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diff --git a/1302-h/1302-h.htm b/1302-h/1302-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..519cda8 --- /dev/null +++ b/1302-h/1302-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3013 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Enemies of Books, by William Blades + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1302 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By William Blades + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h4> + <i>Revised and Enlarged by the Author</i> + </h4> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h5> + SECOND EDITION <br /> <br /> LONDON ELLIOT STOCK, 62 PATERNOSTER ROW <br /> + <br /> 1888 + </h5> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + Transcriber's Note: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ae, L, e, [:], OE, [/], '0, and n "Larsen" encodes. + eS = superscripted e (16th cent. english on p9 needs proofed!) + [oe ] denotes words in 'olde englishe font' + "Emphasis" <i>italics</i> have a * mark. + Footnotes (#) have not been re-numbered, they are moved to EOParagraph. + Greek letters are encoded in [gr ] brackets, and the letters are + based on Adobe's Symbol font. +</pre> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_TOC"> DETAILED CONTENTS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. FIRE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. WATER. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. GAS AND HEAT. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. DUST AND NEGLECT. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. IGNORANCE AND BIGOTRY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. THE BOOKWORM. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. OTHER VERMIN. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. BOOKBINDERS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. COLLECTORS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. SERVANTS AND CHILDREN. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_CONC"> CONCLUSION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> INDEX. </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_TOC" id="link2H_TOC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CONTENTS. + </h2> + <blockquote> + <p> + CHAPTER I. <br /> FIRE. <br /> Libraries destroyed by Fire.—Alexandrian.—St. + Paul's destruction <br /> of MSS., Value of.—Christian books + destroyed by Heathens.—Heathen <br /> books destroyed by + Christians.—Hebrew books burnt at Cremona.—Arabic <br /> + books at Grenada.—Monastic libraries.—Colton library.—Birmingham + <br /> riots.—Dr. Priestley's library.—Lord Mansfield's + books.—Cowper. <br /> —Strasbourg library bombarded.—Offor + Collection burnt.—Dutch <br /> Church library damaged.—Library + of Corporation of London. <br /> CHAPTER II. <br /> WATER. <br /> Heer + Hudde's library lost at sea.—Pinelli's library captured <br /> by + Corsairs.—MSS. destroyed by Mohammed II—Books damaged by + <br /> rain.—Woffenbuttel.—Vapour and Mould.—Brown + stains.—Dr. <br /> Dibdin.—Hot water pipes.—Asbestos + fire.—Glass doors to bookcases. <br /> CHAPTER III. <br /> GAS AND + HEAT. <br /> Effects of Gas on leather.—Necessitates re-binding.—Bookbinders.—Electric + <br /> light.—British Museum.—Treatment of books.—Legend + of Friars and <br /> their books. <br /> CHAPTER IV. <br /> DUST AND + NEGLECT. <br /> Books should have gilt tops.—Old libraries were + neglected.—Instance <br /> of a College library.—Clothes + brushed in it.—Abuses in French <br /> libraries.—Derome's + account of them.—Boccaccio's story of <br /> library at the Convent + of Mount Cassin. <br /> CHAPTER V. <br /> IGNORANCE AND BIGOTRY. <br /> + Destruction of Books at the Reformation.—Mazarin library.—Caxton + <br /> used to light the fire.—Library at French Protestant Church, + <br /> St. Martin's-le-Grand.—Books stolen.—Story of books + from Thonock <br /> Hall.—Boke of St. Albans.—Recollet Monks + of Antwerp.—Shakespearian <br /> "find."—Black-letter books + used in W.C.—Gesta Romanorum.—Lansdowne <br /> collection.—Warburton.—Tradesman + and rare book.—Parish Register.—Story <br /> of Bigotry by M. + Muller.—Clergymen destroy books.—Patent Office sell <br /> + books for waste. <br /> CHAPTER VI. <br /> THE BOOKWORM. <br /> Doraston.—Not + so destructive as of yore.—Worm won't eat <br /> parchment.—Pierre + Petit's poem.—Hooke's account and image.—Its <br /> natural + history neglected.—Various sorts—Attempts to breed <br /> + Bookworms.—Greek worm.—Havoc made by worms.—Bodleian + and Dr. <br /> Bandinel.—"Dermestes."—Worm won't eat modern + paper.—America <br /> comparatively free.—Worm-hole at + Philadelphia. <br /> CHAPTER VII. <br /> OTHER VERMIN. <br /> Black-beetle + in American libraries.—germanica.—Bug Bible.—Lepisma. + <br /> —Codfish.—Skeletons of Rats in Abbey library, + Westminster.—Niptus <br /> hololeucos.—Tomicus Typographicus.—House + flies injure books. <br /> CHAPTER VIII. <br /> BOOKBINDERS. <br /> A good + binding gives pleasure.—Deadly effects of the "plough" as used + <br /> by binders.—Not confined to bye-gone times.—Instances + of injury.—De <br /> Rome, a good binder but a great cropper.—Books + "hacked."—Bad <br /> lettering—Treasures in book-covers.—Books + washed, sized, and <br /> mended.—"Cases" often Preferable to + re-binding. <br /> CHAPTER IX. <br /> COLLECTORS. <br /> Bagford the + biblioclast.—Illustrations torn from MSS.—Title-pages <br /> + torn from books.—Rubens, his engraved titles.—Colophons torn + out of <br /> books.—Lincoln Cathedral—Dr. Dibdin's Nosegay.—Theurdanck.—Fragments + <br /> of MSS.—Some libraries almost useless.—Pepysian.—Teylerian.—Sir + <br /> Thomas Phillipps. <br /> CHAPTER X. <br /> SERVANTS AND CHILDREN. + <br /> Library invaded for the purpose of dusting.—Spring clean.—-Dust + to be <br /> got rid of.—Ways of doing so.—Carefulness + praised.—Bad nature of <br /> certain books—Metal clasps and + rivets.—How to dust.—Children <br /> often injure books.—Examples.—Story + of boys in a country library. <br /> POSTSCRIPTUM. <br /> Anecdote of + book-sale in Derbyshire. <br /> CONCLUSION. <br /> The care that should be + taken of books.—Enjoyment derived from them. <br /> ILLUSTRATIONS. + <br /> SERVANT USING A "CAXTON" TO LIGHT THE FIRE —- <i>Frontispiece</i>, + <br /> PIRATES THROWING LIBRARY OVER-BOARD ————— + page 19 <br /> FRIARS AND THEIR ASS-LOAD —————————— + 35 <br /> BRUSHING CLOTHES IN A COLLEGE LIBRARY ———— + 45 <br /> BOOKWORMS —————————————————— + 73 <br /> RATS DESTROYING BOOKS ———————————— + 99 <br /> HOUSEHOLD FLY-DAMAGE ———————————— + 102 <br /> BOYS RAMPANT IN LIBRARY ——————————— + 141 <br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. FIRE. + </h2> + <p> + THERE are many of the forces of Nature which tend to injure Books; but + among them all not one has been half so destructive as Fire. It would be + tedious to write out a bare list only of the numerous libraries and + bibliographical treasures which, in one way or another, have been seized + by the Fire-king as his own. Chance conflagrations, fanatic incendiarism, + judicial bonfires, and even household stoves have, time after time, + thinned the treasures as well as the rubbish of past ages, until, + probably, not one thousandth part of the books that have been are still + extant. This destruction cannot, however, be reckoned as all loss; for had + not the "cleansing fires" removed mountains of rubbish from our midst, + strong destructive measures would have become a necessity from sheer want + of space in which to store so many volumes. + </p> + <p> + Before the invention of Printing, books were comparatively scarce; and, + knowing as we do, how very difficult it is, even after the steam-press has + been working for half a century, to make a collection of half a million + books, we are forced to receive with great incredulity the accounts in old + writers of the wonderful extent of ancient libraries. + </p> + <p> + The historian Gibbon, very incredulous in many things, accepts without + questioning the fables told upon this subject. No doubt the libraries of + MSS. collected generation after generation by the Egyptian Ptolemies + became, in the course of time, the most extensive ever then known; and + were famous throughout the world for the costliness of their + ornamentation, and importance of their untold contents. Two of these were + at Alexandria, the larger of which was in the quarter called Bruchium. + These volumes, like all manuscripts of those early ages, were written on + sheets of parchment, having a wooden roller at each end so that the reader + needed only to unroll a portion at a time. During Caesar's Alexandrian + War, B.C. 48, the larger collection was consumed by fire and again burnt + by the Saracens in A.D. 640. An immense loss was inflicted upon mankind + thereby; but when we are told of 700,000, or even 500,000 of such volumes + being destroyed we instinctively feel that such numbers must be a great + exaggeration. Equally incredulous must we be when we read of half a + million volumes being burnt at Carthage some centuries later, and other + similar accounts. + </p> + <p> + Among the earliest records of the wholesale destruction of Books is that + narrated by St. Luke, when, after the preaching of Paul, many of the + Ephesians "which used curious arts brought their books together, and + burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found + it 50,000 pieces of silver" (Acts xix, 19). Doubtless these books of + idolatrous divination and alchemy, of enchantments and witchcraft, were + righteously destroyed by those to whom they had been and might again be + spiritually injurious; and doubtless had they escaped the fire then, not + one of them would have survived to the present time, no MS. of that age + being now extant. Nevertheless, I must confess to a certain amount of + mental disquietude and uneasiness when I think of books worth 50,000 + denarii—or, speaking roughly, say L18,750, (1) of our modern money + being made into bonfires. What curious illustrations of early heathenism, + of Devil worship, of Serpent worship, of Sun worship, and other archaic + forms of religion; of early astrological and chemical lore, derived from + the Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks; what abundance of superstitious + observances and what is now termed "Folklore"; what riches, too, for the + philological student, did those many books contain, and how famous would + the library now be that could boast of possessing but a few of them. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) The received opinion is that the "pieces of silver" here mentioned +were Roman denarii, which were the silver pieces then commonly used in +Ephesus. If now we weigh a denarius against modern silver, it is exactly +equal to ninepence, and fifty thousand times ninepence gives L1,875. +It is always a difficult matter to arrive at a just estimate of the +relative value of the same coin in different ages; but reckoning that +money then had at least ten times the purchasing value of money now, we +arrive at what was probably about the value of the magical books burnt, +viz.: L18,750. +</pre> + <p> + The ruins of Ephesus bear unimpeachable evidence that the City was very + extensive and had magnificent buildings. It was one of the free cities, + governing itself. Its trade in shrines and idols was very extensive, being + spread through all known lands. There the magical arts were remarkably + prevalent, and notwithstanding the numerous converts made by the early + Christians, the [gr 'Efesia grammata], or little scrolls upon which magic + sentences were written, formed an extensive trade up to the fourth + century. These "writings" were used for divination, as a protection + against the "evil eye," and generally as charms against all evil. They + were carried about the person, so that probably thousands of them were + thrown into the flames by St. Paul's hearers when his glowing words + convinced them of their superstition. + </p> + <p> + Imagine an open space near the grand Temple of Diana, with fine buildings + around. Slightly raised above the crowd, the Apostle, preaching with great + power and persuasion concerning superstition, holds in thrall the + assembled multitude. On the outskirts of the crowd are numerous bonfires, + upon which Jew and Gentile are throwing into the flames bundle upon bundle + of scrolls, while an Asiarch with his peace-officers looks on with the + conventional stolidity of policemen in all ages and all nations. It must + have been an impressive scene, and many a worse subject has been chosen + for the walls of the Royal Academy. + </p> + <p> + Books in those early times, whether orthodox or heterodox, appear to have + had a precarious existence. The heathens at each fresh outbreak of + persecution burnt all the Christian writings they could find, and the + Christians, when they got the upper hand, retaliated with interest upon + the pagan literature. The Mohammedan reason for destroying books—"If + they contain what is in the Koran they are superfluous, and if they + contain anything opposed to it they are immoral," seems, indeed, <i>mutatis + mutandis</i>, to have been the general rule for all such devastators. + </p> + <p> + The Invention of Printing made the entire destruction of any author's + works much more difficult, so quickly and so extensively did books spread + through all lands. On the other hand, as books multiplied, so did + destruction go hand in hand with production, and soon were printed books + doomed to suffer in the same penal fires, that up to then had been fed on + MSS. only. + </p> + <p> + At Cremona, in 1569, 12,000 books printed in Hebrew were publicly burnt as + heretical, simply on account of their language; and Cardinal Ximenes, at + the capture of Granada, treated 5,000 copies of the Koran in the same way. + </p> + <p> + At the time of the Reformation in England a great destruction of books + took place. The antiquarian Bale, writing in 1587, thus speaks of the + shameful fate of the Monastic libraries:— + </p> + <p> + "A greate nombre of them whyche purchased those superstycyouse mansyons (<i>Monasteries</i>) + reserved of those librarye bookes some to serve their jakes, some to + scoure theyr candelstyckes, and some to rubbe theyr bootes. Some they + solde to the grossers and sope sellers, and some they sent over see to yeS + booke bynders, not in small nombre, but at tymes whole shyppes full, to + yeS, wonderynge of foren nacyons. Yea yeS. Universytees of thys realme are + not alle clere in thys detestable fact. But cursed is that bellye whyche + seketh to be fedde with suche ungodlye gaynes, and so depelye shameth hys + natural conterye. I knowe a merchant manne, whych shall at thys tyme be + namelesse, that boughte yeS contentes of two noble lybraryes for forty + shyllynges pryce: a shame it is to be spoken. Thys stuffe hathe heoccupyed + in yeS stede of greye paper, by yeS, space of more than these ten yeares, + and yet he bathe store ynoughe for as manye years to come. A prodygyous + example is thys, and to be abhorred of all men whyche love theyr nacyon as + they shoulde do. The monkes kepte them undre dust, yeS, ydle-headed + prestes regarded them not, theyr latter owners have most shamefully abused + them, and yeS covetouse merchantes have solde them away into foren nacyons + for moneye." + </p> + <p> + How the imagination recoils at the idea of Caxton's translation of the + Metamorphoses of Ovid, or perhaps his "Lyf of therle of Oxenforde," + together with many another book from our first presses, not a fragment of + which do we now possess, being used for baking "pyes." + </p> + <p> + At the Great Fire of London in 1666, the number of books burnt was + enormous. Not only in private houses and Corporate and Church libraries + were priceless collections reduced to cinders, but an immense stock of + books removed from Paternoster Row by the Stationers for safety was burnt + to ashes in the vaults of St. Paul's Cathedral. + </p> + <p> + Coming nearer to our own day, how thankful we ought to be for the + preservation of the Cotton Library. Great was the consternation in the + literary world of 1731 when they heard of the fire at Ashburnham House, + Westminster, where, at that time, the Cotton MSS. were deposited. By great + exertions the fire was conquered, but not before many MSS. had been quite + destroyed and many others injured. Much skill was shown in the partial + restoration of these books, charred almost beyond recognition; they were + carefully separated leaf by leaf, soaked in a chemical solution, and then + pressed flat between sheets of transparent paper. A curious heap of + scorched leaves, previous to any treatment, and looking like a monster + wasps' nest, may be seen in a glass case in the MS. department of the + British Museum, showing the condition to which many other volumes had been + reduced. + </p> + <p> + Just a hundred years ago the mob, in the "Birmingham Riots," burnt the + valuable library of Dr. Priestley, and in the "Gordon Riots" were burnt + the literary and other collections of Lord Mansfield, the celebrated + judge, he who had the courage first to decide that the Slave who reached + the English shore was thenceforward a free man. The loss of the latter + library drew from the poet Cowper two short and weak poems. The poet first + deplores the destruction of the valuable printed books, and then the + irretrievable loss to history by the burning of his Lordship's many + personal manuscripts and contemporary documents. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Their pages mangled, burnt and torn, + The loss was his alone; + But ages yet to come shall mourn + The burning of his own." +</pre> + <p> + The second poem commences with the following doggerel:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When Wit and Genius meet their doom + In all-devouring Flame, + They tell us of the Fate of Rome + And bid us fear the same." +</pre> + <p> + The much finer and more extensive library of Dr. Priestley was left + unnoticed and unlamented by the orthodox poet, who probably felt a + complacent satisfaction at the destruction of heterodox books, the owner + being an Unitarian Minister. + </p> + <p> + The magnificent library of Strasbourg was burnt by the shells of the + German Army in 1870. Then disappeared for ever, together with other unique + documents, the original records of the famous law-suits between Gutenberg, + one of the first Printers, and his partners, upon the right understanding + of which depends the claim of Gutenberg to the invention of the Art. The + flames raged between high brick walls, roaring louder than a blast + furnace. Seldom, indeed, have Mars and Pluto had so dainty a sacrifice + offered at their shrines; for over all the din of battle, and the + reverberation of monster artillery, the burning leaves of the first + printed Bible and many another priceless volume were wafted into the sky, + the ashes floating for miles on the heated air, and carrying to the + astonished countryman the first news of the devastation of his Capital. + </p> + <p> + When the Offor Collection was put to the hammer by Messrs Sotheby and + Wilkinson, the well-known auctioneers of Wellington Street, and when about + three days of the sale had been gone through, a Fire occurred in the + adjoining house, and, gaining possession of the Sale Rooms, made a speedy + end of the unique Bunyan and other rarities then on show. I was allowed to + see the Ruins on the following day, and by means of a ladder and some + scrambling managed to enter the Sale Room where parts of the floor still + remained. It was a fearful sight those scorched rows of Volumes still on + the shelves; and curious was it to notice how the flames, burning off the + backs of the books first, had then run up behind the shelves, and so + attacked the fore-edge of the volumes standing upon them, leaving the + majority with a perfectly untouched oval centre of white paper and plain + print, while the whole surrounding parts were but a mass of black cinders. + The salvage was sold in one lot for a small sum, and the purchaser, after + a good deal of sorting and mending and binding placed about 1,000 volumes + for sale at Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's in the following year. + </p> + <p> + So, too, when the curious old Library which was in a gallery of the Dutch + Church, Austin Friars, was nearly destroyed in the fire which devastated + the Church in 1862, the books which escaped were sadly injured. Not long + before I had spent some hours there hunting for English Fifteenth-century + Books, and shall never forget the state of dirt in which I came away. + Without anyone to care for them, the books had remained untouched for many + a decade-damp dust, half an inch thick, having settled upon them! Then + came the fire, and while the roof was all ablaze streams of hot water, + like a boiling deluge, washed down upon them. The wonder was they were not + turned into a muddy pulp. After all was over, the whole of the library, no + portion of which could legally be given away, was <i>lent for ever</i> to + the Corporation of London. Scorched and sodden, the salvage came into the + hands of Mr. Overall, their indefatigable librarian. In a hired attic, he + hung up the volumes that would bear it over strings like clothes, to dry, + and there for weeks and weeks were the stained, distorted volumes, often + without covers, often in single leaves, carefully tended and dry-nursed. + Washing, sizing, pressing, and binding effected wonders, and no one who + to-day looks upon the attractive little alcove in the Guildhall Library + labelled [oe "Bibliotheca Ecclesiae Londonino-Belgiae"] and sees the rows + of handsomely-lettered backs, could imagine that not long ago this, the + most curious portion of the City's literary collections, was in a state + when a five-pound note would have seemed more than full value for the lot. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. WATER. + </h2> + <p> + NEXT to Fire we must rank Water in its two forms, liquid and vapour, as + the greatest destroyer of books. Thousands of volumes have been actually + drowned at Sea, and no more heard of them than of the Sailors to whose + charge they were committed. D'Israeli narrates that, about the year 1700, + Heer Hudde, an opulent burgomaster of Middleburgh, travelled for 30 years + disguised as a mandarin, throughout the length and breadth of the + Celestial Empire. Everywhere he collected books, and his extensive + literary treasures were at length safely shipped for transmission to + Europe, but, to the irreparable loss of his native country, they never + reached their destination, the vessel having foundered in a storm. + </p> + <p> + In 1785 died the famous Maffei Pinelli, whose library was celebrated + throughout the world. It had been collected by the Pinelli family for many + generations and comprised an extraordinary number of Greek, Latin, and + Italian works, many of them first editions, beautifully illuminated, + together with numerous MSS. dating from the 11th to the 16th century. The + whole library was sold by the Executors to Mr. Edwards, bookseller, of + Pall Mall, who placed the volumes in three vessels for transport from + Venice to London. Pursued by Corsairs, one of the vessels was captured, + but the pirate, disgusted at not finding any treasure, threw all the books + into the sea. The other two vessels escaped and delivered their freight + safely, and in 1789-90 the books which had been so near destruction were + sold at the great room in Conduit Street, for more than L9,000. + </p> + <p> + These pirates were more excusable than Mohammed II who, upon the capture + of Constantinople in the 15th century, after giving up the devoted city to + be sacked by his licentious soldiers, ordered the books in all the + churches as well as the great library of the Emperor Constantine, + containing 120,000 Manuscripts, to be thrown into the sea. + </p> + <p> + In the shape of rain, water has frequently caused irreparable injury. + Positive wet is fortunately of rare occurrence in a library, but is very + destructive when it does come, and, if long continued, the substance of + the paper succumbs to the unhealthy influence and rots and rots until all + fibre disappears, and the paper is reduced to a white decay which crumbles + into powder when handled. + </p> + <p> + Few old libraries in England are now so thoroughly neglected as they were + thirty years ago. The state of many of our Collegiate and Cathedral + libraries was at that time simply appalling. I could mention many + instances, one especially, where a window having been left broken for a + long time, the ivy had pushed through and crept over a row of books, each + of which was worth hundreds of pounds. In rainy weather the water was + conducted, as by a pipe, along the tops of the books and soaked through + the whole. + </p> + <p> + In another and smaller collection, the rain came straight on to a + book-case through a sky-light, saturating continually the top shelf + containing Caxtons and other early English books, one of which, although + rotten, was sold soon after by permission of the Charity Commissioners for + L200. + </p> + <p> + Germany, too, the very birth-place of Printing, allows similar destruction + to go on unchecked, if the following letter, which appeared about a Year + ago (1879) in the <i>Academy</i> has any truth in it:— + </p> + <p> + "For some time past the condition of the library at Wolfenbuttel has been + most disgraceful. The building is in so unsafe a condition that portions + of the walls and ceilings have fallen in, and the many treasures in Books + and MSS. contained in it are exposed to damp and decay. An appeal has been + issued that this valuable collection may not be allowed to perish for want + of funds, and that it may also be now at length removed to Brunswick, + since Wolfenbuttel is entirely deserted as an intellectual centre. No + false sentimentality regarding the memory of its former custodians, + Leibnitz and Lessing, should hinder this project. Lessing himself would + have been the first to urge that the library and its utility should be + considered above all things." + </p> + <p> + The collection of books at Wolfenbuttel is simply magnificent, and I + cannot but hope the above report was exaggerated. Were these books to be + injured for the want of a small sum spent on the roof, it would be a + lasting disgrace to the nation. There are so many genuine book-lovers in + Fatherland that the commission of such a crime would seem incredible, did + not bibliographical history teem with similar desecrations. (1) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) This was written in 1879, since which time a new building has been +erected. +</pre> + <p> + Water in the form of vapour is a great enemy of books, the damp attacking + both outside and inside. Outside it fosters the growth of a white mould or + fungus which vegetates upon the edges of the leaves, upon the sides and in + the joints of the binding. It is easily wiped off, but not without leaving + a plain mark, where the mould-spots have been. Under the microscope a + mould-spot is seen to be a miniature forest of lovely trees, covered with + a beautiful white foliage, upas trees whose roots are embedded in the + leather and destroy its texture. + </p> + <p> + Inside the book, damp encourages the growth of those ugly brown spots + which so often disfigure prints and "livres de luxe." Especially it + attacks books printed in the early part of this century, when paper-makers + had just discovered that they could bleach their rags, and perfectly white + paper, well pressed after printing, had become the fashion. This paper + from the inefficient means used to neutralise the bleach, carried the + seeds of decay in itself, and when exposed to any damp soon became + discoloured with brown stains. Dr. Dibdin's extravagant bibliographical + works are mostly so injured; and although the Doctor's bibliography is + very incorrect, and his spun-out inanities and wearisome affectations + often annoy one, yet his books are so beautifully illustrated, and he is + so full of personal anecdote and chit chat, that it grieves the heart to + see "foxey" stains common in his most superb works. + </p> + <p> + In a perfectly dry and warm library these spots would probably remain + undeveloped, but many endowed as well as private libraries are not in + daily use, and are often injured from a false idea that a hard frost and + prolonged cold do no injury to a library so long as the weather is dry. + The fact is that books should never be allowed to get really cold, for + when a thaw comes and the weather sets in warm, the air, laden with damp, + penetrates the inmost recesses, and working its way between the volumes + and even between the leaves, deposits upon their cold surface its + moisture. The best preventative of this is a warm atmosphere during the + frost, sudden heating when the frost has gone being useless. + </p> + <p> + Our worst enemies are sometimes our real friends, and perhaps the best way + of keeping libraries entirely free from damp is to circulate our enemy in + the shape of hot water through pipes laid under the floor. The facilities + now offered for heating such pipes from the outside are so great, the + expense comparatively so small, and the direct gain in the expulsion of + damp so decided, that where it can be accomplished without much trouble it + is well worth the doing. + </p> + <p> + At the same time no system of heating should be allowed to supersede the + open grate, which supplies a ventilation to the room as useful to the + health of the books as to the health of the occupier. A coal fire is + objectionable on many grounds. It is dangerous, dirty and dusty. On the + other hand an asbestos fire, where the lumps are judiciously laid, gives + all the warmth and ventilation of a common fire without any of its + annoyances; and to any one who loves to be independent of servants, and to + know that, however deeply he may sleep over his "copy," his fire will not + fail to keep awake, an asbestos stove is invaluable. + </p> + <p> + It is a mistake also to imagine that keeping the best bound volumes in a + glass doored book-case is a preservative. The damp air will certainly + penetrate, and as the absence of ventilation will assist the formation of + mould, the books will be worse off than if they had been placed in open + shelves. If security be desirable, by all means abolish the glass and + place ornamental brass wire-work in its stead. Like the writers of old + Cookery Books who stamped special receipts with the testimony of personal + experience, I can say "probatum est." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. GAS AND HEAT. + </h2> + <p> + WHAT a valuable servant is Gas, and how dreadfully we should cry out were + it to be banished from our homes; and yet no one who loves his books + should allow a single jet in his library, unless, indeed he can afford a + "sun light," which is the form in which it is used in some public + libraries, where the whole of the fumes are carried at once into the open + air. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, I can speak from experience of the dire effect of gas in a + confined space. Some years ago when placing the shelves round the small + room, which, by a euphemism, is called my library, I took the precaution + of making two self-acting ventilators which communicated directly with the + outer air just under the ceiling. For economy of space as well as of + temper (for lamps of all kinds are sore trials), I had a gasalier of three + lights over the table. The effect was to cause great heat in the upper + regions, and in the course of a year or two the leather valance which hung + from the window, as well as the fringe which dropped half-an-inch from + each shelf to keep out the dust, was just like tinder, and in some parts + actually fell to the ground by its own weight; while the backs of the + books upon the top shelves were perished, and crumbled away when touched, + being reduced to the consistency of Scotch snuff. This was, of course, due + to the sulphur in the gas fumes. I remember having a book some years ago + from the top shelf in the library of the London Institution, where gas is + used, and the whole of the back fell off in my hands, although the volume + in other respects seemed quite uninjured. Thousands more were in a similar + plight. + </p> + <p> + As the paper of the volumes is uninjured, it might be objected that, after + all, gas is not so much the enemy of the book itself as of its covering; + but then, re-binding always leaves a book smaller, and often deprives it + of leaves at the beginning or end, which the binder's wisdom has thought + useless. Oh! the havoc I have seen committed by binders. You may assume + your most impressive aspect—you may write down your instructions as + if you were making your last will and testament—you may swear you + will not pay if your books are ploughed—'tis all in vain—the + creed of a binder is very short, and comprised in a single article, and + that article is the one vile word "Shavings." But not now will I follow + this depressing subject; binders, as enemies of books, deserve, and shall + have, a whole chapter to themselves. + </p> + <p> + It is much easier to decry gas than to find a remedy. Sun lights require + especial arrangements, and are very expensive on account of the quantity + of gas consumed. The library illumination of the future promises to be the + electric light. If only steady and moderate in price, it would be a great + boon to public libraries, and perhaps the day is not far distant when it + will replace gas, even in private houses. That will, indeed, be a day of + jubilee to the literary labourer. The injury done by gas is so generally + acknowledged by the heads of our national libraries, that it is strictly + excluded from their domains, although the danger from explosion and fire, + even if the results of combustion were innocuous, would be sufficient + cause for its banishment. + </p> + <p> + The electric light has been in use for some months in the Reading Room of + the British Museum, and is a great boon to the readers. The light is not + quite equally diffused, and you must choose particular positions if you + want to work happily. There is a great objection, too, in the humming fizz + which accompanies the action of the electricity. There is a still greater + objection when small pieces of hot chalk fall on your bald head, an + annoyance which has been lately (1880) entirely removed by placing a + receptacle beneath each burner. You require also to become accustomed to + the whiteness of the light before you can altogether forget it. But with + all its faults it confers a great boon upon students, enabling them not + only to work three hours longer in the winter-time, but restoring to them + the use of foggy and dark days, in which formerly no book-work at all + could be pursued. (1) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) 1887. The system in use is still "Siemens," but, owing to long +experience and improvements, is not now open to the above objections. +</pre> + <p> + Heat alone, without any noxious fumes, is, if continuous, very injurious + to books, and, without gas, bindings may be utterly destroyed by + desiccation, the leather losing all its natural oils by long exposure to + much heat. It is, therefore, a great pity to place books high up in a room + where heat of any kind is as it must rise to the top, and if sufficient to + be of comfort to the readers below, is certain to be hot enough above to + injure the bindings. + </p> + <p> + The surest way to preserve your books in health is to treat them as you + would your own children, who are sure to sicken if confined in an + atmosphere which is impure, too hot, too cold, too damp, or too dry. It is + just the same with the progeny of literature. + </p> + <p> + If any credence may be given to Monkish legends, books have sometimes been + preserved in this world, only to meet a desiccating fate in the world to + come. The story is probably an invention of the enemy to throw discredit + on the learning and ability of the preaching Friars, an Order which was at + constant war with the illiterate secular Clergy. It runs thus:—"In + the year 1439, two Minorite friars who had all their lives collected + books, died. In accordance with popular belief, they were at once + conducted before the heavenly tribunal to hear their doom, taking with + them two asses laden with books. At Heaven's gate the porter demanded, + 'Whence came ye?' The Minorites replied 'From a monastery of St. Francis.' + 'Oh!' said the porter, 'then St. Francis shall be your judge.' So that + saint was summoned, and at sight of the friars and their burden demanded + who they were, and why they had brought so many books with them. 'We are + Minorites,' they humbly replied, 'and we have brought these few books with + us as a solatium in the new Jerusalem.' 'And you, when on earth, practised + the good they teach?' sternly demanded the saint, who read their + characters at a glance. Their faltering reply was sufficient, and the + blessed saint at once passed judgment as follows:—'Insomuch as, + seduced by a foolish vanity, and against your vows of poverty, you have + amassed this multitude of books and thereby and therefor have neglected + the duties and broken the rules of your Order, you are now sentenced to + read your books for ever and ever in the fires of Hell.' Immediately, a + roaring noise filled the air, and a flaming chasm opened in which friars, + and asses and books were suddenly engulphed." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. DUST AND NEGLECT. + </h2> + <p> + DUST upon Books to any extent points to neglect, and neglect means more or + less slow Decay. + </p> + <p> + A well-gilt top to a book is a great preventive against damage by dust, + while to leave books with rough tops and unprotected is sure to produce + stains and dirty margins. + </p> + <p> + In olden times, when few persons had private collections of books, the + collegiate and corporate libraries were of great use to students. The + librarians' duties were then no sinecure, and there was little opportunity + for dust to find a resting-place. The Nineteenth Century and the Steam + Press ushered in a new era. By degrees the libraries which were unendowed + fell behind the age, and were consequently neglected. No new works found + their way in, and the obsolete old books were left uncared for and + unvisited. I have seen many old libraries, the doors of which remained + unopened from week's end to week's end; where you inhaled the dust of + paper-decay with every breath, and could not take up a book without + sneezing; where old boxes, full of older literature, served as preserves + for the bookworm, without even an autumn "battue" to thin the breed. + Occasionally these libraries were (I speak of thirty years ago) put even + to vile uses, such as would have shocked all ideas of propriety could our + ancestors have foreseen their fate. + </p> + <p> + I recall vividly a bright summer morning many years ago, when, in search + of Caxtons, I entered the inner quadrangle of a certain wealthy College in + one of our learned Universities. The buildings around were charming in + their grey tones and shady nooks. They had a noble history, too, and their + scholarly sons were (and are) not unworthy successors of their ancestral + renown. The sun shone warmly, and most of the casements were open. From + one came curling a whiff of tobacco; from another the hum of conversation; + from a third the tones of a piano. A couple of undergraduates sauntered on + the shady side, arm in arm, with broken caps and torn gowns—proud + insignia of their last term. The grey stone walls were covered with ivy, + except where an old dial with its antiquated Latin inscription kept count + of the sun's ascent. The chapel on one side, only distinguishable from the + "rooms" by the shape of its windows, seemed to keep watch over the + morality of the foundation, just as the dining-hall opposite, from whence + issued a white-aproned cook, did of its worldly prosperity. As you trod + the level pavement, you passed comfortable—nay, dainty—apartments, + where lace curtains at the windows, antimacassars on the chairs, the + silver biscuit-box and the thin-stemmed wine-glass moderated academic + toils. Gilt-backed books on gilded shelf or table caught the eye, and as + you turned your glance from the luxurious interiors to the well-shorn lawn + in the Quad., with its classic fountain also gilded by sunbeams, the + mental vision saw plainly written over the whole "The Union of Luxury and + Learning." + </p> + <p> + Surely here, thought I, if anywhere, the old world literature will be + valued and nursed with gracious care; so with a pleasing sense of the + general congruity of all around me, I enquired for the rooms of the + librarian. Nobody seemed to be quite sure of his name, or upon whom the + bibliographical mantle had descended. His post, it seemed, was honorary + and a sinecure, being imposed, as a rule, upon the youngest "Fellow." No + one cared for the appointment, and as a matter of course the keys of + office had but distant acquaintance with the lock. At last I was rewarded + with success, and politely, but mutely, conducted by the librarian into + his kingdom of dust and silence. The dark portraits of past benefactors + looked after us from their dusty old frames in dim astonishment as we + passed, evidently wondering whether we meant "work"; book-decay—that + peculiar flavour which haunts certain libraries—was heavy in the + air, the floor was dusty, making the sunbeams as we passed bright with + atoms; the shelves were dusty, the "stands" in the middle were thick with + dust, the old leather table in the bow window, and the chairs on either + side, were very dusty. Replying to a question, my conductor thought there + was a manuscript catalogue of the Library somewhere, but thought, also, + that it was not easy to find any books by it, and he knew not at the + minute where to put his hand upon it. The Library, he said, was of little + use now, as the Fellows had their own books and very seldom required 17th + and 18th century editions, and no new books had been added to the + collection for a long time. + </p> + <p> + We passed down a few steps into an inner library where piles of early + folios were wasting away on the ground. Beneath an old ebony table were + two long carved oak chests. I lifted the lid of one, and at the top was a + once-white surplice covered with dust, and beneath was a mass of tracts—Commonwealth + quartos, unbound—a prey to worms and decay. All was neglect. The + outer door of this room, which was open, was nearly on a level with the + Quadrangle; some coats, and trousers, and boots were upon the ebony table, + and a "gyp" was brushing away at them just within the door—in wet + weather he performed these functions entirely within the library—as + innocent of the incongruity of his position as my guide himself. Oh! + Richard of Bury, I sighed, for a sharp stone from your sling to pierce + with indignant sarcasm the mental armour of these College dullards. + </p> + <p> + Happily, things are altered now, and the disgrace of such neglect no + longer hangs on the College. Let us hope, in these days of revived respect + for antiquity, no other College library is in a similar plight. + </p> + <p> + Not Englishmen alone are guilty, however, of such unloving treatment of + their bibliographical treasures. The following is translated from an + interesting work just published in Paris, (1) and shows how, even at this + very time, and in the centre of the literary activity of France, books + meet their fate. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) Le luxe des Livres par L. Derome. 8vo, Paris, 1879. +</pre> + <p> + M. Derome loquitur:— + </p> + <p> + "Let us now enter the communal library of some large provincial town. The + interior has a lamentable appearance; dust and disorder have made it their + home. It has a librarian, but he has the consideration of a porter only, + and goes but once a week to see the state of the books committed to his + care; they are in a bad state, piled in heaps and perishing in corners for + want of attention and binding. At this present time (1879) more than one + public library in Paris could be mentioned in which thousands of books are + received annually, all of which will have disappeared in the course of 50 + years or so for want of binding; there are rare books, impossible to + replace, falling to pieces because no care is given to them, that is to + say, they are left unbound, a prey to dust and the worm, and cannot be + touched without dismemberment." + </p> + <p> + "All history shows that this neglect belongs not to any particular age or + nation. I extract the following story from Edmond Werdet's Histoire du + Livre." (1) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) "Histoire du Livre en France," par E. Werdet. 8vo, Paris, 1851. +</pre> + <p> + "The Poet Boccaccio, when travelling in Apulia, was anxious to visit the + celebrated Convent of Mount Cassin, especially to see its library, of + which he had heard much. He accosted, with great courtesy, one of the + monks whose countenance attracted him, and begged him to have the kindness + to show him the library. 'See for yourself,' said the monk, brusquely, + pointing at the same time to an old stone staircase, broken with age. + Boccaccio hastily mounted in great joy at the prospect of a grand + bibliographical treat. Soon he reached the room, which was without key or + even door as protection to its treasures. What was his astonishment to see + that the grass growing in the window-sills actually darkened the room, and + that all the books and seats were an inch thick in dust. In utter + astonishment he lifted one book after another. All were manuscripts of + extreme antiquity, but all were dreadfully dilapidated. Many had lost + whole sections which had been violently extracted, and in many all the + blank margins of the vellum had been cut away. In fact, the mutilation was + thorough. + </p> + <p> + "Grieved at seeing the work and the wisdom of so many illustrious men + fallen into the hands of custodians so unworthy, Boccaccio descended with + tears in his eyes. In the cloisters he met another monk, and enquired of + him how the MSS. had become so mutilated. 'Oh!' he replied, 'we are + obliged, you know, to earn a few sous for our needs, so we cut away the + blank margins of the manuscripts for writing upon, and make of them small + books of devotion, which we sell to women and children." + </p> + <p> + As a postscript to this story, Mr. Timmins, of Birmingham, informs me that + the treasures of the Monte Cassino Library are better cared for now than + in Boccaccio's days, the worthy prior being proud of his valuable MSS. and + very willing to show them. It will interest many readers to know that + there is now a complete printing office, lithographic as well as + typographic, at full work in one large room of the Monastery, where their + wonderful MS. of Dante has been already reprinted, and where other + fac-simile works are now in progress. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. IGNORANCE AND BIGOTRY. + </h2> + <p> + IGNORANCE, though not in the same category as fire and water, is a great + destroyer of books. At the Reformation so strong was the antagonism of the + people generally to anything like the old idolatry of the Romish Church, + that they destroyed by thousands books, secular as well as sacred, if they + contained but illuminated letters. Unable to read, they saw no difference + between romance and a psalter, between King Arthur and King David; and so + the paper books with all their artistic ornaments went to the bakers to + heat their ovens, and the parchment manuscripts, however beautifully + illuminated, to the binders and boot makers. + </p> + <p> + There is another kind of ignorance which has often worked destruction, as + shown by the following anecdote, which is extracted from a letter written + in 1862 by M. Philarete Chasles to Mr. B. Beedham, of Kimbolton:— + </p> + <p> + "Ten years ago, when turning out an old closet in the Mazarin Library, of + which I am librarian, I discovered at the bottom, under a lot of old rags + and rubbish, a large volume. It had no cover nor title-page, and had been + used to light the fires of the librarians. This shows how great was the + negligence towards our literary treasure before the Revolution; for the + pariah volume, which, 60 years before, had been placed in the Invalides, + and which had certainly formed part of the original Mazarin collections, + turned out to be a fine and genuine Caxton." + </p> + <p> + I saw this identical volume in the Mazarin Library in April, 1880. It is a + noble copy of the First Edition of the "Golden Legend," 1483, but of + course very imperfect. + </p> + <p> + Among the millions of events in this world which cross and re-cross one + another, remarkable coincidences must often occur; and a case exactly + similar to that at the Mazarin Library, happened about the same time in + London, at the French Protestant Church, St. Martin's-le-Grand. Many years + ago I discovered there, in a dirty pigeon hole close to the grate in the + vestry, a fearfully mutilated copy of Caxton's edition of the Canterbury + Tales, with woodcuts. Like the book at Paris, it had long been used, leaf + by leaf, in utter ignorance of its value, to light the vestry fire. + Originally worth at least L800, it was then worth half, and, of course, I + energetically drew the attention of the minister in charge to it, as well + as to another grand Folio by Rood and Hunte, 1480. Some years elapsed, and + then the Ecclesiastical Commissioners took the foundation in hand, but + when at last Trustees were appointed, and the valuable library was + re-arranged and catalogued, this "Caxton," together with the fine copy of + "Latterbury" from the first Oxford Press, had disappeared entirely. + Whatever ignorance may have been displayed in the mutilation, quite + another word should be applied to the disappearance. + </p> + <p> + The following anecdote is so <i>apropos</i>, that although it has lately + appeared in No. 1 of <i>The Antiquary</i>, I cannot resist the temptation + of re-printing it, as a warning to inheritors of old libraries. The + account was copied by me years ago from a letter written in 1847, by the + Rev. C. F. Newmarsh, Rector of Pelham, to the Rev. S. R. Maitland, + Librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is as follows:— + </p> + <p> + "In June, 1844, a pedlar called at a cottage in Blyton and asked an old + widow, named Naylor, whether she had any rags to sell. She answered, No! + but offered him some old paper, and took from a shelf the 'Boke of St. + Albans' and others, weighing 9 lbs., for which she received 9<i>d</i>. The + pedlar carried them through Gainsborough tied up in string, past a + chemist's shop, who, being used to buy old paper to wrap his drugs in, + called the man in, and, struck by the appearance of the 'Boke,' gave him 3<i>s</i>. + for the lot. Not being able to read the Colophon, he took it to an equally + ignorant stationer, and offered it to him for a guinea, at which price he + declined it, but proposed that it should be exposed in his window as a + means of eliciting some information about it. It was accordingly placed + there with this label, 'Very old curious work.' A collector of books went + in and offered half-a-crown for it, which excited the suspicion of the + vendor. Soon after Mr. Bird, Vicar of Gainsborough, went in and asked the + price, wishing to possess a very early specimen of printing, but not + knowing the value of the book. While he was examining it, Stark, a very + intelligent bookseller, came in, to whom Mr. Bird at once ceded the right + of pre-emption. Stark betrayed such visible anxiety that the vendor, + Smith, declined setting a price. Soon after Sir C. Anderson, of Lea + (author of Ancient Models), came in and took away the book to collate, but + brought it back in the morning having found it imperfect in the middle, + and offered L5 for it. Sir Charles had no book of reference to guide him + to its value. But in the meantime, Stark had employed a friend to obtain + for him the refusal of it, and had undertaken to give for it a little more + than any sum Sir Charles might offer. On finding that at least L5 could be + got for it, Smith went to the chemist and gave him two guineas, and then + sold it to Stark's agent for seven guineas. Stark took it to London, and + sold it at once to the Rt. Hon. Thos. Grenville for seventy pounds or + guineas. + </p> + <p> + "I have now shortly to state how it came that a book without covers of + such extreme age was preserved. About fifty years since, the library of + Thonock Hall, in the parish of Gainsborough, the seat of the Hickman + family, underwent great repairs, the books being sorted over by a most + ignorant person, whose selection seems to have been determined by the + coat. All books without covers were thrown into a great heap, and + condemned to all the purposes which Leland laments in the sack of the + conventual libraries by the visitors. But they found favour in the eyes of + a literate gardener, who begged leave to take what he liked home. He + selected a large quantity of Sermons preached before the House of Commons, + local pamphlets, tracts from 1680 to 1710, opera books, etc. He made a + list of them, which I found afterwards in the cottage. In the list, No. 43 + was 'Cotarmouris,' or the Boke of St. Albans. The old fellow was something + of a herald, and drew in his books what he held to be his coat. After his + death, all that could be stuffed into a large chest were put away in a + garret; but a few favourites, and the 'Boke' among them remained on the + kitchen shelves for years, till his son's widow grew so 'stalled' of + dusting them that she determined to sell them. Had she been in poverty, I + should have urged the buyer, Stark, the duty of giving her a small sum out + of his great gains." + </p> + <p> + Such chances as this do not fall to a man's lot twice; but Edmond Werdet + relates a story very similar indeed, and where also the "plums" fell into + the lap of a London dealer. + </p> + <p> + In 1775, the Recollet Monks of Antwerp, wishing to make a reform, examined + their library, and determined to get rid of about 1,500 volumes—some + manuscript and some printed, but all of which they considered as old + rubbish of no value. + </p> + <p> + At first they were thrown into the gardener's rooms; but, after some + months, they decided in their wisdom to give the whole refuse to the + gardener as a recognition of his long services. + </p> + <p> + This man, wiser in his generation than these simple fathers, took the lot + to M. Vanderberg, an amateur and man of education. M. Vanderberg took a + cursory view, and then offered to buy them by weight at sixpence per + pound. The bargain was at once concluded, and M. Vanderberg had the books. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after, Mr. Stark, a well-known London bookseller, being in + Antwerp, called on M. Vanderberg, and was shown the books. He at once + offered 14,000 francs for them, which was accepted. Imagine the surprise + and chagrin of the poor monks when they heard of it! They knew they had no + remedy, and so dumbfounded were they by their own ignorance, that they + humbly requested M. Vanderberg to relieve their minds by returning some + portion of his large gains. He gave them 1,200 francs. + </p> + <p> + The great Shakespearian and other discoveries, which were found in a + garret at Lamport Hall in 1867 by Mr. Edmonds, are too well-known and too + recent to need description. In this case mere chance seems to have led to + the preservation of works, the very existence of which set the ears of all + lovers of Shakespeare a-tingling. + </p> + <p> + In the summer of 1877, a gentleman with whom I was well acquainted took + lodgings in Preston Street, Brighton. The morning after his arrival, he + found in the w.c. some leaves of an old black-letter book. He asked + permission to retain them, and enquired if there were any more where they + came from. Two or three other fragments were found, and the landlady + stated that her father, who was fond of antiquities, had at one time a + chest full of old black-letter books; that, upon his death, they were + preserved till she was tired of seeing them, and then, supposing them of + no value, she had used them for waste; that for two years and a-half they + had served for various household purposes, but she had just come to the + end of them. The fragments preserved, and now in my possession, are a + goodly portion of one of the most rare books from the press of Wynkyn de + Worde, Caxton's successor. The title is a curious woodcut with the words + "Gesta Romanorum" engraved in an odd-shaped black letter. It has also + numerous rude wood-cuts throughout. It was from this very work that + Shakespeare in all probability derived the story of the three caskets + which in "The Merchant of Venice" forms so integral a portion of the plot. + Only think of that cloaca being supplied daily with such dainty + bibliographical treasures! + </p> + <p> + In the Lansdowne Collection at the British Museum is a volume containing + three manuscript dramas of Queen Elizabeth's time, and on a fly-leaf is a + list of fifty-eight plays, with this note at the foot, in the handwriting + of the well-known antiquary, Warburton: + </p> + <p> + "After I had been many years collecting these Manuscript Playes, through + my own carelessness and the ignorance of my servant, they was unluckely + burned or put under pye bottoms." + </p> + <p> + Some of these "Playes" are preserved in print, but others are quite + unknown and perished for ever when used as "pye-bottoms." + </p> + <p> + Mr. W. B. Rye, late Keeper of the Printed Books at our great National + Library, thus writes:— + </p> + <p> + "On the subject of ignorance you should some day, when at the British + Museum, look at Lydgate's translation of Boccaccio's 'Fall of Princes,' + printed by Pynson in 1494. It is 'liber rarissimus.' This copy when + perfect had been very fine and quite uncut. On one fine summer afternoon + in 1874 it was brought to me by a tradesman living at Lamberhurst. Many of + the leaves had been cut into squares, and the whole had been rescued from + a tobacconist's shop, where the pieces were being used to wrap up tobacco + and snuff. The owner wanted to buy a new silk gown for his wife, and was + delighted with three guineas for this purpose. You will notice how + cleverly the British Museum binder has joined the leaves, making it, + although still imperfect, a fine book." + </p> + <p> + Referring to the carelessness exhibited by some custodians of Parish + Registers, + </p> + <p> + Mr. Noble, who has had great experience in such matters, writes:— + </p> + <p> + "A few months ago I wanted a search made of the time of Charles I in one + of the most interesting registers in a large town (which shall be + nameless) in England. I wrote to the custodian of it, and asked him kindly + to do the search for me, and if he was unable to read the names to get + some one who understood the writing of that date to decipher the entries + for me. I did not have a reply for a fortnight, but one morning the + postman brought me a very large unregistered book-packet, which I found to + be the original Parish Registers! He, however, addressed a note with it + stating that he thought it best to send me the document itself to look at, + and begged me to be good enough to return the Register to him as soon as + done with. He evidently wished to serve me—his ignorance of + responsibility without doubt proving his kindly disposition, and on that + account alone I forbear to name him; but I can assure you I was heartily + glad to have a letter from him in due time announcing that the precious + documents were once more locked up in the parish chest. Certainly, I think + such as he to be 'Enemies of books.' Don't you?" + </p> + <p> + Bigotry has also many sins to answer for. The late M. Muller, of + Amsterdam, a bookseller of European fame, wrote to me as follows a few + weeks before his death:— + </p> + <p> + "Of course, we also, in Holland, have many Enemies of books, and if I were + happy enough to have your spirit and style I would try and write a + companion volume to yours. Now I think the best thing I can do is to give + you somewhat of my experience. You say that the discovery of printing has + made the destruction of anybody's books difficult. At this I am bound to + say that the Inquisition did succeed most successfully, by burning + heretical books, in destroying numerous volumes invaluable for their + wholesome contents. Indeed, I beg to state to you the amazing fact that + here in Holland exists an Ultramontane Society called 'Old Paper,' which + is under the sanction of the six Catholic Bishops of the Netherlands, and + is spread over the whole kingdom. The openly-avowed object of this Society + is to buy up and to destroy as waste paper all the Protestant and Liberal + Catholic newspapers, pamphlets and books, the price of which is offered to + the Pope as 'Deniers de St. Pierre.' Of course, this Society is very + little known among Protestants, and many have denied even its existence; + but I have been fortunate enough to obtain a printed circular issued by + one of the Bishops containing statistics of the astounding mass of paper + thus collected, producing in one district alone the sum of L1,200 in three + months. I need not tell you that this work is strongly promoted by the + Catholic clergy. You can have no idea of the difficulty we now have in + procuring certain books published but 30, 40, or 50 years ago of an + ephemeral character. Historical and theological books are very rare; + novels and poetry of that period are absolutely not to be found; medical + and law books are more common. I am bound to say that in no country have + more books been printed and more destroyed than in Holland. W. MULLER." + </p> + <p> + The policy of buying up all objectionable literature seems to me, I + confess, very short-sighted, and in most cases would lead to a greatly + increased reprint; it certainly would in these latitudes. + </p> + <p> + From the Church of Rome to the Church of England is no great leap, and Mr. + Smith, the Brighton bookseller, gives evidence thus:— + </p> + <p> + "It may be worth your while to note that the clergy of the last two + centuries ought to be included in your list (of Biblioclasts). I have had + painful experience of the fact in the following manner. Numbers of volumes + in their libraries have had a few leaves removed, and in many others whole + sections torn out. I suppose it served their purpose thus to use the + wisdom of greater men and that they thus economised their own time by + tearing out portions to suit their purpose. The hardship to the trade is + this: their books are purchased in good faith as perfect, and when resold + the buyer is quick to claim damage if found defective, while the seller + has no redress." + </p> + <p> + Among the careless destroyers of books still at work should be classed + Government officials. Cart-loads of interesting documents, bound and + unbound, have been sold at various times as waste-paper, (1) when modern + red-tape thought them but rubbish. Some of them have been rescued and + resold at high prices, but some have been lost for ever. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) Nell Gwyn's private Housekeeping Book was among them, containing +most curious particulars of what was necessary in the time of Charles I +for a princely household. Fortunately it was among the rescued, and is +now in a private library. +</pre> + <p> + In 1854 a very interesting series of blue books was commenced by the + authorities of the Patent Office, of course paid for out of the national + purse. Beginning with the year 1617 the particulars of every important + patent were printed from the original specifications and fac-simile + drawings made, where necessary, for the elucidation of the text. A very + moderate price was charged for each, only indeed the prime cost of + production. The general public, of course, cared little for such + literature, but those interested in the origin and progress of any + particular art, cared much, and many sets of Patents were purchased by + those engaged in research. But the great bulk of the stock was, to some + extent, inconvenient, and so when a removal to other offices, in 1879, + became necessary, the question arose as to what could be done with them. + These blue-books, which had cost the nation many thousands of pounds, were + positively sold to the paper mills as wastepaper, and nearly 100 tons + weight were carted away at about L3 per ton. It is difficult to believe, + although positively true, that so great an act of vandalism could have + been perpetrated, even in a Government office. It is true that no demand + existed for some of them, but it is equally true that in numerous cases, + especially in the early specifications of the steam engine and printing + machine, the want of them has caused great disappointment. To add a climax + to the story, many of the "pulped" specifications have had to be reprinted + more than once since their destruction. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. THE BOOKWORM. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + THERE is a sort of busy worm + That will the fairest books deform, + By gnawing holes throughout them; + Alike, through every leaf they go, + Yet of its merits naught they know, + Nor care they aught about them. + + Their tasteless tooth will tear and taint + The Poet, Patriot, Sage or Saint, + Not sparing wit nor learning. + Now, if you'd know the reason why, + The best of reasons I'll supply; + 'Tis bread to the poor vermin. + + Of pepper, snuff, or 'bacca smoke, + And Russia-calf they make a joke. + Yet, why should sons of science + These puny rankling reptiles dread? + 'Tis but to let their books be read, + And bid the worms defiance." + J. DORASTON. +</pre> + <p> + A most destructive Enemy of books has been the bookworm. I say "has been," + because, fortunately, his ravages in all civilised countries have been + greatly restricted during the last fifty years. This is due partly to the + increased reverence for antiquity which has been universally developed—more + still to the feeling of cupidity, which has caused all owners to take care + of volumes which year by year have become more valuable—and, to some + considerable extent, to the falling off in the production of edible books. + </p> + <p> + The monks, who were the chief makers as well as the custodians of books, + through the long ages we call "dark," because so little is known of them, + had no fear of the bookworm before their eyes, for, ravenous as he is and + was, he loves not parchment, and at that time paper was not. Whether at a + still earlier period he attacked the papyrus, the paper of the Egyptians, + I know not—probably he did, as it was a purely vegetable substance; + and if so, it is quite possible that the worm of to-day, in such evil + repute with us, is the lineal descendant of ravenous ancestors who plagued + the sacred Priests of On in the time of Joseph's Pharaoh, by destroying + their title deeds and their books of Science. + </p> + <p> + Rare things and precious, as manuscripts were before the invention of + typography, are well preserved, but when the printing press was invented + and paper books were multiplied in the earth; when libraries increased and + readers were many, then familiarity bred contempt; books were packed in + out-of-the-way places and neglected, and the oft-quoted, though seldom + seen, bookworm became an acknowledged tenant of the library, and the + mortal enemy of the bibliophile. + </p> + <p> + Anathemas have been hurled against this pest in nearly every European + language, old and new, and classical scholars of bye-gone centuries have + thrown their spondees and dactyls at him. Pierre Petit, in 1683, devoted a + long Latin poem to his dis-praise, and Parnell's charming Ode is well + known. Hear the poet lament:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Pene tu mihi passerem Catulli, + Pene tu mihi Lesbiam abstulisti." +</pre> + <p> + and then— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Quid dicam innumeros bene eruditos + Quorum tu monumenta tu labores + Isti pessimo ventre devorasti?" +</pre> + <p> + while Petit, who was evidently moved by strong personal feelings against + the "invisum pecus," as he calls him, addresses his little enemy as + "Bestia audax" and "Pestis chartarum." + </p> + <p> + But, as a portrait commonly precedes a biography, the curious reader may + wish to be told what this "Bestia audax," who so greatly ruffles the + tempers of our eclectics, is like. Here, at starting, is a serious + chameleon-like difficulty, for the bookworm offers to us, if we are guided + by their words, as many varieties of size and shape as there are + beholders. + </p> + <p> + Sylvester, in his "Laws of Verse," with more words than wit, described him + as "a microscopic creature wriggling on the learned page, which, when + discovered, stiffens out into the resemblance of a streak of dirt." + </p> + <p> + The earliest notice is in "Micrographia," by R. Hooke, folio, London, + 1665. This work, which was printed at the expense of the Royal Society of + London, is an account of innumerable things examined by the author under + the microscope, and is most interesting for the frequent accuracy of the + author's observations, and most amusing for his equally frequent blunders. + </p> + <p> + In his account of the bookworm, his remarks, which are rather long and + very minute, are absurdly blundering. He calls it "a small white + Silver-shining Worm or Moth, which I found much conversant among books and + papers, and is supposed to be that which corrodes and eats holes thro' the + leaves and covers. Its head appears bigg and blunt, and its body tapers + from it towards the tail, smaller and smaller, being shap'd almost like a + carret.... It has two long horns before, which are streight, and tapering + towards the top, curiously ring'd or knobb'd and brisled much like the + marsh weed called Horses tail.... The hinder part is terminated with three + tails, in every particular resembling the two longer horns that grow out + of the head. The legs are scal'd and hair'd. This animal probably feeds + upon the paper and covers of books, and perforates in them several small + round holes, finding perhaps a convenient nourishment in those husks of + hemp and flax, which have passed through so many scourings, washings, + dressings, and dryings as the parts of old paper necessarily have + suffer'd. And, indeed, when I consider what a heap of sawdust or chips + this little creature (which is one of the teeth of Time) conveys into its + intrals, I cannot chuse but remember and admire the excellent contrivance + of Nature in placing in animals such a fire, as is continually nourished + and supply'd by the materials convey'd into the stomach and fomented by + the bellows of the lungs." The picture or "image," which accompanies this + description, is wonderful to behold. Certainly R. Hooke, Fellow of the + Royal Society, drew somewhat upon his imagination here, having apparently + evolved both engraving and description from his inner consciousness. (1) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) Not so! Several correspondents have drawn my attention to the +fact that Hooke is evidently describing the "Lepisma," which, if not +positively injurious, is often found in the warm places of old houses, +especially if a little damp. He mistook this for the Bookworm. +</pre> + <p> + Entomologists even do not appear to have paid much attention to the + natural history of the "Worm." Kirby, speaking of it, says, "the larvae of + Crambus pinguinalis spins a robe which it covers with its own excrement, + and does no little injury." Again, "I have often observed the caterpillar + of a little moth that takes its station in damp old books, and there + commits great ravages, and many a black-letter rarity, which in these days + of bibliomania would have been valued at its weight in gold, has been + snatched by these devastators," etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + As already quoted, Doraston's description is very vague. To him he is in + one verse "a sort of busy worm," and in another "a puny rankling reptile." + Hannett, in his work on book-binding, gives "Aglossa pinguinalis" as the + real name, and Mrs. Gatty, in her Parables, christens it "Hypothenemus + cruditus." + </p> + <p> + The, Rev. F. T. Havergal, who many years ago had much trouble with + bookworms in the Cathedral Library of Hereford, says they are a kind of + death-watch, with a "hard outer skin, and are dark brown," another sort + "having white bodies with brown spots on their heads." Mr. Holme, in + "Notes and Queries" for 1870, states that the "Anobium paniceum" has done + considerable injury to the Arabic manuscripts brought from Cairo, by + Burckhardt, and now in the University Library, Cambridge. Other writers + say "Acarus eruditus" or "Anobium pertinax" are the correct scientific + names. + </p> + <p> + Personally, I have come across but few specimens; nevertheless, from what + I have been told by librarians, and judging from analogy, I imagine the + following to be about the truth:— + </p> + <p> + There are several kinds of caterpillar and grub, which eat into books, + those with legs are the larvae of moths; those without legs, or rather + with rudimentary legs, are grubs and turn to beetles. + </p> + <p> + It is not known whether any species of caterpillar or grub can live + generation after generation upon books alone, but several sorts of + wood-borers, and others which live upon vegetable refuse, will attack + paper, especially if attracted in the first place by the real wooden + boards in which it was the custom of the old book-binders to clothe their + volumes. In this belief, some country librarians object to opening the + library windows lest the enemy should fly in from the neighbouring woods, + and rear a brood of worms. Anyone, indeed, who has seen a hole in a + filbert, or a piece of wood riddled by dry rot, will recognize a + similarity of appearance in the channels made by these insect enemies. + </p> + <p> + Among the paper-eating species are:— + </p> + <p> + 1. The "Anobium." Of this beetle there are varieties, viz.: "A. pertinax," + "A. eruditus," and "A. paniceum." In the larval state they are grubs, just + like those found, in nuts; in this stage they are too much alike to be + distinguished from one another. They feed on old dry wood, and often + infest bookcases and shelves. They eat the wooden boards of old books, and + so pass into the paper where they make long holes quite round, except when + they work in a slanting direction, when the holes appear to be oblong. + They will thus pierce through several volumes in succession, Peignot, the + well-known bibliographer, having found 27 volumes so pierced in a straight + line by one worm, a miracle of gluttony, the story of which, for myself, I + receive "<i>cum grano salis</i>." After a certain time the larva changes + into a pupa, and then emerges as a small brown beetle. + </p> + <p> + 2. "Oecophora."—This larva is similar in size to that of Anobium, + but can be distinguished at once by having legs. It is a caterpillar, with + six legs upon its thorax and eight sucker-like protuberances on its body, + like a silk-worm. It changes into a chrysalis, and then assumes its + perfect shape as a small brown moth. The species that attacks books is the + OEcophora pseudospretella. It loves damp and warmth, and eats any fibrous + material. This caterpillar is quite unlike any garden species, and, + excepting the legs, is very similar in appearance and size to the Anobium. + It is about half-inch long, with a horny head and strong jaws. To + printers' ink or writing ink he appears to have no great dislike, though I + imagine that the former often disagrees with his health, unless he is very + robust, as in books where the print is pierced a majority of the + worm-holes I have seen are too short in extent to have provided food + enough for the development of the grub. But, although the ink may be + unwholesome, many grubs survive, and, eating day and night in silence and + darkness, work out their destiny leaving, according to the strength of + their constitutions, a longer or shorter tunnel in the volume. + </p> + <p> + In December, 1879, Mr. Birdsall, a well-known book-binder of Northampton, + kindly sent me by post a fat little Worm, which had been found by one of + his workmen in an old book while being bound. He bore his journey + extremely well, being very lively when turned out. I placed him in a box + in warmth and quiet, with some small fragments of paper from a Boethius, + printed by Caxton, and a leaf of a seventeenth century book. He ate a + small piece of the leaf, but either from too much fresh air, from + unaccustomed liberty, or from change of food, he gradually weakened, and + died in about three weeks. I was sorry to lose him, as I wished to verify + his name in his perfect state. Mr. Waterhouse, of the Entomological + department of the British Museum, very kindly examined him before death, + and was of opinion he was OEcophora pseudospretella. + </p> + <p> + In July, 1885, Dr. Garnett, of the British Museum, gave me two worms which + had been found in an old Hebrew Commentary just received from Athens. They + had doubtless had a good shaking on the journey, and one was moribund when + I took charge, and joined his defunct kindred in a few days. The other + seemed hearty and lived with me for nearly eighteen months. I treated him + as well as I knew how; placed him in a small box with the choice of three + sorts of old paper to eat, and very seldom disturbed him. He evidently + resented his confinement, ate very little, moved very little, and changed + in appearance very little, even when dead. This Greek worm, filled with + Hebrew lore, differed in many respects from any other I have seen. He was + longer, thinner, and more delicate looking than any of his English + congeners. He was transparent, like thin ivory, and had a dark line + through his body, which I took to be the intestinal canal. He resigned his + life with extreme procrastination, and died "deeply lamented" by his + keeper, who had long looked forward to his final development. + </p> + <p> + The difficulty of breeding these worms is probably due to their formation. + When in a state of nature they can by expansion and contraction of the + body working upon the sides of their holes, push their horny jaws against + the opposing mass of paper. But when freed from the restraint, which + indeed to them is life, they CANNOT eat although surrounded with food, for + they have no legs to keep them steady, and their natural, leverage is + wanting. + </p> + <p> + Considering the numerous old books contained in the British Museum, the + Library there is wonderfully free from the worm. Mr. Rye, lately the + Keeper of the Printed Books there, writes me "Two or three were discovered + in my time, but they were weakly creatures. One, I remember, was conveyed + into the Natural History Department, and was taken into custody by Mr. + Adam White who pronounced it to be Anobium pertinax. I never heard of it + after." + </p> + <p> + The reader, who has not had an opportunity of examining old libraries, can + have no idea of the dreadful havoc which these pests are capable of + making. + </p> + <p> + I have now before me a fine folio volume, printed on very good unbleached + paper, as thick as stout cartridge, in the year 1477, by Peter Schoeffer, + of Mentz. Unfortunately, after a period of neglect in which it suffered + severely from the "worm," it was about fifty years ago considered worth a + new cover, and so again suffered severely, this time at the hands of the + binder. Thus the original state of the boards is unknown, but the damage + done to the leaves can be accurately described. + </p> + <p> + The "worms" have attacked each end. On the first leaf are 212 distinct + holes, varying in size from a common pin hole to that which a stout + knitting-needle would make, say, [1/16] to [1/23] inch. These holes run + mostly in lines more or less at right angles with the covers, a very few + being channels along the paper affecting three or four sheets only. The + varied energy of these little pests is thus represented:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + On folio 1 are 212 holes. On folio 61 are 4 holes. + " 11 " 57 " " 71 " 2 " + " 21 " 48 " " 81 " 2 " + " 31 " 31 " " 87 " 1 " + " 41 " 18 " " 90 " 0 " + " 51 " 6 " +</pre> + <p> + These 90 leaves being stout, are about the thickness of 1 inch. The volume + has 250 leaves, and turning to the end, we find on the last leaf 81 holes, + made by a breed of worms not so ravenous. Thus, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + From end | From end. + On folio 1 are 81 holes. | On folio 66 is 1 hole. + " 11 " 40 " | " 69 " 0 " +</pre> + <p> + It is curious to notice how the holes, rapidly at first, and then slowly + and more slowly, disappear. You trace the same hole leaf after leaf, until + suddenly the size becomes in one leaf reduced to half its normal diameter, + and a close examination will show a small abrasion of the paper in the + next leaf exactly where the hole would have come if continued. In the book + quoted it is just as if there had been a race. In the first ten leaves the + weak worms are left behind; in the second ten there are still forty-eight + eaters; these are reduced to thirty-one in the third ten, and to only + eighteen in the fourth ten. On folio 51 only six worms hold on, and before + folio 61 two of them have given in. Before reaching folio 7, it is a neck + and neck race between two sturdy gourmands, each making a fine large hole, + one of them being oval in shape. At folio 71 they are still neck and neck, + and at folio 81 the same. At folio 87 the oval worm gives in, the round + one eating three more leaves and part way through the fourth. The leaves + of the book are then untouched until we reach the sixty-ninth from the + end, upon which is one worm hole. After this they go on multiplying to the + end of the book. + </p> + <p> + I have quoted this instance because I have it handy, but many worms eat + much longer holes than any in this volume; some I have seen running quite + through a couple of thick volumes, covers and all. In the "Schoeffer" book + the holes are probably the work of Anobium pertinax, because the centre is + spared and both ends attacked. Originally, real wooden boards were the + covers of the volume, and here, doubtless, the attack was commenced, which + was carried through each board into the paper of the book. + </p> + <p> + I remember well my first visit to the Bodleian Library, in the year 1858, + Dr. Bandinel being then the librarian. He was very kind, and afforded me + every facility for examining the fine collection of "Caxtons," which was + the object of my journey. In looking over a parcel of black-letter + fragments, which had been in a drawer for a long time, I came across a + small grub, which, without a thought, I threw on the floor and trod under + foot. Soon after I found another, a fat, glossy fellow, so long —-, + which I carefully preserved in a little paper box, intending to observe + his habits and development. Seeing Dr. Bandinel near, I asked him to look + at my curiosity. Hardly, however, had I turned the wriggling little victim + out upon the leather-covered table, when down came the doctor's great + thumb-nail upon him, and an inch-long smear proved the tomb of all my + hopes, while the great bibliographer, wiping his thumb on his coat sleeve, + passed on with the remark, "Oh, yes! they have black heads sometimes." + That was something to know—another fact for the entomologist; for my + little gentleman had a hard, shiny, white head, and I never heard of a + black-headed bookworm before or since. Perhaps the great abundance of + black-letter books in the Bodleian may account for the variety. At any + rate he was an Anobium. + </p> + <p> + I have been unmercifully "chaffed" for the absurd idea that a paper-eating + worm could be kept a prisoner in a paper box. Oh, these critics! Your + bookworm is a shy, lazy beast, and takes a day or two to recover his + appetite after being "evicted." Moreover, he knew his own dignity better + than to eat the "loaded" glazed shoddy note paper in which he was + incarcerated. + </p> + <p> + In the case of Caxton's "Lyf of oure ladye," already referred to, not only + are there numerous small holes, but some very large channels at the bottom + of the pages. This is a most unusual occurrence, and is probably the work + of the larva of "Dermestes vulpinus," a garden beetle, which is very + voracious, and eats any kind of dry ligneous rubbish. + </p> + <p> + The scarcity of edible books of the present century has been mentioned. + One result of the extensive adulteration of modern paper is that the worm + will not touch it. His instinct forbids him to eat the china clay, the + bleaches, the plaster of Paris, the sulphate of barytes, the scores of + adulterants now used to mix with the fibre, and, so far, the wise pages of + the old literature are, in the race against Time with the modern rubbish, + heavily handicapped. Thanks to the general interest taken in old books + now-a-days, the worm has hard times of it, and but slight chance of that + quiet neglect which is necessary to his, existence. So much greater is the + reason why some patient entomologist should, while there is the chance, + take upon himself to study the habits of the creature, as Sir John Lubbock + has those of the ant. + </p> + <p> + I have now before me some leaves of a book, which, being waste, were used + by our economical first printer, Caxton, to make boards, by pasting them + together. Whether the old paste was an attraction, or whatever the reason + may have been, the worm, when he got in there, did not, as usual, eat + straight through everything into the middle of the book, but worked his + way longitudinally, eating great furrows along the leaves without passing + out of the binding; and so furrowed are these few leaves by long channels + that it is difficult to raise one of them without its falling to pieces. + </p> + <p> + This is bad enough, but we may be very thankful that in these temperate + climes we have no such enemies as are found in very hot countries, where a + whole library, books, bookshelves, table, chairs, and all, may be + destroyed in one night by a countless army of ants. + </p> + <p> + Our cousins in the United States, so fortunate in many things, seem very + fortunate in this—their books are not attacked by the "worm"—at + any rate, American writers say so. True it is that all their black-letter + comes from Europe, and, having cost many dollars, is well looked after; + but there they have thousands of seventeenth and eighteenth century books, + in Roman type, printed in the States on genuine and wholesome paper, and + the worm is not particular, at least in this country, about the type he + eats through, if the paper is good. + </p> + <p> + Probably, therefore, the custodians of their old libraries could tell a + different tale, which makes it all the more amusing to find in the + excellent "Encyclopaedia of Printing," (1) edited and printed by Ringwalt, + at Philadelphia, not only that the bookworm is a stranger there, for + personally he is unknown to most of us, but that his slightest ravages are + looked upon as both curious and rare. After quoting Dibdin, with the + addition of a few flights of imagination of his own, Ringwalt states that + this "paper-eating moth is supposed to have been introduced into England + in hogsleather binding from Holland." He then ends with what, to anyone + who has seen the ravages of the worm in hundreds of books, must be + charming in its native simplicity. "There is now," he states, evidently + quoting it as a great curiosity, "there is now, in a private library in + Philadelphia, a book perforated by this insect." Oh! lucky Philadelphians! + who can boast of possessing the oldest library in the States, but must ask + leave of a private collector if they wish to see the one wormhole in the + whole city! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (1) "American Encyclopaedia of Printing": by Luther Ringwalt. 8vo. +Philadelphia, 1871. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. OTHER VERMIN. + </h2> + <p> + BESIDES the worm I do not think there is any insect enemy of books worth + description. The domestic black-beetle, or cockroach, is far too modern an + introduction to our country to have done much harm, though he will + sometimes nibble the binding of books, especially if they rest upon the + floor. + </p> + <p> + Not so fortunate, however, are our American cousins, for in the "Library + Journal" for September, 1879, Mr. Weston Flint gives an account of a + dreadful little pest which commits great havoc upon the cloth bindings of + the New York libraries. It is a small black-beetle or cockroach, called by + scientists "Blatta germanica" and by others the "Croton Bug." Unlike our + household pest, whose home is the kitchen, and whose bashfulness loves + secrecy and the dark hours, this misgrown flat species, of which it would + take two to make a medium-sized English specimen, has gained in impudence + what it has lost in size, fearing neither light nor noise, neither man nor + beast. In the old English Bible of 1551, we read in Psalm xci, 5, "Thou + shalt not nede to be afraied for eny Bugges by night." This verse falls + unheeded on the ear of the Western librarian who fears his "bugs" both + night and day, for they crawl over everything in broad sunlight, infesting + and infecting each corner and cranny of the bookshelves they choose as + their home. There is a remedy in the powder known as insecticide, which, + however, is very disagreeable upon books and shelves. It is, nevertheless, + very fatal to these pests, and affords some consolation in the fact that + so soon as a "bug" shows any signs of illness, he is devoured at once by + his voracious brethren with the same relish as if he were made of fresh + paste. + </p> + <p> + There is, too, a small silvery insect (Lepisma) which I have often seen in + the backs of neglected books, but his ravages are not of much importance. + </p> + <p> + Nor can we reckon the Codfish as very dangerous to literature, unless, + indeed, he be of the Roman obedience, like that wonderful + Ichthiobibliophage (pardon me, Professor Owen) who, in the year 1626, + swallowed three Puritanical treatises of John Frith, the Protestant + martyr. No wonder, after such a meal, he was soon caught, and became + famous in the annals of literature. The following is the title of a little + book issued upon the occasion: "Vox Piscis, or the Book-Fish containing + Three Treatises, which were found in the belly of a Cod-Fish in Cambridge + Market on Midsummer Eve, AD 1626." Lowndes says (see under "Tracey,") + "great was the consternation at Cambridge upon the publication of this + work." + </p> + <p> + Rats and mice, however, are occasionally very destructive, as the + following anecdote will show: Two centuries ago, the library of the Dean + and Chapter of Westminster was kept in the Chapter House, and repairs + having become necessary in that building, a scaffolding was erected + inside, the books being left on their shelves. One of the holes made in + the wall for a scaffold-pole was selected by a pair of rats for their + family residence. Here they formed a nest for their young ones by + descending to the library shelves and biting away the leaves of various + books. Snug and comfortable was the little household, until, one day, the + builder's men having finished, the poles were removed, and—alas! for + the rats—the hole was closed up with bricks and cement. Buried + alive, the father and mother, with five or six of their offspring, met + with a speedy death, and not until a few years ago, when a restoration of + the Chapter House was effected, was the rat grave opened again for a + scaffold pole, and all their skeletons and their nest discovered. Their + bones and paper fragments of the nest may now be seen in a glass case in + the Chapter House, some of the fragments being attributed to books from + the press of Caxton. This is not the case, although there are pieces of + very early black-letter books not now to be found in the Abbey library, + including little bits of the famous Queen Elizabeth's Prayer book, with + woodcuts, 1568. + </p> + <p> + A friend sends me the following incident: "A few years since, some rats + made nests in the trees surrounding my house; from thence they jumped on + to some flat roofing, and so made their way down a chimney into a room + where I kept books. A number of these, with parchment backs, they entirely + destroyed, as well as some half-dozen books whole bound in parchment." + </p> + <p> + Another friend informs me that in the Natural History Museum of the Devon + and Exeter Institution is a specimen of "another little pest, which has a + great affection for bindings in calf and roan. Its scientific name is + Niptus Hololeucos." He adds, "Are you aware that there was a terrible + creature allied to these, rejoicing in the name of Tomicus Typographus, + which committed sad ravages in Germany in the seventeenth century, and in + the old liturgies of that country is formally mentioned under its vulgar + name, 'The Turk'?" (See Kirby and Spence, Seventh Edition, 1858, p. 123.) + This is curious, and I did not know it, although I know well that + Typographus Tomicus, or the "cutting printer," is a sad enemy of (good) + books. Upon this part of our subject, however, I am debarred entering. + </p> + <p> + The following is from W. J. Westbrook, Mus. Doe., Cantab., and represents + ravages with which I am personally unacquainted: + </p> + <p> + "Dear Blades,—I send you an example of the 'enemy'-mosity of an + ordinary housefly. It hid behind the paper, emitted some caustic fluid, + and then departed this life. I have often caught them in such holes.' + 30/12/83." The damage is an oblong hole, surrounded by a white fluffy + glaze (fungoid?), difficult to represent in a woodcut. The size here given + is exact. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. BOOKBINDERS. + </h2> + <p> + IN the first chapter I mentioned bookbinders among the Enemies of Books, + and I tremble to think what a stinging retort might be made if some irate + bibliopegist were to turn the scales on the printer, and place HIM in the + same category. On the sins of printers, and the unnatural neglect which + has often shortened the lives of their typographical progeny, it is not + for me to dilate. There is an old proverb, "'Tis an ill bird that befouls + its own nest"; a curious chapter thereupon, with many modern examples, + might nevertheless be written. This I will leave, and will now only place + on record some of the cruelties perpetrated upon books by the ignorance or + carelessness of binders. + </p> + <p> + Like men, books have a soul and body. With the soul, or literary portion, + we have nothing to do at present; the body, which is the outer frame or + covering, and without which the inner would be unusable, is the special + work of the binder. He, so to speak, begets it; he determines its form and + adornment, he doctors it in disease and decay, and, not unseldom, dissects + it after death. Here, too, as through all Nature, we find the good and bad + running side by side. What a treat it is to handle a well-bound volume; + the leaves lie open fully and freely, as if tempting you to read on, and + you handle them without fear of their parting from the back. To look at + the "tooling," too, is a pleasure, for careful thought, combined with + artistic skill, is everywhere apparent. You open the cover and find the + same loving attention inside that has been given to the outside, all the + workmanship being true and thorough. Indeed, so conservative is a good + binding, that many a worthless book has had an honoured old age, simply + out of respect to its outward aspect; and many a real treasure has come to + a degraded end and premature death through the unsightliness of its + outward case and the irreparable damage done to it in binding. + </p> + <p> + The weapon with which the binder deals the most deadly blows to books is + the "plough," the effect of which is to cut away the margins, placing the + print in a false position relatively to the back and head, and often + denuding the work of portions of the very text. This reduction in size not + seldom brings down a handsome folio to the size of quarto, and a quarto to + an octavo. + </p> + <p> + With the old hand plough a binder required more care and caution to + produce an even edge throughout than with the new cutting machine. If a + careless workman found that he had not ploughed the margin quite square + with the text, he would put it in his press and take off "another + shaving," and sometimes even a third. + </p> + <p> + Dante, in his "Inferno," deals out to the lost souls various tortures + suited with dramatic fitness to the past crimes of the victims, and had I + to execute judgment on the criminal binders of certain precious volumes I + have seen, where the untouched maiden sheets entrusted to their care have, + by barbarous treatment, lost dignity, beauty and value, I would collect + the paper shavings so ruthlessly shorn off, and roast the perpetrator of + the outrage over their slow combustion. In olden times, before men had + learned to value the relics of our printers, there was some excuse for the + sins of a binder who erred from ignorance which was general; but in these + times, when the historical and antiquarian value of old books is freely + acknowledged, no quarter should be granted to a careless culprit. + </p> + <p> + It may be supposed that, from the spread of information, all real danger + from ignorance is past. Not so, good reader; that is a consummation as yet + "devoutly to be wished." Let me relate to you a true bibliographical + anecdote: In 1877, a certain lord, who had succeeded to a fine collection + of old books, promised to send some of the most valuable (among which were + several Caxtons) to the Exhibition at South Kensington. Thinking their + outward appearance too shabby, and not knowing the danger of his conduct, + he decided to have them rebound in the neighbouring county town. The + volumes were soon returned in a resplendent state, and, it is said, quite + to the satisfaction of his lordship, whose pleasure, however, was sadly + damped when a friend pointed out to him that, although the discoloured + edges had all been ploughed off, and the time-stained blanks, with their + fifteenth century autographs, had been replaced by nice clean fly-leaves, + yet, looking at the result in its lowest aspect only—that of market + value—the books had been damaged to at least the amount of L500; + and, moreover, that caustic remarks would most certainly follow upon their + public exhibition. Those poor injured volumes were never sent. + </p> + <p> + Some years ago one of the most rare books printed by Machlinia—a + thin folio—was discovered bound in sheep by a country bookbinder, + and cut down to suit the size of some quarto tracts. But do not let us + suppose that country binders are the only culprits. It is not very long + since the discovery of a unique Caxton in one of our largest London + libraries. It was in boards, as originally issued by the fifteenth-century + binder, and a great fuss (very properly) was made over the treasure trove. + Of course, cries the reader, it was kept in its original covers, with all + the interesting associations of its early state untouched? No such thing! + Instead of making a suitable case, in which it could be preserved just as + it was, it was placed in the hands of a well-known London binder, with the + order, "Whole bind in velvet." He did his best, and the volume now glows + luxuriously in its gilt edges and its inappropriate covering, and, alas! + with half-an-inch of its uncut margin taken off all round. How do I know + that? because the clever binder, seeing some MS. remarks on one of the + margins, turned the leaf down to avoid cutting them off, and that stern + witness will always testify, to the observant reader, the original size of + the book. This same binder, on another occasion, placed a unique fifteenth + century Indulgence in warm water, to separate it from the cover upon which + it was pasted, the result being that, when dry, it was so distorted as to + be useless. That man soon after passed to another world, where, we may + hope, his works have not followed him, and that his merits as a good + citizen and an honest man counterbalanced his de-merits as a binder. + </p> + <p> + Other similar instances will occur to the memory of many a reader, and + doubtless the same sin will be committed from time to time by certain + binders, who seem to have an ingrained antipathy to rough edges and large + margins, which of course are, in their view, made by Nature as food for + the shaving tub. + </p> + <p> + De Rome, a celebrated bookbinder of the eighteenth century, who was + nicknamed by Dibdin "The Great Cropper," was, although in private life an + estimable man, much addicted to the vice of reducing the margins of all + books sent to him to bind. So far did he go, that he even spared not a + fine copy of Froissart's Chronicles, on vellum, in which was the autograph + of the well-known book-lover, De Thou, but cropped it most cruelly. + </p> + <p> + Owners, too, have occasionally diseased minds with regard to margins. A + friend writes: "Your amusing anecdotes have brought to my memory several + biblioclasts whom I have known. One roughly cut the margins off his books + with a knife, hacking away very much like a hedger and ditcher. Large + paper volumes were his especial delight, as they gave more paper. The + slips thus obtained were used for index-making! Another, with the bump of + order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in + binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves." + </p> + <p> + This latter was, doubtless, cousin to him who deliberately cut down all + his books close to the text, because he had been several times annoyed by + readers who made marginal notes. + </p> + <p> + The indignities, too, suffered by some books in their lettering! Fancy an + early black-letter fifteenth-century quarto on Knighthood, labelled + "Tracts"; or a translation of Virgil, "Sermons"! The "Histories of Troy," + printed by Caxton, still exists with "Eracles" on the back, as its title, + because that name occurs several times in the early chapters, and the + binder was too proud to seek advice. The words "Miscellaneous," or "Old + Pieces," were sometimes used when binders were at a loss for lettering, + and many other instances might be mentioned. + </p> + <p> + The rapid spread of printing throughout Europe in the latter part of the + fifteenth century caused a great fall in the value of plain un-illuminated + MSS., and the immediate consequence of this was the destruction of + numerous volumes written upon parchment, which were used by the binders to + strengthen the backs of their newly-printed rivals. These slips of vellum + or parchment are quite common in old books. Sometimes whole sheets are + used as fly-leaves, and often reveal the existence of most valuable works, + unknown before—proving, at the same time, the small value formerly + attached to them. + </p> + <p> + Many a bibliographer, while examining old books, has to his great + puzzlement come across short slips of parchment, nearly always from some + old manuscript, sticking out like "guards" from the midst of the leaves. + These suggest, at first, imperfections or damage done to the volume; but + if examined closely it will be found that they are always in the middle of + a paper section, and the real reason of their existence is just the same + as when two leaves of parchment occur here and there in a paper volume, + viz.: strength—strength to resist the lug which the strong thread + makes against the middle of each section. These slips represent old books + destroyed, and like the slips already noticed, should always be carefully + examined. + </p> + <p> + When valuable books have been evil-entreated, when they have become soiled + by dirty hands, or spoiled by water stains, or injured by grease spots, + nothing is more astonishing to the uninitiated than the transformation + they undergo in the hands of a skilful restorer. The covers are first + carefully dissected, the eye of the operator keeping a careful outlook for + any fragments of old MSS. or early printed books, which may have been used + by the original binder. No force should be applied to separate parts which + adhere together; a little warm water and care is sure to overcome that + difficulty. When all the sections are loose, the separate sheets are + placed singly in a bath of cold water, and allowed to remain there until + all the dirt has soaked out. If not sufficiently purified, a little + hydrochloric or oxalic acid, or caustic potash may be put in the water, + according as the stains are from grease or from ink. Here is where an + unpractised binder will probably injure a book for life. If the chemicals + are too strong, or the sheets remain too long in the bath, or are not + thoroughly cleansed from the bleach before they are re-sized, the certain + seeds of decay are planted in the paper, and although for a time the + leaves may look bright to the eye, and even crackle under the hand like + the soundest paper, yet in the course of a few years the enemy will + appear, the fibre will decay, and the existence of the books will + terminate in a state of white tinder. + </p> + <p> + Everything which diminishes the interest of a book is inimical to its + preservation, and in fact is its enemy. Therefore, a few words upon the + destruction of old bindings. + </p> + <p> + I remember purchasing many years ago at a suburban book stall, a perfect + copy of Moxon's Mechanic Exercises, now a scarce work. The volumes were + uncut, and had the original marble covers. They looked so attractive in + their old fashioned dress, that I at once determined to preserve it. My + binder soon made for them a neat wooden box in the shape of a book, with + morocco back properly lettered, where I trust the originals will be + preserved from dust and injury for many a long year. + </p> + <p> + Old covers, whether boards or paper, should always be retained if in any + state approaching decency. A case, which can be embellished to any extent + looks every whit as well upon the shelf! and gives even greater protection + than binding. It has also this great advantage: it does not deprive your + descendants of the opportunity of seeing for themselves exactly in what + dress the book buyers of four centuries ago received their volumes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. COLLECTORS. + </h2> + <p> + AFTER all, two-legged depredators, who ought to have known better, have + perhaps done as much real damage in libraries as any other enemy. I do not + refer to thieves, who, if they injure the owners, do no harm to the books + themselves by merely transferring them from one set of bookshelves to + another. Nor do I refer to certain readers who frequent our public + libraries, and, to save themselves the trouble of copying, will cut out + whole articles from magazines or encyclopaedias. Such depredations are not + frequent, and only occur with books easily replaced, and do not therefore + call for more than a passing mention; but it is a serious matter when + Nature produces such a wicked old biblioclast as John Bagford, one of the + founders of the Society of Antiquaries, who, in the beginning of the last + century, went about the country, from library to library, tearing away + title pages from rare books of all sizes. These he sorted out into + nationalities and towns, and so, with a lot of hand-bills, manuscript + notes, and miscellaneous collections of all kinds, formed over a hundred + folio volumes, now preserved in the British Museum. That they are of + service as materials in compiling a general history of printing cannot be + denied, but the destruction of many rare books was the result, and more + than counter-balanced any benefit bibliographers will ever receive from + them. When here and there throughout those volumes you meet with titles of + books now either unknown entirely, or of the greatest rarity; when you + find the Colophon from the end, or the "insigne typographi" from the first + leaf of a rare "fifteener," pasted down with dozens of others, varying in + value, you cannot bless the memory of the antiquarian shoemaker, John + Bagford. His portrait, a half-length, painted by Howard, was engraved by + Vertue, and re-engraved for the Bibliographical Decameron. + </p> + <p> + A bad example often finds imitators, and every season there crop up for + public sale one or two such collections, formed by bibliomaniacs, who, + although calling themselves bibliophiles, ought really to be ranked among + the worst enemies of books. + </p> + <p> + The following is copied from a trade catalogue, dated April, 1880, and + affords a fair idea of the extent to which these heartless destroyers will + go:— + </p> + <p> + "MISSAL ILLUMINATIONS. + </p> + <p> + FIFTY DIFFERENT CAPITAL LETTERS <i>on</i> VELLUM; <i>all in rich Gold and + Colours. Many 3 inches square: the floral decorations are of great beauty, + ranging from the XIIth to XVth century. Mounted on stout card-board</i>. + IN NICE PRESERVATION, L6 6<i>s</i>. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + These beautiful letters have been cut from precious + MSS., and as specimens of early art are extremely + valuable, many of them being worth 15<i>s</i>. each." +</pre> + <p> + Mr. Proeme is a man well known to the London dealers in old books. He is + wealthy, and cares not what he spends to carry out his bibliographical + craze, which is the collection of title pages. These he ruthlessly + extracts, frequently leaving the decapitated carcase of the books, for + which he cares not, behind him. Unlike the destroyer Bagford, he has no + useful object in view, but simply follows a senseless kind of + classification. For instance: One set of volumes contains nothing but + copper-plate engraved titles, and woe betide the grand old Dutch folios of + the seventeenth century if they cross his path. Another is a volume of + coarse or quaint titles, which certainly answer the end of showing how + idiotic and conceited some authors have been. Here you find Dr. Sib's + "Bowels opened in Divers Sermons," 1650, cheek by jowl with the discourse + attributed falsely to Huntington, the Calvinist, "Die and be damned," with + many others too coarse to be quoted. The odd titles adopted for his poems + by Taylor, the water-poet, enliven several pages, and make one's mouth + water for the books themselves. A third volume includes only such titles + as have the printer's device. If you shut your eyes to the injury done by + such collectors, you may, to a certain extent, enjoy the collection, for + there is great beauty in some titles; but such a pursuit is neither useful + nor meritorious. By and by the end comes, and then dispersion follows + collection, and the volumes, which probably Cost L200 each in their + formation, will be knocked down to a dealer for L10, finally gravitating + into the South Kensington Library, or some public museum, as a + bibliographical curiosity. The following has just been sold (July, 1880) + by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, in the Dunn-Gardinier collection, + lot 1592:— + </p> + <p> + "TITLEPAGES AND FRONTISPIECES. + </p> + <p> + <i>A Collection of upwards of</i> 800 ENGRAVED TITLES AND FRONTISPIECES, + ENGLISH AND FOREIGN (<i>some very fine and curious) taken from old books + and neatly mounted on cartridge paper in 3 vol, half morocco gilt. imp. + folio</i>." + </p> + <p> + The only collection of title-pages which has afforded me unalloyed + pleasure is a handsome folio, published by the directors of the Plantin + Museum, Antwerp, in 1877, just after the purchase of that wonderful + typographical storehouse. It is called "Titels en Portretten gesneden naar + P. P. Rubens voor de Plantijnsche Drukkerij," and it contains thirty-five + grand title pages, reprinted from the original seventeenth century plates, + designed by Rubens himself between the years 1612 and 1640, for various + publications which issued from the celebrated Plantin Printing Office. In + the same Museum are preserved in Rubens' own handwriting his charge for + each design, duly receipted at foot. + </p> + <p> + I have now before me a fine copy of "Coclusiones siue decisiones antique + dnor' de Rota," printed by Gutenberg's partner, Schoeffer, in the year + 1477. It is perfect, except in a most vital part, the Colophon, which has + been cut out by some barbaric "Collector," and which should read thus: + "Pridie nonis Januarii Mcccclxxvij, in Civitate Moguntina, impressorie + Petrus Schoyffer de Gernsheym," followed by his well-known mark, two + shields. + </p> + <p> + A similar mania arose at the beginning of this century for collections of + illuminated initials, which were taken from MSS., and arranged on the + pages of a blank book in alphabetical order. Some of our cathedral + libraries suffered severely from depredations of this kind. At Lincoln, in + the early part of this century, the boys put on their robes in the + library, a room close to the choir. Here were numerous old MSS., and eight + or ten rare Caxtons. The choir boys used often to amuse themselves, while + waiting for the signal to "fall in," by cutting out with their pen-knives + the illuminated initials and vignettes, which they would take into the + choir with them and pass round from one to another. The Dean and Chapter + of those days were not much better, for they let Dr. Dibdin have all their + Caxtons for a "consideration." He made a little catalogue of them, which + he called "A Lincolne Nosegaye." Eventually they were absorbed into the + collection at Althorp. + </p> + <p> + The late Mr. Caspari was a "destroyer" of books. His rare collection of + early woodcuts, exhibited in 1877 at the Caxton Celebration, had been + frequently augmented by the purchase of illustrated books, the plates of + which were taken out, and mounted on Bristol boards, to enrich his + collection. He once showed me the remains of a fine copy of "Theurdanck," + which he had served so, and I have now before me several of the leaves + which he then gave me, and which, for beauty of engraving and cleverness + of typography, surpasses any typographical work known to me. It was + printed for the Emperor Maximilian, by Hans Schonsperger, of Nuremberg, + and, to make it unique, all the punches were cut on purpose, and as many + as seven or eight varieties of each letter, which, together with the + clever way in which the ornamental flourishes are carried above and below + the line, has led even experienced printers to deny its being typography. + It is, nevertheless, entirely from cast types. A copy in good condition + costs about L50. + </p> + <p> + Many years since I purchased, at Messrs. Sotheby's, a large lot of MS. + leaves on vellum, some being whole sections of a book, but mostly single + leaves. Many were so mutilated by the excision of initials as to be + worthless, but those with poor initials, or with none, were quite good, + and when sorted out I found I had got large portions of nearly twenty + different MSS., mostly Horae, showing twelve varieties of fifteenth + century handwriting in Latin, French, Dutch, and German. I had each sort + bound separately, and they now form an interesting collection. + </p> + <p> + Portrait collectors have destroyed many books by abstracting the + frontispiece to add to their treasures, and when once a book is made + imperfect, its march to destruction is rapid. This is why books like + Atkyns' "Origin and Growth of Printing," 4o, 1664, have become impossible + to get. + </p> + <p> + When issued, Atkyns' pamphlet had a fine frontispiece, by Logan, + containing portraits of King Charles II, attended by Archbishop Sheldon, + the Duke of Albermarle, and the Earl of Clarendon. As portraits of these + celebrities (excepting, of course, the King) are extremely rare, + collectors have bought up this 4o tract of Atkyns', whenever it has been + offered, and torn away the frontispiece to adorn their collection. + </p> + <p> + This is why, if you take up any sale catalogue of old books, you are + certain to find here and there, appended to the description, "Wanting the + title," "Wanting two plates," or "Wanting the last page." + </p> + <p> + It is quite common to find in old MSS., especially fifteenth century, both + vellum and paper, the blank margins of leaves cut away. This will be from + the side edge or from the foot, and the recurrence of this mutilation + puzzled me for many years. It arose from the scarcity of paper in former + times, so that when a message had to be sent which required more + exactitude than could be entrusted to the stupid memory of a household + messenger, the Master or Chaplain went to the library, and, not having + paper to use, took down an old book, and cut from its broad margins one or + more slips to serve his present need. + </p> + <p> + I feel quite inclined to reckon among "enemies" those bibliomaniacs and + over-careful possessors, who, being unable to carry their treasures into + the next world, do all they can to hinder their usefulness in this. What a + difficulty there is to obtain admission to the curious library of old + Samuel Pepys, the well-known diarist. There it is at Magdalene College, + Cambridge, in the identical book-cases provided for the books by Pepys + himself; but no one can gain admission except in company of two Fellows of + the College, and if a single book be lost, the whole library goes away to + a neighbouring college. However willing and anxious to oblige, it is + evident that no one can use the library at the expense of the time, if not + temper, of two Fellows. Some similar restrictions are in force at the + Teylerian Museum, Haarlem, where a lifelong imprisonment is inflicted upon + its many treasures. + </p> + <p> + Some centuries ago a valuable collection of books was left to the + Guildford Endowed Grammar School. The schoolmaster was to be held + personally responsible for the safety of every volume, which, if lost, he + was bound to replace. I am told that one master, to minimize his risk as + much as possible, took the following barbarous course:—As soon as he + was in possession, he raised the boards of the schoolroom floor, and, + having carefully packed all the books between the joists, had the boards + nailed down again. Little recked he how many rats and mice made their + nests there; he was bound to account some day for every single volume, and + he saw no way so safe as rigid imprisonment. + </p> + <p> + The late Sir Thomas Phillipps, of Middle Hill, was a remarkable instance + of a bibliotaph. He bought bibliographical treasures simply to bury them. + His mansion was crammed with books; he purchased whole libraries, and + never even saw what he had bought. Among some of his purchases was the + first book printed in the English language, "The Recuyell of the Histories + of Troye," translated and printed by William Caxton, for the Duchess of + Burgundy, sister to our Edward IV. It is true, though almost incredible, + that Sir Thomas could never find this volume, although it is doubtless + still in the collection, and no wonder, when cases of books bought twenty + years before his death were never opened, and the only knowledge of their + contents which he possessed was the Sale Catalogue or the bookseller's + invoice. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. SERVANTS AND CHILDREN. + </h2> + <p> + READER! are you married? Have you offspring, boys especially I mean, say + between six and twelve years of age? Have you also a literary workshop, + supplied with choice tools, some for use, some for ornament, where you + pass pleasant hours? and is—ah! there's the rub!—is there a + special hand-maid, whose special duty it is to keep your den daily dusted + and in order? Plead you guilty to these indictments? then am I sure of a + sympathetic co-sufferer. + </p> + <p> + Dust! it is all a delusion. It is not the dust that makes women anxious to + invade the inmost recesses of your Sanctum—it is an ingrained + curiosity. And this feminine weakness, which dates from Eve, is a common + motive in the stories of our oldest literature and Folk-lore. What made + Fatima so anxious to know the contents of the room forbidden her by + Bluebeard? It was positively nothing to her, and its contents caused not + the slightest annoyance to anybody. That story has a bad moral, and it + would, in many ways, have been more satisfactory had the heroine been left + to take her place in the blood-stained chamber, side by side with her + peccant predecessors. Why need the women-folk (God forgive me!) bother + themselves about the inside of a man's library, and whether it wants + dusting or not? My boys' playroom, in which is a carpenter's bench, a + lathe, and no end of litter, is never tidied—perhaps it can't be, or + perhaps their youthful vigour won't stand it—but my workroom must + needs be dusted daily, with the delusive promise that each book and paper + shall be replaced exactly where it was. The damage done by such continued + treatment is incalculable. At certain times these observances are kept + more religiously than others; but especially should the book-lover, + married or single, beware of the Ides of March. So soon as February is + dead and gone, a feeling of unrest seizes the housewife's mind. This + increases day by day, and becomes dominant towards the middle of the + month, about which period sundry hints are thrown out as to whether you + are likely to be absent for a day or two. Beware! the fever called "Spring + Clean" is on, and unless you stand firm, you will rue it. Go away, if the + Fates so will, but take the key of your own domain with you. + </p> + <p> + Do not misunderstand. Not for a moment would I advocate dust and dirt; + they are enemies, and should be routed; but let the necessary routing be + done under your own eye. Explain where caution must be used, and in what + cases tenderness is a virtue; and if one Eve in the family can be + indoctrinated with book-reverence you are a happy man; her price is above + that of rubies; she will prolong your life. Books MUST now and then be + taken clean out of their shelves, but they should be tended lovingly and + with judgment. If the dusting can be done just outside the room so much + the better. The books removed, the shelf should be lifted quite out of its + bearings, cleansed and wiped, and then each volume should be taken + separately, and gently rubbed on back and sides with a soft cloth. In + returning the volumes to their places, notice should be taken of the + binding, and especially when the books are in whole calf or morocco care + should be taken not to let them rub together. The best bound books are + soonest injured, and quickly deteriorate in bad company. Certain volumes, + indeed, have evil tempers, and will scratch the faces of all their + neighbours who are too familiar with them. Such are books with metal + clasps and rivets on their edges; and such, again, are those abominable + old rascals, chiefly born in the fifteenth century, who are proud of being + dressed in REAL boards with brass corners, and pass their lives with + fearful knobs and metal bosses, mostly five in number, firmly fixed on one + of their sides. If the tendencies of such ruffians are not curbed, they + will do as much mischief to their gentle neighbours as when a "collie" + worries the sheep. These evil results may always be minimized by placing a + piece of millboard between the culprit and his victim. I have seen lovely + bindings sadly marked by such uncanny neighbours. + </p> + <p> + When your books are being "dusted," don't impute too much common sense to + your assistants; take their ignorance for granted, and tell them at once + never to lift any book by one of its covers; that treatment is sure to + strain the back, and ten to one the weight will be at the same time + miscalculated, and the volume will fall. Your female "help," too, dearly + loves a good tall pile to work at and, as a rule, her notions of the + centre of gravity are not accurate, leading often to a general downfall, + and the damage of many a corner. Again, if not supervised and instructed, + she is very apt to rub the dust into, instead of off, the edges. Each + volume should be held tightly, so as to prevent the leaves from gaping, + and then wiped from the back to the fore-edge. A soft brush will be found + useful if there is much dust. The whole exterior should also be rubbed + with a soft cloth, and then the covers should be opened and the hinges of + the binding examined; for mildew WILL assert itself both inside and + outside certain books, and that most pertinaciously. It has unaccountable + likes and dislikes. Some bindings seem positively to invite damp, and + mildew will attack these when no other books on the same shelf show any + signs of it. When discovered, carefully wipe it away, and then let the + book remain a few days standing open, in the driest and airiest spot you + can select. Great care should be taken not to let grit, such as blows in + at the open window from many a dusty road, be upon your duster, or you + will probably find fine scratches, like an outline map of Europe, all over + your smooth calf, by which your heart and eye, as well as your book, will + be wounded. + </p> + <p> + "Helps" are very apt to fill the shelves too tightly, so that to extract a + book you have to use force, often to the injury of the top-bands. Beware + of this mistake. It frequently occurs through not noticing that one small + book is purposely placed at each end of the shelf, beneath the movable + shelf-supports, thus not only saving space, but preventing the injury + which a book shelf-high would be sure to receive from uneven pressure. + </p> + <p> + After all, the best guide in these, as in many other matters, is "common + sense," a quality which in olden times must have been much more "common" + than in these days, else the phrase would never have become rooted in our + common tongue. + </p> + <p> + Children, with all their innocence, are often guilty of book-murder. I + must confess to having once taken down "Humphrey's History of Writing," + which contains many brightly-coloured plates, to amuse a sick daughter. + The object was certainly gained, but the consequences of so bad a + precedent were disastrous. That copy (which, I am glad to say, was easily + re-placed), notwithstanding great care on my part, became soiled and torn, + and at last was given up to Nursery martyrdom. Can I regret it? surely + not, for, although bibliographically sinful, who can weigh the amount of + real pleasure received, and actual pain ignored, by the patient in the + contemplation of those beautifully-blended colours? + </p> + <p> + A neighbour of mine some few years ago suffered severely from a + propensity, apparently irresistible, in one of his daughters to tear his + library books. She was six years old, and would go quietly to a shelf and + take down a book or two, and having torn a dozen leaves or so down the + middle, would replace the volumes, fragments and all, in their places, the + damage being undiscovered until the books were wanted for use. Reprimand, + expostulation and even punishment were of no avail; but a single + "whipping" effected a cure. + </p> + <p> + Boys, however, are by far more destructive than girls, and have, + naturally, no reverence for age, whether in man or books. Who does not + fear a schoolboy with his first pocket-knife? As Wordsworth did not say:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "You may trace him oft + By scars which his activity has left + Upon our shelves and volumes. * * * + He who with pocket-knife will cut the edge + Of luckless panel or of prominent book, + Detaching with a stroke a label here, a back-band there." + <i>Excursion III, 83</i>. +</pre> + <p> + Pleased, too, are they, if, with mouths full of candy, and sticky fingers, + they can pull in and out the books on your bottom shelves, little knowing + the damage and pain they will cause. One would fain cry out, calling on + the Shade of Horace to pardon the false quantity— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Magna movet stomacho fastidia, si puer unctis + Tractavit volumen manibus." <i>Sat. IV</i>. +</pre> + <p> + What boys CAN do may be gathered from the following true story, sent me by + a correspondent who was the immediate sufferer:— + </p> + <p> + One summer day he met in town an acquaintance who for many years had been + abroad; and finding his appetite for old books as keen as ever, invited + him home to have a mental feed upon "fifteeners" and other bibliographical + dainties, preliminary to the coarser pleasures enjoyed at the + dinner-table. The "home" was an old mansion in the outskirts of London, + whose very architecture was suggestive of black-letter and sheep-skin. The + weather, alas! was rainy, and, as they approached the house, loud peals of + laughter reached their ears. The children were keeping a birthday with a + few young friends. The damp forbad all outdoor play, and, having been left + too much to their own devices, they had invaded the library. It was just + after the Battle of Balaclava, and the heroism of the combatants on that + hard-fought field was in everybody's mouth. So the mischievous young imps + divided themselves into two opposing camps—Britons and Russians. The + Russian division was just inside the door, behind ramparts formed of old + folios and quartos taken from the bottom shelves and piled to the height + of about four feet. It was a wall of old fathers, fifteenth century + chronicles, county histories, Chaucer, Lydgate, and such like. Some few + yards off were the Britishers, provided with heaps of small books as + missiles, with which they kept up a skirmishing cannonade against the foe. + Imagine the tableau! Two elderly gentlemen enter hurriedly, paterfamilias + receiving, quite unintentionally, the first edition of "Paradise Lost" in + the pit of his stomach, his friend narrowly escaping a closer personal + acquaintance with a quarto Hamlet than he had ever had before. Finale: + great outburst of wrath, and rapid retreat of the combatants, many wounded + (volumes) being left on the field. + </p> + <p> + POSTSCRIPTUM. + </p> + <p> + ALTHOUGH, strictly speaking, the following anecdote does not illustrate + any form of real injury to books, it is so racy, and in these days of + extravagant biddings so tantalizing, that I must step just outside the + strict line of pertinence in order to place it on record, It was sent to + me, as a personal experience, by my friend, Mr. George Clulow, a + well-known bibliophile, and "Xylographer" to "Ye Sette of ye Odde + Volumes." The date is 1881. He writes:— + </p> + <p> + "<i>Apropos</i> of the Gainsborough 'find,' of which you tell in 'The + Enemies of Books,' I should like to narrate an experience of my own, of + some twenty years ago: + </p> + <p> + "Late one evening, at my father's house, I saw a catalogue of a sale of + furniture, farm implements and books, which was announced to take place on + the following morning at a country rectory in Derbyshire, some four miles + from the nearest railway station. + </p> + <p> + "It was summer time—the country at its best—and with the + attraction of an old book, I decided on a day's holiday, and eight o'clock + the next morning found me in the train for C——, and after a + variation in my programme, caused by my having walked three miles west + before I discovered that my destination was three miles east of the + railway station, I arrived at the rectory at noon, and found assembled + some thirty or forty of the neighbouring farmers, their wives, + men-servants and maid-servants, all seemingly bent on a day's idling, + rather than business. The sale was announced for noon, but it was an hour + later before the auctioneer put in an appearance, and the first operation + in which he took part, and in which he invited my assistance, was to make + a hearty meal of bread and cheese and beer in the rectory kitchen. This + over, the business of the day began by a sundry collection of pots, pans, + and kettles being brought to the competition of the public, followed by + some lots of bedding, etc. The catalogue gave books as the first part of + the sale, and, as three o'clock was reached, my patience was gone, and I + protested to the auctioneer against his not selling in accordance with his + catalogue. To this he replied that there was not time enough, and that he + would sell the books to-morrow! This was too much for me, and I suggested + that he had broken faith with the buyers, and had brought me to C—— + on a false pretence. This, however, did not seem to disturb his good + humour, or to make him unhappy, and his answer was to call 'Bill,' who was + acting as porter, and to tell him to give the gentleman the key of the + 'book room,' and to bring down any of the books he might pick out, and he + 'would sell 'em.' I followed 'Bill,' and soon found myself in a charming + nook of a library, full of books, mostly old divinity, but with a large + number of the best miscellaneous literature of the sixteenth century, + English and foreign. A very short look over the shelves produced some + thirty Black Letter books, three or four illuminated missals, and some + book rarities of a more recent date. 'Bill' took them downstairs, and I + wondered what would happen! I was not long in doubt, for book by book, and + in lots of two and three, my selection was knocked down in rapid + succession, at prices varying from 1<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. to 3<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>., + this latter sum seeming to be the utmost limit to the speculative turn of + my competitors. The <i>bonne bouche</i> of the lot was, however, kept back + by the auctioneer, because, as he said, it was 'a pretty book,' and I + began to respect his critical judgment, for 'a pretty book' it was, being + a large paper copy of Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron, three volumes, + in the original binding. Suffice it to say that, including this charming + book, my purchases did not amount to L13, and I had pretty well a + cart-load of books for my money—more than I wanted much! Having + brought them home, I 'weeded them out,' and the 'weeding' realised four + times what I gave for the whole, leaving me with some real book treasures. + </p> + <p> + "Some weeks afterwards I heard that the remainder of the books were + literally treated as waste lumber, and carted off to the neighbouring + town, and were to be had, any one of them, for sixpence, from a cobbler + who had allowed his shop to be used as a store house for them. The news of + their being there reached the ears of an old bookseller in one of the + large towns, and he, I think, cleared out the lot. So curious an instance + of the most total ignorance on the part of the sellers, and I may add on + the part of the possible buyers also, I think is worth noting." + </p> + <p> + How would the reader in this Year of Grace, 1887, like such an experience + as that? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_CONC" id="link2H_CONC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CONCLUSION. + </h2> + <p> + IT is a great pity that there should be so many distinct enemies at work + for the destruction of literature, and that they should so often be + allowed to work out their sad end. Looked at rightly, the possession of + any old book is a sacred trust, which a conscientious owner or guardian + would as soon think of ignoring as a parent would of neglecting his child. + An old book, whatever its subject or internal merits, is truly a portion + of the national history; we may imitate it and print it in fac-simile, but + we can never exactly reproduce it; and as an historical document it should + be carefully preserved. + </p> + <p> + I do not envy any man that absence of sentiment which makes some people + careless of the memorials of their ancestors, and whose blood can be + warmed up only by talking of horses or the price of hops. To them solitude + means <i>ennui</i>, and anybody's company is preferable to their own. What + an immense amount of calm enjoyment and mental renovation do such men + miss. Even a millionaire will ease his toils, lengthen his life, and add a + hundred per cent. to his daily pleasures if he becomes a bibliophile; + while to the man of business with a taste for books, who through the day + has struggled in the battle of life with all its irritating rebuffs and + anxieties, what a blessed season of pleasurable repose opens upon him as + he enters his sanctum, where every article wafts to him a welcome, and + every book is a personal friend! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + INDEX. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Academy, The</i>, 23. + Acanis eruditus, 77, 78. + Acts of the Apostles, quoted, 4. + Aglossa pinguinalis, 76. + Albermarle (Duke of), portrait by Logan, 126. + Althorp library, 124. + Anderson (Sir C.), 55. + Anobium paniceum, 77, 78. + Anobium pertinax, 77, 78, 87, 88. + Antiquary, The, 54. + Antwerp, Monks at, 57, 58. + Asbestos fire, 27. + Ashburnham House, Westminster, 10. + Asiarch, an, 7. + Athens, Bookworm from, 81. + Atkyns' Origin and Growth of Printing, 126. + Auctioneer, story of, 145. + Austin Friars, 15. + Bagford (John), the biblioclast, r: 18. + Balaclava, battle of, 143. + Bale, the antiquary, 9. + Bandinel (Dr.), 87, 88. + Beedham, B., 52. + Bible, the first printed, burnt at Strasbourg, 13. + — the "bug" edition, 95. + Bibliophile, pleasures of a, 153. + Bibliotaph, a, 129. + Bibliotheca Ecclesiae Londino-Belgicae, 16. + Binder's creed, 31. + — plough, 105. + Binding, care to be taken of, 134. + — quality of good, 104. + Bird (Rev. -), 55. + Birdsall (Mr.), bookbinder, 80. + Birmingham Riots, 11. + Black-beetles, enemies of books, 94. + Black-letter books in United States, 91. + Blatta germanica, 65. + Boccaccio, 48-50. + Bodleian, hookworms at, 87. + Bookbinders as enemies of books, 103. + Books, absurd lettering, 111. + — burnt at Carthage; at Ephesus, 4. + — burnt in Fire of London, 10. + — burnt by Saracens, 3. + — captured by Corsairs, 18. + — cleaning of, 114. + — deprived of title pages, 118, 119. + Books destroyed at the Reformation, Si. + — dried in an attic, 16. + — examination of old covers, 116. + — how to dust them, 134. + — injured by hacking, i x i. + — lost at sea, 17, 18. + — margin reduced to size, 111. + — mildew in, 136. + — from monasteries destroyed, 9. + — restoration when injured, 114. + — restored after a fire, 15. + — scarce before printing, 2. + — sold to a cobbler, 52, 149. + — too tight on shelves, 137. + — their claims to be preserved, 151. + — used to bake "pyes," 10. + — which scratch one another, 134. + Book-sale in Derbyshire, 145. + Bookworm, the, 67-93. + — attempt to breed, 81-3. + — from Greece, 82. + — in paper box, 89. + — in United States, 91. + Bookworms' progress through books, 84. + — race by, 86. + Bosses on books, 135. + Boys injuring books, 139. + — in library, story of, 140. + Brighton, black letter fragments, 59. + British Museum, Boccaccio's Fall of Princes, 61. + British Museum free from the "worm," 83. + — burnt book exhibited at, 11. + Brown spots in books, 24. + Bruchium, 3. + Burckhardt's Arabic MSS., 77. + "Bug" Bible, 95. + Burgundy (Duchess of), 130. + + Cambridge Market, 97. + Caskets (the three), Shakspeare, 60. + Caspari (Mr.), a collector, 124. + Cassin (Convent of Mount), 49. + Caxton, William, 130. + —his use of waste leaves, 90. + —Canterbury Tales, used to light a fire, 53. + — Golden Legend, ditto, 52. + —Lyf of oure Ladye, 89. + Caxtons saturated by rain, 22. + —spoilt in binding, 107. + —discovered in British Museum, 108. + Charles II, portrait by Logan, 126. + Chasles (Philarete), 52. + Child tearing books, 139. + Children as enemies of books, 138. + Choir boys injuring MSS., 124. + Christians burnt heathen MSS., 7. + early, 6. + Clarendon (Earl of), portrait by Logan, 126. + Clasps on books, injury from, 135. + Clergymen as biblioclasts, 64. + Clulow (Mr. George), 144. + Coal fires objectionable in libraries, 27. + Codfish, book eaten by a, 96. + Cold injures books, 26. + Collectors as enemies of books, 117. + College quadrangle, 41. + Colophon in Schoeffer's book, 123. + Colophons (collections of), I IS. + Commonwealth quartos, 44. + Communal libraries in France, 48. + Cotton library; partially burnt, 10. + Cowper, the poet, on burnt libraries, 12. + Crambus pinguinalis, 76. + Cremona, books destroyed at, 8. + Croton bug, 95. + + Damp, an enemy of books, 24. + Dante, 50. + — The Inferno, 106. + Derbyshire, book sale in, 145. + Dermestes vulpinus, 89. + De Rome, the binder, 47, 48, 110. + De Thou, 110. + Devil worship, 5. + Devon and Exeter Museum, 101. + Diana, Temple of, 6. + Dibdin (Dr.), 110. + —sale of his Decameron, 148. + —his books, 25. + D'Israeli (B.), 17. + Doraston (J.), Poem on Bookworne, 67, 76. + Dust, an enemy of books, 39. + — and neglect in a library, 39-50, 133. + Dusting books-how to do it, 136. + Dutch Church burnt, 15. + — library at Guildhall, 16. + + Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 53. + Edmonds (Mr.), bookseller, 58. + Edward IV, 130. + Edwards (Mr.), bookseller, 18. + Electric light in British Museum, 32. + Ephesus, 5. + "Eracles," 111. + "Evil eye," the, 6. + "Excursion, The," 139. + + Fire, an enemy of books, 1-16. + — of London, 10. + Flint (Weston), account of black-beetles in New York + libraries, 95. + Folklore, ancient, 5. + "Foxey" books, 25. + Francis (St.) and the friars, 37. + French Protestant Church, 53. + Frith (John), 96. + Froissart's Chronicles, 110. + Frost in a library, 26. + + Garnett (Dr.), 81. + Gas injurious, 29-38, + Gatty's (Mrs.) Parables, 76. + German Army at Strasburg, U. + Gesta Romanorum, 66. + Gibbon, the historian, 2. + Glass cases preservative of books, 27. + Golden Legend, by Caxton, 52. + Gordon Riots, 11. + Government officials as biblioclasts, 65. + Grenville (Rt. Hon. Thos.), 56. + Guildford, library at school, 129. + Guildhall, London, library at, 0. + Gutenberg, 123. + — documents concerning, burnt, 13, + Gwyn, Nell, housekeeping book of, 65. + "Gyp" brushing clothes in a library, 44. + + Hannett, on bookbinding, 76. + Havergal (Rev. F. T.), 76. + Heathens burnt Christian MSS., 7. + Heating libraries, 27. + Hebrew books burnt, 8. + Hereford Cathedral library, 76. + Hickman family, 56. + Histories of Troy, 111. + Holme (Mr.), 77. + Hooke (R.), his Micrographia, 71-75. + Horace's Satires, 140. + Hot water pipes for libraries, 26. + House-fly, an enemy of books, 102. + Hudde, Heer, a story of, 17. + Hwqhrey's History of Writing, 138. + Hypothenemus eruditus, 76. + + Ignorance and Bigotry, P-66. + Illuminated letters fatal to books, 51. + — initials, collections of, 123. + Indulgence of 15th Century spoilt by a binder, 109. + Inquisition in Holland, 63. + + Kirby and Spence on Entomologists, 75, 101. + Knobs of metal on bindings, 135. + Koran, The, 7. + + Lamberhurst, 61. + Lamport Hall, 58. + Lansdowne Collection of MSS., 60. + Latterbury, copy of, at St. Martin's, 54. + Leather destroyed by gas, 30. + Lepisma, 96. + — mistaken for bookworm, 75. + Libraries + burnt: by Caesar, 3. + —- at Dutch Church, 15. + —- at Strasbourg, 13. + neglected in England, 15, 22, 40. + at Alexandria, 3. + of the Ptolemies) 3. + Library Journal, The, 94. + Lincoln Cathedral MSS., 124. + Lincolne Nosegaye, 124. + London Institution, 31. + Lubbock (Sir J.), 90. + Luke's, St., account of destruction of books, 4. + Luxe des Livres, 47. + Luxury and learning, 42. + + Machlinia, book printed by, 106. + Magdalene College, Cambridge, 128. + Maitland (Rev. S. R.), 54. + Mansfield (Lord), ij. + MS. Plays burnt, 60. + Manuscripts, fragments of, 126. + Margins of books cut away, 49, 127. + Maximilian (The Emperor), 125. + Mazarin library, Caxton in, 52. + Metamorphoses of Ovid, by Caxton, 10. + Micrographia, by R. Hooke, 71. + Middleburgh, 17. + Mildew in books, 136. + Minorite friars, 37. + Missal illuminations, sale of, 119. + Mohammed's reason for destroying books, 7. + Mohammed II throws books into the sea, 21. + Monks at Monte Cassino, 49. + Mould in books, 24. + Mount Cassin, library at, 50. + Moxon's Mechanic Exercises, 115. + Muller (M.), of Amsterdam, 62. + + Newmarsh (Rev. C. F.), 54. + Niptus Hololeucos, 101. + Noble (Mr.), on Parish Registers, 61. + Notes and Queries, 77. + + Oak Chest, 44. + OEcophora pseudospretella, 79. + Offer Collection of Bunyans, 14. + On, Priests of, 69. + Overall (Mr.), Librarian at Guildhall, 16. + Ovid, Metamorphoses by Caxton, 10. + Oxenforde, Lyf of therle, 10. + + Paper improperly bleached, 25. + Papyrus, 68. + Paradise Lost, 142. + Parchment, slips of, in old books, 112. + Parish Registers, carelessness, 62. + Parnell's Ode, 70. + Patent Office, destruction of literature at, 65. + Paternoster Row, io. + Paul, St., 6. + Pedlar buying old books, 54, 55. + Peignot and hookworms, 79. + Pepys (Samuel), his library, 128. + Petit (Pierre), poem on bookworm, 70. + Philadelphia, wormhole at, 92. + Phillipps (Sir Thos.), 129. + Pieces of silver or denarii, 5. + Pinelli (Maffei), library of, 18. + Plantin Museum, 122. + policemen in Ephesus, 7. + Portrait collectors, 127. + Priestley (Dr.), library burnt, 11, 12. + Printers, the first, 13. + Printers' marks, collection of, 119. + — ink and bookworms, 80. + Probrue (Mr.), 120. + Ptolemies, the Egyptian, 3. + Puttick and Simpson, 15. + Pynson's Fall of Princes, 61. + + Queen Elizabeth's prayer-book, 98. + Quaint titles, collections of, 121. + Quadrangle of an old College described) 41. + + Rain an enemy to books, 21. + Rats eat books, 97. + Recollet monks of Antwerp, 57. + -Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, 130. + Reformation, destruction of books at, 9. + Restoration of burnt books, 11. + Richard of Bury, 47. + Ringwalt's Encyclopaedia, 92. + Rivets on books, 135. + Rood and Hunte, 53. + Rot caused by rain, 21. + Royal Society, London, 71. + Rubens' engraved titles in Plantin Museum, 122. + — autograph receipts, 122. + Ruins of fire at Sotheby and Wilkinson's, 14. + Rye (W. B.), 61, 83. + St. Albans, Boke of, 54. + St. Martin's-le-Grand, French church, 53. + St. Paul's Cathedral, books burnt in vaults of, 10. + Sale catalogues, extracts from, 119. + Schoeffer (P.), 123. + Schonsperger (Hans), 125. + Schoolmaster and endowed library, 129. + Scorched book at British Museum, 11. + Scrolls of magic, 6. + Serpent worship, 5. + Servants and children as enemies of books, 131-144. + Shakesperian discoveries, 58. + "Shavings" of binders, 31. + Sheldon (Archbishop), portrait by Logan, 126. + Sib's Bowels opened, 121. + Smith (Mr.), Brighton bookseller, 64. + Sotheby and Wilkinson, 125. + — fire at their rooms, 14. + Spring clean, horrors of, 133. + Stark (Mr.), bookseller, 55-58. + Stealing a Caxton, 54. + Steam press, 40. + Strasbourg, siege of, 13. + Sun-light of gas, 29, 32. + Sun worship, 5. + Sylvester's Laws of Verse, 71. + + Taylor, the water-poet, 121. + Teylerian Museum, Haarlem, 128. + Theurdanck, prints in, 125. + Thonock Hall, library Of, 56. + Timmins (Mr.), 50. + Title-pages, collections sold, 122. + — volumes of, 118. + Title-pages, old Dutch, 120. + Tomicus Typographus, iox. + + Utramontane Society, called "Old paper," 63, + Unitarian library, 13, + Universities destroy books, 9. + + Value of books burnt by St. Paul, 4. + Vanderberg (M.), 57. + Vermin book-enemies, 94-102. + Pox Piscis, 96. + + Washing old books, x6. + Water an enemy of books, 17-28. + Waterhouse (Mr.), Si. + Werdet (Edmond), 48, 57. + Westbrook (W. J.), 102. + Westminster Chapter-house, 97. + — skeletons of rats, 97. + White (Adam), 83. + Wolfenbuttel, library at, 23. + Woodcuts, a Caxton celebration, 124. + Wynken de Worde, fragment, 59. + + Ximenes (Cardinal) destroys copies of the Koran, 8. +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1302 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |