english and foreign, and one of zaehnsdorf's _short history of bookbinding_, , with illustrations of processes, and a glossary of styles and terms used in the art. mr. wheatley and mr. brassington have also produced monographs upon it. in america, during many years past, there has been a laudable effort to establish a national taste and feeling in this direction; for collectors in the states formerly made a general rule of sending their books either to london or to paris for treatment. the institution of the grolier club of new york nearly twenty years since was a step in the direction of independence, and its _transactions_ form an interesting and creditable series. the club printed a catalogue of its library of early typographical examples in , with facsimiles of bindings. the modern french school of literary architecture unites in the type, the paper, the illustrations such a remarkable degree of taste and feeling, combined with economy of production, that in england there is no present approach to what may be termed the _ensemble_ of a volume placed in the market by our neighbours. this style of book-making asks of course age to mellow it, and perchance the materials employed may not bear the test of time and manipulation by successive owners, like the old eighteenth-century work. but as they emerge from the workshop, and stand upon the shelves or in the case, their aspect is decidedly agreeable, while half a roomful of them are to be had for the price of a clovis eve or even a first-rate padeloup. very much, on the contrary, we are apt to conceive a dislike for that unwieldy imperial _format_ which some of the parisian _libraires editeurs_ affect, and which perhaps occupy the same place in french literature of the day as our detestable english _editions de luxe_. chapter xiv aids to the formation of a library: (i.) personal observation; (ii.) works of reference--rarity of taste and judgment--dependence of some booksellers on want of knowledge in their clients--trade catalogues--principal modern books of reference criticised--those for the (i.) bibliography; (ii.) for the prices--unsatisfactory execution of _book prices current_, &c.--the british museum catalogue of early english books--obsolete authorities--their unequal demerit--british museum _general catalogue_ and mr. quaritch's _new general catalogue_--the former not implicitly trustworthy--source of the value of the latter--the labours of sir egerton brydges, joseph haslewood, and others--tribute to their worth--_bibliotheca anglo-poetica_--the heber catalogue--its magnitude and immense value and interest--where heber obtained his treasures--his library the most splendid ever formed in any country--its absorption of all preceding collections--and the vital obligations of every succeeding collection to it--the grenville catalogue--george daniel--his fly-leaf _canards_--collier's _bibliographical catalogue_--corser's _collectanea_--unequal value of the posthumous parts--the huth catalogue--testimony to its character--several monographs--lord crawford's broadsides--lists of the college libraries at oxford and cambridge--catalogues of the dyce and forster bequests to south kensington--halliwell-phillipps's _shakespeariana_--blades's _caxton_--botfield's _cathedral libraries_--a new catalogue of the althorp-rylands books in preparation--mr. wheatley's scheme for cataloguing a library--redundant cataloguing exemplified--differences in copies of the same book and edition--french books of reference--brunet, cohen, gay--special treatises on playing-cards, angling, tobacco: bewick, bartolozzi: tokens, coins and medals, and americana--tracts relating to popery--the printing clubs and societies--errors in books of reference liable to perpetuation--heads of advice to collectors of books with supplements, extra leaves, &c. the two principal aids to the formation of a library, great or small, general or special, are personal observation and works of reference. the first is obviously an uncertain quantity, and may be restricted to an ordinary mechanical experience, or may comprise the finest commercial and literary instinct. we have had among us ere now amateurs who possessed the highest qualifications for assembling round them gratifying and valuable monuments of their taste and judgment, with the harmless satisfaction of feeling tolerably sure that the investment, if not a source of profit, would not form one of serious loss. this is a fair and legitimate demand and expectation; but such characters are far rarer than the books which they collect; and if it were otherwise, the large industry which lies in the purchase and re-sale of literary property could not exist. the buyer whose knowledge is in advance of that of the salesman is a party whom mr. ---- and mr. ---- and the remainder of the alphabet pharisaically admire, while they privily harbour toward him sadly unchristian feelings and views. the second and remaining auxiliary, the book of reference, has become a wide term, since it has so enormously developed itself, and formed branches, so as to constitute a library within a library, and to call for its own bibliographer. so far as the current value and general character of literary works are concerned, all the older authorities are more or less untrustworthy, and the same is to be predicated of a heavy proportion of auctioneers' and booksellers' catalogues, where the first and sole object is to realise the maximum price for an article. the system pursued by the former class of vendors of late years renders it far more hazardous to bid on the faith of the printed descriptions, and there is, in fact, greater danger for the novice in the elaborate rehearsal of the title and the accompanying fillip in the shape of a note (usually erroneous) than the good old-fashioned plan of setting out the particulars briefly--even illiterately; for in the latter case the burden of discovering the exact truth is thrown on the customer or acquirer. we must say that few things are less satisfactory than trade-catalogues with certain honourable exceptions, which it might be invidious to particularise; and the book-buyer has to depend almost exclusively on his own discernment and the bibliographers. of what he reads in the catalogues he may believe as much or as little as he likes. nothing could be more ungracious than to speak disrespectfully of the publications of those laborious and earnest workers who have preceded us, and who for that very sufficient reason did not know quite so much as we do. we admire their industry, on the contrary, their taste and their devotion; we buy their volumes because it is pleasant to have them at our side; and ever and anon we dip into this one or that, and meet with something which had escaped us. seriously, however, they are, on the whole, not merely of slight use, but of a misleading tendency. for the gods of our forefathers, ware, tanner, ames, herbert, oldys, dibdin, brydges, watt, park, haslewood, the compilers of the _bibliotheca grenvillana_, _bibliotheca anglo-poetica_, and _biographia dramatica_, and scores besides, before and even since, we have substituted others, assuredly more complete, perhaps constructed on truer and more lasting principles. we have on our shelves (i.) for the _bibliography_, the heber, collier, corser, and huth catalogues ( - ), and the writer's own _collections_ ( - ), _bibliographica_ and the _transactions of the bibliographical society_: (ii.) for the _prices_, _book prices current_ and _book sales_. unfortunately the two latter undertakings are little better than mechanical transcripts from the auctioneers' extremely treacherous catalogues by outsiders. the peculiar class of information purporting to be supplied by such catalogues is often in need of some qualifying criticism or admonition, which it is not easy, if possible, for any one not on the spot and behind the scenes to offer. no mere reference to the catalogue after the event is capable of initiating one into these _arcana_; and the same has to be said of the quotations in the ordinary periodicals. this is a species of employment for which there must be either a long training or a unique instinct. _book prices current_ and _book sales_ cannot be trusted as an authority or a guide by any person who does not approach them with a certain measure of experience. where an editor cites a common and comparatively worthless volume as selling for a high sum, and omits to mention that on the title there is a valuable autograph, the mischief is obvious; and this and allied forms of error are habitual. such empirical attempts do more harm than good. the account printed by the trustees of the early english books in the british museum is not without its value, although it is almost everything that it ought not to have been; and there are several monographs of importance dealing with special items in public or private collections. it is to be hoped that in course of time we may see a creditable catalogue of the britwell library, and that the spencer books at manchester will be done over again by a competent hand. if money is expended on these objects, it is distressing to find that the task has been confided to a gentleman whose best credentials are his personal acquaintance with the owner. we do not add to existing authorities: (i.) for the printers, ames, herbert, and dibdin, or (ii.) for general information lowndes's _manual_ by bohn and his coadjutors, because we are afraid that there is almost greater danger of being misled by them than being helped or enlightened. both ames and herbert, however, we emphatically pronounce conscientious, and accurate in the highest degree in their respective days; but these days were long ago, and the present state of knowledge has rendered a considerable proportion of their texts obsolete and unreliable. dibdin has certainly added to herbert, but he has not, on the contrary, in all cases faithfully reprinted him; if his book had been as great an advance on his predecessor as herbert's was on ames, it would have been a treasure indeed. a new lowndes is said to be in the hands of a syndicate. i know nothing about it; but i shall rejoice if it should prove worthy of the subject, and as unlike lowndes or lowndes by bohn as possible. i labour, however, under the gravest apprehension that it will prove one of those undertakings which will just be advanced enough to block the right book without being relatively anything approaching even to an english brunet. at least five-and-twenty annotated copies of lowndes must exist. will the promoters deem it necessary to acquire or to borrow them? probably not. there must be thousands of additions and corrections in the writer's alone. it is estimated that the enlarged lowndes contains about per cent. of the literature which ought to find a place, not reckoning the earlier english books, tracts, or broadsides, and that of that proportion about ½ per cent. are misdescribed. the anecdote of pope and the wag who retorted to his habitual exclamation, "_god mend me!_" "it would take less to make a new one," appears to apply in the present case. the original lowndes in was a poor affair; but bohn's recension twenty years or so later was by comparison a still poorer one, for there was the opportunity, in the presence of innumerable discoveries and a large body of new bibliographical material in various shapes, of rendering the new edition a really creditable performance. the name of the publisher, however, was a sufficient guarantee for this not being the case, and where the second impression is superior to the first, is where bohn happened to have an interest in mentioning certain works, or information was communicated to him by others. the sole comfort for us is, that brunet has passed through five editions, and yet remains deplorably imperfect and inaccurate. there are three prominent publications, each in its way of signal value and merit: the british museum and bodleian catalogues of printed books, and mr. quaritch's new general catalogue. the two former, of course confine themselves to the contents of the respective libraries; they are consequently far from exhaustive. they have been compiled by human beings; they are consequently far indeed from faultless. they express, as a rule, no opinions, and of commercial estimation very properly take no cognisance. but the oxford collection has always been differently situated from the national library in not having any adequate means of purchasing deficiencies, while it is rich in its own very interesting way by reason of bequests of unique value, making it the possessor of numerous priceless volumes not to be found in great russell street or anywhere else. the quaritch catalogue (including the _typographical supplement_, ), a noble monument to the energy and courage of the _grand marchand_ whose name it bears, is a good deal more than even a bookseller's advertising medium on a large or the largest scale. it is, in fact, a literary performance; and it is an open secret to whom we owe it. the collector, apart from the question of purchase, will find it replete with useful, instructive, and trustworthy information, so far as bibliography is concerned. the highly honourable and equally laborious publications of sir egerton brydges, joseph haslewood, thomas park, e. v. utterson, and others, if they are of minor substantial value to us at present, demonstrate the keen appetite for bibliographical information and anecdote in the first quarter of this century. the _censura literaria_, extending to ten octavo volumes, passed through two editions, and, in common with other similar works, till recently commanded a heavy price. that they have fallen into neglect is due to the necessity, on the part of buyers and sellers of early literature, of studying only the latest authorities. at the same time, from a literary point of view, the _restituta_ and _censura literaria_ ( nd edit. ) of brydges, and many members of the same group and period, will always be worth consulting, and will be found to yield a vast store of interesting and instructive matter. such works may at present be sterile enough, but yet we are bound to recollect on their behalf that on their first appearance they were revelations and pioneers. it is where a book at the outset is behind the knowledge of the day, or indeed rather not in advance of it, that it seems to be disentitled to respect. not only have more modern labours superseded the brydges, park, haslewood, and other series, which till of late years held the market firmly enough, but the rev. dr. dibdin, whose sumptuously printed and illustrated productions long remained such prime favourites at heavy prices, both at home and in the united states, has been overtaken by a general neglect, and the americans, who were once so enthusiastic and generous as bidders for these books, will at present scarcely agree to acquire them at a fifth of their appreciation in the height of the dibdinomania. many of the gems which have passed through the hands of successive owners are known to have once formed part of the _bibliotheca anglo-poetica_, a famous--almost historical catalogue of old literature on sale in by longmans, when that firm dealt in such commodities, and imported largely from the continent in response to the keen and hungry demand on the part of the school created by the roxburghe sale and the roxburghe club, heber its greatest disciple and ornament, heber a colossus in himself. many are the traditional anecdotes of the wonderful bargains which longmans' agent secured for his principals in all sorts of places, whither he resorted in quest of prey--of the romances in folio in the virgin stamped spanish bindings, which they might have worn since they lay on the shelves of don quixote or the licentiate, brought for sale, as it were haphazard, to some market-place in seville or valladolid in wine-skins. but the contents of the above-mentioned _bibliotheca_ were purely english. it was a small but choice assemblage of old poetry formed by mr. thomas hill, otherwise tommy hill, otherwise paul pry, which he offered to longmans on the plea of failing health, and for which the purchasers elected, looking prophetically at his moribund aspect, to grant him an annuity in preference to a round sum. mr. hill's apprehensions, however, were premature, as the transaction had the effect of restoring his spirits; and the booksellers scored rather indifferently. how pleased they must have been to see him coming for his pension year after year! even the outrageous prices asked for the articles, of which the condition was ordinarily poor, could not have brought longmans anywhere near home; and the catalogue was expensively printed. yet one would like, very much indeed like, to put down thirty golden sovereigns for _shakespeare's sonnets never before imprinted_, , and fifty for anthony munday's _banquet of dainty conceits_, . the rev. j. m. rice obtained the latter in ; it was sold at his auction in for eighteen guineas, and when it next occurred among george daniel's books in , was bought by mr. huth against sir william tite for £ . the _sonnets_ of would at present be worth £ . as regards the bulk of the lots, however, one might almost read shillings for pounds. sir francis freeling had an interleaved copy, in which he entered acquisitions. through his official connection with the post-office he procured many prizes from the country districts. dick of bury st. edmunds stood him in good stead. what dibdin euphemistically christened the _lincoln nosegay_ was a second pair of bellows applied about the same date to the reddening flame of bibliographical ardour. it was a descriptive list of certain books which the doctor had prevailed on the dean and chapter of the cathedral to sell to him for five hundred guineas, and which he divided between mr. heber and lord spencer. the collection was part of the benefaction of dean honeywood, and it was a shameful betrayal of trust. our cathedral libraries still retain a host of treasures, notwithstanding all this sort of pillage; and the dim religious light which is shed around lends an air of sanctity to the spot sufficient, one might have thought, to arrest the hand of the marauder. this was the height of the bibliomania. dibdin had in brought out his work so called. perhaps it was hardly wise so to accentuate the passion on paper. he lived to publish the _bibliophobia_. the _bibliotheca heberiana_, in thirteen parts, - , which in its realisation showed a strong revulsion, or at least a marked decline, from the cometary period, - , is the most stupendous assemblage of literary treasures and curiosities ever brought together by an individual in this country. heber was a scholar and a reader of his books; he has made memoranda on a large number of the fly-leaves; and these have been occasionally transferred to the catalogue, of which the early english poetical portion, a singularly rich one, was edited and annotated by john payne collier. in using the heber catalogue, its mere extent and diversity ought to suffice as a warning that the prices are not in the least degree trustworthy; the classics and some of the early typography went pretty high; and the early english books were only saved from being given away by the active competition of mr w. h. miller, who secured nearly everything of account at very moderate figures, and by the commissions held by collier for the duke of devonshire, who bought the rarest of the old plays. the british museum was scarcely in evidence there. it was enjoying one of its periodical slumbers. the poetical section of the library embraced not only the lion's share of all the rarest books of the class offered for public sale in heber's time, but an immense assortment of articles which he acquired privately from thorpe, rodd, and others, of whom he was the infallible resource whenever they fell in with books or tracts or broadsides which he did not possess, or of which he perhaps possessed _only one copy_. it was not merely that heber distanced all that went before him or have succeeded him, so far as the extent and variety of his collections go, but that with his insatiable acquisitiveness he combined so much of the bibliographer and _litterateur_. it was fairly easy for certain men with more limited means and views, such as malone, steevens, douce, brand, chalmers, bright, bliss, laing, bandinel, turner, locker, corser, and a legion more, to pose as judges of the merits of their possessions; but how comparatively little was theirs to grasp! in the case of heber the range of knowledge was immense; and he was equally at home with all departments and all periods. he had his modern side and his interest in current affairs, and a scholarly insight into the vast literary and bibliographical accumulations which it was his bent and pride to form, beyond any one whom we can call to mind. we do not include in this sort of category the harley, roxburghe, grenville, spencer, blandford, ashburnham, and huth libraries, whose owners were collectors pure and simple. of the grenville catalogue, as an independent work, it is less usual to think and speak, because the library which it describes has long formed part of the british museum, and very few are now living who can remember it under the roof of its excellent founder in hamilton place. the books have now during some years constituted an integral part of the new general museum catalogue; there is scarcely any department of literature in which they did not contribute importantly to enrich and complete the national stores. but mr. grenville was particularly strong in early typography and irish and english history. the catalogue of mr. george daniel's singular and precious collection, disposed of in , was an ordinary auctioneer's compilation; except that many of the owner's mss. notes written on the fly-leaves were introduced by way of whetting the appetites of competitors; and to say that a vein of hyperbole pervaded these remarks is a mild expression; they emanated, we have to remember, from an accountant. the books, however, spoke for themselves. the printed account of them, viewed as a work of reference, must be read _cum grano salis_--_cum multis granis_. the sale was the starting-point of a new epoch and school in prices. nothing of the kind on so extended a scale in that particular way had so far been seen before. collier's _bibliographical catalogue_, , is an enlargement of his bridgewater house catalogue, , without the illustrations. the two volumes are full of curious and readable matter, and as they usually deal with the _libri rarissimi_, we have to accept the accounts and extracts in the absence of the originals. to many this may be indifferent; to a few it may be a serious drawback, since, rightly or wrongly, the fidelity and accuracy of the editor have been more than once called in question. mr collier's book, however, is merely serviceable as a guide to the character of the works described; he does not offer an opinion on the selling values, nor does he always render the titles correctly. one signal fault distinguishes the undertaking from what may be regarded as a commercial point of view; and it is the refusal or failure to recognise the momentous changes in the bibliographical rank of a number of books through the discovery between and of additional copies. like most of us when we are advanced in life, he thought more of what was true when he was young, than of what was so at the time of writing. the _collectanea anglo-poetica_ of the rev. thomas corser, in eleven parts, of which some were posthumous, constitutes a very proud monument to the memory of an accomplished clergyman of limited resources, who during the best part of his life devoted his thought and surplus money to the acquisition of one of the richest assemblages of early english poetry ever formed by any one, as he succeeded in obtaining many works in this extensive series not comprised even in the heber catalogue. mr. corser bought much privately; but he was largely indebted for his bibliographical good fortune to such sales as those of jolley, chalmers, bright, and wolfreston ( - ). of his catalogue as an authority and guide the value is unequal; the portions edited by himself are excellent and exhaustive, but it is not so with those which mr. james crossley superintended. a complete copy of the sale catalogue is a _desideratum_ for the follower in this gentleman's footsteps; but he would have to spend more money than mr. corser did by some thousands. of the huth catalogue, , we can only say that it is a splendid gathering in a comparatively short period of various classes of books obtained from the sales in london and elsewhere, and from private sources, and selected on account of condition and interest rather than with a view to completeness. in its character it is emphatically miscellaneous; but is very strong in early english literature, owing to the opportunities which the founder enjoyed through the dispersion in his time of so many fine libraries of that class, especially those of daniel and corser, and perhaps we may add of george smith the distiller. but there was scarcely any sale here or on the continent from which mr. huth was not enabled to add to his stores. he was a very rich man; but he was not a book-hunter, and he was both inconsistent and capricious. he had, in fact, no definite plan, and took each purchase on its own merits. his catalogue, which he did not live to see completed, is unusually free from errors, but not quite so much so as he anticipated and desired. nevertheless, it will always be an useful guide and an honourable memorial. several monographs, dealing in a brief or cursory way with an entire library, or more fully with a section of it, may be noticed. the ashburnham hand-list, , now ( - ) supplemented by the sale catalogue; the chatsworth catalogue, which does not include the books at devonshire house, and lord crawford's catalogue of his ballads and broadsides. there are special accounts of several of the college libraries at oxford and cambridge, as well as hartshorne's _book rarities_, , a disappointing yet suggestive volume. we ought to remind the reader that the catalogue of trinity, cambridge, embraces capell's _shakesperiana_, and that there are separate hand-lists of malone's and douce's books at the bodleian, of the dyce and forster bequests at south kensington, of the society of antiquaries' broadsides, and of the shakespearian treasures formerly at hollingbury copse. we have two editions of blades's book on caxton's press, maitland's two lambeth catalogues, botfield's _cathedral libraries_, and edmond's lists of the aberdeen printers, . it is eminently likely that of the rylands-spencer library we shall have in the fulness of time a new catalogue, superseding dibdin's publications, and of course embracing all the personal acquisitions of mrs. rylands, apart from the grand althorp lot. in the capable hands of mr. duff it ought to turn out well. in the _book lover's library_, mr. h. b. wheatley has dedicated two or three volumes to the topic of forming and cataloguing a library. the object of these technical undertakings is clearer, perhaps, than their general utility; for, as a rule, a man likes to follow his own plan, and scarcely two normal collections of the average kind resemble one another, or are susceptible of similar treatment. the idea broached by mr. wheatley was, of course, not a new one. gabriel naude, librarian to cardinal mazarin, and subsequently keeper of the royal collection, printed a sketch of what in his opinion was necessary to constitute a library, and this our evelyn put into an english dress in , and dedicated to lord clarendon. the plan of naude was naturally that of a frenchman accustomed to extensive assemblages of literary monuments, and was not suited to the english taste, unless it might be in the case of a rich nobleman, to whom space and cost were alike indifferent. it was not likely to meet with adoption even by evelyn himself, of whose acquisitions we know enough to judge that he followed his own personal sentiments rather than professional or technical advice. it rarely occurs that in the less ambitious types of library there are any bibliographical details likely to prove serviceable to the public; and the extent of knowledge gained by the owner in the course of his own experience should suffice to qualify him to become, where time is presumably not an object, his own cataloguer. for all that can be required is a hand-list on the scale of the douce or malone separate catalogues, where a title seldom occupies more than a single line. plentiful illustrations of our meaning will be found by any one who opens the grenville or huth catalogue, and perceives the wide discrepancy between the essential information and the descriptive and critical accounts. the primary motive in drawing up a view of the contents of ninety-nine libraries out of a hundred is the facilitation of reference, combined with an excusable personal pride; but a great deal of repetition and redundancy and useless expense are incurred by the literal transcript of the titles of books more or less familiar to all who are interested in them. a very heavy proportion of the early english entries in the huth catalogue are duplicates of those in the writer's _collections_, and the same would be the case if the long-expected book on the britwell heirlooms were to make its appearance. it would be, to a large extent, _bis cocta_. in a private catalogue detailed explanation is required in the interest of bibliography, only where (i.) the owner happens to possess an unrecorded book; or (ii.) an unknown impression; or (iii.) a variant copy. defects in important items should be particularised; in others the word _imperfect_ is sufficient; and it is best to indicate from what source they have come to the immediate repository. take a few instances:-- reynard the fox, st edit. the inglis copy. folio, w. caxton, westminster, . hannay (patrick), poems. the huth copy. vo, london, . holinshed (raphael), chronicles, vols. the sunderland copy. wants the plan of edinburgh castle. folio, london, . shakespeare (w.), plays, st edit. the napier copy, wanting the verses. folio, london, . the notation of differences in copies of the same book, even if it is not one of supreme value, is always apt to be useful. of literary comment the supply is discretionary, so long as it is new, pertinent, and interesting. the transfer to the catalogue of any inedited manuscript matter on the fly-leaves or margins, or of any proprietary marks, is eminently desirable. for french literature, which is so largely collected in england, the _manuel du libraire_, &c., of brunet, vols. vo, - , with the works of cohen and gay, is the standard authority. the two latter, so far as they go, are more exhaustive than the _manuel_, which is nearly as incomplete as our lowndes, and not much more accurate. a new edition has been mooted; it is a clear _desideratum_. for value brunet is scarcely more serviceable than its english analogue, and the book is, curiously enough, particularly unsafe in such a field as the french books of former times, where so much depends on factitious conditions barely intelligible to an ordinary english or american consulter. two books which perhaps equally appeal to the english and continental collectors are those just mentioned: cohen, _guide de l'amateur de livres à gravures du xviii^th siècle_, ^me ed. ^o, - , and gay, _bibliographie des ouvrages relatifs à l'amour, aux femmes, au mariage, et des livres facétieux_, ^me ed. ^o, , vols. both, but especially the first, are essential for guidance in the choice of a class of publication of which the innumerable variations and the artificial prices necessitate the utmost caution on the part of an intending buyer. there are, in fact, no topics to which an amateur or student can direct his notice or limit himself where he will not have been preceded, so to speak, by a path-finder; nor does the narrowness of the range always ensure brevity or compactness of treatment, since the schreiber _playing cards of all countries and periods_, which to a certain extent enter into the literary category, occupy in the account by sir a. w. franks three folio volumes; but a satisfactory view of the subject is to be gained from the works by singer and chatto, - . as a rule, editors of this class of publication are more modest and compressed. there are the bibliographies on angling by j. r. smith and westwood; on tobacco, by bragge ( ); on dialect books, by j. r. smith (at present capable of great expansion); on bewick, by hugo; on bartolozzi, by tuer; on tokens, by williamson and by atkins; on coins and medals, by a numerous body of gentlemen specified in a section of the writer's _coin collector_, . in the english and american series are the well-known volumes by henry stevens and by sabin, and the sumptuous catalogue of the early laws and statutes by mr. charlemagne tower. in the chetham society's series, mr. jones, late chetham's librarian, printed an elaborate list of all the old english books and tracts relating to popery. there are many ways in which compilers of works of reference are in danger of perpetuating mistakes as to books, where they rely on secondary authorities. no account of an old book is, in the first place, entitled to credence unless it has been drawn up by the describer with the book itself before him; and when it is considered that not one individual in ten thousand can even then be trusted to copy what is under his eyes, and that there are, and always have been, those who have thought fit to exercise their ingenuity by falsifying dates and other particulars, there cannot be much room for surprise that our bibliographies, and those of every other people, are partly made up of material which never existed. errors are heirlooms, of which it is hard to get rid. the extent to which rare books are multiplied, as regards varieties of impression, by misdescriptions in catalogues, is remarkable and serious, and the bibliographer is not unfrequently confronted with statements of his ignorance of copies in sales of which he has not thought it worth while to indicate the true facts. but it is our individual experience that it is impossible to be too minute in pointing out snares for the unwary, and indeed for all who work at second-hand. the club or society for the communication to members, and through them to the public generally, of literary and archæological material previously existing only in ms. or in unique printed copies, was at the outset very restricted in its zone and its scope; but, in spite of the circumscribed interest felt by general readers in the more abstruse or obscure provinces of research, the movement, at first confined to scholars and patrons of literature, at length became universal in its range and distribution. there is no country pretending to culture without several of these institutions. in great britain, france, italy, the netherlands, germany, and switzerland, they have long abounded. they have rendered accessible an enormous body of inedited or unknown material for history, archæology, and biography; and after all deductions for indiscretion and dilettantism, they may be pronounced the medium for having shed new and precious light on well-nigh all branches of human science. to the book-collector they appeal less in a possessory sense than as works of reference. where they enter into his plan is in the practice, which some of them have followed, of striking off on vellum or other special substance half a dozen copies, which from their _presqu' uniquity_ (this is as good a phrase as _rarissime_) have ere now bred unchristian sentiments among competitors for the _bijoux_ in the _belles lettres_. the book-hunter's motto is _pulchra quæ difficilia_; he reverses the common saying. there is so far no exhaustive guide to the club literature, but the supplementary volume to bohn's _lowndes_ contains a fairly complete view of it down to . the additions since that date have been incessant and almost innumerable. the british museum general catalogue registers them all under the mediæval heading of _academies_. it is right and necessary that the inexperienced collector should be put on his guard against the reprehensible and dishonest practice of some professional vendors in advertising or offering for disposal books of which the leaves are not entirely genuine, which are deficient in supplemental matter recognised as part of the work, or whose bindings are sophisticated in a manner only capable of detection by a connoisseur or a specialist. there are wily persons who systematically and habitually insert in their catalogues items which they have acquired with the distinct proviso that they were defective, and have naturally acquired at a proportionate price. the forms of deception are infinitely various; but the leading points demanding attention and verification are apt to be:-- the frontispiece. the portrait. the half-title. the errata. supplement or postscript. starred pages. extra sheets inserted. plates. extra plates. the intending purchaser must take care to satisfy himself that there are no facsimile or reprinted leaves, no catchword erased to cancel a deficiency, no mixture of editions, and no wrong or re-engraved portrait or frontispiece, or false date inserted or inconvenient one erased; and that the copy has not been unskilfully cleaned. it is _caveat emptor_ indeed. the most surprising pains are undertaken by certain persons to mislead the collector who is not very much indeed on his guard, and who yearns for the possession of some current prize. a case lately occurred in which the well-known copy of the scarce portrait of milton, with the famous verses beneath it, attached to the first edition of the _poems_ in , had been actually split and laid down on old paper to make it resemble the original print, and in the same way a plate belonging to lovelace's _lucasta_, , representing lucy sacheverell, being frequently deficient, and making a good deal of the value of the book, has been ere this soaked off from the modern reproduction in singer's _select poets_, and "lined" to communicate to it the aspect of a genuine impression mounted. other forms of deception and danger lie in the exact reproduction of ancient or early books, not always with any mischievous or fraudulent intention. such a piece of _superchèrie_ as the _history of prince radamanthus_, professedly re-printed from a unique copy by wynkyn de worde, or the _life and death of mother shipton_, dated , and actually issued in the latter half of the last century, are scarcely apt to impose on any but the most unobservant. it stands differently, however, with the _declaratioun of the kings maiesties intention and meaning toward the lait acts of parliament_, , republished in in facsimile: with marlowe's _ovid_, originally printed in , and repeatedly brought out without any change in the text down to : with sir john hayward's _life of henry iv._, , similarly reproduced, and (in french literature) with the eighteenth-century edition of the works of rabelais, purporting to have come from the lyons press in . these difficulties require on the part of buyers one of two things: an experienced eye or a trustworthy counsellor. the version of ovid's _elegies_ by marlowe in a re-issue of no value is constantly sold for the right one, suppressed by authority, although dyce, in his edition of the poet, , points out the differences. one has to study not merely the external characteristics of an old book, but the paper, water-mark, type. it is scarcely conceivable that the reprint by pepys of the _order of the hospital of st. bartholomew_, , could be mistaken for the genuine impression; the paper and type alike betray it. a curious and long-lived misapprehension prevails respecting certain works from the press of thomas berthelet, at the foot of the title-pages of which we find the date ; but the latter forms part of the woodcut in which the letterpress is enclosed, and was retained in publications posterior to the year named, and the same is, to a slighter extent, the case with robinson's _reward of wickedness_, where the figures occur at the end within an engraved border employed for other purposes, the particular production by one of the guards set over mary, queen of scots, having probably appeared some years after. chapter xv fluctuations in the value of books--the prices of books comparative--low prices adverse to the sale of books in certain cases--great difficulty in arriving at the market-price of very rare volumes--influence of the atmosphere--reflections on the utility and prudence of collecting--the collector, as a rule, pays for his amusement--the classes which chiefly buy the dearer books--bookselling a speculation--the question of investment--runs on particular kinds of books or particular subjects--quotations of prices realised to be read between the lines--careful consideration of certain problems essential to security of buyers--the bookseller's point of view--books which are wanted, and why--capital publications and universally known authors--tendency to estimate earlier and middle period literature by its literary or artistic qualities--collectors in the future--interest in prices current--some notable figures--the most precious books of all countries--two imperfect copies of chaucer's _canterbury tales_ bring £ --henry viii.'s own copy on vellum of a volume of prayers, , with mss. notes by him and his family--lady elizabeth tirrwhyt's _prayers_, , bound in gold--_book of st. alban's_, , and _chronicles of england_, printed at st. alban's--the _lincoln nosegay_--american buyers and their agents--composition of an average auction-room--an early example of a book-lottery. the fluctuations and revolutions in the mercantile value of old english books present phenomena to our consideration of an instructive and occasionally of a tantalising character. no one has the power to foresee what future changes time may bring forth. it is the fashion with the vendor to force a purchase on his client, because, says he, this book cannot recur for sale, or this class of books is rising; but that is a _façon de parler_, nothing more. we are apt to sigh over the times when unique caxtons could be had--ay, in our grandsires' time--for less than £ . in the sixteenth century twenty pence paid for them. but let us recollect that our estimation of an article depends on its cost so largely. what we acquire cheaply we hold cheaply. should we have heard of many of our great modern collectors had old quotations survived? we have known personally one or two who would not dream of taking a volume at a low price; you had, as it were, to adjust it to their meridian. they failed to perceive how anything could be worth having if it was to be secured for a song. a hundred-dollar author might be barely admissible; a dollar man would be a disgrace to the collection. as regards the strange vicissitudes of the tariff for second-hand books prices, there is an illustrative note from robert scott, the celebrated dealer, to pepys, dated june , , where he offers his customer four books for s., namely:-- campion and others' "history of ireland" harding's "chronicle" sir john pryce's "defensio hist. brit." barclay's "ship of fools" [ ] the value set on the second and fourth items would now, if they were poor copies, be vastly in excess of the figures named by scott; but for the other two a bookseller of the present day might not expect much more than pepys was asked more than two hundred years ago. the anecdotes of bargains picked up from day to day at the present time are plentiful, and (except for the fortunate finder) exasperating enough. but if we go back to a period when there were no auctions, no organised book depôts, no newspapers, no railways and other such facilities, and men lived practically in separate communities, there can be no feeling of astonishment that our own early literature, like that of all other countries, has descended to us in an almost inconceivably shrunk volume. books, and more especially pamphlets and broadsheets, were acquired, and, after perusal, flung away. there were not only no booksellers, in our sense, but down to the seventeenth century no systematic book-buyers. the library, as we understand the term and the thing, is a comparatively modern institution. even the products of the caxton press, very early in the next century, had sunk in commercial value to almost nothing; they were procurable for pence, nor did they acquire any appreciation till the reign of george iii. and the rise of a new school of collectors, amongst whom we have to reckon the king himself. it is not unusual to hear cases of cheap books having been acquired by the normal buyer in the open market. a friend tells you that he has bought such or such a volume of a dealer--perhaps a specialist in that line--a positive bargain; he was not very keen on purchases just at the moment, but he could not resist this. it may be so; but it is exceedingly problematical. if we were to inquire into the facts, one might, nay, one would almost certainly, find that the specialist had secured the item over all competitors at a recent auction, and had added his own profit. if he had not been present, the item would not have brought half. he was deemed rash by his _confrères_ for giving so much. of course there were two in it; but the under-bidder was, maybe, a second private enthusiast, who had gone to the full extent of his ideas or resources. where, then, is the bargain? the more or less artificial quotations at first-class auctions partly arise, no doubt, from the preference of certain private buyers for dispensing with the middle-man in the person of the bookseller. they do not object to employ him as an agent, and often enable him to secure their _desiderata_ against all comers; but they somehow distrust him as an independent valuer of what he may offer over the counter; and this is, we fear, usually attributable to their diffidence of their own judgment and experience. there is a prevailing idea--it may be a prejudice--that in the salerooms an article fetches its worth and no more, and that you save the relative profit. you may or you may not. in the majority of cases, where the actual purchaser has no practical knowledge, and his resources are ample, the saleroom is a dearer market than the shop, if the property offered is that of an eminent person and is of high character; and even in obscurer sales bargains of any moment are only to those who are experts and are on the spot. the prices or market values of the older and rarer books form a debateable ground, on which those interested will probably never arrive at anything approaching unanimity; and the reason or part of the reason seems to be that the actual realised figure depends on so many considerations, of which the mere character of the article put up for sale is not invariably the most influential. there is no species of weather-glass more sensitive than the bibliographical one; it responds to the slightest change in the commercial temperature, and must be carefully watched and studied by all who either seek to sell at a profit or to buy without the risk of serious loss on eventual realisation. two books belonging to the same edition, bound in the same style by the same person, are they not one as good as the other? by no means necessarily so. setting aside the extrinsic features which confer arbitrary value on literary property, one of the copies may have the start of the other, if it is something then in active or general demand; one may occur when the trade has a glut of stock, or has exhausted its credit at the auctioneer's; one may belong to a "genuine" collection, while the other may labour under the suspicion of being "rigged." place them side by side; there does not appear to be sixpence between them, yet under the hammer one lot may fetch twice as much as the other. this, it may be fairly argued, tells against the wisdom and security of laying out money by collectors of moderate resources on such doubtful investments; but look in whatever direction you please, and you will encounter similar phenomena. the buyer of coins, china, pictures, or any other curiosities, meets with an identical experience. immense sums are lost in these recreations by one class to provide livelihoods, and very handsome livelihoods, too, for thousands and tens of thousands year by year. sometimes the amount is not serious to the individual, or he can afford it; occasionally it is otherwise. prices fluctuate, and their fluctuation is apt to be deceptive. it is not merely the article which has to be considered, but the atmosphere in which it was sold. no one can be sure that he has secured a bargain till he sells it. at the beckford sale the thuanus copy of buchanan's _poemata_, , fetched £ ; a year or two later it was offered at £ , and in it occurs in a catalogue at £ . a rare theatrical item in the mackenzie sale produced £ , s. in another in a second copy formed part of a bundle which brought s. at the laing sale beza's _confession of christian faith_, in italian, , said to have been the property of mary queen of scots, was carried to £ . after being kept by the purchaser many years, it realised during the current year £ . the _éclat_ which accompanied these books on their original realisation was absent, or was no more than a tradition. some judged the queen of scots volume very dear even at the lower quotation. we saw it knocked down, and such was our own judgment. these samples we adduce for the advantage of ordinary purchasers of literary property, whose estimation principally depends on its _provenance_. there is an inherent proneness to shrinkage of interest and value in the hands of any one who is not equally celebrated, or is not going to become so. even an approximately accurate appreciation in a commercial sense of books of various classes can only be reached by one who is behind the scenes, who can feel the pulse of the market, and who follows the incessant changes in its temperature and feeling. it is absurd for a simple amateur, who passes his time in a study or an office, to attempt or presume to instruct us on this subject. he knows what he has given for his own library, and what some of his friends have given for theirs, and he reads the accounts in the papers of periodical sales. but it is a widely different affair, when one sets about the task, intrusted to this or that individual by a friendly publisher or editor-general, in a scientific manner; and it is only under such circumstances that one realises, or can render intelligible to others, what prices actually mean and are, how much they depend on perpetually modifying and varying influences, and how little the quotations found in works of reference are to be trusted. the turns of the book-market are as sudden and strange, as delicate and mysterious, as those of a bourse; and the steadfast and keen onlooker alone can keep pace with them--not he always; the wire-pullers are so many. how, then, shall collectors of books, for example, protect themselves? they cannot. it is their diversion, their by-play; their time and thought are engaged elsewhere in business, where it is their turn to reap the fruit of special study and experience, and they hand over a percentage of this to the caterer for their pleasure. the whole world is, in other words, perpetually intent on gathering and distributing; we are, every one of us, buyers and sellers, not of necessaries only, but of luxuries and amusements. coming to the more immediate point, men nowadays, in the presence of a severe and almost homicidal competition for subsistence, have to devote their whole attention to their chosen employment, and have the most limited opportunities of ascertaining or verifying values as submitted to them by experts in the book-market; they have lowndes, which is almost worthless, and _book prices current_, which is, of course, more contemporary, but must be read between the lines; and the extreme difficulty of judging what is worth having, and how much should be given for it, has led to that frequent habit of collectors favouring a particular dealer, or, as an alternative, pursuing a policy highly unpleasant to dealers by acquiring direct from the salerooms. fortunately for booksellers the latter plan does not suit busy men, and it is just that class, especially the merchant and the stockbroker, the solicitor and accountant, who are their best clients. the trade has its sorrows and trials; but it cannot be a very bad one when we see how many live out of it, if they do not often make fortunes. the fact is, that the motives for buying books are almost as infinitely multifarious as the books themselves, and there exists not the volume for which the customer will not arise, if the holder can wait; and this customary incidence accounts for the familiar aphorism that booksellers accumulate stock, not money--an aphorism to which the exceedingly rare exceptions prove the rule. putting it differently, bookselling outside the current literature is a form of speculation which varies according to the class of investment which the stockholder selects; and it is quite necessary to bear in mind the nature and tendency of the business in order to more clearly appreciate the uncertainty of prices, and how utterly impossible it must ever be for any ordinary book-buyer to rely on his purchases as a representation of value. if he does not view the matter in that light, or chooses to let the instruction or pleasure derived from his acquisitions become a set-off against the outlay, it is very well; what he or his heirs get for the property is in that case all profit. we dwell a little on this aspect of the matter, because we are quite aware that in purchasing books many persons look at the ulterior question, and even demand of the vendor how much the article is likely to bring when or if re-sold. such a contingency usually limits itself to cases where a volume is secured for a special and temporary object, or where funds are restricted and the fancy is purely personal. apart from these considerations, there are other influences always at work to render the book-market uncertain and insecure. collectors who have no fixed plan or aim are apt to follow the precedent set by such as have, or are supposed to have, one, and this obviously tends to create a run on particular subjects or authors, till the call is satisfied, or the _coterie_ grows sensible of the inexpediency of proceeding any further. a revolt from a fad naturally gluts the market with the discarded copies, and the latest vendors have to bear the brunt. such is not an occasional incidence, but one continually in progress among a certain _quota_, and a large _quota_, too, of the book-buying public, who let others judge for them, instead of judging for themselves. it cannot be treated as otherwise than an ordinary and reasonable _sequitur_ that prices which are purely artificial are also arbitrary and precarious. the quotations which are to be found in such a publication as _book prices current_ are at best a bare record of facts; but with such a record at his elbow no man who does not possess a fair amount of knowledge and judgment would be safe in his figures. it would be little better than plunging. still less is it of any use to rely on the reports in the press, which are frequently inaccurate, and in nine cases out of ten are the work of inexperienced persons. the careful and discerning observer of these problems (for such they indeed are) discovers that the high prices for books, which the trade is never tired of citing as an encouragement to its connections, are almost invariably associated with conditions which are adventitious or accidental, and which scarcely ever comprise benefit to a living individual. a man must be truly exceptional, phenomenally above suspicion, bedridden with an incurable complaint, to disarm the scepticism of the wary buyer under the hammer; it is the property of the departed which is preferred; for the result cannot help him, and he is not at hand to reserve lots. so recently as , there was an exception to the prevailing rule; but it was one rather in appearance than in reality. we allude to the frere sale at sotheby's. now, we repeat that this was merely an ostensible departure from ordinary experience; and what we mean is that the most valuable portion of the library was that which once belonged to another and antecedent person, sir john fenn, and that these items had been long known to exist, and were _desiderata_ for which public and private collections had hitherto thirsted in vain. no wonder, then, that there was a dead set at them, the living owner _maulgre_. the booksellers are apt to complain nowadays of their inability to move or place items with which they cannot give a certificate of character. it will not always suffice to allege that they have realised a great deal of money heretofore, as vouched by lowndes; they must carry with them some definite recommendation; they must exhibit remarkable allusions; they may be written by an ancestor or namesake of the buyer in view; at all events, if they are not by a good author, they must be on a good subject. their interest must be ( ) personal; ( ) local; or ( ) topical. there is a drift on the part of collectors of the purer type toward accredited and certified securities--toward recognised writers. established character goes for more than mere rarity. the trade can always place fine copies of authors who have made their personality standard: chaucer, spenser, shakespeare, sydney, jonson, milton, butler, swift, thomson, goldsmith, miss burney, dr. johnson, wordsworth, coleridge, sir walter scott, charles lamb, shelley, keats, thackeray, george eliot. if to the more fastidious or self-diffident amateur an excessively rare item is introduced without credentials, it is in danger of being rejected; the same principle applies to certain foreign writers, such as cervantes, montaigne, molière, corneille, la fontaine. but in almost all these cases the demand is not for collected or library editions, or even for first copies of everything coming from the pens of those writers. chaucer has to be served up in the types of caxton or de worde or pynson; spenser is only sought in quarto and octavo; shakespeare means the four folios and certain quartos, and the poems in octavo; the leading aim in sydney is the _arcadia_ of ; jonson is just admissible in folio (the right one), but is preferred in quarto; by milton we mean the _comus_, _lycidas_, _poems_, _paradise lost_ and _paradise regained_ in the original issues. butler is only represented by his _hudibras_; swift by his _gulliver_; defoe by his _crusoe_ (some must have all three volumes, although the first is worth nearly all the money); thomson by the _seasons_; goldsmith by the _vicar of wakefield_; miss burney by one or two of her novels in boards; dr. johnson by his _rasselas_; scott by the _waverley_ series with uncut edges, and so forth. the actual current appreciation of old books seems to be, to a large and increasing extent, in the ratio of their literary or artistic attraction; and under the second head we comprise typography and wood-engraving; and we think that we could establish that, as a rule, the highest bids in modern days are for something of which the reputation or importance, or both, are a matter of tacit acknowledgment and acceptance. a merely _curious_ volume may fetch money; but it must be something beyond that to make the pulse beat more quickly and form a record. two considerations govern and recommend such a course--those of commercial expediency and of space. there is not much probability that in the time to come book-buyers will arise to renew the traditions of the harleian and heber libraries, or even of such vast heterogeneous assemblages of literary monuments as those formed by sir thomas phillipps, james crossley, joseph tasker, gibson-craig, and a few others. the feeling is more in favour of the french view--small and choice; and there is no doubt that, as a rule, the sale of a collection should not occupy more than three days. beyond that time the interest flags and prices are apt to recede. at the same time there has always been, and will be, a powerful curiosity in the direction of knowing or hearing what certain rare or superlatively important books occasionally bring. the feeling is rather more general than might be imagined, for it extends to those who are not collectors, yet like to see how foolish other people are, or, again, store up the information, in case they should have the good fortune to meet with similar things in their travels. when one thinks of the extraordinary casualities which have brought to light undescribed works or editions, and continue to do so year by year, there is no reason to despair of completing ourselves in due course in many and many a direction. the tendency in prices of late has certainly been favourable to books which are at once rare and admittedly important; and we have said that the latter feature and quality appear to be weightier than mere unfrequency of occurrence. for instance, any given number of copies of such comparatively common volumes as the first folio shakespeare, the first _faëry queen_, the first _paradise lost_, herrick, beaumont and fletcher, will present themselves in the market and command steadily advancing figures; it is the same with pope and dryden in a measure, and with some of the more eminent moderns. the literary _éclat_ stimulates the biddings. those works which represent the maximum value during recent years have been:-- (i.) the earliest examples of printing, at all events in book-form; _missæ speciales_, and other smaller books executed by gutenberg previous to , or at all events to the bible ascribed to that date; gutenberg's bible, otherwise known as the mazarin bible, , re-issued by fust and schoeffer in ; the psalters of and , designed for the cathedral and benedictine monastery of mainz respectively; the _chronicles_ of monstrelet on vellum; _lancelot du lac_ on vellum, ; the sarum _missal_, , , ; caxton's two _troy-books_, two _jasons_, _arthur_, _speculum vitæ christi_ and _doctrinal of sapience_ on vellum, _canterbury tales_ and other separate works of chaucer, _paris and vienne_, &c.; _book of st. albans_, , and other works printed there, - ; tyndale's _new testament_, ; coverdale's _bible_, ; boece's _chronicles of scotland_ on vellum, ; the huth ballads; montaigne's _essais_, ; the same in english, , ; spenser's _faëry queen_, - ; constable's _diana_, ; bacon's _essays_, , ; shakespeare's _venus and adonis_, _lucrece_, st quartos, _sonnets_, and the collected _plays_, - . (ii.) shelton's _don quixote_, - ; first editions of daniel, drayton, lodge, watson, barnfield, breton, &c.; milton's _comus_, , _lycidas_, , _paradise lost_, ; walton's _complete angler_, , bunyan's _pilgrim's progress_, , and any other capital or standard authors of the seventeenth century, particularly lovelace, carew, suckling, down to locke's _essay on the human understanding_, which, though a common book, has lately grown a dear one by sheer force of companionship. there seems a disposition to look more indifferently on volumes which have no certificate or passport. secondarily, as in the case of florio's version of montaigne, items are admitted as hangers-on and interpreters of great authors. the last copy of the _faëry queen_, - , offered for sale, an extraordinarily fine one, brought £ , of _robinson crusoe_, £ . the british museum paid for the _book of common prayer_, , a year earlier than any edition so far described, £ . it was obtained by the vendor from a sale at sotheby's, where its liturgical interest was overlooked. the question of prices in all these cases is involved in equal uncertainty and difficulty. the second psalter of brought at the syston park sale £ . mr. quaritch still holds it ( ), and asks £ . the british museum possesses both impressions. this was the highest figure ever reached by a single lot in this country. gutenberg's bible follows, copies on vellum and paper having produced from £ to £ ; the vellum copies are deemed more valuable, but of those issued by gutenberg himself we seem to have only examples on paper. the huth copy of the latter type, from the sykes and h. perkins libraries cost its late owner £ . mr. grenville for his gave £ . as we have already remarked, the book has a tendency to become commoner. the ashburnham fust and schoeffer bible of brought £ ; at the comte de brienne's sale in , where hearne refers to the "vast prices," the earl of oxford gave for the same book £ . the _history of king arthur_, printed by caxton, , for which lord jersey's ancestor gave £ , s. d. about to osborne, was carried at the osterley park sale in to £ , the british museum underbidding; while the _troy-book_ in english from the same press fetched £ ; and at the dispersion of a curious lot of miscellanies, apparently derived from darlaston hall, near stone, staffordshire, an imperfect, but very large and clean, copy of the first edition of the _canterbury tales_, by caxton, was adjudged to mr. quaritch at £ , a second one, by an unparalleled coincidence presenting itself at the same place of sale a few months later, only four leaves wanting, but not so fine, and being knocked down at £ to the same buyer. the asburnham chaucers and other works from the same press were (with one or two exceptions) so poor, that it was surprising that they sold even so well as they did. we descend to relatively moderate quotations when we come to the daniel (now huth) ballads in (£ ); the £ and £ bidden for the caxton's _gower_ at the selsey sale in and the osterley park sale in respectively; the £ paid for the _book of st. albans_, , wanting two leaves, in ; and the £ at which mr. quaritch estimated the _troy-book_ of . the price asked for the original ms. of the _towneley mysteries_ in , £ , strikes one as reasonable by comparison. but amounts which we venture to think unduly extravagant have of late years been obtained at christies's rooms for certain books, such as lady elizabeth tirrwhyt's _prayers_, , bound in gold, and said to have belonged to queen elizabeth ( guineas);[ ] henry viii.'s _prayers_, , printed on vellum,[ ] and enriched with notes by the king, the queen, prince edward, and princess mary ( guineas, as above mentioned); and a third folio shakespeare, - , with both titles, but represented as being almost unique in that state, £ . what a contrast to the old prices! even in our time and memory, the first folio could be had in fine state for £ or £ , the second for £ , s., the third for £ , and the fourth for £ , s. george daniel, we are informed by his representatives, gave about £ for his first shakespeare to william pickering, and mr. corser kept his book in his dining-room at stand rectory among the commoner volumes, although it was a fine copy. a middling set now fetches £ or thereabout. the earlier standard both for english and foreign rarities was undoubtedly much lower. in osborne's catalogue for , the _toledo missal_, described as the scarcest volume in the world, was valued only at £ . in the heber, and even in the bright sale, from £ to £ secured some of the greatest gems in ancient english literature. at the frere auction at sotheby's, , however, the realisation of the fenn books beat every record, considering that the copies were generally so poor; and it was hard indeed to see where the value was in a herbert's ames accompanied by an extra volume of typographical fragments, of which many were mutilated and many were worthless (£ ). the _book of st. albans_, , as it is usually designated, has descended a little from its original rank as a first-class rarity owing to the successive discovery of unknown copies. the romance connected with the acquisition of the grenville one has been more than once printed; but the _chronicles of england_, from the same press, especially on vellum, maintains its reputation for the utmost rarity, although there were two impressions; and the same may be said of the issues by william of mecklin, caxton, and gerard de leeu, all and any of which could not, if complete, fail to command very high prices even on paper. £ for the second edition of the mainz psalter, , appears (as we have observed) to be the largest sum ever paid in this country for a single work; and the vellum copy of the gutenberg bible follows, £ behind; at least at the price of £ it fell to mr. quaritch at the ashburnham sale in . but for the _manesse liederbuch_, a thirteenth-century ms. of national ballads, carried away by the french from heidelberg in , and found among the ashburnham mss., the german government practically paid in £ , . what may be termed a bad second was the duke of hamilton's missal, sold to the german government in for £ , ; but that also belongs to the manuscript class. it must be an absolute truism to state that at the present moment the american is a material factor in influencing the book-market. he is less so, perhaps, in the sort of way in which he assisted the booksellers of a bygone generation in reducing or realising their stocks; but he has come to the front more than ever as a competitor for the prizes. there was a day when countless transatlantic libraries were in course of formation; but they are now fairly complete, and, moreover, they have the means at hand, not formerly available, of filling up the gaps at home. our american kinsfolk have undoubtedly become masters of an almost countless number of bibliographical gems, and have been content to pay handsomely for them. we do not hear of any sensible reflux of old books from the states, but that might happen hereafter under the influence of financial depression. at the same time, there is perhaps nothing on the other side of the atlantic which is not represented in duplicate here, unless it be in an instance or two, as, for example, the perfect caxton _morte arthur_, ; and even those volumes, which are of signal rarity, are almost without exception in repositories accessible to all. returning for a moment to the commercial aspect of our present topic, the transatlantic acquirer at any cost makes the fixture of high, even ridiculous, prices for certain books impossible. beyond the _maximum_ there is a higher _maximum_ still. who would have dreamed of a first edition of burns, although uncut, bringing, as it did just lately (february ) in an edinburgh auction-room, £ , or a sixpenny volume on ploughs by one small, £ , because it bore on the title, _rob^t. burns, poet_, in the great man's own hand, as well as a holograph memorandum attached to flyleaf? in the case of the kilmarnock burns of the sole excuse of the purchaser was its uncut state, for it is a comparatively common book. it was acquired by mr. lamb of dundee, a hotel-keeper, of one mr. braidwood for £ . a second copy in paper covers, also uncut, exists; but the general condition is not so good. there are in london and other english centres, however, american export and commission agents, independently of those houses which make shipments to the states a collateral branch of their business. it has been the cry, ever since we can recollect, that our cousins were draining the old country of its books, and yet the movement continues--continues with this difference, that the americans have now plenty of ordinary stock, and are more anxious to limit their acquisitions to rarities. the number of public and private libraries has become very considerable; the most familiar names are lenox, carter-brown, tower, and pope, the last the purchaser of the _king arthur_ printed by caxton in , and formerly in the harleian and osterley park collections. there is an occasional reflux of exportations, and we should like to hear one day of the _arthur_ being among them. one not very pleasant aspect of american and other plutocratic competition has been to convert most of the _capital_ old english books from literature into _vertu_. what else is it, when two imperfect chaucers bring £ , and a walton's _angler_, £ , and where for the second and third folio shakespeares persons are found willing to give a profit on £ or £ ? the transatlantic buyer, or indeed the buyer at a distance anywhere, has no option in employing an agent on the spot to acquire his _desiderata_, and he is practically in his hands. so long as your representative is competent it is well enough, and on the whole the american agencies in london are, we think, both that and conscientious. but the frequenter of the salerooms cannot fail to note a very unsatisfactory aspect of this business by proxy, where an inexperienced amateur with a well-lined purse employs an almost equally inexperienced person to act on his behalf--that is to say, one who is a bookseller by vocation, but who enjoys no conversance with bibliographical niceties. his principal consequently scores very poorly by buying _wrong_ things at the _right_ prices; but if he is satisfied, who need be otherwise? and his error, if his property is not realised in his lifetime, never comes home to him! nevertheless, to buy with other people's eyes and judgment is not, after all, the best form; all that can be pleaded for it is, that it is the sole resource of the individual who has no time to devote to the practical side, or who, if he has, distrusts his own knowledge; and as everything has its compensation, such are the customers on whom the trade mainly leans. if the amateur expert were to be too much multiplied, the professional bookseller would inevitably be a grave sufferer. those are in the safest hands, perhaps, who are in their own. but in the case of books, as of all analogous property, the next best thing to acting for oneself is to employ a high-class dealer, or, if the line is very special, one who enjoys a reputation for conversance with the particular branch of inquiry. where a collector who does not possess personal knowledge, and takes into his service a bookseller who is not much more informed, or who has not studied certain classes of literature, it is bound to be an exemplification of the blind leading the blind, and one, at all events, unless he has a very long purse, falling into the ditch. under any circumstances, it is unquestionably beneficial to any private buyer to take some pains to arrive at at least a general knowledge of values, as well as of the bearings and extent of the field which he may choose. he should not be a puppet in the hands of his representative, if he can help it. where he cannot, he is apt to buy in one sort of market and to sell in another. not the worst policy is to hand a commission to one's strongest opponent, if he will or can take it. it disarms him. but some firms dislike agency, as the profit, though sure, is often so narrow, particularly where the person employed is a specialist in the line, and would have given for purposes of re-sale in the ordinary way twice or thrice as much as the item fetches, his personal opposition withdrawn. hence it is not unusual among commission-agents at book-sales to charge, not on the price realised, but on the figure given by the client. the latter authorises his representative to bid up to £ for this or that lot; it drops at £ ; the fee for buying it is a percentage, not on the lower, but the higher amount. a commission of £ was given by the present writer for a volume of john leland's tracts; it dropped at s.; his agent charged him s. brokerage. some hand their orders direct to the auctioneer, and this may be done within certain limits; but if the practice becomes too habitual, the dealers retaliate by bidding against the rostrum. "all is fair in love and war." footnotes: [ ] now in the british museum by the munificence of the late sir wollaston franks (department of antiquities). [ ] said to have been purchased for lord amherst. chapter xvi foundations of bibliography--commencement of advertising books through catalogues and lists at end of other publications--classes of literature principally in demand--origin of sales by public competition--a book-lottery in --the book-auction in london makes a beginning--the practice extends to the provinces and scotland ( - )--first sale-catalogue where caxtons were separately lotted ( )--catalogue of a private library appended to a posthumous publication ( )--mystery surrounding the sources whence the harleian library was supplied with its early english rarities--an explanation--indebtedness of the heber collection to private purchasers on a large scale--vast additions to our knowledge since heber's time--the modern auction-marts--penny and other biddings at auctions--an average auction-room--watching the ashburnham sale--the collector behind the scenes--key to certain prices--the frost and the boom--difficulty of gauging quotations without practical experience--the _court of appeal_--the duke of wellington pays £ for a shilling pamphlet--a few more words about the frere sale in illustration of the boom and something else--the rig. the earliest method of communication between holders and vendors of books and probable buyers of them related to the issue of new works, or, at most, to such as were not out of date. maunsell's celebrated folio, of which he was not apparently encouraged to proceed with more than certain sections, and which did not comprise the subjects most interesting to us, came out in in two parts, and was, notwithstanding its imperfect fulfilment, the most comprehensive enterprise of the kind in our language down to comparatively recent times. these matters usually took the form of notices, accompanying a published volume, of others already in print or in preparation by the same firm. no possessor or observer of old english books can fail to have met with such advertisements; but, as we have said, they limit themselves, as a rule, to current literature and the ventures of the immediate stationer or printer. to some copies of marmion's _antiquary_, , we find attached a slip containing an announcement by thomas dring of old plays on sale by him at the white lion in chancery lane, and inserted posterior to the issue of this particular drama, which does not bear dring's name; and we all know the list of dramatic performances appended to _tom tyler and his wife_, , and probably emanating from kirkman the bookseller, where we discern items belonging to an earlier period--of some of which we know nothing further. this catalogue, the material for which kirkman had personally brought together by the expenditure of considerable time and labour, was re-issued in , and from about that time clavell and other members of the trade circulated periodical accounts of all the novelties of the season, but almost entirely in those classes which seem to have then appealed to the public: law, science, and divinity--just the sections with which maunsell in began and ended. the absence of the machinery supplied by the auction long necessitated a practice which not only survived sales by inch of candle and under the hammer, but which still prevails, of disposing of libraries and small collections _en bloc_ to the trade, and the dedication by the particular buyer of a serial catalogue to his purchase. executors and others long possessed no other means of realisation; the harleian printed books were thus dispersed; and even those of heber, almost within our own memory, engrossed the resources of two or three firms of salesmen. the conditions under which a library was accumulated in former days were not less different than those under which it passed into other hands; the possibilities of profit were infinitesimal; a heavy loss was almost a certainty. but then men bought more generally for the mere love of the objects or for purposes of study. the speculative element had yet to arise. evelyn, in his famous letter to pepys, august , , speaks of lord maitland's library as certainly the noblest, most substantial, and accomplished, that ever passed _under the spear_. this was within two decades or so of the commencement of the system of selling literary effects by auction. we are aware that in the bristol records of the fourteenth century the trumpet, introduced from france, is mentioned as a medium for the realisation of property in the same way; and there was the much later _inch-of-candle_ principle--a perhaps unconscious loan from king alfred's alleged time-candles, which are referred to by his biographer asser--a work suspected of being unauthentic, yet on that account may have none the less suggested the idea to some one. abroad the _trumpet_ or the _cry_ appear among the commercial states of the middle ages to have been the usual forms. in the particulars of a sale of galleys by auction at venice in ,[ ] the property was cried beforehand on behalf of the government, and the buyer, till he paid the price reached, furnished a surety. this process was known as the _incanto_; and it is curious enough that in the sale-catalogue of francis hawes, esq., a south sea company director, in , the goods are said to be on sale _by cant_ or auction. but the modern italian still speaks of an auction as an _asta_ (the roman _hasta_). some of these types are illustrated by lacroix in his _moeurs et usages_. in france they anciently had the bell and the crier (the roman _præco_). in london, firms of commercial brokers long continued to hold their sales of goods by inch of candle; but the roman practice seems to have survived down to comparatively modern days in spain and portugal, if not in france and italy. in , junius rabirius, a french jurist, published at paris, with a metrical inscription to henry ii. of france, a latin treatise on the origin of _hastæ and auctions_, in which he enters at some length into the system pursued by the ancients, and still retained in the sixteenth century by the latin communities of europe. this is probably the earliest monograph which we possess on the present branch of the subject. it is a tolerably dull and uninforming one. some of us are aware by practical experience how deplorably tedious a normal modern auction under the hammer is, although it extends only at the utmost from one to five or six in the afternoon. but, like some of the continental sales of to-day, the old-fashioned affair spread, with a break for refreshment, over twice the space of time, and was conducted, previous to the introduction of the hammer, by _inch of candle_. this system was somewhat less inconvenient than it at first sight strikes us as being, since the property was lotted to a much larger extent in parcels and bundles, and the biddings were apt to be comparatively fewer. another way of saying that the early auction appealed less to private than to professional buyers, and not merely in that, but in every aspect. the same remark still applies to the dispersion of all miscellaneous collections of secondary importance, unless an amateur chooses to compete for a dozen articles, which he does not want, for the sake of one, which he does. the steadily accumulating volume of literary production in the seventeenth century inspired two successive movements, which we regard to-day as peremptory necessities and matters of course, but which, so long as books were scarcer, and the demand for them correspondingly restricted, failed to strike any one as likely to prove popular and advantageous. these movements were the second-hand department and the auction-room. it is a sufficiently familiar fact that during the reign of charles ii. both sprang into existence, although among the hollanders the usage of putting up books to public competition had commenced three-quarters of a century prior; but in there do not appear to have been any facilities for disposing of libraries or collections, as in that year john ogilby, the historian, arranged to sell his books--the remainder of his own publications--through the medium of a lottery. it was within a very brief interval, however, that the sale by auction is shown to have become an accomplished fact. the earliest of which an actual catalogue has come down to us is that of dr. lazarus seaman, sold by cooper in ; but there were in all probability anterior experiments, and side by side with the auctioneer grew up the professional ancestor of the thorpes and the rodds--the men who supplied burton, drummond, evelyn, pepys, selden, and many more, with the rarities which are yet associated with their names. the system of selling under the hammer in its various stages of development and different ramifications is not an unimportant factor in our modern social and commercial life; it did not require many years from its introduction into the metropolis to recommend it to the provinces and to scotland; and we possess catalogues of libraries or properties dispersed in this manner at leeds, sheffield, nottingham, cambridge, edinburgh, and elsewhere in the last quarter of the last but one century; and in one case at least of this kind of property being offered at a fair.[ ] occasionally, as in the case of secondary smith, , a precocious feeling for the early english school reveals itself; but, for the most part, the articles accentuated by the old-fashioned auctioneer are foreign classics, history, and theology--the literary wares, in fact, in vogue. annexed to the _memoirs of thomas_ (or _tom_) _brown_, , is a very unusual feature--a catalogue of his library. within about five-and-twenty years of the supposed starting-point of the auction, the modern practice of the london auctioneer being engaged to conduct sales in the country, even in important provincial towns, seems to have fairly commenced, for in edward millington of little britain sold at cambridge the library of dr. cornwall of clapton in northamptonshire. in the preliminary matter attached to the catalogue, millington remarks that "he always esteems it a privilege to exercise his lungs amongst his friends." a glimpse of the method of collecting by the hon. john north, one of the sons of lord north of kirtling, and born in , is afforded by his brother and biographer, roger north, who says that he gradually accumulated, commencing about , a large collection of books, principally greek, and generally bought them himself, spending much time in company with his relation in booksellers' shops, and not objecting to possess duplicates, if other copies in better condition were found or were presented to him by friends. mr. north flourished during the halcyon days of the classics. the literature of his own country probably interested him little. north, however, was so far a true book-lover, inasmuch as he sought what pleased himself. it affords a pleasanter impression of the pursuit when one perceives individuals of all ranks and callings buying themselves personally, either at the book-shop or the saleroom, in the selection of their periodical acquisitions. the marked copies of the older auction catalogues are distinguished by the names of some of our most eminent collectors, but at present gentlemen prefer to give their commissions to their booksellers from want of leisure or other motives. i have alluded to the sale by auction of dr. seaman's library in , which took place at his house in warwick court, warwick lane. the address to the reader, presumably by cooper, commences:-- "it hath not been usual here in england to make sale of books by way of auction, or who will give most for them: but it having been practised in other countreys to the advantage both of buyers and sellers; it was therefore conceived (for the encouragement of learning) to publish the sale of these books this manner of way." the catalogue is not divided into days, but the fifth condition says, "that the auction will begin the st of october, punctually at nine of the clock in the morning, and two in the afternoon, and this to continue daily until all the books be sold; wherefore it is desired, that the gentlemen, or those deputed by them, may be there precisely the hours appointed, lest they should miss the opportunity of buying those books, which either themselves or their friends desire." in thomas parkhurst, in offering for sale the libraries of several eminent men, announces that the catalogues might be had _gratis_ at the bible on london bridge (his place of business as a bookseller), and he takes occasion to introduce (perhaps for the first time) that courageous form of statement so popular to this day among the fraternity as to the collection being the finest ever sold or to be sold, and the opportunity by consequence being one which would never probably recur. but the present writer does not enter minutely into this branch of the subject, which mr. lawler has made his own. it has always been, and must always remain, a mystery whence the harleian exemplars of a large number of unique or almost unique volumes belonging to the early vernacular literature of great britain were obtained. in some cases they are traceable to anterior owners and catalogues; but a considerable residue first come to the front here, and the explanation seems to be that the practice of registering unregarded trifles, as they were then deemed to be, in large parcels was necessarily fatal to individuality and to the survival of clues. to a certain extent the same disappointment awaits us in more recent days, till, in fact, the demand for old poetry, romances, and plays made the few extant copies objects of interest to the trade sufficient to entitle them to prominence in their lists and in those published by the auctioneers. it may have been the catalogue of joseph ames, , which was among the earliest to raise such items to the dignity of separate lots, thought by the purchasers at the time worth a shilling or two; but the noted sale of mr. west in is entitled to rank as the foremost in those days, where the books and tracts, long since discovered to be represented by one or two accidental survivors, and grown dearer than gold a hundredfold, began to draw figures indicative of increased curiosity and appreciation. the most eminent of the earlier race of auctioneers in london, who confined their attention to properties belonging to the fine arts, were william cooper, a man of considerable literary taste and culture, whom we have seen disposing of dr. seaman's books in ; edward millington, robert scott, and john dunton, of whom we know more than of his predecessors and contemporaries through his publications, and especially his _life and errors_. commercial rivalry and jealousy arose among the members of the fraternity before the institution had grown at all old, and complaints were also made against gentlemen-bidders. in the preface to the catalogue of a french library, where he takes occasion to animadvert severely on his contemporary and confrère scott, millington refers to the third condition of sale, requiring all buyers to give in their place of abode, "to prevent the inconveniences that have more or less hitherto attended the undertakers, and also the purchasers, by reason that several persons, out of vanity and ostentation, have appeared and bought, to the damage and disappointment of the parties they outbid, and have not been so kind to their own reputation, or just to the proprietors, as to pay for and fetch them away." this was in . it seems to have been a considerable time after the first institution of the auction before a fixed place of business was appointed for the sale of literary and artistic properties consigned to a particular party for realisation. we find taverns and coffee-houses much in request for this purpose during the former half of the last century. the library of printed books and mss. belonging to thomas britton, "small-coal man," were sold about at tom's coffee-house, and about the same date portions of thomas rawlinson's stupendous collections, of which the dispersion extended over a dozen years, came to the hammer at the paul's head tavern in carter lane. it is improbable that any early auction catalogue of consequence has disappeared, and looking at those which we have, say, from the outset to , we at once perceive the comparatively limited business transacted in this direction during a lengthened term of years, and the numerous instances where a not very considerable catalogue embraces three or four properties. collections were, as a rule, made on a smaller scale prior to the harley epoch. the practice of publishing booksellers' and auctioneers' catalogues, rudimentary as it was at the outset, succeeded by the more systematic descriptive accounts of public and private collections, gradually extended the knowledge of the surviving volumes of early literature, and laid the foundation of a national bibliography. we shall probably never fully learn our amount of obliged indebtedness to richard heber, who in his own person, from about to , consolidated and concentrated an immense preponderance of the acquisitions of anterior collectors, and with them gained innumerable treasures, which came to him through other channels. his marvellous catalogue must have proved a revelation at the time, and to-day it is a work of reference at once instructive and agreeable. what must strike any one who has attentively considered the heber library, even if it is not a case of having had the catalogue at his elbow, as i have, in a manner, all his life, is the presence there of so large a number of items of which no trace occurs in earlier lists, and of which no duplicates have since presented themselves. it is perfectly marvellous how heber accumulated the vast bibliographical treasures brought to light, and of which his catalogue is the record achievement; he must have been not only indefatigable in his own person, but must have furnished encouragement to many others, who met with rare books, to afford him the first refusal. on the other hand, hundreds of early english books and tracts which this indefatigable and munificent of collectors never succeeded in obtaining, items and authors whose titles and names were hitherto utterly unknown, have within the last two generations come piecemeal into the market, to delight alike, yet in a different way, the bibliographer and the amateur. the accidental and almost miraculous survival of literary relics of past ages is curious on account of the purely casual manner in which they present themselves from season to season, as well as from the strange hands in which many of them are found--often persons of obscure character and in humble life, who have one, two, or half-a-dozen books of which all had somehow eluded the researches of every collector. cases are known in which a single article has come to light in this manner, a unique publication of the plantagenet or tudor era, maybe in sorry state, maybe just as it left the press two or three centuries ago, but anyhow a monument and a revelation. the almost exclusive sources of intelligence on these questions are the correspondence of the period, a portion of which is printed in the volumes of devoted to aubrey's collections, and another in nichols's _anecdotes_. there we perceive that lord oxford was indebted for many rarities to john bagford and other private purveyors of printed books as well as mss. in a letter of to hearne, his lordship mentions his impression that he had forty-two caxtons at that date. he seems to have possessed seventy-three examples of wynkyn de worde.[ ] with respect to some of the college libraries at oxford, cambridge, and even dublin, it is easier to arrive at the facts, so far as they go, or, in other words, many of the rare and important acquisitions of those institutions came to them at a period anterior to what may be termed the bibliographical era, and were often contemporary gifts from the authors of the volumes or from early owners of them. the value of the auction became manifest at a comparatively early date, when a clear demand for certain descriptions of literary property had set in, particularly when the formation of the harleian library was in progress. in the representatives of sir julius cæsar, master of the rolls under james i., proposed to sell his mss., and eventually negotiated with a cheesemonger, who offered £ for the collection as waste paper. paterson, the auctioneer, fortunately heard of the affair, dissuaded the family from it, and prepared a careful catalogue of the articles, by which he realised to the owners £ . take another case. in the wolfrestons decided on parting with a lot of old books and pamphlets which an ancestor had collected under the stuarts, or even earlier, and would, as one of them informed us, have gladly accepted £ for the whole. but they were sent to sotheby's, and realised £ . on the other hand, instances are by no means unknown, in spite of what the auctioneers may assert, where it has suited a bookseller to give for a library or a parcel of books a sum at all events sufficient to tempt the owner, who has always before his eyes, in the case of a sale under the hammer, a variety of risks and draw-backs, which an immediate cheque, even for a lower amount, at once removes. after all, the book-lover must, as a rule, be satisfied with the pleasure attendant on temporary possession. of the houses which lend themselves in our own day, and have done so during the last hundred or hundred and fifty years, to the incessant redistribution of literary acquisitions, and have gradually reduced an originally rather rudimentary principle to a sort of fine art, so much has been written by a succession of gentlemen interested in these specialities that we could hardly add much that was new, or treat this aspect of the topic without repeating others or ourselves. a point which merits a passing mention, however, is the history of the bidding at these scenes of competition. it has been remarked as a singular circumstance that in the seventeenth century penny biddings were usual; but it was the silver penny of those days, and we have to remember the higher purchasing value of money. twopenny and threepenny advances succeeded, and although these have long ceased in london, they yet survive in the provinces, where the lots are less important. some of the principal houses now decline even sixpence, a shilling being the _minimum_ offer entertained. the twopenny bidding still prevailed in , as a priced copy of the sale catalogue of robert gray, m.d.,[ ] shows. an offer of threepence is still not unknown in the provinces, as we have intimated above in our notice of an episode in lincolnshire--not the spalding one, but a second about the same point of time. one of the not least interesting and curious aspects of the auction system is the diversity of motives inducing owners to part with their property. a study of the title-pages or covers of catalogues admits us ostensibly to the confidence of this or that collector. we should not otherwise become aware that some fairly obscure gentleman or lady was leaving his or her actual abode, that balbus was changing the character of his library, that his friend so-and-so, owing to a failure of health, had found it necessary to settle in a more genial climate, or that "a well-known amateur," of whom we never heard before, was selling his duplicates. what does it signify? literary acquisitions, in common with everything else, are constantly passing from one hand to another. of course, if the last proprietor is deceased, if it is an executor's affair, it is just as well to mention the fact, as it places the operation on a clearer footing, and there is little, if any, suspicion of nursing; but with ordinary lots of books, where the party or parties interested may be living, it seems preferable to describe the objects of competition purely and simply as so many items for sale. the reason for the step is immaterial, more especially as there is a proneness to receive the one tendered, if not with indifference, with incredulity. a singular entry in one of the sale catalogues of edward jeffery, of warwick street, golden square, under , is a property described as "the _lounging_ books of a gentleman," in the near vicinity of which we come across "the parliamentary and constitutional library of a man of fashion." of course, where a famous or capital assemblage of literary treasures is for sale, it is quite proper and expedient on every account to connect with it the name on which it confers, and which may even confer on it, distinction. but it is different when mr. jones is changing his lines, or mr. brown is removing into the country or out of it, or the executors of the late mr. robinson have given instructions for the submission of his effects to the hammer. _qu'importe?_ who cares? the composition of an average auction-room, where the property is miscellaneous, is a curious and not unedifying study. one beholds a large, closely-packed room, where the atmosphere is not too salubrious, and yet the names which the auctioneer proclaims as those of the buyers are not numerous, are not even in all cases the names of persons present. the reason is that booksellers or their representatives often attend sales for the sake of watching the market or of noting the prices, and are on the spot when a lot occurs which suits them, or for which they have a commission. it is not perhaps too much to say that if the company should be reduced by per cent. the quotations would remain unaltered, for a certain proportion are dummies beyond a moderate figure, and a certain proportion never open their mouths. the latter are spectators, or proprietors, or individuals whose biddings are given from the rostrum by proxy. an experienced dealer will probably guess for whom the salesman or his clerk is acting, and will be guided by such a hint in his own course of proceeding. where the goods on sale are of a prevailingly low standard, the scene varies in compliance with the circumstances, and the purchasers' names in the priced catalogue are almost without exception the names of booksellers, who make their account by going in for heavy lots and rough stuff--an excellent vocation thirty years ago, but now a fairly forlorn hope and quest. the bargain is no longer to the man who can buy for a shilling and sell for a pound, but to him who has the courage and means to buy for fifty pounds what he can sell for five times fifty by virtue of his knowledge and connection. to watch carefully and studiously a big sale such as that of the ashburnham library, of which two out of three portions are now scattered, is a bibliographical, if not a commercial, education in little. we attended in person throughout, and observed with interest and profit the curious working, unappreciable to those not practically versed in books, and acquainted with the result only through paragraphs in the newspapers. a spectator with some preparatory training could see how and why certain lots fetched such and such abnormal figures; and a leading agency in this direction was the unfortunate employment--unfortunate for himself, not for the owner or the auctioneer--by a leading buyer of an agent who had to win his purchases from men stronger than himself. thus the caxton's _jason_, instead of bringing perhaps £ , ran up to more than twice that sum, while, if it was re-sold under different conditions, it might not even reach the lower amount. still more striking were the offers for such things as the first english edition of more's _utopia_ (£ ), a volume which has repeatedly sold for a couple of guineas; while, on the other hand, a handsomely bound copy of bourrienne's _memoires_ in ten volumes went for s., and other ordinary works in proportion. the names in the booksellers' ledgers and in the auctioneers' catalogues as buyers of old or scarce literature are not by any means necessarily always the names of collectors. they are often those of middlemen, through whose hands a volume passes before it reaches its ultimate destination--passes in many cases from one of these channels to another. this is, of course, another mode of saying that the number of actual book-holders on their own permanent account is comparatively limited, and so it is. a call on the part of two or three persons for a particular class of work or subject immediately puts the whole trade on its mettle; everything directly or indirectly connected with the new topic is bought up or competed for with extraordinary and abrupt eagerness; the entire fraternity is bent on supplying the latest demand; and prices rise with proportionate rapidity to an extravagant height. the market consists of a couple or trio of individuals, who might be insensible to the excitement which they have occasioned if it were not for the offers from all sides which pour in upon them from day to day; and in a season or so it is all over; quotations are as before; and the running is on something different. books of emblems, catholic literature, gardening and agriculture, occult sciences, early poetry, old plays, americana, bewick, cruikshank, the modern novelists, have all had their day. but the cry and the want are largely artificial. the customers are few; the caterers are many. such a criticism applies only to the rarer and costlier _desiderata_. the characteristics and frequent surprises of auction figures largely proceed from the pressure brought to bear from without by bidders who are in the background, who often possess slight bibliographical knowledge, and whose resources enable them to furnish their representatives with generous instructions. these competitors are usually restricted to prominent sales, where the capital items are numerous, and the name of the proprietor is that of a departed celebrity, or at all events, where certain copies, whether of manuscripts or printed books, are submitted to public competition after a lengthened period of detention in the hands of the late holder. the ashburnham sale (now completed) afforded abundant proof of the influence on the market of a collector who began to form his library before many of us were born, and who succeeded not only in securing many treasures at present almost beyond reach, but in doing so at fairly moderate prices. but even when the late lord ashburnham went to what was in his time considered an extreme figure, he or his estate generally gained. for example, his _parzival and titurell_, , which cost mr. quaritch £ , and was sold to his lordship for £ or less (lord ashburnham did not object to a discount), was reacquired by the former for £ , and the set of walton's _angler_, which is understood to have cost £ , realised four times that amount. the auction mart, where literary property of all kinds changes hands, possesses its slang vocabulary, and knows alike the _frost_ and the _boom_--not to mention the _fluke_. in the notices which occur in the press the public sees only one side, only the high quotations. the public are of course, as a rule, destitute of bibliographical knowledge, and so is the normal journalist. he marches into the room after some sale, asks for the priced catalogue, scans the pages, and makes notes of the highest figures, which are as often as not misprinted by him in the organ by which he is employed. he does not say that a lot which was worth £ went for £ , or that one which would usually fetch £ , brought £ by reason of some mentioned technicality, because he does not know. a man who has devoted his life to the study of books and prices is aware that there are occasions when very ordinary property realises silly prices, and that there are others when the rarest and most valuable articles are given away. sometimes, again, the company is not _unanimous_ enough, and a sovereign's worth may go for more than a sovereign, or, if there is perfect friendship among those present, a first folio shakespeare may drop at a dozen pounds; but then there is, you know, _the court of appeal_, which reassesses the amount to be finally paid. not invariably. we have our very selves not so long since, on a hot saturday afternoon, sat at the auctioneer's table, and made nearly a clean sweep of a library of old english plays, where the maximum bid was eighteen pence, and there was a buzz through the room when one, no better than the rest, was accidentally carried to s. but to the artificial inflation of prices in our salerooms there is more than one side and one key. there was not so long since an instance at christie's, and a second at sotheby's, where the high quotations were entirely due to the competition of a so-called interloper, who bade, as he thought, on the judgment of the room, and was signally handicapped. again, something has ere now been carried to a prodigious figure owing to an unlimited commission inadvertently given to two agents. the old duke of wellington once gave £ in this way for a shilling pamphlet, and even then the bidding was only stopped by arrangement. however, of all the miraculous surprises, the most signal on record was one of the most recent--the frere sale at sotheby's in , already alluded to, where the prices realised for books in very secondary preservation set all records and precedents at thorough defiance. the phenomenon, if it could be referred to any cause, arose from the peculiar atmosphere and surroundings; it was a _bonâ fide_ old library, formed partly by the freres of roydon hall, norfolk, and partly by their relative sir john fenn, editor of the _paston letters_, and a rather noted antiquary of the eighteenth century. it was all straight and fair, so far as one could see; there was no "rigging," and the competition was simply insane. a portion of the paston correspondence struck us as cheap by comparison at £ ; it was that which was offered at christie's some time since, and bought in at about the same figure. there were one or two singular errors in the catalogue. an elizabethan edition of sir john mandeville's travels was ascribed to and the press of wynkyn de worde, and the tylney psalter, belonging to the fifteenth century, was stated in a note by a former possessor to be of the age of richard coeur de lion. one of the most unaccountable blunders in an auctioneer's catalogue which we can call to mind was the description of a sarum service book as a grammatical treatise. but solecisms of various kinds are periodical. a german book is said to be printed at gedruckt, and a copy of sir john mandeville in italian is entered as _questo_, that being its compiler's frugal method of giving the title (_questo e il libro_). one striking feature in the frere sale was that it was only a part of the library, and that not the part which the auctioneers' representative saw at roydon. some further instalments occurred at another saleroom a few months later; and perhaps there is yet more to come. but in a bibliographical respect the dispersion proved of interest, as many of the items, formerly sir john fenn's, had remained imperfectly known and described; and it was not absolutely certain that they survived. an element in the modern auctions which is patent to all fairly conversant with such _mysteria_, and has become one not less indispensable than normal, is what is commonly known as the _rig_. a rig is a sale which departs or declines from the strict line of _bona fides_ so far as not to be precisely what the forefront of the catalogue avouches it, and by one or two houses it is discountenanced. nevertheless it exists, and will continue from the nature of things to do so; and we observe in the very opening decade of auctions, in the very infancy of the system, a trace or germ of this commencing impurity or abuse. for some of the catalogues, so far back as , purport to register within their covers the libraries of certain noblemen or gentleman "and others" (_aliorumque_, in the latin diction then so much in favour), and so it has been ever since. when we go to the rooms and lift up our voices, we do not always know whose property we are trying to secure; nor, if our own judgment is worth anything, does it greatly signify. footnotes: [ ] hazlitt's _venice_, , iv. . [ ] the library of james chamberlain, sold at stourbridge fair in . [ ] see _catalogue of early english miscellanies formerly in the harleian library_, by w. c. hazlitt, . [ ] see besides, _hazlitt's memoirs_, , chaps. vii, viii, ix; and hazlitt's _confessions of a collector_, , p. _et seq._ additional notes p. . of the public collections in england, those of humphrey, duke of gloucester, at oxford, of which very little remains, and of sir john gyllarde, prior of the calendaries' gild in bristol (founded before ), appear to be the pioneers. for the latter the bishop of worcester is said to have provided, in , a receptacle or building; but the collection was destroyed by fire in . p. . _illuminated mss._--a great store of information is capable of being collected on the subject of the embellishing and finishing processes which mss. underwent when the scribe had done his part. among the paston letters occurs a bill from thomas (the) limner of bury st. edmunds to sir john howard, afterward duke of norfolk, in , for illuminating several books, and we have also one of antoine verard of paris, "enlumineur du roy," in for similar work executed for the comte d'angoulême by artists in the printer's employment. p. . _circulating libraries._--there was a library of this class at dunfermline in and at edinburgh in . when benjamin franklin came to london, there was nothing of the kind. a bookseller named wright established one about , and it was kept up by his successors. sion college was limited in its lending range to the london clergy. p. . add the le stranges of hunstanton to the east anglian collectors. p. . _kent as a hunting-ground for books in old days._--flockton of canterbury it was who once sold marlowe's _dido_, , for s. he was a contemporary of william hutton, the birmingham bookseller. this may have been the very copy which formerly belonged to henry oxinden of barham, near canterbury, and passed in succession into the hands of isaac reed, george steevens, the duke of roxburghe, sir egerton brydges, and mr. heber. the price charged by flockton, however, was fairly extravagant in comparison with that given by john henderson, the actor, for the copy which subsequently belonged to j. p. kemble and the duke of devonshire--fourpence--probably the original published price. p. . _bristol houses._--add _strong_. strong's catalogues for - are now before me, and describe , items. no such stock has been kept at bristol since. jefferies had in former days some very remarkable books on sale--caxtons included; and kerslake and george could shew you volumes worth your notice and money, whoever you might be. now, alas! you have to leave the city as empty as you entered it. p. . _loss of old books._--the fate of a heavy percentage of our earlier books--of the earlier books of every people--is curiously and mournfully readable in the illiterate bucolic scrawls, doing duty for autographs and inscriptions, which tell, only too plainly, how such property slowly but surely passed out of sight and existence. p. . _old libraries._--add fraser of lovat, boswell of auchinleck, and fountaine of narford. p. . _rolls of book-collectors._--rather say names. p. . _spoliation of libraries._--a precious volume of early english tracts was not very long since offered at an auction, which had been stolen from peterborough cathedral, and another, which constituted one of the chief treasures of sion college. p. . the bulk of the books of mr. samuel sandars were left to the university library, cambridge, which has since acquired those of the late lord acton. p. . _lincoln cathedral library._--besides the honeywood books sold to dibdin, the dean and chapter have suffered others to stray from their homes. a notice is before me of one, a large folio on vellum, containing tracts of a theological complexion, chiefly by an oxford doctor, robert of leicester, which was presented, as a coeval inscription apprises us, by thomas driffield, formerly chancellor of the diocese, in to the new library of the cathedral. p. . _provincial libraries._--of the books at bamborough castle, a catalogue was printed at durham in . some of the books at york minster appear to have been gifts from archbishop mathews. at colchester they are fortunate in possessing the library of archbishop harsnet. p. . marlowe's _edward ii._, .--possibly obtained by the landgraf of hesse during his visit to london in . this is mentioned by me in my _shakespear monograph_, . p. . _private libraries._--in the case of private collections, we have to distinguish between those of an ancestral character, insensibly accumulated from generation to generation without any fixed or preconcerted plan, and such as have been formed by or for wealthy individuals in the course of a single life, if not of a few years, on some general principle, with or without an eye to cost. under either of these conditions the motive is usually personal, and the ultimate transfer in some instances to a public institution an accident or afterthought. p. . _harleian library._--the taste of the harley family for books dated from the time of charles i. sir robert harley, of brampton castle, is credited with the possession of "an extraordinary library of manuscript and printed books, which had been collected from one descent to another." the house was besieged and burned in , and these literary and bibliographical treasures probably perished with it. but his grandson, the first earl of oxford, restored the library; and we all know that the second earl, who survived till , elevated it to the rank of the first private collection in england, while he unconsciously sacrificed it to the incidence of a languid and falling market. p. . mr. william henry miller of craigentinny was originally a solicitor in edinburgh. p. . _books of emblems._--besides those described is the translation executed by thomas combe, and licensed in , of the _théâtre des bons engins_ of guillaume de la perriere, of which no perfect copy of any edition had been seen till the writer met with one of among the burton-constable books. p. . _books appreciable on special grounds._--among these are--pennant's _tour in scotland_, , and white's _selborne_, . everybody is aware that there are better works on scotland than pennant's, and better accounts of birds, those of selborne included, than white's. but we desire the two heirlooms, as their authors left them, pure and simple. we prefer not to have to disentangle the two pieces of eighteenth century workmanship from the editorial and artistic improvements which have overlaid them. a much-edited writer becomes a partner in a limited company without a vote. his pages are converted by degrees into an arena where others commend him above his deserts, or what might have been his wishes, while here and there he finds a commentator, whose aim is to convince you how superior a job he would have made of it had it been left to him. p. . _translations._--it is remarkable that aulus gellius makes the same complaint as is embodied in the text, about the lame versions of latin writers from the greek. p. . howell's _new sonnets and pretty pamphlets_.--the huth fragment seems as if it would complete the unique, but imperfect, capell copy. p. . _a hundred merry tales._--besides the huth mutilated copy and the göttingen complete one (of ) there is a fragment at the birthplace museum, stratford. i saw it there, but did not note to what impression it belonged. p. . _four sons of aymon_, .--a fine copy is offered at s. in a catalogue about . of the _famous history of the vertuous and godly woman judith_, , all that is so far discoverable is that it is a translation in english metre by edward jenynges. a title-page, preserved among ames's collections at the british museum, is copied by me in _bibl. coll._, , pp. - . p. . _destruction of books._--untold numbers of volumes have also been sacrificed to the accumulation of material on special lines. tons of the _annual register_, _gentleman's magazine_, _notes and queries_, and the like, have been lost, if it be a loss, in this way. a few pages, maybe, are all that survive of a book, and when the library of the specialist is sold, the rest shares the same fate at the hands of an unsympathetic purchaser. p. . _unique copies._--the play of _orestes_, , came to light at plymouth about forty years ago with an equally unique issue of one of drayton's pieces. of such things the present writer has met in the course of a lengthened career with treasures which would make a small library, and has beheld no duplicates. p. . _fragments._--the fragment has within the last twenty or thirty years come into surprising evidence, and in my latest instalment of _bibliographical notes_, , i have been enabled to supply numerous deficiencies in existing records even of modern date from a variety of sources not ostensibly connected with bagford, fenn, or any other culprit of this type, shewing that the process of disappearance was in universal operation, and that mere chance arrested it here and there just in the nick of time. p. . _capital books._--it is perhaps not unfair to add that although milton's _poems_, , is not a rare book, it is eminently so in an irreproachable state, to say nothing of such a copy as the bodleian one presented by the poet himself, which one of the earlier officials, a dr. hudson, thought might be thrown away without detriment to the library. p. . _early prices of binding._--the books or pamphlets issued at one penny, that is, a silver penny of the day, were usually stitched or sewn. the edition of the _book of common prayer_, , was sold, bound in parchment, at s. d., and in leather, paper boards, or clasps, at s. but in the next impression, it being in contemplation to suppress certain matter, the price was to be reduced in proportion. p. . there has been recently added to cohen's work a companion one on the french illustrated literature of the nineteenth century. books like bewick's _birds and quadrupeds_, and indeed all works of the modern side in request, are best liked in the original boards with labels inviolate. p. . _cloister life of charles v._--the keir illustrated copy was long at leighton's in brewer street, while the late sir w. stirling-maxwell was known as mr. stirling. p. . _henry viii., prayers_, .--this exists in later impressions in english, and of the date in latin. p. . _special copies._--to the list given may be added the extraordinary volume of tracts formerly in the possession of edmund spenser and gabriel harvey, a ms. note in which throws an entirely new light on the earlier life of spenser, as first pointed out by me after my purchase of the book at an auction, where its importance was overlooked. p. . _shakespear's copy of florio's montaigne_, .--in my _monograph on shakespear_, , i have adduced new evidence in support of the authenticity of this and other signatures of the poet. p. . _books with mss. notes._--there is yet another category of remains among the older literature of all countries, and it is that, in which an acknowledged judge or master of a subject, though himself perhaps a person of no peculiar celebrity, has rendered a copy of some book the medium for preserving for future use matter overlooked by the author or editor or correcting serious errors, and the lapse of time exercises its influence in the appreciation of such _adversaria_. a living scholar may be capable of going far beyond his predecessors in enriching margins and flyleaves; but there is the caveat that he is our contemporary. the privilege of the grave appertains to the man who laid down his pen ever so long ago. we may know much more than langbaine or oldys about the drama, and than johnson or malone about shakespear; yet, depend upon it, their notes are more wanted than ours. p. . _autographs in books._--in his copy of slatyer's _palæalbion_, , the poet earl of westmorland wrote on a flyleaf: "solus deus protector meus. w. ex dono danielis beswitch servi mei fidelis, ." among his books robespierre possessed a ms. account of the glorious achievements of louis xiv. with illustrative drawings, and did it the honour of attaching his autograph--an operation seldom so harmless. p. . _books on vellum._--the _horæ_ of the virgin in the ancient impressions on vellum are commoner than those on paper, though, as the late mr. huth quietly observed to me, the vellum copies may be more desirable. the material, on which the gwynn and methuen copy of _helyas_, , was printed, was unusually coarse, and this criticism applies to other early english books taken off on that substance. they are a powerful contrast to the italian productions of the same class. p. . a good deal of information has gradually accumulated respecting the venetian school of binding; but undoubted examples of early date remain singularly scarce. see my _venetian republic_, , ii. , . the older school of french binding resembled that of the finer porcelain of chantilly and sèvres, where on a choice piece of the louis xv. period are found, side by side, the separate marks of maker, painter, and gilder. p. - . _english binders._ add:-- edmond richardson of scalding alley. matthews. (binder of the hibbert, wilkes, gardner, and huth copy of shakespear, .) hayday. (worked for w. pickering.) leighton. j. & j. leighton. (this firm still does business in brewer street.) douglas cockerell. j. larkins. miss prideaux. sir edward sullivan. r. montague ( - ), bookseller, publisher, and binder, had a place of business in at the corner of great queen street, drury lane, and in in great wyld street. he undertook to gild and letter books at his customers' own houses. john bancks of sunning was his journeyman. it was the late mr. huth who expressed to me the opinion that bedford's brown calf should have been left to acquire a natural tone. p. . _books with painted and goffered edges._--i have seen volumes belonging to the first quarter of the sixteenth century with the leaves goffered and ornamentally inscribed; but the painted edge, as we know it, was then already in existence in italy, and the most eminent artists did not disdain to execute this kind of embellishment. one family at belluno long possessed numerous examples enriched by the hand of cesare vecellio. see my _venetian republic_, , ii. . the major part of a sale at sotheby's a year or so ago consisted of books treated on this principle by the owner; and the commercial result was not joyous. p. . _french and other binders._ add:-- brodel ainé et fils. bisiques. (famous for his turkey leather.) thouvenin. l. muller. (thouvenin's successor.) the house of marius-michel combined binding and gilding. among the rothschild mss., now in the british museum, is a boccaccio bound by thomas berthelet before for the protector somerset. it is in gilt calf with the motto: _foy povr debvoir_. p. . the catalogue of the early english books in the british museum was mainly the work of mr. eccles, a late member of the staff. a new, enlarged, and much improved edition by mr. pollard is in progress. p. . that fairly familiar term, _unique_, has been very badly entreated. a late eminent auctioneer, who was not shy of using it, tried to bring into vogue the variant form, _uni que_. p. . _huth catalogue._--my copy is full of corrections, the text abounding with errors, some of a very serious character. the late mr. f. s. ellis was the responsible editor, and omitted at his discretion much interesting matter. p. . _bibliographical works of reference._--one of the best is dickson and edmond's _annals of scotish printing_, . the rylands catalogue proved a _fiasco_. p. . of course the notification in the press of a signally high price at an auction for a really important lot overwhelms the vendors with inquiries and offers--offers of similar treasures, which are extremely the reverse. p. . mr. robert hoe acquired the bulk or whole of mr. pope's books after his death, including the caxton _arthur_, , and this gentleman continues to buy some of the most important items which occur for sale in london. after all said, much as we at home here in britain need to be better instructed in the art of book-collecting, our american cousins are still farther from having completed their education in this way--a few have not commenced it, i fancy. it is not generally realised in england that the american collector of loftier range is a type entirely distinct from the normal book-collector, whose limit is quickly reached. those who buy books in the united states are by no means all hoes and morgans. p. . _early catalogues of old plays._--i should have added the so often quoted one annexed to the _old law_, . p. . _inch of candle._--this practice survived down to modern times both in france and england in the disposal or transfer of real property. p. . _lazarus seaman._--this gentleman was a member of the assembly of divines, and at one time chaplain to the duke of northumberland. he held the living of all hallows, bread street, and became master of peterhouse, cambridge. but he lost his clerical preferment at the restoration, and chiefly resided in his later days in warwick lane, london, where he died in . p. . _book auctions._--it is at present, i believe, at the discretion of the auctioneer to postpone a sale, when the company is too small to promise a satisfactory result, yet i have known one carried out when not more than two influential bidders were present. in a catalogue of , however, there is a proviso that at least twenty gentlemen must attend. p. . it is a powerful exemplification of the contrast between old times and ours, that mr. pierpont morgan is credited with having acquired forty caxtons at one swoop. errata[ ] p. , l. , for _depends_ read _depend_. p. , l. , for _warm well_ read _warmwell_. p. , l. from foot, for _oxendens_ read _oxindens_. p. , l. , read _dr. williams's library, gordon square_. p. , l. from foot, read _the late mr. quaritch narrated_. p. , l. , read _the second earl of oxford_. p. , l. from foot, read _such as the dyce_. p. , l. , read _auchinleck (boswell)_. p. , l. , read _st. john's (j. a.)_. p. , l. , read ---- _(bayle) montaigne the essayist_. p. , l. from foot, read _malden_. p. , l. , read oxinden. p. , l. , read _eighteenth century_. p. , l. , read _which falls_. p. , l. from foot, read _makellar_. p. , l. from foot, read _sixteenth and seventeenth centuries_. p. , l. , read _stevens_. p. , l. , read _twentieth century has well opened_. p. , _bis_, read _basiliologia_. p. , l. from foot, read _we may place_. p. , l. , read _derè_. p. , l. from foot, read _concubranus_. p. , l. , read _charles lewis the younger_. p. , l. , read _genere_. p. , l. , read - . p. , l. , read _inglis copy_. p. , l. , read _last century_. p. , l. , read _the right one_. p. , l. , read _watson, barnfield_. p. , l. , read _descended a little_. p. , l. from foot, read _nichols's anecdotes_. p. , last line, read _w. c. hazlitt_. p. , l. , read _priced copy_. p. , l. , read _to describe_. p. , l. , read _books of a gentleman_. p. , l. from foot, read _eighteenth century_. p. , l. from foot, read _bona fides_. footnotes: [ ] owing to circumstances for which neither the writer nor the printers are responsible, some sheets were worked, before the corrections had been carried out. index acton, lord, - adam bel, addington, s., advice in the formation of a catalogue, advice in the formation of a library, - advice to collectors, - , aldenham, lord (h. h. gibbs), - , alexander de villâ dei (ville dieu), alleyn, edward, althorp library, amateur binding, - , american laws, bibliography of, american libraries, , , american literature, - american market, , , - , , , - , , , - american reprints of english books, amherst, hon. alicia, anathema against book-thieves, ancient bindings, - anglo-american literature, anglo-french collectors, , , - anne, queen, _arthur, romance of_, printed by caxton, , arundel books and mss., , ashburnham library, , , - , , , ashburton, lord, aubrey, john, auctions, - , _et seqq._, , , auctions, catalogues of, , auctions, provincial, aulus gellius, , autographs in books, _et seqq._ autographs in french books, - _aymon, four sons of_, bagford, john, , , baker, thomas, ballads, , bamborough castle, barclay's _ship of fools_, bargains, , barnard, sir f., barretts of lee, bay psalm book, bayle's dictionary, beckford, w., , - bedford missal, bewick, w., bibles, - , , , , - , biblioclasts, - bibliomania, - bibliothèque nationale at paris, , biddings, low, - binding, _et seqq._, , _blanchardine and eglantine_, blenheim palace library, blount's _jocular tenures_, bolingbroke, lord, bolton abbey, yorkshire, _book of st. albans_, book-clubs, , , book-collecting centres (old), book-lovers, - , , book-market ( - ), book-recipients, book trade, books of reference, - books, which are books, - bradshaw, henry, , breton, nicholas, , - bridgewater library, , , bright, b. h., , bristol, bristol booksellers, , british museum, , , , , , , , britton, thomas, britwell library, - , - , brooke, thomas, brown, tom, brydges, sir egerton, bunburys of bury, burneys, the, burns, r., bury, - , bute, earls and marquises of, cÆsar, sir julius, calendaries' gild at bristol, cambridge, - , - , , , , , , capell's _shakespeariana_, _capital_ books, , carew mss., carleton, sir dudley, catalogues of libraries, , - , _caveat emptor_, cavendish, henry, caxton, w., , , , , , , cervantes, chained books, chamberlain, john, changes of taste, , chap-books, characters, books of, chaucer's _canterbury tales_, printed by caxton, , , cheap literature, chetham, humphrey, , church libraries, circulating libraries, - , city companies, , civil war tracts, classification of libraries, - colchester, coleridge, s. t., , collections, english, collectors of mss., - collier, john payne, , , collins, william, colonial (north american) literature, - combe, thomas, commission system, - concubranus, , continental libraries, cooper, william, copper-plates, copyright, correction of the press, corser, rev. thomas, , , cotton, sir robert, counterfeit bindings, crawford, earl of, crichton, james, _cuisinier françois_, cunliffe, henry, currer, miss richardson, , - danby, lord treasurer, daniel, george, , , - , daniel, samuel, , , - davenant, sir w., davies, sir thomas, day, stephen, printer at cambridge (n.e.), dedications, - d'eon, chevalier, - derings of surrenden, destruction of books, , , devonshire, duke of, , _diane de poitiers_ bindings, dickens, charles, _dilettanti_, doran, dr., dorat, - drayton, michael, , , driffield, thomas, dryden, john, - dulwich college, dunfermline, dunton, john, , durham and winchester bindings, dyce, rev. a., , , earle, mrs., earliest productions of the press, early english literature, _et seqq._ east anglia, , - edge-painting, edinburgh, _edition de luxe_, edwards of halifax, , elements of interest in books, elizabeth's (queen) prayer book, elizabethan literature, _et seqq._ ellenbog, udalric, elliott's brewery at pimlico, emblems, books of, - , english and foreign presses, - , english binders, , , _et seqq._, , _et seqq._, english books abroad, english collectors, - , - , , - , - english lists of, , english presses, - english series, enscheden collection at haarlem, ephemeral schools of writers, _esprit_ in binding, essex, robert devereux, earl of, evelyn, john, , , eves, the two, fanshawe, sir r., farrer of little gidding, fenn, sir john, , , , , fictitious imprints, - first editions, - , fitzgerald, edward, flockton, bookseller at canterbury, florio, john, , , , foljambe, sir f., foreign liveries for english books, foreign presses for the same, forster, john, , fountaine collection, , _four sons of aymon_, , fragments of books, - , , franklin, benjamin, franks, sir wollaston, fraser of lovat, free libraries, , - french binders, , , , , _et seqq._, french list of, french books, - , - french collectors, , - french taste in collecting, french works of reference, frere sale, , freres, the, garlands, george iii., gilding of books, goffering, gold binding, grenville, thomas, , , grolier bindings, , - grolier club, guarini, b., hailstone, edward, ham house, hanmer, sir thomas, hanmers of mildenhall, hardwicke mss., harleian library, , - , , , , , - , harleian miscellany, harvey, gabriel, _hasta_, - hawes, francis, hazlitt, w., , , hearne, thomas, , , heber, richard, - , , - , , , , , - , , _helyas_, , _henri deux_ binding, henrietta maria, henry viii., , , heriot, george, herveys of ickworth, hesse, landgraf of, highest prices realised for books, - hill, thomas, hoe, robert, - hogarth, honeywood bequest to lincoln, , _horæ_, , , , howard, sir john, first duke of norfolk, howell, thomas, humphrey, duke of gloucester, _hundred merry tales_, , , hunt, leigh, , , , huth, henry, , , , , - , , , hutton, w., illuminated mss., illustrated books, _et seqq._, , illustrated copies, - _imitatio christi_, , imperfect books, _incanto_, inch of candle, , inglis library, , inns of court, irish collectors, irish presses, irish series, - jenynges, edward, jermyn, henry, johnson, dr., , , , johnsons of spalding, , - jolley, thomas, jonson, benjamin, josephine, the empress, jubinal, achille, _judith, history of_, , keir library, kentish collectors, killigrew, t., kinloss abbey, kirkman, f., knight, charles, kressen, anton, of nürnberg, laing, david, lamb, charles, , , , , , , , lambeth library, lambton, henry, langbaine, gerard, langland, andrew, laycock, w., lee-warlys, the, leigh, george, auctioneer, , le houx, jean, - le neve, p., le stranges of hunstanton, levant morocco, , libraries, cathedral, libraries, college, libraries, foreign, libraries, national, libraries, provincial, libraries compared, - , lichfield, william, limited market for rarer books, lincoln cathedral, , _lincoln nosegay_, lincolnshire, two give-away sales in, little gidding bindings, liturgies, , locker-lampson, f., , longleat library, lost books, - , , louis xv., louis xvi., lounging books of a gentleman, , lovelace's _lucasta_, luttrell, narcissus, , lydgate's _troy-book_, - lyonnese calf, , macaulay, lord, m'culloch, j. r., - maidment, james, maioli bindings, maitland, lord, malone, edmond, , _manesse liderbuch_, manuscript notes in books, , manuscripts, - marie antoinette, , , marler, anthony, marlowe, christopher, , , , _maroquin de constantinople_, martin of palgrave, t., , , massinger, philip, materials in which books have been bound, _et seqq._ materials on which books have been printed, , - , mazarin or gutenberg bible, - , , - medical literature, mentelin, johann, _mesdames de france_, middle-hill library, millers of craigentinny, - , millington, edward, , milton, john, miscellaneous collectors, _missæ speciales_, mitford, rev. john, modern side in collecting, _et seqq._ molière, monastic binding, monastic writers, monographs, montague, r., montaigne, , , , , , , moore, john, bishop of ely, more, sir t., morgan, pierpont, - morocco bindings (early), , motives for selling libraries, murray, regent, napoleon, - nash, richard, newcastle, duchess of, newton, sir isaac, norfolk, duke of, library given to royal society, north family, northcote family, obsolete books of reference, - , - occult literature, ogilby, john, oldys, w., old-fashioned english libraries, _orestes_, , osterley park library, , over-production of books (former), oxford, - , , - , , , , , , oxford harleys, earls of, - oxindens of barham, , palsgrave, john, parkhurst, thomas, parr family, _parzival and titurell_, paston letters, patmore, coventry, paul's head tavern in carter lane, pennant, thomas, pepys, s., , , - , , , , , , peterborough cathedral, petre, lord, petrarch, - phillipps, sir t., , picas of salisbury use, pilgrim fathers, , pirkheimer library, plantin museum, playing-cards, plymouth, pope, a., porter, endymion, prices of books, - , - , _et seqq._ prices of binding, , prideaux, miss, , provincial bindings, provincial booksellers, - psalters of and , - , public libraries, - pyne, henry, , - quaritch's catalogue of bindings, , quaritch's general catalogue, - rabirius, junius, randolph, thomas, rarities in early english series, rawlinson, thomas, rea or rede, francis, bookbinder, reed, isaac, , reference books, , _et seqq._, reference libraries, reynolds, sir joshua, , _richard coeur de lion_, , richards, john, a dorsetshire farmer, richardson, edmond, , rig, the, - rimbault, dr., risks of realisation, - robert of leicester, robespierre, , rodd, thomas, rolle of hampole, richard, rolls of collectors, hazlitt's, , , , , , romish literature, roxburghe, john, earl of, roxburghe library, , , , , royal books, - rylands, mrs., , sandars, samuel, , , sanderson, cobden, savile family, schreiber, lady charlotte, scotland, , , , , scotish binders, - scotish collectors, , , , , , scotish presses, scotish series, scott, robert, seaman, lazarus, , , separation of sets of books, service-books, , shakespear, w., , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , _ship of fools_, simeon, sir john, sion college, , skene of skene, slatyer's _palæalbion_, , smith, george, smith, richard, smollett, t., solly, edward, _somers tracts_, southey's _cottonian library_, spanish binding, , - special collections in public libraries, special copies of books, specialists, _et seqq._, - spencer, lord, , spenser, edmund, , , , spoliation of public libraries, , steevens, george, , stirling-maxwell, sir w., , subjects or lines, choice of, for libraries, - sullivan, sir edward, , superabundance of books, surrey collectors, swinton, general, sydneys of penshurst, taylor, john, technical treatises, thomason the stationer, , thomas limner of bury, thorold, sir john, thorpe, thomas, thought or mind in binding, "three-halfpenny ware," tite, sir w., toledo missal, tollemaches, the, , tom's coffee-house, tonson, jacob, translations, - , turbervile, george, turner, dawson, turner, j. m. w., turner, r. s., twopenny biddings, twysden, mary, types of collectors, - tyrrwhitt, lady elizabeth, unique books, , unique english books abroad, universities, - , , , usher, archbishop, _vaux de vire_, - venetian school of binding, , venice, verard, antoine, vocabulary of auctions, voyages and travels, walton, isaak, , , warton, thomas, , weale, jacobus, , west of england, , , westminster abbey, westmorland, earl of, white, gilbert, , williams, lord-keeper, willoughby family, wodhull, michael, wolfreston books, wycherley, w., - wynns of peniarth, zÜrich, - the end printed by ballantyne, hanson & co. edinburgh & london transcriber's notes: . obvious punctuation errors repaired. . errata have been applied. . corrections: page , "procelain" changed to "porcelain" page , "dorè" changed to "doré" page , "desolè" changed to "désolé" page , "prè" changed to "pré" page , "d'angouléme" changed to "d'angoulême" page , "sévres" changed to "sèvres" page , "ainè" changed to "ainé" page , "moliere" changed to "molière" none note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) transcriber's note: thomas frognall dibdin's _bibliomania_ was originally published in and was re-issued in several editions, including one published by chatto & windus in . this e-book was prepared from a reprint of the edition, published by thoemmes press and kinokuniya company ltd. in . where the reprint was unclear, the transcriber consulted a copy of the actual edition. footnotes the original contains numerous footnotes, denoted by numbers prior to part i, and by symbols in the remainder of the book. all of the footnotes are consecutively numbered in this e-book; footnotes within footnotes are lettered. some of the footnotes contain lengthy book catalogues with descriptions and prices. for ease of reading, in this e-book these catalogues have been formatted as lists rather than tables. text that in the original was rendered in blackletter is enclosed between equal signs (=bold face=). letters with macrons are enclosed in brackets and preceded by an equal sign, e.g. [=a]. spelling and typographical errors are retained as they appear in the original, with a [transcriber's note] containing the correct spelling. minor obvious punctuation and font errors have been corrected without note. inconsistent diacriticals and hyphenation have been retained as they appear in the original. there are frequent inconsistencies in the spelling of certain proper names. these have been retained as they appear in the original, for example: bibliothèque/bibliothéque boccaccio/bocaccio/boccacio de foe/defoe français/françois loménie/lomenie montfauçon/montfaucon roxburgh/roxburghe shakspeare/shakespeare spenser/spencer tewrdannckhs/tewrdranckhs/teurdanckhs (and other variations) vallière/valliere bibliomania. [illustration] _libri quosdam ad scientiam, quosdam ad insaniam, deduxêre._ geyler: navis stultifera: sign. b. iiij. rev. bibliomania; or =book-madness;= a bibliographical romance. illustrated with cuts. by thomas frognall dibdin, d.d. =new and improved edition,= to which are added preliminary observations, and a supplement including a key to the assumed characters in the drama. [illustration: _engraved by s. freeman._] =london:= chatto & windus, piccadilly. mdccclxxvi. [illustration: t.f. dibdin, d.d. _engraved by james thomson from the original painting by t. phillips, esqr. r.a._ published by the proprietors (for the new edition) of the rev. dr. dibdins bibliomania .] [illustration] to the right honourable the earl of powis, president of =the roxburgh club,= this new edition of bibliomania is respectfully dedicated by the author. [illustration] advertisement. _the public may not be altogether unprepared for the re-appearance of the bibliomania in a more attractive garb than heretofore;--and, in consequence, more in uniformity with the previous publications of the author._ _more than thirty years have elapsed since the last edition; an edition, which has become so scarce that there seemed to be no reasonable objection why the possessors of the_ other _works of the author should be deprived of an opportunity of adding the_ present _to the number: and although this re-impression may, on first glance, appear something like a violation of contract with the public, yet, when the length of time which has elapsed, and the smallness of the price of the preceding impression, be considered, there does not appear to be any very serious obstacle to the present republication; the more so, as the number of copies is limited to five hundred._ _another consideration deeply impressed itself upon the mind of the author. the course of thirty years has necessarily brought changes and alterations amongst "men and things." the dart of death has been so busy during this period that, of the bibliomaniacs so plentifully recorded in the previous work, scarcely_ three,_--including the author--have survived. this has furnished a monitory theme for the appendix; which, to the friends both of the dead and the living, cannot be perused without sympathising emotions--_ _"a sigh the absent claim, the dead a tear."_ _the changes and alterations in "things,"--that is to say in the_ =bibliomania= _itself--have been equally capricious and unaccountable: our countrymen being, in_ these _days, to the full as fond of novelty and variety as in those of henry the eighth. dr. board, who wrote his_ introduction of knowledge _in the year , and dedicated it to the princess mary, thus observes of our countrymen:_ _i am an englishman, and naked do i stand here, musing in my mind what raiment i shall wear; for now i will wear_ this, _and now i will wear_ that, _now i will wear--i cannot tell what._ _this highly curious and illustrative work was reprinted, with all its wood-cut embellishments, by mr. upcott. a copy of the original and most scarce edition is among the selden books in the bodleian library, and in the chetham collection at manchester. see the_ typographical antiquities, _vol._ iii. _p._ - . _but i apprehend the general apathy of bibliomaniacs to be in a great measure attributable to the vast influx of books, of every description, from the continent--owing to the long continuance of peace; and yet, in the appearance of what are called_ english rarities, _the market seems to be almost as barren as ever. the wounds, inflicted in the heberian contest, have gradually healed, and are subsiding into forgetfulness; excepting where, from_ collateral _causes, there are too many_ striking _reasons to remember their existence._ _another motive may be humbly, yet confidently, assigned for the re-appearance of this work. it was thought, by its late proprietor,--mr. edward walmsley[ ]--to whose cost and liberality this edition owes its appearance--to be a volume, in itself, of pleasant and profitable perusal; composed perhaps in a quaint and original style, but in accordance with the characters of the_ dramatis personæ. _be this as it may, it is a work divested of all acrimonious feeling--is applicable to all classes of society, to whom harmless enthusiasm cannot be offensive--and is based upon a foundation not likely to be speedily undermined._ _t.f. dibdin._ _may_ , . [footnote : _mr. edward walmsley, who died in , at an advanced age, had been long known to me. he had latterly extensive calico-printing works at mitcham, and devoted much of his time to the production of beautiful patterns in that fabrication; his taste, in almost every thing which he undertook, leant towards the fine arts. his body was in the counting-house; but his spirit was abroad, in the studio of the painter or engraver. had his natural talents, which were strong and elastic, been cultivated in early life, he would, in all probability, have attained a considerable reputation. how he loved to embellish--almost to satiety--a favourite work, may be seen by consulting a subsequent page towards the end of this volume. he planned and published the_ physiognomical portraits, _a performance not divested of interest--but failing in general success, from the prints being, in many instances, a repetition of their precursors. the thought, however, was a good one; and many of the heads are powerfully executed. he took also a lively interest in mr. major's splendid edition of walpole's_ anecdotes of painting in england, _a work, which can never want a reader while taste has an abiding-place in one british bosom._ _mr. walmsley possessed a brave and generous spirit; and i scarcely knew a man more disposed to bury the remembrance of men's errors in that of their attainments and good qualities._] the bibliomania; or =book-madness;= containing some account of the history, symptoms, and cure of this fatal disease. in an epistle addressed to richard heber, esq. by the rev. thomas frognall dibdin, f.s.a. styll am i besy bokes assemblynge, for to have plenty it is a pleasaunt thynge in my conceyt, and to have them ay in honde: but what they mene i do nat understonde. =pynson's ship of fools.= edit. . london reprinted from the first edition, published in . =advertisement.= _in laying before the public the following brief and superficial account of a disease, which, till it arrested the attention of dr. ferriar, had entirely escaped the sagacity of all ancient and modern physicians, it has been my object to touch chiefly on its leading characteristics; and to present the reader (in the language of my old friend francis quarles) with an "honest pennyworth" of information, which may, in the end, either suppress or soften the ravages of so destructive a malady. i might easily have swelled the size of this treatise by the introduction of much additional, and not incurious, matter; but i thought it most prudent to wait the issue of the present "recipe," at once simple in its composition and gentle in its effects._ _some apology is due to the amiable and accomplished character to whom my epistle is addressed, as well as to the public, for the apparently confused and indigested manner in which the notes are attached to the first part of this treatise; but, unless i had thrown them to the end (a plan which modern custom does not seem to warrant), it will be obvious that a different arrangement could not have been adopted; and equally so that the perusal, first of the text, and afterwards of the notes, will be the better mode of passing judgment upon both._ t.f.d. _kensington, june_ , . [illustration] to the reader. _a short time after the publication of the first edition of this work, a very worthy and shrewd bibliomaniac, accidentally meeting me, exclaimed that "the book_ would do, _but that there was not_ gall _enough in it." as he was himself a_ book-auction-loving bibliomaniac, _i was resolved, in a future edition, to gratify him and similar collectors by writing_ part iii. _of the present impression; the motto of which may probably meet their approbation._ _it will be evident, on a slight inspection of the present edition, that it is so much altered and enlarged as to assume the character of a new_ work. _this has not been done without mature reflection; and a long-cherished hope of making it permanently useful to a large class of general readers, as well as to book-collectors and bibliographers._ _it appeared to me that notices of such truly valuable, and oftentimes curious and rare, books, as the ensuing pages describe; but more especially a_ personal history of literature, _in the characters of_ collectors of books; _had long been a desideratum even with classical students: and in adopting the present form of publication, my chief object was to relieve the dryness of a didactic style by the introduction of_ dramatis personæ. _the worthy gentlemen, by whom the_ drama _is conducted, may be called, by some, merely wooden machines or_ pegs _to hang notes upon; but i shall not be disposed to quarrel with any criticism which may be passed upon their acting, so long as the greater part of the information, to which their dialogue gives rise, may be thought serviceable to the real interests of_ literature _and_ bibliography. _if i had chosen to assume a more imposing air with the public, by spinning out the contents of this closely-printed book into two or more volumes--which might have been done without violating the customary mode of publication--the expenses of the purchaser, and the profits of the author, would have equally increased: but i was resolved to bring forward as much matter as i could impart, in a convenient and not inelegantly executed form; and, if my own emoluments are less, i honestly hope the reader's advantage is greater._ _the_ engraved ornaments of portraits, vignettes, and borders, _were introduced, as well to gratify the eyes of tasteful bibliomaniacs, as to impress, upon the minds of readers in general, a more vivid recollection of some of those truly illustrious characters by whom the_ history of british literature _has been preserved._ _it remains only to add that the present work was undertaken to relieve, in a great measure, the anguish of mind arising from a severe domestic affliction; and if the voice of those whom we tenderly loved, whether parent or_ child, _could be heard from the_ grave, _i trust it would convey the sound of approbation for thus having filled a part of the measure of that time which, every hour, brings us nearer to those from whom we are separated._ _and now_, benevolent reader, _in promising thee as much amusement and instruction as ever were offered in a single volume, of a nature like to the present, i bid thee farewell in the language of_ vogt,[ ] _who thus praises the subject of which we are about to treat:--"quis non_ amabilem _eam laudabit_ insaniam, _quæ universæ rei litterariæ non obfuit, sed profuit; historiæ litterariæ doctrinam insigniter locupletavit; ingentemque exercitum voluminum, quibus alias aut in remotiora bibliothecarum publicarum scrinia commigrandum erat, aut plane pereundum, a carceribus et interitu vindicavit, exoptatissimæque luci et eruditorum usui multiplici felicitur restituit?"_ t.f.d. _kensington, march_ , . [footnote : catalogus librorum rariorum, præf. ix. edit. .] [illustration] contents. part i. the evening walk. _on the right uses of literature_ p. - . ii. the cabinet. _outline of foreign and domestic bibliography_ p. - . iii. the auction-room. _character of orlando. of ancient prices of books, and of book-binding. book-auction bibliomaniacs_ p. - . iv. the library. _dr. henry's history of great britain. a game at chess. of monachism and chivalry. dinner at lorenzo's. some account of book collectors in england_ p. - . v. the drawing room. _history of the bibliomania, or account of book collectors, concluded_ p. - . vi. the alcove. _symptoms of the disease called the bibliomania. probable means of its cure_ p. - . supplement. chronological index. bibliographical index. general index. [illustration: luther.] [illustration: melancthon.] published by the proprietor (for the new edition) of the rev. dr. dibdins bibliomania, . [illustration] =the bibliomania.= my dear sir, when the poetical epistle of dr. ferriar, under the popular title of "the bibliomania," was announced for publication, i honestly confess that, in common with many of my book-loving acquaintance, a strong sensation of fear and of hope possessed me: of fear, that i might have been accused, however indirectly, of having contributed towards the increase of this mania; and of hope, that the true object of book-collecting, and literary pursuits, might have been fully and fairly developed. the perusal of this elegant epistle dissipated alike my fears and my hopes; for, instead of caustic verses, and satirical notes,[ ] i found a smooth, melodious, and persuasive panegyric; unmixed, however, with any rules for the choice of books, or the regulation of study. [footnote : there are, nevertheless, some satirical allusions which one could have wished had been suppressed. for instance: he turns where pybus rears his atlas-head or madoc's mass conceals its veins of lead; what has mr. pybus's gorgeous book in praise of the late russian emperor paul i. (which some have called the chef-d'oeuvre of bensley's press[a]) to do with mr. southey's fine poem of madoc?--in which, if there are "veins of lead," there are not a few "of silver and gold." of the extraordinary talents of mr. southey, the indefatigable student in ancient lore, and especially in all that regards spanish literature and old english romances, this is not the place to make mention. his "_remains of henry kirk white_," the sweetest specimen of modern biography, has sunk into every heart, and received an eulogy from every tongue. yet is his own life "the more endearing song." dr. ferriar's next satirical verses are levelled at mr. thomas hope. "the lettered fop now takes a larger scope, with classic furniture, design'd by hope. (hope, whom upholsterers eye with mute despair, the doughty pedant of an elbow chair.") it has appeared to me that mr. hope's magnificent volume on "_household furniture_" has been generally misunderstood, and, in a few instances, criticised upon false principles.--the first question is, does the _subject_ admit of illustration? and if so, has mr. hope illustrated it properly? i believe there is no canon of criticism which forbids the treating of such a subject; and, while we are amused with archæological discussions on roman tiles and tesselated pavements, there seems to be no absurdity in making the decorations of our sitting rooms, including something more than the floor we walk upon, a subject at least of temperate and classical disquisition. suppose we had found such a treatise in the volumes of gronovius and montfaucon? (and are there not a few, apparently, as unimportant and confined in these rich volumes of the treasures of antiquity?) or suppose something similar to mr. hope's work had been found among the ruins of herculaneum? or, lastly, let us suppose the author had printed it only as a _private_ book, to be circulated as a present! in each of these instances, should we have heard the harsh censures which have been thrown out against it? on the contrary, is it not very probable that a wish might have been expressed that "so valuable a work ought to be made public." upon what principle, _a priori_, are we to ridicule and condemn it? i know of none. we admit vitruvius, inigo jones, gibbs, and chambers, into our libraries: and why not mr. hope's book? is decoration to be confined only to the exterior? and, if so, are works, which treat of these only, to be read and applauded? is the delicate bas-relief, and beautifully carved column, to be thrust from the cabinet and drawing room, to perish on the outside of a smoke-dried portico? or, is not _that_ the most deserving of commendation which produces the most numerous and pleasing associations of ideas? i recollect, when in company with the excellent dr. jenner, ----[clarum et venerabile nomen gentibus, et multum nostræ quod proderat urbi] and a half dozen more friends, we visited the splendid apartments in duchess street, portland place, we were not only struck with the appropriate arrangement of every thing, but, on our leaving them, and coming out into the dull foggy atmosphere of london, we acknowledged that the effect produced upon our minds was something like that which might have arisen had we been regaling ourselves on the silken couches, and within the illuminated chambers, of some of the enchanted palaces described in the arabian nights' entertainments. i suspect that those who have criticised mr. hope's work with asperity have never seen his house. these sentiments are not the result of partiality or prejudice, for i am wholly unacquainted with mr. hope. they are delivered with zeal, but with deference. it is quite consolatory to find a gentleman of large fortune, of respectable ancestry, and of classical attainments, devoting a great portion of that leisure time which hangs like a leaden weight upon the generality of fashionable people, to the service of the fine arts, and in the patronage of merit and ingenuity. how much the world will again be indebted to mr. hope's taste and liberality may be anticipated from the "_costume of the ancients_," a work which has recently been published under his particular superintendence.] [footnote a: this book is beautifully executed, undoubtedly, but being little more than a thin folio pamphlet devoid of _typographical_ embellishment--it has been thought by some hardly fair to say this of a press which brought out so many works characterized by magnitude and various elegance. b.b.] to say that i was not gratified by the perusal of it would be a confession contrary to the truth; but to say how ardently i anticipated an amplification of the subject, how eagerly i looked forward to a number of curious, apposite, and amusing anecdotes, and found them not therein, is an avowal of which i need not fear the rashness, when the known talents of the detector of stern's plagiarisms[ ] are considered. i will not, however, disguise to you that i read it with uniform delight, and that i rose from the perusal with a keener appetite for "the small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold." _dr. ferriar's ep._ v. . [footnote : in the fourth volume of the transactions of the manchester literary society, part iv., p. - , will be found a most ingenious and amusing essay, entitled "_comments on sterne_," which excited a good deal of interest at the time of its publication. this discovery may be considered, in some measure, as the result of the bibliomania. in my edition of sir thomas more's utopia, a suggestion is thrown out that even burton may have been an imitator of boisatuau [transcriber's note: boiastuau]: see vol. ii. .] whoever undertakes to write down the follies which grow out of an excessive attachment to any particular pursuit, be that pursuit horses,[ ] hawks, dogs, guns, snuff boxes,[ ] old china, coins, or rusty armour, may be thought to have little consulted the best means of ensuring success for his labours, when he adopts the dull vehicle of _prose_ for the commnication [transcriber's note: communication] of his ideas not considering that from _poetry_ ten thousand bright scintillations are struck off, which please and convince while they attract and astonish. thus when pope talks of allotting for "pembroke[ ] statues, dirty gods and coins; rare monkish manuscripts for hearne[ ] alone; and books to mead[ ] and butterflies to sloane,"[ ] when he says that these aldus[ ] printed, those du s[=u]eil has bound[ ] moreover that for locke or milton[ ] 'tis in vain to look; these shelves admit not any modern book; he not only seems to illustrate the propriety of the foregoing remark, by shewing the immense superiority of verse to prose, in ridiculing reigning absurdities, but he seems to have had a pretty strong foresight of the bibliomania which rages at the present day. however, as the ancients tell us that a poet cannot be a _manufactured_ creature, and as i have not the smallest pretensions to the "rhyming art," [although in former times[ ] i did venture to dabble with it] i must of necessity have recourse to _prose_; and, at the same time, to your candour and forbearance in perusing the pages which ensue. [footnote : it may be taken for granted that the first book in this country which excited a passion for the _sports of the field_ was dame juliana berners, or barnes's, work, on _hunting and hawking_, printed at st. alban's, in the year ; of which lord spencer's copy is, i believe, the only perfect one known. it was formerly the poet mason's, and is mentioned in the quarto edition of hoccleve's poems, p. , . see too bibl. mason. pt. iv. no. . whether the forementioned worthy lady was really the author of the work has been questioned. her book was reprinted by wynkyn de worde in , with an additional treatise on _fishing_. the following specimen, from this latter edition, ascertains the general usage of the french language with our huntsmen in the th century. beasts of venery. where so ever ye fare by frith or by fell, my dear child, take heed how trystram do you tell. how many manner beasts of venery there were: listen to your dame and she shall you _lere_. four manner beasts of venery there are. the first of them is the _hart_; the second is the _hare_; the _horse_ is one of them; the _wolf_; and not one _mo_. beasts of the chace. and where that ye come in plain or in place i shall tell you which be beasts of enchace. one of them is the _buck_; another is the _doe_; the _fox_; and the _marteron_, and the wild _roe_; and ye shall see, my dear child, other beastes all: where so ye them find _rascal_ ye shall them call. of the hunting of the hare. how to speke of the haare how all shall be wrought: when she shall with houndes be founden and sought. the fyrst worde to the ho[=u]dis that the hunter shall out pit is at the kenell doore whan he openeth it. that all maye hym here: he shall say "_arere!_" for his houndes would come to hastily. that is the firste worde my sone of venery. and when he hath couplyed his houndes echoon and is forth wyth theym to the felde goon, and whan he hath of caste his couples at wyll thenne he shall speke and saye his houndes tyll "_hors de couple avant, sa avant!_" twyse soo: and then "_so ho, so ho!_" thryes, and no moo. and then say "_sacy avaunt, so how_," i thou praye, etc. the following are a few more specimens--"_ha cy touz cy est yll_--_venez ares sa how sa_--_la douce la eit a venuz_--_ho ho ore, swet a lay, douce a luy_--_so how, so how, venez acoupler!!!_" whoever wishes to see these subjects brought down to later times, and handled with considerable dexterity, may consult the last numbers of the censura literaria, with the signature j.h. affixed to them. those who are anxious to procure the rare books mentioned in these bibliographical treatises, may be pretty safely taxed with being infected by the bibliomania. what apology my friend mr. haslewood, the author of them, has to offer in extenuation of the mischief committed, it is _his_ business, and not mine, to consider; and what the public will say to his curious forthcoming reprint of the ancient edition of wynkyn de worde _on hunting, hawking, and fishing_, (with wood cuts), i will not pretend to divine! in regard to hawking, i believe the enterprising colonel thornton in [transcriber's note: is] the only gentleman of the present day who keeps up this custom of "good old times." the sultans of the east seem not to have been insensible to the charms of falconry, if we are to judge from the evidence of tippoo saib having a work of this kind in his library; which is thus described from the catalogue of it just published in a fine quarto volume, of which only copies are printed. "_sh[=a]bb[=a]r n[=a]meh_, to. a treatise on falcony; containing instructions for selecting the best species of hawks, and the method of teaching them; describing their different qualities; also the disorders they are subject to, and method of cure. author unknown."--oriental library of tippoo saib, , p. .] [footnote : of _snuff boxes_ every one knows what a collection the great frederick, king of prussia, had--many of them studded with precious stones, and decorated with enamelled portraits. dr. c. of g----, has been represented to be the most successful rival of frederick, in this "line of collection," as it is called; some of his boxes are of uncommon curiosity. it may gratify a bibliographer to find that there are other manias besides that of the book; and that even physicians are not exempt from these diseases. of _old china_, _coins_, and _rusty armour_, the names of hundreds present themselves in these departments; but to the more commonly-known ones of rawle and grose, let me add that of the late mr. john white, of newgate-street; a catalogue of whose curiosities [including some very uncommon books] was published in the year , in three parts, vo. dr. burney tells us that mr. white "was in possession of a valuable collection of ancient rarities, as well as natural productions, of the most curious and extraordinary kind; no one of which however was more remarkable than the obliging manner in which he allowed them to be viewed and examined by his friends."--_history of music_, vol. ii. , note.] [footnote : the reader will find an animated eulogy on this great nobleman in walpole's _anecdotes of painters_, vol. iv. : part of which was transcribed by joseph warton for his variorum edition of pope's works, and thence copied into the recent edition of the same by the rev. w.l. bowles. but pembroke deserved a more particular notice. exclusively of his fine statues, and architectural decorations, the earl contrived to procure a number of curious and rare books; and the testimonies of maittaire [who speaks indeed of him with a sort of rapture!] and palmer shew that the productions of jenson and caxton were no strangers to his library. _annales typographici_, vol. i. . edit. . _history of printing_, p. v. "there is nothing that so surely proves the pre-eminence of virtue more than the universal admiration of mankind, and the respect paid it even by persons in opposite interests; and more than this, it is a sparkling gem which even time does not destroy: it is hung up in the temple of fame, and respected for ever." _continuation of granger_, vol. i. , &c. "he raised, continues mr. noble, a collection of antiques that were unrivalled by any subject. his learning made him a fit companion for the literati. wilton will ever be a monument of his extensive knowledge; and the princely presents it contains, of the high estimation in which he was held by foreign potentates, as well as by the many monarchs he saw and served at home. he lived rather as a primitive christian; in his behaviour, meek: in his dress, plain: rather retired, conversing but little." burnet, in the _history of his own times_, has spoken of the earl with spirit and propriety.] [footnote : in the recent variorum edition of pope's works, all that is annexed to hearne's name, as above introduced by the poet, is, "well known as an antiquarian." alas, poor hearne! thy merits, which are now fully appreciated, deserve an ampler notice! in spite of gibbon's unmerciful critique [_posthumous works_, vol. ii. .], the productions of this modest, erudite, and indefatigable antiquary are rising in price proportionably to their worth. if he had only edited the _collectanea_ and _itinerary_ of his favourite leland, he would have stood on high ground in the department of literature and antiquities; but his other and numerous works place him on a much loftier eminence. of these, the present is not the place to make mention; suffice it to say that, for copies of his works, on large paper, which the author used to advertise as selling for _s._ or _s._, or about which placards, to the same effect, used to be stuck on the walls of the colleges,--these very copies are now sometimes sold for more than the like number of guineas! it is amusing to observe that the lapse of a few years only has caused such a rise in the article of hearne; and that the peter langtoft on large paper, which at rowe mores's sale [bibl. mores. no. .] was purchased for £ . _s._ produced at a late sale, [a.d. ] £ ! a complete list of hearne's pieces will be found at the end of his life, printed with leland's, &c., at the clarendon press, in , vo. of these the "_acta apostolorum_, gr. lat;" and "_aluredi beverlacensis annales_," are, i believe, the scarcest. it is wonderful to think how this amiable and excellent man persevered "through evil report and good report," in illustrating the antiquities of his country. to the very last he appears to have been molested; and among his persecutors, the learned editor of josephus and dionysius halicarnasseus, dr. hudson, must be ranked, to the disgrace of himself and the party which he espoused. "hearne was buried in the church yard of st. peter's (at oxford) in the east, where is erected over his remains, a tomb, with an inscription written by himself, amicitiæ ergo. here lyeth the body of thomas hearne, m.a. who studied and preserved antiquities. he dyed june , . aged years. deut. xxxii: . remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask thy father and he will shew thee; thy elders and they will tell thee. job. viii. , , . enquire i pray thee." _life of hearne_, p. .] [footnote : of dr. mead and his library a particular account is given in the following pages.] [footnote : for this distinguished character consult nichols's _anecdotes of bowyer_, , note*; which, however, relates entirely to his ordinary habits and modes of life. his magnificent collection of natural curiosities and mss. is now in the british museum.] [footnote : the annals of the aldine press have had ample justice done to them in the beautiful and accurate work published by renouard, under the title of "_annales de l'imprimerie des alde_," in two vols., vo. . one is rather surprised at not finding any reference to this masterly piece of bibliography in the last edition of mr. roscoe's leo x., where there is a pleasing account of the establishment of the aldine press.] [footnote : i do not recollect having seen any book bound by this binder. of padaloup, de rome, and baumgarten, where is the fine collection that does not boast of a few specimens? we will speak "anon" of the roger paynes, kalthoebers, herrings, stagemiers, and in macklays of the day!] [footnote : this is not the reproach of the age we live in; for reprints of bacon, locke, and milton have been published with complete success. it would be ridiculous indeed for a man of sense, and especially a university man, to give £ or £ for "_gosson's school of abuse, against pipers and players_," or £ . _s._ for a clean copy of "_recreation for ingenious head pieces_, or a _pleasant grove for their wits to walk in,"_ and grudge the like sum for a dozen handsome octavo volumes of the finest writers of his country.] [footnote : about twelve years ago i was rash enough to publish a small volume of poems, with my name affixed. they were the productions of my juvenile years; and i need hardly say, at this period, how ashamed i am of their author-ship. the monthly and analytical reviews did me the kindness of just tolerating them, and of warning me not to commit any future trespass upon the premises of parnassus. i struck off copies, and was glad to get rid of half of them as waste paper; the remaining half has been partly destroyed by my own hands, and has partly mouldered away in oblivion amidst the dust of booksellers' shelves. my only consolation is that the volume is _exceedingly rare_!] if ever there was a country upon the face of the globe--from the days of nimrod the beast, to bagford[ ] the book-hunter--distinguished for the variety, the justness, and magnanimity of its views; if ever there was a nation which really and unceasingly "felt for another's woe" [i call to witness our infirmaries, hospitals, asylums, and other public and private institutions of a charitable nature, that, like so many belts of adamant, unite and strengthen us in the great cause of humanity]; if ever there was a country and a set of human beings pre-eminently distinguished for all the social virtues which soften and animate the soul of man, surely old england and englishmen are they! the common cant, it may be urged, of all writers in favour of the country where they chance to live! and what, you will say, has this to do with book collectors and books?--much, every way: a nation thus glorious is, at this present eventful moment, afflicted not only with the dog[ ], but the book, disease-- fire in each eye, and paper in each hand they rave, recite,---- [footnote : "john bagford, by profession a bookseller, frequently travelled into holland and other parts, in search of scarce books and valuable prints, and brought a vast number into this kingdom, the greatest part of which were purchased by the earl of oxford. he had been in his younger days a shoemaker; and, for the many curiosities wherewith he enriched the famous library of dr. john moore, bishop of ely, his lordship got him admitted into the charter house. he died in , aged : after his death lord oxford purchased all his collections and papers, for his library: these are now in the harleian collection in the british museum. in were published, in the philosophical transactions, his proposals for a general history of printing."--bowyer and nichols's _origin of printing_, p. , , note. it has been my fortune (whether good or bad remains to be proved) not only to transcribe the slender memorial of printing in the philosophical transactions, drawn up by wanley for bagford, but to wade through _forty-two_ folio volumes, in which bagford's materials for a history of printing are incorporated, in the british museum: and from these, i think i have furnished myself with a pretty fair idea of the said bagford. he was the most hungry and rapacious of all book and print collectors; and, in his ravages, spared neither the most delicate nor costly specimens. his eyes and his mouth seem to have been always open to express his astonishment at, sometimes, the most common and contemptible productions; and his paper in the philosophical transactions betrays such simplicity and ignorance that one is astonished how my lord oxford and the learned bishop of ely could have employed so credulous a bibliographical forager. a modern collector and lover of _perfect_ copies will witness, with shuddering, among bagford's immense collection of title pages, in the museum, the frontispieces of the complutensian polyglot, and chauncy's history of hertfordshire, torn out to illustrate a history of printing. his enthusiasm, however, carried him through a great deal of laborious toil; and he supplied, in some measure, by this qualification, the want of other attainments. his whole mind was devoted to book-hunting; and his integrity and diligence probably made his employers overlook his many failings. his hand-writing is scarcely legible, and his orthography is still more wretched; but if he was ignorant, he was humble, zealous, and grateful; and he has certainly done something towards the accomplishment of that desirable object, an accurate general history of printing. in my edition of _ames's typographical antiquities_, i shall give an analysis of bagford's papers, with a specimen or two of his composition.] [footnote : for an eloquent account of this disorder consult the letters of dr. mosely inserted in the morning herald of last year. i have always been surprised, and a little vexed, that these animated pieces of composition should be relished and praised by every one--but _the faculty_!] let us enquire, therefore, into the origin and tendency of the bibliomania. in this enquiry i purpose considering the subject under three points of view: i. the history of the disease; or an account of the eminent men who have fallen victims to it: ii. the nature, or symptoms of the disease: and iii. the probable means of its cure. we are to consider, then, . the history of the disease. in treating of the history of this disease, it will be found to have been attended with this remarkable circumstance; namely, that it has almost uniformly confined its attacks to the _male_ sex, and, among these, to people in the higher and middling classes of society, while the artificer, labourer, and peasant have escaped wholly uninjured. it has raged chiefly in palaces, castles, halls, and gay mansions; and those things which in general are supposed not to be inimical to health, such as cleanliness, spaciousness, and splendour, are only so many inducements towards the introduction and propagation of the bibliomania! what renders it particularly formidable is that it rages in all seasons of the year, and at all periods of human existence. the emotions of friendship or of love are weakened or subdued as old age advances; but the influence of this passion, or rather disease, admits of no mitigation: "it grows with our growth, and strengthens with our strength;" and is oft-times ----the ruling passion strong in death.[ ] [footnote : the writings of the roman philologers seem to bear evidence of this fact. seneca, when an old man, says that, "if you are fond of books, you will escape the ennui of life; you will neither sigh for evening, disgusted with the occupations of the day--nor will you live dissatisfied with yourself, or unprofitable to others." _de tranquilitate_, ch. . cicero has positively told us that "study is the food of youth, and the amusement of old age." _orat. pro archia_. the younger pliny was a downright bibliomaniac. "i am quite transported and comforted," says he, "in the midst of my books: they give a zest to the happiest, and assuage the anguish of the bitterest, moments of existence! therefore, whether distracted by the cares or the losses of my family, or my friends, i fly to my library as the only refuge in distress: here i learn to bear adversity with fortitude." _epist._ lib. viii. cap. . but consult cicero _de senectute_. all these treatises afford abundant proof of the hopelessness of cure in cases of the bibliomania.] we will now, my dear sir, begin "making out the catalogue" of victims to the bibliomania! the first eminent character who appears to have been infected with this disease was richard de bury, one of the tutors of edward iii., and afterwards bishop of durham; a man who has been uniformly praised for the variety of his erudition, and the intenseness of his ardour in book-collecting.[ ] i discover no other notorious example of the fatality of the bibliomania until the time of henry vii.; when the monarch himself may be considered as having added to the number. although our venerable typographer, caxton, lauds and magnifies, with equal sincerity, the whole line of british kings, from edward iv. to henry vii. [under whose patronage he would seem, in some measure, to have carried on his printing business], yet, of all these monarchs, the latter alone was so unfortunate as to fall a victim to this disease. his library must have been a magnificent one, if we may judge from the splendid specimens of it which now remain.[ ] it would appear, too, that, about this time, the bibliomania was increased by the introduction of foreign printed books; and it is not very improbable that a portion of henry's immense wealth was devoted towards the purchase of vellum copies, which were now beginning to be published by the great typographical triumvirate, verard, eustace, and pigouchet. [footnote : it may be expected that i should notice a few book-lovers, and probably bibliomaniacs, previously to the time of richard de bury; but so little is known with accuracy of johannes scotus erigena, and his patron charles the bald, king of france, or of the book tête-a-têtes they used to have together--so little, also, of nennius, bede, and alfred [although the monasteries at this period, from the evidence of sir william dugdale, in the first volume of the monasticon were "opulently endowed,"--inter alia, i should hope, with magnificent mss. on vellum, bound in velvet, and embossed with gold and silver], or the illustrious writers in the norman period, and the fine books which were in the abbey of croyland--so little is known of book-collectors, previously to the th century, that i thought it the most prudent and safe way to begin with the above excellent prelate. richard de bury was the friend and correspondent of petrarch; and is said by mons. de sade, in his memoires pour la vie de petrarque, "to have done in england what petrarch did all his life in france, italy, and germany, towards the discovery of mss. of the best ancient writers, and making copies of them under his own superintendence." his passion for book-collecting was unbounded ["vir ardentis ingenii," says petrarch of him]; and in order to excite the same ardour in his countrymen, or rather to propagate the disease of the bibliomania with all his might, he composed a bibliographical work under the title of _philobiblion_; concerning the first edition of which, printed at spires in , clement (tom. v. ) has a long gossiping account; and morhof tells us that it is "rarissima et in paucorum manibus versatur." it was reprinted in paris in , to., by the elder ascensius, and frequently in the subsequent century, but the best editions of it are those by goldastus in , vo., and hummius in . morhof observes that, "however de bury's work savours of the rudeness of the age, it is rather elegantly written, and many things are well said in it relating to bibliothecism." _polyhist. literar._ vol. i. , edit. . for further particulars concerning de bury, read bale, wharton, cave, and godwin's episcopal biography. he left behind him a fine library of mss. which he bequeathed to durham, now trinity, college, oxford. it may be worth the antiquary's notice, that, in consequence (i suppose) of this amiable prelate's exertions, "in every convent was a noble library and a great: and every friar, that had state in school, such as they be now, hath an hugh library." see the curious sermon of the archbishop of armagh, nov. , , in trevisa's works among the _harleian mss._ no. . whether these friars, thus affected with the frensy of book-collecting, ever visited the "old chapelle at the est end of the church of s. saink [berkshire], whither of late time resorted in pilgrimage many folkes for the disease of _madness_," [see leland's _itinerary_, vol. ii. , edit. ] i have not been able, after the most diligent investigation, to ascertain.] [footnote : the british museum contains a great number of books which bear the royal stamp of henry vii.'s arms. some of these printed by verard, upon vellum, are magnificent memorials of a library, the dispersion of which is for ever to be regretted. as henry viii. knew nothing of, and cared less for, fine books, it is not very improbable that some of the choicest volumes belonging to the late king were presented to cardinal wolsey.] during the reign of henry viii., i should suppose that the earl of surrey[ ] and sir thomas wyatt were a little attached to book-collecting; and that dean colet[ ] and his friend sir thomas more and erasmus were downright bibliomaniacs. there can be little doubt but that neither the great leland[ ] nor his biographer bale,[ ] were able to escape the contagion; and that, in the ensuing period, rogar [transcriber's note: roger] ascham became notorious for the book-disease. he purchased probably, during his travels abroad[ ] many a fine copy of the greek and latin classics, from which he read to his illustrious pupils, lady jane grey, and queen elizabeth: but whether he made use of an _editio princeps_, or a _large paper copy_, i have hitherto not been lucky enough to discover. this learned character died in the vigour of life, and in the bloom of reputation: and, as i suspect, in consequence of the bibliomania--for he was always collecting books, and always studying them. his "schoolmaster" is a work which can only perish with our language. [footnote : the earl of surrey and sir thomas wyatt were among the first who taught their countrymen to be charmed with the elegance and copiousness of their own language. how effectually they accomplished this laudable object, will be seen from the forthcoming beautiful and complete edition of their works by the rev. dr. nott.[b]] [footnote b: it fell to the lot of the printer of this volume, during his apprenticeship to his father, to correct the press of nearly the whole of dr. nott's labours, which were completed, after several years of toil, when in the extensive conflagration of the printing-office at bolt court, fleet-street, in , all but _two_ copies were totally destroyed!] [footnote : colet, more, and erasmus [considering the latter when he was in england] were _here_ undoubtedly the great literary triumvirate of the early part of the th century. the lives of more and erasmus are generally read and known; but of dean colet it may not be so generally known that his ardour for books and for classical literature was keen, and insatiable; that, in the foundation of st. paul's school, he has left behind a name which entitles him to rank in the foremost of those who have fallen victims to the bibliomania. how anxiously does he seem to have watched the progress, and pushed the sale, of his friend erasmus's first edition of the greek testament! "quod scribis de novo testamento intelligo. et libri _novæ editionis tuæ hic avide emuntur et passim leguntur_!" the entire epistle (which may be seen in dr. knight's dry life of colet, p. ) is devoted to an account of erasmus's publications. "i am really astonished, my dear erasmus [does he exclaim], at the fruitfulness of your talents; that, without any fixed residence, and with a precarious and limited income, you contrive to publish so many and such excellent works." adverting to the distracted state of germany at this period, and to the wish of his friend to live secluded and unmolested, he observes--"as to the tranquil retirement which you sigh for, be assured that you have my sincere wishes for its rendering you as happy and composed as you can wish it. your age and erudition entitle you to such a retreat. i fondly hope, indeed, that you will choose this country for it, and come and live amongst us, whose disposition you know, and whose friendship you have proved." there is hardly a more curious picture of the custom of the times, relating to the education of boys, than the dean's own statutes for the regulation of st. paul's school, which he had founded. these shew, too, the _popular books_ then read by the learned. "the children shall come unto the school in the morning at seven of the clock, both winter and summer, and tarry there until eleven; and return against one of the clock, and depart at five, &c. in the school, no time in the year, they shall use tallow candle in no wise, but _only wax candle_, at the costs of their friends. also i will they bring no meat nor drink, nor bottle, nor use in the school no breakfasts, nor drinkings, in the time of learning, in no wise, &c. i will they use no cockfightings, nor riding about of victory, nor disputing at saint bartholomew, which is but foolish babbling and loss of time." the master is then restricted, under the penalty of shillings, from granting the boys a holiday, or "remedy," [play-day,] as it is here called "except the king, an archbishop, or a bishop, present in his own person in the school, desire it." the studies for the lads were, "erasmus's copia & institutum christiani hominis (composed at the dean's request) lactantius, prudentius, juvencus, proba and sedulius, and baptista mantuanus, and such other as shall be thought convenient and most to purpose unto the true latin speech: all barbary, all corruption, all latin adulterate, which ignorant blind fools brought into this world, and with the same hath distained and poisoned the old latin speech, and the _veray_ roman tongue, which in the time of tully and sallust and virgil and terence was used--i say that filthiness, and all such abusion, which the later blind world brought in, which more rather may be called _bloterature_ that [transcriber's note: than] _literature_, i utterly banish and exclude out of this school." _life of knight's colet_, - . what was to be expected, but that boys, thus educated, would hereafter fall victims to the bibliomania?] [footnote : the history of this great men [transcriber's note: man], and of his literary labours, is most interesting. he was a pupil of william lilly, the first head-master of st. paul's school; and, by the kindness and liberality of a mr. myles, he afterwards received the advantage of a college education, and was supplied with money in order to travel abroad, and make such collections as he should deem necessary for the great work which even then seemed to dawn upon his young and ardent mind. leland endeavoured to requite the kindness of his benefactor by an elegant copy of latin verses, in which he warmly expatiates on the generosity of his patron, and acknowledges that his acquaintance with the _almæ matres_ [for he was of both universities] was entirely the result of such beneficence. while he resided on the continent, he was admitted into the society of the most eminent greek and latin scholars, and could probably number among his correspondents the illustrious names of budæus, erasmus, the stephani, faber and turnebus. here, too, he cultivated his natural taste for poetry; and from inspecting the fine books which the italian and french presses had produced, as well as fired by the love of grecian learning, which had fled, on the sacking of constantinople, to take shelter in the academic bowers of the medici, he seems to have matured his plans for carrying into effect the great work which had now taken full possession of his mind. he returned to england, resolved to institute an inquiry into the state of the libraries, antiquities, records and writings then in existence. having entered into holy orders, and obtained preferment at the express interposition of the king, (henry viii.), he was appointed his antiquary and library keeper, and a royal commission was issued in which leland was directed to search after "england's antiquities, and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals, abbies, priories, colleges, etc., as also all the places wherein records, writings, and secrets of antiquity were reposited." "before leland's time," says hearne, in the preface to the itinerary, "all the literary monuments of antiquity were totally disregarded; and students of germany, apprised of this culpable indifference, were suffered to enter our libraries unmolested, and to cut out of the books deposited there whatever passages they thought proper--which they afterwards published as relics of the ancient literature of their own country." leland was occupied, without intermission, in this immense undertaking, for the space of six years; and, on its completion, he hastened to the metropolis to lay at the feet of his sovereign the result of his researches. this was presented to henry under the title of a new year's gift; and was first published by bale in , vo. "being inflamed," says the author, "with a love to see thoroughly all those parts of your opulent and ample realm, in so much that all my other occupations intermitted, i have so travelled in your dominions, both by the sea coasts and the middle parts, sparing neither labour nor costs, by the space of six years past, that there is neither cape nor bay, haven, creek, or pier, river, or confluence of rivers, breeches, wastes, lakes, moors, fenny waters, mountains, vallies, heaths, forests, chases, woods, cities, burghes, castles, principal manor places, monasteries and colleges, but i have seen them; and noted, in so doing, a whole world of things very memorable." leland moreover tells his majesty--that "by his laborious journey and costly enterprise, he had conserved many good authors, the which otherwise had been like to have perished; of the which, part remained in the royal palaces, part also in his own custody, &c." as leland was engaged six years in this literary tour, so he was occupied for a no less period of time in digesting and arranging the prodigious number of mss. he had collected. but he sunk beneath the immensity of the task! the want of amanuenses, and of other attentions and comforts, seems to have deeply affected him; in this melancholy state, he wrote to archbishop cranmer a latin epistle, in verse, of which the following is the commencement--very forcibly describing his situation and anguish of mind. est congesta mihi domi supellex ingens, aurea, nobilis, venusta qua totus studeo britanniarum vero reddere gloriam nitori. sed fortuna meis noverca coeptis jam felicibus invidet maligna. quare, ne pereant brevi vel hora multarum mihi noctium labores omnes---- cranmere, eximium decus piorum! implorare tuam benignitatem cogor. the result was that leland lost his senses; and, after lingering two years in a state of total derangement, he died on the th of april, . "prôh tristes rerum humanarum vices! prôh viri optimi deplorandam infelicissimamque sortem!" exclaims dr. smith, in his preface to camden's life, , to. the precious and voluminous mss. of leland were doomed to suffer a fate scarcely less pitiable than that of their owner. after being pilfered by some, and garbled by others, they served to replenish the pages of stow, lambard, camden, burton, dugdale, and many other antiquaries and historians. polydore virgil, who had stolen from them pretty freely, had the insolence to abuse leland's memory--calling him "a vain glorious man;" but what shall we say to this flippant egotist? who, according to caius's testimony [_de antiq. cantab. head. lib._ .] "to prevent a discovery of the many errors of his own history of england, collected and burnt a greater number of ancient histories and manuscripts than would have loaded a waggon." the imperfect remains of leland's mss. are now deposited in the bodleian library, and in the british museum. upon the whole, it must be acknowledged that leland is a melancholy, as well as illustrious, example of the influence of the bibliomania!] [footnote : in spite of bale's coarseness, positiveness, and severity, he has done much towards the cause of learning; and, perhaps, towards the propagation of the disease under discussion. his regard for leland does him great honour; and although his plays are miserably dull, notwithstanding the high prices which the original editions of them bear, (vide ex. gr. cat. steevens, no. ; which was sold for £ _s._ see also the reprints in the harleian miscellany) the lover of literary antiquities must not forget that his "_scriptores britanniæ_" are yet quoted with satisfaction by some of the most respectable writers of the day. that he wanted delicacy of feeling, and impartiality of investigation, must be admitted; but a certain rough honesty and prompt benevolence which he had about him compensated for a multitude of offences. the abhorrence with which he speaks of the dilapidation of some of our old libraries must endear his memory to every honest bibliographer: "never (says he) had we been offended for the loss of our libraries, being so many in number, and in so desolate places for the more part, if the chief monuments and most notable works of our excellent writers had been reserved. if there had been in every shire of england, but one solempne library, to the preservation of those noble works, and preferment of good learning in our posterity, it had been yet somewhat. but to destroy all without consideration, is, and will be, unto england for ever, a most horrible infamy among the grave seniors of other nations. a great number of them which purchased those superstitious mansions, reserved of those library-books, some to serve the _jakes_, some to scour their candlesticks, and some to rub their boots: some they sold to the grocers and soap-sellers; some they sent over sea to the book-binders, not in small number, but at times whole ships full, to the wondering of the foreign nations. yea, the universities of this realm are not all clear of this detestable fact. but cursed is that belly which seeketh to be fed with such ungodly gain, and shameth his natural country. i know a merchant man, which shall at this time be nameless, that _bought the contents of two noble libraries for forty shillings price_; a shame it is to be spoken! this stuff hath he occupied in the stead of grey paper, by the space of more than ten years, and yet he hath store enough for as many year to come!" bale's preface to leland's "_laboryouse journey_, &c." emprented at london by john bale. anno m.d. xlix. vo. after this, who shall doubt the story of the alexandrian library supplying the hot baths of alexandria with fuel for six months! see gibbon on the latter subject; vol. ix. .] [footnote : ascham's english letter, written when he was abroad, will be found at the end of bennet's edition of his works, in to. they are curious and amusing. what relates to the bibliomania i here select from similar specimens. "oct. . at afternoon i went about the town [of bruxelles]. i went to the frier [transcriber's note: friar] carmelites house, and heard their even song: after, i desired to see the library. a frier [transcriber's note: friar] was sent to me, and led me into it. there was not one good book but _lyra_. the friar was learned, spoke latin readily, entered into greek, having a very good wit, and a greater desire to learning. he was gentle and honest, &c." p. - . "oct. . to spira: a good city. here i first saw _sturmius de periodis_. i also found here _ajax_, _electra_, and _antigone sophocles_, excellently, by my good judgment, translated into verse, and fair printed this summer by gryphius. your stationers do ill, that at least do 'not provide you the register of all books, especially of old authors, &c.'" p. . again: "hieronimus wolfius, that translated demosthenes and isocrates, is in this town. i am well acquainted with him, and have brought him twice to my lord's to dinner. he looks very simple. he telleth me that one borrheus, that hath written well upon aristot. priorum, &c., even now is printing goodly commentaries upon aristotle's rhetoric. but sturmius will obscure them all." p. . it is impossible to read these extracts without being convinced that roger ascham was a book-hunter, and infected with the bibliomania!] if we are to judge from the beautiful missal lying open before lady jane grey, in mr. copley's elegant picture now exhibiting at the british institution, it would seem rational to infer that this amiable and learned female was slightly attacked by the disease. it is to be taken for granted that queen elizabeth was not exempt from it; and that her great secretary,[ ] cecil, sympathised with her! in regard to elizabeth, her _prayer-book_[ ] is quite evidence sufficient for me that she found the bibliomania irresistible! during her reign, how vast and how frightful were the ravages of the book-madness! if we are to credit laneham's celebrated letter, it had extended far into the country, and infected some of the worthy inhabitants of coventry; for one "captain cox,[ ] by profession a mason, and that right skilful," had "as fair a library of sciences, and as many goodly monuments both in prose and poetry, and at afternoon could talk as much without book, as any innholder betwixt brentford and bagshot, what degree soever he be!" [footnote : it is a question which requires more time for the solution than i am able to spare, whether cecil's name stands more frequently at the head of a dedication, in a printed book, or of state papers and other political documents in ms. he was a wonderful man; but a little infected--as i suspect--with the book-disease. ----famous cicill, treasurer of the land, whose wisedom, counsell, skill of princes state the world admires---- the house itselfe doth shewe the owners wit, and may for bewtie, state, and every thing, compared be with most within the land. _tale of two swannes_, . _to._ i have never yet been able to ascertain whether the owner's attachment towards vellum, or large paper, copies was the more vehement!] [footnote : perhaps this conclusion is too precipitate. but whoever looks at elizabeth's portrait, on her bended knees, struck off on the reverse of the title page to her prayer book (first printed in ) may suppose that the queen thought the addition of her own portrait would be no mean decoration to the work. every page is adorned with borders, engraved on wood, of the most spirited execution: representing, amongst other subjects, "the dance of death." my copy is the reprint of --in high preservation. i have no doubt that there was a _presentation_ copy printed upon vellum; but in what cabinet does this precious gem now slumber?] [footnote : laneham gives a splendid list of romances and old ballads possessed by this said captain cox; and tells us, moreover, that "he had them all at his fingers ends." among the ballads we find "broom broom on hil; so wo is me begon twlly lo; over a whinny meg; hey ding a ding; bony lass upon green; my bony on gave me a bek; by a bank as i lay; and two more he had fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whip cord." edit. , p. - - . ritson, in his historical essay on _scottish song_, speaks of some of these, with a zest, as if he longed to untie the "whip-cord" packet.] while the country was thus giving proofs of the prevalence of this disorder, the two harringtons (especially the younger)[ ] and the illustrious spenser[ ] were unfortunately seized with it in the metropolis. [footnote : sir john harrington, knt. sir john, and his father john harrington, were very considerable literary characters in the th century; and whoever has been fortunate enough to read through mr. park's new edition of the _nugæ antiquæ_, , vo., will meet with numerous instances in which the son displays considerable bibliographical knowledge--especially in _italian_ literature; harrington and spenser seem to have been the matthias and roscoe of the day. i make no doubt but that the former was as thoroughly acquainted with the _vera edizione_ of the giuntæ edition of boccaccio's decamerone, , to., as either haym, orlandi, or bandini. paterson, with all his skill, was mistaken in this article when he catalogued croft's books. see bibl. crofts. no. : his true edition was knocked down for _s._!!!] [footnote : spenser's general acquaintance with italian literature has received the best illustration in mr. todd's variorum edition of the poet's works; where the reader will find, in the notes, a constant succession of anecdotes of, and references to, the state of anterior and contemporaneous literature, foreign and domestic.] in the seventeenth century, from the death of elizabeth to the commencement of anne's reign, it seems to have made considerable havoc; yet, such was our blindness to it that we scrupled not to engage in overtures for the purchase of isaac vossius's[ ] fine library, enriched with many treasures from the queen of sweden's, which this versatile genius scrupled not to pillage without confession or apology. during this century our great reasoners and philosophers began to be in motion; and, like the fumes of tobacco, which drive the concealed and clotted insects from the interior to the extremity of the leaves, the infectious particles of the bibliomania set a thousand busy brains a-thinking, and produced ten thousand capricious works, which, over-shadowed by the majestic remains of bacon, locke, and boyle, perished for want of air, and warmth, and moisture. [footnote : "the story is extant, and written in very choice _french_." consult chauffepié's _supplement to bayle's dictionary_, vol. iv. p. . note q. vossius's library was magnificent and extensive. the university of leyden offered not less than , florins for it. _idem._ p. .] the reign of queen anne was not exempt from the influence of this disease; for during this period, maittaire[ ] began to lay the foundation of his extensive library, and to publish some bibliographical works which may be thought to have rather increased, than diminished, its force. meanwhile, harley[ ] earl of oxford watched its progress with an anxious eye; and although he might have learnt experience from the fatal examples of r. smith,[ ] and t. baker,[ ] and the more recent ones of thomas rawlinson,[ ] bridges,[ ] and collins,[ ] yet he seemed resolved to brave and to baffle it; but, like his predecessors, he was suddenly crushed within the gripe of the demon, and fell one of the most splendid of his victims. even the unrivalled medical skill of mead[ ] could save neither his friend nor himself. the doctor survived his lordship about twelve years; dying of the complaint called the bibliomania! he left behind an illustrious character; sufficient to flatter and soothe those who may tread in his footsteps, and fall victims to a similar disorder. [footnote : of michael maittaire i have given a brief sketch in my introduction to the _greek and latin classics_, vol. i, . mr. beloe, in the rd vol. of his _anecdotes of literature_, p. ix., has described his merits with justice. the principal value of maittaire's _annales typographici_ consists in a great deal of curious matter detailed in the notes; but the absence of the "lucidus ordo" renders the perusal of these fatiguing and dissatisfactory. the author brought a full and well-informed mind to the task he undertook--but he wanted taste and precision in the arrangement of his materials. the eye wanders over a vast indigested mass; and information, when it is to be acquired with excessive toil, is, comparatively, seldom acquired. panzer has adopted an infinitely better plan, on the model of orlandi; and, if his materials had been _printed_ with the same beauty with which they appear to have been composed, and his annals had descended to as late a period as those of maittaire, his work must have made us, eventually, forget that of his predecessor. the bibliographer is, no doubt, aware that of maittaire's first volume there are two editions. why the author did not reprint, in the second edition ( ), the facsimile of the epigram and epistle of lascar prefixed to the edition of the anthology , and the disquisition concerning the ancient editions of quintilian (both of which were in the first edition of ), is absolutely inexplicable. maittaire was sharply attacked for this absurdity, in the "catalogus auctorum," of the "_annus tertius sæcularis inv. art. topog._" harlem, , vo. p. . "rara certe librum augendi methodus (exclaims the author)! satis patet auctorem hoc eo fecisse consilio, ut et primæ et secundæ libri sive editioni pretium suum constaret, et una æque ac altera lectoribus necessaria esset." the catalogue of maittaire's library [ , parts, vo.], which affords ample proof of the bibliomania of its collector, is exceedingly scarce. a good copy of it, even unpriced, is worth a guinea: it was originally sold for shillings; and was drawn up by maittaire himself.] [footnote : in a periodical publication called "_the director_," to which i contributed under the article of "_bibliographiana_" (and of which the printer of this work, mr. william savage, is now the sole publisher), there was rather a minute analysis of the famous library of harley, earl of oxford: a library which seems not only to have revived, but eclipsed, the splendour of the roman one formed by lucullus. the following is an abridgement of this analysis: volumes. . divinity: _greek, latin, french and italian_--about ---- _english_ . history and antiquities . books of prints, sculpture, and drawings-- _twenty thousand drawings and prints._ _ten thousand portraits._ . philosophy, chemistry, medicine, &c. . geography, chronology, general history . voyages and travels . law . sculpture and architecture . greek and latin classics . books printed upon vellum . english poetry, romances, &c. . french and spanish do. . parliamentary affairs . trade and commerce . miscellaneous subjects . pamphlets--_four hundred thousand_! mr. gough says, these books "filled thirteen handsome chambers, and two long galleries." osborne the bookseller purchased them for £ , : a sum little more than two thirds of the price of the binding, as paid by lord oxford. the bookseller was accused of injustice and parsimony; but the low prices which he afterwards affixed to the articles, and the tardiness of their sale, are sufficient refutations of this charge. osborne opened his shop for the inspection of the books on tuesday the th of february, ; for fear "of the curiosity of the spectators, before the sale, producing disorder in the disposition of the books." the dispersion of the harleian collection is a blot in the literary annals of our country: had there then been such a speaker, and such a spirit in the house of commons, as we now possess, the volumes of harley would have been reposing with the marbles of townley!] [footnote : "bibliotheca smithiana: sive catalogus librorum in quavis facultate insigniorum, quos in usum suum et bibliothecæ ornamentum multo ære sibi comparavit vir clarissimus doctissimusque d. richardus smith, &c., londini, ," to. i recommend the collector of curious and valuable catalogues to lay hold upon the present one (of which a more particular description will be given in another work) whenever it comes in his way. the address "to the reader," in which we are told that "this so much celebrated, so often desired, so long expected, library is now exposed to sale," gives a very interesting account of the owner. inter alia, we are informed that mr. smith "was as constantly known every day to walk his rounds through the shops, as to sit down to his meals, &c.;" and that "while others were forming arms, and new-modelling kingdoms, _his_ great ambition was to become master of a good book." the catalogue itself justifies every thing said in commendation of the collector of the library. the arrangement is good; the books, in almost all departments of literature, foreign and domestic, valuable and curious; and among the english ones i have found some of the rarest caxtons to refer to in my edition of ames. what would mr. bindley, or mr. malone, or mr. douce, give to have the _creaming_ of such a collection of "bundles of stitcht books and pamphlets," as extends from page to of this catalogue! but alas! while the bibliographer exults in, or hopes for, the possession of such treasures, the physiologist discovers therein fresh causes of disease, and the philanthropist mourns over the ravages of the bibliomania!] [footnote : consult masters's "_memoirs of the life and writings of the late rev._ thomas baker," camb. , vo. let any person examine the catalogue of _forty-two_ folio volumes of "ms. collections by mr. baker," (as given at the end of this piece of biography) and reconcile himself, if he can, to the supposition that the said mr. baker did not fall a victim to the _book-disease_! for some cause, i do not now recollect what, baker took his name off the books of st. john's college, cambridge, to which he belonged; but such was his attachment to the place, and more especially to the library, that he spent a great portion of the ensuing twenty years of his life within the precincts of the same: frequently comforted and refreshed, no doubt, by the sight of the magnificent large paper copies of walton and castell, and of cranmer's bible upon vellum!] [footnote : this thomas rawlinson, who is introduced in the tatler under the name _tom folio_, was a very extraordinary character, and most desperately addicted to book-hunting. because his own house was not large enough, he hired _london house_, in aldersgate street, for the reception of his library; and here he used to regale himself with the sight and the scent of innumerable black letter volumes, arranged in "sable garb," and stowed perhaps "three deep," from the bottom to the top of his house. he died in ; and catalogues of his books for sale continued, for nine succeeding years, to meet the public eye. the following is a list of all the parts which i have ever met with; taken from copies in mr. heber's possession. _part_ . _a catalogue of choice and valuable books in most faculties and languages_: being the sixth part of the collection made by thos. rawlinson, esq., &c., to be sold on thursday, the d day of march, ; beginning every evening at of the clock, by charles davis, bookseller. qui non credit, eras credat. ex autog. t.r. . _bibliotheca rawlinsoniana_; sive delectus librorum in omni ferè linguâ et facultate præstantium--to be sold on wednesday th april, [ ] by charles davis, bookseller. numbers. . _the same_: january - . by thomas ballard, bookseller, numbers. . _the same_: march, - . by the same. numbers. . _the same_: october, . by the same. numbers. . _the same_: november, . by the same. numbers. . _the same_: april, . by the same. numbers. . _the same_: november, . by the same. numbers. . _the same_: [of rawlinson's manuscripts] by the same. march - . numbers. . _picturæ rawlinsonianæ._ april, . articles. at the end, it would seem that a catalogue of his prints, and mss. missing in the last sale, were to be published the ensuing winter. n.b. the black-letter books are catalogued in the gothic letter.] [footnote : "bibliothecÆ bridgesianÆ catalogus: or, a catalogue of the entire library of john bridges, late of _lincoln's inn_, esq., &c., which will begin to be sold, by auction, on monday the seventh day of february, - , at his chambers in _lincoln's inn_, no. ." from a priced copy of this sale catalogue, in my possession, once belonging to nourse, the bookseller in the strand, i find that the following was the produce of the sale: the amount of the books £ prints and books of prints ----------- total amount of the sale £ two different catalogues of this valuable collection of books were printed. the one was analysed, or a _catalogue raisonné_; to which was prefixed a print of a grecian portico, &c., with ornaments and statues: the other (expressly for the sale) was an indigested and extremely confused one--to which was prefixed a print, designed and engraved by a. motte, of an oak felled, with a number of men cutting down and carrying away its branches; illustrative of the following greek motto inscribed on a scroll above--[greek: dryos pesousês pas anêr xyleuetai]: "an affecting memento (says mr. nichols, very justly, in his _anecdotes of bowyer_, p. ) to the collectors of great libraries, who cannot, or do not, leave them to some public accessible repository."] [footnote : in the year - , there was sold by auction, at st. paul's coffee-house, in st. paul's church-yard (beginning every evening at five o'clock), the library of the celebrated free-thinker, anthony collins, esq. "containing a collection of several thousand volumes in greek, latin, english, french, and spanish; in divinity, history, antiquity, philosophy, husbandry, and all polite literature: and especially many curious travels and voyages; and many rare and valuable pamphlets." this collection, which is divided into _two parts_ (the first containing articles, the second ), is well worthy of being consulted by the theologian, who is writing upon any controverted point of divinity: there are articles in it of the rarest occurrence. the singular character of its owner and of his works is well known: he was at once the friend and the opponent of locke and clarke, who were both anxious for the conversion of a character of such strong, but misguided, talents. the former, on his death-bed, wrote collins a letter to be delivered to him, after his decease, which was full of affection and good advice.] [footnote : it is almost impossible to dwell on the memory of this great man without emotions of delight--whether we consider him as an eminent physician, a friend to literature, or a collector of books, pictures, and coins. benevolence, magnanimity, and erudition were the striking features of his character: his house was the general receptacle of men of genius and talent, and of every thing beautiful, precious, or rare. his curiosities, whether books, or coins, or pictures, were freely laid open to the public; and the enterprising student, and experienced antiquary, alike found amusement and a courteous reception. he was known to all foreigners of intellectual distinction, and corresponded both with the artisan and the potentate. the great patron of literature, and the leader of his profession (which he practised with a success unknown before), it was hardly possible for unbefriended merit, if properly introduced to him, to depart unrewarded. the clergy, and in general, all men of learning, received his advice _gratuitously_: and his doors were open every morning to the _most indigent_, whom he frequently assisted with money. although his income, from his professional practice, was very considerable, he died by no means a rich man--so large were the sums which he devoted to the encouragement of literature and the fine arts! the sale of dr. mead's _books_ commenced on the th of november, , and again on the th of april, : lasting together days. the sale of the _prints_ and _drawings_ continued nights. the _gems_, _bronzes_, _busts_, and _antiquities_, days. his books produced £ pictures prints and drawings coins and medals antiquities -------------- amount of all the sales £ , it would be difficult to mention, within a moderate compass, all the rare and curious articles which his library contained--but the following are too conspicuous to be passed over. the _spira virgil_ of , _pfintzing's tewrkdrancs_, , _brandt's stultifera navis_, , and the _aldine petrarch_ of , all upon vellum. the large paper _olivet's cicero_ was purchased by dr. askew for £ _s._ and was sold again at his sale for £ _s._ the king of france bought the editio princeps of _pliny senr._ for £ _s._; and mr. willock, a bookseller, bought the magnificently illuminated _pliny by jenson_ of , for £ _s._: of which maittaire has said so many fine things. the _french_ books, and all the works upon the _fine arts_, were of the first rarity, and value, and bound in a sumptuous manner. winstanley's _prospects of audley end_ brought £ . an amusing account of some of the pictures will be found in mr. beloe's "_anecdotes of literature and scarce books_," vol. i. . . but consult also _nichol's anecdotes of bowyer_, p. , &c. of the catalogue of dr. mead's books there were only six copies printed on large paper. see bibl. lort, no. .] the years - were singularly remarkable for the mortality excited by the bibliomania; and the well known names of folkes,[ ] and rawlinson,[ ] might have supplied a modern holbein a hint for the introduction of a new subject in the "_dance of death_." the close of george the second's reign witnessed another instance of the fatality of this disease. henley[ ] "bawled till he was hoarse" against the cruelty of its attack; while his library has informed posterity how severely and how mortally he suffered from it. [footnote : "a catalogue of the entire and valuable library of martin folkes, esq., president of the royal society, and member of the royal academy of sciences at paris, lately deceased; which will be sold by auction by samuel baker, at his house, in york street, covent garden. to begin on monday, february , , and to continue for forty days successively (sundays excepted). catalogues to be had at most of the considerable places in europe, and all the booksellers of great britain and ireland, price sixpence." this collection was an exceedingly fine one; enriched with many books of the choicest description, which mr. folkes had acquired in his travels in italy and germany. the works on natural history, coins, medals, and inscriptions, and on the fine arts in general, formed the most valuable department--those in the greek, latin and english classics, were comparatively of inferior importance. it is a great pity the catalogue was not better digested; or the books classed according to the nature of their contents. the following prices, for some of the more rare and interesting articles, will amuse a bibliographer of the present day. the chronicles of fabian, hall, and grafton, did not altogether bring quite £ : though the copies are described as perfect and fair. there seems to have been a fine set of sir wm. dugdale's works (nos. - ) in vols. which, collectively, produced about guineas. in _spanish literature_, the history of south america, by don juan and ant. di ulloa, madr. fol. in vols., was sold for £ : a fine large paper copy of the description of the monastery of st. lorenzo, and the escorial, madr. , brought £ _s._: de lastanosa's spanish medals, huesca, fol. , £ _s._ in _english_, the first edition of shakespeare, , which is now what a french bibliographer would say "presque introuvable," produced the sum of £ _s._; and fuller's worthies, _s._! _fine arts, antiquities, and voyages._ sandrart's works, in folio volumes (of which a fine perfect copy is now rarely to be met with, and of very great value) were sold for £ _s._ only: desgodetz roman edifices, paris, , £ _s._: galleria giustiniano, vols., fol. £ _s._ le brun's voyages in muscovy, &c., in large paper, £ _s._ de rossi's raccolta de statue, &c. rom. , £ _s._ medailles du regne de louis le grand, de l'imp. roy. . p. fol. , £ _s._ _d._ the works on _natural history_ brought still higher prices; but the whole, from the present depreciation of specie, and increased rarity of the articles, would now bring thrice the sums then given. of the _greek and latin classics_, the pliny of and were sold to dr. askew for £ _s._ and £ _s._ _d._ at the doctor's sale they brought £ and £ : although the first was lately sold (a.d. ) among some duplicates of books belonging to the british museum, at a much lower price: the copy was, in fact, neither large nor beautiful. those in the hunter and cracherode collections are greatly superior, and would each bring more than double the price. from a priced copy of the sale catalogue, in my possession, i find that the amount of the sale, consisting of articles, was £ _s._ the _prints and drawings_ of mr. folkes occupied a sale of days; and his _pictures_, _gems_, _coins_, and _mathematical instruments_, of five days. mr. martin folkes may justly be ranked among the most useful, as well as splendid, literary characters of which this country can boast. he appears to have imbibed, at a very early age, an extreme passion for science and literature; and to have distinguished himself so much at the university of cambridge, under the able tuition of dr. laughton, that, in his rd year, he was admitted a fellow of the royal society. about two years afterwards he was chosen one of the council, and rose, in gradual succession, to the chair of the presidentship, which he filled with a credit and celebrity that has since never been surpassed. on this occasion he was told by dr. jurin, the secretary, who dedicated to him the th vol. of the transactions, that "the greatest man that ever lived (sir isaac newton) singled him out to fill the chair, and to preside in the society, when he himself was so frequently prevented by indisposition: and that it was sufficient to say of him that he was _sir isaac's friend_." within a few years after this, he was elected president of the society of antiquaries. two situations, the filling of which may be considered as the _ne plus ultra_ of literary distinction. mr. folkes travelled abroad, with his family, about two years and a half, visiting the cities of rome, florence, and venice--where he was noticed by almost every person of rank and reputation, and whence he brought away many a valuable article to enrich his own collection. he was born in the year , and died of a second stroke of the palsy, under which he languished for three years, in . dr. birch has drawn a very just and interesting character of this eminent man, which may be found in nichol's _anecdotes of bowyer_, . . mr. edwards, the late ornithologist, has described him in a simple, but appropriate, manner. "he seemed," says he, "to have attained to universal knowledge; for, in the many opportunities i have had of being in his company, almost every part of science has happened to be the subject of discourse, all of which he handled as an adept. he was a man of great politeness in his manners, free from all pedantry and pride, and, in every respect, the real unaffected fine gentleman."] [footnote : "bibliotheca rawlinsoniana, sive catalogus librorum richardi rawlinson, ll.d. qui prostabunt venales sub hasta, apud samuelem baker. in vico dicto _york street, covent garden londini, die lunæ_, martii mdcclvi." this valuable library must have contained about , volumes; for the number of articles amounted to . on examining a priced catalogue of it, which now lies before me, i have not found any higher sum offered for a work than £ _s._ for a collection of fine prints, by aldegrave (no. ). the greek and latin classics, of which there were few _editiones principes_, or on _large paper_, brought the usual sums given at that period. the old english black-lettered books, which were pretty thickly scattered throughout the collection, were sold for exceedingly low prices--if the copies were perfect. witness the following: £ _s._ _d._ the newe testament in english, the ymage of both churches, after the revelation of st. john, by bale, the boke called the pype or tonne of perfection, by richard whytforde, the visions of pierce plowman, the creede of pierce plowman, the bookes of moses, in english, bale's actes of englishe votaryes, the boke of chivalrie, by caxton the boke of st. albans, by w. de worde these are only very few of the rare articles in english literature, of the whole of which (perhaps upwards of in number) i believe, the 'boke of st. albans,' brought the highest sum. hence it will be seen that this was not the age of curious research into the productions of our ancestors. shakspeare had not then appeared in a proper _variorum edition_. theobald, and pope, and warburton, had not investigated the black-letter lore of ancient english writers, for the illustration of their favourite author. this was reserved for farmer, for steevens, for malone, for chalmers, reed and douce: and it is expressly to these latter gentlemen (for johnson and hanmer were very sparing, or very shy, of the black letter), that we are indebted for the present spirit of research into the works of our ancestors. the sale of the books lasted days. there was a second sale of pamphlets, books of prints, &c., in the following year, which lasted days; and this was immediately succeeded by a sale of the doctor's single prints and drawings, which continued days.] [footnote : this gentleman's library, not so remarkable for the black letter as for whimsical publications, was sold by auction, by samuel paterson, [the earliest sale in which i find this well known book-auctioneer engaged] in june, , and the three ensuing evenings. the title of the sale catalogue is as follows: "a catalogue of the original mss. and manuscript collections of the late reverend mr. john henley, a.m., independent minister of the oratory, &c., in which are included sundry collections of the late mons. des maizeaux, the learned editor of bayle, &c., mr. lowndes, author of the report for the amendment of silver coins, &c., dr. patrick blair, physician at boston, and f.r.s. &c., together with original letters and papers of state, addressed to henry d'avenant, esq., her britannic majesty's envoy at francfort, from to inclusive." few libraries have contained more curious and remarkable publications than did this. the following articles, given as notable specimens, remind us somewhat of addison's memoranda for the spectator, which the waiter at the coffee-house picked up and read aloud for the amusement of the company. no. . god's manifestation by a star to the dutch. a mortifying fast diet at court. on the birth day of the first and oldest young gentleman. all corrupt: none good: no not one. no. . general thumbissimo. the spring reversed, or the flanderkin's opera and dutch pickle herrings. the creolean fillip, or royal mishap. a martial telescope, &c., england's passion sunday, and april changelings. no. . speech upon speech. a telescope for tournay. no battle, but worse, and the true meaning of it. an army beaten and interred. no. . signs when the p. will come. was captain sw----n a prisoner on parole, to be catechised? david's opinion of like times. the seeds of the plot may rise, though the leaves fall. a perspective, from the blair of athol, the pretender's popery. murder! fire! where! where! no. . taking carlisle, catching an eel by the tail. address of a bishop, dean and clergy. swearing to the p----r, &c., anathema denounced against those parents, masters, and magistrates, that do not punish the sin at stokesley. a speech, &c. a parallel between the rebels to k. charles i. and those to his successor. _jane cameron_ looked killing at _falkirk_. no. . let stocks be knighted, write, sir banks, &c. the ramhead month. a proof that the writers against popery fear it will be established in this kingdom. a scheme, wisely blabbed to root and branch the highlanders. let st. patrick have fair play, &c. of orator henley i have not been able to collect any biographical details more interesting than those which are to be found in warburton's notes to pope's dunciad.] we are now, my dear sir, descending rapidly to our own times; and, in a manner sufficiently rough, have traced the _history of the bibliomania_ to the commencement of the present illustrious reign: when we discover, among its victims, a general, who had probably faced many a cannon, and stormed many a rampart, uninjured. the name of dormer[ ] will remind you of the small but choice library which affords such a melancholy proof of its owners' fate; while the more splendid examples of smith[ ] and west[ ] serve to shew the increased ravages of a disease, which seemed to threaten the lives of all, into whose ears (like those of "visto,") some demon had "whispered" the sound of "taste." these three striking instances of the fatality of the bibliomania occurred--the first in the year ; and the latter in . the following year witnessed the sale of the fletewode[ ] library; so that nothing but despair and havoc appeared to move in the train of this pestiferous malady. in the year died the famous dr. anthony askew, another illustrious victim to the bibliomania. those who recollect the zeal and scholarship of this great book-collector, and the precious gems with which his library[ ] was stored from the cabinets of de boze and gaignat, as well as of mead and folkes, cannot but sigh with grief of heart on the thought of such a victim! how ardently, and how kindly [as i remember to have heard his friend dr. burges say], would askew unfold his glittering stores--open the magnificent folio, or the shining duodecimo, upon vellum, embossed and fast held together with golden knobs and silver clasps! how carefully would he unroll the curious ms.--decipher the half effaced characters--and then, casting an eye of ecstacy over the shelves upon which similar treasures were lodged, exult in the glittering prospect before him! but death--who, as horace tells us, raps equally at the palaces of kings and cottages of peasants, made no scruple to exercise the knocker of the doctor's door, and sent, as his avant-courier, this deplorable mania! it appeared; and even askew, with all his skill in medicine and books, fell lifeless before it--bewailed, as he was beloved and respected! [footnote : "a catalogue of the genuine and elegant library of the late sir c.c. dormer, collected by lieutenant-general james dormer, which will be sold, &c., by samuel baker, at his house in york street, covent garden; to begin on monday, february the th, , and to continue the nineteen following evenings." at the end of the catalogue we are told that the books were "in general of the best editions, and in the finest condition, many of them in _large paper_, bound in morocco, gilt leaves, &c." this was a very choice collection of books, consisting almost entirely of greek, latin, italian, spanish and french. the number of articles did not exceed , and of volumes, probably not . the catalogue is neatly printed, and copies of it on _large paper_ are exceedingly scarce. among the most curious and valuable articles were those numbered , , , ; from no. , to the end, was a choice collection of italian and spanish books.] [footnote : in the year was published at venice, printed by j.b. pasquali, a catalogue of the books of joseph smith, esq., consul at venice. the catalogue was published under the following latin title: "bibliotheca smitheana, seu catalogus librorum d. josephi smithii, angli, per cognomina authorum dispositus, venetiis, typis jo. baptistæ pasquali, m,dcclv.;" in quarto; with the arms of consul smith. the title page is succeeded by a latin preface of pasquali, and an alphabetical list of pages of the authors mentioned in the catalogue: then follow the books arranged alphabetically, without any regard to size, language, or subject. these occupy pages, marked with the roman numerals; after which are pages, numbered in the same manner, of "addenda et corrigenda." the most valuable part of the volume is "the prefaces and epistles prefixed to those works in the library which were printed in the th century:" these occupy pages. a catalogue, (in three pages) of the names of the illustrious men mentioned in these prefaces, &c., closes the book. it would be superfluous to mention to bibliographers the rare articles contained in this collection, which are so generally known and so justly appreciated. they consist chiefly of early editions of _italian_, _greek_, and _latin classics_; and of many copies of both printed upon vellum. the library, so rich in these articles, was, however, defective in english literature and antiquities. there was scarcely any thing of shakspeare or dugdale. on the death of mr. smith in , his collection was sold in , vo., by baker and leigh; and the books were announced to the public, as being "in the finest preservation, and consisting of the very best and scarcest editions of the latin, italian, and french authors, from the invention of printing; with manuscripts and missals, upon vellum, finely illuminated." a glance upon the prices for which most of these fine books were sold made mr. cuthell exclaim, in my hearing, that "_they were given away_." on these occasions, one cannot help now and then wishing, with father evander, "o mihi præteritos referat si jupiter annos!" on comparing pasquali's, with the sale, catalogue, it will be obvious that a great number of rare and valuable articles was disposed of before the books came to public auction. indeed it is known that his present majesty enriched his magnificent collection with many of the consul's _first editions_, and _vellum copies_, during the life of the latter. the sale continued thirteen days only; and on the last day were sold all the english books in the _black-letter_. some of these are rather curious. of consul smith i am unable to present the lover of virtu with any particulars more acceptable than the following. pasquali (whose latin preface is curious enough--abounding with as many interrogatories as hamlet's soliloquies) has told us that "as the consul himself was distinguished for his politeness, talents, and prudence, so was his house for splendid and elegant decorations. you might there view, says he, the most beautifully painted pictures, and exquisite ornaments, whether gems, vases, or engravings. in short, the whole furniture was so brilliant and classical that you admired at once the magnificence and judgment of the owner." he tells us, a little further, that he had frequently solicited the consul to print a catalogue of his books; which proposition his modesty at first induced him to reject; but, afterwards, his liberality, to comply with. he then observes that, "in the compilation of the catalogue, he has studied brevity as much as it was consistent with perspicuity; and that he was once desirous of stating the _value_ and _price_ of the books, but was dissuaded from it by the advice of the more experienced, and by the singular modesty of the collector." it must be confessed that pasquali has executed his task well, and that the catalogue ranks among the most valuable, as well as rare, books of the kind.] [footnote : "bibliotheca westiana; a catalogue of the curious and truly valuable library of the late james west, esq., president of the royal society, deceased, &c. including the works of caxton, lettou, machlinia, the anonymous st. albans schoolmaste [transcriber's note: schoolmaster], wynkyn de worde, pynson, and the rest of the old english typographers. digested by samuel paterson," , vo. analysis of the catalogue. . _volumes of miscellaneous tracts._ these volumes extend from no. to , from to , from to , and from no. to . . _divinity._ in the whole, articles; probably about volumes; some of them exceedingly scarce and valuable. . _education, languages, criticism, classics, dictionaries, catalogues of libraries, &c._ there were about volumes in these departments. the catalogues of english books, from that of maunsell, in , to the latest before mr. west's time, were very complete. the treatises on education and translations of the ancient classics comprehended a curious and uncommon collection. the greek and latin classics were rather select than rare. . _english poetry, romance, and miscellanies._ this interesting part of the collection comprehended about articles, or probably about volumes: and if the singularly rare and curious books which may be found _under these heads alone_ were now concentrated in one library, the owner of them might safely demand guineas for such a treasure. . _philosophy, mathematics, inventions, agriculture and horticulture, medicine, cookery, surgery, etc._ two hundred and forty articles, or about volumes. . _chemistry, natural history, astrology, sorcery, gigantology._ probably not more than volumes. . _history and antiquities._ this comprehended a great number of curious and valuable productions, relating both to foreign and domestic transactions. . _heraldry and genealogy._ a great number of curious and scarce articles may be found under these heads. . _ancient legends and chronicles._ to the english antiquary, few departments of literature are more interesting that these. mr. west seems to have paid particular attention to them, and to have enriched his library with many articles of this description, of the rarest occurrence. the lovers of caxton, fabian, hardyng, hall, grafton, and holinshed, may be highly gratified by inspecting the various editions of these old chroniclers. i entreat the diligent bibliographer to examine the first eight articles of page of the catalogue. alas, when will all these again come under the hammer at one sale?! . _topography._ even to a veteran, like the late mr. gough, such a collection as may be found from p. to p. of this catalogue, would be considered a first-rate acquisition. i am aware that the gothic wainscot, and stained glass windows, of _enfield study_ enshrined a still more exquisite topographical collection! but we are improved since the days of mr. west; and every body knows to _whom_ these improvements are, in a great measure, to be attributed. when i call to mind the author of '_british topography_' and '_sepulchral monuments_,' i am not insensible to the taste, diligence, and erudition of the "par nobile fratrum," who have gratified us with the '_environs of london_,' '_roman remains_,' and the first two volumes of '_magna britannia_!' the preceding is to be considered as a very general, and therefore superficial, analysis of the catalogue of mr. west's library; copies of it, with the sums for which the books were sold, are now found with difficulty, and bring a considerable price. i never saw or heard of one on large paper!] [footnote : "a catalogue of rare books and tracts in various languages and faculties; including the _ancient conventual library_ of missenden-abbey, in buckinghamshire; together with some choice remains of that of the late eminent serjeant at law, william fletewode, esq., recorder of london, in the reign of queen elizabeth; among which are several specimens of the earliest typography, foreign and english, including caxton, wynkyn de worde, pynson, and others; a fine collection of english poetry, some scarce old law-books, a great number of old english plays, several choice mss. upon vellum, and other subjects of literary curiosity. also several of the best editions of the classics, and modern english and french books. to begin _december_ , , and the following evenings, precisely at half an hour after five." i am in possession of a _priced catalogue_ of this collection, which once belonged to herbert, and which contains all the purchasers' names, as well as the sums given. the purchasers were principally herbert, garrick, dodd, elmsley, t. payne, richardson, chapman, wagstaff, bindley, and gough. the following is a specimen of some curious and interesting articles contained in this celebrated library, and of the prices for which they once sold! no. . _bale's brefe chronycle relating to syr johan oldecastell_, . the life off the th archbishopp off canterbury presentleye sittinge, , &c. life of hen. hills, printer to o. cromwell, _with the relation of what passed between him and the taylor's wife in black friars_, , _&c._ £ _s._ _d._ purchased by mores. nos. to . upwards of thirty _scarce theological tracts_, in latin and english nos. to . a fine collection of early english translations, in black letter, with some good foreign editions of the classics. not exceeding, in the whole nos. , . two copies of the _first edition_ of bacon's essays, ! the reader will just glance at no. , in the catalogue, en passant, to nos. (£ s.) and ( s.); but more particularly to no. . caxton's _boke of tulle of olde age_, &c. . purchased by the late mr. t. payne no. . caxton's _boke which is sayd or called cathon_, &c. . purchased by alchorn. no. . caxton's _doctrinal of sapyence_, purchased by alchorn. no. . caxton's _cordyal_, no. . wynkyn de worde's _ocharde of syon_, &c. . i will, however, only add that there were upwards of articles of _old plays_, mostly in quarto. see page . of _antiquities_, _chronicles_, and _topography_, it would be difficult to pitch upon the rarest volumes. the collection, including very few mss., contained articles, or probably nearly volumes. the catalogue is uncommon.] [footnote : i am now arrived, pursuing my chronological arrangement, at a very important period in the annals of book-sales. the name and collection of dr. askew are so well known in the bibliographical world that the reader need not be detained with laboured commendations on either: in the present place, however, it would be a cruel disappointment not to say a word or two by way of _preface_ or _prologue_. dr. anthony askew had eminently distinguished himself by a refined taste, a sound knowledge, and an indefatigable research relating to every thing connected with grecian and roman literature. it was to be expected, even during his life, as he was possessed of sufficient means to gratify himself with what was rare, curious, and beautiful in literature and the fine arts, that the public would, one day, be benefited by such pursuits: especially as he had expressed a wish that his treasures might be unreservedly submitted to sale, after his decease. in this wish the doctor was not singular. many eminent collectors had indulged it before him: and, to my knowledge, many modern ones still indulge it. accordingly on the death of dr. askew, in , appeared, in the ensuing year, a catalogue of his books for sale, by messrs. baker and leigh, under the following title: "bibliotheca askeviana, sive catalogus librorum rarissimorum antonii askew, m.d., quorum auctio fiet apud s. baker et g. leigh, in vico dicto _york street, covent garden_, londini. _die lunæ_, _februarii_, mdcclxxv, et in undeviginti sequentes dies." a few copies were struck off on large paper. we are told by the compiler of the catalogue that it was thought unnecessary to say much with respect to this library of the late dr. anthony askew, as the collector and collection were so well known in almost all parts of europe. afterwards it is observed that "the books in general are in very fine condition, many of them bound in morocco, and russia leather, with gilt leaves." "to give a particular account," continues the compiler, "of the _many scarce editions_ of books in this catalogue would be almost endless, therefore the _first editions_ of the classics, and some _extremely rare books_ are chiefly noticed. the catalogue, without any doubt, contains the best, rarest, and most valuable collection of greek and latin books that were ever sold in england." this account is not overcharged. the collection, in regard to greek and roman literature, was _unique_ in its day. the late worthy and learned mr. m. cracherode, whose library now forms one of the most splendid acquisitions of the british museum, and whose _bequest_ of it will immortalize his memory, was also among the "emptores literarii" at this renowned sale. he had enriched his collection with many _exemplar askevianum_; and, in his latter days, used to elevate his hands and eyes, and exclaim against the prices _now_ offered for editiones principes! the fact is, dr. askew's sale has been considered a sort of _æra_ in bibliography. since that period, rare and curious books in greek and latin literature have been greedily sought after, and obtained at most extravagant prices. it is very well for a veteran in bibliography, as was mr. cracherode, or as are mr. wodhull and dr. gosset, whose collections were formed in the days of gaignat, askew, duke de la valliere, and lamoignon--it is very well for such gentlemen to declaim against _modern prices_! but what is to be done? books grow scarcer every day, and the love of literature, and of possessing rare and interesting works, increases in an equal ratio. hungry bibliographers meet, at sales, with well furnished purses, and are resolved upon sumptuous fare. thus the hammer _vibrates_, after a bidding of _forty pounds_, where formerly it used regularly to _fall_ at _four_! but we lose sight of dr. askew's _rare editions_, and _large paper copies_. the following, gentle reader, is but an imperfect specimen! no. . chaucer's works, by pynson, no date £ _s._ _d._ no. . cicero of old age, by caxton, no. . gilles' (nicole) annales, &c. de france. paris, fol. . tom. sur velin no. . Æginetæ (pauli) præcepta salubria. paris, quarto, . on vellum no. . Æsopi fabulæ. edit. prin. _circ._ no. . boccacio, la teseide _ferar._ . prima edizione no. . catullus tibullus, et propertius, aldi. vo. . in membrana this copy was purchased by the late mr. m.c. cracherode, and is now, with his library, in the british museum. it is a beautiful book, but cannot be compared with lord spencer's aldine vellum virgil, of the same size. no. . durandi rationale, &c. . in membrana the beginning of the st chapter was wanting. lord spencer has a perfect copy of this rare book on spotless vellum! no. . platonis opera, apud aldum. vol. fol. . _edit. prin._ on vellum purchased by the late dr. w. hunter; and is at this moment, in his museum at _glasgow_. the reader who has not seen them can have no idea of the beauty of these vellum leaves. the ink is of the finest lustre, and the whole typographical arrangement may be considered a master-piece of printing. lord oxford told dr. mead that he gave guineas for this very copy.] after this melancholy event, one would have thought that future _virtuosi_ would have barricadoed their doors, and fumigated their chambers, to keep out such a pest;--but how few are they who profit by experience, even when dearly obtained! the subsequent history of the disease is a striking proof of the truth of this remark; for the madness of book-collecting rather increased--and the work of death still went on. in the year died john ratcliffe[ ] another, and a very singular, instance of the fatality of the bibliomania. if he had contented himself with his former occupation, and frequented the butter and cheese, instead of the book, market--if he could have _fancied himself_ in a brown peruke, and russian apron, instead of an embroidered waistcoat, velvet breeches, and flowing perriwig, he might, perhaps, have enjoyed greater longevity; but, infatuated by the caxtons and wynkyn de wordes of fletewode and of west, he fell into the snare; and the more he struggled to disentangle himself, the more certainly did he become a prey to the disease. [footnote : bibliotheca ratcliffiana; or, "a catalogue of the elegant and truly valuable library of john ratcliffe, esq. late of bermondsey, deceased. the whole collected with great judgment and expense, during the last thirty years of his life: comprehending a large and most choice collection of the rare old english _black-letter_, in fine preservation, and in elegant bindings, printed by caxton, lettou, machlinia, the anonymous st. albans schoolmaster, wynkyn de worde, pynson, berthelet, grafton, day, newberie, marshe, jugge, whytchurch, wyer, rastell, coplande, and the rest of the _old english typographers_: several missals and mss., and two pedigrees on vellum, finely illuminated." the title page then sets forth a specimen of these black-lettered gems; among which our eyes are dazzled with a galaxy of caxtons, wynkyn de wordes, pynsons, &c. &c. the sale took place on march , . if ever there was a _unique_ collection, this was one--the very essence of old divinity, poetry, romances, and chronicles! the articles were only in number, but their intrinsic value amply compensated for their paucity. the following is but an inadequate specimen. no. . horace's arte of poetrie, pistles and satyres, by drant. , _first english edition_ £ _s._ _d._ no. . the sheparde's calender, . whetstone's castle of delight, no. . the pastyme of the people, printed by rastell. curious wood cuts. a copy of this book is not now to be procured. i have known £ offered for it, and rejected with disdain no. . barclay's shyp of folys, printed by pynson, , _first edit._ fine copy no. . the doctrinal of sapyence, printed by caxton, no. . the boke, called cathon, ditto, . _purchased by dr. hunter_, and now in his museum no. . the polytyque boke, named tullius de senectute, in englishe, by caxton, . _purchased for his majesty_ no. . the game of chesse playe. no. . the boke of jason, printed by caxton no. . the polychronicon of ranulph higden, printed by caxton, . _purchased by dr. hunter_ no. . legenda aurea, or the golden legende no. . mr. ratcliffe's ms. catalogues of the _rare old black letter_, and other curious and uncommon books, vols. this would have been the most delicious article to _my_ palate. if the present owner of it were disposed to part with it, i could not find it in my heart to refuse him _compound interest_ for his money. as is the wooden frame-work to the bricklayer in the construction of his arch, so might mr. ratcliffe's ms. catalogues be to me in the compilation of a certain _magnum opus_! the memory of such a man ought to be dear to the "_black-lettered dogs_" of the present day; for he had [mirabile dictu!] _upwards of_ thirty caxtons! if i might hazard a comparison between mr. james west's and mr. john ratcliffe's collections, i should say that the former was more extensive, the latter more curious: mr. west's, like a magnificent _champagne_, executed by the hand of claude or both, and enclosing mountains, and meadows, and streams, presented to the eye of the beholder a scene at once extensive, luxuriant, and fruitful: mr. ratcliffe's, like one of those delicious pieces of scenery, touched by the pencil of rysdael or hobbima, exhibited to the beholder's eye a spot equally interesting, but less varied and extensive. the sweeping foliage and rich pasture of the former could not, perhaps, afford greater gratification than did the thatched cottage, abrupt declivities, and gushing streams of the latter. to change the metaphor--mr. west's was a magnificent repository, mr. ratcliffe's a choice cabinet of gems.] thirty years have been considered by addison (somewhere in his spectator) as a pretty accurate period for the passing away of one generation and the coming on of another. we have brought down our researches to within a similar period of the present times; but, as addison has not made out the proofs of such assertion, and as many of the relatives and friends of those who have fallen victims to the bibliomania, since the days of ratcliffe, may yet be alive; moreover, as it is the part of humanity not to tear open wounds which have been just closed, or awaken painful sensibilities which have been well nigh laid to rest; so, my dear sir, in giving you a further account of this fatal disorder, i deem it the most prudent method _not to expatiate_ upon the subsequent examples of its mortality. we can only mourn over such names as beauclerk, crofts, pearson, lort, mason, farmer, steevens, woodhouse, brand, and reed! and fondly hope that the list may not be increased by those of living characters! we are, in the second place, to describe the symptoms of the disease. the ingenious peignot, in the first volume of his 'dictionnaire bibliologie,' p. , defines the bibliomania[ ] to be "a passion for possessing books; not so much to be instructed by them, as to gratify the eye by looking on them. he who is affected by this mania knows books only by their titles and dates, and is rather seduced by the exterior than interior"! this is, perhaps, too general and vague a definition to be of much benefit in the knowledge, and consequent prevention, of the disease: let us, therefore, describe it more certainly and intelligibly. [footnote : there is a short, but smart and interesting, article on this head in mr. d'israeli's _curiosities of literature_, vol. . . "bruyere has touched on this mania with humour; of such a collector (one who is fond of superb bindings only) says he, as soon as i enter his house, i am ready to faint on the stair-case from a strong smell of morocco leather. in vain he shows me fine editions, gold leaves, etruscan bindings, &c.--naming them one after another, as if he were showing a gallery of pictures!" lucian has composed a biting invective against an ignorant possessor of a vast library. "one who opens his eyes, with an hideous stare, at an old book, and, after turning over the pages, chiefly admires the _date_ of its publication."] symptoms of this disease are instantly known by a passion for i. _large paper copies_: ii. _uncut copies_: iii. _illustrated copies_: iv. _unique copies_: v. _copies printed upon vellum_: vi. _first editions_: vii. _true editions_: viii. _a general desire for the black letter_. we will describe these symptoms more particularly. i. _large paper copies._ these are a certain set or limited number of the work printed in a superior manner, both in regard to ink and press work, on paper of a larger size, and better quality, than the ordinary copies. their price is enhanced in proportion to their beauty and rarity. in the note below[ ] are specified a few works which have been published in this manner, that the sober collector may avoid approaching them. [footnote : . _lord bacon's essays_, , vo., of which it is said only five copies were struck off on royal folio. in lord spencer's and the cracherode, collection i have seen a copy of this exquisitely printed book; the text of which, surrounded by such an amplitude of margin, in the language of ernesti [see his critique on havercamp's sallust] "natut velut cymba in oceano." . _twenty plays of shakespeare_ published by steevens from the old quarto editions, , vo. vols. of this edition there were only twelve copies struck off on large paper. see bibl. steevens, no. . . _dodsley's collection of old plays_, , vo., vols. only six copies printed on large paper. see bibl. woodhouse, no. . . _the grenville homer._ græce, . to. vols. fifty copies with plates were struck off on large paper, in royal quarto. a copy of this kind was purchased at a sale in , for £ s. . _sandford's genealogical history_, etc. , fol. mr. arch of cornhill purchased a copy of this work on large paper, at the late sale of baron smyth's books, for £ . if the largest paper of clarke's cæsar be excepted, this is the highest priced single volume on large paper, that i just now recollect. . _hearne's works_ on large paper. something relating to hearne will be found in the note at page ante. here it will be only necessary to observe that the hernëan rage for large paper is quite of recent growth, but it promises to be giant-like. when the duplicates of a part of mr. woodhull's library, in , were sold, there was a fine set of copies of this kind; but the prices, comparatively with those now offered, were extremely moderate. mr. otridge, the bookseller, told me an amusing story of his going down to liverpool, many years ago, and accidentally purchasing from the library of the late sir thomas hanmer, a _magnificent set of large paper hearnes_ for about guineas. many of these are now in the choice library of his grace the duke of grafton. the copies were catalogued as _small_ paper. was there ever a more provoking blunder?!] this[ ] symptom of the bibliomania is, at the present day, both general and violent, and threatens to extend still more widely. even modern publications are not exempt from its calamitous influence; and when mr. miller, the bookseller, told me with what eagerness the large paper copies of lord valentia's travels were bespoke, and mr. evans shewed me that every similar copy of his new edition of "burnett's history of his own times" was disposed of, i could not help elevating my eyes and hands, in token of commiseration at the prevalence of this symptom of the bibliomania! [footnote : analogous to large paper copies are _tall copies_; that is, copies of the work published on the ordinary size paper and not much cut down by the binder. the want of _margin_ is a serious grievance complained of by book-collectors; and when there is a contest of margin-measuring, with books never professedly published on large paper, the anxiety of each party to have the largest copy is better conceived than described! how carefully, and how adroitly, are the golden and silver rules then exercised!] ii. _uncut copies._ of all the symptoms of the bibliomania, this is probably the most extraordinary. it may be defined as a passion to possess books of which the edges have never been sheared by the binder's tools. and here, my dear sir, i find myself walking upon doubtful ground;--your uncut hearnes rise up in "rough majesty" before me, and almost "push me from my stool." indeed, when i look around in my book-lined tub, i cannot but be conscious that this symptom of the disorder has reached my own threshold; but when it is known that a few of my bibliographical books are left with the edges uncut _merely to please my friends_ (as one must sometimes study their tastes and appetites as well as one's own), i trust that no very serious conclusions will be drawn about the probable fatality of my own case. as to uncut copies, although their inconvenience [an uncut lexicon to wit!] and deformity must be acknowledged, and although a rational man can want for nothing better than a book _once well bound_, yet we find that the extraordinary passion for collecting them not only obtains with full force, but is attended with very serious consequences to those "qui n'ont point des pistoles" (to borrow the language of clement; vol. vi. p. ). i dare say an uncut _first shakspeare_, as well as an uncut _first homer_[ ] would produce a little annuity! [footnote : "un superbe exemplaire de cette édition _princeps_ a été vendu, chez m. de cotte, en , la somme de livres; mais il faut ajouter que cet exemplaire très-precieux est de la plus belle conservation; on dirait qu'il sort dessous presse. de plus, il est peut-être _l'unique dont les marges n'ont pas été rognées ni coupées_!" peignot's _curiosités bibliographiques_, lxv-vi.] iii. _illustrated copies._ a passion for books illustrated or adorned with numerous prints, representing characters or circumstances mentioned in the work, is a very general and violent symptom of the bibliomania, which has been known chiefly within the last half century. the origin, or first appearance, of this symptom has been traced by some to the publication of granger's "biographical history of england;" but whoever will be at the pains of reading the preface of this work will see that granger sheltered himself under the authorities of evelyn, ashmole, and others; and that he alone is not to be considered as responsible for all the mischief which this passion for collecting prints has occasioned. granger, however, was the first who introduced it in the form of a treatise, and surely "in an evil hour" was this treatise published--although its amiable author must be acquitted of "malice prepense." his history of england[ ] seems to have sounded the tocsin for a general rummage after, and slaughter of, old prints: venerable philosophers and veteran heroes, who had long reposed in unmolested dignity within the magnificent folio volumes which recorded their achievements, were instantly dragged from their peaceful abodes to be inlaid by the side of some spruce, modern engraving, within an illustrated granger! nor did the madness stop here. illustration was the order of the day; and shakspeare[ ] and clarendon[ ] became the next objects of its attack. from these it has glanced off in a variety of directions, to adorn the pages of humbler wights; and the passion, or rather this symptom of the bibliomania,[ ] yet rages with undiminished force. if judiciously[ ] treated, it is, of all the symptoms, the least liable to mischief. to possess a series of well executed portraits of illustrious men, at different periods of their lives, from blooming boyhood to phlegmatic old age, is sufficiently amusing[ ]; but to possess _every_ portrait, _bad, indifferent, and unlike_, betrays such a dangerous and alarming symptom as to render the case almost incurable! [footnote : it was first published in two quarto volumes, ; and went through several editions in octavo. the last is, i believe, of the date of ; to which three additional volumes were published by william noble, in ; the whole seven volumes form what is called an excellent library work.] [footnote : about two or three years ago there was an extraordinary set of prints disposed of, for the illustration of shakspeare, collected by a gentleman in cornwall, with considerable taste and judgment. lord spencer's beautiful octavo illustrated shakespeare, bequeathed to him by the late mr. steevens, has been enriched, since it came into the library of its present noble possessor, with many a rare and many a beauteous specimen of the graphic art.] [footnote : i have heard of an illustrated clarendon (which was recently in the metropolis), that has been valued at guineas! "a good round sum!"] [footnote : one of the most striking and splendid instances of the present rage for illustration may be seen in mr. miller's own copy of the historical work of mr. fox, in two volumes, imperial quarto. exclusively of a great variety of portraits, it is enriched with the original drawing of mr. fox's bust from which the print, attached to the publication, is taken; and has also many original notes and letters by its illustrious author. mr. walter scott's edition of dryden has also received, by the same publisher, a similar illustration. it is on large paper, and most splendidly bound in blue morocco, containing upwards of portraits.] [footnote : the fine copy of granger, illustrated by the late mr. bull, is now in the library of the marquis of bute, at lutton. it extends to atlas folio volumes, and is a repository of almost every rare and beautiful print, which the diligence of its late, and the skill, taste, and connoisseurship of its present, noble owner have brought together.] [footnote : in the memoirs of mr. thomas hollis there is a series of the portraits of milton (not executed in the best manner) done in this way; and a like series of pope's portraits accompanies the recent edition of the poet's works by the rev. w.l. bowles.] there is another mode of illustrating copies by which this symptom of the bibliomania may be known: it consists in bringing together, from different works, [by means of the scissors, or otherwise by transcription] every page or paragraph which has any connection with the character or subject under discussion. this is a useful and entertaining mode of illustrating a favourite author; and copies of works of this nature, when executed by skilful[ ] hands, should be preserved in public repositories. i almost ridiculed the idea of an illustrated chatterton, in this way, till i saw mr. haslewood's copy, in twenty-one volumes, which rivetted me to my seat! [footnote : numerous are the instances of the peculiar use and value of copies of this kind, especially to those who are engaged in publication, of a similar nature. oldys's interleaved langbaine is re-echoed in almost every recent work connected with the belles-lettres of our country. oldys himself was unrivalled in this method of illustration; if, besides his langbaine, his copy of 'fuller's worthies' [once mrs. steevens's, now mr. malone's, see bibl. steevens, no. ] be alone considered! this oldys was the oddest mortal that ever scribbled for bread. grose, in his _olio_, gives an amusing account of his having "a number of small parchment bags inscribed with the names of the persons whose lives he intended to write; into which he put every circumstance and anecdote he could collect, and thence drew up his history." see noble's _college of arms_, p. . of illustrated copies in this way, the suidas of kuster, belonging to the famous d'orville, is a memorable instance. this is now in the bodleian library. i should suppose that one narcissus luttrell, in charles the second's reign, had a number of like illustrated copies. his collection of contemporaneous literature must have been immense, as we may conclude from the account of it in mr. walter scott's preface to his recent edition of dryden's works. luckily for this brilliant poet and editor, a part of luttrell's collection had found its way into the libraries of mr. bindley and mr. heber, and thence was doomed to shine, with renewed lustre, by the side of the poetry of dryden.] iv. _unique copies._ a passion for a book which has any peculiarity about it, by either, or both, of the foregoing methods of illustration--or which is remarkable for its size, beauty, and condition--is indicative of a rage for _unique copies_, and is unquestionably a strong prevailing symptom of the bibliomania. let me therefore urge every sober and cautious collector not to be fascinated by the terms "_matchless, and unique_;" which, "in slim italicks" (to copy dr. ferriar's happy expression) are studiously introduced into bookseller's catalogues to lead the unwary astray. such a collector may fancy himself proof against the temptation; and will, in consequence, _call only to look at_ this unique book, or set of books; but, when he views the morocco binding, silk water-tabby lining, blazing gilt edges--when he turns over the white and spotless leaves--gazes on the amplitude of margin--on a rare and lovely print introduced--and is charmed with the soft and coaxing manner in which, by the skill of herring or mackinlay,[ ] "leaf succeeds to leaf"--he can no longer bear up against the temptation--and, confessing himself vanquished, purchases, and retreats--exclaiming with virgil's shepherd-- ut vidi, ut perii--ut me malus abstulit error! [footnote : at page , note--the reader has been led to expect a few remarks upon the luxuriancy of modern book-binding. mr. roscoe, in his lorenzo de medici, vol. ii., p. ., edit. vo., has defended the art with so much skill that nothing further need be said in commendation of it. admitting every degree of merit to our present fashionable binders, and frankly allowing them the superiority over de rome, padaloup, and the old school of binding, i cannot but wish to see revived those beautiful portraits, arabesque borders, and sharp angular ornaments, that are often found on the outsides of books bound in the th century, with calf leather, upon oaken boards. these brilliant decorations almost make us forget the ivory crucifix, guarded with silver doors, which is frequently introduced in the interior of the sides of the binding. few things are more gratifying to a genuine collector than a fine copy of a book in its _original binding_!] v. _copies printed on vellum._ a desire for works printed in this manner is an equally strong and general symptom of the bibliomania; but as these works are rarely to be obtained of modern[ ] date, the collector is obliged to have recourse to specimens, executed three centuries ago, in the printing-offices of aldus, verard, and the juntæ. although the bibliothéque imperiale, at paris, and the library of count macarty, at toulouse, are said to contain the greatest number of books printed upon vellum, yet, those who have been fortunate enough to see copies of this kind in the libraries of his majesty, the duke of marlborough, earl spencer, mr. johnes, and the late mr. cracherode (now in the british museum), need not travel on the continent for the sake of being convinced of their exquisite beauty and splendour. mr. edward's _unique_ copy (he will forgive the epithet) of the first livy, upon vellum, is a library of itself!--and the recent discovery of a vellum copy of wynkyn de worde's reprint of _juliana barnes's book_,[ ] complete in every respect, [to say nothing of his majesty's similar copy of caxton's _doctrinal of sapience_, , in the finest preservation] are, to be sure, sufficient demonstrations of the prevalence of this symptom of the bibliomania in the times of our forefathers; so that it cannot be said, as some have asserted, to have appeared entirely within the last half century. [footnote : the modern books, printed upon vellum, have in general not succeeded; whether from the art of preparing the vellum, or of printing upon it, being lost i will not presume to determine. the reader may be amused with the following prices for which a few works, executed in this manner, were sold in the year : no. £ _s._ _d._ . virgilii opera, , to. . somervile's chase, , to. . poems by goldsmith and parnell, , to. . the gardens, by abbé delille, , to. . castle of otranto, printed by bodoni, , to. . la guirlande julie, , vo. . economy of human life, , vo. see "_catalogue of a most splendid and valuable collection of books, superb missals, &c._," sold by mr. christie, on april , . but the reader should procure the catalogue of mr. paris's books, sold in the year , which, for the number of articles, is unrivalled. the eye is struck, in every page, with the most sumptuous copies on vellum, and large paper.] [footnote : see page , ante, for some account of this curious work.] vi. _first editions._ from the time of ancillon[ ] to askew, there has been a very strong desire expressed for the possession of original or first published editions of works, as they are in general superintended and corrected by the author himself; and, like the first impressions of prints, are considered more valuable. whoever is possessed with a passion for collecting books of this kind may unquestionably be said to exhibit a strong symptom of the bibliomania; but such a case is not quite hopeless, nor is it deserving of severe treatment or censure. all bibliographers have dwelt on the importance of these editions, for the sake of collation with subsequent ones, and detecting, as is frequently the case, the carelessness displayed by future[ ] editors. of such importance is the _first edition of shakspeare_[ ] considered, that a fac-simile reprint of it has been published with success. in regard to the greek and latin classics, the possession of these original editions is of the first consequence to editors who are anxious to republish the legitimate text of an author. wakefield, i believe always regretted that the first edition of lucretius had not been earlier inspected by him. when he began _his_ edition, the editio princeps was not (as i have understood) in the library of earl spencer--the storehouse of almost every thing that is exquisite and rare in ancient classical literature! [footnote : there is a curious and amusing article in bayle [english edition, vol. i., , &c.] about the elder ancillon, who frankly confessed that he "was troubled with the bibliomania, or disease of buying books." mr. d'israeli says "that he always purchased _first editions_, and never waited for second ones,"--but i find it, in the english bayle, note d, "he chose _the best_ editions." the manner in which ancillon's library was pillaged by the ecclesiastics of metz (where it was considered as the most valuable curiosity in the town) is thus told by bayle; "ancillon was obliged to leave metz: a company of ecclesiastics, of all orders, came from every part, to lay hands on this fine and copious library, which had been collected with the utmost care during forty years. they took away a great number of the books together, and gave a little money, as they went out, to a young girl, of twelve or thirteen years of age, who looked after them, that they might have it to say they had _paid for them_. thus ancillon saw that valuable collection dispersed, in which, as he was wont to say, his chief pleasure and even his heart was placed!"--edit. .] [footnote : an instance of this kind may be adduced from the _first edition_ of fabian, printed in ; of which messrs. longman, and co., have now engaged a very able editor to collate the text with that of the subsequent editions. "the antiquary," says the late mr. brand, "is desired to consult the edition of fabian, printed by pynson, in , because there are others, and i remember to have seen one in the bodleian library at oxford, with a continuation to the end of queen mary, , in which the _language is much modernised_." shakespeare, edit. , vol. xviii. p. - .] [footnote : a singular story is "extant" about the purchase of the late duke of roxburgh's fine copy of the first edition of shakespeare. a friend was bidding for him in the sale-room: his grace had retired to a distance, to view the issue of the contest. twenty guineas and more were offered, from various quarters, for the book: a slip of paper was handed to the duke, in which he was requested to inform his friend whether he was "to go on bidding"--his grace took his pencil, and wrote underneath, by way of reply-- ----lay on macduff! and d----d be he who first cries, 'hold, enough!' such a spirit was irresistible, and bore down all opposition. his grace retired triumphant, with the book under his arm.] it must not, however, be forgotten that if first editions are, in some instances, of great importance, they are in many respects superfluous, and an incumbrance to the shelves of a collector; inasmuch as the labours of subsequent editors have corrected their errors, and superseded, by a great fund of additional matter, the necessity of consulting them. thus, not to mention other instances (which present themselves while noticing the present one), all the fine things which colomiés and remannus have said about the rarity of la croix du maine's bibliotheque, published in , are now unnecessary to be attended to, since the ample and excellent edition of this work by de la monnoye and juvigny, in six quarto volumes, , has appeared. nor will any one be tempted to hunt for gesner's bibliotheca of - , whatever may be its rarity, who has attended to morhof's and vogt's recommendation of the last and best edition of . vii. _true editions._ some copies of a work are struck off with deviations from the usually received ones, and, though these deviations have neither sense nor beauty to recommend them, [and indeed are principally _defects_] yet copies of this description are eagerly sought after by collectors of a certain class! this particular pursuit may therefore be called another, or the seventh, symptom of the bibliomania. the note below [ ] will furnish the reader with a few anecdotes relating to it. [footnote : _cæsar. lug. bat._ , mo. _printed by elzevir._ in the bibliotheca revickzkiana we are informed that the _true_ elzevir edition is known by having the plate of a buffalo's head at the beginning of the preface, and body of the work: also by having the page numbered , which _ought_ to have been numbered . a further account is given in my introduction to the classics, vol. i., . _horace_: londini, , vo., vols. published by pine. the _true_ edition is distinguished by having at page , vol ii, the _incorrect_ reading 'post est.'--for 'potest.' _virgil._ lug. bat. , mo. printed by elzevir. the _true_ edition is known by having at plate , before the bucolics, the following latin passage _printed in red ink_. "ego vero frequentes a te litteras accipi"--consult de bure, no. . _idem._ birmingh. , to. printed by baskerville. a particular account of the _true_ edition will be found in the second volume of my 'introduction to the classics' p. --too long to be here inserted. _boccaccio._ il decamerone, venet. , to. consult de bure, no. : bandini, vol. ii., : (who however is extremely laconic upon this edition, but copious upon the anterior one of ) and haym., vol. iii., p. , edit. . bibl. paris. no. . clement. (vol. iv., ,) has abundance of references, as usual, to strengthen his assertion in calling the edition 'fort rare.' the reprint or spurious edition has always struck me as the prettier book of the two.] viii. books printed in the _black letter_. of all symptoms of the bibliomania, this eighth symptom (and the last which i shall notice) is at present the most powerful and prevailing. whether it was not imported into this country from holland, by the subtlety of schelhorn[ ] (a knowing writer upon rare and curious books) may be shrewdly suspected. whatever be its origin, certain it is, my dear sir, that books printed in the black letter are now coveted with an eagerness unknown to our collectors in the last century. if the spirits of west, ratcliffe, farmer and brand, have as yet held any intercourse with each other, in that place 'from whose bourne no traveller returns,' what must be the surprise of the three former, on being told by the latter, of the prices given for some of the books in his library, as mentioned below!?[ ] [footnote : his words are as follow: "ipsa typorum ruditas, ipsa illa atra crassaque literarum facies _belle tangit sensus, &c._" was ever the black letter more eloquently described? see his _amoenitates literariæ_, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : . a boke of fishing with hooke and line, a boke of engines and traps to take polcats, buzzards, rats, mice, and all other kinds of vermine and beasts whatsoever, with cuts, very rare, £ _s._ _d._ . a quip for an upstart courtier; or, a quaint dispute between velvet breeches and cloth breeches, &c. . a checke, or reproof of mr. howlet's untimely screeching in her majesty's ear. _black letter_ as a _striking conclusion_, i subjoin the following. . pappe with an hatchett, _alias_, a fig for my godsonne, or crake me this nutt, or, a countrie cuffe, that is a sound box of the eare for the idiot martin, to hold his peace: seeing the patch will take no warning; written by one that dares call a dog a dog. _rare._ printed by anoke and astile ] a perusal of these articles may probably not impress the reader with any lofty notions of the superiority of the black letter; but this symptom of the bibliomania is, nevertheless, not to be considered as incurable, or wholly unproductive of good. under a proper spirit of modification it has done, and will continue to do, essential service to the cause of english literature. it guided the taste, and strengthened the judgment, of tyrwhitt in his researches after chaucerian lore. it stimulated the studies of farmer and of steevens, and enabled them to twine many a beauteous flower round the brow of their beloved shakespeare. it has since operated, to the same effect, in the labours of mr. douce,[ ] the _porson_ of old english and french literature; and in the editions of milton and spenser, by my amiable and excellent friend mr. todd the public have had a specimen of what the _black letter_ may perform, when temperately and skilfully exercised. [footnote : in the criticisms on mr. douce's _illustrations of shakspeare and ancient manners_, it has not, i think, been generally noticed that this work is distinguished; . for the singular diffidence and urbanity of criticism, as well as depth of learning, which it evinces: . for the happy illustrations, by means of wood cuts: let any one, for instance, read a laboured disquisition on the punishment of "the boots"--and only glance his eye on the plate representing it [vol. i. p. .]: from which will he obtain the clearer notions? . for the taste, elegance, and general correctness with which it is printed. the only omission i regret is that mr. douce did not give us, at the end, a list of the works alphabetically arranged, with their dates which he consulted in the formation of his own. such a bibliotheca shakspeariana might, however, have been only a fresh stimulus to the increase of the black-letter symptom of the _bibliomania_. how bartholomæus and batman have risen in price since the publication of mr. douce's work, let those who have lately smarted for the increase tell!] i could bring to your recollection other instances; but your own copious reading and exact memory will better furnish you with them. let me not however omit remarking that the beautiful pages of the _minstrelsy of the scottish border, and sir trestrem_, exhibit, in the notes [now and then thickly studded with black letter references], a proof that the author of "the lay" and "marmion" has not disdained to enrich his stores of information by such intelligence as black lettered books impart. in short, though this be also a strong and general symptom of the bibliomania, it is certainly not attended with injurious effects when regulated by prudence and discretion. an undistinguishable voracious appetite, to swallow every thing printed in the black letter can only bring on inconquerable disease, if not death, to the patient! having in the two preceding divisions of this letter discoursed somewhat largely upon the history and symptoms of the bibliomania, it now remains, according to the original plan, to say a few words upon the probable means of its cure. and, indeed, i am driven to this view of the subject from every laudable motive; for it would be highly censurable to leave any reflecting mind impressed with melancholy emotions concerning the misery and mortality that have been occasioned by the abuse of those pursuits, to which the most soothing and important considerations ought to be attached. far from me, and my friends, be such a cruel, if not criminal, conduct; let us then, my dear sir, seriously discourse upon the iii. probable means of the cure of the bibliomania. _he_ will surely be numbered among the philanthropists of his day who has, more successfully than myself, traced and described the ravages of this disease, and fortified the sufferer with the means of its cure. but, as this is a disorder of quite a recent date, and as its characteristics, in consequence, cannot be yet fully known or described, great candour must be allowed to that physician who offers a prescription for so obscure and complicated a case. it is in vain that you search the works [ay, even the best editions] of hippocrates and galen for a description of this malady; nor will you find it hinted at in the more philosophical treatises of sydenham and heberden. it had, till the medical skill of dr. ferriar first noticed it to the public, escaped the observations of all our pathologists. with a trembling hand, and fearful apprehension, therefore, i throw out the following suggestions for the cure, or mitigatiou [transcriber's note: mitigation], of this disorder: in _the first place_, the disease of the bibliomania is materially softened, or rendered mild, by directing our studies to _useful and profitable_ works--whether these be printed upon small or large paper, in the gothic, roman, or italic type; to consider purely the _intrinsic_ excellence, and not the exterior splendour, or adventitious value, of any production, will keep us perhaps wholly free from this disease. let the midnight lamp be burnt to illuminate the stores of antiquity--whether they be romances, or chronicles, or legends, and whether they be printed by aldus or by caxton--if a brighter lustre can thence be thrown upon the pages of modern learning! to trace genius to its source, or to see how she has been influenced or modified, by "the lore of past times" is both a pleasing and profitable pursuit. to see how shakspeare has here and there plucked a flower, from some old ballad or popular tale, to enrich his own unperishable garland--to follow spenser and milton in their delightful labyrinths 'midst the splendour of italian literature--are studies which stamp a dignity upon our intellectual characters! but, in such a pursuit let us not overlook the wisdom of modern times, nor fancy that what is only ancient can be excellent. we must remember that bacon, boyle, locke, taylor, chillingworth, robertson, hume, gibbon, and paley, are names which always command attention from the wise, and remind us of the improved state of reason and acquired knowledge during the two last centuries. in the _second place_, the re-printing of scarce and intrinsically valuable works is another means of preventing the propagation of this disorder. amidst all our present sufferings under the bibliomania, it is some consolation to find discerning and spirited booksellers re-publishing the valuable chronicles of froissart, holinshed, and hall,[ ] and the collections known by the names of "the harleïan miscellany," and "lord somer's tracts." these are noble efforts, and richly deserve the public patronage. [footnote : the re-publication of these chronicles is to be followed by those of grafton and fabian. meanwhile, hakluyt's voyages, (projected by mr. evans), and fuller's worthies (by messrs. longman, and co.) will form admirable acquisitions to these treasures of past times.] in the _third place_, the editing of our best ancient authors, whether in prose or poetry,[ ] is another means of effectually counteracting the progress of the bibliomania, as it has been described under its several symptoms. [footnote : the recent _variorum_ editions of shakspeare, of which some yet prefer that of steevens, , vols. vo.--mr. todd's editions of milton and spenser; mr. g. chalmers' edition of sir david lyndsay's works; mr. gifford's edition of massinger; and mr. octavius gilchrist's, of bishop corbett's poems, exemplify the good effects of this _third means of cure_.] in the _fourth place_, the erecting of public institutions[ ] is a very powerful antidote against the prevalence of several symptoms of this disease. [footnote : the royal, london, surrey, and russel institutions have been the means of concentrating, in divers parts of the metropolis, large libraries of _useful_ books; which, it is to be hoped, will eventually suppress the establishment of what are called _circulating libraries_--vehicles, too often, of insufferable nonsense, and irremediable mischief!] in the _fifth place_, the encouragement of the study of bibliography,[ ] in its legitimate sense, and towards its true object, may be numbered among the most efficacious cures for this destructive malady. to place competent librarians over the several departments of a large public library, or to submit a library, on a more confined scale, to one diligent, enthusiastic, well informed, well bred, bibliographer[ ] or librarian, [of which in this metropolis we have so many examples] is doing a vast deal towards directing the channels of literature to flow in their proper courses. [footnote : "unne bonne bibliographie," says marchand, "soit générale soit particulière, soit profane, soit écclésiastique, soit nationale, provinciale, ou locale, soit simplement personnelle, en un mot de quelque autre genre que ce puisse être, n'est pas un ouvrage aussi facile que beaucoup de gens se le pourroient imaginer; mais, elles ne doivent néanmoins nulelment [transcriber's note: nullement] prévenir contre celle-ci. telle qu'elle est, elle ne laisse pas d'être bonne, utile, et digne d'être recherchée par les amateurs, de l'histoire littéraire." _diction. historique_, vol. i. p. . "our nation," says mr. bridgman, "has been too inattentive to bibliographical criticisms and enquiries; for generally the english reader is obliged to resort to foreign writers to satisfy his mind as to the value of authors. it behoves us to consider that there is not a more useful or a more desirable branch of education than a _knowledge of books_; which being correctly ascertained and judiciously exercised, will prove the touch-stone of intrinsic merit, and have the effect of saving many spotless pages from prostitution." _legal bibliography_, p. v. vi.] [footnote : peignot, in his _dictionnaire de bibliologie_, vol. i. , has given a very pompous account of what ought to be the talents and duties of a bibliographer. it would be difficult indeed to find such things united in one person! de bure, in the eighth volume of his _bibliographie instructive_, has prefixed a "discourse upon the science of bibliography and the duties of a bibliographer" which is worth consulting: but i know of nothing which better describes, in few words, such a character, than the following: "in eo sit multijuga materiarum librorumque notitia, ut saltem potiores eligat et inquirat: fida et sedula apud exteras gentes procuratio, ut eos arcessat; summa patientia ut rarè venalis expectet: peculium semper præsens et paratum, ne, si quando occurrunt, emendi occasio intercidat; prudens denique auri argentique contemptus, ut pecuniis sponte careat quæ in bibliothecam formandam et nutriendam sunt insumendæ. si fortè vir literatus eo felicitatis pervenit ut talem thesaurum coaceraverit, nec solus illo invidios fruatur, sed usum cum eruditis qui vigilias suas utilitati publicæ devoverunt, liberaliter communicet; &c."--_bibliotheca hulsiana_, vol. i. præfat. p. , .] thus briefly and guardedly have i thrown out a few suggestions, which may enable us to avoid, or mitigate the severity of, the disease called the bibliomania. happy indeed shall i deem myself, if, in the description of its symptoms, and in the recommendation of the means of cure, i may have snatched any one from a premature grave, or lightened the load of years that are yet to cone [transcriber's note: come]! you, my dear sir, who, in your observations upon society, as well as in your knowledge of ancient times, must have met with numerous instances of the miseries which "flesh is heir to," may be disposed perhaps to confess that, of all species of afflictions, _the present one_ under consideration has the least moral turpitude attached to it. true, it may be so: for, in the examples which have been adduced, there will be found neither suicides, nor gamesters, nor profligates. no woman's heart has been broken from midnight debaucheries: no marriage vow has been violated: no child has been compelled to pine in poverty or neglect: no patrimony has been wasted, and no ancestor's fame tarnished! if men have erred under the influence of this disease, their aberrations have been marked with an excess arising from intellectual fevour, and not from a desire of baser gratifications. if, therefore, in the wide survey which a philosopher may take of the "miseries of human life"[ ] the prevalence of this disorder may appear to be less mischievous than that of others, and, if some of the most amiable and learned of mortals seemed to have been both unwilling, as well as unable, to avoid its contagion, you will probably feel the less alarmed if symptoms of it should appear within the sequestered abode of hodnet![ ] recollecting that even in remoter situations its influence has been felt--and that neither the pure atmosphere of hafod nor of sledmere[ ] has completely subdued its power--you will be disposed to exclaim with violence, at the intrusion of bibliomaniacs-- what walls can guard me, or what shades can hide? they pierce my thickets, through my grot they glide! by land, by water, they renew the charge, they stop the chariot, and they board the barge.[ ] [footnote : in the ingenious and witty work so entitled, i do not recollect whether the disappointment arising from a _cropt_ or a _dirty_ copy has been classed among "_the miseries of human life_."] [footnote : _hodnet hall_, shropshire. the country residence of mr. heber.] [footnote : _hafod_, south wales, the seat of thos. johnes, esq., m.p., the translator of the chronicles of froissart and monstrelet, and of the travels of de broquiere and joinville. the conflagration of part of his mansion and library, two years ago, which excited such a general sympathy, would have damped any ardour of collection but that of mr. johnes--his library has arisen, phoenix-like, from the flames! _sledmere_, in yorkshire, the seat of sir mark masterman sykes, bart., m.p. the library of this amiable and tasteful baronet reflects distinguished credit upon him. it is at once copious and choice.] [footnote : pope's "_prologue to the satires_," v. - .] upon the whole, therefore, attending closely to the symptoms of this disorder as they have been described, and practising such means of cure as have been recommended, we may rationally hope that its virulence may abate, and the number of its victims annually diminish. but if the more discerning part of the community anticipate a different result, and the preceding observations appear to have presented but a narrow and partial view of the mischiefs of the bibliomania, my only consolation is that to advance _something_ upon the subject is better than to preserve a sullen and invincible silence. let it be the task of more experienced bibliographers to correct and amplify the foregoing outline! believe me, my dear sir, very sincerely yours, &c. thomas frognall dibbin [transcriber's note: dibdin]. _kensington, may_ , . postscript. on re-considering what has been written, it has struck me that a synopsis of this disease, after the manner of burton, as prefixed to his _anatomy of melancholy_, may be useful to some future pathologist. the reader is, accordingly, presented with the following one: synopsis. page. { i. history of; or an account of eminent book { collectors who have fallen victims to it t { h { ii. symptoms of; { . large paper copies e { being a passion for { . uncut copies { { . illustrated copies b { { . unique copies i { { . vellum copies b { { . first editions l { { . true editions i { { . black letter editions o { m { iii. cure of { . reading useful works a { { . reprints of scarce and n { { valuable works _ib._ i { { . editing our best ancient a { { writers . { { . erecting of public { { institutions _ib._ { { . encouragement of { { bibliography _ib._ part i. =the evening walk.= on the right uses of literature. rede well thyselfe that other folke can'st rede. chaucer's _good counsail_. [illustration] [illustration] =the evening walk.= on the right uses of literature. it was on a fine autumnal evening, when the sun was setting serenely behind a thick copse upon a distant hill, and his warm tints were lighting up a magnificent and widely-extended landscape, that, sauntering 'midst the fields, i was meditating upon the various methods of honourably filling up the measure of our existence; when i discovered, towards my left, a messenger running at full speed towards me. the abruptness of his appearance, and the velocity of his step, somewhat disconcerted me; but on his near approach my apprehensions were dissipated. i knew him to be the servant of my old college friend, whom i chuse here to denominate lysander. he came to inform me, in his blunt and honest manner, that his master had just arrived with philemon, our common friend; and that, as they were too fatigued with their journey to come out to me, they begged i would quickly enter the house, and, as usual, make them welcome. this intelligence afforded me the liveliest satisfaction. in fifteen minutes, after a hearty shaking of hands, i was seated with them in the parlour; all of us admiring the unusual splendour of the evening sky, and, in consequence, partaking of the common topics of conversation with a greater flow of spirits. "you are come, my friends," said i (in the course of conversation), "to make some stay with me--indeed, i cannot suffer you to depart without keeping you at least a week; in order, amongst other things, to view the beauty of our neighbour lorenzo's grounds, the general splendour of his house, and the magnificence of his library." "in regard to grounds and furniture," replied lysander, "there is very little in the most beautiful and costly which can long excite my attention--but the library--" "here," exclaimed philemon, "here you have him in the toils." "i will frankly confess," rejoined lysander, "that i am an arrant bibliomaniac--that i love books dearly--that the very sight, touch, and, more, the perusal--" "hold, my friend," again exclaimed philemon, "you have renounced your profession--you talk of _reading_ books--do bibliomaniacs ever _read_ books?" "nay," quoth lysander, "you shall not banter thus with impunity. we will, if it please you," said he, turning round to me, "make our abode with you for a few days--and, after seeing the library of your neighbour, i will throw down the gauntlet to philemon, challenging him to answer certain questions which you may put to us, respecting the number, rarity, beauty, or utility of those works which relate to the literature and antiquities of our own country. we shall then see who is able to return the readiest answer." "forgive," rejoined philemon, "my bantering strain. i revoke my speech. you know that, with yourself, i heartily love books; more from their contents than their appearance." lysander returned a gracious smile; and the hectic of irritability on his cheek was dissipated in an instant. the approach of evening made us think of settling our plans. my friends begged their horses might be turned into the field; and that, while they stayed with me, the most simple fare and the plainest accommodation might be their lot. they knew how little able i was to treat them as they were wont to be treated; and, therefore, taking "the will for the deed," they resolved to be as happy as an humble roof could make them. while the cloth was laying for supper (for i should add that we dine at three and sup at nine), we took a stroll in my small garden, which has a mound at the bottom, shaded with lilacs and laburnums, that overlooks a pretty range of meadows, terminated by the village church. the moon had now gained a considerable ascendancy in the sky; and the silvery paleness and profound quiet of the surrounding landscape, which, but an hour ago, had been enlivened by the sun's last rays, seemed to affect the minds of us all very sensibly. lysander, in particular, began to express the sentiments which such a scene excited in him.--"yonder," says he, pointing to the church-yard, "is the bourne which terminates our earthly labours; and i marvel much how mortals can spend their time in cavilling at each other--in murdering, with their pens as well as their swords, all that is excellent and admirable in human nature--instead of curbing their passions, elevating their hopes, and tranquillizing their fears. every evening, for at least one-third of the year, heaven has fixed in the sky yonder visible monitor to man. calmness and splendour are her attendants: no dark passions, no carking cares, neither spleen nor jealousy, seem to dwell in that bright orb, where, as has been fondly imagined, "the wretched may have rest."--"and here," replied philemon, "we do nothing but fret and fume if our fancied merits are not instantly rewarded, or if another wear a sprig of laurel more verdant than ourselves; i could mention, within my own recollection, a hundred instances of this degrading prostitution of talent--aye, a thousand."--"gently reprimand your fellow creatures," resumed lysander, "lest you commit an error as great as any of those which you condemn in others. the most difficult of human tasks seems to be the exercise of forbearance and temperance. by exasperating, you only rekindle, and not extinguish, the evil sparks in our dispositions. a man will bear being told he is in the wrong; but you must tell him so gently and mildly. animosity, petulance, and persecution, are the plagues which destroy our better parts."--"and envy," replied philemon, "has surely enough to do."--"yes," said lysander, "we might enumerate, as you were about to do, many instances--and (what you were not about to do) pity while we enumerate! i think," continued he, addressing himself particularly to me, "you informed me that the husband of poor lavinia lies buried in yonder church-yard; and perhaps the very tomb which now glistens by the moonbeam is the one which consecrates his memory! that man was passionately addicted to literature;--he had a strong mind; a wonderful grasp of intellect; but his love of paradox and hypothesis quite ruined his faculties. nicas happened to discover some glaring errors in his last treatise, and the poor man grew sick at heart in consequence. nothing short of _infallibility_ and _invincibility_ satisfied him; and, like the spaniard in the 'diable boiteux,' who went mad because five of his countrymen had been beaten by fifty portugese, this unhappy creature lost all patience and forbearance, because, in an hundred systems which he had built with the cards of fancy, ninety-nine happened to tumble to the ground. "this is the dangerous consequence, not so much of vanity and self-love as of downright literary quixotism. a man may be cured of vanity as the french nobleman was--'ecoutez messieurs! monseigneur le duc va dire la meillure chose du monde!'[ ] but for this raving, ungovernable passion of soaring beyond all human comprehension, i fear there is no cure but in such a place as the one which is now before us. compared with this, how different was menander's case! careless himself about examining and quoting authorities with punctilious accuracy, and trusting too frequently to the _ipse-dixits_ of good friends:--with a quick discernment--a sparkling fancy--great store of classical knowledge, and a never ceasing play of colloquial wit, he moved right onwards in his manly course--the delight of the gay, and the admiration of the learned! he wrote much and variously: but in an evil hour the demon malice caught him abroad--watched his deviations--noted down his failings--and, discovering his vulnerable part, he did not fail, like another paris, to profit by the discovery. menander became the victim of over-refined sensibility: he need not have feared the demon, as no good man need fear satan. his pen ceased to convey his sentiments; he sickened at heart; and after his body had been covered by the green grass turf, the gentle elves of fairy-land took care to weave a chaplet to hang upon his tomb, which was never to know decay! sycorax was this demon; and a cunning and clever demon was he!" [footnote : this is the substance of the story related in darwin's _zoonomia_: vol. iv. p. .] "i am at a loss," said philemon, "to comprehend exactly what you mean?"--"i will cease speaking metaphorically," replied lysander; "but sycorax was a man of ability in his way. he taught literary men, in some measure, the value of careful research and faithful quotation; in other words, he taught them to speak the truth as they found her; and, doubtless, for this he merits not the name of a demon, unless you allow me the priviledge of a grecian.[ ] that sycorax loved truth must be admitted; but that he loved no one so much as himself to speak the truth must also be admitted. nor had he, after all, any grand notions of the goddess. she was, in his sight, rather of diminutive than gigantic growth; rather of a tame than a towering mien; dressed out in little trinkets, and formally arrayed in the faded point-lace and elevated toupee of the ancient english school, and not in the flowing and graceful robes of grecian simplicity. but his malice and ill-nature were frightful; and withal his love of scurrility and abuse quite intolerable. he mistook, in too many instances, the manner for the matter; the shadow for the substance. he passed his criticisms, and dealt out his invectives, with so little ceremony, and so much venom, that he seemed born with a scalping knife in his hand to commit murder as long as he lived! to him, censure was sweeter than praise; and the more elevated the rank, and respectable the character of his antagonist, the more dexterously he aimed his blows, and the more frequently he renewed his attacks. in consequence, scarcely one beautiful period, one passionate sentiment of the higher order, one elevated thought, or philosophical deduction, marked his numerous writings. 'no garden-flower grew wild' in the narrow field of his imagination; and, although the words decency and chastity were continually dropping from his lips, i suspect that the reverse of these qualities was always settled round his heart.[ ] thus you see, my dear philemon," concluded lysander, "that the love of paradox, of carelessness, and of malice, are equally destructive of that true substantial fame which, as connected with literature, a wise and an honest man would wish to establish. but come; the dews of evening begin to fall chilly; let us seek the house of our friend." [footnote : without turning over the ponderous tones of stephen, constantine, and scaliger, consult the sensible remarks upon the word '[greek: daimôn]' in _parkhurst's greek and english lexicon to the new testament_, vo. edit. . in the greek language, it is equally applied to an accomplished and unprincipled character. homer alone will furnish a hundred instances of this.] [footnote : mark certain expressions, gentle reader, which occur in the notes to the life of _robin hood_, prefixed to the ballads which go under his name: . vols. vo.--also a dissertation on romance and minstrelsy in the first vol. of _ancient metrical romances_, , vols. vo. a very common degree of shrewdness and of acquaintance with english literature will shew that, in menander and sycorax, are described honest tom warton and snarling 'mister' joseph ritson.] as lysander concluded his discourse, we turned, abruptly, but thoughtfully, towards my cottage; and, making the last circuit of the gravel walk, philemon stopped to listen to the song of a passing rustic, who seemed to be uttering all the joy which sometimes strongly seizes a simple heart. "i would rather," exclaimed he, "be this poor fellow, chanting his 'native wood-notes wild,' if his heart know not guilt--than the shrewdest critic in the universe, who could neither feel, nor write, good-naturedly!" we smiled at this ejaculation; and quickly reached the house. the fatigue of travelling had sharpened the appetites of my friends; and at a moment when, as the inimitable cowper expresses it, our drawing-rooms begin to blaze with lights, by clear reflection multiplied from many a mirror, in which he of gath, goliath, might have seen his giant bulk whole, without stooping, towering crest and all, _our_ pleasures too _began_; _task_, b. iv. but they were something more rational than those of merely eating and drinking. "i seldom partake of this meal," observed philemon, "without thinking of the _omnium-gatherum_ bowl, so exquisitely described by old isaac walton. we want here, it is true, the 'sweet shady arbour--the contexture of woodbines, sweet-briar, jessamine, and myrtle,'[ ] and the time of the evening prevents our enjoying it without; but, in lieu of all this, we have the sight of books, of busts, and of pictures. i see there the ponderous folio chronicles, the genuine quarto romances, and, a little above, a glittering row of thin, closely-squeezed, curiously-gilt, volumes of original plays. as we have finished our supper, let us--" "my friends," observed i, "not a finger upon a book to-night--to-morrow you may ransack at your pleasure. i wish to pursue the conversation commenced by lysander, as we were strolling in the garden." "agreed," replied philemon,--"the quietness of the hour--the prospect, however limited, before us--(for i shall not fail to fix my eyes upon a froissart printed by verard, or a portrait painted by holbein, while you talk)--every thing conspires to render this discourse congenial." "as you have reminded me of that pretty description of a repast in walton," resumed lysander, "i will preface the sequel to my conversation by drinking a glass to your healths--and so, masters, 'here is a full glass to you' of the liquor before us." lysander then continued, "it were to be wished that the republic or region of literature could be described in as favourable a manner as camden has described the air, earth, and sky, of our own country;[ ] but i fear milton's terrific description of the infernal frozen continent, beat with perpetual forms of whirlwind and dire hail, _par. lost_, b. ii. v. . is rather applicable to it. having endeavoured to shew, my dear friends, that the passionate love of hypothesis--(or a determination to make every man think and believe as we do) incorrigible carelessness--and equally incorrigible ill-nature--are each inimical to the true interests of literature, let us see what other evil qualities there are which principally frustrate the legitimate view of learning. [footnote : _complete angler_, p. . bagster's edit. . in a similar style of description are "the faire grove and swete walkes, letticed and gardened on both sides," of mr. warde's letter--describing the nunnery of little gidding in huntingdonshire. see hearne's edit. of _peter langtoft's chronicle_, vol. . p. cx.] [footnote : "the ayre is most temperate and wholesome, sited in the middest of the temperate zone, subject to no stormes and tempests, as the more southerne and northerne are; but stored with infinite delicate fowle. for water, it is walled and guarded with ye ocean most commodious for trafficke to all parts of the world, and watered with pleasant fishful and navigable rivers, which yeeld safe havens and roads, and furnished with shipping and sailers, that it may rightly be termed the lady of the sea. that i may say nothing of healthful bathes, and of meares stored both with fish and fowl. the earth fertile of all kinde of graine, manured with good husbandry, rich in minerall of coals, tinne, lead, copper, not without gold and silver, abundant in pasture, replenished with cattel, both tame and wilde (for it hath more parks than all europe besides), plentifully wooded, provided with all complete provisions of war, beautified with many populous cities, faire boroughs, good towns, and well-built villages, strong munitions, magnificent palaces of the prince, stately houses of the nobilitie, frequent hospitals, beautiful churches, faire colledges, as well in the other places as in the two vniversities." _remains_, p. . edit. . how far camden was indebted to the following curious description of our country, written in the time of edward vj, (of which i shall modernize the orthography,) the reader will judge for himself. the running title of the work is "_the debate between the_ [french and english] _heralds_," vo., printed in the bl. lett. (in the possession of mr. heber.) "we have all manner of grains, and fruits, and more plenty than you; for, thanked be god, england is a fruitful and plenteous region, so that we have some fruits whereof you have few; as _wardeines_, quinces, peaches, medlers, chesnuts, and other delicious fruits; serving for all seasons of the year; and so plenty of pears and apples that, in the west parts of england and sussex, they make perry and cider, and in such abundance that they convey part over the sea, where, by the monsieurs of france, it is coveted for their beverage and drinks."--_sign. l._ iiij. rev. "we have in cornwall and devonshire (god be honoured) the richest mines of silver and tin that may be, also in ireland mines of silver, in derbyshire mines of lead, alabaster, marble, black and white. in sussex, yorkshire, and durham, mines of iron, coal, slate, and freestone; and in every shire of england, generally quarries of hard stone, chalk, and flint: these be commodities honorable and not feigned, being of such estimation that france, nor other realms, may well forbear; and as for saltpetre, there is sufficient made in england to furnish our turn for the wars. also we have hot fountains or bathes, which you nor no other realms christened have."--_sign. l._ v. rev. if ancient gildas speak the truth, great britain was no contemptible place twelve hundred years ago--the period when he lived and wrote his lachrymable history. "the iland of britaine placed in the ballance of the divine poising hand (as they call it) which weigheth the whole world, almost the uttermost bound of his earth towards the south and west; extending itself from the south-west, out towards the north pole, eight hundred miles in length; and containing two hundred in breadth, besides the fare outstretched forelands of sundry promonteries, embraced by the embowed bosomes of the ocean sea; with whose most spacious, and on every side (saving only the southern streights, by which we sale to gallehelgicke) impassable enclosure (as i may call it) she is strongly defended; enriched with the mouths of two noble floods, thames and severne, as it were two armes (by which out-landish commodities have in times past been transported into the same) besides other rivers of lesser account, strengthened with eight and twenty cities, and some other castles, not meanly fenced with fortresses of walls, embattled towers, gates, and buildings (whose roofes being raised aloft with a threatening hugenesse, were mightily in their aspiring toppes compaced) adorned with her large spreading fields, pleasant seated hils, even framed for good husbandry, which over-mastereth the ground, and mountains most convenient for the changeable pastures of cattell; whose flowers of sundry collours, troden by the feete of men, imprint no unseemly picture on the same, as a spouse of choice, decked with divers jewels; watered with cleere fountains, and sundry brokes, beating on the snow-white sands, together with silver streames sliding forth with soft sounding noise, and leaving a pledge of sweet savours on their bordering bankes, and lakes gushing out abundantly in cold running rivers."--_epistle of gildas_, transl. , mo. p. , after the prologue. whoever looks into that amusing and prettily-printed little book, "_barclaii satyricon_," , mo., will find a description of germany, similar, in part, to the preceding.--"olim sylvis et incolis fera, nunc oppidis passim insignis; nemoribus quoque quibus immensis tegebatur, ad usum decusque castigatis." p. .] "in the example of gonzalo, with whom philemon is perfectly well acquainted, a remarkable exemplification of the passion of _vanity_ occurs. i recollect, one evening, he came rushing into a party where i sat, screaming with the extatic joy of a maniac--'[greek: eurêka, eurêka]'; and, throwing down a scroll, rushed as precipitately out of the room. the scroll was of vellum; the title to the contents of it was penned in golden letters, and softly-painted bunches of roses graced each corner. it contained a sonnet to love, and another to friendship; but a principal mistake which struck us, on the very threshold of our critical examination, was that he had incorrectly entitled these sonnets. friendship should have been called love, and love, friendship. we had no sooner made the discovery than gonzalo returned, expecting to find us in like ecstacies with himself!--we gravely told him that we stumbled at the very threshold. it was quite sufficient--he seized his sonnets with avidity--and, crumpling the roll (after essaying to tear it) thrust it into his pocket, and retreated. one of the gentlemen in company made the following remarks, on his leaving us: 'in the conduct of gonzalo appears a strange mixture of intellectual strength and intellectual debility; of wit and dulness; of wisdom and folly; and all this arises chiefly from his mistaking the means for the end--the instrument of achieving for the object achieved. the fondest wish of his heart is literary fame: for this he would sacrifice every thing. he is handsome, generous, an affectionate son, a merry companion, and is, withal, a very excellent belles-lettres scholar. tell him that the ladies admire him, that his mother doats on him, and that his friends esteem him--and--keeping back the wished-for eulogy of literary excellence--you tell him of nothing which he cares for. in truth he might attain some portion of intellectual reputation, if he would throw aside his ridiculous habits. he _must_, as soon as the evening shades prevail, burn wax tapers--he must always have an argand lamp lighted up before him, to throw a picturesque effect upon a dark wood painted by hobbima--his pens must be made from the crow's wing--his wax must be green--his paper must be thick and hot-pressed; and he must have a portfolio of the choicest bits of ancient vellum that can be procured--his body must recline upon a chintz sofa--his foot must be perched upon an ottoman--in short he _must_ have every thing for which no man of common sense would express the least concern. can you be surprised, therefore, that he should commence his sonnet to friendship thus: oh, sweetest softest thing that's friendship hight! or that he should conceive the following address to women, by one william goddard, worthy of being ranked among the most beautiful poetical efforts of the th century: stars of this earthly heaven, you whose essence compos'd was of man's purest quintessence, to you, to virtuous you, i dedicate this snaggy sprig[ ]----" [footnote : from "_a satyrical dialogue, &c., betweene alexander the great and that truelye woman-hater diogynes_. imprinted in the low countryes for all such gentlewomen as are not altogether idle nor yet well occupyed," to. no date. a strange composition! full of nervous lines and pungent satire--but not free from the grossest licentiousness.] "enough," exclaimed philemon--while lysander paused a little, after uttering the foregoing in a rapid and glowing manner--"enough for this effeminate vanity in man! what other ills have you to enumerate, which assail the region of literature?"--"i will tell you," replied lysander, "another, and a most lamentable evil, which perverts the very end for which talents were given us--and it is in mistaking and misapplying these talents. i speak with reference to the individual himself, and not to the public. you may remember how grievously alfonso bore the lot which public criticism, with one voice, adjudged to him! this man had good natural parts, and would have abridged a history, made an index, or analyzed a philosophical work, with great credit to himself and advantage to the public. but he set his heart upon eclipsing doctors johnson and jamieson. he happened to know a few etymons more correctly, and to have some little acquaintance with black letter literature, and hence thought to give more weight to lexicographical inquiries than had hitherto distinguished them. but how miserably he was deceived in all his undertakings of this kind past events have sufficiently shewn. no, my good philemon, to be of use to the republic of literature, let us know our situations; and let us not fail to remember that, in the best appointed army, the serjeant may be of equal utility with the captain. "i will notice only one other, and a very great, failing observable in literary men--and this is severity and self-consequence. you will find that these severe characters generally set up the trade of _critics_; without attending to the just maxim of pope, that ten censure wrong, for one that writes amiss. "with them, the least deviation from precise correctness, the most venial trippings, the smallest inattention paid to doubtful rules and equivocal positions of criticism, inflames their anger, and calls forth their invectives. regardless of the sage maxims of cicero, quintilian, and horace, they not only disdain the sober rules which their ancient brethren have wisely laid down, and hold in contempt the voice of the public,[ ] but, forgetting the subject which they have undertaken to criticise, they push the author out of his seat, quietly sit in it themselves, and fancy they entertain you by the gravity of their deportment, and their rash usurpation of the royal monosyllable 'nos.'[ ] this solemn pronoun, or rather 'plural style,'[ ] my dear philemon, is oftentimes usurped by a half-starved little _i_, who sits immured in the dusty recess of a garret, and who has never known the society nor the language of a gentleman; or it is assumed by a young graduate, just settled in his chambers, and flushed with the triumph of his degree of 'b.a.', whose 'fond conceyte' [to borrow master francis thynne's[ ] terse style,] is, to wrangle for an asses shadowe, or to seke a knott in a rushe!' [footnote : "interdum vulgus rectum videt:" says horace.--_epist. lib._ ii. _ad. augustum_, v. .] [footnote : vide rymeri _foedera_--passim.] [footnote : a very recent, and very respectable, authority has furnished me with this expression.] [footnote : see mr. todd's _illustrations of gower and chaucer_, p. .] "for my part," continued lysander, speaking with the most unaffected seriousness--"for my part, nothing delights me more than modesty and diffidence, united with 'strong good sense, lively imagination, and exquisite sensibility,'[ ] whether in an author or a critic. when i call to mind that our greatest sages have concluded their labours with doubt, and an avowal of their ignorance; when i see how carefully and reverently they have pushed forward their most successful inquiries; when i see the great newton pausing and perplexed in the vast world of planets, comets, and constellations, which were, in a measure, of his own creation--i learn to soften the asperity of my critical anathemas, and to allow to an author that portion of fallibility of which i am conscious myself. [footnote : it is said, very sensibly, by la bruyere, i will allow that good writers are scarce enough; but then i ask where are the people that know how to read and judge? a union of these qualities, which are seldom found in the same person, seems to be indispensably necessary to form an able critic; he ought to possess strong good sense, lively imagination, and exquisite sensibility. and of these three qualities, the last is the most important; since, after all that can be said on the utility or necessity of rules and precepts, it must be confessed that the merit of all works of genius must be determined by taste and sentiment. "why do you so much admire the helen of zeuxis?" said one to nicostratus. "you would not wonder why i so much admired it (replied the painter) if you had my eyes."--warton: note to pope's essay on criticism. _pope's works_, vol. i. , edit. .] "i see then," rejoined philemon, "that you are an enemy to _reviews_."[ ] "far from it," replied lysander, "i think them of essential service to literature. they hold a lash over ignorance and vanity; and, at any rate, they take care to bestow a hearty castigation upon vicious and sensual publications. thus far they do good: but, in many respects, they do ill--by substituting their own opinions for those of an author; by judging exclusively according to their own previously formed decisions in matters of religion and politics; and by shutting out from your view the plan, and real tendency, of the book which they have undertaken to review, and therefore ought to analyze. it is, to be sure, amusing to read the clamours which have been raised against some of the most valuable, and now generally received, works! when an author recollects the pert conclusion of dr. kenrick's review of dr. johnson's tour to the hebrides,[ ] he need not fear the flippancy of a reviewer's wit, as decisive of the fate of his publication! [footnote : the earliest publications, i believe, in this country, in the character of reviews were there [transcriber's note: the] _weekly memorials for the ingenious_, &c. lond. , to.--and _the universal historical bibliotheque_: or an account of most of the considerable books printed in all languages, in the month of january . london, , to. five years afterwards came forth _the young student's library_, by the athenian society, , folio, "a kind of common theatre where every person may act, or take such part as pleases him best, and what he does not like he may pass over, assuring himself that, every one's judgment not being like his, another may chuse what he mislikes, and so every one may be pleased in their turns." pref. a six weeks' frost is said to have materially delayed the publication. after these, in the subsequent century, appeared the _old and new memoirs of literature_; then, the _works of the learned_; upon which was built, eclipsing every one that had preceeded it, and not excelled by any subsequent similar critical journal, _the monthly review_.] [footnote : after all, said the reviewing doctor, we are of opinion, with the author himself, that this publication contains 'the sentiments of one who has seen but little:' meaning, thereby, that the book was hardly worth perusal! what has become of the said dr. kenrick now? we will not ask the same question about the said dr. johnson; whose works are upon the shelf of every reading man of sense and virtue.] "it is certainly," pursued lysander, "a very prolific age of knowledge. there never was, at any one period of the world, so much general understanding abroad. the common receptacles of the lower orders of people present, in some degree, intellectual scenes. i mean, that collision of logic, and corruscation of wit, which arise from the perusal of a newspaper; a production, by-the-bye, upon which cowper has conferred immortality.[ ] you may remember, when we were driven by a sharp tempest of hail into the small public-house which stands at the corner of the heath--what a _logomachy_--what a _war of words_ did we hear! and all about sending troops to the north or south of spain, and the justice or injustice of the newly-raised prices of admission to covent garden theatre!![ ] the stage-coach, if you recollect, passed by quickly after our having drunk a tumbler of warm brandy and water to preserve ourselves from catching cold; and into it glad enough we were to tumble! we had no sooner begun to be tolerably comfortable and composed than a grave old gentleman commenced a most furious philippic against the prevailing studies, politics, and religion of the day--and, in truth, this man evinced a wonderfully retentive memory, and a fair share of powers of argument; bringing everything, however, to the standard of his _own times_. it was in vain we strove to edge in the great _whig and tory reviews_ of the northern and southern hemispheres! the obdurate champion of other times would not listen a moment, or stir one inch, in favour of these latter publications. when he quitted us, we found that he was a ---- of considerable consequence in the neighbourhood, and had acquired his fortune from the superior sagacity and integrity he had displayed in consequence of having been educated at the free-school in the village of ----, one of the few public schools in this kingdom which has not frustrated the legitimate views of its pious founder, by converting that into a foppish and expensive establishment which was at once designed as an asylum for the poor and an academy to teach wisdom and good morals." [footnote : see the opening the fourth book of "_the task_;" a picture perfectly original and unrivalled in its manner.] [footnote : it is not less true, than surprising, that the ridiculous squabbles, which disgraced both this theatre and the metropolis, have been deemed deserving of a regular series of publications in the shape of numbers-- , , , &c. as if the subject had not been sufficiently well handled in the lively sallies and brilliant touches of satire which had before appeared upon it in the _monthly mirror_!] philemon was about to reply, with his usual warmth and quickness, to the latter part of these remarks--as bearing too severely upon the eminent public seminaries within seventy miles of the metropolis--but lysander, guessing his intentions from his manner and attitude, cut the dialogue short by observing that we did not meet to discuss subjects of a personal and irritable nature, and which had already exercised the wits of two redoubted champions of the church--but that our object, and the object of all rational and manly discussion, was to state opinions with frankness, without intending to wound the feelings, or call forth the animadversions, of well-meaning and respectable characters. "i know," continued he, "that you, philemon, have been bred in one of these establishments, under a man as venerable for his years as he is eminent for his talents and worth; who employs the leisure of dignified retirement in giving to the world the result of his careful and profound researches; who, drinking largely at the fountain head of classical learning, and hence feeling the renovated vigour of youth (without having recourse to the black art of a cornelius agrippa[ ]), circumnavigates 'the erythrean sea'--then, ascending the vessel of nearchus, he coasts 'from indus to the euphrates'--and explores with an ardent eye what is curious and what is precious, and treasures in his sagacious mind what is most likely to gratify and improve his fellow-countrymen. a rare and eminent instance this of the judicious application of acquired knowledge!--and how much more likely is it to produce good, and to secure solid fame, than to fritter away one's strength, and undermine one's health, in perpetual pugilistic contests with snarling critics, dull commentators, and foul-mouthed philologists." [footnote : let him who wishes to be regaled in a dull dreary night--when the snow is heavily falling, and the wind whistles hollowly--open those leaves of bayle's _historical and biographical dictionary_ which relate to this extraordinary character; and see there how adroitly agrippa is defended against the accusation of "having two devils attending him in the shape of two little dogs--one of them being called monsieur, and the other mademoiselle"--"whereas paulus jovius, thevet, &c., speak only of _one_ dog, and never mention his name." vol. i. , ; edit. , vols. folio. the bibliographer, who wishes to be master of the most curious and rare editions of his works, may go from bayle to clement, and from clement to vogt. he must beware of the castrated lyons' editions "per beringos fratres"--against one of which bayle declaims, and produces a specimen (quite to his own liking) of the passage suppressed:--another, of a similar kind, is adduced by vogt (edit. , pp. , ); who tells us, however, that an edition of , vo., without mention of place or printer--and especially a cologne edition of , by hierat, in mo.--exhibits the like castrations; p. . this has escaped clement, learned as he is upon the lyons' editions, vol. i. , , . bauer (_bibl. libr. rarior._) is here hardly worth consulting; and the compilers of the celebrated _nouveau dict. historique_ (caen edit. , vol. i. p. . art. agrippa) deserve censure for the recommendation of these lyons' editions only. agrippa's "vanity of sciences" was first published at antwerp in to. ; a book, upon the rarity of which bibliographers delight to expatiate. his "occult philosophy"--according to bayle, in (at least, the elector of cologne had seen several printed leaves of it in this year), but according to vogt and bauer, in .--there is no question about the edition of ; of which vogt tells us, "an englishman, residing at frankfort, anxiously sought for a copy of it, offering fifty crowns (imperiales) and more, without success." all the editions in agrippa's life-time (before ) are considered uncastrated, and the best. it should not be forgotten that brucker, in his _hist. crit. phil._, has given a masterly account of agrippa, and an analysis of his works.] philemon heartily assented to the truth of these remarks; and, more than once, interrupted lysander in his panegyrical peroration by his cheerings:[ ] for he had, in his youth (as was before observed), been instructed by the distinguished character upon whom the eulogy had been pronounced. [footnote : this word is almost peculiar to our own country, and means a vehement degree of applause. it is generally used previous to, and during, a contest of any kind--whether by men in red coats, or blue coats, or black coats--upon land, upon water, or within doors. even the walls of st. stephen's chapel frequently echo to the "_loud cheerings_" of some kind or other. see every newspaper on every important debate.] the effort occasioned by the warmth in discussing such interesting subjects nearly exhausted lysander--when it was judged prudent to retire to rest. each had his chamber assigned to him; and while the chequered moon-beam played upon the curtains and the wall, through the half-opened shutter, the minds of lysander and philemon felt a correspondent tranquillity; and sweet were their slumbers till the morning shone full upon them. [illustration] part ii. =the cabinet.= outline of foreign and domestic bibliography. condemn the daies of elders great or small, and then blurre out the course of present tyme: cast one age down, and so doe orethrow all, and burne the bookes of printed prose or ryme: who shall beleeve he rules, or she doth reign, in tyme to come, if writers loose their paine the pen records tyme past and present both: skill brings foorth bookes, and bookes is nurse to troth. churchyard's _worthiness of wales_ p. , edit. . [illustration] [illustration] =the cabinet.= outline of foreign and domestic bibliography. tout autour oiseaulx voletoient et si tres-doulcement chantoient, qu'il n'est cueur qui n'ent fust ioyeulx. et en chantant en l'air montoient et puis l'un l'autre surmontoient a l'estriuee a qui mieulx mieulx. le temps n'estoit mie mieulx. de bleu estoient vestuz les cieux, et le beau soleil cler luisoit. violettes croissoient par lieux et tout faisoit ses deuoirs tieux comme nature le duisoit. oeuvres de chartier, paris, , to. p. . such is the lively description of a spring morning, in the opening of alain chartier's "_livre des quatre dames_;" and, excepting the violets, such description conveyed a pretty accurate idea of the scenery which presented itself, from the cabinet window, to the eyes of lysander and philemon. phil. how delightful, my dear friend, are the objects which we have before our eyes, within and without doors! the freshness of the morning air, of which we have just been partaking in yonder field, was hardly more reviving to my senses than is the sight of this exquisite cabinet of bibliographical works, adorned with small busts and whole-length figures from the antique! you see these precious books are bound chiefly in morocco, or russia leather: and the greater part of them appear to be printed upon _large paper_. lysand. our friend makes these books a sort of hobby-horse, and perhaps indulges his vanity in them to excess. they are undoubtedly useful in their way. phil. you are averse then to the study of bibliography? lysand. by no means. i have already told you of my passion for books, and cannot, therefore, dislike bibliography. i think, with lambinet, that the greater part of bibliographical works are sufficiently dry and soporific:[ ] but i am not insensible to the utility, and even entertainment, which may result from a proper cultivation of it--although both de bure and peignot appear to me to have gone greatly beyond the mark, in lauding this study as "one of the most attractive and vast pursuits in which the human mind can be engaged."[ ] [footnote : _recherches, &c., sur l'origine de l'imprimerie_: introd. p. x. lambinet adds very justly, "l'art consiste à les rendre supportables par des objets variés de littérature, de critique, d'anecdotes," &c.] [footnote : see the "discours sur la science bibliographique," &c., in the eighth volume of de bure's _bibl. instruct._ and peignot's _dictionnaire raisonné de biblilolgie_, [transcriber's note: bibliologie] vol. i. p. . the passage, in the former authority, beginning "sans cesse"--p. xvj.--would almost warm the benumbed heart of a thorough-bred mathematician, and induce him to exchange his euclid for de bure!!] phil. but to know what books are valuable and what are worthless; their intrinsic and extrinsic merits; their rarity, beauty, and particularities of various kinds; and the estimation in which they are consequently held by knowing men--these things add a zest to the gratification we feel in even looking upon and handling certain volumes. lysand. it is true, my good philemon; because knowledge upon any subject, however trivial, is more gratifying than total ignorance; and even if we could cut and string cherry-stones, like cowper's rustic boy, it would be better than brushing them aside, without knowing that they could be converted to such a purpose. hence i am always pleased with le long's reply to the caustic question of father malebranche, when the latter asked him, "how he could be so foolish as to take such pains about settling the date of a book, or making himself master of trivial points of philosophy!"--"truth is so delightful," replied le long, "even in the most trivial matters, that we must neglect nothing to discover her." this reply, to a man who was writing, or had written, an essay upon truth was admirable. mons. a.g. camus, a good scholar, and an elegant bibliographer, [of whom you will see some account in "_les siecles litteraires de la france_,"] has, i think, placed the study of bibliography in a just point of view; and to his observations, in the first volume of the "_memoires de l'institut national_," i must refer you.[ ] [footnote : lysander had probably the following passage more particularly in recollection; which, it must be confessed, bears sufficiently hard upon fanciful and ostentatious collectors of books. "[il y a] deux sortes de connoissance des livres: l'une qui se renferme presque uniquement dans les dehors et la forme du livre, pour apprécier, d'après sa date, d'après la caractère de l'impression, d'après certaines notes, quelquefois seulement d'après une erreur typographique, les qualités qui le font ranger dans la classe des livres rares où curieux, et qui fixent sa valeur pecuniaire: l'autre genre de connoissance consiste à savoir quels sont les livres les plus propres à instruire, ceux où les sujets sont le plus clairement présentés et le plus profondement discutés; les ouvrages à l'aide desquels il est possible de saisir l'origine de la science, de la suivre dans ses développemens, d'atteindre le point actuel de la perfection. sans doute il seroit avantageux que ces deux genres de connoisances fussent toujours réunis: l'expérience montre qu'ils le sont rairement; l'expérience montre encore que le premier des deux genres a été plus cultivé que le second. nous possédons, sur l'indication des livres curieux et rares, sur les antiquités et les bijoux litteraires, si l'on me permet d'employer cette expression, des instructions meilleures que nous n'en avons sur les livres propres à instruire foncièrement des sciences. en recherchant la cause de cette difference, on la trouvera peut-être dans la passion que des hommes riches et vains ont montrée pour posséder des livres sans être en état de les lire. il a fallu créer pour eux une sorte de bibliotheque composée d'objets qui, sous la forme exterieure de livres, ne fussent réellement que des raretés, des objets de curiosité, qu'on ne lit pas, mais que tantôt on regarde avec complaisance, tantôt en montre avec ostentation; et comme après cela c'est presque toujours le goût des personnes en état de récompenser qui dirige le but des travailleurs, on ne doit pas être surpris qu'on se soit plus occupé d'indiquer aux hommes riches dont je parle, des raretés à acquérir, ou de vanter celles qu'ils avoient rassemblées, que de faciliter, par des indications utiles, les travaux des hommes studieux dont on n'attendoit aucune récompense." _memoires de l'institut_, vol. i. . see also the similar remarks of jardé, in the "précis sur les bibliotheques," prefixed to fournier's _dict. portatif de bibliographie_, edit. . something like the same animadversions may be found in a useful book printed nearly two centuries before: "non enim cogitant quales ipsi, sed qualibus induti vestibus sint, et quanta pompa rerum fortunæque præfulgeant--sunt enim omnino ridiculi, qui in nuda librorum quantumvis selectissimorum multitudine gloriantur, et inde doctos sese atque admirandos esse persuadent." draudius: _bibliotheca classica_, ed. . epist. ad. lect. spizelius has also a good passage upon the subject, in his description of book-gluttons ("helluones librorum"): "cum immensa pené librorum sit multitudo et varietas, fieri non potest, quin eorum opibus ditescere desiderans (hæres), non assiduam longamque lectionem adhibeat." _infelix literatus_, p. , edit. , vo.] phil. i may want time, and probably inclination, to read these observations: and, at any rate, i should be better pleased with your analysis of them. lysand. that would lead me into a wide field indeed; and, besides, our friend--who i see walking hastily up the garden--is impatient for his breakfast; 'tis better, therefore, that we satisfy just now an appetite of a different kind. phil. but you promise to renew the subject afterwards? lysand. i will make no such promise. if our facetious friend lisardo, who is expected shortly to join us, should happen to direct our attention and the discourse to the sale of malvolio's busts and statues, what favourable opportunity do you suppose could present itself for handling so unpromising a subject as bibliography? phil. well, well, let us hope he will not come: or, if he does, let us take care to carry the point by a majority of votes. i hear the gate bell ring: 'tis lisardo, surely! three minutes afterwards, lisardo and myself, who met in the passage from opposite doors, entered the cabinet. mutual greetings succeeded: and, after a hearty breakfast, the conversation was more systematically renewed. lis. i am quite anxious to give you a description of the fine things which were sold at malvolio's mansion yesterday! amongst colossal minervas, and pigmy fauns and satyrs, a magnificent set of books, in ten or twelve folio volumes (i forget the precise number) in morocco binding, was to be disposed of. lysand. the clementine and florentine museums? lis. no indeed--a much less interesting work. a catalogue of the manuscripts and printed books in the library of the french king, louis the fifteenth. it was odd enough to see such a work in such a sale! phil. you did not probably bid ten guineas for it, lisardo? lis. not ten shillings. what should i do with such books? you know i have a mortal aversion to them, and to every thing connected with bibliographical learning. phil. that arises, i presume, from your profound knowledge of the subject; and, hence, finding it, as solomon found most pursuits, "vanity of vanities, and vexation of spirit." lis. not so, truly! i have taken an aversion to it from mere whim and fancy: or rather from downright ignorance. phil. but i suppose you would not object to be set right upon any subject of which you are ignorant or misinformed? you don't mean to sport _hereditary_ aversions, or hereditary attachments? lis. why, perhaps, something of the kind. my father, who was the best creature upon earth, happened to come into the possession of a huge heap of catalogues of private collections, as well as of booksellers' books--and i remember, on a certain fifth of november, when my little hands could scarcely grasp the lamplighter's link that he bade me set fire to them, and shout forth--"long live the king!"--ever since i have held them in sovereign contempt. phil. i love the king too well to suppose that his life could have been lengthened by any such barbarous act. you were absolutely a little chi ho-am-ti, or omar![ ] perhaps you were not aware that his majesty is in possession of many valuable books, which are described with great care and accuracy in some of these very catalogues. [footnote : pope, in his dunciad, has treated the conflagration of the two great ancient libraries, with his usual poetical skill: "far eastward cast thine eye, from whence the sun and orient science their bright course begun: one god-like monarch all that pride confounds, he, whose long wall the wandering tartar bounds; heavens! what a pile! whole ages perish there, and one bright blaze turns learning into air. thence to the south extend thy gladden'd eyes; there rival flames with equal glory rise, from shelves to shelves see greedy vulcan roll, and lick up all their physic of the soul." "chi ho-am-ti, emperor of china, the same who built the great wall between china and tartary, destroyed all the books and learned men of that empire." "the caliph, omar i. having conquered egypt, caused his general to burn the ptolemean library, on the gates of which was this inscription: '[greek: psychÊs iatreion]:' 'the physic of the soul.'" warburton's note. the last editor of pope's works, (vol. v. .) might have referred us to the very ingenious observations of gibbon, upon the probability of this latter event: see his "_decline and fall of the roman empire_," vol. ix. , &c.] lis. the act, upon reflection, was no doubt sufficiently foolish. but why so warm upon the subject? lysand. let me defend philemon; or at least account for his zeal. just before you came in, he was leading me to give him some account of the rise and progress of bibliography; and was fearful that, from your noted aversion to the subject, you would soon cut asunder the thread of our conversation. lis. if you can convert me to be an admirer of such a subject, or even to endure it, you will work wonders; and, unless you promise to do so, i know not whether i shall suffer you to begin. phil. begin, my dear lysander. a mind disposed to listen attentively is sometimes half converted. o, how i shall rejoice to see this bibliographical incendiary going about to buy up copies of the very works which he has destroyed! listen, i entreat you, lisardo. lis. i am all attention; for i see the clouds gathering in the south, and a gloomy, if not a showery, mid-day, promises to darken this beauteous morning. 'twill not be possible to attend the antiques at malvolio's sale. lysand. whether the sun shine, or the showers fall, i will make an attempt--not to convert, but to state simple truths: provided you "lend me your ears." phil. and our hearts too. begin: for the birds drop their notes, and the outlines of the distant landscape are already dimmed by the drizzling rain. lysand. you call upon me as formally as the shepherds call upon one another to sing in virgil's eclogues. but i will do my best. it is gratifying to the english nation--whatever may have been the strictures of foreigners[ ] upon the paucity of their bibliographico-literary works in the th century--that the earliest printed volume upon the love and advantages of book-collecting was the _philobiblion_[ ] of richard de bury; who was bishop of durham at the close of the th century, and tutor to edward iii. i will at present say nothing about the merits and demerits of this short treatise; only i may be permitted to observe, with satisfaction, that the head of the same see, at the present day, has given many proofs of his attachment to those studies, and of his reward of such merit as attracted the notice of his illustrious predecessor. it is with pain that i am compelled to avow the paucity of publications, in our own country, of a nature similar to the _philobiblion_ of de bury, even for two centuries after it was composed; but while leland was making his library-tour, under the auspices of that capricious tyrant henry viii., many works were planned _abroad_, which greatly facilitated the researches of the learned. [footnote : "anglica gens longe fuit negligentior in consignandis ingeniorum monumentis; nihil enim ab illis prodiit, quod mereatur nominari, cum tamen sint extentque pene innumera ingeniossimæ gentis in omnibus doctrinis scripta, prodeantque quotidie, tam latina, quam vernacula lingua, plura," morhof: _polyhist. literar._ vol. i. , edit. . reimmannus carries his strictures, upon the jealousy of foreigners at the success of the germans in bibliography, with a high hand: "ringantur itali, nasum incurvent galli, supercilium adducant hispani, scita cavilla serant britanni, frendeant, spument, bacchentur ii omnes, qui præstantiam musarum germanicarum limis oculis aspiciunt," &c.--"hoc tamen certum, firmum, ratum, et inconcussum est, germanos primos fuisse in rep. literaria, qui indices librorum generales, speciales et specialissimos conficere, &c. annisi sunt."--a little further, however, he speaks respectfully of our james, hyde, and bernhard. see his ably-written _bibl. acroamatica_, pp. , .] [footnote : "_sive de amore librorum._" the first edition, hitherto so acknowledged, of this entertaining work, was printed at spires, by john and conrad hist, in , to., a book of great rarity--according to clement, vol. v. ; bauer (_suppl. bibl. libr. rarior_, pt. i. ); maichelius, p. ; and morhof, vol. i. . mons. de la serna santander has assigned the date of to this edition: see his _dict. bibliog. chois._ vol. ii. ,--but, above all, consult clement--to whom panzer, vol. iii. p. , very properly refers his readers. and yet some of clement's authorities do not exactly bear him out in the identification of this impression. mattaire, vol. i. , does not appear to have ever seen a copy of it: but, what is rather extraordinary, count macarty has a copy of a cologne edition in to., of the date of . no other edition of it is known to have been printed till the year ; when two impressions of this date were published at paris, in to.: the one by philip for petit, of which both clement and fabricius (_bibl. med. et inf. Ætat._ vol. i. , &c.) were ignorant; but of which, a copy, according to panzer, vol. ii. , should seem to be in the public library at gottingen; the other, by badius ascensius, is somewhat more commonly known. a century elapsed before this work was deemed deserving of republication; when the country that had given birth to, and the university that had directed the studies of, its illustrious author, put forth an inelegant reprint of it in to. --from which some excerpts will be found in the ensuing pages--but in the meantime the reader may consult the title-page account of herbert, vol. iii. p. . of none of these latter editions were the sharp eyes of clement ever blessed with a sight of a copy! see his _bibl. curcuse_, &c. vol. v. . the th century made some atonement for the negligence of the past, in regard to richard de bury. at frankfort his _philobiblion_ was reprinted, with "a century of philological letters," collected by goldastus, in , vo--and this same work appeared again, at leipsic, in , vo. at length the famous schmidt put forth an edition, with some new pieces, "typis et sumtibus georgii wolffgangii hammii, acad. typog. ," to. of this latter edition, neither maichelius nor the last editor of morhof take notice. it may be worth while adding that the subscription in red ink, which fabricius (_ibid._) notices as being subjoined to a vellum ms. of this work, in his own possession--and which states that it was finished at auckland, in the year , in the th of its author, and at the close of the th year of his episcopacy--may be found, in substance, in hearne's edition of leland's _collectanea_, vol. ii. , edit. .] among the men who first helped to clear away the rubbish that impeded the progress of the student, was the learned and modest conrad gesner; at once a scholar, a philosopher, and a bibliographer: and upon whom julius scaliger, theodore beza, and de thou, have pronounced noble eulogiums.[ ] his _bibliotheca universalis_ was the first thing, since the discovery of the art of printing, which enabled the curious to become acquainted with the works of preceding authors: thus kindling, by the light of such a lamp, the fire of emulation among his contemporaries and successors. i do not pretend to say that the _bibliotheca_ of gesner is any thing like perfect, even as far as it goes: but, considering that the author had to work with his own materials alone, and that the degree of fame and profit attached to such a publication was purely speculative, he undoubtedly merits the thanks of posterity for having completed it even in the manner in which it has come down to us. consider gesner as the father of bibliography; and if, at the sale of malvolio's busts, there be one of this great man, purchase it, good lisardo, and place it over the portico of your library. [footnote : his _bibliotheca_, or _catalogus universalis, &c._, was first printed in a handsome folio volume at zurich, . lycosthyne put forth a wretched abridgement of this work, which was printed by the learned oporinus, in to., . robert constantine, the lexicographer, also abridged and published it in , paris, vo.; and william canter is said by labbe to have written notes upon simler's edition, which baillet took for granted to be in existence, and laments not to have seen them; but he is properly corrected by de la monnoye, who reminds us that it was a mere report, which labbe gave as he found it. i never saw simler's own editions of his excellent abridgement and enlargement of it in and ; but frisius published it, with great improvements, in , fol., adding many articles, and abridging and omitting many others. although this latter edition be called the _edit. opt._ it will be evident that the _editio originalis_ is yet a desideratum in every bibliographical collection. nor indeed does frisius's edition take away the necessity of consulting a supplement to gesner, which appeared at the end of the _bibliothéque françoise_ of du verdier, . it may be worth stating that hallevordius's _bibliotheca curiòsa_, , , to., is little better than a supplement to the preceding work. the _pandects_ of gesner, , fol. are also well worth the bibliographer's notice. each of the books, of which the volume is composed, is preceded by an interesting dedicatory epistle to some eminent printer of day. consult baillet's _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii. p. . _bibl. creven._ vol. v. p. ; upon this latter work more particularly; and morhof's _polyhistor. literar._ vol. i. , and vogt's _catalog. libr. rarior._, p. : upon the former. although the _dictionnaire historique_, published at caen, in , notices the botanical and lexicographical works of gesner, it has omitted to mention these pandects: which however, are uncommon.] lis. all this is very well. proceed with the patriarchal age of your beloved bibliography. lysand. i was about resuming, with observing that our bale speedily imitated the example of gesner, in putting forth his _britanniæ scriptores_;[ ] the materials of the greater part of which were supplied by leland. this work is undoubtedly necessary to every englishman, but its errors are manifold. let me now introduce to your notice the little work of florian trefler, published in ;[ ] also the first thing in its kind, and intimately connected with our present subject. the learned, it is true, were not much pleased with it; but it afforded a rough outline upon which naudæus afterwards worked, and produced, as you will find, a more pleasing and perfect picture. a few years after this, appeared the _erotemata_ of michael neander;[ ] in the long and learned preface to which, and in the catalogue of his and of melancthon's works subjoined, some brilliant hints of a bibliographical nature were thrown out, quite sufficient to inflame the lover of book-anecdotes with a desire of seeing a work perfected according to such a plan: but neander was unwilling, or unable, to put his design into execution. bibliography, however, now began to make rather a rapid progress; and, in france, the ancient writers of history and poetry seemed to live again in the _bibliotheque françoise_ of la croix du maine and du verdier.[ ] nor were the contemporaneous similar efforts of cardona to be despised: a man, indeed, skilled in various erudition, and distinguished for his unabating perseverance in examining all the mss. and printed books that came in his way. the manner, slight as it was, in which cardona[ ] mentioned the vatican library, aroused the patriotic ardor of pansa; who published his _bibliotheca vaticana_, in the italian language, in the year ; and in the subsequent year appeared the rival production of angelus roccha, written in latin, under the same title.[ ] the magnificent establishment of the vatican press, under the auspices of pope sixtus v. and clement viii. and under the typographical direction of the grandson of aldus,[ ] called forth these publications--which might, however, have been executed with more splendour and credit. [footnote : the first edition of this work, under the title of "_illustrium maioris britanniæ scriptorum, hoc est, anglæ, cambriæ, ac scotiæ summarium, in quasnam centurias divisum, &c._," was printed at ipswich, in , to., containing three supposed portraits of bale, and a spurious one of wicliffe. of the half length portrait of bale, upon a single leaf, as noticed by herbert, vol. iii. , i have doubts about its appearance in all the copies. the above work was again published at basil, by opornius, in , fol., greatly enlarged and corrected, with a magnificent half length portrait of bale, from which the one in a subsequent part of this work was either copied on a reduced scale, or of which it was the prototype. his majesty has perhaps the finest copy of this last edition of bale's _scriptores britanniæ_, in existence.] [footnote : "les savans n'ont nullemont été satisfaits des règles prescrites par florian treffer (trefler) le premièr dont on connoisse un écrit sur ce sujet [de la disposition des livres dans une bibliothèque]. sa méthode de classer les livres fut imprimée à augsbourg en ." camus: _memoires de l'institut_. vol. i. . the title is "methodus ordinandi bibliothecam," augustæ, . the extreme rarity of this book does not appear to have arisen from its utility--if the authority quoted by vogt, p. , edit. , may be credited. bauer repeats vogt's account; and teisser, morhof, and baillet, overlook the work.] [footnote : it would appear, from morhof, that neander meditated the publication of a work similar to the _pandects_ of gesner; which would, in all probability, have greatly excelled it. the "_erotemata græcæ linguæ_" was published at basil in , vo. consult _polyhist. liter._ vol. i. : _jugemens des savans_, vol. iii. art. , but more particularly niceron's _memoires des hommes illustres_, vol. xxx. in regard to neander, vogt has given the title at length (a sufficiently tempting one!) calling the work "very rare," and the preface of neander (which is twice the length of the work) "curious and erudite." see his _catalog. libror. rarior._, p. , edit. .] [footnote : la croix du maine's book appeared toward the end of the year ; and that of his coadjutor, anthony verdier, in the beginning of the subsequent year. they are both in folio, and are usually bound in one volume. of these works, the first is the rarest and best executed; but the very excellent edition of both of them, by de la monnoye and juvigny, in six volumes, to., , which has realized the patriotic wishes of baillet, leaves nothing to be desired in the old editions--and these are accordingly dropping fast into annihilation. it would appear from an advertisement of de bure, subjoined to his catalogue of count macarty's books, , vo., that there were then remaining only eleven copies of this new edition upon large paper, which were sold for one hundred and twenty livres. claude verdier, son of antony, who published a supplement to gesner's bibliotheca, and a "_censio auctorum omnium veterum et recentiorum_," affected to censure his father's work, and declared that nothing but parental respect could have induced him to consent to its publication--but consult the _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii. - , upon claude's filial affection; and morhof's _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., , concerning the "censio," &c.--"misere," exclaims morhof, "ille corvos deludit hiantes: nam ubi censuram suam exercet, manifestum hominis phrenesin facile deprehendas!" the ancient editions are well described in _bibl. creven._, vol. v., - , edit. --but more particularly by de bure, nos. - . a copy of the ancient edition was sold at west's sale for _l._ _s._ see _bibl. west._, no. .] [footnote : john baptist cardona, a learned and industrious writer, and bishop of tortosa, published a quarto volume at tarracona, in , to.--comprehending the following four pieces: . _de regia sancti lamentii bibliotheca_: . _de bibliothecis_ (_ex fulvio ursino_,) et _de bibliotheca vaticana (ex omphrii schedis)_: . _de expurgandis hæreticorum propriis nominibus_: . _de dipthycis_. of these, the first, in which he treats of collecting all manner of useful books, and having able librarians, and in which he strongly exhorts philip ii. to put the escurial library into good order, is the most valuable to the bibliographer. vogt, p. , gives us two authorities to shew the rarity of this book; and baillet refers us to the _bibliotheca hispana_ of antonio.] [footnote : mutius panza's work, under the title of _ragionamenti della libraria vaticana_, rome, , to., and angelus roccha's, that of _bibliotheca apostolica vaticana, rome_, , to., relate rather to the ornaments of architecture and painting, than to a useful and critical analysis, or a numbered catalogue, of the books within the vatican library. the authors of both are accused by morhof of introducing quite extraneous and uninteresting matter. roccha's book, however, is worth possessing, as it is frequently quoted by bibliographers. how far it may be "liber valde quidem rarus," as vogt intimates, i will not pretend to determine. it has a plate of the vatican library, and another of st. peter's cathedral. the reader may consult, also, the _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., p. . my copy of this work, purchased at the sale of dr. heath's books, has a few pasted printed slips in the margins--some of them sufficiently curious.] [footnote : consult renouard's _l'imprimerie des alde_, vol. ii., , &c. one of the grandest works which ever issued from the vatican press, under the superintendence of aldus, was the vulgate bible of pope sixtus v., , fol., the copies of which, upon large paper, are sufficiently well known and coveted. a very pleasing and satisfactory account of this publication will be found in the _horæ biblicæ_ of mr. charles butler, a gentleman who has long and justly maintained the rare character of a profound lawyer, an elegant scholar, and a well-versed antiquary and philologist.] let us here not forget that the celebrated lipsius condescended to direct his talents to the subject of libraries; and his very name, as baillet justly remarks, "is sufficient to secure respect for his work," however slender it may be.[ ] we now approach, with the mention of lipsius, the opening of the th century; a period singularly fertile in bibliographical productions. i will not pretend to describe, minutely, even the leading authors in this department. the works of puteanus can be only slightly alluded to, in order to notice the more copious and valuable ones of possevinus and of schottus;[ ] men who were ornaments to their country, and whose literary and bibliographical publications have secured to them the gratitude of posterity. while the labours of these authors were enriching the republic of literature, and kindling all around a love of valuable and curious books, the _bibliotheca historica_ of bolduanus, and the _bibliotheca classica_ of draudius[ ] highly gratified the generality of readers, and enabled the student to select, with greater care and safety, such editions of authors as were deserving of a place in their libraries. [footnote : lipsius published his _syntagma de bibliothecis_, at antwerp, in , to., "in quo de ritibus variis et antiquitatibus circa rem bibliothecariam agitur." an improved edition of it, by maderus, was printed at helmstadt, in , to., with other curious bibliographical opuscula. a third edition of it was put forth by schmid, at the same place, in , to. consult morhof. _poly. lit._, vol. i., .] [footnote : "scripsit et erycius puteanus librum _de usu bibliothecæ et quidem speciatim bibliothecæ ambrosianæ mediol._, in vo., , editum, aliumque, cui titulus _auspicia bibliothecæ lovaniensis_, an. , in to." morhof. "it is true," says baillet, "that this puteanus passed for a gossipping sort of writer, and for a great maker of little books, but he was, notwithstanding, a very clever fellow." _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., . in the _bibl. crev._, vol. v., , will be found one of his letters, never before published. he died in . possevinus published a _bibliotheca selecta_ and _apparatus sacer_--of the former of which, the cologne edition of , folio, and of the latter, that of , are esteemed the most complete. the first work is considered by morhof as less valuable than the second. the "_apparatus_" he designates as a book of rather extraordinary merit and utility. of the author of both these treatises, some have extolled his talents to the skies, others have depreciated them in proportion. his literary character, however, upon the whole, places him in the first class of bibliographers. consult the _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., . he was one of the earliest bibliographers who attacked the depraved taste of the italian printers in adopting licentious capital-initial letters. catherinot, in his _art d'imprimer_, p. , makes the same complaint: so baillet informs us, vol. i., pt. i., p. , edit. : vol. iii., pt. , p. . schottus's work, _de bibl. claris hispaniæ viris, france_, , to., is forgotten in the splendour of antonio's similar production; but it had great merit in its day. _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., pt. , , edit. .] [footnote : bolduanus published a _theological_ (jenæ, ) and _philosophico philological_ (jenæ, ), as well as an _historical_ (lipsiæ, ), library; but the latter work has the pre-eminence. yet the author lived at too great a distance, wanting the requisite materials, and took his account chiefly from the frankfort catalogues--some of which were sufficiently erroneous. _polyhist. literar._ vol. i., . see also the very excellent historical catalogue, comprehending the st chap. of meusel's new edition of struvius's _bibl. histor._, vol. i., p. . draudius's work is more distinguished for its arrangement than for its execution in detail. it was very useful, however, at the period when it was published. my edition is of the date of , to.: but a second appeared at frankfort, in , to.] the name of du chesne can never be pronounced by a sensible frenchman without emotions of gratitude. his _bibliotheca historiarum galliæ_ first published in the year , vo.--although more immediately useful to foreigners than to ourselves, is nevertheless worth mentioning. morhof, if i recollect aright, supposes there was a still later edition; but he probably confused with this work the _series auctorum, &c. de francorum historia_;[ ] of which two handsome folio editions were published by cramoisy. french writers of bibliographical eminence now begin to crowd fast upon us. [footnote : the reader will find a good account of some of the scarcer works of du chesne in vogt's _catalog. libror. rarior._, p. , &c., and of the life and literary labours of this illustrious man in the th volume of niceron's _memoires des hommes illustres_.] lis. but what becomes of the english, spanish, and italian bibliographers all this while? lysand. the reproach of morhof is i fear too just; namely that, although we had produced some of the most learned, ingenious, and able men in europe--lovers and patrons of literature--yet our librarians, or university scholars, were too lazy to acquaint the world with the treasures which were contained in the several libraries around them.[ ] you cannot expect a field-marshal, or a statesman in office, or a nobleman, or a rich man of extensive connections, immersed in occupations both pressing and unavoidable--doggedly to set down to a _catalogue raisonné_ of his books, or to an analysis of the different branches of literature--while his presence is demanded in the field, in the cabinet, or in the senate--or while all his bells, at home, from the massive outer gate to the retired boudoir, are torn to pieces with ringing and jingling at the annunciation of visitors--you cannot, i say, my good lisardo, call upon a person, thus occupied, to produce--or expect from him, in a situation thus harassed, the production of--any solid bibliographical publication; but you have surely a right to expect that librarians, or scholars, who spend the greater part of their time in public libraries, will vouchsafe to apply their talents in a way which may be an honour to their patrons, and of service to their country.[ ] not to walk with folded arms from one extremity of a long room (of feet) to another, and stop at every window to gaze on an industrious gardener, or watch the slow progress of a melancholy crow "making wing to the rooky wood," nor yet, in winter, to sit or stand inflexibly before the fire, with a duodecimo jest book or novel in their hands--but to look around and catch, from the sight of so much wisdom and so much worth, a portion of that laudable emulation with which the gesners, the baillets, and the le longs were inspired; to hold intimate acquaintance with the illustrious dead; to speak to them without the fear of contradiction; to exclaim over their beauties without the dread of ridicule, or of censure; to thank them for what they have done in transporting us to other times, and introducing us to other worlds; and constantly to feel a deep and unchangeable conviction of the necessity of doing all the good in our power, and in our way, for the benefit of those who are to survive us! [footnote : see the note at p. , ante. "it is a pity," says morhof, "that the _dutch_ had such little curiosity about the literary history of their country--but the _english_ were yet more negligent and incurious."--and yet, germany, france, and italy, had already abounded with treasures of this kind!!] [footnote : senebier, who put forth a very useful and elegantly printed catalogue of the mss. in the public library of geneva, , vo., has the following observations upon this subject--which i introduce with a necessary proviso, or caution, that _now-a-days_ his reproaches cannot affect us. we are making ample amends for past negligence; for, to notice no others, the labours of those gentlemen who preside over the british museum abundantly prove our present industry. thus speaks senebier: 'ill sembleroit d'abord étonnant qu'on ait tant tradé à composer le catalogue des manuscripts de la bibliothéque de genéve; mais on peut faire plus raisonnablement ce reproche aux bibliothécaires bien payés et uniquement occupés de leur vocation, qui sont les dépositaires de tant de collections précieuses qu'on voit en italie, en france, en allemagne, et en angleterre; ils le mériteront d'autant mieux, qu'ils privent le public des piéces plus précieuses, et qu'ils ont plusieurs aids intelligens qui peuvent les dispenser de la partie le plus méchanique et la plus ennuyeuse de ce travail,' &c.] phil. hear him, hear him![ ] [footnote : this mode of exclamation or expression, like that of _cheering_ (vide p. , ante) is also peculiar to our own country; and it is uttered by both friend and foe. thus, in the senate, when a speaker upon one side of the question happens to put an argument in a strong point of view, those of the same party or mode of thinking exclaim--_hear him, hear him!_ and if he should happen to state any thing that may favour the views, or the mode of thinking, of his opponents, these latter also take advantage of his eloquence, and exclaim, _hear him, hear him!_ happy the man whom friend and foe alike delight to hear!] lis. but what is become, in the while, of the english, italian, and spanish bibliographers--in the seventeenth century? lysand. i beg pardon for the digression; but the less we say of these, during this period, the better; and yet you must permit me to recommend to you the work of pitseus, our countryman, which grows scarcer every day.[ ] we left off, i think, with the mention of du chesne's works. just about this time came forth the elegant little work of naudÆus;[ ] which i advise you both to purchase, as it will cost you but a few shillings, and of the aspect of which you may inform yourselves by taking it down from yonder shelf. quickly afterwards claude clement, "haud passibus æquis," put forth his _bibliothecæ tam privatæ quam publicæ[ ] extructio_, &c.; a work, condemned by the best bibliographical judges. but the splendour of almost every preceding bibliographer's reputation was eclipsed by that arising from the extensive and excellent publications of louis jacob;[ ] a name at which, if we except those of fabricius and muratori, diligence itself stands amazed; and concerning whose life and labours it is to be regretted that we have not more extended details. the harsh and caustic manner in which labbe and morhof have treated the works of gaddius,[ ] induce me only to mention his name, and to warn you against looking for much corn in a barn choked with chaff. we now approach the close of the seventeenth century; when, stopping for a few minutes only, to pay our respects to cinelli, conringius, and lomeier,[ ] we must advance to do homage to the more illustrious names of labbe, lambecius, and baillet; not forgetting, however, the equally respectable ones of antonio and lipenius. [footnote : pitseus's work "_de rebus anglicis_," paris, , to., vol. i., was written in opposition to bale's (vid. p. , ante). the author was a learned roman catholic; but did not live to publish the second volume. i was glad to give mr. ford, of manchester, _l._ _s._ for a stained and badly bound copy of it.] [footnote : "gabriele naudÆo nemo vixit suo tempore [greek: empeirias] bibliothecariæ peritior:" _polyhist. liter._, vol. i., . "naudæi scripta omnia et singula præstantissima sunt," vogt, p. . "les ouvrages de naudé firent oublier ce qui les avoient précédé." camus, _mem. de l'institut._, vol. i., . after these eulogies, who will refuse this author's "_avis pour dresser une bibliothéque_, paris, , , vo." a place upon his shelf? unluckily, it rarely comes across the search of the keenest collector. the other, yet scarcer, productions of naudé will be found well described in vogt's _catalog. libror. rarior._, p. . the reader of ancient politics may rejoice in the possession of what is called, the "_mascurat_"--and "_considerations politiques_"--concerning which vogt is gloriously diffuse; and peignot (who has copied from him, without acknowledgement--_bibliogr. curieuse_, pp. , ,) may as well be consulted. but the bibliographer will prefer the "_additions à l'histoire de louis xi._," , vo., and agree with mailchelius that a work so uncommon and so curious "ought to be reprinted." see the latter's amusing little book "_de præcipuis bibliothecis parisiensibus_," pp. , , &c. naudæus was librarian to the famous cardinal mazarin, the great mæcenas of his day; whose library, consisting of upwards of forty thousand volumes, was the most beautiful and extensive one which france had then ever seen. its enthusiastic librarian, whom i must be allowed to call a very wonderful bibliomaniac, made constant journeys, and entered into a perpetual correspondence, relating to books and literary curiosities. he died at abbeville in , in his rd year, on returning from sweden, where the famous christian had invited him. naudæus's "_avis, &c._", [ut supr.] was translated by chaline; but his "_avis à nosseigneurs du parlement, &c._" , to.--upon the sale of the cardinal's library--and his "_remise de la bihliothéque_ [transcriber's note: bibliothèque] [du cardinal] _entre le mains de m. tubeuf_, ," are much scarcer productions. a few of these particulars are gathered from peignot's _dict. de la bibliolologie_ [transcriber's note: bibliologie], vol. ii., p. --consult also his _dict. portatif de bibliographie_, p. v. in the former work i expected a copious piece of biography; yet, short as it is, peignot has subjoined a curious note from naudé's "_considerations politiques_"--in which the author had the hardihood to defend the massacre upon st. bartholomew's day, by one of the strangest modes of reasoning ever adopted by a rational being.] [footnote : this work, in four books, was published at lyons, , to. if it be not quite "much ado about nothing"--it exhibits, at least, a great waste of ink and paper. morhof seems to seize with avidity baillet's lively sentence of condemnation--"il y a trop de babil et trop de ce que nous appellons _fatras_," &c.] [footnote : le pere louys jacob published his "_traicté des plus belles bibliothéques publiques et particulières, qui ont esté, et qui sont à présents dans le monde_," at paris, in --again in , vo.--in which he first brought together the scattered notices relating to libraries, especially to modern ones. his work is well worth consultation; although baillet and morhof do not speak in direct terms of praise concerning it--and the latter seems a little angry at his giving the preference to the parisian libraries over those of other countries. it must be remembered that this was published as an unfinished production: as such, the author's curiosity and research are highly to be commended. i have read the greater part of it with considerable satisfaction. the same person meditated the execution of a vast work in four folio volumes--called "_la bibliothéque universelle de tous les autheurs de france, qui ont escrits en quelque sorte de sciences et de langues_"--which, in fact, was completed in : but, on the death of the author it does not appear what became of it. jacob also gave an account of books as they were published at paris, and in other parts of france, from the year to ; which was printed under the title of _bibliographia parisina_, paris, , to. consult _polyhist. liter._, vol. i., pp. , : _bibl. creven._, vol. v., pp. , . _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., p. .] [footnote : he published a work entitled "_de scriptoribus non-ecclesiasticis_," , vol. i., , vol. ii., folio: in which his opinions upon authors are given in the most jejune and rash manner. his other works, which would form a little library, are reviewed by leti with sufficient severity: but the poor man was crack brained! and yet some curious and uncommon things, gleaned from mss. which had probably never been unrolled or opened since their execution, are to be found in this "sciolum florentinum," as labbe calls him. consult the _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : magliabechi put cinelli upon publishing his bibliotheca volante, , vo., a pretty work, with a happy title!--being an indiscriminate account of some rare books which the author picked up in his travels, or saw in libraries. it was republished, with valuable additions, by sancassani, at venice, in , to. see _cat. de lomenie_, no. . works of this sort form the ana of bibliography! conringius compiled a charming bibliographical work, in an epistolary form, under the title of _bibliotheca augusta_; which was published at helmstadt, in , to.--being an account of the library of the duke of brunswick, in the castle of wolfenbuttle. two thousand manuscripts, and one hundred and sixteen thousand printed volumes, were then contained in this celebrated collection. happy the owner of such treasures--happy the man who describes them! lomeier's, or lomejer's "_de bibliothecis liber singularis_," ultraj, - , vo., is considered by baillet among the best works upon the subject of ancient and modern libraries. from this book, le sieur le gallois stole the most valuable part of his materials for his "_traité des plus belles bibliothéques de l'europe_," , -- mo.: the title at full length (a sufficiently imposing one!) may be seen in _bibé. crevenn._, vol. v., p. ; upon this latter treatise, morhof cuttingly remarks--"magnos ille titulus strepitus facit: sed pro thesauris carbones." _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., p. . see also "_jugemens des savans_," vol. ii., p. . gallois dispatches the english libraries in little more than a page. i possess the second edition of lomeier's book ( --with both its title pages), which is the last and best--and an interesting little volume it is! the celebrated grævius used to speak very favourably of this work.] lis. pray discuss their works, or merits, _seriatim_, as the judges call it; for i feel overwhelmed at the stringing together of such trisyllabic names. these gentlemen, as well as almost every one of their predecessors, are strangers to me; and you know my bashfulness and confusion in such sort of company. lysand. i hope to make you better acquainted with them after a slight introduction, and so rid you of such an uncomfortable diffidence. let us begin with labbe,[ ] who died in the year , and in the sixtieth of his own age; a man of wonderful memory and of as wonderful application--whose whole life, according to his biographers, was consumed in gathering flowers from his predecessors, and thence weaving such a chaplet for his own brows as was never to know decay. his _nova bibliotheca_, and _bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum_, are the principal works which endear his memory to bibliographers. more learned than labbe was lambecius;[ ] whose _commentarii de bibliotheca cæsareâ-vindobonensis_, with nesselius's supplement to the same, [ , vols. fol.] and kollarius's new edition of both, form one of the most curious and important, as well as elaborate, productions in the annals of literature and bibliography. less extensive, but more select, valuable, and accurate, in its choice and execution of objects, is the _bibliotheca hispana vetus et nova_ of nicholas antonio;[ ] the first, and the best, bibliographical work which spain, notwithstanding her fine palaces and libraries, has ever produced. if neither philemon nor yourself, lisardo, possess this latter work [and i do not see it upon the shelves of this cabinet], seek for it with avidity; and do not fear the pistoles which the purchase of it may cost you. lipenius[ ] now claims a moment's notice; of whose _bibliotheca realis_ morhof is inclined to speak more favourably than other critics. 'tis in six volumes; and it appeared from the years to inclusive. not inferior to either of the preceding authors in taste, erudition, and the number and importance of his works, was adrien baillet;[ ] the simple pastor of lardiéres, and latterly the learned and indefatigable librarian of lamoignon. his _jugemens des savans_, edited by de la monnoye, is one of those works with which no man, fond of typographical and bibliographical pursuits, can comfortably dispense. i had nearly forgotten to warn you against the capricious works of beughem; a man, nevertheless, of wonderful mental elasticity; but for ever planning schemes too vast and too visionary for the human powers to execute.[ ] [footnote : "vir, qui in texendis catalogis totam pene vitam consumpsit." "homo ad lexica et catalogos conficiendos a naturâ factus." such is morhof's account of labbe; who, in the works above-mentioned, in the text, has obtained an unperishable reputation as a bibliographer. the _bibliotheca bibliothecarum_, thick duodecimo, or crown octavo, has run through several impressions; of which the leipsic edit. of , is as good as any; but teisser, in his work under the same title, , to., has greatly excelled labbe's production, as well by his corrections of errata as by his additions of some hundreds of authors. the _bibliotheca nummaria_ is another of labbe's well-known performances: in the first part of which he gives an account of those who have written concerning medals--in the second part, of those who have publishe [transcriber's note: published] separate accounts of coins, weights, and measures. this is usually appended to the preceding work, and is so published by teisser. the _mantissa suppellectilis_ was an unfinished production; and the _specimen novæ bibliothecæ manuscriptorum librorum_, paris, , to., is too imperfectly executed for the exercise of rigid criticism; although baillet calls it 'useful and curious.' consult the _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., , : and _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., pt. , p. , edit. . a list of labbe's works, finished, unfinished, and projected, was published at paris, in and . he was joint editor with cossart of that tremendously voluminous work--the "collectio maxima conciliorum"-- , volumes, folio.] [footnote : lambecius died at, one may almost say, the premature age of : and the above work (in eight folio volumes), which was left unfinished in consequence, (being published between the years - inclusive) gives us a magnificent idea of what its author would have accomplished [see particularly reimanni _bibl. acroamatica_, p. ] had it pleased providence to prolong so valuable an existence. it was originally sold for _imperiali_; but at the commencement of the th century for not less than _thaleri_, and a copy of it was scarcely ever to be met with. two reasons have been assigned for its great rarity, and especially for that of the th volume; the one, that lambecius's heir, impatient at the slow sale of the work, sold many copies of it to the keepers of herb-stalls: the other, that, when the author was lying on his death-bed, his servant maid, at the suggestion and from the stinginess of the same heir, burnt many copies of this eighth volume [which had recently left the press] to light the fire in the chamber. this intelligence i glean from vogt, p. : it had escaped baillet and morhof. but consult de bure, vol. vi., nos. - . reimannus published a _bibliotheca acroamatica_, hanov., , vo., which is both an entertaining volume and a useful compendium of lambecius's immense work. but in the years - , kollarius published a new and improved edition of the entire commentaries, in six folio volumes; embodying in this gigantic undertaking the remarks which were scattered in his "_analecta monumentorum omnis ævi vindobonensia_," in two folio volumes, . a posthumous work of kollarius, as a supplement to his new edition of lambecius's commentaries, was published in one folio volume, . a complete set of these volumes of kollarius's bibliographical labours, relating to the vienna library, was in serna santander's catalogue, vol. iv., no. , as well as in krohn's: in which latter [nos. , ] there are some useful notices. see my account of m. denis: post. critics have accused these "commentaries concerning the mss. in the imperial library at vienna," as containing a great deal of rambling and desultory matter; but the vast erudition, minute research, and unabateable diligence of its author, will for ever secure to him the voice of public praise, as loud and as hearty as he has received it from his abridger reimannus. in these volumes appeared the first account of the psalter, printed at mentz in , which was mistaken by lambecius for a ms. the reader will forgive my referring him to a little essay upon this and the subsequent psalters, printed at mentz, in , , &c., which was published by me in the nd volume of the _athenæum_, p. , .] [footnote : morhof considers the labours of antonio as models of composition in their way. his grand work began to be published in , vols., folio--being the _bibliotheca hispana nova_: this was succeeded, in , by the _bibliotheca hispana antiqua_--in two folio volumes: the prefaces and indexes contain every thing to satisfy the hearts of spanish literati. a new edition of the first work was published at madrid, in , vols., folio; and of the latter work, in , vols., folio.--these recent editions are very rarely to be met with in our own country: abroad, they seem to have materially lowered the prices of the ancient ones, which had become excessively scarce. see _polyhist literar._, vol. i., - : _dictionn. bibliogr._, vol. iv., p. : and _mem. de l'inst._, vol. i., . let us here not forget the learned michael casiri's _bibliotheca arabico-hispana escorialensis_, published in two superb folio volumes at madrid in . all these useful and splendid works place the spaniards upon a high footing with their fellow-labourers in the same respectable career. de la serna santander tells us that casiri's work is dear, and highly respected by the literati. see _cap. de santander_, vol iv., no. .] [footnote : the _bibliotheca realis_, &c., of lipenius contains an account of works published in the departments of _jurisprudence_, _medicine_, _philosophy_, and _theology_: of these, the _bibliotheca theologica_, et _philosophica_, are considered by morhof as the best executed. the _bibl. juridica_ was, however, republished at leipsic in two folio volumes, , with considerable additions. this latter is the last leipsic reprint of it. saxius notices only the re-impressions of , , . see his _onomast. lit._, vol. v., . i will just notice the _bibliotheca vetus et recens_ of koenigius, , folio--as chart-makers notice shoals--to be avoided. i had long thrown it out of my own collection before i read its condemnation by morhof. perhaps the following account of certain works, which appear to have escaped the recollection of lysander, may not be unacceptable. in the year , father raynaud, whose lucubrations fill folio volumes, published a quarto volume at lyons, under the title of "_erotemata de malis ac bonis libris, deque justa aut injusta eorum conditione_;" which he borowed [transcriber's note: borrowed] in part from the "_theotimus, seu de tollendis et expurgandis malis libris_," (paris, , vo.) of gabriel puhtherb. of these two works, if [transcriber's note: it] were difficult to determine which is preferable. the bibliographer need not deeply lament the want of either: consult the _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., . in the year , vogler published a very sensible "_universalis in notitiam cujusque generis bonorum scriptorum introductio_"--of this work two subsequent editions, one in , the other in , to., were published at helmstadt. the last is the best; but the second, to him who has neither, is also worth purchasing. the seven dissertations "_de libris legendis_" of bartholin, hafniæ, , vo., are deserving of a good coat and a front row in the bibliographer's cabinet. "parvæ quidem molis liberest, sed in quo quasi constipata sunt utilissima de libris monita et notitiæ ad multas disciplinas utiles." so speaks morhof.] [footnote : adrien baillet was the eldest of seven children born in a second marriage. his parents were in moderate circumstances: but adrien very shortly displaying a love of study and of book-collecting, no means, compatible with their situation, were left untried by his parents to gratify the wishes of so promising a child. from his earliest youth, he had a strong predilection for the church; and as a classical and appropriate education was then easily to be procured in france, he went from school to college, and at seventeen years of age had amassed, in two fair sized volumes, a quantity of extracts from clever works; which, perhaps having beza's example in his mind, he entitled _juvenilia_. his masters saw and applauded his diligence; and a rest of only five hours each night, during two years and a half of this youthful period, afforded baillet such opportunities of acquiring knowledge as rarely fall to the lot of a young man. this habit of short repose had not forsaken him in his riper years: "he considered and treated his body as an insolent enemy, which required constant subjection; he would not suffer it to rest more than five hours each night; he recruited it with only one meal a day--drank no wine--never came near the fire--and walked out but once a week." the consequence of this absurd regime was that baillet had ulcers in his legs, an erysipelatous affection over his body, and was, in other respects, afflicted as sedentary men usually are, who are glued to their seats from morn till night, never mix in society, and rarely breathe the pure air of heaven. these maladies shortened the days of baillet; after he had faithfully served the lamoignons as a librarian of unparalleled diligence and sagacity; leaving behind him a "_catalogue des matieres_," in volumes folio. "all the curious used to come and see this catalogue: many bishops and magistrates requested to have either copies or abridgments of it." when baillet was dragged, by his friend m. hermant, from his obscure vicarage of lardiéres, to be lamoignon's librarian, he seems to have been beside himself for joy.--"i want a man of such and such qualities," said lamoignon.--"i will bring one exactly to suit you," replied hermant--"but you must put up with a diseased and repulsive exterior."--"nous avons besoin de fond," said the sensible patron, "la forme ne m'embarasse point; l'air de ce pays, et un grain de sel discret, fera le reste: il en trouvera ici." baillet came, and his biographer tells us that lamoignon and hermant "furent ravis de le voir." to the eternal honour of the family in which he resided, the crazy body and nervous mind of baillet met with the tenderest treatment. madame lamoignon and her son (the latter, a thorough bred bibliomaniac; who, under the auspices of his master, soon eclipsed the book celebrity of his father) always took a pleasure in anticipating his wishes, soothing his irritabilities, promoting his views, and speaking loudly and constantly of the virtues of his head and heart. the last moments of baillet were marked with true christian piety and fortitude; and his last breath breathed a blessing upon his benefactors. he died a.d. , ætatis . rest his ashes in peace!--and come we now to his bibliographical publications. his "_jugemens des savans_," was first published in , &c., in nine duodecimo volumes. two other similar volumes of _anti baillet_ succeeded it. the success and profits of this work were very considerable. in the year , a new edition of it in seven volumes, quarto, was undertaken and completed by de la monnoye, with notes by the editor, and additions of the original author. the "anti baillet" formed the th volume. in the year , de la monnoye's edition, with his notes placed under the text--the corrections and additions incorporated--and two volumes of fresh matter, including the anti baillet--was republished at amsterdam, in eight duodecimo volumes, forming parts, and being, in every respect, the best edition of the _jugemens des savans_. the curious, however, should obtain the portrait of baillet prefixed to the edition of ; as the copy of it in the latter edition is a most wretched performance. these particulars, perhaps a little too long and tedious, are gleaned from the "abregé" de la vie de baillet, printed in the two last editions of the work just described.] [footnote : it will not be necessary to notice _all_ the multifarious productions, in ms. and in print, of this indefatigable bibliographer; who had cut out work enough for the lives of ten men, each succeeding the other, and well employed from morn 'till even, to execute. this is marchand's round criticism: _dict. hist._ vol. i., p. . beughem's _incunabula typographica_, , mo., is both jejune and grossly erroneous. the "_bibliographia eruditorum critico-curiosa_," , , vols., mo., being an alphabetical account of writers--extracts from whom are in the public literary journals of europe from to --with the title of their works--is beughem's best production, and if each volume had not had a separate alphabet, and contained additions upon additions, the work would have proved highly useful. his "_gallia euridita_," amst., , mo., is miserably perplexing. in addition to marchand, consult the _polyhist. literar._ of morhof, vol. i., p. ; and the note therein subjoined. see also "_bibl. creven._," vol. v., p. : _cat. de santander_, vol. iv., nos. - : - .] phil. you have at length reached the close of the th century; but my limited knowledge of bibliographical literature supplies me with the recollection of two names which you have passed over: i mean, thomas blount and antony-a-wood. there is surely something in these authors relating to editions of the works of the learned. lysand. you have anticipated me in the mention of these names. i had not forgotten them. with the former,[ ] i have no very intimate acquaintance; but of the latter i could talk in commendation till dinner time. be sure, my good lisardo, that you obtain _both_ editions of the _athenæ oxoniensis_.[ ] [footnote : sir thomas pope blount's "_censura celebriorum authorum_," londini, , folio, is unquestionably a learned work--the production of a rural and retired life--"umbraticam enim vitam et ab omni strepitu remotam semper in delitiis habui,"--says its author, in the preface. it treats chiefly of the most learned men, and sparingly of the english. his "_remarks upon poetry_," lond., , to. (in english) is more frequently read and referred to. it is a pity that he had not left out the whole of what relates to the greek and latin, and confined himself entirely to the english, poets. a life of sir thomas pope blount will be found in the new edition of the _biographia britannica_.] [footnote : the first, and, what hearne over and over again calls the genuine edition of the _athenæ oxoniensis_, was published in two folio volumes, , . that a _third_ volume was intended by the author himself may be seen from hearne's remarks in his _thom. caii. vind. antiq. oxon._, vol. i., p. xliii. for the character of the work consult his _rob. de avesb._, pp. xxvi, xxxiii. after the lapse of nearly half a century, it was judged expedient to give a new edition of these valuable biographical memoirs; and dr. tanner, afterwards bishop of st. asaph, was selected to be the editor of it. it was well known that wood had not only made large corrections to his own printed text, but had written nearly _ _ new lives--his ms. of both being preserved in the ashmolean museum. this new edition, therefore, had every claim to public notice. when it appeared, it was soon discovered to be a corrupt and garbled performance; and that the genuine text of wood, as well in his correctness of the old, as in his compositions of the new, lives, had been most capriciously copied. dr. tanner, to defend himself, declared that tonson "would never let him see one sheet as they printed it." this was sufficiently infamous for the bookseller; but the editor ought surely to have abandoned a publication thus faithlessly conducted, or to have entered his caveat in the preface, when it did appear, that he would not be answerable for the authenticity of the materials: neither of which were done. he wrote, however, an exculpatory letter to archbishop wake, which the reader may see at length in mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature_, vol. ii., p. . consult the life of the author in mr. gutch's valuable reprint of wood's "_history and antiquities of the university of oxford_," , to., vols.: also, freytag's _analect. literar._, vol. ii., . i have great pleasure in closing this note, by observing that mr. philip bliss, of st. john's college, oxford, is busily engaged in giving us, what we shall all be glad to hail, a new and faithful edition of wood's text of the _athenæ oxoniensis_, in five or six quarto volumes.] we have now reached the boundaries of the th century, and are just entering upon the one which is past: and yet i have omitted to mention the very admirable _polyhistor. literarius_ of morhof:[ ] a work by which i have been in a great measure guided in the opinions pronounced upon the bibliographers already introduced to you. this work, under a somewhat better form, and with a few necessary omissions and additions, one could wish to see translated into our own language. the name of maittaire strikes us with admiration and respect at the very opening of the th century. his elaborate _annales typographici_ have secured him the respect of posterity.[ ] le long, whose pursuits were chiefly biblical and historical, was his contemporary; an able, sedulous, and learned bibliographer. his whole soul was in his library; and he never spared the most painful toil in order to accomplish the various objects of his inquiry.[ ] and here, my dear friends, let me pay a proper tribute of respect to the memory of an eminently learned and laborious scholar and bibliographer: i mean john albert fabricius. his labours[ ] shed a lustre upon the scholastic annals of the th century; for he opened, as it were, the gates of literature to the inquiring student; inviting him to enter the field and contemplate the diversity and beauty of the several flowers which grew therein--telling him by whom they were planted, and explaining how their growth and luxuriancy were to be regulated. there are few instructors to whom we owe so much; none to whom we are more indebted. let his works, therefore, have a handsome binding, and a conspicuous place in your libraries: for happy is that man who has them at hand to facilitate his inquiries, or to solve his doubts. while fabricius was thus laudably exercising his great talents in the cause of ancient literature, the illustrious name of leibnitz[ ] appeared as author of a work of essential utility to the historian and bibliographer. i allude to his _scriptores rerum brunwicensium_, which has received a well pointed compliment from the polished pen of gibbon. after the successful labours of fabricius and leibnitz, we may notice those of struvius! whose _historical library_[ ] should be in every philological collection. [footnote : daniel george morhof, professor of poetry, eloquence, and history, was librarian of the university of khiel. he published various works, but the above--the best edition of which is of the date of --is by far the most learned and useful--"liber non sua laude privandus; cum primus fere fuerit morhofius qui hanc amoeniorum literarum partem in meliorum redigerit." _vogt._, pref. ix., edit. . its leading error is the want of method. his "_princeps medicus_," , to., is a very singular dissertation upon the cure of the evil by the royal touch; in the efficacy of which the author appears to have believed. his "_epistola de scypho vitreo per sonum humanæ vocis rupto_," kiloni, , to.--which was occasioned by a wine merchant of amsterdam breaking a wine-glass by the strength of his voice--is said to be full of curious matter. morhof died a.d. , in his rd year: beloved by all who knew the excellent and amiable qualities of his head and heart. he was so laborious that he wrote during his meals. his motto, chosen by himself,--pietate, candore, prudentia, should never be lost sight of by bibliomaniacs! his library was large and select. these particulars are gleaned from the _dict. historique_, caen, , vol. vi., p. .] [footnote : a compendious account of maittaire will be found in the third edition of my _introduction to the knowledge of rare and valuable editions of the greek and latin classics_, vol. i., p. . see too mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature, &c._, vol iii., p. ix. the various volumes of his _annales typographici_ are well described in the _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v. p. . to these may be added, in the bibliographical department, his _historia stephanorum, vitas ipsorum ac libros complectens_, , vo.--and the _historia typographorum aliquot parisiensium vitas et libros complectens_, , vo.--of these two latter works, (which, from a contemporaneous catalogue, i find were originally published at _s._ the common paper,) mr. t. grenville has beautiful copies upon large paper. the books are rare in any shape. the principal merit of maittaire's _annales typographici_ consists in a great deal of curious matter detailed in the notes; but the absence of the "lucidus ordo" renders the perusal of these fatiguing and unsatisfactory. the author brought a full and well-informed mind to the task he undertook--but he wanted taste and precision in the arrangement of his materials. the eye wanders over a vast indigested mass; and information, when it is to be acquired with excessive toil, is, comparatively, seldom acquired. panzer has adopted an infinitely better plan, on the model of orlandi; and if his materials had been _printed_ with the same beauty with which they appear to have been composed, and his annals had descended to as late a period as those of maittaire, his work must have made us eventually forget that of his predecessor. the bibliographer is, no doubt, aware that of maittaire's first volume there are two editions: why the author did not reprint, in the second edition ( ), the fac-simile of the epigram and epistle of lascar prefixed to the edition of the anthology, , and the disquisition concerning the ancient editions of quintilian (both of which were in the first edition of ), is absolutely inexplicable. maittaire was sharply attacked for this absurdity, in the "catalogus auctorum," of the "_annus tertius sæcularis inv. art. typog._," harlem, , vo., p. . "rara certe librum augendi methodus! (exclaims the author) satis patet auctorem hoc eo fecisse concilio, ut et primæ et secundæ libri sui editioni pretium suum constaret, et una æque ac altera lectoribus necessaria esset." copies of the typographical antiquities by maittaire, upon large paper, are now exceedingly scarce. the work, in this shape, has a noble appearance. while maittaire was publishing his typographical annals, orlandi put forth a similar work under the title of "_origine e progressi della stampa o sia dell' arte impressoria, e notizie dell' opere stampate dall' anno , sino all' anno _." bologna, , to. of this work, which is rather a compendious account of the several books published in the period above specified, there are copies upon strong writing paper--which the curious prefer. although i have a long time considered it as superseded by the labours of maittaire and panzer, yet i will not withhold from the reader the following critique: "cet ouvrage doit presque nécessairement être annexé à celui de maittaire à cause de plusieurs notices et recherches, qui le rendent fort curieux et intéressant." _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., - . as we are upon publications treating of typography, we may notice the "_annalium typographicorum selecta quædam capita_," hamb., , to., of lackman; and hirschius's supplement to the typographical labours of his predecessors--in the "_librorum ab anno i. usque ad annum l. sec. xvi. typis exscriptorum ex libraria quadam supellectile, norimbergæ collecta et observata, millenarius i._" &c. noriberg, , to. about this period was published a very curious, and now uncommon, octavo volume, of about pages, by seiz; called "_annus tertius sæcularis inventæ artis typographicæ_," harlem, --with several very interesting cuts relating to coster, the supposed inventor of the art of printing. it is a little strange that lysander, in the above account of eminent typographical writers, should omit to mention chevillier--whose _l'origine de l'imprimerie de paris, &c._, , to., is a work of great merit, and is generally found upon every bibliographer's shelf. baillet had supplied him with a pretty strong outline, in his short account of parisian printers. all the copies of chevillier's book, which i have seen, are printed upon what is called foxey paper. i believe there are none upon large paper. we may just notice la caille's _histoire de l'imprimerie et de la librarie_, , to., as a work full of errors. in order that nothing may be wanting to complete the typographical collection of the curious, let the "portraits of booksellers and printers, from ancient times to our own," published at nuremberg, in , folio--and "the devices and emblems" of the same, published at the same place, in , folio, be procured, if possible. the latin titles of these two latter works, both by scholtzius, will be found in the _bibl. crevenn._ vol. v. . renouard mentions the last in his "_annales de l'imprimerie des alde_," vol. ii. p. . meanwhile the _monumenta typographica_ of wolfius, hamb., , vols., vo., embraces a number of curious and scattered dissertations upon this interesting and valuable art. it may be obtained for _s._ or _s._ at present! the _amoenitatus [transcriber's note: amoenitates] literariæ, &c._, of schelhorn had like to have been passed over. it was published in small octavo volumes, at frankfort and leipsic, from the year to inclusive. the _amoenitates historiæ ecclesiasticæ et literariæ_, of the same person, and published at the same place in two octavo volumes, , should accompany the foregoing work. both are scarce and sought after in this country. in the former there are some curious dissertations, with cuts, upon early printed books. concerning the most ancient edition of the latin bibles, schelhorn put forth an express treatise, which was published at ulm in , to. this latter work is very desirable to the curious in biblical researches, as one meets with constant mention of schelhorn's bible. let me not omit zapf's _annales typographiæ augustanæ_, aug. vindel., ; which was republished, with copious additions, at augsbourg, in two parts, , to.--but unluckily, this latter is printed in the german language. upon spanish typography (a very interesting subject), there is a dissertation by raymond diosdado caballero, entitled "_de prima typographiæ hispanicæ Ætate specimen_," rome, , to.] [footnote : from the latin life of le long, prefixed to his _bibliotheca sacra_, we learn that he was an adept in most languages, ancient and modern; and that "in that part of literature connected with bibliography (typographorum et librorum historia), he retained every thing so correctly in his memory that he yielded to few literary men, certainly to no bookseller." of the early years of such a man it is a pity that we have not a better account. his _bibliotheca sacra_, paris, , folio, has been republished by masch and boerner, in four volumes, to., , and enriched with copious and valuable additions. this latter work is quite unrivalled: no young or old theologian, who takes any interest in the various editions of the holy scriptures, in almost all languages, can possibly dispense with such a fund of sacred literature. the _bibliothéque historique de la france_, , folio, by the same learned and industrious bibliographer, has met with a fate equally fortunate. fontette republished it in , in five folio volumes, and has immortalized himself and his predecessor by one of the most useful and splendid productions that ever issued from the press. de bure used to sell copies of it upon large paper, in sheets, for livres: according to the advertisement subjoined to his catalogue of count macarty's books in , vo. the presses of england, which groan too much beneath the weight of ephemeral travels and trumpery novels, are doomed, i fear, long to continue strangers to such works of national utility.] [footnote : the chief labours of fabricius ("vir [greek: ellênichôtatos]"--as reimannus truly calls him), connected with the present object of our pursuit, have the following titles: . "_bibliotheca græca, sive notitia scriptorum græcorum, &c._," hamb. - - - , &c., to., vols.--of which a new edition is now published by harles, with great additions, and a fresh arrangement of the original matter: twelve volumes have already been delivered to the public. . _bibliotheca latina_; first published in one volume, --then in three volumes, , and afterwards in two volumes, , to.;--but the last and best edition is that of , in three vols. vo., published by ernesti at leipsic--and yet not free from numerous errors. . _bibliographia antiquaria_, , to.: a new edition of schaffshausen, in , to., has superseded the old one. a work of this kind in our own language would be very useful, and even entertaining. fabricius has executed it in a masterly manner. . _bibliotheca ecclesiastica, in quâ continentur variorum authorum tractatus de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis_, hamb., , folio. an excellent work; in which the curious after theological tracts and their authors will always find valuable information. it is generally sharply contended for at book-auctions. . _bibliotheca latina mediæ et infimæ Ætatis, &c._, leipsic, , vols. vo.--again, with schoettgenius's supplement, in , to., vols. in . this latter is in every respect the best edition of a work which is absolutely indispensable to the philologist. a very excellent synopsis or critical account of fabricius's works was published at ams., , in to., which the student should procure. let me here recommend the _historia bibliothecæ fabricianæ_, compiled by john fabricius, - , vols. to., as a necessary and interesting supplement to the preceding works of john albert fabricius. i have often gleaned some curious bibliographical intelligence from its copious pages. the reader may consult _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., - .] [footnote : he is noticed here only as the author of "_idea bibliothecæ publicæ secundum classes scientiarum ordinandæ, fusior et contractior_," and of the "_scriptores rerum brunswicarum_," hanov., , fol., vols. "the antiquarian, who blushes at his alliance with thomas hearne, will feel his profession ennobled by the name of leibnitz. that extraordinary genius embraced and improved the whole circle of human science; and, after wrestling with newton and clark in the sublime regions of geometry and metaphysics, he could descend upon earth to examine the uncouth characters and barbarous latin of a chronicle or charter." gibbon: _post. works_, vol. ii., . consult also _mem. de l'inst._, vol. v., .] [footnote : i will not pretend to enumerate all the learned works of burchard gotthlieb struvius. his "_bibliotheca librorum rariorum_" was published in , to. the first edition of the _bibliotheca historica_ appeared as early as : a very valuable one was published by buder, in , vols.: but the last, and by far the most copious and valuable, is that which exhibits the joint editorial labours of buder and meusel, in eleven octavo volumes, , --though i believe it does not contain every thing which may be found in the edition of the _bibl. hist. selecta_, by jugler, , three vols. vo.: vide pp. iv. and vii. of the preface of meusel's edition. the _bibl. hist. select._, by jugler, was formerly published under the title of _introd. in notitiam rei literariæ et usum bibliothecæ_. jugler's edition of it contains a stiff portrait of himself in a finely embroidered satin waistcoat. the first volume, relating to foreign libraries, is very interesting: but, unluckily, the work is rare. of struvius's _bibl. saxonica_, , vo., i never saw a copy.] phil. you are advancing towards the middle of the th century, in enumerating foreign publications, without calling to mind that we have, at home, many laudable publications relating to typography and bibliography, which merit at least some notice, if not commendation. lysand. i thank you for the reproof. it is true, i was running precipitately to introduce a crowd of foreigners to your notice, without paying my respects, by the way, to the _historical libraries_ of bishop nicolson, the _bibliotheca literaria_ of wasse, and the _librarian_ of william oldys. nor should i omit to mention the still more creditable performance of bishop tanner: while the typographical publications of watson, palmer, and middleton,[ ] may as well be admitted into your libraries, if you are partial to such works; although upon this latter subject, the elegant quarto volume of ames merits particular commendation. [footnote : let us go gently over this _british_ ground, which lysander depictures in rather a flowery manner. the first edition of bishop nicolson's _english historical library_ was published in the years , , and --comprehending the entire three parts. in , came forth the _scottish_ historical library; and in , the _irish_ historical library. these three libraries, with the author's letter to bishop kennet in defence of the same, are usually published in one volume; and the last and best editions of the same are those of , fol., and , to. mr. john nichols has recently published an entertaining posthumous work of the bishop's _epistolary correspondence_, in two octavo volumes, . some of these letters throw light and interest upon the literature of the times. as to the authority of bishop nicolson, in his historical matters, i fear the sharp things which are said of his libraries by tyrrell (pref. to _hist. engl._, vol. ii., p. .), and wood (_athen. brit._, vol. ii., col. , ed. ), all which authorities are referred to by mr. nichols, are sufficiently founded upon truth. he was a violent and wrong-headed writer in many respects; but he had acumen, strength, and fancy. the _bibliotheca literaria_ of wasse (although his name does not appear as the professed editor) is a truly solid and valuable publication; worthy of the reputation of the learned editor of sallust. the work was published in numbers, which were sold at one shilling each; but, i suppose from the paucity of classical readers, it could not be supported beyond the th number ( ); when it ceased to be published. some of the dissertations are very interesting as well as erudite. oldys's _british librarian_ was published in six numbers, during the first six months of the year ; forming, with the index, an octavo volume of pages. it is difficult to say, from the conclusion (p. - ), whether the work was dropped for want of encouragement, or from the capriciousness or indolence of the author: but i suspect that the ground was suffered "to lie fallow" (to use his own words) till it was suffocated with weeds--owing to the _former_ cause: as oldys never suffered his pen to lie idle while he could "put money in his purse" from his lucubrations. we shall speak of him more particularly in part v. meanwhile, the reader is informed that the _british librarian_ is a work of no common occurrence, or mean value. it is rigidly correct, if not very learned, in bibliographical information. i once sent three guineas to procure a copy of it, according to its description, upon large paper; but, on its arrival, i found it to be not quite so large as my own tolerably amply-margined copy. bishop tanner's _bibliotheca britanico-hibernica_, which cost the author forty years' labour, was published in , folio; with a preface by dr. wilkins. we must receive it with many thanks, imperfect and erroneous as many parts of it are; but i hope the period is not very remote when a literary friend, living, as he constantly is, in an inexhaustible stock of british literature of all kinds, will give us a new edition, with copious additions and corrections, translated into our native tongue. _the history of the art of printing_ by watson, edit., , vo., is at best but a meagre performance. it happens to be rare, and, therefore, bibliomaniacs hunt after it. my copy of it, upon large paper, cost me _l._ _s._ it was formerly paton's, of edinburgh, a knowing antiquary in scottish printing. the _history of printing_, by palmer, , to., and dr. middleton's _dissertations upon the same_, , to., have been particularly treated by me, as well as the similar works of ames and herbert, in the first volume of my new edition of herbert's _british typographical antiquities_; and the public is too well acquainted with the merits and demerits of each to require their being pointed out in the present place. i will close this note by observing that the _censuria literaria_, in ten volumes octavo; and the _british bibliographer_ (now publishing) which grew out of it; mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature and scarce books_, six volumes, vo.; and mr. savage's continuation of _the british librarian_; are works which render the list of english publications, relating to typography and curious books, almost complete. i believe i may safely affirm that the period is not very distant when some of these latter publications, from the comparatively few copies which were struck off, will become very rare.] lis. i am glad to hear such handsome things said of the performances of our own countrymen. i was fearful, from your frequent sly allusions, that we had nothing worth mentioning. but proceed with your germans, italians, and frenchmen. lysand. you draw too severe a conclusion. i have made no sly allusions. my invariable love of truth impels me to state facts as they arise. that we have philosophers, poets, scholars, divines, lovers and collectors of books, equal to those of any nation upon earth is most readily admitted. but bibliography has never been, till now, a popular (shall i say fashionable?) pursuit amongst the english. lis. well, if what you call bibliography has produced such eminent men, and so many useful works, as those which have been just enumerated, i shall begin to have some little respect for this department of literature; and, indeed, i already feel impatient to go through the list of your bibliographical heroes.--who is the next champion deserving of notice? lysand. this confession gives me sincere pleasure. only indulge me in my rambling manner of disquisition, and i will strive to satisfy you in every reasonable particular. if ever you should be disposed to form a bibliographical collection, do not omit securing, when it comes across you, the best edition of du fresnoy's[ ] _methode pour étudier l'histoire_: it is rare, and sought after in this country. and now--softly approach, and gently strew the flowers upon, the tomb of worthy niceron:[ ] low lies the head, and quiescent has become the pen, of this most excellent and learned man!--whose productions have furnished biographers with some of their choicest materials, and whose devotion to literature and history has been a general theme of admiration and praise. the mention of this illustrious name, in such a manner, has excited in my mind a particular train of ideas. let me, therefore, in imagination, conduct you both to yonder dark avenue of trees--and, descending a small flight of steps, near the bottom of which gushes out a salient stream--let us enter a spacious grotto, where every thing is cool and silent; and where small alabaster busts, of the greater number of those bibliographers i am about to mention, decorate the niches on each side of it. how tranquil and how congenial is such a resting place!--but let us pursue our inquires. yonder sharp and well turned countenances, at the entrance of the grotto, are fixed there as representations of cardinal quirini[ ] and goujet; the _bibliothéque françoise_ of the latter of whom--with which i could wish book collectors, in general, to have a more intimate acquaintance--has obtained universal reputation.[ ] next to him, you may mark the amiable and expressive features of david clement:[ ] who, in his _bibliothéque curieuse_, has shown us how he could rove, like a bee, from flower to flower; sip what was sweet; and bring home his gleanings to a well-furnished hive. the principal fault of this bee (if i must keep up the simile) is that he was not sufficiently choice in the flowers which he visited; and, of course, did not always extract the purest honey. nearly allied to clement in sprightliness, and an equally gossipping bibliographer, was prosper marchand;[ ] whose works present us with some things no where else to be found, and who had examined many curious and rare volumes; as well as made himself thoroughly acquainted with the state of bibliography previous to his own times. [footnote : the last edition of this work is the one which was printed in fifteen volumes, crown vo., at paris, : with a copious index--and proportionable improvements in corrections and additions. it is now rare. i threw out the old edition of , four vols., to., upon large paper; and paid three guineas to boot for the new one, neatly bound.] [footnote : it is quite delightful to read the account, in the _dict. hist._, published at caen, , (vol. vi., p. ) of jean pierre niceron; whose whole life seems to have been devoted to bibliography and literary history. frank, amiable, industrious, communicative, shrewd, and learned--niceron was the delight of his friends, and the admiration of the public. his "_memoires pour servir à l'histoire des hommes illustres, &c., avec un catalogue raisonné de leur ouvrages_," was published from the years to , in forty crown vo. volumes. a supplement of three volumes, the latter of which is divided into _two parts_, renders this very useful, and absolutely necessary, work complete in volumes. the bibliomaniac can never enjoy perfect rest till he is in possession of it!] [footnote : quirini published his "_specimen variæ literaturæ quæ in urbe brixiæ ejusque ditione paulo post typographiæ incunabula florebat_," _&c._, at brescia, in ; two vols., vo.: then followed "_catalogo delle opere del cardinale quirini uscite alla luce quasi tuttee da' torchi di mi gian maria rizzardi stampatore in brescia_," vo. in , valois addressed to him his "_discours sur les bibliothéques publiques_," in vo.: his eminence's reply to the same was also published in vo. but the cardinal's chief reputation, as a bibliographer, arises from the work entitled "_de optimorum scriptorum editionibus_." lindaugiæ, , to. this is schelhorn's edition of it, which is chiefly coveted, and which is now a rare book in this country. it is a little surprising that lysander, in his love of grand national biographical works, mingled with bibliographical notices, should have omitted to mention the _bibliotheca lusitana_ of joaov and barbosa, published at lisbon, , in four magnificent folio volumes. a lover of portuguese literature will always consider this as "opus splendidissimum et utilissimum."] [footnote : _la bibliothéque françoise, ou histoire de la littérature françoise_, of claude pierre goujet, in eighteen volumes, crown vo., , like the similar work of niceron, is perhaps a little too indiscriminate in the choice of its objects: good, bad, and indifferent authors being enlisted into the service. but it is the chéf-d'oeuvre of goujet, who was a man of wonderful parts; and no bibliographer can be satisfied without it. goujet was perhaps among the most learned, if not the "facile princeps," of those who cultivated ancient french literature. he liberally assisted niceron in his memoires, and furnished moreri with corrections for his dictionary.] [footnote : the "_bibliothèque curieuse, historique et critique, ou catalogue raisonné de livres difficiles à trouver_," of david clement, published at gottingen, hanover, and leipsic, in quarto volumes, from the year to --is, unfortunately, an unfinished production; extending only to the letter h. the reader may find a critique upon it in my _introduction to the greek and latin classics_, vol. i., p. ; which agrees, for the greater part, with the observations in the _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., . the work is a _sine quâ non_ with collectors; but in this country it begins to be--to use the figurative language of some of the german bibliographers--"scarcer than a white crow,"--or "a black swan." the reader may admit which simile he pleases--or reject both! but, in sober sadness, it is very rare, and unconscionably dear. i know not whether it was the same clement who published "_les cinq années littéraires, ou lettres de m. clément, sur les ouvrages de littérature, qui ont parus dans les années --á _;" berlin, , mo., two volumes. where is the proof of the assertion, so often repeated, that clement borrowed his notion of the above work from wendler's _dissertatio de variis raritatis librorum impressorum causis_, jen., , to.?--wendler's book is rare among us: as is also berger's _diatribe de libris rarioribus, &c._, berol. , vo.] [footnote : the principal biographical labours of this clever man have the following titles: "_histoire de l'imprimerie_," la haye, , to.--an elegant and interesting volume, which is frequently consulted by typographical antiquaries. of mercier's supplement to it, see note in the ensuing pages under the word "mercier." his "_dictionnaire historique, ou memoires critiques et littéraires_," in two folio volumes, , was a posthumous production; and a very extraordinary and amusing bibliographical common-place book it is! my friend mr. douce, than whom few are better able to appreciate such a work, will hardly allow any one to have a warmer attachment to it, or a more thorough acquaintance with its contents, than himself--and yet there is no bibliographical work to which i more cheerfully or frequently turn! in the editor's advertisement we have an interesting account of marchand: who left behind, for publication, a number of scraps of paper, sometimes no bigger than one's nail; upon which he had written his remarks in so small a hand-writing that the editor and printer were obliged to make use of a strong magnifying glass to decypher it--"et c'est ici (continues the former) sans doute le premier livre qui n'ait pu être imprimé sans le secours continuel du microscope." marchand died in , and left his mss. and books, in the true spirit of a bibliomaniac, to the university of leyden. i see, from the conclusion of this latter authority, that a new edition of marchand's history of printing was in meditation to be published, after the publication of the dictionary. whether mercier availed himself of marchand's corrected copy, when he put forth his supplement to the latter's typographical history, i have no means of ascertaining. certainly there never was a second edition of the _histoire de l'imprimerie_, by marchsnd [transcriber's note: marchand].] perhaps i ought to have noticed the unoccupied niche under which the name of vogt[ ] is inscribed; the title of whose work has been erroneously considered more seductive than the contents of it. as we go on, we approach fournier; a man of lively parts, and considerable taste. his works are small in size, but they are written and printed with singular elegance.[ ] see what a respectable and almost dignified air the highly finished bust of the pensionary meerman[ ] assumes! few men attained to greater celebrity in his day; and few men better deserved the handsome things which were said of him. polite, hospitable, of an inquisitive and active turn of mind--passionately addicted to rare and curious books--his library was a sort of bibliographical emporium, where the idle and the diligent alike met with a gracious reception. peace to the manes of such a man! turn we now round to view the features of that truly eminent and amiable bibliographer, de bure! [footnote : the earliest edition of vogt's _catalogus librorum rariorum_ was published in ; afterwards in ; again in ; again in , much enlarged and improved; and, for the last time, greatly enlarged and corrected, forming by far the "editio optima," of the work--at frankfort and leipsic, , vo.--we are told, in the new preface to this last edition, that the second and third impressions were quickly dispersed and anxiously sought after. vogt is a greater favourite with me than with the generality of bibliographers. his plan, and the execution of it, are at once clear and concise; but he is too prodigal of the term "rare." whilst these editions of vogt's amusing work were coming forth, the following productions were, from time to time, making their appearance, and endeavouring perhaps to supplant its reputation. first of all beyer put forth his _memoriæ historico-criticæ librorum rariorum_. dresd. and lips., , vo.; as well has [transcriber's note: as] his _arcana sacra bibliothecarum dresdensium_, , vo.--with a continuation to the latter, preceded by an epistle concerning the electoral library, separately published in the same year. then engel (in republicâ helveto-bernensi bibliothecarius primus) published his _bibliotheca selectissima, sive catalogus librorum in omni genere scientiarum rarissimorum_, &c., bernæ, , vo.; in which work some axioms are laid down concerning the rarity of books not perhaps sufficiently correct; but in which a great deal of curious matter, very neatly executed, will repay the reader for any expense he may incur in the purchase of it. afterwards freytag's _analecta literaria de libris rarioribus_, lips., , two vols. vo.;--and his _adparatus literarius ubi libri partim antiqui partim rari recensentur_, lipsiæ, , three volumes vo., highly gratified the curious in bibliography. in the former work the books are described alphabetically, which perhaps is the better plan: in the latter, they are differently arranged, with an alphabetical index. the latter is perhaps the more valuable of the two, although the former has long been a great favourite with many; yet, from freytag's own confession, he was not then so knowing in books, and had not inspected the whole of what he described. they are both requisite to the collector; and their author, who was an enthusiast in bibliography, ranks high in the literature of his country. in the last place we may notice the _florilegium historico-criticum librorum rariorum, cui multa simul scitu jucunda intersperguntur_, &c., of daniel gerdes; first published at groningen, in ; but afterwards in , vo., at the same place, the third and best edition. it was meant, in part, to supply the omission of some rare books in vogt: and under this title it was published in the _miscellaneæ groninganæ_, vol. ii., and vol. iii. this work of gerdes should have a convenient place in every bibliographical cabinet. i will close this attempt to supply lysander's omission of some very respectable names connected with bibliography by exhorting the reader to seize hold of a work (whenever it comes across him, which will be rarely) entitled _bibliotheca librorum rariorum universalis_, by john jacob bauer, a bookseller at nuremberg, and printed there in , vo., two vols.; with three additional volumes by way of supplement, - , which latter are usually bound in one. it is an alphabetical dictionary, like vogt's and fournier's, of what are called rare books. the descriptions are compendious, and the references respectable, and sometimes numerous. my copy of this scarce, dear, and wretchedly-printed, work, which is as large and clean as possible, and bound in pale russia, with marbled edges to the leaves--cost me _l._ _s._] [footnote : we are indebted to pierre simon fournier le jeune, for some very beautiful interesting little volumes connected with engraving and printing. . _dissertation sur l'origine et les progrés de l'art de graver en bois, &c._, paris, , vo. . _de l'origine et des productions de l'imprimerie primitive en taille de bois_, paris, , vo. . _traité sur l'origine et les progrés de l'imprimerie_, paris, . . _observations sur un ouvrage intitulé vindiciæ typographicæ_, paris, . these treatises are sometimes bound in one volume. they are all elegantly printed, and rare. we may also mention-- . _epreuves de deux petits caractères nouvellement gravès, &c._, paris, ; and especially his chef-d'oeuvre. . _manuel typographique_, paris, - , vo., two vols.: of which some copies want a few of the cuts: those upon large paper (there is one of this kind in the cracherode collections) are of the first rarity. fournier's typographical manual should be in every printing office: his types "are the models (says his namesake,) of those of the best printed books at paris at this day." _dict. port. de bibliogr._, p. , edit. .] [footnote : the _origines typographicæ_ of meerman, which was published at the hague in two handsome quarto volumes, , (after the plan or prospectus had been published in , vo.), secured its author a very general and rather splendid reputation, till the hypothesis advanced therein, concerning laurence coster, was refuted by heinecken. the reader is referred to a note in the first volume of my new edition of the _typographical antiquities of great britain_, p. xxxi. it is somewhat singular that, notwithstanding meerman's hypothesis is now exploded by the most knowing bibliographers, his dissertation concerning the claims of haerlem should have been reprinted in french, with useful notes, and an increased catalogue of all the books published in the low countries, during the th century. this latter work is entitled "_de l'invention de l'imprimerie, ou analyse des deux ouvrages publiés sur cette matière par m. meerman, &c.; suivi d'une notice chronologique et raisonnée des livres avec et sans date_," paris, , vo. the author is mons. jansen. prefixed there is an interesting account, of meerman. lysander might have noticed, with the encomium which it justly merits the _vindiciæ typographicæ_ of schoepflin, printed at strasburg, in , to.; where the claimes of gutenburg (a native of the same city) to the invention of the typographic art are very forcibly and successfully maintained.] lis. you absolutely transport me! i see all these interesting busts--i feel the delicious coolness of the grotto--i hear the stream running over a bed of pebbles--the zephyrs play upon my cheeks--o dolt that i was to abuse---- phil. hear him, hear him![ ] [footnote : vide note at p. , ante.] lysand. from my heart i pity and forgive you. but only look upon the bust of de bure; and every time that you open his _bibliographie instructive_,[ ] confess, with a joyful heart, the obligations you are under to the author of it. learn, at the same time, to despise the petty cavils of the whole zoilean race; and blush for the abbé rive,[ ] that he could lend his name, and give the weight of his example, to the propagation of coarse and acrimonious censures. [footnote : the works of guillaume-franÇois de bure deserve a particular notice. he first published his _musæum typographicum_, paris, , mo.; of which he printed but twelve copies, and gave away every one of them (including even his own) to his book-loving friends. it was published under the name of g.f. rebude. peignot is very particular in his information concerning this rare morçeau of bibliography--see his _bibliographie curieuse_, p. . afterwards appeared the _bibliographie instructive_, in seven volumes, vo., - --succeeded by a small volume of a catalogue of the anonymous publications, and an essay upon bibliography: this th volume is absolutely necessary to render the work complete, although it is frequently missing. fifty copies of this work were printed upon large paper, of a quarto size. its merits are acknowledged by every candid and experienced critic. in the third place, came forth his _catalogue des livres, &c., de l.j. gaignat, paris_, , vo., two vols.: not, however, before he had published two brochures--"_appel aux savans_," _&c._, , vo.--and "_reponse à une critique de la bibliographie instructive_," , vo.--as replies to the tart attacks of the abbé rive. the catalogue of gaignat, and the fairness of his answers to his adversary's censures, served to place de bure on the pinnacle of bibliographical reputation; while rive was suffered to fret and fume in unregarded seclusion. he died in the year , aged : and was succeeded in his bibliographical labours by his cousin william; who, with mons. van-praet, prepared the catalogue of the duke de la valliere's library, in , and published other valuable catalogues as late as the year . but both are eclipsed, in regard to the _number_ of such publications, by their predecessor gabriel martin; who died in the year , aged --after having compiled catalogues since the year . this latter was assisted in his labours by his son claude martin, who died in . see peignot's _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. i., , : vol iii., .] [footnote : the mention of de bure and the abbé rive induces me to inform the reader that the _chasse aux bibliographes_, paris, , vo., of the latter, will be found a receptacle of almost every kind of gross abuse and awkward wit which could be poured forth against the respectable characters of the day. it has now become rare. the abbé's "_notices calligraphiques et typographiques_," a small tract of pages--of which only copies were printed--is sufficiently curious; it formed the first number of a series of intended volumes ( or ) "_des notices calligraphiques de manuscrits des differens siécles, et des notices typographiques de livres du quinziéme siécle_," but the design was never carried into execution beyond this first number. the other works of rive are miscellaneous; but chiefly upon subjects connected with the belles lettres. he generally struck off but few copies of his publications; see the _bibliographie curieuse_, pp. - ; and more particularly the _dictionnaire de bibliologie_, vol. iii., p. , by the same author, where a minute list of rive's productions is given, and of which fournier might have availed himself in his new edition of the _dict. portatif de bibliographie_. from peignot, the reader is presented with the following anecdotes of this redoubted champion of bibliography. when rive was a young man, and curate of mollèges in provence, the scandalous chronicle reported that he was too intimate with a young and pretty parisian, who was a married woman, and whose husband did not fail to reproach him accordingly. rive made no other reply than that of taking the suspicious benedick in his arms, and throwing him headlong out of the window. luckily he fell upon a dunghill! in the year , upon a clergyman's complaining to him of the inflexible determination of a great lord to hunt upon his grounds--"_mettez-lui une messe dans le ventre_"--repiled [transcriber's note: replied] rive. the clergyman expressing his ignorance of the nature of the advice given, the facetious abbé replied, "go and tear a leaf from your _mass book_, wrap a musket-ball in it, and discharge it at the tyrant." the duke de la valliere used to say--when the knowing ones at his house were wrangling about some literary or bibliographical point--"gentlemen, i'll go and let loose my bull dog,"--and sent into them the abbé, who speedily put them all to rights. rive died in the year , aged seventy-one. he had great parts and great application; but in misapplying both he was his own tormentor. his library was sold in .] next to the bust of de bure, consider those of the five italian bibliographers and literati, haym, fontanini, zeno, mazzuchelli, and tiraboschi; which are placed in the five consecutive niches. their works are of various merit, but are all superior to that of their predecessor doni. although those of the first three authors should find a place in every bibliographical collection, the productions of mazzuchelli,[ ] and especially of the immortal tiraboschi, cannot fail to be admitted into every judicious library, whether vast or confined. italy boasts of few literary characters of a higher class, or of a more widely-diffused reputation than tiraboschi.[ ] his diligence, his sagacity, his candour, his constant and patriotic exertions to do justice to the reputation of his countrymen, and to rescue departed worth from ill-merited oblivion, assign to him an exalted situation: a situation with the poggios and politians of former times, in the everlasting temple of fame! bind his _storia della letteratura italiana_ in the choicest vellum, or in the stoutest russia; for it merits no mean covering! [footnote : we may first observe that "_la libraria del_ doni _fiorentino_;" vinegia, , vo., is yet coveted by collectors as the most complete and esteemed of all the editions of this work. it is ornamented with many portraits of authors, and is now rare. consult _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., p. . numerous are the editions of haym's _biblioteca italiana_; but those of milan, of the date of , to., vols., and , vo. vols., are generally purchased by the skilful in italian bibliography. the best edition of fontanini's _biblioteca dell' eloquenza italiana_ is with the annotations of zeno, which latter are distinguished for their judgment and accuracy. it was published at venice in , to., vols.; but it must be remembered that this edition contains only the _third_ book of fontanini, which is a library of the principal italian authors. all the three books (the first two being a disquisition upon the orgin [transcriber's note: origin] and progress of the italian language) will be found in the preceeding [transcriber's note: preceding] venice edition of , in one volume to. in the year - , came forth the incomparable but unfinished work of count mazzuchelli, in two folio volumes, [the latter vol. being divided into four thick parts] entittled [transcriber's note: entitled]: _gli scrittori d'italia, cioé notizie storiche e critiche intorno alle vite e agli scritti dei letterati italiani_. the death of the learned author prevented the publication of it beyond the first two letters of the alphabet. the count, however, left behind ample materials for its execution according to the original plan, which lay shamefully neglected as late as the year . see _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., p. . this work is rare in our own country. if the lover of italian philology wishes to increase his critico-literary stores, let him purchase the _biblioteca degli autori antichi greci, e latini volgarizzati_, &c., of paitoni, in five quarto volumes, : the _notizie istorico-critiche &c., degli scrittori viniziani_, [transcriber's note: corrected printer error in original; 'degli' was misplaced on preceding line] of agostini, venez., , to., vols.: and the _letteratura turchesca of_ giambatista toderini, venez., , vo., vols.--works nearly perfect of their kind, and (especially the latter one) full of curious matter.] [footnote : the best edition of his _letteratura italiana_ is that of modena, - , to., in fifteen volumes, as it contains his last corrections and additions, and has the advantage of a complete index. an excellent account of the life and labours of its wonderful author appeared in the fifth volume of the _athenæum_, to the perusal of which i strongly recommend the reader.] the range of busts which occupies the opposite niches represents characters of a more recent date. let us begin with mercier;[ ] a man of extraordinary, and almost unequalled, knowledge in every thing connected with bibliography and typography; of a quick apprehension, tenacious memory, and correct judgment; who was more anxious to detect errors in his own publications than in those of his fellow labourers in the same pursuit; an enthusiast in typographical researches--the ulysses of bibliographers! next to him stand the interesting busts of saxius and laire;[ ] the latter of whom has frequently erred, but who merited not such a castigation as subsequent bibliographers have attempted to bestow upon him: in the number of which, one is sorry to rank the very respectable name of audiffredi[ ]--whose bust, you observe, immediately follows that of laire. audiffredi has left behind him a most enviable reputation: that of having examined libraries with a curious eye, and described the various books which he saw with scrupulous fidelity. there are no lively or interesting sallies, no highly-wrought, or tempting descriptions--throughout his two quarto volumes: but, in lieu of this, there is sober truth, and sound judgment. i have mentioned audiffredi a little out of order, merely because his name is closely connected with that of laire: but i should have first directed your attention to the sagacious countenance of heinecken;[ ] whose work upon ancient printing, and whose _dictionary of engravers_ (although with the latter we have nothing just now to do) will never fail to be justly appreciated by the collector. i regret, lisardo, for your own sake--as you are about to collect a few choice books upon typography--that you will have so much to pay for the former work, owing to its extreme rarity in this country, and to the injudicious phrenzy of a certain class of buyers, who are resolved to purchase it at almost any price. let me not forget to notice, with the encomiums which they deserve, the useful and carefully compiled works of seemiller, braun, wurdtwein, de murr, rossi, and panzer, whose busts are arranged in progressive order. all these authors[ ] are greatly eminent in the several departments which they occupy; especially panzer--whose _annales typographici_, in regard to arrangement and fulness of information, leaves the similar work of his precedessor, maittaire, far behind. it is unluckily printed upon wretched paper--but who rejects the pine-apple from the roughness of its coat? get ready the wherry; man it with a choice bibliomanical crew, good lisardo!--and smuggle over in it, if you can, the precious works of these latter bibliographers--for you may saunter "from rise to set of sun," from whitechapel to hyde-park corner--for them--in vain! [footnote : barthelemy, mercier de st. leger, died in the year , and in the sixty-sixth of his age, full of reputation, and deeply regretted by those who knew the delightful qualities of his head and heart. it is not my intention to enumerate _all_ his publications, the titles of which may be found in the _siécles littéraires_, vol. iv., p. : but, in the present place, i will only observe that his "_supplement à l'histoire de l'imprimerie, par p. marchand_," was first published in , and afterwards in , to., a rare and curious work; but little known in this country. his _bibliothéque des romans, traduit de grec_, was published in , vols. mo. his letter concerning de bure's work, , vo., betrayed some severe animadversions upon the _bibliogr. instruct._: but he got a similar flagellation in return, from the abbé rive, in his _chasse aux bibliographes_--who held him and de bure, and all the bibliographical tribe, in sovereign contempt. his letter to heinecken upon the rare editions of the th century, , vo., and his other works, i never saw in any collection. the imperial library at paris purchased his copy of du verdier's and la croix du maine's bibliothéques, covered with his marginal annotations, as well as his copy of clement's _bibl. curieuse_. le blond, member of the institute, obtained his copy of de bure's _bibliographie instructive_, also enriched with ms. notes. mr. ochéda, lord spencer's librarian, who knew well the abbé de st. leger, informed me that he left behind him ample materials for a history of printing, in a new edition of his supplement to marchand's work, which he projected publishing, and which had received from him innumerable additions and corrections. "he was a man," says mr. ochéda, "the most conversant with editions of books of all kinds, and with every thing connected with typography and bibliography, that i ever conversed with." the reader may consult peignot's _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. i., p. , vol. iii., p. .] [footnote : the _onomasticon literarium_ of christopher saxius, _traject. ad rhenum_, - , seven vols. vo., with a supplement, or eighth volume, published in , is considered as a work of the very first reputation in its way. the notices of eminent men are compendious, but accurate; and the arrangement is at once lucid and new. an elegantly bound copy of this scarce work cannot be obtained for less than six and seven guineas. the first bibliographical production of the abbé laire was, i believe, the _specimen historicum typographiæ romanæ, xv. seculi, romæ_, , large vo.; of which work, a copy printed upon vellum (perhaps unique) was sold at the sale of m. d'hangard, in , for livres. _dictionn. bibliogr._, vol. iv., p. . in my introduction, &c., to the greek and latin classics, some account of its intrinsic merit will be found: vol. i., p. xviii. in the year laire published a "_dissertation sur l'origine et progrès de l'imprimerie en franche-comté_," vo.; and, in the year , came forth his catalogue raisonné of the early printed books in the library of cardinal de lomenie de brienne; under the title of "_index librorum ab inventa typographia, ad annum _," in two octavo volumes. see the article "lomenie," in the list of foreign catalogues, post. laire was also the author of a few other minor bibliographical productions. all the books in his library, relating to this subject, were covered with marginal notes; some of them very curious. see peignot's _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. i., p. : and _les siecles littéraires_, ( , vo.) vol. iv., p. .] [footnote : the works and the merits of audiffredi have been before submitted by me to the public; and mr. beloe, in the third volume of his "_anecdotes of literature_," &c., has justly observed upon the latter. in lord spencer's magnificent library at althorpe, i saw a copy of the "_editiones italicæ_," sec. xv., , to., upon large paper. it is much to be wished that some knowing bibliographer upon the continent would complete this unfinished work of audiffredi. his _editiones romanæ_, sec. xv., , to., is one of the most perfect works of bibliography extant: yet laire's "_index librorum_," &c. (see preceeding note), is necessary to supply the omission of some early books printed at rome, which had escaped even this keen bibliographer!] [footnote : heinecken's name stands deservedly high (notwithstanding his tediousness and want of taste) among bibliographical and typographical antiquaries. of his "_nachrichten von kunstlern und kunst-sachen_," leipzig, , vo., two vols., (being "new memoirs upon artists and the objects of art"--and which is frequently referred to by foreigners,) i never saw a copy. it was again published in . his "_idée générale d'une collection complette d'estampes_," &c., leips., , vo., is a most curious and entertaining book; but unconscionably dear in this country. his "_dictionnaire des artistes dont nous avons des estampes_," &c., leips. , vo., four vols., is an unfinished performance, but remarkably minute as far as it goes. the remainder, written in the german language, continues in ms. in the electorate library at dresden, forming twelve volumes. of the character of heinecken's latter work, consult huber's _manuel, &c., des amateurs de l'art_, zurich, , vo.: and a recent work entitled "_notices des graveurs_," paris, , vo., two vols. heinecken died at the advanced age of eighty.] [footnote : we will discuss their works _seriatim_, as lisardo has said above. seemiller's _bibliothecæ incolstadiensis incunabula typographica_, contains four parts, or fasciculi: they are bound in one volume, quarto, , &c.; but, unfortunately for those who love curious and carefully executed works, it is rather rare in this country. the _notitia historico-critica de libris ab art typog. invent._, by placid braun, in two parts, or volumes, , to., with curious plates, has long been a desideratum in my own collection; and my friend mr. beloe, who is luckily in possession of a copy, enjoys his triumph over me when he discovers it not in my bibliographical boudoir. the same author also published his "_notitia historico-literaria de cod. mss. in bibl. monast. ord. s. bened. ad ss. vidal. et afram augustæ ex tantibus_," aug. vindel., , to., two vols. _cat. de santander_, vol. iv., p. . i know not how any well versed bibliographer can do without the "_bibliotheca moguntina libris sæculo primo tpyographico [transcriber's note: typographico] moguntiæ impressis instructa_;" , to., of wurdtwein. it has some curious plates of fac-similes, and is rarely seen in the strand or king-street book-markets.----c.t. de murr published a work of some interest, entitled, "_memorabilia bibliothecarum publicarum norimbergensium_," norimb., - , three parts or vols. vo.; which is also rare.----rossi's valuable work concerning the annals of hebrew typography: _annales hebræo-typographici, à , ad _, parmæ, , , to., two separate publications, is prettily printed by bodoni, and is an indispensable article in the collection of the typographical antiquary. see the _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. iii., p. .----panzer's _annales typographici_, in eleven quarto volumes ( - ) is a work of the very first importance to bibliographers. its arrangement, after the manner of orlandi's, is clear and most convenient; and the references to authorities, which are innumerable, are, upon the whole, very faithful. the indexes are copious and satisfactory. this work (of which i hear there are only three copies upon large paper) contains an account of books which were printed in all parts of europe from the year , to , inclusive; but it should be remembered that the author published a distinct work in the year , to., relating to books which were printed, within the same period, in the _german language_; and this should always accompany the eleven latin volumes. i will just add from it, as a curiosity, the title and colophon (translated into english) of the first printed book in the german language:--"the publication of diethers, elector of mayence, against count adolphus of nassau; _given out under our impressed seal on tuesday, after the fourth sunday in advent, anno domini _." consult also wurdtwein's _bibl. mogunt._, p. ; and the authorities there referred to. it seems doubtful whether this curious little brochure, of which scarcely any thing more than a fragment now remains, was printed by fust and schoeffer, or by gutenberg.] what countenances are those which beam with so much quiet, but interesting, expression? they are the resemblances of denis and camus:[ ] the former of whom is better known from his _annalium typographicorum maittaire supplementum_; and the latter very generally respected abroad, although our acquaintance with him in this country is exceedingly slight. if i mistake not, i observe the mild and modest countenance of my old acquaintance, herbert, in this bibliographical group of heads? do not despise his toil[ ] because it is not sprinkled with gay conceits, or learned digressions: he wrote to be useful, not to be entertaining; and so far as he went, his work was such an improvement upon his predecessor's plan as to place it quite at the head of national typography. see yonder the sensible countenance of harwood![ ] the first writer in this country who taught us to consider the respective merits and demerits of the various editions of greek and latin authors. [footnote : michael denis, the translator of ossian, and a bibliographer of justly established eminence, was principal librarian of the imperial library at vienna, and died in the year , at the age of . his _supplement to maittaire's typographical annals_, in two parts or volumes, , to., is a work of solid merit, and indispensable to the possessor of its precursor. the bibliographical references are very few; but the descriptions of the volumes are minutely accurate. the indexes also are excellent. in the year , denis published the first volume (in three thick parts in folio) of his _codices manuscripti theologici bibl. palat. vindob._; a production which the reader will find somewhat fully described in the ensuing pages. the second volume appeared after his death in . in - , came forth his second edition of an _introduction to the knowledge of books_, in two quarto volumes; unfortunately written in the german language--but mentioned with approbation in the first volume of the _mem. de l'inst._, p. . consult also peignot's _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. i., p. ; ii., .----armand gaston camus is a bibliographer of very first rate reputation. the reader has only to peruse the following titles of some of his works, and he will certainly bewail his ill fortune if they are not to be found in his library. . _observations sur la distribution et le classement des livres d'une bibliothéque_: . _additions aux mêmes_; . _memoire sur un livre allemand_ (which is the famous tewrdannckhs; and about which is to be hoped that mr. douce will one day favour us with his curious remarks): . _addition au même_: . _memoire sur l'histoire et les procédés du polytypage et de la stéréotypie_: . _rapport sur la continuation de la collection des historiens de france, et de celle des chartres et diplomes_: . _notice d'un livre imprimé à bamberg en _. all these works are thus strung together, because they occur in the first three volumes of the _memoires de l'institut_. this curious book, printed at bamberg, was discovered by a german clergyman of the name of stenier, and was first described by him in the _magasin hist.-litt., bibliogr._ chemintz, : but camus's memoir is replete with curious matter, and is illustrated with fac-simile cuts. in the "_notices et extraits des mss. de la bibl. nationale_," vol. vi., p. , will be found a most interesting memoir by him, relating to two ancient manuscript bibles, in two volumes folio, adorned with a profusion of pictures: of some of which very elegant fac-similes are given. these pictures are in number! each of them having a latin and french verse beautifully written and illuminated beneath.--camus supposes that such a work could not now be executed under , francs!--"where (exclaims he) shall we find such modern specimens of book-luxury?" in the year , he published an admirable "_mémoire sur la collection des grands et petits voyages, et sur la collection des voyages des melchesedech thevenot_," to., with an excellent "table des matières." of his own journey into the low countries, recently published, i never met with a copy. all the preceding works, with the exception of the last, are in my own humble collection.] [footnote : a short bibliographical memoir of herbert will be found in the first volume of my edition of the _typographical antiquities of great britain_. since that was published, i have gleaned a few further particulars relating to him, which may be acceptable to the reader. shortly after the appearance of his third volume, he thus speaks in a letter to mr. price, librarian of the bodleian library, "if at any time you meet with any book of which i have not taken notice, or made any mistake in the description of it, your kind information will be esteemed a favour; as i purpose to continue collecting materials for a future publication, when enough shall be collected to make another volume." this was in april, . in the ensuing month he thus addresses his old friend mr. white, of crickhowell, who, with himself, was desperately addicted to the black-letter. "to morrow my wife and self set out for norfolk to take a little relaxation for about a fortnight. i hope my labours will in some good measure answer the expectation of my friends and subscribers in general. sure i am my best endeavours have been exerted for that purpose. i have been years collecting materials; have spent many a fair pound, and many a weary hour; and it is now ten years since the first part was committed to the press. i purpose to continue collecting materials in order to a fourth volume, &c.;--yet by no means will i make myself debtor to the public when to publish: if it shall please god to take me to himself, isaac will in due time set it forth. however i shall keep an interleaved copy for the purpose." in a letter to a mr. john banger russell (in dorsetshire), written in the ensuing month of june, the same sentiments and the same intention are avowed. thus ardent was the bibliomaniacal spirit of herbert in his d year! the _interleaved copy_ here alluded to (which was bound in six volumes to., in russia binding, and for which mr. gough had given herbert's widow _l._ _s._) is now in my possession; as well as the yet more valuable acquisition of some numerous ms. addenda to his history of printing--both of these articles having been purchased by me at the sale of mr. gough's mss. and printed books, a.d. .] [footnote : dr. edward harwood published the fourth and last edition of his "_view of the various editions of the greek and roman classics_," in the year , vo. a work which, in the public estimation, has entitled its author's memory to very considerable respect in the classical world; although the late professor porson, in the fly leaf of a copy of my second edition of a similar publication, was pleased to call the doctor by a name rather unusually harsh with _him_, who was "criticus et lenis et acutus;" censuring also my dependance upon my predecessor. in the year , was published my third edition of "_an introduction to the knowledge of rare and valuable editions of the greek and latin classics_," two volumes vo.: in which, if i may presume to talk of anything so insignificant, i have endeavoured to exhibit the opinions--not of dr. harwood alone, but of the most eminent foreign critics and editors--upon the numerous editions which, in a chronological series, are brought before the reader's attention. the remarks of the first bibliographers in europe are also, for the first time in a english publication, subjoined; so that the lover of curious, as well as of valuable, editions may be equally gratified. the authorities, exceedingly numerous as well as respectable, are referred to in a manner the most unostentatious; and a full measure of text, and to be really useful, was my design from the beginning to the end of it. to write a long and dull homily about its imperfections would be gross affectation. an extensive sale has satisfied my publishers that its merit a little counterbalances its defects.] lis. you are, no doubt, a fond and partial critic in regard to the works of herbert and harwood: but i am glad to recognise my fellow countrymen in such an illustrious assemblage. go on. lysand. we are just at the close. but a few more busts, and those very recently executed, remain to be noticed. these are the resemblances of la serna santander, cailleau, and oberlin;[ ] while several vacant niches remain to be filled up with the busts of more modern bibliographers of eminence: namely, of van-praet, fischer, lambinet, renouard, peignot, fournier, barbier, boucher, and brunet.[ ] [footnote : de la serna santander will always hold a distinguished place amongst bibliographers, not only from the care and attention with which he put forth the catalogue of his own books--the parting from which must have gone near to break his heart--but from his elegant and useful work entitled, "_dictionnaire bibliographique choisi du quinzieme siécle_," , &c., vo., in three parts or volumes. his summary of researches, upon the invention of printing, mr. edwards told me, he read "with complete satisfaction"--this occupies the first part or volume. the remaining volumes form a necessary, as well as brilliant, supplement to de bure. just at this moment, i believe that mr. beloe's, and my own, copy of the work, are the only ones in this country.----cailleau has the credit of being author of the _dictionnaire bibliographique_, &c., in three volumes, octavo, --of which there are a sufficient number of counterfeited and faulty re-impressions; but which, after all, in its original shape, edit. , is not free from gross errors; however useful it is in many respects. i suspect, however, that the abbé duclos had the greater share in this publication: but, be this as it may, the fourth supplemental volume (by the younger brunet) is, in every respect, a more accurate and valuable performance. oberlin, librarian of the central school or college at strasbourg, is author of a bibliographical treatise particularly deserving of the antiquary's attention: namely, _essai d'annales de la vie de jean gutenburg [transcriber's note: gutenberg], &c._, stasb. [transcriber's note: strasb.], an. ix., vo. his other numerous (belles-lettres) works are minutely specified by peignot in his _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. iii., p. . his edition of horace, argent., , to., is both elegant and correct.] [footnote : let us go quietly through the modern french school of bibliography.----mons. joseph van-praet is principal librarian of the imperial collection at paris, and is justly called, by some of his fellow-labourers in the same career, "one of the first bibliographers in europe." he is known to me, as a bibliographical writer, only by the part which he took, and so ably executed, in the valliere catalogue of . peignot informs us that m. van-praet is now busy in composing a little work--which i am sure will rejoice the hearts of all true bibliomaniacs to be apprised of--called a _catalogue raisonné_ of books printed upon vellum; for which he has already prepared not fewer than articles! see the _curiosités bibliogr._, p. iij. among these vellum articles, gentle reader, i assure thee that thine eyes will be blest with the description of "the shyp of fooles," printed by pynson, ! the urbanity and politeness of this distinguished librarian are equal to his knowledge.----gotthelf fischer, a saxon by birth, and librarian of the public collection at mentz, has given us the following interesting treatises, of which, i believe, not five copies are to be found in this country: namely--_essai sur les monumens typographiques de jean gutenberg, &c._, an. x. [ ], to.: and _descriptions de raretés typographiques et de manuscrits remarquables, &c._, nuremb., , vo.--the latter is in the german language, and has cuts--with a portrait of fust. by this time, the work has most probably been translated into french, as it is frequently referred to and highly spoken of by foreigners. peignot [_dict. de bibliologie_, vol. iii., p. ] refers us to the fine eulogy pronounced upon fisher [transcriber's note: fischer] (not yet years of age) by camus, in his "voyage dans les departemens réunis," p. .----lambinet will always be remembered and respected, as long as printing and bibliography shall be studied, by his "_recherches historiques littéraires et critiques, sur l'originè de l'imprimerie; particulièrement sur les premiers établissemens au_ xvme _siécle dans la belgique_," &c., brux., an. vii. ( ), vo. it is, indeed, a very satisfactory performance: the result of judgment and taste--rare union!----in like manner, renouard has procured for himself a bibliographical immortality by his _annales de l'imprimerie des aide_, , vo., two vols.: a work almost perfect of its kind, and by many degrees superior to bandini's dry _annales typog. juntarum._, lucæ, . in renouard's taste, accuracy and interest are delightfully combined; and the work is printed with unrivalled beauty. there were only six copies of it printed upon large paper; one of which i saw in the fine collection of the rt. hon. t. grenville.----few modern bibliographers have displayed so much diligence as gabriel peignot: from whom we have, . _dictionnaire raisonné de bibliologie_, paris, , vo., two vols., with a third, by way of supplement ( ). with necessary corrections and additions, this work would answer many useful purposes in an english translation. . _essai de curiosités bibliographiques_, , vo. this is a very amusing (but scarce and unconscionably dear) book. it contains elaborate descriptions of many curious and sumptuous works, which were sold for and more livres at public sales. . _dictionnaire, &c., des principaux livres condamnés au feu, supprimés ou censurés_, paris, , vo., vols. the very title of such a work must sharpen the edge of curiosity with those bibliomaniacs who have never seen it. . _bibliographie curieuse, ou notice raisonnée des livres imprimés a cent exemplaires au plus, suivie d'une notice de quelques ouvrages tirés sur papier de couleur_, paris, , vo. only one hundred copies of this thin volume were struck off: of which i possess the th copy, according to peignot's notification. indeed i am fortunate in having all his preceding works. let us wish long life and never-failing success to so brave a book-chevalier as gabriel peignot.----franÇois ignace fournier, at years of age, published an elegantly printed little volume, entitled _essai portatif de bibliographie_, , vo., of which only copies were struck off. in the year , this essay assumed the form of a dictionary, and appeared under the title of _dictionnaire portatif de bibliographie, &c._, vo., comprising , articles, printed in a very small character. last year, in the month of may, fournier put forth a new edition of this _dictionnaire_, considerably augmented; but in which (such is the fate of bibliographical studies) notwithstanding all the care of the author, brunet tells us that he has discovered not fewer than five hundred errors! let not fournier, however be discouraged; in a few years he will achieve something yet more worthy of his laudable seal in bibliography.----antoine-alexandre barbier, librarian of the council of state, has favoured us with an admirably well executed work, entitled _dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, composés, traduits ou publiés en français, &c., accompagneé de notes historiques et critiques_, paris, _imprimis bibliogr._, , vo., two vols. see also art. "conseil d'etat," in the list of french catalogues, post. from these the reader will judge of the warm thanks to which this eminent bibliographer is entitled for his very useful labours.----g. boucher de la richarderie has, in an especial manner, distinguished himself by his _bibliothéque universelle des voyages_, paris, , vo., six vols.: a work executed with care, minuteness, and considerable interest. some of its extracts are, perhaps, unnecessarily long. the index to the sixth volume will lead the reader to consult an account of some of the most ancient, rare, and curious publications of voyages which have ever appeared: and boucher "has deserved well" of the book world by this truly valuable and almost indispensable performance.----brunet le fils. this able writer, and enthusiastic devotee to bibliography, has recently published an excellent and copious work which would appear greatly to eclipse fournier's; entitled "_manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres, contenant, . un nouveau dictionnaire bibliographigue, . une table en forme de catalogue raisonnée_," paris, , vo., vols.: in which he tells us he has devoted at least thirty years to the examination of books. the first two volumes form a scientific arrangement: the latter is an alphabetical one, referring to one or the other of the preceding volumes for a more copious account of the work. it must be confessed that brunet has, in this publication, executed a difficult task with great ability.] lis. i am quite anxious to possess the publications of these moderns: but you say nothing of their comparative value with the ancients. lysand. generally speaking, in regard to discoveries of rare books and typographical curiosities, the moderns have the advantage. they have made more rational conclusions, from data which had escaped their predecessors: and the sparkling and animated manner in which they dress out the particular objects that they describe renders the perusal of their works more pleasant and gratifying. i am not sure that they have the learning of the old school: but their works are, in general, less ponderous and repulsive. the ancient bibliographers were probably too anxious to describe every thing, however minute and unimportant: they thought it better to say too much than too little; and, finding the great mass of readers in former times, uninstructed in these particular pursuits, they thought they could never exhaust a subject by bringing to bear upon it every point, however remotely connected! they found the plain, it is true, parched and sandy; but they were not satisfied with pouring water upon it, 'till they had converted it into a deluge.[ ] [footnote : what denis says, in the preface to his _catalog. cod. mss. bibl. palat. vindob._ (of which see p. , ante) is very just; "media incedendum via; neque nudis codicum titulis, ut quibusdam bibliothecis placuit, in chartam conjectis provehi multum studia, neque _doctis, quæ superioris seculi fuit intemperantia, ambagibus et excursibus_."--this is certainly descriptive of the old school of bibliography.] lis. let me ask you, at this stage of our inquiries, what you mean by bibliographical publications?--and whether the works of those authors which you have enumerated are sufficient to enable a novice, like myself, to have pretty accurate notions about the rarity and intrinsic value of certain works? lysand. by bibliographical publications, i mean such works as give us some knowledge of the literary productions, as well as of the life, of certain learned men; which state the various and the best editions of their lucubrations; and which stimulate us to get possession of these editions. every biographical narrative which is enriched with the mention of curious and rare editions of certain works is, to a great extent, a bibliographical publication. those works which treat professedly upon books are, of course, immediately within the pale of bibliography. lis. but am i to be satisfied with the possession of those works already recommended? phil. i suppose lisardo has heard of certain valuable catalogues, and he wishes to know how far the possession of these may be requisite in order to make him a bibliographer? lysand. at present i will say nothing about the catalogues of the collections of our own countrymen. as we have been travelling principally abroad, we may direct our attention to those which relate to foreign collections. and first, let us pay a due tribute of praise to the published catalogues of libraries collected by the jesuits: men of shrewd talents and unabating research, and in derogation of whose merits voltaire and d'alembert disgraced themselves by scribbling the most contemptible lampoons. the downfall of this society led, not very indirectly, to the destruction of the ancient french monarchy. men seemed to forget that while the most shameless depredations were committed within the libraries of the jesuits, the cause of learning, as well as of liberty, suffered,--and the spoils which have glittered before our eyes, as the precious relics of these collections, serve to afford a melancholy proof how little those men stick at any thing who, in raising the war-whoop of liberty and equality, tear open the very bowels of order, tranquillity, peace, and decorum! but, to the subject. let the catalogues of public collections, when they are well arranged, be received into your library. of foreign private collections, the catalogues[ ] of du fresne, cordes, heinsias, baluze, colbert, rothelin, de boze, prefond, pompadour, gaignat, gouttard, bunau, soubise, la valliere, crevenna, lamoignon, and of several other collections, with which my memory does not just now serve me, will enable you to form a pretty correct estimate of the _marketable value_ of certain rare and sumptuous publications. catalogues are, to bibliographers, what _reports_ are to lawyers: not to be read through from beginning to end--but to be consulted on doubtful points, and in litigated cases. nor must you, after all, place too strong a reliance upon the present prices of books, from what they have produced at former sales; as nothing is more capricious and unsettled than the value of books at a public auction. but, in regard to these catalogues, if you should be fortunate enough to possess any which are printed upon _large paper, with the names of the purchasers, and the prices_ for which each set of books was sold, thrice and four times happy may you account yourself to be, my good lisardo! [footnote : as it would have required more breath than usually falls to the lot of an individual, for lysander to have given even a rough sketch of the merits, demerits, and rarity of certain foreign catalogues of public and private collections--in his discourse with his friends--i have ventured to supply the deficiency by subjoining, in the ensuing _tolerably copious_ note, a list of these catalogues, alphabetically arranged; as being, perhaps, the most convenient and acceptable plan. such an attempt is quite novel; and must be received, therefore, with many grains of allowance. although i am in possession of the greater number (at least of two thirds) of the catalogues described, i am aware that, in regard to the description of those not in my own library, i subject myself to the lash of p. morhof. "inepti sunt, qui librorum catalogos scribunt e catalogis. oculata fides et judicium præsens requiritur." _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., . but the weight of my authorities will, i trust, secure me from any great violence of critical indignation. to render so dry a subject (the very "_hortus siccus_" of bibliography) somewhat palatable, i have here and there besprinkled it with biographical anecdotes of the collectors, and of the state of french literature in the last century and a half.----d'aguesseau. _catalogue des livres imprimés et manuscrits de la bibliothéque de feu monsieur d'aguesseau_, &c., paris, , vo. "anxious to enrich his collection, (says the compiler of this catalogue) the bibliomaniac sees with delight the moment arrive when, by the sale of a library like this, he may add to his precious stores. it is, in truth, a grand collection; especially of history, arts, and sciences, and jurisprudence. the famous chancellor d'aguesseau laid the foundation of this library, which was as universal as his own genius." it would appear that the son, to whom the collection latterly belonged, was gracious in the extreme in the loan of books; and that, in consequence, a public advertisement was inserted at the foot of the "avis preliminaire," to entreat those, who had profited by such kindness, to return their borrowed (shall i say stolen?) goods? for want of these volumes, many sets of books were miserably defective.----anonymiana. _catalogus bibliothecæ anonymianæ, in quo libri rariores recensentur, una cum notis litterariis_, norimb., , vo. this is a catalogue of value, and may be well ranged with its brethren upon the bibliographer's shelf. another "_bibliotheca anonymiana_," was published ten years preceding the present one; at the hague, in three parts, one vol., vo.: which, in the _bibl. solger._, vol iii., no. , is said to contain many rare books: see also no. , _ibid._----d'artois. _catalogue des livres du cabinet de monseigneur le compte d'artois_, paris, , vo. very few copies of this catalogue, which is printed in a wide octavo page, resembling that of a quarto, were struck off: according to fournier's _dict. portat. de bibliogr._, p. , edit. . see also _cat. de boutourlin_, no. .----augustana. _catalogus bibliothecæ inclytæ reipubl. augustanæ utriusque linguæ tum græcæ tum latinæ librorum et impressorum et manu exaratorum._ aug. vindel., , fol. morhof informs us that this catalogue, of which hoeschelius was the compiler, contains an account of some manuscripts which have never been printed, as well as of some which marcus velserus published. it is, moreover, full of precious bibliographical matter; but unfortunately (the possessor of it may think otherwise) only one hundred copies were struck off. _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., . i find, however, some little difficulty about distinguishing this catalogue of the augsbourg library from the impression of , fol., which vogt mentions at p. , and of which he also talks of copies being printed. it should not be forgotten that hoeschelius published an admirable catalogue of the greek mss. in the library of augsbourg, , and again , in to. colomiés pronounces it a model in its way. _bibl. choisie_, p. - . the catalogue of the greek mss. in the library of the duke of bavaria, at munich, was published about the same period; namely, in : the compiler was a skilful man, but he tells us, at the head of the catalogue, that the mss. were open to the inspection of every one who had any work in hand, provided he were a _roman catholic_! this was being very kind to protestants! _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., part i., p. , edit. . see also vogt's _catalog. libror. rarior._, p. .----augustana. _notitia historica-literaria de libris ab artis typographicæ inventione usque ad annum, , impressis, in bibliotheca monasterii ad ss. udalricum et afram augustæ extantibus._ august, vindel, , to. this volume, which i have no doubt would gratify the curious bibliographer, it has never been my good fortune to meet with. it is here introduced upon the authority of the _cat. du cardinal de loménie_, no. : ed. . i ought not to close this account of the augsbourg catalogues of books, without remarking, on the authority of reimannus, that the _first_ published catalogue of books is that which villerius, a bookseller at augsburg, put forth in the year . see the _bibl. acroam._, p. .----aurivillius. _catalogus bibliothecæ quam collegerat carolus aurivillius_, sectio [transcriber's note: section] i. and ii., upsal, , vo. this catalogue contains a plentiful sprinkling of short literary and bibliographical notes; according to _bibl. krohn_, p. , no. .----badenhaupt. _bibliotheca selectissima; sive catalogus librorum magnam partem philologicorum, quos inter eminent. auctores græci et romani classica quos collegit e.f. badenhaupt_, berol, , vo. the pithy bibliographical notes which are here and there scattered throughout this catalogue, render it of estimation in the opinion of the curious.----baluze. _bibliotheca balusiana; seu catalogus librorum bibliothecæ d.s. baluzii, a. gab. martin_, paris, , vo., two vols. let any enlightened bibliographers read the eulogy upon the venerable baluze (who died in his eighty-eighth year, and who was the great colbert's librarian), in the preface of the _bibl. colbertina_ (vide post), and in the _dict. hist._ (caen, , vol. i., p. - ), and he will not hesitate a moment about the propriety of giving this volume a conspicuous place upon his shelf. from the _bibl. mencken_, p. , it would appear that a third volume, containing translations of some mss. in the royal library, is wanting to make this catalogue complete. this third volume is uncommon.----barberini. _index bibliothecæ francisci barberini cardinalis. romæ, typis barberinis_, , fol., three vols. in two. the widely spread celebrity of cardinal barberini suffers no diminution from this publication of the riches contained within his library. the authors are arranged alphabetically, and not according to classes. although it be not the most luminous in its arrangement, or the most accurate in its execution, this finely printed catalogue will never remain long upon a bookseller's shelf without a purchaser. it were much to be desired that our own noblemen, who have fine collections of books, would put forth (after the example of cardinal barberini) similar publications.----barthelemy. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de m. l'abbé barthelemy, par m. bernard_, , vo. the high reputation of the owner of this collection will always secure purchasers for this catalogue of useful and interesting books.----bibliographie _des pays bas, avec quelques notes. nyon, en suisse_, , to. only fifty copies of this work were printed. it is a pity that peignot, who gives us this information, does not accompany it with some account of the nature and merits of the work--which probably grew out of the _histoire littéraire des pays blas_, , in three folio volumes. _bibl. curieuse_, p. .----bodleian. _catalog. libr. bibl. publ., &c., in acad. oxon._, , to. _catal. libr. impr._, , fol. _catalogi libror. mss. angl. et hibern._, , fol. _catalogus impress. libror. bibl. bodl._, , fol., two vols. although none but catalogues of foreign public and private collections were intended to be noticed in this list, the reader will forgive a little violation of the rule laid down by myself, if i briefly observe upon the catalogues of the bodleian library and the british museum. [for the latter, vide 'museum.'] the first of these bodleian catalogues contains an account of the mss. it was prepared by dr. james, the editor of the philobiblion of de bury (vide p. , ante), and, as it was the first attempt to reduce to "lucid order" the indigested pile of mss. contained in the library, its imperfections must be forgiven. it was afterwards improved, as well as enlarged, in the folio edition of , by bernard; which contains the mss. subsequently bequeathed to the library by selden, digby, and laud, alone forming an extensive and valuable collection. the editor of morhof (vol. i., , n.) has highly commended this latter catalogue. let the purchaser of it look well to the frontispiece of the portraits of sir thomas bodley and of the fore-mentioned worthies, which faces the title-page; as it is frequently made the prey of some prowling grangerite. the first catalogue of the _printed books_ in the bodleian library was compiled by the celebrated orientalist, dr. hyde: the second by fisher: of these, the latter is the more valuable, as it is the more enlarged. the plan adopted in both is the same: namely, the books are arranged alphabetically, without any reference to their classes--a plan fundamentally erroneous: for the chief object in catalogues of public collections is to know what works are published upon particular subjects, for the facility of information thereupon--whether our inquiries lead to publication or otherwise: an alphabetical index should, of course, close the whole. it is with reluctance my zeal for literature compels me to add that a _catalogue raisonnée of the manuscripts and printed books in the bodleian library_ is an urgent desideratum--acknowledged by every sensible and affectionate son of alma mater. talent there is, in abundance, towards the completion of such an honourable task; and the only way to bring it effectually into exercise is to employ heads and hands enough upon the undertaking. let it be remembered what wanley and messrs. planta and nares have done for the cottonian and harleian mss.--and what mr. douce is now doing for those of the lansdowne collection! one gentleman alone, of a very distinguished college, in whom the acuteness and solidity of porson seem almost revived, might do wonders for the greek mss., and lend an effectual aid towards the arrangement of the others. the printed books might be assigned, according to their several classes, to the gentlemen most conversant with the same; and the numerous bibliographical works, published since the catalogue of , might be occasionally referred to, according to the plan observed in the _notitia editionum vel primariæ, &c., in bibl. bodl. oxon._, , vo.; which was judiciously drawn up by the bishop of london, and the rev. dr. william jackson. i am aware that the aged hands of the present venerable librarian of the bodleian library can do little more than lay the foundation-stone of such a massive superstructure; but even this would be sufficient to enrol his name with the magliabecchis and baillets of former times--to entitle him to be classed among the best benefactors to the library--and to shake hands with its immortal founder, in that place where are et amoena vireta fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatæ. bonnier. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de bonnier._ paris, , vo. this catalogue is here introduced to the bibliographer's notice in order to sharpen his bibliomaniacal appetite to obtain one of the four copies only which were printed upon large paper of dutch manufacture. see _cat. de caillard_ ( ), no. .----boutourlin. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de s.e.m. le comte de boutourlin._ paris (an. xiii.), , vo. every one must conceive a high respect for the owner of this choice collection, from the amiable sentiments which pervade the preface to the catalogue. it has a good index; and is elegantly printed. my copy is upon large paper.----de boze. _catalogue des livres du cabinet de m. claude gros de boze._ paris. _de l'imp. royale_, , small folio. this is the first printed catalogue of the choice and magnificent library of de boze, the friend and correspondent of dr. mead, between whom presents of books were continually passing--as they were the first collectors of the day in their respective countries. some have said , some , others , and others only copies of this impression were struck off, as presents for the collector's friends. consult _bibl. mead_, p. , no. . _bibl. creven._, vol. v., . _bauer's bibl. rarior._, vol. i., . _bibl. curieuse_, p. . _bibl. askev._, no. . barbier's _dict. des anonymes_, vol. ii., no. .----de boze, _de la même bibliothéque_, , vo. this catalogue, which was executed by martin, after the death of de boze, does not contain all the notices of works mentioned in the preceding one. it is, however, well deserving of a place in the bibliographer's library. peignot tells us that there was yet a _third_ catalogue printed, in vo., containing pages, and giving an account of some books taken out of de boze's collection: a few of which are described in the preceding edition of . see his _bibl. cur._, p. .----bozerian. _notice des livres précieux ye [transcriber's note: de] m. bozérian, par m. bailly_, , vo. a cabinet of "precious books," indeed! the misfortune is, so small a number of modern foreign catalogues come over here that the best of them will be found in few of our libraries. whenever the "bibliotheca bozeriana" shall be imported, it will not stop seven days upon a bookseller's shelf!----bulteau. _bibliotheca bultelliana; (caroli bulteau) a gabr. martin_, paris, , mo., vols. in one. this catalogue, which is carefully compiled, contains curious and uncommon books; many of which were purchased for the collections of préfond, de boze, and others.----bunau. _catalogus bibliothecæ bunavianæ._ lipsiæ, . six parts, in three volumes, each volume having two parts--usually bound in six vols. highly and generally esteemed as is this extensive collection, and methodically arranged catalogue, of count bunau's books, the latter has always appeared to me as being branched out into too numerous ramifications, so as to render the discovery of a work, under its particular class, somewhat difficult, without reference to the index. i am aware that what camus says is very true--namely, that "nothing is more absurd than to quarrel about catalogue-making: and that every man ought to have certain fixed and decisive ideas upon the subject," [_mem. de l'inst._ vol. i., ,] but simplicity and perspicuity, which are the grand objects in every undertaking, might have been, in my humble apprehension, more successfully exhibited than in this voluminous catalogue. it represents _over-done analysis_! yet those who are writing upon particular subjects will find great assistance in turning to the different works here specified upon the same. it is rare and high-priced. from the preface, which is well worth an attentive perusal, it appears that this grand collection, now deposited in the electoral library at dresden (see _cat. de caillard_, no. , ,) was at count bunau's country-house, situated in a pleasant village about half a mile from dresden-- vicinam videt unde lector urbem. saxius, in his _onomast. literar._, vol i., p. xxxiii., edit. , &c., has a smart notice of this splendid collection.----bunneman. _j.l. bunnemanni catalogus manuscriptorum, item librorum impressorum rarissimorum pro assignato pretio venalium._ minda, , vo. for the sake of knowing, by way of curiosity, what books (accounted rare at this period) were sold for, the collector may put this volume into his pocket, when he finds it upon a book-stall marked at _s._ _d._ in the _bibl. solger._, vol iii., no. , there was a priced copy upon large paper with bibliographical memoranda.----caillard. _catalogue des livres du cabinet de m.a.b. caillard_, paris, , vo. of this private catalogue, compiled by caillard himself, and printed upon fine dutch paper, in super-royal vo., only twenty-five copies were struck off. so says fournier, _dict. portatif de bibliographie_: p. ; edit. , and the "avant-propos" prefixed to the subsequent catalogue here following:----_livres rares et précieux de la bibliothéque de feu m. ant. bern. caillard_, paris, , vo. there were but twenty-five copies of this catalogue of truly valuable, and, in many respects, rare, and precious, books, printed upon large paper, of the same size as the preceding. this was the sale catalogue of the library of caillard, who died in , in his sixty-ninth year, and of whose bibliomaniacal spirit we have a most unequivocal proof in his purchasing de cotte's celebrated uncut copy of the first printed homer, at an enormous sum! [vide cotte, post.] "sa riche bibliothéque est á-la-fois un monument de son amour pour l'art typographique, et de la vaste étendue de ses connoissances," p. xiv. some excellent indexes close this volume; of which mr. payne furnished me with the loan of his copy upon large paper.----cambis. _catalogue des principaux manuscrits du cabinet de m. jos. l.d. de cambis_, avignon, , to. although this is a catalogue of mss., yet, the number of copies printed being very few, i have given it a place here. some of these copies contain but , others , pages; which shews that the owner of the mss. continued publishing his account of them as they increased upon him. rive, in his "_chasse aux bibliographes_," has dealt very roughly with the worthy cambis; but peignot tells us that this latter was a respectable literary character, and a well-informed bibliographer--and that his catalogue, in spite of rive's diatribe, is much sought after. see the _bibliogr. curieuse_, p. ; also _cat. de la valliere_, vol. iii., no. .----camus de limare. _catalogues des livres de m. le camus de limare_, paris, , mo.--_des livres rares et précieux de m---- (camus de limare)_, paris, , vo.--_des livres rares et précieux, reliés en maroquin, de la bibliothéque du même, paris, an trois_ ( ), vo. of the _first_ catalogue only a small number of copies was printed, and those for presents. _bibliogr. curieuse_, p. . it contains a description of de boze's extraordinary copy of du fresnoy's "methode pour étudier l'histoire," , to., four volumes, with the supplement, , two vols.; which was sold for livres; and which was, of course, upon large paper, with a thousand inviting additions, being much more complete than the similar copies in _cat. de valliere_, no. ; and _cat. de crevenna_, no. , edit. ; although this latter was preferable to the valliere copy. consult also the _curiosités bibliographiques_, p. - . the _second_ catalogue was prepared by de bure, and contains a very fine collection of natural history, which was sold at the hôtel de bullion. the printed prices are added. the _third_ catalogue, which was prepared by santus, after the decease of camus, contains some very choice articles [many printed upon vellum] of ancient and modern books superbly bound.----catalogue _des livres rares. par guillaume de bure, fils âiné._ paris, , vo. we are told, in the advertisement, that this collection was formed from a great number of sales of magnificent libraries, and that particular circumstances induced the owner to part with it. the books were in the finest order, and bound by the most skilful binders. the bibliographical notices are short, but judicious; and a good index closes the catalogue. the sale took place at the hôtel de bullion.----catalogue _fait sur un plan nouveau, systématique et raisonné, d'une bibliothéque de littérature, particulièrement d'histoire et de poésie, &c._ utrecht, , vo., two vols. a judicious and luminous arrangement of , articles, or sets of books; which, in the departments specified in the title-page, are singularly copious and rich.----catalogus _librorum rarissimorum, ab artis typographicæ inventoribus, aliisque ejus artis principibus ante annum excusorum; omnium optime conservatorum_, vo., _sine loco aut anno_. peignot, who has abridged vogt's excellent account of this very uncommon and precious catalogue, of which only twenty-five copies were printed, has forgotten to examine the last edition of the _catalog. libror. rarior._, pp. - ; in which we find that the collection contained (and not ) volumes. at the end, it is said: "pretiosissima hæc librorum collectio, cujusvis magni principis bibliotheca dignissima, constat voll. ccxlviii." consult the respectable references in vogt, _ibid._; also the _bibliogr. curieuse_ of peignot, p. .----ceran. _catalogue des livres de m. mel de saint ceran._ paris, , vo., again in , vo. these catalogues were compiled by de bure, and are carefully executed. some of the books noticed in them are sufficiently curious and rare.----clementino-vaticana. _bibliotheca orientalis clementino vaticana, in quâ manuscriptos codices orientalium linguarum recensuit joseph simonius assemanus_, romæ, . folio, four vols. asseman's son compiled an excellent catalogue of the oriental mss. in the medico-laurentian library; but this work of the father is more curious and elaborate. whenever a few half-guineas can procure it, let the country-settled philologist send his "henchman" to fly for it!--"speed, malise, speed." but alas! santander tells us that copies of it are rare. _cat. de santander_, vol. iv., no. .----colbert. _bibliotheca colbertina: seu catalogus librorum bibliothecæ quæ fuit primum j.b. colbert, deinde j.b. colbert (fil) postea j. nic. colbert, ac demum c.l. colbert._ parisiis, , vo., three vols. the preface to this valuable catalogue (executed by martin) gives us a compressed, but sufficiently perspicuous, account of the auspices under which such an extensive and magnificent collection was assembled and arranged. it contains not fewer than , articles; being perhaps , volumes. the celebrated baluze was the librarian during the life of the former branches of the colbert family; a family which, if nothing remained to perpetuate their fame but this costly monument of literary enterprise, will live in the grateful remembrance of posterity--but it wants not even such a splendid memorial! the lover of fine and curious books will always open the volumes of the colbert catalogue with a zest which none but a thorough bred bibliomaniac can ever hope to enjoy.----conseil d'etat. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque du conseil d'etat (par m. barbier, bibliothecaire du conseil d'etat)._ paris, an. xi. ( ), folio. "this catalogue is most superbly executed. the richness of the materials of which it is composed, the fine order of its arrangement, and the skilful researches exhibited in it relating to anonymous authors, are worthy of the typographical luxury of the national press, from which this curious work was put forth. it will be perfect in three parts: the third part, containing the supplement and tables, is now at press." (a.d. .) the preface and table of the divisions of this catalogue were published in a small vo. volume, . this information i glean from peignot's _curiosités bibliographiques_, p. lix.; and from the _cat. de boutourlin_, no. , i learn that only copies of so useful, as well as splendid, a work were printed, of which the french government took upon itself the distribution.----cordes. _bibliothecæ cordesianæ catalogus, cum indice titulorum_, parisiis, , to. the celebrated naudé had the drawing up and publishing of this catalogue, which is highly coveted by collectors, and is now of rare occurrence. de cordes was intimate with all the learned men of his country and age; and his eulogy, by naudé, prefixed to the catalogue, gives us a delightful account of an amiable and learned man living in the bosom, as it were, of books and of book-society. this collection, which was purchased by cardinal mazarin, formed the foundation of the latter's magnificent library. consult the _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., p. ; colomié's _biblioth. choisie_, p. ; _mem. de l'inst._, vol. i., p. . nor must we forget morhof--_polyhist. literar._, vol. i., p. ; who, after a general commendation of the collection, tells us it is remarkable for containing a fine body of foreign history. de cordes died a.d. , in the d year of his age--nearly years having been devoted by him to the formation of his library. "fortunate senex!"----cotte. _catalogue des livres rares et précieux et de mss. composant la bibliothéque de m---- (le president de cotte)_, paris, , vo. we are told by peignot that the books at this sale were sold for most exorbitant sums: "the wealthy amateurs striving to make themselves masters of the large paper alduses, elzevirs, and stephenses, which had been count d'hoym's copies." an uncut first edition of homer, in the highest state of preservation, was purchased by mons. caillaird [transcriber's note: caillard] for , livres! see the _curiosités bibliographiques_, pp. lxv, lxvj. according to _cat. de caillard_, no. ( , vo.), there were only ten copies of this catalogue printed upon large paper.----couvay. _catalogue de la bibliothéque de m. couvay, chevalier de l'ordre de christ, secrétaire du roi_, paris, , fol. very few copies of this catalogue were printed, and those only for presents. _bibliogr. curieuse_, p. .----crevenna. _catalogue raisonnée de la collection des livres de m. pierre antoine crevenna, négocient à amsterdam_, , to., six vols.--_de la même collection_, , vo., five vols.--_de la même collection_, , vo. of these catalogues of one of the most extensive and magnificent collections ever formed in amsterdam, the first impression of (to which i have generally referred) is by far the most valuable in regard to bibliographical remarks and copious description. peignot tells us that no bibliographer can do without it. it was commenced in the year , and published during the life time of peter antony crevenna, the father; from whom the collection passed into the hands of the son bolongari crevenna, and in whose lifetime it was sold by public auction. the second impression of is the sale-catalogue, and contains more books than the preceding one; but the bibliographical observations are comparatively trifling. there are copies of this latter impression upon large paper in quarto. i possess an interesting copy of the small paper, which has numerous marginal remarks in pencil, by mr. edwards; who examined the library at amsterdam, with a view to purchase it entire. the last catalogue of , which was published after the death of the son, contains a few choice books which he had reserved for himself, and, among them, a curious set of fac-simile drawings of old prints and title-pages; some of which were obtained at the sale of the elder mirabeau (vide post). it seems to have been the ruling passion of b. crevenna's life to collect all the materials, from all quarters, which had any connection, more or less, with "the origin and progress of printing," and it is for ever to be regretted that such extensive materials as those which he had amassed, and which were sold at the sale of should have been dissipated beyond the hope of restoration. see peignot's _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. iii., p. ; and his _curiosités bibliographiques_, p. .----crozat. _catalogue des livres de monsieur le president crozat de tugny_, paris, , vo. this collection was particularly rich in the belles-lettres--and especially in italian and french romance-literature.----van damme. _catalogue d'une bibliotheque, vendue publiquement à la haye, le octobre, par varon et gaillard_, , three vols. vo. "this precious and rare collection belonged to m. pierre van damme, book-merchant at amsterdam, equally well known for his knowledge of bibliography and of medals; of which latter he had a beautiful and uncommon collection." _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., p. .----dubois. _bibliotheca duboisiana, ou catalogue de la bibliothéque du cardinal dubois. a la haye_, , vo., four vols. a collection which evinces the fine taste and sound judgment of the cardinal du bois. it is not rare abroad.----elzevir. _catalogus librorum qui in bibliopolio officinæ danielis elzevirii venales extant_, ams. , mo.: , mo.--_qui in bibliopoli elzeviriano venales extant_, lug. bat., , , to. these, and other catalogues of the books printed by the distinguished family of the elzevirs, should find a place within the cabinet of bibliographers. the first book ever published by the elzevirs was of the date of ; the last, of or , by daniel elzevir, who was the only surviving branch. his widow carried on the business after his decease in . in the _dictionnaire de bibliologie_ of peignot, vol. i., p. , vol. iii., p. , will be found a pleasing account of this family of (almost) unrivalled printers.----du fay. _bibliotheca fayana seu catalogus librorum bibl. cor. hier. de cisternay du fay, digestus à gabriel martin_, paris, , vo. the catalogue of this collection, which is a judicious one, and frequently referred to, is very carefully put forth by martin. i think that i have seen a copy of it upon large paper.----fagel. _bibliotheca fageliana. a catalogue of the valuable and extensive library of the greffier fagal, of the hague: in two parts._ london, , vo. it is highly creditable to that most respectable establishment, trinity college, dublin, that the present grand collection of books was purchased "en masse" (for _l._) to be deposited within its library; thus rendering the interior of the latter "companion meet" for its magnificent exterior. the title-page of the first part announces the sale of the books by auction by mr. christie; but the above offer having been made for the whole collection, the same was forthwith transported to ireland. collectors should take care that the second part of this catalogue be not wanting, which is oftentimes the case. a good index only is requisite to make the bibliotheca fageliana rank with the most valuable publications of its kind in existence. it was compiled by the well-known s. paterson.----faultrier. _catalogus librorum bibliothecæ domini joachimi faultrier, digestus à prosper marchand_, paris, , vo. the bibliographical introductory remarks, by marchand, render this volume (which rarely occurs) very acceptable to collectors of catalogues. maittaire has spoken well of the performance, _annal. typog._ iii., p. . consult also the _mem. de l'inst._, vol. i., p. , and the _dict. de bibliologie_, vol. ii., p. , upon marchand's introductory remarks relating to the arrangement of a library.----favier. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de feu mons. l'abbé favier, prêtre à lille_, lille, , vo. a well arranged catalogue of a choice collection of books, which cost the abbé fifty years of pretty constant labour in amassing. prefixed, are some interesting notices of mss.: and, among them, of a valuable one of froissart. the prints of the abbé were afterwards sold, from a catalogue of pages, printed at lisle in the same year.----du fresne. _raphaelis tricheti du fresne bibliothecæ catalogus._ paris, , to. "i have observed," says morhof, "a number of authors in this catalogue which i have in vain sought after elsewhere. the typographical errors (especially in regard to dates, adds baillet) are innumerable: and the theological, legal, and medical works, comparatively few--but in the departments of history, antiquities, and general literature, this collection is wonderfully enriched--containing authors hardly ever heard of." _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., p. . colomiés and labbe unite in conferring the highest praises upon du fresne and his collection. see the _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., p. ; where, however, the confused and inaccurate manner in which the catalogue is executed is sharply censured by baillet. morhof informs us that this collection was disposed of by du fresne's widow, to the royal library, for , _livres_, after she had refused , for the same.----gaignat. _catalogue des livres du cabinet de feu m. louis jean gaignat, disposé et mis en ordre par guill. françois de bure le jeune._ paris, , vo., two vols. one of the best executed, and most intrinsically valuable catalogues in existence. almost all the books of gaignat were in the choicest condition; being the cream of the collections of colbert, préfond, and de boze. the possession of this rare catalogue, which is indispensable to the collector, forms what is called a supplement to de bure's "_bibliographie instructive_." there are copies struck off upon small quarto paper, to arrange with a like number of this latter work. consult _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., p. .----genÈve. _catalogue raisonné des manuscrits conservés dans la bibliothéque, &c., de genève; par jean senibier._ genève, , vo. a neatly executed and useful catalogue of some manuscripts of no mean value. it has received a good character by mons. van-praet, in the _cat. de la valliere_, vol. iii., no. . see also p. , ante.----goez. _bibliothecæ goësinæ catalogus_, leidæ, , vo. a fine collection of books and of coins distinguished the museum of goez.----golowkin. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque du comte alexis de golowkin_, leipsic, , to. it is said that only copies of this catalogue were struck off, and that not more than two of these are known to be in france. neither the type nor paper has the most inviting aspect; but it is a curious volume, and contains a description of books "infiniment précieux." consult peignot's _bibliogr. curieuse_, p. . dr. clarke, in his _travels in russia, &c._, p. , has noticed the extraordinary library of count botterline, but says nothing of golowkin's.----gouttard. _catalogue des livres rares et precieux de feu m. gouttarde par guillaume de bure fils aîné._ paris, , vo. a short bibliographical notice of the amiable and tasteful owner of this select collection precedes the description of the books. the bibliographical observations are sometimes copious and valuable. this catalogue is indispensable to the collector.----guyon. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de feu m.j.b. denis guyon, chev. seigneur de sardiere, ancien capitaine au regiment du roi, et l'un des seigneurs du canal de briare._ paris, , vo. it is justly said, in the "advertisement" prefixed to this catalogue, that, in running over the different classes of which the collection is composed, there will be found articles "capable de piquer la curiosité des bibliophiles." in ancient and modern poetry, and in romances--especially relating to chivalry--this "ancient captain" appears to have been deeply versed. the advertisement is followed by pages of "eclaircissemens"--which give an interesting account of some precious manuscripts of old poetry and romances. a ms. note, in my copy of this catalogue, informs me that the books were sold "en masse."----heinsius. (nic.) _nicolai heinsii bibliothecæ catalogus_, ( ) vo. a portrait of the elegant and learned owner of this collection faces the title-page. the books contained in it are remarkable both for their rarity and intrinsic value; and a great number of them were enriched with the notes of scaliger, salmasius, and others. few collections display more judgment and taste in the selection than the present one; and few critics have been of more essential service to the cause of ancient classical literature than nicholas heinsius. he excelled particularly in his editions of the poets. mr. dyer, of exeter, the bookseller, has a copy of this catalogue, which was formerly grævius's; in which that celebrated critic has made marginal remarks concerning the rarity and value of certain works described in it.----hohendorf. _bibliotheca hohendorfiana; ou catalogue de la bibliothéque de feu mons. george guillaume baron de hohendorf: à la haye_, , vo., three parts. a magnificent collection; which a ms. note, by dr. farmer (in my copy of the catalogue), informs me was "added to the emperor's library at vienna." in the _bibl. mencken_, p. , it is thus loftily described: "catalogus per-rarus rarissimis libris superbiens."----hoym. _catalogus librorum bibliothecæ caroli henrici comitis de hoym_, , vo. this catalogue, which is exceedingly well "digested by martin," is a great favourite with collectors. a copy out of count hoym's collection tells well--whether at a book-sale, or in a bookseller's catalogue. there are copies upon large paper, which, when priced, sell high.----hulsius. _bibliotheca hulsiana, sive catalogus librorum quos magno labore, summa cura et maximis sumptibus collegit vir consularis samuel hulsius._ hag. com. , four vols. vo. (the second and third being in two parts, and the fourth in three). this is, in sober truth, a wonderful collection of books; containing nearly , articles--which, allowing three volumes to an article, would make the owner to have been in possession of , volumes of printed books and mss. the english library, (vol. iv., pt. ii.) of nearly articles, comprehended nearly all the best books of the day. there were about articles of spanish literature. nor was the worthy consul deficient in the love of the fine arts ("hæc est, sitque diu, senis optimi voluptas et oblectatio," says the compiler of the catalogue); having , most beautiful prints of subjects relating to the bible, bound up in atlas folio volumes. long live the memory of hulsius; a consular hero of no ordinary renown!----jena. _memorabilia bibliothecæ academicæ jenensis: sive designatio codicum manuscriptorum illa bibliothecâ et librorum impressorum plerumque rariorum. joh. christophoro mylio._ jenæ, , vo. a work of some little importance; and frequently referred to by vogt and panzer. it is uncommon.----jesu soc. _bibliotheca scriptorum societatis jesu._ antv., . romæ, , fol. although this work is not a professed catalogue of books, yet, as it contains an account of the writings of those learned men who were in the society of the jesuits--and as baillet, antonio, and morhof, have said every thing in commendation of it--i strongly recommend one or the other of these editions to the bibliographer's attention. i possess the edition of ; and have frequently found the most satisfactory intelligence on referring to it. how clever some of the jesuits were in their ideas of the arrangement of a library may be seen from their "_systema bibliothecæ jesuitarum collegii ludoviciani_"--which was written by garnier for the private use of the louvain college, and which is now extremely difficult to be found. see maichelius, _de præcip. bibl. parisiens_, p. . their "_systema bibliothecæ collegii parisiensis societatis jesu_," , to. (or catalogue of books in the college of clermont), is handsomely noticed by camus in the _mem. de l'inst._, vol. i., .----just, st. _catalogue des livres en très-petit nombre qui composent la bibliothéque de m. merard de st. just, ancien maitre-d'hotêl de monsieur, frère du roi (avec les prix d'achat)._ paris, , mo. of this book, printed upon superfine paper, of the manufactory of d'annonay, only copies were struck off. _bibl. curieuse_, p. . another catalogue of the same collection (perhaps a more copious one) was put forth in , vo., prepared by m. mauger, see _diction. bibliographique_, tom. iv., p. xiv.----krohn. _catalogus bibliothecæ præstantissimorum &c., librorum selectum complectentis. libros collegit et literariis catalogum animadversionibus instruxit, b.n. krohn. editio altera._ hamb. , vo. the preface to this very excellent collection of books is written in latin by rambach; and a most interesting one it is. after giving a slight sketch of the life and literary occupations of krohn, he thus finishes the picture of his death--"ego certe (exclaims the grateful biographer), mi krohni, te amabo, et quamdiu 'spiritus hos reget artus' gratam tui memoriam ex animo nunquam elabi patiar. o! me felicem, si, qua olim me beasti, amicitiâ nunc quoque frui possem. sed fruar aliquando, cum deus me ad beatorum sedes evocaverit, ac te mihi rediderit conjunctissimum. vale, interim, pia anima; et quem jam tristem reliquisti, prope diem exspecta, in tenerrimos tuos amplexus properantem, ac de summa, quam nunc habes, felicitate tibi congratulantem," p. xix. this is the genuine language of heart-felt grief; language, which those who have lost an old and good friend will know well how to appreciate. this catalogue, which was given to me by my friend the rev. dr. gosset, 'vir in re bibliographicâ [greek: polymathestatos],' exhibits a fine collection of books ( in number) relating to history and philology. some of krohn's notes are sufficiently shrewd and intelligent.----lamoignon. _catalogue des livres imprimés et manuscrits de la bibliothéque de m. le president de lamoignon (redigé par l. fr. delatour) avec une table des auteurs, et des anonymes._ paris, , fol. the bibliographer has only to hear peignot speak in his own language, and he will not long hesitate about the price to be given for so precious [transcriber's note: 'a' missing in original] volume: "catalogue fort rare, tiré a quinze exemplaires seulement, sur du papier de coton fabriqué, par singularité, à angoulême." mr. harris, of the royal institution, possesses a copy of it, bound in orange-coloured morocco, which was presented to him by mr. payne; and, as alexander placed his beloved homer--so does he this catalogue--uner [transcriber's note: under] his pillow "quand il vent se reposer--a cause des songes agréables qu'il doit inspirer." this beautiful volume, which was printed for lamoignon's own convenience, in supplemental parts, does not, however, contain baillet's interesting latin prefece, which may be seen in the _jugemens des savans_, vol. [transcriber's note: volume number missing in original] pt. ii., p. , ed. .----lamoignon. _des livres de la bibliothéque de feu m. de lamoignon, garde de sçeaux de france._ paris, , vo., vols. these volumes contain the sale catalogue of lamoignon's books as they were purchased by mr. t. payne, the bookseller. like the great libraries of crevenna and pinelli, this immense collection (with the exception of the works upon french jurisprudence) has been dissipated by public sale. it yet delights mr. payne to think and to talk of the many thousand volumes which were bound in morocco, or russia, or white-calf-leather, "with gilt on the edges"--which this extraordinary family of book-collectors had amassed with so much care and assiduity. the preface gives us a short, but pleasing, account of the bibliomanical spirit of lamoignon's father-in-law, monsieur berryer; who spent between thirty and forty years in enriching this collection with all the choice, beautiful, and extraordinary copies of works which, from his ministerial situation, and the exertions of his book-friends, it was possible to obtain. m. berryer died in , and his son-in-law in .----lamoignon. _des livres de la même biblothéque, par nyon l'âiné._ paris, , vo. this volume presents us with the relics of a collection which, in its day, might have vied with the most splendid in europe. but every thing earthly must be dissipated.----lancelot. _catalogue des livres de feu m. lancelot de l'academie royale des belles lettres._ paris, , vo. those who are fond of making their libraries rich in french history cannot dispense with this truly valuable catalogue. lancelot, like the elder lamoignon, appears to have been "buried in the benedictions of his countrymen"--according to the energetic language of bourdaloue.----lemariÉ. _catalogue des livres de feu m. lemarié, disposé et mis en ordre, par guil. de bure, fils aîné_, paris, , vo. a well digested catalogue of a rich collection of greek and latin literature, which evinces a man of taste and judgment. nothing can be more handsomely said of a collection than what de bure has prefixed to the present one. in the _cat. de gouttard_, no. , i find a copy of it upon large paper.----lomÉnie. _index librorum ab inventa typographia da annum , &c., cum notis, &c._ senonis, , vo., two vols. the owner of this collection, whose name does not appear in the title-page, was the celebrated cardinal de lomÉnie de brienne: who is described, in the advertisement prefixed to the catalogue of his books in , [vide infra] as having, from almost early youth, pushed his love of book-collecting to an excess hardly equalled by any of his predecessors. when he was but a young ecclesiastic, and had only the expectation of a fortune, his ruling passion for books, and his attachment to fellow bibliomaniacs, was ardent and general. but let his panegyrist speak in his own language--"si le hazard procuroit à ses amis quelque objét précieux, il n'avoit de repos qu'aprés l'avoir obtenu; les sacrifices ne l'effrayoient pas; il étoit né généreaux; mais ce qu'on lui accordoit, il le devoit sur-tout à ses manières insinuantes. ses sollicitations étoient toujours assaisonnées d'un ton d'amabilité auquel on résistoit difficilement. lorsque le tems et les grâces de la cour eurent aggrandi ses moyens, ses veus s'etendirent à proportion. insensiblement il embressa tous les genres, et sa bibliothéque devint un dépôt universel. dans ses fréquens voyages, s'il s'arrêtoit quelques instans dans une ville, on le voyoit visiter lui-même les libraries, s'introduire dans les maisons religieuses, s'insinuer dans les cabinets d'amateurs, chercher par-tout à acquérir; c'etoit un besoin pour lui d'acheter sans cesse, d'entasser les volumes. cette passion a peut-être ses excés; mais du moins, elle ne fut pas pour le cardinal de loménie une manie stérile. non seulement il aimoit, il connoissoit les livres, mais il savoit s'en servir; sans contredit il fut un des hommes les plus éclairés du clergé de france."----to return from this pleasing rhapsody to the catalogue, the title of which is above given. it is composed by laire, in the latin language, with sufficient bibliographical skill: but the index is the most puzzling one imaginable. the uncommonly curious and magnificent collection, not being disposed of "en masse"--according to advertisement--was broken up; and the more ancient books were sold by auction at paris, in , from a french catalogue prepared by de bure. some of the books were purchased by mr. edwards, and sold at london in the paris collection [vide p. , post]; as were also those relating to natural history; which latter were sold by auction without his eminence's name: but it is a gross error in the _bibl. krohn_, p. , no. , to say that many of these books were impious and obscene. these are scarce and dear volumes; and as they supply some deficiencies [transcriber's note: missing 'in'] audiffredi's account of books published at rome in the xvth century [vid. p. , ante], the bibliographer should omit no opportunity of possessing them.----lomÉnie. _d'une partie des livres de la bibliothéque du cardinal de loménie de brienne_, paris, an. v. [ ], vo. this collection, the fragments or ruins of the lomenie library, contains articles, or numbers, with a rich sprinkling of italian literature; leaving behind, however, a surplus of not fewer than twelve hundred pieces relating to the italian drama--many of them rare--which were to be sold at a future auction. from the biographical memoir prefixed to this catalogue, i have given the preceding extract concerning the character of the owner of the collection--who died in the same year as the sale.----macarthy. _catalogue des livres rares et précieux du cabinet de m.l.c.d.m._ (_m. le comte de macarthy_), paris, , vo. _supplement au catalogue des livres, &c._, de m.l.c.d.m., paris, , vo. _chez de bure, fils aîné._ these books were sold in january, ; and great things are said, in the advertisement, of their rarity and beauty. the count macarthy has, at this moment, one of the most magnificent collections upon the continent. his books printed upon vellum are unequalled by those of any private collection. of the above catalogue, a copy upon strong writing paper occurs in the _cat. de gouttard_, no. .----magliabechi. _catalogus codicum sæculo_ xv. _impressorum qui in publica bibliotheca magliabechiana florentiæ adservantur. autore ferdinando fossio; ejusd. bibl. præf._, florent., , folio, three vols. a magnificent and truly valuable publication (with excellent indexes) of the collection of the famous magliabechi; concerning whom the bibliographical world is full of curious anecdotes. the reader may consult two volumes of letters from eminent men to magliabechi, published in , &c., vide _bibl. pinell_, no. , &c., edit. : wolfius's edition of the _bibliotheca aprosiana_, p. ; and the strawberry hill[c] edition of the _parallel between magliabechi and mr. hill_, , vo.--an elegant and interesting little volume. before we come to speak of his birth and bibliographical powers, it may be as well to contemplate his expressive physiognomy. [illustration] magliabechi was born at florence october , . his parents, of low and mean rank, were well satisfied when they got him into the service of a man who sold herbs and fruit. he had never learned to read; and yet he was perpetually poring over the leaves of old books that were used in his master's shop. a bookseller, who lived in the neighbourhood, and who had often observed this, and knew the boy could not read, asked him one day "what he meant by staring so much on printed paper?" magliabechi said that "he did not know how it was, but that he loved it of all things." the consequence was that he was received, with tears of joy in his eyes, into the bookseller's shop; and hence rose, by a quick succession, into posts of literary honour, till he became librarian to the grand duke of tuscany. in this situation magliabechi had nothing further, or more congenial to his feelings, to sigh for: in the florentine library he revelled without cessation in the luxury of book-learning. the strength of his memory was remarkable; one day, the grand duke sent for him to ask whether he could procure a book that was particularly scarce. "no, sir," answered magliabechi, "it is impossible; for there is but one in the world, and that is in the grand signior's library at constantinople, and is the seventh book on the second shelf on the right hand as you go in." in spite of his cobwebs, dirt, and cradle lined with books, magliabechi reached his st year. hearne has contrived to interweave the following (rather trifling) anecdote of him, in his _johan. confrat., &c., de reb. glaston_, vol. ii., --which i give merely because it is the fashion to covet every thing which appertaineth to tom hearne. "i have mentioned the bank where the mss. (concerning the epistles of st. ignatius; bank lvii.) stands, and the title of the book, because vossius tells us not in his preface which of the several mss. in this library he made use of; and to finde it out gave me so much trouble that, if the grand duke's library-keeper had not known the book, and searched it for me, i think i should never have met with it, there being not one canon of st. laurence, not their library-keeper himself, nor, i believe, any other in florence, except this sre. magliabechi, that could direct me to it. the learned bishop will be pleased to take notice of sre. maliabechi's [transcriber's note: magliabechi's] civility; who, besides procuring me the grand duke's leave to collate the epistles, attended himself in the library, all the time i was there (the licence being granted by the grand duke upon this condition): and since, as a mark of his respect to the reverend bishop, hath been pleased to present him with a book (about the florentine history) which i have committed to mr. ferne, my lord lexinton's gentleman, to be conveyed to his lordship." (mr. ledgerd's account of his collations of the florentine ms. with the edition of vossius.)----st. mark. _græca d. marci bibliotheca codicum manuscriptorum præside laurentio theopolo._ venet. , folio: _ejusdem latina et italica bibliotheca codicum manuscriptorum præside eodem_, venet. , folio. these useful and handsomely executed volumes should be found in every extensive philological collection.----medici-lorenzo. _bibliothecæ mediceo-laurentianæ et palatinæ codicum manuscriptorum orientalium catalogus digessit s.e. assemanus._ florent. , folio. a very valuable and splendid publication; evincing the laudable ambition of the medici in their encouragement of oriental literature. the editor is commended in the preface of the subsequent catalogue, p. xxxxv.----medici-lorenzo. _bibliothecæ hebraico-grecæ florentinæ sive bibliothecæ mediceo-laurentianæ catalogus ab antonio maria biscionio, &c., digestus atque editus_, florent., , folio, two vols. in one. a grand book; full of curious fac-similes of all sorts of things. it was begun to be printed in , but biscioni's death, in may, , prevented the completion of the publication 'till may . see præfat., p. xxxxvii--and particularly the colophon.----medici-lorenzo. _catalogus codicum manuscriptorum, græcorum, latinorum, et italicoram, bibliothecæ medicæ laurentianæ: angelus maria bandinus recensuit, illustravit edidit._ florent., ; vols., ; vols., folio. an equally splendid work with the preceding--and much more copious and erudite in regard to intrinsically valuable matter. the indexes are excellent. no extensive philological library should be without these volumes--especially since the name of medici has recently become so popular, from the able biographical memoirs of the family by mr. roscoe.----menarsiana. _bibliotheca menarsiana; ou catalogue de la bibliothéque de feu messire jean jaques charron, chevalier marquis de menars_, &c. a la haye, , vo. a very fine collection of books in all branches of literature. after the "ordo venditionis," there is an additional leaf pasted in, signifying that a magnificent copy of fust's bible of , upon paper, would be sold immediately after the theological mss. in folio. it brought the sum of florins. the sale commenced at nine and at two; giving the buyers time to digest their purchases, as well as their dinners, at twelve! "tempora mutantur!"----menckenius. _catalogus bibliothecæ menckenianæ ab ottone et burchardo collectæ. editior altera longe emendatior._ lips., , vo. there are some curious and uncommon books in this collection; which evince the taste and judgment of menckenius, who was a scholar of no mean reputation. perhaps the word "rare" is too lavishly bestowed upon some of the books described in it.----meon. _catalogue des livres précieux singuliéres et rares de la bibliothèque de m. meon._ paris, an. xii. ( ), vo. a very choice collection of books; catalogued with considerable care.----mercier. _catalogue de la bibliothéque de m. mercier, abbé de saint leger_, par. m. de bure, , vo. if the reader has chanced to cast his eye over the account of the abbé de st. leger, at p. , ante, he will not hesitate long about procuring a copy of the catalogue of the library of so truly eminent a bibliographer.----mÉrigot. _catalogue des livres de m.j.g. mérigot, libraire_, par m. de bure, , vo. it is very seldom that this catalogue appears in our own country: which is the more provoking as the references to it, in foreign bibliographical works, render its possession necessary to the collector. mérigot was an eminent bookseller, and prepared a good catalogue of m. lorry's library, which was sold in , vo.----st. michael. _bibliotheca codicum manuscriptorum monasterij sancti michaelis venetiarum, una cum appendice librorum impressorum sæculi_ xv. _opus posthumum joannis bened. mittarelli._ venet., , folio. it were much to be wished that, after the example of this and other monasteries, all religious houses, which have large libraries attached to them, would publish accounts of their mss. and printed books. there is no knowing what treasures are hid in them, and of which the literary world must remain ignorant, unless they are thus introduced to general notice. how many curious and amusing anecdotes may be told of precious works being discovered under barbarous titles! among others, take, gentle reader, the two following ones--relating to books of a very different character. within a volume, entitled _secreta alberti_, were found "_the fruyte of redempcyon_," printed by w. de worde, , to.; and a hitherto imperfectly described impression of _the boke of fyshinge_, printed by w. de worde, in to., without date; which usually accompanies that fascinating work, ycleped dame juliana barnes's _boke of hawkyng, huntyng, and cote armoor_. my friend mr. j. haslewood first made me acquainted with this rare treasure--telling me he had "a famous tawny little volume" to shew me: his pulse, at the same time, i ween, beating one hundred and five to the minute! the second anecdote more exactly accords with the nature of my preliminary observations. in one of the libraries abroad, belonging to the jesuits, there was a volume entitled, on the back of it "_concilium tridenti_:" the searching eye and active hands of a well-educated bibliomaniac discovered and opened this volume--when lo! instead of the _council of trent_, appeared the _first_, and almost unknown, _edition_ of the _decameron of boccaccio_! this precious volume is now reposing upon the deserted shelves of the late duke of roxburgh's library; and, at the forth-coming sale of the same, it will be most vigorously contended for by all the higher and more knowing powers of the bibliographical world; but when the gods descending swell'd the fight, then tumult rose; fierce rage and pale affright varied each face: [_pope's_] _homer's iliad_, b. xx. v. . mirabeau. _catalogue de la bibliotheque de mirabeau l'aîné, par rozet_, , vo. a fine collection of books; some of them very curious and uncommon. at the head of the choice things contained in it must be noticed the "recueil de calques, ou dessins des titres et figure d'un grand nombre des plus anciens ouvrages, gravés en bois, ou imprimés en caractères mobiles, depuis l'origine de l'imprimerie," &c. these designs were in number; of which a description is given at the head of the catalogue. they were purchased for livres, and again sold, with the same description prefixed, at the last crevenna sale of (see p. , ante). consult the _curiosités bibliographiques_ of peignot, p. .----miromenil. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de m. hüe de miromenil, garde des sceaux de france_, paris, , to. "it appears, from the catalogue of m. de coste, that this is a rare book, of which only few copies were printed, and those never sold." _bibliogr. curieuse_, p. .----montfauÇon. _diarium italicum; sive monumentorum veterum, bibliothecarum, musæorum notitiæ singulares a d. bernardo de montfauçon_, paris, , to. _bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum nova, autore de bern. de montfauçon_, paris, , folio, two vols. these are the bibliographical works (which i thought would be acceptable if placed in this list of catalogues) of the illustrious montfauçon; whose publications place him on the summit of antiquarian fame. so much solid sense, careful enquiry, curious research, and not despicable taste, mark his voluminous productions! the bibliographer may rest assured that he will not often be led into confusion or error in the perusal of the above curious and valuable volumes, which have always been considered precious by the philologist.----morelli. _jacobi morellii bibliothecæ regiæ divi marci venetiarum custodis, bibliotheca manuscripta græca et latina._ tom. prim. bassani, vo. morelli was the amiable and profoundly learned librarian of st. mark's at venice; and this catalogue of his greek and latin mss. is given upon the authority of peignot's _curiosités bibliographiques_, p. lix.----museum british. _catalogus librorum manuscript. bibl. cotton._, oxon., , fol. _a catalogue of the manuscripts in the cottonian library_, lond. , vo. _a catalogue of the same_, , fol. _a catalogue of the harleian manuscripts, &c._, lond., , fol., vols. _a catalogue of the same_, lond., , fol., vols. _a catalogue of the mss. of the kings library, &c._, , to. _a catalogue of the mss., &c., hitherto undescribed_, lond., , to., two vols. _catalog. libror. impress., &c._, lond., , folio, vols. these are the published catalogues of the literary treasures, in manuscript and in print, which are contained in the british museum. the _first cottonian_ catalogue has a life of sir robert cotton, and an account of his library prefixed to it. the _second_, by samuel hooper, was intended "to remedy the many defects" in the preceding catalogue, and "the injudicious manner" in which it was compiled; but it is of itself sufficiently confused and imperfect. the _third_, which is the most copious and valuable, with an index (and which has an abridged account of sir robert cotton, and of his library), was drawn up by mr. planta, the principal librarian of the british museum. a great part of the first catalogue of the _harleian mss._ was compiled by the celebrated humphrey wanley, and a most valuable and ably executed publication it is! the _second_ is executed by the rev. r. nares: it contains the preface of the first, with an additional one by himself, and a copious index; rendering this the most complete catalogue of mss. which has ever yet appeared in our own country; although one regrets that its typographical execution should not have kept pace with its intrinsic utility. the two latter catalogues of mss. above described give an account of those which were presented by royal munificence, and collected chiefly by sir hans sloane and dr. birch. the catalogue of (which is now rare) was compiled by david casley: that of , by samuel ascough. of the catalogue of _printed books_, it would be unfair to dwell upon its imperfections, since a new, and greatly enlarged and improved, impression of it is about going to press, under the editorial care and inspection of messrs. h. ellis and baber, the gentlemen to whom the printed books are at present intrusted. mr. douce, who has succeeded mr. nares as head librarian of the mss., is busily employed in examining the multifarious collection of the _lansdowne mss._ (recently purchased by the trustees of the museum), and we may hope that the day is not very far distant when the public are to be congratulated on his minute and masterly analysis of these treasures.----paris. _catalogue de la bibliothéque de m. paris de meyzieux_, paris, , vo. _bibliotheca elegantissima parisina, par m. lourent_, , vo. _the same_: lond., , vo. since the days of gaignat and the duke de la valliere, the longing eyes of bibliographers were never blessed with a sight of more splendid and choice books than were those in the possession of m. paris de meyzieux. the spira virgil of , upon vellum, will alone confer celebrity upon the _first_ catalogue--but what shall we say to the _second_? it consists of only articles, and yet, as is well observed in the preface, it was never equalled for the like number. happy is that noviciate in bibliography who can forget the tedium of a rainy day in sitting by the side of a log-wood fire, and in regaling his luxurious fancy, by perusing the account of "fine, magnificent, matchless, large paper," and "vellum" copies which are thickly studded from one end of this volume to the other. happier far the veteran, who can remember how he braved the _perils of the sale_, in encountering the noble and heavy metalled competitors who flocked, from all parts of the realm, to partake of these _parisian_ spoils! such a one casts an eye upon his well-loaded shelves, and while he sees here and there a yellow morocco aldus, or a russian leather froben, he remembers how bravely he fought for each, and with what success his exertions were crowned! for my own part, gentle reader, i frankly assure thee that--after having seen the "heures de notre dame," written by the famous jarry, and decorated with seven small exquisite paintings of the virgin and christ--and the _aldine petrarch_ and _virgil_ of , all of them executed upon snow-white vellum--after having seen only these books out of the paris collection, i hope to descend to my obscure grave in perfect peace and satisfaction! the reader may smile; but let him turn to nos. , , , of the _bibl. paris_: no. of the _cat. de la valliere_; and _curiositès bibliographiques_, p. . this strain of "ètourderie bibliographique," ought not to make me forget to observe that we are indebted to the enterprising spirit and correct taste of mr. edwards for these, as well as for many other, beautiful books imported from the continent. nor is it yet forgotten that some thorough-bred bibliomaniacs, in their way to the sale, used to call for a glass of ice, to allay the contagious inflammation which might rage in the auction-room. and now take we leave of monsieur paris de meyzieux. peace to the ashes of so renowned a book-chevalier.----petau et mansart. _bibliotheca potavina et mansartiana; ou catalogue des bibliothéques de messrs. alexander petau, et françois mansart; auxquells on a ajouté le cabinet des mss. de justus lipsius._ haye, , vo. a catalogue not very common, and well worth the bibliographer's consultation.----pinelli. _bibliotheca maphæi pinelli veneti, &c. a jacobo morellio._ venetiis, , vols., vo. _bibliotheca pinelliana: a catalogue of the magnificent and celebrated library of maffæi pinelli, late of venice_, &c., london, , vo. there can be no question about the priority, in point both of typographical beauty and intrinsic excellence, of these catalogues; the latter being only a common sale one, with the abridgment of the learned preface of morelli, and of his bibliographical notices. this immense collection (of the ancient owners of which we have a short sketch in morhof, vol. i., pp. , ) was purchased by messrs. edwards and robson: the greek and latin books were sold for _l._, the italian, for _l._--which barely repaid the expenses of purchase, including duties, carriage, and sale. although, as dr. harwood has observed, "there being no dust in venice, this most magnificent library has in general lain reposited for some centuries, in excellent preservation,"--yet the copies were not, upon the whole, in the choicest condition. there are copies of the catalogue of upon large paper. the catalogue of (with an elegant portrait of pinelli prefixed) has, at first sight, the aspect of a work printed in small quarto.----pompadour. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de feue madame la marquise de pompadour, dame du palais de la reine_, paris, , vo. the name of madame de pompadour will be always respected by bibliographers, on account of the taste and judgment which are displayed in this elegant collection. the old popular romances form the leading feature; but there is an ample sprinkling of the belles-lettres and poetry. an animated eulogium is pronounced upon mad. de pompadour by jardé, in his "précis sur les bibliothéques;" prefixed to the last edition of fournier's _dictionnaire portatif de bibliographie_, p. vij.----prÉfond. _catalogue des livres du cabinet de m.d.p. (girardot de préfond) par guillaume f. de bure_, paris, , vo. an excellent collection; not wanting in rare and magnificent productions. the owner of it was distinguished for many solid, as well as splendid, qualifications. only six copies of it were printed upon large paper. see _cat. de gaignat_, vol. ii., no. .----randon de boisset. _catalogue des livres du cabinet de feu m. randon du boisset. par guil. de bure, fils aîné_, paris, , mo. although the generality of catalogue collectors will be satisfied with the usual copy of this well-digested volume, yet i apprehend the curious will not put up with any thing short of a copy of it upon strong writing paper. such a one was in the gouttard collection. see _cat. de gouttard_, no. .----_reimannus._ _j.f. reimanni catalogus bibliothecæ theologicæ systematico-criticus._ hildes. , vo., two vols. _ejusdem accessiones uberiores ad catalogum systematico-criticum, editæ a jo. w. reimannus_, brunsv., , vo. i have before given the character of this work in the introductory part of my "knowledge of the greek and latin classics." every thing commendatory of it may be here repeated.----renati. _bibliothecæ josephi renati imperialis, &c., cardinalis catalogus, &c._ romæ, , fol. this excellent catalogue, which cost the compiler of it, fontanini, nine years of hard labour, is a most useful and valuable one; serving as a model for catalogues of large libraries. see the more minute criticism upon it in _cat. de santander_, no. . my copy, which wants the title-page, but luckily contains the latin preface, was formerly ruddiman's. the volume has pages: this is noticed because all the appendixes and addenda are comprehended in the same.----revickzky. _bibliotheca græca et latina, complectens auctores fere omnes græcia et latii veteris, &c., cum delectu editionum tam primariarum, &c., quam etiam optimarum, splendidissimarum, &c., quas usui meo paravi._ periergus deltophilus (the feigned name for revickzky), berolini, : , vo. it was the delight of count revickzky, the original owner of this collection, to devote his time and attention to the acquisition of scarce, beautiful, and valuable books; and he obtained such fame in this department of literature as to cause him to be ranked with the vallieres, pinellis, and loménies of the day. he compiled, and privately disposed of, the catalogue of his collection, which bears the above title; and to some few of which are prefixed a letter to m. l' a.d. [enini] (member of the french academy) and a preface. _three supplements_ to this catalogue were also, from time to time, circulated by him; so that the purchaser must look sharply after these acquisitions to his copy--as some one or the other of them are generally missing. peignot supposes there are only _two_ supplements. _bibl. curieuse_, p. . when count revickzky came over to england, he made an offer to earl spencer to dispose of the whole collection to his lordship, for a certain "round sum" to be paid immediately into his hands, and to receive, in addition, a yearly sum by way of annuity. so speaks fame. shortly after this contract was closed, the count died; and earl spencer, in consequence, for a comparatively small sum (the result of an immediate and generous compliance with the count's wishes!), came into the possession of a library which, united with his previous magnificent collection, and the successful ardour with which he has since continued the pursuit, places him quite at the head of all the collectors in europe--for early, rare, precious, and beautiful, books. long may he possess such treasures!--and fleeing from the turbulence of politics, and secluded as he is, both in the metropolis and at althorp, from the stunning noise of a city, may he always exclaim, with horace, as the count did before him-- sit mihi, quod nunc est, etiam minus; ut mihi vivam quod superest ævi, si quid superesse volunt dí. sit bona librorum et provisæ frugis in annum copia, ne fluitem dubiæ spe pendulus horæ. _epist. lib._ i.: _epist._ xviii. v., . sir m.m. sykes, bart., has a copy of the edition of [which is in every respect the better one], printed upon fine vellum paper. a similar copy of the edition of is noticed in the _cat. de caillard_,( ) no. . at the sale of m. meon's books, in , a copy of the first edition, charged with ms. notes of the celebrated mercier st. leger, was sold for livres.----rive. _catalogue de la bibliothéque de l'abbé rive, par archard_, marseille, , vo. a catalogue of the books of so sharp-sighted a bibliographer as was the abbé rive cannot fail to be interesting to the collector.----du roi [louis xv.] _catalogus codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecæ regiæ (studio et labore anicetti mellot). paris, e typog. reg._, , folio, four vols.----du roi. _des livres imprimés de la même bibliothéque royale. (disposè par messrs. les abbés sallier et boudot, &c.) paris, de l'imprim. royale_, - , folio, six vols. the most beautiful and carefully executed catalogue in the world: reflecting a truly solid lustre upon the literary reputation of france! the first four volumes, written in latin, comprehend an account of mss.: the six last, written in french, of printed works in theology, jurisprudence, and belles-lettres; the departments of history and the arts and sciences still remaining to be executed. de bure told us, half a century ago, that the "gens de lettres" were working hard at the completion of it; but the then complaints of bibliographers at its imperfect state are even yet continued in fournier's last edition of his _dictionnaire portatif de bibliographie_, p. . so easy it is to talk; so difficult to execute! i believe, however, that m. van-praet, one of the principal librarians, is now putting all engines to work to do away the further disgrace of such unaccountably protracted negligence. my copy of this magnificent set of books is bound in red morocco, gilt leaves, and was a presentation one from the king "au comte de neny, comme une marque de son estime, ." i should add that the first volume of "theology" contains a history of the rise and progress of the royal library, which was reprinted in vo., .----du roi. _notices et extraits des manuscrits de la bibliothéque du roi, paris. de l'imprim. roy._ , to., seven vols. it will be obvious to the candid reader that this work could not be better introduced than in the present place; and a most interesting and valuable one it is! my copy of it, which is only in six volumes [but a seventh is mentioned in _cat. de boutourlin_, no. , and in caillot's _roman bibliographique_, p. ], was purchased by me of mr. evans of pall-mall, who had shewn it to several lovers of bibliography, but none of whom had courage or curiosity enough to become master of the volumes. how i have profited by them, the supplement to my first volume of the "typographical antiquities of great britain," may in part shew. the public shall be made acquainted with still more curious excerpts. in my humble judgment the present work is a model of extraction of the marrow of old mss. it may be worth adding, the plates in the sixth volume are singular, curious and beautiful.----du roi. _accounts and extracts of the manuscripts in the library of the king of france. translated from the french_, london, , vo., two vols. "the french monarch [louis xvi.], in the publication now before us, has set an example to all europe, well worthy to be followed"--says the opening of the translator's preface. the present volumes contain a translation of only twenty-two articles from the preceding work; and very strongly may they be recommended to the curious philologist, as well as to the thorough-bred bibliomaniac.----rÖver. _bibliotheca röveriana, sive catalogus librorum qui studiis inservierunt matthiæ röveri._ lug. bat. , vo., _two parts_. from the elegant and pleasing latin preface to this most carefully compiled catalogue, we learn that the owner of the books lived to his d year--and [what must be a peculiar gratification to bibliomaniacs] that he beat pomponius atticus in the length of time during which he never had occasion to take physic; namely, years! röver's life seemed to glide away in rational tranquillity, and in total seclusion from the world; except that he professed and always shewed the greatest kindness to his numerous, and many of them helpless, relatives--"vix in publicum prodiit, nisi cultus divini externi aut propinquorum caussâ," p. xv. his piety was unshaken. like the venerable jacob bryant, his death was hastened in consequence of a contusion in his leg from a fall in endeavouring to reach a book.----rothelin. _catalogue des livres de feu m'l. abbé d'orleans de rothelin. par g. martin_, paris, , vo. this catalogue of the library of the amiable and learned abbé rothelin, "known (says camus) for his fine taste for beautiful books," is judiciously drawn up by martin, who was the de bure of his day. a portrait of its owner faces the title-page. it was the abbé rothelin who presented de boze with the celebrated '_guirlande de julie_'--a work which afterwards came into the valliere collection, and was sold for , livres,--"the highest price (says peignot) ever given for a modern book." consult his _curiosités bibliographiques_, pp. , ; and _bibl. curieuse_, p. .----sarraz. _bibliotheca sarraziana._ hag. com., , vo. this catalogue, which is frequently referred to by bibliographers, should not escape the collector when he can obtain it for a few shillings. a tolerably good preface or diatribe is prefixed, upon the causes of the rarity of books, but the volume itself is not deserving of all the fine things in commendation of it which are said in the _bibl. reiman_, pt. ii., p. , &c.----sartori. _catalogus bibliographicus librorum latinorum et germanicorum in bibliotheca cæsar. reg. et equestris academiæ theresianæ extantium, cum accessionibus originum typographicarum. vindobonensium, et duobus supplementis necnon, indice triplici, systematico, bibliographico, et typographico; auctore josepho de sartori._ vindobonæ, - , to. vol. i., ii., iii. of this very curious and greatly-to-be-desired catalogue, which is to be completed in eight volumes, it is said that only one hundred copies are struck off. peignot has a long and interesting notice of it in his _bibliographie curieuse_, p. .----schalbruck. _bibliotheca schalbruchiana; sive catalogus exquisitissimorum rarissimorumque librorum, quos collegit joh. theod. schalbruch._ amst. , vo. a very fine collection of rare and curious books. from a priced copy of the catalogue, accidentally seen, i find that some of them produced rather large sums.----schwartz. _catalogus librorum continens codd. mss. et libros sæculo_ xv. _impressos, quos possedit et notis recensuit a.g. schwarzius_, altorf. , vo. the name of schwartz is so respectable in the annals of bibliography that one cannot help giving the present catalogue a place in one's collection. according to _bibl. solger._, vol. iii., no. , a first part (there said to be printed upon large paper) was published in . schwartz's treatise, "_de orig. typog. document. primar._" altorf, , to., should have been noticed at p. , ante.----scriverius. _bibliothecæ scriverianæ catalogus_, amst., , to.--"exquisitissimus est: constat enim selectissimus omnium facultatum et artium autoribus." this is the strong recommendatory language of morhof: _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., .----serna santander. _catalogue des livres de la bibliothéque de m.c. de la serna santander; redigé et mis en ordre par lui même; avec des notes bibliographiques et littèraires_, &c. bruxelles, , vo., five volumes. an extensive collection of interesting works; with a sufficiently copious index at the end of the fourth volume. the fifth volume contains a curious disquisition upon the antiquity of signatures, catchwords, and numerals; and is enriched with a number of plates of watermarks of the paper in ancient books. this catalogue, which is rarely seen in our own country, is well worth a place in any library. it is a pity the typographical execution of it is so very indifferent. for the credit of a bibliographical taste, i hope there were a few copies struck off upon large paper.----sion college. _catalogus universalis librorum omnium in bibliotheca collegii sionii apud londinenses_; londini, , to. _ejusdem collegii librorum catalogus, &c., cura reading_, lond., , fol. as the first of these catalogues (of a collection which contains some very curious and generally unknown volumes) was published before the great fire of london happened, there will be found some books in it which were afterwards consumed, and therefore not described in the subsequent impression of . this latter, which tom osborne, the bookseller, would have called a "pompous volume," is absolutely requisite to the bibliographer: but both impressions should be procured, if possible. the folio edition is common and cheap.----smith [consul]. _bibliotheca smithiana, seu catalogus librorum d.j. smithii angli, per cognomina authorum dispositus._ venetiis, , to. _a catalogue of the curious, elegant, and very valuable library of joseph smith, esq., his britannic majesty's consul at venice, lately deceased_, , vo. these are the catalogues of the collections of books occasionally formed at venice, by mr. joseph smith, during his consulship there. the quarto impression contains a description of the books which were purchased "en masse" by his present majesty. it is singularly well executed by paschali, comprehending, by way of an appendix, the prefaces to those volumes in the collection which were printed in the fifteenth century. i possess a brochûre of pages, containing a catalogue of books printed in the fifteenth century, which has consul smith's arms at the beginning, and, at the end, this subscription, "pretiosissima hæc librorum collectio, cujusvis magni principis bibliotheca dignissima, constat voluminibus ccxlviii." the title-page has no date. i suspect it to be the same catalogue of books which is noticed at p. , ante, and which probably the consul bought: forming the greater part of his own library of early printed books. see too the _bibliogr. miscellany_, vol. ii., . the collection of was sold by auction, for mr. robson, by messrs. baker and leigh--and a fine one it was. among these books, the spira virgil of , printed upon vellum, was purchased for _only twenty-five guineas_! excidat ille dies ævo--ne postera credant sæcula--! ----solger. _bibliotheca sive supellex librorum impressorum, &c., et codicum manuscriptorum, quos per plurimos annos collegit, &c., adamus rudolphus solger._ norimb., , vo., three parts or vols. i should almost call this publication "facile princeps catalogorum"--in its way. the bibliographical notices are frequent and full; and saving that the words "rarus, rarior, et rarissimus," are sometimes too profusely bestowed, nothing seems to be wanting to render this a very first rate acquisition to the collector's library. i am indebted to the bibliomanical spirit of honest mr. manson, of gerard-street, the bookseller, for this really useful publication.----soubise. _catalogue des livres imprimés et manuscrits, &c., de feu monseigneur le prince de soubise (par feu le clerc)_, paris, , vo. a short history of this collection will be the best inducement to purchase the present catalogue, whenever it comes in the way of the collector. the foundation of this splendid library was that of the famous de thou's [vide art. thuanus, post], which was purchased by the cardinal de rohan, who added it to his own grand collection--"the fruit of a fine taste and a fine fortune." it continued to be augmented and enriched 'till, and after, it came into the possession of the prince de soubise--the last nobleman of his name--who dying in january, , the entire collection was dispersed by public auction: after it had been offered for the purchase of one or two eminent london booksellers, who have repented, and will repent to their dying day, their declining the offer. this catalogue is most unostentatiously executed upon very indifferent paper; and, while an excellent index enables us to discover any work of which we may be in want, the beautiful copies from this collection which are in the cracherode library in the british museum, give unquestionable proof of the splendour of the books. for the credit of french bibliography, i hope there are some few copies upon large paper.----tellier. _bibliotheca tellereana, sive catalogus librorum bibliotheca caroli mauritii le tellier, archiepiscopi ducis remensis. parisiis, e typographia regia_, , fol. a finely engraved portrait of tellier faces the title-page. this is a handsome volume, containing a numerous and well-chosen collection of books.----thuanus. [de thou] _bibliothecæ thuanæ catalogus_, parisiis, , vo. "three particular reasons," says baillet, "should induce us to get possession of this catalogue; first, the immortal glory acquired by de thou in writing his history, and in forming the most perfect and select library of his age: and secondly, the abundance and excellence of the books herein specified; and, thirdly, the great credit of the bibliographers du puys and quesnel, by whom the catalogue was compiled." _jugemens des savans_, vol. ii., p. , &c. morhof is equally lavish in commendation of this collection. see his _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., , . the books of de thou, whose fame will live as long as a book shall be read, were generally in beautiful condition, with his arms stamped upon the exterior of the binding, which was usually of morocco; and, from some bibliographical work (i think it is santander's catalogue), i learn that this binding cost the worthy president not less than , crowns. de thou's copy of the editio princeps of homer is now in the british museum; having been presented to this national institution by the rev. dr. cyril jackson, who has lately resigned the deanery of christ church college, oxford,--"and who is now wisely gone to enjoy the evening of life in repose, sweetened by the remembrance of having spent the day in useful and strenuous exertion." for an account of the posterior fate of de thou's library, consult the article "soubise," ante. i should add that, according to the _bibl. solgeriana_, vol. iii., p. , no. , there are copies of this catalogue upon large paper.----uffenbach. _catalogus universalis bibliothecæ uffenbachinæ librorum tam typis quam manu exaratorum._ francof. ad moen, , vo., vols. this catalogue is no mean acquisition to the bibliographer's library. it rarely occurs in a perfect and clean condition.----valliere (duc de la). _catalogue des livres provenans de la bibliothéque de m.l.d.d.l.v._, (m. le duc de la valliere) _disposé et mis en ordre par guill. franc. de bure le jeune._ paris, , vo., vols.--_des livres de la même bibliothéque._ paris, , vo.--_des livres et manuscrits de la même bibliothéque_, paris, , vo., vols.--_des livres de la même bibliothéque_, paris, , vols. vo. these twelve volumes of catalogues of this nobleman's library impress us with a grand notion of its extent and value--perhaps never exceeded by that of any private collection! it would seem that the duke de la valliere had two sales of part of his books (of which the two first catalogues are notifications) during his life-time: the two latter catalogues of sales having been put forth after his decease. of these latter (for the former contain nothing remarkable in them, except that there are copies of the first on large paper, in to.), the impression of , which was compiled by van praet and de bure, is the most distinguished for its notices of mss. and early printed books: and in these departments it is truly precious, being enriched with some of the choicest books in the gaignat collection. those printed upon vellum alone would form a little library! of the impression of , which has a portrait of the owner prefixed, there were fifty copies printed upon large paper, in to., to harmonize with the _bibliographie instructive_, and _gaignat's catalogue_. see _bibliographical miscell._, vol. ii., . twelve copies were also printed in royal vo., upon fine stout vellum paper; of which the rt. hon. t. grenville has a beautiful uncut copy in six volumes. see also _cat. de loménie_ [ ], no. . the last publication of was put forth by nyon l'aîné; and although the bibliographical observations are but few in comparison with those in the preceding catalogue, and no index is subjoined, yet it is most carefully executed; and presents us with such a copious collection of french topography, and old french and italian poetry and romances, as never has been, and perhaps never will be, equalled. it contains , articles. the count d'artois purchased this collection "en masse;" and it is now deposited in the "bibliothéque de l'arsenal." see _dictionn. bibliographique_, vol. iv., p. . it was once offered for purchase to a gentleman of this country--highly distinguished for his love of virtû. mr. grenville has also a similar large paper copy of this latter edition, of the date of .----vienna. _codices manuscripti theologici. bibl. palat. vindob. latini aliarumque occidentis linguarum_, vol. i. (in tribus partibus.) _recens._, &c., _michael denis._ vindob. , folio. some mention of this work has been made at page , ante. it may be here necessary to remark that, from the preface, it would appear to contain a ninth additional book to lambecius's well-known commentaries (vide, p. , ante) which kollarius had left unpublished at his death. the preface is well worth perusal, as it evinces the great pains which denis has taken; and the noble, if not matchless, munificence of his patron--"qui præter augustam bibliothecæ fabricam in ipsos libros centenis plura rhenensium expendit millia."--this catalogue is confined to a description of latin, with some few notices of oriental manuscripts; as the preceding work of lambecius and kollarius contained an account of the greek mss. these three parts, forming one volume, are closed by an excellent index. the second volume was published in . upon the whole, it is a noble and highly useful publication; and places its author in the foremost rank of bibliographers.----volpi. _catalogo della libreria de volpi_, &c. _opera di don gaetano volpi._ padova, , vo. the crevenna library was enriched with a great number of valuable books which came from the library of the celebrated vulpii; of which the present is a well-arranged and uncommon catalogue. annexed to it there is an account of the press of the comini, which belonged to the owners of this collection. the reader may consult _bibl. crevenn._, vol. v., pp. - ; and dr. clarke's _bibliogr. miscell._, vol. ii., .----voyage _de deux français dans le nord de l'europe, en - , (par m. de fortia)_ paris, , vo., vols. that the collector of catalogues may not scold me for this apparent deviation from the subject discussed in this note, i must inform him, upon the authority of peignot, that these interesting volumes contain "some account of the most beautiful and curious books contained in the libraries of the north, and in those of italy, spain, holland, &c." _curiosités bibliographiques_, p. lviii.----de witt. _catalogus bibliothecæ joannis de witt_, dordraci, , mo. the preface to this catalogue, (from which an extract was given in the _first_ edition of my "_introduction to the editions of the greek and latin classics_," , vo.,) gives us a pleasing account of an ardent and elegant young man in the pursuit of every thing connected with virtû. de witt seems to have been, in books and statues, &c., what his great ancestor was in politics--"paucis comparandus." a catalogue of the library of a collector of the same name was published at brussels, in , by de vos. see _cat. de santander_, vol. iv., no. .----zurich. _catalogus librorum bibliothecæ tigurinæ._ tiguri, , vo., vols. although the last, this is not the most despicable, catalogue of collections here enumerated. a reading man, who happens to winter in switzerland, may know, upon throwing his eyes over this catalogue, that he can have access to good books at zurich--the native place of many an illustrious author! the following, which had escaped me, may probably be thought worthy of forming an appendix to the preceding note. bern. _cat. codd. mss. bibl. bernensis. cum annotationibus, &c. curante sinner._ bernæ, , vo. a very curious and elegantly printed catalogue with three plates of fac-similes.----parker [abp.] _catalog. libror. mss. in bibl. coll. corporis christi in cantab., quos legavit m. parkerus archiepiscop. cant._ lond., , fol.; _eorundem libror. mss. catalogus. edidit j. nasmith._ cantab., , to. of these catalogues of the curious and valuable mss. which were bequeathed to corpus college (or bennet college, as it is sometimes called) by the immortal archbishop parker, the first is the more elegantly printed, but the latter is the more copious and correct impression. my copy of it has a fac-simile etching prefixed, by tyson, of the rare print of the archbishop, which will be noticed in part v., post.----royal institution. _a catalogue of the library of the royal institution of great britain, &c. by william harris, keeper of the library._ lond., , vo. if a lucid order, minute and correct description of the volumes of an admirably chosen library, accompanied with a copious and faithful alphabetical index, be recommendations with the bibliographer, the present volume will not be found wanting upon his shelf. it is the most useful book of its kind ever published in this country. let the bibliomaniac hasten to seize one of the five remaining copies only (out of the _fifty_ which were printed) upon large paper!----wood (anthony). _a catalogue of antony-a-wood's manuscripts in the ashmolean museum; by w. huddesford_, oxon, , vo. the very name of _old anthony_ (as it delights some facetious book-collectors yet to call him!) will secure respect for this volume. it is not of common occurrence.] [footnote c: in part vi. of this work will be found a list of books printed here. the armorial bearings of lord orford are placed at p. .] lis. you have so thoroughly animated my feelings, and excited my curiosity, in regard to bibliography, that i can no longer dissemble the eagerness which i feel to make myself master of the several books which you have recommended. lysand. alas, your zeal will most egregiously deceive you! _where_ will you look for such books? at what bookseller's shop, or at what auction, are they to be procured? in this country, my friend, few are the private collections, however choice, which contain two third parts of the excellent works before mentioned. patience, vigilance, and personal activity, are your best friends in such a dilemma. lis. but i will no longer attend the sale of malvolio's busts and statues, and gaudy books. i will fly to the strand, or king-street: peradventure-- phil. gently, my good lisardo. a breast thus suddenly changed from the cold of nova zembla to the warmth of the torrid zone requires to be ruled with discretion. and yet, luckily for you-- lis. speak--are you about to announce the sale of some bibliographical works? phil. even so. to morrow, if i mistake not, gonzalvo's choice gems, in this way, are to be disposed of. lis. consider them as my own. nothing shall stay me from the possession of them. lysand. you speak precipitately. are you accustomed to attend book-auctions? lis. no; but i will line my pockets with pistoles, and who dare oppose me? phil. and do you imagine that no one, but yourself, has his pockets "lined with pistoles," on these occasions? lis. it may be so--that other linings are much warmer than my own:--but, at any rate, i will make a glorious struggle, and die with my sword in my hand. phil. this is _book-madness_ with a vengeance! however, we shall see the issue. when and how do you propose going? lis. a chaise shall be at this door by nine in the morning. who will accompany me? lysand. our friend and philemon will prevent your becoming absolutely raving, by joining you. i shall be curious to know the result. lis. never fear. _bibliomania_ is, of all species of insanity, the most rational and praise-worthy. i here solemnly renounce my former opinions, and wish my errors to be forgotten. i here crave pardon of the disturbed manes of the martins, de bures, and patersons, for that flagitious act of _catalogue-burning_; and fondly hope that the unsuspecting age of boyhood will atone for so rash a deed. do you frankly forgive--and will you henceforth consider me as a worth [transcriber's note: worthy] "_aspirant_" in the noble cause of bibliography? lysand. most cordially do i forgive you; and freely admit you into the fraternity of bibliomaniacs. philemon, i trust, will be equally merciful. phil. assuredly, lisardo, you have my entire forgiveness: and i exult a little in the hope that you will prove yourself to be a sincere convert to the cause, by losing no opportunity of enriching your bibliographical stores. already i see you mounted, as a book chevalier, and hurrying from the country to london--from london again to the country--seeking adventures in which your prowess may be displayed--and yielding to no competitor who brandishes a lance of equal weight with your own! lis. 'tis well. at to-morrow's dawn my esquire shall begin to burnish up my armour--and caparison my courser. till then adieu! * * * * * here the conversation, in a connected form, ceased; and it was resolved that philemon and myself should accompany lisardo on the morrow. [illustration] [illustration: fari quÆ sentiat] part iii. =the auction room.= character of orlando. of ancient prices of books, and book-binding. book-auction bibliomaniacs. "as to the late method used in selling books by auction in london, i suppose that many have paid dear for their experience in this way--it being apparent that most books bought in an auction may be had cheaper in booksellers' shops." clavel: _cat. of books for , pref._ [illustration] [illustration] =the auction room.= character of orlando. of ancient prices of books, and book-binding. book auction bibliomaniacs. never, surely, did two mortals set off upon any expedition with greater glee and alacrity than did lisardo and philemon for the sale, by auction, of gonzalvo's bibliographical library. the great pains which lysander had taken in enumerating the various foreign and domestic writers upon bibliography, with his occasionally animated eulogies upon some favourite author had quite inflamed the sanguine mind of lisardo; who had already, in anticipation, fancied himself in possession of every book which he had heard described. like homer's high-bred courser, who --ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost-- our young bibliomaniac began to count up his volumes, arrange his shelves, bespeak his binder, and revel in the luxury of a splendid and nearly matchless collection. the distance from my house to the scene of action being thirteen miles, lisardo, during the first six, had pretty nearly exhausted himself in describing the delightful pictures which his ardent fancy had formed; and finding the conversation beginning to flag, philemon, with his usual good-nature and judgment, promised to make a pleasing digression from the dry subject of book-catalogues, by an episode with which the reader shall be presently gratified. having promised to assist them both, when we arrived at messrs. l. and s., in the strand, with some information relating to the prices of such books as they stood in need of, and to the various book-collectors who attended public sales, lisardo expressed himself highly obliged by the promise; and, sinking quietly into a corner of the chaise, he declared that he was now in a most apt mood to listen attentively to philemon's digressive chat: who accordingly thus began. "lord coke,"--exclaimed philemon, in a mirthful strain--"before he ventured upon '_the jurisdiction of the courts of the forest_,' wished to 'recreate himself' with virgil's description of 'dido's doe of the forest;'[ ] in order that he might 'proceed the more cheerfully' with the task he had undertaken; and thus exchange somewhat of the precise and technical language of the lawyer for that glowing tone of description which woodland scenes and hunting gaieties seldom fail to produce. even so, my good friends (pursued philemon), i shall make a little digression from the confined subject to which our attentions have been so long directed by taking you with me, in imagination, to the delightful abode of orlando." [footnote : the quaint language of lord coke is well worth quotation: "and seeing we are to treat of matters of game, and hunting, let us (to the end we may proceed the more chearfully) recreate ourselves with the excellent description of dido's doe of the forest wounded with a deadly arrow sticken in her, and not impertinent to our purpose: uritur infælix dido, totaque vagatur urbe furens, &c. and in another place, using again the word (sylva) and describing a forest saith: ibat in antiquam sylvam stabula alta ferarum." _institutes_, pt. iv., p. , ed. . thus pleasantly could our sage expounder of the laws of the realm illustrate the dry subject of which he treated!] lis. i have heard of him: a very "_helluo librorum_!" thus we only change sides--from things to men; from books to book-collectors. is this digressive? is this an episode? phil. why this abrupt interruption? if i did not know you and myself, too, lisardo, i should observe an obstinate silence during the remainder of the journey. an episode, though it suspend the main action for a while, partakes of the nature of the subject of the work. it is an _appropriate_ digression. do pray read dr. blair[ ] upon the subject--and now only listen. [footnote : _lecture_ xlii., vol. iii.] orlando (continued philemon) had from his boyhood loved books and book-reading. his fortune was rather limited; but he made shift--after bringing up three children, whom he lost from the ages of nineteen to twenty-four, and which have been recently followed to their graves by the mother that gave them birth--he made shift, notwithstanding the expenses of their college education, and keeping up the reputation of a truly hospitable table, to collect, from year to year, a certain number of volumes, according to a certain sum of money appropriated for the purchase of them; generally making himself master of the principal contents of the first year's purchase, before the ensuing one was placed upon his shelves. he lives in a large ancestral house; and his library is most advantageously situated and delightfully fitted up. disliking such a wintry residence as thomson has described[ ]--although fond of solemn retirement, and of cowper's "boundless contiguity of shade,"--he has suffered the rules of common sense always to mingle themselves in his plans of domestic comfort; and, from the bow-windowed extremity of his library, he sees realized, at the distance of four hundred yards, cæsar's gently-flowing river _arar_,[ ] in a stream which loses itself behind some low shrubs; above which is a softly-undulating hill, covered with hazel, and birch, and oak. to the left is an open country, intersected with meadows and corn fields, and terminated by the blue mountains of malvern at the distance of thirteen miles. yet more to the left, but within one hundred and fifty yards of the house, and forming something of a foreground to the landscape, are a few large and lofty elm trees, under which many a swain has rested from his toil; many a tender vow has been breathed; many a sabbath-afternoon[ ] innocently kept; and many a village-wake cordially celebrated! some of these things yet bless the aged eyes of orlando! [footnote : "in the wild depth of winter, while without the ceaseless winds blow ice, be my retreat between the groaning forest and the shore, beat by the boundless multitude of waves, a rural, sheltered, solitary scene!"---- _winter._ one would like a situation somewhat more _sheltered_, when "the ceaseless winds blow ice!"] [footnote : "flumen est _arar_, quod per fines Æduorum et sequanorum in rhodanum fluit, incredibili lenitate, ita ut oculis, in utram partem fluat, judicari nos possit." _de bell. gall._, lib. i., § x. philemon might as happily have compared orlando's quiet stream to "the silent river" ----quæ liris quietâ mordet aquâ---- which horace has so exquisitely described, in contrast with ----obliquis laborat lympha fugax trepidare rivo. _carm._, _lib._ i., _od._ xxxi., _lib._ ii., _od._ ii. yet let us not forget collin's lovely little bit of landscape-- "where slowly winds the stealing wave."] [footnote : there is a curious proclamation by q. elizabeth, relating to some sabbath recreations or games, inserted in hearne's preface to his edition of _camden's annals_, p. xxviii. it is a little too long to be given entire; but the reader may here be informed that "shooting with the standard, shooting with the broad arrow, shooting at the twelve score prick, shooting at the turk, leaping for men, running for men, wrestling, throwing the sledge, and pitching the bar," were suffered to be exhibited, on several sundays, for the benefit of one "john seconton powlter, dwelling within the parish of st. clements danes, being a poor man, having four small children, and fallen to decay."] i have slightly noticed the comfortable interior of his library.-- lis. you spoke of a bow-windowed extremity-- phil. yes, in this bow-window--the glass of which was furnished full two hundred and fifty years ago, and which has recently been put into a sensible modern frame-work--thereby affording two hours longer light to the inhabitant--in this bow-window, you will see a great quantity of stained glass of the different arms of his own, and of his wife's, family; with other appropriate embellishments.[ ] and when the evening sun-beams throw a chequered light throughout the room, 'tis pleasant to observe how orlando enjoys the opening of an aldine greek classic--the ample-margined leaves of which receive a mellower tint from the soft lustre that pervades the library. every book, whether opened or closed, is benefited by this due portion of light; so that the eye, in wandering over the numerous shelves, is neither hurt by morning glare nor evening gloom. of colours, in his furniture, he is very sparing: he considers white shelves, picked out with gold, as heretical--mahogany, wainscot, black, and red, are, what he calls, orthodox colours. he has a few busts and vases; and as his room is very lofty, he admits above, in black and gold frames, a few portraits of eminent literary characters; and whenever he gets a genuine vandyke, or velasquez, he congratulates himself exceedingly upon his good fortune. [footnote : the reader, who is partial to the lucubrations of thomas hearne, may peruse a long gossipping note of his upon the importance of _stained glass windows_--in his account of godstow nunnery. see his _guil. neubrig._, vol. ii., .] lis. all this bespeaks a pretty correct taste. but i wish to know something of the man. phil. you shall, presently; and, in hearing what i am about to relate, only let us both strive, good lisardo, so to regulate our studies and feelings that our old age may be like unto orlando's. last year i went with my uncle to pay him our annual visit. he appeared quite altered and shaken from the recent misfortune of losing his wife; who had survived the death of her children fifteen years; herself dying in the sixtieth of her own age. the eyes of orlando were sunk deeply into his forehead, yet they retained their native brilliancy and quickness. his cheeks were wan, and a good deal withered. his step was cautious and infirm. when we were seated in his comfortable library chairs, he extended his right arm towards me, and squeezing my hand cordially within his own--"philemon," said he, "you are not yet thirty, and have therefore sufficient ardour to enable you to gratify your favourite passion for books. did you ever read the inscription over the outside of my library door--which i borrowed from lomeir's account of one over a library at parma?[ ]" on my telling him that it had escaped me--"go," said he, "and not only read, but remember it."--the inscription was as follows: ingredere musis sacer, nam et hic dii habitant. item nullus amicus magis libet, quam liber. [footnote : _de bibliothecis_: p. , edit. .] "have a care," said he, on my resuming my seat--"have a care that you do not treat such a friend ill, or convert him into a foe. for myself, my course is well nigh run. my children have long taken their leave of me, to go to the common parent who created, and to the saviour who has vouchsafed to redeem, us all; and, though the usual order of nature has been here inverted, i bow to the fate which heaven has allotted me with the unqualified resignation of a christian. my wife has also recently left me, for a better place; and i confess that i begin to grow desolate, and anxious to take my departure to join my family. in my solitude, dear philemon, i have found these (pointing to his books) to be what cicero, and seneca, and our own countryman de bury,[ ] have so eloquently and truly described them to be--our friends, our instructors, and our comforts. without any affectation of hard reading, great learning, or wonderful diligence, i think i may venture to say that i have read more valuable books than it falls to the lot of the generality of book-collectors to read; and i would fain believe that i have profited by my studies. although not of the profession of the church, you know that i have always cherished a fondness for sacred literature; and there is hardly a good edition of the greek testament, or a commentator of repute upon the bible, foreign or domestic, but what you will find some reference to the same in my interleaved copy of bishop wilson's edition of the holy scriptures. a great number of these commentators themselves are in my library, as well as every authoritative edition of the greek testament, from the complutensian to griesbach's. yet do not suppose that my theological books are equal in measure to one fourth part of those in the imperial library at paris.[ ] my object has always been instruction and improvement; and when these could be obtained from any writer, whether roman catholic or protestant, arminian or calvinistic, i have not failed to thank him, and to respect him, too, if he has declared his opinions with becoming diffidence and moderation. you know that nothing so sorely grieves me as dogmatical arrogance, in a being who will always be frail and capricious, let him think and act as he please. on a sunday evening i usually devote a few hours to my theological studies--(if you will allow my sabbath-meditations to be so called) and, almost every summer evening in the week, saunter 'midst yon thickets and meadows by the river side, with collins, or thompson, or cowper, in my hand. the beautiful sentiments and grand imagery of walter scott are left to my in-door avocations; because i love to read the curious books to which he refers in his notes, and have always admired, what i find few critics have noticed, how adroitly he has ingrafted fiction upon truth. as i thus perambulate, with my book generally open, the villagers treat me as sir roger de coverley made his tenants treat the spectator--by keeping at a respectful distance--but when i shut up my volume, and direct my steps homewards, i am always sure to find myself, before i reach my threshold, in company with at least half a dozen gossipping and well-meaning rustics. in other departments of reading, history and poetry are my delight. on a rainy or snowy day, when all looks sad and dismal without, my worthy friend and neighbour, phormio, sometimes gives me a call--and we have a rare set-to at my old favourite volumes--the '_lectiones memorabiles et reconditæ_' of wolfius[ ]--a commonplace book of as many curious, extraordinary, true and false occurrences, as ever were introduced into two ponderous folios. the number of strange cuts in it used to amuse my dear children--whose parent, from the remembrance of the past, still finds a pleasing recreation in looking at them. so much, dear philemon, for my desultory mode of studying: improve upon it--but at all events, love your books for the good which they may produce; provided you open them with 'singleness of heart--' that is, a sincerity of feeling. [footnote : every school-lad who has written a copy under a writing-master, or who has looked into the second book of the _"selectæ è profanis scriptoribus," &c._, has probably been made acquainted with the sentiments of the above ancient heathen philosophers relating to learning and books; but may not have been informed of the conciliatory manner in which our countryman de bury has invited us to approach the latter. "hi sunt magistri (says he) qui nos instruunt sine vergis et ferula, sine verbis et colera, sine pane et pecunia. si accedis, non dormiunt; si inquiris, non se abscondunt; non remurmurant, si oberres; cachinnos nesciunt, si ignores." these original and apt words are placed in the title-page to the first volume of _dr. clarke's bibliographical dictionary_.] [footnote : "il y a pieds cubes de livres de théologie,"--"qui tapissent les murs des deux premières salles de la bibliothéque impériale." caillot: _roman bibliographique_, tom. i., , edit. .] [footnote : there are few men, of any literary curiosity, who would not wish to know something of the work here noticed; and much more than appears to be known of its illustrious author; concerning whom we will first discourse a little: "johannes wolfius (says melchoir [transcriber's note: melchior] adam), the laborious compiler of the _lectionum memorabilium et reconditarum centenarii_ xvi. (being a collection of curious pieces from more than authors--chiefly protestant) was a civilian, a soldier, and a statesman. he was born a.d. , at vernac, in the duchy of deux ponts; of which town his father was chief magistrate. he was bred under sturmius at strasbourg, under melancthon at wittemberg, and under cujas at bruges. he travelled much and often; particularly into france and burgundy, with the dukes of stettin, in . he attended the elector palatine, who came with an army to the assistance of the french hugonots in ; and, in , he conducted the corpse of his master back to germany by sea. after this, he was frequently employed in embassies from the electors palatine to england and poland. his last patrons were the marquisses of baden, who made him governor of mündelsheim, and gave him several beneficial grants. in , wolfius bade adieu to business and courts, and retired to hailbrun; where he completed his "_lectiones_," which had been the great employment of his life. he died may , a.d. --the same year in which the above volumes were published." thus far, in part, our biographer, in his _vitæ eruditorum cum germanorum tum exterorum_: pt. iii., p. , edit. . these particulars may be gleaned from wolfius's preface; where he speaks of his literary and diplomatic labours with great interest and propriety. in this preface also is related a curious story of a young man of the name of martin, whom wolfius employed as an amanuensis to transcribe from his "three thousand authors"--and who was at first so zealously attached to the principles of the romish church that he declared "he wished for no heaven where luther might be." the young man died a protestant; quite reconciled to a premature end, and in perfect good will with luther and his doctrine. as to wolfius, it is impossible to read his preface, or to cast a glance upon his works--"magno et pene incredibili labore multisque vigiliis elaboratum"--(as linsius has well said, in the opening of the admonition to the reader, prefixed to his index) without being delighted with his liberality of disposition, and astonished at the immensity of his labour. each volume has upwards of pages closely printed upon an indifferent brown-tinted paper; which serves nevertheless to set off the several hundreds of well executed wood cuts which the work contains. linsius's index, a thin folio, was published in the year : this is absolutely necessary for the completion of a copy. as bibliographers have given but a scanty account of this uncommon work (mentioned, however, very properly by mr. nicol in his interesting preface to the catalogue of the duke of roxburgh's books; and of which i observe in the _bibl. solgeriana_, vol. i., no. , that a second edition, printed in , is held in comparatively little estimation), so biographers (if we except melchior adam, the great favourite of bayle) have been equally silent respecting its author. fabricius, and the historical dictionary published at caen, do not mention him; and moreri has but a meagre and superficial notice of him. wolfius's _penus artis historicæ_, of which the best edition is that of , is well described in the tenth volume of fournier's _methode pour étudier l'histoire_, p. , edit. . my respect for so extraordinary a bibliomaniac as wolfius, who was groping amongst the books of the public libraries belonging to the several great cities which he visited, (in his diplomatic character--vide præf.) whilst his masters and private secretary were probably paying their devotions to bacchus--induces me to treat the reader with the following impression of his portrait. [illustration] this cut is taken from a fac-simile drawing, made by me of the head of wolfius as it appears at the back of the title-page to the preceding work. the original impression is but an indifferent one; but it presents in addition, the body of wolfius as far as the waist; with his right hand clasping a book, and his left the handle of a sword. his ponderous chain has a medallion suspended at the end. this print, which evidently belongs to the english series, has escaped granger. and yet i know not whether such intelligence should be imparted!--as the scissars may hence go to work to deprive many a copy of these "_lectiones_," of their elaborately-ornamented title-pages. forbid it, good sense!] "in a short time," continued the venerable orlando, after a pause of fifteen seconds, "in a short time i must bid adieu to this scene; to my choice copies; beautiful bindings: and all the classical furniture which you behold around you. yes!--as reimannus[ ] has well observed,--'there is no end to accumulating books, whilst the boundaries of human existence are limited, indeed!' but i have made every necessary, and, i hope, appropriate, regulation; the greater part of my library is bequeathed to one of the colleges in the university of oxford; with an injunction to put an inscription over the collection very different from what the famous ranzau[ ] directed to be inscribed over his own.--about three hundred volumes you will find bequeathed to you, dear philemon--accompanied with a few remarks not very different from what lotichius[ ] indited, with his dying breath, in his book-legacy to the learned sambucus. i will, at present, say no more. come and see me whenever you have an opportunity. i exact nothing extraordinary of you; and shall therefore expect nothing beyond what one man of sense and of virtue, in our relative situations, would pay to the other." [footnote : "vita brevis est, et series librorum longa." he adds: "Æs magnum tempus, quo id dispungere conatus est, parvum." _bibl. acroamat._, p. , sign. d [dagger symbol] .] [footnote : "henry de ranzau--avoit dressé une excellente bibliothéque au chateau de bredemberg, dans laquelle estoient conservez plusieurs manuscrits grecs et latins, et autres raretez, &c.--ce sçavant personnage a fait un decret pour sa bibliothéque, qui merite d'estre icy inseré, pour faire voir a la posterité l'affection qu'il auoit pour sa conservation." ... libros partem ne aliquam abstulerit, extraxerit, clepserit, rapserit, concerpserit, coruperit, dolo malo: illico maledictus, perpetuo execrabilis, semper detestabilis esto maneto. jacob: _traicté des bibliothéques_, pp. , . i have inserted only the fulminatory clause of this inscription, as being that part of it against which orlando's indignation seems to be directed.] [footnote : "petrus lotichius johanni sambuco pannonio gravissimo morbo laborans bononiæ, bibliothecam suam legaverit, _lib._ , _eleg._ , verba ejus lectu non injucunda: pro quibus officiis, hæres abeuntis amici, accipe fortunæ munera parva meæ. non mihi sunt baccho colles, oleisque virentes, prædiave Æmiliis conspicienda jugis. tu veterum dulces scriptorum sume libellos, attritos manibus quos juvat esse meis. invenies etiam viridi quæ lusimus ævo, dum studiis ætas mollibus apta fuit. illa velim rapidis sic uras carmina flammis ut vatem ipse suis ignibus jussit amor." lomeier: _de bibliothecis_, p. .] "so spake orlando," said philemon, with tears in his eyes, who, upon looking at lisardo and myself, found our faces covered with our handkerchiefs, and unable to utter a word. the deliberate manner in which this recital was made--the broken periods, and frequent pauses--filled up a great measure of our journey; and we found that st. paul's dome was increasing upon us in size and distinctness, and that we had not more than three miles to travel, when lisardo, wishing to give a different turn to the discourse, asked philemon what was the cause of such extravagant sums being now given at book-sales for certain curious and uncommon--but certainly not highly intrinsically-valuable--publications; and whether our ancestors, in the time of hen. viii. and elizabeth, paid in proportion for the volumes of _their_ libraries? upon philemon's declaring himself unable to gratify his friend's curiosity, but intimating that some assistance might probably be derived from myself, i took up the discourse by observing that-- "in the infancy of printing in this country (owing to the competition of foreigners) it would seem that our own printers (who were both booksellers and book-binders) had suffered considerably in their trade, by being obliged to carry their goods to a market where the generality of purchasers were pleased with more elegantly executed works at an inferior price. the legislature felt, as every patriotic legislature would feel, for their injured countrymen; and, accordingly, the statute of richard iii. was enacted,[ ] whereby english printers and book-binders were protected from the mischiefs, which would otherwise have overtaken them. thus our old friend caxton went to work with greater glee, and mustered up all his energies to bring a good stock of british manufacture to the market. what he usually sold his books for, in his life time, i have not been able to ascertain; but, on his decease, one of his _golden legends_ was valued, in the churchwardens' books, at six shillings and eight pence.[ ] whether this was a great or small sum i know not; but, from the same authority we find that twenty-two pounds were given, twelve years before, for eleven huge folios, called '_antiphoners_.'[ ] in the reign of henry viii. it would seem, from a memorandum in the catalogue of the fletewode library (if i can trust my memory with such minutiæ) that law-books were sold for about ten sheets to the groat.[ ] now, in the present day, law-books--considering the wretched style in which they are published, with broken types upon milk-and-water-tinted paper--are the dearest of all modern publications. whether they were anciently sold for so comparatively extravagant a sum may remain to be proved. certain it is that, before the middle of the sixteenth century, you might have purchased grafton's abridgment of polydore virgil's superficial work about _the invention of things_ for fourteen pence;[ ] and the same printer's book of _common prayer_ for four shillings. yet if you wanted a superbly bound _prymer_, it would have cost you (even five and twenty years before) nearly half a guinea.[ ] nor could you have purchased a decent _ballad_ much under sixpence; and _hall's chronicle_ would have drawn from your purse twelve shillings;[ ] so that, considering the then value of specie, there is not much ground of complaint against the present prices of books." [footnote : by the st of richard iii. ( , ch. ix. sec. xii.) it appeared that, whereas, a great number of the king's subjeets [transcriber's note: subjects] within this realm having "given themselves diligently to learn and exercise the craft of printing, and that at this day there being within this realm a great number cunning and expert in the said science or craft of printing, as able to exercise the said craft in all points as any stranger, in any other realm or country, and a great number of the king's subjects living by the craft and mystery of binding of books, and well expert in the same;"--yet "all this notwithstanding, there are divers persons that bring from beyond the sea great plenty of printed books--not only in the latin tongue, but also in our maternal english tongue--some bound in boards, some in leather, and some in parchment, and them sell by retail, whereby many of the king's subjects, being binders of books, and having no other faculty therewith to get their living, be destitute of work, and like to be undone, except some reformation herein be had,--be it therefore enacted, &c." by the th clause or provision, if any of these printers or sellers of printed books vend them "at too high and unreasonable prices," then the lord chancellor, lord treasurer, or any of the chief justices of the one bench or the other--"by the oaths of twelve honest and discreet persons," were to regulate their prices. this remarkable act was confirmed by the th hen. viii., ch. , which was not repealed till the th geo. ii., ch. , § . a judge would have enough to do to regulate the prices of books, by the oaths of twelve men, in the present times!] [footnote : the reader will be pleased to refer to p. cx. of the first volume of my recent edition of the _typographical antiquities of great britain_.] [footnote : the following is from 'the churchwardens' accompts of st. margaret's, westminster. "a.d. . item, for great books, called antiphoners, _l._ _s._ _d._" _manners and expenses of ancient times in england_, &c., collected by john nichols, , to., p. . _antiphonere_ is a book of anthems to be sung with responses: and, from the following passage in chaucer, it would appear to have been a common school-book used in the times of papacy: this litel childe his litel book lerning, as he sate in the scole at his primere he _alma redemptoris_ herde sing, as children lered hir _antiphonere_: _cant. tales_, v. , , &c. "a legend, an _antiphonarye_, a grayle, a psalter," &c., were the books appointed to be kept in every parish church "of the province of canterbury" by robert winchelsen. _const. provin. and of otho and octhobone_, fol. , rect., edit. .] [footnote : "the year books, v. parcels, as published, impr. in different years by pynson, berthelet, redman, myddylton, powell, smythe, rastell, and tottyl, to ." some of them have the prices printed at the end; as "the prisce of thys boke ys xiid. unbounde--the price of thys boke is xvid. un bownde;" and upon counting the sheets, it appears that the stated price of law-books, in the reign of hen. , was ten sheets for one groat. _bibl. monast-fletewodiana_, no. .] [footnote : in a copy of this book, printed by grafton in , which was in the library of that celebrated bibliomaniac, tom rawlinson, was the following singular ms. note: "at oxforde the yeare , browt down to seynbury by john darbye _pryce_ _d._ when i kepe mr. letymers shype i bout thys boke when the testament was obberagatyd that shepe herdys myght not red hit i pray god amende that blyndnes wryt by robert wyllyams keppynge shepe uppon seynbury hill. ." _camdeni annales: edit. hearne_, vol. i., p. xxx.] [footnote : from mr. nichol's curious work, i make the following further extracts: £ _s._ _d._ a.d. . item, paid for the half part of the bybell, } accordingly after the king's injunction } . item, also paid for six books of the litany } in english } . paid for iv books of the service of the church [this was probably grafton's prayer book of , fol.] . paid for a bybyl and parafrawse [from the ch. wardens accts. of st. margaret's westminster] the inventory of john port, . in the shop. item, a premmer lymmed with gold, and with imagery } written honds } (from the do. of st. mary hill, london.) to william pekerynge, a ballet, called a ryse and } wake } (from the books of the stationers' company). see pp. , , , and , of mr. nichols's work.] [footnote : by the kindness of mr. william hamper, of birmingham (a gentleman with whom my intercourse has as yet been only epistolary, but whom i must be allowed to rank among our present worthy bibliomaniacs), i am in possession of some original entries, which seem to have served as part of a day-book of a printer of the same name: "it having been pasted at the end of '_the poor man's librarie_' printed by john day in ." from this sable-looking document the reader has the following miscellaneous extracts: a.d. . £ _s._ _d._ (two) meserse of bloyene in bordis } one prymare latane & englis } ii balethis (ballads) nova of sortis ii boke of paper quire in forrell vi morse workes in forrell viij castell of love in forrelle wi: a sarmo nova x a.d. . balethis nova arbull in vo. catechis viiij prymare for a chyllde in vo. englis iv halles croneckelle nova englis xii from a household book kept in london, a.d. (in the possession of the same gent.) item, p-d for a lyttellton in english xij_d._ ---- for the booke of ij englishe lovers vj_d._ ---- for the booke of songes and sonnettes } and the booke of dyse, and a frenche booke } ij_s._ viij_d._ (viz. the frenche booke xvj_d._ the ij other bookes at viij_d._ the pece.) ---- ---- for printing the xxv orders of honest men xx_d._] lis. all this is very just. you are now creeping towards the seventeenth century. go on with your prices of books 'till nearly the present day; when the bibliomania has been supposed to have attained its highest pitch. "don't expect," resumed i, "any antiquarian exactness in my chronological detail of what our ancestors used to give for their curiously-covered volumes. i presume that the ancient method of _book-binding_[ ] added much to the expense of the purchase. but be this as it may, we know that sir ralph sadler, at the close of the sixteenth century, had a pretty fair library, with a _bible_ in the chapel to boot, for £ .[ ] towards the close of the seventeenth century, we find the earl of peterborough enlisting among the book champions; and giving, at the sale of richard smith's books in , not less than eighteen shillings and two pence for the first english edition of his beloved _godfrey of boulogne_.[ ] in queen ann's time, earl pembroke and lord oxford spared no expense for books; and dr. mead, who trod closely upon their heels, cared not at what price he purchased his _editiones principes_, and all the grand books which stamped such a value upon his collection. and yet, let us look at the priced catalogue of his library, or at that of his successor dr. askew, and compare the sums _then_ given for those _now_ offered for similar works!" [footnote : as a little essay, and a very curious one too, might be written upon the history of book-binding, i shall not attempt in the present note satisfactorily to supply such a desideratum; but merely communicate to the reader a few particulars which have come across me in my desultory researches upon the subject. mr. astle tells us that the famous _textus sancti cuthberti_, which was written in the th century, and was formerly kept at durham, and is now preserved in the cottonian library, (nero, d. iv.) was adorned in the saxon times by bilfrith, a monk of durham, with a silver cover gilt, and precious stones. simeon dunelmensis, or turgot, as he is frequently called, tells us that the cover of this fine ms. was ornamented "forensecis gemmis et auro." "a booke of gospelles garnished and wrought with antique worke of silver and gilte with an image of the crucifix with mary and john, poiz together cccxxij oz." in the secret jewel house in the tower. "a booke of gold enameled, clasped with a rubie, having on th' one side, a crosse of dyamounts, and vj other dyamounts, and th' other syde a flower de luce of dyamounts, and iiij rubies with a pendaunte of white saphires and the arms of englande. which booke is garnished with small emerades and rubies hanging to a cheyne pillar fashion set with xv knottes, everie one conteyning iij rubies (one lacking)." _archæologia_, vol. xiii., . although mr. astle has not specified the time in which these two latter books were bound, it is probable that they were thus gorgeously attired before the discovery of the art of printing. what the ancient vicars of chalk (in kent) used to pay for binding their missals, according to the original endowment settled by haymo de hethe in (which compelled the vicars to be at the expense of the same--_reg. roff._, p. ), mr. denne has not informed us. _archæologia_, vol. xi., . but it would seem, from warton, that "students and monks were anciently the binders of books;" and from their latin entries respecting the same, the word "conjunctio" appears to have been used for "ligatura." _hist. of engl. poetry_, vol. ii., p. . hearne, in no. iii. of the appendix to _adam de domerham de reb. gest. glast._, has "published a grant from rich. de paston to bromholm abbey, of twelve pence a year rent charge on his estates to _keep their books in repair_." this i gather from gough's _brit. topog._, vol. ii., p. : while from the _liber stat. eccl. paulinæ_, lond. mss., f. , (furnished me by my friend mr. h. ellis,[d] of the british museum), it appears to have been anciently considered as a part of the sacrist's duty to bind and clasp the books: "sacrista curet quod _libri bene ligentur et haspentur_," &c. in chaucer's time, one would think that the fashionable binding for the books of young scholars was _various-coloured velvet_: for thus our poet describes the library of the oxford scholar: a twenty bokes, clothed in black and red of aristotle---- (_prolog. to cant. tales._) we have some account of the style in which chaucer's royal patron, edward iii., used to have his books bound; as the following extract (also furnished me by mr. h. ellis) will testify:----"to alice claver, for the making of xvi laces and xvi tasshels for the garnyshing of diuers of the kings books, ij_s._ viij_d._----and to robert boillet for blac paper and nailles for closing and fastenyng of diuers cofyns of ffyrre wherein the kings boks were conveyed and caried from the kings grete warderobe in london vnto eltham aforesaid, v_d._----piers bauduyn stacioner for bynding gilding and dressing of a booke called titus liuius, xx_s_: for binding gilding and dressing of a booke called ffrossard, xvj_s_: or binding gilding and dressing of a booke called the bible, xvj_s_: for binding gilding and dressing of a booke called le gouuernement of kings and princes, xvj_s._" "for the dressing of ij books whereof oon is called la forteresse de foy and the other called the booke of josephus, iij_s._ iiij_d._ and for binding gilding and dressing of a booke called the bible historial, xx_s._" among the expenses entered in the wardrobe accompts th edw. iii. i suspect that it was not 'till towards the close of the th century, when the sister art of painting directed that of engraving, that books were bound in thick boards, with leather covering upon the same; curiously stamped with arabesque, and other bizarre, ornaments. in the interior of this binding, next to the leaves, there was sometimes an excavation, in which a silver crucifix was safely guarded by a metal door, with clasps. the exterior of the binding had oftentimes large embossed ornaments of silver, and sometimes of precious stones [as a note in the appendix to the _history of leicester_, by mr. nichols, p. , indicates--and as geyler himself, in his _ship of fools_, entitled "_navicula, sive speculum fatuorum_," edit. , to., thus expressly declares:--"sunt qui libros inaurunt et serica tegimenta apponunt preciosa et superba," sign. b. v. rev.], as well as the usual ornaments upon the leather; and two massive clasps, with thick metalled corners on each of the outward sides of the binding, seemed to render a book impervious to such depredations of time as could arise from external injury. meantime, however the worm was secretly engendered within the wood: and his perforating ravages in the precious leaves of the volume gave dreadful proof of the defectiveness of ancient binding, beautiful and bold as it undoubtedly was! the reader is referred to an account of a preciously bound diminutive godly book (once belonging to q. elizabeth), in the first volume of my edition of the british _typographical antiquities_, p. ; for which i understand the present owner asks the sum of _l._ we find that in the sixteenth year of elizabeth's reign, she was in possession of "oone gospell booke covered with tissue and garnished on th' onside with the crucifix and the queene's badges of silver guilt, poiz with wodde, leaves, and all, czij. oz." _archæologia_, vol. xiii., . i am in possession of the covers of a book, bound (a.d. ) in thick parchment or vellum, which has the whole length portrait of luther on one side, and of calvin on the other. these portraits, which are executed with uncommon spirit and accuracy, are encircled with a profusion of ornamental borders of the most exquisite taste and richness. we shall speak occasionally of more modern book-binding as we proceed. meanwhile, let the curious bibliomaniac glance his eye upon the copper-plate print which faces this concluding sentence--where he will see fac-similes of the portraits just mentioned.] [footnote : see the recent very beautiful edition of sir ralph sadler's _state papers_, vol. ii., p. .] [footnote : see the _catalogue of r. smith's books_, , to., p. (falsely numbered ), no. .] [footnote d: since created a knight.] lis. you allude to a late sale in pall mall, of one of the choicest and most elegant libraries ever collected by a man of letters and taste? "i do, lisardo--but see we are just entering the smoke and bustle of london; and in ten minutes shall have reached the scene of action." phil. how do you feel? lis. why, tolerably calm. my pulse beats as leisurely as did my lord strafford's at his trial--or (to borrow hamlet's phrase) --as yours, it doth temperately keep time, and makes as healthful music. phil. ninety-five to the minute! you are just now in a fit frame of mind to write a political pamphlet. pray consider what will be the issue of this madness? lis. no more! now for my catalogue; and let me attend to my marks. but our friend is not forgetful of his promise? phil. i dare say he will assist us in regulating the prices we ought to give--and more particularly in making us acquainted with the most notable book-collectors. upon my readily acquiescing in their demand, we leapt from the chaise (giving orders for it to attend by three o'clock) and hurried immediately up stairs into the auction room. the clock had struck twelve, and in half an hour the sale was to begin. not more than nine or ten gentlemen were strolling about the room: some examining the volumes which were to be sold, and making hieroglyphical marks thereupon, in their catalogues: some giving commissions to the clerk who entered their names, with the sums they intended staking, in a manner equally hieroglyphical. others, again, seemed to be casting an eye of vacancy over the whole collection; or waiting till a book friend arrived with whom they might enter into a little chat. you observe, my friends, said i, softly, yonder active and keen-visaged gentleman? 'tis lepidus. like magliabechi, content with frugal fare and frugal clothing[ ] and preferring the riches of a library to those of house-furniture, he is insatiable in his bibliomaniacal appetites. "long experience has made him sage:" and it is not therefore without just reason that his opinions are courted, and considered as almost oracular. you will find that he will take his old station, commanding the right or left wing of the auctioneer; and that he will enliven, by the gaiety and shrewdness of his remarks, the circle that more immediately surrounds him. some there are who will not bid 'till lepidus bids; and who surrender all discretion and opinion of their own to his universal book-knowledge. the consequence is that lepidus can, with difficulty, make purchases for his own library; and a thousand dexterous and happy manoeuvres are of necessity obliged to be practised by him, whenever a rare or curious book turns up. how many fine collections has this sagacious bibliomaniac seen disposed of! like nestor, who preaches about the fine fellows he remembered in his youth, lepidus (although barely yet in his grand climacteric!) will depicture, with moving eloquence, the numerous precious volumes of far-famed collectors, which he has seen, like macbeth's witches, "come like shadows, so depart!" [footnote : tenni cultu, victuque contentus, quidquid ei pecuniæ superaret in omnigenæ eruditionis libros comparandos erogabat, selectissimamque voluminum multitudinem ea mente adquisivit, ut aliquando posset publicæ utilitati--dicari, _præf. bibl. magliab. a fossio_, p. x.] and when any particular class of books, now highly coveted, but formerly little esteemed, comes under the hammer, and produces a large sum,--ah then! 'tis pleasant to hear lepidus exclaim-- o mihi præteritos referat si jupiter annos! justly respectable as are his scholarship and good sense, he is not what you may call a _fashionable_ collector; for old chronicles and romances are most rigidly discarded from his library. talk to him of hoffmen, schoettgenius, rosenmuller, and michaelis, and he will listen courteously to your conversation; but when you expatiate, however learnedly and rapturously, upon froissart and prince arthur, he will tell you that he has a heart of stone upon the subject; and that even a clean uncut copy of an original impression of each, by verard or by caxton, would not bring a single tear of sympathetic transport in his eyes. lis. i will not fail to pay due attention to so extraordinary and interesting a character--for see, he is going to take his distinguished station in the approaching contest. the hammer of the worthy auctioneer, which i suppose is of as much importance as was sir fopling's periwig of old,[ ] upon the stage--the hammer is upon the desk!--the company begin to increase and close their ranks; and the din of battle will shortly be heard. let us keep these seats. now, tell me who is yonder strange looking gentleman? [footnote : see warburton's piquant note, in mr. bowles's edition of _pope's works_, vol. v., p. . "this remarkable _periwiy_ [transcriber's note: periwig] (says he) usually made its entrance upon the stage in a sedan chair, brought in by two chairmen with infinite approbation of the audience." the _snuff-box_ of mr. l. has not a less imposing air; and when a high-priced book is balancing between _l._ and _l._ it is a fearful signal of its reaching an additional sum, if mr. l. should lay down his hammer, and delve into this said crumple-horned snuff-box!] "'tis mustapha, a vender of books. consuetudine invalescens, ac veluti callum diuturna cogitatione obducens,[ ] he comes forth, like an alchemist from his laboratory, with hat and wig 'sprinkled with learned dust,' and deals out his censures with as little ceremony as correctness. it is of no consequence to him by whom positions are advanced, or truth is established; and he hesitates very little about calling baron heinecken a tom fool, or ---- a shameless impostor. if your library were as choice and elegant as dr. h----'s he would tell you that his own disordered shelves and badly coated books presented an infinitely more precious collection; nor must you be at all surprised at this--for, like braithwait's upotomis, 'though weak in judgment, in opinion strong;' or, like the same author's meilixos, 'who deems all wisdom treasur'd in his pate,' our book-vender, in the catalogues which he puts forth, shews himself to be 'a great and bold carpenter of words;'[ ] overcharging the description of his own volumes with tropes, metaphors, flourishes, and common-place authorities; the latter of which one would think had but recently come under his notice, as they had been already before the public in various less ostentatious forms." [footnote : the curious reader may see the entire caustic passage in spizelius's _infelix literatus_, p. .] [footnote : _coryat's crudities_, vol. i., sign. (b. .) edit. .] phil. are you then an enemy to booksellers, or to their catalogues when interlaced with bibliographical notices? "by no means, philemon. i think as highly of our own as did the author of the aprosian library[ ] of the dutch booksellers; and i love to hear that the bibliographical labour bestowed upon a catalogue has answered the end proposed, by sharpening the appetites of purchasers. but the present is a different case. mustapha might have learnt good sense and good manners, from his right hand, or left hand, or opposite, neighbour; but he is either too conceited, or too obstinate, to have recourse to such aid. what is very remarkable, although he is constantly declaiming against the enormous sums of money given for books at public auctions, mustapha doth not scruple to push the purchaser to the last farthing of his commission; from a ready knack which he hath acquired, by means of some magical art in his foresaid laboratory, of deciphering the same; thus adopting in a most extraordinary manner, the very line of conduct himself which he so tartly censures in others." [footnote : see pages - , of wolfius's edition of the _bibliotheca aprosiana_, , vo. it is not because mr. ford, of manchester, has been kind enough to present me with one of the _six_ copies of his last catalogue of books, printed upon strong writing paper--that i take this opportunity of praising the contents of it,--but that his catalogues are to be praised for the pains which he exhibits in describing his books, and in referring to numerous bibliographical authorities in the description. while upon this subject, let me recommend the youthful bibliomaniac to get possession of mr. edwards's catalogues, and especially of that of . if such a catalogue were but recently published, it would be one of the pleasantest breakfast lounges imaginable to _tick off_ a few of the volumes with the hope of possessing them at the prices therein afixed.] phil. was this the gentleman whose catalogue (as you shewed me) contained the fascinating colophon of juliana berner's book of hawking, hunting, and heraldry, printed in the year , subjoined to a copy of the common reprint of it by gervase markham--thereby provoking a thousand inquiries after the book, as if it had been the first edition? "the same," resumed i. "but let us leave such ridiculous vanity." lis. who is that gentleman, standing towards the right of the auctioneer, and looking so intently upon his catalogue? "you point to my friend bernardo. he is thus anxious, because an original fragment of the fair lady's work, which you have just mentioned, is coming under the hammer; and powerful indeed must be the object to draw his attention another way. the demure prioress of sopewell abbey is his ancient sweetheart; and he is about introducing her to his friends, by a union with her as close and as honourable as that of wedlock. engaged in a laborious profession (the duties of which are faithfully performed by him) bernardo devotes his few leisure hours to the investigation of old works; thinking with the ancient poet, quoted by ashmole, that '----out of old fields as men saythe cometh all this new corne fro yeare to yeare; and out of olde bokes in good faythe cometh all this scyence that men leare:' or, with ashmole himself; that 'old words have strong emphasis: others may look upon them as rubbish or trifles, but they are grossly mistaken: for what some light brains may esteem as foolish toys, deeper judgments can and will value as sound and serious matter.[ ]' [footnote : _theatrum chemicum_: proleg. sign. a. . rev.: b. . rect. the charms of ancient phraseology had been before not less eloquently described by wolfius: "habet hoc jucundi priscorum quorundam obsoleta dictio, ac suo quodam modo rudius comta oratio, ut ex ea plus intelligamus quam dicitur; plus significetur quam effertur." _lect. memorab. epist. ded._ fol. xiv. rev. of wolfius, and of this his work, the reader will find some mention at page , ante.] "if you ask me whether bernardo be always successful in his labours, i should answer you, as i have told him, no: for the profit and applause attendant upon them are not commensurate with his exertions. moreover, i do verily think that, in some few instances, he sacrifices his judgment to another's whim; by a reluctance to put out the strength of his own powers. he is also, i had almost said, the admiring slave of ritsonian fastidiousness; and will cry 'pish' if a _u_ be put for a _v_, or a _single e_ for a _double one_: but take him fairly as he is, and place him firmly in the bibliographical scale, and you will acknowledge that his weight is far from being inconsiderable. he is a respectable, and every way a praise-worthy man: and although he is continually walking in a thick forest of black letter, and would prefer a book printed before the year , to a turtle dressed according to the rules of mr. farley, yet he can ever and anon sally forth to enjoy a stroll along the river side, with isaac walton[ ] in his hand; when 'he hath his wholesome walk and merry, at his ease: a sweet air of the sweet savour of the mead flowers, that maketh him hungry.'[ ] [footnote : "let me take this opportunity of recommending the amiable and venerable isaac walton's _complete angler_: a work the most singular of its kind, breathing the very spirit of contentment, of quiet, and unaffected philanthrophy, and interspersed with some beautiful relics of poetry, old songs, and ballads." so speaks the rev. w. lisle bowles, in his edition of _pope's works_, vol i., p. . to which i add--let me take this opportunity of recommending mr. bagster's very beautiful and creditable reprint of sir john hawkin's edition of walton's amusing little book. the plates in it are as true as they are brilliant: and the bibliomaniac may gratify his appetite, however voracious, by having copies of it upon paper of all sizes. mr. bagster has also very recently published an exquisite facsimile of the original edition of old isaac. perhaps i ought not to call it a fac-simile, for it is, in many respects, more beautifully executed.] [footnote : the reader may see all this, and much more, dressed in its ancient orthographic garb, in a proheme to the first edition of the merry art of fishing, extracted by herbert in his first volume, p. . i have said the "_merry_," and not the "_contemplative_," art of fishing--because we are informed that "yf the angler take fyshe, surely thenne is there noo man _merier_ than he is in his spyryte!!" yet isaac walton called this art, "the _contemplative_ man's recreation." but a _book-fisherman_, like myself, must not presume to reconcile such great and contradictory authorities.] "but see--the hammer is vibrating, at an angle of twenty-two and a half, over a large paper priced catalogue of major pearson's books!--who is the lucky purchaser? "quisquilius:--a victim to the bibliomania. if one single copy of a work happen to be printed in a more particular manner than another; and if the compositor (clever rogue) happen to have transposed or inverted a whole sentence or page; if a plate or two, no matter of what kind or how executed; go along with it, which is not to be found in the remaining copies; if the paper happen to be _unique_ in point of size--whether maxima or minima--oh, then, thrice happy is quisquilius! with a well-furnished purse, the strings of which are liberally loosened, he devotes no small portion of wealth to the accumulation of _prints_; and can justly boast of a collection of which few of his contemporaries are possessed. but his walk in book-collecting is rather limited. he seldom rambles into the luxuriancy of old english black-letter literature; and cares still less for a _variorum_ latin classic, stamped in the neat mintage of the elzevir press. of a greek _aldus_, or an italian _giunta_, he has never yet had the luxury to dream:--'trahit sua quemque voluptas;' and let quisquilius enjoy his hobby-horse, even to the riding of it to death! but let him not harbour malevolence against supposed injuries inflicted: let not foolish prejudices, or unmanly suspicions, rankle in his breast: authors and book-collectors are sometimes as enlightened as himself, and have cultivated pursuits equally honourable. their profession, too, may sometimes be equally beneficial to their fellow creatures. a few short years shall pass away, and it will be seen who has contributed the more effectively to the public stock of amusement and instruction. we wrap ourselves up in our own little vanities and weaknesses, and, fancying wealth and wisdom to be synonymous, vent our spleen against those who are resolutely striving, under the pressure of mediocrity and domestic misfortune, to obtain an honourable subsistence by their intellectual exertions." lis. a truce to this moralizing strain. pass we on to a short gentleman, busily engaged yonder in looking at a number of volumes, and occasionally conversing with two or three gentlemen from five to ten inches taller than himself. what is his name? "rosicrusius is his name; and an ardent and indefatigable book-forager he is. although just now busily engaged in antiquarian researches relating to british typography, he fancies himself nevertheless deeply interested in the discovery of every ancient book printed abroad. examine his little collection of books, and you will find that 'there caxton sleeps, with wynkyn at his side, one clasp'd in wood, and one in strong cow-hide!'[ ] --and yet, a beautiful volume printed at 'basil or heidelberg makes him spinne: and at seeing the word frankford or venice, though but on the title of a booke, he is readie to break doublet, cracke elbows, and over-flowe the room with his murmure.'[ ] bibliography is his darling delight--'una voluptas et meditatio assidua;'[ ] and in defence of the same he would quote you a score of old-fashioned authors, from gesner to harles, whose very names would excite scepticism about their existence. he is the author of various works, chiefly bibliographical; upon which the voice of the public (if we except a little wicked quizzing at his _black-letter_ propensities in a celebrated north briton review) has been generally favourable. although the old maidenish particularity of tom hearne's genius be not much calculated to please a bibliomaniac of lively parts, yet rosicrusius seems absolutely enamoured of that ancient wight; and to be in possession of the cream of all his pieces, if we may judge from what he has already published, and promises to publish, concerning the same. he once had the temerity to dabble in poetry;[ ] but he never could raise his head above the mists which infest the swampy ground at the foot of parnassus. still he loves 'the divine art' enthusiastically; and affects, forsooth, to have a taste in matters of engraving and painting! converse with him about guercino and albert durer, berghem and woollett, and tell him that you wish to have his opinion about the erection of a large library, and he will 'give tongue' to you from rise to set of sun. wishing him prosperity in his projected works, and all good fellows to be his friends, proceed we in our descriptive survey." [footnote : pope's _dunciad_, b. i. v. .] [footnote : _coryat's crudities_, vol. i., sign. (b. .) edit. .] [footnote : vita jacobi le long., p. xx., _biblioth. sacra_, edit. .] [footnote : see the note p. , in the first edition of the _bibliomania_.] lis. i am quite impatient to see atticus in this glorious group; of whom fame makes such loud report-- "yonder see he comes, lisardo! 'like arrow from the hunter's bow,' he darts into the hottest of the fight, and beats down all opposition. in vain boscardo advances with his heavy artillery, sending forth occasionally a forty-eight pounder; in vain he shifts his mode of attack--now with dagger, and now with broadsword, now in plated, and now in quilted armour: nought avails him. in every shape and at every onset he is discomfited. such a champion as atticus has perhaps never before appeared within the arena of book-gladiators: 'blest with talents, wealth, and taste;'[ ] and gifted with no common powers of general scholarship, he can easily master a knotty passage in eschylus or aristotle; and quote juvenal and horace as readily as the junior lads at eton quote their '_as in præsenti_:' moreover, he can enter, with equal ardour, into a minute discussion about the romance literature of the middle ages, and the dry though useful philology of the german school during the th and th centuries. in the pursuit after rare, curious, and valuable books, nothing daunts or depresses him. with a mental and bodily constitution such as few possess, and with a perpetual succession of new objects rising up before him, he seems hardly ever conscious of the vicissitudes of the seasons, and equally indifferent to petty changes in politics. the cutting blasts of siberia, or the fainting heat of a maltese sirocco, would not make him halt, or divert his course, in the pursuit of a favourite volume, whether in the greek, latin, spanish, or italian language. but as all human efforts, however powerful, if carried on without intermission, must have a period of cessation; and as the most active body cannot be at 'thebes and at athens' at the same moment; so it follows that atticus cannot be at every auction and carry away every prize. his rivals narrowly watch, and his enemies closely way-lay, him; and his victories are rarely bloodless in consequence. if, like darwin's whale, which swallows 'millions at a gulp,' atticus should, at one auction, purchase from two to seven hundred volumes, he must retire, like the '_boa constrictor_,' for digestion: and accordingly he does, for a short season, withdraw himself from 'the busy hum' of sale rooms, to collate, methodize, and class his newly acquired treasures--to repair what is defective, and to beautify what is deformed. thus rendering them 'companions meet' for their brethren in the rural shades of h---- hall; where, in gay succession, stands many a row, heavily laden with 'rich and rare' productions. in this rural retreat, or academic bower, atticus spends a due portion of the autumnal season of the year; now that the busy scenes of book-auctions in the metropolis have changed their character--and dreary silence, and stagnant dirt, have succeeded to noise and flying particles of learned dust. [footnote : dr. ferriar's _bibliomania_, v. .] "here, in his ancestral abode, atticus can happily exchange the microscopic investigation of books for the charms and manly exercises of a rural life; eclipsing, in this particular, the celebrity of cæsar antoninus; who had not universality of talent sufficient to unite the love of hawking and hunting with the passion for book-collecting.[ ] the sky is no sooner dappled o'er with the first morning sun-beams, than up starts our distinguished bibliomaniac, either to shoot or to hunt; either to realize all the fine things which pope has written about 'lifting the tube, and levelling the eye;'[ ] or to join the jolly troop while they chant the hunting song of his poetical friend.[ ] meanwhile, his house is not wanting in needful garniture to render a country residence most congenial. his cellars below vie with his library above. besides 'the brown october'--'drawn from his dark retreat of thirty years'--and the potent comforts of every species of 'barley broth'--there are the ruddier and more sparkling juices of the grape--'fresh of colour, and of look lovely, smiling to the eyz of many'--as master laneham hath it in his celebrated letter.[ ] i shall leave you to finish the picture, which such a sketch may suggest, by referring you to your favourite, thomson."[ ] [footnote : this anecdote is given on the authority of kesner's [transcriber's note: gesner's] _pandects_, fol. : rect. '[greek: alloi men hippôn] (says the grave antoninus) [greek: alloi de orneôn, alloi thêriôn ebôsin: emoi de bibliôn ktêseôs ek paidoiriou deinos entetêke pothos].'] [footnote : see pope's _windsor forest_, ver. to .] [footnote : waken lords and ladies gay; on the mountain dawns the day. all the jolly chase is here, with hawk and horse and hunting spear: hounds are in their couples yelling, hawks are whistling, horns are knelling; merrily, merrily, mingle they. "waken lords and ladies gay." waken lords and ladies gay, the mist has left the mountain grey. springlets in the dawn are steaming, diamonds on the lake are gleaming; and foresters have busy been, to track the buck in thicket green: now we come to chaunt our lay, "waken lords and ladies gay." hunting song, by walter scott: the remaining stanzas will be found in the _edinb. annual register_, vol. i., pt. ii., xxviii.] [footnote : "_whearin part of the entertainment untoo the queenz majesty of killingworth castl in warwick sheer, &c., , is signified._" edit. , p. .] [footnote : _autumn_, v. , , &c.] lis. your account of so extraordinary a bibliomaniac is quite amusing: but i suspect you exaggerate a little. "nay, lisardo, i speak nothing but the truth. in book-reputation, atticus unites all the activity of de witt and lomanie, with the retentiveness of magliabechi and the learning of le long.[ ] and yet--he has his peccant part." [footnote : the reader will be pleased to turn for one minute to pages , , , ante.] lis. speak, i am anxious to know. "yes, lisardo; although what leichius hath said of the library attached to the senate-house of leipsic be justly applicable to his own extraordinary collection[ ]--yet atticus doth sometimes sadly err. he has now and then an ungovernable passion to possess more copies of a book than there were ever parties to a deed, or stamina to a plant: and therefore i cannot call him a duplicate or triplicate collector. his best friends scold--his most respectable rivals censure--and a whole 'mob of gentlemen' who think to collect 'with ease,' threaten vengeance against--him, for this despotic spirit which he evinces; and which i fear nothing can stay or modify but an act of parliament that no gentleman shall purchase more than two copies of a work; one for his town, the other for his country, residence." [footnote : singularis eius ac propensi, in iuvandam eruditionem studii insigne imprimis monumentum exstat, bibliotheca instructissima, sacrarium bonæ menti dicatum, in quo omne, quod transmitti ad posteritatem meretur, copiose reconditum est. _e [transcriber's note: de] orig. et increment. typog. lipsiens. lips. an. typog._ sec. iii., sign. .] phil. but does he atone for his sad error by being liberal in the loan of his volumes? "most completely so, philemon. this is the 'pars melior' of every book collector, and it is indeed the better part with atticus. the learned and curious, whether rich or poor, have always free access to his library-- his volumes, open as his heart, delight, amusement, science, art, to every ear and eye impart. his books, therefore, are not a stagnant reservoir of unprofitable water, as are those of pontevallo's; but like a thousand rills, which run down from the lake on snowdon's summit, after a plentiful fall of rain, they serve to fertilize and adorn every thing to which they extend. in consequence, he sees himself reflected in a thousand mirrors: and has a right to be vain of the numerous dedications to him, and of the richly ornamented robes in which he is attired by his grateful friends." lis. long life to atticus, and to all such book heroes! now pray inform me who is yonder gentleman, of majestic mien and shape?--and who strikes a stranger with as much interest as agamemnon did priam--when the grecian troops passed at a distance in order of review, while the trojan monarch and helen were gossipping with each other on the battlements of troy! "that gentleman, lisardo, is hortensius; who, you see is in close conversation with an intimate friend and fellow-bibliomaniac--that ycleped is ulpian. they are both honourable members of an honourable profession; and although they have formerly sworn to purchase no old book but machlinia's first edition of littleton's tenures, yet they cannot resist, now and then, the delicious impulse of becoming masters of a black-letter chronicle or romance. taste and talent of various kind they both possess; and 'tis truly pleasant to see gentlemen and scholars, engaged in a laborious profession, in which, comparatively, 'little vegetation quickens, and few salutary plants take root,' finding 'a pleasant grove for their wits to walk in' amidst rows of beautifully bound, and intrinsically precious, volumes. they feel it delectable, 'from the loop-holes of such a retreat,' to peep at the multifarious pursuits of their brethren; and while they discover some busied in a perversion of book-taste, and others preferring the short-lived pleasures of sensual gratifications--which must 'not be named' among good bibliomaniacs--they can sit comfortably by their fire-sides; and, pointing to a well-furnished library, say to their wives--who heartily sympathize in the sentiment-- this gives us health, or adds to life a day!"[ ] [footnote : braithwaite's _arcadian princesse_: lib. , p. , edit. . the two immediately following verses, which are worthy of dryden, may quietly creep in here: or helps decayed beauty, or repairs our chop-fall'n cheeks, or winter-molted hairs.] lis. when i come to town to settle, pray introduce me to these amiable and sensible bibliomaniacs. now gratify a curiosity that i feel to know the name and character of yonder respectably-looking gentleman, in the dress of the old school, who is speaking in so gracious a manner to bernardo? "'tis leontes: a man of taste, and an accomplished antiquary. even yet he continues to gratify his favourite passion for book and print-collecting; although his library is at once choice and copious, and his collection of prints exquisitely fine. he yet enjoys, in the evening of life, all that unruffled temper and gentlemanly address which delighted so much in his younger days, and which will always render him, in his latter years, equally interesting and admired. like atticus, he is liberal in the loan of his treasures; and, as with him, so 'tis with leontes--the spirit of book-collecting 'assumes the dignity of a virtue.'[ ] peace and comfort be the attendant spirits of leontes, through life, and in death: the happiness of a better world await him beyond the grave! his memory will always be held in reverence by honest bibliomaniacs; and a due sense of his kindness towards myself shall constantly be impressed upon me-- dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos regret artus." [footnote : _edinburgh review_, vol. xiii., p. .] phil. amen. with leontes i suppose you close your account of the most notorious bibliomaniacs who generally attend book sales in person; for i observe no other person who mingles with those already described--unless indeed, three very active young ones, who occasionally converse with each other, and now and then have their names affixed to some very expensive purchases-- "they are the three mercurii, oftentimes deputed by distinguished bibliomaniacs: who, fearful of the sharp-shooting powers of their adversaries, if they _themselves_ should appear in the ranks, like prudent generals, keep aloof. but their aides-de-camp are not always successful in their missions; for such is the obstinacy with which book-battles are now contested, that it requires three times the number of guns and weight of metal to accomplish a particular object to what it did when john duke of marlborough wore his full-bottomed periwig at the battle of blenheim. "others there are, again, who employ these mercurii from their own inability to attend in person, owing to distance, want of time, and other similar causes. hence, many a desperate bibliomaniac keeps in the back-ground; while the public are wholly unacquainted with his curious and rapidly-increasing treasures. hence sir tristram, embosomed in his forest-retreat, --down the steepy linn that hems his little garden in, is constantly increasing his stores of tales of genii, fairies, fays, ghosts, hobgoblins, magicians, highwaymen, and desperadoes--and equally acceptable to him is a copy of castalio's elegant version of homer, and of st. dunstan's book '_de occulta philosophia_;' concerning which lattter [transcriber's note: latter], elias ashmole is vehement in commendation.[ ] from all these (after melting them down in his own unparalleled poetical crucible--which hath charms as potent as the witches' cauldron in macbeth) he gives the world many a wondrous-sweet song. who that has read the exquisite poems, of the fame of which all britain 'rings from side to side,' shall deny to such ancient legends a power to charm and instruct? or who, that possesses a copy of prospero's excellent volumes, although composed in a different strain (yet still more fruitful in ancient matters), shall not love the memory and exalt the renown of such transcendent bibliomaniacs? the library of prospero is indeed acknowledged to be without a rival in its way. how pleasant it is, dear philemon, only to contemplate such a goodly prospect of elegantly bound volumes of old english and french literature!--and to think of the matchless stores which they contain, relating to our ancient popular tales and romantic legends! [footnote : he who shall have the happiness to meet with st. dunstan's worke "_de occulta philosophia_," may therein reade such stories as will make him amaz'd, &c. prolegom. to his _theatrum chemicum_, sign a., . rev.] "allied to this library, in the general complexion of its literary treasures, is that of marcellus: while in the possession of numberless rare and precious volumes relating to the drama, and especially to his beloved shakespeare, it must be acknowledged that marcellus hath somewhat the superiority. meritorious as have been his labours in the illustration of our immortal bard, he is yet as zealous, vigilant, and anxious, as ever, to accumulate every thing which may tend to the further illustration of him. enter his book-cabinet; and with the sight of how many _unique_ pieces and tracts are your ardent eyes blessed! just so it is with aurelius! he also, with the three last mentioned bibliomaniacs, keeps up a constant fire at book auctions; although he is not personally seen in securing the spoils which he makes. unparalleled as an antiquary in caledonian history and poetry, and passionately attached to every thing connected with the fate of the lamented mary, as well as with that of the great poetical contemporaries, spenser and shakespeare, aurelius is indefatigable in the pursuit of such ancient lore as may add value to the stores, however precious, which he possesses. his _noctes atticæ_, devoted to the elucidation of the history of his native country, will erect to his memory a splendid and imperishable monument. these, my dear friends, these are the virtuous and useful, and therefore salutary ends of book-collecting and book-reading. such characters are among the proudest pillars that adorn the greatest nations upon earth. "let me, however, not forget to mention that there are bashful or busy bibliomaniacs, who keep aloof from book-sales, intent only upon securing, by means of these mercurii, _stainless_ or _large paper_ copies of ancient literature. while menalcas sees his oblong cabinet decorated with such a tall, well-dressed, and perhaps matchless, regiment of _variorum classics_, he has little or no occasion to regret his unavoidable absence from the field of battle, in the strand or pall mall. and yet--although he is environed with a body guard, of which the great frederick's father might have envied him the possession, he cannot help casting a wishful eye, now and then, upon still choicer and taller troops which he sees in the territories of his rivals. i do not know whether he would not sacrifice the whole right wing of his army, for the securing of some magnificent treasures in the empire of his neighbour rinaldo: for there he sees, and adores, with the rapture-speaking eye of a classical bibliomaniac, the tall, wide, thick, clean, brilliant, and illuminated copy of the _first livy_ upon vellum--enshrined in an impenetrable oaken case, covered with choice morocco! "there he often witnesses the adoration paid to this glorious object, by some bookish pilgrim, who, as the evening sun reposes softly upon the hill, pushes onward, through copse, wood, moor, heath, bramble, and thicket, to feast his eyes upon the mellow lustre of its leaves, and upon the nice execution of its typography. menalcas sees all this; and yet has too noble a heart to envy rinaldo his treasures! these bibliomaniacs often meet and view their respective forces; but never with hostile eyes. they know their relative strength; and wisely console themselves by being each 'eminent in his degree.' like corregio, they are 'also painters' in their way." phil. a well-a-day, lisardo! does not this recital chill your blood with despair? instead of making your purchases, you are only listening supinely to our friend! lis. not exactly so. one of these obliging mercurii has already executed a few commissions for me. you forget that our friend entered into a little chat with him, just before we took possession of our seats. as to despair of obtaining book-gems similar to those of the four last mentioned bibliomaniacs, i know not what to say--yet this i think must be granted: no one could make a better use of them than their present owners. see, the elder mercurius comes to tell me of a pleasant acquisition to my library! what a murmur and confusion prevail about the auctioneer! good news, i trust? at this moment lisardo received intelligence that he had obtained possession of the catalogues of the books of bunau, crevenna, and pinelli; and that, after a desperate struggle with quisquilius, he came off victorious in a contest for de bure's _bibliographie instructive_, _gaignat's catalogue_, and the two copious ones of the _duke de la valliere_: these four latter being half-bound and uncut, in nineteen volumes. transport lit up the countenance of lisardo, upon his receiving this intelligence; but as pleasure and pain go hand in hand in this world, so did this young and unsuspecting bibliomaniac evince heavy affliction, on being told that he had failed in his attack upon the best editions of le long's _bibliotheca sacra_, fresnoy's _méthode pour etudier l'histoire_, and baillet's _jugemens des savans_--these having been carried off, at the point of the bayonet, by an irresistible onset from atticus. "remember, my friend," said i, in a soothing strain, "remember that you are but a polydore; and must expect to fall when you encounter achilles.[ ] think of the honour you have acquired in this day's glorious contest; and, when you are drenching your cups of claret, at your hospitable board, contemplate your de bure as a trophy which will always make you respected by your visitors! i am glad to see you revive. yet further intelligence?" [footnote : the reader may peruse the affecting death of this beautiful youth, by the merciless achilles, from the to th verso of the xxth book of _homer's iliad_. fortunately for lisardo, he survives the contest, and even threatens revenge.] lis. my good mercurius, for whom a knife and fork shall always be laid at my table, has just informed me that clement's _bibliotheque curieuse_, and panzer's _typographical annals_, are knocked down to me, after mustapha had picked me out for single combat, and battered my breast-plate with a thousand furious strokes! "you must always," said i, "expect tough work from such an enemy, who is frequently both wanton and wild. but i congratulate you heartily on the event of this day's contest. let us now pack up and pay for our treasures. your servant has just entered the room, and the chaise is most probably at the door." lis. i am perfectly ready. mercurius tells me that the whole amounts to---- phil. upwards of thirty guineas? lis. hard upon forty pounds. here is the draft upon my banker: and then for my precious tomes of bibliography! a thousand thanks, my friend. i love this place of all things; and, after your minute account of the characters of those who frequent it, i feel a strong propensity to become a deserving member of so respectable a fraternity. leaving them all to return to their homes as satisfied as myself, i wish them a hearty good day. upon saying this, we followed lisardo and his bibliographical treasures into the chaise; and instantly set off, at a sharp trot, for the quiet and comfort of green fields and running streams. as we rolled over westminster-bridge, we bade farewell, like the historian of the decline and fall of the roman empire, to the "fumum et opes strepitumque romæ." [illustration] [illustration: chiswick house as in .] part iv. =the library.= dr. henry's history of great britain. a game at chess.--of monachism and chivalry. dinner at lorenzo's. some account of book-collectors in england. ----wisdom loves this seat serene, and virtue's self approves:-- here come the griev'd, a change of thought to find; the curious here, to feed a craving mind: here the devout, their peaceful temple chuse; and here, the poet meets his favouring muse. crabbe's poems. (_the library._) [illustration: =ingredere ut proficias.=] [illustration] =the library.= dr. henry's history of great britain. a game of chess.--of monachism and chivalry. dinner at lorenzo's. some account of book-collectors in england. during the first seven miles of our return from the busy scene which has just been described, it was sufficiently obvious that lisardo was suffering a little under the pangs of mortification. true it was, he had filled his pocket with an ampler supply of pistoles than it ever fell to the lot of gil blas, at the same time of life, to be master of; but he had not calculated upon the similar condition of his competitors; some of whom had yet greater powers of purchase, and a more resolute determination, as well as nicer skill, in exercising these powers, than himself. thus rushing into the combat with the heat and vehemence of youth, he was of necessity compelled to experience the disappointment attendant upon such precipitancy. it was in vain that philemon and myself endeavoured to make him completely satisfied with his purchase: nothing produced a look of complacency from him. at length, upon seeing the rising ground which was within two or three miles of our respective homes, he cheered up by degrees; and a sudden thought of the treasures contained in his clement, de bure and panzer, darted a gleam of satisfaction across his countenance. his eyes resumed their wonted brilliancy, and all the natural gaiety of his disposition returned with full effect to banish every vapour of melancholy. "indeed, my good friend," said he to me--"i shall always have reason to think and speak well of your kindness shewn towards me this day; and although some years may elapse before a similar collection may be disposed of--and i must necessarily wait a tedious period 'ere i get possession of maittaire, audiffredi, and others of the old school--yet i hope to convince lysander, on the exhibition of my purchase, that my conversion to bibliography has been sincere. yes: i perceive that i have food enough to digest, in the volumes which are now my travelling companions, for two or three years to come--and if, by keeping a sharp look-out upon booksellers' catalogues when they are first published, i can catch hold of vogt, schelhorn and heinecken, my progress in bibliography, within the same period, must be downright marvellous!" "i congratulate you," exclaimed philemon, "upon the return of your reason and good sense. i began to think that the story of orlando had been thrown away upon you; and that his regular yearly purchases of a certain set of books, and making himself master of their principal contents before he ventured upon another similar purchase, had already been banished from your recollection." we were now fast approaching the end of our journey; when the groom of lorenzo, mounted upon a well-bred courser, darted quickly by the chaise, apparently making towards my house--but on turning his head, and perceiving me within it, he drew up and bade the postilion stop. a note from his master soon disclosed the reason of this interruption. lorenzo, upon hearing of the arrival of lysander and philemon, and of their wish to visit his library, had sent us all three a kind invitation to dine with him on the morrow. his close intimacy with lisardo (who was his neighbour) had left no doubt in the mind of the latter but that a similar note had been sent to his own house. after telling the messenger that we would not fail to pay our respects to his master, we drove briskly homewards; and found lysander sitting on a stile under some wide-spreading beech trees, at the entrance of the paddock, expecting our arrival. in less than half an hour we sat down to dinner (at a time greatly beyond what i was accustomed to); regaling lysander, during the repast, with an account of the contest we had witnessed; and every now and then preventing lisardo from rushing towards his packet (even in the midst of his _fricandeau_), and displaying his book-treasures. after dinner, our discussion assumed a more methodical shape. lysander bestowed his hearty commendations upon the purchase; and, in order to whet the bibliomaniacal appetite of his young convert, he slyly observed that his set of de bure's pieces were _half bound_ and _uncut_; and that by having them bound in morocco, with gilt leaves, he would excel my own set; which latter was coated in a prettily-sprinkled calf leather, with speckled edges. lisardo could not repress the joyful sensations which this remark excited; and i observed that, whenever his eyes glanced upon my shelves, he afterwards returned them upon his own little collection, with a look of complacency mingled with exultation. it was evident, therefore, that he was now thoroughly reconciled to his fortune. lysand. during your absence, i have been reading a very favourite work of mine--dr. henry's _history of great britain_; especially that part of it which i prefer so much to the history of human cunning and human slaughter; i mean, the account of learning and of learned men. phil. it is also a great favourite with me. but while i regret the inexcuseable omission of an index to such a voluminous work, and the inequality of mr. andrews's partial continuation of it, i must be permitted to observe that the history of our literature and learned men is not the most brilliant, or best executed, part of dr. henry's valuable labours. there are many omissions to supply, and much interesting additional matter to bring forward, even in some of the most elaborate parts of it. his account of the arts might also be improved; although in commerce, manners and customs, i think he has done as much, and as well, as could reasonably be expected. i question, however, whether his work, from the plan upon which it is executed, will ever become so popular as its fondest admirers seem to hope. lysand. you are to consider, philemon, that in the execution of such an important whole, in the erection of so immense a fabric, some parts must necessarily be finished in a less workman-like style than others. and, after all, there is a good deal of caprice in our criticisms. you fancy, in this fabric (if i may be allowed to go on with my simile), a boudoir, a hall, or a staircase; and fix a critical eye upon a recess badly contrived, an oval badly turned, or pillars weakly put together:--the builder says, don't look at these parts of the fabric with such fastidious nicety; they are subordinate. if my boudoir will hold a moderate collection of old-fashioned dresden china, if my staircase be stout enough to conduct you and your company to the upper rooms; and, if my hall be spacious enough to hold the hats, umbrellas and walking-sticks of your largest dinner-party, they answer the ends proposed:--unless you would _live_ in your boudoir, upon your staircase, or within your hall! the fact then is, you, philemon, prefer the boudoir, and might, perhaps, improve upon its structure; but, recollect, there are places in a house of equal, or perhaps more, consequence than this beloved boudoir. now, to make the obvious application to the work which has given rise to this wonderful stretch of imagination on my part:--dr. henry is the builder, and his history is the building, in question: in the latter he had to put together, with skill and credit, a number of weighty parts, of which the "_civil and ecclesiastical_" is undoubtedly the most important to the generality of readers. but one of these component parts was the _the history of learning and of learned men_; which its author probably thought of subordinate consequence, or in the management of which, to allow you the full force of your objection, he was not so well skilled. yet, still, never before having been thus connected with such a building, it was undoubtedly a delightful acquisition; and i question whether, if it had been more elaborately executed--if it had exhibited all the fret-work and sparkling points which you seem to conceive necessary to its completion; i question, whether the popularity of the work would have been even so great as it is, and as it unquestionably merits to be! a few passionately-smitten literary antiquaries are not, perhaps, the fittest judges of such a production. to be generally useful and profitable should be the object of every author of a similar publication; and as far as candour and liberality of sentiment, an unaffected and manly style, accompanied with weighty matter, extensive research, and faithful quotation, render a work nationally valuable--the work of dr. henry, on these grounds, is an ornament and honour to his country. phil. yet i wish he had rambled (if you will permit me so to speak) a little more into book-men and book-anecdotes. lysand. you may indulge this wish very innocently; but, certainly, you ought not to censure dr. henry for the omission of such minutiæ. lis. does he ever quote clement, de bure, or panzer? lysand. away with such bibliomaniacal frenzy! he quotes solid, useful and respectable authorities; chiefly our old and most valuable historians. no writer before him ever did them so much justice, or displayed a more familiar acquaintance with them. lis. do pray give us, lysander, some little sketches of book-characters--which, i admit, did not enter into the plan of dr. henry's excellent work. as i possess the original quarto edition of this latter, bound in russia, you will not censure me for a want of respect towards the author. phil. i second lisardo's motion; although i fear the evening presses too hard upon us to admit of much present discussion. lysand. nothing--(speaking most unaffectedly from my heart) nothing affords me sincerer pleasure than to do any thing in my power which may please such cordial friends as yourselves. my pretensions to that sort of antiquarian _knowledge_, which belongs to the history of book-collectors, are very poor, as you well know,--they being greatly eclipsed by my _zeal_ in the same cause. but, as i love my country and my country's literature, so no conversation or research affords me a livelier pleasure than that which leads me to become better acquainted with the ages which have gone by; with the great and good men of old; who have found the most imperishable monuments of their fame in the sympathizing hearts of their successors. but i am wandering-- lis. go on as you please, dear lysander; for i have been too much indebted to your conversation ever to suppose it could diverge into any thing censoriously irrelevant. begin where and when you please. lysand. i assure you it is far from my intention to make any formal exordium, even if i knew the exact object of your request. phil. tell us all about book-collecting and bibliomaniacs in this country-- lis. "commençez au commençement"--as the french adage is. lysand. in sober truth, you impose upon me a pretty tough task! "one thousand and one nights" would hardly suffice for the execution of it; and now, already, i see the owl flying across the lawn to take her station in the neighbouring oak; while even the middle ground of yonder landscape is veiled in the blue haziness of evening. come a short half hour, and who, unless the moon befriend him, can see the outline of the village church? thus gradually and imperceptibly, but thus surely, succeeds age to youth--death to life--eternity to time!--you see in what sort of mood i am for the performance of my promise? lis. reserve these meditations for your pillow, dear lysander: and now, again i entreat you--"commençez au commençement." phil. pray make a beginning only: the conclusion shall be reserved, as a desert, for lorenzo's dinner to-morrow. lysand. lest i should be thought coquettish, i will act with you as i have already done; and endeavour to say something which may gratify you as before. it has often struck me my dear friends, continued lysander--(in a balanced attitude, and seeming to bring quietly together all his scattered thoughts upon the subject) it has often struck me that few things have operated more unfavourably towards the encouragement of learning, and of book-collecting, than the universal passion for _chivalry_--which obtained towards the middle ages; while, on the other hand, a _monastic life_ seems to have excited a love of retirement, meditation, and reading.[ ] i admit readily, that, considering the long continuance of the monastic orders, and that almost all intellectual improvement was confined within the cloister, a very slow and partial progress was made in literature. the system of education was a poor, stinted, and unproductive one. nor was it till after the enterprising activity of poggio had succeeded in securing a few precious remains of classical antiquity,[ ] that the wretched indolence of the monastic life began to be diverted from a constant meditation upon "antiphoners, grailes, and psalters,"[ ] towards subjects of a more generally interesting nature. i am willing to admit every degree of merit to the manual dexterity of the cloistered student. i admire his snow-white vellum missals, emblazoned with gold, and sparkling with carmine and ultramarine blue. by the help of the microscopic glass, i peruse his diminutive penmanship, executed with the most astonishing neatness and regularity; and often wish in my heart that our typographers printed with ink as glossy black as that which they sometimes used in their writing. i admire all this; and now and then, for a guinea or two, i purchase a specimen of such marvellous leger-de-main: but the book, when purchased, is to me a sealed book. and yet, philemon, i blame not the individual, but the age; not the task, but the task-master; for surely the same exquisite and unrivalled beauty would have been exhibited in copying an ode of horace, or a dictum of quintilian. still, however, you may say that the intention, in all this, was pure and meritorious; for that such a system excited insensibly a love of quiet, domestic order, and seriousness: while those counsels and regulations which punished a "clerk for being a hunter," and restricted "the intercourse of concubines,"[ ] evinced a spirit of jurisprudence which would have done justice to any age. let us allow, then, if you please, that a love of book-reading, and of book-collecting, was a meritorious trait in the monastic life; and that we are to look upon old abbies and convents as the sacred depositories of the literature of past ages. what can you say in defence of your times of beloved chivalry? [footnote : as early as the sixth century commenced the custom, in some monasteries, of copying ancient books and composing new ones. it was the usual, and even only, employment of the first monks of marmoutier. a monastery without a library was considered as a fort or a camp deprived of the necessary articles for its defence: "claustrum sine armario, quasi castrum sine armentario." peignot, _dict. de bibliolog._, vol. i., . i am fearful that this good old bibliomanical custom of keeping up the credit of their libraries among the monks had ceased--at least in the convent of romsey, in hampshire--towards the commencement of the sixteenth century. one would think that the books had been there disposed of in bartering for _strong liquors_; for at a visitation by bishop fox, held there in , joyce rows, the abbess, is accused of _immoderate drinking_, especially in the night time; and of inviting the nuns to her chamber every evening, for the purpose of these excesses, "post completorium." what is frightful to add,--"this was a rich convent, and filled with ladies of the best families." see warton's cruel note in his _life of sir thomas pope_, p. , edit. . a tender-hearted bibliomaniac cannot but feel acutely on reflecting upon the many beautifully-illuminated vellum books which were, in all probability, exchanged for these inebriating gratifications! to balance this unfavourable account read hearne's remark about the libraries in ancient monasteries, in the sixth volume of _leland's collectanea_, p. - , edit. : and especially the anecdotes and authorities stated by dr. henry in book iii., chap, iv., sec. .] [footnote : see the first volume of mr. roscoe's _lorenzo de medici_; and the rev. mr. shepherd's _life of poggio bracciolini_.] [footnote : when queen elizabeth deputed a set of commissioners to examine into the superstitious books belonging to all-souls library, there was returned, in the list of these superstitious works, "eight grailes, seven antiphoners of parchment and bound." gutch's _collectanea curiosa_, vol. ii., . at page , ante, the reader will find a definition of the word "antiphoner." he is here informed that a "gradale" or "grail," is a book which ought to have in it "the office of sprinkling holy water: the beginnings of the masses, or the offices of _kyrie_, with the verses of _gloria in excelsis_; the _gradales_, or what is gradually sung after the epistles; the hallelujah and tracts, the sequences, the creed to be sung at mass, the offertories, the hymns holy, and lamb of god, the communion, &c., which relate to the choir at the singing of a solemn mass." this is the rev. j. lewis's account; _idem opus_, vol. ii., .] [footnote : "_of a clerk that is an hunter._" "we ordain that if any clerk be defamed of trespass committed in forest or park of any man's, and thereof be lawfully convicted before his ordinary, or do confess it to him, the diocesan shall make redemption thereof in his goods, if he have goods after the quality of his fault; and such redemption shall be assigned to him to whom the loss, hurt, or injury, is done; but if he have no goods, let his bishop grievously punish his person according as the fault requireth, lest through trust to escape punishment they boldly presume to offend." _fol._ , _rev._: vide _infra_. (the same prohibition against clergymen being hunters appears in a circular letter, or injunctions, by lee, archbishop of york, a.d. . "item; they shall not be common _hunters ne hawkers_, ne playe at gammes prohibytede, as dycese and cartes, and such oder." burnet's _hist. of the reformation_; vol. iii. p. , "collections.") "_of the removing of clerks' concubines._" "although the governors of the church have always laboured and enforced to drive and chase away from the houses of the church that rotten contagiousness of pleasant filthiness with the which the sight and beauty of the church is grievously spotted and defiled, and yet could never hitherto bring it to pass, seeing it is of so great a lewd boldness that it thursteth in unshamefastly without ceasing; we, therefore," &c. _fol._ , _rect._ "_of concubines, that is to say of them that keep concubines._" "how unbecoming it is, and how contrary to the pureness of christians, to touch sacred things with lips and hands polluted, or any to give the laws and praisings of cleanness, or to present himself in the lord's temple, when he is defiled with the spots of lechery, not only the divine and canonical laws, but also the monitions of secular princes, hath evidently seen by the judgment of holy consideration, commanding and enjoining both discreetly and also wholesomely, shamefacedness unto all christ's faithful, and ministers of the holy church." _fol._ , _rect._ _constitutions provincialles, and of otho aud [transcriber's note: and] octhobone._ redman's edit. , mo. on looking into du pin's _ecclesiastical history_, vol. ix., p. , edit. , i find that hugh of dia, by the ninth canon in the council of poictiers, (centy. xi.) ordained "that the sub-deacons, deacons, and priests, shall have no concubine, or any other suspicious women in their houses; and that all those who shall wittingly hear the mass of a priest that keeps a concubine, or is guilty of simony, shall be excommunicated."] phil. shew me in what respect the gallant spirit of an ancient knight was hostile to the cultivation of the belles-lettres? lysand. most readily. look at your old romances, and what is the system of education--of youthful pursuits--which they in general inculcate? intrigue and bloodshed.[ ] examine your favourite new edition of the _fabliaux et contes_ of the middle ages, collected by barbazan! however the editor may say that "though some of these pieces are a little too free, others breathe a spirit of morality and religion--"[ ] the main scope of the poems, taken collectively, is that which has just been mentioned. but let us come to particulars. what is there in the _ordene de chevalerie_, or _le castoiement d'un pere à son fils_ (pieces in which one would expect a little seriousness of youthful instruction), that can possibly excite a love of reading, book-collecting, or domestic quiet? again; let us see what these chivalrous lads do, as soon as they become able-bodied! nothing but assault and wound one another. read concerning your favourite _oliver of castile_,[ ] and his half-brother _arthur_! or, open the beautiful volumes of the late interesting translation of monstrelet, and what is almost the very first thing which meets your eye? why, "an esquire of arragon (one of your chivalrous heroes) named michel d'orris, sends a challenge to an english esquire of the same complexion with himself--and this is the nature of the challenge: [which i will read from the volume, as it is close at my right hand, and i have been dipping into it this morning in your absence--] [footnote : the celebrated ludovicus vives has strung together a whole list of ancient popular romances, calling them "ungracious books." the following is his saucy philippic: "which books but idle men wrote unlearned, and set all upon filth and viciousness; in whom i wonder what should delight men, but that vice pleaseth them so much. as for learning, none is to be looked for in those men, which saw never so much as a shadow of learning themselves. and when they tell ought, what delight can be in those things that be so plain and foolish lies? one killeth twenty by himself alone, another killeth thirty; another, wounded with a hundred wounds, and left for dead, riseth up again; and on the next day, made whole and strong, overcometh two giants, and then goeth away loaden with gold and silver and precious stones, mo than a galley would carry away. what madness is it of folks to have pleasure in these books! also there is no wit in them, but a few words of wanton lust; which be spoken to move her mind with whom they love, if it chance she be steadfast. and if they be read but for this, the best were to make books of bawd's crafts, for in other things what craft can be had of such a maker that is ignorant of all good craft? nor i never heard man say that he liked these books, but those that never touched good books."--_instruction of a christian woman_, sign. d. . rev., edit. . from the fifth chapter (sufficiently curious) of "what books be to be read, and what not."] [footnote : vol. ii., p. , edit. .] [footnote : "when the king saw that they were puissant enough for to wield armour at their ease, he gave them license for to do cry a justing and tournament. the which oliver and arthur made for to be cried, that three aventurous knights should just against all comers, the which should find them there the first day of the lusty month of may, in complete harness, for to just against their adversaries with sharp spears. and the said three champions should just three days in three colours: that is to wit, in black, grey and violet--and their shields of the same hue; and them to find on the third day at the lists. there justed divers young knights of the king's court: and the justing was more _asperer_ of those young knights than ever they had seen any in that country. and, by the report of the ladies, they did so knightly, every one, that it was not possible for to do better, as them thought, by their strokes. but, above all other, oliver and arthur (his loyal fellow) had the _bruit_ and _loos_. the justing endured long: it was marvel to see the hideous strokes that they dealt; for the justing had not finished so soon but that the night _separed_ them. nevertheless, the adversary party abode 'till the torches were light. but the ladies and _damoyselles_, that of all the justing time had been there, were weary, and would depart. wherefore the justers departed in likewise, and went and disarmed them for to come to the banquet or feast. and when that the banquet was finished and done, the dances began. and there came the king and the valiant knights of arms, for to enquire of the ladies and _damoyselles_, who that had best borne him as for that day. the ladies, which were all of one accord and agreement, said that oliver and arthur had surmounted all the best doers of that _journey_. and by cause that oliver and arthur were both of one party, and that they could find but little difference between them of knighthood, they knew not the which they might sustain. but, in the end, they said that arthur had done right valiantly: nevertheless, they said that oliver had done best unto their seeming. and therefore it was concluded that the _pryce_ should be given unto oliver, as for the best of them of within. and another noble knight, of the realm of algarbe, that came with the queen, had the pryce of without. when the pryce of the juste that had been made was brought before oliver, by two fair _damoyselles_, he waxed all red, and was ashamed at that present time; and said that it was of their bounty for to give him the pryce, and not of his desert: nevertheless, he received it; and, as it was of custom in guerdoning them, he kissed them. and soon after they brought the wine and spices; and then the dances and the feast took an end as for that night." _hystorye of olyuer of castylle, and of the fayre helayne, &c._, , to., sign. a. v. vj. this i suppose to be the passage alluded to by lysander. the edition from which it is taken, and of which the title was barely known to ames and herbert, is printed by wynkyn de worde. mr. heber's copy of it is at present considered to be unique. the reader will see some copious extracts from it in the second volume of the _british typographical antiquities_.] "first, to enter the lists on foot, each armed in the manner he shall please, having a dagger and sword attached to any part of his body, and a battle-axe, with the handle of such length as the challenger shall fix on. the combat to be as follows: ten strokes of the battle-axe, without intermission; and when these strokes shall have been given, and the judge shall cry out 'ho!' ten cuts with the sword to be given without intermission or change of armour. when the judge shall cry out 'ho!' we will resort to our daggers, and give ten stabs with them. should either party lose or drop his weapon, the other may continue the use of the one in his hand until the judge shall cry out 'ho!'" &c.[ ] a very pretty specimen of honourable combat, truly!--and a mighty merciful judge who required even more cuts and thrusts than these (for the combat is to go on) before he cried out "ho!" defend us from such ejaculatory umpires!-- [footnote : see _monstrelet's chronicles_, translated by thomas johnes, esq., vol. i., p. , edit. , to. another elegant and elaborate specimen of the hafod press; whose owner will be remembered as long as literature and taste shall be cultivated in this country.] lis. pray dwell no longer upon such barbarous heroism! we admit that _monachism_ may have contributed towards the making of bibliomaniacs more effectually than _chivalry_. now proceed-- these words had hardly escaped lisardo, when the arrival of my worthy neighbour narcottus (who lived by the parsonage house), put a stop to the discourse. agreeably to a promise which i had made him three days before, he came to play a game of chess with philemon; who, on his part, although a distinguished champion at this head-distracting game, gave way rather reluctantly to the performance of the promise: for lysander was now about to enter upon the history of the bibliomania in this country. the chess-board, however was brought out; and down to the contest the combatants sat--while lisardo retired to one corner of the room to examine thoroughly his newly-purchased volumes, and lysander took down a prettily executed vo. volume upon the game of chess, printed at cheltenham, about six years ago, and composed "by an amateur." while we were examining, in this neat work, an account of the numerous publications upon the game of chess, in various countries and languages, and were expressing our delight in reading anecdotes about eminent chess players, lisardo was carefully packing up his books, as he expected his servant every minute to take them away. the servant shortly arrived, and upon his expressing his inability to carry the entire packet--"here," exclaimed lisardo, "do you take the quartos, and follow me; who will march onward with the octavos." this was no sooner said than our young bibliomaniacal convert gave de bure, gaignat, and la valliere, a vigorous swing across his shoulders; while the twenty quarto volumes of clement and panzer were piled, like "ossa upon pelion," upon those of his servant--and "light of foot, and light of heart" lisardo took leave of us 'till the morrow. meanwhile, the chess combat continued with unabated spirit. here philemon's king stood pretty firmly guarded by both his knights, one castle, one bishop, and a body of common soldiers[ ]--impenetrable as the grecian phalanx, or roman legion; while his queen had made a sly sortie to surprise the only surviving knight of narcottus. narcottus, on the other hand, was cautiously collecting his scattered foot soldiers, and, with two bishops, and two castle-armed elephants, were meditating a desperate onset to retrieve the disgrace of his lost queen. an inadvertent remark from lysander, concerning the antiquity of the game, attracted the attention of philemon so much as to throw him off his guard; while his queen, forgetful of her sex, and venturing unprotected, like penthesilea of old, into the thickest of the fight, was trampled under foot, without mercy,[ ] by a huge elephant, carrying a castle of armed men upon his back. shouts of applause, from narcottus's men, rent the vaulted air; while grief and consternation possessed the astonished army of philemon. "away with your antiquarian questions," exclaimed the latter, looking sharply at lysander: "away with your old editions of the game of chess! the moment is critical; and i fear the day may be lost. now for desperate action!" so saying, he bade the king exhort his dismayed subjects. his majesty made a spirited oration; and called upon _sir launcelot_, the most distinguished of the two knights,[ ] to be mindful of his own and of his country's honour: to spare the effusion of blood among his subjects as much as possible; but rather to place victory or defeat in the comparative skill of the officers: and, at all events, to rally round that throne which had conferred such high marks of distinction upon his ancestors. "i needed not, gracious sire," replied sir launcelot--curbing in his mouth-foaming steed, and fixing his spear in the rest--"i needed not to be here reminded of your kindness to my forefathers, or of the necessity of doing every thing, at such a crisis, beseeming the honour of a true round-table knight.--yes, gracious sovereign, i swear to you by the love i bear to the lady of the lake[ ]--by the remembrance of the soft moments we have passed together in the honey-suckle bowers of her father--by all that an knight of chivalry is taught to believe the most sacred and binding--i swear that i will not return this day alive without the laurel of victory entwined round my brow. right well do i perceive that deeds and not words must save us now--let the issue of the combat prove my valour and allegiance." upon this, sir launcelot clapped spurs to his horse, and after driving an unprotected bishop into the midst of the foot-soldiers, who quickly took him prisoner, he sprang forward, with a lion-like nimbleness and ferocity, to pick out _sir galaad_, the only remaining knight in the adverse army, to single combat. sir galaad, strong and wary, like the greenland bear when assailed by the darts and bullets of our whale-fishing men, marked the fury of sir launcelot's course, and sought rather to present a formidable defence by calling to aid his elephants, than to meet such a champion single-handed. a shrill blast from his horn told the danger of his situation, and the necessity of help. what should now be done? the unbroken ranks of philemon's men presented a fearful front to the advance of the elephants, and the recent capture of a venerable bishop had made the monarch, on narcottus's side, justly fearful of risking the safety of his empire by leaving himself wholly without episcopal aid. meanwhile the progress of sir launcelot was marked with blood; and he was of necessity compelled to slaughter a host of common men, who stood thickly around sir galaad, resolved to conquer or die by his side. at length, as master laneham aptly expresses it, "get they grysly together."[ ] the hostile leaders met; there was neither time nor disposition for parley. sir galaad threw his javelin with well-directed fury; which, flying within an hair's breadth of sir launcelot's shoulder, passed onward, and, grazing the cheek of a foot soldier, stood quivering in the sand. he then was about to draw his ponderous sword--but the tremendous spear of sir launcelot, whizzing strongly in the air, passed through his thickly quilted belt, and, burying itself in his bowels, made sir galaad to fall breathless from his horse. now might you hear the shouts of victory on one side, and the groans of the vanquished on the other; or, as old homer expresses it, victors and vanquished shouts promiscuous rise. with streams of blood the slippery fields are dyed, and slaughtered heroes swell the dreadful tide. _iliad_ [passim]. [footnote : "whilst there are strong, able, and active men of the king's side, to defend his cause, there is no danger of [this] misfortune." _letter to the craftsman on the game of chess_, p. .] [footnote : "when therefore the men of one party attack those of the other, though their spleen at first may only seem bent against a _bishop_, a _knight_, or an inferior officer; yet, if successful in their attacks on that servant of the king, they never stop there: they come afterwards to think themselves strong enough even to attack _the queen_," &c. _the same_, p. .] [footnote : "_the knight_ (whose steps, as your correspondent justly observes, are not of an ordinary kind, and often surprise men who oppose him) is of great use in extricating _the king_ out of those difficulties in which his foes endeavour to entangle him.--he is a man whom a wise player makes great use of in these exigences, and who oftenest defeats the shallow schemes and thin artifices of unskilful antagonists. they must be very bad players who do not guard against the steps of _the knight_." _the same_, p. .] [footnote : "the lady of the lake; famous in king arthurz book"--says master laneham, in his letter to master humfrey martin; concerning the entertainment given by lord leicester to q. elizabeth at kenilworth castle: a.d. , edit. , p. . yet more famous, i add, in a poem under this express title, by walter scott, .] [footnote : see the authority (p. ) quoted in the note at page , ante.] and, truly, the army of narcottus seemed wasted with a great slaughter: yet on neither side, had the monarch been _checked_, so as to be put in personal danger! "while there is life there is hope," said the surviving bishop[ ] on the side of narcottus: who now taking upon him the command of the army, and perceiving sir launcelot to be pretty nearly exhausted with fatigue, and wantonly exposing his person, ordered the men at arms to charge him briskly on all sides; while his own two castles kept a check upon the remaining castle, knight, and bishop of the opposite army: also, he exhorted the king to make a feint, as if about to march onwards. sir launcelot, on perceiving the movement of the monarch, sprang forward to make him a prisoner; but he was surprised by an elephant in ambuscade, from whose castle-bearing back a well-shot arrow pierced his corslet, and inflicted a mortal wound. he fell; but, in falling, he seemed to smile even sweetly, as he thought upon the noble speech of sir bohort[ ] over the dead body of his illustrious ancestor, of the same name; and, exhorting his gallant men to revenge his fall, he held the handle of his sword firmly, till his whole frame was stiffened in death. and now the battle was renewed with equal courage and equal hopes of victory on both sides: but the loss of the flower of their armies, and especially of their beloved spouses, had heavily oppressed the adverse monarchs: who, retiring to a secured spot, bemoaned in secret the hapless deaths of their queens, and bitterly bewailed that injudicious law which, of necessity, so much exposed their fair persons, by giving them such an unlimited power. the fortune of the day, therefore, remained in the hands of the respective commanders; and if the knight and bishop, on philemon's side, had not contested about superiority of rule, the victory had surely been with philemon. but the strife of these commanders threw every thing into confusion. the men, after being trampled upon by the elephants of narcottus, left their king exposed, without the power of being aided by his castle. an error so fatal was instantly perceived by the bishop of narcottus's shattered army; who, like another ximenes,[ ] putting himself at the head of his forces, and calling upon his men resolutely to march onwards, gave orders for the elephants to be moved cautiously at a distance, and to lose no opportunity of making the opposite monarch prisoner. thus, while he charged in front, and captured, with his own hands, the remaining adverse knight, his men kept the adverse bishop from sending reinforcements; and philemon's elephant not having an opportunity of sweeping across the plain to come to the timely aid of the king,[ ] the victory was speedily obtained, for the men upon the backs of narcottus's elephants kept up so tremendous a discharge of arrows that the monarch was left without a single attendant: and, of necessity, was obliged to submit to the generosity of his captors. [footnote : "i think _the bishops_ extremely considerable throughout the whole game. one quality too they have, which is peculiar to themselves; this is that, throughout the whole game, they have a _steadiness_ in their conduct, superior to men of any other denomination on the board; as they never change their colour, but always pursue the path in which they set out." _the same_ (vid. - ) p. .] [footnote : this truly chivalrous speech may be seen extracted in mr. burnet's _specimens of english prose writers_, vol. i., . one of virgil's heroes, to the best of my recollection, dies serenely upon thinking of his beloved countrymen: ----dulces moriens reminiscitur argos!] [footnote : it is always pleasant to me to make comparisons with eminent book-patrons, or, if the reader pleases, bibliomaniacs. cardinal ximenes was the promoter and patron of the celebrated complutensian polyglott bible; concerning which i have already submitted some account to the public in my _introduction to the classics_, vol. i., pp. , . his political abilities and personal courage have been described by dr. robertson (in his history of charles v.), with his usual ability. we have here only to talk of him as connected with books. mallinkrot and le long have both preserved the interesting anecdote which is related by his first biographer, alvaro gomez, concerning the completion of the forementioned polyglott. "i have often heard john brocarius (says gomez) son of arnoldus brocarius, who printed the polyglott, tell his friends that, when his father had put the finishing stroke to the last volume, he deputed _him_ to carry it to the cardinal. john brocarius was then a lad; and, having dressed himself in an elegant suit of clothes, he gravely approached ximenes, and delivered the volume into his hands. 'i render thanks to thee, oh god!' exclaimed the cardinal, 'that thou hast protracted my life to the completion of these biblical labours.' afterwards, when conversing with his friends, ximenes would often observe that the surmounting of the various difficulties of his political situation did not afford him half the satisfaction which he experienced from the finishing of his polyglott. he died in the year , not many weeks after the last volume was published." gomez, or gomecius's work "_de rebus gestis, à francisco ximenio cisnerio archiepiscopo complut_," , fol., is a book of very uncommon occurrence. it is much to be wished that lord holland, or mr. southey, would give us a life of this celebrated political character: as the biographies of flechier and marsolier seem miserably defective, and the sources of gomez to have been but partially consulted. but i must not let slip this opportunity of commemorating the book-reputation of ximenes, without making the reader acquainted with two other singularly scarce and curious productions of the press, which owe their birth to the bibliomanical spirit of our cardinal. i mean the "_missale mixtum secundun [transcriber's note: secundum] regulum b. isidori, dictum mozarabes, cum præfat._" _a. ortiz._ toleti, , fol. and the "_breviarium, mixtum," &c._ _mozarabes._ toleti, , fol.: of the former of which there was a copy in the harleian collection; as the ensuing interesting note, in the catalogue of lord harley's books, specifies. i shall give it without abridgment: "this is the scarcest book in the whole harleian collection. at the end of it are the following words, which deserve to be inserted here:--adlaudem omnipotentis dei, nec non virginis mariæ matris ejus, omnium sanctorum sanctarumq; expletum est missale mixtum secundum regulam beati isidori dictum mozarabes: maxima cum diligentia perlectum et emendatum, per reverendum in utroq; jure doctorem dominum alfonsum ortiz, canonicum toletanum. impressum in regal. civitate toleti, jussu reverendissimi in christo patris domini d. francisci ximenii, ejusdem civitatis archiepiscopi. impensis nobilis melchioris gorricii novariensis, per magistrum petrum hagembach, almanum, anno salutis nostræ , die o mensis januarii." "this is supposed to be the ancient missal amended and purged by st. isidore, archbishop of sevil, and ordered by the council of toledo to be used in all churches; every one of which before that time had a missal peculiar to itself. the moors afterwards committing great ravages in spain, destroying the churches, and throwing every thing there, both civil and sacred, into confusion, all st. isidore's missals, excepting those in the city of toledo, were lost. but those were preserved even after the moors had made themselves masters of that city; since they left six of the churches there to the christians, and granted them the free exercise of their religion. alphonsus the sixth, many ages afterwards, expelled the moors from toledo, and ordered the roman missal to be used in those churches where st. isidore's missal had been in vogue, ever since the council above-mentioned. but the people of toledo insisting that their missal was drawn up by the most ancient bishops, revised and corrected by st. isidore, proved to be the best by the great number of saints who had followed it, and been preserved during the whole time of the moorish government in spain, he could not bring his project to bear without great difficulty. in short, the contest between the roman and toletan missals came to that height that, according to the genius of the age, it was decided by a single combat, wherein the champion of the toletan missal proved victorious. but king alphonsus, say some of the spanish writers, not being satisfied with this, which he considered as the effect of chance only, ordered a fast to be proclaimed, and a great fire to be then made; into which, after the king and people had prayed fervently to god for his assistance in this affair, both the missals were thrown; but the toletan only escaped the violence of the flames. this, continue the same authors, made such an impression upon the king that he permitted the citizens of toledo to use their own missal in those churches that had been granted the christians by the moors. however, the copies of this missal grew afterwards so scarce, that cardinal ximenes found it extremely difficult to meet with one of them: which induced him to order this impression, and to build a chapel, in which this service was chanted every day, as it had at first been by the ancient christians. but, notwithstanding this, the copies of the toletan missal are become now so exceeding rare that it is at present almost in as much danger of being buried in oblivion as it was when committed to the press by cardinal ximenes." _bibl. harl._, vol. iii., p. . but let the reader consult the more extended details of de bure (_bibl. instruct._, vol. i., no. , ), and de la serna santander (_dict. chois. bibliogr. du_ xv. _siecle_, part iii., p. ); also the very valuable notice of vogt; _cat. libror. rarior._, p. ; who mention a fine copy of the missal and breviary, each struck off upon vellum, in the collegiate church of st. ildefonso. if i recollect rightly, mr. edwards informed me that an italian cardinal was in possession of a similar copy of each. this missal was republished at rome, with a capital preface and learned notes, by lesleus, a jesuit, in , to.: and lorenzana, archbishop of toledo, republished the breviary in a most splendid manner at madrid, in . both these re-impressions are also scarce. i know not whether the late king of spain ever put his design into execution of giving a new edition of these curious religious volumes; some ancient mss. of which had been carefully collated by burriel. consult osmont's _dict. typog._, vol. i., p. ; _cat. de gaignat_, nos. , ; _cat. de la valliere_, nos. , ; _bibl. solger._, vol. ii. no. ; and _bibl. colbert_, nos. , . having expatiated thus much, and perhaps tediously, about these renowned volumes, let me introduce to the notice of the heraldic reader the _coat of arms_ of the equally renowned cardinal--of whose genuine editions of the mozarabic missal and breviary my eyes were highly gratified with a sight, in the exquisite library of earl spencer, at althorp. [illustration]] [footnote : of the _tower_ or _rook_ (or _elephant_) one may indeed--to speak in the scripture style--(and properly speaking, considering its situation) call this piece "the head stone of the corner." there are two of them; and, whilst they remain firm, his majesty is ever in safety. the common enemies, therefore, of them and their king watch their least motion very narrowly, and try a hundred tricks to decoy them from the king's side, by feints, false alarms, stumbling blocks, or any other method that can be contrived to divert them from their duty. the _same_, p. . (vide. , ante.)] thus ended one of the most memorable chess contests upon record. not more stubbornly did the grecians and romans upon troy's plain, or the english and french upon egypt's shores, contend for the palm of victory, than did philemon and narcottus compel their respective forces to signalize themselves in this hard-fought game. to change the simile for a more homely one; no northamptonshire hunt was ever more vigorously kept up; and had it not been (at least so philemon thought!) for the inadvertent questions of lysander, respecting the antiquity of the amusement, an easy victory would have been obtained by my guest over my neighbour. lysander, with his usual politeness, took all the blame upon himself. philemon felt, as all chess-combatants feel upon defeat, peevish and vexed. but the admirably well adapted conversation of lysander, and the natural diffidence of narcottus, served to smooth philemon's ruffled plumage; and at length diffused o'er his countenance his natural glow of good humour. it was now fast advancing towards midnight; when narcottus withdrew to his house, and my guests to their chambers. to-morrow came; and with the morrow came composure and hilarity in the countenances of my guests. the defeat of the preceding evening was no longer thought of; except that philemon betrayed some little marks of irritability on lysander's shewing him the fac-simile wood-cuts of the pieces and men in caxton's edition of the game of chess, which are published in the recent edition of the typographical antiquities of our country. lisardo visited us betimes. his countenance, on his entrance gave indication of vexation and disappointment--as well it might; for, on his return home the preceding evening, he found the following note from lorenzo:-- "my dear lisardo; our friend's visitors, lysander and philemon, are coming with their host to eat old mutton, and drink old sherry, with me to-morrow; and afterwards to discuss subjects of bibliography. i do not ask you to join them, because i know your thorough aversion to every thing connected with such topics. adieu! truly yours, lorenzo." "little," exclaimed lisardo, "does he know of my conversion. i'll join you uninvited; and abide by the consequences." at four o'clock we set off, in company with lisardo, for lorenzo's dinner. i need hardly add that the company of the latter was cordially welcomed by our host; who, before the course of pastry was cleared away, proposed a sparkling bumper of malmsey madeira, to commemorate his conversion to bibliomaniacism. by half-past-five we were ushered into the library, to partake of a costly dessert of rock melons and hamburgh grapes, with all their appropriate embellishments of nectarines and nuts. massive and curiously cut decanters, filled with the genuine juice of the grape, strayed backwards and forwards upon the table: and well-furnished minds, which could not refuse the luxury of such a feast, made every thing as pleasant as rational pleasure could be. lis. if lorenzo have not any thing which he may conceive more interesting to propose, i move that you, good lysander, now resume the discussion of a subject which you so pleasantly commenced last night. phil. i rise to second the motion. loren. and i, to give it every support in my power. lysand. there is no resisting such adroitly levelled attacks. do pray tell me what it is you wish me to go on with? phil. the history of book-collecting and of book-collectors in this country. lis. the history of bibliomania, if you please. lysand. you are madder than the maddest of book-collectors, lisardo. but i will gossip away upon the subjects as well as i am able. i think we left off with an abuse of the anti-bibliomaniacal powers of chivalry. let us pursue a more systematic method; and begin, as lisardo says, "at the beginning." in the plan which i may pursue, you must forgive me, my friends, if you find it desultory and irregular: and, as a proof of the sincerity of your criticism, i earnestly beg that, like the chivalrous judge, of whom mention was made last night, you will cry out "_ho!_" when you wish me to cease. but where shall we begin? from what period shall we take up the history of bookism (or, if you please, bibliomania) in this country? let us pass over those long-bearded gentlemen called the druids; for in the various hypotheses which sagacious antiquaries have advanced upon their beloved _stone-henge_, none, i believe, are to be found wherein the traces of a _library_, in that vast ruin, are pretended to be discovered. as the druids were sparing of their writing,[ ] they probably read the more; but whether they carried their books with them into trees, or made their pillows of them upon salisbury-plain, tradition is equally silent. let us therefore preserve the same prudent silence, and march on at once into the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries; in which the learning of bede, alcuin, erigena, and alfred, strikes us with no small degree of amazement. yet we must not forget that their predecessor theodore, archbishop of canterbury, was among the earliest book-collectors in this country; for he brought over from rome, not only a number of able professors, but a valuable collection of books.[ ] such, however, was the scarcity of the book article, that benedict biscop (a founder of the monastery of weremouth in northumberland), a short time after, made not fewer than five journeys to rome to purchase books, and other necessary things for his monastery--for one of which books our immortal alfred (a very _helluo librorum_! as you will presently learn) gave afterwards as much land as eight ploughs could labour.[ ] we now proceed to bede; whose library i conjecture to have been both copious and curious. what matin and midnight vigils must this literary phenomenon have patiently sustained! what a full and variously furnished mind was his! read the table of contents of the eight folio volumes of the cologne edition[ ] of his works, as given by dr. henry in the appendix to the fourth volume of his history of our own country; and judge, however you may wish that the author had gone less into abstruse and ponderous subjects, whether it was barely possible to avoid falling upon such themes, considering the gross ignorance and strong bias of the age? before this, perhaps, i ought slightly to have noticed ina, king of the west saxons, whose ideas of the comforts of a monastery, and whose partiality to _handsome book-binding_, we may gather from a curious passage in stow's chronicle or annals.[ ] [footnote : julius cæsar tells us that they dared not to commit their laws to writing. _de bell. gall._, lib. vi., § xiii.-xviii.] [footnote : dr. henry's _hist. of great britain_, vol. iv., p. , edit. , vo. we shall readily forgive theodore's singularity of opinions in respect to some cases of pharmacy, in which he held it to be "dangerous to perform bleeding on the fourth day of the moon; because both the light of the moon and the tides of the sea were then upon the increase."--we shall readily forgive this, when we think of his laudable spirit of bibliomania.] [footnote : dr. henry says that "this bargain was concluded by benedict with the king a little before his death, a.d. ; and the book was delivered, and the estate received by his successor abbot ceolfred." _hist. of great britain_, vol. iv., p. . there must be some mistake here: as alfred was not born till the middle of the ninth century. _bed. hist. abbat wermuthien, edit. smith_, pp. - , is quoted by dr. henry.] [footnote : , folio. de bure (_bibliogr. instruct._ no. ) might have just informed us that the paris and basil editions of bede's works are incomplete: and, at no. , where he notices the cambridge edition of bede's _ecclesiastical history_, ( , fol.) we may add that a previous english translation of it, by the celebrated stapleton, had been printed at antwerp in , to., containing some few admirably-well executed wood cuts. stapleton's translation has become a scarce book; and, as almost every copy of it now to be found is in a smeared and crazy condition, we may judge that it was once popular and much read.] [footnote : the passage is partly as follows--"the sayde king did also erect a chapell of gold and silver (to wit, garnished) with ornaments and vesselles likewise of golde and siluer, to the building of the which chappell hee gaue pounds of siluer, and to the altar pounde of golde, a chaleis with the patten, tenne pounde of golde, a censar pound, and twenty mancas of golde, two candlesticks, twelue pound and a halfe of siluer, a kiver for the gospel booke twenty pounds"! &c. this was attached to the monastery of glastonbury; which ina built "in a fenni place out of the way, to the end the monkes mought so much the more giue their minds to heauenly things," &c. _chronicle_, edit. , p. .] we have mentioned alcuin: whom ashmole calls one of the school-mistresses to france.[ ] how incomparably brilliant and beautifully polished was this great man's mind!--and, withal, what an enthusiastic bibliomaniac! read, in particular, his celebrated letter to charlemagne, which dr. henry has very ably translated; and see, how zealous he there shews himself to enrich the library of his archiepiscopal patron with good books and industrious students.[ ] well might egbert be proud of his librarian: the first, i believe upon record, who has composed a catalogue[ ] of books in latin hexameter verse: and full reluctantly, i ween, did this librarian take leave of his _cell_ stored with the choicest volumes--as we may judge from his pathetic address to it, on quitting england for france! if i recollect rightly, mr. turner's elegant translation[ ] of it begins thus: "o my lov'd cell, sweet dwelling of my soul, must i for ever say, dear spot, farewell?" [footnote : _theatrum chemicum_, proleg. sign. a. . rect.] [footnote : _history of great britain_, vol. iv., pp. , . "literatorum virorum fautor et mæcenas habebatur ætate sua maximus ac doctissimus," says bale: _scrip. brytan. illustr._, p. , edit. . "præ cæteris (says lomeier) insignem in colligendis illustrium virorum scriptis operam dedit egbertus eboracensis archiepiscopus, &c.: qui nobilissimam eboraci bibliothecam instituit, cujus meminit alcuinis," &c. _de bibliothecis_, p. . we are here informed that the archbishop's library, together with the cathedral of york, were accidentally burnt by fire in the reign of stephen.] [footnote : this curious catalogue is printed by dr. henry, from gale's _rer. anglicar. scriptor. vet._, tom. i., . the entire works of alcuin were printed at paris, in , folio: and again, at ratisbon, in , fol., vols. see fournier's _dict. portat. de bibliographie_, p. . some scarce separately-printed treatises of the same great man are noticed in the first volume of the appendix to bauer's _bibl. libror. rarior._, p. .] [footnote : _anglo-saxon history_, vol. ii., p. , edit. , to.] now, don't imagine, my dear lisardo, that this anguish of heart proceeded from his leaving behind all the woodbines, and apple-trees, and singing birds, which were wont to gratify his senses near the said cell, and which he could readily meet with in another clime!--no, no: this monody is the genuine language of a bibliomaniac, upon being compelled to take a long adieu of his choicest _book-treasures_, stored in some secretly-cut recess of his hermitage; and of which neither his patron, nor his illustrious predecessor, bede, had ever dreamt of the existence of copies! but it is time to think of johannes scotus erigena; the most facetious wag of his times, notwithstanding his sirname of the _wise_. "while great britain (says bale) was a prey to intestine wars, our philosopher was travelling quietly abroad amidst the academic bowers of greece;"[ ] and there i suppose he acquired, with his knowledge of the greek language, a taste for book-collecting and punning.[ ] he was in truth a marvellous man; as we may gather from the eulogy of him by brucker.[ ] [footnote : freely translated from his _script. brytan. illustr._, p. .] [footnote : scot's celebrated reply to his patron and admirer, charles the bald, was first made a popular story, i believe, among the "wise speeches" in _camden's remaines_, where it is thus told: "johannes erigena, surnamed scotus, a man renowned for learning, sitting at the table, in respect of his learning, with charles the bauld, emperor and king of france, behaved himselfe as a slovenly scholler, nothing courtly; whereupon the emperor asked him merrily, _quid interest inter scotum et sotum_? (what is there between a scot and a sot?) he merrily, but yet malapertly answered, '_mensa_'--(the table): as though the emperor were the sot and he the scot." p. . _roger hoveden_ is quoted as the authority; but one would like to know where hoveden got his information, if scotus has not mentioned the anecdote in his own works? since camden's time, this facetious story has been told by almost every historian and annalist.] [footnote : _hist. philosoph._, tom. , : as referred to and quoted by dr. henry; whose account of our book-champion, although less valuable than mackenzie's, is exceedingly interesting.] in his celebrated work upon predestination, he maintained that "material fire is no part of the torments of the damned;"[ ] a very singular notion in those times of frightful superstition, when the minds of men were harrowed into despair by descriptions of hell's torments--and i notice it here merely because i should like to be informed in what curious book the said john scotus erigena acquired the said notion? let us now proceed to alfred; whose bust, i see, adorns that department of lorenzo's library which is devoted to english history. [footnote : "he endeavours to prove, in his logical way, that the torments of the damned are mere privations of the happiness, or the trouble of being deprived of it; so that, according to him, material fire is no part of the torments of the damned; that there is no other fire prepared for them but the fourth element, through which the bodies of all men must pass; but that the bodies of the elect are changed into an ætherial nature, and are not subject to the power of fire: whereas, on the contrary, the bodies of the wicked are changed into air, and suffer torments by the fire, because of their contrary qualities. and for this reason 'tis that the demons, who had a body of an ætherial nature, were massed with a body of air, that they might feel the fire." _mackenzie's scottish writers_: vol. i., . all this may be ingenious enough; of its truth, a future state only will be the evidence. very different from that of scotus is the language of gregory narienzen: "exit in inferno frigus insuperabile: ignis inextinguibilis: vermis immortalis: fetor intollerabilis: tenebræ palpabiles: flagella cedencium: horrenda visio demonum: desperatio omnium bonorum." this i gather from the _speculum christiani_, fol. , printed by machlinia, in the fifteenth century. the idea is enlarged, and the picture aggravated, in a great number of nearly contemporaneous publications, which will be noticed, in part, hereafter. it is reported that some sermons are about to be published, in which the personality of satan is questioned and denied. thus having, by the ingenuity of scotus, got rid of the fire "which is never quenched"--and, by means of modern scepticism, of the devil, who is constantly "seeking whom he may devour," we may go on comfortably enough, without such awkward checks, in the commission of every species of folly and crime!] this great and good man, the boast and the bulwark of his country, was instructed by his mother, from infancy, in such golden rules of virtue and good sense that one feels a regret at not knowing more of the family, early years, and character, of such a parent. as she told him that "a wise and a good man suffered no part of his time, but what is necessarily devoted to bodily exercise, to pass in unprofitable inactivity"--you may be sure that, with such book-propensities as he felt, alfred did not fail to make the most of the fleeting hour. accordingly we find, from his ancient biographer, that he resolutely set to work by the aid of his wax tapers,[ ] and produced some very respectable compositions; for which i refer you to mr. turner's excellent account of their author:[ ] adding only that alfred's translation of boethius is esteemed his most popular performance. [footnote : the story of the _wax tapers_ is related both by asser and william of malmesbury, differing a little in the unessential parts of it. it is this: alfred commanded six wax tapers to be made, each inches in length, and of as many ounces in weight. on these tapers he caused the inches to be regularly marked; and having found that one taper burnt just four hours, he committed them to the care of the keepers of his chapel; who, from time to time gave him notice how the hours went. but as in windy weather the tapers were more wasted--to remedy this inconvenience, he placed them in a kind of lanthorn, there being no glass to be met with in his dominions. this event is supposed to have occurred after alfred had ascended the throne. in his younger days, asser tells us that he used to carry about, in his bosom, day and night, a curiously-written volume of hours, and psalms, and prayers, which by some are supposed to have been the composition of aldhelm. that alfred had the highest opinion of aldhelm, and of his predecessors and contemporaries, is indisputable; for in his famous letter to wulfseg, bishop of london, he takes a retrospective view of the times in which they lived, as affording "churches and monasteries filled with libraries of excellent books in several languages." it is quite clear, therefore, that our great alfred was not a little infected with the bibliomaniacal disease.] [footnote : _the history of the anglo-saxons_; by sharon turner, f.s.a., , to., vols. this is the last and best edition of a work which places mr. turner quite at the head of those historians who have treated of the age of alfred.] after alfred, we may just notice his son edward, and his grandson athelstan; the former of whom is supposed by rous[ ] (one of the most credulous of our early historians) to have founded the university of cambridge. the latter had probably greater abilities than his predecessor; and a thousand pities it is that william of malmesbury should have been so stern and squeamish as not to give us the substance of that old book, containing a life of athelstan--which he discovered, and supposed to be coeval with the monarch--because, forsooth, the account was too uniformly flattering! let me here, however, refer you to that beautiful translation of a saxon ode, written in commemoration of athelstan's decisive victory over the danes of brunamburg, which mr. george ellis has inserted in his interesting volumes of _specimens of the early english poets_:[ ] and always bear in recollection that this monarch shewed the best proof of his attachment to books by employing as many learned men as he could collect together for the purpose of translating the scriptures into his native saxon tongue. [footnote : consult _johannis rossi historia regum angliæ; edit. hearne_, , vo., p. . this passage has been faithfully translated by dr. henry. but let the lover of knotty points in ancient matters look into master henry bynneman's prettily printed impression (a.d. ) of _de antiquitate cantabrigiensis academiæ_, p. --where the antiquity of the university of cambridge is gravely assigned to the æra of gurguntius's reign, a.m. !--nor must we rest satisfied with the ingenious temerity of this author's claims in favour of his beloved cambridge, until we have patiently examined thomas hearne's edition (a.d. ) of _thomæ caii vindic. antiquitat. acad. oxon._: a work well deserving of a snug place in the antiquary's cabinet.] [footnote : edit. , vol. i., p. .] let us pass by that extraordinary scholar, courtier, statesman, and monk--st. dunstan; by observing only that, as he was even more to edgar than wolsey was to henry viii.--so, if there had then been the same love of literature and progress in civilization which marked the opening of the sixteenth century, dunstan would have equalled, if not eclipsed, wolsey in the magnificence and utility of his institutions. how many volumes of legends he gave to the library of glastonbury, of which he was once the abbot, or to canterbury, of which he was afterwards the archbishop, i cannot take upon me to guess: as i have neither of hearne's three publications[ ] relating to glastonbury in my humble library. [footnote : there is an ample catalogue raisonné of these three scarce publications in the first volume of the _british bibliographer_. and to supply the deficiency of any extract from them, in this place, take, kind-hearted reader, the following--which i have gleaned from eadmer's account of st. dunstan, as incorporated in wharton's _anglia-sacra_--and which would not have been inserted could i have discovered any thing in the same relating to book-presents to canterbury cathedral.--"once on a time, the king went a hunting early on sunday morning; and requested the archbishop to postpone the celebration of the mass till he returned. about three hours afterwards, dunstan went into the cathedral, put on his robes, and waited at the altar in expectation of the king--where, reclining with his arms in a devotional posture, he was absorbed in tears and prayers. a gentle sleep suddenly possessed him; he was snatched up into heaven; and in a vision associated with a company of angels, whose harmonious voices, chaunting _kyrie eleyson, kyrie eleyson, kyrie eleyson_, burst upon his ravished ears! he afterwards came to himself, and demanded whether or not the king had arrived? upon being answered in the negative, he betook himself again to his prayers, and, after a short interval, was once more absorbed in celestial extasies, and heard a loud voice from heaven saying--_ite, missa est_. he had no sooner returned thanks to god for the same, when the king's clerical attendants cried out that his majesty had arrived, and entreated dunstan to dispatch the mass. but he, turning from the altar, declared that the mass had been already celebrated; and that no other mass should be performed during that day. having put off his robes, he enquired of his attendants into the truth of the transaction; who told him what had happened. then, assuming a magisterial power, he prohibited the king, in future, from hunting on a sunday; and taught his disciples the _kyrie eleyson_, which he had heard in heaven: hence this ejaculation, in many places, now obtains as a part of the mass service." tom. ii., p. . what shall we say to "the amiable and elegant eadmer" for this valuable piece of biographical information?--"the face of things was so changed by the endeavours of dunstan, and his master, ethelwald, that in a short time learning was generally restored, and began to flourish. from this period, the monasteries were the schools and seminaries of almost the whole clergy, both secular and regular." collier's _eccles. history_, vol. ii., p. , col. . that glastonbury had many and excellent books, vide hearne's _antiquities of glastonbury_; pp. lxxiv-vii. at cambridge there is a catalogue of the mss. which were in glastonbury library, a.d. .] we may open the eleventh century with canute; upon whose political talents this is not the place to expatiate: but of whose bibliomaniacal character the illuminated ms. of _the four gospels_ in the danish tongue--now in the british museum, and once this monarch's own book--leaves not the shadow of a doubt! from canute we may proceed to notice that extraordinary literary triumvirate--ingulph, lanfranc, and anselm. no rational man can hesitate about numbering them among the very first rate book-collectors of that age. as to ingulph, let us only follow him, in his boyhood, in his removal from school to college: let us fancy we see him, with his _quatuor sermones_ on a sunday--and his _cunabula artis grammaticæ_[ ] on a week day--under his arm: making his obeisance to edgitha, the queen of edward the confessor, and introduced by her to william duke of normandy! again, when he was placed, by this latter at the head of the rich abbey of croyland, let us fancy we see him both adding to, and arranging, its curious library[ ]--before he ventured upon writing the history of the said abbey. from ingulph we go to lanfranc; who, in his earlier years, gratified his book appetites in the quiet and congenial seclusion of his little favourite abbey in normandy: where he afterwards opened a school, the celebrity of which was acknowledged throughout europe. from being a pedagogue, let us trace him in his virtuous career to the primacy of england; and when we read of his studious and unimpeachable behaviour, as head of the see of canterbury,[ ] let us acknowledge that a love of books and of mental cultivation is among the few comforts in this world of which neither craft nor misfortune can deprive us. to lanfranc succeeded, in book-fame and in professional elevation, his disciple anselm; who was "lettered and chaste of his childhood," says trevisa:[ ] but who was better suited to the cloister than to the primacy. for, although, like wulston, bishop of worcester, he might have "sung a long mass, and held him _apayred_ with only the offering of christian men, and was holden a clean _mayde_, and did no outrage in drink,"[ ] yet in his intercourse with william ii. and henry i., he involved himself in ceaseless quarrels; and quitted both his archiepiscopal chair and the country. his memory, however, is consecrated among the fathers of scholastic divinity. [footnote : these were the common school books of the period.] [footnote : though the abbey of croyland was burnt only twenty-five years after the conquest, its library then consisted of volumes, of which were very large. the lovers of english history and antiquities are much indebted to ingulph for his excellent history of the abbey of croyland, from its foundation, a.d. , to a.d. : into which he hath introduced much of the general history of the kingdom, with a variety of curious anecdotes that are no where else to be found. dr. henry: book iii., chap. iv., § and . but ingulph merits a more particular eulogium. the editors of that stupendous, and in truth, matchless collection of national history, entitled _recueil des historiens des gaules_, thus say of him: "il avoit tout vu en bon connoisseur, et ce qu'il rapporte, il l'écrit en homme lettré, judicieux et vrai:" tom. xi., p. xlij. in case any reader of this note and lover of romance literature should happen to be unacquainted with the french language, i will add, from the same respectable authority, that "the readers of the _round table history_ should be informed that there are many minute and curious descriptions in ingulph which throw considerable light upon the history of _ancient chivalry_." ibid. see too the animated eulogy upon him, at p. , note _a_, of the same volume. these learned editors have, however, forgotten to notice that the best, and only perfect, edition of ingulph's history of croyland abbey, with the continuation of the same, by peter de blois and edward abbas, is that which is inserted in the first volume of gale's _rerum anglicarum scriptores veteres_: oxon, . ( vols.)] [footnote : lanfranc was obliged, against his will, by the express command of abbot harlein, to take upon him the archbishopric in the year . he governed that church for nineteen years together, with a great deal of wisdom and authority. his largest work is a commentary upon the epistles of st. paul; which is sometimes not very faithfully quoted by peter lombard. his treatise in favour of the real presence, in opposition to birenger, is one of his most remarkable performances. his letters "are short and few, but contain in them things very remarkable." du pin's _ecclesiastical history_, vol. xi., p. , &c., edit. .] [footnote : _polychronicon_, caxton's edit., sign. , rev.] [footnote : _polychronicon._ caxton's edit., fol. cccvj. rev. poor caxton (towards whom the reader will naturally conceive i bear some little affection) is thus dragooned into the list of naughty writers who have ventured to speak mildly (and justly) of anselm's memory. "they feign in another fable that he (anselm) tare with his teeth christ's flesh from his bones, as he hung on the rood, for withholding the lands of certain bishoprics and abbies: polydorus not being ashamed to rehearse it. somewhere they call him a red dragon: somewhere a fiery serpent, and a bloody tyrant; for occupying the fruits of their vacant benefices about his princely buildings. thus rail they of their kings, without either reason or shame, in their legends of abominable lies: look eadmerus, helinandus, vincentius, matthew of westminster, rudborne, capgrave, william caxton, polydore, and others." this is the language of master bale, in his _actes of englyshe votaryes_, pt. ii., sign. i. vij. rev. tisdale's edit. no wonder hearne says of the author, "erat immoderata intemperantia."--_bened. abbas._, vol. i., præf. p. xx.] and here you may expect me to notice that curious book-reader and collector, girald, _archbishop of york_, who died just at the close of the th century. let us fancy we see him, according to trevisa,[ ] creeping quietly to his garden arbour, and devoting his midnight vigils to the investigation of that old-fashioned author, julius firmicus; whom fabricius calls by a name little short of that of an old woman. it is a pity we know not more of the private studies of such a bibliomaniac. and equally to be lamented it is that we have not some more substantial biographical memoirs of that distinguished bibliomaniac, herman, bishop of salisbury; a norman by birth; and who learnt the art of book-binding and book-illumination, before he had been brought over into this country by william the conqueror.[ ] (a character, by the bye, who, however completely hollow were his claims to the crown of england, can never be reproached with a backwardness in promoting learned men to the several great offices of church and state.) [footnote : "this yere deyd thomas archbisohop of york and gyralde was archebishop after him; a lecherous man, a wytch and euyl doer, as the fame tellyth, for under his pyle whan he deyde in an erber was founde a book of curyous craftes, the book hight julius frumeus. in that booke he radde pryuely in the under tydes, therefor unnethe the clerkes of his chirche would suffre him be buryed under heuene without hooly chirche," _polychronicon: caxton's edit._, sign. ., rect. (fol. cccxlij.) godwyn says that "he was laide at the entrance of the church porch." "bayle chargeth him (continues he) with sorcery and coniuration, because, forsooth, that, after his death, there was found in his chamber a volume of firmicus: who writ of astrology indeed, but of coniuration nothing that ever i heard." _catalogue of the bishops of england_, p. --edit. . concerning girard's favourite author, consult fabricius's _bibl. lat.: cura ernesti_, vol. iii., p. , &c., edit. .] [footnote : leland tells us that herman erected "a noble library at sailsbury, having got together some of the best and most ancient works of illustrious authors:" _de scriptor. britan._, vol. i., : and dugdale, according to warton (_monasticon anglican._; vol. iii., p. ), says that "he was so fond of letters that he did not disdain to bind and illuminate books."] loren. if you proceed thus systematically, my good lysander, the morning cock will crow 'ere we arrive at the book-annals even of the reformation. lysand. it is true; i am proceeding rather too methodically. and yet i suppose i should not obtain lisardo's forgiveness if, in arriving at the period of henry the second,[ ] i did not notice that extraordinary student and politician, becket! [footnote : i make no apology to the reader for presenting him with the following original character of our once highly and justly celebrated monarch, henry ii.--by the able pen of trevisa. "this henry ii. was somewhat reddish, with large face and breast; and yellow eyen and a dim voice; and fleshy of body; and took but scarcely of meat and drink: and for to _alledge_ the fatness, he travailed his body with business; with hunting, with standing, with wandering: he was of mean stature, renable of speech, and well y lettered; noble and _orped_ in knighthood; and wise in counsel and in battle; and dread and doubtfull destiny; more manly and courteous to a knight when he was dead than when he was alive!" _polychronicon_, caxton's edit., fol. cccliij., rev.] lis. at your peril omit him! i think (although my black-letter reading be very limited) that bale, in his _english votaries_, has a curious description of this renowned archbishop; whose attachment to books, in his boyish years, must on all sides be admitted. lysand. you are right. bale has some extraordinary strokes of description in his account of this canonized character: but if i can trust to my memory (which the juice of lorenzo's nectar, here before us, may have somewhat impaired), tyndale[ ] has also an equally animated account of the same--who deserves, notwithstanding his pomp and haughtiness, to be numbered among the most notorious bibliomaniacs of his age. [footnote : we will first amuse ourselves with bale's curious account of "_the fresh and lusty beginnings of_ thomas becket." as those authors report, which chiefly wrote thomas becket's life--whose names are herbert boseham, john salisbury, william of canterbury, alen of tewkesbury, benet of peterborough, stephen langton, and richard croyland--he bestoyed his youth in all kinds of lascivious lightness, and lecherous wantonness. after certain robberies, rapes, and murders, committed in the king's wars at the siege of toulouse in languedoc, and in other places else, as he was come home again into england, he gave himself to great study, not of the holy scriptures, but of the bishop of rome's lousy laws, whereby he first of all obtained to be archdeacon of canterbury, under theobald the archbishop; then high chancellor of england; metropolitan, archbishop, primate; pope of england, and great legate from antichrist's own right side. in the time of his high-chancellorship, being but an ale-brewer's son of london, john capgrave saith that he took upon him as he had been a prince. he played the courtier altogether, and fashioned himself wholly to the king's delights. he ruffled it out in the whole cloth with a mighty rabble of disguised ruffians at his tail. he sought the worldly honour with him that sought it most. he thought it a pleasant thing to have the flattering praises of the multitude. his bridle was of silver, his saddle of velvet, his stirrups, spurs, and bosses double gilt; his expenses far passing the expenses of an earl. that delight was not on the earth that he had not plenty of. he fed with the fattest, was clad with the softest, and kept company with the plesantest. was not this (think you) a good mean to live chaste? i trow it was. _englyshe votaryes_, pt. ii., sign. p. vi. rect. printed by tisdale, vo. the orthography is modernized, but the words are faithfully _balëan_! thus writes tyndale: and the king made him (becket) his chancellor, in which office he passed the pomp and pride of thomas (wolsey) cardinal, as far as the ones shrine passeth the others tomb in glory and riches. and after that, he was a man of war, and captain of five or six thousand men in full harness, as bright as st. george, and his spear in his hand; and encountered whatsoever came against him, and overthrew the jollyest rutter that was in the host of france. and out of the field, hot from bloodshedding, was he made bishop of canterbury; and did put off his helm, and put on his mitre; put off his harness, and on with his robes; and laid down his spear, and took his cross ere his hands were cold; and so came, with a lusty courage of a man of war, to fight an other while against his prince for the pope; when his prince's cause were with the law of god, and the pope's clean contrary. _practise of popish prelates._ _tyndale's works_, edit. , p. . the curious bibliographer, or collector of ancient books of biography, will find a very different character of becket in a scarce latin life of him, printed at paris in the black letter, in the fifteenth century. his archiepiscopal table is described as being distinguished for great temperance and propriety: "in ejus mensa non audiebantur tibicines non cornicines, non lira, non fiala, non karola: nulla quidem præterquam mundam splendidam et inundantem epularum opulentiam. nulla gule, nulla lascivie, nulla penitus luxurie, videbantur incitamenta. revera inter tot et tantas delicias quæ ei apponebantur, in nullo penitus sardanapalum sed solum episcopum sapiebat," &c. _vita et processus sancti thome cantuariensis martyris super libertate ecclesiastica_; paris, , sign. b. ij. rect. from a yet earlier, and perhaps the first printed, mention of becket--and from a volume of which no perfect copy has yet been found--the reader is presented with a very curious account of the murder of the archbishop, in its original dress. "than were there iiij. cursed knyghtes of leuyng yt thoughte to haue had a grete thanke of the kyng and mad her a vowe to gedir to sle thomas. and so on childremasse day all moste at nyghte they come to caunterbury into thomas hall sire reynolde beriston, sire william tracy, sire richard breton, and sire hewe morley. thanne sire reynolde beriston for he was bitter of kynde a none he seyde to thomas the king that is be yonde the see sente us to the and bad that thou shuldst asoyle the bishoppe that thou cursiddiste than seyde thomas seris they be not acursed by me but by the pope and i may not asoyle that he hathe cursid well seyde reynolde than we see thou wolte not do the kynges byddynge and swore a grete othe by the eyon of god thou shalt be dede. than cryde the othir knyghtes sle sle and they wente downe to the courte and armyd hem. than prestis and clerkis drowe hem to the church to thomas and spered the dores to hem. but whan thomas herde the knyghtes armed and wold come into the churche and myghte not he wente to the dore and un barred it and toke one of the knyghtes by the honde and seyde hit be semyth not to make a castell of holy churche, and toke hem by the honde and seyde come ynne my children in goddis name thanne for it was myrke that they myghte not see nor knowe thomas they seyde where is the traytour nay seyde thomas no traytour but archebishoppe. than one seyde to hym fle fore thou arte but dede. nay seyde thomas y come not to fle but to a byde ego pro deo mori paratus sum et pro defensione iusticie et ecclesie libertate i am redy to dye for the loue of god and for the fredomme and righte of holy churche than reynold with his swerdes poynte put off thomas cappe and smote at his hede and cutte of his crowne that it honge by like a dysche than smote anothir at him and smote hit all of than fill he downe to the grounde on his knees and elbowes and seyde god into thy hondes i putte my cause and the righte of holy churche and so deyde than the iij knyghte smote and his halfe stroke fell upon his clerkis arme that helde thomas cross be fore him and so his swerde fill down to the grounde and brake of the poynte and he seyde go we hens he is dede. and when they were all at the dore goyng robert broke wente a geyne and sette his fote to thomas necke and thruste out the brayne upon the pauement thus for righte of holoye churche and the lawe of the londe thomas toke his dethe." _the boke that is callid festiuall_; , fol. sign. m. iij. these anecdotes, which are not to be found in lyttleton or berrington, may probably be gratifying to the curious.] although i wish to be as laconic as possible in my _catalogue raisonné_ of libraries and of book-collectors, during the earlier periods of our history, yet i must beg to remind you that some of the nunneries and monasteries, about these times, contained rather valuable collections of books: and indeed those of glasgow, peterborough, and glastonbury,[ ] deserve to be particularly noticed and commended. but i will push on with the personal history of literature, or rather of the bibliomania. [footnote : "i shall retire back to _godstowe_, and, for the farther reputation of the nunns there, shall observe that they spent a great part of their time in reading good books. there was a common library for their use well furnished with books, many of which were english, and divers of them historical. the lives of the holy men and women, especially of the latter, were curiously written on vellum, and many illuminations appeared throughout, so as to draw the nunns the more easily to follow their examples." hearne's edit. _guil. neubrig._, vol. ii., p. . again he says, "it is probable they (certain sentences) were written in large letters, equal to the writing that we have in the finest books of offices, the best of which were for the use of the nunns, and for persons of distinction, and such as had weak eyes; and many of them were finely covered, not unlike the kiver for the gospell book, given to the chapell of glastonbury by king ina." p. . can the enlightened reader want further proof of the existence of the bibliomania in the nunnery of godstow? as to _peterborough_ abbey, gunston, in his history of the same place, has copied the catalogue of the different libraries belonging to the abbots. benedict, who became abbot in , had a collection of no less than _fifty-seven_ volumes. but alas! the book reputation of this monastery soon fell away: for master robert, who died abbot in , left but _seven_ books behind him; and geoffrey de croyland, who was abbot in , had only that dreary old gentleman, _avicenna_, to keep him company! at its dissolution, however, it contained volumes in mss. _gunton's peterborough_, p. . _glastonbury_ seems to have long maintained its reputation for a fine library; and even as late as the year it could boast of several classical authors, although the english books were only four in number; the rest being considered as "vetustas et inutilia." the classical authors were livy, sallust, tully, seneca, virgil, and persius. see _joh. confrat. glaston._, vol. ii., p. , : hearne's edit. "leland," says warton, "who visited all the monasteries just before their dissolution, seems to have been struck with the venerable air and amplitude of this library." _hist. engl. poetry_, diss. ii.] i should be wanting in proper respect to the gentlemanly and scholar-like editor of his works, if i omitted the mention of that celebrated tourist and topographer, girald barri, or giraldus cambrensis; whose irish and welch itinerary has been recently so beautifully and successfully put forth in our own language.[ ] giraldus, long before and after he was bishop of st. david's, seems to have had the most enthusiastic admiration of british antiquities; and i confess it would have been among the keenest delights of my existence (had i lived at the period) to have been among his auditors when he read aloud (perhaps from a stone pulpit) his three books of the topography of ireland.[ ] how many choice volumes, written and emblazoned upon snow-white vellum, and containing many a curious and precious genealogy, must this observing traveller and curious investigator have examined, when he was making the tour of ireland in the suite of prince, afterwards king, john! judge of the anxiety of certain antiquated families, especially of the welch nation, which stimulated them to open their choicest treasures, in the book way, to gratify the genealogical ardour of our tourist! [footnote : there is a supplemental volume to the two english ones, containing the only complete latin edition extant of the welsh itinerary. of this impression there are but copies printed on small, and on large, paper. the whole work is most creditably executed, and does great honour to the taste and erudition of its editor, sir richard colt hoare, bart.] [footnote : "having finished his topography of ireland, which consisted of three books, he published it at oxford, a.d. , in the following manner, in three days. on the first day he read the first book to a great concourse of people, and afterwards entertained all the poor of the town. on the second day he read the second book, and entertained all the doctors and chief scholars: and on the third day he read the third book, and entertained the younger scholars, soldiers, and burgesses."--"a most glorious spectacle (says he), which revived the ancient times of the poets, and of which no example had been seen in england." this is given by dr. henry (b. iii., ch. , § ), on the authority of giraldus's own book, _de rebus a se gestis_, lib. i. c. . twyne, in his arid little quarto latin volume of the _antiquities of oxford_, says not a word about it; and, what is more extraordinary, it is barely alluded to by antony wood! see mr. gutch's genuine edition of wood's _annals of the university of oxford_, vol. i., pp. , . warton, in his _history of english poetry_, vol. i., diss. ii., notices giraldus's work with his usual taste and interest.] lis. i wish from my heart that girald barri had been somewhat more communicative on this head! loren. of what do you suppose he would have informed us, had he indulged this bibliographical gossipping? lis. of many a grand and many a curious volume. lysand. not exactly so, lisardo. the art of book-illumination in this country was then sufficiently barbarous, if at all known. lis. and yet i'll lay a vellum aldus that henry the second presented his fair rosamond with some choice _heures de notre dame_! but proceed. i beg pardon for this interruption. lysand. nay, there is nothing to solicit pardon for! we have each a right, around this hospitable table, to indulge our book whims: and mine may be as fantastical as any. loren. pray proceed, lysander, in your book-collecting history! unless you will permit me to make a pause or interruption of two minutes--by proposing as a sentiment--"success to the bibliomania!" phil. 'tis well observed: and as every loyal subject at our great taverns drinks the health of his sovereign "with three times three up-standing," even so let us hail this sentiment of lorenzo! lis. philemon has cheated me of an eloquent speech. but let us receive the sentiment as he proposes it. loren. now the uproar of bacchus has subsided, the instructive conversation of minerva may follow. go on, lysander. lysand. having endeavoured to do justice to girald barri, i know of no other particularly distinguished bibliomaniac till we approach the æra of the incomparable roger, or friar, bacon. i say incomparable, lorenzo; because he was, in truth, a constellation of the very first splendour and magnitude in the dark times in which he lived; and notwithstanding a sagacious writer (if my memory be not treacherous) of the name of coxe, chooses to tell us that he was "miserably starved to death, because he could not introduce a piece of roast beef into his stomach, on account of having made a league with satan to eat only cheese;"[ ]--yet i suspect that the end of bacon was hastened by other means more disgraceful to the age and equally painful to himself. [footnote : "_a short treatise declaringe the detestable wickednesse of magicall sciences, as necromancie, coniuration of spirites, curiouse astrologie, and suche lyke, made by_ francis coxe." printed by allde, mo., without date ( leaves). from this curious little volume, which is superficially noticed by herbert (vol. ii., p. ), the reader is presented with the following extract, appertaining to the above subject: "i myself (says the author) knew a priest not far from a town called bridgewater, which, as it is well known in the country, was a great magician in all his life time. after he once began these practices, he would never eat bread, but, instead thereof, did always eat _cheese_: which thing, as he confessed divers times, he did because it was so concluded betwixt him and the spirit which served him," &c. sign. a viii. rect. "(r.) bacon's end was much after _the like sort_; for having a greedy desire unto meat, he could cause nothing to enter the stomach--wherefore thus miserably he starved to death." sign. b. iij. rev. not having at hand john dee's book of the defence of roger bacon, from the charge of astrology and magic (the want of which one laments as pathetically as did naudé, in his "_apologie pour tous les grands personnages, &c., faussement soupçonnez de magic_," haye, , vo., p. ), i am at a loss to say the fine things, which dee must have said, in commendation of the extraordinary talents of roger bacon; who was miserably matched in the age in which he lived; but who, together with his great patron grosteste, will shine forth as beacons to futurity. dr. friend in his _history of physic_ has enumerated what he conceived to be bacon's leading works; while gower in his _confessio amantis_ (caxton's edit., fol. ), has mentioned the brazen head-- =for to telle of such thyngs as befelle:= which was the joint manufactory of the patron and his èleve. as lately as the year , bacon's life formed the subject of a "famous history," from which walter scott has given us a facetious anecdote in the seventh volume (p. ) of _dryden's works_. but the curious investigator of ancient times, and the genuine lover of british biography, will seize upon the more prominent features in the life of this renowned philosopher; will reckon up his great discoveries in optics and physics; and will fancy, upon looking at the above picture of his study, that an explosion from gun-powder (of which our philosopher has been thought the inventor) has protruded the palings which are leaning against its sides. bacon's "_opus majus_," which happened to meet the eyes of pope clement iv., and which _now_ would have encircled the neck of its author with an hundred golden chains, and procured for him a diploma from every learned society in europe--just served to liberate him from his first long imprisonment. this was succeeded by a subsequent confinement of twelve years; from which he was released only time enough to breathe his last in the pure air of heaven. whether he expended , or , pounds of our present money, upon his experiments, can now be only matter of conjecture. those who are dissatisfied with the meagre manner in which our early biographers have noticed the labours of roger bacon, and with the _tetragonistical_ story, said by twyne to be propagated by our philosopher, of julius cæsar's seeing the whole of the british coast and encampment upon the gallic shore, "maximorum ope speculorum" (_antiquit. acad. oxon. apolog._ , to., p. ), may be pleased with the facetious story told of him by wood (_annals of oxford_, vol. i., , gutch's edit.) and yet more by the minute catalogue of his works noticed by bishop tanner (_bibl. brit. hibern._ p. ): while the following eulogy of old tom fuller cannot fail to find a passage to every heart: "for mine own part (says this delightful and original writer) i behold the name of bacon in oxford, not as of an individual man, but corporation of men; no single cord, but a twisted cable of many together. and as all the acts of strong men of that nature are attributed to an hercules; all the predictions of prophecying women to a sibyll; so i conceive all the achievements of the oxonian bacons, in their liberal studies, are ascribed to one, as chief of the name." _church history_, book iii., p. .] [illustration] only let us imagine we see this sharp-eyed philosopher at work in his study, of which yonder print is generally received as a representation! how heedlessly did he hear the murmuring of the stream beneath, and of the winds without--immersed in the vellum and parchment rolls of theological, astrological, and mathematical lore, which, upon the dispersion of the libraries of the jews,[ ] he was constantly perusing, and of which so large a share had fallen to his own lot! [footnote : warton, in his second dissertation, says that "great multitudes of their (the jews) books fell into the hands of roger bacon;" and refers to wood's _hist. et antiquit. univ. oxon._, vol. i., , --where i find rather a slight notification of it--but, in the genuine edition of this latter work, published by mr. gutch, vol. i., p. , it is said: "at their (the jews) expulsion, divers of their tenements that were forfeited to the king, came into the hands of william burnell, provost of wells; and _their books_ (for many of them were learned) to divers of our scholars; among whom, as is verily supposed, roger bacon was one: and that he furnished himself with such hebrew rarities, that he could not elsewhere find. also that, when he died, he left them to the franciscan library at oxon, which, being not well understood in after-times, were condemned to moths and dust!" weep, weep, kind-hearted bibliomaniac, when thou thinkest upon the fate of these poor hebrew mss.!] unfortunately, my friends, little is known with certainty, though much is vaguely conjectured, of the labours of this great man. some of the first scholars and authors of our own and of other countries have been proud to celebrate his praises; nor would it be considered a disgrace by the most eminent of modern experimental philosophers--of him, who has been described as "unlocking the hidden treasures of nature, and explaining the various systems by which air, and earth, and fire, and water, counteract and sustain each other"[ ]--to fix the laureate crown round the brows of our venerable bacon! [footnote : see a periodical paper, entitled _the director_! vol. ii., p. .] we have now reached the close of the thirteenth century and the reign of edward the first;[ ] when the principal thing that strikes us, connected with the history of libraries, is this monarch's insatiable lust of strengthening his title to the kingdom of scotland by purchasing "the libraries of all the monasteries" for the securing of any record which might corroborate the same. what he gave for this tremendous book-purchase, or of what nature were the volumes purchased, or what was their subsequent destination, is a knot yet remaining to be untied. [footnote : "king edward the first caused and committed divers copies of the records, and much concerning the realm of scotland, unto divers abbies for the preservance thereof; which for the most part are now perished, or rare to be had; and which privilie by the dissolution of monasteries is detained. the same king caused the libraries of all monasteries, and other places of the realm, to be purchased, for the further and manifest declaration of his title, as chief lord of scotland: and the record thereof now extant, doth alledge divers leger books of abbeys for the confirmation thereof": petition (to q. elizabeth) for an academy of antiquities and history. _hearne's curious discourses written by eminent antiquaries_; vol. ii., , edit. .] of the bibliomaniacal propensity of edward's grandson, the great edward the third, there can be no question. indeed, i could gossip away upon the same 'till midnight. his severe disappointment upon having froissart's presentation copy of his chronicles[ ] (gergeously [transcriber's note: gorgeously] attired as it must have been) taken from him by the duke of anjou, is alone a sufficient demonstration of his love of books; while his patronage of chaucer shews that he had accurate notions of intellectual excellence. printing had not yet begun to give any hint, however faint, of its wonderful powers; and scriveners or book-copiers were sufficiently ignorant and careless.[ ] [footnote : whether this presentation copy ever came, eventually, into the kingdom, is unknown. mr. johnes, who is as intimate with froissart as gough was with camden, is unable to make up his mind upon the subject; but we may suppose it was properly emblazoned, &c. the duke detained it as being the property of an enemy to france!--now, when we read of this wonderfully chivalrous age, so glowingly described by the great gaston, count de foix, to master froissart, upon their introduction to each other (vide st. palaye's memoir in the th vol. of _l'acadamie des inscriptions_, &c.), it does seem a gross violation (at least on the part of the monsieur of france!) of all gentlemanly and knight-like feeling, to seize upon a volume of this nature, as legitimate plunder! the robber should have had his skin tanned, after death, for a case to keep the book in! of edward the third's love of curiously bound books, see p. , ante.] [footnote : "how ordinary a fault this was (of 'negligently or willfully altering copies') amongst the transcribers of former times, may appear by chaucer; who (i am confident) tooke as greate care as any man to be served with the best and heedfullest scribes, and yet we finde him complayning against adam, his scrivener, for the very same: so ofte a daye i mote thy worke renew, if to correct and eke to rubbe and scrape, and all is thorow thy neglegence and rape." ashmole _theatrum chemicum_; p. .] the mention of edward the third, as a patron of learned men, must necessarily lead a book-antiquary to the notice of his eminent chancellor, richard de bury; of whom, as you may recollect, some slight mention was made the day before yesterday.[ ] it is hardly possible to conceive a more active and enthusiastic lover of books than was this extraordinary character; the passion never deserting him even while he sat upon the bench.[ ] it was probably de bury's intention to make his royal master eclipse his contemporary charles the vth, of france--the most renowned foreign bibliomaniac of his age![ ] in truth, my dear friends, what can be more delightful to a lover of his country's intellectual reputation than to find such a character as de bury, in such an age of war and bloodshed, uniting the calm and mild character of a legislator, with the sagacity of a philosopher, and the elegant-mindedness of a scholar! foreigners have been profuse in their commendations of him, and with the greatest justice; while our thomas warton, of ever-to-be-respected memory, has shewn us how pleasingly he could descend from the graver tone of a historical antiquary, by indulging himself in a chit-chat style of book-anecdote respecting this illustrious character.[ ] [footnote : see p. , ante.] [footnote : "--patescebat nobis aditus facilis, regalis favoris intuitu, ad librorum latebras libere perscrutandas. amoris quippe nostri fama volatilis jam ubique percrebuit, tamtumque librorum, et maxime veterum, ferebamur cupiditate languescere; posse vero quemlibet, nostrum _per quaternos_ facilius, quam _per pecuniam_, adipisci favorem." _philobiblion; sive de amore librorum_ (vide p. , ante), p. : edit. , to. but let the reader indulge me with another extract or two, containing evidence [transcriber's note: 'of' missing in original] the most unquestionable of the severest symptoms of the bibliomania that ever assailed a lord chancellor or a bishop!--magliabechi must have read the ensuing passage with rapture: "quamobrem cum prædicti principis recolendæ memoriæ bonitate suffulti, possemus obesse et prodesse, officere et proficere vehementer tam maioribus quam pusillis; affluxerunt, loco xeniorum et munerum, locoque, donorum et iocalium, temulenti quaterni, ac decripiti codices; nostris tamen tam affectibus, quam aspectibus, pretiosi. tunc nobilissimorum monasteriorum aperiebantur armaria, referebantur scrinia, et cistulæ solvebantur, et per longa secula in sepulchris soporata volumina, expergiscunt attonita, quæque in locis tenebrosis latuerant, novæ lucis radiis perfunduntur." "delicatissimi quondam libri, corrupti et abhominabiles iam effecti, murium fætibus cooperti, et vermium morsibus terebrati, iacebant exanimes--et qui olim purpura vestiebantur et bysso, nunc in cinere et cilicio recubantes, oblivioni traditi videbantur, domicilia tinearum. inter hæc nihilominus, captatis temporibus, magis voluptuose consedimus, quam fecisset medicus delicatus inter aromatum apothecas, ubi amoris nostri objectum reperimus et fomentum; sic sacra vasa scientiæ, ad nostræ dispensationis provenerunt arbitrium: quædam data, quædam vendita, ac nonnulla protempore commodata. nimirum cum nos plerique de hujusmodi donariis cernerent contentatos, ea sponte nostris usibus studuerent tribuere, quibus ipsi libentius caruerunt: quorum tamen negotia sic expedire curavimus gratiosi, ut et eisdem emolumentum accresceret, nullum tamen iustitia detrimentum sentiret." "porro si scyphos aureos et argenteos, si equos egregios, si nummorum summas non modicas amassemus tunc temporis, dives nobis ærarium instaurasse possemus: sed revera libros non libras maluimus, codicesque plusquam florenos, ac panfletos exiguos incrassatis prætulimus palfridis," _philobiblion_; p. , , &c. dr. james's preface to this book, which will be noticed in its proper place, in another work, is the veriest piece of old maidenish particularity that ever was exhibited! however, the editor's enthusiastic admiration of de bury obtains his forgiveness in the bosom of every honest bibliomaniac!] [footnote : charles the fifth, of france, may be called the founder of the royal library there. the history of his first efforts to erect a national library is thus, in part, related by the compilers of _cat. de la bibliothéque royale_, pt. i., p. ij.-iij.: "this wise king took advantage of the peace which then obtained, in order to cultivate letters more successfully than had hitherto been done. he was learned for his age; and never did a prince love reading and book-collecting better than did he! he was not only constantly making transcripts himself, but the noblemen, courtiers, and officers that surrounded him voluntarily tendered their services in the like cause; while, on the other hand, a number of learned men, seduced by his liberal rewards, spared nothing to add to his literary treasures. charles now determined to give his subjects every possible advantage from this accumulation of books; and, with this view, he lodged them in one of the _towers of the louvre_; which tower was hence called _la tour de la librarie_. the books occupied three stories: in the first, were desposited volumes; in the second ; and in the third, volumes. in order to preserve them with the utmost care (say sauval and felibien), the king caused all the windows of the library to be fortified with iron bars; between which was painted glass, secured by brass-wires. and that the books might be accessible at all hours, there were suspended, from the ceiling, thirty chandeliers and a silver lamp, which burnt all night long. the walls were wainscotted with irish wood; and the ceiling was covered with cypress wood: the whole being curiously sculptured in bas-relief." whoever has not this catalogue at hand (vide p. , ante) to make himself master of still further curious particulars relating to this library, may examine the first and second volume of _l'academie des inscriptions_, &c.--from which the preceding account is taken. the reader may also look into warton (diss. , vol. i., sign. f. ); who adds, on the authority of boivin's _mem. lit._, tom. ii., p. , that the duke of bedford, regent of france, "in the year (when the english became masters of paris) sent his whole library, then consisting of only volumes, and valued at livres, into england," &c. i have little doubt but that richard de bury had a glimpse of this infantine royal collection, from the following passage--which occurs immediately after an account of his ambassadorial excursion--"o beate deus deorum in syon, quantus impetus fluminis voluptatis lætificavit cor nostrum, quoties paradisum mundi _parisios_ visitare vacavimus ibi moraturi? ubi nobis semper dies pauci, præ amoris magnitudine, videbantur. ibi bibliothecæ jucundæ super sellas aromatum redolentes; ibi virens viridarium universorum voluminum," &c. _philobiblion_; p. , edit. .] [footnote : after having intruded, i fear, by the preceding note respecting _french bibliomania_, there is only room left to say of our de bury--that he was the friend and correspondent of petrarch--and that mons. sade, in his _memoirs of petrarch_, tells us that "the former did in england, what the latter all his life was doing in france, italy, and germany, towards the discovery of the best ancient writers, and making copies of them under his own superintendence." de bury bequeathed a valuable library of mss. to durham, now trinity college, oxford. the books of this library were first packed up in chests; but upon the completion of the room to receive them, "they were put into pews or studies, and chained to them." wood's _history of the university of oxford_, vol. ii., p. . gutch's edit. de bury's _philobiblion_, from which so much has been extracted, is said by morhof to "savor somewhat of the rudeness of the age, but is rather elegantly written; and many things are well expressed in it relating to bibliothecism." _polyhist. literar._, vol. i., . the real author is supposed to have been robert holcott, a dominican friar. i am, however, loth to suppress a part of what warton has so pleasantly written (as above alluded to by lysander) respecting such a favourite as de bury. "richard de bury, otherwise called richard aungervylle, is said to have alone possessed more books than all the bishops of england together. beside the fixed libraries which he had formed in his several palaces, the floor of his common apartment was so covered with books that those who entered could not with due reverence approach his presence. he kept binders, illuminators, and writers, in his palaces. petrarch says that he had once a conversation with him, concerning the island called by the ancients thule; calling him 'virum ardentis ingenii.' while chancellor and treasurer, instead of the usual presents and new-year's gifts appendant to his office, he chose to receive those perquisites in books. by the favour of edward iii. he gained access to the libraries of most of the capital monasteries; where he shook off the dust from volumes, preserved in chests and presses, which had not been opened for many ages." _philobiblion_, cap. , .--warton also quotes, in english, a part of what had been already presented to the reader in its original latin form. _hist. engl. poetry_, vol. i., diss. ii., note g., sign. h. . prettily painted as is this picture, by warton, the colouring might have been somewhat heightened, and the effect rendered still more striking, in consequence, if the authority and the words of godwyn had been a little attended to. in this latter's _catalogue of the bishops of england_, p. - , edit. , we find that de bury was the son of one sir richard angaruill, knight: "that he saith of himselfe 'exstatico quodam librorum amore potenter se abreptum'--that he was mightily carried away, and even beside himself, with immoderate love of bookes and desire of reading. he had alwaies in his house many chaplaines, all great schollers. his manner was, at dinner and supper-time, to haue some good booke read unto him, whereof he would discourse with his chaplaines a great part of the day following, if busines interrupted not his course. he was very bountiful unto the poore. weekely he bestowed for their reliefe, quarters of wheat made into bread, beside the offall and fragments of his tables. riding betweene newcastle and durham he would give _l._ in almes; from durham to stocton, _l._: from durham to aukland, marks; from durham to middleham, _l._" &c. this latter is the "pars melior" of every human being; and bibliomaniacs seem to have possessed it as largely as any other tribe of mortals. i have examined richardson's magnificent reprint of godwyn's book, in the latin tongue, london, , folio; p. ; and find nothing worth adding to the original text.] loren. the task we have imposed upon you, my good lysander, would be severe indeed if you were to notice, with minute exactness, all the book-anecdotes of the middle ages. you have properly introduced the name and authority of warton; but if you suffered yourself to be beguiled by his enchanting style, into all the bibliographical gossiping of this period, you would have no mercy upon your lungs, and there would be no end to the disquisition. lysand. forgive me, if i have transgressed the boundaries of good sense or good breeding: it was not my intention to make a "_concio ad aulam_"--as worthy old bishop saunderson was fond of making--but simply to state facts, or indulge in book chit-chat, as my memory served me. lis. nay, lorenzo, do not disturb the stream of lysander's eloquence. i could listen 'till "jocund day stood tip-toe on the mountain." phil. you are a little unconscionable, lisardo: but i apprehend lorenzo meant only to guard lysander against that minuteness of narration which takes us into every library and every study of the period at which we are arrived. if i recollect aright, warton was obliged to restrain himself in the same cause.[ ] [footnote : the part alluded to, in warton, is at the commencement of his second dissertation "on the introduction of learning into great britain." after rambling with the utmost felicity, among the libraries, and especially the monastic ones, of the earlier and middle ages--he thus checks himself by saying, that "in pursuit of these anecdotes, he is imperceptibly seduced into later periods, or rather is deviating from his subject."] loren. it belongs to me, lysander, to solicit your forgiveness. if you are not tired with the discussion of such a various and extensive subject (and more particularly from the energetic manner in which it is conducted on your part), rely upon it that your auditors cannot possibly feel _ennui_. every thing before us partakes of your enthusiasm: the wine becomes mellower, and sparkles with a ruddier glow; the flavour of the fruit is improved; and the scintillations of your conversational eloquence are scattered amidst my books, my busts, and my pictures. proceed, i entreat you; but first, accept my libation offered up at the shrine of an offended deity. lysand. you do me, and the _bibliomania_, too much honour. if my blushes do not overpower me, i will proceed: but first, receive the attestation of the deity that he is no longer affronted with you. i drink to your health and long life!--and proceed: if, among the numerous and gorgeous books which now surround us, it should be my good fortune to put my hand upon one, however small or imperfect, which could give us some account of the _history of british libraries_, it would save me a great deal of trouble, by causing me to maintain at least a chronological consistency in my discourse. but, since this cannot be--since, with all our love of books and of learning, we have this pleasing desideratum yet to be supplied--i must go on, in my usual desultory manner, in rambling among libraries, and discoursing about books and book-collectors. as we enter upon the reign of henry iv., we cannot avoid the mention of that distinguished library hunter, and book describer, john boston of bury;[ ] who may justly be considered the leland of his day. gale, if i recollect rightly, unaccountably describes his bibliomaniacal career as having taken place in the reign of henry vii.; but bale and pits, from whom tanner has borrowed his account, unequivocally affix the date of to boston's death; which is three years before the death of henry. it is allowed, by the warmest partizans of the reformation, that the dissolution of the monastic libraries has unfortunately rendered the labours of boston of scarcely any present utility. [footnote : it is said of boston that he visited almost every public library, and described the titles of every book therein, with punctilious accuracy. pits ( ) calls him "vir pius, litteratus, et bonarum litterarum fautor ac promotor singularis." bale (p. , edit. ) has even the candour to say, "mirâ sedulitate et diligentia omnes omnium regni monasteriorum bibliothecas invisit: librorum collegit titulos, et authorum eorum nomina: quæ omnia alphabetico disposuit ordine, et quasi unam omnium bibliothecam fecit." what lysander observes above is very true: "non enim dissimulanda (says gale) monasteriorum subversio, quæ brevi spatio subsecuta est--libros omnes dispersit et bostoni providam diligentiam, maxima ex parte, inutilem reddidit." _rer. anglicar. scrip. vet._, vol. iii., præf. p. . that indefatigable antiquary, thomas hearne, acknowledges that, in spite of all his researches in the bodleian library, he was scarcely able to discover any thing of boston's which related to benedictus abbas--and still less of his own compositions. _bened. abbat._ vol. i., præf. p. xvii. it is a little surprising that leland should have omitted to notice him. but the reader should consult tanner's _bibl. britan._, p. xvii., .] there is a curious anecdote of this period in rymer's foedera,[ ] about taking off the duty upon _six barrels of books_, sent by a roman cardinal to the prior of the conventual church of st. trinity, norwich. these barrels, which lay at the custom-house, were imported duty free; and i suspect that henry's third son, the celebrated john duke of bedford, who was then a lad, and just beginning to feed his bibliomaniacal appetite, had some hand in interceding with his father for the redemption of the duty. [footnote : vol. viii., p. . it is a clause roll of the th of henry iv. a.d. : "de certis libris, absque custumenda solvenda, liberandis;" and affords too amusing a specimen of custom-house latinity to be withheld from the reader. "mandamus vobis, quod certos libros _in sex barellis contentos_, priori qt conventui ecclesiæ sanctæ trinitatis norwici, per quendam adam nuper cardinalem legatos, et in portum civitatis nostræ predictæ (londinensis) ab urbe romanâ jam adductos, præfato, priori, absque custuma seu subsidio inde ad opus nostrum capiendis, liberetis indilate," &c.] lis. this duke of bedford was the most notorious bibliomaniac as well as warrior of his age; and, when abroad, was indefatigable in stirring up the emulation of flemish and french artists, to execute for him the most splendid books of devotion. i have heard great things of what goes by the name of _the bedford missal_![ ] [footnote : this missal, executed under the eye and for the immediate use of the famous john, duke of bedford (regent of france), and jane (the daughter of the duke of burgundy) his wife, was, at the beginning of the th century, in the magnificent library of harley, earl of oxford. it afterwards came into the collection of his daughter, the well-known duchess of portland; at whose sale, in , it was purchased by mr. edwards for guineas; and guineas have been, a few years ago, offered for this identical volume. it is yet the property of this last mentioned gentleman. among the pictures in it, there is an interesting one of the whole length portraits of the duke and duchess;--the head of the former of which has been enlarged and engraved by vertue for his portraits to illustrate the history of england. the missal frequently displays the arms of these noble personages; and also affords a pleasing testimony of the affectionate gallantry of the pair; the motto of the former being "a vous entier:" that of the latter, "j'en suis contente." there is a former attestation in the volume, of its having been given by the duke to his nephew, henry vi. as "a most suitable present." but the reader shall consult (if he can procure it) mr. gough's curious little octavo volume written expressly upon the subject.] lysand. and not greater than what merits to be said of it. i have seen this splendid bijou in the charming collection of our friend ----. it is a small thick folio, highly illuminated; and displaying, as well in the paintings as in the calligraphy, the graphic powers of that age, which had not yet witnessed even the dry pencil of perugino. more gorgeous, more beautifully elaborate, and more correctly graceful, missals may be in existence; but a more curious, interesting, and perfect specimen, of its kind, is no where to be seen: the portraits of the duke and of his royal brother henry v. being the best paintings known of the age. 'tis, in truth, a lovely treasure in the book way; and it should sleep every night upon an eider-down pillow encircled with emeralds! lis. hear him--hear him! lysander must be a collateral descendant of this noble bibliomaniac, whose blood, now circulating in his veins, thus moves him to "discourse most eloquently." lysand. banter as you please; only "don't disturb the stream of my eloquence." the period of this distinguished nobleman was that in which book-collecting began to assume a fixed and important character in this country. oxford saw a glimmering of civilization dawning in her obscured atmosphere. a short but dark night had succeeded the patriotic efforts of de bury; whose curious volumes, bequeathed to trinity college, had laid in a melancholy and deserted condition 'till they were kept company by those of cobham, bishop of worcester, rede, bishop of chichester, and humphrey the good duke of gloucester.[ ] now began the fashion (and may it never fall to decay!) of making presents to public libraries:--but, during the short and splendid career of henry v., learning yielded to arms: the reputation of a scholar to that of a soldier. i am not aware of any thing at this period, connected with the subject of our discourse, that deserves particular mention; although we ought never to name this illustrious monarch, or to think of his matchless prowess in arms, without calling to mind how he adorned the rough character of a soldier by the manners of a prince, the feelings of a christian, and, i had almost said, the devotion of a saint. [footnote : we will first notice cobham, bishop of worcester: who "having had a great desire to show some love to his mother the university of oxford, began, about the year , to build, or at least to make some reparations for _a library_, over the old congregation house in the north church-yard of st. mary's; but he dying soon after, before any considerable matter was done therein, left certain moneys for the carrying on of the work, and all his books, with others that had been lately procured, to be, with those belonging to the university (as yet kept in chests) reposed therein." some controversy afterwards arising between the university and oriel college, to which latter cobham belonged, the books lay in dreary and neglected state till ; when a room having been built for their reception, it was settled that they "should be reposed and chained in the said room or solar; that the scholars of the university should have free ingress and regress, at certain times, to make proficiency in them; that certain of the said books, of greater price, should be sold, till the sum of _l._ was obtained for them (unless other remedy could be found) with which should be bought an yearly rent of _l._ , for the maintenance of a chaplain, that should pray for the soul of the said bishop, and other benefactors of the university both living and dead, and have the custody or oversight of the said books, and of those in the ancient chest of books, and chest of rolls." wood's _hist. of the university of oxford_, vol. ii., pt. ii., . gutch's edit. william rede, or read, bishop of chichester, "sometimes fellow (of merton college) gave a chest with _l._ in gold in it, to be borrowed by the fellows for their relief; bond being first given in by them to repay it at their departure from the college; or, in case they should die, to be paid by their executors: a.d. . he also built, about the same time, _a library_ in the college; being the first that the society enjoyed, and gave books thereunto." wood's _history of the colleges and halls_, p. , gutch's edit. in mr. nicholl's _appendix to the history of leicester_, p. , note , i find some account of this distinguished literary character, taken from tanner's _bibl. britan._, p. . he is described, in both authorities, as being a very learned fellow of merton college, where he built and furnished _a noble library_; on the wall of which was painted his portrait, with this inscription: "gulielmus redÆus, episcopus cicestrensis, magister in theologia, profundus astronomus, quondam socius istius collegii, qui hanc librariam fieri fecit." many of read's mathematical instruments, as well as his portrait, were preserved in the library when harrison wrote his description of england, prefix'd to holinshed's chronicles; some of the former of which came into the possession of the historian. for thus writes harrison: "william read, sometime fellow of merteine college in oxford, doctor of divinitie, and the most profound astronomer that liued in his time, as appeareth by his collection, which some time i did possesse; his image is yet in the librarie there; and manie instruments of astronomie reserued in that house," &c. _chronicles_ ( ), edit. , vol. i., p. . in the year , when i visited the ancient and interesting brick-floored library of merton college, for the purpose of examining early printed books, i looked around in vain for the traces, however faded, of read's portrait: nor could i discover a single vestige of the bibliotheca readiana! the memory of this once celebrated bishop lives therefore only in what books have recorded of him; and this brief and _verbal picture_ of read is here drawn--as was the more finished resemblance of chaucer by the pencil, which occleve has left behind-- =that thei that have of him lost thoute and mynde by this peinture may ageine him fynde.= humphrey, duke of gloucester, "commonly called _the good_, was youngest brother to henry v. and the first founder of the university library in oxford, which was pillaged of the greater part of its books in the reign of edward the sixth." park's edit. of the _royal and noble authors_; vol. i., . "as for the books which he gave (says wood) they were very many, more by far than authors report; for whereas 'tis said he gave , you shall find anon that they were more than treble the number." the duke's first gift, in , of one hundred and twenty-nine treatises, was worth, according to wood, a thousand pounds. all his book presents, "amounting to above (mostly treating of divinity, physic, history, and humanity) which were from several parts of the world obtained, were transmitted to the university, and for the present laid up in chests in cobham's library. the catalogue also of them which were then sent, and the indentures for the receipt of the said books, were laid up in the chest called _cista librorum et rotulorum_." _history_ (or annals) _of the university of oxford_; vol. ii., pt. ii., . gutch's edit. consult also the recent and very amusing _history of the same university_, by mr. a. chalmers, vol. ii., p. . leland has not forgotten this distinguished bibliomaniac; for he thus lauds him in roman verse: tam clari meminit viri togata rectè gallia; tum chorus suavis cygnorum isidis ad vadum incolentûm cui magnum numerum dedit bonorum librorum, statuitque sanctiori divinus studio scholæ theatrum; nostro quale quidem videtur esse magnum tempore, forsan et futuro _cygn. cant._ vide lelandi itinerarium curâ hearne; edit. , vol. ix., p. .] the reign of his successor, henry vi., was the reign of trouble and desolation. it is not to be wondered that learning drooped, and religion "waxed faint," 'midst the din of arms and the effusion of human blood. yet towards the close of this reign some attempt was made to befriend the book cause; for the provost and fellows of eton and cambridge petitioned the king to assist them in increasing the number of books in their libraries;[ ] but the result of this petition has never, i believe, been known. [footnote : in the manuscript history of eton college, in the british museum (_mss. donat._ , p. .), the provost and fellows of eton and cambridge are stated, in the th of henry the sixth, to have petitioned the king that, as these new colleges were not sufficiently seised of books for divine service, and for their libraries, he would be pleased to order one of his chaplains, richard chestre, "to take to him such men as shall be seen to him expedient in order to get knowledge where such bookes may be found, paying a reasonable price for the same, and that the sayd men might have the first choice of such bookes, ornaments, &c., before any man, and in especiall of all manner of bookes, ornaments, and other necessaries as now _late were perteynyng to the duke of gloucester_, and that the king would particular(ly) cause to be employed herein john pye his stacioner of london." for this anecdote i am indebted to sir h. ellis. see also the interesting note in warton's _hist. engl. poet._, diss. ii., sign. f. .] i had nearly passed through the reign of henry the sixth without noticing the very meritorious labours of a sort of precursor of dean colet; i mean, sir walter sherington. he was a most assiduous bibliomaniac;[ ] and, in the true spirit of ancient monachism, conceived that no cathedral could be perfect without a library. accordingly, he not only brought together an extraordinary number of curious books, but framed laws or regulations concerning the treatment of the books, and the hours of perusing them; which, if i can trust to my memory, are rather curious, and worth your examination. they are in hearne's edition of the antiquities of glastonbury, composed in our own language. [footnote : "over the east quadrant of this (great) cloyster (on the north side of this church) was a fayre librarie, builded at the costes and charges of (sir) waltar sherington, chancellor of the duchie of lancaster, in the raigne of henrie the . which hath beene well furnished with faire written books in vellem: but few of them now do remaine there." _antiquities of glastonbury_; hearne's edit. ; p. . _regulations concerning sherington's library._ "quodque dicta libraria, hostiis ipsius per præfatos capellanos custodes ejusdem, et eorum successores, aut alterum ipsorum, apertis singulis diebus profestis annuatim á festo nativ. beat. mar. virg. usque festum annunciacionis ejusdem, ob ortu solis, donec hora nona post altam missam de servicio diei in dicta ecclesiâ cathedrali finiatur: et iterum ab hora prima post meridiem usque ad finem completorii in eadem ecclesia cathedrali, vel saltem usque ad occasum solis per eosdem, seu eorum alterum, sic continue diligenter custodiatur. et eciam singulis diebus profestis annuatim, ab eodem festo annunciacionis beatæ mariæ virginis usque ad prædictum festum nativitatis ejusdem, ab hora diei sexta, donec hora nona post altam missam in dicta ecclesia cathedrali, et iterum ab hora prima post meridiem quosque completorium in eadem ecclesia cathedrali finiatur, per præfatos capellanos, seu eorum alterum et successores suos custodes dictæ librariæ debitè et diligenter aperta, custodiatur, nisi causa racionabilis hoc fieri impediat. ita quod nullum dampnum eidem librariæ aut in libris, aut in hostiis, seruris vel fenestris vitreis ejusdem, ex negligencia dictorum capellanorum aut successorum suorum custodum dictæ librariæ evenire contingat. et si quid dampnum hujusmodi in præmissis, seu aliquo præmissorum, per negligenciam ipsorum capellanorum, seu eorum alterius, aut successorum suorum quoque modo imposterum evenerit, id vel ipsa dampnum aut dampna recompensare, emendare et satisfacere, tociens quociens contigerit, de salariis seu stipendiis suis propriis, auctoritate et judicio dictorum decani et capituli, debeant et teneantur, ut est justum. ceteris vero diebus, noctibus et temporibus hostia prædicta, cum eorum seruris et clavibus, omnino sint clausa et secure serata." _id._: p. .] we now enter upon the reign of an active and enterprising monarch; who, though he may be supposed to have cut his way to the throne by his sword, does not appear to have persecuted the cause of learning; but rather to have looked with a gracious eye upon its operations by means of the press. in the reign of edward iv., our venerable and worthy caxton fixed the first press that ever was set to work in this country, in the abbey of westminster. yes, lorenzo; now commenced more decidedly, the æra of bibliomania! now the rich, and comparatively poor, began to build them small _book rooms_ or _libraries_. at first, both the architecture and furniture were sufficiently rude, if i remember well the generality of wood cuts of ancient book-boudoirs:--a few simple implements only being deemed necessary; and a three-legged stool, "in fashion square or round," as cowper[ ] says, was thought luxury sufficient for the hard student to sit upon. now commenced a general love and patronage of books: now (to borrow john fox's language) "tongues became known, knowledge grew, judgment increased, books were dispersed, the scripture was read, stories were opened, times compared, truth discerned, falsehood detected, and with finger pointed (at)--and all, through the benefit of printing."[ ] [footnote : the entire passage is worth extraction: as it well describes many an old stool which has served for many a studious philosopher: "joint stools were then created: on three legs upborne they stood. three legs upholding firm a massy slab, in fashion square or round. on such a stool immortal alfred sat, and sway'd the sceptre of his infant realms. and such in ancient halls and mansions drear may still be seen; but perforated sore, and drilled in holes, the solid oak is found, by worms voracious eating through and through." _task_: b. i., v. , &c. it had escaped the amiable and sagacious author of these verses that such tripodical seats were frequently introduced into old book-rooms; as the subjoined print--which gives us also a curious picture of one of the libraries alluded to by lysander--may serve to shew: [illustration: _revelaciones sancte birgitte; ed. , sign. z. rev._]] [footnote : _book of martyrs_, vol. i., p. ; edit. .] lis. now you have arrived at this period, pray concentrate your anecdotes into a reasonable compass. as you have inveigled us into the printing-office of caxton, i am fearful, from your strong attachment to him, that we shall not get over the threshhold of it, into the open air again, until midnight. phil. order, order, lisardo! this is downright rudeness. i appeal to the chair!-- lorenz. lisardo is unquestionably reprehensible. his eagerness makes him sometimes lose sight of good breeding. lysand. i was going to mention some _vellum_ and _presentation_ copies--but i shall hurry forward. lis. nay, if you love me, omit nothing about "vellum and presentation copies." speak at large upon these glorious subjects. lysand. poor lisardo!--we must build an iron cage to contain such a book-madman as he promises to become! phil. proceed, dear lysander, and no longer heed these interruptions. lysand. nay, i was only about to observe that, as caxton is known to have printed _upon vellum_,[ ] it is most probable that one of his presentation copies of the romances of _jason and godfrey of boulogne_ (executed under the patronage of edward iv.), might have been printed in the same manner. be this as it may, it seems reasonable to conclude that edward the fourth was not only fond of books, as objects of beauty or curiosity, but that he had some affection for literature and literary characters; for how could the firm friend and generous patron of tiptoft, earl of worcester--with whom this monarch had spent many a studious, as well as jovial, hour--be insensible to the charms of intellectual refinement! pause we here for one moment--and let us pour the juice of the blackest grape upon the votive tablet, consecrated to the memory of this illustrious nobleman! and, as caxton has become so fashionable[ ] among us, i will read to you, from yonder beautiful copy of his english edition of "_tully upon friendship_," a part of our printer's affecting eulogy upon the translator:--"o good blessed lord god, what great loss was it of that noble, virtuous, and well-disposed lord! when i remember and advertise his life, his science, and his virtue, me thinketh god not displeased over a great loss of such a man, considering his estate and cunning," &c. "at his death every man that was there, might learn to die and take his (own) death patiently; wherein i hope and doubt not, but that god received his soul into his everlasting bliss. for as i am informed he right advisedly ordained all his things, as well for his last will of worldly goods, as for his soul's health; and patiently, and holily, without grudging, in charity, to fore that he departed out of this world: which is gladsome and joyous to hear."--what say you to this specimen of caxtonian eloquence? [footnote : consult the recent edition of the _typographical antiquities_ of our own country: vol. i., p. , , .] [footnote : as a proof of the ardour with which the books printed by him are now sought after, the reader shall judge for himself--when he is informed that an imperfect copy of the _golden legend_, one of caxton's commonest productions, produced at a book sale, a few months ago, the sum of _twenty-seven_ guineas!] lis. it has a considerable merit; but my attention has been a good deal diverted, during your appropriate recital of it, to the beautiful condition of the copy. thrice happy lorenzo! what sum will convey this volume to my own library! loren. no offer, in the shape of money, shall take it hence. i am an enthusiast in the cause of tiptoft; and am always upon the watch to discover any volume, printed by caxton, which contains the composition of the hapless earl of worcester! dr. henry has spoken so handsomely of him, and mr. park, in his excellent edition of walpole's royal and noble authors,[ ] has made his literary character so interesting that, considering the dearth of early good english authors,[ ] i know of no other name that merits greater respect and admiration. [footnote : vol i., p. , &c. _history of great britain_, by dr. henry, vol. x., p. , &c.] [footnote : "in the library of glastonbury abbey, in , there were but four books in engleish, &c. we have not a single historian, in engleish prose, before the reign of richard the second; when john treviza translateëd the polychronicon of randal higden. boston of bury, who seems to have consulted all the monasterys in engleland, does not mention one author who had written in engleish; and bale, at a lateër period, has, comparatively, but an insignificant number: nor was leland so fortunate as to find above two or three engleish books, in the monastick and other librarys, which he rummage'd, and explore'd, under the king's commission." ritson's dissertation on romance and minstrelsy: prefixed to his _ancient engleish metrical romanceës_, vol. i., p. lxxxi.] lysand. true; and this nobleman's attention to the acquisition of fine and useful books, when he was abroad, for the benefit of his own country,[ ] gives him a distinguished place in the list of bibliomaniacs. i dare say lisardo would give some few hundred guineas for his bust, executed by flaxman, standing upon a pedestal composed of the original editions of his works, bound in grave-coloured morocco by his favourite faulkener?[ ] [footnote : dr. henry's _history of great britain_; _ibid._: from which a copious note has been given in the new edition of our _typographical antiquities_; vol. i., p. , &c.] [footnote : henry faulkener, no. , george court, near the adelphi, in the strand. an honest, industrious, and excellent book-binder: who, in his mode of re-binding ancient books is not only scrupulously particular in the preservation of that important part of a volume, the margin; but, in his ornaments of tooling, is at once tasteful and exact. notwithstanding these hard times, and rather a slender bodily frame, and yet more slender purse--with five children, and the prospect of five more--honest mr. faulkener is in his three-pair-of-stairs confined workshop by five in the morning winter and summer, and oftentimes labours 'till twelve at night. severer toil, with more uniform good humour and civility in the midst of all his embarrassments, were never perhaps witnessed in a brother of the ancient and respectable craft of _book-binding_!] lis. i entreat you not to inflame my imagination by such tantalizing pictures! you know this must ever be a fiction: the most successful bibliomaniac never attained to such human happiness. phil. leave lisardo to his miseries, and proceed. lysand. i have supposed edward to have spent some jovial hours with this unfortunate nobleman. it is thought that our monarch and he partook of the superb feast which was given by the famous nevell, archbishop of york, at the inthronization of the latter; and i am curious to know of what the library of such a munificent ecclesiastical character was composed! but perhaps this feast itself[ ] is one of lisardo's fictions. [footnote : lysander is perfectly correct about the feast which was given at the archbishop's inthronization; as the particulars of it--"out of an old paper roll in the archives of the bodleian library," are given by hearne in the sixth volume of _leland's collectanea_, p. - : and a most extraordinary and amusing bill of fare it is. the last twenty dinners given by the lord mayors at guildhall, upon the first day of their mayoralties, were only _sandwiches_--compared with such a repast! what does the reader think of chickens, pigeons, coneys, "and mo," stags, bucks, and roes, with "pasties of venison colde?"--and these barely an th part of the kind of meats served up! at the high table our amiable earl of worcester was seated, with the archbishop, three bishops, the duke of suffolk, and the earl of oxford. the fictitious archiepiscopal feast was the one intended to be given by nevell to edward iv.; when the latter "appointed a day to come to hunt in more in hertfordshire, and make merry with him." nevell made magnificent preparations for the royal visit; but instead of receiving the monarch as a guest, he was saluted by some of his officers, who "arrested him for treason," and imprisoned him at calais and guisnes. the cause of this sudden, and apparently monstrous, conduct, on the part of edward, has not been told by stow (_chronicles_, p. ; edit. ), nor by godwyn, (_catalogue of the bishops of england_, p. , edit. ): both of whom relate the fact with singular naiveté. i have a strong suspicion that nevell was so far a bibliomaniac as to have had a curious collection of _astrological books_; for "there was greate correspondency betweene this archbishop and the hermetique philosophers of his time; and this is partly confirmed to me from ripley's dedication of his '_medulla_' to him, ann. ; as also the presentation of norton's '_ordinall_,'" &c. thus writes ashmole, in his _theatrum chemicum_, p. .] enough has probably been said of edward. we will stop, therefore, but a minute, to notice the completion of the humphrey library, and the bibliomaniacal spirit of master richard courtney,[ ] during the same reign; and give but another minute to the mention of the statute of richard iii. in protection of english printers,[ ] when we reach the augustan book-age, in the reign of henry vii. [footnote : speaking of the public library of oxford, at this period, hearne tells us, from a letter sent by him to thomas baker, that there was "a chaplein of the universitie chosen, after the maner of a bedell, and to him was the custodie of the librarye committed, his stipend--cvi_s_. and viii_d_. his apparell found him _de secta generosorum_. no man might come in to studdie but graduats and thoes of years contynuance in the universitie, except noblemen. all that come in must firste sweare to use the bookes well, and not to deface theim, and everye one after at his proceedings must take the licke othe. howers apoynted when they shuld come in to studdie, viz. betwene ix and xi aforenoone, and one and four afternoone, the keper geving attendaunce: yet a prerogative was graunted the chancelour mr. richard courtney to come in when he pleased, during his own lieffe, so it was in the day-tyme: and the cause seemeth, that he was cheiffe cawser and setter on of the librarye." _curious discourses by eminent antiquaries_; vol. ii., p. ., edit. .] [footnote : see page , ante. when lysander talks, above, of the reign of henry the seventh being the "augustan age for books," he must be supposed to allude to the facility and beauty of publishing them by means of the press: for at this period, abroad, the typographical productions of verard, eustace, vostre, bonfons, pigouchet, regnier, and many others ("quæ nunc perscribere longum est") were imitated, and sometimes equalled by w. de worde, pynson, and notary, at home. in regard to _intellectual_ fame, if my authority be good, "in the reign of henry vii. greek was a stranger in both universities; and so little even of latin had cambridge, of its own growth, that it had not types sufficient to furnish out the common letters and epistles of the university. they usually employed an italian, one caius auberinus, to compose them, whose ordinarry [transcriber's note: ordinary] fee was twentypence a letter." (mss. in benet college library, lib. p. p. ,) _ridley's life of ridley_, p. . "greek began to be taught in both universities: quietly at cambridge, but ('horresco referens!') with some tumult at oxford!" _ibid._] phil. before we proceed to discuss the bibliomaniacal ravages of this age, we had better retire, with lorenzo's leave, to the drawing-room; to partake of a beverage less potent than that which is now before us. lorenz. just as you please. but i should apprehend that lysander could hold out 'till he reached the reformation;--and, besides, i am not sure whether our retreat be quite ready for us. lis. pray let us not take leave of all these beauteous books, and busts, and pictures, just at present. if lysander's lungs will bear him out another twenty minutes, we shall, by that time, have reached the reformation; and then "our retreat," as lorenzo calls it, may be quite ready for our reception. lysand. settle it between yourselves. but i think i could hold out for another twenty minutes--since you will make me your only book-orator. lorenz. let it be so, then. i will order the lamps to be lit; so that lisardo may see his favourite wouvermans and berghems, in company with my romances, (which latter are confined in my satin-wood book-case) to every possible degree of perfection! lysand. provided you indulge me also with a sight of these delightful objects, you shall have what you desire:--and thus i proceed: of the great passion of henry the viith for fine books, even before he ascended the throne of england,[ ] there is certainly no doubt. and while he was king, we may judge, even from the splendid fragments of his library, which are collected in the british museum, of the nicety of his taste, and of the soundness of his judgment. that he should love extravagant books of devotion,[ ] as well as histories and chronicles, must be considered the fault of the age, rather than of the individual. i will not, however, take upon me to say that the slumbers of this monarch were disturbed in consequence of the extraordinary and frightful passages, which, accompanied with bizarre cuts,[ ] were now introduced into almost every work, both of ascetic divinity and also of plain practical morality. his predecessor, richard, had in all probability been alarmed by the images which the reading of these books had created; and i guess that it was from such frightful objects, rather than from the ghosts of his murdered brethren, that he was compelled to pass a sleepless night before the memorable battle of bosworth field. if one of those artists who used to design the horrible pictures which are engraved in many old didactic volumes of this period had ventured to take a peep into richard's tent, i question whether he would not have seen, lying upon an oaken table, an early edition of some of those fearful works of which he had himself aided in the embellishment, and of which heinecken has given us such curious fac-similes:[ ]--and this, in my humble apprehension, is quite sufficient to account for all the terrible workings in richard, which shakespeare has so vividly described. [footnote : mr. heber has a fine copy of one of the volumes of a black-letter edition of froissart, printed by eustace, upon the exterior of the binding of which are henry's arms, with his name--henricvs dvx richmvndiÆ. the very view of such a book, while it gives comfort to a low-spirited bibliomaniac, adds energy to the perseverance of a young collector! the latter of whom fondly, but vainly, thinks he may one day be blessed with a similar treasure!] [footnote : the possession of such a volume as "_the revelations of the monk of euesham_" (vide vol. ii., of the new edition of _brit. typog. antiquities_), is evidence sufficient of henry's attachment to extravagant books of devotion.] [footnote : it is certainly one of the comforts of modern education, that girls and boys have nothing to do, even in the remotest villages, with the perusal of such books as were put into the juvenile hands of those who lived towards the conclusion of the th century. one is at a loss to conceive how the youth of that period could have ventured at night out of doors, or slept alone in a darkened room, without being frightened out of their wits! nor could maturer life be uninfluenced by reading such volumes as are alluded to in the text: and as to the bed of death--_that_ must have sometimes shaken the stoutest faith, and disturbed the calmest piety. for what can be more terrible, and at the same time more audacious, than human beings arrogating to themselves the powers of the deity, and denouncing, in equivocal cases, a certainty and severity of future punishment, equally revolting to scripture and common sense? to drive the timid into desperation, and to cut away the anchor of hope from the rational believer, seem, among other things, to have been the objects of these "ascetic" authors; while the pictures, which were suffered to adorn their printed works, confirmed the wish that, where the reader might not comprehend the text, he could understand its illustration by means of a print. i will give two extracts, and one of these "bizarre cuts," in support of the preceding remarks. at page , ante, the reader will find a slight mention of the subject: he is here presented with a more copious illustration of it. "in likewise there is none that may declare the piteous and horrible cries and howlings the which that is made in hell, as well of devils as of other damned. and if that a man demand what they say in crying; the answer: all the damned curseth the creator. also they curse together as their father and their mother, and the hour that they were begotten, and that they were born, and that they were put unto nourishing, and those that them should correct and teach, and also those the which have been the occasion of their sins, as the bawd, cursed be the bawd, and also of other occasions in diverse sins. the second cause of the cry of them damned is for the consideration that they have of the time of mercy, the which is past, in the which they may do penance and purchase paradise. the third cause is of their cry for by cause of the horrible pains of that they endure. as we may consider that if an hundred persons had every of them one foot and one hand in the fire, or in the water seething without power to die, what _bruit_ and what cry they should make; but that should be less than nothing in comparison of devils and of other damned, for they ben more than an hundred thousand thousands, the which all together unto them doeth _noysaunce_, and all in one thunder crying and braying horribly."--_thordynary of crysten men_, , to., k k. ii., rect. again: from a french work written "for the amusement of all worthy ladies and gentlemen:" de la flamme tousiours esprise de feu denfer qui point ne brise de busches nest point actise ne de soufflemens embrase le feu denfer, mais est de dieu cree pour estre en celuy lieu des le premier commencement sans jamais pendre finement illec nya point de clarte mais de tenebres obscurte de peine infinie durte de miseres eternite pleur et estraignement de dens chascun membre aura la dedans tourmmens selon ce qua forfait la peine respondra au fait, &c. &c. &c. _le passe tempe de tout home, et de toute femme_; sign. q. ii., rev. printed by verard in vo., without date: (from a copy, printed upon vellum, in the possession of john lewis goldsmyd, esq.)--the next extract is from a book which was written to amuse and instruct the common people: being called by warton a "universal magazine of every article of salutary and useful knowledge." _hist. engl. poetry_: vol. ii., . in hell is great mourning great trouble of crying of thunder noises roaring with plenty of wild fire beating with great strokes like guns with a great frost in water runs and after a bitter wind comes which goeth through the souls with ire there is both thirst and hunger fiends with hooks putteth their flesh asunder they fight and curse and each on other wonder with the fight of the devils dreadable there is shame and confusion rumour of conscience for evil living they curse themself with great crying in smoak and stink they be evermore lying with other pains innumerable. _kalendar of shepherds. sign g. vij. rev. pynson's edit., fol._ [illustration] specimens of some of the tremendous cuts which are crowded into this thin folio will be seen in the second volume of the new edition of the _typographical antiquities_. however, that the reader's curiosity may not here be disappointed, he is presented with a similar specimen, on a smaller scale, of one of the infernal tortures above described. it is taken from a book whose title conveys something less terrific; and describes a punishment which is said to be revealed by the almighty to st. bridget against those who have "ornamenta indecentia in capitibus et pedibus, et reliquis membris, ad provocandum luxuriam et irritandum deum, in strictis vestibus, ostensione mamillarum, unctionibus," &c. _revelaciones sancte birgitte; edit. koeberger, , fol., sign. q., , rev._] [footnote : see many of the cuts in that scarce and highly coveted volume, entitled, "_idée generale d'une collection complètte d'estampes_." leips. , vo.] lis. this is, at least, an original idea; and has escaped the sagacity of every commentator in the last twenty-one volume edition of the works of our bard. lysand. but to return to henry. i should imagine that his mind was not much affected by the perusal of this description of books: but rather that he was constantly meditating upon some old arithmetical work--the prototype of cocker--which, in the desolation of the ensuing half century, has unfortunately perished. yet, if this monarch be accused of avaricious propensities--if, in consequence of speculating deeply in _large paper_ and _vellum_ copies, he made his coffers to run over with gold--it must be remembered that he was, at the same time, a patron as well as judge of architectural artists; and while the completion of the structure of king's college chapel, cambridge, and the building of his own magnificent chapel[ ] at westminster (in which latter, i suspect, he had a curiously-carved gothic closet for the preservation of choice copies from caxton's neighbouring press), afford decisive proofs of henry's skill in matters of taste, the rivalship of printers and of book-buyers shews that the example of the monarch was greatly favourable to the propagation of the bibliomania. indeed, such was the progress of the book-disease that, in the very year of henry's death, appeared, for the first time in this country, an edition of _the ship of fools_--in which work, ostentatious and ignorant book-collectors[ ] are, amongst other characters, severely satirized. [footnote : harpsfield speaks with becoming truth and spirit of henry's great attention to ecclesiastical establishments: "splendidum etiam illud sacellum westmonasterij, magno sumptu atque magnificentia ab eodem est conditum. in quod coenobium valde fuit liberalis et munificus. nullumque fere fuit in tota anglia monachorum, aut fratrum coenobium, nullum collegium, cujus preces, ad animam ipsius deo post obitum commendandam, sedulo non expetierat. legavit autem singulorum præfectis sex solidos et octo denarios, singulis autem eorundem presbyteris, tres solidos et quatuor denarios: ceteris non presbyteris viginti denarios." _hist. eccles. anglic._, p. , edit. , fol.] [footnote : the reader is here introduced to his old acquaintance, who appeared in the title-page to my first "_bibliomania_:"-- [illustration] i am the firste fole of all the hole navy to kepe the pompe, the helme, and eke the sayle: for this is my mynde, this one pleasoure have i-- of bokes to haue great plenty and aparayle. i take no wysdome by them: nor yet avayle nor them perceyve nat: and then i them despyse. thus am i a foole, and all that serue that guyse. _shyp of folys_, &c., _pynson's edit._, , fol.] we have now reached the threshhold of the reign of henry viii.--and of the era of the reformation. an era in every respect most important, but, in proportion to its importance, equally difficult to describe--as it operates upon the history of the bibliomania. now blazed forth, but blazed for a short period, the exquisite talents of wyatt, surrey, vaux, fischer, more, and, when he made his abode with us, the incomparable erasmus. but these in their turn. phil. you omit wolsey. surely he knew something about books? lysand. i am at present only making the sketch of my grand picture. wolsey, i assure you, shall stand in the foreground. nor shall the immortal leland be treated in a less distinguished manner. give me only "ample room and verge enough," and a little time to collect my powers, and then-- lis. "yes, and then"--you will infect us from top to toe with the book-disease! phil. in truth i already begin to feel the consequence of the innumerable miasma of it, which are floating in the atmosphere of this library. i move that we adjourn to a purer air. lysand. i second the motion: for, having reached the commencement of henry's reign, it will be difficult to stop at any period in it previous to that of the reformation. lis. agreed. thanks to the bacchanalian bounty of lorenzo, we are sufficiently enlivened to enter yet further, and more enthusiastically, into this congenial discourse. dame nature and good sense equally admonish us now to depart. let us, therefore, close the apertures of these gorgeous decanters:-- "claudite jam rivos, pueri: sat prata bibêrunt!" [illustration] [illustration: the striking device of m. morin, printer, rouen.] part v. =the drawing room.= history of the bibliomania, or account of book collectors, concluded. some in learning's garb with formal hand, and sable-cinctur'd gown, and rags of mouldy volumes. akenside; _pleasures of imagination_, b. iii., v. . [illustration] =the drawing room.= history of the bibliomania, or account of book-collectors, continued. volatile as the reader may comceive [transcriber's note: conceive] the character of lisardo to be, there were traits in it of marked goodness and merit. his enthusiasm so frequently made him violate the rules of severe politeness; and the quickness with which he flew from one subject to another, might have offended a narrator of the gravity, without the urbanity, of lysander; had not the frankness with which he confessed his faults, and the warmth with which he always advocated the cause of literature, rendered him amiable in the eyes of those who thoroughly knew him. the friends, whose company he was now enjoying, were fully competent to appreciate his worth. they perceived that lisardo's mind had been rather brilliantly cultivated; and that, as his heart had always beaten at the call of virtue, so, in a due course of years, his judgment would become matured, and his opinions more decidedly fixed. he had been left, very early in life, without a father, and bred up in the expectation of a large fortune; while the excessive fondness of his mother had endeavoured to supply the want of paternal direction, and had encouraged her child to sigh for every thing short of impossibility for his gratification. in consequence, lisardo was placed at college upon the most respectable footing. he wore the velvet cap, and enjoyed the rustling of the tassels upon his silk gown, as he paraded the high street of oxford. but although he could translate tacitus and theocritus with creditable facility, he thought it more advantageous to gratify the cravings of his body than of his mind. he rode high-mettled horses; he shot with a gun which would have delighted an indian prince; he drank freely out of cut-glasses, which were manufactured according to his own particular taste; and wines of all colours and qualities sparkled upon his table; he would occasionally stroll into the bodleian library and picture gallery, in order to know whether any acquisitions had been recently made to them; and attended the concerts when any performer came down from london. yet, in the midst of all his gaiety, lisardo passed more sombrous than joyous hours: for when he looked into a book, he would sometimes meet with an electrical sentence from cicero, seneca, or johnson, from which he properly inferred that life was uncertain, and that time was given us to prepare for eternity. he grew dissatisfied and melancholy. he scrambled through his terms; took his degree; celebrated his anniversary of twenty-one, by drenching his native village in ale which had been brewed at his birth; added two wings to his father's house; launched out into coin and picture collecting; bought fine books with fine bindings; then sold all his coins and pictures; and, at the age of twenty-five, began to read, and think, and act for himself. at this crisis, he became acquainted with the circle which has already been introduced to the reader's attention; and to which circle the same reader may think it high time now to return. upon breaking up for the drawing room, it was amusing to behold the vivacity of lisardo; who, leaping about lysander, and expressing his high gratification at the discourse he had already heard, and his pleasure at what he hoped yet to hear, reminded us of what boswell has said of garrick, who used to flutter about dr. johnson, and try to soften his severity by a thousand winning gestures. the doors were opened; and we walked into lorenzo's drawing room. the reader is not to figure to himself a hundred fantastical and fugitive pieces of furniture, purchased at mr. oakley's, and set off with curtains, carpet, and looking-glasses--at a price which would have maintained a country town of seven hundred poor with bread and soup during the hardest winter--the reader will not suppose that a man of lorenzo's taste, who called books his best wealth, would devote two thousand pounds to such idle trappings; which in the course of three years, at farthest, would lose their comfort by losing their fashion. but he will suppose that elegance and propriety were equally consulted by our host. accordingly, a satin-wood book-case of feet in width and in height, ornamented at the top with a few chaste etruscan vases--a light blue carpet, upon which were depicted bunches of grey roses, shadowed in brown--fawn-coloured curtains, relieved with yellow silk and black velvet borders--alabaster lamps shedding their soft light upon small marble busts--and sofas and chairs corresponding with the curtains--(and upon which a visitor might sit without torturing the nerves of the owner of them) these, along with some genuine pictures of wouvermans, berghem, and rysdael, and a few other (subordinate) ornaments, formed the furniture of lorenzo's drawing room. as it was _en suite_ with the library, which was fitted up in a grave style or character, the contrast was sufficiently pleasing. lisardo ran immediately to the book-case. he first eyed, with a greedy velocity, the backs of the folios and quartos; then the octavos; and, mounting an ingeniously-contrived mahogany rostrum, which moved with the utmost facility, he did not fail to pay due attention to the duodecimos; some of which were carefully preserved in russia or morocco backs, with water-tabby silk linings, and other appropriate embellishments. in the midst of his book-reverie, he heard, on a sudden, the thrilling notes of a harp--which proceeded from the further end of the library!--it being lorenzo's custom, upon these occasions, to request an old welch servant to bring his instrument into the library, and renew, if he could, the strains of "other times." meanwhile the curtains were "let fall;" the sofa wheeled round; --and the cups that cheer, but not inebriate, with "the bubbling and loud hissing urn," "welcomed the evening in." lorenzo brought from his library a volume of piranesi, and another of engravings from the heads of vandyke. lisardo, in looking at them, beat time with his head and foot; and philemon and lysander acknowledged that dr. johnson himself could never have so much enjoyed the beverage which was now before them. if it should here be asked, by the critical reader, why our society is not described as being more congenial, by the presence of those "whom man was born to please," the answer is at once simple and true--lorenzo was a bachelor; and his sisters, knowing how long and desperate would be our discussion upon the black letter and white letter, had retreated, in the morning, to spend the day with lisardo's mother--whither ---- ---- had been invited to join them. the harper had now ceased. the tea-things were moved away; when we narrowed our circle, and, two of us upon the sofa, and three upon chairs, entreated lysander to resume his narrative; who, after "clearing his pipes (like sir roger de coverley) with a loud hem or two," thus proceeded. "i think we left off," said lysander, "with seating henry the eighth upon the throne of england. it will be as well, therefore, to say something of this monarch's pretensions to scholarship and love of books. although i will not rake together every species of abuse which has been vented against him by one anthony gilbie,[ ] yet henry must be severely censured, in the estimation of the most candid inquirer, for that gross indifference which he evinced to the real interests of literature, in calmly suffering the libraries of convents and monasteries to be pillaged by the crafty and rapacious. he was bibliomaniac enough to have a few copies of his own work, in defence of the roman catholic exposition of the sacrament, struck off upon vellum:[ ] but when he quarrelled with the roman pontiff about his divorce from queen catharine, in order to marry anne boleyn,[ ] he sounded the tocsin for the eventful destruction of all monastic libraries: and although he had sent leland, under an express commission, to make a due examination of them, as well as a statistical survey of the realm, yet, being frustrated in the forementioned darling object, he cared for nothing about books, whether _upon vellum_ or _large paper_. but had we not better speak of the book ravages, during the reformation, in their proper place?" [footnote : "in the time (saith he) of king henrie the eight, when by tindall, frith, bilney, and other his faithful seruantes, god called england to dresse his vineyarde, many promise ful faire, whome i coulde name, but what fruite followed? nothing but bitter grapes, yea, bryers and brambles, the wormewood of auarice, the gall of crueltie, the poison of filthie fornication, flowing from head to fote, the contempt of god, and open defence of the cake idole, by open proclamation to be read in the churches in steede of god's scriptures. thus was there no reformation, but a deformation, in the time of the tyrant and lecherouse monster. the bore i graunt was busie, wrooting and digging in the earth, and all his pigges that followed him, but they sought onely for the pleasant fruites, that they winded with their long snoutes; and for their own bellies sake, they wrooted up many weeds; but they turned the grounde so, mingling goode and badde togeather, sweet and sower, medecine and poyson, they made, i saye, suche confusion of religion and lawes, that no good thinge could growe, but by great miracle, under suche gardeners. and no maruaile, if it be rightlye considered. for this bore raged against god, against the divell, against christe, and against antichrist, as the fome that he cast oute against luther, the racing out of the name of the pope, and yet allowing his lawes, and his murder of many christian souldiars, and of many papists, doe declare and evidentlie testifie unto us; especially the burning of barnes, jerome, and garrette, their faithfull preachers of the truthe, and hanging the same daye for the maintenaunce of the pope, poel, abel, and fetherstone, dothe clearlie painte his beastlines, that he cared for no religion. this monsterous bore for all this must needes be called the head of the church in paine of treason, displacing christ, our onely head, who ought alone to haue this title." _admonition to england and scotland, &c._, geneva, , p. . quoted by stapleton in his _counter blaste to horne's vayne blaste_, lovan., , to., fol. . gilbie was a protestant; upon which stapleton who was a rigid roman catholic, shrewdly remarks in the margin: "see how religiously the protestantes speak of their princes!"] [footnote : mr. edwards informs me that he has had a copy of the "_assertio septem sacramentorum aduersus martin lutherum_," &c. (printed by pynson in to., both with and without date-- ), upon vellum. the presentation copy to henry, and perhaps another to wolsey, might have been of this nature. i should have preferred a similar copy of the small book, printed a few years afterwards, in mo., of henry's letters in answer to luther's reply to the foregoing work. this is not the place to talk further of these curious pieces. i have seen some of pynson's books printed upon vellum; which are not remarkable for their beauty.] [footnote : those readers who are not in possession of hearne's rare edition of _robert de avesbury_, , vo., and who cannot, in consequence, read the passionate letters of henry viii. to his beloved boleyn, which form a leading feature in the appendix to the same, will find a few extracts from them in the _british bibliographer_; vol. ii., p. . some of the monarch's signatures, of which hearne has given fac-similes, are as follow: [illustration] when one thinks of the then imagined happiness of the fair object of these epistles--and reads the splendid account of her coronation dinner, by stow--contrasting it with the melancholy circumstances which attended her death--one is at loss to think, or to speak, with sufficient force, of the fickleness of all sublunary grandeur! the reader may, perhaps, wish for this, "coronation dinner?" it is, in part, strictly as follows: "while the queen was in her chamber, every lord and other that ought to do service at the coronation, did prepare them, according to their duty: as the duke of suffolk, high-steward of england, which was richly apparelled--his doublet and jacket set with orient pearl, his gown crimson velvet embroidered, his courser trapped with a close trapper, head and all, to the ground, of crimson velvet, set full of letters of gold, of goldsmith's work; having a long white rod in his hand. on his left-hand rode the lord william, deputy for his brother, as earl marshall, with ye marshal's rod, whose gown was crimson velvet, and his horse's trapper purple velvet cut on white satin, embroidered with white lions. the earl of oxford was high chamberlain; the earl of essex, carver; the earl of sussex, sewer; the earl of arundel, chief butler; on whom citizens of london did give their attendance at the cupboard; the earl of derby, cup-bearer; the viscount lisle, panter; the lord burgeiny, chief larder; the lord broy, almoner for him and his copartners; and the mayor of oxford kept the buttery-bar: and thomas wyatt was chosen ewerer for sir henry wyatt, his father." "when all things were ready and ordered, the queen, under her canopy, came into the hall, and washed; and sat down in the middest of the table, under her cloth of estate. on the right side of her chair stood the countess of oxford, widow: and on her left hand stood the countess of worcester, all the dinner season; which, divers times in the dinner time, did hold a fine cloth before the queen's face, when she list to spit, or do otherwise at her pleasure. and at the table's end sate the archbishop of canterbury, on the right hand of the queen; and in the midst, between the archbishop and the countess of oxford, stood the earl of oxford, with a white staff, all dinner time; and at the queen's feet, under the table, sate two gentlewomen all dinner time. when all these things were thus ordered, came in the duke of suffolk and the lord william howard on horseback, and the serjeants of arms before them, and after them the sewer; and then the knights of the bath, bringing in the _first course_, which was eight and twenty dishes, besides subtleties, and ships made of wax, marvellous gorgeous to behold: all which time of service, the trumpets standing in the window, at the nether end of the hall, played," &c. _chronicles_; p. : edit. , fol.] lorenz. as you please. perhaps you will go on with the mention of some distinguished patrons 'till you arrive at that period? lysand. yes; we may now as well notice the efforts of that extraordinary _bibliomaniacal triumvirate_, colet, more, and erasmus. phil. pray treat copiously of them. they are my great favourites. but can you properly place erasmus in the list? lysand. you forget that he made a long abode here, and was greek professor at cambridge. to begin, then, with the former. colet, as you well know, was dean of st. paul's; and founder of the public school which goes by the latter name. he had an ardent and general love of literature;[ ] but his attention to the improvement of youth, in superintending appropriate publications, for their use, was unremitting. few men did so much and so well, at this period: for while he was framing the statutes by which his little community was to be governed, he did not fail to keep the presses of wynkyn de worde and pynson pretty constantly at work, by publishing the grammatical treatises of grocyn, linacre, stanbridge, lilye, holte, whittington, and others--for the benefit, as well of the public, as of his own particular circle. i take it, his library must have been both choice and copious; for books now began to be multiplied in an immense ratio, and scholars and men of rank thought _a study_, or _library_, of some importance to their mansions. what would we not give for an authenticated representation of dean colet in his library,[ ] surrounded with books? you, lisardo, would be in ecstacies with such a thing! [footnote : how anxiously does colet seem to have watched the progress, and pushed the sale, of his friend erasmus's first edition of the greek testament! "quod scribis de novo testamento intelligo. et libri novæ editionis tuæ _hic avide emuntur et passim leguntur_!" the entire epistle (which may be seen in dr. knight's dry life of colet, p. ) is devoted to an account of erasmus's publications. "i am really astonished, my dear erasmus (does he exclaim), at the fruitfulness of your talents; that, without any fixed residence, and with a precarious and limited income, you contrive to publish so many and such excellent works." adverting to the distracted state of germany at this period, and to the wish of his friend to live secluded and unmolested, he observes--"as to the tranquil retirement which you sigh for, be assured that you have my sincere wishes for its rendering you as happy and composed as you can wish it. your age and erudition entitle you to such a retreat. i fondly hope, indeed, that you will choose this country for it, and come and live amongst us, whose disposition you know, and whose friendship you have proved." there is hardly a more curious picture of the custom of the times relating to the education of boys, than the dean's own statutes for the regulation of st. paul's school, which he had founded. these shew, too, the _popular books_ then read by the learned. "the children shall come unto the school in the morning at seven of the clock, both winter and summer, and tarry there until eleven; and return again at one of the clock, and depart at five, &c. in the school, no time in the year, they shall use tallow candle, in no wise, but _only wax candle_, at the costs of their friends. also i will they bring no meat nor drink, nor bottle, nor use in the school no breakfasts, nor drinkings, in the time of learning, in no wise, &c. i will they use no cockfighting, nor riding about of victory, nor disputing at saint bartholomew, which is but foolish babbling and loss of time." the master is then restricted, under the penalty of shillings, from granting the boys a holiday, or "remedy" (play-day), as it is here called, "except the king, an archbishop, or a bishop, present in his own person in the school, desire it." the studies for the lads were "erasmus's _copia_ et _institutum christiani hominii_ (composed at the dean's request), _lactantius_, _prudentius_, _juvencus_, _proba_ and _sedulius_, and _baptista mantuanus_, and such other as shall be thought convenient and most to purpose unto the true latin speech; all barbary, all corruption, all latin adulterate, which ignorant blind fools brought into this world, and with the same hath distained and poisoned the old latin speech, and the _veray_ roman tongue, which in the time of tully, and sallust, and virgil, and terence, was used--i say, that filthiness, and all such abusion, which the later blind world brought in, which more rather may be called bloterature than literature, i utterly banish and exclude out of this school." knight's _life of colet_, , . the sagacious reader will naturally enough conclude that boys, thus educated, would, afterwards, of necessity, fall victims to the ravages of the bibliomania!] [footnote : i wish it were in my power to come forward with any stronger degree of probability than the exhibition of the subjoined cut, of what might have been the interior of _dean colet's study_. this print is taken from an old work, printed in the early part of the sixteenth century, and republished in a book of alciatus's emblems, translated from the latin into italian, a.d. , vo. there is an air of truth about it; but the frame work is entirely modern, and perhaps not in the purest taste. it may turn out that this interior view of a private library is somewhat too perfect and finished for the times of colet, in this country; especially if we may judge from the rules to be observed in completing a public one, just about the period of colet's death: "md. couenawntyd and agreid wyth comell clerke, for the making off the dextis in the library, (of christ church college, oxford) to the summe off xvi, after the maner and forme as they be in magdalyn college, except the popie heedes off the seites, this to be workmanly wrought and clenly, and he to have all manner off stooff foond hym, and to have for the makyng off one dexte xs. the sum off the hole viii. li. item: borowd att magdaleyn college one c. off v. d nayle, a c. off vi. d nayle, dim. c. x. d. nayle."--_antiquities of glastonbury_; edit. hearne, p. . [illustration]] lis. pray don't make such tantalizing appeals to me! proceed, proceed. lysand. of this amiable and illustrious character i will only further observe that he possessed solid, good sense--unaffected and unshaken piety--a love towards the whole human race--and that he dignified his attachment to learning by the conscientious discharge of his duty towards god and man. he sleeps in peace beneath a monument, which has been consecrated by the tears of all who were related to him, and by the prayers of those who have been benefitted by his philanthropy. of sir thomas more,[ ] where is the schoolboy that is ignorant? he was unquestionably, next to erasmus, the most brilliant scholar of his age: while the precious biographical memoirs of him, which have luckily descended to us, place his character, in a domestic point of view, beyond that of all his contemporaries. dr. wordsworth[ ] has well spoken of "the heavenly mindedness" of more: but how are bibliomaniacs justly to appreciate the classical lore, and incessantly-active book-pursuits,[ ] of this scholar and martyr! how he soared "above his compeers!" how richly, singularly, and curiously, was his mind furnished! wit, playfulness, elevation, and force--all these are distinguishable in his writings, if we except his polemical compositions; which latter, to speak in the gentlest terms, are wholly unworthy of his name. when more's head was severed from his body, virtue and piety exclaimed, in the language of erasmus,--"he is dead: more, whose breast was purer than snow, whose genius was excellent above all his nation."[ ] [illustration: behold him going to execution--his beloved daughter (mrs. roper) rushing through the guards, to take her last embrace.] [footnote : in the first volume of my edition of sir thomas more's _utopia_, the reader will find an elaborate and faithful account of the biographical publications relating to this distinguished character, together with a copious _catalogue raisonnè_ of the engraved portraits of him, and an analysis of his english works. it would be tedious to both the reader and author, here to repeat what has been before written of sir thomas more--whose memory lives in every cultivated bosom. of this edition of the utopia there appeared a flimsy and tart censure in the _edinburgh review_, by a critic, who, it was manifest, had never examined the volumes, and who, when he observes upon the fidelity of bishop burnet's translation of the original latin of more, was resolved, from pure love of whiggism, to defend an author at the expense of truth.] [footnote : i have read this newly published biographical memoir of sir thomas more: which contains nothing very new, or deserving of particular notice in this place.] [footnote : a bibliomanical anecdote here deserves to be recorded; as it shews how more's love of books had infected even those who came to seize upon him to carry him to the tower, and to endeavour to inveigle him into treasonable expressions:--"while sir richard southwell and mr. palmer were bussie in _trussinge upp his bookes_, mr. riche, pretending," &c.--"whereupon mr. palmer, on his desposition, said, that he was soe bussie about the _trussinge upp sir tho. moore's bookes_ in a sacke, that he tooke no heed to there talke. sir richard southwell likewise upon his disposition said, that because he was appoynted only to looke to the conveyance _of his bookes_, he gave noe ear unto them."--_gulielmi roperi vita d.t. mori_; edit herne, p. , .] [footnote : epistle dedicatory to ecclesiastes: quoted in that elegant and interesting quarto volume of the "_lives of british statesmen_," by the late mr. macdiarmid; p. .] how can i speak, with adequate justice, of the author of these words!--yes, erasmus!--in spite of thy timidity, and sometimes, almost servile compliances with the capricious whims of the great; in spite of thy delicate foibles, thou shalt always live in my memory; and dear to me shall be the possession of thy intellectual labours! no pen has yet done justice to thy life.[ ] how i love to trace thee, in all thy bookish pursuits, from correcting the press of thy beloved froben, to thy social meetings with colet and more! you remember well, lisardo,--we saw, in yonder room, a _large paper_ copy of the fine leyden edition of this great man's works! you opened it; and were struck with the variety--the solidity, as well as gaiety, of his productions. [footnote : it were much to be wished that mr. roscoe, who has so successfully turned his attention to the history of _italian literature_, of the period of erasmus, would devote himself to the investigation of the philological history of the german schools, and more especially to the literary life of the great man of whom lysander is above speaking. the biographical memoirs of erasmus by le clerc, anglicised and enlarged by the learned jortin, and dr. knight's life of the same, can never become popular. they want method, style and interest. le clerc, however, has made ample amends for the defectiveness of his biographical composition, by the noble edition of erasmus's works which he put forth at leyden, in the year - , in eleven volumes folio: of which volumes the reader will find an excellent analysis or review in the _act. erudit._, a.d. , &c. le clerc, _bibl. choisie_, vol. i., ; du pin's _bibl. eccles._, vol. xiv., and _biblioth. fabric_, pt. i., ; from which latter we learn that, in the public library, at deventer, there is a copy of erasmus's works, in which those passages, where the author speaks freely of the laxity of the monkish character, have been defaced, "chartâ fenestrata." a somewhat more compressed analysis of the contents of these volumes appeared in the _sylloge opusculorum hist.-crit., literariorum, j.a. fabricii, hamb._ , to., p. , --preceded, however, by a pleasing, yet brief account of the leading features of erasmus's literary life. tn one of his letters to colet, erasmus describes himself as "a very poor fellow in point of fortune, and wholly exempt from ambition." a little before his death he sold his library to one john a lasco, a polonese, for only florins. (of this amiable foreigner, see stypye's [transcriber's note: strype's] _life of crammer_ [transcriber's note: cranmer]; b. ii., ch. xxii.) nor did he--notwithstanding his services to booksellers--and although every press was teeming with his lucubrations--and especially that of colinæeus--(which alone put forth , copies of his _colloquies_) ever become much the wealthier for his talents as an author. his bibliomaniacal spirit was such, that he paid most liberally those who collated or described works of which he was in want. in another of his letters, he declares that "he shall not recieve [transcriber's note: receive] an _obolus_ that year; as he had spent more than what he had gained in rewarding those who had made book-researches for him;" and he complains, after being five months at cambridge, that he had, fruitlessly, spent upwards of fifty crowns. "noblemen," says he, "love and praise literature, and my lucubrations; but they praise and do not reward." to his friend eobanus hessus (vol. vi., ), he makes a bitter complaint "de comite quodam." for the particulars, see the last mentioned authority, p. , . in the year , godenus, to whom erasmus had bequeathed a silver bowl, put forth a facetious catalogue of his works, in hexameter and pentameter verses; which was printed at louvain by martin, without date, in to.; and was soon succeeded by two more ample and methodical ones by the same person in , to.; printed by froben and episcopius. see marchand's _dict. bibliogr. et histor._, vol. i., p. , . the bibliomaniac may not object to be informed that froben, shortly after the death of his revered erasmus, put forth this first edition of the entire works of the latter, in nine folio volumes; and that accurate and magnificent as is le clerc's edition of the same (may i venture to hint at the rarity of large paper copies of it?), "it takes no notice of the _index expurgatorius_ of the early edition of froben, which has shown a noble art of curtailing this, as well as other authors." see _knight's life of erasmus_, p. . the mention of froben and erasmus, thus going down to immortality together, induces me to inform the curious reader that my friend mr. edwards is possessed of a chaste and elegant painting, by fuseli, of this distinguished author and printer--the portraits being executed after the most authentic representations. erasmus is in the act of calmly correcting the press, while froben is urging with vehemence some emendations which he conceives to be of consequence, but to which his master seems to pay no attention! and now having presented the reader (p. , ante) with the _supposed_ study of colet, nothing remains but to urge him to enter in imagination, with myself, into the _real_ study of erasmus; of which we are presented with the exterior in the following view--taken from dr. knight's _life of erasmus_; p. . [illustration] i shall conclude this erasmiana (if the reader will premit [transcriber's note: permit] me so to entitle it) with a wood-cut exhibition of a different kind: it being perhaps the earliest portrait of erasmus published in this country. it is taken from a work entitled, "_the maner and forme of confesion_," printed by byddell [transcriber's note: byddel], in vo., without date; and is placed immediately under an address from erasmus, to moline, bishop of condome; dated ; in which the former complains bitterly of "the pain and grief of the reins of his back." the print is taken from a tracing of the original, made by me, from a neat copy of byddel's edition, in the collection of roger wilbraham, esq. i am free to confess that it falls a hundred degrees short of albert durer's fine print of him, executed a.d. . [illustration: ]] lis. let me go and bring it here! while you talk thus, i long to feast my eyes upon these grand books. lysand. you need not. nor must i give to erasmus a greater share of attention than is due to him. we have a large and varied field--or rather domain--yet to pass over. wishing, therefore, lorenzo speedily to purchase a small bronze figure of him, from the celebrated large one at rotterdam, and to place the same upon a copy of his first edition of the _greek testament_ printed _upon vellum_,[ ] by way of a pedestal--i pass on to the notice of other bibliomaniacs of this period. [footnote : in the library of york cathedral there is a copy of the first edition of erasmus's greek and latin testament, , fol., struck off upon vellum. this, i believe, was never before generally known.] subdued be every harsher feeling towards wolsey, when we contemplate even the imperfect remains of his literary institutions which yet survive! that this chancellor and cardinal had grand views, and a magnificent taste, is unquestionable: and i suppose few libraries contained more beautiful or more numerous copies of precious volumes than his own. for, when in favour with his royal master, henry viii., wolsey had, in all probability, such an ascendency over him as to coax from him almost every choice book which he had inherited from his father, henry vii.; and thus i should apprehend, although no particular mention is made of his library in the inventories of his goods[ ] which have been published, there can be no question about such a character as that of wolsey having numerous copies of the choicest books, bound in velvet of all colours, embossed with gold or silver, and studded even with precious stones! i conceive that his own _prayer book_ must have been gorgeous in the extreme! unhappy man--a pregnant and ever-striking example of the fickleness of human affairs, and of the instability of human grandeur! when we think of thy baubles and trappings--of thy goblets of gold, and companies of retainers--and turn our thoughts to shakspeare's shepherd, as described in the soliloquy of one of our monarchs, we are fully disposed to admit the force of such truths as have been familiar to us from boyhood, and which tell us that those shoulders feel the most burdened upon which the greatest load of responsibility rests. peace to the once proud, and latterly repentant, spirit of wolsey! [footnote : in the last _variorum edition of shakspeare_, , vol. xv., p. , we are referred by mr. douce to "the particulars of this inventory at large, in stowe's _chronicle_, p. , edit. :" my copy of stowe is of the date of ; but, not a syllable is said of it in the place here referred to, or at any other page; although the account of wolsey is ample and interesting. mr. douce (_ibid._) says that, among the _harl. mss._ (no. ) there is one entitled "an inventorie of cardinal wolsey's rich householde stuffe; temp. hen. viii.; the original book, as it seems, kept by his own officers." in mr. gutch's _collectanea curiosa_, vol. ii., - , will be found a copious account of wolsey's plate:--too splendid, almost, for belief. to a life and character so well known as are those of wolsey, and upon which dr. fiddes has published a huge folio of many hundred pages, the reader will not here expect any additional matter which may convey much novelty or interest. the following, however, may be worth submitting to his consideration. the cardinal had poetical, as well as political, enemies. skelton and roy, who did not fail to gall him with their sharp lampoons, have shewn us, by their compositions which have survived, that they were no despicable assailants. in the former's "_why come ye not to court?_" we have this caustic passage: he is set so high in his hierarchy of frantic _frenesy_ and foolish fantasy, that in chamber of stars all matters there he mars, clapping his rod on the _borde_ no man dare speake a word; for he hath all the saying without any _renaying_: he rolleth in his records he saith: "how say ye my lords? is not my reason good?" good!--even good--robin-hood? borne upon every side _with pomp and with pride, &c._ to drink and for to eat sweet _ypocras_, and sweet meat, to keep his flesh chaste in lent, for his repast he eateth capons stew'd pheasant and partidge mewed. warton's _hist. engl. poetry_, vol. ii., . steevens has also quoted freely from this poem of skelton; see the editions of _shakspeare_, , and , in the play of "king henry viii." skelton's satire against wolsey is noticed by our chronicler hall: "in this season, the cardinal, by his power legantine, dissolved the convocation at paul's, called by the archbishop of canterbury; and called him and all the clergy to his convocation to westminster, which was never seen before in england; whereof master skelton, a merry poet, wrote: gentle paul lay down thy _sweard_ for peter of westminster hath shaven thy beard." _chronicle_, p. , edit. . in mr. g. ellis's _specimens of the early english poets_, vol. ii., pp. , , there is a curious extract from the same poet's "_image of ypocrycye_"--relating to sir thomas more--which is printed for the first time from "an apparently accurate transcript" of the original, in the possession of mr. heber. from the last mentioned work (vol. ii., p. , &c.), there is rather a copious account of a yet more formidable poetical attack against wolsey, in the "_rede me and be not wroth_," of william roy: a very rare and precious little black-letter volume, which, although it has been twice printed, is scarcely ever to be met with, and was unknown to warton. it will, however, make its appearance in one of the supplemental volumes of mr. park's valuable reprint of the _harleian miscellany_. while the cardinal was thus attacked, in the biting strains of poetry, he was doomed to experience a full share of reprobation in the writings of the most popular theologians. william tyndale stepped forth to shew his zeal against papacy in his "_practise of popishe prelates_," and from this work, as it is incorporated in those of tyndale, barnes, and frith, printed by day in , fol., the reader is presented with the following amusing specimen of the author's vein of humour and indignation: "and as i heard it spoken of divers, he made, by craft of necromancy, graven imagery to bear upon him; wherewith he bewitched the king's mind--and made the king to doat upon him, more than he ever did on any lady or gentlewoman: so that now the king's grace followed him, as he before followed the king. and then what he said, that was wisdom; what he praised, that was honourable only." practise of popishe prelates, p. . at p. , he calls him "porter of heaven." "there he made a journey of gentlemen, arrayed altogether in silks, so much as their very shoes and lining of their boots; more like their mothers than men of war: yea, i am sure that many of their mothers would have been ashamed of so nice and wanton array. howbeit, they went not to make war, but peace, for ever and a day longer. but to speak of the pompous apparel of my lord himself, and of his chaplains, it passeth the xij apostles. i dare swear that if peter and paul had seen them suddenly, and at a blush, they would have been harder in belief that they, or any such, should be their successors than thomas didimus was to believe that christ was risen again from death." _idem_, p. ,--"for the worship of his hat and glory of his precious shoes--when he was pained with the cholic of an evil conscience, having no other shift, because his soul could find no other issue,--he took himself a medicine, _ut emitteret spiritum per posteriora_." exposition upon the first ep. of st. john, p. . thomas lupset, who was a scholar of dean colet, and a sort of _elève_ of the cardinal, (being appointed tutor to a bastard son of the latter) could not suppress his sarcastical feelings in respect of wolsey's pomp and severity of discipline. from lupset's works, printed by berthelet in , mo., i gather, in his address to his "hearty beloved edmond"--that "though he had there with him plenty of books, yet the place suffered him not to spend in them any study: for you shall understand (says he) that i lie waiting on my lord cardinal, whose hours i must observe to be always at hand, lest i should be called when i am not by: the which should be taken for a fault of great negligence. wherefore, that i am now well satiated with the beholding of these gay hangings, that garnish here every wall, i will turn me and talk with you." (_exhortacion to yonge men_, fol. , rev.) dr. wordsworth, in the first volume of his _ecclesiastical biography_, has printed, for the first time, the genuine text of cavendish's interesting life of his reverend master, wolsey. it is well worth perusal. but the reader, i fear, is beginning to be outrageous (having kept his patience, during this long-winded note, to the present moment) for some _bibliomaniacal_ evidence of wolsey's attachment to gorgeous books. he is presented, therefore, with the following case in point. my friend mr. ellis, of the british museum, informs me that, in the splendid library of that establishment, there are two copies of galen's "_methodus medendi_," edited by linacre, and printed at paris, in folio, . one copy, which belonged to henry the eighth, has an illuminated title, with the royal arms at the bottom of the title-page. the other, which is also illuminated, has the cardinal's cap in the same place, above an empty shield. before the dedication to the king, in the latter copy, linacre has inserted an elegant latin epistle to wolsey, in manuscript. the king's copy is rather the more beautiful of the two: but the _unique_ appendage of the latin epistle shews that the editor considered the cardinal a more distinguished bibliomaniac than the monarch.] we have now reached the reformation; upon which, as burnet, collier, and strype, have written huge folio volumes, it shall be my object to speak sparingly: and chiefly as it concerns the history of the bibliomania. a word or two, however, about its origin, spirit, and tendency. it seems to have been at first very equivocal, with henry the eighth, whether he would take any decisive measures in the affair, or not. he hesitated, resolved, and hesitated again.[ ] the creature of caprice and tyranny, he had neither fixed principles, nor settled data, upon which to act. if he had listened to the temperate advice of cromwell or cranmer,[ ] he would have attained his darling object by less decisive, but certainly by more justifiable, means. those able and respectable counsellors saw clearly that violent measures would produce violent results; and that a question of law, of no mean magnitude, was involved in the very outset of the transaction--for there seemed, on the one side, no right to possess; and, on the other, no right to render possession.[ ] [footnote : "the king seemed to think that his subjects owed an entire resignation of their reasons and consciences to him; and, as he was highly offended with those who still adhered to the papal authority, so he could not bear the haste that some were making to a further reformation, before or beyond his allowance. so, in the end of the year , he set out a proclamation, in which he prohibits the importing of all foreign books, or the printing of any at home without license; and the printing of any parts of the scripture, 'till they were examined by the king and his council," &c. "he requires that none may argue against the presence of christ in the sacrament, under the pain of death, and of the loss of their goods; and orders all to be punished who did disuse any rites or ceremonies not then abolished; yet he orders them only to be observed without superstition, only as remembrances, and not to repose in them a trust of salvation."--burnet's _hist. of the reformation_. but long before this obscure and arbitrary act was passed, henry's mind had been a little shaken against papacy from a singular work, published by one fish, called "_the supplication of beggers_." upon this book being read through in the presence of henry, the latter observed, shrewdly enough, "if a man should pull down an old stone wall, and begin at the lower part, the upper part thereof might chance to fall upon his head." "and then he took the book, and put it into his desk, and commanded them, upon their allegiance, that they should not tell to any man that he had seen this book." fox's _book of martyrs_; vol. ii., p. : edit. . sir thomas more answered this work (which depicted, in frightful colours, the rapacity of the roman catholic clergy), in ; see my edition of the latter's _utopia_; vol. i., xciii.] [footnote : "these were some of the resolute steps king henry made towards the obtaining again this long struggled for, and almost lost, right and prerogative of kings, in their own dominions, of being supreme, against the encroachments of the bishops of rome. secretary cromwel had the great stroke in all this. all these counsels and methods were struck out of his head." strype's _ecclesiastical memorials_; vol. i., p. . when great murmurs ensued, on the suppression of the monasteries, because of the cessation of hospitality exercised in them, "cromwell advised the king to sell their lands, at very easie rates, to the gentry in the several counties, obliging them, since they had them upon such terms, to keep up the wonted hospitality. this drew in the gentry apace," &c. burnet's _hist. of the reformation_; vol. i., p. . "archbishop cranmer is said to have counselled and pressed the king to dissolve the monasteries; but for other ends (than those of personal enmity against 'the monks or friars'--or of enriching himself 'with the spoils' of the same); viz. that, out of the revenues of these monasteries, the king might found more bishoprics; and that dioceses, being reduced into less compass, the diocesans might the better discharge their office, according to the scripture and primitive rules.----and the archbishop hoped that, from these ruins, there would be new foundations in every cathedral erected, to be nurseries of learning for the use of the whole diocese." strype's _life of archbishop cranmer_, p. .] [footnote : "a very rational doubt yet remained, how religious persons could alienate and transfer to the king a property, of which they themselves were only tenants for life: and an act of parliament was framed in order to remove all future scruples on this head, and 'settle rapine and sacrilege,' as lord herbert terms them, 'on the king and his heirs for ever.'----it does not appear to have been debated, in either house, whether they had a power to dispossess some hundred thousand persons of their dwellings and fortunes, whom, a few years before, they had declared to be good subjects: if such as live well come under that denomination."--"now," says sir edward coke, "observe the conclusion of this tragedy. in that very parliament, when the great and opulent priory of st. john of jerusalem was given to the king, and which was the last monastery seized on, he demanded a fresh subsidy of the clergy and laity: he did the same again within two years; and again three years after; and since the dissolution exacted great loans, and against law obtained them."--_life of reginald pole_; vol. i., p. - : edit. , vo. coke's th _institute_, fol. .] latimer, more hasty and enthusiastic than his episcopal brethren, set all the engines of his active mind to work, as if to carry the point by a _coup de main_; and although his resolution was, perhaps, upon more than one occasion, shaken by the sufferings of the innocent, yet, by his example, and particularly by his sermons,[ ] he tried to exasperate every protestant bosom against the occupiers of monasteries and convents. [footnote : "it was once moved by latymer, the good bishop of worcester, that two or three of these foundations might be spared in each diocese, for the sake of hospitality. which gave the foresaid bishop occasion to move the lord crumwell once in the behalf of the _priory of malvern_." strype's _ecclesiastical memorials_, vol. i., . latimer's letter is here printed; and an interesting one it is. speaking of the prior, he tells cromwell that "the man is old, a good housekeeper, feedeth many; and that, daily. for the country is poor, and full of penury." but the hospitality and infirmities of this poor prior were less likely to operate graciously upon the rapacious mind of henry than "the marks to the king, and marks more to the said lord crumwell," which he tendered at the same time. see strype, _ibid._ for the credit of latimer, i hope this worthy prior was not at the head of the priory when the former preached before the king, and thus observed: "to let pass the _solempne_ and nocturnal bacchanals, the prescript miracles, that are done upon certain days in the west part of england, who hath not heard? i think ye have heard of saint _blesis's_ heart, which is _at malvern_, and of saint algar's bones, how long they deluded the people!" see latimer's _sermons_: edit. , to.: fol. , rect. in these sermons, as is justly said above, there are many cutting philippics--especially against "in-preaching prelates;" some of whom latimer doth not scruple to call "minters--dancers--crouchers--pamperers of their paunches, like a monk that maketh his jubilee--mounchers in their mangers, and moilers in their gay manors and mansions:" see fol. , rect. nevertheless, there are few productions which give us so lively and interesting a picture of the manners of the age as the sermons of latimer; which were spoilt in an "_editio castrata_" that appeared in the year , vo. but latimer was not the only popular preacher who directed his anathemas against the roman catholic clergy. the well known john fox entered into the cause of the reformation with a zeal and success of which those who have slightly perused his compositions can have but a very inadequate idea. the following curious (and i may add very interesting) specimen of fox's pulpit eloquence is taken from "_a sermon of christ crucified, preached at paule's crosse, the friday before easter, commonly called good fridaie_:"--"let me tell you a story, which i remember was done about the beginning of queen mary's reign, anno . there was a certain message sent, not from heaven, but from rome: not from god, but from the pope: not by any apostle, but by a certain cardinal, who was called cardinal poole, legatus a latere, legatus natus, a legate from the pope's own white side, sent hither into england. this cardinal legate, first coming to dover, was honourably received and brought to greenwich: where he again, being more honourably received by lords of high estate, and of the privy council (of whom some are yet alive) was conducted thence to the privy stairs of the queen's court at westminster, no less person than king philip himself waiting upon him, and receiving him; and so was brought to the queen's great chamber, she then being, or else pretending, not to be well at ease. stephen gardiner, the bishop of winchester, and lord chancellor of england, receiving this noble legate in the king and the queen's behalf, to commend and set forth the authority of this legate, the greatness of his message, and the supreme majesty of the sender, before the public audience of the whole parliament at that time assembled, there openly protested, with great solemnity of words, what a mighty message, and of what great importance was then brought into the realm, even the greatest message (said he) that ever came into england, and therefore desired them to give attentive and inclinable ears to such a famous legation, sent from so high authority." "well, and what message was this? forsooth, that the realm of england should be reconciled again unto their father the pope; that is to say, that the queen, with all her nobility and sage council, with so many learned prelates, discreet lawyers, worthy commons, and the whole body of the realm of england, should captive themselves, and become underlings to an italian stranger, and friarly priest, sitting in rome, which never knew england, never was here, never did, or shall do, england good. and this forsooth (said gardiner) was the greatest ambassage, the weightiest legacy that ever came to england: forgetting belike either this message of god, sent here by his apostles unto vs, or else because he saw it made not so much for his purpose as did the other, he made the less account thereof." "well, then, and will we see what a weighty message this was that gardiner so exquisitely commended? first, the sender is gone, the messenger is gone, the queen is gone, and the message gone, and yet england standeth not a rush the better. of which message i thus say, answering again to gardiner, _per inversionem rhetoricam_, that, as he sayeth, it was the greatest--so i say again, it was the lightest--legacy; the most ridiculous trifle, and most miserablest message, of all other that ever came, or ever shall come, to england, none excepted, for us to be reconciled to an outlandish priest, and to submit our necks under a foreign yoke. what have we to do more with him than with the great calypha of damascus? if reconciliation ought to follow, where offences have risen, the pope hath offended us more than his coffers are able to make us amends. we never offended him. but let the pope, with his reconciliation and legates, go, as they are already gone (god be thanked): and i beseech god so they may be gone, that they never come here again. england never fared better than when the pope did most curse it. and yet i hear whispering of certain privy reconcilers, sent of late by the pope, which secretly creep in corners. but this i leave to them that have to do with all. let us again return to our matter."--_imprinted by jhon daie_, &c., , vo., sign. a. vij.-b. i.] with henry, himself, the question of spiritual supremacy was soon changed, or merged (as the lawyers call it) into the exclusive consideration of adding to his wealth. the visitors who had been deputed to inspect the abbies, and to draw up reports of the same (some of whom, by the bye, conducted themselves with sufficient baseness[ ]), did not fail to inflame his feelings by the tempting pictures which they drew of the riches appertaining to these establishments.[ ] another topic was also strongly urged upon henry's susceptible mind: the alleged abandoned lives of the owners of them. these were painted with a no less overcharged pencil:[ ] so that nothing now seemed wanting but to set fire to the train of combustion which had been thus systematically laid. [footnote : among the visitors appointed to carry into execution the examination of the monasteries, was a dr. london; who "was afterwards not only a persecutor of protestants, but a suborner of false witnesses against them, and was now zealous even to officiousness in suppressing the monasteries. he also studied to frighten the abbess of godstow into a resignation. she was particularly in cromwell's favour:" &c. burnet: _hist. of the reformation_, vol. iii., p. . among burnet's "collection of records," is the letter of this said abbess, in which she tells cromwell that "doctor london was suddenly _cummyd_ unto her, with a great rout with him; and there did threaten her and her sisters, saying that he had the king's commission to suppress the house, spite of her teeth. and when he saw that she was content that he should do all things according to his commission, and shewed him plain that she would never surrender to his band, being her ancient enemy--then he began to entreat her and to inveigle her sisters, one by one, otherwise than ever she heard tell that any of the king's subjects had been handel'd;" vol. iii., p. . "collection." it is not very improbable that this treatment of godstow nunnery formed a specimen of many similar visitations. as to london himself, he ended his days in the fleet, after he had been adjudged to ride with his face to the horse's tail, at windsor and oakingham. fox in his _book of martyrs_, has given us a print of this transaction; sufficiently amusing. dod, in his _church history_, vol. i., p. , has of course not spared dr. london. but see, in particular, fuller's shrewd remarks upon the character of these visitors, or "emissaries;" _church history_, b. vi., pp. , .] [footnote : "the yearly revenue of all the abbies suppressed is computed at £ , _l._ _s._ _d._ besides this, the money raised out of the stock of cattle and corn, out of the timber, lead, and bells; out of the furniture, plate, and church ornaments, amounted to a vast sum, as may be collected from what was brought off from the monastery of st. edmonsbury. hence, as appears from records, marks of gold and silver, besides several jewels of great value, were seized by the visitors." collier's _ecclesiastical history_, vol. ii., . see also burnet's similar work, vol. i., p. . collier specifies the valuation of certain monasteries, which were sufficiently wealthy; but he has not noticed that of st. swithin's in winchester--of which strype has given so minute and interesting an inventory. a lover of old coins and relics may feed his imagination with a gorgeous picture of what might have been the "massive silver and golden crosses and shrines garnished with stones"--but a tender-hearted bibliomaniac will shed tears of agony on thinking of the fate of "a book of the four evangelists, written al with gold; and the utter side of plate of gold!" _life of cranmer_, _appendix_, pp. - .] [footnote : the amiable and candid strype has polluted the pages of his valuable _ecclesiastical memorials_ with an account of such horrid practices, supposed to have been carried on in monasteries, as must startle the most credulous anti-papist; and which almost leads us to conclude that _a legion of fiends_ must have been let loose upon these "friar rushes!" the author tells us that he takes his account from authentic documents--but these documents turn out to be the letters of the visitors; and of the character of one of these the reader has just had a sufficient proof. those who have the work here referred to, vol. i., p. - , may think, with the author of it, that "this specimen is enough and too much." what is a little to be marvelled at, strype suffers his prejudices against the conduct of the monks to be heightened by a letter from one of the name of beerly, at pershore; who, in order that he might escape the general wreck, turned tail upon his brethren, and vilified them as liberally as their professed enemies had done. now, to say the least, this was not obtaining what chief baron gilbert, in his famous law of evidence, has laid it down as necessary to be obtained--"the best possible evidence that the nature of the case will admit of." it is worth remarking that fuller has incorporated a particular account of the names of the abbots and of the carnal enormities of which they are supposed to have been guilty; but he adds that he took it from the d edition of speed's _hist. of great britain_, and (what is worth special notice) that it was not to be found in the prior ones: "being a posthume addition after the author's death, attested in the margine with the authority of henry steven his _apologie for herodotus_, who took the same out of an english book, containing the _vileness discovered at the visitation of monasteries_." _church history_, b. vi., pp. , .] a pause perhaps of one moment might have ensued. a consideration of what had been done, in these monasteries, for the preservation of the literature of past ages, and for the cultivation of elegant and peaceful pursuits, might, like "the still small voice" of conscience, have suspended, for a second, the final sentence of confiscation. the hospitality for which the owners of these places had been, and were then, eminently distinguished; but more especially the yet higher consideration of their property having been left with them only as a sacred pledge to be handed down, unimpaired, to their successors--these things,[ ] one would think, might have infused some little mercy and moderation into henry's decrees! [footnote : there are two points, concerning the subversion of monasteries, upon which all sensible roman catholics make a rest, and upon which they naturally indulge a too well-founded grief. the dispersion of books or interruption of study; and the breaking up of ancient hospitality. let us hear collier upon the subject: "the advantages accruing to the public from these religious houses were considerable, upon several accounts. to mention some of them: the temporal nobility and gentry had a creditable way of providing for their younger children. those who were disposed to withdraw from the world, or not likely to make their fortunes in it, had a handsome retreat to the cloister. here they were furnished with conveniences for life and study, with opportunities for thought and recollection; and, over and above, passed their time in a condition not unbecoming their quality."--"the abbies were very serviceable places for the education of young people: every convent had one person or more assigned for this business. thus the children of the neighbourhood were taught grammar and music without any charge to their parents. and, in the nunneries, those of the other sex learned to work and read english, with some advances into latin," &c.--"farther, it is to the abbies we are obliged for most of our historians, both of church and state: these places of retirement had both most learning and leisure for such undertakings: neither did they want information for such employment," _ecclesiastical history_, vol. ii., . a host of protestant authors, with lord herbert at the head of them, might be brought forward to corroborate these sensible remarks of collier. the hospitality of the monastic life has been on all sides admitted; and, according to lord coke, one of the articles of impeachment against cardinal wolsey was that he had caused "this hospitality and relief to grow into decay and disuse;" which was "a great cause that there were so many vagabonds, beggars, and thieves;"--_fourth institute_; p. , edit. . so that the author of an ancient, and now rarely perused work had just reason, in describing the friars of his time as "living in common upon the goods of a monastery, either gotten by common labour, or else upon lands and possessions where with the monastery was endowed." _pype or tonne of the lyfe of perfection_; fol. clxxii., rev. , to. and yet, should the active bibliomaniac be disposed to peruse this work, after purchasing mr. triphook's elegant copy of the same, he might probably not think very highly of the author's good sense, when he found him gravely telling us that "the appetite of clean, sweet, and fair, or fine cloaths, and oft-washing and curious _pykyng_ of the body, is an enemy of chastity," fol. ccxxix. rect. the devastation of books was, i fear, sufficiently frightful to warrant the following writers in their respective conclusions. "a judicious author (says ashmole) speaking of the dissolution of our monasteries, saith thus: many manuscripts, guilty of no other superstition then (having) _red letters_ in the front, were condemned to the fire: and here a principal key of antiquity was lost, to the great prejudice of posterity. indeed (such was learning's misfortune, at that great devastation of our english libraries, that) where a _red letter_ or a mathematical diagram appeared, they were sufficient to entitle the book to be popish or diabolical." _theatrum chemicum_; prolegom. a. . rev. "the avarice of the late intruders was so mean, and their ignorance so undistinguishing, that, when the books happened to have costly covers, they tore them off, and threw away the works, or turned them to the vilest purposes." _life of reginald pole_; vol. i., p. - , edit. , vo. the author of this last quotation then slightly notices what bale has said upon these book-devastations; and which i here subjoin at full length; from my first edition of this work:--"never (says bale) had we been offended for the loss of our libraries, being so many in number, and in so desolate places for the more part, if the chief monuments and most notable works of our excellent writers had been preserved. if there had been, in every shire of england, but one solempne library, to the preservation of those noble works, and preferment of good learning in our posterity, it had been yet somewhat. but to destroy all, without consideration, is, and will be, unto england, for ever, a most horrible infamy among the grave seniors of other nations. a great number of them, which purchased those superstitious mansions, reserved of those library-books some to serve the _jakes_, some to scour their candlesticks, and some to rub their boots: some they sold to the grocers and soap sellers; some they sent over sea to the book-binders, not in small number, but at times whole ships full, to the wondering of the foreign nations. yea, the universities of the realm are not all clear of this detestable fact. but cursed is that belly which seeketh to be fed with such ungodly gains, and shameth his natural country. i know a merchant man, which shall at this time be nameless, that _bought the contents of two noble libraries for forty shillings price_; a shame it is to be spoken! this stuff hath he occupied in the stead of grey paper, by the space of more than ten years, and yet he hath store enough for as many years to come!" preface to _leland's laboryouse journey_, &c., , vo. reprint of ; sign. c.] phil. but what can be said in defence of the dissolute lives of the monks? lysand. dissoluteness shall never be defended by me, let it be shewn by whom it may; and therefore i will not take the part, on this head, of the tenants of old monasteries. but, philemon, consider with what grace could this charge come from him who had "shed innocent blood," to gratify his horrid lusts? lis. yet, tell me, did not the dissolution of these libraries in some respects equally answer the ends of literature, by causing the books to come into other hands? lysand. no doubt, a few studious men reaped the benefit of this dispersion, by getting possession of many curious volumes with which, otherwise, they might never have been acquainted. if my memory be not treacherous, the celebrated grammarian robert wakefield[ ] was singularly lucky in this way. it is time, however, to check my rambling ideas. a few more words only, and we cease to sermonize upon the reformation. [footnote : "this robert wakefield was the prime linguist of his time, having obtained beyond the seas the greek, hebrew, chaldaic, and syriac tongues. in one thing he is to be commended, and that is this, that he carefully preserved divers books of greek and hebrew at the dissolution of religious houses, and especially some of those in the library of ramsey abbey, composed by laurence holbecke, monk of that place, in the reign of henry iv. he died at london th october, , leaving behind him the name of _polypus_, as leland is pleased to style him, noting that he was of a witty and crafty behaviour." wood's _hist. of colleges and halls_, p. , gutch's edit.] phil. there is no occasion to be extremely laconic. the evening has hardly yet given way to night. the horizon, i dare say, yet faintly glows with the setting-sun-beams. but proceed as you will. lysand. the commotions which ensued from the arbitrary measures of henry were great;[ ] but such as were naturally to be expected. at length henry died, and a young and amiable prince reigned for a few months. mary next ascended the throne; and the storm took an opposite direction. then an attempt was made to restore chalices, crucifixes, and missals. but the short period of her sovereignty making way for the long and illustrious one of her sister elizabeth, the cecils and walsinghams[ ] united their great talents with the equally vigorous ones of the queen and her favourite archbishop parker, in establishing that form of religion which, by partaking in a reasonable degree of the solemnity of the romish church, and by being tempered with great simplicity and piety in its prayers, won its way to the hearts of the generality of the people. our _great english bibles_[ ] were now restored to their conspicuous situations; and the bibliomania, in consequence, began to spread more widely and effectively. [footnote : fuller has devoted one sentence only, and that not written with his usual force, to the havoc and consternation which ensued on the devastation of the monasteries. _ch. hist._, b. vi., p. . burnet is a little more moving: _hist. of the reformation_; vol. i., p. . but, from the foregoing premises, the reader may probably be disposed to admit the conclusion of a virulent roman catholic writer, even in its fullest extent: namely, that there were "subverted monasteries, overthrown abbies, broken churches, torn castles, rent towers, overturned walls of towns and fortresses, with the confused heaps of all ruined monuments." _treatise of treasons_, , vo., fol. , rev.] [footnote : there are few bibliographers at all versed in english literature and history, who have not heard, by some side wind or other, of the last mentioned work; concerning which herbert is somewhat interesting in his notes: _typographical antiquities_, vol. iii., p. . the reader is here presented with a copious extract from this curious and scarce book--not for the sake of adding to these ponderous notes relating to the reformation--(a subject, upon which, from a professional feeling, i thought it my duty to say something!)--but for the sake of showing how dexterously the most important events and palpable truths may be described and perverted by an artful and headstrong disputant. the work was written expressly to defame elizabeth, cecil, and bacon, and to introduce the romish religion upon the ruins of the protestant. the author thus gravely talks "_of queen mary and her predecessors._ "she (mary) found also the whole face of the commonwealth settled and acquieted in the ancient religion; in which, and by which, all kings and queens of that realm (from as long almost before the conquest as that conquest was before that time) had lived, reigned, and maintained their states; and the terrible correction of those few that swerved from it notorious, as no man could be ignorant of it. as king john, without error in religion, for contempt only of the see apostolic, plagued with the loss of his state, till he reconciled himself, and acknowledged to hold his crown of the pope. king henry viii., likewise, with finding no end of heading and hanging, till (with the note of tyranny for wasting his nobility) he had headed him also that procured him to it. fol. , . "_libellous character of cecil._ "in which stem and trunk (being rotten at heart, hollow within, and without sound substance) hath our spiteful pullet (cecil) laid her ungracious eggs, mo than a few: and there hath hatched sundry of them, and brought forth chickens of her own feather, i warrant you. a hen i call him, as well for his cackling, ready and smooth tongue, wherein he giveth place to none, as for his deep and subtle art in hiding his serpentine eggs from common men's sight: chiefly for his hennish heart and courage, which twice already hath been well proved to be as base and deject at the sight of any storm of adverse fortune, as ever was hen's heart at the sight of a fox. and, had he not been by his confederate, as with a dunghill cock, trodden as it were and gotten with egg, i doubt whether ever his hennish heart, joined to his shrewd wit, would have served him, so soon to put the q.'s green and tender state in so manifest peril and adventure. fol. , rect. "_libellous characters of cecil and n. bacon._ "let the houses and possessions of these two catalines be considered, let their furniture, and building, let their daily purchases, and ready hability to purchase still, let their offices and functions wherein they sit, let their titles, and styles claimed and used, let their places in council, let their authority over the nobility, let their linking in alliance with the same, let their access to the prince, let their power and credit with her: let this their present state, i say, in all points (being open and unknown to no men) be compared with their base parentage and progeny, (the one raised out of the robes, and the other from a _sheeprive's_ son) and let that give sentence as well of the great difference of the tastes, that the several fruits gathered of this tree by your q., and by them do yield, as whether any man at this day approach near unto them in any condition wherein advancement consisteth. yea, mark you the jollity and pride that in this prosperity they shew; the port and countenance that every way they carry; in comparison of them that be noble by birth. behold at whose doors your nobility attendeth. consider in whose chambers your council must sit, and to whom for resolutions they must resort; and let these things determine both what was the purpose indeed, and hidden intention of that change of religion, and who hath gathered the benefits of that mutation: that is to say, whether for your q., for your realms, or for their own sakes, the same at first was taken in hand, and since pursued as you have seen. for according to the principal effects of every action must the intent of the act be deemed and presumed. for the objected excuses (that they did it for conscience, or for fear of the french) be too frivolous and vain to abuse any wise man. for they that under king henry were as catholic, as the six articles required: that under king edward were such protestants as the protector would have them; that under q. mary were catholics again, even to creeping to the cross: and that under q. elizabeth were first lutheran, setting up parker, cheiny, gest, bill, &c., then calvinists, advancing grindall, juell, horne, &c.: then puritans, maintaining sampson, deering, humfrey, &c.; and now (if not anabaptists and arians) plain machiavellians, yea, that they persuade in public speeches that man hath free liberty to dissemble his religion, and for authority do allege their own examples and practice of feigning one religion for another in q. mary's time (which containeth a manifest evacuation of christ's own coming and doctrine, of the apostles, preaching and practice, of the blood of the martyrs, of the constancy of all confessors; yea, and of the glorious vain deaths of all the stinking martyrs of their innumerable sects of hereticks, one and other having always taught the confession of mouth to be as necessary to salvation as the belief of heart): shall these men now be admitted to plead conscience in religion; and can any man now be couzined so much, as to think that these men by conscience were then moved to make that mutation?" fol. , . "at home, likewise, apparent it is how they provided, every way to make themselves strong there also. for being by their own marriages allied already to the house of suffolk of the blood royal, and by consequence thereof to the house of hertford also, and their children thereby incorporated to both: mark you how now by marriage of their children with wily wit and wealth together, they wind in your other noblest houses unto them that are left, i mean in credit and countenance. consider likewise how, at their own commendation and preferment, they have erected, as it were, almost a new half of your nobility (of whom also they have reason to think themselves assured) and the rest then (that were out of hope to be won to their faction) behold how, by sundry fine devices, they are either cut off, worn out, fled, banished or defaced at home," &c., fol. , rect. the good lord burghley, says strype, was so moved at this slander that he uttered these words: "god amend his spirit, and confound his malice." and by way of protestation of the integrity and faithfulness of both their services, "god send this estate no worse meaning servants, in all respects, than we two have been." _annals of the reformation_, vol. ii., . camden's _hist. of q. elizabeth_, p. ,--as quoted by herbert.] [footnote : "all curates must continually call upon their parochians to provide a book of the _holy bible in english_, of the largest form, within days next after the publication hereof, that may be chained in some open place in the church," &c. injunctions by lee, archbishop of york: burnet's _hist. of the reformation_, vol. iii., p. , collections. this custom of fixing a great bible in the centre of a place of worship yet obtains in some of the chapels attached to the colleges at oxford. that of queen's, in particular, has a noble brazen eagle, with outstretched wings, upon which the foundation members read the lessons of the day in turn.] loren. had you not better confine yourself to personal anecdote, rather than enter into the boundless field of historical survey? lysand. i thank you for the hint. having sermonized upon the general features of the reformation, we will resume the kind of discourse with which we at first set out. phil. but you make no mention of the number of curious and fugitive pamphlets of the day, which were written in order to depreciate and exterminate the roman catholic religion? some of these had at least the merit of tartness and humour. lysand. consult fox's _martyrology_,[ ] if you wish to have some general knowledge of these publications; although i apprehend you will not find in that work any mention of the poetical pieces of skelton and roy; nor yet of ramsay. [footnote : the curious reader who wishes to become master of all the valuable, though sometimes loose, information contained in this renowned work--upon which dr. wordsworth has pronounced rather a warm eulogium (_ecclesiastical biography_, vol. i., p. xix.)--should secure the _first_ edition, as well as the latter one of , or ; inasmuch as this first impression, of the date of , is said by hearne to be "omnium optima:" see his adami de domerham, _hist. de reb. gest. glaston._, vol. i., p. xxii. i also learn, from an original letter of anstis, in the possession of mr. john nichols, that "the late editions are not quite so full in some particulars, and that many things are left out about the protector seymour."] loren. skelton and roy are in my library;[ ] but who is ramsay? [footnote : vide p. , ante.] lysand. he wrote a comical poetical satire against the romish priests, under the title of "_a plaister for a galled horse_,"[ ] which raynald printed in a little thin quarto volume of six or seven pages. [footnote : in herbert's _typographical antiquities_, vol. i., p. , will be found rather a slight notice of this raw and vulgar satire. it has, however, stamina of its kind; as the reader may hence judge: mark the gesture, who that lyst; first a shorne shauelynge, clad in a clowt, bearinge the name of an honest priest, and yet in no place a starker lowte. a whore monger, a dronkard, ye makyn him be snowte-- at the alehouses he studieth, till hys witte he doth lacke. such are your minysters, to bringe thys matter about: but guppe ye god-makers, beware your galled backe. then wraped in a knaues skynne, as ioly as my horse, before the aulter, in great contemplacion confessinge the synnes of his lubbrysh corse to god and all saynctes, he counteth hys abhomination then home to the aulter, with great saintification with crosses, and blesses, with his boy lytle jacke: thus forth goeth syr jhon with all his preparation. but guppe ye god-makers, beware your galled backe. then gloria in excelsis for ioye dothe he synge more for his fat liuinge, than for devocion: and many there be that remember another thinge which syng not wyth mery hart for lacke of promocion thus some be mery, some be sory according to their porcion then forth cometh collects, bounde up in a packe, for this sainct and that sainct, for sickenes, and extorcion but guppe ye god-makers, beware your galled backe. stanzas, , , . at the sale of mr. brand's books, in , a copy of this rare tract, of six or seven pages, was sold for _l._ _s._ _d._ vide _bibl. brand_, part i., no. . this was surely more than both plaister and horse were worth! a poetical satire of a similar kind, entitled "_john bon and mast person_," was printed by daye and seres; who struck off but a few copies, but who were brought into considerable trouble for the same. the virulence with which the author and printer of this lampoon were persecuted in mary's reign is sufficiently attested by the care which was taken to suppress every copy that could be secured. the only perfect known copy of this rare tract was purchased at the sale of mr. r. forster's books, for the marquis of bute; and mr. stace, the bookseller, had privilege to make a fac-simile reprint of it; of which there were six copies struck off upon vellum. it being now rather common with book-collectors, there is no necessity to make a quotation from it here. indeed there is very little in it deserving of republication.] loren. i will make a memorandum to try to secure this "comical" piece, as you call it; but has it never been reprinted in our "_corpora poetarum anglicorum_?" lysand. never to the best of my recollection. mr. alexander chalmers probably shewed his judgment in the omission of it, in his lately published collection of our poets. a work, which i can safely recommend to you as being, upon the whole, one of the most faithful and useful, as well as elegant, compilations of its kind, that any country has to boast of. but i think i saw it in your library, lorenzo?-- loren. it was certainly there, and bound in stout russia, when we quitted it for this place. lis. dispatch your "gall'd horse," and now--having placed a justly merited wreath round the brow of your poetical editor, proceed--as lorenzo has well said--with personal anecdotes. what has become of wyatt and surrey--and when shall we reach leland and bale? lysand. i crave your mercy, master lisardo! one at a time. gently ride your bibliomaniacal hobby-horse! wyatt and surrey had, beyond all question, the most exquisitely polished minds of their day. they were far above the generality of their compeers. but although hall chooses to notice _the whistle_[ ] of the latter, it does not follow that i should notice his _library_, if i am not able to discover any thing particularly interesting relating to the same. and so, wishing every lover of his country's literature to purchase a copy of the poems of both these heroes,[ ] i march onward to introduce a new friend to you, who preceded leland in his career, and for an account of whom we are chiefly indebted to the excellent and best editor of the works of spencer and milton. did'st ever hear, lisardo, of one william thynne? [footnote : about the year , hall mentions the earl of surrey "on a great coursir richely trapped, and a greate whistle of gold set with stones and perle, hanging at a great and massy chayne baudrick-wise." chronicles: p. , a. see warton's _life of sir thomas pope_: p. , note o., ed. . this is a very amusing page about the custom of wearing whistles, among noblemen, at the commencement of the th century. if franklin had been then alive, he would have had abundant reason for exclaiming that these men "paid too much for their _whistles_!"] [footnote : till the long promised, elaborate, and beautiful edition of the works of sir thomas wyatt and lord surrey, by the rev. dr. nott,[e] shall make its appearance, the bibliomaniac must satisfy his book-appetite, about the editions of the same which have already appeared, by perusing the elegant volumes of mr. george ellis, and mr. park; _specimens of the early english poets_; vol. ii., pp. - : _royal and noble authors_, vol. i., pp. - . as to early black letter editions, let him look at _bibl. pearson_, no. ; where, however, he will find only the th edition of : the first being of the date of . the eighth and last edition was published by tonson, in , vo. it will be unpardonable not to add that the rev. mr. conybeare is in possession of a perfect copy of lord surrey's translation of a part of the Æneid, which is the third only known copy in existence. turn to the animating pages of warton, _hist. engl. poetry_; vol. iii., pp. - , about this translation and its author.] [footnote e: conducting this celebrated book through the press occupied dr. nott several years; it was printed by the father of the printer of this work, in two large to. volumes--and was just finished when, in the year , the bolt court printing-office, and all it contained, was destroyed by fire. only _two_ copies of the works of wyatt and surrey escaped, having been sent to dr. nott by the printer, as _clean sheets_.] lis. pray make me acquainted with him. lysand. you will love him exceedingly when you thoroughly know him; because he was the first man in this country who took pains to do justice to chaucer, by collecting and collating the mutilated editions of his works. moreover, he rummaged a great number of libraries, under the express order of henry viii.; and seems in every respect (if we may credit the apparently frank testimony of his son[ ]), to have been a thoroughbred bibliomaniac. secure mr. todd's _illustrations of gower and chaucer_, and set your heart at ease upon the subject. [footnote : "--but (my father, william thynne) further had commissione to serche all the libraries of england for chaucer's works, so that oute of all the abbies of this realme (which reserved any monuments thereof), he was fully furnished with multitude of bookes," &c. on thynne's discovering chaucer's pilgrim's tale, when henry viii. had read it--"he called (continues the son) my father unto hym, sayinge, 'william thynne, i doubt this will not be allowed, for i suspecte the byshoppes will call thee in question for yt.' to whome my father beinge in great fauore with his prince, sayed, 'yf your grace be not offended, i hope to be protected by you.' whereupon the kinge bydd hym goo his waye and feare not," &c. "but to leave this, i must saye that, in those many written bookes of chaucer, which came to my father's hands, there were many false copyes, which chaucer shewethe in writinge of adam scriuener, of which written copies there came to me, after my father's death, some fyve and twentye," &c. _illustrations of gower and chaucer_; pp. , , . let us not hesitate one moment about the appellation of _helluo librorum_,--justly due to master william thynne!] but it is time to introduce your favourite leland: a bibliomaniac of unparalleled powers and unperishable fame. to entwine the wreath of praise round the brow of this great man seems to have been considered by bale among the most exquisite gratifications of his existence. it is with no small delight, therefore, lorenzo, that i view, at this distance, the marble bust of leland in yonder niche of your library, with a laureate crown upon its pedestal. and with almost equal satisfaction did i observe, yesterday, during the absence of philemon and lisardo at the book-sale, the handsome manner in which harrison,[ ] in his _description of england_, prefixed to holinshed's chronicles, has spoken of this illustrious antiquary. no delays, no difficulties, no perils, ever daunted his personal courage, or depressed his mental energies. enamoured of study, to the last rational moment of his existence, leland seems to have been born for the "laborious journey" which he undertook in search of truth, as she was to be discovered among mouldering records, and worm-eaten volumes. uniting the active talents of a statist with the painful research of an antiquary, he thought nothing too insignificant for observation. the confined streamlet or the capacious river--the obscure village or the populous town--were, with parchment rolls and oaken-covered books, alike objects of curiosity in his philosophic eye! peace to his once vexed spirit!--and never-fading honours attend the academical society in which his youthful mind was disciplined to such laudable pursuits! [footnote : "one helpe, and none of the smallest, that i obtained herein, was by such commentaries as leland had sometime collected of the state of britaine; books vtterlie mangled, defaced with wet and weather, and finallie vnperfect through want of sundrie volumes." _epistle dedicatorie_; vol. i., p. vi., edit. . the history of this great man, and of his literary labours, is most interesting. he was a pupil of william lilly, the first head-master of st. paul's school; and, by the kindness and liberality of a mr. myles, he afterwards received the advantage of a college education, and was supplied with money in order to travel abroad, and make such collections as he should deem necessary for the great work which even then seemed to dawn upon his young and ardent mind. leland endeavoured to requite the kindness of his benefactor by an elegant copy of latin verses, in which he warmly expatiates on the generosity of his patron, and acknowledges that his acquaintance with the _almæ matres_ (for he was of both universities) was entirely the result of such beneficence. while he resided on the continent, he was admitted into the society of the most eminent greek and latin scholars, and could probably number among his correspondents the illustrious names of budæus, erasmus, the stephenses, faber and turnebus. here, too, he cultivated his natural taste for poetry; and, from inspecting the fine books which the italian and french presses had produced, as well as fired by the love of grecian learning, which had fled, on the sacking of constantinople, to take shelter in the academic bowers of the medici--he seems to have matured his plans for carrying into effect the great work which had now taken full possession of his mind. he returned to england, resolved to institute an inquiry into the state of the libraries, antiquities, records, and writings then in existence. having entered into holy orders, and obtained preferment at the express interposition of the king (henry viii.), he was appointed his antiquary and library-keeper; and a royal commission was issued, in which leland was directed to search after "england's antiquities, and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals, abbies, priories, colleges, &c., as also all the places wherein records, writings, and secrets of antiquity were reposited." "before leland's time," says hearne--in a strain which makes one shudder--"all the literary monuments of antiquity were totally disregarded; and students of germany, apprized of this culpable indifference, were suffered to enter our libraries unmolested, and to cut out of the books, deposited there, whatever passages they thought proper--which they afterwards published as relics of the ancient literature of their own country." _pref. to the itinerary._ leland was occupied, without intermission, in his laborious undertaking, for the space of six years; and, on its completion, he hastened to the metropolis to lay at the feet of his sovereign the result of his researches. as john kay had presented his translation of the _siege of rhodes_ to edward iv., as "a gift of his labour," so leland presented his itinerary to henry viii., under the title of _a new year's gift_; and it was first published as such by bale in , vo. "being inflamed," says the author, "with a love to see thoroughly all those parts of your opulent and ample realm, in so much that all my other occupations intermitted, i have so travelled in your dominions both by the sea coasts and the middle parts, sparing neither labour nor costs, by the space of six years past, that there is neither cape nor bay, haven, creek, or pier, river, or confluence of rivers, breaches, wastes, lakes, moors, fenny waters, mountains, valleys, heaths, forests, chases, woods, cities, burghes, castles, principal manor places, monasteries, and colleges, but i have seen them; and noted, in so doing, a whole world of things very memorable." leland moreover tells his majesty--that "by his laborious journey and costly enterprise, he had conserved many good authors, the which otherwise had been like to have perished; of the which part remained in the royal palaces, part also in his own custody," &c. as leland was engaged six years in this literary tour, so he was occupied for a no less period of time in digesting and arranging the prodigious number of mss. which he had collected. but he sunk beneath the immensity of the task. the want of amanuenses, and of other attentions and comforts, seems to have deeply affected him. in this melancholy state, he wrote to archbishop cranmer a latin epistle, in verse, of which the following is the commencement--very forcibly describing his situation and anguish of mind: est congesta mihi domi supellex ingens, aurea, nobilis, venusta, qua totus studeo britanniarum vero reddere gloriam nitori; sed fortuna meis noverca coeptis jam felicibus invidet maligna. quare, ne pereant brevi vel hora multarum mihi noctium labores omnes---- cranmere, eximium decus priorum! implorare tuam benignitatem cogor. the result was that leland lost his senses; and, after lingering two years in a state of total derangement, he died on the th of april, . "prôh tristes rerum humanarum vices! prôh viri optimi deplorandam infelicissimamque sortem!" exclaims dr. smith, in his preface to camden's life, , to. the precious and voluminous mss. of leland were doomed to suffer a fate scarcely less pitiable that [transcriber's note: than] that of their owner. after being pilfered by some, and garbled by others, they served to replenish the pages of stow, lambard, camden, burton, dugdale, and many other antiquaries and historians. "leland's remains," says bagford, "have been ever since a standard to all that have any way treated of the antiquities of england. reginald wolfe intended to have made use of them, although this was not done 'till after his death by harrison, holinshed, and others concerned in that work. harrison transcribed his itinerary, giving a description of england by the rivers, but he did not understand it. they have likewise been made use of by several in part, but how much more complete had this been, had it been finished by himself?" _collectanea_: hearne's edit., ; vol. i., p. lxxvii. polydore virgil, who had stolen from these remains pretty freely, had the insolence to abuse leland's memory--calling him "a vain-glorious man;" but what shall we say to this flippant egotist? who according to caius's testimony (_de antiq. cantab. acad._, lib. .) "to prevent a discovery of the many errors of his own history of england, collected and burnt a greater number of ancient histories and manuscripts than would have loaded a waggon." there are some (among whom i could number a most respectable friend and well qualified judge) who have doubted of the propriety of thus severely censuring polydore virgil; and who are even sceptical about his malpractices. but sir henry savile, who was sufficiently contemporaneous to collect the best evidence upon the subject, thus boldly observes: "nam polydorus, ut homo italus, et in rebus nostris hospes, et (quod caput est) neque in republica versatus, nec magni alioqui vel judicii vel ingenii, pauca ex multis delibans, et falsa plerumque pro veris amplexus, historiam nobis reliquit cum cætera mendosam tum exiliter sanè et jejunè conscriptam." _script. post. bedam._, edit. ; pref. "as for polydore virgil, he hath written either nothing or very little concerning them; and that so little, so false and misbeseeming the ingenuitie of an historian, that he seemeth to have aimed at no other end than, by bitter invectives against henry viii., and cardinal wolsey, to demerit the favour of queen mary," &c., godwyn's translation of the _annales of england_; edit. , author's preface. "it is also remarkable that polydore virgil's and bishop joscelin's edition of gildas's epistle differ so materially that the author of it hardly seems to be one and the same person." this is gale's opinion: _rer. anglican. script. vet._; vol. i., pref., p. . upon the whole--to return to leland--it must be acknowledged that he is a melancholy, as well as illustrious, example of the influence of the bibliomania! but do not let us take leave of him without a due contemplation of his expressive features, as they are given in the frontispiece of the first volume of the lives of leland, hearne, and wood. , vo. [illustration: in refectorio coll. omn. anim. oxon.]] bale follows closely after leland. this once celebrated, and yet respectable, writer had probably more zeal than discretion; but his exertions in the cause of our own church can never be mentioned without admiration. i would not, assuredly, quote bale as a decisive authority in doubtful or difficult cases;[ ] but, as he lived in the times of which he in a great measure wrote, and as his society was courted by the wealthy and powerful, i am not sure whether he merits to be treated with the roughness with which some authors mention his labours. he had, certainly, a tolerable degree of strength in his english style; but he painted with a pencil which reminded us more frequently of the horrific pictures of spagnoletti than of the tender compositions of albano. that he idolized his master, leland, so enthusiastically, will always cover, in my estimation, a multitude of his errors: and that he should leave a scholar's inventory (as fuller saps [transcriber's note: says]), "more books than money behind him," will at least cause him to be numbered among the most renowned bibliomaniacs. [footnote : like all men, who desert a religion which they once enthusiastically profess, bale, after being zealous for the papal superstitions, holding up his hands to rotten posts, and calling them his "fathers in heaven," (according to his own confession) became a zealous protestant, and abused the church of rome with a virulence almost unknown in the writings of his predecessors. but in spite of his coarseness, positiveness, and severity, he merits the great praise of having done much in behalf of the cause of literature. his attachment to leland is, unquestionably, highly to his honour; but his biographies, especially of the romish prelates, are as monstrously extravagant as his plays are incorrigibly dull. he had a certain rough honesty and prompt benevolence of character, which may be thought to compensate for his grosser failings. his reputation as a _bibliomaniac_ is fully recorded in the anecdote mentioned at p. , ante. his "magnum opus," the _scriptores britanniæ_, has already been noticed with sufficient minuteness; vide p. , ante. it has not escaped severe animadversion. francis thynne tells us that bale has "mistaken infynyte thinges in that booke de scriptoribus anglie, being for the most part the collections of lelande." _illustrations of gower and chaucer_; p. . picard, in his wretched edition of _gulielmus neubrigensis_ (edit. , p. ), has brought a severe accusation against the author of having "burnt or torn all the copies of the works which he described, after he had taken the titles of them;" but see this charge successfully rebutted in dr. pegge's _anonymiana_; p. . that bale's library, especially in the department of manuscripts, was both rich and curious, is indisputable, from the following passage in _strype's life of archbishop parker_. "the archbishop laid out for bale's rare collection of mss. immediately upon his death, fearing that they might be gotten by somebody else. therefore he took care to bespeak them before others, and was promised to have them for his money, as he told cecil. and perhaps divers of those books that do now make proud the university library, and that of benet and some other colleges, in cambridge, were bale's," p. . it would seem, from the same authority, that our bibliomaniac "set himself to search the libraries in oxford, cambridge, london (wherein there was but one, and that a slender one), norwich, and several others in norfolk and suffolk: whence he had collected enough for another volume de scriptoribus britannicis." _ibid._ the following very beautiful wood-cut of bale's portrait is taken from the original, of the same size, in the _acta romanorum pontificum_; basil, , vo. a similar one, on a larger scale, will be found in the "_scriptores_," &c., published at basil, , or --folio. mr. price, the principal librarian of the bodleian library, shewed me a rare head of bale, of a very different cast of features--in a small black-letter book, of which i have forgotten the name. [illustration]] before i enter upon the reign of elizabeth, let me pay a passing, but sincere, tribute of respect to the memory of cranmer; whose _great bible_[ ] is at once a monument of his attachment to the protestant religion, and to splendid books. his end was sufficiently lamentable; but while the flames were consuming his parched body, and while his right hand, extended in the midst of them, was reproached by him for its former act of wavering and "offence," he had the comfort of soothing his troubled spirit by reflecting upon what his past life had exhibited in the cause of learning, morality, and religion.[ ] let his memory be respected among virtuous bibliomaniacs! [footnote : i have perused what strype (_life of cranmer_, pp. , , ), lewis (_history of english bibles_, pp. - ), johnson (_idem opus_, pp. - ), and herbert (_typog. antiquities_, vol. i., p. ,) have written concerning the biblical labours of archbishop cranmer; but the accurate conclusion to be drawn about the publication which goes under the name of cranmer's, or the great bible, [transcriber's note: 'is' missing in original] not quite so clear as bibliographers may imagine. however, this is not the place to canvass so intricate a subject. it is sufficient that a magnificent impression of the bible in the english language, with a superb frontispiece (which has been most feebly and inadequately copied for lewis's work), under the archiepiscopal patronage of cranmer, did make its appearance in : and it has been my good fortune to turn over the leaves of the identical copy of it, printed upon vellum, concerning which thomas baker expatiates so eloquently to his bibliomaniacal friend, hearne. _rob. of gloucester's chronicle_; vol. i., p. xix. this copy is in the library of st. john's college, cambridge; and is now placed upon a table, to the right hand, upon entering of the same: although formerly, according to bagford's account, it was "among some old books in a private place nigh the library." _idem_; p. xxii. there is a similar copy in the british museum.] [footnote : "and thus"--says strype--(in a strain of pathos and eloquence not usually to be found in his writings) "we have brought this excellent prelate unto his end, after two years and a half hard imprisonment. his body was not carried to the grave in state, nor buried, as many of his predecessors were, in his own cathedral church, nor inclosed in a monument of marble or touchstone. nor had he any inscription to set forth his praises to posterity. no shrine to be visited by devout pilgrims, as his predecessors, s. dunstan and s. thomas had. shall we therefore say, as the poet doth: marmoreo licinus tumulo jacet, at cato parvo, pompeius nullo. quis putet esse deos? no; we are better christians, i trust, than so: who are taught, that the rewards of god's elect are not temporal but eternal. and cranmer's martyrdom is his monument, and his name will outlast an epitaph or a shrine." _life of cranmer_; p. . it would seem, from the same authority, that ridley, latimer, and cranmer, were permitted to dine together in prison, some little time before they suffered; although they were "placed in separate lodgings that they might not confer together." strype saw "a book of their diet, every dinner and supper, and the charge thereof,"--as it was brought in by the bailiffs attending them. _dinner expenses of ridley, latimer, and cranmer._ bread and ale ii_d._ item, oisters i_d._ item, butter ii_d._ item, eggs ii_d._ item, lyng viii_d._ item, a piece of fresh salmon x_d._ wine iii_d._ cheese and pears ii_d._ _charges for burning ridley and latimer._ _s._ _d._ for three loads of wood fagots item, one load of furs fagots for the carriage of the same item, a post item, two chains item, two staples item, four labourers _charges for burning cranmer._ _s._ _d._ for an of wood fagots, for an and half of furs fagots for the carriage of them to two labourers i will draw the curtain upon this dismal picture, by a short extract from one of cranmer's letters, in which this great and good man thus ingeniously urges the necessity of the scriptures being translated into the english language; a point, by the bye, upon which neither he, nor cromwell, nor latimer, i believe, were at first decided; "god's will and commandment is, (says cranmer) that when the people be gathered together, the minister should use such language as the people may understand, and take profit thereby; or else hold their peace. for as an harp or lute, if it give no certain sound that men may know what is stricken, who can dance after it--for all the sound is vain; so is it vain and profiteth nothing, sayeth almighty god, by the mouth of st. paul, if the priest speak to the people in a language which they know not." _certain most godly, fruitful, and comfortable letters of saintes and holy martyrs, &c._, ; to., fol. .] all hail to the sovereign who, bred up in severe habits of reading and meditation, loved books and scholars to the very bottom of her heart! i consider elizabeth as a royal bibliomaniac of transcendent fame!--i see her, in imagination, wearing her favourite little _volume of prayers_,[ ] the composition of queen catherine parr, and lady tirwit, "bound in solid gold, and hanging by a gold chain at her side," at her morning and evening devotions--afterwards, as she became firmly seated upon her throne, taking an interest in the embellishments of the _prayer book_,[ ] which goes under her own name; and then indulging her strong bibliomaniacal appetites in fostering the institution "for the erecting of _a library and an academy for the study of antiquities and history_."[ ] notwithstanding her earnestness to root out all relics of the roman catholic religion (to which, as the best excuse, we must, perhaps, attribute the sad cruelty of the execution of mary, queen of scots), i cannot in my heart forbear to think but that she secured, for her own book-boudoir, one or two of the curious articles which the commissioners often-times found in the libraries that they inspected: and, amongst other volumes, how she could forbear pouncing upon "_a great pricksong book of parchment_"--discovered in the library of all soul's college[ ]--is absolutely beyond my wit to divine! [illustration] [footnote : of this curious little devotional volume the reader has already had some account (p. , ante); but if he wishes to enlarge his knowledge of the same, let him refer to vol. lx. pt. ii. and vol. lxi. pt. i. of the _gentleman's magazine_. by the kindness of mr. john nichols, i am enabled to present the bibliomaniacal virtuoso with a fac-simile of the copper-plate inserted in the latter volume (p. ) of the authority last mentioned. it represents the golden cover, or binding, of this precious manuscript. of the queen's attachment to works of this kind, the following is a pretty strong proof: "in the bodl. library, among the mss. in mus. num. , are the _epistles of st. paul, &c._, printed in an old black letter in o. which was _queen elizabeth's own book_, and her own hand writing appears at the beginning, viz.: "august. i walke many times into the pleasant fieldes of the holy scriptures, where i plucke up the goodliesome herbes of sentences by pruning: eate them by reading: chawe them by musing: and laie them up at length in the hie seate of memorie by gathering them together: that so having tasted their sweetenes i may the lesse perceave the bitterness of this miserable life." the covering is done in needle work by the queen [then princess] herself, and thereon are these sentences, viz. on one side, on the borders; celvm patria: scopvs vitÆ xpvs. christvs via. christo vive. in the middle a heart, and round about it, eleva cor svrsvm ibi vbi e.c. [est christus]. on the other side, about the borders, beatvs qvi divitias scriptvrÆ legens verba vertit in opera. in the middle a star, and round it, vicit omnia pertinax virtvs with e.c., _i.e._ as i take it, elisabetha captiva, or [provided it refer to virtus] elisabethÆ captivÆ, she being, then, when she worked this covering, a prisoner, if i mistake not, at woodstock." _tit. liv. for. jul. vit. henrici_ v., p. - . [illustration]] [footnote : in the prayer-book which goes by the name of queen elizabeth's, there is a portrait of her majesty kneeling upon a superb cushion, with elevated hands, in prayer. this book was first printed in ; and is decorated with wood-cut borders of considerable spirit and beauty; representing, among other things, some of the subjects of holbein's dance of death. the last impression is of the date of . vide _bibl. pearson_; no. . the presentation copy of it was probably printed upon vellum.[f]] [footnote : the famous john dee entreated queen mary to erect an institution similar [transcriber's note: 'to' missing in original] the one above alluded to. if she adopted the measure, dee says that "her highnesse would have a most notable library, learning wonderfully be advanced, the passing excellent works of our forefathers from rot and worms preserved, and also hereafter continually the whole realm may (through her grace's goodness) use and enjoy the incomparable treasure so preserved: where now, no one student, no, nor any one college, hath half a dozen of those excellent jewels, but the whole stock and store thereof drawing nigh to utter destruction, and extinguishing, while here and there by private men's negligence (and sometimes malice) many a famous and excellent author's book is rent, burnt, or suffered to rot and decay. by your said suppliant's device your grace's said library might, in very few years, most plentifully be furnisht, and that without any one penny charge unto your majesty, or doing injury to any creature." in another supplicatory article, dated xv. jan. , dee advises copies of the monuments to be taken, and the original, after the copy is taken, to be restored to the owner. that there should be "allowance of all necessary charges, as well toward the riding and journeying for the recovery of the said worthy monuments, as also for the copying out of the same, and framing of necessary stalls, desks, and presses."--he concludes with proposing to make copies of all the principal works in ms. "in the notablest libraries beyond the sea"--"and as concerning all other excellent authors printed, that they likewise shall be gotten in wonderful abundance, their carriage only to be chargeable." he supposes that three months' trial would shew the excellence of his plan; which he advises to be instantly put into practice "for fear of the spreading of it abroad might cause many to hide and convey away their good and ancient writers--which, nevertheless, were ungodly done, and a certain token that such are not sincere lovers of good learning." [in other words, not sound bibliomaniacs.] see the appendix to hearne's edition of _joh. confrat. monach. de reb. glaston._ dee's "supplication" met with no attention from the bigotted sovereign to whom it was addressed. a project for a similar establishment in queen elizabeth's reign, when a society of antiquaries was first established in this kingdom, may be seen in hearne's _collection of curious discourses of antiquaries_; vol. ii., p. ,--when this library was "to be entitled the library of queen elizabeth, and the same to be well furnished with divers ancient books, and rare monuments of antiquity," &c., edit. .] [footnote : in mr. gutch's _collectanea curiosa_, vol. ii., p. , we have a "letter from queen elizabeth's high commissioners, concerning the superstitious books belonging to all soul's college:" the "schedule" or list returned was as follows: three mass books, old and new, and portmisses item, grailes, antiphoners of parchment and bound ---- processionals old and new ---- symnalls ---- an old manual of paper ---- an invitatorie book ---- psalters--and one covered with a skin ---- _a great pricksong book of parchment_ ---- one other pricksong book of vellum covered with a hart's skyn ---- other of paper bound in parchment ---- the founder's mass-book in parchment bound in board ---- in mr. mill his hand an antiphoner and a legend ---- a portmisse in his hand two volumes, a manual, a mass-book, and a processional.] [footnote f: the two following pages are appropriated to copies of the frontispiece (of the edit. of ), and a page of the work, from a copy in the possession of the printer of this edition of the _bibliomania_. [illustration: =elizabeth regina.= paralipom . =domine deus israel, non est similis tui deus in coelo & in terra, qui pacta custodis & misericordiam cum seruis tuis, qui ambulant coram te in toto corde suo.=] [illustration: a prayer for charitie, or loue towards our neighbours. =lord, inlighten and instruct our mindes, that we may esteeme euerie thing as it is worth, & yet not make the lesse reckoning of thee, sith nothing can be made better then thou. and secondly let us make account of man, then whome, there is nothing more excellent among the things of this world. make vs to loue him next thee, either as likest our selues, or as thy childe, and therefore our brother, or as one ordayned to bee a member of one selfe same countrie with vs.= =and cause vs also euen heere, to resemble the heauenly kingdome through mutual loue, where all hatred is quite banished, and all is full of loue, and consequently full of joy and gladnes.= amen. =giue a sweete smell as incense, &c.= =eccles. .= =matthew xxvi. - .=]] loren. you are full of book anecdote of elizabeth: but do you forget her schoolmaster, roger ascham? lysand. the master ought certainly to have been mentioned before his pupil. old roger is one of my most favourite authors; and i wish english scholars in general not only to read his works frequently, but to imitate the terseness and perspicuity of his style. there is a great deal of information in his treatises, respecting the manners and customs of his times; and as dr. johnson has well remarked, "his philological learning would have gained him honour in any country."[ ] that he was an ardent bibliomaniac, his letters when upon the continent, are a sufficient demonstration. [footnote : roger ascham is now, i should hope, pretty firmly established among us as one of the very best classical writers in our language. nearly three centuries are surely sufficient to consecrate his literary celebrity. he is an author of a peculiar and truly original cast. there is hardly a dull page or a dull passage in his lucubrations. he may be thought, however, to have dealt rather harshly with our old romance writers; nor do i imagine that the original edition of his _schoolmaster_ ( ), would be placed by a _morte d'arthur_ collector alongside of his thin black-letter quarto romances. ascham's invectives against the italian school, and his hard-hearted strictures upon the innocent ebullitions of petrarch and boccaccio, have been noticed, with due judgment and spirit, by mr. burnet, in his pleasing analysis of our philosopher's works. see _specimens of english prose writers_; vol. ii., p. . our tutor's notions of academical education, and his courteous treatment of his royal and noble scholars, will be discoursed of anon; meantime, while we cursorily, but strongly, applaud dr. johnson's almost unqualified commendation of this able writer; and while the reader may be slightly informed of the elegance and interest of his epistles; let the bibliomaniac hasten to secure bennet's edition of ascham's works (which incorparates [transcriber's note: incorporates] the notes of upton upon the schoolmaster, with the life of, and remarks upon ascham, by dr. johnson), published in a handsome quarto volume [ ]. this edition, though rather common and cheap, should be carefully reprinted in an octavo volume; to harmonize with the greater number of our best writers published in the same form. but it is time to mention something of the author connected with the subject of this work. what relates to the bibliomania, i here select from similar specimens in his english letters, written when he was abroad: "oct. . at afternoon i went about the town [of bruxelles]. i went to the frier carmelites house, and heard their even song: after, i desired to see the library. a frier was sent to me, and led me into it. there was not one good book but _lyra_. the friar was learned, spoke latin readily, entered into greek, having a very good wit, and a greater desire to learning. he was gentle and honest," &c. pp. - . "oct. . to spira: a good city. here i first saw _sturmius de periodis_. i also found here _ajax_, _electra_, and _antigone_ of _sophocles_, excellently, by my good judgment, translated into verse, and fair printed this summer by gryphius. your stationers do ill, that at least do not provide you the register of all books, especially of old authors," &c., p. . again: "hieronimus wolfius, that translated demosthenes and isocrates, is in this town. i am well acquainted with him, and have brought him twice to my lord's to dinner. he looks very simple. he telleth me that one borrheus, that hath written well upon aristot. priorum, &c., even now is printing goodly commentaries upon aristotle's rhetoric. but sturmius will obscure them all." p. . these extracts are taken from bennet's edition. who shall hence doubt of the propriety of classing ascham among the most renowned bibliomaniacs of the age?] from the tutor of elizabeth let us go to her prime minister, cecil.[ ] we have already seen how successfully this great man interposed in matters of religion; it remains to notice his zealous activity in the cause of learning. and of this latter who can possibly entertain a doubt? who that has seen how frequently his name is affixed to dedications, can disbelieve that cecil was a lover of books? indeed i question whether it is inserted more frequently in a diplomatic document or printed volume. to possess all the presentation copies of this illustrious minister would be to possess an ample and beautiful library of the literature of the sixteenth century. [footnote : the reader, it is presumed, will not form his opinion of the bibliomaniacal taste of this great man, from the distorted and shameful delineation of his character, which, as a matter of curiosity only, is inserted at p. , ante. he will, on the contrary, look upon cecil as a lover of books, not for the sake of the numerous panegyrical dedications to himself, which he must have so satisfactorily perused, but for the sake of the good to be derived from useful and ingenious works. with one hand, this great man may be said to have wielded the courageous spirit, and political virtue, of his country--and with the other, to have directed the operations of science and literature. without reading the interesting and well-written life of cecil, in mr. macdiarmid's _lives of british statesmen_ (a work which cannot be too often recommended, or too highly praised), there is evidence sufficient of this statesman's bibliomaniacal passion and taste, in the fine old library which is yet preserved at burleigh in its legitimate form--and which, to the collector of such precious volumes, must have presented a treat as exquisite as are the fresh blown roses of june to him who regales himself in the flowery fragrance of his garden--the production of his own manual labour! indeed strypes tells us that cecil's "library was a very choice one:" his care being "in the preservation, rather than in the private possession of (literary) antiquities." among other curiosities in it, there was a grand, and a sort of presentation, copy of archbishop parker's latin work of the _antiquity of the british church_; "bound costly, and laid in colours the arms of the church of canterbury, empaled with the archbishop's own paternal coat." read strype's tempting description; _life of parker_; pp. , . well might grafton thus address cecil at the close of his epistolary dedication of his _chronicles_: "and now having ended this work, and seeking to whom i might, for testification of my special good-will, present it, or for patronage and defence dedicate it, and principally, for all judgment and correction to submit it--among many, i have chosen your mastership, moved thereto by experience of your courteous judgment towards those that travail to any honest purpose, rather helping and comforting their weakness, than condemning their simple, but yet well meaning, endeavours. by which, your accustomed good acceptation of others, i am the rather boldened to beseech your mastership to receive this my work and me, in such manner as you do those in whom (howsoever there be want of power) there wanteth no point of goodwill and serviceable affection." edit. , to. if a chronicler could talk thus, a poet (who, notwithstanding the title of his poem, does not, i fear, rank among pope's bards, that "sail aloft among _the swans of thames_,") may be permitted thus to introduce cecil's name and mansion: now see these swannes the new and worthie seate of famous cicill, treasorer of the land, whose wisedome, counsell skill of princes state the world admires, then swannes may do the same: the house itselfe doth shewe the owner's wit, and may for bewtie, state, and every thing, compared be with most within the land, vallan's _tale of two swannes_, , to., reprinted in _leland's itinerary_; vol. v. p. xiii, edit. .] but the book-loving propensities of elizabeth's minister were greatly eclipsed by those of her favourite archbishop, parker: clarum et venerabile nomen gentibus, et multum nostræ quod proderat urbi. for my part, lorenzo, i know of no character, either of this or of any subsequent period, which is more entitled to the esteem and veneration of englishmen. pious, diffident, frank, charitable, learned, and munificent, parker was the great episcopal star of his age, which shone with undiminished lustre to the last moment of its appearance. in that warm and irritable period, when the protestant religion was assailed in proportion to its excellence, and when writers mistook abuse for argument, it is delightful to think upon the mild and temperate course which this discreet metropolitan pursued! even with such arrant bibliomaniacs as yourselves, parker's reputation must stand as high as that attached to any name, when i inform you that of his celebrated work upon the "_antiquity of the british church_"[ ] are only twenty copies supposed to have been printed. he had a private press, which was worked with types cast at his own expense; and a more determined book-fancier, and treasurer of ancient lore, did not at that time exist in great britain. [footnote : this is not the place to enter minutely into a bibliographical account of the above celebrated work; such account being with more propriety reserved for the history of our _typographical antiquities_. yet a word or two may be here said upon it, in order that the bibliomaniac may not be wholly disappointed; and especially as ames and herbert have been squeamishly reserved in their comunications [transcriber's note: communications] respecting the same. the above volume is, without doubt, one of the scarcest books in existence. it has been intimated by dr. drake, in the preface of his magnificent reprint of it, , fol., that only copies were struck off: but, according to stype [transcriber's note: strype], parker tells cecil, in an emblazoned copy presented to him by the latter, that he had not given the book to _four_ men in the whole realm: and peradventure, added he, "it shall never come to sight abroad, though some men, smelling of the printing of it, were very desirous cravers of the same." _life of parker_, p. . this certainly does not prove any thing respecting the number of copies printed; but it is probable that dr. drake's supposition is not far short of the truth. one thing is remarkable: of all the copies known, no two are found to accord with each other. the archbishop seems to have altered and corrected the sheets as they each came from the press. the omission of the archbishop's own life in this volume, as it contained the biography of archbishops, exclusively of himself, was endeavoured to be supplied by the publication of a sharp satirical tract, entitled, "_the life off the archbishop of canterbury, presenttye sittinge englished, and to be added to the lately sett forth in latin_," &c., mo., . after this title page there is another. "_histriola, a little storye of the acts and life of mathew, now archbishoppe of canterb._" this latter comprehends leaves, and was written either by the archbishop himself, or by his chaplain joscelyne; but whether it be at all like a distinct printed folio tract, of twelve leaves and a half, which was kept carefully undispersed in the archbishop's own possession, 'till his death--being also a biography of parker--i am not able to ascertain. the following extracts from it (as it is a scarce little volume) may be acceptable, _archbishop parker's early studies and popular preaching._ "but now, he being very well and perfectly instructed in the liberal sciences, he applied all his mind to the study of divinity, and to the reading of the volumes of the ecclesiastical fathers; and that so earnestly that, in short space of time, he bestowed his labour not unprofitably in this behalf; for, after the space of four or five years, he, issuing from his secret and solitary study into open practice in the commonwealth, preached every where unto the people with great commendation; and that in the most famous cities and places of this realm, by the authority of king henry viii., by whose letters patent this was granted unto him, together with the license of the archbishop of canterbury. in execution of this function of preaching, he gained this commodity; that the fame of him came unto the ears of king henry," &c. sign. a. iij. recto. _his attention to literature and printing, &c._ "----he was very careful, and not without some charges, to seek the monuments of former times; to know the religion of the ancient fathers, and those especially which were of the english church. therefore in seeking up the chronicles of the britons and english saxons, which lay hidden every where contemned and buried in forgetfulness, and through the ignorance of the languages not well understanded, his own especially, and his mens, diligence wanted not. and to the end that these antiquities might last long, and be carefully kept, he caused them, being brought into one place, _to be well bound and trimly covered_. and yet, not so contented, he endeavoured to set out in print certain of those ancient monuments, whereof he knew very few examples to be extant; and which he thought would be most profitable for the posterity, to instruct them in the faith and religion of the elders. [orig. 'to instructe them in the faythe and religion off the elders.] hereupon, he caused the perpetual histories of the english affairs, by _mathæus parisiensis_, once a monk of saint alban's, and _mathæus florilegus_, a monk of saint peter in westminster, written in latin, to be printed; after he had diligently conferred them with the examples which he could get in any place; to the end that, as sincerely as might be, as the authors first left them, he might deliver them into other men's hands. lastly, that he might not be unmindful of those monuments which, both in antiquity, worthiness, and authority, excelled all other, or rather wherewith none are to be compared (i mean the holy scriptures) here he thought to do great good if, by his number, he increased the _holy bibles_, which shortly would be wanting to many churches, if this discommodity were not provided for in time. therefore it seemed good unto him, first, with his learned servants, to examine thoroughly the english translation; wherein he partly used the help of his brethren bishops, and other doctors; with whom he dealt so diligently in this matter that they disdained not to be partners and fellows with him of his labor. and now all their work is set out in very fair forms and letters of print," &c. sign. c. rect. & rev. _his work de antiquitate ecclesiæ britannicæ._ "----much more praiseworthy is she (the 'assyrian queen of babylon,') than he, whosoever it was, that of late hath set forth, to the hurt of christian men, certain rhapsodies and shreds of the old forworn stories, almost forgotten--had he not (parker) now lately awakened them out of a dead sleep, and newly sewed them together in one book printed; whose glorious life promiseth not mountains of gold, as that silly heathen woman's (the aforesaid queen) tomb, but beareth christ in the brow, and is honested with this title in the front, 'de antiquitate,' &c." sign. c. iiij. rev. the satirical part, beginning with "to the christian reader," follows the biography from which these extracts have been taken. it remains to observe, that our archbishop was a bibliomaniac of the very first order; and smitten with every thing attached to a book, to a degree beyond any thing exhibited by his contemporaries. parker did not scruple to tell cecil that he kept in his house "drawers of pictures, wood-cutters, painters, limners, writers, and book-binders,"--"one of these was lylye, an excellent writer, that could counterfeit any antique writing. him the archbishop customarily used to make old books compleat,"--&c. _strype's life of parker_; pp. , . such was his ardour for book-collecting that he had agents in almost all places, abroad and at home, for the purpose of securing everything that was curious, precious, and rare: and one of these, of the name of batman (i suppose the commentator upon bartholomæus) "in the space of no more than four years, procured for our archbishop to the number of books." _id._ p. . the riches of his book bequests to cambridge are sufficiently described by strype; pp. , , , , &c. the domestic habits and personal appearance of parker are described by his biographer (p. ) as being simple and grave. notwithstanding his aversion to wearing silk, to plays and jests, and hawks and hounds (even when he was a young man), i take it for granted he could have no inward dislike to the beautiful and appropriate ceremony which marked his consecration, and which is thus narrated by the lively pen of fuller: "the east part of the chapel of lambeth was hung with tapestry, the floor spread with red cloth, chairs and cushions are conveniently placed for the purpose: morning prayers being solemnly read by andrew peerson, the archbishop's chaplain, bishop scory went up into the pulpit, and took for his text, _the elders which are among you i exhort, who also am an elder; and a witness of the sufferings of christ, &c._ sermon ended, and the sacrament administered, they proceed to the consecration. the archbishop had his rochet on, with hereford; and the suffragan of bedford, chichester, wore a silk cope; and coverdale a plain cloth gown down to his ancles. all things are done conformable to the book of ordination: litany sung; the queen's patent for parker's consecration audibly read by dr. vale: he is presented: the oath of supremacy tendered to him; taken by him; hands reverently imposed on him; and all with prayers begun, continued, concluded. in a word, though here was no theatrical pomp to made it a popish pageant; though no sandals, gloves, ring, staff, oil, pall, &c., were used upon him--yet there was ceremony enough to clothe his consecration with decency, though not to clog it with superstition." _church history_, b. ix., p. . but the virtues of the primate, however mild and unostentatious, were looked upon with an envious eye by the maligant observer of human nature; and the spontaneous homage which he received from some of the first noblemen in the realm was thus lampooned in the satirical composition just before noticed: _homage and tribute paid to archbishop parker._ "the next is, what great tributes every made bishop paid him. how they entertained his whole household or court, for the time, with sumptuous feasting. how dearly they redeemed their own cloaths, and carpets, at his chaplain's hands. what fees were bestowed on his crucifer, marshall, and other servants. all which plentiful bounty, or rather, he might have said, largess, is shrunk up, he saith, to a small sum of ten pounds, somewhat beside, but very small, bestowed, he might have said cast away, upon the archbishop's family, &c.--the same earl (of gloucester) must be his steward and chief cupbearer, the day of his inthronization: this is not to be called gracious lords, as the lords of the earth, but this is to be beyond all grace; and to be served of these gracious lords, and to be their lord paramount. in this roll of his noble tenants, the next are the lord strangways, the earl of oxford, the lord dacy, all which (saith he) owe service to that archbishop. then descendeth he to the gifts that every his suffragan provincial bishop bestoweth on him, in their life, and at their death: some their palfrey with saddle and furniture; some their rings, and some their seals. among the rest, the bishop of rochester, who is there called specially his chaplain, giveth him a brace of dogs. these be trim things for prelates to give or receive; especially of them to make such account as to print them among such special prerogatives." sign. d. iiij. v. yet even to this libel was affixed the following epitaph upon parker; which shews that truth "is great, and will prevail." matthew parker liued sober and wise learned by studie, and continuall practise, louinge, true, off life uncontrold the courte did foster him, both young and old. orderly he delt, the ryght he did defend, he lyved unto god, to god he mad his ende. let us take leave of this amiable, erudite, and truly exemplary, character, by contemplating his features--according to the ensuing cut of tyson's fac-simile of the rare ancient print, prefixed to some of the copies of the _antiquity of the british church_; premising that the supposed original painting of parker, at benet college, cambridge, is nothing more than one of the aforesaid ancient prints, delicately coloured: as a tasteful antiquary, of the first authority, discovered, and mentioned to me. [illustration]] phil. you have called the reign of henry the seventh the augustan-book-age; but, surely, this distinction is rather due to the æra of queen elizabeth? lysand. both periods merit the appellation. in henry's time, the invention of printing was of early growth; but the avidity of readers considerable. the presses of rome, venice, and paris, sent forth their costly productions; and a new light, by such means, was poured upon the darkened mind. our own presses began to contribute to the diffusion of this light; and, compared with the preceding part of the fifteenth century, the reign of henry vii. was highly distinguished for its bibliomaniacal celebrity. undoubtedly, the æra of queen elizabeth was the golden age of bibliomaniacism. do not let me forget, in my rambling method of treating of books and book-men, the name and celebrity of the renowned dr. john dee. let us fancy we see him in his conjuring cap and robes--surrounded with astrological, mathematical, and geographical instruments--with a profusion of chaldee characters inscribed upon vellum rolls--and with his celebrated _glass_ suspended by magical wires. let us then follow him into his study at midnight, and view him rummaging his books; contemplating the heavens; making calculations; holding converse with invisible spirits; writing down their responses: anon, looking into his correspondence with _count a lasco_ and the emperors adolphus and maximilian; and pronouncing himself, with the most heartfelt complacency, the greatest genius of his age![ ] in the midst of these self-complacent reveries, let us imagine we see his wife and little ones intruding; beseeching him to burn his books and instruments; and reminding him that there was neither a silver spoon, nor a loaf of bread, in the cupboard. alas, poor dee!--thou wert the dupe of the people and of the court: and, although meric casaubon has enshrined thy conjurations in a pompous folio volume, thy name, i fear, will only live in the memory of bibliomaniacs! [footnote : those who are fond of copious biographical details of astrologers and conjurers will read, with no small pleasure and avidity, the long gossipping account of dee, which hearne has subjoined to his edition of _john confrat. monach. de rebus gestis glaston._, vol. ii.; where twelve chapters are devoted to the subject of our philosopher's travels and hardships. meric casaubon--who put forth a pompous folio volume of "_a true and faithful relation of what passed for many yeers between dr. john dee and some spirits_:" --gravely assures us, in an elaborate, learned, and rather amusing preface, that the volume contains what "he thinks is not to be paralleled in that kind by any book that hath been set out in any age to read:" sign a. this is true enough; for such a farago of incongruous, risible, and horrible events, are no where else recorded. "none but itself can be its parallel." casaubon wrote a professed dissertation ( , vo.) upon witches, and nothing seemed to be too unpalatable for his credulity to swallow. a compressed and rather interesting account of dee, who was really the weakest as well as the ablest scholar and philosopher of his day, will be found in ashmole's _theatrum chemicum_, p. . from the substance of these authorities, the reader is presented with the following sketch. the first chapter in hearne's publication, which treats of the "entrance and ground plot of his first studies," informs us that he had received his latin education in london and chelmsford: that he was born in july, , and at years of age was entered at the university of cambridge, . in the three following years, "so vehemently was he bent to study that, for those years, he did inviolably keep this order; only to sleep hours every night; to allow to meat and drink (and some refreshing after) hours every day; and of the other hours, all (excepting the time of going to, and being at, divine service) was spent in his studies and learning." in may, , after having taken his bachelor's decree, he went abroad. "and after some months spent about the low countries, he returned home, and brought with him the first astronomer's staff in brass, that was made of gemma frisius devising; the two great globes of gerardus mercator's making, and the astronomer's ring of brass, as gemma frisius had newly framed it." dee's head now began to run wild upon astronomy, or rather astrology; and the tremendous assistance of the "occult art" was called in to give effect to the lectures which he read upon it at home and abroad. "he did set forth (and it was seen of the university) a greek comedy of aristophanes, named, in greek, [greek: eirênê], in latin, _pax_; with the performance of the _scarabæus_ his flying up to jupiter's palace, with a man and his basket of victuals on his back: whereat was great wondering and many vain reports spread abroad of the means how that was effected. in that college (trinity, for he had now left st. john's), by his advice and endeavours, was their christmas magistrate first named and confirmed an emperor." the first emperor of this sort, (whose _name_, it must be confessed, is rather unpopular in a university) he takes care to inform us, "was one mr. thomas _dun_, a very goodly man of person, stature, and complexion, and well learned also." dee afterwards ranks these things among "his boyish attempts and exploits scholastical." in he was made master of arts, and in the same year "went over beyond the seas again, and never after that was any more student in cambridge." abroad, almost every emperor and nobleman of distinction, according to his own account, came to see and hear him. "for recreation, he looked into the method of the civil law, and profitted therein so much that, in _antinomiis_, imagined to be in the law, he had good hap to find out (well allowed of) their agreements; and also to enter into a plain and due understanding of diverse civil laws, accounted very intricate and dark." at paris, when he gave lectures upon euclid's elements, "a thing never done publicly in any university in christendom, his auditory in rhemes college was so great, and the most part elder than himself, that the mathematical schools could not hold them; for many were fain, without the schools, at the windows, to be _auditores et spectatores_, as they could best help themselves thereto. and by the first four principal definitions representing to their eyes (which by imagination only are exactly to be conceived) a greater wonder arose among the beholders than of his _aristophanes scarabæus_ mounting up to the top of trinity hall, _ut supra_." notwithstanding the tempting offers to cause him to be domiciled in france and germany, our astrologer, like a true patriot, declined them all. the french king offered an annual stipend of french crowns; a monsieur babeu, monsieur de rohan, and monsieur de monluc, offered still greater sums, but were all refused. in germany he was tempted with the yearly salary of dollars; "and lastly, by a messenger from the russie or muscovite emperor, purposely sent with a very rich present unto him at trebona castle, and with provision for the whole journey (being above miles from the castle where he lay) of his coming to his court at moscow, with his wife, children, and whole family, there to enjoy at his imperial hands lib. sterling yearly stipend; and of his protector yearly a thousand rubles; with his diet also to be allowed him free out of the emperor's own kitchen: and to be in dignity with authority amongst the highest sort of the nobility there, and of his privy counsellors."--but all this was heroically declined by our patriotic philosopher. lord pembroke and lord leicester introduced dee to the notice of q. elizabeth, before her coronation. at which time her majesty used these words--"_where my brother hath given him a crown, i will give him a noble!_" before the accession of elizabeth, he was imprisoned on being accused of destroying queen mary by enchantment. "the queen elizabeth herself became a prisoner in the same place (hampton court) shortly afterwards; and dee had for bedfellow one barthelet green, who was afterwards burnt." dee himself was examined by bishop bonner. on the deanery of gloucester becoming void in , dee was nominated to fill it: but the same deanery was afterwards bestowed on mr. man, who was sent into spain in her majesty's service. "and now this lent, , when it became void again (says dee), i made a motion for it, but i came too late; for one that might spend or lib. a year already, had more need of it than i belike; or else this former gift was but words only to me, and the fruit ever due to others, that can espy and catch better than i for these years could do." mistris blanche à parry came to his house with an offer from the queen of "any ecclesiastical dignity within her kingdom, being then, or shortly becoming, void and vacant"--but "dee's most humble and thankful answer to her majesty, by the same messenger, was that _cura animarum annexa_ did terrifie him to deal with." he was next promised to "have of her majesty's gift other ecclesiastical livings and revenues (without care of souls annexed) as in her majesty's books were rated at two hundred pounds yearly revenue; of which her majesty's gift he never as yet had any one penny." in oct. , he had a consultation with mr. doctor bayly, her majesty's physician, "about her majestie's grievous pangs and pains by reason of the toothake and rheum," &c. "he set down in writing, with hydrographical and geographical description, what he then had to say or shew, as concerning her majesty's title royal to any foreign countries. whereof two parchment great rolls full written, of about xii white vellum skins, were good witnesses upon the table before the commissioners." dee had refused an hundred pounds for these calligraphical labours. a list of his printed and unprinted works: the former (ending with the year ), the latter (ending with the year ), in number. anno , julii ultimo, the earl of leicester and lord laskey invited themselves to dine with dee in a day or two; but our astrologer "confessed sincerely that he was not able to prepare them a convenient dinner, unless he should presently sell some of his plate or some of his pewter for it. whereupon," continues dee, "her majesty sent unto me very royally within one hour after forty angels of gold, from sion; whither her majesty was now come by water from greenwich." a little before christmas, , dee mentions a promise of another royal donation of _l._--"which intent and promise, some once or twice after, as he came in her majesty's sight, she repeated unto him; and thereupon sent unto him _fifty pounds_ to keep his christmas with that year--but what, says he, is become of the other fifty, truly i cannot tell! if her majesty can, it is sufficient; '_satis, citò, modò, satis bene_, must i say.'" in , his patroness, the countess of warwick, made a powerful diversion at court to secure for him the mastership of st. cross, then filled by dr. bennet, who was to be made a bishop.--the queen qualified her promise of dee's having it with a nota bene, _if he should be fit for it_. in , the archbishop of canterbury openly "affirmed that the mastership of st. crosse was a living most fit for him; and the lord treasurer, at hampton court, lately to himself declared, and with his hand very earnestly smitten on his breast used these very words to him--'_by my faith_, if her majestie be moved in it by any other for you, i will do what i can with her majestie to pleasure you therein, mr. dee.'" but it is time to gratify the bibliomaniac with something more to his palate. here followeth, therefore, as drawn up by our philosopher himself, an account of dee's library: " _volumes_--printed and unprinted--bound and unbound--valued at _lib._ greek, french, and high dutch, volumes of mss., alone worth _lib._ years in getting these books together." appertaining thereto, _sundry rare and exquisitely made mathematical instruments._ _a radius astronomicus_, ten feet long. _a magnet stone, or loadstone_; of great virtue--"which was sold out of the library for _v shill._ and for it afterwards (yea piece-meal divided) was more than xx _lib._ given in money and value." "_a great case or frame of boxes_, wherein some hundreds of very rare evidences of divers irelandish territories, provinces, and lands, were laid up. which territories, provinces, and lands were therein notified to have been in the hands of some of the ancient irish princes. then, their submissions and tributes agreed upon, with seals appendant to the little writings thereof in parchment: and after by some of those evidences did it appear how some of those lands came to the lascies, the mortuomars, the burghs, the clares," &c. "_a box of evidences_ antient of some welch princes and noblemen--the like of norman donation--their peculiar titles noted on the forepart with chalk only, which on the poor boxes remaineth." this box, with another, containing similar deeds, were embezzled. "one great bladder with about pound weight, of a very sweetish thing, like a brownish gum in it, artificially prepared by thirty times purifying of it, hath more than i could well afford him for crownes; as may be proved by witnesses yet living." to these he adds his _three laboratories_, "serving for pyrotechnia"--which he got together after years' labour. "all which furniture and provision, and many things already prepared, is unduly made away from me by sundry meanes, and a few spoiled or broken vessels remain, hardly worth shillings." but one more feature in poor dee's character--and that is his unparalleled serenity and good nature under the most griping misfortunes--remains to be described: and then we may take farewell of him, with aching hearts. in the th chapter, speaking of the wretched poverty of himself and family--("having not one penny of certain fee, revenue, stipend, or pension, either left him or restored unto him,")--dee says that "he has been constrained now and then to send parcels of his little furniture of plate to pawn upon usury; and that he did so oft, till no more could be sent. after the same manner went his wives' jewels of gold, rings, bracelets, chains, and other their rarities, under the thraldom of the usurer's gripes: 'till _non plus_ was written upon the boxes at home." in the th chapter, he anticipates the dreadful lot of being brought "to the stepping out of doors (his house being sold). he, and his, with bottles and wallets furnished, to become wanderers as homish vagabonds; or, as banished men, to forsake the kingdom!" again: "with bloody tears of heart, he, and his wife, their seven children, and their servant (seventeen of them in all), did that day make their petition unto their honours," &c. can human misery be sharper than this--and to be the lot of a philosopher and bibliomaniac?! but "veniet felicius Ævum."] of a wholly different cast of character and of reading was the renowned captain cox of coventry. how many of dee's magical books he had exchanged for the pleasanter magic of _old ballads_ and _romances_, i will not take upon me to say; but that this said bibliomaniacal captain had a library, which, even from master laneham's imperfect description of it,[ ] i should have preferred to the four thousand volumes of dr. john dee, is most nuquestionable [transcriber's note: unquestionable]. [footnote : let us be introduced to the sprightly figure and expression of character of this renowned coventry captain, before we speak particularly of his library. "captain cox (says the above-mentioned master laneham) came marching on valiantly before, clean trust and gartered above the knee, all fresh in a velvet cap (master golding a lent it him), flourishing with his _ton_ sword; and another fence master with him:" p. . a little before, he is thus described as connected with his library: "and first, captain cox; an odd man, i promise you: by profession a mason, and that right skilful: very cunning in fens (fencing); and hardy as gawin; for his _ton_ sword hangs at his table's end. great oversight hath he in matters of story: for as for _king arthur's_ book, _huon of bourdeaux_, the _four sons of aymon_, _bevys of hampton_, _the squyre of low degree_, _the knight of curtsy_, and the _lady fagnel_, _frederick of gene_, _syr eglamour_, _syr tryamour_, _syr lamurell_, _syr isenbras_, _syr gawyn_, _olyver of the castl_, _lucres and eurialus_, _virgil's life_, _the castl of ladies_, _the widow edyth_, _the king and the tanner_, _frier rous_, _howleglas_, _gargantua_, _robin hood_, _adam bel_, _clim on the clough_, and _william of cloudsley_, _the churl and the burd_, _the seaven wise masters_, _the wife lapt in a morel's skin_, _the sakful of nuez_, _the sergeaunt that became a fryar_, _skogan_, _collyn cloout_, _the fryar and the boy_, _elynor rumming_, and _the nutbrooun maid_, with many more than i rehearse here. i believe he has them all at his finger's ends," p. . the preceding is a list of the worthy captain's romances; some of which, at least in their original shape, were unknown to ritson: what would be the amount of their present produce under the hammer of those renowned black-letter-book auctioneers in king-street, covent garden--? speak we, in the next place, of the said military bibliomaniac's collection of books in "philosophy moral and natural." "beside _poetry_ and _astronomy_, and other hid sciences, as i may guess by the omberty of his books: whereof part are, as i remember, _the shepherd's kalendar_, _the ship of fools_, _daniel's dreams_, _the book of fortune_, _stans_, _puer ad mensam_, _the bye way to the spitl-house_, _julian of brainford's testament_, _the castle of love_, _the booget of demaunds_, _the hundred mery talez_, _the book of riddels_, _the seaven sorows of wemen_, _the proud wives' pater-noster_, _the chapman of a penniworth of wit_: beside his auncient plays; _youth and charitee_, _hikskorner_, _nugize_, _impacient poverty_, and herewith doctor _boord's breviary of health_. what should i rehearse here, what a bunch of ballads and songs, all ancient?!--here they come, gentle reader; lift up thine eyen and marvel while thou dost peruse the same: _broom broom on hill_, _so wo iz me begon_, _trolly lo over a whinny meg_, _hey ding a ding_, _bony lass upon a green_, _my bony on gave me a bek_, _by a bank az i lay_; and _two more_ he hath fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whipcord!" it is no wonder that ritson, in the historical essay prefixed to his collection of _scottish songs_, should speak of some of these ballads with a zest as if he would have sacrificed half his library to untie the said "whipcord" packet. and equally joyous, i ween, would my friend mr. r.h. evans, of pall-mall, have been--during his editorial labours in publishing a new edition of his father's collection of ballads--(an edition, by the bye, which gives us more of the genuine spirit of the coxean collection than any with which i am acquainted)--equally joyous would mr. evans have been to have had the inspection of some of these 'bonny' songs. the late duke of roxburgh, of never-dying bibliomaniacal celebrity, would have parted with half the insignia of his order of the garter to have obtained _clean original copies_ of these fascinating effusions! but let us return, and take farewell of captain cox, by noticing only the remaining department of his library, as described by laneham. "as for almanacs of antiquity (a point for ephemerides) i ween he can shew from _jasper laet of antwerp_, unto _nostradam of frauns_, and thence unto our _john securiz of salisbury_. to stay ye no longer herein (concludes laneham) i dare say he hath as fair a library of these sciences, and as many goodly monuments both in prose and poetry, and at afternoon can talk as much without book, as any innholder betwixt brentford and bagshot, what degree soever he be." _a letter wherein part of the entertainment untoo the queenz majesty at killingwoorth castl in warwick-sheer, in this soomerz progrest, , is signefied_: warwick, , vo. o rare captain cox!] we now approach two characters of a more dignified cast; and who, in every respect, must be denominated the greatest bibliomaniacs of the age: i mean sir robert cotton and sir thomas bodley. we will touch upon them separately. the numerous relics which are yet preserved of the _cottonian collection_, may serve to convey a pretty strong idea of its splendour and perfection in its original shape. cotton had all the sagacity and judgment of lord coke, with a more beautifully polished mind, and a more benevolent heart. as to books, and book men, he was the mecænas[ ] of his day. his thirst for knowledge could never be satiated; and the cultivation of the mind upon the foundation of a good heart, he considered to be the highest distinction, and the most permanent delight, of human beings. wealth, pomp, parade, and titles, were dissipated, in the pure atmosphere of his mind before the invigorating sun of science and learning. he knew that the tomb which recorded the _worth_ of the deceased had more honest tears shed upon it than the pompous mausoleum which spoke only of his pedigree and possessions. accordingly, although he had excellent blood flowing in his veins, cotton sought connection with the good rather than with the great; and where he found a cultivated understanding, and an honest heart, there he carried with him his _lares_, and made another's abode his own. [footnote : there are few eminent characters of whom so many, and such ably-executed, memoirs are extant as of sir robert cotton, knt. in the present place we have nothing to do with his academical studies, his philosophical, or legislative, or diplomatic, labours: literature and _book madness_ are our only subjects of discussion. yet those who may wish for more general, and possibly more interesting, details, may examine the authorities referred to by mr. planta in his very excellent _catalogue of the mss. in the cottonian library_, , folio. sir robert cotton was educated at trinity-college, cambridge. the number of curious volumes, whether in the roman, gothic, or italic type, which he in all probability collected during his residence at the university, has not yet been ascertained; but we know that, when he made his antiquarian tour with the famous camden, ("par nobile fratrum!") in his th year, cotton must have greatly augmented his literary treasures, and returned to the metropolis with a sharpened appetite, to devour every thing in the shape of a book. respected by three sovereigns, elizabeth, james, and charles, and admired by all the literati in europe, sir robert saw himself in as eminent a situation as wealth, talents, taste, and integrity can place an individual. his collection of books increased rapidly; but ms. records, deeds, and charters, were the chief objects of his pursuit. his mansion was noble, his library extensive, and his own manners such as conciliated the esteem of almost every one who approached him. dr. smith has well described our illustrious bibliomaniac, at this golden period of his life: "ad cottoni ædes, tanquam ad communem reconditioris doctrinæ apothecam, sive ad novam academiam, quotquot animo paulo erectiori musis et gratiis litaverint, sese recepere, nullam a viro humanissimo repulsam passuri: quippe idem literas bonas promovendi studium erat omni auctoramento longe potentius. nec ista obvia morum facilitas, qua omnes bonos eruditionisque candidatos complexus est, quicquam reverentiæ qua vicissim ille colebatur, detraxerat: potius, omnium, quos familiari sermone, repititisque colloquiis dignari placuit, in se amores et admirationem hac insigni naturæ benignitate excitavit." vit. rob. cottoni, p. xxiv., prefixed to the _catalogus librorum manuscriptorum bibl. cott._, , folio. sir robert was, however, doomed to have the evening of his life clouded by one of those crooked and disastrous events, of which it is now impossible to trace the correct cause, or affix the degree of ignominy attached to it, on the head of its proper author. human nature has few blacker instances of turpitude on record than that to which our knight fell a victim. in the year , some wretch communicated to the spanish ambassador "the valuable state papers in his library, who caused them to be copied and translated into the spanish:" these papers were of too much importance to be made public; and james the st had the meanness to issue a commission "which excluded sir robert from his own library." the storm quickly blew over, and the sunshine of cotton's integrity diffused around its wonted brilliancy. but in the year , another mischievous wretch propagated a report that sir robert had been privy to a treasonable publication: because, forsooth, the original tract, from which this treasonable one had been taken, was, in the year , without the knowledge of the owner of the library, introduced into the cottonian collection. this wretch, under the abused title of librarian, had, "for pecuniary considerations," the baseness to suffer one or more copies of the pamphlet of (writtten [transcriber's note: written] at florence by dudley, duke of northumberland, under a less offensive title) to be taken, and in consequence printed. sir robert was therefore again singled out for royal vengeance: his library was put under sequestration; and the owner forbidden to enter it. it was in vain that his complete innocence was vindicated. to deprive such a man as cotton of the ocular and manual comforts of his library--to suppose that he could be happy in the most splendid drawing room in europe, without his books--is to suppose what our experience of virtuous bibliomaniacs will not permit us to accede to. in consequence, sir robert declared to his friends, "that they had broken his heart who had locked up his library from him:" which declaration he solemnly repeated to the privy council. in the year , this great and good man closed his eyes for ever upon mortal scenes; upon those whom he gladdened by his benevolence, and improved by his wisdom. such was the man, of whom gale has thus eloquently spoken:--"quisquis bona fide historiam nostram per omne ævum explicare sataget, nullum laudatum scriptorem à se desiderari exoptarique posse, quem cottonianus ille incomparabilis thesaurus promptissime non exhibebit: ea est, et semper fuit, nobilis domus ergo literatos indulgentia--hujus fores (ut illæ musaram, apud pindarum) omnibus patent. testes apello theologos, antiquarios, jurisconsultos, bibliopolas; qui quidem omnes, ex cottoniana bibliotheca, tanquam ex perenni, sed et communi fonte, sine impensis et molestiâ, abundè hauserunt." _rer. anglic. script. vet._, vol. i., præf., p. . the loss of such a character--the deprivation of such a patron--made the whole society of book-collectors tremble and turn pale. men began to look sharply into their libraries, and to cast a distrustful eye upon those who came to consult and to copy: for the spirit of cotton, like the ghost of hamlet's father, was seen to walk, before cock-crow, along the galleries and balconies of great collections, and to bid the owners of them "remember and beware"!--but to return. the library of this distinguished bibliomaniac continued under sequestration some time after his death, and was preserved entire, with difficulty, during the shock of the civil wars. in the year , it was removed to essex house, in essex-street, strand, where it continued till the year , when it was conveyed back to westminster, and deposited in little dean's yard. in october, , broke out that dreadful fire, which hearne (_benedict. abbat._, vol. i., præf. p. xvi.) so pathetically deplores; and in which the nation so generally sympathized--as it destroyed and mutilated many precious volumes of this collection. out of volumes, were destroyed, and damaged. in the year the library, to the honour of the age, and as the only atonement which could be made to the injured name of cotton, as well as to the effectual _laying_ of his perturbed spirit--was purchased by parliament, and transported within the quiet and congenial abode of the british museum: and here may it rest, unabused, for revolving ages! the collection now contains , articles. consult mr. planta's neatly written preface to the catalogue of the same; vide p. , , ante. and thus take we leave of the ever-memorable bibliomaniac, sir robert cotton, knt.] equally celebrated for literary zeal, and yet more for bibliomaniacal enthusiasm, was the famous sir thomas bodley; whose account of himself, in _prince's worthies of devon_, and particularly in one of _hearne's publications_,[ ] can never be read without transport by an affectionate son of our oxford _alma mater_. view this illustrious bibliomaniac, with his gentleman-like air, and expressive countenance, superintending, with the zeal of a custom-house officer, the shipping, or rather _barging_, of his books for the grand library which is now called by his own name! think upon his activity in writing to almost every distinguished character of the realm: soliciting, urging, arguing, entreating for their support towards his magnificent establishment; and, moreover, superintending the erection of the building, as well as examining the timbers, with the nicety of a master-carpenter!--think of this; and when you walk under the grave and appropriately-ornamented roof, which tells you that you are within the precincts of the bodleian library, pay obeisance to the portrait of the founder, and hold converse with his gentle spirit that dwells therein! [footnote : there are few subjects--to the bibliomaniac in general--and particularly to one, who, like the author of this work, numbers himself among the dutiful sons of the fair oxonian mother--that can afford a higher gratification than the history of the bodleian library, which, like virgil's description of fame, "soon grew from pigmy to gigantic size." the reader is therefore here informed, as a necessary preliminary piece of intelligence, that the present note will be more monstrous than any preceding one of a similar nature. let him, however, take courage, and only venture to dip his feet in the margin of the lake, and i make little doubt but that he will joyfully plunge in, and swim across it. of the parentage, birth, and education of bodley there seems to be no necessity for entering into the detail. the monument which he has erected to his memory is lofty enough for every eye to behold; and thereupon may be read the things most deserving of being known. how long the subject of his beloved library had occupied his attention it is perhaps of equal difficulty and unimportance to know; but his determination to carry this noble plan into effect is thus pleasingly communicated to us by his own pen: "when i had, i say, in this manner, represented to my thoughts, my peculiar estate, i resolved thereupon to possess my soul in peace all the residue of my days; to take my full farewell of state employments; to satisfy my mind with that mediocrity of worldly living that i have of my own, and so to retire me from the court; which was the epilogue and end of all my actions and endeavours, of any important note, till i came to the age of fifty-three years."--"examining exactly, for the rest of my life, what course i might take; and, having, as i thought, sought all the ways to the wood, i concluded, at the last, to set up my staff at the library door in oxon, being thoroughly persuaded, in my solitude and surcease from the commonwealth affairs, i could not busy myself to better purpose than by reducing that place (which then in every part lay ruinated and waste) to the public use of students." prince's _worthies of devon_, p. , edit. . such being the reflections and determination of sir thomas bodley, he thus ventured to lay open his mind to the heads of the university of oxford: "_to the vice-chancellor (dr. ravis) of oxon; about restoring the public library._ (this letter was published in a convocation holden march , ) sir, although you know me not, as i suppose, yet for the farthering an offer, of evident utility, to your whole university, i will not be too scrupulous in craving your assistance. i have been always of a mind that, if god, of his goodness, should make me able to do any thing, for the benefit of posterity, i would shew some token of affection, that i have ever more borne, to the studies of good learning. i know my portion is too slender to perform, for the present, any answerable act to my willing disposition: but yet, to notify some part of my desire in that behalf, i have resolved thus to deal. where there hath been heretofore a public library in oxford, which, you know, is apparent by the room itself remaining, and by your statute records, i will take the charge and cost upon me to reduce it again to his former use: and to make it fit and handsome, with seats, and shelves, and desks, and all that may be needfull, to stir up other men's benevolence, to help to furnish it with books. and this i purpose to begin, as soon as timber can be gotten, to the intent that you may reap some speedy profit of my project. and where before, as i conceive, it was to be reputed but a store of books of divers benefactors, because it never had any lasting allowance, for augmentation of the number, or supply of books decayed: whereby it came to pass that, when those that were in being were either wasted or embezelled, the whole foundation came to ruin:--to meet with that inconvenience, i will so provide hereafter (if god do not hinder my present design) as you shall be still assured of a standing annual rent, to be disbursed every year in buying of books, in officers' stipends, and other pertinent occasions, with which provision, and some order for the preservation of the place, and of the furniture of it, from accustomed abuses, it may, perhaps, in time to come, prove a notable treasure for the multitude of volumes; an excellent benefit for the use and ease of students; and a singular ornament in the university. i am, therefore, to intreat you, because i will do nothing without their public approbation, to deliver this, that i have signified, in that good sort, that you think meet: and when you please to let me know their acceptation of my offer, i will be ready to effect it with all convenient expedition. but, for the better effecting of it, i do desire to be informed whether the university be sufficiently qualified, by licence of mortmain, or other assurance, to receive a farther grant of any rent or annuity than they do presently enjoy. and, if any instruments be extant of the ancient donations to their former library, i would, with their good liking, see a transcript of them: and likewise of such statutes as were devised by the founders, or afterwards by others for the usage of the books. which is now as much as i can think on, whereunto, at your good leisure, i would request your friendly answer. and, if it lie in my ability to deserve your pains in that behalf, although we be not yet acquainted, you shall find me very forward. from london, feb. , . your affectionate friend, tho. bodley." in the easter following, "mr. bodley came to oxford to view the place on which he intended his bounty, and making them a model of the design with the help of mr. saville, warden of merton college, ordered that the room, or place of stowage, for books, should be new planked, and that benches and repositories fo [transcriber's note: for] books should be set up." wood's _annals of the university_, vol. ii., pt. ii., p. . the worthy founder then pursued his epistolary intercourse with the vice-chancellor: "_to mr. vice chancellor._ sir, i find myself greatly beholden unto you for the speed that you have used in proposing my offer to the whole university, which i also hear by divers friends was greatly graced in their meeting with your courteous kind speeches. and though their answer of acceptance were over thankful and respective; yet i take it unto me for a singular comfort, that it came for that affection, whose thanks in that behalf i do esteem a great deal more than they have reason to esteem a far better offer. in which respect i have returned my dutiful acknowledgement, which i beseech you to present, when you shall call a convocation, about some matter of greater moment. because their letter was in _latin_, methought it did enforce me not to show myself a truant, by attempting the like, with a pen out of practice: which yet i hope they will excuse with a kind construction of my meaning. and to the intent they may perceive that my good will is as forward to perform as to promise, and that i purpose to shew it to their best contentation, i do hold it very requisite that some few should be deputed by the rest of the house to consider, for the whole, of the fittest kind of facture of desks, and other furniture; and when i shall come to oxford, which i determine, god willing, some time before easter, i will then acquaint the self same parties with some notes of a platform, which i and mr. savile have conceived here between us: so that, meeting altogether, we shall soon resolve upon the best, as well for shew, and stately form, as for capacity and strength, and commodity of students. of this my motion i would pray you to take some notice in particular, for that my letter herewith to your public assembly doth refer itself in part to your delivery of my mind. my chiefest care is now, the while, how to season my timber as soon as possible. for that which i am offered by the special favour of merton college, although it were felled a great while since, yet of force it will require, after time it is sawed, a convenient seasoning; least by making too much haste, if the shelves and seats should chance to warp, it might prove to be an eye sore, and cost in a manner cast away. to gain some time in that regard, i have already taken order for setting sawyers a-work, and for procuring besides all other materials; wherein my diligence and speed shall bear me witness of my willingness to accomplish all that i pretend, to every man's good liking. and thus i leave and commend you to god's good tuition. from london, march , -- your assured to use in all your occasions, tho. bodley." neither this nor the preceding letter are published in mr. gutch's valuable edition of wood's original text: but are to be found, as well as every other information here subjoined, in hearne's edition of _joh. confrat. &c., de reb. glaston._, vol. ii., pp. to . we will next peruse the curious list of the first benefactors to the bodleian library. _my lord of essex_: about volumes: greater part in folio. _my lord chamberlain_: volumes, all in a manner new bound, with his arms, and a great part in folio. _the lord montacute_: costly great volumes, in folio; all bought of set purpose, and fairly bound with his arms. _the lord lumley_: volumes in folio. _sir robert sidney_: new volumes in folio, to the value of one hundred pounds, being all very fair, and especially well bound with his arms. _merton college_: volumes of singular good books in folio, &c. _mr. philip scudamor_: volumes: greatest part in folio. _mr. william gent_: volumes at the least. _mr. lawrence bodley_: very fair and new bought books in folio. (there were seven other donations--in money, from to _l._) another list of benefactors; read in convocation, july , . _sir john fortescue, knt._: volumes: of which there are greek mss. of singular worth. _mr. jo. crooke_: recorder of the city of london: good volumes; of which are in folio. _mr. henry savile_: all the greek interpreters upon aust(in). _mr. william gent, of glocester hall_: volumes; of which there are in folio. _mr. thomas allen, of do._, hath given rare mss., with a purpose to do more, and hath been ever a most careful provoker and solicitor of sundry great persons to become benefactors. _mr. william camden_, by his office _clarentius_: volumes; of which are manuscripts. _mr. thomas james, of new college_: volumes: almost all in folio, and sundry good manuscripts. with about other donations, chiefly in money. to dr. raves, vice-chanc. (read in convoc. may , .) a yet larger, and more complete, list will be found in mr. gutch's publication of wood's text. let us next observe how this distinguished bibliomaniac seized every opportunity--laying embargoes upon barges and carriages--for the conveyance of his book-treasures. the ensuing is also in mr. gutch's work: "_to the right w. mr. d. king, dean of christ-church, and vice-chancellor of the university of oxon, or, in his absence, to his deputies there._ (read in convocation, july , .) sir, i have sent down, by a western barge, all the books that i have of this year's collection, which i have requested mr. james, and other of my friends, to see safely brought from burcote, and placed in the library. sir francis vere hath sent me this year his accustomed annual gift of ten pounds. the lady mary vere, wife to sir horace vere, in the time of her widowhood (for so she is desired it should be recorded), being called mrs. hoby, of hales, in gloucestershire, hath given twenty pound. (he then enumerates about other donations, and thus goes on:) thus i thought meet to observe my yearly custom, in acquainting the university with the increase of their store: as my care shall be next, and that very shortly, to endow them with that portion of revenue and land that i have provided, whensoever god shall call me, for the full defraying of any charge that, by present likelihood, the conservation of the books, and all needful allowances to the keeper and others, may from time to time require. i will send you, moreover, a draught of certain statutes, which i have rudely conceived about the employment of that revenue, and for the government of the library: not with any meaning that they should be received, as orders made by me (for it shall appear unto you otherwise) but as notes and remembrances to abler persons, whom hereafter you may nominate (as i will also then request you) to consider of those affairs, and so frame a substantial form of government, sith that which is a foot is in many thinges defective for preservation of the library: for i hold it altogether fitting that the university convocation should be always possessed of an absolute power to devise any statutes, and of those to alter as they list, when they find an occasion of evident utility. but of these and other points, when i send you my project, i will both write more of purpose, and impart unto you freely my best cogitations, being evermore desirous, whatsoever may concern your public good, to procure and advance it so, to the uttermost of my power: as now in the meanwhile, reminding unto you my fervent affection, i rest for any service, your most assured, at commandment, tho. bodleie. london, june , ." in a letter to his "dearest friends, doctor kinge, vice-chancellor, the doctors, proctors, and the rest of the convocation house in oxon," ( th june, ) after telling them how he had secured certain landed property for the payment of the salaries and other expenses attendant upon the library, sir thomas thus draws to a conclusion: "now because i presuppose that you take little pleasure in a tedious letter, having somewhat besides to impart unto you, i have made it known by word to mr. vicechancellor, who, i know, will not fail to acquaint you with it: as withall i have intreated him to supply, in my behalf, all my negligent omissions, and defective form of thanks, for all your public honours, entertainments, letters, gifts, and other graces conferred upon me, which have so far exceeded the compass of my merits that, where before i did imagine that nothing could augment my zealous inclination to your general good, now methinks i do feel it (as i did a great while since) was very highly augmented: insomuch as i cannot but shrive myself thus freely and soothly unto you. that, albeit, among a number of natural imperfections, i have least of all offended in the humour of ambition, yet now so it is, that i do somewhat repent me of my too much niceness that way: not as carried with an appetite to rake more riches to myself (wherein, god is my witness, my content is complete) but only in respect of my greedy desire to make a livelier demonstration of the same that i bear to my common mother, than i have hitherto attained sufficient ability to put in execution. with which unfeigned testification of my devotion unto you, and with my daily fervent prayers for the endless prosperity of your joint endeavours, in that whole institution of your public library, i will close up this letter, and rest, as i shall ever, yours, in all loving and dutiful affection, thomas bodley. london, may , ." the following, which is also in mr. gutch's publication, shews the laudable restlessness, and insatiable ambition, of our venerable bibliomaniac, in ransacking foreign libraries for the completion of his own. "_to the right worshipfull mr. d. singleton, vicechancellor of the university of oxon._ (read in convocation, nov. , .) sir, about some three years past, i made a motion, here in london, to mr. pindar, consul of the company of english merchants at aleppo (a famous port in the turk's dominions) that he would use his best means to procure me some books in the syriac, arabic, turkish, and persian tongues, or in any other language of those eastern nations: because i make no doubt but, in process of time, by the extraordinary diligence of some one or other student, they may be readily understood, and some special use made of their kind of learning in those parts of the world: and where i had a purpose to reimburse all the charge that might grow thereupon, he sent of late unto me several volumes in the foresaid tongues, and of his liberal disposition hath bestowed them freely on the library. they are manuscripts all (for in those countries they have no kind of printing) and were valued in that place at a very high rate. i will send them, ere be long, praying you the while to notify so much unto the university, and to move them to write a letter of thanks, which i will find means to convey to his hands, being lately departed from london to constantinople. whether the letter be indited in latin or english, it is not much material, but yet, in my conceit, it will do best to him in english." (the remainder of this letter is devoted to a scheme of building the public schools at oxford; in which sir thomas found a most able and cheerful coadjutor, in one, _sir jo. benet_; who seems to have had an extensive and powerful connection, and who set the scheme on foot, "like a true affected son to his ancient mother, with a cheerful propension to take the charge upon him without groaning.") in april , queen elizabeth granted sir thomas "a passport of safe conveyance to denmark"; and wrote a letter to the king of denmark of the same date, within two days. she wrote, also, a letter to julius, duke of brunswick of the same date: in which the evils that were then besetting the christian world abroad were said to be rushing suddenly, as "from the trojan horse." "these three letters (observes mr. baker to his friend hearne) are only copies, but very fairly wrote, and seem to have been duplicates kept by him that drew the original letters." we will peruse but two more of these bodleian epistles, which hearne very properly adds as an amusing appendix, as well to the foregoing, as to his _reliquiæ bodleianæ_ ( , vo). they are written to men whose names must ever be held in high veneration by all worthy bibliomanacs. "_sir tho. bodley to sir robert cotton._ (_ex. bibl. cotton._) sir, i was thrice to have seen you at your house, but had not the hap to find you at home. it was only to know how you hold your old intention for helping to furnish the university library: where i purpose, god willing, to place all the books that i have hitherto gathered, within these three weeks. and whatsoever any man shall confer for the storing of it, such order is taken for a due memorial of his gift as i am persuaded he cannot any way receive a greater contentment of any thing to the value otherwise bestowed. thus much i thought to signify unto you: and to request you to hear how you rest affected. yours, to use in any occasion, tho. bodley. from my house, june ." "_sir henry savile to sir r(obert) c(otton)._ sir, i have made mr. bodley acquainted with your kind and friendly offer, who accepteth of it in most thankful manner: and if it pleaseth you to appoint to-morrow at afternoon, or upon monday or tuesday next, at some hour likewise after dinner, we will not fail to be with you at your house for that purpose. and remember i give you fair warning that if you hold any book so dear as that you would be loth to have him out of your sight, set him aside before hand. for my own part, i will not do that wrong to my judgment as to chuse of the worst, if better be in place: and, beside, you would account me a simple man. but to leave jesting, we will any of the days come to you, leaving, as great reason is, your own in your own power freely to retain or dispose. true it is that i have raised some expectation of the quality of your gift in mr. bodley, whom you shall find a gentleman in all respects worthy of your acquaintance. and so, with my best commendations, i commit you to god. this st. peter's day. your very assured friend, henry savile." it only remains now to indulge the dutiful sons of alma mater with a fac-simile wood-cut impression of the profile of the venerable founder of the bodleian library, taken from a print of a medal in the _catalogi librorum manuscriptorum angliæ, &c._, , fol.; but whether it have any resemblance to the bust of him, "carved to the life by an excellent hand at london, and shortly after placed in a niche in the south wall of the same library," with the subjoined inscription, i cannot at this moment recollect. [illustration: thomas sackvillus dorset, comes, summus angliÆ thesaurar. et hujus acad. cancellar. thomÆ bodleio equiti aurato qui bibliothecam hanc instituit honoris causa p.p.] the library of sir thomas bodley, when completed, formed the figure of a t: it was afterwards resolved, on the books accumulating, and the benefactions increasing, to finish it in the form of an h; in which state it now remains. sir kenelm digby, like a thorough bred bibliomaniac, "gave fifty very good oaks, to purchase a piece of ground of exeter college, laying on the north west side of the library; on which, and their own ground adjoining, they might erect the future fabric." the laying of the foundation of this erection is thus described by wood; concluding with a catastrophe, at which i sadly fear the wicked reader will smile. "on the thirteenth of may, being tuesday, , the vice-chancellor, doctors, heads of houses, and proctors, met at st. mary's church about of the clock in the morning; thence each, having his respective formalities on came to this place, and took their seats that were then erected on the brim of the foundation. over against them was built a scaffold, where the two proctors, with divers masters, stood. after they were all settled, the university musicians, who stood upon the leads at the west end of the library, sounded a lesson on their wind music. which being done, the singing men of christ-church, with others, sang a lesson, after which the senior proctor, mr. herbert pelham, of magdalen college, made an eloquent oration: that being ended also, the music sounded again, and continued playing till the vice-chancellor went to the bottom of the foundation to lay the first stone in one of the south angles. but no sooner had he deposited a piece of gold on the said stone, according to the usual manner in such ceremonies, but the earth fell in from one side of the foundation, and the scaffold that was thereon broke and fell with it; so that all those that were thereon, to the number of a hundred at least, namely, the proctors, principals of halls, masters, and some bachelaurs, fell down all together, one upon another, into the foundation; among whom, the under butler of exeter college had his shoulder broken or put out of joint, and a scholar's arm bruised." "the solemnity being thus concluded with such a sad catastrophe, the breach was soon after made up and the work going chearfully forward, was in four years space finished." _annals of the university of oxford_; vol. ii., pt. ii., p. . gutch's edition. we will take leave of sir thomas bodley, and of his noble institution, with the subjoined representation of the university's arms--as painted upon the ceiling of the library, in innumerable compartments; hoping that the period is not very remote when a _history of the bodleian library_, more ample and complete than any thing which has preceded it, will appear prefixed to a _catalogue of the books_, like unto that which is hinted at p. , ante, as "an urgent desideratum." [illustration: dominvs illvminatio mea]] lis. alas, you bring to my mind those precious hours that are gone by, never to be recalled, which i wasted within this glorious palace of bodley's erection! how i sauntered, and gazed, and sauntered again.-- phil. your case is by no means singular. but you promise, when you revisit the library, not to behave so naughtily again? lis. i was not then a convert to the bibliomania! now, i will certainly devote the leisure of six autumnal weeks to examine minutely some of the precious tomes which are contained in it. lysand. very good. and pray favour us with the result of your profound researches: as one would like to have the most minute account of the treasures contained within those hitherto unnumbered volumes. phil. as every sweet in this world is balanced by its bitter, i wonder that these worthy characters were not lampooned by some sharp-set scribbler--whose only chance of getting perusers for his work, and thereby bread for his larder, was by the novelty and impudence of his attacks. any thing new and preposterous is sure of drawing attention. affirm that you see a man standing upon one leg, on the pinnacle of saint paul's[ ]--or that the ghost of inigo jones had appeared to you, to give you the extraordinary information that sir christopher wren had stolen the whole of the plan of that cathedral from a design of his own--and do you not think that you would have spectators and auditors enough around you? [footnote : this is now oftentimes practised by some wag, in his "_walke in powles_." whether the same anecdote is recorded in the little slim pamphlet published in , to., under the same title--not having the work--(and indeed how should i? vide _bibl. reed_, no. , _cum pretiis_!) i cannot take upon me to determine.] lis. yes, verily: and i warrant some half-starved scrivener of the elizabethan period drew his envenomed dart to endeavour to perforate the cuticle of some worthy bibliomaniacal wight. lysand. you may indulge what conjectures you please; but i know of no anti-bibliomaniacal satirist of this period. stubbes did what he could, in his "_anatomy of abuses_,"[ ] to disturb every social and harmless amusement of the age. he was the forerunner of that snarling satirist, prynne; but i ought not thus to cuff him, for fear of bringing upon me the united indignation of a host of black-letter critics and philologists. a _large and clean_ copy of his sorrily printed work is among the choicest treasures of a shakspearian virtuoso. [footnote : "the anatomie of abuses: _contayning a discoverie, or briefe summarie of such notable vices and imperfections as now raigne in many christian countreyes of the worlde: but (especiallie) in a very famous ilande called ailgna_:" &c. printed by richard jones, , small vo. vide herbert's _typographical antiquities_, vol. iii., p. , for the whole title. sir john hawkins, in his _history of music_, vol iii., , calls this "a curious and very scarce book;" and so does my friend, mr. utterson; who revels in his morocco-coated copy of it--"_exemplar olim farmerianum!_" but let us be candid; and not sacrifice our better judgments to our book-passions. after all, stubbes's work is a caricatured drawing. it has strong passages, and a few original thoughts; and, is moreover, one of the very few works printed in days of yore which have running titles to the subjects discussed in them. these may be recommendations with the bibliomaniac; but he should be informed that this volume contains a great deal of puritanical cant, and licentious language; that vices are magnified in it in order to be lashed, and virtues diminished that they might not be noticed. stubbes equals prynne in his anathemas against "plays and interludes:" and in his chapters upon "dress" and "dancing" he rakes together every coarse and pungent phrase in order to describe "these horrible sins" with due severity. he is sometimes so indecent that, for the credit of the age, and of a virgin reign, we must hope that every virtuous dame threw the copy of his book, which came into her possession, behind the fire. this may reasonably account for its present rarity. i do not discover it in the catalogues of the libraries of _pearson_, _steevens_, or _brand_; but see _bibl. wright_, no. .] but admitting even that stubbes had drawn his arrow to the head, and grazed the skin of such men as bodley and cotton, the wound inflicted by this weapon must have been speedily closed and healed by the balsamic medicine administered by andrew maunsell, in his _catalogue of english printed books_.[ ] this little thin folio volume afforded a delicious treat to all honest bibliomaniacs. it revived the drooping spirits of the despondent; and, like the syrup of the renowned dr. brodum, circulated within the system, and put all the generous juices in action. the niggardly collector felt the influence of rivalship; he played a deeper stake at book-gambling; and hastened, by his painfully acquired knowledge of what was curious and rare in books, to anticipate the rustic collector--which latter, putting the best wheels and horses to his carriage, rushed from the country to the metropolis, to seize, at maunsell's shop, a choice copy of _cranmer's bible, or morley's canzonets_.[ ] [footnote : this catalogue, the first publication of the kind ever put forth in this country, is complete in two parts; , folio: first part containing pages, exclusive of three preliminary epistles: the second, pages; exclusive of three similar introductory pieces. the _first part_ is devoted entirely to divinity: and in the dedicatory epistle to queen elizabeth, maunsell tells her majesty that he thought it "worth his poor labour to collect a catalogue of the divine books, so mightily increased in her reign; whereby her majesty's most faithful and loving subjects may be put in remembrance of the works of so excellent authors," &c. the second part is devoted to a brief account of books in the remaining branches of literature, arts, sciences, &c. maunsell promised to follow it up by a _third_ part; but a want of due encouragement seems to have damped the bibliographical ardour of the compiler; for this third part never appeared: a circumstance which, in common with the late mr. steevens, all bibliomaniacs may "much lament." see the _athenæum_, vol i., ; also herbert's _typographical antiquities_, vol ii., p. . a copy of this volume has found its way into the advocates' library at edinburgh; _cat. adv. libr._, vol ii., p. . ruddiman, who was formerly the librarian of this latter valuable collection, had probably read hearne's commendation of it:--namely, that it was "a very scarce, and yet a very useful, book." _bened. abbat._, vol. i., p. liv. mr. heber possesses a curious copy of it, which was formerly herbert's, with the margins filled with his ms. addenda.] [footnote : "of the translation appointed to bee read in churches, in kinge henry the , his daies," printed in the largest volume, . "tho. morley, bachiler of musique, and one of her maiestie's royal chappell, _his conzonets_, or little short songes to three voyces. prin. by tho. est. . to." see p. ., pt. i., p. , pt. ii., of _maunsell's catalogue_; but let the reader consult p. , ante, concerning this "largest volume" of the holy scriptures.] let us, however, not forget that we have reached the reign of james i.; a monarch who, like justinian, affected to be "greatly given to study of books;"[ ] and who, according to burton's testimony, wished he had been chained to one of the shelves of the bodleian library.[ ] of all literary tastes, james had the most strange and sterile. let us leave him to his _demonology_; but notice, with the respect that it merits, the more rational and even elegantly cultivated mind of his son prince henry;[ ] of whose passion for books there are some good evidences upon record. we will next proceed to the mention of a shrewd scholar and bibliomaniac, and ever active voyager, ycleped thomas coryate, the _peregrine of odcombe_. this facetious traveller, who was as quaint and original a writer as old tom fuller, appears (when he had time and opportunity) to have taken special notice of libraries; and when he describes to us his "worm eaten" copy of _josephus's antiquities_,[ ] "written in ancient longobard characters in parchment," one cannot but indulge a natural wish to know something of the present existence of a ms. which had probably escaped oberthür, the last laborious editor of josephus. [footnote : "greatly gyuen to study of bokys:" _rastell's chronicle, or pastyme of people_, p. , edit. , to.] [footnote : the passage is somewhere in burton's _anatomy of mechanoly_. but i cannot just now, put my finger upon it.] [footnote : the works of king james i. (of england) were published in rather a splendid folio volume in the year . amongst these, his _demonology_ is the "opus maximum." of his son prince henry, there is, in this volume, at the top of one of the preliminary pieces, a very pretty half length portrait; when he was quite a boy. a charming whole length portrait of the same accomplished character, when he was a young man, engraved by paas, may be seen in the first folio edition of drayton's _polyolbion_: but this, the reader will tell me, is mere grangerite information. proceed we, therefore, to a pithy, but powerful, demonstration of the bibliomaniacal character of the said prince henry. "in the paper office, there is a book, no. , containing prince henry's privy-purse expences, for one year," &c. the whole expense of one year was _l._ among other charges, the following are remarkable: £ _s._ _d._ th october, paid to a frenchman, that presented _a book_ th october, paid mr. holyoak for writing a _catalogue of the library_ which the prince had of lord lumley &c. &c. &c. _apology for the believers in the shakspeare-papers_, , vo., p. .] [footnote : look, gentle reader, at the entire ungarbled passage--amongst many similar ones which may be adduced--in vol. i., p. , of his "_crudities_"--or travels: edit. , vo. coryat's [transcriber's note: alternative spelling] talents, as a traveller, are briefly, but brilliantly, described in the _quarterly review_, vol. ii., p. .] let me here beseech you to pay due attention to the works of henry peacham, when they come across you. the first edition of that elegantly written volume, "_the compleat gentleman_," was published i believe in the reign of james i., in the year . loren. i possess not only this, but every subsequent copy of it, and a fair number of copies of his other works. he and braithwait were the "par nobile fratrum" of their day. phil. i have often been struck with some curious passages in peacham, relating to the education of youth[ ] in our own country; as i find, from them, that the complaint of _severity of discipline_ still continued, notwithstanding the able work of roger ascham, which had recommended a mild and conciliatory mode of treatment. [footnote : the history of the education of youth in this country might form an amusing little octavo volume. we have _treatises_ and _essays_ enough upon the subject; but a narrative of its first rude efforts, to its present, yet not perfected, form, would be interesting to every parent, and observer of human nature. my present researches only enable me to go back as far as trevisa's time, towards the close of the th century; when i find, from the works of this vicar of berkeley, that "every friar that had _state in school_, such as they were then, had an huge library." _harl. mss._, no. . but what the particular system was, among youth, which thus so highly favoured the bibliomania, i have not been able to ascertain. i suspect, however, that knowledge made but slow advances; or rather that its progress was almost inverted; for, at the end of the subsequent century, our worthy printer, caxton, tells us that he found "but few who could write in their registers the occurrences of the day." _polychronicon; prol. typog. antiquit._, vol. i., . in the same printer's prologue to _catho magnus_ (_id._, vol. i., ) there is a melancholy complaint about the youth of london; who, although, when children, they were "fair, wise, and prettily bespoken--at the full ripening, they had neither kernel nor good corn found in them." this is not saying much for the academic or domestic treatment of young gentlemen, towards the close of the th century. at the opening of the ensuing century, a variety of elementary treatises, relating to the education of youth, were published chiefly under the auspices of dean colet, and composed by a host of learned grammarians, of whom honourable mention has been made at page , ante. these publications are generally adorned with a rude wood-cut; which, if it be copied from truth, affords a sufficiently striking proof of the severity of the ancient discipline: for the master is usually seated in a large arm-chair, with a tremendous rod across his knees; and the scholars are prostrate before him, either on the ground upon bended knees, or sitting upon low benches. nor was this rigid system relaxed in the middle of the same (xvith) century; when roger ascham composed his incomparable treatise, intitled the "_schoolmaster_;" the object of which was to decry the same severity of discipline. this able writer taught his countrymen the value of making the road to knowledge smooth and inviting, by smiles and remunerations, rather than by stripes and other punishments. indeed, such was the stern and draco-like character which schoolmasters of this period conceived themselves authorized to assume that neither rank, nor situation, nor sex, were exempt from the exercise of their tyranny. lady jane grey tells ascham that her former teacher used to give her "pinches, and cuffs, and bobs," &c. the preface to the schoolmaster informs us that two gentlemen, who dined with ascham at cecil's table, were of opinion that nicolas udal, then head master of eaton school, "was the best schoolmaster of their time, and the _greatest beater_!" bishop latimer, in his fourth sermon (edit. , fol. to ), has drawn such a picture of the londoners of this period that the philosopher may imagine that youths, who sprung from such parents, required to be ruled with a rod of iron. but it has been the fashion of all writers, from the age of st. austin downwards, to depreciate the excellences, and magnify the vices, of the times in which they lived. ludovicus vives, who was latimer's contemporary, has attacked both schoolmasters and youths, in an ungracious style; saying of the former that "some taught ovid's books of love to their scholars, and some make expositions and expounded the vices." he also calls upon the young women, in the language of st. jerome, "to avoid, as a mischief or poison of chastity, young men with heads bushed and trimmed; and sweet smelling skins of outlandish mice." _instruction of a christian woman_; edit. , sign. d , rect. &c. i am not aware of any work of importance, relating to the education of youth, which appeared till the publication of the _compleat gentleman_ by henry peacham: an author, who richly deserves all the handsome things above said of him in the text. his chapters "_of the duty of masters_," and "_of the duty of parents_," are valuable upon many accounts: inasmuch as they afford curious anecdotes of the system of academic and domestic education then pursued, and are accompanied with his own sagacious and candid reflections. peacham was an _aschamite_ in respect to lenity of discipline; as the following extracts, from the foregoing work, (edit. ) will unequivocally prove. peacham first observes upon the different modes of education: "but we see on the contrary, out of the master's carterly judgment, like horses in a team, the boys are set to draw all alike, when some one or two prime and able wits in the school, [greek: auto didaktoi] (which he culs out to admiration if strangers come, as a costardmonger his fairest pippins) like fleet hovnds go away with the game, when the rest need helping over a stile a mile behind: hence, being either quite discouraged in themselves, or taken away by their friends (who for the most part measure their learning by the form they set in), they take leave of their books while they live," &c. p. . "some affect, and severer schools enforce, a precise and tedious strictness, in long keeping the schollers by the walls: as from before six in the morning, till twelve or past: so likewise in the afternoon. which, beside the dulling of the wit and dejecting the spirit (for, "otii non minus quam negotii ratio extare debet") breeds in him, afterwards, a kind of hate and carelessness of study when he comes to be "sui juris," at his own liberty (as experience proves by many, who are sent from severe schools unto the universities): withall over-loading his memory, and taking off the edge of his invention, with over heavy tasks, in themes, verses," &c., p. . "nor is it my meaning that i would all masters to be tyed to one method, no more than all the shires of england to come up to london by one highway: there may be many equally alike good. and since method, as one saith, is but [greek: odopoiêtikê], let every master, if he can, by pulling up stiles and hedges, make a more near and private way to himself; and in god's name say, with the divinest of poets, _deserta per avia dulcis raptat amor. juvat ire iugis, quâ nulla priorum_ castaliam _molli divertitur orbita clivo._ (georg. libi. iij.) with sweet love rapt, i now by deserts pass, and over hills where never track of yore: descending easily, yet remembered was, that led the way to castalie before. (peacham.) but instead of many good, they have infinite bad; and go stumbling from the right, as if they went blindfold for a wager. hence cometh the shifting of the scholler from master to master; who, poor boy (like a hound among a company of ignorant hunters hollowing every deer they see), misseth the right, begetteth himself new labour, and at last, by one of skill and well read, beaten for his paines," pp. , . peacham next notices the extreme severity of discipline exercised in some schools. "i knew one, who in winter would ordinarily, in a cold morning, whip his boys over for no other purpose than to get himself a heat: another beats them for swearing, and all the while sweares himself with horrible oaths. he would forgive any fault saving that! i had, i remember, myself (neer st. alban's in hertfordshire, where i was born) a master, who, by no entreaty, would teach any scholler he had farther than his father had learned before him; as if he had only learned but to read english, the son, though he went with him seven years, should go no further: his reason was, they would then prove saucy rogues, and controle their fathers! yet these are they that oftentimes have our hopefull gentry under their charge and tuition, to bring them up in science and civility!" p. . this absurd system is well contrasted with the following account of the lenity observed in some of the schools on the continent: "in germany the school is, and as the name imports, it ought to be, merely, ludus literarius, a very pastime of learning, where it is a rare thing to see a rod stirring: yet i heartily wish that our children of england were but half so ready in writing and speaking latin, which boys of ten and twelve years old will do so roundly, and with so neat a phrase and style, that many of our masters would hardly mend them; having only for their punishment, shame; and for their reward, praise," p. . "wherefore i cannot but commend the custome of their schools in the low-countries, where for the avoyding of this tedious sitting still, and with irksome poring on the book all day long, after the scholler hath received his lecture, he leaveth the school for an houre, and walkes abroad with one or two of his fellows, either into the field or up among the trees upon the rampire, as in antwerp, breda, vtrecht, &c., when they confer and recreate themselves till time calls them in to repeat, where perhaps they stay an hour; so abroad again, and thus at their pleasure the whole day," p. . thus have we pursued the _history of the education of boys_ to a period quite modern enough for the most superficial antiquary to supply the connecting links down to the present times. nor can we conclude this prolix note without observing upon two things which are remarkable enough: first, that in a country like our own--the distinguishing characteristics of whose inhabitants are gravity, reserve, and good sense--lads should conduct themselves with so much rudeness, flippancy, and tyranny towards each other--and secondly, that masters should, in too many instances, exercise a discipline suited rather to a government of despotism and terror than to a land of liberty and social comfort! but all human improvement, and human happiness, is progressive. speramus meliora!] lysand. but you must not believe every thing that is said in favour of _continental_ lenity of discipline, shewn to youth, if the testimony of a modern newspaper may be credited!---- lis. what your newspaper may hold forth i will not pretend to enter into. lysand. nay, here is the paragraph; which i cut out from "_the observer_," and will now read it to you. "a german magazine recently announced the death of a schoolmaster in suabia, who, for years, had superintended a large institution with old fashioned severity. from an average, inferred by means of recorded observations, one of the ushers had calculated that, in the course of his exertions, he had given _ , canings, , floggings, , custodes, , tips with the ruler, , boxes on the ear, and , tasks by heart_. it was further calculated that he had made _ boys stand on peas, kneel on a sharp edge of wood, wear the fool's cap, and , hold the rod_. how vast (exclaims the journalist) the quantity of human misery inflicted by a single perverse educator!" now, my friends, what have you to say against the _english_ system of education? phil. this is only defending bad by worse. lis. where are we digressing? what are become of our bibliomaniacal heroes? lysand. you do right to call me to order. let us turn from the birch, to the book, history. contemporaneous with peacham, lived that very curious collector of ancient popular little pieces, as well as lover of "sacred secret soul soliloquies," the renowned _melancholy_ composer, ycleped robert burton;[ ] who, i do not scruple to number among the most marked bibliomaniacs of the age; notwithstanding his saucy railing against frankfort book-fairs. we have abundance of testimony (exclusive of the fruits of his researches, which appear by his innumerable marginal references to authors of all ages and characters) that this original, amusing, and now popular, author was an arrant book-hunter; or, as old anthony hath it, "a devourer of authors." rouse, the librarian of bodleian, is said to have liberally assisted burton in furnishing him with choice books for the prosecution of his extraordinary work. [footnote : i suppose lysander to allude to a memorandum of hearne, in his _benedictus abbas_, p. iv., respecting robert burton being a collector of "ancient popular little pieces." from this authority we find that he gave "a great variety" of these pieces, with a multitude of books, of the best kind, to the "bodleian library."--one of these was that "opus incomparabile," the "_history of tom thumb_," and the other, the "_pleasant and merry history of the mylner of abingdon_." the expression "sacred secret soul soliloquies" belongs to braithwait: and is thus beautifully interwoven in the following harmonious couplets: ----no minute but affords some tears. no walks but private solitary groves shut from frequent, his contemplation loves; no treatise, nor discourse, so sweetly please as sacred-secret soule soliloquies. _arcadian princesse_, lib. , p. . and see, gentle reader, how the charms of solitude--of "walking alone in some solitary grove, betwixt wood and water, by a brook-side, to meditate upon some delightsome and pleasant subject" are depicted by the truly original pencil of this said robert burton, in his _anatomy of melancholy_, vol. i., p. , edit. . but our theme is bibliomania. take, therefore, concerning the same author, the following: and then hesitate, if thou canst, about his being infected with the book-disease. "what a catalogue of new books all this year, all this age (i say) have our frank-furt marts, our domestic marts, brought out! twice a year, 'proferunt se nova ingenia et ostentant;' we stretch our wits out! and set them to sale: 'magno conatu nihil agimus,' &c. 'quis tam avidus librorum helluo,' who can read them? as already, we shall have a vast chaos and confusion of books; we are oppressed with them; our eyes ake with reading, our fingers with turning," &c. this is painting _ad vivum_--after the life. we see and feel every thing described. truly, none but a thorough master in bibliomaniacal mysteries could have thus thought and written! see "_democritus to the reader_," p. ; perhaps the most highly finished piece of dissection in the whole _anatomical work_.] about this period lived lord lumley; a nobleman of no mean reputation as a bibliomaniac. but what shall we say to lord shaftesbury's eccentric neighbour, henry hastings? who, in spite of his hawks, hounds, kittens, and oysters,[ ] could not for [transcriber's note: extraneous 'for'] forbear to indulge his book propensities though in a moderate degree! let us fancy we see him, in his eightieth year, just alighted from the toils of the chase, and listening, after dinner, with his "single glass" of ale by his side, to some old woman with "spectacle on nose" who reads to him a choice passage out of john fox's _book of martyrs_! a rare old boy was this hastings. but i wander--and may forget another worthy, and yet more ardent, bibliomaniac, called john clungeon, who left a press, and some books carefully deposited in a stout chest, to the parish church at southampton. we have also evidence of this man's having _erected a press_ within the same; but human villany has robbed us of every relic of his books and printing furniture.[ ] from southampton, you must excuse me if i take a leap to london; in order to introduce you into the wine cellars of one john ward; where, i suppose, a few choice copies of favourite authors were sometimes kept in a secret recess by the side of the oldest bottle of hock. we are indebted to hearne for a brief, but not uninteresting, notice of this _vinous_ book collector.[ ] [footnote : of the bibliomaniacal spirit of lord lumley the reader has already had some slight mention made at pages , , ante. of henry hastings, gilpin has furnished us with some anecdotes which deserve to be here recorded. they are taken from hutchin's _hist. of dorsetshire_, vol. ii., p. . "mr. hastings was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy complexion, with flaxen hair. his cloaths were always of green cloth. his house was of the old fashion; in the midst of a large park, well stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. he had a long narrow bowling green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. here too he had a banquetting room built, like a stand in a large tree. he kept all sorts of hounds, that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. his great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. the upper end of it was hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. here and there a pole-cat was intermixed, and hunter's poles in great abundance. the parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the same style. on a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest terriers, hounds, and spaniels. one or two of the great chairs had litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. of these, three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand lay by his trencher, to defend it, if they were too troublesome. in the windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other accoutrements. the corners of the room were filled with his best hunting and hawking poles. his oyster table stood at the lower end of the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round; for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with which the neighbouring town of pool supplied him. at the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk; one side of which held a church bible: the other the book of martyrs. on different tables in the room lay hawks'-hoods, bells, old hats, with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs, tables, dice, cards, and store of tobacco pipes. at one end of this room was a door, which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and wine; which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule of the house, for he never exceeded himself, nor permitted others to exceed. answering to this closet was a door into an old chapel; which had been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust, well baked. his table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. his sports supplied all but beef and mutton, except on fridays, when he had the best of fish. he never wanted a london pudding, and he always sang it in with "_my part lies therein-a_." he drank a glass or two of wine at meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack, and had always a tun glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with rosemary. he lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor used spectacles. he got on horseback without help, and rode to the death of the stag till he was past fourscore." gilpin's _forest scenery_, vol. ii., pp. , . i should add, from the same authority, that hastings was a neighbour of anthony ashley cooper, earl of shaftesbury, with whom (as was likely enough) he had no cordial agreement.] [footnote : "in the northern chapel which is parted from the side aile by a beautiful open gothic screen, is a handsome monument to the memory of the lord chancellor wriothesly, and a _large and costly standing chest_, carved and inlaid, and stated, by an inscription on its front, to have been given, _with the books in it_, by john clungeon. the inscription is as follows: "john, the sonne of john clungeon of this towne, alderman, _erected this presse_ and gave certain books, who died, anno . "the books are, however, now gone, and the surplices, &c. are kept in the chest." see a tasteful and elegantly printed little volume, entitled "_a walk through southampton_;" by sir h.c. englefield, bart. , vo., p. .] [footnote : ward is described by hearne as being "a citizen and vintner of london," and "a lover of antiquity's." he had a copy of the _chartulary of dunstaple_, in ms., which was put by wanley into the harleian collection. the following entry is too much of a characteristic trait, not to be gratifying to the palate of a thorough bred bibliomaniac; it relates to the said chartulary:--"also this vellum, at both ends of the booke, was then added, put in, and inserted, at the costs of the said mr. (john) ward, in the said yeare of our lord, , _s._ _d._ binding and claspes vellum " _annals of dunstaple priory_, vol. i., p. xxx., note.] lis. if master cox, "by profession a mason," and living in the country, could have collected such a cabinet of romances and ballads--why should not a wine merchant, living in the metropolis, have turned his attention to a similar pursuit, and have been even more successful in the objects of it? phil. i know not; particularly as we have, at the present day, some commercial characters--whose dealings in trade are as opposite to books as frogs are to roast beef--absolute madmen in search after black-letter, large paper, and uncut copies! but proceed, lysander. lysand. such was the influence of the _book mania_ about, or rather a little before, this period that even the sacred retirement of a monastery, established upon protestant principles, and conducted by rules so rigid as almost to frighten the hardiest ascetic, even such a spot was unable to resist the charms of book-collecting and book-embellishment. how st. jerome or st. austin would have lashed the ferrar family[ ] for the gorgeous decorations of their volumes, and for devoting so much precious time and painful attention to the art and mystery of book-binding! yes, lisardo; it is truly curious to think upon the _little gidding monastery_--near which, perhaps, were ----"rugged rocks, that holy knees had worn--" and to imagine that the occupiers of such a place were infected--nay, inflamed--with a most powerful ardour for curious, neat, splendid, and, i dare venture to affirm, matchless copies of the several volumes which they composed! but i will now hasten to give very different evidence of the progress of this disease, by noticing the labours of a bibliomaniac of first rate celebrity; i mean elias ashmole:[ ] whose museum at oxford abundantly proves his curious and pertinacious spirit in book-collecting. his works, put forth under his own superintendence, with his name subjoined, shew a delicate taste, an active research, and, if we except his _hermetical_ propensities, a fortunate termination. his "opus maximum" is the _order of the garter_; a volume of great elegance both in the composition and decorations. your copy of it, i perceived, was upon _large paper_; and cost you-- [footnote : it remains here to make good the above serious charges brought against the ancient and worthy family of the ferrars; and this it is fully in my power to do, from the effectual aid afforded me by dr. wordsworth, in the fifth volume of his _ecclesiastical biography_; where the better part of dr. peckard's life of nicholas ferrar is published, together with some valuable and original addenda from the archiepiscopal library at lambeth. be it, however, known to dr. wordsworth, and the reviewer of the ecclesiastical biography in the _quarterly review_, vol. iv., pp. , , that hearne had previously published a copious and curious account of the monastery at little gidding in the supplement to his _thom. caii. vind. antiquit. oxon._, , vo., vol. ii.: which, as far as i have had an opportunity of examining dr. wordsworth's account, does not appear to have been known to this latter editor. we will now proceed to the bibliomaniacal anecdotes of nicholas ferrar, senior and junior. "amongst other articles of instruction and amusement, mr. ferrar (senior) entertained an ingenious _book-binder_ who taught the family, females as well as males, the whole art and skill of _book-binding_, gilding, lettering, and what they called pasting-printing, by the use of the rolling press. by this assistance he composed a full harmony, or concordance, of the four evangelists, _adorned with many beautiful pictures_, which required more than a year for the composition, and was divided into heads or chapters." there is then a minute account of the mechanical process (in which the nieces assisted) how, by means of "great store of the best and strongest white paper, nice knives and scissars, pasting and rolling-press" work--the arduous task was at length accomplished: and mary collet, one of mr. ferrar's nieces, put the grand finishing stroke to the whole, by "doing a deed"--which has snapt asunder the threads of penelope's web for envy:--"she bound the book entirely, all wrought in gold, in a new and most elegant fashion." the fame of this book, or concordance, as it was called, reached the ears of charles i., who "intreated" (such was his majesty's expression) to be favoured with a sight of it. laud and cousins, who were then chaplains in waiting, presented it to the king; who "after long and serious looking it over, said, 'this is indeed a most valuable work, and in many respects to be presented to the greatest prince upon earth: for the matter it contains is the richest of all treasures. the laborious composure of it into this excellent form of _an harmony_, the judicious contrivance of the method, the curious workmanship in so neatly cutting out and disposing the text, _the nice laying of these costly pictures, and the exquisite art expressed in the binding_, are, i really think, not to be equalled. i must acknowledge myself to be, indeed, greatly indebted to the family for this jewel: and whatever is in my power i shall, at any time, be ready to do for any of them.'" _eccles. biogr._, vol. v., - . this was spoken, by charles, in the true spirit of a book-knight! cromwell, i suppose, would have shewn the same mercy to this treasure as he did to the madonnas of raffaelle--thrown it behind the fire, as idolatrous! the nephew emulated and eclipsed the bibliomaniacal celebrity of his uncle. at the age of twenty-one, he executed three books (or "works" as they are called) of uncommon curiosity and splendour. archbishop laud, who had a keen eye and solid judgment for things of this sort (as the reader will find in the following pages) undertook to introduce young ferrars to the king. the introduction is told in such a pleasing style of _naiveté_, and the manual dexterity of the young bibliomaniac is so smartly commended by charles, that i cannot find it in my heart to abridge much of the narrative. "when the king saw the archbishop enter the room, he said, 'what have you brought with you those _rarities_ and _jewels_ you told me of?' 'yea, sire,' replied the bishop; 'here is the young gentleman and his works.' so the bishop, taking him by the hand, led him up to the king. he, falling down on his knees, the king gave him his hand to kiss, bidding him rise up. the box was opened, and nicholas ferrar, first presented to the king that book made for the prince; who taking it from him, looking well on the outside, which was _all green velvet, stately and richly gilt all over, with great broad strings, edged with gold lace, and curiously bound_, said, 'here is a fine book for charles, indeed! i hope it will soon make him in love with what is within it, for i know it is good,' &c. and lo! here are also store of _rare pictures_ to delight his eye with! &c., &c. then, turning him to the lord of canterbury, he said, 'let this young gentleman have your letters to the princes to-morrow, to richmond, and let him carry this present. it is a good day, you know, and a good work would be done upon it.' so he gave nicholas ferrar the book; who, carrying it to the box, took out of it a very large paper book, which was the fourth work, and laid it on the table before the king. 'for whom,' said the king, 'is this model?' 'for your majesty's eyes, if you please to honour it so much.' 'and that i will gladly do,' said the king, 'and never be weary of such sights as i know you will offer unto me.' the king having well perused the title page, beginning, 'the gospel of our lord and blessed saviour, jesus christ, in eight several languages,' &c., said unto the lords, 'you all see that one good thing produceth another. here we have more and more rarities; from print now to pen. these are fair hands, well written, and as well composed.' then replied the lord of canterbury, 'when your majesty hath seen all, you will have more and more cause to admire.' 'what!' said the king, 'is it possible we shall behold yet more rarities?' then said the bishop to nicholas ferrar, 'reach the other piece that is in the box:' and this we call the fifth work; the title being _novum testamentum, &c., in viginti quatuor linguis, &c._ the king, opening the book, said, 'better and better. this is the largest and fairest paper that ever i saw.' then, reading the title-page, he said, 'what is this? what have we here? the incomparablest book this will be, as ever eye beheld. my lords, come, look well upon it. this finished, must be the emperor of all books. it is the crown of all works. it is an admirable masterpiece. the world cannot match it. i believe you are all of my opinion.' the lords all seconded the king, and each spake his mind of it. 'i observe two things amongst others,' said the king, 'very remarkable, if not admirable. the first is, how is it possible that a young man of twenty-one years of age (for he had asked the lord of canterbury before, how old nicholas ferrar was) should ever attain to the understanding and knowledge of more languages than he is of years; and to have the courage to venture upon such an atlas work, or hercules labour. the other is also of high commendation, to see him write so many several languages, so well as these are, each in its proper character. sure so few years had been well spent, some men might think, to have attained only to the _writing_ thus fairly, of these twenty-four languages!' all the lords replied his majesty had judged right; and said, except they had seen, as they did, the young gentleman there, and the book itself, all the world should not have persuaded them to the belief of it." _ecclesiastical biography_, vol. v., pp. , . but whatever degree of credit or fame of young ferrars might suppose to have been attached to the execution of these "pieces," his emulation was not damped, nor did his industry slacken, 'till he had produced a specimen of much greater powers of book-decoration. his appetite was that of a giant; for he was not satisfied with any thing short of bringing forth a volume of such dimensions as to make the bearer of it groan beneath its weight--and the beholders of it dazzled with its lustre, and astonished at its amplitude. perhaps there is not a more curious book-anecdote upon record than the following. "charles the st, his son charles, the palsgrave, and the duke of lennox, paid a visit to the monastery of little gidding, in huntingdonshire--the abode of the ferrars."--"then, the king was pleased to go into the house, and demanded where the great book was, that he had heard was made for charles's use. it was soon brought unto him; and the _largeness_ and _weight_ of it was such that he that carried it seemed to be _well laden_. which the duke, observing, said, 'sir, one of your strongest guard will but be able to carry this book.' it being laid on the table before the king, it was told him that, though it were then fairly bound up in _purple velvet_, that the outside was not fully finished, as it should be, for the prince's use and better liking. 'well,' said the king, 'it is very well done.' so he opened the book, the prince standing at the table's end, and the palsgrave and duke on each side of the king. the king read the title page and frontispice all over very deliberately; and well viewing the form of it, how adorned with _a stately garnish of pictures, &c._, and the curiousness of the writing of it, said, 'charles, here is a book that contains excellent things. this will make you both wise and good.' then he proceeded to turn it over, leaf by leaf, and took exact notice of all in it: and it being _full of pictures of sundry mens cuts_, he could tell the palsgrave, who seemed also to be knowing in that kind, that this and this, and that and that, were of such a man's graving and invention. the prince all the while greatly eyed all things; and seemed much to be pleased with the book. the king having spent some hours in the perusal of it, and demanding many questions was occasion as, concerning the contrivement, and having received answers to all he demanded, at length said, 'it was only _a jewel for a prince_, and hoped charles would make good use of it: and i see and find, by what i have myself received formerly from this good house, that they go on daily in the prosecution of these excellent pieces. they are brave employments of their time.' the palsgrave said to the prince, 'sir, your father the king is master of the goodliest ship in the world, and i may now say you will be master of the gallantest greatest book in the world: for i never saw _such paper_ before; and believe there is no book of this largeness to be seen in christendom.' 'the paper and the book in all conditions,' said the king, 'i believe it not to be matched. here hath also in this book not wanted, you see, skill, care, nor cost.' 'it is a most admirable piece,' replied the duke of richmond. so the king, closing the book, said, 'charles, this is yours.' he replied, 'but, sir, shall i not now have it with me?' reply was made by one of the family, 'if it please your highness, the book is not _on the outside so finished_ as it is intended for you, but shall be, with all expedition, done, and you shall have it.' 'well,' said the king, 'you must content yourself for a while.'"--_ecclesiastical biography_, vol. v., p. .] [footnote : in the year , was published an octavo volume, containing the lives of william lilly the astrologer, and elias ashmole the antiquary: two of the greatest _cronies_ of their day. the particulars of ashmole's life are drawn from his own _diary_, in which is detailed every thing the most minute and ridiculous; while many of the leading features in his character, and many interesting occurrences in his life, are wholly suppressed. the editor has not evinced much judgment in causing posterity to be informed when ashmole's "_great and little teeth ached, or were loose_:" when his "_neck break forth, occasioned by shaving his beard with a bad razor_" (p. ); when "_his maid's bed was on fire, but he rose quickly (thanking god) and quenched it_" (p. ); and when he "_scratched the right-side of his buttocks, &c., and applied pultices thereunto, made of white bread crums, oil of roses, and rose leaves_;" (p. --and see particularly the long and dismal entries at p. .) all this might surely have been spared, without much injury to the reputation of the sufferer. yet, in some other minute entries, we glean intelligence a little more interesting. at p. , we find that ashmole had quarrelled with his wife; and that "mr. serjeant maynard observed to the court that there were sheets of depositions on his wife's part, and not one word proved against him of using her ill, or ever giving her a bad or provoking word:" at page , we find ashmole accompanying his heraldic friend dugdale, in his "visitations" of counties; also that "his picture was drawn by le neve in his herald's coat:" loggan afterwards drew it in black lead: p. . but here again (p. ) we are gravely informed that "_his tooth, next his fore tooth in his upper jaw, was very loose, and he easily pulled it out, and that one of his middle teeth in his lower jaw, broke out while he was at dinner_." he sat (for the last time) for "a second picture to mr. ryley," p. . ashmole's intimacy with lilly was the foundation of the former's (supposed) profundity in alchemical and astrological studies. in this diary we are carefully told that "mr. jonas moore brought and acquainted him with mr. william lilly, on a friday night, on the th of november," p. . ashmole was then only years of age; and it will be readily conceived how, at this susceptible period, he listened with rapture to his master's exposition of the black art, and implicitly adopted the recipes and maxims he heard delivered. hence the pupil generally styled himself _mercuriophilus anglicus_, at the foot of most of his title-pages: and hence we find such extraordinary entries, in the foresaid diary, as the following: "this night (august , ) about one of the clock, i fell ill of a surfeit, occasioned by drinking _water after venison_. i was greatly oppressed in my stomach; and next day mr. saunders, _the astrologian_, sent me a piece of briony-root to hold in my hand; and within a quarter of an hour my stomach was freed from that great oppression," p. . "sep. , , i came to mr. john tompson's, who dwelt near dove bridge; he used a call, and had responses in a soft voice," p. . at p. is narrated the commencement of his acquaintance with the famous arise evans, a welsh prophet: whose "_echo from heaven_," &c., parts, , mo., is a work noticed by warburton, and coveted by bibliomaniacs. yet one more quack-medicine entry: "march , . i took early in the morning a good dose of elixir, and hung three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague away--deo gratias!" p. . it seems that ashmole always punctually kept "_the astrologer's feast_;" and that he had such celebrity as a curer of certain diseases, that lord finch the chancellor "sent for him to cure him of his rheumatism. he dined there, but would not undertake the cure," p. . this was behaving with a tolerable degree of prudence and good sense. but let not the bibliomaniac imagine that it is my wish to degrade honest old elias ashmole, by the foregoing delineation of his weaknesses and follies. the ensuing entries, in the said diary, will more than counterbalance any unfavourable effect produced by its precursors; and i give them with a full conviction that they will be greedily devoured by those who have been lucky enough to make good purchases of the entire libraries of deceased characters of eminence. in his th year, ashmole "bought of mr. milbourn all his books and mathematical instruments;" and the day after (n.b. " o'clock, min. post merid.") "he bought mr. hawkins's books," p. . in the ensuing year he "agreed with mrs. backhouse, of london, for her deceased husband's books," p. . he now became so distinguished as a successful bibliomaniac that seldon and twysden sought his acquaintance; and "mr. tredescant and his wife told him that they had been long considering upon whom to bestow their _closet of curiosities_, and at last had resolved to give it unto him," p. . having by this time (a.d. ) commenced his famous work upon _the order of the garter_, he was introduced to charles ii.: kissed hands, and was appointed by the king "to make a description of his medals, and had them delivered into his hands, and _henry the viiith's closet_ assigned for his use," p. . in this same year came forth his "_way to bliss_;" to.: a work so invincibly dull that i despair of presenting the reader with any thing like entertainment even in the following heterogeneous extract: "when our natural heat, the life of this little world, is faint and gone, the body shrinks up and is defaced: but bring again heat into the parts, and likewise money into the bankrupt's coffers, and they shall be both lusty, and flourish again as much as ever they did. but how may this heat be brought again? to make few words, even as she is kept and held by due _meat_ and _motion_; for if she faint, and falleth for want of them only, then give her them, and she shall recover herself again. meat is the bait that draws her down: motion comes after, like a _gad-bee_, to prick her forward; but the work is performed in this order. first this meat, which is that fine and æthereal oyl often above-described, by the exceeding piercing swifteness, divides, scatters, and scowres away the gross and foul dregs and leavings which, for want of the tillage of heat, had overgrown in our bodies, and which was cast, like a blockish stay-fish in the way, to stay the free course of the ship of life: these flying out of all sides, abundantly pluck up all the old leavings of hair, nails, and teeth, by the roots, and drive them out before them: in the mean while, our medicine makes not onely clear way and passage for life, if she list to stir and run her wonted race (which some think enough of this matter), but also scattereth all about her due and desired meat, and first moisture to draw her forward. by which means our life, having gotten both her full strength and liveliness, and returned like the sun in summer into all our quarters, begins to work afresh as she did at first; (for being the same upon the same, she must needs do the same) knitting and binding the weak and loose joynts and sinews, watering and concocting all by good digestion; and then the idle parts like leaves shall, in this hot summer, spring and grow forth afresh, out of this new and young temper of the body: and all the whole face and shew shall be young again and flourishing," pp. , . with such a farrago of sublime nonsense were our worthy forefathers called upon to be enlightened and amused! but i lose sight of ashmole's _book-purchases_. that he gave away, as well as received, curious volumes, is authenticated by his gift of "five volumes of mr. dugdale's works to the temple library:" p. . "again: i presented the public library at oxford with three folio volumes, containing a description of the consular and imperial coins there, which i had formerly made and digested, being all fairly transcribed with my own hand," p. . but mark well: "my first boatful of books, which were carried to mrs. tredescant's, were brought back to the temple:" also, (may ) "i bought mr. john booker's study of books, and gave _l._ for them," p. . in the same year that his _order of the garter_ was published, his "good friend mr. wale sent him dr. dee's original books and papers," p. . but he yet went on buying: "nil actum reputans, dum quid superesset agendum:" for thus journalises our super-eminent bibliomaniac:--(june , ) "i bought mr. lilly's library of books of his widow, for fifty pounds," p. . in august, , ashmole went towards oxford, "to see the building prepared to receive his rarities;" and in march, , "the last load of his rarities was sent to the barge." in july, , he received a parcel of books from j.w. irnhoff, of nurembergh, among which was his _excellentium familiarum in gallia genealogia_: p. . but it is time to put an end to this unwieldly note: reserving the account of ashmole's _order of the garter_, and _theatrum chemicum_, for the ensuing one--and slightly informing the reader, of what he may probably be apprized, that our illustrious bibliomaniac bequeathed his museum of curiosities and library of books to his beloved alma mater oxoniensis--having first erected a large building for their reception. it is justly said of him, in the inscription upon his tombstone, durante musÆo ashmoleano oxon. nunquam moriturus. a summer month might be profitably passed in the ashmolean collection of books! let us not despair that a complete _catalogue raisonné_ of them may yet be given.] loren. not eight guineas--although you were about to say _fourteen_! lysand. even so. but it must have been obtained in the golden age of book-collecting? loren. it was obtained, together with an uncut copy of his _theatrum chemicum_,[ ] by my father, at the shop of a most respectable bookseller, lately living, at mews-gate, and now in pall-mall--where the choicest copies of rare and beautiful books are oftentimes to be procured, at a price much less than the extravagant ones given at book-sales. you observed it was bound in blue morocco--and by that coryphæus of book-binders, the late roger payne! [footnote : first let us say a few words of the theatrum chemicum britannicum, as it was the anterior publication. it contains a collection of ancient english poetical pieces relating to alchemy, or the "hermetique mysteries;" and was published in a neat quarto volume, in ; accompanied with a rich sprinkling of plates "cut in brass," and copious annotations, at the end, by ashmole himself. of these plates, some are precious to the antiquary; for reasons which will be given by me in another work. at present, all that need be said is that a fine tall copy of it brings a fair sum of money. i never heard of the existence of a _large paper_ impression. it went to press in july ; and on the th of january following, "the first copy of it was sold to the earl of pembroke:" see the diary, pp. - . in may, , ashmole made his first visit to the record office in the tower, to collect materials for his work of "the order of the garter." in may following, hollar accompanied the author to windsor, to take views of the castle. in the winter of , ashmole composed a "good part of the work at roe-barnes (the plague increasing)." in may, , a copy of it was presented to king charles ii.: and in june, the following year, ashmole received "his privy-seal for _l._ out of the custom of paper, which the king was pleased to bestow upon him for the same." this, it must be confessed, was a liberal remuneration. but the author's honours increased and multiplied beyond his most sanguine expectations. princes and noblemen, abroad and at home, read and admired his work; and ashmole had golden chains placed round his neck, and other superb presents from the greater part of them; one of which (from the elector of brandenburgh) is described as being "composed of ninety links, of philagreen links in great knobs, most curious work," &c. in short, such was the golden harvest which showered down upon him on all sides, on account of this splendid publication, that "he made a feast at his house in south lambeth, in honour to his benefactors of the work of the garter." i hope he had the conscience to make hollar his vice-president, or to seat him at his right hand; for this artist's _engravings_, much more than the author's composition, will immortalize the volume. yet the artist--died in penury! these particulars relating to this popular work, which it was thought might be amusing to the lover of fine books, have been faithfully extracted from the 'forementioned original and amusing diary. _the order of the garter_ was originally sold for _l._ _s._ see _clavel's catalogue_, , p. .] lysand. i observed it had a "glorious aspect," as bibliographers term it. lis. but what has become of ashmole all this while? lysand. i will only further remark of him that, if he had not suffered his mind to wander in quest of the puzzling speculations of alchemy and astrology--which he conceived himself bound to do in consequence, probably, of wearing john dee's red velvet night cap--he might have mingled a larger portion of common sense and sound practical observations in his writings. but a truce to worthy old elias. for see yonder the bibliomaniacal spirit of archbishop laud pacing your library! with one hand resting upon a folio,[ ] it points, with the other, to your favourite print of the public buildings of the university of oxford--thereby reminding us of his attachment, while living, to literature and fine books, and of his benefactions to the bodleian library. now it "looks frowningly" upon us; and, turning round, and shewing the yet reeking gash from which the life-blood flowed, it flits away-- par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno! [footnote : archbishop laud, who has [transcriber's note: was] beheaded in the year , had a great fondness for sumptuous decoration in dress, books, and ecclesiastical establishments; which made him suspected of a leaning towards the roman catholic religion. his life has been written by dr. heylin, in a heavy folio volume of pages; and in which we have a sufficiently prolix account of the political occurrences during laud's primacy, but rather a sparing, or indeed no, account of his private life and traits of domestic character. in lloyd's _memoirs of the sufferers_ from the year to inclusive ( , fol.) are exhibited the articles of impeachment against the archbishop; and, amongst them, are the following bibliomaniacal accusations. "art. . receiving a _bible_, with a crucifix embroidered on the cover of it by a lady. art. . a book of popish pictures, _two missals_, pontificals, and breviaries, which he made use of as a scholar. art. . his (own) admirable _book of devotion_, digested according to the ancient way of canonical hours, &c. art. . _the book of sports_, which was published first in king james his reign, before he had any power in the church; and afterward in king charles his reign, before he had the chief power in the church," &c., pp. - . but if laud's head was doomed to be severed from his body in consequence of these his bibliomaniacal frailties, what would have been said to the fine copy of one of the _salisbury primers or missals_, printed by pynson upon vellum, which once belonged to this archbishop, and is now in the library of st. john's college, oxford?! has the reader ever seen the same primate's copy of the _aldine aristophanes_, , in the same place? 'tis a glorious volume; and i think nearly equals my friend mr. heber's copy, once lord halifax's, of the same edition. of laud's benefactions to the bodleian library, the bibliographer will see ample mention made in the _catalogus librorum manuscriptorum angliæ, hiberniæ_, &c., , folio. the following, from heylin, is worth extracting: "being come near the block, he (laud) put off his doublet, &c., and seeing through the chink of the boards that some people were got under the scaffold, about the very place where the block was seated, he called to the officer for some dust to stop them, or to remove the people thence; saying, it was no part of his desire 'that his blood should fall upon the heads of the people.' never did man put off mortality with a better courage, nor look upon his bloody and malicious enemies with more christian charity." _cyprianus anglicus_; or the _life and death of laud_; , fol.; p. . in the master's library at st. john's, oxford, they shew the velvet cap which it is said laud wore at his execution; and in which the mark of the axe is sufficiently visible. the archbishop was a great benefactor to this college. mr. h. ellis, of the museum, who with myself were "quondam socii" of the same establishment, writes me, that "among what are called the king's pamphlets in the british museum, is a fragment of a tract, without title, of fifty-six pages only, imperfect; beginning, 'a briefe examination of a certaine pamphlet lately printed in scotland, and intituled _ladensium autocatacrisis_,' &c., 'the cantabarians self-conviction.' on the blank leaf prefixed, is the following remark in a hand of the time. 'this briefe examen following, was found in the archbishop's (laud?) library, wher the whole impression of these seauen sheets was found, but nether beginning nor ending more then is hearein contained. may th, .' this work, (continues mr. ellis,) which is a singular and valuable curiosity, is in fact a personal vindication of archbishop laud, not only from the slanders of the pamphlet, but from those of the times in general: and from internal evidence could have been written by no one but himself. it is in a style of writing beyond that of the ordinary productions of the day."] peace, peace, thou once "lofty spirit"--peace to thy sepulchre--always consecrated by the grateful student who has been benefited by thy bounty! perhaps laud should have been noticed a little earlier in this list of bibliomanical heroes; but, having here noticed him, i cannot refrain from observing to you that the notorious hugh peters revelled in some of the spoils of the archbishop's library; and that there are, to the best of my recollection, some curious entries on the journals of the house of commons relating to the same.[ ] [footnote : i am indebted to the same literary friend who gave me the intelligence which closes the last note, for the ensuing particulars relating to hugh peters; which are taken from the journals of the lower house: "ao. - . march . ordered, that a study of books, to the value of _l._ out of such books as are sequestered, be forthwith bestowed upon mr. peters." _journals of the house of commons_, vol. ii., p. . "ao. . april. whereas this house was formerly pleased to bestow upon mr. peters books to the value of _l._, it is this day ordered that mr. recorder, mr. whitlock, mr. hill, or two of them, do cause to be delivered to mr. peters, to the value of _l._, books out of the private and particular study of the archbishop of canterbury." _id._, vol. iii., p. . "ao. . junij. dies publicæ humiliationis. mr. peters made a large and full relation of the state of the western counties, and of the proceedings of my lord general's army, since its coming thither," &c. "whereas, formerly, books to the amount of _l._ were bestowed upon mr. peters out of the archbishop's private library, and whereas the said study is appraised at above _l._ more than the _l._, it is ordered this day that mr. peters shall have the whole study of books freely bestowed upon him." _id._ p. . "ao. . may . ordered, that all books and papers, heretofore belonging to the library of the archbishop of canterbury, and now, or lately, in the hands of mr. hugh peters, be forthwith secured." in ashmole's life, before the first volume of his antiq. of berkshire, it is said in aug. , "mr. ashmole had a commission to examine that infamous buffoon and trumpeter of rebellion, hugh peters, concerning the disposal of the pictures, jewels, &c., belonging to the royal family, which were committed chiefly to his care, and sold and dispersed over europe: which was soon brought to a conclusion by the obstinacy or ignorance of their criminal, who either would not, or was not able to, give the desired satisfaction."] lis. this is extraordinary enough. but, if i well remember, you mentioned, a short time ago, the name of braithwait as connected with that of peacham. now, as i persume [transcriber's note: presume] lorenzo has not tied down his guests to any rigid chronological rules, in their literary chit-chat, so i presume you might revert to braithwait, without being taxed with any great violation of colloquial order. lysand. nay, i am not aware of any _bookish_ anecdote concerning braithwait. he was mentioned with peacham as being a like accomplished character.[ ] some of his pieces are written upon the same subjects as were peacham's, and with great point and elegance. he seems, indeed, to have had the literary credit and moral welfare of his countrymen so much at stake that, i confess, i have a vast fondness for his lucubrations. his "_english gentlewoman_" might be reprinted with advantage. [footnote : the talents of richard braithwait do not appear to me to be so generally known and highly commended as they merit to be. his _nursery for gentry_, , to. (with his portrait in an engraved frontispiece by marshall), is written with the author's usual point and spirit; but, as i humbly conceive, is a less interesting performance than his _english gentleman_, , to. (with a frontispiece by marshall), or _english gentlewoman_, , to. (also with a frontispiece by the same artist). there is a terseness and vigour in braithwait's style which is superior to that of his contemporary, peacham; who seems to excel in a calm, easy, and graceful manner of composition. both these eminent writers are distinguished for their scholastic and gentlemanly attainments; but in the "divine art of poesy" (in which light i mean here more particularly to display the powers of braithwait) peacham has no chance of being considered even as a respectable competitor with his contemporary. mr. george ellis, in his pleasing _specimens of the early english poets_, vol. iii., p. , has selected two songs of braithwait "from a work not enumerated by wood;" calling the author, "a noted wit and poet." his fame, however, is not likely to "gather strength" from these effusions. it is from some passages in _the arcadian princesse_--a work which has been already, and more than once, referred to, but which is too dislocated and heterogeneous to recommend to a complete perusal--it is from some passages in _this_ work that i think braithwait shines with more lustre as a poet than in any to which his name is affixed. take the following miscellaneous ones, by way of specimens. they are sometimes a little faulty in rhyme and melody: but they are never lame from imbecility. ----he has the happiest wit, who has discretion to attemper it. and of all others, those the least doe erre, who in opinion are least singular. let stoicks be to opposition given, who to extreames in arguments are driven; submit thy judgment to another's will if it be good; oppose it mildly, ill. _lib._ iv., p. . strong good sense has been rarely exhibited in fewer lines than in the preceding ones. we have next a vigorously drawn character which has the frightful appellation of _uperephanos_, who still thought that th' world without him would be brought to nought: for when the dogge-starre raged, he used to cry, "no other atlas has the world but i. i am that only _hee_, supports the state; cements divisions, shuts up janus' gate; improves the publike fame, chalks out the way how princes should command, subjects obey. nought passeth my discovery, for my sense extends itself to all intelligence." &c. &c. &c. so well this story and this embleme wrought, _uperephanos_ was so humble brought, as he on earth disvalu'd nothing more, than what his vainest humour priz'd before. more wise, but lesse conceited of his wit; more pregnant, but lesse apt to humour it; more worthy, 'cause he could agnize his want; more eminent, because less arragant. in briefe, so humbly-morally divine, he was esteem'd the _non-such_ of his time. _id._, pp. , . another character, with an equally bizarre name, is drawn with the same vigour: _melixos_; such a starved one, as he had nothing left but skin and bone. the shady substance of a living man, or object of contempt wheree'er he came. yet had hee able parts, and could discourse, presse moving reasons, arguments enforce, expresse his readings with a comely grace, and prove himselfe a _consul_ in his place! _id._, p. . we have a still more highly-coloured, and indeed a terrific, as well as original, picture, in the following animated verses: next him, _uptoomos_; one more severe, ne'er purple wore in this inferiour sphere: rough and distastefull was his nature still, his life unsociable, as was his will. _eris_ and _enio_ his two pages were, his traine stern _apuneia_ us'd to beare. terrour and thunder echo'd from his tongue, though weake in judgment, in opinion strong. a fiery inflammation seiz'd his eyes, which could not well be temper'd any wise: for they were bloud-shot, and so prone to ill, as basiliske-like, where'ere they look, they kill. no laws but draco's with his humour stood, for they were writ in characters of bloud. his stomacke was distemper'd in such sort nought would digest; nor could he relish sport. his dreames were full of melancholy feare, bolts, halters, gibbets, halloo'd in his eare: fury fed nature with a little food, which, ill-concocted, did him lesser good, _id._, p. . but it is time to pause upon braithwait. whoever does not see, in these specimens, some of the most powerful rhyming couplets of the early half of the seventeenth century, if not the model of some of the verses in dryden's satirical pieces, has read both poets with ears differently constructed from those of the author of this book.] as i am permitted to be desultory in my remarks, (and, indeed, i craved this permission at the outset of them) i may here notice the publication of an excellent _catalogue of books_, in , to.; which, like its predecessor, maunsell's, helped to inflame the passions of purchasers, and to fill the coffers of booksellers. whenever you can meet with this small volume, purchase it, lisardo; if it be only for the sake of reading the spirited introduction prefixed to it.[ ] the author was a man, whoever he may chance to be, of no mean intellectual powers. but to return. [footnote : this volume, which has been rather fully described by me in the edition of more's _utopia_, vol. ii., p. , --where some specimens of the "introduction," so strongly recommended by lysander, will be found--is also noticed in the _athenæum_, vol. ii., ; where there is an excellent analysis of its contents. here, let me subjoin only one short specimen: in praise of learning, it is said: "wise and learned men are the surest stakes in the hedge of a nation or city: they are the best conservators of our liberties: the hinges on which the welfare, peace, and happiness, hang; the best public good, and only commonwealth's men. these lucubrations, meeting with a true and brave mind, can conquer men; and, with the basilisk, kill envy with a look." sign. e. . rect.] where sleep now the relics of dyson's library, which supplied that _helluo librorum_, richard smith, with "most of his rarities?"[ ] i would give something pretty considerable to have a correct list--but more to have an unmolested sight--of this library, in its original state: if it were merely to be convinced whether or not it contained a copy of the _first edition of shakespeare_, of larger dimensions, and in cleaner condition, than the one in philander's collection! [footnote : "h. dyson (says hearne) a person of a very strange, prying, and inquisitive genius, in the matter of books, as may appear from many libraries; there being books, chiefly in old english, almost in every library, that have belonged to him, with his name upon them." _peter langtoft's chronicles_, vol. i., p. xiii. this intelligence hearne gleaned from his friend mr. t. baker. we are referred by the former to the _bibl. r. smith_, p. , alias , no. , to an article, which confirms what is said of smith's "collecting most of his rarities out of the library of h. dyson." the article is thus described in bibl. smith, _ibid._; " six several catalogues of all such books, touching the state ecclesiastical as temporal of the realm of england, which were published upon several occasions, in the reigns of k. henry the viith and viiith, philip and mary, q. elizabeth, k. james, and charles i., collected by mr. h. dyson: out of whose library was gathered, by mr. smith, a great part of the rarities of this catalogue." a catalogue of the books sold in the reign of hen. vii. would be invaluable to a bibliographer! let me add, for the sake of pleasing, or rather, perhaps, tantalising my good friend mr. haleswood, that this article is immediately under one which describes "_an ancient ms. of hunting_, in vellum (wanting something) _quarto_." i hear him exclaim--"where is this treasure now to be found?" perhaps, upon the cover of a book of devotion!] i have incidentally mentioned the name of richard smith.[ ] such a bibliomaniac deserves ample notice, and the warmest commendation. ah, my lisardo! had you lived in the latter days of charles ii.--had you, by accident, fallen into the society of this indefatigable book-forager, while he pursued his book-rounds in _little britain_--could you have listened to his instructive conversation, and returned home with him to the congenial quiet and avocations of his book-room--would you, however caressed st. james's, or even smiled upon by the first duchess in the land--have cared a rush for the splendours of a court, or concentrated your best comforts in a coach drawn by six cream-coloured horses? would you not, on the contrary, have thought with this illustrious bibliomaniac, and with the sages of greece and rome before him, that "in books is wisdom, and in wisdom is happiness." [footnote : from the address to the reader, prefixed to the catalogue of richard smith's books, which was put forth by chiswel the bookseller, in may , to.--the bibliomaniac is presented with the following interesting but cramply written, particulars relating to the owner of them: "though it be needless to recommend what to all intelligent persons sufficiently commend itself, yet, perhaps, it may not be unacceptable to the ingenious to have some short account concerning _this so much celebrated, so often desired, so long expected, library_, now exposed to sale. the gentleman that collected it was a person infinitely curious and inquisitive after books; and who suffered nothing considerable to escape him, that fell within the compass of his learning; for he had not the vanity of desiring to be master of more than he knew how to use. he lived to a very great age, and spent a good part of it almost entirely in the search of books. being as constantly known every day to walk his rounds through the shops as he sat down to meals, where his great skill and experience enabled him to make choice of what was not obvious to every vulgar eye. he lived in times which ministered peculiar opportunities of meeting with books that are not every day brought into publick light; and few eminent libraries were bought where he had not the liberty to pick and choose. and while others were forming arms, and new-modelling kingdoms, _his_ great ambition was to become master of a good book. hence arose, as that vast number of his books, so the choiceness and rarity of the greatest part of them; and that of all kinds, and in all sorts of learning," &c. "nor was the owner of them a meer idle possessor of so great a treasure: for as he generally _collated_ his books upon the buying of them (upon which account the buyer may rest pretty secure of their being perfect) so he did not barely turn over the leaves, but observed the defects of impressions, and the ill arts used by many; compared the differences of editions; concerning which, and the like cases, he has entered memorable, and very useful, remarks upon very many of the books under his own hand: observations wherein, certainly, never man was more diligent and industrious. thus much was thought fit to be communicated to publick notice, by a gentleman who was intimately acquainted both with mr. smith and his books. _this excellent library will be exposed by auction, and the sale will begin on monday the th day of may next, at the auction house, known by the name of_ the swan, _in great st. bartholomew's close, and there continue, day by day, the five first days of every week, till all the books be sold._" in this catalogue of richard smith's books, the sharp-eyed bibliomaniac will discover twelve volumes printed by caxton; which collectively, produced only the sum of _l._ _s._ _d._ the price of each of these volumes has been already given to the public (_typog. antiq._, vol i., p. cxxxii.) i suppose a thousand guineas would _now_ barely secure perfect copies of them! the catalogue itself is most barbarously printed, and the arrangement and description of the volumes such as to damn the compiler "to everlasting fame." a number of the most curious, rare, and intrinsically valuable books--the very insertion of which in a bookseller's catalogue would probably now make a hundred bibliomaniacs start from their homes by star-light, in order to come in for the _first pickings_--a number of volumes of this description are huddled together in one lot, and all these classed under the provoking running title of "_bundles of books_," or "_bundles of sticht books_!" but it is time to bid adieu to this matchless collection. leaving the virtuoso "to toil, from rise to set of sun" after w. sherwin's "extra rare and fine" portrait of the collector, which will cost him hard upon ten pounds (see _sir william musgrave's catalogue of english portraits_, p. , no. ), and to seize, if it be in his power, a copy of the catalogue itself, "with the prices and purchasers' names" (vide _bibl. lort._, no. ). i proceed to attend upon lysander: not, however, without informing him that strype (_life of cranmer_, p. ), as well as hearne (_liber niger scaccarii_, vol. ii., p. ), has condescended to notice the famous library of this famous collector of books, richard smith!] lis. in truth i should have done even more than what your barren imagination has here depicted. smith's figure, his address, his conversation, his library-- loren. enough--peace! there is no end to lisardo's _fruitful_ imagination. we are surfeited with the richness of it. go on, dear lysander; but first, satisfy a desire which i just now feel to be informed of the period when _sales of books, by auction_, were introduced into this country. lysand. you take _that_ for granted which remains [transcriber's note: missing 'to' in original] be _proved_: namely, my ability to gratify you in this particular. of the precise period when this memorable revolution in the sale of books took place i have no means of being accurately informed: but i should think not anterior to the year , or ; for, in the year , to the best of my recollection, the catalogue of the library of dr. seaman was put forth; to which is prefixed an address to the reader, wherein the custom of selling books by auction is mentioned as having been but of recent origin in our country.[ ] it was, however, no sooner introduced than it caught the attention, and pleased the palates, of bibliomaniacs exceedingly: and clavel, a bookseller, who published useful catalogues of books to be sold in his own warehouse, retorted in sharp terms upon the folly and extravagance which were exhibited at book auctions. however, neither clavel nor his successors, from that period to the present, have been able to set this custom aside, nor to cool the fury of book-auction bibliomaniacs--who, to their eternal shame be it said, will sometimes, from the hot and hasty passions which are stirred up by the poisonous miasmata floating in the auction-room, give a sum twice or thrice beyond the real value of the books bidden for! indeed, i am frequently amused to see the vehemence and rapture with which a dirty little volume is contended for and embraced--while a respectable bookseller, like portius, coolly observes across the table--"i have a better copy on sale at one third of the price!" [footnote : a part of the address "to the reader," in the catalogue above-mentioned by lysander, being somewhat of a curiosity, is here reprinted in its unadulterated [transcriber's note: remainder of sentence missing in original] "reader, "it hath not been usual here in england to make _sale of books by way of auction or who will give most for them_: but it having been practised in other countreys to the advantage both of buyers and sellers, it was therefore conceived (for the encouragement of learning) to publish the sale of these books this manner of way; and it is hoped that this will not be unacceptable to schollers: and therefore, methought it convenient to give an advertisement concerning the manner of proceeding therein. _first_, that having this catalogue of the books, and their editions, under their several heads and numbers, it will be more easie for any person of quality, gentleman, or others, to depute any one to buy such books for them as they shall desire, if their occasions will not permit them to be present at the auction themselves." the _second_ clause is the usual one about _differences_ arising. the _third_, about discovering the imperfections of the copies before they are taken away. the _fourth_, that the buyers are to pay for their purchases within one month after the termination of the auction. the _fifth_, that the sale is to begin "punctually at o'clock in the morning, and two in the afternoon; and this to continue daily until all the books be sold; wherefore it is desired that the gentlemen, or those deputed by them, may be there precisely at the hours appointed, lest they should miss the opportunity of buying those books which either themselves or their friends desire." as this is the earliest auction catalogue which i have chanced to meet with, the _present_ reader may probably be pleased with the following specimens, selected almost at random of the prices which were given for books at a public sale, in the year . _in folio._ philologists. _s._ _d._ pet. heylyn's cosmographie, lond. . io. stow's annals, or chronicles of england, &c. ibid., . burton's anatomy of melancholy, oxon, . geo. withers, his emblems; illustrated with brass figures, . os. gabelhower's book called the dutch physic, dort, . p. . _in quarto._ philologie. the royal passage of her majesty, from the } tower to whitehall, lond., . } the vision of the goddesses, a mask by the } queen and her ladies, . } king james his entertainment through the city } of london, ibid. } a particular entertainment of the queen and } prince, . } the magnificent entertainment of king james, } queen anne, and prince henry frederick, . } her majesties speech to both houses of } parliament, . } _s._ _d._ vox coeli, or news from heaven, . } an experimental discovery of the spanish } practises, . } tho. scotts aphorisms of state, or secret } articles for the re-edifying the romish } church, . } the tongue combat between two english } souldiers, . } votivæ angliæ, or the desires and wishes of } england, . } a book of fishing, with hook and line, and } other instruments, . } p. . now a-days, the last article alone would pr duce [transcriber's note: produce]--shall i say _nine_ times the sum of the whole? but once more: _in octavo._ philologists. rob. crowley's confutation and answer to a } wicked ballade of the abuse of the } sacrament of the altar, . } philargyne, or covetousness of great britain, } . } a confutation of articles of nicol sharton's, } . } the voice of the last trumpet, blown by the } seventh angel, . } _s._ _d._ rob. crowley's four last things. } a petition against the oppressors of the poor } of this realm, . } a supplication of the poor commons, . } piers plowman exhortation to the parliament, } and a new-year's gift, . } the hurt of sedition to the commonwealth, . } to continue the _history of book auctions_, a little further. two years after the preceding sale, namely, in , were sold the collections of dr. manton, dr. worsley, and others. in the address to the reader, prefixed to manton's catalogue, it would seem that this was the "_fourth_ triall" of this mode of sale in our own country. the conditions and time of sale the same as the preceding; and because one briggs, and not one cooper, drew up the same, cooper craves the reader's "excuse for the mistakes that have happened; and desires that the saddle may be laid upon the right horse." in this collection there is a more plentiful sprinkling of english books; among which, dugdale's warwickshire, , was sold for _l._ _s._; and fuller's worthies for the same sum. the "collections of pamphlets, bound together in quarto," were immense. dr. worsley's collection, with two others, was sold two months afterwards; namely, in may, : and from the address "to the reader," it would appear that dr. manton's books brought such high prices as to excite the envy of the trade. worsley's collection was sold at and , the usual hours "at the house over against the hen and chickens, in pater-noster row." the venders thus justify themselves at the close of their address: "we have only this to add in behalf of ourselves; that, forasmuch as a report has been spread that we intend to use indirect means to advance the prices, we do affirm that it is a groundless and malicious suggestion of some of our own trade, envious of our undertaking: and that, to avoid all manner of suspicion of such practice, we have absolutely refused all manner of commissions that have been offered us for buying (some of them without limitation): and do declare that the company shall have nothing but candid and ingenuous dealing from john dunmore. richard chiswel." at this sale, the shakspeare of brought _s._; and of , _l._ _s._ in the november and december of the same year were sold by auction the books of voet, sangar, and others, and from the preface to each catalogue it would seem that the sale of books by auction was then but a recent, yet a very successful, experiment; and that even collections from abroad were imported, in order to be disposed of in a like manner.] lis. from what you say, it would appear to be wiser to lay out one's money at a bookseller's than at a book-auction? lysand. both methods must of necessity be resorted to: for you cannot find with the one what you may obtain at the other. a distinguished collector, such as the late mr. reed, or mr. gough, or mr. joseph windham, dies, and leaves his library to be sold by auction for the benefit of his survivors. now, in this library so bequeathed, you have the fruits of book-labour, collected for a long period, and cultivated in almost every department of literature. a thousand radii are concentrated in such a circle; for it has, probably, been the object of the collector's life to gather and to concentrate these radii. in this case, therefore, you must attend the auction; you must see how such a treasure is scattered, like the sibylline leaves, by the winds of fate. you must catch at what you want, and for what you have been a dozen years, perhaps, in the pursuit of. you will pay dearly for these favourite volumes; but you have them, and that is comfort enough; and you exclaim, as a consolation amidst all the agony and waste of time which such a contest may have cost you,--"where, at what bookseller's, are such gems now to be procured?" all this may be well enough. but if i were again to have, as i have already had, the power of directing the taste and applying the wealth of a young collector--who, on coming of age, wisely considers books of at least as much consequence as a stud of horses--i would say, go to mr. payne, or mr. evans, or mr. mackinlay, or mr. lunn, for your greek and latin classics; to mr. dulau, or mr. deboffe, for your french; to mr. carpenter, or mr. cuthell, for your english; and to mr. white for your botany and rare and curious books of almost every description. or, if you want delicious copies, in lovely binding, of works of a sumptuous character, go and drink coffee with mr. miller, of albemarle street--under the warm light of an argand lamp--amidst a blaze of morocco and russia coating, which brings to your recollection the view of the temple of the sun in the play of pizarro! you will also find, in the vender of these volumes, courteous treatment and "gentlemanly notions of men and things." again, if you wish to speculate deeply in books, or to stock a newly-discovered province with what is most excellent and popular in our own language, hire a vessel of tons' burthen, and make a contract with messrs. longman, hurst, and co., who are enabled, from their store of _quires_, which measure feet in height, by in length, and in width, to satisfy all the wants of the most craving bibliomaniacs. in opposition to this pyramid, enter the closet of mr. triphook, jun., of st. james's street--and resist, if it be in your power to resist, the purchase of those clean copies, so prettily bound, of some of our rarest pieces of black-letter renown! loren. from this digression, oblige us now by returning to our bibliomaniacal history. lysand. most willingly. but i am very glad you have given me an opportunity of speaking, as i ought to speak, of some of our most respectable booksellers, who are an ornament to the cause of the bibliomania. we left off, i think, with noticing that renowned book-collector, richard smith. let me next make honourable mention of a "_par nobile fratrum_" that ycleped are north. the "lives" of these men, with an "examen" (of "kennet's history of england"), were published by a relative (i think a grandson) of the same name; and two very amusing and valuable quarto volumes they are! from one of these lives, we learn how pleasantly the lord keeper used to make his meals upon some one entertaining law-volume or another: how he would breakfast upon _stamford_,[ ] dine upon _coke_, and sup upon _fitzherbert_, &c.; and, in truth, a most insatiable book appetite did this eminent judge possess. for, not satisfied ("and no marvel, i trow") with the foregoing lean fare, he would oftentimes regale himself with a well-served-up course of the _arts_, _sciences_, and the _belles-lettres_! [footnote : these are the words of lord keeper north's biographer: "there are of law-books, institutions of various sorts, and reports of cases (now) almost innumerable. the latter bear most the controversial law, and are read as authority such as may be quoted: and i may say the gross of law lecture lies in them. but to spend weeks and months wholly in them, is like horses in a string before a loaden waggon. they are indeed a careful sort of reading, and chiefly require common-placing, and that makes the work go on slowly. his lordship therefore used to mix some institutionary reading with them, as after a fulness of the reports in a morning, about noon, to take a repast in _stamford_, _compton_, or the lord _coke's_ pleas of the crown and jurisdiction of courts, _manwood_ of the forest law, _fitzherbert's_ natura brevium; and also to look over some of the antiquarian books, as _britton_, _bracton_, _fleta_, _fortescue_, _hengham_, _the old tenures narrationes novæ_, the old _natura brevium_, and the diversity of courts. these, at times, for change and refreshment, being books all fit to be known. and those that, as to authority, are obsoleted, go rounder off-hand, because they require little common-placing, and that only as to matter very singular and remarkable, and such as the student fancies he shall desire afterwards to recover. and, besides all this, the day afforded him room for a little history, especially of england, modern books, and controversy in print, &c. in this manner he ordered his own studies, but with excursions into _humanity_ and _arts_, beyond what may be suitable to the genius of every young student in the law." _life of lord keeper guildford_, pp. , . _north's lives_, edit. , to.] his brother, dr. john north, was a still greater _helluo librorum_; "his soul being never so staked down as in an old bookseller's shop." not content with a superficial survey of whatever he inspected, he seems to have been as intimately acquainted with all the book-selling fraternity of _little-britain_ as was his contemporary, richard smith; and to have entered into a conspiracy with robert scott[ ]--the most renowned book vender in this country, if not in europe--to deprive all bibliomaniacs of a chance of procuring rare and curious volumes, by sweeping every thing that came to market, in the shape of a book, into their own curiously-wrought and widely-spread nets. nay, even scott himself was sometimes bereft of all power, by means of the potent talisman which this learned doctor exercised--for the latter, "at one lift," would now and then sweep a whole range of shelves in scott's shop of every volume which it contained. and yet how whimsical, and, in my humble opinion, ill-founded, was dr. north's taste in matters of typography! would you believe it, lisardo, he preferred the meagre classical volumes, printed by the _gryphii_, in the italic letter, to the delicate and eye-soothing lustre of the _elzevir_ type--? [footnote : "now he began to look after books, and to lay the foundation of a competent library. he dealt with mr. robert scott, of _little-britain_, whose sister was his grandmother's woman; and, upon that acquaintance he expected, and really had from him, useful information of books and their editions. this mr. scott was, in his time, the greatest librarian in europe; for, besides his stock in england, he had warehouses in francfort, paris, and other places, and dealt by factors. after he was grown old, and much worn by multiplicity of business, he began to think of his ease and to leave off. whereupon he contracted with one mills, of st. paul's church-yard, near £ , deep, and articled not to open his shop any more. but mills, with his auctioneering, atlasses, and projects, failed, whereby poor scott lost above half his means: but he held to his contract of not opening his shop, and when he was in london (for he had a country house), passed most of his time at his house amongst the rest of his books; and his reading (for he was no mean scholar) was the chief entertainment of his time. he was not only an expert bookseller, but a very conscientious good man; and when he threw up his trade, europe had no small loss of him. our doctor, at one lift, bought of him a whole set of greek classics in folio, of the best editions. this sunk his stock at that time; but afterwards, for many years of his life, all that he could (as they say) rap or run, went the same way. but the progress was small; for such a library as he desired, compared with what the pittance of his stock would purchase, allowing many years to the gathering, was of desperate expectation. he was early sensible of a great disadvantage to him in his studies, by the not having a good library in his reach; and he used to say that a man could not be a scholar at the second-hand: meaning, that learning is to be had from the original authors, and not from any quotations, or accounts in other books, for men gather with divers views, and, according to their several capacities, often perfunctorily, and almost always imperfectly: and through such slight reading, a student may know somewhat, but not judge of either author or subject. he used to say _an old author could not be unprofitable_; for although in their proper time they had little or no esteem, yet, in after times, they served to interpret words, customs, and other matters, found obscure in other books; of which a. gellius is an apt instance. he courted, as a fond lover, all _best editions, fairest character, best bound and preserved_. if the subject was in his favour (as the classics) he cared not how many of them he had, even of the same edition, if he thought it among the best, either _better bound_, _squarer cut_, _neater covers_, or some such qualification caught him. he delighted in the small editions of the classics, by seb. gryphius; and divers of his acquaintance, meeting with any of them, bought and brought them to him, which he accepted as choice presents, although perhaps he had one or two of them before. he said that the _black italic_ character agreed with his eye sight (which he accounted but weak) better than any other print, the old elzevir not excepted, whereof the characters seemed to him more blind and confused than those of the other. continual use gives men a judgment of things comparatively, and they come to fix on that as most proper and easy which no man, upon cursory view, would determine. _his soul was never so staked down as in an old bookseller's shop_; for having (as the statutes of the college required) taken orders, he was restless till he had compassed some of that sort of furniture as he thought necessary for his profession. he was, for the most part, his own factor, and seldom or never bought by commission; which made him lose time in turning over vast numbers of books, and he was very hardly pleased at last. i have borne him company at shops for hours together, and, minding him of the time, he hath made a dozen proffers before he would quit. by this care and industry, at length, he made himself master of a very considerable library, wherein the choicest collection was _greek_." there is some smartness in the foregoing observations. the following, in a strain of equal interest, affords a lively picture of the _bookselling trade_ at the close of the th century: "it may not be amiss to step a little aside, to reflect on the vast change in the trade of books, between that time and ours. then, _little-britain_ was a plentiful and perpetual emporium of learned authors; and men went thither as to a market. this drew to the place a mighty trade; the rather because the shops were spacious, and the learned gladly resorted to them, where they seldom failed to meet with agreeable conversation. and the booksellers themselves were knowing and conversible men, with whom, for the sake of bookish knowledge, the greatest wits were pleased to converse. and we may judge the time as well spent there, as (in latter days) either in tavern or coffee-house: though the latter hath carried off the spare hours of most people. but now this emporium is vanished, and trade contracted into the hands of two or three persons, who, to make good their monopoly, ransack, not only their neighbours of the trade that are scattered about town, but all over england, aye, and beyond sea too, and send abroad their circulators, and, in that manner, get into their hands all that is valuable. the rest of the trade are content to take their refuse, with which, and the fresh scum of the press, they furnish one side of a shop, which serves for the sign of a bookseller, rather than a real one; but, instead of selling, dealing as factors, and procure what the country divines and gentry send for; of whom each hath his book factor, and, when wanting any thing, writes to his bookseller, and pays his bill. and it is wretched to consider what pickpocket work, with help of the press, these demi-booksellers make. they crack their brains to find out selling subjects, and keep hirelings in garrets, at hard meat, to write and correct by the great (qu. groat); and so puff up an octavo to a sufficient thickness, and there's six shillings current for an hour and a half's reading, and perhaps never to be read or looked upon after. one that would go higher must take his fortune at blank walls, and corners of streets, or repair to the sign of bateman, innys, and one or two more, where are best choice and better pennyworth's. i might touch other abuses, as bad paper, incorrect printing, and false advertising; all which, and worse, is to be expected, if a careful author is not at the heels of them." life of the hon. and rev. dr. john north. _north's lives_, edit. , to., p. , &c. at page , there is a curious account of the doctor's amusing himself with keeping spiders in a glass case--feeding them with bread and flies--and seeing these spiders afterwards quarrel with, and destroy, each other--"parents and offspring!"] lis. "_de gustibus_--" you know the rest. but these norths were brave bibliomaniacs! proceed, we are now advancing towards the threshold of the eighteenth century; and the nearer you come to it, the greater is the interest excited. lysand. take care that i don't conclude with the memorable catalogue-burning deed of your father! but i spare your present feelings. all hail to the noble book-spirit by which the _lives of oxford-athenians_, and the _antiquities of oxford university_, are recorded and preserved beyond the power of decay![ ] all hail to thee, old anthony a-wood! may the remembrance of thy researches, amidst thy paper and parchment documents, stored up in chests, pews, and desks, and upon which, alas! the moth was "feeding sweetly," may the remembrance of these thy laborious researches always excite sensations of gratitude towards the spirit by which they were directed! now i see thee, in imagination, with thy cautious step, and head bowing from premature decay, and solemn air, and sombre visage, with cane under the arm, pacing from library to library, through gothic quadrangles; or sauntering along the isis, in thy way to some neighbouring village, where thou wouldst recreate thyself with "pipe and pot." yes, anthony! while the _bodleian_ and _ashmolean_ collections remain--or rather as long as englishmen know how to value that species of literature by which the names and actions of their forefathers are handed down to posterity, so long shall the memory of thy laudable exertions continue unimpaired! [footnote : the name and literary labours of anthony wood are now held in general, and deservedly high, respect: and it is somewhat amusing, though not a little degrading to human nature, to reflect upon the celebrity of that man who, when living, seems to have been ridiculed by the proud and flippant, and hated by the ignorant and prejudiced, part of his academical associates. the eccentricities of wood were considered heretical; and his whims were stigmatized as vices. the common herd of observers was unable to discover, beneath his strange garb, and coarse exterior, all that acuteness of observation, and retentiveness of memory, as well as inflexible integrity, which marked the intellectual character of this wonderful man. but there is no necessity to detain and tantalize the reader by this formal train of reasoning, when a few leading features of wood's person, manners, and habits of study, &c., have been thus pleasingly described to us by hearne, in the life of him prefixed to the genuine edition of the _history and antiquities (or annals) of the university of oxford_. "he was equally regardless of envy or fame, out of his great love to truth, and therefore 'twas no wonder he took such a liberty of speech, as most other authors, out of prudence, cunning, or design, have usually declined. and indeed, as to his language, he used such words as were suitable to his profession. it is impossible to think that men, who always converse with old authors, should not learn the dialect of their acquaintance--an antiquary retains an old word, with as much religion as an old relick. and further, since our author was ignorant of the rules of conversation, it is no wonder he uses so many severe reflections, and adds so many minute passages of men's lives. i have been told that it was usual with him, for the most part, to rise about four o'clock in the morning, and to eat hardly any thing till night; when, after supper, he would go into some by-alehouse in town, or else to one in some village near, and there by himself take his _pipe and pot_," &c. "but so it is that, notwithstanding our author's great merits, he was but little regarded in the university, being observed to be more clownish than courteous, and always to go in an old antiquated dress. indeed he was a mere scholar, and consequently must expect, from the greatest number of men, disrespect; but this notwithstanding, he was always a true lover of his mother, the university, and did more for her than others care to do that have received so liberally from her towards their maintenance, and have had greater advantages of doing good than he had. yea, his affection was not at all alienated, notwithstanding his being so hardly dealt with as to be expelled; which would have broken the hearts of some. but our author was of a most noble spirit, and little regarded whatever afflictions he lay under, whilst he was conscious to himself of doing nothing but what he could answer. at length after he had, by continual drudging, worn out his body, he left this world contentedly, by a stoppage of his urine, anno domini , and was buried in the east corner of the north side of st. john's church, adjoyning to merton college, and in the wall is a small monument fixed, with these words: h.s.e. antonius wood, antiquarius. _ob. nov._ ao. , æt. ." in his person, he was of a large robust make, tall and thin, and had a sedate and thoughtful look, almost bordering upon a melancholy cast. mr. hearne says, in his _collectanea mss._, that though he was but sixty-four years of age when he died, he appeared to be above fourscore; that he used spectacles long before he had occasion for them, that he stooped much when he walked, and generally carried his stick under his arm, seldom holding it in his hand. as to the manner of his life, it was solitary and ascetic. the character which gassendus gives of peireskius, may, with propriety, be used as descriptive of mr. wood's. "as to the care of his person, cleanliness was his chief object, he desiring no superfluity or costliness, either in his habit or food. his house was furnished in the same manner as his table; and as to the ornament of his private apartment, he was quite indifferent. instead of hangings, his chamber was furnished with the prints of his particular friends, and other men of note, with vast numbers of commentaries, transcripts, letters, and papers of various kinds. his bed was of the most ordinary sort; his table loaded with papers, schedules, and other things, as was also every chair in the room. he was a man of strict sobriety, and by no means delicate in the choice of what he eat. always restrained by temperance, he never permitted the sweet allurements of luxury to overcome his prudence." such, as is here represented, was the disposition of mr. wood: of so retired a nature as seldom to desire or admit a companion at his walks or meals; so that he is said to have dined alone in his chamber for thirty years together. mr. hearne says that it was his custom to "go to the booksellers at those hours when the greater part of the university were at their dinners," &c. and at five leaves further, in a note, we find that, "when he was consulting materials for his _athenæ oxon._, he would frequently go to the booksellers, and generally give money to them, purposely to obtain titles of books from them; and 'twas observed of him that he spared no charges to make that work as compleat and perfect as possible." _hearne's coll. mss. in bodl. lib._, vol. ix., p. . the following letter, describing wood's last illness, and the disposition of his literary property, is sufficiently interesting to be here, in part, laid before the reader: it was written by mr. (afterwards bishop) tanner to dr. charlett. "honoured master, yesterday, at dinner-time, mr. wood sent for me; when i came, i found mr. martin and mr. bisse of wadham (college) with him, who had (with much ado) prevailed upon him to set about looking over his papers, so to work we went, and continued tumbling and separating some of his mss. till it was dark. we also worked upon him so far as to sign and declare that sheet of paper, which he had drawn up the day before, and called it _his will_; for fear he should not live till night. he had a very bad night of it last night, being much troubled with vomiting. this morning we three were with him again, and mr. martin bringing with him the form of a will, that had been drawn up by judge holloway, we writ his will over again, as near as we could, in form of law. he has given to the university, to be reposited in the _museum ashmol._, all his mss., not only those of his own collection, but also all others which he has in his possession, except some few of dr. langbain's miscellanea, which he is willing should go to the public library. he has also given all his printed books and pamphlets to the said musæum which are not there already. this benefaction will not, perhaps, be so much valued by the university as it ought to be, because it comes from anthony wood; but truly it is a most noble gift, his collection of mss. being invaluable, and his printed books, most of them, not to be found in town," &c. this letter is followed by other accounts yet more minute and touching, of the last mortal moments of poor old anthony! it now remains to say a few words about his literary labours. a short history of the editions of the _athenæ oxonienses_ (vide p. , ante) has already been communicated to the reader. we may here observe that his _antiquities of the university_ shared a similar fate; being garbled in a latin translation of them, which was put forth under the auspices of bishop fell: , fol., in vols. wood's own ms. was written in the english language, and lay neglected till towards the end of the th century, when the rev. mr. gutch conferred a real benefit upon all the dutiful sons of alma mater, by publishing the legitimate text of their venerable and upright historian; under the title of _the history and antiquities of the colleges and halls_, , to., with a supplemental volume by way of _appendix_, , to., containing copious indexes to the two. then followed the annals of the university at large, viz. _the history and antiquities of the university of oxford_; , to., in two volumes; the latter being divided into _two_ parts, or volumes, with copious indexes. these works, which are now getting scarce, should be in every philological, as well as topographical, collection. in order to compensate the reader for the trouble of wading through the preceding tremendous note, i here present him with a wood-cut facsimile of a copper-plate print of wood's portrait, which is prefixed to his life, , vo. if he wishes for more curious particulars respecting wood's literary labours, let him take a peep into _thomæ caii vindic. antiq. acad. oxon._: , vo., vol. i., pp. xl. xliii. _edit. hearne._ wood's study, in the ashmolean museum, is yet to be seen. it is filled with curious books, which, however, have not hitherto been catalogued with accuracy. ritson has availed himself, more successfully than any antiquary in poetry, of the book treasures in this museum. [illustration]] a very few years after the death of this distinguished character, died dr. francis bernard;[ ] a stoic in bibliography. neither beautiful binding, nor amplitude of margin, ever delighted his eye or rejoiced his heart: for he was a stiff, hard, and straight-forward reader--and learned, in literary history, beyond all his contemporaries. his collection was copious and excellent; and although the compiler of the catalogue of his books sneers at any one's having "an entire collection in physic," (by the bye, i should have told you that bernard was a _doctor of medicine_,) yet, if i forget not, there are nearly pages in this said catalogue which are thickly studded with "_libri medici_," from the folio to the duodecimo size. many very curious books are afterwards subjoined; and some precious _bijous_, in english literature, close the rear. let bernard be numbered among the most learned and eminent bibliomaniacs. [footnote : i do not know that i could produce a better recipe for the cure of those who are affected with the worst symptoms of the book-mania, in the _present day_, than by shewing them how the same symptoms, upwards of a _century ago_, were treated with ridicule and contempt by a collector of very distinguished fame, both on account of his literary talents and extensive library. the following copious extract is curious on many accounts; and i do heartily wish that foppish and tasteless collectors would give it a very serious perusal. at the same time, all collectors possessed of common sense and liberal sentiment will be pleased to see their own portraits so faithfully drawn therein. it is taken from the prefatory address, "to the reader. the character of the person whose collection this was, is so well known, that there is no occasion to say much of him, nor to any man of judgment that inspects the catalogue of the collection itself. something, however, it becomes us to say of both; and this i think may with truth and modesty enough be said, that as few men knew books, and that part of learning which is called _historia litteraria_, better than himself, so there never yet appeared in england so choice and valuable a catalogue to be thus disposed of as this before us: more especially of that sort of books which are out of the common course, which a man may make the business of his life to collect, and at last not to be able to accomplish. a considerable part of them being so little known, even to many of the learned buyers, that we have reason to apprehend this misfortune to attend the sale, that there will not be competitors enough to raise them up to their just and real value. certain it is this library contains not a few which never appeared in any auction here before; nor indeed, as i have heard him say, for ought he knew, (and he knew as well as any man living) _in any printed catalogue in the world_."--"we must confess that, being a person who collected his books for use, and not for ostentation or ornament, he seemed no more solicitous about _their_ dress than _his own_; and therefore you'll find that a _gilt back_, or a _large margin_, was very seldom any inducement to him to buy. 'twas sufficient that he had the book." "though considering that he was so unhappy as to want heirs capable of making that use of them which he had done, and that therefore they were to be dispersed after this manner; i have heard him condemn his own negligence in that particular; observing, that the garniture of a book was as apt to recommend it to a great part of our _modern collectors_ (whose learning goes not beyond the edition, the title-page, and the printer's name) as the intrinsic value could. but that he himself was not a mere nomenclator, and versed only in title-pages, but had made that just and laudable use of his books which would become all those that set up for collectors, i appeal to the literati of his acquaintance, who conversed most frequently with him; how full, how ready, and how exact he was in answering any question that was proposed to him relating to learned men, or their writings; making no secret of any thing that he knew, or any thing that he had; being naturally one of the most communicative men living, both of his knowledge and his books."--"and give me leave to say this of him, upon my own knowledge; that he never grudged his money in procuring, nor his time or labour in perusing, any book which he thought could be any ways instructive to him, and having the felicity of a memory always faithful, always officious, which never forsook him, though attacked by frequent and severe sickness, and by the worst of diseases, old age, his desire of knowledge attended him to the last; and he pursued his studies with equal vigour and application to the very extremity of his life." it remains to add a part of the title of the catalogue of the collection of this extraordinary bibilomaniac [transcriber's note: bibliomaniac]: "_a catalogue of the library of the late learned_ dr. francis bernard, _fellow of the college of physicians, and physician to st. bartholomew's hospital, &c._," , vo. the english books are comprised in articles; and, among them, the keen investigator of ancient catalogues will discover some prime rarities.] having at length reached the threshold, let us knock at the door, of the eighteenth century. what gracious figures are those which approach to salute us? they are the forms of bishops fell and more:[ ] prelates, distinguished for their never ceasing admiration of valuable and curious works. the former is better known as an editor; the latter, as a collector--and a collector, too, of such multifarious knowledge, of such vivid and just perceptions, and unabating activity--that while he may be hailed as the _father of_ =black-letter= _collectors_ in this country, he reminds us of his present successor in the same see; who is not less enamoured of rare and magnificent volumes, but of a different description, and whose library assumes a grander cast of character. [footnote : as i have already presented the public with some brief account respecting bishop fell, and sharpened the appetites of grangerites to procure rather a rare portrait of the same prelate (see _introd. to the classics_, vol. i., ), it remains only to add, in the present place, that hearne, in his _historia vitæ et regni ricardi ii._, , vo., p. , has given us a curious piece of information concerning this eminent bibliomaniac, which may not be generally known. his authority is anthony wood. from this latter we learn that, when anthony and the bishop were looking over the _history and antiquities of the university of oxford_, to correct it for the press, fell told wood that "wicliffe was a grand dissembler; a man of little conscience; and what he did, as to religion, was more out of vain glory, and to obtain unto him a name, than out of honesty--or to that effect." can such a declaration, from such a character, be credited? bishop more has a stronger claim on our attention and gratitude. never has there existed an episcopal bibliomaniac of such extraordinary talent and fame in the walk of _old english literature_!--as the reader shall presently learn. the bishop was admitted of clare hall, cambridge, in . in , he became bishop of norwich; and was translated to ely in ; but did not survive the translation above seven years. how soon and how ardently the passion for collecting books possessed him it is out of my present power to make the reader acquainted. but that more was in the zenith of his bibliomaniacal reputation while he filled the see of norwich is unquestionable; for thus writes strype: "the right reverend, the lord bishop of norwich, the possessor of a great and curious collection of mss. and other ancient printed pieces (little inferior to mss. in regard of their scarceness) hath also been very considerably assistant to me as well in this present work as in others;" &c. preface (sign. a ) to _life of aylmer_, , vo. burnet thus describes his fine library when he was bishop of ely. "this noble record was lent me by my reverend and learned brother, dr. more, bishop of ely, who has gathered together a most valuable treasure, both of printed books and manuscripts, beyond what one can think that the life and labour of one man could have compassed; and which he is as ready to communicate, as he has been careful to collect it." _hist. of the reformation_, vol. iii., p. . it seems hard to reconcile this testimony of burnet with the late mr. gough's declaration, that "the bishop collected his library by plundering those of the clergy in his diocese; some he paid with sermons or more modern books; others only with '_quid illiterati cum libris_.'" on the death of more, his library was offered to lord oxford for _l._; and how that distinguished and truly noble collector could have declined the purchase of such exquisite treasures--unless his own shelves were groaning beneath the weight of a great number of similar volumes--is difficult to account for. but a public-spirited character was not wanting to prevent the irreparable dispersion of such book-gems: and that patriotic character was george i.!--who gave _l._ for them, and presented them to the public library of the university of cambridge!-- "these are imperial works, and worthy kings!" and here, benevolent reader, the almost unrivalled _bibliotheca moriana_ yet quietly and securely reposes. well do i remember the congenial hours i spent (a.d. ) in the _closet_ holding the most precious part of bishop more's collection, with my friend the rev. mr. ----, tutor of one of the colleges in the same university, at my right-hand--(himself "greatly given to the study of books") actively engaged in promoting my views, and increasing my extracts--but withal, eyeing me sharply "ever and anon"--and entertaining a laudable distrust of a keen book-hunter from a rival university! i thank my good genius that i returned, as i entered, with clean hands! my love of truth and of bibliography compels me to add, with a sorrowful heart, that not only is there no printed catalogue of bishop more's books, but even the fine public library of the university remains unpublished in print! in this respect they really do "order things better in france." why does such indifference to the cause of general learning exist--and in the th century too? let me here presume to submit a plan to the consideration of the syndics of the press; provided they should ever feel impressed with the necessity of informing the literati, of other countries as well as our own, of the book treasures contained in the libraries of cambridge. it is simply this. let the books in the public library form the substratum of the _catalogue raisonné_ to be printed in three or more quarto volumes. if, in any particular department, there be valuable editions of a work which are _not_ in the public, but in another, library--ex. gr. in trinity, or st. john's--specify this edition in its appropriate class; and add _trin. coll., &c._--if this copy contain notes of bentley, or porson, add "_cum notis bentleii_," _&c._: so that such a catalogue would present, not only _every_ volume in the _public library_, but _every valuable_ edition of a work in the whole university. nor is the task so herculean as may be thought. the tutors of the respective colleges would, i am sure, be happy, as well as able, to contribute their proportionate share of labour towards the accomplishment of so desirable and invaluable a work.] the opening of the th century was also distinguished by the death of a bibliomaniac of the very first order and celebrity. of one, who had, no doubt, frequently discoursed largely and eloquently with luttrell, (of whom presently) upon the rarity and value of certain editions of old _ballad poetry_: and between whom presents of curious black-letter volumes were, in all probability, frequently passing. i allude to the famous samuel pepys;[ ] secretary to the admiralty. [footnote : "_the maitland collection of manuscripts_ was ever in the collector's (sir richard maitland's) family."--"his grandson was raised to the dignity of earl of lauderdale." "the duke of lauderdale, a descendant of the collector's grandson, presented the maitland collection, along with other mss., to samuel pepys, esq. secretary of the admiralty to charles ii. and james ii. mr. pepys was one of the earliest collectors of rare books, &c. in england; and the duke had no taste for such matters; so either from friendship, or some point of interest, he gave them to mr. pepys,"--who "dying may, , in his st year, ordered, by will, the pepysian library at magdalen college, cambridge, to be founded, in order to preserve his very valuable collection entire. it is undoubtedly the most curious in england, those of the british museum excepted; and is kept in excellent order." mr. pinkerton's preface, p. vii., to _ancient scottish poems from the maitland collection, &c._, , vo., vols. i wish it were in my power to add something concerning the parentage, birth, education, and pursuits of the extraordinary collector of this extraordinary collection; but no biographical work, which i have yet consulted, vouchsafes even to mention his name. his merits are cursorily noticed in the _quarterly review_, vol. iv., p. - . through the medium of a friend, i learn from sir lucas pepys, bart., that our illustrious bibliomaniac, his great uncle, was president of the royal society, and that his collection at cambridge contains a _diary_ of his life, written with his own hand. but it is high time to speak of the black-letter gems contained in the said collection. that the pepysian collection is at once choice and valuable cannot be disputed; but that access to the same is prompt and facile, is not quite so indisputable. there is a ms. catalogue of the books, by pepys himself, with a small rough drawing of a view of the interior of the library. the books are kept in their original (i think walnut-wood) presses: and cannot be examined unless in the presence of a fellow.--such is the nice order to be observed, according to the bequest, that every book must be replaced where it was taken from; and the loss of a single volume causes the collection to be confiscated, and transported to benet-college library. oh, that there were _an act of parliament_ to regulate bequests of this kind!--that the doors to knowledge might, by a greater facility of entrance, be more frequently opened by students; and that the medium between unqualified confidence and unqualified suspicion might be marked out and followed. are these things symptomatic of an iron or a brazen age! but the bibliomaniac is impatient for a glance at the 'forementioned black-letter treasures!--alas, i have promised more than i can perform! yet let him cast his eye upon the first volume of the recent edition of _evans' collection of old ballads_ (see _in limine_, p. ix.) and look into the valuable notes of _mr. todd's illustrations of gower and chaucer_,--in which latter, he will find no bad specimen of these _pepysian gems_, in the exultation of my friend, the author, over another equally respected friend--in consequence of his having discovered, among these treasures, a strange, merry, and conceited work, entitled "_old meg of herefordshire for a mayd-marian; and hereford town for a morris-daunce, &c._," , to., p. . ex uno disce omnes. the left-handed critic, or anti-black-letter reader, will put a wicked construction upon the quotation of this motto in capital letters: let him: he will repent of his folly in due time.] now it was a convincing proof to me, my dear friends, that the indulgence of a passion for books is perfectly compatible with any situation, however active and arduous. for while this illustrious bibliomaniac was sending forth his messengers to sweep every bookseller's shop from the tweed to penzance, for the discovery of old and almost unknown ballads--and while his name rung in the ears of rival collectors--he was sedulous, in his professional situation, to put the _navy of old england_ upon the most respectable footing; and is called the _father_ of that system which, carried into effect by british hearts of oak, has made the thunder of our cannon to be heard and feared on the remotest shores. nor is it a slight or common coincidence that a spirit of book-collecting, which stimulated the _secretary_ of the admiralty at the opening of the th century, should, at the close of it, have operated with equal or greater force in a _first lord_ of the same glorious department of our administration. but we shall speak more fully of this latter character, and of his matchless collection, in a future stage of our discussion. while we are looking round us at this period, we may as well slightly notice the foundation of the _blenheim library_. the duke of marlborough[ ] was resolved that no naval commander, or person connected with the navy, should eclipse himself in the splendour of book-collecting: but it was to prince eugene that marlborough was indebted for his taste in this particular; or rather the english commander was completely bitten with the bibliomaniacal disease in consequence of seeing eugene secure rare and magnificent copies of works, when a city or town was taken: and the german prince himself expatiates upon the treasures of his library, with a rapture with which none but the most thorough-bred bibliomaniacs can ever adequately sympathise. [footnote : the library at blenheim is one of the grandest rooms in europe. the serpentine sheet of water, which flows at some little distance, between high banks of luxuriant and moss-woven grass, and is seen from the interior, with an overhanging dark wood of oaks, is sufficient to awaken the finest feelings that ever animated the breast of a bibliomaniac. the books are select and curious, as well as numerous; and although they may be eclipsed, in both these particulars, by a few rival collections, yet the following specimen is no despicable proof of the ardour with which marlborough, the founder of the library, pushed forward his bibliomaniacal spirit. i am indebted to mr. edwards for this interesting list of the ancient classics printed upon vellum in the blenheim library. apoll. rhodius augustinus, _de civ. dei_ _spiræ_ a. gellius, _romæ_ aug. _de civ. dei_ _jenson_ biblia moguntina bonifacii decretalia ciceronis _rhetorica_ _jens_ ---- _epist. fam._ _spiræ_ ---- _officia_ _mogunt_ ---- ---- ---- _tuscul. ques._ _jenson_ _clementis const._ _mogunt_ ---- _fust. s.a._ durandus horatius landini ---- epist. justinian _mogunt_ lactantius _a rot_ lucian _florent_ petrarca _spira_ plinius _jenson_ quintilian _campani_ sallustius _spira_ v. maximus, s.a. virgilius _spira_ the present marquis of blandford inherits, in no small degree, the book-collecting spirit of his illustrious ancestor. he is making collections in those departments of literature in which the blenheim library is comparatively deficient; and his success has already been such as to lead us to hope for as perfect a display of volumes printed by _caxton_ as there is of those executed by foreign printers. the marquis's collection of _emblems_ is, i believe, nearly perfect: of these, there are a few elegantly printed catalogues for private distribution. lysander, above, supposes that marlborough caught the infection of the _book-disease_ from prince eugene; and the supposition is, perhaps, not very wide of the truth. the library of this great german prince, which is yet entire, (having been secured from the pillage of gallic vandalism, when a certain emperor visited a certain city) is the proudest feature in the public library at vienna. the books are in very fine old binding, and, generally of the largest dimensions. and, indeed, old england has not a little to boast of (at least, so bibliomaniacs must always think) that, from the recently published _memoirs of eugene_ ( , vo., p. ), it would appear that the prince "bought his fine editions of books at london:"--he speaks also of his "excellent french, latin, and italian works, well bound"--as if he enjoyed the "arrangment" of _them_, as much as the contemplation of his "cascades, large water-spouts, and superb basins." _ibid._ whether eugene himself was suddenly inflamed with the ardour of buying books, from some lucky spoils in the pillaging of towns--as lysander supposes--is a point which may yet admit of fair controversy. for my own part, i suspect the german commander had been straying, in his early manhood, among the fine libraries in _italy_, where he might have seen the following exquisite _bijous_-- _in st. mark's, at venice._ apuleius } aulus gellius } printed upon vellum. petrarca } _in the chapter house at padua._ ciceronis _epist. ad atticum_ _jenson_ } quintilian _jenson_ } macrobius } solinus _jenson_ } printed upon vellum. catullus } plautus } ovidii opera _bonon._ } the public is indebted to mr. edwards for the timely supply of the foregoing bibliographical intelligence.] ever ardent in his love of past learning, and not less voracious in his bibliomaniacal appetites, was the well known narcissus luttrell. nothing--if we may judge from the spirited sketch of his book character, by the able editor[ ] of dryden's works--nothing would seem to have escaped his lynx-like vigilance. let the object be what it would (especially if it related to _poetry_) let the volume be great or small, or contain good, bad, or indifferent warblings of the muse--his insatiable craving had "stomach for them all." we may consider his collection as the fountain head of those copious streams which, after fructifying the libraries of many bibliomaniacs in the first half of the eighteenth century, settled, for a while, more determinedly, in the curious book-reservoir of a mr. wynne--and hence, breaking up, and taking a different direction towards the collections of farmer, steevens, and others, they have almost lost their identity in the innumerable rivulets which now inundate the book-world. [footnote : "in this last part of his task, the editor (walter scott) has been greatly assisted by free access to a valuable collection of fugitive pieces of the reigns of charles ii., james ii., william iii., and queen anne. this curious collection was made by narcissus luttrell, esq., under whose name the editor usually quotes it. the industrious collector seems to have bought every poetical tract, of whatever merit, which was hawked through the streets in his time, marking carefully the price and date of the purchase. his collection contains the earliest editions of many of our most excellent poems, bound up, according to the order of time, with the lowest trash of grub-street. it was dispersed on mr. luttrell's death," &c. preface to _the works of john dryden_, : vol. i., p. iv. mr. james bindley and mr. richard heber are then mentioned, by the editor, as having obtained a great share of the luttrell collection, and liberally furnished him with the loan of the same, in order to the more perfect editing of dryden's works. but it is to the persevering book-spirit of mr. edward wynne, as lysander above intimates, that these notorious modern bibliomaniacs are indebted for the preservation of most of the choicest relics of the _bibliotheca luttrelliana_. mr. wynne lived at little chelsea; and built his library in a room which had the reputation of having been locke's _study_. here he used to sit, surrounded by innumerable books--a "great part being formed by an eminent and curious collector in the last century"--viz. the aforesaid narcissus luttrell. (see the title to the catalogue of his library.) his books were sold by auction in ; and, that the reader may have some faint idea of the treasures contained in the _bibliotheca wynniana_, he is presented with the following extracts: lot a parcel of pamphlets on poetry, vo. £ _s._ _d._ do. tragedies and comedies, to. and vo. do. historical and miscellaneous, to. and vo. poetical, historical, and miscellaneous, folio do. giving an account of horrid murders, storms, prodigies, tempests, witchcraft, ghosts, earthquakes, &c., _with frontispieces_ and _cuts_, to. and vo. do. historical and political, english and foreign, from to do. consisting of petitions, remonstrances, declarations, and other political matters, from to , during the great rebellion, and the whole of the protectorate: _a very large parcel, many of them with cuts_. purchased by the present marquis of bute do. of single sheets, giving an account of the various sieges in ireland in - ; and consisting likewise of elegies, old ballads, accounts of murders, storms, political squibs, &c. &c., _many of them with curious plates_, from to . purchased by the same lots - comprised a great number of "_old poetry and romances_," which were purchased by mr. baynes for _l._ _s._ lot comprehended a "_collection of old plays--gascoigne, white, windet, decker, &c._," vols.: which were sold for _l._ _s._ never, to be sure, was a precious collection of english history and poetry so wretchedly detailed to the public, in an auction catalogue! it should be noticed that a great number of poetical tracts was disposed of, previous to the sale, to dr. farmer, who gave not more than forty guineas for them. the doctor was also a determined purchaser at the sale, and i think the ingenious mr. waldron aided the illustrious commentator of shakspeare with many a choice volume. it may be worth adding that wynne was the author of an elegant work, written in the form of dialogues, entitled _eunomus_, or _discourses upon the laws of england_, vols., vo. it happened to be published at the time when sir william blackstone's _commentaries on the laws of england_ made their appearance; and, in consequence, has seen only three editions: the latter being published in , vols., vo.] why have i delayed, to the present moment, the mention of that illustrious bibliomaniac, earl pembroke? a patron of poor scholars, and a connoisseur, as well as collector, of every thing the most precious and rare in the book-way. yet was his love of _virtû_ not confined to objects in the shape of volumes, whether printed or in ms.: his knowledge of statues and coins was profound;[ ] and his collection of these, such as to have secured for him the admiration of posterity. [footnote : [illustration] the reader will find an animated eulogy on this great nobleman in walpole's _anecdotes of painters_, vol. iv., ; part of which was transcribed by joseph warton for his variorum edition of pope's works, and thence copied into the recent edition of the same by the rev. w.l. bowles. but pembroke deserved a more particular notice. exclusively of his fine statues and architectural decorations, the earl contrived to procure a great number of curious and rare books; and the testimonies of maittaire (who speaks indeed of him with a sort of rapture!) and palmer show that the productions of jenson and caxton were no strangers to his library. _annales typographici_, vol. i., . edit. . _history of printing_, p. . "there is nothing that so surely proves the pre-eminence of virtue more than the universal admiration of mankind, and the respect paid it by persons in opposite interests; and, more than this, it is a sparkling gem which even time does not destroy: it is hung up in the temple of fame, and respected for ever." _continuation of granger_, vol. i., , &c. "he raised (continues mr. noble) a collection of antiques that were unrivalled by any subject. his learning made him a fit companion for the literati. wilton will ever be a monument of his extensive knowledge; and the princely presents it contains, of the high estimation in which he was held by foreign potentates, as well as by the many monarchs he saw and served at home. he lived rather as a primitive christian; in his behaviour, meek; in his dress, plain: rather retired, conversing but little." burnet, in the _history of his own times_, has spoken of the earl with spirit and propriety. thus far the first edition of the bibliomania. from an original ms. letter of anstis to ames (in the possession of mr. john nichols) i insert the following memoranda, concerning the book celebrity of lord pembroke. "i had the book of juliana barnes (says anstis) printed at st. albans, , about hunting, which was afterwards reprinted by w. de worde at westminster, --but the earl of pembroke would not rest till he got it from me." from a letter to lewis (the biographer of caxton) by the same person, dated oct. , , anstis says that "the earl of pembroke would not suffer him to rest till he had presented it to him." he says also that "he had a later edition of the same, printed in , _on parchment_, by w. de worde, which he had given away: but he could send to the person who had it." from another letter, dated may , , this "person" turns out to be the famous john murray; to whom we are shortly to be introduced. the copy, however, is said to be "imperfect; but the st. albans book, a fair folio." in this letter, lord pembroke's library is said to hold "the greatest collection of the first books printed in england." perhaps the reader will not be displeased to be informed that in the _antiquities of glastonbury_, published by hearne, , p. lviii, there is a medal, with the reverse, of one of the earl's ancestors in queen elizabeth's time, which had escaped evelyn. it was lent to hearne by sir philip sydenham, who was at the expense of having the plate engraved.] while this nobleman was the general theme of literary praise there lived a _bibliomaniacal triumvirate_ of the names of bagford, murray, and hearne: a triumvirate, perhaps not equalled, in the mere love of book-collecting, by that which we mentioned a short time ago. at the head, and the survivor of these three,[ ] was thomas hearne; who, if i well remember, has been thus described by pope, in his dunciad, under the character of wormius: but who is he, in closet close ypent, of sober face, with learned dust besprent? right well mine eyes arede the myster wight, on parchment scraps y-fed, and wormius hight. [footnote : the former bibliomaniacal triumvirate is noticed at p. , ante. we will now discuss the merits of the above, _seriatim_. and first of john bagford, "by profession a bookseller; who frequently travelled into holland and other parts, in search of scarce books and valuable prints, and brought a vast number into this kingdom, the greater part of which were purchased by the earl of oxford. he had been in his younger days a shoemaker; and for the many curiosities wherewith he enriched the famous library of dr. john more, bishop of ely, his lordship got him admitted into the charter house. he died in , aged ; after his death, lord oxford purchased all his collections and papers for his library: these are now in the harleian collection in the british museum. in were published, in the philosophical transactions, his proposals for a general history of printing."--bowyer and nichol's _origin of printing_, pp. , , note. it has been my fortune (whether good or bad remains to be proved) not only to transcribe, and cause to be reprinted, the slender memorial of printing in the philosophical transactions, drawn up by wanley for bagford, but to wade through _forty-two_ folio volumes, in which bagford's materials for a history of printing are incorporated, in the british museum: and from these, i think i have furnished myself with a pretty correct notion of the collector of them. bagford was the most hungry and rapacious of all book and print collectors; and, in his ravages, he spared neither the most delicate nor costly specimens. he seems always to have expressed his astonishment at the most common productions; and his paper in the philosophical transactions betrays such simplicity and ignorance that one is astonished how my lord oxford, and the learned bishop of ely, could have employed so credulous a bibliographical forager. a modern collector and lover of _perfect_ copies, will witness, with shuddering, among bagford's immense collection of title-pages in the museum, the frontispieces of the complutensian polyglot, and chauncy's history of hertfordshire, torn out to illustrate a history of printing. his enthusiasm, however, carried him through a great deal of laborious toil; and he supplied in some measure, by this qualification, the want of other attainments. his whole mind was devoted to book-hunting; and his integrity and diligence probably made his employers overlook his many failings. his handwriting is scarcely legible, and his orthography is still more wretched; but if he was ignorant, he was humble, zealous, and grateful; and he has certainly done something towards the accomplishment of that desirable object, an accurate general history of printing. the preceding was inserted in the _first edition_ of this work. it is incumbent on me to say something more, and less declamatory, of so extraordinary a character; and as my sources of information are such as do not fall into the hands of the majority of readers, i trust the prolixity of what follows, appertaining to the aforesaid renowned bibliomaniac, will be pardoned--at least by the lover of curious biographical memoranda. my old friend, tom hearne, is my chief authority. in the preface to that very scarce, but rather curious than valuable, work, entitled _guil. roper vita d. thomæ mori_, , vo., we have the following brief notice of bagford: §. ix. "epistolas et orationes excipit anonymi scriptoris chronicon; quod idcirco godstovianum appellare visum est, quia in illud forte fortuna inciderim, quum, anno mdccxv. una cum joannÆ bagfordio, amico egregio ad rudera prioratûs de godstowe juxta oxoniam animi recreandi gratia, perambularem. de illo vero me prius certiorem fecerat ipse bagfordius, qui magno cum nostro moerore paullo post londini obiit, die nimirum quinto maij anno mdccxvi. quum jam annum ætatis sexagessimum quintum inplerisset, ut è litteris intelligo amici ingenio et humanitate ornati jacobei sothebeii, junioris, qui, si quis alius, è familiaribus erat bagfordii. virum enimvero ideo mihi quam maxime hâc occasione lugendum est, quod amicum probitate et modestia præditum amiserim, virumque cum primis diligentem et peritum intercidisse tam certum sit quam quod certissimum. quamvis enim artes liberales nunquam didicisset, vi tamen ingenii ductus, eruditus plane evasit; et, ut quod verum est dicam, incredibile est quam feliciter res abstrusas in historiis veteribus explicaverit, nodosque paullo difficiliores ad artis typographicæ incunabula spectantes solverit et expedierit. expertus novi quod scribo. quotiescunque enim ipsum consului (et quidem id sæpissime faciendum erat) perpetuo mihi aliter atque exspectaveram satisfecit, observationis itidem nonnunquam tales addens, quales antea neque mihi neque viris longe doctioribus in mentem venerant. quidni itaque virum magnum fuisse pronunciarem, præcipue quum nostra sententia illi soli magni sint censendi, qui recte agant, et sint vere boni et virtute præditi?"--_præf._ pp. xxi., ii. in hearne's perface [transcriber's note: preface] to _walter hemingford's_ history, bagford is again briefly introduced: "at vero in hoc genere fragmenta colligendi omnes quidem alios (quantum ego existimare possum) facile superavit joannes bagfordius, de quo apud hemingum, &c. incredibile est, quanta usus sit diligentia in laciniis veteribus coacervandis. imo in hoc labore quidem tantum versari exoptabat quantum potuit, tantum autem re vera versabatur, quantum ingenio (nam divino sane fruebatur) quantum mediocri doctrina (nam neque ingenue, neque liberaliter, unquam fuit educatus) quantum usu valuit," p. ciii. the reader here finds a reference to what is said of bagford, in the _hemingi wigornensis chartularium_; which, though copious, is really curious and entertaining, and is forthwith submitted to his consideration. "it was therefore very laudable in my friend, mr. j. bagford (who i think was born in fetter-lane, london) to employ so much of his time as he did in collecting remains of antiquity. indeed he was a man of a very surprising genius, and had his education (for he was first a shoe-maker, and afterwards for some time a book-seller) been equal to his natural genius, he would have proved a much greater man than he was. and yet, without this education, he was certainly the greatest man in the world in his way. i do not hear of any monument erected to his memory, but 'twas not without reason that a worthy gentleman, now living in london, designed the following epitaph for him: hic. sitvs. joannes. bagfordivs. antiquarivs. penitvs. britannvs. cujvs. nuda. solertia. aliorvm. vicit. operosam. diligentiam. obiit. maii. v. a.d. m.dcc.xvi. Ætatis [lxv.] viri. simplicis. et. sine. fvco. memoria. ne. periret. hunc. lapidem. posvit.... "'tis very remarkable that, in collecting, his care did not extend itself to books and to fragments of books only; but even to the very _covers_, and to _bosses_ and _clasps_; and all this that he might, with greater ease, compile the history of printing, which he had undertaken, but did not finish. in this noble work he intended a discourse about _binding books_ (in which he might have improved what i have said elsewhere about the ancient Æstels) and another about the _art of making paper_, in both which his observations were very accurate. nay, his skill _in paper_ was so exquisite that, at first view, he could tell the place where, and the time when, any paper was made, though at never so many years' distance. i well remember that, when i was reading over a famous book of collections (written by john lawerne, monk of worcester, and now preserved) in the bodleian library, mr. bagford came to me (as he would often come thither on purpose to converse with me about curiosities) and that he had no sooner seen the book, but he presently described the time when, and the place where, the paper of which it consists, was made. he was indefatigable in his searches, and was so ambitious of seeing what he had heard of, relating to his noble design, that he had made several journies into holland to see the famous books there. nor was he less thirsty after other antiquities, but, like old john stow, was for seeing himself, if possible (although he travelled on foot), what had been related to him. insomuch that i cannot doubt, but were he now living, he would have expressed a very longing desire of going to worcester, were it for no other reason but to be better satisfied about the famous monumental stones mentioned by heming (_chart, wigorn._, p. ), as he often declared a most earnest desire of walking with me (though i was diverted from going) to guy's cliff by warwick, when i was printing that most rare book called, _joannis rossi antiquarii warwicensis historia regum angliæ_. and i am apt to think that he would have shewed as hearty an inclination of going to stening in sussex, that being the place (according to asser's life of Ælfred the great) where k. ethelwulph (father of k. alfred) was buried, though others say it was at winchester," &c. "mr. bagford was as communicative as he was knowing: so that some of the chief curiosities in some of our best libraries are owing to him; for which reason it was that the late _bishop of ely_, dr. more (who received so much from him), as an instance of gratitude, procured him a place in the charter-house. i wish all places were as well bestowed. for as mr. bagford was, without all dispute, a very worthy man, so, being a despiser of money, he had not provided for the necessities of old age. he never looked upon those as true philosophers that aimed at heaping up riches, and, in that point, could never commend that otherwise great man, seneca, who had about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, at use in britain; the loan whereof had been thrust upon the britains, whether they would or no. he would rather extol such men as a certain rector near oxford, whose will is thus put down in writing, by richard kedermister, the last abbot but one of winchcomb (_leland collect._ vol. vi., ), in the margin of a book (i lately purchased) called _hieronymi cardinalis vitas patrum_, lugd. mcccccii. to. nihil habeo, nihil debeo, benedicamus domino. testamentum cujusdam rectoris, juxta oxoniam decedentis circiter annum salutis, ." "nor was mr. bagford versed only in our own old writers, but in those likewise of other countries, particularly the roman. his skill in that part of the roman history that immediately relates to britain is sufficiently evident from his curious letter, printed at the beginning of leland's collectanea. that he might be the better acquainted with the roman stations, and the several motions of the soldiers from one place to another, he used to pick up coins, and would, upon occasion, discourse handsomely, and very pertinently, about them; yet he would keep none, but would give them to his friends, telling them (for he was exemplarily modest and humble) that he had neither learning nor sagacity enough to explain and illustrate them, and that therefore it was more proper they should be in the possession of some able persons. he would have done any thing to retrieve a roman author, and would have given any price for so much as a single fragment (not yet discovered) of the learned commentaries, written by agrippina, mother to nero, touching the fortunes of her house, which are (as i much fear) now utterly lost, excepting the fragment or two cited out of them by pliny the elder and cornelius tacitus; as he would also have stuck at no price for a grammar _printed at tavistock_, commonly called =the long grammar=. when he went abroad he was never idle, but if he could not meet with things of a better character, he would divert himself with looking over _ballads_, and he was always mightily pleased if he met with any that were old. anthony à wood made good collections, with respect to ballads, but he was far outdone by mr. bagford. our modern ballads are, for the most part, romantic; but the old ones contain matters of fact, and were generally written by good scholars. in these old ones were couched the transactions of our great heroes: they were a sort of chronicles. so that the wise founder of new college permitted them to be sung, by the fellows of that college, upon extraordinary days. in those times, the poets thought they had done their duty when they had observed truth, and put the accounts they undertook to write, into rhythm, without extravagantly indulging their fancies. nobody knew this better than mr. bagford; for which reason he always seemed almost ravished when he happened to light upon old rhythms, though they might not, perhaps, be so properly ranged under the title of ballads," &c., pp. - . being unable to furnish a portrait of bagford (although i took some little trouble to procure one) i hope the reader--if his patience be not quite exhausted--will endeavour to console himself, in lieu thereof, with a specimen of bagford's epistolary composition; which i have faithfully copied from the original among the _sloanian mss._, no. , in the british museum. it is written to sir hans sloane. _from my lodgings_, july , . worthy sir, since you honoured me with your good company for seeing printing and card-making, i thought it my duty to explain myself to you per letter on this subject. till you had seen the whole process of card-making, i thought i could not so well represent it unto you by writing--for this i take to be the first manner of printing. in this short discouse [transcriber's note: discourse] i have explained myself when i design to treat of it in the famous subject of the art of printing. it hath been the labour of several years past, and if now i shall have assistance to midwife it into the world, i shall be well satisfied for the sake of the curious. for these years past i have spared no cost in collecting books on this subject, and likewise drafts of the effigies of our famous printers, with other designs that will be needful on this subject. if this short account of the design of the whole shall give you any satisfaction, i shall esteem my pains well bestowed. hitherto, i have met with no encouragement but from three reverend gentlemen of bennet college in cambridge, who generously, of their own accord, gave me pound each, which is all i ever received of any person whatsoever. it may indeed be imputed to my own neglect, in not acquainting the learned with my design, but modesty still keeps me silent. i hope your goodness will pardon my impertinence. i shall be ready at all times to give you any satisfaction you desire on this subject, who am, honoured sir, your most humble servant to command, jo. bagford. _for the worthy sir hans slone_ [transcriber's note: sloane]. and now it only remains to close the whole of this bagfordiana by the following unique communication. one of bagford's friends sent him this letter with the subjoined device:--"_for my lovinge friend mr. jno. bagford._--you having shewed me so many rebuses, as i was returning home, i thought of one for you--a bagge, and below that, a fourd or passable water." (_harl. ms._, no. .) [illustration] i wish it were in my power to collect information, equally acceptable with the foregoing, respecting the above-named john murray; but hearne, who was his intimate friend, has been very sparing in his anecdotes of him, having left us but a few desultory notices, written chiefly in the latin language. the earliest mention of him that i find is the following: "verum illud præcipue mentionem meretur, quod mutuo accepi, schedula una et altera jam excusa, á joanne murario londinensi, rei antiquariæ perscrutatore diligenti, cui eo nomine gratias ago." "denique subdidi descriptionem fenestrarum depictarum ecclesiæ parochialis de fairford in agro glocestriensi, è schedula quam mutuo sumpsi ab amico supra laudato johanne murrario, qui per literas etiam certiorem me fecit è codice quodam vetusto ms. fuisse extractum. neque dubito quin hic idem fuerit codex quem olim in ecclesia de fairford adservatum surripuisse nebulonem quempiam mihi significavit ecclesiæ ædituus, vir simplex, necnon ætate et scientia venerandus." præf: p. xxii. _guil. roperi vita thomæ mori_, , vo., edit. hearne. there is another slight mention of murray, by hearne, in the latter's edition of _thom. caii. vindic. antiq. acad. oxon_, vol. ii., - --where he discourses largely upon the former's copy of _rastel's pastyme of people_: a book which will be noticed by me very fully on a future occasion. at present, it may suffice to observe that a perfect copy of it is probably the rarest english book in existence. there is a curious copper plate print of murray, by vertue, in which our bibliomaniac's right arm is resting upon some books entitled "_hearne's works, sessions papers, tryals of witches_." beneath is this inscription: _hoh maister john murray of sacomb, the works of old time to collect was his pride, till oblivion dreaded his care: regardless of friends, intestate he dy'd, so the rooks and the crows were his heir._ g.n. of the above-mentioned thomas britton, i am enabled to present a very curious and interesting account, from a work published by hearne, of no very ordinary occurrence, and in the very words of hearne himself. it is quite an unique picture. "before i dismiss this subject, i must beg leave to mention, and to give a short account of, one that was intimately acquainted with mr. bagford, and was also a great man, though of but ordinary education. the person i mean is mr. thos. britton, the famous _musical small coal man_, who was born at or near higham ferrers in northamptonshire. thence he went to london, where he bound himself apprentice to a small coal man in st. john baptist's street. after he had served his full time of seven years, his master gave him a sum of money not to set up. upon this, tom went into northamptonshire again, and after he had spent his money, he returned again to london, set up the _small coal trade_ (notwithstanding his master was still living) and withall, he took a stable, and turned it into a house, which stood the next door to the little gate of st. john's of jerusalem, next clerkenwell green. some time after he had settled here, he became acquainted with dr. garenciers, his near neighbour, by which means he became an excellent chymist, and perhaps, he performed such things in that profession, as had never been done before, with little cost and charge, by the help of a moving elaboratory, that was contrived and built by himself, which was much admired by all of that faculty that happened to see it; insomuch that a certain gentleman in wales was so much taken with it that he was at the expense of carrying him down into that country, on purpose to build him such another, which tom performed to the gentleman's very great satisfaction, and for the same he received of him a very handsome and generous gratuity. besides his great skill in chymistry, he was as famous for his knowledge in the _theory of music_; in the practical part of which faculty he was likewise very considerable. he was so much addicted to it that he pricked with his own hand (very neatly and accurately), and left behind him, a valuable collection of music, mostly pricked by himself, which was sold upon his death for near a hundred pounds. not to mention the excellent collection of printed books, that he also left behind him, both of chemistry and music. besides these books that he left behind him, he had, some years before his death, sold by auction a _noble collection of books_, most of them in the _rosacrucian faculty_ (of which he was a great admirer): whereof there is a printed catalogue extant (as there is of those that were sold after his death), which i have often looked over with no small surprize and wonder, and particularly for the great number of mss. in the before mentioned faculties that are specified in it. he had, moreover, a considerable collection of musical instruments, which were sold for fourscore pounds upon his death, which happened in september , being upwards of threescore years of age; and (he) lyes buried in the church-yard of clerkenwell, without monument or inscription: being attended to his grave, in a very solemn and decent manner, by a great concourse of people, especially of such as frequented the musical club, that was kept up for many years at his own charges (he being a man of a very generous and liberal spirit) at his own little cell. he appears by the print of him (done since his death) to have been a man of an ingenuous countenance and of a sprightly temper. it also represents him as a comely person, as indeed he was; and withal, there is a modesty expressed in it every way agreeable to him. under it are these verses, which may serve instead of an epitaph: tho' mean thy rank, yet in thy humble cell did gentle peace and arts unpurchas'd dwell; well pleas'd apollo thither led his train, and music warbled in her sweetest strain. cyllenius, so, as fables tell, and jove, came willing guests to poor philemon's grove. let useless pomp behold, and blush to find so low a station, such a liberal mind. in short, he was an extraordinary and very valuable man, much admired by the gentry; even those of the best quality, and by all others of the more inferior rank, that had any manner of regard for probity, sagacity, diligence, and humility. i say humility, because, though he was so much famed for his knowledge, and might, therefore, have lived very reputably without his trade, yet he continued it to his death, not thinking it to be at all beneath him. mr. bagford and he used frequently to converse together, and when they met _they seldom parted very soon_. their conversation was very often about old mss. and the havock made of them. they both agreed to retrieve what fragments of antiquity they could, and, upon that occasion, they would frequently divert themselves in talking of old chronicles, which both loved to read, though, among our more late chronicles printed in english, isaackson's was what they chiefly preferred for a general knowledge of things; a book which was much esteemed also by those two eminent chronologers, bishop lloyd and mr. dodwell. by the way, i cannot but observe that isaackson's chronicle is really, for the most part, bishop andrews's; isaackson being amanuensis to the bishop." _hemingi chartular. eccles. wigornien._, vol. ii., - , edit. hearne. see also, _robert of glocester's chronicle_, vol. i., p. lxxii. we will close our account of this perfectly _unique_ bibliomaniac by subjoining the title of the _catalogue of his books_; for which i am indebted to the ever-active and friendly assistance of mr. heber. the volume is so rare that the late mr. reed told mr. h. he had never seen another copy: but another has recently been sold, and is now in the curious collection of mr. r. baker. "the library of mr. thomas britton, small-coal man, deceas'd: who, at his own charge, kept up a concort of musick above years, in his little cottage. being a curious collection of every ancient and uncommon book in divinity, history, physick, chemistry, magick, &c. also a collection of mss. chiefly on vellum. _which will be sold by auction at paul's coffee house, &c., the th day of january, - , at five in the evening._ by thomas ballard, esq., vo., p. . containing articles in folio-- in to.-- in octavo-- pamphlets--and mss." a few of the works, in octavo, were sufficiently amatory. the third and last character above mentioned, as making this illustrious bibliomaniacal triumvirate complete, is thomas hearne. that pope, in the verses which lysander has quoted, meant this distinguished antiquary seems hardly to be questioned; and one wonders at the jesuitical note of warburton, in striving to blow the fumes of the poet's satire into a different direction. they must settle upon poor hearne's head: for wanley's antiquarian talents were equally beyond the touch of satire and the criticism of the satirist. warton has, accordingly, admitted that hearne was represented under the character of wormius; and he defends the character of hearne very justly against the censures of pope. his eulogy will be presently submitted to the reader. gibbon, in his _posthumous works_, vol. ii., , has aimed a deadly blow at the literary reputation of hearne; and an admirer of this critic and historian, as well as an excellent judge of antiquarian pursuits, has followed up gibbon's mode of attack in a yet more merciless manner. he calls him "thomas hearne, of black-letter memory, _carbone notandus_"--"a weaker man (says he) never existed, as his prefaces, so called, lamentably show." he continues in this hard-hearted strain: but i have too much humanity to make further extracts. he admits, however, the utility of most of hearne's publications--"of which he was forced to publish a few copies, at an extravagant subscription." the remarks of this (anonymous) writer, upon the neglect of the cultivation of english history, and upon the want of valuable editions of our old historians, are but too just, and cannot be too attentively perused. see _gentleman's magazine_, vol. , pt. , - (a.d. ). thus far in deterioration of poor hearne's literary fame. let us now listen to writers of a more courteous strain of observation. prefixed to tanner's _bibliotheca britannico-hibernica_, there is a preface, of which dr. wilkins is the reputed author. the whole of hearne's publications are herein somewhat minutely criticised, and their merits and demerits slightly discussed. it is difficult to collect the critic's summary opinion upon hearne's editorial labours; but he concludes thus: "quia autem leporis est mortuis insultare leonibus, cineres celeberrimi hujus et olim mihi amicissimi viri turbare, neutiquam in animum inducere possum," p. xlvii. mr. gough, in his _british topography_, vol. ii., p. , calls hearne an "acute observer;" but, unluckily, the subject to which the reader's attention is here directed discovers our antiquary to have been in error. j. warton, in the passage before alluded to, observes: "in consideration of the many very accurate and very elegant editions which hearne published of our valuable old chronicles, which shed such a light on english history, he (hearne) ought not to have been so severely lashed as in these bitter lines," (quoted in the text, p. , ante) _pope's works_, edit. bowles; vol. v., . let the reader consult also dr. pegge's _anonymiana_, in the passages referred to, in the truly valuable index attached to it, concerning hearne. thus much, i submit, may be fairly said of our antiquary's labours. that the greater part of them are truly useful, and absolutely necessary for a philological library, must on all sides be admitted. i will mention only the _chronicles of langtoft and robert of gloucester_; _adam de domerham, de rebus glastoniensibus_; _gulielmus neubrigensis_; _forduni scotichronicon_; and all his volumes appertaining to _regal biography_:--these are, surely, publications of no mean importance. hearne's prefaces and appendices are gossiping enough; sometimes, however, they repay the labour of perusal by curious and unlooked-for intelligence. yet it must be allowed that no literary cook ever enriched his dishes with such little piquant sauce, as did hearne: i speak only of their _intrinsic_ value, for they had a very respectable exterior--what winstanley says of ogilvey's publications being, applicable enough to hearne's;--they were printed on "special good paper, and in a very good letter." we will now say a few words relative to hearne's habits of study and living--taken from his own testimony. in the preface prefixed to _roper's life of sir thomas more_, p. xix. (edit. ), he describes himself "as leading the life of an ascetic." in the preface to the _annals of dunstable priory_, his bibliographical diligence is evinced by his saying he had "turned over every volume in the bodleian library." in one of his prefaces (to which i am not able just now to refer) he declares that he was born--like our british tars--"for action:" and indeed his activity was sufficiently demonstrated; for sometimes he would set about transcribing for the press papers which had just been put into his hands. thus, in the _antiquities of glastonbury_, p. , he writes, "the two following old evidences were lent me _to-day_ by my friend the hon. benedict leonard calvert, esq." his excessive regard to fidelity of transcription is, among many other evidences that may be brought forward, attested in the following passage: "have taken particular care (saith mr. harcourt, in his letter to me from aukenvyke, sep. , ) in the copying; well knowing your exactness." _benedict abbas_, vol ii., . but this servility of transcription was frequently the cause of multiplying, by propagating, errors. if hearne had seen the word "faith" thus disjointed--"fay the"--he would have adhered to this error, for "faythe." as indeed he has committed a similar one, in the _battle of agincourt_, in the appendix to thomas de elmham: for he writes "breth reneverichone"--instead of "brethren everichone"--as mr. evans has properly printed it, in his recent edition of his father's _collection of old ballads_, vol. ii., . but this may be thought trifling. it is certainly not here meant to justify capriciousness of copying; but surely an obvious corruption of reading may be restored to its genuine state: unless, indeed, we are resolved to consider antiquity and perfection as synonymous terms. but there are some traits in hearne's character which must make us forgive and forget this blind adherence to the errors of antiquity. he was so warm a lover of every thing in the shape of a book that, in the preface to _alured of beverley_, pp. v. vi., he says that he jumped almost out of his skin for joy, on reading a certain ms. which thomas rawlinson sent to him ("vix credi potest qua voluptate, qua animi alacritate, perlegerim," &c.). similar feelings possessed him on a like occasion: "when the pious author (of the _antiquities of glastonbury_) first put it (the ms.) into my hands, i read it over with as much delight as i have done anything whatsoever upon the subject of antiquity, and i was earnest with him to print it," p. lxxviii. hearne's horror of book-devastations is expressed upon a variety of occasions: and what will reconcile him to a great portion of _modern_ readers--and especially of those who condescend to read this account of him--his attachment to the black-letter was marvelously enthusiastic! witness his pathetic appeal to the english nation, in the th section of his preface to _robert of gloucester's chronicle_, where he almost predicts the extinction of "right good" literature, on the disappearance of the _black-letter_! and here let us draw towards the close of these hearneana, by contemplating a wood-cut portrait of this illustrious bibliomaniac; concerning whose life and works the reader should peruse the well-known volumes published at oxford in , vo.: containing the biographical memoirs of leland, bale, hearne, and wood. [illustration: obiit mdccxxxv: Ætatis suÆ lvii. _deut. xxxii: . remember the days of old._] the library of hearne was sold in february, , by osborne the book-seller; "the lowest price being marked in each book." the title-page informs us of what all bibliomaniacs will be disposed to admit the truth, that the collection contained "a very great variety of uncommon books, and scarce ever to be met withal," &c. there is, at bottom, a small wretched portrait of hearne, with this well known couplet subjoined: pox on't quoth _time_ to _thomas hearne_, whatever i _forget_ you learn. let the modern collector of chronicles turn his eye towards the th page of this catalogue--nos. , --and see what "compleat and very fair" copies of these treasures were incorporated in hearne's extensive library!] a little volume of book chit-chat might be written upon the marvellous discovesies [transcriber's note: discoveries] and voluminous compilations of bagford and hearne: and to these, we may add another _unique_ bibliomaniac, who will go down to posterity under the distinguished, and truly enviable, title of "_the musical small-coal man_;" i mean, master thomas britton. yes, lisardo; while we give to the foregoing characters their full share of merit and praise; we admit that bagford's personal activity and manual labour have hardly been equalled--while we allow john murray to have looked with sharper eyes after black-letter volumes than almost any of his predecessors or successors--while we grant thomas hearne a considerable portion of scholarship, an inflexible integrity, as well as indefatigable industry, and that his works are generally interesting, both from the artless style in which they are composed, and the intrinstic utility of the greater part of them, yet let our admiration be [transcriber's note: superfluous 'be'] "be screwed to its sticking place," when we think upon the wonderous genius of the aforesaid thomas britton; who, in the midst of his coal cellars, could practise upon "fiddle and flute," or collate his curious volumes; and throwing away, with the agility of a harlequin, his sombre suit of business-cloths, could put on his velvet coat and bag-wig, and receive his concert visitors, at the stair-head, with the politeness of a lord of the bedchamber! loren. in truth, a marvellous hero was this _small-coal man_! have you many such characters to notice? lysand. not many of exactly the same stamp. indeed, i suspect that hearne, from his love of magnifying the simple into the marvellous, has a little caricatured the picture. but murray seems to have been a quiet unaffected character; passionately addicted to old books of whatever kind they chanced to be; and, in particular, most enthusiastically devoted to a certain old english chronicle, entitled _rastell's pastime of (the) people_. phil. i observed a notification of the re-appearance of this chronicle in some of the magazines or reviews: but i hope, for the benefit of general readers, the orthography will be modernized. loren. i hope, for the sake of consistency with former similar publications,[ ] the ancient garb will not be thrown aside. it would be like--what dr. johnson accuses pope of having committed--"clothing homer with ovidian graces." [footnote : the ancient chonicles of the history of our country are in a progressive state of being creditably reprinted, with a strict adherence to the old phraseology. of these chronicles, the following have already made their appearance: holinshed, , to., vols.; hall, , to.; grafton, , to., vols.; fabian, , to. this latter is not a mere reprint of the first edition of fabian, but has, at the bottom, the various readings of the subsequent impressions. the index is copious and valuable. indeed, all these re-impressions have good indexes. the public will hear, with pleasure, that arnold, harding, and lord berners' translation of froissard, and rastell, are about to bring up the rear of these popular chroniclers.] lysand. much may be said on both sides of the question. but why are we about to make learned dissertations upon the old english chronicles? lis. proceed, and leave the old chroniclers to settle the matter themselves. who is the next bibliomaniac deserving of particular commendation? lysand. as we have sometimes classed our bibliomaniacs in tribes, let me now make you acquainted with another _trio_, of like renown in the book-way: i mean anstis, lewis, and ames. of these in their turn. anstis[ ] stands deservedly the first in the list; for he was, in every respect, a man of thorough benevolent character, as well as a writer of taste and research. i do not know of any particulars connected with his library that merit a distinct recital; but he is introduced here from his connection with the two latter bibliographers. lewis[ ] is known to us, both as a topographer and bibliographical antiquary. his _life of caxton_ has been reprinted with additions and corrections; and, in particular, his edition of _wicliffe's new testament_ has been recently put forth by the rev. mr. baber, in a handsome quarto volume, with valuable emendations. lewis was a sharp censurer of hearne, and was somewhat jealous of the typographical reputation of ames. but his integrity and moral character, as well as his love of rare and curious books, has secured for him a durable reputation. of ames, and here--though a little out of order--i may add herbert--the public has already heard probably "more than enough." they were both, undoubtedly, men of extraordinary mental vigour and bodily activity in the darling pursuit which they cultivated.[ ] indeed, herbert deserves high commendation; for while he was rearing, with his own hands, a lofty pyramid of typographical fame, he seems to have been unconscious of his merits; and, possessing the most natural and diffident character imaginable, he was always conjuring up supposed cases of vanity and arrogance, which had no foundation whatever but in the reveries of a timid imagination. his _typographical antiquities_ are a mass of useful, but occasionally uninteresting, information. they are as a vast plain, wherein the traveller sees nothing, immediately, which is beautiful or inviting; few roses, or cowslips, or daisies; but let him persevere, and walk only a little way onward, and he will find, in many a shelter'd recess, "flowers of all hue," and herbs of all qualities: so that fragrance and salubrity are not wanting in this said plain, which has been thus depicted in a style so marvellously metaphorical! [footnote : the reader will be pleased to consult the account of earl pembroke, p. , ante, where he will find a few traits of the bibliomaniacal character of anstis. he is here informed, from the same authority, that when anstis "acquainted bagford that he would find in rymer a commission granted to caxton, appointing him ambassador to the duchess of burgundy, he (bagford) was transported with joy." of hearne he thus speaks: "i am ashamed that mr. hearne hath made so many mistakes about the translation of _boetius, printed at tavistock_; which book i had, and gave it to the duke of bedford." but in another letter (to lewis) anstis says, "i lent this book to one mr. ryder, who used me scurvily, by presenting it, without my knowledge, to the duke of bedford." there are some curious particulars in this letter about the abbey of tavistock. anstis's _order of the garter_ is a valuable book; and will one day, i prognosticate, retrieve the indifferent credit it now receives in the book-market. the author loved rare and curious volumes dearly; and was, moreover, both liberal and prompt in his communications. the reader will draw his own conclusions on anstis's comparative merit with lewis and ames, when he reaches the end of the second note after the present one.] [footnote : concerning the rev. john lewis, i am enabled to lay before the reader some particulars now published for the first time, and of a nature by no means uninteresting to the lovers of literary anecdote. his printed works, and his bibliographical character, together with his conduct towards ames, have been already sufficiently described to the public: _typographical antiquities_, vol. i., - . and first, the aforesaid reader and lovers may peruse the following extract from an original letter by lewis to ames: "i have no other design, in being so free with you, than to serve you, by doing all i can to promote your credit and reputation. i take it, that good sense and judgment, attended with care and accuracy in making and sorting a collection, suits every one's palate: and that they must have none at all who are delighted with trifles and play things fit only for fools and children: such, for the most part, as thomas hearne dished out for his chaps, among whom i was so silly as to rank myself." again, to the same person, he thus makes mention of lord oxford and hearne: "i can truly say i never took ill any thing which you have written to me: but heartily wish you well to succeed in the execution of your projects. i han't sense to see, by the death of lord oxford, how much more you are likely to make your account better. but time will shew. i don't understand what you mean by his having a love to surprize people with his vast communications. dr. r(awlinson, qu.?) tells me he knew nobody who had so free a use of his lordship's rarities as t. hearne, a sure proof of the exactness and solidity of his lordship's judgment. but hearne answered, perhaps, his lordship's design of making the world have a very great opinion of his collections, and setting an inestimable value on them. and this hearne attempted; but his daubing is, i think, too coarse, and the smoke of his incense troublesome and suffocating." but it is to the loan of a copy of lewis's folio edition of the _history of the translations of the bible_, belonging to my friend mr. g.v. neunburg, that i am indebted for the following further, and more interesting, particulars. this valuable copy, illustrated with some rare prints, and charged with numerous ms. memoranda, contains some original letters to lewis by the famous dr. white kennet, bishop of peterborough: from which these extracts are taken. "jan. , - . dear sir; i thank you for your kind acceptance of the advice to my clergy: well meant, i pray god well applied. i have wisht long to see your _life of wiclif_, and shall now impatiently expect it. i am not surprised that a man of dignity, near you, should be jealous of publishing an impartial account of that good old evangelical author, &c. i have a mighty veneration for wicliff, and am the more angry with mr. russell for deceiving the world in his promise of the bible, after proposals given and money taken. but he has in other respects behaved so very basely that, forgiving him, i have done with him for ever. i would not have you discouraged, by an ungrateful world, or by a sharp bookseller. go on, and serve truth and peace what you can, and god prosper your labours." signed "wh. peterbor." "feb. , - . you perceive your own unhappiness in not being able to attend the press. i cannot but importune you to revise the whole, to throw the additions and corrections into their proper places, to desire all your friends and correspondents to suggest any amendments, or any new matter; in order to publish a new correct edition that will be a classic in our history, &c.--if the booksellers object against a second edition till the full disposal of the first, i hope we may buy them off with subscription for a new impression; wherein my name should stand for six copies, and better example i hope would be given by more able friends. i pray god bless your labours and reward them." several letters follow, in which this amiable prelate and learned antiquary sends lewis a good deal of valuable information for his proposed second edition of the life of wicliffe; but which was never put to press. one more extract only from the bishop of peterborough, and we bid farewell to the rev. john lewis: a very respectable bibliomaniac. "rev. sir; in respect to you and your good services to the church and our holy religion, i think fit to acquaint you that, in the _weekly journal_, published this day, oct. ( ), by _mr. mist_, there is a scandalous advertisement subscribed m. earbury, beginning thus: 'whereas a pretended _vindication of john wickliffe_ has been published under the name of one lewis of margate, by the incitement, as the preface asserts, of the archbishop of canterbury, and in the same i am injuriously reflected upon as a scurrilous writer, this is to inform the public that i shall reserve the author for a more serious whipping in my leisure hours, and in the meantime give him a short correction for his benefit, if he has grace and sense to take it'--and ending thus--'why does this author persuade the world the late archbishop of canterbury could have any veneration for the memory of one who asserts god ought to obey the devil; or that he could be desirous to open the impure fountains from whence the filth of bangorianism has been conveyed to us? m. earbury." "i confess (proceeds the bishop) i don't know that, in the worst of causes, there has appeared a more ignorant, insolent, and abandoned writer than this matth. earbury. whether you are to answer, or not to answer, the f. according to his folly, i must leave to your discretion. yet i cannot but wish you would revise the life of wickliffe; and, in the preface, justly complain of the spiteful injuries done to his memory, and, through his sides, to our reformation. i have somewhat to say to you on that head, if you think to resume it. i am, in the mean time, your affectionate friend and brother, wh. petesbor."] [footnote : it is unnecessary for me to add any thing here to the copious details respecting these eminent bibliomaniacs, ames and herbert, which have already been presented to the public in the first volume of the new edition of the _typographical antiquities_ of our own country. see also p. , ante; and the note respecting the late george steevens, post.] by mentioning herbert in the present place, i have a little inverted the order of my narrative. a crowd of distinguished bibliomaniacs, in fancy's eye, is thronging around me, and demanding a satisfactory memorial of their deeds. loren. be not dismayed, lysander. if any one, in particular, looks "frowningly" upon you, leave him to me, and he shall have ample satisfaction. lysand. i wish, indeed, you would rid me of a few of these book-madmen. for, look yonder, what a commanding attitude thomas baker[ ] assumes! [footnote : thomas baker was a learned antiquary in most things respecting _typography_ and _bibliography_; and seems to have had considerable influence with that distinguished corps, composed of hearne, bagford, middleton, anstis, and ames, &c. his life has been written by the rev. robert masters, camb., , vo.; and from the "catalogue of forty-two folio volumes of ms. collections by mr. baker"--given to the library of st. john's college, cambridge--which the biographer has printed at the end of the volume--there is surely sufficient evidence to warrant us in concluding that the above-mentioned thomas baker was no ordinary bibliomaniac. to hearne in particular (and indeed to almost every respectable author who applied to him) he was kind and communicative; hence he is frequently named by the former in terms of the most respectful admiration: thus--"vir amicissimus, educatus optime, emendatus vitâ, doctrinâ clarus, moribus singularis et perjucundus, exemplum antiquitatis, cujus judicio plurimum esse tribuendum mecum fatebuntur litterati:" _vita mori_, p. xviii. in his preface to the _antiquities of glastonbury_, p. cxxx., hearne calls him "that great man;" and again, in his _walter hemingford_, vol. i., p. xvii.--"amicus eruditissimus, mihi summe colendus; is nempe, qui è scriniis suis mss. tam multa meam in gratiam deprompsit." indeed, hearne had good occasion to speak well of the treasures of baker's "_scrinia_;" as the appendix to his _thomas de elmham_ alone testifies. of baker's abilities and private worth, we have the testimonies of middleton (_origin of printing_, p. ) and warburton. the latter thus mentions him: "good old mr. baker, of st john's college, has indeed, been very obliging. the people of st. john's almost adore the man." _masters's life of baker_, p. . this authority also informs us that "mr. baker had, for many years before his death, been almost a recluse, and seldom went farther than the college walks, unless to a coffee-house in an evening, after chapel, where he commonly spent an hour with great chearfulness, conversing with a select number of his friends and acquaintance upon literary subjects," p. . every thing the most amiable, and, i had almost said, enviable, is here said of the virtues of his head and heart; and that this venerable bibliomaniac should have reached his th year is at least a demonstration that tarrying amongst folios and octavos, from morn till night (which baker used to do, in st. john's library, for nearly years together), does not unstring the nerves, or dry up the juices, of the human frame. yet a little further extension of this note, gentle reader, and then we bid adieu to thomas baker, of ever respectable book-memory. among the mss., once the property of herbert, which i purchased at the late sale of mr. gough's mss., i obtained a volume full of extracts from original letters between baker and ames; containing also the _will_ of the former, which is not inserted in master's life of him, nor in the _biographia britannica_. the original documents are in his majesty's library, and were bought at the sale of mr. tutet's books, a.d. ; no. . from this will, as herbert has copied it, the reader is presented with the following strong proofs of the bibliomaniacal "ruling passion, strong in death," of our illustrious antiquary. but let us not omit the manly tone of piety with which this will commences. "in the name of god, amen! i, thomas baker, ejected fellow of st. john's college, cambridge, do make my last will and testament, as follows: first, i commend my soul into the hands of almighty god (my most gracious and good god), my faithful creator and merciful redeemer, and, in all my dangers and difficulties, a most constant protector. blessed for ever be his holy name." "as to the temporal goods which it hath pleased the same good god to bestow upon me (such as all men ought to be content with) and are, i bless god, neither poverty nor riches--i dispose of them in the following manner." here follow a few of his book bequests, which may be worth the attention of those whose pursuits lead them to a particular examination of these authors. "whereas i have made a deed of gift or sale for one guinea, of volumes in folio, of my own hand-writing, to the right honourable edward earl of oxford, i confirm and ratify that gift by this my last will. and i beg his lordship's acceptance of 'em, being sensible that they are of little use or value, with two other volumes in fol., markt vol. , , since convey'd to him in like manner. to my dear cosin, george baker, of crook, esq., i leave the _life of cardinal wolsey_, noted with my own hand, _lord clarendon's history_, with cuts and prints; and _winwood's memorials_, in three volumes, fol., with a five pound (jacobus) piece of gold, only as a mark of respect and affection, since he does not want it. to my worthy kinsman and friend mr. george smith, i leave _godwin de præsulibus angliæ_, and _warræus de præsulibus hibernia_, both noted with my own hand. to st. john's college library i leave all such books, printed or mss., as i have and are wanting there: excepting that i leave in trust to my worthy friend, dr. middleton, for the university library, _archbishop wake's state of the church_, noted and improved under his own hand; _bp. burnet's history of the reformation_, in three volumes, noted in my hand; and _bp. kennett's register and chronicle_ (for the memory of which three great prelates, my honoured friends, i must always have due regard). to these i add mr. ansty's, my worthy friend, _history of the garter_, in two vols., fol. _wood's athenæ oxon._; and _maunsell's catalogue_; both noted with my own hand--and _gunton's and patrick's history of the church of peterburgh_, noted (from bishop kennett) in my hand; with fifteen volumes (more or less) in fol., all in my own hand; and three volumes in to., part in my own hand." let us conclude in a yet more exalted strain of christian piety than we began. "lastly, i constitute and appoint my dear nephew, richard burton, esq., my sole executor, to whom i leave every thing undisposed of, which i hope will be enough to reward his trouble. may god almighty bless him, and give him all the engaging qualities of his father, all the vertues of his mother, and none of the sins or failings of his uncle, which god knows are great and many:--and humbly, o my god, i call for mercy! in testimony of this my will, i have hereunto set my hand and seal, this th day of october, . tho. baker. and now, o my god, into thy hands i contentedly resign myself: whether it be to life or death, thy will be done! long life i have not desired (and yet thou hast given it me). give me, if it be thy good pleasure, an easy and happy death. or if it shall please thee to visit me sorely, as my sins have deserved, give me patience to bear thy correction, and let me always say (even with my dying breath) thy will be done, amen, amen." subjoined was this curious memorandum: "at the making of this will, i have, in the corner of my outer study, next my chamber, guineas; and on the other side of the study towards the river, guineas, more or less, in several canvass bags, behind the shelves, being more secret and hidden, to prevent purloyning. one or more of the shelves markt g. among the latter is a five pound (jacobus) piece of gold."] loren. never fear. he is an old acquaintance of mine; for, when resident at st. john's, cambridge, i was frequently in the habit of conversing with his spirit in the library, and of getting curious information relating to choice and precious volumes, which had escaped the sagacity of his predecessors, and of which i fear his successors have not made the most proper use. phil. this is drawing too severe a conclusion. but baker merits the thanks of a book-loving posterity. lysand. he is satisfied with this mention of his labours; for see, he retreats--and theobald[ ] and tom rawlinson rush forward to claim a more marked attention: although i am not much disposed to draw a highly finished picture of the editor of shakespeare. [footnote : notwithstanding pope has called theobald by an epithet which i have too much respect for the ears of my readers to repeat, i do not scruple to rank the latter in the list of bibliomaniacs. we have nothing here to do with his edition of shakspeare; which, by the bye, was no despicable effort of editorial skill--as some of his notes, yet preserved in the recent editions of our bard, testify--but we may fairly allow theobald to have been a lover of caxtonian lore, as his curious extract in _mist's journal_, march , , from our old printer's edition of virgil's Æneid, , sufficiently testifies. while his gothic library, composed in part of "caxton, wynkyn, and de lyra," proves that he had something of the genuine blood of bibliomaniacism running in his veins. see mr. bowles's edition of _pope's works_, vol. v., , .] lis. is thomas rawlinson[ ] so particularly deserving of commendation, as a bibliomaniac? [footnote : let us, first of all, hear hearne discourse rapturously of the bibliomaniacal reputation of t. rawlinson: "in his fuit amicus noster nuperus thomas rawlinsonus; cujus peritiam in supellectile libraria, animique magnitudinem, nemo fere hominum eruditorum unquam attigit, quod tamen vix agnoscet seculum ingratum. quanquam non desunt, qui putent, ipsius memoriæ statuam deberi, idque etiam ad sumptus bibliopolarum, quorum facultates mire auxerat; quorum tamen aliqui (utcunque de illis optime meritus fuisset) quum librorum rawlinsoni auctio fieret, pro virili (clandestinò tamen) laborabant, ut minus auspicatò venderentur. quod videntes probi aliquot, qui rem omuem noverant, clamitabant, ô homines scelestos! hos jam oportet in cruciatum hinc abripi! quod hæc notem, non est cur vitio vertas. nam nil pol falsi dixi, mi lector. quo tempore vixit rawlinsonus (et quidem perquam jucundum est commemorare), magna et laudabilis erat æmulatio inter viros eruditos, aliosque etiam, in libris perquirendis ac comparandis, imo in fragmentis quoque. adeo ut domicilia, ubi venales id genus res pretiosæ prostabant, hominum coetu frequenti semper complerentur, in magnum profecto commodum eorum, ad quos libri aliæque res illæ pertinebant; quippe quod emptores parvo ære nunquam, aut rarissime, compararent." _walter hemingford, præfat._, p. civ. in his preface to _alured de beverly_, pp. v. vi., the copious stores of rawlinson's library, and the prompt kindness of the possessor himself, are emphatically mentioned; while in the preface to _titi livii foro-juliensis vit. henrici v._, p. xi., we are told, of the former, that it was "plurimis libris rarissimis referta:" and, in truth, such a "bibliotheca refertissima" was perhaps never before beheld. rawlinson was introduced into the tatler, under the name tom folio. his own house not being large enough, he hired _london house_, in aldersgate street, for the reception of his library; and there he used to regale himself with the sight and the scent of innumerable black letter volumes, arranged in "sable garb," and stowed perhaps "three deep," from the bottom to the top of his house. he died in ; and catalogues of his books for sale continued, for nine succeeding years, to meet the public eye. the following is, perhaps, as correct a list of these copious and heterogeneously compiled catalogues, as can be presented to the reader. i am indebted to the library of mr. heber for such a curious bibliographical morçeau. i. _a catalogue of choice and valuable books in most faculties and languages; being part of the collection made by thomas rawlinson, esq._, which will begin to be sold by auction at paul's coffee house, the west-end of st. paul's, th dec., , beginning every evening at , by thomas ballard, bookseller, at the rising sun, little britain. mo. price s. pages.----ii. _a catalogue_, &c., being the nd part of the collection by t. rawlinson, esq., to be sold by auction at paul's coffee-house, th march, - , every evening at , by t. ballard. mo. price s., paged on from the last, pp. to . [these two parts contain together vo. lots; in to., in folio.]----iii. _a catalogue_, &c., being the third part of the collection by t. rawlinson, esq., to be sold by auction at paul's coffee-house, th oct., , every evening at , by t. ballard. mo. price s. (no paging or printer's letter.)----iv. _a catalogue_, &c., being the th part of the collection by t. rawlinson, esq., to be sold by auction at paul's coffee-house, nd april, , every evening at , by t. ballard, mo. price s. (no paging or printer's letter.)----v. & vi. _a catalogue_, &c., being the th part of the collection by t. rawlinson, esq., to be sold by auction at paul's coffee-house, th jan. , every evening at , by t. ballard. mo. price s. altho' this vol. seems to have been the last of only one sale--yet it may be collected, from the concurrent testimony of his notes in more copies than one--that it was divided and sold at two different times; the latter part commencing about the middle of the volume, with the _libri theologici_. in folio.--test. nov. , being the first article. this collection began to be sold in feb. . [ ?]--vii. _a catalogue_, &c., being the th part of the collection made by t. rawlinson, esq., _deceased_, which will begin to be sold by auction at london-house, in aldersgate street, nd march, , every evening at , by charles davis, bookseller. mo. price _s._ _d._ (no paging--printer's mark at bottom irregularly continued from to .)--viii. _bibliotheca rawlinsoniana_, being a cat. of part the val. libr. of tho. rawlinson, esq., deceased: which will begin to be sold by auction at the bedford coffee-house, in the great piazza, covent garden, the th of this present april [ ] every evening at , by charles davis, bookseller. vo. price _d._ ( days' sale-- lots.)----ix. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, &c., pars_ ix. being a cat. of part of the libr. of th. rawlinson, esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at st. paul's coffee-house, th oct., , every evening at , by t. ballard. vo. price _s._ ( days' sale, lots.)----x. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, &c., pars altera_, being a cat. of part of lib. of th. rawlinson, esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at st. paul's coffee-house, d nov., , every evening at , by th. ballard. vo. price _s._ ( days' sale, articles.)----xi. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, pars altera_, being a catalogue of part of the library of t. rawlinson, esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at st. paul's coffee-house, d jan. - , every evening, saturdays excepted, at . vo. price _s._ ( days' sale, lots.)----xii. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, pars altera_, being a cat. of part of the library of th. rawlinson, esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at st. paul's coffee-house, th march, - , every evening at , by t. ballard. price _s._ ( vo. days' sale, lots.)----xiii. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, pars altera_, being a cat. of part of the library of th. rawlinson, esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at st. paul's coffee-house, st april, , every evening at , by t. ballard. price _s._ ( vo. days' sale, lots.)----xiv. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, pars altera_, being a cat. of part of the library of t. rawlinson, esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at st. paul's coffee-house, nov. , every evening at , by t. ballard. price _s._ ( vo. days' sale, lots.)----xv. _bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ, pars altera_, being a cat. of part of the library of t. rawlinson, f.r.s., deceased, to be sold by auction th nov., , at st. paul's coffee-house, every evening at , by tho. ballard. price _s._ ( vo. days' sale, lots.)----xvi. _codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecæ rawlinsonianæ catalogus--cum appendice impressorum_--to be sold th march, - , at st. paul's coffee-house, every night at , by t. ballard. price _s._ ( vo., days' sale, mss. lots--appendix ). to these may be added, _picturæ rawlinsonianæ_--being the collection of original paintings of t. rawlinson, esq., f.r.s., by the best masters--part of which were formerly the earl of craven's collection. to be sold by auction, at the two golden balls, in hart street, covent garden, th april, , at . vo. ( lots.) now let any man, in his sober senses, imagine what must have been the number of volumes contained in the library of the above-named thomas rawlinson? does he imagine that the tomes in the bodleian, vatican, and british museum were, in each single collection, more numerous than those in the _aldersgate street_ repository?--or, at any rate, would not a view of this aldersgate street collection give him the completest idea of the _ne plus ultra_ of book-phrensy in a private collector? rawlinson would have cut a very splendid figure, indeed, with posterity, if some judicious catalogue-maker, the paterson of former times, had consolidated all these straggling _bibliothecal_ corps into one compact wedge-like phalanx. or, in other words, if one thick octavo volume, containing a tolerably well classed arrangement of his library, had descended to us--oh, then we should all have been better able to appreciate the extraordinary treasures of such a collection! the genius of pearson and crofts would have done homage to the towering spirit of rawlinson.] lysand. if the most unabating activity and an insatiable appetite--if an eye, in regard to books, keen and sparkling as the ocean-bathed star--if a purse, heavily laden and inexhaustible--if store-rooms rivalled only by the present warehouses of the east-india company--if a disposition to spread far and wide the influence of the bibliomania, by issuing a _carte blanche_ for every desperately smitten antiquary to enter, and partake of the benefits of, his library--be criteria of book-phrensy--why then the resemblance of this said tom rawlinson ought to form a principal ornament in the capital of that gigantic column, which sustains the temple of book fame! he was the _tom folio_ of the tatler, and may be called the _leviathan_ of book-collectors during nearly the first thirty years of the eighteenth century. lis. i suppose, then, that bagford, murray, and hearne, were not unknown to this towering bibliomaniac? lysand. on the contrary, i conclude, for certain, that, if they did not drink wine, they constantly drank coffee, together: one of the huge folio volumes of bleau's atlas serving them for a table. but see yonder the rough rude features of humphrey wanley[ ] peering above the crowd! all hail to thy honest physiognomy--for thou wert a rare _book-wight_ in thy way! and as long as the fame of thy patron harley shall live, so long, honest humphrey, dost thou stand a sure chance of living "for aye," in the memory of all worthy bibliomaniacs. [footnote : lysander is well warranted in borrowing the pencil of jan steen, in the above bold and striking portrait of wanley: who was, i believe, as honest a man, and as learned a librarian, as ever sat down to morning chocolate in velvet slippers. there is a portrait of him in oil in the british museum, and another similar one in the bodleian library--from which latter it is evident, on the slightest observation, that the inestimable, i ought to say immortal, founder of the _cow pox system_ (my ever respected and sincere friend, dr. jenner) had not then made known the blessings resulting from the vaccine operation: for poor wanley's face is absolutely _peppered_ with _variolous_ indentations! yet he seems to have been a hale and hearty man, in spite of the merciless inroads made upon his visage; for his cheeks are full, his hair is cropt and curly, and his shoulders have a breadth which shew that the unrolling of the harleian mss. did not produce any enervating effluvia or mismata [transcriber's note: miasmata]. our poet, gay, in his epistle to pope, _ep._ , thus hits off his countenance: o wanley, whence com'st thou with _shorten'd hair_, and _visage_, from thy shelves, _with_ dust besprent? but let us hear the testimony of a friend and fellow bibliomaniac, called thomas hearne. the following desultory information is translated from the preface to the _annales prioratûs de dunstable_--wherein, by the bye, there is a good deal of pleasant information relating to wanley. we are here told that wanley was "born at coventry; and, in his younger days, employed his leisure hours in turning over ancient mss., and imitating the several hands in which they were written. lloyd, bishop of litchfield and coventry, in one of his episcopal visitations, was the first who noticed and patronized him. he demanded that wanley should be brought to him; he examined him "suis ipsius, non alterius, oculis;" and ascertained whether what so many respectable people had said of his talents was true or false--'a few words with you, young man,' said the bishop. wanley approached with timidity--'what are your pursuits, and where are the ancient mss. which you have in your possession?' wanley answered readily; exhibited his mss., and entered into a minute discussion respecting the ancient method of painting." hearne then expatiates feelingly upon the excessive care and attention which wanley devoted to ancient mss.; how many pieces of vellum he unrolled; and how, sometimes, in the midst of very urgent business, he would lose no opportunity of cultivating what was useful and agreeable in his particular pursuit. his hobby horse seems to have been the discovery of the ancient method of colouring or painting--yet towards british history and antiquities he constantly cast a fond and faithful eye. how admirably well-calculated he was for filling the situation of librarian to lord oxford is abundantly evinced by his catalogue of the harleian mss.; vide p. , ante. of his attachment to the bibliomania there are innumerable proofs. take this, _inter alia_; "i spoke to mr. wanley, who is not unmindful of his promise, but says he will not trouble you with a letter, till he has something better to present you, which he doubts not he shall have this winter _among mr. harley's mss._ mr. wanley has the greatest collection of _english bibles, psalters, &c._, that ever any one man had. they cost him above _l._, and he has been above twenty years in collecting them. he would part with them, i believe, but i know not at what price." _masters's life of baker_, p. . consult also the preface to the _catalogue of the harleian mss._, , vols., folio, p. .] a softer noise succeeds; and the group becomes calm and attentive, as if some grand personage were advancing. see, 'tis harley, earl of oxford![ ] [footnote : there was an amusing little volume, printed in , vo., concerning the library of the late king of france; and an equally interesting one might have been composed concerning the harleian collection--but who can now undertake the task?--who concentrate all the rivulets which have run from this splendid reservoir into other similar pieces of water? the undertaking is impracticable. we have nothing, therefore, i fear, left us but to sit down and weep; to hang our harps upon the neighbouring willows, and to think upon the book "sion," with desponding sensations that its foundations have been broken up, and its wealth dissipated. but let us adopt a less flowery style of communication. before harley was created a peer, his library was fixed at wimple, in cambridgeshire, the usual place of his residence; "whence he frequently visited his friends at cambridge, and in particular mr. baker, for whom he always testified the highest regard. this nobleman's attachment to literature, the indefatigable pains he took, and the large sums he expended in making the above collection, are too well known to stand in need of any further notice." _masters's life of baker_, p. . the eulogies of maittaire and hearne confirm every thing here advanced by masters; and the testimony of pope himself, that harley "left behind him one of the finest libraries in europe," warrants us, if other testimonies were not even yet daily before our eyes, to draw the same conclusion. in a periodical publication entitled _the director_, to which i contributed all the intelligence under the article "bibliographiana," there appeared the following copious, and, it is presumed, not uninteresting, details respecting the earl of oxford, and his library. after the sale of mr. bridges's books, no event occurred in the bibliographical world, worthy of notice, till the sale of the famous _harleian library_, or the books once in the possession of the celebrated harley, earl of oxford. this nobleman was not less distinguished in the political than in the literary world; and "was a remarkable instance of the fickleness of popular opinion, and the danger of being removed from the lower to the upper house of parliament." (noble's _continuation of granger_, vol. ii., .) he was born in the year , was summoned to the house of lords by the titles of earl of oxford and mortimer, in ; declared minister and lord high treasurer in the same year; resigned, and was impeached, in the year ; acquitted, without being brought to a trial, in ; and died at his house in albemarle street, in . a character so well known in the annals of this country needs no particular illustration in the present place. the _harleian collection of mss._ was purchased by government for , _l._, and is now deposited in the british museum (vide p. , ante). the _books_ were disposed of to thomas osborne, of gray's inn, bookseller;--to the irreparable loss, and, i had almost said, the indelible disgrace, of the country. it is, indeed, for ever to be lamented that a collection so extensive, so various, so magnificent, and intrinsically valuable, should have become the property of one who necessarily, from his situation in life, became a purchaser, only that he might be a vender, of the volumes. osborne gave , _l._ for the collection; a sum which must excite the astonishment of the present age, when it is informed that lord oxford gave , _l._ for the _binding_ only, of the least part of them. (from oldys's _interleaved langbaine_. see brydges's _cens. literar._, vol. i., p. .) in the year - appeared an account of this collection, under the following title, _catalogus bibliothecæ harleianæ, &c._, in four volumes (the th not properly appertaining to it). dr. johnson was employed by osborne to write the preface, which, says boswell, "he has done with an ability that cannot fail to impress all his readers with admiration of his philological attainments." _life of johnson_, vol. i., , edit. to. in my humble apprehension, the preface is unworthy of the doctor: it contains a few general philological reflections, expressed in a style sufficiently stately, but is divested of bibliographical anecdote and interesting intelligence. the first two volumes are written in latin by johnson; the third and fourth volumes, which are a repetition of the two former, are composed in english by oldys: and, notwithstanding its defects, it is the best catalogue of a large library of which we can boast. it should be in every good collection. to the volumes was prefixed the following advertisement: "as the curiosity of spectators, before the sale, may produce disorder in the disposition of the books, it is necessary to advertise the public that there will be no admission into the library before the day of sale, which will be on tuesday, the th of february, ." it seems that osborne had charged the sum of _s._ to each of his first two volumes, which was represented by the booksellers "as an avaricious innovation;" and, in a paper published in "_the champion_," they, or their mercenaries, reasoned so justly as to allege that "if osborne could afford a very large price for the library, he might therefore afford to _give away_ the catalogue." _preface to_ vol. iii., p. . to this charge osborne answered that his catalogue was drawn up with great pains, and at a heavy expense; but, to obviate all objections, "those," says he, "who have paid five shillings a volume shall be allowed, at any time within three months after the day of sale, either to return them in exchange for books, or to send them back, and receive their money." this, it must be confessed, was sufficiently liberal. osborne was also accused of _rating his books at too high a price_: to this the following was his reply, or rather dr. johnson's; for the style of the doctor is sufficiently manifest: "if, therefore, i have set a high value upon books--if i have vainly imagined literature to be more fashionable than it really is, or idly hoped to revive a taste well nigh extinguished, i know not why i should be persecuted with clamour and invective, since i shall only suffer by my mistake, and be obliged to keep those books which i was in hopes of selling."--_preface to the d volume._ the fact is that osborne's charges were extremely moderate; and the sale of the books was so very slow that johnson assured boswell "there was not much gained by the bargain." whoever inspects osborne's catalogue of (four years after the harleian sale), will find in it many of the most valuable of lord oxford's books; and, among them, a copy of the aldine plato of , _struck off upon vellum_, marked at _l._ only: for this identical copy lord oxford gave guineas, as dr. mead informed dr. askew; from the latter of whose collections it was purchased by dr. hunter, and is now in the hunter museum. there will also be found, in osborne's catalogues of and , some of the scarcest books in english literature, marked at , or , or _s._, for which three times the number of _pounds_ is now given. analysis of the harleian library. i shall take the liberty of making an arrangement of the books different from that which appears in the harleian catalogue; but shall scrupulously adhere to the number of departments therein specified. and first of those in . _divinity._ in the _greek_, _latin_, _french_, and _italian_ languages, there were about theological volumes. among these, the most rare and curious were bamler's bible of , beautifully illuminated, in volumes: schæffer's bible of . the famous zurich bible of , "all of which, except a small part done by theodoras bibliander, was translated from the hebrew by a jew, who styled himself leo judæ, or the lion of judah. the greek books were translated by petrus cholinus. the new testament is erasmus's." the scrutinium scripturarum of rabbi samuel, mant., ; a book which is said "to have been concealed by the jews nearly years: the author of it is supposed to have lived at a period not much later than the destruction of jerusalem." the islandic bible of , "not to be met with, without the utmost difficulty, and therefore a real curiosity." the works of hemmerlin, basil: ; "the author was ranked in the first class of those whose works were condemned by the church of rome." the mozarabic missal printed at toledo, in --of which some account is given at p. , ante. the collection of _english_ books in divinity could not have amounted to less than volumes. among the rarest of these, printed in the fifteenth century, was "the festyvall, begynning at the fyrst sonday of advent, in worship of god and all his sayntes," &c., printed at paris, in . there was ten books printed by caxton, and some exceedingly curious ones by wynkyn de worde and pynson. . _history and antiquities._ there appear to have been, on the whole, nearly volumes in this department: of which, some of those relating to great britain were inestimable, from the quantity of ms. notes by sir william dugdale, archbishop parker, thomas rawlinson, thomas baker, &c. the preceding number includes relating to the history and antiquities of italy; to those of france. (this part of the catalogue deserves particular attention, as it contains a larger collection of pieces relating to the history of france than was, perhaps, ever exposed to sale in this nation; here being not only the ancient chronicles and general histories, but the memoirs of particular men, and the genealogies of most of the families illustrious for their antiquity. see _bibl. harl._, vol. iii., p. .) to those of spain; and about relating to germany and the united provinces. . _books of prints, sculpture, and drawings._ in this department, rich beyond description, there could not have been fewer than , articles, on the smallest computation: of which nearly were original drawings by the great italian and flemish masters. the works of callot were preserved in large volumes, containing not fewer than _nine hundred and twelve prints_. "all choice impressions, and making the completest set of his works that are to be seen." see _bibl. harl._, vol. iii., no. , "hollar's works, consisting of all his pieces, and bound in folio volumes, in morocco. one of the completest and best sets in the world, both as to the number and goodness of the impressions." vid. _ibid._, no. . it is now in the library of the duke of rutland. "one hundred and thirty-three heads of illustrious men and women, after vandyke. this set of vandyke's heads may be said to be the best and completest that is to be met with any where: there being the heads which he etched himself, as likewise worked off by martin vanden enden: and what adds still to the value of them is that the greater part were collected by the celebrated marriette at paris, his name being signed on the back, as warranting them good proofs." tne [transcriber's note: the] engravings from raphael's paintings, upwards of in number, and by the best foreign masters, were contained in splendid morocco volumes. the works of the sadelers, containing upwards of prints, in large folio volumes, were also in this magnificent collection: and the albert durers, goltziuses, rembrandts, &c., innumerable! . _collection of portraits._ this magnificent collection, uniformly bound in large folio volumes, contained a series of heads of illustrious and remarkable characters, to the amount of nearly , in number. it is said, in the catalogue, to be "perhaps the largest collection of heads ever exposed to sale." we are also informed that it "was thought proper, for the accommodation of the curious, to separate the volumes." eheu! eheu! . _philosophy, chemistry, medicine, &c._ under this head, comprehending anatomy, astronomy, mathematics, and alchemy, there appear to have been not fewer than volumes in the foreign languages, and about in the english: some of them of the most curious kind, and of the rarest occurrence. . _geography, chronology, and general history._ there were about volumes on these subjects, written in the latin, french, italian, and spanish languages: and about volumes in our own language. some of the scarcest books printed by caxton were among the latter. . _voyages and histories relating to the east and west indies._ about volumes:--nearly equally divided into the english and foreign languages. among the english, were caxton's "recuyell of the historys of troye," (supposed to be the first book printed in this country;) and his "siege and conquest of jherusalem," . . _civil, canon, and statute law._ at least volumes: in the foreign languages, and the remaining in english. . _books of sculpture, architecture, &c._ not fewer than volumes, comprehending every thing published up to that period which was valuable or rare. of these, more than were written in latin, italian, french, or spanish--and embellished with every beauty of graphic illustration. . _greek and latin classics; grammars and lexicons._ this very valuable body of grecian and roman literature could not have included fewer than volumes--and, among these, almost every work of rarity and excellence. in the article of "cicero" alone, there were volumes printed in the _fifteenth century_; every subsequent edition of that and other authors, then distinguished for its accuracy or erudition, may also, i believe, be discovered in the catalogue. most book-collectors know the sumptuous manner in which the harleian copies are bound. . _books printed upon vellum._ in this interesting department of typography, there were about volumes--upwards of in folio, in quarto, and in octavo. of the former, the most curious and rare articles were the mentz bible of , vols., and the travels of breydenbachus, printed at mentz in . "this book is an uncommon object of curiosity, as it is, perhaps, the first book of travels that was ever printed, and is adorned with maps and pictures very remarkable. the view of _venice_ is more than five feet long, and the map of the _holy land_ more than three; there are views of many other cities. it is printed in the gothic character." see _bibl. harl._, vol. iii., no. . the octavos were chiefly "heures à l'usage," so common at the beginning of the th century: but, if the catalogue be correctly published, there appears to have been one of these books printed at paris, as early as the year , "extremely beautiful cuts." see the _bibl. harl._, vol. iv., no. . now, if this were true, it would make known a curious fact in parisian typography--for the usually received opinion among bibliographers is that no printed book appeared in france before the year , when the art was first introduced at _tours_; and none at _paris_ before the year - --when crantz and friburger were engaged to print there. . _english poetry, romances, and novels._ there could not have been fewer than volumes in this amusing department; and among them some editions of the rarest occurrence. every thing printed by caxton on these subjects, including a complete and magnificent copy of _morte d'arthur_, was in the collection--and, in respect to other curious works, it will be sufficient to mention only the following, as a specimen. "kynge-richarde cuer du lyon, w. de worde, : gascoigne's poesies, --spenser's shepheardes calenders, : webbe's discourse of english poetrie, : nash's art of english poesie, ." some of these volumes were afterwards marked by osborne, in his catalogues, at or shillings! . _livres françois, ital., et hispan._ there might have been volumes in these foreign languages, of which nearly related to _poetry_ (exclusively of others in the foregoing and following departments). . _parliamentary affairs and trials._ upwards of volumes. . _trade and commerce._ about volumes. it will be seen from the preceding divisions, and from the gradual diminution of the number of volumes in each, that i have gone through the principal departments of the harleian collection of books: and yet there remain _fifty departments_ to be enumerated! these are the following: . _critici et opera collecta._ . _vultus et imagines illust. virorum._ . _pompæ, ceremoniæ, et exequiæ._ . _de re militari, de arte equestri, et de re navali._ . _heraldica._ . _epistolæ, panegyrici, et orationes._ . _bibliothecarii et miscellanei._ . _tractatus pacis et politici._ . _traductions des auteurs gr. et latin._ . _translations from greek and latin authors._ . _laws, customs, &c., of the city of london._ . _military, naval affairs, and horsemanship._ . _heraldry._ . [transcriber's note: .] _husbandry, gardening, agriculture._ . _magic, sorcery, witchcraft._ . _miraculous, monstrous, and supernatural._ . _lives of eminent persons._ . _laws and customs of divers places._ . _tythes, sacrilege, and non-residence, &c._ . _cases of divers persons._ . _prisons and prisoners._ . _lives of murderers, highwaymen, pirates, &c._ . _speeches of persons executed for divers offences._ . _justices, juries, and charges._ . _poor, and charitable uses._ . _matrimony, divorce, &c._ . _universities._ . _allegiance, supremacy, non resistance, &c._ . _bank and bankers._ . _funds, taxes, public credit, money, coin, &c._ . _war and standing armies._ . _admiralty and navy._ . _letters on various subjects._ . _treatises of peace, royal prerogative, &c._ . _navigation._ . _education, grammar and schools._ . _ludicrous, entertaining, satirical, and witty._ . _english miscellanies._ . _ecclesiastical and civil history of scotland._ . _do. of ireland._ . _grammars and dictionnaries._ . _plays, and relating to the theatre._ . _mathematics._ . _astrology, astronomy, and chymistry._ . _horsemanship._ . _cookery._ . _convocation._ . _sieges, battles, war, &c._ . _pomp and ceremony._ . _books relating to writing and printing._ . _essays on various subjects._ it will probably be no very unreasonable computation to allow to each of these remaining divisions volumes: so that multiplying the whole divisions by there will be the additional number of volumes to make the library complete. i ought to mention that, in my account of this extensive library, i have not included the _pamphlets_. of these alone, according to mr. gough (_brit. topog._ v., i., ), there were computed to be , ! we will now say a few words about the private character of lord oxford, and conclude with a brief account of osborne. every body has heard of the intimacy which subsisted between pope and the earl of oxford. in the year , when the latter was at his country seat, pope sent him a copy of parnell's poems (of which he had undertaken the publication on the decease of parnell), with a letter in poetry and prose. it seems that pope wished to prefix his own verses to the collection; and thus alludes to them, in his letter to lord harley of the date of : "poor parnell, before he died, left me the charge of publishing those few remains of his: i have a strong desire to make them, their author, and their publisher, more considerable, by addressing and dedicating them all to you, &c. all i shall say for it is that 'tis the only dedication i ever writ, and shall be the only one, whether you accept it or not: for i will not bow the knee to a less man than my lord oxford, and i expect to see no greater in my time." the following is the latter part of the _poetical epistle_ here alluded to: and sure, if aught below the seats divine can touch immortals, 'tis a soul like thine: a soul supreme, in each hard instance tried, above all pain, all passion, and all pride; the rage of power, the blast of public breath, the lust of lucre, and the dread of death. in vain to deserts thy retreat is made; the muse attends thee to thy silent shade: 'tis her's the brave man's latest steps to trace, rejudge his acts, and dignify disgrace. when int'rest calls off all her sneaking train, and all th' obliged desert, and all the vain; she waits, or to the scaffold, or the cell, when the last lingering friend has bid farewell. ev'n now, she shades thy evening walk with bays, (no hireling she, no prostitute of praise) ev'n now, observant of the parting ray, eyes the calm sun-set of thy various day; thro' fortune's cloud one truly great can see, nor fears to tell that mortimer is he! _pope's works_, vol. ii., p. - . bowles's edit. the following was the reply of the earl of oxford to mr. pope. sir, i received your packet, which could not but give me great pleasure to see you preserve an old friend in your memory; for it must needs be very agreeable to be remembered by those we highly value. but then, how much shame did it cause me when i read your very fine verses inclosed! my mind reproached me how far short i came of what your great friendship and delicate pen would partially describe me. you ask my consent to publish it: to what straits doth this reduce me! i look back, indeed, to those evenings i have usefully and pleasantly spent with mr. pope, mr. parnell, dean swift, the doctor (arbuthnot), &c. i should be glad the world knew you admitted me to your friendship; and since your affection is too hard for your judgment, i am contented to let the world know how well mr. pope can write upon a barren subject. i return you an exact copy of the verses, that i may keep the original, as a testimony of the only error you have been guilty of. i hope, very speedily, to embrace you in london, and to assure you of the particular esteem and friendship wherewith i am your, &c., oxford. of tom osborne i have in vain endeavoured to collect some interesting biographical details. what i know of him shall be briefly stated. he was the most celebrated bookseller of his day; and appears, from a series of his catalogues in my possession, to have carried on a successful trade from the year to . what fortune he amassed, is not, i believe, very well known: his collections were truly valuable, for they consisted of the purchased libraries of the most eminent men of those times. in his stature he was short and thick; and, to his inferiors, generally spoke in an authoritative and insolent manner. "it has been confidently related," says boswell, "that johnson, one day, knocked osborne down in his shop with a folio, and put his foot upon his neck. the simple truth i had from johnson himself. 'sir, he was impertinent to me, and i beat him. but it was not in his shop: it was in my own chamber.'" to. edit., i., . of osborne's philological attainments, the meanest opinion must be formed, if we judge from his advertisements, which were sometimes inserted in the london gazette, and drawn up in the most ridiculously vain and ostentatious style. he used to tell the public that he possessed "all the pompous editions of classicks and lexicons." i insert the two following advertisements, prefixed, the one to his catalogue of , the other to that of , for the amusement of my bibliographical readers, and as a model for messrs. payne, white, miller, evans, priestley, and cuthell. "this catalogue being very large, and of consequence very expensive to the proprietor, he humbly requests that, if it falls into the hands of any gentleman _gratis_, who chooses not himself to be a purchaser of any of the books contained in it, that such gentleman will be pleased to recommend it to any other whom he thinks may be so, or to return it." to his catalogue of was the following: "to the nobility and gentry who please to favour me with their commands. it is hoped, as i intend to give no offence to any nobleman or gentleman, that do me the honour of being my customer, by putting a price on my catalogue, by which means they may not receive it as usual--it is desired that such nobleman or gentleman as have not received it, would be pleased to send for it; and it's likewise requested of such gentleman who do receive it, that, if they chuse not to purchase any of the books themselves, _they would recommend it to any bookish gentleman of their acquaintance, or to return it_, and the favour shall be acknowledged by, their most obedient and obliged, t. osborne." i shall conclude with the following curious story told of him, in mr. nichols's _anecdotes of bowyer_ the printer. "mr. david papillon, a gentleman of fortune and literary taste, as well as a good antiquary (who died in ) contracted with osborne to furnish him with an _l._ worth of books, at _threepence a piece_. the only conditions were, that they should be perfect, and that there should be no duplicate. osborne was highly pleased with his bargain, and the first great purchase he made, he sent mr. p. a large quantity; but in the next purchase, he found he could send but few, and the next, still fewer. not willing, however, to give up, he sent books worth _five shillings_ a piece; and, at last, was forced to go and beg to be let off the contract. eight thousand books would have been wanted!"--see p. - , note [symbol: double dagger].] lis. let us rise to pay him homage! phil. lisardo is now fairly bewitched. he believes in the existence of the group!--help, ho! fetters and warder for-- loren. philemon loves to indulge his wit at his friend's expense. is't not so, lisardo? lis. i forgive him. 'twas a "glorious fault." but, indeed, i would strip to the skin, if this said nobleman longed for my coat, waistcoat, small clothes, and shirt, to form him a cushion to sit upon! i have heard such wonderful things said of his library!-- lysand. and not more wonderful than its reputation justifies. well might pope be enamoured of such a noble friend--and well might even dr. mead bow to the superior splendour of such a book-competitor! while the higher order of bibliomaniacs, reposing upon satin sofas, were quaffing burgundy out of harley's curiously cut goblets, and listening to the captivating tale of mead or folkes, respecting a vellum _editio princeps_--the lower order, with bagford at their head, were boisterously regaling themselves below, drinking ale round an oaken table, and toasting their patron, till the eye could no longer discover the glass, nor the tongue utter his name. aloft, in mid air, sat the soothed spirits of smith and north; pointing, with their thin, transparent fingers, to the apotheosis of caxton and aldus! suddenly, a crowd of pipy fragrance involves the room: these ærial forms cease to be visible; and broken sounds, like the retiring tide beneath dover cliff, die away into utter silence. sleep succeeds: but short is the slumber of enthusiastic bibliomaniacs! the watchman rouses them from repose: and the annunciation of the hour of "two o'clock, and a moonlight morning," reminds them of their cotton night-caps and flock mattrasses. they start up, and sally forwards; chaunting, midst the deserted streets, and with eyes turned sapiently towards the moon, "long life to the king of book-collectors, harley, earl of oxford!" loren. a truce, lysander! i entreat a truce! lysand. to what? loren. to this discourse. you must be exhausted. phil. indeed i agree with lorenzo: for lysander has surpassed, in prolixity, the reputation of any orator within st. stephen's chapel. it only remains to eclipse, in a similar manner, the speeches which were delivered at hardy's trial--and then he may be called the _nonpareil_ of orators! lysand. if you banter me, i am dumb. nor did i know that there was any thing of eloquence in my chit-chat. if lisardo had had my experience, we might _then_ have witnessed some glittering exhibitions of imagination in the book-way! lis. my most excellent friend, i will strive to obtain this experience, since you are pleased to compliment me upon what i was not conscious of possessing--but, in truth, lysander, our obligations to you are infinite. lysand. no more; unless you are weary of this discourse-- phil. lis. weary!? loren. let me here exercise my undeniable authority. a _sandwich_, like the evening rain after a parching day, will recruit lysander's exhausted strength. what say you? lysand. "i shall in all things obey your high command." but hark--i hear the outer gate bell ring! the ladies are arrived: and you know my bashfulness in female society. adieu, bibliomania! 'till the morrow. loren. nay, you are drawing too dismal conclusions. my sisters are not sworn enemies to this kind of discourse. * * * * * the arrival of almansa and belinda, the sisters of lorenzo put a stop to the conversation. so abrupt a silence disconcerted the ladies; who, in a sudden, but, it must be confessed, rather taunting, strain--asked whether they should order their bed-chamber candlesticks, and retire to rest? lis. not if you are disposed to listen to the most engaging book-anecdote orator in his majesty's united realms! alman. well, this may be a sufficient inducement for us to remain. but why so suddenly silent, gentlemen? loren. the conversation had ceased before you arrived. we were thinking of a _hung-beef sandwich_ and a glass of madeira to recruit lysander's exhausted powers. he has been discoursing ever since dinner. belind. i will be his attendant and cup-bearer too, if he promises to resume his discourse. but you have probably dispatched the most interesting part. lysand. not exactly so, i would hope, fair lady! your brother's hospitality will add fresh energy to my spirit; and, like the renewed oil in an exhausted lamp, will cause the flame to break forth with fresh splendour. belind. sir, i perceive your ingenuity, at least, has not forsaken you--in whatever state your memory may be!-- * * * * * here the _sandwiches_ made their appearance: and lorenzo seated his guests, with his sisters, near him, round a small circular table. the repast was quickly over: and philemon, stirring the sugar within a goblet of hot madeira wine and water, promised them all a romantic book-story, if the ladies would only lend a gracious ear. such a request was, of course, immediately complied with. phil. the story is short-- lis. and sweet, i ween. phil. that remains to be proved. but listen. you all know my worthy friend, ferdinand: a very _helluo librorum_. it was on a warm evening in summer--about an hour after sunset--that ferdinand made his way towards a small inn, or rather village alehouse, that stood on a gentle eminence, skirted by a luxuriant wood. he entered, oppressed with heat and fatigue; but observed, on walking up to the porch "smothered with honey-suckles" (as i think cowper expresses it), that every thing around bore the character of neatness and simplicity. the holy-oaks were tall and finely variegated in blossom: the pinks were carefully tied up: and roses of all colours and fragrance stood around, in a compacted form, like a body-guard, forbidding the rude foot of trespasser to intrude. within, ferdinand found corresponding simplicity and comfort. the "gude" man of the house was spending the evening with a neighbour; but poached eggs and a rasher of bacon, accompanied with a flagon of sparkling ale, gave our guest no occasion to doubt the hospitality of the house, on account of the absence of its master. a little past ten, after reading some dozen pages in a volume of sir egerton brydges's _censura literaria_, which he happened to carry about him, and partaking pretty largely of the aforesaid eggs and ale, ferdinand called for his candle, and retired to repose. his bed-room was small, but neat and airy: at one end, and almost facing the window, there was a pretty large closet, with the door open: but ferdinand was too fatigued to indulge any curiosity about what it might contain. he extinguished his candle, and sank upon his bed to rest. the heat of the evening seemed to increase. he became restless; and, throwing off his quilt, and drawing his curtain aside, turned towards the window, to inhale the last breeze which yet might be wafted from the neighbouring heath. but no zephyr was stirring. on a sudden, a broad white flash of lightning--(nothing more than summer heat) made our bibliomaniac lay his head upon his pillow, and turn his eyes in an opposite direction. the lightning increased--and one flash, more vivid than the rest, illuminated the interior of the closet, and made manifest--_an old mahogany book-case_, stored with books. up started ferdinand, and put his phosphoric treasures into action. he lit his match, and trimmed his candle, and rushed into the closet--no longer mindful of the heavens--which now were in a blaze with the summer heat. the book-case was guarded both with glass and brass wires--and the key--no where to be found! hapless man!--for, to his astonishment, he saw _morte d'arthur_, printed by _caxton_--_richard coeur de lyon_, by _w. de worde_--_the widow edyth_, by _pynson_--and, towering above the rest, a large paper copy of the original edition of _prince's worthies of devon_; while, lying transversely at top, reposed _john weever's epigrams_, "the spirit of captain cox is here revived"--exclaimed ferdinand--while, on looking above, he saw a curious set of old plays, with _dido, queen of carthage_, at the head of them! what should he do? no key: no chance of handling such precious tomes--'till the morning light, with the landlord, returned! he moved backwards and forwards with a hurried step--prepared his pocket knife to cut out the panes of glass, and untwist the brazen wires--but a "_prick of conscience_" made him desist from carrying his wicked design into execution. ferdinand then advanced towards the window; and throwing it open, and listening to the rich notes of a concert of nightingales, forgot the cause of his torments--'till, his situation reminding him of "_the churl and the bird_," he rushed with renewed madness into the cupboard--then searched for the bell--but, finding none, he made all sorts of strange noises. the landlady rose, and, conceiving robbers to have broken into the stranger's room, came and demanded the cause of the disturbance. "madam," said ferdinand, "is there no possibility of inspecting the _books_ in the _cupboard_--where is the key?" "alack, sir," rejoined the landlady, "what is there that thus disturbs you in the sight of those books? let me shut the closet-door and take away the key of it, and you will then sleep in peace." "sleep in _peace_!" resumed ferdinand--"sleep in _wretchedness_, you mean! i can have no peace unless you indulge me with the key of the book-case. to whom do such gems belong?" "sir, they are not stolen goods."--"madam, i ask pardon--i did not mean to question their being honest property--but"--"sir, they are not mine or my husband's." "who, madam, who is the lucky owner?" "an elderly gentleman of the name of--sir, i am not at liberty to mention his name--but they belong to an elderly gentleman." "will he part with them--where does he live? can you introduce me to him?"--the good woman soon answered all ferdinand's rapid queries, but the result was by no means satisfactory to him. he learnt that these uncommonly scarce and precious volumes belonged to an ancient gentleman, whose name was studiously concealed; but who was in the habit of coming once or twice a week, during the autumn, to smoke his pipe, and lounge over his books: sometimes making extracts from them, and sometimes making observations in the margin with a pencil. whenever a very curious passage occurred, he would take out a small memorandum book, and put on a pair of large tortoise-shell spectacles, with powerful magnifying glasses, in order to insert this passage with particular care and neatness. he usually concluded his evening amusements by sleeping in the very bed in which ferdinand had been lying. such intelligence only sharpened the curiosity, and increased the restlessness, of poor ferdinand. he retired to this said bibliomaniacal bed, but not to repose. the morning sun-beams, which irradiated the book-case with complete effect, shone upon his pallid countenance and thoughtful brow. he rose at five: walked in the meadows till seven; returned and breakfasted--stole up stairs to take a farewell peep at his beloved _morte d'arthur_--sighed "three times and more"--paid his reckoning; apologised for the night's adventure; told the landlady he would shortly come and visit her again, and try to pay his respects to the anonymous old gentleman. "meanwhile," said he, "i will leave no bookseller's shop in the neighbourhood unvisited, 'till i gain intelligence of his name and character." the landlady eyed him steadily; took a pinch of snuff with a significant air; and, returning, with a smile of triumph, to her kitchen, thanked her stars that she had got rid of such a madman! ladies and gentlemen, i have done. lis. and creditably done, too! alman. if this be a specimen of your previous conversation, we know not what we have lost by our absence. but i suspect, that the principal ingredient of poetry, fiction, has a little aided in the embellishment of your story. belin. this is not very gallant or complimentary on your part, almansa. i harbour no suspicion of its verity; for marvellous things have been told me, by my brother, of the whimsical phrensies of book-fanciers. loren. if you will only listen a little to lysander's _sequel_, you will hear almost equally marvellous things; which i suspect my liberally minded sister, almansa, will put down to the score of poetical embellishment. but i see she is conscious of her treasonable aspersions of the noble character of bibliomaniacs, and is only anxious for lysander to resume. alman. sir, i entreat you to finish your history of bibliomaniacs. your friend, philemon, has regaled us with an entertaining episode, and you have probably, by this time, recovered strength sufficient to proceed with the main story. lysand. madam, i am equally indebted to your brother for his care of the body, and to my friend for his recreation of the mind. the midnight hour, i fear, is swiftly approaching. loren. it is yet at a considerable distance. we have nearly reached the middle of the eighteenth century, and you may surely carry on your reminiscential exertions to the close of the same. by that time, we may be disposed for our nightcaps. lysand. unheeded be the moments and hours which are devoted to the celebration of eminent book-collectors! let the sand roll down the glass as it will; let "the chirping on each thorn" remind us of aurora's saucy face peering above the horizon! in such society, and with such a subject of discussion, who-- lis. lysander brightens as his story draws to a close: his colouring will be more vivid than ever. belind. tell me--are bibliographers usually thus eloquent? they have been described to me as a dry, technical race of mortals--quoting only title-pages and dates. lysand. madam, believe not the malicious evidence of book-heretics. let ladies, like yourself and your sister, only make their appearance with a choice set of bibliomaniacs, at this time of night, and if the most interesting conversation be not the result--i have very much under-rated the colloquial powers of my brethren. but you shall hear. we left off with lauding the bibliomaniacal celebrity of harley, earl of oxford. before the dispersion of his grand collection, died john bridges,[ ] a gentleman, a scholar, and a notorious book-collector. the catalogue of his books is almost the first classically arranged one in the eighteenth century: and it must be confessed that the collection was both curious and valuable. bridges was succeeded by anthony collins,[ ] the free thinker; a character equally strange and unenviable. book-fanciers now and then bid a few shillings, for a copy of the catalogue of his library; and some sly free-thinkers, of modern date, are not backward in shewing a sympathy in their predecessor's fame, by the readiness with which they bid a half-guinea, or more, for a _priced copy_ of it. [footnote : _bibliothecæ bridgesianæ catalogus_: or a catalogue of the library of john bridges, esq., consisting of above books and manuscripts in all languages and faculties; particularly in classics and history; and especially the history and antiquities of great britain and ireland, &c., london, , vo. two different catalogues of this valuable collection of books were printed. the one was analysed, or a _catalogue raisonné_, to which was prefixed a print of a grecian portico, &c., with ornaments and statues: the other (expressly for the sale) was an indigested and extremely confused one--to which was prefixed a print, designed and engraved by a. motte, of an oak felled, with a number of men cutting down and carrying away its branches; illustrative of the following greek motto inscribed on a scroll above--[greek: dryos pesousês pas anêr xyleuetai]; "an affecting momento (says mr. nichols, very justly, in his _anecdotes of bowyer_, p. ) to the collectors of great libraries, who cannot, or do not, leave them to some public accessible repository." my friend, dr. gosset, was once so fortunate as to pick up for me a _large paper_ copy of the analysed catalogue, bound in old blue morocco, and ruled with red lines, for _s._!--"happy day!"] [footnote : in the year - , there was sold by auction at st. paul's coffee house, in st. paul's church yard (beginning every evening at five o'clock), the library of the celebrated free thinker, anthony collins, esq. "containing a collection of several thousand volumes in greek, latin, english, french, and spanish; in divinity, history, antiquity, philosophy, husbandry, and all polite literature: and especially many curious travels and voyages; and many rare and valuable pamphlets." this collection, which is divided into _two parts_ (the first containing articles, the second ), is well worthy of being consulted by the theologian who is writing upon any controverted point of divinity; as there are articles in it of the rarest occurrence. the singular character of its owner and of his works is well known: he was at once the friend and the opponent of locke and clarke, who both were anxious for the conversion of a character of such strong, but misguided, talents. the former, on his death-bed, wrote collins a letter to be delivered to him after his decease, which was full of affection and good advice.] we may here but slightly allude to the bibliographical reputation of maittaire, as so much was said of him the day before yesterday.[ ] [footnote : the reader will find some account of maittaire's bibliographical labours at p. , ante; and of his editions of the ancient classics, at p. , vol. ii., of my _introduction to the knowledge of rare and valuable editions of the greek and latin classics_. he need here only be informed that maittaire's books were sold by auction in november, , and january, ; the catalogue of them forming _two parts_, with one of these dates affixed to each. the collection must have been uncommonly numerous; and of their intrinsic value the reader will best judge by the following extract from the "advertisement," by cock the auctioneer, at the back of the title-page: "tho' the books, in their present condition, make not the most ostentatious appearance, yet, like the late worthy possessor of them, however plain their outside may be, they contain within an invaluable treasure of ingenuity and learning. in fine, this is (after fifty years' diligent search and labour in collecting) the entire library of mr. maittaire; whose judgement in the choice of books, as it ever was confessed, so are they, undoubtedly, far beyond whatever i can attempt to say in their praise. in exhibiting them thus to the public, i comply with the will of my deceased friend; and in printing the catalogue from his own copy just as he left it (tho' by so doing it is the more voluminous) i had an opportunity, not only of doing the justice i owe to his memory, but also of gratifying the curious." i incline strongly to think there were no copies of this catalogue printed upon large paper. when priced, the usual copy brings a fair round sum.] belin. all this may be very learned and just. but of these gentlemen i find no account in the fashionable necrologies. loren. only wait a little, and lysander will break forth with the mention of some transcendental bibliomaniac. lysand. yes, ever renowned richard mead![ ] thy _pharmacopæal_ reputation is lost in the blaze of thy _bibliomaniacal_ glory! Æsculapius may plant his herbal crown round thy brow, and hygeia may scatter her cornucopia of roses at thy feet--but what are these things compared with the homage offered thee by the gesners, baillets, and le longs, of old? what avail even the roseate blushes of thousands, whom thy medical skill, may have snatched from a premature grave--compared with the life, vigour, animation and competition which thy example infused into the book-world! [footnote : it is almost impossible to dwell on the memory of this great man, without emotions of delight--whether we consider him as an eminent physician, a friend to literature, or a collector of books, pictures, and coins. benevolence, magnanimity, and erudition were the striking features of his character. his house was the general receptacle of men of genius and talent, and of every thing beautiful, precious, and rare. his curiosities, whether books, or coins, or pictures, were freely laid open to the public; and the enterprising student, and experienced antiquary, alike found amusement and a courteous reception. he was known to all foreigners of intellectual distinction, and corresponded both with the artisan and the potentate. the great patron of literature, and the leader of his profession, it was hardly possible, as lysander has well observed, "for modest merit if properly introduced to him, to depart unrewarded or ungratified." the clergy, and, in general, all men of learning, received his advice gratuitously; and his doors were open every morning to the most indigent, whom he frequently assisted with money. although his income, from his professional practice, was very considerable, he died by no means a rich man--so large were the sums which he devoted to the encouragement of literature and the fine arts! the sale of dr. mead's _books_ commenced on the th of november, , and again on the th of april, : lasting together days. the sale of the _prints_ and _drawings_ continued nights. the _gems_, _bronzes_, _busts_, and _antiquities_, days. his books produced £ pictures prints and drawings coins and medals antiquities ------------ amount of all the sales £ , ------------ it would be difficult to mention, within a moderate compass, all the rare and curious articles which his library contained--but the following are too conspicuous to be passed over. the _spira virgil_, of , _pfintzing's tewrdanchk's_, , _brandt's stultifera navis_, , and the _aldine petrarch_, of , all upon vellum. the large paper _olivet's cicero_ was purchased by dr. askew, for _l._ _s._, and was sold again at his sale for _l._ _s._ the king of france bought the editio princeps of _pliny senior_ for _l._ _s._: and mr. wilcock, a bookseller, bought the magnificently illuminated _pliny by jenson_, of , for _l._ _s._: of which maittaire has said so many fine things. the _french_ books, and all the works upon the _fine arts_, were of the first rarity and value, and bound in a sumptuous manner. winstanley's _prospects of audley end_ brought _l._ an amusing account of some of the pictures will be found in mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature and scarce books_, vol. i., , . but consult also _nichols's anecdotes of bowyer_, p. , &c. of the catalogue of dr. mead's books, there were only six copies printed upon _large paper_. see _bibl. lort_, no. . i possess one of these copies, uncut and priced. dr. mead had parted, in his life-time, to the present king's father, with several miniature pictures of great value (walpole anec., vol. i., ) by isaac oliver and holbein, which are now in his majesty's collection. dr. askew had purchased his greek mss. for _l._ pope has admirably well said, "rare _monkish manuscripts_ for hearne alone, and _books_ for mead, and _butterflies_ for sloane." _epistle_ iv. upon which his commentator, warburton, thus observes: "these were two eminent physicians; the one had an excellent library, the other the finest collection in europe of natural curiosities." for nearly half a century did dr. mead pursue an unrivalled career in his profession. he was (perhaps "thrice") presented with the presidentship of the college of physicians, which he ("thrice") refused. one year it is said he made _l._, a great sum in his time! his regular emoluments were between _l._ and _l._ per annum. he died on the th of february, , in the st year of his age. on his death, dr. askew, who seems to have had a sort of filial veneration for his character, and whose pursuits were in every respect congenial with dr. mead's, presented the college of physicians with a marble bust of him, beautifully executed by roubilliac, and for which he paid the sculptor _l._ a whimsical anecdote is connected with the execution of this bust. roubilliac agreed with dr. askew for _l._: the doctor found it so highly finished that he paid him for it _l._ the sculptor said this was not enough, and brought in a bill for _l._ _s._ dr. askew paid this demand, even to the odd shillings, and then enclosed the receipt to mr. hogarth, to produce at the next meeting of artists. nichols's _anec. of bowyer_, p. . "i cannot help," says mr. edwards, the late ornithologist, "informing succeeding generations that they may see the _real features_ of dr. mead in this bust: for i, who was as well acquainted with his face as any man living, do pronounce this bust of him to be so like that, as often as i see it, my mind is filled with the strongest idea of the original." hearne speaks of the meadean family with proper respect, in his _alured de beverly_, p. xlv.; and in _walter hemingford_, vol. i., xxxv. in his _gulielmus nubrigensis_, vol. iii., p. (note), he says of our illustrious bibliomaniac:--"that most excellent physician, and truly great man, dr. richard mead, to whom i am eternally obliged." there is an idle story somewhere told of dr. mead's declining the acceptance of a challenge to fight with swords--alleging his want of skill in the art of fencing: but this seems to be totally void of authority. thus far, concerning dr. mead, from the first edition of this work, and the paper entitled "the director." the following particulars, which i have recently learnt of the mead family, from john nicholl, esq., my neighbour at kensington, and the maternal grandson of the doctor, may be thought well worth subjoining. matthew mead, his father, was a clergyman. he gave up his living at stepney in ; which was afterwards divided into the four fine livings now in the gift of brazen-nose college, oxford. his parishioners built him a chapel; but he retired to a farm in the country, and had the reputation of handling a bullock as well as any butcher in the county. he went abroad in the reign of james ii., and had his sons, samuel and richard, educated under grævius. samuel mead, _his brother_, was a distinguished chancery barrister, and got his _l._ per ann.; his cronies were wilbraham and lord harcourt. these, with a few other eminent barristers, used to meet at a coffee-house, and drink their favourite, and then fashionable, liquor--called _bishop_, which consisted of red wine, lemon, and sugar. samuel was a shy character, and loved privacy. he had a good country house, and handsome chambers in lincoln's inn, and kept a carriage for his sister's use, having his coachmaker's arms painted upon the panel. what is very characteristic of the modesty of his profession, he pertinaciously refused a silk gown! a word or two remains to be said of our illustrious bibliomaniac richard. his brother left him , _l._, and giving full indulgence to his noble literary feelings, the doctor sent carte, the historian, to france, to rummage for mss. of _thuanus_, and to restore the castrated passages which were not originally published for fear of offending certain families. he made buckley, the editor, procure the best _ink and paper_ from holland, for this edition of thuanus, which was published at his own expense; and the doctor was remarkably solicitous that nothing of exterior pomp and beauty should be wanting in the publication. the result verified his most sanguine expectation; for a finer edition of a valuable historian has never seen the light. dr. ward, says mr. nichols, is supposed to have written mead's latin, but the fact is not so; or it is exclusively applicable to the _later_ pieces of mead. the doctor died in his rd year (and in full possession of his mental powers), from a fall occasioned by the negligence of a servant. he was a great _diagnostic_ physician; and, when he thought deeply, was generally correct in judging of the disorder by the appearance of the countenance.] the tears shed by virtuous bibliomaniacs at harley's death were speedily wiped away, when the recollection of thine, and of thy contemporary's, folkes's[ ] fame, was excited in their bosoms. illustrious bibliomaniacs! your names and memories will always live in the hearts of noble-minded literati: the treasures of your museums and libraries--your liberal patronage and ever-active exertions in the cause of virtu--whether connected with coins, pictures, or books--can never be banished, at least, from my grateful mind:--and if, at this solemn hour, when yonder groves and serpentine walks are sleeping in the quiet of moon-light, your spirits could be seen placidly to flit along, i would burst from this society--dear and congenial as it is--to take your last instructions, or receive your last warnings, respecting the rearing of a future age of bibliomaniacs! ye were, in good earnest, noble-hearted book-heroes!--but i wander:--forgive me! [footnote : "_a catalogue of the entire and valuable library of_ martin folkes, esq., president of the royal society, and member of the royal academy of sciences at paris, lately deceased; which will be sold by auction, by samuel baker, at his house in york street, covent-garden. to begin on monday, february , , and to continue for forty days successively (sundays excepted). catalogues to be had at most of the considerable places in europe, and all the booksellers of great britain and ireland. price sixpence." this collection was an exceedingly fine one; enriched with many books of the choicest description, which mr. folkes had acquired in his travels in italy and germany. the works on natural history, coins, medals, inscriptions, and on the fine arts in general, formed the most valuable department--those on the greek, latin, and english classics were comparatively of inferior importance. it is a great pity the catalogue was not better digested; or the books classed according to the nature of their contents. the following prices, for some of the more rare and interesting articles, will amuse a bibliographer of the present day. the chronicles of fabian, hall, and grafton, did not, altogether, bring quite _l._, though the copies are described as perfect and fair. there seems to have been a fine set of sir wm. dugdale's works (nos. - ) in vols., which, collectively, produced about guineas! at the present day, they are worth about _l._--in _spanish literature_, the history of south america, by john duan and ant. di ulloa, madr., fol., in vols., was sold for _l._: a fine large paper copy of the description of the monastery of st. lorenzo, and the escorial, madr., , brought _l._ _s._; de lastanosa's spanish medals, huesca, fol., , _l._ _s._--in _english_, the first edition of shakspeare, , which is now what a french bibliographer would say, "presque introuvable," produced the sum of _l._ _s._; and fuller's worthies, _s._!----_fine arts, antiquities, and voyages._ sandrart's works, in folio volumes (of which a fine perfect copy is now rarely to be met with, and of very great value) were sold for _l._ _s._ only: desgodetz roman edifices, paris, , _l._ _s._ galleria giustiniano, vols., fol., _l._ _s._ le brun's voyages in muscovy, &c., in large paper, _l._ _s._ de rossi's raccolta de statue, &c., rom., , _l._ _s._ medailles du regne de louis le grand: de l'imp. roy. . p. fol., , _l._ _s._ _d._----the works on _natural history_ brought still higher prices: but the whole, from the present depreciation of money, and increased rarity of the articles, would now bring thrice the sums then given.--of the _greek and latin classics_, the pliny of and were sold to dr. askew, for _l._ _s._ and _l._ _s._ _d._ at the doctor's sale they brought _l._ and _l._, although the first was lately sold (a.d. ) among some duplicates of books belonging to the british museum, at a much lower price: the copy was, in fact, neither large nor beautiful. those in lord spencer's, and the hunter and cracherode collections, are greatly superior, and would each bring more than double the price. from a priced copy of the sale catalogue, upon _large paper_, and uncut, in my possession, i find that the amount of the sale, consisting of articles, was _l._ _s._ the _prints, and drawings_ of mr. folkes occupied a sale of days: and his _pictures_, _gems_, _coins_, and _mathematical instruments_, of five days. mr. martin folkes may justly be ranked among the most useful, as well as splendid, literary characters, of which this country can boast. he appears to have imbibed, at a very early age, an extreme passion for science and literature; and to have distinguished himself so much at the university of cambridge, under the able tuition of dr. laughton, that, in his rd year, he was admitted a fellow of the royal society. about two years afterwards he was chosen one of the council; and rose in succession to the chair of the presidentship, which, as lysander above truly says, he filled with a credit and celebrity that has since never been surpassed. on this occasion he was told by dr. jurin, the secretary, who dedicated to him the th vol. of the transactions, that "the greatest man that ever lived (sir isaac newton) singled him out to fill the chair, and to preside in the society, when he himself was so frequently prevented by indisposition; and that it was sufficient to say of him that he was _sir isaac's friend_." within a few years afterwards, he was elected president of the society of antiquaries. two situations, the filling of which may be considered as the _ne plus ultra_ of literary distinction. mr. folkes travelled abroad, with his family, about two years and a half, visiting the cities of rome, florence, and venice--where he was noticed by almost every person of rank and reputation, and whence he brought away many a valuable article to enrich his own collection. he was born in the year , and died of a second stroke of the palsy, under which he languished for three years, in . he seems to have left behind him a considerable fortune. among his numerous bequests was one to the royal society of _l._, along with a fine portrait of lord bacon, and a large cornelian ring, with the arms of the society engraved upon it, for the perpetual use of the president and his successors in office. the mss. of his own composition, not being quite perfect, were, to the great loss of the learned world, ordered by him to be destroyed. the following wood-cut portrait is taken from a copper-plate in the _portraits des hommes illustres de denmark_, to., parts, : part th, a volume which abounds with a number of copper-plate engravings, _worked off_ in a style of uncommon clearness and brilliancy. some of the portraits themselves are rather stiff and unexpressive; but the vignettes are uniformly tasteful and agreeable. the seven parts are rarely found in an equal state of perfection. [illustration] dr. birch has drawn a very just and interesting character of this eminent man, which may be found in nichols's _anecdotes of bowyer_, pp. - . mr. edwards, the late ornithologist, has described him in a simple, but appropriate, manner. "he seemed," says he, "to have attained to universal knowledge; for, in the many opportunities i have had of being in his company, almost every part of science has happened to be the subject of discourse, all of which he handled as an adept. he was a man of great politeness in his manners, free from all pedantry and pride, and, in every respect, the real, unaffected, fine gentleman."] alman. pray keep to this earth, and condescend to notice us mortals of flesh and blood, who have heard of dr. mead, and martin folkes, only as eminently learned and tasteful characters. lysand. i crave your forgiveness. but dr. mead's cabinet of coins, statues, and books, was so liberally thrown open for the public inspection that it was hardly possible for modest merit, if properly made known to him, to depart unrewarded or ungratified. nor does the renowned president of the royal and antiquarian societies--martin folkes--merit a less warm eulogy; for he filled these distinguished situations with a credit which has never since been surpassed. but there is yet an illustrious tribe to be recorded. we have, first, richard rawlinson,[ ] brother of the renowned _tom folio_, whose choice and tasteful collection of books, as recorded in auctioneering annals, is deserving of high commendation. but his name and virtues are better known in the university, to which he was a benefactor, than to the noisy circles of the metropolis. the sale of orator henley's books "followed hard upon" that of richard rawlinson's; and if the spirit of their owner could, from his "gilt tub," have witnessed the grimaces and jokes which marked the sale--with the distorted countenances and boisterous laughter which were to be seen on every side--how it must have writhed under the smart of general ridicule, or have groaned under the torture of contemptuous indignation! peace to henley's[ ] vexed _manes_!--and similar contempt await the efforts of all literary quacks and philosophical knaves! [footnote : "bibliotheca rawlinsoniana, _sive catalogus librorum richardi rawlinson_, ll.d. qui prostabunt venales sub hasta, apud samuelem baker, in vico dicto york-street, covent garden, londoni, die lunæ marti mdcclvi." with the following whimsical greek motto in the title-page: [greek: kai gar o taôs dia to spanion thaumazetai]. eubulus. ("the peacock is admired on account of its rarity.") this valuable library must have contained nearly , volumes, multiplying the number of articles ( ) by --the usual mode of calculation. unfortunately, as was the case with dr. mead's and mr. folkes's, the books were not arranged according to any particular classification. old black-letter english were mixed with modern italian, french, and latin; and novels and romances interspersed with theology and mathematics. an _alphabetical_ arrangement, be the books of whatever kind they may, will in general obviate the inconvenience felt from such an undigested plan; and it were "devoutly to be wished," by all true bibliographers, that an act of parliament should pass for the due observance of this alphabetical order. we all know our a, b, c, but have not all analytical heads; or we may differ in our ideas of analysis. the scientific and alphabetical _united_ is certainly better; like mr. harris's excellent catalogue, noticed at p. , ante. the "_méthode pour dresser une bibliothéque_," about which de bure, formey, and peignot have so solemnly argued, is not worth a moment's discussion. every man likes to be his own librarian, as well as "his own broker." but to return to dr. rawlinson's collection. on examining a priced catalogue of it, which now lies before me, i have not found any higher sum offered for a work than _l._ _s._ for a collection of fine prints, by aldegrever. (no. .) the greek and latin classics, of which there were few _editiones principes_, or on _large paper_, brought the usual sums given at that period. the old english black-letter books, which were pretty thickly scattered throughout the collection, were sold for exceedingly low prices--if the copies were perfect. witness the following: £ _s._ _d._ the newe testament in english, the ymage of both churches, after the revelation of st. john, by bale, the boke called the pype or tonne of perfection, by richard whytforde, the visions of pierce plowman, the creede of pierce plowman, the bookes of moses, in english, bale's actes of english votaryes, the boke of chivalrie, by caxton the boke of st. alban's, by w. de worde these are only very few of the rare articles in english literature; of the whole of which (perhaps upwards of in number) i believe the boke of st. albans brought the highest sum. hence it will be seen that this was not the age of curious research into the productions of our ancestors. shakspeare had not then appeared in a proper _variorum edition_. theobald, pope, and warburton, had not investigated the =black-letter= lore of ancient english writers for the illustration of their favourite author. this was reserved for capell, farmer, steevens, malone, chalmers, reed, and douce: and it is expressly to these latter gentlemen (for johnson and hanmer were very sparing, or very shy, of the black-letter), that we are indebted for the present spirit of research into the works of our ancestors. the sale of the _books_ lasted days. there was a second sale of _pamphlets, books of prints, &c._, in the following year, which lasted days: and this was immediately succeeded by a sale of the doctor's _single prints and drawings_, which continued days. dr. rawlinson's benefactions to oxford, besides his anglo-saxon endowment at st. john's college, were very considerable; including, amongst other curiosities, _a series of medals of the popes_, which the doctor supposed to be one of the most complete collections in europe; and a great number of valuable mss., which he directed to be safely locked up, and not to be opened till seven years after his decease. he died on the th of april, . to st. john's college, where he had been a gentleman commoner, dr. rawlinson left the bulk of his estate, amounting to near _l._ a year: _a plate of abp. laud_, volumes of _parliamentary journals and debates_, a set of _rymer's foedera_, his _greek_, _roman_, and _english coins_, not given to the bodleian library; all his plates engraved at the expense of the society of antiquaries; his diploma, and his _heart_; which latter is placed in a beautiful urn against the chapel wall, with this inscription: urbi thesaurus, ibi cor. ric. rawlinson, ll.d. & ant. s.s. olim hujus collegii superioris ordinis commensalis. obiit. vi. apr. mdcclv. hearne speaks of him, in the preface of his _tit. liv. for. jul. vita hen. v._, p. xvi., as "vir antiquis moribus ornatus, perque eam viam euns, quæ ad immortalem gloriam ducit."] [footnote : this gentleman's library, not so remarkable for the black-letter as for whimsical publications, was sold by auction, by samuel paterson (the earliest sale in which i find this well known book-auctioneer engaged), in june, , and the three ensuing evenings. the title of the sale catalogue is as follows:----"_a catalogue of the original mss. and manuscript collections of the late_ reverend mr. john henley, a.m., independent minister of the oratory, &c., in which are included sundry collections of the late mons. des maizeaux, the learned editor of bayle, &c., mr. lowndes, author of the report for the amendment of silver coins, &c., dr. patrick blair, physician at boston, and f.r.s., &c. together with original letters and papers of state, addressed to henry d'avenant, esq., her britannic majesty's envoy at francfort, from to inclusive." few libraries have contained more curious and remarkable publications than did this. the following articles, given as notable specimens, remind us somewhat of addison's memoranda for the spectator, which the waiter at the coffee-house picked up and read aloud for the amusement of the company.----no. . god's manifestation by a star to the dutch. a mortifying fast-diet at court. on the birth day of the first and oldest young gentleman. all corrupt: none good; no, not one.---- . general thumbissimo. the spring reversed, or the flanderkin's opera and dutch pickle herrings. the creolean fillip, or royal mishap. a martial telescope, &c. england's passion sunday, and april changelings.---- . speech upon speech. a telescope for tournay. no battle, but worse, and the true meaning of it. an army beaten and interred.---- . signs when the p. will come. was captain sw-n, a prisoner on parole, to be catechised? david's opinion of like times. the seeds of the plot may rise though the leaves fall. a perspective, from the blair of athol. the pretender's popery. murder! fire! where! where!---- . taking carlise, catching an eel by the tail. address of a bishop, dean, and clergy. swearing to the p----r, &c. anathema denounced against those parents, masters, and magistrates, that do not punish the sin at stokesley. a speech, &c. a parallel between the rebels to k. charles i. and those to his successor. _jane cameron_ looked killing at _falkirk_.---- . let stocks be knighted, write, sir bank, &c., the ramhead month. a proof that the writers against popery, fear it will be established in this kingdom. a scheme wisely blabbed to root and branch the highlanders. let st. patrick have fair play, &c.----of orator henley i have not been able to collect any biographical details, more interesting than those which are to be found in warburton's notes to pope's dunciad: he was born at melton mowbray, in leicestershire, in , and was brought up at st. john's college, in the university of cambridge. after entering into orders, he became a preacher in london, and established a lecture on sunday evenings, near lincoln's-inn fields, and another on wednesday evenings, chiefly on political and scientific subjects. each auditor paid one shilling for admission. "he declaimed," says warburton, "against the greatest persons, and occasionally did our poet (pope) that honour. when he was at cambridge, he began to be uneasy; for it shocked him to find he was commanded to believe against his own judgment in points of religion, philosophy, &c.: for his genius leading him freely to _dispute all propositions_, and _call all points to account_, he was impatient under those fetters of the free-born mind." when he was admitted into priest's orders, he thought the examination so short and superficial that he considered it "_not necessary to conform to the christian religion_, in order either to be a deacon or priest." with these quixotic sentiments he came to town; and "after having, for some years, been a writer for the booksellers, he had an ambition to be so for ministers of state." the only reason he did not rise in the church, we are told, "was the envy of others, and a disrelish entertained of him, because _he was not qualified to be a complete spaniel_." however, he offered the service of his pen to two great men, of opinions and interests directly opposite: but being rejected by both of them, he set up a new project, and styled himself, "_the restorer of ancient eloquence._" henley's pulpit, in which he preached, "was covered with velvet, and adorned with gold." it is to this that pope alludes, in the first couplet of his second book of the dunciad: high on a gorgeous seat, that far outshone henley's _gilt tub_---- "he had also an altar, and placed over it this extraordinary inscription, '_the primitive eucharist._'" we are told by his friend welsted (narrative in oratory transact. no. ) that "he had the assurance to form a plan, which no mortal _ever thought of_; he had success against all opposition; challenged his adversaries to fair disputations, and _none would dispute with him_: he wrote, read, and studied, twelve hours a day; composed three dissertations a week on all subjects; undertook to teach in _one year_ what schools and universities teach in _five_: was not terrified by menaces, insults, or satires; but still proceeded, matured his bold scheme, and put the church and _all that in danger_!" see note to dunciad, book iii., v. . pope has described this extraordinary character with singular felicity of expression: but, where each science lifts its modern type, hist'ry her pot, divinity her pipe, while proud philosophy repines to shew, dishonest sight! his breeches rent below; imbrown'd with native bronze, lo! henley stands, tuning his voice and balancing his hands. how fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue! how sweet the periods, neither said nor sung! still break the benches, henley! with thy strain, while sherlock, hare, and gibson, preach in vain. oh great restorer of the good old stage, preacher at once, and zany of thy age, oh worthy thou, of egypt's wise abodes, a decent priest, where monkeys were the gods! but fate with butchers plac'd thy priestly stall, meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl; and bade thee live, to crown britannia's praise, in toland's, tindal's, and in woolston's days. _dunciad_, b. iii., v. , &c. bromley, in his catalogue of engraved portraits, mentions _four_ of orator henley: two of which are inscribed, one by worlidge "the orator of newport market;" another (without engraver's name) "a rationalist." there is a floating story which i have heard of henley. he gave out that he would shew a new and expeditious method of converting a pair of boots into shoes. a great concourse of people attended, expecting to see something very marvellous; when henley mounted his "tub," and, holding up a boot, he took a knife, and _cut away the leg part of the leather_!] there are, i had almost said, innumerable contemporaneous bibliomaniacal characters to be described--or rather, lesser stars or satellites that move, in their now unperceived orbits, around the great planets of the book world--but, at this protracted hour of discussion, i will not pretend even to mention their names. lis. yet, go on--unless the female part of the audience be weary--go on describing, by means of your great telescopic powers, every little white star that is sprinkled in this bibliomaniacal _via lactea_![ ] [footnote : with great submission to the "reminescential" talents of lysander, he might have devoted one _minute_ to the commendation of the very curious library of john hutton, which was disposed of, by auction, in the same year ( ) in which genl. dormer's was sold. hutton's library consisted almost entirely of _english literature_: the rarest books in which are printed in the italic type. when the reader is informed that "_robinsons life, actes, and death of prince arthur_," and his "_ancient order, societie, and unitie, laudable of the same_," , to. (see no. ; concerning which my worthy friend, mr. haslewood, has discoursed so accurately and copiously: _british bibliographer_, vol. i., pp. ; ), when he is informed that this produced only _s._ _d._--that "_hypnerotomachia_," , to. (no. ), was sold for only _s._--the _myrrour of knighthood_, , to. (no. ), only _s._--_palmerin of england_, pts. in vols. , , to. (no. ), _s._--_painter's palace of pleasure_, vols. in , - , to. (no. )--when, i say, the tender-hearted bibliomaniac thinks that all these rare and precious black letter gems were sold, collectively, for only _l._ _s._ _d._!--what must be his reproaches upon the lack of spirit which was evinced at this sale! especially must his heart melt within him, upon looking at the produce of some of these articles at the sale of george steevens' books, only years afterwards! no depreciation of money can account for this woful difference. i possess a wretchedly priced copy of the _bibl. huttoniana_, which i purchased, without title-page or a decent cover, at the sale of mr. gough's books, for _s._ lysander ought also to have noticed in its chronological order, the extensive and truly valuable library of robert hoblyn; the catalogue of which was published in the year , vo., in two parts: pp. . i know not who was the author of the arrangement of this collection; but i am pretty confident that the judicious observer will find it greatly superior to every thing of its kind, with hardly even the exception of the _bibliotheca croftsiana_. it is accurately and handsomely executed, and wants only an index to make it truly valuable. the collection, moreover, is a very sensible one. my copy is upon _large paper_; which is rather common.] alman. upon my word, lisardo, there is no subject however barren, but what may be made fruitful by your metaphorical powers of imagination. lis. madam, i entreat you not to be excursive. lysander has taken a fresh sip of his nectar, and has given a hem or two--preparing to resume his narrative. lysand. we have just passed over the bar that separates the one half of the th century from the other: and among the ensuing eminent collectors, whose brave fronts strike us with respect, is general dormer:[ ] a soldier who, i warrant you, had faced full many a cannon, and stormed many a rampart, with courage and success. but he could not resist the raging influence of the book-mania: nor could all his embrasures and entrenchments screen him from the attacks of this insanity. his collection was both select and valuable. [footnote : "_a catalogue of the genuine and elegant library of the late_ sir c.c. dormer, collected by lieutenant general james dormer; which will be sold, &c., by samuel baker, at his house in york-street, covent garden; to begin on monday, february the th, , and to continue the nineteen following evenings." at the end of the catalogue we are told that the books were "in general of the best editions, and in the finest condition, many of them in _large paper_, bound in morocco, gilt leaves," &c. this was a very choice collection of books; consisting almost entirely of french, greek, latin, italian, and spanish. the number of articles did not exceed ; and of volumes, probably not . the catalogue is neatly printed, and copies of it on _large paper_ are exceedingly scarce. among the most curious and valuable articles are the following:----no. . les glorieuses conquestes de louis le grand, par pontault, _en maroquin_. paris, . ("_n.b. in this copy many very fine and rare portraits are added, engraved by the most eminent masters._")----no. . recueil des maisons royales, fort bien gravés par sylvestre, &c. (n.b. in the book was the following note. "_ce recueil des maisons royales n'est pas seulement complet, en toutes manières, mais on y a ajouté plusieurs plans, que l'on ne trouvent que très rarement._")----no. . fabian's chronicle, .---- , hall's ditto. .---- . higden's polychronicon. . (i suspect that dr. askew purchased the large paper hutchinson's xenophon, and hudson's thucydides. nos. , .)----no. . don quixote, por cervantes. madr., to., . in hoc libro hæc nota est. "_cecy est l'edition originale; il y a une autre du mesme année, imprimée en quarto à madrid, mais imprimée apres cecy. j'ay veu l'autre, et je les ay comparez avec deux autres editions du mesme année, ; une imprimée à lisbonne, en to., l'autre en valentia, en_ vo."----no. . thuanus by buckley, on _large paper_, in volumes, folio; a magnificent copy, illustrated with many beautiful and rare portraits of eminent characters, mentioned by de thou. (n.b. this very copy was recently sold for _l._)----from no. to the end of the catalogue ( articles) there appears a choice collection of italian and spanish books.] we have before noticed the celebrated diplomatic character, consul smith, and have spoken with due respect of his library: let us here, therefore, pass by him,[ ] in order to take a full and complete view of a _non-pareil_ collector: the first who, after the days of richard smith, succeeded in reviving the love of black-letter lore and of caxtonian typography--need i say james west?[ ] [footnote : the reader has had a sufficiently particular account of the book-collections of consul smith, at p. , ante, to render any farther discussion superfluous. as these libraries were collected _abroad_, the catalogues of them were arranged in the place here referred to.] [footnote : i am now to notice, in less romantic manner than lysander, a collection of books, in _english literature_, which, for rarity and value, in a proportionate number, have never been equalled; i mean the library of james west, esq., _president of the royal society_. the sale commenced on march , , and continued for the twenty-three following days. the catalogue was digested by samuel paterson, a man whose ability in such undertakings has been generally allowed. the title was as follows: "bibliotheca westiana; _a catalogue of the curious and truly valuable library of the late_ james west, esq., _president of the royal society, deceased_; comprehending a choice collection of books in various languages, and upon most branches of polite literature: more especially such as relate to the history and antiquities of great britain and ireland; their early navigators, discoverers, and improvers, and the _ancient english literature_: of which there are a great number of uncommon books and tracts, elucidated by ms. notes and original letters, and embellished with scarce portraits and devices, rarely to be found: including the works of caxton, lettou, machlinia, the anonymous st. albans school-master, wynkyn de worde, pynson, and the rest of the old english typographers. digested by samuel paterson, and sold by messrs. langfords." the title-page is succeeded by the preface. "the following catalogue exhibits a very curious and uncommon collection of printed books and tracts. of british history and antiquities, and of _rare old english literature_, the most copious of any which has appeared for several years past; formed with great taste, and a thorough knowledge of authors and characters, by that judicious critic and able antiquary the late james west, esq., president of the royal society. several anonymous writers are herein brought to light--many works enlarged and further explained by their respective authors and editors--and a far greater number illustrated with the ms. notes and observations of some of our most respectable antiquaries: among whom will be found the revered names of camden, selden, spelman, somner, dugdale, gibson, tanner, nicolson, gale, le neve, hearne, anstis, lewis, st. amand, ames, browne, willis, stukely, mr. west, &c. but, above all, the intense application and unwearied diligence of the admirable bishop white kennett, upon the ecclesiastical, monastical, constitutional, and topographical history of great britain, so apparent throughout this collection, furnish matter even to astonishment; and are alone sufficient to establish the reputation, and to perpetuate the memory, of this illustrious prelate, without any other monuments of his greatness." "in an age of general inquiry, like the present, when studies less interesting give place to the most laudable curiosity and thirst after investigating every particular relative to the history and literature of our own country, nothing less than an elaborate digest of this valuable library could be expected; and, as a supplement to the history of english literature, more desired." "that task the editor has cheerfully undertaken: and, he flatters himself, executed as well as the short time allowed would permit. he further hopes, to the satisfaction of such who are capable of judging of its utility and importance." "the lovers of engraved english portraits (a species of modern connoisseurship which appears to have been first started by the late noble earl of oxford, afterwards taken up by mr. west, mr. nicolls, editor of cromwell's state-papers, mr. ames, &c., and since perfected by the muse of strawberry-hill, the rev. wm. granger, and some few more ingenious collectors) may here look to find a considerable number of singular and scarce heads, and will not be disappointed in their search." thus much paterson; who, it must be confessed, has promised more than he has performed: for the catalogue, notwithstanding it was the _second_ which was published (the first being by a different hand, and most barbarously compiled) might have exhibited better method and taste in its execution. never were rare and magnificent books more huddled together and smothered, as it were, than in this catalogue. let us now proceed to an analysis of mr. west's collection. . _volumes of miscellaneous tracts._ these volumes extend from no. to , from to , from to , and from no. to .--among them are some singularly choice and curious articles. the following is but an imperfect specimen. no. . atkyns on printing, _with the frontispiece_, &c., &c., to. . g. whetstone's honorable profession of a soldier, , &c., to. . life and death of wolsey, , &c. . nashe's lenten stuffe, with the praise of the red herring, , &c. to. (the three articles together did not exceed) £ _s._ _d._ . a mornynge remembrance, had at the moneth mynde of the noble prynces countesse of rychmonde, &c. wynkyn de worde, &c. to. . oh! read over dr. john bridges, for it is a worthie worke, &c. bl. letter, &c. to. strange and fearful newes from plasto, near bow, in the house of one paul fox, a silk weaver, where is daily to be seene throwing of stones, bricbats, oyster-shells, bread, cutting his work in pieces, breaking his windows, &c. _no date_, to. . leylande's journey and serche, given of hym as a newe yeares gyfte to k. henry th, enlarged by bale, bl. letter, , vo., (with three other curious articles.) . a disclosing of the great bull and certain calves that he hath gotten, and especially the monster bull that roared at my lord byshop's gate. bl. letter, pr. by daye. no date. to. the preceding affords but a very inadequate idea of the "pithie, pleasant, and profitable" discourses mid tracts which abounded among the miscellaneous articles of mr. west's library. whatever be the defects of modern literature, it must be allowed that we are not _quite so coarse_ in the _title pages_ of our books. . _divinity._ this comprehended a vast mass of information, under the following general title. scarce tracts: old and new testaments (including almost all the first english editions of the new testament, which are now of the rarest occurrence): commentators: ecclesiastical history: polemics: devotions, catholic and calvinistical: enthusiasm: monastical history: lives of saints: fathers: missionaries: martyrs: modern divines and persons of eminent piety: free thinkers: old english primers: meditations: some of the earliest popish and puritanical controversy: sermons by old english divines, &c. in the whole articles: probably about volumes. these general heads are sufficient to satisfy the bibliographer that, with such an indefatigable collector as was mr. west, the greater part of the theological books must have been extremely rare and curious. from so _many caxtons_, _wynkyn de wordes_, _pynsons, &c._, it would be difficult to select a _few_ which should give a specimen of the value of the rest. suffice it to observe that such a cluster of _black letter gems_, in this department of english literature, has never since been seen in any sale catalogue. . _education, languages, criticism, classics, dictionaries, catalogues of libraries, &c._ there were about volumes in these departments. the catalogues of english books, from that of maunsell in , to the latest before mr. west's time, were nearly complete. the treatises on education, and translations of the ancient classics, comprehended a curious and uncommon collection. the greek and latin classics were rather select than rare. . _english poetry, romances, and miscellanies._ this interesting part of the collection comprehended about articles, or probably about volumes: and, if the singularly rare and curious books which may be found _under these heads alone_ were now to be concentrated in one library, the owner of them might safely demand guineas for such a treasure! i make no doubt but that his majesty is the fortunate possessor of the greater number of articles under all the foregoing heads. . _philosophy, mathematics, inventions, agriculture, and horticulture, medicine, cookery, surgery, &c._ two hundred and forty articles, or about volumes. . _chemistry, natural history, astrology, sorcery, gigantology._ probably not more than volumes. the word "gigantology," first introduced by mr. paterson, i believe, into the english language, was used by the french more than two centuries ago. see no. in the catalogue. . _history and antiquities._ this comprehended a great number of curious and valuable productions, relating both to foreign and domestic transactions. . _heraldry and genealogy._ an equal number of curious and scarce articles may be found under these heads. . _antient legends and chronicles._ to the english antiquary, few departments of literature are more interesting than this. mr. west seems to have paid particular attention to it, and to have enriched his library with many articles of this description of the rarest occurrence. the lovers of caxton, fabian, hardyng, hall, grafton, and holinshed, may be highly gratified by inspecting the various editions of these old chroniclers. i entreat the diligent bibliographer to examine the first articles of page of the catalogue. alas! when will such gems again glitter at one sale? the fortunate period for collectors is gone by: a knowledge of books almost every where prevails. at york, at exeter, at manchester, and at bristol, as well as in london, this knowledge may be found sometimes on the dusty stall, as well as in the splendid shop. the worth of books begins to be considered by a different standard from that of the quantity of gold on the exterior! we are now for "_drinking deep_," as well as "_tasting_!" but i crave pardon for this digression, and lose sight of mr. west's _uniques_. . _topography._ even to a veteran like the late mr. gough, such a collection as may be found from p. to of the catalogue, would be considered a very first-rate acquisition. i am aware that the gothic wainscot and stained glass windows of _enfield study_ enshrined a still more exquisite topographical collection! but we are improved since the days of mr. west; and every body knows to _whom_ these improvements are, in a great measure, to be attributed! when i call to mind the author of "_british topography_" and "_sepulchral monuments_," i am not insensible to the taste, diligence, and erudition of the "par nobile fratrum," who have gratified us with the "_environs of london_," and the three volumes of "_magna britannia_!" catalogues of mr. west's library, with the sums for which the books were sold, are now found with difficulty, and bring a considerable price. the late mr. g. baker, who had a surprisingly curious collection of priced catalogues, was in possession of the _original sale_ one of west's library. it is interleaved, and, of course, has the prices and names of the purchasers. mr. heber has also a priced copy, with the names, which was executed by my industrious and accurate predecessor, william herbert, of typographico-antiquarian renown. the number of articles, on the whole, was ; and of the volumes as many articles were single, probably about . _ample_ as some "pithy" reader may imagine the foregoing analysis to be, i cannot find it in my heart to suffer such a collection, as was the _bibliotheca westiana_, to be here dismissed in so _summary_ a manner. take, therefore, "pleasaunt" reader, the following account of the _prices_ for which some of the aforesaid book-gems were sold. they are presented to thee as a matter of curiosity only; and not as a criterion of their present value. and as master caxton has of late become so popular amongst us, we will see, inter alios, what some of the books printed by so "simple a person" produced at this renowned sale. no. . salesbury (wyllyam) his dictionary in englyshe and welshe, moste necessary to all such welshemen as wil spedly learne the english tongue, &c. _printed by waley_, , to. £ _s._ _d._ . mulcaster (rich.) of the right writing of our english tung. _imp. by vautrollier_, , to. . florio's frutes to be gathered of trees of divers but delyghtfule tastes to the tongues of italians and englishmen, also his garden of recreation, &c., , to. . eliot's indian grammar, _no title_. thus much for grammatical tracts. . the fyve bokes of moses, wythe the prologes of wyllyam tyndale, b.b. , _printed in different characters at different periods_, vo. . the actes of the apostles translated into englyshe metre, by chrystofer tye, doctor in musyke, with notes to synge, and also to play upon the lute. _printed by seres_, , mo. . the newe testament, with the prologes of wyllyam tyndale, cuts, printed at andwarp, &c., , mo. . the same, with the same cuts, emprynted at antwerpe, by m. crom, , _a fine copy, in morocco binding_ (title wanting). . the gospels of the fower evangelists, translated in the olde saxons tyme, &c. sax. and eng. imprinted by daye, , to. . the discipline of the kirk of scotlande, subscribet by the handes off superintendentes, one parte off ministers, and scribet in oure generalle assemblies ad edenbourg, decemb., . _no title._ to. . the most sacred bible, recognised with great diligence by richard taverner, &c., _printed by byddell for barthelet, , in russia_. . the byble in englyshe of the largest and greatest volume, &c. _printed by grafton_, , folio. . speculum vite christi, the booke that is cleped the myrroure of the blessed lyf of jhesu cryste, _emprynted by caxton_, fol., _no date, fine copy in morocco_. . the prouffytable boke for mannes soule, &c., _emprynted by caxton_, fol., no date, a fine copy in morocco. . cordyale, or of the fowre last thynges, &c., _emprynted by caxton_, , fol., _fine copy in morocco_. . the pylgremage of the sowle, &c., , folio, _emprynted by caxton_. . the booke entytled and named ryal, &c., _translated and printed by caxton_, , _fine morocco copy_. . the arte and crafte to knowe well to dye; _translated and prynted by caxton_, , folio. so take we leave of divinity! . hall's virgidemiarum, lib. vi. , , mo. "mr. pope's copy, who presented it to mr. west, telling him that he esteemed them the best poetry and truest satire in the english language." (n.b. these satires were incorrectly published in , vo.: a republication of them, with pertinent notes, would be very acceptable.) . churchyard's works; vols. in , _very elegant_, bl. letter. . the passe tyme of pleasure, &c., _printed by wynkyn de worde_, , to., fine copy. . merie conceited jests of george peele, gent. , to. robin the devil, his two penni-worth of wit in half a penni-worth of paper, &c., , to. . the hye waye to the spyttell hous; printed by the compyler rob. copland, no date. . another copy of the spyttell house; "a thousande fyve hundredth fortye and foure," no printer's name, mark, or date, to. here begynneth a lytell propre jest, called cryste crosse me spede, a b c. . chaucer's work; first edition, _emprentyd by caxton_, folio, _in russia_. . ---- troylus and creseyde, _printed b [transcriber's note: by] caxton_, folio. . ---- booke of fame, _printed by caxton_, folio. . gower de confessione amantis; _printed by caxton_, , folio, _in morocco_. . the bokys of haukyng and hunting; _printed at seynt albons_, , _folio: fine copy in morocco_. and here farewell poetry! . the booke of the moste victoryouse prynce, guy of warwick. _impr. by w. copland_, to. . the historye of graunde amoure and la bell pucel, &c. _impr. by john wayland_, , to. . the historye of olyver of castylle, &c. _impr. by wynkyn de worde_, , to. . the booke of the ordre of chyvalry or knyghthode. _translated and printed by william caxton_; no date, a fine copy in russia, to. (shall i put one, or one hundred marks--not of admiration but of astonishment--at this price?! but go on kind reader!) . the boke of jason: _emprynted by caxton_, folio. . the boke of fayttes of armes and of chyvalrye, _emprynted by caxton_, , folio. . thystorye, &c., of the knyght parys, and of the fayre vyenne, &c. , fol., _translated and printed by caxton_. [illustration: caxton.] but why should i go on tantalising the s----s, h----s, s----s, r----s, and u----s, of the day, by further specimens of the _enormous_ sums here given for such _common_ editions of old romances? mr. george nicol, his majesty's bookseller, told me, with his usual pleasantry and point, that he got abused in the public papers, by almon and others, for his having purchased nearly the whole of the caxtonian volumes in this collection for his majesty's library. it was said abroad that "a scotchman had lavished away the king's money in buying old black-letter books." a pretty specimen of _lavishing_ away royal money, truly! there is also another thing, connected with these _invaluable_ (i speak as a bibliomaniac--and, perhaps, as a metaphysician may think--as a fool! but let it pass!) with these invaluable purchases:--his majesty, in his directions to mr. nicol, forbade any competition with those purchasers who wanted books of science and belles-lettres for their _own professional_ or _literary_ pursuits: thus using, i ween, the powers of his purse in a manner at once merciful and wise.--"o si sic"--may we say to many a heavy-metalled book-auction bibliomaniac of the present day!--old tom payne, the father of the respectable mr. payne, of pall-mall, used to tell mr. nichol--_pendente hastâ_--that he had been "raising all the caxtons!" "many a copy," quoth he, "hath _stuck_ in my shop at two guineas!" mr. nichols, in his amusing biography of bowyer, has not devoted so large a portion of his pages to the description of mr. west's collection, life, and character, as he has to many collectors who have been less eminently distinguished in the bibliographical world. whether this was the result of the paucity, or incongruity, of his materials, or whether, from feelings of delicacy he might not choose to declare all he knew, are points into which i have neither right nor inclination to enquire. there seems every reason to conclude that, from youth, west had an elegant and well-directed taste in matters of literature and the fine arts. as early as the year , he shewed the munificence of his disposition, in these respects, by befriending hearne with a plate for his _antiquities of glastonbury_; see p. --which was executed, says hearne, "sumptibus ornatissimi amicissimique juvenis (multis sane nominibus de studiis nostris optime meriti) jacobi west," &c. so in his pref. to _adam de domerham de reb. gest. glaston_:--"antiquitatum ac historiarum nostrarum studiosus in primis--jacobus west." p. xx. and in his _walter hemingford_, we have:--"fragmentum, ad civitatem oxoniensem pertinens, admodum egregium, mihi dono dedit amicus eximius jacobus west--is quem alibi juvenem ornatissimum appellavi," &c., p. . how the promise of an abundant harvest, in the mature years of so excellent a young man, was realized, the celebrity of west, throughout europe, to his dying day, is a sufficient demonstration. i conclude with the following; which is literally from nichols's _anecdotes of bowyer_. "james west, of alscott, in the county of warwick, esq., m.a., of baliol college, oxford, (son of richard west, said to be descended, according to family tradition, from leonard, a younger son of thomas west, lord delawar, who died in ) was representative in parliament for st. alban's, in ; and being appointed one of the joint secretaries of the treasury, held that office till . in or , his old patron the duke of newcastle, obtained for him a pension of _l._ a year. he was an early member, and one of the vice presidents, of the antiquary society; and was first treasurer, and afterwards president, of the royal society. he married the daughter and heiress of sir thomas stephens, timber merchant, in southwark, with whom he had a large fortune in houses in rotherhithe; and by whom he had a son, james west, esq., now ( ) of alscott, one of the auditors of the land-tax, and sometime member of parliament for boroughbridge, in yorkshire (who in married the daughter of christopher wren, of wroxhall in warwickshire, esq.), and had two daughters. mr. west died in july, . his large and valuable collection of manuscripts was sold to the _earl of shelburne_, and is now deposited in the british museum."] loren. all hail to thee--transcendant bibliomaniac of other times!--of times, in which my father lived, and procured, at the sale of thy precious book-treasures, not a few of those rare volumes which have so much gladdened the eyes of lisardo. belin. i presume you mean, dear brother, some of those _black-looking_ gentlemen, bound in fancifully marked coats of morocco, and _washed_ and _ironed_ within (for you collectors must have recourse to a woman's occupation) with so much care and nicety that even the eyes of our ancient rebecca, with "spectacle on nose" to boot, could hardly detect the cunning' conceit of your binder! loren. spare my feelings and your own reputation, if you wish to appreciate justly the noble craft of book-repairing, &c.--but proceed, dear lysander. lysand. you cannot have a greater affection towards the memory of the collector of the _bibliotheca westiana_ than myself. hark--! or is it only a soft murmur from a congregation of autumnal zephyrs!--but methought i heard a sound, as if calling upon us to look well to the future fate of our libraries--to look well to their being _creditably catalogued_--"for" (and indeed it _is_ the voice of west's spirit that speaks) "my collection was barbarously murdered; and hence i am doomed to wander for a century, to give warning to the ----, ----, and ----, of the day, to execute this useful task with their own hands! yes; even the name of paterson has not saved my collection from censure; but his hands were then young and inexperienced--yet i suffer from this innocent error!" away, away, vexed spirit--and let thy head rest in peace beneath the sod! alman. for heaven's sake, into what society are we introduced, sister? all mad--book mad! but i hope harmless. lysand. allay your apprehensions; for, though we may have the energies of the lion, we have the gentleness of the "unweaned lamb." but, in describing so many and such discordant characters, how can i proceed in the jog-trot way of--"next comes such a one--and then follows another--and afterwards proceeds a third, and now a fourth!?" alman. sir, you are right, and i solicit your forgiveness. if i have not sufficient bookish enthusiasm to fall down and worship your caxtonian deity, james west, i am at least fully disposed to concede him every excellent and amiable quality which sheds lustre upon a literary character. lysand. all offence is expiated: for look, the spirit walks off calmly--and seems to acknowledge, with satisfaction, such proper sentiments in the breast of one whose father and brother have been benefited by his book treasures. the rapturous, and, i fear you will think, the wild and incoherent, manner in which i have noticed the sale of the _bibliotheca westiana_ had nearly driven from my recollection that, in the preceding, the same, and subsequent, year, there was sold by auction a very curious and extraordinary collection of books and prints belonging to honest tom martin,[ ] _of palgrave_, in suffolk: a collector of whom, if i remember rightly, herbert has, upon several occasions, spoken with a sort of veneration. if lavater's system of physiognomy happen to receive your approbation, you will conclude, upon contemplating tom's frank countenance--of which a cut precedes the title-page of the first catalogue--that the collector of palgrave must have been "a fine old fellow." martin's book-pursuits were miscellaneous, and perhaps a little too wildly followed up; yet some good fortune contributed to furnish his collection with volumes of singular curiosity. [footnote : "hereafter followeth" rather a rough outline of the contents of honest tom martin's miscellaneous and curious collection. to the ivth part i have added a few prices, and but a few. i respect too much the quiet and comfort of the present race of bibliomaniacs, to inflame their minds by a longer extract of such tantalizing sums given for some of the most extraordinary volumes in english literature.----i. _a catalogue of the library of_ mr. thomas martin, _of palgrave, in suffolk, lately deceased. lynn, printed by w. whittingham_, , vo. with a portrait engraved by lamborn, from a painting of bardwell. articles; with pages of appendix, containing mss.----no. . juliana barnes on hawking, &c., black-letter, wants a leaf, folio. . chauncey's history of hertfordshire, with marginal notes, by p. le neve, esq., , folio. . scriptores rerum brunsvicensium, vols. folio, . ("n.b. only sets in england at the accession of geo. iii.")----ii. _a catalogue of the very curious and numerous collection of manuscripts of_ thomas martin, esq., _of suffolk, lately deceased_. consisting of pedigrees, genealogies, heraldic papers, old deeds, charters, sign manuals, autographs, &c., likewise some very rare old printed books. sold by auction by baker and leigh, april , , vo. the mss. (of many of which edmonson was a purchaser) consisted of articles, ending with "the o's, in old english verse--st. bridget." among the volumes only of "scarce printed books" were the following:--no. . edwards' paradyse of daynty devices, . . the holy life of saynt werburge, printed by pynson, . the lyfe of saynte radegunde, by pynson. lyfe of saynt katherine, printed by waley, to.----iii. _a catalogue of the remaining part of the valuable collection of the late well known antiquary_, mr. martin, _of palgrave, suffolk_: consisting of many very valuable and ancient manuscripts on vellum, early printed black-letter books, and several other scarce books; his law library, deeds, grants, and pedigrees; a valuable collection of drawings and prints, by the best masters--and his collection of greek, roman, saxon, and english coins--with some curiosities. sold by auction by baker and leigh, th may, . vo. this collection consisted of articles, exclusively of the coins, &c., which were in number. among the printed books were several very curious ones; such as----no. . the death and martyrdom of campione the jesuite, , vo. . heywood's "if you know not me, you know nobody," , to. "this has a wood-cut of the whole length of q. elizabeth, and is very scarce." . fabyan's chronicle. this i take it was the first edition. . promptuarium parvulorum. pynson, folio, . see hearne's peter langtoft, vol. ii., - . . dives et pauper; yis tretyys ben dyvydit into elevene partys, and ev'ry part is dyvidit into chapitalis. "the above extremely curious and valuable manuscript on vellum is wrote on pages. vide leland, vol. ii., : bale, . pits, . ms., to." . original proclamations of q. elizabeth, folio. "a most rare collection, and of very great value: the earl of oxford once offered mr. martin one hundred guineas for them, which he refused." qu. what they sold for? . the pastyme of the people; the cronycles of dyvers realmys, and most specyally of the realme of englond, &c., by john rastell. an elegant copy, in the original binding, large folio, black-letter, london, . "supposed to be only two or three copies existing;" but see page , ante. the folio manuscripts, extending to no. , are very curious; especially the first numbers.----iv. _bibliotheca martiniana. a catalogue of the entire library of the late eminent antiquary_ mr. thomas martin, _of suffolk_. containing some thousand volumes in every language, art, and science, a large collection of the scarcest early printers, and some hundreds of manuscripts, &c., which will begin to be sold very cheap, on saturday, june ( ). by martin booth and john berry, booksellers, at their warehouse in the angel yard, market place, norwich, and continue on sale only two months: vo. this catalogue is full of curious, rare, and interesting books; containing articles; all priced. take, as a sample, the following: no. . wynkyn de worde's reprint of juliana berners' book of hawking, &c., , folio, _l._ _s._ _d._: no. . copland's ditto of ditto, fair _s._ _d._ . a collection of old romances in the dutch language, with wood-cuts, very fair, to , folio . horace's art of poetry, by drant, , to. . a certayne tragedye, &c., entitled, freewil, wants title, very fair and scarce, to. . historie of prince arthur and his knights of the round table, , to. . the life off the archbishopp off canterbury presentlye sittinge, &c. imprinted in , vo., neat a severe satire against parker, abp. of canterbury, for which 'tis said the author was punished with the loss of his arm. . amorous tales, by james sanforde, very rare, printed by bynneman, , mo. (or small vo. perhaps) . hereafter followeth a little boke whyche hath to name whye come ye not to court: by mayster skelton; printed by anthony kytson, no date. a little boke of philip sparrow, compiled by mayster skelton; printed by ant. veale, no date, very fair, both vo. "this is a most extraordinarily scarce edition of skelton's pieces, and has besides these, some other fragments of his by various early printers."] but i proceed. the commotions excited in the book world, by means of the sales of the _bibliotheca westiana_ and _martiniana_, had hardly ceased, when a similar agitation took place from the dispersion of the _monastic library_ which once belonged to serjeant fletewode;[ ] a bibliomaniac who flourished in full vigour during the reign of elizabeth. the catalogue of these truly curious books is but a sorry performance; but let the lover of rare articles put on his bathing corks, and swim quietly across this ocean of black-letter, and he will be abundantly repaid for the toil of such an aquatic excursion. [footnote : the year following the sale of mr. west's books, a very curious and valuable collection, chiefly of english literature, was disposed of by auction, by paterson, who published the catalogue under the following title: "bibliotheca monastico-fletewodiana." "_a catalogue of rare books and tracts in various languages and faculties; including the ancient conventual library of missenden abbey, in buckinghamshire_; together with some choice remains of that of the late eminent serjeant at law, william fletewode, esq., recorder of london, in the reign of queen elizabeth; among which are several specimens of the earliest typography, foreign and english, including caxton, wynkyn de worde, pynson, and others: a fine collection of english history, some scarce old law books, a great number of old english plays, several choice mss. upon vellum, and other subjects of literary curiosity. also several of the best editions of the classics, and modern english and french books. sold by auction by s. paterson, december," , vo., lots, or articles. i am in possession of a _priced catalogue_ of this collection, with the names of the purchasers. the latter were principally herbert, garrick, dodd, elmsley, t. payne, richardson, chapman, wagstaff, bindley, and gough. the following is a specimen of some curious and interesting articles contained in this celebrated library: no. . bale's brefe chronycle relating to syr johan oldecastell, . the life off the th archbishop off canterbury, presentlye sittinge, , &c. life of hen. hills, printer to o. cromwell, with the relation of what passed between him and the taylor's wife in black friars, , vo., &c. £ _s._ _d._ purchased by mores. to . upwards of thirty _scarce theological tracts_, in latin and english. to . a fine collection of early english translations, in black letter, with some good foreign editions of the classics. not exceeding, in the whole , . two copies of the _first edition_ of bacon's essays, . mirabile dictu! the reader will just glance at no. , in the catalogue, en passant, to . ( _l._ _s._) and ( _s._) but more particularly to . the boke of tulle of olde age, &c. _emprynted by caxton_, , folio . the boke which is sayd or called cathon, &c. _printed by the same_, , folio. purchased by alchorne . the doctrinal of sapyence, _printed by the same_, , folio. purchased by alchorne . the booke named the cordyal, _printed by the same_, , folio but there is no end to these curious volumes. i will, however, only add that there were upwards of articles of _old plays_, mostly in quarto. see page . of _antiquities_, _chronicles_, and _topography_, it would be difficult to pitch upon the rarest volumes. the collection, including very few mss., contained probably about volumes. the catalogue, in a clean condition, is somewhat uncommon.] you will imagine that the book-disease now began to be more active and fatal than ever; for the ensuing year (namely, in ) died the famous anthony askew, m.d. those who recollect the zeal and scholarship of this illustrious bibliomaniac,[ ] and the precious volumes with which his library was stored, from the choice collections of de boze, gaignat, mead, and folkes, cannot but sigh, with grief of heart, on reflecting upon such a victim! how ardently, and how kindly (as i remember to have heard one of his intimate friend [transcriber's note: friends] say) would askew unlock the stores of his glittering book-treasures!--open the magnificent folio, or the shining duodecimo, _printed upon vellum_, and embossed with golden knobs, or held fast with silver clasps! how carefully would he unrol the curious _manuscript_, decipher the half effaced characters--and then, casting an eye of ecstacy over the shelves upon which similar treasures were lodged, exult in the glorious prospect before him! but death--who, as horace tells us, equally exercises the knocker of the palace and cottage-door, made no scruple to rap at that of our renowned doctor--when askew, with all his skill in medicine and knowledge of books, yielded to the summons of the grim tyrant--and died lamented, as he lived beloved! [footnote : lysander is now arrived, pursuing his chronological order, at a very important period in the annals of book-sales. the name and collection of dr. askew are so well known in the bibliographical world that the reader need not be detained with laboured commendations on either: in the present place, however, it would be a cruel disappointment not to say a word or two by way of preface or prologue. dr. anthony askew had eminently distinguished himself by a refined taste, a sound knowledge, and an indefatigable research, relating to every thing connected with grecian and roman literature. it was to be expected, even during his life, as he was possessed of sufficient means to gratify himself with what was rare, curious, and beautiful, in literature and the fine arts, that the public would one day be benefited by such pursuits: especially as he had expressed a wish that his treasures might be unreservedly submitted to sale, after his decease. in this wish the doctor was not singular. many eminent collectors had indulged it before him: and, to my knowledge, many modern ones still indulge it. accordingly, on the death of dr. askew, in , appeared, in the ensuing year, a catalogue of his books for sale, by messrs. baker and leigh, under the following title: "bibliotheca askeviana, _sive catalogus librorum rarissimorum antonii askew, m.d., quorum auctio fiet apud s. baker et g. leigh, in vico dicto york street, covent garden, londini, die lunæ, februarii_, mdcclxxv, _et in undeviginti sequentes dies_." a few copies were struck off on _large paper_, which are yet rather common. my own copy is of this kind, with the prices, and names of the purchasers. we are told, by the compiler of the catalogue, that it was thought "unnecessary to say much with respect to this library of the late dr. anthony askew, as the collector and the collection were so well known in almost all parts of europe." afterwards it is observed that "the books in general are in very fine condition, many of them bound in morocco, and russia leather, with gilt leaves." "to give a particular account," continues the compiler, "of the _many scarce editions_ of books in this catalogue would be almost endless, therefore the _first editions_ of the classics, and some _extremely rare books_, are chiefly noticed. the catalogue, without any doubt, contains the best, rarest, and most valuable collection of greek and latin books that was ever sold in england, and the great time and trouble of forming it will, it is hoped, be a sufficient excuse for the price put to it." ( _s._ _d._ the small paper, and _s._ the large.) this account is not overcharged. the collection in regard to greek and roman literature was _unique_ in its day. enriched with many a tome from the harleian, dr. mead's, martin folkes's, and dr. rawlinson's library, as well as with numerous rare and splendid articles from foreign collections (for few men travelled with greater ardour, or had an acuter discrimination than dr. askew), the books were sought after by almost every one then eminent for bibliographical research. his majesty was a purchaser, says mr. j. nichols, to the amount of about _l._; dr. hunter, to the amount of _l._; and de bure (who had commissions from the king of france and many foreign collectors, to the amount of _l._) made purchases to the same amount; dr. maty was solicited by the trustees of the british museum not to be unmindful of _that repository_; and accordingly he became a purchaser to a considerable amount. the late worthy and learned mr. m. cracherode, whose library now forms one of the most splendid acquisitions of the british museum, and whose _bequest_ of it will immortalize his memory, was also among the "emptores literarii" at this renowned sale. he had enriched his collection with many an "_exemplar askevianum_;" and, in his latter days, used to elevate his hands and eyes, and exclaim against the prices _now_ offered for editiones principes. the fact is, dr. askew's sale has been considered a sort of _era_ in bibliography. since that period, rare and curious books in greek and latin literature have been greedily sought after, and obtained (as a recent sale abundantly testifies) at most extravagant prices. it is very well for a veteran in bibliographical literature, as was mr. cracherode, or as are mr. wodhull, and dr. gosset--whose collections were, in part, formed in the days of de bure, gaignat, askew, duke de la valliere, and lamoignon--it is very well for such gentlemen to declaim against _modern prices_! but what is to be done? classical books grow scarcer every day, and the love of literature, and of possessing rare and interesting works, increases in an equal ratio. hungry bibliographers meet, at sales, with well-furnished purses, and are resolved upon sumptuous fare! thus the hammer _vibrates_, after a bidding of forty pounds, where formerly it used regularly to _fall_ at four! but we lose sight of dr. askew's _rare editions_, and _large paper copies_. the following, gentle reader, is but an imperfect specimen! no. . chaucer's works, by _pynson_, no date £ _s._ _d._ . cicero of old age, by caxton, . gilles (nicole) annales, &c., de france. paris, fol. , tom. sur velin . Æginetæ (pauli) præcepta salubria; paris, quarto, . on vellum . Æsopi fabulæ. _edit. princeps circ._ . boccacio, il teseide, _ferar._, . _prima edizione_ [this copy, which is called, "_probably unique_," was once, i suspect, in consul smith's library. see _bibl. smith_, p. lxiii. the reader will find some account of it in warton's history of engl. poetry, vol. i., . it was printed, as well as the subsequent editions of , and , "with some deviations from the original, and even misrepresentations of the story." his majesty was the purchaser of this precious and uncommon book.] . cornelius nepos, . _edit. prin._ . alexander de ales, super tertium sententiar. , on vellum . anthologia græca. _edit. prin._ , on vellum in dr. hunter's museum. . ammianus marcellinus, . _edit. prin._ . ciceronis opera omnia, oliveti, vols. quarto, , _charta maxima_ . ejusdem officia, . _edit. prin._ . catullus, tibullus, et propertius; aldi, vo., . in membranis this copy was purchased by the late mr. m.c. cracherode, and is now, with his library, in the british museum. it is a beautiful book; but cannot be compared with lord spencer's aldine vellum virgil, of the same size. . durandi rationale, &c., . in membranis the beginning of the st chapter was wanting. lord spencer has a perfect copy of this rare book, printed upon spotless vellum. . platonis opera, apud aldum; vols., fol., . _edit. prin._ on vellum. purchased by the late dr. william hunter; and is, at this moment, with the doctor's books and curiosities, at _glasgow_. the reader can have no idea of the beauty of these vellum leaves. the ink is of the finest lustre, and the whole typographical arrangement may be considered a masterpiece of printing. if i could forget the magnificent copy which i have seen (but not upon vellum) of the "etymologicum magnum," in the luton library, i should call _this_ the chef-d'oeuvre of the aldine press. . plinii hist. natural; apud spiram, fol., . _edit. princeps._ this copy has been recently sold for a sum considerably less than it brought. it bears no kind of comparison with the copy in lord spencer's, dr. hunter's, and the cracherode, collections. these latter are _giants_ to it! . id. cum notis harduini; , vols., on vellum . tewrdranckhs; poema germanica, norimb. fol., , on vellum. this is a book of uncommon rarity. it is a poetical composition on the life and actions of the emperor maximilian i., and was frequently reprinted; but not with the same care as were the earlier editions of and --the latter, at augsburg, by john schouspergus. koellerus, who purchased a copy of this work on vellum, for crowns, has given a particularly tempting description of it. see schelhorn's "_amoenitates literaræ [transcriber's note: literariæ]_," tom. ii., -iii., . dr. hunter purchased dr. askew's copy, which i have seen in the museum of the former: the wood-cuts, in number, justify every thing said in commendation of them by papillon and heinecken. probably dr. askew purchased the above copy of osborne; for i find one in the _bibl. harleian_, vol. iii., no. . see, too, _bibl. mead_, p. , no. ; where a vellum copy, of the edition of , was sold for _l._ _s._ my friend, mr. douce, has also beautiful copies of the editions of and , upon paper of the finest lustre. it has been a moot point with bibliographers whether the extraordinary type of this book be _wood_, and cut in solid blocks, or moveable types of _metal_. no one is better able to set this point "at rest," as lawyers call it, than the gentleman whose name is here last mentioned. . terentianus maurus de literis, syllabis, et metris horatii. _mediol._ fol., "this is judged to be the only copy of this edition in england, if not in the whole world. dr. askew could find no copy in his travels over europe, though he made earnest and particular search in every library which he had an opportunity of consulting." note in the catalogue. it was purchased by dr. hunter, and is now in his museum. originally it belonged to dr. taylor, the editor of lysias and demosthenes, who originally procured it from the harleian library, for _four_ guineas only. we are told that, during his life, _one hundred_ guineas would not have obtained it! * * * * * rare and magnificent as the preceding articles may be considered, i can confidently assure the reader that they form a very small part of the extraordinary books in dr. askew's library. many a _ten_ and _twenty pounder_ has been omitted--many a _prince_ of an edition passed by unregarded! the articles were in number; probably comprehending about volumes. they were sold for _l._ it remains only to add that dr. askew was a native of kendal, in westmorland; that he practised as a physician there with considerable success, and, on his establishment in london, was visited by all who were distinguished for learning, and curious in the fine arts. dr. mead supported him with a sort of paternal zeal; nor did he find in his _protegé_ an ungrateful son. (see the director, vol. i., p. .) few minds were probably more congenial than were those of mead and askew: the former had, if i may so speak, a magnificence of sentiment which infused into the mind of the latter just notions of a character aiming at _solid intellectual_ fame; without the petty arts and dirty tricks which we now see too frequently pursued to obtain it. dr. askew, with less pecuniary means of gratifying it, evinced an equal ardour in the pursuit of books, mss., and inscriptions. i have heard from a very worthy old gentleman, who used to revel 'midst the luxury of askew's table, that few men exhibited their books and pictures, or, as it is called, _shewed the lions_, better than did the doctor. of his attainments in greek and roman literature it becomes not me to speak, when such a scholar as dr. parr has been most eloquent in their praise. i should observe that the mss. of dr. askew were separately sold in , and produced a very considerable sum. the appendix to scapula, published in an vo. volume, in , was compiied [transcriber's note: compiled] from one of these mss.] after an event so striking and so melancholy, one would think that future _virtuosi_ would have barricadoed their doors, and fumigated their chambers, in order to escape the ravages of the _book-pest_:--but how few are they who profit by experience, even when dearly obtained! the subsequent history of the bibliomania is a striking proof of the truth of this remark: for the disease rather increased, and the work of death yet went on. in the following year ( ) died john ratcliffe;[ ] a bibliomaniac of a very peculiar character. if he had contented himself with his former occupation, and frequented the butter and cheese, instead of the book, market--if he could have fancied himself in a brown peruke, and russian apron, instead of an embroidered waistcoat, velvet breeches, and flowing periwig, he might, perhaps, have enjoyed greater longevity; but, infatuated by the _caxtons_ and _wynkyn de wordes_ of the west and fletewode collections, he fell into the snare; and the more he struggled to disentangle himself, the more certainly did he become a victim to the disease. [footnote : bibliotheca ratcliffiana; or, "_a catalogue of the elegant and truly valuable library of_ john ratcliffe, _esq., late of bermondsey, deceased_. the whole collected with great judgment and expense, during the last thirty years of his life: comprehending a large and most choice collection of the rare old english _black-letter_, in fine preservation, and in elegant bindings, printed by caxton, lettou, machlinia, the anonymous st. alban's schoolmaster, wynkyn de worde, pynson, berthelet, grafton, day, newberie, marshe, jugge, whytchurch, wyer, rastell, coplande, and the rest of the _old english typographers_: several missals and mss., and two pedigrees on vellum, finely illuminated." the title-page then sets forth a specimen of these black-letter gems; among which our eyes are dazzled with a galaxy of caxtons, wynkyn de wordes, pynsons, &c., &c. the sale took place on march , ; although the _year_ is unaccountably omitted by that renowned auctioneer, the late mr. christie, who disposed of them. if ever there was a _unique_ collection, this was one--the very essence of old divinity, poetry, romances, and chronicles! the articles were only in number; but their intrinsic value amply compensated for their paucity. the following is but an inadequate specimen: no. . horace's arte of poetrie, pistles, and satyres, by durant, . _first english. edition_ £ _s._ _d._ . the shepard's calendar, . whetstone's castle of delight, . the pastyme of people, _printed_ by rastell. curious wood-cuts . the chronicles of englande, _printed by caxton_, fine copy, . ditto, _printed at st. albans_, . purchased by dr. hunter, and now in his museum (which copy i have seen) . barclay's shyp of folys, printed by pynson, , _first edit._, a fine copy . the doctrinal of sapyence, _printed by caxton_, . the boke called cathon, _ditto_, . purchased by dr. hunter, and now in his museum . the polytyque boke, named tullius de senectute, in englyshe, _printed by caxton_, . the game of chesse playe. no date. _printed by caxton_ . the boke of jason, _printed by caxton_ . the polychronicon of ranulph higden, translated by trevisa, . _printed by the same_, and purchased by dr. hunter . legenda aurea, or the golden legende. _printed by the same_, . mr. ratcliffe's ms. catalogue of the _rare old black-letter and other curious and uncommon books_, vols. [this would have been the most delicious article to _my_ palate. if the present owner of it were disposed to part with it, i could not find it in my heart to refuse him _compound interest_ for his money. as is the wooden frame-work to the bricklayer, in the construction of his arch, so might mr. ratcliffe's ms. catalogues be to me in the compilation of a certain _magnum opus_!] i beg pardon of the _manes_ of "john ratcliffe, esq.," for the very inadequate manner in which i have brought forward his collection to public notice. the memory of such a man ought to be dear to the "_black-letter-dogs_" of the present day: for he had (mirabile dictu!) _upwards of_ thirty caxtons! i take the present opportunity of presenting the reader with the following engraving of the ratcliffe library, oxon. [illustration] if i might hazard a comparison between mr. james west's and mr. john ratcliffe's collections, i should say that the former was more extensive; the latter more curious. mr. west's, like a magnificent _champagne_, executed by the hand of claude or both, and enclosing mountains, meadows, and streams, presented to the eye of the beholder a scene at once luxuriant and fruitful: mr. ratcliffe's, like one of those confined pieces of scenery, touched by the pencil of rysdael or hobbima, exhibited to the beholder's eye a spot equally interesting, but less varied and extensive: the judgment displayed in both might be the same. the sweeping foliage and rich pasture of the former could not, perhaps, afford greater gratification than the thatched cottage, abrupt declivities, and gushing streams of the latter. to change the metaphor--mr. west's was a magnificent repository; mr. ratcliffe's, a cabinet of curiosities. of some particulars of mr. ratcliffe's life, i had hoped to have found gleanings in mr. nichols's _anecdotes of bowyer_; but his name does not even appear in the index; being probably reserved for the second forth-coming enlarged edition. meanwhile, it may not be uninteresting to remark that, like magliabechi, (vide p. , ante) he imbibed his love of reading and collecting from the accidental possession of scraps and leaves of books. the fact is, mr. ratcliffe once kept a _chandler's shop_ in the borough; and, as is the case with all retail traders, had great quantities of old books brought to him to be purchased at so much _per lb._! hence arose his passion for collecting the _black-letter_, as well as _stilton cheeses_: and hence, by unwearied assiduity, and attention to business, he amassed a sufficiency to retire, and live, for the remainder of his days, upon the luxury of old english literature!] it is with pain that i trace the ravages of the book-mania to a later period. many a heart yet aches, and many a tear is yet shed, on a remembrance of the mortality of this frightful disease. after the purchasers of ratcliffe's treasures had fully perused, and deposited in fit places within their libraries, some of the scarcest volumes in the collection, they were called upon to witness a yet more splendid victim to the bibliomania: i mean, the honourable topham beauclerk.[ ] one, who had frequently gladdened johnson in his gloomy moments; and who is allowed, by that splenetic sage and great teacher of morality, to have united the elegant manners of a gentleman with the mental accomplishments of a scholar. beauclerk's catalogue is a fair specimen of the analytico-bibliographical powers of paterson: yet it must be confessed that this renowned champion of catalogue-makers shines with greater, and nearly perfect, splendour, in the collection of the rev. thomas crofts[ ]--a collection which, taking it "for all in all," i know not whether it be exceeded by any which this country has recorded in the shape of a private catalogue. the owner was a modest, careful, and acutely sagacious bibliomaniac: learned, retired, yet communicative: and if ever you lay hold of a _large paper_ copy of a catalogue of his books, which, as well as the small, carries the printed prices at the end, seize it in triumph, lisardo, for it is a noble volume, and by no means a worthless prize. [footnote : there are few libraries better worth the attention of a scholarlike collector than was the one of the distinguished character above noticed by lysander. the catalogue of beauclerk's books has the following title: "_bibliotheca beauclerkiana; a catalogue of the large and valuable library of the late honourable_ topham beauclerk, f.r.s., _deceased_; comprehending an excellent choice of books, to the number of upwards of , volumes, &c. sold by auction, by mr. paterson, in april, ," vo. the catalogue has two parts: part i. containing ; part _ii._ , pp. the most magnificent and costly volume was the largest paper copy of dr. clarke's edition of cæsar's commentaries, , fol., which was sold for _l._; and of which the binding, according to dr. harwood's testimony, cost _l._ _s._ there is nothing, in _modern_ times, very marvellous in this price of binding. of the _two parts_ of the beauclerk collection, the _second_ is the most valuable to the collector of english antiquities and history, and the _first_ to the general scholar. but let not the bibliomaniac run too swiftly over the first, for at nos. , , he will find two books which rank among the rarest of those in old english poetry. at the close of the second part, there are a few curious manuscripts; three of which are deserving of a description here. part ii. . thomas of arundel, his legend in old english verse; vii parts, with the entre, or prologue: _written a.d. m.c.vii. upon vellum, the capitals illuminated_, fol. here follows a specimen of the verse £ _s._ _d._ _ye fyrst pt of ys yt es of mon and of his urechednes._ _ye secounde pte folowyng es of ye worldes unstabillnes._ _ye yyrdde pt yt is of deth & of peyn yt wt hy geth._ _the ferthe parte is of purgatorye yere soules ben clensed of her folye._ _ye fyfte pt of ys dey of doom & of tokens yt byfore shul coom._ _ye syxte pt of ys boke to telle yt speketh of ye peynes of helle._ _ye seventhe part of joys in heven yat bene more yenne tong may neuen._ . the life and acts of st. edmond, king and martyr, by john lydgate, monk of bury, fol.: _a choice ms. upon vellum, illuminated throughout, and embellished with historical miniatures_. for a specimen of the verse, take the first stanza: _the noble stoory to putte in remembraunce of seynt edmond mayd martre and kyng with his suppoor: my style i wyl avaunce ffirst to compyle afftre my konnyng his gloryous lyff his birthe and his gynnying and by discent how he was soo good was in saxonye borne of the royal blood._ . the armes, honours, matches, and issues of the auncient and illustrious family of veer: described in the honourable progeny of the earles of oxenford and other branches thereof. together with a genealogical deduction of this noble family from the blood of forreyne princes: viz. emperours, kings, dukes, and earles, &c. _gathered out of history, recordes, and other monuments of antiquity, by percivall goulding, gent. the arms illuminated, folio._ i will just add that this catalogue is creditably printed in a good size octavo volume, and that there are copies upon _large paper_. the arrangement of the books is very creditable to the bibliographical reputation of paterson.] [footnote : when the reader is informed that paterson tells us, in the preface of this volume, that "in almost every language and science, and even under the shortest heads, some one or more rare articles occur; but in the copious classes, such as follow, literary curiosity is gratified, is _highly feasted_"--and that the author of this remark used, in his latter days, to hit his knee hard with his open hand, and exclaim--"by g----, crofts' catalogue is my chef d'oeuvre, out and out"--when he reflects, i say, for a minute upon these two bibliographical stimuli, he will hasten (if he have it not already) to seize upon that volume of which the following is but an imperfect specimen of the treasures contained in it: "_bibliotheca croftsiana: a catalogue of the curious and distinguished library of the late reverend and learned_ thomas crofts, a.m., &c. sold by auction, by mr. paterson, in april, ," vo. this collection, containing articles, although not quite so generally useful as the preceding, is admirably well arranged; and evinces, from the rarity of some of the volumes in the more curious departments of literature, the sound bibliographical knowledge and correct taste of mr. crofts: who was, in truth, both a scholar and bibliomaniac of no ordinary reputation. i hasten to treat the reader with the following _excerpta croftsiana_: being a selection of articles from this catalogue, quite according with the present prevailing fashion of book-collecting: no. . raccolta de poeti provenzali ms. antiq. _supermembr._, vo., _cor. turc. avec une table des noms des troubadours contenu dans ce ms._ £ _s._ _d._ . les cent nouvelles nouvelles, _lettres gothiques_, fig. fol., _velin paris, imprimées par nic. desprez_. m.d.v. . le chevalier de la tour. et le guidon des guerres; _lettres gothiques, fig. fol. maroq. rouge, imprimé à paris, pour guil. eustace._ m.d.xiv. . le premier, second, et tiers volume de lancelot du lac; _nouvellement imprimé à paris. l'an mil cinq cens et xx, pour michel le noir; lettres gothiques, fig. fol. maroq. rouge_ . le premier et le second volume du sainct greaal, contenant la conqueste dudict sainct greaal, faicte par lancelot du lac, galaad perceval et boors; _lettres gothiques, fig. fol. maroq. rouge, paris, imprimé par phel le noir_, m.d.xxiii "ce volume est un des plus rares de la classe des romans de chevalerie. t.c." . ci commence guy de warwick chevalier dangleterre qui en son tems fit plusieurs prouesses et conquestes en allemaigne, ytalie, et dannemarche. et aussi sur les infidelles ennemys de la crestienté; _lettres gothiques, fig. fol. maroq. rouge. paris, imprimé par ant. couteau_, m.d.xxv. . le premier et le second volume de merlin, qui est le premier livre de la table ronde, avec plusieurs choses moult recreative: aussi les prophecies de merlin, qui est le tierce partie et derniere: _lettres gothiques, tom. to., maroq. rouge, paris_, m.d.xxviii. . la treselegante, delicieuse, melliflue, et tresplaisante hystoire du tresnoble, victori, et excellentissime roy perceforest, roy de la grand bretaigne, fundateur du francpalais et du temple du souverain dieu. en laquelle lecture pourra veoir la source et decoration de toute chevalerie, culture de vraye noblesse, prouesses, &c. avecques plusieurs propheties, comptes damans, et leur divers fortunes. _lettres gothiques, tom. en fol., paris, chez galliot du pre_, m.d.xxviii. . le tiers, quart, cinquiesme, sixiesme, et dernier volumes des anciennes croniques dangleterre, faictz et gestes du trespreux et redoubte en chevalerie, le noble roy perceforest: _imprimé à paris pour egide gourmont et phil. le noir_, m.d.xxxii. tom. folio . le parangon des nouvelles, honestes et delectables à tous ceulx qui desirent voir et ouyr choses nouvelles et recreatives soubz umbre et couleur de joyeuste, vo. fig. maroq. rouge. _imprimez à lyon, par denys de harsy_, . les parolles joyeuses et dicts memorables des nobles et saiges homes anciens, redigez par le gracieulx et honeste poete messire francoys petrarcque, _fig. ib._ . l'histoire de isaie le triste filz de tristan de leonnoys, jadis chevalier de la table ronde, et de la royne izeut de cornouaille, ensemble les nobles prouesses de chevallerie faictes par marc lexille filz. au dict isaye: _lettres gothiques, avec fig., to., maroq. rouge. on les vend à paris par jehan bonfons_, "there is no direct date either at the beginning or end, nor any privilege annexed to this rare romance. mr. crofts, though extremely accurate, for the most part, has made no remark; neither has the industrious mr. de bure taken notice of this particular edition. the date is, nevertheless, obvious, according to my conjecture. after the words filz du dict isaye, in the general title, at some distance, stand these numerals lxv. c. at first i apprehended they referred to the work, as containing so many chapters; but upon examining the table, i found the romance to consist of chapters: i conclude they must relate to the date of the book, and are to be read lxv. ante m.d.c., or . s.p." . meliadus de leonmoys. du present volume sont contenus les nobles faictz darmes du vaillant roy meliadus. ensemble plusieurs autres nobles proesses de chevalerie faictes tant par le roy artus, palamedes, &c., &c. _lettres gothiques, fig., fol., maroq. bleu, paris, chez galliot du pré_ . lhystoire tresrecreative, traictant des faictz et gestes du noble et vaillant chevalier theseus de coulongne, par sa proesse empereur de rome. et aussi de sons fils gadifer, empereur de grece. pareillement des trois enfans de gadifer, cestassavoir regnault, reynier, et regnesson, &c. _lettres gothiques, avec fig. to., en peau russe. paris, pour jehan bonfons, s.a._ . l'histoire palladienne, traitant des gestes et genereux faitz d'armes et d'armour de plusieurs grandz princes et seigneurs, specialement de palladien filz du roy milanor d'angleterre, et de la belle selenine, &c.; par feu cl. colet champenois, _fig., fol., maroquin jaune. paris, de l'imprimerie d'estien. goulleau_, . hist. du noble tristan prince de leonnois, chevalier de la table ronde, et d'yseulte, princesse d'yrlande, royne de cornouaille; fait francois par jean maugin, dit l'angevin, _fig., to., maroq. rouge, rouen_. . l'hist. du noble et vaillant chevalier paris et la belle vienne, _ to., rouen_ . histoires prodigieuses, extractes de plusieurs fameux autheurs, grecs et latins, par pier boaisteau, cl. de tesserant, f. de belleforest, rod. hoyer, &c., _fig. tom. en , mo., maroq. rouge. par chez la verfue cavellat_, . valentine and orson, cuts, black letter, to. _london; no date_. (not sold.) . hollinshed's (raphe) and william harrison's chronicles of england, scotland, and ireland, continued by john hooker, alias vowell, and others; _black letter, vols. fol., large paper, in russia_, . lynch (jo.) seu gratiani lucii hiberni cambrensis eversus, seu potius historica fides, in rebus hibernicis, giraldo cambrensi abrogata, fol. _impress. an. . sine loco aut nomine impressoris_ "liber inter historicos hibernicos rarissimus et inventu difficilimus, quippe cujus pars maxima exemplarium in incendio periit londinensi. sub lucii gratiani nomine latet verus autor johannes lynch (tuamensis archidiaconus) qui post gallvæ deditionem, exul in gallia hocce opus patriæ vindex composuit. t.c." this catalogue contains articles. there are printed lists of the prices for which each set of books was sold: but i am afraid that an arrant bibliomaniac, like myself (for thus my friends are cruel enough to call me!) will be content only with a _large paper_ copy of it, with the prices neatly penned in the margin. i conclude that lysander recommends the volume in this shape to all tasteful collectors.] lis. but there are surely other large paper---- alman. what can there possibly be in a large paper copy of a _catalogue of books_ which merits the appellation of "nobleness" and "richness?" loren. you are a little out of order. such a question cuts the heart of a bibliographer in twain. pray let lysander pursue his narrative. lysand. i have no sort of objection to such interruptions. but i think the day is not very far distant when females will begin to have as high a relish for _large paper_ copies of every work as their male rivals. now let us go on quietly towards the close of my long-winded bibliomaniacal history. and first let us not fail to pay due respect to the cabinet of literary bijoux collected by that renowned bibliomaniac, mark cephas tutet.[ ] his collection was distinguished by some very uncommon articles of early date, both of foreign and british typography; and, if you take a peep into lorenzo's priced copy of the catalogue containing also the purchasers' names, you will find that most notorious modern bibliomaniacs ran away with the choicest prizes. tutet's catalogue, although drawn up in a meagre and most disadvantageous style, is a great favourite with me; chiefly for the valuable articles which it exhibits. [footnote : _a catalogue of the genuine and valuable collection of printed books and manuscripts of the late_ mark cephas tutet, esq., to be sold by auction by mr. gerard, on wednesday, the th of february, , vo. this library evinces the select taste and accurate judgment of its collector. there were only articles, or lots; but these in general were both curious and valuable. i will give a specimen or two of the tutet cabinet of books. no. . various catalogues of curiosities, elegantly bound in volumes, and a few loose: _most of them priced, with the purchasers' names_. a.d. to , vo. £ _s._ _d._ . two volumes of ancient and modern cards, _eleg. in russia_ [these volumes were purchased by mr. payne's father, and of him by mr. gough. at the sale of the mss. of the latter ( ) they were purchased by mr. robert triphook, bookseller, of st. james's street; with a view of making them instrumental to a work which he is projecting, _upon the history and antiquity of playing cards_.] . broughton's concent of scripture: _printed upon vellum_ . snelling's silver coinage,-- ; ditto gold coinage, ; ditto copper coinage, ; ditto miscellaneous views, ; ditto jettons, : all in folio "these form a complete set of snelling's works in folio, and are interspersed with a great number of very useful and interesting notes and observations, by mr. tutet." . the byble, &c. printed by grafton and whitchurch, , folio [there is a note here by tutet which does not evince any profound knowledge of english etymology.] . rede me and be not wroth, mo., no place nor date . servetus de trinitatis erroribus, _cor. tur._, , mo. . ---- de trinitate divinâ, lond., , to. . the arte and crafte to know well to dye. _printed by caxton_, , folio . hautin, figures des monnoyes de france, , folio . parker de antiq. brit. ecclesiæ, , folio. a long and curious note is here appended . the boke of hawkinge, huntynge, and fysshynge, , fol. . sancta peregrinatio in mont. syon, &c. , folio ["this is the first book of travels that was ever printed. the maps are very remarkable; that of the holy land is above feet long."] . spaccio della bestia trionfante. _paris_, , vo. . expositio sancti jeronimi in symbolum apostolorum, _cor. maur. oxon._, , to. . polychronycon; _printed by caxton_, , to. . pfintzing (melchoir [transcriber's note: melchior]) his german poem of the adventures of the emperor maximilian, under the name of tewrdanckh's. nuremb., , folio . initial letters, vignettes, cul de lampes, &c., vols., _elegantly bound in russia_. [these beautiful books are now in the possession of mr. douce] . bouteroue, recherches curieuses des monnoyes de france: _in morocco, gilt, paris_, , folio . froissart's chronicles; printed by pynson, , folio, vols. _a beautiful copy elegantly bound._ . recule of the hystoryes of troye; _printed by caxton_, ( ) folio. _a very fine copy, and quite complete._ . ciceronis officia, , to. _on paper._ and thus we take leave of that judicious and tasteful bibliomaniac, mark cephas tutet! three months after the sale of the preceding library, appeared the _bibliotheca universalis selecta_ of samuel paterson; containing a collection to be sold by auction in may, . to this catalogue of articles, there is a short (i wish i could add "sweet") preface, which has been extracted in the _gentleman's magazine_, vol. lvi., p. ; and in the _censura literaria_, vol. ii., p. --but, whatever accidental reputation the volume may have received from the notice of it in these periodical works, i deem both the preface and the work itself quite unworthy of paterson's credit. there is an alphabetical index (not always very correct); and a few bibliographical notes are subjoined to the specification of the titles; and these considerations alone will give the book a place in the library of the bibliomaniac. the collection is, in fact, neither universal nor select: and the preface is written in the worst of all styles, containing the most commonplace observations.] the following year, was sold, in a similar way, the select and very curious collection of richard wright, m.d.;[ ] the strength of which lay chiefly in publications relating to the _drama_ and _romances_. it is, in my humble opinion, a most judicious, as well as neatly printed, little catalogue; and not more than a dozen copies of it, i think, were printed upon _large paper_. secure this volume, lisardo, if you wish to add to your riches in english bibliography. [footnote : lysander has not drawn too strong an outline in his picture of the _bibliotheca wrightiana_. the collection was elegant and select. let us say a little more about it. "_a catalogue of the library of_ richard wright, m.d. &c., consisting of an elegant and extensive collection of books in every branch of learning, &c., many of the scarcest editions of the old english poets, novels, and romances; also a most singular assemblage of theatrical writers, including the rarest productions of the english drama." sold by auction by t. and j. egerton, april rd, , vo. the volume is neatly printed, and the books in the collection are arranged in alphabetical order under their respective departments. we will now fill up a little of the aforementioned strong outline of the picture of wright's library: which contained articles. , , - - - - , - - , exhibit a glorious specimen of the ancient english chronicles--which, collectively, did not produce a sum above £ _s._ _d._ . england's parnassus, , vo. . churchyarde's choice, , to. . ---- first part of his chippes, , to. . robert greene's works, vols., _elegantly bound_, to. (containing pieces.) . shyp of folys. _printed by pynson_, , fol. . skelton's works: , vo. . turberville's epitaphs, epigrams, songs and sonnets, , vo. my copy has no price to this article. . thomas nashe's works, in three vols. to., containing pieces to , comprehends _the english theatre_. these numbers exhibit almost every thing that is rare, curious, and valuable in this popular department. i know not how to select stars from such a galaxy of black-letter lustre--but the reader may follow me to the ensuing numbers, which will at least convince him that i am not insensible to the charms of _dramatic bijoux_, nos. - : - - : : - - - : : : - - : (dekker's pieces: in number--sold for _l._ _s._ eheu!) : . (heywood's plays, _l._ _s._) .-- : (marston's pieces, _l._ _s._) . (tragedie of dido, , _l._ _s._ euge!) . (middleton; pieces: _l._ _s._) - . (george peele's: _l._ _s._) : (sackville's ferrex and porrex: _l._ _s._)--but--"quo musa tendis?" i conclude, therefore, with the following detailed _seriatim_. . shakspeare's works; , folio. _first edition; bound in russia leather, with gilt leaves._ . the same; . _second impression._ . the same; . _the same._ . the same; . _third edit. in russia._ . the same; . _fourth edition._ my copy of this catalogue is upon _large paper_, beautifully priced by a friend who "hath an unrivalled pen in this way;" and to whom i owe many obligations of a higher kind in the literary department--but whose modesty, albeit he was born on the banks of the liffey, will not allow me to make the reader acquainted with his name. therefore, "stat nominis umbra:" viz. ----!] loren. was wright's the only collection disposed of at this period, which was distinguished for its dramatic treasures? i think henderson's[ ] library was sold about this time? [footnote : _a catalogue of the library of_ john henderson, esq. (late of covent garden theatre), &c. sold by auction by t. and j. egerton, on february, , vo. do not let the lover of curious books in general imagine that henderson's collection was entirely dramatical. a glance at the contents of page to page , inclusively, will shew that this library contained some very first-rate rarities. when the dramatic collector enters upon page , (to the end of the volume, p. ) i will allow him to indulge in all the _mania_ of this department of literature, "withouten ony grudgynge." he may also ring as many _peals_ as it pleaseth him, upon discovering that he possesses all the copies of a dramatic author, ycleped _george peele_, that are notified at nos. - ! henderson's library was, without doubt, an extraordinary one. as we are upon _dramatic libraries_, let us, for fear lysander should forget it, notice the following, though a little out of chronological order. "_a catalogue, &c., of the late_ mr. james william dodd, of the _theatre royal, drury lane, &c. sold by auction by leigh and sotheby_, jan. , , vo., lots." there was more of the _drama_ in this than in henderson's collection. mr. kemble purchased the dearest volume, which was "whetstone's promos and cassandra," , to. (no. ) for _l._ _s._ mr. george nicol (for the late duke of roxburgh) kept up a tremendous fire at this sale! akin to dodd's, was the "_curious and valuable library of_ george smyth, esq.--sold by leigh and sotheby, june , , vo." there were many uncommon books in this collection, exclusively of those appertaining to the drama; and when i mention, in this latter department--hughes's misfortunes of prince arthur, &c., printed by robinson, , to. (no. ; _l._ _s._), both the parts of shakespeare's henry the fourth ( - , to., nos. - ; _l._ _s._), his much ado about nothing, , to., (no. ; _l._ _s._)--i say enough to sharpen the collector's appetite to obtain, if he have it not, possession of this curious but barbarously printed catalogue. to these, let me add the "_catalogue of a portion of the library of_ william fillingham, esq., _consisting of old quarto plays, early english poetry, and a few scarce tracts, &c., sold by leigh and sotheby_, april , vo." the arrangement of this small catalogue is excellent. many of the books in it are of the rarest occurrence; and, to my knowledge, were in the finest preservation. the collector is no more! he died in india; cut off in the prime of life, and in the midst of his intellectual and book-collecting ardour! he was a man of exceedingly gentlemanlike manners, and amiable disposition; and his taste was, upon the whole, well cultivated and correct. many a pleasant, and many a profitable, hour have i spent in his "delightsome" library!!!] lysand. it was; and if you had not reminded me of it, i should have entirely forgotten it. catalogues of _dramatic libraries_, well arranged, are of great service to the cause of the bibliomania. lis. i wish we could procure some act of parliament to induce the dramatic collectors--by a fair remuneration--to give a well analysed account of their libraries. we should then have the _bibliotheca roxburghiana_, _bibliotheca maloniana_, and what say you to the _bibliotheca kemblëiana_. lysand. you are running wild. let me continue my bibliomaniacal history. we may now advance directly to the exquisite--and shall i say, unparalleled?--library of major pearson![ ] a gentleman, who has far eclipsed the bibliomaniacal reputation of his military predecessor, general dormer. this extraordinary collection was sold by auction the very next year ensuing the sale of dr. wright's books and so thickly and richly is it sprinkled with the black-letter, and other curious lore--so varied, interesting, and valuable, are the departments into which it is divided--that it is no wonder his present majesty, the late duke of roxburgh, and george steevens, were earnest in securing some of the choicest gems contained in the same. such a collection, sold at the present day--when there is such a "_qui vive_" for the sort of literature which it displays--what would it produce? at least four times more, than its sum total, two and twenty years ago! [footnote : if the reader attend only to the above flourishing eulogy, by lysander, upon the extraordinary collection of major, or thomas, pearson, i fear he will not rise from the perusal of these pages impressed with very accurate notions of the same. to qualify such ardent panegyric, and at the same time to please the hearts of all honest bibliomaniacs, i here subjoin something like a sober analysis of the _bibliotheca pearsoniana_. the title to the sale catalogue is as follows: "_biblioth. pearson. a catalogue of the library of_ thomas pearson, esq. _containing a very extensive collection of the best and rarest books in every branch of english literature, &c. sold by auction by t. and j. egerton, in april, _," vo. like all the sale catalogues put forth by the egertons, the present is both judiciously arranged and neatly printed. it is said that there are only twelve copies upon _large paper_; but i doubt the smallness of this number. my own is of this kind, superbly bound, and priced with a neatness peculiar to the calligraphical powers of the 'forementioned friend. it may not be amiss to prefix an extract from a newspaper of the day; in which this sale was thus noticed: "the black-lettero-mania, which raged so furiously in the course of last spring at the sale of dr. wright's books, has broken out with still greater violence at the present auction of major pearson's library. this assertion may be countenanced by the following examples." then follow a few specimens of the prices given. the reader is now presented with copious specimens, selected according to their numerical order: the addenda, between inverted commas, being copied from the said newspaper. . webbe's discourse of english poetrie, , to. £ _s._ _d._ "bought by mr. steevens versus mr. malone." . puttenham's art of english poesie, , to. . the fyrst boke of the introduction to knowledge, &c.; _printed by w. copland_, no date, to. "by the rev. mr. brand versus lord charlemont." . the castell of laboure; _emprynted by pynson_, to., _no date_. . dekker's miscellaneous pieces, , &c., to. . a curious collection of sundry rare pieces, to. . drollery's (eleven) , &c., vo. these droll pieces are now much coveted by knowing bibliomaniacs. mr. heber and mr. hill have each a copious collection of them; and mr. gutch of bristol, a bookseller of great spirit in his trade, and of equal love of general literature, recently gratified the curious by exhibiting, in his catalogue of , a number of "_garlands_;" which ere now, have, in all probability, proved a successful bait for some hungry book fish. . sir john harrington's most elegant and witty epigrams, with portrait, , vo. . flowers of epigrammes, &c. _impr. by shepperd_, , mo. . the paradise of dainty devises, &c., _printed for e. white_, , to. the workes of a young wit, by n.b. b.l. _printed by thomas dawson, no date_. watson's mistresse, &c., and sonnets, b.l. _imperf._ diana, by the earl and countess of oxenford, _printed for j. roberts_, wanting title, to. "bought by mr. steevens versus mr. malone." . england's helicon, , to. "by ditto versus ditto." . the example of vertu; _printed by w. de worde_, to. "bought by mr. mason versus mr. malone." . a mirrour of mysterie; _finely written upon, vellum, with two very neat drawings with pen and ink_, , to. . manley's affliction and deliverance of saints, portr. , vo. . tragedie of sir richard grenvile, knt. printed by j. roberts, , vo. . laquei ridiculosi, or springes for woodcocks, by henry parrot, , vo. n.b. _this little volume was sold for as many guineas at the sale of mr. reed's books in ._ . lyf of st. ursula; _impr. by wynkyn de worde_, no date, to. . lyf and history of saynt werburge. _printed by pynson_, , to. n.b. _this volume was sold for _l._ _s._ at the last mentioned sale._ . this lot comprehends a cluster of precious little black-letter pieces, which were purchased at the sale of west's books, by major pearson. eight in the whole: executed before the year . . the goodly garlande, or chaplet of laurell, by maister skelton; _impr._ by fawkes, , to. see here a long note upon the rarity and intrinsic worth of this curious little volume. "purchased by brand versus the king." . ancient songs and ballads; written on various subjects, and printed between the years and ; chiefly collected by robert earl of oxford, and purchased at the sale of the library of james west, esq., in (for _l._): increased by several additions: _ volumes bound in russia leather_. "bought by mr. nicol for the duke of roxburgh, versus messrs. arnold and ritson." "n.b. the preceding numerous and matchless collection of _old ballads_ are all printed in the black-letter, and decorated with many hundred wooden prints. they are pasted upon paper, with borders (printed on purpose) round each ballad: also, a printed title and index to each volume. to these are added the paragraphs which appeared in the public papers respecting the above curious collection, at the time they were purchased at mr. west's." thus far messrs. egerton. i have to add that the late duke of roxburgh became the purchaser of these "matchless" volumes. whilst in major pearson's possession, "with the assistance of mr. reed, the collection received very great additions, and was bound in two very large volumes; in this state (says mr. nicol,) it was bought by the duke of roxburghe. after the industrious exertions of two such skilful collectors as major pearson and mr. reed, the duke did not flatter himself with ever being able to add much to the collection; but, as usual, he undervalued his own industry. finding that his success far exceeded his expectations, he determined to add a _third volume_ to the collection. among these new acquisitions are some very rare ballads; one quoted by hamlet, of which no other copy is known to exist." _preface to the roxburgh catalogue_, p. . the ballad here alluded to may be seen in mr. evans's recent edition of his father's _collection of old ballads_; vol. i., p. . to . these numbers comprehend a very uncommon and interesting set of _old romances_! which, collectively, did not produce _l._--but which now, would have been sold for----!? to . an extraordinary collection of the english drama. and thus farewell major pearson!] lis. o rare thomas pearson! i will look sharply after a _large paper_, _priced_, copy of the _bibliotheca pearsoniana_! lysand. you must pay smartly for it, if you are determined to possess it. belin. madness!--madness inconceivable!--and undescribed by darwin, arnold, and haslam! but, i pray you, proceed. lysand. alas, madam, the task grows more and more complex as i draw towards the completion of it. in the year the book-treasures of the far-famed pinelli[ ] collection were disposed of by public auction: nor can one think, without some little grief of heart, upon the dispersion of a library, which (much more than commercial speculations and profits) had, for upwards of a century, reflected so much credit upon the family of its possessors. the atmosphere of our metropolis, about this period, became as much infected with the miasmata of the book-plague as it did, about years before, with the miasmata of a plague of a different description: for the worthy inhabitants of westminster had hardly recovered from the shock of the bibliomaniacal attack from the pinelli sale, 'ere they were doomed to suffer the tortures of a similar one in that of the paris[ ] collection. this latter was of shorter duration; but of an infinitely more powerful nature: for then you might have seen the most notorious bibliomaniacs, with blood inflamed and fancies intoxicated, rushing towards the examination of the truly matchless volumes contained within this collection. yet remember that, while the whole of pall mall was thronged with the carriages of collectors, anxious to carry off in triumph some _vellum copy_ of foreign execution--there was sold, in a quiet corner of the metropolis, the copious and scholar-like collection of michael lort, d.d. the owner of this latter library was a learned and amiable character, and a bibliographer of no mean repute.[ ] his books were frequently enriched with apposite ms. remarks; and the variety and extent of his collection, suited to all tastes, and sufficiently abundant for every appetite, forms, i think, a useful model after which future bibliomaniacs may build their libraries. [footnote : mention has already been made of the different _catalogues of the_ pinelli _collection_: see p. , ante. here, as lysander has thought proper again to notice the name of the collector, i am tempted to add a few specimens of the extraordinary books contained in his extraordinary library: adding thereto the prices for which they were sold. but--again and again i observe, _in limine_--these sums form no criterion of the _present_ worth of the books; be the same more or less! it is a document only of bibliographical curiosity. no. . la biblia sacra in lingua vulgare tradotta; . folio. vols. £ _s._ _d._ . bandello, canti xi delle lodi della signora lucrezia gonzaga di gazuolo, &c., , vo. . dante, la divina comedia; , folio. _ediz. prin._ . petrarca, le rime. venez. , to. _prin. ediz._ . sannazzaro, l'arcadia. ven. ald. , vo. _esemp. stampata in cartapecora._ . biblia polyglotta; complut. , &c., folio. vols. _exemplar integerrimum splendidissimum._ impressum in membranis. all the world (perhaps i should have said the _bibliographical_ world) has heard of this pre-eminently wonderful set of books; now in count macarty's library at thoulouse. my friend, dr. gosset--who will not (i trust) petition for excommunicating me from the orthodox church to which i have the honour of belonging, if i number him in the upper class of bibliomaniacs--was unable to attend the sale of the pinelli collection, from severe illness: but he _did petition_ for a sight of one of these volumes of old ximenes's polyglott--which, much more effectually than the spiders round ashmole's neck (vide p. , ante), upon an embrace thereof, effected his cure. shakspeare, surely, could never have meant to throw such "physic" as this "to the dogs?!" but, to return. . anthologia epig. græc. . to. _exemp. impr. in membranis._ . theocritus (absque ulla nota) to. _editio princeps._ . plautus, . folio. _editio princeps._ , . aulus gellius, , folio. _edit. princeps._ , . macrobius, , folio. _edit. prin._ , . priscianus de art. gram. . fol. _in membranis._ [sale catalogue, , vo.] but--"jam satis." it probably escaped lysander that, while the sale of the pinelli collection attracted crowds of bibliomaniacs to conduit street, hanover square, a very fine library was disposed of, in a quiet and comfortable manner, at the rooms of messrs. leigh and sotheby, in york street, covent garden; under the following title to the catalogue: _a catalogue of a very elegant and curious cabinet of books, lately imported from france_, &c. (sold in may, ). my priced copy of this catalogue affixes the name (in ms.) of macartney, as the owner of this precious "cabinet." there were only articles; containing a judicious sprinkling of what was elegant, rare, and curious, in almost every department of literature. the eleventh and twelfth days' sale were devoted to mss.; many of them of extraordinary beauty and singularity. it was from this collection, no. , that lord spencer obtained, for a comparatively small sum, one of the most curious books (if not an unique volume) in the class of early english printed ones, which are in his own matchless collection. it is the "_siege of rhodes_," which has a strong appearance of being the production of caxton's press. the copy is perfectly clean and almost uncut.] [footnote : if the reader will be pleased to turn to page , ante, he will find a tolerably copious and correct list of the different sales of books which were once in the possession of mons. paris de meyzieux. in the same place he will also find mention made of a singular circumstance attending the sale of the above collection noticed by lysander. as a corollary, therefore, to what has been before observed, take the following specimens of the books--with the prices for which they are sold--which distinguished the _bibliotheca parisiana_. they are from the french catalogue, , vo. no. . biblia sacra latina vulgatæ editionis (ex translatione et cum præfationibus s. hieronymi); venetiis, n. jenson, , vol. in fol.: _avec miniatures, relié en mar. r. doublé de tabis, dentelles et boîtes_: imprime sur velin. "on connoît l'extrême rareté de cette belle edition quand les exemplaires sont sur vélin. nous n'en connoissons qu'un seul, bien moins beau que celui ci; celui que nous annonçons est de toute beauté, et on ne peut rien ajouter au luxe de la relieure." £ _s._ _d._ . biblia sacra vulgatæ editionis, tribus tomis distincta (jussu sixt. v., pontificis maximi edita); _romæ, ex typographia apostolica vaticana_, ; _in. fol. ch. mag. maroquin rouge_. "superbe exemplaire d'un livre de la plus grande rareté; il porte sur la couverture les armes de sixte quint." . epitome passionis jesu christi, in o. sur velin avec miniatures. _manuscrit très précieux_ du commencement du siecle, contenant feuillets écrits en ancienne ronde bâtarde, et pages de miniatures d'un dessein et d'un fini inappréciables. "les desseins sont d'albert durer, tels qu'il les a gravés dans ses ouvrages, et l'exécution est si animée qu'on peut croire qu'elle est, en tout ou en partie, de la main de ce peintre célebre. on ne peut trop louer la beauté de ce livre." . officium beatæ mariæ virginis cum calendario; in o. mar. r. dentelles. "_cette paire d'heures manuscrite_ sur velin, est sans contredit une des plus belles et des plus achevées que l'on puisse trouver. au rare mérite de sa parfaite exécution elle réunit encore celui d'avoir été faite pour françoise er, roi de france, et d'être décoree dans toutes ses pages de l'embléme et du chiffre de ce monarque. ce manuscrit, d'un prix inestimable, est ecrit en lettres rondes sur un vélin très blanc"--"il est decoré de très belles capitales, de guirlandes superbes de fleurs, de culs-de-lampe, & de bordures ornées d'oiseaux, d'insectes, de fleurs et de lames d'or très brillant."--"il est impossible de donner une idée satisfaisante de le beauté et de la richesse de peintures admirables qui enrichissent autant de pages de pouces et demi de hauteur, sur environ pouces de largeur; elles sont au dessus de toute expression; mais il n'y en a qu'une qui soit du temps de françois er.; un seigneur dont on voit les armes peintes sur le second feuillet, a fait exécuter les autres dans la siecle dernier, avec une magnificence peu commune. les tableaux et les ornemens dont il a enrichi ce précieux manuscrit se distinguent par une composition savante et gracieuse, un dessin correct, une touche précieuse et un coloris agréable," &c. . heures de notre-dame, écrites à la main, , par jarry, parisien, in o. _chagrin noir, avec deux fermoirs d'or et boîte de mar. bl._ "ces heures sont un chef-d'oeuvre d'écriture & de peinture. le fameux jarry, qui n'a pas encore eu son égal en l'art d'écrire, s'y est surpassé, & y a prouvé que la regularité, la netteté & la precision des caracteres du burin et de l'impression pouvoient être imitées avec la plume à un degré de perfection inconcevable."--"le peintre, dont le nom nous est inconnu, & qui doit avoir été un des plus fameux du siecle de louis xiv., a travaillé à l'envi avec nicolas jarry à rendre ces heures dignes d'admiration."--"les sept peintures dont il les a enriches, sont recommendables par la purité de leur dessein, la vivacité des couleurs, la verité de l'expression, et leur précieux fini." this matchless little volume was purchased by mr. johnes of hafod, and presented by him to his daughter, who has successfully copied the miniatures; and, in the true spirit of a female bibliomaniac, makes this book her travelling companion "wherever she goes." . office de la vierge, _manuscrit_, avec miniatures et un grand nombre de figures bizarres, oiseaux, etc. supérieurement executé; vol. in o. _m. bl. doublé de tapis, avec étuis_. "on ne peut rien voir de plus agréable & de mieux diversifié que les différents sujets des miniatures; en tout, cet exemplaire est un des plus beaux que j'aie jamais vus; c'est celui de picart. il est à remarquer à cause du costume de quelques figures; il a été relié avec le plus grand soin et la plus grande dépense." . l'art de connoître et d'apprécier les miniatures des anciens manuscrits; par m. l'abbé rive, avec tableaux enlumines, copiés d'après les plus beaux manuscrits qui se trouvoient dans la bibliothéque de m. le duc de la valliere, et d'autres précieux cabinets. _exemplaire peint_ sur velin. "m. l'abbé rive se proposoit de donner une dissertation sur les manuscrits enluminés pour accompagner ces dessins; mais jusqu'ici ayant des raisons qui l'empêchent d'en gratifier le public, il en a donné la description en manuscrit (le seul qui existe) au propriétaire de ce superbe exemplaire." . les faicts, dictes et ballades de maitre alain chartier: _paris, pierre le caron, sans date, in fol. velours vert_; imprime sur velin. "exemplaire qui ne laisse rien à desirer, pour la grandeur des marges, la peinture des miniatures et de toutes les lettres capitales. la finesse des lignes rouges, qui divisent chaque ligne, demontre combien on a été engagé à le rendre précieux. il est dans sa relieure originale parfaitement bien conservé; il a appartenu à claude d'urfé: l'edition passe pour étre de l'année, . _voyez bibliographie instructive_, no. ." . contes de la fontaine, avec miniatures, vignettes et culs-de-lampes à chaque conte; vol. in o.; m. bleu, doublé de tapis, étuis. "_manuscrit incomparable_ pour le génie et l'exécution des dessins. il est inconcevable que la vie d'un artiste ait pu suffire pour exécuter d'une manière si finie un si grand nombre de peintures exquises; le tout est d'un coloris éclatant, d'une conservation parfaite, & sur du vélin egalement blanc et uni; enfin c'est un assemblage de miniatures précieuses et dignes d'orner le plus beau cabinet." l'ecriture a été faite par monchaussé, et les miniatures par le fameux marolles. . opere di francesco petrarcha; _senza luogho_ , _mar. r. doublé de tabis et étui_; imprime sur velin. "exemplaire sans prix, avec grand nombre de miniatures charmantes. il passoit pour constant à florence, où je l'ai acheté, qu'il avoite été imprimé à part probablement pour quelqu'un des mêdicis, et sur les corrections de l'edition de ; car les fautes ne s'y trouvent pas, et il ne m'a pas éte possible d'en découvrir une seule.--la parfaite conservation de ce livre précieux démontre combien ses possesseurs ont été sensible a sa valeur. p----." . collectiones peregrinationum in indiam orientalem et in indiam occidentalem, xxv partibus comprehensæ, &c. _francof. ad mæen. , &c., vol. reliés en , folio; maroq. citr. bleu et rouge._ "exemplaire de la plus grande beauté, et qui possede autant de perfection que pouvoient lui donner les soins et les connoissances des plus grands amateurs." . les grands chroniques de france (dites les chroniques de st. denys); _paris, antoine verard_, , vols. fol. _vel. rouge, et boîtes_; imprime sur velin. "exemplaire d'une magnificence étonante pour la blancheur du vélin, la grandeur des marges, et l'ouvrage immense de l'enluminure; chaque lettre-capitale étant peinte en or, et contenant miniatures, dont sont de la grandeur des pages, et environ de pouces de hauteur sur de largeur. il est encore dans sa relieure originale, et d'une fraîcheur & d'une conservation parfaites: il a appartenu à claude d'urfé." . chroniques de france, d'angleterre, d'ecosse, d'espagnes, et de bretaigne, etc.; par _froissart; paris, g. eustace, . vol. in fol. mar. r. doublé de tabis, et boîtes_ imprime sur velin. "on peut regarder ce livre comme un des plus rares qui existe. l'exemplaire est unique et inconnu aux meilleurs bibliographes; sauvage ne l'a jamaie vu; il est de la premiere beauté par la blancheur du vélin, & par sa belle conservation. on y a joint tout le luxe de la rélieure." _in the hafod collection._ ] [footnote : the following is the title of the bibliotheca lortiana. "_a catalogue of the entire and valuable library of the late_ rev. michael lort, d.d., f.r.s. and a.s., _which will be sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, &c., april , _," vo. the sale lasted twenty-five days; and the number of lots or articles was . the ensuing specimens of a few of the book-treasures in this collection prove that lysander's encomium upon the collector is not without foundation. no. . gardiner's (bishop) detection of the devil's sophistry, ms. title: printed by _john hertford, in aldersgate street, at the cost and charges of robert toye_, , mo. note in this book: "though this book is imperfect, yet the remarkable part of it, viz. sheet e, printed in the greek letter, and sheet f in latin, with the roman letter, are not wanting." £ _s._ _d._ . hale's (t.) account of new inventions, in a letter to the earl of marlborough, vo. note in this book: "many curious particulars in this book, more especially a prophetic passage relative to the duke of marlborough, p. xlvii." . harrison's (michael) four sermons. "n.b. the author of this book cut the types himself, and printed it at st. ives," vo. . festival (the) impressus rothomage, , to. in this book (which is in english) at the end of each festival is a narration of the life of the saint, or of the particular festival. . festival (the) with wooden cuts, compleat: _emprynted by wynkyn de worde_, , to. . johnson's (dr. sam.) journey to the western islands of scotland. "in this book is contained the cancelled part of page , relative to litchfield cathedral; likewise the cancelled part of page , respecting the cave at egg, and the transaction there; also parts of reviews and newspapers, concerning dr. johnson; two plates, ms. copy of a letter of dr. johnson's: and henderson's letter to johnson on his journey to scotland." , vo. . muggleton's acts of the witnesses of the spirit; _with heads, ms. remarks, and notes_, . ludowick muggleton, born in bishopgate street, ; put apprentice to john quick, a taylor. married a virgin of , ætat. suæ . another virgin of , ætat. . a third virgin wife of , ætat. . chosen a prophet , to. . muggleton's and reeve's volume of spiritual epistles; elegantly bound, with a head of muggleton underneath a ms. note, , to. . lower's voyage of charles ii. made into holland, head and plates. hague. . folio. n.b. "a very uncommon book, containing many curious particulars." . owen's (dr. john) divine originall, &c. of the scriptures, oxford, , vo. note in this book: "one of the scarcest and best of dr. owen's works." . psalms (the whole booke of) with hymns, by ravenscroft, with music, vo. "note; in this book are some tunes by john milton, the great poet's father. see page , ." . stubbes's anatomie of abuses, printed at london by richard jones, august, , vo. note in this book: "i bought this rare book at the auction of mr. joseph hart's books, in may , where it cost me _s._ &c." m.l. [the reader may just run back to page , ante; where he will find some account of this work.] . champ fleury, auquel est contenu l'art et science de la deue et vraye proportion de lettres antiques et romaines selon le corps et visage humain, avec figures. par. . folio. "_this uncommon book was sold at an auction, , for l. s._" . alberti descriptione di tutta italia, venez., , to. note in this book--"_this is a very scarce and much valued account of italy._" with another curious note respecting the author. . aldrete varias antiguedales de espana, africa, y otras provincias. amberes, , to. _note in this book_: "one of the most valuable books of this kind in the spanish language, and very rarely to be met with." . humfredi, vita episcop. juelli, foliis deauratis, lond. ap dayum, , to. _note in this book_: "at the end of this book are probably some of the first hebrew types used in england." . præsidis (epistola r.a.p.) generalis et regiminis totius congregationis anglicanæ ordinis st. benedicti. duaci, . vo. [_note in this book_: "this is a very scarce book; it was intended only for the use of the order, and care taken that it should not get into improper hands. see the conclusion of the general's mandate, and of the book itself."] . wakefeldi oratio de laudibus et utilitate trium linguarum, arabicæ, chaldaicæ, & hebraicæ; atque idiomatibus hebraicis quæ in utroque testamento inveniuntur. _lond. ap. winandum de worde._--shirwode liber hebræorum concionatoris, seu ecclesiasten. antv. . to. _note in this book_: "these two pieces by shirwood and wakefield are exceedingly rare." for some particulars concerning the very respectable dr. lort, the reader may consult the _gentleman's magazine_; vol. lx. pt. ii. p. , .] alman. i am glad to hear you notice such kind of collections; for utility and common sense have always appeared to me a great desideratum among the libraries of your professed bibliomaniacs. belin. yes:--you pride yourselves upon your large paper, and clean, and matchless copies--but you do not dwell quite so satisfactorily upon your useful and profitable volumes--which, surely stand not in need of expensive embellishments. lort's collection would be the library for my money--if i were disposed to become a female bibliomaniac! lis. you are even a more jejune student than myself in bibliography, or you would not talk in this strain, belinda. abuse fine copies of books! i hope you forgive her, lysander? lysand. most cordially. but have i not discoursed sufficiently? the ladies are, i fear, beginning to be wearied; and the night is "almost at odds with morning which is which." loren. nay, nay, we must not yet terminate our conversation. pursue, and completely accomplish, the noble task which you have begun. but a few more years to run down--a few more renowned bibliomaniacs to "kill off"--and then we retire to our pillows delighted and instructed by your---- lysand. halt! if you go on thus, there is an end to our "table talk." i now resume. loren. yet a word to save your lungs, and slightly vary the discourse. let me take you with me to ireland, about this time; where, if you reremember [transcriber's note: remember], the library of denis daly[ ] was disposed of by public auction. my father attended the sale; and purchased at it a great number of the _old english chronicles_, and volumes relating to _english history_, which lisardo so much admired in the library. you remember the copy of birch's _lives of illustrious persons of great britain_! [footnote : _a catalogue of the library of the late right honourable_ denis daly, _which will be sold by auction on the first of may, , by james vallance._ _dublin_, vo. a fac-simile copper-plate of a part of the first psalm, taken from a bible erroneously supposed to have been printed by ulric zell in , faces the title-page; and a short and pertinent preface succeeds it. the collection was choice and elegant: the books are well described, and the catalogue is printed with neatness. the copies on _large paper_ are very scarce. i subjoin, as a curiosity, and for the sake of comparing with modern prices, the sums for which a few popular articles in english history were disposed of. no. . tyrrell's general history of england, vols. lond. , fol. "to this copy mr. tyrell has made considerable additions in ms. written in a fair hand, which must be worthy of the attention of the learned." £ _s._ _d._ . rapin's history of england with tyndal's continuation, vols. _elegantly bound in russia_. lond. - , folio. "one of the most capital sets of rapin extant; besides the elegant portraits of the kings and queens, monuments, medals, &c. engraved for this work, it is further enriched with the beautiful prints executed by vertue and houbraken, for birch's illustrious heads." folio. . carte's general history of england, vols., fine paper, _elegant in russia_. lond. , folio. . birch's lives of illustrious persons of great britain, with their heads by houbraken and vertue; vols. in one, _first impression of the plates, imperial paper_. lond. - , folio. it is impossible to give a perfect idea of this book: every plate is fine, and appears to be selected from the earliest impressions: it is now very scarce. . campbell's vitruvius britannicus, with woolfe's and gandon's continuation, vols. _large paper, fine impressions of the plates, elegantly bound in morocco, gilt leaves, &c._ lond. - , folio. . wood's historia et antiquitates oxoniensis, _large paper, russia, gilt leaves, &c._ ox. . . biographia britannica, vols. _large paper, elegantly bound_. lond. , fol. . ---- ---- vols. new edition, _elegantly bound in green turkey_. lond. . . mathæi paris, monachi albanensis angli, historia major, a wats. lond. , folio. . mathæi westmonasteriensis, flores historiarum. franc. , folio. . historiæ anglicanæ scriptores varii, a sparke. lond. , folio. . historiæ anglicanæ scriptores x. a twysden; tom. fol. _deaurat._ lond. , folio. . rerum anglicarum scriptores post bedam, a saville, fol. _deaurat._ lond. , folio. . rerum anglicarum scriptorum veterum, a gale; tom. fol. _deaurat._ lond. - . . rerum britannicarum, scriptores vetustiores. lugd. , folio. . prynne's records, vols., with the _frontispieces complete, gilt, broad border of gold_. lond. - . "for an account of this rare and valuable work, see oldy's british librarian, page ii. not more than copies of the first vol. were rescued from the fire of london, ." folio. i learn from the nephew of the late mr. archer, of dublin, bookseller, that the late lord clare offered guineas for the collection--which contained only lots or articles. the offer was rejected. although the amount of the sale did not exceed _l._--according to a rough calculation.] lis. i do:--and a marvellously fine one it is! loren. well, this was formerly _exemplar dalyanum_. but now proceed. i wished only to convince you that the miasmata (as you call them) of the bibliomaniacal disease had reached our sister kingdom. of scotland[ ]--i know nothing in commendation respecting the bibliomania. [footnote : this is rather a hasty speech, on the part of lorenzo. the copious and curious catalogues of those booksellers, messrs. constable, laing, and blackwood--are a sufficient demonstration that the cause of the _bibliomania_ flourishes in the city of edinburgh. whether they have such desperate bibliomaniacs in scotland, as we possess in london, and especially of the book-auction species--is a point which i cannot take upon me to decide. certain it is that the notes of their great poet are not deficient in numerous tempting extracts from rare black-letter tomes; and if his example be not more generally followed than it is, the fault must lie with some scribe or other who counteracts its influence by propagating opinions, and recommending studies, of a different, and less tasteful, cast of character. i am fearful that there are too many politico-economical, metaphysical, and philosophical miasmata, floating in the atmosphere of scotland's metropolis, to render the climate there just now favourable to the legitimate cause of the bibliomania.] i had nearly forgotten to mention, with the encomiums which they merit, the select, curious, and splendid collections of the chauncys:[ ] very able scholars, and zealous bibliomaniacs. many a heavy-metalled competitor attended the sale of the _bibliotheca chauncyana_; and, i dare say, if such a collection of books were now _sub hastâ_---- [footnote : _a catalogue of the elegant and valuable libraries of_ charles chauncy, m.d. f.r.s. and f.s.a.; _and of his brother_, nathaniel chauncy, _esq., both deceased: &c. sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, april, _, vo.: articles. no. . booke of raynarde the foxe, morocco, gilt leaves, _london by thomas gaultier_, , vo. £ _s._ _d._ . merie tales by master skelton, poet laureat; _imprinted by thomas colwell_; no date, mo. . the pleasunt historie of lazarillo de tormes, by david rouland; _impr. at london, by abel jeffes_, , mo. . the newe testament, corrected by tyndal, with exhortations by erasmus; _gilt leaves_, , mo. . more's utopia, by robynson; _impr. by abraham veale_, mo. ( .) "n.b. in this are the passages which have been left out in the later editions." (but the reader may be pleased to examine my edition of this translation of the utopia; , vols., vo., see vol. i., p. clix.) . the epidicion into scotland of the most woorthely fortunate prince edward, duke of somerset, uncle unto our most noble sovereign, &c., edward the vith; _imprinted by grafton_; , vo. (at the sale of mr. gough's books in , a fine copy of this work was sold for _l._ _s._) . ben jonson his volpone, or the foxe; _morocco, gilt leaves_, , to. "in this book is this note written by ben jonson himself. 'to his loving father, and worthy friend mr. john florio: the ayde of his muses. ben jonson seales this testimony of friendship and love.'" . nychodemus's gospell, _morocco, gilt leaves, emprynted at london, by wynkyn de worde_, , to. . oxford and cambridge verses; _in blue and red morocco, gilt leaves, with gold tassels_, vols., , &c., fol. . caius of english dogges, the diversities, the names, the natures, and the properties, by fleming; _imprinted at london by richard johnes_, , to. . the life and death of the merry devill of edmonton, with the pleasant prancks of smug the smith, sir john, and mine host of the george, about the stealing of venison, frontispiece, to. . speculum xristiani, corio turcico, impress. _london, p. willelmum de machlinia_ ad instanciam nec non expensas henrici urankenburg, mercatoris, _sine anno vel loco, circa_, , to. . [transcriber's note: sic] a hundreth sundrie flowers, bounde up in one small poesie, gathered in the fyne outlandish gardins of euripides, ovid, petrake, aristo, and others. _london_, to. . the recuile of the historie of troie; _imprynted_ , _by william copland, folio_ . the pastyme of people. the chronicles of dyvers realmys, and most specyally of the realme of englond, brevely compylyd and _emprynted in chepesyde at the sygne of the mearmayde, next polly's gate (made up with ms.) morocco, gilt leaves_, folio . cunningham's cosmographical glasse. _lond. printed by daye_, , fol. (i conclude that it had the portrait.) . ptolomæi cosmographie; cum tab. georgr. [transcriber's note: geogr.] illum. _impress. in membranis_, , fol. . virgilii opera: _impres. in membram. venet. ap. barthol. cremonens_, , fol. (two leaves on vellum in ms. very fairly written) purchased by the late mr. quin. . plinii hist. naturalis; venet. , folio. _impres. in membranis._ the first leaf illuminated on very fine vellum paper. note in this book: "this book, formerly lord oxford's, was bought by him of andrew hay for guineas." purchased by mr. edwards. there was also a magnificent copy of _pynson's first edition of chaucer's works_, in folio, which is now in the collection of earl spencer.] lis. he means "under the hammer."--ladies are not supposed to know these cramp latin phrases.-- lysand. well, "under the hammer:"--if, i say, such a collection were now to be disposed of by public auction, how eager and emulous would our notorious book-collectors be to run away with a few splendid spoils! we will next notice a not less valuable collection, called the _bibliotheca monroiana_; or the library of dr. john monro;[ ] the sale of which took place in the very year, and a little before, the preceding library was disposed of. don't imagine that monro's books were chiefly medical; on the contrary, besides exhibiting some of the rarest articles in old english literature, they will convince posterity of the collector's accurate taste in italian belles lettres: and here and there you will find, throughout the catalogue, some interesting bibliographical memoranda by the doctor himself. [footnote : "_bibliotheca elegantissima monroiana: a catalogue of the elegant and valuable library of_ john munro, m.d., _physician to bethelem hospital, lately deceased. sold by auction by leigh and sotherby [transcriber's note: sotheby], &c. april d, _, vo." as usual i subjoin a few specimens of the collector's literary treasures in confirmation of the accuracy of lysander's eulogy upon the collection----no. , cowell's interpreter; or, booke containing the signification of words, _first edition_, ("rare to be met with.") _camb. by legate_, , to.----no. . cent (les) nouvelles nouvelles, ou pour mieux dire, nouveaux comptes à plaisance, par maniere de joyeuseté.----_lettres gothiques, fig. et bois et titre mss. feuilles dorées, en maroquin, paris, par ant. verard_, , fol.----no. , heide beschryving der nieuevlyks uitgevonden en geoctrojeerde slang-brand-spuiten, en haare wijze van brand-blussen, tegenwoordig binnen _amsterdam in gebruik zynde. wyze figuurs amst._ , fol. "_note in this book: paris_, . paid for this book for his grace the duke of kingston, by mr. hickman, _l._" a great sum for a book about a "newly discovered fire engine!"----no. , vivre (le livre intitulé l'art de bein) et de bien mourir, lettres gothiques, avec fig. en maroquin dorées sur tranches. _imprimé à paris_, , to. note by dr. munro: "it is a very scarce book, more so than generally thought." with a long account of the book on separate papers.----no. , ariosto, orlando furioso, con figure da porro, foglio dorat. venet. , to. n.b. in this copy the true print is replaced _with a fine head of ariosto_, and _elegantly inlaid with morocco and calf_.----no. , boccacio (nimpale fiesolano: composto par il clarissimo poeta misser joanni) fiorentino, &c. rigato. senza data, to. see in this book a long account of this poem from dom. maria manni, in the istoria del decamerone, p. . "from what manni says in the above account, i suppose this to be the first edition he makes mention of, as there is no place or date to be found. j.m."----no. . dante di landino, con. fig. la prima edizione di landino, impf. _firenze per nicholo di lorenzo della magna_, , folio. "in this book are several remarks by dr. munro, on separate papers. an old scarce print, separate. on the title-page the following initials c m/dc r; upon which the doctor remarks it might probably be the signature of charles the first, whose property it might have been. the doctor likewise observes this copy, though imperfect, is still very valuable, on account of its having eight plates, the generality having only the two first."----no. , molinet (les faictz et dictz de bone memoire maistre jehan) _lettres gothiques, en maroquin par._ , vo.----no. , peri fiesole distrutta, poema: with portrait and engraved title, firenze, , to. _note in this book_: "this is the only copy i ever saw of this work, which i imagine is at present become extremely scarce. the title and portrait are engraved by callott. the portrait is common enough, but the title, known by the name of the bella giardiniera, very seldom seen. j.m."----no. . ridolfi, le maraviglie dell'arte, overo le vite di pittori veneti e dello stato, con. fig. tom. to. n.b. on the blank leaf of this book is an etching by carolus rodolphus, with this _ms. note_: "i imagine this to be an etching of cavaier rodolphi, as i do not remember any other of the name."----no. , lazii in genealogiam austriacam, basil. ap. oporinum, .--lazii vienna austriæ basil, . francolin res gestæ viennensis, cum fig. _viennæ austriæ excudebat raphæl hofhalter_, . folio. _note in this book_: "the last book in this volume is curious and uncommon."] we shall now run rapidly towards the close of the eighteenth century. but first, you may secure, for a shilling or two, the southgate collection;[ ] and make up your minds to pay a few more shillings for good copies, especially upon _large paper_, of all the parts of the catalogues of the library of george mason[ ]. this collection was an exceedingly valuable one; rather select than extensive: exhibiting, in pretty nearly an equal degree, some of the rarest books in greek, latin, and english literature. the _keimelion_ of the masonian cabinet, in the estimation of the black-letter bibliomaniacs, was a perfect copy of the _st. albans' edition_ of juliana barnes's book of _hawking, hunting_, and _angling_; which perfect copy is now reposing in a collection where there are _keimelia_ of far greater value to dim its wonted lustre. but let mason have our admiration and esteem. his library was elegant, judicious, and, in many respects, very precious: and the collector of such volumes was a man of worth and learning. [footnote : "_museum southgatianum; being a catalogue of the valuable collection of books, coins, medals, and natural history of the late rev._ richard southgate, a.b., f.a.s., &c. to which are prefixed memoirs of his life. london: printed for leigh and sotheby," &c. , vo. the books were comprised in lots. the coins and medals extend, in the catalogue, to pages. the shells and natural curiosities (sold in may, ) to pages. this catalogue possesses, what every similar one should possess, a compendious and perspicuous account of the collector. my copy of it is upon _large paper_; but the typographical execution is sufficiently defective.] [footnote : lysander is right in noticing "_all the parts_" of the masonian library. i will describe them particularly. pt. i. _a catalogue of a considerable portion of the greek and latin library of_ george mason, esq., with some articles in the italian, french, english, and other languages, &c. sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, on wednesday, january , , vo. articles. pt. ii. _a catalogue of most of the reserved portion of the greek and latin library of_ g.m., &c., chiefly classical and bibliographical, with a few miscellaneous articles in french: sold as before, may , , &c. articles. pt. iii. _a catalogue of a considerable portion of the remaining library of_ g.m., esq.--chiefly historical, with some curious theological, and some scientific, articles: sold as before; nov. to ; , &c. articles. pt iv. _a catalogue, &c., of the remaining library of_ g.m., esq.--chiefly belles lettres, english, french, and italian, &c., sold as before; april , : articles. these four parts, priced, especially the latter one--are uncommon. my copies of all of them are upon _large paper_. it must have been a little heart-breaking for the collector to have seen his beautiful library, the harvest of many a year's hard reaping, melting away piece-meal, like a snow-ball--before the warmth of some potent cause or other, which now perhaps cannot be rightly ascertained. see here, gentle reader, some of the fruits of this golden masonian harvest!--gathered almost promiscuously from the several parts. they are thus presented to thy notice, in order, amongst other things, to stimulate thee to be equally choice and careful in the gathering of similar fruits. part i. no. . winstanley's audley end, inscribed to james the second, fol. _never published for sale_ £ _s._ _d._ . hypnerotomachia poliphili, c.t. _f.d. ald._ . aquinæ (thomæ) quartiscriptum, c.r. _moguntiæ schoeffer_, , fol. . cicero de officiis, c.t. f.d. _moguntiæ ap. fust._ . to. in hoc exemplari rubrica inter libros secundum ac tertium habet singularia errata, quæ in nullo alio exemplari adhuc innotuerunt; viz. _primus_ ponitur pro _secundus_, _secundus_ pro _tertius_, et _secundum_ pro _tertium_ . chalcondylas, moschopulus, et corinthus, gr. _editio princeps._ vide notam ante librum . constantini lexicon græcum. _genevæ_, . ciceronis orationes, c.t. viridi f.d. _per adamum de ambergau_, , fol. . homerus, gr., vol., _editio princeps_, c.r. flor. . xenophon, gr., _editio princeps_, c.t. f.d. _flor. ap. junt._ , fol. part iii. . maundrel's journey from aleppo to jerusalem, _l.p. oxf._ , vo. first edition of the entire work . the psalter of david, large b.l. c.t. nigro f.d. _cantorbury, in st. paule's parysh, by john mychell_, , to. . the gospels in saxon and english, dedicated to queen elizabeth, by john foxe, c.t. nigro, f.d. _lond. by daye_, , to. . the new testament, by thomas matthew, , to. ["there are cuts to the revelations, different from any mr. herbert had seen; nor had he seen the book itself, till he was writing his 'corrections and additions,' where, at p. , he describes it."] . nychodemus' gospell, c.t. f.d. _wood prints. wynkyn de worde_, , to. . english prymer, in red and black types: _with emblematic frontispiece from a wood-cut_. c.t. cæruleo f.d. _byddell_, , to. printed on vellum . speculum christiani (in latin prose and english verse) c.t. nigro. _in civitate londoniarum, per wilhelmum de machlinia. supposed to be the first book printed in london, and about_ , to. . contemplation of synners, (latin prose and english verse) with double frontispiece, and other wood-cuts. _westminster, by wynkyn de worde_, , to. . (walter hylton's) scala perfectionis, london, _without temple-barre_, by julyan notary, , to. . dives and pauper, c.r. _first dated impression by pynson_, , folio . hackluyt's collection of voyages, b.l. vols. in . lond. . "this work contains in vol. i. (beginning at p. ) a political tract in verse (of the time of henry vi.) exhorting england to keep the sea." . arnold's chronicle, or customs of london, b.l. c.t.--f.d. ( ) folio . chaucer's hertfordshire; _with all the plates_, c.r. _once the book of white kennet, bishop of peterborough; whose marginal notes in are pp._ , , , folio . froissart's chronycles, vols. c.r. f.d. _printed by pynson_, - , _folio_, vols. . rastell's pastyme of people, c.t.--f.d. johannes rastell, ( ) _one page and part of a pieced leaf written._ . monasticon anglicanum, vols. ligat. in , c.r. all the plates, lond. , , . "this copy contains that very scarce leaf, which sometimes follows the title-page of the first volume: an account of which leaf (by tanner and hearne) may be seen from p. to p. of the sixth volume of leland's collectanea, and their account rectified by bridges, at the conclusion of hearne's preface to titus livius foro-juliensis." folio. . hardyng's chronicle (in verse) c.r.--f.d. _with an original grant (on vellum) from henry vi. to hardyng, londoni._ grafton, , to. [this beautiful copy, formerly west's, is now in the collection of george hibbert, esq.] . fabian's chronicle, c.t. cærulo f.d. vols. in . b.l. lond. w. rastell, . "this edition (as well as pynson's) has the hymns to the virgin, though mr. t. warton thought otherwise." folio. part iv. [transcriber's note: in this section, no prices are given in the original.] . kendall's flowers of epigrams, b.l.--c.r. _leaf is wanting_, mo. . m(arloe)'s ovid's elegies and epigrams, by j. d(avies of hereford). (ovid's head engraved by w.m.) c.t.--f.d. _middlebourg_, mo. . observations on authors, ancient and modern, vol. lond. - . "this was dr. jortin's own copy, who has written the name of each author to every piece of criticism, and added a few marginal remarks of his own," vo. . valentine and orson, b.l. cuts. _wants title, two leaves in one place, and a leaf in another_, to. . la morte d'arthur, b.l. _wood-cuts_, lond. _thomas east._ _wants one leaf in the middle of the table._ see _ms. note prefixed_. . barnes's (dame juliana) boke of haukynge, huntynge, and cootarmuris, c.t.--f.d. _seynt albon's_, folio, . "this perhaps is the only perfect copy of this original edition, which is extant. its beginning with sig. a ii is no kind of cantradiction [transcriber's note: contradiction] to its being perfect; the registers of many latin books at this period mention the first leaf of a as quite blank. the copy of the public library at cambridge is at least so worn or mutilated at the bottom of some pages that the bottom lines are not legible." [this copy is now in the matchless collection of earl spencer.] . chaucer's canterbury tales, c.r. _woodcuts, pynson_, folio, "this is pynson's original edition, and probably the first book he printed. see a long ms. note prefixed. bound up at the end of this copy are two leaves of a ms. on vellum, which take in the conclusion of the miller's prologue, and beginning of his tale. one of these pages is illuminated, and has a coloured drawing of the miller on his mule." . mort d'arthur, b.l. _woodcuts. lond. w. copland._ see ms. notes at the beginning and end, folio. . roy's _rede me and be not wrothe, for i say nothing but trothe._ "this is the famous satire against cardinal wolsey, printed some years before his fall. see herbert, p. , vo." [the reader may look for one minute at page , ante.] . boetius, (the boke of comfort, by) translated into englishe tonge (in verse) _emprented in the exempt monastery of taverstock, in denshire, by me, thomas rycharde, monke of the said monastery_, , to. . caxton's blanchardyn and eglantine, or proude lady of love, c.t.--f.d., _printed by caxton_, folio. [see my edition of the _typograhical [transcriber's note: typographical] antiquities_, vol. i. p. .] . hawkyng, huntyng, and fyshyng, (from juliana barnes) b.l. _woodcuts. lond. toye, and w. copland_, to. _see ms. notes prefixed._ . hawys's compendions story, or exemple of vertue, b.l.--c.r. _wood-cuts_, _ib._ _wynkyn de worde_, . . ---- passe-tyme of pleasure, b.l. _wood-cuts ib. by w. de worde_, , to. . spenser's shephearde's calendar. c.t.--f.d., _wood-cuts: first edition, ib._ singleton, , to. . taylor, the water poet (fifteen different pieces by) all of posterior date to the collection of his works. among them is the life of old par, with par's head, and plates of curious needle-work. the volume also contains some replies to taylor. a written list of all the contents is prefixed. lond. and oxford, to. . tulle of old age (translated by william botoner, or of worcester) _pr. by caxton_, . folio. ---- of friendship, translated by tiptoft, earl of worcester; to which is added another tract written by the same earl, c.r.--f.d.--l.r. _explicit per caxton_, folio.] how shall i talk of thee, and of thy wonderful collection, o rare richard farmer?[ ]--and of thy scholarship, acuteness, pleasantry, singularities, varied learning, and colloquial powers! thy name will live long among scholars in general; and in the bosoms of virtuous and learned bibliomaniacs thy memory shall ever be enshrined! the walls of emanuel college now cease to convey the sounds of thy festive wit--thy volumes are no longer seen, like richard smith's "bundles of sticht books," strewn upon the floor; and thou hast ceased, in the cause of thy beloved shakspeare, to delve into the fruitful ore of black-letter literature. peace to thy honest spirit; for thou wert wise without vanity, learned without pedantry, and joyous without vulgarity! [footnote : there is but a scanty memorial of this extraordinary and ever respectable bibliomaniac, in the _gentleman's magazine_; vol. lxvii. pt. ii. p. : : nor is it noticed, among farmer's theologico-literary labours, that he was author of an ingenious essay upon the _demoniacs_ mentioned in scripture; in which essay he took up the idea of mede, that these demoniacs were _madmen_. dr. farmer's essay upon the _learning of shakespeare_ is, in respect to the materials, arguments, and conclusions--what the late bishop of salisbury's [douglas] was upon _miracles_--original, powerful, and incontrovertible. never was there an octavo volume, like farmer's upon shakespeare--which embraced so many, and such curious, points, and which displayed such research, ingenuity, and acuteness--put forth with so little pomp, parade, or pedantry. its popularity was remarkable; for it delighted both the superficial and deeply-versed reader in black-letter lore. dr. parr's well applied ciceronian phrase, in lauding the "ingenious and joy-inspiring language" of farmer, gives us some notion of the colloquial powers of this acute bibliomaniac; whose books were generally scattered upon the floor, as lysander above observes, like old richard smith's "stitched bundles." farmer had his foragers; his jackalls: and his avant-couriers: for it was well known how dearly he loved every thing that was interesting and rare in the literature of former ages. as he walked the streets of london--careless of his dress--and whether his wig was full-bottomed or narrow-bottomed--he would talk and "mutter strange speeches" to himself; thinking all the time, i ween, of some curious discovery he had recently made in the aforesaid precious black-letter tomes. but the reader is impatient for the _bibliotheca farmeriana_: the title to the catalogue whereof is as follows. "_bibl. farm. a catalogue of the curious, valuable, and extensive library in print and manuscript, of the late_ rev. richard farmer, _d.d., canon residentiary of st. paul's; master of emanuel college: librarian to the university of cambridge; and fellow of the royal & antiquary societies_ (deceased, &c.) sold by auction by mr. king; may, ," vo. [ articles]. the collection is justly said, in the title page, to contain the "most rare and copious assemblage of _old english poetry_ that, perhaps, was ever exhibited at one view; together with a great variety of _old plays_, and early printed books, english and foreign, in the black-letter." the reader has already (p. ante) had some intimation of the source to which dr. farmer was chiefly indebted for these poetical and dramatical treasures; of some of which, "hereafter followeth" an imperfect specimen: no. . marbecke (john) the book of common prayer, noted, . to. see dr. burney's long account of this very scarce book in his history of musick, vol. ii. p. , &c. £ _s._ _d._ . skinner's discovery and declaration of the inquisition of spayne, _imp. j. daye_, , to. . shippe of fooles, by brant, wood cuts, _imp. wynkyn de worde_, , to. . brunswyke's medical dictionary, translated by huet, _imp. by treveris_, . folio. . customs of the citie of london, or arnold's chronicle, with the nut-brown mayde, _ st edition_, , folio. . annalia dubrensia, or robert dover's olimpic games upon cotswold-hills, _with frontispiece_, . . barley-breake, or a warning for wantons, by w.n. , to. . britton's bowre of delights, by n.b. . to. . byrd's (will.) psalmes, sonets, and songs of sadnes and pietie made into musicke of partes. . ditto sacræ cantiones, parts; and various madrigals and canzonets, by morley, weelkes, wilbye, bateson, &c. to. . copie of a letter sent from the roaring boyes in elizium, to the two arrant knights of the grape in limbo, alderman abel and m. kilvert, the two projectors for wine; with their portraits. . turbervile's (george) epitaphs, epigrams, songs and sonets, with a discourse of the freendly affections of tymetes to pyndara his ladie, b.l. , _imp. by denham_, vo. . virgil's Æneis, the first foure bookes, translated into english heroicall verse, by richard stanyhurst, with other poetical devises thereunto annexed; _impr. by bynneman_, , vo. . essayes of a prentise in the divine art of poesie (king james vi.) _edinburgh, by vautrollier_, , vo. . fulwell's (ulpian) flower of fame, or bright renoune and fortunate raigne of king henry viii. b.l. with curious wood cuts: _imp. by will. hoskin_, , to. . flytting (the) betwixt montgomerie and polwarte, _edin._, , to. . horace's art of poetrie, pistles, and satyrs, english'd by drant, b.l. _imp. by marshe_, , to. . humours ordinarie, where a man may be verie merrie and exceeding well used for his sixpence, , to. . mastiffe whelp, with other ruff-island-like curs fetcht from among the antipodes, which bite and barke at the fantasticall humourist and abuses of the time. . merry jest of robin hood, and of his life, with a new play for to be plaied in may-games; very pleasant and full of pastime, b.l. _imp. by edward white_, to. . milton's paradise lost, in books, st _edit._ . . ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- _ nd title page_, . . ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- _ rd title page_, .--"n.b. the three foregoing articles prove that there were no less than three different title-pages used, to force the sale of the first edition of this matchless poem." s. p[aterson.] . paradyse of daynty devises, b.l. extremely scarce, _imp. by henry disle_, , to. . peele's (g.) device of the pageant borne before woolstone dixie, lord mayor of london, oct. , , b.l. see dr. f.'s note; as probably the only copy. to. . percy's (w.) sonnets to the fairest cælia, . to. . psalter (the whole) translated into english metre, which containeth an hundreth and fifty psalms. the title and first page written. _imp. by john daye_, . "this translation was by archbishop parker, and is so scarce that mr. strype tells us he could never get a sight of it." see master's history of c.c.c.c. mr. wharton supposes it never to have been published, but that the archbishop's wife gave away some copies. "it certainly (he adds) is at this time extremely scarce, and would be deservedly deemed a fortunate acquisition to those capricious students who labour to collect a library of rarities." hist. of eng. poetry, vol. iii. . it has a portrait of the archbishop. to. . somner's (henry) orpheus and eurydice, . to. . shakespeare's works, _ st edition, in folio, wants title, last leaf written from the_ to. . . metrical romances, written in the reign of richard iid. or rather about the end of the reign of henry iiid. or beginning of edward i. (see note,) _purchased at dr. monro's auction by dr. farmer_, for _l._ . these booke is called ars moriendi, of william baron, esq., to remayne for ever to the nonnye of deptford; _on vellum, bound in purple velvet_. . chaucer's noble and amorous auncyent hystory of troylus and cresyde, in fyve bokes, _imprynted by wynkyn de worde_, . here begynneth the temple of glass, _imp. by wynkyn de worde_. the castell of pleasure, _imp. by ditto_. here begynneth a lyttell treatise cleped la conusauce d'amours. _imp. by pynson_. the spectacle of lovers, _imp. by wynkyn de worde_. history of tytus and gesippus, translated out of latin into englyshe, by wyllyam walter, sometime servaunte to syr henry marney, cnyght, chaunceler of the duchy of lancastre, _imp. by ditto_. the love and complayntes betwene mars and venus. the fyrst fynders of the vii scyences artificiall, _printed by julian notarye_. guystarde and sygysmonde, translated by wyllyam walter, _imp. by wynkyn de worde_, . the complaynte of a lover's lyfe, _imp. by ditto_. here begynneth a lytel treatyse, called the disputacyon of complaynte [of] the harte, thorughe perced with the lokynge of the eye, _imp. by wynkyn de worde_. this boke is named the beaultie of women, translated out of french into englyshe, _imp. by wier_. here begynneth a lytel treatise, called the controverse betwene a lover and a jaye, lately compyled, _imp. by wynkyn de worde_. _the above very rare and ancient pieces of poetry are bound_ in one vol. _with curious wood-cuts, and in fine preservation._ 'the temple of glass alone was sold for _l._ _s._ and the present vol. may, with propriety, be deemed matchless.' all in quarto. [n.b. _these articles should have preceded_ no. ; at p. , ante.] and here, benevolent reader, let us bid farewell to richard farmer of transcendant bibliomaniacal celebrity! it is in vain to look forward for the day when book-gems, similar to those which have just been imperfectly described from the _bibl. farmeriana_, will be disposed of at similar prices. the young collector may indulge an ardent hope; but, if there be any thing of the spirit of prophecy in my humble predictions, that hope will never be realised. dr. farmer's copies were, in general, in sorry condition; the possessor caring little (like dr. francis bernard; vide p. , ante) for large margins and splendid binding. his own name, generally accompanied with a bibliographical remark, and both written in a sprawling character, usually preceded the title-page. the science (dare i venture upon so magnificent a word?) of bibliography was, even in farmer's latter time, but jejune, and of limited extent: and this will account for some of the common-place bibliographical memoranda of the owner of these volumes. we may just add that there are some few copies of this catalogue printed on _large paper_, on paper of a better quality than the small; which latter is sufficiently wretched. i possess a copy of the former kind, with the _prices_ and _purchasers' names_ affixed--and moreover, _uncut_!] a poor eulogy, this, upon farmer!--but my oratory begins to wax faint. for this reason i cannot speak with justice of the friend and fellow-critic of farmer--george steevens[ ]--of shakspearian renown! the library of this extraordinary critic and collector was sold by auction in the year ; and, being formed rather after the model of mason's, than of farmer's, it was rich to an excess in choice and rare pieces. nor is it an uninteresting occupation to observe, in looking among the prices, the enormous sums which were given for some volumes that cost steevens not a twentieth part of their produce:--but which, comparatively with their present worth, would bring considerably higher prices! what arduous contention, "_renardine shifts_," and bold bidding; what triumph on the one part, and vexation on the other, were exhibited at the book-sale!--while the auctioneer, like jove looking calmly down upon the storm which he himself had raised, kept his even temper; and "ever and anon" dealt out a gracious smile amidst all the turbulence that surrounded him! memorable æra!--the veteran collector grows young again in thinking upon the valour he then exhibited; and the juvenile collector talks "braggartly" of other times--which he calls the golden days of the bibliomania--when he reflects upon his lusty efforts in securing an _exemplar steevensianum_! [footnote : if lysander's efforts begin to relax--what must be the debilitated mental state of the poor annotator, who has accompanied the book-orator thus long and thus laboriously? can steevens receive justice at _my_ hands--when my friends, aided by hot madeira, and beauty's animating glances, acknowledge their exhausted state of intellect?! however, i will make an effort: 'nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice.' the respectable compiler of the _gentleman's magazine_, vol. lxx. p. , has given us some amusing particulars of steevens's literary life: of his coming from hampstead to london, at the chill break of day, when the overhanging clouds were yet charged with the 'inky' purple of night--in order, like a true book-chevalier, to embrace the first dank impression, or proof sheet, of his own famous octavo edition of _shakspeare_; and of mr. bulmer's sumptuous impression of the text of the same. all this is well enough, and savours of the proper spirit of bibliomaniacism: and the edition of our immortal bard, in fifteen well printed octavo volumes, ( ) is a splendid and durable monument of the researches of george steevens. there were from to copies of the octavo edition printed upon large paper; and lord spencer possesses, by bequest, mr. steevens' own copy of the same, illustrated with a great number of rare and precious prints; to which, however, his lordship, with his usual zeal and taste, has made additions more valuable even than the gift in its original form. the vo. edition of is covetted with an eagerness of which it is not very easy to account for the cause; since the subsequent one of , in octavo volumes, is more useful on many accounts: and contains steevens's corrections and additions in every play, as well as , in particular, in that of macbeth. but i am well aware of the stubbornness and petulancy with which the previous edition is contended for in point of superiority, both round a private and public table; and, leaving the collector to revel in the luxury of an uncut, half-bound, morocco copy of the same, i push onward to a description of the _bibliotheca steevensiana_. yet a parting word respecting this edition of . i learn, from unquestionable authority, that steevens stipulated with the publishers that they should pay mr. reed _l._ for editorship, and _l._ to mr. w. harris, librarian of the royal institution, for correcting the press: nor has the editor in his preface parted from the truth, in acknowledging mr. harris to be 'an able and vigiland [transcriber's note: vigilant] assistant.' mr. h. retained, for some time, steevens' corrected copy of his own edition of , but he afterwards disposed of it, by public auction, for _l._ he has also at this present moment, mr. josiah boydell's copy of mr. felton's picture of our immortal bard; with the following inscription, painted on the back of the pannel, by mr. steevens: _may, ._ _copied by josiah boydell, at my request, from the remains of the only genuine portrait of william shakspeare._ george steevens. the engraved portrait of shakspeare, prefixed to this edition of , is by no means a faithful resemblance of mr. boydell's admirably executed copy in oil. the expenses of the edition amounted to _l._; but no copies now remain with the publishers. we will now give rather a copious, and, as it must be acknowledged, rich, sprinkling of specimens from the _bibliotheca steevensiana_, in the departments of rare old poetry and the drama. but first let us describe the title to the catalogue of the same. _a catalogue of the curious and valuable library of_ george steevens, _esq., fellow of the royal and antiquary societies (lately deceased). comprehending an extraordinary fine collection of books, &c._, sold by auction by mr. king, in king street, covent garden, may, . vo. [ articles: amount of sale _l._ _s._] old poetry. no. . gascoigne's (geo.) workes, or a hundreth sundrie flowers bounde in one small poesie, (including) supposes, com. from ariosto; jocosta, tr. from euripides, &c. b.l. _first edition. lond. impr. by bynneman_, , to. £ _s._ _d._ 'with ms. notes respecting this copy and edition by mr. steevens.' . another copy, d edition (with considerable additions); among other, the princely pleasures of kenilworth castle, the steele glass, the complainte of phylomene, b.l. _ib. impr. by abell jeffes_, , to., _with ms. references, by messrs. bowles and steevens._ . another copy, including all the aforementioned, and a delicate diet for daintie mouthde droonkardes, b.l. _lond. impr. by rich. jhones_, , vo. the glasse of gouernement, to. _b.l. russia, with ms. references_. the droome of doomesday, parts, b.l. _ib._ , to. 'the above two volumes are supposed to comprise the compleatest collection of gascoigne's works extant.' . googe (barnabe) eglogs, epytaphes, and sonnettes newly written, b.l., _small vo. fine copy in russia, lond. impr. by tho. colwell for raffe newbery, dwelynge in fleet streete a little above the conduit, in the late shop of tho. bartelet_. see mr. steevens's note to the above; in which he says there is no scarcer book in the english language, and that dr. farmer, messrs. t. warton and js. reed, had never seen another copy. . lodge (tho.) life and death of william longbeard, the most famous and witty english traitor, borne in the citty of london, accompanied with manye other most pleasant and prettie histories, to. _b.l. printed by rich. yardley and peter short_, . [cost mr. steevens _s._ _d._!] . the paradyse of dainty devises, ms. a fac-simile of the first edition, in , _finished with the greatest neatness by mr. steevens, to. in russia_. . the paradice of dainty devises, devised and written for the most part by m. edwardes, sometime of her majestie's chappell; the rest by sundry learned gentlemen, both of honor and worship. _lond. printed by edwd. allde_, , to. . the paradice of daintie devises, b.l. interleaved, _ib. printed for edw. white_, , to. breton (nich.) workes of a young wyt, trust up with a fardell of prettie fancies, profitable to young poetes, prejudicial to no man, and pleasant to every man, to pass away idle tyme withal, _b.l. to. interleaved with a ms. list of the author's works by messrs. steevens, ritson, and park: impr. at lond. nigh unto the three cranes in the vintree, by tho. dawson, and tho. gardyner_. soothern's odes, to. b.l. interleaved with copious ms. notes, and an extract from the european magazine relative to the author: _wants title, no date_. watson (tho.) passionate centurie of love, to. b.l. interleaved: the first sonnets, and the latter ones, from , in ms. _lond. impr. by john wolfe_. "the above curious collection of old poems are bound together in russia, with border of gold, and may be deemed with propriety, _matchless_." . puttenham's arte of english poesie, in bookes, with a wood-cut of queen elizabeth; _choice copy, in morocco, to. ib. printed by rich. field_, . . roy (will.) satire on cardinal wolsey, a poem; _b.l. sm._ vo. _russia, no date nor place_. . skelton (jo.) poet laureat, lyttle workes, viz. speake parot. the death of the noble prynce, king edwarde the fourthe. a treatyse of the scottes. ware the hawke, the tunnynge of elynoure rummyng, sm. vo. b.l. _impr. at lond. in crede lane, jhon kynge, and thomas marshe_, no date. mo. hereafter foloweth a lyttle booke, called colyn clout, _b.l. impr. by john wyght_, mo. hereafter foloweth a little booke of phyllip sparrow, _b.l. impr. by robert tob._ mo. hereafter foloweth a little booke which has to name, whi come ye not to courte, _b.l. impr. by john wyght_. mo. . skelton (master, poet laureat) merie tales, b.l. mo. _lond. impr. by tho. colwell, no date._ "see note, in which mr. steevens says he never saw another copy." . warren (will.) a pleasant new fancie of a foundling's device intitled and cald the nurcerie of names, with wood borders, b.l. to. _ib. impr. by rich. jhones_, . . watson (tho.) passionate centurie of love; _b.l. to. the title, dedication, and index, ms. by mr. steevens_. "manuscript poems, transcribed from a collection of ancient english poetry, in the possession of sam. lysons, esq., formerly belonging to anne cornwallis, by mr. steevens." . ---- passionate centurie of love, divided into two parts, b.l. to. _russia. lond. impr. by john wolfe_. . england's helicon, collected by john bodenham, with copious additions, and an index in ms. by mr. steevens, to. _russia, ib. printed by j.r._ . . weblee [webbe] (will.) discourse of english poetrie, together with the author's judgment, touching the reformation of our english verse, _b.l._ to. _russia, ib. by john charlewood_, . the drama; and early plays of shakespeare. . the plot of the plays of frederick and basilea, and of the deade man's fortune, the original papers which hung up by the side scenes in the playhouses, for the use of the prompter and the acter, earlier than the time of shakspeare. . anonymous, a pleasant comedie, called common conditions, _b.l. imperf. to. in russia._ "of this dramatick piece, no copy, except the foregoing mutilated one, has hitherto been discovered: with a long note by mr. steevens, and references to kirkman, langbaine, baker, reed," &c. . bale (john) tragedie, or enterlude, manifesting the chiefe promises of god unto man, compyled an. do. , b.l. to. _now first impr. at lond. by john charlewood_, . . marlow (chr.) and tho. nash, tragedie of dido, queene of carthage, played by the children of her majesties' chappell, to. _russia, lond. printed by the widdowe owin_, . . peele (geo.) the old wives tale, a pleasant conceited comedie played by the queene's majesties' players; to. _in russia; ib. impr. by john danter_, . "n.b. a second of the above is to be found in the royal library; a third copy is unknown." steevens' note. early plays of shakspeare. . the tragedie of hamlet, prince of denmark, no title, to. _lond._ . _with ms. notes, &c., by mr. steevens._ . the tragedy of hamlet, prince of denmark, to. _ib. printed by r. young_, . . the history of henrie the fourth, with the battell of shrewsburie, &c.; with the famous conceits of sir john falstaffe, part i. to. _ib. printed by s.s._ . . the same, _ib. printed for mathew lay_, , to. . the same, _ib. printed by w.w._ . _with ms. notes, &c. by mr. steevens._ . the same, _ib. printed by norton_, . . the d part of henry the fourth, continuing to his death, and coronation of henrie the fift, with the humours of sir john falstaffe and swaggering pistoll, as acted by the lord chamberlayne his servants. _first edit. to. ib. printed by v.s._ . . the same, _ib. to. printed by val. simmes_, . . the chronicle history of henry the fift, with his battell fought at agincourt in france, together with auntient pistoll, as playd by the lord chamberlayne his servants. _first edit._ to. _inlaid on large paper, ib. printed by thomas creede_, . . the chronicle history of henry the fift, &c. to. _lond._ . . the true tragedie of richarde, duke of yorke, and the death of good king henrie the sixt, as acted by the earle of pembroke his servants, to. _inlaid on large paper, ib. printed by w.w._ . . the whole contention betweene the two famous houses, lancaster and yorke, with the tragicall ends of the good duke humphrey, richard, duke of yorke, and king henrie the sixt, _divided into parts_, to. _ib. no date_. . the first and second part of the troublesome raigne of john, king of england, with the discoverie of king richard cordelion's base sonne (vulgarly named the bastard fauconbridge) also the death of king john at swinstead abbey, as acted by her majesties players, to. _lond. impr. by val. simmes_, . . the first and second part of the troublesome raigne of john, king of england, &c., _ib. printed by aug. matthews_, . . the true chronicle history of the life and death of king lear, and his three daughters, with the unfortunate life of edgar, sonne and heire to the earl of glocester, and his sullen and assumed humour of tom of bedlam, by his majestie's servants. _first edit._ to. _ib._ . . [transcriber's note: ] another edition, differing in the title-page and signature of the first leaf. to. _ib._ . . the most excellent historie of the merchant of venice, with the extreme crueltie of shylocke the jew towards the sayd merchant, in cutting a just pound of his flesh: and the obtayning of portia by his choyce of three chests, as acted by the lord chamberlaine his servants, _first edit. inlaid oil large paper; to. at london, printed by john roberts_, . . the excellent history of the merchant of venice, with the extreme crueltie of shylocke the jew; _first edit. to. inlaid on large paper, printed by john roberts_, . . a most pleasant and excellent conceited comedie of syr john falstaffe and the merrie wives of windsor, as acted by the lord chamberlaine's servants. _first edit. to. lond. printed by t.c._ . . a most pleasant and excellent conceited comedy of sir john falstaffe and the merry wives of windsor, with the swaggering vaine of antient pistoll and corporal nym, _ to. inlaid. lond._ . . the merry wives of windsor, with the humours of sir john fallstaffe, also the swaggering vaine of ancient pistoll and corporal nym, to. _lond. printed by t.h._ . . a midsommer night's dreame, as acted by the lord chamberlaine's servantes, first edit. _impr. at lond. for thos. fisher_, to. , _part of one leaf wanting_. . another copy, _first edit. inlaid, ib._ . . much adoe about nothing, as acted by the lord chamberlaine his servants, _first edit._ to. _ib. printed by val. simmes_, . . the tragedy of othello the moore of venice, as acted at the globe and at the black friers, by his majesties servants, to. _lond. printed by n.o._ , _with ms. notes and various readings by mr. steevens_. . the tragedy of othello the moore of venice, as acted at the globe and at the black friers, to. _lond. printed by a.m._ . . tragedie of othello; _ th edit._ to. _ib._ . . the tragedie of king richard the second, as acted by the lord chamberlaine his servants, to. lond. _printed by val. simmes_, . . tragedie of king richard the second, as acted by the lord chamberlaine his servants, to. _printed by w.w._ . . the tragedie of king richard the second, with new additions of the parliament scene, and the deposing of king richard, as acted by his majestie's servants at the globe, to. _lond._ , _with ms. notes, &c. by mr. steevens_. . the life and death of king richard the second, with new additions of the parliament scene, and the deposing of king richard, as acted at the globe by his majesties servants, to. _lond._ . . the tragedie of king richard the third, as acted by the lord chamberlain his servants, to. lond. _printed by tho. creede_. . _defective at the end._ . the tragedie of king richard the third, containing his treacherous plots against his brother clarence, the pitiful murther of his innocent nephews, his tirannical usurpation, with the whole course of his detested life, and most deserved death, as acted by his majesties servants, to. _lond. printed by tho. creede_, , _with notes and various readings by mr. steevens._ . the same, to. _ib._ . . tragedie of king richard the third, as acted by the king's majesties servants, to. _ib._ . . the most excellent and lamentable tragedie of romeo and juliet, to. _a fragment. lond._ . . the same, compleat, inlaid on large paper, to. _ib., impr. by tho. creede_, . [_second edition._] . the same, to. lond. , _with ms. notes and readings by mr. steevens_. . the same, to. _ib. printed by r. young_, . . a pleasant conceited historie, called the taming of the shrew, as acted by the earle of pembroke's servants. _first edit._ to. _inlaid on large paper, ib., printed by v.s._ . . a wittie and pleasant comedie, called the taming of a shrew, as acted by his majesties servants, at the blacke friers and the globe, to., _ib., printed by w.s._ . . the most lamentable tragedie of titus andronicus, as plaide by the king's majesties servants, to. _inlaid, ib., printed for edward white_, . . the history of troylus and cresseide, as acted by the king's majesties servants at the globe. _first. edit._ to., _ib., imp. by g. alde_, . . the lamentable tragedie of locrine, the eldest sonne of king brutus, discoursing the warres of the brittaines and hunnes, with ther discomfiture, to. _ib., printed by thomas creede_, . . the london prodigall, as plaide by the king's majesties servants, to. _ib., printed by t.c._ . . the late and much admired play called pericles, prince of tyre, with the true relation of the whole historie and fortunes of the said prince, as also the no lesse strange and worthy accidents in the birth and life of his daughter marianna, acted by his majesties servants at the globe on the banck-side, to. _ib._, . . another edition, to. _ib._ . . the first part of the true and honourable history of the life of sir john old-castle, the good lord cobham, as acted by the earle of nottingham his servants, to. _lond._ . . a yorkshire tragedy, not so new, as lamentable and true, to. lond. . . (twenty plays) published by mr. steevens, vols. _large paper, ib._, . _only copies taken off on large paper_ editions of shakspeare's works. . comedies, histories, and tragedies, published according to the true originall copies, by john heminge and hen. condell, _fol. russia. lond. printed by isaac juggard and edwd. blount_. ; _with a ms. title, and a fac-simile drawing of the portrait by mr. steevens_. . the same: d edit. folio, fine copy morocco, gilt leaves, _ib._ . _in this book is the hand writing of king charles i. by whom it was presented to sir tho. herbert, master of the revels._ . the same: d edit. with the additional plays, fol., neat and scarce, _ib._ . see _note by mr. steevens_. . the same: th edit. , folio. . hammer's (sir tho.) edition; vols. mo. _lond._ . . the same: with cuts, vols. to. _elegantly bound in hog-skin_. . pope and warburton, vols. vo. _lond._ . . ---- vols. mo., with sir thos. hammer's glossary. _dub._ . . capell, (edw.) vols. vo. lond. _printed by dryden leach_, . . johnson, (sam.) vols. vo. _lond._ . . ---- and geo. steevens, vols. vo. _ib._ . . ---- in single plays, vols. _boards, ib._ . johnson and steevens: vols. d edit. with malone's supplement, vols., and the plates from bell's edition, _ib._ . . ---- vols. d edit. _ib._ . . ---- th edit. with a glossarial index, vols. vo. _ib._ . . malone, (edm.) vols. vo. _ib._ . . ---- another copy, vols. vo. _ib._ . ran (jos.) vols. vo. oxf. . . ---- with ayscough's index, vols. vo. russia, marbled leaves, published by stockdale, _ib._ - . . eccles, vols. vo. _ib._ . . from the text of mr. malone's edit. by nichols, vols. mo. lond. . . from the text of mr. steevens, last edit. vols. mo. _ib._ . . ---- vols. mo. _ib._ . . ---- vols. mo. birm. by r. martin. . ---- vols. bell's edit. no plates. lond. . . ---- vols. mo. with annotations, bell's edit. fine paper, with plates, beautiful impressions, _ib._ . . ---- vols. mo. bell's edition; _large paper_, finest possible impressions of the plates, superbly bound in green turkey, double bands, gilt leaves, _ib._ . the dramatic works of; text corrected by geo. steevens, esq.; published by boydell and nichol, in large to., nos. with the large and small plates; first and finest impressions, , &c. n.b. three more numbers complete the work. . harding, no. , l.p. containing prints, with a portrait of lewis theobald, as published by richardson, and some account of him, by mr. steevens. . ditto, ditto. . traduit de l'anglois, toms. par. . . in german, vols. mo. zurich, . . king lear, macbeth, hamlet, othello, and julius cæsar, by jennings, lond. . . macbeth, with notes by harry rowe, mo. york, . . ---- vo. d edit. _ib._ . . antony and cleopatra, by edw. capell; vo. lond. . . the virgin queen; a drama, attempted as a sequel to shakspeare's tempest, by g.f. waldron, vo. . . ---- annotations on as you like it, by johnson and steevens, bell's edit. . ---- another copy . shakspeare's sonnets, never before imprinted, to. at lond. by g. ald, . . ---- poems, vo. _ib._ . . ---- venis [transcriber's note: venus] and adonis, vo. _ib._ . . rymer (tho.) short view of tragedy, with reflection on shakspeare, &c. vo. b. . . shakspeare restored, by lewis theobald, to. _ib._ . . whalley's (peter) on the learning of; _ib._ . remarks on a late edition of shakspeare, by zach. grey, _ib._ , and other tracts. . morris (corbyn) essay towards fixing the true standard of wit, humour, &c. vo. _ib._ . . critical observations on, by john upton; vo. d edit. lond. . . ---- illustrated, by charlotte lennox; vols. mo. _ib._ . . notes on shakspeare, by zachary grey; vols. vo. _ib._ . . beauties of shakspeare, by william dodd, vols. mo. _ib._ . . beauties of shakspeare, by wm. dodd; vols. mo. _ib._ . . ---- (revival of) text, by heath, vo. _ib._ . . observations and conjectures on some passages of, by tho. trywhit [transcriber's note: tyrwhitt]; vo. oxford, . . farmer (rich) on the learning of; vo. morocco. camb. . _only copies on this paper._ . ---- london. vo. , with mr. capell's shakspeariana, vo., _only copies printed_, . . malone (edm.) letter on, to dr. farmer; vo. _ib._ . . letter to david garrick (on a glossary to) by rich. warner, vo. _ib._ . there were copies of the catalogue of steeven's books struck off on large paper, on bastard _royal octavo_, and in _quarto_. it remains to say a few words of the celebrated collector of this very curious library. the wit, taste, and classical acquirements of george steevens are every where recorded and acknowledged. as an editor of his beloved shakspeare, he stands unrivalled; for he combined, with much recondite learning and indefatigable research, a polish of style, and vigour of expression, which are rarely found united in the same person. his definitions are sometimes both happy and singular; and his illustrations of ancient customs and manners such as might have been expected from a head so completely furnished, and a hand so thoroughly practised. i will not say that george steevens has evinced the learning of selden upon drayton, or of bentley upon phalaris; nor did his erudition, in truth, rise to the lofty and commanding pitch of these his predecessors: nor does there seem much sense or wit in hunting after every _pencil-scrap_ which this renowned bibliomaniac committed to paper--as some sadly bitten book-collectors give evidence of. if i have not greatly misunderstood the characteristics of steevens's writings, they are these--wit, elegance, gaiety, and satire, combined with almost perfect erudition in english dramatic antiquities. let us give a specimen of his classical elegance in dignifying a subject, which will be relished chiefly by grangerites. having learnt that a copy of skelton's verses on elinour rummin, the famous ale-wife of england, with her portrait in the title-page, was in the library of the cathedral of lincoln (perhaps, formerly, captain coxe's copy; vide p. , ante), he prevailed on the late dean, sir richard kaye, to bring the book to london; but as it was not suffered to go from the dean's possession, mr. s. was permitted to make a _fac-simile_ drawing of the title, at the dean's house in harley-street. this drawing he gave to richardson, the printseller, who engraved and published it among the copies of scarce portraits to illustrate granger. the acquisition of this rarity produced from him the following _jeu d'esprit_; the merit of which can only be truly appreciated by those who had the pleasure of knowing the eminent portrait collectors therein mentioned, and whose names are printed in capital letters. eleonora rediviva. to seek this nymph among the glorious dead, tir'd with his search on earth, is gulston fled:-- still for these charms enamoured musgrave sighs; to clasp these beauties ardent bindley dies: for these (while yet unstaged to public view,) impatient brand o'er half the kingdom flew; these, while their bright ideas round him play, from classic weston force the roman lay: oft too, my storer, heaven has heard thee swear, not gallia's murdered queen was half so fair: "a new europa!" cries the exulting bull, "my granger now, i thank the gods, is full:"-- even cracherode's self, whom passions rarely move, at this soft shrine has deign'd to whisper love.-- haste then, ye swains, who rumming's form adore, possess your eleanour, and sigh no more. it must be admitted that this is at once elegant and happy. * * * * * we will now say somewhat of the man himself. mr. steevens lived in a retired and eligibly situated house, just on the rise of hampstead heath. it was paled in; and had, immediately before it, a verdant lawn skirted with a variety of picturesque trees. formerly, this house has been a tavern, which was known by the name of the _upper flask_: and which my fair readers (if a single female can have the courage to peruse these bibliomaniacal pages) will recollect to have been the same to which richardson sends clarissa in one of her escapes from lovelace. here steevens lived, embosomed in books, shrubs, and trees: being either too coy, or too unsociable, to mingle with his neighbours. his habits were indeed peculiar: not much to be envied or imitated; as they sometimes betrayed the flights of a madman, and sometimes the asperities of a cynic. his attachments were warm, but fickle both in choice and duration. he would frequently part from one, with whom he had lived on terms of close intimacy, without any assignable cause; and his enmities, once fixed, were immovable. there was, indeed, a kind of venom in his antipathies; nor would he suffer his ears to be assailed, or his heat to relent, in favour of those against whom he entertained animosities, however capricious and unfounded. in _one_ pursuit only was he consistent: _one_ object only did he woo with an inflexible attachment; and that object was _dame_ drama. i have sat behind him, within a few years of his death, and watched his sedulous attention to the performances of strolling players, who used to hire a public room in hampstead; and towards whom his gallantry was something more substantial than mere admiration and applause: for he would make liberal presents of gloves, shoes, and stockings--especially to the female part of the company. his attention, and even delight, during some of the most wretched exhibitions of the dramatic art, was truly surprising; but he was then drooping under the pressure of age, and what passed before him might serve to remind him of former days, when his discernment was quick and his judgment matured. it is, however, but justice to this distinguished bibliomaniac to add that, in his literary attachments he was not influenced by merely splendid talents or exalted rank. to my predecessor herbert (for whose memory i may be allowed, at all times, to express a respectful regard) steevens seems to have shewn marked attention. i am in possession of more than a dozen original letters from him to this typographical antiquary, in which he not only evinces great friendliness of disposition, but betrays an unusual solicitude about the success of herbert's labours; and, indeed, contributes towards it by nearly a hundred notices of rare and curious books which were unknown to, or imperfectly described by, herbert himself. at the close of a long letter, in which, amongst much valuable information, there is a curious list of churchyard's _pieces_--which steevens urges herbert to publish--he thus concludes: "dear sir, "i know not where the foregoing lists of churchyard's pieces can appear with more propriety than in a work like yours; and i therefore venture to recommend them as worth republication. if you publish, from time to time, additions to your book, you may have frequent opportunity of doing similar service to old english literature, by assembling catalogues of the works of scarce, and therefore almost forgotten, authors. by occasional effusions of this kind you will afford much gratification to literary antiquaries, and preserve a constant source of amusement to yourself: for in my opinion, no man is so unhappy as he who is at a loss for something to do. your present task grows towards an end, and i therefore throw out this hint for your consideration." (_july_ , .) a little further he adds: "in your vol. ii. p. , you have but an imperfect account of tyro's '_roaring megge_,' &c. i shall therefore supply it underneath, as the book now lies before me. i have only room left to tell you i am always your very faithfully, g. steevens." but the bibliomanical spirit of the author of this letter, is attested by yet stronger evidence: _hampstead heath_, august th [transcriber's note: th], . "sir, "i have borrowed the following books for your use--dr. farmer's copy of ames, with ms. notes by himself, and an interleaved maunsell's catalogue, with yet more considerable additions by baker the antiquary. the latter i have promised to return at the end of this month, as it belongs to our university library. i should not choose to transmit either of these volumes by any uncertain conveyance; and therefore shall be glad if you will let me know how they may be safely put into your hands. if you can fix a time when you shall be in london, my servant shall wait on you with them; but i must entreat that our library book may be detained as short a time as possible. i flatter myself that it will prove of some service to you, and am, "your very humble servant, "g. steevens." the following was herbert's reply. "_cheshunt_, august th, . "sir, "as it must give you great satisfaction to know that the books were received safe by me last night, it affords me equal pleasure to send you the earliest assurance of it. i thank you sincerely for the liberty you have allowed me of keeping them till i come to london, on monday, the th of september; when i shall bring them with me, and hope to return them safe at mr. longman's, between and o'clock; where, if it may be convenient to you, i shall be very happy to meet you, and personally to thank you for the kind assistance you have afforded me. if that may not suit you, i will gladly wait on you where you shall appoint by a line left there for me; and shall ever esteem myself, "your most obliged humble servant, "w. herbert." the following, and the last, epistolary specimen of the renowned g. steevens--with which i shall treat my reader--is of a general gossipping black-letter cast; and was written two years before the preceding. _hampstead heath_, june th, . "dear sir, "a desire to know how you do, and why so long a time has elapsed since you were seen in london, together with a few queries which necessity compels me to trouble you with, must be my apology for this invasion of your retirement. can you furnish me with a transcript of the title-page to watson's sonnets or love passions, to. bl. l.? as they are not mentioned by puttenham, in , they must, i think, have appeared after that year. can you likewise afford me any account of a collection of poems, bl. l., to. by one john southern? they are addressed 'to the ryght honourable the earle of oxenforde;' the famous vere, who was so much a favourite with queen elizabeth. this book, which contains only four sheets, consists of odes, epitaphs, sonnets to diana, &c. i bought both these books, which seem to be uncommonly rare, at the late sale of major pearson's library. they are defective in their title-pages, and without your assistance must, in all probability, continue imperfect. give me leave to add my sincere hope that your long absence from london has not been the result of indisposition, and that you will forgive this interruption in your studies, from "your very faithful and obedient servant, "geo. steevens." "p.s. i hope your third volume is in the press, as it is very much enquired after." it is now time to bid farewell to the subject of this tremendous note; and most sincerely do i wish i could 'draw the curtain' upon it, and say 'good night,' with as much cheerfulness and satisfaction at [transcriber's note: as] atterbury did upon the close of his professional labours. but the latter moments of steevens were moments of mental anguish. he grew not only irritable, but outrageous; and, in full possession of his faculties, he raved in a manner which could have been expected only from a creature bred up without notions of morality or religion. neither complacency nor 'joyful hope' soothed his bed of death. his language was, too frequently, the language of imprecation; and his wishes and apprehensions such as no rational christian can think upon without agony of heart. although i am not disposed to admit the whole of the testimony of the good woman who watched by his bed-side, and paid him, when dead, the last melancholy attentions of her office--although my prejudices (as they may be called) will not allow me to believe that the windows shook, and that strange noises and deep groans were heard at midnight in his room--yet no creature of common sense (and this woman possessed the quality in an eminent degree) could mistake oaths for prayers, or boisterous treatment for calm and gentle usage. if it be said--why "draw his frailties from their drear abode?" the answer is obvious, and, i should hope, irrefragable. a duty, and a sacred one too, is due to the living. past examples operate upon future ones: and posterity ought to know, in the instance of this accomplished scholar and literary antiquary, that neither the sharpest wit, nor the most delicate intellectual refinement, can, alone, afford a man 'peace at the last.' the vessel of human existence must be secured by other anchors than these, when the storm of death approaches!] loren. you have seen a few similar copies in the library; which i obtained after a strenuous effort. there was certainly a very great degree of book-madness exhibited at the sale of steevens's library--and yet i remember to have witnessed stronger symptoms of the bibliomania! lis. can it be possible? does this madness 'grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength?' will not such volcanic fury burn out in time? phil. you prevent lysander from resuming, by the number and rapidity of your interrogatories. revert to your first question. lis. truly, i forget it. but proceed with your history, lysander; and pardon my abruptness. lysand. upon condition that you promise not to interrupt me again this evening? lis. i pledge my word. proceed. lysand. having dispatched our account of the sale of the last-mentioned distinguished book-collector, i proceed with my historical survey: tho', indeed, it is high time to close this tedious bibliomaniacal history. the hour of midnight has gone by:--and yet i will not _slur over_ my account of the remaining characters of respectability. the collections of strange[ ] and woodhouse are next, in routine, to be noticed. the catalogue of the library of the former is a great favourite of mine: the departments into which the books are divided, and the compendious descriptions of the volumes, together with the extent and variety of the collection, may afford considerable assistance to judicious bibliomaniacs. poor woodhouse:[ ] thy zeal outran thy wit: thou wert indefatigable in thy search after rare and precious _prints and books_; and thy very choice collection of both is a convincing proof that, where there is wealth and zeal, opportunities in abundance will be found for the gratification of that darling passion, or insanity, now called by the name of bibliomania! [footnote : _bibliotheca strangeiana; a catalogue of the general, curious, and extensive library of that distinguished naturalist and lover of the fine arts, the late_ john strange, esq., l.l.d. f.r.s. and s.a., many years his britannic majesty's resident at the republic of venice. comprehending an extraordinary fine collection of books and tracts, in most languages and sciences, to the number of upwards of _four-score thousand, &c._ digested by samuel paterson. sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, march , , vo., articles. this is a plain, unaffected, but exceedingly well-digested, catalogue of a very extraordinary collection of books in all departments of literature. i do not know whether it be not preferable, in point of arrangement, to any catalogue compiled by paterson. it has, however, a wretched aspect; from the extreme indifference of the paper.] [footnote : we will first give the title to the catalogue of the late mr. woodhouse's collection of prints. "_a catalogue of the choice and valuable collection of antient and modern prints, &c._, selected with the highest taste from all the collections at home and abroad, &c. sold by auction by mr. christie; january, ." the _first part_ ends with the th day's sale; the second commences with the sixth day's sale and concludes on the sixteenth, with the malborough [transcriber's note: marlborough] gems. although we may have to give specimens of some of the _rare and precious_ prints contained in this collection, in the course of part vi. of this work, yet the reader, i would fain hope, will not be displeased with the following interesting extract, with the annexed prices, of the prints from the marlborough gems. [_this assemblage, the result of twenty years' collecting, contains a greater number than ever has been at one time offered to the public.--the first volume is complete, and may be accounted unique, as all the impressions are before the numbers, the artists' names, or proofs without any letters, as in the presentation copies: the subject of cupid and psyche is with variations, and the whole may be regarded as a great rarity. those of the second volume are few in number, but in point of curiosity, no ways inferior._] lot. £ _s._ _d._ . _one._ cæsar in the temple of venus. _proof before any letters._ . _two._ no. . scipio africanus. no. . lucius c. sylla. . _two._ no. . julias cæsar; caput laureatum. [transcriber's note: julius] no. . marcus junius brutus. . _two._ no. . marcus junius brutus; cum caduceo. no. . lepidus; cum lituo. . _two._ no. . augusti caput; cum corona radiata. no. . augusti pontificis maximi insign. &c. . _two._ no. . marcellii octaviæ, filii augusti nepotis caput: opus elegantissimum. no. . liviæ protome: cum capite laureato et velato pectore: simul tiberii pueri prope adstantis caput arboris ignotæ foliis redimitum. . _two._ no. . tiberii caput juvenile. no. . germanici togati protome; cum capite laureato, facie plena, &c. . _two._ no. . agrippinæ majoris uxoris germanici & caligulæ matris caput laureatum; sub effigie dianæ. no. . ejusdem agrippinæ: sub effigie cereris. . _two._ no. . galbæ caput laureatum. no. . ejusdem galbæ caput. . _two._ no. . nervæ togati protome; cum capite laureato, plena facie; opus pulcherrimum. no. . ejusdem nervæ caput. . _two._ no. . marcianæ, trajani sororis, caput. no. . sabinæ hadriani uxoris caput. . _two._ no. . antinoi caput, cum pectore velato. no. . caracalla togati protome facie plena. . _two._ no. . caracallæ caput laureatum. no. . juliæ domnæ, severi uxoris, caput. . _two._ no. . laocoontes caput. no. . semiramidis, vel potius musæ, caput cum pectore. . _three._ no. . minervæ alcidiæ caput galeatum; operis egregii, edit. var. . _two._ no. . phocionis caput. no. . jovis et junonis capita jugata. . _three._ no. . veneris caput. no. . bacchæ caput var. . _two._ no. . hercules bibax, stans. no. . bacchus, stans. . _two._ no. . faunus tigridis pelli insidens, cauda, &c. no. . athleta, stans, qui dextra manus trigelem, &c. . _two._ no. . mercurius stans. no. . mars, stans, armatus. . _two._ no. . miles de rupe descendens, eximii sculptoris græci opus. no. . diomedes palladio potitus cum ulysse altercatione contendit. . _two._ no. . dei marini natantes. no. . miles vulneratus a militibus duobus sustentatur. . _two._ no. . miles militi vulnerato opitulato. no. . mulier stolata cum virgine. . _two._ no. . faunus pelle caprina ex humeris pendente vestitus; pedem super suggestum ignotæ figuræ figit et infantem genu sustinet. no. . alexandri magni effigies. . _two._ no. . Æneam diomedes a saxo percussum conservat. no. . pompeiæ cujusdam ob victoriam partam descriptio. . _two._ no. . amazon amazonem morientem } sustinet juxta equus. } } . no. . fragmen gemmæ bacchi, &c. } . _one._ no. . nuptiæ psyches et cupidonis, _rariss._ . _one._ no. . ditto, ditto, _rariss._ . _one._ frontispiece to second volume; _proof, before the inscription on the arms; very rare_. . _two._ no. . ptolomæus. } } . no. . metrodorus. } . _two._ no. . socrates et plato. no. . sappho. . _two._ no. . ignotum caput scyllacis opus. no. . ignotum caput. . _two._ no. . medusa. no. . hercules et iole. . _two._ no. . l. junius brutus. no. . annibal. . _two._ no. . mecænes. no. . drusus tiberii filius. . _two._ no. . caput ignotum, antonini forsan junioris. no. . equi. . _two._ no. . mercurii templum. no. . coronis. . _two._ no. . cupidonis. no. . faunus. . _three._ no. . omphale incedens. no. . biga, var. . _two._ no. . silenus, tigris, &c. var. . _two._ the vignette to the second volume; _proof, very fine, and etching, perhaps, unique_. for an interesting account of the engravings of the devonshire gems--the rival publication of those from the marlborough collection--the reader may consult mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature and scarce books_; vol. i. - . the entire collection of mr. woodhouse's prints produced _l._ _s._ _d._ we will now make handsome mention of the bibliotheca woodhousiana. _a catalogue of the entire, elegant, and valuable library of john woodhouse, esq., comprising a rich and extensive collection of books, &c. sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, december, ._ vo. the collection was rather choice and rich, than extensive: having only articles. some of the rarest editions in old english literature were vigorously contended for by well-known collectors: nor did the library want beautiful and useful works of a different description. the following specimens will enable the reader to form a pretty correct estimate of the general value of this collection. no. . antonie (the tragedie of) doone into english by the countesse of pembroke, r.m. g.l. lond. . mo. £ _s._ _d._ . barnabee's journal, with bessie bell, _first edit. b.m. g.l._ . mo. . bastard's (thomas) chrestoleros, seven bookes of epigrammes, _g.m. g.l._ . mo. . chaucer, by tyrwhitt, with the glossary, g.m. g.l. vol. . vo. . cokain's (sir aston) poems and plays, _with head_, r.m. g.l. vol. . vo. . a paire of turtle doves, or the history of bellora and fidelio, bl. l. to. _see ms. note by steevens_, . . burnet's history of his own times, _large paper_, r.m. g.l. vol. . to. . dodsley's collection of old plays, _large paper_, vols. . vo. _only six copies printed in this manner._ . latham's general synopsis of birds, with index, vols. with reverse plates, elegantly painted by miss stone, now mrs. smith: r.m. g.m.l. to. 'n.b. _of the above set of books, there are only_ copies.' . clarendon's history of the rebellion, with his life, large paper, vols. _boards, uncut_, , , fol. . heath's chronicle, _frontispiece and heads_, r.m. g.l. . vols. vo. . knight's life of colet, _large paper_; plates, elegant, in light brown calf, g.l.m. , vo. . knight's life of erasmus, _large paper_, plates, elegant, in light brown calf, g.l.m. , vo. . lewin's birds of great britain, with the eggs accurately figured, elegantly painted with back ground, vols. in . _a superb copy, in g.m. g.m.l._ , to. . martyn's universal conchologist; english entomologist: and aranei, or natural history of spiders, vols. elegantly coloured. _a superb copy_, in r.m. g.m.l. , , and , to. . harrison's seven triumphal arches, in honor of james i., all the [seven] parts complete; _curious and very rare_, r.m. g.l. . folio. . hearne and bryne's antiquities and views in great britain, _proof impressions_, m. g.l. , oblong folio. . skelton's (mayster) poems: colyn clout, _lond. by john whygte_. whi come ye not to courte; _lond. by john whygte_. phillyp sparow; speak parot; death of the noble prynce, &c. see note. _lond. by john kynge and thomas marshe_. merie tales; _unique_, see note. _lond. by thomas colwell_, vol. bl. l. r.m. g.l. mo. . monument of matrons, containing seven severall lamps of virginitie, by thomas bentley; bl. l. r. vols. , to. . nychodemus gospell, wood-cuts, bl. l. g.l. r.m. _lond. wynkyn de worde_, , to. . pennant's history of quadrupeds, boards, _uncut, large paper, proof plates_, , to. . the late expedition in scotlande, made by the kinges hyhnys armye, under the conduit of the ryht honourable the earl of hertforde, the yere of our lorde god, . bl. l. r.m. g.l. _lond. by reynolde wolfe_, , vo. . sommers's (lord) collection of scarce and valuable tracts, vols. r. g.l. , , , , folio. . temple of glas, bl. l. see notes by g. mason. _wynkyn de worde, no date_, to. . tour (a) through the south of england, wales, and part of ireland, in , large paper, proof plates, coloured, . n.b. "of the above book only six copies were printed." . vicar's england's parliamentary chronicle, r. g.l. complete, parts, vols. , to. . speed's theatre of great britain, maps, r. g.l. m.l. _a remarkable fine copy_, . . the myrrour and dyscrypcyon of the worlde, with many mervaylles, wood-cuts, b.m. g.l. _emprynted by me lawrence andrewe_, , folio. . the recuile of the histories of troie, translated into english by william caxton, very fair, b.m. g.l. _imprynted at london by w. copland_, , fol. . the myrroure of golde for the synfull soule, bl. l. wood-cuts. _imprynted at lond. in the fleete-strete, at the sygne of the sun, by wynkyn de worde_, , to. . barclay's (alexander) egloges, out of a boke named in latin, miserie curialium, compyled by eneas sylvius, poete and oratour, bl. l. _woodcuts, five parts, and complete_, g.m. _imprynted by wynkyn de worde_, to. . holy life and history of saynt werburge, very frutefull for all christian people to rede. poems, bl. l. g.m. _imp. by richard pynson_, , to. amount of the sale, _l._ _s._] phil. i attended the sale of woodhouse's prints and books; and discovered at it as strong symptoms of the madness of which we are discoursing as ever were exhibited on a like occasion. i have the catalogue upon fine paper, which, however, is poorly printed; but i consider it rather a curious bibliographical morçeau. lysand. make the most of it, for it will soon become scarce. and now--notwithstanding my former boast to do justice to the remaining bibliomaniacal characters of respectability--as i find my oral powers almost exhausted, i shall barely mention the sales, by auction, of the collections of wilkes, ritson, and boucher[ ]--although i ought to mention the _bibliotheca boucheriana_ with more respect than its two immediate predecessors; as the collector was a man endowed with etymological acumen and patience; and i sincerely wish the public were now receiving the benefit of the continuation of his dictionary; of which the author published so excellent a specimen, comprehending only the letter a. dr. jamieson has, to be sure, in a great measure done away the melancholy impression which lexicographical readers would otherwise have experienced--by the publication of his own unrivalled "_scottish dictionary_;" yet there is still room enough in the literary world for a continuation of boucher. [footnote : it did not, perhaps, suit lysander's notions to make mention of book-sales to which no collectors' names were affixed; but, as it has been my office, during the whole of the above conversation, to sit in a corner and take notes of what our book-orator has said, as well to correct as to enlarge the narrative, i purpose, gentle reader, prefacing the account of the above noticed three collections by the following bibliomaniacal specimen: '_a catalogue of a capital and truly valuable library, the genuine property of a gentleman of fashion, highly distinguished for his fine taste_,' &c.: sold by auction by mr. christie, may, , vo. articles: amount of the sale, _l._ _s._; being nearly _l._ an article. now for the beloved specimens: no. . baptistæ portæ de humanâ physiognomia, _with wood-cuts. hanoviæ_, , et johannis physiophili opuscula. _aug. vin._ , vo. £ _s._ _d._ . officium beatæ virginis. _this unique_ manuscript _on vellum of the th century, is enriched with highly finished miniature paintings, and is one of the most perfect and best preserved missals known in england._ . a complete set of the barbou classics, vols. _elegantly bound in green_ (_french_) morocco, with gilt leaves, vo. . gesta et vestigia danorum extra daniam, v. _large paper, with a portrait in satin of the prince to whom it is dedicated, lips: et hafn_: , to. _black morocco, gilt leaves._ n.b. 'it is supposed that the rolliad was taken from this work.' . brittania, lathmon, et villa bromhamensis, poëmatia; _bodoni, parma_, , _red morocco_, folio. . contes des fées; paris, , vo. vols. imprimÉe sur velin. this unique copy is ornamented with nineteen original drawings, and was made for the late madame royale: _elegantly bound in blue morocco and enclosed in a morocco case_. . memoires du comte de grammont. _edition printed for the comte d'artois._ _par._ . vo. this beautiful small work, from the text of which harding's edition was copied, is adorned with several high finished portraits in miniature, painted by a celebrated artist, and is elegantly bound in green morocco, with morocco case. . l'antiquité expliquée, par montfaucon, with fine plates; _large paper copy_, vol. red (french) _morocco, with gilt leaves_; and monarchie françoise, , v. l. p. _correspondently bound_, folio. . anacreontis carmina, gr. et lat. from a ms. in the vatican of the tenth century: with _beautiful coloured miniatures by piale, appropriate to each ode, in rich morocco binding_. _romæ_, . folio. early in the year in which this collection was disposed of, the very beautiful choice, and truly desirable library of george galway mills, esq. was sold by auction by mr. jeffery, in february, . my copy of this well-executed catalogue is upon _large paper_; but it has not the prices subjoined. meanwhile let the sharp-sighted bibliomaniac look at no. , , , , , , , only. thus it will be seen that the year was most singularly distinguished for _book-auction bibliomaniacism_! we now proceed to notice the sales of the libraries of those bibliomaniacs above mentioned by lysander. _a catalogue of the very valuable library of the late_ john wilkes, esq., m.p., _&c., sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, in november_, , vo.: articles. there are few articles, except the following deserving of being extracted. no. . bernier theologie portatif, lond. --boulanger recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental, morocco, gilt leaves. lond. , vo. 'n.b. the "recherches" were printed by mr. wilkes, at his own private printing press, in great george street, westminster, in .' . catullus, recensuit johannes wilkes; _impress. in membranis_, red morocco, gilt leaves. lond. ap. nichols, , to. . copies taken from the records of the c. of k.b. . "note in this book--printed by p.c. webe, one of the solicitors to the treasury, never published," &c. . theophrasti characteres: græce, johannes wilkes, recensuit. _impress. in membranis_, lond. , to. . wilkes's history of england, no. i. , to. next comes the account of the library of that redoubted champion of ancient lore, and anti-wartonian critic, joseph ritson. his books, upon the whole, brought very moderate sums. _a catalogue of the entire and curious library and manuscripts of the late_ joseph ritson, esq., _&c., sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, december_ , , vo. no. . skelton's (maister) workes, ms. notes, and lists of the different editions of skelton's works, and likewise of those never printed; and of these last, in whose possession many of them are, , vo. £ _s._ _d._ . jeffrey of monmouth's british history, by thompson; a great number of ms. notes, on separate papers, by mr. ritson. lond. , vo. . the sevin seages. translatit out of paris in scottis meter, be johne rolland in dalkeith, with one moralitie after everie doctouris tale, and siclike after the emprice tale, togidder with one loving landaude to everie doctour after his awin tale, and one exclamation and outcrying upon the emprerouris wife after his fals contrusit tale. _imprentit at edinburgh, be johne ros, for henrie charteris_, , to. "note in this book by mr. ritson; no other copy of this edition is known to exist, neither was it known to ames, herbert," &c. &c. . a new enterlude, never before this tyme imprinted, entreating of the life and repentance of marie magadelene [transcriber's note: magdalene], not only godlie, learned and fruitfull, but also well furnished with pleasant myrth and pastime, very delectable for those which shall heare or reade the same, _made by the learned charke [transcriber's note: clarke] lewis wager--printed_ , ms. . bibliographia scotica; anecdotes biographical and literary of scotish writers, historians, and poets, from the earliest account to the nineteenth century, in two parts, intended for publication. . shakspeare, by johnson and steevens, vols. containing a great number of manuscript notes, corrections, &c. &c. together with vols. of manuscript notes, by mr. ritson, prepared by him for the press, intending to publish it. the year ensuing (of which lysander has, very negligently, taken no notice) was distinguished for the sale of a collection of books, the like unto which had never been seen, since the days of the dispersion of the parisian collection. the title of the auction catalogue was, in part, as follows: _a catalogue of a most splendid and valuable collection of books, superb missals, original drawings, &c. the genuine property of a gentleman of distinguished taste, retiring into the country, &c._ sold by auction by mr. christie, april, , vo. articles: total amount, _l._--being almost _l._ an article. i attended both days of this sale and the reader shall judge of my own satisfaction, by that which _he_ must receive from a perusal of the following specimens of this _bibliotheca splendidissima_. no. . a most complete set of sir william dugdale's works, containing monasticon anglicanum, in vols. ; monasticon, vol. , editio secunda, vols.; monasticon, in english, with steevens's continuation, vols.; warwickshire, first edition; warwickshire, second edition, by thomas, vols.; st. paul's, first and second edition, vols.; baronage, vols.; history of imbanking, first and second editions, vols.; origines juridiciales, third edition; view of the troubles; summons of the nobility; usage of arms and office of lord chancellor. _this fine set of dugdale is elegantly bound in russia leather in volumes._ £ _s._ _d._ (now worth _l._) . biographia britannica, vols. , folio. a matchless set illustrated with portraits, fine and rare, and _elegantly bound in russia leather_. . homeri ilias et odyssea, vols. glasgow, , fol. an unique copy, on _large paper_, illustrated with flaxman's plates to the iliad, and original drawings, by miss wilkes, to the odyssey; _superbly bound in blue turkey_. . milton's poetical works, large paper, tonson, . milton's historical works, &c., by birch, vols. large paper, , vols. _elegantly bound in russia leather_. . ogilby's historical works, containing britannia, china, vols. japan, asia, africa, and america, with fine plates by hollar, vols. folio, _fine copy in russia_. . lord clarendon's history of the grand rebellion, vols. folio, _large paper, splendidly bound in morocco_, . . winwood's memorials of affairs of state, vols. . _large paper, elegantly bound, and gilt leaves_. . wood's athenæ oxonienses, vols. best edition, . _a fine copy on large paper, elegantly bound in russia, with gilt leaves_, fol. from no. to , inclusive (only volumes), there was a set of "_painted missals and curious manuscripts_," which were sold for _l._ among them, was mr. john towneley's matchless missal, decorated by the famous francesco veronese--"one of the finest productions of the kind ever imported from italy:" see no. . for an account of the books printed upon vellum in this collection, see part vi. let us close this note with the _bibliotheca boucheriana_; of which such respectable mention is above justly made by lysander. "_a catalogue of the very valuable and extensive library of the late_ rev. jonathan boucher, _a.m., f.r.s., vicar of epsom, surrey. comprehending a fine and curious collection in divinity, history, &c.: sold by auction by leigh and sotheby; in february_, ." _first part_, articles: _second part_, articles: _third part_, published in : articles. i attended many days during this sale; but such was the warm fire, directed especially towards divinity, kept up during nearly the whole of it, that it required a heavier weight of metal than i was able to bring into the field of battle to ensure any success in the contest. i cannot help adding that these catalogues are wretchedly printed.] ah, well-a-day!--have i not come to the close of my book-history? are there any other bibliomaniacs of distinction yet to notice? yes!--i well remember the book-sale events of the last four years. i well remember the curiosity excited by the collections of the marquis of lansdowne, john brand, isaac reed, richard porson, alexander dalrymple, and richard gough,[ ] and with these i must absolutely make my bibliomaniacal peroration! illustrious men!---- [footnote : for the same reason as has been adduced at p. , ante, and from a strong wish to render this _list of book auctions_ as perfect as my opportunities will allow, i shall persevere, at the foot of lysander's narrative, in submitting to the attention of the curious reader a still further account of sales than those above alluded to in the text. as this will be the last note in part v., i hope, however late the hour, or exhausted his patience, that the reader will also persevere to the close of it, and then wish the author "good night," along with his friends, whose salutations are above so dramatically described. at the very opening of the year in which mr. boucher's books were sold, the magnificent collection of the marquis of lansdowne was disposed of. i well remember the original destination of this numerous library: i well remember the long, beautiful, and classically ornamented room, in which, embellished and guarded by busts, and statues of gods and heroes, the books were ranged in quiet and unmolested order, adjoining to the noblest mansion in london. if the consideration of external, or out-of-door, objects be put out of the question, this library-room had not its superior in great britain. let us now come to particulars: "_bibliotheca lansdowniana. a catalogue of the entire library of the late most noble william_ marquis of lansdowne; _sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, &c. january_, ." vo. the following is but a slender specimen of the printed books in the lansdowne collection. no. . arthur kynge (the story of the most noble and worthy) the whiche was fyrst of the worthyes christen, and also of his noble and valyaunt knyghtes of the round table; _newly imprynted and corrected, black letter, title-page emblazoned, turkey. imp. at lond. by wyllyam coplande_, , folio. in the collection of mr. dent. £ _s._ _d._ . ashmole's (elias) institution, laws, and ceremonies of the order of the garter, plates by hollar, _l. paper, green morocco, border of gold, gilt leaves_, , folio. . chronica del rey don alonso el onzeno, roy de castilla, &c. _liter. goth. mar. verd. volladolid [transcriber's note: valladolid]._ , folio. . ---- del rey don pedro. d. enrrique [transcriber's note: enrique], y d. juan, _pampl._ , folio. . ---- des reys de portugal, d. joanno i. d. duarte, e d. alfonso, _lisboa_, , folio. . gazette, london, from the beginning, to inclusive, vol. folio. . leyes del reyno, del don philippe ii. recopilacion de las, tom. alcala, . folio. . ---- de los reynos de las indias, del don carlos ii. tom. madrid, , folio. . money; a very curious collection of single sheets, &c., and with several ms. memorandums and papers on that subject, bound in one volume. . somers' (lord) tracts, vol. lond. , . . stuart's (james) antiquities of athens, plates, vol. , , folio. . stukeley's (wm.) itinerary, cuts, _russia_, vol. in vol. , , folio. . a very rare collection of tracts, documents, and pamphlets, consisting of above volumes, tending to illustrate the history of the french revolution--together with more than volumes relative to the transactions in the low countries, between the years and , and their separation from the house of austria:--amongst the above will be found the following works. des etats generaux, &c. par. . vol. process verbaux de la première assemblée, vol. ditto de la seconde vol. ditto de la convocation vol. revolution françoise, vol. from to , wanting vol. , , and . la bastile devoilée. par. . sir james m'intosh's vindiciæ gallicæ, and numerous pieces relative to the constitution and administration of the french government, in its executive, legislative, judicial, and financial departments, by messrs. mirabeau, turgot, barrere, calonne, necker, &c. i should observe that the prints or engravings of the marquis, together with the _printed prices_ for which they, and the foregoing library, were sold, are usually added to the catalogue of the books. in the spring of , the manuscripts belonging to the same noble collector were catalogued to be sold by public auction. these manuscripts, in the preface of the _first_ volume of the catalogue, are said to 'form one of the noblest and most valuable private collections in the kingdom.' it is well known that the collection never came to the hammer; but was purchased by parliament for _l._, and is deposited in the british museum. a catalogue of it is now _sub prelo_; vide p. , ante. we are next to notice the sale by auction of the library of the late rev. john brand. the first part of this collection was disposed of in the spring of ; and the catalogue had this title: _bibliotheca brandiana. a catalogue of the unique, scarce, rare, curious, and numerous collection of works, &c., being the entire library of the late_ rev. john brand, _fellow and secretary of the antiquarian society, author of the history of newcastle, popular antiquities, &c. sold by auction by mr. stewart_, may, . this first part contained articles, or lots, of printed books; exclusively of lots of manuscripts. hereafter followeth, gentle reader, some specimens, selected almost at random, of the 'unique, scarce, rare, and curious' books contained in the said library of this far-famed secretary of the society of antiquaries. no. . _ane compendious booke of godly and spiritual songs_, bl. lett. vo. edinb. . £ _s._ _d._ . academy of pleasure, with portraits of drayton, g. withers, f. quarles, and b. jonson, lon. , vo. . a curtaine lecture, _rare and curious_, frontispiece, lond. , vo. . a banquet of jests, or change of cheare, with portrait of archee, the king's jester. _rare._ lond. , vo. . arnold's chronicle of the customs of london, a fine copy, perfect, _printed by pynson_, fol. . . an alvearie, or quadruple dictionarie, by baret. francof. fol. . . dyalogue of dives and pauper, _that is to say, the rich and the pore, fructuously tretyng upon the ten commandments_, black-letter, printed by pynson, fol. . . allot's england's parnassus, vo. . . a booke of fishing, with hooke and line, , vo. a booke of engines and traps to take polcats, buzzards, rats, mice, &c. cuts, _very rare_, [see p. , ante.] . archy's dream, sometimes jester to his majestie, but expelled the court by canterbury's malice, _very rare_, vo. . a new dialogue between the angell of god and shepherdes in the felde, black-letter. _pr. by day_, vo. . a dialogue betweene two neighbours, concernyng ceremonyes in the first year of queen mary, black-letter, with portrait of mary, by delarum, from roane, by michelwood, , vo. . a short inuentory of certayne idle inventions, black-letter, _very rare_. . a juniper lecture, with the description of all sorts of women, good and bad, _very rare_. lond. , vo. . a quip for an upstart courtier; or a quaint dispute betweene velvet breeches and cloth breeches, wherein is set downe the disorders in all estates and trades, _with portraits_. lond. printed by g.p., , to. . articles to be enquired into by various bishops, &c., in their visitations; upwards of one hundred; _a very curious, scarce, and unique collection_, to. . barbiere (john) the famous game of chesse play, cuts, . the most ancient and learned play, the philosopher's game, invented for the honourable recreation of the studious, by w.f., black-letter, , to. . a plaister for a galled horse, _very rare_, , to. [see herbert's ames, vol. i. : and p. ; ante.] . a counter blaste to tobacco. lond. , to. . bentley's (thos.) monument of matrons, containing seven severall lamps of virginitie, or distinct treatises, collated and perfect, a very fine copy, extremely rare and curious, _imprinted at london, by thomas dawson, for william seres, extremely rare_, black-letter, , to. . bert (edmund) an approved treatise of hawkes and hunting. lond. , to. . burton (wm.) seven dialogues, black-letter. lond. . george whetstone's mirrour for magistrates of cities, b.l., printed by richard jones, , to. . byshop's (john) beautifull blossomes, black-letter, imprinted by henrie cockyn, , to. . characters (viz.) the surfeit to a.b.c. lond. . dr. lupton's london and country carbonadoed and quartered into seuerall characters, . essayes and characters, by l.g., , vo. . england's jests refined and improved, , vo. . catharo's diogenes in his singularitie, wherein is comprehended his merrie baighting fit for all men's benefits: christened by him a _nettle for nice noses_, by l.t., black-letter, , to. . fages (mrs.) poems, fames roule, &c., _rare_, lond. , to. . stukeley's (wm.) itinerarium curiosum; _vols. in_ , _russia_, folio. . the blazon of jealousie, written in italian, by varchi. lond. , vo. . tracts: dial of witches, ; lancaster witches, ; trial of yorkshire witches, ; the golden fleece, ; cage of diabolical possession, to. . the most strange and admirable discoverie of the three witches of warboys, arraigned, convicted, and executed at the last assizes at huntington; for bewitching the five daughters of robert throckmorton, esq., and divers other persons, with sundrie devilish and grievous torments; and also for bewitching to death the lady crumwell. _extra rare_, to. . witches apprehended, examined, and executed for notable villanies, by them committed both by land and water, with a strange and most true triall how to know whether a woman be a witch or not: _with the plate_. _extra rare_, to. . the pleasure of princes, the art of angling, together with the ordering and dieting of the fighting cocke, , to. . the knyght of the toure; _a perfect and fine specimen of the father of english printers_, , folio. the reader (if he pleases) may consult my first volume, p. , of the _typographical antiquities of great britain_, for some account of this edition. my copy of this first part of the catalogue of brand's books is upon _large paper, with the prices inserted in the margin_. the _second part_ of the bibliotheca brandiana, containing duplicates and pamphlets, was sold in february, , by mr. stewart. there were articles. few collections attracted greater attention before, and during, the sale than did the library of the late mr. isaac reed: a critic and literary character of very respectable second-rate reputation. the public journals teemed, for a time, with book-anecdotes concerning this collection; and the _athenæum_, _monthly mirror_, _censura literaria_, _european magazine_, struck out a more bold outline of the bibliotheca reediana than did the generality of their fellow journals. reed's portrait is prefixed to the european magazine, the monthly mirror, and the catalogue of his own books: it is an indifferently stippled scraping, copied from a fine mellow mezzotint, from the characteristic pencil of romney. this latter is a private plate, and, as such, is rare. to return to the library. the preface to the catalogue was written by the rev. h.j. todd. it is brief, judicious, and impressive; giving abundant proof of the bibliomaniacal spirit of the owner of the library--who would appear to have adopted the cobler's well-known example of applying one room to almost every domestic purpose: for reed made his library 'his parlour, kitchen, and hall.' a brave and enviable spirit this!--and, in truth, what is comparable with it? but the reader is beginning to wax impatient for a more particular account. here it is: _bibliotheca reediana. a catalogue of the curious and extensive library of the late isaac reed, esq., of staple inn, deceased. comprehending a most extraordinary collection of books in english literature, &c.: sold by auction, by messrs. king and lochée: november_, , _ vo._ the following specimens of some of reed's scarce volumes are copied, in part, from the account which was inserted in the _athenæum_, vol. iii., pp. , , under the extraordinary signatures of w. caxton and w. de worde. no. . a portfolio of single-sheet ballads. £ _s._ _d._ . colman (w.) death's duel, vo., _frontispiece_. . barnefield's affectionate shepherd, _very rare_, to. . . a musical concort of heavenly harmonie, called churchyard's charitie. _see ms. notes in churchyard's pieces, by steevens, reed_, &c., , to. . churchyard's lamentable and pitiable description of the woeful warres in flanders, , to. . ---- a true discourse of the succeeding governors in the netherlands, and the civil warres there begun in , to. . ---- a light bundle of lively discourses, called churchyard's charge, presented as a new year's gift to the earl of savoy, , to. . ---- challenge, b.l., , with a copious manuscript account of his works, by j. reed, and a small octavo tract, called a discourse of rebellion, , to. . gascoigne (george) whole workes, _fine copy in russia_, to., b.l., . . cynthia, with certain sonnets, _rare_, , vo. . whetstone (george) mirror of true honor, and christain [transcriber's note: christian] nobilitie, exposing the life, death, and divine vertues of francis earl of bedford, b.l., , to. . beaumont and fletcher's philaster; or love lies a bleeding, _frontispiece_, to., . . shakspeariana, a large assemblage of tracts by various authors, relative to shakspeare, neatly bound in vols. vo. . stillingfleet (benj.) plays, never either finished or published. _the only copy ever seen by mr. reed._ . a volume of unpublished and unprinted fables, by john ellis, scrivener and translator of maphaeus. _note by mr. reed:_ 'it was given to me by mr. john sewell, bookseller, to whom mr. ellis bequeathed his manuscripts. see my account of mr. ellis in the european magazine, jan. : large to.' the volume is enriched with fine engravings, appropriate to each fable. . notitia dramatica, both printed and manuscript; containing a chronological account of the chief incidents relating to the english theatres, from nov. , to st dec. . "collected from various sources, but chiefly the public advertisers, which were lent me by mr. woodfall for the purpose. this volume contains the most material facts relating to the theatres for the last fifty years, and will be useful to any person who may wish to compile a history of the stage." isaac reed, staple's inn, aug. . . of this catalogue, there are _only twelve copies_ printed upon large paper; which were all distributed previous to the sale of the books. the common paper copies are very indifferently executed. the late mr. george baker had the completest _l.p._ copy of this catalogue in existence. before we proceed to give an account of subsequent book-sales, it may be as well to pause for a few minutes--and to take a retrospective view of the busy scene which has been, in part, described: or rather, it may be no incurious thing to lay before the reader for a future century (when the ashes of the author shall have long mouldered into their native dust) a statement of the principal book-sales which took place from november, , to november, --at messrs. leigh and sotheby's king and lochée's, and mr. stewart's. the minor ones carried on under covent-garden piazza, tom's coffee-house, &c., are not necessary to be noticed. in calculating the number of volumes, i have considered one article, or lot, with the other, to comprehend three volumes. the result is as follows. _book-sales by messrs._ leigh _and_ sotheby. volumes. rev. edward bowerbank's library. earl of halifax's mr. john voigt's sutton sharpe's, esq. george mason's, ditto mr. burdon's charles bedford's, esq. rev. charles bathurst's sir john sebright's, bt. (duplicates). bishop horsley's mr. e. edward's lieut. col. thos. velley's _four miscellaneous_ ------ , _book-sales by_ king _and_ lochÉe. volumes. r. foster's, esq. library dr. john millar's mr. c. martin's mr. daniel waldron's rev. thomas towle's mr. brice lambert's c. dilly's isaac reed's _six miscellaneous_ ------ , _book-sales by_ mr. stewart. mr. law's library lord thurlow's mr. william bryant's rev. w.w. fitzthomas's rev. john brand's george stubbs, esq. _three miscellaneous_ ------ , total sold by messrs. leigh and sotheby messrs. king and lochée mr. stewart ------- , such has been the circulation of books, within the foregoing period, by the hands of _three auctioneers only_; and the prices which a great number of _useful_ articles brought is a sufficient demonstration that books are esteemed for their _intrinsic value_, as well as for the adventitious circumstances which render them _rare_ or _curious_. but prosterity [transcriber's note: posterity] are not to judge of the prevalence of knowledge in these times by the criterion of, what are technically called, _book-sales_ only. they should be told that, within the same twelve months, thousands and tens of thousands of books of all sorts have been circulated by the _london booksellers_; and that, without travelling to know the number disposed of at bristol, liverpool, york, manchester, or exeter, it may be only necessary to state that _one distinguished house_ alone, established not quite a furlong from the railings of st. paul's cathedral, sold not far short of _two hundred thousand volumes_ within the foregoing period! if learning continue thus to thrive, and books to be considered as necessary furniture to an apartment; if wealthy merchants are resolved upon procuring large paper copies, as well as indian spices and russian furs; we may hail, in anticipation, that glorious period when the book-fairs of _leipsic_ shall be forgotten in the superior splendour of those of _london_! but to return to our chronological order: the ensuing year, , was distinguished for no small mischief excited in the bibliomaniacal world by the sales of many curious and detached libraries. the second part of mr. brand's collection which was sold in the spring of this year, has been already noticed. the close of the year witnessed the sales, by auction, of the books of samuel ewer, esq. (retiring into the country), and of mr. machel stace, bookseller. the former collection was very strong in bibliography; and the latter presented a singularly valuable 'collection of rare and select' books, relating to old english literature elegantly bound: containing articles. mr. stace had published, the preceding year, '_a catalogue of curious and scarce books and tracts_:' which, with the preceding, merit a snug place upon the bibliographer's shelf. we now enter upon a more busy year of sales of books by auction. the bibliomania had only increased by the preceding displays of precious and magnificent volumes. and first came on, in magnitude and inportance [transcriber's note: importance], the sales of alexander dalrymple and professor porson. of these in turn. _a catalogue of the extensive and valuable library of books: part i. late the property of_ alex. dalrymple, esq. f.r.s., _deceased_. hydrographer to the board of admiralty, and the hon. east india company, &c., sold by auction by king and lochée, may , , vo.-- articles: _a catalogue, &c., part ii. of the same: sold by auction by the same_: nov. .-- articles. i should add that there is a stippled engraving of dalrymple, with fac-simile of his hand-writing, which faces the title page to _part first_ of this extraordinary and numerous collection; of books of geography, voyages, and travels. i strongly recommend copies of these catalogues to be in every library of extent and utility. we are now to notice: _a catalogue of part of the library of the late richard porson, a.m., greek professor of the university of cambridge_, &c.: sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, june th, , vo.-- articles: amount of the books, _l._ _s._ _d._ the subjoined is rather a rich, though brief, specimen of some of the valuable books contained in the library of this profound greek scholar; in whom the acuteness of bentley, and the erudition of hemsterhusius, were more than revived. no. . biblia græca, et novum testamentum græce, lectionibus d.j.j. griesbach, vols., boards, uncut, ms. notes at the beginning of each vol. hal. sax. - , vo. £ _s._ _d._ the notes amounted to the correction of typographical errors and addition to a note of griesbach's, consisting of authorities he ought to have added. . athenæus, gr. lat., cum animadversionibus i. casauboni, vols., ms. notes, lugduni, , folio. . chariton de amor. chaeræ et callirrhoe, gr. lat. cum animadversionibus, j.p. d'orville--amst. , to. porson's note in the beginning. 'opus plenum eruditionis, judicii et sagacitatis non item.' . homeri ilias et odyssea (the grenville edition) boards, uncut, with the original portrait. oxoniæ, to., _large paper_: vols. . eustathius in homerum, vols., morocco, gilt leaves, par. , fol. . shakspeare's (william) plays by johnson and steevens, vols., boards, uncut, , vo. anecdotes and memoirs of richard porson are strewn, like spring flowers in an extensive pasture, in almost every newspaper, magazine, and journal. among the latter, there is an interesting one by dr. adam clarke in the _classical journal_, no. iv., p. . the _hand-writing_ of porson is a theme of general admiration, and justly so; but his _greek_ characters have always struck me as being more stiff and cramped than his roman and italic. i well remember when he shewed me, and expatiated eloquently upon, the famous ms. of plato, of the th century. poor fillingham was of the party. little did i then expect that three years only would deprive the world of its great classical ornament, and myself of a well-informed and gentle-hearted friend! we will now close our account of the book-ravages in the year , by noticing the dispersion of a few minor corps of bibliomaniacal troops, in the shape of printed volumes. _bibliotheca maddisoniana: a catalogue of the extensive and valuable library of the late_ john maddison, _esq., of the foreign department in the post office, &c._: sold by auction by king and lochée, march, , vo. a judicious and elegant collection. articles. ii. _a catalogue of a curious, valuable, and rare collection of books in typography, history, voyages, early english poetvy [transcriber's note: poetry], romances, classics_, &c.: the property of a collector well known for his literary taste, &c. sold by auction by mr. stewart, april, , vo. some curious volumes were in these articles or lots. iii. _a catalogue of the very valuable and elegant library of_ emperor john alexander woodford, esq., sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, may, , vo.-- articles. this was a sumptuous collection; and the books, in general, brought large prices, from being sharply contended for. iv. _a catalogue of the interesting and curious historical and biographical part of the_ library of a gentleman, particularly interesting, during the reign of elizabeth, the grand rebellion, the usurpation, restoration, and abdication, &c., sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, in may, , vo. only articles; but a singularly curious and elegant collection; the catalogue of which i strongly recommend to all 'curious, prying, and inquisitive' bibliomaniacs. the first half of the ensuing year, , was yet more distinguished for the zeal and energy--shall i say madness?--displayed at book-auctions. the sale of mr. gough's books excited an unusual ferment among english antiquaries: but the sale of a more extensive, and truly beautifully classical, collection in pall mall, excited still stronger sensations. as the _prices_ for some of the articles sold in the gough collection have already been printed in the _gentleman's magazine_, vol. lxxx., pt. ii., and as those for which some of the _latter_ collection were sold, appeared in the th number of _the classical journal_, it only remains for me to subjoin the following account. i. _a catalogue of the entire and valuable library (with the exception of the department of topography, bequeathed to the bodleian library) of that eminent antiquary_, richard gough, esq., deceased, &c., sold by auction by leigh and sotheby, april, , vo.-- articles. the manuscripts conclude the catalogue, at no. . prefixed to the printed books, there is an account of the collector, mr. gough, executed by the faithful pen of mr. nichols. my own humble opinion of this celebrated antiquary has already been before the public: _typog. antiquit._, vol. i., . ii. _a catalogue of books containing all the rare, useful, and valuable publications in every department of literature, from the first invention of printing to the present time, all of which are in the most perfect condition, &c._: sold by auction by mr. jeffery, may, , vo.-- articles. another catalogue of the same collection, elegantly printed in royal octavo, but omitting the auctioneer's notices of the relative value of certain editions, was published by mr. constable of edinburgh, bookseller: with the prices and purchasers' names subjoined: and of which it is said only copies are printed. the rev. mr. heath is reported to have been the owner of this truly select and sumptuous classical library: the sale of which produced _l._ never did the bibliomaniac's eye alight upon 'sweeter copies'--as the phrase is; and never did the bibliomaniacal barometer rise higher than at this sale! the most marked phrensy characterized it. a copy of the editio princeps of homer (by no means a first-rate one) brought _l._: and all the aldine classics produced such an electricity of sensation that buyers stuck at nothing to embrace them! do not let it hence be said that _black-letter lore_ is the only fashionable pursuit of the present age of book-collectors. this sale may be hailed as the omen of better and brighter prospects in literature in general: and many a useful philological work, although printed in the latin or italian language--and which had been sleeping, unmolested, upon a bookseller's shelf these dozen years--will now start up from its slumber, and walk abroad in a new atmosphere, and be noticed and 'made much of.' here i terminate my _annotation labours_ relating to anecdotes of book-collectors, and accounts of book-auctions. unless i am greatly deceived, these labours have not been thrown away. they may serve, as well to awaken curiosity in regard to yet further interesting memoranda respecting scholars, as to shew the progressive value of books, and the increase of the disease called the bibliomania. some of the most curious volumes in english literature have in these notes, been duly recorded; nor can i conclude such a laborious, though humble, task, without indulging a fond hope that this account will be consulted by all those who make book-collecting their amusement. but it is now time to rise up, with the company described in the text, and to put on my hat and great-coat. so i make my bow, wishing, with _l'envoy_ at the close of marmion, to all, to each, a fair good night, and pleasing dreams, and slumbers light.] loren. do you mean to have it inferred that there were no collections, of value or importance, which were sold in the mean time? lysand. i thank you for stopping me: for i am hoarse as well as stupid: i consider the foregoing only as the greater stars or constellations in the bibliographical hemisphere. others were less observed from their supposed comparative insignificancy; although, if you had attended the auctions, you would have found in them many very useful, and even rare and splendid, productions. but we are all 'tickled with the whistling of a name!' loren. ay, and naturally enough too. if i look at my stubbes's _anatomy of abuses_, which has received _your abuse_ this evening, and fancy that the leaves have been turned over by the scientific hand of pearson, farmer, or steevens, i experience, by association of ideas, a degree of happiness which i never could have enjoyed had i obtained the volume from an unknown collector's library. lis. very true; and yet you have only master stubbes's work after all! loren. even so. but this _fictitious_ happiness, as you would call it, is, in effect, _real_ happiness; inasmuch as it produces positive sensations of delight. lis. well, there is no arguing with such a bibliomaniac as yourself, lorenzo. belin. but allow, brother, that this degree of happiness, of which you boast, is not quite so exquisite as to justify the very high terms of purchase upon which it is often times procured. lysand. there is no such thing as the 'golden mediocrity' of horace in book pursuits. certain men set their hearts upon certain copies, and '_coûte qu'il coûte_' they must secure them. undoubtedly, i would give not a little for parker's own copy of the book of _common prayer_, and shakspeare's own copy of both parts of his _henry the fourth_. alman. well, lisardo, we stand no chance of stemming the torrent against two such lusty and opiniated bibliomaniacs as my brother and lysander: although i should speak with deference of, and acknowledge with grateful respect, the extraordinary exertions of the latter, this evening, to amuse and instruct us. lis. this evening?----say, this day:--this live-long day--and yesterday also! but have you quite done, dear lysander? lysand. have you the conscience to ask for more? i have brought you down to the year of our lord _one thousand eight hundred and eleven_; and without touching upon the collections of living bibliomaniacs, or foretelling what may be the future ravages of the bibliomania in the course of only the next dozen years, i think it proper to put an end to my book-collecting history, and more especially to this long trial of your auricular patience. loren. a thousand thanks for your exertions! although your friend, with whom you are on a visit, knows pretty well the extent of my bibliographical capacity, and that there have been many parts in your narrative which were somewhat familiar to me, yet, upon the whole, there has been a great deal more of novelty, and, in this novelty, of solid instruction. sincerely, therefore lysander, i here offer you my heart-felt thanks. lysand. i receive them as cordially: from an assurance that my digressions have been overlooked; or, if noticed, forgiven. it would be gross vanity, and grosser falsehood, to affirm that the discourse of this day, on my part, has given anything like a full and explicit history of all the most eminent book-collectors and patrons of learning which have reflected such lustre upon the literary annals of our country:--no, lorenzo: a complete account, or a perfect description, of these illustrious characters would engage a conversation, not for one day--but one week. yet i have made the most of the transient hour, and, by my enthusiasm, have perhaps atoned for my deficiency of information. lis. but cannot you resume this conversation on the morrow? lysand. my stay with our friend is short, and i know not how he means to dispose of me to-morrow. but i have done--certainly done--with _personal history_! loren. that may be. yet there are other departments of the bibliomania which may be successfully discussed. the weather will probably be fine, and let us enjoy a morning _conversazione_ in the alcove? belin. surely, lysander may find something in the fruitful pigeon-holes of his imagination--as the abbè sieyes used to do--from which he may draw forth some system or other? alman. you have all talked loudly and learnedly of the book-disease; but i wish to know whether a _mere collector_ of books be a bibliomaniac? lysand. certainly not. there are symptoms of this disease _within the very books themselves_ of a bibliomaniac. alman. and pray what are these? lysand. alas, madam!--why are you so unreasonable? and how, after knowing that i have harrangued for more than 'seven hours by westminster clock'--how can you have the conscience to call upon me to protract the oration? the night has already melted into morning; and i suppose grey twilight is discoverable upon the summit of the hills. i am exhausted; and long for repose. indeed, i must wish you all a good night. belin. but you promise to commence your _symptomatic_ harangue on the morrow? lysand. if my slumbers are sound, lady fair, and i rise tolerably recruited in strength, i will surely make good my promise. again, good night! belin. sir, a very good night: and let our best thanks follow you to your pillow. alman. remember, as you sink to repose, what a quantity of good you have done, by having imparted such useful information. lysand. i shall carry your best wishes, and grateful mention of my poor labours, with me to my orisons. adieu!--'tis very late. * * * * * here the company broke up. lisardo slept at lorenzo's. philemon and lysander accompanied me to my home; and as we past lorenzo's outer gate, and looked backward upon the highest piece of rising ground, we fancied we saw the twilight of morning. never was a mortal more heartily thanked for his colloquial exertions than was lysander. on reaching home, as we separated for our respective chambers, we shook hands most cordially; and my eloquent guest returned the squeeze, in a manner which seemed to tell that he had no greater happiness at heart than that of finding a reciprocity of sentiment among those whom he tenderly esteemed. at this moment, we could have given to each other the choicest volume in our libraries; and i regretted that i had not contrived to put my black-morocco copy of the small _aldine petrarch, printed upon_ vellum, under lysander's pillow, as a 'pignus amicitiæ.'--but we were all to assemble together in lorenzo's alcove on the morrow; and this thought gave me such lively pleasure that i did not close my eyes 'till the clock had struck five. such are the bed-luxuries of a bibliomaniac! [illustration] [illustration: the reader is here presented with one of the "facs," or ornamental letters in _pierce ploughman's creed_.] part vi. =the alcove.= symptoms of the bibliomania.----probable means of its cure. "one saith this booke is too long: another, too short: the third, of due length; and for fine phrase and style, the like [of] that booke was not made a great while. it is all lies, said another; the booke is starke naught." _choice of change_; . to., sign. n. i. [illustration] [illustration] =the alcove.= symptoms of the bibliomania.----probable means of its cure. softly blew the breeze, and merrily sung the lark, when lisardo quitted his bed-chamber at seven in the morning, and rang lustily at my outer gate for admission. so early a visitor put the whole house in commotion; nor was it without betraying some marks of peevishness and irritability that, on being informed of his arrival, i sent word by the servant to know what might be the cause of such an interruption. the reader will readily forgive this trait of harshness and precipitancy, on my part, when he is informed that i was then just enjoying the "honey dew" of sleep, after many wakeful and restless hours. lisardo's name was announced: and his voice, conveyed in the sound of song-singing, from the bottom of the garden, left the name of the visitor no longer in doubt. i made an effort, and sprung from my bed; and, on looking through the venetian blinds, i discovered our young bibliomaniacal convert with a book sticking out of his pocket, another half opened in his hand (upon which his eyes were occasionally cast), and a third kept firmly under his left arm. i thrust my head, "night-cap, tassel and all," out of window, and hailed him; not, however, before a delicious breeze, wafted over a bed of mignonette, had electrified me in a manner the most agreeable imaginable. lisardo heard, and hailed me in return. his eyes sparkled with joy; his step was quick and elastic; and an unusual degree of animation seemed to pervade his whole frame. "here," says he, "here is _the british bibliographer_[ ] in my hand, a volume of mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature and scarce books_ in my pocket, while another, of mr. d'israeli's _curiosities of literature_, is kept snugly under my arm, as a corps de reserve, or rallying point. if these things savour not of bibliography, i must despair of ever attaining to the exalted character of a bibliomaniac!" [footnote : _the british bibliographer_ is a periodical publication; being a continuation of a similar work under the less popular title of _the censura literaria_; concerning which see p. , ante. it is a pity that mr. savage does not continue his _british librarian_; (of which numbers are already published) as it forms a creditable supplement to oldys's work under a similar title; vide p. , ante. a few of the ensuing numbers might be well devoted to an analysis of _sir william dugdale's_ works, with correct lists of the plates in the same.] "you are up betimes," said i. "what dream has disturbed your rest?" "none" replied he; "but the most delightful visions have appeared to me during my sleep. since you left lorenzo's, i have sipt nectar with leland, and drunk punch with bagford. richard murray has given me a copy of rastell's _pastime of people_,[ ] and thomas britton has bequeathed to me an entire library of the rosicrusian[ ] philosophy. moreover, the venerable form of sir thomas bodley has approached me; reminding me of my solemn promise to spend a few autumnal weeks,[ ] in the ensuing year, within the precincts of his grand library. in short, half the bibliomaniacs, whom lysander so enthusiastically commended last night, have paid their devoirs to me in my dreams, and nothing could be more handsome than their conduct towards me." [footnote : the reader may have met with some slight notices of this curious work in pp. ; ; ; ; ; ante.] [footnote : see p. , ante.] [footnote : see p. , ante.] this discourse awakened my friends, lysander and philemon; who each, from different rooms, put their heads out of window, and hailed the newly-risen sun with night caps which might have been mistaken for persian turbans. such an unexpected sight caused lisardo to burst out into a fit of laughter, and to banter my guests in his usual strain of vivacity. but on our promising him that we would speedily join his peripatetic bibliographical reveries, he gave a turn towards the left, and was quickly lost in a grove of acacia and laurustinus. for my part, instead of keeping this promise, i instinctively sought my bed; and found the observation of franklin,--of air-bathing being favourable to slumber,--abundantly verified--for i was hardly settled under the clothes 'ere i fell asleep: and, leaving my guests to make good their appointment with my visitor, i enjoyed a sweet slumber of more than two hours. as early rising produces a keen appetite for bodily, as well as mental, gratification, i found my companions clamorous for their breakfast. a little before ten o'clock, we were all prepared to make a formal attack upon muffins, cake, coffee, tea, eggs, and cold tongue. the window was thrown open; and through the branches of the clustering vine, which covered the upper part of it, the sun shot a warmer ray; while the spicy fragrance from surrounding parterres, and jessamine bowers, made even such bibliomaniacs as my guests forgetful of the gaily-coated volumes which surrounded them. at length the conversation was systematically commenced on the part of lysander. lysand. to-morrow, philemon and myself take our departure. we would willingly have staid the week; but business of a pressing nature calls _him_ to manchester--and _myself_ to bristol and exeter. lis. some bookseller,[ ] i warrant, has published a thumping catalogue at each of these places. ha!--here i have you, sober-minded lysander! you are as arrant a book-madman as any of those renowned bibliomaniacs whom you celebrated yesterday evening!--yet, if you love me, take me with you! my pistoles are not exhausted. [footnote : i ought to have noticed, under lysander's eulogy upon _london booksellers_ (see p. , ante) the very handsome manner in which mr. roscoe alludes to their valuable catalogues--as having been of service to him in directing his researches into foreign literature. his words are these: "the rich and extensive catalogues published by edwards, payne, and other _london booksellers_, who have of late years diligently sought for, and imported into england, whatever is curious or valuable in foreign literature, have also contributed to the success of my inquiries." _lorenzo de medici_: pref. p. xxvii., edit. , vo.] phil. peace, lisardo!--but you are, in truth, a bit of a prophet. it is even as you surmise. we have each received a forwarded letter, informing us of very choice and copious collections of books about to be sold at these respective places. while i take my departure for mr. ford of manchester, lorenzo is about to visit the book-treasures of mr. dyer of exeter, and mr. gutch of bristol:--but, indeed, were not this the case, our abode here must terminate on the morrow. lis. i suppose the names you have just mentioned describe the principal booksellers at the several places you intend visiting. lysand. even so: yet i will make no disparaging comparisons.[ ] we speak only of what has come within our limited experience. there may be many brave and sagacious bibliopolists whose fame has not reached our ears, nor perhaps has any one of the present circle ever heard of the late mr. miller of bungay;[ ] who, as i remember my father to have said, in spite of blindness and multifarious occupations, attached himself to the book-selling trade with inconceivable ardour and success. but a word, lisardo! [footnote : lysander is right. since the note upon mr. ford's catalogue of was written (see p. , ante), the same bookseller has put forth another voluminous catalogue, of nine thousand and odd articles; forming, with the preceding, , lots. this is doing wonders for a provincial town; and that a _commercial_ one!! of mr. gutch's spirit and enterprise some mention has been made before at p. , ante. he is, as yet, hardly _mellowed_ in his business; but a few years only will display him as thoroughly _ripened_ as any of his brethren. he comes from a worthy stock; long known at our _alma mater oxoniensis_:--and as a dutiful son of my university mother, and in common with every one who is acquainted with his respectable family, i wish him all the success which he merits. mr. george dyer of exeter is a distinguished _veteran_ in the book-trade: his catalogue of , in two parts, containing , articles, has, i think, never been equalled by that of any provincial bookseller, for the value and singularity of the greater number of the volumes described in it. as lysander had mentioned the foregoing book-vending gentlemen, i conceived myself justified in _appending_ this note. i could speak with pleasure and profit of the catalogues of booksellers to the _north of the tweed_--(see p. , ante); but for fear of awaking all the frightful passions of wrath, jealousy, envy--i stop: declaring, from the bottom of my heart, in the language of an auld northern bard: i hait flatterie; and into wourdis plane, and unaffectit language, i delyte: (_quod maister alexander arbothnat; in anno_ .)] [footnote : there is something so original in the bibliomanical character of the above-mentioned mr. miller that i trust the reader will forgive my saying a word or two concerning him. thomas miller of bungay, in suffolk, was born in , and died in . he was put apprentice to a grocer in norwich: but neither the fragrance of spices and teas, nor the lusciousness of plums and figs, could seduce young miller from his darling passion of reading, and of buying odd volumes of the _gentleman's_ and _universal magazine_ with his spare money. his genius was, however, sufficiently versatile to embrace both trades; for in , he set up for himself in the character of _grocer_ and _bookseller_. i have heard mr. otridge, of the strand, discourse most eloquently upon the brilliant manner in which mr. miller conducted his complicated concerns; and which, latterly, were devoted entirely to the _bibliomania_. although bungay was too small and obscure for a spirit like miller's to disclose its full powers, yet he continued in it till his death; and added a love of portrait and coin, to that of book, collecting. for fifty years his stock, in these twin departments, was copious and respectable; and notwithstanding total blindness, which afflicted him during the last six years of his life, he displayed uncommon cheerfulness, activity, and even skill in knowing where the different classes of books were arranged in his shop. mr. miller was a warm loyalist, and an enthusiastic admirer of mr. pitt. in , when provincial copper coins were very prevalent, our bibliomaniac caused a die of himself to be struck; intending to strike some impressions of it upon gold and silver, as well as upon copper. he began with the latter; and the die breaking when only impressions were struck off, miller, in the true spirit of numismatical _virtû_, declined having a fresh one made. view here, gentle reader, a wood-cut taken from the same: "this coin, which is very finely engraved, and bears a strong profile likeness of himself, is known to collectors by the name of 'the miller halfpenny.' mr. miller was extremely careful into whose hands the impressions went; and they are now become so rare as to produce at sales from three to five guineas." _gentleman's magazine_; vol. lxxiv., p. . [illustration]] lis. twenty, if you please. lysand. what are become of malvolio's busts and statues, of which you were so solicitous to attend the sale, not long ago? lis. i care not a brass farthing for them:--only i do rather wish that i had purchased the count de neny's _catalogue of the printed books and manscripts [transcriber's note: manuscripts] in the royal library of france_. that golden opportunity is irrevocably lost! phil. you wished for these books, to _set fire_ to them perhaps--keeping up the ancient custom so solemnly established by your father?[ ] [footnote : the reader may not object to turn for one moment to p. , ante.] lis. no more of this heart-rending subject! i thought i had made ample atonement. lysand. 'tis true: and so we forgive and forget. happy change!--and all hail this salubrious morning, which witnesses the complete and effectual conversion of lisardo! instead of laughing at our book-hobbies, and ridiculing all bibliographical studies--which, even by a bibliographer in the dry department of the law, have been rather eloquently defended and enforced[ ]--behold this young bibliomaniacal chevalier, not daunted by the rough handling of a london book-auction, anxious to mount his courser, and scour the provincial fields of bibliography! happy change! from my heart i congratulate you! [footnote : "our nation (says mr. bridgeman) has been too inattentive to bibliographical criticisms and enquiries; for, generally, the english reader is obliged to resort to foreign writers to satisfy his mind as to the value of authors. it behoves us, however, to consider that there is not a more useful, or a more desirable branch of education than a knowledge of books; which, being correctly attained, and judiciously exercised, will prove the touchstone of intrinsic merit, and have the effect of saving many a spotless page from prostitution." _legal bibliography_; , vo. (to the reader.)] lis. from the bottom of mine, i congratulate you, lysander, upon the resuming of your wonted spirits! i had imagined that the efforts of yesterday would have completely exhausted you. how rapturously do i look forward for the symptoms of the bibliomania to be told this morning in lorenzo's alcove! you have not forgotten your promise! lysand. no, indeed; but if i am able to do justice to the elucidation of so important a subject, it will be in consequence of having enjoyed a placid, though somewhat transient, slumber: notwithstanding the occurrence of a very uncommon _dream_! lis. "i dreamt a dream last night;" which has been already told--but what was yours? lysand. nay, it is silly to entertain one another with stories of phantastic visions of the night. i have known the most placid-bosomed men grow downright angry at the very introduction of such a discourse. phil. that may be; but we have, luckily, no such _placidly-moulded_ bosoms in the present society. i love this sort of gossipping during breakfast, of all things. if our host permit, do give us your dream, lysander! lis. the dream!--the dream!--i entreat you. lysand. i fear you will fall asleep, and dream yourself, before the recital of it be concluded. but i will get through it as well as i can. methought i was gently lifted from the ground into the air by a being of very superior size, but of an inexpressible sweetness of countenance. although astonished by the singularity of my situation, i was far from giving way entirely to fear; but, with a mixture of anxiety and resignation, awaited the issue of the event. my guide or protector (for so this being must now be called) looked upon me with an air of tenderness, mingled with reproof; intimating, as i conceived, that the same superior power, which had thus transported me above my natural element, would of necessity keep me in safety. this quieted my apprehensions. we had travelled together through an immensity of space, and could discover the world below as one small darkened spot, when my guide interrupted the awful silence that had been preserved, by the following exclamation: "approach, o man, the place of thy destination--compose thy perturbed spirits, and let all thy senses be awakened to a proper understanding of the scene which thou art about to behold." so saying, he moved along with an indescribable velocity; and while my eyes were dazzled by an unusual effulgence of light, i found myself at rest upon a solid seat--formed of crystal, of prodigious magnitude. my guide then fixed himself at my right hand, and after a vehement ejaculation, accompanied by gestures, which had the effect of enchantment upon me, he extended a sceptre of massive gold, decorated with emeralds and sapphires. immediately there rose up a mirror of gigantic dimensions, around which was inscribed, in fifty languages, the word "truth." i sat in mute astonishment. "examine," said my guide, with a voice the most encouraging imaginable, "examine the objects reflected upon the surface of this mirror." "there are none that are discernible to my eyes," i replied. "thou shalt soon be gratified then," resumed this extraordinary being (with a severe smile upon his countenance), "but first let me purge thine eyes from those films of prejudice which, in the world you inhabit, are apt to intercept the light of truth." he then took a handful of aromatic herbs, and, rubbing them gently upon my temples, gave me the power of contemplating, with perfect discernment, the objects before me. wonderful indeed was this scene: for upon the surface of the mirror the whole world seemed to be reflected! at first, i could not controul my feelings: but, like a child that springs forward to seize an object greatly beyond its grasp, i made an effort to leave my seat, and to _mingle_ in the extraordinary scene. here, however, my guide interfered--and, in a manner the most peremptory and decisive, forbade all further participation of it. "_view_ it attentively," replied he, "and impress firmly on thy memory what thou shalt see--it may solace thee the remainder of thy days." the authoritative air, with which these words were delivered, quite repressed and unnerved me. i obeyed, and intently viewed the objects before me. the first thing that surprised me was the representation of all the metropolitan cities of europe. london, paris, vienna, berlin, and petersburg, in particular, occupied my attention; and, what was still _more_ surprising, i seemed to be perfect master of every event going on in them--but more particularly of the transactions of _bodies corporate_. i saw presidents in their chairs, with secretaries and treasurers by their sides; and to whatever observations were made the most implicit attention was paid. here, an eloquent lecturer was declaiming upon the beauty of morality, and the deformity of vice: there, a scientific professor was unlocking the hidden treasures of nature, and explaining how providence, in all its measures, was equally wonderful and wise. the experiments which ensued, and which corroborated his ingenious and profound remarks, suspended a well-informed audience in rapturous attention; which was followed by instinctive bursts of applause. again i turned my eyes, and, contiguous to this scene, viewed the proceedings of two learned sister societies, distinguished for their labours in _philosophy_ and _antiquity_. methought i saw the spirits of newton and of dugdale, looking down with complacency upon them, and congratulating each other upon the _general_ progress of civilization since they had ceased to mingle among men. "these institutions," observed my guide, "form the basis of rational knowledge, and are the source of innumerable comforts: for the _many_ are benefitted by the researches and experiments of the _few_. it is easy to laugh at such societies, but it is not quite so easy to remedy the inconveniences which would be felt, if they were extinct. nations become powerful in proportion to their wisdom; it has uniformly been found that where philosophers lived, and learned men wrote, there the arts have flourished, and heroism and patriotism have prevailed. true it is that discrepancies will sometimes interrupt the harmony of public bodies. but why is perfection to be expected, where every thing must necessarily be imperfect? it is the duty of man to make the _nearest approaches_ to public and private happiness. and if, as with a sponge, he wipe away such establishments, genius has little incentive to exertion, and merit has still less hope of reward. now cast your eyes on a different scene." i obeyed, and, within the same city, saw a great number of asylums and institutions for the ignorant and helpless. i saw youth instructed, age protected, the afflicted comforted, and the diseased cured. my emotions at this moment were wonderfully strong--they were perceived by my guide, who immediately begged of me to consider the manner by which _epidemic maladies_ were prevented or alleviated, and especially how _the most fatal of them_ had been arrested in its progress. i attentively examined the objects before me, and saw thousands of smiling children and enraptured mothers walking confidently 'midst plague and death! i saw them, happy in the protection which had been afforded them by the most useful and most nutritious of animals! "enough," exclaimed my guide, "thou seest here the glorious result of a philosophical mind, gifted with unabatable ardour of experiment. thou wilt acknowledge that, compared with the triumph which such a mind enjoys, the conquests of heroes are puerile, and the splendour of monarchy is dim!" during this strain, i fancied i could perceive the human being, alluded to by my guide, retire apart in conversation with another distinguished friend of humanity, by those unwearied exertions the condition of many thousand poor people had been meliorated. "there is yet," resumed my guide, "another scene equally interesting as the preceding. from a pure morality flows a pure religion: look therefore on those engaged in the services of christianity." i looked, and saw a vast number of my fellow-creatures prostrate in adoration before their creator and redeemer. i fancied i could hear the last strains of their hallelujahs ascending to the spot whereon i sat. "observe," said my protector, "all do not worship in the same manner, because all assent not to the same creed; but the intention of each may be pure: at least, common charity teaches us thus to think, till some open act betray a malignity of principle. toleration is the vital spark of religion: arm the latter with the whips of persecution, and you convert her into a fiend scattering terror and dismay! in your own country you enjoy a liberty of sentiment beyond every other on the face of the globe. learn to be grateful for such an inestimable happiness." these words had hardly escaped my guide, when i was irresistibly led to look on another part of the mirror where a kind of imperial magnificence, combined with the severest discipline, prevailed. "you are contemplating," resumed my preternatural monitor, "one of the most interesting scenes in europe. see the effect of revolutionary commotions! while you view the sable spirit of the last monarch of france gliding along, at a distance, with an air of sorrow and indignation; while you observe a long line of legitimate princes, exiled from their native country, and dependant upon the contributions of other powers; mark the wonderful, the unparalleled reverse of human events! and acknowledge that the preservation of the finest specimens of art, the acquisition of every thing which can administer to the wants of luxury, or decorate the splendour of a throne--the acclamations of hired multitudes or bribed senates--can reflect little lustre on that character which still revels in the frantic wish of enslaving the world! it is true, you see yonder, vienna, petersburg, stockholm, and berlin, bereft of their ancient splendour, and bowing, as it were, at the feet of a despot--but had these latter countries kept alive one spark of that patriotism which so much endears to us the memories of greece and rome--had they not, in a great measure, become disunited by factions, we might, even in these days, however degenerate, have witnessed something like that national energy which was displayed in the bay of salamis, and on the plains of marathon." my guide perceiving me to be quite dejected during these remarks, directed my attention to another part of the mirror, which reflected the transactions of the _western_ and _eastern_ world. at first, a kind of _mist_ spread itself upon the glass, and prevented me from distinguishing any object. this, however, gradually dissolved, and was succeeded by a thick, black smoke, which involved every thing in impenetrable obscurity. just as i was about to turn to my guide, and demand the explanation of these appearances, the smoke rolled away, and instantaneously, there flashed forth a thousand bickering flames. "what," cried i, "is the meaning of these objects?" "check, for one moment, your impatience, and your curiosity shall be gratified," replied my guide. i then distinctly viewed thousands of _black men_, who had been groaning under the rod of oppression, starting up in all the transport of renovated life, and shouting aloud "we are free!" one tall commanding figure, who seemed to exercise the rights of a chieftain among them, gathered many tribes around him, and addressed them in the following few, but comprehensive, words: "countrymen, it has pleased the great god above to make man instrumental to the freedom of his fellow-creatures. while we lament our past, let us be grateful for our present, state: and never let us cease, each revolving year, to build an altar of stones to the memory, of that great and good man, who hath principally been the means of our freedom from slavery. no: we will regularly perform this solemn act, as long as there shall remain one pebble upon our shores." "thus much," resumed my guide, "for the dawning felicities of the _western_ world: but see how the _eastern_ empires are yet ignorant and unsettled!" i was about to turn my eyes to persia and india, to china and japan, when to my astonishment, the surface of the mirror became perfectly blackened, except in some few circular parts, which were tinged with the colour of blood. "the future is a fearful sight," said my guide; "we are forbidden its contemplation, and can only behold the gloomy appearances before us: they are ominous ones!" my mind, on which so many and such various objects had produced a confused effect, was quite overpowered and distracted. i leaned upon the arm of the chair, and, covering my face with my hands, became absorbed in a thousand ideas, when a sudden burst of thunder made me start from my seat--and, looking forward, i perceived that the mirror, with all its magical illusions had vanished away! my preternatural guide then placed himself before me, but in an altered female form. a hundred various coloured wings sprung from her arms, and her feet seemed to be shod with sandals of rubies; around which numerous cherubs entwined themselves. the perfume that arose from the flapping of her wings was inexpressibly grateful; and the soft silvery voices of these cherubic attendants had an effect truly enchanting. no language can adequately describe my sensations on viewing this extraordinary change of object. i gazed with rapture upon my wonderful guide, whose countenance now beamed with benevolence and beauty. "ah!" exclaimed i, "this is a vision of happiness never to be realized! thou art a being that i am doomed never to meet with in the world below." "peace:" whispered an unknown voice; "injure not thy species by such a remark: the object before thee is called by a name that is familiar to thee--it is 'candour.' she is the handmaid of truth, the sister of virtue, and the priestess of religion." i was about to make reply, when a figure of terrific mien, and enormous dimensions, rushed angrily towards me, and, taking me up in my crystal chair, bore me precipitately to the earth. in my struggles to disengage myself, i awoke: and on looking about me, with difficulty could persuade myself that i was an inhabitant of this world. my sensations were, at first, confused and unpleasant; but a reflection on the mirror of truth, and its divine expositor, in a moment tranquillized my feelings. and thus have i told you my dream. * * * * * lysander had hardly concluded the recital of his dream--during which it was impossible for us to think of quaffing coffee or devouring muffins--when the servant entered with a note from lorenzo: "my dear friend, "the morning is propitious. hasten to the alcove. my sisters are twining honey-suckles and jessamine round the portico, and i have carried thither a respectable corps of bibliographical volumes, for lysander to consult, in case his memory should fail. all here invoke the zephyrs to waft their best wishes to you. "truly your's, "lorenzo." the note was no sooner read than we all, as if by instinct, started up; and, finishing our breakfast as rapidly as did the trojans when they expected an early visit from the grecians, we sallied towards lorenzo's house, and entered his pleasure grounds. nothing could be more congenial than every circumstance and object which presented itself. the day was clear, calm, and warm; while a crisp autumnal air nimbly and sweetly recommend itself unto our gentle senses.[ ] [footnote : _macbeth_; act i., sc. vi. dr. johnson has happily observed, upon the above beautiful passage of shakespeare, that "_gentle sense_ is very elegant; as it means _placid_, _calm_, _composed_; and intimates the peaceable delight of a fine day." shakespeare's works; edit. ; vol x., p. . alain chartier, in the motto prefixed to the second part of this bibliographical romance, has given us a yet more animated, and equally characteristic, picture. thomson's serene morning, unfolding fair the last autumnal day, is also very apposite; and reminds us of one of those soft and aërial pictures of claude loraine, where a heaven-like tranquillity and peace seem to prevail. delightful scenes!--we love to steal a short moment from a bustling world, to gaze upon landscapes which appear to have been copied from the paradise of our first parents. delusive yet fascinating objects of contemplation! you whisper sweet repose, and heart-soothing delight! we turn back upon the world; and the stunning noises of virgil's cyclops put all this fair elysium to flight.] at a distance, the reapers were carrying away their last harvest load; and numerous groups of gleaners picking up the grain which they had spared, were marching homewards in all the glee of apparent happiness. immediately on our left, the cattle were grazing in a rich pasture meadow; while, before us, the white pheasant darted across the walk, and the stock-dove was heard to wail in the grove. we passed a row of orange trees, glittering with golden fruit; and, turning sharply to our right, discovered, on a gentle eminence, and skirted with a profusion of shrubs and delicately shaped trees, the wished-for alcove. we quickly descried almansa busied in twining her favourite honey-suckles round the portico; while within belinda was sitting soberly at work, as if waiting our arrival. the ladies saluted us as we approached; and lorenzo, who till now had been unperceived, came quietly from the interior, with his favourite edition of _thomson_[ ] in his hand. [footnote : this must be a favourite edition with every man of taste. it was printed by bensley, and published by du roveray, in the year . the designs were by hamilton, and the engravings principally by fittler. the copy which lorenzo had in his hand was upon _large paper_; and nothing could exceed the lustre of the type and plates. the editions of _pope_, _gray_, and _milton_, by du roveray, as well as those of _the spectator_, _guardian_, _tatler_, by messrs. sharpe and hailes, are among the most elegant, as well as accurate, publications of our old popular writers.] the alcove at a distance, had the appearance of a rustic temple.[ ] the form, though a little capricious, was picturesque; and it stood so completely embosomed in rich and variegated foliage, and commanded so fine a swell of landscape, that the visitor must be cold indeed who could approach it with the compass of palladio in one hand, and the square of inigo jones in the other. we entered and looked around us. [footnote : lorenzo was not unmindful that it had been observed by lipsius (_syntag. de bibliothecis_) and, after him, by thomasinus (_de donar. et tabell-votiv._ c. . p. .) that the ancients generally built their libraries near to, or adjoining their _temples_; "ut veram seram sedem sacratorum ingenii fætuum loca sacra esse ostenderent:" bibliothecas (inquit) procul abesse (sc. a templis) noluerunt veteres, ut ex præclaris ingeniorum monumentis dependens mortalium, gloria, in deorum tutela esset. this i gather from spizolius's _infelix literatus_: p. .] those who have relished the mild beauties of wynants' pictures would be pleased with the view from the alcove of lorenzo. the country before was varied, undulating, and the greater part, highly cultivated. some broad-spreading oaks here and there threw their protecting arms round the humble saplings; and some aspiring elms frequently reared their lofty heads, as land-marks across the county. the copses skirted the higher grounds, and a fine park-wood covered the middle part of the landscape in one broad umbrageous tone of colouring. it was not the close rusticity of hobbima--or the expansive, and sometimes complicated, scenery of berghem--or the heat-oppressive and magnificent views of both--that we contemplated; but, as has been before observed, the mild and gentle scenery of wynants; and if a cascade or dimpling brook had been near us, i could have called to my aid the transparent pencil of rysdael, in order to impress upon the reader a proper notion of the scenery. but it is high time to make mention of the conversation which ensued among the tenants of this alcove. loren. i am heartily glad we are met under such propitious circumstances. what a glorious day! alman. have you recovered, sir, the immense fatigue you must have sustained from the exertions of yesterday? my brother has no mercy upon a thoroughly-versed book guest! lysand. i am indeed quite hearty: yet, if any thing heavy and indigested hung about me, would not the contemplation of such a landscape, and such a day, restore every thing to its wonted ardour?! you cannot conceive how such a scene affects me: even to shedding tears of pleasure--from the reflections to which it gives rise. belin. how strangely and how cruelly has the character of a bibliographer been aspersed! last night you convinced me of the ardour of your enthusiasm, and of the eloquence of your expression, in regard to your favourite subject of discussion!--but, this morning, i find that you can talk in an equally impassioned manner respecting garden and woodland scenery? lysand. yes, madam: and if i possessed such a domain as does your brother, i think i could even improve it a little--especially the interior of the alcove! i don't know that i could attach to the house a more appropriate library than he has done; even if i adopted the octagonal form of the _hafod library_;[ ] which, considered with reference to its local situation, is, i think, almost unequalled:--but it strikes me that the interior of this alcove might be somewhat improved. [footnote : hafod, in cardiganshire, south wales, is the residence of thomas johnes, esq., m.p., and lord lieutenant of the county. mr. malkin, in his _scenery, antiquities, and biography, of south wales_, , to., and dr. smith, in his _tour to hafod_, , folio, have made us pretty well acquainted with the local scenery of hafod:--yet can any pen or pencil do this --paradise, open'd in the wild, perfect justice! i have seen mr. stothard's numerous little sketches of the pleasure-grounds and surrounding country, which are at once faithful and picturesque. but what were this "paridise" of rocks, waterfalls, streams, woods, copses, dells, grottos, and mountains, without the hospitable spirit of the owner--which seems to preside in, and to animate, every summer-house and alcove. the book-loving world is well acquainted with the _chronicles of froissart_, _joinville_, _de brocquiere_, and _monstrelet_, which have issued from the hafod press; and have long deplored the loss, from fire, which their author, mr. johnes, experienced in the demolition of the greater part of his house and library. the former has been rebuilt, and the latter replenished: yet no phoenix spirit can revivify the ashes of those volumes which contained the romances notified by the renowned don quixote! but i am rambling too wildly among the hafod rocks--i hasten, therefore to return and take the reader with me into the interior of mr. johnes's largest library, which is terminated by a conservatory of upwards of feet. as the ancient little books for children [hight _lac puerorum_!] used to express it--"look, here it is." [illustration]] loren. what defects do you discover here, lysander? lysand. they are rather omissions to be supplied than errors to be corrected. you have warmed the interior by a grecian-shaped stove, and you do right; but i think a few small busts in yonder recesses would not be out of character. milton, shakespeare, and locke, would produce a sort of inspiration which might accord with that degree of feeling excited by the contemplation of these external objects. loren. you are right. 'ere you revisit this spot, those inspiring gentlemen shall surround me. belin. and pray add to them the busts of thomson and cowper: for these latter, in my opinion, are our best poets in the description of rural life. you remember what cowper says-- god made the country, and man made the town? alman. this may be very well--but we forget the purpose for which we are convened. lis. true: so i entreat you, master lysander, to open--not the debate--but the discussion. lysand. you wish to know what are the symptoms of the bibliomania?--what are the badges or livery marks, in a library, of the owner of the collection being a bibliomaniac? alman. even so. my question, yesterday evening, was--if i remember well--whether a _mere collector_ of books was necessarily a bibliomaniac? lysand. yes: and to which--if i also recollect rightly--i replied that the symptoms of the disease, and the character of a bibliomaniac, were discoverable in the very books themselves! lis. how is this? alman & belin. do pray let us hear. phil. at the outset, i entreat you, lysander, not to overcharge the colouring of your picture. respect the character of your auditors; and, above all things, have mercy upon the phlogistic imagination of lisardo! lysand. i will endeavour to discharge the important office of a bibliomaniacal mentor, or, perhaps, Æsculapius, to the utmost of my power: and at all events, with the best possible intentions. before we touch upon the _symptoms_, it may be as well to say a few words respecting the _general character_ of the book disease. the ingenious peignot[ ] defines the bibliomania to be "a passion for possessing books; not so much to be instructed by them, as to gratify the eye by looking on them." this subject has amused the pens of foreigners; although we have had nothing in our own language, written expressly upon it, 'till the ingenious and elegantly-composed poem of dr. ferriar appeared; after which, as you well know, our friend put forth his whimsical brochure.[ ] [footnote : "la birliomanie [transcriber's note: bibliomanie] est la fureur de posséder des livres, non pas tant pour s'instruire, que pour les avoir et pour en repaître sa vue. le bibliomane ne connait ordinairement les livres que par leur titre, leur frontispice, et leur date; il s'attache aux bonnes editiones et les poursuit à quelque titre que ce soit; la relieure le seduit aussi, soit par son ancienneté, soit par sa beauté," &c. _dictionnaire de bibliologie_. vol. i. p. . this is sufficiently severe: see also the extracts from the _memoires de l'institut_: p. , ante. the more ancient foreign writers have not scrupled to call the bibliomania by every caustic and merciless terms: thus speaks the hard-hearted geyler: "tertia nola est, multos libros coacervare propter animi voluptatem curiosam. fastidientis stomachi est multa degustare, ait seneca. isti per multos libros vagant legentes assidue: nimirum similles fatuis illis, qui in urbe cicumeunt domos singulas, et earum picturas dissutis malis contuentur: sicque curiositate trahuntur, &c. contenti in hâc animi voluptate, quam pascunt per volumina varia devagando et liguriendo. itaque gaudent hic de larga librorum copia, operosa utique sed delectabilis sarcina, et animi jucunda distractio: imo est hæc ingens librorum copia ingens simul et laboris copia, et quietis inopia--huc illucque circum agendum ingenium: his atque illis pregravanda memoria."--_navicula sive sæculum fatuorum_, , to. sign b. iiij rev. thus speaks sebastian brandt upon the subject, through the medium of our old translation: styll am i besy bokes assemblynge for to have plenty it is a pleasaunte thynge in my conceyt, and to have them ay in honde; but what they mene do i nat understonde. _shyp of folys_: see p. , ante. there is a short, but smart and interesting, article on this head in mr. d'israeli's _curiosities of literature_: vol. i. . "bruyere has touched on this mania with humour; of such a collector (one who is fond of superb bindings only), says he, as soon as i enter his house, i am ready to faint on the stair-case from a strong smell of russia and morocco leather. in vain he shews me fine editions, gold leaves, etruscan bindings, &c.--naming them one after another, as if he were shewing a gallery of pictures!" lucian has composed a biting invective against an ignorant possessor of a vast library. "one who opens his eyes with an hideous stare at an old book; and after turning over the pages, chiefly admires _the date_ of its publication." but all this, it may be said, is only general declamation, and means nothing!] [footnote : the first work, i believe, written expressly upon the subject above discussed was a french publication, entitled _la bibliomanie_. of the earliest edition i am uninformed; but one was published at the hague in , vo. dr. ferriar's poem upon the subject, being an epistle to richard heber, esq.--and which is rightly called by lysander 'ingenious and elegant'--was published in , to.: pp. : but not before an equally ingenious, and greatly more interesting, performance, by the same able pen, had appeared in the trans. of the manchester literary society, vol. iv., p. - --entitled _comments upon sterne_; which may be fairly classed among the species of bibliomaniacal composition; inasmuch as it shews the author to be well read in old books; and, of these, in burton's anatomy of melancholy in particular. look for half a minute at p. , ante. in the same year of dr. ferriar's publication of the bibliomania, appeared the _voyage autour de ma bibliothèque roman bibliographique_: by ant. caillot; in three small duodecimo volumes. there is little ingenuity and less knowledge in these meagre volumes. my own superficial work, entitled, _bibliomania_, or _book-madness: containing some account of the history, symptoms and cure of this fatal disease; in an epistle addressed to richard heber, esq._, quickly followed dr. ferriar's publication. it contained pages, with a tolerably copious sprinkling of notes: but it had many errors and omissions, which it has been my endeavour to correct and supply in the present new edition, or rather newly-constructed work. vide preface. early in the ensuing year (namely, in ) appeared _bibliosophia, or book-wisdom: containing some account of the pride, pleasure, and privileges of that glorious vocation, book-collecting. by an aspirant. also, the twelve labours of an editor, separately pitted against those of hercules_, mo. this is a good-humoured and tersely written composition: being a sort of commentary upon my own performance. in the ensuing pages will be found some amusing poetical extracts from it. and thus take we leave of publications upon the bibliomania!] whether peignot's definition be just or not, i will not stop to determine: but when i have described to you the various symptoms, you will be better able to judge of its propriety. lis. describe them _seriatim_, as we were observing yesterday. lysand. i will; but let me put them in battle array, and select them according to their appearances. there is, first, a passion for _large paper copies_; secondly, for _uncut copies_; thirdly, for _illustrated copies_; fourthly, for _unique copies_; fifthly, for _copies printed upon vellum_; sixthly, for _first editions_; seventhly, for _true editions_; and eighthly, for _books printed in the black-letter_. belin. i have put these symptoms down in my pocket-book; and shall proceed to catechise you according to your own method. first, therefore, what is meant by large paper copies? lysand. a certain set, or limited number of the work, is printed upon paper of a _larger dimension, and superior quality_, than the ordinary copies. the press-work and ink are, always, proportionably better in these copies: and the price of them is enhanced according to their beauty and rarity. _this symptom_ of the bibliomania is, at the present day, both general and violent. indeed, there is a set of collectors, the shelves of whose libraries are always made proportionably stout, and placed at a due distance from each other, in order that they may not break down beneath the weight of such ponderous volumes. belin. can these things be? phil. yes; but you should draw a distinction, and not confound the grolliers, de thous, and colberts of modern times, with "a set of collectors," as you call them, who are equally without taste and knowledge. lis. we have heard of de thou and colbert, but who is grollier?[ ] [footnote : the reader may be better pleased with the ensuing soberly-written account of this great man than with philemon's rapturous eulogy. john grollier was born at lyons, in ; and very early displayed a propensity towards those elegant and solid pursuits which afterwards secured to him the admiration and esteem of his contemporaries. his address was easy, his manners were frank, yet polished; his demeanour was engaging, and his liberality knew no bounds. as he advanced in years, he advanced in reputation; enjoying a princely fortune, the result, in some measure, of a faithful and honourable discharge of the important diplomatic situations which he filled. he was grand treasurer to francis i., and was sent by that monarch as ambassador to pope clement vii. during his abode at rome, he did not fail to gratify his favourite passion of book-collecting; and employed the alduses to print for him an edition of terence in vo., : of which a copy _upon vellum_, was in the imperial library at vienna; see _l'imp. des alde_; vol. i., . he also caused to be published, by the same printers, an edition of his friend budæus's work, _de asse et partibus ejus_, , to.; which, as well as the terence, is dedicated to himself, and of which the presentation copy, _upon vellum_, is now in the library of count m'carthy, at toulouse: it having been formerly in the soubise collection: vide p. , ante--and no. of the _bibl. soubise_. it was during grollier's stay at rome, that the anecdote, related by egnatio, took place. 'i dined (says the latter) along with aldus, his son, manutius, and other learned men, at grollier's table. after dinner, and just as the dessert had been placed on the table, our host presented each of his guests with a pair of gloves filled with ducats.' but no man had a higher opinion of grollier, or had reason to express himself in more grateful terms of him, than de thou. this illustrious author speaks of him as "a man of equal elegance of manners, and spotlessness of character. his books seemed to be the counterpart of himself, for neatness and splendour; not being inferior to the glory attributed to the library of asinius pollio, the first who made a collection of books at rome. it is surprising, notwithstanding the number of presents which he made to his friends, and the accidents which followed on the dispersion of his library, how many of his volumes yet adorn the most distinguished libraries of paris, whose chief boast consists in having an _exemplar grollerianum_!" the fact was grollier returned to paris with an immense fortune. during his travels he had secured, from basil, venice, and rome, the most precious copies of books which could be purchased: and which he took care to have bound in a singular manner, indicative at once of his generosity and taste. the title of the book was marked in gilt letters upon one side, and the words--of which the annexed wood-cut is a fac-simile--upon the other; surrounded with similar ornaments to the extremities of the sides, whether in folio or duodecimo. [illustration: portio mea do mine sit in terra vi venti vm. beneath the title of the book: 'io: grollerii et amicorum.'] this extraordinary man, whom france may consider the first bibliomaniac of the sixteenth century, died at paris in the year , and in the th of his age. let us close this account of him with an extract from marville's _melanges d'histoire et de litérature_; "la bibliothèque de m. grollier s'est conservée dans l'hôtel de vic jusqu'à ces annêes dernieres qu'elle a été venduë à l'encan. elle meritoit bien, étant une des premieres et des plus accomplies qu'aucun particulier se soit avisé de faire à paris, de trouver, comme celle de m. de thou, un acheteur qui en conservât le lustre. la plûpart des curieux de paris ont profité de ses débris. j'en ai eu à ma part quelques volumes à qui rien ne manque: ni pour la bonté des editions de ce tems là, ni pour la beauté du papier et la propreté de la relieure. il semble, à les voir, que les muses qui ont contribué à la composition du dedans, se soient aussi appliquées à les approprier au dehors, tant il paroît d'art et d'esprit dans leurs ornemens. ils sont tous dorez avec une delicatesse inconnuë aux doreurs d'aujourd'hui. les compartemens sont pients de diverses couleurs, parfaitemente bien dessinez, et tous de differentes figures, &c.:" vol. i., p. , edit. . then follows a description, of which the reader has just had ocular demonstration. after such an account, what bibliomaniac can enjoy perfect tranquillity of mind unless he possess a _grollier copy_ of some work or other? my own, from which the preceding fac-simile was taken, is a folio edition ( ) of _rhenanus, de rebus germanicis_; in the finest preservation.] phil. lysander will best observe upon him. lysand. nay; his character cannot be in better hands. phil. grollier was both the friend and the treasurer of francis the first; the bosom companion of de thou, and a patron of the aldine family. he had learning, industry, and inflexible integrity. his notions of _virtû_ were vast, but not wild. there was a magnificence about every thing which he did or projected; and his liberality was without bounds. he was the unrivalled mecænas of book-lovers and scholars; and a more insatiable bibliomaniacal appetite was never, perhaps, possessed by any of _his_ class of character. lis. i thank you for this _grollieriana_. proceed, lysander with your large paper copies. alman. but first tell us--why are these copies so much coveted? do they contain more than the ordinary ones? lysand. not in the least. sometimes, however, an extra embellishment is thrown into the volume--but this, again, belongs to the fourth class of symptoms, called _unique copies_--and i must keep strictly to order; otherwise i shall make sad confusion. belin. keep to your large paper, exclusively.[ ] [footnote : let us first hear dr. ferriar's smooth numbers upon this tremendous symptom of the bibliomania: but devious oft, from ev'ry classic muse, the keen collector meaner paths will choose: and first the margin's breadth his soul employs, pure, snowy, broad, the type of nobler joys. in vain might homer roll the tide of song, or horace smile, or tully charm the throng; if crost by pallas' ire, the trenchant blade or too oblique, or near, the edge invade, the bibliomane exclaims, with haggard eye, 'no margin!'--turns in haste, and scorns to buy. _the bibliomania_; v. - . next come the rivals strains of 'an aspirant.' first maxim. who slaves the monkish folio through, with lore or science in his view, _him_ ... visions black, or devils blue, shall haunt at his expiring taper;-- yet, 'tis a weakness of the wise, to chuse the volume by the size, and riot in the pond'rous prize-- dear copies--_printed on_ large paper! _bibliosophia_; p. iv. after these saucy attacks, can i venture upon discoursing, in a sober note-like strain--upon those large and magnificent volumes concerning which lysander, above, pours forth such a torrent of eloquence? yes--gentle reader--i will even venture!--and will lay a silver penny to boot (see peacham's '_worth of a penny_'--) that neither dr. ferriar nor the 'aspirant' could withhold their ejaculations of rapture upon seeing any one of the following volumes walk majestically into their libraries. mark well, therefore, a few scarce works printed upon large paper. _lord bacon's essays_; , vo. there were only six copies of this edition struck off upon royal folio paper: one copy is in the cracherode collection, in the british museum; and another is in the library of earl spencer. mr. leigh, the book-auctioneer, a long time ago observed that, if ever one of these copies were to be sold at an auction, it would probably bring - _l._--! i will not insert the _first_ figure; but _two noughts_ followed it.----_twenty plays of shakspeare from the old quarto editions_; , vo., vols. only twelve copies printed upon large paper. see _bibl. steevens_: no. ; and p. , ante.----_dodsley's collection of old plays_; , vo., vols. only six copies struck off upon large paper. bibl. woodhouse, no. .----_the grenville homer_; , to., vols. fifty copies of this magnificent work are said to have been printed upon large paper; which have embellishments of plates. mr. dent possesses the copy which was professor porson's, and which was bought at the sale of the professor's library, in boards, for _l._, see p. , ante. seven years ago i saw a sumptuous copy in morocco, knocked down for _l._ _s._----_mathæi paris, monachi albanenses, &c.; historia major; a wats_; lond. ; folio. this is a rare and magnificent work upon large paper; and is usually bound in two volumes.----_historiæ anglicanæ scriptores x; a twysden_; , folio. of equal rarity and magnificence are copies of this inestimable production.----_rerum anglicarum scriptores veteres, a gale_; , ; folio, volumes. there were but few copies of this, now generally coveted, work printed upon large paper. the difference between the small and the large, for amplitude of margin and lustre of ink, is inconceivable.----_historiæ anglicanæ scriptores varii, a sparke_; lond. , folio. the preface to this work shews that there are copies of it, like those of dr. clarke's edition of cæsar's commentaries, upon paper of three different sizes. the 'charta maxima' is worthy of a conspicuous place upon the collector's shelf; though in any shape the book has a creditable aspect.----_recueil des historiens des gaules, &c., par boucquet_; , ; folio, vols. it is hardly possible for the eye to gaze upon a more intrinsically valuable work, or a finer set of volumes, than are these, as now exhibited in mr. evans's shop, and bound in fine old red morocco by the best binders of france. they were once in my possession; but the 'res angusta domi' compelled me to part with them, and to seek for a copy not so tall by head and shoulders. since the year , two additional volumes have been published. we will now discourse somewhat of english books. _scott's discoverie of whitcraft_; , to. of this work, which has recently become popular from mr. douce's frequent mention of it (illustrations of shakspeare, &c., , vols., vo.), my friend, mr. utterson, possesses a very beautiful copy upon large paper. it is rarely one meets with books printed in this country, before the year , struck off in such a manner. this copy, which is secured from 'winter and rough weather' by a stout coat of skilfully-tool'd morocco, is probably unique.----_weever's funeral monuments_; , folio. mr. samuel lysons informs me that he has a copy of this work upon large paper. i never saw, or heard of, another similar one.----_sanford's genealogical history_; , folio. at the sale of baron smyth's books, in , messrs. j. and a. arch purchased a copy of this work upon large paper for _l._ a monstrous price! a similar copy is in the library of mr. grenville, which was obtained from mr. evans of pall-mall. the curious should purchase the anterior edition (of ) for the sake of better impressions of the plates; which, however, in any condition, are neither tasteful nor well engraved. what is called '_a good hollar_' would weigh down the whole set of them!----_strype's ecclesiastical memorials_; , _folio_, vols.----_annals of the reformation_; , _folio_, vols. happy the collector who can regale himself by viewing large paper copies of these inestimable works! in any shape or condition, they are now rare. the latter is the scarcer of the two; and upon large paper brings, what the french bibliographers call, 'un prix enorme.' there is one of this kind in the beautiful library of mr. thomas grenville.----_hearne's works_--'till mr. bagster issued his first reprints of robert of gloucester and peter langtoft, upon paper of three different sizes--(of which the largest, in quarto, has hardly been equalled in modern printing)--used to bring extravagant sums at book-auctions. at a late sale in pall-mall, were [transcriber's note: where] the books in general were sold at extraordinary prices, the large paper hearnes absolutely 'hung fire'--as the sportsman's phrase is.----_hudibras, with dr. grey's annotations, and hogarth's cuts_; , vols. there were but twelve copies of this first and best edition of dr. grey's labours upon hudibras (which warburton strangely abuses--) printed upon large paper: and a noble book it is in this form!----_milner's history of winchester_; , to., vols. of this edition there were, i believe, either twelve or twenty-four copies printed upon large paper; which brings serious sums in the present general rage for books of this description.----_kennet's (bp.) parochial antiquities; oxford_, , to. the only known copy of this work upon large paper is in the fine library of sir richard colt hoare, bart. this copy was probably in the collection of 'that well-known collector, joseph browne, esq., of shepton mallet, somersetshire:' as a similar one 'in russia, gilt leaves,' was sold in pt. ii. of his collection, no. , for _l._ _s._ _d._ and purchased in the name of thornton.----_the chronicles of froissart and monstrelet_: translated by thomas johnes, esq. hafod, , , quarto, vols.: including a volume of plates to monstrelet. of these beautiful and intrinsically valuable works, there were only copies struck off upon folio; which bring tremendous prices.----_history of the town of cheltenham, and its environs_; , vo. there were a few copies of this superficial work printed upon large paper in royal octavo, and a _unique_ copy upon paper of a quarto size; which latter is in the possession of my friend mr. thomas pruen, of the same place. a part of this volume was written by myself; according to instructions which i received to make it 'light and pleasant.' an author, like a barrister, is bound in most cases to follow his instructions! as i have thus awkwardly introduced myself, i may be permitted to observe, at the foot of this note, that all the large paper copies of my own humble lucubrations have been attended with an unexpectedly successful sale. of the _introduction to the classics_, edit. , vo., there were fifty copies, with extra plates, struck off in royal octavo, and published at _l._ _s._: these now sell for _l._ _s._: the portrait of _bishop fell_ making them snapped at, with a perch-like spirit, by all true grangerites. of the _typographical antiquities_ of our own country there were printed in a superb style, upon imperial paper, in to.; these were published at _l._ _s._ a copy. the following anecdote shews how they are 'looking up'--as the book-market phrase is. my friend ---- parted with his copy; but finding that his slumbers were broken, and his dreams frightful, in consequence, he sought to regain possession of it; and cheerfully gave _l._ _s._! for what, but a few months before, he had possessed for little more than one half the sum! the same friend subscribes for a _large paper_ of the _present work_, of which there are only eighteen copies printed: and of which my hard-hearted printer and myself seize each upon a copy. will the same friend display equal fickleness in regard to this volume? if he does, he must smart acutely for it: nor will _l._ _s._ redeem it! it is justly observed, in the first edition of this work, that, 'analogous to large paper, are tall copies: that is, copies of the work published on the ordinary size paper, and barely cut down by the binder,' p. . to _dwarfise_ a volume is a 'grievous fault' on the part of any binder; but more particularly is it an unpardonable one on the part of him who has had a long intercourse with professed bibliomaniacs! to a person who knows anything of typographical arrangement, the distinction between _tall_ and _large paper_ copies is sufficiently obvious. for this reason, i am quite decided that the supposed large paper copy of _scapula's lexicon_, possessed by mr. ----, of caversham, near reading, is only a _tall_ copy of the work, as usually printed: nor is this copy more stately than another which i have seen. the owner of the volume will suppress all feelings which he may entertain against my heretical opinions (as i fear he will call them), when he considers that he may dispose of his scapula for a sum three times beyond what he gave for it. let him put it by the side of his neighbour dr. valpy's numerous large paper copies of the old folio classics, and he will in a moment be convinced of the accuracy of the foregoing remark. fine paper copies of a work should be here noticed; as they are sought after with avidity. the most beautiful work of this kind which i ever saw, was _rapin's history of england, in nine folio volumes, bound in red morocco, and illustrated with houbraken's_ heads; which sir m.m. sykes recently purchased of mr. evans, the bookseller,--for a comparatively moderate sum. a similar copy (exclusively of the illustrations) of rapin's history of england, which was once in the library of the royal institution, was burnt in the fire that destroyed covent-garden theatre; it having been sent to mr. mackinlay, the book-binder, who lived near the theatre.] lysand. i have little to add to what has been already said of this symptom. that a volume, so published, has a more pleasing aspect, cannot be denied. it is the oak, in its full growth, compared with the same tree in its sapling state: or, if you please, it is the same picture a little more brilliant in its colouring, and put into a handsomer frame. my friend marcus is a very dragon in this department of book-collecting: nothing being too formidable for his attack. let the volume assume what shape it may, and let the price be ever so unconscionable--he hesitates not to become a purchaser. in consequence, exclusively of all the _dugdales_ and _montfaucons_, upon large paper, and in the finest bindings, he possesses the _grand folio classics_, the _benedictine editions of the fathers_, the _county histories_, and all works, of a recent date, upon _history_ and the _belles lettres_. in short, nothing can be more magnificent than the interior of his library; as nothing but giants, arrayed in the most splendid attire, are seen to keep guard from one extremity of the room to the other. lis. who is this marcus? i'll rival him in due time!--but proceed. belin. thus much, i presume, for the first symptom of the bibliomania. now pray, sir, inform us what is meant by that strange term, uncut copies? lysand. of all the symptoms of the bibliomania, this is probably the most extraordinary.[ ] it may be defined a passion to possess books of which the edges have never been sheared by the binder's tools. and here i find myself walking upon doubtful ground:--your friend [turning towards me] atticus's _uncut hearnes_ rise up in "rough majesty" before me, and almost "push me from my stool." indeed, when i look around in your book-lined tub, i cannot but acknowledge that this symptom of the disorder has reached your own threshold; but when it is known that a few of your bibliographical books are left with the edges uncut _merely to please your friends_ (as one must sometimes study their tastes as well as one's own), i trust that no very serious conclusions will be drawn about the fatality of your own case. [footnote : as before, let us borrow the strains of 'an aspirant:' second maxim. who, with fantastic pruning-hook, dresses the borders of his book, merely to ornament its look-- amongst philosophers a fop is: what if, perchance, he thence discover facilities in turning over? the virtuoso is a lover of coyer charms in "uncut copies." _bibliosophia_; p. v. i have very little to add in illustration of lysander's well-pointed sarcasms relating to this _second symptom of_ book-madness. i think i once heard of an uncut _cranmer's bible_; but have actually seen a similar conditioned copy of _purchas's pilgrimes and pilgrimage_, which is now in the beautiful library of the honourable t. grenville.] as to uncut copies, although their inconvenience [an uncut lexicon to wit!] and deformity must be acknowledged, and although a rational man can wish for nothing better than a book _once well bound_, yet we find that the extraordinary passion for collecting them not only obtains with full force, but is attended with very serious consequences to those "que n'out point des pistoles" (to borrow the idea of clement; vol. vi. p. ). i dare say an uncut _first shakspeare_, as well as an _uncut vellum aldus_[ ] would produce a little annuity! [footnote : i doubt of the existence of an uncut _first shakspeare_; although we have recently had evidence of an uncut _first homer_; for thus speaks peignot: "a superb copy of this editio princeps was sold at the sale of m. de cotte's books, in , for livres: but it must be remarked that this copy was in the most exquisite preservation, as if it had just come from the press. moreover, it is probably the only one the margins of which have never been either 'shaven or shorn.'" _curiosités bibliographiques_, p. lxv. vi.; see also p. , ante. dr. harwood, at page , of his _view of the editions of the classics_, speaks of an uncut vellum aldus, of , vo. "mr. quin shewed me a fine copy of it printed in vellum with the _leaves uncut_, which he bought of mr. egerton at a very moderate price. it is, perhaps (adds he), the only _uncut_ vellum aldus in the world." from the joyous strain of this extract, the doctor may be fairly suspected of having strongly exhibited this second symptom of the bibliomania!] belin. 'tis very strange'--as hamlet says at the walking of his father's ghost! but now for your illustrated copies! lysand. you have touched a vibrating string indeed!--but i will suppress my own feelings, and spare those of my friend. a passion for books _illustrated_, or adorned with _numerous prints_[ ] representing characters, or circumstances, mentioned in the work, is a very general and violent symptom of the bibliomania. the origin, or first appearance, of this symptom, has been traced by some to the publication of the rev. ---- granger's "_biographical history of england_;" but whoever will be at the pains of reading the preface of that work will see that granger shelters himself under the authorities of evelyn, ashmole, and others; and that he _alone_ is not to be considered as responsible for all the mischief which this passion for collecting prints has occasioned. granger, however, was the first who introduced it in the form of a history; and surely "in an evil hour" was that history published; although its amiable author must be acquitted of "malice prepense." [footnote : this third symptom has not escaped the discerning eye of the manchester physician; for thus sings dr. ferriar: he pastes, from injur'd volumes snipt away, his _english heads_ in chronicled array, torn from their destin'd page (unworthy meed of knightly counsel, and heroic deed), not _faithorne's_ stroke, nor _field's_ own types can save the gallant veres, and one-eyed ogle brave. indignant readers seek the image fled, and curse the busy fool who _wants a head_. proudly he shews, with many a smile elate, the scrambling subjects of the _private plate_ while time their actions and their names bereaves, they grin for ever in the guarded leaves. _the bibliomania_; v. - . these are happy thoughts, happily expressed. in illustration of v. , the author observes,--"three fine heads, for the sake of which, the beautiful and interesting commentaries of sir francis vere have been mutilated by collectors of english portraits." dr. ferriar might have added that, when a grangerian bibliomaniac commences his illustrating career, he does not fail to make a desperate onset upon _speed_, _boissard_, and the _heroologia_. even the lovely prints of _houbraken_ (in dr. birch's account of illustrious persons of great britain) escape not the ravages of his passion for illustration. the plates which adorn these books are considered among the foundation materials of a grangerian building. but it is time, according to my plan, to introduce other sarcastic strains of poetry. third maxim. who, swearing not a line to miss, doats on the leaf his fingers kiss, thanking the _words_ for all his bliss,-- shall rue, at last, his passion frustrate: _we_ love the page that draws its flavour from draftsman, etcher, and engraver and hint the booby (by his favour) _his_ gloomy copy to "illustrate." _bibliosophia_; p. v. at this stage of our inquiries, let me submit a new remedy as an acquisition to the _materia medica_, of which many first-rate physicians may not be aware--by proposing a =recipe for illustration.= take any passage from any author--to wit: the following (which i have done, quite at random) from speed: '_henry le spenser_, the warlike _bishop of norwich_, being drawn on by _pope vrban_ to preach _the crusade_, and to be general against _clement_ (whom sundry _cardinals_ and great _prelates_ had also elected pope) having a fifteenth granted to him, for that purpose, by _parliament_,' &c. _historie of great britaine_, p. , edit. . now, let the reader observe, here are _only four_ lines; but which, to be properly illustrated, should be treated thus: st, procure all the portraits, at all periods of his life, of _henry le spencer_; dly, obtain every view, ancient and modern, like or unlike, of the city of _norwich_; and, if fortune favour you, of _every bishop of the same see_; dly, every portrait of _pope vrban_ must be procured; and as many prints and drawings as can give some notion of _the crusade_--together with a few etchings (if there be any) of _peter the hermit_ and _richard i._, who took such active parts in the crusade; thly, you must search high and low, early and late, for every print of _clement_; thly, procure, or you will be wretched, as many fine prints of _cardinals_ and _prelates_, singly or in groups, as will impress you with a proper idea of _the conclave_; and thly, see whether you may not obtain, at some of our most distinguished old-print sellers, views of the _house of parliament_ at the period (a.d. .) here described!!! the result, gentle reader, will be this: you will have work enough cut out to occupy you for one whole month at least, from rise to set of sun--in parading the streets of our metropolis: nor will the expense in _coach_ hire, or _shoe leather_, be the least which you will have to encounter! the prints themselves may cost _some_thing! lest any fastidious and cynical critic should accuse me, and with apparent justice, of gross exaggeration or ignorance in this _recipe_, i will inform him, on good authority, that a late distinguished and highly respectable female collector, who had commenced an illustrated bible, procured not fewer than _seven hundred prints_ for the illustration of the th, st, d, d, th, and th verses of the st chapter of genesis! the illustrated copy of mr. fox's historical work, mentioned in the first edition of this work, p. , is now in the possession of lord mountjoy. the similar copy of walter scott's edition of dryden's works, which has upwards of portraits, is yet in the possession of mr. miller, the bookseller.] granger's work seems to have sounded the tocsin for a general rummage after, and plunder of, old prints. venerable philosophers, and veteran heroes, who had long reposed in unmolested dignity within the magnificent folio volumes which recorded their achievements, were instantly dragged forth from their peaceful abodes, to be inlaid by the side of some clumsy modern engraving, within an _illustrated granger_! nor did the madness stop here. illustration was the order of the day; and _shakspeare_[ ] and _clarendon_ became the next objects of its attack. from these it has glanced off, in a variety of directions, to adorn the pages of humbler wights; and the passion, or rather this symptom of the bibliomania, yet rages with undiminished force. if judiciously treated, it is, of all the symptoms, the least liable to mischief. to possess a series of well-executed portraits of illustrious men, at different periods of their lives, from blooming boyhood to phlegmatic old age, is sufficiently amusing; but to possess _every_ portrait, _bad_, _indifferent_, and _unlike_, betrays such a dangerous and alarming symptom as to render the case almost incurable! [footnote : lysander would not have run on in this declamatory strain, if it had been _his_ good fortune, as it has been _mine_, to witness the extraordinary copy of an illustrated shakspeare in the possession of earl spencer; which owes its magic to the perseverance and taste of the dowager lady lucan, mother to the present countess spencer. for sixteen years did this accomplished lady pursue the pleasurable toil of illustration; having commenced it in her th, and finished it in her th year. whatever of taste, beauty, and judgment in decoration--by means of portraits, landscapes, houses, and tombs--flowers, birds, insects, heraldic ornaments, and devices,--could dress our immortal bard in a yet more fascinating form, has been accomplished by the noble hand which undertook so herculean a task--and with a truth, delicacy, and finish of execution, which have been rarely equalled! these magnificent volumes (being the folio edition printed by bulmer) are at once beautiful and secured by green velvet binding, with embossed clasps and corners of solid silver, washed with gold. each volume is preserved in a silken cover--and the whole is kept inviolate from the impurities of bibliomaniacal miasmata, in a sarcophagus-shaped piece of furniture of cedar and mahogany. what is the pleasure experienced by the most resolute antiquary, when he has obtained a peep at the inmost sarcophagus of the largest pyramid of egypt, compared with that which a tasteful bibliomaniac enjoys upon contemplating this illustrated shakespeare, now reposing in all the classical magnificence and congenial retirement of its possessor?--but why do i surpass lysander in the warmth and vehemence of narration! and yet, let me not forget that the same noble owner has _another_ illustrated copy of the same bard, on a smaller scale, of which mention has already been made in my account of the donor of it, the late george steevens. turn, gentle reader, for one moment, to page , ante. the illustrated clarendon, above hinted at by lysander, is in the possession of mr. h.a. sutherland; and is, perhaps, a matchless copy of the author: every siege, battle, town, and house-view--as well as portrait--being introduced within the leaves. i will not even hazard a conjecture for how many _thousand pounds_ its owner might dispose of it, if the inclination of parting with it should ever possess him. the british museum has recently been enriched with a similar copy of pennant's _london_, on large paper. prints and drawings of all descriptions, which could throw light upon the antiquities of our metropolis, are inserted in this extraordinary copy, which belonged to the late mr. crowles; who expended _l._ upon the same, and who bequeathed it, in the true spirit of _virtû_, to the museum. let cracherode and crowles be held in respectful remembrance!] there is another mode of _illustrating copies_ by which this symptom of the bibliomania may be known; it consists in bringing together, from different works, [including newspapers and magazines, and by means of the scissars, or otherwise by transcription] every page or paragraph which has any connexion with the character or subject under discussion. this is a useful[ ] and entertaining mode of illustrating a favourite author; and copies of works of this nature, when executed by skilful hands, should be deposited in public libraries; as many a biographical anecdote of eminent literary characters is preserved in consequence. i almost ridiculed the idea of an _illustrated chatterton_, 'till the sight of your friend bernardo's copy, in eighteen volumes, made me a convert to the utility that may be derived from a judicious treatment of this symptom of the bibliomania: and indeed, of a rainy day, the same bibliomaniac's similar copy of _walton's complete angler_ affords abundant amusement in the perusal. [footnote : numerous are the instances of the peculiar use and value of copies of this kind; especially to those who are engaged in publications of a similar nature. oldys's _interleaved langbaine_ (of mr. reed's transcript of which a copy is in the possession of mr. heber) is re-echoed in almost every recent work connected with the belles-lettres of our country. oldys himself was unrivalled in this method of illustration; if, exclusively of langbaine, his copy of _fuller's worthies_ [once mr. steevens', now mr. malone's. see _bibl. steevens_, no. ] be alone considered! this oldys was the oddest mortal that ever wrote. grose, in his _olio_, gives an amusing account of his having "a number of small parchment bags inscribed with the names of the persons whose lives he intended to write; into which he put every circumstance and anecdote he could collect, and from thence drew up his history." see noble's _college of arms_, p. . thus far the first edition of this work; p. . it remains to add that, whatever were the singularities and capriciousness of oldys, his talents were far beyond mediocrity; as his publication of the _harleian miscellany_, and _raleigh's history of the world_, abundantly prove. to the latter, a life of raleigh is prefixed; and the number of pithy, pleasant, and profitable notes subjoined shew that oldys's bibliographical talents were not eclipsed by those of any contemporary. his _british librarian_ has been more than once noticed in the preceding pages: vide p. : . there is a portrait of him, in a full-dressed suit and bag-wig, in one of the numbers of the european magazine; which has the complete air of a fine gentleman. let me just observe, in elucidation of what lysander above means by this latter mode of illustrating copies, that in the bodleian library there is a copy of _kuster's edition of suidas_ filled, from beginning to end, with ms. notes and excerpts of various kinds, by the famous d'orville, tending to illustrate the ancient lexicographer.] lis. forgive me, if i digress a little. but is not the knowledge of _rare_, _curious_, and _beautiful prints_--so necessary, it would seem, towards the perfecting of _illustrated copies_--is not this knowledge of long and difficult attainment? lysand. unquestionably, this knowledge is very requisite towards becoming a complete pupil in the school of granger.[ ] nor is it, as you very properly suppose, of short or easy acquirement. [footnote : granger's _biographical history of england_ was first published, i believe, in , to., vols. it has since undergone four impressions; the last being in , vo., vols. _a continuation of the same_, by the rev. mark noble, was published in , vo., vols.: so that if the lover of rare and curious prints get possession of these volumes, with ames's _catalogue of english heads_, , vo.; and walpole's _catalogue of engravers_, , vo.; bromley's _catalogue of engraved portraits_, , to.; together with catalogues of english portraits, being the collections of mr. barnard, sir w. musgrave, mr. tyssen, sir james-winter lake; and many other similar catalogues put forth by mr. richardson and mr. grave; he may be said to be in a fair way to become master of the whole arcana of print-collecting. but let him take heed to the severe warning-voice uttered by rowe mores, in his criticism upon the catalogue of english heads, published by ames: 'this performance (says the splenetic and too prophetic critic) is not to be despised: judiciously executed, a work of this sort would be an appendage entertaining and useful to the readers of english biography; and it ought to be done at the common labour, expense, and charges of these _iconoclasts_--because their depredations are a grand impediment to another who should attempt it: and if this _goût_ for prints and thieving continues, let private owners and public libraries look well to their books, for there will not remain a valuable book ungarbled by their connoisseuring villany: for neither honesty nor oaths restrain them. yet these _fanciers_, if prints themselves are to be collected, instead of being injurious to every body, might make themselves serviceable to posterity, and become a kind of _medalists_ (who, by the bye, are almost as great thieves as themselves, though the hurt they do is not so extensive, as it lies chiefly among themselves, who all hold this doctrine, that "exchange is no robbery;" but, if they could filch without exchanging, no scruple of conscience would prevent them): we say they might render themselves useful to posterity, by gathering together the historical, political, satyrical, anecdotal and temporal pieces, with which the age abounds; adding an explanation of the intent and meaning for the instruction and amusement of times to come. the misfortune is, they must buy the one, but they can steal the other; and steal they will, although watched with the eyes of argus: unless the valuables, like some other _jocalia_, are shewn to them through a grate; and even _then_, the keeper must be vigilant!' _of english founders and foundries_; p. . this extract is curious on account of the tart, but just, sentiments which prevail in it; but, to the bibliomaniac, it is doubly curious, when he is informed that _only eighty copies_ of this typographical treatise (of pages--including the appendix) were printed. the author was a testy, but sagacious, bibliomaniac, and should have been introduced among his brethren in part v. it is not, however, too late to subjoin the following: _bibliotheca moresiana. a catalogue of the large and valuable library of printed books, rare old tracts, manuscripts, prints, and drawings, copper plates, sundry antiquities, philosophical instruments, and other curiosities, of that eminent british antiquary_, the late rev. and learned edward rowe mores, f.a.s., deceased, &c. sold by auction by mr. patterson, august . this collection exhibited, like its owner, a strange mixture of what was curious, whimsical, and ingenious in human nature. there were lots of printed books. _the rare old black-letter books and tracts_, begin at p. .] alman. how so? a very little care, with a tolerably good taste, is only required to know when a print is _well engraved_. lysand. alas, madam! the excellence of engraving is oftentimes but a _secondary_ consideration! belin. do pray explain. lysand. i will, and as briefly and perspicuously as possible. there are, first, _all the varieties of the same print_[ ] to be considered!--whether it have the _name of the character_, or _artist_, omitted or subjoined: whether the head of the print be without the body, or the body without the head--and whether this latter be finished, or in the outline, or ghostly white! then you must go to _the dress_ of this supposed portrait:--whether full or plain; court or country-fashioned: whether it have a hat, or no hat; feather, or no feather; gloves, or no gloves; sword, or no sword; and many other such momentous points. [footnote : the reader, by means of the preceding note, having been put in possession of some of the principal works from which information, relating to print-collecting may be successfully gleaned, it remains for me--who have been described as sitting in a corner to compile notes for lysander's text-discourse--to add something by way of illustration to the above sweeping satire. one or the other of the points touched upon in the text will be found here more particularly elucidated. catalogue of barnard's prints; , vo. th day's sale. no. . sir thos. isham de lamport, by loggan and valck; _before the names of the artists, very fine_. £ _s._ _d._ . king charles i. on horseback, with the page, by lombard; _very fine and scarce_. . the same plate; _with cromwell's head substituted for the king's--variation in the drapery_. . the same: a curious proof--_the face blank and no inscription at bottom--drapery of the page different_--and other variations. . catharine, queen of k. charles ii.; _in the dress in which she arrived: very scarce_. by faithorne. . queen elizabeth; habited in the superb court dress in which she went to st. paul's to return thanks for the defeat of the spanish armada--by passe; from a painting of isaac oliver. [i have known from _l._ to _l._ given for a fine impression of this curious print: but i am as well pleased with mr. turner's recently published, and admirably executed, facsimile mezzotint engraving of it; a proof of which costs _l._ _s._ every member of the two houses--and every land and sea captain--ought to hang up this print in his sitting-room.] eighth day's sale. . esther before ahasuerus: engraved by hollar; _first impression; with the portraits at top; curious and extremely rare_. . jo. banfi hunniades; _proof; very fine and rare_. by the same. . the same print, _with variations_. by the same. . the stone-eater; _with his history below_. by the same. _very rare._ . sir thomas chaloner; by the same. _a proof impression. one of the scarcest prints in existence._ [a similar print has been since sold for _l._; which is in the collection of mr. john townley; whose hollars are unrivalled!] . herbert, earl of pembroke; _before the alteration_. by the same. . devereux, earl of essex; _on horseback_. by the same. . devereux, earl of essex: _standing on foot; whole length_. by the same. . algernon, earl of northumberland; _on horseback_. by the same. . lady elizabeth shirley; _an unfinished proof, the chaplet round her head being only traced; curious and extremely rare_. by the same. . _a reverse of the proof; very fine_. by the same. catalogue of sir william musgrave's prints. third day's sale. . george, earl of berkeley; oval, _in his robes_, ; _extra fie [transcriber's note: fine] and rare_. . george, duke of buckingham; oval; _cloak over his left arm, hand on sword, nine lines expressive of his titles, &c._ sold by p. stent: _fine and extra rare_. . george, earl of cumberland; _whole length, dressed for a tournament_. by r. white. fifth day's sale. . the newcastle family, in a room, after diepenbeke, by clowet; _a beautiful proof, before the verses, extra rare_. [there is a very indifferent copy of this print. the original may be seen in the collection of the marquis of stafford and sir m.m. sykes, bart. nothing can exceed the tenderness and delicacy of clowet's engraving of this naturally conceived and well-managed picture.] tenth day's sale. . richard smith; virtuoso and literary character. by w. sherwin; _extra rare and fine_. [see my account of this distinguished bibliomaniac at p. , ante. sir m.m. sykes is in possession of sir william musgrave's copy of the portrait.] eleventh day's sale. . sir francis willoughby; _with a view of wollaton hall_; mezzotint by t. man, _extra rare_. . sir francis wortley; , folio: with trophies, books, &c., by a. hertochs: extra rare and fine. eighteenth day's sale. . dr. francis bernard; _a touched proof_; _very rare_. [the reader may recollect this sagacious bibliomaniac, as noticed at page , ante.] twentieth day's sale. . sir matthew lister; m.d. ; by p. van somer; _fine proof, extra rare_. . humphrey lloyd, of denbigh, antiquary, ætat. , . by faber, , _extra rare and fine_. twenty-first day's sale. . sir john marsham; ætat. . by r. white, _extra rare and fine_. . martin master; ætat. . . by r. gaywood, _extra_ rare _and_ fine. twenty-seventh day's sale. . lady paston, wife of sir william paston, by w. faithorne; _extra rare and fine_. . mary, countess of pembroke, by simon passe, . _fine and rare._ . penelope, countess of pembroke, in an oval, by w. hollar. _rare._ . anne clifford, countess of pembroke, by r. white: _extra_ rare _and_ fine. [the prints at this sale--the catalogue containing pages--were sold for _l._ _s._] miscellaneous catalogues of prints. first day's sale. . richard cromwell, lord protector, in a square. "this portrait was etched by hollar, but he was afraid to put his name to it; and the plate was destroyed as soon as richard resigned his pretensions to the protectorship." note by mr. hillier. _very rare._ . lord digby, in armour; after vander borcht. _extra_ rare _and_ fine. . robert devereux, earl of essex, _standing, whole length: army in the distance_, , _fine and rare_. . the same, on horseback: under the horse a map of england; : _first state of the plate; extra fine and rare_. . hollar's own portrait, in an oval, ætat. , : _with variations in the arms_. sixth day's sale. . sir william paston, : esteemed faithorne's finest portrait: _extra rare_. . carew reynell, from the fothergill collection: _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . prince rupert, in armour, _right hand on the breast_: after vandyck. sold by robert peake. _extra_ fine _and_ rare. thirteenth day's sale. . king and queen of bohemia, and five children, by wm. passe, with thirty-two englishes [qu?]; : _extra fine and rare_, the same plate; _with the addition of five children; the youngest in a cradle_. . the same, sitting under a tree; with four children; the youngest playing with a rabbit: fine _and_ rare. . james, duke of york: _with the anchor, proof_; very fine and rare. ( th day's sale.) . sir francis winderbank and lord finch; _with finch's wings flying to winderbank_; extra rare. ( th day.) _a catalogue of a genuine and valuable collection of english and foreign portraits, &c., sold by auction by mr. richardson, february_ , . st day's sale. . princess augusta maria, daughter of charles i. _in hat and feather_, ætat. , : by henry danckers, . _fine and rare._ . anne, queen of james i. with her daughter anne; _curiously dressed, whole length_. by j. visscher: _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . mary, queen of scotts: "scotorumque nunc regina"--_in an oval: cap adorned with jewels, feather-fan in her hand_, &c. by peter mynginus: _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . prince frederick, count palatine, with princess elizabeth, _whole length, superbly dressed_: by r. elstracke: _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . henry the eighth, _with hat and feather, large fur tippet_: by c. m(atsis); _very_ fine, _and supposed unique_. . mary, queen of scots: _veil'd cross at her breast: ætat._ , : _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . queen elizabeth; _superbly dressed, between two pillars: extra_ fine _and_ rare. _a catalogue of a valuable and genuine collection of prints, drawings, and elegantly illustrated books, &c., sold by auction by mr. richardson; march_, . . henry, lord darnley, by passe; fine _and very_ rare. . sir philip sidney, by elstracke; _extremely_ fine. . thomas howard, earl of suffolk, by ditto, _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . edward somerset, earl of worcester, by simon passe: rare _and_ fine. . henry vere, earl of oxford, sold by compton holland; _very_ rare _and_ fine. . henry wriothesly, earl of southampton, by simon passe; _most brilliant impression, extra rare_. . thomas howard, earl of arundel, by the same; _rare and very fine_. . richard sackville, earl of dorset, by the same; _extra fine and rare_--(with a copy by thane). . john digby, earl of bristol; rare and fine: from the fothergill collection. . robert sidney, viscount lisle, by simon passe; _rare and very fine_. . edmund, baron sheffield: by elstracke; _very fine_. . james, lord hay, by simon passe; _brilliant impression_, fine _and_ rare. . george mountaine, bishop of london; g.y. sculpsit; _very fine and rare_. . sir julius cæsar, by elstracke; _extra_ fine _and_ rare. . arthurus severus nonesuch o'toole, by delaram; _most brilliant impression, and very rare_ (with the copy). . sir john wynn de gwedir, by vaughan; _very rare_. . prince frederic henry, by delaram: _very_ fine _and_ rare. . prince rupert, by faithorne; _very_ fine _and_ rare. . sir john hotham, governor of hull; _whole length; extremely_ rare _and_ fine. . edward mascall, by gammon. . edward wetenhall, bishop of corke and ross; mezzotint, by becket; _fine_. . andrew lortie, by van somer. . thomas cole, large mezzotint. . sir william portman, mezzotint. . anthony, earl of shaftesbury, by blooteling; _exceeding_ fine _impression_. . sir patrick lyon, of carse, by white. . sir greville verney, by loggan. . marmaduke rawdon, by white; fine. . slingsby bethel, _whole length_, by w. sherwin (with small copy). . samuel malines, by lombart; very fine. . thomas killegrew, _as sitting with the dog_: by faithorne. _a catalogue of a very choice assemblage of english portraits, and of foreigners who have visited england: serving to illustrate granger's biographical history; the property of an eminent collector_, &c., sold by auction, by messrs. king and lochée, april, . but it is time to pause. the present note may have completely served to shew, not only that lysander was right in drawing such bold conclusions respecting the consequences resulting from the publication of granger's biographical history, and the capriciousness of print-fanciers respecting impressions _in their various stages_, and with _all their varieties_,--but, that the pursuit of print-collecting is both costly and endless. for one 'fine and rare' _print_, by hollar, faithorne, elstracke, the passes, delaram, or white, how many truly precious and useful _volumes_ may be collected? "all this is vastly fine reasoning"--methinks i hear a grangerite exclaim--"but compare the comfort afforded by your 'precious and useful volumes' with that arising from the contemplation of eminent and extraordinary characters, executed by the _burin_ of some of those graphic heroes before-mentioned--and how despicable will the dry unadorned volume appear!! on a dull, or rainy day, look at an illustrated shakespeare, or hume, and then find it in your heart, if you can, to depreciate the grangerian passion!!" i answer, the grangerite is madder than the bibliomaniac:--and so let the matter rest.] next let us discuss the serious subject of the _background_!--whether it be square or oval; dark or light; put in or put out; stippled or stroked; and sundry other similar, but most important, considerations. again; there are engravings of _different sizes_, and _at different periods_, of the same individual, or object: and of these, the varieties are as infinite as of any of those attached to the vegetable system. i will not attempt even an outline of them. but i had nearly forgotten to warn you, in your rembrandt _prints_, to look sharply after _the burr_! alman. mercy on us--what is this _burr_?! lysand. a slight imperfection only; which, as it rarely occurs, makes the impression more valuable. it is only a sombre tinge attached to the copper, before the plate is sufficiently polished by being worked; and it gives a smeared effect, like smut upon a lady's face, to the impression! but i am becoming satirical. which is the next symptom that you have written down for me to discourse upon? lis. i am quite attentive to this delineation of a _print connoisseur_; and will not fail to mark _all the_ rembrandt[ ] _varieties_, and take heed to the _burr_! [footnote : all the book and print world have heard of daulby's _descriptive catalogue of the works of rembrandt_, &c. liverpool, , vo. the author's collection of rembrandt's prints (according to a ms. note prefixed to my copy of it, which is upon _large paper_ in to.--of which _only fifty_ impressions were struck off) was sold at liverpool, in , in one lot; and purchased by messrs. colnaghi, manson, and vernon, for _l._ it was sold in , in separate lots, for _l._, exclusively of every expense; after the purchasers had been offered _l._ for the same. some of these prints came into the possession of the late mr. woodhouse (vide p. , ante); and it is from the catalogue of _his_ collection of prints that i present the reader with the following rembrandtiana; beseeching him to take due heed to what lysander has above alluded to by _all the varieties and the burr_! lot daulby . abraham entertaining the three angels; _very_ fine, _with the burr, on india paper_. £ _s._ _d._ . the angel appearing to the shepherds; _very fine, presque unique_. . the flight into egypt, in the style of elsheimer; _on india paper, the st impression, extremely rare_. . the hundred guilder piece. this impression on india paper, _with the burr_, is acknowledged by the greatest connoisseurs in this kingdom to be the most brilliant extant. . ditto, restored plate, by capt. baillie, _likewise on india paper, and very fine_. . the good samaritan; _the st impression with the white tail_, most beautifully finished, with a light point, and fine hand; very fine and rare. . our lord before pilate, _second impression on india paper_, fine _and_ scarce. . same subject, third impression, _with the mask, extremely rare_: from the collection of the burgomaster six. . the descent from the cross. this print is beautifully executed, the composition is grand, and the head full of character; _ st and most brilliant impression_. . the rat-killer; _a most beautiful impression_. . the marriage of jason and creusa; _a st impression, without the crown_, on india paper, very brilliant. . the hog; a remarkably fine impression, from houbraken's collection: _scarce_. . the shell. this piece is finely executed, and this impression, _with the white ground, may be regarded as presque unique_. . ledikant, or french bed. _this is the entire plate, and is a very great rarity._ . the woman with the arrow: _very scarce_. . the three trees; _as fine as possible_. . a village near a high road, arched: _ st impression on india paper, before the cross hatchings_: scarce. . a landscape of an irregular form; _ st impression, with the burr, very scarce_. . blement de jonge; _ st impression, the upper bar of the chair is left white, extremely rare_. . ditto, _second impression_, very _scarce_. . ditto, third impression, _very_ fine. . abraham france, _with the curtain, on india paper_. . [transcriber's note: .] ditto: _with the chair_. . ditto; _with the figures on the paper which he holds in his wands_. all these impressions are rare and fine. . old haaring or haring, the burgo-master; _beautiful impression on india paper, with the burr, extremely rare_. . young haaring, beautiful impression from houbraken's collection; _scarce_. . john lutma; _ st impression before the window_, &c. _extremely rare_. . john aselyn; _ st impression, with the easel, extremely rare_. . wtenbogardus, the dutch minister; a most beautiful and brilliant impression, oval, on a square plate; _proof, before the pillar, arch, verses, or any inscription: presque unique_. . the gold weigher; _ st impression, with_ the face blank, _extremely rare_. . ditto; _a most beautiful and brilliant impression; and esteemed the_ finest _extant_. from the collection of capt. baillie. . the little coppenol, with the picture; _the second and rarest impression, generally esteemed the st_; from the earl of bute's collection. . ditto; without the picture, very fine. . the great coppenol, remarkably fine. . the advocate tol; _a superb impression, extremely rare with the copy_. . the burgo-master six; _a most extraordinary impression, the name and age of the burgo-master are wanting, and the two middle figures in the date are reversed: a very great rarity_. perhaps the finest collection of rembrandt's prints, in great britain, is that in the possession of lord viscount fitzwilliam, at richmond; a nobleman of extremely retired habits, and equally distinguished for his taste, candour, and erudition. his paintings and books are of the very first class.] lysand. do so; and attend the shops of mr. richardson, mr. woodburn, and mr. grave, and you may soon have a chance of gratifying your appetite in these strange particulars. but beware of a hogarth rage! lis. is that so formidable? lysand. the longest life were hardly able to make the collection of hogarth's prints complete! the late mr. ireland has been the linnæus to whom we are indebted for the most minute and amusing classification of the almost innumerable varieties of the impressions of hogarth's plates.[ ] [footnote : the marquis of bute has, i believe, the most extraordinary and complete collection of hogarth's prints that is known. of the _election dinner_ there are six or seven varieties; gloves, and no gloves; hats, from one to the usual number; lemon, and no lemon; punch bowl, and no punch bowl. but of these _varying_ prints, the most curious is the one known by the name of _evening_: with a little boy and girl, crying, in the back-ground. at first, hogarth did _not_ paint _the girl_, and struck off very few impressions of the plate in this state of the picture. a friend observing to him that the boy was crying with no apparent cause of provocation, hogarth put in the little girl tantalizing him. but--happy he! who has the print of the 'evening' _without_ the little girl: fifteen golden guineas (rare things now to meet with!) ought not to induce him to part with it. of the copper-plate portraits by hogarth, the original of '_sarah malcolm, executed_ ,' is among the very rarest; a copy of this selling for _l._ _s._ _d._ at barnard's sale. the reader has only to procure that most interesting of all illustrative works, _hogarth illustrated by john ireland_, , ( d edit.) vols., vo.; and, for a comparatively trifling sum, he may be initiated into all the mysteries of hogarthian _virtû_. the late right hon. w. wyndham's collection of hogarth's prints, bequeathed to him by mr. george steevens, was _bought in_ for little more than guineas.] lis. i will stick to rembrandt and leave hogarth at rest. but surely, this rage for _portrait collecting_ cannot be of long duration. it seems too preposterous for men of sober sense and matured judgment to yield to. lysand. so think _you_--who are no collector! but had you accompanied me to mr. christie's on friday[ ] last, you would have had convincing evidence to the contrary. a little folio volume, filled with one hundred and fifty-two prints, produced-- [footnote : if the reader casts his eye upon pages - he will find that the ardour of print and portrait collecting has not abated since the time of sir w. musgrave. as a corroboration of the truth of lysander's remark, i subjoin a specimen (being only four articles) of the present rage for 'curious and rare' productions of the _burin_--as the aforesaid grangerite (p. ) terms it. no. . the right honourable and truly generous henry veere, earl of oxford, viscount bulbeck, &c. lord high chamberlain of england. j. payne sculp. with a large hat and feather, small, in a border with many figures. will. passo, sculp. tho. jenner exc. on distinct plates. _the most brilliant impression of a print of the greatest rarity._ £ _s._ _d._ . generall (edward) cecyll son to the right honourable the earle of exeter, &c. in an oval; in armour. simmon passæs, sculp. anno . sould in pope's head alley, also by john sudbury and george humble. _most brilliant impression of a print of the greatest rarity._ . the true portraicture of richard whitington, thrise lord mayor of london, a vertuous and godly man, full of good workes (and those famous) &c. r. elstracke sculp. are to be sold by compton holland over against the exchange: _first impression with the hand on a skull. extra fine and rare._ . mull'd sack; a fantastic and humourous chimney-sweeper, so called: with cap, feather, and lace band: cloak tuck'd up; coat ragged; scarf on his arm; left leg in a fashionable boot, with a spur; on his right foot a shoe with a rose; sword by his side, and a holly bush and pole on his shoulder; in his left hand, another pole with a horn on it; a pipe, out of which issues smoke, is in his right hand; at the bottom are eight verses (as given in granger, vol. ii., p. ). are to be sold by compton holland over against the exchange, with further manuscript account by a provost of eton. _considered unique_ [but not so]. ] lis. perhaps, three hundred guineas? lysand. just double the sum, i believe. lis. o rare james granger--thy immortality is secured! but we forget our symptoms of the bibliomania. belin. as i am the examiner, i here demand of you, sir, what may be the meaning of the _fourth symptom_ of the bibliomaniacal disease, which you call unique copies? lysand. a passion for a book of which only one copy was printed, or which has any peculiarity about it[ ] by either, or both, of the foregoing methods of illustration--or which is remarkable for its size, beauty, and condition--or has any embellishment, rare, precious and invaluable--which the researches of the most sedulous bibliomaniac, for three and thirty long years, would not be able to produce--is indicative of a rage for _unique copies_; and is unquestionably a strong prevailing symptom of the bibliomania. let me therefore urge every sober and cautious collector not to be fascinated by the terms "_curious and rare_;" which 'in slim italics' (to copy dr. ferriar's happy expression[ ]) are studiously introduced into booksellers' catalogues to lead the unwary astray. such a collector may fancy himself proof against the temptation; and will, in consequence, call _only to look at_ this unique book, or set of books; but--led away by the passion which inflamed berryer and caillard[ ]--when he views the morocco binding, silk water-tabby lining, blazing gilt edges; when he turns over the white and unspotted leaves; gazes on the amplitude of margin; on a rare and lovely print introduced; and is charmed with the soft and coaxing manner in which, by the skill of herring, mackinlay, rodwell, lewis, or faulkener, "leaf succeeds to leaf"--he can no longer bear up against the temptation; and, confessing himself vanquished, purchases, and retreats--exclaiming with virgil's shepherd---- ut vidi, ut perii--ut me malus abstulit error! [footnote : let us again quote a stanza from the 'aspirant:' fourth maxim. who in _all_ copies finds delight-- the wrong not scenting from the right-- and, with a choiceless appetite, just comes to _feed_, ... like soph, or templar, out on his iron stomach!--_we_ have rarities we merely _see_, nor taste our phoenix though it be ... serv'd up in the "unique exemplar," _bibliosophia_, p. v. one of the most curious proofs of the seductive popularity of unique copies may be drawn from the following excerpt from a catalogue of a library sold at utrecht in ; which was furnished me by mr. h. ellis from a copy of the catalogue in the possession of mr. cayley of the augmentation office. no. . les avantures de telemaque, o. rotterd. _av. fig. en cart._ 'cet exemplaire est tout _barbouillé_. mais il est _de la main de la jeune princesse wilhelmine auguste de saxe-weimar, qui y a appris le françois en_ !!!' i will mention a unique copy of a somewhat different cast of character. of the magnificent and matchless edition of shakspeare, printed by mr. bulmer and published by mr. nicols, between the years and , there were one hundred copies, of the first six plays only, struck off upon imperial folio, or _colombier paper_; in which the large engravings, published at the shakspeare gallery (now the british institution) might be incorporated and bound up. the late george steevens undertook the revision of the text, intending to complete the entire plays in a similar form; but the trouble and expense attending this part of the undertaking were so great that the further prosecution of it was abandoned. mr. bulmer preserved the whole of the proof-sheets of this partial colombier impression; and to form a '_unique_ edition' (these are his own words) he bound them up in the exact order in which the plays were printed. on the margins of many of the sheets, besides the various corrections, emendations, and notes to the printer, by mr. steevens, there are some original sonnets, a scene for a burlesque tragedy, and other happy effusions from the pen of the same elegant and learned editor. need i ask the reader, whether he would have the _barbouillé_ (unique) copy of telemaque of the young princesse wilhelmine auguste de saxe-weimar (like the vicar of wakefield, i like to give the full name) or mr. bulmer's similar copy of shakspeare? the difference would soon be found in king street or the strand! i must mention one more example--of a nature different from both the preceding--of what lysander has above, elaborately, and perhaps, a little confusedly, described as unique copies. it is colonel stanley's copy of _de bry_ (see a superb one before noticed) which is bound in seven folio volumes, in blue morocco, by padaloup, and is considered superior to every known copy. it contains all the maps and prints, with their variations, according to the _bibliographie instructive_, no. , _cat. de paris de meyzieu_, ; no. , _cat. de santander_, no. ; and _camus sur les collections des grands et petits voyages_, , to.: with both editions of the first nine parts of the west indies, and duplicates of parts x. and xi. it has also a considerable number of duplicate plates, where a superior impression could be procured at any expense. the owner of this unique copy, of a work unrivalled for its utility and elegance, is distinguished for a noble collection, bound by our choicest binders, in whatever is splendid and precious in the belles lettres, voyages, and travels. take two more illustrations, kind-hearted reader!----_goldsmith's deserted village_, . mr. bulmer printed a single copy of this beautiful poem, in quarto, upon satin--picked and prepared in a very curious manner. it was purchased by a foreigner. his impressions upon vellum are noticed, post.----_falconer's shipwreck_, , vo. mr. miller caused _two_ copies only (is [transcriber's note: it] is _almost_ unique!) of this beautiful edition, printed by bensley, to be struck off upon satin, in imperial vo. one of these copies now remains with him for sale.] [footnote : the passage, above alluded to, is as follows: at ev'ry auction, bent on fresh supplies, he cons his catalogue with anxious eyes: where'er the slim italics mark the page, _curious and rare_ his ardent mind engage. _the bibliomania_; v. .] [footnote : a slight mention of mons. berryer, the father-in-law of lamoignon, is made at p. , ante. the reader is here presented with a more finished portrait of this extraordinary bibliomaniac: a portrait, which will excite his unbounded admiration, if not envy!--for such a careful and voluptuous collector, in regard to _binding_, was, i believe, never before known; nor has he been since eclipsed. 'm. berryer, successivement secrétaire d'etat au département de la marìne, ministre, puis garde des sceaux de france, s'étoit occupé pendant près de quarante années à se former un cabinet des plus beaux livres grecs et latins, anciennes éditions, soit de france, soit des pays étrangers, &c. par un soin et une patience infatigables, à l'aide de plusieurs coopérateurs éclairés, savans même en bibliographie, qui connoissoient ses études, délassement de ses places, il avoit recueilli les plus belles éditions; de telle sorte qu'il a toujours su se procurer un exemplaire parfait de chaque édition par un moyen simple quoique dispendieux. si les catalogues des ventes publiques lui apprenoient qu'il existoit un exemplaire _plus beau, plus grand de marge, mieux conservé_, de tout auteur, &c., que celui qu'il possédoit, il le fasoit acquérir sans s'embarrasser du prix, et il se défaisoit à perte de l'exemplaire moins beau. la majeure partie des auteurs anciens et modernes de son cabinet a été changée huit ou dix fois de cette manière. il ne _s'arrêtoit_ qu'après s'être assuré qu'il avoit _le plus bel exemplaire connu_, soit pour la marge, soit pour la force du papier, soit pour la magnificence de la conservation et _de la relieure_.' 'a l'égard des ouvrages d'editions modernes, même celles faites en pays étranger, m. berryer vouloit les avoir en feuilles: il en faisoit choisir, dans plusieurs exemplaires, un parfait, et il le faisoit relier _en maroquin de choix_; le ministere de la marìne qu'il avoit rempli, lui ayant donné toutes les facilités d'en être abondamment et fidèlement pourvu dans toutes les echelles du levant. on collationnoit ensuite pour vérifier s' il n'y avoit ni transposition, ni omission de feuilles ou de pages?!!' _cat. m. lamoignon_, . pref. p. ij. iij. berryer was slightly copied by caillard (of whom see p. , ante) in the luxury of _book-binding_. 'm. caillard avoit le soin _de faire satiner_ presque tous livres qu'il faisoit relier, et principalement les grands ouvrages; qu'il est difficile d'avoir parfaitement reliés sans ce precedé.' _cat. de caillard_; p. x. (avertisement.) but i know not whether caillard did not catch the phrensy from the elder mirabeau. in the catalogue of his books, p. ii., we are thus told of him:--'l'acquisition d'un _beau livre_ lui causoit des transports de joie inexprimables: il l'examinoit, l'admiriot [transcriber's note: l'admiroit]: il vouloit que chacun partagêat avec lui le même enthousiasme.' his biographer properly adds: 'de quelle surprise n'auroit-on pas été, si l'on eût su que c'etoit la le même homme qui, du haut de la tribune, faisoit trembler les despotes et les factieux!' ponder here, gentle reader, upon the effects of a _beautiful_ book! let no one, however, imagine that we _grave englishmen_ are averse or indifferent to 'le luxe de la relieure'!! no: at this present moment, we have the best bookbinders in europe; nor do we want good authority for the encouragement of this fascinating department relating to the bibliomania. read here what mr. roscoe hath so eloquently written in commendation of it: 'a taste for the exterior decoration of books has lately arisen in this country, in the gratification of which no small share of ingenuity has been displayed; but if we are to judge of the present predilection for learning by the degree of expense thus incurred, we must consider it as greatly inferior to that of the romans during the times of the first emperors, or of the italians at the th century. and yet it is, perhaps, difficult to discover why a favourite book should not be as proper an object of elegant ornament as the head of a cane, the hilt of a sword, or the latchet of a shoe.' _lorenzo de medici_; vol. ii., , vo. edition. did geyler allude to such bibliomaniacs in the following sentence? sunt qui libros inaurant et serica tegimenta apponunt preciosa et superba. grandis hæc fatuitas! _navicula, sive speculum fatuorum_; (navis stultifera) _sign. b. v. rev._] belin. for the benefit--not of the 'country gentlemen,' but--of the 'country ladies,' do pray translate these latin words. we are always interested about the pastoral life. lis. it only means, belinda, that this said shepherd was blockhead enough to keep gazing upon his beloved fair, although every glance shot him through the heart, and killed him a hundred times. still he caressed the cause of his ruin. and so bibliomaniacs hug the very volumes of which they oftentimes know they cannot afford the purchase money! i have not forgotten your account of dr. dee:[ ] but the ladies were then absent. [footnote : see p. , ante.] belin. well, let us now go on to the explanation of the _fifth symptom_ of the bibliomania; which you have called, copies printed upon vellum! lysand. a desire for books printed in this manner[ ] is an equally strong and general symptom of the biblomania; but, as these works are rarely to be obtained of modern date, the collector is obliged to have recourse to specimens executed, three centuries ago, in the printing offices of aldus, verard, or the giunti. although the _bibliotheque imperiale_, at paris, and the library of count m'carthy, at toulouse, are said to contain the greatest number of books, printed upon vellum, yet, those who have been fortunate enough to see copies of this kind in the libraries of his majesty, the duke of marlborough, earl spencer, mr. johnes, and the late mr. cracherode (which latter is now in the british museum) need not travel on the continent for the sake of being convinced of their exquisite beauty and splendour. an _unique_ copy of the first livy, upon vellum, (of which the owner has excited the envy of foreigners) is a library of itself!--and the existence of vellum copies of wynkyn de worde's reprint of _juliana barnes's book of hawking, &c._, complete in every respect, (to say nothing of his majesty's similar copy of caxton's _doctrinal of sapience_, in the finest preservation) are sufficient demonstrations of the prevalance of this symptoms of the bibliomania in the times of our forefathers; so that it cannot be said, as some have asserted, to have appeared entirely within the last half century. [footnote : william horman, who was head master of eton school at the opening of the sixteenth century, was, i apprehend, the earliest writer in this country who propagated those symptoms of the bibliomania indicative of a passion for _large paper_ and _vellum_ copies; for thus writes the said horman, in his _vulgaria_, printed by pynson, in folio, : a book, curious and interesting upon every account. 'the greatest and highest of price, is _paper imperial_. (herbert, vol i., p. .) _parchment leaves_ be wont to be ruled, that there may be a _comely margent_: also, strait lines of equal distance be draw[en] within, that the writing may shew fair,' _fol._ . from these two sentences (without quoting horman's praise of the presses of froben and aldus; fol. ) i think it may be fairly inferred that a love of _large paper_ and _vellum_ copies was beginning to display itself in the period just mentioned. that this love or passion is now eagerly and generally evinced, i shall proceed to give abundant proof; but first let me not forget our bibliomaniacal satirist: fifth maxim. who blindly take the book display'd by pettifoggers in the trade. nor ask of what the leaf was made, that _seems like paper_--i can tell 'em, that though 'tis possible to squint through any page with letters in't, no copy, though an angel print, reads elegantly--but "on vellum." _bibliosophia_, p. vi. i proceed to give evidence of the present passion which prevails, respecting books of the description of which we are now speaking, by extracting a few articles from the library of which such honourable mention was made at p. - , ante. they are all works printed upon vellum. no. . epistolæ beati jeronimi. impressio moguntinæ facta per virum famatum in hæc arte petrum schoiffer de gernsheym, vols., . _a fine specimen of a grand book, superbly bound in blue turkey._ folio. £ _s._ _d._ . sexti decretalium opus præclarum bonifacii vii., pont. max. in nobili urbe moguncia non atramento è plumali ereâque pennâ cannâve per petrum schoiffer de gernsheym consummatum. a.d. . _a most beautiful work, superbly bound in blue turkey._ . [transcriber's note: .] constitutiones clementis papæ quinti, unà cum apparatu domini joannis andreæ. venetiis impress. ere atque industriâ nicolai jenson gallici, . _a most beautiful specimen of clean vellum, with a fine illumination, bound in purple velvet._ folio. . leonora, from the german of burgher, by mr. spencer, with the designs of lady diana beauclerc, . folio. _a beautiful unique copy, with the plates worked on satin, superbly bound in blue turkey._ . dryden's fables, with engravings from the pencil of lady beauclerc. _a beautiful unique copy, splendidly bound in morocco, with the plates worked on satin._ . missale monasticum secundum ritum et consuetudinem ordinis gallæ umbrosæ. venetiis, per ant. de giunta florentinum, . _a most beautiful copy of a very rare book, with plates and illuminations, bound in morocco._ folio. . postilla super libros n. testamenti fratris nicolai de lyra. venet. per joan. de colonia et nic. jenson, . _a fine specimen of beautiful vellum, with illuminations, bound in blue turkey._ folio. . the german bible, by martin luther, vols. augspurg, , folio. _a most fair, and beautiful copy, with coloured plates, in the finest preservation, and bound in crimson velvet, with two cases._--'the copies on vellum of this fine edition were printed at the charges of john frederick, elector of saxony, (vide panzer).' folio. . le livre de jehan bocasse de la louenge et vertu des nobles et cleres dames. paris, _par ant. verard_, . _a beautiful work, with curious illuminations, finely bound in blue turkey._ folio. . virgilii opera curâ brunck. argentorati, . _an unique copy, bound in morocco, with a case._ quarto. . somervile's chace, a poem, with fine plates on wood, by bewick. printed by bulmer, . quarto. _a beautiful unique copy, splendidly bound in green, morocco._ . poems by goldsmith and parnell, with fine plates on wood by bewick. printed by bulmer, . _a beautiful unique copy, superbly bound in green morocco._ . the gardens, a poem, by the abbe de lisle, with fine plates by bartolozzi, coloured. printed by bensley, . _a fine book, and bound in green morocco._ quarto. . the castle of otranto, by the earl of oxford. printed at parma, . _a fine copy elegantly bound in blue morocco._ quarto. . coustumes du pais de normandie. rouen, . _a beautiful unique copy, on fine white vellum, the presentation copy to the duke de joyeuse; in old morocco._ . p. virgilii maronis codex antiquissimus in bibliotheca mediceo-laurentiana. florent. . _a curious facsimile of the old ms. bound in yellow morocco_, to. . junius's letters, vols., vo. printed by bensley, . _a beautiful unique copy, with the plates also worked on vellum, bound in morocco._ . il castello di otranto, storia gotica, lond. . _beautifully printed, with fine cuts, illuminated, bound in morocco._ . milton's paradise regained, poems, and sonnets, and latin poems, with notes, vols. printed by bensley, , vo. _a unique and beautiful copy, bound in blue turkey._ . la guirlande de julie offerte a mademoiselle de rambouillet, par le marq. de montausier. paris de l'imprim. de monsieur, , vo. 'this matchless book is embellished with exquisite miniatures, paintings of flowers, and wreaths of flowers, to illustrate the work, and is one of the most exquisite performances ever produced;' _superbly bound in green morocco_. [ guineas were bidden; but the book was passed on and not sold.] . la vedova, commedia facetissima di nic. buonaparte cittadino florentino. paris, , vo. a curious work by an ancestor of the first consul; _a beautiful unique copy, superbly bound in red morocco_. . the old english baron, a gothic story, by clara reeve, , vo. _richly bound in blue turkey._ . the oeconomy of human life, with fine plates, . _a beautiful unique copy, with the plates finely tinted in colours and superbly bound in morocco_, vo. . dr. benjamin franklin's works. paris, , vo. _a beautiful unique copy, and bound in crimson velvet._ . the dance of death. painted by holbein, and engraved by hollar, _a beautiful unique copy, with the plates exquisitely painted, and very richly bound in red morocco_. . la gerusalemme liberata di torquato tasso, vols. parigi presso molini, , vo. _a beautiful copy, bound in green morocco._ . catullus, tibullus, et propertius, vols. par. ap. coustelier, , vo. _a singularly beautiful copy, and bound in old blue turkey._ . opere toscane di luigi alamanni. leoni. ap. gryphia, . _a most beautiful copy, presented to king francis i. of france: old morocco._ . a new testament in german. augsburg, , mo. a fine copy, with illuminations, of a very rare edition. lysander has above noticed the collection of count m'carthy of toulouse. by the kindness of mr. roche, banker, at cork, i learn that this collection 'is a truly splendid one.' the possessor's talents are not confined to the partial walk of bibliography: in his younger years, he was considered one of the first gentlemen-violin players in europe. he quitted ireland forty years ago, and now resides at toulouse, in his th year, surrounded by a numerous and respectable family. his leading passion, in book-collecting, (like his countryman's, poor mr. quin--who gave guineas for the spira virgil of , _in membranis_!) is marked by a fondness for works _printed upon vellum_. from mr. roche, mr. edwards, and other quarters, i am enabled to present the reader with a list of a _few_ of count m'carthy's books upon vellum. psalmorum codex; _mogunt._ _fust and schoiffer._ folio, . ---- ----; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ folio, . durandi rationale; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ folio, . _clementis papæ v. constitutiones_; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ folio, . ---- ---- ---- ----; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ folio, . catholicon; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ folio, . biblia sacra latina; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ folio, . [his majesty and earl spencer possess similar copies of these works.] franciscus de retras comment. vitiorum; _nuremb._ folio, . hieronimi epistolæ; _mogunt._ _fust and schoiffer._ folio, . (another copy: very large thick paper.) priscianus de art. grammat. _venet._ _vin. spira._ folio, . (see p. , ante.) liber sextus decretalium bonif. papæ viii. _mogunt._ folio, . guarini regulæ; quarto, . quintiliani institutiones; _jenson_, folio, . baptista de alberti de amore; quarto, . de amoris remedio: quarto, . biblia in ling. volg. folio, , vols. historia natur. de plinio tradotto da landino; _jenson, venet._ . (a similar copy is in mr. coke's library at holkam; illuminated, and in magnificent condition.) biblia sacra polyglotta; ximenis; _complut._ folio, , &c., vols. (see page , ante; for a brief account of this extraordinary copy.) plutarchi vitæ (lat.); _venet._ _n. jenson._ folio, . vol. . aristotelis opera varia (lat.); _venet._ folio, . vols. (this was the pinelli copy, and was purchased for _l._ _s._) statii achilles; _brixiæ._ folio, . chroniques de france, dictes de st. denys; _paris._ folio, . vol. & . anthologia græca; _florent._ quarto, . lancelot du lac; _paris._ _verard_, folio, . vol. . boccace des nobles malheureux; _ibid._ folio, . appollonius rhodius; _florent._ quarto, . destruction de troy le grant; _paris._ folio, . poliphili hyperonotomachia; _venet._ folio, . mer des histores; _paris._ folio, (no date) vols. monstrelet chronique de; _paris._ folio, (no date) vols. roman de la rose; _paris._ _verard._ folio, (no date) ---- de tristan; _ibid._ _id._ (no date) ---- d' ogier le danois; _ibid._ _id._ (no date) ---- de melis et lenin; _ibid._ _id._ (no date) i have heard that count m'carthy's books do not exceed in number; and of these, perhaps, no private collector in europe has an equal number printed upon vellum. in our own country, however, the finest vellum library in the world might be composed from the collections of his majesty, the duke of marlborough, earl spencer, sir m.m. sykes, bart., mr. johnes, mr. coke, and the quin collection. yet let us not forget the finest _vellum copy_ in the world of the first edition of _aristotle's works_ (wanting one volume) which may be seen in the library of corpus christi college, oxford. of mr. edward's _similar_ copy _of the first livy_, lysander and myself (vide part iii.) have spoken like honest bibliomaniacs. earl spencer possesses the rival volume, printed by the same printers, (sweynheym and pannartz) and upon the same material, in his pliny senior of --but let all quiet bibliomaniacs wait with patience till the work of mons. praet upon this subject, alluded to at p. , ante, shall have made its appearance! and then--let us see whether we can prevail upon some gnome to transport to us, through the 'thin air,' pynson's '_ship of fools_' upon vellum!!] lis. are we as successful in printing upon vellum as were our forefathers? lysand. certainly not; if we except some of the works from the press of bodoni--which are oftentimes truly brilliant. but the fault, in general, is rather in the preparation of the vellum than in the execution of the press-work. loren. you have seen, lisardo, my small volumes of '_heures_,' or '_missals_,' as they are called; some of them in ms. and others in print--and what can be more delicate than the texture of the vellum leaves, or more perfect than the execution of penmanship and printing? alman. i have often set whole hours, my dear brother, in contemplating with rapture the sparkling radiance of these little volumes; and wish in my heart i had a few favourite authors executed in a similar manner! i should like to employ bodoni[ ] for life. [footnote : it is not because bodoni printed better than our popular printers--that his books upon vellum are more beautiful than those produced by the london presses--but that the italian vellum (made of the abortive calf) is, in general, more white and delicate. there is not, perhaps, a lovelier little vellum book in existence than the _castle of otranto_, printed by bodoni in , vo. a copy of this, with the plates worked on white satin, was in the collection of mr. g.g. mills; and sold at the sale of his books in ; no. ; see p. , ante. from the former authority it would appear that only six copies were printed in this manner. by the kindness of mr. edwards, i am in possession of a '_lettera pastorale_' of fr. adeodato turchi--a small tract of pages--printed upon paper, by bodoni, in a style of uncommon delicacy: having all the finish and picturesque effect of copper-plate execution. but the chef d'oeuvre of bodoni seems to be an edition of _homer_, in three great folio volumes, each consisting of pages, with the text only. the artist employed six years in the preparations, and the printing occupied eighteen months. one hundred and forty copies only were struck off. the copy presented to bonaparte was upon vellum, of a size and brilliancy altogether unparalleled. _american review_, no. ., p. . january, . in our admiration of bodoni, let us not forget didot: who printed a single copy of _voltaire's henriade_ upon vellum, in quarto, with a brilliancy of execution, and perfection of vellum, which can never be suppassed [transcriber's note: surpassed]. this copy formerly belonged to a farmer general, one of didot's most intimate friends, who perished in the revolution. didot also printed a number of copies of french translations of english works, upon the same material: so correct, beautiful, and tasteful, that mr. bulmer assures me nothing could exceed it. all these small richly-feathered birds were once here, but have now taken their flight to a warmer climate. our modern books upon vellum are little short of being downright wretched. i saw the _life of nelson_, in two large quartos, printed in this manner; and it would have been the first work which i should have recommended a first-rate collector to have thrown out of his library.[g] many of the leaves were afflicted with the jaundice beyond hope of cure. the censure which is here thrown out upon others reaches my own doors: for i attempted to execute a single copy of my _typographical antiquities_ upon vellum, with every possible attention to printing and to the material upon which it was to be executed. but i failed in every point: and this single wretchedly-looking book, had i presevered [transcriber's note: persevered] in executing my design, would have cost me about _seventy-five_ guineas!] [footnote g: this book was printed at bolt court during the apprenticeship of the printer of this edit. of biblio., who speaking from remembrance, ventures to suggest that the above remark is rather too strong--although there was confessedly a great deal of trouble in procuring good vellum. he believes only _one_ copy was done; it was the property of alexander davidson, esq. banker, and, being in his library in ireland, when the mansion was burned down, it was destroyed. he had insured it for £ --the insurance office disputed his claim, and a trial at dublin took place. the late mr. bensley was subpoenaed to give evidence of its value, but, being reluctant to go, he persuaded the parties that warwick, one of his pressmen, who worked it off, was a better witness; he accordingly went, his evidence succeeding in establishing mr. davidson's claim. this same warwick worked off many of the splendid specimens of typography mentioned in _bibliomania_, being one of the very best workmen in the printing business--particularly in wood-cuts. he afterwards became private printer to the late sir egerton bridges, bart., at lee priory--and is long since dead.] lis. i could go on, 'till midnight, indulging my wishes of having favourite books printed upon vellum leaves; and at the head of these i would put _crammer's bible_ for i want scholarship sufficient to understand the _complutensian polyglott of cardinal ximenes_.[ ] [footnote : see pages , , ante.] berlin. [transcriber's note: belin.] so much for the _vellum symptom_. proceed we now to the _sixth_: which upon looking at my memoranda, i find to be the first editions. what is the meaning of this odd symptom? lysand. from the time of ancillon to askew, there has been a very strong desire expressed for the possesssion [transcriber's note: possession] of _original_ or _first published editions_[ ] of works; as they are in general superintended and corrected by the author himself, and, like the first impressions of prints are considered more valuable. whoever is possessed with a passion for collecting books of this kind, may unquestionably be said to exhibit a strong symptom of the bibliomania: but such a case is not quite hopeless, nor is it deserving of severe treatment or censure. all bibliographers have dwelt on the importance of these editions[ ] for the sake of collation with subsequent ones; and of detecting, as is frequently the case, the carelessness displayed by future editors. of such importance is the _first edition shakspeare_[ ] considered, on the score of correctness, that a fac-simile reprint of it has been recently published. in regard to the greek and latin classics, the possession of these original editions is of the first consequence to editors who are anxious to republish the legitimate text of an author. wakefield, i believe, always regretted that the first edition of lucretius had not been earlier inspected by him. when he began _his_ edition, the editio princeps was not (as i have understood) in that storehouse of almost every thing which is exquisite and rare in ancient and modern classical literature--need i add the library of earl spencer?[ ] [footnote : all german and french bibliographers class these first editions among rare books; and nothing is more apt to seduce a noviciate in bibliography into error than the tempting manner in which, by aid of capital or italic types, these editiones primariÆ or _editiones principes_ are set forth in the most respectable catalogues published abroad as well as at home. but before we enter into particulars, we must not forget that this sixth sympton [transcriber's note: symptom] of the bibliomania has been thus pungently described in the poetical strains of an "aspirant!" sixth maxim. who of editions recks the least, but, when that hog, his mind would feast fattens the intellectual beast with old, or new, without ambition,-- i'll teach the pig to soar on high, (if pigs had pinions, by the bye) how'er the _last_ may _satisfy_, the _bonne bouche_ is the "first edition." _bibliosophia_; p. vi. these first editions are generally, with respect to foreign works, printed in the fifteenth or in the early part of the sixteenth century: and indeed we have a pretty rich sprinkling of a similar description of first editions executed in our own country. it is not, therefore, without justice that we are described, by foreign bibliographers, as being much addicted to this class of books: "with what avidity, and at what great prices, this character of books is obtained by the dutch, and _especially by the english_, the very illustrious zach. conrad ab uffenbach shews, in the preface to the second volume of his catalogue." vogt; p. xx., edit. . there is a curious and amusing article in bayle (english edition, vol i., , &c.) about the elder ancillon, who frankly confessed that he "was troubled with the bibliomania, or disease of buying books." mr. d'israeli says that he "always purchased _first editions_, and never waited for second ones," but i find it, in the english bayle, note d, "he chose _the best_ editions." the manner in which ancillon's library was pillaged by the ecclesiastics of metz (where it was considered as the most valuable curiosity in the town) is thus told by bayle: "ancillon was obliged to leave metz: a company of ecclesiastics, of all orders, came from every part, to lay hands on this fine and copious library, which had been collected with the utmost care during forty years. they took away a great number of the books together; and gave a little money, as they went out, to a young girl, of twelve or thirteen years of age, who looked after them, that they might have it to say they had _paid for them_. thus ancillon saw that valuable collection dispersed, in which, as he was wont to say, his chief pleasure and even his heart was placed!"--edit. . a pleasant circumstance, connected with our present subject, occurred to the rev. dr. charles burney. at a small sale of books which took place at messrs. king and lochée's, some few years ago, the doctor sent a commission, for some old grammatical treatises; and calling with mr. edwards to see the success of the commission, the latter, in the true spirit of bibliomaniacism, pounced upon an anciently-bound book, in the lot, which turned out to be--nothing less than the _first edition_ of manilius by regiomontanus: one of the very scarcest books in the class of those of which we are treating! by the liberality of the purchaser, this _primary bijou_ now adorns the noble library of the bishop of ely.] [footnote : an instance of this kind may be adduced from the _first edition_ of fabian, printed in ; of which chronicle messrs. longman, hurst, and co. have just published a new edition, superintended by mr. h. ellis, and containing various readings from all the editions at the foot of the text. "the antiquary," says the late mr. brand, "is desired to consult the edition of fabian, printed by pynson, in , because there are others, and i remember to have seen one in the bodleian library at oxford, with a continuation to the end of queen mary, , in which the language is much modernized." _shakspeare_, edit. , vol. xviii., pp. , . see also what has been before said (p. .) of an _after_ edition of speed.] [footnote : a singular story is "extant" about the purchase of the late duke of roxburgh's copy of the first edition of shakspeare. a friend was bidding for him in the sale-room: his grace had retired to one end of the room, coolly to view the issue of the contest. the biddings rose quickly to guineas; a great sum in former times: but the duke was not to be daunted or defeated. a slip of paper was handed to him, upon which the propriety of continuing the contest was suggested. his grace took out his pencil; and, with a coolness which would have done credit to prince eugene, he wrote on the same slip of paper, by way of reply-- lay on macduff! and d----d be he who first cries "hold, enough!" such a spirit was irresistible, and bore down all opposition. the duke was of course declared victor, and he marched off, triumphantly, with the volume under his arm. lord spencer has a fine copy of this first edition of shakspeare, collated by steevens himself.] [footnote : we raise the column to the hero who has fought our battles by sea or land; and we teach our children to look up with admiration and reverence towards an object so well calculated to excite the best sympathies of the human heart. all this is well; and may it never be neglected! but there are other characters not less noble, and of equal glory to a great nation like our own; and they are those who, to the adventitious splendour of hereditary rank, add all the worth and talent of a private condition, less exposed to temptation, and suited to the cultivation of peaceful and literary pursuits. such a character is george john earl spencer! a nobleman, not less upright and weighty in the senate than polished and amiable in private life; who, cool and respected amidst the violence of party, has filled two of the most important offices of state in a manner at once popular and effective; and who, to his general love of the fine arts, and acquaintance with classical literature, has superadded the noble achievement of having collected the finest private library in europe! the reader has already met with sufficient mention of this collection to justify what is here said in commendation of it.... in the deepest recess of althorpe park--where the larch and laurustinus throw their dark yet pleasing shade--and where ----pinus ingens, albaque populus umbram hospitalem consociare amant ramis-- let the doric temple be raised, with its white-marbled columns, sacred to the memory of this illustrious nobleman! let his bust, in basso-relievo, with appropriate embellishments, adorn the most conspicuous compartment within: and peace and virtue, and filial affection, will, i am sure, be the guardians of so cherished a spot! [illustration: arms of earl spencer. dieu defend le droit]] it must not, however, be forgotten that, if first editions are, in some instances, of great importance, they are in many respects superfluous, and only incumber the shelves of a collector; inasmuch as the labours of subsequent editors have corrected the errors of their predecessors, and superseded, by a great fund of additional matter, the necessity of consulting them. thus, not to mention other instances (which present themselves while noticing the present one), all the fine things which colomiés and reimannus have said about the rarity of la croix du maine's bibliothéque, published in , are now unnecessary to be attended to, since the publication of the ample and excellent edition of this work by de la monnoye and juvigny, in six quarto volumes, . lis. upon the whole, i should prefer the best to the first edition; and you, lorenzo, may revel in the possession of your _first shakespeare_--but give me the last variorum edition _in twenty-one volumes_. loren. "chacun a son gout," yet it may be as well to possess them _both_. indeed, i not only have these editions, but a great number of the early plays printed in quarto;[ ] which are considered the _ne plus ultra_ of shakspearian bibliomaniacism. [footnote : a pretty copious list of these valuable early plays will be found at pages - - - , ante.] belin. much good may these wretchedly printed volumes do you! now let me proceed with my pupil. tell us, good lysander, what can you possibly mean by the _seventh symptom_ of the bibliomania, called true editions? lysand. my definition of this strange symptom will excite your mirth.[ ] some copies of a work are struck off with deviations from the usually received ones, and although these deviations have generally neither sense nor beauty to recommend them (and indeed are principally _defects_!), yet copies of this description are eagerly sought after by collectors of a certain class. what think you of such a ridiculous passion in the book-way? [footnote : observing the usual order of notification, we will first borrow the poetical aid of "an aspirant:" seventh maxim. who dares to "write me down an ass," when, spying through the curious mass, i rub my hands, and wipe my glass, if, chance, an _error_ bless my notice-- will prize when drill'd into his duty, these lovely warts of ugly beauty; for books, when _false_ (it may be new t'ye), are "true editions:"--odd,--but _so_ 'tis. let us proceed to see whether this biting satire be founded upon truth, or not. accidental variations from the common impressions of a work form what are called true editions: and as copies, with such variations (upon the same principle as that of _prints_; vide p. - , ante) are rare, they are of course sought after with avidity by knowing bibliomaniacs. thus speaks ameilhon upon the subject:--"pendant l'impression d'un ouvrage il est arrivé un accident qui, à telle page et à telle ligne, a occasioné un renversement dans les lettres d'un mot, et que ce désordre n'a été rétabli qu'apres le tirage de six ou sept exemplaires; ce qui rend ces exemplaires défectueux presque uniques, et leur donne, â les entendre, une valeur inappréciable; car voila un des grands secrets de cet art, qui, au reste, s'acquiert aisément avec de la memoire." _mem. de l'institut_: vol. ii., p. . the author of these words then goes on to abuse the purchasers and venders of these strange books; but i will not quote his saucy tirade in defamation of this noble department of bibliomaniacism. i subjoin a few examples in illustration of lysander's definition:--_cæsar. lug. bat._ , mo. _printed by elzevir._ in the bibliotheca revickzkiana we are informed that the _true_ elzevir edition is known by having the plate of a buffalo's head at the beginning of the preface and body of the work: also by having the page numbered , which _ought_ to have been numbered . a further account is given in my introduction to the classics, vol. i., p. .--_horace_, londini, , vo., vols. published by pine. the _true_ edition is distinguished by having at page , vol. ii., the _incorrect_ reading "post est."--for "protest."--_virgil._ lug. bat., , mo. printed by elzevir. the _true_ edition is known, by having at plate , before the bucolics, the following latin passage _printed in red ink_. "ego vero frequentes a te literas accepi." consul de bure, no. .--_idem._ birmingh. , to. printed by baskerville. a particular account of the _true_ edition will be found in the second volume of my "introduction to the classics," p. --too long to be here inserted.--_bocaccio._ il decamerone, venet. , to. consult de bure no. ; bandini, vol. ii. , ; (who, however, is extremely laconic upon this edition, but copious upon the anterior one of ) and haym, vol. iii., p. , edit. . bibl. paris., no. . clement. (vol. iv. ,) has abundance of reference, as usual, to strengthen his assertion in calling the edition "_fort rare_." the reprint, or spurious edition, has always struck me as the prettier book of the two. these examples appeared in the first edition of this work. i add to them what of course i was not enabled to do before. in the second edition of _the bibliomania_, there are some variations in the copies of the small paper; and one or two decided ones between the small and large. in the small, at page , line , we read "beat with perpetual _forms_." in the large, it is properly "beat with perpetual _storms_." which of these is indicative of the _true_ edition? again: in the small paper, p. , line , we read properly "claudite jam rivos pueri, sat _prata_ biberunt." in the large paper, "claudite jam rivos pueri, sat _parta_ biberunt." it was in my power to have cancelled the leaf in the large paper as well as in the small; but i thought it might thereby have taken from the former the air of a _true_ edition; and so the blunder (a mere transposition of the letters _ar_) will go down to a future generation in the large paper. there is yet another slight variation between the small and large. at p. , in the account of the catalogue of krohn's books, the concluding sentence wholly varies: but i believe there is not an _error_ in either, to entitle one to the rank of _truism_ more than another.[h]] [footnote h: during the youth of the printer of this book, a curious mistake occurred: a splendid folio work was going on for dr. bonnell thornton; in a certain page, as printers technically say, _a space stood up_; the dr. (not understanding printers' marks) wrote on a head page "take out horizontal line at p. so and so"--the compositor inserted these words as a _displayed line_ in the head-page whereon they were written--the reader passed it in the revise--and it was so worked off! being eventually detected--the leaf was of course cancelled.] alman. it seems to me to be downright idiotism. but i suspect you exaggerate? lysand. in sober truth, i tell you only what every day's experience in the book-market will corroborate. belin. well!--what strange animals are you bibliomaniacs. have we any other symptom to notice? yes, i think lysander made mention of an _eighth_; called a passion for the black-letter. can any eyes be so jaundiced as to prefer volumes printed in this crabbed, rough, and dismal manner? loren. treason--downright treason! lisardo shall draw up a bill of indictment against you, and lysander shall be your judge. belin. my case would then be desperate; and execution must necessarily follow. lis. i shall be better able to form an opinion of the expediency of such a measure after lysander has given us his definition of this eighth and last symptom. proceed, my friend. lysand. of all symptoms of the bibliomania, this _eighth_ symptom is at present the most powerful and prevailing. whether it was imported into this country, from holland, by the subtlety of schelhorn[ ] (a knowing writer upon rare and curious books) may be a point worthy of consideration. but whatever be its origin, certain is that books printed in the =black-letter=, are now coveted with an eagerness unknown to our collectors in the last century. if the spirits of west, ratcliffe, farmer, and brand, have as yet held any intercourse with each other, in that place "from whose bourne no traveller returns," which must be the surprise of the three former, on being told, by the latter, of the prices given for some of the books at the sale of his library! [footnote : his words are as follows: "ipsa typorum ruditas, ipsa illa atra crassaque literarum facies _belle tangit sensus_," _&c._ was ever the black-letter more eloquently described: see his _amoentates [transcriber's note: amoenitates] literariæ_, vol. i., p. . but for the last time, let us listen to the concluding symptomatic stanza of an "aspirant;" eighth maxim. who dreams the _type_ should please us all, that's not too thin, and not too tall, nor much awry, nor over small, and, if but roman, asks no better-- may die in darkness:--i, for one, disdain to tell the barb'rous hun that persians but adore the sun till taught to know _our_ god--=black-letter=. _bibliosophia_: p. vii. however cruel may be the notes of one poet, it seems pretty clear that the glorious subject, or bibliomaniacal symptom, of which we are treating, excited numbers of a softer character in the muse of dr. ferriar: for thus sings he--inspired by the possession of _black-letter_ tomes: in red morocco drest, he loves to boast the bloody murder, or the yelling ghost; or dismal ballads, sung to crowds of old, now cheaply bought for thrice their weight in gold. v. - . ev'n i, debarr'd of ease and studious hours, confess, mid' anxious toil, its lurking pow'rs. how pure the joy, when first my hands unfold the small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold! _the bibliomania_, l. - . but let us attend to a more scientific illustration of this eighth symptom. 'black-letter, which is used in england, descends from the gothic characters; and is therefore called _gothic_ by some, _old english_ by others; but printers give it the name of _black-letter_, because its face taking in a larger compass than roman or italic of the same body, the full and spreading strokes thereof appear more _black_ upon paper than common.' _smith's printer's grammar_; edit. , p. . the same definition is given in a recent similar work; with the addition that 'black-letter is more expensive than roman or italic, its broad face requiring an extraordinary quantity of ink, which always gives the best coloured paper a yellow cast, unless worked upon that of a superior quality. it has a good effect in a title-page, if disposed with taste.' stower's _printer's grammar_; , p. . to these authorities we may add, from rowe mores, that 'wynkyn de worde's letter was of _the square english_ or _black face_, and has been the pattern for his successors in the art.' _of english founders and foundries_; , vo. p. , . 'the same black-letter printer,' says palmer or psalmanaazar, 'gave a greater scope to his fancy, and formed such a variety of sorts and sizes of letter that, for several years after him, none of his successors attempted to imitate him therein.' _general history of printing_; p. . it is not necessary to collect, in formal array, the authorities of foreigners upon this important subject; although it may be as well to notice the strange manner in which momoro, in his _traité elémentaire de l'imprimerie_, p. , refers us to an elucidation of the gothic letter ('appelé du nom de certains peuples qui vinrent s'établir dans la gothie, plus de quatre cens ans avant j.c.') in one of the plates of fournier's _dictionnaire typographique_: vol. ii. p. --which, in truth, resembles anything but the gothic type, as understood by modern readers.--smith and mr. stower have the hardihood to rejoice at the present general extinction of the black-letter. they were not, probably, aware of hearne's eulogy upon it--'as it is a reproach to us (says this renowned antiquary) that the saxon language should be so forgot as to have but few (comparatively speaking) that are able to read it; so 'tis a greater reproach that the black-letter, which was the character so much in use in our grandfathers' days, should be now (as it were) disused and rejected; especially when we know the best editions of our english bible and common-prayer (to say nothing of other books) are printed in it.' _robert of gloucester's chronicle_: vol. i., p. lxxxv. i presume the editor and publisher of the forth-coming fac-simile re-impression of juliana barnes's book of hawking, hunting, &c., are of the same opinion with hearne: and are resolved upon eclipsing even the black-letter reputation of the afore-named wynkyn de worde.--a pleasant black-letter anecdote is told by chevillier, of his having picked up, on a bookseller's stall, the first edition of the _speculum salutis_ sive _humanæ salvationis_ (one of the rarest volumes in the class of those printed in the middle of the fifteenth century) for the small sum of four livres! _l'origine de l'imprimerie_; p. . this extraordinary event soon spread abroad, and was circulated in every bibliographical journal. schelhorn noticed it in his _amoenitates literariæ_: vol. iv. - : and so did maichelius in his _introd. ad hist. lit. et præcip. bibl. paris_, p. . nor has it escaped the notice of a more recent foreign bibliographer. ameilhon makes mention of chevillier's good fortune; adding that the work was 'un de ces livres rares au premièr degré, qu' un bon bibliomane ne peut voir sans trépigner de joie, si j'ose m'exprimer ainsi.' _mem. de l'institut_. vol. ii. - . this very copy, which was in the sorbonne, is now in the imperial, library at paris. _ibid._ a similar, though less important, anecdote is here laid before the reader from a communication sent to me by mr. wm. hamper of birmingham. '"_tusser's five hundred points of good husbandry, black-letter, sewed_," was valued at sixpence, in a catalogue of a small collection of books on the sale at the shop of mr. william adams, loughborough, in the year : and, after in vain suing the coy collector at this humble price, remained unsold to the present year, , when (thanks to your _bibliomania_!) it brought a golden guinea.'--i have myself been accused of 'an admiration to excess' of black-letter lore; and of recommending it in every shape, and by every means, directly and indirectly. yet i have surely not said or done any thing half so decisive in recommendation of it as did our great moralist, dr. johnson: who thus introduces the subject in one of his periodical papers.--'the eldest and most venerable of this society, was hirsutus: who, after the first civilities of my reception, found means to introduce the mention of his favourite studies, by a severe censure of those who want the due regard for their native country. he informed me that he had early withdrawn his attention from foreign trifles, and that since he begun to addict his mind to serious and manly studies, he had very carefully amassed all the _english books_ that were printed in the =black-letter=. this search he had pursued so diligently that he was able to show the deficiencies of the best catalogues. he had long since completed his _caxton_, had three sheets of _treveris_, unknown to antiquaries, and wanted to a perfect [collection of] _pynson_ but two volumes: of which one was promised him as a legacy by its present possessor, and the other he was resolved to buy at whatever price, when quisquilius' library should be sold. hirsutus had no other reason for the valuing or slighting a book than that it was printed in the roman or the gothick letter, nor any ideas but such as his favourite volumes had supplied: when he was serious, he expatiated on the narratives of johan de trevisa, and, when he was merry, regaled us with a quotation from the _shippe of fools_.' rambler, no. .--nor was the doctor himself quite easy and happy 'till he had sold, in the character of a bookseller, a few volumes--probably of black-letter celebrity. mr. boswell relates that 'during the last visit which the doctor made to litchfield, the friends, with whom he was staying missed him one morning at the breakfast table. on inquiring after him of the servants, they understood that he had set off from litchfield at a very early hour, without mentioning to any of the family whither he was going. the day passed without the return of the illustrious guest, and the party began to be very uneasy on his account, when, just before the supper hour, the door opened, and the doctor stalked into the room. a solemn silence of a few minutes ensued; nobody daring to enquire the cause of his absence, which was at length relieved by johnson addressing the lady of the house as follows: "madam, i beg your pardon for the abruptness of my departure this morning, but i was constrained to it by my _conscience_. fifty years ago, madam, on this day, i committed a breach of filial piety, which has ever since lain heavy on my mind, and has not until this day been expiated. my father, you recollect, was a bookseller, and had long been in the habit of attending _walsall market_; and opening a stall for the sale of his books during that day. confined to his bed by indisposition, he requested of me, this time fifty years ago, to visit the market, and attend the stall in his place. but, madam, my pride prevented me from doing my duty, and i gave my father a refusal. to do away the sin of this disobedience, i this day went in a post-chaise to walsall, and going into the market at the time of high business, uncovered my head, and stood with it bare an hour before the stall which my father had formerly used, exposed to the sneers of the by-standers, and the inclemency of the weather: a penance, by which i have propitiated heaven for this only instance, i believe, of contumacy towards my father."'--is it not probable that dr. johnson himself might have sold for sixpence, a _tusser_, which now would have brought a 'golden guinea?'] a perusal of these prices may probably not impress the reader with any lofty notions of the superiority of the black-letter; but this symptom of the bibliomania is, nevertheless, not to be considered as incurable, or wholly unproductive of good. under a proper spirit of modification, it has done, and will continue to do, essential service to the cause of english literature. it guided the taste, and strengthened the judgment, of tyrwhitt in his researches after chaucerian lore. it stimulated the studies of farmer and steevens, and enabled them to twine many a beauteous flower round the brow of their beloved shakspeare. it has since operated, to the same effect, in the labour of mr. douce,[ ] the porson of old english and french literature; and in the editions of milton and spenser, by my amiable and excellent friend mr. todd, the public have had a specimen of what the _black-letter_ may perform, when temperately and skilfully exercised. [footnote : in the criticisms which have passed upon mr. douce's "_illustrations of shakspeare and ancient manners_," it has not, i think, been generally noticed that this work is distinguished for the singular diffidence and urbanity of criticism, as well as depth of learning, which it evinces; and for the happy illustrations of the subjects discussed by means of fac-simile wood-cuts.] i could bring to your recollection other instances; but your own memories will better furnish you with them. let me not, however, omit remarking that the beautiful pages of the '_minstrelsy of the scottish border_' and '_sir tristrem_' exhibit, in the notes, (now and then thickly studded with black-letter references) a proof that the author of '_the lay_,' '_marmion_,' and '_the lady of the lake_,' has not disdained to enrich his stores with such intelligence as black-letter books impart. in short, although this be a strong and general symptom of the bibliomania, it is certainly not attended with injurious effects when regulated by prudence and discretion. an undistinguishable voracious appetite to swallow _every thing_, because printed in the black-letter, must necessarily bring on an incurable disease, and, consequently, premature dissolution. there is yet one other, and a somewhat generally prevailing, symptom, indicative of the prevalence of the bibliomania; and this consists in a fondness for books which have been printed for private distribution[ ] only, or at a private press. what is executed for a few, will be coveted by many; because the edge of curiosity is whetted, from a supposition that something very extraordinary, or very curious, or very uncommon, is propagated in this said book, so partially distributed. as to works printed at a _private press_, we have had a very recent testimony of the avidity with which certain volumes, executed in this manner, and of which the impression has been comparatively limited, have been sought after by book _cognoscenti_. [footnote : the reader may not object to be made acquainted with a few distinguished productions, printed for private distribution. the reader is indebted to mr. bulmer, at whose elegant press these works were printed, for the information which follows:--museum worsleyanum; by sir _richard worsley_; , , atlas folio, vols. the first volume of this work, of which copies were printed, was finished in may, , and circulated, with the plates only of vol. ii., amongst the chosen friends of sir richard worsley, the author; who was, at that time, the diplomatic resident at venice from our court. the second volume, with the letter-press complete, of which only copies were printed, was finished in . the entire expense attending this rare and sumptuous publication (of which a copy is in the library of the royal institution) amounted to the enormous sum of , _l._ and from the irregularity of delivering the second volume of plates, in the first instance, without the letter-press, many of the copies are incomplete.----the father's revenge; _by the earl of carlisle, k.g._ &c., , to. a limited impression of this very beautiful volume, decorated with engravings from the pencil of westall, was circulated by the noble author among his friends. i saw a copy of it, bound in green morocco, with the original letter of the donor, in the library of earl spencer at althorp.----mount st. gothard: _by the late duchess of devonshire_, folio. only fifty copies of this brilliant volume were printed; to a few of which, it is said, lady diana beauclerc lent the aid of her ornamental pencil, in some beautiful drawings of the wild and romantic scenery in the neighbourhood of mount st. gothard.----dissertation on etruscan vases; _by mr. christie_. imperial to. with elegant engravings. only copies of this truly classical volume were printed. from the death of one or two of the parties, who became originally possessed of it, as a present from the author, it has fallen to the lot of mr. christie to become, professionally, the vender of a work which he himself never meant to be sold. a copy was very lately disposed of, in this manner, for _l._----bentleii epistolÆ; _edited by_ [the rev.] _dr. charles burney_: , to. this is one of the most beautiful productions of the shakspeare press; nor are the intrinsic merits of the volume inferior to its external splendour. the scarcer copies of it are those in medium quarto; of which only were printed: of the imperial quarto, there were executed.--i add two more similar examples, which were not printed at the shakspeare press:--lord baltimore's _gaudia poetica_; lat. angl. et gall. with plates. (no date). large quarto. only ten copies of this rare volume were printed, and those distributed among the author's friends: a copy of it was sold for _l._ _s._ at the sale of mr. reed's books: see bibl. reed, no. . it was inserted for sale in the catalogue of mr. burnham, bookseller at northampton, a.d. --with a note of its rarity subjoined.----views in orkney and on the north-eastern coast of scotland. taken in . etched . folio. _by the marchioness of stafford._--the letter-press consists of twenty-seven pages: the first of which bears this unassuming designation; "some account of the orkney islands, extracted from dr. barry's history, and wallace's and brand's descriptions of orkney." to this chapter or division is prefixed a vignette of _stroma_; and the chapter ends at p. . then follow four views of the orkney islands.--the next chapter is entitled "the cathedral of kirkwall," which at the beginning exhibits a vignette of the _cathedral of st. magnus_, and at the close, at p. , a vignette of a _tomb in the cathedral_. to these succeed two plates, presenting views of the _inside of the cathedral_, and an _arch in the cathedral_.--the third chapter commences at p. , with "the earl of orkney's palace," to which a vignette of a _street in kirkwall_ is prefixed. it ends at p. , and is followed by a plate exhibiting a view of the _door-way of the earl's palace_; by another of the _hall of the earl's palace_; and by a third containing two views, namely, the _inside of the hall_, and, upon a larger scale, the _chimney in the hall_.--"the bay of the frith" is the subject of the fourth chapter; which exhibits at the beginning a vignette of the _hills of hoy_. it closes at p. , with a vignette of _the dwarfy stone_. then follow six plates, containing a view of the _bay of frith_, a _view from hoy_, two views of the _eastern and western circles of the stones of stennis_, and two views of _stromness_.--the next chapter is entitled "duncansbay or dungsby-head," which bears in front a vignette of _wick_, and at the end, in p. , a vignette of the _castle of freswick_. three plates follow: the first presenting a view of _duncansbay-head_: the second, views of the _stacks of hemprigs_ and the _hills of schrabiner or schuraben_; the third, a view of _the ord_.--"the castle of helmsdale" is the title of the succeeding chapter, to which is prefixed a vignette of _helmsdale castle_. it ends at p. , with a vignette of the _bridge of brora_. then follow two plates, presenting views of _helmsdale castle_, and the _coast of sutherland_.--the subject of the next chapter is "dunrobin castle," (the ancient seat of her ladyship's ancestors, and now a residence of her ladyship,) which presents, at the beginning, a vignette of _dunrobin castle_, and after the close of the chapter, at p. , four plates; the first of which is a view of _dunrobin castle_ and the surrounding scenery; the second, a smaller view of the _castle_: the third, a view of _druid stones_, with another of _battle stones in strathflete_: and the fourth, _dornoch, with the thane's cross_.--the last chapter is entitled "the chapel of rosslyn," to which is prefixed a vignette of _rosslyn chapel_. it is followed by four plates; the first exhibiting a view of a _column in rosslyn chapel_; the second, a _door-way in the chapel_; the third, the _tomb of sir william st. clair_; and the fourth, _hawthornden_, the residence of the elegant and plaintive drummond; with whose beautiful sonnet, to this his romantic habitation, the volume closes: "dear wood! and you, sweet solitary place, where i estranged from the vulgar live," &c. of the volume which had been thus described, only copies were printed. the views were all drawn and etched by her ladyship: and are executed with a spirit and correctness which would have done credit to the most successful disciple of rembrandt. a copy of the work, which had been presented to the late right hon. c.f. greville, produced, at the sale of his books, the sum of sixteen guineas.] lis. you allude to the strawberry hill press?[ ] [footnote : for the gratification of such desperately-smitten bibliomaniacs, who leave no stone unturned for the possession of what are called strawberry hill _pieces_, i subjoin the following list of books, printed at the celebrated seat of sir horace walpole (afterwards lord orford) at strawberry hill: situated between richmond and twickenham, on the banks of the thames. this list, and the occasional bibliographical memoranda introduced, are taken from the collection of strawberry hill books in the library of the marquis of bute, at luton; all of them being elegantly bound by kalthoeber, in red morocco.----i. _two odes by mr. gray._ "[greek: phônanta synetoisi]," pindar olymp. ii. printed for r. and j. dodsley, , to., pages, copies. in these copies there is sometimes (but very rarely) prefixed a short poem of six stanzas, in alternate rhyme, "to mr. gray, on his poems." as there were _only six copies_ of these verses printed, i subjoin them: repine not, gray, that our weak dazzled eyes thy daring heights and brightness shun, how few can track the eagle to the skies, or, like him, gaze upon the sun! the gentle reader loves the gentle muse, that little dares, and little means, who humbly sips her learning from _reviews_, or flutters in the _magazines_. no longer now from learning's sacred store, our minds their health and vigour draw; homer and pindar are revered no more, no more the _stagyrite is law_. though nurst by these, in vain thy muse appears to breathe her ardours in our souls; in vain to sightless eyes, and deaden'd ears, thy lightning gleams, and thunder rolls! yet droop not gray, nor quit thy heav'n-born art: again thy wondrous powers reveal, wake slumb'ring virtue in the _briton's_ heart. and rouse us to _reflect_ and _feel_! with antient deeds our long-chill'd bosoms fire, those deeds which mark'd eliza's reign! make _britons_ greeks again.--then strike the lyre, and pindar shall not sing in vain. ----ii. _a journey into england_, originally written in latin, _by paul hentzner_. in the year . printed . advertisement of pages in a fine large beautiful type, printed on paper of great delicacy. the body of the work, which is printed in a smaller type, occupies double pages; on account of the latin and english being on the opposite pages, each page is marked with the same number. only copies of this curious and elegant work were printed.--iii. _fugitive pieces in verse and prose. pereunt et imputantur._ mdcclviii. vo. two pages of dedication "to the honourable major general henry seymour conway:" two pages of a table of contents, body of the work pages. printed with the small type: and only copies struck off.--iv. _an account of russia as it was in the year . by charles lord whitworth._ printed at s.h. mdcclviii, vo. advertisement pages, body of this work --with a page of errata, copies printed. this is an interesting and elegantly printed little volume.--v. _a parallel, in the manner of plutarch, between a most celebrated man of florence, and one scarce ever heard of in england. by the reverend mr. spence_, , vo. this is the beautiful and curious little volume, of which mention has already been made at p. , ante. seven hundred copies of it were printed; and from a copy, originally in the possession of the late mr. john mann, of durham, i learnt that "the clear profits arising from the sale of it being about _l._, were applied for the benefit of mr. hill and his family." (magliabechi was "the man of florence;" and hill "the one scarce ever heard of in england.") a copy of this edition, with ms. notes by mr. cole, was purchased by mr. waldron, at the sale of george steevens's books, for _l._ _s._ it was reprinted by dodsley: but the curious seek only the present edition.----vi. _lucani pharsalia_, mdcclx, to. this is the most beautiful volume, in point of printing, which the strawberry hill press ever produced. a tolerably copious account of it will be found in my _introduction to the classics_, vol. ii., p. . kirgate the printer (recently deceased) told me that uncommon pains were taken with its typographical execution.----vii. _anecdotes of painting in englaud_ [transcriber's note: england]; mdcclxi. four volumes; _catalogue of engravers_, to., one volume. this is the _first_, and, on account of having the earliest impressions of the plates, the _best_ edition of this amusing, and once popular work. it was reprinted in quarto, in ; of which edition i believe copies were struck off. again, in , crown vo., five volumes, without the plates.----viii. _the life of edward lord herbert of cherbury_, written by himself. printed in the year mdcclxix, to. dedication of two pages to lord powis. advertisement six pages, not numbered. after this, there should be a "genealogical table of the family of herbert," which is very scarce, on account of its being suppressed by mr. walpole, for its inaccuracy. the life occupied pages. "mr. walpole," says the late mr. cole, "when i was with him in the autumn of , at which time the book was partly printed, told me that either one or two hundred copies were to be printed; half to be sent to the earl of powis, and the other half he was to reserve for himself, as presents to his friends; so that, except the book is reprinted by some bookseller, privately, as probably it will, it will be a curiosity. it was not published till the end of june, , when the honourable editor sent it to me.----ix. _poems by anna chambers_, countess temple. mdcclxiv, to. this volume, containing poems on various subjects, is printed in pages, with a large, but not very elegant type. only copies were struck off.----x. _the mysterious mother._ a tragedy, by mr. horace walpole. sit mihi fas audita loqui. virg. printed at s.h., mdcclxviii. vo. no vignette on the back. first leaf, errata, and "persons" [of the play.] printed with the small type on pages; after which follows a "postscript" of pages. only copies printed. an uncut copy was recently sold for _l._ _s._----xi. _cornélie vestale. tragédie._ imprimée à s.h. mdcclxviii, vo., copies. the title-page is followed by a letter "a mons. horace walpole." a page of the names of the actors forms the commencement of the work, which contains pages, neatly printed. only copies printed, of which were sent to paris.----xii. _poems by the reverend mr. hoyland_, mdcclxix, vo. the advertisement ends at p. iv.; the odes occupy pages. although this little volume is not printed with the usual elegance of the s.h. press, it is valuable from its scarcity, on account of its never having been re-printed. only copies were struck off.----xiii. _original letters from k. edward vi. to barnaby fitzpatrick_, , to. i am not acquainted with any circumstance, intrinsic or extrinsic, that renders this small volume sought after.----xiv. _miscellaneous antiquities, or a collection of curious papers_: either republished from scarce tracts, or now first printed from original mss. two numbers printed by thomas kirgate, mdcclxxii, to. no. i. advertisement of two pages, ending p. iv. the number contains besides: contents. chap. i. "an account of some tournaments and other martial diversions." this was reprinted from a work written by sir william segar, norroy; and is called by the author, honour, military and ceuill, printed at london in . chap. ii. of "justs and tournaments," &c., from the same. chap. iii. "a triumph in the reigne of king richard the second, ," from the same. chap. iv. "a militarie triumph at brussels, anno ," from the same. chap. v. "of justs and tourneaments," &c., from the same. chap. vi. "triumphes military, for honour and loue of ladies: brought before the kings of england," from the same. chap. vii. "of the life and actions in armes since the reigne of queene elizabeth," from the same. chap. viii. "the original occasions of the yeerely triumph in england." all these tracts are taken from the above work. no. ii. second leaf, a plate of a head from the original wood-cut by hans holbein. contents. this number is almost entirely occupied by the "life of sir thomas wyat, the elder," copied by mr. gray from the originals in the harleian collection, now in the british museum. this extends to p. , after which is an appendix of eight pages on a few miscellaneous subjects. five hundred copies were printed.----xv. _memoirs du comte de grammont_, par monsieur le comte antoine hamilton. nouvelle edition, augumentée denotes et eclaircissemens necessaires. par m. horace walpole. mdcclxxii, to. the title-page is succeeded by a dedication "à madame ----," in six lines and a half, printed in a very large type. then follows an "avis de l'editour," and "avertissement," occupying three pages. an "epitre à monsieur le comte de grammont,' continues to p. xxi: then a "table des chapitres," to p. xxiii., on the back of which are the errata. the body of the work extends to pages; which are succeeded by "table des personnes," or index, in three pages. these memoirs are printed with the middle size type; but neither the type nor paper are so beautiful as are those of hentzner's travels, or the comparison between magliabechi and hill. portraits. . le comte antoine hamilton, faces the title page. . philibert, comte de grammont, opposite the "epitre:" badly executed. . a portrait of miss warminster, opposite p. , in the style of worlidge's gems. . mademoiselle d'hamilton, comtesse de grammont, faces p. . this engraving, by g. powle, is executed in a style of beauty and spirit that has seldom been surpassed. . lord chesterfield, second earl, in the style of the preceding; very beautiful. there were only copies of this edition printed, of which were sent as presents to paris.----xvi. _the sleep walker, a comedy_: in two acts. translated [by lady craven] from the french, in march. printed by t. kirgate, mdcclxxviii, vo. it is printed in the small type on pages, exclusively of viii. introductory ones, of "prologues" and "persons," &c. only copies were printed: and of these, one was sold for _l._ in the year , at a public auction.----xvii. _a letter to the editor of the miscellanies of thomas chatterton._ printed by t. kirgate. mdcclxxix, vo. this title is preceded by what is called a bastard title: and is followed by pages of the work, not very elegantly printed. only copies.----xviii. _the muse recalled_, an ode occasioned by the nuptials of lord viscount althorp (the late earl spencer) and miss lavinia bingham, eldest daughter of charles, lord lucan, march vi., mdcclxxxi. by william jones, esq. printed by thomas kirgate, mdcclxxxi. to. eight pages, exclusively of the title-page. printed in the middle size type; but neither the paper nor typographical execution are in the best style of the s.h. press. only copies printed.----xix. _a description of the villa of mr. horace walpole, youngest son of sir robert walpole, earl of orford, at strawberry hill, near twickenham, middlesex._ with an inventory of the furniture, pictures, curiosities, &c. printed by thomas kirgate, mcclxxxiv, to. this book contains pages in the whole. it was preceded by a small quarto impression of mdcclxxiv: which is scarce; and of which there are large paper copies. the work entitled _Ædes walpolianæ_ was printed in mdcclxvii. plates to the edition of . . frontispiece, gothic; motto on a scroll, "fari quæ sentiat." . north front of strawberry hill. . entrance of strawberry hill. . view of the prior's garden, at ditto. . chimney in the great parlour. . chimney in the china room. . chimney in the yellow bedchamber. . do. ---- ---- blue bedchamber. . staircase at strawberry hill. . library at ditto. . chimney piece of the holbein chamber. . the gallery. . chimney in the round room. . the cabinet. . view from the great bedchamber. . garden gate. . view of the chapel in the garden at strawberry hill. . the shell bench. . view from the terrace at strawberry hill. . east view of the cottage garden at strawberry hill. there were only copies of this edition printed. the following may amuse the curious reader: "mr. walpole is very ready to oblige any curious persons with the sight of his house and collection; but as it is situated so near to london, and in so populous a neighbourhood, and as he refuses a ticket to nobody that sends for one, it is but reasonable that such persons as send should comply with the rules he has been obliged to lay down for shewing it:--any person, sending a day or two before may have a ticket for four persons for a day certain;--no ticket will serve but on the day for which it is given. if more than four persons come with a ticket, the housekeeper has positive orders to admit none of them;--every ticket will admit the company only between the hours of twelve and three before dinner, and only one company will be admitted on the same day;--the house will never be shewn after dinner, nor at all but from the first of may to the first of october;--as mr. walpole has given offence by sometimes enlarging the number o [transcriber's note: of] four, and refusing that latitude to others, he flatters himself that for the future nobody will take it ill that he strictly confines the number; as whoever desires him to break his rule does in effect expect him to disoblige others, which is what nobody has a right to desire of him;--persons desiring a ticket may apply either to strawberry hill, or to mr. walpole's, in berkeley square, london. if any person does not make use of the ticket, mr. walpole hopes he shall have notice: otherwise he is prevented from obliging others on that day, and thence is put to great inconvenience;--they who have tickets are desired not to bring children."----xx. _a copy of all the works of mr. walpole that were printed by him before his death_, , to. this brochure, which has been called "rare" in book-auction catalogues, has been sold for upwards of two guineas.----xxi. _postscript to the royal and noble authors._ mdccxxxvi, vo. there should be, before the title-page, an outline etching of "reason, rectitude, and justice, appearing to christin de pisan, &c., from an illumination in the library of the king of france," which is exceedingly well engraved. the work contains only pages: and there were but copies printed. the _royal and noble authors_ were first printed in , vo. vols.----xxii. _essai sur l'art des jardins modernes_, par m. horace walpole. traduit en françois, par m. le duc de nivernois, en mdcclxxxiv. _imprimé à s.h._ par t. kirgate, mdcclxxxv. with an opposite title in english, to. it contains double pages, and every page of french has an opposite one of english. not printed in the best manner of s.h. a copy of this book was sold for _l._; at a sale in .----xxiii. _bishop banner's ghost._ printed by t.k. mdlccxxxix, to. on the first leaf is the following "argument." "in the gardens of the palace of fulham is a dark recess: at the end of this stands a chair, which once belonged to bishop bonner. a certain bishop of london (the late beilby porteus) more than years after the death of the aforesaid bonner, just as the clock of the gothic chapel had struck six, undertook to cut, with his own hand, a narrow walk through this thicket, which is since called the _monk's walk_. he had no sooner begun to clear the way, than lo! suddenly up started from the chair, the ghost of bishop bonner, who, in a tone of just and bitter indignation, uttered the following verses." this curious publication contains only four pages of stanzas, written in alternate rhyme, of and feet metre.----xxiv. _the magpie and her brood_; a fable, from the tales of bonaventure de periers, valet de chambre to the queen of navarre; addressed to miss hotham. this is a very scarce poetical tract of four pages only; subscribed h.w.----xxv. _fourteen different pieces, printed at strawberry hill, of verses, cards, &c._ this title i borrow from a book-auction catalogue. at a sale in , these detached pieces were sold for _l._ _s._; but it is not in my power to identify them. whether they be the same "_parcel of scraps, and loose leaves of poetry, epigrams_," _&c._ which, according to a daily newspaper, were sold at the commencement of this year "for pounds," i am also equally ignorant. see _kirgate's catalogue_, , no. .----xxvi. _hieroglyphic tales_, vo. only seven copies printed; _idem_, no. . from newspaper authority, i learn that these tales formed "a small pamphlet of two sheets, crown vo.," which were sold for _l._; and i understand that the late mr. g. baker was the purchaser. n.b. they are incorporated in the author's printed works; but this is not having the _first_ and _true edition_! there is nothing like the comfort of bleeding smartly for exhibiting these fourth and fifth symptoms of the bibliomania! vide pp. , , ante.----xxvii. _additions to first editions of walpole's lives of the painters, sewed._----xxviii. _the press at strawberry hill to his royal highness the duke of clarence, a poem._----xxix. _the master of otranto in durance._----xxx. _air, a poem._----xxxi. _a poetical epistle to mrs. crewe._----xxxii. _a poetical epistle to lady horatio waldegrave, on the death of the duke of ancaster._----xxxiii. _the press at strawberry hill to miss mary and miss agnes berry, a poetical epistle._ [these last seven articles are taken from mr. cuthell's catalogue of .] i should add that a much more copious and complete list, though not possessing all the intelligence here communicated, was prepared by the late mr. george baker for press; and printed, since his decease, for donations to his particular friends. only twenty copies of this bibliographical brochure are said to have been executed. we will now take leave of the prelum walpolianum by subjoining a copy of the most elegant title-page vignette which ever issued from it. [illustration: fari quÆ sentiat] before the reader's eyes are finally turned from a contemplation of this elegant device--and as connected with the subject of private presses--let me inform him that the marquis of bute is in possession of a thin folio volume, exhibiting paintings, upon vellum, of the various devices used by pope sixtus v., in the frontispieces of the several works which issued from the apostolical press, while he filled the papal chair. to a tasteful bibliomaniac, few volumes would afford so much delight as a contemplation of the present one. it is quite a _keimelion_ in its way!] lysand. i do; but i have not so ardent an admiration of these volumes, as the generality of collectors. on the contrary, i think that the _hafod press_ has, by one single production only, outweighed the whole of the _walpolian_ lucubrations; at least on the score of utility. i might here add, to the foregoing symptoms, a passion to possess works which have been _suppressed_, _condemned_, or _burnt_; but all these things rank under the head of _causes of the rarity_ of books; and as an entire volume might be written upon _this_ symptom _alone_, i can here only allude to to [transcriber's note: second 'to' erroneous] the subject; hoping some diligent bibliographer will one day do for _us_ what foreigners have done for other nations. thus have i, rather slightly, discussed the _symptoms of the disease, called_ =the bibliomania=. during this discussion, i see our friend has been busy, as he was yesterday evening, in making sketches of notes; and if you examine the finished pictures of which such outlines may be made productive, you will probably have a better notion of the accuracy of my classification of these symptoms. it is much to be wished, whatever may be the whims of desperate book-collectors, that, in _some_ of those volumes which are constantly circulating in the bibliomaniacal market, we had a more clear and satisfactory account of the rise and progress of arts and sciences. however strong may be my attachment to the profession of the cloth, i could readily exchange a great number of old volumes of polemical and hortatory divinity for interesting disquisitions upon the manners, customs, and general history of the times. over what a dark and troublesome ocean must we sail, before we get even a glimpse at the progressive improvement of our ancestors in civilised life! oh, that some judicious and faithful reporter had lived three hundred and odd years ago!--we might then have had a more satisfactory account of the _origin of printing with metal types_. lis. pray give us your sentiments upon this latter subject. we have almost the whole day before us:--the sun has hardly begun to decline from his highest point. lysand. a very pretty and smooth subject to discuss, truly! the longest day and the most effectually-renovated powers of body and mind, are hardly sufficient to come to any satisfactory conclusion, upon the subject. how can i, therefore, after the fatigues of the whole of yesterday, and with barely seven hours of daylight yet to follow, pretend to enter upon it? no: i will here only barely mention trithemius[ ]--who might have been numbered among the patriarchal bibliographers we noticed when discoursing in our friend's cabinet--as an author from whom considerable assistance has been received respecting early typographical researches. indeed, trithemius merits a more marked distinction in the annals of literature than many are supposed to grant him: at any rate, i wish his labours were better known to our own countrymen. [footnote : we are indebted to the abbé trithemius, who was a diligent chronicler and indefatigable visitor of old libraries, for a good deal of curious and interesting intelligence; and however scioppius (_de orig. domûs austriac._), brower (_vit. fortunat. pictav._, p. .), and possevinus (_apparant sacr._ p. ), may carp at his simplicity and want of judgment, yet, as baillet (from whom i have borrowed the foregoing authorities) has justly remarked--"since the time of trithemius there have been many libraries, particularly in germany, which have been pillaged or burnt in the destruction of monasteries; so that the books which he describes as having seen in many places, purposely visited by him for inspection, may have been destroyed in the conflagration of religious houses." _jugemens des savans_; vol. ii., pt. i., p. , edit. mo. it is from trithemius, after all, that we have the only _direct_ evidence concerning the origin of printing with metal types: and the bibliographical world is much indebted to chevelier (_l'origine de l'imprimerie de paris_, , to., pp. - .) for having been the first to adduce the positive evidence of this writer; who tells us, in his valuable _chronicon hirsaugiens_ ( , vols. folio), that he received his testimony from the mouth of fust's son-in-law--"ex ore petri opilionis audivi,"--that guttenburg [transcriber's note: gutenberg] was the author of the invention. the historical works of trithemius were collected and published in , in folio, two parts, and his other works are minutely detailed in the th volume of the _dictionnarie [transcriber's note: dictionnaire] historique_, published at caen, in . of these, one of the most curious is his _polygraphia_: being first printed at paris, in , in a beautiful folio volume; and presenting us, in the frontispiece, with a portrait of the abbé; which is probably the first, if not the only legitimate, print of him extant. whether it be copied from a figure on his tomb--as it has a good deal of the _monumental_ character--i have no means of ascertaining. for the gratification of all tasteful bibliomaniacs, an admirable facsimile is here annexed. the _polygraphia_ of trithemius was translated into french, and published in , folio. his work _de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis_, colon, , to., with two appendices, contains much valuable matter. the author died in his th year, a.d. : according to the inscription upon his tomb in the monastery of the benedictines at wirtzburg. his life has been written by busæus, a jesuit. see la monnoye's note in the _jugemens des savans_; _ibid._ [illustration]] lis. i will set his works down among my literary _desiderata_. but proceed. lysand. with what? am i to talk for ever? belin. while you discourse so much to the purpose, you may surely not object to a continuance of this conversation. i wish only to be informed whether bibliomaniacs are indisputably known by the prevalence of all, or of any, of the symptoms which you have just described. alman. is there any other passion, or fancy, in the book-way, from which we may judge of bibliomaniacism? lysand. let me consider. yes; there is one other characteristic of the book-madman that may as well be noticed. it is an ardent desire to collect all the editions of a work which have been published. not only the first--whether _uncut, upon large paper_, _in the black-letter_, _unique_, _tall_, or _illustrated_--but all the editions.[ ] [footnote : i frankly confess that i was, myself, once desperately afflicted with this _eleventh_ symptom of _the bibliomania_; having collected not fewer than _seventy-five_ editions of the greek testament--but time has cooled my ardour, and mended my judgment. i have discarded seventy, and retain only five: which are _r. steevens's_ of , _the elzevir_ of , _mill's_ of , _westein's_ of , and _griesbach's_ of --as beautifully and accurately reprinted at oxford.] belin. strange--but true, i warrant! lysand. most true; but, in my humble opinion, most ridiculous; for what can a sensible man desire beyond the earliest and best editions of a work? be it also noticed that these works are sometimes very capricious and extroardinary [transcriber's note: extraordinary]. thus, baptista is wretched unless he possess every edition of our early grammarians, _holt_, _stanbridge_, and _whittinton_: a reimpression, or a new edition, is a matter of almost equal indifference: for his slumbers are broken and oppressive unless _all_ the _dear wynkyns_ and _pynsons_ are found within his closet!--up starts florizel, and blows his bugle, at the annunciation of any work, new or old, upon the diversions of _hawking_, _hunting_, or _fishing_![ ] carry him through camillo's cabinet of dutch pictures, and you will see how instinctively, as it were, his eyes are fixed upon a sporting piece by wouvermans. the hooded hawk, in his estimation, hath more charms than guido's madonna:--how he envies every rider upon his white horse!--how he burns to bestride the foremost steed, and to mingle in the fair throng, who turn their blue eyes to the scarcely bluer expanse of heaven! here he recognises _gervase markham_, spurring his courser; and there he fancies himself lifting _dame juliana_ from her horse! happy deception! dear fiction! says florizel--while he throws his eyes in an opposite direction, and views every printed book upon the subject, from _barnes_ to _thornton_. [footnote : some superficial notes, accompanied by an interesting wood-cut of a man carrying hawks for sale, in my edition of robinson's translation of _more's utopia_, kindled, in the breast of mr. joseph haslewood, a prodigious ardour to pursue the subjects above-mentioned to their farthest possible limits. not eolus himself excited greater commotion in the mediterranean waves than did my bibliomaniacal friend in agitating the black-letter ocean--'a sedibus imis'--for the discovering of every volume which had been published upon these delectable pursuits. accordingly there appeared in due time--'[post] magni procedere menses'--some very ingenious and elaborate disquisitions upon hunting and hawking and fishing, in the ninth and tenth volumes of _the censura literaria_; which, with such additions as his enlarged experience has subsequently obtained, might be thought an interesting work if reprinted in a duodecimo volume. but mr. haslewood's mind, as was to be expected, could not rest satisfied with what he considered as mere _nuclei_ productions: accordingly, it became clothed with larger wings, and meditated a bolder flight; and after soaring in a _hawk_-like manner, to mark the object of its prey, it pounced upon the book of _hawking, hunting, fishing, &c._, which had been reprinted by w. de worde, from the original edition published in the abbey of st. albans. prefixed to the republication of this curious volume, the reader will discover a great deal of laborious and successful research connected with the book and its author. and yet i question whether, in the midst of all the wood-cuts with which it abounds, there be found any thing more suitable to the 'high and mounting spirit' (see braithwait's amusing discourse upon hawking, in his _english gentleman_, p. - .) of the editor's taste, than the ensuing representation of a pilgrim hawker?!--taken from one of the frontispieces of _l'acadamia peregrina del doni_; , to., fol. . [illustration] we will conclude this _hawking_ note with the following excerpt from one of the earliest editions of the abridgment of our statutes:--'nul home pringe les oves dascu[n] _faucon_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou swan hors de le nyst sur peyn de inprison p[our] vn an et vn iour et de faire fyn all volunte le roy et que nul home puis le fest de paque p[ro]chyn auenpart ascun _hawke_ de le brode dengl' appell vne _nyesse_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou _laneret_ sur sa mayn, sur peyn de forfaiture son _hawke_, et que null enchasse ascun hawke hors de c[ou]uerte sur peyne de forfaiture x li. lun moyte al roy et lauter a celuy que voet sur.' anno xi. h. vij. ca. xvij. _abbreviamentum statutorum_; printed by pynson, , vo., fol. lxxvij.] there are other tastes of an equally strange, but more sombre, character. dion will possess every work which has any connexion, intimate or remote, with _latimer_ and _swedenborg_;[ ] while antigonus is resolved upon securing every lucubration of _withers_ or _warburton_; whether grave or gay, lively or severe. [footnote : as i could not consistently give emanuel swedenborg a niche among the bibliomaniacal heroes noticed towards the conclusion of part v. of this work, i have reserved, for the present place, a few extracts of the titles of his works, from a catalogue of the same, published in ; which i strenuously advise the curious to get possession of--and for two reasons: first, if he be a _swedenborgian_, his happiness will be nearly complete, and he will thank me for having pointed out such a source of comfort to him: secondly, if he be _not_ a disciple of the same master, he may be amused by meditating upon the strange whims and fancies which possess certain individuals, and which have sufficient attractions yet to make proselytes and converts!! written march , a.d. . now for the extracts. '_a catalogue of the printed and unprinted works_ of the hon. emanuel swedenborg, in chronological order. to which are added some observations, recommending the perusal of his theological writings. together with a compendious view of the faith of a new heaven and a new church, in its universal and particular forms. london, printed by robert hindmarsh, no. , clerkenwell close, mdcclxxxv. those marked thus (*) are translated into english.' no. . _regnum animale_, or the animal kingdom in three parts. the first treats of the viscera of the abdomen, or the lower region. the second, of the viscera of the breast, or of the organs of the superior region. the third, of the skin, the touch, and the taste, and of organical forms in general. part printed at the hague, and part in london, , , in to. . _de cultu et amore dei_, or of the worship and love of god. the first part treats of the origin of the earth, of paradise, of the birth, infancy, and love of the first man, or adam. london, , in to. the second part treats of the marriage of the first man, of the soul, of the intellectual spirit, of the state of integrity, and of the image of god. london, , to. . _arcana coelestia_, or heavenly mysteries contained in the sacred scriptures or word of the lord, manifested and laid open, in an explanation of the books of genesis and exodus, interspersed with relations of wonderful things seen in the world of spirits, and the heaven of angels. london, from to , in eight volumes, to. "in this work the reader is taught to regard the letter of the scriptures as the repository of holy and divine things within; as a cabinet containing the infinite treasures and bright gems of spiritual and celestial wisdom; &c."(*).... . _de coelo et inferno_; or a treatise concerning heaven and hell, and of the wonderful things therein heard and seen. london, , to. "by this work the reader may attain to some conception of the heavenly kingdom, and may learn therein that all social virtues, and all the tender affections that give consistence and harmony to society, and do honour to humanity, find place and exercise in the utmost purity in those delectable abodes; where every thing that can delight the eye, or rejoice the heart, entertain the imagination, or exalt the understanding, conspire with innocence, love, joy, and peace, to bless the spirits of just men made perfect, and to make glad the city of our god," &c.(*)] loren. i suspect that, like many dashing artists, you are painting for _effect_? phil. on the part of lysander, i may safely affirm that the preceding has been no caricatured description. i know more than one baptista, and florizel, and dion, and antigonus. lis. i hope i shall shortly add to the number of such an enthusiastic class of book-collectors--i'm for _natural history_; and, in this department, for birds and beasts--_gesner_ and _bewick_![ ] [footnote : the works upon natural history by gesner, and especially the large tomes published about the middle of the sixteenth century, are, some of them, well worth procuring; on account of the fidelity and execution of the wood-cuts of birds and animals. bewick's earliest editions of _birds_ and _beasts_ should be in the cabinet of every choice collector.] phil. restrain your wild feelings--listen to the sober satire of lysander. have you nothing else, in closing this symptomatic subject, to discourse upon? lysand. there is certainly another point not very remotely connected with the two preceding; and it is this: a passion to possess large and voluminous works, and to estimate the treasures of our libraries rather by their extent and splendour than by their intrinsic worth: forgetting how prettily ronsard[ ] has illustrated this subject by the utility and beauty of small rivers in comparison with those which overflow their banks and spread destruction around. "oh combien (says cailleau, in his _roman bibliographique_) un petit livre bien pensé, bein [transcriber's note: bien] plein, et bein [transcriber's note: bien] écrit, est plus agréable, plus utile à lire, que ces vastes compilations à la formation desquelles l'intérêt a présidé plus souvent que le bon-goût!" [footnote : ie te confesse bien que le fleuve de seine a le cours grand et long, mais tousiours il attraine avec soy de la fange, et ses plis recourbrez, sans estre iamais nets, sont tousiours embourbez: vn petit ruisselet a tousiours l'onde nette, aussi le papillon et la gentille auette y vont puiser de l'eau, et non en ces torrens qui tonnent d'vn grand bruit pas les roches courant: petit sonnets bien faits, belles chansons petites, petits discourds gentils, sont les fleurs des charites, des soeurs et d'apollon, qui ne daignent aymer ceux qui chantent une oeuvre aussi grand que la mer, sans riue ny sans fond, de tempestes armée et qui iamais ne dort tranquille ny calmée. _poems de ronsard_; fol. . paris . mo. these are pretty lines, and have a melodious flow; but ronsard, in his and feet metres, is one of the most fascinating of the old french poets. the subject, above alluded to by lysander, may be yet more strongly illustrated: for thus speaks spizelius upon it. 'solent viri multijugæ lectionis, qui avidè, quos possunt versant libros, ut in mentis ventrem trajicere eos velle, totosque devorare videantur, elegantis proverbii salivâ librorum helluones nuncupari; ipso quidem tullio prælucente, qui avidos lectores librorum, ac propemodum insiatiables helluones dixit, siquidem _vastissima volumina_ percurrant, et quicquid boni succi exprimere possunt, propriis et alienis impendant emolumentis." again: "maxima cum sit eorum literarum stoliditas, qui, quod nocte somniarunt, continuo edunt in lucem, neque ipsa virium imbecillitate suarum, ab arduo scribendi munere et onere, sese revocari patiuntur," &c. _infelix literatus_; pp. , . morof is worth our notice upon this subject: "veniamus ad bibliothecas ipsas, quales vel privatæ sunt, vel publicæ. illæ, quanquam in molem tantam non excrescant ut publicæ; sunt tamen etiam inter privatos viri illustres et opulenti qui in libris omnis generis coemendis nullis parcunt sumptibus. quorum [greek: bibliomanian] reprehendit seneca _ep._ . , _et de tranquil. animi_ c. , ridet lucianus in libello [greek: pros apaideuton kai polla biblia ônoumenon]; et auson. _epigr._ . sunt ita animati nonnulli, ut _magno de flumine malint quam de fonticulo tantundem sumere;_ cum vastioris bibliothecæ minor interdum usus sit, quam ejus quæ selectis paucioribus libris constat." _polyhist. literar._ vol. i., p. . he goes on in a very amusing manner; but this note may be thought already too long.] belin. well; we live in a marvellous book-collecting and book-reading age--yet a word more: alman. i crave your pardon, belinda; but i have a thought which must be now imparted, or the consequence may be serious. lysand. i wait both your commands. alman. my thought--or rather the subject which now occupies my mind--is this: you have told us of the symptoms of the _disease of book-madness_, now pray inform us, as a tender-hearted physician, what are the _means of its cure_? belin. the very question i was about to put to our bibliomaniacal physician. pray inform us what are the means of cure in this disorder? lysand. you should say probable means of cure, as i verily believe there are no certain and correct remedies. belin. well, sir, _probable_ means--if it must be so. discourse largely and distinctly upon these. lysand. briefly and perspicuously, if you please: and thus we begin. in the _first place_, the disease of the bibliomania is materially softened, or rendered mild, by directing our studies to _useful_ and _profitable_ works; whether these be printed upon small or large paper, in the gothic, roman, or italic type. to consider merely the _intrinsic excellence_, and not the _exterior splendour_, or adventitious value, of any production will keep us perhaps wholly free from this disease. let the midnight lamp be burnt to illuminate the stores of antiquity--whether they be romances, or chronicles, or legends, and whether they be printed by aldus or caxton--if a brighter lustre can thence be thrown upon the pages of modern learning! to trace genius to its source, or to see how she has been influenced or modified by the lore of past times, is both a pleasing and profitable pursuit. to see how shakspeare, here and there, has plucked a flower from some old ballad or popular tale, to enrich his own unperishable garland;--to follow spenser and milton in their delightful labyrinths 'midst the splendour of italian literature; are studies which stamp a dignity upon our intellectual characters! but, in such a pursuit, let us not overlook the wisdom of modern times, nor fancy that what is only ancient can be excellent. we must remember that bacon, boyle, locke, taylor, chillingworth, robertson, hume, gibbon, and paley, are names which always command attention from the wise, and remind us of the improved state of reason and acquired knowledge during the two last centuries. alman. there seems at least sound sense, with the prospect of much future good, in this _first_ recipe. what is your second. lysand. in the _second place_, the reprinting of scarce and intrinsically valuable works is another means of preventing the propagation of this disorder. amidst all our present sufferings under the bibliomania, it is some consolation to find discerning and spirited booksellers republishing the ancient chroniclers; and the collections known by the names of "_the harleian miscellany_" and "_lord somers' tracts_," and "_the voyages of hakluyt_."[ ] these are noble efforts, and richly deserve the public patronage. [footnote : in the _quarterly review_ for august, , this my second remedy for curing the disease of the bibliomania is considered as inefficient. i have a great respect for this review, but i understand neither the premises nor conclusions therein laid down concerning the subject in discussion. if "those who cannot afford to purchase original publications must be content with entire reprints of them" (i give the very words, though not the entire sentence), it surely tends to lessen the degree of competition for "the original publication." a sober reader, or an economical book-buyer, wants a certain tract on the ground of its utility:--but take my own case--who have very few hundreds per annum to procure food for the body as well as the mind. i wish to consult roy's tract of "rede me and be not wroth," (vide p. , ante)--or the "expedition into scotland" of (see mr. beloe's _anecdotes of literature and scarce books_, vol. ii., p. ), because these are really interesting, as well as rare, volumes. there is at present no reprint of either; and can i afford to bid ten or twelve guineas for each of them at a public book-sale? but--let them be faithfully _reprinted_, and even a golden guinea (if such a coin be now in the pocket of a poor bibliomaniac like myself) would be considered by me as _dear_ terms upon which to purchase the _original_ edition! the reviewer has illustrated his position by a model of the pigot diamond; and intimates that this model does not "lessen the public desire to possess the original." lord mansfield once observed that nothing more frequently tended to perplex an argument than a simile--(the remark is somewhere in _burrows's reports_); and the judge's dictum seems here a little verified. if the glass or crystal model could reflect _all the lustre_ of the original, it would be of equal utility; but it cannot. now the reprint _does_ impart _all_ the intelligence and intrinsic worth of the original (for "the ugliness of the types" cannot be thought worthy of aiding the argument one way or another) therefore the reprint of roy's poetical tract is not illustrated by the model of the pigot diamond: which latter cannot impart the intrinsic value of the original. let us now say a word about the _reprints_ above commended by lysander. when mr. harding went to press with the first volume of the _harleian miscellany_, his zeal struggled with his prudence about the number of copies to be printed of so voluminous a work. accordingly, he ventured upon only copies. as the work advanced, (and, i would hope, as the recommendation of it, in the last edition of the bibliomania, promoted its sale) he took courage, and struck off another copies of the earlier volumes: and thus this magnificent reprint (which will be followed up by two volumes of additional matter collected by mr. park, its editor) may be pronounced a profitable, as well as generally serviceable, publication to the cause of literature. the original edition of _lord somers' tracts_ having become exceedingly scarce, and the arrangement of them being equally confused, three spirited booksellers, under the editorial inspection of mr. walter scott, are putting forth a correct, well arranged, and beautiful reprint of the same invaluable work. five volumes are already published. _the voyages of hakluyt_ are republishing by mr. evans, of pall mall. four volumes are already before the public; of which only copies of the small, and of the large, are printed. the reprint will contain the whole of hakluyt, with the addition of several scarce voyages and travels.] loren. i fully coincide with these sentiments; and, as a proof of it, regularly order my london bookseller to transmit to me every volume of the reprint of these excellent works as it is published. belin. can you find it in your heart, dear brother, to part with your black-letter chronicles, and hakluyt's voyages, for these new publications? loren. i keep the best editions of the ancient chronicles; but the new fabian, the harleian miscellany, lord somers' tracts, and the voyages, are unquestionably to be preferred; since they are more full and complete. but proceed with your other probable means of cure. lysand. in the _third place_, the editing of our best ancient authors, whether in prose or poetry,[ ] is another means of effectually counteracting the mischievous effects arising from the bibliomaniacal disease; and, on this score, i do think this country stands pre-eminently conspicuous; for we are indefatigable in our attentions towards restoring the corrupted texts of our poets. [footnote : the last new editions of our standard belles-lettres writers are the following: which should be found in every gentleman's library. _shakspeare_, , vols., or , vols. (vide p. , ante); _pope_, by _jos. warton_; , vols. vo.; or by _lisle bowles_, , vols. vo.; _spenser_, by _h.j. todd_, , vols. vo.; _milton_, by _the same_, vols., vo.; _massinger_, by _w. gifford_, , vols. vo.; _sir david lyndsay_, by _george chalmers_, , vols. vo.; _dryden_, by _walter scott_, , vols. vo.; _churchill_, by ----, , vols. vo.; _hudibras_, by _dr. grey_, , or , vols. vo.; _ben. jonson_, by _w. gifford_ (_sub prelo_); and _bishop corbett's poems_, by _octavius gilchrist_, , vo.] phil. yet forgive me if i avow that this same country, whose editorial labours you are thus commending, is shamefully deficient in the cultivation of _ancient english history_! i speak my sentiments roundly upon this subject: because you know, lysander, how vigilantly i have cultivated it, and how long and keenly i have expressed my regret at the almost total apathy which prevails respecting it. there is no country upon earth which has a more plentiful or faithful stock of historians than our own; and if it were only to discover how superficially some of our recent and popular historians have written upon it, it were surely worth the labour of investigation to examine the yet existing records of past ages. loren. to effect this completely, you should have a national press. lis. and why not? have we here no patriotic spirit similar to that which influenced the francises, richlieus, colberts, and louises of france? alman. you are getting into bibliographical politics! proceed, good lysander, with your other probable means of cure. lysand. in the _fourth place_, the erection of public institutions[ ] is of great service in diffusing a love of books for their intrinsic utility, and is of very general advantage to scholars and authors who cannot purchase every book which they find it necessary to consult. [footnote : the royal, london, surrey, and russel institutions, have been the means of concentrating, in divers parts of the metropolis, large libraries of useful books; which, it is to be hoped, will eventually bring into disgrace and contempt what are called _circulating libraries_--vehicles, too often, of insufferable nonsense, and irremediable mischief!] phil. you are right. these institutions are of recent growth, but of general utility. they are a sort of _intellectual hospitals_--according to your mode of treating the bibliomania. yet i dare venture to affirm that the _news-paper room_ is always better attended than the _library_! lysand. let us have no sarcasms. i will now give you the _fifth_ and last probable means of cure of the bibliomania; and that is _the study of bibliography_.[ ] [footnote : "unne [transcriber's note: une] bonne bibliographie," says marchand, "soit générale soit particuliére, soit profane soit écclésiastique, soit nationale, provinciale, ou locale, soit simplement personelle, en un mot de quelque autre genre que ce puisse être, n'est pas un ouvrage aussi facile que beaucoup de gens se le pourroient imaginer; mais, elles ne doivent néanmoins nullement prévenir contre celle-ci. telle qu'elle est, elle ne laisse pas d'être bonne, utile, et digne d'être recherchée par les amateurs de l'histoire litteraire." _diction. historique_, vol. i. p. . peignot, in his _dictionnaire de bibliologie_, vol. i. , has given a very pompous account of what ought to be the talents and duties of a bibliographer. it would be difficult indeed to find such qualifications, as he describes, united in one person! de bure, in the eighth volume of his _bibliographie instructive_, has prefixed a "discourse upon the science of bibliography, and the duties of a bibliographer," which is worth consulting: but i know of nothing which better describes, in few words, such a character, than the following: "in eo sit multijuga materiarum librorumque notitia, ut saltem potiores eligat et inquirat: fida et sedula apud exteras gentes procuratio, ut eos arcessat; summa patientia ut rarè venalis expectet; peculium semper præsens et paratum, ne, si quando occurrunt, emendi, occasio intercidat: prudens denique auri argentique contemptus, ut pecuniis sponte careat quæ in bibliothecam formandam et nutriendam sunt insumendæ. si forte vir literatus eo felicitatis pervenit ut talem thesaurum coacervaverit, nec solus illo invidiose fruatur, sed usam cum eruditis qui virgilias suas utilitati publicæ devoverunt, liberaliter communicet;" &c.--_bibliotheca hulsiana_, vol. i. præfat. p. , . morhof abounds with sagacious reflections upon this important subject: but are there fifty men in great britain who love to read the _polyhistor literarius_? the observations of ameilhon and camus, in the _memoires de l'institut_, are also well worth consultation; as are those of le long, and his editor, prefixed to the last edition of the _bibliotheca sacra_.] lis. excellent!--treat copiously upon this my darling subject. belin. you speak with the enthusiasm of a young convert; but i should think the study of bibliography a sure means of increasing the violence of the book-disease. lysand. the encouragement of _the study of bibliography_, in its legitimate sense, and towards its true object, may be numbered among the most efficacious cures for this destructive malady. to place competent librarians over the several departments of a large public library; or to submit a library, on a more confined scale, to one diligent, enthusiastic, well-informed, and well-bred bibliographer or librarian (of which in this metropolis we have so many examples), is doing a vast deal towards directing the channels of literature to flow in their proper courses. and thus i close the account of my recipes for the cure of the bibliomania. a few words more and i have done. it is, my friends, in the erection of libraries as in literary compositions, the task is difficult, and will generally meet with opposition from some fastidious quarter,[ ] which is always betraying a fretful anxiety to bring every thing to its own ideal standard of perfection. to counteract the unpleasant effect which such an impression must necessarily produce, be diligent and faithful, to your utmost ability, in whatsoever you undertake. you need not evince the fecundity of a german[ ] author; but only exert your best endeavours, and leave the issue to a future generation. posterity will weigh, in even scales, your merits and demerits, when all present animosities and personal prejudices shall have subsided; and when the utility of our labours, whether in promoting wisdom or virtue, shall be unreservedly acknowledged. you may sleep in peace before this decision take place; but your children may live to witness it; and your name, in consequence, become a passport for them into circles of learning and worth. let us now retreat; or, rather, walk round lorenzo's grounds. we have had _book-discussion_ enough to last us to the end of the year.[ ] i begin to be wearied of conversing. [footnote : my favourite author, morhof, has spoken 'comme un brave homme' upon the difficulty of literary enterprizes, and the facility and venom of detraction: i support his assertion 'totis viribus'; and to beg to speak in the same person with himself. 'non ignotum mihi est, quantæ molis opus humeris meis incumbat. oceanum enim ingressus sum, in quo portum invenire difficile est, naufragii periculum à syrtibus et scopulis imminet. quis enim in tanta multitudine rerum et librorum omnia exhauriret? quis non alicubi impingeret? quis salvum ab invidia caput retraheret, ac malignitatis dentes in liberiore censura evitaret? præterea ut palato et gustu differunt convivæ, ita judiciis dissident lectores, neque omnium idem de rebus sensus est, hoc præsertim tempore, quo plures sunt librorum judices, quam lectores, et è lectoribus in lictores, ubique virgas et secures expedituros, multi degenerant.' _præf. morhof._--even the great lambecius (of whom see p. , ante) was compelled to deliver his sentiments thus:--'laborem hunc meum non periculosum minus et maglignis liventium _zoilorum_ dentibus obnoxium, quam prolixum foro et difficilem.' prod. hist. lit. _proleg._ one of the roman philosophers (i think it was seneca) said, in his last moments, 'whether or not the gods will be pleased with what i have done, i cannot take upon me to pronounce: but, this i know--it has been my invariable object to please them.' for 'the gods' read 'the public'--and then i beg leave, in a literary point of view, to repeat the words of seneca.] [footnote : 'from the last catalogue of the fair of lepisic [transcriber's note: leipsic], it would appear that there are now in germany _ten thousand two hundred and forty three authors_, full of _health_ and _spirit_, and each of whom publishes at least _once a year_!' _american review_, jan. , p. .] [footnote : through the favour of dr. drury, the editor is enabled to present the reader with an original letter, enclosing a list of books directed to be purchased by benjamin heath, esq.; also his portrait. this document would have been better inserted, in point of chronological order, in part v., but, as the editor did not receive it till long after that part was printed, he trusts it will be thought better late than never. the direction. [illustration: [handwritten] to mr john mann at the hand in hand fire office in angel court on snow hill [illegible] in london] exeter, st march, . dear sir, i take the liberty presuming upon the intimacy of our acquaintance to employ you in a pretty troublesome affair. fletcher gyles, bookseller in holbourn, with whom i had some dealings about two years ago, has lately sent me down a catalogue of a library which will begin to be sold by auction at his house next monday evening. as i have scarce laid out any money in books for these two years past, the great number of valuable books contained in this collection, together with the tempting prospect of getting them cheaper in an auction than they are to be had in a sale, or in any other way whatsoever, has induced me to lay out a sum of mony this way, at present, which will probably content my curiosity in this kind, for several years to come. mr. gyles has offered himself to act for me, but as i think 'tis too great a trial of his honesty to make him at the same time both buyer & seller, & as books are quite out of my brother's way, i have been able to think of no friend i could throw this trouble upon but you. i propose to lay out about £ or £ , and have drawn up a list of the books i am inclined to, which you have in the first leaf, with the price to each book, which i would by no means exceed, but as far as which, with respect to each single book, i would venture to go; though i am persuaded upon the whole they are vastly overvalued. for my valuation is founded in proportion upon what i have been charged for books of this kind, when i have sent for them on purpose from london, and i have had too many proofs that the booksellers make it a rule to charge near double for an uncommon book, when sent for on purpose, of what they would take for it in their own shops, or at a sale. so that, though the amount of the inclosed list is above £ , yet, when deductions are made for the savings by the chance of the auction, & for the full rate of such books as i may be over bid in, i am satisfied it will come within the sum i propose. now, sir, the favour which i would beg of you is to get some trusty person (& if you should not be able readily to think of a proper person yourself, mr. hinchcliffe or mr. peele may probably be able to recommend one) to attend this auction, in my behalf, from the beginning to the end, & to bid for me agreeably to the inclosed list & (as the additional trouble of it over and above the attendance would not be great) to mark in the catalogue, which you may have of mr. gyles for a shilling, the price every book contained in the catalogue is sold at, for my future direction in these matters. for this service i would willingly allow guineas, which, the auction continuing days, is shillings over and above half a crown a day; or, if that is not sufficient, whatever more shall be thought necessary to get my commission well executed. it may be necessary to observe to you that the auction requires the attendance of the whole day, beginning at eleven in the morning, and ending at two and at five in the afternoon, and ending at eight. it may also be proper to inform the person you shall employ that he is not to govern his first bidding by the valuation in my list for many of the books will very probably be sold for less than half what i have marked them at; he is therefore, in every instance, to bid low at first, and afterwards to continue advancing just beyond the other bidders, till he has either bought the book, or the price i have fixed it at is exceeded. there are many books in the list which have several numbers before them; the meaning of which is that the very same book is in several places of the catalogue; and in that case, i would have the first of them bought, if it be in very good condition, otherwise let the person employed wait till the other comes up. i would desire him also not to buy any book at all that is both dirty & ragged; but, though the binding should not be in very good order, that would be no objection with me, provided the book was clean. i would also desire him not to bid for any number in the catalogue that is not expressly mentioned in my list, upon a supposition that it may be the same book with some that are mentioned in it; nor to omitt any book that is actually upon the list, upon an imagination, from the title, that it may be there more than once; for i have drawn it up upon an exact consideration of the editions of the books, insomuch that there is no book twice upon the list, but where there is a very great difference in the editions; nor is any of the books in my list oftener in the catalogue than is expressly specified in it. by the conditions of sale, the auction is constantly adjourned from fryday night to monday morning, the saturday being appointed for fetching away, at the expence of the buyer, the books bought the week before, & for payment of the mony. this part of the trouble i must beg you to charge yourself with; &, in order to enable you, as to the payment, i shall send you up, either by the next post, or, however, time enough for the saturday following, fifty pounds. i would beg the favour of you to let me hear from you, if possible, by the return of the post; & also to give me an account by every saturday night's post what books are bought for me, and at what price. as to which you need only mention the numbers without the titles, since i have a catalogue by me. when the auction is ended, i shall take the liberty of giving you farther directions about packing up the books, & the way i would have them sent down. when i drew up my list, i had not observed one of the conditions of sale, which imports that no person is to advance less than a shilling after twenty shillings is bid for any book. now you will find a pretty many books which i have valued at more than twenty shillings marked at an odd sixpence; in all which cases, i would have the bidder add sixpence more to the price i have fixed, in order to make it even money, & conformable to the conditions of the auction. and now, dear sir, another person would make a thousand apologies for giving you all this trouble; all which superfluous tediousness i shall spare you, being persuaded i shall do you a great pleasure in giving you an opportunity of being serviceable to me, as i am sure it would be a very sensible one to me, if i ever had it in my power to be of any use to you. mine and my wive's humble respects wait upon mrs. mann, and you will be so good to present my hearty services to all our friends. i am most sincerely, dear sir, [illustration: [handwritten] your faithful & affectionate humble servt. benj heath] [illustration: his seal.] £ _s._ _d._ octavo pet. angeli bargæi poemata hieron. fracastorij poemata or , or , joan. leonis africæ desc. christ. longolij orationes et epistolæ pierij valeriani hexametri quarto diogenes laertius octavo or , scaligerana or , car. ogerij iter danicum quarto plautus taubmanni octavo hen. lornenij itinerarium quarto marcus antonius de dominis hen. stephani dialogus ausonii opera anacreon and sappho excerpta ex polybio sophocles and eschylus ------------ carried forward £ £ _s._ _d._ brought forward octavo or , or , historia gothorum or , or , lucretius gifanij is casaubon de satyrica poesi quarto or , iamblicus de vita pythag. aulus gellius gronovij statij quæ extant barthij octavo or , martial scriverij quarto juvenal henninij manilij astronomicon poetriarum octo folio fam. strada da bello belgico octavo virgilius illustratus paulli manutij epistolæ folio or , or , io. leunclavij annales octavo senecæ tragediæ scriverij pontani opera folio demosthenis et Æschinis opera thucydides wasse platonis opera herodoti historia quarto pauli collomesij opera bern. pensini vita baronij octavo or , poesis philosophica folio philostrati opera historiæ romanæ scriptores plutarchi opera octavo caninij hellenismus or , virgilius hiensij folio geo. buchanani opera plautus lambini horatius turnebi et lambini octavo dom. baudij amores folio Æschyli tragediæ octavo lud. kusterus de vero usu, &c. quarto gab. faerni fabulæ centum folio luciani opera ------------- carried forward £ £ _s._ _d._ brought forward dionis cassij historia diodorus siculus appiani historia palladius de gentibus indiæ isocratij orationes quarto papin. statij opera claudian cum animad. barthij folio maffæi historia indica saxonis grammatici historia octavo huntingtoni epistolæ quarto and. nangerij opera tho. hyde historia relig. vett. pers. claud. salmasij epistolæ theocriti moschi bionis hesiodus græce folio rerum moscoviticarum coment. angeli politiani opera octavo ausonius mythographi latini quarto aristotelis opera octavo fabricij bibliotheca latina quarto sannazarij poemata octavo meursij elegantiæ statij opera is casauboni comment. maximi tyrij dissertationes folio nic. antonij bibliotheca hispan. octavo ovidij opera folio nic. antonij bibliotheca hisp. vetus octavo pet. dan. huetij comentarius sir john suckling's plays, &c. dr. downe's poems quarto lord's discovery of the banian religion folio or , burnet's theory of ye earth octavo milton's poems king's british merchant ------------- carried forward £ £ _s._ _d._ brought forward milton's paradise regained folio wheeler's journey into greece octavo or , grevil's life of sir p. sidney jobson debes's description of feroe terry's voyage to the east indies quarto description de l'egypte apologie de m. castar replique de m. girac octavo geddes's history of the church, &c. songs by the earl of surrey or , oeuvres de sarasin or , scaligerana quarto viaggi di pietro della valli opera di annibale caro orlando inamorato or , pastor fido or , morgante maggiore or , la gerusalemme liberata il verato orlando inamorato historia della guerre civili scritti nella causa veniziana historia della sacra inquisitione examinatione sopra la rhetorica or , istoria diplomatica fasti consolari di salvini satire del menzini folio bibliotheca napolitana di toppi orlando furioso quarto or , dialoghi del speroni poetica di aristotele volgarizzata poetica di aristotele di piccolomini della difesa della comedia di dante squittinio della liberta veneta il goffredo col. comento di beni dante di daniello ------------- carried forward £ £ _s._ _d._ brought forward folio historia del regno di napoli historia del consilio tridentino vocabularia della crusca octavo voyage de bachanmont, &c. or , or , or , ragionamenti del aretino prose fiorentine lettre volgari gravina della ragione poetica battaglie di mugio or , la comedia di dante quarto degli raguagli di parnaso il decameron di boccaccio or , lezioni di varchi l'amadigi di tasso folio l'adone del marino il libro del cortegiano istoria del concilio di trento la historia di italia di guicciardini octavo rime diverse del mutio l'amorosa fiametta compendio del historie di nap. opere di guilio cammillo l'aminta di tasso l'opere poetiche di guarin comedie di m. agnolo firenz. notize de libri rari satire e rime di aristo delle eloquenza italiana comedie varie labarinto d'amore di boccac. opere di redi quarto lettere di vincenzio martelli or , ameto di boccaccio or , le rime di petrarca ragionamento dell' academico -------------- carried forward £ £ _s._ _d._ brought forward poesie liriche del testi octavo il petrarca or , lettre di paolo sarpi opere burleschi di berni or , prose di m. agnolo firenz. commento di ser agresto l'aminta di tasso la secchia rapita or , comedie di aretino trattato delle materie benef. il do libro delle opere burlesch. quarto annotationi e discorsi gyrone il cortese il decamerone di boccaccio historia della cose passate apologia degli academia della guerra di fiandra rime e prose di maffei discorsi poetichi octavo la libreria del doni la cassaria teatro italiano la divina comedia di dante la rime di angelo di cestanzo tutte le opere di bernia -------------- £ --------------] * * * * * lysander concluded; when lorenzo rose from his seat, and begged of us to walk round his grounds. it was now high noon; and, after a pleasant stroll, we retreated again to the alcove, where we found a cold collation prepared for our reception. the same day we all dined at lisardo's; and a discussion upon the pleasures and comparative excellences of _music_ and _painting_ succeeded to the conversation which the foregoing pages have detailed. a small concert in the evening recreated the exhausted state of lysander's mimd [transcriber's note: mind]. the next day, my friends left me for their respective places of destination. lorenzo and his sisters were gathered round my outer gate; and lisardo leapt into the chaise with lysander and philemon; resolved to equal, if not eclipse, his bibliographical tutor in the ardour of book researches. "adieu," said lysander, putting his hand out of the chaise--"remember, in defence of my bibliomaniacal gossipping, that similis never knew happiness _till he became acquainted with_ books."[ ] the postillion smacked his whip; and the chaise, following the direction of the road to the left, quickly disappeared. the servant of lysander followed gently after, with his master's and philemon's horses: taking a near direction towards lysander's home. [footnote : 'it is reported that a certain man, of the name of similis, who fought under the emperor hadrian, became so wearied and disgusted with the number of troublesome events which he met with in that mode of life, that he retired and devoted himself wholly to leisure and _reading_, and to meditations upon divine and human affairs, after the manner of pythagoras. in this retirement, similis was wont frequently to exclaim that '_now_ he began to _live_:' at his death, he desired the following inscription to be placed upon his tomb. [greek: similis en tautha keitai bioue men etÊ ebdomÊkonta zÊsas de etÊ epta] _here lies similis; in the seventieth year of his age but only the seventh of his life._ this story is related by dion cassius; and from him told by spizelius in his _infelix literarius_; p. .] lorenzo and his sisters returned with me to the cabinet. a gloom was visible upon all our countenances; and the ladies confessed that the company and conversation of my departed guests, especially of lysander, were such as to leave a void which could not easily be supplied. for my part, from some little warmth each sister betrayed in balancing the solid instruction of lysander and the humorous vivacity of lisardo, against each other, i thought the former had made a powerful impression upon the mind of belinda, and the latter upon that of almansa: for when the probability of a speedy revisit from both of them was mentioned the sisters betrayed unusual marks of sensibility; and upon lorenzo's frankly confessing, though in a playful mood, that such brothers-in-law would make him "as happy as the day was long"--they both turned their faces towards the garden, and appeared as awkward as it was possible for well-bred ladies to appear. it was in vain that i turned to my library and opened a large paper, illustrated, copy of daulby's _catalogue of rembrandt's prints_, or mr. miller's new edition of the _memoirs of count grammont_, or even the _roman de la rose_, printed by galliot du pré, upon vellum.... nothing produced a kind look or a gracious word from them. silence, sorrow, and indifference, succeeded to loquacity, joy, and enthusiasm. i clearly perceived that some _other_ symptom, wholly different from any thing connected with the bibliomania, had taken possession of their gentle minds. but what has a bibliographical romance to do with _love_ and _marriage_? reader adieu!--when thou hast nothing better deserving of perusal before thee, take up these pages; and class the author of them, if thou wilt, with the bostons, or smiths, or norths, of "other times;" with those who have never wished to disturb the peaceful haunts of intellectual retirement; and whose estate, moreover, like joseph scaliger's, lies chiefly under his hat. [illustration] * * * * * p. . to the list of useful bibliographical works, published about the period here designated, i might have added the _lexicon literarium_ of theophilus georgius; _cum suppl. ad an._ . _leips._ - , folio; two thick and closely printed volumes, with an excellent chronological arrangement. it is not common in this country. p. . the abbé rive was also the author of-- . _notice d'un roman d'artus comte de bretagne_: paris, , to. _pp._ . . _etrennes aux joueurs de cartes, ou eclaircissemens historiques et critiques sur l'invention des cartes à jouer; paris_, , mo. _pp._ . these works are slightly commended in the "advertissement" to the vallière catalogue, , pp. xxv-vj. they are reviewed by a rival author. p. . since writing the first note, concerning the "_assertio septem sacramentorum_," &c., i have seen a magnificent copy of the same, printed upon vellum, in the library of earl spencer; which redeems the coldness of my opinion in regard to books printed by pynson upon vellum. the painted ornaments, in lord spencer's copy, were, in all probability, executed abroad. the art, in our own country, was then too rude for such elegance of decoration. p. . i was right in my prediction about these _garlands_ being swallowed up by some "hungry book-fish!" i saw them, a few days after, in the well-furnished library of atticus: who exhibited them to me in triumph--grasping the whole of them between his finger and thumb! they are marvellous well-looking little volumes--clean, bright, and "rejoicing to the eye!"--many of them, moreover, are first editions! the severest winter cannot tarnish the foliage of such "garlands!" p. . among the illustrated grangers i forgot to notice the ample and magnificent copies belonging to the marquis of bute and mr. john towneley. [illustration: dr. benjamin heath.] supplement. [illustration] the supplement. part i. the evening walk. the scenery and the dialogue of this part are more especially _waltonian_. the characters are few; but lysander must of necessity be the author--as he is the principal actor in the scene, and throughout the entire work the principal intelligence is derived from his lips. the scene itself is not absolutely ideal. at the little village of ----, upon the upper grounds, near marlow, and necessarily commanding a sweep of the thames in one of its most richly wooded windings, there lived a mr. jacobs, the friend of the adjoining rector, whose table was as bounteous as his heart was hospitable; and whose frequent custom it was, in summer months, to elicit sweet discourse from his guests, as they sauntered, after an early supper, to inhale the fragrance of "dewy eve," and to witness the ascendancy of the moon in a cool and cloudless sky. i have partaken more than once of these "tusculan" discussions; and have heard sounds, and witnessed happiness, such as is not likely to be my lot again. philemon is at rest in his grave, as well as menander and sicorax. the two latter, it is well known, were tom warton and joseph ritson. "the husband of poor lavinia" was a most amiable gentleman, but timid to a morbid excess. without strong powers of intellect, he was tenacious of every thing which he advanced, and yet the farthest possible from dogmatic rudeness. there are cankers that eat into the _heart_ as well as the cheek; and because mr. shacklewell (the nicas of my text) happened to discover a few unimportant errors in that husband's last performance, the latter not only thought much and often about it, but seemed to take it seriously to heart, and scarcely survived it a twelvemonth. gonzalo, mentioned at page , was a mr. jessop; an exceedingly lively, inoffensive, but not over wise gentleman; a coxcomb to excess in every thing; but not without vivacious parts, which occasionally pleased, from the _manner_ in which they were exhibited. of handsome person and fluent speech, he was generally acceptable to the fair sex; but he made no strong _individual_ impression, as he was known to use the same current phrases and current compliments to all. just possible it was that his personal attractions and ready utterance were beginning to strike a _root_ or two in some one female bosom; but it was impossible for these roots to penetrate deeply, and take an _exclusive_ hold. i believe mr. jessop quitted the neighbourhood of marlow shortly after the publication of the bibliomania, to return thither no more. alfonso was a mr. morell; a name well known in oxfordshire. he was always in the _same_ false position, from the beginning to the end; but i am not sure whether this be not better than a perpetually shifting false position. disguise it as you may, an obstinate man is preferable to a _trimmer_; be he a common man, or an uncommon man; a layman or a clergyman; "in crape," or "in lawn." the compliment paid by lysander (at pages , ) to dr. vincent, late dean of westminster, and head master of westminster school, were acknowledged by that venerable and most worthy, as well as erudite, character, in a letter to me, which i deemed it but an act of justice to its author to publish in the _bibliographical decameron_, vol. iii. p. . poor mr. barker (edmund henry), who is handsomely mentioned in the dean's letter, has very lately taken his departure from us, for _that_ quiet which he could not find upon earth. "take him for all in all" he was a very extraordinary man. irritable to excess; but ardent and ambitious in his literary career. his industry, when, as in former days, it was at its height, would have killed half the scholars of the time. how he attained his fiftieth year, may be deemed miraculous; considering upon what a tempestuous sea his vessel of life seemed to be embarked. latterly, he took to politics; when--"farewell the tranquil mind!" part ii. the cabinet. this portion of the "bibliomania," embracing about fourscore pages, contains a _précis_, or review of the more popular works, then extant, upon bibliography. it forms an immense mass of materials; which, if expanded in the ordinary form of publication, would alone make a volume. i have well nigh forgotten the names of some of the more ancient heroes of bibliographical renown, but still seem to cling with a natural fondness to those of gesner, morhof, maittaire, and fabricius: while labbe, lambecius, and montfauçon, le long, and baillet, even yet retain all their ancient respect and popularity. as no _fresh characters_ are introduced in this second part of the bibliomania, it may be permitted me to say a word or two upon the substance of the materials which it contains. the immense note upon the "_catalogue of libraries_," alphabetically arranged, from page to page , is now, necessarily, imperfect; from the number of libraries which have been subsequently sold or described. among the _latter_, i hope i may naturally, and justifiably, make mention of the bibliotheca spenceriana; or, a descriptive catalogue of the early printed books of the late george john earl spencer, k.g.; comprising, in the whole, seven volumes; with the addition of the cassano library, or books purchased of the duke of cassano, by the noble earl, when at naples, in the year . in the "_reminiscences of my literary life_," i have given a sort of graphic description of this extensive work, and of the circumstances attending its publication. _that_ work now rests upon its own particular, and, i will fearlessly add, solid, basis. for accuracy, learning, splendour, and almost interminable embellishment, it may seem at once to command the attention, and to challenge the commendation, of the most fastidious: but it is a flower which blooms more kindly in a foreign, than in its native, soil. it has obtained for me the notice and the applause of learned _foreigners_; and when i travelled abroad i received but too substantial proofs that what was slighted _here_ was appreciated in _foreign_ parts. our more popular reviews, which seem to thrive and fatten best upon lean fare, passed this magnificent work over in a sort of sly or sullen silence; and there is no record of its existence in those of our journals which affect to strike the key-note only of what is valuable in science, literature, and the fine arts. painful as it must ever be to my feelings to contrast the avidity of former purchasers to become possessed of it with the caprice and non-chalance which have marked the conduct of those possessors themselves, i will yet hope that, in the bosom of the successor to this matchless library--as well as to the name and fortunes of its late owner--there will ever remain but _one feeling_, such as no misconception and no casualty will serve to efface. it is pleasing, yea, soothing, 'midst the buffetting surges of later life, to be able to keep the anchor of one's vessel _well bit_ in the interstices of granite. much later than the publication last alluded to, were the sale catalogues of the libraries of sir mark masterman sykes, bart., deceased; the rev. henry drury; george hibbert, esq., deceased; and sir francis freeling, bart., deceased. they were all sold by mr. evans, of pall mall; as well indeed as was the library of the late duke of marlborough, when marquis of blandford. what books! and what prices! it should seem that "there were giants," both in purse and magnitude of metal, "in those days!" but a mighty "man in valour" has recently sprung up amongst us; who, spurning the acquisition of solitary _lots_, darts down upon a whole _library_, and bears it off "at one fell swoop." long life to the spirit which possesses him! it is almost a national redemption. part iii. the auction-room. we are here introduced into one of the most bustling and spirit-stirring portions of the whole work. it is full of characters--alas! now, with only _two_ exceptions, mouldering in their coffins! philemon (who was one of my earliest and steadiest friends) introduces us to a character, which, under the name of orlando, made some impression upon the public, as it was thought to represent michael wodhull, esq., of thenford hall, near banbury; an admirable greek scholar (the translator of euripides), and perhaps the most learned bibliographer of his age. the conjecture of orlando being the representative of mr. wodhull was not a vain conjecture; although there were, necessarily (i will not say _why_), parts that slightly varied from the original. mr. wodhull re-appears, in his natural person, in the _bibliographical decameron_, vol. iii. p. - . since the publication of that work, a curious history attaches to his memory. within a twelvemonth of the expiration of the statute of limitation, an action at law, in the shape of an ejectment, was set on foot by a neighbouring family, to dispossess the present rightful occupant, s.a. severne, esq., of the beautiful domain of thenford; to ransack the library; to scatter abroad pictures and curiosities of every description; on the alleged ground of insanity, or incompetency to make a will, on the part of mr. wodhull. as i had been very minute in the account of mr. wodhull's person, in the work just alluded to, i became a _witness_ in the cause; and, as it was brought into chancery, my deposition was accordingly taken. i could have neither reluctance nor disinclination to meet the call of my excellent friend, mr. severne; as i was abundantly confident that the charge of "incompetency to make a will" could not rest upon the slightest foundation. it was insinuated, indeed, that the sister-in-law, miss ingram, had forged mr. wodhull's name to the will. such a conspiracy, to defraud an honourable man and legitimate descendant of his property, is hardly upon record; for, waiting the accidents that might occur by death, or otherwise, in the lapse of twenty years, the cause was brought into the vice chancellor's court with the most sanguine hope of success. i was present during one of the days of argument, and heard my own letter read, of which i had (contrary to my usual habits) taken a copy. the plaintiffs had written to me (suppressing the fact of the intended action), requesting to have my opinion as to mr. wodhull's capability. i returned such an answer as truth dictated. the counsel for the plaintiffs (_ut mos est_) showered down upon the defendant every epithet connected with base fraud and low cunning, of which the contents of the brief seemed to warrant the avowal. in due course, sir knight bruce, now one of the supernumerary vice chancellors, rose to reply. his speech was one undisturbed stream of unclouded narrative and irresistible reasoning. the vice chancellor (shadwell) gave judgment; and my amiable and excellent friend, mr. severne, was not only to return in triumph to the mansion and to the groves which had been built and planted by his venerable ancestor, mr. wodhull, but he was strongly advised, by the incorruptible judge on the bench, to bring an action against the plaintiffs for one of the foulest conspiracies that had ever been developed in a court of justice. the defendant might have transported the whole kit of them. but the _giving_ advice, and the _following_ it when given, are two essentially different things. a thousand guineas had been already expended on the part of mr. severne! when does my lord brougham _really_ mean to reform the law? a recent publication ("cranmer, a novel") has said, "that he applies _sedatives_, when he should have recourse to _operations_." but the reader must now hurry with me into "the auction room." of the whole group there represented, full of life and of action, two only remain to talk of the conquests achieved![ ] and mr. hamper, too--whose note, at p. , is beyond all price--has been lately "gathered to his fathers." "ibimus, ibimus!" but for our book-heroes in the auction room. [footnote : before mention made of the auction room, there is a long and particular account of the "_lectionum memorabilium et reconditarum centenarii xvi._" by john wolf, in , folio; with a fac simile, by myself, of the portrait of the author. it had a great effect, at the time, in causing copies of this work to be sedulously sought for and sold at extravagant prices. i have known a fine copy of this ugly book bring £ _s._] the first in years, as well as in celebrity, is lepidus; the representative of the late rev. dr. gosset. in the _bibliographical decameron_, vol. iii. p. , ample mention is made of him; and here it is, to me, an equally grateful and delightful task to record the worth, as well as the existence, of his two sons, isaac and thomas, each a minister of the church of england. the former is covered with _olive branches_ as well as with reputation; while the latter, declining the "branches" in question, rests upon the stem of his own inflexible worth, and solid scholastic attainments. mrs. gardiner, the wife of a major gardiner, is the only daughter of dr. gosset; a wife, but not a mother. the second in the ranks is mustapha. every body quickly found out the original in mr. gardiner, a bookseller in pall mall; who quickly set about repelling the attack here made upon him, by a long note appended to the article "bibliomania," in one of his catalogues. gardiner never lacked courage; but, poor man! his brains were under no controul. we _met_ after this reply, and, to the best of my recollection, we exchanged ... _smiles_. the catalogue in question, not otherwise worth a stiver, has been sold as high as s., in consequence of the dibdinian flagellation. poor gardiner! his end was most deplorable. we approach bernardo, who was intended to represent the late mr. joseph haslewood; and of whose book-fame a very particular, and i would hope impartial, account will be found in the "_literary reminiscences of my literary life_." there is no one portion of that work which affords me more lively satisfaction on a re-perusal. the cause of the _individual_ was merged in the cause of _truth_. the strangest compound of the strangest materials that ever haunted a human brain, poor bernardo was, in spite of himself, a man of _note_ towards his latter days. every body wondered what was in him; but something, certainly worth the perusal; oozed out of him in his various motley performances; and especially in his edition of drunken barnaby's tour, which exhibited the rare spectacle of an accurate latin (as well as english) text, by an individual who did not know the dative singular from the dative plural of _hic, hæc, hoc_! haslewood, however, "hit the right nail upon the head" when he found out the _real_ author barnaby, in richard brathwait; from the unvarying designation of "_on the errata_," at the end of brathwait's pieces, which is observable in that of his "_drunken barnaby's tour_." it was an [greek: eurêcha] [transcriber's note: [greek: eurêka]] in its way; and the late mr. heber used to shout aloud, "stick to _that_, haslewood, and your fame is fixed!" he was always proud of it; but lost sight of it sadly, as well as of almost every thing else, when he composed "_the roxburghe revels_." yet what could justify the cruelty of dragging this piece of private absurdity before the public tribunal, on the death of its author? even in the grave our best friends may be our worst foes. at page we are introduced to quisquilius, the then intended representative of mr. george baker, of st. paul's churchyard; whose prints and graphic curiosities were sold after his death for several thousand pounds. mr. baker did not survive the publication of the bibliomania; but it is said he got scent of his delineated character, which ruffled every feather of his plumage. he was thin-skinned to excess; and, as far as that went, a _heautontomorumenos_! will this word "re-animate his clay?" the "short gentleman," called rosicrusius, at page , must necessarily be the author of the work. he has not grown _taller_ since its publication, and his coffers continue to retain the same stinted condition as his person. yet what has he not _produced_ since that representation of his person? how has it pleased a gracious providence to endow him with mental and bodily health and stamina, to prosecute labours, and to surmount difficulties, which might have broken the hearts, as well as the backs, of many a wight "from five to ten inches taller than himself!" i desire to be grateful for this prolongation of labour as well as of life; and it will be my heart-felt consolation, even to my dying hour, that such "labour" will be acceptable to the latest posterity. yet a word or two by way of epilogue. the "reminiscences" contain a catalogue raisonné of such works as were published up to the year . since then the author has not been idle. the "_tour into the north of england and scotland_," in two super-royal octavos, studded with graphic gems of a variety of description--and dedicated to the most illustrious female in europe, for the magnificence of a library, the fruit chiefly of her own enterprise and liberality--has at least proved and maintained the spirit by which he has been long actuated. to re-animate a slumbering taste, to bring back the gay and gallant feelings of past times, to make men feel as gentlemen in the substitution of _guineas_ for _shillings_, still to uphold the beauty of the press, and the splendour of marginal magnitude, were, alone, objects worthy an experiment to accomplish. but this work had other and stronger claims to public notice and patronage; and it did not fail to receive them. six hundred copies were irrevocably fixed in the course of the first eighteen months from the day of publication, and the price of the large paper has attained the sum of £ . _s._ strange circumstances have, however, here and there, thrown dark shadows across the progress of the sale. if it were pleasing to the author, in the course of his journey, to receive attentions, and to acknowledge hospitalities, from the gay and the great, it were yet more pleasing to hope and to believe that such attentions and hospitalities had been acknowledged with feelings and expressions becoming the character of a gentleman. they have been so; as the pages of the work abundantly testify. but english courtesy is too frequently _located_. it is a coin with a feeble impress, and seems subject to woful attrition in its circulation. the countenance, which beams with complacency on receiving a guest to enliven a dull residence, in a desolate neighbourhood, is oftentimes overcharged with sadness, or collapses into rigidity, if the same guest should come under recognizance in a populous city. when i write "instructions for an author on his travels," i will advise a measured civility and a constrained homage:--to criticise fearlessly, and to praise sparingly. there are hearts too obtuse for the operations of gratitude. the scotch have behaved worthy of the inhabitants of the "land of cakes." in spirit i am ever present with them, and rambling 'midst their mountains and passes. if an author may criticise his own works, i should say that the preface to the scotch tour is the best piece of composition of which i have been ever guilty. how little are people aware of the pleasure they sometimes unconsciously afford! when mr. james bohn, the publisher of the scotch tour, placed me, one day, accidentally, opposite a long list of splendidly bound books, and asked me "if i were acquainted with their author?" i could not help inwardly exclaiming ... "non omnis moriar!"[ ] i am too poor to present them to my "sovereign mistress, the queen victoria;" but i _did_ present her majesty, in person, with a magnificently bound copy of the _scotch tour_; of which the acceptance was never acknowledged from the royal quarter; simply because, according to an etiquette which seems to me to be utterly incomprehensible, books presented _in person_ are not acknowledged by the donee. i will not presume to quarrel with what i do not exactly understand; but i will be free to confess that, had i been _aware_ of this mystery, i should have told her majesty, on presenting the volume, that "i had the greater pleasure in making the offering, as her illustrious father had been among the earliest and warmest patrons of my book-career; and that the work in question contained no faithless account of one of the most interesting portions of her dominions." this copy for the queen had a special vellum page, on which the dedication, or inscription, was printed in letters of gold. [footnote : this magnificent set of books, not _all_ upon large paper, was valued at £ . it has been since sold to lord bradford.] at length we approach the once far-famed atticus: the once illustrious richard heber, esq., the self-ejected member of the university of oxford. even yet i scarcely know how to handle this subject, or to expatiate upon a theme so extraordinary, and so provocative of the most contradictory feelings. but it were better to be brief; as, in fact, a very long account of mr. heber's later life will be found in my _reminiscences_, and there is little to add to what those pages contain. it may be here only necessary to make mention of the sale of his wonderful library; wonderful in all respects--not less from the variety and importance of its contents, than from the unparalleled number of _duplicate volumes_--even of works of the first degree of rarity. of the latter, it may suffice to observe that, of the editio princeps of _plato_, there were not fewer than _ten_ copies; and of that of _aristotle_, five or six copies: each the production of the aldine press. several of these platonic copies were, to my knowledge, beautiful ones; and what more than _one_ such "beautiful copy" need mortal man desire to possess? i believe the copy of the plato bought at the sale of dr. heath's library in was, upon the whole, the most desirable.[ ] both works are from the press of the elder aldus. [footnote : the rt. hon. thomas grenville possesses a copy of this first edition (from the library of the rev. theodore williams) in an _uncut_ state. it may defy all competition. there is, however, in the spencer library, at althorp, described by me in the second volume of the bibliotheca _spenceriana_, a very beautiful copy, delicately ruled with red lines, which may be pronounced as almost in its primitive state. the leaves "discourse most eloquently" as you turn them over: and what sound, to the ears of a thorough bred bibliomaniac, can be more "musical?"] it may be observed, as mere preliminary matter, that it was once in contemplation to publish the literary life of mr. heber; and an impression comes across my mind that i had tendered my services for the labour in question. the plan was however abandoned--and perhaps wisely. there was also to have been a portrait prefixed, from the pencil of mr. masquerier, the _only_ portrait of him--in later life--but the strangest whims and vagaries attended the surrendering, or rather the _not_ surrendering, of the portrait in question. i am in possession of a correspondence upon this subject which is perfectly _sui generis_. the library of mr. heber was consigned to the care and discretion of messrs. payne and foss--booksellers of long established eminence and respectability. it was merely intended to be an alphabetical, sale catalogue, with no other bibliographical details than the scarcity or curiosity of the article warranted. it was also of importance to press the sale, or sales, with all convenient dispatch: but the mass of books was so enormous that two years ( - ) were consumed in the dispersion of them, at home; to say nothing of what was sold in flanders, at paris, and at neuremberg. i have of late been abundantly persuaded that the acquisition of books--anywhere, and of whatever kind--became an ungovernable passion with mr. heber; and that he was a bibliomaniac in its strict as well as enlarged sense. of his library at neuremberg he had never seen a volume; but he thought well of it, as it was the identical collection referred to by panzer, among his other authorities, in his typographical annals. of the amount of its produce, when sold, i am ignorant. i have said that the catalogue, which consisted of xii parts (exclusively of a portion of foreign books, which were sold by the late mr. wheatley) was intended merely to be a sale catalogue, without bibliographical remarks; but i must except parts ii, iv, and xi: the first of these containing the _drama_, the second the _english poetry_, and the third the _manuscripts_--which, comparatively, luxuriate in copious and apposite description. "si sic omnia!" but it were impracticable. i believe that the manuscript department, comprised in about articles, produced upwards of £ . it may not be amiss to subjoin the following programme. part. i. articles; sold by sotheby ii. ---- ditto iii. ---- ditto iv. ---- sold by evans v. ---- sold by wheatley vi. ---- sold by evans vii. ---- ditto viii. ---- ditto ix. ---- sold by sotheby x. ---- ditto xi. ---- sold by evans xii. ---- sold by wheatley from which it should seem, first that the total number of _articles_ was nearly _fifty three thousand_--a number that almost staggers belief; and places the collections of tom rawlinson and the earl of oxford at a very considerable distance behind; although the latter, for _condition_ (with one exception), has never been equalled, and perhaps will probably never be surpassed. secondly, if it be a _legitimate_ mode of computation--taking two books for each article, one with another, throughout the entire catalogue--it will follow that the entire library of mr. heber, in england, contained not fewer than _one hundred and five thousand volumes_. the _net_ amount of the sale of this unparalleled mass of books is said to have been £ , : a large sum, when the deductions from commissionship and the government-tax be taken into consideration.[ ] dr. harwood thought that the sale of askew library was a remarkable one, from its bringing a guinea per article--one with another--of the articles of which the library was composed. the _history_ of the heber sale might furnish materials for a little jocund volume, which can have nothing to do here; although there is more than _one_ party, mixed up with the tale, who will find anything but cause of _mirth_ in the recital. that such a monument, as this library, should have been suffered to crumble to pieces, without a syllable said of its owner, is, of all the marvellous occurrences in this marvellous world, one of the most marvellous: and to be deprecated to the latest hour. yet, who was surrounded by a larger troop of friends than the individual who raised the monument? [footnote : these deductions, united, are about per cent.: nearly £ , to be deducted from the gross proceeds.] one anecdote may be worth recording. the present venerable and deeply learned president of magdalen college, oxford, told me that, on casting up the number of odd--or appendant volumes, (as or more) to the several articles in the catalogue--he found it to amount to _four thousand_. now, primâ facie, it seems hardly credible that there should have been _such_ a number, in _such_ a library, not deserving of mention as distinct articles: but it must be taken into consideration that mr. heber bought _many_ lots for the sake of _one_ particular book: and, considering the enormous extent of his library, it is not a very violent supposition, or inference, that these volumes were scarcely deserving of a more particular notice. pontevallo was the late john dent, esq., whose library was sold in ; and of which library that of the late robert heathcote formed the basis. it contained much that was curious, scarce, and delectable; but the sale of it exhibited the first grand melancholy symptoms of the decay of the bibliomania. the sweynheym and pannartz livy of , upon vellum, was allowed to be knocked down for £ ! mr. evans, who had twice before sold that identical volume--first, in the sale of mr. edwards's library (see _bibliographical decameron_, vol. iii. p.--) and secondly in that of the late sir m.m. sykes, bart, (who had purchased the book for £ )--did all that human powers could do, to obtain a higher bidding--but messrs. payne and foss, with little more than the _breathing_ of competition, became the purchasers at the very moderate sum first mentioned. from them it seemed to glide naturally, as well as necessarily, into the matchless collection of the rt. hon. thomas grenville. i yet seem to hear the echo of the clapping of sir m.m. sykes's hands, when i was the herald of the intelligence of his having become the purchaser! these echoes have all died away _now_: unless indeed they are likely to be revived by a holford or a bottfield. hortensius was the late sir william bolland, knt.: and, a few years before his death, one of the barons of his majesty's exchequer. he died in his th year. he was an admirable man in all respects. i leave those who composed the domestic circle of which he was the delightful focus, to expatiate upon that worth and excellence of which they were the constant witnesses and participators-- "he best shall _paint_ them who shall _feel_ them most." to me, the humbler task is assigned of recording what is only more particularly connected with books and virtu. and yet i may, not very inappositely, make a previous remark. on obtaining a seat upon the bench, the first circuit assigned to him was that of "the oxford." it proved to be heavy in the criminal calendar: and mr. baron bolland had to pass sentence of death upon three criminals. a maiden circuit is rarely so marked; and i have reason to believe that the humane and warm-hearted feelings of the judge were never before, or afterwards, subjected to so severe a trial. it was a bitter and severe struggle with all the kindlier feelings of his heart. but our theme is books. his library was sold by public auction, under mr. evans's hammer, in the autumn of . one anecdote, connected with his books, is worth recording. in my decameron, vol. iii. p. , mention will be found of a bundle of poetical tracts, belonging to the chapter-library at lincoln, round which, on my second visit to that library, i had, in imitation of captain cox (see page -- ante), entwined some whip-cord around them--setting them apart for the consideration of the dean and chapter, whether a _second_ time, i might not become a purchaser of some of their book-treasures? i had valued them at fourscore guineas. the books in question will be found mentioned in a note at page of the third volume of the bibliographical decameron. i had observed as follows in the work just referred to, "what would hortensius say to the gathering of such flowers, to add to the previously collected _lincoln nosegay_?" the reader will judge of my mingled pleasure and surprise (dashed however with a few grains of disappointment on not becoming the proprietor of them _myself_) when the baron, one day, after dining with him, led me to his book-case, and pointing to these precious tomes, asked me if i had ever seen them _before_? for a little moment i felt the "obstupui" of Æneas. "how is this?" exclaimed i. "the secret is in the vault of the capulets"--replied my friend--and it never escaped him. "those are the identical books mentioned in your decameron." not many years afterwards i learnt from the late benjamin wheatley that _he_ had procured them on a late visit to lincoln; and that _my_ price, affixed, was taken as their just value. of these linclonian [transcriber's note: lincolnian] treasures, one volume alone--the rape of lucrece--brought one hundred guineas at the sale of the judge's library, beginning on the th of november, . see no. ; where it should seem that only four other perfect copies are known. the library of the late mr. baron bolland, consisting of articles, brought a trifle _more_ than a guinea per article. it was choice, curious, and instructively miscellaneous. its owner was a man of taste as well as a scholar; and the crabbed niceties of his profession had neither chilled his heart nor clouded his judgment. he revelled in his small cabinet of english coins; which he placed, and almost worshipped, among his fire-side lares. they were, the greater part of them, of precious die--in primitive lustre; and he handled them, and expatiated on them, with the enthusiasm of a snelling, and the science of a foulkes. his walls were covered with modern pictures, attractive from historical or tasteful associations. there was nothing but what seemed to "point a moral, or adorn a tale." his passion for books was of the largest scale and dimensions, and marked by every species of almost enviable enthusiasm. his anecdotes, engrafted on them, were racy and sparkling; and i am not quite sure whether it was not in contemplation by him to build a small "_oratoire_" to the memories of caxton and wynkyn de worde. he considered the folios of the latter, in the fifteenth century, to be miracles of typographical execution; and, being a poet himself, would have been in veritable ecstacies had he lived to see the unique chaucer of , which it was my good luck to obtain for the library of the rt. hon. thomas grenville. i will add but a few specimens of his library-- no. £ _s._ _d._ armony of byrdes, printed by wyght. mo., a poem, in six line stanzas. mr. heber's copy. a little volume of indescribable rarity arnold's chronicle, to., printed at antwerp, by doesborch ( )? boccus and sydracke, printed by godfray, at the wits and charge of robert saltousde, monke of canterbury, to. cicero de officiis, ulric zel chaucer's troylus and cresseyde, printed by pynson. ( .) folio. this volume had been successively in the libraries of hubert, the duke of roxburghe, and mr. herbert. it was in parts imperfect marston's scourge of villanie. ( .) mo. first edition: of terrific rarity glanville, de proprietatibus rerum. printed by w. de worde. folio holland's heroologia anglica. ( .) folio. so tall a copy that it had the appearance of large paper shakspeare's venus and adonis. ( .) mo. third edition shakspeare's lucrece. first edition. . quarto (this was the lincoln-chapter copy.) the entire produce of the sale was £ . ulpian, the associate of hortensius, was, and _is_ (i rejoice to add) a barrister-at-law, and one of the six clerks in chancery. in the _decameron_, vol. iii. p. --, he appears under the more euphonous as well as genial name of palmerin: but the "hermitage" there described has been long deserted by its master and mistress--who have transferred their treasures and curiosities to the sea-girt village, or rather town, of ryde and its vicinity: where stained-glass windows and velvet bound tomes are seen to yet greater advantage. leontes, mentioned at page , was the late james bindley, esq.--of whom a few interesting particulars will be found in the third volume of my _bibliographical decameron_. he died before the publication of this latter work. sir tristrem was the late sir walter scott--then in the effulgence of poetical renown! prospero was the late francis douce, esq. my reminiscences make copious mention of these celebrated characters. aurelius was intended as the representative of the late george chalmers, esq.--the most learned and the most celebrated of all the antiquarians and historians of scotland. his caledonia is a triumphant proof of his giant-powers. never before did an author encounter such vast and various difficulties: never was such thick darkness so satisfactorily dispersed. it is a marvellous work, in four large quarto volumes; but so indifferently printed, and upon such wretched paper, that within the next century, perhaps, not six copies of it will be found entire. the less laborious works of mr. chalmers were statistical and philological. of the latter, his tracts relating to _shakspeare_, and his life of _mary queen of scots_ may be considered the principal. on the death of mr. george chalmers in , his nephew became possessed of his library; and on the death of the nephew, in , it was placed by the executors in the hands of mr. evans, who brought the first part to sale on the th of september, . it consisted of articles, and produced the sum of £ . the second part was brought to the same hammer, on february , , and produced the sum of £ _s._ _d._ it is on the _latter_ part that i am disposed to dwell more particularly, because it was so eminently rich in shakspearian lore; and because, at this present moment, the name of our immortal dramatist seems to be invested with a fresh halo of incomparable lustre. the first edition of his smaller works has acquired most extraordinary worth in the book-market. the second part of mr. chalmers's collection shews that the _sonnets_ of produced a hundred guineas; while the _rape of lucrece_ (which, perhaps, no human being has ever had the perseverance to read through) produced £ in a preceding sale: see page . the _venus and adonis_ has kept close pace with its companions. we may now revel among the rarities of the first part of this extraordinary collection-- no. £ _s._ _d._ bale's comedy concernynge thre lawes of nature, moses and christ, corrupted by the sodomytes, pharisees and papystes most wicked, wants the title, first edition, curious portrait of the author, excessively rare. inprented per nicholaum bamburgensem, wilkins' concilia magnæ britanniæ et hiberniæ, vols. . folio [such a price is one among the few _harmless_ fruits of the puseian controversy!] churchyard's worthiness of wales, first edition, very rare, . quarto [in my earlier days of book-collecting, i obtained a copy of this most rare volume, in an _uncut state_, from a mr. keene, of hammersmith, who asked me "if i thought _half-a-guinea_ an extravagant price for it?" i unhesitatingly replied in the negative. not long after, the late mr. sancho, who succeeded mr. payne, at the mews gate, went on his knees to me, to purchase it for _two guineas_! his attitude was too humble and the tone of his voice too supplicatory to be resisted. he disposed of it to his patron-friend, the hon. s. elliott, for five pounds five shillings. mr. elliott had a very choice library; and was himself a most amiable and incomparable man. it is some twenty-five years since i first saw him at the late earl spencer's, at althorp.] churchyard. the firste of churchyardes chippes, containinge twelue seuerall labours, green morocco, gilt leaves, the second part of churchyard's chips was never published. churchyard's generall rehearsall of warres, called churchyardes choise, imprinted by white, the latter part of this work is in verse, and some have supposed that churchyard intended it to form the second part of his chips. gascoyne's delicate diet for daintie mouthde droonkardes, excessively rare; only one other copy known, namely, that which was in the libraries of g. steevens and r. heber.--see heber's catalogue, part iv. no. . imprinted by johnes, ---- wolsey's grammar. rudimenta grammatices et docendi methodus scholæ gypsuichianæ per thomam cardinalem ebor, institutam, &c., rare, antv. the preface, containing directions for the conduct of the school, is written by cardinal wolsey. the grammar is by dean colet and lilly. the complete history of cornwall, part ii., being the parochial history, (by william hals,) extremely rare this is one of the rarest books in the class of british topography. the first part was never printed, it has therefore no general title. a copy is in the library of the right hon. thomas grenville. patrick hannay's nightingale, sheretine, happy husband, songs, sonnets, &c., with the frontispiece, including the extremely rare portrait of patrick hannay, an excessively rare volume when perfect, we believe only one other perfect copy is known, that which was successively in the libraries of bindley, perry, sykes, and rice. no poetical volume in the libraries of these celebrated collectors excited a more lively interest, or a keener competition. this was obtained by mr. chalmers at pinkerton's sale in . the portrait of hannay is a great desideratum to the granger collectors. hutton's (henry dunelmensis) follic's anatomie, or satyrs and satyricall epigrams, . mo. de foe. review of the affairs of france and of all europe, as influenced by that nation, with historical observations on public affairs, and an entertaining part in every sheet (by defoe), vols., excessively rare. the most perfect copy known, this is the great desideratum of all the collectors of de foe's works. it is the most perfect copy known; that which approaches it the nearest is the copy in the british museum; but that only extends to vols. cronycle of englonde wyth the frute of tymes, compyled by one somtyme mayster of saynt albons. newly enprynted by wynkyn de worde, . the descrypcyon of englonde (in prose), also the descrypcyon of the londe of wales, in verse, emprynted by me wynkyn de worde, , vols. in . the first editions by wynkyn de worde, extremely rare fulwell's (ulpian) flower of fame, containing the bright renowne and most fortunate raigne of king henry viii., wherein is mentioned of matters, by the rest of our cronographers ouerpassed, in verse and prose, extremely rare, imprinted by hoskins, see an account of this very curious work in the censura literaria, vol. , p. to , written by gilchrist. it was described from the late mr. neunberg's copy, which was sold for £ . _s._ fulwell (ulpian). the first parte of the eighth liberall science: entituled ars adulandi, the arte of flatterie, first edition, excessively rare, title mended, a piece wanting in the centre. to. imprinted by jones, (marlowe) the true tragedie of richarde duke of yorke, and the death of good king henrie the sixt, with the whole contention betweene the two houses lancaster and yorke, as it was sundrie times acted by the right honourable the earle of pembroke, his servants, first edition, excessively rare, and believed to be unique, very fine copy, printed at london by p.s. . to. [i refer with pleasure to mr. evans' long, learned, and satisfactory note upon this most precious volume; which i had the satisfaction of seeing in the bodleian library, for which it was purchased by mr. rodd, the bookseller.] greene in conceipt. new raised from his grave to write the tragique history of faire valeria of london, by j. d(ickenson), very rare. to. hake, of gold's kingdom, described in sundry poems, , mo. hakluyt. divers voyages touching the discoverie of america, and the islands adjacent unto the same, made first of all by our englishmen, and afterwards by the frenchmen and britons, with both the maps, excessively rare, only one other copy known to contain the two maps. imprinted by woodcocke, . to. hogarde (myles) "a mirrour of loue, which such light doth giue, that all men may learne, how to loue and liue." imprinted by caly, . part ii. fraunce's (abraham) lamentations of amintas for the death of phillis, a poem; excessively rare fyssher's (jhon, student of oxford) poems written in dialogue, wants the title and part of a leaf, extremely rare. imprinted by john tisdale, gascoigne's whole woorkes, with the comedy of supposes and the steele glasse, best edition, very fine copy, in russia. imprinted by jesse, at the end of the volume there is a tract by gascoigne, entitled "certain notes of instruction concerning the making of verses, or rimes, in english." the tract is not mentioned in the list of contents on the title, and the four leaves very rarely occur. marshall's (george) compendious treatise, in metre, declaring the firste originall of sacrifice, and of the buylding of aultars and churches, a poem, extremely rare. cawood, harvey's (gabriel) foure letters and certaine sonnets, especially touching robert greene and other parties by him abused. printed by wolfe, gabriel harvey was the intimate friend of spenser. the immediate occasion of harvey's writing these letters was to resent greene's attack on his father; but the permanent value of the volume is the very interesting notices harvey gives of his literary contemporaries. the work concludes with a sonnet of spenser, addressed to harvey. meeting of gallants at an ordinarie, or the walkes of powles, very scarce, . mo. this scarce and curious little volume is not mentioned by lowndes. the work commences with a poetical dialogue between warre, famine, and pestilence. the tales of my landlord then follow, "where the fatte host telles tales at the upper ende of the table." mine host, however, does not have all the conversation to himself. the guests take a very fair share. one of the interlocutors, gingle-spur, alludes to one of shakspeare's plays. "this was a prettie comedy of errors, my round host." [i shall place all the shakspearian articles consecutively; that the reader may observe in what a rapid ratio their pecuniary value has increased. of the sonnets, the right hon. thomas grenville possesses one copy, and thomas jolley, esq., another. the history of the acquisition of the _latter_ copy is one of singular interest; almost sufficient to add _another_ day to a bibliographical decameron. this copy is in pristine condition, and looks as if snatched from the press. mr. jolley also possesses a very fine and perfect copy of the first edition of shakspeare's works, in folio; but a similar copy, in the library of the right honourable thomas grenville, will, perhaps, always continue unrivalled.] shakspeare's venus and adonis; unique. edinburgh, by john writtoun, and are to bee sold in his shop, a little beneath the salt trone, we are always extremely cautious in using the designation unique; but we think we may safely do so upon the present occasion. we have made very extensive inquiries on the subject, and have recently written to david laing, esq., keeper of the library of the writers to the signet, from whom we have received a confirmation of our belief. beloe, in describing this copy, says "it must be considered as an indubitable proof that at a very early period the scotch knew, and admired, the genius of shakspeare." he might have continued, its proceeding from the press of writtoun, was an additional proof, as he only published small popular tracts. beloe has erroneously given the date , and lowndes has copied his error. the first books printed by writtoun were about . his will is printed in the bannatyne miscellany. the second edition of this precious poem, printed in , produced the sum of £ , at the sale of baron bolland's library: see page , ante. [transcriber's note: ] shakespeare's comedies, tragedies, and histories, first edition. the title a reprint, but the portrait original. with the verses of ben jonson, original, but inlaid, blue morocco, shake-speares sonnets, neuer before imprinted, extremely rare, most beautiful copy, in russia. london, by g. eld for t.t. and are to be solde by william apsley, shakspeare's most excellent historie of the merchant of venice, with the extreame crueltie of shylock the jew, first edition, extremely rare, printed by j. r(oberts) for thomas heyes, another copy, second edition, very scarce, printed by j. roberts, another copy, shakspeare's midsommer nights dreame, second edition, printed by james roberts, shakspeare's most lamentable tragedie of titus andronicus, second edition, very scarce, only one perfect copy of the first edition is known. shakspeare, his true chronicle history of the life and death of king lear and his three daughters, second edition, printed for n. butter, shakspeare's famous historie of troylus and cresseid, with the conceited wooing of pandoras prince of licia, first edition, extremely rare, imprinted by g. eld, shakspeare's richard the second, with new additions of the parliament scene, and the deposing of king richard [there were many other early editions of the plays of shakspeare, but the preceding were the most prominent.] ovid. the flores of ouide de arte amandi, with their englysshe afore them and two alphabete tablys, extremely rare, very fine copy wynandus de worde, [this edition was wholly unknown to me.] newton's (t.) atropeion delion, or the death of delia, (queen elizabeth) with the teares of her funerall, very scarce, hilarie (hughe) the resurrection of the masse, with the wonderful vertues of the same, a poem, excessively rare, imprinted at strasburgh in elsas, this is a very bitter satire on the ceremonies, doctrines, and ministers of the roman catholic church. skelton. here after foloweth certaine bokes complyed by mayster skelt[=o], poet laureat, speake parot, ware the hawke, tunnynge of eleanoure rummyne, &c., imprinted by kynge and marche. here after foloweth a little boke called colyn clout, by master skelton poete laureate, imprynted by veale. here after foloweth a little boke, why come ye not to courte, by mayster skelton, poet laureate. this is skelton's celebrated satire against cardinal wolsey, imprinted by veale. a little boke of philip sparow, by mayster skelton, poete laureate, imprinted by walley--a very curious collection of poems by skelton, each very rare, in bussia [transcriber's note: russia] in d'israeli's recent work, the amenities of literature, there is an excellent article upon skelton, which contains many acute and original observations. speaking of the skeltonical verse, d'israeli says, "in the quick-returning rhymes, the playfulness of the diction, and the pungency of new words, usually ludicrous, often expressive, and sometimes felicitous, there is a stirring spirit, which will be best felt in an audible reading. the velocity of his verse has a carol of its own. the chimes ring in the ear, and the thoughts are flung about like wild coruscations." see vol. , p. to . octavo. pierce plowman. newes from the north, otherwise called the conference between simon certain and pierce plowman, faithfully collected by t.f. student, extremely rare. e. allde, s. (r.) the phoenix nest, built up with the most rare and refined workes of noblemen, woorthy knightes, gallant gentlemen, masters of arts and braue schollers, full of varietie, excellent invention and singular delight, never before this time published, set foorth by r.s. of the inner temple, gentleman, excessively rare. imprinted by john jackson, mr. heber had written in his copy, "mr. malone has a copy bought at dr. farmer's sale, (now in the bodleian library,) but i know of no other." we may add, those two copies, and the present, are the only perfect copies known. sidney's (sir phillip) apologie for poetrie, first edition, excessively rare. printed for henry olney, "foure sonnets written by henrie constable to sir philip sidneys soule" are prefixed. these have not been reprinted in the subsequent editions. only three other copies of the first edition of this elegant and valuable treatise are known. one of which is in the british museum, and one in the bridgewater library. the third part of mr. chalmers's library--abundantly rich in scotch literature, and containing much valuable illustration of the history of printing in scotland, will probably quickly succeed the publication of this work. mr. chalmers had frequently expressed to me his intention as well as inclination to give a complete history of the scotish press; and if the materials collected by him find their way into his native country, it is to be hoped that some enterprising spirit, like that which animates the present librarian of the signet library, will find sufficient encouragement to bring them before the public. i bargain for a _quarto_. menalcas (whose fame expands more largely in the _bibliographical decameron_ and _reminiscences_) was my old and "very singular good friend" the rev. henry joseph thomas drury, rector of fingest, and second master of harrow school; second, because he declined to become the _first_. his library, so rich and rare in classical lore--manuscript as well as printed--was sold by mr. evans in . the catalogue contained not fewer than articles. the bindings, chiefly in lewisian calf and morocco, were "de toute beauté;" and the "oblong cabinet" sparkled as the setting sun shot its slanting rays down the backs of the tomes. of this catalogue there were copies only printed upon writing paper, for presents. this library was strikingly illustrative of the character of its late owner; for it is little more than a twelvemonth since he has been called away from that numerous and endearing circle, in the midst of which i saw him sitting, about a twelvemonth before his departure--the happiest of the happy--on the day of the nuptials of his youngest daughter but one, with captain beavan. his books were in fine condition throughout--gaily attired in appropriate bindings of calf or morocco, as the character and condition might be. his love of old classical _manuscripts_ was properly and greatly beyond that of printed books: but each class was so marked and identified by his calligraphical ms. notes, that you were in a moment convinced his books were not purchased for the mere sake of gorgeous furniture. so entirely were his classical feelings mixed up with his library, that he prefixed, over the entrance door of his oblong cabinet, in printed letters of gold, the following lines--of which the version is supplied from the "_arundines cami_," edited by his eldest son, the rev. henry drury. in musei mei aditu. pontificum videas penetralibus eruta lapsis antiquas monachum vellera passa manus, et veteres puncto sine divisore papyros, quæque fremit monstris litera picta suis: Ætatis decimæ spectes industria quintæ: quam pulcra archetypos imprimat arte duces aldinas ædes ineuns et limina juntÆ quosque suos stephanus vellet habere lares. h.i.t.d. over the threshold of my library. from mouldering abbey's dark scriptorium brought, see vellum tomes by monkish labour wrought; nor yet the comma born, papyri see, and uncial letters wizard grammary; view my _fifteeners_ in their rugged line; what ink! what linen! only known long syne-- entering where aldus might have fixed his throne, or harry stephens covetted his own. h.d. they were part and parcel of the _owner_ himself. his mind was traceable in many a fly leaf. his latinity was perspicuity and accuracy itself. he was, in all respects, a ripe and a good scholar; and the late provost of eton (the rev. dr. goodall) told me, on an occasion which has been, perhaps, too _emphasised_ in certain bibliographical pages,[ ] that "england could not then produce a better greek metrical scholar than his friend henry drury." what was remarkable, he never assumed an _ex cathedrâ_ position in society. in bringing forward or pressing quotations, whatever fell from him, came easily and naturally, but rarely. accustomed for many years to be the favourite of the _harrovians_, he never affected the airs of the pedagogue. how he _could_ criticise, sufficiently appears in an article on the _musæ edinburgenses_ in an early number of the quarterly review. [footnote : _bibliographical decameron._ dr. goodall always appeared to me to _affect_ irascibility upon the subject alluded to. the contents might have been published at charing cross.] yet this may be considered secondary matter; and i hasten to record the qualities of his heart and disposition. they were truly christian-like; inasmuch as a fond and large spirit of benevolence was always beating in his bosom, and mantling over a countenance of singular friendliness of expression. he had the _power_ of saying sharp and caustic things, but he used his "giant-strength" with the gentleness of a child. his letters, of which many hundreds have fallen to my lot, are a perfect reflex of his joyous and elastic mind. there was not a pupil under his care who looked forward to a _holiday_ with more unqualified delight than _he_; and when we strayed together beneath, or upon the heights of, the dover cliffs (where i _last_ saw him, in the summer of ) he would expatiate, with equal warmth and felicity, upon the abbey of st. rhadagund, and the keep of dover castle. our visit to barfreston church, in the neighbourhood, can never be effaced from my mind. his mental enthusiasm and bodily activity could not have been exceeded by that of the captain of harrow school. he took up my meditated "history of the dover" as if it were his own work; and his success, in cause of subscription, in most instances, was complete. and now, after an intimacy (minutely recorded in my _reminiscences_) of thirty-three years, it has pleased god to deprive me of his genial and heart-stirring society. his last moments were of those of a christian--"rooted and built up" in that belief, which alone sustains us in the struggle of parting from those whom we cherish as the most idolised objects upon earth! it was towards sun-set that i first paused upon his tomb, in the church-yard, near the summit of harrow hill. for a few moments i was breathless--but _not_ from the steepness of the ascent. the inscription, i would submit, is too much in the "minor key." it was the production of his eldest son, who preferred to err from under-rating, rather than over-rating, the good qualities of his parent. for myself-- "as those we love decay, we die in part; string after string is severed from the heart!" &c. &c. &c. thomson. on the death of mr. drury, his small library, the remains of his former one, was sold by auction; and those classical books, interleaved, and enriched with his manuscript notes, brought large prices. one manuscript, of especial celebrity--_childe harold_--given him by the author, his pupil, lord byron--became the property of its publisher, mr. murray; who purchased it upon terms at once marking his high sense of the talents of the author, and his respect for the family where it had been placed. it may be doubtful whether the autograph of any poem, since paradise lost, would have obtained a larger sum--had it been submitted to public sale. rinaldo.--rinaldo was the late mr. edwards; of the sale of whose library an extended account will be found in my decameron. it remains, briefly, but emphatically, to remark, that of all the book heroes, whose valorous achievements are here recorded, two only have survived the lapse of thirty years. let _half_ of another similar course of time roll on, and where will the survivors be? if not at rest in their graves, they will in all probability be "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans everything:"--at least, very far beyond "the lean and slippered pantaloon." leaving my surviving friends to fight their own battles, i think i may here venture to say, in quiet simplicity and singleness of heart, that books, book-sales, and book-men, will then--if i am spared--pass before me as the faint reflex of "the light of other days!" ... when literary enterprise and literary fame found a proportionate reward; and when the sickly sentimentality of the novelist had not usurped the post of the instructive philologist. but enough of rosicrusis. [illustration: constantia labore et] part iv. the library. this part embraces the _history of literature_, in the formation of libraries, from the conquest to the commencement of the reign of henry viii., and undoubtedly contains much that is curious and instructive. two new characters only are introduced: lorenzo and narcottus. the former was intended to represent the late sir masterman mark sykes, bart.: the latter, a william templeman, esq., of hare hatch, berkshire. sir mark sykes was not less known than respected for the suavity of his manners, the kindness of his disposition, and the liberality of his conduct on all matters connected with _books_ and _prints_. a long and particular account of his library, and of many of his book-purchases, will be seen in the third volume of the _bibliographical decameron_; and at pages , of my _literary reminiscences_. his library and his prints brought, each, pretty much the same sum: together, £ , --an astounding result! sir mark is the last great bibliomaniacal sun that has shed its golden, as well as parting, rays, upon a terribly chap-fallen british public! mr. templeman, represented as narcottus, was a great chess-player: and although caxton's "game at chess" is a mere dull morality, having nothing to do with the game strictly so called, yet he would have everything in his library where the word "chess" was introduced. in the words of the old catch, he would "add the night unto the day" in the prosecution of his darling recreation, and boasted of having once given a signal defeat to the rev. mr. bowdler, after having been defeated himself by lord henry seymour, the renowned chess-champions of the isle of wight. he said he once sat upon phillidor's knee, who patted his cheek, and told him "there was nothing like chess and english roast beef." the notice of poor george faulkner at page --one of the more celebrated book-binders of the day, is amplified at page of the second volume of the decameron; where the painful circumstances attending his death are slightly mentioned. he yet lives, and lives strongly, in my remembrance. since then, indeed within a very few years, the famous charles lewis--of whose bibliopegistic renown the decameronic pages have expatiated fully--has ceased to be. he was carried off suddenly by an apoplectic seizure. his eldest son--a sort of "spes altera romæ," in his way--very quickly followed the fate of his father. the name of lewis will be always held high in the estimation of bibliopegistic virtuosi. but the art of book-binding is not deteriorating: and i am not sure whether john clarke, of frith street, soho, be not as "mighty a man" in his way as any of his predecessors. there is a solidity, strength, and squareness of workmanship about his books, which seem to convince you that they may be tossed from the summit of snowdon to that of cader idris without detriment or serious injury. his gilding is first rate; both for choice of ornament and splendour of gold. nor is his coadjutor, william bedford, of less potent renown. he was the great adjunct of the late charles lewis--and imbibes the same taste and the same spirit of perseverance. accident brought me one morning in contact with a set of the new dugdale's monasticon, bound in blue morocco, and most gorgeously bound and gilded, lying upon the table of mr. james bohn--a mountain of bibliopegistic grandeur! a sort of irrepressible awe kept you back even from turning over the coats or covers! and what a work--deserving of pearls and precious stones in its outward garniture! "who was the happy man to accomplish such a piece of binding?"[ ] observed i. "who but john clarke?"--replied the bibliopole. [footnote : good binding--even roger-payne-binding--is gadding abroad every where. at oxford, they have "a spirit" of this description who loses a night's rest if he haplessly shave off the sixteenth part of an inch of a rough edge of an uncut hearne. my friend, dr. bliss, has placed volumes before me, from the same mintage, which have staggered belief as an indigenous production of academic soil. at reading, also, some splendid leaves are taken from the same _book_. mr. snare, the publisher, keeps one of the most talented bookbinders in the kingdom--from the school of clarke; and feeds him upon something more substantial than rose leaves and jessamine blossoms. he is a great man for a halequin's jacket: and would have gone crazy at the sight of some of the specimens at strawberry hill. no man can put a varied-coloured morocco coat upon the back of a book with greater care, taste, and success, than our reading bibliopegist.] part v. the drawing-room. this part is a copious continuation of the history of book collectors and collections up to the year . there is nothing to add in the way of character; and the subject itself is amply continued in the tenth day of the _bibliographical decameron_. in both works will be found, it is presumed, a fund of information and amusement, so that the reader will scarcely demand an extension of the subject. indeed, a little volume would hardly suffice to render it the justice which it merits; but i am bound to make special mention of the untameable perseverance, and highly refined taste, of b.g. windus, esq., one of my earliest and steadiest supporters; and yet, doth he not rather take up a sitting in the alcove--amongst _illustrators of fine works_? [illustration: the cave of despair. _drawn by j. thurston.--engraved by robert branston._] part vi. the alcove. a word only:--and that respecting _illustrated copies_. leaving mr. windus in full possession of his raphael morghens, william woollets, william sharpes, &c.--and allowing him the undisturbed relish of gazing upon, and pressing to his heart's core, his _grey_ turners--let me only introduce to the reader's critical attention and admiration the opposite subject, executed by the late mr. branston, and exhibiting _the cave of despair_ from spenser's fairy queen. the figures were drawn on the blocks by the late j. thurston, esq. =illustrated copies.= under the _illustration_-symptom of bibliomania, a fund of amusing anecdote, as well as of instructive detail, presents itself. we may travel in a carriage and four--from morn 'till night--and sweep county after county, in pursuit of all that is exquisite, and rare, and precious, and unattainable in other quarters: but i doubt if our horses' heads can be turned in a direction better calculated to answer all the ends in view than in front of [illustration: ravensbury lodge, lower mitcham,] the residence of the late proprietor of this work. there we once beheld such a copy of the best of all existing _encyclopædias_--that of the late dr. rees--as is no where else to be found. it was upon _large_ and _fine_ paper--bound in fourscore volumes--with separately executed title pages, in a style of pure art--and _illustrated_ with not fewer than ten thousand extra plates. the reader may, and will, naturally enough, judge of the wide, if not boundless, field for illustration--comprehending in fact (as the title of the work denounces) the circle of all knowledge, arts and sciences; but he can have no idea of the _manner_ in which this fertile and illimitable field is filled up, till he gazes upon the copy in question. here then was not only a _reading_, but a _graphic_, library in itself. whatever other works _profusely_ dilate upon was here _concentrated_--and deeply impressed upon the mind by the charm, as well as the intelligence, of graphical ornament. you seemed to want nothing, as, upon the turning over of every leaf, the prodigality of art ennobled, while it adorned, the solidity of the text. you have kept your horses already waiting three hours--and they are neighing and snorting for food: and you must turn them into the stable for suitable provender--for the owner of this production would tell you that you had scarcely traversed through one-third of the contents of the volumes. he orders an additional fowl to be placed on the spit, and an extra flagon of combe and delafield's brightest ale to be forth-coming: while his orchard supplies the requisite addenda of mulberries, pears, and apples, to flank the veritable lafitte. you drink and are merry. then comes the argand lamp; and down with the encyclopedistic volumes. the plates look brighter and more beautiful. there is no end of them--nor limits to your admiration. be it summer or winter, there is food for sustenance, and for the gratification of the most exquisite palate. to contemplate such a performance, the thorough-bred book-votary would travel by torch-light through forty-eight hours of successive darkness!...: but the horses are again neighing--for their homes. you must rouse the slumbering post-boy: for "the bell of the church-clock strikes one." * * * * * p.s.--the late mr. walmsley--who employed me to print this present edition--narrowly watched all our movements, and was much gratified by the appearance of the work, so far as it had gone before his death--frequently urged me to append a short account of the progress of our art during the last thirty years--i.e. since the publication of the former edition of _bibliomania_. the subject is too diffuse for a mere note: and during the life-time of so many able printers as now exercise their calling in the metropolis, it would be invidious to particularize eminence in our profession (whereas among our immediate predecessors it is, perhaps just to say that there were only _two_ printers of great celebrity, the late _mr. bulmer_ and my late father). i shall therefore merely mention some events which have had such influence on our art as that the case is now very different to what it was thirty years ago, when the good execution of printing at once testified to the skill and industry of the printer--as he could command neither good _presses_, _types_, nor _ink_, &c.--paper being then almost the only matter to be had in perfection. we have _now_ excellent and powerful iron presses--stanhopes, columbians, imperials, &c. _then_ the celebrated specimens of typography were produced by _miserable_ wooden presses. we have _now_ ink of splendid lustre, at a fourth of the cost of fabrication _then_--for both mr. bulmer and my father were perpetually trying expensive experiments--and not always succeeding: our ink is now to be depended on for _standing_, it works freely, and can be had at reasonable prices at the extensive factory of messrs. shackell and lyons, clerkenwell, who made the ink used for this work. there are several eminent engineers who make the best of presses. our _letter_ may safely be pronounced, if not perfect, as near perfection as it will ever reach--and while the celebrated type-foundries of messrs. caslon, chiswell street, and messrs. figgins, west street, are within the reach of the metropolitan printers, there can be no excuse for failing to execute good printing on the score of inferior type. the substitution of the _inking roller_, instead of the cumbrous and inconvenient old balls, has much eased the labours of the pressman and facilitated the regularity of colour. the inking roller at the hand press was adopted, and offered to the printers generally, by my friend, mr. applegath, shortly after _steam-printing_ was introduced by my father--about which so much has been said in periodical publications, &c., that it is needless here to enlarge on the subject--more especially as it is principally applicable to work of inferior character, newspapers, reviews, magazines, &c.; and, further, it is not a very tempting subject to the son of him who was led to devote the energies of the latter years of his active life, and the well-earned fortune which his great typographical celebrity had secured, to the adoption of a mode of printing which, how much soever it may benefit newspaper proprietors and others--certainly has done any thing but benefit his family; and has thus added another instance to the many on record of the ill success attending the patronage of inventors. b. bensley. _woking, surrey, june_ , . * * * * * finis. indexes. chronological, bibliographical, and general. chronological index. lovers and collectors of books in great britain. seventh century. theodore, archbishop of canterbury, benedict, bishop, abbot of weremouth, , venerable bede, eighth century. ina, king of the west saxons, alouin, abbot of tours, ninth century. scotus erigena, king alfred, , king athelstan, st. dunstan, archbishop of canterbury, eleventh century. king canute, ingulph, abbot of croyland, lanfranc, archbishop of canterbury, anselm, archbishop of canterbury, , giraldus, archbishop of york, twelfth century. herman, bishop of salisbury, thomas À becket, archbishop of canterbury, - thirteenth century. giraldus cambrensis, bishop of st. david's, , roger bacon, - fourteenth century. king edward the first, king edward the third, richard de bury, bishop of durham, - fifteenth century. john boston, , john plantagenet, first duke of bedford, , thomas cobham, bishop of worcester, robert rede, bishop of chichester, humphrey plantagenet, first duke of gloucester, sir walter sherington, john tiptoft, earl of worcester, george neville, archbishop of york, king henry the seventh, , , sixteenth century. the earl of surrey--sir thomas wyatt, king henry the eighth, - john colet, dean of st. paul's, , - sir thomas more, - erasmus, - cardinal wolsey, - robert wakefield, john leland, - john bale, bishop of ossory, , thomas cranmer, archbishop of canterbury, , queen elizabeth, - roger ascham, , william cecil, first earl of burleigh, matthew parker, archbishop of canterbury, - dr. john dee, , captain cox, sir robert cotton, - sir thomas bodley, - seventeenth century. king james the first, thomas coryate, henry peacham, robert burton, john, lord lumley, henry hastings, - john clungeon, john ward, the ferrar family, - elias ashmole, windsor herald, - william laud, archbishop of canterbury, , henry dyson, richard smith, , dr. seaman, francis north, lord-keeper, hon. and rev. john north, d.d., anthony À wood, - francis bernard, m.d., , eighteenth century. john fell, bishop of oxford, , john more, bishop of ely, samuel pepys, john churchill, first duke of marlborough, prince eugene, narcissus luttrell, edward wynne, henry herbert, ninth earl of pembroke, , john bagford, - john murray, thomas britton, - thomas hearne, - john anstis, garter king of arms, rev. john lewis, - joseph ames--william herbert, thomas baker, - lewis theobald, thomas rawlinson, - humphrey wanley, robert harley, first earl of oxford, - thomas osborne, , john bridges, anthony collins, michael maittaire, richard mead, m.p., - martin folkes, - richard rawlinson, - john (orator) henley, - general james dormer, james west, thomas martin, - serjeant william fleetwood, anthony askew, m.d., - john ratcliffe, , hon. topham beauclerk, rev. thomas crofts, - mark cephas tutet, , richard wright, m.d., john henderson, william fillingham, major thomas pearson, - rev. michael lort, d.d., - right hon. denis daly, , charles chauncy, m.d. } nathaniel chauncy, } , john munro, m.d., rev. richard southgate, george mason, - rev. richard farmer, d.d., - george steevens, - john strange, john woodhouse, george galway mills, john wilkes, , joseph ritson, rev. jonathan boucher, william petty, first marquess of lansdowne, , rev. john brand, - isaac reed, - alexander dalrymple, richard porson, , john maddison, emperor john alexander woodford, richard gough, rev. benjamin heath, , - bibliographical index. list of works consulted or referred to:--criticisms on their intrinsic value being occasionally introduced in the foregoing pages. agostini (lionardo). _notizie istorico-critiche, &c., scritt. viniz._, agrippa (cornelius). _vanity of human sciences_, _occult philosophy_, _ib._ ames (joseph). _typographical antiquities_, _the same_; by herbert, _anonymiana_, _anthologia græca._ dr. askew's copy upon vellum, pinelli do. (afterwards count m'carthy's), [_de_] _antiquitate cantab. acad._, antonio (nicolas). _biblioth. hispana vet. et nov._, _archæologia_, arnold (richard). _his chronicle_, , _arthur._ _robinson's life, actes, and death of_, &c., , east's edition of, copland's do., , ascham (roger). _works by bennet_, ashmole (elias). _theatricum chemicum_, , , , , , , , _diary_, , _way to bliss_, _order of the garter_, , _assertio septem sacramentorum, &c._, _athenæum_, , audiffredi (jean baptiste). _editiones romanæ_, _editiones italicæ_, _ib._ baillet (adrien). _jugemens des savans_, , , , , _catalogue des matières_, _anti baillet_, _ib._ bale (john). _scriptores illustres britanniæ_, , , _actes of englyshe votaryes_, , _preface to leland's laboryouse journey_, , _ballads._ _ancient songs and ballads._ see evans, _in the general index_. barbier (antoine alexandre). _dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymés et pseudonymes françoises_, _cat. des livres de la bibliothèque du conseil d'etat_, barclaii (johannis). _satyricon_, barclay (alexander). _egloges_, &c., barnes (juliana). _on hawking, hunting, &c._, , west's copy of the st. albans' edition of, mason's copy of do., ---- ---- of copland's edition, _ib._ martin's, of wynkyn de worde's, tutet's, of do., bartholin (thomas). _de libris legendis_, bauer (john jacob). _bibliotheca librorum rariorum universalis_, , beloe (rev. wm.) _anecdotes of literature and scarce books_, , , , beughem (cornelius de). _incunabula typographica_, _bibliogr. erudit. crit.-curiosa_, _ib._ _gallia erudita_, _ib._ beyer (augustus). _memoriæ hist.-criticæ libror. rarior._, _arcana sacra bibliothecar. dresdens_, _ib._ _biblia polyglot complut._, _bibliographia scotica._ ritson's ms. of, _bibliographie curieuse._ see peignot. _bibliographie des pays bas_, _bibliomania_, , , , , _bibliosophia_, , , , , , , , , _bibliotheca lusitana_, by machado, _biographia britannica._ an extraordinary copy of, blount (sir thomas pope). _censura celebriorum authorum_, boccaccio (giovanni), _il teseide_, _decamerone_, bolduanus (paul). _bibliotheca historica_, boucher (de la richarderie). _bibliothèque universelle des voyages_, braithwait (richard). _arcadian princesse_, , , - _nursery for gentry_, _english gentleman and gentlewoman_, braun (placid). _notitia hist.-crit. de libris ab art. typog. inv._, _notitia hist.-liter. de cod. mss. in bibl. monast. ord. st. bened._, &c., bridgman (richard whalley). _legal bibliography_, _british bibliographer_, , , , _british librarian_, by savage, , broughton (hugh). _concent of scripture_--upon vellum, brunet (j.c.). _manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres_, , bry (theodore de). _perigrationes_, &c., brydges (sir samuel egerton, k.j.) _censura literaria_, , bure (guillaume françois de). _bibliographie instructive_, , , , , , _musæum typographicum_, _cat. des livres de gaignat_, _ib._ _appel aux savans_, _ib._ _reponse à une critique de la bibl. instr._, , bure (g.f. de fils). _cat. des livres du duc de la valliere_, burnet (george). _specimens of english prose writers_, , burnet (gilbert). _hist. of the reformation_, , , , , , , burton (robert). _anatomy of melancholy_, bury (richard de). _philobiblion, sine de amore librorum_, , , byddell (john). _maner and forme of confession_, bysshop (john). _beautifull blossomes_, caballero (r.d.). _de prima typog. hist. Ætat. specimen_, cæsar. _de bell. gall._, , caille (jean de la). _hist. de l'imprimerie et de la librarie_, cailleau. _dictionnaire bibliographique_, , , , , caillot (antoine). _roman bibliographique_, , camden (william). _remaines_, , _annales_, , camus (amurand gaston). _observations sur la distribution, &c., des livres d'une bibliothèque_, _additions aux mêmes_, _ib._ _memoires sur une livre allemand (teurdanckhs)_, _addition aux mêmes_, _ib._ _memoire, &c., sur le polytypage et stereotype_, _ib._ _rapport sur la continuation, &c., des hist. de france_, _ib._ _notice d'un livre imprimé à bamberg_, _ib._ _memoire sur la collection des grands et petits voyages_, _ib._ _voyage dans les départmens réunis_, cardona (j.b.) _de reg. sanct. lament. bibliotheca_, _de bibliothecis, &c._, _ib._ _de expurgandis hæreticorum propr. nom._, _ib._ _de dypthicis_, _ib._ casaubon (meric). _a relation concerning dee and some spirits_, casiri (michael). _biblioth. arab. hisp. escurial._, _catalogues: foreign._ augsbourg, , aurivillius, badenhaupt, _ib._ baluze, _ib._ barberini, _ib._ barthelemy, bern, _bibliog. des pays bas._, bonnier, boutourlin, _ib._ boze, _ib._ bozérian, _ib._ bulteau, _ib._ bunau, bunneman, _ib._ caillard, _ib._ cambis, camus de limare, _ib._ _catalogue des livres rares_ _par de bure_, _ib._ _fait sur un plan nouveau_, _ib._ _catalogus librorum rarissimorum_, _ib._ ceran, clement-vatican, _ib._ colbert, , conseil d'etat, cordes, _ib._ cotte, couvay, _ib._ crevenna, , , crozat, damme [van], _ib._ dubois, _ib._ elzevir, _ib._ fagel, _ib._ faultrier, _ib._ favier, _ib._ fay [du], _ib._ fresne [du], gaignat, , genève, goez, _ib._ golowkin, _ib._ gouttard, _ib._ guyon, _ib._ heinsius (nic.), hohendorf, _ib._ hoym, _ib._ hulsius, , jena, jesu-soc., just (st.), _ib._ krohn, _ib._ lamoignon, , lancelot, lemarié, _ib._ lomenie de brienne, , macarthy (ct.), magliabechi, , mark (st.), medici-lorenzo, _ib._ manarsiana, _ib._ menckenius, _ib._ meon, _ib._ mercier, merigot, _ib._ michael (st.), _ib._ mirabeau, _ib._ miromenil, montfaucon, _ib._ morelli, _ib._ paris, petau and mansart, _ib._ pinelli, , , pompadour, préfond, randon de boisset, _ib._ reimannius, _ib._ renati, _ib._ revickzky, rive, _ib._ roi (louis xv.), , , röver, rothelin, sarraz, _ib._ sartori, _ib._ schalbruck, _ib._ schwartz, _ib._ scriverius, _ib._ serna santander, solger, , soubise, tellier, _ib._ thuanus (de thou), _ib._ uffenbach, _ib._ valliere (duc de la), , vienna, volpi, voyage de deux françois, &c. _ib._ zurich, _ib._ _catalogues: english._ ames (of engl. heads), askew, beauclerk, bernard (dr. f.), boucher, bodleian, , brand, bridges, britton, chauncy, collins (anthony), (concannon), corpus christi (cambr.), cotton, , crofts, dalrymple, daly, dodd, dormer, farmer, fillingham, fletewode, folkes, gough, harley (earl of oxford), , hearne, (heath), henderson, henley, hoblyn, hutton, _ib._ institution (royal), lansdowne, lort, maddison, manton, maittaire, martin, , mason, mills, mores (rowe), munro, museum (british), , osborne, paterson, pearson, pepys, porson, ratcliffe, rawlinson (richard), rawlinson (thomas), reed, ritson, seaman (dr.), sion college, smith (consul), smith (richard), smyth, southgate, stace, steevens, swedenborg, (thurlo), tutet (m.c.), west, wilkes, wood (anthony), woodford, woodhouse, _prints_, ---- _books_, worsley (dr.), wright, wynne, _catalogue of books_, , to., caxton (william). books printed by him in west's collection, , in the fletewode do., in dr. askew's do., in john ratcliffe's do., , in tutet's do., in macartney's do., in mason's do., , in brand's do., chalmers (mr. alexander). _history of the university_ of oxford, _collection of the english poets_, chalmers (mr. george). _apology for the believers in shakespeare, &c._, _edition of sir david lynday's poem_, chartier (alain). _livres des quartre dames_, _les faicts, dictes, et ballades_, chaucer (geoffrey). _canterbury tales_, , , _troylus and creyseyde_, chesne (andrew du). _biblioth. hist. galliæ_, _chess._ works relating thereto, , chevillier (andrew). _l'origine de l'imprimerie à paris_, , , _series auctor. de franc. hist._, _ib._ _choice of change_, _churchyard's pieces_, , cinelli (john). _bibliotheca volante_, clarke (rev. dr. adam), _bibliographical dictionary_, clarke (dr. edward daniel). _travels in russia_, _classical journal_, , clement (claude). _extract. bibl. tam privatæ quam publicæ_, ---- (david). _bibliothèque curieuse_, _les cinq années literaires_, _ib._ coke (sir edward). _institutes_, , collier (rev. jeremy). _ecclesiastical history_, , - conringius (herman). _bibliotheca augusta_, coryat (thomas). _crudities_, , , coxe (francis). _detestible wickedness of magical sciences_, cowper (william). _the task_, , croix du maine (françois grude de la) et du verdier. _bibliothèque françoise_, _cynthia; with certain sonnets_, dante (alighieri). _la divina comedia_ ( ), di landini ( ), darwin (john), m.d. _zoonomia_, _debates between the_ [french and english] _heralds_, dekker (thomas). _works_, , denis (michael). _supplementum maittairii annal._, _codices manuscripti theol. bibl. palat. vindob._, , , _dictionnaire bibliographique._ see cailleau. _historique._ caen, , , _de bibliologie._ see peignot. _director_, the, d'israeli (isaac). _curiosities of literature_, , _dives et pauper._ pynson's edition of ( ), , martin's vellum ms. of, dodd (charles). _church history_, dolman (robert). see _treatise of treasons_, post. doni (anthony francis). _la libraria_, draudius (george). _bibliotheca classica_, , _drolleries_, dugdale (sir william). his _works_, complete, du pin (louis ellies). _ecclesiastical history_, , , dunstan (st.) _de occulta philosophia_, durandi (gulielmus). _rationale_, upon vellum, ellis (mr. george). _specimens of the early english poets_, , , , engel (samuel). _bibliotheca selectissima, &c._, _england's helicon_, , englefield (sir h.c.) _walk through southampton_, _example of sertu_, fabricius (john albert). _bibliotheca græca_, _bibliotheca latina_, _ib._ _bibliographia antiquaria_, _ib._ _bibliotheca ecclesiastica_, _ib._ _bibl. lat. mediæ et inf. Ætatis_, , _sylloge opusc. hist. cat. lit. j.a. fabricii_, _hist. bibliothecæ fabricianæ_, , ferriar (john), m.d. _comments upon sterne_, _the bibliomania_, , , , , _festiuall, the boke that is called_, fischer (gotthelf). _essai sur les monum. de typog. de gutenberg_, _descriptions de raretés typographique, &c._, _fishing._ books upon, , , fontaine (john de la), _contes de la_--manuscript de mons. paris, fontanini (giusto). _biblioteca del eloquenza italiana_, fossius (ferdin). _cat. biblioth. magliabechi_, , , fournier (françois j.) _dict. portatif de bibliographie_, , , , fournier (pierre simon). _dissertation sur l'origine, &c., de graver en bois_, _de l'origine et productions de l'imp., &c., en bois_, _ib._ _traité sur l'origine, &c., de l'imprimerie_, _ib._ _observations, &c., sur les vindicæ typographicæ_, _ib._ _epreuves de caractères nouvellement gravés_, _ib._ _manuel typographique_, _ib._ fox (john). _book of martyrs_, , , fresnoy (n.c. du). _methode pour etudier l'histoire_, freytag (f.g.). _analecta literaria_, _adparatus literarius_, _ib._ froissart (sir john). _chronicles_, , fuller (rev. thomas), d.d. _church history_, , , , gaddius (james). _de scriptoribus non ecclesiastices_, gale (thomas), d.d. _rerum anglicar. script. vet._, , , gallois (john). _traité des plus belles bibliothèques_, gascoigne (george). _works_, in steevens's collection, in reed's collection, _gentleman's magazine_, , , , , , , georgius. _lexicon literarium_, gerdes (daniel). _florilegium hist.-crit. libror. rarior., &c._, gesner (conrad). _bibliotheca, seu catalogus universalis_, _pandectæ_, , geyler (john). _navicula sive speculum fatuorum_, , gibbon (edward). _decline and fall of the roman empire_, _posthumous works_, gildas's _epistle_, girald barri. _sir richard colt hoare's edition of_, goddard (william). _satyrical dialogue, betweene alexander, &c., and diogenes_, godwyn (francis). _catalogue of the bishops of england_, , , _annales of england_, gomez, or gomecius (alvarez). _de rebus gestis cardinalis ximines_, googe (barnabe). his works in steevens's collection, gough (richard). _british topography_, , goujet (claude peter). _bibliothèque françois_, &c., gower (john). _confessio amantis_, grafton (richard). _chronicles_, gunton (simon). _hist. of peterborough abbey_, gutch (rev. john). _collectanea curiosa_, , , hallevordius. _bibliotheca curiosa_, hardyng (john). _chronicle_, harpsfield (nicholas). _hist. eccles. anglicana_, harrison. _seven triumphal arches_, harwood (rev. edward), d.d. _view of the various editions of the greek and roman classics_, haym (nicolas francis). _biblioteca italiana_, hearne (thomas). _johan. ros. hist. angl. regum_, _thom. caii vindic. antiq. acad. oxon._, , , , _antiquities of glastonbury_, , , , , , , _john. confrat. mon. de rebus glastoniens._, , , _adam de domerham de rebus gest. glaston._, , , _guil. neubrig. hist._, _curious discourses by eminent antiquaries_, , , _benedictus abbas_, , , , _robert de avesbury_, _guliel. roperi vita d.t. mori_, , , , , _robert of glocester_, , , _peter langtoft's chronicle_, , _tit. liv. foro-juliensis_, , , _annals of dunstaple priory_, _liber niger scaccarii_, _hist. vit. et regni ricardi ii._, , _walt. hemingford hist._, , , , , , _heming. wigorens. chartular._, , , _thomas de elmham_, , _alured de beverley_, , heinecken (baron). _nachrichten von kunstlern_, &c., _idée generale d'une collection d'estampes_, , _dictionnaire des artistes_, henry (rev. robert), d.d. _history of great britain_, , , , , , , herbert (william). _typographical antiquities_, , , , , _heures de notre dame_, heylin (rev. peter), d.d. _life and death of archbishop laud_, hirschius (c.c.). _librorum ab anno i. usque ad annum l. sec. xvi._, horatius. _carmen_, lib. i., &c., jacob (louis). _traicté des plus belles bibliothèques_, , _bibliothèque universelle_, _bibliotheca parisina_, jansen. _de l'invention de l'imprimerie_, _john bon and mast. person_, johnson. _upon english bibles_, _kalender of shepherds_, kennet (white, d.d., bishop of peterborough). _parochial antiquities_, knight (rev. samuel), d.d. _life of colet_, , _life of erasmus_, , koenigius (george matthias). _biblioth. vet. et nov._, kollarius (adam francis). his edition of lambecius's _commentarii_, &c., , labbe (philip). _bibliotheca bibliothecarum_, _bibliotheca nummaria_, _mantissa suppellectilis_, _ib._ _specimen nov. bibl. manuscript_, _ib._ _collectio maxima conciliorum_, _ib._ lackman (adam herne). _annal. typog. selecta quædam capita_, laire (franciscus xavier). _specimen hist. typog. rom._, _dissertation sur l'imprimerie en franche comté_, _index libror. ab invent, typog. ad ann. _, , lambecius (pierre). _commentarii de bibl. cæsar vindobon._, lambinet (p.). _recherches, &c., sur l'origine de l'imprimerie_, &c., , laneham (robert). _letter of the entertainment given to q. elizabeth at killingworth castle_, , latimer (hugh), archbishop of canterbury. _sermons_, , leibnitz (godfrey william de). _idea bibliothecæ publiæ_, &c., _scriptores rerum brunsvicensium_, _ib._ leland (john). _collectanea_, , , _de scriptoribus britannicis_, _itinerarium_, le long (jacques). _bibliotheca sacra_, _bibliothèque historique de la france_, lewin. _birds of great britain_, lewis (rev. john). _upon english bibles_, _life off the archbishop of canterbury_, &c., lipenius (martin). _biblioth. theol. med. philos. jurid._, lipsius (justus). _syntagma de bibliothecis_, lloyd (david). _memoirs of the sufferers_, lomeier (john). _de bibliothecis liber singularis_, , , lupset (thomas). _exhortacion to yonge men_, macdiarmid (john). _lives of british statesmen_, , mackenzie (george), m.d. _scottish writers_, maichelius (daniel). _de præcip. bibl. paris_, , maittaire (michael). _annales typographici_, , , _historia stephanorum_, &c., _historia typographor. aliquot. parisiens_, marchand (prosper). _dict. historique, ou mémoires critiques_, &c., , , , _histoire de l'imprimerie_, , _marie magdalene._ life and repentance of, marville. _melanges d'histoire et de literature_, masters (robert). _life of thomas baker_, , maunsell (andrew). _catalogue of english books_, mazzuchelli (giovanni maria). _gli scrittori d'italia_, &c., meerman (gerard). _origines typographicæ_, _memoires de l'institut national_, , , , , _memoirs (old and new) of literature_, mercier de st. leger. _supplement á l'histoire de l'imprimerie par marchand_, _his bibliographical character_, _ib._ _catalogue of his books_, middleton (rev. conyer), d.d. _dissertation upon the origin of the art of printing_, momoro (antoine françois). _traité elementaire de l'imprimerie_, monstrelet (enguerand de). _chronicles of, translated by mr. johnes_, _monthly mirror_, _monthly review_, more (sir thomas). _utopia_, , , mores (edward rowe). _of english founders and founderies_, , morhof (daniel george). _polyhistor. literarius_, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , _princeps medicus_, _epistola de scypho vitreo per somn. human. voc. rupto_, murr (c.t. de). _memorabilia biblioth. public. norimb._, nash (thomas). wright's collection of his _works_, naudé or naudæus (gabriel). _avis pour dresser une bibliothèque_, _mascurat_, _ib._ _considerations politiques_, _ib._ _additions à l'histoire de louis xi._, _ib._ _avis à nos seigneurs de parlement_, _ib._ _remise de la bibliothèque, &c._, _ib._ _catalog. biblioth. cordes._, _apologie, &c., faussement soupçonnez de magie_, neander (michael). _erotemata græcæ linguæ_, niceron (jean pierre). _mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des hommes illustres_, nichols (john). _manners and expenses of ancient times in england_, - _history of leicestershire_, _anecdotes of bowyer_, , , , nicolson (william, d.d., bishop). _english, scottish, and irish hist. libraries_, _epistolary correspondence_, _ib._ noble (rev. mark). _continuation of granger_, north (roger). _life of lord keeper guildford_, _life of the hon. and rev. dr. john north_, - _examen_, oberlin (jeremiah james). _essai d'annales de la vie de jean gutenberg_, ogilby (william). _his works_, oldys (william). _british librarian_, , , _life of raleigh_, _harleian miscellany_, _ib._ _interleaved langbaine_, _oliver of castille. romance of_, , , _ordynary of christian men_, orlandi (pellegrino antonio). _origine e progressi della stampa, &c._, osmont. _dictionnaire typographique_, otho and octhobone. _constitutions provinciales_, painter (william). _palace of pleasure_, hutton's copy of, paitoni (giacomo maria). _biblioteca degli autori antichi, &c._, palmer (samuel). _history of printing_, , pansa (mutius). _biblioteca vaticana_, panzer (george wolfgang francis). _annales typographici_, _annalen der altern deutschen literatur, &c._, _ib._ _paradise of dainty devises_, , , park (mr. thomas). _royal and noble authors_, , , _edition of the harleian miscellany_, _passe temps de tout hommes, &c._, peacham (henry). _compleat gentleman_, - peignot (gabriel). _dictionnaire de bibliologie_, , , , , , , , , _essai de curiosités bibliographiques_, , , _dictionnaire, &c., des livres condamnés, &c., ou censurés_, _bibliographie curieuse_, , petrarca (francisco) [transcriber's note: francesco]. _le rime_ ( ), _opere de_ ( ), pitseus (johannes). _de rebus anglicis_, , _plaister for a galled horse_, , plato. _opera omnia_--upon vellum, plinii. _hist. naturalis_ ( ), upon vellum, ( ), upon vellum, _pole. life of reginald_, , _polychronicon._ _caxton's edit._, , _pope (sir thomas). life of_, , possevinus (antonius). _bibliotheca selecta, &c._, _apparatus sacer_, _ib._ praet (joseph van). _cat. des mss. du duc de la valliere_, , _cat. des livres imprimés sur velin_, prince (john). _worthies of devon_, priscianus. _de art. gram._ ( ), _promptuarium parvulorum_, . martin's copy of, prynne (william). _records_, puhtherb (gabriel). _de tollendis et expurgandis malis libris_, puteanus (ericus). _de usu bibliothecæ_, &c., _auspicia bibliothecæ lovaniensis_, _ib._ puttenham (george). _art of english poesie_, _pype or tonne of perfection_, , quirini (angelo maria, cardinal). _specimen variæ literaturæ brixiens_, _catalogo delle opere, &c._, _ib._ _de optimorum scriptorum editionibus_, _ib._ rastell (john). _chronicle, or pastyme of people_, martin's copy of, ratcliffe's copy of, chauncy's copy of, mason's copy of, raynaud (theophilus). _erotemata de malis ac bonis libris, &c._, _recueil des historiens des gaules_, , [transcriber's note: ] reimannus. _bibliotheca acroamatica_, , renouard (antoine auguste). _l'imprimerie des alde_, , , _revelacions of a monk of euisham_, _revelationes scancte [transcriber's note: sancte] birgitte_, _reviews._ _american_, , _edinburgh_, , _monthly_, _quarterly_, , , , ridley (nicholas, bishop of london). _life of ridley_, ritson (joseph). _ancient english metrical romances_, rive (abbé jean joseph). _chasse aux bibliographes_, _notices calligraphiques, &c._, _ib._ _anecdotes of_, _ib._ _catalogue of his library_, _l'art de connoitre les miniatures des mss. anciens_, _notice d'un roman d'artus_, _etrennes aux joueurs des cartes_, _ib._ _robin hood. a merry jest of_, roccha (angelus). _bibliotheca vaticana_, _romances_ in croft's library, - in farmer's ditto, ronsard (peter de). _poemes de_, rossi (john bernard de). _annales hebræo-typographici_, roy (william). _rede me and be not wroth_, , , , , rymeri (thomas). _foedera_, , sandford (francis). _genealogical history_, savile (sir henry). _scriptores post bedam_, saxius (christopher). _onomasticon literarium_, , schelhorn (j.g.) _amoenitates literariæ_, &c., , , _amoenitates hist. ecclesiast. et lit._, schoepflin (john daniel). _vindicæ typographicæ_, scholtzius. _icones bibliopolorum et typographorum_, _thesaurus symbolorum et ac emblematum_, _ib._ schottus (andreas). _de bibl. et claris. hisp. viris_, scott (reginald). _discovery of witchcraft_, scott (walter). _hunting song_, _marmion_, _lady of the lake_, _edition of dryden's works_, , _edition of the somers tracts_, seemiller (sebastian). _bibl. ingolstad. incunab. typog._, seiz (john christopher). _annus tertius sæcular. inv. hist. typog._, , senebier (jean). _catalogue des mss. de genève_, , serna santander. _catalogue des livres de_, , , _diction. bibliogr. choisi du xv. siecle_, , _sevin seages, the_, shakspeare. edit. , , early editions of in wright's collection, in smyth's ditto, in farmer's ditto, in steevens's ditto, - steevens's own edition of, the edition of , _ib._ portrait of, ritson's manuscript notes relating to, reed's collection of tracts relating to, _ship of fools_, , , skelton (john). _works of_, martin's set of, wright's ditto, pearson's ditto, steevens's ditto, woodhouse's ditto, smith (john). _printer's grammar_, snelling (thomas). _works upon the coinage_, _speculum christiani_, chauncy's copy of, mason's copy of, speed (john). _hist. of great britain_, spizelius (theophilus). _infelix literatus_, , , stapleton (thomas). _translation of bede's ecclesiastical history_, _counterblast to horne's vayne blaste_, stowe (john). _chronicle, or annals_, , , , , struvius (gottlieb). _bibliotheca librorum rariorum_, _bibliotheca historica_, _ib._ _cura meusel_, _ib._ _bibliotheca hist. selecta_, _bibliotheca saxonica_, _ib._ strype (rev. john). _life of cranmer_, , , , , , _ecclesiastical memorials_, , , _annals of the reformation_, _life of parker_, , , stubbes (philip). _anatomy of abuses_, , [transcriber's note: ] _supplicacion of beggars_, tanner (thomas, bishop of st. asaph). _edition of wood's athenæ oxonienses_, _bibliotheca britan. hibernica_, , , , teisser (anthony). _bibliotheca bibliothecarum_, terentianus (maurus). dr. askew's copy of, _tewrdanckhs._ a book so called, , dr. askew's copy of--upon vellum, tutet's copy of, thomson (james). _winter_, ; _autumn_, tiraboschi (girolamo). _letteratura italiana_, toderini (giambatista). _letteratura turchesca_, todd (rev. henry john). _illustrations of gower and chaucer_, , , , _treatise of treasons_, trefler (florian). _disposition des livres dans une bibliothéque_, _troie, recueil of the histories of_, turner (mr. sharon). _history of the anglo saxons_, tusser (thomas). _five hundred points of good husbandry_, twyne (bryan). _antiquit. acad. oxon._, , tyndale (william). _the practice of popishe prelates_, , tyrrel (sir james). _hist. of england._ daly's copy of, _universal historical bibliothéque_, vallans. _tale of two swannes_, valois. _discours sur les bibliothéques publiques_, van praet (joseph), virgilii _opera_ ( ), upon vellum; do. ( ); do., _vita et processus, &c., thomæ à becket_, vives (ludovicus). _instruction of a christian woman_, , vogler. _universalis in notit. cuj. generis bonor. scriptor. introd._, vogt (john). _catalogus librorum rariorum_, , , , , , , _walks in powles_, walton (izaak). _complete angler_, , , , warton (joseph). _hist. engl. poetry_, , , , , , , , , , , wasse. _bibliotheca literaria_, watson. _history of the art of printing_, webbe (william). _discourse of english poetrie_, , _weekly memorials for the ingenious_, wendler (john christian). _dissertatio de var. raritat. libror. impress. causis_, werburge (st.). _life of._ martin's copy of, pearson's do., woodhouse's do., wharton (henry). _anglia sacra_, withers (george). _emblems_, wolfius (john christian). _monumenta typographica_, _bibl. aprosiana_, wolfius (john). _lectiones memorabiles, &c._, , wordsworth (rev. christopher, d.d.). _ecclesiastical biography_, , , , _works of the learned_, wood (anthony). _athenæ oxonienses_, , _hist. and antiq. of the colleges and halls of oxford_, , _annals of the university of oxford_, , , , , , , , wurdtwein (stephen alexander). _bibliotheca moguntina_, ximenes (cardinal francis). _bibl. polyglot. complut._, , _missale mozarabicum_, _breviarum mozarabicum_, _ib._ zapf (george william). _annales typog. augustan._, general index. _agrippa_ (_cornelius_). account of some of his works, _d'aguesseau_ (_chancellor_). account of his library, _alcove, the._ description of lorenzo's, , _alcuin_, _alfred_, _alphonso._ an obstinate literary character, _ames_ (_joseph_), _ancillon._ pillage of his library, _anne boleyn._ her coronation dinner described by stow, , _anselm_, _anstis_ (_john_). original letter of, literary character of, , _antiphoners_, _antonio_ (_nicolas_). _see bibliographical index._ _arch_ (_messrs. john and arthur_). their purchase of sandford's genealogical history, l.p., _aristotle's works_--printed upon vellum, _d'artois_ (_count_). catalogue of his library, purchase of the vallière collection, _ascham_, (_roger_). his 'schoolmaster' commended, _ashmole_ (_elias_). some account of, - _askew_ (_dr. anthony_). some account of, with specimens of his library, - _atticus._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, - , _auctions of books._ their origin in this country, - warmth of bidders at, _audiffredi_ (_jean baptiste_). _see bibliographical index._ _autumnal morning_, , _baber_ (_rev. henry hervey_). preparation of the catalogue of the museum printed books, his edition of wickliffe's translation of the new testament, _bacon_ (_roger, or friar_), - _bacon_ (_sir nathaniel_). libellous character of, _bagford_ (_john_). some account of, - wood-cut of his rebus, or device, _baillet_ (_adrien_). some account of, - --_see bibliographical index._ _baker_ (_thomas_). some account of, - extract from his will, _baker_ (_late mr. george_). copy of reed's catalogue of books, catalogue of strawberry-hill pieces, _bale_ (_john, bishop of ossory_). some account of, - his portrait, _baltimore_ (_lord_). his 'gaudia poetica,' _barnes_ (_juliana_). her work on hunting, &c., , , , , _barthélémy_ (_abbé_). catalogue of his library, _bartholin._ _see bibliographical index._ _beauclerk_ (_hon. topham_). account of his library, , _becket_ (_thomas à_), account of his murder, _bede_, _bedford_ (_john, duke of_). his beautiful missal, , _beloe_ (_rev. mr._). _see bibliographical index._ _benedict_ (_biscop_), _benet_ (_sir john_). assists sir t. bodley in erecting the bodl. library, _bernard_ (_dr. francis_). some account of his library, , engraving of his portrait, _bernardo._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, his copy of an illustrated chatterton, of walton's complete angler, _ib._ _berryer_ (_mons._). his care and skill in having his books bound, _beughem._ _see bibliographical index._ _bibles._ ancient english, _bibliographers._ character of aspersed, _bibliography._ cabinet of, opinions of foreign critics thereupon, , outline of its rise and progress, - utility and importance of the study so called, _bibliomania._ history of the bibliomania, or of english book-collectors, - see _chronological index_. definition of, and works upon, - { . large paper copies, , , - { tall and fine paper do., { . uncut copies, - { . illustrated copies, - { . unique copies, - symptoms of the { . copies printed upon vellum, - disease so called; { . first editions, - being a passion { . true editions, - for { . books printed in the black letter, - { . for private distribution, - { . at a private press, - { . suppressed, condemned, &c., { . all the editions of a work, - { . large and voluminous works, { . studying of useful & profitable works, probable means of { . reprints of scarce and valuable works, the cure of { . editing of the best authors, { . erection of literary institutions, { . study of bibliography, , _bibliomaniacs._ character of, book-auction bibliomaniacs, _black letter._ passion for books printed in the, - _blandford_ (_marquis of_). his zeal in collecting books printed by caxton, _blenheim._ account of the library there, _blount_ (_thomas_). see _bibliographical index_. _bodleian library._ catalogue of, history of its erection, - list of some of the contributors to, , _bodley_ (_sir thomas_). some account of, - wood-cut portrait of, _bodoni._ beauty of his books printed upon vellum, _books._ ancient prices of, - illuminated, of terror. their effects upon young minds, - skill of the ferrar family in binding, - account of ancient binding of, - skill in modern book-binding, , importation of in barrels, sales of by public auction, - , printed upon vellum, , , , - upon satin, in the black letter, - for private distribution, - at private presses, - _book-rooms, or libraries._ simplicity of ancient, , _booksellers._ of respectability in london, , in scotland, in provincial towns, _book-story._ a romantic one, - _boston_ (_john_), , _boucher_ (_rev. jonathan_). his supplement to johnson's dictionary, , account of his library, _braithwait_ (_richard_). his poetry commended, - _brand_ (_rev. john_). account of his library, - _bridges_ (_john_). sale of his library, _britain, little._ famous for the bookselling trade, , , _britton_ (_thomas_). some account of, - sale of his library, _bulmer_ (_mr. william_). his sumptuous edition of shakspeare, the same, a unique copy of, his edition of the deserted village upon satin, _bure_ (_guillaume françois de, and guill. le jeune de_). see _bibliographical index_. _burney_ (_rev. charles, ll.d._). his fortunate purchase of a manilius, his edition of bentley's epistles, _burton_ (_robert_), _bury_ (_richard de_). editions of his philobiblion, extract from, account of, - _bute_ (_marquis of_). his copy of hogarth's prints, his collection of the devices of pope sixtus v., his valuable granger, _butler_ (_mr. charles_). his literary character, _caillard_ (_m._). his uncut first homer, , his nicety in having his books bound, _caille_ (_jean de la_). see _bibliographical index_. _cambridge._ catalogue of the books contained in the university wanted, _canute_, _carlisle_ (_earl of_). his "father's revenge," _casiri._ see _bibliographical index_. _catalogues._ importance of making good ones, foreign and english. see "catalogue," _bibliographical index_. _caxton_ (_william_). reviled by bale, _his various printed books_, , _&c._ see _bibliographical index_. _his portrait_, _cecil._ libellous character of, , _charles the fifth of france._ founder of the royal library, , description of do., _chauncey_ (_dr. charles and nathaniel_). account of their libraries, , _cheering._ explanation of this word, , _chess._ game of, described, - _chevillier_ (_andrew_). see _bibliographical index_. _chi ho-am-ti._ an incendiary of libraries, _chivalry and romances._ books relating thereto, - _christie_ (_john_). his "dissertation on etruscan vases," _chronicles, ancient._ reprints of, _cinelli_ (_john_). see _bibliographical index_. _clavel_ (_robert_). his book-catalogues, _clerk, or clergyman._ regulations concerning, _clungeon_ (_john_), _cobham_ (_thomas, bishop of worcester_), _colbert_ (_j.b._). catalogue of his library, _colet_ (_john, dean_). some account of, - print of his supposed study, _collins_ (_anthony_). sale of his library, _conringius_ (_herman_). see _bibliographical index_. _conybeare_ (_rev. mr._). his copy of lord surrey's translation of part of the Æneid, _coryate_ (_thomas_), _cotton_ (_sir robert_). some account of, - _covent garden theatre._ quarrels relating thereto, _cox_ (_captain_). some account of, , his library, _cranmer_ (_thomas, archbishop of canterbury_). some account of, , his bible upon vellum, expense of his execution, _crevenna library._ catalogues of, _critics and criticism._ true spirit and character of, superficialness and severity of, _crofts_ (_rev. thomas_). account of his library, - _cromwell_ (_thomas_). his conduct in respect to the reformation, _crowles._ his copy of an illustrated pennant, _dalrymple_ (_alexander_). sale of his library, _daly_ (_denis, rt. hon._). account of his library, , _dee_ (_dr. john_). some account of, - his library, _denis_ (_michael_). see _bibliographical index_. _devonshire_ (_late duchess of_). her "mount st. gothard," _didot._ skill of his printing upon vellum, _dodd_ (_james william_). account of his library, _dormer_ (_general_). catalogue of his library, _douce_ (_francis_). his partiality for a foreign bibliographical work, preparation of the lansdowne collection of mss., account of wolsey's property, skill in old english and french literature, criticisms on his "illustrations of shakspeare," &c., _ib._ _dramatic libraries_, , _dramatica notitia_, _dream._ lysander's, - _dunstan_ (_st._). his work "de occulta philosophia," some account of, _dyson_ (_henry_), _education of youth_, - _edward the first_, _edward the third_, , _edwards_ (_mr._). his copy of the catalogue of the crevenna library, zeal in the importation of foreign books of rarity and value, copy of the first edition of livy--upon vellum, catalogues commended, in possession of the bedford missal, his painting of erasmus and froben by fuseli, communication respecting count m'carthy's books, _elizabeth_ (_queen_). her book of devotions, plate of the golden cover of, account of her love of books, , engravings from her prayer-book, , _ellis_ (_sir henry_). preparation of catalogue of the museum printed books, his bibliographical communications, , , edition of fabian's chronicles, _english._ want of curiosity respecting their own literary history, importance of a national press to, _episode._ what is meant thereby, _erasmus._ some account of, - painting of him and froben, print of his study, rude wood-cut portrait of him, _ib._ a copy of his first edition of the gr. test.--upon vellum, editions of his words, _eugene_ (_prince_). his magnificent library, _evans_ (_mr. r.h._). his edition of old english ballads, , a respectable vender of classical books, his copy of his recueil des historiens des gaules, his reprint of hakluyt's voyages, _fabricius_ (_john albert_). see _bibliographical index_. _fabricius_ (_john_). see _bibliographical index_. _falconer_ (_william_). poem of the shipwreck printed upon satin, _farmer_ (_rev. richard, d.d._). account of his library, - _faulkener_ (_henry_). a skilful and honest book-binder, _ferdinand._ a romantic book-story concerning, - _ferrar family._ their attachment to books, and skill in book-binding, - _fillingham_ (_late mr. william_). his library and character of, _first editions._ passion for collecting, - _fishing._ whether a merry or contemplative art, _fitzwilliam_ (_lord viscount_). his collection of rembrandt's prints, _fletewode_ (_serjeant william_). account of his monastic library, _florizel._ his attachment to hawking, &c., _folkes_ (_martin_). some account of, - sale and analysis of his library, wood-cut of his portrait, _fopling_ (_sir_). his periwig, _ford_ (_mr._), _bookseller._ his catalogues commended, , _froissart_ (_sir john_). a presentation copy of his chronicles, . see _johnes_ (_colonel thomas_). _gaddius._ his bibliographical work, _gaignat_ (_louis jean_). catalogue of library, , _gesner_ (_conrad_). see _bibliographical index_. his works on natural history, _gifford_ (_mr. william_). his edition of massinger, forthcoming edition of ben jonson, _ib._ _gilbie_ (_anthony_). his character of henry the eighth, _gilchrist_ (_octavius_). his edition of bp. corbett's poems, _girald barri_, , , _glastonbury monastery library_, _godstow nunnery library_, _ib._ _golden legend_, by caxton, _goldsmyd_ (_mr. john lewis_). his vellum copy of "le passe temps," &c., _gonzalo._ a vain literary character, _gossett_ (_rev. dr. isaac_), , _gough_ (_richard_). sale of his library, _goujet_ (_claude peter_). see _bibliographical index_. _grailes._ definition of, _granger_ (_rev. james_). his biographical history of england, _grangerite spirit_, , , _grenville_ (_right hon. thomas_). his large-paper copy of hist. steph. & vit. typ. paris, his large-paper copy of renouard, a similar copy of the vallière catalogue, a similar copy of sandford's genealogical history, a similar copy of strype's annals, _grenville homer._ published by the grenville family, _grollier_ (_john_). some account of, - pattern of the binding of his books, _gutch_, (_mr._), bookseller, , _hamper_ (_mr. william_). his bibliographical communications, , _harley_ (_robert, earl of oxford_). some account of, - analysis of his library, - pope's eulogy upon, , _harris_ (_mr. william_). his catalogue of the royal institution library commended, his correction of the press for reed's edition of shakspeare, in possession of mr. boydell's copy of the original head of shakspeare, his copy of the lamoignon catalogue, _haslewood_ (_mr. joseph_). in possession of a curious volume, his attachment to books upon hawking, &c., , his communication in the british bibliographer, _hastings_ (_henry_). some account of, _hawker-pilgrim._ wood-cut of, _hear! hear!_ explanation of this phrase, _hearne_ (_thomas_). some account of, - wood-cut of his portrait, sale of his library, list of most of his works. see _bibliographical index_. _heath_ (_dr. benjamin_). his fine library, original bibliographical letter of, - fac-simile of his writing, _heber_ (_mr. richard_). his copy of "the debate between the heraldes," of oliver of castille, of froissart by eustace, manuscript of skelton's "image of ypocrisy," copy of maunsell's catalogue, of the first aldine aristophanes, of the catalogue of britton's books, of the catalogues of t. rawlinson's books, _heinecken._ see _bibliographical index_. _heinsius_ (_nicholas_). catalogue of his library, _hell._ descriptions of the torments of, , _henderson_ (_john_). account of his library, , _henley_ (_john, or orator_). account of his library, , anecdotes of, , _henry_ (_rev. robert, d.d._). character of his history of great britain, - _henry the second._ trevisa's character of, _henry the fifth._ warlike character of, _henry the sixth_, _henry the seventh_, - _henry the eighth_, - _herbert_ (_william_). author of the typographical antiquities, particulars relating to, , his correspondence with steevens, , _herman_ (_bishop of salisbury_), _history, ancient english._ neglect of the study of, _hoare_ (_sir richard colt_). his edition of giraldus cambrensis, his large paper copy of kennet's paroch. antiq., _hoblyn_ (_robert_). catalogue of his books commended, _hortensius._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _humphrey_ (_duke of gloucester_), _hutton_ (_john_). his curious collection of books, _illustrated copies_, - _illustration._ recipe for, _ina_ (_king of the west saxons_), _inscription over a library door_, , , _institutions._ public, literary, and scientific, _jacob_ (_louis_). see _bibliographical index_. _jamieson_ (_dr. john_). his scottish dictionary commended, _jesuits._ their bibliographical labours commended, _johnes_ (_col. thomas_). his edition of monstrelet, copy of "heures de notre dame," pleasure-grounds, view of his library, _johnson_ (_dr. samuel_). anecdote of his selling books, , quotation from the rambler about the black-letter, _kay_ (_john_). his siege of rhodes, _kennet_ (_white, bishop of peterborough_). original letters of, opinion of wicliffe, _ib._ _kenrick_ (_william, ll.d._). his review of dr. johnson's tour to the hebrides, _kollarius._ see _bibliographical index_. _labbe_ (_philip_). see _bibliographical index_. _laire_ (_abbé francis xavier_). see _bibliographical index_. _lambecius_ (_pierre_). see _bibliographical index_. _lanfranc, archbishop of canterbury_, _lansdowne_ (_william fitzmaurice petty, first marquis of_). account of his library, , , _large paper copies._ account of valuable works of this character, - the author's publications of this kind, _latimer_ (_hugh, bishop of worcester_). his conduct with respect to the reformation, his sermons quoted, his death, , _laud_ (_william, archbishop of canterbury_). account of his execution, patronage of the ferrar family, _leibnitz_ (_godfrey william de_). see _bibliographical index_. _leland_ (_john_). some account of, - _leontes._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _lepidus._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _lewis_ (_rev. john_). his literary character, - severe opinion of hearne, _liberality_ of religious sentiment, _libraries._ devastation of, at the reformation, - dramatic, , _lisardo._ his general character, - his bibliomaniacal enthusiasm, - , , _literary characters._ quixotic, , careless, acrimonious, vain, , obstinate, critical, , useful, _lomeier_ (_john_). see _bibliographical index_. _lomenie_ (_cardinal de brienne_). account of, and catalogue of his library, , _longman, hurst, rees, orme, and co._ their extensive trade as booksellers, _lorenzo._ a neighbour of the author, his house and grounds, library, drawing-room, alcove, - _lort_ (_dr. michael_). account of his library, - _lotichius_ (_peter_). his latin verses concerning his library, _lumley_ (_john, lord_), , _luttrel_ (_narcissus_). his extraordinary collection of books, _lysons_ (_mr. samuel_). his large paper copy of weever's funeral monuments, _macartney_ (_mr._). account of his library, _maddison_ (_john_). sale of his library, _magliabechi_ (_antonio_). some account of, - _maittaire_ (_michael_). some account of, . see _bibliographical index_. sale of his library, _malvolio._ sale of his busts and statues, , _manton_ (_dr._) sale of his books, _marcellus._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _marchand_ (_prosper_). see _bibliographical index_. _marlborough gems._ in woodhouse's collection, - _martin_ (_thomas, of palgrave_). account of his library, - _mary_ (_queen of philip ii._). commended by a roman catholic writer, _mary_ (_queen of scots_). her portrait, _mason_ (_george_). account of his library, - _maunsell_ (_andrew_). his catalogue of english books, _mazzuchelli_ (_giovanni maria_). see _bibliographical index_. _m'carthy_ (_count_). catalogue of a former library of, his present fine collection of books, , _mead_ (_richard, m.d._). some account of, - sale of his library, pictures, and coins, &c., account of his family, _medici_ (_lorenzo de_). catalogue of the oriental mss. in the library of, _meerman_ (_gerard_). see _bibliographical index_. _menalcas._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _menander._ a literary character, _mercier_ (_de st. leger_). see _bibliographical index_. _mercurii._ attending book-sales, _middleton_ (_rev. conyers, d.d._). see _bibliographical index_. _miller_ (_thomas_). account of, _miller_ (_william_). his illustrated copy of scott's dryden, edition of the shipwreck, of the memoirs of grammont, _mills_ (_george galway_). his fine library, _mirabeau_ (_victor riquetti, marquis de_). catalogue of his library, his passion for beautiful books, _missals._ beauty of their execution, , the toletan and mazarabic, , _monasteries._ books contained in, visitors of, ancient hospitality of, alleged abandoned lives of the keepers, depositories and promoters of literature, devastation of, - _monastic life._ comparison between the monastic and chivalrous age, as most favourable to the bibliomania, _monro_ (_dr. john_). account of his library, , _montfaucon_ (_bernard de_). his bibliographical labours, _moonlight night._ influence of, , _more_ (_john, bishop of ely_). some account of, , _more_ (_sir thomas_), - _morhof_ (_daniel george_). some account of, _murray_ (_john_). some account of, _museum, the british._ the librarians of commended, catalogue of its printed books and manuscripts, , _mustapha._ a book-auction bibliomaniac and book vender, , _naude, or naudæus_ (_gabriel_). his works commended, . see _bibliographical index_. _nelson, life of._ printed upon vellum, _neville_ (_george, archbishop of york_). feast at his inthronization, fond of astrology, _ib._ _niceron._ see _bibliographical index_. _nicholls_ (_mr. john_). his communications respecting dr. mead's family, _nicol_ (_mr. george_). his anecdotes concerning some volumes printed by caxton, _north_ (_francis, lord-keeper_), ---- (_dr. john_), , their passion for books, _oldys_ (_william_). his literary labours appreciated, . see _bibliographical index_. _omar._ supposed destroyer of the alexandrian library, _orlando._ character of, - _osborne_ (_thomas_). the bookseller, , , _painted glass._ hearne's commendation of, _panzer_ (_george wolfgang francis_). see _bibliographical index_. _papillon_ (_mr. david_). book-anecdote concerning him and osborne, _paris de meyzieux._ account, and catalogues, of his fine library, , - _parker_ (_matthew, archbishop_). some account of, - catalogue of his mss., antiquity of the british church, - , libellous life of, his consecration, woodcut portrait of, _paterson_ (_samuel_). his bibliotheca universalis, _payne_ (_mr._). his purchase of the lamoignon library, _peacham_ (_henry_), his "compleat gentleman" quoted, _pearson_ (_thomas, or major_). account of his library, - _pembroke_ (_earl of_). his passion for books, , , _pepys_ (_samuel_). account of his professional and book ardour, , _peterborough abbey library_, (_white, kennet, bishop of_). his opinion of wickliffe, (_earl of_). his passion for books, _peters_ (_hugh_). in possession of a part of laud's library, _pinelli._ catalogues of the pinelli library, an account of the library so called, , _pitts, or pitseus_ (_johannes_). his work commended, _porson_ (_richard_). sale of his library, his erudition, and skilful penmanship, _portraits._ _sales of engravings of rare and curious_, - , , algernon, earl of northumberland, by hollar, anne, queen of james i., by visscher, banfi-hunniades (john), by hollar, the same, with variations, _ib._ berkeley (george, earl of), by hollar, bernard (dr. francis), _ib._ bethell (slingsby), by w. sherwin, bohemia, king and queen of, and family, buckingham (george, duke of), sold by stent, cæsar (sir julius) by elstracke, catharine, queen of charles ii., by faithorne, cecyll (edward), general, by passe, chaloner (sir thomas), by hollar, charles i., by lombard, _ib._ the same, with cromwell's head, _ib._ princess augusta maria, daughter of, by danckers, cole (thomas), cromwell (richard, lord protector), by hollar, cumberland (george, earl of), by r. white, darnley (henry, lord), by passe, devereux, earl of essex, on horseback, by hollar, , the same, standing on foot, by do., , digby (lord), in armour, after vander borcht, elizabeth (queen), in superb court dress, by passe, superbly dressed, between pillars, frederic (prince), &c., with princess elizabeth, by elstracke, hay (lord james), by passe, henry the eighth, by c. m[atsis], henry (prince frederic), by delaram, hollar, his own portrait, hotham (sir john), governor of hull, howard (thomas, earl of suffolk), by elstracke, (thomas, earl of arundel), isham (sir thomas), by loggan, killegrew (thomas), by faithorne, lister (sir matthew, m.d.), by p.v. somer, lloyd (humphrey, of denbigh), by faber, _ib._ lortie (andrew), by van somer, lyon (sir patrick, of carse), by white, _ib._ malines (samuel), by lombart, _ib._ marsham (sir john), by r. white, mary, queen of scots, by mynginus, the same, veiled, &c., _ib._ mascall (edward), by gammon, master martin, by r. gaywood, mountaine (george), bishop of london, g.y. sculpsit, newcastle family, by clowet, o'toole (arthurus severus nonesuch), by delaram, paston (lady), wife of sir w. paston, by faithorne, (sir william), by faithorne, _ib._ pembroke (herbert, earl of), by hollar, (mary, countess of), by passe, (penelope, countess of), by hollar, _ib._ (ann clifford, countess of), by r. white, _ib._ portman (sir william), rawdon (marmaduke), by white, reynell (carew), rupert (prince), by faithorne, sold by r. peake, sack (mull'd), sold by compton holland, sackville (richard, earl of dorset), by passe, shaftesbury (anthony, earl of), by blooteling, _ib._ sheffield (baron edmond), by elstracke, _ib._ shirley (lady elizabeth), by hollar, the same, by do., _ib._ sidney (sir philip), by elstracke, sidney (robert, viscount lisle), by passe, smith (richard), by w. sherwin, somerset (edward, earl of worcester), by passe, stone-eater (the), by hollar, vere (henry, earl of oxford), sold by compton holland, the same, by payne, passe, &c., verney (sir greville), by loggan, wetenhall (edward, bishop of corke and ross), by becket, _ib._ whitington (richard, lord mayor of london), by elstracke, willoughby (sir francis), by t. man, windebank (sir f.) and lord finch, wortley (sir francis), by hertocks, wriothesley (henry, earl of southampton), by passe, wynn (sir john, de gwedir), by vaughan, york (james, duke of), _press, national._ want of, _printers, english._ protected by the statute of richard iii., _printing._ benefit of, _print-sales._ barnard, , sir w. musgrave, , miscellaneous, - _prints._ account of rare and curious ones, - _prospero._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _psalters._ the author's essay upon the ancient psalters printed at mentz, _pynson_ (_richard_), his books upon vellum, _quin_ (_mr._). his passion for books printed upon vellum, _quisquilius._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _ranzau_ (_henry de_). inscription over his library door, _ratcliffe_ (_john_). account of his library, , comparison between the collections of west and ratcliffe, _rawlinson_ (_thomas_). his passion for book-collecting, - catalogues of his several book-sales, , _rawlinson_ (_richard_). sale, and specimens, of his library, , _rede, or read_ (_william, bishop of chichester_), _reed_ (_isaac_). some account of him and his library, , _reformation._ history of the, as connected with the bibliomania, - _rembrandt._ account of the scarcest engravings by him, - _reprints_ of voluminous and useful works applauded, , _revickzky_ (_count_). catalogue, and disposal, of his library, _reviews._ their advantages and disadvantages, rise and progress, , _richard de bury_, - _rinaldo._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _ritson_ (_joseph_). his character, under that of sycorax, - sale of his books, _rive_ (_abbé jean joseph_). see _bibliographical index_. _roche_ (_mr._). his communication respecting count m'carthy, _roscoe_ (_mr. william_). proposed to write a life of erasmus, his commendation of handsome book-binding, _rosicrusius._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, , _roveray_ (_du_). his publications commended, _rowe mores_ (_edward_). sale of his library, _roxburgh_ (_john, duke of_). anecdote of, _royal institution._ catalogue of the library of, _sales, book._ account of their establishment, - number of, in the years - , , _satin._ books printed upon, _saxius_ (_christopher_). see _bibliographical index_. _scaliger_ (_joseph_). the author's estate compared with that of, _scott_ (_robert_). a celebrated bookseller, _scott_ (_sir walter_). beauty of his poetry, . see _bibliographical index_. _scotus erigena_ (_johannes_). account of his writings, _scribes, or scriveners._ ignorance of the ancient, _seaman_ (_dr._) catalogue of his books, - _sharp and hailes._ their publications commended, _sherington_ (_sir walter_). regulations concerning his library, , _similis._ inscription upon his tomb, _smith_ (_consul_). catalogue of his library, , _smith_ (_richard_). account and sale of his library, - engraving of his portrait, _smyth_ (_george_). account of his library, _snuff-box_ of mr. l., _soubise_ (_prince de_). catalogue of his library, _southgate_ (_richard_). account of his collections, _spencer_ (_george john, earl_). his purchase of count revickzky's library, his copies of the mozarabic missal & breviary, copy of the siege of rhodes, printed by caxton, copy of pynson's edition of chaucer's works, copies of illustrated shakspeares, copy of pliny, printed by sweynhem and pannartz, upon vellum, eulogy upon his character, armorial ensigns of, copy of the "assertio septem," upon vellum, _stafford_ (_marchioness of_). description of a private publication by, her skill in etching, _stanley_ (_colonel_). his fine copy of de bry, _steevens_ (_george_). some account of, - analysis of his library, - his verses on eleanour rummin, his letters to herbert, - _strange_ (_john_). his library commended, _strawberry-hill press._ account of books printed there, , vignette device of the house, _struvius._ see _bibliographical index_. _stubbes._ see _bibliographical index_. _surrey_ (_henry howard, earl of_). his whistle, an intended edition of his works by the rev. dr. nott, _ib._ _sutherland_ (_col. alexander hendras_). his extraordinary copy of an illustrated clarendon, _sycorax._ a literary character, - _sykes_ (_sir mark masterman_). his copy of the revickzky catalogue, of rapin's history of england, _tanner_ (_thomas, bishop of st. asaph_). account of his editorship of wood's athen. oxon., his bibl. brit. hibernica, _testament, greek._ number of editions of, _tewrdanckhs._ a book so called, , _theobald_ (_lewis_). his love of old books, _theodore_ (_archbishop of canterbury_), _theological volumes._ great number of, in the imperial library at paris, _thuanas_ [_de thou, jaques auguste_]. account, and catalogue, of his library, _thynne_ (_william_). a distinguished bibliomaniac, _tiptoft_ (_john, earl of worcester_), , _tiraboschi_ (_girolamo_). see _bibliographical index_. _titles of books._ strangely lettered upon the binding, _todd_ (_rev. henry john_). see _bibliographical index_. his editions of milton and spenser commended, _triphook_ (_mr. robert_)--bookseller, his projected work on, 'the history of playing cards,' _tristrem_ (_sir_). a book-auction bibliomaniac, _trithemius_ (_john_). some account of, , wood-cut portrait of, _true editions._ account of, - _tutet_ (_mark cephas_). account of his library, , _ulpian._ a book-auction bibliomaniac, _uncut copies._ passion for the possession of, - _unique copies._ illustration of, - _utterson_ (_mr. edward vernon_). his copy of stubbes's anatomy of abuses, of scott's discoverie of witchcraft, _vallière_ (_duc de la_). anecdote of him and the abbé rive, catalogues of his library, _vellum, books printed upon_, , , , --but see particularly - _visitors of ancient monasteries_, _wakefield_ (_robert_), , _walpole_ (_francis_). heraldic quarterings of, _walpole_ (_horace_). see 'strawberry hill press.' _wanley_ (_humphrey_). some account of, , _warton_ (_thomas_). celebrated under the character of menander, _west_ (_james_). account of, and analysis of his library, - prices of some of his books sold by auction, , , comparison of his library with j. ratcliffe's, _wicliffe_ (_john_). bishop fell's character of, mr. baber's edition of his new testament, life of, by lewis, _wilbraham_ (_mr. roger_). his copy of the 'manner and forme of confession,' _wilkes_ (_john_). account of his library, _wilson_ (_thomas, bishop of sodor and man_). his edition of the bible, _witches._ tracts relating to, at brand's sale, _wolfius_ (_john_). see _bibliographical index_. wood-cut portrait of, _wolsey_ (_thomas, cardinal_), - his character by skelton, roy, and tyndale, , , fine books presented to him, _wood_ (_anthony_). some account of, - . _see bibliographical index._ woodcut portrait of, _woodford_ (_emperor john alexander_). sale of his library, _woodhouse_ (_mr. john_). his collection of prints, - his collection of books, - _worsley_ (_dr._). sale of his books by auction, _worsley_ (_sir richard_). his 'museum worsleyanum,' _wright_ (_richard, m.d._). account of his library, , _wynne_ (_edward_). account of his library, , _ximenes_ (_cardinal francis_). see _bibliographical index_. life of him by lord holland, or mr. southey, a literary desideratum, _youth._ character and history of the education of the ancient english youth, -