[Illustration]
The Book-Lover's Library.
Edited by
Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.
HOW
TO FORM A LIBRARY
BY
H.B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.
_SECOND EDITION._
NEW YORK
A.C. ARMSTRONG & SON, BROADWAY.
LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK.
1886
_PREFACE._
_It will be generally allowed that a handy guide to the formation of
libraries is required, but it may be that the difficulty of doing justice
to so large a subject has prevented those who felt the want from
attempting to fill it. I hope therefore that it will not be considered
that I have shown temerity by stepping into the vacant place. I cannot
hope to have done full justice to so important a theme in the small space
at my disposal, but I think I can say that this little volume contains
much information which the librarian and the book lover require and cannot
easily obtain elsewhere. They are probably acquainted with most of this
information, but the memory will fail us at times and it is then
convenient to have a record at hand._
_A book of this character is peculiarly open to criticism, but I hope the
critics will give me credit for knowing more than I have set down. In
making a list of books of reference, I have had to make a selection, and
works have been before me that I have decided to omit, although some would
think them as important as many of those I have included._
_I need not extend this preface with any lengthy explanation of the
objects of the book, as these are stated in the Introduction, but before
concluding I may perhaps be allowed to allude to one personal
circumstance. I had hoped to dedicate this first volume of the Book
Lover's Library to HENRY BRADSHAW, one of the most original and most
learned bibliographers that ever lived, but before it was finished the
spirit of that great man had passed away to the inexpressible grief of all
who knew him. It is with no desire to shield myself under the shelter of a
great name, but with a reverent wish to express my own sense of our
irreparable loss that I dedicate this book (though all unworthy of the
honour) to his memory._
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER I. HOW MEN HAVE FORMED LIBRARIES 23
II. HOW TO BUY 57
III. PUBLIC LIBRARIES 73
IV. PRIVATE LIBRARIES 89
V. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES 141
VI. SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES 160
VII. PUBLISHING SOCIETIES 184
VIII. CHILD'S LIBRARY 217
IX. ONE HUNDRED BOOKS 227
HOW TO FORM A LIBRARY.
INTRODUCTION.
Although there can be little difference of opinion among book lovers as to
the need of a Handbook which shall answer satisfactorily the
question--"How to Form a Library"--it does not follow that there will be a
like agreement as to the best shape in which to put the answer. On the one
side a string of generalities can be of no use to any one, and on the
other a too great particularity of instruction may be resented by those
who only require hints on a few points, and feel that they know their own
business better than any author can tell them.
One of the most important attempts to direct the would-be founder of a
Library in his way was made as long ago as 1824 by Dr. Dibdin, and the
result was entitled _The Library Companion_.[1] The book could never have
been a safe guide, and now it is hopelessly out of date. Tastes change,
and many books upon the necessity of possessing which Dibdin enlarges are
now little valued. Dr. Hill Burton writes of this book as follows in his
_Book-Hunter_: "This, it will be observed, is not intended as a manual of
rare or curious, or in any way peculiar books, but as the instruction of a
Nestor on the best books for study and use in all departments of
literature. Yet one will look in vain there for such names as Montaigne,
Shaftesbury, Benjamin Franklin, D'Alembert, Turgot, Adam Smith,
Malebranche, Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Fénélon, Burke, Kant, Richter,
Spinoza, Flechier, and many others. Characteristically enough, if you turn
up Rousseau in the index, you will find Jean Baptiste, but not Jean
Jacques. You will search in vain for Dr. Thomas Reid the metaphysician,
but will readily find Isaac Reed the editor. If you look for Molinæus, or
Du Moulin, it is not there, but alphabetical vicinity gives you the good
fortune to become acquainted with "Moule, Mr., his _Bibliotheca
Heraldica_." The name of Hooker will be found, not to guide the reader to
the _Ecclesiastical Polity_, but to Dr. Jackson Hooker's _Tour in
Iceland_. Lastly, if any one shall search for Hartley _on Man_, he will
find in the place it might occupy, or has reference to, the editorial
services of 'Hazlewood, Mr. Joseph.'"
Although this criticism is to a great extent true, it does not do justice
to Dibdin's book, which contains much interesting and valuable matter, for
if the _Library Companion_ is used not as a Guide to be followed, but as a
book for reference, it will be found of considerable use.
William Goodhugh's _English Gentleman's Library Manual, or a Guide to the
Formation of a Library of Select Literature_, was published in 1827. It
contains classified lists of library books, but these are not now of much
value, except for the notes which accompany the titles, and make this work
eminently readable. There are some literary anecdotes not to be found
elsewhere.
A most valuable work of reference is Mr. Edward Edwards's Report on the
formation of the Manchester Free Library, which was printed in 1851. It is
entitled, "_Librarian's First Report to the Books Sub-Committee on the
Formation of the Library, June 30, 1851, with Lists of Books suggested for
purchase_." The Lists are arranged in the following order:--
1. Works--collective and miscellaneous--of Standard British
authors; with a selection of those of the Standard authors
of America.
2. Works relative to the History, Topography, and Biography
of the United Kingdom, and of the United States of America.
3. Works relative to Political Economy, Finance, Trade,
Commerce, Agriculture, Mining, Manufactures, Inland
Communication, and Public Works.
4. Works relating to Physics, Mathematics, Mechanics,
Practical Engineering, Arts, and Trades, etc.
5. Voyages and Travels.
6. Works on Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, and Geology.
7. Periodical Publications and Transactions of Learned
Societies (not included in Lists 2, 3, or 6), Collections,
Encyclopædias, Gazetteers, Atlases, Dictionaries,
Bibliographies, Indexes, etc.
These draft lists include 4582 distinct works, extending to about 12,438
volumes, including pamphlets, but exclusive of 553 Parliamentary Papers
and Reports, or _Blue Books_. Such a practically useful collection of
lists of books will not easily be found elsewhere.
Mr. Edwards gives some rules for the formation of Libraries in the second
volume of his _Memoirs of Libraries_ (p. 629), where he writes, "No task
is more likely to strip a man of self-conceit than that of having to
frame, and to carry out in detail a plan for the formation of a large
Library. When he has once got beyond those departments of knowledge in
which his own pursuits and tastes have specially interested him, the duty
becomes a difficult one, and the certainty, that with his best efforts, it
will be very imperfectly performed is embarrassing and painful. If, on the
other hand, the task be imposed upon a 'Committee,' there ensues almost
the certainty that its execution will depend at least as much on chance as
on plan: that responsibility will be so attenuated as to pass off in
vapour; and that the collection so brought together will consist of parts
bearing but a chaotic sort of relation to the whole."
Mr. Henry Stevens printed in 1853 his pretty little book entitled
_Catalogue of my English Library_, which contains a very useful selection
of Standard books. In his Introduction the author writes, "It was my
intention in the outset not to exceed 4000 volumes, but little by little
the list has increased to 5751 volumes. I have been considerably puzzled
to know what titles to strike out in my next impression, being well aware
that what is trash to one person is by no means such to another; also that
many books of more merit than those admitted have been omitted. You may
not think it difficult to strike out twenty authors, and to add twenty
better ones in their place, but let me relate to you a parable. I
requested twenty men, whose opinions on the Literary Exchange are as good
as those of the Barings or the Rothschilds on the Royal, each to expunge
twenty authors and to insert twenty others of better standing in their
places, promising to exclude in my next impression any author who should
receive more than five votes. The result was, as may be supposed, not a
single expulsion or addition."
In 1855 Mons. Hector Bossange produced a companion volume, entitled _Ma
Bibliothèque Française_. It contains a select list of about 7000 volumes,
and is completed with Indexes of Subjects, Authors, and Persons.
For helpful Bibliographical Guides we often have to look to the United
States, and we do not look in vain. A most useful Handbook, entitled _The
Best Reading_, was published in 1872 by George P. Putman, and the work
edited by F.B. Perkins is now in its fourth edition.[2] The books are
arranged in an alphabet of subjects, and the titles are short, usually
being well within a single line. A very useful system of appraisement of
the value of the books is adopted. Thus: _a_, means that the book so
marked is considered _the_ book, or as good as any, _at a moderate cost_;
_b_ means, in like manner, the best of the more elaborate or costly books
on the subject. In the department of FICTION, a more precise
classification has been attempted, in which a general idea of the
relative importance of the _authors_ is indicated by the use of the
letters _a_, _b_, and _c_, and of the relative value of their several
works by the asterisks * and **."
Having noted a few of the Guides which are now at hand for the use of the
founders of a library, we may be allowed to go back somewhat in time, and
consider how our predecessors treated this same subject, and we can then
conclude the present Introduction with a consideration of the less
ambitious attempts to instruct the book collector which may be found in
papers and articles.
One of the earliest works on the formation of a library was written by
Bishop Cardona, and published at Tarragona in 1587, in a thin volume
entitled _De regia S. Laurentii Bibliothecâ. De Pontificia Vaticana_
[etc.].
Justus Lipsius wrote his _De Bibliothecis Syntagma_ at the end of the
sixteenth century, and next in importance we come to Gabriel Naudé, who
published one of the most famous of bibliographical essays. The first
edition was published at Paris in 1627, and the second edition in 1644.
This was reprinted in Paris by J. Liseux in 1876--"_Advis pour dresser une
Bibliothèque, présenté à Monseigneur le Président de Mesme_, par G. Naudé
P. Paris, chez François Farga, 1627."
This essay was translated by John Evelyn, and dedicated to Lord Chancellor
Clarendon. "_Instructions concerning erecting of a Library_; Presented to
My Lord the President De Mesme. By Gabriel Naudeus P., and now interpreted
by Jo. Evelyn, Esquire, London, 1661."
Naudé enlarges on the value of Catalogues, and recommends the book-buyer
to make known his desires, so that others may help him in the search, or
supply his wants. He specially mentions two modes of forming a library;
one is to buy libraries entire, and the other is to hunt at book-stalls.
He advised the book-buyer not to spend too much upon bindings.
Naudé appears to have been a born librarian, for at the early age of
twenty the President De Mesme appointed him to take charge of his
library. He left his employer in 1626, in order to finish his medical
studies. Cardinal Bagni took him to Rome, and when Bagni died, Naudé
became librarian to Cardinal Barberini. Richelieu recalled him to Paris in
1642, to act as his librarian, but the Minister dying soon afterwards,
Naudé took the same office under Mazarin. During the troubles of the
Fronde, the librarian had the mortification of seeing the library which he
had collected dispersed; and in consequence he accepted the offer of Queen
Christina, to become her librarian at Stockholm. Naudé was not happy
abroad, and when Mazarin appealed to him to reform his scattered library,
he returned at once, but died on the journey home at Abbeville, July 29,
1653.
The Mazarin Library consisted of more than 40,000 volumes, arranged in
seven rooms filled from top to bottom. It was rich in all classes, but
more particularly in Law and Physic. Naudé described it with enthusiasm as
"the most beautiful and best furnished of any library now in the world,
or that is likely (if affection does not much deceive me) ever to be
hereafter." Such should be a library in the formation of which the Kings
and Princes and Ambassadors of Europe were all helpers. Naudé in another
place called it "the work of my hands and the miracle of my life." Great
therefore was his dejection when the library was dispersed. Of this he
said, "Beleeve, if you please, that the ruine of this Library will be more
carefully marked in all Histories and Calendars, than the taking and
sacking of Constantinople." Naudé's letter on the destruction of the
Mazarin Library was published in London in 1652, and the pamphlet was
reprinted in the _Harleian Miscellany_. "_News from France, or a
Description of the Library of Cardinall Mazarini, before it was utterly
ruined._ Sent in a letter from G. Naudæus, Keeper of the Publick Library.
London, Printed for Timothy Garthwait, 1652." 4to. 4 leaves.
In 1650 was published at London, by Samuel Hartlib, a little book
entitled, "_The Reformed Librarie Keeper, with a Supplement to the
Reformed School, as Subordinate to Colleges in Universities._ By John
Durie. London, William Du-Gard, 1650."[3]
John Durie's ideas on the educational value of Libraries and the high
function of the Librarian are similar to those enunciated by Carlyle, when
he wrote, "The true University of these days is a Collection of Books." Of
this point, as elaborated in the proposal to establish Professorships of
Bibliography, we shall have something more to say further on.
It is always interesting to see the views of great men exemplified in the
selection of books for a Library, and we may with advantage study the
lists prepared by George III. and Dr. Johnson. The King was a collector of
the first rank, as is evidenced by his fine library, now in the British
Museum, and he knew his books well. When he was about to visit Weymouth,
he wrote to his bookseller for the following books to be supplied to him
to form a closet library at that watering place. The list was written from
memory, and it was printed by Dibdin in his _Library Companion_, from the
original document in the King's own handwriting:
The Holy Bible. 2 vols. 8vo. Cambridge.
New Whole Duty of Man. 8vo.
The Annual Register. 25 vols. 8vo.
The History of England, by Rapin. 21 vols. 8vo. 1757.
Elémens de l'Histoire de France, par Millot. 3 vols. 12mo.
1770.
Siècle de Louis XIV., par Voltaire, 12mo.
Siècle de Louis XV., par Voltaire, 12mo.
Commentaries on the Laws of England, by Sir William
Blackstone. 4 vols. 8vo. Newest Edition.
The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer, by R. Burn. 4
vols. 8vo.
An Abridgement of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. 2 vols. 8vo.
Dictionnaire François et Anglois, par M.A. Boyer. 8vo.
The Works of the English Poets, by Sam. Johnson. 68 vols.
12mo.
A Collection of Poems, by Dodsley, Pearch, and Mendez. 11
vols. 12mo.
A Select Collection of Poems, by J. Nichols. 8 vols. 12mo.
Shakespeare's Plays, by Steevens.
OEuvres de Destouches. 5 vols. 12mo.
The Works of Sir William Temple. 4 vols. 8vo.
The Works of Jonathan Swift. 24 vols. 12mo.
Dr. Johnson recommended the following list of books to the Rev. Mr. Astle,
of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, as a good working collection:--
Rollin's Ancient History.
Universal History (Ancient).
Puffendorf's Introduction to History.
Vertot's History of the Knights of Malta.
Vertot's Revolutions of Portugal.
Vertot's Revolutions of Sweden.
Carte's History of England.
Present State of England.
Geographical Grammar.
Prideaux's Connection.
Nelson's Feasts and Fasts.
Duty of Man.
Gentleman's Religion.
Clarendon's History.
Watts's Improvement of the Mind.
Watts's Logick.
Nature Displayed.
Lowth's English Grammar.
Blackwall on the Classicks.
Sherlock's Sermons.
Burnet's Life of Hale.
Dupin's History of the Church.
Shuckford's Connection.
Law's Serious Call.
Walton's Complete Angler.
Sandys's Travels.
Sprat's History of the Royal Society.
England's Gazetteer.
Goldsmith's Roman History.
Some Commentaries on the Bible.
It is curious to notice in both these lists how many of the books are now
quite superseded.
In another place Boswell tells us what were Johnson's views on book
collecting. "When I mentioned that I had seen in the King's Library
sixty-three editions of my favourite _Thomas à Kempis_, amongst which it
was in eight languages, Latin, German, French, Italian, Spanish, English,
Arabick, and Armenian, he said he thought it unnecessary to collect many
editions of a book, which were all the same, except as to the paper and
print; he would have the original, and all the translations, and all the
editions which had any variations in the text. He approved of the famous
collection of editions of Horace by Douglas, mentioned by Pope, who is
said to have had a closet filled with them; and he said every man should
try to collect one book in that manner, and present it to a Publick
Library."
Dr. Johnson's notion as to the collection of editions which are alike
except in the point of paper is scarcely sound, but it has been held by a
librarian of the present day, as I know to my cost. On one occasion I was
anxious to see several copies of the first folio of Shakespeare (1623),
and I visited a certain library which possessed more than one. The
librarian expressed the opinion that one was quite sufficient for me to
see, as "they were all alike."
The possessor of a Private Library can act as a _censor morum_ and keep
out of his collection any books which offend against good morals, but this
_role_ is one which is unfit for the librarian of a Public Library. He may
put difficulties in the way of the ordinary reader seeing such books, but
nevertheless they should be in his library for the use of the student. A
most amusing instance of misapplied zeal occurred at the Advocates'
Library on the 27th June, 1754. The Minutes tell the tale in a way that
speaks for itself and requires no comment. "Mr. James Burnet [afterwards
Lord Monboddo], and Sir David Dalrymple [afterwards Lord Hailes], Curators
of the Library, having gone through some accounts of books lately bought,
and finding therein the three following French books: _Les Contes de La
Fontaine_, _L'Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules_ and _L'Ecumoire_, they
ordain that the said books be struck out of the Catalogue of the Library,
and removed from the shelves, as indecent books, unworthy of a place in a
learned Library."
At a Conference of Representatives of Institutions in Union with the
Society of Arts held in July, 1855, the question of the compilation of a
Catalogue of Books fitted for the Libraries of Institutions was raised,
and shortly afterwards was published, under the sanction of the Council,
"_A Handbook of Mechanics' Institutions, with Priced Catalogue of Books
suitable for Libraries, and Periodicals for Reading Rooms_, by W.H.J.
Traice." A second edition of this book was published in 1863. The list,
however, is not now of much use, as many of the books have been
superseded. Theology and Politics are not included in the classification.
In 1868 Mr. Mullins read a paper before a Meeting of the Social Science
Association at Birmingham, on the management of Free Libraries, and, in
its reprinted form, this has become a Handbook on the subject: "_Free
Libraries and News-rooms, their Formation and Management._ By J.D.
Mullins, Chief Librarian, Birmingham Free Libraries. Third edition.
London, Sotheran and Co., 1879." An appendix contains copies of the Free
Libraries Acts and Amendments, and a "Short List of Books for a Free
Lending Library, ranging in price from 1_s._ to 7_s._ 6_d._ per volume."
Mr. Axon read a paper on the Formation of Small Libraries intended for the
Co-Operative Congress in 1869, which was reprinted as a pamphlet of eight
pages: "_Hints on the Formation of Small Libraries intended for Public
Use._ By Wm. E.A. Axon. London, N. Trübner and Co."
Mr. A.R. Spofford has given a valuable list of books and articles in
periodicals, on the subject of Libraries in chapter 36 (Library
Bibliography), of the _Report on Public Libraries in the U.S._ (1876).
The volume of _Transactions and Proceedings of the Conference of
Librarians_, London, 1877, contains two papers on the Selection of Books,
one by Mr. Robert Harrison, Librarian of the London Library, and the
other by the late Mr. James M. Anderson, Assistant Librarian of the
University of St. Andrews. Mr. Harrison gives the following as the three
guiding principles of selection in forming a library: 1. Policy; 2.
Utility; 3. Special or Local Appropriateness; and he deals with each
successively. Mr. Anderson writes that "the selection of books should
invariably be made (1) in relation to the library itself, and (2) in
relation to those using it."
We have chiefly to do with the formation of libraries, and therefore the
use made of them when they are formed cannot well be enlarged upon here,
but a passing note may be made on the proposal which has been much
discussed of late years, viz. that for Professorships of Books and
Reading. The United States Report on Public Libraries contains a chapter
on this subject by F.B. Perkins and William Matthews (pp. 230-251), and
Mr. Axon also contributed a paper at the First Annual Meeting of the
Library Association. The value of such chairs, if well filled, is
self-evident, for it takes a man a long time (without teaching) to learn
how best to use books, but very special men would be required as
Professors. America has done much to show what the duties of such a
Professor should be, and Harvard College is specially fortunate in
possessing an officer in Mr. Justin Winsor who is both a model librarian
and a practical teacher of the art of how best to use the books under his
charge.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "_The Library Companion, or the Young Man's Guide and the Old Man's
Comfort in the Choice of a Library._ By the Rev. T.F. Dibdin, F.R.S.,
A.S., London, 1824."
[2] _The Best Reading_: Hints on the Selection of Books; on the Formation
of Libraries, Public and Private; on Courses of Reading, etc., with a
Classified Bibliography for every reference. Fourth revised and enlarged
edition, continued to August, 1876, with the addition of Select Lists of
the best French, German, Spanish, and Italian Literature. Edited by
Frederic Beecher Perkins; New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1881. Second
Series, 1876 to 1882, by Lynds E. Jones.
[3] Dr. Richard Garnett read an interesting paper on this book under the
title of _Librarianship in the Seventeenth Century_, before the Library
Association. See _Library Chronicle_, vol. i. p. 1 (1884).
CHAPTER I.
HOW MEN HAVE FORMED LIBRARIES.
As long as books have existed there have been book collectors. It is easy
now to collect, for books of interest are to be found on all sides; but in
old times this was not so, and we must therefore admire the more those men
who formed their libraries under the greatest difficulties. In a book
devoted to the formation of libraries it seems but fair to devote some
space to doing honour to those who have formed libraries, and perhaps some
practical lessons may be learned from a few historical facts.
Englishmen may well be proud of Richard Aungerville de Bury, a man
occupying a busy and exalted station, who not only collected books with
ardour united with judgment, but has left for the benefit of later ages a
manual which specially endears his memory to all book lovers.
He collected books, and often took them in place of corn for tithes and
dues, but he also produced books, for he kept copyists in his house. Many
of these books were carefully preserved in his palace at Durham, but it is
also pleasant to think of some of them being carefully preserved in the
noble mansion belonging to his see which stood by the side of the Thames,
and on the site of the present Adelphi.
Petrarch was a book-loving poet, and he is said to have met the
book-loving ecclesiastic Richard de Bury at Rome. He gave his library to
the Church of St. Mark at Venice in 1362; but the guardians allowed the
books to decay, and few were rescued. Boccaccio bequeathed his library to
the Augustinians at Florence, but one cannot imagine the books of the
accomplished author of the _Decameron_ as very well suited for the needs
of a religious society, and it was probably weeded before Boccaccio's
death. The remains of the library are still shown to visitors in the
Laurentian Library, the famous building due to the genius of Michael
Angelo.
Cardinal John Bessarion gave his fine collection (which included about 600
Greek MSS.) to St. Mark's in 1468, and in the letter to the Doge which
accompanied his gift, he tells some interesting particulars of his early
life as a collector. He writes, "From my youth I have bestowed my pains
and exertion in the collection of books on various sciences. In former
days I copied many with my own hands, and I have employed on the purchase
of others such small means as a frugal and thrifty life permitted me to
devote to the purpose."
The Rev. Joseph Hunter printed in 1831 a valuable Catalogue of the Library
of the Priory of Bretton in Yorkshire, and added to it some notices of the
Libraries belonging to other Religious Houses, in which he gives us a good
idea of the contents of these libraries. He writes, "On comparing the
Bretton Catalogue with that of other religious communities, we find the
libraries of the English monasteries composed of very similar materials.
They consisted of--
1. The Scriptures; and these always in an English or the
Latin version. A Greek or Hebrew Manuscript of the
Scriptures is not found in Leland's notes, or, I believe, in
any of the catalogues. In Wetstein's Catalogue of MSS. of
the New Testament, only one (Codex 59) is traced into the
hands of an English community of religious.
2. The Commentators.
3. The Fathers.
4. Services and Rituals of the Church.
5. Writers in the Theological Controversies of the Middle
Ages.
6. Moral and Devotional Writings.
7. Canon Law.
8. The Schoolmen.
9. Grammatical Writers.
10. Writers in Mathematics and Physics.
11. Medical Writers.
12. Collections of Epistles.
13. The Middle Age Poets and Romance-Writers.
14. The Latin Classics.
15. The Chronicles.
16. The Historical Writings of doubtful authority, commonly
called Legends.
Most of the manuscripts which composed the monastic libraries were
destroyed at the Reformation."
Humphry Plantagenet Duke of Gloucester, whose fame has been so lasting as
the 'good Duke Humphry,' was also a book-collector of renown; but most of
the old libraries we read about have left but little record of their
existence: thus the Common Library at Guildhall, founded by Dick
Whittington in 1420, and added to by John Carpenter, the Town Clerk of
London, has been entirely destroyed, the books having, in the first
instance, been carried away by Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset.
Although, as we have seen from Mr. Hunter's remarks, there was a
considerable amount of variety in the subjects of these manuscript
collections, we must still bear in mind that in a large number of
instances the contents of the libraries consisted of little more than
Breviaries and Service Books. It has been pointed out that this fact is
illustrated by the union of the offices of Precentor and Armarius in one
person, who had charge of the Library (Armarium) and its great feeder, the
Writing-room (Scriptorium), as well as the duty of leading the singing in
the church. Many lists of old libraries have been preserved, and these
have been printed in various bibliographical works, thus giving us a
valuable insight into the reading of our forefathers.
When we come to consider libraries of printed books in place of
manuscripts, we naturally find a greater variety of subjects collected by
the famous men who have formed collections. Montaigne, the friend of all
literary men, could not have been the man we know him to have been if he
had not lived among his books. Like many a later book-lover, he decorated
his library with mottoes, and burnt-in his inscriptions letter by letter
with his own hands. Grotius made his love of books do him a special
service, for he escaped from prison in a box which went backwards and
forwards with an exchange of books for his entertainment and instruction.
Grolier and De Thou stand so pre-eminent among book collectors, and from
the beauty of the copies they possessed the relics of their libraries are
so frequently seen, that it seems merely necessary here to mention their
names. But as Frenchmen may well boast of these men, so Englishmen can
take pride in the possession of the living memory of Archbishop Parker,
who enriched Cambridge, and of Sir Thomas Bodley, who made the Library at
Oxford one of the chief glories of our land.
Old Lists of Books are always of interest to us as telling what our
forefathers cared to have about them, but it is seldom that a list is so
tantalising as one described by Mr. Edward Edwards in his _Libraries and
Founders of Libraries_. Anne of Denmark presented her son Charles with a
splendid series of volumes, bound in crimson and purple velvet. Abraham
van der Dort, who was keeper of Charles's cabinet, made an inventory of
this cabinet; and having no notion of how to make a catalogue of books, he
has managed to leave out all the information we wish for. The inventory is
among the Harleian MSS. (4718), and the following are specimens of the
entries:--
"Im'pris 19 books in Crimson velvet, whereof 18 are bound
4to. and y^e 19th in folio, adorn'd with some silver guilt
plate, and y^e 2 claspes wanting. Given to y^e King by Queen
Ann of famous memory.
Item, more 15 books, 13 thereof being in long 4to. and y^e 2
lesser cover'd over also with purple velvet. Given also to
y^e King by y^e said Queen Ann."
Most of the famous private libraries of days gone by have left little
record of their existence, but Evelyn's collection is still carefully
preserved at Wotton, the house of the Diarist's later years, and Pepys's
books continue at Cambridge in the cases he had made for them, and in the
order he fixed for them. In a long letter to Pepys, dated from Sayes
Court, 12th August, 1689, Evelyn gives an account of such private
libraries as he knew of in England, and in London more particularly. He
first mentions Lord Chancellor Clarendon, to whom he dedicated his
translation of Naudé's Advice, and who "furnished a very ample library."
Evelyn observes that England was peculiarly defective in good libraries:
"Paris alone, I am persuaded, being able to show more than all the three
nations of Great Britain." He describes Dr. Stillingfleet's, at
Twickenham, as the very best library.[4] He did not think much either of
the Earl of Bristol's or of Sir Kenelm Digby's books, but he says Lord
Maitland's "was certainly the noblest, most substantial and accomplished
library that ever passed under the spear."
In a useful little volume published at London in 1739, and entitled, _A
Critical and Historical Account of all the Celebrated Libraries in Foreign
Countries, as well ancient as modern_, which is stated to be written by "a
Gentleman of the Temple," are some "General Reflections upon the Choice of
Books and the Method of furnishing Libraries and Cabinets." As these
reflections are interesting in themselves, and curious as the views of a
writer of the middle of the eighteenth century on this important subject,
I will transfer them bodily to these pages.
"Nothing can be more laudable than forming Libraries, when the founders
have no other view than to improve themselves and men of letters: but it
will be necessary, in the first place, to give some directions, which will
be of great importance towards effecting the design, as well with regard
to the choice of books as the manner of placing to advantage: nor is it
sufficient in this case, to be learned, since he who would have a
collection worthy of the name of a library must of all things have a
thorough knowledge of books, that he may distinguish such as are valuable
from the trifling. He must likewise understand the price of Books,
otherwise he may purchase some at too high a rate, and undervalue others:
all which requires no small judgment and experience.
"Let us suppose, then, the founder possessed of all those qualifications,
three things fall next under consideration.
"First, the number of books; secondly, their quality; and, lastly, the
order in which they ought to be ranged.
"As to the quantity, regard must be had, as well to places as to persons;
for should a man of moderate fortune propose to have a Library for his own
use only, it would be imprudent in him to embarrass his affairs in order
to effect it. Under such circumstances he must rather consider the
usefulness than the number of books, for which we have the authority of
Seneca, who tells us that a multitude of books is more burthensome than
instructive to the understanding.
"But if a private person has riches enough for founding a Library, as well
for his own use as for the public, he ought to furnish it with the most
useful volumes in all arts and sciences, and procure such as are scarcest
and most valuable, from all parts, that the learned, of whom there are
many classes, may instruct themselves in what may be useful to them, and
may gratify their enquiries. But as the condition and abilities of such as
would form Libraries are to be distinguished, so regard must likewise be
had to places, for it is very difficult to procure, or collect books in
some countries, without incredible expense; a design of that kind would be
impracticable in America, Africa, and some parts of Asia; so that nothing
can be determined as to the number of books, that depending entirely upon
a variety of circumstances, and the means of procuring them, as has been
observ'd before.
"As to the second topic, special care must be taken in the choice of
books, for upon that alone depends the value of a Library. We must not
form a judgment of books either by their bulk or numbers, but by their
intrinsic merit and usefulness. Alexander Severus's Library consisted of
no more than four volumes, that is the works of Plato, Cicero, Virgil, and
Horace. Melanchthon seems to have imitated that Prince, for his collection
amounted to four books only, Plato, Pliny, Plutarch, and Ptolemy.
"There is another necessary lesson for those who form designs of making
libraries, that is, that they must disengage themselves from all
prejudices with regard either to ancient or modern books, for such a wrong
step often precipitates the judgment, without scrutiny or examination, as
if truth and knowledge were confined to any particular times or places.
The ancients and moderns should be placed in collections, indifferently,
provided they have those characters we hinted before.
"Let us now proceed to the third head, the manner of placing books in such
order, as that they may be resorted to upon any emergency, without
difficulty, otherwise they can produce but little advantage either to the
owners or others.
"The natural method of placing books and manuscripts is to range them in
separate classes or apartments, according to the science, art, or subject,
of which they treat.
"Here it will be necessary to observe, that as several authors have
treated of various subjects, it may be difficult to place them under any
particular class; Plutarch, for instance, who was an historian, a
political writer, and a philosopher. The most advisable method then is to
range them under the head of Miscellaneous Authors, with proper references
to each subject, but this will be more intelligible by an example.
"Suppose, then, we would know the names of the celebrated Historians of
the ancients; nothing more is necessary than to inspect the class under
which the historians are placed, and so of other Faculties. By this
management, one set of miscellaneous authors will be sufficient, and may
be resorted to with as much ease and expedition as those who have
confined themselves to one subject. In choice of books regard must be had
to the edition, character, paper and binding. As to the price, it is
difficult to give any positive directions; that of ordinary works is
easily known, but as to such as are very scarce and curious, we can only
observe that their price is as uncertain as that of medals and other
monuments of antiquity, and often depends more on the caprice of the buyer
than the intrinsic merit of the work, some piquing themselves upon the
possession of things from no other consideration than their exorbitant
price."
Dr. Byrom's quaint library is still preserved at Manchester in its
entirety. Bishop Moore's fine collection finds a resting place in the
University Library at Cambridge, and the relics of the Library of Harley,
Earl of Oxford, a mine of manuscript treasure, still remain one of the
chief glories of the British Museum. How much cause for regret is there
that the library itself, which Osborne bought and Johnson described, did
not also find a settled home, instead of being dispersed over the land.
It is greatly to the credit of the rich and busy man to spend his time and
riches in the collection of a fine library, but still greater honour is
due to the poor man who does not allow himself to be pulled down by his
sordid surroundings. The once-famous small-coalman, Thomas Britton,
furnishes a most remarkable instance of true greatness in a humble
station, and one, moreover, which was fully recognized in his own day. He
lived next door to St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, and although he gained
his living by selling coals from door to door, many persons of the highest
station were in the habit of attending the musical meetings held at his
house. He was an excellent chemist as well as a good musician, and Thomas
Hearne tells us that he left behind him "a valuable collection of musick
mostly pricked by himself, which was sold upon his death for near an
hundred pounds," "a considerable collection of musical instruments which
was sold for fourscore pounds," "not to mention the excellent collection
of printed books that he also left behind him, both of chemistry and
musick. Besides these books that he left, he had some years before his
death (1714) sold by auction a noble collection of books, most of them in
the Rosicrucian faculty (of which he was a great admirer), whereof there
is a printed catalogue extant, as there is of those that were sold after
his death, which catalogue I have by me (by the gift of my very good
friend Mr. Bagford), and have often looked over with no small surprize and
wonder, and particularly for the great number of MSS. in the
before-mentioned faculties that are specified in it."[5]
Dr. Johnson, although a great reader, was not a collector of books. He was
forced to possess many volumes while he was compiling his Dictionary, but
when that great labour was completed, he no longer felt the want of them.
Goldsmith, on the other hand, died possessed of a considerable number of
books which he required, or had at some time required, for his studies.
"The Select Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Valuable Books, in English,
Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and other Languages, late the Library of
Dr. Goldsmith, deceased," was sold on Tuesday, the 12th of July, 1774, and
the Catalogue will be found in the Appendix to Forster's Life. There were
30 lots in folio, 26 in quarto, and 106 in octavo and smaller sizes. Among
the books of interest in this list are Chaucer's Works, 1602; Davenant's
Works, 1673; Camoens, by Fanshawe, 1655; Cowley's Works, 1674; Shelton's
Don Quixote; Raleigh's History of the World, 1614; Bulwer's Artificial
Changeling, 1653; Verstegan's Antiquities, 1634; Hartlib's Legacie, 1651;
Sir K. Digby on the Nature of Bodies, 1645; Warton's History of English
Poetry, 1774; Encyclopédie, 25 vols., 1770; Fielding's Works, 12 vols.,
1766; Bysshe's Art of Poetry; Hawkins's Origin of the English Drama, 3
vols., 1773; Percy's Reliques, 3 vols., Dublin, 1766; Sir William
Temple's Works; and De Bure, Bibliographie Instructive.
A catalogue such as this, made within a few weeks of the death of the
owner, cannot but have great interest for us. The library could not have
been a very choice one, for there is little notice of bindings and much
mention of odd volumes. It was evidently a working collection, containing
the works of the poets Goldsmith loved, and of the naturalists from whom
he stole his knowledge.
Gibbon was a true collector, who loved his books, and he must have needed
them greatly, working as he did at Lausanne away from public libraries.
After his death the library was purchased by 'Vathek' Beckford, but he
kept it buried, and it was of no use to any one. Eventually it was sold by
auction, a portion being bought for the Canton, and another portion going
to America. There was little in the man Gibbon to be enthusiastic about,
but it is impossible for any true book lover not to delight in the
thoroughness of the author of one of the noblest books ever written. The
fine old house where the _Decline and Fall_ was written and the noble
library was stored still stands, and the traveller may stroll in the
garden so beautifully described by Gibbon when he walked to the historical
_berceau_ and felt that his herculean labour was completed. His heart must
be preternaturally dull which does not beat quicker as he walks on that
ground. The thought of a visit some years ago forms one of the most vivid
of the author's pleasures of memory.
Charles Burney, the Greek scholar, is said to have expended nearly £25,000
on his library, which consisted of more than 13,000 printed volumes and a
fine collection of MSS. The library was purchased for the British Museum
for the sum of £13,500.
Charles Burney probably inherited his love of collecting from his father,
for Dr. Burney possessed some twenty thousand volumes. These were rather
an incumbrance to the Doctor, and when he moved to Chelsea Hospital, he
was in some difficulty respecting them. Mrs. Chapone, when she heard of
these troubles, proved herself no bibliophile, for she exclaimed, "Twenty
thousand volumes! bless me! why, how can he so encumber himself? Why does
he not burn half? for how much must be to spare that never can be worth
his looking at from such a store! and can he want to keep them all?"
The love of books will often form a tie of connection between very
divergent characters, and in dealing with men who have formed libraries we
can bring together the names of those who had but little sympathy with
each other during life.
George III. was a true book collector, and the magnificent library now
preserved in the British Museum owes its origin to his own judgment and
enthusiastic love for the pursuit. Louis XVI. cared but little for books
until his troubles came thick upon him, and then he sought solace from
their pages. During that life in the Temple we all know so well from the
sad reading of its incidents, books were not denied to the persecuted
royal family. There was a small library in the "little tower," and the
king drew up a list of books to be supplied to him from the library at the
Tuileries. The list included the works of Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and
Terence; of Tacitus, Livy, Cæsar, Marcus Aurelius, Eutropius, Cornelius
Nepos, Florus, Justin, Quintus Curtius, Sallust, Suetonius and Velleius
Paterculus; the _Vies des Saints_, the _Fables de la Fontaine_,
_Télèmaque_, and Rollin's _Traité des Etudes_.[6]
The more we know of Napoleon, and anecdotes of him are continually being
published in the ever-lengthening series of French memoirs, the less
heroic appears his figure, but he could not have been entirely bad, for he
truly loved books. He began life as an author, and would always have books
about him. He complained if the printing was bad or the binding poor, and
said, "I will have fine editions and handsome binding. I am rich enough
for that."[7] Thus spoke the true bibliophile. Mr. Edwards has collected
much interesting information respecting Napoleon and his libraries, and of
his labours I here freely avail myself. Bourrienne affirms that the
authors who chiefly attracted Napoleon in his school days were Polybius,
Plutarch, and Arrian. "Shortly before he left France for Egypt, Napoleon
drew up, with his own hand, the scheme of a travelling library, the charge
of collecting which was given to John Baptist Say, the Economist. It
comprised about three hundred and twenty volumes, more than half of which
are historical, and nearly all, as it seems, in French. The ancient
historians comprised in the list are Thucydides, Plutarch, Polybius,
Arrian, Tacitus, Livy, and Justin. The poets are Homer, Virgil, Tasso,
Ariosto, the _Télèmaque_ of Fénélon, the _Henriade_ of Voltaire, with
Ossian and La Fontaine. Among the works of prose fiction are the English
novelists in forty volumes, of course in translations, and the
indispensable _Sorrows of Werter_, which, as he himself told Goethe,
Napoleon had read through seven times prior to October, 1808. In this list
the Bible, together with the _Koran_ and the _Vedas_, are whimsically, but
significantly, entered under the heading Politics and Ethics (Politique et
Morale).[8]
Napoleon was not, however, satisfied with the camp libraries which were
provided for him; the good editions were too bulky and the small editions
too mean: so he arranged the plan of a library to be expressly printed for
him in a thousand duodecimo volumes without margins, bound in thin covers
and with loose backs. "In this new plan 'Religion' took its place as the
first class. The Bible was to be there in its best translation, with a
selection of the most important works of the Fathers of the Church, and a
series of the best dissertations on those leading religious sects--their
doctrines and their history--which have powerfully influenced the world.
This section was limited to forty volumes. The Koran was to be included,
together with a good book or two on mythology. One hundred and forty
volumes were allotted to poetry. The epics were to embrace Homer, Lucan,
Tasso, _Telemachus_, and the _Henriade_. In the dramatic portion Corneille
and Racine were of course to be included, but of Corneille, said Napoleon,
you shall print for me 'only what is vital' (ce qui est resté), and from
Racine you shall omit '_Les Frères ennemis_, the _Alexandre_, and _Les
Plaideurs_. Of Crébillon, he would have only _Rhadamiste_ and _Atrée et
Thyeste_. Voltaire was to be subject to the same limitation as
Corneille.'"[9] In prose fiction Napoleon specifies the _Nouvelle Héloise_
and Rousseau's _Confessions_, the masterpieces of Fielding, Richardson and
Le Sage, and Voltaire's tales. Soon after this Napoleon proposed a much
larger scheme for a camp library, in which history alone would occupy
three thousand volumes. History was to be divided into these sections--I.
Chronology and Universal History. II. Ancient History (_a._ by ancient
writers, _b._ by modern writers). III. History of the Lower Empire (in
like subdivisions). IV. History, both general and particular. V. The
Modern History of the different States of Europe. The celebrated
bibliographer Barbier drew up, according to the Emperor's orders, a
detailed catalogue of the works which should form such a library. "He
calculated that by employing a hundred and twenty compositors and
twenty-five editors, the three thousand volumes could be produced, in
satisfactory shape, and within six years, at a total cost of £163,200,
supposing fifty copies of each book to be printed."[10] The printing was
begun, but little was actually done, and in six years Napoleon was in St.
Helena.
In his last island home Napoleon had a library, and he read largely, often
aloud, with good effect. It is an interesting fact that among Napoleon's
papers were found some notes on Geography written when a boy, and these
close with the words--"_Sainte-Hélène--petite ile_."[11]
In recapitulating here the names of a few of the famous men who have
formed libraries it will be necessary to divide them into two classes, 1,
those whose fame arises from their habit of collecting, and 2, those
authors in whose lives we are so much interested that the names of the
books they possessed are welcomed by us as indications of their
characters. What can be said of the libraries of the Duke of Roxburghe,
Earl Spencer, Thomas Grenville, and Richard Heber that has not been said
often before? Two of these have been dispersed over the world, and two
remain, one the glory of a noble family, and the other of the nation, or
perhaps it would be more proper to say both are the glory of the nation,
for every Englishman must be proud that the Spencer Library still remains
intact.
Heber left behind him over 100,000 volumes, in eight houses, four in
England and four on the Continent, and no record remains of this immense
library but the volumes of the sale catalogues. Such wholesale collection
appears to be allied to madness, but Heber was no selfish collector, and
his practice was as liberal as Grolier's motto. His name is enshrined in
lasting verse by Scott:--
"Thy volumes, open as thy heart,
Delight, amusement, science, art,
To every ear and eye impart;
Yet who of all that thus employ them,
Can like the owner's self enjoy them?--
But hark! I hear the distant drum:
The day of Flodden Field is come--
Adieu, dear Heber! life and health,
And store of literary wealth."
--MARMION, _Introduction to the Sixth Canto_.
The Duke of Sussex was a worthy successor of his father, George III., in
the ranks of book-collectors, and his library is kept in memory by
Pettigrew's fine catalogue.
Douce and Malone the critics, and Gough the antiquary, left their
libraries to the Bodleian, and thus many valuable books are available to
students in that much-loved resort of his at Oxford. Anthony Morris
Storer, who is said to have excelled in everything he set his heart on and
hand to, collected a beautiful library, which he bequeathed to Eton
College, where it still remains, a joy to look at from the elegance of the
bindings. His friend Lord Carlisle wrote of him--
"Whether I Storer sing in hours of joy,
When every look bespeaks the inward boy;
Or when no more mirth wantons in his breast,
And all the man in him appears confest;
In mirth, in sadness, sing him how I will,
Sense and good nature must attend him still."
Jacob Bryant the antiquary left his library to King's College, Cambridge.
At one time he intended to have followed Storer's example, and have left
it to Eton College, but the Provost offended him, and he changed the
object of his bequest. It is said that when he was discussing the matter,
the Provost asked whether he would not arrange for the payment of the
carriage of the books from his house to Eton. He thought this grasping,
and King's gained the benefit of his change of mind.
Among great authors two of the chief collectors were Scott and Southey.
Scott's library still remains at Abbotsford, and no one who has ever
entered that embodiment of the great man's soul can ever forget it. The
library, with the entire contents of the house, were restored to Scott in
1830 by his trustees and creditors, "As the best means the creditors have
of expressing their very high sense of his most honourable conduct, and in
grateful acknowledgment of the unparalleled and most successful exertions
he has made, and continues to make for them." The library is rich in the
subjects which the great author loved, such as Demonology and Witchcraft.
In a volume of a collection of Ballads and Chapbooks is this note written
by Scott in 1810: "This little collection of stall tracts and ballads was
formed by me, when a boy, from the baskets of the travelling pedlars.
Until put into its present decent binding, it had such charms for the
servants, that it was repeatedly, and with difficulty, recovered from
their clutches. It contains most of the pieces that were popular about
thirty years since, and I dare say many that could not now be procured for
any price."
It is odd to contrast the book-loving tastes of celebrated authors.
Southey cared for his books, but Coleridge would cut the leaves of a book
with a butter knife, and De Quincey's extraordinary treatment of books is
well described by Mr. Burton in the _Book Hunter_. Charles Lamb's loving
appreciation of his books is known to all readers of the delightful Elia.
Southey collected more than 14,000 volumes, which sold in 1844 for nearly
£3000. He began collecting as a boy, for his father had but few books. Mr.
Edwards enumerates these as follows: The _Spectator_, three or four
volumes of the _Oxford Magazine_, one volume of the _Freeholder's
Magazine_, and one of the _Town and Country Magazine_, Pomfret's _Poems_,
the _Death of Abel_, nine plays (including _Julius Cæsar_, _The Indian
Queen_, and a translation of _Merope_), and a pamphlet.[12]
Southey was probably one of the most representative of literary men. His
feelings in his library are those of all book-lovers, although he could
express these feelings in language which few of them have at command:--
My days among the dead are passed;
Around me I behold,
Where'er these casual eyes are cast,
The mighty minds of old:
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.
With them I take delight in weal,
And seek relief in woe;
And while I understand and feel
How much to them I owe,
My cheeks have often been bedewed
With tears of thoughtful gratitude.
My thoughts are with the dead; with them
I live in long-past years;
Their virtues love, their faults condemn,
Partake their hopes and fears,
And from their lessons seek and find
Instruction with a humble mind.
My hopes are with the dead; anon
My place with them will be
And I with them shall travel on
Through all futurity;
Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
That will not perish in the dust.
Mr. Henry Stevens read a paper or rather delivered an address at the
meeting of the Library Association held at Liverpool in 1883, containing
his recollections of Mr. James Lenox, the great American book collector. I
had the pleasure of listening to that address, but I have read it in its
finished form with even greater delight. It is not often that he who
pleases you as a speaker also pleases you as writer, but Mr. Stevens
succeeds in both. If more bibliographers could write their reminiscences
with the same spirit that he does, we should hear less of the dullness of
bibliography. I strongly recommend my readers to take an early opportunity
of perusing this paper in the Liverpool volume of the Transactions of the
Library Association.
Mr. Stevens, among his anecdotes of Mr. Lenox, records that he "often
bought duplicates for immediate use, or to lend, rather than grope for the
copies he knew to be in the stocks in some of his store rooms or chambers,
notably Stirling's _Artists of Spain_, a high-priced book."
This is a common trouble to large book collectors, who cannot find the
books they know they possess. The late Mr. Crossley had his books stacked
away in heaps, and he was often unable to lay his hands upon books of
which he had several copies.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Narcissus Marsh, Archbishop of Armagh, is said to have given £2500 for
Bishop Stillingfleet's Library.
[5] _Reliquiæ Hearnianæ_, by Bliss, 2nd edition, 1869, vol. ii. p. 14.
[6] Edwards, _Libraries and Founders of Libraries_, p. 115.
[7] Edwards, _Libraries and Founders_, p. 136.
[8] _Correspondance de Napoleon I^er_, IV. pp. 37, 38, quoted by Edwards,
_Libraries and Founders_, p. 130.
[9] Edwards, _Libraries and Founders_, p. 133.
[10] Edwards, _Libraries and Founders_, p. 135.
[11] Edwards, _Libraries and Founders_, p. 142.
[12] _Libraries and Founders of Libraries_, p. 95.