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diff --git a/22716.txt b/22716.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..319751e --- /dev/null +++ b/22716.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10371 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book-Hunter at Home, by P. B. M. Allan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Book-Hunter at Home + +Author: P. B. M. Allan + +Release Date: September 22, 2007 [EBook #22716] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK-HUNTER AT HOME *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes and the booksmiths +at http://www.eBookForge.net + + + + + +THE BOOK-HUNTER AT HOME. + +_Of this edition 500 copies have been printed, and 50 upon fine paper._ + +[Illustration: THE BOOK-HUNTER AT HOME (JAN SIX, BY REMBRANDT)] + + +THE BOOK-HUNTER AT HOME + +BY P. B. M. ALLAN + +THE SECOND EDITION, REVISED + +[Illustration] + +LONDON +PHILIP ALLAN & CO. +QUALITY COURT, CHANCERY LANE + +_First Edition_--1920 + +_Second Edition_--1922 + +PRINTED BY WHITEHEAD BROTHERS, WOLVERHAMPTON. + + + + +THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY + +TO THE HONOURABLE AND VERTUOUS LADY MISTRESS E. K. A. + + MADAM, + + It would be churlish indeed were I to send this book into the + world without some acknowledgment of the share which you have had + in its making. Indeed, I feel that you are chiefly responsible + for it: without your encouragement, your active help, your + patience with me at all times (at which I marvel constantly), it + would never have arrived at completion. Truly it is your name, + not mine, that should appear upon the title-page; for although + mine may have been the hand that penned the words, certain it is + that yours was the mind that guided my pen throughout. It is to + your sympathy, your judgment, your excellent taste, that I am + indebted for every good thing that I have penned; and where I + have put down aught that is trite or insipid, it is due to my + own natural obstinacy in refusing, or carelessness in neglecting, + to defer the matter to your better judgment. Thus it is only + right that whatever praise may be bestowed upon this book should + be accorded to you; my shoulders alone must bear the censure of + the discerning reader. + + I am, Madam, your very dutiful, + and loving husband, + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +PREFACE + + + In placing this second edition before his fellow book-lovers, the + author would like to take the opportunity of thanking the + numerous correspondents who have written to him from all parts of + the world. In truth book-collecting establishes a bond between + its devotees that is effected by no other pursuit. + + The first edition was put forth only after much hesitation, and + with a good deal of fear and trembling: that a second edition + would ever be required was unthinkable. But since the book has so + obviously been the means of bringing pleasure to so many, the + author feels that it is his duty to bring this second edition 'up + to date,' to make it as perfect as his poor skill allows. + Accordingly the volume has been revised throughout, a number of + additions have been made, both to the text and in the matter of + footnotes, and the prices of books have been amended according to + present conditions. Three illustrations have been added. + QUALITY COURT, + July, 1921. + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAP PAGE + I. ADVENTURES AMONG BOOKS 1 + II. THE LIBRARY 31 + III. BOOKS WHICH FORM THE LIBRARY 58 + IV. CHIVALRY AND ROMANCE 84 + V. THE CARE OF BOOKS 106 + VI. THE CARE OF BOOKS (_Continued_) 126 + VII. BOOKS OF THE COLLECTOR 160 +VIII. A PLEA FOR SPECIALISM 194 + IX. A PLEA FOR SPECIALISM (_Continued_) 230 + INDEX 267 + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +THE BOOK-HUNTER AT HOME _frontispiece_ +THE PERON page 96 +THE HALL OF THE KNIGHTS " 104 +THE HOME-MADE LIBRARY " 128 + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ADVENTURES AMONG BOOKS + + 'Thou shalt make castels thanne in Spayne.' + +CHAUCER. + + +IT is a sad truth that bargains are met with more frequently in our youth +than in our age. The sophist may argue that age begets philosophy, and +that philosophy contemns all worldly things; yet certain it is that the +book-hunter, one of the most philosophical of beings, remains on the +look-out for bargains to the very end of his career. Nevertheless, it is +a fact that in youth alone do we make those great bargains which lay the +foundations of our careers as book-hunters. + +It is this sad truth which fosters in most of us the belief that we live +in a decadent age, and that the days of our youth were infinitely more +seemly than those which we now endure. But it is we who have changed: the +bargains are still there, and may still be had at the cost of youthful +energy and enthusiasm. + +'Ah, but you can't get the bargains nowadays that you could when I was a +young man,' says the elderly bookseller, with a knowing shake of his +head. Can't you! Then mankind must have changed strangely since the +period of this sage's youth. Bargains, and rich ones too, in everything +that is bought and sold, are made every day and will continue to be made +so long as human nature endures, bargains in books no less among them. + +The rich finds of which the aged bookseller dreams are bargains only in +the light of present-day prices. As a matter of fact, the great majority +of them were not really bargains at all. He may bitterly lament having +parted with a copy of the first edition of the 'Compleat Angler,' in the +'sixties for twenty guineas, but he overlooks the fact that that was then +its market value. Had he asked a thousand pounds for it, his sanity would +certainly have been open to question. 'Why, when I was a boy,' he says, +'you could buy first editions of Shelley, Keats, or Scott for pence.' +Precisely: which was their current value; by no stretch of the +imagination can they be considered bargains. His business is, and has +always been, to buy and sell; not to hoard books on the chance that they +will become valuable 'some day.' Neither can it be urged that 'people' +(by which he means collectors) 'did not know so much about books fifty +years ago.' Collectors know, and have ever known, all that they need for +the acquisition of their particular _desiderata_. If they were ignorant +of the prices which volumes common in their day would realise at some +future period, why, so were the dealers and every one else concerned! +Judging by analogy, we have every reason to believe that many volumes +which we come across almost daily on the bookstalls, marked, perhaps, a +few pence, will be fought for one day across the auction-room table. + +The chief reason why the elderly bookseller no longer comes across these +advantageous purchases is that he has passed the age (though he does not +know it) at which bargains are to be had. But bargains are not +encountered, they are made. It is the youthful vigour and enthusiasm of +the young collector, prompting him into the byways and alleys of +book-land, that bring bargains to his shelves. + +So, if you are young and enthusiastic, and not to be deterred by a series +of wild-goose chases, happy indeed will be your lot. For over the +post-prandial pipe you will be able to hand such and such a treasure to +your admiring fellow-spirit, saying: 'This I picked up for _n_-pence in +Camden Town; this one cost me _x_-shillings at Poynder's in Reading: +Iredale of Torquay let me have this for a florin; I found this on the +floor in a corner of Commin's shop at Bournemouth; this was on David's +stall at Cambridge, and I nearly lost it to the fat don of King's'; and +so on and so on. + +Bargains, forsooth! Our book-hunter was once outbid at Sotheby's for a +scarce volume which he found, a week later, on a barrow in Clerkenwell +for fourpence! The same year he picked up for ten shillings, in London, +an early sixteenth-century folio, rubricated and with illuminated +initials. It was as fresh as when it issued from the press, and in the +original oak and pig-skin binding. He failed to trace the work in any of +the bibliographies, nor could the British Museum help him to locate +another copy. David's stall at Cambridge once yielded to him a scarce +Defoe tract for sixpence. But this being, as Master Pepys said, 'an idle +rogueish book,' he sold it to a bookseller for two pounds, 'that it might +not stand in the list of books, nor among them, to disgrace them, if it +should be found.' A copy has recently fetched twenty guineas. + +Doubtless every bibliophile is perpetually on the look-out for treasures, +and it is essential that he learn, early in his career, to make up his +mind at once concerning an out-of-the-way book. He who hesitates is lost, +and this is doubly true of the book-collector. More than once in his +early days of collecting has our book-hunter hesitated and finally left a +book, only to dash back--perhaps a few hours later, perhaps next day--and +find it gone. + +Once upon a time a spotlessly clean little square octavo volume of +Terence, printed in italics, caught his eye upon a bookstall. One +shilling was its ransom, but it was not the price that deterred him so +much as the fact that every available nook and corner of his sanctum was +already filled to overflowing with books. 'A nice clean copy of an +early-printed book,' he mused. But early-printed books were not in his +line--then; had they been in those early days of book-hunting, his +library would have been slow indeed of growth. So he passed on and left +it. + +All that evening the memory of the little square volume would keep +recurring most absurdly. He didn't want it, it was not in his line, he +would never read it, and so on and so on. But over his pipe that evening +the colophon '. . . . _studio & impensis Philippi de Giunta florentini +. . ., 1505_,' came back to his memory; he must have been mad not to have +bought it at that price, and such a fine copy too. And so to bed, sorely +harassed in his bibliophilic mind. + +Next morning he awoke sane and conscious of his folly. An early visit to +the bookstall followed, but the little volume had gone; and it was not +comforting to learn that it had been sold shortly after our bookman saw +it, to a man who 'knew a lot about that kind of books.' Let us hope that +the purchaser treasures the little square volume, printed in italics, as +much as our friend would. + +What poignant memories they are, these memories of rare books which we +have found and failed to secure! Two prominent instances of our bookman's +folly stand out with bitter clearness, ever fresh in his memory as a +reminder of the criminal stupidity of procrastination. One was an +exceedingly scarce work by Lawrence Humphrey, entitled 'Optimates sive De +Nobilitate eiusque Antiqua Origine,' printed in small octavo at Basle in +1560, which he once saw in a catalogue for five shillings. He sent for it +three days after the receipt of the catalogue, and of course it had gone. +The other was an unknown, or at least undescribed, edition of Osorio's +'De Gloria et Nobilitate,' printed at Barcelona in the early part of the +sixteenth century. He lost this in the same manner, at two shillings! +Perhaps, however, you too have been guilty of these lapses, reader? +_Semel insanivimus omnes._ Experience is better than advice, and for his +part our book-hunter will not be caught napping again. The following +incident will show you, moreover, that it is not always safe to order +books from a catalogue even by return of post. + +For many years he had searched in vain for that rarest of all English +heraldry books (though not properly English, for it is in the Latin +tongue), the 'De Studio Militari, Libri Quatuor' of Master Nicholas +Upton. It was edited by Sir Edward Bysshe, and printed in folio at London +in 1654. The numerous booksellers in London and the country from whom he +sought it had never seen it; indeed, most of them were unaware of its +existence, though it is well known to all heralds. + +At length, coming home late one night, our book-hunter found on his table +a catalogue from a bookseller who seems to garner more out-of-the-way +books than any of his fellows. His catalogues are issued very frequently, +for he has a large and quick sale, pricing most of his wares at less than +five shillings. Moreover, the fact that the books described therein are +thrown together without any attempt at classification, even alphabetical, +serves but to add a zest to the repast. But our book-hunter was tired, +and his evil star was in the ascendant, for he went to bed leaving the +catalogue unopened. + +Reading it over a late breakfast next morning, upon the last page he came +across the following entry:-- + + Uptoni (Nich.) De Studio Militari. Johan de Bado Aureo, Tractatus + de Armis. Henrici Spelmanni Aspilogia. Folio, calf. _Scarce._ 8s. + 6d. + +Scarce, indeed! In less than five minutes he was driving hot-haste to the +shop. + +Of course it was sold: sold by _telegram dispatched the night before_. He +was allowed to see it, even to handle it, and he frankly confesses that +murderous thoughts rose within him as he held it in his hands. . . . The +bookseller was an old man . . . the shop was very dark . . . just a push, +and perhaps one firm application _super caput_ of a large-paper copy of +Camden's 'Britannia' which lay handy upon the table. . . . But I am glad +to say that our bookman's better nature prevailed, and sorrowfully he +returned the volume to the dealer's hands. Did he know the customer, and +if so would he try to buy it back? Certainly he would. A week later came +a letter saying that the customer was also a collector of these things, +but that he was willing to part with it 'at a price.' Unfortunately his +price was not our book-hunter's, and he failed to secure the +treasure--then. + +Now comes the more pleasant sequel. About a year later, coming home in +the small hours from a dance, our bookman found a catalogue from this +same bookseller on his table. Although tired out, his previous bitter +experience had taught him a lesson; so pulling up a chair before the +remains of the fire he proceeded to skim through the catalogue. He had +reached the last page, and was already beginning to nod, when suddenly +his weariness vanished in a flash: he was wide awake and on his feet in +an instant, for his eyes had met the same entry that had thrilled him a +year ago. This time it was described as 'very scarce,' and the price was +considerably enhanced; but he had his coat on and was in the street +almost immediately. + +The nearest telegraph office likely to be open at such an hour was a mile +away, and it was a miserable night, snowing and blowing; but no weather +would have deterred him. So the telegram was safely dispatched, and he +returned to bed, pinning a notice on the bedroom door to the effect that +he was to be called, without fail, at seven o'clock. + +That night he was obsessed by Uptons of all shapes and sizes. Some he +beheld with agony, cut down by the ruthless binder to duodecimo size; +others there were no larger than Pickering's Diamond Classics; some (on +his chest) were of a size which I can only describe as 'Atlas,' or, +perhaps more appropriately, 'Elephant Folio,' large-paper copies with +hideous margins. + +Next morning our bookman was at the shop betimes. Yes! his wire had +arrived; Upton was his at last! Should the dealer send it for him by +carrier? Carrier, forsooth! As well entrust the Koh-i-noor to a messenger +boy. Of course it was the same copy that our friend had missed +previously, the owner having sold his books _en bloc_ in the meantime. + +Why Upton is so scarce it is hard to say; perhaps very few copies were +printed, or perhaps a fire at the printer's destroyed most of them. +Certain it is that the premises of James Allestry and Roger Norton, who +published the book, were both burnt in the great fire twelve years after +its publication. Besides the two copies in the British Museum, there are +examples of it in several of the ancient libraries throughout the +kingdom; but it is very rarely indeed to be met with in the London +salerooms.[1] Dallaway mentions two copies as being, in 1793, in the +library of Lord Carlisle at Naworth; and probably there are examples in +some of the libraries of our older nobility. There would seem to be +copies, also, in France; for several writers upon chivalry, such as La +Roque and Sainte Marie, make mention of it. The writer bought a portion +of it, some forty-eight pages, a few years ago for four shillings. But +take heart, brother bibliophile; it is quite possible that you may +unearth a copy some day--if indeed the book be in your line--long buried +in the dust of some old country bookshop. + +Upton died in 1457, and his work was so popular that numerous copies of +the manuscript were made. The treatise on coat-armour, or 'cootarmuris,' +as it is quaintly spelt, which comprises the third part of the 'Book of +Saint Albans' (first printed in 1486), is, for the greater part, a +literal translation of the second half of the fourth book of the 'De +Studio Militari' as printed by Bysshe. Ames, in his 'Typographical +Antiquities,' asserts that Upton's work was reprinted from the St. +Albans book in folio, 1496, 'with the King's Arms and Caxton's mark +printed in red ink.' But he gives no authority for his assertion, and it +seems doubtful whether such a volume ever existed. At all events there +does not appear to be any trace of such a book beyond this mention, and +Herbert, editing Ames, omitted the whole passage. Hain,[2] probably +copying Ames, calls this supposititious work 'De Re Heraldica,' and +states that it was printed at Westminster in 1496 'Anglice.' So much for +worthy Master Nicholas, Canon of Salisbury and protege of the 'good duke +Humfrey.' + +There is a curious phenomenon of not infrequent occurrence among +book-collectors, and that is the enforced acquisition of certain volumes +solely by means of the passive persuasion of their presence. In other +words, it is possible to bully the bibliophile into purchasing a book +merely by obtruding it continually before his gaze, till at length its +very presence becomes a source of annoyance to him. To escape from this +incubus he purchases the volume. + +In nine cases out of ten, books so acquired never attain the same status +as their fellow-volumes. They are invariably assigned either to the +lowest or topmost shelves of the library, and are, in fact, pariahs. +Their owner did not really want them, and he can never quite forgive +their presence on his shelves. Generally their stay in any one home is +not a long one, for they are weeded out at the first opportunity, and +find no permanent rest until they come finally to that ultimate goal of +books, the paper mills. I confess that in my early days of +collecting this phenomenon was of not infrequent occurrence, being +associated, probably, with the indecision of youth. And in this +connection a bookseller once told me an interesting story. + +A certain young man of the working class, on his way to work every day, +used to pass a bookstall situated in a narrow alley. Every day he glanced +at the books, and as custom was scanty he would notice what books were +sold and with what works the bookseller filled the empty places on the +shelves. In this way all of the books which the young man had first +noticed gradually disappeared, with one exception. This was a volume +bound in calf, containing some rather curious poems, and no one seemed to +want it. At length, after some weeks, the young man could stand it no +longer. He approached the bookseller, and for sixpence the volume became +his. + +The verses seemed to him rather poor, though one entitled 'Hans Carvel' +amused him rather. The title-page bore the date 1707, and he wondered who +was the 'E. Curll at the Peacock without Temple-Bar,' for whom the work +was printed. Some time afterwards he read in the newspaper that a certain +book had been sold for a large sum because of a misprint in it. This set +him wondering . . . 'at the Peacock _without_ Temple-Bar . . .' +Temple-Bar without a peacock he could imagine: surely this was a +misprint! Perhaps the book was valuable, and others had not 'spotted' the +error! + +And now he bethought him of an acquaintance who kept a bookshop in the +West End of the town, a man who knew a lot about old books. He would take +it to him and ask his advice. So, one Saturday afternoon he carried his +'treasure' to the shop in question. Inside, an elderly man was examining +a calf-bound volume. + +'. . . the first authentic edition, seventeen hundred and nine,' he was +saying. + +The young man glanced at the volume under discussion, and as a page was +turned he caught sight of the heading 'Hans Carvel.' Good gracious; this +volume was the same as his! Just then the elderly man looked up, and the +young fellow handed his volume to the bookseller, saying: 'Here's another +one, same as that, but mine's got something wrong on the front page.' + +The bookseller opened the newcomer's volume, looked at the title-page, +and handed it without a word to his customer, who took it with a look of +surprise. + +'Something wrong?' said he, 'why, bless me, what's this--1707--that +rascal Curll's edition--where did you get this?' + +The young man told him, adding that he gave sixpence for it. + +'Sixpence, did you?' said the connoisseur; 'well, I'll give you six +guineas for it': which he did, there and then. + +It was a copy of the rare 'pirated' collection of his poems, published +without Matt Prior's knowledge, some two years before the first authentic +edition appeared. Some years later, when the elderly collector died, this +volume came to the saleroom with the rest of his books. It realised forty +pounds! So much for the ugly duckling. + +What an absorbing topic is that of 'lost books'! There is a fascination +about the subject that every bibliophile must have experienced. 'Hope +springs eternal in the human breast,' and it is impossible to read of +books long lost without making a mental note of their titles in the hope +that some day we may come across them. Perhaps it is these memories, +pigeon-holed in our mind, that add a zest to anticipation whenever we go +book-hunting on our travels. But alas! the reward for the bibliophile's +hope in this direction is rare as the blossoming of the aloe. + +It is curious to think of the thousands of books that have completely +disappeared. Nowadays the Act which assures the preservation in our +greater libraries of every book published in this country will doubtless +prevent the disappearance of a good many English books of lesser +importance, such as school books and other works that are quickly +superseded. But before the passing of this Act there was nothing to +prevent an unpopular or useless work from becoming extinct, and vast +numbers must have disappeared in this country alone. There are many +books, however, important books even, and books which we know to have +been immensely popular in their day, of which so much as a glimpse has +been denied us. The 1606 octavo of 'The Passionate Pilgrim,' the first +issue of John Barclay's satirical romance 'Euphormionis Lusinini +Satyricon,' published at London in 1603, the 'Famous Historie of the +Vertuous and Godly Woman Judith,' London, 1565 (of which a title-page has +been preserved), what would not every book-collector give for copies of +these? + +Then there are such early-printed works as Caxton's translation of the +Metamorphoses of Ovid, probably published by him about 1480, 'The Life of +St. Margaret' (known by three leaves preserved in the Bodleian), the +'goste of guido' or Ghost of Guy, and the Epitaph of the King of +Scotland, all printed by Pynson, as well as that mysterious volume +ycleped 'The Nigramansir,' said to be by John Skelton the poet-laureate +who lived under five kings and died in 1529. Many of Skelton's works, +perhaps even the majority of his writings, are known to us by title and +hearsay alone; but who shall say that his 'Speculum Principis,' or 'the +Commedy Achademios callyd by name,' which he himself mentions, are lost +beyond all hope of recovery? 'The Nigramansir' was actually seen by +Thomas Warton, the poet-laureate, in the 'fifties of the eighteenth +century, and is described by him in some detail. His account is so +interesting that it deserves quoting. + +'I cannot quit Skelton,' he writes, 'without restoring to the public +notice a play, or MORALITY, written by him, not recited in any catalogue +of his works, or annals of English typography; and, I believe, at present +totally unknown to the antiquarians in this sort of literature. It is, +_The_ NIGRAMANSIR, _a morall_ ENTERLUDE _and a pithie written by Maister_ +SKELTON _laureate and plaid before the king and other estatys at +Woodstock on Palme Sunday._ It was printed by Wynkin de Worde in a thin +quarto, in the year 1504.' + +Against this Warton makes the following note: 'My lamented friend Mr. +William Collins . . . . shewed me this piece at Chichester, not many +months before his death (Collins died in 1759), and he pointed it out as +a very rare and valuable curiosity. He intended to write the History of +the Restoration of Learning under Leo the Tenth, and with a view to that +design had collected many scarce books. Some few of these fell into my +hands at his death. The rest, among which, I suppose, was this Interlude, +were dispersed.' + +Warton then goes on to describe the book in detail, and this +circumstance, together with the fact that he quotes one of the stage +directions ('_enter Balsebub with a Berde_') seems to point to the fact +that he actually had the volume in his hands. It concerned the trial of +Simony and Avarice, with the Devil as Judge. 'The characters are a +Necromancer or Conjurer, the Devil, a Notary Public, Simonie, and +Philargyria or Avarice. . . . There is no sort of propriety in calling +this play the Necromancer: for the only business and use of this +character is to open the subject in a long prologue.'[3] Unfortunately +there is no other mention of this interesting work, and of recent years +its very existence has been doubted. + +'It was at Chichester,' wrote Hazlitt, 'that the poet Collins brought +together a certain number of early books, some of the first rarity; his +name is found, too, in the sale catalogues of the last century as a buyer +of such; and the strange and regrettable fact is that two or three items +which Thomas Warton actually saw in his hands, and of which there are no +known duplicates, have not so far been recovered.' Mr. Gordon Duff, in +his 'English Provincial Printers,' mentions seventeen books described by +Herbert at the end of the eighteenth century, of which no copies are now +known to exist. Another rare volume is known to have existed about the +same time. A copy, the only one known, of 'The Fabulous Tales of Esope +the Phrygian' by Robert Henryson, published at London in 1577, was +formerly in the library of Syon College; for it is included in Reading's +catalogue of that college library, compiled in 1724. But its whereabouts +is now unknown. Fortunately in this case a later edition has survived. + +Another mysterious volume is the treatise concerning Elizabeth Barton, +the Maid of Kent, who was burnt at Tyburn in 1534. Cranmer, describing +her story to a friend, writes: 'and a boke (was) written of all the hole +storie thereof, and putt into prynte, which euer syns that tyme hath byn +comonly sold and goone abrod amongs all people.' From the confession of +John Skot, the printer of this work, at the trial, it seems that seven +hundred copies were printed; but no copy is now known to exist. + +Other works there are as yet unseen by bibliographer, such as Markham's +'Thyrsis and Daphne,' a poem printed in 1593, and the 1609 and 1612 +quartos of Ben Jonson's 'Epicoene or the Silent Woman.' This last was +seen by William Gifford a century ago, but neither is now known to exist. +Or is a copy extant of Horace's 'Art of Poetry' english'd by Jonson and +published so late as 1640. Alas! the list of works by 'rare Ben Jonson' +now lost to us, it is feared, for ever, is quite a lengthy one. Who has +seen the original issue of 'Gude and Godlie Ballatis,' printed at +Edinburgh in 1546? Of this book it has been said that, after the Bible, +it did more for the spread of Reformation doctrines in Scotland than any +other volume; so presumably a fairly large edition was printed. + +That the editions of some of these early-printed books, now with us no +more, were of considerable size may be judged from contemporary evidence +of their widespread popularity. Speaking of the 'Morte d'Arthur,' Mr. E. +G. Duff remarks: 'Of the popularity of the book we have striking +evidence. Of Caxton's edition two copies are known, of which one is +imperfect.[4] The second edition, printed by Wynkin de Worde in 1498, is +known from one copy only, which is imperfect; while the third edition, +also printed by de Worde is, again, only known from one imperfect copy. +It may well be, considering these facts, that there were other +intervening editions which have entirely disappeared.' + +Of the thirteen early editions of Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis' only +twenty-two copies have so far been traced. Yet if each of these editions +comprised only 250 copies, the tale of survivors is not large out of a +total of 3,250. 'Printers and publishers . . . strained their resources +to satisfy the demands of eager purchasers,' remarks Sir Sidney Lee; so +presumably the estimate of 250 per edition is a conservative one. + +Where are these volumes now? It is difficult to believe they have been +utterly destroyed, leaf by leaf, so that no vestige of them any longer +exists. Surely they will turn up at an auction sale some day, for they +may well be safely ensconced, at this very moment, on the shelves of some +neglected country library. Mr. Duff himself records the discovery +recently of a copy of Caxton's 'Speculum,' 'amongst some rubbish in the +offices of a solicitor at Birkenhead.' + +What a vast number of books there is, also, of which only one copy is +known to exist. Of the early editions of Shakespeare's plays alone, more +than a dozen are known by solitary examples. Of such books Hazlitt +remarks that he 'has met in the course of a lengthened career with +treasures which would make a small library, and has beheld no +duplicates.' Probably many of these _incognita_ and _rarissima_ perished +in the great fire of London; others again met their fate solely through +their own popularity, being 'thumbed' to pieces. In 1494 Pynson thought +well enough to reprint Caxton's 'Book of Good Manners'; but of this once +popular book one copy only--that which was formerly in the Amherst +Library--now survives. + +Then there is that ancient romance of European popularity 'The four Sons +of Aymon.' One of the great cycle of Charlemagne romances, such was its +popularity that by the end of the thirteenth century it had penetrated +even to Iceland. Many and various were the editions that issued from the +early presses. Caxton printed it about 1489, but of this thick quarto +impression one imperfect copy only has survived. A second edition, as we +learn from the colophon of the third edition, was 'imprinted at London by +Wynken de Worde, the viii daye of Maye, and the year of our lorde +M.CCCCC. iiii'; but a solitary leaf, discovered in the binding of an +ancient book, is the sole representative of an edition that ran probably +into several hundreds. + +In the case of some at least of these early books there is another reason +for their disappearance and scarcity. Stephen Vaughan, the indefatigable +agent of Mr. Secretary Cromwell, writing to his master from Antwerp, +mentions that he is 'muche desirous t'atteyne the knowlage of the Frenche +tonge,' but that he is unable to obtain a copy of the only primer which +he knows to exist. This volume, called 'L'Esclarcissement de la Langue +Francoyse,' was 'compose par Maistre Jehan Palsgraue, Angloys, natyf de +Londres et gradue de Paris,' and was printed by Pynson, though it was +finished and published by Hawkins in 1530. + +Palsgrave, the author, seems to have been determined that his book should +not fall into the hands of other teachers of French (he was 'scolemaster' +to the Princess Mary, sister of Henry VIII., in 1513, at a stipend of L6 +13s. 4d.); and although Vaughan writes that he 'made not a letle labour +to Mr. Palsgrave to have one of his books,' yet 'in no wise he wolde +graunt for no price.' So Vaughan entreats Thomas Cromwell to obtain a +copy for him, 'not doubtyng but though he unkyndly denyd me one, he will +not denye youe one.' + +Apparently Palsgrave had entered into some kind of arrangement with the +printer, for Vaughan writes that he 'hathe willed Pynson to sell none of +them to any other person than to suche as he shall comaunde to have them, +lest his proffit by teching the Frenche tonge myght be mynished by the +sale of the same to suche persons as, besids hym, wern disposed to studye +the sayd tongue.' + +From this premise it is easy to understand why 'L'Esclarcissement' is +such a rare book. Very few copies indeed are known to exist. Yet one +cannot help wondering what became of the copies that had not been +disposed of at the author's death. Possibly a very small number was +printed, and perhaps 'Johan Haukyns,' faithful to his pact, destroyed +those on hand. That the book was in high esteem may be gathered from the +fact that, in spite of his rebuff, Vaughan says: 'If I had one, I wolde +no less exteme it then a Jewell.' The letter ends with a delightful burst +of ingenuousness. 'Syr, I remember Mr. Palsgrave gave youe one of his +books, which if it please you to geve me I wer muche bounde to youe.' +Whether he obtained a copy in the end history does not relate; but if our +book-hunter is ever so fortunate as to come across one, like Vaughan he +will certainly 'no less exteme it then a Jewell.' + +Very many, indeed the vast majority, of the popular jest-books which +appeared in such numbers during Queen Elizabeth's reign are now lost to +us. Some are known by later quotation of their titles, others by later +editions, such as 'The Life of Long Meg of Westminster,' 'A Lytle and +Bryefe Treatyse called the Defence of Women,'[5] etc. But these were +small volumes of few pages, and were doubtless considered as little +worthy of preservation as is the modern 'penny dreadful.' 'But, when we +consider how very many of these early books have come down to our time +only in single copies or even fragments out of an edition of some +hundreds, it is only natural to suppose that a great number must have +utterly disappeared.'[6] + +It is not for want of enterprise that so many of these books have not so +far been recovered. The smaller and more remote towns, even villages, of +these islands and the Continent have been, and are being, ransacked by +dealers as well as collectors. The number of works hitherto undescribed +that has been brought to light during the last sixty years must be +considerable; and one still hears every now and then of some rich trover +that has been unearthed. In 1887 a small octavo manuscript volume, in a +worn brown binding, was offered at the end of a sale at Sotheby's. It had +stood, for how long no man knows, on the shelf of a small parish library +in Suffolk; and it was offered for sale 'presumably as being unreadable +to country folk, and capable of being turned into hard cash wherewith a +few works of fiction might be purchased.' Acquired by the Bodleian +Library for L6, it proved, by perhaps one of the most romantic chains of +evidence ever attached to a book,[7] to be the favourite devotional +volume and constant companion of Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland, who +died in 1093. It was not until 1905 that the original quarto edition +(1594) of Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus' was known to exist, when a +copy was discovered and sold for L2000. + +Books travel far afield. At the dissolution of the monasteries the rich +libraries that many of them possessed were scattered far and wide. One of +these religious houses was famed for its rich store of books; and that +the report was not exaggerated we know from its ancient library +catalogue, still extant. In this case some of the books were taken by the +inmates with them into exile in Flanders; and when the small community +migrated thence to Portugal, the precious tomes were carried reverently +with them. A fire at their convent in 1651 destroyed a large number of +the volumes, and when some of the nuns returned to England in 1809 they +brought the remaining books with them. Some were sold, but three cases of +these ancient books were sent back to the nuns who stayed behind in +Portugal, and of these cases two were lost in transit. + +London, however, has always been the centre of book production in this +country, and it is there that any existing copies of these forgotten +books are most likely to re-appear. Was not a priceless manuscript, a +Household Book of the Black Prince, discovered only a few years ago in +the office of a city lawyer? Once, in the course of his rambles by the +bookstalls of the Farringdon Road,[8] our book-hunter caught a glimpse of +an old box almost covered by books and prints on one of the stalls. Being +unearthed, it proved to be a veritable gem of a trunk, about two feet by +one, and nine inches deep. It had a convex lid, and was covered with +shaggy horsehide, bound with heavily studded leather. The proprietor +stated that he had found it in a cellar, full of old books, most of which +had already been sold (his listener promptly pictured Caxtons among +them); and he was amused to think that any one could be so foolish as to +offer him two shillings for such a dirty old box. However, it was carried +home in triumph, regardless of the great interest shown by +fellow-travellers in the train. A year or two ago the same vender +produced a similar trunk, rather larger, which was full of ancient deeds +relating to property in Clerkenwell. These he sold for a shilling or two +shillings apiece, according to size and seals. The box was larger than +our bookman wanted, but apparently it soon found a purchaser. + +Surely such instances must be common in this great city, and many a trunk +must yet linger in cellars and attics in the old parts of the town. Not +many years ago our book-hunter chanced to visit an ancient house at the +end of a small court off Fleet Street. Inside, it seemed to be entirely +lined with oak planking, and it was occupied, or at least that part into +which he penetrated was, by a printer in a small way of business. The +staircase was magnificent, of massive coal-black oak; and when our +book-hunter remarked upon it, the printer informed him he had discovered +that the house had once been the town residence of a famous bishop of +Tudor times.[9] How the occupant discovered this fact our bookman does +not remember; possibly the house is well known to antiquaries, and the +occupier may have read about it or have been told by the previous tenant. +But it is also within the bounds of possibility that he unearthed some +deed or papers relating to the premises. It is strange, too, that one of +the few letters of this bishop which have been preserved refers to books. +'Ye promised unto me, long agone,' he writes to Secretary Cromwell, 'the +Triumphes of Petrarche in the Ytalion tonge. I hartely pray you at this +tyme by this beyrer, . . . to sende me the said Boke with some other at +your deuotion; and especially, if it please you, the boke called +Cortigiano in Ytalion.'[10] + +There must be many such houses still extant in London, and who knows what +there may be in their long-disused attics? Hidden away in the darkness +beneath their tiles, between joists and under the eaves, it is possible +that books till now unknown to us, by sight at least, may still exist. Or +who has explored the lumber accumulated in many a disused cellar within a +quarter of a mile of the Mansion House? The very existence of the trunks +which we have mentioned proves that such things do still linger in the +nooks and crannies of this great city. + +And I would not confine my surmise in this direction to London alone. Two +ancient libraries there are, one in the North Countrie, the other in the +West, that to my certain knowledge have never been explored by modern +bibliographer. The latter is spurned and neglected, the books are deep in +dust and even mildew; the former is also neglected, but at least the +house is inhabited. The owner, an old, old woman, will never permit of +any volume being disturbed. It is said that her father collected the +books many years ago, and that she still guards them jealously for him. + +Perhaps one day a copy of the 'Nigramansir' will emerge from its long +sleep in some such house as these. Indeed, it is not so much a matter of +surprise that such books should have disappeared, as that they should +have remained hidden for so long. In 1909 an ancient volume was +accidentally discovered in an old manor-house in the North of England, +where it had lain undisturbed for generations. It proved to consist of no +less than five of Caxton's publications bound up together. Moreover, it +was in the original binding, and was bound, probably, by one of Caxton's +workmen, whose initials it bore. On being put up for sale at Sotheby's, +it changed hands at L2,600. + +The account which Gairdner gives in the Introduction to his last edition +of the Paston letters, of the loss and rediscovery of those historic +documents, is also a striking example of the manner in which books may +lie hidden for years. For nearly a century the originals of Sir John +Fenn's compilation were utterly lost. 'Even Mr. Serjeant Frere who edited +the fifth volume . . . declared that he had not been able to find the +originals of that volume any more than those of the others. Strange to +say, however, the originals of that volume were in his house all the +time. . . .' Gairdner then applied to the owner of Roydon Hall for the +remainder of the manuscripts, but received answer 'that he did not see +how such MSS. should have found their way to Roydon.' Yet there they were +discovered (with many others) eight years later! Even then the +whereabouts of the letters forming Fenn's first and second volumes, which +he had presented in 1787 to King George III., was still unknown. 'The +late Prince Consort . . . caused a careful search to be made for them, +but it proved quite ineffectual.' No wonder, for in 1889 they came to +light in a Suffolk manor-house! + +It is difficult to portray in words the sensations of the book-collector +when engaged in searching some ancient building or library--especially if +he be upon a 'hot scent.' The thrills that he experiences as he handles +some rich volume that has lain hid for years, the delicious excitement +that pervades him while exploring some huge charter chest or ancient +oaken press, these are feelings not to be described in words. 'It was +discovered in the library at such and such a place,' we read, and we +barely stop to picture the scene of its finding or to imagine the +sensations of its finder. The very finding at Syon by 'Master Richard +Sutton, Esq.,' of the manuscript containing the 'revelacions' of St. +Katherin of Siena, from which de Worde printed his edition, conjures up a +whole romance in itself; yet in his eulogy of the work Wynkyn dismisses +the matter briefly, merely stating that it was found 'in a corner by +itself.' 'We were shipwrecked,' says the mariner, relating his +adventures; and in those three words what a world of incident and +sensations is comprised! + +Our book-hunter confesses frankly to having had much good luck in book +collecting. Some years ago he made up his mind to start collecting +Elzeviers, more with the intention of gathering a representative +collection of books printed by that great family of printers than with +any idea of specialising in them. Probably he was urged thereto by +reading that wholly delightful book 'The Library' by Andrew Lang, wherein +the author discourses so pleasantly on these rare pygmies of the book +world. 'The Pastissier Francois,' we read, 'has lately fetched L600 at a +sale'; and the 'Caesar' of 1635 seemed nearly as rare, provided it were a +copy of that impression wherein the 149th page is misprinted '153.' A +little later our bookman was dipping, for the _n_-th time, into that +bibliophile's bible 'The Book Hunter,' by John Hill Burton, whose opinion +of the Caesar seemed even higher, for he devotes nearly half a page to +the little volume which Brunet describes as 'une des plus jolies et plus +rares de la collection des Elsevier.' + +That decided our friend. He would collect Elzeviers. Moreover, he would +continue to collect them until he had acquired both the 'Pastissier +Francois' and the 1635 'Caesar.' Such was the confidence of youth! So he +sallied forth straight away, determined to ransack the nooks and corners +of certain shops of his acquaintance. + +He didn't find the 'Pastissier Francois' that afternoon, but he found the +1635 'Caesar' in Charing Cross Road for _two shillings_. Moreover, it had +the requisite misprint and certain other distinctions which proclaim it +to be of the rare impression, and it is no less than 126 millimetres in +height! He has not yet come across the Pastissier, but doubtless he will +find a copy one day, provided his luck holds good. + +The little 'Pastissier' is a far more interesting volume than the +'Caesar.' The latter is a dainty book, beautifully printed upon fine +paper, with folding maps and plans of castramentation. The 'Pastissier,' +on the other hand, is a disappointing little book in appearance, for it +is but indifferently printed upon poor paper. It cannot even claim the +merit of originality, being merely a pirated reprint of a volume that +appeared in Paris some two years previously.[11] But it is very, very +rare, and it has been celebrated by many distinguished pens. + +'"Monsieur," said I, "pray forgive me if my question seems impertinent, +but are you extremely fond of eggs?"' + +Such were the words with which Alexandre Dumas first addressed Charles +Nodier, the famous dramatist and bibliophile, whom he found sitting next +to him at the Theatre Porte-Saint-Martin. Dumas' curiosity as to the +little volume that was engrossing his neighbour's attention more than +the play was at length allayed, and it was a view of the title-page that +prompted his unusual question. Looking over his neighbour's shoulder, he +read, opposite the engraved frontispiece, as follows:-- + +[Illustration: LE PASTISSIER FRANCOIS +Ou est enseigne la maniere de +faire toute sorte de Pastisserie, +tres-utile a toute sorte +de personnes. +_ENSEMBLE_ +_Le moyen d'aprester toutes sortes d'oeufs_ +_pour les jours maigres & autres,_ +_en plus de soixante facons._ +_A AMSTERDAM_ +Chez Louys & Daniel Elzevier +_A M DC LV._] + +But Nodier was far from being the gourmet that Dumas supposed him to be. +He was merely a bookhunter devouring a rare 'find'; and the little book, +he explained to Dumas, was one of those tiny volumes published in the +seventeenth century by the house of the Elzeviers at Leyden and +Amsterdam; and of all the many productions of that press, this was the +most sought for by collectors. + +Elzeviers, however, are no longer fashionable, in this country at least. +The Caesar might possibly bring five pounds if it came to the notice of an +Elzevier specialist, but I doubt it.[12] Only the Pastissier has retained +its exalted price, probably on account of its notoriety. A copy, in +modern calf binding, sold recently (1917) at Sotheby's for so much as +L130; but Lord Vernon's copy, choicely bound by Cape, realised only L70 +at the Sudbury sale in June 1918. However, it was a poor copy and much +cut down. + +Railway-trains, among other things, have killed Elzeviers. Nothing could +be more convenient for saddle-bag or knapsack, or the restricted luggage +which one could stow in the boot of a coach. But who makes a practice +nowadays of putting books into his suit-case or gladstone-bag?[13] +Besides, before the advent of railways, there was not the same facility +for distributing books, and one might travel many leagues and visit many +villages without coming to a place where there would be a bookshop. In +travelling nowadays one is continually in the presence of cheap books. + +The fate of the little Pastissier was probably that of many popular +books. There must have been thousands of copies of it printed. Dumas, in +that delightful chapter of 'Mes Memoires' which we have just quoted, +makes Nodier say, 'Techener declares that there were five thousand five +hundred copies issued, and I maintain that there were more than ten +thousand printed'; and he goes on to declare that 'there are probably +only ten examples of it left in Europe.' Willems, however, in his +bibliography of the Elzeviers published in 1880, enumerates some thirty +copies, and states that the highest price yet paid for the Pastissier +was 10,000 francs. But that was for a quite exceptional copy. From 4,500 +francs to 5,500 francs seems to have been the average value of the book +in Willems' time, and, enthusiast as he is, he hesitates not to describe +it as a 'bouquin insignifiant et mediocrement imprime.' + +Its scarcity at the present day is, perhaps, not surprising; for, from +the very nature of its contents, its habitat must always have been the +kitchen rather than the library. How long would such a tiny volume, with +its 130 thin paper leaves, bear the rough and greasy handling of chefs +and 'pastissiers'? Book-shelves are rare in kitchens, and the little book +must have been continually moved from pillar to post. Besides, it is +unlikely that copies for kitchen use would be strongly bound in morocco. +The very printing and paper of the book sufficiently indicate the use to +which its producers at least expected it to be put. So the little 'French +pastrycook' gradually disappeared. Those for whose benefit it had been +written would soon learn its secrets by heart and confide them verbally +to their apprentices; and it would not be long ere the tattered and +greasy booklet found its way into the dustbin. + +Of all the _rarae aves_ sought by book-collectors this little volume is +perhaps the most widely known. That copies may still exist in this +country is shown to be possible by the fact (recorded by Willems) that +one was sold at an auction in Belfast. Another was found at Brighton, and +occasionally one appears in the London salerooms, as we have shown. It +requires little imagination to picture merchants and travellers, whose +paths led through the Low Countries at that time, slipping copies into +their pockets or holsters for use in the household across the water. Many +a courtly exile during the Protectorate, glancing through the bookshops +of Amsterdam, must have chanced upon the little volume as a gift for wife +or daughter. + +Numbers, also, must have found their way to France. Some years ago our +book-hunter happened to stay at an ancient hostel in Rouen. From the +outside the building was everything that could possibly be desired by +bibliophile or antiquary. It was situated in one of those quaint narrow +back streets that lead towards the Place Henri Quatre; and the courtyard +was so small as scarcely to allow a baker's cart to turn round in it. +Like many of the houses in this ancient town, its crookedness was such +that it seemed impossible for it to remain standing much longer. +Misgivings arose within him as he ascended the staircase, which seemed to +sway as he avoided the broken treads. But the sight of the bedroom he was +to occupy, furnished with such furniture and such a bed, all spotlessly +clean and polished, sent him into the seventh heaven of delight. Here he +could read and write undisturbed for as long as he chose to stay. Surely +pleasant surprises must be in store for one in every way in such +surroundings as these! + +It was not long before he got one. + +'Will Monsieur require anything to be cooked for him to-night?' inquired +the trim hostess. + +It was rather late and our bookman was disinclined to seek a restaurant. +Besides, he was anxious to explore his lodging before it got too dark. An +omelette would be delicious, provided she could make one properly. + +'Eggs, perhaps, and tea, with bread and butter'--could she turn the eggs +into an omelette? + +'Why certainly,' with a merry laugh, 'of course--_I can prepare eggs in +more than sixty ways._' + +To say that our book-hunter started would be to put it mildly. A certain +title-page instantly rose before his eyes. There was only one way in +which anybody could possibly learn to cook eggs in sixty different ways, +and that was by studying the 'Pastissier Francois.' Without the slightest +doubt the hostess possessed a copy, and he was at last to look upon the +tiny volume that he had sought for so long. But as she seemed so proud of +her achievement, could she be induced to part with the precious tome? +These and many other kindred thoughts passed rapidly through his mind as +he repeated slowly 'en plus de soixante facons?' + +She laughed again. Ah yes, but she couldn't repeat them _d'abord_, she +would have to _refer to her book_. + +He had difficulty in controlling his voice sufficiently to inquire what +her book was. + +Oh, it was just a little book which her mother had given her, a little +book of _la cuisine_. Could he see it? Why certainly, but it could not +possibly interest monsieur, it was only a common little book, and dirty. + +Ah, as usual it would be soiled, perhaps badly, for it was evidently +still in constant use; but so long as it were complete one might possibly +be able to clean it. What delightful thoughts and anticipations passed +through his mind as the hostess slowly descended the rickety stairs to +fetch her treasure! At last he had found it, and just in the very sort of +house and town where he had always expected to come across it. Well, +well, if you make up your mind to have a thing and search eagerly enough +for it, you are bound to obtain it in the long run. + +Then another thought entered his mind: how much should he offer her for +it? Probably she would not part with it unless he named a sum which she +could not resist; yet if the sum were at all large she might suspect the +book's value and refuse. Ten francs, twenty-five, a hundred? While he was +deliberating this important point she was ascending the stairs. Should he +turn his back to her, shut his eyes, and tell her to place the volume on +the middle of the table, then suddenly turn about and gloat upon the +little treasure? + +Before he could make up his mind she came in and he got his second +surprise that day. It was not as pleasant as the first, for in her hands +she held a thick octavo volume bound in shiny black leather. Heavens! +. . . a large-paper copy? . . . No, no, impossible. . . . + +'Le voici, m'sieu.' + +Our poor book-hunter's feelings almost overcame him, and he opened the +dirty manuscript volume mechanically, feebly muttering 'tres +interessant.' She watched him closely, and from that moment considered +him slightly mad. However, the book certainly did contain sixty-two +recipes for cooking eggs as well as receipts for making fancy pastry and +cakes. Whether it was copied out of the 'Pastissier' I know not; but +certain it is that the hostess had no knowledge of, nor had ever seen, +that volume. + +There must be many book-treasures lying hid in all these ancient towns of +Northern France, towns also that lie far off the restless tourist's +track, small country towns in which the majority of the houses are +slipshod timbered relics of a bygone age. No striking or unusual feature +can they offer to the curious, and so for the most part they are +dismissed in brief by the guide book. Yet there is many an aged building +in Brittany where old books do still lie hid, as our bookman knows from +the library of a friend who lives in Finisterre. St. Brieuc, Guingamp, +Morlaix, Quimper, even Brest, all these must harbour long-forgotten +books. + +But there are other towns which no power on earth shall force our +book-hunter to disclose. One there is far off the beaten track, where the +houses, painted with bright colours, lean all askew, supporting each +other and sometimes almost toppling across the narrow winding streets. So +that, entering it, one seems to have stepped suddenly into some such +fairy town as exists in the pages of Grimm or Hans Andersen; and, half +ashamed, one peers curiously at the dwellers in this goblin town, as +though expecting to find that they have pointed ears and narrow elfin +feet. They never seem to move about, and, sitting at almost every +doorstep, watch one intently from weird nooks and crannies. Hurry and +bustle are here unknown, and though they will reply to you in the best of +French, yet to each other the townsfolk speak a strange and uncouth +tongue. + +Once, rambling in the narrow alleys about the ancient church, our +book-hunter ventured through a gothic doorway along a broad passage that +was guarded by a huge and ancient iron grille and presently he found +himself in a small courtyard paved with moss-grown cobbles. About it was +a timbered gallery, roofed, once doubtless level, now gently and +gracefully undulating so that it seemed about to fall from off the wall +to which it was attached. But the walls had also subsided with the +gallery, so that the whole still showed a symmetry that was pleasing to +the eye. Above the gallery and across the front of the building had been +painted the legend HOTEL DU LION D'OR, and a dim weatherbeaten shield +above the doorway still bore the trace of a rampant lion. It seemed a +large building, judging by the number of its windows, far larger than its +present-day custom could possibly warrant. + +The place was curiously still, for the noise of carts and footsteps could +never penetrate into that silent court, and it must have been many years +since chaise or horseman clattered across its now mossy _pave_. The +stillness was almost uncanny, forbidding, and our book-hunter hesitated +to cross the courtyard lest the sound of his footsteps should disturb the +slumber of the ancient building. Presently a rat squealed somewhere along +the gallery, and a voice called out sharply within. The spell was broken, +and entering the house he called for a 'petit verre' preparatory to +finding out something of the inn's history. + +Yes, it was very old, and madame had been born in it; but now that she +was left alone with Jeanne it was very lonely, and there was little +custom. Did they have many travellers there? Oh no, not for a long time, +the house was not easy to find, and as the old customers died none came +to fill their places. But sometimes Messieurs So and So came in of an +evening and took a 'petit verre,' and then the neighbours were very +friendly, so it was not so bad. + +So the hostess prattled on, only too pleased to impart the news of her +little world to a newcomer from the greater one, while all the time +fantastic visions rose before him. He pictured old hide-bound trunks +that had been left behind by travellers who had never returned, trunks +which, opened, would prove to contain priceless black-letter books: +boxes, stored in attics and cellars and in concealed presses, which would +contain ancient apparel with copies of the 'Pastissier' in the pockets: +small travelling bags, tendered by needy scholars in lieu of payment, +which he would find stuffed with rare Elzeviers: rusty iron-bound chests +enclosing missals, books of hours and antiphonals: in short to such +heights did his imagination soar that he resolved to sojourn there till +he had explored the old house from attic to cellar. + +Then a rat squealed again, near at hand. Oh yes, they were everywhere, +ever since Monsieur Gautier rented the left wing of the house to store +grain in; and they were _so_ tame and _so_ large that Madame was obliged +to keep miou-miou in her bedroom every night. + +That decided our book-hunter. Enthusiasm can be carried too far. Even the +possibilities of a rich trover would not compensate for having rats +running about one's bed at night. Moreover the vermin would surely have +gnawed, if not devoured, any copies of the 'Pastissier' that might have +been lying about, even if these were innocent of bacon-grease stains. And +so consoling himself, he took another 'petit verre' and departed, casting +more than one regretful glance backwards at the old Lion d'Or. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Apparently there is only one copy of Upton's work in the United +States at present--that which was formerly in the Huth Library. It was +purchased at Sotheby's in July, 1920, by a well-known New York dealer, +Mr. G. D. Smith, for ten guineas, the writer of these lines being the +underbidder. Mr. Smith had sent "an unlimited commission" to secure it. +An announcement in _The Bookman's Journal_ (1920) asking for information +respecting other copies elicited but one response. + +Since writing the above, the author has secured the splendid presentation +copy given by Upton's editor (Bysshe) to the great Parliamentary leader, +Sir Humphrey Mackworth, of Neath, in Glamorganshire. It had remained at +Glen Uske until the dispersal of the Mackworth Library in 1920. + +[2] No. 16096. See page 164. + +[3] Possibly the title was _Nigromanser_, from _niger_, black, and +_manser_, a bastard. + +[4] The perfect copy was purchased by Mr. Pierpont Morgan at the sale of +the Hoe Library, in 1911, for L8,560. It formed originally one of the +twenty-two Caxtons which were dispersed in 1698 with the library of Dr. +Francis Bernard, Physician to King James the Second, when it realised two +and tenpence! It became the property of the great Robert Harley, Earl of +Oxford, and was acquired later by the Countess of Jersey for two and a +half guineas. Passing thus into the Osterley Park collection, it was +purchased, when that library was sold in 1885, by Bernard Quaritch for +L1,950, becoming the property, the same year, of Mrs. Abby E. Pope, of +Brooklyn, U.S.A. + +[5] By Edward More of Hambledon, Bucks. + +[6] Mr. E. G. Duff. + +[7] For this romantic story see _Books in Manuscript_, by Mr. Falconer +Madan, 8vo, 1893, p. 107 _et seq._ + +[8] Book-collectors always speak of _The_ Farringdon Road; why, I know +not, but the definite article certainly gives it an old-world tang. + +[9] Alas for romance! Truth compels me to add that as the Great Fire +swept across this very court, the existing house must date at earliest +from King Charles' reign. But the site and tradition as to its former +owner may well be true. + +[10] _The Courtier_, by Baldassare Castiglione, was first printed at +Venice in 1528, folio. This letter was written by the fearless churchman, +then of Wolsey's household, on the great Cardinal's 'last lingering +journey north.' There is, perhaps, a certain significance in his wish to +study a volume which treats of the art of living in courts, and of +becoming useful and agreeable to princes, for he was shortly to transfer +his services to a royal master. + +[11] At the sale of Baron Seilliere's books in 1887, a copy of this +prototype of the Elzevier volume, printed at Paris 'chez Jean Gaillard,' +1653, brought only L6, 10s. It was described as 'a beautiful copy, red +morocco, super extra, gilt edges, by Petit.' It is exceedingly rare, +but--it is not an Elzevier. + +[12] A recent (1920) catalogue offers a copy for thirty-five shillings. + +[13] I confess that I do, but then I am hopelessly out of date, or I +shouldn't be fond of Elzeviers. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE LIBRARY + + 'Unto their lodgings then his guestes he riddes: + Where when all drownd in deadly sleepe he findes, + He to his studie goes.'--SPENSER. + + +WHAT magic there is for the book-lover in that word 'library'! Does it +not instantly conjure up a vision of happy solitude, a peaceful seclusion +where we may lie hidden from our fellow-creatures, an absence of idle +chatter to distract our thoughts, and countless books about us on either +hand? No man with any pretensions to learning can possibly fail to be +impressed when he enters an ancient library, older perhaps by generations +than the art of printing itself. + + 'With awe, around these silent walks I tread, + These are the lasting mansions of the dead: + "The dead!" methinks a thousand tongues reply, + "These are the tombs of such as cannot die!" + Crowned with eternal fame, they sit sublime, + And laugh at all the little strife of time.' + +They are delicious retreats, abodes of seasoned thought and peaceful +meditation, these ancient homes of books. 'I no sooner come into the +library,' wrote Heinz, that great literary counsellor of the Elzeviers, +'than I bolt the door, excluding Lust, Ambition, Avarice, and all such +vices, whose nurse is Idleness, the mother of Ignorance and Melancholy. +In the very lap of Eternity, among so many divine souls, I take my seat +with so lofty a spirit and sweet content, that I pity all great men and +rich to whom this happiness is unknown.' + +Happy indeed are those days when the book-lover has been accorded the +freedom of some ancient library. A delicious feeling of tranquillity +pervades him as he selects some nook and settles himself to read. +Presently the mood takes him to explore, and he wanders about from case +to case, now taking down some plump folio and glancing at the title-page +and type, now counting the engravings of another and collating it in his +mind, now comparing the condition of a third with the copy which he has +at home, now searching through the text of some small duodecimo to see +whether it contains the usual blanks or colophon. But presently he will +chance upon some tome whose appeal is irresistible. So he retires with it +to his nook, and is soon absorbed once more with that tranquillity which +is better than great riches. + +Dearly, however, though we may treasure the benefits and conveniences +which these libraries of ancient foundation afford, for most of us there +is another library that is nearer to our hearts; that cosy chamber with +which we are accustomed to associate warmth, comfort, soft chairs and +footrests, a wide writing-table that we may pile high with books, with +scribbling-paper, foolscap and marking-slips in plenty. In short, a room +so far removed from earthly cares and noise, that the dim occasional +sounds of the outside world serve but to accentuate our absolute +possession of ease. Here we may labour undisturbed though surrounded by a +thousand friends. Or, if the mood take us, we may abandon ourselves to +idle meditation + + 'Where glowing embers through the room + Teach light to counterfeit a gloom,' + +and, lying back at our ease, may gaze contentedly upon the faithful +companions of our crowded solitude, gathering inspiration from their +silent sympathy. + +Each to his taste. Whether we be student, book-hunter, librarian, or +precentor,[14] no earthly abode can be compared with that garden of our +choice wherein we labour so contentedly. It may be a small room in our +own house, it may be an ancient university or college library, but it is +all one: it is a library, that haven of refuge from our worldly cares, +where troubles are forgotten and sorrows lightened by the gently +persuasive experience of the wise men that have gone before us. + +But, mark you, it must be literally removed from cares and noise, for it +is impossible to study at all deeply while exposed to interruption. How +terribly most of us have suffered from this form of mental torture, for +it is little else! What trains of lucid thought, what word-pictures have +been destroyed by thoughtless breakings of the chain of sequence! 'I have +never known persons who exposed themselves for years to constant +interruption who did not muddle away their intellects by it at last,' +wrote Miss Florence Nightingale. Hamerton, quoting her, is equally +emphatic upon this point. + +'If,' he writes, 'you are reading in the daytime in a house where there +are women and children, or where people can fasten upon you for pottering +details of business, you may be sure that you will _not_ be able to get +to the end of the passage without in some way or other being rudely +awakened from your dream, and suddenly brought back into the common +world. The loss intellectually is greater than any one who had not +suffered from it could imagine. People think that an interruption is +merely the unhooking of an electric chain, and that the current will +flow, when the chain is hooked on again, just as it did before. To the +intellectual and imaginative student an interruption is not that; it is +the destruction of a picture.' + +Who has not suffered from the idle chatter, or even worse--the lowered +voice, that often assails the ear when working in our larger public +libraries? Some innocent-looking individual will be reading quietly some +paces away, so quietly and decorously in fact that one's heart goes out +to him as a sympathetic fellow-bookman. Then enters some one whom he +knows. In a flash he becomes a fiend incarnate. A word or two of greeting +spoken in an ordinary voice one would pardon; but a long conversation is +carried on in a monotonous forced undertone, terrible in its intensity. +It is impossible to read so long as the conversation lasts, and murder +surges in one's heart. O for the power to drop ten atlas folios in a pile +upon their heads! People do not realise the carrying power of a strained +and lowered voice. Generally the volume of sound is the same as when +speaking aloud, for the tone is merely lowered and the same amount of +breath is used. But often more force is required to vibrate the slackened +vocal chords, and the maddening sound reaches to every corner of the +building. + +In the Reading Room of the British Museum one is constantly aware of this +buzzing going on all over the room. Would that the rule enforced at one +of our older monasteries were applied: 'In the Chafynghowys al brethren +schal speke latyn or els keep silence.' This would indeed ensure +quietness nowadays. The rule for nuns, however (who, presumably, were not +so well acquainted with Latin) would be better still. They were not to +speak at all.[15] + +So, if it be possible, see to it that your library, study, sanctum, or +whatever you may call that one room in the house which is sacred to the +daughters of Mnemosyne, is really your own: that it be a close closet to +which you (and you alone) may retire at all seasons, certain in the +knowledge that by closing the door you may shut out effectually all +earthly cares and interruptions. Whether you are engaged in research +merely for the gratification of your desire to possess knowledge, or +whether literary production be your aim, unless you may study undisturbed +your labours will never bear their full fruit. Interrupted, your +knowledge will be scanty, diverse, and generally inapplicable, your +literary output sketchy, incoherent, and disconnected. + +Perhaps it is this incubus of interruption that drives so many men to +working late at night. Doubtless those whose habit it is to work at that +season produce just as good work in those hours as at any other time; +possibly better, for habit may have accustomed them to put forth their +finest intellectual efforts at that time of day. But the mind that has +been brought up to rise at seven and go to bed at ten, is undoubtedly at +its best before noon. Night working is not a natural tendency, it is an +acquired habit; and though the expression 'burning the midnight oil' is +taken to be synonymous with the acquisition of learning, yet in the long +run it is but a poor economy of time, for the wisdom so acquired is often +obtained at the cost of health and eyesight. + +And what is freedom from interruption but another name for solitude? It +may be temporary, it may be prolonged, it may be permanent, but for the +intellectual man it is absolutely essential. No one would be so foolish +as to deny that literary work of the highest rank can be, and has been +frequently, accomplished amid the bustle and noise of cities; witness the +works of those literary giants who have passed their lives as +town-dwellers. Doubtless they obtained the necessary solitude by +spiritual detachment. But on the other hand, for intense and prolonged +meditation, for the communing with one's innermost soul on the immense +principles of life and nature, for the production of such deep +soul-searching work as we see in the compositions of a Kempis, Dante, +Milton, and Wordsworth, absolute solitude for some seasons is essential. +There must be complete freedom from the daily distractions caused by +one's fellow-beings. + +'Believe me, upon my own experience,' wrote St. Bernard, 'you will find +more in the woods than in books; the forests and rocks will teach you +what you cannot learn of the greatest masters.' It is not necessary, +however, for us to take up our abode in a cave that we may meditate +undisturbed. Let us rather follow Wordsworth's example when he pours +forth gratitude + + 'For my own peaceful lot and happy choice; + A choice that from the passions of the world + Withdrew, and fixed me in a still retreat; + Sheltered, but not to social duties lost, + Secluded, but not buried; and with song + Cheering my days, and with industrious thought; + With the ever-welcome company of books; + With virtuous friendship's soul-sustaining aid, + And with the blessings of domestic love.' + +It is sufficient if we can withdraw at will into the solitudes. The +younger Pliny, moralising to his friend Minutius (I should like to think +him the progenitor of Aldo Manuccio), describes the delights of seclusion +at his villa on the shore of the Adriatic. 'At such a season,' says he, +in a retrospect of the day's work, 'one is apt to reflect _how much of my +life has been lost in trifles_! At least it is a reflection that +frequently comes across me at Laurentum, after I have been employing +myself in my studies, or even in the necessary care of the animal +machine; for the body must be repaired and supported if we would preserve +the mind in all its vigour. In that peaceful retreat I neither hear nor +speak anything of which I have occasion to repent. I suffer none to +repeat to me the whispers of malice; nor do I censure any man, unless +myself, when I am dissatisfied with my compositions. There I live +undisturbed by rumour, and free from the anxious solicitudes of hope or +fear, conversing only with myself and my books. True and genuine life! +Pleasing and honourable repose! More, perhaps, to be desired than the +noblest employments! Thou solemn lea and solitary shore, best and most +retired scene for contemplation, with how many noble thoughts have you +inspired me! Snatch then, my friend, as I have, the first occasion of +leaving the noisy town with all its very empty pursuits, and devote your +days to study, or even resign them to ease. For, as my ingenious friend +Attilius pleasantly said, 'It is better to do nothing than to be doing +nothings!'' + +The great Cardinal Ximenes, in the zenith of his power, built with his +own hands a hut in a thick unfrequented wood, where he could retire +occasionally from the busy world. Here he used to pass a few days, every +now and then, in meditation and study. These he was wont to describe as +the happiest days of his life, and declared that he would willingly +exchange all his dignities for his hut in the chestnut wood. Thomas +Aquinas, coming to visit the learned Bonaventura, asked him to point out +the books which he used in his studies. The monk led him into his cell +and showed him a few common volumes upon his table. Thomas explained that +the books he wished to see were those from which the learned master drew +so many wonders. Thereupon Bonaventura showed him a small oratory. +'There,' he said, 'are my books; that is the principal book from which I +draw all that I teach and write.' + +To the thoughtless and those of shallow intellect solitude is inseparable +from loneliness. There is, for them, something terrible in the thought of +being debarred, even temporarily, from the society of their +fellow-beings. 'Retirement,' says Disraeli, 'to the frivolous is a vast +desert; to the man of genius it is the enchanted garden of Armida.' And +for 'man of genius' I would substitute 'man of literary pursuits.' + +There is a pleasant story told of a monk who lived in the monastery of +St. Honorat, which is situated on one of the Lerine Islands, off the +coast of Provence. Possessed of a mind which, in the larger world, would +indubitably have become an influence in the artistic progress of mankind, +he found the sole outlet for its expression in the painting of those +exquisite miniatures which are at once the delight and the despair of a +more modern age. But it was not in the scriptorium nor was it in the +bestiaries or the examples of his predecessors that he acquired his art. +Every year, in the spring and autumn, he would go alone to one of the +delicious islands of Hyeres, where there was a small hermitage. Here he +would spend the weeks, not altogether in prayer and fasting, but in +making friends with the birds and small animals that resorted there; +studying their gestures, plumage, and colours, that he might reproduce +them faithfully on the vellum of his missals and devotional books. Surely +he learnt more on this deserted island than was possible at that time in +the richest library in France. + +There is another kind of solitude, however, which can afford consolation +to the soul as deep and as lasting as that afforded by the woods, the +hills, the moors, the islands, those + + 'Waste + And solitary places; where we taste + The pleasure of believing what we see + Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be'-- + +and that is, the solitude engendered by a deep communion with books. For, +if our paths lie amid the toil and turmoil of the world, and if it be +impossible for us to seek seclusion amid the wastes, where else than in a +library can we obtain that mental solitude so necessary for the +nourishing of our literary spirit? + +Roger Ascham, sick at heart with long parting from his beloved books, +writes to Sir William Cecil from Brussels in 1553, to beg that 'libertie +to lern, and leysor to wryte,' which his beloved Cambridge alone could +afford him. 'I do wel perceyve,' he says, 'their is no soch quietnesse in +England, nor pleasur in strange contres, as even in S. Jons Colledg, to +kepe company with the Bible, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, and Tullie.' +And he goes on to say, 'Thus I, first by myn own natur, . . . lastly +caulled by quietnesse, thought it good to couche myself in Cambridge +ageyn.' + +Yet although we may seek solitude among our books, how far removed are we +from being really alone! 'A man is never less alone than when he is +alone,' said the noble Scipio[16]; and this is especially true of the +book-lover. What bibliophile does not prefer the companionship of his +books to that of all other friends? What friends so steadfast, so +reliable in their friendship, so helpful in our difficulties, so apt upon +all occasions, as the books which form our library? They are never elated +at our mistakes, they are never 'superior' when we display ignorance. +Human friendships are limited; but to the number of our most intimate +acquaintances in cloth, vellum, and morocco, there is no end. + +It is this universal sympathy afforded by our books that makes our +sanctum such a delicious retreat. Here we need never be bored, for we can +put aside the tedious or insipid at will, and turn to whatever subject or +companion our fancy indicates. We are not bound to talk with persons or +on themes that have no interest for us. There is no clashing of ideas, +and complete harmony reigns amid our comfort. + +To the man of literary tastes there are few things more depressing than +the conversations of 'small-talk' which an exacting society occasionally +demands. Who has not suffered from their enervating effects? We are not +all possessed of that mental abstraction which La Fontaine succeeded in +carrying with him throughout life, forming a buffer from which all idle +talk rebounded. He was once asked to dinner by a 'fermier-general' to +amuse the guests. Thoroughly bored, La Fontaine ate much and said little, +and rising very early from the table said that he had to go to the +Academy. 'Oh,' said his host, 'but you are much too early for it.' 'Oh +well,' replied Jean, '_I shall go the longest way to it._' Poor Jean was +really very absent-minded. He had a son whom he confided at the age of +fourteen to a friend to educate. Not having seen the youth for a long +time, he met him one day at the house of a savant without knowing him. +Afterwards he happened to mention that he thought him a youth of wit and +taste. Some one told him that the lad was his own son. 'Is he indeed,' +said Jean, 'well I'm very glad to hear it.' + +There is no end to the delightful hobbies that we may cultivate in a +library. Here we may go fishing or whaling, fighting battles or exploring +new countries, tracing pedigrees or going on crusade, cutting our way +through virgin forests or filling herbaceous borders in our mind, or we +may even descend into the pyramid of Cheops. + +Our book-hunter has a friend whose hobby takes the form of tracing the +parentage and posterity of men who lived long years ago. They are mostly +unknown to fame, and their names are only to be found in ancient peerages +and suchlike books. Whether they were good or bad, religious or wicked, +useful to their country or indifferent, handsome or ugly, is immaterial +to him. In some cases they founded families that have endured, in others +they perished with all their kindred within a century of the Norman +Conquest. But to our genealogist they are very living people. He is +intimately acquainted with the most of them, no less than with their +wives and children, their fathers and grandfathers, their uncles and +their aunts. As to the personal characteristics of Reginald Fitz-Ranulf +lord of Bosham Castle in Com. Ebor, or his deeds or memorable actions +(if, indeed, he ever perpetrated any) this student is unable to enlighten +us. But that his wife was called Gunnora and that she was a daughter and +co-heir of Richard de Tourville, he is quite positive. Apparently they +had two sons, Fulk and Waleran, but our friend is strongly of opinion +that Hamon FitzReginald (who had a moiety of the manor of Worthleys and +was co-parcener with Payn FitzGeoffrey lord of Buncombe) was really a son +of Reginald by a former wife. + +The memory of this eager student is little short of marvellous. He can +remember not only names and marriages, but at least several of the +families which owned any manor that you like to mention. He would +certainly have put to the blush Pierre d'Hozier, the great French +genealogist whose memory was so wonderful that it was said he must surely +have been present at all the marriages and baptisms in Christendom! + +The library of this genealogist is a most interesting room. Many of the +books necessary for his researches are of folio size and must be ready to +hand; so they are ranged round the apartment at the level of one's waist. +On entering the room one is struck by this belt of massive volumes, the +more so when their owner takes them up casually and turns to page after +page without ever troubling to refer to the index. + +An evening spent with him is quite exciting. He asks the book-hunter's +assistance over a knotty point. Several huge sheets of paper are laid +upon the table, and each step in the pedigree is debated graphically. +Volume after volume is referred to. At the slightest hitch out come +Patent Rolls, Close Rolls, Fine Rolls, Pipe Rolls, and records of almost +every description. Presently the room has the appearance of having been +struck by a tornado. Volumes are lying about everywhere, and in every +conceivable position. The floor is covered with them, all the chairs are +in use, three Patent Rolls are lying open and face downwards on the +mantelpiece, there are several on the hearthrug. In fact it is now +impossible to move. Yet our host, accustomed to these things, in his +search for a volume jumps from spot to spot with the agility of an +antelope. The book-shelves are half-emptied, some of the remaining +volumes have fallen down. My coffee cup lies on a pile composed of +_Rotuli Hundredorum_, a _Placita Abbreviatio_, and a _Testa de Nevil_. +But it is good fun, if exhausting, and a sovereign cure for insomnia. Our +book-hunter usually leaves him about one o'clock in the morning, and the +genealogist is genuinely sorry when he goes. + +But to tell the truth our bookman is not a bit the wiser as to Reginald +FitzRanulf! + +One day friend Brown (for so he is called) came to see the book-hunter in +great distress. He had but lately become a parent, and was still slightly +excited about it. + +''Pon my word,' said he, 'I don't know what to do. You know how proud I +am of my family, and how I hoped all along that it would be a boy so that +I could give it the name that generations of my ancestors possessed. And +now Mary says she won't hear of it.' + +The bookman sympathised with him, but asked what was the proposed name. + +'Turchetil,' said he; 'they were all called that for generations. But of +course the name wasn't Brown then, Le Brun was the family name in the +twelfth century.' + +'A fine lofty name,' replied his friend, 'but wouldn't Turchetil Brown +sound rather funny nowadays?' + +'I don't see why,' said he stiffly; 'they're both good old names.' + +The bookman assented, though inwardly he could not but agree with Mrs. +Brown. Turchetil Le Brun was one thing, and Turchetil Brown quite +another. Perhaps, however, a compromise might be reached. + +'Is there no other ancient name in your family that would do?' he +suggested. + +'Yes,' said the genealogist, 'there are two others, but not so good as +Turchetil. They are Baldric and Bigod . . .' + +Truly the study of genealogy has its disadvantages. There must have been +great bitterness in the Brown household before its mistress obtained her +own way, and even more in the heart of our poor friend as he stood at the +font and heard his firstborn son irrevocably named--George. + +Another friend and brother collector with whom our book-hunter sometimes +passes an evening is a medical man of no small talent. But attached as he +is to his profession, archaeology is for ever striving with medicine for +the first place in his affections, and his knowledge of herbals and the +literature of alchemy is immense. His collection of works dealing with +these subjects is well known to the booksellers, and the book-hunter +sometimes receives a line from him asking him to pay a visit for the +purpose of examining some recently acquired treasure. + +Of late his hobby has taken a curious turn. A chance conversation induced +him to inquire into the death of Queen Anne. He professed to discover, in +the accounts of her demise, certain symptoms which indicated a different +disease from that usually assigned to her. So now he must needs hold an +inquest upon the death of each one of our sovereigns, from the time of +King William the Conqueror. He is exceedingly enthusiastic about it, and +is preparing a paper to read before the local antiquarian society. In +this he hopes to prove conclusively the impossibility of lampreys having +had any share in the death of Henry the First, which was clearly due to +appendicitis. + +Sometimes when the book-hunter visited his medical friend he would find +another collector there already, deep in bookish or scientific talk. Like +the doctor, the biologist was a specialist in books no less than in +science, and his hobby comprised a field till recent times untilled. Keen +though he was in his pursuit, it was the sea that claimed his every day +of leisure. An active mind, eager in the elucidation of the more abstruse +problems of physiology, yet his alert bearing, his quickness of movement +and springy step, spoke more of the quarterdeck than the laboratory. +Denied the sea as a profession, his heart was for ever in ships; and when +at length preferment took him inland to one of the ancient seats of +learning, the ordered training of his mind turned his hobby towards the +history and evolution of all craft that sail upon the waters. + +He is a great authority upon all matters pertaining to the rigging of +mediaeval ships. The history of their hulls he leaves to the attention of +the important societies of nautical research. But on the evolution of the +sky-topsail or fore-top-gallant-backstays his word carries much weight. +He will travel a hundred miles in a week-end to see an illumination or +carving of a ship, and his vacations he spends touring France and +Flanders in search of stained glass windows that may throw some light +upon his hobby. His collection of seals incised with ancient ships is a +fine one, and the proceedings of more than one society are the richer for +his researches. + +Not long ago I came across another example of the manifold uses to which +a private library can be put. A friend had given me a letter of +introduction to a collector with whom he desired me to become +acquainted. I was given to understand that the fellow-spirit was an +exceedingly well-read man, and something of a wanderer. + +'He's a great traveller,' said my friend with a laugh, 'there's hardly a +country in the world that he has not visited.' + +'What an interesting man he must be,' I replied, 'but why do you laugh?' + +'Oh, you'll see all right presently,' said he; 'but go and spend an +evening with him; you will certainly be entertained--provided you are +sympathetic and content to let him do all the talking.' + +So a few days later I called at the house of the traveller. He welcomed +me in his study, a fine large room yet possessed of that cosiness +imparted by the presence of many books. The walls were entirely covered +with bookcases to a height of about eight feet; and these contained, he +told me, about three thousand volumes. At the end of this long room was a +wide bay window, and here was placed a comfortable easy chair with twin +oak tables, very strong and low, at either arm. Close at hand were a +revolving bookcase and a stand containing five or six japanned cylinders +about three feet long, and some six inches across, such as are used to +contain nautical charts. + +'You are fond of travel, are you not?' I remarked, as soon as I was +settled. 'Jones told me that there are few countries with which you are +unacquainted.' + +'That is so,' he replied; 'travel has always been my passion from my +youth up, and of all the volumes which you see around you, there are +scarcely a hundred that do not treat of some foreign country or voyage.' + +'How interesting,' I replied; 'it is a wise old dictum that there is +nothing like travel to broaden one's mind. Unless we acquaint ourselves +with the opinions held by men of other nations, men whose everyday life +differs so widely from our own, who see things consequently from a +different standpoint, how can we expect to regard any subject from all +its various aspects, which is essential if we are to pronounce an +opinion which----' + +'Quite so,' he interrupted, eyeing me suspiciously, and obviously fearing +from my verbiage that he was about to be beset by a bore. (To tell the +truth, I was rather glad of his interruption, for the sentence was +beginning to get out of hand.) 'As you say, there's nothing like travel +to broaden the mind. Why,' he went on hurriedly, 'before I was eighteen I +had been up Aconcagua with Conway.' + +'Really?' I said, trying to associate the two with a country and a date. +(Of course I knew where Aconcagua was--it was one of the most familiar +names in my geography, only for the moment memory was a little +refractory. Obviously it was a mountain, because he spoke of having been +'up' it. The name had a Spanish ending--of course! now I knew.) 'A +wonderful country, Mexico,' I went on. + +'Mexico?' said he; 'yes, I know Mexico too. Been right through it, from +Chihuahua to Tehuentepec and Campeachy.' (This was unfortunate, but +apparently he didn't notice the mistake, for he went on at once.) 'But as +I was saying, I'd been up Aconcagua before I left school.' + +'Good gracious,' I replied, amazed at his intrepidity, 'that must have +been an experience!' + +'Rather,' said he: 'Haven't you read Conway's book? Published in '02, I +think.' He strode across the room and brought back a volume. 'Yes, 1902: +capital book; well worth reading. But Mexico,' he continued, without +giving me time to display the knowledge that I suddenly recollected as I +turned the pages of the book, 'Ah! there's a country for you! How I +enjoyed my first visit! Ever been there?' + +'Alas! no,' I replied; 'but one of my fondest dreams has been to visit +the ancient cities of the new world.' (I thought that was rather nicely +put.) + +'Charnay,' he said; 'you know Charnay, then? It was he who took me there +first. Early 'eighties, I think.' He pulled out another volume and turned +to the title-page. 'Here we are, "The Ancient Cities of the New World," +'87. My copy is only the translation, published two years after the +original appeared.' + +This puzzled me rather. If he had been eighteen in 1902, he must have +been a mere babe in 1885. + +'Rather young, were you not, when you were there?' I ventured. + +'Young? Why?' he replied. + +'Oh, only because you said that you were eighteen when you ascended +Aconcagua in 1902, so I thought that you must have been rather young when +you were in Mexico in 1885.' + +He stood still and stared at me, a puzzled look on his face. + +'Good gracious,' he said, 'didn't Jones tell you? Didn't he explain to +you about me and my travels?' + +'Oh yes,' I hastened to reassure him, fearful that I had given offence; +'he told me that you were a widely-travelled man; and, if you will permit +me to say so, I think he understated----' + +'Yes, yes,' he went on, 'but didn't he tell you _how_ I travelled? Didn't +he tell you that I had never been out of Europe? This is my world,' he +continued, waving his arm round the bookcases; 'here are my Americas, my +Africa, my Asia, my Europe, and my Australia. There (pointing to a case +by the window) is my West Indies, here (indicating another one) is my +Polynesia, there my Arctic and Antarctic. Here (patting the back of the +big easy chair) is my steamboat, my mule, and my camel. No weather can +delay me, no storm prevent my setting out. Though it snow a blizzard, +still can I cross the very summits of the Andes: be there a year-old +drought, still may I journey from Sydney to Port Darwin overland.' + +I could only marvel at the man. No world-wide traveller could have been +prouder or have found greater satisfaction in the contemplation of his +travels. And a further conversation assured me that, assisted by a good +memory, he knew more, far more, of the countries about which he had read +so many books than did ninety-nine out of a hundred of the tourists who +had actually visited those lands. + +'Don't think,' he said, 'that I merely pass my time reading promiscuously +all manner of books of travel. I do nothing of the sort. At the beginning +of each year I map out the countries I intend to visit during that year. +So much time is allotted to each, according to the size of the country +and that of its travel literature. Then I compile a list of the books +that I intend to read, and the order in which they should be read. I have +a fine collection of maps, and those tin cylinders over there contain +charts, by means of which I am enabled to follow more accurately and +minutely the different journeys and voyages that I make. + +'Let me give you an example.' Here he took a thin octavo book from one of +the cases. 'This is Commodore John Byron's narrative of the loss of +H.M.S. _Wager_, one of Anson's squadron, on the coast of Chili, in 1740. +It was published in 1768, and is, in my opinion, one of the most +thrilling tales of shipwreck and suffering that has ever been written. I +dare say you remember Campbell's beautiful lines in "The Pleasures of +Hope"; they are pencilled on the fly-leaf of my copy:-- + + '"And such thy strength-inspiring aid that bore + The hardy Byron to his native shore-- + In horrid climes, where Chiloe's tempests sweep + Tumultuous murmurs o'er the troubled deep, + 'Twas his to mourn misfortune's rudest shock, + Scourg'd by the winds, and cradled on the rock, + To wake each joyless morn and search again + The famish'd haunts of solitary men." + +'There is no map in the volume, much less a chart, to show where the ship +struck, though we are told that the land was "on the larboard beam, +bearing N.W.," and that they landed "in the latitude of between 47 and +48 deg. South." But without charts and maps how can one possibly follow the +journey of the four poor sufferers along the coast on that terrible march +from Mount Misery (as they named the inhospitable promontory where they +landed) to civilisation on the island of Chiloe? With my maps I can +follow their every footstep, with my chart I may visit each inlet that +their frail canoe entered. Nor need I refer to these aids whenever I may +turn to the volume again, for here (he unfolded a beautifully drawn map +bound at the end of the volume) I have copied a chart which shows with a +red line the whole of their terrible journey. I have done this with +several of the older works on travel which I possess, books that were +published without maps.' + +To me at least it was a new aspect of book-collecting, and an interesting +one. But I confess to having been impressed more by its originality and +the patient perseverance of its devotee than by the knowledge which it +had enabled him to accumulate. His was a vast knowledge, yet limited; for +it was confined almost entirely to the topography and early exploration +of the countries which he studied, together with such sociology as he +would glean midst travellers' accounts of adventures and sport. +Development, resources, industry, had little place in it. He was +thoroughly conversant with the early history of Australia, could recite +the names of all the early pioneers, and could plot Burke's expedition or +Phillip's voyage to Botany Bay. But of Melbourne or Sydney to-day, their +size, commerce, exports, the principal industries or railways, of these +he knew nothing. On the other hand, with those countries which have come +less quickly under the hand of civilisation, such as New Guinea or West +Africa, he was well acquainted. He had followed the history of this last +down to fairly modern times, knew the story of every settlement from +Bathurst to the Bight and to Benguela, with their principal exports; and +could talk interestedly with any dweller on 'the Coast.' + +He is still comparatively a young man. If ever he sets out to see the +world for himself, his pleasures will far exceed those of the ordinary +tourist. Wherever he may go, he will need no guide-book to instruct him, +in history at least. And he will visit out-of-the-way spots unnoticed by +these authorities, but dear to him by reason of their mention in the +pages of his fireside Mentors, their association with some thrilling +though unimportant event of which he has read. Harbours, villages, +buildings, will be familiar to him through some old print or coloured +engraving; and he will eagerly compare the actual appearance with the +mental picture he has borne for so long. Disappointment sometimes there +will be, but a delightful anticipation always. + +I hope, however, that I shall never be his travelling companion! + +And here I cannot forbear to mention one other book-collecting +acquaintance. A bosom friend of the genealogist, he was at one time a +fellow-worker, and they would sit closeted for hours debating the +parentage of Henry ap John. But he lacked that determination which +prevented his friend from being constantly side-tracked, and the minutiae +of history had a fatal attraction for him. As to whether Hugo de +Beauchamp of _Com. Wigorn._ (which was their pleasant way of saying that +he lived in Worcestershire) held his manor by serjeanty of the +_condimentum_ was of small moment to him compared with the price which +King Edward paid him for a couple of goshawks or a greyhound; and he +wondered of what sort was the tun of wine which he had from that +sovereign as a Christmas present. And so his book-buying became more and +more confined, for it was restricted now to those curious and uncommon +works which treat of the byways of history; such as the Accounts of the +Wardrobe and Hanaper, the reports of the lords marchers of the realm, +books on feudal customs and offices, and the like. + +During the great war our friend busied himself with His Majesty's +ordnance. Hitherto he had always associated the term with cast-iron +cannon, and had vague recollections of the number of 'ordnance' carried +by the Great Harry or fired from the Tower of London during Sir Thomas +Wyatt's insurrection. But even when these dreams were dispelled, his +thoughts still harped on mediaeval equipment and harness while checking +cases of boots or mess-tins; and he wondered how such things were managed +before the days of railways. Released at length from this employ, his +interest increased with leisure to pursue his investigations. + +His passion now is the method in which the ancient campaigns of this +country were conducted. He is quite an authority upon mediaeval transport, +by sea as well as by land, and he can tell you at once the quantities of +bowstrings and quarrels 'indented for' during the Crecy and Poictiers +campaigns. Not long ago, poring over an ancient roll of parchment in the +Record Office, he came across a list of the ships requisitioned for the +Agincourt expedition, with their names, ports, and tonnage, inscribed on +the back of one of the membranes. Great was his delight, and it will be +some time before his friends will be allowed to forget this important +discovery. + +How valuable are these researches of our book-collecting friends! Do they +not add a zest to those delightful evenings when, with curtains drawn and +blazing fire, our favourite pipe aglow, a tall glass at our elbow, we +hunt our treasures o'er again in comfort, roaming the bookstalls of our +fancy? It is well, however, that our humours in book-lore are not all +alike, else how tedious would some of these conferences become. Elation +and jealousy would be hard to banish at times when we held some coveted +volume in our hands. But with divergence of tastes such feelings cannot +exist, and we eagerly share our friends' enthusiasm in their treasures +and their delight in some newly-found gem. + +It is a very serious business, this book-collecting. Whether we are +contented now to let our library be slow of growth, or whether we are +still imbued with the ardour of our early youth, we are none the less +under the spell of books. Our paths may lie outside the pale of book-land +for years, but the chance handling of a valuable or scarce volume will +instantly awaken all our bibliophilic desires. Book-collecting is not +like other pursuits. In after years we may realise that many of our +hobbies are but vanities, but the love of good books is something far +beyond all these ephemeral pursuits. + +Doubtless few of us realised at the outset of our careers as book +collectors how completely we should be mastered by this love of books. +Who did not think that it comprised but occasional visits to the +book-shops and bookstalls, perhaps even to an auction-room, and the +reading of nondescript catalogues? But it is like all other hobbies: +ridden at first with too little restraint, it soon gets the upper hand, +and off it goes, bit between teeth, carrying its rider ever farther and +farther afield. And no man of spirit would think of seeking to curb his +hobby's gallop. We have mounted of our own free will, determined to +pursue the chase, and never shall it be said that we were too timid to +face the difficulties of the country ahead. The greater the difficulties +the greater the sport, and in our enthusiasm we are determined to +overcome all obstacles. So that, though our hobby may at length become +our master, so enthralled are we in the pursuit that there is little +danger of it assuming the semblance of a nightmare. + +The farther we go, the wider the fields which open to our view, and there +is interest for us in all of them. We roam at our pleasure over vast +fields of literature, digressing here and there just as our fancy takes +us. There is no danger, moreover, in being side-tracked, for such +divagations in the realms of bibliography as we may make will serve but +to increase our knowledge of books in the right direction. The only risk +that we shall incur is that of becoming specialists, which is precisely +what we should most desire. + +And how delightful are these digressions in the world of books! There is +no other occupation in which one may wander so innocuously. In most of +the learned professions digressions are fatal to success. Anthony +Despeisses was a lawyer who used frequently to digress. Beginning one day +in Court to talk of Ethiopia, an attorney who sat behind him remarked +'Heavens! He is got into Ethiopia, he will never come back.' Despeisses, +we are told, was so abashed with the ridicule that he chose rather to +leave off pleading than to correct himself of this unfortunate habit, +and quitted the Bar for ever. Doubtless he found solace among his books, +for here at least he could digress to his heart's content. + +Although, from a worldly point of view, side-tracks are fatal to success, +yet they are as necessary a part of our literary education as is the +application to study itself. Without digressing as we applied ourselves +to books, narrow indeed would be the views that we acquired. Of what +value is a vast acquaintance with the material details of a war, if we +are ignorant as to the causes which brought it about, or the reasons why +the nations were warring? 'Ah yes,' perhaps you may exclaim, 'but +politics and history are all one, for the former creates the latter.' +Precisely: so that in order to obtain a knowledge of the one, we must +deviate to the other. Sharon Turner in his 'History of England during the +Middle Ages' passes abruptly from the death of King Henry the Second to +the military spirit of Mohammedanism, from the Troubadours to the early +dissipations of King John, and devotes two of his five volumes to the +Literature of England with copious examples of early poetry. It is all +history, yet how indispensable are the side-tracks. + +It is a subtle art, however, this knowledge of how and when to digress, +and not easy to be learnt. Gerard de St. Amand died of grief in his +middle age because Louis XIV. could not bear his reading of a poem on the +Moon, in which he praised the King for his skill in swimming. On the +other hand Madame de Stael obtained almost all the material for her +literary work by a consummate skill in directing the digressions of +conversation. Upon whatever subject her pen was engaged, that was the +theme to which she led all talk. + +Sir Thomas Browne's famous letter 'To a friend upon occasion of the death +of his intimate friend' is a masterpiece of the art of digressing. Surely +it is one of the quaintest letters of condolence ever written, if indeed +it were ever intended to be such, for it has that stamp of careful +literary composition which is usually so apparent in all letters written +with a view to publication. The friend in question died of a consumption, +and Sir Thomas recapitulates his disease, symptoms and death; contrasting +each feature with the celebrated examples of history; moralising and +discussing the opinions of the ancients upon these points as he goes +along; and showing by his own experience that a man 'after a cough of +almost fifty years, in whom all the lobes adhered unto the Pleura,' might +yet die of stone in the bladder. Doubtless the friend to whom the letter +was indited was highly edified by the aged doctor's learning, yet one +cannot conceive that he would be greatly consoled by being informed, when +discussing the patient's cough, that 'in cetaceous Fishes, who have large +and strong lungs, the same is not observed; nor yet in oviparous +Quadrupeds.' Digressing in this manner is a risky business, and if the +grief were still fresh, it is more than likely that the bereaved one +would exclaim 'A fig for your fishes, Sir.' But Sir Thomas was a wise and +worldly man, and would know from experience precisely when to administer +his soothing draught. + +The attractions of digressing are far more insidious than would appear at +first sight. It is so easy, one finds such delightful things, it is all +in the daily task of gathering knowledge, it may be useful to us some +day, and so on. But, unwisely employed, it is a more terrible thief of +time even than Young's 'procrastination.' Worse still, it is a _waster_; +for the scrappy knowledge so often acquired by this means becomes +invariably the 'little learning' which is so dangerous--and useless--a +thing. So that unless we are strongly imbued with the spirit of scholarly +research, determined that we will not deviate one iota from the +particular side-track which we are exploring, we are in grave danger of +becoming lost in the maze of paths. Digressions in conversation and books +can be of immense value, but he must be a man of iron will who can +utilise to permanent advantage his resources in this direction. Constant +and purposeless digressions, in reading no less than in talk, are just as +injurious as interruptions. The mind is switched from one subject to +another, and an entire sequence of reasoning which we may have been +building up by the study of some days is destroyed in a few moments by +the opening up of an unexplored tract of thought. + +For many years there was a learned man at work in one of our ancient +abbey libraries, cataloguing the manuscripts and monastic charters of the +ancient foundation. Their number runs into many thousands, and at the +outset the Keeper[17] realised that if this task of providing an index +and precis of the entire collection (which would be of incalculable value +to the historical students who came after him) were to be accomplished in +his lifetime, it would be necessary to adhere rigidly to his plan. Any +deviation, however slight, would mean the loss of valuable time. To the +historian and antiquary such a determination must have cost more than we +can imagine; for every now and again he came across some charter of great +historical interest. 'Ah,' he would sigh, reading it through, 'and now I +suppose you must go back again into the obscurity in which you have lain +for eight hundred years.' He quietly made his precis, indexed the +document, and replaced it in the oaken press. There, thanks to his +labours, it will be turned to at some future date to add laurels to the +'researches' of another man. + +Perhaps the most innocuous way in which we may digress is by compiling +one of those delectable literary hotch-potches known as 'commonplace +books.' Here, with careful selection, we may garner those delightful +thoughts, those gay conceits or pithy stories, that strike our fancy as +we read. And though perhaps it may be urged that such collections +resemble a casket of loose jewels plucked from their settings, yet they +are jewels none the less. We may store all our collections within one +cover, or we may preserve separately our extracts from the poets, our +biographies, our meditations, or our anecdotes. + +The first 'commonplacer' of whom I have seen mention was one Photius, a +colonel in the Life Guards at Constantinople during the ninth century, +or--as he was then called--Protospatharius. Later he became ambassador to +the court of Baghdad, and amused himself by compiling a volume which he +called _Myriobiblon_, a collection of extracts of the authors which he +had read. He was a man, we are told, of extraordinary vigour of mind, and +of encyclopaedical knowledge, and he was so devoted to reading that he +passed whole nights without sleep. Accordingly we are not surprised to +find that the Myriobiblon, with its Latin translation, forms a folio +volume of some 1500 pages. When on an embassy to Assyria, he carried his +library--some 300 rolls--with him, presumably on camels. Thus, we +suppose, he could bestride his dramatic camel, his poetic camel, or his +theological camel as the mood took him. The Myriobiblon was compiled +merely as a handbook for his brother Tarasius, that the latter might +enjoy a brief synopsis of what the ambassador read on his travels. +Several authors are now known only by the extracts in this book; and +among them may be mentioned a writer named Conon, who is said to have +written fifty novels, which Photius condensed to his liking. All this, of +course, was merely _pour passer le temps_; the really important works of +this bookworm being a lexicon and a number of books on theology. Needless +to say in due course he became Patriarch of Constantinople. + +Who nowadays keeps a commonplace book? Doubtless a good many readers of +to-day have neither time nor inclination to indulge this pleasing +fashion, at one time so popular; but to anyone whose delight is the +reading of good books as opposed to modern novels, there can be no more +interesting amusement. + +It can be a risky thing, however, this commonplacing, and he would be a +bold man who dared to assign unto any one writer a popular phrase for no +other reason than that this one has first expressed it in writing. There +is no new thing under the sun, and by continued expression a familiar +maxim becomes at last a proverb. Ask at a dinner-table who first wrote +'God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.' The knowing ones will puzzle +their brains in silence; some lady with religious tendencies will claim +it for the Holy Writ, inclining towards Isaiah; but the quiet bookish man +at the end of the table will smile in a superior way, and offer to wager +that he can name the author. You may safely accept his bet, for it is a +hundred pounds to a penny that he will proclaim Laurence Sterne to have +written it--he may even quote the context. Granted that Sterne did write +it, but Sterne was a widely-read man and a plagiarist of no mean ability. +So you may ask the bookish man how he doth account for this saying +occurring in that quaint collection of 'Outlandish Proverbs' entitled +'Jacula Prudentum,' by Master George Herbert, compiled _from ancient +sources_ full a hundred years before the birth of the 'Sentimental +Journey.'[18] + +Sometimes in ancient literature one comes across an expression which is +in the vocabulary of everybody to-day, and one realises how very ancient +some of these popular aphorisms must be. 'It is not alle golde that +glareth,' wrote Chaucer, and the same theme was sung in Provencal by +Amanieu des Escas near a hundred years before. But, like 'A bird in the +hand,' it is so applicable to the failings to which mankind is prone, +that its origin must surely have been far beyond even the classics of the +old world, back in the dim ages of man's history. Common also to all +nations must some at least of these primitive sayings be, for there is a +primaeval simplicity about them that knows nothing of race or +civilisation. 'A soft answer turns away wrath,' 'Pride goes before a +fall,' 'Spare the rod and spoil the child,' are not all these and many +others, collected by King Solomon from the wisdom of the East, as +applicable to our everyday life in this age as they have ever been in the +whole history of mankind?[19] Enough of moralising, however; or else, +convinced of the futility of attempting to assign originality to any man, +you will come to agree with the young lady of fifteen who, priding +herself on the possession of a literary _flair_, once remarked to the +writer: 'In fact there is little doubt that Junius never wrote the +letters attributed to him at all!' + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] Usually the precentor was also archivist and librarian. + +[15] In one monastery, however, they were allowed to speak 'passing +soft.' We know that 'passing soft!' + +[16] 'Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus.' Alfonso d'Este (born 1476) had +it carved on the mantelpiece of his study at Belvedere. + +[17] Dr. E. J. L. Scott of Westminster Abbey, sometime Egerton Librarian +of the British Museum. He calendared no less than 57,000 documents at the +Abbey, but alas! a long life was insufficient to enable him to complete +his task. The whole working portion of his latter years was spent in the +muniment room, and it was there that he was seized with the illness which +ended his life the same day (1918). The work which he accomplished (now +being ably continued, on the lines which he laid down, by his successor, +the present Custodian of the Abbey) has been utilized by scholars from +universities all over the world. However busily employed, he was always +ready instantly to lay aside his work in order to assist a student over +some difficult point, whether of history or palaeography. + +[18] Edition of 1651, 12mo, page 52. 'To a close shorne sheep, God gives +wind by measure.' First printed in _Witts Recreations_, 1640. Sterne +might have reflected that it is not usually the custom to shear _lambs_. + +Since the above was written, a correspondent has brought to the writer's +notice a sixteenth century French version:--_Au brebis tondue, dieu donne +le vent par mesure._ + +[19] It is curious to note how some of these famous sayings have been +wrongly assigned. A recently published _Dictionary of Quotations_, +assigns Scipio's famous dictum, 'A man is never less alone than when he +is alone,' to Swift--a slight error of some nineteen centuries. W. C. +Hazlitt in his _Book-Collector_ makes an even more delightful howler, +tracing the well-known verse in Ecclesiastes (xii. 12): 'Of making many +books there is no end . . .' etc., 'back at least to the reign of +Elizabeth' (_sic_), assigning it to a preacher at Paul's Cross in 1594. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BOOKS WHICH FORM THE LIBRARY. + + 'He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.'-- + PROVERBS xiii. 20. + + +IT is one of the tragedies of the book-collector's life that he is made +aware continually of the deficiencies of his collection. Every +bookseller's catalogue that he takes up reveals these lacunae; and even +after many years of diligent book-hunting, when he can look upon his +library with no small pride and has come to regard it as being more or +less complete (for his own purposes, that is), some intimate friend to +whom he is displaying his treasures will ask to see some well-known book, +and he will be obliged to confess that he does not possess a copy. The +reason probably is either that he has collected books upon no definite +system, or that he has lost sight of the many works which his library +should contain, through having confined himself too rigidly to +specialism. + +Both practices are bad, though the former is infinitely the worse. To +collect books indiscriminately tends to develop the dread bibliomania. To +specialise in a particular class of books should be the object of every +collector; but to adhere so rigidly to that one class of literature as to +exclude from our library the great books of the world, is to deprive +ourselves of all the advantages which a library can offer. 'There are +some books, as Homer, Virgil, Horace, Milton, Shakespeare, and Scott, +which every man should read who has the opportunity; should read, mark, +learn and inwardly digest. To neglect the opportunity of becoming +familiar with them, is deliberately to sacrifice the position in the +social scale which an ordinary education enables its possessor to +reach.'[20] What a number of famous names one can add, without which no +library worthy the name can be complete! We are not all such sages as +that great man Philip Melanchthon, whose library is said to have +consisted of four authors only, namely, Plato, Pliny, Plutarch, and +Ptolemy the geographer. But then, these are whole libraries in +themselves. + +Who, beside ourselves, shall decide what we shall read? 'A man's reading, +to be of any value,' wrote Professor Blackie, 'must depend upon his power +of association; and that again depends upon his tendencies, his +capacities, his surroundings, and his opportunities.' But there are some +authors whom the world has decided are great, whom we cannot possibly +afford to neglect in the course of our literary education. There can be +no doubt as to our decision here; and although it has been said truly +that 'a lifetime will hardly suffice to know, as they ought to be known, +these great masterpieces of man's genius,'[21] yet these great classics +should form the nucleus of our library, and to them we may add the other +famous and approved books of the world as opportunities occur. + +It is not without diffidence that I venture to approach this important +question as to what we should read. Perhaps there is nothing more +irritating to the real book-lover than to be told, usually by some +well-meaning person, that he or she should read this or that. In nine +cases out of ten the book or author recommended is one that we can safely +afford to neglect. It is one of the commonest of human failings to +imagine that a book which pleases us must necessarily please all others +too, and we recommend it blindly to the first friend we come across, +regardless of age, disposition, intellectual capacity, opportunity, +surroundings, or even sex. It never even occurs to us to consider these +matters, these vital qualities upon which the whole question of like or +dislike depends. + +'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under +heaven'; and again, 'A wise man's heart discerneth both time and +judgment,' wrote the Preacher of Judah. Yet mindful though we be of these +ancient words of wisdom, how rarely do we apply them to our everyday +reading! If we be in the mood for reading we pick up any book at random; +if it please us at the moment, we continue to read it. If it be +distasteful to us, we put it aside immediately. Possibly we recollect, +next time that our eyes light upon a volume so discarded, that it was +once displeasing, and we never take it up again. So, it may be urged, our +mind exercises the power of selection for us: we can only absorb at any +given time the class of literary food for which our mind then happens to +be hungry. + +But the truth is far otherwise. If we take up and read a book at random, +in nine cases out of ten we continue to read it simply because it entails +no mental effort. We do not have to think of what we are reading; our +eyes gallop over sentence after sentence, and so long as the language is +colloquial and the facts are bald, all is well, and we can go on and on. +It is not only the body that, unchecked, is inclined to be slothful. +Unless we have as complete a control over our minds as we have over our +limbs, it is quite impossible that our reading shall benefit us to its +full extent. + +There is another point of view also. 'Every book that we take up without +a purpose is an opportunity lost of taking up a book with a purpose.'[22] +And this does not mean that we should always be reading 'improving' +books, that we must never read for recreation alone; for, I repeat, +'there is a time to every purpose under heaven.' But it does insist most +emphatically that there should be a rhyme and a reason for reading any +book at any time. There is a time for work and a time for play in reading +no less than in the daily cycle of our lives. As to what shall constitute +recreative reading, that is a matter which every man must decide for +himself. I will venture to prophesy, however, that, by judicious +selection and thoughtful reading, there will come a time when he will +consider the reading of the great books to constitute the finest mental +recreation in the world. + +To return, however, to the great writers, those giants of whom we have +said that it behoves us all to know something at least. Must we read them +all? Let us leave 'must' out of the question; for our lifetime, however +long it may be, will be scarcely sufficient to know and appreciate to the +full these great masters of human thought. Yet at least it can be our aim +ever to feed our minds only upon food of the finest quality and of a +permanent nutritive value. But alas! How terribly limited are our +capacities both as regards time and opportunity! How narrow the bounds +which confine our reading abilities! Though a list of the great writers +contain all the constituents of an Epicurean feast, yet to most of us it +resembles the menu of a Gargantuan banquet. + +As to the classics of the old world, surely, it may be urged, in such an +essentially practical age we can afford to neglect books so hopelessly +out of date? Yet there can be no greater mistake than to imagine that the +wisdom of the old world can ever be out of date, for it is the wisdom +that has created the civilisation of the newer world. Countless +generations of men may pass away and be utterly forgotten, but the +principles of morality inherent in man's nature will endure for ever. And +it is these great principles of all that is good and noble in our nature +that is brought out and developed insensibly by the study of the classics +in our youth. Moreover they are books that have been accepted by all the +nations of Europe as containing the bases of human thought. Something at +least we should all know of these great writers common to all civilised +nations. + +To most of us, however, there is an insurmountable barrier surrounding +them, the matter of language. The knowledge of Greek and Latin that we +acquired at school has become painfully rusty. Is it worth while slogging +away laboriously with grammar and dictionary at the expense of valuable +time which might otherwise be devoted to the more modern classics in our +own tongue? Candidly, it is not. If we have retained sufficient of our +Greek and Latin to read it at sight with but an occasional reference to +the dictionary well and good; but otherwise it is a painful waste of +time. Hamerton recommends that we read the ancients with the help of +literal translations beside the original, in which way, he says, we 'may +attain a closer acquaintance with ancient literature than would be +possible by translation alone.' But to many, an English version must be +the only door by which they may enter Attica and Rome. + +After all, it is for each one of us to decide how widely our time and +opportunities shall permit us to wander on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. +'The best time-savers are the love of soundness in all we learn to do, +and a cheerful acceptance of inevitable limitations.'[23] Yet it is +better to have wandered on the lowermost slopes of the mountain than +never to have entered ancient Greece at all. + +Who nowadays, outside the universities, reads these ancient classics? +Where will you find a business man of thirty years of age whose delight +in his leisure time is the reading of Horace or Homer? Here and there, +perhaps, you may come across a man of classical education who still +retains the love of ancient Greece and Rome, instilled into him in his +youth, sufficiently to influence the course of his reading; but he is a +rarity indeed. Among the many thousands of young men employed in business +in the great cities, most of whom have learnt something at least of the +classics in their youth, scarcely will you find one who will confess to +having time for such literature. Yet all these thousands read many books +each year, and can always find time to devour the latest popular novel. + +It is chiefly a question of recreation _versus_ education. Tired and +jaded with the day's business, the young man of to-day has little +inclination to devote his leisure time to study. Light frothy literature +removes his thoughts from worldly cares, and by a complete change of +subject stimulates a mind that has been enervated by concentration for +hours on one particular theme. No effort is required, and, more important +still, _it does not make one think_. + +For daily reading in the train or over meals, with this purpose always in +view, so far so good. But what of the many hours of leisure in every +man's life, when no mental recreation is needed? What does the average +man read then? It must be confessed that in nine cases out of ten his +literature remains precisely the same. Doubtless the reason is simply +because, having always been accustomed to reading the same kind of books, +he knows no other sort. Mention Shakespeare, Milton, Shelley, and he +stares at you aghast. 'Good gracious,' he exclaims, 'I'm not going to +read stuff like that; I should get the hump for a week; give me something +cheerful.' And he picks up 'The Bauble,' by Mrs. Risquet Trashe. + +And he is quite right. To anyone whose literature has consisted for years +of nothing but novels of the circulating library type, a sudden +application to the great writers would indeed be depressing. Is it +necessary, however, or indeed wise, that any man's mental pabulum should +consist entirely of novels? Nothing is further from my mind than to decry +the taste for novel-reading; for, wisely employed, novels can become one +of the joys of life. One can but agree with Miss Austen when she +inveighs, in 'Northanger Abbey,' against those who belittle the +productions of the novelist. But would she have been so emphatic had she +lived to witness the printing-presses spouting forth that frothy flood +which effervesces round the more serious writings of to-day? Would that +every novel we take up had the delightful 'genius, wit, and taste' of +Jane Austen to recommend it. How few and far between are the really good +novels that we read! + +There can be no finer recreation for a tired mind than a good novel. +There is, however, one habit of reading which has become almost a social +evil; and that is the habit of reading newspapers which many indulge in, +morning, noon, and night. It is difficult to imagine anything more +calculated to destroy consecutive and considered thought than the +enormous variety of inconsequential topics that assails one every time +one opens a newspaper. The mind becomes completely fuddled with the +heterogeneous patchwork of entirely useless information. The only method +I have discovered by which one can acquire the important news and yet +retain the serenity of one's mind is that of having such news only as she +knows will be of use read out by one's wife at breakfast. And this does +not mean that the mental discomforts of the newspaper are relegated to +one's better-half, for women are usually interested in the smaller +details of everyday life. + +No wonder that a large number of 'city men' live out their lives without +ever opening a book that is worth reading meditatively; for +newspaper-reading in course of time must completely undermine one's +mental stability. After a few years, a book that is not composed of +headlines, short chapters, small paragraphs and ejaculatory sentences, is +unreadable without mental effort. So that long before he is middle-aged +the city man has acquired the habit of 'glancing at' a news-sheet or +magazine whenever he has nothing to do for a few minutes: a kind of +reading that is about as advantageous to the mind as that which we +indulge in when fingering the antique periodicals in the dentist's +waiting-room. In later years he may or he may not overcome the repugnance +he has acquired to anything deep or 'solid' (by which he generally means +'unparagraphed'): but I venture to think that, having once taken the +plunge, there must be moments when he marvels at his foolishness in not +having entered, years before, the City of the golden streets. + +Perhaps it is unwise to use the word 'education' in speaking of the +benefits to be derived from reading the great books, for to many people +the term is synonymous with 'school,' where one is obliged frequently to +do things against one's will. Good books, that is the books that 'live,' +are no mere education, they are steps up the path of civilisation itself. +They are just as necessary for the advancement of knowledge as are the +letters and numerals which we learnt at school. The greatest books of the +world do _not_ teach us; _they help us to teach ourselves_, a very +different matter. 'They are masters who instruct us without rod or +ferule,' wrote an early book-lover[24]; 'if you approach them they are +not asleep; if you inquire of them they do not withdraw themselves; they +never chide when you make mistakes; they never laugh if you are +ignorant.' And the books which would be available to him would be chiefly +the works of the Early Fathers, professedly books of moral instruction. +But the books of our library 'are so many faithful and serviceable +friends, gently teaching us everything through their persuasive and wise +experience.'[25] + +And that is precisely the point. Good books do not instruct us so much as +they persuade us; so that we come to be of the same mind as the great man +who had deliberated and debated the matter so thoroughly for us. +Perchance we disagree and take a different standpoint. Then can one +almost see the spirit of the sage chuckling with delight at having found +someone with whom to cross swords. '_I have made him think, I have made +him think_,' he repeats gleefully; and, sure of his point, he delights in +having held our attention so intently as to cause us to debate the issue +with ourselves. + +It were foolish, however, to suppose that _all_ the great books of the +world are at once suitable to every reader. Time, above all other +considerations, decides what we shall read; and the book which makes its +greatest impression upon one man at thirty will fail to appeal to his +neighbour till he be fifty or more. 'A man loves the meat in his youth +that he cannot endure in his age,' says Benedick, and the converse is +equally true. What a mistaken notion it is that puts into the hands of +boys such classics as 'The Pilgrim's Progress' and 'Don Quixote'; for +they are books which a knowledge of the world and of human nature alone +can enable us to appreciate to the full. Their very foundations are built +upon the rock of experience, every page exhibits the thoughts and deeds +of men. No wonder that nine boys out of ten grow up with a dislike of +Bunyan and all his works, and a contempt for the adventures of the +immortal Don. Generally, however, all recollection of Quixote, except +that he had a rotten old horse and charged some windmills, has +(mercifully) disappeared long before the reader has attained his +eighteenth year. + +In later life, perhaps, we take up these books again, and are surprised +to find that they have completely changed. There is hardly an incident in +them that we remember, and we marvel how such and such a glorious passage +could possibly have escaped us before. Our book-hunter's experience must +have been that of many others. Long after his school-days were ended he +took up, for the first time, 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.' How +wistfully he thought of the enjoyment that would have been his when at +school, had but some kind chance put into his hands this and similar +books in which boys, and real human boys, played the principal parts, not +strange outlandish men, the like of whom he had never met. + +This unwise reading, this plunging, as it were, _in medias res_, is, I am +inclined to think, the reason why to so many men the library of great +authors is for ever locked. After a lengthy course of 'light' reading, +they take up, all at once, some such work as 'Bacon's Essays' or the +'Paradise Lost,' determined 'to give the classics a chance.' They wade +conscientiously through a good many pages, and then retire beaten, simply +because they have failed to recognise that in reading, as in every other +business, profession, craft, or pursuit, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Who is +there, outside Olympus, that can master any of these at sight? It is only +by a continuous and continual course of reading that one comes at length +to appreciate these great masters. 'The proper appreciation of the great +books of the world is the reward of lifelong study. You must work up to +them, and unconsciously you will become trained to find great qualities +in what the world has decided is great.'[26] + +'That's all very well,' says the newspaper-reader, taking the word +'study' in its first dictionary sense; 'but I, for one, haven't got +time--or inclination--for this lifelong application.' And yet, I reply, +you have both time and inclination to apply yourself assiduously to +newspapers, magazines, and suchlike reading. If you read at all, why not +read good healthy stuff, which will be of permanent use to you in your +journey through the world? Why devour garbage when rich meats are +constantly about you? 'To stuff our minds with what is simply trivial, +simply curious, or that which at best has but a low nutritive power, this +is to close our minds to what is solid and enlarging and spiritually +sustaining.'[27] Look at it which way you will, the man who purposely +neglects the great books deliberately closes the channels of knowledge +flowing to his brain, sentences himself to intellectual exile, bolts and +bars in his own face the only door which can lead him into the society of +the wisest and greatest men this world has known. + +And what are the great books of the world? They are those which, from +their native excellences, have been approved by generations of wise men +as beneficial _for mankind_--not for their generation alone. Times change +and manners with them, but countless centuries are powerless to effect +the slightest change in man's essence. Do not the characters in the +oldest book in the world still live in our everyday life, and are not +they possessed of the very thoughts and reasonings that are our portion +to-day? Tastes may change vastly in even a short period, but it is only +fashion, the constant craving for something new:-- + + 'Manners with fortunes, humours turn with climes, + Tenets with books, and principles with times.' + +But the books which by common consent have been assigned places in the +library of the immortals can never be out of fashion: for they contain +the essences of human nature. + +How then shall we start to make acquaintance with these classics? With +what books shall we begin, with what continue? These are questions which +it is impossible to answer without a knowledge of those qualities so +necessary in recommending books. But at least it is possible to indicate +the general line to be followed. It would be foolish, for example, for +the man whose reading hitherto has consisted entirely of the modern +novels of a circulating library, to turn at once to the Paradise Lost, +Bacon's Essays, or the poems of Wordsworth. He would probably acquire a +distaste for good literature which might never be overcome. + +It is like everything else that counts: we set the greatest store by +those things that we have come by through difficulties. The longer the +journey and the more beautiful the scenes we pass through, the greater +our pleasure and subsequent recollection of it. Let us begin our +systematic reading by turning at first to those books which we shall +appreciate immediately. Have novels been our reading hitherto? Then let +us turn at once to some of the greater novelists, both living and dead. +Here the field is wide, and we may quickly find writers to our taste. +Thus we shall gradually work up to some name or names in the list of the +immortals. In the same way we shall approach, step by step, the +essayists, the moralists, the dramatists and (lastly) the poets. + +It cannot be emphasised too strongly that Time above all other +considerations decides what we shall read. Moreover, there are passages +in many of the greatest writers that appeal to a man before he has really +arrived at the time of their understanding. So that, reading some such +passage (_e.g._ Addison's description of the Widows' Club in the +'Spectator') as this, and finding the remainder not to his taste, he +concludes that he has discovered the kernel and that the rest can be cast +aside. Practice alone makes perfect: _macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur +ad astra_. + +With regard to editions, it were needless to specify them; the great +books of the world are reprinted and re-edited every few years. But our +editions should be _good_ ones. 'A good edition should be a complete +edition, ungarbled and unabridged.'[28] Perchance you may prefer to have +them, if it be possible, in the original editions? If so, you will be +wise in your generation, but your purse will need to be a long one +indeed. + +Remember that the first edition is not necessarily the best. It +may be, but in the great majority of cases it is not. In addition to the +inevitable clerical mistakes and printer's errors which are almost always +corrected in the second and subsequent editions, the author or editor +frequently interpolates matter which the publication _de ipso_ has +brought to his notice by reviews or correspondence. This is notably the +case in large and important works. 'Scott's Last Expedition,' published +in two large octavo volumes in 1914, rapidly passed through five editions +the same year, corrections being incorporated in each successive edition +(thereby distinguishing them from mere 'impressions'); so that the fifth +edition remains the best, being the most correct. On the other hand, in +the second edition an author sometimes omits passages or makes drastic +emendations from prudential reasons. Then it is that the first edition is +to be sought for in preference to all others, for this alone contains the +author's true opinions on certain subjects. Such instances the +book-lover gradually learns in his journey through the world of books. + +But I repeat that, apart from this question of first or later issue, our +editions should be good ones. Good editions are not merely luxuries. The +better the type and paper, the greater our ease in reading, and--most +important of all--the consequent safeguarding of our eyesight. + +It is not only type and paper, however, that constitute a good edition. +In addition to these requisites it must contain the recognised text +complete, it must be in a seemly and convenient shape, neither +extravagant nor blatant, and it must not contain a long list of errata. +Of the many qualities that go to make up a good edition, after paper and +print, these are perhaps the most important. But there is another +immediate consideration: _shall it have notes?_ And this raises such a +momentous point that I almost hesitate to approach it. The answer must be +qualified. Provided always that the edition has been superintended (I use +the word advisedly) by a _recognised_ scholar, and that the notes are +few, short, and concise, it is well. But who has not suffered under the +tedious and tiresome verbosity of editors? The writer possesses an +edition of Pope in which page after page contains two lines of the poet +and thirty-four lines of editor. Reed's Shakespeare (1813) frequently +contains a solitary line of text with forty of notes. Fortunately, +however, such things are now numbered with the past. + +As to our editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, whether we can read +them in the original tongue or whether we must have recourse to +translations, we have already debated. But without wishing to discourage +the book-lover in any possible way from making (or renewing, as the case +may be) acquaintance with these great writers, it must be borne in mind +that few indeed are the translations from any language that are wholly in +the spirit of the original. In recommending the following translations of +some of the greater world-classics, literary and animate qualities have +been had in view no less than scholarly translation. + +Aeschylus and Sophocles have been admirably rendered in English verse by +Mr. E. D. A. Morshead. Of the first, 'The House of Atreus' (being the +'Agamemnon,' 'Libation-Bearers,' and 'Furies') was first published by him +in 1881, an octavo volume which was reprinted in 1890 and 1901. 'The +Suppliant Maidens,' 'The Persians,' 'The Seven against Thebes,' and +'Prometheus Bound' were collected in one octavo volume in 1908. His +version of Sophocles' 'Oedipus the King' was published in 1885, while the +'Ajax' and 'Electra' were printed in prose, 1895. + +The Plays of Aristophanes are, perhaps, best known to English readers by +Hookham Frere's excellent translations. His first volume, containing the +'Acharnians,' the 'Knights,' and the 'Birds,' was originally printed at +Malta in 1839, in which year a similar quarto volume containing the +'Frogs' was also issued. But there are several later editions of both +these volumes, and almost any bookseller can provide one. In addition to +these plays, the 'Clouds' and the 'Wasps' were included in Thomas +Mitchell's version first published in two octavo volumes dated 1820 and +1822. But we may have a complete set of the eleven plays which have come +down to us, in Mr. B. B. Rogers' scholarly translation in verse. This +beautiful edition in eleven small quarto volumes was published by Messrs. +George Bell and Sons between 1902 and 1916, and has the Greek and English +on opposite pages. For the plays of Euripides we must turn to the +metrical versions of Professor Gilbert Murray, published by Mr. George +Allen between 1905 and 1915. Perhaps it is not too much to say that this +great scholar-poet has done more than any other to bring the Greeks of +old before those to whom a classical education has been denied. + +Needless to say, the translation into English of the immortal Homeric +cycle has tempted many pens. Among the best known versions are those of +Pope, Chapman, and Cowper. But this matter has been so thoroughly +debated by Mr. Frederic Harrison in his delightful volume 'The Choice of +Books,' that I will refrain from poaching upon his preserve, and will +content myself by remarking that the recommendations of this excellent +judge are the 'Iliad' of Lord Derby and the 'Odyssey' of Philip Worsley. +This last is a beautiful translation in the Spenserian stanza, of which a +second edition appeared in 1868, in two octavo volumes. But if you are +not already acquainted with Mr. Harrison's work you will do well to +obtain it, and to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest all that he has +to say therein upon 'The Poets of the Old World.' + +With regard to the Latin classics, if we are unacquainted with the +language there is greater difficulty; for it is next to impossible to +render in English the light and vivacious lilt of the Italian poets. Our +translations may be fine, scholarly, dignified and the rest of it, but +they bear little semblance to the originals. Dryden's version of the +'Aeneid' may be read, not as a translation but as an epic in the English +of a great poet; and to those who are masters of sufficient Latin to +explore the ancients by the help of commentaries, Conington's translation +will be of assistance. Horace is utterly untranslatable, and prose +translations afford little clue to the music of his songs. + +Perhaps it goes without saying that in reading these ancient classics we +shall necessarily lose much of their sentiment and allusion unless our +memory has retained that atmosphere of classic times which we obtained by +constant intercourse with these ancients during our years at school. We +may refresh our memory, however, and at the same time glean the most +modern thought upon those times, by having recourse to certain useful +volumes, companions to our study of these classic writers. + +J. A. St. John's 'Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece,' three octavo +volumes which appeared in 1842, is a perfect encyclopaedia in itself. Of +Mr. Leonard Whibley's 'Companion to Greek Studies' a third edition, with +more than 200 illustrations and maps, was published by the Cambridge +University Press in 1916. The fellow volume is by Sir J. E. Sandys, and +is entitled 'A Companion to Latin Studies.' The second edition, very +fully illustrated, appeared in 1913--a large octavo also published at a +guinea by the same press. Professor Mahaffy's 'Social Life in Greece from +Homer to Menander' has gone through a number of editions. For the theatre +of the Greeks we must turn to 'The Attic Theatre' by A. E. Haigh. The +third edition, edited by Mr. A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, was issued by the +Clarendon Press, 1907. It is the standard work upon this subject; and +therein one can find all about everything pertaining to the Greek theatre +and the actual presentation of the play. A useful little guide to the +study of ancient Greece and Italy is Dr. J. B. Mayer's 'Guide to the +Choice of Classical Books,' a small octavo of which a third edition +appeared in 1885. In 1896 a 'new supplement' was published, and this +contains fifty pages of 'Helps to the Study of Ancient Authors'--the best +books which had appeared up to 1896 on the Art, Coins, Law, History, +Philosophy, Religion, Science, Domestic Life, Amusements, and almost +every aspect of life in ancient Rome and Athens. Copies of this +invaluable reference book are probably in most of the public libraries +throughout the kingdom. + +With regard to some of the other great world-classics, Boccaccio has been +attempted by many translators, none of whom can be said to have +succeeded, and I forbear to recommend any English version. He is +straightforward and not difficult to read in the original, and it is well +worth learning sufficient Italian to enable one to explore his rich charm +for oneself. + +As to Calderon, eight of his plays have been rendered in English by that +prince of translators Edward Fitzgerald, though his version is not, nor +did he pretend it to be, a close translation. Yet it is more in the +spirit of the dramatist than one would deem possible in an English +version of a Spanish author. Six of these plays were first published by +Fitzgerald in 1853, and this volume was reprinted in the series known as +'The King's Classics' in 1903. The complete set of eight may be obtained +in one small octavo volume, in the beautiful 'Eversley' series published +by Macmillan. But you may read seventeen of Calderon's plays, in the +French of Damas Hinard, in the 'Chef d'oeuvre du Theatre Espagnol,' +1841-3, which also includes the works of Lope de Vega: in all five small +octavo volumes--if you are so lucky as to find them. + +With regard to Don Quixote, as a boy our book-hunter made more than one +attempt to explore 'the ingenious gentleman' but always gave it up after +proceeding less than half-way through the first volume. It was all so dry +and outlandish, and the version he possessed was written in such stilted +language. There were no notes to his edition, and whole passages and +allusions were beyond his comprehension. Looking back now I more than +suspect that they were beyond the comprehension of the translator as +well. 'Rocinante,' spelt 'Rosinante,' he thought was rather a pretty name +for the Don's charger; but he saw no humour in it until he discovered, +many years later, that _rocin_ means a 'cart-horse' and _ante_, +'previously.' Nor could he see anything amusing in the landlord's boast +that he too had been a knight-errant in his time, roaming the Isles of +Riaran in quest of adventures--until he learnt that this was a city slum, +the resort of thieves and cut-throats. The whole work abounds with local +and topical allusions, and it is essential that our edition be well +supplied with notes. There is one which fulfils this condition and in +addition provides a most scholarly text, more closely approaching the +original than any other which has appeared hitherto. This is the masterly +translation of John Ormsby, which appeared in four octavo volumes in +1885. It contains a valuable history of the work, together with a life of +Cervantes, and the appendices to the last volume contain a bibliography +of the immortal book. + +Dante must be read in the original tongue. There is a lofty and spiritual +grandeur in the language of the three great epics which one can never +hope to realise in reading translations, be they never so good. +Nevertheless those versions which are most in favour among students are +of considerable value as commentaries, and are of great assistance in +reading the original. One cannot do better at the outset of one's +acquaintance with the great poet than to procure Dr. J. A. Carlyle's +excellent version of the 'Inferno.' A third edition was published in +1882. It has explanatory notes and a prose translation, in measured, +dignified language, above the text of the original; forming in all +respects a handy and convenient volume. Dr. A. J. Butler's versions of +the 'Purgatory' and 'Paradise' were issued, in octavo, in 1880 and 1885 +respectively. Aids to the study of Dante are legion. The fourth edition +of Professor J. Addington Symond's 'Introduction to the Study of Dante' +appeared in 1899; whilst Lord Vernon's 'Readings in Dante,' six octavo +volumes, is said to have occupied that great scholar for more than +twenty-five years of his life. + +Goethe is known to English readers chiefly by the immortal _Faust_; and +this work alone has engaged the attention of numerous scholars. A volume +containing seven of Goethe's plays in English was published in Bohn's +Standard Library in 1879. It included Sir Walter Scott's version of +'Goetz von Berlichingen,' the remainder being translated by Miss Swanwick +and E. A. Bowring. Miss Swanwick's 'Faust' is well known and has often +been reprinted; a beautiful edition illustrated by Mr. Gilbert James +appeared in 1906. There is a version, however, which stands far above the +rest, a version which the writer for his part has always considered to +rank with the greatest translations. This is the 'Faust' of Bayard +Taylor, which indeed may be read as a poem in itself. But then Taylor had +advantages possessed by few translators. An American by birth, his mother +was a German, and he spent a part of his life in Germany. From his birth +he was bilinguous; and added to this linguistic advantage were his +profound scholarship and poetic gift. There are numerous editions of his +work, but only one--so far as I am aware, in this country at +least--worthy of its great merit, namely, that which appeared in two +octavo volumes in 1871. It is an edition somewhat hard to obtain. + +For Schiller's dramatic works we must have recourse to Coleridge, who has +given us versions of both parts of the 'Wallenstein' and 'William Tell.' +The Poems and Ballads were rendered in English by Sir E. Bulwer Lytton +(Lord Lytton): two volumes, 1844. Heine's short four-line verses do not +lend themselves to translating and though many have attempted it, the +results are almost always a jingle, often approaching doggerel. The prose +works have recently been translated by Mr. C. G. Leland, and the 'Atta +Troll' by Miss Armour, both forming part of a twelve volume edition +published between 1892 and 1905. + +The mention of Rabelais conjures up one of those extremely rare instances +where a translation constitutes as great a classic as the original work. +Whether it was the difficulty of translation, or the despair of eclipsing +so notable a success as had been achieved by their predecessor, that +deterred other scholars from making the attempt, we know not; but certain +it is that the version put forth by Sir Thomas Urquhart in 1653 has +remained, and seems likely to remain, the standard representation of the +fantastic 'Doctor in Physick' in this language. Urquhart, that polished +and gifted Scottish d'Artagnan, translated the first three books only; +the last two were added by Motteux, a French refugee, in 1694. Urquhart's +work, 'precise, elegant, and very faithful,' comes as near perfection as +any translation can hope to be. Motteux's rendering was revised by Ozell; +but unfortunately it falls far short of the version of Sir Thomas, who, +with a longer life, might perhaps have undertaken these last two books as +well. + +Of these five books of Master Francis Rabelais thus english'd, there +have been, of course, numerous editions. Our book-hunter prefers that +which appeared in three quarto volumes in 1904, with photogravure +illustrations by M. Louis Chalon. Both from a scholarly and a +bibliographical standpoint it is all that can be desired, and one can +have a copy for less than a pound. + +Why is it that we all have some acquaintance at least with the Arabian +Nights? What have these purely Eastern tales to do with us? Both +questions may be answered at once. It is because they contain the very +essence of oriental thought, manners, customs, habits, speech, and deeds: +because we can learn from them more of the everyday life of the orient, +both of to-day and of a thousand years ago, than an entire library of +travels can teach us. Surely it is more than mere curiosity that urges us +to know something at least of the manner in which so many millions of our +fellow-beings live. + +Who has not read at least some of these glorious tales? Who has not heard +of Sinbad or the Roc, of Scheherazade or of Haroun al Raschid? Truly they +are + + 'The tales that charm away the wakeful night + In Araby, romances'; + +Wordsworth himself came early under their spell. He tells how as a young +child + + 'A precious treasure had I long possessed, + A little yellow, canvas-covered book, + A slender abstract of the Arabian tales; + And, from companions in a new abode, + When first I learnt that this dear prize of mine + Was but a block hewn from a mighty quarry-- + That there were four large volumes, laden all + With kindred matter, 'twas to me, in truth, + A promise scarcely earthly.' + +And so he makes a covenant 'with one not richer than myself' that each +should save up until their joint savings were sufficient to purchase the +complete work. But alas! + + 'Through several months, + In spite of all temptation, we preserved + Religiously that vow; but firmness failed, + Nor were we ever masters of our wish.' + +There must be few books in the world from which we may learn so much +while being so rapturously entertained. Burton's edition is perhaps the +best known to English readers, though Lane's version is much to be +preferred. Of the latter there are many editions.[29] + +How much has been written on the Art of Reading, and what scanty +knowledge of that art have the most industrious of readers! Outside the +Universities, reading is apt nowadays to be looked upon as a light form +of recreation, generally to be indulged in on a rainy day. 'There's +nothing to do but sit indoors and read,' one frequently hears remarked in +country houses when the weather is too inclement to permit of motoring. +Novel-reading has indeed become a part of our fashionable life. + +How often, too, does one come across readers of both sexes who possess, +seemingly, a wide knowledge of books, even of the great books of the +world. Yet in nine cases out of ten such knowledge is of the most +superficial kind, acquired by 'dipping into' such and such an author to +ascertain whether he be to his or her taste. Frankly, the great author is +almost invariably _not_ to the modern reader's taste; but the scanty +knowledge acquired by perusing the first chapter, the headings of the +remaining chapters, and the last chapter, enables the reader (save the +mark!) to discourse at large on this particular writer among his own +_coterie_. Perchance one of his friends has similarly insulted the great +author, and they are enabled to discuss the book for nearly a minute by +the clock, each thinking the other a devilish well-read fellow. Truly it +has been said that 'just as profligacy is easy within the strict limits +of the law, a boundless knowledge of books may be found with a narrow +education.'[30] + +More rarely one comes across a man who, being the fortunate possessor of +a truly wonderful memory, is enabled to retain the bulk of the +information which he has acquired by wide reading. There is a story told +of a certain don at one of our older universities who, being possessed of +an insatiable thirst for knowledge coupled with an excellent memory and +an inexhaustible capacity for work, passed as a well-read if not a very +learned man. There seemed to be few topics upon which he could not +discourse on equal terms even with those who had made that subject their +own. + +Now it happened that there were two young Fellows at the same college +who, wearied of his constant superiority in conversation, determined to +take Brown (for such was his name) 'down a peg or two.' So each night at +dinner in hall they skilfully turned the conversation to unusual topics, +hoping to light upon some chink in the redoubtable Brown's intellectual +armour. Once they tried him on the rarer British hemipterous homoptera, +but soon discovered that he was a very fair entomologist. Next evening +the conversation veered to ancient Scandinavian burial rites, but here +again he could give them points. The Byzantine coinage of Cyprus was, of +course, well known to him while he had himself worked on the oolitic +foraminifera of the blue marl at Biarritz. His experiments on the red +colouring matter of _drosera rotundifolia_ had formed the subject of a +monograph, and he was particularly interested in the hagiological +folk-lore of Lower Brittany. + +It seemed almost hopeless. Try as they would they could find no subject +with which he was unacquainted. Every night some fresh outlandish topic +was introduced. Brown looked very bored, and proceeded to tell them all +there was to be said upon the subject. But one night a casual remark put +them on the right track. Someone happened to ask Brown a question about +Indian music. He answered shortly, and remarked that it was a subject +upon which a good deal of work was yet to be done. The conspirators +looked across the table at each other, left the common-room early, and +retired to Jones's rooms. + +'Did you notice?' said Jones. + +'Yes,' said Smith; 'he evidently doesn't know much about oriental music.' + +'But he will by to-morrow,' replied the astute Jones. 'As soon as ever he +gets to his rooms to-night, he'll read up everything he possibly can on +Indian music, and he'll continue in the Library to-morrow. By dinner-time +he'll be stuffed full of tom-toms and shawms and dulcimers, or whatever +they play in India.' + +'We must ride him off,' said Smith. 'How about Chinese music? He won't +know anything about that.' + +This seemed such a promising topic that they got out the encyclopaedia and +found to their joy that there was quite a lengthy and learned +disquisition on the subject. So they read it again and again, even +learning the more abstruse sentences by heart. Next day they were +observed to chuckle whenever they caught each other's eye, and at lunch +they were unusually cheerful and more than ordinarily attentive to the +unsuspecting Brown. + +That night at dinner they could hardly restrain their impatience, and +Smith introduced the topic, rather clumsily, as soon as the fish +appeared. Brown stared at them and said nothing. Jones, plucking up +courage, presently asked him a question about the dominant fifth of the +scale used by the natives of Quang-Tung. He answered evasively. They +could hardly conceal their delight, and their voices rose so that +presently the whole table was looking at them. At some of their recondite +utterances Brown fairly winced, and it soon became evident to all what +was afoot. Upstairs in the common-room they pursued their unhappy victim. +The senior tutor and the dean, secretly enjoying the fun, stood near. At +last, flushed with victory, Jones proceeded to administer +the _coup de grace_. + +'You really ought to read something about Chinese music, Brown, it's a +most interesting topic, and I'm sure you'd like to be able to talk about +it. There are quite a number of good books on the subject. For a start +you couldn't do better than study the article in the "Encyclopaedia +Academica." It's clear and concise, evidently written by a man who knows +what he's talking about.' + +'I _have_ read it,' said Brown patiently; 'in fact I--er--_wrote_ it, +_but I'm afraid it's quite out of date now_.' + + * * * * * + +We are not all the lucky possessors of such a capacity for acquiring +knowledge. Wide reading may be good from an educational point of view, +but unless we are able to assimilate what we read better a thousand times +to restrict our reading. Gibbon's advice is bad, for it indicates merely +the system he employed in compiling his monumental work. 'We ought not,' +he remarks, 'to attend to the order of our books so much as (to the +order) of our thoughts.' So, in the midst of Homer he would skip to +Longinus; a passage in Longinus would send him to Pliny, and so on. +General reading upon this plan, with no idea of collection in view, would +in time reduce most of us to idiocy. + +Let our reading be, above all things, well ordered and systematic. Let us +imitate Ancillon rather than Gibbon. Ancillon never read a book +throughout without reading in his progress many others of an exegetic +nature; so that 'his library table was always covered with a number of +books for the most part open.'[31] An excellent habit, provided that we +can resist the temptation to be side-tracked. The list of books by this +industrious student, however, shows by their curious variety that he at +least was not sufficiently strong-minded to resist wandering, during the +compilation of his historical works, in the byways of literature. + +If we read the good solid books at all, let us at least read them with +the aim of acquiring the maximum amount of information they afford. To +read sketchily and diversely is not only a most painful waste of time, +but it abuses our brains. Suppose now that our bookman has decided to +'read up' the French Revolution, a subject to which we all turn at some +period of our lives. He has been led thereto, perhaps, by having lighted +upon a translation of someone's memoirs, the recollections of some +insignificant valet-de-chambre or dissolute cure (for such memoirs +abound), more interesting by reason of its piquancy than its historical +accuracy. He reads of persons and events that he recollects vaguely to +have heard of before, and so he goes on and on. + +At the end, he has an ambiguous and temporary knowledge of names and +events. He has become acquainted with certain facts that he may possibly +remember; such as that the name of the French King was Louis and that his +Queen was Marie Antoinette, that they tried to escape and got as far as +Varennes (_wherever that may be_), but were brought back and executed; +that there were various politicians named Mirabeau, Danton, Robespierre, +Desmoulins, and a curious party called the Girondins, et cetera. As to +the causes which led up to the Revolution, the condition of the country +and people, the ministry of Turgot, the characters of the King and Queen, +Necker's policy, the Abbe Sieyes, the Tennis Court, the composition of +the Assembly, and the host of essential facts, his knowledge is precisely +_nil_. The terms Right Centre, Extreme Left, the Jacobins, the White +Terror, Assignats, Hebertists and Dantonists, the Montagnards, the Old +Cordelier, are so much 'Hebrew-Greek' to him. At the end of six months he +will not be at all sure whether it was Louis XIV., XV., or XVI. who was +beheaded. + +Surely his reading of these dubious memoirs has been a most mistaken +course and a lamentable waste of time? He has gained nothing that has +benefited him intellectually, and he has loaded his mind with an +indigestible hotch-potch of unclassified information. How then should he +have approached the subject? Obviously he should have begun at the +threshold, or rather at the outer gate. To plunge straight away into +Louis Blanc's twelve volumes or Lamartine's 'History of the Girondins' +would be as great a mistake as the reading of the unprofitable memoirs. A +good beginning is half done. So, having prepared the way by a short study +of the economic condition of France immediately prior to the Revolution, +that he may readily understand the causes of that event, let our reader +begin with some elementary school text-book which will give him a short +and concise view of the Revolution as a whole. Having laid the +foundations he will confine himself at the outset to works in his own +tongue; choosing his literature for each succeeding phase of the +Revolution in turn. But until he has obtained a thorough groundwork and +has acquired sufficient knowledge to enable him to explore the more +famous works in French, it were profitless to devour the scraps afforded +by dubious memoir writers. + +If we read three books consecutively on any one subject, we know not +merely three times as much as if we had read one only, but thirty times. +And our knowledge of the subject will not be vague, inaccurate and +fleeting, but it will be concise, accurate and permanent. To acquire a +correct and lasting knowledge of any subject, whether it be an event or +an epoch of history, a science or an art or craft, it is essential that +we read consecutively and comparatively as many books upon that subject +as our opportunities and time allow. It should also be borne in mind that +if we are content to read one volume only, it is quite possible that we +may chance upon an author who is inaccurate or biased, or whose work does +not represent the latest stage of our knowledge upon that subject. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] J. H. Burton. + +[21] Mr. Frederic Harrison. + +[22] Mr. Frederic Harrison. + +[23] P. G. Hamerton. + +[24] Richard of Bury (lived 1281-1345). + +[25] M. Octave Uzanne. + +[26] Mr. A. L. Humphreys. + +[27] Mr. Frederic Harrison. + +[28] Mr. A. L. Humphreys. + +[29] There is no doubt that Burton was largely indebted to Payne for his +'translation'; indeed he is said merely to have paraphrased and +rearranged the version which Payne had just previously prepared for the +Villon Society, adding explanatory notes of a character which renders it +essential that his edition be kept under lock and key. It was issued to +subscribers by Burton himself in London (though ostensibly 'by the +Kamashastra Society at Benares'), being printed, and probably bound, by +Brill at Leyden. The Kamashastra Society was a myth. The ten volumes +(1885-6) were sold to the subscribers at ten guineas the set, and the +entire edition (1000) was subscribed for before publication. (_Ex +inform_: E. H.-A., one of the original subscribers and a friend of +Burton.) Six volumes of _Supplemental Nights_ were issued by Burton +between 1886 and 1888. A set of the sixteen volumes now costs about forty +pounds. It was reprinted (by H. S. Nichols) in 1894, in twelve volumes, +only slightly expurgated, the present price being about twelve pounds. A +supplementary volume of illustrations was issued with this last edition. + +[30] Mr. Frederic Harrison. + +[31] Isaac Disraeli. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CHIVALRY AND ROMANCE + + 'Mekely, lordynges gentyll and fre, + Lysten awhile and herken to me.' + HUE DE ROTELANDE. + + +ONCE upon a time, long long before the Venerable Bede had completed that +famous last chapter in his cell at Jarrow, there lived in the ancient +capital of Sampsiceramus, a holy man named Heliodorus. Now in his youth +Heliodorus (as is not uncommon with the young) had turned his thoughts to +worldly things; and being of a romantic nature, wearied by the eternal +sameness of the books available to him, had conceived the extraordinary +notion of writing an untrue book, a book that should never instruct or +point a moral or show you where you are wrong, but should be all +joyousness and enchantment. Possessed with this great idea, timidly yet +sure of himself, he set to work. + +The very first thing he did was sufficiently startling for those days. +Instead of selecting some great man for his central figure and putting +his dialogue into the mouths of learned men, fathers of the church, +philosophers, orators, or famous poets, he chose deliberately a young and +handsome man of no particular learning, and--a woman! It was unheard of! +A book, a voluminous roll closely written, containing nothing but the +adventures of a pair of lovers! Monstrous! Yet it was done at last, and +the roll, finding favour in the eyes of a bosom friend, was quickly +passed from hand to hand. All were entranced by it. Here was a book that +had characters one could understand, for whom one could even feel +affection. The loves of dashing young Theagenes and his dear Chariclea +found an echo in many a youthful breast. + +Meanwhile Heliodorus disappears from view, and for many years we hear +nothing of him until suddenly he reappears as a bishop in Thessaly! Now +comes the sequel to his audacious design, but for which it is doubtful if +we should ever have heard of him. A synod was convened, and Heliodorus +was condemned _because in his youth he had written a novel_. He was given +his choice between bishopric and book, to retain the one he must destroy +the other by word as well as by deed. + +At first sight the choice appears not difficult to make, for although so +laical and original a work had proved to be popular, yet such popularity +was hardly of a nature to appeal to so devout a Christian as one who had +already attained episcopal rank. But to Heliodorus his work (which may +well have been the employment of some years) stood for all that he held +most dear. It was his conception of the ideal in worldly--as opposed to +spiritual--life. Less austere, perhaps, than many of the fathers of the +early Church whose works had seemed so tedious to him in his youth, his +devoutness was tempered largely with a charity and forgiveness that were +not unworthy of his creed. It was impossible to deny those principles of +chivalric virtue and chastity which his novel preached, so he chose to +stand by his book rather than by his benefice, and quitted Thessaly. + +So runs the pleasing tale of Nicephorus. But alas! the relentless voice +of modern research will have it that the real author was not the bishop +at all, but a Sophist who lived in the third century of our era. Be it as +it may, I for my part shall go on believing the old romantic tale until +a better one is invented for the Sophist. + +The work itself is called 'Ten Books of Aethiopian History,' for the +first and last scenes are laid in Egypt, but it is better known by the +name of its hero and heroine. Its popularity was immense, and it was soon +translated into 'almost all languages.' Later Pere Amyot published a +version in French for Francis I., who was so delighted with the result +that he made the translator abbe of Belozane. Racine tells us it was this +ancient romance that first fired his imagination with the desire to +write. His tutor discovered him absorbed in its contents, and snatching +it from his hand angrily consigned it to the fire. Racine bought another +copy, which suffered a like fate. But so strong a hold upon him had the +story, that he purchased a third, and devoured it in secret, offering it +to his master with a smile when he had thoroughly mastered its contents. + +It seems that this ancient Greek romance was lost for many centuries. At +the sack of Buda in 1526, however, a manuscript of it was discovered in +the royal library, where it had once formed part of the vast library +amassed by Matthias Corvinus, the great King of Hungary. Matthias is said +to have 'spoken almost all the European languages,' so doubtless he had +passed many a pleasant hour with the tale. This manuscript (others have +since been discovered) was printed at Basel 'in officina Ioan Hervagii' +in 1534, a small quarto printed with Greek types.[32] + +That the early romances of chivalry possess a charm for the +book-collector it is impossible to deny. They are 'a series of books,' +writes Mr. John Ormsby, 'which, complete, would be a glory to any library +in the world; which, in first editions, would now probably fetch a sum +almost large enough to endow a college; and which . . . . is perhaps +. . . . as worthless a set of books as could be made up out of the refuse +novels of a circulating library.' Times without number they have been +derided and decried, even in the days when they were popular. The curate +of La Mancha was not the only one who disapproved of them. 'In our +fathers tyme,' wrote old Roger Ascham, judging the flock by a few black +sheep, 'nothing was red, but bookes of fayned cheualrie, wherein a man by +redinge, shuld be led to none other ende, but onely to manslaughter and +baudrye.' Possevino, a learned Jesuit and famous preacher of the +sixteenth century, used to complain that for the last five hundred years +the princes of Europe had read nothing but romances. Rene d'Anjou +listened to his chaplain inveighing against Launcelot, Amadis, and the +romances of which he was particularly fond; but, says Villeneuve, while +respecting the preacher for his boldness, the king continued to read +them, and even composed new volumes in imitation of them.[33] + +Full of monstrous fictions some of these ancient stories undoubtedly are. +It were foolish to expect that all of them should attain the high level +of those great legends which centre about the Holy Grail. Good things +have ever been imitated indifferently; and it was only the later series +of tales which had to do chiefly with enchantments and fairies and +'giaunts, hard to be beleeved.' But alas! all alike have come under the +ban of those who decry reading for recreation's sake. Good and bad have +been damn'd indifferently. One cannot help wondering however that so much +has been written against them, and that so many have been at pains to +point out their unreasonableness. One would have thought that the very +fact of them _all_ abounding with incidents that are not only impossible +but preposterous, would have given these critics pause, and have urged +them to ask themselves why and wherefore such things were repeated. + +To anyone possessed of imagination the answer, of course, is obvious. The +better tales all had the exaltation of the chivalric spirit in view, and +sought to achieve this end by allegory as well as by parable. He must be +a dullard indeed who fails to understand their symbolism. Malory, +describing the entry of Tristram into the field, wishes to impress upon +us the fact that he was indeed a 'preux chevalier, sans peur et sans +reproche,' the model of a Christian knight; so he mounts him on a white +horse and arrays him in white harness, and he rides out at a postern, +'and soo he came in to the feld as it had ben a bryght angel.' Doubtless +those to whom understanding has been denied would argue hotly as to +whether there is any authority for a knight painting his armour white. +What sane man, reading 'The Faerie Queene,' could think that it purported +to depict actual scenes or incidents? Yet time and again the 'sheer +impossibility' of these stories has been urged in condemnation of them. +Truly it is not every man who should turn to these ancient books which + + 'In sage and solemn tunes have sung + Of Turneys and of Trophies hung, + Of Forests, and inchantments drear, + _Where more is meant than meets the ear_.' + +Gavaudan, a troubadour of the twelfth century, meets the undiscerning +critic more than half-way. Let none judge, he writes, till he be capable +of separating the grain from the chaff; 'for the fool makes haste to +condemn, and the ignorant only pretends to know all things, and muses on +the wonders that are too mighty for his comprehension.' + +'Romances,' says Sharon Turner, 'are so many little Utopias, in which the +writer tries to paint or to inculcate something which he considers to be +more useful, more happy or more delightful, more excellent or more +interesting, than the world he lives in, than the characters he surveys, +or the events or evils which he experiences.' Yet Dunlop, who examined +the romances of chivalry at some length in his 'History of Fiction,' +seems never to have suspected that these tales were written with any +other intention than to amuse or that the events which they related were +looked upon by their readers as other than facts. For Arthur he has scant +respect, 'nor,' says he, 'as we advance, do we find him possessed of a +single quality, except strength and courage, to excite respect or +interest.' Surely the remark of one who must have been dead to all sense +of imagination and romance--although purporting to be an authority upon +them! The teaching of the whole Arthurian cycle of romances was 'that +noble men may see and lerne the noble actes of chyualrye, the Ientyl and +vertuous dedes that somme Knyghtes vsed in tho dayes, by whyche they came +to honour; and how they that were vycious were punysshed and ofte put to +shame and rebuke.' The quest of the Holy Grail, motive of the most +exquisite series of mystic tales that has ever been written, was, we are +expressly informed, 'the hygh way of our Lord Jhesu Cryst, and the way of +a true good lyver, not that of synners and of mysbelievers.' Godfrey de +Bouillon, the hero of another cycle, was 'moult preudhomme et sage et +moult aymant Dieu et gens d'esglise,' as we read in 'Le Triomphe des Neuf +Preux' (folio, Abbeville 1487). Preposterous tales? Perhaps; yet, as +regards their moral side, not suffering greatly by comparison with our +modern fiction. + +Those whose reading is confined to the literature of to-day can have no +idea of the influence which these romances had upon the lives of our +forefathers. It was not merely a system of morality which they taught, it +was a civilisation of a very high order. When we are inclined to mock at +these 'preposterous tales' we should never forget that to them we owe a +debt so immense that we are lost in the contemplation of it. It cannot be +gainsaid that it was as much by the study and teaching of these romances +as it was by the spirit which gave them birth, that our ancestors came to +mould their lives in such a sort as to influence the civilisation of the +whole of the western world. + +That the romances were the outcome of chivalry cannot be urged, though +doubtless in a later age they helped to keep the spirit of knighthood +alive. Edward the Black Prince, the very model of mediaeval chivalry, +avowedly studied the ancient romances for patterns. When Pedro the Cruel +had prevailed upon the prince to defend his cause, the princess bitterly +bewailed her husband's decision. 'I see well,' said the prince, to whom +her expressions were related, 'that she wishes me to be always at her +side and never to leave her chamber. But a prince must be ready to win +renown and to expose himself to all kinds of danger, as in days of old +did Roland, Oliver, Ogier, the four sons of Aimon, Charlemagne, the great +Leon de Bourges, Juan de Tournant, Lancelot, Tristan, Alexander, Arthur +and Godfrey whose courage, bravery, and fearlessness, both warlike and +heroic, all the romances extoll. And by Saint George, I will restore +Spain to the rightful heir.' + +Occleve, a little later, has no doubt as to the beneficial effects of +perusing the romances. Indeed he goes so far as to exhort his friend, Sir +John Oldcastle, to leave off studying Holy Writ, and to read 'Lancelot de +lake, Vegece, or the Siege of Troie or Thebes.' 'What do ye now,' says +Caxton in 'The Order of Chivalry,' 'but go to the baynes and playe atte +dyse? . . . Leve this, leve it, and rede the noble volumes of Saynt +Graal, of Lancelot, of Galaad, of Trystram, of Perseforest, of Percyval, +of Gawayn, and many mo. Ther shalle ye see manhode, curtosye, and +gentylnesse.' + +What other system in this world could have bestowed that absolute +serenity of mind which those who practised chivalry retained amid the +tumults of their life? The Saracens, abashed by the tranquil spirit of +their royal prisoner, Louis IX., mistook his humility for pride. In vain +did they threaten him with torture: the king only replied 'Je suis +prisonnier du Sultan, il peut faire de moi a son vouloir.' And when at +last the Sultan's murderer rushed into his prison, his hands dripping +with blood, and crying, 'What will you give me for having destroyed him +who would have put you to death?' the king was more struck with horror at +the crime than with fear for his own safety, and remained motionless, +disdaining to answer. Thereupon the Saracen, maddened by a tranquillity +which he rightly attributed to the immense power of Christian chivalry, +presented the point of his blood-stained sword to the king's breast, +crying, 'Fais moi chevalier, ou je te tue.' 'Fais toi Chrestien,' replied +the intrepid king, 'et je te ferai chevalier.' + +We are accustomed nowadays to look upon chivalry merely as a knightly +institution which had to do solely with tournaments, banquets, +knight-errantry, and the rescuing of encastled maidens. The modern +acceptance of the term omits all those gentle qualities of mind which go +to make the true chivalric disposition. We associate chivalry with 'fair +play' combined with 'manliness'; and humility has no part in it. Indeed +it never enters into our mind that it was a system of 'humanyte, +curtosye, and gentylnesse.' More, it was a religion deeply ingrained in +the hearts of men, a religion which spread through all grades of society, +and one which consisted in the beatifying of the noblest qualities of +human nature; and it has left an indelible mark upon our national +character. Chivalry is not dead to-day as thoughtless people so often +exclaim; it will never die so long as our national characteristics +endure, though to-day it passes under a different name. 'Sport' we call +it now, and we pride ourselves in being 'sporting' even in the hour of +death--witness the countless instances brought about by the late great +war. + +Bertrand du Guesclin, one of the greatest and most fearless exponents of +the chivalric spirit, and the Black Prince's most redoubtable enemy, fell +at last into the hands of the English. One day at Bordeaux the Prince +summoned him from his prison, and asked him how he fared. 'Par may foy, +monseigneur,' replied Bertrand, 'il m'ennuye de n'entendre que le chant +des Souris de Bourdeaux; je voudrois bien ouyr les Rossignols de nostre +pais'; but he added that he loved honour better than aught else and never +had anything brought him more glory than his prison, seeing that, as all +the other prisoners had been ransomed, he was kept there only through +fear of his prowess. The Prince of Wales, touched in his honour (or +rather pride) at du Guesclin's words, agreed to liberate Bertrand upon +payment of seventy thousand florins of gold.[34] 'But what was more +extraordinary in this adventure,' says a French chronicler, 'was that the +Princess of Wales gave him thirty thousand, and Sir John Chandos, who had +taken him prisoner, took upon himself to pay what was wanting to make the +sum complete.' 'Sporting,' was it not? Truly we are a marvellous race, +and it is not to be wondered that other nations, from whom this spirit +has long passed away, despair of ever being able to understand us. + +England has always been the home of chivalry. La Colombiere in his 'Vray +Theatre d'Honneur et de Chevalerie ou le Miroir Heroique de la Noblesse' +remarks that the greatest number of the old romances have been more +particularly employed in celebrating the valour of the knights of this +kingdom than that of any other; because, in fact, they have always loved +such exercises in an especial manner. 'The city of London,' writes +Francisco de Moraes in the 'Palmerin de Inglaterra,' 'contained in those +days all, or the greater part, of the chivalry of the world.' In +Perceforest a damozel says to his companion 'Sire chevalier, I will +gladly parley with you because you come from Great Britain; it is a +country which I love well, for there habitually (coustumierement) is the +finest chivalry in the world; c'est le pays au monde, si comme je croy, +le plus remply des bas et joyeulx passetemps pour toutes gentilles +pucelles et jeunes bacheliers qui pretendent a honneur de +chevalerie.'[35] + +The entire cycle of legends which has the Holy Grail for its centre is +concerned with Britain and Britain alone. Caerleon and Winchester, +Tintagel and Glastonbury, these are the chief stages in this great +romance of perfect knighthood; and whether related by a scribe of +Hainault in the thirteenth century or sung by a Welsh bard before the +Norman Conquest or praised at the court at Paris by the favourite +troubadour of Philip Augustus, it is all one as regards the setting and +the chief characters. 'Whether for goodly men or for chivalrous deeds, +for courtesy or for honour,' wrote the Norman chronicler Wace in the +middle of the twelfth century, 'in Arthur's day England bore the flower +from all the lands near by, yea from every other land whereof we know. +The poorest peasant in his smock was a more courteous and valiant +gentleman than was a belted knight beyond the sea.' + +There is a pleasing story which relates how Robert Bruce, marching with +his army in the mountains of Ireland, heard a woman crying during one of +the halts. He inquired immediately what was the matter, and was told that +it was a camp-follower, a poor laundress, who was taken in child-bed; and +as it was impossible to take her with them, she bemoaned her fate in +being left behind to die. The king replied that he is no man who will not +pity a woman then. He ordered that a tent should be pitched for her +immediately, and that she should be attended at once by the other women; +and there he tarried his host until she had been delivered and could be +carried along with them. 'This,' says the Chronicler, 'was a full great +courtesy.' Chivalry? In the very highest sense of the word. + +We must be careful lest, losing sight of the many attributes of chivalry, +we incline towards the erroneous view that it was confined entirely to +the upper classes. That the manuscript volumes of the romantic tales +which were so eagerly purchased and treasured by the educated classes +could never possibly come into the hands of the rude illiterate peasants +is a fallacious argument. Scanty indeed would be our folk-lore had it all +been transmitted graphically. Chaucer bears evidence of the widespread +popularity of these heroic tales in his day: + + 'Alexaundres storie is so commune + That every wight that hath discrecioune + Hath herde somewhat or al of his fortune.' + +The incidents of these immortal tales were as well known to the humblest +as to the highest in the land. We have abundant evidence of their +popularity when recounted in front of the fire in hostel or homestead. +Even so late as Milton's day it was the custom to recount knightly +adventures and fairy tales about the evening fireside. When + + the live-long daylight fail + Then to the Spicy Nut-brown Ale, + With stories told of many a feat, + How _Faery Mab_ the junkets eat, + . . . . . . + Where throngs of Knights and Barons bold, + In weeds of Peace high triumphs hold, + With store of Ladies, whose bright eyes + Rain influence, and judge the prise, + +until at length + + Thus done the Tales, to bed they creep, + By whispering Winds soon lull'd asleep. + +How great a part of the pleasures of this world have they missed whose +pulses are never stirred by the Spirit of Romance! Content and Peace of +Mind may be had by all who will offer up sacrifices to obtain them; but +Imagination is not to be had at any price unless it be a part of our +birthright. Content may yield a tranquillity of mind that refreshes the +soul, but it is Imagination alone that can produce that spiritual +exaltation which takes our minds from worldly things, carries us +backwards or forwards through countless ages of the past or aeons of +futurity, and enables us to ride in the chariot of Phoebus. It is a +vast library in itself. + + 'He had small need of books; for many a tale + Traditionary round the mountains hung, + And many a legend, peopling the dark woods, + Nourished Imagination in her growth.' + +It was the fortune of our book-hunter once to spend an afternoon in June +upon the downs near Winchester. To southward of the old town there is a +deep grassy hollow, crescent-shaped, its southern slope fringed with +wood; and here in the shade he lay reading the 'Morte d'Arthur' of old +Malory. Coming at length to the Noble Tale of the Sangreal, he read how +King Arthur, having come 'unto Camelot by the houre of undorn on +Whytsonday,' and feasting with the fellowship of the Round Table, was +told of the marvel wrought unto Balin's sword by Merlin. + +You will remember that Balin fought unbeknown with his brother Balan, +that each wounded the other unto death, and that they were buried by +Merlin in the same tomb. Then Merlin 'lete make by his subtylyte that +Balyn's swerd was put in a marbel stone standyng up ryght as grete as a +mylle stone, and the stone hoved alweyes above the water, and dyd many +yeres, and so by adventure it swam doun the streme to the Cyte of Camelot +that is in Englysshe Wynchestre.' + +To the west the downs slope steeply into the river valley, and set in the +rich green meadows like a skein of silver threads the book-hunter could +discern the Itchen with its attendant rivulets. So he gazed across to the +stream and pondered over this marvellous stone which 'hoved' always above +the water, a sword set in it so that the pommel alone could be seen, 'and +in the pomel therof were precyous stones wrought with subtyle letters of +gold.' It was the symbol which was to prove the youthful Galahad the +_haut prince_ who should achieve the Sangreal. + +That same evening, wandering along the river's bank below the city, his +head full of the wondrous tale, an adventure befell him. It was dusk, and +he had crossed the stream at a ford, when suddenly he saw the stone. It +was lying upon its side, not a dozen paces from the water. There was no +doubt whatever about it. It was roughly five feet long, about half as +wide and thick, and of a curious reddish-brown--the colour of dried +blood. + +'Sir,' said the squire who brought the news to the King and his Knights, +'there is here bynethe at the Ryver a grete stone which I saw flete above +the water, and therin I sawe styckyng a swerd. The Kynge sayde, I wille +see that marveill. Soo all the Knyghtes went with hym. And whanne they +came unto the ryver they fonde there a stone fletyng, _as hit were of +reed marbel_, and therin stack a fair ryche swerd.' + +I confess that not a little awe was mingled with delight as our +book-hunter gazed upon the stone, walked round it, touched it! Then +suddenly away in the old city a bell tolled, and he recollected that it +was Whitsun Eve! That walk home in the twilight was something not easily +to be forgotten, and neither supper nor a pipe could bring him back to +earth and the twentieth century again. Next morning he was up early, +anxious to see if any trace were left of the spot where this marvel had +occurred, for it was scarcely possible that the whole adventure was other +than a dream. But the spot was soon found, and sure enough there was the +stone or peron,[36] and he could examine it in the sunshine at his +leisure. How it got there or whence it came it were impossible to guess; +the chalk for miles around contains nothing but flints, and the peron was +smooth and polished 'as a mill-stone.' + +[Illustration: THE PERON] + +That Winchester is not Camelot antiquaries have told us often enough. The +city of the Knights may have been in the West Country or in Wales for +aught our bookman cares; but until they can produce a likelier site and a +better peron he will continue to take Sir Thomas's word for it. + +One other point. I have said that the stone lay some few paces from the +water. You will notice when you pay a pilgrimage to the stone (it lies at +the ford, hard by a church) that the ground about it is almost level with +the water, so that when the river is in flood the stone must be almost +submerged: in other words, it would then _hove above the water_. It is +easy to see from the bank on the other side that the river has changed +its course by a few yards, leaving the stone now high and dry. If you +dispute this, why then I can only say that the stone, as 'by adventure it +swam down the stream,' must have been cast there by the river when in +flood. That there is a cleft in the stone whence Galahad withdrew the +sword I can neither affirm nor deny; it _may_ have closed up, for with +perons of this nature all things are possible, or the stone itself _may_ +have got turned over.[37] At all events I for one shall not be so rash as +to cast suspicion upon so historic a relic. + +For those materialists who doubt that such an event ever took place, I +will propound a theory. That the first twelve books of the 'Morte +d'Arthur' were translated from the French by Sir Thomas Malory seems +probable. Caxton says as much in his Preface, and the Epilogue to Book +XII. reads, 'Here endeth the second book of Syr Tristram that was drawen +oute of Frensshe in to Englysshe. But here is no rehersal of the thyrd +book. And here foloweth the noble tale of the Sancgreal that called is +the hooly vessel.' It has been shown[38] that the stories of the Holy +Grail are probably of Welsh origin, and--Sir Thomas is said to have been +a Welshman. Is it possible that he was ever at Winchester, that he +wandered on Whitsun Eve (as did our book-hunter) along the Itchen, that +he came to and roused over the stone (smooth and polished as a +mill-stone), so different from any to be seen hereabout, and that as he +wandered back to Camelot he wove the delicious romance about it? At all +events, if he were ever there, it is at least possible that the spot was +in his mind when adapting the Welsh legends for his book. Mark how well +the events which I relate accord with the topography of the spot. The +stone was 'beneath at the river,' the damozel who comes to view the +marvel 'came rydynge doune the ryver . . . . on a whyte palfroy toward +them,' and there is mention of the river meads. It is hard to believe +that Sir Thomas would definitely assert that Camelot 'is in English +Winchester,' and make it the chief scene of his romance, had he never +visited the town. + +The book was finished, Caxton tells us, 'the ix yere of the reygne of +king edward the fourth,' 1469; but was not 'chapytred and emprynted and +fynysshed in th'abbey Westmestre' until 'the last day of July the yere of +our lord M.CCCC.LXXXV.,' 1485. Three weeks later a fateful battle was +fought--that of Bosworth, which placed the crown upon Harry Tudor's head. +The facts that the new king was a great benefactor to Winchester, that he +held the castle to have been built by King Arthur, and that he brought +hither his queen to be delivered of his first-born (whom he named +Arthur), point to something more than a chance connection between the +city and the book. + +Henry Tudor was also a Welshman, and possibly Malory was of the king's +acquaintance, if not actually of his retinue. Bale asserts that Malory +was occupied with affairs of state. But conclusions are dangerous things. +The preface to the 'Morte d'Arthur' ascribes the ordering of the book to +Edward the Fourth. '. . . I made a book unto th'excellent prynce and kyng +of noble memorye kyng Edward the fourth. The sayd noble Ientylmen +instantly requyred me t'emprynte thystorye of the sayd noble kyng and +conquerour king Arthur and of his knyghtes, _wyth thystorye of the saynt +greal_, and of the deth and endynge of the sayd Arthur; Affermyng that +. . . there ben in frensshe dyvers and many noble volumes of his actes and +also of his knyghtes.'[39] Which looks rather as if Edward the Fourth +(who had no reason to love the Welsh--you will remember that he had +beheaded Owen Tudor, Richmond's grandfather) had heard of or read +Malory's work, and was anxious to possess it in print, though unwilling +to credit it to a follower of the Lancastrian party. It is a pleasant +field for surmise, and, however wrongly, it is good to picture old Sir +Thomas strolling along those pleasant meads beside the river, weaving his +immortal cycle of tales. + +There is a connection somewhere between Malory and Caxton too. In 1469 +Malory finished his book, and in March of that year Caxton began to +translate le Fevre's 'Recueil des Histoires de Troyes.' Where and when +did Malory meet Caxton, who lived for some years about that time at +Bruges, discovering that they possessed the same literary tastes? Did +Malory hand the manuscript of his work to Caxton, in the service of the +Duchess of Burgundy, sister of Edward the Fourth, and did the great +printer (or the Duchess) show it to that king? We shall never know, and +only Imagination can fill the gap. + +But to continue. It was Whitsunday, and as the last notes of the +voluntary echoed away among those 'antick pillars massy proof' of the +great church, our book-hunter's thoughts turned once more to King Arthur +and his knights. For was it not upon this very day that the vision of the +Holy Grail was vouchsafed to them as they sat at meat within the castle +hall? + +'And thenne the kynge and al estates wente home unto Camelot, and soo +wente to evensonge to the grete mynster. And soo after upon that to +souper. . . . Thenne anone they herd crakynge and cryenge of thonder, +that hem thought the place shold alle to dryve. . . . Not for thenne +there was no knyght myghte speke one word a grete whyle. . . . Thenne +ther entred in to the halle the holy graile coverd with whyte samyte, but +ther was none myghte see hit,[40] nor who bare hit. . . . And whan the +holy grayle had be borne thurgh the halle thenne the holy vessel departed +sodenly, that they wyste not where hit becam: thenne had they alle brethe +to speke.' + +So the man of books climbed the hill and presently stood within the +beautiful hall with its glorious black marble pillars, sole remnant of +the ancient stronghold. The round table (barbarously painted) now hangs +upon the western wall, but it needed little imagination to picture it set +down in the midst, covered with a fair silken cloth ('the Kynge yede unto +the syege Peryllous and lyfte vp the clothe, and fonde there the name of +Galahad'), and on it set rich flagons and dishes, strangely wrought and +worked with precious stones, and all about the table the famous knights +in costumes strange to our eyes. . . . Launcelot upon the king's +left,[41] now glancing with fatherly pride upon the youthful Galahad +(occupying the Siege Perilous), now smiling up at Queen Guenevere seated +in the gallery with her maidens . . . . the walls hung with coarse +dull-red cloth and bundles of sweet-smelling herbs hanging here and +there, the floor strewn with fresh green rushes, gathered early that +morning in the meadows below . . . . by the king's side a snow-white +brachet, a golden collar about its neck . . . . and so on and so on. +Imagination forsooth! He must be dull indeed who, reading the book and +standing in the hall, cannot picture the scene for himself. + +It is useless to declaim that the great hall of the castle was not +completed until the time of Henry the Third, that it did not exist at all +before the Norman Conquest, that the castle occupied by King Arthur is +more likely to have been on the site of the more ancient one which stood +near the river (now known as Wolvesey), and that the great round table +(eighteen feet in diameter, of stout old English oak, cunningly bolted +together) was made during the former king's reign and was never used by +Arthur at all. What are such crude exactitudes to us? As well object to +the heavy plate-armour worn by the knights--everybody knows this to be an +anachronism of nigh a thousand years. Romantic phantasy and scientific +data are as far apart as the poles, and none but a fool would try to +reconcile them. King Arthur feasted in the castle hall, says Malory, and +so far as our book-hunter is concerned he shall feast there as often and +as long as he likes. + +There is a romance, too, about the name of this older castle. _Wolvesey_ +its scanty ruins are called to-day, and the antiquarians tell us that +this was originally WULF'S EY, or 'the wolf's isle.' Was it once the +scene of a battue by the young bloods of the tribe to drive out some +wolves that had established themselves there, a fierce fight with axes +and spears at close quarters whilst the rest of the tribe lined the +opposite banks and prevented any escape? Or was it the scene of some +homeric combat _seul a seul_? Perhaps some day a wolf's skull +will be dug up there, with a stone axe sticking in it. But the history of +it has gone for ever, had gone, probably, long centuries before King +Kynegils found it a strong site for his castle. + +It was at Wolvesey that King Alfred himself is said to have penned some +part of the Saxon Chronicle now treasured in the library of Corpus +Christi College, Cambridge. He was a true book-lover, this great English +king, and it is to the school of illuminators which arose later in the +'new minster' by St. Swithun's that we are indebted for some of the most +beautiful examples of mediaeval art that have come down to us. The Golden +Book of Edgar, Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History'--in the Cathedral +library--and the exquisitely illuminated 'benedictional' of St. AEthelwold +possessed by the Duke of Devonshire, all these were produced before the +end of the tenth century by the artists who laboured so patiently in the +Scriptorium beside those peaceful meadows. For two centuries the +Winchester school of illuminators was renowned throughout the western +world. + +It is a pleasant spot, this ancient city of Camelot, and I like to read +that among the aldermen who assembled at the Tun Moot in bygone days were +a pinder, a mole-catcher, and an ale-conner. A stout fellow, this last, +for without his permission not a single barrel of beer could be broached. +The business transacted at the Moot, we are told, was little more than to +receive taxes, provide for the defence of the city, and settle disputes. +After which the aldermen (with the permission of the ale-conner, it is to +be presumed) proceeded to consume the ale allowed to them by custom +immemorial at the rate of two gallons a man at each sitting. _O tempora, +O mores!_ + +At one time, however, that kill-joy Edgar came near to causing an +insurrection, for he ordained that all drinking-horns should have pegs +set in them at regular intervals and that no man might drink below his +peg. Thus were practically abolished those friendly drinking-bouts +between Danes and English that did so much to rid the town of its +northern intruders. _Floreat Wintonia_, and may it stand for ever to +book-lovers and lovers of romance as the ideal of all that is knightly +and kingly and romantic--and hospitable. + +It is to be feared, however, that the Spirit of Romance is now +moribund--if, indeed, it has not already passed away; and with it we are +losing one of the most ennobling qualities in our nature. We pride +ourselves nowadays in living in a 'matter-of-fact' age, by which we mean +a practical, unromantic age. But is it a matter for so much pride after +all? Granted that the benefits which have accrued to mankind during the +past century and a half are worth all the Romance in the world; but is +the relegation of Romance to the domain of History a _sine qua non_ so +far as progress is concerned? In our haste to get on we have tried to +drive Romance and Progress in tandem, with steady-going Progress in the +shafts; but having found that together they need skilful handling, we +have unharnessed the leader and hitched him on behind, to be dragged +along anyhow in our wake. + +There must be many who regard the loss of romantic ideals as a matter for +more than passing regret. Reverence, too, not only for our elders and +betters but even for the great works of our predecessors, is going the +way of its cousin, Romance. Recently, rambling over the Hampshire downs, +our bookman toiled up the grassy bosom of this rolling land to a still +loftier height whence on a clear day the Isle of Wight, nigh thirty miles +away, can be distinguished. As he neared the top a mound came into view, +one of those unmistakable monuments raised o'er the graves of the great +chieftains of our ancient race. It was a most impressive spot, the +highest point for many miles round, and the book-hunter wondered who he +was that lay there in solemn majesty keeping watch through the long +centuries over the land that once was his. On approaching closer the +wayfarer was horrified to see that on the top of the mound, in the +centre, there was a deep hole. Its import was obvious. The mortal remains +of one who had lain for centuries in a grandeur befitting his lordly rank +had been torn from their sepulchre, probably by some irreverent commoner, +and were now doubtless exhibited to the vulgar gaze, in a glass case. + +Doubtless the ghoul (for he that rifles tombs is none other) who +perpetrated this enormity described himself as an archaeologist. Possibly +he was of gentle birth and had received a University education. If so, so +much the greater his crime, for he could not plead ignorance. Surely no +seriously minded person can urge that the knowledge thus gained as to +ancient methods of burial, age of the remains, and so on, warranted such +sacrilege.[42] We can only hope that the chieftain was granted five +minutes with the archaeologist when that individual at length entered the +land of shadows. Doubtless the archaeologist had no qualms whatever, and +slept soundly in the belief that by his 'researches' he had wrought great +things for mankind; but when he encountered the chieftain it is unlikely +that they would see eye to eye. 'Happy are they who deal so with men in +this world that they are not afraid to meet them in the next,' and +happier still are they who deal so reverently with the earthly memorials +of the dead, that there may be many to speak in their favour when they +approach the Great Tribunal. + +[Illustration: THE HALL OF THE KNIGHTS] + +This particular form of irreverence, however, has been a byword +throughout all the ages; civilisation and education have done little to +check it, possibly because the romantic spirit which forbids such crimes +is born, not made. King Arthur's bones were dug up in the twelfth +century. 'Mummie is become Merchandise, Mizraim cures wounds, and Pharoah +is sold for balsoms,' wrote Sir Thomas Browne five hundred years later. +In 1788 the massive stone coffin which held the remains of our +illustrious King Alfred was discovered facing the High Altar at Hyde +Abbey, Winchester, whither they had been translated in 1110. The coffin +was broken in pieces, the bones found in it were scattered, and the lead +enveloping the remains was sold by the workmen. A stone from the wrecked +tomb, bearing the name AELFRED, was carried off to Cumberland as a curio. +Hyde Abbey was razed to make way for a county Bridewell. 'At almost every +stroke of the mattock,' relates an eye-witness, 'some antient sepulchre +or other was violated.' Examples of such desecrations can be multiplied +without number. The Great Alaric was wise indeed when he had the course +of a river changed so that his bones, when lying at the bottom of it, +might never be disturbed. + +Our ancient laws dealt sternly with this matter. 'If any man shall dig up +a body that has already been buried,' ruled Henry the First, 'he shall be +WARGUS,' that is, banished from his district as a rogue. 'Malice +provoketh not to dig up tombes and graves,' wrote an unknown Elizabethan +scholar, commenting on this; 'and though it should, yet religion doth now +restraine it, by reason it is counted sacriledge to violate anythinge in +churches or churchyards. Covetousness made some to dig up the dead, +because ornaments, jewels, or money, were in times past buried with many; +but now that custome seasing, no man for desire of gaine is invited to +commit this offence, and it now being generally reputed a most vile acte, +no man will presume to transgresse these lawes, and every man is a law to +himself therein.' But in this 'enlightened' age, when we are held to be +above the need of such legislation, there is nothing to prevent the +archaeologist from practising his hobby where and when he please--so long +as he avoids the churchyards. 'Tush,' he cries, 'here lies an ancient +heathen who was not even buried in consecrated ground. We may find some +curious relics buried with him. Up with his bones.' + +'Freedom for all men' may be a glorious motto, yet when we view these +crimes (and the carved initials which deface so many of our most sacred +monuments) we cannot but muse that there are many who should never be +free--at least from the restraint of discipline. 'None can love freedom +heartily, but good men: the rest love not freedom, but licence.'[43] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] There are 242 pages in this editio princeps, after which should come +a leaf with (_a_) blank (_b_) device of John Hervey or Hervagius. It was +english'd by Thomas Underdowne, and published in small octavo by Frauncis +Coldocke, at the sign of the greene Dragon in Paules churchyeard, in +1587. + +[33] "Il estoit bon musicien, tres-bon Poete Francois et Italien, se +delectant singulierement a lire les belles et naifues rithmes de nos +Poetes Prouencaux . . . . . . . tellement qu'il a compose en son temps +plusieurs beaux et gracieux Romans comme _La conqueste de la douce mercy, +et Le mortifiement de vaine plaisance_ . . . . . Mais sur toutes choses +aimoit il d'un amour passionnez la peinture . . . . . qu'il estoit en +bruit et reputation entre les plus excellents Peintres et Enlumineurs de +son temps." (Nostradamus). He had a fine library which contained all the +most celebrated compositions of the Provencal poets and troubadours. + +[34] It was quite a dramatic scene. Bertrand taunted the Prince until the +latter named a sum; and to his surprise De Guesclin at once cried "Done!" +and all at the table sprang to their feet. "Oh Sir," they cried to the +Prince, "what have you done!" "I hold you to your word," cried Du +Guesclin--and so it was. See Hay du Chastelet, Claude Menard, and other +biographers, also the Inventaire des Chartres, tome VI. (See also +footnote on page 216.) + +[35] This great romance does not appear ever to have been translated into +English, which is somewhat strange, for its hero, Perceforest, was King +of England, and we are told at the outset that the volume had an English +origin. Philippe Comte de Hainault having accompanied Marguerite daughter +of Philippe III. (_le hardi_) to England in order to be present at her +nuptials with Edward I. (1299), the Count made an excursion to the north +of England. Chancing to harbour at a monastery 'on the banks of the +Humber,' he was shown an ancient manuscript which had been discovered in +a vault under the ancient (? Saxon) part of the building. One of the +monks had translated it into Latin. Philippe borrowed it and took it back +with him to Hainault, where it was reduced into French. It is every whit +as good as the Morte d'Arthur, and still awaits its Malory. The 1531 +Paris edition consists of six folio volumes, the page in double columns +of black letter type, with 53 lines to the column. The whole book +contains rather more than six hundred thousand words. Here is a chance +for some enthusiast! At the least he would learn patience, +carefulness--and a deal of mediaeval French. + +[36] O. Fr. _pierron_. + +[37] That there is a distinct crack on its upper side, you may see from +the photograph here reproduced. + +[38] Sir J. Rhys, 'Studies in the Arthurian Legend,' Oxford, 1891, pp. +300-327. + +[39] In the list of books at the Louvre belonging to Charles V. of +France, drawn up by Gilles Malet, his librarian, in 1373, there is a +volume 'Du roy Artus, de la Table Ronde, et de la Mort dudit roy, tres +bien escript et enlumine.' It would be interesting to compare this +manuscript (if it is still in existence) with Malory's work, and to see +whether the incident of the _peron_ is described therein. + +[40] _i.e._ the golden vessel, because of the samite (silken) covering. + +[41] As the table is painted at present, 'S. Galahallt' is upon the +King's immediate left. + +[42] Of one of these enterprising antiquaries (a clergyman) it is proudly +related that in the course of _three years_ "he opened no less than a +hundred and six tumuli and graves, and obtained from them a large +proportion of that valuable collection of antiquities now in possession +of Mr. Meyer, of Liverpool." See _A Corner of Kent_, by J. R. Planche, +1864, page 115. + +[43] Milton. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CARE OF BOOKS + + 'Wher so ever y be come over all + I belonge to the Chapell of gunvylle hall; + He shal be cursed by the grate sentens + That felonsly faryth and berith me thens. + And whether he bere me in pooke or sekke + For me he shall be hanged by the nekke, + (I am so well beknown of dyverse men) + But I be restored theder agen.' + (_Written in a breviary in the Library + of Gonville and Caius College._) + + +WHEREIN lies the charm of an old book? In its contents? Not altogether, +for then would the reprint be just as acceptable; perhaps more so, for it +would be possibly more legible, probably cleaner, certainly in a more +convenient shape. In its scarcity, then? Partly, perhaps; yet not +necessarily, for there are many 'old' books that are always eagerly +bought up by collectors, though quite frequent in occurrence. Then +wherein lies the old book's charm? It is chiefly in its appearance. + +It is the spiritual appearance rather than the material aspect of a book, +however, that draws the book-lover to it. To the true bibliophile there +is an intangible _something_ about an old book which it is impossible to +describe. That this feeling is closely akin to the impressive influence +of antiquity there can be no doubt; for you may prove it by taking your +book-lover successively to a modern free library and to a collection of +ancient books, and noting carefully his expression in each. Though he be +surrounded by thousands of volumes issued from the press during the last +half-century, rich and luxurious works even, yet the probability is that +he will be merely bored. But watch him as he stands before the thick oak +shelves eagerly scrutinising the dim lettering on ancient calf and vellum +back! See how his eye flashes as he takes down an ancient quarto, gently +and reverently lest the headband be grown weak with age, and, carefully +blowing the dust from its top edge, turns eagerly to title-page and +colophon! + +And this feeling is not influenced by the surroundings which one is +accustomed to associate with old books. Whether they be in a cathedral or +college library, in a bookshop or the most modern of cases, it is all one +to your true collector. It is the books and the books only about which he +cares. No sooner does he feel the ancient tome within his hands than his +soul is borne rapidly away upon the wings of fancy, far far back into the +dim ages, high above all worldly considerations; caring, understanding, +feeling, in tune with the magic so wondrously locked up in this ancient +volume, to which his love of books alone has provided the key. + +It is no wonder that he is impressed, for the soul of the true +book-collector is ever in communion with the _manes_ of those who gave +birth to his books. He is brother to author, paper-maker, compositor, +publisher, and binder, understanding all their hopes, doubts, and fears, +in sympathy with all the thoughts that gave his volumes their shape, +size, and appearance. Have you not often realised, brother collector, the +_spirit_ that is hidden in every old book, the concentrated thoughts that +have been materialised in giving it birth? Surely thoughts never die. +'Our thoughts are heard in heaven' wrote a neglected poet, and are not +books 'sepulchres of thought'? + +Happier is the book-collector than he who acquires ancient pieces of +furniture, old vases, or pewter mugs. For, unlike the old book, these +things can be reproduced in facsimile so that you may not tell the +difference between old and new, and the reproduction may be stronger and +more serviceable than the original. Moreover he is not troubled with +qualms as to their genuineness, undergoing agonies of apprehension while +each treasure--or otherwise--is submitted to the scrutiny of friends and +experts. + +There is a lasting charm about a book of our choice which the +antique-collector can never hope to experience. His treasure may be +grotesque or it may be beautiful, in either case it may please the eye +every time that he behold it, through many years. But beyond pleasure to +the eye and perhaps a smug complacency in its possession, there is +nothing else. He knows it inside-out, as it were, within a few minutes of +its acquisition. Very different, however, is the case with a book. After +the attraction exercised by its ancient appearance, the exterior aspect +is in reality but a secondary consideration, and when we have expressed +ourselves as to whether it be a fine or a poor copy, we turn at once to +its contents. The very wording of the title-page gives us an inkling of +the writer's character, places us upon his plane, and tunes our thoughts +in harmony with his. + +What book-lover does not sympathise with that great man Lenglet du +Fresnoy? Perhaps few men have come so completely under the spell of +books; for he devoted a long life entirely to consuming the fruits of the +master minds that had gone before him. In spite of the gossip concerning +him, not always to his credit, that has come down to us, it is undeniable +that by sheer love and knowledge of books he piled up a monument that +will ever keep his name in memory among bibliophiles for he is numbered +with such giants as Hain, Brunet, and Lowndes. The 'Methode pour etudier +l'Histoire' alone is sufficient to show his extraordinary knowledge of +books; indeed, they were the very inspirers of his being and though his +paths led him to high places, 'a passion for study for ever crushed the +worm of ambition.' Having spent the greater part of his eighty-two years +among old books, it was a modern one which caused his end; for, +slumbering over its dulness, he fell into the fire and was burned to +death! + +It is said of him that he refused all the conveniences offered by a rich +sister, that he might not endure the restraint of a settled dinner-hour; +preferring to browse undisturbed among his beloved tomes. His immense +knowledge of ancient books is shown by the vast number of diverse works +which he wrote and edited; but so forcible and controversial were his +writings that he was sent to the Bastille some ten or twelve times. It is +even related of him that he got to know the prison so well, that when +Tapin (one of the guards who usually conducted him thither) entered his +chamber, he did not wait to hear his commission but began himself by +saying 'Ah! Bonjour, Monsieur Tapin,' then turning to the woman who +waited on him, 'Allons vite, mon petit paquet, du linge et du tabac,' and +went along gaily with M. Tapin to the Bastille. Verily the true +bibliophile is not as other men, and a modern world looks upon him +askance. Yet his portion is a happiness that riches cannot purchase, for +his soul has found lasting comfort and contentment in a knowledge of the +innermost recesses of human thought. There is no aspect or phase of the +human mind with which he is unacquainted; and it is a knowledge that +books alone can impart. + +Yet our true book-lover is not of those whose very religion is the +preservation of the pristine appearance of their books, who deem it +sacrilege to destroy one jot of the contemporary leather in which their +treasures are clothed: liking rather to glue, varnish, and patch, +preferring even a grotesque effect rather than sacrifice an inch of +decayed calf. Their point of view is wholly admirable: that the only form +in which we are justified in possessing a book is that in which it was +originally issued to the world: that the men who bestowed great thought +in giving it birth, to wit, author and publisher, know better what is +meet and seemly for it than can any man of a different age: that one +man's choice is another man's abhorrence: and so on, and so on. Granted +these things are so; but surely he who possesses the volume may have some +say in its appearance, since it exists upon his shelf solely for his own +delight and for no other man's? + +'It is mine,' says Praktikos, 'may I not clothe it in the colours of the +rainbow if it please me?' + +'Then you are a vandal,' replies Phulax, 'for you will ruin your book, +and it will not be worth ten shillings when it returns from the binder.' + +And there's the rub: rebind your book and--in nine cases out of ten--_you +will lower its market value_. Therefore, if the book-collector have any +eye to the purely commercial value of his library, he will do well to +become an 'original-boards-uncut' man at once. Handsome his library will +never be, for here there will be a whole set of paper-bound volumes +lacking backs, here a folio strangely patched and mended, there a book in +rather dirty vellum somewhat cockled by damp, and so on. But he will have +the satisfaction of knowing that his volumes retain, in their appearance +at least, something of the spirit of the time in which they first saw +light. Perhaps they will create for him the more easily that stimulating +yet peaceful atmosphere imparted by a collection of old books. + +Is there not, then, any alternative to preserving one's volumes in a +disreputable condition? Assuredly there is--there are two alternatives. +Either the collector will be so wise (and, incidentally, so wealthy) as +never to purchase a dilapidated book, or else he must exercise great +common sense and much good taste, putting fancy entirely to one side. + +You possess a copy of Cotton's translation of the Commentaries of Messire +Blaize de Montluc, folio 1674. It is a good, clean, tall copy, but +clothed in tattered contemporary brown calf. Half of the back is missing, +two of the corners are badly broken, and a piece of the leather upon the +under cover is torn off. Perchance you elect to send it to your binder, +with strict instructions that it is to be repaired with plain calf. In +due course the volume is returned to you, and it now presents a fearful +and marvellous appearance. It is the proud possessor of a new back, +nearly but not quite matching the sides in colour, and upon this the +remaining upper half of the original back has been pasted. The corners +bulge strangely, and you can discern new leather underneath the old and +wherever the old was deficient. The sides shine with polishing, and a +patch--again not quite matching the original, for it is next to +impossible to do this--has been inserted on the under cover. The whole +volume shines unnaturally, and has rather a piebald appearance. In short, +it reminds one of Bardolph's face--'all bubukles and whelks and knobs.' + +But perchance you possess another copy in precisely the same condition +inside and out, and this you have decided must be rebound. It goes to +your binder, always with your very definite instructions, and in due +course returns, modestly attired in morocco of, let us say, a dark +sage-green hue. On each side there is a plain double panel, 'blind' +tooled; the back is simply lettered + + + BLAIZE + DE +MONTLUC + +and there are 'blind' lines at the sides of each band; but, beyond the +lettering, there is no gilding whatever on the back. The edges have not +been trimmed, much less cut, but have been left precisely as they were +originally. + +Suppose now for an instant that you do _not_ possess either copy, but +that both are offered to you by a bookseller at precisely the same price. +What will be your feelings as you handle the repaired copy? It is more +than probable that you will sigh '_Poor thing_' as you open it gently for +fear of cracking the old piece pasted on to the back. But, '_What a nice +clean copy_' you will say as you take up the other; and it is improbable +that you will hesitate long in making choice. + +The repairing of moderately old bindings is an excellent thing so long as +it is not carried to extremes. Obviously there are many cases where it +would be sheer foolishness to rebind the volume, slight repairs _at the +hands of an experienced binder_ being all that is necessary to enable the +book to be described as a _fine, tall, clean copy, in the original +binding, neatly repaired_. And this is where one's carefully considered +judgment and good taste must be exercised. + +But advice is easier to give than to follow. If our purse be a slender +one, it is next to impossible to confine our purchases to perfect copies +in choice condition. And so it is unavoidable that a certain number of +our volumes should be in a more or less dilapidated state. A book that we +have long sought for crops up; it is a perfect copy, more or less clean +inside, but in a sad state of decay as regards the binding. On this +account it is offered to us at one-half the price which a sound copy +would fetch, perhaps even less. Of course we buy it, and many others like +it; so that at length we are faced with the choice between a formidable +binder's bill and the alternative of harbouring a collection of wrecks. + +This temptation to acquire imperfect books and poor copies is a most +insidious one, and few collectors can withstand it altogether. Andrew +Lang, than whom there was never a more genuine book-lover, seems to have +been as susceptible as most of us. 'I believe no man,' he writes in +'Books and Bookmen,' 'has a library so rich in imperfect works as the +author of these pages.' Yet although the purchasing of a volume in a +state of decay (externally, that is) is sometimes unavoidable, it should +be every collector's endeavour, however modest his means, to avoid buying +dilapidated books. If a book be at all frequent in occurrence it is far +better to bide our time until a better copy turns up, even though we may +have to pay a few shillings more for it, than to rest content with the +possession of a sorry example in which we can take no pride, and one that +will never be worth a penny more than we gave for it until it has passed +through the binder's hands. Remember also that although the choicest +binder in Europe may lavish his art upon our volume, yet a taller and +cleaner copy _in the original, or contemporary, binding_, and in perfect +condition, will ever command a better price in the sale-room. Our choice +in binding--however appropriate to the book--may not be the choice of him +who next possesses the volume. + +As an example of this discretion which one must exercise in rebinding +one's volumes, here is an incident that occurred in a London sale-room a +few years ago. A copy of Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park' in three volumes, +1814, was put up for auction and realised L20. It was bound in boards and +was entirely uncut. Nevertheless it was not in the original binding, but +it had been rebound in precisely the same style as that in which it was +originally published. The paper labels had been reprinted in facsimile, +and the edges had not been tampered with in any respect, not even +'trimmed.' The best price that had been realised previously for an uncut +copy in the original boards was L18 10s. + +The owner was indeed wise in his generation. Had he sent the volumes to +his binder to be bound in full morocco 'extra,' at a cost of, perhaps, +twenty shillings apiece, the work would have realised, probably, seven or +eight pounds. But by good judgment (and, in the writer's opinion at +least, good taste) his expenditure would not exceed fifteen shillings for +the three, his profit being four times as great. Not long ago two copies +of the first edition of Keats' 'Endymion' appeared at an auction-sale in +London. Both were 'uncut,' but one was in the original form in which it +issued from the press, the other was bound in morocco. The former +realised L41, the latter L17, 5s. _Dictum sapienti sat est._ + +Old books, by which I intend sixteenth and early seventeenth century +volumes, are always best left alone as regards the binding. If they be at +all dilapidated, it is as well to have a case[44] made for them which can +be lettered on the back, and they can then stand upon the shelf among +one's other books. Nothing is more unseemly and incongruous than an +ancient volume in a modern cover, and, try as the most skilful binder +may, it is impossible to imitate an ancient binding so closely as to +deceive the eye even momentarily. Do not seek to make them presentable by +patching and repairing, unless they be too far gone for their value to be +of any consideration. + +In the case of early-printed books and works of great rarity, never, upon +any account, tamper with your copy or seek to improve it in any way. Not +only, as I have said, is it quite impossible to impart a contemporary +appearance to a fifteenth-century book however famous and skilful the +binder, but age leaves its mark upon the constitutions of books as surely +as it does upon mankind. No volume of that age will stand the handling of +a casual reader, still less the pulling, patting, and pressing that +re-sewing and re-covering necessitate, however gently such processes be +carried out. + +There is a terrible story (I hope it is untrue) told of a certain peer +who decided to send to the auction-room the six or seven Caxtons which +had descended to him with a noble library from his ancestors. As, +however, the volumes were bound in fifteenth-century sheepskin (probably +in Caxton's house) he thought that their appearance would be rendered +rather more attractive if they were rebound first of all. So he sent them +forthwith to the local binder; and on their return, now gorgeously +clothed in 'calf gilt extra' (a la school prize), he despatched them to +the London sale-room. The result may be imagined. His foolishness must +have robbed him of a sum running well into four figures! + +There is another point also to be considered, and that is the _pedigree_ +of a volume. The solitary impression of a binder's tool upon a fragment +of binding may identify a volume and its previous owners. Some years ago +the writer purchased an ancient folio without title-page and colophon, +bound in tattered fragments of ancient calf covering stout oak boards. +There was, apparently, nothing to indicate when, where, or by whom the +volume was printed or bound, or whence it came. But from a certain +peculiarity in the type (which he noticed when studying the early +printers of Nuernberg) he now knows the name of the printer and the town +in which he plied his trade; while from a certain woodcut which that +printer used also in two other _dated_ works only, _both printed the same +year_, he discovered when the volume in all probability was printed. + +A scrutiny of the remains of the binding revealed the blind impressions +of four different stamps. As these occur frequently in conjunction upon +the bindings executed by the monks at a certain monastery in Germany in +the sixteenth century, there is little difficulty in assigning a +_provenance_ to the volume. Furthermore the initial H in a heart-shaped +impression identifies the binder as a monk whose initials H.G. (on two +heart-shaped tools) are of frequent occurrence on contemporary volumes at +that time in the possession of the monastery. + +Needless to say, it has _not_ been rebound. The tattered pieces of skin +have been carefully pasted down, and a case--lettered on the back--now +contains the book upon his shelf.[45] + +In the case, however, of more recent books bound in tattered or perished +calf, books of which one may obtain duplicates at any time, except they +be works of extreme value there is no reason why they should not be +re-bound. Even here, however, the collector must tread warily; for +should he send his copy of Tim Bobbin's Lancashire dialogue of _Tummus +and Meary_ to the binders with brief instruction that it is to be bound +in full morocco, it may be returned to him in all the splendour of a +sixteenth-century Florentine binding. + +With regard to books published in cardboard covers with paper backs and +paper labels, what is to be done with these when the backs are dirty or +torn off, the labels of some volumes missing? Must they be re-bound in +leather or cloth? Not necessarily, and I for my part maintain that the +delightful ease which one experiences in handling them when reading the +early editions of Byron, Scott, or Irving, and those writers who +flourished in the first few decades of the nineteenth century when books +were commonly issued in this form, is sufficient excuse for retaining +them in their original shape. Such volumes may easily be made presentable +at the cost of a little time and trouble, as I shall presently show. + +An appearance of antiquity is never a _desideratum_ to the honest +book-collector. I say 'honest' advisedly, for there have been--and +doubtless are--persons so misguided as to stoop to the fabrication of +certain small and excessively valuable books. To such, an appearance of +age is no doubt indispensable in their wares. But these are torments +which afflict the wealthy only; and for this I at least am sincerely +thankful. + +There is no doubt, however, that in the collection of many things +antiquity in appearance is desirable: witness the modern fabrication of +'antique' furniture and pottery. Our book-hunter was once acquainted with +a certain country gentleman, a learned man and most excellent companion, +whose passion for rare things once got the better of his judgment. It was +not books that he collected, but butterflies; and he was inordinately +proud of a rather seedy-looking 'Large Copper' which his cabinet +contained. For the benefit of his admiring entomological friends he would +recite how his grandfather had caught it with his hat when on a holiday +in the Fens. It grew to be quite an exciting tale. One day, however, in +the course of a country ramble they fell to discussing the romancer, or +man who resorts to fiction that his adventures may be the more +interesting. And as (for the sake of argument) the man of books affected +to praise him, remarking that any soulless fool can tell the bald truth +whereas it requires an artistic temperament to adorn a tale with +realistic embellishment (!), his friend turned to him eagerly. Being +encouraged, he confessed that his Large Copper was not all that it +appeared to be. In short, the bookman discovered that he had secured it +himself while on a summer tour in Switzerland, and with the aid of a +camel's-hair brush had succeeded in reducing it to a venerable state. + +'Of course,' the entomologist hastened to explain, 'no one could possibly +tell that it was not my grandfather's. He had a very fine collection, and +probably there was more than one Large Copper in it, though there was +only the one in the cabinet that came to me. I shall never forget my +feelings when it happened. I had taken it out of the drawer to show to a +friend, when we both saw, outside the window, what we thought was an +_Antiopa_. We rushed out, and when we came back we found that the +cat. . . . Dear me; I was quite overcome. . . . But that summer I caught +the one you have seen in Switzerland; and as my dear friend was no more +and nobody else knew of the catastrophe, I thought there would be no harm +in merely restoring a specimen to my grandfather's collection.' + +But the bookman pointed out to him that when he died and his collection +was sold his family would benefit by some pounds through his +indiscretion; for it was now known to all his friends as a genuine +English specimen. This troubled the entomologist greatly, for it was a +point of view that had never occurred to him, and, like the rich young +man, 'he went away grieved.' + +So it is sometimes in book-collecting: there is a temptation to 'restore' +an incomplete book. Should the collector find that his copy of a certain +work lacks a portrait, what is more natural than to go to the print-shop +and purchase a portrait of the same individual for insertion in his copy? +And in this there may be little harm, provided that the book is of no +value _and that he makes a note in ink inside the front cover as to what +he has done_. But occasionally some unscrupulous book-fiend--he is, of +course, no true book-collector--substitutes for a damaged page a page +from another copy, or perhaps of a later edition; sometimes he supplies +his volume with a spurious title-page or other leaf; and, worst of all, +substitutes in his copy of the second edition, whereof the title-page is +damaged, the title-page of a first edition, of which he possesses an +incomplete copy. + +And here let me utter a word of warning. Apparently it is the practice of +certain cheap second-hand booksellers to abstract the engraved plates +from folio books, occasionally also removing the 'List of Plates' that +the theft may remain undiscovered, and to sell the works thus mutilated +as sound and perfect copies. Needless to say to the print collector such +plates are invariably worth a shilling or two apiece, if portraits +considerably more. I know to my cost one London bookseller who habitually +removes the engraved portraits with which certain seventeenth-century +folios, especially historical ones, are wont to be embellished. How many +rare volumes this ghoul has ruined it is impossible to say, probably some +hundreds. Our book-hunter confesses to having been caught by him three +times, discovering the reason for the cheapness of his bargains (!) some +time later. A friend has also suffered from his attentions. I need hardly +add that his shop is now avoided, by two book-hunters at least, as +something unclean. + +Occasionally, also, one comes across scarce volumes bereft of +title-pages, these having been torn out by some vampire to adorn his +scrapbook. Surely no fate can be too bad for the man who dismembers +books. His proper place is certainly in the Inferno, where, in company +with Bertrand de Born, he will be condemned for ever to carry his own +head, after it has been separated from his body, in the shape of a +lantern.[46] + +As soon as ever you reach home with your purchases from a ramble along +the bookstalls, and whenever you receive books that you have ordered +through a bookseller's catalogue, collate your acquisitions carefully. +Whenever it is possible refer to a bibliography to see that your copy is +all that it should be. Nothing is more annoying than to discover, perhaps +years afterwards, that your copy of a rare book, which you fondly +imagined to be a fine one in every respect, lacks a page or so, or a leaf +of index or errata, or a plate. It is a good plan to make a point of +keeping books upon your table until they have been properly collated and +catalogued, when--and not before--they may be placed upon the shelves. + +Frequently you will discover that a second book, or even a third, has +been bound up with your volume, and you would have overlooked these but +for collating. It was a common practice at one time (as, indeed, it is +with some collectors nowadays) to bind up thin books with thicker ones to +save the expense of binding. Probably this is the reason why certain +sixteenth and seventeenth century works which consist of but fifty or +sixty leaves are so hard to find, being bound at the end of larger works +and thus commonly escaping the cataloguer's eye. + +It is necessary for the collector to exercise the greatest caution in +acquiring a valuable old book from any but a reputable bookseller. The +fabrication of a page or so--especially a title-page--is a comparatively +small matter to the nefarious dealer who hopes by this means to obtain +for his copy the price which a perfect one would command. 'Perfect' +copies of rare fifteenth-century works are made up from two or more +imperfect ones, title-pages and leaves are reproduced in facsimile, blank +leaves and engravings are inserted: for all these the collector must be +continually upon his guard. Other books there are which have certain +passages frequently mutilated, or a genealogical tree or a table +generally missing. + +Hazlitt gives two examples of this species of knavery. One, in which a +reproduction of the scarce portrait of Milton usually attached to the +first edition of his 'Poems,' 1645, had been actually split and laid down +on old paper to make it resemble the original print: the other, a case in +which a copy of Lovelace's 'Lucasta,' 1649, lacked a plate representing +Lucy Sacheverell (which makes a good deal of the value of the book), and +a copy of the modern reproduction of this plate to be found in Singer's +'Select Poets' had been soaked off and 'lined' to give it the appearance +of a genuine impression mounted, and then bound in. + +And these mutilations are not the only things of which the collector must +beware. Early in the history of books, the reputation that hall-marked +the publications of certain famous presses became a source of envy to +less fortunate printers. Type and imprints were soon counterfeited, and +the fine editions of the Classics printed at Venice by the great Aldine +press were reproduced at Lyons and elsewhere. In this matter of forgery +and pirated reprints, you will find Gustave Brunet's 'Imprimeurs +Imaginaires et Libraires Supposes' of value. It is a catalogue of books +printed with fictitious indication of place or with wrong dates, an +octavo volume published in 1866. + +These things, however, cannot be learnt at once, and it is only by the +continual study of catalogues and bibliographies that one comes to know +them. Needless to say, however, all reputable booksellers will take back +a work which is discovered to be imperfect, provided that the volume be +returned without delay. + +Books, like those who gave them birth, are of all conditions; but from +the collector's point of view they may be divided conveniently into five +classes. To the First Class belong those volumes which are described by +booksellers and auctioneers as 'fine copies.' Ever since their +publication they have been in the possession of wealthy men, often peers, +and (sometimes like their owners!) have passed their lives for the most +part undisturbed amid luxurious surroundings. They are invariably richly +bound, often in historic bindings, and are clean and fresh inside. +Frequently they are sumptuous works and presentation copies, and they +always command high prices. In a word, they are aristocrats among books. +They are not necessarily rare volumes, though frequently they are +large-paper copies, and for the true collector they do not offer so much +attraction as the Second Class, in which we place those books that are +more eagerly sought after. These are generally rare books, such as +incunabula and the higher class English literature of the seventeenth +century, and are to be found in the libraries of wealthy collectors who +are also learned men. They are always well bound and in good condition, +though sometimes they have their headlines shaved, occasionally they are +slightly imperfect, or have been cleaned and repaired. But they are +always desirable books, and evoke spirited bidding whenever they appear +in the auction-room. + +Class Three comprises the great army of what may be termed 'middle-class +books.' They are bound usually in half-bindings, when they are not in the +publisher's cloth, and are good, clean, _sound_, copies of such works as +county histories, antiquarian books, sets of the learned societies' +publications and of 'standard authors.' They are such stable and solid +books as you will usually find in the libraries of the well-to-do middle +classes. In short they are gilt-edged securities, and command a steady +price in the market. + +To Class Four may be assigned the volumes contained in the average +second-hand bookseller's shop in this country. They are the [Greek: hoi +polloi] among books, and for the most part they include the more frequent +and more modern English works. Usually they are quite desirable copies, +though frequently they lack a portrait or other plate, sometimes they +have a torn or mounted title-page, or other imperfection. They are +generally in cloth or calf bindings which are almost invariably somewhat +decrepit, being either rubbed or perished, or cracked at the joints. +They are dusty and rather unkempt, and fox-marks are common, for such +volumes have passed through many hands and have not always been accorded +the care that is due to good books. But it is here that one comes across +books 'in the original boards uncut,' and, if expense be no object to +you, you may often raise such purchases to a higher class. + +Books in Class Five are the outcasts of the book-world, being those +decrepit volumes which stack the bookstalls and barrows in the larger +towns. They are the weedings of auction sales and shops, books that are +not worth cataloguing by the dealer. Like human beings they have drifted +through life with all its vicissitudes, knowing many masters and earning +the gratitude of none. And so at length, deprived even of a home, they +find their way into the streets, where they are soon reduced to wreckage. + +At first sight it would seem that they owe their situation to their +quality, both intrinsic and extrinsic--that they are valueless either as +literature or as specimens of book-production, or that they are imperfect +or odd volumes. In many cases this may be true, but in general it is not +so. The wrecks of handsomely produced books of high-class literature are +common on the bookstalls and barrows, as all collectors of modest means +are aware. They owe their situation _chiefly to inconsiderate handling_ +and to the carelessness of their successive owners. + +As to the practice of inserting illustrations in books that are published +without them, 'Grangerising,' as it is called, it is perhaps best left +alone. At first sight there appears to be small harm in providing, let us +say, a volume of travels or the description of a town with an appropriate +engraved frontispiece, or adorning your biography of So-and-so with a +portrait. But the temptation to overstep the bounds of seemliness is so +great that it is seldom the collector stops at a mere frontispiece. In +most cases the Grangerite soon loses his self-control, and develops an +acute mania for embellishing his volume with all and every print upon +which he can lay his hands, apposite in the slightest degree to the +subject of the book. Every year the sale-rooms witness these +monstrosities. Biographies issued in a single volume are 'extended' +('rended asunder' would be a better term) to fifteen or twenty volumes by +the insertion of hundreds of engravings depicting every place mentioned +in the text and every man or woman that the subject of the biography ever +met. I have seen an octavo volume multiplied into twenty-five folio ones +in this fashion, the leaves being inlaid to suit the size of the huge +portraits and views stuffed into the disjointed sections of the wretched +book. Nor is it only engravings that are used. Play-bills, +lottery-tickets, tradesmen's advertisements, autograph letters, maps, +charts, broadsides, street ballads, bills even, all are grist for the +Grangerite's mill. + +It is a singularly futile hobby, and it is certainly a pernicious form of +bibliomania, for it is responsible for the destruction of many good +books. Whether its devotee imagines that any one is ever going to wade +through his twenty monstrosities, turning, perhaps, six illustrations +between page and page of text, we have not discovered. His completed +labours form a compilation about as valuable as a scrap-book. If it were +possible to gather into one volume, or rather portfolio, every portrait, +let us say, of a certain celebrity _that has ever been published_, one +would possess a valuable storehouse for reference purposes; and such a +volume, from its _completeness_, would be invaluable in the British +Museum. But these limits are too narrow for the true Grangerite. He +desires a wider field of action. So he embarks upon a task which he can +never hope to complete. Though he labour all his life there will always +be _some_ one or more engravings that he has failed to secure; and so far +from being 'invaluable,' his collection becomes merely of passing +interest. As a book it is, of course, grotesque. + +The fate of most of these collections is probably the same. So long as +the binding remains in good condition they are ensured a niche on some +neglected shelf; but once the marks of age or wear and tear manifest +themselves their fate is sealed. They come speedily into the hands of +those booksellers who deal also in prints, and beneath such ruthless +hands the labour of years is undone in a few minutes. At least it is +pleasant to think that the poor pages, separated for so many years, come +together again if only for a few hours before they reach the paper-mill! + +Whether the sober-minded collector whose pride is the well-being of his +books is justified in adding a frontispiece and, say, half-a-dozen good +engravings to a book that he appreciates, is a moot question. Doubtless +the correct view is that books should not be meddled with by amateur +book-producers, that both publisher and author know best what is most +fitting for the volume they produce, that any book which has been +tampered with internally in any way becomes a monster and is to be +avoided. But this brings up again the old question, 'May we not do what +we like with our own volumes?' + +Personally I am of opinion that the judicious and extremely moderate +adornment of certain books is justified by the result. There is no doubt +that the insertion in an _un_illustrated volume of travel of, let us say, +six engraved plates depicting scenes mentioned in the text, adds a charm +to the volume and enhances both its appearance and the pleasure of its +perusal. Similarly the addition of an _authentic_ portrait to a biography +certainly lends an added interest, whilst the addition of a map is often +of the greatest assistance to the reader. But that books should be +mutilated, torn apart, and stuffed with play-bills, lottery-tickets, and +the like, no sane book-lover will admit. + +There are some books that seem to ask for illustration. Who has handled +the three folio volumes which comprise the first edition of Clarendon's +'History of the Rebellion' without feeling that by rights they should +contain fine mezzotint portraits of the chief actors in that great drama? +But they must be mezzotints, mark you--mere line engravings would be out +of place among those bank-note paper leaves with their handsome +great-primer type. This question of seemliness, too, must be considered +carefully ere we add a single plate to any volume. Not every engraving, +however beautiful in design and impression, is at once suitable to every +book that treats of the subject it depicts. That the illustrations be +contemporary with the text goes without saying. No one would be so +foolish as to insert modern 'half-tone' illustrations in a +seventeenth-century book. + +That heading 'Extra-illustrated,' so dear to certain booksellers, must +send a shudder through many of the discerning readers of their +catalogues. Books that are extra-illustrated should be avoided by the +collector on principle. There is something foolishly egotistical in +seeking (by those who have no knowledge of book-production) to 'improve' +the work of other men whose business is the making of books. There can be +no necessity for it; the author is quite sure to have added the +illustrations that are requisite for the volume. It is only books that +were published without illustrations that we are justified in attempting +to embellish. Illustrations in a book are invariably a question of the +author's and publisher's tastes; the cost of their production is not +usually an all-important item: it is the setting up of the type, the +paper, and the binding that count--not the illustrations. + +It was the fashion in the early decades of the last century to issue +volumes of engravings suitable for illustrating the works of contemporary +writers, such as Byron and Scott: and these illustrations can be used +when you have your editions rebound. There is no particular merit about +the greater part of them, but they depict incidents described in the +text, so at least they are apposite. Each to his taste; our book-hunter +for his part needs no second-rate illustrations to help him visualise the +glories of Childe Harold or Don Juan; and he has long since confined his +Grangerising to the sparing addition of finely engraved portraits to +biographical volumes. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[44] With regard to these cases, the collector will use his own judgment +as to whether they be of the 'slip-in' variety, by which means the +binding is rubbed every time that he withdraws and inserts his volume; +whether such cases be lined with velvet, and roomy enough to obviate this +friction; or whether they shall open with a flap at the side. + +[45] If you are interested in the pedigrees of your volumes (by which we +mean the identification of their previous owners) you will find M. +Guigard's 'Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile,' octavo, Paris, 1890, useful +where armorial bindings are concerned. It is an interesting volume, and +appeared first of all in four parts (large octavo, Paris), between 1870 +and 1872. There are cuts of every coat of arms identified, but these are +almost entirely French. Mr. Cyril Davenport's 'English Heraldic +Book-stamps' was published in large octavo, in 1909. For early +book-plates you must consult the numerous works upon this subject that +have appeared in recent years. An excellent series of articles entitled +"Books on Book-plates," by F.C.P., appeared in 'The Bookman's Journal and +Print Collector' between February and July, 1920 (Nos. 15-18, 20-23, 25, +34, and 40). There is also 'A Bibliography of Book-Plates,' by Messrs. +Fincham and Brown, in which the plates are arranged chronologically. The +Ex-Libris Society issues a journal, and there are numerous other volumes +upon this subject, which you will find mentioned in Mr. Courtney's +'Register of National Bibliography.' + +[46] Canto xviii. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CARE OF BOOKS--(_Continued_) + + 'In the name of Christ all men I pray, + No wight this book doth carry away, + By force or theft or any deceit. + Why not? Because no treasure so sweet + As my books, which the grace of Christ display.' + (_Written in Latin hexameters at the end of + the Leechbook of Bald._) + + +THERE can be no subject of such prime importance to the collector as the +housing of his books. In most cases the books themselves have small say +in the matter, for a certain room in the house is allotted to them +without any consideration as to its suitability for storing books, and +there they must abide, making such shift as their possessor shall +determine. This must always be the case where their owner is in lodgings +or in any temporary abode, where it is not considered worth while going +to the expense of putting up permanent shelves for his books. But, after +careless handling, there is nothing that ruins books more quickly than an +indifference to their well-being; and unless our volumes are constantly +placed in their proper position, that is upon their _feet_, they will age +speedily and visibly both inside and out. + +'The surest way to preserve your books in health is to treat them as you +would your own children,' wrote that great bibliophile, William Blades; +and the care which should ever be bestowed upon ancient volumes cannot be +too strongly emphasised. And it is not only 'ancient' volumes that +require attention. Cloth bindings are hardly so durable as leather, and +without proper care a library of modern books can be reduced to wreckage +in a year. It is just as easy to provide proper accommodation for one's +books, wherever one may be living, as it is to provide comforts for +oneself. Treat your books well and they will last you all your life, +giving pleasure every time that you may take them in your hands. Remember +also that although one may judge the propensities of a collector from the +titles of his volumes and his character from their contents, yet there is +nothing which indicates his habits so surely as the external appearance +of his books. Whenever our book-hunter enters the library of a +fellow-bookman he can gauge at once the depths of his feelings towards +books, let alone the extent of his bibliographical knowledge. + +Surely no man is such a giant among his fellows that he may allow the +life-works of the greatest geniuses of this world to be spurned +underfoot? 'Take thou a book into thine hands,' wrote Thomas a Kempis, +'as Simeon the Just took the Child Jesus into his arms to carry him and +kiss him.' + +What true book-lover could find it in his heart wantonly to injure a good +book? '. . . as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book,' wrote Milton +in that oft-quoted passage in his Areopagitica; 'who kills a Man kills a +reasonable creature, God's Image; but hee who destroyes a good Booke +kills Reason itselfe, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye. Many +a man lives a burden to the Earth; but a good Booke is the pretious +life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm'd and treasur'd up on purpose to a +Life beyond Life.' + +It is not only the critic who destroys books, for neglect may approach +dangerously near to wanton destruction. At the least, he who regards not +the welfare of his books is an accessory before the fact of their +destruction. 'Books,' says that veteran bibliophile M. Octave Uzanne, +'are so many faithful and serviceable friends, gently teaching us +everything through their persuasive and wise experience.' Surely if good +books are so much to us, such a great part of our lives, it behoves us to +respect them not a little. Have they not taught us, guided us, advised +us, soothed us, and amused us from our youth up? And is it meet that we +should repay their constant friendship with indignity? + +'Thou, whosoever thou art that studiest in this book,' wrote an unknown +book-lover many centuries ago upon the margin of a favourite volume, +'take heed to turn the leaves lightly and smoothly, that thou mayest +avoid tearing them on account of their thinness; and seek to imitate the +example of Jesus Christ who, when He had gently opened the book of Isaiah +and read it with attention, at length closed it reverently and returned +it to the minister.' + +On this subject of shelving our book-hunter can speak from experience, +for he has provided proper accommodation for a thousand to three thousand +volumes in three temporary abodes.[47] It takes a little time, a fair +amount of trouble, and an outlay of three or four pounds; but when once +accomplished such shelving is a thing of no small pride to oneself, and +the object of a good deal of admiration by one's friends. Briefly, the +plan he has always adopted is to erect shelves of pine or deal stained +brown, nine inches wide and five-eighths or three-quarters of an inch +thick, along the entire walls of his sanctum. It is firmly made and will +last a lifetime, yet it can readily be taken to pieces in a few minutes. + +[Illustration: THE HOME-MADE LIBRARY] + +In erecting such shelving the first thing to do is to estimate how many +feet of it you will require. On an average one foot will contain ten +octavo or quarto volumes or six folio ones. There should be ten inches +between the shelves for octavos, twelve inches for quartos, and +fourteen inches for folios: while at the bottom you may have a shelf +sixteen inches in height for such large folios as you may acquire or +already possess. Should the huge folios (almost folissimos) published by +the Record Commission in the early years of the nineteenth century fall +within the category of your collecting activities, you will require one +shelf at least no less than nineteen inches in height. If only for the +sake of your peace of mind I would strongly advise you not to begin +collecting early Spanish antiphonaries, such as you may see in the +Escurial; for these are frequently six feet high and four feet wide, and +are really out of place in the small domestic library. I forget for the +moment their precise dimensions in millimetres. + +It is a mistake to have the top shelves too high. Not to speak of the +inconvenience of having to stretch upon tip-toe or mount a chair in order +to obtain a volume, your books will be subjected to a higher temperature +the nearer they are to the ceiling. Blades, in his 'Enemies of Books,' is +emphatic upon this point. 'Heat alone,' he says, '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 used, for +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.' + +Gas is one of the greatest enemies of books, the sulphur in the gas fumes +attacking the leather bindings readily, so that in time they are reduced +to tinder. So if gas be the illuminant in your study, see to it that no +volume of yours be above the level of the burner. In any case, if space +will permit, the highest shelf should not be more than six feet from the +ground. For similar reasons of temperature, the bottom shelves should be +six inches above the floor. + +As to the actual length of the shelves, if constructed of wood +five-eighths of an inch thick _when planed_, they should not exceed two +feet two inches in length between supports. If made longer they will +gradually bend in the middle under the weight of the books and soon look +unsightly. But if made of three-quarter-inch wood, they may well be three +feet long. + +Now as to the actual construction of the cases. We will suppose that the +entire case, that is shelves and uprights, is to be made of planks +five-eighths of an inch thick when planed. The first thing to do is to +estimate how many feet of timber you will require. Measure your wall +space. In calculating the length of shelving remember that each _upright_ +is five-eighths of an inch thick; and in estimating the height of the +uprights, don't forget to add the thicknesses of the shelves to the +spaces between them. Perhaps the following example will be useful. + +To find height of upright:-- +Top shelf space 91/2in. +2nd shelf space 10 in. +3rd shelf space 10 in. +4th shelf space 10 in. +5th shelf space 12 in. +6th shelf space 14 in. +Height of lowest shelf from floor 6 in. +Thickness of 6 shelves, each 5/8in. 33/4in. + ------ + Height of upright--6ft., 31/4in. + ------ + +The top shelf will be 5ft. 5in. from the ground. + +The uprights must be two inches wider than the shelves in order that the +latter may not rest against the wall. There must always be a space +between shelves and wall to allow a free circulation of air about the +books. Therefore, let your uprights be eleven inches and your shelves +nine inches in width. In estimating the amount of timber required, don't +forget the top. + +The manner in which the shelves are supported by the uprights is as +follows. Strips of wood five-eighths of an inch square and nine inches +long are screwed across the uprights, and on these the shelves rest. So +when you order the wood from your carpenter or timber merchant see that +he sends you also a sufficiency of these strips, two for each shelf. + +The fixing of these strips will entail a certain amount of carpentry, and +in addition to bradawl, screwdriver, and footrule you will need a hard +pencil and a carpenter's square, as well as some stout iron screws one +inch long. Two screws are sufficient for each strip. If you are anything +of a carpenter you will countersink the holes for the heads of the +screws; this will also prevent a possible splitting of the strip. + +When your carpentering is completed, the whole case must be stained to +your taste. For this purpose our book-hunter has found nothing so good as +the solution known as 'Solignum,' which may be purchased at any +ironmonger's. In addition to being a wood-preservative, it has the +advantage of being obnoxious to insects. It dries a pleasing brown, not +unlike old oak. The only objection to its use that he has discovered is +that it smells strongly, though not unpleasantly, for about a fortnight. +One coat is quite sufficient, and after a few days you may rub the +shelves with an old duster to remove any of the solution that has not yet +been absorbed. + +The case should now be put together, the tops (which are in one piece, +the entire width of the case) and lowest shelves being screwed to the +uprights. The other shelves are merely rested on the strips. You will +find that if your floor be level, and you have sawn the bottoms of the +uprights squarely, there will be no necessity to affix the case to the +wall: the weight of the books alone will keep it in position. If the +floor proves uneven, small wedges underneath the uprights will be +sufficient. + +You will find it an advantage to cover the shelves and their sides with +green baize. This protects the bindings of the books considerably, and it +is easily stuck on with glue. It has also the advantage of _holding_ the +dust which collects, and with the aid of a small 'vacuum-cleaner' such as +most households possess nowadays, the cases may be cleaned thoroughly +without removing a single shelf.[48] Felt would be better, but it is, of +course, much more expensive. Sir John Cheke, tutor to Edward the Sixth, +that learned man who, says Milton, 'taught Cambridge and King Edward +Greek,' used buckram. 'Among other lacks,' he writes from Cambridge in +1549 to a friend in London, 'I lack painted bucram to lai betweyne bokes +and bordes in mi studi, which I now have trimd. I have need of XXX +yardes. Chuse you the color.' But the buckram of his day was probably a +very different material from the cloth which we are accustomed to +associate with the binding of books. At all events I certainly should not +recommend its use when you trim your studi. + +On no account must you paint or varnish your shelves, unless, of course, +you intend to cover them with baize or felt. However good the paint, +however hard the varnish, heavy leather-bound books will adhere to them +in course of time. So that when you come to remove a volume which you +have treasured in its ancient calf, you will find that the leather at the +bottom edges of the boards remains behind with the shelf. Therefore, +unless you intend to line them, let your shelves be stained or sparingly +polished only. + +Care must be taken not to place any volume near wet or even damp +'Solignum.' Make sure that it is thoroughly dry or covered with baize +before you place a single volume on the shelves. Should you wish your +work to look particularly neat, you may putty over the heads of the +screws before you begin staining operations. An additional 'finish' is +given by numbering the cases with Roman numerals in gold upon small +stained blocks (about 2 inches by 11/4 inches) affixed to the top of each +case. The shelves may also be lettered with letters of the alphabet cut +out of gold paper. + +But perhaps you may prefer to designate the cases of your library by the +names of ancient Rome, as was the practice followed notably in these days +in the library of Sir Robert Cotton. It is a pleasant conceit, and there +is certainly something more dignified about 'Vespasian, VII, 7,' or +'Cleopatra, IV, 26' than there is about a mere 'B, VI, 8,' or +'XIV, C, 16.' Asinius Pollio, that great warrior, historian, and +book-lover of the Augustan age, is said to have been the first to adorn +his library with portraits and busts of celebrated men as well as with +statues of Minerva and the Muses, an example that was soon followed by +others. Pollio was the first to found a public library at Rome, which he +endowed with the money obtained in his Illyrian campaign, says Pliny: but +in how many public libraries at the present day will you find a memorial +of this great patron of Virgil and Horace? + +The effect of placing statuettes of marble or plaster, about sixteen +inches high, on the top of one's book-cases is singularly pleasing; and +there is an appropriateness about it to the eye that it is impossible to +describe. One may have beautiful reproductions of all the most famous +classical statues and busts for a few shillings. What can be more +appropriate than for Calliope to preside over your case containing Homer +and Virgil, Dante and Milton; or that Euterpe should be enthroned above +Theocritus and Horace, Shelley and Swinburne? You may carry your fancy on +these lines as far as you like, and you may include any figure that +pleases you, from the well-known 'Discobolus' (over your case of sporting +books!) to the exquisite statue which many still persist in calling the +'Venus de Milo.'[49] + +A friend of our book-hunter has adopted a somewhat similar plan. Above +each case in his library he has placed an oaken shield on which are +emblazoned the arms of one of the ancient historic families of England, +such as Warren, Clare, Mortimer, or Doyly. The effect is striking, and +the bold colouring of fesses and chevrons lightens the sombre tone of the +mahogany cases. The shields are chosen for their distinctive features, +and, once learnt, it would be impossible in seeking 'Warr. C, 21' to +mistake the scarlet chevrons of Clare for the blue and white chess-board +coat of Warren. + +On the matter of cases with glass doors we need not touch here; it has +been thoroughly debated by such masters as Blades and Lang. For the +storing of valuable books and bindings such cases are excellent, provided +always that there is a free circulation of air about the volumes, or that +the doors are opened every day. But for one who is at work continually in +his library, and is referring constantly to his books, the repeated +opening and closing of glass doors would be something more than +irritating. Charles V. of France had grilles of brass wire put in the +windows of his library in the Louvre, to preserve the books from the +attacks of 'birds and other beasts.' The document recording the payment +for this work makes the sinister remark that the books were in the tower +'devers la Fauconnerie.' Precisely what the clerk of the works thought we +shall never know; possibly he pictured a goshawk pouncing upon the +'veluyau ynde' in which some chubby duodecimo was clothed. In the end, +however, the 'oyseaux et autres bestes' had to make room for the books; +and the Tour de la Fauconnerie, known thenceforth as the Tour de la +Librairie, was panelled throughout with 'bois d'Irlande,' carved and +inlaid (as it seems) with cypress wood. However, this was so long ago as +1368. + +We must now turn to another important matter--perhaps the most important +subject to the collector after the housing of his volumes--namely, the +binding of his books. It is a subject that is naturally of the greatest +moment to the bibliophile, for it is as essentially a part of his +volumes as are their leaves and print. It is constantly before him, and +will continue to occupy his thoughts to the end of his book-collecting +career. So often, however, has it been treated, so many are the books +upon it by skilled craftsmen, that it were needless (and, indeed, +presumptuous for the writer) to enter into any details here concerning +its methods. I would strongly urge every young collector, however, to +make himself thoroughly acquainted with the craft so far as can be done +without actually becoming apprentice to a bookbinder. Bookbinding is +taught nowadays at most of the County Council Schools of Technics +throughout the kingdom; and there are opportunities in this direction for +the young bibliophile to-day which his elder brethren regard with envy. + +Even where such practical instruction is unobtainable it is possible to +acquire a quite considerable knowledge of the craft by a diligent study +of practical text-books and the scrutinous handling of volumes bound in +all ages. As he reads each page, each section of his manual, the +collector should examine repeatedly the volumes lying by his side. Our +book-hunter began his study of bookbinding with a small and excellent +text-book by Mr. Joseph Zaehnsdorf, a member of the well-known firm of +binders (sm. 8vo, 3rd ed. 1897); but it has perhaps been superseded by +the more recent work of Mr. Douglas Cockerell, namely, 'Bookbinding and +the Care of Books,' a perfectly invaluable little book to the collector +(sm. 8vo, 4th ed. 1915, published by Mr. John Hogg, Paternoster Row). A +diligent application to this book and constant reference to bound volumes +during his perusal will teach the collector sufficient about the binding +of books for his purpose. He will be able to distinguish between a cased +and a bound book, a well-bound and a badly-bound volume, good and bad +sewing, tooling, etc.; and he will learn the advantages of the solid +back. + +Now he may turn to the valuable work by Mr. H. P. Horne entitled 'The +Binding of Books' (8vo, 1894) from which he will learn a great deal that +is of interest concerning the history of binding. An excellent pamphlet +on bookbinders and the history of their craft, by Mr. W. H. J. Weale, was +issued in 1898 by the authorities of the Victoria and Albert Museum at +South Kensington. It was published at one shilling, and consists of 130 +pages with illustrations of binders' stamps and tools, and has an +excellent index. At the time of writing it is still in print. But you +will find valuable lists of works on the history and practice of +bookbinding in Mr. Cyril Davenport's delightful volume 'The Book: its +History and Development' (8vo, 1907, Messrs. Constable and Co.). And +there are two small volumes on the qualities of the modern book-binding +leathers which the collector will do well to read, mark, learn and +inwardly digest at the outset of his bibliopegic studies. They are +'Leather for Libraries' (8vo, London 1905), by a committee of the Library +Association, and the Report of the Committee of the Society of Arts on +Leather for Bookbinding, also octavo, London 1905. + +Now as to the practical application of his knowledge of bookbinding. He +will have realised at the outset of his career that unless a book be +strongly bound in leather at the first, much use will quickly reduce it +to the condition of a wreck. The British Museum authorities, recognising +this, wisely rebind in leather certain volumes published in cloth covers +which are to be placed on the shelves of the Reading Room. Where much use +is accorded to the volumes doubtless the ideal way, if one were possessed +of sufficient means, would be to purchase new books in quires only, and +to have them bound in vellum, pigskin or morocco straight away. With +regard to second-hand books (by which I mean old-time literature) these +would be rebound, similarly, before they were assigned places on the +shelves. + +Fortunately, however, in the private library our volumes are immune from +that careless handling usually accorded to books by those who love not +learning for learning's sake, but look upon it as a necessary part of +their worldly education. Usually there is no need to rebind these +ancient tomes whose 'joints' are so delicately described by the +bookseller as 'tender': their very infirmity will ensure that they be +accorded careful handling. But there comes a time when the old fellow +succumbs to his arthrodial trouble, and there is nothing for it but to +send him to the binder that he may acquire a second youth. Then it is +that the collector's learning in the art of binding will prove of the +greatest use. He will take the patient in his hands, examine him +minutely, and write a long prescription which he will slip into the +volume opposite the title-page, before proceeding to wrap him up for the +journey. It will run something like this: + + M. PASQUIER'S 'Recherches de la France' + Fo: Paris 1633. + To be bound in full Niger, dark brown (as I usually have it). + Solid back, big round bands. + All edges untouched. + Old marbled endpapers, cloth joints. + Blind panel and lozenge tooling on sides + (like the pattern you have of my big Menestrier). + On the back a broad gold line either side of each band. + Panels plain. + To be lettered (thick fount) + RECHERCHES + DE LA FRANCE + and in the middle panel + PASQUIER. + The engraved portrait facing the title-page to be washed and sized. + Tears on pp. 721, 723 to be mended. + +Pigskin, vellum, and morocco (by which I intend goatskin): there are no +alternatives if durability be our aim; calf, of course, we have learnt +long ago to eschew. No leather, except Russia, perishes more quickly or +more easily. Rather have a book bound in cloth than in calf any day. +Buckram is good and stands fairly rough handling; it is useful for +binding catalogues and cheap books. See that your binder gives you good +thick boards when he clothes your books in buckram. + +Years ago, when books were most commonly bound in calf, a custom arose of +stamping the lettering on thin pieces of leather of a different colour +from the binding, and these were stuck on to the back of the book. There +is no doubt that these leather labels have _sometimes_ a pleasing effect, +and for a time the custom was very popular. But it is a bad habit. +Besides the meretricious effect generally produced, the paste which holds +the label to the back of the book perishes in time, and the label drops +off. A visit to any large second-hand bookshop will afford an admirable +illustration of the result of this habit. Here one may see sets of +Shakespeare's works and other classics which present a most woebegone +appearance owing to several of the volumes having shed their labels. The +only excuse for this custom that I have ever heard urged, is that one +always knows when to rebind volumes so adorned: it is when the labels +begin to fall. + +As to the merits and demerits of the different coloured moroccos, you +will find these fully dealt with in the bookbinding manuals. White and +black we are warned against especially. The bookbinding authorities tell +us that vellum, if exposed to a strong light, perishes and chips off like +egg-shell; and we are warned to place vellum bound volumes with their +backs to the wall, lettering the fore-edge with pen and ink, as was often +done of old. But if kept away from the windows this precaution seems to +be unnecessary. The beautiful brown vellum used for binding and repairing +old books by Messrs. John Ramage and Son is very attractive and is, +perhaps, as durable a binding as it is possible to have. Possibly other +bookbinders use it, though I do not remember to have seen it used by any +other firm. So far as I am aware this firm is the only one in London +capable of executing work of the very highest class at a price within the +means of the modest collector. + +It has been said that there are only four bookbinders in London who may +be trusted not to mutilate a book, and that there are only two who have +any sense of design and harmony of colour. But this is not to be wondered +at when we consider that the majority of the bookbinders' customers know +nothing whatever of bookbinding good or bad, requiring only that their +volumes shall present a gorgeous appearance to the eye. Consequently the +ordinary binder is rarely called upon to pay those minute attentions to +detail demanded by a hypercritical collector. Bibliophiles are born, not +made, and it were foolish to expect that every bookbinder has the love of +books at heart. In nine cases out of ten it is our own fault if the +binder goes wrong, for it means that our instructions have been either +too meagre or lacking in a knowledge of technical detail. + +When sending a book to the binder, definite instructions should always be +enclosed. The details should be set forth clearly on a slip accompanying +the volume. It should be stated: + + (i) Whether the book is to be bound in pigskin, vellum, or + morocco (Levant, Niger, smooth or rough grained). + + (ii) The colour. + +And here let me say that it is always better to choose the leather (the +actual skin) oneself. The binder will make up two little books, lettered +with the collector's name on the cover, containing moroccos of different +hues; one he will give to the collector, the other he will retain. As +every sample in these books is numbered, when ordering it is merely +necessary to give the number (written _very distinctly_!). It is perhaps +superfluous to add that, at the outset, the collector will have obtained +a guarantee from his binder that only acid-free skins shall be used in +binding his books. And he will also be careful to avoid selecting the +very bright tints, such skins not being so durable as those of more +sombre hue. + + (iii) Whether quarter, half, or whole binding. + + (iv) If quarter or half binding, whether the sides are to be + covered with cloth (buckram or linen, and colour) or paper + (marbled or plain, and colour). + + (v) Treatment of the edges: whether top edge gilt (t.e.g.), all + edges gilt, gilt on red, gilt on the rough, marbled, sprinkled, + yellow, red, or blue edges (the last two very effective on folio + books bound in pigskin), edges trimmed or untrimmed, uncoloured, + etc. + + (vi) Round or square back. + + (vii) Solid or hollow back. + + (viii) Round or square raised bands, big or small, or 'no bands' + (_i.e._ not showing). + + (ix) End-papers (white, plain coloured or marbled). + + (x) Whether, in the case of a large book, it is to have cloth + joints (inside the covers). + + (xi) Design in gold or blind tooling on sides and back. + + (xii) Lettering on back. This should be given in capital letters + precisely as it is desired to appear. If any lettering is + required in a panel other than the title-panel (second from top), + it should be stated which one; the number of the volume or the + author's name is put sometimes in the third panel from the top + and sometimes in the fourth. + + (xiii) Leaves to be mended, cleaned, or pressed; and any + directions regarding illustrations, maps, etc. + +A goodly list? Yes, but a necessary one unless one is content to leave +these things to the binder's discretion. He _may_ be one of the two who +are said to possess 'a sense of design and harmony of colour'; but unless +the collector has enclosed instructions as to all these points, if on its +return the appearance of the book displease him he has only himself to +blame. + +The care which the book-lover bestows upon his volumes should not end, +however, when they return from the binder. Unless attended to from time +to time a leather binding--however good the leather--will perish, +probably, within a lifetime. Vellum, apparently, is everlasting, provided +it be kept away from the light and not exposed to great changes of +weather or temperature. But pigskin, goatskin, and of course calf, in +time lose by evaporation certain fats which are inherent in the leather. +Some collectors use furniture-polish or brown boot-polish to brighten up +dingy old bindings, and this certainly has a pleasing (and often +surprising) effect. But it is a bad practice, for the polish hardens the +leather, which soon cracks worse than before. 'It would add immensely to +the life of old leather bindings,' writes Mr. Cockerell, 'if librarians +would have them treated, say once a year, with some preservative.' And he +goes on to recommend that the bindings be rubbed over with a solution of +paraffin wax dissolved in castor oil. Our book-hunter has used a +preparation of glycerine for some years with success, but the paraffin +wax promises to evaporate less rapidly. Old calf bindings should be +treated at least once every year. + +What shall we do with our volumes in 'original boards, uncut' when their +paper backs become tattered, their labels illegible? Is there no other +treatment for them than a visit to the binder's? That depends entirely +upon one's energy, one's capacity for taking pains, one's neatness of +finger, and the time at one's disposal. As I have said, the pleasure in +handling volumes so attired is sufficient excuse for a desire to retain +them in their original condition as long as possible. There is a facility +in opening, a lightness in holding, and a simple charm in their +appearance that is unknown to their more richly clad brethren. Our +book-hunter for his part has long since given up sending such volumes to +the binder's. Let the adept exercise his craft upon tomes in worn-out +leather bindings; with the repairing of books in their original boards +our amateur himself will deal. + +It is not a difficult matter, and it can be done by the bibliophile at +home. The first requisites are some sheets of strong, tough paper, brown +and coloured. These can be procured for a few pence from any +paper-merchant or place where they sell wrapping-paper. A pot of +'Stickphast' paste, a pencil, a ruler, a pocket-knife, and a pair of +scissors are the accessories. Sometimes it is necessary only to re-back +the volume. This is a simple matter. First of all the tattered paper on +the back is scraped off, then a strip of brown or coloured paper is cut +the required width and an inch and a half longer than the height of the +volume. Cover the strip with paste, then take the volume in your left +hand and paste the back and half an inch on to the sides, having first of +all placed a sheet of clean paper, slightly larger than the book, inside +the cover at each end (_i.e._ under the boards). This is to prevent +soiling. + +Now press the back of the book on to the strip, lying on the table ready +pasted, so that it adheres; and with your right hand press the sides of +the strip over on to the sides of the book. Experience will quickly teach +you that if you use too much paste you will make a mess; whilst if you +use too little the strip will not stick. If the paper is very thick it is +necessary to rub the paste well into it. + +Next put the back of the book upon the table (which we trust you have +covered with a newspaper) and allow the boards to fall flat, holding the +leaves upright. Now comes the tricky part of the business: you have got +to fold the projecting ends of the new back _over_ the top and bottom of +the boards and _under_ the body of the book. If this is not quite lucid, +get a volume in boards and hold it as we have directed, you will soon see +what is meant. It is a ticklish operation and the paper is easily torn if +too thin _or too damp_. It also requires some patience, for probably you +will find that the strip has come away from the sides during your +manipulations. Press it down again and do the other end. Pressing and +pulling gently and kneading are the secrets of success. A small rubber +squeegee such as photographers use is useful here. With it you can press +out the superfluous paste under the sides of the strip; but it must be +used cautiously and not too hard. + +Now close the volume, not forgetting to insert sheets of clean paper +between boards and leaves at either end, take it up again in your left +hand, and pat and finger it carefully till you are satisfied that all is +well. Then remove a volume of similar thickness from a rather tightly +packed shelf, and insert your patient in its place _as far as the strip_. +Leave it here to dry for at least twenty-four hours. + +If the original paper label is legible and intact, it can be easily +soaked off the tattered back, though you may have to operate first of all +with the pocket-knife to remove it entire from the book. Press it between +blotting-paper and allow it to dry naturally. When the new back is dry +(not before) the label may be pasted on to it. If, however, the label is +missing or too tattered to be of service, there is nothing for it but to +write another one with your best penmanship, copying the original, if you +have it, in facsimile. Such labels should be written with Indian +(_waterproof_) ink upon rather thin paper of a different colour from the +back. Light buff is the most useful colour, though pale blue and light +green can be used sometimes with advantage. + +Should you wish to make your work look extra neat, and to disguise the +fact that the volume has been rebacked, it is possible sometimes to raise +the end-papers at the inner corners of the boards, so that the projecting +ends of the backing-strip may be tucked under. So much for rebacking. + +Sometimes, however, the boards are too dirty or broken to be retained, or +some of the boards in a set of volumes are missing. Then there is nothing +for it but to provide new boards or patch up and re-cover the old ones. +Here again the labour is not very great. New boards may be cut from a +cardboard box of suitable size and thickness. Those used by dressmakers +are not very suitable, the card being generally too soft. If your volume +lacks one or both boards, paste the back with stickphast, and then press +on to it a strip of very thin linen (a strip torn from an old cambric +handkerchief serves admirably) about two inches wider than the back and +an inch shorter than the height of the book. The linen will project an +inch on either side of the back. Now put the volume aside to dry. + +When the back is dry, having provided suitable boards, paste the linen +sides on the underside of each board, _i.e._ so that when the book is +shut, the linen is between leaves and board. The best way to do this is +to take a volume of similar thickness, cover it with newspaper, and place +it flat upon the table with its fore-edge to the back of the 'patient.' +Then lay the board on the supporting volume, and so paste the linen to +it. Do one side after the other, stand the book 'ajar,' and allow to dry. +Now you may proceed just as in re-backing, covering the boards first of +all by pasting over them a rather thin but _opaque_ paper. You will find +the squeegee useful here. These side-papers are measured and cut one inch +larger than the volume at head, foot, and fore-edge. The projecting edges +are folded over the boards and rubbed down with the squeegee. The corners +need some attention and pressing. + +When you have re-backed your book and all is dry, you will have to +provide it with end-papers. Any opaque white paper will do, provided it +is not too stiff. That used for lining chests of drawers will answer the +purpose, though a paper of slightly better quality is preferable. Measure +it carefully about one-eighth of an inch less at head and foot than the +height of the book. You need not trouble about the width: so long as the +free edge projects beyond the fore-edge when you close the book it can be +cut level afterwards. Do not use too much paste, and crease the paper +carefully along, and slightly into, the 'joint' with an ivory paperknife. +Do not close the book until it is dry. + +Whenever you may have occasion to add new end-papers, remember to +preserve all indications of the pedigree of your book, by which I mean +traces of previous ownership. If there be a bookplate, soak it off, and +when dry paste it inside the end cover. If there be autographs of +interest on the boards, soak the paper off, cut out the writing and paste +it back again when you have finished the book. + +When you have provided your volume with new boards, however, you may +prefer to clothe it in a 'whole binding'; that is, to use a single piece +of paper to cover both back and sides. This is slightly more difficult +and some little patience is needed; but when successfully accomplished +the effect repays one amply. Lay your book on a sheet of coloured paper, +so that the boards are flat whilst you are holding the leaves +perpendicularly; then pencil and rule lines all round, leaving a margin +of about three-quarters of an inch. Cut out this piece, paste it, paste +the back and boards, and lay the book down again on the paper just as you +did to begin with. The book is held in this position with either hand +whilst the edges are turned up over the boards. It takes a little +practice, and one requires some experience in the shrinkage of the paper +used. Old boards that have their corners broken can be easily repaired by +the use of plenty of paste rubbed well into the breaks, and by using +fairly strong covering paper. + +There is another matter of which mention must be made here, for it is a +necessary adjunct to the binding of books, and that is cleaning, or +washing, as it is generally called. Often one comes across leaves in a +volume that are stained or spotted in such a manner as to spoil the +appearance of the book which otherwise is perfect. Such blemishes can +usually be removed when the volume is rebound. Either it is not such a +difficult matter as many who have written of these things would have us +believe, or else our book-hunter has been singularly fortunate. For he +confesses to having achieved considerable success in this direction. Like +all other matters involving care and thoroughness, it takes a good deal +of time, and no small amount of trouble; but apart from these +considerations there is no reason why any bibliophile endowed with +patience and a capacity for taking pains, should not attend to the +washing of his more 'grubby' volumes himself. + +It is not the writer's intention here to go into the various processes +employed, for that has been done already by experienced bookbinders; but +perhaps the methods which he has employed successfully may be of interest +and, possibly, of some use to beginners. + +Perhaps it is hardly necessary to say that your first experiments should +be made upon books of no value whatever, preferably volumes that have +been picked out of the penny tub for this purpose. You will also have +procured (if indeed you do not already possess) a copy of Mr. Douglas +Cockerell's invaluable little book which I have already mentioned, and +have studied it as has been suggested above. Mr. Zaehnsdorf's work also +contains a chapter on this subject. + +The paraphernalia required are not numerous or expensive, for they +consist merely of three or four wide-mouthed glass-stoppered bottles in +which to store your chemicals, and a few photographer's developing dishes +(the _deep_ ones, of white porcelain) of a suitable size for octavo, +quarto, or folio leaves. + +Obviously the first thing to do is to remove from the book the leaf or +leaves that require cleaning. Unless, like Gerard de Leew, the Antwerp +printer, you are 'a man of grete wysedom in all maner of kunnyng,' you +will not attempt to clean the leaves of a book _in situ_. In fact he +would be a very brave (or foolish) man who, without great experience, +tried to remove any sort of stain from a page without removing the leaf +first of all. Our own experience is that it is better to pull the whole +book to pieces--or rather _take_ it to pieces, for the word 'pull' in +this connection makes one shudder. Carefully cut the threads that hold +the quires to the bands, and little by little remove each quire. If the +book is in an old leather binding, with a solid back, your task will be +no easy one, for it is necessary to scrape away the glue from the back +after it has been damped. A cloth dipped in very hot water and wrung out +_tightly_ is sometimes of use here, but you must use the greatest +caution. + +Having removed the leaf, or rather sheet of four pages (we will suppose +that the volume has been 'cut') that requires cleaning, you have now to +diagnose its complaint and prescribe the correct remedy, which you will +have learnt from the text-books we have mentioned. But if the leaf is not +merely stained in part, but altogether brown and discoloured, the +following treatment probably will prove efficacious. Put half an ounce of +permanganate of potash in a jug that holds about a pint and a half, and +fill it up with hot water. Stir with a piece of wood until the +permanganate is dissolved. Then lay your sheet in a developing dish and +pour the hot solution in gently, taking care that there are no bubbles +and that the leaf is completely covered. At the end of five minutes (or +ten if the paper is thick and heavily sized) pour back the liquid into +the jug, and, holding the dish over a sink, let cold water run across it +in a gentle stream until _all_ the permanganate is washed away. + +The leaf will now be stained a deep brown. Stand the dish on end (the +leaf of course sticks to the bottom of the dish) to drain while you +prepare the bleaching part of the operation. Now take a similar jug, put +half an ounce of oxalic acid into it, and again fill up with hot water. +Pour this (hot but not boiling) over the leaf as before. When the leaf is +as white as the dish itself, which will take from five minutes to a +quarter of an hour, pour off the solution and wash the surplus fluid +away. Then let the leaf wash in gently running water for one hour. Our +book-hunter always uses the bath for this purpose, but a tin foot-bath +under a tap does excellently. The best way to dry the leaf is to press it +gently between two sheets of unused blotting-paper, then remove the upper +sheet and allow the leaf to dry naturally. Remember, however, that after +any washing or bleaching, leaves must always be 'sized' to give back to +the paper that substance which the washing has taken out. You will find +full instructions for doing this in the text-books I have mentioned. It +is quite a simple matter. + +Mr. Cockerell recommends that the permanganate bath be only 'warmed +slightly,' and that the leaf be left in it for 'about an hour.' Our +book-hunter has found (fortunately not to his cost, for the volumes +which he used for experimental purposes were valueless) that this +sometimes rots the paper, and on one occasion the leaves at the end of an +hour came to pieces when the solution was poured off. If used hot and +quickly it does not seem to injure the paper, but the water must never be +so hot that you cannot bear your finger in it, and you must take care +never to use a _stronger_ solution. A strong solution of permanganate +will reduce paper to pulp in a few minutes. For similar reasons our +bookman prefers oxalic to sulphurous acid, but this too must never be +used stronger than I have indicated. I hasten to add, however, in +deference to such an excellent authority, that our book-hunter does not +_recommend_, but merely states the methods with which he personally has +been successful. + +The most difficult stains to remove that the writer has yet come across +are those made by a child's paint-box. Some colours are easily removed, +but seventeenth-century gamboge is a perfect beast. The only successful +way to deal with these 'stains' is by studying the chemistry of the +'colours,' and the re-actions of the chemicals of which they are made. +With a little experimenting there is no reason why any of these pigments +should not be removed successfully, and at some future period of leisure +our book-hunter hopes to record his own experiences in this matter. + +Here a word of warning. Do not handle permanganate of potash in the room +where your bleached leaves are drying. If you do probably you will be +annoyed to find small purple specks on the leaves where the fine +permanganate dust has settled. It is unpleasant stuff to use, and stains +everything with which it comes into contact. Undoubtedly it is at its +best in a closely stoppered bottle. Rubber gloves would be useful, if +they did not make one 'all thumbs.' Remember that oxalic acid will remove +the stains from your hands just as well as from paper--also that it +bleaches carpets. (Item, don't conduct your operations in the +dining-room.) The best thing with which to handle the leaves when wet is +a broad flat bone paper-knife with smooth edges. On various occasions +when our bookman has not had time to complete the bleaching process, he +has dried the leaves in their brown state and put them aside for a week +before bleaching. So far he has not found this to have any ill effect on +the paper, though possibly if kept for a longer period--especially if +they got damp--the permanganate might rot them. + +A very hot and strong solution of alum I have used with success for +leaves that are more dirty than stained, and do not really require +bleaching. Ether is excellent for stains of a greasy nature, though some +may prefer the stains to the vapour which it gives off. With hydrochloric +acid, so strongly recommended by some, I have never had any success. If +used strong it destroys the paper, and if used weak the leaf has to be +left in it for so long as to reduce the paper almost to a pulp. Remember +that as a general rule, the shorter the process of washing the better. +Long immersion tends to rot the fibres of the paper. With regard to +staining the leaf so as to match the rest of the book, our book-hunter +generally uses a solution of cigarettes (Virginians are quite the best). +Possibly this is a very bad practice, but at least it is effective, the +stain diffuses easily, and it can be regulated to any shade. Coffee is +recommended by some. + +Thumb-marks and the stains of dirty fingers are best removed by rubbing +them lightly (and very carefully) with one of those disc-shaped erasers +used by typists. These erasers remove the surface of the paper, so they +must be used with extreme caution.[50] + +There is yet another byway of book-collecting which we must study before +we may graduate in book-lore. To the uninitiated the word 'bibliography' +conveys little more than a mere writing about books. But it is a vast +study, and, if we are to become proficient in it, one that will occupy us +for many years. + +For the specialist there is no more delightful pursuit than the +compilation of a bibliography upon the subject of his choice. Not only +will it give him a sound bibliographical knowledge of the books which he +desires and hopes ultimately to possess, but it will enable him to +collate immediately every volume that he acquires. It will also open up a +new field of interest for the young collector, for he will be constrained +to study books from their material aspect; and with a knowledge of the +'natural history' of the book will come a regard for the well-being of +his volumes. So also will he be brought into touch with modern methods of +bibliography, and he will certainly find an additional interest in his +books. + +The main objects of bibliography are, briefly, to determine + +(i) Whether a book is genuine. + +(ii) Whether it is complete and perfect. + +(iii) Whether it is in its original condition, _i.e._ as it issued from +the press. + +(iv) Whether it has been made up by the insertion of leaves or quires +from another copy or edition. + +(v) To provide a standard collation (_i.e._ an accurate description of +the book in its original state) with which other copies may be compared. +For the purpose of the specialist we may add + +(vi) To provide a bibliographical catalogue of those books in which he is +especially interested. + +All this may sound very simple, but it must be borne in mind that where +no standard collation is available, the only method of providing one is +by a diligent, thorough, and precise study of the leaves, quires, +watermarks and 'make up' of a number of copies. As these things +frequently vary considerably in different copies of the same book, the +task of standardising a collation is by no means an easy one. The +difficulties that beset one in the case of early-printed books are +immense; but with the inconstancies of incunabula we are not concerned +here. + +It is easily begun, this making of a bibliography, and it is a delightful +hobby, though necessarily it takes up a good deal of time. The plan which +our book-hunter adopted is as follows, and it has been so successful and +valuable to him that he has no hesitation in recommending it. First of +all he procured a card-index box capable of holding about a thousand +cards. Upon these he entered the books as he came across them in +catalogues of all sorts, under the authors' names. Thus: + + DIAGO (FRANCISCO) + Historia de los Antiquos Condes de Barcelona + Fo: Barcelona, 1603. + +After each he generally pencils the price and bookseller, or other +authority for the book's existence; but this is for his own guidance +only, and is by the way. A fresh card is used for every book. This forms +a rough index of every work upon his subject with which he is acquainted. + +Now for the bibliography proper. For this our bookman uses single sheets +of paper, eight inches by five, ruled with feint lines. These are +contained in a 'spring-back' portfolio, thus forming a handy volume in +which pages can be inserted anywhere at will. At the top of the page he +writes the author's name, just as for the index, and beneath this +(leaving a line blank) he copies the title-page of the book _in extenso_, +using red ink for red print, capitals where capitals occur, and +underlining those words which are in italics. The end of each line is +indicated by a vertical stroke. Then follows a complete collation of the +book. The following illustration, however, will convey a better idea than +can be given in words. It will be noticed that after the size (which is +given in the English notation) the measurement _of the title-page_ in +millimetres is added within parentheses. If more than one copy has been +examined this measurement is of the largest. The reason why the +form-notation is given as well as the actual size, is because it is +easier to carry the form-notation in one's head. + + BASNAGE (JACQUES) + + DISSERTATION | HISTORIQUE | SUR LES DUELS | ET LES ORDRES | DE | + CHEVALERIE. | PAR MONSIEUR B... | (printer's device) | A AMSTER + DAM, | chez PIERRE BRUNEL, sur le Dam | a la Bible d'or. | + M.DCC.XX. + + 12^o (155 x 95), Amsterdam, 1720. pp: xvi, 163, x. + + Title. 'Avertissement' (10pp.). Contents (4pp.). Pp: 1-163 Text. + Then ten pages (unnumbered) containing the 'Table des Matieres,' + which begins on page 163 (b). At the end is a blank leaf, + completing quire L. Reg: Prelim: *----* 8; Text and Index + A----L8, in eights. [A]. + + The author, Jacques Basnage de Franquenet, was born at Rouen in + 1653, studied at Saumur, Geneva, and Sedan, and became a + Protestant minister in his native town. On the Revocation of the + Edict of Nantes he retired to Rotterdam, where he devoted his + life to literary researches. He died at the Hague in 1723. For + his great reputation as a skilful diplomatist, see Voltaire's + 'Age of Louis XIV.' + + Another edition of this work was published in octavo at Basle in + 1740. + +Whenever our book-hunter has an afternoon to spare, pocketing a handful +of cards from the index he sets off for the British Museum (or wherever +he may happen to be working at the time, where access may be had to the +volumes he requires) and settles himself to collate and copy title-pages. +But it must be borne in mind that the collation of any volume cannot be +considered as 'standard' until at least three copies of the book have +been examined, all of which are identical. The majority of the common +books printed after the year 1600 vary not at all in their make up; and +having once collated such a volume, the comparison with it of other +copies takes but a very few minutes. Sixteenth-century books, however, +especially those printed in the first half of the century, vary +sufficiently in their collations to demand a much more careful scrutiny. +If the volume under examination is a book of which different copies vary +considerably, you must naturally be exceedingly cautious in declaring +that your collation represents the form in which the book was issued from +the press. It is quite possible that you will find differences in each of +six copies. + +At the end of each collation our book-hunter puts a letter or letters in +brackets to denote the habitations of the copies he has examined, the +tallest copy (of which the title-page's measurements are given) being +distinguished by an asterisk; thus: A, B*, N. 'A' represents our +book-hunter's own copy, 'B' that in the Bodleian Library, 'N' that in the +Bibliotheque Nationale; and so on. Mention, of course, from which copy +the collation has been taken is made in the text; or, if you prefer it, +you may denote this, so that it may be seen at a glance, by entering the +necessary distinguishing letter in _red_ ink. + +As I have said, it is a fascinating pursuit, but unless the subject in +which you specialise is a narrow one, you may be overwhelmed by the +magnitude of the task. Take heed that you do not undertake more than you +have time or opportunity to complete; or else, embarking upon a labour of +Hercules you may liken yourself to Sisyphus. Mazzuchelli began 'Gli +Scrittori d'Italia,' but succeeded in finishing only the first two +letters of the alphabet. The temptation to leave behind us some great +work by which our name will become in time a household word, is doubtless +a great one; but gigantic though our _magnum opus_ may be in our own +estimation, it does not follow that others will set a like value upon +it, or, indeed, upon the labours of its author. Jean de la Haye, the +preacher in ordinary to Anne of Austria, published his _Biblia maxima_ in +nineteen folio volumes; but, says the bibliographer, 'no part of it is +esteemed except the _Prolegomena_, and even they are too diffuse.' Louis +Barbier gained the confidence of the Duke of Orleans by his great tact +(which probably amounted to servility) and skill in repeating the tales +of Rabelais. Mazarin appointed him Bishop of Langres for having betrayed +his master. When he died in 1670, he left a hundred crowns to whoever +would write an epitaph worthy of him. So Bernard de la Monnoye wrote the +following: + + 'Ci git un tres grand personnage, + Qui fut d'un illustre lignage, + Qui posseda mille vertus, + Qui ne trompa jamais, qui fut toujours fort sage, + Je n'en dirai pas d'avantage, + C'est trop mentir pour cent ecus.' + +But whether Bernard got the legacy history does not relate. + +It is astonishing, however, what can be accomplished in this direction by +diligence. Le Clerc, not content with having produced a 'Bibliotheque +Universelle et Historique,' laboured till he had given to the world a +'Bibliotheque Choisie' and a 'Bibliotheque Ancienne et Moderne,' in all +eighty-two duodecimo volumes! Beausobre and L'Enfant compiled a +'Bibliotheque Germanique,' comprising the period 1720-40; and published +it in fifty volumes. Baillet's 'Catalogue des Matieres' occupies +thirty-five folio volumes. But of course all these were mere lists and +criticisms of books, not detailed bibliographies of carefully collated +works. + +It is a great gift, this gift of 'finding time.' 'When I see how much +Varro wrote,' says St. Augustine in his 'De Civitate Dei,' 'I marvel much +that ever he had any leisure to read; and when I perceive how many things +he read, I marvel more that ever he had any leisure to write.' The +creation of opportunity is no lesser gift. 'A wise man,' says Bacon, +'will make more opportunities than he finds.' Tomaso de Andrada, a +Portuguese Jesuit, wrote his _magnum opus_ in a dungeon, in chains, +without clothes, with little food, writing only in the middle of the day +by the help of a faint light which he received through an air-hole. + +The compilation of bibliographies began early in the history of books, +and doubtless grew out of the catalogues which the early printers put +forth. Conrad von Gesner compiled a 'Bibliotheca Universalis' which was +printed at Zurich in four volumes between 1545 and 1555. Francois Grude +published a 'Bibliotheque Francoise' in 1584. It is a catalogue of French +authors and is not confined to any particular subject, but at least it is +a step in the direction of classification. From that date the number of +these invaluable works has steadily increased, and about the middle of +the seventeenth century L'Abbe put forth the first (?) of those useful +book-collector's aids, a 'Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum.' This interesting +little volume is really a list of books (under their authors' names) +which also contain lists of authors. As L'Abbe says in the preface to his +volume, so pleasantly dedicated 'Lectoribus Philobiblis,' he designs his +book to be a 'Bibliothecam Bibliothecarum, Catalogum Catalogorum, +Nomenclatorem Nomenclatorum, Indicem Indicum, et quid non?' The only +edition which I have seen was printed at Paris in 1664, but the licence +is dated 1651. Another edition was printed at Rouen in 1672, a third at +Leipzig in 1682, and a fourth some years later, all in duodecimo or small +octavo. + +Grude's book is a choice one. It is entitled 'Le Premier Volume de La +Bibliotheque du Sieur de la Croix-du-Maine: Qui est un catalogue general +de toutes sortes d'Autheurs, qui ont escrit en Francois depuis cinq cents +ans et plus jusques a ce iourd'huy,' and was published at Paris 'Chez +Abel L'Angelier' in 1584. It is one of those folio volumes printed in +large pica on thick paper that delight the heart of the bibliophile and +are a joy to handle. At the back of the title-page is an oval portrait +of Henry of Navarre, dated 1581. He was not a handsome man, if one may +judge by this portrait, in fact it would be difficult to draw a more +repellent face; yet the book was dedicated to the king in a long 'Epistre +au Roy' which ends with the author's quaint anagram 'Race du mans, si +fidel a son Roy' (Francois de la Croix du Maine). But perhaps the +portrait was omitted in the royal copy. The work was to have been +completed in three volumes, of which the first two were to contain works +published in the vernacular, and the third those printed in Latin. But +alas! the author left only this first volume, which contains some three +thousand authors, with short biographies of them. One hesitates to +connect this premature end of the book (or, indeed, the author's +assassination six years later) with the unlucky portrait! Altogether a +very delightful volume. + +Nowadays a bibliography that is not at once complete, detailed, and +meticulously accurate is of no value. In this critical age when the +methods of modern science are applied to books, it behoves the +bibliographer to be careful, thorough, and precise. Unless he can bring +these three attributes to bear upon his work, far better that he should +never undertake it; for the result will be not only valueless but +misleading, and he will certainly fail to obtain 'that lasting fame and +perpetuity of praise which God and good men have consented shall be the +reward of those whose published labours advance the good of mankind.' + +There is one small appendage of the private library which must be +mentioned before we close the chapter. A list of the prices which he has +paid for his books forms a record that is indispensable to the +book-collector. It is impossible to carry all one's 'bargains' in one's +head, and if pencilled inside the book itself it is exposed to that +publicity which one naturally shuns. Such a record is of something more +than curious interest, for a knowledge of the rise or fall in the price +of those books in which he is interested is essential to the collector. +Whenever he comes across, in a bookseller's catalogue, a book that he +already possesses, he will like to know how the present price compares +with that which he gave for his copy. + +A convenient shape for this useful book is an ordinary folio account book +(our book-hunter's measures 15 inches x 91/2 inches), and it should be +ruled for 'cash,' with an inner margin. Between the inner margin and +(outer) cash column he rules two lines, dividing the middle of the page +into three columns, of which the left-hand one is the widest. The +illustration over-page will show you precisely what is meant. At the top +of each page is placed a letter of the alphabet, and, immediately beneath +or alongside this, the date of a year. In the inner margin each line is +numbered down the page. In the next column is written the author and +short title of the book--sufficient to identify it--then the place where +it was bought, then the date when purchased, and in the cash column the +price which was paid for it. + +In our book-hunter's ledger the first few pages are headed + +[Greek: Theta] +(_Books presented to me_) + +and the next heading is + +[Greek: Phi] +(_Books published by instalments, extending over several years_) + +Then comes + +A + +1900 + +and so on, each year having a letter assigned to it.[51] + +Now for the practical use of this ledger. Inside the front cover of every +one of his volumes our book-hunter affixes a book-plate; and in the +left-hand bottom corner of this he writes the year-letter and number of +the book's entry in his ledger: _e.g._ A 24, L 7, etc. Thus supposing +that one wishes to find out when and where one acquired a certain book +and how much was paid for it, one has only to raise the front cover of +the volume in question, and find its index mark. Suppose it to be 'E 28.' +Turning to our ledger we find that E represents the year 1904, and No. 28 +is the volume in question. Similarly A 24 signifies No. 24 of 1900, L 7 +is No. 7 of 1911, and so on. If your library be a large one, and a search +for the volume would entail trouble, you may conveniently pencil this +index mark against the book's entry in your catalogue, but in such a way +that it cannot be mistaken for the shelf-mark. + +It is as well to write the entries in the ledger upon the recto of the +leaves only, so that the verso (being numbered like the _opposite_ recto) +may be used for recording the bindings, published prices, previous +owners, etc., of the volumes opposite. When all the letters of the +alphabet have been used up, they may be repeated doubled, as AA 4, DD 32, +etc. + +C 1902 C + ++------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +|1. | Fuller's 'Holy Warre,' 1647 | Thorp, Guildford | 17th January | 9 | 0 | +|2. | Vredius--'Sigilla Com. Flandriae' | Poynder, Reading | 23rd January | 12 | 6 | +|3. | Anstis--'Observations on the Bath' | Harding, London | 3rd February | 2 | 0 | +|4. | | | | | | +|5. | | | | | | +|6. | | | | | | +|7. | | | | | | +|8. | | | | | | +|9. | | | | | | +|10. | | | | | | +|11. | | | | | | +|12. | | | | | | +|13. | | | | | | +|14. | | | | | | +|15. | | | | | | +|16. | | | | | | +|17. | | | | | | +|18. | | | | | | +|19. | | | | | | +|20. | | | | | | +|21. | | | | | | +|22. | | | | | | +|23. | | | | | | +|24. | | | | | | +|25. | | | | | | +|26. | | | | | | +|27. | | | | | | +|28. | | | | | | +|29. | | | | | | +|30. | | | | | | +|31. | | | | | | +|32. | | | | | | +|33. | | | | | | +|34. | | | | | | +|35. | | | | | | +|36. | | | | | | ++------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + +FOOTNOTES: + +[47] It may be that you are contemplating the erection of shelves for +your books? If so, perhaps the writer's experience may save you some +little time and trouble. But if your treasures are already housed in a +manner fitting, then he will claim your indulgence and ask that you be so +good as to skip the next few pages. + +[48] But as the shelves are not fixed to the uprights, it is a simple +matter to remove each shelf in turn from the room, and brush out the dust +with a stiff clothes-brush. + +[49] It does not represent the Roman Venus, and there is no place named +'Milo.' Were the statue anywhere else than in the Louvre, probably it +would be known generally (as it is to scholars) by its proper name--the +Aphrodite of Melos. + +[50] The writer possesses a copy of the first edition of "Mr. Sponge's +Sporting Tour," which is a perfect museum. At some period of its +existence it was relegated to the harness-room; and its leaves bear the +insignia of almost every known preparation used in dressing boots, +harness, saddles, buckles, dogs, horses' hoofs, and human hair. Not for +all the wealth of the Indies would he remove a single stain. Most of them +have been identified by his friends (it is feared with more regard for +humour than accuracy) in marginal notes. Sherlock Holmes would certainly +have considered it worthy of a monograph. + +[51] I will not venture to suggest that you follow the example of a +book-collecting acquaintance who has an extra heading for 'Books that I +have _acquired_!' + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +BOOKS OF THE COLLECTOR + + 'To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and + discretion.'--PROVERBS, i. 4. + + +JUST as anyone who sets out to collect prints or antiques must provide +himself at the outset with certain books necessary for obtaining a +knowledge of the subject, so the book-collector must gather to himself +those works which, if studied carefully, will enable him to become +thoroughly conversant with the objects of his favourite pursuit. To the +real collector there is no more delightful reading than the literature +which deals with the subject he has made his own; and the more ample and +specialised it be, the greater will be his delight. + +What bibliophile has not read, and read again, such delightful works as +Burton's 'Book Hunter,' Blades' 'Enemies of Books' and 'Life and +Typography of William Caxton,' 'The Library' and 'Books and Bookmen' by +Andrew Lang, Harrison's 'Choice of Books' and 'Among my Books,' Clark's +'Care of Books,' Edwards' 'Libraries and Founders of Libraries,' and many +others of equal charm? Indeed, these volumes may well be among the first +that he who embarks upon the peaceful sea of book-collecting gathers to +himself. Nor is there any less fascination in the more specialised works, +such as Mr. Gordon Duff's 'Early Printed Books,'[52] 'English Provincial +Printers,' and 'The Printers of Westminster and London to 1535,' +Bradshaw's 'Collected Papers,' Mr. A. W. Pollard's 'Early Illustrated +Books,' Wheatley's 'Prices of Books,' Professor Ferguson's 'Aspects of +Bibliography,' and the publications of the Bibliographical Society. All +these and many others are necessary if we are to acquire a thorough +knowledge of old books. They are, or should be, in every large public +library; and we may read them through and through at our leisure, +learning more from each perusal. + +There are certain works, however, which the book-collector should himself +possess, for he will have continual recourse to them throughout his +book-collecting career. Doubtless some of them will make an inroad upon +his purse, but it will be money well spent, and the knowledge which he +will gain from them will save him many a shilling. Their acquisition must +be looked upon in the same light as the shelves and fittings of the +library. + +[Sidenote: General Bibliographies.] + +First of all we will take those bibliographies which deal with books +published in the English language, and there are certain of these volumes +that are indispensable to the book-collector. Among them are Lowndes' +'Bibliographer's Manual,' in six octavo volumes, last published in +1869[53] (alas! sadly deficient, but still of considerable use), which +one can have for about a pound, and Hazlitt's valuable 'Bibliographical +Collections and Notes on Early English Literature,' complete in eight +octavo volumes, published between 1867 and 1903. The Bibliographical +Society's publications, from 1893 onwards, are of the greatest value, +comprising lists of English printers, early editions of rare books, lists +of early English plays, tales, and prose romances, with numerous +bibliographies. For recourse to these, probably it will be necessary to +visit the nearest important public library, though one may purchase +individual numbers from time to time at the second-hand booksellers'. + +Arber's 'Term Catalogues,' published in three quarto volumes between 1903 +and 1906, gives a complete list of works entered at Stationers' Hall from +1668 to 1709. It followed the same author's 'Transcripts of the Registers +of the Worshipful Company of Stationers of London, 1554-1640,' which was +privately printed in five volumes between 1875 and 1894. A second +'Transcript' of these registers, from 1640 to 1708, was issued similarly +in 1913-14, in three more volumes. + +Sir Egerton Brydges' 'British Bibliographer' (in which he was assisted by +Joseph Haslewood) was published in four octavo volumes, 1810-14, and is +an entertaining work, though not one which it is necessary that the +collector should acquire. The second edition of his 'Censura Literaria' +appeared in ten volumes in 1815, and the 'Restituta; or Titles, Extracts, +and Characters of Old Books in English Literature revived,' was published +in four volumes, 1814-16. All these afford interesting reading; but they +are for the armchair and fireside rather than the desk: and the +information that they contain must not always be regarded as infallible. +Payne Collier's 'Account of the Rarest Books in the English Language,' +which appeared in two volumes in 1865, is rather more dull than its title +suggests. Karslake's 'Notes from Sotheby's' is useful, being a +compilation of 2032 notes from catalogues of book-sales between 1885 and +1909. + +Quaritch's 'General Catalogue of Books' is useful for reference. It +comprises short descriptions of more than 38,000 works, and was published +in 1887 in six volumes. An additional volume containing an index to the +whole was issued in 1892. The catalogue of the Huth Library, five large +octavo volumes published in 1880, is also valuable. Then there is, of +course, the British Museum catalogue, which was printed in 1884 under the +title 'A Catalogue of Books in the Library of the British Museum, printed +in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Books in English printed +abroad, to the year 1640': three octavo volumes. + +For an actual list of the published works of all British authors of note, +one must consult the 'Dictionary of National Biography': while the more +detailed bibliographies to each volume of the 'Cambridge History of +English Literature' are of great assistance, though they vary +considerably, and do not pretend to be complete. Allibone's 'Critical +Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors,' in +three volumes, was published by Lippincott (Philadelphia) between 1859 +and 1871. There is a supplement to it by J. F. Kirk, which appeared in +two volumes in 1891. It is a work of considerable value to the +bibliographer. + +With regard to the books printed abroad (as well as in England), it is +essential that the collector procure a copy of Brunet's 'Manuel de +Libraire et de l'Amateur de Livres,' a most valuable work dealing with +the literature of all countries. The last (fifth) edition of this great +work was published in six octavo volumes at Paris, 1860-65. In 1870 a +companion volume by Pierre Deschamps was issued, entitled 'Dictionnaire +de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne a l'Usage du Libraire,' a dictionary of +the Latin and Greek names of places with their modern equivalents and +some account of the first presses at those places. There is a +modern-ancient index. A supplement to the 'Manuel' was published by MM. +P. Deschamps and Gustave Brunet in two volumes, 1878 and 1880. The +complete work, in all nine large octavo volumes, 1860-1880, cost formerly +about L18; however, a reprint of the fifth edition--an exact facsimile in +type and size--was issued by Brockhaus of Leipzig (at ten pounds the set) +in 1920. Graesse's 'Tresor de Livres Rares et Precieux' is also +valuable. It comprises books in all tongues and contains a mass of +bibliographical information. Published in six quarto volumes (vol. 6 is +in two parts) between 1859 and 1867, a supplement was issued in 1869: in +all seven volumes.[54] + +Of all the older general bibliographies, however, there are few that can +compare with old David Clement's 'Bibliotheque Curieuse Historique et +Critique, ou Catalogue Raisonne de Livres Dificiles a Trouver.' Not, I +hasten to add, for its accuracy or even the amount of information it +contains. But there is a charm about these nine old quarto volumes with +their handsome type and title-pages in red and black that appeals +irresistibly to the collector. He was a true bibliophile, this worthy +Lutheran pastor, and his gradations of rarity are delightfully expressive +and concise. 'Rare,' 'tres-rare,' 'fort-rare,' he describes his +treasures, and occasionally 'peu-commun'; but he does not hesitate to +condemn as 'rare et mauvaise' an edition that disturbs his +bibliographical soul. Alas! his work was only carried as far as the +letter H (Hesiod). + +[Sidenote: Early-Printed Books.] + +For early-printed books the collector will require Ludwig Hain's +'Repertorium Bibliographicum . . . usque ad annum 1500,' which was +published at Stuttgart in four octavo volumes, 1826-38, and is still the +standard work upon this subject. For those who collect fifteenth-century +books this work is essential, for all catalogues and descriptions of +books of that period refer to it. Generally the mere number of the work +in Hain's monumental list is referred to, such as 'H 3234,' which means +that the volume offered for sale is as described by Hain, number 3234 in +the 'Repertorium.' In 1891 Dr. Konrad Burger added an Index of Printers +to this great work, while between 1898 and 1902 Dr. W. Copinger published +a supplement, adding some 7,000 new entries to Hain's 16,299. Dr. Burger +added a further supplement in 1908, and between 1905 and 1910 Dr. +Dietrich Reichling published appendices, additions and emendations to all +of these, adding an index thereto in 1911. For early German books, +Panzer's 'Annalen der altern Deutschen Litteratur' to 1526, which +appeared at Nuernberg in two volumes between 1788 and 1805, has not yet +been entirely superseded; though considerable additions have been made by +Mozler, Weller, and Petzholdt. + +Mr. C. E. Sayle's 'List of Early English Printed Books in the University +Library at Cambridge, 1475 to 1640,' in four octavo volumes, was +published by that university between 1900 and 1907; while for books +printed at Oxford from the establishment of the first press there in 1478 +to 1640, you must consult Mr. Falconer Madan's 'The Early Oxford Press,' +published in 1895. + +Blades' 'Life and Typography of William Caxton' I have already mentioned; +and although many of us may never behold a Caxton save through a sheet of +glass, yet every book-collector should be acquainted with the work of +this great father of the English press. Blades' work first appeared in +two quarto volumes, published respectively in 1861 and 1863, and is much +to be preferred to 'The Biography and Typography of William Caxton' which +is practically a reprint in a cheaper form issued in one octavo volume in +1877. A second edition of this last appeared in 1882. In the Preface to +the 1877 reprint, Blades states that 'only one additional fact of any +importance has been added, viz. that Caxton was married . . .' and that +'the bibliography has been curtailed.' + +Proctor's 'Index to the Early Printed Books in the British Museum from +the Invention of Printing to the Year MD.,' begun in 1898, was cut short +by his untimely death. The Museum authorities have now in course of +publication an important work entitled 'A Catalogue of Books printed in +the Fifteenth Century now in the British Museum,' which is being compiled +by Mr. A. W. Pollard and his assistants; it will be completed in six +folio (really atlas quarto) volumes. Of these the first part, dealing +with block-books and the productions of German presses, appeared in 1908; +Part II., also German-printed books, in 1912; Part III., Germany, +Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, in 1913: while Part IV., the +productions of Italy, appeared in 1916. Parts V. and VI. will contain the +works of England, France, and other countries, Part VI. also containing a +general index to the entire work. The Introduction to Part I. gives a +valuable resume of the study of scientific bibliography from Panzer in +1793. Mr. Gordon Duff's great work on the English incunabula, 'Fifteenth +Century Books,' was issued by the Bibliographical Society in 1917. It +contains fifty-three facsimiles, and records the existence of 439 books +or fragments issued in English, or by the printers in this country, +before the end of the year 1500. + +In France much valuable work has been done on the early presses of that +country. M. Anatole Claudin has put forth some extremely useful books on +the early printers of Poitiers, Limoges, Rheims, and of many other towns; +whilst for the Exposition Universelle of 1900 he prepared a monumental +work upon the early printers of Paris. This sumptuous book, entitled +'Histoire de l'Imprimerie en France au XV^e et au XVI^e Siecle,' was +printed in two large quarto (atlas quarto) volumes, copiously adorned +with illuminated and other illustrations. The chapter on Antoine Verard +is delightful. + +There is a large number of books, too, on the incunabula of various +European towns and districts, such as Augsburg, Bavaria, Belgium, +Bohemia, Ferrara, Mainz, Lyons, Mantua, Nuernberg, Rome, Rouen, Toulouse, +to mention only a few. For the incunabula printed with Greek characters +Legrand's 'Bibliographie hellenique,' which appeared in two octavo +volumes in 1885, is useful. + +For a description of the early 'block-books,' the prototype of printing, +the collector must have recourse to Sotheby's beautiful work entitled +'Principia Typographica,' published in three large quarto volumes in +1858. It contains no less than a hundred and twenty full-page +facsimiles, some in colour, of block-books, early types, paper-marks, +etc., and is one of the most important works on the history of printing +that has ever been produced.[55] He will do well also to acquire Bigmore +and Wyman's 'Bibliography of Printing,' a valuable work which appeared in +three quarto volumes, 1880-86; and there is an immense amount of +information concerning individual printers and stationers with their +productions in 'The Library' (in progress), the three large volumes of +'Bibliographica' published in twelve parts between 1895 and 1897, and the +transactions of the Bibliographical Society. + +[Sidenote: Engravings.] + +If early wood-engravings interest you, there are several works to which +you may turn for guidance. Lippman's 'Wood Engraving in Italy in the +Fifteenth Century,' of which an English edition was published in 1888, +and Kristeller's 'Early Florentine Woodcuts' which appeared in 1897, +treat of illustrated Italian books. Venetian books of the fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries are dealt with by Prince d'Essling in his +'Bibliographie des Livres a Figures Venitiens 1469-1525,' of which a new +edition appeared in 1906. The works of Dutch and Belgian artists are +dealt with by Sir W. M. Conway in 'The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in +the Fifteenth Century.' This was published in 1884. M. Claudin's +'Histoire de l'Imprimerie en France' contains many illustrations of early +Parisian woodcuts and illuminations, while Muther's 'Die Deutsche +Buecherillustration der Gothik und Fruehrenaissance,' published in 1884, is +also useful. For English engravers you will find Sir Sidney Colvin's +'Early Engraving and Engravers in England' (1905) useful, as well as +Lewine's 'Bibliography of Eighteenth Century Art and Illustrated Books,' +which appeared in 1898. A very delightful work on the eighteenth-century +French engravers is M. H. Cohen's 'Guide de l'Amateur de Livres a +Gravures du XVIII^e Siecle,' of which the fifth edition was published in +1886. Bewick's work has been dealt with by Mr. Austin Dobson in his +'Thomas Bewick and his Pupils,' octavo, 1884; and 'A Descriptive and +Critical Catalogue of Works Illustrated by Thomas and John Bewick' was +published by E. J. Selwyn in 1851. Mr. A. W. Pollard's 'Early Illustrated +Books,' of which a new edition appeared in 1917, is of value from the +historical point of view. + +[Sidenote: Place-Names and Dates.] + +Cotton's 'Typographical Gazetteer,' of which the second (and better) +edition was printed at Oxford in 1831, is valuable for the identification +of ancient Latin place-names. A second series was published in 1866. J. +Hilton's 'Chronograms' (1882) and 'Chronograms Continued' (1885) are +often of great assistance with regard to dates. In 1895 this +indefatigable collector published a third volume, quarto, containing more +than four thousand additional examples. For mere lists of works upon +definite subjects one may consult Sargant and Whishaw's 'Guide-Book to +Books' (1891) and 'The Best Books,' by W. S. Sonnenschein. + +[Sidenote: Pseudonyms.] + +For the identification of authors who wrote under a pseudonym you will +find 'A Handbook of Fictitious Names,' by 'Olphar Hamst' (which was the +pseudonym of Ralph Thomas) useful. It was published in 1868. But this has +been partly superseded by Cushing's 'Initials and Pseudonyms,' large +octavo, London, 1886; and the valuable work of Emil Weller, entitled +'Lexicon Pseudonymorum,' of which the second edition was published at +Regensburg the same year, in octavo. This contains thousands of +pseudonyms of all nations and all ages. Cushing also published 'A +Dictionary of Revealed Authorship,' in two volumes, 1890. Then there is +the valuable 'Dictionary of the Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of +Great Britain,' by Halkett and Laing, which appeared in four octavo +volumes between 1882 and 1888. Mr. F. Marchmont's 'Concise Handbook of +Literature issued Anonymously under Pseudonyms or Initials,' appeared in +1896. + +Antoine Barbier's 'Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes' was +published first in four octavo volumes at Paris so long ago as 1806-8. A +second edition was put forth in 1822-27. But between 1869 and 1879 a +third edition, revised and enlarged, was incorporated with 'Les +Supercheries Litteraires Devoilees' of Joseph Marie Querard (the second +edition), the whole being edited by MM. Gustave Brunet and Olivier +Barbier, and issued in seven large octavo volumes. The first three +volumes (1869-70) appeared under the title of Querard's work, the last +four (1872-9) under that of Barbier. Querard's work, which first appeared +in four octavo volumes, 1847-52, is, as its title indicates, a dictionary +of those books in French which have been published under fictitious +names, are spurious, or have been wrongly ascribed. It is valuable for +the identification of many fictitious memoirs and like books. Barbier's +work deals with French anonymous and pseudonymous books. De Manne's +'Nouveau Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes,' octavo, +Lyon, 1862, deals chiefly with contemporary French works. For +pseudonymous books in Italian one must consult the work of Vincenzo +Lancetti, which appeared at Milan, in octavo, 1836, as well as the +'Dizionario di Opere Anonime e Pseudonime di Scrittori Italiani,' by G. +M. (Gaetano de' Conti Melzi), also published at Milan in three octavo +volumes, 1848-59. A supplement, by G. Passano, was issued at Ancona in +1887. + +Dibdin's rather sumptuously produced works are perhaps of more interest +than bibliographical value, though his edition (vols. 1-4, 1810-19) of +the 'Typographical Antiquities,' begun by Ames (1749), and augmented by +Herbert (3 vols., 1785-90), is useful, in spite of the fact that it was +never completed. For illustrations of the early printers' devices you +must still have recourse to the 'Bibliographical Decameron,' three large +octavo volumes, published in 1817. For the devices of French printers +there is a more recent work entitled 'Marques Typographiques des +Libraires et Imprimeurs de France, 1470-1600,' by M. Silvestre, which was +printed in two octavo volumes at Paris, 1853-1867. It contains +illustrations of more than 1300 devices. Every year witnesses the +production of these indispensable aids to book-collecting, and the modern +trend of such works is towards a constricted specialism. By this means it +is possible to realise a minuteness and accuracy unobtainable in wider +fields. The 'Bibliografia Aragonesa del Siglo XVI' of Senor Sanchez, a +sumptuous work with illustrations of title-pages, colophons, etc., which +was published in two folio volumes in 1913-14, is a striking example of +this. + +There are bibliographies of almost every class of books, and a great +number dealing with the works of individual authors and printers of +renown; but these are in the domain of the specialist. There are certain +works, however, which will be of assistance to the collector in compiling +a list of authorities upon his special subject. Dr. Julius Petzholdt's +'Bibliotheca Bibliographica' was published at Leipzig so long ago as +1866; Sabin's 'Bibliography of Bibliographies' appeared at New York in +1877; while Vallee's 'Bibliographie des Bibliographies' (though neither +very accurate nor complete) was published at Paris, in large octavo, in +1883. A supplement to this last was issued in 1887. For the large number +of bibliographical works which have issued from the press since that date +you must consult Mr. W. P. Courtney's invaluable 'Register of National +Bibliography,' in three volumes, 1905 to 1912; which, indeed, for modern +purposes has superseded the above-mentioned works. In passing we would +remark that the 'national' of its title-page is in the wider sense of the +term. + +And here a word of warning. Always make a point of entering the _errata_ +with a pencil in the margins of every reference-book that you acquire. Do +this before you assign a place to the volume on the shelf; otherwise you +may quote or condemn a passage or date which has been rendered wrongly +owing to a clerical or printer's error, and has been put right in the +_errata_.[56] Need we say that this practice should not necessarily be +confined to works of reference? One may even find some amusement here. +Was it not Scarron who wrote a poem, 'A Guillemette, chienne de ma +soeur,' but quarrelling with his sister just as the volume was about to +appear, put in the _errata_, 'For _chienne de ma soeur_ read _ma +chienne de soeur_'! + +All these works will assuredly impart to the book-collector much +knowledge of ancient books and their attributes, but he will still be at +sea with regard to that most necessary part of their collection, namely, +their commercial value. There is only one way in which this knowledge may +be obtained, and that is by the study of catalogues. To arrive at a +proper estimate of a book's value from the purely financial point of +view, a close study of booksellers' catalogues and auction-sale prices +through many years is necessary. The divergence in price of identical +works is somewhat disturbing at first to the novice, and it is only after +some considerable experience and the actual handling of books that one is +enabled to arrive at a proper estimate of their worth. 'Continual use +gives men a judgment of things comparatively, and they come to fix on +what is most proper and easy, which no man, upon cursory view, would +determine.'[57] + +Before the writer are two catalogues, one from a country bookseller, the +other from a well-known London house. Each contains a copy of the +'Thesaurus Cornucopiae et Horti Adonidis,' printed by Aldus Manutius in +1496. The former offers it for 25s., the latter for L25. Why this +extraordinary difference in price? + +The reasons are ample. The London copy has this description: + + 'Fol.; 16th cent. English binding of brown calf, gilt borders and + centre-pieces, g.e. (by THOMAS BERTHELET, the Royal binder), in + fine condition: beautiful copy, perfectly clean and large, 320 x + 215 m.m., enclosed in case.' + +The country bookseller's copy, on the other hand, is described as +follows: + + 'Folio, russia (joints broken), has the 270 ll. of text complete, + but wants the 10 ll. unnumbered, of preliminary matter.' + +In other words, one copy is a very choice specimen of the book, tall, +clean, and perfect; while the other is an undesirable copy of ordinary +size, imperfect, and in poor condition. + +There is another point also. The London dealer specialises in such books, +in fact deals only in ancient and scarce works, and has a definite +_clientele_ of rich and well-known collectors. He can 'place' certain +rare books at once, for he knows the _desiderata_ of each of his +customers and the deficiencies of their collections. The countryman, on +the other hand, deals in all manner of books, ancient and modern, has few +rich purchasers among his customers, and knows nothing whatever of their +book-buying propensities. Any volume that he offers for sale may remain +on his hands for an indefinite time. + +Then there are such volumes as 'association books,' by which is meant +books possessing an additional interest by reason of their former +association with some notability, such association being evident by +autographs, corrections, annotations, additions, or binding. Such volumes +often exceed enormously the price of ordinary copies. The first +Edinburgh edition (1787) of Burns' Poems is worth usually about L5; but +a copy realised L75 at auction a few years ago. The reason for this +extraordinary price was that in this volume all those lines in which +asterisks occur were filled in with the full names in the handwriting of +the poet. Moreover it contained an additional stanza on 'Tam Samson' in +Burns' autograph. For such a jewel one cannot consider the figure +excessive, and it will doubtless run well into three figures if it ever +appear in the sale-room again. Similarly, each year witnesses the sale of +certain of these 'association' volumes; and unless you are aware of the +reasons causing these high prices to rule, such records will be worse +than useless to you. A superficial study of all auction-sale prices is +apt to be intensely misleading. Unless you are actually on the spot or +have handled the volume in question, the price that it realises will tell +you little as to the stable value of the work. A torn page, a shaved +headline, the underlining of a line or two with ink, a 'mounted' +frontispiece, a missing plate, or even a worn impression of it, all these +things affect the price of a volume. + +Then there are considerations outside the book itself. A scarce volume +included in a sale of unimportant books is unlikely to realise so high a +price as it might have done had it appeared in a Huth or Ashburnham sale; +for important books attract important bidders. The prices paid for poor +copies at the Frere sale in 1896 were enormous; the reason being, +probably, that this library had long been known to contain _desiderata_ +for which public and private collections alike had hitherto thirsted in +vain; the sale was something of a _battue_, and the room was thronged +with buyers from all parts of the kingdom. + +It is a ticklish question, this matter of the price which the collector +pays, and should pay, for his books, and one that may not be resolved +early in his career. In addition to exercising your memory when perusing +the catalogues which reach you, you will do well to obtain and study +'Prices of Books: an Enquiry into the Changes in the Price of Books +which have occurred in England at Different Periods,' an interesting +volume by that great connoisseur, Henry B. Wheatley. It was published in +octavo in 1898. + +Most of the catalogues that one receives from the booksellers are of +little use when read, and no useful purpose is served by preserving them. +But there are certain dealers who specialise in a definite class of +books, and their catalogues are always of value, for they contain only +works upon a definite subject or of a definite class. Such catalogues +form most useful reference works, and even bibliographies of that +particular subject. By all means preserve them; you may have them plainly +bound in buckram (when you have collected a sufficient number of them) at +the cost of a shilling or two, or you may keep them in a small portfolio +on your shelf. + +Sotheby's auction-sale catalogues are also valuable. They are nicely +produced, and have fine margins for making notes. It is well worth +obtaining these regularly, which one may do by paying a small +subscription. Most of them contain a miscellaneous assortment of books, +and are not worth keeping, but on the other hand most of the famous +libraries that are dispersed in this country pass through the Bond Street +house, and the catalogues of these are of the greatest value. + + * * * * * + +The history of booksellers' catalogues is an interesting one, and as yet +we have no authoritative work upon this intermediary between publisher +and reader. The earliest catalogue so far known was printed at Mainz by +Peter Schoeffer in 1469. It was a catalogue of books for sale by himself +or his agent, and consisted of a single sheet, probably intended to be +used as a poster. It is in abbreviated Latin, and comprises the titles of +twenty-one books, being headed-- + + 'Volentes sibi comparare infrascriptos libros magna cum + diligentia correctos, ac in huiusmodi littera moguntie impressos, + bene continuatos, veniant ad locum habitationis infrascriptum.' + +and at the foot is printed in large type-- + + 'HEC EST LITTERA PSALTERII' + +--a specimen of the type with which the Psalter mentioned in the list was +printed. Beneath this would be written the name of the place where the +books could be obtained, this being the case with the only copy of this +advertisement that has come down to us, Schoeffer's traveller having +written at the foot, 'Venditor librorum repertibilis est in hospicio +dicto zum willden mann'--'the bookseller is to be found at the sign of +the Wild Man.' + +Caxton adopted the same expedient with regard to his _Sarum Ordinale_. +This advertisement, which is in English, is as follows: + + 'If it plese ony man spirituel or temporal to bye ony pyes of two + and thre comemoracions of salisburi use enpryntid after the forme + of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym + come to Westmonester in to the almonesrye at the reed pale and he + shal haue them good chepe.' + +At the foot of this was printed 'Supplico stet cedula'--Please don't tear +down the bill. The 'pyes' of this advertisement (the English form of the +Latin _Pica_) were the guides by which one might learn the proper +combinations of collects and prayers for Saints' days, at certain epochs, +according to the Salisbury Ritual. The 'reed pale,' or red pale, was the +heraldic sign which Caxton adopted for his printing-house.[58] + +Other printers soon followed Schoeffer's example; notably Johan Mentelin +of Strasbourg. But these were mere lists of books, sometimes eulogies of +an individual work, printed for the most part by one particular press and +issued by the actual printer. In 1480 Anton Koberger of Nuernberg issued +a catalogue of the books which he had for sale, twenty-two in all, though +not all of them were printed by himself. Koberger was perhaps the most +important printer and publisher of the fifteenth century. He is said to +have employed twenty-four presses at Nuernberg, besides having books +printed for him in other towns.[59] He it was who introduced the +printing-press into Nuernberg in 1470. His enterprise, however, was not +limited to the mere printing of books. He is said to have had sixteen +shops where his books were sold, and agents in every city in Christendom! +Truly he was the father of booksellers. + +Another German printer, Erhart Ratdolt, printed at Venice, before 1488, a +handsome sheet in red and black in which he enumerates some forty-six +books arranged under six headings, which he had for sale. They comprised +the productions of several presses, the list being headed 'Libri venales +Venetiis impressi.' Some thirty or more of these catalogues of German +printers,[60] produced before the end of the fifteenth century, are +known. + +In 1485 Antoine Verard, one of the most important figures in the annals +of French printing, began business at Paris by putting forth an edition +of the Decameron. From this date he continued as a publisher, and has +been called 'the most important Paris publisher of the fifteenth +century.' So far as I am aware no catalogue of the books which he had for +sale has yet been discovered; though from the fact that our King Henry +VII. purchased a number of his volumes it would seem that his agents or +travellers were in possession of lists. + +Beckmann, in his 'History of Inventions and Discoveries,' says: 'It +appears that the printers themselves first gave up the bookselling part +of the business, and retained only that of printing; at least this is +said to have been the case with that well-known bookseller John Rainman, +who was born at Oehringen and resided at Augsburg'; and goes on to say +that he was at first a printer and letter-founder, and supplied Aldus +with his types. But this offset of the main business of book-production +began still earlier: witness the catalogues of Koberger and Ratdolt +already quoted. Many other printers also there were, before 1490, who +were acting as agents or 'booksellers' to other firms. This was the case, +too, with many of the Parisian houses. + +'Printing therefore gave rise[61] to a new and important branch of trade, +that of bookselling, which was established in Germany chiefly at +Frankfort-on-the-Main, where, at the time of the fairs particularly, +there were several large booksellers' shops in that street which still +retains the name of "book street."'[62] This ancient custom of having +bookstalls in the streets (particularly about the church or cathedral) +upon fair-days still survives in more than one old-world town upon the +Continent. Indeed it is this very custom that gave rise to the term +'stationer.' The early booksellers were wont to erect their stalls or +'stations' against the very walls of the cathedrals, whence they were +known as 'stacyoneres.' + +Beckmann mentions two other of these early booksellers at +Augsburg--Joseph Burglin and George Diemar. 'Sometimes,' he continues, +'they were rich people of all conditions, particularly eminent merchants, +who caused books which they sold to be printed at their own expense.' +George Willer, a bookseller who kept a large shop at Augsburg, was the +first, says, Beckmann, who hit upon the plan of causing a catalogue of +all the new books to be printed, in which the size and printers' names +were marked. His catalogues from 1564 to 1592 were printed by Nicholas +Basse at Frankfort. Beckmann relates that a collection of these +sixteenth-century German book-catalogues was in the library of Professor +Baldinger of Goettingen; possibly it still reposes in the fine library of +that university. + +'In all these catalogues, which are in quarto and not paged,' continues +Beckmann, 'the following order is observed. The Latin books occupy the +first place . . . and after these, books of jurisprudence, medicine, +philosophy, poetry and music. The second place is assigned to German +works, which are arranged in the same manner.' + +Basse's collection is entitled 'Collectio in unum corpus omnium librorum +Hebraeorum, Graecorum, Latinorum necnon Germanice, Italice, Gallice, et +Hispanice scriptorum, qui in nundinis Francofurtensibus ab anno 1564 +usque ad nundinas Autumnales anni 1592 . . . . desumpta ex omnibus +Catalogis Willerianis singularum nundinarum, & in tres Tomos distincta . +. . . Plerique in aedibus Georgij Willeri ciuis & Bibliopole Augustani, +venales habentur.' It was printed in quarto at Frankfort 'ex officina +Typographica Nicolai Bassaei, MDXCII.' Part 2 (which has a separate +pagination and title) is in German, and contains German books only. Part +3, also a distinct work, has a title-page in both Latin and French, and +contains books in Italian, Spanish, and French. This title reads: +'Recueil en un corps des livres Italiens, Espagnols, et Francois, qui ont +este exposez en vente en la boutique des Imprimeurs frequentans les +foires de Francfort depuis l'an 1568 jusques a la foire de Septembre +1592. Extraict des Catalogues des dictes foires, et reduict en method +conuenable, et tres utile.' An exceedingly interesting work, this last +part. + +A priced catalogue of the books printed by Christian Wechel is extant. It +was printed at Paris in 1543, a duodecimo of twelve leaves, containing +about three hundred books. These are classed under the headings +Grammatica, Dialectica, Rhetorica, Historica, Poetica, Moralia, Physica, +et Mathematica, Theologia, Legalis, and Medica. Under each of these +headings the books are divided into 'Graece' and 'Latine,' but +'Grammatica' and 'Theologia' have each the additional subheading +'Hebraice.' The prices are interesting. They vary from twopence (the _Ars +versificatoria_ of Ulric von Hutten and a Nicholas Beroald) to 80s.--a +_Hippiatria_ in French. There are six at 3d., ten at 4d., forty-five at +6d., none at 5d. or 7d., twenty-two at 8d., four at 9d., seventeen at +10d., and thirty-seven at 1s. There are ten at 1s. 3d., twenty-three at +1s. 6d., and twelve at 1s. 8d.; whilst from 2s. to 6s. the prices rise by +6d. But only one volume is priced at 4s. 6d., and two each at 5s. 6d. and +6s. There are from two to four volumes at 7s., 8s., 12s., 15s., 16s., and +18s.; whilst six are priced at 10s., and five at 20s. + +The more expensive works are chiefly illustrated 'standard' authors, such +as Modestus ('De Vocabulis Rei Militaris,' 18s.), Vegetius (_gallice, cum +picturis_, 16s., or in Latin _permultis picturis_, 20s.), and several +medical works such as Galen (two at 20s.) and Jo. Tagaultius (20s.). A +Vegetius 'in minore forma' but also 'picturis' is priced at 4s. At the +end is, in Latin: 'And these are the books, printed with our types, which +we offer you. Moreover there are others of all kinds for sale in our shop +(Taberna), both in Italian and German and French.' Then comes the +announcement of a forthcoming edition of Eustathius' Commentary on the +first book of Homer's Iliad. + +There is extant a list, printed in 1472, of books published at Subiaco +and Rome by Sweynheim and Pannartz, the German printers who first +established the printing-press in Italy. This list is contained in a +letter written by the printers to Pope Sixtus IV., asking for assistance. +It mentions twenty-eight works, and comprises 11,475 volumes,[63] which +looks as if the book-buyers of Rome had combined to procure a reduction +in the price of books; and there were no booksellers at that time to +whom the publishers could dispose of their volumes as 'remainders.' No +wonder that they described themselves as struggling '_sub tanto cartharum +fasce_'--beneath so great a load of paper. It must have been +circumstances such as these that induced the early publishers to put +forth a 'bad seller' from time to time adorned with a fresh title-page. +Notices of such cases abound, and they are not entirely confined to the +_first_ publishers. 'But,' invariably remarks the astute and relentless +bibliographer, 'it is all the same edition.' + +In 1602 there appeared a compilation from all the catalogues published at +the different fairs in Germany from 1500 to 1602, by Johann Cless, and it +was published in quarto at Frankfort. Unfortunately the original form of +the catalogues from which this compilation was made was neglected, so +that the work presents merely a list of books catalogued under their +subjects; and only occasionally is the name of the printer given. The +first volume consists of those published in Latin, the second volume +those which appeared in the German tongue. The books are entered under +the Christian name of the author, which does not facilitate reference; +but date, place, and size are given. Another writer, George Draud, +produced in 1611 a 'Bibliotheca Librorum Germanicorum Classica'; but this +also is merely a catalogue of all kinds of books printed in German up to +1610. This was republished in two quarto volumes at Frankfort in 1625. +Beckmann remarks, however, that many books are mentioned by Draud which +never were printed, and many titles, names, and dates are given +incorrectly. Grude's work, published in 1584, has already been +mentioned.[64] + +In the same way other countries were putting forth catalogues throughout +the sixteenth century. Occasionally one comes across them bound with +various works, and sometimes, more commonly, beneath the calf or vellum +covers of the books of that period. + +In this country for many decades after the introduction of printing, the +output of the English presses was not sufficiently large to keep pace +with the demand for books; so that there grew up a considerable trade in +the importation of books from abroad. In London Francois Regnault +received a continuous supply of foreign-printed works from his Paris +shop, while others such as the Birckmanns, who had shops in Cologne, +Antwerp, and other large towns, kept up the number. + +Doubtless these, and many others like them, issued catalogues of the +books they had for sale. In 1595 Andrew Maunsell published his Catalogue +of English Printed Books in two parts, and in April 1617 John Bill, a +leading London bookseller, issued the first number of his 'Catalogus +Universalis,' a translation of the half-yearly Frankfort _Mess-Katalog_, +and continued this enterprise twice a year for eleven years at least. +From October 1622 he added a supplement of books printed in English. A +book-catalogue of William Jaggard of 1618 is also known. The title of +this catalogue states that--like Bill's--it is 'to be continued for every +half-year,' but so far no further issue has come to light.[65] You will +find a list of the catalogues published by English booksellers since 1595 +in Mr. A. Growoll's 'Three Centuries of English Book-Trade Bibliography,' +which was issued in octavo at New York in 1903. + +In 1628 Henry Fetherstone, another London stationer, published a +catalogue of books which he had recently purchased in Italy. Among these +was the famous library of Giacomo Barocci, a gentleman of Venice, +consisting of two hundred and forty-two manuscript volumes, now in the +Bodleian Library. Writing to the Archbishop of Armagh in 1629, Sir Henry +Bourchier says, 'I doubt not but your Grace hath heard of the Greek +Library brought from Venice by Mr. Fetherston, which the Earl of Pembroke +hath bought for the University Library of Oxford; it cost him L700; +there are of them two hundred and fifty volumes. Dr. Lindsell, now Dean +of Litchfield, tells me that it is a great Treasure, far exceeding the +catalogue.' As this collection formed but a part of the books which +Fetherstone brought from Venice to this country, one cannot but marvel at +such an intrepid stroke of business. Presumably the volumes were +transported by ship. + +The history of booksellers has been attempted more than once,[66] so I +will content myself with remarking that in addition to being 'rich people +of all conditions,' some at least of these early booksellers were--like +the early printers--men of great learning. William Goeree, the bookseller +of Amsterdam, was a student by nature, but it was his fortune to be +brought up by a step-father to whom letters were unknown. His great +desire, a university education, was denied him, and he was forced to +choose some business. So he elected to embark upon a career where he +would at least enjoy the conversation of the learned, and would be free +to pursue his studies undisturbed by the strictures of his step-sire. As +a bookseller he prospered, and profiting by the atmosphere of learning in +which his paths lay, he found time between the hours of business to +produce several valuable works upon such diverse subjects as +Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Engraving, Botany, Physic, and +Antiquities! + +Fabert, the bookseller of Metz and author of 'Notes sur la Coutume de +Lorraine,' which he published in folio in 1657, was esteemed so highly +both for his learning and abilities, that his son Abraham Fabert was +thought not unworthy of being educated with the Duc d'Epernon. Abraham +rose to be Marshal of France: but in spite of his great talents and still +greater attainments, the bookseller's son ever retained that natural +modesty inherent only in great minds. Offered the Order of the Holy Ghost +by Louis XIV. he refused it on the ground that it should be worn only by +the ancient nobility. Whereupon the King wrote to him 'No person to whom +I may give this Order will ever receive more honour from it than you have +gained by your noble refusal, proceeding from so generous a principle.' +One can only meditate _O si sic omnes_! + +There are two reference-books that will be of use to you if you are +interested in this subject. Both were published by the Bibliographical +Society. The first, by Mr. Gordon Duff, is entitled 'A Century of the +English Book Trade,' and is a list of early English stationers. It +appeared in 1905. The other, compiled by nine members of the Society +under the editorship of Mr. R. B. McKerrow, was published in 1910, and is +called 'A Dictionary of Printers and Booksellers in England, Scotland, +and Ireland, and of Foreign Printers of English Books, 1557-1640.' + + * * * * * + +To the collector all catalogues are interesting, and although one may not +readily come across publishers' catalogues of the sixteenth century, yet +seventeenth-century ones are not so rare, and those of the eighteenth +century comparatively common. What interesting reading these old +catalogues provide! Often it is worth while purchasing the flotsam of the +seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries from the penny tub merely for +the sake of the catalogues which one frequently comes across bound at the +end of such volumes. The desecration of a book is anathema to the +bibliophile; but provided always that when you have paid your penny the +volume proves to be but common trash and of no value whatever, you need +not hesitate to remove the desired leaves and consign the wreckage to the +waste-paper basket. + +Perhaps nothing shows so clearly the change in manners and sentiments of +each age as do these ancient catalogues. Doubtless many of the works +therein described are to be found among the pages of any modern +bookseller's list. But there they are scattered among works of all times, +and strike the imagination as being merely the curiosities of a bygone +age. Here, gathered together in one list, they are exhibited in company +with their fellows, and there is little diversity of sentiment to +distract one's attention. Though they treat of the most diverse subjects +under the sun, yet there is a strange similitude about them which is +characteristic of their age. And this impression is not due to the +language in which their titles are couched; they are just the sort of +books which we should expect our forefathers of that period to read. +Whatever their subjects, whatever their titles, they are clearly all +birds of a feather. + +Take the following, all of which occur in 'A Catalogue of some Books +Printed for Henry Brome, since the Dreadful Fire of London.' + + The History of the Life of the Duke Espernon, + the great Favourite of France. . . . + Scarronides or Virgil Travesty . . by Charles Cotton, Esq. + Elvira, a Comedy, or The worst not alwaies true, by the Earl of Bristol. + Mr. Simpson's Division Viol, in folio, price 8s. + A Treatise wherein is demonstrated, that the Church and State of England + are in equal danger with the Trade, in quarto, by Roger Cook, Esq. + Erasmus Colloquies, in English. + The Fair One of Tuis, a new Piece of Gallantry. + Elton's Art Military, in folio. + Sir Kenelm Digby's two excellent Books of Receipts; one of Physick and + Chirurgery; the other of Cookery and Drinks, with other Curiosities. + The Exact Constable, price 8d., useful for all Gentlemen. + Toleration Discussed, by Mr. L'Estrange. + The Lord Coke's Institutes, in four parts. + Dr. Heylin on the Creed, in folio, price 15s. + +Who could hesitate to assign a period to these? Is not 'The Civil War and +Restoration' writ big about them all? Plainer, indeed, would it be were +we to analyse each separate item; for the tastes of the age and trend of +men's thoughts as depicted in the pages of Master Pepys are amply +reflected here. + +Beware, however, lest you come across a catalogue of some such rogue as +Edmund Curll, that shameless rascal who gloried in the obscene +productions of his minions, hesitating not to assign them to the greatest +writers of the day. Though fined and pilloried for his scandalous +publications, he regarded such 'accidents' merely as a medium of +advertisement, and had no hesitation in calling attention to the fact +that he had suffered corporal punishment on account of a book that he +wished to sell. + +In the course of his crooked career he fell foul of Pope by publishing a +book entitled 'Court Poems,' which he ascribed to 'the laudable +translator of Homer.' Pope promptly retorted by putting forth an essay +with the delightful title 'A Full and True Account of a Horrid and +Barbarous Revenge by Poison on the Body of Mr. Edmund Curll, Bookseller; +with a faithful copy of his Last Will and Testament.' Neither words nor +deeds, however, could repress a man so destitute of moral worth; and, +later, he came once more under the poet's lash in the 'Dunciad,' where we +read-- + + 'Obscene with filth the miscreant lies bewray'd.' + +Yet even the devil must have his due, and Curll certainly was concerned +in the production of a number of works of general and abiding interest. +Here is a curious example of his wares, from one of his catalogues dated +1726. It is a version of Sallengre's 'L'Elogie de l'Ivresse,' a humorous +(and scarce) little volume first published in 1714. + + Ebrietatis Encomium--or, The Praise of Drunkenness. Wherein is + authentically and most evidently proved the Necessity of + frequently getting drunk; and that the practice of getting drunk + is most Ancient, Primitive, and Catholic. Confirm'd by the + example of Heathens, Turks, Infidels, Primitive Christians, + Saints, Popes, Bishops, Doctors, Philosophers, Poets, + Free-Masons, and other Men of Learning in All Ages. By a Person + of Honour, price 2s. 6d.[67] + +How it intrigues one to know who were the Saints, Popes, and Bishops thus +addicted to tippling! Truly a _chronique scandaleuse_, and one which +would surely have appealed to Louis Maimbourg, that ingenious Jesuit +historian, had it but appeared in his day. We are told that he never took +up his pen till he had heated his imagination by wine, nor ever attempted +to describe a battle till he had drunk two bottles--lest, as he said +jestingly, the horrors of the combat should enfeeble his style! Perhaps +this trait in his character also explains how it was that 'he signalised +himself by strange descriptions and burlesque sallies of humour in the +pulpit,' and that his works exhibit 'great fire and rapidity in their +style.'[68] At all events he lived to be seventy-six, which is some +consolation to those who seek to impart originality to their work by this +means. + +Here is another volume that I should like to possess, from the same +catalogue. + + The Court Gamester: Or, Full and Easy Instructions for playing + the Games now in vogue, after the best Method, as they are Played + at Court, and in the Assemblies, viz. Ombre, Picquet, and the + Royal Game of Chess. Wherein the Frauds in Play are detected, and + the Laws of each Game annex'd, to prevent Disputes. _Written for + the Use of the young Princesses._[69] By Richard Seymour, Esq. + price 2s. + +Evidently Richard Seymour, Esq., had some experience of the young +princesses' play. One wonders whether the disputes were frequent and +heated, and whether Richard was the detector or detected with regard to +the 'Frauds in Play'! + +Enough, however, of examples: you will find abundance in these old +catalogues to keep you interested and amused for many an hour. Moreover, +your natural inquisitiveness will enable you to discover a great deal +about books and authors which you would otherwise never, perhaps, come +across. For certain titles will excite your interest and curiosity, so +that you will 'look up' the volume in your bibliography. Then you will +turn to your biographical dictionary and find out all that you can about +the author. So it is that your knowledge of books and their writers will +grow. It is a pleasant pastime, this fireside book-hunting, and of the +greatest value to the collector. Let me add, as a note, that you will +find the 'Cambridge History of English Literature' valuable for acquiring +a _contemporary_ knowledge of books. + +With regard to book-auctions (which seem to have been introduced into +Europe by the Elzeviers) and sale-catalogues, you will find all the +information that you may require upon this subject in so far as Great +Britain is concerned, in Mr. John Lawler's excellent little volume 'Book +Auctions in England in the Seventeenth Century,' of which a new edition +was published in 1906. The fashion of selling books to the highest bidder +is, in this country, of comparatively recent date; for the first auction +of books held in London was presided over in 1676 by one William Cooper, +an enterprising bookseller, who disposed in this manner of the library +belonging to the Rev. Dr. Lazarus Seaman. With regard to the +book-auctions held by the Elzeviers, you must consult that great +authority, M. Alphonse Willems. + +Before leaving this subject of catalogues I cannot forbear quoting from +one to whom I am already indebted: + +'In perusing these old catalogues one cannot help being astonished at the +sudden and great increase of books; and when one reflects that a great, +perhaps the greater, part of them no longer exists, this perishableness +of human labours will excite the same sensations as those which arise in +the mind when one reads in a church-yard the names and titles of persons +long since mouldered into dust. In the sixteenth century there were few +libraries, and these, which did not contain many books, were in +monasteries, and consisted principally of theological, philosophical, and +historical works, with a few, however, on jurisprudence and medicine: +while those which treated of agriculture, manufactures, and trade, were +thought unworthy of the notice of the learned and of being preserved in +large collections. The number of these works was, nevertheless, far from +being inconsiderable; and at any rate many of them would have been of +great use, as they would have served to illustrate the instructive +history of the arts. Catalogues, which might have given occasion to +inquiries after books that may be still somewhere preserved, have +suffered the fate of tomb-stones, which, being wasted and crumbled to +pieces by the destroying hand of time, become no longer legible. A +complete series of them, perhaps, is now nowhere to be found.'[70] + + * * * * * + +There is yet another side of book-collecting with which it is essential +that the bibliophile become acquainted, and that is a knowledge of the +scarce and valuable editions of the more modern classic writers. By +'modern' I intend those authors who flourished during the nineteenth and +latter part of the eighteenth centuries, and include such writers as +Arnold, the Brontes, the Brownings, Burns, Byron, Carlyle, Coleridge, +Dickens, Keats, Lamb, Shelley, Stevenson, Swinburne, Tennyson, Thackeray, +and other famous contemporaries. You may meet with their works +continually, and many a prize may slip through your hands unless you are +acquainted with the collector's _desiderata_ regarding each of these +authors. Many of them, perhaps the majority, published their earliest +works anonymously or under a _nom de plume_, and when once you have +become aware of the titles of such books or their writers' pseudonyms, +you are not likely to forget them. + +A few years ago (1911) Messrs. Hodgson the auctioneers discovered a thin +folio consisting of an illustrated title-page and eight lithographed +plates depicting scenes in the life of a ballet-girl, among a portfolio +of engravings which had been sent to them for disposal. There was no +letterpress, but the title ran 'Flore et Zephyr, Ballet Mythologique par +Theophile Wagstaffe,' and it was published in London and Paris, 1836. The +owner thought it unworthy of notice in a lengthy catalogue of his books, +but in spite of its Gallic title its author was none other than +Thackeray, and it was one of his first publications. On being offered for +sale, it was knocked down at L226. + +'Poems by Two Brothers,' a small octavo published at London in 1827, will +bring you twenty pounds if you are so fortunate as to come across it. The +brothers were Alfred and Charles Tennyson. Then there is a slim octavo of +some 150 pages which appeared at Newark in 1807, entitled 'Poems on +Various Occasions.' It is by Lord Byron, and is worth fifty pounds at +least; if in the original boards, more than double that amount. 'King +Glumpus: an Interlude in one Act,' a pamphlet consisting of some twenty +pages, was probably by John Barrow; but it was illustrated by Thackeray, +and is usually to be found under the heading 'Thackerayana.' It was +printed in 1837, on blue writing paper, and issued privately in buff +wrappers. Recently it has fetched L153, but you may have a hundred for it +any day.[71] + +Shelley's 'Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats' was first +published at Pisa in 1821, a large quarto in blue wrappers. It has +recently fetched 2,050 dollars in America, and you may have even more for +a perfect copy, in the original state, of his 'Queen Mab,' printed by the +author at 23, Chapel Street, Grosvenor Square, in 1813. Both are +exceedingly scarce. Another rare book of Shelley's is 'Original Poetry,' +by Victor and Cazire, which was put forth at Worthing in 1810. The poet +wrote it in his youth, and although it was known that such a volume had +been printed and that it had been suppressed by its author immediately +before publication, it was considered a lost work until its rediscovery +in 1897. + +Byron's 'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers' one can purchase in the +second, third, or fourth editions (all in octavo) in the original boards, +for as many pence; though the first edition, in duodecimo, undated, is +scarce. It was published in 1809, and has but fifty-four pages of verse. +The fourth edition appeared in 1811, though some copies are dated 1810, +and has one thousand and fifty-two lines of verse in eighty-five pages. +But the next year another edition was put forth containing eighteen +additional lines. For this (fifth) edition the title-page of the fourth +edition was used. It was not merely rigidly suppressed by the author, but +immediately prior to publication it was destroyed by him, and, so far as +I am aware, only one copy has, till now, been recovered.[72] + +For Burns' 'Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect,' published at +Kilmarnock in 1786, you may have two hundred pounds at least; if in the +original boards, and perfect, considerably more. A copy has changed hands +at a thousand. Of Shelley's 'Alastor: or the Spirit of Solitude, and +other Poems,' octavo 1816, Keats' 'Endymion,' 1818, Fitzgerald's 'Omar +Khayyam,' published by Quaritch in 1859, and a large number of others, +you will learn from time to time. Mr. J. H. Slater's 'Early Editions +. . . of Modern Authors,' which appeared in 1894, will be of value to you, +though like all works which deal with current prices it now needs +revision. From the bibliographical standpoint it is excellent, but the +safest guides to mere market values are the quarterly records of +auction-sale prices entitled 'Book-Auction Records,' and the bi-monthly +publication known as 'Book-Prices Current' issued by Mr. Elliot Stock. In +addition there are bibliographies of almost all the greatest Victorian +writers. + +There is no doubt that the early editions of the English classics will +get more and more valuable as time goes on. In the case of many it may be +years before any decided rise in their sale-room price takes place; but +as the number of book-collectors increases with the population, while the +number of copies of these _desiderata_ tends to become less owing to the +absorption of certain of them in the public libraries, so it is only +natural that increased competition should result in a corresponding +increase in their value. + +The early editions of Massinger, Beaumont and Fletcher, and of the later +Elizabethan and Stuart dramatists, which command but a few pounds to-day, +will run, in all probability, well into three figures during the next +half-century. A good copy of the first issue of Milton's 'Comus,' printed +in 1637, could be had for L36 in 1864. In 1898 one with the title-page +mended brought L150. Ten years later L317 was not thought excessive for +it, whilst in 1916 a fine and perfect copy made L800. $14,250 was the +ransom of a copy at New York in 1919. + +Other books there are which have had similar meteoric rises in value. The +first edition of Walton and Cotton's 'Compleat Angler' was published in +1653 at one and sixpence. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the +average price for a fine copy seems to have been between three and four +pounds. In 1850 so much as fifteen pounds was paid for a copy in a +similar state. Thirty years later it had risen to eighty-five pounds, and +during the few years following, the demand for it seems to have increased +its value considerably, for in 1887 a copy realised no less than L200. +But eight years later even this sum was easily doubled. Then came the Van +Antwerp sale at Sotheby's. A perfect copy, in the original sheepskin +binding, was offered; the hammer fell at the enormous figure of L1,290. +This sum has not yet (1921) been eclipsed; but that it was not a fancy +price[73] is shown by the fact that in 1909 a copy _not_ in the original +binding realised no less than L1,085. + +In the collection of these early impressions of the great writers, +however, you must exercise considerable caution and judgment. The +examples which I have quoted will show you that it is not always +immediately, nor even within a lifetime from their death, that the works +of our greatest authors become valuable. 'Fame is a revenue payable only +to our ghosts,' wrote Sir George Mackenzie, and for literary fame Time is +indeed the ordeal by fire. We may look upon the auction-room as a Court +of Claims to Literary Fame, but it is public opinion, backing the +authorities who sit round the table, that determines each claimant's +case. It is the book that makes the price, not the price that makes the +book. Doubtless those who, relying upon their own judgment alone, gave +fifty pounds for Tennyson's 'Helen's Tower' (1861) some twenty years ago, +thought they were safe in their investment. Yet twelve years later it +could be had for thirty shillings. Fitzgerald's 'Polonius,' 1852, was +once thought cheap at five guineas. To-day you may buy it for little more +than a sovereign. + +It is a risky business, this collecting of the early editions of authors +dead but a generation ago; and he would be a bold man who ventured to +assert that the present prices of the first editions of the Victorian +authors may be considered as stable. Bargains are bargains, and the +temptation to buy is often great. But what constitutes a bargain from the +collector's point of view? You cannot define it without reference to +price, worth, or value; and if these be unstable it cannot constitute a +bargain. 'An advantageous purchase' say the dictionaries; but if the +price drop subsequently is it advantageous to _you_? You may think to +play the wise man by collecting early editions of your own or your +father's contemporaries, but it is odds on that you will burn your +fingers. Yet the works of those great writers, those immortals + + 'On Fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled' + +are stable in our affections as is the sun in the firmament. Whatever +fortune may overtake the works of those ephemerals whom by mere fashion +we applaud to-day and neglect to-morrow, the works of those great writers +who have been accorded a niche in the hall of Fame will ever command our +purses no less than our respect. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[52] Of this book, published in octavo in 1893, it is impossible to speak +too highly. Both as a text-book for the student and a reference book for +the collector it is invaluable. The other two volumes by Mr. Duff are +also of the greatest assistance. 'The Printers, Stationers, and +Bookbinders of Westminster and London from 1476 to 1535' was published in +1906, and 'The English Provincial Printers, Stationers, and Bookbinders +to 1557' in 1912--both by the Cambridge University Press. They are still +(1921) in print, and cost six and five shillings respectively. + +[53] A stereotyped reprint of the revised edition published between 1857 +and 1864. Each of the first five volumes is in two parts, often bound +separately. Vol. 6 is an appendix. + +[54] Brockhaus of Leipzig has also (1921) published a facsimile reprint +of this work--price L12. + +[55] The term _Incunabula_ is now applied to all books printed before the +year 1500. It is a vast study in itself, this bibliography of +fifteenth-century books; and thanks to the labours of a small group of +men who have devoted their lives to the subject, it is now upon a +definite scientific basis. Carefully prepared monographs are issued from +time to time, dealing with the different founts used by the early +printers; but as this subject is unlikely to engage the attentions of +those for whom this work is written (who, like the writer, are of modest +means), I forbear to enter upon it in detail. + +[56] It is a tedious game, but a very necessary one, and is a service due +to an author. In entering a long list of errata in a folio book which has +many lines to the page (Cotton's 'Monluc' has 62 lines, and the 1707 +edition of Sandford's 'Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of +England' has nearly 150 errata!) the following method saves a lot of +time. Take a strip of paper about an inch wide, place it on a page, and +make a dash on the strip at every fifth line of text, numbering the +dashes 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. This measurer saves one counting the lines +every time. + +[57] Dr. John North. + +[58] For Schoeffer's list, see Mr. E. G. Duff's 'Early Printed Books,' +1893, p. 31, where there is also an illustration of it. For Caxton's +advertisement, see an excellent article upon these early catalogues, by +Mr. A. W. Pollard, in 'The Bibliophile' for March 1908 (vol. 1. No. i, p. +22). + +[59] Mr. E. G. Duff, _op. cit._, p. 513. + +[60] A collection of thirty-two facsimiles of these fifteenth-century +book advertisements was published by Herr Konrad Burger in 1908. + +[61] This is not strictly accurate, for there were agents or booksellers +(call them what you will) who bought and sold manuscripts at Rome in very +early times. A document dated 1349 (quoted by Laborde, 'Les Ducs de +Bourgogne,' tom. 1, p. 459) mentions one Thomas de Maubeuge, 'bookseller +at Paris,' who sold a volume to the Duke of Normandy for fourteen florins +of gold. + +[62] Beckmann, _op. cit._ + +[63] Mr. E. G. Duff, _op. cit._ Beckmann has 12,475, quoting Fabricius' +'Bibliotheca Latina,' ed. 1772, vol. iii. p. 898, where the document is +printed in full. + +[64] See p. 155. + +[65] For more upon this subject, with regard to this country, see The +Camb. Hist. Eng. Lit. vol. iv. chap, xviii., 'The English Book-trade,' by +Mr. H. G. Aldis. + +[66] Curwen's 'History of Booksellers,' 8vo, 1873, deals chiefly with the +later English houses; while Mr. E. Marston's 'Sketches of Booksellers of +Other Days,' 12mo, 1901, is concerned only with eight London booksellers, +from Tonson to Lackington. Mr. F. A. Mumby's 'The Romance of +Bookselling,' 8vo, 1910, contains a bibliography of the subject, but says +little about the early continental book-marts. Mr. W. Roberts' 'Earlier +History of English Bookselling,' 8vo, 1892, deals with London alone, and +does not help us. There is a short article on the Frankfort Fairs, by Mr. +G. Smith, in 'The Library,' 1900, pp. 167-179. + +[67] This was one of the five publications on account of which Curll was +set in the pillory in 1725. + +[68] L'Advocat: Dict. Histor. + +[69] The italics are NOT mine. + +[70] Beckmann, _op. cit._ + +[71] Like many of these _rarissima_ it has been reprinted in +facsimile--crown 8vo, 100 copies only, 1898. + +[72] The various editions and impressions of this book have given rise to +confused accounts respecting them. The British Museum Catalogue gives +five distinct impressions of the third edition and five of the fourth +edition. Of the fourth edition, some large-paper copies were issued; they +are scarce and worth thirty shillings or more. The first edition is +undated, but the paper is water-marked '1805'. A copy of this last, in +the original boards uncut, realised 205 dollars in New York in March, +1920. It usually fetches about L5 in England. + +[73] The three copies which were sold between Dec. 1919 and June 1920, +however, fetched 2,200 dollars, L410, and L600. The last was in the +original sheepskin. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A PLEA FOR SPECIALISM + + 'The road lies plain before me; 'tis a theme + Single and of determined bounds.'--WORDSWORTH. + + +MOST book-collectors embark upon their life-long hobby without any +clearly defined scheme of collecting, buying just those books which take +their fancy, and in many cases not realising that they have caught the +dread contagion of bibliomania until they suddenly find that more +shelf-room is required for their books, and that the expenditure upon +their hobby is growing out of all proportion to their means. It is then +generally too late to stop, and although they may avoid the book-stalls +for some days, nay even weeks, the passion of collecting is only dormant, +and will break out with renewed vigour either upon a sudden (though +perhaps only temporary) condition of affluence, or upon the +receipt of that most insidious of all temptations, a bookseller's +catalogue--especially if it be a 'clearance' one. + +This passion for collecting books resolves itself at length into two +categories. Either the patient grows rapidly worse and plunges headlong +into the vortex of auctions, catalogues, and bibliographies, amassing +during the process a vast nondescript collection of books; or else he +improves slowly but surely, growing daily shrewder in his purchases. So +that at length, having completely recovered his composure, he finds +himself the possessor of a collection of books valuable alike from +commercial and utilitarian standpoints. + +The former of these collectors is generally said to suffer from acute +bibliomania. His knowledge of books is vast but of a general kind, and +for practical purposes it cannot compare with that acquired by his +fellow-collector who had seen the folly of a headlong course. His +complaint is well known; indeed it was recognised in the first century of +our era, when Seneca condemned the rage for mere book-collecting, and +rallied those who were more pleased with the outsides than the insides of +their volumes. Lucian, too, in the next century, employed his prolific +pen in exposing this then common folly. + +Even the wise collector, however, runs some risk of being engulfed by his +hobby and swept away by the flood of books. There is but one remedy, or +rather alleviation, for book-collecting is quite incurable and follows a +man to his grave (unless, of course, he be cast upon a desert island), +and that is _specialism_. + +Every collector should become a specialist. It will give him a definite +ambition, something to look for among other books, something to complete; +and there is a thousand times more satisfaction in possessing a select +collection of works of a definite class or upon a definite subject, than +in the accumulation of a vast heterogeneous mass of books. He will get to +know the greater part of the works upon his own subject, become an +authority upon it in time, and perhaps will even attempt a bibliography +if it be an out-of-the-way subject. He will know precisely what he wants, +what to search for, and what price to pay. In short, he will be lifted +out of the fog of miscellaneous books into the clear atmosphere of a +definite and known class of works. + +It is such an easy step, and such an immensely important one, this +determination to confine one's collecting activities to a certain class +of books. 'What a blessing it is,' said a book-loving friend not long +ago, 'not to have to worry about all sorts of books. I have never ceased +congratulating myself that I took the resolution to confine myself +entirely to Herbals. Before, I had a vast but untrustworthy knowledge of +titles and editions which a bad memory did not assist. Now, thank +goodness, I have forgotten all that, but I flatter myself that I really +do know something about Herbals.' + +And what a profitless occupation is the aimless collecting of +heterogeneous books. If bibliographical knowledge be our aim, their very +diversity tends to confuse us. If recreation be our object, better far to +join a circulating library than garner volumes which, once read, are +never to be opened again. Learning and study cannot be intended, for the +formation of a library of nondescript books collected upon no system or +plan can, at best, endow us with but a smattering of knowledge. + +There was once a certain bishop who used continually to collect useless +luxuries. The Emperor Charlemagne, perceiving this, ordered a merchant +who traded in rare and costly objects to paint a common mouse with +different colours and to offer it to the bishop, as being a rare and +curious animal which he had just brought from Palestine. The bishop is +transported with delight at the sight of it, and immediately offers the +merchant three silver pounds for such a treasure. But the merchant, +acting on his instructions, bargains with the bishop, saying that he +would rather throw it into the sea than sell it for so little. Finally +the bishop offers twenty pounds for it. The merchant, wrapping up the +'ridiculus mus' in precious silk, is going away when the collector, +unable to bear the thought of losing so great a curio, calls him back and +says that he will give him a bushel of silver for it. This the merchant +accepts: the money is paid; and the merchant returns to the Emperor to +give him an account of the transaction. + +Then Charlemagne convokes the bishops and priests of all the province, +and placing before them the money which the mouse has fetched, reads them +a homely lesson on the foolishness of collecting profitless trifles. +Sternly he enjoins them in future to use their money in administering to +the wants of the poor rather than to throw it away on such unprofitable +baubles as a painted mouse. The guilty bishop, now become the +laughing-stock of the province, is permitted to depart without +punishment. + +Doubtless the great majority of book-collectors are not specialists. They +may set greater store by a certain class of works which appeals to them +from some whimsical reason, but until they have grown middle-aged in +their pursuit most of them are but _dilettanti_. + +'Yes,' I can hear you exclaim, 'but if your collecting propensities are +to be curbed and countless books passed by, books which your very +instinct urges you to acquire, surely you will lose most of the charm of +collecting? How dull to be obliged to purchase only those works to which +you have vowed to confine yourself.' + +Dull! No. I can assure you from my own experience that this restraint +will but serve to redouble your eagerness, to sharpen an appetite in +danger of becoming blunted by a plethora of _desiderata_ and a shrinkage +of your purse. So that whereas before, a short stroll about the +book-shops would discover to you abundance, or at least plenty, of books +that you would like casually to possess, now that you have become a +specialist you must go further afield. Often you will return empty-handed +from your rambles, and your sanctum (to the delight of the housemaid) +will not be invaded quite so often by stacks of 'dirty old books.' Order +will come out of chaos; many works bought upon impulse because they +appealed to you at the moment will be weeded out and discarded. Moreover +the shillings which this process yields will enable you to send that +priceless gem, the _chef d'oeuvre_ of your collection, to the binder's, +that its extrinsic appearance may be fashioned in keeping with its +intrinsic worth. + +More important still, you will become a known man. The booksellers will +remember you, and one day when you reach home from a long and barren +ramble, you will find a postcard awaiting you, announcing the discovery +of some book for which you have long sought. + + 'SIR,--I have found a copy of the Vitruvius fo. Venice, 1535, + that you asked me for some time ago. You can have it for 10s. + (vellum, clean copy). Shall I send it?--Yours respectfully, JOHN + BROWN.' + +Your ramble may have been on a cold winter's afternoon, it may have been +raining and muddy underfoot, but will not this cheer you up and warm you +better than any cup of tea? And what will be your sensations as you undo +the parcel, take out the treasure (which you once saw in Johnson's +catalogue for L3), turn eagerly to its title-page, and collate it as +gently as though you were handling some priceless work of art? Don't tell +me! The specialist gets a thousand times more pleasure out of his hobby +than ever did casual buyer. Besides, what rapture will be his whenever he +chance upon some book for which he has long been searching, or upon some +work on his very subject and yet unknown to him; for book-collecting is +full of surprises. + +Some of the booksellers will ask you for a list of your wants. You may +safely supply them with one, and it is not necessary to state the maximum +price which you are prepared to pay for each. Should you do so, probably +it will be taken to indicate that you are prepared to pay the price +named, and the book when found will be offered to you at that price (or a +few shillings less to give the idea of a bargain) when you might have had +it at a considerably lower figure. Remember also that the very fact of a +book being sought for enhances its price. Suppose that a country +bookseller sees an advertisement in the trade journal asking for a copy +of a certain obscure sixteenth-century work, and that he recollects he +has a copy somewhere in stock. He finds it among his shelves marked, +possibly, five shillings. When he answers the advertisement it is more +than likely that he will ask a pound or even two for it. At the same +time, however, you must consider whether or not the book is worth as much +to you. It may be a little known and, to the world at large, a valueless +book, and you may have to wait some years before you are able to secure a +copy; whereas by advertising for it you may procure a copy almost +immediately. Do you prefer to take the chance of having to wait years for +a book which you urgently want, or to pay a longish price and possess it +at once? + +There is another point to be considered. Should you ever part with your +collection _en bloc_, or should your executors dispose of it, this volume +will be an item of the collection of works in which you specialise. As +such it will be much more likely to realise the larger than the smaller +price, especially as the disposal of a collection of books upon a +definite subject attracts to the rostrum other collectors of a like class +of works. + +Surely every book-collector is in his heart of hearts a specialist. Have +you ever taken into your hands some choice gem of your collection without +wishing that there were others in your library of the same genus? Is +there not some one volume among your books that demands your first +consideration when new shelving is put up, when your books are +re-arranged; the volume to which you would fly first of all if a fire +broke out in your sanctum? Brother bookman, I can almost hear you turn in +your chair at the awful prospect of having to make choice between your +beloved tomes! Indeed I am with you whole-heartedly, for there are two +books, two priceless gems, rescued (the one from Austria, the other +France) after years of patient search, two books which ever strive for +the ascendancy in my bibliophilic affections. Far from me be it to make +distinction between them. Granted, however, that you have made up your +mind as to the identity of _the_ treasure, do you not wish to possess +other equally choice works of the same class, on the same subject? +Suppose some distant relative of yours with great propriety should die, +bequeathing you all unexpectedly far more worldly goods than you had ever +hoped to possess; supposing also that you were 'without encumbrances' or +ties of any description, and that your sole aim and ambition in this +world was the collecting unto yourself of the choicest fruits of master +minds: what would be your first act, in so far as your hobby is +concerned? + +I know what our book-hunter would do under such conditions. He would take +the next train to Paris, proceed to a certain shop not a great distance +from the Rue St. Honore, mount the step-ladder and hand down to the +delighted Henri just precisely what he fancied _in his own particular +line_. This process he would continue elsewhere until he had formed a +goodly nucleus round which to amass still scarcer volumes as they came to +hand. And I venture to think that you would do the same, though not +necessarily in Paris. + +What is it that makes a man a specialist? Is it a particular knowledge of +a certain subject? Do all book-collecting doctors garner only herbals and +early medical works? Does the poet-collector specialise in poetry, the +freemason in masonic books, the angler in works dealing only with his +pastime? + +Not always, perhaps; but doubtless this is the case with the great +majority of collectors. Sometimes a chance purchase may shape the entire +course of a man's collecting, sometimes he is led to the subject to which +he devotes his collecting energies by devious byways. Our book-hunter has +a friend who began to collect old French books on Chivalry through a +touch of influenza. When convalescent his doctor ordered him a +sea-voyage. An hour after the advice was given he met a shipping friend, +who offered him a cabin in a ship just about to start on a trading voyage +in the Mediterranean. At Crete the ship was detained for some repairs, so +he took the opportunity to visit Rhodes in a coasting vessel. He was much +struck with the famous Street of the Knights and ancient buildings of +the great military Order that once owned the island, and regretted that +he knew so little about it. Nor did his scanty knowledge of these things +enable him to appreciate to the full the buildings of the Order at Malta. + +On his return to this country he spent some time at the British Museum, +delving into these knightly records of the past, but was unable even then +to discover all that he wished to know. So for a time he took up his +abode in Paris, working daily at the Archives, the Arsenal Library, and +Bibliotheque Nationale. Then came the Library of the Vatican. To-day his +collection of ancient works on La Chevalerie, in most of the languages of +Europe, is a thing to be proud of, and his sub-collection on the +Hospitallers and their commanderies is especially rich. Probably there +are few works upon this subject with which he is unacquainted, and the +bibliography upon which he is at work bids fair to become the standard +volume. + +What an immense part Chance plays in all our lives. Some of the most +momentous events in the world's history have turned upon the most trivial +happenings. Had not a wild boar run in a certain direction, probably +there would have been no Norman Conquest of England! Robert of Normandy, +out hunting with his friends, roused a boar which, running a certain +course, necessitated the duke's return through the village street where +he saw and fell in love with the burgess's daughter who became the mother +of William the Conqueror. Had the boar run north instead of south, +probably Robert would never have seen Arlette, and William would never +have been born. Olaf of Norway, the great sea-king whose name was feared +from Brittany to the Orkneys, was converted to Christianity by a chance +landing at the Scilly Isles, where haply he visited the cell of a holy +man that dwelt there. + +Let us now draw up a list of those subjects which generally engage the +attention of specialists. The list is a lengthy one and offers an +infinite variety. Each heading will comprise various sub-headings, and of +these I shall speak more in detail. + + 1. Arctic, Antarctic, Whaling. + 2. Africa. + 3. Americana. + 4. Architecture, Building Construction. + 5. Australasia. + 6. Bibles. + 7. Bibliography, Bookbinding, Printing. + 8. Biography, Memoirs, Diaries. + 9. Celebrated Authors and Books. + 10. Celebrated Presses. + 11. Chapbooks, Ballads, Broadsides. + 12. Civil War and Commonwealth. + 13. Classics. + 14. Cookery Books. + 15. Costume. + 16. Crime and Prisons. + 17. Dictionaries, Etymology. + 18. Drama, the Stage. + 19. Early-printed books. + 20. Early Romances. + 21. Economics. + 22. Facetiae, Curiosa, Books on Gallantry. + 23. Fine Arts, including Technique, Theory, Criticism, History of the + Arts, Furniture, Tapestries, Decorations, Gems, Ceramics, Plate. + 24. First Editions of Esteemed Authors. + 25. Folk-lore, Fables, Mysteries. + 26. Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Secret Societies. + 27. French Revolution. + 28. Gardening. + 29. Heraldry, Chivalry, Crusades, Genealogy, Peerages, Ceremonies, + and books on Seals and Brasses. + 30. History and Chronicles. + 31. Husbandry, Agriculture. + 32. Illustrated Books, Books of Engravings. + 33. Legal. + 34. Liturgies, Mass and Prayer Books. + 35. Locally-printed books. + 36. Mathematical and Early Scientific. + 37. Medical (Early), including Herbals and Early Botanical. + 38. Military, including Archery, Arms, Armour, Fencing, and Duelling. + 39. Music. + 40. Napoleon. + 41. Natural History. + 42. Nautical and Naval. + 43. Numismatics, Medals. + 44. Occult, Astrology, Astronomy, Alchemy, Witchcraft, Magic. + 45. Pamphlets and Tracts. + 46. Philosophy. + 47. Poetry. + 48. Privately-printed books. + 49. School books. + 50. Sport, Games, Pastimes. + 51. Theology, Lives and Works of the Early Fathers, History of the + Church, Inquisition, works on the Religious Sects. + 52. Tobacco. + 53. Topography, including Atlases, Geography, and County Histories. + 54. Trades. + 55. Travels and Exploration. + 56. Voyages, Shipwrecks. + +From this list are purposely omitted books printed upon vellum, Books of +Hours of the Virgin Mary, and illuminated books; for these are rarities +within reach of the wealthy only. Nor is 'bindings' included, for the man +who collects these is no book-lover in the truest sense of the word, and +his hobby does not fall properly within the category of book-collecting, +being classed rather under the heading Art and Vertu, Bric-a-Brac, or +what you will. Naturally all book-collectors (save perhaps the +'original-boards-uncut' man) are sensible to the charm of a choicely +bound copy, provided always that the binding be appropriate and that it +is impossible to obtain the book in its original covers; but it is for +something more than the mere outsides of his treasures that the real +book-lover cares. + +Needless to say, there are other subjects which have their devotees. Some +collectors specialise in large-paper copies, some prefer certain editions +which contain matter suppressed later. Others collect early children's +books, gipsy literature, Egyptology, books on inventions, ballooning, +etc. But most of these are more in the nature of sub-headings to the +subjects in our list, and offer a more restricted field of collecting. +Indeed I am in some doubt as to whether the large-paper collector should +be included here, for his penchant is as far removed from true +book-collecting as is that of the specialist in bindings. His hobby can +have nothing to do with literature, since it is only the external +characteristics of a book which appeal to him. He may be 'wise in his +generation,' but his pursuit approaches closely to bibliomania. This +objection may perhaps also be urged against one other subject in our +list, namely, privately-printed books. But here there is an ulterior +interest beyond the mere singularity of their production; for there are +very many books of great merit, chiefly memoirs and family histories, +which their authors have designed, from personal and contemporary +reasons, to come only into the hands of their own families and +acquaintances. + +So here is your list, reader, take your choice. But perchance you are +already numbered among the elect, one of those _magi_ among bibliophiles +who are at once the despair of the booksellers and the wise men of their +generation? Is it not to the specialists that we owe the bulk of our +knowledge of old books--for who else is it that produce the +bibliographies, numerous but not nearly numerous enough, that delight the +heart of the collector? All praise to them, and, brother bibliophile, if +you are not yet of their number in heart at least, read through the +foregoing list once more and put a mark with your pencil against the +heading which is most to your taste. If you do not see your chosen +subject at once, a scrutiny will probably discover it for you included in +another and wider subject.[74] For example, Astronomy and Astrology, +inseparably bound up in the ancient works, are included in the heading +'Occult.' Herbals, which deal with the medicinal qualities of plants, you +will find under 'Medical.' + +Is your purse a long one? Would you not like to garner folios and quartos +with weird and heavy types that speak of a craft yet in its infancy; +books that perchance have seen or even been handled by the actual +combatants of Barnet or of Bosworth Field; books with monstrous crude yet +wholly delightful woodcuts that bring before us the actual appearance of +our forebears under the King-maker, Richard Crouchback, and Harry +Richmond? Or would you like to gather to yourself as many examples as you +may, in the finest possible condition, of the exquisite art of Aldo +Manuccio the elder? But perhaps the following, from a recent catalogue, +represents a class (20) more to your palate. + + L'Histoire du tres fameux et tres redoute Palmerin d'Olive . . . . + traduite de Castillan en Francoys reueue et derechef mise en + son entier, selon nostre vulgaire moderne et usite, par Jean + Maugin, dit l'Angeuin. _With_ 45 _large spirited woodcuts (some + being nearly full-page) representing duels, battles, etc., and_ + 132 _large ornamental initial letters_. Folio, Paris, 1553. + +Is your purse a light one? Then fifteenth-century books are denied you, +as are all other esteemed works of the Middle Ages such as romances and +classics. But there is hardly another heading in our list, save perhaps +the first editions of the great authors, which you may not make your own. +Almost every subject has its bibliography, and many fresh volumes are +added yearly to the ever-increasing list of 'books about books.' You will +find what bibliographies have appeared upon your particular subject, up +to 1912, by referring to Mr. W. P. Courtney's 'Register of National +Bibliography,' which should be (if indeed it is not) in every public +library throughout the kingdom. + +Some day an enterprising public body will purchase a building with +fifty-five rooms (or thereabouts), each of which will contain a small and +carefully selected collection of books on each one of these subjects. +Each room will have its own catalogue and its own librarian, who will be +an expert in the subject over which he presides. The rooms, of course, +will vary in size according to the magnitude of the subject and the +number of sub-headings which it comprises. Readers will have access to +the shelves in almost every case, books of great value alone being kept +under lock and key. + +How invaluable such a library would be, and what a vast amount of time +would all readers be saved! We should know instantly to whom to turn for +expert advice upon any subject--for the sub-librarians would naturally be +acquainted with more than the mere outsides of the volumes in their +charge. We should be able to handle the latest works upon our subject +immediately; and we should have, ready to our hand, a history of its +literature from the earliest times to the present day. + +As to whether the acquisition of knowledge by this method would not turn +us all into journalists, however, is another matter. + +With the first heading in our list shall be included several others, +namely (2) Africa; (5) Australasia; (55) Travels and Explorations (which +heading includes every land under the sun not specially mentioned in our +list), and (56) Voyages and Shipwrecks; in short, all those subjects +which concern 'foreign parts.' They are subjects which are most likely to +engage the attentions of collectors who have been seafaring in their +time, though, as has been shown in Chapter II., it is not every traveller +who has been far afield. + +Books on Arctic and Antarctic exploration, as well as whaling voyages, +comprise much reading that is as interesting to the landsman as to the +sailor. Most of its literature is within easy reach of the collector of +modest means, though the earlier volumes are naturally increasing +gradually in price. One of the hardest to obtain is William Scoresby's +'Account of the Arctic Regions,' which was published in two octavo +volumes at Edinburgh in 1820. You will be lucky if you find a clean sound +copy of it with the plates unspotted. It is now getting very scarce, as +is Weddell's 'Voyage towards the South Pole in 1822-24' (octavo, London, +1825). + +Each of these headings can be subdivided according to your requirements. +Africa you may divide conveniently into West, South, East, and Central; +North Africa being best classified under the various countries which it +contains, namely, Algiers, Morocco, Tripoli, and Tunis. Egypt, of course, +has a vast literature of its own. Similarly books on Australasia may be +divided into those which deal with Polynesia, New Guinea, Australia +(again divided into its states), Tasmania, and New Zealand; though, +properly speaking, the first of these should be classified under the +heading 'Voyages.' + +There is little doubt that those collectors who have devoted their +energies during the past twenty-five years to the collecting of books on +Africa, especially the South, will prove at no very distant date to have +been wise in their purchases. Just as early Americana are so eagerly +bought by our neighbours across the Atlantic at immense prices, far and +away out of all proportion to their intrinsic worth as literature or +history, so will the day come when those of our kin whose fathers sought +a home in the 'great dark continent' will go to any length to procure +works which deal with the early history of that newer world; and this +will be the case, perhaps even sooner, with our Australasian friends. + +The early books on Australia are most interesting. Besides Governor +Phillip's 'Voyage to Botany Bay' (1789) and his Letters therefrom (1791) +there are such compilations as John Callander's version of the Comte de +Tournay's 'Terra Australis Cognita,' or Voyages to the Southern +Hemisphere during the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries, +three octavo volumes published at Edinburgh between 1766 and 1768. Then +there is Admiral Hunter's 'Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port +Jackson and Norfolk Island' (1793).[75] Hunter sailed with the first +fleet in 1787 under Arthur Phillip, the first governor of Botany Bay, as +second in command of H.M.S. _Sirius_, and afterwards became +governor-general of New South Wales in succession to Phillip. His journal +gives a very valuable account of the early days of the Colony. +Barrington's, Mitchell's, and Sturt's handsome volumes, all with fine +plates, are still to be had for shillings. They seem a very good +investment. + +Books on the South Seas have a peculiar interest, for the subject at once +conjures up the name of the immortal Captain Cook; and the accounts of +his remarkable voyages between 1768 and 1779 are perhaps the most eagerly +sought for of all books on Polynesia. The first voyage of discovery in +which the great explorer took part was in the years 1768 to 1771. His +ship, the _Endeavour_, was accompanied in the first part of the voyage by +the _Dolphin_ and _Swallow_; and an account of the _Endeavour's_ voyage +was published surreptitiously in 1771 by, it is said, certain of the +petty officers of Cook's vessel.[76] But the compilation of an authentic +account of the voyage, from the rough notes and diaries, was entrusted to +Dr. Hawkesworth, and was published in 1773 in three quarto volumes. From +this task Hawkesworth gleaned L6000, and although we are told that the +book 'was read with an avidity proportioned to the novelty of the +adventures which it recorded,' yet the compiler so far offended against +the canons of good taste as to cause considerable offence. Cook gained +such credit for his intrepidity that he was promptly promoted from +lieutenant to commander. + +A second expedition was soon planned, and in 1772 the _Resolution_ and +the _Adventure_ set sail, the former returning to England in 1775. The +results of this voyage were drawn up by Captain Cook himself, and +published in 1777 in two quarto volumes. In 1776 he sailed once more in +the _Resolution_, but was destined never to return, for on St. +Valentine's Day, 1779, he met his death at the hands of the natives of +Hawaii. The expedition returned the next year, and the official account +of it was published in 1784, in three quarto volumes, of which the first +two were from the pen of Cook, the third volume being written by James +King. The following year a second edition appeared, also in three quarto +volumes. All these works have maps, charts, and folding plates, which are +sometimes bound up separately into folio volumes. A few of these somewhat +crude plates were engraved by Bartolozzi. Admiral James Burney's +'Chronological History of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Sea,' was +published in five quarto volumes between 1803 and 1817. The author was +one of Cook's officers, and the diary of the last voyage which he sailed +in company with the great navigator is still (1921) in manuscript. His +account of the death of Captain Cook, however, was published in the +'Cornhill Magazine' so lately as November 1914. + +During the first half of the nineteenth century many handsome works upon +these subjects issued from the press. For the most part they are +sumptuous books, many of them having coloured plates and sometimes +folding ones. They were published chiefly for subscribers at prices +ranging from two guineas to fifteen; and during the last few years they +have risen considerably in price. Until the decline of the coloured +engraving in the 'fifties of last century they were legion in number, +both quartos and octavos, and many are still to be had for a few +shillings. But a study of booksellers' catalogues alone will give you an +idea of their prices and values. Needless to say, works upon voyages, +travels, and explorations issued in the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries are becoming increasingly scarce and valuable. + +Here a word of warning. Before you purchase any of these illustrated +volumes, make sure (by referring to a bibliography or standard collation +if possible) that it is intact. Frequently a plate or a map is missing, +and sometimes an unscrupulous seller will go so far as to remove the +'list of plates' in order that the blemish may remain undetected. With +such defects, books of travel are generally of little worth. + +Some of the byways included in these headings of Travel and Foreign +Countries are of considerable interest for the bibliographer no less than +for the traveller. Who has confined his attentions to the early Saracenic +literature of North Africa? There is a number of works dealing with it, +chiefly sixteenth-century Spanish books, and all are of considerable +value. Luis del Marmol's 'Descripcion general del Affrica' is in three +folio volumes, of which the first two were printed at Granada in 1573, +the third volume being dated at Malaga, 1599. But though Marmol affixed +his own name to it, the work is little more than a translation of the +'Description of Africa,' by Leo Africanus, a fellow-countryman of Marmol, +who composed his work in Arabic. Marmol was certainly well qualified for +his task, for he was taken prisoner by the Moors in 1546, and was eight +years in captivity in Africa. Curio's 'Sarracenicae Historiae' was first +published in folio at Basel in 1567; but it was English'd by T. Newton in +1575, quarto, black letter, London--if you are so lucky as to come across +it. It is called 'A Notable Historie of the Saracens.' Dan's 'Histoire de +la Barbarie,' folio, Paris, 1649, appears in the sale-room from time to +time. + +[Sidenote: Americana.] + +3. Americana--what a vast subject in itself! Its very definition +signifies the inclusion of everything upon any subject whatsoever that +has ever been written upon the Americas! But in the bibliographer's +reading this term is generally taken to imply those early works relating +to the discovery and settlement of the United States and Canada, though +not necessarily in the English language. For the purposes of our list, +however, we will confine its meaning solely to the United States; +classifying books upon Canada, Alaska, and Mexico under the heading +Travels and Exploration. Under the latter heading also, of course, will +come the various countries of Central and South America. + +Many have been the collections upon the early history of New England, and +you will do well to obtain the catalogues of the Huth, Church, +Auchinleck, Winsor, Livingston, Grenville, and Hoe collections. The +famous collection of Americana from the library at Britwell Court was to +have been sold by auction at Sotheby's in August 1916; but it was +purchased _en bloc_ to go to New York, where it was dispersed by public +auction the following January. The sale catalogue (Sotheby's) is an +extremely good one, and contains a large number of works previously +undescribed. The well-known library of Americana amassed by Dr. White +Kennet, bishop of Peterborough during the latter part of the seventeenth +century, and entrusted by him in 1712 to the keeping of the Society for +the Propagation of the Gospel 'for their perpetual use,' was sold by +order of that Society at Sotheby's in August 1917 and realised very high +prices, though most of the items were in poor condition. The gem of the +collection, 'New England Canaan,' 1632, and most of the other important +volumes (seventy-nine in all) had been presented previously by the +Society to the British Museum. The highest price realised was L650, which +was paid for 'A True Relation of the late Battell fought in New England +between the English and the Salvages,' 1637, a small quarto of sixteen +leaves, said to be by the Rev. Philip Vincent.[77] + +There are two valuable bibliographies upon this subject, both necessarily +large and important works. They are Sabin's 'Dictionary of Books relating +to America,' in nineteen octavo volumes published at New York from 1868 +to 1891, which, however, comprises only the headings from A to Simms: and +Evans' 'American Bibliography,' privately printed in eight quarto volumes +at Chicago, 1903 to 1914. Harrisse's 'Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima' +(New York, 1866) with its supplement (Paris, 1872) is a bibliography of +the rarest books concerning America that appeared between 1492 and 1551. +Mr. W. H. Miner's 'The American Indians, North of Mexico,' published by +the Cambridge University Press in 1917, contains a bibliography of works +on the aboriginals. + +[Sidenote: Architecture.] + +4. Works upon Architecture are, _de natura_, for the greater part 'art +books,' and comprise not only such large works as Furttenbach's massive +tomes and the works of Britton and Billing, but the many beautifully +illustrated books published by Ackermann at the beginning of last +century. Most of them, English and foreign, are books of considerable +value, for the plates were often produced by the great masters of +engraving, and they readily command high prices whenever they appear in +the market. But there is a large and increasing number of smaller works +which deal with buildings and designs, as well as those books concerning +buildings of an historical interest. There does not seem to be any +monumental bibliography of architectural books, but you will find useful +lists in Mr. W. P. Courtney's volumes. + +The older books upon this subject are necessarily scarce: such as +Alberti's 'Libri de Re AEdificatoria Decem,' which appeared first at +Florence in 1485. This work, however, was reprinted at Paris in 1512, and +you may have a copy of it for a couple of pounds, though the first French +translation 'L'Architecture et Art de bien bastir, trad. par deffunct Jan +Martin,' folio, Paris, 1553, with fine large woodcuts, will cost you four +times as much. It is a fine book, and contains a portrait of the author +as well as a three-page epitaph by Ronsard on the deffunct Jan Martin. + +[Sidenote: Bibles.] + +6. The collection of Bibles is perhaps one of the commonest subjects to +engage the attention of specialists. There is a numerous bibliography, +ranging from Anthony Johnson's little tract 'An Historical Account of the +English Translations of the Bible,' printed in 1730, down to the Rev. J. +L. Mombert's 'English Versions of the Bible,' of which a new edition +appeared in 1907. You will find the volumes of Anderson, Cotton, Eadie, +Loftie, Dore, Darlow and Moule, Stoughton, and Scrivener of assistance to +you here, as well as Westcott's 'General View of the History of the +English Bible,' of which a third and revised edition was published in +1905. It contains a useful list of English editions of the Holy Writ. The +Huth Collection, that portion of it which was sold in 1911-12, was +especially rich in Bibles, as was the Amherst Library, dispersed in +1908-09. This last contained editions from 1455 (the so-called 'Mazarin' +Bible) to King Charles the First's own copy of the 1638 Cambridge +edition. The sale catalogues of these will be of value to you. + +7. Bibliography is perhaps the subject nearest to the heart of every +bibliophile. But since the collection of 'books about books' must of +necessity be the stepping-stone by which the book-lover attains his +knowledge of the extrinsic attributes of his hobby, I have dealt with +this subject at some length in the chapter wherein are treated the 'books +of the collector.' + +[Sidenote: Biography.] + +8. Biography, Memoirs, Diaries: what a flood of names and memories occur +to one under this heading! Not only the immortal Boswell and Pepys, but +Fanny Burney, Alexandre Dumas, Mary Wortley-Montague, Lord Herbert of +Cherbury, _et permulti alii_. Also, this heading will comprise that great +series of mysterious and 'racy' books ycleped 'Court Memoirs,' and the +somewhat less exciting but--to our book-hunter's mind at least--more +interesting works which border on the domain of history, such as the +Memoirs of Blaise de Montluc and Saint-Simon: works which bring home to +us the everyday life of those far-off days more clearly than anything +that has ever been written about them since. + +How meagre is the stock of valuable historical memoirs with which we may +furnish our libraries to-day! There is abundance to be had--after long +searching, but the great Memoirs which we may have to hand, such as +Froissart and Monstrelet, Waurin and La Marche, must number scarce a +couple of dozen. Perhaps some day a philanthropic publisher will give us +good editions (unabridged) of Sir James Melvil, Sir Philip Warwick, +Edmund Ludlow, Bulstrode Whitlock, Sir Thomas Herbert, Robert Cary, +Denzil Lord Holles, and many other valuable contemporary evidences now +scarcely to be had, and when found usually in ancient tattered calf. Why +is it, too, that the great mass of French chroniclers who bear witness to +English doings in the wars of Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, Anjou and +Touraine remain still untranslated and almost unprocurable? + +There are so many delightful Memoirs to which one would like to have +access at will. Jean de Boucicault, Marshal of France, stands out as one +of the most interesting figures in mediaeval France and, indeed, Europe. +Nicknamed 'le meingre,' he was Vicomte de Turenne, and bore arms at the +age of ten. His father[78] also was a Marshal of France. Few men have +lived such a stirring life as this paragon of knightly prowess. At +Rosebeque in 1382 (where Philip van Artevelde and 20,000 Flemings were +slain), being then a page of honour to Charles VI., he fought at the +King's side and acquitted himself so well that he received knighthood at +the King's hands. Thenceforward he was fighting continually in Flanders, +Normandy, Brittany, Languedoc--in short wherever there was fighting to be +done. In 1396, marching with the flower of the French chivalry through +Bulgaria against the Turks, he was one of the three thousand knights +taken prisoner at the disastrous battle of Nicopoli; but was among the +twenty-five whose lives were spared by the savage victor. Four years +later he was defending Constantinople for the Emperor against his late +captor, and here again he distinguished himself greatly by his bravery. + +Not long after this he was appointed Governor of Genoa. In command of the +Genoese fleet he undertook to chastise the Cypriots for an outrage on +some Genoese gentlemen. But calling at Rhodes on the way, the Grand +Master of the Hospitallers persuaded him to try the effect of mediation +first of all, and proceeded to Cyprus himself for that purpose. Whereupon +the Marshal, 'to beguile the time, and give employment to the fiery +spirits on board his squadron' (says a later chronicler) 'ran down at a +venture to the Syrian city of Scanderoon, which place he carried by +assault and plundered.' Encouraged by this success, on the Grand Master's +return he persuaded that great personage to accompany him on a further +expedition, and together they harried the whole coast of Syria, the +Hospitaller confining his attention to the Infidels whilst the Marshal +razed the factories which the Venetians (enemies to the Genoese) had +established at Baruth and other places. Thus passing a very pleasant +summer. + +In Italy he took an active part in the turmoil betwixt Guelphs and +Ghibellines, and seized Milan for the former (1409). At Agincourt in 1415 +he commanded the vanguard of the French army, and was taken prisoner. +Being sent to England, he remained there until his death six years later. +This great soldier was a man of many accomplishments, an ardent musician +as well as a poet; and his leisure was passed chiefly in composing +ballads, rondeaux, and virelays. Yet his 'Livre des Faicts' remains +unenglish'd. + +Another truly great man of a later period was that great warrior of +saintly life and death, Henri, Duc de Montmorency. After a long and noble +career of arms in the service of his king no less than of his countrymen, +he fell a victim to the jealousy of Cardinal de Richelieu. 'Dieu vouloit +que sa mort fust aussi admirable que sa vie,' writes his biographer; 'que +ses dernieres actions couronnassent toutes les autres; et que ses vertus +Chrestiennes jettassent encor plus d'eclat que n'avoient fait les +Heroiques.' Brought to the scaffold he refused to avail himself of the +indulgence of having his hands at liberty. 'So great a sinner as I,' he +said, 'cannot die with too much ignominy.' Of his own accord he took off +his splendid dress. 'How can I,' said he, 'being so great a sinner go to +my death in such attire when my guiltless Saviour died naked upon the +Cross.' Yet save we are contented to turn to a poorly printed +seventeenth-century edition of his Life, there is no place (to my +knowledge at least) where we can read of this truly great man, and, of +course, no version other than that in the French tongue. + +Then there is that great and vivacious chronicle of the house of Burgundy +during the fifteenth century, the Memoirs of Messire Olivier, Sieur de la +Marche. No historian would write of the Flemish wars, from the Peace of +Arras in 1435 to the taking of Ghent by the Archduke Maximilian in 1491, +without constant reference to this invaluable work, for la Marche was +often an eye-witness of the events which he records. Yet so far it has +not been rendered in English, and I know of no complete edition in modern +French. It is the same with the memorials of Bouchet, Chartier, de +Coussy, Crillon, Olivier de Clisson, and many other great soldiers, all +of whom have much to say of the wars 'contre les Anglois.' The famous +history of Bertrand du Guesclin[79] contained in 'Le Triomphe des Neuf +Preux' does not seem to have been reprinted after its second appearance +in Spanish at Barcelona in 1586, and there is no English version. + +Why is it that biography has such a peculiar fascination for most men? Is +it but curiosity to know how others have passed their lives, mere idle +inquisitiveness? Or is it that we may store up in our minds what these +great ones said and did upon occasions that may occur to us some day? +This is, perhaps the more likely; for women dislike biographies, and +women, we are told, care not a fig for examples, but act upon their +native intuition. Be the reason what it may, the fact remains that for +one man who looks to the future there are fifty who look to the past. +Moreover the sages of all times encourage us to seek examples in the +lives of other men, and examples are certainly of more value than idle +speculations. 'With what discourses should we feed our souls?' asked one +of that pleasant philosopher Maximus of Tyre. 'With those that lead the +mind [Greek: epi ton prosthen chronon]--towards former times,' replied +the sage--those that exhibit the deeds of past ages. + +Possibly it would be better to include biographical dictionaries under +this heading than under 'Dictionaries.' Oettinger's 'Bibliographie +Biographique Universelle,' published first in quarto at Leipzig, 1850, +describes some 26,000 biographies, under their subjects' names. A second +edition appeared in two octavo volumes at Brussels four years later. +There is a useful catalogue of 174 biographical dictionaries in all +languages at the end of the third volume of John Gorton's 'General +Biographical Dictionary,' the 1833 edition. + +[Sidenote: Famous Authors and Books.] + +9. Celebrated Authors and Books. How interesting it would be to know +which individual work, after the Bible, has passed through the greatest +number of editions. 'The Pilgrim's Progress,' 'Robinson Crusoe,' 'The +Decameron,' 'The Compleat Angler,' 'Paradise Lost,' all these must have +been reprinted an immense number of times; while others such as 'Gil +Blas' and 'Don Quixote' would not be so very far behind. Then there are +the ancients, such as Homer, Horace, Virgil, with the great host of +classics of the old world. Perhaps, however, the palm would be awarded to +the 'Imitatio Christi' of the saintly Thomas a Kempis. The editions of +it, from the presses of almost every country in the old and the new +worlds, run well into four figures. An English collector, Edmund +Waterton, succeeded in amassing no less than thirteen hundred, and at his +death the British Museum acquired all those of his treasures which were +not already upon its shelves. + +There is another name to couple with this, though (I hasten to add) from +a purely bibliographical standpoint--that of the great Dominican Giacomo +di Voraggio, or Jacobus de Voragine. Except to the student of Early +Fathers, the hagiologist, and the bibliophile, his very name has almost +sunk into oblivion; but to these savants he stands forth as the compiler +of that marvellous collection of the Lives of the Saints, known as The +Golden Legend. The first Latin edition of his great work was printed in +folio at Cologne in 1470, and six years later it appeared in French at +Lyons and in Italian at Venice. Caxton translated and published an +English version, and from that time to the middle of the sixteenth +century it is said to have undergone more impressions than any other +contemporary work.[80] + +It is not only editions of individual works, however, that this heading +comprises. Upon reading a book which pleases us greatly it is but natural +to seek other works by the same author; and with the book-collector this +tendency often becomes the basis of a definite plan of campaign. Who has +yet formed a complete collection of the works and editions of Defoe, of +Alexandre Dumas, or even of that indefatigable Jesuit antiquary Claude +Francois Menestrier? There are bibliographies of all three, but I do not +know of any library that possesses a complete collection of either. Every +year sees the addition of bibliographies upon this subject, and we have +now excellent accounts of the publications of Bunyan, Cervantes, Defoe, +Milton, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Isaac Newton, Isaac Walton, and many +other famous men. + +Under this heading also is included the collection of books dealing with +a particular author or book, such, for example, as the many published +works upon the authorship of the 'Imitatio Christi,' the 'Eikon +Basilike,' or the Letters of Junius, and--commonest sub-heading of +all--'Shakespeareana.' The British Museum authorities have issued a +bibliography (large quarto, 1897), of books in that library relating to +Shakespeare, which you may have for a few shillings. If this be your +hobby, however, perhaps the first book which you will acquire, at the +very outset of your career, will be Sir Sidney Lee's monumental 'Life of +William Shakespeare,' which has become a classic in itself. Of this, the +first edition appeared in 1898, but a new edition (the seventh) rewritten +and greatly enlarged, was published in 1915. It is, at the time of +writing, the fullest and best, so is much to be preferred. It contains a +full account of the earliest and subsequent editions and editors of the +immortal writer. Mr. A. W. Pollard published in 1909 a bibliographical +account of 'Shakespeare Folios and Quartos,' and you will find a lengthy +list of books upon this subject in Appendix I of Sir Sidney Lee's work +(1915). Mr. William Jaggard's 'Shakespeare Bibliography' purports to be +'a dictionary of every known issue of the writings of our national poet +and of recorded opinion thereon in the English language.' It was +published at Stratford-on-Avon in 1911, a thick octavo volume of more +than 700 pages. The fifth volume of the 'Cambridge History of English +Literature' contains some 47 pages of Shakespeareana in the +bibliographies to Chapters VIII. to XII. + +[Sidenote: Famous Presses.] + +10. Celebrated Presses. Of all the famous printers this world has seen, +there are two in particular whose productions have engaged the attentions +of collectors continually, namely, the Manuccios ('Aldines') and the +Elzeviers. The reason for this is not far to seek. Unlike the productions +of Caxton or de Worde (whose works, mostly in the vernacular, have +usually engaged the attentions of English collectors only), the volumes +issued by these two great foreign houses stand out for their conspicuous +merit both as specimens of book-production and as examples of scholarly +editing. Should you decide, however, to confine your attention to some +other of the great printers, then a delightful hobby will be yours; for +the field is narrow, and your collecting must take the form of a personal +inspection of each volume purchased. It will be book-hunting with a +vengeance; the booksellers' catalogues (which rarely give the printers) +will be of little use to you except as regards certain specimens with +which you are acquainted, and each volume that you acquire will have been +unearthed by your own hands. It is a subject which has been chosen so +frequently by specialists that there are bibliographies of almost all the +well-known printers, most of them, it were needless to add, in French. +For a list of them, you must consult the work of Bigmore and Wyman, as +well as that of Mr. W. P. Courtney. + +There is a chance here, also, for the public librarian. How many of the +public libraries in this country possess a collection of books +illustrating the history and progress of printing in their particular +towns? Most provincial public libraries now possess collections of books +relating to the history and topography of their localities; and it should +not be difficult to form similar collections of locally-printed books. It +would be an interesting hobby for the private collector too, and such a +collection would be of the greatest interest and value from the +bibliographical standpoint. Similarly it would not be difficult to form a +small collection of books printed by, say, the French or German or +Italian printers before 1500, or the Paris or Venetian printers up to +1600. There is a considerable field for the collector here. + +[Sidenote: Ballads and Broadsides.] + +11. Chapbooks, Broadsides, and Ballads: a curious byway of +book-collecting this, for the knowledge to be gleaned from these +_curiosa_ is not probably of great value. Nor can a great deal be said in +favour of their utility. Perhaps, however, the first two would be classed +more properly with No. 22--Facetiae and Curiosa, leaving Ballads only +under this heading. The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres' 'Bibliotheca +Lindesiana: a Catalogue of a Collection of English Ballads of the +Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, printed for the most part in Black +Letter' was printed privately in small quarto in 1890. It is undoubtedly +the finest collection of this kind in the world. Ritson's 'Ancient Songs +and Ballads' was revised by Hazlitt in 1877. Then there are such volumes +as Payne Collier's 'Illustrations of English Popular Literature,' +published in 1863-66, Huth's 'Ancient Ballads and Broadsides published in +England in the Sixteenth Century' (1867), and others which will be +mentioned when discussing Facetiae (22) and Pamphlets and Tracts (45). +Lemon's 'Catalogue of a Collection of Printed Broadsides in the +Possession of the Society of Antiquaries of London' (1866) and Lilly's +'Black Letter Ballads and Broadsides,' (1867) will also be of use to you +here, as will the publications of the Percy, Ballad, and Philobiblon +Societies. In 1856 J. Russell Smith, the antiquarian publisher of Soho +Square, issued a 'Catalogue of a Unique Collection of Four Hundred +Ancient English Broadside Ballads, Printed Entirely in the Black Letter' +which he had for sale--a small octavo volume with notes and facsimiles. +It is a valuable little book and somewhat hard to obtain. For other +reference-books upon this subject, you must turn to the headings +'Ballads' and 'Broadsides' in Mr. W. P. Courtney's valuable 'Register of +National Bibliography.' + +This heading also includes the collection of proclamations and single +sheet posters of all kinds. There is a fine collection of Royal +Proclamations in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries, probably the +most perfect in existence. 'Bookes' of Proclamations were issued by R. +Grafton in 1550 (8vo), R. Barker in 1609 (folio), Norton and Bill in 1618 +(folio)--all in black letter--and by several other the king's printers +during the seventeenth century. For the purposes of the historian they +are simply invaluable. The (26th) Earl of Crawford and Balcarres has +printed a bibliography of proclamations, vols. v. and vi. of his +'Bibliotheca Lindesiana.' + +[Sidenote: Civil War and Commonwealth.] + +12. Civil War and Commonwealth is properly speaking a sub-heading of No. +30--History; but it is a favourite subject with book-collectors, and the +volumes issued during this period are _sui generis_ and mostly of +considerable interest. With the abolition of the Star Chamber in 1641 the +drastic repression of the printers disappeared, and, freed from all +control, the presses now poured forth political tracts and volumes of +every description. Needless to say a great number of the books thus +issued were anonymous publications. But two years later an Order for the +Regulating of Printing came into force, and Cromwell's censorship was +reinforced by a further Act in 1649. Nevertheless a large mass of +political matter continued, throughout the interregnum, to make its +appearance on the stalls and in the shops. What would not Cromwell have +given to suppress 'Killing no Murder'! Edwards' 'Catalogue of the Great +Rebellion Tracts in the British Museum' was included in his 'Memoirs of +Libraries,' which appeared in 1859. George Thomason's famous collection +of Royalist tracts will be dealt with under the heading 'Pamphlets.' + +[Sidenote: Classics.] + +13. Of all the subjects in our list perhaps none comprises volumes of +greater beauty and printed with greater distinction than this--the +Classics of the Old World. It is a rare field for the scholar to-day, for +the time when no library could be considered complete without editions of +most of the old masters of Greece and Italy is long past; and there is +nothing like the competition nowadays to secure the well-known editions +which formerly adorned the shelves of our grandfathers. Not long ago our +book-hunter witnessed the sale of a sixteenth-century folio Isocrates, +bound in ancient green morocco, for seven and sixpence; and similar +volumes are described continually in the modern booksellers' catalogues. +There is more scope here for the collection of masterpieces of typography +than in any other heading in our list. Aldines, Estiennes, Elzeviers, +Plantins, Baskervilles, Barbous--all are within the reach of the most +modest purse. You need not trouble to study Dibdin's 'Introduction to the +Knowledge of Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics': +if you are sufficiently fond of immortal books and beautiful printing to +make this subject your hobby, your own eyes and hands will guide you in +the choice of editions--from the bibliographical standpoint. + +[Sidenote: Cookery Books.] + +14. The Collection of Cookery Books offers a wider field for the +book-collector's activities than would appear at first sight. Besides the +considerable number of works of a purely culinary nature, there are many +sources whence we can learn much concerning the dietary and table +customs of our ancestors. Caxton's (or rather de Worde's) 'Book of +Curtesye' is a primer of good manners for a small boy at table and +elsewhere, and it may well find a place, in modern shape, on the shelf +beside other volumes on household economy. 'Don't dip your meat in the +salt-cellar,' the wise man tells Master Jackie, 'lest folk apoynte you of +unconnyngnesse.' He must be careful, also, not to expectorate across the +table, + + 'ne at the borde ye shall no naylis pare + ne pyke your teth with knyf.' + +Injunctions that are, perhaps, unnecessary nowadays; but all must agree +with the great printer that + + 'it is a tedyous thynge + For to here a chylde multeplye talkyng.' + +Are books on table-manners published nowadays? The latest I remember to +have seen is Trusler's 'The Honours of the Table, or Rules for Behaviour +during Meals, with the Whole Art of Carving,' which appeared in 1788. It +has woodcuts by Bewick, and is a curious and scarce little volume. + +Even such unlikely volumes as Dugdale's 'Origines Juridiciales' (folio, +London 1680), the Egerton and Rutland Papers, and other volumes of +household accounts issued by the learned societies contain menus and long +lists of foodstuffs and drinks consumed at various feasts. W. C. +Hazlitt's account of some 'Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine' +appeared in 12mo in 1886. It has a list of some of the older works. There +is also a bibliography of books upon this subject in Dr. A. W. Oxford's +'Notes from a Collector's Catalogue' which appeared in 1909. His 'English +Cookery Books to the Year 1850' was published in 1913. You will find a +useful paper upon old English cookery in the 'Quarterly Review' for +January 1894. M. Georges Vicaire's 'Bibliographie Gastronomique,' a +handsome octavo volume with facsimiles, appeared at Paris in 1890. + +Then there are such books on dieting as Cornaro's 'Discorsi della Vita +Sobria' and Lessius on the Right Course of Preserving Health, both +english'd in 1634 and printed at Cambridge in a tiny volume entitled +'Hygiasticon'; also Tryon's 'Way to Health,' Sir Thomas Elyot's 'Castel +of Helth,' and other works of this nature. 'The Forme of Cury,' compiled +about 1390 by the master cook of Richard II., was published by Samuel +Pegge in 1780; and the 'Libre Cure Cocorum,' about 1440, was issued by +the Philological Society in 1862. The 'Boke of Cookery' printed by Pynson +in 1500, and Buttes' 'Dyets Dry Dinner,' 1599, you will probably have to +go without unless your purse be a deep one; indeed so far as I am aware +no duplicate is known of the first-mentioned! + +[Sidenote: Costume.] + +15. Books on Costume, like works on Architecture and the Fine Arts, are +_de natura_ 'art books.' During the first few decades of the nineteenth +century there were published a number of folio volumes containing fine +coloured plates, depicting the costumes of various foreign countries. +Numerous books of travels issued during the same period also were +embellished with similar plates; whilst of late years monographs have +appeared on the history of various articles of attire, such as shoes, +gloves, hats, etc. It is not a large field for the specialist, and at +present I am unaware of any modern bibliography upon this subject. There +are lists of costume books in Fairholt's 'Costume in England' (1896 +edition), 'The Heritage of Dress' by Mr. W. M. Webb (1907), and a paper +on them by Mr. F. W. B. Haworth in the Quarterly Record of the Manchester +Public Library for 1903 (vol. vii. pp. 69-72). + +Some of the older works on costume are extremely interesting for their +curious engravings. For the most part they are valuable works. 'Le +Recueil de la diversite des Habits, qui sont de present en usage, tant es +pays d'Europe, Asie, Afrique et Isles Sauvages, le tout fait apres le +naturel' was put forth by Richard Breton, a Paris printer, in 1564, +octavo. It contains 121 full-page wood-engravings of costume; it is a +little difficult, however, to see why the 'sauvages' should be included +in a book of costume. But perhaps they are covered by the phrase 'apres +le naturel.' Beneath each engraving is a rhyming and punning quatrain. +Here is the one beneath the portrait of a young lady of demure +appearance, entitled 'L'Espousee de France': + + 'L'espousee est coiffee, aussi vestue + Comme voyez, quant elle prent mary, + A demonstrer sa beaute s'esuertue, + En ce iour la, n'ayant le cueur marry.' + +There are other interesting sixteenth-century works by Abraham de Bruyn, +Nicolas de Nicolay, Cesare Vecellio, Pietro Bertelli, Ferdinand Bertelli, +and others, all with copper and wood engravings. + +[Sidenote: Crime.] + +16. Books dealing with Crimes and Prisons are classed generally under the +heading _Curiosa_ (22); but accounts of murders, rogueries, piracies, +etc., are so common and so frequently engage the attentions of +specialists that I have thought fit to place this subject in a class by +itself. Needless to say the majority of works on this subject are in the +shape of pamphlets or tracts, though some (such as the 'Trial of Queen +Caroline') run to more than one thick volume. You must not expect to come +across many of Samuel Rowlands' tracts on roguery, (1600-1620), for they +are worth literally their weight in gold, and more. Many of them, +however, have been reprinted by the Hunterian Club (1872-86). Nor will +you find readily 'The Blacke Dogge of Newgate' by Luke Hutton, which +appeared first about 1600, though 'The Life and Death of Gamaliel Ratsey, +a Famous Thief of England,' was reprinted by Payne Collier. Mr. F. W. +Chandler's two volumes on 'The Literature of Roguery,' published in 1907, +will be of great assistance to you here; whilst Payne Collier's +'Illustrations of Early English Popular Literature' contains several +murder pamphlets. The Newgate Calendar is well known and may be had, in +varying states of completeness, of the booksellers from time to time, +together with the many accounts of famous murders and trials. + +[Sidenote: Dictionaries.] + +17. Dictionaries and Etymologies are subjects which generally engross the +attentions of 'curious antiquaries.' Some of the older dictionaries are +of great interest. A few years ago our book-hunter purchased in London +for half a crown a copy of Cooper's 'Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et +Britanniae,' a thick folio printed at London by Henry Bynneman in 1584. +It is bound in the original sheepskin, a portion of a vellum psalter +having been used to strengthen the joints. The worthy bishop's text is +delightful (Cooper died bishop of Winchester in 1594), the +interpretations being in black letter, and it is full of quaint conceits. +At the end is a biographical dictionary which certainly contains some +startling statements. Baret's 'Alvearie or Triple Dictionarie,' 1573, and +Rider's 'Bibliotheca Scholastica,' 1589, you may still come across, but +do not set your heart upon acquiring a copy of Huloet's 'Abcedarium +Anglico-Latinum' put forth at London in 1552. Perhaps the finest +collection of dictionaries amassed by any one collector in this country +was that of the reverend Dr. Skeat of Cambridge; but alas! at his death +it was partly dispersed. + +[Sidenote: Drama.] + +18. Shakespeareana has already been dealt with under heading No. 9, and +the bibliography of the Drama is a voluminous one. You will find the +following works of value to you at the outset, if this be the subject of +your choice. Hazlitt's 'Manual for the Collector and Amateur of Old +English Plays' was issued in 1892, whilst Mr. F. E. Schelling's +'Elizabethan Drama, 1558-1642,' appeared in two volumes, New York, in +1908. The second volume contains a useful bibliography. Mr. W. W. Greg's +'List of English Plays written before 1643 and printed before 1770' was +published by the Bibliographical Society in 1900. There is a +supplementary volume which deals with Masques, Pageants, and some +additional plays; it appeared in 1902. The bibliography to Chapter IV. in +the tenth volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature' +contains useful lists of works on the drama. The office-book of Sir Henry +Herbert, Master of the Revels, 1623 to 1673, was edited by Professor +Quincy Adams and published by the Yale University Press ('Cornell Studies +in English,' vol. iii.) in 1917. It is the chief source of information +about English plays and playwrights from 1623 until the Civil War, and +the documents of the period 1660-73 are important to students of the +Restoration Drama. + +[Sidenote: Early-Printed Books.] + +19. By the term 'early-printed books' the bookseller generally means +fifteenth-century works, or _incunabula_ as they are now called. You must +needs be a rich man if this be your hobby, for every volume issued prior +to the year 1500--however worthless as literature or useless from a +bibliographical standpoint--is now worth at least a couple of pounds, +provided it is complete and in good condition. You _may_ pick up an +example or two of early printing for a few shillings on your rambles, but +every day the chance of a bargain in this direction is smaller. There is +not a bookseller throughout the kingdom who is not aware of the minimum +value of _any_ volume printed in the fifteenth century, and a private +purchase and treasure trove are the only sources available to the +'incunabulist' to-day. As regards works of reference on this subject, +such books have already been dealt with in the chapter on the Books of +the Collector. + +[Sidenote: Early Romances.] + +20. Early Romances, too, will tax your exchequer somewhat heavily, for +these glorious folio and quarto examples of early woodcut engraving are +eagerly snapped up whenever they appear in the market. One of the finest +collections of these fascinating volumes in recent times was that amassed +by Baron Achille Seilliere. A portion of it was sold at Sotheby's in +February 1887. Most of these treasures were exquisitely bound by the +great French masters of book-binding, and the sale of 1147 lots realised +L14,944, an average of about L13 a volume. Yet it is safe to assert that +the same collection to-day would fetch more than double that amount.[81] +The first folio edition (_Lyon_, 1477) of Honore Bonnor's 'L'Arbre des +Batailles' realised only L30. At the Fairfax Murray sale in 1918 the +quarto Lyons edition (1510) made L130. The Lisbon edition of 'Le Triomphe +des Neuf Preux' (1530) brought L83. The same copy at the Fairfax Murray +sale realised L135. A second portion of this fine collection afterwards +came under the hammer in Paris, and realised similar prices. + +There is a numerous bibliography. Mr. A. Esdaile's 'List of English Tales +and Prose Romances' was published by the Bibliographical Society in 1912, +as was Mr. F. W. Bourdillon's 'Early Editions of the Roman de la Rose.' +The second edition of W. J. Thom's 'Early English Prose Romances' +appeared in three small octavo volumes in 1858, whilst Quaritch's +'Catalogue of Mediaeval Literature, especially the Romances of Chivalry' +was issued--large octavo--in 1890. Mr. H. L. D. Ward's 'Catalogue of +Mediaeval Romances in the British Museum,' in three volumes, was completed +in 1910. For foreign Romances Lenglet du Fresnoy's 'Bibliotheque des +Romans,' is useful. The Comte de Tressan's 'Corps d'Extraits des Romans +de Chevalerie,' published in twelve volumes in 1787, has exquisite plates +by Marillier. It is an interesting compendium of all the most famous +romances of chivalry. The Early English Text Society has published a +large number of old English romances both in verse and prose. + +[Sidenote: Facetiae, Curiosa.] + +22. Facetiae, Curiosa--a somewhat broad subject which would include +Chapbooks, Broadsides, Jest Books, as well as those works which treat of +'Gallantry' and subjects generally not alluded to in polite society! The +literature upon all these topics is so large that it is impossible to +attempt a resume of it here, but you will find a very useful bibliography +in the fourth volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature,' +pages 514 to 536. Carew Hazlitt's 'Fugitive Tracts' (1875) and 'Studies +in Jocular Literature' (1890) are both useful; and Mr. G. F. Black has +recently (1909) printed a bibliography of _Gipsies_. Witchcraft, +sometimes classed under this heading, shall be dealt with when we +consider the Occult. + +[Sidenote: Fine Arts.] + +23. Works upon the Fine Arts are, like books on Architecture, chiefly +illustrated. Doubtless such books are collected generally by students and +craftsmen, but under this heading must be included books on gems, ancient +statuary, and ceramics, cameos, rings, and the like. There is a large +number of works which treat of these from the sixteenth century onwards, +and many are to be had for a few shillings. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[74] Or turn to the index. + +[75] Quarto. It was abridged in octavo the same year. + +[76] Similarly, a quarto volume containing an account of the second +voyage, 'Drawn up from Authentic Papers,' appeared anonymously in 1776; +an octavo 'Journal' having appeared, also anonymously, the previous year. + +[77] It was a cropped copy. The one in the Wilton Park library, sold at +Sotheby's in March, 1920, lacked two blank leaves and was unbound; but it +was a fine large copy and fetched L660. + +[78] He was a contemporary of Geoffroi de La Tour Landry, who relates a +pleasing story of his amours in Chapter xxiii. of the book which he wrote +for the delectation of his three daughters. + +[79] Du Guesclin gave striking proofs of courage in his childhood, and at +16 won a prize at a tournament (where he was unknown and against his +father's will). He spent most of his life fighting the English, gained +several victories over them, and recovered Poitou, Limousin, and many +towns in Normandy and Brittany. Charles V. created him Constable of +France in 1370, and he died in 1380 in harness, at the ripe age of 66, +while besieging a town in Languedoc. He was buried in the Abbey of St. +Denis, at the feet of the royal master whom he had served so well. It is +said that he could neither read nor write (which is probably incorrect), +but his life and deeds were recorded shortly after his death (as in the +case of Bayard) by a 'loyal serviteur'--folio, Gothic letter, printed by +Guillaume Le Roy at Lyons about 1480. Of this there does not appear to be +any English version. (See also footnote on page 92.) + +[80] Melchior Cano, a later Provincial of his Order, is reported to have +said concerning this book, 'The author of this Legend had surely a mouth +of iron, a heart of lead, and but little wisdom or soundness of +judgment'; for it abounds with the most puerile and ridiculous fables and +absurdities. But of course 'Voragine' wrote in accordance with the +fashion and beliefs of his time. + +[81] The portion of the Sudbury Hall Library sold at Sotheby's in June +1918 realised L20,201, 10s. There were 526 lots, an average of more than +L38 a volume. The prices realised at the sale of that part of the +Britwell Court Library dispersed at Sotheby's in December 1919, however, +far exceeded any hitherto obtained. 108 lots brought L110,356--an average +of nearly L1,022 a volume. But in this case every book was _rarissimus_. +A small volume containing the only known copy of the fourth edition of +Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis' (1599), the first edition of 'The +Passionate Pilgrim' (1599--one other copy known), and 'Epigrammes and +Elegies' by Davies and Marlow (_circa_ 1598), realised L15,100--and +departed forthwith to the United States. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A PLEA FOR SPECIALISM--(_Continued_) + + 'Like ships before whose keels, full long embayed + In polar ice, propitious winds have made + Unlooked-for outlet to an open sea.' + WORDSWORTH. + + +[Sidenote: First Editions.] + +TO most of us it matters but little what becomes of our books when we are +dead. We garner them for our own use and benefit absolutely, and when we +are gone they may well be distributed among other book-lovers for aught +we care. No doubt a considerable zest is added to collecting in the case +of those lucky ones who, being established in the land, purpose to 'lay +down' a library for their posterity. In such cases almost invariably +there must be a thought of future value. It is but natural. Whether he +lay down wine or books no man is so foolish as to lay down trash. Such +schemes, however, do not always result in that success which their owner +intended. Like wine, the value of books may 'go off.' + +There are two classes of books, however, that he who is wealthy enough to +lay down a library may acquire with perfect assurance. They are, in +fact, gilt-edged securities. One is the original editions of _famous_ +Elizabethan and early Stuart authors, the other, the more estimable +_incunabula_. Just as the population of the world increases yearly, so +every year there are more and more book-collectors, and, consequently, +more competition to acquire rarities. Every day, too, the chances of +further copies coming to light are more remote. Books are not +everlasting, and there will come a time when the only fifteenth-century +volumes in existence will be those treasured in velvet-lined boxes and +glass cases. + +There can be little doubt that in fifty years' time a collection of +Beaumont and Fletcher's or Massinger's plays in the original quartos will +be worth not merely double its present value, but quadruple and more. +Then there are the famous prose authors of the early Stuart period, such +as Bacon, Barclay, Robert Burton, Daniel, Donne, Drayton, Shelton, and +even the prolific Gervase Markham, to mention only a few. All these are +good investments, as regards their first editions, _for your children's +children_. + +As regards the first editions of more modern authors we are on much more +delicate ground. First editions of really great men, such as Milton, +Pope, or Dryden, probably will always command a high price not only on +account of their scarcity but because they are sought for by all students +who make a study of those authors. But when we come to those more modern +writers concerning whose merits tastes differ, then the collector's +activity becomes a gamble. The first editions of Thomas Hardy or Rudyard +Kipling _may_ be worth more than their weight in gold in a hundred years, +but it is also quite possible that succeeding generations will find in +them more of the sentiments of the day than of those innate +characteristics of the human mind which make a book really great, and +will pass them by. This matter, however, has been dealt with in the +chapter on the Books of the Collector, and with regard to bibliographies +of the writings of the chief nineteenth-century authors, you will find +mention of these in the appendices to the later volumes of the +'Cambridge History of English Literature.' + +[Sidenote: Folk-Lore, Mysteries.] + +25. Folk-lore, Fables, Fairy-Tales, Accounts of Mysteries and +Miracle-Plays, Mummers, Minstrels and Troubadours, Pageants, Masques and +Moralities: an interesting medley. Books of fables, whether by AEsop, +Bidpai, La Fontaine, Gay, or Kriloff, would form an interesting +collection by themselves, and it would be amusing to trace the pedigree +of some of the tales. Our national jokes are said to be very ancient in +origin; possibly some day the Curate's Egg will be traced to a budding +priest of Amen-Ra, lunching with the Hierophant. Then there are books of +proverbs--more than one would think--and the folk-lore of all countries +that provides fairy-tales more entertaining than ever came out of the +head of Perrault or Andersen. Altogether a heading which contains some +fascinating literature. + +It is doubtful whether such books as the 'Arabian Nights,' Le Grand's +collections of ancient Norman tales, and Balzac's 'Contes Drolatiques' +should be included here; perhaps _de natura_ they should be classed +rather with 'Facetiae and Curiosa.' The literature upon this subject is a +large one, and there is an excellent list of writings upon Minstrels, +Mysteries, Miracle Plays, and Moralities in the fifth volume of the +'Cambridge History of English Literature,' pages 385 to 394; as well as +in Mr. Courtney's invaluable work. + +[Sidenote: Freemasonry, etc.] + +26. Freemasonry is another of those subjects (like Architecture, Law, and +Early Science) which usually engage the attentions of those whose +businesses lead, or have at one time led, them to those things. Some of +the booksellers specialise in such works, and the older books on +Freemasonry cannot be said to be of frequent occurrence in the ordinary +booksellers' catalogues. The finest extant library of Masonic books in +the English tongue is said to be at the Freemasons' Hall, in London, but +it is accessible only to Freemasons. A catalogue of it was privately +printed by H. W. Hemsworth in 1869, and more recently by W. J. Hughan in +1888; a supplement to this last appeared in 1895. The Masonic books at +No. 33 Golden Square were also catalogued by Hemsworth (1870), and more +recently by Mr. Edward Armitage--quarto, 1900. + +[Sidenote: French Revolution.] + +27. The mention of books on the French Revolution at once conjures up the +name of that indefatigable collector and cabinet minister, John Wilson +Croker. During his period of office at the Admiralty he amassed there +more than ten thousand Revolutionary books, tracts, and writings; and +when the accession of the Whigs drove him from his home there, he sold +his entire library to the British Museum. But neither change of +government nor loss of income could cure the fever of collecting and six +years later he had amassed another collection as large as the first. This +also was purchased by the Museum authorities. Before he died he had +garnered a third collection as large as the two previous ones put +together, and this also found a home in Bloomsbury. A 'List of the +Contents' of these three collections was published by the Museum +authorities in 1899. Croker's magnificent collection of letters and +writings on the same period was sold for only L50 at his death; it went +_en bloc_ to the library of Sir Thomas Phillips at Middle Hill. + +[Sidenote: Gardens.] + +28. What book-lover does not love a garden? 'God first planted a garden: +and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest +refreshment to the spirits of man,' wrote Bacon. Whether it be the +tranquil beauty of an old-world pleasaunce or the peaceful occupation of +gardening that appeals to the temperament of the bibliophile, certain it +is that the book-lover is invariably a lover of the garden also. To him +the very mention of stone moss-grown walks, a sundial, roses, and green +lawn conjures up a vision of delight. To talk of those who wrote of +gardens would be to mention the literature of all time; for gardens are +as old as the human race. Indeed, 'Gardens were before gardeners, and but +some hours after the Earth,' says Sir Thomas Browne in that most +delightful of discourses, 'The Garden of Cyrus.' A History of Gardening +in England has been compiled by the Hon. Miss Alicia Amherst; a second +edition was published in 1896, and an enlarged edition in 1910. Hazlitt's +'Gleanings in Old Garden Literature' (which contains a bibliography) +appeared in 1887. The famous library of old gardening literature, said to +be the most complete and extensive of its kind, amassed by M. Krelage, a +bulb merchant of Haarlem, has recently been incorporated in the State +Agricultural Library of Wageningen, Holland.[82] + +[Sidenote: Heraldry, &c.] + +29. Heraldry is the next subject which claims our attention; and under +this head we will include all those works which treat of La Chevalerie +and Noblesse, the Orders of Knighthood, the Templars and Hospitallers, +the Crusades, Peerages, Genealogical Works, Family Histories, books on +Parliament and Ceremonies, Pomps, Festivals, Pageants, Processions, works +on Brasses and Seals, as well as those which treat of the science of +Blazon proper. Here, at all events, is a variety of sub-headings. + +The first English bibliography of works upon this subject which our +book-hunter has come across so far is a thin quarto volume entitled +'Catalogus plerumque omnium Authorum qui de Re Heraldica scripserunt,' by +Thomas Gore, and it appeared first in 1668. A second edition was +published in 1674: both are now very scarce. This work contains a list of +writers, both English and foreign, upon Chivalry, Nobility, and such +kindred subjects. But a quarto volume, which appeared in 1650, entitled +'The Art of Making Devises,' translated by T. B[lount] from the French of +H. Estienne, contains, in the preliminary matter, a list of writers on +Nobility. Dallaway's 'Inquiries into the Origin and Progress of the +Science of Heraldry in England,' large quarto, Gloucester, 1793, contains +a list of English heraldic writers, with their works; and Sir Egerton +Brydges published a more copious list in the third volume of his 'Censura +Literaria.' Moule's 'Bibliotheca Heraldica Magnae Britanniae' appeared in +1822, a large octavo. He gives descriptions of 817 English works on +Heraldry, Genealogy, Regal Descents and Successions, Coronations, Royal +Progresses and Visits, the Laws and Privileges of Honour, Titles of +Honour, Precedency, Peerage Cases, Orders of Knighthood, Baptismal, +Nuptial, and Funeral Ceremonies, and Chivalry generally. At the end is a +short list of 211 foreign writers upon these subjects--out of many +thousands. There is an interleaved copy, containing many additions, in +the British Museum. + +More recently Mr. G. Gatfield has put forth a valuable work, entitled 'A +Guide to Printed Books and Manuscripts relating to English and Foreign +Heraldry and Genealogy,' an octavo volume of which a limited edition was +printed in 1892. Guigard's 'Bibliotheque Heraldique de la France' +appeared at Paris in 1861. It has a useful bibliography of French books +upon all the subjects chosen by Moule. The Henry Bradshaw Society also +has published rare Coronation tracts and Coronation service books. + +Few classes in our list contain more sumptuous volumes than those +comprised under this heading. In our own tongue we have Anstis' and +Ashmole's handsome folios on the Garter, the latter with its beautiful +folding plates; Jaggard's edition (1623) of Favyn's 'Theatre d'Honneur et +de Chevalerie' by an unknown translator, Sandford's 'Genealogical History +of the Kings and Queens of England' (Stebbing's edition, 1707, please), +Milles' 'Catalogue of Honor or Treasury of the Nobility peculiar and +proper to the Isle of Great Britaine,' not forgetting Gwillim (the sixth +edition, 1724) and, of course, Master Nicholas Upton. All these are +handsome folios with copperplate engravings. + +The French books on Noblesse are equally sumptuous. 'Le Vray Theatre +d'Honneur et de Chevalerie ou le Miroir Heroique de la Noblesse,' by Marc +de Vulson, Sieur de la Colombiere, appeared at Paris in two folio +volumes in 1648. It is a magnificent book, and a classic in this +department of literature. The same author's 'La Science Heroique' was +published first, also in folio at Paris, in 1644; but in 1669 a second +edition, considerably augmented, was put forth. Of the author I find +nothing further memorable than that, having surprised his wife with a +gallant, he slew them both, and then took a post-chaise to Paris to +solicit the King's pardon, which he immediately obtained. There are many +other equally fine works in French, but it were tedious to catalogue them +here. Two handsome volumes on jousting and tournaments have recently been +put forth. 'The History of the Tournament in England and France,' by Mr. +F. H. Cripps-Day, was issued by Quaritch in 1919, whilst 'The Tournament: +its Periods and Phases,' by Mr. R. C. Clephan, was published the same +year. + +Books on seals are much less numerous, though none the less ornate; for +engravings are practically essential here. They are, generally, scarce; +for the circle of readers to which such volumes appeal can never have +been a wide one; so it is improbable that large impressions of any of +them were printed. The 'Sigilla Comitum Flandriae' of Oliver Vredius, a +small folio, with nearly three hundred engravings of mediaeval seals, was +printed first at Bruges in 1639. It is a beautiful volume, the seals +being drawn to scale and exquisitely engraved by four Bruges +engravers--Samuel Lommelin, Adrian his son, Francis Schelhaver, and +Francis his son. Unfortunately the plates became worn after printing off +a few copies (especially those on pages 138, 213, 246), and the early +impressions are much to be preferred. A good test is to turn to the +engraved genealogical tree on the recto of leaf Cc6. In the later-printed +copies the foot of this engraving is most indistinct. A French +translation appeared at Bruges in 1643. + +Two of the scarcest English books upon seals were compiled by clergymen. +The first, a thin quarto of 31 pages, is entitled 'A Dissertation upon +the Antiquity and Use of Seals in England. Collected by * * * * 1736,' +and was printed for William Mount and Thomas Page on Tower Hill in 1740. +Its author was the Rev. John Lewis, a former curate at Margate, who died +in 1746. There is an engraved frontispiece of seals, and several +copperplates in the text. It is very, very scarce, and it was some years +before our book-hunter succeeded in obtaining a copy. The other authority +was the Rev. George Henry Dashwood, of Stowe Bardolph. From his private +press he produced, in 1847, a quarto volume consisting of fourteen +engraved plates (by W. Taylor) of seals, with descriptions opposite. It +is entitled 'Engravings from Ancient Seals attached to Deeds and Charters +in the Muniment Room of Sir Thomas Hare, Baronet, of Stowe Bardolph,' and +is common enough. Copies on large paper are not infrequent. But in 1862 a +'second series' appeared. This consists of eight plates and descriptions, +and at the end are two leaves of notes to both series. Our book-hunter +has not yet come across a duplicate (even in the British Museum or at the +Antiquaries) of this second volume, which he was so fortunate as to find +a week after receiving the first. + +A publication containing a fine collection of armorial seals was produced +at Brussels between 1897 and 1903. It was published in fifteen parts, +large octavo, and is entitled 'Sceaux Armoiries des Pays-bas et des Pays +avoisinants.' Lechaude-d'Anisy's 'Recueil des Sceaux Normands,' an oblong +quarto which appeared at Caen in 1834, is another of these handsome +books; but we have already lingered too long over this fascinating +heading. + +[Sidenote: History.] + +30. History is a somewhat wide subject, for it comprises descriptions of +any epoch or sequence of events in the existence of anything! We can read +histories of the Glacial Age or of Charles II, of the Quakers or +Tasmania, of the life of a cabbage or the Crimean War. Even a +dissertation on the development of the inkpot would be deemed history +nowadays. For the present, however, we will confine ourselves to that +branch of it which treats of the human element, nations and communities, +and events in their development. We must include travels, politics, +diaries, memoirs, and biographies, for all of these are indispensable +adjuncts. The voyages of Columbus, the Greville Papers, the Memoirs of +Fezensac, and the Paston Letters are no less history than Freeman's +'Norman Conquest,' Froude's 'Armada,' or Napier's 'Peninsular War.' It is +a student's subject, and as rational a branch of book-collecting as there +be. The collecting of early editions of the chroniclers, English or +foreign, is an interesting by-way. The series of British Chronicles +issued under the direction of the Master of the Rolls is a fairly +complete one, and the works of many other early historians have been +published from time to time by the learned societies. A lengthy list of +bibliographies is given in Mr. Courtney's work, and there are useful +bibliographies at the end of each volume of the 'Cambridge Modern +History.' + +Under this heading we will include 'Events'; such as the Armada, the +Great Fire of London, the Gordon Riots, the '45, but not, I think, the +French Revolution or the Napoleonic Era, the literatures of which are of +such magnitude as to demand separate headings. There are collections of +books on all these subjects and many similar ones which fall naturally +under the heading 'History.' + +[Sidenote: Husbandry.] + +31. The word 'husbandry' has an old-world flavour now: the classical +'agriculture' is preferred. It is a change, however, that we bookworms +and curious antiquaries in nowise relish. The old English or Scandinavian +term which came to us from our forefathers is more seemly to our mind +than the modern Latin importation. Nowadays any word is better than one +drawn from our old English tongue. We may not speak of anything so +indelicate as a belly, but we can mention an abdomen in the politest +society. Provided we denote them by their Latin or Greek names, we may +even mention any parts of our viscera (I may not say bowels) without +raising a blush. Mention them in English, and we are at once boors and +churls. But the husbandman's occupation has changed with the language. +Originally he was merely a hus-bondi, or house-inhabitor, though probably +he had more to do with agriculture than the farmer who ousted him. The +'fermor' farmed or rented certain land from his overlord, making what he +could out of the tenants on it. And in time even the word 'farmer' will +pass out of use. Just as the charwoman to-day insists upon a fictitious +gentility, so in years to come the farmer will denote himself an +agriculturist, possibly with the epithet 'scientific.' We no longer talk +of villeins and carles; both have become sadly perverted in their +meaning, although the dictionary still allows the latter to mean 'a +strong man.' But, it hastens to add, vindictively, 'generally an old or a +rude-mannered one.' So is our language changing. + +They are quaint volumes, the older treatises on husbandry, and for the +most part they contain an extraordinary medley of information. There is a +charm about their titles and language that few other classes of books +possess. Poultry, we know, can be obstinate wildfowl, but who nowadays +would write of their 'husbandlye ordring and governmente'? Such was the +title of Mascall's work put forth in 1581. Pynson printed an interesting +book on estate management in 1523 for, probably, John Fitzherbert: 'Here +begynneth a ryght frutefull mater; and hath to name the boke of surveying +and improuvements.' It is full of curious conceits, even concerning the +good housewife who, says Gervase Markham in his 'Country Contentments,' +'must bee cleanly both in body and garments, she must have a quicke eye, +a curious nose, a perfect taste, and ready eare.' But these volumes are +not easy to find, even though the book-hunter's nose be as curious as a +housewife's, and, when perfect, are of considerable value. Tusser's +curious rhyming 'Hundred good pointes of husbandrie,' enlarged later to +'Five Hundred Pointes,' is perhaps the commonest of these earlier works. +Between 1557 and 1599 it went through eight editions, though the first +is known only by the unique copy in the British Museum. A useful list of +writers upon agricultural subjects from 1200 to 1800 appeared in 1908. It +is by Mr. D. McDonald. + +[Sidenote: Illustrated Books.] + +32. Illustrated Books and Books of Engravings might perhaps have been +included as a sub-heading to 'the Fine Arts'; but they form a distinct +class and so frequently engage the attention of specialists, that our +book-hunter has thought fit to put them in a class by themselves. Some +will have only those volumes illustrated by one of the Cruikshank +brothers, others prefer Blake's or Bewick's designs, and so on. Some +again cleave to the volumes illustrated by Paul Avril or Adolf Lalauze, +Kate Greenaway or Randolph Caldecott. With regard to the early +book-illustrators, several text-books that will be useful to those who +specialise in this subject have been mentioned in the chapter dealing +with the Books of the Collector. An excellent conspectus of book +illustration, from the earliest times to the present day, is contained in +the fifth chapter of 'The Book: its History and Development,' by Mr. +Cyril Davenport (octavo, 1907). At the end is a useful list of English +and foreign works on book-illustration and its various methods. 'A +Descriptive Bibliography of Books in English relating to Engraving and +the Collection of Prints' by Mr. Howard C. Levis, was put forth in 1912. + +[Sidenote: Legal.] + +33. Law need not detain us. Its literature has not merely kept pace with, +but has far outstripped, the growth of English Law; and it extends back +at least to the 'Tractatus de Legibus' of Ranulf de Glanville, the great +Justiciar under Henry II. The collector of ancient law books will +probably be a member of one of the four great London seats of law, or at +least have access to their famous libraries; there are printed catalogues +of all of them. The Advocates' Library at Edinburgh, too, possesses a +magnificent collection of ancient law books. A catalogue of it was +published by David Irving in 1831, and more recently in seven quarto +volumes, 1867 to 1879. If you collect old French 'coutumiers,' Cooper's +'Catalogue of Books on the Laws and Jurisprudence of France' may be +useful to you. It was printed in octavo, 1849. + +[Sidenote: Liturgies.] + +34. The collection of Liturgies is a subject that usually goes hand in +hand with the collection of Bibles and theological works. But it is for +all that a distinct subject, and may well engage the undivided attention +of the collector. 'A New History of the Book of Common Prayer,' by +Messrs. Proctor and Frere, is perhaps at present the standard work upon +the history of our English prayer book. The latest edition is dated 1914, +and it is published by the house of Macmillan. The Rev. W. H. J. Weale's +'Bibliographia Liturgica, Catalogus Missalium, Ritus Latini ab anno 1475 +impressorum' appeared in 1886. The Henry Bradshaw Society was founded in +1890 for the publication of rare liturgical tracts; whilst Maskell's +'Ancient Liturgy of the Church of England' (third edition, octavo, 1882) +contains a collection of the service books in use in England before the +Reformation. + +[Sidenote: Locally-printed Books.] + +35. Locally-printed books is a heading of considerable interest from the +bibliographical point of view. The term is a wide one, for the volumes it +includes range from those printed in a particular country to those +produced in an individual town. Has anyone yet attempted to form a +collection of books printed in Barbadoes or Java, in Donegal or Dover? +Probably; but I am unaware of any attempts at bibliographies. With the +growth of the public library in every town of importance throughout the +kingdom, there are increasing opportunities for valuable work in this +direction; and every year should see the issue of bibliographies by those +institutions, works which would contain not merely a list of books +printed in each particular town, but a history of printing in that place. + +Mr. Falconer Madan's 'Oxford Books' may well serve as a model for such +works. It was published in two octavo volumes at Oxford in 1895 and 1912 +respectively, the first volume being concerned with the productions of +the early presses of that town. There are useful lists of books which +issued from the early presses of Scotland by Mr. H. G. Aldis, and Ireland +by Mr. E. R. McC. Dix. 'The Annals of Scottish Printing,' a large quarto +by R. Dickson and J. P. Edmond, was printed at Cambridge in 1890. A model +for the county bibliography is the 'Bibliotheca Cornubiensis' of Messrs. +G. C. Boase and W. P. Courtney, produced in three octavo volumes, between +1874 and 1882; and there are accounts of the early presses in several +English counties, as well as at Cambridge, York, Birmingham and other +important towns. But a considerable amount of work has still to be done +in this direction. A valuable little book appeared in 1912 issued by the +Cambridge University Press. It is entitled 'The English Provincial +Printers, Stationers, and Bookbinders, to 1557,' and is by Mr. E. Gordon +Duff. There are accounts of the early presses at Oxford, St. Albans, +Hereford, Exeter, York, Cambridge, Tavistock, Abingdon, Ipswich, +Worcester and Canterbury; and it is a volume that should find a place on +the shelf of every bibliophile. + +There is an interesting byway in connection with this heading: the +collection of English books printed abroad. Is there anywhere a +collection of books in the English tongue printed at Paris? One +constantly comes across such volumes, especially those issued during the +first half of the nineteenth century. After that time, Bernhard Tauchnitz +of Leipzig appears to have gathered into his hands the trade of English +books printed abroad. Recently our book-hunter came across a curious +example of these peregrine volumes. It is a narrow octavo of some three +hundred pages, entitled 'An Introduction to the Field Sports of France,' +and was printed by Auguste Lemaire at St. Omer (Pas de Calais) in 1846. +At the end is the following note: 'The reader will make due allowance for +any misprints he may discover, when apprised that the printer knows +nothing of the english language, and they chiefly occur in the +commencement of the work.' Evidently M. Lemaire warmed to his task as he +went on. But the 'Dame of our Ladie of Comfort of the Order of S. Bennett +in Cambray' who translated St. Francis de Sales' 'Delicious Entertainment +of the Soule' was even more modest. Her version was printed at Douai by +Gheerart Pinson in 1632, and apparently neither printer nor translator +was very proud of the work, for in the 'Apology for Errors' we are told +that 'the printer was a Wallon who understood nothing at all English, and +the translatresse a woman that had not much skille in the French.' Still, +imperfect though typography and translation be, between them they +produced a book that is eagerly sought by collectors to-day. + +This is a topic, however, that is full of pitfalls. Hundreds of +European-printed books now bear Asiatic imprints; thousands of +seventeenth and eighteenth century works printed at Paris bear the +imprint of The Hague or some other Dutch town. Our English publishers +have not been innocent of this charge either. Many a volume printed in +Holland and Germany bears the London imprint. The original edition of +Burton's translation of the 'Arabian Nights,' issued by him in London, +claims to have been produced at Benares.[83] + +[Sidenote: Mathematical and Early Scientific.] + +36. 'The seconde parte of the catalogue of English printed bookes' for +sale by Andrew Maunsell in 1595, concerned, we are told, 'the sciences +mathematicall, as arithmetick, geometrie, astronomie, astrologie, musick, +the arte of warre, and navigation.' But it is not my intention to include +musick and the arte of warre here, this heading comprising those works +which deal with mathematics and physics only, with their dependent +subjects, such as (in addition to those mentioned by Master Maunsell) +geodesy, mensuration of all kinds, meteorology, seismography, and books +on chance and probabilities. + +Sir Henry Billingsley's edition of Euclid's 'Elements' (1570) is +naturally a rare book, as is John Blagrave's 'Mathematical Jewel,' a +folio issued in 1585. It is one of the earliest English books upon +mathematics. Blagrave[84] was the author of a number of works on +Geometry, Navigation, Dialling, etc. + +For a history of mathematics you must turn to the four quarto volumes of +that ingenious Frenchman, M. Jean Etienne Montucla. This work, the +'Histoire de Mathematiques,' first appeared in two volumes in 1758; but +the author devoted the later years of his life to enlarging it and the +new edition was published at Paris in 1799. It was reprinted in 1810. +This mathematician is said to have written a treatise on squaring the +circle, but our book-hunter has not yet come across a copy. 'A History of +Ancient Astronomy' appeared at Paris (quarto) in 1775: it was by that +great man who presided over the memorable assembly at the Tennis Court on +the 20th June 1789, Jean Sylvain Bailly. Four years later he produced a +history of Modern Astronomy from the foundation of the Alexandrian School +to 1730 (three vols. quarto, Paris, 1779-82): and in 1787 came the +History of Indian and Oriental Astronomy from the same pen. All these +contain interesting details of the origin and progress of astronomical +science, with the lives, writings, and discoveries of astronomers. With +regard to our own great mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton, a bibliography +of his works has been published by Mr. G. J. Gray; the second edition +appeared at Cambridge in 1907. + +Mr. D. E. Smith's 'Rara Arithmetica,' a catalogue of arithmetical works +which appeared prior to the year 1601, was printed, in a limited edition, +at Boston (United States) in 1908. It is a sumptuously produced work in +two large octavo volumes, copiously illustrated. Professor de Morgan's +'Arithmetical Books from the Invention of Printing to the Present Time' +contains brief notices of a large number of works 'drawn up from actual +inspection.' It was published--a thin octavo of 124 pages--in 1847, and +the books are arranged chronologically; but there is an index of authors. + +[Sidenote: Medical.] + +37. The collection of early medical books is a hobby that must appeal +chiefly to the chirurgeon. Its sub-headings are not numerous, and each +comprises volumes of considerable bibliographical interest. There are +curious books on 'poysons' as well as upon the commoner branches of +surgery, and there are glorious editions of all the ancient AEsculapians, +such as Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna. Herbals are +doubtless collected by many who are not possessed of medical knowledge, +and a number of them treat more of simples and housewifery than +leechcraft, which is probably one reason of their attraction for the +non-medical collector. But as these volumes in general are so +inextricably bound up with the science of healing, I have thought fit to +include them here. There is no denying that the fascination of these +curious volumes, often (as in Fuch's magnificent tome) containing +woodcuts that are a sheer delight to the bibliographer no less than to +the botanist, is a strong one. + +It is a moot point whether works on Early Chemistry or Alchemy should be +included here or under the heading 'Occult,' seeing that they usually +centre about the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone. Perhaps they +would be classed more accurately with Early Scientific. But for the +purposes of our list I have reserved that heading for those books which +treat of mathematics and physics only. With the early works upon +astrology we need not concern ourselves here: they have more to do with +divination and horoscopes than the craft of healing, so their appeal is +chiefly to the student of the occult. It is impossible, however, to +classify under one heading all those early works which treat of the +beginnings of scientific knowledge. The star-gazer, the herbalist, the +necromancer, and the leech, must be content to share among themselves a +class of books which deals generally with the search into the Great +Unknown. + +A useful catalogue of books on Alchemy was printed in two large quarto +volumes at Glasgow in 1906. It is by Professor John Ferguson, and is +entitled 'Bibliotheca Chemica,' being a list of the hermetic books in the +library of Mr. James Young. The three volumes entitled 'Leechdoms, +Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England' by the Rev. Oswald Cockayne, +published in the 'Rolls' series, 1864-66, contain a valuable contribution +to the early medical science of this country. Dr. J. F. Payne's 'English +Medicine in the Anglo-Saxon Times' (the Fitz-Patrick Lectures for 1903) +is for the most part a dissertation on that work. + +Some of the prescriptions of these early leeches are rather quaint. 'If a +man's head burst . . . let him take roots of this same wort, and bind +them on his neck. Then cometh to him good benefit.' The following is an +excellent remedy for toothache: 'Sing this for toothache after the sun +hath gone down--"Caio Laio quaque voaque ofer saeloficia sleah manna +wyrm." Then name the man and his father, then say: "Lilimenne, it acheth +beyond everything; when it lieth low it cooleth; when on earth it burneth +hottest; finit. Amen."' If after this the tooth still continues to ache +beyond everything, it is evident that there is a wyrm in it. For +stomach-ache, you must press the left thumb upon the stomach and say +'Adam bedam alam betar alam botum.' This is infallible. + +Collections of medical authors began at an early date. Van der Linden's +'De Scriptis Medicis, libri duo' appeared first at Amsterdam in 1637, +octavo--a valuable list of authors and the editions of their works. But +it was reprinted with additions several times during the author's +lifetime (he died in 1664); and in 1686 appeared at Nuernberg as a thick +quarto entitled 'Lindenius Renovatus.' Dr. E. T. Withington's 'Medical +History from the Earliest Times,' octavo, 1894, is useful for reference; +whilst Dr. Norman Moore has recently produced (Oxford, 1908) a 'History +of the Study of Medicine in the British Isles.' Dr. E. J. Waring's +'Bibliotheca Therapeutica' was published in two octavo volumes by the New +Sydenham Society in 1878-79. It is a list of the books which have been +written on each individual drug, classes of medicines, and general +therapeutics. There is an index of authors. The first volume of Albrecht +von Haller's 'Bibliotheca Anatomica' was published at London 'in vico +vulgo dicto The Strand' in 1774; the second volume at Zurich in 1777. +Both are in quarto, and are biographical as well as bibliographical. The +same author published a 'Bibliotheca Chirurgica' and a 'Bibliotheca +Medicinae Practicae' at Berne and Basel between 1774 and 1788. His +'Bibliotheca Botanica,' two quarto volumes, appeared at Zurich in +1771-72. For other writers upon Botany you must consult Curtius +Sprengel's 'Historia Rei Herbariae,' two octavo volumes which appeared at +Amsterdam in 1807 and 1808. 'A Guide to the Literature of Botany' by B. +D. Jackson was issued by the Index Society in 1881. Jean Jacques Manget, +a Geneva physician who died in 1742 at the age of ninety-one, was another +voluminous compiler of bibliographies upon medical subjects. + +[Sidenote: Military.] + +38. Under the heading 'Military' are included not only historical +accounts of military operations but those works which treat of the +military art and the progress of its development. Obviously it is a +subject that is as old as mankind, and dissertations on drill with the +stone battle-axe must find a place here. Many of the books on Arms and +Armour (such as Sir Samuel Meyrick's beautiful folio volumes) are fine +works, and some of the earlier publications on Castramentation and Siege +operations are interesting. We must not forget to mention the beautiful +little Elzevier 'Caesar' of 1536. It is a wide heading, for such books as +the Commentaries of Blaise de Montluc and the Memoirs of Olivier de la +Marche must be included, as they deal in large part with military +operations. Books on Archery, Fencing, and Duelling are also comprised by +this heading. + +If this be your subject, our book-hunter trusts that you have been more +successful than he has in your quest for the 'Traicte de l'Espee +Francoise, par Maistre Jean Savaron' (small octavo, Paris, 1610). He +narrowly missed a copy in Paris some years ago, and so far this scarce +little volume of fifty-six pages has eluded him as successfully as the +'Pastissier Francois.' Probably, on account of its slimness, it is +usually bound up with more substantial works, and thus escapes the eyes +of book-hunters and cataloguers. Savaron also wrote a 'Traicte contre les +Duels,' which is equally scarce. Works on duelling are legion, and range +from Carafa's rather large folio entitled 'De Monomachia seu de Duello,' +Rome, 1647, down to the little 'Dissertation Historique sur les Duels et +les Ordres de Chevalerie: Par Monsieur B * * * *,' which is by Master +Jacques Basnage--a duodecimo produced first at Amsterdam in 1720. An +Italian bibliography of this subject by J. Gelli and G. E. Levi appeared +in 1903. For the most part they are uncommon works and not easy to find. +It is a subject that borders closely on the Chivalry of our list, for of +course that subject was (like Heraldry) entirely military in origin. A +'Bibliography of English Military Books up to 1642, and of Contemporary +Foreign Works' was compiled by Captain M. J. D. Cockle and published in +quarto in 1900. Mr. Carl Thimm's 'Art of Fence: a Complete Bibliography' +appeared in 1891; an enlarged edition was put forth in 1896. + +[Sidenote: Music.] + +39. Books on Music may be divided conveniently into the numerous +sub-headings which treat of particular instruments, songs, printed music +generally, and accounts of the early musicians and their works. Treatises +upon the violin are fairly numerous;[85] but I do not remember having +come across many works on the Jew's harp or ocarina. There are +interesting old books on the virginals, harpsichord, and spinet. Before +the end of the fifteenth century a number of Missalia, Gradualia, +Psalteria, and Libri Cantionum ('quas vulgo Mutetas appellant') had +appeared from the press. The 'Theoricum Opus Musice Disciplina' of +Franchino Gafori, or Gaffurius (which, by the way, is merely an +abridgment of Boethius), is said to be the earliest printed treatise on +music. It was printed first at Naples in 1480. Antiphonals and Troparies +must also be included here. + +A new edition of Grove's 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians,' by Mr. J. +A. Fuller-Maitland, appeared in 1904. Dr. Charles Burney's 'General +History of Music' occupied that great English musician between 1776 and +1789--four quarto volumes. 'The Literature of Music,' an octavo by Mr. J. +E. Matthew, was put forth in the series known as the Booklovers' Library +in 1896; whilst the 'Oxford History of Music,' edited by Dr. W. H. Hadow, +appeared in six volumes between 1901 and 1905. M. Henry de Curzon's +valuable work, 'Guide de l'Amateur d'Ouvrages sur la Musique,' was +printed at Paris in 1901. For a bibliography of operas you must turn to +the 'Dictionnaire des Operas,' of MM. Clement and Larousse. Rimbault's +'Bibliotheca Madrigaliana,' which is a bibliographical account of the +musical and poetical works published in England during the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, appeared in 1847; and you will find a list of +early songs, madrigals, and 'ayres' in the fourth volume of the +'Cambridge History of English Literature,' pages 463-6. Hazlitt's +'Catalogue of Early English Music in the Harleian Library,' was published +in 1862. There are useful articles on early music printing, by Mr. R. +Steele, in the Bibliographical Society's Journal for 1903, and by Mr. +Barclay Squire in the third volume of 'Bibliographica.' + +[Sidenote: Napoleon.] + +40. The collector of books dealing with Napoleon I. has a somewhat narrow +field to range in. There is a large number of English tracts and +pamphlets that deal with the great man and his proposed invasion of +England, as well as biographies, memoirs, and diaries concerning him. A +collection of such works was formed in the later years of the nineteenth +century by an insatiable Grangerite named Broadley, and in due time his +library came under the hammer at Hodgson's. It was a remarkable +collection: anything that concerned 'Boney,' however remotely, was grist +to this collector's mill. A catalogue of his library was compiled and +published by Mr. W. V. Daniel in 1905. M. Gustave Davois' 'Bibliographie +Napoleonienne Francaise' to 1908 was printed in three octavo volumes at +Paris, 1909-11. Of M. Kircheisen's 'Bibliographie du Temps de Napoleon,' +two quarto volumes, published at Geneva in 1908 and 1912, have appeared +up to the time of writing. + +[Sidenote: Natural History.] + +41. The early books on Natural History would probably be regarded by the +modern zoologist as bibliographical curiosities rather than intelligent +text-books; and truly the accounts of even the larger mammals given by +these early observers of nature are extraordinary. Most of us will +remember reading Caesar's description of the elks in the Hercynian +forest, which slept leaning up against the trees because they had no +joints in their legs. The inhabitants, cunning fellows, sought out the +favoured trees and sawed them nearly through; so that when the +unfortunate elks settled themselves to sleep, the booby-traps came into +operation. Having no joints in their legs, the poor beasts were unable to +rise, and so became an easy prey to the savage Teuton. Herodotus, too, +was somewhat credulous in the matter of animals; Sir John Mandeville was +not always to be trusted; and even Bernard von Breydenbach, who made a +journey to the Holy Land about 1485, beheld strange beasts, like +Spenser's giaunts, 'hard to be beleeved.' But perhaps the palm among +these mediaeval monsters is held by the eale, or, as it became later, the +yale or jall; that strange beast which has survived--in effigy at +least--unto our own times. + +It appears that Pliny was the first to discover this singular animal, and +his description of it is recorded in many of those quaint mediaeval +natural history volumes known as 'Bestiaries.' The Reverend Edward +Topsell, in his 'Historie of Foure-footed Beasts' (folio, 1607) thus +describes it: + +'There is bred in Ethiopia a certain strange beast about the bignesse of +a sea-horse, being of colour blacke or brownish: it hath the cheeks of a +Boare, the tayle of an Elephant, and hornes above a cubit long, which are +moveable upon his head at his owne pleasure like eares; now standing one +way, and anone moving another way, as he needeth in fighting with other +Beastes, for they stand not stiffe but bend flexibly, and when he +fighteth he always stretcheth out the one, and holdeth in the other, for +purpose as it may seeme, that if one of them may be blunted or broken, +then hee may defend himselfe with the other. It may well be compared to a +sea-horse, for above all other places it loveth best the waters.' + +Unfortunately no specimen has been seen by travellers for some years now, +so probably it is quite extinct. Certainly you will not find a jall in +the Zoo, or even at South Kensington, though you may see a very excellent +statue of him on King Henry VIII.'s bridge at Hampton Court. + +There are numerous bibliographies of works upon all classes of animals, +fish, flesh, and fowl--even the good red herring.[86] For these you must +turn to Mr. W. P. Courtney's invaluable work. The 'Bibliographia +Zoologiae et Geologiae, a General Catalogue of all Books on Zoology and +Geology,' was compiled by L. Agassiz and H. E. Strickland for the Ray +Society--four octavo volumes, published between 1848 and 1854. A +'Bibliotheca Entomologica,' by H. A. Hagen, appeared at Leipzig, two +octavo volumes, in 1862-63. + +[Sidenote: Nautical and Naval.] + +42. The next subject, Nautical and Naval, will comprise chiefly +borrowings from other headings; for it will necessarily include books of +voyages and discoveries, works on navigation, meteorology, and +oceanography, as well as geographical books, and such purely nautical +volumes as dictionaries of the marine, the history of ships and +shipping, and accounts of the navy and mercantile fleet. There is a +number of early works on the astrolabe and globes, but you must not +expect easily to come across 'The Rutter of the Sea,' printed by Robert +Copland and Richard Bankes in 1528. It is the first English printed book +on Navigation, being a translation of 'Le Grand Routier' of Pierre +Garcie. + +The Society for Nautical Research was founded in 1910, and it issues a +monthly journal known as 'The Mariner's Mirror,' wherein are treated +those subjects which pertain to the history of ships, sails, and rigging; +in fact, everything that has to do with the evolution of the ship. The +original 'Mariner's Mirrour' was a translation (by Anthony Ashley in +1588) of Wagenaar's 'Speculum Nauticum,' first published in 1583. +Needless to say, it is a scarce work, as are all these Elizabethan +volumes upon seafaring. In volume IV. of the 'Cambridge History of +English Literature' you will find two chapters on the literature of the +sea from the pens of those great authorities Commander C. N. Robinson and +Mr. John Leyland. If this be your subject, they will amply repay perusal. +There is an excellent list of early works, pages 453 to 462. + +[Sidenote: Numismatics.] + +43. Numismatics is one of those subjects which generally engage the +attentions of students rather than book-collectors, for the volumes upon +coins and medals are necessarily text-books for the collector of these +things. Such works are, of course, for the most part illustrated; and +some of the older ones are of considerable interest on account of their +engravings. + +It is not only to the collector and 'curious antiquary,' however, that +some of these works are valuable, for in them occasionally the historian +is able to unearth matter scarcely obtainable elsewhere. Menestrier's +'Histoire du Roy Louis le Grand par les Medailles, Emblemes, Deuises, +Jettons, Inscriptions, Armoiries, et autres Monumens Publics' (folio, +Paris, 1693) is one of many such works. It not only contains engravings +of every medal struck to commemorate the birth, life, marriage, actions, +victories, processions, and entertainments of the Roi-Soleil (among them +one commemorating the Siege of Londonderry in 1689), but it has a very +fine folding plate of the Place des Victoires as it was in 1686. This +engraving not only shows the famous monument erected to the glory of +Louis XIV., and destroyed at the Revolution, but gives the details of the +panels and a very full description of it. Thus we may have to hand all +the inscriptions, mottoes, and dates which were graven upon that historic +monument. + +[Sidenote: Occult.] + +44. Civilisation mates but ill with Romance, and for the passing of +Superstition (the child of Imagination and Romance) none can shed a tear. +Yet at least it served to raise our daily lives out of the rut of +commonplace. Our pulses are no longer stirred at the mere mention of the +word MAGIC, and even BLACK MAGIC is coldly discussed where not so very +long ago none would have dared to speak it save with 'bated breath.' Yet +we are all mystics by birth, and scarce one of us there is who as a child +has not experienced the fear of darkness. We cannot explain it, and +though the child may soon be taught to laugh at his fear, yet none the +less was he endowed with this unaccountable dread of the UNKNOWN. + +Among real book-collectors probably this particular branch of specialism +attracts but few; for the greater part of those who collect such works +are students of the occult (whether serious or idle) and have no true +love for their books qua books. Seemingly it is an absorbing hobby, for +those who devote their attention to necromancy soon become known among +their friends. + + 'Philosophy is odious and obscure; + Both Law and Physic are for petty wits; + Divinity is basest of the three, + Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile; + 'Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish'd me.' + +Thus Doctor Faustus, the Gamaliel of those whose study are the arcana of +nature and the world of shadows. Yet whether we be mystics or +materialists what would not each one of us (not necessarily bibliophiles) +give to possess the volume which Faustus had at the hands of +Mephistophilis? + +_Meph._ 'Hold, take this book, peruse it thoroughly: + The iterating of these lines brings gold; + The framing of this circle on the ground + Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder, and lightning; + Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself, + And men in armour shall appear to thee, + Ready to execute what thou desir'st.' + +_Faust._ 'Thanks, Mephistophilis; yet fain would I have a book + wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that I + might raise up spirits when I please.' + +_Meph._ 'Here they are in this book.' [_Turns to them._] + +_Faust._ 'Now would I have a book where I might see all characters + and planets of the heavens, that I might know their + motions and dispositions.' + +_Meph._ 'Here they are too.' [_Turns to them._] + +_Faust._ 'Nay, let me have one book more--and then I have done--wherein + I might see all plants, herbs, and trees, that + grow upon the earth.' + +_Meph._ 'Here they be.' + +_Faust._ 'Oh, thou art deceived.' + +_Meph._ 'Tut, I warrant thee.' [_Turns to them._] + +Truly a marvellous volume. The astronomical and herbal portions of it we +can understand, and herein doubtless the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica' could +give it points, though possibly in a less handy shape. But even Wecker's +'De Secretis' fails lamentably when it comes to producing whirlwinds or +men in armour. As it is to be presumed, however, that the doctor returned +the volume at length to the owner in person, it is unlikely that the +book-collector will ever behold it--at least in this world. + +It is a wide subject, this heading 'Occult,' and includes works on +Alchemy, Apparitions, Astrology, Cheiromancy, Demonology, Devil Lore, +Evil Spirit Possession, the Evil Eye, Hermetic Philosophy, Magic white +and black, Phrenology, Physiognomy, Prophecy, Sorcery and Divination, +Popular Superstitions, Vampires, and Witchcraft. We can even include +Conjuring! Early-printed books on all these subjects are legion, and the +numerous works on Lycanthropy or Werewolves, must also find a place under +this heading. Claude Prieur's curious work is rare though not +particularly valuable; it is a duodecimo printed at Louvain in 1596, and +is entitled 'Dialogue de la Lycantropie ou transformation d'hommes en +loups, vulgairement dit Loups-garous . . . .' Books on Monsters must also +be included here. Dr. Ernest Martin's 'Histoire des Monstres,' octavo, +Paris, 1879, contains a bibliography of this curious subject. The Rev. +Timothy Harley's 'Moon Lore'--another out-of-the-way heading--also +contains twenty-five pages of bibliography. It was printed in 1885. + +Savonarola's 'Compendium Revelationum,' the work which probably hastened +him to the stake, you will come across most easily in the anonymous +'Mirabilis Liber,' which appeared at Paris first in 1522. This curious +work also contains the prophecies of Methodius (Bemechobus), the Sibyls, +Augustinus, Birgitta, Lichtenberger, Joachim, Antonio, Catherine of +Siena, Severus, J. de Vatiguerro, G. Bauge, and J. de la Rochetaillee. +Indagine, the author of a curious book on cheiromancy, physiognomy, and +astrology, was really Johann of Hagen, a German Carthusian who died in +1475. + +There is a list of some books on Witchcraft, Demonology, and Astrology in +the seventh volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature,' +pages 503 to 511; though curiously it omits one of the most interesting +and best-known works on demon-lore--the 'De Natura Daemonum' of Jean +Laurent Anania, a small octavo produced by Aldus at Venice in 1589. It is +an interesting little work which treats of the origin of demons and their +influence on men. The first volume of Mr. F. Leigh Gardner's valuable +'Catalogue Raisonne of Works on the Occult Sciences' appeared in 1903. It +contains books on the Rosicrucians. The second volume, dealing with +astrological works, was issued in 1911; and the third, books on +Freemasonry, in 1912--three slim octavo volumes. Professor John +Ferguson's 'Witchcraft Literature of Scotland' appeared at Edinburgh in +1897. A scarce anonymous work was put forth at London in 1815, with the +title 'The Lives of Alchemistical Philosophers; with a critical catalogue +of books in occult chemistry, and a selection of the most celebrated +treatises on the theory and practice of the Hermetic Art.' It contains +(pp. 95-112) a list of 751 alchemical books. J. J. Manget's 'Bibliotheca +Chemica Curiosa, seu rerum ad Alchemiam pertinentium Thesaurus,' was +printed in two folio volumes at Geneva in 1702. + +[Sidenote: Pamphlets and Tracts.] + +45. The collecting of Pamphlets and Tracts is an interesting byway of +book-collecting. They are of almost every description under the sun. Some +collectors will have those that deal with Parliamentary proceedings, some +specialise in the Marprelate and No Popery tracts, some in the Satires of +the Restoration journalists, whilst others will gather Pasquinades, +Mazarinades, and Political pamphlets, as well as those that deal with +some particular social or historical event. It is a subject that, +perhaps, comprises more grotesque titles than any heading in our list. +Knox's famous 'First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment +of Women' must certainly have been rather startling to Queen Bess, and +Attersoll's 'God's Trumpet sounding the Alarme' (quarto, 1632) is +vigorous; but the personal invective displayed by some of the Elizabethan +and early Stuart pamphleteers is hard to beat. 'An Olde Foxe Tarred and +Feathered,' 'A New Gag for an Old Goose,' 'A Whip for an Ape,' and 'An +Almond for a Parrat,' are all curious, but surely the palm is carried by +the following effort of John Lyly (against Martin Marprelate), put forth +in 1589: + + 'Pappe with an Hatchet. Alias A figge for my Godsonne. Or Cracke + me this nut. Or A Countrie cuffe, that is, a sound boxe of the + eare, for the idiot Martin to hold his peace, seeing the patch + will take no warning. Written by one that dares call a dog, a + dog, and made to prevent Martin's dog daies. Imprinted by John + Anoke, and John Astile, for the Baylive of Withernam, cum + privilegio perennitatis, and are to bee sold at the signe of the + crab tree cudgell in thwackcoate lane.' + +In 1523 Richard Bankes printed a curious little tract with the following +title: 'Here begynneth a lytell newe treatyse or mater intytuled and +called The IX. Drunkardes, which treatythe of dyuerse and goodly storyes +ryght plesaunte and frutefull for all parsones to pastyme with.' I hasten +to add that the 'parsones' of Mr. Bankes' day were not necessarily in +holy orders. It was printed in octavo, black letter, and the only copy +that seems to be known is in the Douce collection at the Bodleian. + +Professor Edward Arber's 'Introductory Sketch to the Martin Marprelate +Controversy,' which appeared in 1895, contains a list of the more +important tracts connected with that subject; and you will find Mr. W. +Pierce's 'Historical Introduction to the Marprelate Tracts' (1908) +useful. There are valuable lists of, and information upon, pamphlets of +most descriptions and of all periods in the volumes of the 'Cambridge +History of English Literature.' Mr. A. F. Pollard's 'Tudor Tracts, +1532-1588' appeared in 1903. + +One of the most remarkable collections of pamphlets ever formed was that +amassed during the Commonwealth by an enterprising London bookseller +named George Thomason. He succeeded in gathering together[87] more than +22,000 pamphlets and tracts relating to the times; and being an ardent +Royalist, was at great pains to prevent the collection from becoming +known to the authorities. When the Royalist cause was scotch'd by the +execution of King Charles, the collection was transferred to Oxford, and +lodged in the Bodleian Library for safety; and although Thomason died in +1666, his collection remained at Oxford until nearly a century later, +when it was purchased by King George III. for L300, and presented by him +to the British Museum. + +It is, of course, quite priceless now, and contains a large number of +tracts not otherwise known. A catalogue of the collection was printed by +the Museum authorities in 1908, two demy octavo volumes with the title: +'A Catalogue of the Pamphlets, Books, Newspapers, and Manuscripts +relating to the Civil War, the Commonwealth, and Restoration, collected +by G. Thomason, 1640-1661.' + +[Sidenote: Philosophy.] + +46. 'A farmer should be a philosopher,' said Mr. Jorrocks; and although +most book-collectors who specialise in philosophical works would disclaim +any connection between the two subjects, yet it is not easy to say where +philosophy either begins or ends. The dictionaries are very cautious, +contenting themselves with the assertion that any 'application of pure +thought' or rational explanation of 'things' comes under this heading. +Perhaps Mr. Jorrocks was more correct than most of his hearers imagined, +for farming in this country certainly requires a deal of pure thought--if +it is to be made to pay. For our purpose, however, we will narrow this +heading down to those books which deal with the moral aspects of mental +influences, and those which centre about the science of metaphysics. + +[Sidenote: Poetry.] + +47. Poetry is another heading over which we need not linger. He who +specialises in this class of literature may be either a student of +English poesy or a lover of prosody. If the former, the following volumes +will be of assistance to him. + +Thomas Warton's 'History of English Poetry' first appeared in three +quarto volumes issued between 1774 and 1781; but a new edition, edited by +W. C. Hazlitt in four octavo volumes, was published in 1871. Professor W. +J. Courthope's work of the same title was issued in six volumes between +1895 and 1910; whilst Professor G. Saintsbury's 'History of English +Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day,' begun in 1906, was +completed in 1910, three octavo volumes. + +[Sidenote: Privately-printed.] + +48. Privately-printed Books. A curious byway of collecting, this; for +although it comprises books upon every subject under the sun, yet it will +not help the collector to acquire knowledge upon any single subject. For +some there is doubtless a certain attraction about books that have been +put forth surreptitiously, as it were; yet to the ordinary book-collector +such volumes seem to partake rather of the nature of pariahs. They are +among books, but not of them, lacking the credentials of their +companions. They are of three species only: (1) Personal Books; of +interest only to a family and its relations; (2) Books refused by the +publishing houses as being unlikely to appeal to the general public; (3) +Improper books, which, if issued publicly, would most likely incur an +action by the Public Prosecutor. Some years ago Bertram Dobell, a London +bookseller, collected upwards of a thousand volumes issued in this +manner, and published a catalogue of his collection, with interesting +notes. This collection was finally sold _en bloc_ to the Library of +Congress at Washington, U.S.A., in 1913. J. Martin's 'Bibliographical +Catalogue of Privately Printed Books' was published first in 1834, two +volumes; but a second edition appeared twenty years later. + +[Sidenote: School Books.] + +49. The collecting of old School Books is a branch of our hobby that +seldom engages the bibliophile's attention. Doubtless the recollection of +many painful hours spent in their company is responsible for their +neglect. Yet there is a charm about the early-printed Mentors of our +youth which it is impossible to deny, and there is a growing demand for +them--as the booksellers will tell you. The number that has disappeared +from the ken of bibliographer must be large, for it is difficult to +imagine a more unpopular type of book--at least with those who are +obliged to use them; and if your taste has altered to such an extent that +you now desire them above all things, you may reasonably hope to unearth +many a curio. + +Our earliest printers were concerned with such works. In 1483 John +Anwykyll's Latin Grammar was printed at Oxford, and we must not forget +Caxton's 'Stans Puer ad Mensam,' put forth in 1478. Pynson issued a +'Promptorium Puerorum sive Medulla Grammaticae' in 1499, and De Worde +printed others. Most of the productions of the famous St. Albans press +were school books, to the annoyance of the boys at the Grammar School +there. Hoole's 'New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School' is +understood to have been a most unpopular discovery among his scholars. It +was first printed at London in 1660, and was reprinted in facsimile at +the University Press, Liverpool, in 1913. At the end of this reprint is a +useful bibliography of ancient school books, from the fifteenth to the +eighteenth century. + +Hoole's pupils must have been somewhat out of the ordinary. 'N.B.,' he +remarks in 'The Usher's Duty,' 'Those children that are more +industriously willing to thrive, may advantage themselves very much by +perusal of _Gerards Meditations_, _Thomas de Kempis_, _St. Augustins +Soliloquies_, or his _Meditations_, or the like pious and profitable +Books, which they may buy both in English and Latine, and continually +bear about in their pockets, to read on at spare times.' Upon enquiry at +one of our larger public schools, however, I find that the number of +children--even those who are more industriously willing to thrive--who +advantage themselves by continually bearing these pious books in their +pockets is not large. + +[Sidenote: Sport.] + +50. The next heading in our list, Sports, Games, and Pastimes, naturally +comprises a large number of sub-headings. The term 'sport' may be +confined[88] conveniently to those subjects which have to do with +animals, such as Angling, Coaching, Cock-fighting, Coursing, Falconry, +Hunting, Horses, Racing, Steeplechasing, and Shooting. Other subjects, +chiefly of an outdoor nature, may be classed as Pastimes, such as +Archery, Boxing, Fencing, Mountaineering, Skating, and Yachting. Then +there are the diversions of short duration governed by rules, which we +call games, such as Cricket, Curling, Bowls, Football, Cards, Chess, etc. +There are bibliographies of almost all these, which you will find in Mr. +Courtney's work. If you are fond of hunting you will enjoy Mr. +Baillie-Grohman's edition of the famous 'Livre de Chasse' of Gaston +Phoebus, Comte de Foix. It was translated into English by Edward, Duke +of York, between 1406 and 1413, under the title 'The Master of Game'; and +to this reprint of 1909 is added a list of old hunting books, and a +valuable glossary of ancient hunting terms and phrases. 'La Chasse de +Loup,' a small quarto printed at Paris in 1576, is a scarce work. It +consists of but 22 folios, and has 14 large woodcuts, and it is by Jean +de Clamorgan, Seigneur de Saane. But you will find this treatise in _La +Maison Rustique_. + +Books on cock-fighting are not very numerous, nor of frequent occurrence. +A number of such works are mentioned by Mr. Harrison Weir in that part of +'Our Poultry' which deals with game-fowl. 'The Royal Pastime of +Cockfighting,' by R. H. (_i.e._ Robert Howlet), a duodecimo printed at +London in 1709, is now very scarce and valuable; but a facsimile reprint +(100 copies) was issued in 1899. 'The Cocker,' by 'W. Sketchly, gent.,' +is of fairly frequent appearance, though a copy will cost you four or +five pounds. But it has been reprinted at least twice. A small volume +entitled 'Cocking and its Votaries' by S. A. T[aylor] was put forth in +1880, but our book-hunter has not yet been so fortunate as to come across +a copy.[89] It was, I believe, privately printed. Old Roger Ascham was a +keen devotee of this sport, and wrote a volume entitled 'The Book of the +Cockpit'; but no copy of this work is known (at least to bibliographers) +to exist at the present day. 'But of all kinds of pastimes fit for a +Gentleman,' he writes in 'The Scholemaster,' 'I will, God willing, in a +fitter place more at large declare fully, in my _Book of the Cockpit_; +which I do write to satisfy some.' From which it seems that he was +actually engaged upon the book. Apparently there is no record of its +publication, though an old devotee of the sport once told Mr. Harrison +Weir that he had seen a copy. 'The Commendation of Cockes and +Cock-fighting; Wherein is shewed, that Cocke-fighting was before the +comming of Christ,' by George Wilson, the sporting Vicar of Wretton, was +printed in black letter by Henry Tomes 'over against Graies Inne Gate, in +Holbourne,' in 1607. I wish you luck, brother collector, but I cannot be +sanguine that you will ever come across a copy though it was many times +reprinted. The tenth edition is dated 1655. + +Under this heading also are included books on Dogs, Cats and Bees (!) +though the inclusion of the latter reminds one of the story of the +imported tortoise, which the customs officials (after much debate) +decided was an insect, and therefore not liable to quarantine! Then there +are books of sporting memoirs, sporting dictionaries, sport in particular +countries, as well as works which treat of Maypoles and Mumming, +Festivals, and old English pastimes. + +Books upon Dancing, Cards, Chess, and other games all have their +devotees. 'A Bibliography of Works in English on Playing Cards and +Gaming,' by Mr. Frederic Jessel, appeared in 1905, octavo. The library of +M. Preti of Paris, a well-known chess-player who devoted his attention to +the history of the game, was sold at Sotheby's early in 1909. It included +362 lots, comprising some 1600 volumes; but the entire collection +realised only L355. The sale catalogue is a useful one--if you are so +fortunate as to come across it. But there is a numerous bibliography and +you will find a list of such volumes in Mr. W. P. Courtney's 'Register of +National Bibliography.' + +[Sidenote: Theology.] + +51. Theology and the Lives of the Fathers of the Early Christian Church +is a field of such magnitude that we may divide it conveniently into +periods or countries or controversies. Books on the Council of Trent +engage the attentions of some, others are attracted by the history of the +Waldenses or the Byzantine Churches. Some again specialise in the +writings of certain great characters, such as Bonaventura, Augustine, or +Erasmus. A 'Bibliotheca Erasmiana, ou Repertoire des Oeuvres d'Erasme' +appeared at Ghent in 1893 and was followed four years later by a new +edition. Similarly there are now accounts of the writings of almost all +the great Churchmen, such as Cranmer, Latimer, Tindale, Laud, Ken, etc. +The only bibliography of Knox with which I am acquainted is that appended +to the six volumes of Laing's edition of his works, published at +Edinburgh 1846-64. + +[Sidenote: Tobacco.] + +52. Tobacco is a cheery subject for the book-collector, and somehow the +very word conjures up a vision of warmth and comfort. + + 'My pipe is lit, my grog is mix'd, + My curtains drawn and all is snug; + Old Puss is in her elbow-chair, + And Tray is sitting on the rug.' + +What book-collector, I do not mean book-speculator, does not smoke a +pipe? I refuse to believe that any book-lover could possibly sit in an +easy chair before the fire and pore over Browne's 'Hydriotaphia,' +Sidney's 'Arcadia,' More's 'Utopia,' or Cotton's 'Montluc' (all in folio, +please) without a pipe in his mouth. Why, it is unthinkable. Yet the +books which treat of tobacco are not all couched in that tranquil tone +which is induced by the soothing weed. 'The whole output of literature on +tobacco,' writes Professor Routh, 'is eminently characteristic of the age +in its elaborate titles, far-fetched conceits, and bitter invective. The +spirit of criticism is so strong that even the partisans of the weed +satirise the habits of the smoker.' King James's 'Counter Blaste to +Tobacco,' first issued in 1604, Braithwaite's 'The Smoaking Age,' 1617, +and Barclay's 'Nepenthes, or, the Vertues of Tobacco,' 1614, have all +been reprinted of late years. Bragge's 'Bibliotheca Nicotiana' was +printed at Birmingham in 1880. + +[Sidenote: Topography.] + +53. Topography and County Histories need not detain us. Anderson's 'Book +of British Topography' is a list of County Histories, etc., that had +appeared up to 1881; and Mr. A. L. Humphrey's 'Handbook to County +Bibliography' amplifies and carries the record down to 1917. With this +heading we can include the collection of Atlases and Maps. Sir H. G. +Fordham's 'Studies in Carto-Bibliography, British and French, and in the +Bibliography of Itineraries and Road Books' contains a useful +bibliography of this subject. It was published by the Clarendon Press in +1914. + +[Sidenote: Trades.] + +54. Books on Trades should form an interesting series for the collector. +Works on 'Dialling' and Clock-making are frequent enough, but I do not +remember to have come across very many books which treat of the +locksmith's art or coach-making, though such volumes appear from time to +time in the catalogues. There must be treatises on almost every trade +under the sun; our book-hunter possesses a small volume which deals with +the making of sealing-wax and wafers. Old treatises on brewing must be +plentiful, as doubtless are volumes on all the larger and more important +industries; but are there manuals for the loriner, the patten-maker, the +umbrella-manufacturer? Doubtless there are, though they must be few in +number, and scarce too, since those for whom they were intended probably +would not be the best preservers of books. Only about a century ago a +small manual was put forth for the use of those whose business was the +heraldic decoration of carriage-panels. It was very popular in the trade, +but is now scarcely to be had, and when found is invariably filthy and +dilapidated. Like the little 'Pastissier Francois,' such practical +treatises soon go the way of all superseded books. + +[Sidenote: Travels and Voyages.] + +55 and 56. Travel books and Voyages have already been discussed under the +heading 'Foreign Parts'--the first subject with which I have dealt in +detail. Most globe-trotters nowadays are members of the Royal +Geographical Society, and the Library Catalogue of that institution is a +valuable one for reference. It was printed in 1895, under the care of Mr. +H. R. Mill. + + * * * * * + +And so I bid you farewell, brother book-hunter. There is no subject with +which I have dealt but could have had a volume to itself: my aim +throughout has been to strike the happy medium between a tedious list of +titles and editions and a description too brief to be of interest. Thank +you for your patience and sympathy (of the latter indeed I was assured at +the outset, for we book-hunters are a class that knows no other feeling +when reading about our beloved books), and allow me to express the +sincere wish that good fortune may attend you on your expeditions. May +your 'finds' be frequent, cheap, clean, tall, perfect, and broad of +margin, and may you never suffer from borrowers, bookworms, acid-tanned +leathers, clumsy letterers and insecure shelf-fastenings. May good +scribbling paper, sharp pencils, uncrossed nibs, clean ink and +blotting-paper be ever at your hand, and may your days be passed in +wholesome leisure, in the divine fellowship of books. _Vale._ + +THE END. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[82] Msr. F. C. Wieder, the librarian, writing to the 'Times Literary +Supplement' of 6th February 1919 (p. 70), states that 'the catalogue is +in preparation, and arrangements will be made that the books of this +library can be sent on loan to foreign students through the intermediary +of public libraries.' + +[83] See note on p. 78. + +[84] The moated manor-house (Southcote, near Reading) which he built +provides an excellent example of the way in which learned men (especially +mathematicians!) go astray when they insist upon being their own +architects. A more unhandy house it is difficult to conceive; and in +winter-time the dinner must invariably have been cold by the time it +reached the dining-room. The writer of these lines prospected it from +attics to cellars some years ago, but as usual "drew blank." + +[85] Mr. E. Heron-Allen's 'De Fidiculis Bibliographia' was issued in +parts, and forms two small quarto volumes, 1890 and 1894; but only about +sixty complete sets are known to exist. + +[86] Dodd's 'Essay towards a Natural History of the Herring,' 1752, +contains a chapter of bibliography. + +[87] You will find the whole tale--a most interesting one--in +'Bibliographica,' vol. iii., p. 291, from the pen of Mr. Falconer Madan. + +[88] Lord Lovat's definition of 'Sport' was as follows: 'Sport is the +fair, difficult, exciting, perhaps dangerous pursuit of a wild animal +that has the odds in its favour, whose courage, speed, strength and +cunning are more or less a match for our own, and whose death, being of +service, is justifiable.' But this seems to apply more to hunting than +anything else; it certainly precludes coaching, cock-fighting, racing, +and steeplechasing. + +[89] The copy in the Pittar sale at Sotheby's in November 1918 was +extra-illustrated and finely bound. It fetched L9, 15s. + + + + +INDEX + + + _Achademios_, Skelton's, 11. + Aeschylus, translations of, 71. + Aesop, the _Fabulous Tales of_, 12. + _Aethiopica_, the, 86. + AFRICA, books on, 206, 209. + Agincourt Expedition, the, 50. + AGRICULTURE, books on, 238. + A Kempis, Thomas, 217. + Alaric's grave, 104. + ALCHEMY, books on, 245, 256. + Alfred, king, 101. + ---- his tomb, 104. + Allibone's _Critical Dictionary_, 163. + AMERICANA, 210. + Ames' _Typographical Antiquities_, 7, 8, 169. + Amyot, Pere, 86. + Ancillon, Charles, 81. + Andrada, Tomaso de, 155. + Anjou, Rene duc d', 87. + Antiphonaries, Spanish, 129. + Aquinas, Thomas, 37. + _Arabian Nights_, the, 77. + Arber's _Term Catalogues_, 162. + ARCHITECTURE, books on, 211. + ARCTIC and ANTARCTIC, books on, 206. + Aristophanes, translations of, 71. + Armorial bindings, 115 n. + Arthur, King, his character, 89. + Ascham, Roger, on books of Chivalry, 87. + ---- on Cambridge, 38. + ---- his _Book of the Cockpit_, 262. + Association books, 172. + ASTROLOGY, books on, 253-256. + ASTRONOMY, books on, 244. + Attic Theatre, the, 73. + Auctions, the history of book-, 187. + _Auction Records, Book-_, 191. + Augustine, St., on Varro, 154. + Austen, Jane, her _Mansfield Park_, 113. + ---- on novels, 63. + AUSTRALIA, books on, 207. + _Aymon, the Four Sons of_, 14, 15. + + Balin and Balan, 95. + BALLADS, 220. + _Ballatis, Gude and Godlie_, 13. + Bankes's _IX. Drunkardes_, 257. + BARBARY, books on, 209-210. + Barbier's _Ouvrages Anonymes_, 169. + Barbier, Louis, 154. + Barclay's _Euphormionis_, 11. + Barocci, Giacomo, his library, 181. + Barrow, a desecrated, 103. + Barton, Elizabeth, her book, 13. + Basse, Nicholas of Frankfort, 178. + Beckmann, Johann, on catalogues, 176-178, 180, 188. + Belvedere, motto at, 38 n. + Bernard, Dr. Francis, 13 n. + BEWICK, books on, 168. + BIBLES, 212. + _Bibliographica_, 167. + Bibliographies of Bibliographies, 170. + ---- some early, 154-156. + BIBLIOGRAPHY, 150-156, 160-170. + ---- compiling a, 151-153, 156. + ---- examples of great industry in, 154. + ---- the objects of, 150. + _Bibliography_, Mr. Courtney's _Register of National_, 170, 205. + ---- Growoll's _English Book Trade_, 181. + Bigmore and Wyman's _Bibliography of Printing_, 167. + Bill, John, 181. + BINDING, _see_ BOOKBINDING. + BIOGRAPHIES, 213. + ---- Dictionaries of, 217. + Bishop, a Tudor, his town house, 19. + Black Prince, the, 90, 92. + ---- his household book, 18. + Blackie, Professor, quoted, 59. + Blades' _Life of Caxton_, 165. + Blagrave's Manor-house, 244 n. + BLOCK-BOOKS, Sotheby on, 166. + Boccaccio, on translating, 73. + Bonaventura, 37. + _Book-Auction Records_, 191. + _Book of Curtesye_, the 223. + _Book of Good Manners_, the, 14. + _Bookhunter_, Burton's, 21. + _Book-Prices Current_, 191. + BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD, ENGLISH, 242. + Books, the care of, 126. + ---- the charm of old, 106-108. + ---- cleaning, 145-149. + ---- English printed abroad, 242. + ---- the five classes of, 120-122. + ---- imperfect, 112, 116-120. + ---- lost, 10-21. + ---- repairing, _see_ BOOKBINDING. + ---- travel far afield, 17. + Bookbinders, London, 139. + BOOKBINDING, 135-140. + ---- books on, 135, 136. + ---- leathers, 137, 138. + ---- prescription for, 137, 139-140. + BOOKBINDINGS, Armorial, 115 n. + ---- collecting, 203. + ---- old, their value, 113-115. + ---- paper, 116, 141-145. + ---- polishing old, 141. + ---- preservative for, 141. + ---- repairing, 109-115, 141-145. + BOOKCASES, 128-134. + BOOK-COLLECTORS, the Doctor, 42. + ---- the Genealogist, 40-42. + ---- the Sailor, 43. + ---- the Soldier, 49. + ---- the Traveller, 44-48. + BOOKPLATES, works on, 115 n. + BOOKSELLERS, books upon, 182 n. + ---- Mr. McKerrow's _Dictionary of_, 183. + BOOKSHELVES, making, 128-134. + ---- staining, 131, 132. + BOTANY, early, 245-247. + Boucicault, Marshal Jean, 213-214. + Bouillon, Godfrey de, 89. + Bourchier, Sir Henry, 181. + Box, an old, 18. + British Museum Catalogue, 163. + ---- ---- talking in the Reading Room of the, 34. + Brittany, old books in, 28. + ---- old hostel in, 29. + Britwell Court Library, 210. + BROADSIDES, 220, 228. + Browne, Sir Thomas, 52. + ---- quoted, 104, 233. + Bruce, King Robert, 93. + Brunet, J. C., 22. + ---- his _Manuel de Libraire_, 163. + Brydges' _British Bibliographer_, 162. + Buckram for shelves, 132. + Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_, 66. + Burney, Admiral James, 208. + Burns' _Poems_, value of, 190. + ---- ---- a unique copy of, 173. + Burton, John Hill, quoted, 59. + ---- his _Bookhunter_, 21. + Burton's _Arabian Nights_, 78 n. + Bury, Richard of, quoted, 65. + Byron's _English Bards_, 190. + ---- _Poems_, 189. + Byron, J., _Wreck of the Wager_, 47. + + Caesar, the Elzevier, 21-22, 24. + Calderon, translations of, 73. + Cambridge and Roger Ascham, 38. + ---- books, Mr. Sayle on, 165. + Camelot, 95, 97, 98. + Campbell, Thomas, quoted, 47. + CARD GAMES, books on, 262. + Castiglione, Baldassare, 19. + Cataloguer, an Abbey, 54. + CATALOGUES, bound at the end of books, 183-187. + ---- early booksellers', 174-181. + ---- a Restoration one, 184. + ---- of Nicholas Basse, 178. + ---- John Bill, 181. + ---- Johan Cless, 180. + ---- George Draud, 180. + ---- William Jaggard, 181. + ---- Andrew Maunsell, 181. + ---- Sweynheim and Pannartz, 179. + ---- Christian Wechel, 178. + Caxton, his advertisement, 175. + ---- binding by, 20. + ---- book by, 20. + ---- his _Book of Good Manners_, 14, 223. + ---- on Chivalry, quoted, 90. + ---- his _Four Sons of Aymon_, 14, 15. + ---- _The Life of_, by Blades, 165. + ---- a lost book by, 11. + ---- and Malory, 98, 99. + ---- his _Metamorphoses of Ovid_, 11. + ---- on rebinding a, 114. + ---- his _Recueil des Histoires_, 99. + ---- his _Speculum_, 14. + Cervantes' _Don Quixote_, 66, 74. + 'Chafynghowys,' the, 34. + Chance, 201. + CHAPBOOKS, 220, 228. + Charlemagne, a story of, 196. + _Chasse de Loup, La_, 261. + Chaucer, quotations from, 1, 56, 94. + Cheke, Sir John, 132. + CHESS, books on, 262. + CHIVALRY, books on, 234. + ---- a collector of books on, 200. + ---- England the home of, 92. + ---- romances of, 86-90, 227, 228. + ---- and 'Sport,' 91. + _Chronograms_, Hilton's, 168. + CIVIL WAR, books on the, 221. + CLASSICS, the, 61, 70-73. + ---- collecting the, 222. + Claudin, M. Anatole, works by, 166. + Cleaning books, 145-149. + Clement's _Bibliotheque Curieuse_, 164. + Clerkenwell, books bought in, 3, 18. + Cless, Johan of Frankfort, 180. + COCKFIGHTING, books on, 261. + COLLATING, 119, 152-153. + Collectors, _see_ BOOK-COLLECTORS. + Collins, William, of Chichester, 11, 12. + Colombiere, La, books by, 235-6. + COMMONPLACE BOOKS, 54-57. + COMMONWEALTH, books on the, 221. + _Companions to Greek_ and _Latin Studies_, 73. + Conon, lost books by, 55. + Cook, Captain, 207-208. + COOKERY BOOKS, 222. + Cooper's _Thesaurus_, 226. + CORONATION BOOKS, 235. + _Cortigiano, Il_, 19 n. + Corvinus, Matthias, 86. + COSTUME, books on, 224. + Cotton, Sir Robert, his library, 133. + Cotton's _Typographical Gazetteer_, 168. + Courtney's _Register of National Bibliography_, 170, 205. + Crabbe, quotation from, 31. + Cranmer on the Maid of Kent, 13. + Crawford, the Earl of, his _Bibliotheca Lindesiana_, 220, 221. + CRIMES, books on, 225. + Croix du Maine, F. de la, 155. + Croker's French Revolution collections, 233. + Cromwell, Thomas, 15, 19. + CURIOSA, 228. + Curll, Edmund, 185-6. + ---- his edition of Prior, 9, 10. + _Curtesye_, the _Book of_, 223. + + Dante, translations of, 75. + David's book-stall, 3. + _Defence of Women_, the, 16. + _De Gloria et Nobilitate_, 4. + DEMONOLOGY, books on, 255. + _De Re Heraldica_, 8. + Despeisses, Anthony, 51. + _De Studio Militari_, 5-8. + Dibdin's works, 169. + DICTIONARIES, 226. + Digressions, 51-54. + Disraeli, Isaac, quoted, 37. + Don, story of a, 79. + _Don Quixote_, 66, 74. + DRAMA, books on the, 226. + Draud, George of Frankfort, 180. + DRESS, books on, 224. + Drinking-horns, 102. + Dryden's _Aeneid_, 72. + DUELLING, books on, 248. + Duff, Mr. E. G., books by, 161, 166, 183, 242. + ---- quoted, 12, 13, 14, 16. + Du Fresnoy, Lenglet, 108. + Du Guesclin, Bertrand, 92, 216 n. + Dumas, Alexandre, 22-24. + + Eale, the, 250-1. + EARLY-PRINTED BOOKS, 227. + ---- ---- ---- authorities on, 164-166. + EARLY ROMANCES, 227. + _Ebrietatis Encomium_, 186. + Editions good and bad, 69-70. + Elks, the Hercynian, 250. + _Elzeviers_, 21 _seq._, 187. + ENGRAVERS and ENGRAVING, authorities on, 167. + ---- ---- books on, 240. + ENTOMOLOGY, books on, 251. + _Epicoene or the Silent Woman_, 13. + _Epitaph of the King of Scotland_, the, 11. + Errata, on, 170-1. + Este, Alfonso d', 38 n. + ETYMOLOGIES, 226. + _Euphormionis Lusinini Sat._, 11. + Euripides, translations of, 71. + EXTRA-ILLUSTRATING, 125. + + Fabert, Abraham, 182. + _Fabulous Tales of Esope_, 12. + FACETIAE, 228. + Farringdon Road, _the_, 18. + _Faust_, translations of, 75. + Faustus his book, 254. + Fenn, Sir John, 20. + Fetherstone, Henry, 181. + Fitzgerald's _Polonius_, 192. + ---- translations, 73. + _Flore et Zephyr_, 189. + Forgeries, book, 118-120. + _Four Sons of Aymon_, the 14, 15. + FREEMASONRY, books on, 232, 255. + FRENCH REVOLUTION, the, 82, 233. + ---- ---- Croker's Collections on the, 233. + + Gairdner, James, quoted, 20. + GARDENS, books on, 233. + Gavaudan, quoted, 88. + Genealogist, the, 40-42. + GENEALOGY, books on, 234. + _Geology_, books on, 251. + Gibbon, Edward, 81. + GIPSIES, book on, 229. + Giunta Terence, a, 3-4. + Goeree, William, 182. + Goethe, translations of, 75. + _Golden Legend_, the, 217. + _Goste of Guido_, the, 11. + Graesse's _Tresor de Livres Rares_, 164. + Grail, the Holy, 89, 93, 97. + ---- ---- appears to the Knights, 99, 100. + GRANGERISING, 122-125. + Graves, the desecration of, 103-105. + Greek, aids to reading, 72, 73. + ---- Incunabula, 166. + ---- theatre, 73. + Growoll's _Book-Trade Bibliography_, 181. + Grude, Francois, 155. + + Hain's _Repertorium_, 164. + Hamerton, P. G., on Interruptions, 33. + ---- on reading the classics, 62. + Harrison, Mr. Frederic, on reading, 59, 60, 67, 79. + ---- on the classics, 72. + ---- _The Choice of Books_, 72. + Hazlitt, W. C., on lost books, 12, 14. + ---- his _Bibliographical Collections_, 161-2. + Health, books on preserving, 224. + Heine, translations of, 76. + Heinz, quoted, 31. + Heliodorus, 84. + Henry VII. and Winchester, 98. + HERALDRY, books on, 234. + HERBALS, 245-247. + Herbert, George, his _Jacula Prudentum_, 56. + Herbert, Sir Henry, _Office Book of_, 227. + Herbert, William, lost books described by, 12. + Hilton's _Chronograms_, 168. + Hinard, Damas, 74. + _Historie of Judith_, the, 11. + HISTORY, books on, 237. + Hoccleve, 90. + Homer, translations of, 71-2. + Hoole's _New Discovery_, 260; his pupils, _ib._ + Horace, on translating, 72. + Hospitallers, 200, 214. + Hotel du Lion d'Or, 29. + Housewife, the perfect, 239. + Hozier, Pierre d', 40. + Humphrey, Lawrence, 4. + Humphreys, Mr. A. L., quoted, 67, 69. + HUSBANDRY, books on, 238. + Hyde Abbey, 104. + Hyeres, the monk illuminator at, 37. + _Hygiasticon_, 224. + + Illuminator of St. Honorat, the, 37. + Illuminators, the Winchester, 101-2. + ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, 240. + _Imitatio Christi_, 217. + Incunabula, definition of, 167 n. + ---- _see_ EARLY-PRINTED BOOKS. + Interruptions, 33-35. + + _Jacula Prudentum_, 56. + Jaggard, William, 181. + Jall, the, 250-1. + JEST BOOKS, 228. + ---- ---- some early, 16. + Jonson, Ben, lost works of, 13. + _Judith, the Famous Historie of_, 11. + + Karslake's _Notes from Sotheby's_, 162. + Keats' _Endymion_, 113. + Keeper of the Abbey muniments, 54 n. + Kempis, Thomas a, 217. + Kennet, Bishop White, 210. + _King Glumpus_, 189. + Koberger, Anton, 176. + + L'Abbe's _Bibliotheca_, 155. + La Colombiere, books by, 235-6. + La Fontaine, Jean de, 39. + La Marche, Olivier de, 215. + La Monnoye, Bernard de, 154. + Lang, Andrew, on Elzeviers, 21. + ---- his imperfect books, 112. + Large Copper, story of a, 116-117. + Large Paper copies, 203. + LAW, books on, 240. + Lawler's _Book-Auctions_, 187. + _Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse_, 15. + _Library, the_, by A. Lang, 21. + Library, 'laying down a,' 230. + Libraries, two old country, 19-20. + Lion d'Or, the, 29. + LITURGIES, books on, 241. + LOCALLY-PRINTED BOOKS, 241. + London, books hidden in, 18. + Londonderry, medal of the siege of, 253. + _Long Meg of Westminster_, 16. + Lost books, 10-21. + Louis IX (St.) and the Saracens, 90. + Louis XIV., his monument, 253. + Louvre library, the, 134. + Lovelace's _Lucasta_, 120. + Lowndes' _Bibliographer's Manual_, 161. + LYCANTHROPY, books on, 255. + + Mackenzie, Sir G., quoted, 192. + MAGIC, books on, 253-6. + Maid of Kent, the, 13. + Maimbourg, Louis, 186. + Malory, Sir Thomas, 95-99. + ---- his _Morte d'Arthur_, 13, 88, 95-101. + ---- and Caxton, 98, 99. + Malta, the Knights of, 200-1, 214. + MANNERS, books on, 223. + _Manners, the Book of Good_, 14. + _Mansfield Park_, 113. + Margaret of Scotland, 17. + Markham's housewife, 239. + ---- _Thyrsis and Daphne_, 13. + Mariner's Mirror, the, 252. + Marmol, Luis del, 209-210. + Marprelate Tracts, 256. + MATHEMATICS, books on, 243. + MASQUES, books on, 226, 232. + Maunsell, Andrew, 181. + MEDICAL BOOKS, 245. + ---- ---- a collector of, 42. + _Meg of Westminster_, 16. + Melanchthon, Philip, 59. + MEMOIRS, 213. + Menestrier's _Louis le Grand_, 252. + MILITARY BOOKS, 247. + Milton, quotations from, 88, 94, 95, 105, 127, 193. + ---- his _Comus_, 191. + MINSTRELS, books on, 232. + MIRACLE PLAYS, books on, 232. + MODERN AUTHORS, valuable works of, 188-193. + ---- ---- bibliographies of, 231-2. + Monastic rules, 34. + MONSTERS, books on, 255. + Montluc, Blaise de, 110-111. + Montmorency, Henri, duc de, 215. + MOON LORE, 255. + MORALITIES, books on, 232. + More's _Defence of Women_, 16. + Morte d'Arthur, _see_ Malory. + Mouse, the painted, 196. + MUSIC, books on, 248. + _Myriobiblon_, 55. + MYSTERIES, books on, 232. + + NAPOLEON, books on, 249-250. + NATURAL HISTORY, books on, 250. + NAUTICAL BOOKS, 251. + _Neuf Preux, le Triomphe des_, 89, 216, 228. + _New England Canaan_, 211. + Newspapers, on reading, 64. + Newton, Sir I., bibliography of, 244. + Nightingale, Miss, on interruptions, 33. + Night working, 35. + _Nigramansir_, the, 11. + Normandy, Robert of, 201. + Notes, editors', 70. + Novels, on reading, 63. + ---- the first, 84-85. + NUMISMATICS, books on, 252. + + Occleve, 90. + OCCULT, books on the, 253. + Olaf, King, 201. + _Optimates_, by L. Humphrey, 4. + Ordnance, mediaeval, 49. + _Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire_, 190. + Ormsby, John, on romances, 86. + Osorio's _De Gloria_, 4. + Ovid's _Metamorphoses_, by Caxton, 11. + _Oxford Books_, by Mr. F. Madan, 165. + + PAGEANTS, books on, 226. + Painted Mouse, a, 196. + _Palmerin d'Olive_, 205. + Palsgrave, John, 15. + PAMPHLETS and TRACTS, 256. + Panzer's _Annalen_, 165. + _Pappe with an Hatchet_, 256. + _Passionate Pilgrim, the_, 10. + _Pastissier Francois, le_, 21-28. + ---- ---- prices of, 21, 24, 25. + Paston Letters, the, 20. + Pedigree hunting, 40. + 'Pegs,' 102. + _Perceforest_, quotation from, 92. + ---- description of, 93 n. + 'Peregrine' volumes, 242. + Peron, the, 95-97. + PHILOSOPHY, books on, 258. + Photius, 55. + _Pilgrim's Progress, the_, 66. + Pinson, Gheerart, 243. + Place des Victoires, monument in the, 253. + PLAYS, books on old, 226. + Pliny on Seclusion, 36. + POETRY, 258. + _Poems by Two Brothers_, 189. + ---- _on Various Occasions_, 189. + Pollard, Mr. A. W.'s _Fifteenth-Century Books_, 165-6. + Pollio, Asinius, 133. + Pope on Curll, 185. + ---- quotation from, 68. + Portugal, a convent in, 17. + PRAYER BOOKS, works on, 241. + Precentor, the, 33 n. + Prescriptions, some early, 246. + PRESSES, CELEBRATED, 219. + PRICES OF BOOKS, 189-192, 227-8. + ---- ---- some early, 179. + ---- ---- on determining, 171-173. + _Prices of Books_, Wheatley's, 173-4. + PRINTERS' MARKS, books on, 169-170. + Printers, Mr. McKerrow's _Dictionary of_, 183. + Prior, his pirated _Poems_, 9, 10. + PRISONS, books on, 225. + PRIVATELY-PRINTED BOOKS, 203-4, 259. + PROCLAMATIONS, 221. + Proctor's _Early Printed Books_, 165. + Prophecies, a book of, 255. + Provence, a monk of, 37. + PSEUDONYMS, books on, 168. + Pynson, Richard, 11, 14, 15. + + Quaritch's _General Catalogue_, 162. + Querard's _Supercheries Litteraires_, 169. + Quotations, doubtful origin of, 56, 57. + ---- wrongly assigned, 57 n. + + Rabelais, translations of, 76. + Racine and Heliodorus, 86. + Rainman, John, 177. + Ratdolt, Erhart, 176. + READING, the art of, 59-70, 78, 81-83. + ---- wide, 79-81. + REBELLION TRACTS, 221, 222. + REBINDING, 109-116. + Recommending books, 59. + Regnault, Francois, 181. + Rene d'Anjou, 87. + REVOLUTION, THE FRENCH, 82, 233. + Rigging, an authority upon, 43. + ROGUERY, books on, 225. + ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY, 86-90, 227, 228. + Romance, the spirit of, 94-5, 102. + ROSICRUCIANS, books on the, 255. + Rouen, an old inn at, 26. + Round Table at Winchester, the, 100, 101. + Rowlands' Tracts, 225. + Roydon Hall, 20. + + St. Amand, Gerard de, 52. + St. Augustine on Varro, 154. + St. Bernard on Solitude, 35. + St. Honorat, the monk of, 37. + St. Katherin of Siena, 21. + St. Louis and the Saracens, 90. + St. Margaret's _Devotional_, 17. + ---- ---- _Life_, by Pynson, 11. + Sallengre's _L'Elogie de l'Ivresse_, 186. + Sanchez's _Bibliografia Aragonesa_, 170. + SARACENIC literature, 209. + Savaron, Jean, 248. + Savonarola's Compendium, 255. + _Sawyer, Tom, The Adventures of_, 66. + Sayle's _Books at Cambridge_, 165. + Schiller, translations of, 76. + Schoeffer's catalogue, 174. + SCHOOL BOOKS, OLD, 259. + Scipio Africanus, quoted, 38, 57 n. + Scott, Dr. E. J. L., 54 n. + _Scott's Last Expedition_, 69. + SEA, books on the, 251-2. + SEALS, books on, 236. + Seilliere, Baron A., the library of, 22 n, 227. + Seymour, Richard, Esq., 187. + SHAKESPEAREANA, 218, 219. + Shakespeare's _Passionate Pilgrim_, 10, 228 n. + ---- Plays, 14, 17. + ---- _Titus Andronicus_, 17. + Sharon Turner on digressions, 52. + ---- on Romances, 88. + Shelley, quotation from, 38. + ---- _Adonais_ and _Queen Mab_, 189, 190. + ---- _Original Poetry_, 190. + SHELVES, 128-134. + Ships, an authority upon old, 43. + 'Shorn lamb' proverb, 56. + Skelton, John, lost books by, 11. + Slater's _Early Editions_, 191. + Solitude, 35-39. + Sophocles, translations of, 71. + Sotheby on block-books, 166. + SOUTH SEAS, books on the, 207. + Southcote Manor-house, 244 n. + Spanish folios, 129. + SPECIALISM, the advantages of, 194 _seq._ + Specialists, subjects of, 202-3. + _Speculum_, Caxton's, 14. + _Speculum Principis_, Skelton's, 11. + Spenser, quoted, 31. + SPORT, books on, 260. + ---- definition of, 260 n. + Stael, Madame de, 52. + Staining bookshelves, 131, 132. + ---- leaves of books, 149. + STAINS, removing, 146-149. + 'Stationers,' 177. + Sterne, Laurence, 56. + Sweynheim and Pannartz, 179. + Syon College library, 12, 21. + + Taylor, Bayard, 75. + Tennyson, A. and C., 189. + ---- _Helen's Tower_, 192. + Terence, a Giunta, 3, 4. + Thackeray's _Flore et Zephyr_, 189. + ---- King Glumpus, 189. + Theagenes and Chariclea, 85. + THEOLOGY, 263. + _Thesaurus Cornucopiae_, 171-172. + Thomas Aquinas, 37. + Thomas a Kempis, 217. + Thomason, George, 257. + _Thyrsis and Daphne_, 13. + Titles, some curious, 256-7. + _Titus Andronicus_, 17. + TOBACCO, books on, 263. + Tombs, the desecration of, 103-105. + TOPOGRAPHY, books on, 264. + TRACTS, 256. + TRADES, books on, 264. + Traveller, the library, 44-48. + TRIALS, books on, 225. + _Triomphe des Neuf Preux, le_, 89, 216, 228. + Tristram on a white horse, 88. + Trunk, an old, 18. + Trusler's _Honours of the Table_, 223. + Turner, Sharon, on Digressions, 52. + ---- on Romances, 88. + + University Don, a widely read, 79-81. + Upton, Nicholas, 5-8. + Urquhart, Sir Thomas, 76. + + Varro, St. Augustine on, 154. + Vaughan, Stephen, 15, 16. + Vellum, brown, 138. + ---- perishable, 138. + _Venus and Adonis_, 14, 228 n. + 'Venus de Milo,' 133 n. + Verard, Antoine, 166, 176. + 'Victor and Cazire,' 190. + Vincent's _True Relation_, 211. + Virgil, translations of, 72. + Voragine, Jacobus de, 217. + + Wace, quoted, 93. + _Wager_, H.M.S., the loss of, 47. + 'Wagstaffe, Theophile,' 189. + Walloon printer, a, 243. + Walton's _Compleat Angler_, 191, 192. + 'Wargus,' 105. + Warton, Thomas, 11. + WASHING AND CLEANING, 146-149. + Wechel, Christian, 178-9. + WEREWOLVES, books on, 255. + Westminster Abbey muniments, 54 n. + Wheatley's _Prices of Books_, 173-174. + Willems, Alphonse, 24, 187. + Willer, George, 177, 178. + William the Conqueror, 201. + Winchester, 95-102. + ---- ancient customs of, 102. + ---- Castle hall at, 100, 101. + WITCHCRAFT, books on, 255. + Wolvesey Castle, 101. + Worde, Wynkyn de, 13, 14, 15, 21. + Wordsworth, quoted, 36, 77, 95. + + Ximenes, Cardinal, 36, 37. + + Yale, the, 250-1. + + ZOOLOGY, books on, 250. + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 81, "adminster" changed to "administer" +Page 101, "seul a" changed to "seul a" +Page 267, "pere" changed to "Pere" +Page 273, "Litteraires" changed to "Litteraires" + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Book-Hunter at Home, by P. 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