[1] In the bibliography of Nodier’s writings, published with the
catalogue of his library, Paris, 1844, the first edition of “Le
Bibliomane” is registered 1832-1833, as in tome I of “Livre des Cent et
un.”
[2] Fermier général. An association existed in France, from the reign
of Philip the Fair until the Revolution of 1789, possessing the right,
by purchase, to levy taxes on various articles of consumption. These
“farmers” were mostly uneducated parvenus, and their extortions were
so great that though they paid no less than one hundred and eighty
millions of francs for the monopoly the last year of its existence,
immense fortunes were made by all concerned. The Revolution caused the
abolition of the privilege, and all the “farmers” were executed.
[3] “The Enemies of Books,” by William Blades.
[4] During the riots of February, 1831, a mob of self-elected “public
censors” attacked the palace of the Archbishop of Paris at Notre Dame,
destroyed many valuable paintings, ruined the furniture, and threw a
large part of the library into the Seine.
[5] ANGULUS. A secret nook or corner, meaning, in this instance, the
Sabine farm presented to Horace by Mæcenas, which the poet declared in
his “Odes” to be all-sufficient for his needs.
[6] Galliot du Pré flourished in Paris during the middle of the
sixteenth century. His publications, for the most part, bear the device
of a galley propelled by sails and oars, with the legend “Vogue la
Gualee.”
[7] The library of Richard Heber was sold a few years after this
supposed incident. The various sessions of the auction occupied
portions of two hundred days, from 1834 to 1836.
[8] Nodier used the term “ménecheme,” or twin brother, a word taken
from a comedy by Plautus.
[9] The thirty-sixth part of an inch.
[10] “HOMERI OPERA, græce. Florentiæ, sumptibus Bern. et Nerii
Nerliorum. 1488.” Two volumes, folio. The first edition of Homer,
printed at the expense of the brothers Nerli, after a copy prepared
by Demetrius Chalcondyles of Athens. The De Cotte copy was uncut, and
sold for 3601 francs. It was bought by M. Caillard, and passed into
the Bibliothèque du Roi after his death, where it replaced a vellum
copy that the French were constrained to return to the library of Saint
Marc, Venice.
[11] The “Trinitate” of Servetus: a small octavo, printed in 1531. A
copy was sold as indicated. See Brunet’s “Manuel du Libraire.”
[12] “BIBLIOTHÈQUE CURIEUSE, ou catalogue raisonné de livres difficiles
à trouver. Par David Clement. Göttingen, 1750-1760.” Nine volumes, 4to.
Many of the books described in this catalogue, which was carried only
to the letter H, have yet to be found; in fact, it is largely conceded
that they do not--perhaps never did--exist.
[13] The Giunta edition of Boccaccio, printed at Firenze, 1527, is
esteemed the best edition of this famous book. A so-called facsimile
was printed at Venice in 1729, but the counterfeit is discovered by the
formation of the a, as indicated.
[Illustration: THE DE VINNE PRESS]