great Britain, is that in the possession of Lord Viscount
Fitzwilliam, at Richmond; a nobleman of extremely retired
habits, and equally distinguished for his taste, candour,
and erudition. His Paintings and Books are of the very first
class.]
LYSAND. Do so; and attend the shops of Mr. Richardson, Mr. Woodburn,
and Mr. Grave, and you may soon have a chance of gratifying your
appetite in these strange particulars. But beware of a HOGARTH rage!
LIS. Is that so formidable?
LYSAND. The longest life were hardly able to make the collection of
Hogarth's prints complete! The late Mr. Ireland has been the Linnæus
to whom we are indebted for the most minute and amusing classification
of the almost innumerable varieties of the impressions of Hogarth's
plates.[439]
[Footnote 439: The Marquis of Bute has, I believe, the most
extraordinary and complete collection of HOGARTH'S PRINTS
that is known. Of the _Election Dinner_ there are six or
seven varieties; gloves, and no gloves; hats, from one to
the usual number; lemon, and no lemon; punch bowl, and no
punch bowl. But of these _varying_ prints, the most curious
is the one known by the name of _Evening_: with a little boy
and girl, crying, in the back-ground. At first, Hogarth did
_not_ paint _the girl_, and struck off very few impressions
of the plate in this state of the picture. A friend
observing to him that the boy was crying with no apparent
cause of provocation, Hogarth put in the little girl
tantalizing him. But--happy he! who has the print of the
'Evening' _without_ the little girl: fifteen golden guineas
(rare things now to meet with!) ought not to induce him to
part with it. Of the copper-plate portraits by Hogarth, the
original of '_Sarah Malcolm, executed_ 1732,' is among the
very rarest; a copy of this selling for 7_l._ 17_s._ 6_d._
at Barnard's sale. The reader has only to procure that most
interesting of all illustrative works, _Hogarth Illustrated
by John Ireland_, 1793, (2d edit.) 3 vols., 8vo.; and, for a
comparatively trifling sum, he may be initiated into all the
mysteries of Hogarthian _virtû_. The late Right Hon. W.
Wyndham's collection of Hogarth's prints, bequeathed to him
by Mr. George Steevens, was _bought in_ for little more than
300 guineas.]
LIS. I will stick to Rembrandt and leave Hogarth at rest. But surely,
this rage for _Portrait Collecting_ cannot be of long duration. It
seems too preposterous for men of sober sense and matured judgment to
yield to.
LYSAND. So think _you_--who are no Collector! But had you accompanied
me to Mr. Christie's on Friday[440] last, you would have had
convincing evidence to the contrary. A little folio volume, filled
with one hundred and fifty-two prints, produced--
[Footnote 440: If the reader casts his eye upon pages 505-6
he will find that the ardour of print and portrait
collecting has not abated since the time of Sir W. Musgrave.
As a corroboration of the truth of Lysander's remark, I
subjoin a specimen (being only four articles) of the present
rage for 'curious and rare' productions of the _burin_--as
the aforesaid Grangerite (p. 507) terms it.
NO. 54. The Right Honourable and truly generous Henry Veere,
Earl of Oxford, Viscount Bulbeck, &c. Lord High Chamberlain
of England. J. Payne sculp. With a large hat and feather,
small, in a border with many figures. Will. Passo, sculp.
Tho. Jenner exc. On distinct plates. _The most brilliant
impression of a print of the greatest rarity._ £30 9_s._
0_d._
63. Generall (Edward) Cecyll son to the Right Honourable the
Earle of Exeter, &c. In an oval; in armour. Simmon Passæs,
sculp. Anno 1618. Sould in Pope's Head Alley, also by John
Sudbury and George Humble. _Most brilliant impression of a
print of the greatest rarity._ 34 2 6
90. The true Portraicture of Richard Whitington, thrise Lord
Mayor of London, a vertuous and godly man, full of good
workes (and those famous) &c. R. Elstracke sculp. Are to be
sold by Compton Holland over against the Exchange: _First
impression with the hand on a skull. Extra fine and rare._
10 10 0
152. Mull'd Sack; a fantastic and humourous Chimney-Sweeper,
so called: with cap, feather, and lace band: cloak tuck'd
up; coat ragged; scarf on his arm; left leg in a fashionable
boot, with a spur; on his right foot a shoe with a rose;
sword by his side, and a holly bush and pole on his
shoulder; in his left hand, another pole with a horn on it;
a pipe, out of which issues smoke, is in his right hand; at
the bottom are eight verses (as given in Granger, vol. ii.,
p. 61). Are to be sold by Compton Holland over against the
Exchange, with further manuscript account by a provost of
Eton. _Considered Unique_ [but not so]. 42 10 6]
LIS. Perhaps, Three Hundred Guineas?
LYSAND. Just double the sum, I believe.
LIS. O rare JAMES GRANGER--thy immortality is secured! But we forget
our symptoms of the Bibliomania.
BELIN. As I am the examiner, I here demand of you, Sir, what may be
the meaning of the _fourth symptom_ of the bibliomaniacal disease,
which you call UNIQUE COPIES?
LYSAND. A passion for a book of which only one copy was printed, or
which has any peculiarity about it[441] by either, or both, of the
foregoing methods of illustration--or which is remarkable for its
size, beauty, and condition--or has any embellishment, rare, precious
and invaluable--which the researches of the most sedulous
bibliomaniac, for three and thirty long years, would not be able to
produce--is indicative of a rage for _unique copies_; and is
unquestionably a strong prevailing symptom of the Bibliomania. Let me
therefore urge every sober and cautious collector not to be fascinated
by the terms "_Curious and rare_;" which 'in slim italics' (to copy
Dr. Ferriar's happy expression[442]) are studiously introduced into
Booksellers' catalogues to lead the unwary astray. Such a Collector
may fancy himself proof against the temptation; and will, in
consequence, call _only to look at_ this unique book, or set of books;
but--led away by the passion which inflamed BERRYER and
CAILLARD[443]--when he views the morocco binding, silk water-tabby
lining, blazing gilt edges; when he turns over the white and unspotted
leaves; gazes on the amplitude of margin; on a rare and lovely print
introduced; and is charmed with the soft and coaxing manner in which,
by the skill of Herring, Mackinlay, Rodwell, Lewis, or Faulkener,
"leaf succeeds to leaf"--he can no longer bear up against the
temptation; and, confessing himself vanquished, purchases, and
retreats--exclaiming with Virgil's shepherd----
Ut vidi, ut perii--ut me malus abstulit error!
[Footnote 441: Let us again quote a stanza from the
'Aspirant:'
FOURTH MAXIM.
Who in _all_ copies finds delight--
The wrong not scenting from the right--
And, with a choiceless appetite,
Just comes to _feed_, ... like Soph, or Templar,
Out on his iron stomach!--_we_
Have rarities we merely _see_,
Nor taste our Phoenix though it be ...
Serv'd up in the "UNIQUE EXEMPLAR,"
_Bibliosophia_, p. v.
One of the most curious proofs of the seductive popularity
of unique copies may be drawn from the following excerpt
from a catalogue of a Library sold at Utrecht in 1776; which
was furnished me by Mr. H. Ellis from a copy of the
catalogue in the possession of Mr. Cayley of the
Augmentation Office.
NO. 6870. Les Avantures de Telemaque, 8o. Rotterd. _av.
fig. en cart._ 'Cet exemplaire est tout _barbouillé_. Mais
il est _de la main de la jeune Princesse Wilhelmine Auguste
de Saxe-Weimar, qui y a appris le François en_ 1701!!!'
I will mention a unique copy of a somewhat different cast of
character. Of the magnificent and matchless edition of
Shakspeare, printed by Mr. Bulmer and published by Mr.
Nicols, between the years 1790 and 1805, there were one
hundred copies, of the first six plays only, struck off upon
imperial folio, or _Colombier paper_; in which the large
engravings, published at the Shakspeare Gallery (now the
British Institution) might be incorporated and bound up. The
late George Steevens undertook the revision of the text,
intending to complete the entire plays in a similar form;
but the trouble and expense attending this part of the
undertaking were so great that the further prosecution of it
was abandoned. Mr. Bulmer preserved the whole of the
proof-sheets of this partial Colombier impression; and to
form a '_unique_ edition' (these are his own words) he bound
them up in the exact order in which the plays were printed.
On the margins of many of the sheets, besides the various
corrections, emendations, and notes to the printer, by Mr.
Steevens, there are some original sonnets, a scene for a
burlesque tragedy, and other happy effusions from the pen of
the same elegant and learned editor. Need I ask the reader,
whether he would have the _barbouillé_ (unique) copy of
Telemaque of the young Princesse Wilhelmine Auguste de
Saxe-Weimar (like the Vicar of Wakefield, I like to give the
full name) or Mr. Bulmer's similar copy of Shakspeare? The
difference would soon be found in King Street or the Strand!
I must mention one more example--of a nature different from
both the preceding--of what Lysander has above, elaborately,
and perhaps, a little confusedly, described as unique
copies. It is Colonel Stanley's copy of _De Bry_ (see a
superb one before noticed) which is bound in seven folio
volumes, in blue morocco, by Padaloup, and is considered
superior to every known copy. It contains all the maps and
prints, with their variations, according to the
_Bibliographie Instructive_, no. 4230, _Cat. de Paris de
Meyzieu_, 1790; no. 486, _Cat. de Santander_, no.
3690; and _Camus sur les Collections des Grands et Petits
Voyages_, 1802, 4to.: with both editions of the first nine
parts of the West Indies, and duplicates of parts x. and xi.
It has also a considerable number of duplicate plates, where
a superior impression could be procured at any expense. The
owner of this unique copy, of a work unrivalled for its
utility and elegance, is distinguished for a noble
collection, bound by our choicest binders, in whatever is
splendid and precious in the Belles Lettres, Voyages, and
Travels. Take two more illustrations, kind-hearted
reader!----_Goldsmith's Deserted Village_, 1802. Mr. Bulmer
printed a single copy of this beautiful poem, in quarto,
UPON SATIN--picked and prepared in a very curious manner. It
was purchased by a foreigner. His impressions UPON VELLUM
are noticed, post.----_Falconer's Shipwreck_, 1804, 8vo. Mr.
Miller caused _two_ copies only (is [Transcriber's Note: it]
is _almost_ unique!) of this beautiful edition, printed by
Bensley, to be struck off UPON SATIN, in imperial 8vo. One
of these copies now remains with him for sale.]
[Footnote 442: The passage, above alluded to, is as follows:
At ev'ry auction, bent on fresh supplies,
He cons his catalogue with anxious eyes:
Where'er the slim Italics mark the page,
_Curious and rare_ his ardent mind engage.
_The Bibliomania_; v. 54.]
[Footnote 443: A slight mention of Mons. Berryer, the
father-in-law of Lamoignon, is made at p. 84, ante. The
reader is here presented with a more finished portrait of
this extraordinary bibliomaniac: a portrait, which will
excite his unbounded admiration, if not envy!--for such a
careful and voluptuous collector, in regard to _binding_,
was, I believe, never before known; nor has he been since
eclipsed. 'M. Berryer, successivement Secrétaire d'Etat au
Département de la Marìne, Ministre, puis Garde des Sceaux de
France, s'étoit occupé pendant près de quarante années à se
former un cabinet des plus beaux livres grecs et latins,
anciennes éditions, soit de France, soit des pays étrangers,
&c. Par un soin et une patience infatigables, à l'aide de
plusieurs coopérateurs éclairés, savans même en
Bibliographie, qui connoissoient ses études, délassement de
ses places, il avoit recueilli les plus belles éditions; de
telle sorte qu'il a toujours su se procurer un exemplaire
parfait de chaque édition par un moyen simple quoique
dispendieux. Si les Catalogues des ventes publiques lui
apprenoient qu'il existoit un exemplaire _plus beau, plus
grand de marge, mieux conservé_, de tout auteur, &c., que
celui qu'il possédoit, il le fasoit acquérir sans
s'embarrasser du prix, et il se défaisoit à perte de
l'exemplaire moins beau. La majeure partie des auteurs
anciens et modernes de son cabinet a été changée huit ou dix
fois de cette manière. Il ne _s'arrêtoit_ qu'après s'être
assuré qu'il avoit _le plus bel exemplaire connu_, soit pour
la marge, soit pour la force du papier, soit pour la
magnificence de la conservation et _de la relieure_.' 'A
l'égard des ouvrages d'editions modernes, même celles faites
en pays étranger, M. Berryer vouloit les avoir en feuilles:
il en faisoit choisir, dans plusieurs exemplaires, un
parfait, et il le faisoit relier _en maroquin de choix_; le
Ministere de la Marìne qu'il avoit rempli, lui ayant donné
toutes les facilités d'en être abondamment et fidèlement
pourvu dans toutes les Echelles du Levant. On collationnoit
ensuite pour vérifier s' il n'y avoit ni transposition, ni
omission de feuilles ou de pages?!!' _Cat. M. Lamoignon_,
1791. pref. p. ij. iij. Berryer was slightly copied by
Caillard (of whom see p. 76, ante) in the luxury of
_book-binding_. 'M. Caillard avoit le soin _de faire
satiner_ presque tous livres qu'il faisoit relier, et
principalement les grands ouvrages; qu'il est difficile
d'avoir parfaitement reliés sans ce precedé.' _Cat. de
Caillard_; p. x. (avertisement.) But I know not whether
Caillard did not catch the phrensy from the elder Mirabeau.
In the catalogue of his books, p. II., we are thus told of
him:--'l'acquisition d'un _beau livre_ lui causoit des
transports de joie inexprimables: il l'examinoit, l'admiriot
[Transcriber's Note: l'admiroit]: il vouloit que chacun
partagêat avec lui le même enthousiasme.' His biographer
properly adds: 'De quelle surprise n'auroit-on pas été, si
l'on eût su que c'etoit la le même homme qui, du haut de la
tribune, faisoit trembler les despotes et les factieux!'
Ponder here, gentle reader, upon the effects of a
_beautiful_ book! Let no one, however, imagine that we
_grave Englishmen_ are averse or indifferent to 'le luxe de
la relieure'!! No: at this present moment, we have the best
bookbinders in Europe; nor do we want good authority for the
encouragement of this fascinating department relating to the
Bibliomania. Read here what Mr. Roscoe hath so eloquently
written in commendation of it: 'A taste for the exterior
decoration of books has lately arisen in this country, in
the gratification of which no small share of ingenuity has
been displayed; but if we are to judge of the present
predilection for learning by the degree of expense thus
incurred, we must consider it as greatly inferior to that of
the Romans during the times of the first Emperors, or of the
Italians at the 15th century. And yet it is, perhaps,
difficult to discover why a FAVOURITE BOOK should not be as
proper an object of elegant ornament as the head of a cane,
the hilt of a sword, or the latchet of a shoe.' _Lorenzo de
Medici_; vol. ii., 79, 8vo. edition. Did Geyler allude to
such bibliomaniacs in the following sentence? Sunt qui
libros inaurant et serica tegimenta apponunt preciosa et
superba. Grandis hæc fatuitas! _Navicula, sive Speculum
Fatuorum_; (Navis Stultifera) _sign. B. v. rev._]
BELIN. For the benefit--not of the 'Country Gentlemen,' but--of the
'Country Ladies,' do pray translate these Latin words. We are always
interested about the pastoral life.
LIS. It only means, Belinda, that this said shepherd was blockhead
enough to keep gazing upon his beloved fair, although every glance
shot him through the heart, and killed him a hundred times. Still he
caressed the cause of his ruin. And so bibliomaniacs hug the very
volumes of which they oftentimes know they cannot afford the purchase
money! I have not forgotten your account of Dr. Dee:[444] but the
ladies were then absent.
[Footnote 444: See p. 262, ante.]
BELIN. Well, let us now go on to the explanation of the _fifth
symptom_ of the Bibliomania; which you have called, Copies PRINTED
UPON VELLUM!
LYSAND. A desire for books printed in this manner[445] is an equally
strong and general symptom of the Biblomania; but, as these works are
rarely to be obtained of modern date, the collector is obliged to have
recourse to specimens executed, three centuries ago, in the printing
offices of Aldus, Verard, or the Giunti. Although the _Bibliotheque
Imperiale_, at Paris, and the library of Count M'Carthy, at Toulouse,
are said to contain the greatest number of books, printed upon vellum,
yet, those who have been fortunate enough to see copies of this kind
in the libraries of his Majesty, the Duke of Marlborough, Earl
Spencer, Mr. Johnes, and the late Mr. Cracherode (which latter is now
in the British Museum) need not travel on the Continent for the sake
of being convinced of their exquisite beauty and splendour. An
_unique_ copy of the first Livy, upon vellum, (of which the owner has
excited the envy of foreigners) is a library of itself!--and the
existence of vellum copies of Wynkyn De Worde's reprint of _Juliana
Barnes's Book of Hawking, &c._, complete in every respect, (to say
nothing of his Majesty's similar copy of Caxton's _Doctrinal of
Sapience_, in the finest preservation) are sufficient demonstrations
of the prevalance of this symptoms of the Bibliomania in the times of
our forefathers; so that it cannot be said, as some have asserted, to
have appeared entirely within the last half century.
[Footnote 445: William Horman, who was head master of Eton
school at the opening of the sixteenth century, was, I
apprehend, the earliest writer in this country who
propagated those symptoms of the Bibliomania indicative of a
passion for _large paper_ and _vellum_ copies; for thus
writes the said Horman, in his _Vulgaria_, printed by
Pynson, in folio, 1519: a book, curious and interesting upon
every account. 'The greatest and highest of price, is _paper
imperial_. (Herbert, vol i., p. 265.) _Parchment leaves_ be
wont to be ruled, that there may be a _comely margent_:
also, strait lines of equal distance be draw[en] within,
that the writing may shew fair,' _fol._ 82. From these two
sentences (without quoting Horman's praise of the presses of
Froben and Aldus; fol. 87) I think it may be fairly inferred
that a love of _large paper_ and _vellum_ copies was
beginning to display itself in the period just mentioned.
That this love or passion is now eagerly and generally
evinced, I shall proceed to give abundant proof; but first
let me not forget our bibliomaniacal satirist:
FIFTH MAXIM.
Who blindly take the book display'd
By pettifoggers in the trade.
Nor ask of what the leaf was made,
That _seems like paper_--I can tell 'em,
That though 'tis possible to squint
Through any page with letters in't,
No copy, though an angel print,
Reads elegantly--but "on VELLUM."
_Bibliosophia_, p. VI.
I proceed to give evidence of the present passion which
prevails, respecting books of the description of which we
are now speaking, by extracting a few articles from the
library of which such honourable mention was made at p.
448-9, ante. They are all
WORKS PRINTED UPON VELLUM.
NO. 241. Epistolæ Beati Jeronimi. Impressio Moguntinæ facta
per Virum famatum in hæc arte Petrum Schoiffer de Gernsheym,
2 vols., 1470. _A fine specimen of a grand book, superbly
bound in blue turkey._ Folio. £28 _s._7 0_d._
242. Sexti Decretalium Opus præclarum Bonifacii VII., Pont.
Max. In Nobili Urbe Moguncia non Atramento è plumali ereâque
Pennâ Cannâve per Petrum Schoiffer de Gernsheym consummatum.
A.D. 1476. _A most beautiful work, superbly bound in blue
turkey._ 19 19 0
253. [Transcriber's Note: 243.] Constitutiones Clementis Papæ
Quinti, unà cum apparatu Domini Joannis Andreæ. Venetiis impress.
Ere atque Industriâ Nicolai Jenson Gallici, 1476. _A most
beautiful specimen of clean vellum, with a fine illumination,
bound in purple velvet._ Folio. 21 10 0
244. Leonora, from the German of Burgher, by Mr. Spencer,
with the designs of Lady Diana Beauclerc, 1796. Folio. 25 4 0
_A beautiful unique copy, with the plates worked on satin,
superbly bound in blue turkey._
245. Dryden's Fables, with engravings from the pencil of
Lady Beauclerc. _A beautiful unique copy, splendidly bound
in morocco, with the plates worked on satin._ 34 13 0
246. Missale Monasticum secundum Ritum et consuetudinem
Ordinis Gallæ Umbrosæ. Venetiis, per Ant. de Giunta
Florentinum, 1503. _A most beautiful copy of a very rare
book, with plates and illuminations, bound in morocco._
Folio. 13 3 6
247. Postilla super Libros N. Testamenti Fratris Nicolai de
Lyra. Venet. per Joan. de Colonia et Nic. Jenson, 1481. _A
fine specimen of beautiful vellum, with illuminations, bound
in blue turkey._ Folio. 17 17 0
248. The German Bible, by Martin Luther, 2 vols. Augspurg,
1535, folio. _A most fair, and beautiful copy, with coloured
plates, in the finest preservation, and bound in crimson
velvet, with two cases._--'The copies on vellum of this fine
edition were printed at the charges of John Frederick,
Elector of Saxony, (vide Panzer).' Folio. 52 10 0
249. Le Livre de Jehan Bocasse de la Louenge et Vertu des
nobles et Cleres Dames. Paris, _par Ant. Verard_, 1493. _A
beautiful work, with curious illuminations, finely bound in
blue turkey._ Folio. 14 14 0
250. Virgilii Opera curâ Brunck. Argentorati, 1789. _An
unique copy, bound in morocco, with a case._ Quarto. 33 12 0
251. Somervile's Chace, a Poem, with fine plates on wood, by
Bewick. Printed by Bulmer, 1796. Quarto. _A beautiful unique
copy, splendidly bound in green, morocco._ 15 4 6
252. Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell, with fine plates on
wood by Bewick. Printed by Bulmer, 1795. _A beautiful unique
copy, superbly bound in green morocco._ 15 15 0
253. The Gardens, a poem, by the Abbe de Lisle, with fine
plates by Bartolozzi, coloured. Printed by Bensley, 1798. _A
fine book, and bound in green morocco._ Quarto. 14 3 6
254. The Castle of Otranto, by the Earl of Oxford. Printed
at Parma, 1791. _A fine copy elegantly bound in blue
morocco._ Quarto. 13 2 6
255. Coustumes du Pais de Normandie. Rouen, 1588. _A
beautiful unique copy, on fine white vellum, the
presentation copy to the Duke de Joyeuse; in old morocco._
14 3 6
256. P. Virgilii Maronis Codex antiquissimus in Bibliotheca
Mediceo-Laurentiana. Florent. 1741. _A curious facsimile of
the old MS. bound in yellow morocco_, 4to. 17 17 0
257. Junius's Letters, 4 vols., 8vo. Printed by Bensley,
1796. _A beautiful unique copy, with the plates also worked
on vellum, bound in morocco._ 25 4 0
258. Il Castello di Otranto, storia Gotica, Lond. 1795.
_Beautifully printed, with fine cuts, illuminated, bound in
morocco._ 4 16 0
259. Milton's Paradise Regained, Poems, and Sonnets, and
Latin Poems, with notes, 3 vols. Printed by Bensley, 1796,
8vo. _A unique and beautiful copy, bound in blue turkey._ 17
6 6
260. La Guirlande de Julie offerte a Mademoiselle de
Rambouillet, par le Marq. de Montausier. Paris de l'Imprim.
de Monsieur, 1784, 8vo. 'This matchless book is embellished
with exquisite miniatures, paintings of flowers, and wreaths
of flowers, to illustrate the work, and is one of the most
exquisite performances ever produced;' _superbly bound in
green morocco_.
[30 guineas were bidden; but the book was passed on and not
sold.]
261. La Vedova, Commedia facetissima di Nic. Buonaparte
Cittadino Florentino. Paris, 1803, 8vo. A curious work by an
ancestor of the First Consul; _a beautiful unique copy,
superbly bound in red morocco_. 4 4 0
262. The Old English Baron, a Gothic story, by Clara Reeve,
1794, 8vo. _Richly bound in blue turkey._ 2 0 0
263. The Oeconomy of Human Life, with fine plates, 1795.
_A beautiful unique copy, with the plates finely tinted in
colours and superbly bound in morocco_, 8vo. 15 15 0
264. Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Works. Paris, 1795, 8vo. _A
beautiful unique copy, and bound in crimson velvet._ 5 0 0
265. The Dance of Death. Painted by Holbein, and engraved by
Hollar, _a beautiful unique copy, with the plates
exquisitely painted, and very richly bound in red morocco_.
17 17 0
266. La Gerusalemme liberata di Torquato Tasso, 4 vols.
Parigi Presso Molini, 1783, 8vo. _A beautiful copy, bound in
green morocco._ 9 19 6
267. Catullus, Tibullus, et Propertius, 3 vols. Par. ap.
Coustelier, 1743, 8vo. _A singularly beautiful copy, and
bound in old blue turkey._ 14 14 0
268. Opere Toscane di Luigi Alamanni. Leoni. ap. Gryphia,
1552. _A most beautiful copy, presented to King Francis I.
of France: old morocco._ 6 6 0
269. A New Testament in German. Augsburg, 1535, 12mo. A fine
copy, with illuminations, of a very rare edition. 2 7 0
Lysander has above noticed the collection of Count M'Carthy
of Toulouse. By the kindness of Mr. Roche, banker, at Cork,
I learn that this collection 'is a truly splendid one.' The
possessor's talents are not confined to the partial walk of
bibliography: in his younger years, he was considered one of
the first gentlemen-violin players in Europe. He quitted
Ireland forty years ago, and now resides at Toulouse, in his
70th year, surrounded by a numerous and respectable family.
His leading passion, in book-collecting, (like his
countryman's, poor Mr. Quin--who gave 170 guineas for the
Spira Virgil of 1470, _in membranis_!) is marked by a
fondness for works _printed upon vellum_. From Mr. Roche,
Mr. Edwards, and other quarters, I am enabled to present the
reader with a list of a _few_ of
COUNT M'CARTHY'S BOOKS UPON VELLUM.
Psalmorum Codex; _Mogunt._ _Fust and Schoiffer._ Folio, 1457.
---- ----; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ Folio, 1459.
Durandi Rationale; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ Folio, 1459.
_Clementis Papæ V.
Constitutiones_; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ Folio, 1460.
---- ---- ---- ----; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ Folio, 1467.
Catholicon; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ Folio, 1460.
Biblia Sacra Latina; _ibid._ _apud eosdem._ Folio, 1462.
[His Majesty and Earl Spencer possess similar copies of
these works.]
Franciscus de Retras
Comment. Vitiorum; _Nuremb._ Folio, 1470.
Hieronimi Epistolæ; _Mogunt._ _Fust and Schoiffer._ Folio, 1470.
(Another copy: very large thick paper.)
Priscianus de Art.
Grammat. _Venet._ _Vin. Spira._ Folio, 1470.
(See p. 407, ante.)
Liber Sextus
Decretalium
Bonif. Papæ
VIII. _Mogunt._ Folio, 1470.
Guarini Regulæ; Quarto, 1470.
Quintiliani
Institutiones; _Jenson_, Folio, 1471.
Baptista de Alberti
de Amore; Quarto, 1471.
de Amoris Remedio: Quarto, 1471.
Biblia in Ling. Volg. Folio, 1471,
2 vols.
Historia Natur. de
Plinio tradotto
da Landino; _Jenson, Venet._ 1476.
(A similar copy is in Mr. Coke's library at Holkam;
illuminated, and in magnificent condition.)
Biblia Sacra
Polyglotta;
Ximenis; _Complut._ Folio, 1516,
&c., 6 vols.
(See page 407, ante; for a brief account of this
extraordinary copy.)
Plutarchi Vitæ
(Lat.); _Venet._ _N. Jenson._ Folio, 1478.
vol. 1.
Aristotelis Opera
Varia (Lat.); _Venet._ Folio, 1483.
3 vols.
(This was the Pinelli copy, and was purchased for 73_l._
10_s._)
Statii Achilles; _Brixiæ._ Folio, 1485.
Chroniques de
France, dictes de
St. Denys; _Paris._ Folio, 1493.
vol. 2 & 3.
Anthologia Græca; _Florent._ Quarto, 1494.
Lancelot du Lac; _Paris._ _Verard_, Folio, 1494.
vol. 2.
Boccace des nobles
Malheureux; _ibid._ Folio, 1494.
Appollonius Rhodius; _Florent._ Quarto, 1496.
Destruction de Troy
le Grant; _Paris._ Folio, 1498.
Poliphili
Hyperonotomachia; _Venet._ Folio, 1499.
Mer des Histores; _Paris._ Folio, (no
date) 2 vols.
Monstrelet Chronique
de; _Paris._ Folio, (no
date) 3 vols.
Roman de la Rose; _Paris._ _Verard._ Folio, (no
date)
---- de Tristan; _ibid._ _id._ (no date)
---- d' Ogier le
Danois; _ibid._ _id._ (no date)
---- de Melis et
Lenin; _ibid._ _id._ (no date)
I have heard that Count M'Carthy's books do not exceed 4000
in number; and of these, perhaps, no private collector in
Europe has an equal number printed upon vellum. In our own
country, however, the finest VELLUM LIBRARY in the world
might be composed from the collections of His Majesty, the
Duke of Marlborough, Earl Spencer, Sir M.M. Sykes, Bart.,
Mr. Johnes, Mr. Coke, and the Quin collection. Yet let us
not forget the finest _vellum copy_ in the world of the
first edition of _Aristotle's works_ (wanting one volume)
which may be seen in the library of Corpus Christi College,
Oxford. Of Mr. Edward's _similar_ copy _of the first Livy_,
Lysander and myself (vide Part III.) have spoken like honest
bibliomaniacs. Earl Spencer possesses the rival volume,
printed by the same printers, (Sweynheym and Pannartz) and
upon the same material, in his Pliny Senior of 1470--But let
all quiet bibliomaniacs wait with patience till the work of
Mons. Praet upon this subject, alluded to at p. 68, ante,
shall have made its appearance! and then--let us see whether
we can prevail upon some Gnome to transport to us, through
the 'thin air,' Pynson's '_Ship of Fools_' UPON VELLUM!!]
LIS. Are we as successful in printing upon vellum as were our
forefathers?
LYSAND. Certainly not; if we except some of the works from the press
of Bodoni--which are oftentimes truly brilliant. But the fault, in
general, is rather in the preparation of the vellum than in the
execution of the press-work.
LOREN. You have seen, Lisardo, my small volumes of '_Heures_,' or
'_Missals_,' as they are called; some of them in MS. and others in
print--and what can be more delicate than the texture of the vellum
leaves, or more perfect than the execution of penmanship and printing?
ALMAN. I have often set whole hours, my dear brother, in contemplating
with rapture the sparkling radiance of these little volumes; and wish
in my heart I had a few favourite authors executed in a similar
manner! I should like to employ Bodoni[446] for life.
[Footnote 446: It is not because Bodoni printed better than
our popular printers--that his books upon vellum are more
beautiful than those produced by the London presses--but
that the Italian vellum (made of the abortive calf) is, in
general, more white and delicate. There is not, perhaps, a
lovelier little VELLUM BOOK in existence than the _Castle of
Otranto_, printed by Bodoni in 1796, 8vo. A copy of this,
with the plates worked on white satin, was in the collection
of Mr. G.G. Mills; and sold at the sale of his books in
1800; no. 181; see p. 447, ante. From the former
authority it would appear that only six copies were printed
in this manner. By the kindness of Mr. Edwards, I am in
possession of a '_Lettera Pastorale_' of Fr. Adeodato
Turchi--a small tract of 38 pages--printed upon paper, by
Bodoni, in a style of uncommon delicacy: having all the
finish and picturesque effect of copper-plate execution. But
the chef d'oeuvre of Bodoni seems to be an edition of
_Homer_, in three great folio volumes, each consisting of
370 pages, with the text only. The artist employed six years
in the preparations, and the printing occupied eighteen
months. One hundred and forty copies only were struck off.
The copy presented to Bonaparte was UPON VELLUM, of a size
and brilliancy altogether unparalleled. _American Review_,
no. 1., p. 171. January, 1811. In our admiration of
Bodoni, let us not forget DIDOT: who printed a single copy
of _Voltaire's Henriade_ UPON VELLUM, in quarto, with a
brilliancy of execution, and perfection of vellum, which can
never be suppassed [Transcriber's Note: surpassed]. This
copy formerly belonged to a Farmer General, one of Didot's
most intimate friends, who perished in the Revolution. Didot
also printed a number of copies of French translations of
English works, upon the same material: so correct,
beautiful, and tasteful, that Mr. Bulmer assures me nothing
could exceed it. All these small richly-feathered birds were
once here, but have now taken their flight to a warmer
climate. Our modern books upon vellum are little short of
being downright wretched. I saw the _Life of Nelson_, in two
large quartos, printed in this manner; and it would have
been the first work which I should have recommended a
first-rate collector to have thrown out of his library.[G]
Many of the leaves were afflicted with the jaundice beyond
hope of cure. The censure which is here thrown out upon
others reaches my own doors: for I attempted to execute a
single copy of my _Typographical Antiquities_ upon vellum,
with every possible attention to printing and to the
material upon which it was to be executed. But I failed in
every point: and this single wretchedly-looking book, had I
presevered [Transcriber's Note: persevered] in executing my
design, would have cost me about _seventy-five_ guineas!]
[Footnote G: This book was printed at Bolt Court during the
apprenticeship of the printer of this edit. of Biblio., who
speaking from remembrance, ventures to suggest that the
above remark is rather too strong--although there was
confessedly a great deal of trouble in procuring good
vellum. He believes only _one_ copy was done; it was the
property of Alexander Davidson, Esq. Banker, and, being in
his library in Ireland, when the mansion was burned down, it
was destroyed. He had insured it for £600--the Insurance
office disputed his claim, and a trial at Dublin took place.
The late Mr. Bensley was subpoenaed to give evidence of
its value, but, being reluctant to go, he persuaded the
parties that Warwick, one of his pressmen, who worked it
off, was a better witness; he accordingly went, his evidence
succeeding in establishing Mr. Davidson's claim. This same
Warwick worked off many of the splendid specimens of
typography mentioned in _Bibliomania_, being one of the very
best workmen in the Printing business--particularly in
wood-cuts. He afterwards became private printer to the late
Sir Egerton Bridges, Bart., at Lee Priory--and is long since
dead.]
LIS. I could go on, 'till midnight, indulging my wishes of having
favourite books printed upon vellum leaves; and at the head of these I
would put _Crammer's Bible_ for I want scholarship sufficient to
understand the _Complutensian Polyglott of Cardinal Ximenes_.[447]
[Footnote 447: See pages 160, 407, ante.]
BERLIN. [Transcriber's Note: Belin.] So much for the _Vellum Symptom_.
Proceed we now to the _sixth_: which upon looking at my memoranda, I
find to be the FIRST EDITIONS. What is the meaning of this odd
symptom?
LYSAND. From the time of Ancillon to Askew, there has been a very
strong desire expressed for the possesssion [Transcriber's Note:
possession] of _original_ or _first published editions_[448] of works;
as they are in general superintended and corrected by the author
himself, and, like the first impressions of prints are considered more
valuable. Whoever is possessed with a passion for collecting books of
this kind, may unquestionably be said to exhibit a strong symptom of
the Bibliomania: but such a case is not quite hopeless, nor is it
deserving of severe treatment or censure. All bibliographers have
dwelt on the importance of these editions[449] for the sake of
collation with subsequent ones; and of detecting, as is frequently the
case, the carelessness displayed by future editors. Of such importance
is the _first edition Shakspeare_[450] considered, on the score of
correctness, that a fac-simile reprint of it has been recently
published. In regard to the Greek and Latin Classics, the possession
of these original editions is of the first consequence to editors who
are anxious to republish the legitimate text of an author. Wakefield,
I believe, always regretted that the first edition of Lucretius had
not been earlier inspected by him. When he began _his_ edition, the
Editio Princeps was not (as I have understood) in that storehouse of
almost every thing which is exquisite and rare in ancient and modern
classical literature--need I add the library of Earl Spencer?[451]
[Footnote 448: All German and French bibliographers class
these FIRST EDITIONS among rare books; and nothing is more
apt to seduce a noviciate in bibliography into error than
the tempting manner in which, by aid of capital or italic
types, these EDITIONES PRIMARIÆ or _Editiones Principes_ are
set forth in the most respectable catalogues published
abroad as well as at home. But before we enter into
particulars, we must not forget that this sixth sympton
[Transcriber's Note: symptom] of the Bibliomania has been
thus pungently described in the poetical strains of an
"aspirant!"
SIXTH MAXIM.
Who of Editions recks the least,
But, when that hog, his mind would feast
Fattens the intellectual beast
With old, or new, without ambition,--
I'll teach the pig to soar on high,
(If pigs had pinions, by the bye)
How'er the _last_ may _satisfy_,
The _bonne bouche_ is the "FIRST EDITION."
_Bibliosophia_; p. VI.
These first editions are generally, with respect to foreign
works, printed in the fifteenth or in the early part of the
sixteenth century: and indeed we have a pretty rich
sprinkling of a similar description of first editions
executed in our own country. It is not, therefore, without
justice that we are described, by foreign bibliographers, as
being much addicted to this class of books: "With what
avidity, and at what great prices, this character of books
is obtained by the Dutch, and _especially by the English_,
the very illustrious Zach. Conrad ab Uffenbach shews, in the
preface to the second volume of his catalogue." Vogt; p.
xx., edit. 1793. There is a curious and amusing article in
Bayle (English edition, vol i., 672, &c.) about the elder
Ancillon, who frankly confessed that he "was troubled with
the Bibliomania, or disease of buying books." Mr. D'Israeli
says that he "always purchased _first editions_, and never
waited for second ones," but I find it, in the English
Bayle, note D, "he chose _the best_ editions." The manner in
which Ancillon's library was pillaged by the Ecclesiastics
of Metz (where it was considered as the most valuable
curiosity in the town) is thus told by Bayle: "Ancillon was
obliged to leave Metz: a company of Ecclesiastics, of all
orders, came from every part, to lay hands on this fine and
copious library, which had been collected with the utmost
care during forty years. They took away a great number of
the books together; and gave a little money, as they went
out, to a young girl, of twelve or thirteen years of age,
who looked after them, that they might have it to say they
had _paid for them_. Thus Ancillon saw that valuable
collection dispersed, in which, as he was wont to say, his
chief pleasure and even his heart was placed!"--Edit. 1734.
A pleasant circumstance, connected with our present subject,
occurred to the Rev. Dr. Charles Burney. At a small sale of
books which took place at Messrs. King and Lochée's, some
few years ago, the Doctor sent a commission, for some old
grammatical treatises; and calling with Mr. Edwards to see
the success of the commission, the latter, in the true
spirit of bibliomaniacism, pounced upon an anciently-bound
book, in the lot, which turned out to be--nothing less than
the _first edition_ of MANILIUS by Regiomontanus: one of the
very scarcest books in the class of those of which we are
treating! By the liberality of the purchaser, this _primary
bijou_ now adorns the noble library of the Bishop of Ely.]
[Footnote 449: An instance of this kind may be adduced from
the _first edition_ of Fabian, printed in 1516; of which
Chronicle Messrs. Longman, Hurst, and Co. have just
published a new edition, superintended by Mr. H. Ellis, and
containing various readings from all the editions at the
foot of the text. "The antiquary," says the late Mr. BRAND,
"is desired to consult the edition of Fabian, printed by
Pynson, in 1516, because there are others, and I remember to
have seen one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, with a
continuation to the end of Queen Mary, 1559, in which the
language is much modernized." _Shakspeare_, edit. 1803, vol.
xviii., pp. 85, 86. See also what has been before said (p.
233.) of an _after_ edition of Speed.]
[Footnote 450: A singular story is "extant" about the
purchase of the late Duke of Roxburgh's copy of the first
edition of Shakspeare. A friend was bidding for him in the
sale-room: his Grace had retired to one end of the room,
coolly to view the issue of the contest. The biddings rose
quickly to 20 guineas; a great sum in former times: but the
Duke was not to be daunted or defeated. A slip of paper was
handed to him, upon which the propriety of continuing the
contest was suggested. His Grace took out his pencil; and,
with a coolness which would have done credit to Prince
Eugene, he wrote on the same slip of paper, by way of reply--
lay on Macduff!
And d----d be he who first cries "Hold, enough!"
Such a spirit was irresistible, and bore down all
opposition. The Duke was of course declared victor, and he
marched off, triumphantly, with the volume under his arm.
Lord Spencer has a fine copy of this first edition of
Shakspeare, collated by Steevens himself.]
[Footnote 451: We raise the column to the hero who has
fought our battles by sea or land; and we teach our children
to look up with admiration and reverence towards an object
so well calculated to excite the best sympathies of the
human heart. All this is well; and may it never be
neglected! But there are other characters not less noble,
and of equal glory to a great nation like our own; and they
are those who, to the adventitious splendour of hereditary
rank, add all the worth and talent of a private condition,
less exposed to temptation, and suited to the cultivation of
peaceful and literary pursuits. Such a character is GEORGE
JOHN EARL SPENCER! A nobleman, not less upright and weighty
in the senate than polished and amiable in private life;
who, cool and respected amidst the violence of party, has
filled two of the most important offices of state in a
manner at once popular and effective; and who, to his
general love of the fine arts, and acquaintance with
classical literature, has superadded the noble achievement
of having collected the finest private library in Europe!
The reader has already met with sufficient mention of this
collection to justify what is here said in commendation of
it.... In the deepest recess of Althorpe Park--where the
larch and laurustinus throw their dark yet pleasing
shade--and where
----pinus ingens, albaque populus
Umbram hospitalem consociare amant
Ramis--
let the Doric Temple be raised, with its white-marbled
columns, sacred to the memory of this ILLUSTRIOUS NOBLEMAN!
Let his bust, in basso-relievo, with appropriate
embellishments, adorn the most conspicuous compartment
within: and peace and virtue, and filial affection, will, I
am sure, be the guardians of so cherished a spot!
[Illustration: ARMS OF EARL SPENCER.
DIEU DEFEND LE DROIT]]
It must not, however, be forgotten that, if first editions are, in
some instances, of great importance, they are in many respects
superfluous, and only incumber the shelves of a collector; inasmuch as
the labours of subsequent editors have corrected the errors of their
predecessors, and superseded, by a great fund of additional matter,
the necessity of consulting them. Thus, not to mention other instances
(which present themselves while noticing the present one), all the
fine things which Colomiés and Reimannus have said about the rarity of
La Croix du Maine's Bibliothéque, published in 1584, are now
unnecessary to be attended to, since the publication of the ample and
excellent edition of this work by De La Monnoye and Juvigny, in six
quarto volumes, 1772.
LIS. Upon the whole, I should prefer the best to the first edition;
and you, Lorenzo, may revel in the possession of your _first
Shakespeare_--but give me the last Variorum edition _in twenty-one
volumes_.
LOREN. "Chacun a son gout," yet it may be as well to possess them
_both_. Indeed, I not only have these editions, but a great number of
the early plays printed in quarto;[452] which are considered the _ne
plus ultra_ of Shakspearian bibliomaniacism.
[Footnote 452: A pretty copious list of these valuable early
plays will be found at pages 431-2-3-4, ante.]
BELIN. Much good may these wretchedly printed volumes do you! Now let
me proceed with my pupil. Tell us, good Lysander, what can you
possibly mean by the _seventh symptom_ of the Bibliomania, called TRUE
EDITIONS?
LYSAND. My definition of this strange symptom will excite your
mirth.[453] Some copies of a work are struck off with deviations from
the usually received ones, and although these deviations have
generally neither sense nor beauty to recommend them (and indeed are
principally _defects_!), yet copies of this description are eagerly
sought after by collectors of a certain class. What think you of such
a ridiculous passion in the book-way?
[Footnote 453: Observing the usual order of notification, we
will first borrow the poetical aid of "an aspirant:"
SEVENTH MAXIM.
Who dares to "write me down an ass,"
When, spying through the curious mass,
I rub my hands, and wipe my glass,
If, chance, an _error_ bless my notice--
Will prize when drill'd into his duty,
These lovely warts of ugly beauty;
For books, when _false_ (it may be new t'ye),
Are "TRUE EDITIONS:"--odd,--but _so_ 'tis.
Let us proceed to see whether this biting satire be founded
upon truth, or not. Accidental variations from the common
impressions of a work form what are called TRUE EDITIONS:
and as copies, with such variations (upon the same principle
as that of _Prints_; vide p. 501-2, ante) are rare, they are
of course sought after with avidity by knowing
bibliomaniacs. Thus speaks Ameilhon upon the
subject:--"pendant l'impression d'un ouvrage il est arrivé
un accident qui, à telle page et à telle ligne, a occasioné
un renversement dans les lettres d'un mot, et que ce
désordre n'a été rétabli qu'apres le tirage de six ou sept
exemplaires; ce qui rend ces exemplaires défectueux presque
uniques, et leur donne, â les entendre, une valeur
inappréciable; car voila un des grands secrets de cet art,
qui, au reste, s'acquiert aisément avec de la memoire."
_Mem. de l'Institut_: vol. ii., p. 485. The author of these
words then goes on to abuse the purchasers and venders of
these strange books; but I will not quote his saucy tirade
in defamation of this noble department of bibliomaniacism. I
subjoin a few examples in illustration of Lysander's
definition:--_Cæsar. Lug. Bat._ 1636, 12mo. _Printed by
Elzevir._ In the Bibliotheca Revickzkiana we are informed
that the _true_ Elzevir edition is known by having the plate
of a buffalo's head at the beginning of the preface and body
of the work: also by having the page numbered 153, which
_ought_ to have been numbered 149. A further account is
given in my Introduction to the Classics, vol. i., p.
228.--_Horace_, Londini, 1733, 8vo., 2 vols. Published by
Pine. The _true_ edition is distinguished by having at page
108, vol. ii., the _incorrect_ reading "Post Est."--for
"Protest."--_Virgil._ Lug. Bat., 1636, 12mo. Printed by
Elzevir. The _true_ edition is known, by having at plate 1,
before the Bucolics, the following Latin passage _printed in
red ink_. "Ego vero frequentes a te literas accepi." Consul
de Bure, no. 2684.--_Idem._ Birmingh. 1763, 4to. Printed
by Baskerville. A particular account of the _true_ edition
will be found in the second volume of my "Introduction to
the Classics," p. 337--too long to be here
inserted.--_Bocaccio._ Il Decamerone, Venet. 1527, 4to.
Consult De Bure no. 3667; Bandini, vol. ii. 105, 211;
(who, however, is extremely laconic upon this edition, but
copious upon the anterior one of 1516) and Haym, vol. iii.,
p. 8, edit. 1803. Bibl. Paris., no. 408. Clement. (vol.
iv. 352,) has abundance of reference, as usual, to
strengthen his assertion in calling the edition "_fort
rare_." The reprint, or spurious edition, has always struck
me as the prettier book of the two. These examples appeared
in the first edition of this work. I add to them what of
course I was not enabled to do before. In the second edition
of _The Bibliomania_, there are some variations in the
copies of the small paper; and one or two decided ones
between the small and large. In the small, at page 13, line
2, we read
"beat with perpetual _forms_."
in the large, it is properly
"beat with perpetual _storms_."
Which of these is indicative of the _true_ edition? Again:
in the small paper, p. 275, line 20, we read properly
"Claudite jam rivos pueri, sat _prata_ biberunt."
in the large paper,
"Claudite jam rivos pueri, sat _parta_ biberunt."
It was in my power to have cancelled the leaf in the large
paper as well as in the small; but I thought it might
thereby have taken from the former the air of a _true_
edition; and so the blunder (a mere transposition of the
letters _ar_) will go down to a future generation in the
large paper. There is yet another slight variation between
the small and large. At p. 111, in the account of the
catalogue of Krohn's books, the concluding sentence wholly
varies: but I believe there is not an _error_ in either, to
entitle one to the rank of _Truism_ more than another.[H]]
[Footnote H: During the youth of the printer of this book, a
curious mistake occurred: a splendid folio work was going on
for Dr. Bonnell Thornton; in a certain page, as printers
technically say, _a space stood up_; the Dr. (not
understanding printers' marks) wrote on a head page "take
out horizontal line at p. so and so"--the compositor
inserted these words as a _displayed line_ in the head-page
whereon they were written--the reader passed it in the
revise--and it was so worked off! Being eventually
detected--the leaf was of course cancelled.]
ALMAN. It seems to me to be downright idiotism. But I suspect you
exaggerate?
LYSAND. In sober truth, I tell you only what every day's experience in
the book-market will corroborate.
BELIN. Well!--what strange animals are you bibliomaniacs. Have we any
other symptom to notice? Yes, I think Lysander made mention of an
_eighth_; called a passion for THE BLACK-LETTER. Can any eyes be so
jaundiced as to prefer volumes printed in this crabbed, rough, and
dismal manner?
LOREN. Treason--downright treason! Lisardo shall draw up a bill of
indictment against you, and Lysander shall be your judge.
BELIN. My case would then be desperate; and execution must necessarily
follow.
LIS. I shall be better able to form an opinion of the expediency of
such a measure after Lysander has given us his definition of this
eighth and last symptom. Proceed, my friend.
LYSAND. Of all symptoms of the Bibliomania, this _eighth_ symptom is
at present the most powerful and prevailing. Whether it was imported
into this country, from Holland, by the subtlety of Schelhorn[454] (a
knowing writer upon rare and curious books) may be a point worthy of
consideration. But whatever be its origin, certain is that books
printed in the =black-letter=, are now coveted with an eagerness unknown
to our collectors in the last century. If the spirits of West,
Ratcliffe, Farmer, and Brand, have as yet held any intercourse with
each other, in that place "from whose bourne no traveller returns,"
which must be the surprise of the three former, on being told, by the
latter, of the prices given for some of the books at the sale of his
library!
[Footnote 454: His words are as follows: "Ipsa typorum
ruditas, ipsa illa atra crassaque literarum facies _belle
tangit sensus_," _&c._ Was ever the black-letter more
eloquently described: see his _Amoentates [Transcriber's
Note: Amoenitates] Literariæ_, vol. i., p. 5. But for the
last time, let us listen to the concluding symptomatic
stanza of an "aspirant;"
EIGHTH MAXIM.
Who dreams the _Type_ should please us all,
That's not too thin, and not too tall,
Nor much awry, nor over small,
And, if but ROMAN, asks no better--
May die in darkness:--I, for one,
Disdain to tell the barb'rous Hun
That Persians but adore the sun
Till taught to know _our_ God--=Black-Letter=.
_Bibliosophia_: p. vii.
However cruel may be the notes of one poet, it seems pretty
clear that the glorious subject, or bibliomaniacal symptom,
of which we are treating, excited numbers of a softer
character in the muse of Dr. Ferriar: for thus sings
he--inspired by the possession of _black-letter_ tomes:
In red morocco drest, he loves to boast
the bloody murder, or the yelling ghost;
or dismal ballads, sung to crowds of old,
now cheaply bought for thrice their weight in gold.
v. 62-65.
Ev'n I, debarr'd of ease and studious hours,
Confess, mid' anxious toil, its lurking pow'rs.
How pure the joy, when first my hands unfold
The small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold!
_The Bibliomania_, l. 135-8.
But let us attend to a more scientific illustration of this
eighth symptom. 'BLACK-LETTER, which is used in England,
descends from the Gothic characters; and is therefore called
_Gothic_ by some, _old English_ by others; but printers give
it the name of _Black-Letter_, because its face taking in a
larger compass than Roman or Italic of the same body, the
full and spreading strokes thereof appear more _black_ upon
paper than common.' _Smith's Printer's Grammar_; edit. 1755,
p. 18. The same definition is given in a recent similar
work; with the addition that 'black-letter is more expensive
than Roman or Italic, its broad face requiring an
extraordinary quantity of ink, which always gives the best
coloured paper a yellow cast, unless worked upon that of a
superior quality. It has a good effect in a title-page, if
disposed with taste.' Stower's _Printer's Grammar_; 1808, p.
41. To these authorities we may add, from Rowe Mores, that
'Wynkyn de Worde's letter was of _The Square English_ or
_Black face_, and has been the pattern for his successors in
the art.' _Of English Founders and Foundries_; 1778, 8vo. p.
4, 5. 'The same black-letter printer,' says Palmer or
Psalmanaazar, 'gave a greater scope to his fancy, and formed
such a variety of sorts and sizes of letter that, for
several years after him, none of his successors attempted to
imitate him therein.' _General History of Printing_; p. 343.
It is not necessary to collect, in formal array, the
authorities of foreigners upon this important subject;
although it may be as well to notice the strange manner in
which Momoro, in his _Traité elémentaire de L'Imprimerie_,
p. 185, refers us to an elucidation of the Gothic letter
('appelé du nom de certains peuples qui vinrent s'établir
dans la Gothie, plus de quatre cens ans avant J.C.') in one
of the plates of Fournier's _Dictionnaire Typographique_:
vol. ii. p. 205--which, in truth, resembles anything but the
Gothic type, as understood by modern readers.--Smith and Mr.
Stower have the hardihood to rejoice at the present general
extinction of the black-letter. They were not, probably,
aware of Hearne's eulogy upon it--'As it is a reproach to us
(says this renowned antiquary) that the Saxon language
should be so forgot as to have but few (comparatively
speaking) that are able to read it; so 'tis a greater
reproach that the BLACK-LETTER, which was the character so
much in use in our grandfathers' days, should be now (as it
were) disused and rejected; especially when we know the best
editions of our English Bible and Common-Prayer (to say
nothing of other books) are printed in it.' _Robert of
Gloucester's Chronicle_: vol. i., p. LXXXV. I presume the
editor and publisher of the forth-coming fac-simile
re-impression of Juliana Barnes's Book of Hawking, Hunting,
&c., are of the same opinion with Hearne: and are resolved
upon eclipsing even the black-letter reputation of the
afore-named Wynkyn De Worde.--A pleasant black-letter
anecdote is told by Chevillier, of his having picked up, on
a bookseller's stall, the first edition of the _Speculum
Salutis_ sive _Humanæ Salvationis_ (one of the rarest
volumes in the class of those printed in the middle of the
fifteenth century) for the small sum of four livres!
_L'Origine de l'Imprimerie_; p. 281. This extraordinary
event soon spread abroad, and was circulated in every
bibliographical journal. Schelhorn noticed it in his
_Amoenitates Literariæ_: vol. iv. 295-6: and so did
Maichelius in his _Introd. ad Hist. Lit. et Præcip. Bibl.
Paris_, p. 122. Nor has it escaped the notice of a more
recent foreign bibliographer. Ameilhon makes mention of
Chevillier's good fortune; adding that the work was 'un de
ces livres rares au premièr degré, qu' un BON BIBLIOMANE ne
peut voir sans trépigner de joie, si j'ose m'exprimer
ainsi.' _Mem. de l'Institut_. vol. ii. 485-6. This very
copy, which was in the Sorbonne, is now in the Imperial,
library at Paris. _Ibid._ A similar, though less important,
anecdote is here laid before the reader from a communication
sent to me by Mr. Wm. Hamper of Birmingham. '"_Tusser's Five
Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, black-letter, sewed_," was
valued at SIXPENCE, in a catalogue of a small Collection of
Books on the sale at the shop of Mr. William Adams,
Loughborough, in the year 1804: and, after in vain suing the
coy collector at this humble price, remained unsold to the
present year, 1809, when (thanks to your _Bibliomania_!) it
brought A GOLDEN GUINEA.'--I have myself been accused of 'an
admiration to excess' of black-letter lore; and of
recommending it in every shape, and by every means, directly
and indirectly. Yet I have surely not said or done any thing
half so decisive in recommendation of it as did our great
moralist, Dr. Johnson: who thus introduces the subject in
one of his periodical papers.--'The eldest and most
venerable of this society, was HIRSUTUS: who, after the
first civilities of my reception, found means to introduce
the mention of his favourite studies, by a severe censure of
those who want the due regard for their native country. He
informed me that he had early withdrawn his attention from
foreign trifles, and that since he begun to addict his mind
to serious and manly studies, he had very carefully amassed
all the _English books_ that were printed in the
=Black-Letter=. This search he had pursued so diligently that
he was able to show the deficiencies of the best catalogues.
He had long since completed his _Caxton_, had three sheets
of _Treveris_, unknown to antiquaries, and wanted to a
perfect [collection of] _Pynson_ but two volumes: of which
one was promised him as a legacy by its present possessor,
and the other he was resolved to buy at whatever price, when
Quisquilius' library should be sold. Hirsutus had no other
reason for the valuing or slighting a book than that it was
printed in the Roman or the Gothick letter, nor any ideas
but such as his favourite volumes had supplied: when he was
serious, he expatiated on the narratives of JOHAN DE
TREVISA, and, when he was merry, regaled us with a quotation
from the _Shippe of Fools_.' RAMBLER, no. 177.--Nor was
the Doctor himself quite easy and happy 'till he had sold,
in the character of a BOOKSELLER, a few volumes--probably of
black-letter celebrity. Mr. Boswell relates that 'During the
last visit which the Doctor made to Litchfield, the friends,
with whom he was staying missed him one morning at the
breakfast table. On inquiring after him of the servants,
they understood that he had set off from Litchfield at a
very early hour, without mentioning to any of the family
whither he was going. The day passed without the return of
the illustrious guest, and the party began to be very uneasy
on his account, when, just before the supper hour, the door
opened, and the Doctor stalked into the room. A solemn
silence of a few minutes ensued; nobody daring to enquire
the cause of his absence, which was at length relieved by
Johnson addressing the lady of the house as follows: "Madam,
I beg your pardon for the abruptness of my departure this
morning, but I was constrained to it by my _conscience_.
Fifty years ago, Madam, on this day, I committed a breach of
filial piety, which has ever since lain heavy on my mind,
and has not until this day been expiated. My father, you
recollect, was a bookseller, and had long been in the habit
of attending _Walsall Market_; and opening a stall for the
sale of his books during that day. Confined to his bed by
indisposition, he requested of me, this time fifty years
ago, to visit the market, and attend the stall in his place.
But, Madam, my pride prevented me from doing my duty, and I
gave my father a refusal. To do away the sin of this
disobedience, I this day went in a post-chaise to Walsall,
and going into the market at the time of high business,
uncovered my head, and stood with it bare an hour before the
stall which my father had formerly used, exposed to the
sneers of the by-standers, and the inclemency of the
weather: a penance, by which I have propitiated Heaven for
this only instance, I believe, of contumacy towards my
father."'--Is it not probable that Dr. Johnson himself might
have sold for SIXPENCE, a _Tusser_, which now would have
brought a 'GOLDEN GUINEA?']
A perusal of these prices may probably not impress the reader with any
lofty notions of the superiority of the black-letter; but this symptom
of the Bibliomania is, nevertheless, not to be considered as
incurable, or wholly unproductive of good. Under a proper spirit of
modification, it has done, and will continue to do, essential service
to the cause of English literature. It guided the taste, and
strengthened the judgment, of Tyrwhitt in his researches after
Chaucerian lore. It stimulated the studies of Farmer and Steevens, and
enabled them to twine many a beauteous flower round the brow of their
beloved Shakspeare.
It has since operated, to the same effect, in the labour of Mr.
Douce,[455] the PORSON of old English and French Literature; and in
the editions of Milton and Spenser, by my amiable and excellent friend
Mr. Todd, the public have had a specimen of what the _Black-Letter_
may perform, when temperately and skilfully exercised.
[Footnote 455: In the criticisms which have passed upon Mr.
DOUCE'S "_Illustrations of Shakspeare and Ancient Manners_,"
it has not, I think, been generally noticed that this work
is distinguished for the singular diffidence and urbanity of
criticism, as well as depth of learning, which it evinces;
and for the happy illustrations of the subjects discussed by
means of fac-simile wood-cuts.]
I could bring to your recollection other instances; but your own
memories will better furnish you with them. Let me not, however, omit
remarking that the beautiful pages of the '_Minstrelsy of the Scottish
Border_' and '_Sir Tristrem_' exhibit, in the notes, (now and then
thickly studded with black-letter references) a proof that the author
of '_The Lay_,' '_Marmion_,' and '_The Lady of the Lake_,' has not
disdained to enrich his stores with such intelligence as black-letter
books impart. In short, although this be a strong and general symptom
of the Bibliomania, it is certainly not attended with injurious
effects when regulated by prudence and discretion. An undistinguishable
voracious appetite to swallow _every thing_, because printed in the
black-letter, must necessarily bring on an incurable disease, and,
consequently, premature dissolution.
There is yet one other, and a somewhat generally prevailing, symptom,
indicative of the prevalence of the Bibliomania; and this consists in
a fondness for books which have been printed for PRIVATE
DISTRIBUTION[456] only, or at a PRIVATE PRESS. What is executed for a
few, will be coveted by many; because the edge of curiosity is
whetted, from a supposition that something very extraordinary, or very
curious, or very uncommon, is propagated in this said book, so
partially distributed. As to works printed at a _Private Press_, we
have had a very recent testimony of the avidity with which certain
volumes, executed in this manner, and of which the impression has been
comparatively limited, have been sought after by book _Cognoscenti_.
[Footnote 456: The reader may not object to be made
acquainted with a few distinguished productions, printed for
PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. The reader is indebted to Mr. Bulmer,
at whose elegant press these works were printed, for the
information which follows:--MUSEUM WORSLEYANUM; by Sir
_Richard Worsley_; 1798, 1802, Atlas Folio, 2 vols. The
first volume of this work, of which 200 copies were printed,
was finished in May, 1798, and circulated, with the plates
only of vol. ii., amongst the chosen friends of Sir Richard
Worsley, the author; who was, at that time, the diplomatic
Resident at Venice from our Court. The second volume, with
the letter-press complete, of which only 100 copies were
printed, was finished in 1802. The entire expense attending
this rare and sumptuous publication (of which a copy is in
the library of the Royal Institution) amounted to the
enormous sum of 27,000_l._ and from the irregularity of
delivering the second volume of plates, in the first
instance, without the letter-press, many of the copies are
incomplete.----THE FATHER'S REVENGE; _by the Earl of
Carlisle, K.G._ &c., 1800, 4to. A limited impression of this
very beautiful volume, decorated with engravings from the
pencil of Westall, was circulated by the noble author among
his friends. I saw a copy of it, bound in green morocco,
with the original letter of the donor, in the library of
Earl Spencer at Althorp.----MOUNT ST. GOTHARD: _By the late
Duchess of Devonshire_, folio. Only fifty copies of this
brilliant volume were printed; to a few of which, it is
said, Lady Diana Beauclerc lent the aid of her ornamental
pencil, in some beautiful drawings of the wild and romantic
scenery in the neighbourhood of Mount St.
Gothard.----DISSERTATION ON ETRUSCAN VASES; _by Mr.
Christie_. Imperial 4to. With elegant Engravings. Only 100
copies of this truly classical volume were printed. From the
death of one or two of the parties, who became originally
possessed of it, as a present from the author, it has fallen
to the lot of Mr. Christie to become, professionally, the
vender of a work which he himself never meant to be sold. A
copy was very lately disposed of, in this manner, for
14_l._----BENTLEII EPISTOLÆ; _Edited by_ [the Rev.] _Dr.
Charles Burney_: 1807, 4to. This is one of the most
beautiful productions of the Shakspeare press; nor are the
intrinsic merits of the volume inferior to its external
splendour. The scarcer copies of it are those in medium
quarto; of which only 50 were printed: of the imperial
quarto, there were 150 executed.--I add two more similar
examples, which were not printed at the Shakspeare
press:--LORD BALTIMORE'S _Gaudia Poetica_; Lat. Angl. et
Gall. with plates. (No date). Large quarto. Only ten copies
of this rare volume were printed, and those distributed
among the author's friends: a copy of it was sold for 6_l._
10_s._ at the sale of Mr. Reed's books: see Bibl. Reed,
no. 6682. It was inserted for sale in the catalogue of
Mr. Burnham, bookseller at Northampton, A.D. 1796--with a
note of its rarity subjoined.----VIEWS IN ORKNEY and on the
NORTH-EASTERN COAST OF SCOTLAND. Taken in 1805. Etched 1807.
Folio. _By the Marchioness of Stafford._--The letter-press
consists of twenty-seven pages: the first of which bears
this unassuming designation; "Some Account of the Orkney
Islands, extracted from Dr. Barry's History, and Wallace's
and Brand's Descriptions of Orkney." To this chapter or
division is prefixed a vignette of _Stroma_; and the chapter
ends at p. 5. Then follow four views of the Orkney
Islands.--The next chapter is entitled "The Cathedral of
Kirkwall," which at the beginning exhibits a vignette of the
_Cathedral of St. Magnus_, and at the close, at p. 9, a
vignette of a _Tomb in the Cathedral_. To these succeed two
plates, presenting Views of the _Inside of the Cathedral_,
and an _Arch in the Cathedral_.--The third chapter commences
at p. 11, with "The Earl of Orkney's Palace," to which a
vignette of a _Street in Kirkwall_ is prefixed. It ends at
p. 12, and is followed by a plate exhibiting a view of the
_Door-way of the Earl's Palace_; by another of the _Hall of
the Earl's Palace_; and by a third containing two Views,
namely, the _Inside of the Hall_, and, upon a larger scale,
the _Chimney in the Hall_.--"The Bay of the Frith" is the
subject of the fourth chapter; which exhibits at the
beginning a vignette of the _Hills of Hoy_. It closes at p.
14, with a vignette of _The Dwarfy Stone_. Then follow six
plates, containing a view of the _Bay of Frith_, a _View
from Hoy_, two views of the _Eastern and Western Circles of
the Stones of Stennis_, and two views of _Stromness_.--The
next chapter is entitled "Duncansbay or Dungsby-head," which
bears in front a vignette of _Wick_, and at the end, in p.
16, a vignette of the _Castle of Freswick_. Three plates
follow: the first presenting a view of _Duncansbay-Head_:
the second, Views of the _Stacks of Hemprigs_ and the _Hills
of Schrabiner or Schuraben_; the third, a View of _The
Ord_.--"The Castle of Helmsdale" is the title of the
succeeding chapter, to which is prefixed a vignette of
_Helmsdale Castle_. It ends at p. 19, with a vignette of the
_Bridge of Brora_. Then follow two plates, presenting Views
of _Helmsdale Castle_, and the _Coast of Sutherland_.--The
subject of the next chapter is "Dunrobin Castle," (the
ancient seat of her Ladyship's ancestors, and now a
residence of her Ladyship,) which presents, at the
beginning, a vignette of _Dunrobin Castle_, and after the
close of the chapter, at p. 23, four plates; the first of
which is a View of _Dunrobin Castle_ and the surrounding
scenery; the second, a smaller View of the _Castle_: the
third, a View of _Druid Stones_, with another of _Battle
Stones in Strathflete_: and the fourth, _Dornoch, with the
Thane's Cross_.--The last chapter is entitled "The Chapel of
Rosslyn," to which is prefixed a vignette of _Rosslyn
Chapel_. It is followed by four plates; the first exhibiting
a View of a _Column in Rosslyn Chapel_; the second, a
_Door-way in the Chapel_; the third, the _Tomb of Sir
William St. Clair_; and the fourth, _Hawthornden_, the
residence of the elegant and plaintive Drummond; with whose
beautiful Sonnet, to this his romantic habitation, the
volume closes:
"Dear wood! and you, sweet solitary place,
Where I estranged from the vulgar live," &c.
Of the volume which had been thus described, only 120 copies
were printed. The Views were all drawn and etched by her
Ladyship: and are executed with a spirit and correctness
which would have done credit to the most successful disciple
of Rembrandt. A copy of the work, which had been presented
to the late Right Hon. C.F. Greville, produced, at the sale
of his books, the sum of sixteen guineas.]
LIS. You allude to the STRAWBERRY HILL Press?[457]
[Footnote 457: For the gratification of such
desperately-smitten bibliomaniacs, who leave no stone
unturned for the possession of what are called STRAWBERRY
HILL _Pieces_, I subjoin the following list of books,
printed at the celebrated seat of Sir Horace Walpole
(afterwards Lord Orford) at Strawberry Hill: situated
between Richmond and Twickenham, on the banks of the Thames.
This list, and the occasional bibliographical memoranda
introduced, are taken from the collection of Strawberry Hill
books in the library of the Marquis of Bute, at Luton; all
of them being elegantly bound by Kalthoeber, in red
morocco.----I. _Two Odes by Mr. Gray._ "[Greek: phônanta
synetoisi]," Pindar Olymp. II. Printed for R. and J.
Dodsley, 1757, 4to., 19 pages, 1000 copies. In these copies
there is sometimes (but very rarely) prefixed a short poem
of six stanzas, in alternate rhyme, "To Mr. Gray, on his
Poems." As there were _only six copies_ of these verses
printed, I subjoin them:
Repine not, Gray, that our weak dazzled eyes
Thy daring heights and brightness shun,
How few can track the eagle to the skies,
Or, like him, gaze upon the sun!
The gentle reader loves the gentle muse,
That little dares, and little means,
Who humbly sips her learning from _Reviews_,
Or flutters in the _Magazines_.
No longer now from learning's sacred store,
Our minds their health and vigour draw;
HOMER and PINDAR are revered no more,
No more the _Stagyrite is law_.
Though nurst by these, in vain thy muse appears
To breathe her ardours in our souls;
In vain to sightless eyes, and deaden'd ears,
Thy lightning gleams, and thunder rolls!
Yet droop not GRAY, nor quit thy heav'n-born art:
Again thy wondrous powers reveal,
Wake slumb'ring virtue in the _Briton's_ heart.
And rouse us to _reflect_ and _feel_!
With antient deeds our long-chill'd bosoms fire,
Those deeds which mark'd ELIZA'S reign!
Make _Britons_ Greeks again.--Then strike the lyre,
And Pindar shall not sing in vain.
----II. _A journey into England_, originally written in
Latin, _by Paul Hentzner_. In the year 1598. Printed 1757.
Advertisement of 10 pages in a fine large beautiful type,
printed on paper of great delicacy. The body of the work,
which is printed in a smaller type, occupies 126 double
pages; on account of the Latin and English being on the
opposite pages, each page is marked with the same number.
Only 220 copies of this curious and elegant work were
printed.--III. _Fugitive Pieces in Verse and Prose. Pereunt
et Imputantur._ MDCCLVIII. 8vo. Two pages of dedication "To
the Honourable Major General HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY:" two
pages of a table of contents, body of the work 219 pages.
Printed with the small type: and only 200 copies struck
off.--IV. _An account of Russia as it was in the year 1710.
By Charles Lord Whitworth._ Printed at S.H. MDCCLVIII, 8vo.
Advertisement 24 pages, body of this work 158--with a page
of errata, 700 copies printed. This is an interesting and
elegantly printed little volume.--V. _A parallel, in the
manner of Plutarch, between a most celebrated man of
Florence, and one scarce ever heard of in England. By the
Reverend Mr. Spence_, 1758, 8vo. This is the beautiful and
curious little volume, of which mention has already been
made at p. 86, ante. Seven hundred copies of it were
printed; and from a copy, originally in the possession of
the late Mr. John Mann, of Durham, I learnt that "the clear
profits arising from the sale of it being about 300_l._,
were applied for the benefit of Mr. Hill and his family."
(Magliabechi was "the man of Florence;" and Hill "the one
scarce ever heard of in England.") A copy of this edition,
with MS. notes by Mr. Cole, was purchased by Mr. Waldron, at
the sale of George Steevens's books, for 3_l._6_s._ It was
reprinted by Dodsley: but the curious seek only the present
edition.----VI. _Lucani Pharsalia_, MDCCLX, 4to. This is the
most beautiful volume, in point of printing, which the
Strawberry Hill press ever produced. A tolerably copious
account of it will be found in my _Introduction to the
Classics_, vol. ii., p. 53. Kirgate the printer (recently
deceased) told me that uncommon pains were taken with its
typographical execution.----VII. _Anecdotes of Painting in
Englaud_ [Transcriber's Note: England]; MDCCLXI. four
volumes; _Catalogue of Engravers_, 4to., one volume. This is
the _first_, and, on account of having the earliest
impressions of the plates, the _best_ edition of this
amusing, and once popular work. It was reprinted in quarto,
in 1765; of which edition I believe 600 copies were struck
off. Again, in 1786, crown 8vo., five volumes, without the
plates.----VIII. _The Life of Edward Lord Herbert of
Cherbury_, written by himself. Printed in the year MDCCLXIX,
4to. Dedication of two pages to Lord Powis. Advertisement
six pages, not numbered. After this, there should be a
"Genealogical Table of the family of Herbert," which is very
scarce, on account of its being suppressed by Mr. Walpole,
for its inaccuracy. The life occupied 171 pages. "Mr.
Walpole," says the late Mr. Cole, "when I was with him in
the autumn of 1763, at which time the book was partly
printed, told me that either one or two hundred copies were
to be printed; half to be sent to the Earl of Powis, and the
other half he was to reserve for himself, as presents to his
friends; so that, except the book is reprinted by some
bookseller, privately, as probably it will, it will be a
curiosity. It was not published till the end of June, 1764,
when the honourable editor sent it to me.----IX. _Poems by
Anna Chambers_, Countess Temple. MDCCLXIV, 4to. This volume,
containing 13 poems on various subjects, is printed in 34
pages, with a large, but not very elegant type. Only 100
copies were struck off.----X. _The Mysterious Mother._ A
Tragedy, by Mr. Horace Walpole. Sit mihi fas audita loqui.
Virg. Printed at S.H., MDCCLXVIII. 8vo. No vignette on the
back. First leaf, errata, and "persons" [of the play.]
Printed with the small type on 120 pages; after which
follows a "postscript" of 10 pages. Only 50 copies printed.
An uncut copy was recently sold for 6_l._ 15_s._----XI.
_Cornélie vestale. Tragédie._ Imprimée à S.H. MDCCLXVIII,
8vo., 200 copies. The title-page is followed by a letter "a
Mons. Horace Walpole." A page of the names of the actors
forms the commencement of the work, which contains 91 pages,
neatly printed. Only 200 copies printed, of which 150 were
sent to Paris.----XII. _Poems by the Reverend Mr. Hoyland_,
MDCCLXIX, 8vo. The advertisement ends at p. iv.; the odes
occupy 19 pages. Although this little volume is not printed
with the usual elegance of the S.H. press, it is valuable
from its scarcity, on account of its never having been
re-printed. Only 300 copies were struck off.----XIII.
_Original Letters from K. Edward VI. to Barnaby
Fitzpatrick_, 1772, 4to. I am not acquainted with any
circumstance, intrinsic or extrinsic, that renders this
small volume sought after.----XIV. _Miscellaneous
Antiquities, or a collection of curious papers_: either
republished from scarce tracts, or now first printed from
original MSS. Two numbers printed by Thomas Kirgate,
MDCCLXXII, 4to. No. I. Advertisement of two pages, ending p.
iv. The number contains besides: CONTENTS. Chap. I. "An
account of some Tournaments and other martial Diversions."
This was reprinted from a work written by Sir William Segar,
Norroy; and is called by the author, Honour, Military and
Ceuill, printed at London in 1602. Chap. II. Of "Justs and
Tournaments," &c., from the same. Chap. III. "A Triumph in
the Reigne of King Richard the Second, 1390," from the same.
Chap. IV. "A Militarie Triumph at Brussels, Anno 1549," from
the same. Chap. V. "Of Justs and Tourneaments," &c., from
the same. Chap. VI. "Triumphes Military, for honour and loue
of Ladies: brought before the Kings of England," from the
same. Chap. VII. "Of the life and actions in Armes since the
reigne of Queene Elizabeth," from the same. Chap. VIII. "The
original occasions of the yeerely Triumph in England." All
these tracts are taken from the above work. No. II. Second
leaf, a plate of a head from the original wood-cut by Hans
Holbein. CONTENTS. This number is almost entirely occupied
by the "Life of Sir Thomas Wyat, the elder," copied by Mr.
Gray from the originals in the Harleian Collection, now in
the British Museum. This extends to p. 54, after which is an
Appendix of eight pages on a few miscellaneous subjects.
Five hundred copies were printed.----XV. _Memoirs du Comte
de Grammont_, par Monsieur le Comte Antoine Hamilton.
Nouvelle edition, Augumentée denotes et eclaircissemens
necessaires. Par M. HORACE WALPOLE. MDCCLXXII, 4to. The
title-page is succeeded by a dedication "à Madame ----," in
six lines and a half, printed in a very large type. Then
follows an "Avis de L'Editour," and "Avertissement,"
occupying three pages. An "Epitre à Monsieur le Comte de
Grammont,' continues to p. xxi: then a "Table des
Chapitres," to p. xxiii., on the back of which are the
errata. The body of the work extends to 290 pages; which are
succeeded by "Table des Personnes," or index, in three
pages. These memoirs are printed with the middle size type;
but neither the type nor paper are so beautiful as are those
of Hentzner's Travels, or the comparison between Magliabechi
and Hill. PORTRAITS. 1. Le Comte Antoine Hamilton, faces the
title page. 2. Philibert, Comte de Grammont, opposite the
"Epitre:" badly executed. 3. A portrait of Miss Warminster,
opposite p. 85, in the style of Worlidge's gems. 4.
Mademoiselle d'Hamilton, Comtesse de Grammont, faces p. 92.
This engraving, by G. Powle, is executed in a style of
beauty and spirit that has seldom been surpassed. 5. Lord
Chesterfield, second Earl, in the style of the preceding;
very beautiful. There were only 100 copies of this edition
printed, of which 30 were sent as presents to Paris.----XVI.
_The Sleep Walker, a Comedy_: in two acts. Translated [by
Lady Craven] from the French, in March. Printed by T.
Kirgate, MDCCLXXVIII, 8vo. It is printed in the small type
on 56 pages, exclusively of viii. introductory ones, of
"prologues" and "persons," &c. Only 75 copies were printed:
and of these, one was sold for 4_l._ in the year 1804, at a
public auction.----XVII. _A Letter to the Editor of the
Miscellanies of Thomas Chatterton._ Printed by T. Kirgate.
MDCCLXXIX, 8vo. This title is preceded by what is called a
bastard title: and is followed by 55 pages of the work, not
very elegantly printed. Only 200 copies.----XVIII. _The Muse
Recalled_, an ode occasioned by the nuptials of Lord
Viscount Althorp (the late Earl Spencer) and Miss Lavinia
Bingham, eldest daughter of Charles, Lord Lucan, March vi.,
MDCCLXXXI. By William Jones, Esq. Printed by Thomas Kirgate,
MDCCLXXXI. 4to. Eight pages, exclusively of the title-page.
Printed in the middle size type; but neither the paper nor
typographical execution are in the best style of the S.H.
press. Only 250 copies printed.----XIX. _A Description of
the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, youngest son of Sir Robert
Walpole, Earl of Orford, at Strawberry Hill, near
Twickenham, Middlesex._ With an inventory of the Furniture,
Pictures, Curiosities, &c. Printed by Thomas Kirgate,
MCCLXXXIV, 4to. This book contains 96 pages in the whole. It
was preceded by a small quarto impression of MDCCLXXIV:
which is scarce; and of which there are large paper copies.
The work entitled _Ædes Walpolianæ_ was printed in
MDCCLXVII.
Plates to the edition of 1784.
1. Frontispiece, Gothic; motto on a scroll, "Fari quæ
sentiat."
2. North Front of Strawberry Hill.
3. Entrance of Strawberry Hill.
4. View of the Prior's Garden, at ditto.
5. Chimney in the Great Parlour.
6. Chimney in the China Room.
7. Chimney in the Yellow Bedchamber.
8. Do. ---- ---- Blue Bedchamber.
9. Staircase at Strawberry Hill.
10. Library at ditto.
11. Chimney Piece of the Holbein Chamber.
12. The Gallery.
13. Chimney in the Round Room.
14. The Cabinet.
15. View from the Great Bedchamber.
16. Garden Gate.
17. View of the Chapel in the Garden at Strawberry Hill.
18. The Shell Bench.
19. View from the Terrace at Strawberry Hill.
20. East View of the Cottage Garden at Strawberry Hill. There
were only 200 copies of this edition printed.
The following may amuse the curious reader:
"Mr. Walpole is very ready to oblige any curious persons with
the sight of his house and collection; but as it is situated
so near to London, and in so populous a neighbourhood, and as
he refuses a ticket to nobody that sends for one, it is but
reasonable that such persons as send should comply with the
rules he has been obliged to lay down for shewing it:--Any
person, sending a day or two before may have a ticket for
four persons for a day certain;--No Ticket will serve but on
the day for which it is given. If more than four persons come
with a ticket, the housekeeper has positive orders to admit
none of them;--Every ticket will admit the company only
between the hours of twelve and three before dinner, and only
one company will be admitted on the same day;--The house will
never be shewn after dinner, nor at all but from the first of
May to the first of October;--As Mr. Walpole has given
offence by sometimes enlarging the number o [Transcriber's
Note: of] four, and refusing that latitude to others, he
flatters himself that for the future nobody will take it ill
that he strictly confines the number; as whoever desires him
to break his rule does in effect expect him to disoblige
others, which is what nobody has a right to desire of
him;--Persons desiring a ticket may apply either to
Strawberry Hill, or to Mr. Walpole's, in Berkeley Square,
London. If any person does not make use of the ticket, Mr.
Walpole hopes he shall have notice: otherwise he is prevented
from obliging others on that day, and thence is put to great
inconvenience;--They who have tickets are desired not to
bring children."----XX. _A copy of all the Works of Mr.
Walpole that were printed by him before his death_, 1784,
4to. This brochure, which has been called "rare" in
book-auction catalogues, has been sold for upwards of two
guineas.----XXI. _Postscript to the Royal and Noble Authors._
MDCCXXXVI, 8vo. There should be, before the title-page, an
outline etching of "Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, appearing
to Christin de Pisan, &c., from an illumination in the
library of the King of France," which is exceedingly well
engraved. The work contains only 18 pages: and there were but
40 copies printed. The _Royal and Noble Authors_ were first
printed in 1759, 8vo. 2 vols.----XXII. _Essai sur l'Art des
Jardins Modernes_, par M. Horace Walpole. Traduit en
François, par M. Le Duc de Nivernois, en MDCCLXXXIV. _Imprimé
à S.H._ par T. Kirgate, MDCCLXXXV. With an opposite title in
English, 4to. It contains 94 double pages, and every page of
French has an opposite one of English. Not printed in the
best manner of S.H. A copy of this book was sold for 3_l._;
at a sale in 1804.----XXIII. _Bishop Banner's Ghost._ Printed
by T.K. MDLCCXXXIX, 4to. On the first leaf is the following
"Argument." "In the gardens of the palace of Fulham is a dark
recess: at the end of this stands a chair, which once
belonged to Bishop Bonner. A certain Bishop of London (the
late Beilby Porteus) more than 200 years after the death of
the aforesaid Bonner, just as the clock of the gothic chapel
had struck six, undertook to cut, with his own hand, a narrow
walk through this thicket, which is since called the _Monk's
walk_. He had no sooner begun to clear the way, than lo!
suddenly up started from the chair, the ghost of Bishop
Bonner, who, in a tone of just and bitter indignation,
uttered the following verses." This curious publication
contains only four pages of stanzas, written in alternate
rhyme, of 8 and 6 feet metre.----XXIV. _The Magpie and her
Brood_; a fable, from the tales of Bonaventure de Periers,
valet de chambre to the Queen of Navarre; addressed to Miss
Hotham. This is a very scarce poetical tract of four pages
only; subscribed H.W.----XXV. _Fourteen different pieces,
printed at Strawberry Hill, of verses, cards, &c._ This title
I borrow from a book-auction catalogue. At a sale in 1804,
these detached pieces were sold for 2_l._ 2_s._; but it is
not in my power to identify them. Whether they be the same
"_parcel of scraps, and loose leaves of poetry, epigrams_,"
_&c._ which, according to a daily newspaper, were sold at the
commencement of this year "for 16 pounds," I am also equally
ignorant. See _Kirgate's Catalogue_, 1810, no. 420.----XXVI.
_Hieroglyphic Tales_, 8vo. Only seven copies printed; _idem_,
no. 380. From newspaper authority, I learn that these tales
formed "a small pamphlet of two sheets, crown 8vo.," which
were sold for 16_l._; and I understand that the late Mr. G.
Baker was the purchaser. N.B. They are incorporated in the
author's printed works; but this is not having the _first_
and _true edition_! There is nothing like the comfort of
bleeding smartly for exhibiting these fourth and fifth
symptoms of the Bibliomania! Vide pp. 521, 525,
ante.----XXVII. _Additions to First Editions of Walpole's
Lives of the Painters, sewed._----XXVIII. _The Press at
Strawberry Hill to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, a
Poem._----XXIX. _The Master of Otranto in durance._----XXX.
_Air, a Poem._----XXXI. _A Poetical Epistle to Mrs.
Crewe._----XXXII. _A Poetical Epistle to Lady Horatio
Waldegrave, on the Death of the Duke of Ancaster._----XXXIII.
_The Press at Strawberry Hill to Miss Mary and Miss Agnes
Berry, a Poetical Epistle._ [These last seven articles are
taken from Mr. Cuthell's catalogue of 1811.] I should add
that a much more copious and complete list, though not
possessing all the intelligence here communicated, was
prepared by the late Mr. George Baker for press; and printed,
since his decease, for donations to his particular friends.
Only twenty copies of this bibliographical brochure are said
to have been executed. We will now take leave of the PRELUM
WALPOLIANUM by subjoining a copy of the most elegant
title-page vignette which ever issued from it.
[Illustration: FARI QUÆ SENTIAT]
Before the reader's eyes are finally turned from a
contemplation of this elegant device--and as connected with
the subject of PRIVATE PRESSES--let me inform him that the
Marquis of Bute is in possession of a thin folio volume,
exhibiting paintings, upon vellum, of the various devices
used by Pope Sixtus V., in the frontispieces of the several
works which issued from the APOSTOLICAL PRESS, while he
filled the Papal Chair. To a tasteful bibliomaniac, few
volumes would afford so much delight as a contemplation of
the present one. It is quite a _keimelion_ in its way!]
LYSAND. I do; but I have not so ardent an admiration of these
volumes, as the generality of collectors. On the contrary, I think
that the _Hafod Press_ has, by one single production only, outweighed
the whole of the _Walpolian_ lucubrations; at least on the score of
utility.
I might here add, to the foregoing symptoms, a passion to possess
works which have been _suppressed_, _condemned_, or _burnt_; but all
these things rank under the head of _causes of the rarity_ of books;
and as an entire volume might be written upon _this_ symptom _alone_,
I can here only allude to to [Transcriber's Note: second 'to'
erroneous] the subject; hoping some diligent bibliographer will one
day do for _us_ what foreigners have done for other nations.
Thus have I, rather slightly, discussed the _Symptoms of the Disease,
called_ =The Bibliomania=. During this discussion, I see our friend has
been busy, as he was yesterday evening, in making sketches of notes;
and if you examine the finished pictures of which such outlines may be
made productive, you will probably have a better notion of the
accuracy of my classification of these symptoms.
It is much to be wished, whatever may be the whims of desperate
book-collectors, that, in _some_ of those volumes which are constantly
circulating in the bibliomaniacal market, we had a more clear and
satisfactory account of the rise and progress of arts and sciences.
However strong may be my attachment to the profession of the cloth, I
could readily exchange a great number of old volumes of polemical and
hortatory divinity for interesting disquisitions upon the manners,
customs, and general history of the times. Over what a dark and
troublesome ocean must we sail, before we get even a glimpse at the
progressive improvement of our ancestors in civilised life! Oh, that
some judicious and faithful reporter had lived three hundred and odd
years ago!--we might then have had a more satisfactory account of the
_origin of printing with metal types_.
LIS. Pray give us your sentiments upon this latter subject. We have
almost the whole day before us:--the sun has hardly begun to decline
from his highest point.
LYSAND. A very pretty and smooth subject to discuss, truly! The
longest day and the most effectually-renovated powers of body and
mind, are hardly sufficient to come to any satisfactory conclusion,
upon the subject. How can I, therefore, after the fatigues of the
whole of yesterday, and with barely seven hours of daylight yet to
follow, pretend to enter upon it? No: I will here only barely mention
TRITHEMIUS[458]--who might have been numbered among the patriarchal
bibliographers we noticed when discoursing in our friend's CABINET--as
an author from whom considerable assistance has been received
respecting early typographical researches. Indeed, Trithemius merits a
more marked distinction in the annals of Literature than many are
supposed to grant him: at any rate, I wish his labours were better
known to our own countrymen.
[Footnote 458: We are indebted to the Abbé TRITHEMIUS, who
was a diligent chronicler and indefatigable visitor of old
Libraries, for a good deal of curious and interesting
intelligence; and however Scioppius (_De Orig. Domûs
Austriac._), Brower (_Vit. Fortunat. Pictav._, p. 18.), and
Possevinus (_Apparant sacr._ p. 945), may carp at his
simplicity and want of judgment, yet, as Baillet (from whom
I have borrowed the foregoing authorities) has justly
remarked--"since the time of Trithemius there have been many
libraries, particularly in Germany, which have been pillaged
or burnt in the destruction of monasteries; so that the
books which he describes as having seen in many places,
purposely visited by him for inspection, may have been
destroyed in the conflagration of religious houses."
_Jugemens des Savans_; vol. ii., pt. i., p. 71, edit. 12mo.
It is from Trithemius, after all, that we have the only
_direct_ evidence concerning the origin of printing with
metal types: and the bibliographical world is much indebted
to Chevelier (_L'Origine de l'Imprimerie de Paris_, 1691,
4to., pp. 3-6.) for having been the first to adduce the
positive evidence of this writer; who tells us, in his
valuable _Chronicon Hirsaugiens_ (1690, 2 vols. folio), that
he received his testimony from the mouth of Fust's
son-in-law--"ex ore Petri Opilionis audivi,"--that
Guttenburg [Transcriber's Note: Gutenberg] was the author of
the invention. The historical works of Trithemius were
collected and published in 1601, in folio, two parts, and
his other works are minutely detailed in the 9th volume of
the _Dictionnarie [Transcriber's Note: Dictionnaire]
Historique_, published at Caen, in 1789. Of these, one of
the most curious is his _Polygraphia_: being first printed
at Paris, in 1518, in a beautiful folio volume; and
presenting us, in the frontispiece, with a portrait of the
abbé; which is probably the first, if not the only
legitimate, print of him extant. Whether it be copied from a
figure on his tomb--as it has a good deal of the
_monumental_ character--I have no means of ascertaining. For
the gratification of all tasteful bibliomaniacs, an
admirable facsimile is here annexed. The _Polygraphia_ of
Trithemius was translated into French, and published in
1601, folio. His work _De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis_,
Colon, 1546, 4to., with two appendices, contains much
valuable matter. The author died in his 55th year, A.D.
1516: according to the inscription upon his tomb in the
monastery of the Benedictines at Wirtzburg. His life has
been written by Busæus, a Jesuit. See La Monnoye's note in
the _Jugemens des Savans_; _ibid._
[Illustration]]
LIS. I will set his works down among my literary _desiderata_. But
proceed.
LYSAND. With what? Am I to talk for ever?
BELIN. While you discourse so much to the purpose, you may surely not
object to a continuance of this conversation. I wish only to be
informed whether bibliomaniacs are indisputably known by the
prevalence of all, or of any, of the symptoms which you have just
described.
ALMAN. Is there any other passion, or fancy, in the book-way, from
which we may judge of Bibliomaniacism?
LYSAND. Let me consider. Yes; there is one other characteristic of the
book-madman that may as well be noticed. It is an ardent desire to
collect ALL THE EDITIONS of a work which have been published. Not only
the FIRST--whether _uncut, upon large paper_, _in the black-letter_,
_unique_, _tall_, or _illustrated_--but ALL the editions.[459]
[Footnote 459: I frankly confess that I was, myself, once
desperately afflicted with this _eleventh_ symptom of _The
Bibliomania_; having collected not fewer than _seventy-five_
editions of the GREEK TESTAMENT--but time has cooled my
ardour, and mended my judgment. I have discarded seventy,
and retain only five: which are _R. Steevens's_ of 1550,
_The Elzevir_ of 1624, _Mill's_ of 1707, _Westein's_ of
1751, and _Griesbach's_ of 1810--as beautifully and
accurately reprinted at Oxford.]
BELIN. Strange--but true, I warrant!
LYSAND. Most true; but, in my humble opinion, most ridiculous; for
what can a sensible man desire beyond the earliest and best editions
of a work?
Be it also noticed that these works are sometimes very capricious and
extroardinary [Transcriber's Note: extraordinary]. Thus, BAPTISTA is
wretched unless he possess every edition of our early grammarians,
_Holt_, _Stanbridge_, and _Whittinton_: a reimpression, or a new
edition, is a matter of almost equal indifference: for his slumbers
are broken and oppressive unless _all_ the _dear Wynkyns_ and
_Pynsons_ are found within his closet!--Up starts FLORIZEL, and blows
his bugle, at the annunciation of any work, new or old, upon the
diversions of _Hawking_, _Hunting_, or _Fishing_![460] Carry him
through CAMILLO'S cabinet of Dutch pictures, and you will see how
instinctively, as it were, his eyes are fixed upon a sporting piece by
Wouvermans. The hooded hawk, in his estimation, hath more charms than
Guido's Madonna:--how he envies every rider upon his white horse!--how
he burns to bestride the foremost steed, and to mingle in the fair
throng, who turn their blue eyes to the scarcely bluer expanse of
heaven! Here he recognises _Gervase Markham_, spurring his courser;
and there he fancies himself lifting _Dame Juliana_ from her horse!
Happy deception! dear fiction! says Florizel--while he throws his eyes
in an opposite direction, and views every printed book upon the
subject, from _Barnes_ to _Thornton_.
[Footnote 460: Some superficial notes, accompanied by an
interesting wood-cut of a man carrying hawks for sale, in my
edition of Robinson's translation of _More's Utopia_,
kindled, in the breast of Mr. Joseph Haslewood, a prodigious
ardour to pursue the subjects above-mentioned to their
farthest possible limits. Not Eolus himself excited greater
commotion in the Mediterranean waves than did my
bibliomaniacal friend in agitating the black-letter
ocean--'a sedibus imis'--for the discovering of every volume
which had been published upon these delectable pursuits.
Accordingly there appeared in due time--'[post] magni
procedere menses'--some very ingenious and elaborate
disquisitions upon Hunting and Hawking and Fishing, in the
ninth and tenth volumes of _The Censura Literaria_; which,
with such additions as his enlarged experience has
subsequently obtained, might be thought an interesting work
if reprinted in a duodecimo volume. But Mr. Haslewood's
mind, as was to be expected, could not rest satisfied with
what he considered as mere _nuclei_ productions:
accordingly, it became clothed with larger wings, and
meditated a bolder flight; and after soaring in a
_hawk_-like manner, to mark the object of its prey, it
pounced upon the book of _Hawking, Hunting, Fishing, &c._,
which had been reprinted by W. de Worde, from the original
edition published in the abbey of St. Albans. Prefixed to
the republication of this curious volume, the reader will
discover a great deal of laborious and successful research
connected with the book and its author. And yet I question
whether, in the midst of all the wood-cuts with which it
abounds, there be found any thing more suitable to the 'high
and mounting spirit' (see Braithwait's amusing discourse
upon Hawking, in his _English Gentleman_, p. 200-1.) of the
editor's taste, than the ensuing representation of a pilgrim
Hawker?!--taken from one of the frontispieces of _L'Acadamia
Peregrina del Doni_; 1552, 4to., fol. 73.
[Illustration]
We will conclude this _Hawking_ note with the following
excerpt from one of the earliest editions of the abridgment
of our statutes:--'nul home pringe les oves dascu[n]
_faucon_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou swan hors de le nyst sur
peyn de inprison p[our] vn an et vn iour et de faire fyn all
volunte le roy et que nul home puis le fest de paque
p[ro]chyn auenpart ascun _hawke_ de le brode dengl' appell
vne _nyesse_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou _laneret_ sur sa mayn,
sur peyn de forfaiture son _hawke_, et que null enchasse
ascun hawke hors de c[ou]uerte sur peyne de forfaiture x li.
lun moyte al roy et lauter a celuy que voet sur.' Anno xi.
H. vij. ca. xvij. _Abbreviamentum Statutorum_; printed by
Pynson, 1499, 8vo., fol. lxxvij.]
There are other tastes of an equally strange, but more sombre,
character. DION will possess every work which has any connexion,
intimate or remote, with _Latimer_ and _Swedenborg_;[461] while
ANTIGONUS is resolved upon securing every lucubration of _Withers_ or
_Warburton_; whether grave or gay, lively or severe.
[Footnote 461: As I could not consistently give EMANUEL
SWEDENBORG a niche among the bibliomaniacal heroes noticed
towards the conclusion of Part V. of this work, I have
reserved, for the present place, a few extracts of the
titles of his works, from a catalogue of the same, published
in 1785; which I strenuously advise the curious to get
possession of--and for two reasons: first, if he be a
_Swedenborgian_, his happiness will be nearly complete, and
he will thank me for having pointed out such a source of
comfort to him: secondly, if he be _not_ a disciple of the
same master, he may be amused by meditating upon the strange
whims and fancies which possess certain individuals, and
which have sufficient attractions yet to make proselytes and
converts!! Written March 10, A.D. 1811. Now for the
extracts. '_A Catalogue of the printed and unprinted Works_
of the HON. EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, in chronological order. To
which are added some observations, recommending the perusal
of his Theological Writings. Together with a compendious
view of the Faith of a new Heaven and a new Church, in its
Universal and Particular Forms. London, printed by Robert
Hindmarsh, No. 32, Clerkenwell Close, MDCCLXXXV. Those
marked thus (*) are translated into English.'
NO. 18. _Regnum Animale_, or the Animal Kingdom in three
parts. The first treats of the Viscera of the Abdomen, or
the lower Region. The second, of the Viscera of the Breast,
or of the Organs of the superior Region. The third, of the
Skin, the Touch, and the Taste, and of organical forms in
general. Part printed at the Hague, and part in London,
1744, 1745, in 4to.
19. _De Cultu et Amore Dei_, or of the Worship and Love of
God. The first part treats of the Origin of the Earth, of
Paradise, of the Birth, Infancy, and Love of the first Man,
or Adam. London, 1744, in 4to. The second part treats of the
Marriage of the first man, of the Soul, of the intellectual
Spirit, of the State of Integrity, and of the Image of God.
London, 1745, 4to.
20. _Arcana Coelestia_, or Heavenly Mysteries contained in
the Sacred Scriptures or Word of the Lord, manifested and
laid open, in an Explanation of the Books of Genesis and
Exodus, interspersed with relations of wonderful things seen
in the World of Spirits, and the Heaven of Angels. London,
from 1747 to 1758, in eight volumes, 4to. "In this work the
reader is taught to regard the letter of the Scriptures as
the Repository of Holy and Divine Things within; as a
Cabinet containing the infinite Treasures and bright Gems of
spiritual and celestial Wisdom; &c."(*)....
21. _De Coelo et Inferno_; or A Treatise concerning Heaven
and Hell, and of the wonderful Things therein heard and
seen. London, 1758, 4to. "By this work the reader may attain
to some conception of the heavenly kingdom, and may learn
therein that all social virtues, and all the tender
affections that give consistence and harmony to society, and
do honour to humanity, find place and exercise in the utmost
purity in those delectable abodes; where every thing that
can delight the eye, or rejoice the heart, entertain the
imagination, or exalt the understanding, conspire with
Innocence, Love, Joy, and Peace, to bless the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to make glad the city of our
God," &c.(*)]
LOREN. I suspect that, like many dashing artists, you are painting for
_effect_?
PHIL. On the part of Lysander, I may safely affirm that the preceding
has been no caricatured description. I know more than one Baptista,
and Florizel, and Dion, and Antigonus.
LIS. I hope I shall shortly add to the number of such an enthusiastic
class of book-collectors--I'm for _Natural History_; and, in this
department, for birds and beasts--_Gesner_ and _Bewick_![462]
[Footnote 462: The works upon Natural History by Gesner, and
especially the large tomes published about the middle of the
sixteenth century, are, some of them, well worth procuring;
on account of the fidelity and execution of the wood-cuts of
birds and animals. Bewick's earliest editions of _Birds_ and
_Beasts_ should be in the cabinet of every choice
collector.]
PHIL. Restrain your wild feelings--listen to the sober satire of
Lysander. Have you nothing else, in closing this symptomatic subject,
to discourse upon?
LYSAND. There is certainly another point not very remotely connected
with the two preceding; and it is this: a passion to possess large and
voluminous works, and to estimate the treasures of our libraries
rather by their extent and splendour than by their intrinsic worth:
forgetting how prettily Ronsard[463] has illustrated this subject by
the utility and beauty of small rivers in comparison with those which
overflow their banks and spread destruction around. "Oh combien (says
Cailleau, in his _Roman Bibliographique_) un petit livre bien pensé,
bein [Transcriber's Note: bien] plein, et bein [Transcriber's Note:
bien] écrit, est plus agréable, plus utile à lire, que ces vastes
compilations à la formation desquelles l'intérêt a présidé plus
souvent que le bon-goût!"
[Footnote 463:
Ie te confesse bien que le fleuve de Seine
A le cours grand et long, mais tousiours il attraine
Avec soy de la fange, et ses plis recourbrez,
Sans estre iamais nets, sont tousiours embourbez:
Vn petit ruisselet a tousiours l'onde nette,
Aussi le papillon et la gentille auette
Y vont puiser de l'eau, et non en ces torrens
Qui tonnent d'vn grand bruit pas les roches courant:
Petit Sonnets bien faits, belles chansons petites,
Petits discourds gentils, sont les fleurs des Charites,
Des Soeurs et d'Apollon, qui ne daignent aymer
Ceux qui chantent une oeuvre aussi grand que la mer,
Sans riue ny sans fond, de tempestes armée
Et qui iamais ne dort tranquille ny calmée.
_Poems de Ronsard_; fol. 171. Paris 1660. 12mo.
These are pretty lines, and have a melodious flow; but
Ronsard, in his 8 and 9 feet metres, is one of the most
fascinating of the old French poets. The subject, above
alluded to by Lysander, may be yet more strongly
illustrated: for thus speaks Spizelius upon it. 'Solent viri
multijugæ lectionis, qui avidè, quos possunt versant libros,
ut in mentis ventrem trajicere eos velle, totosque devorare
videantur, elegantis proverbii salivâ LIBRORUM HELLUONES
nuncupari; ipso quidem Tullio prælucente, qui avidos
lectores librorum, ac propemodum insiatiables Helluones
dixit, siquidem _vastissima volumina_ percurrant, et
quicquid boni succi exprimere possunt, propriis et alienis
impendant emolumentis." Again: "Maxima cum sit eorum
Literarum stoliditas, qui, quod nocte somniarunt, continuo
edunt in lucem, neque ipsa virium imbecillitate suarum, ab
arduo scribendi munere et onere, sese revocari patiuntur,"
&c. _Infelix Literatus_; pp. 295, 447. Morof is worth our
notice upon this subject: "Veniamus ad Bibliothecas ipsas,
quales vel privatæ sunt, vel publicæ. Illæ, quanquam in
molem tantam non excrescant ut publicæ; sunt tamen etiam
inter privatos viri illustres et opulenti qui in libris
omnis generis coemendis nullis parcunt sumptibus. Quorum
[Greek: bibliomanian] reprehendit Seneca _Ep._ 2. 45, _et de
Tranquil. animi_ c. 9, ridet Lucianus in libello [Greek:
pros apaideuton kai polla biblia ônoumenon]; et Auson.
_epigr._ 43. Sunt ita animati nonnulli, ut
_magno de flumine malint
Quam de fonticulo tantundem sumere;_
cum vastioris Bibliothecæ minor interdum usus sit, quam ejus
quæ selectis paucioribus libris constat." _Polyhist.
Literar._ vol. i., p. 21. He goes on in a very amusing
manner; but this note may be thought already too long.]
BELIN. Well; we live in a marvellous book-collecting and book-reading
age--yet a word more:
ALMAN. I crave your pardon, Belinda; but I have a thought which must
be now imparted, or the consequence may be serious.
LYSAND. I wait both your commands.
ALMAN. My thought--or rather the subject which now occupies my
mind--is this: You have told us of the symptoms of the _Disease of
Book-Madness_, now pray inform us, as a tender-hearted physician, what
are the _means of its cure_?
BELIN. The very question I was about to put to our bibliomaniacal
physician. Pray inform us what are the means of cure in this disorder?
LYSAND. You should say PROBABLE MEANS OF CURE, as I verily believe
there are no certain and correct remedies.
BELIN. Well, Sir, _probable_ means--if it must be so. Discourse
largely and distinctly upon these.
LYSAND. Briefly and perspicuously, if you please: and thus we begin.
In the _first place_, the disease of the Bibliomania is materially
softened, or rendered mild, by directing our studies to _useful_ and
_profitable_ works; whether these be printed upon small or large
paper, in the gothic, roman, or italic type. To consider merely the
_intrinsic excellence_, and not the _exterior splendour_, or
adventitious value, of any production will keep us perhaps wholly free
from this disease. Let the midnight lamp be burnt to illuminate the
stores of antiquity--whether they be romances, or chronicles, or
legends, and whether they be printed by ALDUS or CAXTON--if a brighter
lustre can thence be thrown upon the pages of modern learning! To
trace genius to its source, or to see how she has been influenced or
modified by the lore of past times, is both a pleasing and profitable
pursuit. To see how Shakspeare, here and there, has plucked a flower
from some old ballad or popular tale, to enrich his own unperishable
garland;--to follow Spenser and Milton in their delightful labyrinths
'midst the splendour of Italian literature; are studies which stamp a
dignity upon our intellectual characters! But, in such a pursuit, let
us not overlook the wisdom of modern times, nor fancy that what is
only ancient can be excellent. We must remember that Bacon, Boyle,
Locke, Taylor, Chillingworth, Robertson, Hume, Gibbon, and Paley, are
names which always command attention from the wise, and remind us of
the improved state of reason and acquired knowledge during the two
last centuries.
ALMAN. There seems at least sound sense, with the prospect of much
future good, in this _first_ recipe. What is your second.
LYSAND. In the _second place_, the reprinting of scarce and
intrinsically valuable works is another means of preventing the
propagation of this disorder. Amidst all our present sufferings under
the BIBLIOMANIA, it is some consolation to find discerning and
spirited booksellers republishing the ancient Chroniclers; and the
collections known by the names of "_The Harleian Miscellany_" and
"_Lord Somers' Tracts_," and "_The Voyages of Hakluyt_."[464] These
are noble efforts, and richly deserve the public patronage.
[Footnote 464: In the _Quarterly Review_ for August, 1810,
this my second remedy for curing the disease of the
Bibliomania is considered as inefficient. I have a great
respect for this Review, but I understand neither the
premises nor conclusions therein laid down concerning the
subject in discussion. If "those who cannot afford to
purchase original publications must be content with entire
reprints of them" (I give the very words, though not the
entire sentence), it surely tends to lessen the degree of
competition for "the original publication." A sober reader,
or an economical book-buyer, wants a certain tract on the
ground of its utility:--but take my own case--who have very
few hundreds per annum to procure food for the body as well
as the mind. I wish to consult Roy's tract of "Rede me and
be not wroth," (vide p. 226, ante)--or the "Expedition into
Scotland" of 1544 (see Mr. Beloe's _Anecdotes of Literature
and Scarce Books_, vol. ii., p. 345), because these are
really interesting, as well as rare, volumes. There is at
present no reprint of either; and can I afford to bid ten or
twelve guineas for each of them at a public book-sale?
But--let them be faithfully _reprinted_, and even a golden
guinea (if such a coin be now in the pocket of a poor
bibliomaniac like myself) would be considered by me as
_dear_ terms upon which to purchase the _original_ edition!
The reviewer has illustrated his position by a model of the
Pigot diamond; and intimates that this model does not
"lessen the public desire to possess the original." Lord
Mansfield once observed that nothing more frequently tended
to perplex an argument than a simile--(the remark is
somewhere in _Burrows's Reports_); and the judge's dictum
seems here a little verified. If the glass or crystal model
could reflect _all the lustre_ of the original, it would be
of equal utility; but it cannot. Now the reprint _does_
impart _all_ the intelligence and intrinsic worth of the
original (for "the ugliness of the types" cannot be thought
worthy of aiding the argument one way or another) therefore
the reprint of Roy's poetical tract is not illustrated by
the model of the Pigot diamond: which latter cannot impart
the intrinsic value of the original. Let us now say a word
about the _Reprints_ above commended by Lysander. When Mr.
Harding went to press with the first volume of the _Harleian
Miscellany_, his zeal struggled with his prudence about the
number of copies to be printed of so voluminous a work.
Accordingly, he ventured upon only 250 copies. As the work
advanced, (and, I would hope, as the recommendation of it,
in the last edition of the Bibliomania, promoted its sale)
he took courage, and struck off another 250 copies of the
earlier volumes: and thus this magnificent reprint (which
will be followed up by two volumes of additional matter
collected by Mr. Park, its editor) may be pronounced a
profitable, as well as generally serviceable, publication to
the cause of Literature. The original edition of _Lord
Somers' Tracts_ having become exceedingly scarce, and the
arrangement of them being equally confused, three spirited
booksellers, under the editorial inspection of Mr. Walter
Scott, are putting forth a correct, well arranged, and
beautiful reprint of the same invaluable work. Five volumes
are already published. _The Voyages of Hakluyt_ are
republishing by Mr. Evans, of Pall Mall. Four volumes are
already before the public; of which only 250 copies of the
small, and 75 of the large, are printed. The reprint will
contain the whole of Hakluyt, with the addition of several
scarce voyages and travels.]
LOREN. I fully coincide with these sentiments; and, as a proof of it,
regularly order my London bookseller to transmit to me every volume of
the reprint of these excellent works as it is published.
BELIN. Can you find it in your heart, dear brother, to part with your
black-letter Chronicles, and Hakluyt's Voyages, for these new
publications?
LOREN. I keep the best editions of the ancient Chronicles; but the new
Fabian, the Harleian Miscellany, Lord Somers' Tracts, and the Voyages,
are unquestionably to be preferred; since they are more full and
complete. But proceed with your other probable means of cure.
LYSAND. In the _third place_, the editing of our best ancient authors,
whether in prose or poetry,[465] is another means of effectually
counteracting the mischievous effects arising from the bibliomaniacal
disease; and, on this score, I do think this country stands
pre-eminently conspicuous; for we are indefatigable in our attentions
towards restoring the corrupted texts of our poets.
[Footnote 465: The last new editions of our standard
belles-lettres writers are the following: which should be
found in every gentleman's library. _Shakspeare_, 1793, 15
vols., or 1803, 21 vols. (vide p. 427, ante); _Pope_, by
_Jos. Warton_; 1795, 8 vols. 8vo.; or by _Lisle Bowles_,
1806, 9 vols. 8vo.; _Spenser_, by _H.J. Todd_, 1805, 8 vols.
8vo.; _Milton_, by _the Same_, 7 vols., 8vo.; _Massinger_,
by _W. Gifford_, 1806, 4 vols. 8vo.; _Sir David Lyndsay_, by
_George Chalmers_, 1806, 3 vols. 8vo.; _Dryden_, by _Walter
Scott_, 1808, 18 vols. 8vo.; _Churchill_, by ----, 1805, 2
vols. 8vo.; _Hudibras_, by _Dr. Grey_, 1744, or 1809, 2
vols. 8vo.; _Ben. Jonson_, by _W. Gifford_ (_sub prelo_);
and _Bishop Corbett's Poems_, by _Octavius Gilchrist_, 1807,
8vo.]
PHIL. Yet forgive me if I avow that this same country, whose editorial
labours you are thus commending, is shamefully deficient in the
cultivation of _Ancient English History_! I speak my sentiments
roundly upon this subject: because you know, Lysander, how vigilantly
I have cultivated it, and how long and keenly I have expressed my
regret at the almost total apathy which prevails respecting it. There
is no country upon earth which has a more plentiful or faithful stock
of historians than our own; and if it were only to discover how
superficially some of our recent and popular historians have written
upon it, it were surely worth the labour of investigation to examine
the yet existing records of past ages.
LOREN. To effect this completely, you should have a NATIONAL PRESS.
LIS. And why not? Have we here no patriotic spirit similar to that
which influenced the Francises, Richlieus, Colberts, and Louises of
France?
ALMAN. You are getting into bibliographical politics! Proceed, good
Lysander, with your other probable means of cure.
LYSAND. In the _fourth place_, the erection of PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONS[466] is of great service in diffusing a love of books for
their intrinsic utility, and is of very general advantage to scholars
and authors who cannot purchase every book which they find it
necessary to consult.
[Footnote 466: The ROYAL, LONDON, SURREY, AND RUSSEL
INSTITUTIONS, have been the means of concentrating, in
divers parts of the metropolis, large libraries of useful
books; which, it is to be hoped, will eventually bring into
disgrace and contempt what are called _Circulating
Libraries_--vehicles, too often, of insufferable nonsense,
and irremediable mischief!]
PHIL. You are right. These Institutions are of recent growth, but of
general utility. They are a sort of _intellectual Hospitals_--according
to your mode of treating the Bibliomania. Yet I dare venture to affirm
that the _News-Paper Room_ is always better attended than the
_Library_!
LYSAND. Let us have no sarcasms. I will now give you the _fifth_ and
last probable means of cure of the Bibliomania; and that is _the Study
of Bibliography_.[467]
[Footnote 467: "UNNE [Transcriber's Note: UNE] BONNE
BIBLIOGRAPHIE," says Marchand, "soit générale soit
particuliére, soit profane soit écclésiastique, soit
nationale, provinciale, ou locale, soit simplement
personelle, en un mot de quelque autre genre que ce puisse
être, n'est pas un ouvrage aussi facile que beaucoup de gens
se le pourroient imaginer; mais, elles ne doivent néanmoins
nullement prévenir contre celle-ci. Telle qu'elle est, elle
ne laisse pas d'être bonne, utile, et digne d'être
recherchée par les amateurs de l'Histoire Litteraire."
_Diction. Historique_, vol. i. p. 109.