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diff --git a/38345.txt b/38345.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82dda9f --- /dev/null +++ b/38345.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5893 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Book Collecting, by John Herbert Slater + +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: Book Collecting + A Guide for Amateurs + +Author: John Herbert Slater + +Release Date: December 19, 2011 [EBook #38345] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK COLLECTING *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Margo Romberg and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + BOOK COLLECTING + + A GUIDE FOR AMATEURS + + BY + + J. H. SLATER + + Editor of _Book Prices Current_; formerly Editor of _Book Lore_; + Author of _The Library Manual_; _Engravings and their Value_; _The + Law relating to Copyright and Trade Marks_, etc., etc. + + LONDON + + SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. + + PATERNOSTER SQUARE + + 1892 + + + + +[Illustration: AN OLD PRINTING PRESS. + +From the _Quintilian of Vascosan_, folio, _Paris_, 1538.] + + +THE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. + + + + + CONTENTS. Page. + + CHAPTER I. 1 + + CHAPTER II. 12 + + CHAPTER III. 20 + + CHAPTER IV. 25 + + CHAPTER V. 34 + + CHAPTER VI. 44 + + CHAPTER VII. 51 + + CHAPTER VIII. 62 + + CHAPTER IX. 74 + + CHAPTER X. 100 + + CHAPTER XI. 112 + + + PRINCIPAL SECOND-HAND BOOKSELLERS IN THE + UNITED KINGDOM WHO PUBLISH CATALOGUES. 121 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT--THE LIBRARY OF THE MEMNONIUM--THE + ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY--GREECE AND ROME--MONASTIC MANUSCRIPTS--THE + DISCOVERY OF PRINTING--THE BOOK HUNTERS OF THE PAST--THE BOOK + HUNTERS OF TO-DAY--BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AIDS. + + +The Bibliophile, as he is somewhat pedantically termed, probably dates +his existence from the time when books began to be multiplied in +sufficient quantities to render the acquisition of duplicate copies by +the public a matter of possibility, but his opportunities of amassing a +large number of volumes can hardly be said to have arisen until many +years after the invention of printing. + +The most ancient manuscript extant has been identified with the reign of +Amenophis, who ruled in Egypt no less than 1600 years before the +Christian era, and this manuscript, old as it is, shows such superior +execution that there can be little, if any, doubt that caligraphy in its +oldest--that is, its hieroglyphic--form must be referred for its origin +to a period still more remote. Diodorus Siculus relates that Rameses II. +founded a library in one of the chambers of the Memnonium at Thebes, and +deposited therein the 42 sacred books of Thoth, which had they been in +existence now would be nearly 5000 years old. In those days, however, +education was looked upon as the peculiar property of the priesthood; +the library had sealed doors; even the very books themselves must have +been wholly unintelligible to all but the favoured few whose duty it was +to preserve them with religious care. All the early Egyptian manuscripts +extant have served in their day an ecclesiastical rather than a secular +object, and all of them abound with mythological stories more or less +recondite. To use the art of writing for any less sacred purpose would +have been held disrespectful to the educated class and resented +accordingly. Ptolemy Sotor, who reigned over Egypt about the year 280 +B.C., appears to have been the first to break through the artificial +barrier which the priestcraft of age upon age had succeeded in building +up; and his magnificent twin library at Alexandria, known as the +Bruchium and Serapeum, which was partly stocked with the confiscated +books of travellers who touched at the port, became in course of time +the most famous in the world, and would most probably have been so at +this day had it not been destroyed by Theodosius and his army, as a +sacrifice at the shrine of ignorance and superstition. With the +destruction of the library at Alexandria, containing, as it did, books +which can never be replaced, the literary importance of the Egyptians +came to an end; thenceforward all that remained was the consciousness of +having instructed others better able to preserve their independence than +they were themselves. Yet after all it is somewhat extraordinary that +Egypt should have been not merely the first to encourage a love of +literature, but also the last; for simultaneously with the destruction +of the Bruchium and Serapeum were ushered in the first centuries of the +dark ages, when the ability to read and write was looked upon as +unworthy the status of a free man, unless indeed he were a priest, and +when fire and sword were brought into requisition for the purpose of +annihilating everything that suggested mental culture. + +In the eras which intervened between the reign of Rameses the +Constructor and that of Theodosius the Destroyer, Pisistratus had +founded his public library at Athens, and collected the poems of Homer +which had previously been scattered in detached portions throughout +Greece; and Plato, the prince of ancient book hunters, had given no less +than 100 attic minae--nearly L300 of our money--for three small treatises +of Philolaus the Pythagorean. Aristotle too, unless he has been sadly +maligned, thought 300 minae a fair exchange for a little pile of books +which had formerly belonged to Speusippus, thereby setting an example to +that French king of after ages who pawned his gold and silver plate to +obtain means wherewith to purchase a coveted copy of Lacertius, as +Gabriel Naude calls the great Epicurean biographer. In Rome also +Lucullus had furnished his house with books and thrown open his doors +to all who wished to consult them. Atticus the famous publisher had +turned out a thousand copies of the second book of Martial's _Epigrams_, +with its 540 lines of verse, bound and endorsed in the space of a single +hour, and the booksellers carried on a flourishing trade in their shops +in the Argeletum and the Vicus Sandalarius, exhibiting catalogues on the +side posts of their doors exactly as the second-hand dealers in London +and elsewhere do now. Of all this vast enterprise of Greece and Rome not +a trace remains: only the sepulchral writings of mother Egypt and the +clay tablets of Assyria. + +History tells us how the luxurious rich of Athens and Rome regarded +their books as so many pieces of furniture, and engaged learned slaves +to read aloud at their banquets; and if the example of Plato were +followed to any extent, doubtless large sums of money were spent on rare +originals which had passed through the hands of a succession of +dilettanti, and acquired thereby a reputation for genuineness, which +they could not have gained in any other manner. Seneca indeed ridicules +the vulgar emulation which prompted some of his contemporaries to +collect volumes of which, he says, they knew nothing except the +outsides, many of them possibly barely that. It has been ever so: in +England to-day there are many who would have felt the lash of Nero's +tutor across their shoulders. + +When the public no longer took pleasure in mental culture, and the whole +world was overrun with hordes of barbarians intent upon destruction, +learning of every kind was banished to the monasteries, and the monks +became the only book lovers, making it their business to transcribe, +generation after generation, the volumes which had been saved from the +general conflagration. It is entirely through their efforts that the old +classics have been preserved to our day; we have to thank them, and them +alone, for the preservation of the Bible itself. Even in the +monasteries, however, the same spirit of emulation which had prompted +Greek to compete with Greek, and Roman with Roman, became apparent in +course of time. Ordinary transcripts, though never numerous, began to be +looked upon as hardly pretentious enough, and the larger houses +established _scriptoria_, where trained monks sat the livelong day, +painfully tracing letter after letter on the purest vellum, while +Bibliolatrists added illuminated borders and miniatures in a style that +would task the skill of our best artists of to-day. This competition +led to the exchange of manuscripts, or to their loan for a brief period, +so that by degrees monastic libraries assumed large proportions, +numbering many hundreds of neatly bound volumes, which, on being opened, +looked as though printed, so accurately and carefully had the copying +been done. This explains how Fust, the inventor, or one of the +inventors, of printing, was enabled to deceive the people of Paris, for +he flooded the market there with printed copies of the Bible which he +sold for 50 crowns each, instead of for 400 or 500 crowns, which would +have been a fair price had they been in manuscript. The book buyers of +Paris _thought they were in manuscript_, until the recurrence of one or +two defective types cast from the same matrix caused an inquiry. Fust +was arrested, not for the fraud but for witchcraft, and to save his life +he explained his process. Thus did the old order give place to the new. + +In a very few years after the discovery of Fust's secret the whole of +the western portion of Europe was dotted with printing presses. Before +1499 there were 236 in operation; and six years after Gutenberg had +completed his Bible of 42 lines there were no less than 50 German cities +and towns in which presses had been established. Considering that this +only brings us down to about the year 1462, it is evident with what +rapidity the art of printing was seized upon through the length and +breadth of the country of its probable origin. + +In 1475 our own famous printer Caxton was being instructed in the office +of Colard Mansion at Bruges, and in 1477, if not earlier,[1] he settled +as a printer at Westminster, thus laying the foundation of our English +industry and establishing a native press which has continued to grow +year by year until it has assumed its present enormous proportions. +Authorities, however, point out that improvement in the art of printing +did not come by age or experience, for, curiously enough, the +science--for such it really is--was almost perfect from its origin, and, +so far as this country is concerned, has distinctly deteriorated since +the death of Caxton and his pupils Wynkyn de Worde, Faques, and Pynson. +The typefounders of that early period were as expert as many at the +present day and immeasurably superior to most. The greatest care appears +to have been exercised in the casting, and competition did not engender +the slovenly haste which is only too apparent in many of our modern +publications. It is probable that, simultaneously with the introduction +of printing into England, a certain limited few, most likely +ecclesiastics and powerful nobles, would commence to collect works from +the press of Caxton, and subsequently from the foreign presses. In 1545 +the Earl of Warwick's library consisted of 40 printed books, in 1691 +that of the Rev. Richard Baxter of 1448. It is not until a comparatively +modern period that any single man has been able to mass together +thousands of volumes during the course of a single lifetime, for it is +only recently that printing has been used on every trivial occasion, and +in the manufacture of books which would originally have been deemed +unworthy of the application of the art. + +At the present day books constitute one of the necessities of life and +private libraries one of its luxuries. The collector has such ample +scope for the exercise of his favourite pursuit that it has long since +become a question not so much of accumulating a large number of +miscellaneous volumes, as of exercising a rigid discrimination and +confining one's attention to works of a certain class, to the almost +entire exclusion of all others. Thus, some book hunters collect first, +or, at any rate, early, editions of popular modern authors, such, for +example, as Dickens, Thackeray, and Lever; others collect old editions +of the Scriptures, a few, the expensive early printed volumes which are +every year becoming absorbed into the public libraries, and consequently +growing more scarce. A small number attempt to form an extensive +all-round library, but they rarely, if ever, succeed, partly because +life is too short for the purpose, and money too limited in quantity. +Occasionally a large collection comes to the auctioneer's hammer, but in +nearly every instance it will be found that it represents the labours of +several generations of owners, each of whom has contributed the +principal publications of his day or taken advantage of any proffered +bargain which he may have happened to come across during the course of +his lifetime. + +The book lover however is not content with mere acquisition, he feels it +his duty to know something of the inner life, so to speak, of each +volume on his shelf--something, that is to say, beyond the outside +lettering. He wishes to know the chief incidents in the history of the +person who wrote it, under what circumstances it was written and why, +how many editions have been published, whether the particular copy is +perfect, how much it is worth from a pecuniary point of view, and +occasionally the nature of the contents. The word "occasionally" may be +considered by some as used in an objectionable sense, implying in fact +that book lovers are not always in the habit of reading what they +possess. Let the collector of Bibles say whether he is in the habit of +reading the various editions which he has been at such pains to collect, +and it will then be time enough to inquire into the practices of other +collectors who, like himself, though in different departments, may not +consider themselves justified in spending the amount of time necessary +for careful and satisfactory study. In truth, if all books were read, it +is only reasonable to suppose that all libraries would be small; and, as +we know the contrary to be the fact, we must acknowledge the truth of +the main proposition to a very large extent. The happiness of the book +lover, as we know him when in the plenitude of his glory, consists by no +means in reading, but in the contemplation of his possessions from afar; +an inane treatise on theology becomes the object of his daily prayers +when bound in morocco and stamped with the Golden Fleece of Longepierre. + +In this short dissertation we have but little to do with the contents of +any book. This knowledge can be acquired as circumstances and +opportunity offer; we deal rather with extraneous details which are +necessary to be known by everyone who aspires to form a collection of +books for himself and would know something of the history of each. + +Every bibliographer, and also every collector of any eminence, has +within reach certain books of reference which experience has shown to be +absolutely necessary. Chief among these is Lowndes' _Bibliographer's +Manual_ of which two editions have been issued. The first was published +in 1834; the second in seven parts from 1857-61, with an appendix volume +in 1864, having been re-issued from the stereotype plates without a date +in 1871. The latter may frequently be picked up at auction sales for +about 25s., but there is this peculiarity about the work, that it really +would not seem to be very material which edition is purchased. The book +is imperfect and full of errors: it cannot be relied on, and the second +edition, which was edited by the late Mr. H. G. Bohn, the eminent +bookseller, is as untrustworthy as the first edition. The original plan, +which has never been departed from, was to give the names of English +authors in alphabetical order, placing under each the title of the works +he wrote, with the date of each edition, number of volumes, in many +cases the collation, and finally the sums realised at auction. Nothing +fluctuates so greatly as auction values, and it is not surprising, +therefore, to find that not a single entry in Lowndes under this head +can be accepted at the present day. Some of the variations between past +and present prices are ludicrous in the extreme, and there is no doubt +that anyone who attempted to obtain his knowledge of the value of books +from Lowndes' _Manual_ would find himself in possession of a mass of +old-time information which would be rather a hindrance to him than +otherwise. The _Manual_ is useful because it gives a full and tolerably +complete list of English authors, and collates many of their works with +considerable care; it is, moreover, the authority quoted by cataloguers, +and, being a copyright publication, practically bars the way to any +rival work on the same subject. For these and other reasons it is +indispensable. + +To ascertain the value of a book is an exceedingly difficult operation; +in fact, there are many who assert that it is impossible to do so. +Booksellers' prices, as disclosed in their catalogues, are not much to +go by, for it is notorious that a West End dealer will often charge more +than one who is established further East. Again, some London booksellers +charge more or less than provincial ones, according to circumstance and +the character of their customers. Until recently there were only two +ways of becoming an adept in this department, the first and best by +practical experience, a method which is not, of course, available to any +but dealers and their assistants; and the second, by indexing retail +catalogues and striking an average. A third method, that of taking the +average of auction sales, was not available until recently, for it is +too troublesome, for any save those whose business it is, to attend +sales by auction all day long for nine months out of the twelve, in +order to obtain the necessary materials. + +In 1886, I conceived the idea of fully reporting all sales of any +importance taking place either in London or the provinces, and in +December of that year the necessary arrangements were completed, with +the modification that for the present, at any rate, no notice was to be +taken of any book which did not realise at least 20s. by auction. This +publication, the success of which amply demonstrates the necessity for +its existence, is named _Book Prices Current_, and already five volumes +are published, and a sixth will be ready at the beginning of next year +(1893). As a book of this kind would be useless without a full index, +the greatest possible care has been taken to make it as complete and as +accurate as possible. From _Book Prices Current_ a very good idea of the +average value of almost any book may be obtained. Careful note of the +way in which the particular volume is bound must, of course, be taken, +for this, as might be expected, makes a great difference in the price. + +The French are supposed to be much better bibliographers than our own +countrymen, and if the character of the authoritative works published in +either country is a criterion of national merit there cannot be much, if +any, doubt that this is so. Lowndes' _Bibliographer's Manual_ takes no +notice of books published abroad, and, as they are in the majority, it +becomes necessary to seek an additional guide. This is afforded by +Brunet's _Manuel du Libraire et de l'Amateur de Livres_, published at +Paris in 6 vols. from 1860-65, and usually found, with the Appendix on +_Geographie_, 1870, and 2 vol. _Supplement_, 1878-80. In its place it is +a much better book than Lowndes', but it is very expensive, frequently +bringing as much as L10 and L12 by auction. Here again, however, the +values are quite unreliable, and, as in the case of Lowndes', there is +no index of subjects whatever. From the three works mentioned very much +may undoubtedly be learned about almost any book provided the author's +name be known; but as it frequently happened that many authors chose, +for reasons satisfactory to themselves, to conceal their names +altogether, or in the much commoner instance of the name being forgotten +by or unknown to the searcher, an index of subjects becomes a necessity. +This is partly supplied by Watt's _Bibliotheca Britannica_ in 4 vols. +4to, 1824, two volumes being devoted to authors and two to subjects, +there being also cross references from one to the other. This +inestimable work occupied the author the greater portion of his life, +and is a monument of industry and research. The auction value amounts to +L3 within a fraction, this being one of the few books which has a fixed +market price all over the kingdom. Good copies in handsome bindings +frequently occur, and are worth L4 to L5. The _English Catalogue_, +initiated by the late Mr. Sampson Low, is a periodical which makes its +appearance annually, and, unlike all the other works I have mentioned, +is confined entirely to current literature. The title of every work +published during the year is given, with the month in which it was +issued, the price, and publisher's name, the whole being arranged in one +line under the name of the author. At intervals, which do not appear to +be strictly defined, collective editions of these annual catalogues, +arranged in one alphabet, are published, as well as of the indexes of +the _titles_ which are appended to each annual issue.[2] + +It is obvious that a work of this kind must be of the greatest utility, +and as the _English Catalogue_ is merely a continuation of the _London +Catalogue_ and the _British Catalogue_, the former of which commenced so +far back as the year 1811, it will be seen that a comprehensive view can +be taken of the whole range of English literature from that date to the +present. The _Catalogue_ has not, however, always been so carefully +prepared as it is now, and consequently in the earlier days many +publications were omitted. When this is the case Lowndes and Watt will +be found of material assistance, the latter especially. A complete set +of these catalogues, unfortunately, is very difficult to obtain, and as +the earlier ones are not indispensable, it may be perhaps advisable to +forego them and to commence in 1814. The volumes to be acquired +therefore would be _London Catalogue_, 1816-51; _English Catalogue_, +1835-63, 1863-71, 1872-80, 1881-89; with the accompanying subject +indexes to the _London Catalogue_, 1814-46; and to the _English +Catalogue_, 1835-55, 1856-75, 1874 (_sic_)-80. It will be noticed that +the dates sometimes overlap each over, but this is an advantage rather +than a drawback. Among the other books frequently consulted by both +dealers and amateurs are Mr. Swan Sonnenschein's _The Best Books_; the +_Reference Catalogue of Current Literature_, and Halkett & Laing's +_Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain_, +in 4 vols. These are mentioned together because they are essentially +subject indexes and the best of their kind. + +Sonnenschein's _The Best Books_, already in a second and vastly improved +edition, is a comparatively recent publication, in which, under subjects +arranged systematically, are placed the best current books, whether +ancient or modern, on each subject, with the prices, sizes, publisher's +name and dates of the first and last editions of each. There are about +50,000 works included, and they together give a very good idea of all +the material in the various departments of research which the specialist +is likely to have occasion to read or refer to. Old books are included +where they are of actual present-day value to the student. The selection +is not, of course, entirely made by the author, as it is impossible for +him to have read a hundredth part of the books recommended; most +probably the list has been compiled from the works of specialists, the +various encyclopaedias, and so forth; but however this may be, it is a +very useful one in the hands of a person capable of discrimination +(towards which the numerous critical and bibliographical notes and the +system of asterisks are a great help), especially if he live near one or +other of the large libraries now springing up in different parts of the +country. + +The _Reference Catalogue of Current Literature_, a cumbrous and unwieldy +tome, the last issue of which was out of print within a couple of months +of its publication, consists of a large number of publishers' catalogues +arranged in alphabetical order. Each work mentioned is indexed, and this +has been accomplished so fully and accurately that almost any book to be +bought new in the market makes its appearance here. + +Halkett & Laing's _Dictionary_ is, as the title implies, a record of the +anonymous and pseudonymous literature of Great Britain. If an author +wrote under an assumed name or anonymously, his real name will be found +here, together with a short account of his publications. This work can +hardly be said to be indispensable, but it is, notwithstanding, +exceedingly useful, and well worth the three and a half guineas which +will have to be expended upon it. + +Among other works which at one time were thought more of than they are +now is Quaritch's _Catalogue of Books_, in one thick volume, 1880, and a +supplement which is back-dated 1875-7. The chief value of this lay not +only in the prices, which were, as in every other bookseller's +catalogue, appended to the items, but in the extraordinary number of the +entries, which cover the whole range of British and foreign literature. +Even now the work is useful, but there is no doubt that it is gradually +decreasing in importance, owing to the high-class works of reference +which have lately made their appearance. As to values, _Book Prices +Current_ gives them much more satisfactorily than any bookseller can +pretend or afford to do, while most of the bibliographical notes and +references are to be found in one or other of the works I have +mentioned. + +The collector who, as yet, is not sufficiently advanced to fully realise +the difficulties he will have to surmount before he can bring together a +judicious assortment of books, will at any rate begin to see that the +knowledge requisite to enable him to do so is of no mean order. The +preliminaries will take him a long time to master, and he will find that +the expense is a factor by no means to be despised. Even the books +mentioned are not all that he may have to procure, for if, after +consideration, he should decide to devote his attention exclusively to +one branch of Bibliography, there are other books of reference to be +purchased, and a special course of study must be entered upon and +carefully followed, if he would hope to be successful. Thus, should he +decide to make Dickens or Thackeray his one author, as so many people +are doing now, he will need a guide to direct his course. Memory is so +treacherous that he can take nothing on trust, and time so short that he +cannot afford to journey two sides of the triangle when he might have +taken the third. These special works for special departments are set out +and enlarged upon in the following chapter, but before referring to them +it may not be superfluous to remind the reader that a book of reference +only possesses a relative value. It is quite possible to have a whole +library within reach and yet to be ignorant of the proper method of +using it. Some of our best writers had no library worthy the name, but +the few books they had they knew--knew, that is to say, how to extract +the information they required, which book to consult, how it was +arranged, and what might be expected of it. Though a book collector is +not necessarily a book reader, he will have to be absolute master of his +works of reference, or he will find every volume on his shelf a useless +incumbrance. Where to possess all the absolute facts is of importance, +the newest works are, generally speaking, most likely to be the best; +but this is very far from being applicable to a library in all its +departments. Yet even in the case of works of a general nature a careful +and economic selection may be made, so as to cover, in a small compass, +much valuable ground. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers_, Caxton's first book +which bears a date, was finished in November, 1477; and it is upon the +strength of this that the Caxton Quarcentenary Festival was held in +1877. There can be little doubt, however, that he printed many books of +which no copies remain, some of which were probably earlier than _The +Dictes_. + +[2] In the annual volume for 1891 a new scheme has been started, the +authors and titles entries appearing in _one_ alphabet in "dictionary +form". + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + THE FIRST ENGLISH AUCTION SALE--FASHION IN BOOK + COLLECTING--SPECIAL BOOKS OF REFERENCE RELATING TO PARTICULAR + BRANCHES OF BIBLIOGRAPHY. + + +The first sale of books by auction which is recorded as having taken +place in England was held in Warwick Lane exactly 213 years ago, and Dr. +Lazarus Seaman, whose library was dispersed on the occasion in question, +appears to have confined his attention strictly to Latin Bibles of the +16th century, the cumbrous works of the Puritan divines, and the great +editions of the Fathers--huge folios thought so little of that, allowing +for the change in the value of money, they can now for the most part be +bought from the booksellers for less than they could then at auction. +The reason which prompted this old collector to limit his purchases to +works of a single class was in all probability much the same as that +which prevails under similar circumstances at the present time, namely, +a natural desire for finality, the outcome of an experience which shows +plainly enough that in order to form a complete collection of anything +its scope must be reduced to the smallest possible compass. As a matter +of fact Dr. Seaman appears to have embarked on a somewhat extensive +undertaking, for in the period mentioned by far the greater majority of +works issued from the press were of a religious nature. Still the +incident is valuable from an antiquarian point of view, as it forms a +good precedent for a large body of modern collectors who, like Seaman, +follow the prevailing fashion of the day. This fashion on being analysed +will be found to vary at different periods and to be of longer or +shorter duration according to a variety of circumstances which appear to +be entirely without the range of argumentative discussion. + +In the year 1699, for example, a book was published, entitled +_Entretiens sur les Contes de Fees_, in which one of the characters is +described as saying, "For some time past you know to what an extent the +editions of the Elzevirs have been in demand. The fancy for them has +penetrated far and wide to such an extent, indeed, that I know a man who +starves himself for the sake of accumulating as many of these books as +he can lay his hands on." In the chapter devoted to the Elzevir press, +these important publications are treated as fully as space permits, so +that at present it will be sufficient to say that for nearly 200 years +many generations of collectors have made painstaking attempts to form a +complete library of these little books, which, after all, excel only in +the quality of the paper and the beauty of the type. For real scholarly +merit the editions of Gryphius or Estienne are much to be preferred, but +this makes no difference. The Elzevirs were fashionable, much more so +than they are now, and accordingly they were valued. It is, moreover, +quite possible that they may again rise in popular favour, in which +event those far-seeing individuals who are even now imitating the +example of the collector mentioned in the _Entretiens_ will reap a rich +harvest in case they choose to avail themselves of it. The great +guide-book on the productions of this famous press is that by Alphonse +Willems, entitled _Les Elzevier, Histoire et Annales Typographiques_, +published at Brussels in 1880, with the _Etudes sur la Bibliographie +Elzevirienne_ of Dr. G. Berghman, a kind of supplement to it, published +at Stockholm in 1885.[3] + +Each publication is given in the order in which it was issued, and what +will be found especially useful is an appendix containing a list of the +spurious Elzevirs issued from the Dutch presses and of the forgeries +which have from time to time been foisted on the confiding amateur. With +the assistance of this work, the Elzevir collector cannot go very far +wrong, though he will undoubtedly have much to learn from his own +practical experience. He will become more or less perfect in his lesson +in time, and may take comfort in the reflection that nothing so quickly +ensures perfection as a limited series of bad mistakes. As examples of +the Elzevir press are of "right" and "wrong" editions, with and without +red lines, and are, moreover, usually measured in millimetres with the +assistance of a rule which the enthusiastic collector invariably carries +about with him wherever he goes, it is evident that there is much to +learn and a great deal to be carried in the memory before the amateur +can trust himself to become his own mentor. + +Difficult as the subject of the Elzevir press is, that of the Aldine +press is more so. It was established much earlier--_viz._, about +1489--and examples are more numerous and altogether more confusing. As a +general rule they are also more expensive, and none but rich collectors +can afford to compete for examples of the best class. Still, good +specimens may occasionally be got for reasonable sums; and as a guide to +the subject as a whole Renouard's _Annales de l'Imprimerie des Alde_ +(1st ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1803; 2nd, 3 vols., _ib._, 1825; 3rd, 1 vol., +_ib._, 1834) occupies a unique position. This work is arranged on a +similar plan to the _Elzevier_ and is quite as indispensable to the +specialist. An ordinary copy of the 2nd ed. will cost about 30s., but +the more recent edition can sometimes be got for considerably less. + +Those fortunate persons who succeed in forming a good library of early +printed books usually consult Dibdin's _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_, which +professes to be nothing more than a descriptive catalogue of books of +the 15th century in the incomparable collection of Earl Spencer. It is, +however, full of notes by one of the best of English bibliographers. The +British Museum _Catalogue of Early Printed Books in English_, 3 vols., +1884, which is carried down to 1640, and Maitland's _Early Printed Books +in Lambeth Library_, 1843, carried down to 1600, are also frequently +consulted. These works are of course supplementary to Lowndes' +_Bibliographer's Manual_ and Watt's _Bibliotheca Britannica_, which, as +previously explained, are on the shelves of every collector worthy the +name, be he a specialist or not. The department of early printed books +may, however, be left without further comment, as not one person out of +many thousands is able for obvious reasons to devote his serious +attention to it. Public libraries and similar institutions, which may be +said to have a continuing existence, frequently contain a good show of +works of this class, and, in the opinion of many, are the only suitable +repositories for them. + +Privately printed books are those which are issued either from a private +press or for the benefit of private friends. They are never published in +the ordinary acceptation of that term, and cannot be bought at first +hand. A good collection of these is of course difficult, though by no +means impossible, to acquire; and for the benefit of those who may wish +to devote themselves to this department--uninteresting as it undoubtedly +is--Martin's _Privately Printed Books_ (1834, 2nd ed., 1854), in 1 vol. +8vo, is readily available. Many of these so-called "books" consist +merely of single sheets of letterpress; others, on the contrary, are +more pretentious. In the former case they are more correctly termed +"broadsides"; and R. Lemon's _Catalogue of the Collection of Broadsides, +in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries_ (8vo, 1866), though by +no means a perfect book, is certainly the best that can be procured for +our purpose. + +Early printed American books, or those which in any way relate to the +American Continent, provided only they were published during the 16th or +17th centuries, have lately become exceedingly scarce. In June, 1888, +nine small quarto tracts, bound in one volume, brought, L66 by auction, +a record entirely surpassed by the preceding lot, which, consisting of +twelve similar tracts only, brought no less a sum than L555. These +prices are of course highly exceptional; but so great is the desire to +obtain books of this class that the amounts in question, exorbitant +though they may appear to be, were perhaps not excessive. + +The amateur may in this instance follow the rule with every confidence. +Should he at any time see a work relating to America, no matter where +printed so long as it is dated before the year 1700, he should on no +account pass it by without very careful consideration; and the same +remark applies, though to a less extent, to all books printed in +Scotland before that date. In both cases it is probable that the +specimen offered for sale will have a most unprepossessing exterior, and +in some instances the price asked may be small. This frequently happens, +since the more uneducated class of dealers commence by valuing a book +from its appearance, and while a coloured plate or two would at once put +them on the _qui vive_ there is generally nothing about books of this +kind which _looks_ valuable. It is no disparagement to the trade as a +whole to say that some booksellers, particularly those who carry on +business in small provincial towns, are absolutely ignorant of anything +more than the first principles of their trade, and it is out of these +that bargains are made. Henry Stevens' _Catalogue of the American Books +in the Library of the British Museum_ (1886, 8vo) is from the pen of a +late famous bookseller who made many "bargains" in his time and whose +profound knowledge of the insides as well as of the outsides of his very +valuable collection was in every way worthy of his success. + +Shakespearian collectors cannot do better than consult the article +"Shakespeare" in Lowndes' _Bibliographer's Manual_, where every known +edition, translation, and commentary professes to be catalogued and also +in many cases collated and described. Some of Halliwell-Phillipps' +works, though not absolutely indispensable, are nevertheless exceedingly +useful. + +Bible collectors do not as a rule notice editions later than what is +styled the "Vinegar" Bible, published in 1717. They commence with +Coverdale's issue of 1535, and proceed onward in regular order, for the +most part arranging their collection not according to date but under the +various "versions". This subject is very extensive and exceedingly +difficult to handle, so much so that, without a competent guide, it will +be found impossible to make satisfactory progress. This is provided in +Cotton's _Editions of the Bible and Parts thereof in English_ (1821, 2nd +ed., 1852), and J. R. Dore's _Old Bibles_ (1876, 2nd ed., 1888). Mr. +Dore is probably the best living authority upon English Bibles and +Testaments, and his book is in itself amply sufficient for the amateur. +It is published by Eyre & Spottiswoode at 5s. + +For works on botany consult Pritzel's _Thesaurus Literaturae Botanicae_ +(Leipsic, 1847-51, 2nd ed., 1872-7, 4to); and for books exclusively +relating to tobacco, some of which are very rare and valuable, W. +Bragge's _Bibliotheca Nicotiana_ (priv. prin., r. 8vo, 1880). + +Angling and the whole of the literature devoted to it is dealt with in +Westwood's new _Bibliotheca Piscatoria_ (1883), and swimming in R. +Thomas' _Bibliographical List of Works on Swimming_ (1868, 8vo). + +The Greek and Latin Classics were at one time great favourites with all +classes of collectors, but of late they have fallen considerably from +their high estate. Many of the early editions, being printed by famous +houses, as the _editio princeps_ of Virgil's works was, which sold for +L590 at the Hopetoun House dispersion, a few months ago, are still +eagerly sought after, but not _qua_ classics--merely as specimens of +ancient typography. Ordinary editions of Horace, Virgil, Sallust, Plato, +Livy, and the rest can be bought now for a fourth or fifth part of the +sum they would have cost thirty or forty years ago, and, from all +appearances, they are likely to decline still further in the market. The +great work on this subject is Dibdin's _Rare and Valuable Editions of +the Greek and Latin Classics_ (2 vols., 1827), which can sometimes be +bought by auction for as little as L1. + +Art books are so numerous, and so readily subdivided into an infinite +number of classes, that they are rarely, if ever, collected as a whole. +Amateurs invariably use the _Universal Catalogue of Books on Art_, which +was compiled by order of the Lords of the Committee of the Council on +Education, and published between the years 1870-7 (in 3 vols. sm. 4to). +It is a work that would be exceedingly difficult to improve upon, though +as time goes on it will of course be necessary to add to it. + +Works on Shorthand are catalogued by J. W. Gibson (Pitman & Sons, 1887), +on Magic and Witchcraft in Scribner's _Bibliotheca Diabolica_ (New York, +1874), while books on music and all about them are noted in C. Engel's +_Literature of National Music_ (1879, 8vo). + +We now come to the point when a short description of the more modern +methods of book collecting becomes a matter of necessity. For some years +it has been the fashion to collect not so much works of a certain class +as of particular authors, chiefly those which are embellished with +plates. By common consent first editions are, with a few exceptions, +alone worthy of note; and it is also an axiom that where a book was +originally published in parts, those parts must on no account be bound +up in volume form. If the collector should be so ill advised as to bind +the parts, notwithstanding the decrees of fashion to the contrary, he +may save his position no little by binding in the title-pages and also +the lists of advertisements, but if he neglects to do this, then his +case is hopeless. This is an example of the ridiculous rules which have +been laid down by a generation of autocratic book lovers, not one of +whom could in all probability give a satisfactory reason for his +_dicta_. It is, however, the rule, and will have to be followed, since +great pecuniary loss is certain to follow the slightest infraction of +it. Although the amateur does not buy his books to sell again, still I +apprehend it is a satisfaction to know that, in case he should ever be +compelled, though against his will, to sell them, he will be able to do +so without losing by his bargain. Original editions of Dickens' works +find a ready market, at ever-increasing prices; but in addition to his +better-known books, the very titles of which have now become household +words, there are others which are not so generally known, such, for +example, as the _Curious Dance_, the _Village Coquettes_ and many small +pieces which are scattered about the pages of the magazines, and are +usually classed under the heading _Dickensiana_. The same remarks, but +even perhaps to a still greater extent, apply to Thackeray and his +works, for that great author worked for many years before his genius +became recognised. The bibliographer who has smoothed the way for the +Dickens and Thackeray collector is Mr. C. P. Johnson, in his _Hints to +Collectors of Original Editions of the Works of Charles Dickens_ (1885), +and his _Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of the Works of W. M. +Thackeray_ (1885). + +The same author's _Early Writings of William Makepeace Thackeray_ (1888) +contains a list of all the pieces which can now be identified, and of +the places where they are to be found, so as to put it readily in the +power of the biographer, the collector, and the student to refer to them +if he will. The _Snob_, _Gownsman_, _National Omnibus_, _National +Standard_, _The Constitutional_, and _Fraser's Magazine_ all contain +essays, articles, or tales from his able pen, which, but for Mr. +Johnson's patient efforts, might have been lost in course of time, when +the evidence to identify them would have been wanting. + +Bibliographies of the works of Carlyle, Swinburne, Ruskin, and Tennyson, +as well as those of Dickens and Thackeray, have been compiled by R. H. +Shepherd, and of the works of Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and Lamb by Alexander +Ireland. + +That famous artist George Cruikshank illustrated a large number of +books, all of which are eagerly sought after by certain bodies of +collectors. As in the case of other illustrated books, the value mainly +depends upon the earliness of impression of the plates, and the +condition; and consequently original editions are more highly esteemed +than those which followed. Some capacity for judging engravings is +required of the amateur who makes this branch of the subject a +speciality, but in other respects he will find almost everything he is +likely to require in G. W. Reid's _Descriptive Catalogue of the Works of +George Cruikshank_ (London, 1871, 8vo). + +Bewick collectors have an infallible guide in the Rev. T. Hugo's _Bewick +Collector, a Descriptive Catalogue of the Works of T. and J. Bewick_ +(published, with the supplement, in 2 vols., 1866-8, 8vo). It is related +of this author that he once found a battered and ragged specimen of a +child's book got up on strong-laid paper by the famous engraver. Only +one or two copies are known to exist, as Bewick found the enterprise too +expensive to pay, and accordingly discontinued it. The owner of this +treasure was an old woman, who had derived her infant ideas of lions and +tigers from its well-thumbed leaves, and who refused to part with an old +friend, though sorely and even desperately pressed to do so. + +How often is the enthusiastic book hunter thwarted when his hopes are on +the point of being realised; how often must he succumb to what he may +consider to be nothing better than prejudice or obstinacy? This is a +question which every amateur learns in time to answer for himself. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] To those who do not read French or do not possess _Les Elzevier_, +Mr. Goldsmid's _The Elzevir Presses_, published as part of his +_Bibliotheca Curiosa_, may be of some assistance. It is a species of +compendium of the work of M. Willems, and was issued in 1889. It is +somewhat faulty and incomplete; but not without its value to beginners +in the study of the Elzevir press. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + PAPER-MAKING--DIFFERENT SIZES OF PAPER--DIFFERENT SIZES OF + BOOKS--MEASUREMENTS WATER-MARKS--BOOKS TO CONSULT. + + +The mould used by paper-makers is a kind of sieve of an oblong shape, +bottomed with the very finest wire strands, all of which run +horizontally from end to end. From top to bottom, and about an inch +apart, are placed "chain wires," and on the right-hand side of the mould +the wire water-mark, which, together with the wire-marks, appears +semi-transparent. The reason of this is that both water-mark and wires +are slightly raised, and of course the pulp is thinner there than +anywhere else. Any ordinary sheet of paper held up to the light will +show this, and serve to extra illustrate the following diagram. + +[Illustration: PAPER-MAKER'S MOULD: JUG WATER-MARK.] + +Here CDEF is the mould which the workman drops into a vat of pulp, the +fine strands run from G to H all the way down the mould, AA, &c., are +the chain wires, and B is the water-mark, in this case a jug. The water +in the pulp of course runs through the sieve, leaving a layer of soft +matter, which after a while hardens into a sheet of paper. The +water-mark was at one time the trade mark of the maker, but subsequently +became merely a symbol denoting the size of the sheet of paper before it +was folded. The smallest sheet was water-marked with a jug, as above, +and termed "pot"; the next had a cap and bells, hence our term +"foolscap"; the next a horn, hence "post". Others had a "crown," and so +on. At the present day all water-marks have once more become trade +symbols, and cannot be depended upon to afford any evidence of size; but +at one time--_i.e._, before the year 1750--this was not so, and, +therefore, these water-marks, irrespective of their antiquarian value, +serve a useful purpose--namely, to point out in cases of doubt whether +any given book is an octavo, quarto, or folio, or a variation of any of +these sizes. + +To refer once more to the diagram. Take a sheet of paper supposed to +have come from the mould and double it in half at the line AX. The +water-mark will in that event appear in the centre of the half sheet, +and the folded paper is of folio size. Now fold the paper the contrary +way, and the water-mark will appear at the bottom, but cut in half; the +paper thus folded is quarto (4to). Now fold it the contrary way again, +and a section of the water-mark will appear at the top; the paper thus +folded is octavo (8vo). We can go on folding, and in every subsequent +case the watermark will appear at the edges, while, as the paper gets +smaller and smaller, the sizes are styled 12mo, 16mo, 32mo, and so +forth. + +In the example given, a book made of the sheet of paper in question +would be a pot folio, pot 4to, pot 8vo, and so on; but as larger-sized +papers were used, another book might be a post 8vo, or a crown 4to, &c., +according to circumstances. + +As stated, this is one way of finding out the size of an old book; but +there is another way--by means of the "signatures," which consist of +small letters or figures at the foot of the page of nearly every book. +The leaves (not pages) must be counted between signature and signature, +and then if there are two leaves the book is a folio, if four a 4to, if +eight an 8vo, if twelve a 12mo, if sixteen a 16mo, and if thirty-two a +32mo. Take, as an example, this very book you hold in your hand, and it +will be found that there are eight leaves between signature and +signature; hence it is an 8vo, though a small one, owing, of course, to +the small size of the paper from which it has been made, _viz._, crown. +Had it been a little smaller (still preserving its oblong shape) it +would have been a foolscap 8vo, if somewhat larger a demy 8vo, if larger +still a royal 8vo, and largest of all imperial 8vo. The quartos and +folios are governed by identical rules, and hence in the trade the sizes +of books are very numerous. + +Simple as this method of computation may appear, a great deal of +controversy has taken place on the subject--so much so, indeed, that +there are people to be found who stoutly maintain, and adduce proof to +show, that what looks like a 4to is in reality an 8vo, or _vice versa_. +It would be out of place to enter into a discussion of this nature, and, +therefore, I should advise the young collector to count the leaves +between signature and signature, and to abide by the result, regardless +of all the learned arguments of specialists. If there are no signatures, +and the book is an old one, then study the position of the water-mark. + +As examples, it will be sufficient to note that the _Illustrated London +News_ is folio, _Punch_ is 4to, and the _Cornhill_ and nearly all the +monthly magazines are large 8vos. There is a large number of varieties +of each size, but on the whole books which approximate to the sizes of +magazines are of the sizes named. Occasionally in judging by the eye in +this manner a mistake may be made; but of one thing there is no doubt, +that a vast amount of argument would have to be expended upon the +subject before the judgment could be proved to be wrong. + +Paper-makers at one period made their sheets in frames of a given size, +so that it was a comparatively easy matter to distinguish the size of a +book at a glance. Now-a-days, however, there appears to be but little +uniformity in this respect, and the difficulty is consequently +considerably increased. The following measurements will, however, be +found approximately correct, and they may be utilised in a practical +manner by taking a sheet of brown paper of the required size and folding +it as previously mentioned, thus forming crown 8vos, crown 4tos, +elephant folios, &c., at will. The practice is good, and it will not +need to be often repeated. + + A sheet of foolscap measures about 17 in. x 13 in. + " post " 19 in. x 15 in. + " crown " 20 in. x 15 in. + " demy " 22 in. x 17 in. + " royal " 24 in. x 19 in. + " imperial " 30 in. x 22 in. + " elephant " 28 in. x 23 in. + " atlas " 34 in. x 26 in. + +The only paper used, as a general rule, for making up into 8vo books is +foolscap, post, crown, demy, royal, and imperial; 4to books are made up +of all the sizes; though elephant and atlas are chiefly devoted to +folios. + +I now take leave of this branch of the subject, and return to +water-marks, which, as previously stated, were formerly used, as they +are now, for trade marks, and as trade marks only. + +Before the year 1320, paper was very rarely used to write upon, but +still there are a few examples of it having been so employed extant, the +chief of which is an account-book preserved at the Hague, commencing +with the year 1301. The water-mark on the paper of this book is a globe +surmounted by a cross, while on paper of a little later date the rude +representation of a jug frequently appears. The globe and the jug are +consequently the most ancient water-marks yet discovered, and these +became the principal marks on paper, then exclusively manufactured in +Holland and Belgium. The "can and reaping hook" appeared a little later, +so did the "two cans," the "open hand," and the "half _fleur-de-lis_," +all executed, as might be expected, in the rudest possible manner. + +The Holbein family at Ravensburg--a town famous to this day for the +manufacture of paper--used a "bull's head". Fust and Schoeffer (_circa_ +1460) used a "clapper" or rattle, which has a somewhat curious history. +At Ravensburg there was an hospital for lepers, and whenever any of the +inmates had occasion to leave the building he was strictly enjoined to +flourish a rattle with which he was provided, so that healthy folk could +get out of his way. Paper made at the town is often found marked with +the rattle, that having grown, by reason of its frequent use, into an +institution of the place. + +The next marks in point of date are in all probability the "unicorn," +"anchor," and the "P" and "Y," the initials of Philip of Burgundy and +his wife Isabella, who were married in 1430. + +The famous English printer Caxton (_c._ A.D. 1424-91)[4] used the +"bull's head" paper from Ravensburg, the "P" and "Y," the "open hand," +and the "unicorn"; sometimes even the "bunch of grapes," which came from +Italy. + +The first folio of Shakespeare's works (1623) has paper marked with a +"fool's cap" among other devices. The "post horn," another favourite +device, which has given the name to a particular size of paper--namely, +"post"--was first used about the year 1670, when the General Post Office +was established, and it became the fashion for the postman to blow a +horn. + +In modern times paper-marks have become so numerous that it would be +next to impossible to classify them; nor would it be of much advantage +to the book collector even if it could be done. With old marks it is +different, for _fac-simile_ reprints of scarce and ancient volumes are +frequently detected by looking at the water-mark on the paper. Of +course, this also may be imitated, but there is often considerable +difficulty in attaining the requisite degree of perfection; and, under +any circumstance, some little knowledge of the early history and +appearance of water-marks will be found useful as well as interesting. +The best books to consult on the subject are Herring's _Paper and +Papermaking_ and Sotheby's _Principia Typographica_, 1858, the latter of +which is a masterpiece of learning and constructive skill. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] It is very improbable that Caxton was born in 1412, as nearly all +his biographers state, but about ten or twelve years later. Evidence of +this is contained in the records preserved at Mercers' Hall, Cheapside, +London, where his name is inscribed as having been apprenticed in the +year 1438, the age at which apprenticeship was entered upon being most +commonly between twelve and fourteen years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + THE COLOPHON--TITLE-PAGE--THE FIRST BOOK WITH A + DATE--COLLATING--ROMAN NOTATION--LATINISED NAMES OF PLACES, + WITH THEIR MODERN EQUIVALENTS. + + +It must be borne in mind that the title-page of a book, though +constituting a very old method of showing at a glance the nature of the +contents, together with the place of publication and frequently also the +date, is by no means the earliest means of attaining that object. The +title-page, such as we see it, was first adopted in England in 1490, the +year before Caxton's death, having been introduced on the Continent in +1470;[5] but previously--and, indeed, for some years after that +date--the _Colophon_ was in general use. + +The term "Colophon" has its origin in the Greek proverb, "to put the +colophon to the matter," that is, the "finishing stroke," and contains +the place or year (or both), date of publication, printer's name, and +other particulars considered necessary at the time for the +identification of the volume. It frequently commences somewhat after the +following form: _Explicit liber qui dicitur_, &c.[6] The colophon, +moreover, is always found on the last page, and sometimes takes the form +of an inverted pyramid. In the early days, when the printer was not +unfrequently author or translator as well, the completion of a work upon +which he had probably been engaged for many months--or, perhaps, in some +instances, years--was rightly regarded as matter for much +self-congratulation, as well as for thanks to the Divine Power, by +whose permission alone he had been enabled to persevere. Hence the +_Psalterium_ of Fust and Schoeffer, a folio of 175 lines to the page, +and remarkable as being the first book in which large capital letters, +printed in colours, were employed, has for its colophon a very +characteristic inscription, which may be translated as follows:-- + +"This book of Psalms, decorated with antique initials and sufficiently +emphasised with rubricated letters, has been thus made by the masterly +invention of printing and also type-making, without the writing of a +pen, and is consummated to the service of God through the industry of +Johann Fust, citizen of Mentz, and Peter Schoeffer, of Gernsheim, in the +year of our Lord MCCCCLVII., on the eve of the Assumption". + +This Psalter is also the first known book which bears any date at all, +and for that and other reasons is one of the most highly prized of +volumes. + +From what has been said, the reader will no doubt clearly understand +that it does not follow that, because an old book is minus a title-page, +it is necessarily imperfect. He should turn to the last leaf for the +colophon; but should that be wanting also, it is probable that the book +is deficient, though even this is not a conclusive test. In cases of +doubt the volume must be _collated_, that is, critically compared with +some other specimen: each leaf must be examined carefully, and notes +made of any differences that may appear during the course of the +examination. There is a business-like way and the reverse of tabulating +these notes, so much so that an adept can see at a glance whether it has +been performed by a competent man. The following is the collation of a +copy of the first edition of the famous Genevan version of the Bible +printed by Rowland Hall in 1560, 4to: "Four prel. leaves. Text, Genesis +to ii. Maccabees, 474 ll. folioed, N. T. 122 leaves, 'A Briefe Table' HH +h iii to LLl iii., 13 ll. followed by 1 p. 'The order of the yeres from +Paul's conversion,' &c., rev. blank." + +At first sight this may appear somewhat technical, but when a few of +these collations are compared with actual copies of the works to which +they refer, there will be no difficulty in understanding all the rest. +The above, for instance, would read, when set out at full length, as +follows: "There are four preliminary leaves, and then follows the Bible +text proper, which, from Genesis to the 2nd of Maccabees, is on 474 +numbered leaves. The New Testament, which follows, has 122 leaves; then +comes 'A Briefe Table,' extending from signature HH h iii to LL l iii, +and comprising 13 leaves, followed by one page, 'The order of the yeres +from Paul's conversion,' &c. The reverse side of this page is blank." +The words "page" and "leaf" have distinct meanings, the latter, of +course, containing two of the former, unless, indeed, one side happens +to be blank, as in the above example. If both sides are blank, the +description would be simply "i 1 blank". + +From 1457--the date of Fust and Schoeffer's Psalter, already described +as being the first printed book disclosing on its face the year of +publication--until comparatively recent times, it was customary to use +Roman numerals on the colophon or title-page, as the case might be. This +system of notation is so well understood, or can be so speedily mastered +from almost any arithmetical treatise, that it is hardly worth while to +enlarge upon it here. On some old books, however, there is a dual form +of the "D" representing 500, which is sometimes the cause of +considerable perplexity; e.g., MI[C]XL standing for the year 1540. In +this example the I[C] is equivalent to D; in fact, it would appear +as if the former numeral were merely a mutilation of the latter. Again, +the form CI[C] is equivalent to M or 1000. A few instances will make the +distinction apparent:-- + + M I[C] XXIV} + or M D XXIV} = 1524; + + CI[C] I[C] CLXXXV} + or M D CLXXXV} = 1685; + + CI[C] I[C] CLXI} + or M D CLXI} = 1661. + +The only part of a title-page which gives any real difficulty to a +person who has a fair knowledge of the Latin language, in which most of +these old books were printed, is the name of the place of publication, +which, being in a Latinised form, frequently bears but a slight +resemblance to the modern appellation. Dr. Cotton, many years ago now, +collected a large number of these Latin forms, partly from his own +reading and partly from the works of various bibliographers who had +chanced occasionally to mention them in their works, and at the present +day his collection stands unapproachable in point of the number of +entries, as well as in general accuracy. The use of this compilation +will be apparent to those who have occasion to consult it even for the +first time, while to advanced collectors, who are not satisfied with +mere possession, it will be found indispensable. The title-page of a +book now before me runs as follows: "_Kanuti Episcopi Vibergensis Quedam +breves expositos s legum et jurium cocordantie et allegatioes circa +leges iucie_"; at the foot is "Ripis, M. Brand, MI[C]IIII". The question +immediately arises: Where is Ripis, the place where the book was +evidently printed by Brand? The best gazetteer may be consulted in vain, +for the title is obsolete now; it is, in fact, the Roman name for Riben, +a small place in Denmark. In like manner, Firenze frequently stands for +Florence, Brixia for Breschia, Aug. Trinob. (Augusta Trinobantum) for +London, Mutina for Modena, and so on. This being the case, some kind of +tabulation becomes absolutely necessary, and the best that occurs to my +mind is to place the Latin titles of all the chief centres of printing +in alphabetical order, and append to each the English equivalent. The +date is that of the first book known to have been printed at the +particular town against which it is set. As the list is not complete, +and could not be made so without the sacrifice of a great deal of space, +the reader is referred to Dr. Cotton's _Typographical Antiquities_ for +any further information he may require. The omissions will be found, +however, to consist, for the most part, of unimportant places, from many +of which only some half-dozen books or less are known to have been +issued, so that the following list will be found sufficient in the vast +majority of cases:-- + + 1486. Abbatis Villa Abbeville. + 1621. Abredonia Aberdeen. + 1493. Alba Acqui (in Italy). + 1480. Albani Villa St. Albans. + 1501. Albia Albia (in Savoy). + 1480. Aldenarda Oudenarde. + 1473. Alostum Alost (in Flanders). + 1467. Alta Villa Eltville, or Elfeld (near Mayence). + 1523. Amsteloedamum Amsterdam. + 1476. Andegavum Angers. + Aneda Edinburgh. + 1491. Angolismum Angouleme. + 1482. Antverpia Antwerp. + 1482. Aquila Aquila (near Naples). + 1456(?). Argentina, or Argentoratum Strassburg. + 1477. Asculum Ascoli (in Ancona). + 1474. Athenae Rauracae Basle. + 1517. Atrebatum Arras. + 1469. Augusta Vindelicorum Augsburg. + 1480. Augusta Trinobantum London. + 1481. Auracum Urach (in Wurtemberg). + 1490. Aurelia Orleans. + 1490. Aureliacum Orleans. + 1497. Avenio Avignon. + 1462. Bamberga Bamberg. + 1478. Barchine Barcelona. + 1497. Barcum Barco (in Italy). + 1474. Basilea Basle. + 1470. {Berona, or} + {Beronis Villa} Beron Minster (in Switzerland). + 1487. Bisuntia Besancon. + 1471. Bononia Bologna. + 1485. Bravum Burgi Burgos. + 1472. Brixia Breschia. + 1475. Brugae Bruges. + 1486. Brunna Brunn. + 1476. Bruxellae Brussels. + 1473. Buda Buda. + 1485. Burgi Burgos. + 1484. Buscum Ducis Bois-le-duc. + 1478. Cabelia Chablies (in France). + 1480. Cadomum Caen. + 1475. Caesar Augusta, or Caragoca Saragossa. + 1484. Camberiacum Chambery. + 1521. Cantabrigia Cambridge. + 1497. Carmagnola Carmagnola. + 1622. Carnutum Chartres. + 1494. Carpentoratum Carpentras. + 1486. Casale Major Casal-Maggiore. + 1475. Cassela Caselle (in Piedmont). + 1484. Chamberium Chambery. + 1482. Coburgum Coburg. + 1466. Colonia Cologne. + 1466. Colonia Agrippina Cologne. + 1466. Colonia Claudia Cologne. + 1460. Colonia Munatiana Basle. + 1466. Colonia Ubiorum Cologne. + 1474. Comum Como. + 1516. Conimbrica Coimbra. + 1505. Constantia Constance. + 1487. Cordova Cordova. + 1469. Coria Soria (in Old Castile). + 1500(about). Cracovia Cracow (Poland). + 1472. Cremona Cremona. + 1480. Culemburgum Culembourg (in Holland). + 1478. Cusentia Cosenza. + 1475. Daventria Deventer (in Holland). + 1477. Delphi Delft. + 1491. Divio Dijon. + 1490. Dola Dol (in France). + 1564. Duacum Douay. + Eblana Dublin. + 1509. Eboracum York. + Edemburgum Edinburgh. + 1440(?). Elvetrorum Argentina Strassburg. + 1491. Engolismum Angouleme. + 1482. Erfordia Erfurt. + 1472. Essium Jesi (in Italy). + 1473. Esslinga Esslingen (in Wurtemberg). + 1531. Ettelinga Etlingen. + 1471. Ferrara Ferrara. + 1471. Firenze Florence. + 1472. Fivizanum Fivzziano (in Tuscany). + 1471. Florentia Florence. + 1495. Forum Livii Forli (in Italy). + 1504. Francofurtum ad Moenum Frankfort on the Maine. + 1504. Francofortum ad Oderam Frankfort on the Oder. + 1495. Frisinga Freysingen. + 1470. Fulgineum Foligno (in Italy). + 1487. Gaietta Gaeta. + 1490. Ganabum Orleans. + 1483. Gandavvm, or Gand Ghent. + 1478. Geneva Geneva. + 1474. Genua Genoa. + 1483. Gerunda Gerona (in Spain). + 1477. Gouda Gouda. + 1490. Gratianopolis Grenoble. + 1493. Hafnia Copenhagen. + Haga Comitum The Hague. + 1491. Hamburgum Hamburg. + 1491. Hamnionia Hamburg. + 1483. Harlemum (probably earlier date) Haarlem. + 1504. Helenopolis Frankfort on the Maine. + 1479. Herbipolis Wurtzburg. + 1476. Hispalis, or Colonia Julia Romana Seville. + 1483. Holmia Stockholm. + 1487. Ingolstadium Ingolstadt. + 1473. Lauginga Laugingen (in Bavaria). + 1483. Leida Leyden. + 1495. Lemovicense Castrum Limoges. + 1566. Leodium Liege. + 1503. Leucorea Wittemburg. + 1480. Lipsia Leipsic. + 1485. Lixboa Lisbon. + 1474(?). Londinum London. + 1474. Lovanium Louvain. + 1475. Lubeca Lubec. + 1477. Luca Lucca. + 1473. Lugdunum Lyons. + 1483. Lugdunum Batavorum Leyden. + 1499. Madritum Madrid. + 1483. Magdeburgum Magdeburg. + 1442(?). Maguntia Mayence. + 1732. Mancunium Manchester. + 1472. Mantua Mantua. + 1527. Marpurgum Marburg. + 1473. Marsipolis Mersburg. + 1493. Matisco Macon. + 1470. Mediolanum Milan. + 1473. Messana Messina. + 1500. Monachium Munich. + 1470. Monasterium Munster (in Switzerland). + 1472. Mons Regalis Mondovi (in Piedmont). + 1475. Mutina Modena. + 1510. Nanceium Nancy. + 1471. Neapolis Naples. + 1493. Nannetes Nantes. + 1525. Nerolinga Nordlingen (in Suabia). + 1480. Nonantula Nonantola (in Modena). + 1469. Norimberga Nuremberg. + 1479. Novi Novi (near Genoa). + 1479. Noviomagium Nimeguen. + 1533. Neocomum Neuchatel. + 1494. Oppenhemium Oppenheim. + 1468. Oxonia Oxford (the date is disputed). + 1477. Panormum Palermo. + 1471. Papia Pavia. + 1470. Parisii Paris. + 1472. Parma Parma. + 1481. Patavia Passau (in Bavaria). + 1472. Patavium Padua. + 1475. Perusia Perugia. + 1479. Pictavium Poitiers. + 1483. Pisa Pisa. + 1472. Plebisacium Piobe de Sacco (in Italy). + 1478. Praga Prague. + 1495. Ratiastum Lemovicum Limoges. + 1485. Ratisbona Ratisbon. + 1480. Regium Reggio. + 1482. Reutlinga Reutlingen. + 1484. Rhedones Rennes. + 1503. Ripa or Ripis Ripen (in Denmark). + 1467. Roma Rome. + 1487. Rothomagum Rouen. + 1479. Saena Siena. + 1480. Salmantice Salamanca. + 1470. Savillianum Savigliano (in Piedmont). + 1474. Savona Savona. + 1483. Schedamum Schiedam. + 1479. Senae Siena. + 1484. Soncino Soncino (Italy). + 1514. Southwark Southwark. + 1471. Spira Spires (in Pavaria). + 1465. Sublacense Monasterium. An independent monastery + about two miles distant from Subiaco, in the + Campagna di Roma. + 1484. Sylva Ducis Bois-le-duc. + 1471. Tarvisium Treviso (in Italy). + 1474. Taurinum Turin. + 1468. Theatrum Sheldonianum (the date is disputed) Oxford. + 1521. Tigurum Zurich. + 1479. Tholosa Toulouse. + 1480. Toletum Toledo. + 1473. Trajectum ad Rhenum Utrecht. + 1504. Trajectum ad Viadrum Frankfort on the Oder. + 1471. Trajectum Inferius Utrecht. + 1470. Trebia Trevi (in Italy). + 1483. Trecae Troyes. + 1440 (?). Tribboccorum Strassburg. + 1483. Tricasses Troyes. + 1476. Tridentum Trent (in the Tyrol). + 1498. Tubinga Tuebingen. + 1521. Turigum Zurich. + 1496. Turones Tours. + 1479. Tusculanum Toscolano (in Italy). + 1471(?). Ulma Ulm. + 1471. Ultrajectum Utrecht. + 1485. Ulyssipo Lisbon. + 1481. Urbinum Urbino. + 1474. Valentia Valentia. + 1474. Vallis S. Mariae {Marienthal (an Augustine monastery + {near Mentz, now suppressed). + 1469. Venetiae Venice. + 1485. Vercellae Vercelli. + 1470. Verona Verona. + 1487. Vesontio Besancon. + 1473. Vicentia Vicenza. + 1517. Vilna Wilna (in Russia). + 1482. Vindobona Vienna. + 1503. Vitemberga Wittemburg. + 1488. Viterbium Viterbo. + Vratislavia Breslau. + 1474. Westmonasterium Westminster. + 1475. Wirceburgum Wurtzburg. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] _Vide_ Pollard's _Last Words on the History of the Title-page_ +(Lond., 1891). + +[6] Some recent French publishers, such as Quantin and Rouveyre, have +imitated the practice in their editions for bibliophiles. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + THE REASONS WHICH MAKE A BOOK VALUABLE--SCARCITY--SUPPRESSED + WORKS--SOME BOOKS WHICH HAVE BEEN BURNED BY THE HANGMAN--WORKS + PRIVATELY SUPPRESSED--WORKS OF LIMITED ISSUE--TRANSACTIONS OF + LEARNED SOCIETIES--DEFECTS--"UNCUT" WORKS--IMPERFECT + COPIES--"MADE-UP" COPIES--FAC-SIMILE LEAVES--LAYING DOWN--BOOKS + PUBLISHED IN PARTS--LARGE-PAPER COPIES. + + +The reasons which contribute to make up the pecuniary value of a book +depend on a variety of circumstances by no means easy of explanation. It +is a great mistake to suppose that because a given work is scarce, in +the sense of not often being met with, it is necessarily valuable. It +may certainly be so, but, on the other hand, plenty of books which are +acquired with difficulty are hardly worth the paper they are printed +upon, perhaps because there is no demand for them, or possibly because +they are imperfect or mutilated. + +One of the first lessons I learned when applying myself to the study of +old books was never, on any account or under any circumstances, to have +anything to do with imperfect copies, and I have not so far had any +occasion to regret my decision. It is perfectly true that no perfect +copies are known of some works, such, for example, as the first or +1562-3 English edition of Fox's _Book of Martyrs_; but books of this +class will either never be met with during a lifetime, or will form, if +met with, an obvious exception to the rule. Fragments of genuine +Caxtons, again, sometimes sell by auction for two or three pounds a +single leaf, and even a very imperfect copy of any of his productions +would be considered a good exchange for a large cheque; but these are +exceptions and nothing more--exceptions, moreover, of such rare +practical occurrence as to be hardly worth noting. In the vast majority +of instances, when a book is mutilated it is ruined; even the loss of a +single plate out of many will often detract fifty per cent. or more from +the normal value, while if the book is "cut down" the position is worse. +This lesson as a rule is only learned by experience, and many young +collectors resolutely shut their eyes to the most apparent of truisms, +until such time as the consequences are brought fairly home to them. It +is exceedingly dangerous to purchase imperfect or mutilated books, or to +traffic in them at all. This position will be enlarged upon during the +progress of the present chapter. + +To return to the reasons which contribute to the value of a book, it may +be mentioned that "suppression" is one of the chief. This is a natural +reason; others are merely artificial, which may be in full force to-day +but non-existent to-morrow, depending as they do upon mere caprice and +the vagaries of fashion: with these I have, in this volume at any rate, +nothing to do. + +De Foe, in his _Essay on Projects_, observes: "I have heard a bookseller +in King James's time say that if he would have a book sell, he would +have it burned by the hands of the common hangman," by which he +presupposed the existence of some little secret horde which should +escape the general destruction, and which would consequently rise to ten +times its value directly the persecution was diverted into other +channels. This is so, for where an edition has been suppressed, and most +of the copies destroyed, the remainder acquire an importance which the +whole issue would never have enjoyed had it been left severely alone. +The Inquisition has been the direct cause of elevating hundreds of books +to a position far above their merit, and the same may be said of Henry +VIII., who sent Catholic as well as Protestant books wholesale to the +flames; of Mary, who condemned the latter; of Edward VI., who acquiesced +in the destruction of the former; and of Elizabeth and the two +succeeding sovereigns, who delighted in a holocaust of political +pamphlets and libels. + +The Inquisition, with that brutal bigotry which characterised most of +its proceedings, almost entirely destroyed Grafton's Paris Bible of +1538, with the result that the printing presses, types, and workmen were +brought to London, and the few copies saved were completed here, to be +sold on rare occasions at the present day for as much as L160 apiece. +There is nothing in the Bible more than in any other; it is not +particularly well printed, but it has a history, just as the Scotch +Bassandyne Bible has, though in that case the persecution was directed +against persons who _declined_ to have the book in their houses, ready +to be shown to the tax collector whenever he chose to call. One Dr. +James Drake, who in the year 1703 had the temerity to publish in London +his _Historia Anglo-Scotica_, which contained, as was alleged, many +false and injurious reflections upon the sovereignty and independence of +the Scottish nation, had the pleasure of hearing that his work had been +publicly burned at the Mercat Cross of Edinburgh, a pleasure which was +doubtless considerably enhanced when another venture--the +_Memorial_--shared the same fate in London, two years later. Drake had +the honour of hearing himself censured from the throne, of being +imprisoned, and of having his books burned, distinctions which some +people sigh for in vain at the present day. As a consequence, the +_Historia_ and the _Memorial_ are both desirable books, and Drake's name +has been rescued from oblivion. + +William Attwood's _Superiority and Direct Dominion of the Imperial Crown +of England over the Crown and Kingdom of Scotland_ (London, 4to, 1705) +is another book of good pedigree which would never have been worth the +couple of guineas a modern bookseller will ask for it, had it not been +burned by jealous Scotchmen immediately on its appearance. + +The massacre of St. Bartholomew produced a large crop of treatises, and +any contemporary book on the Huguenot side is worth preservation, for a +general search was made throughout France, and every work showing the +slightest favour to the Protestants was seized and destroyed. Among them +was Claude's _Defense de la Reformation_ (1683), which was burned not +only abroad, but in England as well, so great an ascendency had the +French Ambassador acquired over our Court. + +Bishop Burnet's _Pastoral letter to the Clergy of his Diocese_ (1689) +was condemned and burned for ascribing the title of William III. to the +Crown, to the right of conquest. The _Emilie_ and the _Contrat Social_ +of Jean Jacques Rousseau shared the same fate, as did also _Les +Histoires_ of d'Aubigne and Augustus de Thou. + +Baxter's _Holy Commonwealth_ went the way of all obnoxious books, in +1688; the _Boocke of Sportes upon the Lord's Day_, in 1643; the Duke of +Monmouth's proclamation declaring James to be an usurper, in 1685; +Claude's _Les Plaintes des Protestans_, in 1686. + +Harris' _Enquiry into the Causes of the Miscarriage of the Scots Colony +at Darien_ (Glasgow, 1700); Bastwicke's _Elenchus Religionis Papisticae_ +(1634); Blount's _King William and Queen Mary, Conquerors_, &c. (1692); +the second volume of Wood's _Athenae Oxoniensis_ (1793); De Foe's +_Shortest Way with the Dissenters_ (1702); Pocklington's _Sunday no +Sabbath and Altare Christianum_ (1640); Sacheverel's _Two Sermons_ +(1710); and Coward's _Second Thoughts concerning the Human Soul_ (1702), +were all burned by the hangman, and copies destroyed wherever found. + +Perhaps the most extraordinary instance of a work being destroyed for +positively nothing at all is furnished by Cowell's _Law Dictionary_, +which was sent to the flames by order of King James the First himself. +This dictionary, and indeed every one of the books mentioned as having +been subjected to the purification of fire, are now rare historical +landmarks, and consequently both extrinsically and intrinsically +valuable. Hence the reason of the high prices frequently demanded for +them and for other works of this class. + +The remaining copies of editions which were suppressed by their authors, +or which have escaped accidental destruction, are frequently of +considerable value. In the former class, Rochester's _Poems_ and Mrs. +Seymour's _Account of the Origin of the Pickwick Papers_ are prominent +examples; in the latter, the third folio edition of Shakespeare's Plays +(1664), almost the entire impression of which was destroyed in the Great +Fire of London. Dugdale's _Origines Juridiciales_ (London, folio, 1666) +was also almost entirely destroyed at the same time. Books coming under +one or other of these classes are to be met with, and the note-book +should always be at hand, so that a memorandum can be jotted down before +the reference is lost. This course is adopted by the most experienced +bibliographers, as well as by the amateur who wishes to become +proficient in a study which is pleasant and profitable when +conscientiously undertaken, but difficult and worse than useless to +those who will not take the trouble to learn the rudiments of their +science. + +Works of limited issue are sometimes, but not always, nor indeed often, +of especial value. It has been the practice for some years among +publishers to issue works on what is nothing more nor less than the old +subscription plan; but, unlike the hungry poets of old, who trudged the +streets taking the price of copies in advance, the publishers keep faith +with their subscribers. The edition is limited to a given number of +copies, after which the type is distributed, and the plates--if the work +is illustrated--broken up. Many speculators in books have endeavoured +from time to time to "corner" editions so limited in quantity, buying at +the published price, and subsequently selling again at an increased +amount. In this way considerable sums have been _lost_, for works +published on this plan have a decided tendency to fall in the market, +and when this is the case they seldom if ever recover their former +position. Hogarth's works, published in 1822, by Baldwin and Cradock, is +a very good example of this tendency. The work was originally issued at +L50, and the impressions, taken from Hogarth's original plates, +restored, however, by Heath, are consequently of full size. There is a +secret pocket at the end containing three suppressed and highly indecent +plates, which considerably add to the value. I myself have many a time +seen this large and sumptuous book knocked down in the auction room at +sums varying from L3 to L5, and once bought a good copy by private +contract for L4 10s. Ottley's _Italian School of Design_ is another +example. This work when on large paper, with proof impressions of the 84 +tinted fac-similes of original drawings by Cimabue, Giotto, Guercino, +and other famous painters, is worth about L3 by auction. The published +price in 1823 was no less than L25 4s. The issue of each of these works +was limited, but neither have succeeded in retaining its position in +popular favour, and in all probability will decline still further in the +market as time goes on. + +The lesson to be learned here is that such phrases as "only 100 copies +printed," or "issue strictly limited to 50 copies," frequently to be +observed in publishers' and auctioneers' catalogues, should be taken +_cum grano salis_. The description may be accurate, but it does not +follow that the limitation necessarily increases the value of the book. +On the contrary, it may be well imagined that the publisher hesitated to +launch the book entirely on its own merits, seeking rather the +extraneous inducement of a "limited number". The earlier editions of +Ruskin's works are an exception to the rule, for that author's +reputation is deservedly great, and he is, moreover, master of his own +books, which from choice he has, until the last year or two, preferred +to render difficult of access. + +Volumes of transactions and proceedings of learned societies usually +have a market value, which fluctuates much less than is usually the +case. These being supplied to members only, and rarely published for +purposes of sale, may be said to be both privately printed and limited +in issue at the same time. As a rule they increase proportionately in +value as the series becomes more complete, and a point once reached, +they generally maintain it. Hence works of this character are safe +investments--perhaps the safest of any. + +The result of every investigation into the causes which regulate the +value of books has shown conclusively that no publication is of great +worth merely _because_ it is scarce. The scarcity is a secondary and not +a primary cause. Highly appreciated English publications of the +sixteenth and two following centuries may be counted by thousands; but +the number of inferior treatises, which have long ago sunk into eternal +oblivion, which never were of any value, and never will be, are as the +sand on the sea-shore. + +However scarce and valuable a book may be, it must be remembered that +the element of perfection has yet to be taken into account. It does not +by any means follow that, because a copy of one of Shakespeare's 4tos is +worth L300, another copy of the same 4to edition will be of equal value. +It may be worth more or less, and here it is that the critical eye of +the _connoisseur_ and dealer tells. Defects, such as a tear in the cover +or any of the leaves, stains, worm-holes, and the like, detract from the +value; if these are entirely absent, the value may, on the contrary, be +raised above the average. The fact of a rare book being "uncut," and in +the original sound binding, clean, and free from blemishes, considerably +add to its value. + +The first part of a book to get worn out is the binding, for some one or +more of its previous owners are almost certain to have ill-treated it +either by bending the covers until they crack, or by leaving the work +exposed to the rain and damp. When the volume is coverless, and usually +not before, it will have been re-bound, and the binder will, in +ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, have trimmed the edges, that is +to say, planed them smooth with a machine he has for the purpose. +Sometimes he will have cut as much as half-an-inch from the top, and +nearly as much from the other edges; on other occasions, he may have +been more merciful; but the result is the same, the book is damaged +beyond hope of redemption, and the only question is as to the extent of +the injury. The term "uncut," so often seen in catalogues, is, +therefore, a technical term, meaning that the edges are left in the same +condition as they were when the book was originally issued. It does not +mean that the leaves are "not cut open," as so many people appear to +think, but simply that the binder, with a fine sense of what is due to a +volume of importance, has for once kept his shears in his pocket. The +value of a book which has been cut is reduced to an extent proportionate +to the quantum of injury inflicted: from 50 to 75 per cent. is the usual +reduction, but many works are altogether destroyed. If a scarce book is +sent to be re-bound, the binder should have the clearest instructions, +in writing, that he is not to trim the edges. Should he do so, +notwithstanding the direction, a by no means impossible contingency, he +will do it at his own risk, and can be made to suffer the consequences. + +Imperfect volumes are always a source of great inconvenience to the +collector. First-class bookselling firms will not allow an imperfect +book to leave their hands without notice to the purchaser, and, as a +consequence, they charge a higher price than would be the case if the +latter exercised his own judgment. There are mutual advantages to be +gained in dealing with first-class people, for, if a mistake is made on +one side or the other, there is usually no difficulty in rectifying it +afterwards. Fine old crusted book-worms of the John Hill Burton type +prefer, however, to exercise their own discretion in these matters, +looking upon that as no inconsiderable part of the pleasure to be +derived from the pursuit of their favourite occupation. They do not care +to pay for being taught, at least not directly, and make it part of +their business to find out for themselves whether a copy offered for +sale is perfect or the reverse. As each page is usually numbered, there +is no difficulty in ascertaining whether any are missing; not so with +the plates, for, unless there is an index to these, the loss of one or +two may hardly be noticed until the book comes to be collated with +another copy known to be complete. This is a risk which the book buyer +has to run, though, as a matter of practice, he protects himself when +the purchase is an expensive one, and the dealer a man of credit. + +In buying books at a cheap rate, or, in other words, when making a +bargain either at a shop or an ordinary street-stall, the purchaser will +have to observe the maxim, "Caveat emptor," and it will probably not be +until he arrives home with his treasure under his arm that he will have +the satisfaction of ascertaining that his bargain is a real one, or the +mortification of adding another imperfect book to the long row already +on his shelf. + +Imperfect books are frequently what is called "made up," that is, +completed from other copies, themselves imperfect in other respects. One +complete book is worth more than two incomplete ones, and many desirable +specimens, in the public libraries and elsewhere, are made up so well +that it is frequently impossible to detect the hand of the renovator. + +So long as all the leaves of a made-up book are of the same measurement, +there would not seem to be much objection to this practice, but there +certainly is when the paper of the interpolated leaves is different from +the rest, or smaller in size, which it will be if cut down by the +binder. Great care must be taken to see that neither of these defects is +present, especially when, from the value of a book offered for sale, it +may have been worth anyone's while to perfect it. + +Another point to be observed in the purchase of very expensive and +valuable works is, that none of the leaves have been fac-similed. These +fac-similes are done by hand, and frequently so well that they cannot be +detected without the aid of a strong glass. The late Henry Stevens tells +a good story of a customer of his--Mr. Lenox, of New York, the founder +of the Lenox Library, and a most indefatigable collector up to the last +hour of his life. "Mr. Lenox was," says Stevens, "principled against +raffles, wagers, lotteries, and games of chance generally, but I once +led him into a sort of bet in this way, by which I won from him L4. I +had acquired a fair copy of that gem of rare books, the quarto edition +of _Hariot's Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginea_ +(London, Feb., 1588), wanting four leaves in the body of the book. These +I had very skilfully traced by Harris, transferred to stone, printed off +on old paper of a perfect match, the book and these leaves sized and +coloured alike, and bound in morocco by Bedford. The volume was then +sent to Mr. Lenox to be examined by him _de visu_, the price to be L25; +but, if he could detect the four fac-simile leaves, and would point +them out to me without error, the price was to be reduced to L21. By the +first post, after the book was received, he remitted me the 20 guineas, +with a list of the fac-similes, but on my informing him that two of +_his_ fac-similes were originals, he immediately remitted the four +pounds, and acknowledged his defeat." + +This Harris, whose name is prominently mentioned, was probably the +greatest adept at this species of imitation who ever lived, and many +important but defective works, now in the British Museum, left his +hands, to all appearance, in first-rate order and condition. + +"Laying down" is a technical term used to express the process of +re-backing a torn plate or engraving. Many of the Shakespeare folios +have the portrait and verses by Ben Jonson laid down or "re-laid," as +the catalogues generally describe it. This, of course, can be detected +at a glance, and it may be stated positively that a laid-down plate, +frontispiece, or title is looked upon as a serious blemish, inferior +only to the entire absence of one or more of the three. + +Worm-holes, stains, fox-marks, and other flaws also detract from value; +but as many of these may be removed by a judicious application of proper +remedies, a special chapter will be reserved for their consideration. +The market value of a book is thus composed of many elements, the chief +of which is "condition"--above all things, a broad margin, and next, to +that, leaves of spotless white. + +I have already stated that where editions of the works of famous modern +authors containing plates were originally issued in parts, such parts +should, on no account, be bound up in volume form. The result of such a +course cannot be better illustrated than by taking the well-known +_Pickwick Papers_ as our example, and studying the following prices, all +realised at auction quite recently:-- + +_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, original ed., with +illustrations by Seymour & Browne, and the Buss plates, _complete in +numbers_, 1837, 8vo, L8 10s.; L12 14s.; L8 10s.; L6 5s.; L11 5s. + +_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, original ed. (_bound_), with +illustrations by Seymour & Browne, and the Buss plates, 1837, 8vo, L1 +(half calf), L1 1s. (half calf), L3 (calf extra), L2 12s. (half morocco +extra), L2 5s. (half calf extra), L1 7s. (half morocco extra), L3 10s. +(calf, gilt, an unusually clean copy, recently sold at the Mackenzie +sale). The evidence furnished by these quotations is conclusive, and +illustrates the principle better than anything else can do, that, in the +present state of the English book market, it is the height of folly to +bind up original parts of this nature. If, however, it must be done, the +depreciation in value may be reduced to a minimum by binding in the best +style, and taking care that not only all the covers, but even the pages +of advertisements, are bound up also. On no account must the edges be +cut, or in any way tampered with, or the value will sink from pounds to +shillings on the instant. + +I shall conclude this chapter by calling attention to the expression +"large paper," so often noticed. It has been the practice for many +years, on publishing certain classes of books, to print off a limited +number of copies on "large paper," or paper of a larger size than that +used for the ordinary copies. Thus, the second edition of Bewick's +_Birds_, in 2 vols., 1804, is found in no less than three sizes, +ordinary copies in demy 8vo, large paper copies in royal 8vo, and +largest paper in imperial 8vo. The text is in each instance precisely +the same, but the books themselves are larger in size as we ascend the +scale. The well-known _Badminton Library_ of sports and pastimes is +printed in two sizes, and as large paper copies are invariably limited +in number, their value is always greater than that of their more humble +brethren. Whether they maintain their original published value is +another question which can only be solved by reference to particular +cases as and when they arise. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + THE RENOVATION OF BOOKS--DAMP--GREASE MARKS--SURFACE + STAINS--BOOK WORMS AND OTHER PESTS. + + +The great enemy of books is unquestionably damp, which corrodes the +paper, covering it with reddish brown spots, or, in extreme cases, +patches. These unsightly marks, if once they have taken a firm hold, +cannot be removed, and the most that can be hoped for is some preventive +against an aggravation of the evil. Damp, unlike mere surface stains, +attacks the tissue of the paper, rotting it completely through, and not +infrequently destroying it altogether. It is like a vital disease which +insinuates itself into the very seat of life, and, with more or less +despatch, consumes its victim. + +Unslaked lime, as is well known, has a strong affinity for moisture of +every kind, and when there is plenty of this substance about, damp is +irresistibly attracted to it. Small saucers full of lime should +therefore be placed in close proximity to valuable books, on the shelves +if necessary, but never in immediate contact with the books themselves, +or the remedy will be as bad as the disease to be guarded against. The +action of lime upon moisture has been very well known for centuries, yet +no one seems to have thought of applying it to this useful purpose, and +books have been doomed to slow but sure destruction for the want of a +precaution as simple as it is obvious. Only the other day a +correspondent, writing to an American bibliographical journal, pointed +out what he called a new remedy against damp, which turned out to be +based upon nothing else than the well-known relationship which exists +between lime and water. If damp has only just commenced its attack, the +part affected should first be touched with a wash of spirits of wine, +and when dry with a very weak solution of oxalic acid. If the "fox +spots," as they are called, do not then disappear, the injury is +permanent and no remedy exists, as far as we at present know. + +A really valuable book which stands in need of a thorough cleaning +should be placed in the hands of some competent person, as considerable +experience is necessary before even a reasonable degree of success can +be assured. If the marks to be obliterated are numerous, the book had +better be taken to pieces by removing the cover and separating the +leaves, first cutting the binder's threads and taking especial care not +to _tear_ anything. Each leaf must then be examined, both on the flat +and when held up to the light, for it is essential that the particular +description of dirt should be identified as closely as possible. + +If grease is apparent, it should first of all be removed, as its +presence will interfere with some of the subsequent processes. With this +object, the leaf must be laid perfectly flat on a sheet of glass and the +grease marks damped out with a pad of cotton wool moistened with +benzine. Rubbing is never resorted to; the spots must be merely patted +over and over again until they disappear, which they will do after a +time. Sometimes the text itself will vanish as well, but whether it will +do so or not depends upon the character of the paper and the quality of +the printer's ink. If there is any danger, benzine should not be used, +as the whole sheet may be cleared of grease marks almost equally well by +covering it with a layer of chalk, placing a piece of blotting paper on +the top of it, and pressing with a hot iron. Each leaf will, if +necessary, have to be treated in the same way, and it may occasionally +be found necessary to work on both sides of the paper. + +When this process is complete, the next step is to give each leaf a good +general cleaning, and this may be done effectually by placing it in a +leaden trough and pouring upon it a shallow surface of water. Two or +three days of exposure to the rays of the sun will bleach the paper +perfectly white, and all kinds of stains except fixed dyes will come +out. The leaf is then dried (not in the sun or it will turn yellow), and +is ready for the next process. It may happen that the sun is not +available for this, or, indeed, any other purpose, and when such is the +case, the surface dirt may be bleached off with a solution of chloride +of lime in the proportion of one part to forty of water. The paper must +be soaked in cold water before this mixture is poured on it, and both +sides must be operated upon. This solution being essentially weak--if it +were otherwise it would eat into the material--it is possible that it +may be found unequal to the task of removing some of the more obstinate +stains, which must therefore be touched with nitro-hydrochloric acid. +Finally, the leaf must be well washed in a stream of running water, and +allowed to dry naturally. + +Another method of removing surface stains sometimes used by restorers is +to cover the paper with a thin layer of fine powdered salt. Lemon juice +is then squeezed on the surface in sufficient quantities to dissolve the +mineral, and the subject finally washed in boiling water. The chief +objection to this process is the use of hot water, which, as may well be +imagined, is apt to pulp the paper, or in some cases even to efface the +printed text. + +Stains which cannot be removed by these processes are of several kinds. +Lead pencil marks, for instance, will become fixed if the paper is +damped, and they should therefore be helped out first of all with fine +bread crumbs. Indian ink stains give way before a camel's hair brush and +a cup of hot water, and all kinds of grease marks yield to benzine, +turpentine, or ammonia. + +Lead stains can be got rid of by an application of peroxide of hydrogen, +or even hydrochloric acid; but the greatest care will have to be +exercised in handling the latter, or it will corrode the paper in a very +short time, causing it to crack and break to pieces. If mixed with its +own weight of water, and to three parts of this compound one part of red +oxide of lead is added, its power for evil will be very materially +diminished; but even under these circumstances it is dangerous to use. + +Each of these remedies has to be very carefully undertaken, as the fatty +matters in the printer's ink are exceedingly liable to resolve, in which +case the book will be spoiled. With care and attention I doubt not that +almost any book can be very materially improved, if not made quite as +good as new, by a combination of the processes described; and the best +plan is to practise on some dirty and worthless specimen until the +requisite degree of proficiency is attained. + +A "Literary Note" in the magazine entitled _Book Lore_ for July, 1887, +observes as follows: "The renovation of books is, of course, a work of +art in itself, and so clever are experts in the manipulation thereof, +that many a dirty and decrepit volume has left their hands looking +quite fresh and new. One of the most difficult processes has hitherto +been to take dirt off the leaves without injuring the print. With this +object bread crumbs were at one time used; but modern science has +discovered three ways of effecting the same object in a much more +satisfactory manner. Oxalic acid, citric acid, and tartaric acid, when +in solution, will eliminate every trace of dirt without in any way +acting on the printer's ink. Writing ink is not, however, proof against +the attack of any one of the three, and this, too, being considered for +the most part as 'dirt,' comes out with the rest. If the leaf is +afterwards bleached with chloride of lime, the regenerating process is +complete. The remedy for oil stains, it may be observed, is sulphuric +ether. If the stains are extensive, it is best to roll up each leaf and +insert it into a wide-mouthed bottle half full of ether, shaking it +gently up and down for a minute or so. On its removal the oil marks will +be found to have disappeared, and, as ether rapidly evaporates, a little +cold water is all that is afterwards required. Mineral naphtha and +benzoline each possess the property of dissolving oils fixed and +volatile, tallow, lard, wax, and other substances of this class." + +Worm-holes, another source of disquietude to the collector, are caused +by grubs, which are popularly supposed to be the larvae of beetles. They +bore a circular hole through all the leaves, utterly destroying the +appearance of any volume upon which they have fixed their attention. + +The book worm has a pedigree in comparison with which the family tree of +a Howard or a Talbot is a wretched weed. Lucian, in days remote, chides +the voracious worm, and other ancient authors have called attention to +its ravages. Another pest, called the "acarus," feeds on the paste and +glue in the binding; in fact, these two parasites between them will very +quickly digest the contents of an ordinary-sized book unless steps are +taken for their destruction. The late Sir Thomas Phillipps, in a +communication to the British Association in 1837, observes: "My library +being much infested with insects, I have for some time turned my +attention to the modes of destroying them, in the course of which I +observed that the larva of certain kinds of beetles does not seek the +paper for food, nor the leather, but the paste. To prevent their +attacks, therefore, in future bound books the paste used should be mixed +up with a solution of corrosive sublimate, or, indeed, with any other +poisonous ingredient. But to catch the perfect insects themselves, I +adopt the following plan: _Anobium striatum_ commonly deposits its ova +in beech wood, and is more partial, apparently, to that than any other +wood. I have beech planks cut, and smear them over, in summer, with pure +fresh paste (_i.e._, not containing anything poisonous). I then place +them in different parts of the library where they are not likely to be +disturbed; the beetles flying about the room in summer time readily +discover these pieces of wood, and soon deposit their eggs in them. In +winter (chiefly) the larva is produced, and about January, February, and +March I discover what pieces of wood contain any larvae by the sawdust +lying under the planks, or where it is thrown up in hillocks on the top +of them. All the wood which is attacked is then burnt for firewood: by +this simple method I have nearly extirpated _Anobia_ from my library." + +To surprise and capture a book worm was at one time looked upon as an +impossible task; but lately a few successes have been chronicled, but +only a few. In order to ward off their insidious attacks, many devices +more or less satisfactory have been proposed, but none appear to be +absolutely preventative. Dr. Hermann, a noted bibliophile of Strassburg, +after careful experiments, has come to the conclusion that a combination +of safeguards such as he suggests will have the desired effect of +putting to flight not only the worm itself but all other enemies of the +library, always excepting biblioklepts and borrowers, against whom there +is no defence. The combination suggested by Dr. Hermann certainly seems +sufficiently powerful to resist almost any attack, in the same degree +that a huge man-of-war may be considered invulnerable when exposed to +the assaults of some cockle-shell of a boat. The only objection is the +immense amount of trouble and labour involved in preparation, as will +readily be perceived after a perusal of the preventives, ten in number. + +1. Abolish the use of any wood in the binding processes. 2. Recommend +the bookbinder to use glue mixed with alum in place of paste. 3. Brush +all worm-eaten wood in the repositories of books with oil or lac +varnish. 4. Preserve books bound in calf by brushing over with thin lac +varnish. 5. No book to lie flat. 6. Papers, letters, documents, &c., may +be preserved in drawers without any danger provided the wafers are cut +out and that no paste, &c., is between them. 7. The bookbinder is not +to use any woollen cloth, and to wax the thread. 8. Air and dust the +books often. 9. Use laths separated one from the other one inch in place +of shelves. 10. Brush over the insides of bookcases and the laths with +lac varnish. + +Dr. Hermann cannot at any rate be charged with any such sentimental +regard for "vermin" as that which influenced Mr. Day, a well-known book +hunter of the earlier part of the present century. One day, upon +removing some books at the chambers of Sir William Jones, a large spider +dropped upon the floor, upon which Sir William, with some warmth, said, +"Kill that spider, Day! Kill that spider!" "No," said Mr. Day, with that +coolness for which he was so conspicuous, "I will not kill that spider, +Jones; I do not know that I have a right to do so. Suppose, when you are +going in your carriage to Westminster Hall, a superior being, who +perhaps may have as much power over you as you have over this insect, +should say to his companion, 'Kill that lawyer! Kill that lawyer!' How +should you like that? I am sure to most people a lawyer is a more +noxious insect than a spider." + +The simplest protection yet discovered against book worms is a liberal +use of common snuff, which should be sprinkled all over the shelves, the +process being repeated every three or four months. This is almost +infallible, and probably quite as effectual as Dr. Hermann's ten +preventives rolled into one. There is no magic in the art of preserving +books--the great art is to be able to get them, and to know what to buy +and how much to give for them. This acquired, the rest will come easily +enough. The contents of a whole treatise on the custody and preservation +of books might be very accurately and succinctly summed up in a few +lines. Keep out damp, let the shelves be lined if possible with good +leather, and last, but by no means least, look at the insides of your +books as well as at the outsides. + +Collectors of books are continually being asked to lend volumes which +happen to take the passing fancy of a friend or even chance +acquaintance, and it is frequently a matter of some delicacy to refuse. +Not one person in a hundred knows how to treat a book properly, and the +borrower is therefore usually regarded as but one degree removed from an +enemy. Curiously enough, the famous bibliophile, Grolier, stamped his +books with a motto of invitation, "_Jo Grolierii et Amicorum_". So did +Charles de Savigny, who went to even greater lengths still with his +legend, "_Non mihi sed aliis_". The private history of neither of these +enthusiasts states how they fared, or how many choice tomes were +returned dog-eared and stained, even if they were returned at all. For +my part I possess no books that I should fear to lend, as my whole +library consists of "working copies," useful, probably, but not +valuable. The amateur who is the proud owner of a single book out of the +common should hide it from the borrower even as from a book worm. He may +well lay the couplet which graced the library doors of Pixerecourt to +his heart:-- + + "_Tel est le triste sort de tout livre prete + Souvent il est perdu, toujours il est gate_". + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ALDINE PRESS. + + +The revival of classical literature in Europe is generally assigned to +the middle of the fifteenth century, and is, perhaps, coeval with the +invention of printing, when for the first time it became possible to +multiply books not only rapidly but without the multitude of mistakes +which invariably occurred in ordinary manuscripts. We have seen that in +the palmy days of Rome some of the large publishing houses were quite +capable of turning out extensive editions at a few hours' notice. No +modern type-setter could possibly keep pace with one of the trained +slaves of Atticus, and when some hundreds of the latter were assembled +in a room transcribing the MS. of some favourite author through the +medium of a professional reader, many copies would be completed in an +incredibly short space of time. If, however, the reader made a mistake, +it would be faithfully and universally reproduced, while in addition +each transcriber might fairly be credited with a number of errors of his +own. To this extent the printing press was a great improvement. If it +did its work more slowly, less workmen were required; and though each +movement of the machine would perpetuate the same errors, these might be +reduced to a minimum by the very simple expedient of carefully reading +and correcting the "proofs". + +The year 1450 ushered in, as is supposed, the great art which was +destined to revolutionise the world; and although the pen was employed +for many years after that, it gradually gave place to its more +convenient if less nimble rival, taking at last a position more +congenial to it. "The pen for the brain, the press for reproduction," +became henceforth a motto which had for its basis a new division of +labour as convenient as it was efficacious. + +In the same year,[7] at Sermonetta, a little Italian town, Aldus +Manutius, the great printer and editor, first saw the light. The earlier +portion of his life was devoted entirely to scholastic duties and in +preparing himself, by hard and assiduous study of the Greek and Latin +classics, for the more important work of revising and printing the text. +It was not until 1490 that the preliminaries were complete, and he found +himself, with a little money and an immense stock of knowledge, a +comparative stranger at Venice, where already 160 printers and +publishers had been engaged for some time in glutting the market with +almost worthless books. The old Greek manuscripts especially were a +source of inconceivable trouble and continual annoyance. They were +written for the most part in bastard characters, and crowded with +mistakes and omissions, the result of some hundreds of years of repeated +transcriptions. They were, moreover, almost as difficult to procure as +they were corrupt in text. Nor was this the only difficulty that faced +the intrepid pioneer editor. Greek was a language but rarely used, +having given place to Latin in all but the most cultivated circles; the +demand for books in that character was accordingly limited, while even +at that early period competition was ruinous. To say nothing of the army +of printers at Venice, there was a large number at Rome who more than +supplied the Italian and foreign markets, turning out books in such +profusion that the important and oldest printing house, that of +Sweinheym & Pannartz, was compelled to petition the Pope to save +themselves from bankruptcy. In their petition they state that they had +printed no less than 12,475 separate volumes, a statement most likely +exaggerated, but none the less cogent evidence of the fierce struggle +which was being carried on when Aldus determined to swell the ranks of +the already crowded profession. + +He was disgusted with the slipshod efforts of the ignorant proprietors +of these numerous printing shops, who were so eager to forestall one +another that they could not pay any attention to the quality of their +work, even assuming they had the aptitude for doing so. He took his +stand upon his accomplishments alone, apparently not doubting for an +instant that conscientious work, coupled with a superior education, +would in the long run repay him for the years of anxious toil which he +well knew would be his lot. + +The Greek types of Rome, Milan, and Florence, hitherto in use, and all +cut to a single pattern, were abominable, and Aldus commenced by casting +types of his own. A fount of Roman and Italian letters consisted of only +24 capital and an equal number of small letters--the J and U were the +same as I and V--but a complete collection of Greek types with all the +varied accents and double characters, with which the language abounds, +amounted to no less than 600. Many of these he was compelled at the +outstart to forego, and he set to work upon his first book, the +_Grammatica Graeca_ of Lascaris, with barely a tithe of that number. It +was well that Aldus should commence with this work, for it was the first +which had been printed in Greek, some eighteen years previously by +Paravisinus, of Milan, whose small and crabbed type presents a +remarkable contrast to that of Manutius. Closely following upon this +venture comes the _Editio Princeps_ of Aristotle, which, in its 5 vols. +folio, is unquestionably the most splendid and lasting monument of the +Aldine press. It was issued, one volume at a time, between the years +1495-8, and was sold by the editor and publisher for a sum equivalent to +about L5 of our money. Next comes the _Editio Princeps_ of Aristophanes, +also in folio, and dated 1498, which, like all the other productions of +this press at that early date, was printed from large open types with +broad margins. The expense of production and consequent cost of these +sumptuous volumes were great, too great in fact to command a speedy +sale, and Aldus at last began to realise that it was infinitely +preferable to print and sell a large number of works at a cheap price +than a smaller number at a high one. Accordingly he had a more minute +fount of type cast, and in April, 1501, published his famous _Virgil_, a +small book of 228 unpaged leaves, measuring not quite 8 inches by 4. The +text, so it is said, was modelled after the neat handwriting of +Petrarch, and became known throughout Italy as the Aldino type, though +in France it was called _Italic_, the name it goes by to this day +throughout Europe. This book was sold for about 2s. of our money, and +was the first serious attempt ever made to produce cheap printed +classics. + +No sooner was the success of this venture assured than an unknown +printer of Lyons took advantage of the opportunity to issue a wretched +reprint, alike in every detail except the quality of the workmanship. +Aldus' painstaking textual corrections were slavishly copied: even his +title-page was stolen, and the whole immoral production foisted on the +public as a genuine example from Venice, and at a little more than half +the cost. Horace and Juvenal, Martial and Ovid, shared the same fate as +fast as they issued from the legitimate press; the Lyonnese printer was +as persevering as he had proved himself unscrupulous, and kept good time +with the movements of Aldus. But the fame of the latter was proof +against servile imitations, his types alone being so extravagantly +praised by his admirers that there were some who seriously contended +that their beauty was owing to the silver of which they were made. There +is, indeed, no mistaking them, and the collector has only to place an +original side by side with one of the reprints from Lyons, to fix the +superiority distinctly and irrevocably in his mind. Aldus during his +life printed altogether 126 editions known to bibliographers, 78 of +which are in quarto or folio, and many in two or more volumes. Some of +these consist of choice copies printed on white linen paper, notably the +_Opera_ of Ovid and Plutarch, and many more passed through several +editions during his lifetime and after his death, which, to the great +loss of the world of letters, took place on the 6th February, 1515, when +he was 65 years of age. + +The distinguishing mark of the Aldine press is the well-known dolphin +and anchor which first makes its appearance on the edition of the _Terze +Rime_ of Dante of 1502, and with few exceptions on all the books +afterwards issued from the press. The story is that Aldus was engaged in +printing Columna's _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, which appeared in 1499 +(a good copy sold in February last for L80), and which contained +numerous illustrations, most probably by Andrea Mantegna. One of these +represents a dolphin twining about an anchor, a mark so pleasing to +Aldus that he subsequently adopted it, using it over his office door as +well as on the title-pages of all his books. + +[Illustration: _The first Aldine Anchor, 1502-1515._] + +[Illustration: _Mark of A. Torresano, and that of his Sons._] + +At the death of Aldus Manutius his son Paolo, or Paulus, being only +three years of age, went to reside with his maternal uncle Andrea +Torresano, himself a famous printer of Asola, who subsequently, with his +sons, carried on the Aldine press at Venice for the benefit of the +parties interested. From that date until 1524 most, if not all, of the +books printed at the press bear the imprint: "In aedibus Aldi et Andreae +Asulani soceri," and though, as usual, bearing the anchor, a fresh block +had been cut which slightly alters its appearance. + +[Illustration: _The second Aldine Anchor, 1519-1524. Last appearing in +this form on the "Homer" of 1524, the first anchor being again used from +1524 to 1540._] + +From the year 1524 to 1529, when Torresano died, an exact copy of the +_first_ anchor was again employed and continued to be so used until +1540, when Paulus Manutius, the son of Aldus, took exclusive possession +of his father's business. It will be noted that during the three years +following the death of Torresano (1530-31-32) no books were issued from +the press; and when it recommenced operations in 1533, it was for the +benefit of Paulus Manutius and the representatives of Torresano "In +aedibus haeredum Aldi Manutii et Andreae Asulani soceri". In 1540, as +before stated, Paulus Manutius took entire control of the business, and +a third variation of the anchor was introduced, the inscription on the +title-pages being "apud Aldi Filios". + +[Illustration: _The third Aldine Anchor, 1540-1546, called the Ancora +grassa._] + +[Illustration: _The fourth Aldine Anchor, 1546-1554._] + +From 1546 to 1554 yet another variation of the anchor was adopted, +sometimes without the surrounding device. In 1555 a slight modification +of the _third_ anchor, surrounded sometimes with scroll work, came into +fashion again, and so continued until the death of Paulus Manutius on +the 6th of April, 1574. + +[Illustration: _Modification of the third Anchor, 1555-1574._] + +With the death of Paulus, the glory of the Aldine press departed. He, +like his father, had patiently striven to infuse neatness and accuracy +into his work, and is said to have been in every respect his equal. + +Aldus, the son of Paulus, who is known among bibliographers as "the +younger," had not perhaps the same opportunities as were afforded to his +predecessors. The art of printing had advanced universally, and there +was not so much room for improvement as there had been formerly. He +printed in a good, but by no means exceptional, style, from 1574 until +the time of his death in 1597, when the Aldine press ceased to exist. +During a period of 103 years some 823 books had been issued, many of +which are among the prizes of book collecting.[8] + +Aldus Junior, like his father and grandfather, used the anchor, but +between the years 1575-81 it is so hidden in the foliage of a +magnificent coat-of-arms which had been granted to the family by the +Emperor Maximilian, that it is likely to be overlooked by any who have +not made the Aldine press their special study. + +[Illustration: _The Aldine Anchor, enclosed in a coat-of-arms, as used +by Aldus Junior, 1575-1581. On some occasions, and always after the +latter date, he used the anchor alone, sometimes without the word +ALDVS._] + +The collector will need to be cautioned against accepting every work +bearing the anchor as a genuine example from the Aldine press. Some are +mere forgeries, but so badly executed as to deceive nobody who has seen +half-a-dozen of any of the originals. Some printers assumed the mark by +licence, as did Torresano, who used Anchor No. 3, with the words "Ex +Aldina Bibliotheca," and occasionally Anchor No. 1, but, these +exceptions apart, it may usually be taken for granted that a book if +well printed and bearing the mark in question is authentic. If any +doubt exists it is easy to turn to the pages of Renouard, where every +genuine example is catalogued and described. Some fifty years ago, +Aldine collectors were more numerous than they are now, and as a +consequence prices were higher. This particular branch of bibliography +demands the sacrifice of much time, and cannot be even approached +without a fair knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French. As a consequence, +the new school of collectors, whose knowledge of those languages is not +always as well grounded as it might be, have long since severed their +allegiance from old traditions and now confine their attention to sober +English, where, it must be admitted, there is plenty of scope for good +work. + +Even yet, however, the earlier productions of the Aldine press maintain +their former position: perhaps they have even surpassed it, for as +specimens of ancient typography they stand unrivalled. Reference is made +chiefly to works dated before 1500, and to such exceptional specimens as +the _Virgil_ of 1501, some of which are still worth more than their +weight in gold. The majority of works from this famous press have, +however, fallen enormously in value of late years, as witness the fine +copy of Augurellus, 1505, 8vo, beautifully bound in blue morocco, which +quite recently was sold by auction for less than a sovereign: some few +years ago it would have brought three times the amount, and been +considered cheap even then. + +By way of illustration, I cannot do better than give a few examples of +modern prices, comparing them with the approximate amounts which would +have been obtained some twenty-five or thirty years ago. + + _Homeri Opera_, 2 vols. 8vo, red morocco extra, gilt edges, + _Venetiis_, Aldus, 1524, L3 15s. Would have sold for L9 or L10. + + _Silius Italicus de Bello Punico_, old Venetian binding, gold + tooling, lettered in gold, gilt edges, _Venetiis_, Aldus, 1523, + L1 18s. Would have sold for about L5. + + _Virgilius, cura Aldi Pii Manulii_, red morocco, gilt edges, by + Roger Payne, _Venetiis_, Aldus, 1514, L4 5s. Sold in 1825 at + from L10 to L12 in equally good binding. + + _Psalterium Graece_, a fine copy, in blue morocco, with gilt + edges, _Venetiis_, Aldus, no date, but about 1498, L12. + Notwithstanding the fact that this is one of the few fifteenth + century books from the Aldine press, its value has declined + about 25 per cent. + + _Quintiliani Institutiones_, fine copy in russia, gilt edges, + _Venetiis_, Aldus, 1521, on title 1522, 14s. Former price about + L4. + + _Aristophanis Comoediae_, first edition, fine copy in russia, + gilt edges, _Venetiis_, Aldus, 1498, a rare book, L4. Former + price about L15. + + _Thucydidis Historia_, first edition, and one of the few copies + printed on fine paper, old russia, gilt, _Venetiis_, Aldus, + 1502, a very scarce book in this condition, L2 14s. Former + price from L12 to L15. + +The above examples are taken from a single catalogue, and, if occasion +demanded, the list could be indefinitely increased. They will, however, +be sufficient to show that if the good old days when Eliot's _Indian +Bible_ of 1661, now worth considerably more than L500, could have been +got for thirty shillings or less, are not likely to return, there is yet +plenty of opportunity for picking up rare books at a moderate price, and +for much less than would at one time have had to be paid for them. + +Who knows that the fashion will not change again some day, and that the +most coveted of all volumes will not be choice examples from the Aldine +press? + +[Illustration: _The Elzevir Buffalo's Head, from the "Caesar" of Leyden, +1635._] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] M. Firmin-Didot inclines to the year 1449 for the date of Aldus' +birth--_vide_ his _Alde Manuce et l'Hellenisme a Venise_, p. 1, Paris, +1875. + +[8] In addition to this number there are about sixty "Doubtful +Editions". The number of recognised Forgeries is about forty-five. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE ELZEVIR PRESS. + + +If Aldine collectors were at one time numerous and enthusiastic, +amateurs who affected the Elzevir press, and were never tired of +extolling the excellence of the little books which issued therefrom, +were more so. Long before the death of the last member of the great +printing family, a whole mass of rules, some of them arbitrary, others +founded on subtle distinctions, were already regarded as binding on the +community of bibliomaniacs which looked upon _L'Aimable Mere de Jesus_ +as their pole-star, and _Le Pastissier Francois_ as something to be seen +only on rare occasions, and to be touched, if touched at all, with bated +breath. + +There is something harsh, comparatively speaking, about Aldus and his +works. He was the taciturn, frugal-living man of letters, who for five +years, as he himself confesses, never spent a single peaceful hour save +when he was asleep. His very doors were barred with the inscription-- + + "Whoever you are, Aldus entreats you to be brief. When you have + spoken, leave him." + +Compared with this grim old editor-printer of a bygone age, the Elzevirs +one and all were literary children, playing with their master's +text--children who never grew old, and whose many liberties were not +only endured, but excused out of consideration for their engaging ways. +They were pirates, too, without exception, but they turned you out well. +If they mutilated your text, they at any rate supplied you with the best +of paper, ornaments and type; from their hands you emerged a +well-dressed gentleman, a little ignorant perhaps, but decidedly +aristocratic. + +A short sketch of the history of the Elzevir family will be found useful +for reference:-- + +The founder of the family, Louis, was born at Louvain in 1540, and, +curiously enough, as in the case of Aldus Manutius, did not establish +himself at the scene of his future labours until he was forty years old. +In 1580 he started as a bookbinder and bookseller at the University city +of Leyden, and at first confined his attention entirely to retailing +such works as fell into his hands. Three years later, however, he set up +a press and printed his first book, the _Drusii Ebraicarum quaestionum ac +responsionum_, 8vo, 1583, which, though desirable, is not to be +compared, either in intrinsic merit or in value, with some of the latter +productions of the press; in fact, what are known as the "good dates" do +not commence until the latter portion of the year 1625. Louis died in +1617, and is remarkable only as the founder of a famous family of +printers; not one of his 123 different books can be considered important +from a collector's point of view; and although a specialist would no +doubt endeavour to make his collection as complete as possible, and with +that object might be disposed to pay more for these early examples than +anyone else might think it worth his while to pay, even he, if well +advised, would draw the line at anything like lavish expenditure. Louis +left five sons, whom, with a view to further development, it is +necessary to bear in mind--Matthieu, Louis, Gilles (Giles), Joost +(Justus), and Bonaventure. The last-named son--Bonaventure--commenced +business on his own account as a printer in 1608, and on the death of +his father in 1617 he took the management of the Elzevir press. In 1626 +he took into partnership Abraham, a son of Matthieu, and the +newly-constituted firm, which continued to exist until 1652, are +entitled to most of the credit which attaches to the name of Elzevir. + +Though the Greek and Hebrew works issued by this firm are inferior to +those of Aldus and the Estiennes, their small editions of the Latin and +French Classics in 12mo, 16mo, and 24mo cannot be surpassed for elegance +of design, neatness, clearness, and regularity of type, as well as for +the beauty of the paper which they used. Mention may be made especially +of the _Novum Testamentum Graecum_, 1624 and 1633; the _Psalterium +Davidis_, 1635 and 1653; the _Virgil_ of 1636; and the _Comediae_ of +Terence, 1635; though the works which gave the press its chief +celebrity were the collection of French authors on History and Politics, +in 24mo, known as _Petites Republiques_, and the series of Latin, +French, and Italian Classics, in small 12mo. + +It seems to be an almost universal belief that all the works issued from +the Elzevir press are small in bulk, and various terms, more or less +foolish, have been invented by careless or incompetent persons to give +expression to this idea. One of them, and perhaps the most hideous of +them all, is "dumpy twelves". In the first place, works issued from the +Elzevir press in 12mo are perfectly symmetrical in shape, and not at all +dumpy; and, secondly, many books are in 4to, some even in folio, as, for +example, the _Academie de l'Espee_, printed by Bonaventure and Abraham +in 1628. The amateur must avoid being misled by the poetical effusions +which from time to time make their appearance, and which for the most +part are written by persons who know nothing whatever of the subject. To +obtain a rhyme for "Elzevir" is difficult, but it has been done at much +sacrifice of common-sense. + +Jean, the son of Abraham above mentioned, was introduced into the firm +in 1647, five years before it came to an end through the death of the +two partners in 1652. On this latter event taking place, he entered into +partnership with Daniel, the son of Bonaventure, but the firm was not +very successful, and was dissolved by mutual consent in 1655. Jean +continued to trade on his own account until 1661, when he died, and +Daniel joined Louis, the third of that name, and son of the second +Louis, who had been printing at Amsterdam since 1638. + +From 1655 to 1666 Daniel and Louis printed a series of Latin Classics in +various sizes. Louis died in 1670, and Daniel ten years later. + +We now come to the closing years of the press, though reference must be +made _en passant_ to Isaac, another son of Matthieu, who established a +press at Leyden in 1616, and continued to print there until 1625. None +of his editions, however, attained any fame. + +The last representatives of the Elzevir family were Peter, the grandson +of Joost, who, during the years 1667-75, printed seven or eight volumes +of little consequence, which were published at Utrecht, and Abraham, the +grandson of the first Abraham, who, from 1681 to 1712, was University +printer at Leyden. As the family pedigree is considerably involved, or, +like most other pedigrees, appears to be so at first sight, I give a +chart for the convenience of the reader, with the dates during which +each member of the family flourished, omitting, however, the names of +many other members of the family, who do not enter into the scope of the +inquiry, and who were, in fact, not printers at all. + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + _Louis_, + Printer at Leyden, + 1583-1617. + | + ___________________________________________________________ + | | | | | + _Matthieu_, Louis, Gilles, Josse, _Bonaventure_, +Printer at Leyden, a Bookseller a Bookseller a Bookseller Printer at + 1616-22. at La Haye.[9] at La Haye. at Utrecht. Leyden, + | | | 1617-52. + | | | | + | _Louis_, Peter. _Daniel_, + | Printer at Amsterdam, | Printer at + | 1638-64. | Leyden, + | | 1652-55; + | | at Amsterdam, + ____|___________________ | 1655-80. + | | | + _Abraham_, _Isaac_, | +Printer at Leyden, Printer at Leyden, | + 1626-52. 1617-25. | + | | + | | + _Jean_, _Peter_, +Printer at Leyden, Publisher at Utrecht, + 1652-61. 1667-75. + | + | + _Abraham_, +Printer at Leyden, + 1681-1712. + + +The number of works issued from the press of the Elzevirs, whether at +Leyden, Amsterdam, or Utrecht, numbers, according to Willems, 1608 +different publications, of which 1213 bear the name or mark of the firm +which issued them. Of these latter, 968 are in Latin, 126 in French, and +the remainder in Greek, Flemish, German, Italian, and Hebrew. There is +also a single volume, printed in English, which seems to have escaped +the notice of bibliographers. It is entitled "_Confession_ _of Faith, +and the Larger and Shorter Catechisme, &c._, Amsterdam, printed by Luice +Elsever, for Andrew Wilson, and are to be sold at his shop in Edinburgh, +1649". It is usually stated in works of reference that none of the +Elzevir publications were printed in English, but the above, if it is +genuine, affords an exception. + +As every amateur is aware, the Elzevirs frequently--but not +always--marked their title-pages with devices, of which the most +frequent were the Sphere, the Hermit, Minerva, and the Eagle on a cippus +(low column) holding in its claws a sheaf of seven arrows. As each firm +adopted or relinquished the family marks to suit its convenience at the +time, it becomes necessary to tabulate them for the purpose of avoiding +confusion. The number in brackets gives the total number of books, not +including catalogues, produced by the firm to which it is annexed. + + THE LEYDEN PRESS. + + _Louis Elzevir._ 1583-1617 (102 books). + Marks.--A hand, with the device--"AEqvabilitate". + An angel with a book. + The Eagle (with seven darts representing the + seven provinces of the Netherlands) on a + cippus, with the inscription--"Concordia res + parvae crescunt" (most frequent). + A book of music, opened. + + _Matthieu and Bonaventure Elzevir._ 1617-1622 (71 books). + Marks.--The Eagle on a cippus. + The book of music, opened. + The Hermit, first appearing on the _Acta Synodi + Nationalis_, 1620 (Isaac Elzevir), motto--"Non + solus". + +[Illustration] + +Of the three marks mentioned above the first and last were more usually +employed. + + _Isaac Elzevir._ 1617-1625. + Marks.--Two hands holding a cornucopia (rare). + The Eagle on the cippus. + The Hermit. + + _Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir._ 1622-1652 (514 books). + Marks.--The Hermit (most frequent). + The Eagle on a cippus. + The Sphere, first appearing on the _Sphaera + Johannis de Sacro-Bosco_, 1626. + The Arms of the University. + A palm tree with the device "Assvrgo pressa".[10] + Minerva, with her attributes (the olive tree and + the owl) and the motto "Ne extra oleas". + +[Illustration] + + _Jean and Daniel Elzevir_. 1652-1655 (55 books). + Marks.--The Sphere (frequent). + The Hermit (frequent). + The Arms of the University. + +[Illustration] + + _Jean Elzevir._ 1655-1661 (113 books). + Marks.--The Hermit. + The Sphere. + + _The Widow and Heirs of Jean Elzevir._ 1661-1681 (48 books). + Marks.--The Hermit. + Two Angels holding an open book; motto--"Immortalite". + +Of the books printed by this firm, some bear the imprint: "A Leide, chez +Pierre Didier," and also "Ex Officina Danielis et Abrahami a Gaasbeeck". + + _Abraham Elzevir._ 1681-1712 (24 books). + Marks.--The Hermit (most frequent). + The Arms of the University; motto--"Haec + libertatis ergo". + +[The total number of books printed by the Leyden firm from 1583 to 1712 +(129 years) is thus 938.] + + + THE HAGUE PRESS. + + _Louis Elzevir II._ 1590-1621 (9 books). + + _Jacob._ 1621-1636 (3 books). + [A total of 12 books in 31 years.] + + + THE AMSTERDAM PRESS. + + _Louis Elzevir III._ 1638-1655 (231 books). + Marks.--The Sphere. + Minerva (most frequent). + + _Louis and Daniel Elzevir._ 1655-1664 (150 books). + Marks.--The Sphere. + Minerva (most frequent). + + _Daniel Elzevir._ 1664-1680 (260 books). + Marks.--The Sphere. + Minerva. + + _The Widow of Daniel Elzevir._ 1680-1681 (7 books). + Marks.--Minerva. + The Sphere; motto--"Indefessus Agendo". + The Eagle; motto--"Movendo". + +[A total of 658 books in 43 years.] + +After seven books had been published by the representative of Daniel +Elzevir, the business was wound up. The ornamental punches, &c., by +Christopher Van Dyck, were sold, and most probably melted down. + + THE UTRECHT PRESS (so called, though it was merely a + publishing centre). + + _Peter Elzevir._ 1667-1675 (10 books). + Marks.--The Sphere. + The Hermit. + Minerva sitting under an olive tree; motto--"Pallas + Trajectina semper Augusta". + +[The total number of books produced by the whole family during 129 years +amounts to 1618 works.] + +The above are the chief, but by no means the only, marks used by the +various members of the family. The few which have not been noticed occur +only at rare intervals, and are of but little importance. One device, +representing a bees' nest, with a fox and the motto "Quaerendo," though +frequently ascribed to the Elzevirs, is in reality none of theirs, being +the mark of Abraham Wolfgang, a Dutch printer of considerable repute. + +The Elzevirs, as before stated, were pirates, who thought nothing of +reproducing the full title-page, with the original publisher's name, +and, when this is the case, it is often a matter of very great +difficulty to distinguish between the original and the reprint. Again, +when these printers did not wish to put their name to any particular +work, for fear of embroiling themselves with the Government, they either +marked it with the Sphere or else adopted a pseudonym. Thus Jean and +Daniel frequently marked their title-pages "A Leyde, chez Jean Sambix," +the Amsterdam printers occasionally adopted "Jacques le Jeune," while +"Nic Schouter" was a favourite fictitious name. These pseudonyms are, +however, much less numerous than was at one time supposed. The first +reproduction of the _Provincial Letters_, by Louis and Daniel Elzevir, +of Amsterdam, bears on the title-page, "A Cologne, ches Pierre de la +Vallee, 1657"; that of 1659, by Jean Elzevir, of Leyden, has "A Cologne, +chez Nicolas Schoute". A _Recueil de Diverses Pieces servant a +l'Histoire de Henry III._, &c., bears "A Cologne, chez Pierre du +Marteau"; _Les Imaginaires_, of the Sieur de Damvilliers, in its two +parts purports to be issued "A Liege, chez Adolphe Beyers". _Il Divortio +Celeste_, with other works of Pallavicini, dates from Villafranca, while +other undoubted productions of the Elzevir press were ostensibly +published "A Mons, chez Gaspard Migeot; Londini, typis Du Guardianis; +Stampati in Cosmopoli," and so on, through a list which, difficult +enough to remember, is yet not very extensive. + +It will be readily seen that the knowledge requisite for a collector to +possess, if indeed he wishes to become a master of his subject, is of no +mean order, for not only must he have the family pedigree at his +fingers' ends, and be capable of detecting a pseudonymous or pirated +work, but he must also be in a position to appreciate the "right dates," +and to detect an improper head or tail piece when he sees it. Some books +which pass as Elzevirs are in reality spurious, even though marked with +the "Sphere" or other device; others, though coming from the press, are +inferior editions, "not of the right date," as the specialist puts it. + +One of the most beautiful little books ever issued from the Elzevir or +any other press is the _Caesar_ of 1635, which, on referring to the +table, we shall see must have been printed by Bonaventure and Abraham at +Leyden.[11] It is in 12mo, and there are no less than three editions, +the first and second being so much alike that no one could detect the +difference without the most careful of careful inspections. The "right" +_Caesar_ is the first, and may be recognised from the Buffalo's Head on a +scroll at the head of the dedication. Pages 149, 335, and 475 are +misprinted 153, 345, and 375 respectively in the first edition, and +there are 35 lines to the page. The second edition, which has not, +pecuniarily speaking, a tenth part of the value, has 37 lines to the +page, and the misprints are corrected. Another fine work, the _Comediae_ +of Terence, Leyden, 1635, 12mo, passed through five editions, all of +which are very much alike. The first and "right" edition has, however, +on page 51, the word _laches_ printed in red, while page 101 is +improperly numbered 69. In the second edition _laches_ is in black, in +the fifth it changes to red again, so that the greatest caution has to +be exercised lest the first and fifth editions should be confounded. The +former is worth much more than the latter, as the unfortunate purchaser +will find to his cost when he comes to sell again. + +As previously stated, the "good dates" begin from 1625, the year when +Bonaventure and Abraham went into partnership at Leyden, and any books +dated from that year to 1655, when Jean and Daniel dissolved +partnership, are most likely to be of value, provided only the right +edition is forthcoming. Daniel was, however, by far the best printer in +the family, though some make an exception in favour of Bonaventure and +Abraham; and as he continued in business at Amsterdam, either by himself +or in conjunction with Louis from 1655 to 1680, those dates must also be +considered "good". From the Amsterdam press, in 1655, issued that prize +of Elzevir collectors, the _Pastissier Francois_, and the splendid +_Virgil_ of 1676 in _grand_ as well as _petit format_, or as we should +say in English, on large and small paper. The halcyon days of the press +at Leyden date from 1625 to 1655; those of the press at Amsterdam from +1655 to 1680. + +It is, of course, impossible for anyone, be he dealer or amateur, to +carry in his head all these details and distinguishing marks, and +reference in cases of doubt will have to be made to Willem's _Les +Elzevier_, a work which has superseded all others on the subject. With +this book at hand it is difficult to go wrong, as the minutest points of +difference are chronicled with great fidelity. + +We will now take it for granted that the amateur is in full possession +of, or can obtain, all the information necessary to enable him to +distinguish between a right and a wrong date. He has still, however, to +bear in mind that even a right-dated volume may be in such a wretched +condition as to be hardly worth purchasing. If he will take a walk down +Holywell Street he may frequently meet with genuine Elzevirs which the +dealers will be only too glad to dispose of for a shilling or two each. +The reason of this is that, not only are the works offered for sale +_not_ "of the good date" (_i.e._, inferior editions), but they are +also, in the vast majority of instances, battered, dirty, and, worse +than all, "cropped," sometimes even to the very headlines. For a dirty +book there is some hope, since it may be possible to clean it, but for a +cropped specimen there is none: like Lucifer, it has fallen from its +high estate "never to rise again". + +As the measurement of these small books is always made in millimetres, +25.4 of which go to the inch, the enthusiastic collector carries with +him an ivory rule on which the French measures are marked. The _Ovid_ of +1629, 3 vols. 16mo, runs to 127 millimetres; the _Caesar_ of 1635 to 130 +millimetres--anything below 125 millimetres is hardly worth looking at; +the _Virgil_ of 1676, if uncut, reaches as high as 148 millimetres, or, +if in _grand format_, even to 184 millimetres. A book of high +measurement, or entirely uncut, may be worth L100 or more, according to +its quality; but if cropped below the fashionable height it would not +bring as many shillings. A copy of _Le Pastissier Francois_, 128 +millimetres high, was not long ago offered at 1500 francs, or L60; an +entirely uncut copy brought 10,000 francs, or L400; and yet between the +two there could not have been a greater difference in height than three, +or at the most four, millimetres. The truth is that Elzevirs are +measured with the same accuracy observable in the weighing of precious +stones, and the 25th part of an inch makes a wonderful difference. + +That book collectors sometimes go to extreme lengths cannot be doubted +by anyone who has spent much time in their company; but the English +bibliophiles are not to be compared in this respect with their French +brethren. The latter are _the_ collectors of Elzevirs, and will +frequently spend enormous sums on specimens which from their appearance +and real practical utility are worth hardly anything at all. What can be +more incorrect than the Leyden _Virgil_ of 1636? It is literally crammed +with the most shameful errors, so much so that Heyne says it is +destitute of the slightest trace of any good quality. Yet the famous +Charles Nodier spent nearly all his life searching for a genuine copy of +the first edition, which, when obtained, filled a place purposely left +vacant for it. Up to that time he had declined to "profane" his shelves +with any _Virgil_ at all. + +Thus much for the Elzevir press, which, like the Aldine, is not regarded +with the same favour by collectors as it formerly was. Nevertheless +there are many, particularly in France, who yet make a speciality of +these little books with "good dates," and it is, therefore, necessary to +know something of them. Of one thing the collector may be quite +confident: he has here plenty of material for the study of a lifetime, +and, what is greatly to the point, ample opportunity of accumulating a +representative series of examples of the press. Good Elzevirs, though +rare, are not hopelessly so; while bad ones are as plentiful as +blackberries. In this respect, at any rate, the Elzevir collector has a +great advantage over many of his fellows, whose hunting-grounds are +circumscribed, and who frequently would give anything to obtain even a +mutilated copy from the press of their favourite printer. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] Louis Elzevir II. (1590-1621) produced nine books, one, however, the +_Navigatio ac Itinerarium_ of Linschoten, 1599, bearing the name of +Gilles Elzevir (probably inserted whilst he was temporarily managing the +business of his brother, who in 1599 was called to Leyden to help his +father, Louis I.). + +[10] This was the mark of Erpenius, whose stock was purchased by the +Elzevirs. + +[11] The imprint is merely _Lvgdvni Batavorum, ex officina Elzeviriana_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE EARLY ENGLISH PRESSES. + + +In the short time that intervened between the invention of printing by +means of movable type and the end of the fifteenth century some 20,000 +different works are known to have been issued from the European press. +Many copies of these are doubtless hidden away in old lumber rooms, or +in the recesses of imperfectly catalogued libraries of obscure and +decaying towns. Some have altogether perished, leaving no trace of their +ephemeral existence; others are known by name, but have themselves +vanished as effectually as if they had never existed. What, for +instance, has become of the fifteen books of Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ +which Caxton, in his preface to the _Golden Legende_, says that he +printed? Hitherto no copy has been unearthed, nor any fragment of a +copy. Where is the _Lyfe of Robert Erle of Oxenford_ mentioned in the +preface to the _Four Sons of Aymon_? What was the great printer doing +between the years 1486-8, during which time, so far as can be +discovered, he printed nothing? These and many similar questions are +important, as raising a very strong probability that the bibliography of +Caxton is very far from being complete. The same remarks apply more or +less to nearly every other fifteenth century printer. There is a field +here which has never been fully explored, and which, in all probability, +never will be until some Augustus shall arise, and by a wave of his hand +throw open the dwellings, the libraries, and even the outhouses of the +world to his troop of eager agents. In the meantime, a single discovery +of a hitherto unknown book of the fifteenth century acquires an +importance proportionate to the exceptional nature of the occurrence; +and though the book hunter never despairs, he knows only too well that +such rarities fall only to fortunate mortals like the French +bibliophile Resbecq, whose extraordinary luck was proverbial, or to +those whose ignorance is so dense that they seem provided, as +compensation, with more than a fair share of attractive power. It seems +a pity that the unappreciative should often obtain chances which are +denied to those who could utilise them to advantage, but it is often the +case. The merest tyro sometimes experiences a success which the +experienced bibliophile sighs for in vain. + +Glowing as this picture appears, the collector must not run away with +the idea that all early printed books are valuable. Some, even of the +fifteenth century, are not worth an Englishman's ransom by a long way. +The question of value depends mainly on the name of, and the degree of +reputation acquired by, the printer. Thus, books printed by Fust and +Schoeffer, Gutenberg and Fust, Sweynham and Pannartz, and many others of +the oldest continental printers, are scarce and valuable in the extreme; +so are any books from the presses of the early English printers. On the +other hand, the Estienne, Giunta, and Plantin presses are comparatively +neglected. Here, again, it is a question of reputation, only, in this +case, the inquiry is directed not to the book itself, but to the +printer, a reversal of the usual rule, and one that is productive of an +extraordinary result, namely, that trivial books are often the most +valuable, simply because they have not been worth keeping. Let no one, +then, look, in the first instance, to the character of an early printed +book, but let him rather study that of the craftsman, keeping in mind +the current of popular favour and the direction in which it flows. If he +does this, he will find that, so far as this country is concerned, there +is a scope amply sufficient to satisfy the most earnest aspirations. The +long line of printers from Caxton, in 1477, to Day, in 1546, and, in a +lesser degree, those of the subsequent fifty years, discloses names +which are graven on the heart of the collector, who often accounts +himself fortunate if he can procure a single specimen from the early +English press. As the chance of his doing so, though remote, is by no +means impossible, seeing that copies are frequently offered for sale +while many others must be hidden away, it is necessary that he should +have some ideas of his own. To let slip a chance which fortune throws in +his way, and which may never occur again, would be productive of +never-ending regret, especially as, with a little care and attention, +there is no reason why such a disaster should occur. + +The subject of the early English press could not, of course, be entered +upon fully without occupying considerable space, and I must content +myself with such a _resume_ as can conveniently be compressed within the +compass of a few pages. + +It is worthy of note that many of these old English printers were, like +Aldus Manutius, editors as well. In the early days labour was not +divided as it is now, and it is well known that Caxton, for example, not +merely translated many of his publications, but cast his own type and +bound the sheets when ready for publication. Each of these processes was +perfected in his own office, and so well that to this day his handiwork +is seldom surpassed. Improved apparatus cannot always hold its own +against manual dexterity--an observation which becomes more than ever +accentuated when we apply it to the art of Typography, perfect in its +results almost from infancy. + + + WILLIAM CAXTON, 1474(?). + +[Illustration:] + +Caxton, as, indeed, many of the other printers whose names are +subsequently mentioned, used several devices, of which, I think, it will +be sufficient to give the chief. This pioneer English printer learned +his art during the years 1474-5 in the office of Colard Mansion at +Bruges. Sometime about the year 1477 he established himself as a printer +at Westminster, where he died in 1491. There are certain distinguishing +features by which any of Caxton's works may be known, even if the +colophon is lost or the book a mere fragment. His type is _always_ +Gothic or old English; he never used catchwords nor commas; and although +works from the press of Lettou and Machlinia of London (1480) are +exactly like Caxton's in these respects, the measurement of any given +space occupied by 20 or 22 lines, according to the description of type +used, varies considerably. Since 1819, some twenty hitherto unknown +works by Caxton have been identified by the measurement test, for a full +explanation of which the collector is referred to Blades' _Life of +Caxton_. + +Among the works printed by this great master may be mentioned the +following, which have brought the prices affixed at auction, within the +last few years:-- + + _The Game and Playe of Chesse_, small folio, 31st March, 1474, + the first book of Caxton with a date, and a perfect copy, but + wanting the two blank leaves (10-1/8 in. x 7-1/8 in.), old + calf, L645. + + _Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers_ (11-1/2 in. x 8 in.), + 1477, folio, morocco extra, perfect, L650. + + _Higden's Discripcion of Britayne_, evidently made up from two + imperfect copies (11-1/2 in. x 8 in.), morocco extra, 1480, + folio, L195. + + _Chronicles of Englonde_, 1480, folio, wanted part of the index + and otherwise greatly imperfect, L67; another copy (9-1/2 in x + 7 in.), perfect, L470. + + _Higden's Polychronicon_, 1482, 4to, a very imperfect copy, + containing only 205 leaves, L31. + + _Ryal Book, or Book for a King_, perfect, but several leaves + mended (11-1/8 in. x 8-1/8 in.), no date (1487?), folio, L365. + + _The Prouffitable Boke for Mannes Soule, called The Chastysing + of Goddes Children_, no date, folio, quite complete; and + another called _The Tretyse of the Love of Jhesu Christ by_ + _Wynkyn de Worde_, 1493, folio, both in one volume, L305. + + _Boecius de Consolacione Philosophie_, in Latin and English, a + complete copy, several leaves stained (10-3/4 in. x 7-1/2 in.), + old calf, no date, folio, L156. + +Contemporary with Caxton were the printers Lettou and Machlinia, +previously mentioned, who carried on business in the city of London, +where they established a press in 1480. Machlinia had previously worked +under Caxton. Their productions are scarce, but not so much so as those +of Caxton. An inferior copy of their _Vieux Abrigement des Statutes_, no +date, but about 1481, folio, sold by auction in August, 1887, for L8 +10s., and occasionally other and better specimens may be picked up for +two or three times that amount. + + + WYNKYN DE WORDE, 1491. + +[Illustration:] + +In all probability this famous printer was one of Caxton's assistants or +workmen, when the latter was living at Bruges, but without doubt he was +employed in his office at Westminster until 1491, when he commenced +business on his own account, having in his possession a considerable +quantity of Caxton's type. Wynkyn de Worde, who was one of the founders +of the Stationers' Company, died in 1534, after having printed no less +than 410 books known to bibliographers, the earliest of which bearing a +date is the _Liber Festivalis_, 4to, 1493. The whole of these works, +especially when in good condition, are excessively scarce, and +invariably bring high prices. A wormed copy of the _Descrypcion of +Englonde, Wales, and Scotlonde_ brought L10 at the Gibson Craig sale in +July, 1887, and the _Vitas Patrum_, 1495, folio, L71, at the Crawford +sale in the same month. Voragine's _Golden Legend_, printed by de Worde +in 1527, brought L81 a short time ago; his _Higden's Polychronicon_, +1495, folio, wanting title, L16 5s.; the _Nova Legenda Anglie_, 1516, +folio (wormed), L28; and Dame Juliana Berner's _Fysyhing with an Angle_, +1496, folio (frontispiece inlaid), L120. + + + RICHARD PYNSON, 1493. + +[Illustration] + +This early English printer was by birth a Norman, but became naturalised +in England by letters patent and was appointed king's printer. He was +the first to introduce the Roman letter into this country, though this +honour is by some attributed to Wynkyn de Worde. The Italian penmen of +the fifteenth century furnished the model for the round character which +has been successively adopted in most of the typographical foundries +since the days of Pynson, and which is known as the Roman character; and +these penmen are supposed to have imitated the writing of the +Carlovingian MSS. Thus the small alphabet used by our printers is a copy +of that adopted in the churches of France in the time of Charlemagne. + +Among Pynson's works may be mentioned the following. The prices affixed +have, as before, been realised at auction within the last few years. + + Sebastian Brant's _Shyp of Folys of the Worlde_, translated by + Barclay, black letter, woodcuts, morocco extra, imperfect, + 1509, folio, L23. + + _Jeronimi de Sancto Marcho Opusculum_, &c., woodcut signs of + the Zodiac and Pynson's device on title, a fine copy in morocco + extra, bound by Bedford (1509), 4to, L85. + + _Intrationum Liber_, woodcut of royal arms, perfect, old + russia, 1510, folio, L36 15s. + + + JULIAN NOTARY, 1498. + +[Illustration] + +The periods of the birth and death of this ancient typographical artist +are entirely unknown. One of his books, the _Missale Secundum vsvm +Sarvm_, dates from Westminster, the 20th December, 1498, and one or two +others are dated 1520, so that it is safe to say that he flourished +between those dates. One of the most extraordinary books issued at this +early time is the _Shepherd's Calendar_, printed by Julian Notary. It is +full of quaint woodcuts, illustrative of religious myths, which, +considering the times, are excellently executed. An edition of this +calendar was also printed and published by Richard Pynson. The total +number of books known to have been printed by Julian Notary is 23. + + + WILLIAM FAQUES, 1499. + +[Illustration] + +This printer is known in connection with a few books, about half-a-dozen +in number, which, as usual, are excessively scarce and very valuable. +The dates of his birth and death are uncertain. The first of his books, +however, is dated 1499, and the last 1508. + + + RICHARD FAWKES, 1509. + +[Illustration] + +Although the date of the first book printed by Richard Fawkes is given +as 1509, it is more than likely that the date on the title-page (_Salus +Corporis, Salus Anime_, folio, 1509) is a misprint. The next in point of +date is a book of _Hours_, 1521, and it is hardly likely that twelve +years should have elapsed without his printing anything. Still, time has +spared such a few of this printer's publications that it is quite +possible the date may be correct. Specimens from Fawkes' press are +excessively rare, none having been offered for sale, so far as I am +aware, for many years. + + + PETER TREVERIS, 1514. + +[Illustration] + +Our information about this printer is very meagre, so much so that +little seems to be known of him beyond the fact that he was the first +printer in the borough of Southwark. He printed for John Reynes, a +bookseller in St. Paul's Churchyard in 1527; also for Laurence Andrewe, +who carried on business in Fleet Street about the same date. Anthony a +Wood, in his _History and Antiquities of Oxford_, says that Treveris +printed some of Whitinton's pieces there in 1527, but no evidence of the +fact appears to be forthcoming. The first book known to have issued from +his press is the _Disticha Moralia_, 4to, 1514, though some +bibliographers deny that Treveris was the printer. The whole number of +his productions, inclusive of the grammatical treatises of Whitinton, +which, on the authority of Wood and for purposes of convenience, are +ascribed to him, does not amount to 30. They are, as usual, very scarce. + + _The Grete herball whiche gyueth parfyt Knowledge_, &c., black + letter, woodcuts, badly cut down, 1529, folio, L5. + + + ROBERT COPLAND, 1515. +[Illustration] + +This printer was one of the assistants of Wynkyn de Worde, and a legatee +under his will. He was also a stationer and bookseller, dwelling at the +Rose Garland in Fleet Street, where he carried on business from about +1515 to the year 1547 or beginning of 1548. His productions are not only +few in number, but very rarely ever met with. He seems to have been fond +of small and fugitive pieces, of which, doubtless, a large number have +perished owing to the popularity which formerly attended publications of +this kind. The number of his works catalogued by Ames amounts to 12. +This printer must not be confounded with William Copland (_post_), whose +productions are, comparatively speaking, common. + + + JOHN RASTELL, 1520. + +[Illustration] + +According to Bale, this printer was a citizen of London, and married the +sister of Sir Thomas More. The date of his birth is not known, but he +died in 1536, leaving two sons, one of whom, William, succeeded to his +business. Ames mentions 31 works printed by John Rastell and 15 by +William, and among the former is the famous _Pastyme of People, or +Cronycles of Englond_, of which only three perfect copies are known to +exist. A fac-simile reprint was issued in 1811 by Dr. Dibdin. An +original copy of this work, which contains 18 woodcut full-length +portraits of the kings, was, though imperfect, sold at the Wimpole sale, +in June, 1888, for as much as L79. A copy of the reprint is worth about +30s. + + + JOHN SKOT, 1521. + +[Illustration] + +Books printed by this workman, which are only 13 in number, are seldom +seen. Much--and probably it is no exaggeration to say, most--of the work +of the English printers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries has +been destroyed, and it is probable that between the years 1521 and 1537, +when John Skot, or Scott, as he sometimes spelled his name, is known to +have been working, a large number of publications was issued from his +press, of which not a trace remains. There is a good copy of the +diminutive tract known as _The Rosary_, printed by Skot in 1537, in the +library of Earl Spencer at Althorpe. + + ROBERT REDMAN, 1523. + +[Illustration] + +Robert Redman set up a printing press at the house quitted by Pynson, +just outside Temple Bar, and called the George. He seems also to have +adopted a colourable imitation of his device, and altogether to have +taken great advantage of his opportunities to undermine the business of +his rival. In the 1525 edition of _Lyttleton's Tenures_, printed by +Pynson, the latter takes Redman roundly to task, and in an edition of +_Magna Charter_, dated 1527, a similar strain of abuse is maintained. +The first book known to have been printed by Redman bears date 1523. He +died somewhere about the year 1540. + + Fitzherbert's _Diuersite de Courtes_, black letter, 24 ff., + 1528, 16mo, L2 10s. + + + ROBERT WYER, 1527. + +[Illustration] + +This prolific printer was in business, "in the felde besyde Charynge +Crosse," from 1527 to about 1542, but as the greater number of his books +were published without dates, it is possible that he may have lived +beyond the year given. The number of his books catalogued amounts to 68, +and they consist chiefly of treatises on Astrology, Medicine, and, more +rarely, Poetry. + + + THOMAS BERTHELET, 1530. + +[Illustration] + +Towards the middle of the sixteenth century the popular demand for +biblical legends and treatises on scholastic divinity began to decline, +and a taste for classical literature to take its place. The productions +of Berthelet, which give evidence of the improvement in this respect to +no slight degree, are intrinsically valuable, as well as unusually +numerous. Berthelet died about Christmas, 1555, as appears by an entry +in the Stationers' Hall books for 26th of January, 1555-6. The number of +his works, as catalogued, amounts to 190. + + _The Praise of Folie_, by Erasmus, translated by Chaloner, + black letter, wormed, and title mended, 1549, 4to, L2 8s. + + Gower's _De Confessione Amantis_, black letter, Berthelet's + first edition, wormed, oak boards, covered in stamped leather, + 1532, folio, L8. + + _Institution of a Christen Man_, black letter, woodcut border + to title by Holbein, morocco extra, 1537, 4to, L22 10s. + + _Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christen man_, black + letter, morocco extra, 1543, 4to, L12. + + _Psalms or Prayers_, black letter, wanting title and signature + Lv, calf, no date (1548), 8vo, L10 5s. + + _Henrici VIII. Pia et Catholica Christiani Hominis Institutio_, + morocco extra, by Pratt, fine copy, 1544, 4to, L5 5s. + + + JOHN BYDDELL, 1533. + +[Illustration] + +John Byddell first carried on business at the sign of "Our Lady of +Pity," and seems to have borrowed his device from one of the earlier +pages of Corio's _History of Milan_, 1505. Subsequently he removed to +the "Sun," in Fleet Street, formerly occupied by Wynkyn de Worde. This +printer died somewhere about 1544, having published 29 volumes, +according to Ames, most of which are of a serious character. + + _Prymer in Englishe, with Calendar and Almanake_ (1535-54), + black letter, title in fac-simile, russia extra, 16th June, + 1535, 4to, L97. + + _Bible in English_ (by R. Tavener), black letter, several + leaves mended, morocco extra, by Bedford, folio, 1539, L57. + + + RICHARD GRAFTON, 1537. + +[Illustration] + +Richard Grafton, the king's printer, was at one time a citizen and +grocer of London, and seems to have been brought up as a merchant. He +commenced business as a printer with Edward Whitchurche in or about the +year 1537, and from that date to 1541 they continually printed in +partnership. The dissolution was probably due to the persecution to +which they were subjected on account of the Act of the Six Articles. +Whitchurche, whose device is given below, is said to have married the +widow of Archbishop Cranmer, and is known to have been living in 1560. +Grafton, who was continually in difficulties, and on one occasion +narrowly escaped with his life, is supposed to have died about the year +1572. + + _Boke of Common Praier_, black letter, blue morocco extra, by + Riviere, August, 1552, folio, L60. + + _Primer in Englishe_ (black letter) _and Latyn_ (roman type), + brown morocco extra, by Bedford, 1545, 4to, L28. + + _Orarium seu Libellus Precationum_, woodcuts, blue morocco, + 16mo, 1546, L20 10s. + + Marbeck's _Concordance of the Bible_, black letter, title + inlaid, russia, small folio, 1550, L1 6s. + + Halle's _Chronicle_, black letter, russia extra, by Bedford, + folio, 1550, L9. + + Harding's _Chronicle_, black letter, morocco extra, by Bedford, + 1543, 4to, L11 5s. + + _The Order of the Communion_, black letter, wanted title, + morocco, 8th March, 1548, sm. 4to (the only copy known), L55. + + + EDWARD WHITCHURCHE, 1537. + +[Illustration] + + _Byble in Englyshe_ (Cranmer's), black letter, cut down at the + top, morocco extra, by Bedford, folio, 1541, L50. + + _Booke of Common Prayer_, black letter, first edition of Edward + VI.'s Prayer Book, with the rare order for the price, a fine + copy in blue morocco extra, folio, 1549, L155. + + _Boke of Common Prayer_, second edition of Edward VI.'s Prayer + Book, a fine copy in blue morocco, folio, 1552, L100. + + _Book of Prayers used in the Queen's_ (Catherine Parr's) + _House_, black letter, a fragment of an unknown edition, 32mo, + 1550, L2. + +Grafton and Whitchurche, in conjunction, printed the first issue of the +_Great_ or _Cromwell's Bible_, a folio book dated 1539, a fair copy of +which was sold at the Crawford sale for L111; also the _New Testament, +both in Latin and English, after the vulgare texte_ (Coverdale's +version), 1538-39, 8vo, partly printed at Paris by Regnault and +completed in London. Nearly the entire impression was seized and burnt +by order of the Inquisition, and the few copies that remain are +extraordinarily rare and valuable. + + + JOHN WAYLANDE, 1537. + +A printer who, according to the best authorities, lived at the sign of +the "Blue Garland in Fleet Street," and, in the year 1541, at the sign +of the "Sun, against the Conduit". He was in business in 1558. + + _The Primer in English and Latin, after Salisburye Use_, some + leaves in fac-simile, bound by Riviere in morocco, 22nd August, + 1558, 12mo, L20. + + _Tragedies of all such Princes as fell from their estates + throughe the Mutabilitie of Fortune, translated into Englysh by + John Lidgate_, black letter, some leaves mended, no date, + folio, L4 10s. + + _Prymer in Latin and Englishe ...and Almanacke_ (1555-71), black + letter, brown morocco extra, by Riviere, 1555, sm. 4to, L27. + + _Prymer in Englishe_ (black letter) _and Latine_ (roman type), + _after Salisbury Use, with Calendar, &c._, woodcuts, calf, 1557, + 16mo (only six copies are known), L13. + + _Prymer in Englyshe, with Calendar_, black letter, title in + fac-simile, brown morocco extra, _Ihon Mayler for Ihon + Waylande_, 1539, sm. 4to (only four copies are known), L91. + + + WILLIAM MYDDYLTON, 1541. + +[Illustration] + +William Myddylton, or Middleton, succeeded to the business of Robert +Redman, which he carried on at the sign of the "George, next to St. +Dunstan's Church, in Fleet Street". This printer turned out some 30 +different publications, known to bibliographers. There is no doubt, +however, that many more must be lost, or remain undiscovered. Myddylton +probably died somewhere about the year 1550. Another printer, by name +Henry Middleton, flourished about the year 1579. His works are scarce, +but not nearly so valuable as those of William. + + Froissart's _Cronycles of Englande, &c._, translated by + Bourchier, 2 vols., black letter, 1525, folio, russia extra, + (printed by Myddylton and Pinson), L9 12s. + + + REYNOLD WOLFE, 1542. + +[Illustration] + +The king's printer, was in all probability a foreigner by extraction, if +not by birth. He commenced printing in 1542, but a great portion of his +time was spent in collecting materials for an _Universal Cosmography of +all Nations_, which, though undigested at his death in 1573, laid the +foundation for Holinshed's _Chronicles_. His works are described as +being 59 in number, and, as is always the case where any specimens from +the presses of early English printers are concerned, are scarce and +valuable. After the death of Reynold, his widow, Joan, printed three +books, which bear her name. The last of these is dated in 1580, about +which time, doubtless, the press ceased to exist. + +Care must be taken that this printer is not confounded with others of +the same name, who, for the most part, carried on business in France and +Holland. + + + JOHN DAY, 1546. + +Next to Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde, this printer certainly ranks the +highest in the opinion of bibliographers. Herbert says that Day first +began printing a little above Holborn Conduit, and about 1549 removed to +Aldersgate. He kept also at the same time several shops in different +parts of the town, where his books were sold. Day was the first printer +who used Saxon characters, and brought those of the Greek and Italic to +perfection. He died in 1584 after having followed the business of a +printer for nearly forty years. + +The name of John Day will sometimes be found in conjunction with that of +William Seres, but rarely, if ever, after 1550. This William Seres was a +printer, who, on dissolving partnership with Day in 1550, carried on +business by himself for some twenty or twenty-five years in London. + + _A Short Catechism_, black letter, morocco extra, 1553, 16mo, + L12. + + _Booke of Christian Prayers Collected out of the Ancient + Writers_, black letter, blue morocco extra, by Pratt, 1578, + 4to, L26 10s. + + _Certaine Select Prayers Gathered out of S. Augustine's + Meditations_, 2 vols., 1575, sm. 8vo, L5 15s. + + _Psalmes in Metre with Music_, black letter, 1571, sm. 4to, + L140. This work was sold with another by Jugge and Cawood, and + was bound in an exceptionally fine Elizabethan style. + + _Preces Privatae in Studiosorum_, first ed., 1564, 16mo, also + another edition of 1573, 16mo, in two volumes (both printed by + William Seres), L3. + + + WILLIAM COPLAND, 1548. + +Probably a son of Robert Copland, though the relationship is very +doubtful. It has been supposed that William was a younger brother of +Robert, and worked in the office of the latter up to the time of his +death, in the same manner as Robert worked in the office of Wynkyn de +Worde. It is evident that both William and Robert used the same battered +types, which they set up with an equal amount of carelessness. +Notwithstanding the workmanship, however, these books are valuable, and +always command high prices. The first book of William Copland's +printing found with a date is the _Understandinge of the Lorde's +Supper_, 1548, 8vo; and between that year and 1568, the time of his +death, he is credited with over 60 different publications. + + _Story of the most noble and worthy Kynge Arthur_, black + letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, + morocco extra, 1557, sm. folio, L10; another copy, quite + perfect, L30. + + _The right plesaunt and goodly Historie of the foure sonnes of + Aimon_, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in + fac-simile, no date or name, but printed by W. Copland in 1554, + small folio, L14. + + _Hystorie of the two Valyaunte Brethren, Valentyne and Orson_, + black letter, woodcuts, a defective copy, several leaves having + been repaired, no date, small 4to, L21. + +Among the other old English printers, whose names frequently appear on +the title-pages of books, may be mentioned:-- + + WALTER LYNNE, 1548-50, whose _Cattechismus_, in small 8vo, + 1548, brought L59 in June, 1889. + + RICHARD JUGGE, 1548-77, _The Holie Bible_, Bishops' Version, + black letter, 1568, folio, L70. + + THOMAS MARSHE, 1549-87, _Certaine Tragicall Discourses_, black + letter, 1567, 4to, L15; also _Heywoode's Woorkes_, 1576-77, + 4to, L9 9s. + + JOHN CAWOOD, 1550-72, who printed the first collected edition + of _Sir Thomas More's Works_, 1557, now worth from L15 to L20, + the _Stultifera Navis_ of Brant, black letter, woodcuts, folio, + 1570, L12, and many others. + + RICHARD TOTTEL, 1553-94. + + HUGH SINGLETON, 1553-88, _The Supplication of Doctour Barnes_, + &c., black letter, morocco extra, by Riviere, no date, 8vo, + L10. + + JOHN KYNGSTON, 1553-84, the printer of the best folio edition + of _Fabian's Chronicle_, 1559. + + ROWLAND HALL, 1559-63. + + JOHN ALLDE, 1561-96. + + ROBERT REDBORNE (cir. 1576), whose only known work is entitled + _The history of the moost noble and valyaunt knyght, Arthur, of + lytell brytayne_, folio, no date, but about 1576. Of this work + only two perfect copies are known. One sold at the Crawford + sale in June, 1889, for L27 10s. + + THOMAS EST (_cir._ 1592), _Whole Booke of Psalmes_, 1592, 8vo, + L15 10s. Wilbye's _Second Set of Madrigales_, half morocco, + 1609, 4to, L6. Yonge's Musica Transalpina, 1588, 4to, L7. + Yonge's _Musica Transalpina_, the seconde booke, half morocco, + 1597, 4to, L11. + +With the advent of the seventeenth century presses became very numerous +all over England. Christopher and Robert Barker at London, and John +Field at Cambridge, are perhaps the best known printers of that era, but +the importance and value of their works depend upon circumstances, and +cease to exist as a matter of course. It is indeed from this point that +the study of English bibliography becomes more difficult and confusing, +and here precisely that the young collector is apt to go astray. + +The most famous English printer of modern times was undoubtedly John +Baskerville; in fact, he seems to have been the only one possessed of +exceptional merit. Everyone has heard of Baskerville: he rises the one +solitary genius out of the multitude of labourers in the same field, and +towers so high above the rest as to eclipse them entirely. Baskerville +started as a printer in Birmingham in 1756, having spent hundreds of +pounds in the experimental casting of type, which he ultimately brought +to the highest state of perfection. Every book printed by him is a +masterpiece: his paper is clear and elegant and of a very fine quality, +while the uniformity of colour throughout testifies to the care taken in +printing every sheet. At one time works from the Birmingham press, +presided over by Baskerville, were much sought after, but of late years +the fashion has changed and prices have consequently much diminished. +The splendid edition of Addison's works, 4 vols., 4to, with portraits +and plates, 1761, a beautiful copy bound by Derome in red morocco, +brought L10 a short time ago, a depreciation of at least a third in the +value, while in some other instances the fall is much more marked. +Baskerville appears at one time to have studied the workmanship of the +Elzevirs, and on one or two of his books, notably the _Elegantiae Latini +Sermonis_ of Meursius, 1757, he has dated the title-page as from _Lugd. +Bat. Typis Elzevirianis_. This little volume is a fit tribute to a +family of famous printers of the seventeenth century, from a no less +excellent workman of the eighteenth, and I feel certain that some day +collectors will again vie with each other in collecting choice examples +from his press. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + ON BINDINGS OLD AND NEW. + + +Books cannot live long without being bound, and the more expensive and +artistic the appearance of the binding, the greater the chance of +preservation for the whole. A book is sometimes handled gently, not +because of any merits of its own, but simply on account of its cover, +which thus becomes its protector in a double sense. Like those old +earthen boxes, which on being broken are found to contain the clay +tablets of Assyria, many of which run as far back as 1500 years before +the Christian era, bindings were doubtless originally intended to act +the part of preservatives; beauty of design and even neatness would be +after-considerations, and entirely subservient to the sole object, that +of protection. By degrees the book lover made demands upon art, and, in +obedience to an universal law, the supply answered to his call. Cicero, +we are told, was a connoisseur of bindings, and himself employed famous +workmen to glorify his rolls of papyrus and vellum, or to bind up his +diptychs in the manner of our modern books, but more expensively, if the +tastes of the old Roman are not belied, than the majority of book lovers +can afford to do in these latter days. + +In the palmy days of Rome, art in all its varied forms was probably as +advanced as it is now, and we cannot doubt that Virgil and Homer, the +representative poets of Rome and Greece, were to be found in a score of +palaces, dressed as befitted their high reputation, in the most noble +and expensive of coverings. Two thousand years have, however, made a +clean sweep of Roman artist and Roman bookman alike, and we have nothing +to guide us beyond the casual remarks of one or two diarists and +historians of the day, whose chronicles have happened, almost by chance, +to come down to us. The names of none of the ancient binders survive, +and not a trace of their workmanship remains; we know only that there +were such beings, who occasionally threw into their work great taste and +skill, and that bibliophiles vied with each other in gaining possession +of their choicest examples. + +When, therefore, the question is asked, Who was the first binder known +to fame? we cannot look to Greece or to Rome for an answer, nor yet to +Italy. Curiously enough it is to Ireland that we must turn, for there +the monk Dagaeus practised the art so long ago as 520 A.D. One example +only of his handiwork has survived to our own day, and is now to be +found in the library of the British Museum along with the _Textus +Sanctus Cuthberti_ bound by the first English workman, one Bilfred, a +monk of Durham, who flourished nearly 1200 years ago. This _Textus_, so +the old legend says, was once swallowed up by the sea, which, respectful +of the merits of the saint, gracefully retired fully three miles of its +own accord, and so restored the cherished volume to its owners. As the +monks were the sole multipliers of books, so also they were, until the +invention of printing in 1450, the only binders. Manuscripts of the +ninth century are extant, heavily encased in ivory-carved covers or +confined between gold and silver plates studded with precious stones. +More often than not these expensive coverings were destined to be their +ruin, for, to say nothing of private peculation, the sumptuous bindings +were ripped off at the time of the Reformation for the sake of the metal +or stones, and the manuscripts thrown in thousands upon the tender +mercies of the vandals into whose hands they fell. + +In the fourteenth century Petrarch was knocked down by one of his own +tomes, and was within an ace of breaking his leg, but this was at a +period when monastic bindings ordinarily consisted of wood, covered with +leather and protected by metallic bosses, corner plates, and massive +clasps of iron. Bulk and weight were then the great desiderata, though +every now and then the richest materials were still employed in binding, +as when a king's library was added to, or some rich monastery gave +orders for a sacred volume to be covered with the enamels of Limoges, +ivory, gold or silver, and encrusted with jewels. + +From the end of the fifth to the middle of the fifteenth century, books +were excessively rare and costly, and comparatively few bindings +illustrative of the art during the dark ages have been preserved. The +few that have survived are wonderful specimens of art, and in every way +worthy of the illuminated manuscripts they enclose. + +The period of the Renaissance, which is usually assigned to the +Pontificate of Leo X., was witness of another change. The ponderous +tomes, whose weight was alone a protection, gradually gave way to +smaller-sized volumes, and these were often bound in velvet or silk, +beautifully embroidered by lady amateurs, perhaps also by professed +binders. At other times the monastic covering of wood and leather is +observable, and often the leather gave way to seal and shark skin +without any tooling or other ornamentation. + +These different styles of binding continued in vogue side by side until +the introduction of typography, when the Venetians introduced morocco +from the East and found out the virtues of calf. Books now became bound +in oak boards covered with these leathers or in thick parchment or pig +skin, old manuscripts often being cut up and of course destroyed for the +purpose: boards, clasps, and bosses became obsolete, while silken +embroidery maintained a precarious existence, dependent solely on the +spasmodic efforts of accomplished amateurs whose tastes and inclinations +were swayed by fashion. Finally, parchment disappeared and leather +bindings held universal sway, and have so maintained it to our own time, +though the English cloth-bound book is now employed whenever expense is +an object. + +Such is a short history of the development of the art of bookbinding, as +necessary to be understood and remembered as any other branch of our +subject. + +Some of the better-known and more valuable descriptions of ornamental +bindings, whether Italian, French, or English, derive their entire +importance by reason of their having come from the libraries of noted +collectors, who bound their books after a model pattern. Many of these +specimens are of the greatest rarity and often of great value. As works +of art, too, they are frequently far superior to anything that can be, +or at any rate is, produced at the present day. A really well bound book +by Le Gascon, or one of the Eves, for example, is a beautiful object. +The covers, of the choicest calf or morocco, are tooled in patterns, +_i.e._, hand engraved, in gold; the edges are of gilt, _gauffre_, that +is to say, designs are impressed on them also; the whole is a splendid +specimen of bibliopegistic skill. Such artists as these disdained blind +tooling, where the patterns are worked out and left without their meed +of gold. Half-bound volumes with their back and corners of leather and +their sides of vulgar paper or boards they were either ignorant of or +despised. + +All this excellence of course cost money, which then, as now, was in the +hands of the few, and it must not for a moment be supposed that examples +of high-class binding were at all common even during the era in which +they were produced. They are scarcer now, for time and fire have claimed +their share of spoil, but it was only the great collectors of almost +unlimited means, popes, kings, and cardinals, and their favourites, who +could afford at any time to furnish a library where beautiful bindings +predominated. + +These collections have for the most part been dispersed over the world, +and an amateur of the true old-fashioned type will not allow himself to +be looked upon as fortunate, if his shelves do not contain one or two +examples at least from the magnificent libraries of brother amateurs +long since passed away. + +The Italians were the first to awake to the enormity of binding their +books in pig skin, or encasing them between clumsy wooden boards; and +readily profiting by the teachings of the great master painters, who +made Italy their peculiar home, they began to use calf and morocco, +elaborately tooled to geometrical patterns. Leo X. (1513-21) had a good +library, and one book at least is extant, bound by an Italian artist in +red morocco, with the Papal arms on the sides. Some years previously to +this, Aldus Manutius had bound his own books at Venice, and he took as +much care of their dress as he did of the text. Some of these bindings +appear to be imitations of the designs sculptured on the walls of +mosques, and it was from the East therefore that the great Venetian +school obtained its first instruction in the art. The book lover +rejoices exceedingly when he meets with any of these ancient Italian +bindings, but if he can only possess a Maioli, his cup of happiness +literally overflows. + +This Maioli--who or what he was are alike unknown--this Maioli had an +extensive library, and all his books were sumptuously bound in the +choicest leathers and tooled in gold on the backs and sides. On an +embossed shield was the title of the work, and underneath, that +inscription afterwards imitated by Grolier, "Tho Maioli et Amicorum". +Let not the collector be deceived however:--there were two Maiolis: +Thomasso, above mentioned, whose choice bindings are sought after all +the world over, and Michel, whose artistic tastes were less fully +developed, and who perhaps knew better than to invite his friends to +borrow from his store. + +Cardinal Bonelli (1541-98) and Canevari, the physician to Pope Urban +VIII. (1559-1625), were both enamoured of costly bindings, the latter +especially, for on the sides of his books appears a gorgeous object +representing Apollo in gold, driving his chariot in blue or red over a +silver sea. + +Lorenzo de Medici, Prince of Florence, scholar and patron of art and +literature, called the Magnificent, who died in 1492, stamped his books +with the Medici arms, together with a laurel branch and the motto +_Semper_. Others of the Medici family had splendid libraries, and their +books were often covered with silver and gold beautifully inlaid, after +the designs of painters of the highest eminence. + +Amongst other Italian collectors whose fondness for calf and morocco +carried them perhaps just a little too near the border line of +extravagance, were Pietro Accolti, Cardinal of Ancona (1445-1532), +Antonio Alemanni, the poet (1500), and Pasqual Cicogna, Doge of Venice, +who died in 1595. Specimens from the libraries of any of these, and +others besides, are sometimes worth far more than their weight in gold. + +The Italian bookbinders were the instructors of the French, who +subsequently rivalled and finally eclipsed their masters. At first the +French merely imitated, but towards the close of the reign of Francis I. +(_cir._ 1540), they struck out fresh lines of their own. + +Jean Grolier is the representative collector of the early French school, +but he was, at the same time, the most famous judge of bindings that the +world has yet seen. He was born at Lyons in 1479, and died in 1565, +having spent nearly the whole of his life in the collection of books. +His opinion of French binders appears to have been the reverse of +complimentary, for he went to Italy to find a workman after his own +heart, and one who could be relied upon to satisfy his fastidious taste. +Many people think that Grolier was by trade a bookbinder, but this is a +mistake--he was merely an enthusiastic amateur who allowed his passion +for bindings to become his master. Some of his designs he prepared +himself; others are undoubted imitations of those adopted by Maioli, +whom he so greatly admired, that even his motto is reproduced, with of +course the necessary variation, "Io Grolierii et Amicorum". This appears +on the sides of most of his books, and there is consequently no +difficulty in identifying them. Others bear an emblem, and in a scroll, +"AEque difficulter," and others again the words of the Psalmist arranged +so as to form a triangle, "Portio mea Domine sit in terra +viventium".[12] Most of Grolier's books were printed by Aldus at Venice, +and they are generally found lettered on the back, a practice which was +not in vogue before his day. But however bound, and whatever device, +maxim, or motto he employed, the name of Grolier invariably causes great +excitement among amateurs. The value of any of his books is proverbial, +and their scarcity equally so. A rare book may occasionally be snapped +up for a hundredth part of its worth, not so a magnificent specimen of +binding, which courts further inquiries on the part of the vendor, and, +as we all know, "further inquiries" are usually fatal to the would-be +snapper-up of unconsidered valuables. + +Louis de Sainte-Maure was a contemporary of Grolier, and like him an +enthusiastic book hunter. His bindings are said to be even rarer still. +They too are tooled with geometrical figures, and on the side, in the +centre, is the inscription, "Invia virtuti nulla est via". + +Diana of Poitiers, the mistress of Henri II. of France (_cir._ 1540), +was another famous collector, who spent vast sums on binding her books. +The designs were made in all probability by Le Petit Bernard, one of the +most famous engravers of his day, and her books, like those of Grolier, +were gold tooled on both back and sides. Diana's device consisted of a +bow and a crescent, sometimes with a sheaf of arrows. Those books which +the infatuated Henri sent to his mistress bear the H. surmounted by a +crown and flanked by the _fleur-de-lys_. Henri was himself a collector +of no mean order, and his volumes, like those belonging to the fair +Diana, have their countless worshippers. The king, whatever the laxity +of his morals, was a stickler for etiquette, and drew a wide distinction +between a mistress and a wife. Some of his books are stamped with the +interwoven initials H. and D., and ornamented with the usual emblems of +the chase, but no crown is observable. That makes its appearance over a +solitary H., banished, so to speak, to the remoter regions of the +cover. Sometimes the initials are changed to H. C., interwoven and +surmounted by the crown, and then we know that Henri chose to honour his +wife Catherine de Medicis with notice. + +Diana's library at the Chateau d'Anet was dispersed by auction in 1723: +it contained volumes of the most varied descriptions, lives of the +saints and lewd songs jostling one another with impudent familiarity. + +Catherine de Medicis herself had the taste of Diana for beautiful +bindings, and kept a staff of workmen, who vied with each other in the +production of beautiful specimens of ornamentation. She had the mania of +the true book collector, for on the death of the Marechal de Strozzi, +she laid violent hands on his choice and valuable library, promising to +pay for it sometime, but ultimately dying herself without doing so. + +The books of Francis I. (1515-47), if bound for his use while Dauphin of +France, are marked with a dolphin, in addition to the ordinary kingly +stamps of the Royal Arms, a salamander, and the letter F. The motto in +each case is the same: "Nutrio et extinguo". Specimens of binding having +the dolphin are extraordinarily rare. + +Henri III. (1574-89) did much to reduce the extravagant cost of +bookbinding, for, in 1583, he made a decree that ordinary citizens +should not decorate any single book with more than four diamonds, or the +nobility with more than five; he himself and a few other scapegraces of +the Royal House were under no restriction. The same King instituted the +order of the "Penitents" as some little compensation for a life of +shameless vice and crime, and celebrated the occurrence by the invention +of a new binding, the originality of which is undoubted. On black +morocco, and sometimes with the Arms of France, appear a death's head, +cross-bones, tears, and other emblems of woe, including a joke in the +form of a motto, "Spes mea Deus". Henri, when Duke of Anjou, loved Mary +of Cleves, and subsequently consoled himself for her untimely death by +binding a quantity of books in his library. Skulls, tears, and +_fleurs-de-lys_ are thrown about in profusion; the motto, "Memento +mori," looks out at you from among floreated ornaments; Jesus and Marie +are placed on a level. When ordered to attend the Court after the death +of his beloved Mary, he made his appearance in a black robe, embroidered +all over with the usual funereal emblems. + +The gloomy bindings of Henri III. brought on a reaction, giving rise to +a style of decoration known as _a la fanfare_. No sooner was the King +gathered to his fathers than his sister, Margaret of Valois, exchanged +the death's heads for a fanciful decoration, consisting of a profusion +of foliage, sprinkled with daisies. Bindings of this period are very +choice, but not so elaborate as the development of the _fanfare_ +eventually made them. The foliage became much more delicate, and the +clusters of leaves and flowers at last resembled lace work, under the +magic touch of the great binder Le Gascon. + +We now leave Royal personages, and descend to a lower level, meeting at +the very threshold the historian Thuanus, better known as De Thou +(1553-1617). This celebrated amateur and patron of bookbinding was an +intimate friend of Grolier, and president of the Paris Parliament in the +reign of Henri IV. All his books, of which he possessed a large number, +were bound in morocco or gilded calf skin in a style which varied with +the different periods of his life. His bachelor's library was +embellished with his arms in silver, between two branches of laurel, +with his name below. After his marriage in 1587, his wife's escutcheon +is stamped alongside his own with the initials J. A. M. below, and also +on the backs of his volumes. During his life as a widower, a wreath of +twining-stems tipped with red berries, and his own and dead wife's +initials interlaced, take the place of other ornaments. After his second +marriage in 1603, his new wife's escutcheon appears in conjunction with +his own, but the initials are changed to J. A. G. + +This splendid library remained intact for more than 200 years, and it +was not until 1677 that it was sold almost as it stood to the Marquis de +Menars. At his death in 1718, it was purchased by Cardinal de Rohan, but +in 1789, his heirs, impoverished by legal proceedings, were compelled to +disperse the collection. The binders principally employed by De Thou +were the Eves (Nicholas, Clovis, and Robert), whose splendid workmanship +is a model for such of our modern binders as follow the higher branches +of the art. + +Le Gascon, the binder to the Duke of Orleans, who seems to have +flourished between the years 1620 and 1640, was another workman of the +first rank. The Duke was a great collector, whose shelves were covered +with green velvet, garnished with gold lace and fringe, and whose +bindings by Le Gascon were similarly ornamented. + +Among the large number of French bibliophiles who now appeared on the +scene, and competed with each other in the beauty of their bindings, one +or two must necessarily be mentioned, since the modern collector envies +or admires their taste. + +Chancellor Seguier, at the end of the seventeenth century, employed +Ruette to make the bindings _au mouton d'or_, which graced his shelves; +and a little later still, the Baron de Longepierre utilised the +well-known ornament of the Golden Fleece, which, when found on any book, +no matter how intrinsically worthless, greatly enhances its price. These +are the prizes of book collecting, seldom met with, and always strongly +competed for. + +The Colberts stamped the sides of their books with their crest, in which +the climbing adder is always conspicuous. There were no less than seven +members of this family who loved books, and all embellished them with +the adder in a shield surmounted by a crown. + +Nicholas (1680) and Charles Louis Fouquet (1684-1761) each adopted the +coat of arms with a squirrel--looking for all the world like a lion--and +the motto, "Quo non ascendam". Cardinal Mazarin, who died at Vincennes +on the 9th of March, 1661, had many devices, the most common of which is +the coat of arms, consisting of an axe bound up in a bundle of fasces, +and surmounted by a cardinal's hat. These and many other figures which +generations of bibliophiles have caused to be tooled on their books, +point conclusively to what library any given specimen formerly belonged, +though, as might be expected, it is sometimes a matter of great +difficulty, or even impossibility, to identify particular volumes. Some +amateurs discarded their own crests, and adopted others, for reasons +which are not apparent, while women, as, for example, the Duchesse du +Maine, who decorated her books at Sceaux with a golden bee-hive, appear +to have possessed the most intricate armorial bearings, or to have been +guided by mere caprice, in their choice of emblems. Many books bearing +crests or coats of arms cannot, therefore, be identified, and for this +reason, amongst others, the few books which have been written on this +branch of the art of binding are necessarily incomplete. One of the +best--which, moreover, contains some hundreds of woodcuts illustrative +of various devices--is Guigard's _Armorial du Bibliophile_, 2 vols., +8vo, Paris, 1870-3, but this is strictly confined to French devices. +Even Hobson's choice, however, is often better than none.[13] + +Although the sixteenth century was _par excellence_ the era of +ornamental bindings, it cannot be said that England made much progress +in the art. Up to the reign of Elizabeth we seem to have persisted in +the use of clumsy oak boards or stiff parchment covers, and when a +really choice and expensive binding was required, it took the form of +embroidered silks and velvets. Queen Elizabeth herself was very expert +in this method of ornamentation, which continued to exist, in all +probability, simply because it was fashionable. + +The first English bookbinder of any repute was John Reynes, a printer, +who lived in the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. Specimens of his work +are very rare, though, when compared with the French bindings of the +same date, they appear miserably inferior. The truth is that England +was--and, indeed, is--much behind some other countries in everything +relating to bibliography, and binding in particular. + +Robert Dudley, the great Earl of Leicester, was the first English book +collector who was possessed of any degree of taste. His cognisance of +the "bear and the ragged staff" appears on the sides of a (generally) +quite plain binding, although sometimes a rough attempt at ornamentation +is found. Archbishop Parker, and Burghley the Lord Treasurer, had good +libraries of well-bound books, and one specimen from Bothwell's +collection is known to exist. This, the _Larismetique et Geometrie_ of +La Roche, _Lyon_, 1538, was in the possession of the late Mr. +Gibson-Craig, and is mentioned by him in his _Fac-similes of Old +Book-Binding_. It is in the original calf gilt, with gilt _gaufre_ +edges, and on the sides are the arms of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. +Although Bothwell is known to have possessed literary tastes, books from +his library are excessively rare. This fine book belonged originally to +the family of Forbes of Tolquhon, and a signature and date 1588 written +on the title-page show that it had been acquired by them a few years +after the outlawry and death of the original proprietor. At the +Gibson-Craig sale this fine specimen was knocked down for L81. + +James I. was a bibliophile, as well as a reputed _savant_, and paid much +attention to the binding of his books, some of which, now to be seen in +the British Museum, are ornamented with thistles and _fleurs-de-lys_. +Lord Clarendon, who died in 1674, had a very fine collection of books, +many of which were bound by Notts, the most experienced English workman +of that day, and who was, it appears, also patronised by Pepys, the +diarist. + +It was not, however, until the eighteenth century that we made in this +country any real advance in bookbinding. Robert Harley, the first Earl +of Oxford (1661-1724), had established a library, and this had not only +been added to by his son, but bound in a most expensive manner, by two +workmen named Elliott and Chapman, who seem to have attained a certain +amount of proficiency, and whose efforts gave rise to a new style of +ornamentation known as the "Harleian". Though much inferior to the +Continental designs, this had a beauty of its own, and was a vast +improvement upon anything hitherto attempted by English binders. + +Thomas Hollis, the _litterateur_ and antiquary, who died in 1774, bound +his extensive collection in calf, adding, in each instance, a device +suitable to the contents of the work. Thus, as the owl is the symbol of +wisdom, his scientific books bear the figure of an owl stamped on the +covers. Military works have the short Roman stabbing sword, and so on. + +If we except, perhaps, the French emigrants who made their home in this +country at the end of the eighteenth century, there really was no binder +of any note until the advent of Roger Payne (1739-1797). This workman, +though dissolute, had, nevertheless, a reputation in his line second to +none. In person, he is stated to have been dirty and untidy, but +certainly neither of these defects appear in his bindings, which, though +not, as a rule, heavily gilt, are tooled to neat classical or +geometrical designs after the Venetian style. Where Payne made his mark +was, perhaps, in the _appropriateness_ of his bindings. His judgment, in +this respect, appears to have been sound and popular. + +After Payne followed Walther, Charles Hering, and Charles Lewis, all of +whom, the last particularly, did very good work. In more recent times +still we have Hayday, Riviere, Francis Bedford, Ramage, and last, but +by no means least, Zaehnsdorf, whose son yet carries on business in +London. + +The ordinary cloth bindings, such as we see every day in the +booksellers' shops, are purely English, and have been in use since 1823, +when they were invented by Lawson, and adopted by Pickering, the +publisher. In Continental countries they use paper covers, and even the +most expensive works are issued originally in this form. There they bind +their books after publication if they are found to be worth binding. In +this country cloth is now largely used, and is certainly a great +improvement on the old clumsy covers of a bygone age, or on the paper +wrappers of this. + +Bookbinding in the higher styles is now done fairly well in England, +though, in the opinion of many, the workmanship is not equal to that of +the French artists of three hundred years ago. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] See Guigard, _Armorial du Bibliophile_, vol. i. p. 248. + +[13] Mr. Quaritch, the bookseller, has in preparation a _Dictionary of +English Book Collectors_, somewhat after the scheme of M. Guigard's +book. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + BOOKS TO BUY. + + +One of the most difficult branches of bibliography is that which treats +of the books to choose and those to avoid, with reference mainly to +their pecuniary value. Few collectors, who are not specialists, care +very much for the utility of their libraries; in many cases, indeed, it +is not a question of utility at all, but of extent, though I apprehend +that no one would wish to crowd his shelves with rubbish merely for the +sake of filling them. As an immense proportion of the books which have +been published during the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and +nineteenth centuries clearly come under that category, the collector has +much to avoid, and stands in need of considerable experience to enable +him to make a selection. + +Naude, the apologist for "great men suspected of magic," whose patron, +by the way, was Cardinal Mazarin, had a method of purchasing which, if +not unique, was at any rate uncommon. His favourite plan was to buy up +entire libraries, and sort them at his leisure; or when these were not +available in the bulk, he would, as Rossi relates, enter a shop with a +yard measure in his hand, and buy his books by the ell. Wherever he +went, paper and print became scarce: "the stalls he encountered were +like the towns through which Attila had swept with ruin in his train". +Richard Heber, the bibliotaph, too, had collections of miscellaneous +books at Paris, Antwerp, Brussels, and other continental towns, to say +nothing of London, where the aristocracy among his treasures were +deposited. The books were sold by auction after his death; the sale +occupied 202 days, and flooded the market with rubbish--a worthy +termination to a life of sweeping and gigantic purchases, made in the +hope of acquiring single grains of wheat among his tons of worthless +chaff. + +But Naude had the wealth of Mazarin at his back, and free licence to +purchase as and where he would at the Cardinal's expense, while Heber +was rich beyond the dreams of avarice; the modern book hunter, whose +means we will suppose are limited, must discard the yard measure and the +scales, and rely on his judgment, taking care to get the utmost value +for his money. He will have to make up his mind to buy or not to buy on +the spur of the moment, for while he is consulting his books of +reference at home, a golden opportunity may be missed. This is his +capital difficulty, and one which it will take years of experience to +surmount, for there is no _vade mecum_ capable of being carried in the +waistcoat pocket, which will enable him to spot a rarity at a glance; +nothing, in fact, which can compensate for a lack of practical +knowledge. I have often thought that a register of scarce but +mean-looking English books, of such a convenient size as to be carried +in the palm of the hand, might be of assistance to those who haunt the +stalls, and delve among the rubbish usually to be found there; some day, +perhaps, it may be worth while to try the experiment, _sed Gloria, +quantalibet quid erit; si gloria tantum est_? What will be the value of +ever so much glory, if it be glory and nothing else? + +In turning over the contents of an old book-stall, the major portion of +the heap will be found to consist of volumes of sermons, and other +theological treatises, recipe books, odd historical volumes, and +poetical effusions, besides periodical literature of the _Spectator_ and +_Tatler_ brand. Books of this class are, as a rule, merely rubbish; but +still there are a few exceptions. Sermons of John Knox and Dr. +Sacheverell, or any of Mather's tracts, are invariably worth purchasing; +as also are first editions of sermons by Cardinals Manning or Newman. +Early editions of Mrs. Glasse's cookery book, or any recipe books of the +seventeenth century, may safely be speculated in; so may early editions +of poetical works, if written by authors whose reputation subsequently +became established. Third, fourth, or later editions are seldom of much +value, no matter who the author may be, and no matter of what character +or description, provided they come under one or other of the heads +enumerated above. In purchasing books of the class generally found on +second-hand stalls, there are two preliminary questions to be asked: +first, was the author of sufficient reputation to make his name well +known? and secondly, is the particular copy of his works offered for +sale an early edition? If an affirmative answer can be given to each of +these inquiries, it will be advisable to tender the small sum likely to +be asked, and to run the risk. + +Another point to be observed is that where a printer's device appears on +the title-page, or indeed on any other part of an _old_ book, it is more +likely than not to have a value, and it ought never to be passed over +without a careful scrutiny. + +Should the collector be fortunate enough to pick up a rare French book, +his best policy will be to have it suitably bound in France by a +first-rate binder. Though already valuable, its importance will be still +further increased by this manoeuvre; for when the inevitable day of +parting shall arrive, the French bibliophiles will be more inclined to +welcome native talent than any English imitation of it. + +Volumes containing separate tracts should always be examined, as it +sometimes happens that rare pieces are found bound up with a mass of +worthless matter. I once heard of original editions of two of Moliere's +plays being found in this way; and as these stand pretty much in the +same position, so far as rarity and consequent value is concerned, to +the early Shakespearean quartos, the importance of the "find" to the +lucky discoverer can hardly be exaggerated. This is only another example +of the rule which can never be too often repeated, since it can never be +sufficiently understood. If the author is "big enough," and the edition +is early enough, buy. The probability is you may not realise the full +importance of what you have got until you have had time to consult some +book of reference; it may indeed turn out that a wretched and dirty +reprint has done duty for the original, or it may so be that the book is +worthless on its merits. This is one of the risks of book collecting, +and, it may be added, one of its charms. Hundreds of thousands of dead +and forgotten books must be annually disposed of, for nominal sums, in +London alone, and there is no telling how often these and others may +have been turned over and flung aside by passers-by before they +eventually find a market. Among all this profusion of rubbish, a certain +percentage of valuable pieces must necessarily exist, and these, from +the very circumstances under which they are offered for sale, will be +unknown, and more or less unbound and uncut. Every year some of these +princes in disguise are rescued from the wind and rain, and henceforth +considered a fair exchange for gold instead of copper; but alas! we +cannot both eat our cake and have it too. "Finds," as they are called, +are not so numerous as they once were, nor hucksters so ignorant as in +the merry days of Dibdin and Burton, to say nothing of such foreign +Nimrods as Colbert, Grolier, and the great Pixerecourt. + +The same rules which guide the haunter of the stalls are suitable to +those who purchase from the regular booksellers. There is so much to be +learned, so many artificial rules and distinctions to be observed in +everything relating to books, that mistakes are of frequent occurrence. +Ignorant assistants have before now unwittingly thrown shabby little +books, like Burns' Poems (Kilmarnock, 1786), into the sixpenny-box at +the shop door; others have been too lazy to sort the "parcels" as they +have come in from the auctioneers, and have bundled the whole contents +into the same repository. There are a hundred and one accidents in +favour of the book hunter, but he needs experience in order to take +advantage of them, and this cannot be got without the expenditure of +much time and money and the suffering of many disappointments, which, +indeed, seem to increase as he grows older, rather than to diminish. +This is doubtless because the sphere of his operations becomes wider +until it exceeds that of his experience; the seventh age of the +Bibliophile is even as his first. + +Apart from the books which are fashionable for the time being and +invariably command fancy prices, there are others which may be styled +"standards," that is to say, are sold over and over again, both by +auction and private contract, for sums which vary only according to +condition. These for the most part are in several volumes, 8vo, +frequently also in 4to or folio. Their very appearance precludes any +prospect of a bargain; indeed the purchaser, unless well versed in +book-lore, stands a very good chance of paying for mere bulk. When the +library at Sion College took fire, the attendants at the risk of their +lives rescued a pile of books from the flames, and it is said that the +librarian wept when he found that the porters had taken it for granted +that the value of a book was in exact proportion to its size. To this +day the impression that big books contain wisdom is all but universal. +This has always been so, as witness the temporary reputation of Nicholas +de Lyra, who wrote and printed 1800 folios of Commentary on the Bible, +and of Aldrovandus, whose thirteen large folio volumes on General +Zoology (1599-1668) have greatly perplexed the scientific world ever +since they were published. Let not the collector be led away by massive +tomes, nor imagine that standard works of acknowledged reputation can +often be got for less than they are worth. + +Of late years there has been a violent competition for books and even +tracts published in or in any way relating to the American Continent +provided only that they were published during the sixteenth, +seventeenth, and sometimes also the eighteenth centuries. Thus Cotton's +_Abstract of the Laws of New England_, 1641; _The Description of +Jamaica_, 1657; Brereton's _Relation of the Discoverie of the North Part +of Virginia_, 1602, and many other obscure little 4to tracts--not +books--would be cheap at twenty guineas each, while others are worth +even more. American collectors are largely responsible for this. In the +same way treatises of any kind which have a Scotch local interest, and +are dated about the same period, are always worth two or three guineas +at the least, and in many cases far more than those amounts. + +The earliest book printed in Scotland is _The Knightly Tale of Golagrus +and Gawane and other ancient poems_ (Edinburgh, 1508), 4to, which was +reprinted in fac-simile under the superintendence of Dr. Laing in 1827. +As might be expected, the original is so scarce as to be unprocurable, +and even the reprint is of considerable value. Early Scotch-printed +books by such workmen as Walter Chepman, Androu Myllar, Andro Hart, +Alexander Arbuthnot, Thomas Davidson, Anthony Marlar, James Watson, +Andrew Anderson and his widow the would-be monopolist, Robert Freebairn, +and several others, some of whom carried on business into the eighteenth +century, should never be overlooked or discarded. These are just the +kind of books which are occasionally discovered on stalls in obscure +streets, and which may be expected to be bought for a few pence. They +are scarce, of course, or it would not be worth while to mention them; +but they look insignificant, and many, for anything I know, may this +very day be making their weary pilgrimage on costermongers' barrows in +the New Cut, despised and rejected of men. + +Specimens of typography from the presses of Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and +other early English printers, some of which have already been mentioned, +are essentially curiosities, and it is almost useless to hope for even +the semblance of a bargain so far as they are concerned. Still, +occasional finds are from time to time reported from out-of-the-way +villages whose inhabitants have not yet wakened from their mediaeval +slumbers, and great is the rejoicing of the explorer, and many the +paragraphs with which the discovery is heralded in the newspapers. The +collector who is fortunate enough to come across a work of this +class--he can hardly expect a repetition of such extraordinary +luck--will have crowned his labours, be they great or small, and can +henceforth pride himself on his success. If he never handles a book +again, he will have earned his laurels. + +Inferior County Histories in one volume, generally 8vo, are always worth +buying if they can be got for a few pence, as is often the case, for +there are very few of them which are not worth as many shillings at the +least. Topographical works are now being inquired for to a much greater +extent than was the case several years ago, and the booksellers can +dispose of almost any quantity. Such examples as are likely to be +casually met with are, however, very small game; yet they represent the +average amount of success likely to be achieved at one time in these +days of widespread knowledge. The demand for book rarities is very +great, and every hole and corner, likely and unlikely, is periodically +ransacked by booksellers' "jackals," to say nothing of the army of +amateurs ever on the look-out for bargains. Accident is, however, +productive of occasional successes, and every man has, or may have, if +he thinks proper to put it to the test, an equal chance. + +In addition to the ready-made bargains, which do more than anything else +to delight the heart of the book lover and encourage him to further +exertions, there is such a thing as playing upon popular likes and +dislikes, or, in other words, speculating on the vagaries of fashion. At +present the rage is for original editions of modern authors, principally +those with plates, coloured or uncoloured. Some day the fashion will +change, and books hitherto neglected will suddenly take their place and +increase many times in value. Such books should be bought while they are +cheap, and they doubtless would be if there was such a thing as a +literary barometer capable of forecasting the state of the market; but +there is not, and it is impossible to foretell the direction in which +the mass of book lovers will turn when once they are tired of +picture-books. + +Every bookseller is of necessity a speculator, for it is his business to +buy at a low price and to sell at a higher. The amateur, however, +should, if he would preserve his title, abstain from traffic of this +kind and be satisfied to pay for the privilege of forming a library +without regard to the ultimate profit or loss. His pleasure should +consist in acquisition and the opportunity afforded of fondling his +store while there is time, for he may be absolutely certain that the +whole assortment--bookcases, shelves, and all--will find their way to +the auctioneer directly he has done with them. This mournful prospect +has been the indirect means of founding a new school, that of the +semi-amateurs, which, while claiming for itself all the attributes of +the book lover, has, nevertheless, an eye to the main chance, and is +prepared at a moment's notice to transfer an entire collection _inter +vivos_ if the required sum be forthcoming. As an ardent Waltonian would +regard a brother of the angle who went a-fishing with the object of +selling his catch, so the old-fashioned bibliophile views this +degenerate school--that is to say, with unfeigned disgust. It makes no +difference, nay, if anything it is an aggravation, that the culprit is +"well up" in his subject and knows a book when he sees one. "Fancy!" +says a member of the old academy, "here is an educated man who for years +has occupied his leisure hours in studies the most delightful, and among +friends the most courteous and refined. He knows them, can put his hand +upon any in the dark, and yet----;" but here the power of words fails to +describe the heartless greed which alone could send a row of life's +companions to the block. Nevertheless this is being done every day, and, +however vexed the respectable book lover may be, the fact remains that +the new school is just now showing remarkable activity and is running +the booksellers very close indeed. The advisability of purchasing +depends upon the answer to a single question, "Will this book go up?" +Never mind the author, or a syllable of what he wrote, but take especial +care to see that the work is perfect, clean, and uncut, and then ask +yourself this solitary question. This is the first and last commandment +of the semi-amateur, whose method of procedure it may be interesting to +analyse. + +Let us suppose that a London publisher advertises a new edition of some +famous work, tastefully got up and luxuriously bound and illustrated. +The issue of course is limited, as the price is high, and +discriminating purchasers must be tempted. The old-fashioned amateur is +not to be charmed because he persuades himself that there is plenty of +time, and what matter if a few years later he has to pay a slightly +enhanced price? The book will be worth it, for it will be scarce, and, +moreover, have attained a respectable degree of antiquity, and so he +passes it by. Not so the new school, which we will assume has answered +its solitary question in the affirmative. The edition is snapped up in a +moment, and single members will buy as many duplicates as they can +afford to invest in--buy to sell again ultimately, and in the meantime +to gloat over, like so many jackdaws eying a secreted heap of stolen +goods. This is commonly called "cornering" an edition; and when several +persons possessing the same opinions and the same tastes join their +forces, it will readily be perceived that if a book will not go up of +its own accord it may readily be forced up by judicious retention and +self-denial. This, of course, is nothing more nor less than +Stock-Exchange speculation, and it is satisfactory to find that +sometimes the greedy purchaser makes a mistake and is saddled with a +small stock of waste-paper. + +As previously stated in the fifth chapter, a book which has perhaps been +cornered as often as any other, and never successfully, is Ottley's +_Italian School of Design_, on large paper, with proof impressions. The +published price was L25 4s., the present value is about L3 by auction. +Here is a dreadful falling off, and the adherents of the new school have +never yet been able to understand the reason, or to cease persuading +themselves that the day must surely come when the book will go up. If +anything, however, it is going down, and in the opinion of many experts +it can never again take a respectable position in the market. + +Another book which has also been speculated in, and with even more +disastrous results still, is _Hogarth's Works_, from the original +plates, restored by Heath, and published by Baldwin and Cradock, in +1822, at L50. This is a large and sumptuous work, with a secret pocket +at the end, in which are, or should be, found the three suppressed +plates. The present auction value is not much more than L4, and, judging +from appearances, it is very unlikely to get any higher. How many people +have burned their fingers over these two tempting works it would be very +difficult even to guess; suffice it to say, that the amateur speculator +often has half-a-dozen of each on his shelves, and in nine cases out of +ten he finds them an encumbrance and a loss. As John Hill Burton truly +says, "No good comes of gentlemen amateurs buying and selling". This is, +of course, as it should be; but rejoicing at the fate of the enemy is +likely to be turned into gall when it is discovered that defeat is +bolstered up with the inevitable axiom "Better luck next time". + +It cannot be denied that, from a practical everyday stand-point, the +collector who buys to sell has everything in his favour. Why should he +not employ his knowledge to advantage? why be compelled to stock his +library at a loss which will fall chiefly on his immediate descendants? +why suffer the pain and mortification of ever remembering that after all +his books are only lent to him on hire, and that as others have parted +with the identical volumes before, so he must also part with them in his +turn? The pleasure of possession is mixed with an alloy which is +disquieting to the man who loves his books too well. Still, after all, +there is one pleasure which the votaries of the new school can never +hope to enjoy, and that is the communion with old friends. Their books +are strangers, and even though they should learn them by heart, they +would be strangers still. The remembrance of happy hours spent with a +lost volume is to them as nothing compared with the ringing metal which +replaces it; or to put the case as pleasantly as possible, we will say +that the speculator regards a book as possessing an interest quite apart +from its literary or domestic value. How such an one would hunger after +the treasures secured by an eager collector at a fishmonger's shop in +Hungerford Market some fifty years ago--"Autograph signatures of +Godolphin, Sunderland, Ashley, Lauderdale, Ministers of James II., +accounts of the Exchequer Office signed by Henry VII. and Henry VIII., +wardrobe accounts of Queen Anne, secret service accounts marked with the +'E. G.' of Nell Gwynne, a treatise on the Eucharist in the boyish hand +of Edward VI., and a disquisition on the Order of the Garter, in the +scholarly writing of Elizabeth," all of which, as Mr. Rogers Rees +narrates, had been included in waste-paper cleared out of Somerset House +at L7 a ton. + + + + +PRINCIPAL SECOND-HAND BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WHO PUBLISH +CATALOGUES. + +[***] _The Date Appended is that of the Firm's Establishment._ + +Free use has been made of Mr. Clegg's _Directory of Second-hand +Booksellers_ in the preparation of this list; but reference has also +been made to each firm personally. + +=GENERAL.= + + _Aberdeen_--Bisset, Jas. G., 1879. + Middleton, Geo. + Murray, James, 1825. + Nicoll, Thomas P. + Walker & Co. + Wilson, J. + Wyllie & Son, D., _c._ 1830. + + _Accrington_--Wardleworth, Jno., 1864. + + _Barton-on-Humber_--Ball, Henry William, 1856. + + _Bath_--Cleaver, H. + Gregory, George, 1879. + Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867. + Pickering, G. & F., 1852. + + _Belfast_--Burns, Alex., _jun._ + Dargan. + Shone, J., & Co., 1885. + + _Birmingham_--Baker, Edw., 1884. + Brough, Wm., & Sons, 1845. + Downing, William, 1830. + Hitchman, John, 1855. + Lowe, Charles. + Midland Educ. Trading Co., Limited. + Thistlewood, Alf. + Wilson, James. + + _Bournemouth_--Commin, H. G. + Gilbert, H. M. + + _Bradford_--Hart, James. + Matthews & Brooke, 1840. + Miles, Thomas, 1879. + + _Brechin_--Black & Johnston, 1817. + + _Brighton_--Smith, W. J. + Thorpe, James. + + _Bristol_--George, James. + George's, William, Sons, 1847. + Jefferies, Charles S. + Matthews, J., & Son. + Nield, Ashton. + " Walter. + + _Burnley_--Coulston, William. + Lupton Brothers. + + _Burton-on-Trent_--Waller, Thos. + + _Bury, Lancs._--Vickerman, Chas. + + _Cambridge_--Deighton, Bell & Co. + Hall, J., & Son, 1798. + Johnson, Elijah. + Macmillan & Bowes. + Tomlin, W. + Tomson, Octavus. + + _Canterbury_--Goulden, W. E. + + _Carlisle_--Grant, George S. + + _Carnarvon_--Jones, John D. + + _Carrickfergus_--Weatherup, Jas. + + _Cheltenham_--Pink, John Wm. + Rawlings, H. E., 1880. + + _Chester_--Edwards, J. W. P., 1870. + + _Cirencester_--Baily & Son. + + _Colchester_--Forster, Thos., 1883. + Harwood, William H. (private dealer). + + _Cork_--Massey, Nassau, 1840. + + _Derby_--Clayton, Mrs. + Murray, Frank, 1884. + + _Devizes_--Colwell, John. + + _Devonport_--Clarke, Josiah, & Sons. + + _Dover_--Johnson, Wm., 1843. + + _Dublin_--Carson Brothers. + Combridge. + Rooney, M. W., 1842. + Traynor, Patrick, 1849. + + _Dumfries_--Anderson, John, & Son. + + _Dundee_--M'Gregor, Mrs. + Maxwell, Alexander. + Petrie, George, 1875. + + _Edinburgh_--Baxendine, A. + Brown, W. + Bryce, William, 1885. + Cameron, Richard, 1868. + Clay, Wm. F. + Dunn, James, 1888. + Elliot, Andrew, 1854. + Grant, John. + Hossack, T. M., 1875. + Hunter, R. W. (su'r. to Gemmell). + Johnston, George P., 1880. + Johnstone, Thomas. + Mackay, James. + Mackenzie, John, 1861. + Macleod, Norman. + Macniven & Wallace. + Macphail, Alexander. + Melville, Thomas. + Stevenson, Thos. George, 1824. + Stillie, James, 1826. + Thin, James, 1847. + + _Elgin_--Watson, J. and J. A., 1775. + + _Ennis_ (_Ireland_)--Hayes, James. + + _Exeter_--Commin, James G. + Drayton, S., & Sons, 1838. + + _Fritchley_ (_Derbysh._)--Wake, Hy. Thomas, 1863. + + _Glasgow_--Forrester, J. P. + Forrester, Robert, 1850. + Hannah, J. + Hopkins, Hugh. + Kerr & Richardson, 1827. + MacLehose & Sons, 1838. + Muir. + Sime, W. S., 1837. + + _Halifax_--Teal, J., 1880. + + _Hastings_--Watts. + + _Hull_--Annandale, R. C. + Cook, Robert. + Tutin, J. R., 1882. + + _Inverness_--Melven Brothers, 1864. + Noble, J., 1859. + Snowie, William M., 1887. + + _Ipswich_--Read & Barrett, 1827. + + _Lancaster_--Duxbury, John, 1879. + West, G. S., 1877. + + _Leamington_--Collier, John. + Kennard, Tho., 1875. + + _Leeds_--Ashworth, J. H. and A., 1830. + Dodgson, Joseph. + Jackson, R. + Lees, F. R., & Co., 1880. + Miles, James. + Milligan, Thomas, 1859. + Symington, John S., 1881. + + _Leicester_--Holyoak, W. H., 1880. + Murray, Frank. + Spencer, Jno. and Thos., 1853. + + _Lichfield_--Asher, Henry, 1877. + + _Liverpool_--Gibbons, F. and E. + Hales & Co., 1869. + Howell, Edward. + Parry & Co. + Potter, William. + Young, Henry, & Sons, 1849. + + _London_--Alexander, S., 42 Kingsland Rd., E. + Bailey Brothers, 36A Newington Butts, S.E., 1875. + Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W. + Bensberg Bros., 344 Holloway Rd., N. + Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq., W.C. + Brown, C. and E., 13 Bishop's Rd., Paddington, W., 1876. + Buchanan, J., 49 Great Queen St., W.C. + Bull & Auvache, 35 Hart St., W.C. + Bumpus, Edw., Holborn Bars, W.C. + Bumpus, John, 350 Oxford St., W., 1840. + Cooper, Alf., 234 and 236 King St., Hammersmith, W., & 8 Newland + Terrace, High St., Kensington, W. + Cornish, Jas., & Sons, 297 High Holborn, W.C., _c._ 1840. + Edwards, Francis, 83 High St., Marylebone, 1860. + Edwards, Thomas, & Co., Northumberland Avenue, W.C. + Evans, M., & Co., 61 Charing Cross Rd., W.C. + Galwey, John, 17 Garrick St., W.C., 1890. + Garrett, J. E., & Co., 48 Southampton Row, W.C. + Gladwell, T., 101-3 Goswell Rd., E.C., 1860. + Glaisher, George, Southampton Row, W.C., 1841. + Grose, Wm., 17 Panton Street, Haymarket, W., 1875. + Gunn, James, 49 Bedford St., W.C., 1870. + Hartley, H. H., 81 Park St., Camden Town, N.W., 1888. + [_Specialite_: 18th cent. Literature.] + Hayes, T., 50 Broke Rd., Dalston, N.E. + Herbert, C., 319 Goswell Rd., E.C. + Higham, Chas., 27A Farringdon St., E.C., 1862. + Hill, H. R., & Son, 1 Booksellers' Row, W.C., 1849. + Hindley, C., 41 Booksellers' Row, W.C. + Jackson, Alb., G. Portland St., W. + Jarvis, J. W., & Son, 28 King William St., Strand. + Jones, F. R., 82 Ilbert Street, Queen's Park, W. + Lazarus, S. H., 3 and 51 Booksellers' Row, W.C. + McCaskie, R., 110 Iverson Rd., N.W. + Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Gr., W., 1860. + Maurice, A., & Co., St. Martin's House, Gresham St., E.C. + May, 225 Edgware Rd., W., 1878. + May, George H., 9 Royal Arcade, Old Bond St., W., 1882. + Menken, E., 3 Bury St., Oxford St., W.C. + Mills, T. B., 2 Palace Street, Buckingham Gate, S.W., 1880. + Myers, A. I., & Co., 49 Booksellers' Row, W.C., 1889. + Nicholls, Wardour St., W. + Nutt, David, 270-1 Strand, W.C., 1830. + Parker, R. J., 204 High Holborn, W.C. + Parsons, E., & Sons, 45 Brompton Rd., S.W., 1858. + Quaritch, B., 15 Piccadilly, W. + Reader, A., 1 Orange St., Red Lion Square, W.C. + Reeves & Turner, 196 Strand, W.C., 1848. + Ridler, W., 45 Booksellers' Row, W.C. + Roche, J., 38 New Oxford St., W.C., 1850. [_Specialite_: + Standard Library Editions.] + Rogers, H. A., 83 Hanley Rd., Strand Green, N. + Sabin, F. T., 118 Shaftesbury Avenue, W. + Salisbury, Jesse, 11 New Court, Farringdon Street, E.C. + Salkeld, John, 315 Clapham Rd., S.W. + Sandell & Smith, 136 City Rd., E.C., 1830. + Selwyn, Henry, 74 Brompton Rd., S.W., _c._ 1876. + Sotheran, Henry, & Co., 36 Piccadilly and 136 Strand. + Simmons, New Oxford St., W.C. + Streletzki, L., 19 Newcastle St., Whitechapel, E. + Westell, J., 114 New Oxford St., W.C., 1841. + Wright, W., 34 Cranbourn St. + + _Manchester_--Battle, F. + Cornish, J. E., 1854. + Maddocks, J. J. [_Specialites_: Shakespeare, Wordsworth, + Coleridge.] + Sotheran, Henry, & Co., 1816. + Sutton, Albert, 1848. + " R. H. + Wilson, James, 1866. + Wilson, Thomas, 1840. + + _Merthyr Tydvil_--Wilkins, W. + + _Montrose_--Davidson, David P. + Nairn, John, & Son. + + _Nairn_--Melven Brothers. + + _Newcastle-on-Tyne_--Bond, Wm. B., 1881. + Browne & Browne, 1884. + Thorne, Thomas. + + _Northampton_--Billingham, Wm., 1850. + Mutton, Fred., 1876. + Taylor & Son. + + _Norwich_--Hunt, Wm., 1860. + Jarrold & Sons. + + _Nottingham_--Bryan, George. + Murray, Frank, 1881. + + _Oban_--Boyd, Thos. [_Specialite_: Gaelic.] + + _Omagh_--Carson, Nathaniel, 1870. + + _Oxford_--Blackwell, B. H., 1879. + Gee, W. H. + Parker & Co., Jas., _c._ 1800. + Shrimpton, T., & Son, _c._ 1790. + Slatter & Rose. + Thornton, Joseph, & Son, 1835. + + _Paisley_--Ballantyne, Jno., & Son, 1877. + + _Penzance_--Kinsman, John. + + _Plymouth_--Attwood, G. H. + + _Portsmouth_--Griffin & Co. [naval only]. + Long, W. H., 1876. + Trayte, George. + + _Preston_--Halewood, William. + Robinson, Henry, 1860. + + _Reading_--The Lovejoy Library, 1832 (Miss Langley). + Poynder, E. + Smith, William, 1874. + Thorp, Thomas, 1860. + + _Retford_--Smith, Jno. Martin, 1870. + + _Richmond, Surrey_--Hiscoke & Son, 1851. + Palmer, George M. + + _Rochdale_--Clegg, James, 1857. + + _Rugby_--Lawrence, Alf., 1834. + Over, George E., 1882. + + _St. Neots_--Tomson, David Rich., 1860. + + _Salisbury_--Broadbere, Benj. + Brown & Co. + Simmonds, N., & Co., 1881. + + _Scarborough_--Hargreaves & Inger. + Yule, John. + + _Sheffield_--Warde, Thomas. + + _Shrewsbury_--Bennett, John. + + _Southampton_--Gilbert, H. M. + James, T., & Co., 1849. + + _Southport_--Ashworth, Jno., 1885. + + _Stirling_--Cook, William B. + + _Stockton-on-Tees_--Brown, John. + + _Stratford-on-Avon_--Miss Trimming. + + _Stroud, Gloucs._--Collins, William, 1881. + + _Swansea_--Price, Thomas, 1874. + + _Taunton_--Barnicott & Pearce. + Butland, Reuben. + + _Teddington_--Miss Millard. + + _Tiverton_--Masland, Wm., _c._ 1840. + + _Torquay_--Iredale, Andrew, 1872. + King, Charles. + + _Truro_--Clyma, William J. + Pollard, Joseph. + + _Walsall_--Robinson, George. + + _Walthamstow_--Mayhew, F. + + _Weymouth_--Wheeler, Harry. + + _Wigan_--Starr, James, 1886. + + _Winchester_--Warren & Son, 1835. + + _Worcester_--Humphreys, E. G., 1805. + + _Worksop_--White, Robert, 1847. + + _York_--Sampson, John B. + + +=The majority of the Undermentioned Booksellers are also General +Booksellers, but their Specialities are as indicated.= + + +BOOKS ON AMERICA AND THE COLONIES. + + _Bath_--Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867. + + _Brighton_--Smith, W. J. + + _Bristol_--George's, Wm., Sons, 1847. + + _Exeter_--Commin, James G. + + _Leeds_--Ashworth, J. H. and A., 1830. + Milligan, Thomas, 1859. + + _London_--Brentano's, 430 Strand, W.C. + Edwards, Francis, 83 High St., Marylebone, 1860. + Gray, Henry, 47 Leicester Sq., W.C. + Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Gr., W., 1860. + Petherick, E. A., & Co., 33 Paternoster Row, E.C. [Colonial + books]. + Pickering & Chatto, 66 Haymarket, S.W., 1820. + Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + Stevens, B. F., 4 Trafalgar Sq., W.C. + Stevens, Henry, & Son, 39 Great Russell Street, W.C. + + _Walthamstow_--Mayhew, F. + + + =AUCTIONEERS (BOOK).= + + _Leeds_--Symington, John S., 1881. + + _London_--Christie, Manson, & Woods, 8 King St., S.W. + Hodgson, H. H., & Co., 115 Chancery Lane, W.C. + Puttick & Simpson, 47 Leicester Square, W.C. + Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, 13 Wellington St., Strand, W.C. + + + =AUTOGRAPHS=. + + _Barton-on-Humber_--Ball, H. W. + + _Birmingham_--Conway, Noel, & Co. + + _Colchester_--Golding, Chas., 1873. + + _Edinburgh_--Brown, A. + Brown, William, 1877. + + _London_--Barker, Fred., 41 Gunterstone Rd., W., 1882. + Davey, Sam. J., 47 Gt. Russell St., W.C. + Fawcett, H., 14 King Street, Covent Garden, W.C. + Pearson, J., & Co., 5 Pall Mall Place, S.W. + Robson & Kerslake, 23 Coventry St., W., 1870. + + _Teddington_--Miss Millard. + + + =CLASSICS AND COLLEGE BOOKS.= + + _Aberdeen_--Bisset, Jas. G., 1879. + + _Bath_--Gregory, George, 1879. + + _Cambridge_--_See_ General. + + _Durham_--Slack, John. + + _Edinburgh_--Bryce, William, 1885. + Hossack, T. M., 1875. + Mackenzie, John, 1861. + Thin, James, 1847. + + _Glasgow_--Sime, W. S., 1837. + + _Leeds_--Symington, Jno. S., 1881. + + _Liverpool_--Howell, Edward. + Parry & Co. + + _Oxford_--_See_ General. + + + =FINE ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE.= + + _Belfast_--Dargan. + Shone, J., & Co. + + _Birmingham_--Crees, Wm. Henry, 1884 [water-col. drawings]. + Downing, William. + + _Bristol_--George, James. + + _Glasgow_--Forrester, Robert. + M'Clure, Robert, 1880. + Muir. + + _Ilkley_--Watson, Wm. + + _London_--Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W. + Batsford, B. T., 52 High Holborn, W.C., 1843 [specially + architecture, engineering, &c.]. + Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq. + Bumpus, Edw., Holborn Bars, W.C. + Bumpus, John, 350 Oxford St., W., 1840. + Jackson, A., 224 Great Portland St., W. + Parsons, E., & Sons, 45 Brompton Rd., S.W., 1858. + Quaritch, B., 15 Piccadilly, W. + Rimell, J., & Son, 91 Oxford St., W. + Selwyn, H., 74 Brompton Rd., S.W. + Sotheran, H., & Co., 36 Piccadilly and 136 Strand. + Ward, William, 28 Southampton St., Strand. + + _Rugby_--A. J. Lawrence. + + + =FINE BINDINGS.= + + _Liverpool_--Howell, Edward. + + _London_--Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq., W.C. + Bumpus, Jno., 350 Oxford St., W., 1840. + Ellis & Elvey, 29 New Bond St., W. + Pickering & Chatto, 66 Haymarket, S.W., 1820. + Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + Robson & Kerslake, 23 Coventry St., W., 1870. + Sotheran, H., & Co., 36 Piccadilly, and 136 Strand. + Tregaskis, J. & M. L., 232 High Holborn, W.C. + Zaehnsdorf, Shaftesbury Av., 1840. + + + =FIRST EDITIONS OF MODERN BOOKS.= + + [***] _See also_ RARE BOOKS. + + _Bath_--Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867. + + _Birmingham_--Baker, Edward. + Hitchman, J., 1855. + + _Bournemouth_--Commin, H. G. + + _Burnley_--Lupton Brothers. + + _Derby_--Murray, Frank, 1884. + + _Edinburgh_--Brown, Wm., 1877. + Stillie, James, 1826. + + _Exeter_--Commin, J. G. + + _Leeds_--Milligan, Thos. + + _Leicester_--Murray, Frank, 1884. + + _Liverpool_--Parry & Co. + Young, Hy., & Sons, 1849. + + _London_--Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W. + Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq. + Bumpus, Edw., Holborn Bars. + Bumpus, Jno., 350 Oxford St., W., 1840. + Dobell, B., Charing Cross Rd. + Hubbard, J. R., 10 Allen Terr., High Street, Kensington. + Hutt, F. H., 10 Clement's Inn Pass., Strand. + Hutt, Wm., 3 Hyde St., Oxford Street, W.C. + Lachlan, F. C, 60 Canonbury Road, N., 1876. + Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Gr., W., 1860. + Mathews (Elkin) & Lane (John), Vigo St., W. + Maurice, A., & Co., Gresham St. + May, B., 225 Edgware Rd., W., 1878. + Menken, E., 3 Bury St., Oxford Street, W.C. + Parsons, E., & Sons, 45 Brompton Road, S.W., 1858. + Pickering & Chatto, 66 Haymarket, S.W., 1820. + Robson & Kerslake, 23 Coventry St., W., 1870. + Sabin, F. T., 118 Shaftesbury Avenue, W. + Spencer, W. T., 27 New Oxford Street, W.C., 1884. + Tregaskis, J. & M. L., 232 High Holborn, W.C. + + _Nottingham_--Murray, Frank, 1884. + + _Salisbury_--Simmonds, N., & Co., 1881. + + + =FOREIGN.= + + _Birmingham_--Hector, E., 1886. + + _Cambridge_--Deighton, Bell & Co. + + _Edinburgh_--Williams & Norgate. + Young, George Adam, & Co. + + _Liverpool_--Hales & Co., 1869. + [Specialite: Spanish Books.] + + _London_--Asher & Co., 1864. + Dulau & Co., Soho Sq., W. + Grevel, H., & Co., 33 King St., Covent Garden, W.C. + Kolckmann, J. W., 2 Langham Place, W. + Luzac & Co., 46 Great Russell Street, W.C., 1890. + Menken, E., 3 Bury St., Oxford St., W.C. + Nutt, David, 270-1 Strand, W.C., 1830. + Paul (Kegan), Trench, Truebner & Co., Ld., Charing Cross Road, W.C. + Siegle, A., 30 Lime St., E.C. + Thimm & Co. (Franz), 24 Brook St., W., 1841. + Williams & Norgate, 14 Henrietta Street, W.C. + + + =FREETHOUGHT.= + + _Leicester_--Holyoak, W. H., 1880. + + _London_--Forder, G., Stonecutter St., E.C. + Watts & Co., 17 Johnson's Ct., Fleet St., 1860. + + _Walthamstow_--Mayhew, F. + + =GENEALOGY AND HERALDRY.= + + _Birmingham_--Hitchman, J., 1855. + + _Bristol_--George's, Wm., Sons, 1847. + + _London_--Mitchell & Hughes, 140 Wardour Street, W., 1797. + Parsons, E., & Sons, 45 Brompton Rd., S.W., 1858. + + + =LAW.= + + _Edinburgh_--Green, Wm., & Sons, 1874. + + _London_--Amer, R., Lincoln's Inn Gate, W.C., Carey St., 1848. + The Kelly Book Co., Ld., Lincoln's Inn Gate, W.C. + King, P. S., & Son, 5 King St., Westminster [Parliamentary papers + and books]. + Reeves & Turner, 100 Chancery Lane, W.C. + Stevens & Sons, Ld., 119-20 Chancery Lane, 1810. + Sweet & Maxwell, Ld., 3 Chancery Lane. + Wildy & Sons, Lincoln's Inn Archway, W.C., 1830. + + + =MUSIC.= + + _Birmingham_--Thistlewood, A. + + _London_--Gladwell, Thos., 101-3 Goswell Rd., E.C. + Reeves, Wm., 185 Fleet St., E.C. + Salisbury, J., 11 New Court, Farringdon St., E.C., 1884. + + + =NATURAL HISTORY.= + + _Bath_--Marsden, Herbt. W., 1875. + + _Colchester_--Harwood, Wm. H. (private dealer). + + _Exeter_--Commin, James G. + + _London_--Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket. + Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq., W.C. + Irvine, J., 28 Upper Manor St., Chelsea, 1863. + Maurice, A., & Co., Gresham St. + Porter, R. H., 18 Princes St., Cavendish Sq., W., 1875. + Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + Sotheran, H., & Co., 36 Piccadilly, and 136 Strand. + Wesley, W., & Son, 28 Essex St., Strand, W.C. + Wheldon, J., 58 Great Queen Street, W.C., 1838. + + + =NUMISMATICS.= + + _Colchester_--Forster, Thos., 1883. + Golding, Chas., 1873. + + _Inverness_--Snowie, Wm. M., 1887. + + _London_--Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + + + =ODD VOLS. AND BACK NOS.= + + _London_--Baxter, Sam., 20 Paternoster Row, E.C. + Dent, W., 34 Southampton Rd., Kentish Town, N.W. + George, E., 231 Whitechapel Road, E. + Platnauer, Fetter Lane, E.C. + + + =ORIENTAL LITERATURE.= + + _London_--Allen, W. H., & Co., Ld., Waterloo Place, S.W. + Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + + _See also_ Luzac, Nutt, Williams & Norgate, _under_ FOREIGN. + + + =QUAKERS.= + + _Fritchley, Derby_--Wake, H. T., 1863. + + _London_--Hicks, E., _jun._, 14 Bishopsgate St., E.C. + Smith, Joseph, 6 Oxford St., Whitechapel, 1848. + + + =RARE BOOKS. EARLY-PRINTED BOOKS.= + + _Bath_--Gregory, Geo., 1879. + Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867. + + _Belfast_--Dargan. + + _Brighton_--Bohn, Jno. + Smith, W. J. + Toon, Thomas. + + _Edinburgh_--Brown, Wm., 1877. + Johnston, Geo. P., 1880. + Stillie, James, 1826. + + _Glasgow_--Kerr & Richardson, 1827. + + _Liverpool_--Young, H., & Sons, 1849. + + _London_--Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W. + Ellis & Elvey, 29 New Bond Street, W. + Harvey, Frcs., 4 St. James's St., S.W. + Leighton, J. & J., 40 Brewer St., Golden Sq., W. + Maggs, Uriah, Paddington Green, W. + Nattali, H. C., 23 Bedford St., Strand, W.C., 1825. + Nutt, David, 270-1 Strand, W.C., 1830. + Pearson, J., & Co., 5 Pall Mall Place, S.W. + Pickering & Chatto, 66 Haymarket, S.W., 1820. + Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + Robson & Kerslake, 23 Coventry Street, W., 1870. + Sabin, F. T., 118 Shaftesbury Avenue, W. + Sotheran, H., & Co., 36 Piccadilly, and 136 Strand. + Tregaskis, J. and M. L., 232 High Holborn, W.C. + + + ="REMAINDERS."= + + _Edinburgh_--Grant, John. + + _Exeter_--Commin, J. G. + + _London_--Avery, E., 63 Greek St., Soho, 1879. + Gibbings, W. W., 18 Bury St., W.C. (Trade only.) + Glaisher, Wm., 265 High Holborn, W.C., 1853. + Herbert, C., 319 Goswell Rd., E.C. + Miles, T., & Co., 95 Upper St., Islington, N. + Reeves & Turner, 196 Strand, W.C. + Smith, W. H., & Son, 186 Strand, W.C. + + [***] _Most General Booksellers also + deal in "Remainders" now._ + + + =ROMAN CATHOLIC.= + + _London_--Baker, Thos., 1 Soho Sq., W., 1849. + Burns & Oates, Ld., Orchard St., W. + Washbourne, R., 18 Paternoster Row, E.C., 1866. + + _See also_ THEOLOGY. + + + =SCIENCE AND MEDICINE.= + + _Aberdeen_--Bisset, Jas. G., 1879. + + _Birmingham_--Hector, E., 1886. + + _Cambridge_--_See_ General. + + _Edinburgh_--Bryce, Wm., 1885. + Clay, W. F. [_Specialite_: Chemistry and Allied Sciences.] + Livingstone, E. and S., 1863. + Pentland, Young J. + Thin, James, 1847. + + _Glasgow_--Sime, W. S., 1837. + Stenhouse, Alex., 1860. + + _Liverpool_--Howell, Edward. + + _London_--Kimpton, Rich., 126 Wardour St., W. + Lewis, H. K., 136 Gower St., W.C., 1844. + Pentland, Young J., 38 West Smithfield, E.C. + Poole, Jos., & Co., 39 Booksellers' Row, W.C., 1854. + + _Oxford_--_See_ General. + + + =SHORTHAND.= + + _Edinburgh_--Mackay. + + _London_--McCaskie, R., 110 Iverson Rd., N.W. + + + =SPORTS AND RURAL BOOKS.= + + _Bradford_--Miles, Thomas, 1879. + + _Exeter_--Commin, James G. + + _Kelso_--Rutherford, J. and J. H., 1802. + + _London_--Robson & Kerslake, 23 Coventry St., W., 1870. + Pickering & Chatto, 66 Haymarket, S.W., 1820. + Spencer, W. J., 27 New Oxford St., W.C., 1884. + Toovey, Jas., 177 Piccadilly, W. + Wheldon, J., 58 Great Queen Street, W.C., 1838. + + _York_--Sampson, John B. + + + =SURPLUS LIBRARY BOOKS.= + + _Edinburgh_--Douglas & Foulis. + Grant & Son. + Macniven & Wallace, 1878. + + _Glasgow_--Bryce, David, & Son. + MacLehose & Sons, 1838. + + _London_--Cawthorn & Hutt, 24 Cockspur St., S.W., 1740. + Day, John, & Son, 96 Mount St., W., 1771. + Mudie's Select Library, Ld., 30-4 New Oxford St., W.C., 1842. + Smith, W. H., & Son, 186 Strand. + + _Manchester_--Mudie's Select Lib. Co., Ld. + + + =TEMPERANCE.= + + _Leeds_--Lees, F. R., & Co., 1880. + + + =THEATRE.= + + _London_--Kornman, F., 168 High Holborn, W.C., 1882. + Suckling & Galloway, 13 Garrick St., W.C., 1889. + + + =THEOLOGY.= + + _Aberdeen_--Milne, A. and R., 1852. + Murray, Jas. + + _Barton-on-Humber_--Ball, H. W. + + _Bath_--Gregory, Geo., 1879. + + _Birmingham_--Crees, W. H., 1884. + + _Bournemouth_--Commin, H. G. + + _Bristol_--Fawn, Jas., & Son. + George's, Wm., Sons, 1847. + + _Burton-on-Trent_--Waller, Thos. + + _Cambridge_--Johnson, Elijah. + + _Devonport_--Clarke, Josiah, & Sons. + + _Durham_--Slack, Jno. + + _Edinburgh_--Dunn, Jas., 1888. + Elliot, Andrew, 1854. + Hunter, R. W. (successor to Gemmell, 1873). + Mackenzie, John, 1861. + Macniven & Wallace. + Thin, Jas., 1847. + Young, Geo. Adam, & Co. + + _Ely_--Creak, W. B. + + _Exeter_--Drayton, S., & Sons. + + _Hull_--Annandale, R. C. + + _Liverpool_--Parry & Co. + + _London_--Baker, Thos., 1 Soho Sq., W., 1849. + Barton, Jno., 11 St. George's Rd., S.E. + Bull & Auvache, 35 Hart St., W.C. + Cooper, Alfred--_See_ General. + Dickinson, R. D., 89 Farringdon St., E.C., 1876. + Harding, Geo., 6 Hyde St., Oxford St., W.C. + Harper, Wm., 58 Tabernacle St., E.C., 1842. + Higham, C., 27A Farringdon St., E.C., 1862. [_Specialite_: + Hymnology.] + Sandell & Smith, 136 City Rd., E.C., 1830. + Skeffington & Son, 163 Piccadilly, W. + Westell, J., 114 New Oxford St., W.C., 1841. + + _Nairn_--Melven Brothers. + + _Northampton_--Billingham, Wm., 1850. + + _Oxford_--Parker & Co., Jas., _c._ 1800. + + _Worcester_--Humphreys, E. G., 1805. + + + =THEOSOPHY & OCCULTISM.= + + _Edinburgh_--Thomson Brothers, 1875. + + _Glasgow_--Thomson & Co., 1870. + + _London_--Burns, J., Southampton Row, W.C. + Dobell, B., Charing Cross Rd., W.C. + Foulsham, W., 4 Pilgrim St., E.C. + Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Green, W., 1860. + Menken, E., 3 Bury St., Oxford St., W.C. + + + =TOPOGRAPHY & ANTIQUITIES.= + + _Aberdeen_--Wyllie, D., & Son, _c._ 1830. + Murray, Jas. + + _Barton-on-Humber_--Ball, Hy. W. + + _Bath_--Gregory, Geo., 1845. + Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867. + + _Belfast_--Shone, J., & Co. + + _Birmingham_--Downing, William. + Hitchman, John, 1855. + + _Bournemouth_--Commin, H. G. + + _Bradford_--Miles, Thos., 1879. + + _Brechin_--Black & Johnston, 1817. + + _Brighton_--Smith, W. J. + + _Bristol_--Fawn, Jas., & Son. + George's, Wm., Sons, 1847. + + _Cambridge_--Macmillan & Bowes. + + _Canterbury_--Goulden, W. E. + + _Colchester_--Forster, Thos., 1883. + Golding, Chas., 1873. + + _Cork_--Massey, Nassau, 1840. + + _Devonport_--Clarke, Josiah, & Sons. + + _Dublin_--Carson Brothers. + Traynor, Patrick, 1849. + Weldrick, J. F. + + _Dundee_--Maxwell, Alex. + Petrie, Geo., 1875. + + _Durham_--Slack, Jno. + + _Edinburgh_--Brown, Wm., 1877. + Cameron, Rich., 1868. + Clay, W. F. + Stillie, James, 1826. + + _Exeter_--Commin, J. G. + Drayton, S., & Sons. + + _Glasgow_--McClure, Rob., 1880. + + _Gravesend_--Ridgway, Alf., 1885. + + _Guildford_--Farnfield, S., & Co. + + _Hull_--Annandale, R. C. + + _Inverness_--Noble, J., 1859 [also Gaelic books]. + + _Ipswich_--Read & Barrett, 1827. + + _Kelso_--Rutherford, J. & J. H., 1802. + + _Leamington_--Kennard, Tos., 1875. + + _Leeds_--Ashworth, J. H. & A., 1830. + Milligan, Thomas, 1859. + Symington, John S., 1881. + + _Leicester_--Murray, Frank, 1884. + Spencer, Jno. and Thos., 1853. + + _Liverpool_--Howell, Edward. + Young, Henry, & Sons, 1849. + + _London_--Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W. + Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq. + Daniell, W. V., 53 Mortimer St., W. + Ellington, Robert, 15 Fitzroy St., W. + Gray, Henry, 47 Leicester Sq., W.C. + Harding, George, 6 Hyde St., Oxford St., W.C. + Leighton, J. and J., 40 Brewer St., Golden Sq., W. + Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Gr., W., 1860. + Millard, Miss, Teddington, W. + Nield, Jon, 14 Great Russell St., W.C. + Palmer, C. S., 100 Southampton Row, W.C., 1819. + Parsons, E., & Sons, 45 Brompton Rd., S.W., 1858. + Quaritch, Bernard, 15 Piccadilly, W. + Ridler, W., 45 Booksellers' Row, W.C. + Rimell, J., & Son, 91 Oxford St., W.C. + Sotheran, H., & Co., 36 Piccadilly and 136 Strand. + Toovey, Jas., 177 Piccadilly, W. + + _Nairn_--Melven Brothers. + + _Northampton_--Taylor & Son. + + _Norwich_--Hunt, Wm., 1860. + Jarrold & Sons. + + _Oxford_--Parker & Co., Jas., _c._ 1800. + Shrimpton, T., & Son, _c._ 1790. + + _Penzance_--Kinsman, John. + + _Rochdale_--Clegg, James, 1857. + + _Salisbury_--Brown & Co. + + _Stirling_--Cook, William B. + + _Torquay_--Iredale, Andrew. + King, Charles. + + _Worksop_--White, Robert, 1847. + + _York_--Sampson, John B. + + + TRAVEL. + + _Bath_--Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867. + + _Bristol_--George's, Wm., Sons, 1847. + + _London_--Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W. + Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq., W.C. + Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Gr., W., 1860. + + + + + SPINK & SON, + THE OLDEST ESTABLISHED + DEALERS IN COINS AND MEDALS, + 2, GRACECHURCH STREET, CORNHILL, LONDON, E.C. + +List of a few Specialities on View and for Sale. + + +GOLD. + + =NOBLES.= Edward III. Edward IV. from L1 10 0 + Half do. " " " 1 0 0 + Quarter do. " " 0 10 0 + + =ANGELS.= Edwd. IV. Henry VII. Henry VIII. " 1 5 0 + + =SOVEREIGNS.= Elizabeth. " 2 10 0 + Half do. " " 1 10 0 + Quarter do. " " 1 0 0 + + =SOVEREIGNS.= James I. Charles I. " 1 8 0 + Half do. " " " 1 0 0 + Quarter do. " " " 0 10 0 + + =SOVEREIGNS.= Commonwealth " 2 10 0 + Half do. " " 3 10 0 + Quarter do. " " 2 5 0 + + =FIVE GUINEA PIECES.= various reigns " 6 10 0 + Two Guinea do. " " 2 10 0 + Guineas " " 1 2 6 + Half do. " " 0 11 6 + Quarter do. Geo. I. Geo. III. " 0 8 6 + Seven Shilling Pieces " 0 8 0 + Greek Staters and divisions, Prices on application + Roman Aurei " + Jubilee Coins at close prices " + + +SILVER. Early Pennies. + + Ethelred II. various Mints from 0 2 6 + Canute " " 0 2 6 + William I. " " 0 4 6 + Henry II. & III. " (_long or short cross_) " 0 1 0 + Edward I. & II. " " 0 1 0 + + +GROATS. + + Edward III. " 0 1 6 + Edward IV. " 0 2 0 + Henry V., VI., VII., VIII. " O 1 6 + + + Crowns. Half-Crowns. Shillings. Sixpences. + + Charles I. from 20/- from 3/6 from 1/6 from 9d. + Charles II. " 5/9 " 3/6 " 1/6 " 8/6 + James II. " 7/6 " 6/6 " 8/6 " 8/6 + William & Mary 20/- " 3/6 " 5/- " 7/6 + +[P.T.O. + + + + + E. SUMNER'S + Naturalists' Stores, + 135 OXFORD ST., LONDON, W. + + The + Kensington + Insectarium. + +[Illustration: PATENTED.] + + The + Kensington + Reptilarium. + + +This most ingenious invention is designed for the rearing of all living +objects of Natural History, and is of the greatest assistance in the +scientific study (under the most favourable conditions) of the wonderful +economy and transformation of nature, and so constructed as to enable +the specimen to develop to the fullest perfection. + +=No. 1=, as illustrated, is a Ventilated Lid or Cover, with deep rim +(which fits inside of glass case, No. 2), deep enough to prevent larvae +from spinning on the glass, thus allowing the cover, with cocoons and +pupae attached, to be removed for inspection, or stored away in large +cages until they emerge. + +=No. 2=, Glass Case, which permits the full power of light to freely +enter on all parts of the specimens from every point of view. + +=No. 3=, The Base (which the Case No. 2 fits into) is made to contain +earth for the growing of plants, or for the use of those insects who +bury during pupa state. The bottom of the base is perforated to allow +the air to pass through the case, thus preventing over-heating, +steaming, or mildew of the specimens, earth, or plants, which is very +difficult to prevent in other forms of cases. + +=No. 4=, Is a small movable Pot to contain water in which the stems of +food plants may be placed that cannot be grown in the case, such as the +cuttings of trees, etc., which last for a considerable time in this +case. + +The Pot has a perforated india-rubber cover to prevent the larvae from +entering the water. + + + Height. Diameter. Price. | Height. Diameter. Price. + 6 in. 2-3/4 in. 2/-| 9 in. 4-1/4 in. 3/6 + 7 in. 3-1/4 in. 2/6 | 10 in. 4-3/4 in. 5/6 + 8 in. 3-3/4 in. 3/-| 11 in. 5-1/4 in. 7/6 + + NOTE.--_The various parts are supplied separately._ + +E. SUMNER, 135 Oxford Street, London, W. + + + + +E. SUMNER'S + +NATURALISTS' STORES. + +=The Largest and Cheapest Establishment in the World for every +description of Natural History Apparatus, etc.= + + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + {British and Foreign Birds, Eggs, and Nests; + Ornithological {Aviaries, Cages, and Parrot Stands for the + Department. {Drawing Room, Conservatory, or Garden; + {Wirework of every description. + + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + {Larvae and Pupae of Lepidoptera; Scientific + Entomological {Insect Cabinets, Cases, Setting Boards, Cork, + Department. {Killing Bottles, Spinning Wheels, Silkworms, + {Butterflies and Moths. + {=KENSINGTON INSECTARIUM, 2/6, 3/6, 4/6.= + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + {Gold Fish, Carp, Roach, Tench, Dace, Golden + Piscatorial {Orfe, Minnows, Snails, Beetles and Water + Department. {Plants; Aquariums, Globes, Fountains, Rocks, + {Cork Models, Swiss Chalets, Running Windmills, + {Nets and Syphons. + {=Sumner's Fish Food, 2d. pkt. Ants' Eggs, 6d. pt.= + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + {Snakes, Slowworms, Lizards, Chameleons, + Reptilian {Land and Water Tortoises, etc., in great + Department. {variety from all parts of the globe. + {=KENSINGTON REPTILARIUM, 2/-, 2/6, 3/6, 5/6.= + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + {Green Tree Frogs, Fire Frogs, Common and + Amphibian {Edible Frogs, Toads, Salamanders, Newts, + Department. {etc. + {Mexican Axoloti of every description. + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Experienced Workmen in all branches kept on the premises for special +orders, etc. + +BOOKS AND EVERY REQUISITE FOR ALL BRANCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY. + + + + +=WATKINS & DONCASTER= + +NATURALISTS, + +36, STRAND, W.C. + +LONDON. + +(_Five doors from Charing Cross._) + + +Every description of Apparatus and Cabinets of the best make for +Entomology and general Natural History, &c. + +Wire or Cane Ring Net and Stick, 1s. 8d., 2s., and 2s. 3d. Umbrella Net +(self-acting), 7s. 6d. Pocket Folding Net (wire or cane), 3s. 9d. and +4s. 6d. Corked Pocket Boxes, 6d., 9d., 1s. and 1s. 6d. Zinc Relaxing +Boxes, 9d., 1s., 1s. 6d. and 2s. Chip Boxes, nested, 4 doz., 8d. +Entomological Pins, mixed, 1s. per oz. Pocket Lantern, 2s. 6d. to 5s., +Napthaline, 1-1/2d. per oz. Sugaring Tin (with brush), 1s. 6d. and 2s. +Best Killing Bottles, 1s. 6d. Store Boxes, 2s. 6d., 4s., 5s., and 6s. +Setting Boards, from 5d.; complete Set, 10s. 6d. Setting Houses., 9s. +6d., 11s. 6d., and 14s. Larva Boxes, 9d., 1s., 1s. 6d. Breeding Cages, +2s. 6d., 4s., and 5s. + +Finest Stock of British and Foreign Butterflies, Beetles, Birds' Eggs, +&c., in the Kingdom. + +Throughout the winter and early spring, a large stock of live pupae of +British and Foreign Butterflies and Moths, including the gigantic Atlas +and other Exotic Moths. + +Collections of Natural-History objects, carefully named and arranged. + +New and Second-hand Works on Entomology. + +Label Lists of every description. The complete Label List of British +Lepidoptera (Latin and English names), 1s. 6d., post free. + +One each of all the British Butterflies in a Case, 25s. + +A magnificent assortment of Preserved Caterpillars always in Stock. + +Birds and Animals stuffed and mounted in the best style by skilled +workmen on the premises. + +_A full Catalogue sent post free on application._ + + + + +JAMES GARDNER, + +Manufacturer of all kinds of Entomological Apparatus, + +29, OXFORD STREET, + +=Dealer in Insects, Birds' Eggs, Skins. &c.= + + +Plain Ring Net, cane or wire, 2s. Umbrella Net, 5s. 6d., 6s. 6d., 7s. +6d., and 10s. 6d. Folding Nets, cane or iron, 4s. 6d. Pocket Box, wood, +6d. and 1s. Ditto, metal, 1s. 6d. and 2s. Store Box, 1s. 9d., 2s. 6d., +4s., 5s., and 6s. Larva Box, 1s. Larva Cage, 2s. 6d., 3s., 3s. 6d., and +5s. Sugaring Tin, 1s., 1s. 6d., 2s., and 2s. 6d. Entomological Pins, +from 1s. per ounce, assorted or mixed. Willow Chip Box, four sizes, +Nested, the packet of four dozen, 9d. Setting Boards, 6d. to 2s.; a +Complete Set, 10s. + +All Articles Guaranteed. + +_EXCHANGED IF NOT APPROVED OF._ + +Price Lists on Application. + +29, OXFORD STREET. + + + * * * * * + + + TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + The book does not have a table of contents; one has been added by the + transcriber. + + Seven [oe] ligatures have been simplified to oe. + + The reversed-C symbol is indicated by [C]. + + The following obvious typos have been corrected: + p. 36 "Defense de la Reformation" has been changed to "Defense de la + Reformation". + p. 105 After "in a double sense" a period has been added. + p. 105 "specime nof" has been amended to "specimen of". + p. 106 "Momento" has been amended to "Memento". + p. 124 "Specialites" has been amended to "Specialities". + + Other possible typos (for example "caligraphy" on p. 6, "horde" on p. 35 + and "neither have succeeded" on p. 43) have been left unchanged as they + may reflect the spelling choice of the author. + + Variations in hyphenation have been retained as in the original. + + The asterism symbol on pages 126, 131 and 133 is indicated by [***]. + + The three advertisement pages at the start of the book have been moved + to the end, to follow other advertisements. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Book Collecting, by John Herbert Slater + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK COLLECTING *** + +***** This file should be named 38345.txt or 38345.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/3/4/38345/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Margo Romberg and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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