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SOME
FRENCH BIBLIOGRAPHIES
• Ple
Reprinted, from THE BOOKSELLER,
Oprice of THE DOORSELLER
London:
OFFICE OF "THE BOOKSELLER.".
1881.
. W.
1-22
@
.
The following account of French Bibliogra-
phies has no pretensions to completeness, but it
will serve as an introduction to the subject, and
as a useful key to those who may desire to extend
"their researches.
One Hundred and Sixty Copies printed.
No. 22
SOME
FRENCH BIBLIOGRAPHIES:
[Reprinted from THE BOOKSELLER.]

VERY visitor to a public library
must be struck by the ignorance
of the way to use the clues to
those labyrinths of shelves which
is shown even by the majority of
literary men. Librarians are constantly pestered
with “Give me the catalogue !" though the
latter is the very last thing which students
want. It has with truth been said, “Everybody
can use a revolver, but to handle a cannon
takes a trained artilleryman," So it is with
these catalogues; they are the “Woolwich
Infants" of literature. The best clues to
libraries are elsewhere. They are to be found
in notes where authorities are cited, in the
rubrics of reviews, and in bibliographies.
It is this ignorance of the use of bibliographies
which keeps these guide-books so rare and so
dear. Their sale is notoriously so limited that
a man might as reasonably hope to make a
2
Some French Bibliographies.
living by putting Newton's " Principia" into
blank verse as by writing bibliographies. They
are to be found in scarcely one private library,
and a glance at the titles under " Books
Wanted” in literary periodicals, will show how
carelessly booksellers themselves read the an-
nouncements of publications and their breth-
ren's catalogues. Slack as is the demand for
bibliographies, they themselves form a library
in nearly every language, and he who would
catalogue them has no embarrassment but
superabundant wealth; unless he annoy him-
self by considering whether he ought to adopt
the chronological, or the alphabetical, or the
systematic, or some other method. We do not
vex ourselves with such contentions, for our
object is to introduce readers to some French
bibliographies, in the manner which we believe
to be most convenient. We shall begin by
pointing out the great sources of the biblio-
graphy of contemporary literature, next the less
general bibliographies, and lastly, the general
bibliographies.
The foremost place belongs to La Bibliographie
de la France, the great reservoir from which all
bibliographers of contemporary French litera-
ture have drawn the best part of their works.
This valuable periodical first appeared on the
4th Dec., 1810. Its title was 7ournal Général de
l'Imprimerie et de la Librairie. Napoleon con-
fiscated all periodicals by a decree dated with
Some French Bibliographies.
3
Sept., 1811; and this bibliography ceased to
appear with its number of the 30th Sept., 1811.
It is not considered as a part of La Bibliographie
de la France, and is not sold with the latter. It
is very rarely met with. It contains the titles of
2,548 works. Only thirty-one days elapsed be-
fore its successor appeared, the property of the
Government, La Bibliographie de l'Empire Fran-
çais, which was published on the ist Nov., 1811.
As soon as its publication was resolved on, the
Director of the Press appointed Beuchot its
editor, and he kept this post until 1848. Adrien
Jean Quentin Beuchot was born in Paris, 13th
March, 1773. He early lost his father, a lawyer,
and went to Lyons when seven or eight years
old; where he was sent to the Oratorians' Col-
lége de la Trinité, which he quitted for a stoo
in a notary's office. His mother, alarmed to see
men becoming daily more and more mere food for
powder, made him quit pen for scalpel, that, if
he could not escape the battle-field, he at least
should appear on it only after the strife had
ended and surgeons had been summoned to
mend the limbs which generals had broken.
Scalpel was as little to his taste as sword ;
those fingers were made for pen, and to the
notary's office he returned, though not to stay
there long. Poverty drove him in 1801 back to
Paris, where he entered a bookshop, added
something to his paltry salary by making bio-
graphical researches, by contributing to Le
Some French Bibliographie's.
Courrier des Spectacles, and even by trying his
fortune as a dramatist. He wrote, too, some
squibs on the Exhibition of the Fine Arts of
l’An X., and on Laujon, a song-writer, whose
election as a member of the French Institute he
in vain tried to defeat. These literary efforts
led, in 1808, to an invitation to write obituary
notices for La Décade Philosophique, in whose
office he made the acquaintance of the more
eminent literary men of the day--social relations
which served him well, for they introduced him
to Michaud, who, in 1810, invited him to con-
tribute to “La Biographie Universelle," of which
he at once became the most active contributor,
until the publication of the forty-eighth volume,
when he quarrelled with Michaud, and ceased
to contribute. It was Beuchot's fate to quarrel
with everybody; and yet, under his cold and
abrupt manners, it is generally agreed that an
excellent, though too tetchy, heart beat, and
his conversation charmed all his companions ;
but he was a man who easily took offence and
never forgave. While faithfully discharging his
duties as editor of La Bibliographie de la France,
he found time not only to be the most active con-
tributor to Michaud's "Biographie," but to bring
out "Le Dictionnaire Historique de Bayle"
(Paris, 1820-21), in 16 vols., 8vo, * with a preface
* Where, in these pages, the place of publication is not
mentioned, Paris must be understood; where the nuinbe
of volumes is not given, the work is in one volume.
Some French Bibliographies.
valuable alike for its biographical and biblio-
graphical information, and to prepare the edition
of “Les Euvres de Voltaire,” in 72 vols., 8vo, the
last volume of which appeared in Paris in 1841,
and to which his name will be for ever attached.
The librarian of the Chamber of Deputies died
in 1833. Beuchot had from his youth been-,
intimate with Casimir Perier ; the latter, then
Prime Minister, hastened to offer the agreeable
sinecure to Beuchot, who was elected librarian
Jan. 18th, 1834, and made master of a library
of 70,000 volumes, containing among them the
autograph manuscripts of many works of J. J.
Rousseau, and the office made him master of the
pleasantest lodgings in Paris, with quite a large
salary. In 1827 Beuchot had married his only
daughter to Louis Barbier (of whom more pre-
sently); her death, which occurred in 1839, was
the deepest sorrow of Beuchot's life. Questions
of money, soon after her departure, estranged
him from his son-in-law, whom he for three
years annually attacked in a virulent pamphlet.
Great as the merits of Beuchot's edition of Vol-
taire confessedly are, no student can consult the
pages which this gifted man added to La Biblio-
graphie de la France without thinking that here is
to be found the honour of his life, and sub-
scribing to one of his biographers' opinion, that
“ Beuchot was one of the men of France the
most versed in knowledge of the literary history
of his country." The channels of bibliographical
6
Some French Bibliographies.
information are now deeper, wider, fuller, and
more numerous than in those days, La Biblio-
graphie de la France is now owned by the French
trade; nevertheless this periodical, while Beuchot
was its editor, was everyway superior to the
volumes which have been added to the series
since he broke relations with it. He gave obitu-
ary notices, reports of book auctions, announce-
ments of foreign publications, statistics of books
and newspapers, brief criticisms, and tables of
the contents of La Bibliographie de la France for
the current year. One of these tables gave an
alphabetical list of the works, under the author's
name, if the title-page bore it; the other table
gave the works alphabetically under their title ;
the last table gave the works classed by subjects.
After Beuchot's retirement, Marette became
editor, and framed the first and second tables
from 1848 to 1856; but the third table was
framed by R. Merlin from 1848 to 1851; by
Champagnac in 1852 and 1853; by Rabuteaux
from 1854 to 1856. In this year the Paris pub-
lishers, who had just organised themselves into
a club, bought La Bibliographie de la France.
They discontinued all tables except one, which
gave an alphabetical list of the works published
during the twelvemonth, under the author's
name, or under the title of the work if it bore
no author's name. The late Victor Masson, the
well-known publisher, was the editor of the
periodical from 1856 to 1866, and he framed the
Some French Bibliographies.
7
alphabetical table. In 1866, yielding to the
complaints made (nobody complained more per-
tinaciously than J. C. Brunet), the third table,
which gave the works classed by subjects, was
re-established, but the second table continued
to be merged in the first, and it must be con-
fessed, with no inconvenience. M. Blanchot
was in 1856 elected secretary of the Trade's Club;
he has since 1866 þeen editor of La Bibliographie,
and has framed both tables. Unfortunately,
there are deplorable deficiencies in this periodi-
cal. It does not contain all the works published
out of Paris. Beuchot tried his best to repair
this deficiency, and since the periodical has
come into possession of the Trade's Club, pub-
lishers have incessantly appealed to the Govern-
ment to see that the copyright law is faithfully
enforced in the provinces. All these efforts have
been in vain. Many of the works published in
the provinces are pocketed, or sold, or thrown
into the garret by the local clerk, to tủe loss of
La Bibliographie (which draws all titles from the
publishing office of the Ministry of the Interior,
that never hears of these provincial publications),
and to the still greater loss of La Bibliothèque
Nationale, in the Rue Richelieu, which is by law
entitled to one copy of every work published in
France. Neither does La Bibliographie contain
one title of any Parliamentary paper issued, nor
one title of the public papers issued by the
Ministries, nor the titles of all the publications
8
Some French Bibliographies.
made by the National Printing Office. To the
historical and political student these are em-
barrassing deficiencies.
Every library has not these sixty-eight volumes.
There are within easier reach guide-books to
this collection; but the drawback to the majo-
rity of them is, that their contents are given
alphabetically under authors' names; so the
student must know the author's name before he
can use them, or he must read them through.
All of these guide-books are deficient, besides,
in their omission of all works which have no
authors' names, such as annuaires, annales,
mémoires, recueils and the like, rich mines of
information to be found nowhere else.
The foremost place among these guides be-
longs to Joseph Marie Quérard, by right of merit
and of misfortune. Time ambled as gently with
the majority of bibliographers, who figure in
this litany, as Time ambles "with a rich man who
has not the gout, or with a priest who does not
know Latin." They were by inheritance inde-
pendent of fortune, or they were ensconced for
life in some great public library, and exonerated
from all thought of daily butcher, baker, and
milkman's bills, and of landlord's quarterly rent.
Far different was poor Quérard's lot. He pro-
bably never knew for the last five-and-twenty
years of his life, when he rose in the morning,
how he should get his daily bread. “Bad luck
is misconduct:" so be it; and yet one cannot
Some French Bibliographies9
17
.
help sorrow that some allowance was not made
for nerves lacerated by long struggle in vain for
hours of quiet study. When one considers the
men who, since 1840, have found good salary and
comfortablé lodgings under the roofs of public
libraries in Paris, one cannot help regretting that
a chair and a bedchamber were not somewhere
found for poor Quérard, grievous as his faults
may have been. Misfortunes could not cool
his ardour, for he was a Breton. Those Welsh-
men of France (for Brittany is the Wales of
France) have often been likened to their native
land; as if its granite and oaks had contributed
something of their hardness and ruggedness to
these men's characters. Quérard was born in
Rennes, on Christmas Day, 1797. His parents
were very poor. His education was such as a
Breton school, 83 years ago, could give to a boy
whom poverty wrenched from the teacher when
ten years old and bade him support himself. In
1807, he was employed in a bookshop of Rennes.
He became at once enamoured of letterpress.
When fifteen (1812), he got a situation in a Paris
bookshop, where he so ardently improved all his
opportunities that he was offered when two-
and-twenty a situation in a bookshop at Vienna,
where he remained five years (1819-24). This
step moulded all his life. He was obliged to
learn German and English; the calls of business
forced him to become acquainted with German
and French bibliography; he became familiar
10
Some French Bibliographies.
with the patient, thorough, accurate methods of
Germany. No wonder that he was scarcely at
home at Vienna, when he thought of writing a
bibliography, and began to amass materials for
the work. He returned to France on purpose
to bring out "La France Littéraire; ou, Diction-
naire Bibliographique des Savants, Historiens et
Gens de Lettres de la France, ainsi que des Litté-
rateurs étrangers qui ont écrit en Français, plus
particulièrement pendant les XVIII. et XIX.
Siècles." Its first volume was issued in 1826.
This bibliography, as its title-page shows, covers
much more ground than La Bibliographie de la
France ; it is a general survey of French litera-
ture. ' The success of this work was so great
that publishers at once closed with Quérard's
offer to give it a supplement. The ambiguous
word“ publishers" is advisedly used, for some
obscurity rests upon this transaction. The title-
page of the first volume of this supplement bore
Daguin Frères (these foremost and most con-
spicuous), Firmin Didot Frères, and Audot as its
publishers. All biographers speak of Firmin
Didot Frères as the sole publishers; Querard
mentions that this firm paid him only 45. 6d. the
printed page for his labour, and that his con-
tract with Daguin Frères was a literal copy of
his contract with Firmin Didot Frères. The title
of this supplement is : "La Littérature Française
Contemporaine, XIX. Siècle, renfermant, 1°.
Par ordre alphabétique de Noms d'Auteurs,
Some French Bibliographies.
II
l'Indication Chronologique des Publications
originales des Écrivains Français regnicoles et
étrangers, et celle des Éditions et Traductions
Françaises des Ouvrages des Auteurs étrangers
vivants, imprimés en France pour le premier
fois depuis le commencement de ce siècle ; 20.
Une Table des Livres anonymes et polyonymes
qui, par leurs Publications, appartiennent à cette
Époque; 3º. Une Table des Sujets." The first
volume was published in 1840. It at once led
to a misunderstanding between the author and
Messrs. Firmin Didot Frères. The contract
stipulated that the work should be in three
volumes. The manuscript of the first volume
showed that, if Quérard continued to give each
author great space, this stipulation could not be
fulfilled. Remonstrances were made; but they
were seen to have been vain when Quérard
brought the manuscript of a portion of the
second volume, and the publishers found he had
gone less than half way through the letter B.
The contract provided that all disputes should
be settled by arbitration. Arbitrators were
chosen and they unanimously decided against
Quérard. He was ousted and the work entrusted
to other hands. His share was the first volume
and the first 282 pages of the second volume;
the remainder of this volume and all the third
volume were written by F. Bourquelot and Ch.
Louandre; the latter quitted the work in 1848,
and the remainder of the work (save from page
12
Some French Bibliographies.
369 of the fourth volume to page 496 of the fifth
volume, where he was aided by Alfred Maury),
was written by F. Bourquelot. It has already
been said the first volume was published in 1840.
The sixth, and last, volume appeared in 1857. In
1845, Daguin Frères became bankrupt. Quérard
asserts (apparently without foundation of truth)
that one of these brothers tried to recover some
of his lost money by becoming sole author of
"La Littérature Française Contemporaine."
They entered upon a malignant warfare in the
courts. Daguin attempted to enforce a stipula-
tion of the contract by which Quérard had most
heedlessly bound himself, in the event of being
discarded from the publication, to surrender
into Daguin's possession all the materials which
he (Quérard) had amassed to write the work.
Daguin got a judgment, which awarded him all
he sought and sentenced Quérard to pay heavy
damages, or to be imprisoned for five years in
the Debtors' Gaol. After lying for three months
in this prison, an appeal, which had been taken,
quashed this judgment and restored liberty to
Quérard upon his payment of £64, which was
a fortune to the poor bibliographer, whose sole
source of income was a pension of £40 a-year,
which Guizot had granted to him. It is to be
regretted that Firmin Didot Frères had not
allowed Quérard to continue the work. Nobody
who has looked into it will think their objection,
that his biographies were too long, valid. Con-
Some French Bibliographies.
13
vincing as is the voice of profit-and-loss account,
the publishers of Ducange's " Dictionary of the
Library of Greek Authors," of Bochtor's “Dic-
tionnaire Français-Arabe," of " Thesaurus
Græcæ Linguæ," of Champollion's “Gram-
maire" and "Dictionnaire Egyptien," and of
more than one other work whose gains are rather
honour than gold, ought not to have hesitated
to have given a bibliographer like Quérard carte
blanche, and let him write on it what he pleased.
Quérard left gaol a ruined and a soured man.
Thenceforward his pen became a two-edged
sword; his ink, gall. He became a very Ishmael
of letters, whase hand was against every man
and every man's hand was against him. His
especial delight was to tease his successors, the
editors of " La Littérature Française Contempo-
raine," by detecting their errors, by exposing their
negligence, by challenging their ignorance, by
censuring their slips. Another incident added
coloquintida to his gall. While preparing his
first bibliography, he had, as he examined the
catalogue of the great library in Rue Richelieu,
read: “ Herself. The Memoirs of a Young
Lady, by.” When asked the cause of his
laughter, he pointed to this line of the catalogue.
It had been written by the under-librarian. It
was erased next day, but the blunderer never
forgot or forgave Quérard's merry laughter.
About the time of the latter's release from gaol,
the former had risen to be librarian. Quérard
14
Some French Bibliographies.
asked for a situation in the library. The librarian
insultingly answered: “We give situations in the
Library only to people to whom we know we may
confide books." Some years afterwards Quérard
applied to Villemain, then Minister of Public
Instruction, to bestow on him an office in some
public library. His petition was supported by
some of the most considerable people of the
literary world of Paris. The petition contained
a lapsus calami. Villemain (a creature of venom,
all compact) read the petition in his wonted
supercilious way, and, as he handed it to his
secretary, put a finger under the pen's slip, and
said: “ Here is my answer." Trifles light as
air are continually making and undoing men.
A falling apple challenged Newton to explain
its downward flight, and led him to the law of
gravitation. A pin picked up made Laffitte a
great banker. Prim saw Queen Isabella put
thumb on nose and twirl fingers at his back, all
unconscious of a tell-tale mirror; he vowed her
dethronement.
Quérard's next publication was a mere expe-
riment to see whether public favour (if such an
expression may, except in an ironical sense, be
used in connection with a bibliography) would
warrant a publisher to issue “Auteurs Déguisés
de la Littérature Française au XIX. Siècle." It
was a mere pamphlet of 84 8vo pages, and
was only a reprint of contributions made to
several periodicals; it was brought out in 1845.
Some French Bibliographies.
15
It was followed by " Dictionnaire des Ouvrages
Polyonymes et Anonymes de la Littérature
Française, 1780-1850." The Revolution of
February was fatal to this work. When that
tempest smote France, only three numbers of
this dictionary had appeared : the first in 1846,
the third in 1847. They went from A to Alma-
nachs; and it was never afterwards resumed ;
for while Quérard was seeing it through the
press, he had in the printer's hands a work
which, may be, his soured spirit found more
congenial, as aqua fortis is not more biting
than some of this book's ink. Nos. 1-4 bore
on their covers this title : “Les Auteurs Apo-
cryphes, Supposés, Déguisés, Plagiaires, et les
Editeurs Infidèles,' &c.; but afterwards the
definitive title of the work became : “Des Su-
percheries Littéraires Dévoilées; Galerie des
Auteurs Apocryphes, Supposés, Déguisés,
Plagiaires, et des Éditeurs Infidèles de la Litté-
rature Française pendant les Quatre Derniers
Siècles.” The first volume, an 8vo, appeared in
1845. The fifth and last (it contained the tables)
in 1856. It made the poor author legions of
enemies, for he spared nobody. One of his
victims brought a suit and recovered £80 costs,
which so terrified his printers that they refused
to go on with the work unless he assigned them
his pension to secure them against law costs.
The elder Disraeli's works are not more inte-
resting, Accum's “Adulterations” are not
16
Some French Bibliographies.
more astonishing than this alphabetical list of
the frauds practised in literature's domains. No
detective, even in fiction, has ever shown more
marvellous instinct in following a scent, acuter
intuition of rogues' logic, more adroitness in
splicing clue to clue till a thread was made
which surely guided, though labyrinth after
labyrinth lay between, from crime to criminal
than Quérard in this work. These qualities
appear all the more wonderful while one con-
siders how many channels of information bad
blood had closed to him. When Sainte Beuve
wrote an article, he was almost vexed by the
avalanche of particulars, some of them of the
inost secret character, with which readers over-
whelmed him. It was notorious that many
persons by position, or connection, or by studies,
well qualified to help Quérard, so far from lend-
ing a hand, threw obstacles in his way to truth.
He almost concurrently brought out (one had
thought this great work had exhausted an
author's strength), “ Les Ecrivains Pseudonymes
et autres Mystificateurs de la Littérature
Française, pendant les Quatre Derniers Siècles
Restitués à leurs Véritables Noms," dated 1854,
but the first numbers were published in 1853. The
biographical notices became so important that,
after the earlier numbers, Quérard styled this
volume on a fly-leaf : “La France Littéraire.
T. XI.: Corrections; Additions; Auteurs
Pseudonymes et Anonymes Dévoilés. T. I."
Some French Bibliographies.
17
The second volume (whose first number ap.
peared in 1859) bore on a fly-leaf “La France
Littéraire; T. XII.: XIX siècle, T. 2." In this
way he made these two volumes a portion of his
first work. A public subscription for his benefit
was set on foot in 1855. He used the money
collected (it was an inconsiderable sum) to es-
tablish a bibliographical magazine, which had
no success except in recruiting enemies to him.
A lawsuit led to its disappearance before it
could celebrate its second birthday. This maga-
zine, Le Quérard, forms 2 vols., 8vo, Quérard
contributed to La Revue Bibliographique (1839),
to Le Moniteur de la Librairie (1843-44), and to
Le Bibliothécaire (1844).
After his death, Pierre Gustave Brunet brought
out these posthumous works: "Livres Perdus
et Exemplaires Uniques" (I vol. 8vo, Bordeaux,
1872), and "Livres à Clef" (I vol. 8vo, Bor-
deaux, 1873). When, in 1847, J. C, Brunet re-
ceived the red ribbon of the Legion of Honour,
Quérard thought himself equally entitled to the
reward, and applied for it-the custom in France.
He, year after year, saw it bestowed on obscu-
rity, on unworthiness ; it was not for him. He
received it eighteen years afterwards, only four-
teen weeks before his death; it was for his
coffin, not for his coat. He had in the press, at
his death, the second edition of “Les Super-
cheries Littéraires," but he lived to see only the
first number issued. He left some materials for
18
Some French Bibliographies.
“Une Encyclopédie du Bibliothécaire," which
he had announced as in preparation. He died
3rd Deci, 1865. Friends paid his funeral ex-
penses, rescued his body from the Potter's
Field, and secured for it a bed where sleep
would be undisturbed. They raised a monu-
ment to mark his resting-place.
This list of guide-books to more modern
French literature must end with 0. Lorenz's
“ Catalogue Général de la Librairie Française
depuis 1840." It is a convenient table of con-
tents to the last thirty-five volumes of La Biblio-
graphie de la France; but it is little morė, for its
biographical notices are meagre. Volumes i. to
vi. contain a list of books published between
1840–65; volumes v. and vi. give the more im-
portant publications between 1866–75. O. Lorenz
is a respectable publisher of Paris. He has in
press volumes ii., vii., and viii., which will con-
tain the table where, in a single catalogue, all
the works mentioned in the six volumes may be
found.
An Englishman who examines French local
bibliographies naturally turns first to those of
the provinces, which for some three hundred
years were the Greater Britain of those distant
days.
NORMANDY.
Ed. Frère. Recherches sur les Premiers Temps de l'Im-
primerie en Normandie. Rouen. 1829. 8vo.
De l'Imprimerie et la Librairie à Rouen dans les
XV. et XVI. Siècles ; et de Martin Morin. Rouen, 1843.
Some French Bibliographies.
19
Ed. Frère. Considérations sur les Origines Typograph-
iques. Rouen. 1850. 8vo.
- Manuel du Bibliographe Normand. Rouen. 1858.
2 vols., 8vo,
Des Livres de Liturgie des Eglises d'Angleterre
(Salisbury, York, Hereford) imprimés à Rouen dans les
XV. et XVI. Siècles. Etude, suivie du catalogue de ces
impressions de MCCCCXCII. à MDLVII. avec des
notes bibliographiques. Rouen. 1867. 8vo.
T. Licquet et A. Pothier. Catalogue des Livres de la
Bibliothèque de Rouen. 1830–33. 2 vols., 8vo.
Abbé Cochet. Histoire de l'Imprimerie à Dieppe. 1848.
8vo.
Bibliographie Géologique de la Normandie. Ire Partie,
Recueils, rer Fascicule, Le Havre. 1876. 8vo.
GUIENNE.
Catalogue de la Bibliothèque de Bordeaux. Bordeaux,
1830-37. 4 vols. 8vo.
Catalogue des Livres composant la Bibliothèque de la
Chambre du Commerce de Bordeaux Bordeaux.
1852-60.2 vols, 8vo.
PICARDY.
Ch. Dufour. Essai Bibliographique sur la Picardie, ou
plan d'une bibliothèque spéciale de cette province.
Amiens. 1857. 8vo.
Ferd. Pouy. Recherches Historiques sur l'Imprimerie
etila Librairie à Amiens. Aniiciis, 1861. 8vo.
- Recherches Historiques et Bibliographiques sur
l'Imprimerie et la Librairie dans le Département de la
Somme. 1863-4. 8vo. 2 parties, avec plusieurs fac-
simile.
C. Perin. Recherches Bibliographiques sur le Départe-
ment de l'Aisne: Catalogue et table des livres, chartes,
lettres-patentes, édits, arréts, lois, biographies, notices
et documents imprimés concernant le Département de
l'Aisne. 1866. 8vo.
Comte de Marsy. Bibliographie Picarde, Amiens. 1880.
8vo. (Reprinted from Lă Picardie, Revue Historique.
Nouvelle Série. T. 2.)
BOULONNAIS.
E. Dramard. Bibliographie Géographique et Historique
du Boulonnais. 1868. 8vo.
20
.
.
Sone French BibliographiesTOURAINE.
A. Chereau. Catalogue d'un Marchand Libraire du XV.
Siècle, tenant boutique à Tours. Tours. 1868. 8vo.
ORLÉANAIS.
H. Herluison. Recherches sur les Imprimeurs et
Libraires d'Orléans; recueil de documents pour
servir à l'histoire de la typographie et de la librairie
Orléanaise depuis le XV, Siècle jusqu'à nos jours.
Orléans. 1868. 8vo.
G. Vignat. Catalogue des Livres composant au XIV.
Siècle la Bibliothèque de l'Abbaye de Notre Dame de
Beaugency. (Reprinted from Lo Cartulaire de N. D.
de Beaugency in "Mémoires de la Société Archéologique
et Historique de l'Orléanais," T.16.) Orléans. 1877.
FRENCH FLANDERS.
A. Dinaux. Bibliographie Cambresienne. (Reprinted
froin "Mémoires de la Société d'Emulation de Cam-
brai.") Cambrai. 1823.
Le Glay. Mémoires sur les Bibliothèques Publiques et
les Principales Bibliothèques Particulières du Départe-
ment du Nord. Lille. 1841. 8vo.
H. R. Duthillcul. Bibliographie Douaisienne. Douai.
1842. 8vo,
Artois.
D'Héricourt et Caron. Recherches sur les Livres Im-
primés à Arras depuis l'origine de l'imprimerie dans
cette ville jusqu'à nos jours. Arras. 1851, '53, '55.
Three Parts. 8vo.
LORRAINE.
Beaupré. Recherches sur les commencements et les
Progrès de l'Imprimerie dans le Duché de Lorraine et
dans les Villes de Toul et Verdun. Nancy. 1841-42.
8yo.
Notices Bibliographiques sur les Livres de Liturgie
des Diocèses de Toul et de Verdun, imprimés au XV.
Siècle et dans la première moitié du XVI. Nancy. 1843.
L. Jouve. Bibliographie du Patois Lorrain. Nancy.
1866. 8vo. .
BRITTANY.
Toussaint Gautier. Histoire de l'Imprimerie en Bre-
tagne. Rennes. 1857. 8vo.
,
Some French Bibliographies.
21
S. Ropartz. Études sur quelques Ouvrages Rares ou
Peu Connus du XVIII. Siècle, Ecrits par des
Bretons, ou Imprimés en Bretagne ; suivie d'une Bib-
liothèque de Jurisprudence Bretonne, par M. le Comte
de Corbière. Nantes. 1879. 8vo.
BERRY.
H. Boyer. Histoire des Imprimeurs et Libraires de
Bourges, suivie d'une Notice sur ses Bibliothèques.
Bourges, 1854. 8vo.
DAUPHINY.
P. Colomb de Batines. Lettres à M. Jules Ollivier, con-
tenant quelques Documents sur l'origine de l'Impri-
merie en Dauphiné. Gap. 1835. 8vo.
- Matériaux pour servir à l'Histoire de l'Imprimerie
en Dauphiné. Gap. 1837. 8vo.
F. Colomb de Batines. Bibliographie des Patois du
Dauphiné. Grenoble. 1835. 8vo.
ΜΑΙΝΕ.
N. Desportes. Bibliographie du Maine, précedée de la
Description du Département du Mans, Sarthe et
Mayenge. Au Marls. 1844. 8vo.
L. Jos, Aug. Ansarl. Bibliothèque Littéraire du Maine,
ou Traité historique et critique des Auteurs de cette
Province. Chalons-sur-Marne. 1784. 8vo.
This is the sole volume which appeared of the eight
volumes announced. Some bibliographers give the
Benedictine Dom A. T. Ansart as the author; the latter
was no Benedictine, but a priest of the diocese of Arras.]
CHAMPAGNE,
Corrard de Breban. Recherches sur l'Etablissement et
l'Exercice de l'Imprimerie à Troyes. Troyes, 1851.
8vo. (Avec Facsimile.)
L, Pigeotte. Catalogue d'Ouvrages et Pièces concernant
Troyes. Troyes. 1876. 8vo.
A. Babeau. Le Château de Palis et sa Bibliothèque.
Troyes. 1879. 8vo.
BURGUNDY,
H. Ribiere. Essai sur l'Histoire de l'Imprimerie dans
le Département de l'Yonne, et spécialement à Auxerre
et à Sens. Auxerre, 1858. 8vo.
Alex. Sirand. Bibliographie de l'Ain. Bourg. 1851. 8vo.
22
Some French Bibliographies.
FRANCHE COMTÉ.
P. Laire. Dissertation sur l'Origine et les progrès de
l'Imprimerie en Franche Comté pendant le XV. Siècle.
Dole. 1785.
PROVENCE.
Dr. CI. Fr. Achard. Catalogue de la Bibliothèque de la
Ville de Marseille. Marseille. 1793.
Ant. Henricy. Notice sur l'Origine de l'Imprimerie en
Provence. Aix. 1826. 8vo.
E. Rouard. Notice sur la Bibliothèque d'Aix. dite de
Mejanes, précedée d'un Essai sur l'Histoire Littéraire
de cette Ville, sur ses Anciennes Bibliothèques, sur
ses Monuments, &c. Aix. 1831. 8vo.
J. T. Bory. Les Origines de l'Imprimerie à Marseille,
Recherches Historiques et Bibliographiques. Marseille.
1858.
R. Reboul. Bibliographie des Ouvrages Ecrits en Patois
du Midi de la France, et des Travaux sur la langue
Romano-Provençale. 1877. 8vo. :
LANGUEDOC.
Desbarreaux-Bernard. Quelques Recherches sur les
Débuts de l'Imprimerie à Toulouse. Toulouse. 1848.
8vo.
- Etablissement de la Typographie dans le Languedoc.
Toulouse. 1876. 8vo.
[Desbarreaux-Bernard was a native of Toulouse,
where he was born 20th November, 1798, and died in his
native city on the 15th February, 1880. A bibliography
of his works is given in the Bibliographie de la France
of 18th and 25th December, 1880.] "
A. Claudin. 'Antiquités Typographiques de la France:
Origines de l'Imprimerie à Albi en Languedoc, 1480-
1484 ; les Pérégrinations de J. Neumeister, compagnon
de Gutenberg, en Allemagne, en Italie et en France,
1463-1484; son établissement définitif à Lyon, 1485–
1507, &c. 1880. 8vo. (With 12 Plates.)
I
ILE DE FRANCE.
Catalogue des Livres Examinez et Censurez par la
Faculté de Paris. 1551. 8vo,
Chevallier. Origine de l'Imprimerie de Paris. 1694. 4to.
Catalogus Librorum Bibliothecæ Reginæ Parisiensis.
1739-50, II vols. Folia,
Some French Bibliographies.
23
Catalogue des Livres Imprimés de la Bibliothèque du
Roi. 1739-33. 6 vols. Folio. (Framed by Abbés
Sallier and Boudot.)
Lettres d'un Académicien à M. * ** sur le Catalogue de
la Bibliothèque du Roi. 1749. 1200.
Lottin Ainé. Catalogue des Libraires et Imprimeurs à
Paris.
J. P. Le Breton. Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliothèque
de la Cour de Cassation. 1819, &c. 4 vols. 8vo.
A. Taillandier. Resumé Historique de l'Introduction de
l'Imprimerie à Paris. 1837. 8vo.
Bagot, Angliviel, Levot, Solvet, Décourtière. Catalogue
Général des Livres composant les Bibliothèques des
Départements de la Marine et des Colonies. 1838-43.
5 vols. 8vo.
A. Girault de St. Fargeau. Bibliographie Historique et
Topographique de Paris; ou, Catalogue de tous les
Ouvrages imprimés en Français relatifs à l'Histoire de
Paris depuis le XV. Siècle. 1847. 8vo.
A. de Bougy et P. Pinçon. Histoire de la Bibliothèque
Ste. Géneviève. 1847. 8vo.
Catalogue de la Bibliothèque du Dépôt de la Guerre. 2
yols. 8vo.
Nic. Th. Leprince. Essai Historique sur la Bibliothèque
du Roi. Paris. 1782. Nouvelle édition, revue et aug.
mentée des Annales de la Bibliothèque depuis son
Origine jusqu'à nos jours, par Louis Paris, 1856. 18mo.
D. France. Description Historique et Bibliographique
de la Collection de M. le Comte de La Bedoyère sur la
Révolution Française, l'Empire et la Restauration. 1862.
8vo. :
(Count de La Bedoyère had bought and merged into his
valuable library the collection of newspapers made by
Deschiens, and described in “Deschiens' Bibliographie
des Journaux Publiées pendant la Révolution," 1829. At
Count de La Bedoyère's death, his library was bought by
La Bibliothèque Impériale, where it now is.]
A. Franklin. Histoire de la Bibliothèque Mazarine depuis
sa fondation jusqu'à nos jours. 1859. 8vo.
- Recherches sur la Bibliothèque Publique de l'Eglise
Notre Dame de Paris du XIII. Siècle, d'après des docu-
ments inédits. 1863. 8vo.
- Les Anciennes Bibliothèques de Paris, Eglises, Mon.
astères, Colléges, &c. 1867. 4to.
24
Some French Bibliographies,
Inventaire de la Bibliothèque du Roi Charles VI., fait au
Louvre en 1423 par Ordre du Régent Duc de Bedford,
avec une préface par L. Douët d'Arcq. 1668.
1. Lemonnyer. Les Journaux de Paris pendant la Com-
mune: Revue Bibliographique complète de la Presse
Parisienne du 19 Mars au 27 Mai, 1871; avec l'Indica-
tion détaillée des Titres, Sous-Titres, Devises, Formats,
Prix et Transformations de chaque journal, le Nom de
ses Rédacteurs, Gérants et Imprimeurs, le Nombre de
Numeros parus, &c., et une Table alphabétique don-
nant le Prix courant de chaque collection. [1871.] 8vo.
Bibliographical monographs of subjects are
alike useful and interesting; perhaps no subject
is more attractive than the revelation of the
identity of those mummers of literature
anonymous and pseudonymous authors. It has
all the savour of forbidden fruit. The foremost
place among French bibliographies of this
subject belongs to Barbier's work. Antoine
Alexandre Barbier was born in Coulommiers,
on the orth January, 1765. He was destined to
the Church, and after going the usual round of
, studies in Meaux College, he became a curate
in Dammartin. Here the Revolution soon
found him, and, like many of the lower clergy,
he was not hostile to it. The Church in those
days was an asylum where plebeian pride and
discontent found protection and a social posi-
tion, which low birth had not easily found
elsewhere—just as at present poor men who
dread the military conscription take orders to
escape the draught. Barbier at once took the
oath the new authorities required of the clergy,
and was rewarded by promotion to the Vicarage
Some French Bibliographies.
25
of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. In 1793 he disrobed
himself and married. His attainments had
attracted sufficient attention to lead to his ap-'
pointment as a teacher of the Training School,
which had just been established in Paris. Here
he more than fulfilled the expectations he had
raised, and other honours flowed rapidly on
him. He was soon appointed a member of the
temporary Commission of the Fine Arts, and
attached to the National Convention's Com-
mittee of Public Instruction. This Committee
was ordered to save from loss books, manu-
scripts, works of art, and other objects of
interest found in the colleges, convents, churches,
and other establishments which had been sup-
pressed; all these objects were to be collected
in some secure public building, and afterwards
distributed among public institutions. François
de Neufchâteau had made Barbier form a
library for the use of the Directory, and ap-
pointed him its keeper. This library, after the
coup d'état of the 18e Brumaire, was transferred
to the newly-organised Council of State; its
keeper followed it to the new destination, where
he frequently came in contact with Napoleon.
Barbier won Napoleon's favour speedily, and
was made, in 1807, his private librarian.
Barbier's “Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes
et Pseudonymes" was probably not without
influence in procuring Napoleon's favour. The
first volumes were published in 1806. Barbier
26
Some French Bibliographies.
was now brought still oftener into Napoleon's.
company. It was a part of his duty to lay
before the Emperor all presentation copies and
all new publications, with a very full summary
of their contents and biographical notes of the
authors, He did this work with such ability
that Napoleon repeatedly ordered him to pre-
pare papers on current topics of religious con-
troversy; for instance, upon the prerogative of
an Emperor to suspend, or to depose a Pope.'
Barbier used his influence to establish the
libraries of the Louvre, of Compiègne, and of
Fontainebleau. The fall of the Empire naturally
brought him hours of great anxiety. He was a
priest who had taken the oath; he had, in the
Reign of Terror, deserted the Church; he had
married; he had enjoyed the favour of the
leaders of the Revolution; he had been a mem-
ber of Napoleon's household. One of these
"crimes” was enough to ruin any man; all of
them together seemed to make his ruin inevit-
able. He nevertheless continued to weather
the storm of political passion for seven years,
and had reason to hope he had no longer any-
thing to fear from it (the Legion of Honour had
just been given to him, and the King had from
the outset kept him in his librarianship, though
the style of the office had become “ Manager of
the King's private libraries "), when suddenly
without warning, he was dismissed office. May-
be the appearance of the first volume of the
Some French Bibliographies.
27
second edition of his “Dictionnaire des
Anonymes' had directed too much malignant
attention to him. To lose mastership of those
libraries which he had formed volume by
volume, with which he had lived so long, was
a heavy blow. His brow was serene as ever,
but the fox was gnawing the vital part, and
three years afterwards he died in Paris, 5th
December, 1825. He was the author of
" Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliothèque du
Conseil d'État," 1801-3, 2 vols., folio (all of
these books are now in the library of the Palace
of Fontainebleau); "Dictionnaire des Ouvrages
Anonymes et Pseudonymes," 1806-8, 4 vols.,
8vo; second ed., 1822–25; “Chaudon et de La
Porte: Nouvelle Bibliothèque d'un Homme de
Goût, entièrement refondue par M. Barbier,"
1808-10, 5 vols., 8vo (it was never finished);
“Dissertation sur Soixante Traductions Fran-
çaises de l'Imitation de Jésus Christ, suivie de
Considérations sur l'Auteur de l'Imitation (par
M. Gence)," 1812, 8vo"; "Examen Critique et
Complément des Dictionnaires Historiques les
plus répandus, depuis 'Le Dictionnaire de
Moreri' jusqu'à 'La Biographie Universelle'
inclusivement," 1820, Tome I., 8vo (never com-
pleted). He contributed, too, a great many
articles to Le Magasin Encyclopédique, La Revue
Encyclopédique, and to L'Encyclopédique Moderne
(Courtin's), &c.
His two sons must here find places. The
28
Some French Bibliographies,
eldest, Louis Nicolas Barbier, was born in Paris,
4th November, 1799. A natural taste for books
was fostered by his father, who early initiated
him into the craft and mystery of bibliography,
and interested him in all of the paternal re-
searches. So he was well qualified at his
father's death to complete, or see through the
press, works in which his father had been
interested. He added the fourth volume to the
“ Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et
Pseudonymes," the Supplément Général to the
other volumes, and tables and references. To
him was intrusted the revision of all the biblio-
graphical statements made in General Beauvais'
"Dictionnaire Historique,” and of several por-
tions of La France Littéraire. He, of course,
was looked upon with disfavour as long as the
Restoration was mistress of France, though his
friends had been influential enough to have him
appointed an under-librarian of the Louvre
Library, in 1827. The Government of July
intrusted to him, in 1832, the task of forming a
professional library for the Council of State,
. and upon De Jouy's death, in 1837, he was
made Librarian of the Louvre, a post he held
until this library was destroyed by La Commune,
in May, 1871.
His brother, Olivier Alexandre Barbier, was
born in Paris, 20th June, 1806. In France,
more than in other countries, offices, though
not hereditary by law, are made so by tacit
}
Some French Bibliographies.
29
consent of all concerned in keeping them the
monopoly of families. If one member of a
family succeed in drawing his revenue from the
Public Treasury, the same coffers are sure to
supply income to all the family from generation
to generation, Of course Olivier held office in
some library. In 1832, the Government of July
gave him a post in the Bibliothèque Royale (the
great library of the Rue Richelieu, which has as
many aliases as a hardened criminal). Here he
rose step by step until he became, in 1864, one
of the chief librarians. He is now a bedridden
paralytic, rarely conscious of anything. His
library is well-known as containing a large, if
not a complete, collection of books printed by
De Tournes, and many unpublished papers
relating to that family of Lyons printers. He
is the author of a “Notice Bibliographique sur
Charles Fourier," which first appeared in the
feuilleton of Le Journal de la Librairie (1837), and
which has been reprinted separately, He has
all his life contributed to Le Bulletin du Biblio-
phile, and to other bibliographical periodicals.
He, with Messrs. René and Paul Billard, has
recently brought out the third edition of his
father's "Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anony-
mes," revised and enlarged.
The Great Library in Rue Richelieu has given
another bibliographer of anonymous works.
Louis Charles Joseph Demanne was born in
Paris, IIth Sept., 1773. His family was of Dutch
30
Some French Bibliographies.
origin. His ancestors had, at his birth, been
residents in France for nearly a hundred years.
They had fled Holland in 1672, to escape the
political storms which led to the re-establish-
ment of the Stadtholdership. He was educated
at Le Collége des Quatre Nations, which he
quitted for the Compagnie des Indes' office. His
stay here was not long, for in March, 1791, he
was 'an assistant of Abbé Barthélemy (so well
known as a correspondent of Mmes, de Choiseul
and Du Deffand, and as the author of " Le Voy-
age du Jeune Anacharsis en Grèce,'') in the
Cabinet of Medals. Denounced as holding
Royalist opinions, he was dismissed from office.
Conscious that his life was in peril, he fled Paris,
taking the first road which led away from it ; all
his care was to quit the capital. It so happened
that the road he took led him to La Vendée,
then seething with insurrection. He joined the
Royalist army there. As soon as he could,
without danger, return to Paris, he quitted the
army. He had retained old friends in the capi-
tal, and they at once got him a place in the
Bibliothèque Nationale (then, as now, the alias
of the Great Library in Rue Richelieu). He
rapidly rose, for he was zealous and active, and,
upon Capperonnier's death, he was, in Novem-
ber, 1820, promoted to be Keeper and Manager
of the Books Department. This was no sinecure,
though Van Praet undertook to discharge all the
duties due to the frequenters of the library.
Some French Bibliographies.
31
This establishment had received sudden and
great accessions of books by the spoliations of
convents, churches, colleges; by the spoliations
which Napoleon had made wherever his armies
had invaded; and by the feverish activity of the
press, which had for years been paralysed
by Revolution. When Demanne took office,
300,000 volumes lay huddled together in the
garret of the library, beyond the reach of stu-
dents; they were not even catalogued. He had
rooms cleared, shelves put up, catalogues
framed, and not only these 300,000 volumes
were put at the command of students, but as
fast as new books were published, they, too,
were at the service of the public. Moreover, sets
of many works had been broken during the long
period of troubles; he completed every set.
These labours did not exhaust his activity. He
wrote the preface to “Le Débat des Deux De-
moiselles," 1825, 8vo; a bibliography of D'An-
ville's works (An X.), preface and bibliography
both anonymous; and “Breve Memoria Statistica
delle due Calabrie, del Signor Gaetano Tocci,"
which Demanne wrote in French to be translated
into Italian. He died in Paris, 23rd July, 1823,
leaving ready for the press, “ Nouveau Recueil
d'Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes” (which
was published in 1834 as a supplement to Bar-
bier's “ Dictionnaire'), and the complete works
of the celebrated geographer, D'Anville. Unfor-
tunately only two volumes of this edition have
32
Some French Bibliographies.
been published; they issued in quarto from the
Imprimerie Royale in 1834. D'Anville had pub-
lished his geographical works without one note
of explanation; the maps were made on different
scales; there were many errors. He had be-
queathed to Demanne (who had spent his earlier
years an inmate of D'Anville's house) all his manu-
scripts, sketches, drawings and copper-plates.
Demanne undertook and carried to successful
execution (it was a labour of love) a complete
edition of his old friend's works. He corrected
all errors, made all the maps to a common scale,
added notes wherever the text seemed to need
explanation, and confirmed the geographer's
assertions by the researches of later travellers.
Edmond de Manne (for in 1858 he obtained
from the proper authorities warrant to give his
name this more aristocratic form, upon produc-
ing evidence that its original orthography was
Van Mann) was a son of Louis Charles Joseph
Demanne. He was born in Paris in 1801, and
his father got him an office in 1820 in the Bib-
liothèque Royale, which he quitted only when
age and its retinue of infirmities had made him
unfit to discharge his duties. He was a volu-
minous writer under as many pseudonyms as
his subjects were various. He gave two revised
and enlarged editions of his father's “Nouveau
Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseu-
donymes ; " the second edition appeared in 1862,
8vo; the third, 1868, 8vo.
Some French Bibliographies.
33
Joliet. Les Pseudonymes du Jour. 1867. 12mo. [He
arranges them under these rubrics: “Feminine
Dominos-Literary Men-Neutral Flags-Foreign
Newspapers-Draughtsmen-Musical Composers and
Musicians-Actors."']
His amusing "Dictionnaire des Pseudonymes"
(1867, 18mo; second edition, 1869, 18mo) ought
to give Georges Poinsot a place here. He has
given all his works signed by a pseudonym
D'Heilly, the name of an obscure village of La
Somme, but which proved to belong, too, to a
family. They obliged him to change it, and he
adopted D'Heylli; by which he is now known.
He was born in Nogent-sur-Seine in 1834.
The following are some other noteworthy
bibliographical monographs :
Joan. Le Paige. Bibliotheca Præmonstratensis Ordinis.
7633. 2 vols. Fo.
Lud. Jacob à Sancto Carlo. Bibliotheca Pontifica. Lyons.
1643. 4to.
C. E. Blondeau. La Bibliothèque Canonique. 1689.
2 vols. Fo.
L. EI. Dupin. Bibliothèque des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques.
1698. 61 vols. 8vo.
Jac. Quetif and Jac. Echard. Scriptores Ordinis Præ-
dicatorum. 1719. 2 vols. Fo.
Dom. Cellier. Histoire Général des Auteurs Sacrés et
Ecclésiastiques. 1729. 25 vols. 4to.
Ant. Abert and J. Fr. de La Court. Dictionnaire Portatif
des Prédicateurs François dont les Sermons prononcés
ont été imprimés, où l'on a marqué les éditions qui en
ont été faites, etc. Lyons. 1757.
Dictionnaire Historique des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques,
avec le Catalogue de leurs Ouvrages. Lyons (Avignon).
1767. 4 vols. 8vo.
Ch. Nodier. Bibliothèque Sacrée Grecque Latine. Ouv.
rage redigé d'apres Mauro Boniet Gamba. 1826. 8vo.
34
20
Some French Bibliographies.
P. Auguste Carayon. Bibliographie Historique de la
Compagnie de Jesus; ou, Catalogue des Ouvrages rela-
tifs à l'Histoire des Jesuites, depuis leur Origine.
jusqu'à nos jours. 1864. 4to.
Pardessus. Bibliothèque de Jurisprudence Commerciale.
1821. 5 vols. 8vo. [The last vol. contains a com-
plete bibliography of authors who have written on
commercial law.]
P. Ingold. Essai de Bibliographie Oratorienne. [In
course of publication. Two numbers have appeared.
Two more will complete the work.]
E. Thorin Répertoire Bibliographique des Ouvrages
de Legislation, de Droit et de Jurisprudence, publiés
spécialement en France, depuis 1789 jusqu'à la fin de
Novembre, 1863, avec Table analytique et raisonnée
des Matières. 1863. 8vo.
B. Warée. Répertoire Bibliographique des Ouvrages
de Legislation, de Droit et de Jurisprudence en Matière
civile, administrative, commerciale et criminelle, pub-
liés, spécialement en France, suivi d'une Table ana-
lytique et raisonnée des Matières. 1870. 8vo.
Bibliographie; ou, Catalogue Général et Complet des
Livres de Droit et de Jurisprudence, publiés jusqu'au
I Nov. 1875, classé dans l'ordre des Codes, avec Table
alphabétique des Matières et des Noms des Auteurs
placée en tête du Catalogue. 1875. 8vo.
D'Oisy. Essai de Bibliologie Militaire. 1824. 8vo. The
catalogues of J. Dumaine are excellent monographs of
military bibliography. Dumaine's chief catalogue is
divided into sixteen parts, published separately: De-
crees, Regulations, and Elementary Works-Military
Art and History of the Ancients-Military Art and
History of the Moderns-History of Wars since 1789
-Engineering, Fortitication, Attack and Defence
of Strongholds — Artillery Pyrotechnical Works -
Strategy, Tactics, Manoeuvres-Geodesy, Topography,
Geography and Military Maps.-Marine and Mathe-
matics-Military Legislation and Administration, Re-
cruiting, Organisation and Clothing, etc.- Horseman-
ship, Veterinary Art, Veterinary Medicine--Fencing,
Swimming and Gymnastics - Military Medicine -
Physics, Chemistry, Natural Sciences, etc.--Works for
the National Guard of France-Algeria.]
Jos. Fr. Carrère. Bibliothèque Littéraire, Historique et
Critique de la Médécine ancienne et moderne. 1776.
2 vols. 4to. [Incomplete: goes only to "Coi."]

Some French Bibliographies.
35
E. Dramard. Bibliographie Raisonnée du Droit Civil,
comprenant les Matières du Code Civil et des Lois
postérieures qui en forment le complément, accom-
pagnée d'une Table alphabétique des Noms d'Auteurs.
1878. 8vo.
J. de Lalande. Bibliographie Astronomique. 1803. 4to..
Herissant. Bibliothèque Physique de la France, 1771. 8vo.
A. Percheron. Bibliographie Entomologique. 1837. 2
vols. 8vo.
Tarin. Dictionnaire Anatomique, suivi d'une Biblio-
thèque Anatomique. 1753. 4to.
Goulin. Mémoires Littéraires, Critiques, Philosophiques,
Biographiques et Bibliographiques pour servir à l'His-
toire ancienne et moderne de la Médécine, 1775–77.
- 2 vols. 4to. [Left unfinished.]
Carrère. Catalogue Raisonnée des Ouvrages qui ont
été publiés sur les Eaux minérales. 1785. 4to.
Dr. Monfalcon. Précis de l'Histoire de la Médécine et
de Bibliographie médicale. 1827.
:. A. Dureau. Histoire de la Médécine et des Sciences
Occultes : Notes Bibliograpbiques pour servir à l'His-
toire du Magnétisme animal. Analyse de tous les
Livres, Brochures, Articles de Journaux publiés sur le
Magnétisme animal en France et à l'Etranger à partir
de 1766 jusqu'au au 31 Dec. 1868. 1869. 8vo.
Catalogue Raisonné des Ouvrages Pouvant Servir à
Fonder une Bibliothèque Spirite. 1880, 18mo.
V. D. de Musset. Bibliographie Agronomique; ou, Dic-
tionnaire Raisonné des Ouvrages sur l'Economie rurale
et domestique et l'Art vétérinaire. 1810. 8vo.
L. Bouchard Huzard. Bibliographie des Ouvrages pub-
liés jusqu'à ce jour sur les Constructions Rurales et sur
la Disposition des Jardins. 1871. 2nd ed. 8vo.
E. Lacroix. Bibliographie des Ingénieurs, etc., 1867
4to. [The “ Catalogue de la Bibliothèque des Ponts et
Chaussées” is likewise an excellent bibliography of
this subject. To it should be added " Catalogue des
Modèles,'' found in the cabinet of this school. The
two catalogues are very interesting.)
J. de Lacaille. Histoire de l'Imprimerie et de la Li-
brairie. 1689. 4to.
H. Ternaux Compans. Notice des Imprimeries qui ex-
istent, ou ont existé en Europe et hors l'Europe.“ 1842.
8vo.
36
Some French Bibliographies.
A. Girault de St. Fargeau. Bibliographie Historique et
Topographique de la France. 1843.
Emile Ruelle, Bibliographie Générale des Gaules. 1880.
T. I. 8vo,
Abbé Ulysse Chevalier. Répertoire des Sources Histo-
riques du Moyen Age. Bio-Bibliographie. [In course
of publication. Nos. 1, 2, 3 (A-O) have been issued.
The 4th No. is promised for 1881. The work will be
8vo, double cols.]
Joannis Guigard. Bibliothèque Héraldique de la France,
comprenant la Bibliographie systématique et raisonnée
de tous les Ouvrages qui ont paru sur le Blason, les
es de Chevalerie, la Noblesse, la Féodalité, les
Fiefs et les Généalogies concernant la France; avec
Notes critiques et bibliographiques. 1862. 8vo.
Bibliographie des Sociétés Savantes de la France; ire
Partie, Départements. 1878. 8vo. [Reprinted from
La Revue des Sociétés Savantes, 6e série, t. 6. The col-
lection of memoirs of these societies forms a library of
15,000 volş., which is temporarily placed in the Palace
of the French Institute. There is a great deal of very
valuable information of all sorts in these volumes.]
Boucher de la Richarderie. Bibliothèque Universelle
des Voyages.
H, Ternaux Compans. Bibliothèque Asiatique et Afri-
caine; ou, Catalogue des Ouvrages relatif à l'Asie et à
l'Afrique qui ont parus depuis la Découverte de l'im-
primerie jusqu'en 1700. 1841. 8vo.
L. Pagès. Bibliographie Japonaise ; ou, Catalogue des
Ouvrages relatifs au Japon, qui ont été publiés depuis
le XV. Siècle jusqu'à nos jours. 1859. 4to.
V. A. Barbier du Bocage. Bibliographie Annamite :
Livres, Recueils, Périodiques, Manuscrits, Plans, &c.
1867. 8vo.
Bibliothèque Arménienne. 1867-9. 2 vols. 8vo.
M. Schwab. Bibliographie de la Perse. 1876. 8vo.
H. Cordier. Bibliotheca Sinica; Dictionnaire Biblio-
graphique des Ouvrages relatifs à l'Empire Chinois,
1878. 8vo,
A. Demarsy. Essai de Bibliographie Tunisienne; ou,
Indication des principaux Ouvrages publiés en France
sur la Régence de Tunis. Arras. 1869. 8vo.
Wm. Martin. Catalogue d'Ouvrages rélatifs aux Îles
Hawaii, Essai de la Bibliographie Hawaienne. 1867.
Some French Bibliographies.
37
H. Ternaux Compans. Bibliothèque Américaine; ou,
Catalogue des Ouvrages relatifs à l'Amerique qui ont
parus depuis sa Découverte jusqu'à l'an 1700. 1837,
8vo.
Bibliotheca Americana: Being a Choice Collection ot
Books relating to North and South America and the
West Indies. 1831. [ID 1840 another work was issued
with the same title in English
Francisque Michel. Bibliothèque Anglo-Saxonne. 1837.
8vo.
Gordon de Percel (Lenglet de Fresnoy). De l'Usage des
Romans; avec une Bibliothèque des Romans. Amster.
dam. 1734. 2 vols. 12mo. [Lenglet de Fresnoy
(sometimes spelt Dufresnoy; there is singular confu-
sion about the orthography of French proper names)
was a very voluminous writer. He published this
work under the above pseudonym. At the end of the
first volume there is a dedication which was destined
to a new edition of Regnier's Poems. This dedication
was entitled, “ Eloge Historique de M. Rousseau," and
was so virulent a satire on Jean Baptiste Rousseau
that the Etats Généraux ordered it to be suppressed.
The licentious tone of the work likewise gave great
offence, for Lenglet de Fresnoy was in boly orders.
When he heard that “De l'Usage des Romans" was
attributed to him, and that it was generally blamed, he
not only pertinaciously denied its paternity, but wrote
and published its refutation, “l'Histoire Justitiée contre
les Romans." His foreign contemporaries alone were
dupes of this trick.)
Pigoreau. Petite Bibliographie Biographico-Romancière.
1821. 8vo. [With 20 supplernents; the last dated 1829.]
Eusébe G- Revue des Romans; Recueil d'Analy-
ses raisonnées des Productions remarquables des plus
célèbres Romanciers Français et étrangers ; contenant
I100 Analyses. 1839. 2 vols. 8vo. It contains, too,
a bibliography of novels. Eusébe
G is Eusébe
Girault, who was born in St. Fargeau, Yonne, in 1799.
He figures twice elsewhere in this article under his
favourite pseudonym, Girault de St. Fargeau.)
C. Asselineau. Bibliographie Romantique: Catalogue
anecdotique et pittoresque des Editions originales des
Euvres de Victor Hugo, Alfred de Vigny, Prosper
Merimée, Alex. Dumas, Jules Janin, Théophile Gautier,
Petrus Borel, &c. 2nd ed. 1872. 'Appendice à la 2e
ed., 1874.
38
Some Frerich Bibliographies.
A. Assier. La Bibliothèque Bleue depuis Jean Oudot
Ier jusqu'à M. Baudot, 1600-1863. 1874. 8vo.
Georges Duplessis. Essai d'une Bibliographie Générale
des Beaux Arts. (Biographies Individuelles. Mono.
graphies. Biographies Générales.) 1867. 8vo.
H. Cohen. Guide de l'Amateur de Livres à Vignettes
au XVIII. Siècle, contenant la Description d'un Choix
de plus de 450 Ouvrages, illustrés par Boucher, Cochin,
Gravelot, Eisen, Moreau; Marillier, Monet, Le Barbier,
&c.; avec le Détail du Nombre de Figures, Vignettes
et Culs de Lampe, contenus dans chacun d'eux, et les
Noms de tous les Artistes qui y ont cooperés comme
Dessinateurs, ou comme Graveurs. 1870. 8vo. 2nd
ed., donnant, entre autres augmentations, la Liste com-
plète des Ouvrages de Le Sage et de Rétif de la Bre-
tonne, 1873; 3rd ed. Entièrement Refondue et con-
sidérablement augmentée, 1877.
E. Vinet. Bibliographie Méthodique et Raisonnée des
Beaux Arts, Esthétique et Histoire de l'Art, Archéologie,
Architecture, Sculpture, Peinture, Gravure, Arts In-
dustriels, &c. 1874. 8vo. [This work is published to
match, in type and paper, J. Ch. Brunet's " Manuel du
Libraire" and P. Deschamps and G. Brunet's “Manuel
du Libraire."]
F. Chevremont. Index du Bibliophile et de l'Amateur
de Peintures, Gravures, &c. 1876. 8vo.
L. Jacob. Traité des Plus Belles Bibliothèques. 1644. 8vo.
Le Gallois. Traité des Plus Belles Bibliothèques de
l'Europe. 1680, 12mo.
La Croix (du Maine) and Du Verdier. Les Bibliothèques
Françoises. 1772–73. 6 vols. 4to.
L. Ch. Fr. Petit-Radel. Recherches sur les Bibliothèques
Anciennes et Modernes jusqu'à la fondation de la
Bibliothèque Mazarine, et sur les Causes qui ont fa-
vorisées l'Acroissement du Nombre des Livres. 1819.
8vo.
Duret de Noinville. Table Alphabétique des Diction-
naires en toutes sortes de Langues, &c. 1758. 8vo.
The monograph of books printed on vellum
is by Van Praet. This bibliographer (Quérard
called him “one of the most learned biblio-
Some French Bibliographies.
39
graphers of Europe") merits attention. Joseph
Basile Bernard Van Praet was born in Bruges,
29th July, 1754. He was a son of Joseph Van
Praet, who was an eminent printer, publisher,
and bookseller of this famous Flemish city.
Joseph Van Praet early sent his son to Paris to
learn the trade, and confided him first to Desaint,
a well-known bookseller of that day, where he
made no long stay, for he soon entered Guillaume
De Bure's shop. He was scarcely five-and-
twenty years old when his reputation as a biblio-
grapher began to dawn. L'Esprit des 7019-
naux, a monthly magazine published in Liège,
contained in its number of February, 1780, an
article by him, which attracted great attention
by its learning, acuteness, and general ability,
on the life, writings, and publications of Colard
Mansion, the first printer who lived in Bruges.
Interest had been roused in this subject by an
article which had appeared in the same maga.
zine in November, 1779, by Mercier St. Léger,
and which had served but to whet public
curiosity. The success of his first article en-
couraged Van Praet to new researches, which
he published in the same periodical in October,
1780. His next contribution to it appeared in
January, 1781, and its subject was the Flemish
and French songs which Dukes Henry III. and
Jean II. of Brabant had written in the thirteenth
century. Van Praet had won so much reputa-
tion by these publications that, when the Duchess
40
Some French Bibliographies,
de Châtillon confided to Guillaume de Bure
the preparation of the catalogue of her father's
library and the latter's sale, Guillaume de Bure
asked Van Praet to frame the catalogue of the
manuscripts; and he did this work so well that,
when the Abbé Strattmann, one of the keepers of
the Imperial Library at Vienna, came to Paris
to attend the sale, he made the most tempting
offers to allure Van Praet to Austria. The
temptation was resisted. Pleasure was not the
sole reward he won by this work. Abbé Rives,
a violent and irascible man, had long been the
Duke de La Vallière's librarian, and was deeply
mortified that the Duchess de Châtillon should
have slighted him by confiding the preparation
of the catalogue to other hands. He virulently
attacked de Bure and Van Praet in a pamphlet,
which was published at first as a prospectus,
and, six years afterwards, in a more bulky form ;
but both editions entitled “La Chasse aux
Bibliographes et aux Antiquaires malavisés,"
Londres, 1789. 8vo. The only effect of the
pamphlet was to lead the Abbé des Aulnays to
suggest to Le Noir, the famous head of the
police of those days (public libraries were under
his jurisdiction, as being lairs of those dan-
gerous beasts-books) that the bookseller's
learned shopman ought to have a place in the
Registry of Books (the Stationers' Hall of that
period), which was a division of the Great
Library. On the ist July, 1784, Van Praet entered
Some French Bibliographies.
41
the Great Library as first clerk, and was promoted
to be second clerk in December, 1791. After
Ioth August, 1792, the Royal Library became
the National Library, and Van Praet was pro-
moted by Champfort (the epigrammatic wit) to
be under-keeper. In August, 1793, a clerk of
the National Library, an infamous wretch
named Tobieden Duby, wrote a letter to Le
Journal de la Montagne, denouncing Chamfort,
Abbé Barthélemy, and Van Praet for aristocrats
and untrustworthy characters. The first and
second were instantly thrown into Les Made-
lonnettes prison. Van Praet eluded arrest and
took refuge in Theo. Barrois' house; the latter
was de Bure's brother-in-law. The prisoners
were released in December, and Van Praet
quitted his retreat. He was at once made
secretary, treasurer, and hall porter of the
National Library. After the suicide of Lefebvre
de Villebrune (who had won the keepership of the
National Library by his reputation as a Greek
scholar and by translations of medical works),
Van Praet, despite the opposition made to his
appointment on the ground that he was a Bel-
gian, was promoted to the vacant office. The
treasures found in convents, churches and col-
leges had been placed in the old abbey of Ste.
Géneviève. A fire was discovered in this build-
ing on the 19th August, 1794, and made such
rapid progress that it seemed for a time abbey
and contents both were doomed to destruction.
42
Some French Bibliographies.
Van Praet distinguished himself by his activity
and daring in saving these treasures. The
majority of them were in the cellar, which was
filled with smoke. Into this cellar Van Praet
went times and again, returning with arms full of
manuscripts, until at last the fire was extin-
guished. It has already been told how efficiently
he and Demanne worked together to put the
Great Library at command of students. He
received the public, answered their queries, gave
them the books wanted; while his coadju-
tor banished chaos and established order on
the shelves, whose contents had risen from
100,000 volumes (the figures of 1792) to 200,000
(their number in 1800). To Van Praet was con-
fided the selection of books and manuscripts
from the spoliated establishments, which he
thought ought to find a place in the Great
Library. The next incident of his life is not
honourable. He furnished Napoleon's emissa-
ries with catalogues of valuable manuscripts
and rare books to be found in the libraries of
countries in possession of the French armies,
and which ought to find place in the Great
Library (now the Imperial Library). He stimu-
lated these emissaries' zeal, he punished their
negligence, he directed their search. When
France was, after Waterloo, made to dis-
gorge these and all other ill-gotten trea-
sures, Van Praet was vehemently accused
for the readiness with which he surrendered
Some French Bibliographies.
43
the Library's share of these spoils, and
his alacrity was explained by his foreign
birth. The charge was unsupported. He had
all along shown himself to be an eager and un-
scrupulous thief. The Restoration brought him
no anxious hours. He was made a member of
the council for the improvement of the type of
the Royal Printing Office; a post he filled from
1827 to 1831. He was a juryman to judge the
merits of types, printing, and binding at the
French Exhibitions. He was President of the
Council of the Great Library. He died, after
having passed away fifty-three years of his life
in the Great Library, 5th February, 1837, having
lived to attain the usual age of bibliographers
—83 years. Van Praet's first published work
(for “ La Description des Heures de Henri III.,
de Henri IV., et de Louis XIII.," which is some-
times mentioned as a book, is to be found only
in the catalogue of the Duke de La Vallière's
Library), was " Essai d'un Catalogue des Livres
Imprimés sur Vélin [éditions du XV. Siècle avec
date], Imp. Crapelet," 1805, 21 pp., folio. This
pamphlet contained the description of only five
works, and was in time merged in later works.
This essay was followed by “ Catalogue des
Livres Imprimés sur Vélin, avec date, depuis
1457 jusqu'en 1472: Première Partie, 1457-
1472," Janvier, 1813, folio. This first part was
framed in chronological order, and, although
the title promised only the books printed between
44
Some French Bibliographies.
1457–72, a chronological table (pp. 518–27) of
the editions described comes down to 1498, and
the following table (pp. 528–43) gives editions
which bear no date. This edition, save two
copies on vellum and seven on paper, was
entirely destroyed before publication. Why?
The greater part of its contents were used in the
8vo edition ; nevertheless, many particulars of
works published before 1500, of their binding,
and of celebrated bibliophiles, have been omitted.
Why? Van Praet's next work was "Catalogue
des Livres Imprimés sur Vélin de la Biblio-
thèque du Roi,” 1822–28, 5 vols., 8vo. This is
no longer a complete catalogue of these works,
for the Great Library has annually enriched its
collection of works printed on vellum, and the
1467 works catalogued by Van Praet are now a
small part of its treasures; still his book, by
the accuracy of his descriptions and by the
instructive anecdotes he relates, has lost none of
its interest, and the works he has catalogued
are even more prized than when he wrote. The
order Van Praet adopted in this, and in the
following, catalogue was no longer the chrono-
logical ; he adopted the systematic order—by
subjects. These five volumes were followed by
“ Catalogue des Livres Imprimés sur Vélin qui
se trouvent dans des bibliothèques, tant pub-
liques que particulières,” 1824-28, 4 vols., 8vo.
This work, designed as a supplement to the
above catalogue, in five volumes, is interesting
Some French Bibliographies.
45
and valuable. The first volume contains a
catalogue of works on theology, jurisprudence,
the sciences and the arts; the second, those on
belles-lettres; the third, those on history; the
fourth contains these tables :-Ist, a table of
authors' names, in alphabetical order; and, a
table of anonymous works, in alphabetical
order ; 3rd, a table of editions without date, of
the fifteenth century, in chronological order;
4th, a table of the names of towns, in alpha-
betical order, where the works were printed ;
5th, a table of the names of printers and pub-
lishers of the works, in alphabetical order ; 6th,
a table of the names, in alphabetical order, of
the persons to whom the works were dedicated,
of the persons who have owned the works, of
other persons mentioned for their connection
with the works, of the libraries which own the
works; 7th, a table, in alphabetical order, of
the libraries mentioned ; 8th, and lastly, a table,
in alphabetical order, of authors and works
quoted. Van Praet then gave“ Inventaire ; ou,
Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliothèque du
Louvre (sous Charles V.), fait en l'Année 1373,
par Gilles Mallet, garde de la dite Bibliothèque,
precédé de la Dissertation de Boivin le jeune,
sur la même Bibliothèque sous les Rois Charles
V., Charles VII., Charles VIII., avec des Notes
historiques et critiques par l'Editeur (Van
Praet)," 1836, 8vo. Besides these works, he
republished, in 1829, and with five facsimiles,
46
Some French Bibliographies.
the memoir to which he owed the firstlings of
reputation, "Notice sur Colard Mansion,
libraire et imprimeur de la Ville de Bruges en
Flandre, dans le XVe Siècle," and it met with
even a warmer reception than when first pub-
lished, for Van Praet had added a great deal of
biographical and bibliographical information,
which he had gained during the researches of
forty-nine years. And his “Recherches sur
Louis de Bruges, Seigneur de la Gruthuyse;
suivies de la Notice des Manuscrits qui lui ont
appartenu et dont la plus grande partie se
Conserve à la Bibliothèque du Roi,” were little
else than a new and enlarged edition of his
contribution to the Liège magazine, L'Esprit des
Fournaux (October, 1780), “ Une Notice Abrégée
d'un Manuscrit Français de la Bibliothèque du
Roi, intitulée "Tournois de la Gruthuyse.'"
These Recherches were published in 1831, with
five plates of line engravings. It is a work full
of interest, for it contains a great deal of curious
information far beyond the reach even of delvers
in the mine of letters. Oddly enough, only five
or six copies of these new editions (“Notice sur
Colard Mansion” and “Recherches ") bear the
author's name. It was a characteristic of Van
Praet that, while all his knowledge, all his
advice, all his notes were ever at literary men's
service, he always made it a condition of his aid
that no acknowledgment of it should be pub-
lished.
Some French Bibliographies.
47
To end monographs of subjects, there may be.
added :-
Geraud's Essai sur les Livres, dans l'Antiquité, particu-
lièrement chez les Romains. 1840. 8vo. (Reprinted
from Techener's Bulletin.]
Histoire de la Bibliophile; Recherches sur la Reliure,
sur les Bibliothèques des plus célèbres Amateurs, &c.,
par une Société de Bibliophiles. Folio.
P. Jannet, J. F. Payen et Veinart. Bibliotheca Scato-
logica. 1850.
Anthologie Scatologique, recueillie et annotée par un
Bibliophile de Cabinet, 1862. (Supplement to "Biblio-
theca Scatologica."]
Bibliographie Clerico-Galante, Ouvrages Galants ou
Singuliers sur l'Amour, les Femmes, le Mariage, le
Théâtre, &c., Ecrits par des Abbés, Prêtres, Chanoines,
Religieux, Religieuses, Evêques, Archévêques, Cardi-
naux et Papes; par l'Apôtre Bibliographe. 1879. 8vo.
La Bibliographie Jaune, Précédée d'une Dedicace à Tous
Aulcuns qui ne sont pas Jaunes, d'un Prologue
d'Alcofri bas et d'une Etude Historique et Littéraire
sur le Jaune. ... Conjugal de puis sa Découverte
jusqu'à nos jours; tot capita tot cornua; par l'Apôtre
Bibliographe. 1880. 16mo.
G. Duplessis. Bibliographie Paremiologique. 1847.
A. Martin. Recherches sur les Ex Dono. 1877. 8vo.
Messrs. Marius Michel. La Reliure Française depuis
l'Invention de l'Imprimerie jusqu'à la fin du XVIII.
Siècle. 1880. 4to. 22 Plates.
Monograph bibliographies of persons are not
less interesting :-
M. Adry. Notice sur les Imprimeurs de la Famille des
Elzevirs. 1806. 8vo.
A, S. L. Berard. Essai Bibliographique sur les Éditions
des Elzevirs. 1822. 8vo.
Ch. M. (Motteley). Aperçu sur les Erreurs de la Biblio-
graphie Spéciale des Elzevirs, et de leurs annexes, &c.
1847. 12mo.
J. F. Payen. Notice Bibliographique sur Montaigne.
1837. 8vo.
A. A. Renouard. Annales de l'Imprimerie des Estienne.
1843. 8vo.
48
Some French Bibliographies.
G. A. Crapelet. Robert Estienne, Imprimeur Royal, et
le Roi François I. Nouvelles Recherches sur l'Etat
des Lettres et de l'Imprimerie au XVI. Siècle. 1839.
8vo.
Aug. Bernard. Les Etiennes et les Types Grecs de
François I., complément des Annales Stephaniennes.
1856. 8vo.
Abbé Caron. Recherches Bibliographiques sur le Télé-
maque, les Oraisons Funèbres de Bossuet et le Dis.
cours sur l'Histoire Universelle. 1840.
Aug. Bernard. Ant. Vitre et les Caractères Orientaux
de la Bible Polyglotte de Paris. 1857. 8vo.
P. Deschamps. Essai Bibliographique sur M. T. Cice-
ron. 1863. 8vo.
Le Roux de Lincy. Recherches sur Jean Grollier, sur
sa Vie et sa Bibliothèque, suivies d'un Catalogue des
Livres qui lui ont appartenu. 1866. 8vo.
Ambroise Firmin-Didot. Alde Manuce et l'Hellénisme
à Venise. With four portraits and one facsimile, 1875.
8vo.
To end incredulity, as one reads a catalogue
of Paul Lacroix's works, and doubts the possi-
bility of any writer's covering with ink so many
sheets of paper, one is obliged to remember
that M. Littré's Dictionary in manuscript con-
sists of 415,636 sheets of paper, though he
worked on it only from 1841 to 1865. Now
Paul Lacroix has been sending "copy" to the
printers ever since he was eighteen years old,
and as it has been more than fifty-six years
since he celebrated this birthday, one gazes
without incredulity, but not without amazement,
at his contributions to the publications of his
day. Paul Lacroix was born in Paris, 27th
Feb., 1806. While still a student of Collège
Bourbon, he published (1824) a new edition
of Clement Marot's Poems. In his nineteenth
Some French Bibliographies.
49
year he offered several comedies in verse to the
Odéon Theatre; they were accepted but never
played. The Dramatic Authors' Association
was not then founded, and dramatist's rights were
as little respected in Paris as in London, where
Sheridan could, unwhipt of justice, open a chest
of drawers and say: “My dear fellow, I really
don't know what has become of your play:
there are lots of pieces, help yourself to as many
as you choose." After Collège Bourbon had
given Paul Lacroix a degree, he sought fame and
fortune in the Press. His campaign in Le Figaro,
La Psyché, and several other petty newspapers,
secured neither money nor reputation. He
turned his attention to novel-writing. He at-
tempted to revive past ages, with their manners,
customs, dress, modes of thought; and the story
was but the canvas on which he embroidered
all these colours of the past. He read inces-
santly, to accumulate materials for his novels,
which are rather works of erudition than works
of fancy. They lack animation too; narration
is not sufficiently rapid; besides (this is a fault
common to all of his works), the materials are
not digested; he has made nothing his own by
assimilation; he seems to have done little else
than empty his commonplace books into these
pages. He has written, not only novels, but
dramas, bibliographies, archæological disserta-
tions; edited authors (e.g. Rabelais, Beroelde de
Verville, Marguerite de Navarre, &c.)'; issued
E
50
Some French Bibliographies.
histories—" Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance,"
1847–52. 5 vols. 4to. Ferd. Sere was joint
author with him in this work. "Les Arts au
Moyen Âge et à l'Epoque de la Renaissance,"
1868. 8vo. Many illustrations are in both of
these works. “L'Histoire de la Prostitution
chez tous les Peuples;" the sale of this work
was for years interdicted; he signed this work,
" Pierre Dufour." Rabutaux was a joint author
with him in this book. Lorenz gives ("* Cata-
logue Générale de la Librairie Française depuis
1840," T. iii., p. 105) the titles of sixty-five new
editions or new works of Lacroix published be-
tween 1840-65. He has been, besides, a con-
stant contributor to periodicals. Government
has repeatedly sent him abroad on literary or
archæological missions. He has (save from
1851--58) long been a member of the Comités
Historiques. He has, since 1855, been keeper
of the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal; his readiness
to place all his stores of information at the ser-
vice of every applicant is proverbial. The
majority of his works have appeared with the
pseudonym “Bibliophile Jacob,” by which he is
better known than by his own name. This is
the origin of his pseudonym : there lived in the
days of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. a learned
Jesuit, Jacob de St. Charles, who was com-
monly known as le Père Jacob, and who became
librarian of Cardinal de Retz. He was the
author of a " Histoire des Papes," of "Biblio.
Soine French Bibliographies.
51
theca Pontifica," and of “Traité des Plus
Belles Bibliothèques" (both mentioned else-
where in this article), which are held in great
esteem by bibliophiles. Lacroix became so fas-
cinated by this old bookworm, he made the
latter's name his own favourite pseudonym.
Lacroix has also written under the pseudonym
“ Antony Dubourg." Here are some of his bib-
liographies :-
P. L. (Paul Lacroix), Jacob bibliophile. Bibliographie
et Iconographie de tous les Ouvrages de Restif de la
Bretonne, comprenant la Déscription Raisonnée des
éditions originales, des réimpressions, des contre-
façons, des Traductions, des Imitations, &c., y compris
le Détail des Etampes et la Notice sur la Vie et les
Ouvrages de l'Auteur, par son Ami, Cubières Palme-
zeaux, avec des Notes historiques, critiques et litté-
raires. 1875. 8vo.
(Bibliophile Jacob). Bibliographie Molièresque.
1875. 2nd ed. 8vo.
Iconographie Molièresque, 1876. 8vo.
E. Picot. Bibliographie Corneillienne; ou, Description
Raisonnée de toutes les Editions des Euvres de Pierre
Corneille, des Imitations ou Traductions qui en ont été
faites et des Ouvrages relatifs à Corneille et à ses
écrits. 1875. 8vo.
M. Tourneux, Prosper Mérimée, sa Bibliographie, 1876.
Svo.
- Théophile Gautier, sa Bibliographie. 1876. 8vo.
Bibliographie et Iconographie des Euvres de J. F. Reg.
nard. 1877. 12mo.
Henry Harisse. Bibliographie de Manon Lescaut, et
Notes pour servir à l'Histoire du Livre, 1877. 2nd ed.
8vo.
Tulcs Brivois. Bibliographie de l'auvre de P. J. de
Béranger, contenant la Déscription de toutes les Edi-
tions, l'Indication d'un grand Nombre de Contrefaçons,
le Classement de suites de gravures, vigncttes, &c.
1880, Svo.
52
Some French Bibliographies.
These miscellaneous bibliographical works are
not undeserving attention :-
Ch Nodier. Mélanges Tirés d'une Petite Bibliothèque.
1829. 8vo.
Marquis du Roure. Analecta Biblion; ou, Extraits de
Divers Livres rares. 1836-7. 2 vols. 8vo.
Ludovic Lalanne. Curiosités Bibliographiques. 1857.
I'mo.
P. L. (Paul Lacroix), Jacob. Dissertations Bibliograph-
iques. 1864. 12mo.
- Enigmes et Découvertes Bibliographiques. 1866.
12mo.
-- Mélanges Bibliographiques. 1871. 12mo.
The reader has surveyed the guides to con-
temporary French literature, to local literature,
to monographs of things and persons, and to the
miscellanies of bibliography. Wider fields now
invite his attention. He will find much to in-
terest him in the earlier French bibliographers;
for they reveal the direction of the currents of
thought in those distant days, and lead students
to the sources whence men then drew their
knowledge.
There is probably no older French bibliogra-
pher than Philib. Maréchal, who wrote “La
Guide des Arts et des Sciences, et Promptuaire
de tous les Livres tant composez que Traduicts
en François," 1598, 8vo. This was followed by
Gabriel Naudé," Avis Pour Dresser Une Bib.
liothèque," 1627 or 1644, 8vo; Ch. Sorel,
“Bibliothèque Françoise," 1667, 12mo; and
"De la Connaissance des Bons Livres," 1671,
Izmo; La Croix du Maine,"Desseins Presentés
Some French Bibliographies.
53
à Henry III. Pour Dresser Une Bibliothèque,"
1683, 4to; Le Père Menestrier, “Bibliothèque
Curieuse et Instructive de Divers Ouvrages
Anciens et Moderns, Trévoux," 1704, 12mo;
Baillet, “ Jugement des Savans sur les Princi-
paux Ouvrages des Auteurs, corrigés et aug-
mentés par de La Monnoye, avec l'Anti-Baillet
par Ménage,'' 1722–30, 8 vols., 4to; Langlet Du
Fresnoy, “Méthode Pour Etudier l'Histoire,'
1729, 6 vols., 4to; Gouget, “ Bibliothèque Fran-
çoise (grammaire, rhétorique et poésie)," 1740-56,
18 vols., 12mo; Catalogue Hebdomadaire, 1753-89,
27 vols., 8vo. (This weekly publication does not
contain all the works which appeared, and it is
continually defaced by blunders due to gross
negligence. Its first editor was Belle-pierre de
Neuve-Eglise; after he withdrew, it fell into the
hands of Pierres, a bookseller.) Les Annales
Typographiques, 1758–62, 10 vols., 8vo. (This
periodical was edited by Dr. Roux of Bordeaux.)
Oliva, “Euvres Diverses," 1758, 8vo ; and
“ètrennes aux Bibliographes,” 1760, 24mo;
Bollioud-Mermet, “ De La Bibliomanie," 1761,
8vo. The second edition, which appeared in 1765,
contains, besides, "l'Essai sur la Lecture;” the
third edition was issued in 1866. “Bibliothèque
Historique de la France, contenant le Catalogue
des Ouvrages Imprimés et Manuscrits qui
traitent de l'Histoire de ce Royaume, avec des
Notes critiques et historiques, par Jacq. Lelong;
nouv. ed., augmentée par Fevret de Fontette,
54
Some French Bibliographies.
Camus, L. Th. et Ant. Prosp. Hérissant, Bar-
beau de la Bruyère, Coquereau, Rondet et
autres," 1768–78, 5 vols., folio.
Jacques Lelong was born in Paris sometime in
1665. He was at a very early period of life
admitted to the Order of the Knights of Malta;
he became a resident of Malta when scarcely
turned eleven years old. He very naturally fled
the island as soon as he could, for he found it a
most inhospitable abode. He was so imprudent
(what judgment could be expected in a child of
his tender years ?) as to join the funeral pro-
cession of a person who had died of the plague
(which had broken out in the island soon after
his arrival). He had scarcely returned to his
lodgings when he saw the doors walled up, and
heard himself interdicted from holding all com-
munication with the islanders, lest he should
spread the plague, with which he was supposed
to be infected. He thought, too, the master set
over him unwarrantably harsh. So as soon as
he could, he seized the pretext of declining
health to get permission to leave Malta. He
came to Paris and resumed his studies with the
Oratorian Fathers. He showed great talents
for mathematics and was soon sent to teach
them in the famous Oratorian Collége de Juilly.
Here he remained only a few years, for his
Superiors ordered him to the Seminary Nôtre
Dame des Vertus, near Paris, that he might have
greater advantages for the cultivation of his
Some French Bibliographies.
55
talents for mathematics. He still was far
from suspecting his true vocation. It was re-
vealed to him soon after his appointment as
librarian of the Seminary. He became so pas-
sionately fond of bibliography that he was shortly
recalled to Paris to become librarian of the Orato-
rian Convent in Rue St. Honoré. This convent's
chapel is now the Protestant Église de l'Oratoire,
familiar to every Englishman who has visited
Paris. The convent's library was then one of
the most valuable collections of works in the
French capital; no public library could rival its
wealth in Oriental manuscripts. At the Père
Lelong's death, and although he had never com-
manded other than very limited resources, it was
found that during his two-and-twenty years of
office he had increased by one-third every depart-
ment of the library. His learning would have
been thought extraordinary even now. He was
not only versed in all the dialects of Hebrew,
but he was familiar with other Oriental lan-
guages, and with English, Italian, Spanish, and
Portuguese. He was thoroughly master of
geography and literary history. While pur-
suing these attainments, he found time to make
three different sorts of catalogues of the con-
vent's library, and to carry on correspondence
with the most eminent scholars of Europe. He
had never been strong. This unrespited toil
impaired health which had never been firm.
Still he would take no rest, and joyfully hailed
56
Some French Bibliographies.
fever's sleepless hours, which gave him an ex-
cuse to leave his bed and to return to his books.
Phthisis at last set in, and, when only fifty-six
years old, he died, Aug. 13th, 1721, in Paris, at
the house of his nephew Ogier, who was Re-
ceiver-General of the Clergy. All accounts
represent him to have been a man of a character
as holy and as attractive as his life was blame.
less. His piety was exemplary; it was fervent
and unostentatious. His patrimony was large;
he thanked God for it, because it the better
allowed him to minister to the wants of the
poor. His manners were winning and polished ;
his conversation was substantial and attractive.
His character was gentle and modest. A pleas-
ing anecdote is told of him. One day, Father
Malebranche, who was his intimate friend, play-
fully bantered him on the infinite pains he took
to discover a date or some characteristic trait of
an historical person. Father Lelong smiled and
answered, " Truth is so fascinating, one ought
to neglect nothing to discover it, even in the
smallest particulars." His works show how
extensive and painstaking his researches were;
but they are open to the criticism that their
style is too negligent. He left these works :
“ Bibliotheca Sacra, seu syllabus omnium ferme,
Sacræ Scripturæ editionum ac versionum,"1709,
2 vols., 8vo. Father Lelong had hoped in the
latter years of his life to bring out a second
edition of this work; he had corrected it, and had
Some French Bibliographies. -
157
framed a bibliography of all commentators.
Seeing death approach, he confided the task of
bringing out this second edition to his friend,
Father Desmolets. It appeared two years after
Lelong's death, namely, in 1723, in folio, with a
sketch of the author's life and works. A. G.
Marsch began to publish the third edition at
Halle in 1778–90, but only five volumes in 4to
of it appeared. Lelong's work had no equal for
a great many years. His next work had, as it
were, composed itself while he was collecting
materials for his “ Bibliotheca Sacra," for it
consists of the notes he then made, notes
moulded into a new form :"Discours Historique
sur les Principales Éditions des Bibles Poly-
glottes," 1713, 12mo. This work contains a
great deal of valuable information. His great
work, the work which has made his name im-
mortal, is “ Bibliothèque Historique de la
France, contenant le Catalogue des Ouvrages
imprimés et Manuscrits qui traitent de l'His-
toire de ce Royaume, ou qui y ont rapport; avec
des Notes critiques et historiques," 1719, folio.
Brunet says of it: “This work, despite nume.
rous omissions and grave inaccuracies, is one of
the most substantial works which bibliographical
science has produced.” Lelong's object in writ-
ing this work was to show the best method of
studying the original authorities in French
history, so as to get everything valuable from
them, and to aid future historians of his country
58
Some French Bibliographies.
by advice and suggestions. It may be men-
tioned, as evidence of his talents for work, that
he compiled and copied three times this great
folio volume in thirty-six months. The work
was no sooner in the press than Lelong tried to
carry into execution a long-cherished design.
He was dissatisfied with Duchêne's collection of
French historians. He determined to bring out
a fuller collection, from which no historian
should be absent. He hoped to issue two or
three volumes annually. He had amassed all
the materials for the first volumes; all his own
critical, chronological and geographical notes
were ready for the press. Nothing remained to
do but to collate all with the authorities, when
“came the blind Fury with the abhorred shears,
and slit the thin-spun life." His scheme did
not miscarry after all. Its merits recommended
it to the Benedictines of St. Maur. They under-
took its execution, and, when quiet was restored
to France, their labours, which the Revolution
interrupted, were continued, and are still con-
tinued by the Academy of Inscriptions and
Belles-Lettres. An interesting paper by Lelong,
“Supplément à l'Histoire des Dictionnaires
Hebreux de Volfius," is to be found in Le Four-
nal des Savants (Janvier, 1707).
Lelong had hoped to give a second edition
of his “ Bibliothèque Historique." He had
amassed a great quantity of additional materials,
- and he had covered the interpolated leaves of
Some French Bibliographies.
59
the first edition he owned with many notes.
These materials and this copy fell into the pos-
session of Fevret de Fontette.
Charles Marie Fevret de Fontette came of a
family which many generations of public-spirited
men had made illustrious in Burgundy. Dijon
owes to this family her public library. Charles
Marie Fevret de Fontette was born in Dijon,
I4th April, 1710. Belonging by birth to the
aristocracy of the long robe, he had a seat in the
Parliament of Burgundy, where he early rose to
considerable eminence; but literature, not the
law, had his heart. His favourite haunt was
his library. He had selected it with great care,
had spared no money, had added to it a most
valuable collection of historical engravings. He,
as has been said, came into possession of Le-
long's papers, and of the latter's annotated
copy of the “ Bibliothèque Historique." He
determined to give a new and complete edition
of it, supplying all the deficiencies. He for
fifteen years amassed materials, made re-
searches, and then issued the first volume of
his edition. He was well rewarded for all his
pains by the warm reception this volume met
with. But he, too, had laboured without
thought of health. His volume had scarcely
been published, when a decline set in; he lan-
guished, incapable of work, for a few months,
and then he died, in Dijon, Feb. 16th, 1772,
sixty-one years old. Nevertheless, the second
60
Some French Bibliographies.
edition was completed by other hands, whose
names have been given above.
The same year which saw the first volume of
this second edition issue, witnessed the publica-
tion of J. B. L. Osmont's "Dictionnaire Typo-
graphique des Livres Rares," 1768, 12 vols., 8vo.
Then came Abbé d'Hebrail and Abbé de La-
porte's "France Littéraire," 1769, 2 vols., 8vo.,
of which a new edition was published, with a
supplement by Guiot Victorin, 1769–84, 4 vols.,
8vo. Merard (de St. Tust), “Lettre au Comte
Aug. de Nadaillon sur le Goût des Livres,"
Nancy, 1785, 8vo.
Soon afterwards the Revolution burst on
France and swept away everything, even those
quiet nooks and corners where the literary man
strives to add to the world's intellectual wealth.
No man cared to fill his head, as long as he
could not be certain of keeping it on his
shoulders from sunrise to sunset. The publi-
cations of those dark days were almost entirely
political rhapsodies by ignorance; for "fools
rush in, where angels fear to tread." These
publications may be found chronicled in La Cor-
respondance du Libraire, edited and published by
Aubry, the bookseller and publisher, 1791-93,
3 vols., 8vo.
It was not until four years afterwards that
Roux founded his Journal Typographique et Bib-
liographique, which Dujardin-Sailly edited after
his death, 1797–1809, 13 vols., 8vo. In the same
Some French Bibliographies.
61
year Ersch, a learned German, began the publi-
cation of "La France Littéraire," which covers
French literature only from 1771 to 1800. Ham-
burgh, 1797-1805, 5 vols., 8vo. Querard says of
it:-"Whoever now investigates any portion of
French bibliography would be inexcusable if he
do not consult J. S. Ersch's 'France Littéraire
depuis 1771. I have often drawn information
from it." Barbier praises it with equal warmth.
Le Journal Général de la Littérature de France,
1799; edited at first by Loos, and afterwards by
Boucher de la Richarderie.
Desessart Les Siècles Littéraires de la France. 1800.
by vols. 8vo.
De Perthes et Née de La Rochelle, Guide de l'His-
toire : Recueil contenant, I', Les Traités les plus
courts et les meilleurs sur l'Etude et l'Utilité de l'His-
toire, etc.; 2°, Le Tableau de l'Histoire Universelle;
3°, Une Bibliothèque Choisie. 1803. 3 vols. 8vo.
S. Boulard. Traité Eléinéntaire de Bibliographie. 1804.
8vo.
F. J. Fournier (with Mauger, Jarde, etc.) Dictionnaire
Portatif de Bibliographie. 180g. 8vo.
N. A. G. D. B. (Debray). Tablettes Biographiques des
Ecrivains Français, depuis la Renaissance des Lettres
jusqu'à ce jour. 1810. 8vo.
Guil. Fleischer, Bibliographie Française. 1811. T. I,
T. 2. 8vo. [Fleischer was a German, who hoped to
write a complete bibliography of French literature in
25 vols., with 3 vols, of tables. He reckoned without
death; which smote him after the publication of the
second volume. The work would not have given him
the reputation he had hoped. His whole plan was
wrong. He gave works in alphabetical order; for in-
stance, " Taming of the Shrew" would not have been
under S (Shakespeare), but under T. The two vol-
umes published go only from A to Bh.]
Psaume. Dictionnaire Bibliographique; ou, Nouveau
Manuel du Libraire, 1824. 2 vols. * 8vo.
62
Some French Bibliographies,
vo.
J. F. Rolland. Conseils pour former une Bibliothèque ;
ou, Catalogue de tous les Bons Ouvrages qui peuvent
entrer dans une Bibliothèque Chretienne." "Lyonis.
1833–43. 3 vols. 8vo.
L. Aimé Martin. Plan d'une Bibliothèque Universelle;
études des Livres qui peuvent servir à l'Histoire litté-
raire et philosophique du Genre humain. 1837. [In-
troduction to the "Panthéon Littéraire."]
Danjou. Exposé succinct d'un Nouveau Système d'Or-
ganization des Bibliothèques Publiques ; par un Bib-
liothécaire. Montpellier. 1845. 8vo.
Ferd. Denis, P. Pinçon et de Martonne Nouveau
Manuel de Bibliographie Universelle. 1857. [Two
editions were published simultaneously; one in 18mo,
which appeared in the "Collection Roret;" the other
in 8vo ; both editions were in 3 vols.]
Tenant de Latour. Mémoires d'un Bibliophile et Lettres
sur la Bibliographie, à Mme. la Comtesse de Ranc. ...
1861, 18mo.
- Dictionnaire de Bibliographie et de Bibliologie (Sup-
plément), contenant, I Partie : Bibles Hebraïques,
Samaritaines; Livres particuliers de la Bible en
Hebreu, Grec, Latin, et Langues Orientales; Livres
separés en divers Langues de l'Europe, etc. 2. Partie:
Bibliologie, Histoire de la Bibliophilie, Reliures, Re-
cherches sur les Bibliothèques des plus célèbres Ama-
teurs, Armorial des Bibliophiles, etc; Observations
sur le Matériel et l'Ordre d'une grande Bibliothèque,
par le R. P. P.
-- Catalogue des Ouvrages que l'on doit lire pour
étudier la Religion et Eclaircir les difficultés de la
Bible et de la théologie.
- Catalogue des principaux Auteurs de Collections des
Conciles, Explications des Mots ambigus, par le P.
Adry, Oratorien.
- Traité de la Lecture Chrétienne, par D. Nic. Jamin,
Religieux de la Congregation de St. Maur.
-- Bibliothèque d'un Littérateur et d'un philosophe
Chrétien, par le R. P. Gloriot, de la Compagnie de
Jésus.
- Choix de Lectures pieuses, par le P. Tinthouin,
Chanoine. 1866. 8vo. * Double cols. [Abbé Migne's
Collection.]
Fertiault. Les Amoureux du Livre. 1876. 8vo.
Some French Bibliographies. · 63
F. Drujon. Catalogue des Ouvrages Condamnez, etc.
depuis le 21 Octobre, 1814, jusqu'au 31 Julliet, 1877.
1879. 8vo
Les Ennemis des Livres, par un Bibliophile. Lyon.
1879. 8vo.
Some works have advisedly been omitted from
their proper places in these lists, that all of the
authors' contributions to bibliography might
be considered together. By this arrangement
men and books are gainers. The de Bures, for
instance, cannot be judged, unless all of them
and all of their works are grouped together.
There was a Jean Debure, a bookseller and
publisher, in Paris, as early as 1660, and there
was another Jean de Bure, also a bookseller
and publisher, in Paris in 1710, who was the
father of Guillaume de Bure, of whom more
presently. The degree of kindred between Jean
of 1660 and Jean of 1710 has nowhere been
clearly stated. The former was probably the
great-grandfather of the latter. It is, however,
certain that the family had been for at least two
centuries, if not more, in the trade. Guillaume
François de Bure was born in Paris in 1731.
His father and grandfather had been booksellers
and publishers. When only four-and-twenty,
he published "Musæum Typographicum ; seu,
Collectio in qua omnium fere Librorum in
quavis facultate ac Lingua variorum, etc.," 1755,
12mo. He signed this work G. F. Rebude, an
anagram of his name. His next work was more
important and does him great honour, “Biblio-
64
Some French Bibliographies.
graphie Instructive; ou, Traité de la Connais-
sance des Livres rares et singuliers," 1763-68,
7 vols., 8vo. The first volume had no sooner
appeared, than Mércier de St. Légèr attacked it
in three letters, addressed to Le Journal de Tre-
Voux, 1763. De Bure at once replied with
“ Appel aux Savants et aux Gens de Lettres,"
1763, 8vo; which he followed by "Lettre à
M * * * Servant de Réponse à une Critique de
• La Bibliographie Instructive,'" 1763, 8vo, and
in time by a “Supplément à la Bibliographie
Instructive; ou, Catalogue des Livres du Cabi-
net de M. L. J. Gaignant," 1769, 2 vols., 8vo.
De Bure's “ Bibliographie Instructive" was
addressed (as its title-page shows) rather to
lovers of rare books than to students. This was
natural. His family had, for more than a century,
been intrusted with the catalogue and sale of
the noblest libraries of France which had been
dispersed. He himself had catalogued and sold
the most valuable libraries of his day, which the
caprice of owners, or the vicissitudes of fortune
had doomed to the same fate. He, by his pub-
lication, roused connoisseurs' attention and
directed it to literary treasures which had
escaped notice, or had been undervalued, and he
suggested the directions which searches for other
similar treasures should take. "La Bibliogra-
phie Instructive' is the first French work which
gives a critical catalogue of rare books, and a
discriminating list of editions, not only of rare
Some French Bibliographies.
65
books, but of other books, some editions of which
are valuable. It cannot be said to have been
superseded by later and fuller works, as it still
has great value for its critical notices, for its
evidence of the changes in connoisseurs' tåstes,
and of the fluctuations of the prices of rare books.
In his " Supplément[better known as " Le Cata-
logue Gaignant'] à la Bibliographie Instructive,"
he points out and corrects many of the errors of
the latter. De Bure adopted the systematic
order for his work, with a table at the end of
each division of subjects, and a general table at
the end of the work. In 1782 Née de La
Rochelle published, after de Bure's death,
"Bibliographie Instructive, T. 10, contenant
une Table destinée à faciliter la Recherche des
Livres anonymes qui ont été annoncés par M.
Debure le jeune dans sa · Bibliographie Instruc-
tive,' et dans le Catalogue Gaignant,' et à sup-
pléer à tout ce qui a été omis dans les Tables de
ces deux Ouvrages.” Connoisseurs add this
useful octavo of Née de La Rochelle to de Bure's
work. De Bure also published a “Catalogue
de la Bibliothèque du Duc de La Vallière,"
1767, 2 vols., 8vo. Care must be taken not to
confound this catalogue with that which is here-
after mentioned.
Guillaume de Bure (or, as he was commonly
called, de Bure l'aîné, to distinguish him from
his first cousin, G. F. de Bure, who was known
as de Bure le jeune) was born in Paris, roth
66
Some French Bibliographies.
May, 1734, and was from infancy bred in an
intellectual atmosphere. His father was the
Jean de Bure above mentioned. His mother
was Mlle. Tilliard, a woman whose reputation
for talents and for acquaintance with natural
history had gone far beyond home circle. She
had so valuable a conchological collection that
Remy was entrusted with the preparation of its
catalogue, and its sale lasted twelve days. He
was admitted in 1759 to the Booksellers and
Publishers' Guild. He made the sale of old
books his business. In time he bought the
stock-in-trade of de Bure le jeune and of
de Bure St. Fauxbin, and became master of
the largest bookshop in France. He had long
before then become the correspondent of the
most celebrated connoisseurs of Europe; for
his family were known to possess an integrity
above temptation, and to carry a most delicate
sense of honour into all their dealings. In 1777,
an incident occurred in his life which is well
worthy to be mentioned. The provincial book-
sellers and publishers complained of the hard-
ships thrown on them by the Copyright, Law.
The grievance was so just and righteous, that
the Council of State abated it, and, by a decree
dated 30th August, 1777, ordered, that copyright
should last only until publishers had recouped
costs of publication; and as the provincial
trade found this measure scarcely sufficient
redress, a second decree was almost immediately
Some French Bibliographies.
67
issued to warrant the free sale and circulation
throughout France of all pirated editions of
copyrighted works, upon condition that each
pirated copy sold should pay a certain tax to
the publisher, for which it would be stamped
by the Guild. De Bure was then Deputy
Master of the Guild. It became his duty to
stamp all these pirated copies; they had been
printed in Paris under the very nose of the
publishers of the copyright works. De Bure
knew that if this measure were carried into
execution these publishers would irretrievably
be ruined. He refused to stamp the pirated
copies. The pirates and the provincial trade
were not to be defrauded of their just rights.
They got a lettre de cachet, with which, on the
23rd January, 1778, de Bure was imprisoned in
the Bastille. If de Bure had doubted the
general consideration in which he was held, this
imprisonment revealed to him his high position.
Delaunay, the Governor of the Bastille, did
everything in his power to make de Bure forget
that he was a prisoner, and public opinion
interfered so actively that in a very few days he
was again at liberty. Dutens had bought Jean
Tacques Rousseau's library. He had found in
it Helvetius's "Esprit," its margins covered with
notes refuting it by Rousseau. Dutens pub-
lished this refutation, dedicated it to de Bure,
and sent the latter the annotated copy. He
enjoyed other honours. He had been made
68
Some French Bibliographies.
bookseller and publisher of the Academy of
Inscriptions and Belles Lettres (he published the
last four volumes of the first series of " Memoirs"
of this Academy), and bookseller of the King's
and of Monsieur's (afterwards Louis XVIII.)
library. When the Revolution occurred he
was made a member of the Commission on
Public Monuments, and did France yeoman's ser-
vice by rescuing from certain destruction a great
many invaluable books and manuscripts. He
fell asleep from sheer exhaustion of nature, 4th
February, 1820, in the 86th year of his age,
having lived to become the oldest French book-
seller, publisher, and bibliographer. His con-
tributions to bibliography were valuable : forty-
three catalogues of libraries, among them those
of the Duke de la Vallière, 1783, 3 vols., 8vo; of
Gouttard, 1780, Svo; of De St. Céran, 1780,
Svo; the Duke d'Aumont, 1782, 8vo; D'Ennery,
1786, 8vo ; D'Holbach, 1789, 8vo. It should be
mentioned he was author only of the first part
of the "Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliothèque
du Duc de la Vallière," which contained the
manuscripts (described, as has been said, by
Van Praet), the first editions, and other valuable
works. J. L. Nyon framed the second part of
the catalogue of this library, and which con-
tained the less valuable books. This catalogue
was published in 1784, 6 vols., 8vo. All the
books herein catalogued were bought as they
stood by the Marquis de Poulmy and added to
Some French Bibliographies.
69
his valuable library which, after this reinforce-
ment, contained a peerless collection of French
and Italian works of literature and history, from
1600 to 1780. At his death they were bought
by the Count d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.).
At the Revolution the library became the "Bib-
liothèque de l'Arsenal," the name it still bears.
Guillaume de Bure married Mdlle. Barrois. His
two sons, J. Jacq. and Mar. Jacq. de Bure,
carried on the business, until first the latter
and then the former died. They, too, enriched
bibliography with excellent catalogues, the most
famous of which is “ Catalogue des Livres
Rares et Précieux de la Bibliothèque de M. le
Conte Mac-Carthy Reagh," 1815, 2 vols., 8vo,
and with which more than one bibliographer
credits their father. The name de Bure dis-
appeared from the list of Paris booksellers with
J. Jacq. de Bure's death. In the autumn of
1853 this publication was issued by L. Potier, a
bookseller worthy to be mentioned with the
de Bures, “ Catalogue des Livres Rares et
Précieux, Manuscrits et Imprimés, de la Biblio-
thèque de feu M. J. J. de Bure l'aîné," 8vo.
The catalogue contained 1,853 works, which had
not cost the de Bures £2,400. They were sold
at auction, and fetched £5,740. The family
library followed the family, and disappeared.
The very house where the family had lived and
kept shop for so many years in turn disappeared.
The new Boulevard St. Michel swept it away,
70
Some French Bibliographies.
and now the bazaar at the south-western corner
of this boulevard and Rue Serpente stands on
the site of the de Bures' old home. Dibdin
has described (Vol. II., “ Tour in France and
Germany," p. 387) the de Bures' library. Here
is a description of their home :-
"It is impossible for me to separate the two
brothers in my recollections. We all have
known these last representatives of the French
book trade of the olden time. They were so
thoroughly trustworthy, so simple in all their
ways; they enjoyed with so much modesty their
fortune, nobly acquired by their own and by
their father's toil; and they themselves loved
books as much as if they had never sold them.
I have often seen both of them in that shop, or
rather in that drawing-room, in No. 7, Rue
Serpente, where my father (the celebrated
Oriental scholar, Silvestre de Sacy) went daily,
and where Larcher, Villoison, Du Theil, Sainte
Croix, and their peers, so often met together.
How faithfully those brothers represented the
olden time middle-class of Paris, enriched by
an honourable trade ; those families that handed
down the same profession from father to son as
some title of dignity, with the great-grandfather's
shop (often dark and begrimed) and the old
heraldic sign, worth every whit any other
armorial bearings! What a frank and gracious
good-nature beamed in their greeting! What
Some French Bibliographies.
71
candour and thorough integrity shone on their
face! All the good olden time lived and
breathed in them. They made no pretensions.
There was not a particle of haughtiness about
them. There was nothing in their manners
which hinted the humility of gain, or the pride
of wealth won. They were as happy as men
can be on this earth by the gentle and peaceful
uniformity of their lives; by their union, which
was never clouded one single instant; by the
happiness they diffused around them. I still
remember, among other curiosities which they
showed with courteous affability to their friends,
an old family picture, painted as long ago as
1700, if I rightly remember, and which repre-
sented the marriage of one of their kinsmen in
St. André-des-Arcs Church, now destroyed.
The sight of this picture, whose merit was
solely patriarchal, made their faces gleam with a
contentment which it was impossible not to
share with them. Ah! if such were the good
folks of the olden time, I confess that, of a
truth, the olden time was better than nowa-
days. Alas! have domestic life and home's
hallowed influences been among those old feudal
things which we have abolished ? Messrs.
de Bure represented, too, the olden-time fra-
ternity of booksellers and learned men. Their
customers were their friends. They often
ventured on the costly undertaking of bringing
out a work of erudition, merely because of the
72
VI
Some French Bibliographies.
author's name and merit, and with little hope of
recouping their outlay. It was honourable to
them to be the publishers of such a work; that
sufficed them. It is true that learned men, on
their side, found pleasure, and felt it an honour,
to have Messrs. de Bure for publishers. The
Abbé Barthélemy had selected them to be the
publishers of his 'Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis,'
M. Larcher of his translation of Herodotus,
M. Darcier of his version of the Cyropædia. I
knew M. Larcher in the last years of his life.
It seems to me I still see him, with his ancient
costume, stern look, and the century, almost
every year of which was on his head. How old
he seemed to me! One was sure to see him
every day, at the same hour, seated under the
same tree, in the Luxembourg Garden, attended
by his maid-of-all-work, who was almost as old
as himself. An old member of the Univer-
sity, M. Larcher, with a simplicity I like, had
retained the habit of giving himself a holiday
every Thursday, and this holiday he spent in
Messrs. de Bure's shop, talking with them of
the news of the republic of letters, or hunting,
as long as his strength lasted, among their
shelves laden with old books. M. Larcher had
become a good Catholic, and had invented for
fast and penitential days a mode of penance
which could have served nobody but himself.
These days he never read Greek, but mortified
himself by reading only vile Latin. I do not
Some French Bibliographies.
73
know whether it be that 'tis because I myself
am growing old, but it seems to me that the
men I knew in my youth had an originality of
physiognomy and a piquancy of character which
are no longer to be seen. I remember all the
members of the old Academy of Inscriptions
and Belles Lettres. It would be hard to
assemble their like at present-at least, so I
think, without meaning to wrong anybody. I
have not wandered as far from my subject as
may be thought, for in speaking of Messrs.
de Bure I must already have given some idea of
the library formed by such men. It, too, is of
the olden time, solid in substance, selected with
sound taste, slowly collected during more than
sixty years—a family library. Messrs. de Bure
have carefully recorded on the fly-leaf of some
of the most beautiful of these books that they
were presents from their mother, to whom her
husband had given them. As remarkable by
her intellect as by her rare beauty, their mother
was fond of books. It need scarcely be said
that opportunities to satisfy this taste, rarely
found in women, had not been wanting to her.
Her precious library was formed especially of
two sorts of books: religious works and Spanish
works. Hence it is that these two divisions are
extraordinarily rich in Messrs, de Bure's Cata-
logue. A Cancionero' and a.Romancero,'
which are said to be most valuable, come from
Mdme. de Bure's library. She owned, too,
74
Some French Bibliographies.
those beautiful manuscript 'Heures,' adorned
with most admirable miniatures; and from her
library came an 'Imitation of Jesus Christ,'
translated by the celebrated Lemaistre de Sacy,
the copy which belonged to Henrietta of France,
daughter of Henry IV., and wife of Charles I.,
King of England, the Queen whose funeral
sermon Bossuet preached. Is not this a book
of unspeakable value? What a delicate pleasure
M. Guillaume de Bure must have enjoyed when,
upon his return home from those famous sales
of the last century, usually confided to him, he
could draw from his pocket and give his wife
such a book as this! Messrs. de Bure have
added, during their long career, to these legacies
of their parents, sometimes one and then
another work from the wealthiest and most
admirable libraries of their day; doubtless from
the library of Larcher, and of Caillard, and of
MacCarthy. They rarely returned from any
sale without their share of treasure. But then
the book wanted must be in excellent preserva-
tion, and not too dear, for they admitted none
but first-rate books to their library, and they
were too modest and too prudent to be guilty of
folly in paying extravagant prices." (S. DE
Sacy, “Variétés Littéraires, Morales et His-
toriques," Vol. I., p. 243.)
Another bookseller's name-10 one after read-
ing these pages can deny that booksellers have
most generously paid "the debt which every
Some French Bibliographies.
75
man owes to his profession"- another book-
seller's name is inseparably linked with the de
Bures. Jean François Née de La Rochelle was
born in Paris, 9th Nov., 1751. His father was
François Née de La Rochelle, a lawyer of the
Parliament of Paris, and a son of Jean Née de
La Rochelle, an eminent lawyer of Clamecy,
Nivernais, and a law author of some merit. The
subject of this notice lost his father in 1756,
when he was scarcely five years old. His mother
afterwards married Gogué, a well known book-
seller and publisher, who took the tenderest
care of his stepson. After giving the latter a
thorough education, he took the young man into
partnership, and when in 1786 Gogué quitted
business to enjoy his well-earned fortune, he
made Née de La Rochelle his successor. The
inundation of blood which flooded Paris in 1793,
disheartened Née de La Rochelle, as it did many
another. He sold stock and shop to his brother-
in-law, Merlin, an attorney who had taken
refuge in the trade upon the disorganisation of
the administration of justice. Née de La Rochelle
removed to Le Nivernais, the old home of his
family. He had scarcely entered Gogue's book-
shop, when he became passionately enamoured
of books. He thoroughly studied bibliography.
Once at home in Le Nivernais, he devoted nearly
his whole time to his favourite studies, and in
due season published the following works (in
addition to those already mentioned), “ Biblio-
76
Some French Bibliographies.
thèque Historique; ou, Choix des meilleurs
Livres d'Histoire, de Géographie, et de Chrono-
logie," 1806, 8vo. “Éloge Historique de Jean
Gensfleisch, dit Guttemberg, Premier Inventeur
de l'Art Typographique à Mayence," 1811, 8vo,
with portrait. “Recherches Historiques et Cri-
tiques sur l'Établissement de l'Art Typogra-
phique en Espagne et en Portugal,” 1831, 8vo.
He was moreover the author of several valuable
catalogues of libraries. The management of
his estate, the discharge of duties as municipal
councillor and justice of the peace (he held this
office in La Charité-sur-Loire from 1802–28),
relieved the thoughts given to books, until he
reached the extreme limit of old age. He died
16th Feb., 1838, aged 86 years.
Surely there never was a more charming
bookworm than Etienne Gabriel Peignot. Many
of his contemporaries have borne witness to
his amiable erudition; his letters-M. Emile
Peignot, his grandson, has just published his
correspondence from 1813 to 1845–bear still
more unimpeachable evidence of his many
attractions. He was born in Arc-en-Barrois,
15th May, 1767. He was bred to and prac-
tised law for some time in Besançon; but
having been appointed Librarian of the École
Centrale of la Haute Saône, which had been
established in Vésoul, he threw heart and soul
into the discharge of his new duties. Abbeys
and convents for miles around Vésoul had been
Some French Bibliographies:
77
suppressed and pillaged. Their intellectual
treasures had been huddled together by igno-
rant hands and were exposed to all perils—by.
fire, by flood, by base uses. Peignot never
rested as long as he saw one of them still to be
secured for his library. He was next made
Principal of Vésoul College, where he remained
many years, and which he quitted when .pro-
moted to be Master of Lyons College and Dis.
trict Inspector of Classes. He discharged these
duties with zeal, but it was always with delight
that he returned to books; though it must be
added that he did not desert society for his
favourites; he bore his share in company and
trained up a family for the community. " No
man has done more than he to foster in France
love of bibliography. He made it as amiable
as himself. These are his more important con-
tributions to bibliography:-
Dictionnaire Raisonné de Bibliologie. Vésoul. 1802-04.
3 vols. 8vo.
Essai de Curiosités Bibliographiques. V'ésoul. 1804. 8vo.
Dictionnaire Critique, Littéraire et Bibliographique des
Principaux Livres Condamnés au Feu, Supprimés, ou
Censurés. 1806. 2 vols. Sva.
Répertoire de Bibliographies Spéciales, Curieuses et
Instructives. Besançon. 1810. 8vo.
Répertoire Bibliographique Universel, Contenant la
Notice Raisonnée des Bibliographies Spéciales Pub.
liées jusqu'à ce jour. 1812. 8vo.
Les Varietés, Notices et Raretés Bibliographiques. Dijon..
1822. 8vo. [A continuation of “Essai de Curiosités
Bibliographiques."]
Catalogue d'une partie des Livres composant l'Ancienne
Bibliothèque des Ducs de Bourgogne. 1830. 8vo.
78
Some French Bibliographies.
Manuel du Bibliophile. Dijon. 1823. 2 vols 8vo.
Essai sur l'Histoire du Parchmen et du Velin. 1802. 8vo.
Essai sur la Reliure des Livres et sur l'Etat de Librairie
chez les Anciens, 1824. 8vo.
Recherches Historiques et Littéraires sur les Dances des
Morts et sur l'Origine des Cartes à Jouer. Dyon. 1826.
8vo.
Predicatoriana; ou, Révélations Singulières et Amusantes
sur les Prédicateurs. [Extracts from the most singular
collections of sermons, serniominaires as they are called,
of the Middle Ages, of tbe 15th and of the 16th cen-
turies.]
Choix de Testaments Anciens et Modernes, Remarqua-
bles par leur Importance, leur Singularité et leur
Bizarrerie. D1j011. 1829. 2 vols. 8vo. The first
will given is Plato's, he died 348 years B.C; the last is
M. Helloin's, he died in 1828. It is said that the first
publication of Napoleon's will made in France was
here.]
Recherches sur la Personne (et les Portraits) de Jesus
Christ et de Marie. 1829. 8vo.
Tableau de Moeurs au Xe siècle; ou, la Cour et les Lois
de Howel-le-Bon, Roi d'Aberfraw, de 907 à 948. Suivi
de Cinq Pièces de la Langue Française aux Onzième
et Treizième Siècles, telle qu'elle Se Parlait en Angle-
terre âprès la Conquête de Guillaume de Normandie,
et Terminé par une Notice sur la Langue Anglaise
depuis son Origine jusqu'au XVIII. Siècle. 1832. 8vo.
(1 his is the tenth volume of Crapelet's “ Collection
des Anciens Monuments de l'Histoire et de la Langue
Française."]
Recherches surl a Philoterie; ou, Usage de Boire à la
Santé. 1836. 8vo.
Recherches sur les Autographes. 1836. 8vo.
Souvenirs Relatifs à quelque Bibliothèques Particulières
du Temps Passe.
To give some idea of Peignot's works, here
is the table of contents of one of them, its sub-
ject is the Public Executioner :-
The Public Executioner among the Ancients (Asiatics,
Greeks and Romans).
The Etymology of the Word Bourreau.
The Public Executioncr in Nodern Times,
Sonie French Bibliographies.
79
The Right to Arrest granted to the Public Executioner.
The Public Executioner's Rights to the Criminal's
Corpse.
Who must Fill the Office if there be no Executioner?
The Sworn Tormentors of the Middle Ages.
The Public Executioner's Costume and Domicile,
Women Executioners in the Days of St. Louis.
People's Eagerness to Witness Public Executions.
Description and Summary of the Mystery of the Holy
Host, in which figured the Executioners of Paris and
of Senlis.
Fragment of Jean Bouchet (an old poet) on Public
Executioners.
A Nobleman Became Public Executioner in a Fit of
Ill-Humour.
A Public Executioner was Hanged in Paris during la
Ligue.
Are there any Precedents of Warrant given Execu-
tioner to Discharge condemned Criminal on Way to .
Execution ?
The Executioner who Beheaded Marshal de Biron.
Anecdote of Cardinal de Richelieu in which the Exe-
cutioner tigures.
Dedication to the Public Executioner by Furetière.
Summary of the Tragedy of “ Sainte Reine," in which
the Executioner and his Deputy play a part.
Abbé Galioni's Eulogy of the Executioner of Naples.
Tassonis Eulogy of Executioners.
Theological Work written by Sanson, the Public
Executioner of Paris.
De Maistre on the Public Executioner.
Bibliography of Works on the Public Executioner, pub-
lished in Germany. (None exist in France.)
Historico-Literary Appendix on the Antiquity of the
Instrument of Execution called the Guillotine.
After reading this table of contents it is easy
to imagine the method employed in writing his
work on the origin and forms of salutations, on
the origin and usage of charivaris, others above
mentioned, and others still, whose titles failing
80
Some French Bibliographies.
space forbids admittance here. He left behind
him fifty or more unpublished works in manu-
script, among them a "Myriobiblon Français,"
which in 1830 numbered twelve or fifteen volumes
and increased daily. Peignot in 1830 had
amassed in this work above 3,000 references to,
or critical notices of, select works, memoirs,
dissertations, and treatises on every sort of sub-
ject, published either separately or in great
literary and academical collections; each sum-
mary having a reference to the page and volume
of the work in which the original was to be
found. Each subject was treated by itself, and
all the contents were arranged alphabetically.
Some Paris publishers bought the manuscripts
he left and announced their publication. But
time flies for bibliographies as well as for bib-
liographers; ' new researches are continually
bringing new facts to light, and the work which
yesterday was full and accurate is to-day incom-
plete and erroneous. Peignot's manuscripts are
still unpublished. It has often been wondered
how he was able to do so much work. His
secret was that from the hour he began to read
he began to write; left hand never held a book
that right hand had not a pen; every leisure
moment he gave to book and pen; he noted
everything he read or heard in commonplace
books under proper heads-authors, titles, sub-
jects, words, thoughts, references to kindred
subjects. He, on his seventy-fourth birthday,
Some French Bibliographies.
81
wrote to a friend : " Alas! I am now seventy-
four years old. 'Oh, how I decline! My eyes
fail me; my legs still carry me, but they begin
to dance in the sockets, and I feel old age, which,
laying his shrivelled hands on my shoulders,
tries to make my back take the shape of a
basket's handle; but I fight hard against him;
I work incessantly, every day sees me with book
and pen in hand.” It need scarcely be said (for
he was a bibliographer) he lived to be eighty-
three years old; he died in Dijon, April 14, 1849.
He, too, often wrote under pseudonyms; his
favourite signatures were “G. P." (Gabriel
Peignot), "Philomneste, B., A. V." (Bibliothe-
caire à Vésoul), and “P. Berigal” (an anagram
of Gabriel).
Another contemporary of the de Bures and of
Née de La Rochelle, and, like them, a bookseller
and the son of a bookseller, was Jacques Charles
Brunet, whose fame as a bibliographer has per-
haps extended wider than that of any other
bibliographer, except perhaps Dibdin's; and
where one of these two is known, the other is a
familiar acquaintance. Jacques Charles Brunet
lisped in bibliography, for books' titles came un-
consciously to his lips. A bookshop was his
nursery; his first playthings were books. No
wonder that, when scarce two-and-twenty, he
brought out such a work as “Supplément au
Dictionnaire Bibliographique de l'Abbé Duclos
et de Cailleau,” 1802, T. IÙ, 8vo. He had a
€2
Somie French Bibliograthies.
passion for bibliography as other young men
have for horses, or for yachts. The reception
given this work by the studious world fanned
his passion, and he studied bibliography with
new ardour. Eight years afterwards he gave
the first edition of the work now so famous,
“Manuel du Libraire et de l'Amateur de Livres,"
1810, 3 vols., 8vo. Did he dream then, that to
correct, revise and perfect this work was thence-
forward destined to be the labour of his life?
So the Fates had willed it! In time he gave,
“Nouvelles Recherches Bibliographiques," 1834,
2 vols., 8vo, which was intended to be a supple-
ment to the third edition of his work. The
fourth edition had swollen to five volumes, and
these volumes too had grown plethoric (1842–44).
He brought out the fifth edition, merging into
seven volumes all its predecessors.
He was seventy-eight years old when he under-
took to bring out this edition; but, being a bib-
liographer, he knew he might surely reckon on
eighty-seven years of life at least. The edition
was nearly nine years in press, He saw it printed,
published, and even more praised by the Press
than its predecessors had been. Then he died,
16th Nov., 1867. He said in the preface to the
third edition (1820):“After more than twenty years
of assiduous labour," he had given that edition to
the world; he might haye told the public that
he had brought the fifth edition to its perfection
by more than sixty-six years of assiduous labour.
Some French Billiographies,
€3
It is at such price excellence is attained. Inde-
pendent of fortune, his comfortable income
sensibly increased by money made in the way
most congenial to him—he was constantly in-
trusted with the preparation of catalogues of
libraries to be sold-all public and private
libraries open to him (even their cabinets noirs
flew open at his approach), master of company
wherever he desired society (for he was attrac-
tive by his originality, which was great and
unaffected-even his petulance was not unpleas-
ing, for its sallies were commonly directed to
passions which notoriously were his masters, for
instance, love of books), the authority in biblio-
graphy from which no appeal was allowed, with
no hostages, not even a wife, given to fickle
Fortune, esteemed and respected in proportion
to familiar acquaintance, conscious of reputation
which constantly increased, he was as happy as
only lovers of books can be. Death itself came
as nurse to drowsy child, to whom it says :
"'Tis time to go to bed;" not one disease
heralded it. The clock stopped, simply because
it had run down.
We have of Brunet, besides the works above
mentioned, “Notice sur les Différentes Editions
des Heures Gothiques," 1834, 8vo; *Notice sur
Deux Anciens Romans Intitulés," "Les Chron-
iques de Gargantua," 1834, 8vo ; “Poésies Fran.
çaises de J. E. Alione (d'Asti)," 1836, 8vo; “Re-
cherches Biblic graphiques et Critiques sur les
84
Some French Bibliographies.
Éditions Originales des Cinq Livres du Roman
Satirique de Rabelais, et sur les Différences de
Texte, qui se font remarquer particulièrement
dans le Premier Livre du Pantagruel et dans le
Gargantua," 1852, 8vo; "Notice sur des Heures
Gothiques imprimées à Paris à la fin du XV.
Siècle, &c.," 1864, 8vo; "Notice sur M.Parison"
(his most intimate friend and right hand in the
preparation of the “ Manuel"). All of these are
pamphlets. There are many catalogues by
Brunet; these two are oftenest mentioned :
“ Catalogue des Livres Imprimés et Manuscrits
de la Bibliothèque de feu M. le Marquis Germer
Garnier, &c." Brunet, 1822, 8vo; “ Catalogue
des Livres Rares et Précieux du Cabinet de
M *** (Léon d'Ourches)," 1811, 8vo. Brunet
had formed a most valuable library for his own
use. It was dispersed after his death. A cata-
Ingue of it was published, “ Table Alphabétique
des Noms d'Auteurs et des Ouvrages Anonymes
du Catalogue de le Bibliothèque de feu M.Jacques
Charles Brunet, Auteur du 'Manuel du Libraire
et de l'Amateur de Livres,' suivie de la Liste des
Prix d'Adjudication,'' 1868, 8vo.
It is now thirteen years since the fifth edition
of Brunet's "Manuel" appeared. The need of
a supplement to it had for some time been felt,
when his publishers, Messrs. Firmin-Didot,
pressed two well-known bibliographers to pre-
pare the desired work. It has been published.
" Manuel du Libraire et de l'Amateur de Livres :
Some French Bibliographies.
85
Supplément contenant: 1. Un Complément du
Dictionnaire Bibliographique de J. Ch. Brunet,
avec . . . la Description minutieusement dé-
taillée, d'après les Originaux, d'un grand Nombre
d'Ouvrages Français et étrangers inconnus de
M. Brunet, ou negligés par lui comme ayant
peu de valeur, alors qu'il rédigeait son Manuel,
ouvrages fort recherchés et fort appréciés au-
jourd'hui. On y a joint une concordance des
Prix auxquels une partie de ces Ouvrages ont
été portés dans les principales ventes publiques
de France et de l'Étranger depuis quinze Ans,
ainsi que l'Evaluation approximative des Livres
dont il n'a pas été possible de citer d'adjudica-
tion ; par P. Deschamps et G. Brunet," 1879-80,
2 vols., 8vo. These volumes are made to match
in every particular Brunet's " Manuel." They
have been harshly criticised; jealousy had a
large share in the cavils. There necessarily are
mistakes in these two volumes ; but the authors'
names, their being selected to execute the work
by the late Ambroise Firmin-Didot, an authority
who had all France to choose from, and the re-
vision of every page by such experienced biblio-
graphers as Paul Lacroix and L. Potier, are
pledges of the accuracy of the work.,
Pierre Gustave Brunet (M. P. Deschamps'
associate in the above work) was born in Bor-
deaux (where he still lives), 18th Nov., 1807.
He has frequently been confounded with Jacques
Charles Brunet, though there were no ties of
86
Some French Bibliographies.
blood between them; but both of them were
passionate bibliographers. Pierre Gustave
Brunet early devoted himself to the study of
the dialects of France and of the old French
language. The titles of the pamphlets he has
published on these subjects, with examples of
works in these dialects, or in old French, would
fill many pages. He has published a good
many Bibliographical works with the pseudo-
nym Dom Catalogus. “La Bibliothèque Biblico-
Facétieuse, par les Frères Gébéodé," is by him
and by Octave Delapierre (G.B. O.D. the initials
of their names, separated by E). He, with the
pseudonym Philomneste Junior, is the author of
* Livres Payés en Vente Publique 1,000 fr. et
au-dessus, depuis 1866 jusqu'à ce jour; aperçu
sur la Vente Perkins à Londres ; Étude biblio-
graphique," Bordeaux, 1877; "Les Fous Litté-
raires : Essai Bibliographique sur la Littérature
Excentrique, les Illuminés, Visionnaires, etc.,"
Bruxelles, 1880, 12mo; and “ La Papesse Jeanne,
Étude Historique et Littéraire ; Édition Aug-
mentée; Curieuses Gravures sur Bois du XV.
Siècle et la Grande Planche de la Procession et
de l'Accouchement, Tirée de l'Ouvrage de Spann-
heim," Bruxelles, 1880, 12mo. Among his other
works may be mentioned, " Essai d'Étude Bib-
liographique sur Rabelais," 1841, 8vo ; “Dic-
tionnaire de Bibliographie Catholique," 1859 ;
“Essai sur les Bibliothèques Imaginaires,"
1861; " Fantaisie Bibliographique," 1853; “ La
Some French Bibliographies.
87
France Littéraire au XV. Siècle; ou, Catalogue
raisonné des Ouvrages imprimés en Langue
Française jusqu'en l'An 1500," 1865, 8V0 ; " Cu-
riosités Bibliographiques et Artistiques," Genève,
1867, 8vo; “Études sur la Reliure des Livres
et sur les Collections de quelques Bibliophiles
célèbres," Bordeaux, 1868.
The reader has now in his possession guides
to every part of France's, intellectual domain ;
for, incomplete as this list is, it puts in every
reader's hands means to repair all its defi-
ciencies.
J.D.O.
Paris, December, 1880.-
DEC 23 1922
J. OGDEN AND CO., PRINTERS, 172, ST. JOHN STREET, E.C

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