If I had chosen to introduce myself to the greatest possible advantage to
the reader, in this Preface to a Second Edition of the "_Bibliographical,
Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour_," I could not have done better than have
borrowed the language of those Foreigners, who, by a translation of the
Work (however occasionally vituperative their criticisms) have, in fact,
conferred an honour upon its Author. In the midst of censure, sometimes
dictated by spite, and sometimes sharpened by acrimony of feeling, it were
in my power to select passages of commendation, which would not less
surprise the Reader than they have done myself: while the history of this
performance may be said to exhibit the singular phenomenon, of a traveller,
usually lauding the countries through which he passes, receiving in return
the reluctant approbation of those whose institutions, manners, and
customs, have been praised by him. It is admitted, by the most sedulous and
systematic of my opponents--M. CRAPELET--that "considering the quantity and
quality of the ornaments and engravings of this Tour, one is surprised that
its cost is so moderate."[1]
"Few books (says the Bibliographer of Dijon) have been executed with
greater luxury. It is said that the expenses of printing and engraving
amounted to 6000 l.--to nearly 140,000 franks of our money. It must be
admitted that England is the only country in which such an undertaking
could be carried into effect. Who in France would dare to risk such a
sum--especially for three, volumes in octavo? He would be ruined, if he
did."[2] I quote these passages simply to shew under what extraordinary
obliquity of feeling those gentlemen must have set down to the task of
translation and abuse--of THAT VERY WORK, which is here admitted to contain
such splendid representations of the "bibliographical, antiquarian, and
picturesque" beauties of their country.
A brief account of this foreign _travail_ may be acceptable to the curious
in literary history. MONS. LICQUET, the successor of M. Gourdin, as Chief
Librarian to the Public Library at Rouen, led the way in the work of
warfare. He translated the ninth Letter relating to that Public Library; of
which translation especial mention is made at p. 99, post. This version was
printed in 1821, for private, distribution; and only 100 copies were struck
off. M. Crapelet, in whose office it was printed, felt the embers of
discontent rekindled in his bosom as it passed through his press; and in
the following year HE also stepped forward to discharge an arrow at the
Traveller. Like his predecessor, he printed but a limited number; and as I
have more particularly remarked upon the spirit of that version by way of
"Introduction" to the original letter, in vol. ii. 209, &c. I shall not
waste the time of the Reader by any notice of it in the present place.
These two partial translators united their forces, about two years
afterwards, and published the whole of the Tour, as it related to FRANCE,
in four octavo volumes, in 1825. The ordinary copies were sold for 48
francs, the large paper for 112 francs per copy. The wood-cuts only were
republished by them. Of this conjoint, and more enlarged production,
presently.
Encouraged by the examples of Messrs. Licquet and Crapelet, a Bookbinder of
the name of LESNÉ (whose poem upon his "Craft," published in 1820, had been
copiously quoted and _commended_ by me in the previous edition) chose to
plant his foot within this arena of controversy; and to address a letter to
me; to which his model, M. Crapelet, was too happy to give circulation
through the medium of his press.[3] To that letter the following metrical
lines are prefixed; which the Reader would scarcely forgive me if I failed
to amuse him by their introduction in this place. "_Lesné, Relieur
Français, à Mons. T.F. Dibdin, Ministre de la Religion, &c._"
Avec un ris moqueur, je crois vous voir d'ici,
Dédaigneusement dire: Eh, que veut celui-ci?
Qu'ai-je donc de commun avec un vil artiste?
Un ouvrier français, un _Bibliopégiste_?
Ose-t-on ravaler un Ministre à ce point?
Que me veut ce _Lesné_? Je ne le connais point.
Je crois me souvenir qu'à mon voyage en France,
Avec ses pauvres vers je nouai connaissance.
Mais c'est si peu de chose un poète à Paris!
Savez-vous bien, Monsieur, pourquoi je vous écris?
C'est que je crois avoir le droit de vous écrire.
Fussiez-vous cent fois plus qu'on ne saurait le dire,
Je vois dans un Ministre un homme tel que moi;
Devant Dieu je crois même être l'égal d'un roi.
The Letter however is in prose, with some very few exceptions; and it is
just possible that the indulgent Reader may endure a specimen or two of the
prose of M. Lesné, as readily as he has that of his poetry. These specimens
are equally delectable, of their kind. Immediately after the preceding
poetical burst, the French Bibliopegist continues thus:
D'après cet exorde, vous pensez sans doute que, bien convaincu de ma
dignité d'homme, je me crois en droit de vous dire franchement ma
façon de penser; je vous la dirai, Monsieur. Si vous dirigiez un
journal bibliographique; que vous fissiez, en un mot, le métier de
journaliste, je serai peu surpris de voir dans votre Trentième Lettre,
une foule de choses hasardées, de mauvais calembourgs, de
grossièretés, que nous ne rencontrons même pas chez nos journalistes
du dernier ordre, en ce qu'ils savent mieux leur monde, et que s'ils
lancent une epigramme, fût-elle fausse, elle est au moins finement
tournée. Mais vous êtes ANGLAIS, et par cela seul dispensé sans doute
de cette politesse qui distingue si heureusement notre nation de la
vôtre, et que vos compatriotes n'acquièrent pour la plupart qu'après
un long séjour en France." p. 6.
Towards the latter part of this most formidable "Tentamen Criticum," the
irritable author breaks out thus--"C'est une maladie Française de vouloir
toujours imiter les Anglais; ceux-ci, à leur tour, commencent à en être
atteints." p. 19. A little farther it is thus: "Enfin c'est _en imitant_
qu'on reussit presque toujours mal; vous en êtes encore, une preuve
évidente. J'ai vu en beaucoup d'endroits de votre Lettre, que vous avez
voulu imiter _Sterne_;[4] qu'est-il arrivé? Vous êtes resté au-dessous de
lui, comme tous les Imitateurs de nôtre bon La Fontaine sont restés en deçà
de l'immortel Fabuliste." p. 20. But most especially does the sensitive M.
Lesné betray his surprise and apprehension, on a gratuitous
supposition--thrown out by me, by way of pleasantry--that "Mr. Charles
Lewis was going over to Paris, to establish there a modern School of
Bookbinding." M. Lesné thus wrathfully dilates upon this supposition:
"Je me garderai bien de passer sous silence la dernière partie de
votre Lettre; _un bruit assez étrange est venu jusqu'à vous_; et
Charles Lewis doit vous quitter pour quelque temps pour établir en
France une école de reliure d'apres les principes du gôut anglais;
mais vous croyez, dites-vous, que ce projet est sûrement chimérique,
ou que, si on le tentait, il serait de courte durée.
Pour cette fois, Monsieur, votre pronostic serait très juste; cette
demarche serait une folie: il faudrait s'abuser sur l'engouement des
amateurs français, et ceux qui sont atteints de cette maladie ne sont
pas en assez grand nombre pour soutenir un pareil établissement. Oui,
l'on aime votre genre de reliure; mais on aime les reliures, façon
anglaise, faites par les Français. Pensez-vous done, ou Charles Lewis
pense-t-il, qu'il n'y ait plus d'esprit national en France?
Allez, le sang Française coule encore dans nos veines;
Nous pourrons éprouver des malheurs et des peines,
Que nous devrons peut être à vous autres Anglais;
Mais nous voulons rester, nous resterons, Français!
Ainsi, que Charles Lewis ne se dérange pas; qu'il cesse, s'il les a
commencés, les préparatifs de sa descente; qu'il ne prive pas ses
compatriotes d'un artiste soi-disant inimitable. Nous en avons ici qui
le valent, et qui se feront un plaisir de perpéteur parmi nous le bon
gôut, l'élégance, et la noble simplicité. p. 25.[5]
So much for M. Lesne. I have briefly noticed M. Peignot, the Bibliographer
of Dijon. That worthy wight has made the versions of my Ninth and Thirtieth
Letters (First Edition) by M.M. Licquet and Crapelet, the substratum of his
first brochure entitled _Variétés, Notices et Raretés Bibliographiques_,
_Paris_, 1822: it being a supplement to his previous Work of _Curiosités
Bibliographiques_."[6] It is not always agreeable for an Author to have his
Works reflected through the medium of a translation; especially where the
Translator suffers a portion, however small, of his _own_ atrabiliousness,
to be mixed up with the work translated: nor is it always safe for a third
person to judge of the merits of the original through such a medium. Much
allowance must therefore be made for M. Peignot; who, to say the truth, at
the conclusion of his labours, seems to think that he has waded through a
great deal of _dirt_ of some kind or other, which might have been better
avoided; and that, in consequence, some general declaration, by way of
_wiping, off_ a portion of the adhering mud, is due to the original Author.
Accordingly, at the end of his analysis of M. Licquet's version, (which
forms the second Letter in the brochure) he does me the honour to devote
seven pages to the notice of my humble lucubrations:--and he prefaces this
"_Notice des Ouvrages de M. Dibdin"_, by the following very handsome
tribute to their worth:
Si, dans les deux Lettres où nous avons rendu compte des traductions
partielles du voyage de M.D., nous avons partagé l'opinion des deux
estimable traducteurs, sur quelques erreurs et quelques inconvenances
échappées a l'auteur anglais, nous sommes bien éloigné d'envelopper
dans le même blame, tout ce qui est sorté de sa plume; car il y auroit
injustice a lui refuser des connaissances très étendues en histoire
littéraire, et en bibliographie: nous le disons franchement, il
faudroit fermer les yeux à la lumière, ou être d'une partialité
revoltante, pour ne pas convenir que, juste appréciateur de tous les
trésors bibliographiques qu'il a le bonheur d'avoir sous la main, M.
Dibdin en a fait connoitre en détail toute la richesse dans de
nombreux d'ouvrages, ou très souvent le luxe d'érudition se trouve en
harmonie avec le luxe typographique qu'il y a étalé.
At the risk of incurring the imputation of vanity, I annex the preceding
extract; because I am persuaded that the candid Reader will appreciate it
in its proper light. I might, had I chosen to do so, have lengthened the
extract by a yet more complimentary passage: but enough of M. Peignot--who,
so far from suffering ill will or acerbity to predominate over a kind
disposition, hath been pleased, since his publication, to write to me a
very courteous Letter,[7] and to solicit a "continuance of my favours."
Agreeably to the intimation expressed in a preceding page, I am now, in due
order, to notice the labours of my translators M.M. LICQUET and CRAPELET.
Their united version appeared in 1825, in four octavo volumes, of which the
small paper was but indifferently well printed.[8] The preface to the first
two volumes is by M. Licquet: and it is not divested of point and merit. It
begins by attacking the _Quarterly Review_, (June 1821, p. 147.) for its
severity of animadversion on the supposed listlessness and want of
curiosity of the French in exploring the architectural antiquities of their
country; and that, in consequence of such supineness, the English,
considering them as their own property, have described them accordingly.
"The decision (says the French translator) is severe; happily it is without
foundation." After having devoted several pages to observations by way of
reply to that critical Journal, M. Licquet continues thus:--unless I have
unintentionally misrepresented him.
The Englishman who travels in Normandy, meets, at every step, with
reminiscences of his kings, his ancestors, his institutions, and his
customs. Churches yet standing, after the lapse of seven centuries;
majestic ruins; tombs--even to the very sound of the clock--all unite
in affecting, here, the heart of a British subject: every thing seems
to tell him that, in former times, HERE was his country; here the
residence of his sovereigns; and here the cradle of his manners. This
was more than sufficient to enflame the lively imagination of Mr. D.
and to decide him to visit, in person, a country already explored by a
great number of his countrymen; but he conceived that his narrative
should embody other topics than those which ordinarily appeared in the
text of his predecessors.
"His work then is not only a description of castles, towns, churches,
public monuments of every kind:--it is not only a representation of
the general aspect of the country, as to its picturesque
appearances--but it is an extended, minute, though occasionally
inexact, account of public and private libraries; with reflections
upon certain customs of the country, and upon the character of those
who inhabit it. It is in short the personal history of the author,
throughout the whole length of his journey. Not the smallest incident,
however indifferent, but what has a place in the letters of the
Bibliographer. Thus, he mentions every Inn where he stops: recommends
or scolds the landlord--according to his civility or exaction. Has the
author passed a bad night? the reader is sure to know it on the
following morning. On the other hand, has he had a good night's rest
in a comfortable bed? [dans un lit _comfortable_?] We are as sure to
know this also, as soon as he awakes:--and thus far we are relieved
from anxiety about the health of the traveller. Cold and heat--fine
weather and bad weather--every variation of atmosphere is scrupulously
recorded.
What immediately follows, is unworthy of M. Licquet; because it not only
implies a charge of a heinous description--accusing me of an insidious
intrusion into domestic circles, a violation of confidence, and a
systematic derision of persons and things--but because the French
translator, exercising that sense and shrewdness which usually distinguish
him, MUST have known that such a charge _could_ not have been founded in
FACT. He must have known that any gentleman, leaving England with those
letters which brought me in contact with some of the first circles on the
Continent, MUST have left it without leaving his character _behind_ him;
and that such a character could not, in the natural order of things--seen
even through the sensitive medium of a French critic--have been guilty of
the grossness and improprieties imputed to me by M. Licquet. I treat
therefore this "damnation in wholesale" with scorn and contempt: and hasten
to impress the reader with a more favourable opinion of my Norman
translator. He _will_ have it that
"the English Traveller's imagination is lively and ardent--and his
spirit, that of raillery and lightness. He examines as he runs along;
that is to say, he does not give himself time to examine; he examines
ill; he deceives himself; and he subjects his readers to be deceived
with him. He traverses, at a hard trot, one of the most ancient towns
in France; puts his head out of his carriage window--and boldly
decides that the town is of the time of Francis I."![9] p. xviij.
There is pleasantry, and perhaps some little truth, in this vein of
observation; and it had been better, perhaps, for the credit of the good
taste and gentleman-like feeling of Mons. Licquet, if he had uniformly
maintained his character in these respects. I have however, in the
subsequent pages,[10] occasionally grappled with my annotator in proving
the fallacy, or the want of charity, of many of his animadversions: and the
reader probably may not be displeased, if, by way of "avant propos," I
indulge him here with a specimen of them--taken from his preface. M.
Licquet says, that I "create scenes; arrange a drama; trace characters;
imagine a dialogue, frequently in French--and in what French--gracious
God!--in assigning to postilions a ridiculous language, and to men of the
world the language of postilions." These be sharp words:[11] but what does
the Reader imagine may be the probable "result" of the English Traveller's
inadvertencies?... A result, ("gracious Heaven!") very little anticipated
by the author. Let him ponder well upon the awful language which ensues.
"What (says M. Licquet) will quickly be the result, with us, of such
indiscretions as those of which M. Dibdin is guilty? The necessity of
SHUTTING OUR PORTS, or at least of placing a GUARD UPON OUR LIPS!" There is
some consolation however left for me, in balancing this tremendous
denunciation by M. Licquet's eulogy of my good qualities--which a natural
diffidence impels me to quote in the original words of their author.
"A Dieu ne plaise, toutefois, que j'accuse ici LE COEUR de M. Dibdin.
Je n'ai jamais eu l'honneur de le voir: je ne le connais que par ses
ecrits; principalement par son _Splendid Tour_, et je ne balance pas à
déclarer que l'auteur doit être doué d'une ame honnête, et de ces
qualités fondamentales qui constituent l'homme de bien. Il préfère sa
croyance; mais il respecte la croyance des autres; son érudition
parait....[12] variée. Son amour pour les antiquités est immense; et
par antiquités j'entends ici tout ce qui est _antique_ ou seulement
_ancien_, quellesque soient d'ailleurs la nature et la forme des
objets." Pref. p. xv. xvij.
Once more; and to conclude with M. Licquet. After these general
observations upon the _Text_ of the Tour, M. Licquet favours us with the
following--upon the _Plates_. "These plates (says he) are intended to
represent some of the principal monuments; the most beautiful landscapes,
and the most remarkable persons, comprehending even the servants of an inn.
If _talent_ be sought in these Engravings, it will doubtless be found in
them; but strangers must not seek for _fidelity_ of representation from
what is before their eyes. The greater number of the Designs are, in some
sort, ideal compositions, which, by resembling every thing, resemble
nothing in particular: and it is worthy of remark that the Artist, in
imitation of the Author, seems to have thought that he had only to shew
himself _clever_, without troubling himself to be _faithful_." To this, I
reply in the very words of M. Licquet himself: "the decision is severe;
luckily it is unjust." The only portions of the designs of their skilful
author, which may be taxed with a tendency to extravagance, are the
_groups_: which, when accompanied by views of landscapes, or of monuments,
are probably too profusely indulged in; but the _individuals_, constituting
those groups, belong precisely to the _country_ in which they are
represented. In the first and second volumes they are _French_; in the
third they are _Germans_--all over. Will M. Licquet pretend to say that the
churches, monasteries, streets, and buildings, with which the previous
Edition of this Tour is so elaborately embellished, have the slightest
tendency to IMAGINED SCENERY? If he do, his optics must be peculiarly his
own. I have, in a subsequent page, (p. 34, note) slightly alluded to the
cost and risk attendant on the Plates; but I may confidently affirm, from
experience, that two thirds of the expense incurred would have secured the
same sale at the same price. However, the die is cast; and the voice of
lamentation is fruitless.
I now come to the consideration of M. Licquet's coadjutor, M. CRAPELET.
Although the line of conduct pursued by that very singular gentleman be of
an infinitely more crooked description than that of his Predecessor, yet,
in this place, I shall observe less respecting it; inasmuch as, in the
subsequent pages, (pp. 209, 245, 253, 400, &c.) the version and annotations
of M. Crapelet have been somewhat minutely discussed. Upon the SPIRIT which
could give rise to such a version, and such annotations, I will here only
observe, that it very much resembles that of searchers of our
street-pavements; who, with long nails, scrape out the dirt from the
interstices of the stones, with the hope of making a discovery of some lost
treasure which may compensate the toil of perseverance. The love of lucre
may, or may not, have influenced my Parisian translator; but the love of
discovery of latent error, and of exposure of venial transgression, has
undoubtedly, from beginning to end, excited his zeal and perseverance. That
carping spirit, which shuts its eyes upon what is liberal and kind, and
withholds its assent to what is honourable and just, it is the
distinguished lot--and, perhaps, as the translator may imagine, the
distinguished felicity--of M. Crapelet to possess. Never was greater
reluctance displayed in admitting even the palpable truths of a text, than
what is displayed in the notes of M. Crapelet: and whenever a concurring
sentiment comes from him, it seems to exude like his heart's life-blood.
Having already answered, in detail, his separate publication confined to my
30th Letter[13]--(the 8th of the second volume, in _this_ edition) and
having replied to those animadversions which appear in his translation of
the whole of the second volume, in this edition--it remains here only to
consign the Translator to the careful and impartial consideration of the
Reader, who, it is requested, may be umpire between both parties. Not to
admit that the text of this Edition is in many places improved, from the
suggestions of my Translators, by corrections of "Names of Persons, Places,
and Things," would be to betray a stubbornness or obtuseness of feeling
which certainly does not enter into the composition of its author.
I now turn, not without some little anxiety, yet not wholly divested of the
hope of a favourable issue, to the character and object of the Edition HERE
presented to the Public. It will be evident, at first glance, that it is
greatly "shorn of its beams" in regard to graphic decorations and
typographical splendour. Yet its garb, if less costly, is not made of
coarse materials: for it has been the wish and aim of the Publishers, that
this impression should rank among books worthy of the DISTINGUISHED PRESS
from which it issues. Nor is it unadorned by the sister art of _Engraving_;
for, although on a reduced scale, some of the repeated plates may even
dispute the palm of superiority with their predecessors. Several of the
GROUPS, executed on _copper_ in the preceding edition, have been executed
on _wood_ in the present; and it is for the learned in these matters to
decide upon their relative merits. To have attempted portraits upon wood,
would have inevitably led to failure. There are however, a few NEW PLATES,
which cannot fail to elicit the Purchaser's particular attention. Of these,
the portraits of the _Abbé de la Rue_ (procured through the kind offices of
my excellent friend Mr. Douce), and the _Comte de Brienne_, the _Gold Medal
of Louis XII_. the _Stone Pulpit of Strasbourg Cathedral,_ and the _Prater
near Vienna_--are particularly to be noticed.[14] This Edition has also
another attraction, rather popular in the present day, which may add to its
recommendation even with those possessed of its precursor. It contains
fac-similes of the AUTOGRAPHS of several distinguished Literati and Artists
upon the Continent;[15] who, looking at the text of the work through a less
jaundiced medium than the Parisian translator, have continued a
correspondence with the Author, upon the most friendly terms, since its
publication. The accuracy of these fac-similes must be admitted, even by
the parties themselves, to be indisputable. Among them, are several,
executed by hands.. which now CEASE to guide the pen! I had long and fondly
hoped to have been gratified by increasing testimonies of the warmth of
heart which had directed several of the pens in question--hoped ... even
against the admonition of a pagan poet ...
"Vitae summa brevis SPEM nos vetat inchoare LONGAM."
But such hopes are now irretrievably cut off; and the remembrance of the
past must solace the anticipations of the future.
So much respecting the _decorative_ department of this new edition of the
Tour. I have now to request the Reader's attention to a few points more
immediately connected with what may be considered its _intrinsic_ worth. In
the first place, it may be pronounced to be an Edition both _abridged_ and
_enlarged_: abridged, as regards the lengthiness of description of many of
the MSS. and Printed Books--and enlarged, as respects the addition, of many
notes; partly of a controversial, and partly of an obituary, description.
The "Antiquarian and Picturesque" portions remain nearly as heretofore; and
upon the whole I doubt whether the amputation of matter has extended beyond
_an eighth_ of what appeared in the previous edition. It had long ago been
suggested to me--from a quarter too high and respectable to doubt the
wisdom of its decision--that the Contents of this Tour should be made known
to the Public through a less costly medium:--that the objects described in
it were, in a measure, new and interesting--but that the high price of the
purchase rendered it, to the majority of Readers, an inaccessible
publication. I hope that these objections are fully met, and successfully
set aside, by the Work in its PRESENT FORM. To have produced it, _wholly
divested_ of ornament, would have been as foreign to my habits as repugnant
to my feelings. I have therefore, as I would willingly conclude, hit upon
the happy medium--between sterility and excess of decoration.
After all, the greater part of the ground here trodden, yet continues to be
untrodden ground to the public. I am not acquainted with any publication
which embraces all the objects here described; nor can I bring myself to
think that a perusal of the first and third volumes may not be unattended
with gratification of a peculiar description, to the lovers of antiquities
and picturesque beauties. The second volume is rather the exclusive
province of the Bibliographer. In retracing the steps here marked out, I
will not be hypocrite enough to dissemble a sort of triumphant feeling
which accompanies a retrospection of the time, labour, and money devoted..
in doing justice, according to my means, to the attractions and worth of
the Countries which these pages describe. Every such effort is, in its way,
a NATIONAL effort. Every such attempt unites, in stronger bonds, the
reciprocities of a generous feeling between rival Nations; and if my reward
has not been in _wealth_, it has been in the hearty commendation of the
enlightened and the good: "Mea me virtute involvo."[16]
I cannot boast of the commendatory strains of public Journals in my own
country. No intellectual steam-engine has been put in motion to manufacture
a review of unqualified approbation of the Work now submitted to the public
eye--at an expense, commensurate with the ordinary means of purchase. With
the exception of an indirect and laudatory notice of it, in the immortal
pages of the Author of Waverley, of the Sketch book, and of Reginald
Dalton, this Tour has had to fight its way under the splendour of its own
banners, and in the strength of its own cause. The previous Edition is now
a scarce and a costly book. Its Successor has enough to recommend it, even
to the most fastidious collector, from the elegance of its type and
decorations, and from the reasonableness of its price; but the highest
ambition of its author is, that it may be a part of the furniture of every
Circulating Library in the Kingdom. If he were not conscious that GOOD
would result from its perusal, he would not venture upon such an avowal.
"FELIX FAUSTUMQUE SIT!"
[1] M. Crapelet is of course speaking of the PREVIOUS edition of the Tour.
He continues thus: "M. Dibdin, dans son voyage en France, a visité nos
départemens de l'ouest et de l'est, toutes leurs principales villes,
presque tous les lieux remarquables par les antiquités, par les
monumens, par les beautés du site, ou par les souvenirs historiques.
Il a visité les châteaux, les églises, les chapelles; il a observé nos
moeurs, nos coutumes; nos habitudes; il a examiné nos Musées et nos
premiers Cabinets de curiosité; il s'est concentré dans nos
Bibliothéques. Il parle de notre littérature et des hommes de lettres,
des arts et de nos artistes; il critique les personnes comme les
choses; il loue quelquefois, il plaisante souvent; la vivacité de son
esprit l'égare presque toujours." A careful perusal of the notes in
THIS edition will shew that my veracity has not "almost always led me
astray."
[2] GABRIEL PEIGNOT; _Variétés, Notices et Raretés Bibliographiques, 1822,
8vo. p. 4_.
[3] _Lettre d'un Relieur Francais à un Bibliographe Anglais; à Paris, de
l'Imprimerie de Crapelet_, 1822, 8vo. p.p. 28.
[4] It is a little curious that M. Lesné has not been singular in this
supposition. My amiable and excellent friend M. Schweighæuser of
Strasbourg had the same notion: at least, he told me that the style of
the Tour very frequently reminded him of that of Sterne. I can only
say--and say very honestly--that I as much thought of Sterne as I did
of ... William Caxton!
[5] Copious as are the above quotations, from the thoroughly original M.
Lesné, I cannot resist the risking of the readers patience and good
opinion, by the subjoining of the following passage--with which the
brochure concludes. "D'après la multitude de choses hasardées que
contient votre Lettre, vous en aurez probablement recu quelques unes
de personnes que vous aurez choquées plus que moi, qui vous devrais
plutôt des remercimens pour avoir pris la peine de traduire quelques
pages de mon ouvrage; mais il n'en est pas de même de bien des gens,
et cela ne doit pas les engager à être autant communicatif avec vous,
si vous reveniez en France. Je souhaite, dans ce dernier cas, que tous
les typographes, les bibliothècaires, les bibliognostes, les
bibliographes, les bibliolathes, les bibliomanes, les biblophiles, les
bibliopoles, ceux qui exercent la bibliuguiancie et les bibliopégistes
même, soient pour vous autant de bibliotaphes; vous ne seriez plus à
même de critiquer ce que vous sauriez et ce que vous ne sauriez pas,
comme vous l'aviez si souvent fait inconsidérément:
Mais tous vos procédés ne nous étonnent pas,
C'est le sort des Français de faire DES INGRATS;
On les voit servir ceux qui leur furent nuisibles;
Je crois que sur ce point ils sont incorrigibles.
Je vous avouerai cependant que je suis loin d'être fâché de vous voir
en agir ainsi envers mes compatriotes: je désirerais que beaucoup
d'Anglais fissent de même; cela pourrait désangliciser ou
désanglomaniser les Français. Vous, Monsieur, qui aimez les mots
nouveaux, aidez-moi, je vous prie, à franciser, à purifier celui-ci.
Quant à moi
Je ne fus pas nourri de Grec et de Latin,
J'appris à veiller tard, à me lever matin,
La nature est le livre où je fis mes études,
Et tous ces mots nouveaux me semblent long-temps rudes;
Je trouve qu'on ne peut très bien les prononcer
Sans affectation, au moins sans grimacer;
Que tous ces mots tirés des langues étrangères,
Devraient être l'objet de critiques sévères.
Faites donc de l'esprit en depit du bon sens,
On vous critiquera; quant à moi j'y consens.
Je terminerai cette longue Lettre de deux manières: à l'anglaise, en
vous souhaitant le bon jour ou le bon soir, suivant l'heure à laquelle
vous la recevrez; à la française, en vous priant de me croire,
Monsieur,
Votre très humble serviteur,