Lists of Books Entitled "Bibliotheca"
The listing of books that contain the word _Bibliotheca_ in their
titles is a special bibliographical development in the seventeenth
century and continues into the eighteenth. It might have led by
easy stages to making a bibliography of bibliographies, but it
unfortunately attracted little notice and maintained a tenuous
existence for only about a century. The word _bibliotheca_, which
often appears in titles, has such more or less bibliographical
meanings as bibliography, subject index, catalogue of a public
or private library, and collection of materials dealing with
a particular subject. Consequently, a list of books entitled
_bibliotheca_ has much in common with a list of reference works
and, more particularly, a bibliography of bibliographies. Although
there was no proper place for such a list in his _Bibliotheca
bibliothecarum_, Philip Labbé included one under the heading
_Bibliotheca_ in an alphabet of authors.[93] This is an early example
of a list of books chosen according to their titles.
Labbé limited himself strictly to works of a bibliographical nature.
He did not, for example, include the collections of the church
fathers that were very familiar to him, although they bore the title
_Bibliotheca_. Many books that he cites are hard to identify: some
titles seem to have been made up and others refer to books that were
never printed. Labbé uses the term _bibliotheca_ so loosely that
we do not always know whether he is referring to a library and
its catalogue (for example, _Bibliotheca Augustana_ may mean the
library or may be a short title for its catalogue) or a book (for
example, Conrad Gesner's _Bibliotheca universalis_). In either case,
he is thinking as a bibliographer, and we can easily conceive the
enlargement of his list into a bibliography of bibliographies.
Labbé's classification of books entitled _bibliotheca_ shows
a remarkable understanding of their different kinds and calls
attention to their remarkable variety. I cannot easily cite an
equally instructive and suggestive review of bibliographies.[94]
Labbé's classification is as follows: (1) _Bibliothecae_ named for
places (_vel a locis dictae_): Augustana,[95] Floriacensis,[96]
Ingolstadiensis,[97] etc.: (2) _bibliothecae_ named for persons
(_vel a personis_): Borromaea,[98] Bodleiana,[99] Thuana,[100]
etc.; (3) _bibliothecae_ named for rulers (_vel a principibus_):
Regia Gallica,[101] Caesarea,[102] Bavarica,[103] etc.; (4)
_bibliothecae_ named for religious orders (_vel a Ordinibus Sacris_):
Augustiniana,[104] Carmelitica,[105] etc.; (5) _bibliothecae_ named
according to the subjects with which they deal (_vel a materia
quam tractant_): Chymica,[106] Concionatoria,[107] Juridica,[108]
etc.; (6) _bibliothecae_ named according to their arrangement or
like circumstances (_vel a forma similibusve circumstantiis_):
Classica,[109] Selecta,[110] Universalis.[111]
The anonymous author of _The Newly Opened Library (Die neu-eröffnete
Bibliothec), in which good information about libraries as well
as convenient directions for acquiring, maintaining, and using
them are put into the hands of students and inquiring friends. To
which are added: the chief European libraries and what travelers
ought to notice in visits to them_ (1702) hit upon the same idea
of listing _bibliothecae_.[112] In this book a special section
or appendix labelled "A List of Authors Who Have Written Books
Entitled 'Bibliotheca' and Books about Libraries (Series Authorum
qui Bibliothecas & de Bibliothecis scripserunt)" names books
called _bibliotheca_, catalogues of libraries, and treatises on
library science. The selection is obviously even more definitely
bibliographical in character than Labbé's list had been. The compiler
arranges the titles alphabetically according to the author's last
names or, in the case of an anonymous work, according to an important
word in the title. This arrangement and the choice of titles show
that he had no knowledge of Labbé. Like Labbé, he includes none of
the collections of texts that were entitled _bibliotheca_.
Our author begins with Valerius Andreas, _Bibliotheca Belgica_
(1643), a biobibliographical dictionary of writers in the Low
Countries. In the letter "A" he includes the _Augustanae Bibliothecae
Catalogus_ (1633), which he also enters under the name of the
compiler, Elias Ehinger, librarian at Augsburg. He cites the
_Bibliothèque universelle_, a critical journal edited by Jean
Leclerc, because the title contains the word _Bibliothèque_. Such
titles show that he was thinking in bibliographical terms, for
Andreas's book and the Augsburg catalogue are bibliographies and
Leclerc's journal was a review of current publications.
The titles in this list are interesting because some are rarely
mentioned and others are difficult to track down. Examples are
"Augusti sereniss. Ducis Brunsvicensis Bibliothecae Sciagraphia,
Bibliothecae Catalogus. Wolfenb. 1650. in 4-to;"[113] "Henricii
Furenii Bibliotheca Medica." Hafn. 1659. in 4-to;[114] "Hamburgensis
Bibliothecae scripta memoria." Hamb. 1651. fol.;[115] and Bartol.
"Moseri Thesaurus Bibliatricus seu Bibliotheca gemina Onomastica
& Classica." Dilingii. fol.[116] The list includes a few
autobibliographies, for example, those written by such librarians and
bibliographers as Peter Lambeck (Lambecius) and Philip Labbé. The
most surprising title that the compiler names is "Joan. Brunderii
[sic] index librorum MS quae in Bibliothecis Belgicis extant."[117]
This union catalogue of manuscripts owned in the Low Countries was
made by the Belgian Dominican Johannes Bunderius or Bunderus (b.
1481 or 1482, d. 1557). Down to 1666 it is mentioned occasionally by
men who had consulted it, but our author probably never saw it and
no fragment of it is known to have survived the dispersal of Anton
Sander's library. A reference to such a manuscript was by no means an
idle display of erudition. Allusions in various seventeenth-century
works show that men used this union catalogue. For example, the
Spaniard Pedro de Alva y Astorga, the author of several very rare
encyclopedic works, which were published at Madrid and Louvain,
drew upon it, and the Italian Antonio Possevino quoted it in his
_Apparatus sacer_.
This curious list in _Die neu-eröffnete Bibliothec_ shows some signs
of carelessness. Its compiler has not seen all the books in it. For
example, he assigns Petrus Bertius's catalogue of the university
library at Leyden to 1591 instead of 1595 (this error is probably a
slip of the pen) and mentions the famous ghosts announced by Jodocus
a Dudinck. He credits the _Philobiblon_ to both Richard de Bury
and Richard Dunelmensis (De Bury's name as Bishop of Durham). With
all its faults, this "Series" is nevertheless a respectable piece
of work by a man who saw clearly the nature of a bibliography of
bibliographies.
A generation later, in 1734, Johannes Gottfried Unger published a
pamphlet entitled _De libris bibliothecarum nomine notatis_, a
classified list of books entitled _bibliotheca_, and added critical
and descriptive comments. Julius Petzholdt, who is often a severe
judge, deals with it generously, when he says (p. 79) that it is
worth a glance and can then be forgotten. Although he seems to be
unaware of any predecessor, Unger's idea was not novel. His execution
of the idea leaves much to be desired. Since his list contains few,
if any, books that cannot be easily found elsewhere, his list has
little value and his comments do not enrich it. His strict adherence
to the task of collecting books entitled _bibliotheca_ prevented him
from seeing the possible greater usefulness of what he was doing.
After some general remarks on libraries and bibliographies and
a definition of the task, Unger cites seven general works:
Labbé's _Bibliotheca bibliothecarum_ (he mentions here Teissier's
_Catalogus_ and _Auctuarium_, but he has not seen them); G. M. König,
_Bibliotheca vetus et nova_; Latinus Latinius, _Bibliotheca sacra
et profana_; Jean Leclerc, _Bibliothèque universelle et historique_
(this is the _Bibliothèque universelle_ and its continuation, the
_Bibliothèque historique_); Conrad Gesner, _Bibliotheca universalis_;
Johannes Groeningius, _Bibliotheca s[ive] codex operum variorum_; and
Louis Ellies DuPin, _Bibliothèque universelle des historiens_. "And
these are the books entitled Universal Library or: Bibliography."
His comments contain some information but do not on the whole show
much familiarity with the books. For example, the remarks on König's
late seventeenth-century biobibliographical dictionary are lifted
from D. G. Morhof, _Polyhistor_. He points out that the subtitle
of Latinius's _Bibliotheca_ gives a good idea of its contents:
"Observationes, correctiones et variae lectiones in sacros et
profanos scriptores, ex marginalibus notis codicum ejusdem [Latini
Latinii] a Dominco Marco editae." In other words, the book is a
miscellany of emendations and critical comments rather than a
bibliography. He describes Leclerc's journals by a long quotation
from the preface to the first volume. They are, he thinks, a better
example of this genre of books than Latinius's collectanea. He
dismisses Gesner's _Bibliotheca universalis_ with the remark that it
"also deserves mention (praeterea notatu digna est)" and a reference
to Morhof, _Polyhistor_. He does not describe the book by Johannes
Groeningius.[118]
Unger's account of forty-one theological bibliographies and
collections of texts entitled _bibliotheca_ is not altogether bad.
He often quotes the titles of chapters from these books or says
that a book is a collection of texts and not a bibliography. Much
of this information was even then available in well-organized
reference works, and Unger's only contribution is the selecting of
the books entitled _bibliotheca_. His account of legal bibliographies
begins with Martin Lipenius, _Bibliotheca juridica_, "which was
published at Frankfurt in 1607 as a folio and was enlarged by F.
G. Struve in 1720." This is not a good start, for the first date
is wrong (it should be 1679) and he would have found five more
legal bibliographies entitled _bibliotheca_ by opening Lipenius. In
this category he cites nine more titles, counting three works by
Caspar Thurmann as one book. This combination is not particularly
objectionable. Thurmann had made a classified legal bibliography and
finding no publisher, had printed portions as small bibliographies.
Unger then proceeds to historical, medical, and philosophical
categories, but we need follow him no further. He finally resigns
himself to naming titles in a confused order. His disappointing
performance has the merit of naming books called _bibliotheca_,
but it does not suggest, as Labbé and the anonymous author of
_Die neu-eröffnete Bibliothec_ had done, that they were primarily
interesting as bibliographies.
The sixty folio pages (double columns) filled with entries beginning
with the word _bibliotheca_ in Michael a San José, _Bibliographia
critica_ (1740-1742) have the appearance of a list of books, but on
closer examination many titles prove to be made up. In other words,
San José offers what amounts to a general survey of bibliography.
Since his book is almost unknown and the entries are often curious, a
brief description will not be out of place. The articles are arranged
alphabetically according to the adjective that follows the word
_bibliotheca_. Thus, the list begins with J. F. Reimann, _Bibliotheca
acroamatica_ (Hannover, 1712), a condensation of Peter Lambeck's
catalogue of manuscripts in the Imperial Library at Vienna. The next
entry consists of two columns headed "Bibliotheca Adriani Baillet"
and is a brief discussion of the _Jugemens des savans_ (1685-1686)
and a long summary of a prospectus of a philosophical dictionary
that Baillet planned but never published. More entries follow in an
alphabetical order according to proper names or adjectives derived
from proper names or the subject matter. Laurentius de Cremona,
_Bibliotheca aethiopica_ is entered under "Aethiopica," and Albert
Bartholin, _Liber de scriptis Danorum_ under "Alberti." It is
difficult to discover the plan of arrangement, and equally difficult
to see the reasons for choosing the books. The presence of more than
twenty entries entitled "Bibliotheca Biblica" is not surprising, but
eleven botanical bibliographies and twelve pages summarizing the
Linnean classification seem an unnecessarily generous allotment
to that subject. A few pages later San José cites collective
works--not bibliographies--that deal with Byzantine history
and canon law, but he ordinarily limits himself to bibliographies
and biobibliographies. He shows no sense of proportion in the choice
of titles. Out of hundreds of regional biobibliographies he chooses
one for Naumburg for mention. It can have meant very little to most
readers of his book, and he might have omitted it. A "Bibliotheca
occulta concionum P. Paulini a S. Joseph" (Rome, 1720) did not
deserve three pages or a revision of Antonio León Pinelo, _Epitome_
(an early bibliography of American subjects) five. San José is
careless with names and titles. Martin Hancke, the writer of a
Silesian biobibliography (p. 528), acquires an Oriental look, when he
is called Han Kii. San José's strange medley may yield a curious bit
of information now and again, but it need not detain us longer.
The last list of books entitled _bibliotheca_ is the _Dissertation
sur les bibliothèques_ (1758) by J. D. Durey de Noinville
(1683-1768).[119] He does not hold to the purpose announced in the
heading "Alphabetical list of both works published under the title
of _bibliothèque_ and printed catalogues of collections in France
and foreign countries."[120] He offers virtually a bibliography of
bibliographies. His use of an asterisk to mark works containing
an alphabetical index of authors shows some bibliographical sense,
but the lack of a clear plan of selection and organization makes
the book unusable. In a hodgepodge of seven hundred and fifty
titles--I take the figure from Besterman--Durey de Noinville may
list a book according to its author or its subject without any
apparent reason for his choice of either method. His knowledge of
available bibliographies is entirely inadequate. The accounts of
reference books dealing with Belgium, church history and France are
scanty,[121] the list of learned journals is almost worthless,[122]
and the remarks about journals entitled _Mercure_ exceed somewhat the
scope of his enterprise.[123] In addition to these faults Durey de
Noinville makes bad mistakes in details.[124] His virtually worthless
compilation yields an occasional nugget, but such discoveries are
rare.[125] His book is only interesting or important for showing how
a bibliography of bibliographies might have grown out of a list of
books entitled _bibliotheca_.
The efforts that we have surveyed in this chapter produced nothing of
lasting value. The list written by the author of _Die neu-eröffnete
Bibliothec_ did not lead to either a bibliography of bibliographies
or a guide to reference works. Durey de Noinville's disorderly book
was not good enough to suggest making anything better. All these
writers worked independently and made little or no use of their
predecessors. We might see in this fact an omen of the course of
bibliographies of bibliographies in the next century.
FOOTNOTES:
[93] See ed. 1664, pp. 21-22, eds. 1672 and 1678, pp. 30-31, ed.
1682, pp. 50-51.
[94] The only parallel that occurs to me is in John Ferguson's book
that is discussed below.
[95] The noun "bibliotheca" is to be understood here and in
conjunction with the following proper adjectives in his list. By
Bibliotheca Augustana Labbé meant the library at Augsburg. At the
time when he was writing, several catalogues of manuscripts and books
in this library had been published. He could have referred to them by
this short title made up for the purpose.
[96] Labbé refers to the library at Fleury and, in particular,
to Joannes a Bosco (Jean du Bois-Olivier), _Floriacensis vetus
bibliotheca benedictina_ (3 pts; Lyons, 1605. Copy in the
Bibliothèque nationale). For accounts of this library see Edward
Edwards, _Memoirs of Libraries_ (London, 1859), I, 281-287, 2d
ed. (Newport, Isle of Wight, 1885), pp. 54-60; E. G. Vogel, "Die
Bibliothek der Benediktinerabtei Saint Benoit oder Fleury an der
Loire," _Serapeum_, V (1844), 17-29, 46-49.
[97] For the unpublished catalogue of the university library at
Ingolstadt see Chapter II, n. 65.
[98] I am not sure what Labbé means. He may be referring to the
Ambrosian Library or to Cardinal Federicus Borromaeus, _Meditamenta
literaria_ (Milan, 1613), which contains an autobibliography. I cite
this book, which I have not seen, from the _Bibliotheca Cyprianica,
sive Catalogus liborum historico-theologicorum, quos Ern. Sal.
Cyprianus ... conquisivit_ (Gotha, 1726), p. 66.
[99] There were several early catalogues of the Bodleian Library.
[100] The library of Jacques de Thou and the De Thou family; see J.
Quesnel (comp.), _Bibliotheca Thuana_ (2 v.; Paris, 1679. ICN).
[101] The Royal Library at Paris.
[102] The Imperial Library at Vienna.
[103] The ducal library at Munich. See, for example, the _Catalogus
graecorum codicum manuscriptorum, qui adservantur in inclyta
serenissimi utriusque Bavarice Ducis Bibliotheca_ (Ingolstadt, 1602.
CS).
[104] Perhaps Labbé is referring to Thomas Gratianus (d. 1627),
_Anastasis Augustiniana in qua scriptores ordinis eremitarum s.
[sive] qui abhinc saeculis aliquot vixerunt, una cum neotericis, in
seriem digesti sunt_ (Antwerp, 1613) or Cornelius Curtius, _Virorum
illustrium ex ordine eremitarum D. Augustini elogia_ (Antwerp, 1636).
I have not seen the first of these and a copy of the second is in
my library. I do not find any bibliography of the Augustinians that
might have been available to Labbé was entitled _bibliotheca_.
[105] Petrus Lucius (Pierre de Licht, d. 1603), _Carmelitana
bibliotheca, sive Illustrium aliquot Carmelitanae religionis
scriptorum, & eorum operum cathalogus_ (Florence, 1593).
[106] Petrus Borellus (Pierre Borel, ca. 1620-1689), _Bibliotheca
chimica_ (Paris, 1654).
[107] Labbé is probably referring to one or another of the preacher's
guides by such men as Louis (or Jean) Bayl, Pierre Blanchot,
Francois Combefis, and G. B. Pontanus, all of whom wrote before the
publication of the _Bibliotheca bibliothecarum_ in 1664. Their works
were entitled _Bibliotheca concionatoria_.
[108] Labbé is referring to various early legal bibliographies by
such men as Laurent Bochel, Henri Justel, and Guillaume Voel.
[109] Georg Draud (d. 1635), _Bibliotheca classica_ (Frankfurt
a.M., 1611, 2d ed., 1625). See a copy of the first edition of this
classified universal bibliography with an index of authors' names
in the Newberry Library and copies of both editions in my library.
The date of Draud's death is disputed, but Richard Browne, who has
investigated it, prefers 1635.
[110] Antonius Possevinus (Antonio Possevino, 1534-1611),
_Bibliotheca selecta, qua agitur de ratione studiorum in historia,
in disciplinis, in salute omnium procuranda_ (Rome, 1593). There are
copies of this or a later edition in the Newberry Library and my own
library.
[111] Conrad Gesner (1516-1565), _Bibliotheca universalis_ (Zurich,
1545-1555). The identification of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
books that are cited by title only is often very difficult. I do
not feel sure that I have always hit upon the book that Labbé was
thinking of.
[112] See ed. 1704, pp. 294-298. _Die neu-eröffnete Bibliothec_
has a title of a sort that was popular at this time. The earliest
parallel that I have noted is J. U. M., _Neu-eröffnete Schaz-Kammer
verschiedener Natur- und Kunst-Wunder_ (Nuremberg, 1689). See also P.
I. M. [Paul Jacob Marperger], _Die neu-eröffnete Kauffmanns-Börse_
(Hamburg, 1704) and I. M. P. a W., _Die neu-eröffnete Berg-Werck_
(Hamburg, 1704). The latest example that I have found is the
anonymous _Neu-eröffnete Vorraths-Kammer allerhand rarer und
nützlicher Kunst-Stücke_ (Frankfurt a.M., 1760). _Die neu-eröffnete
Bibliothec_ is obviously a piracy containing an unnamed professor's
lectures on the history of scholarship.
[113] For a description of this book see Jakob Burckhard, _Historia
Bibliothecae Augustae_ (Leipzig, [1744]), I, 148-150. For an
ascription to Samuel Clodius see Otto von Heinemann, _Die herzogliche
Bibliothek zu Wolfenbüttel_ (2d ed.; Wolfenbüttel, 1894), p. 72, n.
2 and Adelung's supplement to C. G. Jöcher, _Gelehrtenlexikon_, II
(Leipzig, 1787), 376-377. I am indebted to Dr. Arnold Weinberger and
Professor Heinrich Schneider for these references. The date 1650 is
probably wrong. The foregoing authorities give the date 1660. The
_Catalogi Bibliothecae Thottianae_, VI (Copenhagen, 1798), 386, No.
972, cites a copy with the date 1659. The _Sciagraphia_ is strangely
lacking in the first book to which one turns: Hermann Conring, _De
Bibliotheca Augusta_ (Helmstadt, 1661; "editio nova," 1684), which
is reprinted in J. A. Schmid and J. J. Mader, _De bibliothecis atque
archivis_ (Helmstadt, 1702-1705). In this famous letter Conring
discusses a proposal to make a catalogue of the books at Wolfenbüttel
and reaches the conclusion that it cannot be executed. His neglect of
his predecessor is curious.
[114] For a reference to this book see Petzholdt, p. 584 (he did not
see the book). The author's name is Fuiren. There is a copy in the
Royal Library at Copenhagen.
[115] This is Michael Kirsteinius (Michael Kirsten), _Memoria
bibliothecae Hamburgensis_ (Hamburg, [1651]). There are folio and
quarto editions. For references to it see J. F. Jugler (ed.), B.
G. Struve, _Bibliotheca historiae litterariae selecta_ (Jena,
1754-1763), pp. 483-484 and the British Museum catalogue.
[116] This book, if it was ever printed, has probably disappeared.
I can find no reference to a copy of it. In his _Bibliotheca
bibliothecarum_, Philip Labbé continues the title as follows: "quarum
prima omnium Scriptorum qui artem Medicam excoluerunt nomina,
aetatem, libros, &c. continet; secunda per classes rerum praecipuas
ac titulos artium digesta cujuvis materiae Medicae, &c. Dilingiae
apud Gaspardum Sutorem in folio." I do not know where he found this
information. Dr. Arnold Weinberger tells me that Bartholomäus Moser
(d. 1678), "fürstlich augsburgischer Rat und Leibmedikus," wrote a
biography of Francis Bacon (1645) and made a gift to the University
of Dillingen in 1676. See Thomas Specht, _Geschichte der ehemaligen
Universität Dillingen_ (Freiburg i.B., 1902), I, 405.
[117] Cunibert Mohlberg collects information about this catalogue;
see "Nachrichten von belgischen Sammelkatalogen des 15./16.
Jahrhunderts," _Historisches Jahrbuch_, XXXIII (1912), 365-375.
In "Quellen zur Feststellung und Geschichte mittelalterlicher
Bibliotheken, Handschriften und Schriftsteller," _Historisches
Jahrbuch_, XL (1920), 44-106, Paul Lehmann adds more information and
corrects Mohlberg in some details. Lehmann makes a very interesting
attempt to reconstruct the catalogue from quotations.
[118] I have been unable to see any books by this author and have
been unable to collect much information about them or the author.
Groeningius announced a _Polyhistor bibliothecarius_ in 1700, which
was to deal with law after the fashion of Morhof's "Polyhistor." He
planned the _Fasti rei litterariae_ as a continuation of Morhof and
published it in 1702 under the title of _Relationes rei publicae
litterariae_, but this was only a sample of what he had in his
mind. See J. F. Jugler (ed.), B. G. Struve, _Bibliotheca historiae
litterariae selecta_ (Jena, 1754-1763), pp. 52-54. Petzholdt cites
(p. 658) legal bibliographies by Groeningius and a _Bibliotheca
universalis_, of which they formed a part.
[119] The book is in two parts. The list of dictionaries in the
second part will not be discussed here, but see a contemporary
parallel cited by Léon Vallée (p. 268, No. 3145: Joh. Heumann) and
earlier bibliographers of dictionaries as cited by Teissier. The
preface (pp. 1-66) to the _Dissertation sur les bibliothèques_ is an
account of ancient and modern libraries. I do not recommend it.
An excellent survey of theological reference works in the preface to
J. G. Walch, _Bibliotheca theologica selecta_ (Jena, 1757-1765) is
sometimes called a list of books entitled _bibliotheca_. It contains
many such books, but is not a list of them.
[120] "Table alphabétique tant des Ouvrages publiés sous le titre de
Bibliothèque; que des Catalogues imprimés des Cabinets de France &
des Pays étrangers," pp. 67-156.
[121] See pp. 75, 93-96, and 101-102, respectively.
[122] See pp. 114-116.
[123] See pp. 127-130.
[124] A few examples will suffice. Bucardi (i.e., Burkhardi)
Gotthelffi Struvii appears under the letter "B" (p. 81) and later
("Philosophique," p. 137) loses his family name. In the entry
"Belgique" (p. 75) the third item is credited to "id." which refers
back to Valerius Andreas, but the book meant is by J. F. Foppens,
whose name does not appear at all. A line or more has dropped out
at the bottom of p. 83. The dates of publication are unreliable:
Borellus, 1754 should be 1654 (p. 78); Justinianus, 1712 should be
1612 (p. 117); and Lambecius, 1610 should be 1710 (p. 118). Labbé's
_Bibliotheca bibliothecarum_ was printed in 1664, not 1674 (p. 118).
[125] I note (p. 155) a reference to an article on universal
bibliographies in the _Journal de Verdun_, February, 1749, p. 89. I
have not verified the reference.